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nonstop-haikyuu · 4 years

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Moon and Stars

Looking for Tsukiyama angst? Congrats you found it! Cause this shit really does hurt but don’t worry, there’s a happy ending!

Warnings: Yamaguchi has a panic attack and knocks himself unconscious, lowkey self harm but not explicit , Hayami is a good friend (she’s also an OC), I think that’s all??

Word Count: 3010

Yamaguchi still remembers the day that Tsuki had given him the necklace. It was a simple crescent moon hanging from a silver chain. It was his ninth birthday and the blond child was pink with his embarrassment as he handed Tadashi the little box wrapped in dinosaur wrapping paper. The freckled child grinned up at his friend and accepted the gift, eager to find out what Kei had gotten him.

Too excited to wait, he tore through the paper and flipped open the lid to the box. Nestled against a small bed of velvet laid the silver moon, glittering under the lights of the living room. Tadashi quickly pulled the necklace from its resting place then unfolded the chain as he asked, “Would you put it on for me?” Tsuki rubbed the back of his neck briefly then muttered, “Yeah, sure.” He plucked the necklace from Yamaguchi’s grasp and instructed the dark haired child to turn, clasping the necklace.

He smiled at the moon that reflected back at him and murmured, “I’m going to treasure this more than anything.”

Over the years, the necklace became a form of a good luck charm to Tadashi. He cherished the simple gift as he grew older and the volleyball team soon learned how important it was to him. Hinata was the first to ask why he always toyed with the chain during practice, especially when he became anxious about his serves. The freckled teenager smiled at the ginger’s question and admitted, “Tsuki gave it to me when we were kids. It’s always been sort of my good luck charm, you know?”

Hinata smiled at the explanation then chirped, “That’s so cute! I’m glad he’s at least nice to you, the jerk face.” Yamaguchi gave a laugh and nodded, replying, “Tsuki’s always been a bit cold towards others, but I promise he’s really not a bad guy.” The curly haired decoy pursed his lips together, clearly not convinced by his statement, and muttered, “As long as he’s nice to you, I guess.” The pinch server laughed at the response then turned as Tsukkishima entered the gym, dressed for practice, waving to his best friend.

Yamaguchi’s world practically revolved around Tsuki and he was painstakingly in love with the blond. But it all came crashing down halfway through their second year of high school. He remembered the day that his heart began to be broken by Tsukishima Kei, when he met the girl who would unintentionally start picking at the cracks of his heart. He was heading back to his class from lunch when he was first introduced to Sakiko Hayami.

“Yamaguchi, this is Sakiko Hayami, she’s a transfer from Aobajohsai. She’s in our class.” Tsuki introduced the young woman, waving a hand towards his best friend. She was beautiful, with long dark hair that curled around her shoulders and gold eyes that seemed to gleam. Freckles similar to his own were splayed across the bridge of her nose and cheeks, something that he was surprised at. Not many people had freckles and he was excited to meet someone who had them.

He bowed in greeting then chirped, “I’m Yamaguchi Tadashi, Tsuki’s best friend.” She flashed a bright smile at him after bowing in return and said, “It’s a pleasure! I think we’re going to be great friends.” He smiled brightly at her in response then glanced up at Tsuki, who was staring down at the interaction between the two. Meeting new people was simultaneously exciting and anxiety inducing but there was something uncertain settling at the bottom of his stomach.

He remembers the heart-brokenness he felt when Hayami and Tsuki announced them dating. It was three months after she transferred to Karasuno and they had offered to take Tadashi out to lunch to tell him something. It was a Saturday and practice had gotten out early, he was so excited to spend time with them.

“So why’d you guys want to go to lunch with me?” Tadashi asked, beginning to pick up a piece of chicken. The two exchanged a quick glance then Tsukishima answered, “We wanted to tell you that we’re dating.” The dark haired boy began to choke around his bite, Hayami reaching over to pound on his back, desperate to get him to breath again. They paused as the redness in Yamaguchi’s face returned then he croaked out, “Dating? How long?”

The blond hummed at the question and answered, “About two weeks. We wanted you to be the first to know.” Yamaguchi drew in a deep breath then flashed a tight smile, murmuring, “Congrats you two. I’m happy for you.” They smiled at Tadashi in response and they returned to eating lunch.

But at that point, he was sick to his stomach and the last thing he wanted to do was eat lunch in front of the love of his life while he joked with his girlfriend. Life was cruel and Yamaguchi wanted to curl in a hole and disappear from sight. From then on, Tadashi became a shell of himself. He declined Tsuki’s invites to hang out and avoided Hayami when he could, dodging them both in the hallway to the best of his abilities. However, completely avoiding them was nearly impossible due to the fact that he was in the same class.

One day, Tsukishima decided it was time to corner Yamaguchi and demand answers.

“Tadashi, we need to talk.” the blond stated, hurrying to follow the shorter teen out of their class. The freckled player glanced over his shoulder and mumbled, “I don’t have time, I have stuff I need to do.” He swerved in between the crowds of people, trying his best to lose his best friend, only for Kei to grab his wrist and drag him towards their locker. Yamaguchi struggled in his grasp briefly and snapped, “Just let me go! You have to go see Hayami, don’t you!”

“Why the hell are you acting like this?! You’ve been avoiding Hayami and I since we told you we were dating! I thought you would be happy for me!” Tsukki yelled, pushing his best friend towards the stairway. Tadashi’s chest tightened at the harshness of his tone then his fingers circled the moon dangling around his neck and he mumbled, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve just been busy.”

“You’ve been like this for weeks. My world does not revolve around you, Yamaguchi! You’re not the most important person to me.” And like that, he could feel his heart shatter like glass, with a few words. He drew in a shuddering breath and he yanked at the moon, the chain snapping at the pull, before he threw the necklace in Tsukki’s face. The blond caught the jewelry and glanced down at it briefly, surprise taking over his expression. Tadashi stifled a sob and choked out, “I guess I never really was, was I, Tsukkishima.” He quickly turned on his heel and stormed down the steps, eager to find somewhere to hide away from the world. He bumped into someone as he turned the corner to head outside and raised his head to apologize, only to freeze at the sight of Hayami standing in front him.

They stood in the middle of the hallway, concern sketched into her beautiful features, then she asked, “Tadashi, are you alright? Do I need to get Kei?” At the mention of his best friend, he sobbed and jerked away from the soft hand on his arm, crying, “Just leave me alone, both of you!” It was clear that she was watching as he raced down the hallway, away from the two who had ripped his heart from his chest, smothering it into the floor.

It felt like the world was crashing down around him, the clouds darkening as his mood worsened and he stumbled out of the school. It was as if there’s something crushing his chest and ribs, he can’t breathe, he just wants to breathe.

Tadashi glanced over the school yard and spotted the cluster of trees, thankful to see that no one was underneath them for lunchtime. He crashed to the ground and gasped for air as the tears ran hot down his cheeks. He yanked at his uniform’s neckline then clawed at the skin where the necklace once laid, thankful for the air that crashed into his lungs and the pain that shocked his system.

He pressed a tight hand over his mouth to muffle the sounds of his sobs then pulled his hand away from his neck, surprised to see blood running down his fingers. Yamaguchi leaned against the thickest tree trunk and closed his eyes, desperate for the solace he hasn’t had in so long.

Not even volleyball has offered him the freedom that he was searching for, not since Hayami and Tsuki began dating. He knew the reason behind his silence, the reason why he sat quietly during lunches. Being in love with your best friend was not the easiest thing to be, especially when he’s straight and had a girlfriend. Life was sadistic like that.

Lightning crackled across the Miyagi sky and he tilted his head upwards, thankful for the rain that was beginning to pour. It would wash away the evidence of his blood and tears and hopefully take his pain from him. His head was throbbing from the headache setting just behind his eyes then he let out a scream, relishing in the thunder that covered the sound.

He covered his face and continued to cry, hiccuping through the tears as his head slammed into the bark of the tree repeatedly. Maybe if he hit hard enough, he would be lucky enough to pass out and the storm would sweep him away. And god his wish was granted, his vision flooding with black.

When Tadashi came to, he glanced around the room that he was now in, immediately realizing that it was not his own. In fact, at a second glance, he recognized the location. He was in Tsukki’s bedroom and dread struck the middle of his chest. He jerked up in the bed then he pressed a tender hand to his throat, taking in the knowledge that the scratches were now bandaged.

“Oh finally you’re awake.” Yamaguchi closed his eyes at the sound of his best friend’s voice then muttered, “I thought you’d take a hint and leave me alone.” Tsuki scoffed and snapped, “Right because I’m going to leave you out in a thunderstorm, bleeding and passed out. Because I’m so much of a terrible friend that I would do that to you.” The dark haired teen blew out a slow breath and tossed the blanket off, snapping, “Thanks, but I need to go.”

Tadashi scanned the room then found his blazer and button up, not surprised to see that the blond had washed the two while he had slept, though the blood from his scratches still remained on the collar of the shirt. He made his way towards the door, eager to get home, only for the middle blocker to snatch him by his wrist, insisting, “If you think you’re going to leave here without telling me whatever the hell is going through your head, you’re wrong. Now sit down and tell me what your problem is.”

Tadashi drew in a deep breath and jerked his hand free from Tsuki’s grasp, snapping, “I already told you, it’s nothing. Just go back to Hayami. I know Fridays are your date nights, wouldn’t want to ruin your perfect relationship.” The blond narrowed his eyes at the harsh tone then realization settled in his features, accusing, “You’re jealous of Hayami? Are you serious right now?” The pinch server gave a bitter laugh then tossed his hands into the air, crying out, “Of course I’m jealous of her! She has everything I ever wanted!”

Kei paused at the tears and began to wipe them away, only for the shorter teen to swat away his hand, muttering, “Don’t. It’s clear that you don’t care about me. Not anymore. Now just let me go, I have homework to finish.” The blond scoffed and cupped the freckled cheeks, hissing, “If that’s really what you think, then you’re even dumber than Hinata. I will always care about you.”

“Not the way that you care about her. You’ll never see me the same way I see you. You just don’t understand, Tsukki.” Yamaguchi whimpered, fingers wrapping around Kei’s wrists to pull his hands away from this face. The blond frowned down at his best friend and snapped, “Quit talking in fucking riddles and tell me what the hell you’re talking about.”

“I’m in love with you! I’ve been in love with you since we were nine and you gave me the moon necklace!” Tadashi shouted, gripping the front of Tsukkishima’s shirt. The middle blocker froze at the admission and his jaw dropped as he began to process the words. The shorter teen took advantage of his shock then jerked out Tsuki’s hold to race down the stairs, eager to get home and cry in peace.

He managed to get his shoes only by the time that the blond made his way down the stairs and began to open the door, Tsuki’s hand slamming it shut. Yamaguchi jumped at the loud sound and turned to face his best friend, sobbing, “Why, why won’t you just let me go? Please, just let me go, I just want to go home and forget about this all!”

“You’re not even giving me a chance to process this! Dammit, Tadashi! Why couldn’t you have told me sooner?!” Tsukishima shouted, smashing his fist into the door. The dark haired teen buried his face in his hands then cried, “I didn’t want to lose you! You’re the most important person to me and you’re straight! You’re straight and I’m so fucking in love with you, I can’t imagine a life without you! But now you’re with Hayami and she’s so damn perfect!”

“I’m not straight!” The crack of his voice smashed through Tadashi’s senses and he froze at the admission. Kei wrapped his hands around Yamaguchi's wrists then murmured, “I’ve been in love with you since we were thirteen and you gave me my stuffed triceratops. I started dating Hayami because I didn’t think you were interested in me. I guess I was stupid for not asking.”

The two stared at one another in silence, clearly unsure on how to proceed, then Tsuki’s phone began to ring, breaking their focus. He pulled his phone from his pocket and glanced at the screen then he took a deep breath. Hayami was calling. He answered the call then put it on speaker, asking, “Hey, what’s up?”

“How is he?” her soft voice crackled through the speaker of the phone and Tadashi’s bottom lip began to tremble. She knew that Tsuki had taken him home. And she didn’t sound angry; in fact, she sounded concerned about his well being. She was an angel and Yamaguchi had avoided her like the plague. Some friend he was. Kei sighed and answered, “Physically okay. Got the scratches bandaged up, but mentally… I figured out why he was avoiding us at least.”

“Was I right? Was he in love with you?” she asked. Tadashi stiffened at the question and watched as Tsukishima replied, “Yeah, you were right. Listen, I’m really sorry. You’re an amazing person and I want to be friends with you, but it’s just… he’s Tadashi. We’re over.” Hayami hummed at the explanation then chirped, “That’s alright, Kei. I understand. I really hope we can still be friends. Bye, Tadashi, I hope you feel better soon.” The freckled teen sniffled at her words and murmured, “Thank you, Hayami, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I think deep down, I knew what I was getting into when I asked Tsukishima out. I’ll see you two Monday.” A soft beep echoed her words and Kei slid the phone back into his pocket as he murmured, “She’s too kind. I guess she was much more insightful than either of us was.” Yamaguchi gave a soft hum and stared down at the floor, tears still streaming down his face, then he muttered, “I guess.”

“Tadashi, I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you this sooner. And I’m sorry that I put you through so much. I hope that you can forgive me and that you’ll still love me the way that I love you.” Tsukshima admitted, pressing his forehead against his best friend. The freckled teen gave a soft sniffle then murmured, “You could rip my heart out and saute it for dinner and I would still say, ‘Sorry, Tsukki.’ I love you and I always will.”

The blond drew in a deep breath at the admission and cupped Tadashi’s face before he asked quietly, “Can I kiss you? As the beginning of our relationship?” A small nod and a soft, “I would like that.” answered his question and he leaned down, pecking Yamaguchi chastely on the lips. A bright smile began to stretch across their faces as they backed away before the shorter teenager muttered, “I better get a kiss at least ten times a day.” Tsukishima rolled his eyes at the demand but agreed nonetheless, “Fine, whatever you want. But you need to take this back.”

Tadashi furrowed his eyebrows together at the request and Kei held his hand open, revealing his moon necklace nestled in the palm. Tears bubbled up and he pressed a tight hand over his mouth to stifle a sob, murmuring, “I’m so sorry, I really didn’t mean any of that.”

“I know. I fixed the chain, since it snapped when you threw it at me. Looked like it needed to be changed out anyway. Now turn, so I can put it on you.” the blond murmured, motioning his best friend to spin around. Yamaguchi did as he asked and shivered at the cool metal taking its place on his neck. He glanced down briefly then smiled at the moon settled against his skin. He had his moon back.

Tagging: @haikyuufairy

#tsukiyama #tsukiyama angst #tsukiyama fluff #tsukiyama imagines #tsukishima x yamaguchi #yamaguchi tadashi #tsukishima kei #tsukishima angst #yamaguchi angst #haikyuu angst #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu imagines #hq fluff #hq imagines #hq angst

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carewyncromwell · 4 years

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Hey guys! Meet Future!Carewyn Cromwell’s “son” -- Erik Apollo! I was telling ma cherie @dat-silvers-girl about this boy, and she asked if I planned on drawing him at some point, so...yeah! Here he is!

His fancast is Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen as a teenager/adult, though I also used Ryan Buggle as reference while drawing him as a boy. And of course as a teenager, he’s got longer curls, because yeah. I’m so predictable, all of my kids have long hair and/or ponytails at some point. XDDD

Erik’s full backstory is under the cut, but basically he’s a Muggle-born orphan who was rounded up by the Ministry of Magic during the Second Wizarding War and rescued by Carewyn, Jacob, and several other members of the Order of the Phoenix. After the War, Carewyn fostered Erik out of her own flat since he didn’t have a home to return to, and she singlehandedly supported him financially. Following Erik’s wishes, Carewyn has never formally adopted him or given him her name, but she is his legal guardian and Erik loves and respects her as if she were his mother. He almost always refers to her just as “Ms. Cromwell”, while referring to Lane as “Ms. Lane” and Jacob as...well, either “you,” “Jake,” or “Jacob” just to jibe him. XDD

But yes! Erik is a young wizard, born to a Muggle banker and his wife. When Erik was seven, his father was killed in a bank robbery gone wrong, and Erik took on a lot of extra responsibilities around the house to help support his mother, who was so overcome with grief that she turned to drinking heavily.

Things went from bad to worse, however, when the Ministry of Magic fell to the Death Eaters in 1997. All Muggle-born witches and wizards who were set to start Hogwarts that upcoming school year were rounded up by the Ministry so that they could be tried for supposedly “stealing” magic -- and Erik was no exception.

