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halothenthehorns · 7 months

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Chapter 21: MY BIRTHDAY PARTY TAKES A DARK TURN

Thank you so much to:

@ary-cm

on Tumblr for the awesome cover image!

I can't believe I'm already almost done with one of the three series?!

PJOPJOPJOPJO

Will read what he was sure to be the last chapter title with heavy concern. What on earth could be left to happen to Percy that couldn't have waited until the next disaster of an adventure to start with?

Nico's heart sunk that's how his appearance was described. Apparently whatever respect he'd gained from Percy was already twisted into fear so early. He couldn't blame him, after what he'd talked him into. A lifelong curse he now had no clue about...

"Please involve something cool and fun for once," Thalia sighed, imagining him having one last fight to the death and passing out on his birthday or something. "Like blacklights! You don't enjoy the effects of those enough!"

"To see all the blood in my room? No thank you," Percy scoffed.

The rest of the summer seemed strange because it was so normal.

Will's tone was happy, hyper even, he seemed genuinely excited he was finally getting to share Percy having a normal time at their camp for actual weeks on end for once.

The daily activities continued: archery, rock climbing, Pegasus riding. We played capture the flag (though we all avoided Zeus's Fist).

"Clarisse actually sat out of most of them," Percy recalled in surprise. "Her whole cabin didn't, but she and Chris helped be the medics for a few fights. It was sooo weird, but it made a lot of the campers who were clearly uneasy about him warm up a bit. Especially when Mrs. O'Leary cuddled up to him too."

"He caught on pretty quick," Will agreed, "he still helps out in the infirmary too when he doesn't really need to anymore," he finished with a significant look at Nico. Most kids didn't seem to care who was helping them as long as the pain was going away, his parentage or whatever he'd done in the past usually wasn't on their mind when it hurt like that.

"Are you sure it wasn't changed to Kampe's fist?" Alex asked when Nico didn't seem to be answering in any way. "The first never even seemed to fit."

"Do you have any idea how exhausting it is to try and get everybody to agree on a new name for something?" Will asked. "Even if we did a poll it would be chaos."

Which was no bother at all to Alex of course, so she looked at him like he was the one who was nuts for pretending that was a good excuse not to.

We sang at the campfire and raced chariots and played practical jokes on the other cabins.

Will hid well how hard the adjustment had been for him that time marched on. Kids had come and gone from the camp, his siblings hadn't been immune to shocking deaths from a random monster attack in the forest or even defecting, it wasn't even the first time he'd been witness to such a thing, if only a handful of times before; but it was usually the ones who'd been there a few weeks. The kids who he'd barely gotten to know.

Lee had been there from day one. Had shown Will the ropes and been his Luke, his best friend, his go to for advice on everything there. It was strange for so long to not wake up every day and have him rousing them for breakfast. Micheal had never tried to emulate him either, he'd done it his own way, which had been all right, but a part of Will had wished someone in there would keep making Loony Tunes references, would keep challenging them to archery target practice instead of just letting the memory of him slowly fade away. Hearing him in Percy's life had been the most he'd been able to think of him in a few years now, and it felt nice.

I spent a lot of time with Tyson, playing with Mrs. O'Leary, but she would still howl at night when she got lonely for her old master. Annabeth and I pretty much skirted around each other. I was glad to be with her, but it also kind of hurt, and it hurt when I wasn't with her, too.

Percy expected the laughing at the teasing, probably a few snarky comments about Rachel.

None came, and as he looked around in surprise he just saw sympathy. Because he didn't have that option now with her nowhere to be seen. He had friends down here, but he still didn't have someone very important to be going through all of this with him.

I wanted to talk to her about Kronos, but I couldn't do that anymore without bringing up Luke. And that was one subject I couldn't raise. She would shut me out every time I tried.

Jason couldn't let that one go without a good laugh though. "I'm now imagining you following her around and she actually darts into random cabins or bathrooms or anywhere she can to slam a door in your face. Maybe even a window if you agitate her enough."

"You're right Jason," Percy sighed with indulgent exhaustion. "I should have cornered her in the woods, maybe used Grover and Tyson to triangle her in so she couldn't escape."

"You say that like she doesn't need an intervention," Thalia grumbled.

July passed, with fireworks on the beach on the Fourth. August turned so hot the strawberries started baking in the fields. Finally, the last day of camp arrived. The standard form letter appeared on my bed after breakfast, warning me that the cleaning harpies would devour me if I stayed past noon.

Magnus opened and closed his mouth several times like he couldn't decide if he wanted to ask how real that threat was. If he stayed and killed the harpies would he be punished or rewarded for yet another fight for his life? Would they devour him if he stayed until 12:01 or if he managed to avoid them until next summer would the ban be lifted?

He ultimately closed his mouth and decided it wasn't worth the headache.

At ten o'clock I stood on the top of Half-Blood Hill, waiting for the camp van that would take me into the city. I'd made arrangements to leave Mrs. O'Leary at camp, where Chiron promised she'd be looked after.

"Tell me you at least intend on riding her down the streets of New York once Percy," Alex looked rather betrayed such a glorious hound was being confined to one camp.

"She deserves to be on a farm where she can stretch and be happy, um, without the death metaphor," Percy shrugged.

"You can still have her for the weekend," she sighed but didn't argue the point further.

Tyson and I would take turns visiting her during the year.

I hoped Annabeth would be riding into Manhattan with me, but she only came to see me off. She said she'd arranged to stay at camp a little longer.

"I can't decide how the bus should feel about that," Jason told him with an almost straight face. "You now range from blowing them up to awkward silence when she's around."

"He's blown up more on his own in his younger years without her, I think the bus should be worried," Thalia offered.

Percy sighed and muttered something about normal friends, whatever that meant.

She would tend to Chiron until his leg was fully recovered, and keep studying Deadalus's laptop, which had engrossed her for the last two months.

"I think you should be thanking some god out there for making sure she stepped away from it," Will agreed.

"She slept with it, Malcolm has proof," Thalia agreed.

Then she would head back to her father's place in San Francisco.

"There's a private school out there that I'll be going to," she said. "I'll probably hate it, but..." she shrugged.

"Yeah, that but," Percy agreed with the same feelings of awkwardness swimming through him now. A feeling that apparently wasn't as good of a swimmer as him, as it kept coasting up and down his throat like vomit!

"Truancy, something even a child of a wisdom goddess would never break the rules for," Alex agreed tragically.

"Yeah, well, call me, okay?"

"Sure," she said half-heartedly. "I'll keep my eyes open for..."

There it was again. Luke. She couldn't even say his name without opening up a huge box of hurt and worry and anger.

"I'll get the key," Nico promised through gritted teeth.

"Maybe you could lose a few while you're at it," Will muttered. Nico seemed to have been better as of late about not keeping everything so close to the chest, but it was still something he found himself worrying about.

"Annabeth," I said. "What was the rest of the prophecy?"

She fixed her eyes on the woods in the distance, but she didn't say anything.

"You would nag Zeus himself about not finishing destroying you," Alex told him with a hint of awe in her voice.

"Seriously Perce, learn to let it go," Jason couldn't help but agree with a troubled frown. Annabeth had been through enough.

Percy didn't feel particularly ashamed though. His stubbornness paid off, and if Annabeth didn't resent him he wasn't going to let these guys make him feel guilty for getting the full picture. It had happened so rarely before meeting her.

"You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze," I remembered. "The dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise. We raised a lot of the dead.

Magnus had a cheeky remark on his tongue for, 'who's this we,' before he paused and realized. Bianca might never have revealed herself to Nico if Percy hadn't been there. His coming along on Annabeth's quest was likely essential for that to happen. It hurt his head, a lot, to realize all over again how powerful those fates were to be able to weave together such immensely different and important things.

We saved Ethan Nakamura, who turned out to be a traitor.

A line that Annabeth had probably hoped referred to Luke all this time, Thalia thought miserably. The girl had been a hopeless optimist when it came to him, but that would imply she'd ever fully admit to Luke being a full blown traitor.

We raised the spirit of Pan, the lost one."

"Raised, and or released," Will agreed.

Jason pursed his lips rather than putting in. He kind of regretted his comment to Percy because he loved that they went over these at the end to analyze them, but he felt like he'd only be encouraging Percy.

Annabeth shook her head like she wanted me to stop.

"You shall rise or fall by the ghost king's hand," I pressed on. "That wasn't Minos, like I'd thought. It was Nico. By choosing to be on our side, he saved us.

Nico still smiled at how casually Percy acknowledged the good he'd done on this quest instead of that unfortunate period of threatening his death. Seems Will had been right, Percy really didn't go around saying a bad thing about him.

And the child of Athena's final stand—that was Daedalus."

"I'm sure Malcolm is so relieved," Percy snorted.

"Percy—"

"Destroy with a hero's final breath. That makes sense now. Daedalus died to destroy the Labyrinth.

"Which is very awesome," Alex couldn't deny. "Though I'm still mildly disappointed Annabeth didn't discover some kind of sonic blast breath or something along the way."

"She uses words as a weapon, isn't that enough?" Percy sighed.

"Whoever said words don't hurt never got hit by a dictionary," Thalia nodded in agreement. She'd gotten quite angry in her youth trying to memorize all the homonyms once and thrown it across the room where Thalia's head happened to be.

But what was the last—"

"And lose a love to worse than death." Annabeth had tears in her eyes. "That was the last line, Percy. Are you happy now?"

"No," Percy whispered, shivering for the first time in the cold depths of the ocean. He'd always known she liked him, but it didn't really hit him until now she liked liked him. Not just admired and was impressed, as Percy once was. It left a very dead feeling inside him, wondering what had stopped her from running away with Luke back when he'd tried to kill Percy. If Luke had gone to Annabeth and taken her away then, how different his life could have been without her.

The sun seemed colder than it had a moment ago. "Oh," I said. "So Luke—"

"Percy, I didn't know who the prophecy was talking about. I—I didn't know if..." She faltered helplessly.

If it meant him, Percy clearly understood that context! She'd thought him dead, she might have even thought kissing him was some final breath that had been all her fault!

He found himself scrunched up in his seat to stop himself beating at the walls. He wanted her in here! He wanted Annabeth to look him in the eyes and say she was okay with how this had all gone and mean it! It was probably selfish of him to want her to relieve this nightmare with him, but he ached for her in a new way he couldn't even begin to describe to himself. Annabeth meant so much to him, couldn't her prophecy have mentioned that!

"Luke and I—for years, he was the only one who really cared about me. I thought..."

Before she could continue, a sparkle of light appeared next to us, like someone had opened a gold curtain in the air.

Magnus finally released a breath he'd been holding for getting to jump off the topic of the creepy idea of his cousin hoping some guy twice her age would be in love with her too and instead blanched in horror if that was Kronos/ Luke about to appear from thin air and murder them all. How was it possible her life was so much more miserable and complicated than his?

"You have nothing to apologize for, my dear." Standing on the hill was a tall woman in a white dress, her dark hair braided over her shoulder.

"Oh hey," Alex said with a hint of violence already on the horizon. "She owes you an explanation!"

Percy grinned a scary sight, tapping his fingers impatiently on his leg and glowering at the book. She'd scarred the piss out of Annabeth, her advice had been in no way helpful, and he had a bad feeling already he could blame more on her soon for how miserable this quest had gone.

Jason sighed. Just what they needed, another god for Percy to piss off.

Thalia was glancing uneasily between Percy and Jason though as her own guilty thoughts got an unpleasant jumpstart. Their reaction to her showing up only reinforced in her she was doing the right thing for now, keeping her suspicions to herself. Percy was already unhappy at Hera for his own and Annabeth's past, if he found out what Thalia was considering he'd rip apart the ocean in a heartbeat just to get rid of his growing tension.

Jason, Jason just looked like he would want no part in this. He was too cautious, to content to let things slide. She enjoyed that about her little brother, it would make picking on him much easier and made him nothing like their dad, but for this it felt right to keep him where he felt safe.

"Hera," Annabeth said.

The goddess smiled. "You found the answers, as I knew you would. Your quest was a success."

"A success?" Annabeth said. "Luke is gone. Daedalus is dead. Pan is dead. How is that—"

"Our family is safe," Hera insisted.

Will couldn't help but read that in agreement. He couldn't help but share the sentiment, that the good had outweighed the bad this time. His brother had died, his camp had felt vulnerable and left him scared to sleep at night like nothing before...and yet he still had a bed. Siblings he could lean on. Not all was lost as it could have easily been. There were better paths out there, like if Hera had actually stepped in and banished all the monsters before any of her 'family' had to die, but Will honestly read that with a sense of joy in his tone that, to Percy's ears, had somehow been lacking. Hera had been stating a fact with pride, Will made Percy smile in some sense of agreement of the word family, even if not the whole pie.

"Those others are better gone, my dear. I am proud of you."

I balled my fists. I couldn't believe she was saying this. "You're the one who paid Geryon to let us through the ranch, weren't you?"

Hera shrugged. Her dress shimmered in rainbow colors.

"Taking a rainbow in vain," Alex scowled hotly for such a beautiful representation of inclusiveness being taken hostage by someone so selective.

"I wanted to speed you on your way."

Will's voice cracked, like someone had stabbed his bubble with a knife. He knew Annabeth had a beef with Hera, the whole camp knew she blamed the goddess for Percy missing. His heart broke though that Nico's journey hadn't even been considered in her wisdom? That she'd only paid for just Annabeth's group to get through and any other half-blood could suffer the consequences? That had been Hera!

"But you didn't care about Nico. You were happy to see him turned over to the Titans."

"Oh, please." Hera waved her hand dismissively. "The son of Hades said it himself. No one wants him around. He does not belong."

The pain of hearing that surprised Nico more than the actual words. His dad said it all the time, he assumed it frequently from the few interactions he'd had with these major gods, but for Hera herself to just come outright and say it made him flinch.

Which quickly morphed into admiration when he heard Will cuss. He hadn't seen that before. Sure he'd been angry in the past, but never full-blown swearing like he was doing now. His southern accent really came through too, he was twanging bad on all his i's and drawing them out to a noticeable level.

"It's, erm, not a big deal Will," Nico patted his hand again. Not one person in here looked like they even sort of agreed with Hera, instead they all looked varying levels of anxious at Will and a tad angry too and his behalf. For some reason that didn't surprise him anymore, which surprised him. "We all know that's how the gods feel about-"

"It is a big deal Nico, because she's being a mother fu-"

"Will," Alex sighed, rubbing her temples. "I agree with every word you're saying, but maybe use some other language, oh child of a poetry god."*

Will finally shut his mouth with a restrained grimace. He didn't feel nearly the amount of better as he'd have liked after venting, but Alex looked as discomforted as Nico for once, who was looking equal parts uncomfortable as usual at being so focused on, everybody watching him for his reaction, and just a tad flattered at Will so vehementily defending him; all while looking rather anxiously at the book clearly wondering how Percy had reacted to that.

So Will conceded he'd made himself plain enough while wondering what the opposite of an offering was as he muttered and searched for his place.

Thalia looked on, mildly impressed and perhaps recruiting Will on her kill Hera crusade, while Percy just felt bad the guy was finally at his level of outrage. He hadn't wanted to drag anyone else down with him.

Magnus and Jason were to busy glancing at every speck to make sure Hera wasn't going to appear and blast them all to smithereens to react properly in time.

"Hephaestus was right," I growled. "You only care about your perfect family, not real people."

Will's voice still shook with fury at just how right the god of the forge was about that apparently. When the gods were born, how much understanding did they have? Had this newborn child looked up at his mother and seen the look of disgust on her face before being pitched off a mountain?

It was an ugly truth Will had never really been confronted with until this moment. It made him sick to realize if Luke had been telling kids this kind of stuff all along and how it wasn't that unbelievable to him anymore. He'd never considered the gods perfect, but growing up in camp had always given him a sense they'd at least grown from their first depictions as the very worst they could be called today. They'd laid out a safe space for their kids to practice and grow, they had to have been evolving with the times, if slower, right?

His breath shook loose, a calming feeling as he remembered his dad helping Percy find Artemis and how awkwardly yet fervently Posideon continued to help Percy. None of them were perfect. They were distant and often harsh and more often unhelpful if they did try and tended to make their lives worse, but Hera was just a horrible exception.

Ares and Hephestus, Zeus and Posideon, he'd never really had much firsthand experience with any god except Mr. D and flip-flopped between pitty and heavy annoyance with him with minimal grudging appreciation he didn't just incinerate them all and call it a job done. Percy's adventure in detail didn't really change anything, it just gave him a heavier feeling of what he'd been fighting for than he'd gone to Manhatten with.

It sort of scared him for a moment, actually, as he frowned at the rest of the page and his skin twitched with displeasure at what he'd really just been doing. He never would have considered thinking all that before being thrown in here, let alone saying it out loud, verbosely, and only having to be stopped because someone asked him to. He'd been noting Nico's slow change with enthusiasm, but hadn't really stopped to consider his own until this moment, and it left an uncomfortable knot in him as he continued.

Her eyes turned dangerously bright. "Watch yourself, son of Poseidon. I guided you more than you know in the maze. I was at your side when you faced Geryon. I let your arrow fly straight. I sent you to Calypso's island. I opened the way to the Titan's mountain.

Nico felt his mouth open for several moments before he realized he should close it. Not since the stories of old had he heard such blatant interference, and it kind of impressed him. That Hera had gone so out of her way, unprompted, to help them every step of the way. He'd never have believed such a thing from Percy's own mouth, but to hear it from an Olympian herself was amazing. Like a real flip of the cards to reveal what her plan had been all along and strike down all foes come to life.

It was, of course, possible she'd done all that just to gloat and change history a bit in making her seem like the caring mother her title suggested she could be, Thalia's painful looking sneer proved this wasn't a popular thought, but Nico still found it extremely fascinating. He'd have never wanted such help from a god before all this, every interaction he'd had with them was laced with tension and she herself proved they wanted nothing to do with him in return...but that didn't make this less interesting to hear by a mile.

Annabeth, my dear, surely you see how I've helped. I would welcome a sacrifice for my efforts."

"Do you think anybody sacrifices to her?" Magnus had very mixed feelings about hearing this, Percy was a tad disgusted to hear a touch of pity in his voice. "I think she really did do this, like a kind of adoption?" He didn't sound that sure though. Like a theory he expected to get trashed. He even mouthed 'sorry' to Nico, not trying to disconnect from the fact she didn't do it well! Yet Annabeth's own mother didn't seem to have stepped in here, maybe Hera had really wanted to help and was just out of practice.

Percy strived to keep his voice even and not too harsh in return. "I, um, think it's a tad more selfish. It sounds like she was willing to win by any means necessary, it just happened to align with our means."

Annabeth stood still as a statue. She could've said thank you. She could've promised to throw some barbecue on the brazier for Hera and forget the whole thing.

Jason looked very queasy at all of this, for once instead of being the arguing party he understood both sides well. Juno probably did feel undervalued, with no direct link to those kids at Camp. Her temple dusty, her history rarely spoken of and if so negatively.

Yet, he had a feeling what Annabeth was about do. The same thing Percy would have done. He had almost grown used to the level of disrespect these guys so often showed to the gods, and it froze some inner part of him with dread at the mere bubble of thought, let alone what his ears were about to hear worse than anything Will could have called her.

But she clenched her jaw stubbornly. She looked just the way she had when she'd faced the Sphinx—like she wasn't going to accept an easy answer, even if it got her in serious trouble. I realized that was one of the things I liked best about Annabeth.

"Name a thing you don't like about Annabeth," Thalia rolled her eyes.

Percy opened his mouth, closed it, thought about it for a moment, and then said with confidence, "her love of olives. I tolerate them at best, but she puts them on everything!"

"Ah, the olive theory, a classic," Alex snickered while Thalia just looked at him with complete pity. Gods, boys.

"Percy is right." she turned her back on the goddess. "You're the one who doesn't belong, Queen Hera. So next time, thanks...but no thanks."

"Not really as harsh as I was expecting," Magnus admitted even as his heart tried to jump around his chest like a jackrabbit on crack no matter what he said.

"I guess that was her restrained dismissal," Alex agreed with a tad more disappointment. She'd probably wanted at least one jump scare at minimum to impress her.

"And this was the girl who warned you to be polite to Ares," Jason mumbled through numb lips, expecting her to drop dead any second honestly.

Hera's sneer was worse than an empousa's. Her form began to glow.

"That, is not great," Magnus said with a very dry mouth. Somehow Percy constantly pissing off gods felt like second nature by now, it really wasn't that great of a concern at this point since he was alive.

Where the heck was Annabeth?! Was this curse to be forced to live at the bottom of the ocean meant for her? If so, the digs seemed way to nice, though perhaps by their standards this was poverty?

"You will regret this insult, Annabeth. You will regret this very much."

I averted my eyes as the goddess turned into her true divine form and disappeared in a blaze of light.

Most of the others flinched and instinctively wanted to close their eyes, imagining a mushroom cloud in her wake after that.

Except Jason, who sat frozen in place without the good sense to do anything other than mutter, "uhoh."

Percy sighed, already knowing he'd probably have to tackle this idiot to the ground at least once in his life if he saw something cool enough to kill them all.

The hilltop was peaceful again. Over at the pine tree, Peleus the dragon dozed under the Golden Fleece as if nothing had happened.

"I'm sorry," Annabeth told me.

