#and when the whole thing with cosmo happened. how he just kinda stood there

[wereh0gz]

I really hope we get to see sonic's more introverted side in frontiers

It already looks like they're going for a more serious story with a more somber/melancholic tone so it would fit to see sonic being a bit more reserved

And since his friends aren't gonna be around for a lot of it hopefully we get to see more of his thoughts and feelings when he's alone, and how differently he acts on his own compared to how he usually is around other people

[yelenasdog]

heavy is the head that wears the crown (mob!arvin russell x fem! pastor’s daughter! reader)

genre: angst+fluff

summary: arvin had always heard the saying “heavy is the head that wears the crown” but never truly understood what it meant. not until now

words: 4.06k

warnings: since this is based off of a tdatt, family death, mentions of death, mentions of mobs, kissing, marriage, murder, smoking, suicide, cancer and i think that’s it. it’s also kinda melodramatic, and i haven’t watched tdalt in a while so a lot could be plot inaccurate also idk anything abt the mob or mafia so like dont k*ll me thx i just like joe pesci

a/n: first, i owe the amazing concept of mob!arv to @kelieah ! so go follow her for more mob!arvin goodness!! basically i’m obsessed w 90s mob movies and watched goodfellas and casino and few too many times lately and oops here we r! i tried to write this from the narrator in tdatt’s view, so if u wanna read it like that then cool! btw the pic w the dress is just an idea of the dress reader is wearing not what she looks like! ok enjoy i’ll stop rambling

·。·。·。

“So, Arvin. I was told you paint houses? That true?”

Arvin hesitated, opening his mouth and closing it again. He wasn’t a painter, no, he killed people. For a price, that is.

But rather than saying no, the jab in his side from his uncle told him to answer otherwise.

“Yes, sir. It is.”

The Pastor nodded, taking a drag from his cigar, imported all the way from Cuba. He then placed what was left of the long stick in the crystal tray in front of him, the tapping of it on the reflective surface seeming almost deafening.

“Can all your family be traced down to one place, son?”

Arvin gulped, avoiding his eyes, darting his own around the heavily decorated room. Another jab to his side. He winced, meeting the older man’s eyes. He may not know much about the life he was about to enter, but he knew enough about what that meant.

“Yes, sir. They can be, minus my father and my mother. They’re gone.”

Not even a full beat of silence later, the Pastor spoke.

“How’d he die?”

Arvin was taken aback, though he knew that question was coming. His jaw clenched, as did his fist by his side. If the Pastor noticed, he didn’t speak on it, barely lifting his eyes from the document resting on his desk.

“Suicide, after the war.”

“And your mother?”

He took his lip in between his teeth, feeling the skin break, the tears well in his eyes for reasons he would excuse as the pain he was inflicting.

“Cancer. It happened when I was young, I didn’t barely even know her.”

The pastor looked up, slimming his eyes. This time he did notice the glimmering droplets, welling up in his chestnut colored eyes, threatening to fall. He appreciated the boy’s attempt to keep his emotions in check in front of his would be superior, leaning back into his chair.

“It’s alright, boy. You’re allowed to cry, it was your mother.” His southern accent was thick like molasses, his words drawing out. Arvin still felt that it wasn’t acceptable, though, so he only sniffled and directed his chin further up towards the ceiling. He stood there for a while, nerves running through his every cell. It was electric, like white lighting making its way through his veins at a painstakingly slow pace.

“Right then.”

The pastor stood, walking towards Arvin and his uncle. His expensive loafers tapped along the cold floor as he went, the sound pestering to the ears of Arvin, taunting him. He reached a soft hand out, which the boy standing opposite to him gladly took. He observed how the Pastor’s hand was without scars, calluses. Anything that would point to evidence of him being a killer, doing his own dirty work (or “the Lord’s work” as he liked to put it).

“Welcome to the family, son.”

And as Arvin smiled widely and shook his hand with an iron grip, he began to wonder what his new life would entail doing the “Lord’s work”.

He thought he had a pretty good idea, but boy, was he wrong.

“So, how’d it go?”

It was later, and Arvin was sitting with one his most favorite people, Y/n. The pair were resting in an open field, the wildflowers around her just almost competing with the beauty she held. He bashfully looked to the dirt under his shoes, noticing how only inches away, her hands picked at the damp grass.

“Went well, I think. He told me I’m ‘part of the family now’.”

She smiled at him, and in that moment with her hair so widely astray, and wearing that pale blue dress he adored so much, Arvin’s heart felt a certain emotion he hadn’t necessarily felt for someone at this multitude before. He had felt it for Lenora, his mother, his aunt and uncle. But it was different, then. Because now as he sat with her by his side, his love for her was realized at its full potential.

She began to ramble on, congratulating him on becoming a member of her father’s so called “family”, telling him how proud she was. He couldn’t keep focused on the sweet words that were falling from her lips like honey, though, as he was too caught up in his own head, his own thoughts.

“Arv?” She asked, voice laced with slight concern, but mostly with curiosity.

“Sorry, darlin’. Just thinking.”

She blushes, it’s the first time he’s called her that before. She tries to carry on conversation, though with her heart beating through that pretty dress of her’s, it was a bit difficult.

“About what?” She questioned, doing her very best not to pry too far, to be invasive in the very reserved Arvin’s mind.

Truthfully? He was promising himself that he would marry her one day, make her his wife. But telling her that he was only thinking “‘bout the future” would have to do. I mean, truthfully, he really was!

So he answered her, and she was content with said answer, abandoning the subject and returning to many praises for Arv. The standards for the “family” were high, and though she believed in him fiercely, she knew that at his core Arvin was the sweetest soul she’d ever met, and she was skeptical he could put that aside to do whatever the job would require.

“Arvin?”

He looked up, and she nearly lost her breath. It was Arvin’s sunkissed skin, tanned from working under the hot sun, the beams beating down on him. Or perhaps it was the freckles that lightly dusted his crooked nose, like a constellation from the cosmos above. Maybe even it was the mop that sat on his head, the color all the same of those sweet brown eyes of his. Whatever it was, she felt it could only mean one thing.

Y/n Y/l/n was confident she loved Arvin Russell.

“Hmm?” He asked, tilting his head like a confused canine. Adorably endearing, she thought.

And though she had much to say, she was afraid that if he were the dog in question, then the puppy had got her tongue, so to say.

“Y/n/n?” The boy said, nudging her with his elbow, making a melodious giggle erupt from her chest. “What, cat got your tongue?” Arvin teased, and she only shook her head and smiled, as he had no idea how correct he really was.

“You could say that.”

The two shared laughs over the exchange, and at some point (neither of them are quite sure when, how, or who leaned in first), their lips connected in a short and sweet kiss. It seemed that it only lasted for a moment, and as soon as they pulled apart, Arvin and Y/n both were dying for more.

But they resisted, Arvin reaching out a cautious hand to entangle with hers. She bashfully grinned, as did he (though he did his best to resist).

“Y/n, I really like you.” He had said, his thumb running small circles upon her skin. “And correct me if I’m wrong, but I think you like me too.”  He laughed, nervous notes to the sound.

“And well, I was wondering if you’d like to be my girlfr-”

And with a light groan, Y/n had wrapped her arms around his neck, pushing both of them to the ground. She connected their lips, the kiss so oddly blunt, an attack on his lips that he had no plan of fighting off. His hands found her hair, and her’s moved to the sides of his face, holding him so tightly, as if she was afraid he would let go.

“Yes.” She pulled away panting, her lips swollen, his flushed. “Yes, I’d love to be your girlfriend, Arvin.”

They smiled as bright as the setting sun above them, and Arvin pulled her close as she buried her face in the warm crook of his neck. They stayed like that ‘till the sun went down and the stars came out of hiding, the cool summer breeze blowing around them. They both still felt it, then, the love they had only just began to realize was there. And they would continue to feel it for years to come.

Like when Arvin would get back from a job, sometimes with blood splattered on his crisp white shirts, his dirty work getting, well, dirty. She would slowly peel it from his body, taking care to make sure he wasn’t hurt. She would do her best to wash the crimson stains from the fabric, sighing if it was seeming to be of no use. Arvin would come up behind her where she was working at the sink, wrapping his strong arms around her middle and resting his head on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Arv,” she would start, blowing a stray strand of hair out of her face, “damn thing won’t budge.” Arvin would just chuckle, reaching up a gentle hand, gentle only for her, to tuck the hair behind her ear, quietly speaking.

“Well I think it looks pretty good, darlin’. It’ll do just fine.” He would spin her around to face him, and pepper small kisses on her skin, smiling at her reaction. And if he was hurt, she would take care to use a warm washcloth, wiping the scarlet splatters from his creamy complexion. 

The juxtaposition of the shades was always bewildering for her, oddly beautiful in a way. She never said so, though, only muttering praises of how proud she was, how strong he is, things like that. And Arvin would watch her, honey colored eyes following her as she moved about to fix him right up. No pain would have any real effect on him, not when she was there to reassure him, make him whole again.

As Arvin moved up in their small town world, in the “family”, he remained just as kind, just as gentle. Nothing really changed, no, only the lines on his forehead deepening and the crows feet becoming darker when he smiled; And Y/n’s role, as well. She stopped cleaning him up, stopped trying to rid his shirts of bloody reminders of his living. Arvin seemed to no longer be “painting walls’, but rather making sure jobs were done, everyone was staying in their places.

And things led to another, and all of a sudden Y/n and Arvin were moving into a big house, bigger than Arvin had ever even been in before. Deals and arrangements were made, settlements too.

One regular Tuesday, Arvin came home from what Y/n could tell had been a long, long, day. He was exhausted, but had this unmistakable look of excitement and joy plastered to his face. He had come in bursting through the door, not even taking off his hat or overcoat before making his way over to Y/n and kissing her silly.

“Well hello to you, too, Arv.” She laughed, amusement and curiosity both equally swirling around in her brain, wondering what could possibly have inspired this behavior.

“Things are happening, sweetheart, good, good things.” He took her hands in his, briefly shaking them before planting a kiss to them and walking away, a big smile on his face. And truth be told, not that she would admit it, it scared the Hell outta her. She wasn’t quite sure as to why, but something was itching at her brain, warning her that whatever was brewing wasn't a good thing. But nevertheless, she maintained her grin, painted lips never faltering.

The next day, when the “good things” were supposed to be happening, Arvin was seriously wondering why on God’s green Earth he had expected this to be easy.

“Come again, son?”

Arvin swallowed, shifting on his feet. He mentally scolded himself for ending up in this position again, standing in front of the Pastor’s desk, all kinds of confused. But it had to be this way, it was for the best, he knew. The sun shone through the window above the desk in front of him, right into his eyes, nearly blinding him. The Pastor didn’t really care, though.

“I’m asking for your blessing to ask Y/n’s hand in marriage, sir.”

The older man slowly nodded in understanding, taking a long drag from the expensive cigar between his fat fingers, the gold ring on his pinky also shining brightly under the harsh sun’s light.

“I just thought that after our arrangement-”

“Arvin, I don’t regret making you an heir, I don’t.” He stated, blowing out a long stream of smoke. “Hell, I can feel something big and bad coming, boy, you understand? I know God’s will is holding out on us, on this family. But it’s running thin.”

The young man clenched his jaw, internally cringing on what that might mean to the family, for the family, what it meant for Y/n. He bit his tongue, feeling the iron seep onto his taste buds.

“And I know those damn Teagardins are plotting, they’re plotting for our downfall. Making you next in line is something they won’t see coming, and I trust it’ll stay that way. But I don’t quite understand

“Well I love your daughter, I love her so much that it hurts. And if worst comes to worst…” he stopped, his bottom lip wavering for a moment, trying to carefully dance around the different outcomes of this conversation. “I feel I’ll be better able to protect her if we’re married, if she’s truly mine.” That part might have been a lie. Y/n has never been his, never would be. She was her own person, outside Arvin, outside the family. It was what he loved about her above all else.

The Pastor was quiet for a moment contemplating his response, calculating it.

“Would you die for her?”

“Yes.” The answer came without thought, it was automatic for Arvin.

The Pastor smiled widely, lifting his arms.

“So, when’s the wedding, Arv?

Turns out, it was exactly a year, a month, and 6 days until Y/n and Arvin would tie the knot. Arvin had spent time, waiting to find the perfect moment to ask her the big question. He had decided on a night where the moon was bright and the sky was clear. They sat together in what they had donned “their” field, the greenery around them rustling in the wind. Though he was nervous, he had delivered a stunning speech that had taken poor Y/n’s heart by force. It ended up with both of them crying like babies and a shiny ring on Y/n’s finger.

The wedding itself had taken place on a beautiful summer’s day, and Y/n had worn a pretty white dress that had made Arvin almost faint when he saw her, standing there on her father’s arm. She was all decked out in the most expensive diamonds and pearls, courtesy of her father, making her shine like a crystal of sorts.

It was the best night of her life, Arv’s too. But the joy they had felt must have an inevitable end, as the worst night (Arvin’s too) was soon to follow.

It had been an ambush, the death of the Y/l/n family. The death toll had managed to wrack up every member immediate member of the esteemed mob family, including the Pastor, his wife, and their two sons. A bomb planted in the trunk of their Cadillac that had gone off, placed there by who knows. 

When Arvin had heard, his immediate reaction was to thank God that Y/n had decided to stay with him that day, to go lay in the fields just the two of them. Immediately after she had been told, she had fallen into Arvin, her entire body weight being put into his arms. Sobs wracked through her frame, her tears dampening Arvin’s yellow button up.

Once she had “come to”, Y/n had grown to be furious rather than sad. As when you look at the lineage of her family, look at the ranks of the mob and who’s to rise to power when the one in front of them dies, well Arvin was right after Y/n’s big brother, Jamie.

And Y/n had loved her big brother, she had loved him very much and would like to believe that Arvin, her sweet, sweet Arvin, would never do anything of that multitude just to satiate his hunger and appetite for power. The hunger for power she wasn’t even aware he possessed. But how in the Hell was she even supposed to be sure?

“I want to believe you, Arv, I do. But I can’t! It don’t make any damn sense, Arvin!”

“You really think that low of me, Y/n/n?”

Y/n had been shouting, trying to confront him for a crime he hadn’t committed. But Arvin was calm as he spoke, his eyes only watering and his voice only bordering on wavering. Y/n reached a trembling hand to her scalp, pulling lightly on her roots. The tears slipping down her face were hot and salty and she hated it so much.

“What else am I supposed to think?” She lifted an arm, sniffling before putting her other one on her waist, the blue of her dress, the same dress Arvin adored so much, just barely matching what was to become of her mood. She was started to regress, the red hot anger from before transforming to a stormy blue of unsure waters.

“My whole family is dead, and it just so happened that you asked me to stay with you the day they died! My whole family is dead!” She screamed, her voice a crescendo of sorts. “And everyone is clean, Arv, except you. You got the motive, you got the alibi, I’ll give you that much.” She paused, briefly wiping her nose and looking to the blank wall to the left of her father’s office. “It’s funny;” she dryly chuckled, and Arvin looked up.

“You went from doing my daddy’s dirty work to gettin’ some poor bastard to do your own. Ironic isn’t it?”  

Arvin stepped towards her, pain twisting his insides up to see his best girl afraid of him, cowering away from his touch.

“You still have me, Y/n. I’m your family.”

She looked to her feet and back to him, shaking her head.

“No, Arv. You’re not. And you will be sorry for what you did to him, to all of them. You will be.” She said, walking away with her heels clicking heavily on the wooden floors. Arvin stood still for a while, not quite sure where to go next. But it dawned on him as the stained glass shone down on his feet in the most poetic manner, that he was already there.

So he dragged his feet along with him, breaths ragged and short, his head slowly tilting up towards the glorious light. He only had to go a few feet, before he sat down in the old leather chair, the only emotions he felt being those of an imposter. He thought back to all the nervous conversations he’d had with the pastor while he was sitting in that chair, a trembling Arvin usually standing opposite, awaiting instruction.

He darted his eyes across the mahogany surface in front of him, looking at all the various things that he only could associate with Y/n’s father. His valued cigar box, the crystalline tray that rested next to it. (He swore he could still smell the fresh smoke, wafting from the little dish.) He opened it, the latch clinking before his hand reached in and his fingers clasped around one of the thick rolls of tobacco. Before he could light it, he felt overwhelmed all of a sudden, and dropped it back into the box, slamming the lid.

He laid back, resting his weary head. Arvin took a deep breath through his nose, exhaling through his mouth, before falling into a not so peaceful slumber.

He was only woken minutes later, Joseph, Y/n’s uncle, wanting to know if Arvin had seen her lately. He shook his head, muttering an annoyed “No”. Joseph got the idea relatively quickly, exiting the room. He heard the chapel’s doors close, taking that as his queue to leave once he saw the time. So he grabbed his hat and his coat, leaving the office and making his way through the dimly lit space. His attention was caught, though, by the cross by the front pews, so beautifully shining. Arvin put down his things, and walked over to the pew, sitting down on the uncomfortable hardwood. He bowed his head, putting his interlocked fingers utop the surface in front of him.

He hadn’t done this in awhile, this whole praying thing. It seemed naive in his way of life, with the things that happened around him, the people lost. But nonetheless, if ever, now was a good time to try.

“Heavenly Father, I, I, uh, I need to talk to you. To, uh, set the record straight.” His hands were sweaty, tears welling in his eyes.

“Y/n, she’s- well she’s the love of my life, God, and I don’t think she loves me anymore. Hell, she wants me dead. But I don’t blame her, I couldn’t ever. Not after...” he paused, his bottom lip shaking, “Not if she thinks I killed her family. But I didn’t, Father, I didn’t and I could never. But she don’t see that. I need her to see that.” He raised his voice, the bitter droplets rolling down his reddened cheeks, hitting his shoes.

“I can’t live without her, I won’t. So I guess I’m askin’ you a favor, Lord. Just… let her know I didn’t do it, that I would never hurt her.” His voice cracked, his words barely audible, not that whoever was listening cared.

“That I love her so much.”

Arvin muttered something of an “Amen”, and then just sat there for he wasn’t sure how long. His silence was interrupted by a mellow and raw voice, cutting through the silence like the sharpest dagger.

“It was the Teagardin family. I just found out.”

Arvin stood and turned so fast he dizzied himself, having to hold onto the back of the pew for stability. His bottom lip quivered, his flushed features gaining a confused look.

“Y/n/n? How long you been there?” He questioned, not bothering to wipe his eyes. She shifted from one foot to the other, fumbling with her hands.

“Long enough.”

There was a mutual understanding at her few words from the two of them, and an apology within them all the same. Her eyes were bloodshot, her nose runny and her overall appearance disheveled. Despite that, just the fact that she was there, to him, made her the most beautiful girl in the world. 

Arvin could tell she was holding herself back, her emotions, too, as she started to speak, barely able to get through a sentence as she rambled about how she shouldn’t have assumed things, and that it wasn’t right of her to accuse her beloved of something so dire. But none of it mattered to Arvin as he strode towards her, her words only ceasing when he finally wrapped his arms around her.

“I’m so sorry, Arv.” She sobbed, gripping onto him for dear life. That was all she said, repeating it over and over again with the exception of “I love you” also being reiterated. 

Her husband spoke over her hushed tone, saying “It’s alright, doll, I know. You were right to think that, it’s not your fault. It was never your fault.” They continued that way for some time until they both regained their bearings, Arvin wrapping an arm around her shoulders and walking down the front stairs of the chapel. 

“Let’s go home, sweet girl.” He had said, so they did. Arvin kissed the side of her head, regarding once more how he loved her, before starting the ride home, his hand on her thigh the whole time, not wanting to let her go for even a second.

His mind was plagued with thoughts of the past, and he remembered an old saying he had heard long ago. What was it? Ah, you know what they say.

“Heavy is the head that wears the crown.”

·。·。·。

how we feeling folks did we like? gimme feedback if u wanna! mwah love u, take care of urself

 xx hj

[rwby-necro-au-archive]

The Kid, The Songbird, and The End.

Clover would never understand why the prisons had open courtyards for the prisoners.

It was constantly freezing, and the prisoners never had enough to wear to keep them warm. Typical.

He gracefully rushed to his hiding spot along the out rim of the open concrete courtyard, waiting. The prison break was going to start any minute, he needed to mentally and physically prepared in case the guards put up a fight.

“Sirens and Cameras deactivated, proceed.” A woman’s voice sounded through his radio. Good, at least that part was out of the way. The harder it was to deactivate the sirens and cameras, the riskier the mission.