A group of Death Eater Ministry employees knocked on the Apollo family’s door and immediately grabbed Erik, preparing to take him away. In desperation, Erik’s mother attacked the wizard who had grabbed Erik by spraying him in the face with a bottle of insect repellent. Erik was able to pull free, and his mother screamed at him to run. A second later, she was cut down by a green Killing Curse, and one of the Death Eaters -- Thorfinn Rowle -- lashed a fiery black, rope-like curse that ensnared the eleven-year-old boy around the neck like an animal and yanked him backward so that the wizards could capture him again. The curse left a series of horrible bloody red burn scars around Erik’s neck, which never heal.

Erik was dragged into the courtroom of Dolores Umbridge, head of the Muggle-Born Registration Commission, and railroaded for supposedly “stealing” magic from real witches and wizards, even if the poor boy -- being born to two Muggle parents -- had no idea what was going on or what she was talking about. Despite his terror and confusion, however, Erik was determined not to let the people who had killed his mother see him cower, so he put on the bravest, strongest, proudest face he could, even going so far as to insult Umbridge to her face at one point.

“Don’t talk about my mother like that, you fat old toad!”

“You -- how dare you -- !”

“Say anything else about her and I’ll call you much worse, you -- you foul, ugly, old bint!”

Carewyn Cromwell, who witnessed the tail end of Erik’s trial, was struck by the boy’s courage, considering he was surrounded by about fifty dementors and visibly trembling. As Erik was led away, Carewyn followed covertly behind. As she had several times previously and would do several more times over, the young attorney was able to sneak several prisoners out while they awaited transport to Azkaban, including Erik. Tossing an Invisibility Cloak over the tiny boy, she hurried him to her office and magically shrank him and her other rescued prisoners so they could all fit in her white purse. After work she was then able to smuggle them out to her brother Jacob, who in turn escorted the four prisoners to several safe houses operated by other guards of the Order of the Phoenix. Erik stayed in hiding in one of those houses for the remainder of the War, and it was there that he learned more about the Wizarding World and about the magic he possessed.

After the War, Erik was one of many ex-prisoners awaiting proper compensation for the abuses they suffered at the hands of the Death-Eater-controlled Ministry. Carewyn, who never forgot the tiny boy with the curly blond hair and fiery ice-blue eyes, immediately took it upon herself to handle Erik’s case personally. When she and Erik met again, it was clear that the boy hadn’t forgotten the ginger-haired witch with the red lipstick who had helped him when everyone else wanted him dead. Carewyn represented Erik in court, fighting for proper financial compensation for the wrongful death of his mother and for the Ministry to seek out all remaining property and money in Erik’s parents’ names and place it in a Gringotts trust that Erik could access at age 17. She then filed for legal guardianship of Erik so that he could have a stable place to live and financial support while attending Hogwarts.

Despite his quiet yet blunt demeanor, Erik was deeply moved by Carewyn’s desire to help him, and soon came to see her like a second mother. He’s resisted being formally adopted or calling Carewyn his mother because of his enduring love for his biological parents and the still-painful trauma of losing his mother -- but although he, by nature, is a very reclusive, introverted, blunt, and snarky kid, he adores and deeply respects Carewyn and would probably throw hands with anyone who said a sour word about her. Erik also respects Carewyn’s mother Lane, though to a slightly lesser degree given how pacifistic she is. As for Carewyn’s brother Jacob, Erik likes to sass his face off whenever he’s around. Fortunately Jacob enjoys taking the piss out of Erik too, and so the two often end up acting like a pair of bratty, arrogant children when they’re in the same space, constantly talking smack and subconsciously competing for Carewyn’s attention. (When Erik ends up growing taller than Jacob, the playful rivalry only intensifies, because Jacob is like Edward Friggin’ Elric about his height.) Erik is also on good terms with several of Carewyn’s old friends from school, like Chiara (who, depending on how things go with how I write Carewyn in the future, might be Carewyn’s girlfriend or partner), Talbott, and Jae. He generally is still a bit of a snarky brat around them, but he does treat them with respect and is bluntly straight-forward enough that he won’t be too proud to call them friends of his.

On the note of Erik’s appearance, he started off very tiny, but not unlike Ben Copper, he shot up like a beanstalk at school. He also constantly wears turtlenecks and/or high collars to hide his burn scars, which he’s secretly very self-conscious about. Erik first started growing out his hair to help hide his scar better, as it’s more visible from the back: it’s long enough to be tied back in a small ponytail by the time he’s reached fourth year.

For his intense pride, ambition, determination, and dedication to those few people he lets into his inner circle, Erik is Sorted into Slytherin house when he starts at Hogwarts properly in 1998. Although he as a Muggle-born is pretty instantly a black sheep among his housemates, Erik pretty quickly adopts the attitude of “F*** it” and embraces it whole-hog. He’s actually quite proud of being in the same house that Carewyn was. His best subjects are Defense Against the Dark Arts and Divination, while his worst subjects are History of Magic and Care of Magical Creatures. His Boggart is a Dementor, and his Patronus is a Siberian Cat. His other talents include dueling, Healing magic, and playing the trumpet.

#erik apollo #carewyn cromwell #hphm #hogwarts mystery #future!mc challenge #jacob's sibling #jacob cromwell #lane cromwell #my art #about erik #erik's honestly only about 15 years younger than carey #but fortunately carey's always had that 'mothering' affect anyway so she pretty quickly leapt into 'mama bear' mode XD

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saiilorstars · 4 years

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Stars Dance

Ch. 16: The Imaginary Fairy Tale Man

Fandom: Doctor Who

Pairing: 11th Doctor x Original Female Character

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

Chapter summary: Big Bang Two is coming! The Doctor’s plans will hopefully restore the world and give Avalon and Amy their rightful lives back but before that, of course, Avalon remembers what else she’s forgotten.

(Previous chapters)

Fairy Tale Memoirs (Companion story)

Amelia Pond was knelt down on the side of her bed, praying just like she tended to do every night as of late. "Dear Santa, thank you for the dolls and pencils and the fish. It's Easter now, so I hope I didn't wake you. But honest, it is an emergency. There's a crack in my wall..." she opened one eye to look at the crack on her bedroom wall. Even just looking at it gave her a tingle on her back, a scary tingle. "Aunt Sharon says it's just an ordinary crack, but... I know it's not-"

"-cos it's not," another voice cut into Amelia's prayer. "There's voices on the other side. So, it's not a regular crack."

Amelia opened both her eyes to look at her friend, Avalon Reynolds, sitting on her bed and brushing a Barbie doll's hair. "Then how come you don't back me up when I tell aunt Sharon?"

Avalon put the Barbie doll down and looked at the crack. She tilted her head at it, letting her curly ginger locks fall to one side. "Because we're just kids. No one is going to believe that the crack isn't normal. My parents don't."

"But you're their little girl," Amelia insisted, "The only girl they've got, only child. Maybe if you kept insisting," Amelia sighed.

"They think it's another story," Avalon returned her attention to her Barbie. She didn't bother about the crack anymore because every time she brought it up, her parents told her to leave it alone. A stupid crack wasn't worth the lectures about keeping a low profile and it definitely wasn't worth the time-outs. So what if there were voices behind the crack - they weren't getting out anyways.

The sound of a gushing wind interrupted little Avalon's thoughts and made both girls hurry to the window. They looked out to the garden and saw nothing outside.

Amelia looked up at the moon in the sky and frowned. "Do you ever feel like something's missing up there?" she asked.

"Dunno," Avalon shrugged, looking up to the empty sky. Only the moon was there to illuminate the darkness. "I think there needs to be stars up there. Like the Star cults. Something is missing and barely anyone realizes it," she moved back to Amelia's bed and resumed brushing the Barbie doll's hair.

Amelia looked between the empty sky and Avalon, more inclined to believe her friend than anyone else as Avalon always had a knack for saying the right things when no one else could.

But then again, everyone also thought Avalon just made stories up a lot. She liked fairy tales, so maybe the stars were part of her fantasy worlds.

~ 0 ~

A couple days later, Amelia was once again forced to see a psychiatrist due to her belief in stars. Her aunt Sharon had, had enough and called in the woman, Christine, to try and get some sense into Amelia.

Right now, Christine was studying a painting Amelia had made of the night sky, "It's a lovely painting, Amelia. And what are all these?" she pointed at the yellow stars on Amelia's painting.

"Stars," Amelia shrugged.

Her aunt Sharon, who sat beside Christine, bowed her head with a deep sigh, "Oh, Amelia!"

Christine made a motion with her hand for Sharon to calm, "Tell you what, shall we go outside?" she suggested to them.

The two adult women brought Amelia to the backyard where they made her look up at the sky.

"What do you see, Amelia?" Christine asked her.

"The moon," she saw the big, bright gray moon lighting up the dark sky.

"And what else?"

"Just the dark."

"But no stars," Christine made sure to emphasize that, "If there were stars up there, we'd be able to see them, wouldn't we? Amelia, look at me," she turned Amelia to face her, "You know this is all just a story, don't you? You know there's no such thing as stars."

"But my friend Avalon says it could be!" Amelia shook her head and went inside the house, irritated that no one understood her like Avalon did.

After being sent to bed, Amelia laid on her bed and listened to her aunt and Christine talking about her 'issue'. Amelia got out of bed and made her way to the staircase, staying just at the top where she could hear the adults talking clearer.

"It's quite common, actually. Throughout history, people have talked about stars in the sky," Christine was saying, "God knows where it comes from."

"I just don't want her growing up and joining one of those Star Cults," Sharon said back, "I don't like that Avalon Reynolds very much. She keeps putting these crazy ideas in Amelia's head," she sighed.

Amelia frowned when she heard her aunt speaking about Avalon. No one seemed to like the fact that Avalon was different than other little girls. She said odd things, Amelia was the first to admit, but it wasn't automatically bad. Avalon did make some sense when it came to the stars and the cracks. Amelia knew Avalon had to be right in some sense, and that's why she continued being friends despite the reluctance of everyone else.

Just as Amelia moved to return to her bedroom, she heard something at the front door and saw a slip of paper being skid through the letter slot on the door. Amelia ran down the stairs and picked up the paper off the floor, seeing it was a brochure for the National Museum. She opened it up and saw one of the attractions of the museum, a Pandorica box or something, had been circled in red ink. And, on the back, Amelia saw a note reading, 'Come along, Pond' for her.

~ 0 ~

As much as Amelia had insisted to Avalon that they should both go to the museum together and see who and what had requested for Amelia to go, Avalon refused. She knew Amelia's aunt didn't really like her that much and preferred to stay away for the day. So, Amelia had gone to the National Museum with her aunt and had gone straight to the Pandorica room where the box laid in all its glory. She'd managed to slip away from her aunt and saw another note on the Pandorica, also written in the same red ink from the brochure, telling her to stick around. She ended up hiding in a nearby exhibit, successfully avoiding her aunt who had been searching for her all over the museum, going as far as making an announcement over the tannoy of the building to get her to come out.

When it was safe to come out, Amelia emerged from the exhibit she'd been hiding in and headed back into the Pandorica room. She went under the cord around the box and removed the note left for her. She placed a palm on the box and looked at it, gasping when he started glowing a bright green. She quickly moved back as the box started opening up. She covered her eyes as a blinding white light took over the room.

Once the light died down, Amelia looked again just as the box finished opening and came face to face with her older self, "Okay, kid. This is where it gets complicated," Amy took a breath.

~ 0 ~

In the Past...

Rory, the Plastic Centurion who'd managed to stay alive after the fiasco with other soldiers, had opened up the Pandorica with the Doctor's screwdriver, given to him by a future Doctor.

"How did you do that?" the current Doctor was staring at Rory in amazement.

"You gave me this," Rory waved the screwdriver in his hand.

"No, I didn't," the Doctor stepped out of the Pandorica and pulled out his own screwdriver to show he wasn't lying.

"You did. Look at it."

The Doctor held his screwdriver to the one Rory held and both men flinched as the two screwdrivers sparked, "Temporal energy. Same screwdriver, at different points in its own time stream. Which means it was me who gave it to you," the Doctor smiled, "Me from the future. I've got a future, that's nice," his eyes wandered behind Rory to see the remains of the enemies that'd locked him up, "That's not," he pointed at a Dalek.

"Yeah," Rory had ignored the creatures as they were a bit spooky, "What are they?"

"History has collapsed. Whole races have been deleted from existence. These are just like after-images. Echoes, fossils in time. The footprints of the never-were."

"Er, what does that mean?"

"Total event collapse. The universe literally never happened."

"So, how can we be here? What's keeping us safe?"

"Nothing," the Doctor shrugged as he took a better look around the room, "Eye of the storm, that's all. We're just the last light to go out. Amy. Where's Amy?"

~ 0 ~

Rory had brought the Doctor to Amy's body above ground, a blanket covering her, "I killed her," he shuddered a breath at his words. He hadn't meant to, it was literally in his programming to do so. He was Rory now, he was, but what ever had brought him back had been in control and that was what forced him to shoot...and unfortunately Amy had payed the price.

"Oh, Rory," the Doctor sighed, not too surprised of it.

"Doctor, what am I?" Rory dared to ask, needing to know what made him shoot his own fiancee.

"You're a Nestene duplicate. A lump of plastic with delusions of humanity," the Doctor started using the screwdriver on Amy to check for her vitals.

"But I'm Rory now. Whatever was happening, it's stopped. I'm Rory!"

"That's software talking."

Rory rolled his eyes, "Can you help her?" he moved closer, "Is there anything you can do?"

"Yeah, probably, if I had the time," the Doctor shrugged as he stood up, taking a

step over Amy's body.

"The time!?" Rory watched the man move away from them.

"All of creation has just been wiped from the sky. Do you know how many lives now never happened?" the Doctor continued his charade of indifference, "All the people who never lived? Your girlfriend isn't more important than the whole universe."

Rory marched over and whipped the Doctor around to give him a punch in the face, satisfied to see the alien knocked to the ground, "She is to me!" he shouted.

The Doctor just laughed as he stood back up, rubbing his face where he'd been punched, "Welcome back, Rory Williams! Sorry, had to be sure. Hell of a gun-arm you're packing there. Right, we need to get her downstairs. And take that look off your plastic face. You're getting married in the morning!"

Together, they'd brought Amy down the Pandorica and placed her inside the box, the screwdriver Rory had been given by the future Doctor tucked in her front pocket as had been instructed.

"So you've got a plan, then?" Rory hoped as he watched the final restrains lock on Amy.

"Bit of a plan, yeah. Memories are more powerful than you think, and Amy Pond is not an ordinary girl. Grew up with a time crack in her wall. The universe pouring through her dreams every night. The Nestenes took a memory print of her and got more than they bargained for. Like you. Not just your face, but your heart and your soul," the Doctor put his hands on either side of Amy's face and closed his eyes for a moment, "I'm leaving her a message for when she wakes up, so she knows what's happening," once finished, he stepped back and locked the ginger girl in the Pandorica.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Rory nearly pushed him again, "What are you doing?"

"Saving her," the Doctor stopped him before he did anything rash, "This is the ultimate prison. You can't even escape by dying. It forces you to stay alive."

"But she's already dead," Rory frowned.

"Mostly dead. The Pandorica can stasis-lock her that way. All it needs is a scan of her living DNA and it'll restore her."

"Where's it going to get that?"

The Doctor checked his watch, "In about 2,000 years."

"She's going to be in that box for 2,000 years?!" Rory nearly fell forwards at the answer, "What!?"

"Yeah, but we're taking a shortcut. River's vortex manipulator," the Doctor had pulled out a manipulator from River's bag and was strapping it on to his wrist, "Rubbish way to time travel, but the universe is tiny now. We'll be fine."

"So the future's still there, then?" Rory tried to wrap his mind around this wonky plan, "Our world?"

"A version of it. Not quite the one you know. Earth alone in the sky. Let's go and have a look," the Doctor held his arm out for Rory, the manipulator set to go, "You put your hand there. Don't worry, should be safe."

"That's not what I'm worried about."

The Doctor looked at the Pandorica and sighed, "She'll be fine. Nothing can get into this box."

"You got in there."

"Well, there's only one of me. I counted."

Rory couldn't find it in him to leave Amy alone and so shook his head, "This box needs a guard. I killed the last one."

"No. Rory, no. Don't even think about it," the Doctor pointed as the human moved towards the box again.

"She'll be all alone," Rory tried to say.

"She won't feel it!"

"You bet she won't!"

"2,000 years, Rory," the Doctor reminded, "You won't even sleep, you'd be conscious every second. It would drive you mad."

"Will she be safer if I stay?" Rory looked at him, dead serious, "Look me in the eye and tell me she wouldn't be safer."

"Rory..."

"Answer me!"