"She's sorry?" Percy asked meekly, a very strange expression on his face. "Where's my apology?" His tone implied none was needed though, his lips were twitching to much and he kept rubbing his thumb across them. They all figured out what that tone was and collectively decided they didn't want to hear it again.

"I—I should get back. I'll keep in touch."

"Listen, Annabeth—" I thought about Mount St. Helens, Calypso's Island, Luke and Rachel Elizabeth Dare, and how suddenly everything had gotten so complicated. I wanted to tell Annabeth that I didn't really want to be so distant from her.

Then Argus honked his horn down at the road, and I lost my chance.

"Remind me to smack an eyeball onto Argus's sense of timing," Thalia groaned. She would have personally handcuffed the two together if it would have resolved their problems already.

"Duly noted," Percy and Jason both promised, causing the others to snicker hard.

"You'd better get going," Annabeth said. "Take care, Seaweed Brain."

She jogged down the hill. I watched her until she reached the cabins. She didn't look back once.

Percy had never felt so much at once seeing her take off like a blond comet across the green fields. Her confidence in every stride, how happy he was for her she'd finally made peace with her dad and felt no need to look back.

The longing he wished she'd at least slow down, that she'd shove that tenacity of hers in his face and kiss him again when he wasn't about to die. That she'd tell him he was a Seaweed Brain and that her feelings for him were just as complicated as they were for Luke's at minimum.

Will's voice startled him out of his memory, to be dragged back here as lost and confused as ever what Annabeth would ultimately decide was best for her with no clue how to show her it could be him.

He didn't even know who to ask for advice about this. His dad was kind of out of touch at the dating thing, he'd probably just suggest Percy snap his fingers and offer to split the ocean for her or something, or ban him from talking to Annabeth if he didn't already know who she was. His mom was just way to embarrassing to even consider every time her name came up. Chiron, maybe...nope. Still to awkward. He was starting to become more convinced by the hour that lone memory he'd awoken in here with was a dream and a fortune teller was probably his best bet. Gods he was hopeless.

Two days later it was my birthday. I never advertised the date, because it always fell right after camp, so none of my camp friends could usually come, and I didn't have that many mortal friends.

"Do you, have any?" Thalia honestly tried to ask without sarcasm, but it sounded that way anyways.

"Um, I used to cat sit for this really old lady before we moved and she'd give me jelly beans when I walked her dog," Percy shrugged.

"A true bestie I'm sorry we never got to meet," Thalia chuckled.

Besides, getting older didn't seem like anything to celebrate since I'd gotten the big prophecy about me destroying or saving the world when I turned sixteen.

"There are so many themes you could do around that though!" Alex sighed. "I can think of three off the top of my head!"

"Alex can and will make a volcano explode in your apartment," Magnus sighed with full confidence.

"But I'll leave the surprise of who jumps out," she winked.

"Pass," Percy could only say hesitantly though. It sounded fun, he'd never even had a bounce house before...but hadn't it already happened? Retroactive birthday party? Maybe? If he survived another year?

Now I was turning fifteen. I was running out of time.

My mom threw me a small party at our apartment. Paul Blofis came over, but that was okay because Chiron had manipulated the Mist to convince everyone at Goode High School that I had nothing to do with the band room explosion.

"Yes!" Percy fist bumped the air with such exuberance there was yet another new crack in the ceiling. "I thought of that before but didn't know if I'd remember to tell Chiron before I left!"

"Now remember this plan for the next time," Nico chuckled.

Percy sighed at the already assured knowledge there was going to be a next time, but it had been a nice five seconds while it lasted.

Now Paul and the other witnesses were convinced that Kelli had been a crazy, firebomb-throwing cheerleader, while I had simply been an innocent bystander who'd panicked and ran from the scene. I would still be allowed to start as a freshman at Goode next month. If I wanted to keep my record of getting kicked out of school every year, I'd have to try harder.

"You say that like it was your fault," Magnus told him bracingly. "Until someone invents monster repellent, you can try all you like and get nowhere."

He meant it in a positive way, but Percy nodded as glumly as before. It was something he'd heard all his life being ADHD. He'd have to try ten times harder than the 'normal' kids and still never be on their level, which to him sounded like he really shouldn't bother trying that hard at all.

Tyson came to my party, too, and my mother baked two extra blue cakes just for him.

Percy bounced in his seat for a moment with one of the happier grins they'd seen on his face today. Annabeth couldn't or wouldn't be there, Percy didn't feel like his own birth should be celebrated, but his little brother was there. His mom had opened the door and greeted him with a Tyson worthy hug and had extra cake just for him and that was pretty much the greatest birthday present he'd want anyways.

While Tyson helped my mom blow up party balloons, Paul Blofis asked me to help him in the kitchen.

As we were pouring punch, he said, "I hear your mom signed you up for driver's ed this fall."

"Would Percy's bus explosion problem translate to cars?" Alex asked eagerly.

"Gods I hope not," Percy sighed.

"I'm not sure I get the stereotype about New Yorkers and driving," Magnus admitted. "You have to walk everywhere because the streets are horrible, but if everybody walks or takes the subway why are the streets so bad?"

"We're fearless about any obstacle but are to impatient," Percy grinned.

Magnus might as well have asked him to spell out those Canadian monsters names again for all the light that provided on the subject.

"Yeah. It's cool. I can't wait."

Seriously, I'd been excited about getting my license forever,

"Pretty sure that's something we look forward to from the time we're born," Will said wistfully. He'd spent the whole day of his sixteenth birthday on the chariot track, imagining it as his dad's sun-mobile. He'd spent the previous week painting it bright red and everything and, according to his own imagination, won every Indie 500 Race that day.

Only to have several of his siblings show up and hog the races the rest of the day from the rest of camp to make that a reality. Kayla had even painted brands and logos on some of them for authenticity while Micheal and Lee somehow always had the dastardly bad luck of fumbling the finish so Will could sail through.

It really had been a good day, and only a tad bittersweet at the end as he sat on the roof of his cabin watching the sun go down, his prayer unanswered of hoping his dad would just make an appearance, let alone let him touch the sun. Austin had assured him that night as he flopped into bed they'd all made that wish and Apollo hadn't answered in centries for any of his kids, just another day.

but I guess my heart wasn't in it anymore, and Paul could tell. In a weird way he reminded me of Chiron sometimes, how he could look at you and actually see your thoughts.

Will realized his thoughts had drifted him into a melancholy mood, and trying to jump right back out, he offered, "hey, did you know Chiron will help kids at camp get their license if they want to. He does something with the mist, gives them papers if they need it, but they still have to pass on their own merit," he finished with a grin at remembering Connor nearly drove his practice car into a jewelry store and still insisted it was an accident. It probably was an accident, but it was still funny too.

"I was actually wondering about that for a second," Magnus told him gratefully. He knew he was out of luck on that front and would likely remain homeless forever because of it, but for once this Camp finally had a solid, irrefutably good thing he might be able to look into.

I guess it was that teacher aura.

"Is the dark turn Paul's been a secret FBI agent all along infiltrating the school," she paused with a wild gasp, "or your family! And he reveals the secret conspiracy of hauling you all away to Area 51!"

"Alex," Percy sighed with a good-hearted grin. "You are going to be excellent at whatever you decide your life is."

"Living that dream," she smirked.

"You've had a rough summer," he said. "I'm guessing you lost someone important. And...girl trouble?"

"I guess we know who the problem child is, the ones the parents gossip about," Thalia did a pretty good impression of an ornery older sister to Percy's ears while he flushed and muttered a bit about how he wasn't surprised this had come up with his mom.

I stared at him. "How do you know that? Did my mom—"

He held up his hands. "Your mom hasn't said a thing.

"Oh," Thalia sounded as stunned as anybody while Percy went from shocked to pleased the fastest. Percy had never really missed his life as a mortal, he'd spent to much of his younger years being the odd kid out to even know what that felt like but at this moment he knew that if Paul was the dad in his life that he didn't have to be, things would have still turned out all right for him.

And I won't pry. I just know there's something unusual about you, Percy. You've got a lot going on that I can't figure. But I was also fifteen once, and I'm just guessing from your expression...Well, you've had a rough time."

I nodded. I'd promised my mom I would tell Paul the truth about me, but now didn't seem the time. Not yet.

"Save that for his birthday," Jason chuckled, "see how long he thinks you're pranking him and asking for his real present before it sinks in."

"Well I know who I'm scratching off my next guest list," Percy rolled his eyes.

"I was on the list?" Jason looked surprised, which Percy hoped was a joke. Obviously everybody in here was.

"I lost a couple of friends at this camp I go to," I said. "I mean, not close friends, but still—"

Will looked touched all the same Percy didn't go back to his home and try to forget it even happened. Maybe the next time there was a war council meeting and Lee wasn't at the table Percy wouldn't just blink and breeze right past it like it had entirely left his mind.

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah. And, uh, I guess the girl stuff..."

Percy had never been the greatest with his words. He had no more clue what to say to Paul than to Annabeth herself, how to get started on her and Rachel and Luke and the constant question mark bouncing around in his head. It wasn't because of Paul though. He'd stood there waiting patiently the entire time as he'd gathered his useless thoughts and then scraped them at least five times.

"Here." Paul handed me some punch. "To your fifteenth birthday. And to a better year to come."

We tapped our paper cups together and drank.

Percy couldn't have asked for a better toast. Any year had to be better than the one he'd just had. Right?

"Percy, I kind of feel bad giving you one more thing to think about," Paul said. "But I wanted to ask you something."

"He asks you if you're a half-blood?" Thalia asked, because really, it had to be something with Paul. Maybe he could see through the Mist too and never knew how to say it before he saw Kelli.

"Is he going to ask what he should have gotten you for your birthday?" Will asked, imagining he'd gotten Percy, like, a black puppy that turned out to be a hellhound too or something and that was the 'dark turn.'

"Is he going to ask to move in already?" Magnus asked, no clue how fast these things were supposed to go, but it felt like 'a step,' worthy of including Percy.

"What is the capital of Bulgaria?" Alex chuckled.

"Yeah?"

"Girl stuff."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Oh gods," Jason's mind started spinning like a guinea pig. "He's not going to ask you what he should get your mom for her birthday?"

"Sounds, um, kind of nice?" Nico offered. Percy obviously got along with Paul, maybe Paul was looking for a way to spend more time with him.

"Your mom," Paul said. "I'm thinking about proposing to her."

"Oooh," all seven of them said with the same blank look. That was, so beyond the scope of their understanding honestly, they barely knew how to react to that other than nonplussed, maybe a little mild pleasure. None of the others really had a great enough relationship with their own mortal parent to process entirely what was being said.

I almost dropped my cup. "You mean...marrying her? You and her?"

"Sally and Paul, sitting in a tree," Thalia burst out singing with surprised laughter.

Percy came out of his dumbfounded state enough to react to that and give her a shove. He was happy for them, a hundred percent. Really, it wouldn't even be that weird, the guy was over all the time anyways. He just didn't even know how to process something like this because it didn't involve stabbing something.

"Well, that was the genera idea. Would that be okay with you?"

"You're asking my permission?"

Paul scratched his beard. "I don't know if it's permission, so much, but she's your mother. And I know you're going through a lot. I wouldn't feel right if I didn't talk to you about it first, man to man."

"Man to man," I repeated.

Percy had never been called anything more than his mom's little man before. He found himself sitting up straight in his beanbag chair, smiling with a new kind of pride.

It sounded strange, saying that. I thought about Paul and my mom, how she smiled and laughed more whenever he was around, and how Paul had gone out of his way to get me into high school. I found myself saying, "I think that's a great idea, Paul. Go for it."

It had felt like the obvious answer the moment he'd said it. Paul had looked him right in the eye while asking, despite their height difference. He was always there for his mom, he'd never made her cry. Percy didn't even know what else people needed to be in a marriage, but he already knew it would be better than what she'd had before.

He smiled really wide then. "Cheers, Percy. Let's join the party."

Percy had followed him with a strut in his step he'd never had before. His imagination had already been going wild, asking Paul to help him put on those weird monkey suits he'd only seen on TV. Would Paul ask Percy to call him dad? How upset would he be if Percy never wanted to?

But his mom...those seemed like minor problems when he could already feel the happiness through a kind of faith alone he'd never had for the gods that she was never going to stop smiling after this day.

I was just getting ready to blow out the candles when the doorbell rang.

"Did you make a wish?" Thalia asked with interest. The only time she'd ever managed to sit down for one of her birthdays was over a trashcan fire with Luke and Annabeth. They'd found some lumpy, frozen chocolate that had clearly all once melted together and were chipping it away, the two teasing her not to blow out their 'candle' that was keeping them warm, and she'd only promised her wish would be it never did. Other than that experience, she had no clue what someone would wish for.

"Yeah," Percy grinned without elaborating. It had just been a feeling really, of hope, that everything would be okay. He'd bottled it up tight and been about to exhale it onto that candle as a kind of offering all its own to the cosmos when that knock had interrupted him. He tried not to frown at that being some kind of bad omen.

My mom frowned. "Who could that be?"

It was weird, because our new building had a doorman, but he hadn't called up or anything. My mom opened the door and gasped.

It was my dad.

Percy had instantly felt zapped, shrunk back down to twelve years old again and seeing him for the first time on Olympus. He'd wanted to load him into a taxi and have some fairy tale ending. Instead, he'd told Percy he regretted him being born.

He was wearing Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian shirt and Birkenstocks, like he usually does. His black beard was neatly trimmed and his sea-green eyes twinkled. He wore a battered cap decorated with fishing lures. It said NEPTUNE'S LUCKY FISHING HAT.

"Pos—" My mother stopped herself.

"What kind of fake name could she have even given?" Alex asked in amusement. "Pos, pause, pus," she kept trying to enunciate that into something and looked increasingly frustrated coming up with nothing. "Posterior? Pustrami? Pussudinym? Postumus? Possible? Positive, Pustual, Potter, Pos-"

"Posey?" Percy offered. That was a flower, and a girl's name, right? Then he went crosseyed as he realized what he just suggested his dad should go by for any length of time.

"Yes! Great one Percy!" Alex cackled in delight.

"I think we could go through every religion to find his alter ego and he'd still rather just go by his own name," Will finally interrupted the madness with a laugh.

She was blushing right to the roots of her hair. "Um, hello."

"Hello, Sally," Poseidon said. "You look as beautiful as ever. May I come in?"

"Can you say no to that?" Magnus stage whispered.

"I wouldn't want to try," Percy shrugged though because it was his dad, not in general.

My mother made a squeaking sound that might've been either a "Yes" or "Help." Poseidon took it as a yes and came in.

Percy shook his head at the six of them getting a good laugh out of that, Thalia of course escalating it by giving him a hearty clap on the shoulder and saying, "well, now we know where you got that from too."

"I don't squeak," he finished with a long, exhausted sigh knowing he couldn't really deny any such thing.

Paul was looking back and forth between us, trying to read our expressions.

Jason nodded in understanding. Some random guy showing up probably had Paul instinctively worried about Gabe showing up, if Sally had shared anything about him at all.

Finally he stepped forward. "Hi, I'm Paul Blofis."

Magnus crinkled up his nose in disgust at the idea of a creepy, three-eyed monkey coming to mind who always introduced himself like that at the end of those old cartoons. He'd really hated that thing. It had nothing to do with Paul, it was just a bad name association.

Poseidon raised his eyebrows as they shook hands. "Blowfish, did you say?"

"Ah, no. Blofis, actually."

"Oh, I see," Poseidon said. "A shame. I quite like blowfish.

"Poseidon's favorite son confirmed," Will snorted.

"At least it's not Antaeus," Percy shrugged.

I am Poseidon."

"I kind of like that better," Alex said. "Just come right out with it, why hide?"

"I think we just heard Alex's life motto," Nico grinned.

"Poseidon? That's an interesting name."

"Yes, I like it. I've gone by other names, but I do prefer Poseidon."

"Like the god of the sea."

"Very much like that, yes."

"Well!" my mom interrupted.

"I have never thought of your mom as a killjoy before this moment," Thalia admitted. "Even when she's being boring and safe and loving, telling you not to die and be careful and all that nonsense. This, this I would have paid to see how long your dad would go on like this."

"She's a little stressed," Percy shrugged, "and she gets a free pass."

"She gets all the free passes," Thalia nodded in agreement.

"Um, we're so glad you could drop by. Paul, this is Percy's father."

"Ah." Paul nodded, though he didn't look real pleased. "I see."

"Oooh, jealousy," Alex snickered in surprise.

"I'm guessing Paul's not his biggest fan," Percy agreed, confusion mixed into every syllable of how he felt about this. "My mom always made sure I knew my dad didn't abandon me, but you know, I was a little kid. I don't think Pual would have taken to that lost at sea thing. He probably wants to speak to him man to man too," he finished with an awkward smile he'd definitely have to be a part of that conversation to make sure nobody got turned into blowfishes.

Poseidon smiled at me. "There you are, my boy. And Tyson, hello, son!"

"Daddy!" Tyson bounded across the room and gave Poseidon a big hug, which almost knocked off his fishing hat.

"Naww," Magnus smiled in surprise.

"It was that or Tyson was going to burst into tears of joy or something," Percy grinned in relief at this choice.

Paul's jaw dropped. He stared at my mom. "Tyson is..."

"Not mine," she promised.

"Legally," Percy mock whispered, using air quotes and everything.

"It's a long story."

"I couldn't miss Percy's fifteenth birthday," Poseidon said. "Why, if this were Sparta, Percy would be a man today!"

"That's true," Paul said. "I used to teach ancient history."

Poseidon's eyes twinkled. "That's me. Ancient history.

"Have the gods written a memoir?" Jason asked with a false amusement meant to hide his instant need for such a thing. "An autobiography? A manuscript? A rough draft I could steal?"

"Jason, that last one could count as high treason, worse than stealing the bolt," Percy told him with wide-eyed concern that wasn't really mocking.

Jason laughed like he was kidding, but even to his own ears he knew he didn't convince anyone.

Sally, Paul, Tyson...would you mind if I borrowed Percy for a moment?"

He put his arm around me and steered me into the kitchen.

Once we were alone, his smile faded.

Percy sighed as that chapter title came true, again. He wished they wouldn't even be there to kill his blue skies, always looming over whatever nice moment he'd been having. Like storm clouds rolling in and chasing everyone off the beach. His dad hadn't done it on purpose he was sure, it had just instantly killed his mood.

"Are you all right, my boy?"

That immediately felt like the storm running out of rain though as Percy smiled. Chiron had called him that many times, but it had never hit as hard as that did.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I guess."

"I guess," Thalia nodded without surprise. "You know Percy, you don't have to guess every question you're given."

"I'm right like, fifty percent of the time," Percy shrugged.

"I call bullsit on that number," Jason scoffed.

"And I'm to bad at math to do the actual percentage," Percy scoffed right back.

"I heard stories," Poseidon said. "But I wanted to hear it directly from you. Tell me everything."

"See, this is why they invented cellphones though, to avoid awkward moments like this," Magnus said with a twitchy feeling in his gut. The gods popped up at any old place now, yeah been there done that, but something about Poseidon being in Percy's apartment was giving him a feeling of anxiety. Ever since Gabe had left, Percy had always felt safe there, and though his dad was clearly no threat to him, it felt invasive. Like he could hear howls in the distance...

So I did. It was kind of disconcerting, because Poseidon listened so intently. His eyes never left my face. His expression didn't change the whole time I talked. When I was done, he nodded slowly.

"I cannot say I've ever had a god's undivided attention before," Will said with a touch of awe. When Annabeth had done it, he'd been infuriated beyond words. Now his mind felt overflown with jealousy at Percy getting the same from his dad. It really did feel like all or nothing for the Olympians sometimes.

"So Kronos is indeed back. It will not be long before full war is upon us."

"As opposed to the minor battles you've been dealing with," Nico sighed.

"What is war if not just for a bunch of little battles," Thalia agreed.

"Violent," Alex offered.

"Profitable," Percy raised his hand for something he actually remembered from a class.

"You two think you're so clever," Thalia scoffed.

"What about Luke?" I asked. "Is he really gone?"

"I don't know, Percy. It is most disturbing."

"But his body is mortal. Couldn't you just destroy him?"

"We've been asking that since he summoned a scorpion and tore a rip in the air with a sword," Magnus said, and by we he clearly meant himself.

"Mortal, perhaps, but there is something different about Luke, my boy. I don't know how he was prepared to host the Titan's soul, but he will not be easily killed. And yet, I fear he must be killed if we are to send Kronos back to the pit. I will have to think on this. Unfortunately, I have other problems of my own."

"That, was the best summary of the gods, and I didn't even have to Sparknotes it," Nico sighed. Yeah, your problem sucked, but I'm busy with other things!

I remembered what Tyson had told me at the beginning of the summer. "The old sea gods?"

"I wonder if Oceanus is listening in on us and muttering about how his strategies still would have worked," Thalia said with interest. She wished he wasn't such a reclusive old nut, she'd have liked the chance to hear the perspective of an old Titan.

"More likely he'd forget our names every other minute and be whining about how the Olympians run things," Percy rolled his eyes.

"Back in my day we squashed puny mortals on their birthday!" Alex even gave a helpful old man impression again to prove Percy's point, earning a grin from said child of the sea.

"Tethy's didn't seem that bad," Jason was clearly on Thalia's side with a hopeful smile at the door.

"So long as she keeps that thermometer away from me," Percy insisted.