This one was simple in comparison to the others, get everyone out, get a move on to Vale. At least, that’s what the other songbirds had to do, Clover notified his boss that he needed to go get intel from the main council building.

A dangerous and stupid move for sure, but one that would be thanked and rewarded if he managed to do it correctly.

He laughed quietly to himself “Not even a full 2 months in yet and I’m already trying to get myself killed, how typical of me huh?” He thought to himself.

He looked over to his boss who nodded and gave an ok signal to begin the raid. Clover quietly hopped down the concrete wall he had been standing on and ran up behind a pursuer.

He quickly knocked the Pursuer unconscious and moved on to the next, and the next, and the one after that, until at least 15 of them were knocked unconscious.

It was better if he didn’t look at the faces. He didn’t want to recognize anyone from the miserable life he was brainwashed into thinking he loved. And he especially didn’t want anyone recognizing him.

Clover approached the command center of the prison. After some pondering over the buttons, he pressed one and almost all the steel prison doors opened below him.

His radio sounded again, this time, the voice of his boss, “Great Job, remember, solitary confinement cells have a different control center. It’ll be harder to find that one.”

Clover just laughed before speaking into the radio “Eh, I don’t think it’ll be that hard. You know, since the whole thing that happened in my past.”

His boss responded “That is true, but with that you gotta remember to keep you head down, face covered, or they’ll recognize you.”

“Copy That.” Clover then darted down the stairs to direct the prisoners to where to leave. He couldn’t lie, he really honest to Cosmos couldn’t, he liked the job. Liked the adrenaline, liked helping people. Maybe that’s part of the reason he was so good at his previous job, being able to work quick on adrenaline.

This wasn’t that job though, and he got more of a kick doing this then he would’ve ever gotten from being a pursuer. He was meant to be here.

As he reached solitary confinement he slowed his pace. Guards. Seems there were still a few that needed to be taken care of. Clover ducked into a hall behind a few boxes, full of what, he didn’t know, nor did he want to know.

After the guards had passed, he speedily but quietly ran down the hall. He skimmed over the door labels until he saw one he almost passed, labeled “command center”. He quickly ducked into the room.

Looks like he didn’t check before he went in.

“Who the hell are you?!” The pursuer sitting in the command center chair yelled. She had a white uniform on, the female uniform. Shit. The other guards were gonna hear this chick.

Clover kept up his confidence though, nothing a few punches to the jaw won’t fix. “Nobody important.” He said as he threw her out the door of the command center and locked it. He shook his head and mumbled to himself “Cosmos forgive me for throwing a woman…” he certainly wasn’t the type to like doing that.

Now wasn’t the time for that though, he opened the solitary confinement cell doors and quickly unlocked the door to the room he was in. Time to fight.

——————————————————————————

Successful. The prison raid that is. Everyone got out, and there were minimal problems that popped up during the mission. Everyone was back on the ship and waiting to be sent to Vale.

Everyone, except Clover.

He was running and dodging Pursuers left and right to find this guy he was told about. To be honest, when he joined the whole “send me an ask thing” on the internet, he kinda meant it as a joke. Just to see what the people thought of a pursuer being on the internet.

He sure as fuck wasn’t expecting these people to be some all seeing beings or whatever, but hey, he sure as hell wasn’t complaining. Anything to make his life a little easier.

Which he could really use right now considering he was kind of getting sick of having to fight all the pursuers defending the capital.

He looked up at the signs and skimmed through them similarly to how he skimmed through the prison signs. He eventually found one labeled dorms and quickly ran in.

As he was running down the hall he was suddenly yanked into a dorm. He reached for his weapon until,

“W-wait don’t shoot! I’m here to help you!!” The shorter man replied. He didn’t look very old, maybe about 17-18 ish, fresh out of highschool from the looks of it. Light brown hair, tan complexion, all topped off with dark blue eyes and the male pursuer uniform.

Clover then realized who he was speaking to, “You’re Rory?” He was dumbfounded. This skinny teenager was the one who got the intel for him, “I mean, good for him for sneaking that shit underneath Irondick’s nose but not what I was expecting to say the least.” He thought.

Rory stuttered out an apology before quickly rustling through the dorm, pulling out three very thick, probably 200 page individually, documents and handed them to Clover. Rory cleared his throat quietly before speaking “I-I was told that you were to be trusted with this stuff…”

Clover read the names, shocked at what he saw. He grimaced down at the papers “Yeah……I know them so yeah, I think I’m to be trusted. And so are you for getting these in the first place…”

Rory looked up and gave a confused look “What’s wrong?”

“I was never really told about this…” Clover stated, avoiding eye contact.

Rory nodded solemnly “Sorry you had to find out like this.”

Clover shook his head “I’m sorry you had to read these…” he couldn’t help but stare at the photographs. They looked nothing like how they looked now. Especially Oz.

“I-I only read one…..I didn’t read the others because after I read the bottom one, I….uh….kinda had to go into the bathroom to throw up….” He mumbled, as he pointed to Ozpin’s document.

Clovers eyebrows furrowed, “Is it really that bad?”

Rory shook his head “I’d say worse.” He fumbled with his hands for a moment, “O-Oh! I wanted to ask, do you think you can take me on the boat with you? I want out of here!” He exclaimed frantically.

“Of course! I can explain your situation, but we need to go, NOW. We’ll be in trouble if we don’t.” Clover peered at the door before grabbing Rory’s wrist and running.

The two ran down the halls of the capital, attempting to make their way out. During the rush of everything, Clover’s hand slipped from Rory’s wrist suddenly.

Rory was caught by 2 other pursuers.

He didn’t even have time to think about it, before he knew it, he was outside. And Rory? Was nowhere to be seen.

——————————————————————————

Rory was shoved forward by the guards, nearly falling in the process as he looked behind him at the pursuers, fearful and confused. It wasn’t until he heard his voice that he realized why they shoved him forward.

——————————————————————————

“Shit.” Clover couldn’t be selfish this time. He just couldn’t. He ran back inside, frantically searching for the younger man.

He turned countless corners until he came into the main hall. Quickly ducking behind a corner at the sight of the one man he didn’t want to see.

He peered out to see Rory there.

——————————————————————————

“So, first, you go against my right opinion, and then next you try and run. Pathetic.” Ironwood spoke cruelly to the younger man.

“I—“ Rory attempted to defend himself, but was not granted such a thing

Ironwood scoffed, “You what? Made me look like a moron in front of the other council members? Is that it?”

There was a long silence.

Rory spoke barely above a whisper, “Is there anything I can do to get your forgiveness….sir?”

Ironwood raised an eyebrow and proceeded to feign thoughtfulness for a moment before smiling down at the young man, “I suppose there is one way you can make it up to me.”

Rory looked up suddenly, surprised at the man’s answer.

Ironwood smiled coldly, “Don’t be anymore of a stain to anyone else, as you have been to me.”

“W-what do you mean s-sir…..” Rory mumbled, confused

Ironwood rolled his eyes and scoffed “Lord, you need a lot of hand holding don’t you? I’m letting you leave, Pursuer. Go, out the door you go.”

Rory was ecstatic, he was letting him leave. Him. Of all people! “T-thank you sir!”

Ironwood smiled “Don’t mention it, I know you won’t be a pain to anyone else after this.”

He stood up straight and ran for the exit. He didn’t think he could be happier in his life. But all would soon came crashing down, and everything would go black.

The last thing he ever felt emotionally, was utter betrayal. And physically? Something wet coming from his forehead

The final thing he ever heard. Was a gunshot. From a man he should’ve never trusted.

——————————————————————————

[elencelebrindal]

Time to ramble about Shun

Sooo... you said you wanted my rambling to become reality. Here I go. 

Shun not holding back for the whole series would have been a disaster for our dear villains, let me tell you.  But let’s go in order. And I mean, from training to Hades. Obviously, this completely disregards the fact that Shun was Hades the whole time, because if I am to take that into consideration everything would end before starting.  Small disclaimer, this is mostly anime-based. I’ve read the manga, but my memory is so bad in remembering what was just manga and what was just anime, and I have a better memory for the anime.  Also, this is going to praise Shun a lot. No, not because of my undying love for this character, but because logically speaking, he’s freaking powerful; this young man stood against a god that was possessing his body, dammit. 

Now, his training.  Of course, I won’t even imagine Shun actually going to Death Queen Island, mostly because it was Ikki, and not him, the reason why he went to Andromeda Island instead.  What we know, is that Shun nearly awakened his Seventh Sense there and then, when he donned the Cloth for the first time. And we know that he won the right to the trial after winning a fight against his “rival”.  But, before winning, he took a good beating, because he held back.  What would have happened, in the eventuality that Shun did not hold back? Well, probably just quicker access to the trial for the Cloth, but also... this might be the only time Shun not holding back would have affected him negatively.  What if he, by not holding back, lost his right to the Cloth? Andromeda is famous for her sacrifice, after all, not for her brave charging into battle.  This is mostly my own idea about it, because of course Shun was destined to become the Andromeda Saint, but luckily he held back, and only fought when he needed to. 

That aside, now it’s time to tackle all the positive things that could have happened had he not held back. 

Galaxian Wars / Black Saints Arc (forgive me, I forgot the actual name)

We had a taste of how smart and capable Shun is during his fight against Jabu, but all of that was thrown away thanks to Ikki’s appearance. Now, this doesn’t mean than Shun completely lost his competence, but he definitely held back for the sake of his brother.  This is obvious when we take into account the fight they all have against Ikki, when Shun tries to help his brother rather than stop him.  We already saw how dangerous Shun can be, when he faced Black Andromeda, so it’s easy to understand how much easier it could have been for the Bronze to stop Ikki if Shun was there to actively help against him.  Sure, he helped in the end, but he was probably the only one (at least at that point, because remember, he was the only one to have almost awakened the Seventh Sense) capable to stand his ground against Ikki.  Seiya’s success was more plot than skills, honestly speaking.  Shun could have been infinitely helpful, at least in making sure they earned a faster victory with less blood spilled.  To me, what we know about Shun’s power (though it’s only revealed later) makes it that he has a huge advantage that is ignored because of 1. Shun’s personality and 2. what’s needed for the plot and what was known of the plot. You all know he’s my favorite Bronze, at this point, but following a logical reasoning I cannot find something against this. 

On a side note, can you imagine how fast he would have destroyed Black Swan, if only he used his brain and not his heart?  Considering the outcome of his fight against Black Andromeda, and his knowledge about Hyoga’s techniques (which are kinda imitated by Black Swan), it’s not difficult to imagine he would have won.  He wouldn’t have done as good against all of them together, at this point of the story, but a one vs one fight would have definitely seem him victorious. 

Silver Saints Arc

I have no clear memory if that Docrates mess is in this arc or the one before it (the Italian division is a bit different and it confuses the hell out of me when I have to switch), but let’s put him here.  Because come on.  Shun getting thrown around like a doll? Yeah, no. Docrates might be a powerful - and not so brilliant or likable - warrior, but to the point of overwhelming a Saint like Shun with so much ease? I hardly believe it. I can  believe Shun having a hard time against him, especially considering how they won that fight.  Full power, I think Shun could have helped way more. I’m not saying he could have defeated a beat like Docrates all by himself, not at that point. Hyoga’s help was crucial for him to actually deal an effective blow.  But I’m pretty convinced they could have had a bit of a better time - especially Saori - because power makes the difference, even if it’s not enough to turn the tide without aid. 

Continuing with the same arc, we have another example of Shun being extremely competent and showing how strong he is when he doesn’t hold back.  How long did it take him to completely obliterate a Silver Saint? Not even enough to appreciate how badass he was.  It didn’t seem forced at all, more importantly! Most times, especially with Seiya, their victories seem so... well, convenient that it’s hard to believe they’re actually strong enough to beat their enemies. The plot armor around them is stronger than their actual armor, from time to time. This fight against Dante, instead, felt completely genuine. Shun and Ikki beating so easily two Silver Saints seemed incredibly normal and realistic, rather than feeling forced by the plot.  Of course, all the other characters have their genuine moments (yes, even Seiya), but I wanted to point this out for Shun in this particular instance because it’s necessary to understand how underrated he is. 

Sanctuary Arc

Moving on, we have what I like to call “Shun could have choked Saga to death and ended the entire Sanctuary Arc in less than five episodes”. Listen, does it seem so unreasonable? If it does, remember how Shun (with Ikki’s help, this is not something I’m ignoring, I like Shun but I don’t play dirty here) used his chain to break free of the Other Dimension (a place that’s supposedly impossible to leave? Hello????) and literally reached Saga where he was sitting.  What the hell, are we just ignoring the fact that he legitimately broke into the throne room of the most protected place of the entire Sanctuary, stole Saga’s cheap-looking trinkets, and shattered his control over him? For god’s sake, I’m SURE he could have at least managed to try and kill Saga where he was.  I’m aware he had no idea what the hell was going on, but had he used a bit more of his cosmo? A bit more of his concentration and intelligence? To me, it seems really weird that he only properly awakened his Seventh Sense so late in the arc. If Seiya was able to screw the plot over and get his precious Seventh Sense so early and easily, why wasn’t Shun given the same opportunity? Well, I know why, plot and everything, Shun’s actual power was still very much a mystery, but I’m going chronologically, and by logic. And what logic tells me is: Shun should have awakened his goddamn Seventh Sense there, realized he was stealing costume jewelry from the Pope, and at least knocked him out for the next couple hours.  For as much as i like joking about it, I know Saga is smarter and stronger than the average guy, Shun wasn’t going to be able to strangle him with the chain. But a good old pointy cosmo-powered chain to the forehead, well... come on. Would have been hilarious, other than useful. 

For the rest, the arc was pretty amazing.  His sacrifice for Hyoga? Yeah, he wasn’t holding back there.  And the fight against Aphrodite we all know how incredible it was.

Something I’m going to point out is how much Shun held back against Leda and Spica. That was all his personality, but he was able to defeat both of them in a couple seconds as soon as he used his true power.  I don’t really want to count that as holding back, but I have to. Because he was keeping his strength low, and it counts.  That was a time loss that could have been avoided. 

Asgard Arc

Now this, this makes me mad.  As soon as Shun leaves canon territory, it gets turned into this weak warrior with no desire to fight.  Either that, or he gets to fight but accomplishes little.  And this is exactly what happened in this arc. 

By now, we know how lethal Shun can be, and we know he awakened his Seventh Sense. It’s not theory anymore, it’s not fan wishes anymore, it’s Shun with one more sense to deal with.  And what happens? They give him the fight against the only enemy his goddamn chain doesn’t want to hit. Of course he gets that, and that his - actually beautiful - personality refuses to fight and instead insists on diplomacy.  Now, I loved that. I love how Shun tries to find a peaceful way around the war. But, once again, this is not the point of my rambling.  The point of my rambling is: Shun shouldn’t have needed Ikki to come and save the day.  Let’s take away Mime’s tragic backstory for a second, and let’s put Shun in the “classic” mind of a Saint; fight the enemy to the death, or die trying.  Shun would have won without any help. Sure, Mime is powerful, but Shun is as well. And we know that Shun is capable of facing enemies that use music as a weapon (as we learn later, in the Poseidon Arc).  Also, I’m pretty positive he has control over his chain, is not like the chain is going to ignore him like that. That weapon has a mind of its own, that’s true, but seriously speaking Shun has to be able to control it more than the chain controls itself.  That, and Shun himself refused to recognize Mime as an enemy.  Without holding back, Shun would have seen him as a proper enemy, and fought with no chain deciding “oh no no no, this is a friend!” like an overly friendly puppy.  Wrongfully, maybe, because as we learned Mime was, in fact, not a real enemy, but that’s not the point. 

Syd doesn’t really count. Shun was actually standing his ground against him, and incredibly well.  The reason Shun didn’t win right there and there was not him holding back, but the plot advancing and throwing Bud at him.  I don’t know how high I should hold this opinion, though, because to me it seems a bit weird that Bud is so powerful/stealthy that no one realizes he’s there. I’ve been skeptical about him, especially considering how he incapacitated freaking Aldebaran, but it is still a good reason for Shun not having won the fight.  Stealth can be more effective than raw power, sometimes.  Though, I believe Shun (and Aldebaran, for what it counts) should have been able to sense him. What, they’re going to show us the Saints can sense any kind of cosmo approaching them or far from them, but not realize that there’s someone right behind them ready to strike? Eh, it’s bizarre. 

Poseidon Arc

Right off the bat, he got his moment to shine against Io.  THAT, my friends, was incredible, and if Shun didn’t hold back - because he did, to avoid killing him, bless his merciful soul - Io would have died pretty easily.  Shun claimed his rights as Gold Saint, there, didn’t use all his power, and still beat the everloving soul out of him. 

Also, the fight against Sorrento? Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.  I literally have nothing to say, he had a reason to hold back there, and I will not give him a forced victory. Sorrento was on his level, and even though I think the Nebula Storm would have killed him (remember, that technique keeps getting more and more powerful the longer it’s used), they were pretty equal.  Shun didn’t hold back, save for when he understood what the hell was going on and got an ally. 

What I didn’t like, however, was how harshly he was treated when Poseidon was the threat. Damn, I’m not saying he should have been able to face a god, not without a Gold Cloth and not alone, but jeez, he ended up being completely ignored.  Like “wait, I’ll help!”, and then poof. Disappeared.  But in this instance, not holding back wouldn’t have made much of a difference. Unless you want to be 100% full of logic, and use the fact that Shun was already a vessel for a god, there’s no viable excuses for him to be able to fight a god on his own.  Not at that point in time, and not in his conditions.  Things work only if they can work. 

Hades Chapter

I don’t have much to say here.  Shun was incredible, he fought without holding back for almost the entire series, and showed an almost merciless side. A good handful of that behavior was Hades, if we go by how Shun was portrayed beforehand, but I like to believe he finally got his time to shine and acted competent again.  After hall, he had his angry moments back in the classic, they were no different from this chapter. 

What I will say, however, is how they diminished him in Elysium.  Because let’s face it: a Saint that not only survived one of the most powerful gods ever possessing him, but also tricked and held him back, had every single right to be powerful enough while wearing a God Cloth to obliterate Hypnos from the face of Elysium.  How are you telling me to believe that the same person that defeated the god of the Underworld just... fell asleep against a minor deity? He was the first to get his God Cloth without the plot aiding him (yes, I’m still salty about Seiya), yet he did nothing, and got defeated by Hypnos like he was a weak little boy.  I understand he’s a god, but Hades was worse! I’ll tell you what would have happened. Shun would have sent Hypnos’ sorry ass back in the void he deserved to be in (I actually like Hypnos okay, Shun doesn’t) without batting an eye.  Surely someone that was able to withstand Hades’ power - and overwhelmed it, even if for a short time - could resist some minor god’s power. 

To conclude, on the same not, Shun should have definitely punched Hades in the face.  He was probably the only one strong enough to do so, aside from Athena. And probably the one with the right to do so, also. 

This is probablt the stupidest rambling I’ve ever wrote on this blog, but I regret nothing. 

[artificialqueens]

Gimme Love, 9/9 (Miz Cracker/Blair St Clair) - Grinder

AN: Sorry for taking so long to upload! I've had a hard week but everything is fine. Here we are - the end! Wanna know something interesting? There was actually going to be more to this story. Like, we were gonna get more flashbacks from when Brie and Juju went to college. There they would meet Tatianna, who was a badass feminist. And she'd be the one to help Brianna with her glow up. But the story was already going on too long and I couldn't fit any of it in.

Also I was going to go down a completely different route for the story. If any of you have actually seen the music video for Gimme Love by Joji, it ends on a more darker tone. And that's how I was gonna do it with this fic as it was based on it. But I just couldn't do it.

So I hoped you guys enjoyed it. I know I didn't get a lot of reads on it, but I'm glad knowing it was recieved by some. Anyway, on with chapter 9!

Major TW's for this chapter: Alcohol, mental health discussion.

2020

It was the day of the pre-party. It was going to be held at my place. I was prepared for possible drunkenness, embarrassing moments, but celebrations of everything we had accomplished. This was something I had worked my ass towards for so long, and it was finally happening.

I smiled, proud that I had finally punched myself in the face (figuratively, of course). I opened my eyes and saw how easy it was to rekindle with Mom. I was scared about seeing her in a few weeks, knowing we'd have to talk about my issues. But I knew now. If I didn't, I would just continue to get worse and worse.

On top of that, the Ed Sheeran problem was over and done with. His team understood fully, and he was set to perform at the launch.

And finally, I would meet Blair again. And it would be different this time. I wouldn't be the shy, insecure teenager she had always seen me as.