"Yes," the Doctor finally gave the answer, "Obviously."

"Then how could I leave her?"

"Why do you have to be so...human?" the Doctor bowed his head, not upset simply fascinated of the matter.

"Because right now, I'm not," Rory answered and walked to the other side of the Pandorica. The Doctor gave up and started setting up the manipulator.

"Listen to me. This is the last bit of advice you're going to get in a very long time. You're living plastic, but not immortal," he began his warnings, "I have no idea how long you'll last. And you're not indestructible. Stay away from heat and radio signals when they come along. You can't heal, or repair yourself. Any damage is permanent. So, for God's sake, however bored you get, stay out of..." but he disappeared before he could finish his sentence.

Rory picked up his helmet and put it on, taking his sword from its place and held it to his side as he began his long vigil.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor appeared right in the middle of a fiasco concerning a Dalek and two gingers, "Trouble..." he finished his sentence, "Oh!" he looked back to see two Ponds, "Two of you?" he mused, "Complicated."

"Exterminate! 'Weapons systems restoring," the Dalek ahead of them was coming closer to the Pandorica room.

'Come along, Ponds," the Doctor took both gingers by the hand and ran to hiding by the Pandorica box.

"Exterminate!"

The Doctor stopped at an alcove display and nearly fell on a mannequin. He picked up a falling fez and put it on.

"What are we doing?" Amy looked around, hoping to find another way out before the Dalek caught them.

"Running into a dead end, where I'll have a brilliant plan, that basically involves not being in one," the Doctor grinned.

"What's going on?" a watchman called, the group able to see a bit of a torch shining into the room.

The Doctor and the Ponds moved to hide behind the Pandorica, "Get out of here," he told Amy, "Go! Just run!" but the ginger woman refused to go anywhere.

"Drop the device," the Dalek turned on the watchman.

"It's not a weapon," the Doctor called to them before the watchman was hurt, "Scan it. It's not a weapon, and you don't have the power to waste!"

"Scans indicate intruder unarmed."

The watchman scoffed, "Do you think?" he dropped his torch and held his hand out, his index fingers opening down to reveal a gun that fired on the Dalek's eyestalk.

"Vision impaired! Vision... "

The watchman stepped into the Pandorica room where the group was able to see it was RORY.

"Amy?" he breathed at the sight of her as she and the others came around the box.

"Rory!" Amy ran straight to him, nearly knocking him down with her hug.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. It just happened," Rory started apologizing as the ginger clung to him.

"Oh, Shut up," Amy rolled her eyes and kissed him.

"Yeah, shut up, cos we've got to go," the Doctor came up to them and sighed when they kept kissing, "Come on!"

Rory pulled away and smiled at Amy, "I waited. 2,000 years, I waited for you."

"No, still shut up," Amy resumed their kiss.

"And break! And breathe!" the Doctor nearly flapped his arms to get their attention back, "Well, somebody didn't get out much for 2,000 years," he muttered in the end.

Amelia tugged on his sleeve, "I'm thirsty," she frowned, "Can I get a drink?"

The Doctor let out a big breath, "Oh, it's all mouths today, isn't it?!" he put the fez he'd taken on her head but she shoved it back to him, still waiting for her drink. He shook his head and looked back at the Dalek, "The light! The light from the Pandorica, it must have hit the Dalek," the Dalek started moving its weapon, "Out! Out! Out!" he took Amelia's hand and pushed the snogging pair in front of them out into the hallway.

He and Rory closed the door and the Doctor pulled out his screwdriver to keep it locked, "So, 2,000 years. How did you do?" he genuinely wondered as he glanced at Rory.

"Kept out of trouble," Rory shrugged.

"Oh," the Doctor realized he still had the fez and placed it back on his head, "How?"

"Unsuccessfully," Rory walked to Amy. The Doctor nodded and picked up a nearby mop for the doors, "The mop!" Rory made him jump, "That's how you looked all those years ago when you gave me the sonic."

"Ah! Well, no time to lose then," the Doctor used the manipulator and disappeared. A couple seconds later he reappeared to put the mop through the door handles as another lock and then disappeared once again.

"How can he do that?" Amelia blinked as the man kept disappearing and coming back, "Is he magic?"

The Doctor finally appeared again and ran for the stairs, "Right, let's go then. Wait! Now I don't have the sonic, I just gave it to Rory 2,000 years ago," and off he went again. Seconds later he reappeared and reached over to Amy and pulled out his screwdriver from her pocket, "Off we go! No, hang on," he moved to Amelia, "How did you know to come here?" Amelia took out the museum brochure and held it out for him, "Ah, my handwriting. OK!" the Doctor ran for the stands of brochures then to a desk across, getting everything he needed for the note and disappeared. He reappeared moments later with a drink for Amelia, "There you go, drink up!" he handed it to her then continued his way up the stairs.

'What is that?" Amy shook her head, a bit dizzy after that.

"Vortex manipulator...cheap and nasty time travel," the Doctor shrugged, "Very bad for you. I'm trying to give it up."

"Where are we going?"

"The roof."

Suddenly, they saw another flash of light where another Doctor appeared at the top of the stairs, his jacket smoking and skin charcoiled. He toppled down the stairs until he came to a stop beside the current Doctor. Quickly, the current Doctor used his screwdriver on him while the humans rushed to them.

"Doctor, it's you. How can it be you?" Rory looked between both aliens.

"Doctor, is that you?" Amy was hesitant to accept such a thing.

"Yeah, it's me," the Doctor put away his screwdriver, "Me from the future."

The future Doctor snapped open his eyes and grabbed the current Doctor, whispering something in his ear before falling to the floor again, unconscious.

Amy's eyes widened as she saw the action, "Are you...I mean, is he...is he dead?"

The Doctor remained silent for a moment, "What?" he shook his head to snap himself out and stood up, "Yes, yes. Of course he's dead. Right, I've got 12 minutes, that's good," he started up the stairs again.

"12 minutes to live?" Amy stopped him again, "How is that good?"

"You can do loads in 12 minutes... suck a mint, buy a sledge, have a fast bath. Come on, the roof!"

"We can't leave you here, dead," Rory frowned.

"Oh, good! Are you in charge now? So, tell me, what are we going to do about Amelia?" the Doctor looked at where Amelia had originally been at, only her drink left on the floor as evidence.

However, the two humans didn't seem to understand she was gone forever as they started down the stairs searching for her.

"Where did she go?" Amy frowned and looked back at the Doctor.

"Amelia?" Rory shouted for the girl.

"There is no Amelia. From now on, there never was," the Doctor informed, making both look back, "History is still collapsing."

"How can I be here, if she's not?" Amy gestured to herself, as if doubting his words.

"You're an anomaly. We all are. We're all hanging on at the eye of the storm, but the eye is closing, and if we don't do something, reality will never have happened. Today, just dying is a result. Now, come on!"

~ 0 ~

Eventually, the group made it up to the roof where it was visibly daylight now. Amy looked around as if she was being tricked, "How did morning happen?" she questioned.

"History is shrinking. Is anybody listening to me?" the Doctor rolled his eyes as he headed for a satellite dish, "Universe is collapsing. We don't have much time left."

"What are you doing?" Rory raised an eyebrow as the Doctor pulled the dish off its place with the screwdriver.

"Looking for the TARDIS."

"But the TARDIS exploded."

"OK, then. I'm looking for an exploding TARDIS," the Doctor rolled his eyes again at his technicality and moved to the edge of the roof.

"I don't understand," Amy followed him, "So, the TARDIS blew up and took the universe with it. Why would it do that? How?"

"Good question for another day," the Doctor raised the dish up to the sky, "But for now... total event collapse means that every star in the universe never happened. Not one of them ever shone. So, if all the stars that ever were are gone...what is that?" he made both humans look at a fireball in the sky. Both Amy and Rory exchanged quick, confused glances before looking at the Doctor again. "Like I said, I'm looking for an exploding TARDIS."

"But that's the sun," Rory blinked, though now he wasn't so sure that's what it was.

"Is it? Here's the noise that 'sun' is making right now," the Doctor amplified the light noises to make them see it was the TARDIS. "That's my TARDIS burning up. That's what's been keeping the Earth warm."

Rory listened closer and shook his head, "Doctor, there's something else. There's a voice-er, scream."

The Doctor frowned and adjusted the settings of his screwdriver to get a better sound.

"I can't hear anything," Amy tapped her ears.

"Trust the plastic," Rory nodded.

Then they heard the voice Rory was talking about, all recognizing it instantaneously, "Fairy Tale Man, where are you?" Avalon kept asking on a loop before screaming.

"That's Ava!" Rory nearly shouted, "Doctor, that is Ava and she is not here! Where is she!?"

"The emergency protocols..." the Doctor gasped lightly. He hated himself for not realizing it sooner. "The TARDIS has sealed off the control room and put Avalon and River into a time loop to save them. They're right at the heart of the explosion."

Of course that's where Avalon would be, right where the action was happening. He would roll his eyes at how typical that was if he didn't feel himself panicking from head to toe. First of all, he was supposed to keep her away from River and that clearly wasn't happening right now. Second of all, she was literally in the middle of an explosion. That's nowhere near what he promised her she would see if she came along with him. You promised her she and her sister would travel together and you failed in that too. He did. But he wouldn't let Avalon follow in Lena's fate. He long ago made that promise to himself and he would make sure to fulfill no matter what.

He needed to go pick her up right now.

~ 0 ~

River connected wires on the console, ignoring the sparks and small explosions as best as she could. Time was of the essence and she needed to her and Avalon out of this mess. When she thought the work was more or less done, she looked up and gave a nod to Avalon. "Try it Avalon!"

Avalon swallowed hard and dashed towards the doors. She didn't know what the hell was going on but she trusted River, despite the Doctor's clear reservations about her. She flung the doors open only to come face to face with a stone wall. Her heart dropped. "Fairy Tale Man, where are you?" she stepped back and turned around in time to see River attempting one more try on the console before it exploded with a bright light. Avalon screamed from its might.

The loop started over again and Avalon once more ran for the doors after River gave her the go. Only this time, the Doctor appeared in front of the doors. "Any princess in need of saving?" he looked around like nothing was going on.

Avalon gave a hearty laugh at the sight of him. She ran towards him, jumping to hug him. "You came!"

"Always will," he reassured her for future references. "Are you okay? Nothing hurts?"

"I'm fine!" Avalon pulled away but kept her arms looped around his neck as if he would disappear in that second.

River smiled at them from the console. "You're late!" she cut through their moment to point out.

"Oh, criticism!" the Doctor rolled his eyes. "I was a little tied up. Well, trapped actually. I tried my best! Now c'mon!" River left the console in a sprint. "Hang on, please!"

"Avalon's taking care of that," River made a gesture to Avalon's arms around the Doctor's neck, giving them both a teasing grin. It was actually quite amusing the way they both shared the same blushes. How they got into sync like that, River would never understand.

The three soon disappeared and re-appeared on the rooftop where Amy and Rory waited.

"Amy! And the plastic Centurion?" River eyed the pair curiously.

"Rory!" Avalon ran up to her best friend and hugged him, "My Rory! You're my best friend!" she laughed.

"And there's no one else you've, uh...remembered?" Rory pulled away, happy to see her alright but there was still that blank face on Avalon that just didn't settle with him. How could she forget Lena like this?

"Why do you ask?" Avalon stepped back and looked at the others, noticing a similar expression on each of their faces, "What is it?"

"Nothing," the Doctor answered while looking at Rory, nearly forcing him to stay away from the topic of Lena.

Rory frowned, disagreeing with the Doctor's decision. Lena was Avalon's sister, she deserved to be remembered at the least!

River sensed the tension growing between the group and stepped in between them, "Right then, I have questions," she tried distracting, "But number one is this: what in the name of sanity have you got on your head?" she pointed at the red rez the Doctor wore on his head.

"It's a fez. I wear a fez now. Fezes are cool," the Doctor grinned happily.

River looked at Avalon with a smirk, silently agreeing on what was going to happen next. Avalon snatched the fez from the Doctor's head and threw it into the sky where it was shot and destroyed by River.

"Oh!" the Doctor pouted, his head feeling lonely now.

"Next time can I shoot?" Avalon asked River, already eyeing River's blaster with plans.

"Exterminate!" the group turned to see the Dalek they'd left now hovering on the side of the building.

The Doctor forgot about his fez and hurried the others back to the stairwell entrance, "Run, run, move, move. Go! Come on!" after covering everyone with the satellite dish, the Dalek firing as soon as it had the chance, the Doctor was the last to climb down to the stairwell.

"Doctor, come on," River hurried as she kept an aim on the hatch, the others just behind her.

"Shh. It's moving away, finding another way in," the Doctor quieted her down after using the screwdriver to lock the hatch. He jumped down, "It needs to restore its power before it can attack again. Now, that means we've got exactly four and a half minutes before it's at lethal capacity."

"How do you know that?" Avalon followed him down the stairs.

"Because that's when it's due to kill me."

"Kill you?" Avalon and River looked at each other with confusion while Amy and Rory simply sighed behind them.

"What do you mean, 'kill' you?" Avalon insisted seeing as the Doctor had made more of a haste down the stairs, "Oi!" she called.

"Oh, shut up, never mind," he waved her off, unaware of the glare she now had on him, "How can that Dalek even exist?" they entered a hallway, "It was erased from time and then it came back. How?"

"You said the light from the Pandorica..." Rory reminded but was cut off.

"It's not a light, it's a restoration field, but never mind. Call it a light. That light brought Amy back, but how could it bring back a Dalek when the Daleks have never existed?"

"Okay, tell us," Amy motioned with a hand for him to keep going, no one surprised he'd just been playing the moment even more.

"When the TARDIS blew up, it caused a total event collapse. A time explosion. It blasted every atom in every moment of the universe. Except..."

"Except inside the Pandorica."

"The perfect prison. Inside it, perfectly preserved, a few billion atoms of the universe as it was. In theory, you could extrapolate the whole universe from a single one of them, like cloning a body from a single cell. And we've got the bumper family pack."

"No, too fast, I'm not getting it," Rory made a face.

The Doctor sighed and turned back for a moment, "The box contains a memory of the universe, and the light transmits the memory. And that's how we're going to do it."

"Do what, exactly?" Avalon crossed her arms, sharing the misunderstanding with Rory.

"Relight the fire. Reboot the universe. Come on!" the Doctor exclaimed and continued down the hallway.

River, who'd understood perfectly the 'plan', hurried after him, "Doctor, you're being completely ridiculous. The Pandorica partially restored one Dalek. If it can't even reboot a single life form properly, how will it reboot the whole of reality?"

"What if we give it a moment of infinite power?" the Doctor shrugged, "Transmit the light from the Pandorica to every particle of space and time simultaneously?"

"Well, that would be lovely, dear, but we can't, because it's completely impossible!"

"Ah, no, you see, it's not," he tapped her on the forehead, "It's almost completely impossible. One spark is all we need."

"For what?"

"Big Bang Two!" he cheered, "Now listen..." he didn't get the chance to explain the plan in the detail as the Dalek had reappeared and shot him from the back.

"Exterminate! Exterminate!" the Dalek headed for them.

The Doctor had collapsed to the floor in the smokey appearance Amy and Rory had seen twelve minutes ago. Rory made sure everyone else was behind him as he shot the Dalek once more in the eyestalk, draining its energy for another while.

"What do we do?" Avalon knelt beside River, scared out of her mind. "Is he going to do that face-change thing?"

"Not enough energy hit him for that," River assured her, "Doctor, it's me, River. Can you hear me? What is it? What do you need?"

The Doctor didn't answer anyone, instead reaching to his manipulator on his wrist and activating it, disappearing from the group.

"Where did he go?" River looked around, "Damn it, he could be anywhere."

Amy shook her head as the two women stood up, "He went downstairs. 12 minutes ago."

"Show me!"

"River, he died."

"If he died he wouldn't have randomly gone twelve minutes into the past," Avalon refused to believe any such thing involving the Doctor's death. That just wasn't possible. "Clearly, he had a plan that didn't involve telling any of us."

"Systems restoring! You will be exterminated!" the Dalek began to stir again.

"Oh shut up!" Avalon turned to the blasted Dalek in anger.

"Not the time, Ava," Rory quickly stopped her before her temper grew, "We've got to move. That thing's coming back to life."

"Well someone's got to shoot that thing dead," Avalon glared at the creature.

"All of you go to the Doctor," River instructed them, "I'll be right with you."

"What are you going to do?" Avalon looked back at her.

"Exactly what it deserves," River nodded for them to all leave.