"Indeed. The battle came first to me, Percy. In fact, I cannot stay long. Even now the ocean is at war with itself. It is all I can do to keep hurricanes and typhoons from destroying your surface world, the fighting is so intense."

His dad had been stroking his beard the whole time, a nervous tick Percy had never seen him do before. He didn't have his triton on him, also a first. Poseidon had seemed more human in that kitchen than Percy realized he even could be. Like that delirious moment of him just waltzing back into his mom's life and snapping his fingers to make everything perfect was possible for just this second.

And then what he'd said really sunk in. That his dad, in all his godly power, was already exhausted and torn in half by a war long before Zeus even admitted one was happening. His father, like any of the gods, was far from perfect.

"Let me come down there," I said. "Let me help."

"The summer camp I'm honestly surprised you haven't attended yet," Alex agreed.

"Not for lack of trying!" Percy groaned.

Poseidon's eyes crinkled as he smiled. "Not yet, my boy.

"Yet," Percy sighed, though when he did try and search through his mind to get a glimpse for that feeling, it hurt. A trace of pain lancing through him he had no wish to play connect the dots with in the slightest.

I sense you will be needed here. Which reminds me..." He brought out a sand dollar and pressed it into my hand. "Your birthday present. Spend it wisely."

"Is, that a joke?" Jason asked slowly.

"Um, spoiler, I didn't laugh," Percy promised if it was.

"Uh, spend a sand dollar?"

"Oh, yes. In my day, you could buy quite a lot with a sand dollar.

"Could probably buy a whole sand mansion or something back in his day," Nico snorted.

"Wasn't he kind of born owning the ocean?" Magnus asked. "How rich is he from just all the treasure in the seas?"

"More immeasurable than his already infinite power I'm sure," Percy sighed at them missing the point, as usual.

I think you will find it still buys a lot, if used in the right situation."

"What situation?"

"When the time comes," Poseidon said, "I think you'll know."

Percy sighed at the strange feeling that gave him. Like he knew his dad was right, and it wasn't even particularly painful like the last time he'd just tried to understand this cryptic advice, but it was still as exhausting as wondering whose string those old ladies had cut. Better than sending him another card though.

I closed my hand around the sand dollar, but something was really bothering me.

"Only one something?" Jason sighed. "Because I'm over here losing track of all my somethings."

"I prioritize better," Percy smirked.

"You forget more," Thalia rolled her eyes.

"Dad," I said, "when I was in the maze, I met Antaeus. He said...well, he said he was your favorite son. He decorated his arena with skulls and—"

It had been a really horrible moment in a vast, never-ending sequence of horrible moments down in that maze. Nobody was surprised this one had stuck with Percy.

It was nice he got the chance to air it for once. That Poseidon had a chance to answer for why he'd never stepped in and told Antaeus to knock it off with the murdery entertainment.

"He dedicated them to me," Poseidon supplied. "And you are wondering how someone could do something so horrible in my name."

I nodded uncomfortably.

Poseidon put his weathered hand on my shoulder. "Percy, lesser beings do many horrible things in the name of the gods. That does not mean we gods approve. The way our sons and daughters act in our names...well, it usually says more about them than it does about us. And you, Percy, are my favorite son."

Percy smiled to bright for them to do anything other than smile along, the answer had clearly meant a lot to him that they weren't going to badger for more.

Yet it felt more like a redirect than an answer.

He smiled, and at that moment, just being in the kitchen with him was the best birthday present I ever got. Then my mom called from the living room.

"Percy? The candles are melting!"

"You'd better go," Poseidon said. "But, Percy, one last thing you should know. That incident at Mount St. Helens..."

For a second I thought he was talking about Annabeth kissing me, and I blushed, but then I realized he was talking about something a lot bigger.

"There was something bigger that happened?" Alex said in an oh so innocent impression of Percy's voice.

Percy gave her an eye roll for that, a blush on his cheeks but sinking lower in his seat all the same for what he'd done.

"The eruptions are continuing," he said. "Typhon is stirring. It is very likely that soon, in a few months, perhaps a year at best, he will escape his bonds."

"I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't mean—"

Poseidon raised his hand. "It is not your fault, Percy. It would've happened sooner or later, with Kronos awakening the ancient monsters.

Percy couldn't believe the weight that was lifted off of him, like taking a much needed breath of air. He did still feel the responsibility of that on his shoulders, but for his own dad to assure him it wasn't his fault was unbelievable when he knew best the gods would try and blame this kind of mistake on the easiest target available.

But be aware, if Typhon stirs...it will be unlike anything you have faced before. The first time he appeared, all the forces of Olympus were barely enough to battle him. And when he stirs again, he will come here, to New York. He will make straight for Olympus."

"Oh, so it's not just my birthday that took a dark turn," Percy sighed. "It's the whole stinking continent that's soon going to be covered in ash and blotting out the sun getting a dark turn."

Thalia gave his shoulder a gentle shake and her usual spiel about not freaking out to early while Nico batted his eyes at Percy in surprise. He'd been so sure that stupid thing related to him, that he'd hear Percy's uncomfortable thoughts about inviting him inside to darken his apartment. Percy's wasn't exactly a great interpretation, but it certainly was different than his.

That was just the kind of wonderful news I wanted to get on my birthday, but Poseidon patted me on the back like everything was fine. "I should go. Enjoy your cake."

And just like that he turned to mist and was swept out the window on a warm ocean breeze.

Alex chuckled for a moment before telling Nico, "you still have the best calling card in this one by the way, but Poseidon does get points for spirit on that."

Nico swelled with pride he was being compared to some god other than his dad to care what those points were worth.

It took a little work to convince Paul that Poseidon had left via the fire escape, but since people can't vanish into thin air, he had no choice but to believe it.

"I feel so bad for Paul," Magnus chuckled as he rubbed his temple. "Knowing the answer you're given isn't the truth but feeling crazy there's no other answer."

"Yeah," Percy agreed with a sorrowful nod. He'd felt awful lying to Paul after the awesome talk they'd just had and resolved in himself to tell him the truth sooner rather than later. He hoped he'd managed to do that before this whole disappearing off the face of the earth thing he'd apparently done so his mom had someone to really confide in about her worries.

We ate blue cake and ice cream until we couldn't eat anymore. Then we played a bunch of cheesy party games like charades and Monopoly. Tyson didn't get charades. He kept shouting out the answer he was trying to mime,

"Which is lucky for you because he would have kicked all of your butts being such an awesome artist," Alex grinned.

"I call him on my team!" Jason instantly yelped.

"Hey, no dibs before we even set up our own game night," Alex narrowed her eyes with a menace none of them were sure was entirely playful.

"Got to be faster Alex, sorry," Jason just shrugged smugly.

Thalia loudly cleared her throat to move that on before she had to restrain the two.

but it turned out he was really good at Monopoly. He knocked me out of the game in the first five rounds and started bankrupting my mom and Paul.

"I see Tyson really got all of Poseidon's good traits," Magnus laughed in surprise.

"I call him on my Monopoly team," Alex said swiftly.

Jason sighed in defeat they would switch it up between games and gave in.

"How do you play Monopoly in teams?" Percy asked.

"By making shit up I'm sure," Thalia shrugged at the amount of chaos that was going to happen when this night happened.

I left them playing and went into my bedroom.

"Aw Perce, don't tell me you're a sore loser," Will frowned.

"More like I was getting a headache watching their money move hands so fast," Percy grinned.

I set an uneaten slice of blue cake on my dresser.

Nico smiled in surprise that finally explained why, when he'd materialized, he'd heard shouting in the background like there had been a gameshow on when the TV was off as he'd come in. He'd thought he had shut it off or something crazy when he'd come in with his weird powers and aura and they'd fallen silent upon seeing him. Turned out it was a much more fun, and mundane reason.

Then I took off my Camp Half-Blood necklace and laid it on the windowsill. There were three beads now, representing my three summers at camp—a trident, the Golden Fleece, and the latest: an intricate maze, symbolizing the Battle of the Labyrinth, as the campers had started to call it. I wondered what next year's bead would be, if I was still around to get it. If the camp survived until next summer.

Percy did have another bead on there, of course, and he clasped his fist around the lot now, his throat as tight with worry as ever what had happened between all that. He felt like the best-case scenario was he'd come out alive, but the more realistic possibility was he'd just gone nuts and molded one for himself in a mock victory from his grave or something before being plopped in here.

I looked at the phone by my bedside. I thought about calling Rachel Elizabeth Dare. My mom had asked me if there was anyone else I wanted to have over tonight, and I'd thought about Rachel. But I didn't call. I don't know why. The idea made me almost as nervous as a door into the Labyrinth.

Thalia sighed with guilty relief he hadn't. It would have just been awkward if Annabeth found out about that...and yet she knew from Annabeth Percy had spent a large chunk of time coming up hanging out with Rachel so she was a tad surprised that hadn't started here.

I patted my pockets and emptied out my stuff—Riptide, a Kleenex, my apartment key.

"You kept up with that this whole time," Will asked in complete disbelief. "I need the brightest rainbow lanyard I can find to keep up with my key to my cabin because I keep losing the dang thing and my siblings started locking me out after the seventh time."

"I never lock my cabin door," Percy said blankly.

"You scare kids to much to sneak in there," Thalia scoffed.

"I want to know how and why you got a kleenex," Alex snorted. "And, more importantly, why you didn't offer that to Annabeth when she was sobbing her nose out."

Percy's heart froze and his mind scrambled as he suddenly found himself asking the same thing before Magnus jumped in saying, "probably pocketed it from that meal with Hera, I wouldn't trust that thing not to be poisoned anymore. Grover's probably just immune to such things."

Which didn't make Percy feel better, but did make him laugh for a moment along with the others.

Then I patted my shirt pocket and felt a small lump. I hadn't even realized it, but I was wearing the white cotton shirt Calypso had given me on Ogygia.

"I bet Annabeth loved that," Jason muttered, imagining she'd hardly looked at him the entire time because of the reminder.

Percy had been amazed it held up so well, covered in dirt, mud, and other unmentionable things he was sure. She was probably more amazing with a loom than Circe for giving him clothes he hadn't lost and or torn to shreds.

I brought out a little piece of cloth, unwrapped it, and found the clipping of moonlace. It was a tiny sprig, shriveled up after two months, but I could still smell the faint scent of the enchanted garden. It made me sad.

Percy touched where the little pocket had been over his heart, of course no longer there on his camp shirt. He had done the impossible, he had forgotten about Calypso even for a brief time in all the other madness that went on when he came home. Now it was Annabeth, Rachel, and Calypso all bouncing around in his head like a screen saver all fighting for his attention as his fingers tightened in his shirt before he dropped his hand back to his lap and sighed.

What the hell had Hera meant by it, sending him to her island? Had it been a warning, that all the Titans had faced punishment and Percy had better remember which side he belonged on? Had it been her deranged way of helping, giving him a chance to heal there, a place she knew he'd never stay on?

All he did know was that, like all help with the gods, it felt more harmful than good really. From now on, only his dad was allowed to send him off on vacations, and that was a spotty vow considering he wasn't sure what the outcome of this place was going to be yet.

I remembered Calypso's last request of me: Plant a garden in Manhattan for me, will you? I opened the window and stepped onto the fire escape.

My mom kept a planter box out there. In the spring she usually filled it with flowers, but now it was all dirt, waiting for something new. It was a clear night. The moon was full over Eighty-second Street. I planted the dried sprig of moonlace carefully in the dirt and sprinkled a little nectar on it from my camp canteen.

Nothing happened at first.

Then, as I watched, a tiny silver plant sprang out of the soil—a baby moonlace, growing in the warm summer night.

"I'm surprised Grover didn't sniff that out and eat it," Alex broke the heavy tension falling around them. "I honestly expected this to be mentioned back at camp as an invasive species and D would rip it up and threaten to strangle you with it."

"My brain works in mysterious ways," Percy grinned, a sad but meaningful one to help take his mind off all the bad. "That's probably why it waited until just now, weeks later, for me to ever think of cleaning out my pockets."

"Mmm, yes, mysterious," Alex laughed, because she said mysterious like one would their least favorite kind of cheese.

"Nice plant," a voice said.

I jumped. Nico di Angelo was standing on the fire escape right next to me.

"Nico's back!" Will yelped in surprise. For once he hadn't been tensing up beside him, fidgeting and internally freaking out about this happening, so Will had not a hint of warning any more than anybody else.

"I've been here the whole time you nit," Nico rolled his eyes with a smile.

Will's arm pulled him just another tiny little bit closer as he just laughed in surprise and kept going like the whole room was a bit brighter all of a sudden, making Nico blush and for the first time think of pushing him away making this 'a thing.' It was just a fleeting thought though, one he didn't act on.

Will didn't find it hard to explain to himself why he was so jazzed for this news. It was the very first instance of Nico reaching out to anybody, especially the most perfect person on the planet being Percy with his mom right on the other side of that door. For Nico to get a glimpse of how he should be greeted any time he entered a room.

"Is anybody going to ask how?" Percy yelped loudly, rudely interrupting Will's joyful reading as he stared strangely at Nico. "You appeared out of nowhere dude!"

"Practice," Nico said with pride in his voice, which of course, was no answer.

Percy groaned, Chiron and Thalia were known to do that too so it wasn't just the gods being cryptic and annoying, they were passing it on!

Nico really did give him a sorrowful smile though and pressed his finger to his lips, his skull ring gleaming. They had shadow-traveled a lot in the coming time, and he didn't want to upset Percy now when he saw the last page in Will's hand. They were nearly done with another, no need to go pushing Percy's mind to its limit when he'd get his answer without Nico forcing it on him soon enough.

He'd just appeared there.

"Sorry," he said. "Didn't mean to startle you."

"That's—that's okay. I mean...what are you doing here?"

Nico inhaled carefully, letting his mind think of that with interest now rather than the little happy dance he'd been doing in his head Percy's first reaction back then hadn't been pushing him off the fire escape in surprise. Now he really heard this for what it was. Not the blatant acceptance he so craved, just Percy reacting to him somehow even better than he had Rachel popping up in his mortal life. It was surprisingly a nicer, warmer feeling than his old feeling he had to keep off any part of his face.

He'd grown about an inch taller over the last couple of months. His hair was a shaggy black mess. He wore a black T-shirt, black jeans, and a new silver ring shaped like a skull. His Stygian iron sword hung at his side.

"An outfit you apparently never changed out of," Jason chuckled in surprise.

"I bet he has a closet full of the same outfit," Alex sighed tragically.

"I like this color," he kept the childish note out of his voice almost well enough. He should get used to defending his odd choices now if he was going to go to camp and hear this over and over...then he was surprised how easily that thought had come to mind. Tartarus had gone to far from his plans, he realized as a cold feeling swept him.

Will's hand curled gently around his arm, a warm pulse radiating from his palm that gave Nico a chance to exhale and focus on this.

"I've done some exploring," he said.

"A common day pirate," Will smiled in delight. "A vassst yee, I shall be tied down to no land!"

"See, now you're getting it," Nico's eyes shimmered with delight at the goofy impression.

"Even pirates need a secret cove to bury all their treasure," Will reminded hopefully. If that's all camp could be to him, a way station of safety, it would feel like enough so long as he'd always feel free to use it.

"Hmm, I'm not much of an artist Will, I'll have to work on getting a map together," Nico couldn't help the glib comment, the wishy-washy response. Despite how comfortable he felt under Will's arm, it was the longest, most permanent feeling he'd ever had in his life up to this point. Something so solid, even more permanent like Will kept wanting still sounded like to much for him to wrap his mind around right now.

"That's okay, I know a good one. X marks the spot and all that," he grinned all the same. He'd still carve that on Thalia's old tree when he got back and knew Nico at least would get the reference.

"Thought you'd like to know, Daedalus got his punishment."

Will's voice somehow sparked with even more joy getting to read this so soon. He really had wanted to know his fate, and Alex was right there with him, leaning forward eagerly in her seat, her teeth sunk into her lip as she wavered back in forth in her head how harsh she wanted to hear this being.

"You saw him?"

Nico nodded. "Minos wanted to boil him in cheese fondue for an eternity, but my father had other ideas.

Nico had been surprised when he'd showed up in his courtroom he hadn't even needed to step in and offer anything for this. Daedalus had been such a notoriously lost soul for so long Hades had already taken an interest, and swift execution before Nico had even woken up.

Hades had laughed to himself about the cheese fondue idea and even filed it away for later though. As far as Nico knew, Minos was still on his seat at the judge's table, so he hadn't exactly been as punished as Nico would have liked, but hey, you win some you lose some.

Daedalus will be building overpasses and exit ramps in Asphodel for all time. It'll help ease the traffic congestion. Truthfully, I think the old guy is pretty happy with that. He's still building. Still creating. And he gets to see his son and Perdix on the weekends."

It was just the perfect kind of Greek ending really. Quintus, Daeadlus the fifth's body, had had a very long road, and his punishment was to continue making them. It was no reward, but really, it was no great punishment. Hades seemed to have found a stroke of balance in his domain that all wished for really, a kind of medium eternal life after his grand adventure that rocked to many boats.

"That's good."

Nico tapped at his silver ring. "But that's not the real reason I've come. I've found out some things. I want to make you an offer."

"What?"

Percy hadn't squinted suspiciously at him or anything, he hadn't gone for his sword or jumped back in and slammed the window in his face. He hadn't exactly jumped to his feet with delight either and hugged him for finding all this out, so, that had been the highlight of Nico's month.

"The way to beat Luke," he said. "If I'm right, it's the only way you'll stand a chance."

I took a deep breath. "Okay. I'm listening."

Will's voice was so happy as he read that, his pupils kept wanting to jump away from the text to glance at the two with such bright eyes. This, this had been what he'd been hoping for Nico for so long, ever since he'd vanished after the Titan War. He already knew Percy and Nico made an awesome team, the two working together had been the saving strategy and the reason they were probably all alive today. Why did Nico constantly think he wasn't accepted again when Percy had been open and amenable from the start to his plan?!

Nico glanced inside my room. His eyebrows furrowed. "Is that...is that blue birthday cake?"

It had been the strangest feeling, Nico shook his head at himself. He'd been glancing around for an enemy, someone eavesdropping. Instead he'd seen the brightest splash of color, a blue swirl patterned cake with sprinkles. The exact kind of thing Bianca would have smacked his hand for reaching for, telling him he'd get a cavity just looking at that thing.

He sounded hungry, maybe a little wistful. I wondered if the poor kid had ever had a birthday party, or if he'd ever even been invited to one.

No, and no, Nico pursed his lips together rather than answer. Will, thankfully, read right over the moment without waiting for an answer, bless him. Nico still considered himself a no on both too, because he hadn't been 'invited' to this party. He'd gate crashed.

"Come inside for some cake and ice cream," I said. "It sounds like we've got a lot to talk about."

"Everything Percy brags about his mom's cooking is true by the way," Nico said swiftly before anybody could ask questions they weren't going to get an answer to. "It was, the best cake, I've ever had." He smacked his lips in appreciation at just the thought. It had been the most solid food he'd had in months and he was pretty sure his ambrosia had switched to tasting like that for a while.

"We'll get her her own cookbook, or a TV network show or something," Jason laughed.

Percy had a lot more questions buzzing around his mind about how that night would have continued. He opened his mouth with at least three trying to all bunch together, but all that came out was a very rude yawn.

"The question now is, do we take a break or just start the next one?" Thalia asked, stretching and jumping to her feet all the same.

"A break, definitely," Percy pleaded at once. "Hell, can I take a nap, since the days all out of whack anyways and we start the next one tomorrow."

"Nap yes," Thalia told him not unkindly, "but I am waking you back up to at least start on the next one! We'll be in here for twenty years if you sleep to your heart's content Rip Van Winkle!"

Percy nodded and then, actually just slumped over, right there in his chair. It would have been a tad concerning if he hadn't started drooling only moments later.

Nico expected Will to jump up and join the others as they all started talking quietly, stretching and going off to eat, but instead he stayed in place, hugging the black book tight to his chest and smiling at it still. Nico still thought him nuts, but a very charming kind. Nuts and berries.

Something had been nagging at the back of his mind though. A pessimistic idea that wouldn't leave him, an observation about Will always being so happy and optimistic at the idea of Nico being at camp. "Did you kiss me because you want me to stay at Camp?" Nico asked, his stomach in painful knots that the answer was going to be yes and how much he should care about that and how much it would make a difference. Maybe Will did just want something from him-

"No!" Will's startled blue eyes were pure honesty. "I kissed you because I wanted to, no other reason." Nico still seemed confused though, so he offered, "look, I, I feel like I should apologize, for kissing you right then," Will confessed. "That, um, wasn't exactly, 'friendly,' and if that's what you need right now-" his arm started to pull away even.

"I like it," Nico interrupted, the surprise on his own face for admitting that causing him to sheepishly avert his eyes, but his hand darting up to hold his fingers in place, nearly pining them to his black shirt. "L-liked. Um, it was, it feels- felt, good, but if you regret it-" his hand spasmed as he told himself to let go.

"Woah, I never said that," Will interpreted right back. "I've been trying to get to know you since we met. I just, um, was trying to make sure-" he was blushing himself and stammering and going very blank in the mind to find words to describe anything.

"Right, well," Nico took a shaky breath but looked back at him with a hesitant smile. He interlocked their fingers, and Will easily mimicked him. "That's, established. Neither of us, regret it, and we both like talking, so let's just, keep doing, that."

"Sounds perfect," Will grinned.