However, despite all these promising signs, my smile dropped. I imagined this morning playing out entirely differently.

Jujubee would be the first person to message me. Fuck, she'd probably even break in just to make sure I was up.

None of that happened. I know one should manage their expectations better. But it still hurt.

After two cups of coffee, some soggy cereal and a shower, I tried calling her. It rang a few times but went straight to voicemail mail.

I didn't bother leaving another message. I didn't wanna freak her out.

I probably wasn't helping my case. She probably thought I was relying on her, that she was life support for me.

But that wasn't the case. I mean, I couldn't just stand up and be like, "OK later, bitch," after practically growing up together. How could I just let go of someone I held so dear to my heart?

My eyes travelled across the kitchen, at first only her disappointment during our argument, how I had never seen her so angry.

On the counter, beside the fridge, there was my memory box.

What would Grandpa say in this situation?

Remember how I would write things he'd say to me? Just little bits and pieces of advice as something I could hold on to? I gave it to Mom to put it away for me. It had to be in the box.

I stood up, the stool making a scraping sound along the ground.

But a knock at the door tore my attention away.

Why did I hope it would be her?

Well, because it wasn't out of the ordinary for her to come and visit in the morning. Maybe this was it. I was forgiven.

I rushed to the door with the slight fear that if I wasn't fast enough, I'd miss her.

I unlocked the door and flung it open, a smile on my face, ready to greet her.

5 people were standing there; the decorators. I tried not to let my smile falter as I let them in.

-_-_-_-

8PM and my place had never looked livelier. For my first time hosting a party, it didn't feel like there was much hosting to do.

It felt like any other party I had been to, a room crowded with people dancing or talking to each other.

The music wasn't too loud, so the disorientation wasn't there.

I held back from drinking with the fear of doing something embarrassing, especially around Blair.

My bathroom was still clean when I went to apply a fresh coat of gloss. Good. Nothing to worry about.

I made my way back downstairs to the party, crossing the barrier at the bottom. The only place off-limits to the guests was upstairs. I'd hate to think there would be some people who'd want private time, especially in my bed. It happened at college once.

After a small party in our dorm, I found a couple midst coitus in my bed. Never again, I had said.

"Brianna!"

My head whipped in the direction of the voice, every bit of hope I had inside building up.

"You look stunning." A raven-haired woman approached.

"Thank you," I said in more of a questionable form. My brain couldn't figure out who this was.

"My name is Raja. I'm a writer for Cosmo," that explained it, "I was wondering if I could ask a few questions for a piece I'm doing. It's on the most influential women of the year."

I wanted to say no in the case I missed the arrival of Blair.

As if she read my thoughts, she spoke again. "It won't even be five minutes."

She was right about that. 15 minutes it lasted. We were locked in my bathroom, the four walls making the place feel cramped.

She asked me questions about how I reached this level, my morning routine, and what I put in my hair to make it so voluptuous. And all the while, I just kept fearing that Blair had arrived. That she had searched around for me and left when she couldn't find me anywhere. I would discreetly glance at my watch, hoping too much time didn't pass. But around 5 minutes in, I didn't care for subtlety. Not that Raja noticed. The questions seemed endless.

When she turned her recorder off, she further complimented my outfit. I thanked her, inching my way to the door. This lasted another 3 minutes.

She said I was a tiny woman with a lot of heart. I held back from saying I was a tiny woman with a lot of baggage.

When I finally escaped, I searched the place for Blair, and when I didn't find her, the panic started.

"Did anyone come in in the last 15 minutes??" I asked the workers hanging by the door.

"Yeah, there were 2 people. And I've never seen them around work. Could be anyone, Brie." They said with worry in their tone.

"OK, was one of them a girl? Blonde hair. Around my age?" I questioned further.

They glanced at each other for clarification, then looked back at me and shook their heads.

"Nope. Just two guys." One said.

"Probably on a pussy hunt at their local party." The other said.

"Or dick hunt."

"Or both."

"Nah, how would they even get in?"

Realising this was not Blair they were talking about, I thanked them and excused myself.

So she wasn't here yet. That's fine. Probably just running late.

I gave in and had one glass of champagne. Just to calm my nerves.

And the last person I wanted to see started to approach.

Ed fucking Sheeran. He raised a glass to celebrate and thanked me for the hotel room we paid for. I said it was no problem. And just as he was about to suggest some pictures for his Instagram, I quickly navigated away.

But I was caught by another person who just so happened to be Joey.

"I am so glad you changed your mind about the whole Ed thing. Like...girl…" he sipped his own drink.

"Yeah, it was easier than I thought." I shrugged. "Kinda feel awkward being in his presence now, though."

"I'll distract him if you want. British guys are kinda cute." Joey smirked.

I tsked, cocking my head at him. "Joey, you didn't like the guy a few weeks ago."

"I never said I didn't like him." He smirked.

"I mean, you can try." I rolled my eyes, a small smile appearing on my own face, "don't expect it to go anywhere."

Joey winked and brushed past me, making his way in Ed's direction.

Setting my glass down in my sink, I made my way to the bathroom just to check my lip gloss. A woman couldn't be too careful.

Once inside, I felt cramped again despite being alone. Maybe it was the underlying feeling of worry from being trapped in the room with Raja.

I told myself to breathe but then questioned why I was even doing such an exercise. Everything was fine. Life was good.

Looking in the mirror, my gloss was fine. But I applied a new coat anyway, just a reassurance.

And upon leaving, I set out in search of Blair again. She had to be here, just somewhere lost amongst this large amount of people.

Maybe she found someone else to talk to. Maybe not.

I moved to the balcony, the cool night air a relief.

But she wasn't there either.

I sighed, wanting a cigarette or something. Anything to calm the rising panic I was feeling inside.

I closed the door and moved further into the night, peering over the balcony and out into New York. The twinkling lights were pretty. I took a picture and sent it to my Mom. And in a few seconds, she started calling me.

"Hey, Mom."

"Hi, baby. I just thought I'd see how things are going." She asks, sounding pretty optimistic.

"I mean... it's OK, I guess. A bit crowded at my place right now." I replied.

"You nervous for tomorrow?" I hear the mischief in her voice.

She believed I'm not nervous, that I was a confident, strong woman. But she was wrong. "Of course I am. I mean, we've gone through all the precautions, so it should be fine. But still…"

"Well, baby, I promise you, everything will work out fine. It's you we're talking about."

I smiled, trying to teach my brain to agree with her.

"I would say I'd have a drink for you, but I'm trying to keep away from it tonight." Even though that was a lie.

"Yeah, you don't wanna go do something embarrassing like flashing anyone or whatever." She laughs.

"Wow. I didn't realise that was something I did." I quipped sarcastically.

"How about Jujubee?" I could still hear her smile.

But mine slowly dropped. Fuck, I had no idea. Immediately I stood back from the balcony. "Ugh...yeah, she's fine. She's good."

I moved to the door and looked past the glass at the large number of people. Fuck, I didn't even know if she was inside.

"Am I gonna get to see a picture of your outfits? You two always look like the stars of a party."

"Yeah," I faked a small laugh. "I'll go find her and get a picture. I'm gonna get back inside, OK?"

"No problem, baby. Love you."

"I love you too." I clicked end call and quickly made my way back inside.

How the fuck had I forgotten about her so quickly? Not like she was in my mind that morning or anything.

Now I had to find 2 people. I rushed inside, looking out for both of them. I checked the kitchen, dining area, lounge, the bathroom. Fuck, I even checked upstairs in the case Jujubee was there.

But there was no sign.

Where the fuck was she? Where was Blair?

It was getting harder to hold down the anxiety. Was Jujubee right about Blair? Was this another instance of my childhood crush getting my hopes up and flaking out?

The next drink tray I saw, my hand went straight for another glass. Two wouldn't hurt.

"Hey, you made it!" I heard from the front of the room, by the door.

I quickly downed the champagne and practically ran for it, too afraid to miss who had arrived.

Just as my hopes were quickly up, they fell just as fast. It was just Alex, Joey hugging him at the door.

"Fuck...Fuck...Fuck…" I whispered to myself.

A third glass of champagne found its way into my hand, and in a matter of seconds, it was down the hatch. I grimaced at the taste now, feeling like I could throw up at any second. Was that all just the anxiety, though?

Another bathroom break, I was fixing my gloss once again, scared to ruin my makeup. My hands were trembling. Fuck.

It wasn't stopping.

Back out in the main room, I tried to scan the crowd, standing on my tiptoes to try and see past everyone. It didn't help much.

Despite the music and rambling chatter happening around me, I heard the front door open, my eyes shot in its direction.

I struggled to move past a small group of coworkers, trying to get a good view of the door.

I didn't even get my hopes up this time. And, of course, it wasn't Blair.

Jujubee was right. Blair wasn't coming. Once again, she had led me on to believe I did mean something to her and that she'd give us a chance.

My hand gripped my scalp, turning away from the door. I growled, "Fuck," which didn't go unnoticed.

There was Nina with a hand on my arm. "Are you OK?"

"Yes." I lied so quickly. "I'm fine. Just... it's a little crowded in here," I fidgeted with my hands, "Is Jujubee here?"

"Yeah, you haven't seen her?" Nina raised a brow, rubbing her hand up and down my bicep.

"No." My eyes looked around briefly. "Where is she??"

"I dunno. She's you're best friend." Nina squinted her eyes. She didn't mean to sound accusatory. I guessed she was more concerned.

"She is." I reaffirmed, even though now I wasn't so sure.

"If it helps, the last place I saw her was the kitchen."

"When?"

"Half an hour ago."

I rolled my eyes and groaned. "She could be anywhere."

"Girl, it's fine. Not like we're in a labyrinth. You'll find her eventually." Nina smiled, rubbing my arm again.

I paid her no more heed and hurried towards the kitchen in the hope I'd find her there. But like the rest of my apartment, it was crowded. I stood on my toes again to try and catch a glimpse of black hair.

But there was no sign. Stressed, a shaking hand reached for another champagne. Usually, my tolerance for alcohol was high, but right now, I was feeling it. I was wavy.

In my now weary state of mind, I decided what was the fucking point? Blair had 100% flaked, as per usual, and Jujubee was obviously avoiding me at all costs.

Nina had followed me, taking my hand. "Follow me."

I didn't fight it. She moved to the staircase, pulled back the barrier and let me pass through.

She ushered me to walk up to the top before moving no further.

Turning towards the crowd beneath us, Nina addressed the people with a raised tone. "Can we have your attention, please?"

The people went quiet, beaming up at us.

Nina talked about how much of a good night it was, all while the alcohol was taking me over.

My eyes scanned the crowd, in the final chance of hope, wanting nothing more than to see Jujubee's glowing smile shining up at me.

But I couldn't. Not because I had double vision. But because she was nowhere.

I squeezed my eyes shut, breathing hard out through my nose.

Nina put her hand on my shoulder. And only then did I realise that I had blacked out, missing everything she said. I blinked a few times, trying to clear the film that had glazed my brown eyes.

"But we all wouldn't be here without our leading lady." She smiled warmly. "Everything she's achieved, it's all brought us to this moment. Let's raise a glass to Miss Brianna Caldwell."

Everyone started cheering, only a few raising a toast, the others clapping. My eyes widened, feeling all those eyes on me.

"Hope you have a speech prepared," Nina whispered in my ear.

And me, being the queen of saying just 3 lines and quickly evacuating the scene, decided no. Fuck it. I had something to say.

When the crowd began to settle down, I began to deliver the messiest speech ever.

"Well, funny you should mention achievements, Nina, because, yeah, I'm standing here before you all, having done the impossible. But what does that matter?" I laughed, shrugging. "Yeah, it does matter a whole fucking deal. I mean, look at you all. You wouldn't be here if it wasn't?" I laughed awkwardly again, but as I continued, my smile began to disappear. "Well, sometimes you just want a certain someone to give a shit. And they make you believe that they do. Just for like 5 minutes. And it feels so so fucking incredible. It feels like...like you matter. You're not just plain old Brianna Caldwell. You mean the world to them…" My tone dropped, "And then...you realise you're the most gullible, unaware, stupid fucking idiot in the world. They don't really give a fuck about you. They don't see all the things that you've achieved in life and think…' Wow...What an incredible person.' They just... don't give a fuck about you."

Everybody looked confused, uneasy even, while others giggled. Glad to know I was serving as the entertainment for the night, and I was in the same room as Ed fucking Sheeran.

Then, as if some higher power looked at me with a shaking head, maybe my grandpa, there was a glimmer of light at the back of the room, a flash of movement. And my eyes were drawn to the source.

My heart stopped

There she was. Finally. Blair St. Clair smiling apologetically at the few people who were looking at her. They smiled back as they should. She was breathtaking.

And her eyes moved to where everyone else was looking.

Right at me.

Such a familiar feeling was falling over me.

Everyone else in the room. Gone. Like they just stepped into another world, leaving the two of us in this reality.

She panted, out a breath, like she had run to my place. Impossible, she looked like an absolute angel in her gold wrap dress.

Nina nudged me. I snapped out of my daze, reminded of the whole crowd of people looking up at me with confused stares.

Fuck...what do I say now? How do I backtrack?

"But...you know what?" I started to speak again. "You realise, you're just overthinking again. 'Cause, that's a very on-brand thing for you. Every little incident of the past has taught you to doubt that good things actually can happen to you." My smile was returning. "Because the people who give a shit are there. Because you've done the impossible. And they couldn't be happier to be part of your story." My eyes were moving through the crowd, "Do what makes the ones around you proud, and what makes you fucking proud. And don't let anyone or anything hold you the fuck back. Because you have a purpose."

Thank fuck for the fact everyone started cheering again. I thought I had fucking bombed that I would see a recording of the same speech the following day all over Twitter, along with comments about how dramatic it was.

But it was fine. I saved it. I smiled at everyone and hugged Nina, suddenly overcome with happiness.

"Fuck you for not telling me you were gonna drag me up here," I whispered in her ear.

"Well, if I had asked you in the first place, you would have said no, honey." Nina grinned.

We pulled apart, and my eyes went back to the front door. I smiled, expecting to see Blair. But she had vanished. Fuck, I hadn't imagined her, right?

I tried to carefully make my way down the stairs without tripping, ready to look for her once again.

And upon reaching the bottom, Joey grabbed my hand and pulled me close, "someone on the balcony requires your attention."

He winked, and the butterflies in my belly went mad.

She was playing games with me. Not a very Blair St Clair thing to do, but the thought excited me.

I hurried to the balcony, ready to feel that cool air on my skin, her warm body pressed against mine.

And just as I was passing through the doors, feeling the cooling breeze, I stopped dead in my tracks.

I froze.

This wasn't what I expected; seeing her standing there, only noticing how radiant she looked in her orange suit dress.

Fuck. It felt so long since I had last seen her.

But it had been only a few days.

"Hi, Juju," I spoke quietly.

"Hey," she inhaled her cigarette, looking out to the city. If she hadn't replied to me, I would have guessed she failed to realise I was even there.

I swallowed, my eyes glancing down to the ground for a moment. The alcohol in my system was telling me to just turn and leave her alone. She didn't wanna see me.

But my brain said, "you idiot, she obviously invited you out here."

So I moved forward, rubbing the backs of my arms nervously.

I stood beside her, not even daring to look her in the eye. I looked at her orange suit, how Mom would have adored it.

"You invited me out here." I leaned my elbows on the ledge, my gaze following hers over the twinkling lights of New York.

"Yeah, I did." She did offer me a cigarette, but still, she never looked at me.

I shook my head, declining her offer, "Why didn't you just come and ask me yourself?"

"I was dying for a cigarette." She breathed out a stream of smoke. "Also, I've already spent most of the night trying to find you."

I couldn't help but breathe out a laugh through my nose. I glanced at her and was glad to see the smirk appear on those lips.

"I've been trying to fucking find you." I continued to laugh, a crack to my tone, however.

She finally looked at me, turning her body to face me. Her brows were knit together, yet the smirk remained. "No. I," she stressed, "have been trying to find you."

"So...what have I been doing for the past...I dunno, few hours?" I raised a brow. "Did I take 10 hits of acid earlier, or did I not search this place from top to bottom?"

She gave me a hopeless smile like she knew there was no point in arguing. She sucked on the cigarette, offering it to me.

I gave in, taking it from her hand, my fingers touching hers with a light touch. Her eyes moved to our hands as if she was thinking about it too. The feeling like this was a moment we needed to remember.

I took a drag on the cigarette, passing it back. She looked away, briefly turning her gaze to the ground.

But I kept my eyes on her like I'd never get another chance. "I really miss you, Juju," I spoke quietly, almost through a whisper.

She looked at me again. Her mouth moved around slightly yet remained closed like she wanted to say something. But she couldn't figure out what it was she was going to say.

I reached out, took her hand in mine. She seemed taken aback at first. But as my thumb stroked against the soft skin of her hand, a small smile began to resurface.

"There are…" she paused, "things that I would love to say to you. But I just... I'm afraid."

"Is it bad? Come on, Juju. You can tell me. You can tell me anything. I mean, we've grown up together. We've always told each other everything."

She looked apprehensive before taking another drag from her cigarette. And stubbing it out in the ashtray, she turned towards me once again.

She looked ready to say it. Whatever it was. I didn't even know the words yet. But I could tell this would mean a lot to her.

The muffled sound of the many people behind the closed glass doors became clearer, amplified even. Jujubee looked in its direction. My eyes followed.

"Blair," I uttered.

She looked slightly taken aback like she didn't know how to react to seeing us.

Jujubee dropped her hand to her side, a small puff of air leaving her nostrils.

"Jujubee." A smile appeared on Blair's face as she finally approached us both. "I didn't expect to see you here!"

"Likewise." Jujubee nodded slowly. She glanced at me, and I reciprocated.

Before I could figure out her exact emotion. But now, she was hard to read once again. My brows knit together, telepathically questioning what she was feeling.

Jujubee looked back at Blair. "Talk about awful timing though, I was just leaving." Jujubee smiled back at her.

Blair's smile was disappearing. "Oh." She paused, unable to say anything else.

"You don't have to go, Jujubee." I took her hand once again, stroking my thumb over her skin another time, just to remind her of the tender moment we were just having.

She smiled again, but only now, I knew the true words behind it. She pulled her hand away. "Early rise, actually. Gotta get up and ready for the big day tomorrow, right?" She raised her brows at me. Then she looked at Blair, "It was nice seeing you," and then back to me once more, "I hope you have a good night, Brie."

She averted her eyes, not even sparing me another glance. The clacking of her heels was deafening, each step away causing something inside to sting.

"It was nice seeing you again," Blair said before Jujubee could make it through the doors.

I heard a mumbled "yeah, yeah," before Jujubee went back inside.

My gaze still followed her, watching as she navigated the crowd.

"Did she...seem off to you?" Blair asked quietly.

"Yeah," I said without thinking. "I just...I don't know what's wrong with her...I can't...work it out…" my eyes never left the door, hoping Jujubee would reappear.

And feeling Blair's soft hand in mine, I was brought back to reality. I looked at her, seeing the concern in her eyes. Fuck, what a great way to reunite.

"Is something going on?" She asked softly.

I shook my head frantically, "N-No. We're fine...I guess I'm just overreacting. Yeah, she's just been...really busy with everything."

"That's probably true." She shrugged, glancing at the door, "Well, actually, I haven't seen what goes behind the public eye, but I bet it's taxing." Blair was facing me again, her eyes widening briefly.

I let out a small laugh, "Oh, you have no idea." And only then did I get a real chance to take her in. The girl had not changed. Well, call me corny, but she only got more radiant looking.

"I didn't think you'd come," I spoke with a hushed tone.

"Sorry, I was late. I couldn't get a cab for ages." She gave a half-smile. "I guess New York really is that kind of place."

"Fuck, I didn't think about traffic. I could have got you a driver or something. "I started rambling.

"No, it's OK. I'm here now anyway." Her eyes looked me up and down, "you look great, by the way. Pink always was your colour."

Funny how the last time she gave me a compliment, I shut her down. But now, I couldn't bring myself to do so. "Thank you."

I wasn't expecting her to hug me, but she did. It was very welcoming. If I could rate it out of 10, I'd give it a 9. Why the missing point? Cause she pulled away too soon. I needed that time, just to soak up the moment.

My arm was still around her waist when she put a hand to my face.

"It's so good to see you." She beamed, the city lights reflected in her eyes.

"You wanna go upstairs? We'll hear better up there. And it's kinda chilly out here." I hoped she didn't find that creepy or like I was suggesting something because that was not my intention, believe it or not.