Avalon sighed but let Amy and Rory lead her towards the Pandorica room. Upon seeing the Doctor's body not on the stairs as had been twelve minutes ago, Amy and Rory started searching for the missing alien.

"What's going on?" Avalon frowned, coming up behind them and seeing only a jacket on the floor.

"He's moved," Rory explained and ran down the remaining steps, "How could he have moved? He was dead! Doctor? Doctor!"

"But he was dead!" Amy exclaimed.

"Like I said, he must have lied," Avalon rolled her eyes and moved down the remaining steps as well. "That's like one of his rules, remember?"

"No, he was dead, we saw him," Amy insisted, but Avalon shook her head in refusal.

"Who told you that?" River joined them, looking calm as ever despite having blasted a Dalek to pieces seconds ago.

"He did."

"Rule one. The Doctor lies."

"Told you," Avalon told Amy with a hint of triumph lacing her tone. "So, where's the Dalek?"

"It died," she answered darkly and entered the exhibit hall leading to the Pandorica room.

They could all see the Doctor sitting inside the Pandorica box, unconscious they assumed. They ran into the room and River went straight to the Doctor to check what exactly he'd been doing.

"Why did he tell us he was dead?" Rory frowned, not appreciating they'd been crudely lied to.

"A diversion," Avalon sighed, "Told you," she looked at them, "How is it that I figured that out in less than ten minutes when you've been here longer than I have? As long as the Dalek was chasing us, he could work down here."

"Doctor, can you hear me?" River was asking the Doctor, clapping his face repeatedly to get a response form him. "What were you doing?"

"What's happening?" Rory looked up at the small window above them when the room became lighted with yellow and orange from the 'fireball' in the sky.

"Reality's collapsing," River called to them, "It's speeding up. Look at this room."

The trio looked around and saw every single display was empty.

"Where did everything go?" Amy frowned.

"History is being erased. Time is running out," River sighed and focused on the Doctor again, "Doctor, what were you doing? Tell us! Doctor?"

"Big... Bang... Two," he slowly came around.

"The Big Bang is the beginning of the universe," Avalon relayed, "Is that supposed to be like the 'reboot' thing you were talking about?" he slowly nodded, "Is that even possible?" she frowned.

"Oh!" the answer came from River, "Oh, that's good," she started to smile.

"What?" Amy asked.

"The TARDIS is still burning. It's exploding at every point in history. If you threw the Pandorica into the explosion, right into the heart of the fire..."

"Then what?"

"Then let there be light. The light from the Pandorica would explode everywhere at once, just like he said."

"That would work?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, "That would bring everything back?"

"A restoration field, powered by an exploding TARDIS, happening at every moment in history. Oh, that's brilliant. It might even work!" River let a small laugh and took out the Doctor's screwdriver, "He's wired the vortex manipulator to the rest of the box."

"Why?" Rory asked.

"So he can take it with him," River realized and looked back at the Doctor, still barely unconscious, "He's going to fly the Pandorica into the heart of the explosion."

~ 0 ~

After being sent out of the Pandorica room so the Doctor could finish his work in the Pandorica box, the human faction started witnessing even more displays being emptied out by collapsing time. While Amy and Rory comforted each other, Avalon stood to the side in deep thought. Eventually, Rory noticed and felt like he could nearly guess why she was so silent and thoughtful.

"Ava," Rory quietly called, leaving Amy for just a moment. He knew that the Doctor said not to tell Avalon anything but she had the right to know, and he wouldn't feel right about hiding poor Lena from her twin sister.

Avalon looked over at him, "I still can't believe you're back," she admitted with a small smile.

"You and me both," he agreed and they shared a small laugh. He glanced at Avalon for a minute, debating one last time whether or not he should go through with it and tell her the truth.

"You know, now I understand why my journal had those empty lines in the middle of my writing," she beat him to it, "I kept thinking and thinking of why I would do something like that: leave blank lines in my pages. I knew I was forgetting something and that something turned out to be you," she looked at him again, her smile brightening, "Why Vincent said he was sorry for my losses," Rory gave him a look for that, "I met Vincent Van Gogh a while back. I also met Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald. I knew I forgot something...and I guess my mind was trying to give me some clues."

"But...wait a minute," Rory also caught another word, "Van Gogh said 'losses'," he watched Avalon stiffen at that, knowing she'd finally realized it too, "Meaning you didn't...lose just...me."

"No, but..." Avalon blinked, "The blank lines...those were because of you..." she turned to him, "...they had to be..." but as she studied the face Rory had she knew he was hiding something from her, "...Rory? What's going on?"

"Ava, I'm really sorry," Rory sighed.

"What's going on?" Avalon asked again and when she didn't get an answer she walked up to Amy, "Amy, do you know what Rory's been hiding?"

"What?" Amy raised an eyebrow, "No, I just...I just got him back," she reminded, "How could I know a secret of his?"

"Rory Arthur Williams you tell me what's going on right now!" Avalon stomped her foot and glared at her plastic best friend.

Rory turned to both gingers and took a deep breath, the words he was about to speak would surely cause some problems...

~ 0 ~

River emerged from the Pandorica room to gather two gingers but instead found Avalon with red eyes, barely able to stand, and Amy near to tears. River marched up to them and with hands on her hip, "What's going on here?"

"It's my fault," Rory sighed, unhappy with the results but knowing that in a long run it was better.

River shook her head, "Amy, Avalon, the Doctor wanted to talk to both of you, but..."

Avalon didn't wait for her to finish and stalked into the Pandorica room.

"Avalon!" Amy tried to go after her but was kept back by Rory, "We can't-"

"Just...just let her talk first," he pleaded, "She deserves to know."

"What happened?" River questioned again.

"Fine," Amy huffed and moved up to River, "Why don't you tell us what happens here instead?" she said to River, "Big Bang Two? What happens to us?"

River sighed, "We all wake up where we ought to be. None of this ever happens and we don't remember it."

"River... tell me he comes back, too."

"The Doctor will be the heart of the explosion," River looked down.

"So?"

"So all the cracks in time will close, but he'll be on the wrong side...trapped in the never-space, the void between the worlds. All memory of him will be purged from the universe. He will never have been born."

"Oh...that's it?" Amy swallowed hard, barely managing a sarcastic tone.

"I'm sorry," was all River could say.

~ 0 ~

Avalon gradually slowed as she walked towards the Pandorica. The Doctor noticed her expression and knew it wasn't because of him, and the only other thing that could make her react like that would be...

"Her name was Lena," Avalon said quietly, her voice shaking with each step she took. "She was my twin sister and I...I can't even remember her," Avalon stopped before him, her eyes ready to spill fresh new tears, "Rory told me all about her and I can't remember anything."

"Subconsciously you did," he tried to help, "The strawberry hot chocolate, that was her favorite drink."

"Oh, goody, I remembered her favorite drink but not her," she gritted her teeth, "I still can't remember her. And do you know what's the worst thing? That I knew, I knew that I'd forgotten something and I've had memories but I can't actually see her! I can't see her! Why? Amy has zero idea who Lena is, she never had any idea that she'd forgotten someone...but I did. I knew that I forgot Rory, and I knew that I'd forgotten Lena...why?"

"I really wish I knew, Ava," the Doctor honestly said, lamenting the fact he would probably never understand what gave Avalon that ability. "I don't know why your subconscious fought harder. It's like you said the first night you came with me: your brain is wired differently."

"Ruddy brain," Avalon muttered bitterly. She folded her arms over her chest.

"Beautiful, intelligent brain!"

Avalon rolled her eyes at him. "No time for compliments here! I want to remember Lena, I want...I want to remember all the times we shared. She existed and she deserves to be remembered."

"I've got news for you, Avalon Reynolds. Would you like to hear it?" the Doctor knew that despite her feelings, she wouldn't resist not hearing what he had to say.

"...what is it?"

He smiled weakly at her. "You're going to see Lena again. My sweet baby sister is going to be alive again."

"How?"

"Big Bang," he whispered with a small cheerful tone, actually making Avalon chuckle a little.

"How, though? What are you physically going to do here?" Avalon's eyes studied the wires he'd connected from his manipulator to the Pandorica. It looked rather painful and he already seemed so weak.

"He's going to take the Pandorica into the exploding TARDIS and seal every crack up while leaving himself stuck on the wrong side," Amy entered the room.

"What?" Avalon frowned, looking at Amy as she joined her.

"Such a 'you' thing to do by the way," Amy looked at the Doctor with a sigh.

"But you can't do that," Avalon shook her head at him, "I want Lena back but...I don't want to lose you either."

"Well, isn't that nice to hear," the Doctor smiled, "Am I finally a friend?"

"What?" Avalon laughed in a confused manner, "What kind of question is that? You were always a friend. I mean, you were Amy's 'imaginary friend'," the two gingers shared a moment of laughter at their childhood ideas, "And you were the Fairy Tale Man for me. I, actually, um, wrote short stories about you..." she blushed with embarrassment.

"Yeah, I read them," Amy muttered.

Avalon's mouth dropped open, "What!?" she turned to Amy, "How dare you!?"

"We were ten, give it up," Amy rolled her eyes.

"Well," Avalon huffed and crossed her arms, "And here I thought I had friends who respected privacy."

Amy rolled her eyes again, "Yeah, yeah, ten years old," she emphasized their young age then sighed, "Anyways," she looked at the Doctor again, "What Avalon was trying to say was that we don't want to lose you."

"And I'm touched, I really am," the Doctor nodded. At least he knew that he'd completed his little challenge with Avalon and became a true friend; and, he felt very happy about it, "However, there are some things you've yet to see. Example number one, Amy: your house was too big. That big, empty house. And just you."

"And Aunt Sharon," she reminded, seeing no relevancy in it.

"Where were your mum and dad? Where was... everybody who lived in that big house?"

"I lost my Mum and Dad."

"How? What happened to them? Where did they go?"

"I... I don't..." Amy began faltering the more she thought about her parents. She looked at Avalon for help, seeing as they'd known each other since they were in diapers nearly, "...Avalon?"

"I don't, I don't remember," Avalon shrugged as she thought as well, "I just remember..." she closed her eyes, focusing hard.

"It's OK. Don't panic," the Doctor said to them, "It's not your fault."

"I don't even remember," Amy gasped at the realization.

"There was a crack in time in the wall of your bedroom and it's been eating away at your life for a long time now. Amy Pond, all alone in that house. The girl who didn't make sense. How could I resist?"

"How could I just forget?"

"Nothing is ever forgotten, not really. But you have to try."

The ground started shaking underneath them. River ran into the room urgently, "Doctor! It's speeding up!"

Amy returned the Doctor's screwdriver into his pocket and sighed.

"There's going to be a very big bang. Big Bang Two," the Doctor began, "Try and remember your family and they'll be there. And, maybe even remember my baby sister?"

"How can I remember them if they never existed?" Amy looked at Avalon, "You'd be better at this than me!"

"You're special, Amy," the Doctor assured, "That crack in your wall, all that time, the universe pouring into your head. You brought Rory back...you can bring everyone else back, too. You just remember, and they'll be there."

"You won't," Amy countered, taking Avalon's hand and backing away from him.

"That's not any better," Avalon added.

"You'll have your families back," he smiled, "You won't need your imaginary friend nor a Fairy Tale Man any more. Avalon Reynolds, Amy Pond... crying over me, eh? Guess what?"

"What?" both gingers sniffled.

"Gotcha!"

The Pandorica closed and began glowing until it launched into the sky.

"Back! Get back!" River pulled both gingers into a corner of the room with Rory, all gathering together as the shaking increased. A couple seconds later River received a message from the Doctor in her communicator, "It's from the Doctor."

"What does it say?" Avalon peered over.

"Geronimo."

The room was taken over by a bright, white light...

~ 0 ~

Amy fluttered her eyes open to a bright morning. She slowly sat up and looked around her room, looking around the mess she had in it with her imaginary friend dolls and drawings. She really ought to clean that up seeing as she was about to get...

"Morning!" her mother, Tabetha, came into the room holding a breakfast tray in hand.

Amy, startled, looked at her with wide eyes, "You're my mum. Oh, my God, you're my mum."

"Well, of course I'm your mum. What's the matter with you?" Tabetha shook off her daughter's oddness for the moment, "And this is your breakfast, which your father made, so feel free to tip it out of the window if it's an atrocity. Downstairs, 10 minutes? Big day!" she cheered and hurried on out.

"Of course she's my mum. Why is that surprising?" Amy whispered to herself before jumping out of bed.

She ran down the stairs towards the living room where she was hearing a set of low mutters. It was her...father.

"Ah, Amelia. I fear I may have been using the same joke book as the best man," Augustus Pond turned to her with genuine concern.

"You're my tiny little dad!" Amy laughed and hurried up to hug him.

"Amelia, why are you behaving as if you've never seen us before?" Tabetha entered the room with confusion.

"I don't know. It's just..." but Amy laughed again and hugged them both.

~ 0 ~

Rory was brushing his teeth when he heard his phone ringing. He quickly answered, "Hello!"

"Do you feel like you've forgotten something really important?" Amy got straight to the point.

"Yep!"

"Do you feel like there's a great big thing in your head, and you feel like you should remember it, but you can't?"

"Yep!"

"Are you just saying yes cos you're scared of me?"

"Yep."

Amy rolled her eyes, "I love you."

"Yep," Rory shook his head, "I mean, I love you too!"

"I'm going to call Avalon, she'll understand!"

"Yep," Rory nodded, still with no idea what the conversation was about.

Amy shook her head and laughed before hanging up. She hung up and redialed again for the Reynolds', she would've dialed for Avalon's cellphone, but...she'd been punished.

She and Mel needed to stop getting into so much trouble.

~ 0 ~

"Hello?" a young, fourteen year old boy answered the phone.

"Gavin? Is Avalon around?" Amy asked.

"Yeah," Gavin picked at an orange strand of hair refusing to stay off his forehead. He kept blowing on it, prompting Amy to snap his name out.

"Gavin, pass the phone to Avalon!"

"Aren't you getting married?"

"Well, not if people won't take my phone call serious and just talk to me!" huffed Amy over the line.

Gavin pulled the phone from his ear and made a face. "You're weird, Amy. AVALON!"

~ 0 ~

Avalon was still in her pajamas with a robe on when her brother called for her. But she ignored it as she quietly tip-toed towards a room with an open door. She poked her head inside and saw a small brunette standing in front of a mirror with a salmon-pink dress on.

"Avalon, what is it?" Lena Reynolds turned to her with her hands on her hips.

Avalon felt the air leave her lungs at the sight of her twin sister. "Oh Lena!" She ran inside the room and hugged Lena so very tight. "Lena!"

"What...what is it?" Lena blinked with genuine confusion, still hugging her twin back however.

"You're my twin!" Avalon pulled away to look Lena over, "My smaller, serene twin!"

Lena laughed of confusion and shrugged, "Guess...I am," she looked at Avalon with concern, "Are you alright?" she put a hand on Avalon's forehead, "You haven't been writing too much in the journal of yours? I told you to go to sleep early last night!"

"Not this time," Avalon chuckled.

"Avalon!" Gavin ran inside the room holding the landline phone in his hand, "It's Amy!"

"Amy?" Avalon looked at Lena, "Isn't she getting married in about two hours?"

Lena nodded, "That was the rumor."

Avalon laughed and hugged her again, taking the phone and rushing off to her own room. Gavin frowned and looked at his other big sister, "What's wrong with her? She's weirder than usual."

"Don't be rude," Lena turned him around and walked him out of her room. "Now go finish getting ready."

"Yeah, yeah," the boy rolled his eyes and went on.

~ 0 ~

"Don't you feel like there's something missing?" Amy was asking Avalon while the ginger-twin ran a hand through her fairy tale books in her bookshelf.

"I get you," Avalon confessed as she pulled out one of her books, that of Sleeping Beauty in its French version - La Belle au bois dormant - by Charles Perrault, "Something at the tip of your tongue but never there," she skimmed through the pages of her book. Though it was French, she'd forced herself to learn what was on the pages. She could read it fluently.

"Yeah," Amy sighed, glad to know that once again Avalon understood her, "But no one understands!"

Avalon scoffed, "They all think you're crazy, Amy. I wouldn't insist to them."

"Yeah...I should go," Amy sighed again, "As always, thanks for understanding."

"No worries, see you later," Avalon hung up and chucked the phone to her bed.

She closed her book and stared at it for another moment, understanding completely what Amy had been talking about. She'd had the same sensations but being who she was no one ever believed her in the town. For that, she preferred to talk about it either to Amy and/or write it in her journal. She glanced at a small pile of papers on her desk and sighed. She would've stuck them in her journal but her journal was filled up now, no more space for anything...and she wasn't going to buy a new one. It was the last thing she had of her mother after all.