PJOPJOPJO

I am not promising that this will be the last book to end with Solangelo, I don't want to be a liar like that, but I do already have the ending to the next book planned out and it's not focused on them, so there's that?

So I'm taking a short break and then posting Demigod Files next month for sure, and then I'm going to start Last Olympian in May! I'm so excited guys, I'm looking forward to it all as much as anybody!

*I know most people probably imagine Alex using the f' word like a bestie, but I'm more familiar with people who grew up in verbally abusive households disliking strong language because it's been used on them to much. Also I do my best to keep these PG, T at most, so it's going to stay at least in the level of clean you've seen so far in the tone of the original books, so this is what I'm going with.

#pjo #Percy Jackson #HDYSG #Thalia Grace #Jason Grace #alex fierro #Magnus Chase #Will Solace #nico di angelo #solangelo #fierrochase #percabeth #BotL #battle of the labyrinth

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dr-futbol-blog · 2 months

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The Gift, Pt. 6

Between McKay and Sheppard leaving the meeting room together and when we find them walking together toward Weir's office, there is another scene with Teyla talking about her issues with Heightmeyer. The two of them sure seem to be bonding over the course of this episode. In this session, her 'gift' as a metaphor for being gay is once more highlighted:

Teyla: I know that it is not my fault. There is nothing I can do about it. The fact is, I am really no different now than I was yesterday or last week. Heightmeyer: But you feel different. Teyla: Yes. I think the thing that I am most worried about is how people will perceive me.

While Teyla and McKay have been paralleled in the episode, there are also differences. Where Teyla tells Heightmeyer what her father thought of this thing that makes her different and how he told everyone that she was special, McKay seems to have had a very different experience with his father. Back when he was recording his video message in Letters from Pegasus (S01E17), McKay talked about a time he kissed a girl and how he almost caught mono. But then he says that he missed almost a month of school. It's possible that he was conflating two memories, the first time he kissed a girl and a time he got caught kissing someone that was not April Bingham. Because the missing nearly a month of school seems to be unrelated to the almost getting mono from her.

McKay told Carter that his parents hated each other and took it out on him which heavily implies that there was physical abuse in his childhood. So if he did get caught kissing someone that was not April Bingham, that was not a girl at all, there may have been a darker reason for why he missed almost a month of school. And the way Sheppard reacted to Teyla mentioning that her nightmares had not been this bad since the passing of her father earlier, what with his own father still being alive on Earth, it is also possible that Sheppard's dark look means that he knows about this incident--given also the fact that we later find out (McKay and Mrs Miller, S03E08) that he has seen and even possesses a copy of McKay's video message.

So, McKay and Sheppard then walk into Weir's office and I find this scene probably the most interesting in the entire episode. It's... weird. The dialogue seems clunky, and there is most definitely something going on that is not spelled out to the audience. There is something that is clearly left up for the audience to interpret for themselves--and this is not the last time this happens on the show.

They walk in through her open door and she tells them to wait non-verbally by pointing up her finger while she continues reading something. This could actually be interpreted as a little rude but Weir, also, must be feeling exhausted by now. Sheppard seems to be leading the way (where McKay was leading the way when they left the previous meeting), McKay follows him with his hands in his pockets like he's feeling relaxed. Notice that Sheppard places himself behind the chair with his hands on the backrest so while he leans forward on it, he again made sure there was a barrier between himself and Weir. This is probably not a conscious decision and I'm not convinced even the actor was doing it on purpose half of the time. They are also standing real close, let's say because of Weir's tiny office.

When they first walk in Sheppard has his brow raised, seemingly amused by what McKay was saying, "Even with Major Sheppard in the chair we weren't able to--" (it might be he was at least anticipating some kind of an unintentional entendre from McKay, or was just reminiscing what ever they had been doing by/at/on the chair) but his look turns more serious as they both notice Weir acting strangely. Also, McKay is the one who mirrors Weir physically, lifting up his own finger sarcastically.

McKay: Alright. Even with Major Sheppard in the chair we weren't able to-- What? What is that? Weir: Yeah, something you said made me wonder. McKay: I thought we decided there were more important things than-- Weir: Why did the Wraith scientist stop the experiments?

Because Weir doesn't answer right away and McKay has no patience to wait, he rounds up behind her to take a look at her screen. Note that Weir had just interrupted McKay twice. And as soon as McKay leaves his side, Sheppard turns to watch him go. Like his body actually almost takes off to follow him but he then makes himself stay put. There are marines standing just outside of her office that can see into it, it would seem weird to be that attached at the hip to McKay even though he clearly wants to be near him. He looks like someone just took away his favourite toy when McKay leaves his side.

Now, they came in to tell her about their non-progress with the command chair. We are to think that the two of them are just on their way back from the control chair room where they had tried to initialize the chair using Sheppard in much the same way they tried with Beckett earlier, only getting Sheppard to actually sit down on it. It seems as though they were not able to make it work. However, we don't actually know that that's where they are coming from, or are coming directly from there. They left the previous meeting together, they arrive here together, we have no indication of how much time has passed between these two scenes (Teyla has another session with Heightmeyer between them but that gives us little indication on the passing of time). Also, presumably they tried using Sheppard after they failed with Dr. Kusanagi but this also is far from certain. He could be reporting their failure to initialize the chair using Sheppard from any number of occasions.

All we know is that McKay and Sheppard have spent time with each other between the two scenes. They may have done anything. They may have talked about any number of things. Frankly, they look like they were coming back from lunch. But note that neither is wearing their ear piece which at least means that they wanted some privacy or that when they were in each other's company, neither had any need for anyone else to be able to get in contact with them. The fact that we saw Teyla remove her ear piece to get some privacy or confidentiality in her meeting with Heightmeyer earlier just calls attention to this fact, as does the way Sheppard turns his face here to show us that he's not wearing one. One scene that we know for certain that is missing is Sheppard sitting in the chair and McKay taking readings. This we know for sure did happen at some point even though we didn't get to see it. But they leave space and opportunity for more.

The fact that Weir interrupts McKay twice is interesting. It seems as though she is trying to keep her thoughts together which is making her act in a way that McKay might normally act. Note also that McKay is, for the second time in short order, the one who points out that they have more important things they should be doing, which is Weir's responsibility. It's what Weir should be doing. But instead she insists on pursuing the wraith mystery. Exhausted, they have sort of taken on each other's personality traits. The dialogue then gets real odd:

McKay: What would I have said that would make you think that? Weir: I don't remember. McKay: Well, it's a good point. I'm just wondering what I said. What have you got? Weir: Well at first, I thought it was because the other wraith caught him. Sheppard: They didn't? Weir: No. According to this, he stopped on his own.

So, the strangeness starts with the fact that we are never really explained what Weir means. McKay asks her what he might have said that made her think that and we never get the answer to it. There is nothing that we hear McKay say previously in the episode that directly relates to that premise. The closest thing that we hear him saying on screen that might relate to what Weir is thinking about was "So you think this Wraith scientist was trying to make humans what, more tasty?" but it is a stretch to go from this to the question "Why did the scientist stop the experiments?" And it's strange that they drop this piece of dialogue on us and then never resolve it. Why even mention it at all? They could have done the entire exposition dump without a reference to "something" McKay said. It's jarring. But the dialogue then gets even stranger:

McKay: See, now you've got me wondering why the rest of the wraith didn't want these experiments taking place in the first place. Weir: Exactly. McKay: Especially since they were supposed to be intended to improve things for everyone. Weir: Yes, that's what I'm saying. McKay: I just said it. Sheppard: Will you stop?

This is the most important part. The face Sheppard pulls here makes all the difference. You could interpret this as Sheppard stepping in for Weir, to defend her from McKay's need to be argumentative for the sake of being argumentative, or what ever is going on here. The dialogue is weird, and we never get a real explanation for what is going on. McKay is tired, and it seems to make his communication with Weir more difficult than usual. Weir is likewise tired and not able to communicate as well as a diplomat like her should. They are both being needlessly contentious. There's no real disagreement, they both do find this interesting and important, but for some reason they are still at odds. Like, the two of them are basically saying the same thing. They are talking about the same thing. They are having the same thoughts but even in spite of all of this, they are having a difficulty communicating here.

And what McKay and Weir are doing here is the opposite of how we see McKay and Sheppard communicate, even here in this very same scene. When they are thinking the same thing, they don't even need to speak. They can tell what the other person is thinking just by looking at them. And here, McKay and Weir are thinking the same thing and even though they are using their words, it still seems very difficult for them to find common ground. Even when you know a person very well and you're thinking about the same thing, the communication between the couple and a couple of colleagues is going to be different. This scene is fucking beautiful.

And Sheppard. The way he says "Will you stop?" and then gives McKay this look of "We have talked about this, we have just talked about this, what did I just say?" Earlier, Sheppard talked with Teyla about her needlessly snapping at Weir and almost biting his head off just for caring about her. Based on the look Sheppard gives McKay, they have had the same conversation. He told Teyla: "But you yourself admit it, that you're a little off your game. You snapped at Doctor Weir this morning in the Briefing Room for no good reason. Now you're biting my head off for caring that you might need help in dealing with the fact that it's been three days since you've had any sleep." McKay has gone days without sleep, as by his own admission. McKay is snapping at Weir for no good reason, check. McKay is off his game, to be sure.

It follows that he has also tried to bite Sheppard's head off for caring which has lead him to have the same discussion with McKay as he had with Teyla. And the way he's looking at McKay here, he is reminding him of this. He is saying "Will you stop?" not because McKay just suddenly crossed some line here what with him and Weir both being unable to communicate with each other, or because his own patience is wearing thin listening to the two of them. He is saying it because McKay is continuing to do something that he has already said something about previously. His "Will you stop?" is picking up a conversation that the two of them have been having off screen where we have not been party to it. In fact, it really seems like while they are talking with Weir, McKay and Sheppard are having an entirely different conversation with each other, what with McKay looking at Sheppard every time he says something to Weir. And here, too, the meek look he gives Sheppard in response speaks volumes. They are having another private conversation while the dialogue plays out through the words spoken.

And notice that while McKay and Weir are both culprits here, he only says it to McKay. It's not because he cares about Weir by coming into her rescue as her white knight and is thus chiding McKay, let's not even. It's because he feels that it's his responsibility to protect McKay even from himself. It's not his place to say anything to Weir but it is his place to say something to McKay--even if it was just in the role of his team leader. But he's not acting as his team leader here, he's doing the thing a spouse would do. He's saying, I know you don't even want to be doing this and you'll feel bad about it later so can we just not. He's saying, even you know this isn't you so just give it a rest. He's saying, I know you're tired but this isn't helping us. He's saying, you don't have to do this, it's just us here.

It displays such familiarity between them that in only three words and one look they are having at least a dozen different conversations between them that have no beginning and have no end, "apprehending one another's thoughts and exchanging ideas with extraordinary swiftness and perspicuity, contrary to all the rules of logic, without the aid of premises, deductions, or conclusions, and in a quite singular way." And it works, too. For the rest of their meeting, McKay keeps from being needlessly combative and tries to be constructive instead. The look that he gives Sheppard clearly says "You're right." It says, "I'm sorry" (to Sheppard, not to Weir). It says, "Thank you for reminding me."

Following this, they have a very professional, very productive discussion about the wraith's psychic abilities and using Teyla to tap into it. McKay looks concerned when Sheppard says that he had noticed the wraith having this network, and he could be thinking back to any number of encounters they have had with the wraith. Sheppard himself is likely referring to what happened at the end of Rising (S01E02) when the wraith were awakening around him, and if he is making a reference to that and McKay knows about this (as he seems to know a lot about Sheppard), his worry is warranted.

Sheppard also has a notable reaction to the thought of the wraith wiping out an entire planet, something he had just recently witnessed with Teyla:

Sheppard further has a somewhat curious reaction to Weir's statement that it seems as though the wraith are unable to read the minds of humans. Something clearly goes through his mind and he very almost looks at McKay, his eyes are already going there, before he stops himself from doing that. Let us recall that in Before I Sleep (S01E16) Sheppard was unsettled by the notion that someone could just look at another's face and know what they are thinking--like both himself and McKay have been doing even in this very same scene.

After this scene, McKay vanishes from the episode. We are given no explanation for his absence. He is mentioned briefly by Weir when she and Heightmeyer are in Teyla's private quarters (none of the men are present, I suppose due to reasons of propriety). She says "And McKay, he does have some doubts about the range of this telepathy" referring to the wraith psychic network, also indicating that their discussion went on for a while that we again didn't get to witness. But other than that, we are left wondering why he is not a part of the happenings in the rest of the episode. Granted, he's not precisely needed and there are so many characters that are present during Teyla's attempts at connecting with the wraith that for narrative reasons, it probably was better to leave him out. But usually we are given some reason for his absence, like he's doing something else in the meanwhile.

The last we see him, he is looking at Sheppard while Sheppard is looking at Weir, the two of them clearly excited about this possibility of tapping into the network to gather intel about the wraith. McKay does not look as excited as they do, he looks more concerned. Now, the reason Sheppard is looking at Weir so intensely is because he very much wants to do this (as we shall see later), and he needs to make sure that Weir is on board with the idea. He will take any edge they can get and if this is it, they are doing this. He is making sure that this gets done. Sheppard is not looking at McKay because he's not the one he needs to convince, manipulate, cajole or what ever he needs to do, to make sure they do this. He's also not looking at McKay because that's a side of him that he would rather not show him and he's trying to shield McKay from it by not letting him get that read right off of his face (but again, it's not because he doesn't want to look, the scene ends with his face turning toward McKay even when he's keeping his eyes fixed on Weir). But McKay seems to sense that something had just changed in him. There's a new fire in him. He knows this man and this change has him concerned.

Now, while we have nothing to base it on, we can propose three reasons for why McKay is away for the rest of the episode. First is that he is simply busy, he is working on the control chair or some other project during this time. This is very likely. Second, he is sleeping. He has finally been able to get some sleep and the reason for this might be that Sheppard was finally able to wrestle him into bed. He certainly could have done with some sleep. This is possible. And third, Sheppard felt that it was better that he not take part in this due to the potential danger in attempting something that has never been done with regards to the wraith. The reason for this could simply be strategic--if one is attempting to psychically connect with the wraith, having the person with the most intricate, most detailed knowledge of their defenses present might be a liability. They don't know how this psychic network works, and McKay and everything he knows about Atlantis is the last thing they should make available to be psychically scavenged by the wraith.

McKay is much too important to the city (as pointed out by Zelenka in the following episode) to risk him needlessly even if Weir claimed that the wraith would be unable to read the minds of humans. And this is true regardless of how you interpret McKay and Sheppard's personal relationship. But given how protective we have seen Sheppard be over McKay, trying to protect him from all things and everyone including himself, it would make sense for Sheppard to not allow him to take part in this experiment. John Sheppard is known for taking chances with his own life but he is not taking chances with McKay's life, and this is something we see again and again. This is something that culminates at the end of this season. And the way Sheppard was looking at Weir, he seems fully ready to step out of the path of angels if it should be needed here. And he wants to protect McKay from that, too.

Continued in Pt. 7

#stargate atlantis #sga #sga meta #john sheppard #sheppard is bi #rodney mckay #rodney is gay #ep. the gift #ep. rising #ep. before i sleep #ep. mckay and mrs miller #ep. letters from pegasus

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thegeminisage · 5 months

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ok, i'm getting behind on ym star trek updates. last sunday we watched ds9's "sanctuary" and tng's "parallels," monday we watched ds9's "rivals" and tng's "the pegasus" (out of order!!! 💔) and last night we watched ds9's "the alternate" and tng's "homeward." we were supposed to do "rivals" and "the alternate" monday, and then the "pegasus" and "homeward" last night and i really wish we had bc i was not in the correct headspace to really enjoy the alternate but that's what i get for forgetting to check my spreadsheet!! ANYWAY.

sanctuary (ds9):

i love sisko in this episode. he has the same vibe w his subordinates as he does with jake, that he will back them up even if they're breaking rules but also when kira didn't do her homework he does have to lay down the law a little bit. lovingly, but he does. and since he never does it w/o a reason and w/o compassion nobody really minds

i'm sorry but the reverse sexism was really funny. thank you 90s tv for being brave. especially with her having multiple husbands. get it girl

kira and haneek should have explored each others bodies also

quark picking up the nephew like yeah hes gonna do it again. poor odo

literally it was such a good little conundrum bc all the logical reasons they gave for bajor not being able to support more people were like correct or whatever BUT THEY WERE FARMERS. you get the idea they really could have helped and that kid didn't have to die but inherent, knee-jerk suspicion of new/foreign people just got in the way in both cases. like you had the solution right there!! unfortunately, as we know, people

why is it ALWAYS kira's episodes that go this hard also. it's always like "here's a thing about the complex and ugly truth of the human(oid) nature and how we just have to live with ourselves" and every time it pops off

parallels (tng):

we were just saying "there's no ways tng would have the pussy to do something like this" when tng came on and also was really good

first of all, my worf e deanna DREAMS are coming true. sorry to the actors ik they hated it but i know in my heart worf e riker e deanna is real..............

i read the episode summary for this one but it said AMNESIA not WORF SWITCHING REALITIES. so i had fun going wait the cake WAS chocolate earlier and being gaslit along with worf

his little surprise party hat. please.

i didnt notice data's eyes being blue at the time but going back and looking at the pics is WILD

my baby boy wesley crusher was there also........i missed him sm

the universe worf left was crazy. picard dead, geordi dead, deanna forever without her husband...jesus christ

but my FAVORITE part (aside from the romance) was the bit there the zillion enterprises showed up and the crazy borg-hunted riker was like NO NO WE'LL NEVER GO BACK girl i was like oh but i wanna see inside those other enterprises! actually no i didn't

worf finding out deanna began having the potential to develop feelings for him after the ritual suicide thing and then IMMEDIATELY turning around to seduce her when he got back to his universe...so true. i would have done the same thing. i know he's gonna get w dax later and deanna will eventually marry riker so he's GONNA fumble it but don't fumble it!!!

rivals (ds9):

have only seen princess bridge 1 time when i was a teenager so i was not able to enjoy the biggest appeal of this episode rip

actually i thought the a plot of this episode kind of sucked ass. i didn't find the conman particularly funny or charming but i also didn't hate him enough to get invested in his downfall. also, it was so stupid that he took that machine when the guy explained that it had literally killed him............like, girl, are you stupid? obviously ds9 can save it with endearing characters and like, Acting, but i wasn't having much fun with it

i DID love the obrien bashir racketball matches though. first of all the fact that luck decided who won and not actual skill and no we'll never know...but secondly, bashir like Oh No I'm Going To Kill Him With Tennis. like, my guy, you could have just showed off less out of the gate. it went against his twink instincts though

keiko's go-get-em-tiger was really good. he would have won anyway i just know it

quark trying to DRUG A DOCTOR. his audacity truly knows no bounds. i hope those orphans got their blankets

i do like also that when they figured out the matches had been rigged they weren't even mad about it, they were both just curious and trying to experiment. i love when obrien and bashir hang out it's really great

the pegasus (tng):

TNG HAD PUSSY TWO EPISODES IN A ROW EVEN

picard day really good. yes. be miserable. i love riker getting to dunk on him

i really really REALLY enjoyed riker's energy when his old captain came aboard. jonathan frakes isn't the most technically accomplished actor on that cast, but he does such a fantastic job with that shift - riker is normally such an easygoing, funny, down to clown guy that whenever he gets :| you notice RIGHT away. episodes where he gets to be serious and angry wouldn't work if he got them all the time (though my lament for tng is that we don't get character stuff more often...), but BECAUSE they're rare, even a little too rare, you take notice all the more

i wish we had gotten to see riker sparring with worf <3

argument between riker and picard was FUNNNN i don't like picard but i DO like it when sir patrick stewart acts and i think him being on his game and jonathan frakes also being on his game was wonderful. first of all, i love it when they say the m-word, and secondly, riker grinding his teeth because he WANTS to tell and all his instincts are screaming at him to tell and he CAN'T because his loyalties are divided or whatever...delicious.

beaming aboard the ship frozen in rock with the perfectly preserved bodies. mwah. dead bodies won't even age. i know it was a budget thing and space probably wouldn't really keep them from decomposing THAT well but it quite literally took riker back to the scene of the crime and he was like yeah no i'm not having it. GOOD for him.

bonus when riker gets locked into the brig <3

the alternate (ds9):

ODO...................................

i recognized the scientist by his hair!!! he mentioned before he copied it from him

dr mora die challenge. it's not exactly that he "abused" odo in the traditional sense but he did put him in a cage, and he dehumanized him with his experiments, and every single word out of his mouth was either dehumanizing or patronizing. i love how quick they both were to correct the assumption about this guy being odo's dad - like yeah maybe an adoptive dad in a way but odo wasn't a "child" he was just so different from humanoids he had to figure out communication from scratch

like, this mf commenting on odo not having gotten the ears, or like wow you can tell what emotions people are displaying just by looking! say that again to my face i'll kill you.

dax was so weird in this episode. i kept wondering if she was possessed or something because she showed up out of nowhere and offered to buy drinks with bashir and said something about the pillar being moved. a red herring which was perhaps unintentional but unsettling nonetheless. her personality is still fluctuating a lot - at times she's prissy and at other times she's just one of the guys! but at least now she has one, from time to time. not in this episode though

i felt. SO BAD for that little life form they kidnapped. you suffocated it to death :(

i also felt terrible for odo. firstly, he deserves to kill that guy. secondly, how humiliating for him to be seen in goop form by half the station...he doesn't like being seen like that :(

i still blame dr mora though for basically triggering that last transformation...i was so mad at the end when odo was like yeah we can reconcile :) like i get loving the people who "raised" you even when they "abused" you but this wasn't quite that. i wish we had got more of a sense of them having, at any point, actually ever liked working together to solve the mysteries of shape shifters. i looked him up on imdb though and he DOES come back so maybe better luck next time

homeward (tng):

i fucking hated this episode.

firstly, who brought worf to his parents? i thought it was their adult son who was in starfleet, but was it worf's dad who brought him home? cuz this guy is worf's age and was not officially in starfleet...

secondly, there should be a clause in the prime directive about "if everybody is about to die save them with the least interference possible." i get that that runs the risk of like, being written down in their bible as jesus and altering their culture, but the idea that the culture is better off totally annihilated than altered is a little bit missing the forest for the trees. like, putting those machines on the planet in the first place would have been WAY less inference than having worf and his brother lead them to safety.