I almost jumped, the sound of her sweet voice dragging me out of the storm that was my inner ramblings. "What about your party?" She looked over her shoulder at all the guests behind the closed doors."

"They'll be fine," I said too quickly.

"Oh. Well, if you say so."

She didn't find that weird. Good. I finally pulled my arm from her body but took her hand instead, leading her into the apartment.

I ignored the side glances we received, too focused on her presence behind me. Still so in disbelief that for once, she hadn't flaked out. She really did give a fuck. Walking up the stairs, I only noticed how my vision had cleared. I no longer felt drunk. Had it just been a quick rush of nausea that left me feeling so weary before? Or had the shock of seeing Blair literally walk into my life again shocked me so much to the point it sobered me up?

"Here we go," I said quietly, welcoming her into the upper level.

"Wow, you got another living room up here." Blair's wandering eyes landed on the couch.

"Yeah. The one downstairs is for fucking business and parties. And this one," I gestured to where she was looking, "is for hanging out mostly, and…" Why did I have to be so nervous?

"Hookups?" She looked at me with raised brows and a smirk.

I laughed nervously, moving to the fake fireplace and turning it on. Why didn't I just say no? She probably thought I was a slut or something. "Sit down if you want. Do you want a drink? I'd love a fucking drink right now."

"Nah, I'm good. Thanks, though." She replied, sitting down on the sofa and relishing the feeling of it.

"I need some fucking water." I rushed to the mini-fridge and pulled out a bottle.

Turning back to face Blair, she was looking at me in confusion. "You OK?"

"What?" That was all I thought to reply with.

"You seem kind of…" she paused, trying to figure out her words, "on edge."

"I do?" My hands played with the water bottle.

"Yeah, you've included the word 'fucking' in every sentence since we got up here." She allowed herself to smirk.

Subliminal, Blair. I like it.

Fuck, I dragged my mind out of the gutter and practically rushed to the couch. "Oh, it's just...tomorrow. The nerves, you know." I sat on the other end of the sofa, took a gulp of water and made myself comfortable.

Blair turned to face her body towards me. "Am I wrong, or was Ed Sheeran downstairs??"

"Yeah, he was. It's kind of a long story, actually." I laughed. "You a fan?"

"No, not really," Blair replied.

"Good, me neither. Not really into the whole wedding dance song vibe."

"Me too." She groaned, "If I hear Thinking out loud at another wedding, girl, I'm just...I dunno."

"I get it. 100%"

"Well, enough about him," Blair sat up straight, a bright smile on her face. She laughed for a moment before even speaking, "Fuck, I was just about to ask what you've been up to." She gestured a hand around the room, "I mean, duh."

"Yeah," I returned the laugh, "It's pretty much just that. This project has taken up most of my life over the years."

"God, I remember reading in the paper...fuck, I can't remember the exact title. It was this tiny article just squashed into a corner. 'Scientist seeks to prove the existence of other realities.' Yeah, it was something like that. And…" She shrugged, "I just knew it was you. And, I knew you'd go far."

I felt the blush creep onto my skin. Hearing this from Blair felt otherworldly.

"I mean, I knew before. When you told me at Prom, I knew you'd be able to do it." She added.

"How did you know?" I asked.

"Just hearing how you talked about it. Like, you really believed in yourself. It made me believe too." She swapped around the legs she crossed.

"It was hard. Trying to get people on board with everything. Not a lot of people believed it was even possible in the beginning." I unscrewed the cap from the bottle of water. "And now look at me; I got the government behind this whole thing." I shrugged and took a sip of the water. Before she could go on, I took the conversation on another route. "But what about you? Where are you in life?"

I knew where she was in life. Hadn't I Facebook stalked her not too long before?

"Well, it sounds far fetched, but I'm trying to get into the music scene." Blair sat back in her seat, eyes wandering off, looking at nothing in particular.

"You always did like performing," I noted. "Starting out in the school playgrounds. Soon you'll be playing an Arena with a sold-out show."

Did I sound cheesy? Was I too much of a kiss ass? Because to me, this was honesty. I always thought Blair had the potential to be a famous singer. She had the voice, the looks, style and personality. Who wouldn't want her as part of their label?

Fuck, it only hit me that I could have gotten her a spot to perform at the event.

Blair had stood, a small sigh emitting her lips. "An Arena? Imagine that." She smirked for a moment, stepping away from the couch. For a hot second, I thought I had stepped on territory I shouldn't have, and she was leaving. But she made her way to the window, staring out over New York. So I naturally went too. "Well, I've just been singing around bars for a while now, even had 2 gigs. Nothing too amazing." She explained. "I mean, I know you say Arena and all, but, actually, I wouldn't wanna be that big. I just...want people to hear my music."

Her smile faltered somewhat, and it spoke volumes. It wasn't happening fast enough for her, the growing number of ears that would someday listen to her words. She wanted it all now.

I sidestepped a bit closer. My fingers were so close to brushing against hers, then stopping myself in realising that was too much. "It does take time, these things. I mean, I didn't get here overnight. It will happen, Blair." She flashed me a gracious smile, and I was glad she didn't find any of that condescending. That was not my aim. "Anyway, I'd love to hear your music."

"You would?" Blair cocked her head to the side, turning more to face me, her hand on the window cill closer to mine.

"Of course," I reply. She should've known that anyway.

"Well, I'm not gonna break out into song for you right now. But I have a few videos on my Facebook. You should add me." She suggested.

I had never opened Facebook so fast. "There. I sent you a request." I scrolled through her timeline, my back now to the window, "Lemme see."

"Oh, God. Please don't. Not right now." Blair panicked.

I lifted my gaze, my eyes almost wide. Blair St Clair, the girl who wasn't hesitant to approach a mic, was embarrassed. I found this to be adorable and oddly made me feel more relaxed. "Don't be shy, Blair. I'm sure they're great."

"Brianna, don't." No joke, Blair attempted to snatch my phone away like a child.

I found it highly amusing. "Why not?" I smiled mischievously.

Blair continued her protests, trying to swipe at the phone more and more, all while laughing nervously.

Eventually, my teasing led to a chase. I still scrolled her Facebook as I ran around the room, Blair behind me.

"Which one should I look out for?" I stood at one end of the couch.

Blair stood at the other end, letting out a pant. "Brianna, you better not."

I stepped to the right, throwing her off, and she ran to her left, ready to run straight at me and take the phone out of my hand.

But I tricked her. When I took that step to the right, I pulled back and moved to the left instead. And without thinking, I threw myself down on my bed.

Before I could even get up, Blair was already there, too, crawling towards me. She reached for my phone, still pleading with me to stop.

And finally, giving the current circumstances, I gave in. "OK, OK. You win. I won't play your music in front of you." I giggled mischievously, shuffling so my back was against my headboard. "You're gonna have to remind me to check it out, though."

Blair remained at the bottom of my bed, kicking her heels off and folding them like a pretzel. It was as if we were teenagers again, catching up on all the hanging out we never got to do. She fluffed out her hair, "God, Brie, I came here to have a good time. Not to work out. Why are you still looking at your phone?"

Now that I was on her profile, scrolling back to the top, I saw a familiar picture. "Wow, this George guy's kind of cute."

Blair smiled warmly, her eyes looking upwards. And I had the slightest sinking feeling she was about to tell me this was her fucking lover or husband.

"Ah...George. What a guy." Blair blinked. "He does music too. If you like my stuff, then you'll like his too. He's got this song Gimme Love. It's my favourite."

"Is he your boyfriend?" There was no hesitation in asking.

Her brows briefly crossed. "What? No. He's one of my closest friends. Really helping me find places to perform. He's just...really cool."

I mouthed a silent 'Oh' before going on and cocking my head to the side, "Do you have a boyfriend?"

Was it normal to ask shit like this? Maybe it was. But considering I had confessed to her I liked her very much in that accidental message, perhaps I shouldn't have said it at all. Didn't want her getting sus.

I got the feeling she knew I was trying to find a way in as she raised a brow at me, the corners of her mouth turning upwards. "Nah, Brie. I'm done with boys."

I lowered my phone. That could have meant anything;

She was strictly into girls;

She had just gotten out of a bad relationship with someone, and she was going through that typical 'men are trash' phase;

She used the term 'boys' when referring to immature fuck boys who still thrived in toilet paper bombing people's houses and still fought with feminists online. She was now looking for 'a real man' who would love and respect her.

She wasn't speaking, just lay back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

Before the silence could go on and get awkward, I shifted in my own spot. "Do you wanna elaborate on that?"

"Oh. Yeah, if you want to hear it." She said like she didn't want to, and before I could stop her, she went on, "Well, the last was Conrad. He cheated on me. Before him, there was Ethan. I found out he'd talk shit about me to all his meathead buddies, said that my ass wasn't big enough. Then Bryce with his superior attitude. And…" she sighed, "Fucking Trevor."

Just hearing his name did something to me. I could feel how my shoulders had tensed, how the breath got stuck in my throat for a moment. But my ability to talk was unaffected because I spoke up, "I remember you saying he was controlling." I moved away from my headboard, shuffling closer to her, so close she could have put her head in my lap if she wanted.

Blair nodded, "he was," she breathed out a sigh, "I can't believe I'm even admitting this, but after high school, I started seeing him again. He promised me he would change, that things would be different. And I always feel like such an idiot for believing him."

That was upsetting. My hand squeezed in a fist. "So, what was the final straw? The thing that made you end things for the last time?"

Blair took in a deep breath, rolling over onto her front and propping her head upon her hands. She looked up at me with sad eyes. "He was just the same, Brie. Always controlling me, telling me how to act, who I could and couldn't hang out with. He was like that from the beginning to the end. I mean, you remember how he reacted about that one sex-ed class? And that time, he yelled at me in front of everyone for not sitting with him at lunch one day?"

I had no idea about the last thing. And I wasn't even surprised. Trevor was that type of guy, and you just knew it within the first few minutes of meeting him.

I was curious to know, but I kind of already had a feeling. Yet, I needed clarification. "Is that why you never came back to the library? Because he knew people would talk if you were seen with the school loser?" She leaned up now, but I continued. "Is it why you never came to speak to me about the prom?"

Blair was just watching me in silence. But I could see it, the realisation in her face.

"Fuck." She sat up and moved closer to me. "Oh my gosh, Brianna. I am so sorry. I had...no idea it would hurt you." We were both face to face, and she put her hands on mine, her eyes apologetic. She cussed, briefly looking away. "Fuck, I knew you hated me. The years of silence, of course, you did."

"Wait, no. Stop. I'm sorry. I don't wanna make you feel like a bad person. That's not what I wanted to do." I said profusely, my hands tightening just slightly.

"No, no. I'm sorry. You have every right to be upset." She spoke quietly, her blue eyes pleading with me. "Just be honest with me. I owe you that. You deserve to be heard."

"Really, Blair, it's fine. It's - -"

"Brianna. You're upset. You're not really good at hiding it, no offence." She smirked at the last comment. But the smile disappeared, and she waited for my response.

I stared back at her, my gaze shifting between both those eyes. My mind debated what to do, refuse to say a thing and let it all continue to build up. Or vent years of pent up emotions that needed to be said.

I looked away, deciding the latter decision was probably the best. I really didn't want to, what with the risk of upsetting her.

But maybe she wouldn't.

But maybe she would.

But maybe…

Her hand left mine and swept a strand of hair away from my face. I didn't even know it was there. "You're really hurt, Brie," she spoke softly.

I looked back to her finally, her hand lowering back down. And I finally found my voice. "OK." I shifted in my spot, highly uncomfortable. Come on, Brie. Just tell her.

"Do you remember the prom? When you asked me how we never talked more?" Just say it. "Because I always felt inadequate. Like I wasn't enough for you. And, not just you, even my…" I paused, feeling the lump form in my throat, "...my parents. Ummm…" saying that out loud to her, it hit differently. My voice was cracking. "I always associated you with my parents. I don't know where the connection came from, and I know now that that's fucked up, and I know I probably should go to a therapist about that, but..." I quickly explained. "But yeah, I just...never felt enough. Like 'why would Blair the cheerleader want to associate with someone like me? How could Blair ever love someone like me??'"

Fuck, it just slipped out. I studied her face for a reaction, expecting her to back away.

But she didn't. She just nodded in understanding, squeezing my hand reassuringly.

"But, um...I know now. It wasn't that you didn't care. It was just...fucking Trevor." I practically growled that name.

Blair breathed out a laugh, rolling her eyes. "Fucking Trevor."

"Yeah, fuck that asshole," I allowed myself to smile before continuing on. "I just... didn't understand how hard that actually was for you."

"It was very hard. God, it bothered me so much because I really did have a soft spot for you, Brianna. I really did, ever since we were kids." Blair smiled warmly. "And that's why I'm so glad you replied to my message. After all these years."

I gulped, thinking about that damn message, and now seeing her loving smile. "Y-You didn't think it was weird?"

Blair sighed, yet her smile remained. "Brianna. Do you think I'd be sitting here if it was?" She moved her hand to my elbow, up my shoulder, caressing my cheek gently.

I almost said something. I couldn't even remember what it was. Not that it mattered because I didn't get the chance. The moment I had been waiting for, it was happening. Her face was moving closer to mine, eyes slowly closing. And as soon as I felt her lips brush against mine, the feeling of her touch caused the butterflies in my stomach to flutter. I closed my own eyes and accepted what was happening.

The kiss my teenage self craved, dreamed about even.

It was reality.

We hadn't just slipped into some other world.

This was real life. The feeling of her hand on my cheek, that was real. The butterflies in my stomach fighting against the walls, also real.

And how I lifted my hand and held her face, also real.

She pulled away first, but her lips were still close, "was that OK?"

"Yeah," I moved my face back towards hers, initiating another kiss. I was savouring every bit of this moment. The sweet taste of her was too much to not let go of.

But she pulled back again, letting herself fall back against the mattress. I stared at her for a few seconds. Fuck, this was happening. Something inside me was hesitant to do this. The nerves, the fear of not being enough for her.

Blair reached out for my hand, and I knew I was just overthinking again. I took her hand and allowed her to pull me down to her.

Lowering my face to hers, I kissed her again, more hungrily this time. For a second, I didn't know where to go from there, still so in disbelief that my luck had turned around.

When I pulled away, my hand travelling down the side of her face. "Oh my God...is this real?"

"Of course it is." Blair giggled, her hands roaming up and down my back.

"OK. Good!" I panted, moving my kisses to her cheek, then her neck, and I could feel my heart beating a bit faster.

But because I am Brianna Caldwell, the most awkward person to have ever lived, I had to go on with the questions. "Hey, Blair, can I ask you something?" I kept my lips where they were.

"Mhmm?" She purred when I kissed that point where her neck met her shoulder. The pathetic noise she made almost made me melt, I swear to God.

"Were you…" come on, Brie, just say it, "were you gonna kiss me at the prom?"

She chuckled, "Yeah. But Trevor had to be an insecure loser."

I appreciated the cute giggling sound she made.

I lifted my head away from her skin and leaned up. I looked at her with a raised brow.

Blair was smiling still, but I knew she was getting impatient.

"So...you like-liked me back then too? Even when I was ugly?" I asked.

"Brianna, you were never ugly." Blair's brows connected, a hand stroking up and down my side. She really was getting needy. "And yes. I always like-liked you. God, that's so cute. You still say like-like." She took my hands and guided them to the knot tight at the side of her wrap dress.

"Shut up. Fuck, you're so beautiful." My hands began to untie the knot while I lowered my face and kissed along her clavicle and the only bit of exposed chest I had access to.

"Fuck. If only you knew how long I wanted this." Blair mewled. "I didn't think this was ever gonna happen. Even when I saw you and Juju out on the balcony, I was like...fuck. I'm too late."

Confusion immediately took me over. I pulled back again, looking down at her. A brief flash of frustration appeared on her face, but I ignored it. "Wait. What?"

"Yeah, I just…" Blair looked away for a moment as if debating on continuing or not, "always saw how you were around her. Always so happy. Like you were on top of the world. And I just didn't want to get in the way of that."

Her hand was trailing along my thigh, but I ignored it.

"Wait...Jujubee?" I knew that's who she was talking about, but even the sound of her name, it made something inside hurt. Not a hurt that she caused. Something...so different yet familiar at the same time.

"Yes. I never saw you that happy around anyone else…" Blair leaned back, balancing against my propped knees. "I mean, the prom? The way you looked at me, it was nothing compared to when you're with her. With Jujubee, it was...always so different."

Realisation dawned on me. I knew what she was getting at.

I opened my mouth to speak, ready to say I didn't like Jujubee in that way. But the words wouldn't surface. No matter how much I willed myself, I just couldn't. Even the thought of saying it made that feeling of hurt feel 10 times worse.

"You OK?" Her fingers danced around my thigh again, only with more wanting now.

"But…" I began, "I gave you my Valentine's card in first grade."

Now she was silent, her gaze shifting between both my eyes. She leaned up on both elbows, realising my questions weren't going to stop, and her pussy wasn't going to be eaten any time soon. She gave a nervous laugh, "um, no. You gave it to Jujubee."

I squinted my eyes. "No. I gave it to you, Blair."

"Girl, you gave it to me, and when I asked if it was mine, you shouted at me, saying it was for Juju and you just wanted me to check it out." She was laughing again. But seeing my still confused face, her smile began to drop. "You don't remember that?"

I was silent for a moment. Blair was in front of me, the love of my life, but all I could see was the image of Jujubee in my head. Her perfect little face, the way her eyes crinkled at the corners when she laughed, that bright smile, her silky black hair that always smelt so good.

I thought back, all the way back to that specific Valentine's Day. I remembered handing the card to Blair, her confused face, how the kids snickered as I stood there feeling sorry for myself. And Jujubee shouting at them all for making jokes.

But that was all.

"I... don't remember that," I spoke quietly, my eyes squinted.

"Not even the card she gave you?"

My eyes widened at that. "She did what?"

"Yeah, she gave you a card."

Now that she mentioned it, there was a flicker of an image in my head; something pastel pink. My tiny painted fingers holding a heart shape. Baby Brianna smiling, only to lift her head and see the other kids making fun.

"Oh, shit…" I whispered. I climbed off Blair and got up from the bed.

I was on the verge of pacing, my hand in my hair, "Oh my God."

"Don't be embarrassed, Brie." Blair was fully sat up in the bed now, her legs spread as if trying to beckon me back. "Not a lot of people can remember so far back."

I needed to prove if this was real or not. I'd call Jujubee. But then again, would she have even answered? If what Blair was saying was true, that explained why Jujubee was behaving the way she was. She was hurt. She was pissed because I didn't remember her card.

But how the fuck could I have forgotten something like that? All my life, that was all I ever wanted - to know I was loved by someone. Such a memory like that…

"Brie, are we...you know...gonna…" Blair spoke quietly.

My eyes widened. A memory like that. A memory that would be worth keeping.

I turned to face her. "Blair, wait here. I'll be right back."

"OK. Sure." Blair blinked a few times.

I wasted no time rushing downstairs. Taking a moment to observe the crowd, it seemed, quite a few guests had left already. At least it would make it easier to navigate.

I made my way to the kitchen. The memory box was still there. For a millisecond, I feared someone would have stolen it.

I took it to the counter, no one was around, so I felt safe enough to open it.

My nerves were wrecked as I lifted the latch to the box. I only had a small idea of the things that would be in here. Old photos, movie tickets, childhood drawings.

But I hadn't planned on opening it up so soon.

No. I needed to know the truth.

Opening it up, I saw a bunch of photos, tickets and pieces of folded up paper. I removed them, planning to possibly look at them at a later date.

The more I pulled out, the more confident I felt that Blair had got it all wrong. And she was the one who remembered things differently.

But there was a flash of pink at the bottom of the box. I gulped, pushing aside the scraps of paper burying it.

And there it was; A pastel pink heart-shaped card, 'Happy Valentines Day' writing in glitter gel pen on the front. "Shit…" I said quietly, pulling the card out.

Opening it up, I breathed out a puff of air.

'Dear Brianna, I know people in class are mean and say nasty things. But I think you are the prettiest girl in the world. Happy Valentine's day. Love from Juju xxx'

I could hear the younger version of myself reading it out loud, the insults from the other kids, Jujubee yelling at them because they were just jealous.

I put the card down as I realised Blair was right. And memories resurfaced, reading completely different.

That Valentines Day in which she refused to tell me who she had eyes for

That time she didn't invite me to stay for dinner.

How her smile would drop every time I mentioned Blair.

How I never danced with her at the prom

And finally, our recent argument.