Instead, she returned her book to the shelf and headed for her salmon-pink dress that hung on her closet door, a maid of honor didn't get ready in just ten minutes, no!

~ 0 ~

The Reynolds sat at a table not too far from the bride and groom (and their families) in the reception room. They'd just finished hearing the speech from Rory's best man and were about to listen to Amy's father's, Augustus, speech.

"Sorry, everyone. I'll be another two minutes. I'm just reviewing certain aspects," Augustus apologized and sat down to review his speech, the rest of the guests laughing at his actions.

"Your father, Amelia, will be the absolute death of me. Unless, of course, I strike pre-emptively," Tabetha sighed.

Amy laughed at their antics but stopped when she saw a woman with brown hair walking by the windows of the reception giving her a look. It was kind of familiar but Amy wasn't sure why. Still, her body reacted faster than her mind and before Amy knew it, she had stood up.

"Amy? You OK?" Rory looked up at her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm..." Amy shook her head and sat down again, "...fine."

"Right. Er... You're crying," Rory pointed.

"So I am. Why am I doing that?"

"Because you're happy, probably. Happy Mrs Rory. Happy, happy, happy."

Amy rubbed her face again as she felt more tears, "No. I'm sad. I'm really, really sad."

"Great," Rory sighed, not the way to start a marriage!

"Why am I sad?" Amy wondered then noticed a book in front of Rory, "What's that?"

"Oh, er, someone left it for you. A woman," Rory handed her the book.

"But what is it?" Amy took the book and studied it, putting more thought into it than Rory had apparently.

"It's a book."

"It's blank," Amy showed him a couple pages that were indeed blank.

"It's a present," Rory thought he was stating the obvious here.

"But why?"

"Well, you know the old saying. The old... wedding... thing. Huh?" Rory tried to make sense of it but failed miserably, "Amy?"

Augustus stood up with an apologetic smile, "Ready now. Sorry about that. Last-minute adjustments to certain aspects. Now then, it hardly seems a year..."

Amy didn't pay attention to what was going on as she was beginning to remember things...things she had no idea what they were. She studied a nearby guest wearing a red bowtie and then another guest with blue braces. Amy felt a tear stroll down her face and it fell to the book's cover.

"Shut up, Dad!" Amy abruptly stood up, ending her father's speech.

"Amy?" Rory reached for her hand.

"Amelia?" Augustus frowned.

"Sorry, but shut up, please!" Amy begged them as she took a deep breath, "There's someone missing...someone important. Someone so, so important."

"Amy, what's wrong?" Rory moved to stand but she shook her head and continued to talk.

"No one understands, except Avalon," Amy pointed at her ginger friend, all eyes moving to Avalon in a snap, "I had an imaginary friend when I was kid," and then went the sighs of her parents, "And my friend Avalon, she wrote about him."

"And it was meant to be a secret," Avalon said through gritted teeth, giving Amy a look that said to shut up. She didn't care if Amy was the bride, she would punch her.

"The raggedy Doctor," Amy insisted, "My raggedy Doctor. And Avalon's fairy tale man, but he wasn't imaginary. He was real. You know he was," Amy looked around, more determined than ever, "I remember you! I remember! I brought the others back, I can bring you home, too. Raggedy man, I remember you, and you are late for my wedding!"

In the silence around the room, Rory and the twins noticed their glasses clinking against each other as the ground underneath shook, the chandelier swaying above.

"I found you. I found you in words, like you knew I would," Amy continued, not about to give up, especially when the wind started picking and the faint noises of the TARDIS began to grow audible, "That's why you told me the story...the brand new, ancient blue box. Oh, clever. Very clever."

"Amy, what is it?" Rory, still confused, looked all around.

"Avalon..." Lena whispered, slightly frightened.

"It's the Fairy Tale Man," Avalon began smiling as the TARDIS materialized in the middle of the dance floor. "It's my Fairy Tale Man..."

"Something old. Something new. Something borrowed. Something blue," Amy laughed.

"It's the Doctor!" Rory remembered now as the box was now fully visible, unaware that Amy had climbed over their table and was heading for the TARDIS, "How did we forget the Doctor? I was plastic. I died in an underground cave..." He saw the looks he got for the last bit and added, quietly, "Long story."

Lena blinked when she started to remember as well, "I died," she frowned.

"I met Mary Costa," Avalon recalled. "And Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald."

"You did what?" their father, who sat across them, raised his eyebrows at the knowledge he was hearing.

Both sisters looked back at him with sweet smiles, "Nothing, Daddy," they said together.

"You're both weird," Gavin muttered, earning himself identical glares from his sisters.

Amy was knocking, or pounding, on the TARDIS doors calling for the alien inside, "OK, Doctor. Did I surprise you this time?"

The door opened and out came the Doctor, dressed in a top hat with a white tie and tails, a large, loose white scarf draped over his shoulders, "Er, yeah. Completely astonished. Never expected that. How lucky I happened to be wearing this old thing," he stepped out for everyone to see him, "Hello, everyone. I'm Amy's imaginary friend, but I came anyway," he shook hands with a flabbergasted Augustus Pond, "Oh, and a Fairy Tale Man," he waved at the Reynolds, specifically giving a wink to Avalon.

She smiled in return.

"You absolutely, definitely may kiss the bride," Amy strode for the Doctor, pulling his attention back to the bigger picture.

"Amy!" the twins exclaimed as they stood up from their seats.

The Doctor placed a finger on Amy's lips and grinned, "Amelia! From now on, I shall be leaving the... kissing duties to the brand new Mr Pond," he shook Rory's hand as the man came to join them.

"No, I'm not Mr Pond. That's not how it works," Rory began to argue.

"Yeah, it is," the Doctor nodded.

"Yeah, it is," Rory mumbled with acceptance.

"Big brother!" Lena rushed up to hug the Doctor.

The Doctor, upon remembering her (thankfully rewritten) fate, hugged her back instantaneously. "Baby sister! Thank goodness you're okay now," he kissed her head and hugged her just a bit longer. "And happy, and...gorgeous by the way," Lena chuckled, "Alive and happy, just like you should be."

"I can't believe I forgot about everything," Lena pulled away and looked at Avalon, "I called you crazy for all those stories you wrote."

"Is there anyone who didn't read my stories?" Avalon huffed.

"Me," Rory raised his hand, succeeding in making her laugh.

"Of course," she had to smile at him.

"And me," the Doctor added with a cheeky grin, "Though maybe I could take a small peek...?"

"No," she said, though the Doctor swore he could see a small blush on her cheeks that made him even more curious about those stories, "But I'm glad to have you back," she moved on up and hugged him.

"Right then, everyone," he cleared his throat and pulled away from Avalon to look back at the guests, "I'll move my box. You're going to need the space," he rushed into the TARDIS and looked back, "I only came for the dancing," he smirked and went off.

The remaining group looked at each others with smiles as they felt the wind of the TARDIS dematerializing hit them, simply happy to be together again.

~ 0 ~

Later that night, each companion got to see just how good of a dancer the Doctor was. Amy was first up on the dance floor and as she did her best, normal dancing to Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", she had no idea what the Doctor was doing.

"You're terrible! That is embarrassing!" she accused, but the Doctor didn't seem to care. He thought he was doing just fine.

After that the Doctor started showing off his 'moves' for the children who were eager to learn how to dance like him, "That's it. That's good. Keep it loose!"

"Teach me!" Lena came over to join them, the Doctor more than happy to show his baby sister just how to dance. It was her turn after all!

~ 0 ~

The music had slowed down and provided the best setting for the new couple. Mostly everyone was at the dance floor, accompanying Amy and Rory for the moment... almost everyone. The Doctor was happily watching his friends dance when Lena slowly came up to him.

"Big brother, can I talk to you for a second?" the seriousness in her face indicated to the Doctor there was something deeply bothering her.

"Of course," he agreed and followed her to a more quiet place.

~ 0 ~

Avalon would've enjoyed the dancing if someone that day had bothered to take her out. Since that failed, she decided to leave the party for a moment just to get some fresh air. The ballroom was a bit stuffy anyways. As she walked out of the ballroom, however, she started to hear weird noises from a distance. It sounded like a gurgle, actually, but not a regular gurgle. She would've ignored it but she also got the feeling that something was watching her.

"Hello?" she called out. She stopped when she heard a crunching of leaves on the ground. "If this is one of you stupid kids trying to scare me, I will get you," she warned and stepped into a small sitting area. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw not a child, but a gray alien in a black suit. "O-o-oh my God…" she stumbled back a couple steps and hit a tree's bark. "Wh-what are you…?"

The alien tilted is large head to the side, raising one of its tentacle-like hands and pointing a long finger at her. "You tried to hide from the Silence but we have found you," its raspy voice filled the area.

"D-doctor!" she started to call out.

The lone creature directed its other hand to the bench where a rolled up paper sat. Avalon followed the gaze and, unfortunately, forgot the creature altogether.

"Avalon?" she heard the Doctor call her name and she quickly turned around.

"Avalon are you out here?" Lena then called.

Avalon blinked slowly and rubbed the side of her head. She looked around and spotted the rolled up letter again on the bench. She walked over to it and picked it up. Without hesitation, she ripped off the small red ribbon keeping it folded and scanned its contents.

"There you are!" Lena's exclaim startled the ginger but by that time she had already finished reading the letter.

"Was it my imagination or were you calling my name?" the Doctor was making a face as he tried to decide whether or not the call had been real. There was too much going on to be sure.

Avalon looked at them with a sly smile. "Mm, I'm curious to see what dreams you've been having of me, Fairy Tale Man."

The Doctor sputtered with a red face, making her laugh. "That's not funny!"

"Ahem," Lena calmly cleared her throat. "Avalon, there was something we wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh? The both of you?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, a suspicious swirl sitting in her eyes.

Lena nodded her head. "Mhm. It's actually quite simple, really. I'm not going to travel with the Doctor anymore." Avalon blinked pretty face at first, surprised by the sudden decision. "But I want you to continue doing so."

"Um...excuse me?" Avalon turned her attention to the Doctor to see what he had to say on the matter.

"Lena's good at making points, Ava," the Doctor cleared his throat, prepared to receive snaps and shouts for agreeing with the choice Lena made.

"Sorry, the both of you want me to leave my sister behind? Why on Earth would I ever do that!?"

"Because it's high time you stopped taking care of me and start living your life," Lena had the answer within the second. She was adamant this time to get the point across Avalon's head. "I'm sick, yes, but it is a controlled illness and I have doctors to take care of me. You have put your life on hold for me and the rest of our family for far too long. It stops today. We are all grown up, Avalon. It's time to let go."

Avalon was nothing short but stunned to hear Lena say all that. "I don't...I...Lena?"

Lena raised her head, clearly determined. "I'm not going to travel anymore because I don't feel like it's where I belong."

"Even though I've said she's always welcomed," the Doctor added and Lena nodded in acknowledgment.

"This is the choice I had made before I died in that other time line. The TARDIS is amazing but...it's just not my place," Lena reiterated. "But it's yours, Avalon. I know it is. So you go and you travel...and send me a postcard every now and then."

Avalon was hurt, of course she was, and Lena saw it. The ginger saddened up as a consequence and when she spoke, her next words were apologetic. "I didn't mean to annoy you, Lena-"

"Avalon, it's not that-"

"I just don't want to lose you like we lost Mum," Avalon lowered her arms still holding the letter she found. "I love you Lena, and I never want anything to happen to you."

Lena smiled and walked up to her sister to give her the biggest hug possible. "I know that, silly. You have a very big heart and from now on I'm going to make sure that its content. Truly content." She pulled away to meet Avalon's gaze. "I talked to Dad about it and he's on board."

"I guess there's no choice then, huh?" Avalon lightly chuckled. "Is that alright with you, Doctor?"

The man was already smiling. "I have a few places we could try…"

The idea of travelling made Avalon swell with excitement. It was something she'd always wanted to do but because of her family's situation she never got to live out. Now, now it was different, but there was also something else that might be pushing her to accept Lena's command.

"Okay then," she finally agreed out loud. "But now I'd like a word with you, Doctor."

The Doctor's face fell and his entire body stiffened. "Am I in trouble?"

"Well, you blew up the world but then put it back together so no, you're not. But I just need to tell you something."

Lena was all smiling because her plan worked. "I'll leave you then!" she happily returned to the ballroom.

Avalon watched her sister disappear into the building before deciding to speak again. Without a word, she held out the folded letter to the Doctor.

His eyes flickered from her to the paper and in no time was confused. "Am I...am I supposed to take it?" she nodded her head. "It's for me?"

"Uh, no, it's for me...apparently," Avalon watched him finally take it and unroll it.

'Dear Avalon, I know this is strange and probably confusing but it is imperious that you listen to me. You must remain with the Doctor for your own safety. Bad things are coming, and they will be coming for you and all your friends.'

The Doctor's mouth closed and opened several times, much to Avalon's amusement, as he failed to understand where this message got off giving such an obscure warning. "Where did you get this?"

"I just found it on the bench!" Avalon gestured to the dusty, white bench behind her. "It was right there!"

"Did you see anybody, then?"

"Does it look like I saw anybody?"

The Doctor frowned and rolled the letter back up. "Okay, well, we can't jump to any conclusions about this. It could just be someone playing a trick."

"It's got to be," Avalon crossed her arms. "I mean, it doesn't make sense, does it?"

The Doctor could tell that despite her calm exterior, there was an inkling of fear starting inside her. "Just...for the time being, I think it is best if you come along with me."

"But what if it's not?" she asked, her eyes briefly flickering to the ballroom. "What if they come for my family?"

"Listen, by the looks of it, their main point was to get to you...we're just along for the ride," the Doctor did not make her feel better and he knew it. He walked up to her and comfortingly rubbed her arms. "We'll figure if this is just a trick or not. Trust me, okay?"

"Okay," she nodded. It wasn't a very difficult thing to trust in him, after all. She felt safe with him no matter what.

The Doctor smiled at her and startled her by taking her hand. "Would you like to dance?" It didn't appear that she believed him because she looked around like he'd been asking someone else. "I meant you, red," the Doctor laughed. "I've danced with everyone except for you...though Rory didn't seem to like it very much."

Avalon snickered. "I bet he didn't."

"Complete the set, then?"

Avalon's smile faded a little as she sighed. "Um, listen…" she slowly took her hand from his. "I think it's no secret that a lot of Amy's family disapproves of me, um...I'd rather not be the center of their attention."

"But I thought Avalon Reynolds just didn't care?" the Doctor playfully scrutinized her face.

"I don't," she agreed, "But this is Amy and Rory's day. I'm not ruining it just to make a point."

"C'mon, I think they know you enough not to care. Dance?" he took her hand again. "Don't worry, I can teach you how."

That made Avalon laugh a genuine, teasing laugh. It made the Doctor smile as he pulled them towards the ballroom.

Since it was a slow dance, Avalon found herself a bit nervous as she took position for a dance. She'd danced to regular music in clubs with Mels and Amy, (when they'd sneak in with fake ID's), but never actual slow dances. Like she said before, no one ever asked her for fear of the talks from people so she'd never had the chance for a proper dance.

"I don't..." she became even more nervous as she thought more on it.

"I don't hear any talks," the Doctor whispered to her as they started to sway to the music.

"Give them a couple of minutes, they'll come up with something," she kept her gaze down, "They did for you earlier."

"Oh, I bet they did," the Doctor smirked, not at all perturbed with it, "But I was having fun, so I don't care in the least."

Avalon looked up and smiled a bit, teasing actually, "You did look ridiculous, though. I just want that to be clear. I need it to be clear."

"Ridiculously fun, though," he corrected.

She rolled her eyes, "Call it whatever you like, but it was ridiculous. Kids are going to be dancing that stupid dance you taught them for months!"

"I'll be glad to give them more lessons."

"No you will not," she shook her head, chuckling to herself.

"Look at that, you've forgotten your nervousness and the 'talks' of the people," the Doctor 'discreetly' smirked about it.

"Guess I did," she acknowledged, "You're good at distracting, you know. And not that bad of a slow dancer, I'm shocked."

"Well, there's a lot you don't know about me either," he tapped her nose and smiled back.

"Guess I don't..." she acknowledged it without a thought. A couple moments passed in silence until Avalon looked up at him and smiled, "I never said..."

"Said what?" the Doctor blinked, genuinely confused.

"You did impress me. Since the first trip I took with you...you got me," she smiled so genuinely the Doctor had no idea what to do nor say. There was a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach, but a good kind. "I am so impressed by you, Doctor."

"I...thank you..." the Doctor cleared his throat, more awkwardly than he would have liked. Why couldn't he get himself together!?