ALSO, I CANNOT BELIEVE WORF'S BROTHER KNOCKED THAT WOMAN UP. like, this kid is not gonna pop out of the womb with his surgical alterations!!

also, that guy who killed himself didn't get his special document delivered back to his people...worf KEPT IT as a souvenir? one of the only surviving documents from their old culture??

furthermore, his brother did not "won up to responsibility" by staying with those people. he's further contaminating their culture with his outside influence including the HALF HUMAN BABY and since he's marooned there he will never see his parents or brother ever again. because he got the awooga eyes. like, yes, he saved them when starfleet (picard in particular) were being horrible, but also, he didn't save their culture even a little bit, and he's lying to himself if he thinks he did. and WE COULD HAVE SAVED THEIR CULTURE WITH THE MACHINES. that was so much lower risk...................

redeeming factor of this episode was that worf is HANDSOME under all that klingon makeup. like i knew he was attractive because i've seen like headshots online but i like never saw him moving his face and acting without it. he's actually really expressive..........why do you hire a man this beautiful and then put him under all of that. like he's absolutely stunning i was so shocked

TONIGHT: ds9's "armageddon game" and tng's "sub rosa," which i have seen celebrated online for some reason? something about sexy ghosts??

#personal #star trek blogging #ds9 lb #tng lb

16 notes · View notes

tea-and-tickles · 1 year

Note

heyaaa it’s me again:3 you can choose whoever you’d like for the ler! (i’m the one who requested lee kasa HAHA)

*i crawl out of a flaming hole in the ground on my hands and knees. i am disheveled and holding charred pieces of paper held together with a paper clip* I FINISHED THE FIC

anon, tsukasa has never been my favorite character, but thank you so much for this request. it was a challenge to write a character that i was less familiar with and it was SO FUN! and also, fair warning... i got carried away. it's a 4k word fic. it is... honestly equally a ruikasa fic as it is a tickle fic. still! i worked really hard on this so i hope it was worth the wait! thank you SO MUCH for your patience as i worked on this!! have a lovely day! :D

"all the world's a stage (so show me how this story ends)"

a/n: i am posting this at 3:30 in the gddamn morning. i have a date at 11. i am going to bed now.

!! kink blogs please DNI. i do not fuck with ns.fw blogs interacting with me. if i see u i'm blocking on sight !!

Summary: Alternate Title: 4 times Rui tickled Tsukasa on accident + 1 time he did it on purpose.

After Rui tickles Tsukasa while Wonderlands x Showtime is prepping for a new show, Tsukasa can't seem to get him out of his head...

Warnings: Tickling.

Kamishiro Rui x Tenma Tsukasa from Project SEKAI (Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage!)

Word Count: 4.3k

“Tsukasaaaa! This is so neat!” Emu bellowed. “I love how Prince Pegasus is all like, pchoo! Pow! Bop! at The Manticore!”

“You said this is a story you made up for your little sister?” Nene asked.

“Indeed!” Tsukasa proclaimed. Recently, Wonderlands x Showtime had toyed around with performing more completely original works at the Wonder Stage. Of course, their shows always had a personal touch (this was nearly impossible to avoid with Tsukasa’s flair for the dramatic, Rui’s inventive streak, and the sheer scope of Emu’s imagination. Tsukasa sometimes wondered how Nene did it). But they were always based on something. Cinderella but with robots. A theoretical continuation of Sleeping Beauty. King Midas with audience participation. Okay, that last one was a lie, if only because Rui couldn’t make a machine to magically transmute carbon to gold. But it was definitely on brand.

“Saki and I used to play dragons when we were little. But when she got sick, she wasn’t able to play the way she used to. She talked a lot about missing the adventures of Prince Pegasus, my character, so I wrote down new adventures to read to her when I visited her in the hospital!”

Tsukasa was, admittedly, a little apprehensive about performing this. The Chronicles of Prince Pegasus were fun, even enthralling, when it was just him and Saki. But what would his troupemates think? An audience? If he allowed himself to think much more about it, he might just back out.

“Obviously this is a rewritten version, adapted for the stage and adjusted to be even more harrowing!” The others were still reading. Tsukasa couldn’t stand the silence. “But! I would love to hear your thoughts!”

“It’s really interesting, Tsukasa,” Rui said. It was the first time he had spoken since they began reading the script. “I’d like to make a few tweaks to streamline the story and to give us some wiggle room for a bit more improvisation, but I really like the premise. A classic, yet exciting hero’s journey.”

The others nodded in agreement. Phew. This might go okay after all. No, of course it will! “Tweaks? To a star’s original fiction?! How could you, Rui?!” Tsukasa joked.

Rui gently elbowed Tsukasa in the ribs, to which he yelped and jumped almost a foot in the air. It didn’t quite startle him (after all, someone as brave as him wouldn’t crumble beneath such a light touch!), but it… tickled? “I know. I’m the worst,” Rui said. “Now, let’s discuss casting. I think…”

Huh… weird. Tsukasa hadn’t anticipated that such a light touch would make him react in such a way. And why was his face a bit warmer?

Surely it’s just the summer heat.

Tsukasa cursed the fact that he was 5’7. Not because he didn’t feel masculine enough or because it somehow took away from his dramatic breadth; rather that Rui put everything too damn high up for him to reach. He was thankful, really. When the troupe actually began production on this show a few weeks ago, Tsukasa found it so surreal. He’d starred in plays, sure, but he’d never written one that got performed! This was the opportunity of a lifetime! Still, how on Earth was he supposed to get into character if he didn’t have Prince Pegasus’ sword?! His cape?! After all, the sword was arguably the focal point of the showdown scene they’d be rehearsing today. Getting up to the blasted things might as well have been a show in and of itself. Tenma Tsukasa, desperately balancing on that treacherous swivel chair—in vain. Tenma Tsukasa, clawing his way up the mountain that was the shelves backstage—only to lose his grip. Tenma Tsukasa Found Dead in Phoenix Wonderland was hardly an appealing show title. This was clearly a losing battle.

“Hey, Rui? Can you give me a hand?”

There he came, his knight in shining sweatpants. “At your service.”

“Thank goodness! I can’t seem to reach the props we need for the next scene. Can you reach?”

Rui stared up at the top shelf where Prince Pegasus’ trusty sword and cape lay. He cocked his head to the left, then to the right. Incredulous. Tsukasa knew Rui was strategic to a fault, but this was excessive. “Hm. Now how did those get all the way up there?”

“You tell me! You’re the prop master!” How strange, he thought! Perhaps this was an exercise in dramatic irony?

Rui began to chew his knuckle. “I am, aren’t I?” Okay, maybe not. That nervous tick was something Rui only did when he was actually nervous—or confused. Think, Tsukasa. Think! There must be something to be done about this predicament! Rui was doing… something. Surveying the scene, perhaps? What more was there to survey? Ground, climb, props. Beginning, middle, end. “To be honest, I don’t know how I got those up there in the first place. I can’t even reach that high. Maybe someone else moved them?”

“Who? Robo-Nene?”

“Maybe.”

“Ugh. You’re impossible,” Tsukasa groaned (with a surprising undertone of affection, he realized). “Wait, what about the ladder? Where is it?”

Rui shook his head. “Emu gave it to one of the contractors for the new splash pad they’re working on in the kids’ area.”

“Great, so what do we do now?”

Rui went back to chewing on his knuckles. Interesting technique… Tsukasa wondered if it might help him think of something.

…mm, nope. No dice. His mouth kind of just tasted like salt now.

“Oh, how about I lift you up?” Rui suggested. “The top shelf is about eight feet off the ground. I should be able to get you up high enough to reach.”

Tsukasa internally kicked himself for not thinking of that sooner. But of course, as the brave troupe leader he was, he had to inspire confidence in his dear director. “Aha! Brilliant plan, Rui! Yes, let’s conquer this conundrum once and for all!”

Rui chuckled. “That’s our star.” Those words made Tsukasa’s stomach flutter in a way that almost… pleasant? He decided he’d unpack that later. Rui carefully positioned himself behind Tsukasa, hovering his hands just over Tsukasa’s waist. “Okay, ready?”

“Ready!”

1, 2, and 3. Tsukasa was in the air… and suddenly fighting for his composure. Much to his chagrin, unlike the harnesses he’d used to fly in past shows, the sensation of Rui’s hands on his waist was incredibly ticklish. The fact that his fingers just wouldn’t stay still certainly didn’t help. What on Earth was this pattern? It all happened at once—his stomach fluttered. His core muscles tensed. His lips pursed in an absolutely desperate attempt to suppress a yelp. If he moved, he might give himself away. Curse my body for this betrayal!

“Tsukasa? Are you—”

“I’mfinehahathanks!!” Definitely not convincing. Still, there was time to save this. Tsukasa clambered for the props, and once they were safe in his hands, he landed safely on the ground, heart still pounding in his chest and blood rushing to his face. Turning completely away from Rui would be suspicious, but he had to cut his losses somehow.

“Th-Thanks for your help,” Tsukasa said, fastening the royal blue cape around his neck. Ah! Wait! He could pass it off with his costume! Tsukasa did a dramatic half-turn, the cape unceremoniously tangling behind him. Turns out the stale air of the shop was not exactly conducive to flowy capes.

“Of course,” Rui replied. Tsukasa imagined Rui grinning from ear-to-ear. Normally it came across as smug, but… part of him wanted to turn around, just to see if it looked different.

A beat. Neither moved and neither spoke.

“All right, want to start rehearsing the scene in fifteen?” Rui asked.

“Yeah, sounds good.”

Rui made his way back onto the Wonder Stage. Something told Tsukasa that this would stay etched into his brain for the foreseeable future.

Rui.

Rui, Rui, Rui.

“Our star.”

There was a pit in Tsukasa’s stomach. It had been days since the prop incident, as he called it. He’d been thinking about Rui for much longer than he usually did. His sly, grinning face; his voice; his praise; his stupid jokes—and his hands on his waist. Tsukasa longed for Rui’s touch, and he longed for that touch in particular.

He didn’t get it.

Tsukasa had never had a real crush before. Wait—was it even a crush? Can one develop crushes that quickly? He was at least a little prepared for the butterflies and the racing thoughts. But tickling? Did people fantasize about their crushes tickling them? Was this normal? Then again, maybe it wasn’t actually about the tickling, right? No, surely he just wanted Rui’s attention. That made enough sense. But then again again, why was he so fixated on that moment in particular? Not all the other times Rui had touched him? Why was he so fixated on Rui’s fingers dancing across his skin? Of nails gliding across his stomach and hands lovingly squeezing his sides? Of gentle kisses to his cheeks? Of laughing without a care in the world as Rui showered him with compliment after compliment?

No one could ever know about this. Not the troupe, not Saki, not Toya, and especially not Rui. But Tsukasa was an actor. Surely he could put on a brave face.

…

Or not. Dress rehearsals were actually kind of a disaster. Sure, Prince Pegasus was victorious even without his sword, he rescued his sister, yadda yadda yadda. Tsukasa could go through the motions. But he kept finding his eyes drifting to Rui. And for the most part, Rui hadn’t noticed (thank God), until the final scene.

“Pegasus! Remember, you’re talking to your sister, not the audience!”

Damn it.

“Right! Sorry!”

So the scene dragged on. They ran through it twice. Then three times. Tsukasa’s mind was foggy with heat, frustration, and Rui. Rui’s attention. Rui watching him. Rui judging him. Rui’s disappointment in his lackluster performance. Rui’s disgust when he inevitably learned what Tsukasa had been thinking lately. The urge to cry pricked the corner of his eye.

“...and scene!” shouted Rui. “That was perfect.”

Reprieve. Tsukasa wasn’t absolutely convinced, but it would do for now.

…

Rui’s show notes went in one ear and out the other. There was no way for them not to. While Nene and Emu listened intently, Tsukasa just pondered whatever… that was. This was bad. Very, very bad. Tsukasa had struggled with roles before, but never for this reason. Never because he was so utterly enamored by a guy that he couldn’t focus. What did this mean for him? If he couldn’t surmount a little crush to play a simple fucking role, how could he possibly convey the hero’s journey? Tomorrow Prince Pegasus would appear just as pathetic as Tsukasa was. He needed to will this away, or at least shove it down long enough to—

“Tsukasa.”

Oh no.

“R-Rui! My friend! What can your star do for you?” Jesus, did he really just say that?

Rui frowned. Tsukasa drew in a sharp breath. He saw this coming from miles away, but his stomach churned all the same. “You seemed distracted today. That isn’t like you. I was worried, and… I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Exhale.

…that’s it? That’s all he had to say? In just ten seconds, Tsukasa had gone through all five stages of grief and prepared a (quite beautiful, he thought) monologue explaining his “poor” performance. But Rui, ever the wildcard, threw that plan out the window. Of course, any actor can handle a little improv! Right…?

“Oh, yes! I was just…” Think, Tsukasa. Think. “…uh, the heat! Yes, that’s it. I was simply dizzy with the summer heat!” If Rui’s expression was anything to go off of, that wasn’t very convincing at all. So much for improv.

Rui’s contorted face quickly softened to a concerned one. Absolutely none of this was going to plan. “Tsukasa, are you nervous?”

Of course I am, Rui. How can I be calm when your stupid, pretty face is right in front of me? How can I be calm when all I can think about is you ti—

No. But Rui saw right through him. Lying was absolutely not an option. He could, however, conjure a different motivation—it just had to be in character. “Maybe a little. It’s just… are you sure we’re ready to perform tomorrow? I know all of our characters came easily to us, especially mine, of course, but this might be our quickest turnaround yet!” …yeah! Something like that.

Rui seemed to contemplate this answer for a moment (or, at least, that was Tsukasa’s best guess. Rui’s facial expressions were not known for their readability.) He smiled, laying a hand on Tsukasa’s shoulder. “You know I would never put on a show that I didn’t think we could perform. As your director, I have the utmost confidence in you and the others.” Then, he lay his other hand on Tsukasa’s free shoulder, just as tenderly as the first. “And I know our star won’t let us down.”

This wasn’t out of the ordinary. Rui was usually sincere, but felt recontextualized. Tsukasa knew something about Rui, or maybe himself, that he didn’t before. Impulses took over, and before he knew it, Tsukasa found his face buried into the nape of Rui’s neck and his arms wrapped tightly around his body. This was so incredibly selfish. But then Rui’s arms found their way to Tsukasa’s back. It wasn’t as if the two had never hugged before, but it might as well have been. Rui had taken on a different role in Tsukasa’s mind: of an eccentric and colorful casanova.

His soliloquy was suddenly interrupted by the sensation of Rui’s fingertips stroking the length of his back. This was getting ridiculous—could he catch a break today?! Each new spot Rui touched set Tsukasa’s nerves ablaze. Rui’s nimble fingers traveled all the way down to the small of Tsukasa’s back, then slowly back up again, tracing his spine to the valley between his shoulder blades. The higher Rui went, the harder it was for Tsukasa to stifle the giggles bubbling up from his diaphragm. He prayed to God, the universe, anyone who might hear him, that this moment would last a little while longer. But, with one final squeeze, Rui let go.

Tsukasa now prayed that golden hour would obscure the blush on his face. “Um—thanks for… that, Rui.”

Rui smiled (if he even stopped smiling in the first place?). “Of course. I’ll see you tomorrow.” And, in true cheesy-romance-movie fashion, Tsukasa stared as Rui disappeared beyond the sunlight-bathed horizon.

This wasn’t going away, was it?

Tsukasa loved the way the Wonder Stage transformed Rui him and his friends. He’d learned this term once, social facilitation, and that described it perfectly: the crowd was the extra push the troupe needed to be the best they could be. Somehow, all the fears he’d had from the previous day had washed away. Emu’s acting demonstrated a surprising level of depth. Nene found confidence on the stage she didn’t have elsewhere.

And Rui? The Wonder Stage brought him out in his purest form.

Rui had long since moved past his days of typecasting, especially with how well-received Thorpe was—but no one would dare say he was a bad typecaster. When Rui assigned himself a role, he played it well. Case in point, today’s villain, The Manticore.

Suspense hung in the air as the audience watched Prince Pegasus approach The Manticore. “You,” Prince Pegasus snarled (so far, so good). He sauntered over to his nemesis, hand on his sword’s hilt. “You have a lot of nerve, kidnapping my sister and thinking I wouldn’t track you down.” This wasn’t going badly after all! Rui had no idea how right he was yesterday—that even if Tsukasa was plagued by this… preoccupation… he was still more than capable. It was all such a rush.

Rui chuckled. Or was it The Manticore? Really, they may have been one and the same. Like Rui, The Manticore was charming, cunning, eccentric, and a little bit too handsome for comfort. But no matter! Like any good story, the Prince would surely emerge victorious; he would defeat his nemesis with courage and wit alone.

And then it happened; something unscripted. Rui placed a finger beneath Tsukasa’s chin, tilting it upward. Tsukasa’s cheeks burned. And as if matters couldn’t get any worse, Rui’s finger then pivoted inward, mimicking a lion’s claw. It tickled. And it drove Tsukasa crazy. This, of all times?! Rui had to know. He was testing him. His resolve. His talent. Tsukasa’s composure teetered on that claw for entirely too long.

“My Prince,” The Manticore (Rui???) cooed. “The choice is yours. The sword, or your sister.”

Tsukasa swallowed hard. But an actor can handle a little improv. Prince Pegasus bowed, offering his sword. “As you wish.”

“Woooow!!!” Emu cheered. “That was so awesome! That must’ve been our biggest crowd yet!”

Nene nodded. “I could really feel the tension between Prince Pegasus and The Manticore.

Tension was right. The amount of restraint it took not to kiss Rui then and there was kind of unbearable. But… Emu was right, too. It was an incredible show with an incredible turnout. So much so, in fact, that the four were already planning a rerun and new ways to make it even more incredible. (Emu and Rui’s idea of this was pyrotechnics. Tsukasa figured he could talk some sense into them another time). For now, they could ride the high of another successful show.

A few rides and a meal later, Emu and Nene began making their way home, leaving Tsukasa alone with Rui. This wasn’t unusual—the girls usually needed to get home a bit earlier—but something felt different. Not just Tsukasa’s little crush, that was hardly new. No, Rui seemed distant. Maybe a bit aloof. That pit in his stomach returned. After the stunt Rui pulled during the show, Tsukasa was convinced he had surely caught on to the thoughts plaguing his mind. And, seeing how Tsukasa just barely pushed through the scene, Rui had surely decided that Tsukasa was far too odd to be close to anymore.

…but that didn’t make sense. Rui was weird, sure. His directing methods were sometimes questionable and his inventions bordered on insane. But Rui wasn’t malicious. He was far too sincere to ever test Tsukasa like that. Plus! Rui hadn’t been distant this morning before the show!

And then it clicked. Tsukasa had made himself the villain in his own story! It wasn’t him, but his inner demons! Okay, that was probably a little heavy-handed for a tickle-crush on a boy. But his point stood! What a complex narrative!

Even with this realization, that pit remained. He wasn’t exactly certain, but there was only one way to find out. He had to know how the story would end, no matter how afraid he was. And so, putting on the bravest face he could muster, Tsukasa sauntered over to Rui.

“Hey, Rui.”

“Hmm?”

“What was… that? By the way?”

Rui chuckled. That damn chuckle. “Ah, did you like that little detail in the showdown scene? I thought a bit of improv would really add to—”

“—was it really just for the show?”

Rui’s face dropped. It was more satisfying that Tsukasa was willing to admit. “…what do you mean?”

“The way you tilted my chin,” Tsukasa said. “It was a brilliant choice! Very much in character! But… it felt like you.” If Tsukasa kept talking, he was certain his heart would burst out of his throat. “And… call me crazy, but I hope it wasn’t just for the show.”

The two stood, face-to-face, staring. Neither spoke. Neither moved. And for once, throughout this entire ordeal, Tsukasa saw Rui’s composure break. His hand covered his mouth, and his face turned a deep shade of crimson. Bashfulness looked good on him, Tsukasa thought. Rui’s piercing, yellow eyes met Tsukasa’s. It was familiar. It was the exact “cunning” way Rui had looked at him before.

Oh, wow.

“Tsukasa…” Rui mumbled. The corners of his lips quirked upward, and he laughed. Really laughed. An honest, breathless belly laugh that Tsukasa had never seen from him before. He was completely and utterly enamored by it. “I—I didn’t expect you to read me so candidly.” Rui stepped forward, taking Tsukasa’s trembling hands into his own. “You’re right. A small part of me hoped you’d notice.”