It all made sense. Jujubee was in love with me. And instead of recognising it earlier on, I was too caught up with Blair to see it.

And what about me? How did I feel about her? Yeah, Jujubee was my one and only friend. She had gotten me through so much throughout the years. If it weren't for her, who knew where I would have been.

I couldn't pinpoint any time that I had thought of her as more than just a friend.

Well, maybe the times we'd lie in bed and just...stare into each other's eyes. Or the time she held me as I sobbed into her chest after the incident at the prom. Or maybe the times she'd smile, and it would brighten up my day. Or the exact day that I noticed how cute it was when her lashes fluttered.

Or…

My eyes met the heart-shaped card again, how the very sight of it made my heart skip a beat.

"Fuck." I ran my fingers through my hair as it was clear to me.

My eyes ventured away from the card, moving to the scraps of paper.

'Grandpa's tips for life'

My hand told me to examine the piece of paper further, so I did so.

At the top of the list, there it was. A sign.

'Go get her, kiddo. You've got nothing to lose.'

I needed to tell her.

I packed the box up and quickly left the kitchen, noting that a few more people had left.

"Blair!" I called, rushing up the stairs.

She was still there, laying in the bed, in just her white lacey lingerie.

I covered my eyes. "Oh my God. That was unexpected."

"Fuck. Sorry. I kind of had a feeling that would have been inappropriate." She asked.

"What? No. You're fine. I just... wasn't prepared for that." I stuttered, still covering my eyes. "Could you just...cover-up for a second."

"OK." I heard her say. "You can look now."

I looked back. She did pull the duvet up, but just below the wire of her bra.

"OK," I breathed out, trying to ignore her cleavage, "I think you're right about Jujubee."

"You think?"

"Yes," I replied before shaking my head profusely. "No. I know. You're right, Blair. I...I like her. Maybe even love her." Fuck, saying that out loud, it did something to me, "And yes, I liked you for so long, but you're right. I was always happiest with her."

I was expecting her to be disappointed, but she smiled. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

"What?"

"Go get her."

Grandpa's words reiterated.

"You're not upset that we're not gonna have sex right now?"

"No, Brie." Blair threw back the covers, picking up her gold wrap dress off the floor, "I already learned how to deal with it. Knowing you belonged to someone else." She wrapped her body up in the dress effortlessly, fluffed out her hair and turned to look at me again. "I know you're meant to be with her. So, go. Go tell her now before it's too late."

Despite this revelation, I couldn't help but feel like a dick. Blair was smiling, but I knew she had to feel some level of hurt. I walked towards her and brought her into a hug.

"I'm sorry for what I did to you, Brie," Blair whispered in my ear.

I only held her tighter, "Don't be," and I pulled away, my hands still on her shoulders, "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have ever opened my eyes."

I kissed her on the cheek, and she smiled warmly. I turned to leave, and before I made my way downstairs, I looked at her once more. Her hand was on her face where my lips had been. I was glad I could give her that one last kiss, just something to hold on to.

"You really helped me, Blair," I said.

"Good." She said graciously. "Now go."

The urgency in her voice only fueled my determination.

I was under no time limit, but I couldn't help but want to reach Jujubee as soon as possible.

When I was outside, I shouted for the first cab I saw. Thankfully it pulled over. I got in and pulled out my phone.

But the car was still.

"Go! Drive!" I raised my voice.

"Lady. You haven't even told me where you're headed!" The cabbie turned in his seat.

Fuck, I sounded crazy. How he hadn't thrown me out was beyond me.

I only realised that I had no idea where my destination was. Jujubee could have been anywhere.

The driver was still looking at me, his patience growing thin. So I barked out Jujubee's address.

He seemed relieved to be on the road again. Only then was I aware of the honking cars behind us. Typical for New York, but this was too much.

I found Jujubee's number, trying my luck at the chance she'd answer.

It rang.

And it rang.

And it rang some more.

"Come on, come on," I repeated quietly to myself. Relax, Brie. It's not like she's catching a plane to the furthest state.

The phone went straight to voicemail. "Fuck!"

The cab driver glared at me in the rearview mirror.

I ignored him and tried again. Still nothing.

A few minutes passed, and I tried once more. But again, my luck was shit on.

I dropped my hands to my lap, sighing frustratedly. All I could do was just see if she was home.

My eyes trailed to beyond the window, just hoping to get there as soon as possible.

And there she was. Walking out of a pizza place, a solemn look on her face.

"There she is," I said aloud to myself before turning my attention to the cab driver. "Stop! Pull over!"

He came to a grinding halt. "Jesus Christ, lady! You really need to stop all that yelling and - -"

I handed him a $20 bill, "keep the change. Thank you."

I got out of the vehicle, eyes looking to where Jujubee once was. She was gone.

"Fuck." I looked down one path, not there. And looking down the other, there was Jujubee, rounding the corner and eating a slice of pizza.

I ran in my heels, people moving out of the way to dodge me.

I knew I was an inconvenience to so many, but Jujubee at that moment was my priority.

Rounding the corner, I saw she didn't get far. I couldn't help but bend over for a hot second, trying to catch my breath.

And when I recovered, I shouted out, "Jujubee!"

She turned, eyes wide like she had never heard my voice before. And when she saw it was me, her face sort of fell.

My hand reached into my bag, and I pulled out the Valentines Day card.

She looked confused at first, but then recognition settled in. And the disappointment was replaced with fear.

I stopped panting. And finally, I could speak. "You were right. Approval; That's all I ever wanted. And I thought that if Blair gave that to me, I'd be good enough. Because I never felt that. I never felt good enough. I wasn't good enough for Blair, I was never good enough for my parents, and I'd never be good enough for anyone."

Jujubee was silent for a moment, eyes falling to the pavement and then back up again. "You were good enough for me."

I breathed out. "I know. But I was...too caught up in my own shit to think about how you felt. Too caught up that...I didn't even think about how I felt." I paused, thinking of how the fuck I should say it. No, I didn't need to think. This wasn't some cheesy movie. "I...I love you, Juju."

She let out a breath, a shaky one like she was on the verge of tears. And her eyes became glossy. I really wanted to tell her not to cry, to be happy. But this moment, she wanted this all her life.

A tear slipped down her cheek, but she laughed. "Fuck, I got this fucking pizza 'cause I needed heartbreak food."

I returned the laugh. "Hey, it's OK. You can still eat it. It can be normal pizza."

"No. I'm not even hungry anyway." Jujubee admitted, passing the pizza to a random passerby (who was taken by surprise but accepted the free food anyway).

Jujubee walked towards me. I smiled, already smelling that sweet perfume.

But she pushed me back. "Fuck you for forgetting about the card. I knew you did. I always remembered yours."

"I'm so sorry. I don't know why I forgot. But," I paused, "Blair reminded me."

"She did?"

"Yep."

"Wow. She remembered. But you didn't."

"Yeah. I'm...really really sorry."

"Wow. Is this our first couple fight?" Jujubee put her hands on her hips.

"It could be. If... that's what you want to call us." I suggested.

"Perfect. Seal the deal?" She raised a brow.

I knew where this was going. "Oh, absolutely."

Jujubee stepped closer, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and pressed her lips against mine. And that unfamiliar spark coursed through me, like it came from somewhere inside her and travelled through my body.

And I didn't care for the fact we were in the middle of the street, probably inconveniencing others. All that mattered was the happiness coursing through me, the feeling of...being complete.

I pulled out of the kiss first. "Wanna get in that rocket and be the first to go to the other world?"

Jujubee smiled but quickly stopped. "I-I'm kinda unprepared. I mean... I'd need a toothbrush, my clothes..."

"Where we're going...you don't need 'em." And then I played the words back in my head. "Oh. Oh shit, no. Not in that context. I just meant... you'd get new ones, you know? Fuck, I'm terrible at this."

"No. You're just you." Jujubee laughed, and fuck, I adored how her eyes were crinkling at the corners.

We grabbed the nearest cab. When we told him where we were going, his eyes widened. It would be a journey. But we paid upfront, so the driver remained silent.

When we got to base, I almost cursed myself for not thinking about how we'd access all the areas.

But there was that mastercard. And they couldn't say no. They knew who I was, after all.

When we were in the gowning area, Jujubee and I helped each other into spacesuits. I was high with anticipation, ready to see what was on the other side, ready to do it all with Jujubee.

This was our dream.

Jujubee grabbed two helmets. One for her and one for me. She tossed it my way, and I caught it.

"Ready to go?" She asked.

"Absolutely." I extended my hand, and we made our way to the door.

The cold cool air was refreshing. My eyes travelled up and down the rocket. It was bigger than I imagined, and for a small second, I felt worthless. Like I was just Brianna Caldwell, a girl from a small town with no real purpose in this world.

But Jujubee slid her hand into mine. And I was reminded that all I had to do was shut my inner demons up. Because I did have a purpose. And I was something to someone. As long as I had her, that was all that mattered.

Jujubee smiled mischievously, pulling me along the bridge, leading me to the already opened door. She ducked down and climbed into the small space, and I followed.

It was disorientating at first, what with the rocket facing the sky. I feared I'd fall trying to get into my seat. But Jujubee continued to pull me along.

When we were seated, I wasted no time putting on my helmet and initiated the activation process.

I could feel Jujubee's smirk as I flicked at switches and pressed buttons. It only fueled my excitement.

A voice came through the radio, one of the engineers. We were bombarded with questions, demanding to know what we were doing, how it was too early for take off with no press to film it, all sorts of complaints.

But we didn't care.

When everything seemed ready to go, I put my hand on the lever. But before I pulled, I turned my head to her.

"Ready to see the flying horses?" I raised a brow.

"Just as ready as I am for the cats that bark." She breathed out a laugh through her nostrils.

With another smile, I pulled the lever. The ship was rumbling now, and my stomach was doing somersaults.

We both turned our attention to the sounds of protest from the engineers. They were livid now, shouting about how the media wasn't going to like this.

I lifted my hand up, flipping the source of the sound off. Jujubee cackled to my delight.

I put the intercom on mute. And the ship took off. Mom was gonna kill me for this. I'd definitely bring her back a gift. A new vase, maybe? Yeah. A vase from an entirely new world. Something new.

I looked forward, unable to see the ground below us. How high were we already? How long was left until we reached that crossover, the gateway?

My question was answered as the ship was illuminated by a bright light.

We did it, Grandpa. We did it.

[fangirlxwritesx67]

Cross Timbers

Dean Winchester x Donna Hanscum, Sam Winchester x Jody Mills, no warnings, mildly PG-rated Chapter 1 - 1830 words Chapter 2 - 2265 words

A/N: This story was just a passing idea until I brought it up in my Slack chat and got a ton of great ideas from the folks there! Friends, I hope I have remembered everyone’s ideas and done them justice. Thanks for this and everything else!

@boondoctorwho​ , @cherry3point14​, @cracksinthewalls​, @dawnie1988​ @fookinghelljensensthighs​ , @icemankazansky​, @itmighthavebeenintentional​ , @justcallmeasmodeus​ , @lastactiontricia​ ,  @mskathywriteswords​ , @rockhoochie​ ,  @there-must-be-a-lock​ , @thoughtslikeaminefield​

_/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ Dean hated camping. He hated tents, and Thermarest sleeping pads. The only thing he didn’t hate was Pudgie Pies. And Donna, and that blessed air mattress that she procured in the middle of the night, finally allowing him a few hours of blissful sleep. 

Not that he would admit it. 

He also hated trying to make coffee while camping. He walked to the pump for water and then lit the gas camp stove to heat it and then loaded the grounds into the french press. What ever happened to a good old motel coffee maker or cup of gas station joe?

Then he looked up. On the opposite end of the table from where he was making coffee, a raccoon was perched, sorting through the scraps of dinner from the night before. Dean screamed, and so did the chubby trash panda. Dean reached out and grabbed the nearest things at hand -a pie iron- and brandished it at the little thief. 

Sam popped out of his tent, already dressed in running gear, gun in hand, ready to protect his brother. He had the good sense not to say anything as he watched Dean face off against a raccoon. 

_/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_

Sam turned and set the gun down in his tent while Dean chased the little thief out of the campsite. He was stretching for his morning run when Dean came back, checked the french press, and leaned back against the picnic table. Their eyes met, they nodded, and that was all they needed.

_/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_

When Sam came back from his run, the whole campsite was alive with action. There was a blazing fire in the fire ring and everyone was drinking coffee from blue enamelware mugs. Both eggs and bacon were hot on the camp stove. 

“Hey, been waiting for you, big guy!” Dean joked, a happy grin on his face. “Did you manage to outrun the wilderness?”

“Did you ever get rid of that raccoon?” Sam teased back with a lopsided smirk.

Donna laughed out loud, while Jody pretended to hide her smile behind her coffee cup.

“I didn’t know you could fence like that,” Sam continued. “Can you teach me?”

Dean clapped his younger brother on the shoulder, hard enough to make his coffee slosh, before settling back into his seat by the fire. He gestured to the empty chair.

“Hey, I made breakfast, and that coffee you’re enjoying, Sammy. Sit down.” 

The four of them lingered around the fire while the sun rose high in the sky. Light filtered  down through the trees in wide shafts, warming the air and kissing the rocks with gold. Finally, Jody and Donna exchanged a look.

Jody stood up, hooking her thumbs in her pockets. “Well now, boys, I think you have … fishing and such. Leave us girls be, here.” 

Donna hopped to her feet, too. “Yah, go on now, shoo.” She gestured with her hands as she spoke. 

Dean opened the back door to Baby, and pulled a fishing pole and tackle box off the seat. “Wanna go catch some fish?” he asked Sam as he shut the door carefully. His shoulders were relaxed, his smile wide. 

“Nah.” Sam shook his head as he closed the back door to his SUV. With an eager look on his face, he held up a cardboard box with tubes poking out of the top. “I want to try building this hydration system.  I’ve been studying up on it for weeks, ordered all the parts online. I can’t wait to see how it works. Have fun, though.” 

Dean rolled up the leftover breakfast eggs in a couple of tortillas and wrapped them in foil before tucking them in his shirt pocket. Sam tossed a couple of protein bars in his box. With one last smile, the brothers headed off in opposite directions. 

_/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_

Jody and Donna gathered up towels and shampoo before heading in the direction of showers indicated on their park map. The bunkhouse was rustic, stalls open to the sky, but the water was hot. Once they were clean, Donna dressed in a light sundress, while Jody put on yoga pants and a tunic top. 

Back at the campsite, they built the fire back up and settled down. Donna went to one of the coolers and pulled out a pack of White Claw. 

“100 calories!” She held one out jokingly, striking a pose, pretending she was in an advertisement. 

Jody laughed and shook her head. “I know we’re taking it easy and not living by the clock, but isn’t early?” 

“Hey, it’s after noon. The boys are having fun, the girls can too!” Donna raised her can in a mock toast. Her smile was warm as the sun. 

Jody shrugged before heading to another cooler. She got out vodka and tonic water, pouring them together into an enamelware mug. 

“Really, Jodes?” Donna protested. “It’s vacation! Treat yourself!”

Jody smiled, her dark eyes crinkling, before she pulled out a ziploc bag of lime slices. She squeezed one into her drink with a flourish, raising one eyebrow in Donna’s direction. “There you go. Fancy!” 

The two of them sat side by side, talking, relaxing, basking in the sun. It was rare for them to have down time like this. No responsibilities, no monsters. They knew the Winchesters were nearby and they savored the moment, feeling safe and happy.

_/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_

The sun was still bright but low in the sky when Sam and Dean returned to the campsite from opposite directions.

Sam greeted his big brother with a wave. “Hey, man, I don’t see any fish.” 

Dean looked around before he retorted. “Oh yeah, well, I don’t see any water.” 

“Do you want to come see the gravity powered water filtration system I set up below the falls?” 

“Hell no.” Dean was cut off from saying more by the press of Donna’s lips on his, as he slipped his arms around her. 

“Ready to make dinner, Champ?” she asked, tugging him towards the picnic table. 

Sam pretended to ignore the two of them as he walked over to Jody. He held out one hand without speaking, and she took it. 

“Show me what you’ve been up to?” she offered, smiling softly and getting to her feet. Their fingers laced together as they left the campsite, headed towards the sound of running water. Sam gestured eagerly with his free hand as he began to explain.

Jody listened with interest as he showed off every tube and mechanical bit. When he cupped clear water into his hands, she drank from his palm. It tasted a little like minerals, clean and stone-cold. 

Then he set a collapsible water jug under the stream to fill with filtered water. 

While it filled, he talked on and on. Finally, Jody reached for him and silenced him with a kiss. He was caught off guard, speechless. She tugged him down to sit on the stones that bordered the stream. She pulled up her yoga pants and he cuffed up his jeans. They dipped their feet into the flowing water. 

Jody leaned her head on Sam’s shoulder. It was still a new experience for her, but not unwelcome, to be with a man who made her feel so safe. He slipped his arm around her waist before he turned and kissed her again. 

Beautiful, he also made her feel beautiful. It had been a long time since Jody felt so good, relaxed and warm and loved. The sun was setting when Sam stood up and tugged her to her feet. He reached for the carrier, now filled with several gallons of water. 

“Let’s head back, hm?” She lifted her face and kissed him. “See how Dean and Donna are going on dinner?” 

_/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_

Back at the campsite, Dean and Donna were busy at the picnic table, but it had nothing to do with dinner. She had her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs crossed around his waist, while his hands tangled in her long blonde hair, tilting her mouth up to his as they kissed.

“Ahhhem.” Sam made an exaggerated throat-clearing sound that almost not quite covered his smirk.

The two of them pulled apart languidly, not the least ashamed at being caught. Dean held out one hand and helped Donna to her feet before he gestured to the foil packs on the table as she spoke. 

“We, uh, got dinner ready.”

Jody shook her head with a bemused look at Donna. “But the fire has to be built up and then burn down to coals, nah?” 

“Oh yah,” Donna answered. “Oh shoot, Dean, what’ll we do now?” 

Dean darted a look towards his brother.

“Uhhh,” Sam thought quickly. “You know, the meal I was going to cook tomorrow is easy. Let me cook tonight and we can grill tomorrow.

“Oooh, your big surprise dinner.” Dean tilted his chin up, challenging. “What is it, Sammy, kale smoothies? Rabbit food salads?”  

“Actually...”  A dimpled grin crossed Sam’s face. “Mac and cheese. And I brought the marshmallow fluff.”

Dean burst out laughing. 

“I’m kidding. I'm not three anymore. But I did buy the good stuff.”

“Kraft?” Dean exclaimed as Sam held up the familiar blue boxes. “I’m really surprised you didn’t buy some kinda Annie’s gluten-free crap.” 

“Hey, you’ve had Annie’s and you liked it.”

“Wasn’t the worst,” Dean mumbled. 

Sam continued, undeterred. "Sit down, and let me cook for you for once.” 

Jody hurried to his side. “Let me help you, Sam.” 

He turned and kissed her full on the lips. “I know I’m no great cook like you or Dean. But I think even I can handle this. Sit down, relax.”

While the water heated on the camp stove, Sam got out bottles and ice: Margarita mix for Donna, whiskey for him and Dean. For Jody, he packed something special: everything he needed to make a Cosmo, including cranberries already skewered on toothpicks. He took one and perched it on the rim of her mug. 

“Really?” Jody smiled up at him as she took the drink, her fingers lingering around his. “You know I’m not a fancy kinda gal.” 

Sam’s face was soft, his eyes locked on hers. “I know, but you deserve a treat now and then.” He lowered his mouth and kissed her. 

_/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_

Dinner was quick and easy, but satisfying. Sam opened a can of green beans, and Dean got out the hot dogs. The four of them lingered around the fire long after the simple meal was done, drinking and talking on into the night. The four of them had more than their lifetimes’ worth of stories to tell. But they were stories of fighting, of blood and loss. 

Instead, they talked about good things from the past, happy memories shared with family and friends. They laughed as they recalled moments early in their respective relationships: Dean and Donna’s trips for donuts or burgers, Sam and Jody’s movie nights. 

As the stars came out, Dean got up and fetched his guitar. Donna moved her chair closer, her knee brushing his, as he played and sang, classic rock and slow blues songs. Donna had a golden voice that blended well with his low rich one. 

Sam and Jody listened for a long time before Sam took a turn with the guitar. He picked out songs without words, quiet and dreamy. Jody rested her chin on one hand, watching him, and he smiled fondly when his eyes met hers.