"And, I'd also like to thank you, for real this time, for giving me the opportunity to travel with my sister."

The Doctor nodded his response and smiled, "A chance to travel with the Ponds and Reynolds? How can I possibly give that up?"

She blushed without realizing it and moved to rest her head on his shoulder, never even thinking about the murmurs of the guests anymore. She felt quite content where she was.

~ 0 ~

Upon seeing the Reynolds regathering for a final talk on what would be happening over the next couple months, the Doctor took opportunity to quietly slip out of the reception room. He wanted get back to the TARDIS to get a little bit of work done with the mysterious enemy that had taken over the entire box when Avalon and River were inside. He figured it would be good to get a head-start before Avalon joined him. He admitted that he was a bit excited to have a companion that would be sticking around for a while. He was certain the Ponds would want some time along as newlyweds anyways.

"Did you dance?" a voice startled him out of his thoughts. He turned around to see River standing a couple feet from him, "Well, you always dance at weddings, don't you?"

"You tell me," he challenged.

"Spoilers," she smirked.

He sighed and pulled out her journal then handed it back to her, "The writing's all back, but I didn't peek."

"Thank you."

The Doctor also took out her vortex manipulator for her, "Are you married, River?" he suddenly wondered.

"Are you asking?" she mused as she put the manipulator on her wrist.

"Yes."

He blinked, "No, hang on. Did you think I was asking you to marry me, o- o-or asking if you were married?"

"Idiot," she murmured and sighed, "Someone's not gonna be very happy if she learns about this."

"Who?"

"Spoilers," she shrugged.

The Doctor sighed, "River...who are you?"

"You're going to find out very soon now," she conceded, swallowing hard, "And I'm sorry, but that's when everything changes."

She reached for her manipulator but the Doctor stopped her with a call. He pulled out the folded letter Avalon had found and waved it in the air. "Did you write this?"

For a second, there was a brief falter in River, but if it had been real it'd been wiped away in the next second. "Me? Messing with the timeline? You told me never to."

"River…" the Doctor was not playing jokes.

"I must be going," River waved and activated her manipulator, disappearing in a flash.

"That woman..." He wouldn't even bother with that right now. He unlocked the TARDIS, stepping inside and dancing his way up to the console.

He didn't get much work started when he heard the doors reopening and looked up to see Amy walking in, "Oi! Where are you off to?" she called, "Finished dancing with Avalon yet?" she smirked.

"Shut up," the Doctor pointed without looking at her.

"Oh c'mon, we haven't even had a snog in the shrubbery yet," she teased just as the doors re-opened.

"Amy!" Rory gave the call.

"Just one last tease," she laughed.

"That'll be the day," Avalon entered behind Rory, with Lena, "The day Amy Pond, er Williams, stops flirting will be the end of the world."

"Oi, says the biggest flirt in the universe," Amy scoffed.

"Am not," Avalon frowned.

"Are too!"

"Anyways," Lena covered Avalon's mouth while Rory did the same to Amy, "Big brother, I asked my Dad if I could take one trip with you and he said it was fine. Can I come?"

"My baby sister is asking if she can come?" the Doctor let out a small laugh, "C'mon, Lena, you can stay forever if you'd like!"

Lena smiled softly, "No, I think I'll be fine with one trip," she nodded.

Lena made it clear now that she was not content with the traveling about and danger. It just wasn't her style. Of course, it didn't mean she wanted to give it up completely. She'd grown to love the Doctor as a true 'big brother' and never wanted to give him up. She was simply going to take trips sporadically.

"So, where exactly are we going?" Avalon pushed Lena's hand from her mouth.

"Was actually planning on getting some work done..." the Doctor began but Rory cut him off.

"You just saved the whole of space and time. Take the evening off. Maybe a bit of tomorrow."

"I'm with Rory," Amy nodded.

"Space and time isn't safe yet. The TARDIS exploded for a reason. Something drew the TARDIS to this particular date, and blew it up," the Doctor reminded and headed over to the ringing phone, "Why? And why now? The Silence, whatever it is, is still out there, and I have to...excuse me a moment," he answered the call, "Hello. Oh! Hello. I'm sorry, this is a very bad line. No, but that's not possible. She was sealed into the Seventh Obelisk. I was at the prayer meeting. Well, no, I get that it's important. An Egyptian goddess loose on the Orient Express…in space! Give us a mo," he looked up at the group, "Sorry, something's come up. This will have to be goodbye. Ava, you ready to go?"

"Let's see, I've got my twin, my best friend and my flirty friend," Avalon nodded, "Definitely ready."

"Off we go!" Lena cheered and pulled Avalon up to the console, "With newlyweds, that'll be interesting."

"And fun," Rory added, making them all laugh.

The Doctor looked at them all and beamed, picking up the phone again and speaking into it, "Don't worry about a thing, Your Majesty. We're on our way," and the TARDIS was off for the newest of adventures.

~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~ 0 ~

A/N: I am SO happy to write in Lena again, she really is the sweet OC of my batch!! Aaaaand so starts the letter business...yikes. :)

#doctor who #11th doctor #ocappreciation #ocapp #doctor who fics #11th doctor fics #dw imagine #dw imagines #11th doctor imagine #11th doctor imagines #doctor who imagines #doctor who imagine #amy pond #rory williams #river song #oc: Avalon Reynolds #oc: Lena Reynolds #fic: stars dance

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nitewrighter · 5 years

Text

Should Have Brought the Cat Ears

Wanted to do a quick fankid Special for Halloween in the spirit of the season. Jaime wasn’t in last year’s special, so he gets a spotlight this year!!!

---

“You don’t like it?” McCree tilted his head as they both stood over the plastic armor and replica blaster laid out on Jaime’s bed.

“It’s not that I don’t like it---” Jaime started.

“If you don’t like it, it’s fine, I’m really not trying to guilt you---”

“Just--don’t you think I’m a little... old for this sort of thing?” said Jaime. He caught himself and looked between his adoptive fathers, McCree donning ripped flannel, yellow contacts, and wolf ears and Hanzo in a more clean-cut Vampire costume. Jaime tried to recover. “I just--I was never really big on Halloween. Not really a dress-up guy.”

“It’s not that costume-y--It’s cool--” McCree gave a glance to Hanzo, “I mean--it’s cool, right?” McCree pressed his fingertips to his forehead, “Oh god I’m old.”

‘You’re not old,” Hanzo said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s Dranek Fang from They Came Beyond The Moon 5: Moonpunchers! I mean what’s not cool about a space bounty hunter?” said McCree, gesturing back at the costume. His face dropped. “It’s weird because I bought it, isn’t it?”

“Little bit,” said Jaime.

“Well you weren’t buying a costume, and if you’re going to the party---”

“Come on, everyone there’s like...practically 20 or whatever. I’m pretty sure it’s not going to be all cutesy bobbing for apples and stuff.”

“If you’re not going to wear the costume can you at least wear the safety cat ears?” said McCree.

“The safety what?” said Jaime.

Hanzo held up a pair of cat ears, “These cat ears were first gifted to me by your Uncle Genji during my first Halloween on the watchpoint--”

“Why do the cat ears have lore--” Jaime started.

“For the express purpose of, quote, ‘Not looking like a standoffish stick-in-the-mud at a costume party,’” Hanzo finished.

“I don’t need the cat ears,” Jaime said flatly.

“You’re gonna want the cat ears,” said McCree.

“I don’t want the cat ears,” said Jaime.

“He doesn’t want the cat ears,” said Hanzo.

McCree inhaled and exhaled, clearly trying hard not to take the rejection of the costume personally, and also possibly at war with himself with regards to whether or not he had any concept of what ‘cool’ was anymore. “All right. It’s cool. It’s cool. You don’t have to wear a costume. You don’t have to bring the cat ears.”

“Thank you,” said Jaime.

---

“I should have brought the cat ears,” Jaime muttered to himself.

“What was that?” Rei was standing in the doorway to the watchpoint hangar, dressed in a purple grecian gown with runny black mascara and a flower crown of wine-colored peonies. The costume actually went very well with her dark hair and the gray-white streak at her temple.

“Nothing,” muttered Jaime, moving past Rei, “What are you supposed to be?”

“Persephone!” said Rei with a dramatic flourish, “Goddess of Spring and Queen of the Underworld!”

“That’s... specific...” said Jaime, walking into the hangar. It was fully decorated for halloween, with Hard-light ghosts swaying from the ceiling and orange fairy lights strung up everywhere. Dry ice fog seeped out from over the two punch bowls. It was a bigger party than expected. Those in attendance aside from the Watchpoint kids were a couple of younger Shambali acolytes--both human and omnic, a veritable swarm of Lindholm grandkids, Mei’s intern Harper Khiang (Who, surprisingly was in some sort of form-fitting anime costume rather than a bee costume) and a few of her friends from Lijiang, and the Oxton triplets had flown in from London only to be off in their triplet clique as usual. There was music playing and a handful were noncommittally dancing, and everyone, everyone, everyone was in costumes.

“You’re gonna want the cat ears,” Jaime remembered McCree’s voice and felt an extra sting of regret.

“You made it!” Aedan sidled up alongside the two of them as they entered, carrying two cups of bright red punch and handing one of the cups off to Rei, “We were scared you weren’t going to come.”

Jaime’s eyes flicked up and down Aedan’s costume: The black toga, the dark circles under his eyes, the laurel-like headdress that looked like thorny withered twigs painted gold. “Seriously?” said Jaime.

“Hades,” Rei said in an even deeper, more dramatic voice, “King of the--”

“Yeah. I put it together,” said Jaime, looking between them, “Really? A couple’s costume? You don’t think that’s corny?”

“I kind of like it,” said Aedan, glancing down at himself, “I feel... powerful.”

Jaime snorted. “She should be Hades, and you should be Persephone.”

“I think I make a good Hades,” muttered Aedan.

“Which one of you has the completely unhinged mother?” said Jaime.

Aedan glanced off and sipped his punch.

“No no, it fits, because Persephone definitely kicks more butt than Hades,” said Rei, “She’s more vengeful and stuff.”

“This conversation is doing wonders for my self-esteem,” said Aedan flatly.

“Could be worse,” said Rei, pushing into him with her shoulder, affectionately, “We could be furries.”

“For the last time, I’m a sexy leopard! Not a furry!” Marti called from the punch table.

“The fact that you say a leopard can be sexy lends credence to the furry theory,” said Aedan.

“Call me a furry again and I’m putting my drag queen acrylics to good use,” said Marti, making a clawing motion with her long sparkly black and gold nails.

“Come on, Lord of the Underworld,” said Rei, hooking her arm in Aedan’s and dragging him off, “Let’s go dance.”

“Try the punch!” Aedan called to Jaime as Rei pulled him over to the dance floor.

Jaime huffed and walked over to the punch bowl, where Marti was poking at a small hard-light goblin that loomed over a bowl of snack mix and was programmed to harmlessly swipe at whoever was grabbing the mix.

“Would have thought you would be at a cool party,” said Jaime, filling up his own cup with punch. There were two punch bowls--alcoholic and non-alcoholic. Jaime opted for the former.

“This is the cool party,” said Marti, wrinkling her nose at him. Despite picking a fairly generic costume, even she had gone all out with a pretty high quality bodysuit, perming her hair into a curly mane with two small buns wrapped in gold ribbon at the front serving as her ‘ears,’ thick winged eyeliner, and, as she had clawed with earlier, impeccable acrylic nails, “So I’m guessing your costume is... very fresh zombie?”

“Har-har,” said Jaime, sipping his punch. It tasted like a complicated combination of apple, pomegranate, cranberry and ginger ale, with a light caramel undertone of whiskey, so he assumed Aedan made it. It was enough to loosen him up a little bit, but not enough to stop his hyperawareness of being the only one without a costume, “I don’t see why costumes are such a big deal.”

“Well they don’t have to be,” said Marti.

“Exactly!” said Jaime.

“But it’s nice to see what everyone picks. Kind of reflects what they’re interested in, where their minds are at.”

“Your mind is at ‘Sexy cat?’” said Jaime.

“My mind is at, ‘I’m always bogged down in black-ops gear, so it’s nice to be a little flashy, but I don’t like being the center of attention, but I might as well look good for anyone who’s looking at me,’” said Marti.

Jaime glanced at Aedan and Rei out on the dancefloor. “...fuck, they picked the death gods because they nearly died, didn’t they?”

“They basically did die. Can’t say they don’t have a sense of humor,” said Marti, sipping her own punch.

Jaime leaned against the snack table folding his arms. “Where are the twins?” he asked, looking around.

“You mean where’s Samir?” said Marti, smiling a little. Jaime scoffed and glanced off.

“I feel like I would have seen them already. They always put glowy doodads on their costumes,” said Jaime.

“See? You want to see what their costumes are!” said Marti, “Why are you down on dressing up yourself?”

Jaime shrugged. “Just... either never really had the chance to, or when I did have the chance I couldn’t decide, and then when the day finally came I’d always feel stupid if I was dressed up.”

Marti gave his arm a sympathetic pat.

The music stopped and the lights suddenly dimmed and Jaime looked over to Marti to make sure this was planned, or to ask if they should check in with Orisa or Satya for a potential breach, but Marti just calmly sipped her punch as a bright blue teleporter opened in the middle of the dance floor. A brief hush fell over the crowd on the dance floor, looking at the teleporter, when suddenly a bulky, heroic-looking gleaming white and blue mech suit (a normal, human-sized mech suit, but still a mech suit) stepped through. The mech suit struck a pose as the music suddenly kicked back on again. Jaime glanced over to see that Harper had hurried over to the DJ table to turn the music back on. The mech suit danced and Rei and the others laughed and clapped and cheered as the mech suit shimmied and bounced. Then another (also normal, human-sized) mech suit stepped out of the teleporter. This one was clearly meant to be the villain, with sharp acute angles all over its frame, broad sharp shoulders and a cinched waist, long claws on its gauntlets, a dark iridescent color scheme, and glowing red eyes. The teleporter closed behind him.

“Oh no! Look out behind you!” Harper called out theatrically from the DJ’s table.

The bulkier mech suit had barely turned around when it got blasted by what looked like a laser beam from the ‘evil’ mech, but turned out to be completely fine. The mechs mock-battled with blunted, hard-light swords for a few seconds before, with one spectacular simultaneous upward slash, both dematerialized the other’s helmet, revealing the Amari twins--Rajeev the hero mech, and Samir the villain mech. The dance floor clapped, Marti snickered and did her best to clap with a punch cup in one hand.

“...they don’t usually go all out like that,” said Jaime, “Do they?”

“This is the most people we’ve had in our generation on the watchpoint in years,” said Marti, “They wanted to do something special.”

“Oh... I see,” said Jaime, watching as Samir conversed with Rei and Aedan as Rajeev pretty much tackled Harper and swung her around, “This night is just engineered to make me feel like more and more of an asshole for not wearing a costume, huh?” said Jaime sipping his punch.

“We aren’t doing this to you,” said Marti, “I mean we’re still on the watchpoint. Maybe you can run back to your place and---”

“Hey,” said Samir, walking over and Jaime choked on his punch.

“Hey!” said Jaime, attempting to nonchalantly lean back against the table and awkwardly scooting it back as he did so.

“Fearless leader,” Samir gave a nod to Marti.

“Nope,” said Marti, “No fearless leader tonight. Tonight, there is only sexy leopard getting increasingly wasted on Halloween punch.”

“It’s good to see sexy leopard,” said Samir.

“It’s good to be sexy leopard,” said Marti, tossing her empty cup away, “Anyway, I’m going to go try and burn some of Aedan’s banshee booze off. Don’t get into trouble.”

“Yeah sure--” Jaime started before it hit him that Marti was leaving them to hit the dance floor.

“I uh--I like the whole...” Jaime gestured up and down at Samir’s costume.

“It was Rajeev’s idea,” said Samir with a grin, “Can you tell?”

“Yeah. Definitely,” said Jaime, “You pull it off though.”

“It’s all hard-light,” said Samir, looking down at himself as he filled his own cup with the non-alcoholic punch, “Like, honestly I’m just in a unitard under this.”

“Well yeah, but it’s like... good,” said Jaime.

“Thank you,” said Samir, “I actually..” he chuckled, “I spent like, a stupid amount of time on this.”

“Why?” the question fell out of Jaime.

“It was nice to make something out of Hard-light that didn’t have anything to do with a mission. I got into it,” said Samir.

“You also gave yourself heels,” said Jaime, looking down.

Samir motioned with his hand and the soles of his boots dematerialized down to his regular height. He still stood a solid four inches over Jaime.