Tsukasa found himself laughing, too. “It took me longer than you know.”

This was comfortable. The both of them, equally shy and equally embarrassed. After all, if all the world was a stage, wasn’t there also a backstage? A green room? An honest moment between actors?

“Rui, can I kiss you?” Tsukasa spat the words out before he could even think about them. And, just as quickly, Rui leaned in, pressing his lips firmly against Tsukasa’s. It was awkward, and decidedly weirder than a stage kiss. But it was nice for the walls to come down. The masks were off. The audience was gone. There was only Tsukasa and Rui…

…and the familiar tickling sensation of Rui’s fingers along the contour of Tsukasa’s jaw. Tsukasa felt his lips part hopelessly into a big, goofy smile. “Wh–What are you doing?”

“Tickling you,” Rui answered. “You’re not the only perceptive one around here, my star.”

What was it called when the pit and the butterflies happened at the same time? Butterfly mosh pit?

“You noticed—AH!”

Rui’s fingers traveled down to Tsukasa’s neck, his nails dragging along either side. “Not at first, but I did notice that you never tried to stop me.” They darted wildly between the underside of his jaw and the crook of his collarbone, never staying in one place for too long. Even trying to trap Rui’s hand between his cheek and his shoulder didn’t work—his fingers could still wiggle away at his neck.

“YoHOU—! You jeheherk!!!” Tsukasa sputtered.

“Me? A jerk?” Rui feigned his best offended voice. “I thought you wanted me to do this!” Rui now had Tsukasa wrapped in his arms, trapping him between his wriggling fingers. This time, he pressed a little harder as he drilled his fingers ever-so-slightly into Tsukasa’s ribs. Tsukasa’s laugh shot up in pitch to an octave he didn’t know he could reach—and it grew even more frantic when Rui’s hands wandered to his sides instead. He couldn’t figure out what tickled more. Squeezing? Spidering? His brain was, frankly, too fuzzy to even think about it.

“I—! D-Don’t—ahaha!!—dohon’t make me say it!”

“Say what? Say that you want me to tickle you?”

“You know what!!”

“Do I? Surely I wouldn’t ask if I knew.” Heavens, Tsukasa wasn’t prepared for how much Rui would tease him. Each sentence seemed to be punctuated by even more tickles. No matter how Tsukasa squirmed or twisted, there was always another hand waiting for him, ready to poke at his side or claw under his arms. He could certainly say it was hell, but he’d surely be lying. The fact that Rui was giggling along with him somehow made the sensation even stronger. So, instead of trying to pull Rui’s hands away, Tsukasa simply opted to cover his own face. This seemingly only encouraged Rui to speed up. “Why are you hiding your face? Can’t I hear you giggle?”

“I—ehehe!! I’m embarrassed!”

Rui gasped. “Tsukasa? Embarrassed? What a fascinating turn of events!” Rui’s hands shot straight up to Tsukasa’s wrists as Rui just barely let his fingers graze Tsukasa’s forearms. His arms?! How was that even a spot that could be ticklish?!

Rui’s hands suddenly paused. It was quiet for a moment—much too quiet. The anticipation still wracked Tsukasa’s body. Though he didn’t quite understand why he was still twitching and giggling, he wasn’t exactly complaining. Still… he couldn’t possibly watch. As his hands rose to his eyes, Rui finally spoke.

“Hm… I wonder what happens if I—” Oh no. Tsukasa realized Rui’s were hovering over—

“DON’T YOU DARE—!” Too little, too late. Tsukasa shrieked as Rui’s fingers danced and scribbled all across his tummy.

“Oh! What an interesting discovery! I simply must know more about this spot…” At this point, Tsukasa had fully collapsed against Rui’s body. If not for being in Rui’s arms, he would have absolutely fallen to the ground. But, far too tired to fight back, Tsukasa couldn’t help but laugh away as Rui methodically mapped every bit of his torso. Knowing Rui, he’d have a nearly encyclopedic knowledge of his tickle spots after today.

And for once, Tsukasa really did feel like a star. Maybe not in the way a world-class Broadway actor would be, or a celebrity on the silver screen, but like the apple of Rui’s eye. Attention without performance felt so utterly foreign to Tsukasa—but he could get used to it, he thought.

Even as Rui lightened his touch and slowed his fingers, Tsukasa still found himself awfully ticklish at the moment. Even the slightest, unintentional movement of Rui’s hand sent him into another fit of giggles. Only after Rui removed his hands completely was Tsukasa able to really catch his breath. Though heaving, he gazed at Rui, who was wearing the dumbest grin he had ever seen. Had he not been so worn out, he would have laughed all over again. “I—I think you enjoyed doing that as much as I… um. You know.”

Rui chuckled. “I do know. As for whether I enjoyed it… open to audience interpretation,” he said with a wink.

Tsukasa sighed fondly. He gingerly took Rui’s hand in his. “Walk me home?”

“Of course, my star.”

#project sekai tickle #project sekai tickles #project sekai tickling #requests #tickle fic #atti.docx

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iwriteasfotini · 1 month

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OLIWITS Excerpt from THATS Ch I

Excerpt from Our Love is Written in the Stars: The Heir and The Spare, Chapter I - Glasses and Freckles

(Continued from this excerpt)

The compartment was no longer empty. In fact, there were three other students sitting in it. The messy haired boy with glasses was there, Sirius knew his name was James, but he didn’t let on as he didn’t want the other boy to know he’d been watching him. Sirius noticed his glasses were covered in fingerprint smudges, how could the kid even see out of such dirty lenses? There was also a red haired girl, with her face turned towards the window, clearly crying but trying to be discreet. And a coffee skinned boy with shoulder length dark brown hair, similar to Sirius’ black, but it was less voluminous and more straight.

“Hiya,” Sirius said to the compartment at large.

The one with glasses glanced towards him and gave a nod of acknowledgement. The other two ignored him.

Glasses boy, whose skin was dusky and smooth, said with a slight accent, “how goes it mate?”

“Yeah, not bad, you?” replied Sirius.

“I can’t believe it’s finally happening,” said Glasses, a huge smile splitting his face. “I’ve been waiting my entire life to go to Hogwarts.”

The compartment door slid open.

“Sorry,” said a thin boy with curly light brown hair and a heavy smattering of freckles across his tan cheeks, “but can I squeeze in, everywhere else is full.”

Sirius took in the newcomer’s muggle attire, which was rather shabby, then his eyes locked onto the other boy’s and his stomach did a little flip.

“S-sure,” Sirius stammered.

The boy with long hair let out a huff and pushed past Sirius rather roughly, “‘scuse me” he mumbled and he exited the compartment.

Sirius raised his eyebrows and looked at Glasses. Who raised his eyebrows right back. Aha! Sirius thought, as the look passed between them. I think I’m going to like you.

“Mate, you look dead uncomfortable dressed up in all that,” Glasses said to Sirius, gesturing at his formal robes.

“Ah, yeah, my mum likes me to ‘look the part’ so to speak.”

“The part of what, a funeral procession?” laughed Glasses.

Sirius took the opportunity to start unbuttoning his shirt.

“Woah there, I didn’t mean you should start taking your clothes off.” Glasses held his hands up in front of his eyes.

Sirius barked out a laugh. The new boy’s cheeks had a tiny bit of pink to them, though he was keeping quiet.

“Pa-lease,” Sirius said, as he revealed the turquoise Unicorn versus Pegasus shirt he was sporting beneath his button-down. “Like you wouldn’t enjoy the show.”

Freckles boy stifled a laugh and Glasses beamed, winking at Sirius. Then caught sight of the logo on Sirius’ shirt.

“Unicorn versus Pegasus! No way, you know about them? I thought they were still in the up-and-coming phase,” said Glasses, and he quickly took off his glasses and polished them with the hem of his shirt. They were slightly less smudged now.

“Know about them,” Sirius replied, “mate, I know them.”

“What!”

“Yeah, my Uncle Alphard is friends with the lead singer Richie Jetty. He brought them all round to our family Christmas party last year. Made for quite the scandal. And he gifted me this shirt! Look.” Sirius turned around so Glasses could now see the back of the shirt, it was covered in several scrawled signatures.

“Wow!” Glasses sighed.

Sirius nodded solemnly, caressing the turquoise fabric adorned with the moving logo of a unicorn and a pegasus facing each other and pawing the ground.

“Have either of you ever been to a concert?” Sirius asked his companions. “I’m dying to go, only my mum is about the strictest hag in the world and barely lets me out of the house unaccompanied by a blood relative.”

Freckles shook his head, and Glasses said, “I mean I’ve seen The Fluffy Nifflers, but…”

Sirius raised his eyebrows again, clearly saying without words ‘and in what realm does a toddler magical puppet program count as a concert?’

Glasses rightfully looked a bit abashed.

The compartment door slid open again, the long haired boy was back. He sidled past Sirius, with no shoving this time, and he did look much better since adorning his school robes. But Sirius also noticed his chin was somewhat pointy which contrasted oddly with his round cheeks.

The girl with red hair, who had literally ignored everything unfolding in the compartment thus far, glanced towards Pointy and said succinctly, “I don’t want to talk to you.”

“Why not,” replied Pointy. He had a thick Spanish accent.

Glasses and Freckles started a side conversation about wizarding music, which Sirius pretended to engage in, but in actuality he was eavesdropping on Pointy and the red haired girl.

“Tuney h-hates me. Because we saw that letter from Dumbledore.”

“So what?” Pointy’s voice had adopted a bit of an edge.

The red haired girl narrowed her eyes in exasperation.

“So,” she said, “she’s my sister!”

“She’s only a —” Pointy caught himself quickly. Then rushed on, “but we’re going! This is it! We're off to Hogwarts.” Excitement slipped through despite his somewhat sour expression.

The red haired girl wiped her eyes and Sirius swore she almost smiled.

“You’d better be in Slytherin,” said Pointy.

Glasses immediately redirected his attention.

“Slytherin?” he said loudly. “Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I’d leave, wouldn’t you?”

It took Sirius a beat to notice Glasses’ question had been directed at him. He did not smile.

“My whole family’s been in Slytherin,” said Sirius with chagrin.

“Blimey, and I thought you seemed alright!”

“Maybe I’ll break the tradition,” Sirius smiled. “Where are you headed, if you’ve got a choice?”

Glasses lifted his hand into the air as if brandishing an invisible sword and said proudly, “‘Gryffindor, where dwell the brave of heart!’ Like my dad.”

Pointy let out a scoff. Glasses rounded on him.

“Got a problem with that?”

“No,” Pointy sneered, “if you’d rather be brawny than brainy —”

Pointy was rubbing Sirius the wrong way, “where’re you hoping to go, seeing as you’re neither?”

Glasses roared with laughter and Sirius smiled. The red haired girl stood up, looking at the other boys in the compartment with a hint of dislike on her face.

“Come on, Severus, let’s find another compartment.”

“Ooooohhhh,” Glasses jeered and Sirius wolf-whistled.

Glasses stuck his leg in front of the compartment door as Pointy, no S-something, exited, making him stumble.

“See ya, Snivellus,” called Sirius.

“Severus,” Freckles said quietly.

“What?” Sirius looked into his face again, curly hair was hanging into his eyes, big brown eyes. He didn’t think he’d ever seen eyes which were the exact shade of chocolate before. Sirius’ stomach did another tiny flip. What in the name of Merlin?

“His name was Severus.”

“Oh,” Sirius shrugged and slouched back against his seat. “So what are your names, anyway?”

…

More to come (it is my first fic and it’s all already written). Daily posting will begin on AO3 on October, 31 :)

Check on the weekly posting/writing status update here!

#marauders #fanfic #james potter #harry potter #sirius black #our love is written in the stars #first years #remus lupin #lily evans #severus snape #sirius POV

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script-a-world · 2 months

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Submitted via Google Form:

I have an idea that instead of very fast spaceships in my story, the spaceships are kinda slow and the main way to get places is via teleports. However there is also max range for these teleports so they have to have a relay of them, especially the oens in deep space that stretch between galaxies. Installation is slow of course - they had to wait many years between dropping each teleport off as the spaceship had to use the previous teleports to the latest location and travel slowly in the spaceship to drop a new one off. Then here's the question of objects in space moving all the time, so these teleports are obviously moving. What exactly is keeping them where they are supposed to be? Or can we say that doesn't matter as much as long they are still in range and these teleport systems are on platforms that have an engine and can get arranged properly? You might think there is a big hole here since the spaceships are so slow, how did they know what's out so far, and why is there even a need to build quicker travel. That's because there is someone else with even better technology that initally got them there, and they now know about it but they had to design their own system to get there themselves without the help of that someone else. Note that my story starts after the teleport systems are in place and there is regular transportation via these teleport systems across several galaxies so this is basically history.

Tex: Stargate stargate stargate- ahem. There is a very well-known set of TV series about this exact subject (with some occasional plot, of course): Stargate. The three main series are Stargate SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis, and Stargate Universe, and each deal with a different environment of technology created by a group of people known in-universe as the Ancients (later known as the Alterans) as they are used in different galaxies.

The eponymous technology that features most prominently in all of these shows are stargate, which stabilize wormholes generated between two gates and can be connected to via a series of addresses based upon celestial constellations. These addresses are dialed via something nicknamed DHDs (Dial Home Devices - yes, jokingly after the movie E.T.), and the Milky Way and Pegasus galaxies (the latter of which is the setting of Stargate: Atlantis) have different gate systems that cannot connect to each other - the protagonists were only able to do so with a huge boost of energy from a device called a ZPM (Zero Point Module) that draws power from subspace.

The gates themselves are relatively stable, and can - through a lot of legwork - be operated without a DHD; Samantha Carter in SG-1 figured out how to do so via an Earth program to use Earth computers, whereas in contrast the puddle jumpers in Atlantis (a type of ship small enough to fly through the gates) have their own dedicated versions of DHDs in the pilot’s console.

Although it’s not explicitly stated in canon, each galaxy’s gate system seems to be manufactured differently from each other, given the differences in their appearances. Realistically speaking, since these connect via wormholes, there should be no issue connecting any gate to any other gate, but it’s possible that each gate has a hardwired address array paired with its DHD that’s specific to a given range of its position in spacetime, thus giving a self-limiting range.

In SG-1, the Jaffa and Goa’uld would be of most interest to you, and in Atlantis, everyone not from the expedition would be of interest to you, as these groups of people have used their stargate networks for thousands of years on a regular basis.

#google submitted #spaceships #transportation #space #technology

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annkous · 1 year

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So. Lesson 23, huh. How are you all Mammon lovers holding up?

We start right where we last left it off in lesson 22 : in the Celestial Realm about to be run over by Mammon who's apparently riding a pegasus chariot (that's SO COOL THOUGH I WANT TO SEE IT IN A CARD). He crashes the thing and before anyone can get into proper introductions, Mammon hears Michael's looking for him and runs away to hide, dragging both you and Little D with him.

They keep teasing us with Michael lol but ANYWAYS. After the scare you can hug him or pinch his cheek, and also show how happy you are that he's smiling. I found it really cute.

You can ask Mammon about his deal with Michael, then he says this.

They will be the death of me I swear to god.

Mammon, convinced you're two angels (??????), asks you to go with him so that can vouch for him to Lucifer so he takes Mammon under his wing. Sure, why not?

Mammon really adored Lucifer before they became brothers and wanted Luci to be the one who supervised him, but Mammon tells you that Lucifer keeps shutting his idea down and tells him he should stay with Michael instead.

Ah, good ol' Lucifer, doing "what I think is best for people without properly talking to them". He folds quickly, though, and basically tells Mammon that he will agree to talk to Michael about it if he manages to bring to Lucifer one rose from Simeon's garden before sundown. So off we go again.

We find Simeon in said pretty garden, reading a book. However, he says that said book is a book of prophecies, and the fucker just drops this line when Mammon asks him if he's learned anything.

Thanks, now I feel like crying.

Simeon does say he's probably destined to meet you again and that he will probably lose his wings, but that it's all up to interpretation, so he's not completely sure if he got his future correctly. Oh man.

Mammon decides to ask Simeon about taking one rose, but Simeon outright says no because the roses are from Father (gulp), so they're really important. Mammon desperately tells him that it's just one rose so Lucifer finally accepts his request, that he will do anything, and Simeon almost caves, but then asks Mammon if he'd ever considered how Simeon would feel after having to give away one of the important roses he'd grown from their Father.

Mammon doesn't want to hurt Simeon, but he doesn't want to give up on his dream either. In the end, Simeon decides to finally give him the rose.

We can ask Simeon about the roses being important to him, and he says "Yes, they are, but Mammon is just as important." I need A SECOND.

Mission success. With the rose in hand, the trio goes back to Lucifer, who's surprised Mammon has managed to get the rose in the end.

He looks satisfied, though, and tells Mammon that the reason Simeon gave him the rose was because of Mammon's determination, his grip on his dreams and what he truly wants...

which is also connected to his greed.

Lucifer tells Mammon said sin can hurt those around him, and that even if then he's still determined to hold on to the hopes and desires in his heart...

Mammon's memory ends there. For now, we don't know what Lucifer said next.

The first one right in the gut. Jesus.

But I have to say this talk with Mammon is one of my favourite parts thus far:

MANNNNNNNNNNNNNN

also-

I really like the options we were given. He's got time to learn, and he's already kind, too.

SWEATS VERY NERVOUSLY.

But wait, we're not done yet, because this is when he finally remembers what was that Lucifer told him in the end.

HEY. HEY MAN. YOU CAN'T JUST HIT ME LIKE THAT. FUCK.

I wondered a lot back then in og Obey Me why was Mammon his favourite plus his most trusted brother, considering all we saw most of the time was their bickering or Lucifer chasing after an "irresponsible" Mammon. Sure, they had their moments, but nothing it's impacting me harder than their moments here in Nightbringer. I'm so glad we get to see them so close. It warms my heart a lot, because I did think Mammon deserved better treatment. I'm really happy they're showing how important he is to Lucifer and all of his siblings, plus how he's just... Mammon, not an idiot that gets hung from the ceiling or someone who bursts in when mc's having a moment with someone else. He's just Mammon, the Avatar of Greed.

When we wake up in Mammon's room after this, the new title is "Holding on to Hope." Whew man.

He gives you a hug first thing to make sure he's really back, too. He's the absolute best.

He feels really bad he put you through his outburst, too, and wants to make it up to you.

Sounds like a perfect way to settle things, honestly. WE GOT OUR FIRST PACT.

FINALLY. MAMMON HAD TO BE THE FIRST, OBVIOUSLY.

The final part of the lesson is about how Mammon is back to his usual level of greediness (and also really peppy and is pissing Belphegor off lol). Lucifer thanks you too, and you tell him that part of Mammon's recovery is thanks to his words back in the Celestial Realm. They all go back to normal, with Satan summoning something at breakfast because Mammon pissed him off and Lucifer having to intervene pffft.

Also, they mention this off handedly, but it soon becomes relevant: Asmo is missing from breakfast. It made me go "uh oh. He's next, isn't he."

Pan to the next scene:

Yup, he's next.

I actually had to go and look up the order of the pacts we make with the demon brothers in the og game because I wasn't sure if Asmo was second. I thought since Mammon was first that they were going to follow the same pact order, but it seems like it's not. In the og game Mammon was first, then Leviathan, Beel, Asmo, Satan, Belphie and lastly Lucifer. But here it seems Asmo is going to be second.

It breaks my heart a bit because in lesson 22 Asmo was terrified of ending up just like Mammon when he was fully consumed by his Greed aaaaa. We've already had a trip to the Celestial Realm with Asmo though, so I wonder if they're going to do the same thing as Mammon (showing the reason he chose to join Lucifer) or do something else entirely. We have to wait until next Friday to see it.

The extra scene takes place a bit after both Mammon and you wake up, leaving him to rest a bit while you go meet the rest of the brothers to give them an update. Simeon goes down memory lane about all the times Mammon had tried to get Lucifer's attention, including one time he went to grab a crystal lily for Luci, got himself lost and Lucifer had to go and fetch him. Another time he blew the kitchen up trying to cook dinner for Lucifer's birthday lmfao and when Lucifer's about to join in the fun of telling Mammon's old stories, Mammon bursts in and begs him to stop HAHAH

Okay this part was really cute www I love them.

After finishing the lesson you get a video call too! AGAIN! This time is just Mammon and you (before Levi and Beel join in), with Mammon begging you to keep quiet about the hug he gave you. It's short and funny. I wish I could add more than 30 pictures so I could show you Levi's 3d face here, because it had me cracking up lmfao

The hard mode scene takes place in Mammon's room as he's wondering if you two have really made a pact after all, because he feels no different and you should have a bit of his powers. As if on cue, you get a message that you've won the lottery and Satan pops in to give you money as thanks of giving him his wallet back a few days prior.

You use the stay command too, and Mammon comments that it's stronger now. That's a good sign that you're getting your powers back!

I'm really curious to see what it'll happen with Asmo ;u; and who the next brother will be, since it seems to be random (unless I'm missing something. It's not birth order, nor previous pact order either....). We shouldn't forget about that prophecy book, either. I don't trust any off-hand mentions in this game lmao.