The four of them lapsed into comfortable stillness. The fire had burned down to embers, warm and low. The forest was full of soft nighttime noises, rustling and murmurs, and somewhere an owl called. Donna was sitting on Dean’s lap, resting her head against his shoulder as the two of them whispered back and forth. Sam was holding Jody’s hand, stroking her fingers with his thumb, watching her face in the fading firelight.

Donna yawned, and Dean smiled. 

“Bedtime, love?” he asked. His green eyes shined bright as she looked at him and nodded. She stood up and slipped an arm around his waist. Arm in arm, they walked to their tent. 

Sam lifted Jody’s hand with his for a kiss before standing up. Carrying the guitar over to Baby, he placed it on the backseat and locked the door. “Don’t want to hear what raccoon bedtime music sounds like,” he joked. 

She laughed then, head back, mouth open, eyes crinkling at the corners.

“Shhhhh.” Sam pressed a finger against her lips before his mouth closed on hers. The last notes of her voice still echoed off the trees as she hummed into his kiss. 

_/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_

In Dean’s tent, a small electric lantern hung from the center ridgepole. Bare in the narrow beams of light, the pair below were both golden and freckled. Dean was strong power while Donna was all soft passion. As he rose over her, his hands tangled in her blonde curls and hers roamed his body. The air mattress dipped and bucked under their movements. The pillows stifled their soft moans.

_/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_

In Sam’s tent, he lit a few short candles in tall glass holders, filling the tent with flickering shadows. He pulled Jody to face him, side by side on the stacked bedding. He murmured endearments as he pressed kisses over her neck and then lower. She whispered his name as she pulled him closer. The two of them were perfectly matched, moving in sync. They breathed hard as they sought and found one another in the darkness.

_/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ Tent sex, Dean thought as he drifted off to sleep. That was another thing he liked about camping. 

_/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ _/\_ SPN First Last and Always: @boondoctorwho @dawnie1988 @deanwanddamons @defenderrosetyler @divadinag @emoryhemsworth @fookinghelljensensthighs @idreamofplaid @kalesrebellion @kickingitwithkirk @maddiepants @magssteenkamp @onethirstyunicorn   @there-must-be-a-lock @tloveswriting​ Sam Girl For Life: @awesomesusiebstuff @lilsylvia @winchesterxfamilybusiness​ Dean Curious:@adoptdontshoppets @awesomesusiebstuff @deangirl7695 @deans-baby-momma  @mrsjenniferwinchester @stoneyggirl @wayward-gypsy @winchesterxfamilybusiness​ Cross Timbers Tags: @deangirl7695, @elliloumom, @meeshw777

[whatarubberchicken]

The Bodyguard’s Tale -Chapter 5

The sh*t hath hit-ith the fan... ith.

<<Previous - Ao3 or ff.net - Next>>

Chapter 5

It took two more days for the accursed heat—or rut or whatever, Keith had already decided he hated it—to run its course. That was two days of pain and longing and loneliness—Lance didn’t make another appearance, and when Shiro was able to come see him, he kept his visits short because Keith got more and more snappy as the days went by.

Finally, he was able to resume his duties, with no small amount of relief. (And maybe it was just his imagination, but Hunk looked relieved too. Apparently, Lance had been extra snippy as well.) To his surprise, Lance actually gave him the silent treatment for a whole day, even after Keith tried to apologize for what had happened.

The day after that, he went to the prince’s chambers, fully intending to clear the air. Nothing major, he could do this. He just had to explain that he hadn’t been in his right mind, and nothing they’d said or done should be—Wait, where was Lance?

He wasn’t in his room.

He wasn’t in any of his usual haunts in the castle.

“Lance?”

Keith was starting to get nervous. Had Lance actually been kidnapped? During his time here, he’d been led to believe that nobody hated the royal family and his job was purely for ceremony! Surely—

“Hey, Keith,” Shiro called cheerfully, strolling down the halls with another ambassador. Keith wasn’t sure if their name was really Pidge or something else, he couldn’t figure this person out. (But they were from Olkarion, so maybe that was the point? The Olkari did love their puzzles….) “I thought you were with Lance.”

“I’m looking for Lance,” Keith corrected. “Have you seen him?”

The two ambassadors shared an ‘eek’ look.

“He was heading for the space port,” Pidge said. “Said he was meeting you there.”

“Oh, quiznak.” Keith took off running. Once he got to the space port, he searched every passenger vehicle he could find, praying that Lance hadn’t gotten a note from somebody claiming to be Keith so they could kidnap him and—wait, weren’t those the new prototypes King Alfor was designing?

Keith paused in his search to look more carefully. Why was the blue one activated?

Blue just happened to be Lance’s favorite color….

He raced over and entered the giant blue lion (Alfor had said they were a tribute to some kind of ancient Altean lion god or something) just before the jaw snapped shut. Even though Keith had never been in a ship like this before, he somehow knew exactly where to go.

Sure enough, there was Lance, sitting in the pilot’s seat.

“WHAT do you think you are doing?!” Keith snapped, storming up behind him.

Lance looked surprised to see him. “Aww, Blue, why’d you let him in?”

“Are you talking to the ship?!”

“Of course,” Lance said, stroking the side of the chair lovingly. “My pretty girl is very sensitive, you know. Not everybody sees me as ‘just their job.’”

Keith facepalmed. “We’re not even going to delve into everything that’s wrong with that statement—just, get up, we’re leaving.”

“No way!” Lance said, settling himself deeper into the seat. “I was just getting a feel for her!” He grabbed the controls.

“Lance, this is a prototype that your father has been working on for decaphoebs!” Keith pointed out. “Even if he gave you permission to fly it, which he won’t, it’s not equipped for—”

The rest of his statement was cut off by a loud roar, and then Keith was forced to grab onto the back of Lance’s chair as the lion blasted off. Lance whooped with excitement as the space port dwindled away behind them. With so many loops and swoops, even without gravity, Keith was starting to get a little dizzy.

“You are the worst pilot ever!!” he yelled, his teeth jarring together as Lance grazed yet another asteroid. “Did you even take a class on how to fly one of these things?!”

“Of course not!” Lance shouted back, not an inch of remorse in his tone. “As you said, they’re prototypes! And it’s almost like it’s on autopilot—”

“AUTOPILOT AROUND THAT MOON, THEN!!”

“WHOOPS!” The Blue Lion lurched out of the way at the very last second. “Oof, that could’ve been bad.”

“BAD?! YOU ALMOST FLATTENED US!”

“Relax, Keithy! Has anyone ever told you you’re a very uptight kinda guy?” Lance teased, glancing up at Keith from where he still had a firm grip on the controls. “Hey, I know! Let’s take this baby to the Space Mall!”

“La-ance,” Keith groaned, but there was nothing he could do. Blue didn’t respond when he tried to wrench the controls away from Lance. And that was when he remembered King Alfor’s speech about how these ships would choose their own pilots:  if you could get it to start, you could have it. But he didn’t think the king meant for his son to take the thing joyriding! Ugh, maybe he could spin this as some sort of training exercise?!

And secondly, he was kind of offended that Lance still considered him uptight. He’d loosened up a lot since he’d come to live on Altea! Didn’t Lance remember the Klanmüirls? Or the narwhals? None of the other Galra Commanders he knew would ever stand for that sort of thing!

The next thing he knew, they were actually at the Space Mall and Lance was getting out. Great. How was this his life? The good part was, they didn’t need to lock anything, because the Blue Lion put up a particle barrier as soon as they were clear, the bad part was… well, Lance in a space mall was like a kid in a candy store.

He wanted to go everywhere. At light speed.

After the fifth time Lance ran away from him, though, Keith was starting to sense a pattern: light speed was only being used to get away from his bodyguard. He quickly grabbed the prince in the hallway before he could dart off again.

“Look, I get that you’re mad at me—” he started.

“What?! Mad at you? Why, in all the cosmos, would I be mad at you, Keithy?!” Lance said, loudly and sarcastically.

Keith felt his eye twitch. “Can we not do this in public, please?” he asked quietly.

“Why not? Am I making you uncomfortable? Am I—” To Keith’s surprise, Lance cut himself off with a deep breath and a sigh. “Look, I’m sorry. I just thought….” He trailed off with another sigh.

“You just thought what?” Keith asked, curious at the way Lance was blushing. No, surely not….

“Nevermind,” Lance said. He spotted something over Keith’s shoulder. “WHAT is THAT??” he exclaimed, pointing. Keith turned to look, only to find himself being pulled into a shop that sold all kinds of things. Knick-knacks, appliances, you name it. And it all came from—

“Earth?!” he exclaimed, as the salesman tried to get them interested in a strange-looking water fountain that doubled as a chair. “All of this comes from Earth??” He was suddenly much more interested in the merchandise. And, oh man, they HAD to get Shiro something!

Lance, meanwhile, was enamored with a large, benign-looking animal that stared out at them peacefully and occasionally said, “Moo.”

“I love her!” he squealed, hugging the animal. “I’m going to take her, and keep her, and hug her, and—”

“That there is a Kaltenecker,” the salesman said proudly. “One free with every purchase!”

Lance’s eyes gleamed.

“You can get ONE!” Keith said quickly, before Lance could buy out the whole store. Lance pouted, but Keith stood firm. “One for now,” he negotiated. “Just to make sure you can take care of her and she doesn’t come with any weird… surprises.”

After a bit more whining, Lance agreed, and for their purchase, they bought Shiro a rectangle with some weird drawings on it that the salesman insisted was an entertainment box. (Keith didn’t see how such a thing would be entertaining, but maybe Shiro would know how to work it.)

Then, Lance was starving, and they had to get some food. Keith agreed, but he didn’t think Kaltenecker enjoyed Lance’s attempts to serve her whatever Vrepit Sal’s had given them. He also had no idea what she was chewing on….

“Is that a cow?” they heard a familiar voice exclaim. Keith and Lance looked over, and sure enough, there was Shiro, heading straight for them. Followed closely by Pidge and an irate-looking Hunk.

“She’s my new Kaltenecker!” Lance said proudly.

“Kaltenecker?” Shiro repeated, looking at Keith.

“I don’t know,” he said, throwing his hands up helplessly. “It doesn’t seem like it’s gonna eat him, so I figured it’d be okay.”

Shiro at least had the decency to laugh into his hand.

“Oh man,” Hunk said, also examining the creature, “I dunno how this is gonna do in the Klanmüirl enclosure, but hey, I’m sure we’ll work something out.” He turned to Lance. “So, bad news, your dad says you’re grounded.”

“Awww,” Lance groaned.

“And good news, he’s so stoked you got a Lion running, it’s probably not gonna be for long,” Hunk continued.

“Yes!” Lance fist-pumped.

“More good news, you activating a Lion seems to have kicked them all into gear, because the Yellow one chose me, and Green chose Pidge here.”

Beside him, Pidge waved absently, looking more interested in the little box they’d gotten for Shiro.

“REALLY?” Lance looked delighted.

“Yeah, so as soon as you get home, we’re gonna have to do a bunch of tests and stuff, but until then, more bad news…,” Hunk bit his lip and looked uncertain. “You guys didn’t just happen to bring Allura with you, did you? ‘Cause nobody can find her or Lotor anywhere.”

Lance sat straight up. “Allura’s missing?!”

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” Hunk said, waving his hand dismissively. “More importantly, what the heck are you guys eating? Is that even food?!” He examined their lunch with expressions that ranged from “interested” to “horrified.”

Lance and Keith exchange a glance that needed no words. Their siblings weren’t the type to just go off without any warnings to anybody, that was their MO. Allura and Lotor were too… responsible. Whatever had happened….

“You’re right, Hunk,” Lance said, quickly. “Let’s get some real food back at the castle! I wanna see who else gets a Lion. You want one, Keithy? You know you do!” he teased.

“No, I’ve got my hands full with you,” Keith grumbled. (Yes, he did. He really did. He’d seen how quickly and effortlessly Blue had responded to Lance’s handling and he was certain he could do better…. Oh, how he wanted a chance!)

“How about you, Shiro?” Lance was asking, talking fast to cover up his nervousness about his sister’s disappearance.

“I thought I felt something from the Black one,” Shiro admitted, still absently petting Kaltenecker. “But King Alfor assured me it wouldn’t move until the others were paired off. Something about it being the leader.”

“Cool! Well, lead on, Captain, Sir!”

“Ha ha, Lance,” Shiro said dryly, as they all headed back towards the entrance. “Tell me, what are you going to do with a cow, anyway?”

“I dunno,” Lance said, giving it another hug. “What do you usually do with cows?”

“I could teach you how to milk it.”

“Really?! What’s that?”

Shiro’s explanation left Keith a little weirded out, but Lance seemed eager enough to try. Not that he got much of a chance. After flying the three Lions back to Altea, they were greeted by an excited crowd in the Lions’ hangar at the space port, all of them eager to try for the remaining two. Black and Red’s shields remained up, however, even when Lance tried to push his way to the front of the crowd.

Keith, already nervous about potential assassins in this crowd, got the signal from Alfor to get his son out of there, and quickly pulled Lance away. It didn’t matter if the prince was complaining that he could hold his own. Nor did it matter that Hunk and Pidge had carefully separated themselves already to try to take control of this mess. Even the fact that Keith could hear a low rumbling in the back of his brain that sounded like purring when he looked at the Red Lion… his first and only priority was Lance’s safety. Altea had already lost its heir today, they didn’t need to lose the spare too.

Fortunately, the king and queen joined them in Lance’s room soon after, before Keith and Shiro ran out of ways to keep him distracted. Queen Melenor ran straight to Lance and threw her arms around him, sobbing. That was the first indication they’d gotten that something was truly wrong.

“We thought maybe Lance had convinced Allura to take him with her,” Alfor said, looking pale and shaken. He laid a heavy hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Thank you for always taking such good care of my son.”

“Sir?” he said, unable to keep his questioning tone to himself.

“What’s going on?” Lance asked, his voice wavering as he started to panic. “Where’s Allura? Mom?! Dad?!”

“All we found was a note!” Queen Melenor burst into tears again and hugged Lance even tighter.

“It seems she and Prince Lotor have spent their time together—when they were supposed to be courting—researching how to get to Oriande,” Alfor said, regretfully shaking his head.

“Oriande?” Lance yelped. “But that’s—that’s a myth!” Keith could tell: now Lance was truly panicking. “And, even if it wasn’t, all the stories say it’s a… a….”

“A one-way journey,” Alfor finished for him. “Which is why, if we don’t find them soon, we may have to declare your sister missing… indefinitely.”

“NO!” Lance cried, wrenching himself away from his mother. Keith quickly caught him in his arms—not tight enough to cage, just enough to ground him—and led him over to a small padded bench nearby. Lance sat, still shaking his head in denial but not trying to get away from Keith. “No, no, no… there’s has to be way—the Lions! Dad, could we use the Lions to get to her?!”

“We don’t even know which way they’ve gone,” Alfor reminded him sadly. “I, too, looked for Oriande in my youth, but I never even came close. I finally forced myself to abandon the hunt when your mother became pregnant. And now, I—” the poor king swallowed and looked away, “I regret every bedtime story I ever told you two about that place.”

Both Lance and Queen Melenor hurried to reassure their king that, no, none of this was his fault. They loved him and they’d get through this as a family. Meanwhile, Keith stood off to the side, watching silently.

Lotor. Lotor was missing too, but instead of being anxious or worried about him, all Keith could think was, ‘Dammit, brother! You’re going to cost us the alliance! What were you thinking?!’

Was that normal? Surely, he should be upset, right? Crying and worried about his family like Lance? Why—why wasn’t he?

He heard Shiro come up behind him and looked over when he felt a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“You okay?” Shiro asked.

Keith thought about it for a moment. “I’m worried about Allura,” he finally confessed. “And I’m a little annoyed at Lotor. I’m sure he talked her into it, after all. He’s been obsessed with Altean lore ever since we were kids.” He looked at his friend. “Is that…? Shouldn’t I be worried, or panicking, or something? I mean—” Keith faltered. “He’s my brother! I’ve always been loyal, to him and the Empire, but…. Is there something wrong with me?”

“I doubt it,” Shiro said, the knowing smile back on his face. “Think about it. If it was Lance who was missing, what would you do?”

“I’d pull out all the stops to find him immediately,” Keith said, not even having to think about it. “I’d use every resource I had until I found him. No matter how long it took.” His chest constricted painfully just thinking about a scenario like that.

Shiro was giving him that look that said he was almost there in getting the correct answer; he just needed to dig a little deeper. Keith thought about it.

“But… that’s just because he’s my responsibility, isn’t it?” he asked, almost desperately. “It doesn’t mean anything….”

Shiro gave him a much softer smile, his eyes twinkling with laughter. “I didn’t say anything about that,” he pointed out. “But fine, if you want to play that game, imagine if Lance wasn’t your responsibility. Would you still feel the same?”

“I—I don’t know!” Keith exclaimed, much too loudly. It caught the attention of the royal family, who realized the two were still in the room with them.

“Think about it,” Shiro whispered, as King Alfor made his way over to them.

“Ah, Prince Keithyr,” he said uneasily. Keith winced. Oh, right. Now that Lotor was gone, he was expected to take on ambassador duties for the Empire, wasn’t he? This was gonna get awkward. “Our most humble apologies and deepest condolences go out to you and the Empire as well. Forgive me my momentary lapse in protocol—”

Yep. Super awkward.

“Please, your majesty,” he said, holding up a hand to forestall any further ‘niceties.’ “You don’t ever need to apologize to me. Officially, I can’t apologize to you either, but—” he sighed, “unofficially, I want to kick my brother in the….” He trailed off with a vague handwave, very aware that it was against protocol to swear in front of the local monarch.

“Quiznak?” King Alfor finished for him with a small smile.

Keith shrugged helplessly. Yeah. That. Thank God the Alteans had come up with such an all-inclusive word.

“I’ll need to get ahold of the Emperor, to see how he wants to handle all of this….” Ugh, his list of responsibilities had just grown exponentially!

“Yes, I’ll need to make a statement as well…,” King Alfor trailed off, no doubt making his own list of new duties in the light of this tragedy.

Keith only half-paid attention, he kept glancing at Lance. For any other disaster, he’d be over there, making sure the prince was comfortable and didn’t do anything stupid… maybe offer him a friendly shoulder to cry on, or a bowl of his favorite comfort food. Now, all he could do was watch as Lance buried his face in his hands, trying to stifle his sobs.

And Keith hated it.

[post-itpenny]

Going Backwards

Continuing on from Whispers. Tagging @clownsgobeepbeep and @grotesquegabby

Two figures stood at the pier watching the sunset. One listening and the other fretting.

“So yeah that pretty much is everything,” Maggie sighed as she ran her hands through her hair. “I know I need to check Magpie’s timeline, it’s just too hard to go back there. I mean… Bridgette died there, Magpie kinda did. I just… I don’t know.”

Vespers nodded as he listened, sitting on the bench next to them Cosmos tried unsuccessfully to get a grumpy Phoebe to wear a large pair of sunglasses for a picture.

“Hey Cozzy, why not the Vader sounds?”

Cosmos shook his head, “she stuck her tongue out at me when I did the breathing this morning. Guess it’s no longer funny.”

Maggie rolled her eyes, “you nerds would have a grumpy baby.”

Vespers snorted, “I’m going to laugh my butt off if yours is grumpy, I mean it’s Billy’s kid.”

Maggie arched an eyebrow, “cleaned up your mouth then?”

Vespers shrugged, “babies are supposed to be like sponges or something. I’m not letting my kid know curse words before she can even talk.”

“Yeah, we gotta watch our fucking language now.”

“Cosmos!”

“Anyways,” Maggie interrupted. “I gotta suck it up and go I guess. Just wanted to get you up to speed on things.”

Cosmos frowned, “this is weird. I mean the whole thing seems weird. Just be careful squawks. It would be really nice to get this over with and have some peace and quiet for once.”

“Yeah,” Vespers agreed. “Besides, you have a baby to take care of. Don’t do anything reckless.”

—————————————————

It occurred to Maggie later that night that her entire plan was reckless. But in true fashion she went ahead with it anyways.

Maggie closed her eyes, when she opened them again she was in a familiar space.

Millions of colorful strings surrounded her, glowing in the darkness like friends to welcome her home.

As Maggie walked she was impressed by how well repaired it all was, as if the blackhole never happened.

However there was one key difference.

Magpie’s string had always been a cheerful lavender color that carried with it a warm glow that stood out like a beacon.

But this was different.

Maggie almost couldn’t look at it. The string glowed so intensely, it was like staring at the sun.

Why was it so bright now? The string seemed thicker, stronger. But it shined as if made of a million shimmering particles. When Maggie tried to touch it her hand burned.