“...Ass,” said Jaime as Samir re-materialized the soles of his boots.

“Happy Halloween to you too,” said Samir as they both sipped their drinks and looked out at the dance floor. They watched as Rajeev hoisted up a laughing Harper amid the din of the music. Harper’s form-fitting costume suddenly made a lot more sense with Rajeev right next to her.

“Oh I get it--she’s a mech pilot and he’s---” Jaime huffed, “Fucking couple’s costumes.”

“Hey, Rajeev and I are still doing twin costumes--what does that tell you about us?” said Samir.

“That like... you can actually make the twin costume thing really cool if you put some thought into it?” said Jaime.

“No--Well, I mean, yes,” said Samir, “But my point is the whole night is about not taking yourself too seriously.”

“Mm,” said Jaime.

They watched the dance floor for a little bit. Samir grabbed a handful of snacks from the snackbowl and gave a small jump as the hard-light goblin suddenly swiped at him as he did so.

“You’re not going to bring up the whole ‘Where’s your costume’ thing?” said Jaime after a while.

“Some people don’t have time for it, some people aren’t comfortable with it, it’s not a big deal,” said Samir, shrugging.

“...Thanks,” said Jaime. He looked out at the dance floor. “Though...honestly, at this point I kind of wish I did dress up.”

“Oh--psh. I can fix that. Here--” Samir stepped in front of him and pressed something at his wrist, activating the hard-light projector before putting his hands above Jaime’s head. Jaime reddened and sipped his drink and attempted to be as nonchalant as possible about feeling Samir’s fingers against his hair. There was a soft ‘vworp’ sound and Jaime felt a soft pressure on two points on his head and Samir drew his hands back. “There we go,” said Samir.

Jaime reached up and felt at his head, feeling two pointed shapes.

“...Cat ears?” said Jaime.

“I like cats. They’re the simplest ones I can make. If you don’t like them I could make like... horns--I could probably make antlers if I had a couple minutes--”

“No. I like them,” said Jaime instantly, “They’re perfect. I’m a cat.”

“A sexy cat,” said Samir with a finger gun. As coolheaded as Samir could be, there were definitely moments where you could tell, well beyond looks, that he was Rajeev’s identical twin.

Jaime snorted and looked down at his clothes, “What about this says ‘sexy cat?’”

“The fact that it’s you in cat ears?” said Samir.

Jaime scoffed and snickered. “That’s bad,” he said.

“Yeah I know,” said Samir, hooking Jaime’s arm in his and pulling him away from the punch table, “Come on, let’s dance.”

#mchanzo #mchanzo kid #symmarah kids #follow for more gency kid facts #reidan #jaimir

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jessahmewren · 5 years

Text

“Midnight in the Meadow” / Queen / Bohemian Rhapsody Fan Fiction

A young scientist has an unexpected meeting with an unusual vampire.

It’s Frian week day Five! Fantasy!

Rated M for violent and some sexual themes

Words 2597

Pairing: It’s Frian Ya’ll

Also on Ao3

-0-0-0-

Freddie slipped into the old t-shirt, letting the hem skim just below the waist of his worn jeans. He had been asleep all day, the moon was out, and he was hungry.

It was feeding time.

He tied back his medium-length hair, letting his black-painted nails flick expertly over the hair tie until his ebony locks were secured at the base of his neck in a low ponytail. He checked himself in the mirror, his gaunt face pale, dark circles under his eyes.

It was a myth that vampires couldn’t see their reflection. They were doomed to reflect on their cursed existence for all eternity.

Freddie grabbed his bag, opened his second story window and jumped, landing as gracefully as a cat before slinking off into the woods behind his home. It was time to hunt.

Brian watched the small herd of deer as they slept in the meadow, making notes in his journal. He had tracked the migratory habits of this particular herd across England and, as a scientist for Cambridge’s animal research department, felt most at home camping in a glen, squinting through binoculars at Mother Nature.

The meadow was quiet. The deer were munching contentedly on sweet grass, and a baby fawn nuzzled its mother, suckling gently. Brian smiled, taking more notes and jotting down the time. These deer were feeding late, which was notable but not unusual. It was the near winter, and the deer felt the season’s call to fatten up.

Unbeknownst to Brian, someone else watched the deer.

Freddie crouched in a thicket of berries, not fifteen feet from the feeding deer. He could smell the warm blood coursing through bodies, could hear their rapid heartbeats as they grazed in the meadow. The deer were totally oblivious to Freddie, though. Since his change, he had lost all human smell, making him the perfect hunter.

One of the deer had a fawn with her, and he frowned. He wouldn’t take the mother or the baby. There was another deer there, a young buck. Let him get a little closer, Freddie thought. His mouth began to water, and his eyes glowed as green as the meadow, the pupils sharpening to slits. Just a little closer. A sharp cramp in his stomach nearly doubled him over, but he never lost his focus as the young buck moved into his field of vision.

Brian watched through the binoculars as the young buck bowed his head to eat from the cool grass of the meadow. One moment he was munching the grass, and the next, two marble hands were wrapped around his horns, twisting his neck with a quick, efficient snap.

Brian cried out, dropping the binoculars as he rose from his hiding place. Through the fog he saw a dark head bent to the tender neck.

Freddie heard the footsteps approaching, but his hunger wouldn’t listen. His hunger, hundreds of years old and stubborn, said feed, so he fed on the little deer until it had nothing more to give. Just as the footsteps reached him, he withdrew, fangs still out and dripping down his shirt to turn and look at the intruder.

It was a man. A young man with curly hair. The man’s heart was beating so fast; he could hear it. He could smell it.

The deer had been small, the man had interrupted him, and he was still hungry.

He launched himself at Brian, knocking him to the ground and straddling him in an instant. They tussled in the fog for a moment before Freddie had an arm against Brian’s throat.

“What are you doing in my meadow?” he hissed. Blood spattered from his lips, and his fangs were still out.

Brian stared up at him in horror. “I…I’m watching the deer.” He finally managed.

Freddie turned his head, his green glowing eyes narrowing as if to better understand the odd man.

“To steal them?”

Brian shook his head. “No! To just…watch them. For science.”

Freddie ran his tongue over his outstretched fangs, lapping the dripping blood there, and smiled. “So you’re not a thief.”

Brian barked out a laugh, despite his compromising position. “Of course not. I…I didn’t know this was your meadow.” He looked into Freddie’s glowing eyes. “I’m sorry.”

Freddie’s mouth watered at the smell coming from the man beneath him…the blood pulsing in his neck, the soft warm skin against his arm and the unique musk of the man’s human scent...earthy and spicy; it awakened something within him that was far quicker than hunger. It was sharper, more distinct.

Freddie blinked, and his eyes no longer glowed.

Brian quivered a little beneath him. “Are you going to kill me?” He said quietly.

Freddie licked his lips, then drew in his fangs. “No, of course not darling.” He swallowed. “I don’t do that anymore.” He stood, dusting off his shirt, then helped Brian to his feet. “That’s why I hunt.”

Brian just looked at him a moment, rubbing his throat absently. “Well what—

Freddie just laughed. “Not what darling, who. ‘What’ is just rude. My name is Freddie. Freddie Mercury.”

Brian looked down at the hand extended to him, and hesitantly took it. The skin was smooth and cool, the nails painted black.

“Why don’t you come back to my house love? I can get cleaned up and we can have some tea. You’ve had quite the fright after all.”

Brian found himself nodding at the bloodstained face, wanting to know more this man and what (or who) he was. Maybe it was the scientist in him, but he was more curious than afraid.

Brian sat in a homey living room, a cozy fire blazing in the hearth. The man had left him to go upstairs for a moment, presumably to go wash up, and Brian surveyed his surroundings.

The cottage was spacious and well apportioned…rustic modern. Freddie had taste, and the few antique pieces he had strewn about the open-design living space spoke of life and history. Brian found himself leaning over a vase as Freddie came down the stairs in a patterned red jacket and cream-colored blouse opened at the neck. He wore a series of cords doubled around his pale throat, and Brian’s eyes were drawn to them.

“You like these?” Freddie said smoothly as he fingered the charms that hung around his neck. “The moon and stars. Picked them up in Dubai. They’re supposed to be talismans, in case I’m ever lost.” Freddie’s eyes, brown now and warm with knowing, flashed softly at Brian. “The moon and stars are my eternal friends, after all,” he said with a soft smile.

Brian’s mouth quirked, his eyes flitting up to rest on Freddie’s face. It was smooth, frozen in the bloom of youth. It couldn’t have been more than—“

“How old are you,” Brian asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Freddie straightened his coat. “23.”

Brian huffed a little laugh. “Is that really all?”

Freddie eyed him sharply. “Why? Does the real answer affect whether you take tea with me or not?” Freddie was already walking to the kitchen area, withdrawing a beautiful china teapot with gold leafing.

“No,” Brian exhaled. “I just…want to know more about you, that’s all.”

Freddie smiled. “For science?”

“No,” Brian said, meeting Freddie’s brown eyes in the warm light. “For myself.”

The kettle burbled. Brian settled on the couch, and Freddie served him biscuits. “I made these myself,” he said with some measure of pride.

Brian looked at them with some trepidation.

Freddie giggled. “Go on, darling. If I wanted to kill you, you would’ve been long dead by now.” He took a biscuit and put it to Brian’s lips. “Take a bite,” he said, just the point of one of his fangs teasing its way into view.

Brian savored the lemon ginger biscuit as the kettle screamed, unable to hold back the pleased little hum at the taste. Freddie was back in a flash, two steaming cups of tea in those delicate cups and set them on the coffee table.

“You did that very fast,” Brian said around a mouthful of biscuit. “Come to think of it, you cleaned up pretty fast, too. Is that part of –“

“Being a vampire?” Freddie flashed his fangs when he smiled.

Brian swallowed, taking a sip of tea.

“Is that what you are?”

Freddie crossed his legs, and again Brian was struck with his ethereal beauty, the grace with which he held himself.

“If the legends are to be believed, then I’m a vampire. I feed on blood to survive.”

Brian nodded. “How would you describe yourself, then?”

Freddie put a hand under his chin, his eyes slipping closed. “A man who is striving to be better.”

Brian found it a very thoughtful answer, almost philosophical. “That’s why you hunt animals.”

Freddie nodded, smiling. “I am sorry I have to do it…but I have to feed my hunger. Believe me, I’ve tried to fast. The results were…not pretty.”

Brian held up a biscuit. “Can you eat food?”

Freddie smiled, his cute overbite showing instead of his fangs. “Oh yes. But it doesn’t satisfy me. I can eat for pleasure though. For taste.” He sipped his tea as if to convince Brian of the fact. “But it doesn’t fill me. Nothing does except blood.”

Unbeknownst to him, Brian was frowning. To have to live that way for who knows how many years…denying your true self…

“How old are you, Freddie?”

Freddie looked sad for a moment. “I’ve walked this earth for 407 years,” he finally said.

Brian’s small intake of breath was loud in the open room, and he promptly clamped his mouth shut.

“Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?” Brian said softly. “I don’t want to pry. I just find you fascinating, Freddie. And not as a creature to study in the woods, but as a person.”

Freddie blinked, his eyes curiously red. “Go ahead Brian. Ask me anything.”

Brian relaxed a bit on the sofa. “Why don’t you enjoy being a vampire?”

Freddie sipped his tea. “I reject killing to live. I stopped taking human lives over 200 years ago. I’ve been subsisting on animal blood ever since. It’s a viable substitute, but it’s also why my skin has such a pallor to it, and why I don’t have a lot of energy. I also have to feed more often than I would if I fed on humans.”

Brian nodded. “I find that very respectable. So you hope to regain your humanity?”

Freddie smiled. “That’s impossible, I’m afraid. But by honoring that little bit that resides within me, I feel that I can hold on to what I have left.”

Brian shifted on the couch. “What if…you were to feed on a human without killing them? Wouldn’t that sustain you more than an animal’s blood?”

Freddie shook his head vigorously. “Too risky. I might take too much. And it would still be against their will.”

Brian bit his lip. “What if it were consensual?” He nervously fingered his teacup. “I mean, what if the human were to consent to being bitten? Would you do it then?”

Freddie’s eyes narrowed, and his senses picked up on that sweet smell again…not just of Brian’s blood, but of his natural scent, and his instincts prickled.

“What are you saying Brian?”

Brian waffled a bit, pushing a hand through his dark curls. “I’m saying that maybe, since our misunderstanding in the meadow, that you could drink from me.”

Saliva filled Freddie’s mouth at the mere thought of piercing that tender neck, and he swallowed it down, shaking his head firmly. “No, Brian. Thank you, but that will not be necessary.”

Brian frowned a little, his eyes growing dark. “What if I want you to?”

“You…you want me to?”

Brian set his teacup down and crossed over to where Freddie was sitting. He sat beside him, his shoulder flush with his. “Yes,” he said softly. “I want you to drink from me Freddie.” He let his hand go up to lightly brush the open collar of Freddie’s shirt, then drift down to clutch a cool hand. “Please.”

Freddie swallowed, trousers tight at the proximity of the man, instincts screaming Drink! as he fought a private war with himself. He locked eyes with Brian, noticing for the first time the warm hazel, clear like a mountain stream.

“You know what this would mean, Brian. Your life would be in my hands. I could lose control; I could take too much.”

Brian stroked his face, leaving Freddie shivering despite his permanent chill. “You won’t,” Brian soothed him. “You’ll take just enough to help you.” Those hazel eyes looked up at him again. “Please, let me help you.”

Freddie licked his lips, the persistent hunger rising to an incredible ache. There was arousal too, under the surface of the hunger, springing to life. He wanted Brian, and not just as a meal. He leaned forward, brushing Brian’s hair away from his face and pressed his lips to Brian’s. He felt the man shiver and moan, his arms going around him, easily relaxing into the kiss.

Brian nipped his way inside of Freddie’s mouth, need leading the way as he captured the man’s velvety lips, wondering what they would feel like on his neck as they were draining the life out of him. He nicked himself on one of Fredde’s fangs, drawing blood, and a low, rumbling growl came from Freddie, sending a bubble of excitement through Brian.

Freddie pulled him away, tasting the blood on his lips. His eyes were meadow-green and glowing, and his fangs were fully extended…but Brian wasn’t afraid.

Freddie gingerly braced a hand on his shoulder and bared his neck. He mouthed it slowly, wetting it with his tongue and lips until Brian could feel the scrape of his fangs of his jugular vein. The sensation went straight to his cock, leaving him a panting, sweating mess.

“Take me Freddie,” he nearly mewled, “I know you need it.”

Freddie just sat, entranced, watching the throbbing skin of Brian’s stretched skin.

“Go on lover. Do it!”

With a final lick, Freddie sank into the buttery warm softness of Brian’s neck. The sweat warmth of his blood hit his palate immediately, and he groaned and fluttered his eyes as he sucked him down, caressing him the entire time.

Brian had never felt ecstasy like this before. From the moment Freddie pierced his skin, the pinch and pain brought so much pleasure, ratcheting up his spine like an orgasm that never released him from its grip. He could feel himself grow lightheaded as the blood rushed from his body...could hear the pleasured groans from Freddie, but he was helpless to do anything but to clutch on to him, even as his hold grew weaker and weaker…

Freddie finally released him, and Brian, now pale and unconscious, sagged in his arms. Freddie promptly carried him upstairs, tucking him under the satin sheets of his large bed.

Morning came without incident. Brian woke up in the bed alone, a glass of orange juice and a cream cheese bagel beside the bed. There was a note on the tray in elegant script. “Eat. Drink. It will help you get your strength back. And please visit my little meadow again soon. You are always welcome. P.s. Follow the moon and stars; they will help you find your way.”

Brian felt at his throat, and there was Freddie’s necklace, cleverly hiding two neat puncture wounds on his neck. He smiled.

-0-0-0-

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thymes-gnu-rowman · 5 years

Text

How to Survive Rehab

(Aka Cons with Feelings)

Humming to himself he began the first day of work.

“I will be the Best Psychologist this prison has ever seen!” Maine exclaimed, twirling the round end of his tie around his finger. His brown leather loafers squeaked against the polished linoleum as he readily smiled at every inmate he encountered. It was only after he reached level three he started getting smiles back.

----

“So Charlie…..where’s Pultakhen today?” Pang Chuey asked somberly, maroon hoof-like hands tugging on her blindfold amidst her plume of red curls.

Charlie smacked her hand away, thin silver eyes scrutinizing her knot.

“Stop,” he grunted, paused then tightened the cloth.

She humphed in the seat next to him.

“I'm not a child. I know where my eyes are Charlen. I'll even be able to see them soon. So you can just enjoy being my guide dog because the job will be outsourced… to my eyes.”