Oh, and the German titles for the cards in normal mode this round are: Slothful Sieben for Belphie, and then it switches to different titles for the others. Great Acht for Diavolo, Confident Neun for Barbatos and Sacred Zehn for Luke. Simeon and Solomon are the only ones missing, then come the other three undateables (I think).

That's all for this week!

Edit: LESSON 24!!

#Anne plays obey me! Nightbringer #nightbringer spoilers #Mammon feels: the lesson #BASICALLY THE TITLE I'D GIVE IT TBH #obey me! nightbringer #obey me!

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promenadewithme · 10 months

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Chapter 2 (The Kiss of Eros)

a/n: here is chapter 2! all feedback is always welcome <3 pairing: Spencer Reid x Rebecca Sanders (original character) warnings: whirlwind of emotions here, be ready. someone gets hurt, blood, guns, fire, feelings so many feelings. word count: about 3k

Series Masterlist

The hot humidity of the subway hits me like a slap on the face. I remove my sweater, leaving me in my white button-up, and tie it around my shoulders.

“Have you ever taken the LA metro?” he asks beside me.

He’s also wearing a white button down, but his are rolled up at his arms, covered by a gray sweater vest and paired with charcoal pants.

“Nope, you?”

“I thought you were experienced.” he jabs and my face twitches.

“At public transportation, not specifically Los Angeles. Vegan city isn’t exactly my go-to holiday destination.” I answer while switching back to my normal square glasses.

“Where, then?”

“Where what?” I ask, trying to figure out which rail to take.

“Where is your go-to holiday destination?” he turns towards me, hands in his pockets, and I pause.

Is he trying to make small talk?

“I-I’ve always wanted to visit Scotland.” I offer.

He nods, looking at the map.

“Did you know that Scotland's official animal is the unicorn?” he asks.

“Yes, I did know that.” I offer a smile.

“Odd, though, isn’t it? That an official animal isn’t even a real animal?”

“Y-yes, I guess so.” I stutter.

“The first record of unicorn myths actually dates back to Mesopotamia.” he gesticulates while looking at the map “Many people think it originated from Greek mythology, but they just confuse the unicorn with the pegasus. Even though they are completely different, their only common factor being the body of a horse. Unicorns have a single horn on their head, while Pegasuses - or Pegasi - have wings.”

I gawk at him.

He’s actually talking to me. About unicorns. I am so incredibly confused right now. This is probably the most he’s ever said directly to me.

His gaze meets mine and he immediately turns away, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. I look back at the map, searching for the rail that takes us to the address Pen sent.

“We should take rail C.” I say, turning to look at him.

He’s already looking at me. All I get is a nod before he spins on his heel and walks towards the railway.

We wait behind the yellow line in silence until the metal tube arrives. The station filled with a few people after we arrived, but not enough to mean there wouldn’t be seats for us. Good, my feet are starting to hurt from the heels and I chide myself for not packing more comfortable shoes.

As soon as the doors open, I move to sit close to the exit when a large hand closes around my upper arm.

“No you don’t.” He orders, lifting me before I have the chance to sit. “Do you know how many microbes are on that seat?”

“I don’t and I really don’t want to know, but I have a feeling you’re going to tell me anyway.”

“Trillions, Sanders. Trillions.”

I grimace and notice his hand still holds my arm. I’m pretty sure this is the first time he has ever touched me. So much for Dr ‘I don’t do handshakes’.

Snatching my arm from his grip, I ask “Well you don’t even shake peoples hands, so I doubt you’ll hold the support bars. Without them, you’ll be falling more than a sailor in the north sea, so what’s your solution?”

He doesn’t answer me, instead he opens his satchel and takes out two wet wipes, holding one out to me.

“We’ll sanitize our hands when we get there.” he states, grabbing the rod with the wipe as a barrier between it and his hand.

I hate to admit it, but that’s kind of genius. I’ll never tell him, though.

“Fine.” I huff and copy his actions, just in time for the metro to start moving.

He keeps his free hand tight on the strap of his satchel, eyes drifting between me and the floor. He’s nervous. Over the past year I’ve known Spencer, I’ve learned about his germophobia. I can’t imagine how hard it must be for him to be stuck in a metal tube swarming with trillions of microbes. Maybe if I can get his mind off of it…

“Let’s play a game.” I suggest, immediately regretting it.

This man is a genius and you want to play a game with him? Like a little kid? That voice reprimands in my mind.

“A game?” he asks slowly.

“You know what? Never mind, it’s stupid. I don’t know what I was th-” I splutter before he interrupts me in a soft voice.

“What game?”

My mouth opens and closes as I scour my mind for a game worthy of his intelligence. Dear lord, is there even one?

I think of every game possible. Rock, paper, scissors. Never have I ever. I spy. Truth or dare. He looks at me expectantly and I blurt out the first game on my mind “20 questions.”

“20 questions?” he asks.

I’m so dumb. So fucking stupid. I just suggested that Dr Spencer Reid play 20 questions with me.

“How do you play?” He looks interested.

Oh, okay.

“You’ve never played 20 questions?”

“I um,” he scratches his neck, crimson tingeing his cheeks. “I didn’t have all that many friends growing up.”

“Oh, well… that’s ok. I’ll teach you.” I nod.

When he doesn’t say anything, I start explaining the rules of the game.

“So, basically, person number 1 thinks of something - anything. A person, an object, a band, a place. That person then says ‘I am a country’, for instance. Then person number 2 has 20 yes or no questions to figure out what country that person is. Got it?”

He nods and asks “Can I start?”

“Sure.”

Okay, we’re eager. Good.

“I am a person.” he states.

“Alright, are you a woman?”

“Yes.” he nods.

“Are you from this century?”

“No, she’s actually from-” he starts, but cuts himself off before mumbling to himself “Yes or no questions. Just yes or no.”

I nod and hide my smile.

“Are you a monarch?”

“No.”

“A writer?”

“Nope.”

“A scientist?”

“Yes!” he exclaims with a smile.

He has a very nice smile. It’s a rare sight for me. He does smile a lot, but it usually fades when I enter the room.

“Is there a Disney princess based on you?”

“No, not Jane.”

“Did you study dark matter?”

“Not Freese either.” I can tell that he’s dying to tell me and his excitement is contagious “Come on, Becca. Think about the most obvious answer.”

Becca. He’s never called me that before. I like it.

“Rosalind Franklin?” I try.

“So close, come on. Just one step before her.”

“Marie Curie!” I exclaim.

“Yes!” he laughs.

“I love Marie! I have a magnet of her on my fridge.”

“You have a Marie Curie magnet?”

“Yes.” I smile and he just stares.

But this time, it isn’t a bad stare. I wouldn’t mind if he stared at me like this.

“Okay, okay. My turn.” I say.

I already knew what I would pick from the start, so I hint “I am a book.”

“A book?” he tilts his head.

“Is that your first question, doc?” I joke.

“No, no.” he shakes his head and brings his fingers to rest on his chin “Let me think.”

We’re closer to each other than we were before. Close enough for me to see the light stubble beginning to grow on his face and how his lips look slightly chapped.

Is he not drinking enough water? A voice whispers in my mind.

I notice I’m staring at his lips when he asks “Are you a romance book?”

“Yes.” I focus my attention on his eyes and, for the first time, he holds contact with mine.

At least he does for a few seconds, which is enough for me to notice the amber streaks in the midst of his chocolate brown irises.

“Are you from this century?”

“No.”

“Pride and Prejudice.”

I blink at him, mouth agape “How did you do that?”

“You read a lot of romance books.” He shrugs “I thought it could be your current read, but you’re reading a christmas rewrite of groundhog day so definitely not. Statistically, in these situations, we tend to pick something we can see at the moment, have seen recently or a favorite of ours. Considering there aren’t any books around and it’s not your current read, your pick could only have been your favorite.”

“How did you know Pride and Prejudice is my favorite?” I ask, completely shocked that he knows my reading preferences.

Though, thinking rationally about it, he is a profiler. He’s just doing his job and noticing his surroundings.

“It’s the only book you’ve repeated in the last year. You’ve read it three times. Plus all the times I’ve found you watching the 2005 version with Garcia in her office while going on about something you called the ‘hand flex’ scene.” He looks confused at that last part, but shakes his head before looking expectantly at me.

I realize he’s waiting for me to confirm his answer.

“Yes, you’re right. You won.”

“I never lose.” he simply answers before looking away with a small smile.

Maybe working with him won’t be so bad after all.

***

Spencer knocks on the last partner’s house, his black Ray-Ban sunglasses perched on the tip of his nose. We wait a few beats, but there is no reply. Strange.

“FBI, open up.” Reid bangs against the door.

“Maybe they aren’t home?” I suggest.

“Do you have your gun?” he asks.

I move my hand to hike up my skirt and his gaze follows as I remove my glock gen 5 from the holster strapped to my thigh.

“Do you think we’ll need it?” I question, but hear the answering sound of glass shattering inside the house.

We exchange looks and snap into action. Reid jogs to the left side of the house and I stick to the right, checking the corners and bushes for movement with my gun held in defensive. I dial Pen’s number and leave the ringing phone in my pocket. I reach a window and look inside quickly. Clear. Clear and unlocked.

The smell of benzene reaches my nose before I completely open the window. He’s here. Why did he change his pattern? He just set a fire a couple of hours ago.

Maybe he thought we wouldn’t expect it. He was right, I certainly wasn’t. Maybe he was afraid he was going to get caught and was eager to finish the job.

I hear Reid’s voice and follow it to the living room, where the whole family is held hostage. They are each tied to a chair and completely wet with what I assume is the benzene. Four chairs. Two adults, two kids. Their screams of terror are muffled by his makeshift gags. There is a stuffed teddy on the floor next to white flowers and what looks like a broken vase. Their tiny faces are red from screaming and crying. He is going to kill the kids.

I thought I escaped this side of the job when I left CASMIRC. Adults can fight back, adults have flaws and maybe could have done something to deserve what they got, but the kids? They still have the hope and innocence that humanity takes from us once we reach a certain age. They are too young to know what is happening, but what does happen scars them for life. And if it doesn’t, that means I was too late. That means their lifeless faces scar me for life. Haunt me every minute that I am awake and in my nightmares. No, the kids never deserve it.

Spencer’s calm voice brings me back from my thoughts. “I know it was unfair. I know that what they did was wrong, but you don’t have to do this.”

“Yes, I do.” his voice booms and the woman cries behind her gag “They have to pay for what they have done to me. Put your gun down!”

He slowly lowers the gun to the floor before saying “You want revenge.” Reid looks at me for a millisecond, he’s buying me time “I understand the feeling.”

I take a step closer, still out of sight, and try to come up with a plan.

Think! That voice yells in my minds

He has a gun and a lighter. The lighter is on. If I shoot, it falls and we all die.

“You have been wronged?” the unsub, Anthony Lewis, asks.

“I have.” he nods.

When Anthony doesn’t say anything, he continues “I used to be considered the smartest guy at my job. Then, about a year ago, they hired someone new. I’ll tell you,” he laughs humorlessly “everyone thinks she’s so smart.”

“She?” Anthony questions.

He’s talking about me? Why the hell is he talking about me?

“Oh, yes. She. Everybody loves her. She’s so perfect and so smart and so young and so sweet. That’s what they say about her.” He scoffs and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him gesticulate this much. My heart races and constricts in my chest as he continues “But I’ll tell you what I think. I think she’s nothing more than a pretty face, that’s honestly not even that pretty. She’s not smart, she’s a far cry from perfect. I’m better than her in every single way”

I hold in my gasp. I try to tell myself that he’s just distracting the UnSub, that his speech means nothing, but tears still well up in my eyes.

He doesn’t mean it, he doesn’t mean it, he doesn’t mean it, it’s not true, it’s not true, it’s not true, …

I repeat it over and over in my head, but it’s no use. It’s no use because it’s what my mind tells me every single moment of every day.

You’re not good enough, Rebecca.

You’re not smart enough. You are not pretty enough. You are not brave enough. You! Are! Not! Enough!

“But, you know what? There is something that comforts me, something that helps me keep going. One thought that I play over and over in my head to keep me sane.”

“What is it?” he asks.

His hand drops and I see that his grip loosened on the lighter. There is no longer a flame. He still has a gun so I have to be smart with this, but I walk in his direction, keeping to the wall.

“That someday, hopefully soon, they will see right through her little facade and realize that I’m the best.”

That’s enough.

I kick the lighter out of the UnSub’s hand and move to disarm him, but he’s faster. Before I can react, he pulls the trigger. I push his hand down, but I think it still hits my leg. I can’t tell, it doesn’t hurt.

Where the fuck is my gun?

I grab his gun by the barrel with my left hand and upper-cut his nose with my right. Taking advantage of the distraction his broken nose brought him, I twist the gun right off his hand and point it at him.

“Anthony Lewis, you are under arrest for the murders of the Phillips family, the Jones family and the Martinez family,” Reid comes from behind the unsub and cuffs him “as well as the attempted murder of the Andersons.”

FBI agents swarm the room and take him away. Hotch and Emily are already taking the family to the ambulance, so I grab my phone from my pocket and see that Pen is still on the line.

“Hey.” I greet.

“Oh my God, are you okay?” she exasperates.

“I’ll be fine.” I say, picking up my gun on the floor. What Reid said hurt, but I’ll get over it. Maybe not now, maybe in a few years, maybe after a bottle of wine and a good cry, but I will get over it.

I am a little dizzy, though. Must be all this benzene. Even my tights are wet with it.

“Are you sure? I heard gunshots.”

Oh, shit. Right.

I look down and see the red blood oozing down my leg, the bullet lodged somewhere on my upper thigh. Well, fuck. I really liked this skirt.

Adrenaline must still be coursing through my veins because I take a tentative step forward and it only stings a little. I keep limping around the house, trying my best to keep pressure on the wound while walking.

“Yeah, um- Pen? I’ll talk to you later. There are some uh- pressing matters I have to attend to.”

“You got shot, didn’t you?” she gasps.

I sigh. Why does she have to know me so well?

“Just a little, yeah.” I wince at a painful step.

“There is no such thing as getting a little shot!” she exclaims in my ear and the dizziness gets worse.

Pain shoots everywhere with every step I take, slowly but surely becoming unbearable. Shit, I think I might pass out.

I reach the front of the house feeling lightheaded and I think my phone is slipping from my hand. I look back at the trail of blood I left behind and just stare as the world spins around me.

Two hands grip my shoulders and I think Spencer is trying to say something. I push him away, but he doesn’t even move. I’m so mad at him.

So, so mad.

The last thing I see before the world fades to black are his wide eyes.

tag list: @dreamsarebig @aaleksmorozova @jem08

tell me if you want to be on the tag list!

#spencer reid #criminal minds #criminal minds fic #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid fluff #spencer reid fandom #spencer reid x oc #the kiss of eros

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sga-owns-my-soul · 6 months

Note

omg how could i CHOOSE

Reasons Not To Kiss Him, The Other Atlantis, Lesbian McShep, idk johns gay crisis or something, Johns a shit, and Rodney Gets Adopted

if you wanna just choose a couple you can (and if i accidentally picked a nsfm one you can skip it lol)

fuckin BET

Reasons Not To Kiss Him is a conversion coda fic based off this post, i read it and literally screamed bc it was so mcshep to me. that's it that's all it's literally just that post as a mcshep fic

The Other Atlantis is this idea i had of john getting sent to an alternate atlantis where their sheppard is dead because teyla and ronon killed him for abusing rodney. so canon john is stuck there for like 2 weeks and the entire time the whole city is watching him like theyre waiting for him to give them a reason to kill him and the au rodney is so glad to have a john back even if it's not his john and canon john is so horrified by all of this because he knows *exactly* how close he has come to becoming like that other sheppard and when he finally gets home he refuses to debrief until he can talk to his team and when he tells them, rodney refuses to believe john bc he's So Sure John Would Never hurt him (but plot twist rodney also knows himself and knows that's even if john DID start abusing him, he would let it happen bc attention from john is always worth it which leads to an identity crisis) anyways this was long but i think about this concept like. Daily. so. i could go ON about this fic and the back story for it tbh

Lesbian McShep is exactly what it sounds like- genderbent gay mcshep with femme!john obsessing over butch!rodney and how hot she is

idk johns gay crisis or something is SO FUCKING FUNNY basically john yells at rodney that he's gay out of frustration and then immediately has a heart attack from the stress of Expressing One(1) Honest Emotion and collapses and rodney FREAKS out

Johns a shit is the prompt you gave me(!!) where johns back home for whatever and he sees rodney across the room and he's like THERE HE IS MY SEXY MAN LOOK AT HIM HES SO DELICIOUS I LOVE MY MAN COME HERE RODNEY MUAH even tho he's aroace as fuck bc john is a little shit and wnats to see how many people in his family he can give a heart attack to

Rodney Gets Adopted is about rodney finding A Cat (not the pegasus equivalent, a literal carbon copy of an earth tabby cat) off world and the cat walks over to him and sniffs him once and decides This Is Mine Now and the natives are like sorry if you don't take this cat home it will kill you :// and rodney's like if you try to take this cat from me *i* will kill you

#thanks bestie #these ideas are so fun i love them #wips #asks #my wips #kinda stargate

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the-fandom-therapist · 8 months

Text

(YEP I'M ALREADY DONE, WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO

As promised, I'm tagging you @ultimateplaylistmaker x) Hope you will enjoy it!

This is my interpretation of their "alicorn Kokichi AU" check it out everyone it's awesome!

It's crack taken seriously btw, I put way too many details and changes, I hope you'll still like it!

Also apologies if anyone is OOC, I never wrote about MLP before x)

That's the first part, mainly Kokichi's, I'll write more about the others! -I stopped because Tumblr was struggling to show all of it lmao, I think I've reach the characters limit-

Death is a bitch.

Wait, no. Death is a dude. Well, bastard then.

The terms of their deal were SIMPLE! He beats the god -at poker you morons, he's not stupid enough to challenge the Grim Reaper at chess, one of the oldest games in history, and apparently one of its personal favorites- and him and all the other idiots from the killing game get brought back to life.

(No he's not attached to any of them. Absolutely not. He just added them so he wouldn't get killed again straight away by that damn assassin. Because without the space idiot to restrain her, she would have gone to kill him again. Anyway, not the point.)

And he fucking did, yes sir! Outsmarted the god of death himself, the grim reaper in person! He's amazing like that. Don't try to fuck with a Supreme Leader of Evil!

Anyway. Point is, he won. He tricked the god of death himself to fold on his turn by pure bluff.

And that was the condition: if he could trick death itself to fold, to give up while he had nothing, then it could recognize his value. Apparently, Death -or Thanatos if he remembers correctly- likes bold humans, so it -he?- have no problem make an exception from time to time. Under conditions obviously.

He didn't had many humans who tried. So every attempts was a welcomed change from the -apparently- frankly boring existence he had.

Hey, he wasn't about to complain, it helped here.

He grabbed his scarf -how the hell did he had it with him when he died without it, no clue, but again let's not look a gift horse in the mouth shall we?- and thought of his team. He'll see them soon.

He was already starting to feel weird. Like he was being sucked out of his own... body? Probably Death doing his thing.

However, right before things turned to black, he could have sworn he heard a "wait shit-" and saw a panicked expression on the god's face.

Huh. Wonder what that means...

~0o0~

The first thing he registered was the smell.

A foul smell, and one he knew well, considering he'd not always been hanging with DICE in the most sanitary places.

Garbage. his mind helpfully provided.

Wow, fuck you too Death. Really, too much honor!

He scoffed, and started to get up wobbly. Waking up from dying was... weird. His head was killing him -ah!- same for his sides.

When he tried to get up from the ground, he barely made one step before falling back on all four. And...

Wait a second.

WAIT. A. SECOND.

That's not a hand. That's a damn hoof! What the hell?

A quick check up confirmed that yup. He's a horse now. Everything's fine.

Oh and he have wings too. Because why not.

What the hell did Death do?! Wait. Didn't he acted surprised before he passed out?

...Did the god of fucking DEATH made a mistake?

How do you even fuck up that badly? He's human for fuck's sake! Now he's a horse?! (Well technically a pegasus he guesses.)

Alright. Focus Kokichi. Freak out later. Right now you need to know where in the world you are.

At least he still have his scarf. Which... thank god (clearly not Death.) it helps a bit to have something familiar.

Alright. Now that he more or less put himself back under control, he needed to exit that damn alleyway... He could already feel a headache. Gre-

Hold up. There something on his head too.

Great, now what?

...That felt like a... horn or some sort.

What, so he's both a fucking unicorn and a pegasus now? That's a thing?

Does Death have fursonas or...? Actually, that could be an interesting question.

But that's not the time for this.

Right now he needed to hide. He heard voices, and even though he couldn't understand the fuck they were saying -great, he wasn't even in Japan? That wasn't a language he recognized either.- he could hear the dangerous tone they had.

So that's what he did! He bolted under a pile of trash, not caring about the smell. And he saw...

...Are those supposed to be horses too? They... looked like a mix of horse and bugs.

Not thinking of the Insect Meet and Greet. Bad idea. Not thinking of Gonta's execution either. Nope. Not doing that.

They were all black, green big buggy-like eyes and wings... Were those fangs? Yikes. He definitely doesn't want to be seen by them... And they have holes in them? Shouldn't that hurt?

They were speaking. Something he couldn't understand... But they weren't alone.

There were actual horses with them! But wait.

They were clearly prisoners. Uh oh.

Welp, seems he was right to hide! One point for him. But something was a bit weird too.