She stepped back with a hiss, so now what? This was new, and Maggie was clueless of what to do next.

“Bridgette would know,” Maggie grumbled. Of course the old deed would have an answer, she always did. But Maggie couldn’t talk to the dead.

However…

Maggie pondered over the next reckless idea to crawl into her brain. Bridgette could see not only the future and present, but the past as well. Perhaps since Maggie now had one of her lights she could too? How did that work?

Bridgette was practical, but had her own strange sense of humor. It made sense her method of using her powers would work the same.

Maggie though of this as she reached the most logical conclusion she could make.

Maggie took a step backwards.

At once the strings shifted, another backwards step and they shifted again. Maggie grinned in triumph as she went to step forwards-

And found she could not.

Uh-oh.

In a panic Maggie struggled with her foot frozen in the air, only to break free and stumble back a few more steps.

“Ok, it’s fine, I’m fine…. Maybe I need to find what I want to see first…. I want to see something to help me understand what’s happening to Magpie.”

Maggie stepped back and the world changed dramatically, now only a hundred strings present. It out take a while, could she wake up and do it tomorrow?

Maggie tried to open her eyes and found she couldn’t, the job had to be finished first.

Maggie sighed, “Billy is gonna kill me.”

[merusthedivineangel]

Visiting The Garden 1

@ask-whitepearl-and-steven) Using their version of Steven for this story. This takes place around the time of the movie, so I presume all the Pink Diamond stuff will be out of the way and explained like in the movie.

In the cosmos, there was a small asteroid decorated in faded pink temples. Everything was worn away with due time, forgotten and  lost to time. The life had long since faded, the structures cracked and old. The simple touch could cause certain parts to crumble like sand. The whole place was lifeless and abandoned. Well almost.

In the middle of the lifeless garden stood a short petite gem with thin arms. Her eyes once vibrant and filled with joy were drained of the color that once occupied them. Her expression was one of melancholy and despair.  Her outfit was torn, her eyes had dark circles under them. Her foot had been rooted to the ground, shoes messy as can be. Her hair was a unkempt, her left heart now falling apart. It had been six thousand years. Six thousand miserable, unending, worthless, years. Pink had left her in the garden, under the pretense of a game of some kind. Of what, she wasn’t sure, given all she remembered were the Diamond’s words.

“Here in the garden, lets play a game. I’ll show how its done. Here in the garden, stand very still.” She remembered her enthusiasm at the request of her diamond.”This will be so much fun!” She visited her sweet smile, her diamond’s laughter was her most beautiful feature. Though now that she thought about it, something was off with her smile when she remembered it. She couldn’t place it, but it was like Pink was satisfied with herself about something.

When her diamond turned her back and left, the last thing that remained was her figure before the teleporter caused her to drift away. That was the last sight of Pink she had before she was gone.

As the years painfully drew by, she wondered what type of game she was playing. Standing still, not moving a muscle as she did so. Life began to fade away around her, her happiness as well. She wondered if this was how her game worked, if she was doing it right.

Spinel sighed.’Maybe Pink will come back eventually.’

 Though her hopes were dulled and faded. The enthusiastic chant in her head that once asserted that Pink would come back one day had fallen silent a few millennia’s ago.

Suddenly, a sound was made. It was the sound of the warp pad. She hadn’t heard that in years....Could it be? Her Diamond had finally returned!  Her eyes however, were once again filled with disappointment and confusion. What’s this? An organic lifeform with ashy skin and silver hair appeared, wearing a strange jacket and pants. Another was a taller gem, adorning pink curly hair and a strange white dress.

That wasn’t her Diamond. Nobody should have access to this place.

“Rose...What is this place? We must’ve mixed up warp pads or something." “Hmm....Its a garden....I recognize this place...Its been so long.” The smaller lifeform noticed Spinel,”Hey...What the heck? Rose, why is there a gem here? Earlier, you said there is no one here.”

Rose immediately stiffened, seeing Spinel standing there.”Oh no...” “Oh no? Rose...why is she here? Shouldn’t be on homeworld? Do you know her or something? Something I haven’t been informed of?” He knew Rose well enough that she had a lot of skeletons in the closest. Though this was a bit unexpected.

“Steven, we should leave. Now.” “What? We are not leaving. This gem needs help. Let me try talking to her.” Steven walked over to Spinel, who remained still as he approached.”Hey. What’s your name?” “......”  “Hey. I know you can talk. Mind saying something?” “You’re not my Diamond.” “What?” “You’re not my Diamond.” “Uh....Hey ‘You're not my Diamond, pleasure to meet you.” Spinel stared at him, her eyes void of any emotion. The attempt to add humor dissipated as soon as it came.

Steven cringed.”Ooh boy. Alright. Listen, we kinda just found this random warp pad and we ended up in this creepy...abandoned, weird, garden thing. Do you know anything about this place? You look like you’ve been here for some time.” “I’ve been here for 6000 years, counting every second that goes by. This garden is not mine however.” “Then whose is it?” “Pink’s. Pink Diamond used to play in this garden on a regular basis. I was...her best friend. We were happy, I made her smile, she gave me laughter. Everything was just peachy, until one day, Blue and Yellow Diamond informed her of a new colony they gifted her. Pink was so happy, I’ve never saw her so overjoyed in my life. I wanted to go with her, so we could play, but instead, she told to stand in the garden for a game. And I waited....and I’m still waiting. I wonder when she’ll come back, because a part of me believes that she never planned on returning. Though I hope I’m simply being wrong, even after all these years.” Steven’s expression hardened.”Oh my god. Please tell me youre lying.” “I would never lie about this.” Steven sighed,“Rose. Come here, now.” “Steven, I-” “Rose. Explain.” Rose didn’t say anything. She looked at Spinel, the old toy she discarded had aged and lacked her enthusiasm. This wasn’t how she remembered Spinel. The Spinel she remembered was happy and smiling, clingy and possessive. Hardly like the lifeless gem before her. It was rather scary seeing someone so positive look like this.

“Rose. Did you hear me? Explain. Come on, she deserves an answer.” “Spinel...I...”

“I don’t even know you...I’ve never heard of a Rose before.”Spinel narrowed her eyes. She never heard of any Rose. 

“Well I um...I...” “Rose. Say it. It’ll be smoother if you do.” “Spinel, its me.” “Its who? I don’t know you.” “Its me. Pink.” “What.” Spinel replied in disbelief.”Is this supposed to be some type of cruel joke? You’re not Pink. I refuse to believe that you are my Diamond. There’s no proof.” “Spinel, I understand this is a lot to take in. But you have to believe me. I’m Pink Diamond.” “No you’re not.” “I am.” “Not.” “I am.” Rose said, slightly irritated by Spinel’s stubbornness.

“Rose, this is not going anywhere. Show her physically.” Rose paused. She wasn’t used to going in her old form. It had been a while since she had. She lowered her head.”Oh....Alright.” She shapeshifted, now pretending herself in her original form, dress and all.

Spinel’s eyes widened.”Pink....You...You came back.You finally came back!” After all these years! “Erm...Well...about that..” “What do you mean, about that? You finally came back! 6000 years and I thought it was all for nothing! Here I thought you abandoned me on this decaying asteroid! Now we can finally be friends! I knew you didn’t forget about me!” “Spinel...” “What?” The half gem cringed,“We had no idea you were here. We just happened to stumble on a warp pad that lead us here. No one knew you were here. Nobody even mentioned at any point.” Her face fell,”What?” “Spinel, I’m afraid that...everyone just forgot about you. Pink never mentioned you back on Earth.” Spinel’s expression became dark.”That can’t be true! Pink, you can’t tell me you forgot about me! I was your best friend, there was no way you could’ve just abandoned me right? Right!?” Pink’s silence filled the void for what her words didn’t offer.

Spinel began twitching. For the first time in 6000 years, her foot finally began to move. She ripped the rooted branch from her foot and began stumbling towards Pink.  Pink’s expression was one of shock. Never before had she seen Spinel look at someone with seething hate and rage. Spinel wasn’t designed to experience those emotions, she wasn’t meant to be serious.

Steven looked terrified. He knew when gem’s got angry, it would get ugly soon after. “Spinel, I didn’t mean t-” “Yes you did. Pink, don’t mistake my naivate for stupidity. I’m not an idiot. I can think for myself. And its pretty clear from this fleshy Steven guy, what you did. You left me on this asteroid to rot, duping me into a stupid game, just so you could run off to that NOWHERE planet with a bunch of NOBODIES! Gee, that sure worked out didn’t it! Not only did you lose little old me, but you got to have fun and play games on that stupid ROCK! And I bet you made plenty of OTHER FRIENDS, guess it wasn’t that hard to replace me now was it?” Pink didn’t reply. There was no proper response to what Spinel said.  “You can’t even answer for yourself. Because you know I’m right. Well that’s just swell! Here I was thinking you actually cared! Well clearly you’re undeserving of such a thought!” “Spinel, please. Listen to me, I know what I did wasn’t the best but I had a reas-” “Wasn’t the best!? You left on this stupid asteroid for 6000 years and all you have to say is that it wasn’t your best call of action!? You can’t even must up an apology!?” “....” Pink was never good at apologizing. Steven knew that first hand how bad she was at carrying them out.

“Don’t have anything to say do you? I should expect as much.” She seemed ready to hit Pink, but Steven intervened.”Spinel, don’t attack her. It won’t solve anything.” “Oh, so now the flesh suit is talking to me. What? Are you gonna say how I’m being irrational or something?” “No. Your anger is completely justified. What Pink did was inexcusable, but harming her wouldn’t solve the issue. What need now, is friends who can help you.” “Friends? And where am I going to get those?” “You can come with us to Earth. We’ll take you there. Heck, maybe we can sort this thing. So that maybe, you and Pink can be-” “No.” “Huh?” “....I......DON’T....WANT....TO....BE......HER......FRIEND.”  Spinel’s voice was dripping with malice and hatred.

His face softened.”Oh. Well, I can’t blame you. I’d probably react the same way honestly. I understand you not trusting Pink anymore and not wanting to be her friend, but try giving Earth a chance.” She darkly chuckled,“Earth? You that rock that she was quick to abandon me for? That she didn’t even colognize?”

Pink didn’t say anything.

“Yes. Earth is much better uncolonized and it has....other gems that you can be friends with. I’m certain you can make friends with people like Bismuth or Lapis. What do you say?” Spinel growled.”Fine. I’ll go, not because I want to, but because I’m tired of being in this garden.” “Good. We’ll show around and we’ll try cleaning you up too.” Steven grabbed Spinel by the hand. She noticed the large horn coming out of his head.”Hey, is that a gem on your head?” “Yeah.” “Where’d that come from?” “I’m White Diamond’s son. Long story, I’ll explain later.” Spinel blanked. White Diamond had a  son? How was that....nevermind. She’ll ask later. Though Pink had since shapeshifted into her Rose persona, the glare Spinel gave did not waver. Rose looked away from her former playmate, ignoring the guilt in her stomach.

Done! Hope you enjoy.

Before you ask, the message never comes up here. Spinel had no idea about the whole Rose Quartz war thing so yeah. 

[a-dakhtar]

(same anon as dark souls, hope i can prompt twice) i also distinctly remember a post about altean!lance being alfor's brother. *puppy dog eyes* please?

> prompt rules: here

> prompt 1 / prompt 2

prompt 3: heavy the cosmos (pt. 1)

note: this grew to be too long anon so i’ve split it. that being said, i have no idea why it grew too long, and now i am greatly concerned. 

-

“You look… just like my younger brother did,” King Alfor murmured, his piercing blue eyes stuttering away from Lance’s face. “It is… rather disconcerting.”

“Oh,” Lance replied lamely, not sure how exactly to take that. “Sorry, I guess?”

The king – Allura’s dad, who’d died ten thousand years ago but had his memories saved as an AI – quickly said, “No, no! Nothing to be sorry for, young one. I was merely taken aback by it. Please, come closer.”

Hesitantly, not sure of his welcome despite the invitation, Lance crept into the room he’d seen Allura hole up in for hours on end, the curiousness that had brought him here fuelling him on. The tall man gestured him closer, as if he were a frightened cat, the kind smile he wore soothing whatever misgivings Lance might have had.

“I don’t think we’ve met before,” the king murmured, once Lance was standing almost in front of him. “I am Alfor. And you are?”

Lance stuffed his hands in his pockets, shoulders hunching as he realised he had no idea what to do now that he’d gotten to this point. Allura was going to be so angry with him for invading her privacy, holy crow. “Lance,” he introduced himself anyway, eyes drifting over to the field of flowers that surrounded them. “This is a pretty cool place.”

“Indeed,” Alfor smiled, looking around himself fondly. “I would bring Allura here whenever I could steal away some free time. Her mother used to love it here too.”

Allura’s mom? Lance wanted to ask, so bad, but he knew he’d already crossed a line coming in here, he couldn’t- “What was her mom like?” Quiznak.

Alfor laughed, a boisterous noise that brought a reluctant smile to Lance’s lips. “Oh by the stars,” the Altean gasped, wiping at an eye theatrically, “She was every bit the varka she was anointed as, loud and bright and so very brave. I-” he halted, mirth fading to a quiet melancholy, a quiet nostalgia that brought to light the wrinkles Lance hadn’t noticed before. “She was a remarkable woman, and I was a lucky man to call her my wife.”

Meaning she’d probably died. Sometime before Alfor had. Before Allura and Coran had been cryogenically frozen for ten thousand years.

God, Lance was an idiot.

“But none of that,” Alfor dismissed, waving a hand in the air to brush it off. “You are one of the new paladins, are you not, young Lance? May I ask which lion you pilot?”

Lance perked up at that, always willing to talk about his amazing blue lion, and proudly said, “The greatest lion of all, of course. The Blue Lion!”

(warmth fondness pride my paladin my paladin my paladi-)

Alfor let loose the same laugh as before, quickly defending himself at Lance’s offence with, “I’m not laughing at you, young one! No, it’s just- your predecessor had said the exact same thing before, many times! Ah, Blue truly knows how to choose her paladins!”

Blue rolled in fondness, pawing at Lance from her place at the back of his mind. He pawed back, or at least tried to, still unused to whatever bond it was they shared, still unused to having a sentient, robotic, space ship lion choose him, of all people.

A table materialised in front of them, a little round thing with fancy detailing like the kind his mama bought from antique stores. Two chairs accompanied it, fazing in like a cool glitch, equally detailed, and Alfor gestured at him to take a seat while he did so himself.

“I would be pleased to hear more of how you came to be here, Lance,” the king said warmly, eyes crinkling at the edges, “If you are free and have the time?”

He probably didn’t. Allura was probably calling for them all, demanding they train. Or maybe Coran was searching for him to help clean the cryopods. Or-

-the flowers swayed in the computer generated wind, Alfor’s hair glitched, ever so slightly, and blue trilled at him mournfully, at the remains of a king long dead revived by the press of a button.

“Sure,” Lance said carefully, sitting down on the offered chair and ignoring the happy look that crossed Alfor’s face. “But you gotta tell me about this other blue paladin guy, sounds like a genius to me.”

Alfor laughed, leaning in as Lance settled, and promised, “Oh, I will.”

#

“And then Shiro remembered this dude he fought in the arena with who had the exact same weapon and how he defeated him, and bam!” Lance narrated, miming Voltron’s counterstrike. “We won!”

Alfor dutifully clapped, expression clearly showing he was impressed. “This… robeast-” he stumbled over the word, “-sounds like a ferocious enemy. It is most impressive you were able to stay on equal ground with it, let alone defeat it. Your team is young, Lance, but gifted.”

Preening at the praise, Lance nodded, finally taking his seat again from where he’d been pacing, too caught up in bringing Alfor up to speed on what had happened since he’d last snuck in.

This had become something of a habit, stealing away from the group to have a few minutes with Alfor, making sure it was after Allura had come and gone to avoid running into her.

He felt bad about it, kinda, since this was her dad, and Lance absolutely knew he would’ve been jealous (and pissed) if someone had been doing the same with something that belonged to him.

But he also felt bad at the idea of… not coming here. At the idea of leaving Alfor behind in this huge field of pretty flowers with nobody but Allura for company. Sure, Alfor wasn’t actually a person, wasn’t actually the Alfor Allura and Coran knew. Sure, he was just memories and alien tech working to formulate what Alfor statistically would have said and in what tone and with what face, but…

… Still.

So Lance kept coming, time and time again. Kept an eye out for Allura and her long hair leaving the room, kept an eye out for just how much heartache she carried that day and her expressions; that little twist of her lips, the way her shoulders seemed lighter yet somehow heavier, the stronger voice she ordered them in – it all meant she’d visited Alfor.

And so Lance would visit after.

“You sure it’s okay for me to be here?” He asked anyway, fidgeting on the chair (and how exactly did the room materialise a chair?) as Alfor took a dainty sip of his fake tea.

“Of course,” Alfor replied with a smile, expression kind and welcoming. “I doubt I’m of much help, since you and your team seem to be outpacing myself and my own by lightyears, but I’m here anyway. And if nothing else…” The King paused, smile turning helpless, almost embarrassed. “I do enjoy your presence, Lance. I’ll be happy to have you for as long as it takes for you to get bored of this old man’s tales.”

Lance’s own lips pulled up into a grin, helpless in their joy, as he leaned forward and happily said, “No way, man! Your stories are great! Okay, so,” he threw himself back into his seat, determination furrowing his eyebrows. “I’ll keep coming. But if the others find out and they get pissed at me you gotta protect me, alright?”

Alfor’s snorted, amusement visible as he stroked his beard. “Hmmm… Let me think on it.”

Lance’s indignant squawk had him laughing.

#

The party had still been going strong when Lance had left it, struggling to keep himself in check and not bawl his eyes out like a little kid.

Coran sucked at comforting people, long arms struggling to eat up the distance the holomap spun through to reach the tiny planet known as Earth, showing the full breadth of distance between them.

So far away.

… But at least still there.

At least Earth was still there, Lance realised guiltily, taking in Coran’s heartbroken expression and misty eyes. At least he could still go there, right now even, if he wanted to leave the entire universe to the hands of the Galra. At least he knew his mom, his dad, his brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews were still all right.

Coran didn’t have that. Allura didn’t have that.

“But none of that, my boy.” Coran loudly said, slapping his hands against his thighs as he stood up. “We’ll get you home in a right tick! Just as soon as we defeat the Galra.”

Right.

He just had to stay strong till then.

He took Coran’s offered hand, squeaking a little as the Altean easily hoisted him up, and moved to follow. A tiny metallic whoosh whoosh noise hailed the arrival of Rover, the little triangle robot thing Pidge had suddenly popped up with one day, and Lance gave a distracted greeting to the thing as he followed Coran back to the festivities.

He wondered if Pidge would get him one of his own, if he asked nicely. Colour code the green light to blue and name it Estella, maybe. He glanced back at Rover, noticing again that it’s little beep boop’s were really cute, and-

Hang on.

He looked away, into the hallway, down the other end, Coran the only other soul present. He looked back, at Rover, the little machine floating genially towards the crystal, and-

“Wait, where’s-”

beep boop beep boop beep beep

beEP BEEEP-

“CORAN!”

#

“-y prince!” Steel in his hands, cold and metal- “Inhale, exhale,”

the stars were beautiful tonight, “-re you flirting with me, my lord?”

bayard in his hands, cold and metal- “ackshot, just like always”

umbasa, swirling up above, the constellation hidden in the cosmos, hidden in- 

“this isn’t right, alf-” but nobody listening. superstition, traditionalist, stuck on the words and lapels of his late mother, “don’t-”

quintessance. blue lion. other lions. “voltron.”

a woman’s face, red diafra’s under her eyes, red quintessance in her soul, and thirst drowning her whole-

umbasa. umbasa. umbasa.

a familiar voice, calling his name, “Lance?”

that wasn’t his name.

(that was his name.)

purple, alarms, a familiar, weary face with a scar across the bridge of his nose-

and bright yellow eyes belonging to a man that gripped his shoulder tight and said, “I’ll bring him back to you, every single time.”

ALaddoLrLance (who?) felt his lips pulling into a smile, trust and-

“what are you doing?”

“the quintessance-”

wrong, wroNG, WRONG- screaming, who was- Shiro? Shiro was screaming? W h y wouldn’t they listen to him he had to open his eyes and focus down the sight, align the target, pull back and inhale, and with the exhale, shoot.

bullseye.

“we do make a good team,” Lance murmured, the red armour holding him up squeezing him closer, holding him tight. “You guys make a good team!”