Charlie paused.

“So what room are we in? You forgot to describe it to me.”

Charlie cleared his throat, and in his gravelly baritone he mustered, “Lotta chairs…window.”

“Marion’s here too isn't he? Across the room? And Loyola and betti? And my baby brother?”

“Yes.”

“When you finish tying, take me to them.”

“Yes.”

----

The fluorescent lights were too bright. It made his eye hurt. He missed sunlight. And grass. He really missed grass. Also not having to wear pants. Prison was so funny about that.

“Pulta?” came a soft voice, warm and sweet followed by a hiccup.

Gradually, he sat up slipping on a pair of tan joggers and his usual gray tank, wearing his striped blue and gray prison shirt like a jacket. He stumbled over his comically gargantuan feet to the intercom, and pressed ‘speak’ on the translucent touchscreen.

“Yeah Pañaz?”

On the monitor, Pañaz, a cute and chubby guy, raked a hoofesque hand through his slew of angelically white curls. His dark blue skin shone brilliantly, and his full lips smiled grandly at the camera embedded in Pultakhen’s doorframe.

“It's the new teacher’s first day! *hiccup*” Pañaz cheered, waving two small fists excitedly, black nails flickering in the hallway lights.

Instantly, Pultakhen’s mood brightened, his cyclops eye widened and a grin conquered his chin.

“Have you seen them yet?” Pultakhen inquired, before opting to open the sliding door with a thought. He still marveled how Doors did that. Read your mind and whatnot.

Nodding happily, Pañaz hiccuped once more before irkedly fussing with a patch on his arm.

“Ugh, sorry about the hiccups, my patch is malfunctioning. I hate this thing. I wish you could understand me without it.”

“Well, just learn Anglesh.”

Pañaz smirked, pursing his lips.

“How about you *hiccup* learn Mugg?” He retorted.

“Now why would I do that?” Pulta mentioned facetiously, bending down several feet to pat the much shorter man’s back.

“Because you love me,” Pañaz replied with a grand grin and scuttled off to the Teaching room down the hall.

“What is love?,” Pultakhen hummed and tried to keep up.

----

“I still cannot believe I'm here,” betti groaned

“Neither can I,” Loyola agreed.

“I’m innocent. You should be here.”

“I hardly think that's fair. Of all people to be on the judge’s side! My own sister!”

“Loyola, I was there. You burned his house down. You even tried to use my hand to do it.”

“We wouldn't have gotten caught if you'd used your hand.”

“I had nothing to do with it! The only reason I'm here is because you're a parasite!”

“Excuse me, Dr. Mei said I'm the main twin, and you’re the parasite.” Loyola rejoindered.

“Rude! THIS IS ENTIRELY SYMBIOTIC! It's SHARING!”

“I'm taller… and my spine is straighter. Main twin.”

“Still Rude. And no offense to liars but you're a liar,” betti retaliatyed and prodded her twin in her shoulder with her hand.

“Don’t POKE me!” Loyola shouted pointing at her twin.

Squinting, betti jabbed her finger in again. Loyola narrowed her eyes, and dropped her hand to her pocket. Quickly producing her gleaming can opener she held it to betti’s wrist.

“Take your stupid digit off me or ILL DO IT FOR YOU!” Loyola screamed eliciting no attention from other members in the “teaching room”. They were used to her outbursts.

“TRY!” betti shouted back, leaning in.

----

The phone had been silent all day. Drumming along to classical rock Grady adjusted her security badge. But then it all went to chaos. Shouting echoed through the hall, silence, then absolute cacophony.

“LOYOLA!” Grady yelled adjusting her pink extension clip in her ginger hair. She grabbed a first aid kit and bolted.

----

There he was. Across the room. Gentle and poised and so gingery. Bone straight orange hair, messily arrranged in the front and put into a sizeble loose bun at the base of his neck. He was wearing a green and brown sweater vest over a green floral dress shirt and tan capris. His tan socks were visible under his dark sandals, as if he got tired after putting on such formal attire. Marion sighed in his chair, careful to not appear as if staring-which he totally was. He could never get his hair that way. He’d tried so many times, but dye was never strong enough, and the flat iron always gave up on him.

When he saw Charlie get up, leading Pang Chuey by the hand in his general direction. He quickly sat up, adjusted the hem of his fitted tee and smiled expectantly only to be dissapointed. Charlie decided to talk to Hoshi instead.

With a sigh Marion slumped again, wondering just how long Charlie’s hair was in that loose bun he wore.

----

“This is Hoshi,” Charlie grunted gesturing. Pang Chuey extends a hoof, patting the air I front of her until she found his knee. She contined searching for his shoulders and then the top of his head, dislodging his beanie. Hoshi blanched at the contact, suppressing the urge to coil.

Grabbing her waist Charlie pulled her back.

“PangChuey… ask. It's polite.”

She harrumphed.

“It was just a knee.”

‘Way more than just a knee.’ Charlie thought.

“Personal space.” He said aloud.

“It's… alright,” Hoshi muttered, before replacing his beanie then shoving his hands further in the pockets of his hoodie.

----

“Come on Pulta!” Pañaz corralled.

“How are you so fast?” Pulta huffed. His limbs moved lazily and eventually Pañaz left his sight.

Figuring it was pointless to hustle anymore , he plopped against a wall to catch his breath. He almost felt like sleeping.

“You will not sleep in my hall, Spike.”

Pultakhen blearily looked up.

Grady stood over him dyed-ginger locks swaying in the breeze of the air conditioner. Her arms were folded and he notice an unmistakeable wound from Loyola’s canopener.

“Aren't you supposed to be in class?” She boomed.

Pultakhen shrugged. “Are any of us where we should be?”

“Spike!”

“I don't know where it is.”

“It's literally twenty feet away. Keep down this hall and the third room on be right.”

“I don't feel like going anymore,” He griped.

“It goes on your file as a good step forward. Who knows maybe you'll be promoted to level 6.” Grady encouraged.

“Meh. Overrated. I'm fine with level 5. Less work more sleep and salad.”

With a roll of her eyes Grady continued to her desk and left the behemoth to laze.

----

Maine entered the room, hopping and cheerfully greeting everyone.

“Anyounghaseyo! That's hello in Korean! My name is Maine Hae Jo, but Maine is fine! I'm the new Psychologist around here! Let's go in a circle, and get everyone's names ok?!” Maine enthused. He spun then pointed randomly.

“You start!”

He landed on a faintly purple guy, likely half Pintuian, and half human. He had straight black hair and was long faced, with two sets of eyes, a Pinutian trait. The top set were wider and seemed more expressive than the lower set which required glasses and were half-lidded at the moment. He was particularly thin, unshaven, wore a dirty looking beanie and a purple hoodie on jeans.

The guy looked around in confusion then pointed to himself.

“Yes you!” Maine encouraged hopping toward him

A silence ensued, the guys top set of eyes growing more and more nervous.

“Hello, my name is Hoshi,” he stated. His accent was distinctly Japanese, and Maine nodded approvingly.

“Thank you! Next!” Maine pointed to the girls to the right of Hoshi. “What are your names?”

The girls were conjoined twins, deeply caramelled skin glossed in the fluorescent light and their dark curly hair bounced as they spoke. One was taller with ponytail and the on on her left let her hair poof out in a small Afro, edges pinned back. They somehow wore seperate sets of clothing, like they each picked a shirt and sewed them together. The taller wore a dark blue turtleneck, and cradled a canopener in a clenched fist. The shorter wore a tan button up, and cradled her index finger which seemed swollen and forming scar tissue. She pulled up her sleeve with her teeth and hissed,

“Don't just lump us together. We’re seperate people.”

Tapping a finger to his chin Maine paused. Nodding eagerly he continued. “I'm sorry. You're right.” He pointed to the shorter sister. “What is your name?”

“You can stop pointing at me,” she grumbled “I'm betti. I don't belong here.”

“AUGH NOT THIS AGAIN! bETTI SHUT UP!”

“DONT TALK TO ME LIKE THAT! YOU SHUT UP!”

Maine struggled to maintain his smile amidst their arguing and diverted his attention to someone else.

There was a red girl with even redder hair. She was short, chubby, and wore bandages over where Maine assumed her eyes were. Her ears were rectangular and pointed at the top, and her lips were full and pulled in a jovial grin. Attired in white fitted cotton shorts and a blue crop top she almost seemed like a flag of some sort. Three hoofesque fingers, black and made entirely of the nail, resided on each hand and her feet appeared similarly, unshoed and dangling halfway between the chair and the floor. She sat next to a large green man who eyed Maine suspiciously, thin silver eyes squinting.

Maine bent at the waist and gently tapped her shoulder.

“What is your name?”

She seemed startled at his touch and the green man steadied her with a touch to her opposite shoulder.

“My name is Pang-Chuey!” She shouted small hands on her hips. She broke into a grin and continued. “It's nice to meet everyone! Don't treat me different, because I'll be able to see again real soon and then you'll all be sorry!”

“Differently,” the green man corrected.

“Pleasure to meet you!” Maine replied. “Next!”

…

“Please take outyour laminated name tag that I prepared for you before class and please wear it every time we meet together. It'll make activities easier.”

----

“Okay now let's try to meet each other, if you haven't already! Play some old fashioned board games! I've already prepared partners so let's go for it! Don't forget to check each other's name tags!”

----

He was actually coming his way. Charlie, who was still checking over his shoulder, at the cute chubby maroon girl behind him. As he turned Marion could see Charlie's, unique ears, two flappy pieces of the yin-yang symbol glued to either side of his head.

When Charlie sat in the chair across the table from him Marion spoke, fingering the edge of the chessboard.

“Hi. I'm Marion,” He began trying to contain the enthusiasm in his smile.

“Charlen,” The green man across from him stated. His voice was moreso monotonous, but slight flicks of his flaming eyebrows seemed to convey interest.

Marion paused. ‘Have I been getting his name wrong this whole time?’

“Charlen?”

Charlie nodded.

“Some call me Charlie….If it's easier.”

“I like Charlen,” Marion stated frankly, and started arranging the black pieces on his side.

----

He needed to make sure Pang Chuey would be fine. With one final glance he settled at the table with the one titled Marion. He was absolutely gargantuan, nearly a foot taller than himself even, Charlie thought, and he was around six and a half feet. The gargantuan man’s shoulders were broad like a spaceliner deck, and his ears pointed out like how he imagined an elfs would. Jagged teeth were swaddled by a friendly and eager smile, and one monumental burgundy hand rested in a haystack of tight black loops of hair. Charlie nearly tsked at how Marion’s shirt seemed to barely contain him -muscles seemed to pop from everywhere- but he caught himself and instead tilted his head to the side slightly. They spoke, and when Marion arranged his pieces, Charlie did the same with his white pieces. They quickly traded turns, Marion quipping occasionally. With every movement Marion’s biceps seemed to flex impressively; he was almost jealous.

“Checkmate.”

The words flowed from Charlie's lips effortlessly, a deeply ingrained phrase.

Marion sat back, and examined the board.

“Wow,” spilled from Marion's mouth. After a few seconds, his plastic king clattered to the board, defeated.

“You’re very good. And fast. That was… really quick,” he babbled, “I thought I was good,” he chuckled nervously.

Charlie, taken aback by the compliment, began to set up the board once more.

“You are good.”

Marion glanced at him. “Thank you. But I couldn't manage to beat you.”

“It is okay. I did this for a living,” Charlie's tongue slipped. His fingers paused around a bishop and a brown blush appeared. He mentally slapped himself for sounding so pretentious, but maintaining external stoicism, he continued setting pieces. There was little point in explaining himself.

“Really?” Marion inquired.

Pausing at the question, Charlie debated on how much to tell him.

“Yes. It was...my...main source of income for a while.”

‘That and poker.’

“I wish I had a useful skill like that, but instead I’m here…” Marion whimsied.

Charlie adjusted the collar of his vest, and crossed a leg over the other.

“Why are you here?” He asked blatantly. Suddenly remembering decorum, his eyebrows flicked, and he continued, “...If I may ask.”

Marion smiled. “Sure you may. Silly law. I… winked at an officer. And I guess that's a crime now. So yeah, they called it uneccesary flirting…. ? You?”

‘I probably should be in here…’ Charlie thought.

“I am the optical guardian to Pang Chuey.”

“Her?” Marion gestured to the redhead across the room.

Charlie nodded and moved a pawn forward.

“Charlieeeeeee!” Came a shout accompanied by the bang of the classroom door being forced open. Charlie spun around in his swivel chair, brows furrowing out of habit. Pultakhen stood in the doorway adjusting the sleeves of his shirt-jacket and happily staring down Charlie then confusedly eyeing Marion. He entirely ignored Maine’s greeting and gave his widest smile to Charlie.

Charlie titled his head to the side, as if silently commanding ‘Speak’.

“It's so nice you came to visit meeeeeee!”

The lanky Hhen male bounded towards him his floppy high-tops slappping the lenolium. Before Charlie could realize, he jumped in his lap, nuzzling his shoulder.

Pultakhen was so much larger than Charlie but in a whole different way. Charlie was big, in a more traditional sense. He had broad shoulders was reasonably fit and rather tall for human standards. But Pultakhen was rather thin, muscular and sinewy all at once and nearly as tall as Marion, likely seven feet. His interest for oversized clothing further made him seem larger until his skinny wrists and ankles were visible.

Noticing the furrow of Marion’s brow Charlie felt compelled to explain, but Pultakhen beat him to it.

“Howdy,” he offhandedly greeted, eyebrows furrowing. “How's it hanging, Beefcake?”

“Is that me?” Marion muttered incredulously.

Charlie frowned at Pultakhen and tweaked one of the small horns that protruded from either side of the fairer male’s jaw.

Pultakhen yelped but continued to cuddle into Charlie.

“So mean…” he whined.

Exasperated by his persistence Charlie pinched Pultakhen’s light green skin, twisting until the tawny male was left griping on the floor.

“How could you treat blood this way Charlie? Is this what your street friends teach you? Blood is thicker than water! Tell them that for me! I don't like you hanging around them! They're a bad influence!”

“You’re worse,” Charlie retorted.

“How?! I'm just a friendly peace loving naturalist!”

Charlie snorted humoredly and returned to the chessboard.

Pultakhen crossed his legs on the floor and stared at the board, his eyes just reaching over the edge of the table.

“Ooh you’re playing chess again? How much did he bet?”

Ignoring him Charlie continued to stare at the board until he realized Marion was not planning a move. He was still staring at Pultakhen.

“Are you…?” Marion gestures between them.

“Howdy. Again. I'm Pultakhen, since I have to introduce myself.”

Charlie rolled his eyes and grunted, pointing to his badge.

“Yeah, well I didn't get one of those,” Pulta quipped and batted his lashes grandiosely at Charlie.

“And this is my wife Charlie.”

Charlie dropped his face into his palm and gestured aimlessly the other hand swooping in the air like an angry owl.

Pultakhen wrapped an arm around Charlie's waist and laid his chin on the table.

“Yup. It’ll be twenty years in January.”

At his limit, Charlie again tweaked the closest of Pulta’s two jaw spikes.

“Brother, ” He muttered and moved one of Marion’s pieces for him.

Marion blinked.

“Really?”

Pultakhen and Charlie exchanged a glance, then shrugged.

“Who can say really.” Pulta muttered running a hand through his gray curls, then rose to his feet kissing his brother’s cheek. He then skipped off to another corner of the room, toward an iridescent-haired person by their lonesome leaving charlie to wipe the spit from his cheek.

Marion scratched his head.

‘They didn't really look alike in build or coloration, hair color even in position of spikes. Pultakhen has those chin spikes but Charlie doesn't. Instead two large incisors jut out from his lips. Do those count? Unless he files them down? But his brother is a cyclops. How could he have two eyes and his brother only one? Though maybe I'm not familiar enough with genetic traits common to their species? They're personalities are so different too. Are they actually not related? ’

“Checkmate.”

Jerking his attention back to the board he found war had been waged and won right under his nose.

Glancing up he found Charlie smirking at him.

“We don't think about it much.”

----

“So Loyola?… betti?” Pañaz asked.

“Yep” Loyola stated.

“You’re very cute,” betti mewled ignoring his inquiry. He blushed intensely his bubbly cheeks dimpling as he fought a smile. Tossing a hoofed hand in the air he giggled.

Regaining his composure he pulled a card from the deck on the colorfully candy-coated board. Moving his character ahead he internally cheered when he got to move to the end space.

He externally frowned when Loyola flipped the board.

----

#teating out a new title #cons with feelings #pultakhen #charlie #idk cute i guess?

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