Some had horns. Some had wings, and some had neither. But none had both, asides from these... insects-horses bad guys.

Alright.

Clearly he's not in Japan (or on Earth at all) and this place is populate with sentients horses. Or ponies, who cares.

They don't seem to be able to have both a horn and wings. Only these creepy bug-horses seem to. And they don't look friendly.

If he want to fit in, he'll need to hide either the wings or the horn. He doesn't want to end up in jail before he can figure a way to go back to his own world.

...The horn would probably be the easiest to hide. He'll just need to lie about why he have something on his head that looks like one.

Easy peasy. He can do this. Hell, he tricked the god of death, he can trick a few horses!

...He'll just need to learn the language. Great.

Also, he needed to find a way to avoid those creepy bug-horses guys. Something tells him that looking like one of their prisoners wouldn't help him there.

But first thing first: find a way to hide that horn. He suppose it's a small mercy that he got thrust in a dumpster. It's easy to find what you want, as long as you know how to look.

Two minutes later he found some sturdy papers and got to work. With hooves it wasn't easy, but he had all the time in the world.

~0o0~

...He's pretty sure he passed a good hour on it. But it was done! It was clearly not in the best condition, but at least it hid the horn efficiently -it was a hassle to put the rubber band around something on his head with hooves, but he did it. It wouldn't do to have his cover getting blown away by the wind!- and would stay in place.

While he was working, he kept hearing some words in particular. They sounded like names?

And it thankfully made him learn that even if he couldn't understand what the FUCK those bug-horses were saying, he could at least understand the normal ponies. (Probably because he's one too.) Phew.

"Celestia" "Cadence" "Chrysalis" were the words he kept hearing in those creepy guys' language. Also there was the same word in front of the first two names, the third one had another word.

Considering the normal horses were calling the first two "princess", he could understand Chrysalis was probably the leader of those bug-horses.

Sounds like girl's names either way, so if the first two were princesses, the last one must be a queen, and probably an enemy if what he was seeing was any indication.

Anyway, that wasn't important. What was, was to find a way to avoid these... bug-horses things. (He's pretty sure he heard the horses -or ponies they were rather small- call them something like "Changelings"? Whatever that means.)

However, when he thought about that, he had an odd feeling. It was like his body was telling him "big thing's coming towards us captain!" And when he went to -discreetly duh- check, he was greeted with a white light which was sweeping those Changelings and send them flying far away from here, leaving the horses alone.

...Well damn. He suppose he didn't had to worry about those now. That's one thing taken cared of.

Now he could use that diversion to get the hell away from here! It was a good time to learn if he could run like this.

Running... to somewhere. Away from this place at least. It have a big castle nearby, and he's going to bet there's a ruler in there. Probably those princesses. And he does NOT want to be near the persons -or horses in that case- that can put him to jail.

Next, he need to find a way to get something to eat. Because he's plently good at picking pockets, but usually he have two human hands for this!

That also leave the problem of figuring the currency... Urgh. All that reasoning hurt his head.

First thing first. Waiting for the night to fall. It's easier to walk in the shadows -even if looked to be a rather light shade of purple- that way. And apparently, there was a wedding going on? Perfect. Everyone will be too busy with that to notice someone hanging around.

Maybe he could steal a few things along the way before buying supplies to perform in the streets and gain more money legally. Because while he doesn't mind stealing, if he get caught he doesn't have his team here to bust him out...

DICE...

Raah, enough self-pity! He have a world to figure out!

With a slap on his face -or rather, a punch...- he started to run forwards. After a few struggles, he was able to run like he didn't learned like, five minutes ago, and he setted off.

~0o0~

The adventage with big cites, was that no matter how odd you may look, nobody will pay enough attention to retain your face. Because why should they? You're just another person passing by.

That's how he successful picked the pockets of a few horses without anyone noticing. Seems like even in this world the riches were dumb! And here he was, worried that with hooves he'd struggle.

He hid his treasure in his scarf. Regrouped the coins in one wallet and-

And holy shit were those gold coins?!

Kokichi knew they looked rich, but he never thought they'd literally carry GOLD on their person like that!

...Something was clearly fishy here. It looked too good to be true.

Aaaaaaaand he was proven right. Goddamnit. Apparently gold didn't had the same value here, if buying only a few pastries costed two or three golden coins!

...He really hoped he could ask the prices directly, because if he have to dicipher any writing he's screwed.

Because apparently, even if he could understand the language, he couldn't read it! Damn it. Back to first grade he goes, having to relearn how to read! Just his luck.

Hmmmm.

Entering a shop and interacting without knowing any of the mannerisms of the ponies would be a bad idea. He was lucky the shops there stayed opened the full night thanks to that wedding (a royal wedding even, damn. One of those princesses?) but if it's to blow his cover, it's stupid.

Maybe he could pretend to be deaf? That could work. He just hope they don't have a sign language here, otherwise he's fucked.

He eyed the shop (it had a jester's hat for a roof. That's clearly the place he needed to go to!) and took a deep breath.

Alright! Time to see if he's as good as an actor as he was when still human!

~0o0~

He pushed the door to be greeted by a cheerful pony behind the counter (he's going to call them ponies because they are seriously smaller than horses, all of them.)

"Welcome, welcome! Are you searching to prank your friends? You are at the right place! We have everything, from fake flowers to- um, boy?"

Well, sorry random pony but he have to pretend he can't hear you. So he just looked at the shelves with a lost expression.

"Um hello?"

Nope.

The cashier was probably puzzled. Eh, sorry. But well, he needs to be safe here!

Once he noticed what he needed, he grabbed the deck of cards -with his teeth, not like he had any other options...- before going to the register. The pony was clearly confused, but he still tried to keep a smile on.

"Ah, found your treasure? It's gonna be two golds!"

Now... Action!

He pretended to be confused for a second. Then he widdened his eyes, before putting a hoof at his ear -that still felt SO weird- and then shook his head.

And thankfully, the cashier seemed to understand, thank fuck.

"Oh! Alright, hold on!"

He went to rumminaged behind the counter and put a paper and a pen. Then he started to doodle two coins, and pointed to the deck of cards.

Alright then! It worked. Phew.

Also, it looked like a gold is really just a golden coin. That's a mystery solved at least. He nodded, before putting the wallet from his scarf, and taking out two coins that he put on the counter.

He got a bag out of this, and his deck of cards.

And a bunch of informations too. Apparently ponies are way less ableists than humans! That guy literally went "alright please wait" when he pretended to be deaf.

He grinned. Oh he's going to abuse of it so much.

Now though, he had a stand to settle... But later.

He's tired, and he's been there for a long time. The day was even not so long away from rising, so he thinks he should settle for the night.

Since he can keep the deaf act, he could probably find a room. Probably. If not, he'll just find a dark corner and sleep there. Not the first time he slept outside after all!

~0o0~

Finding a room was easy. So yay for him!

Falling asleep on the other hand, was not.

Let's put asides the few attempts he had to do to find a comfortable position as a pony to lay into okay. Their bed weren't different from humans, and it wasn't that hard.

However, sleep meant nightmares for him.

Really, that was expected. He struggled enough to sleep on a daily basis -what do you know, killing games are bad for your mental health! Shocker. Who would have guessed- so with the whole mess that happened with his death, that was even worse.

Everytime he closed his eyes, it's to reopen them in the hangar. And while being human again would be great, reviving his own death isn't synonym of good dreams.

He gave up sleeping after three times waking up in cold sweat. But hey, apparently that was enough sleep so the sun that was starting to rise was already really high! So midday, or later then that.

He payed for the room and left. Now, to find a place far enough from that town...

~0o0~

He travelled by night, slept in the day, and gathered as much informations as possible.

Apparently the kingdom as a whole was called Equestria -damn really no inspiration uh- and that Celestia princess was ruling over it in the big castle he saw at Canterlot (the capital then) with her little sister Luna. Both responsible for the sun and moon respectively.

Okay so appareltly the celestial bodies aren't moving without help here. All the work of magic. Even the weather was controlled by pegasi.

Actually, maybe he can try to learn how to fly while he's at it, that'd be fun. It's not because he's stuck here -preferably temporary, looking at you Death!- that he can't have a bit of fun while he's at it.

He wonders if that include the others too.

Wait shit.

The others.

They are going to have his head if they learned they'd be brought back as fucking ponies because of him. (In his defense he never wanted that, it's Death's fault!)

But to avoid suspicion on himself, he'd had to also cover their asses. Great. Let's see.

He'll just explain -once he settled somewhere- that him and a group of others were kept prisoners by those Changelings. And when they attacked Canterlot, they brought him and the others with them, to use as hostages if they get caught before they could carry out their plan.

They'd been raised by them, away from ponies since they were toddlers so they don't even have "pony names" (he realized the names here were fucking cheesy, nothing like Japanese names) and now they're just completely lost. And if the others were talking about things that didn't made sense, it was for that reason.

Yup, sounds good! With a few fake tears it'll do the trick perfectly. Now, he just need to find an isolated place to settle.

Also maybe picking a name along the way too. That'd be a good idea to blend in.

Oh wait, does he have to pick one for the others too? He hope not.

Anyway, for now he needed to concentrate on himself first.

~0o0~

...He'd made a HUGE mistake.

He was -apparently, if the ponies' words were to believe- close to a little town called Ponyville (do they really have no inspiration for the names? Come on guys!) so he had decided to shift his sleeping schedule to actual night since he was pretty close.

"Not like that would change much about my dreams" he thought.

Ah! He couldn't have been more wrong.

The nightmare started the same. The usual deaths, and executions, before his-

But when the press was about to come down, he felt something... different.

Pure white energy -that he could recognize as magic now- completely wipe out the hangar out of existence.

Now he was just... In uh... Space? The spaceman'd be thrilled.

He was on a path made of light blue light and white dots... The same thing that was everywhere.

There were doors too, the hell?

"Whomst in Equestria's name art thou?!"

Uh oh.

He turned around -he's so damn glad that in dreams he's human...- and is greeted by-

Wait what?

That's a dark blue mare -definitely taller than most ponies- with... weird space floaty mane.

But the most important thing is that she had both a horn and wings!

How is that possible? He thought only those Changelings guys could-

Wait.

Waaaaaait a minute.

She had what looked to be a crown. And she had a moon... tattoo? On her flank.

Is that the fucking princess of the moon? What is SHE doing here?! Also, how is that possible that she also got both wings and horn-

Oh. Oh no.

That's a fucking status isn't it? Having both. Normal ponies either have one of the two, or neither. Having both must mean being royalty.

...Yeah no. He's keeping that horn HIDDEN. He want to be able to leave this world, not being bond here by duties!

(Besides, the only people he want to lead are his minions. No one else.)

No wonder ponies were looking at him weird! That's like pretending to be royalty!

Let's hope it's not a crime... Wait, if it was he would have been arrested already.

Fuck.

"Answer us!"

Oh whoops. He forgot the princess was still here.

"Gotta go, bu-bye!"

He needs to wake up. He have to. He can't stay here. He have to!

He doesn't know how, he doesn't why, but he successfully woke up after everything around him turned purple.

Now. Now let's think.

He needed to avoid getting the attention of the princess. Considering she didn't intervene until now, he assume that it's because she's only walking in dreams in the night -make sense for the moon princess to be up in the night.

So... He need to keep the noctural schedule. Sleeping in the day, to avoid her. And if he can't, then he need to keep her at bay.

But considering he doesn't know how to use magic, he's going to focus on the first option.

To be able to use magic, he needs training. And to train, he needs books -no way in hell he's asking for help after learning all that mess about royalty- and to be able to understand those books he need to learn how to read.

A hell of a program he have in front of him. Oh well, at least it's gonna keep him busy.

Alright. He needed to go now.

To that town he goes! While expecting to not draw attention.

~0o0~

He arrived at the border of it. There was a rather small and cozy looking cottage here, surrounded by forest. It was midday, the pony probably wasn't hom-

His thoughts were cut off by a high-pitched scream. Probably a girl's voice.

...Great, what now? A scene like this would be hard to settle-

...

There was a yellow pegasus. Pink mane, who was protecting herself (assuming she was the one who screamed) from a bulky earth pony (that's how those who have no wings nor horn were called right?)

The earth pony was really tall, like, two heads more than Kokichi himself. Light green color, dark green tangled mane...

Wait a minute. WAIT A DAMN FUCKING MINUTE.

Red eyes with round glasses, and a bug cage warped around its neck.

It's-

"Gonta so sorry! Gonta not meant to scare horse!"

"GONTA!"

Wow, go him. Yelling his name like that and sprinting in their direction.

That at least got both of their attention. So there's that.

Gokuhara was looking at him with pure confusion. Probably didn't recognized him, which was fair. He was a fucking pony for fuck's sake.

"Uh? Does Gonta know you, horse? Gonta sorry, doesn't know horse with wings..."

"Geez, thanks a lot. he huffed. Can't recognize your leader? So mean! How could you forget about me? he started to sniffled. You're breaking my heart! How could you?!"

The theatrics were apparently enough.

"K-Kokichi?"

"At last! he said, raising a hoof. That's me alright."

"Kokichi is a horse."

"Pony technically, pegasus to be more exact. And you're one too."

"But Gonta die-"

"About that! he cut him off. We need to talk in private. Bu-bye yellow pegasus, sorry for the scare!"

He grabbed Gonta's bug cage's strap and pulled to make the other follow him in a recluse place.

Once far enough, he sighed.

"Alright, just hear me out. I know you're confused as hell, me too. Maybe even mad at me about what happened in the game, I won't blame you for that. But we have other things to worry about: we're not in our world, I think you noticed as much."

"People are horses." nodded Gonta with a serious expression.

"They call themselves ponies, but yeah. There's no human here. There's no killing game either. Monokuma doesn't exist. The Academy either. This world... is more or less peaceful."

"No killing game? he softly asked. No Monokuma?"

"Nope. Nothing. And... Considering we're both here, I'd say everyone who died is also here. Though to find them is going to be complicated..."

The leader pondered for a second. How could they find everyone? It would be best if everyone wasn't far away from each other, if Death comes back for them -and he better!- it'd be quicker to be send back.

"Kokichi died?"

Oh wait. Oops. Right, he forgot Gonta wouldn't know.

"Yup! Right after you in fact. Anyway, not the point-"

"Did Monokuma also punished Kokichi?"

Uh? Why is he asking that?

Oh.

Everyone... Please stop blaming Kokichi now.

...He's still too kind.

"Nope. Maki killed me. he paused. Or rather Kaito. Eh, one of the two. I don't know what finished me off. he shook his hoof. Anyway, not the point. I died, and Kaito also died probably because he was sick. Meaning, everyone who died before you, plus Kaito and myself are probably here."

"E-Everyone?"

"Yup. But we need to recognize them -wouldn't be too hard probably...- and find a cover story."

"Cover story?"

"This world doesn't have a killing game Gonta. That means, if we tell them what happened to us, they won't understand, and that'll bring us problems."

"Oh. Gonta understand. But Gonta doesn't want to lie to them... They look nice."

"Good thing I'm here! Leave the lying part to me. I'm a liar after all! Also we need new names. Because names here aren't like ours. If we want to blend in... Just leave it to me okay?"

The giant just nodded.

The leader just nodded back, before returning to the cottage. Let's hope she's still here and uh... Not freaking out.

~0o0~

...Uh oh.

She called her friends apparently. There were five new ponies all around her. Two unicorns, another pegasus and two earth ponies.

"Hey you two! How dare you scare Fluttershy like that!" yelled the blue pegasus.

"Ah! Gonta sorry! Gonta didn't meant to scare pony!"

Well, here goes the enthomologist, apologizing again. But Kokichi's not going to play that card. He put a hoof in front of the giant and frowned.

"Don't apologize, we don't know if they aren't with them!"

Cue confusion. That's what he want to see!

"W-With them?"

"You know how they are! They can change appearance at will and pretend they're your friend!"

Not a lie. The mastermind was -if what Death told him was true- a master of disguise. The Ultimate Cosplayer after all. And the ponies would probably think of the changelings, which is what he wants.

"Hey! Are you saying we're changelings!"

"And what if I am uh? he grinned. Don't like having the truth in your face?"

"H-Hey now."

Oh? The purple unicorn stopped the blue pegasus. Seems like he found the leader of that little group.

"We aren't changelings. We swear on Celestia's name!"

"And how can we believe you uh? You could be lying!"

There. That was the cue for Gonta normally...

"They don't smell like changelings..." he mumbled.

"You should listen to your friend! We're not changelings! We fought them!"

Now, to pretend to be hesitant.

"Are you sure?" he asked the enthomologist.

Gonta nodded, and he pretended to scratch his head -while leaving the papers around his horn alone- with confusion.

"I think we all started on the wrong hoof. gently said the purple one. You are at Ponyville, you're safe! There's no changelings here."

"Why did you thought there were some in the first place? Changelings don't live here. We kicked their butts not so long ago!"

"Rainbow Dash! You're not helping. she smiled at them. Sorry about my friend, she's very straightforwards. How about we talk somewhere else, around pastries?"

"Oh oh! the pink one started to jump happily. I'll go prepare them! I'll be right back!"

And she left... by jumping? Why not.

Alright.

Time to bluff the hell out of this conversation.

~0o0~

...It had been stupidly easy. He explained to them that Gonta and him were part of a group of ponies who got abducted when they were toddlers by changelings, got raised by them, humiliated, turned around each other et cetera... Got brought along at the assault on Canterlot, and since the white energy who yeeted the changelings didn't hurt them, they ended up here, and don't know what to do or where to go.

That's how he learned that the wedding that took place was the purple one's (Twilight Sparkle apparently. Still cheesy, yup.) brother's, and they were here, and were also fighting the changelings.

And apparently that wave of magic was from the love between the bride and groom.

Ew. They didn't ended up at Equestria, they ended up at "Cheesy Land". But he still noted the information.

When they asked about why the hell he got a fake horn, he explained that it was to be less beaten by changeling. After all, they have both horn and wings, so he thought if he looked like them they would leave him alone. Not that it worked. -The fact that it was curved helped his story. But come to think of it why is his curved and not everyone else's? Not even the princesses' are curved. Weird.) Now though he just keep it because it's the symbol of the princesses and that's pretty cool! After all it was one of them that indirectly freed him and the others from the changelings' grasp. He's pretending to be like them! (they had no idea how true that statement was.)

That was way too easy to make them believe that with fake tears. Even Gonta tried to comfort him even though he knew it was fake (though it was probably to make it more believable. Gonta is a lot of things, but an idiot isn't one of them.)

"But then... You don't have names?" asked the other unicorn -Rarity if he remembers correctly.

"We have the ones the changelings gave us. he said, wiping the tears with his hoof. Mine's Kokichi Oma. he pointed to Gonta. His is Gonta Gokuhara. But those aren't real ponies' names."

"That's true..." Twilight seemed thoughtful.

"Oh oh! Maybe we can pick some for you!" the pink one said, with a smile that reminded him a bit too much of Angie.

"...I'd prefer choosing my own thanks."

"Of course! Pinkie, let them chose... Once it's done, we'll ask the mayor to put you in the records." Twilight said.

"That'd be nice. Also... If you find someone with a weird name, that's probably a friend of ours."

Not really true, but he needed to find those idiots as quickly as possible.

"I'll pass the word at Clousdale!"

Aaaaaand the blue one was already gone.

"I'll ask around the farm if anyone saw a lost pony." the orange one nodded, tipped her hat and left.

"I'll send a letter at Princess Celestia too. the purple unicorn nodded towards the... dragon? at her side. In the meantime, do you have ideas of names? Also, what are your talents?"

Talents? That's easy- oh wait.

"What do you mean by talent?" he asked, raising a hoof to stop Gonta from talking.

Translation: is that the same thing as their Ultimates?

"Oh. Yeah, I suppose the changelings wouldn't do that... she mumbled to herself. Something you are really good at? You both have your cutie marks so..."

What the fuck is that now. (Also, cheesy, the return.)

"Oh! Gonta is an enthomologist!"

He saw Fluttershy -that's her name right?- perking up from behind Rarity.

"Oh that's great! she turned towards him. And you?"

"I guess you can call me a trickster. he smirked. I prank people. And trick them. a pause. Mainly changelings though."

A lie but hey.

"If Gonta's talent is "Enthomology" you could call mine "tricky dice"." he shrugged.

But that question of names... He needed to find one. And Gonta too.

"Hey Gonta, how about "Baron Buzz" for you? Sounds good?"

"Oh! Gonta not mind this. Gonta likes it!"

"Well, that's settled then. Mine now..."

He think again.

Let's see their situation.

He got attributs that could get him royal duties, which is problematic. He needs to hide it...

He made a deal with Death and no one need to know about that. To get everyone back to life, but also to fuck with miss mastermind too while he's at it.

He grinned.

"Call me Royal Collusion then!"

That's when both Rainbow Dash and the farmer came back.

"I found a pegasus that looks really lost, and he calls himself Kaito... something."

"I found a small guy that call himself Ryoma!" added the other.

Oh. Well that was quick.

"They're with us alright. You're coming Gonta? Let's get Ryoma back first."

"Hm hm!"

First they get the depressed tennis player back, then the astridiot.

Welp, they got a pretty nice program ahead of them it seemed.

"Then let's go."

#ndrv3 #alicorn kichi au #the therapist's writing #danganronpa killing harmony #drv3 #I had a lot of fun with it #mlp #mlp au

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