Red and blue, Alfor and Blaytz, pausing in their bickering to look at him, smiling.

HoNEggARvaR pleading with him, “my Prince no, we cannot stop, plEaSe-”

Lance woke up gasping.

[kats-randomology]

Here in the Garden...

He’d been searching for Liu Hai all morning. 

The toad had a talent for disappearing when he was needed. Or, at least when Gladstone wanted to ask about checkout; he always seemed to be busy, or unavailable at the moment, or on the other side of the casino that Gladstone had just traveled from. And each trip he found himself pulled towards the singing machines and friendly staff urging him to partake in whatever they were in charge of.

Not today though, this time, he was determined to find Liu Hai. 

He’d been here far longer than intended (was it weeks? A month? He wasn’t sure anymore), and despite the comfort and luxury of the hotel, he couldn’t help feeling on edge. He’d yet to peg down why, but one thing he did know is he wanted out of here.

All he had to do was find Toad; which was fast becoming easier said than done.

Gladstone grumbled under his breath as he approached the directive, his third time today, in search of the lobby. The last employee he’d asked said he was there…of course, the last two before her had said he was at the Aquariun stage and the buffet, so at this point Gladstone was convinced no one really knew where Liu Hai was.

“Now I know that is not where the gift shop was…” he seethed, rubbing at his eyes.

“Having trouble, Mr. Gander?”

He started at the voice, before turning to see one of the many frogs that helped run the casino–Poppy, he thought was her name–an innocently curious smile on her face. Gladstone sighed as he approached her with an agitated glower.

“Yeah, a little; I’m looking for Liu Hai, and everyone keeps pointing me in different directions and I swear the entire building reorganizes itself every two seconds and–!”

Gladstone took a moment to breathe, before continuing in a calmer tone.

“Sorry, just…tell me you know where he is? Or at least the lobby?”

The woman looked surprised at his sudden anger, but offered a friendly grin.

“I’m sorry for the inconvenience sir; Mr. Liu Hai has been busy preparing the unveiling of our new attraction. But he should be done by now. If you’d like to see him, just go through the doorway beside the stage.”

“What door, there wasn’t a–”

Glancing across the casino, he could see the water stage, and…a little off to the side, there was indeed a large doorway, surrounded by a golden frame. 

“Wh…that wasn’t….was it? I…forget it, forget it. Thanks.”

Gladstone made a beeline for the doorway, while the attendant watched him go with a cheerful smile. Once he was out of sight though, it quickly turned smug.

:::

Gladstone huffed as he marched down the long hall past the entry. All this running around, and not once had he noticed this hall. Maybe he’d just had tunnel vision? Well whatever, he’d found it, and if Liu Hai wasn’t back here, then so help the next employee he ran across. Up ahead was a set of double doors, with light spilling out from underneath. Once he reached them, he flung them open with a bang.

“Alright, Liu Hai, I’ve been all over this labyrinth trying to find you and I– and….I…whoa…”

All the furious words he’d had ready were abruptly shut down as he took in the scenery before him.

A huge garden, covering every inch of the room, with a variety of trees, flowers, and other flora types he couldn’t even name. A large glass dome made up the ceiling, letting in the sunlight from outside. 

He stood there for a moment, beak hanging open, before a voice spoke up.

“Oh, Mr. Gander, I wasn’t expecting to see anyone back here yet.”

He jumped at the sound, and turned to see Liu Hai emerging from behind a wall of trees. He wore an eager grin as he approached Gladstone and gestured around the room.

“We’ve had this in the works for a while, now we’re finally ready to unveil our newest attraction: The Gardens of Eden! Housing the largest variety of plant life in the country! What do you think?”

Gladstone gave a laugh as he descended the short flight of stairs, approaching one of the stone lined flower beds.

“This is amazing! You’ve got stuff here I’ve only seen in books! How’d you manage this?”

“Here at the House we pride ourselves on giving only the best to our guests; I’m happy to hear you like it.”

Gladstone merely gave a small grunt of affirmation as he moved to another plot. Liu Hai gave him a curious glance, following him.

“Forgive me, but you don’t strike me as the gardening type, Mr. Gander.”

At this, Gladstone finally paused in his excited wandering, and turned to Liu Hai, offering a shrug.

“Meh, I dabble, a bit. It’s a nice distraction.”

“Ah, indeed, gardening can be quite relaxing.”

“Yeah,” Gladstone snorted, “plants only want to grow; all they expect from you is water. They couldn’t care less about luck or shopping trips…”

“I…suppose–”

“And they don’t come kissing up to you when they want something and ditch you the second they decide they don’t need you anymore–!”

“I…are we still talking about plants?”

A heavy silence filled the greenhouse; Liu Hai merely observed him as he fidgeted with his cuff. After a minute ticked by, Gladstone coughed awkwardly, turning back to the row of foliage and straightening his jacket.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to get all…deep and emotional there! I, uh…sorry…”

“It’s nothing to worry about, Mr. Gander, I–” Liu Hai paused briefly, glancing off to the side, before switching back to Gladstone with an uncharacteristically serious expression, “I certainly understand the sentiment…”

“…you? Really?”

His skepticism wasn’t well hidden, and Liu Hai snickered a bit as he glanced upward.

“There’s a reason I haven’t seen my family in a long while….”

“Ah….sorry.”

“Never mind that, though; I believe you had something to ask me? Judging from your entrance…”

“Oh, right…um…”

Looking around, there clearly wasn’t enough time to take it all in before checkout…and he REALLY wanted to see a little more….one more day….couldn’t hurt, could it?

“….ah, never mind, I’ll get to it later.”

“As you wish; in the meantime, since you seem so interested, I’ll be happy to provide a personal tour of the gardens.”

“Sounds great but…don’t you have the casino to run?”

Liu Hai snickered at this, and replied in a hushed voice.

“That’s what the dozens of employees are for.”

Gladstone snorted, before perking up at the sight of one flower in particular, and quickly approaching the massive bush of cone shaped flowers.

“Oh, nice, these are really rare! They only bloom once every twelve years, you know?”

“No, actually…”

“Yeah, I got one in my garden at home, funny story really. Had the thing for two years and it suddenly starts flowering, I thought it was sick or something, finally had to get my aunt involved since she was the plant expert, turns out I was worrying for nothing! Oh, hey, cosmos! This one’s a rare breed too!”

“Expect nothing less, only the best specimens were handpicked for the gardens.”

The duo made their way through the greenhouse, Liu Hai offering some comments, but it was mostly Gladstone going on spiels about the plant life.

“Oh, did you know these originated Finland?”

“Those are a rare color for this species, it takes a very specific environment for it to be produced!”

“The story behind these are really fascinating if you’re interested…”

He hardly spent more than five minutes in one spot, quickly getting drawn to another display. He was too wrapped up in his excitement to notice the slightly exasperated frown Liu Hai was wearing as he went on, occasionally donning a tight grin when Gladstone turned back to him. A good while later, both were back at the entrance, and Liu Hai gave an amused chuckle. 

“And here I thought I’d be the one giving the tour, I didn’t expect you to be this enthused by a simple garden.”

Gladstone flushed, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously as he grinned.

“Heh, sorry, kinda…went all plant nerd there for a bit. It’s been a while since I really got to talk to…anyone about it.”

He leaned against the railing of the stairs and gave a sigh.

“Man, she would’ve loved this…”

Liu Hai quirked a brow at this, glancing at Gladstone with a curious frown.

“Who?”

Gladstone seemed to realize what he’d said, and quickly turned his gaze to the ground.

“Oh, uh, Matilda…she’s…my aunt; she, uh…she was all about plants and pretty much dragged me into it, so…”

“…I see. You two were close?”

“Kinda happens when you move into someone’s house and they raise you for the next, oh, twenty years. She handled the whole ‘super luck’ thing a lot better than most. Her brother though, hoo he does not like my luck….actually most of the fam doesn’t, but hey, I’m used to it. Matilda though, she had fun with it….she at least made me feel wanted…”

A moment of silence fell over them; Gladstone maintained his gaze on the ground, a faraway look in his eyes. Liu Hai observed him for a few seconds more, before clearing his throat.

“Well, I should get back to the floor; feel free to stay as long as you wish.”

“Yeah, thanks…see ya around.”

Liu Hai turned towards the doors, making a few steps forward, but suddenly paused, and turned back.

 “Oh, and Mr. Gander…do know you’ll always be welcomed here.”                         

“Ha, that’s funny coming from a casino owner,” Gladstone remarked, flashing a humored grin, “but, uh…thanks.”

Liu Hai gave a nod, and continued for the doors, while Gladstone turned to take in the sight of the gardens once more. He gave a content sigh as he leaned against the railing.

He missed the triumphant grin on the toad’s face as he left.

 ::::::::

 ::::::::

 ::::::::

 Liu Hai grumbled under his breath as he stormed through the casino; the employees and other illusionary folks were quick to part a path for him, but he paid them little mind. His was only focused on one thing at the moment. 

He was going to find that blasted goose, wherever he’d managed to secret himself away to. 

He’d been through the entire casino, had all the upper floors searched, taken apart the penthouse suit; he’d spent the better part of the morning looking for the troublesome gander. Liu Hai wasn’t sure HOW he’d managed to avoid him for this long, when the entire building was under his careful watch, but he supposed in reality, Gladstone WOULD be lucky AND angry enough to do so.

He’d become a rather difficult customer these last few days, since discovering the House’s little secret.

Liu Hai still snickered at the look of utter horror that had dawned on the his face, when he’d tried to flee out the front doors only to be stopped by the glowing chain.

But now, Liu Hai wasn’t laughing, instead growling quietly as he paused before the water stage.

Where did that blasted Gander get to?! He was still in the building, the active chain confirmed that at least, but where–?!

He caught sight of the door next to the stage, and after a moment nearly slapped himself; the gardens, of course! The entire area had been constructed specifically to Gladstone’s tastes, of course that’d be the place he’d hide. It was still relatively new, so it hadn’t come to mind during his earlier searching…

He marched through the short hall, willing the doors open as he approached, and stood on the stairway of the spacious greenhouse. Looking around, he couldn’t see Gladstone immediately, and took a few steps in before a voice suddenly called out.

“What, forget about this place? I’ve been here for like, five hours…”

Liu Hai turned to face the left leading path, and upon venturing down it, found the troublesome goose at last. Gladstone was huddled among a large mass of hibiscus flowers, leaning against the trunk of a tree amidst the bushes. He looked up with a sour expression as Liu Hai approached, and gestured at his outstretched leg.

“Was the chain really necessary?”

Indeed the chain was active, connecting the cuff around his ankle to the large glowing statue and rooting him in place.

“Considering it’s been barely two days and you’ve already attempted an escape through the laundry chute, yes, very necessary.”

Gladstone muttered under his breath, and pushed off the ground to stand with crossed arms as he regarded the toad.

“What do you want?”

Liu Hai snorted at this.

“You’re a smart man, Mr. Gander, you should know the answer to that.”

“I already told you,” Gladstone hissed angrily, “I am NOT playing anymore! I’m done with your games and contests and whatever other stupid idea you can come up with!”

 “You really should be careful what you say, Gladstone,” Liu Hai growled, suddenly looming over him with a sinister aura.

 “Your luck will not protect you from me…”

 “My luck is mine; it only works for me! I might not know why it let all of this happen, but I do know it’s going to get me back out, one way or another! You can’t keep me here forever!”

 A grin of malice split his face as Liu Hai leaned in close.

 “Watch me.”

 Gladstone, despite himself, took a step back, which didn’t go unnoticed. Liu Hai moved closer, and tilted the other’s head slightly as he continued.

 “Out there, fortune may smile on you, but in here, fortune is mine, it serves me. Therefore, you are mine; your only purpose now is to satisfy my appetite, and the sooner you accept that and start acting like a proper servant, the better.”

 Gladstone eyed him incredulously for a moment, before he gave a small chuckle. It turned into tearful laughter, and he ran a hand through his hair as he attempted to regain his senses. Liu Hai drew back slightly, mildly caught off guard by the strange behavior. 

 "Ahaha, o-oh…y-you know what’s the funniest thing about ALL of this? I actually thought I’d met someone who understood what it feels like to be seen as nothing but a tool! But nope, you’re just like everybody else; you only see how you can benefit from me! Never mind what I want or how I feel, as long as you can get something out of it! I actually trusted you! I opened up to you about her–!”

 He cut himself off with a sharp intake of air, and he quickly looked away, chest heaving as he forced his emotions down. A few minutes passed in uncomfortable silence, and he could feel Liu Hai’s intense gaze on him as he kept his eyes lowered.

  Finally, Liu Hai broke the quiet with a soft laugh, followed by a snap of his fingers. The chain vanished, and Gladstone reluctantly looked upward to meet his gaze.

“If you’re quite done with your moping, there’s plenty of games to be played and fortune to be had.”

Gladstone stared at him silently, before giving a mirthless snort.

“I don’t know why I’m surprised; plenty of other people have lied to take advantage of my luck…why would you have been any different?”

He shoved past Liu Hai, jamming his hands into his coat pockets, and slunk towards the door.

“Oh, I think you’ll find I never lied, Mr. Gander,”

A hand closed around his shoulders, forcing him to a stop.

“I said I understood your complaints, and I do. I simply don’t waste my efforts in trying to appease anybody but myself. Something you, unfortunately, didn’t quite learn in time; and really, don’t take it so hard. I’ve encountered dozens who claim to be masters of calling a bluff but never caught on to their situation. You’re no different.”

Gladstone grit his teeth, and jerked away from the hand, turning to glower at Liu Hai.

“Yeah? How many of them did you chain to the building? Cuz I’ve seen plenty of real people come and go here in the last month!”

 “Yes, well, unlike them, your luck is different; while theirs comes and goes, you have it in spades. You were doomed the moment you walked through my doors, no matter how sharp your eye is at spotting moochers. But your life here doesn’t have to be a struggle, Gladstone, you can be comfortable, happy even. All you have to do is play along.”

 Gladstone’s eyes narrowed, sharp teeth peeking through his beak.

“I am not staying here, you do not own me, and I’m going to be laughing when this dump goes up in flames as I walk away!”

 It was Liu Hai’s turn to bare his teeth as his eyes took on an angry glow. 

 “Now see, disrespectful talk like that will more than likely tick me off…”

 Gladstone was about to retort, but was beaten to the punch, quite literally, when an unseen force slammed into his stomach. Air left him as he dropped to the floor, clutching at his abdomen and desperately trying to restore the lost oxygen. He could sense Liu Hai standing over him, an angry aura coming off him.

 “Hear this, Gladstone, I do own you, and it’s in your best interest to keep me happy. You might be the luckiest man in the world, but I am a god, and I will be treated and talked to as such.”

 Coughing, Gladstone managed to shoot a glare up Liu Hai. He returned the glare as he stepped around Gladstone, stalking towards the door. 

 “Return to the main floor once you’ve recovered, and perhaps I’ll forget this ever happened.”

 Soon after, the doors slammed shut, leaving Gladstone to his thoughts.

 He hated that toad, hated him and his smug grin and his feigned benevolence that he’d so stupidly fallen for! 

 Acting like he was his friend all these weeks…how had he not seen the signs, he’d been through this countless times in the past. But somehow Liu Hai had managed to stay under his radar, deceived him, carefully enticed him to dispel little details about himself he hadn’t thought twice of at the time, but now could see how they’d been turned against him.

 Things like this garden; he’d offhandedly mentioned to the vendor at the gift shop that he had a book on the subject. That vendor must’ve brought it up to Liu Hai, that was how he’d known Gladstone would be entranced. 

 He hissed as he pushed himself up, having regained some control of his breathing; he took a long look around the greenhouse, a conflicted frown creasing his brow.

 He wanted to hate this place, he really did, but…he couldn’t bring himself to. It reminded him too much of home, of simpler, happier times, of her…perhaps that’s why he’d chosen to hide here, it felt safe. Safer than his room at least.

 After a moment, he heaved a sigh, and headed for the doors.

 For now, he knew he’d best follow Liu Hai’s orders, and keep things running smoothly and Liu Hai pacified.

 But he wasn’t about to stop fighting; his luck would see him through this. He was going to get out of here…

 And then he’d be the one laughing.

[thisishomenicktoonsau]

Just A Typical Morning

Sophie is just the typical 10-year-old girl. Except for her family life where she grows up in a foster home with a mom, a dad, 15 older siblings, six younger siblings, and several pets. Yup. Definitely typical. 

Hi, whoever is reading this. My name is Sophie Hathaway and this is my life. I am 10 years old and just moved to a new school. I’m not like other kids my age. I mean I go to school, hang out with my friends after school, I draw for competitions, I like soccer and video games but I also like stuffed animals and musicals. So I would say that I’m mostly normal.

Sophie was looking in a mirror getting ready for school in her tiny closet bedroom. She was dressed in a white tank top, a red plaid flannel shirt, jean leggings, and black converse. She tied her long curly ebony hair in a ponytail before putting her signature dark blue messenger hat on and turned to her white Maine Coon cat. “Well, Lion? What do you think?” Lion responded by lazily sprawling out on one of her shirts. Sophie rolled her midnight blue eyes and said “Thanks for the input Lion. Seriously that helps so much.” The moment Lion started to chew on the shirt she yanked it out from under him. Lion started to meow loudly in annoyance. Sophie smirked and said, “Yeah love you too bud.” She ruffled his fur and left her room her door ajar so Lion could wander in and out.  

The only way I’m not normal is family wise. I live in a foster home with several other kids. I’ve lived here since I was six years old and grew up in the younger half of the family. Lion came with me because he’s been my cat since I was five though he was my original mother’s cat. I kind of have learned to thrive in chaotic situations after living here for so long.

Sophie was looking for her backpack for school. She didn’t know why it wasn’t in her room with all her other things but she could chalk that up to it getting mixed up with some other moving boxes. She looked in the closest room to her own bedroom, being her brothers Timmy and Snap’s room, and saw a familiar bag strap sticking out from under the blue bed while Timmy’s Golden Retriever puppy, Sparky, was lying on the bed. She grabbed it and pulled it out from under the bed. “Timmy Turner! Can you please explain what MY backpack was doing under YOUR bed?!” Sophie yelled.

A brown haired, blue eyed, buck-toothed boy poked his head into the room. “I needed crayons for my comic book and you have the best crayons in the house,” Timmy explained like it was obvious.

This is Timothy Turner or “Timmy” for short. He’s older than me by a few months and has been here longer than any of us. See when he was two, our foster parents moved next door and noticed something not so good. His real parents were neglecting him and Timmy had a caretaker that was abusing him. So Cosmo and Wanda, who are our parents, did what was best and called social services on them. Cosmo and Wanda eventually adopted Timmy as their son and the rest is pretty much history. The weird thing about this story though is that we think Timmy may have had a twin sibling. Keyword: Think. There were two cribs in the house although since there wasn’t any record of Timmy’s birth and no other evidence that there was another baby in the house, it’s just theory for now. Sparky was Timmy’s tenth birthday present. Mom and Dad got him in March so he’s just a puppy.

Timmy acts like what you think a “typical” ten-year-old boy is. He likes gross things like dead frogs and literally has no idea how girls work to point I’m pretty sure he thinks females have a whole different language. He can be a selfish jerk sometimes but he can be a good brother too. We play video games together a lot and he once told I’m the sister he didn’t know he could wish for.

“Dude. Stop stealing my crayons!” Sophie said rolling her eyes.

“Then buy me some fancy ones like yours.”

“Right. Like I have my own money. We are literally both 10.” Sophie said deadpanned. Sophie was checking her box for missing crayons. Okay, everything seemed in order except. Hang on. Something was wrong with her blues. “Slate, Sky, Navy, Indigo, Cobalt, Teal, Ocean, Peacock, Azure, Cerulean, Lapis, Spruce, Stone, Aegean, Berry, Denim, Admiral, Sapphire, Arctic…. Hey. Where’s my blue crayon? I have all my other blues but not the normal blue one.” Sophie said looking up from her crayon box after counting them.

“Oh yeah! Nerd-tron borrowed it for his science junk notes,” Timmy said getting his own backpack for school.

“Ugh, you gotta be kidding me with this!” Sophie groaned as she stomped to the room next door and knocked.

“Jimmy! I need my crayon! You know I hate having an incomplete box!” Sophie waited for a few minutes before Jimmy opened the door and Jimmy’s mechanical dog Goddard suddenly ran by her legs.

“Oh hey, Sophie. What did you need again?” Jimmy asked.

“My blue crayon. You stole it from Tim who stole it from me.” Sophie explained.

“Oh, that was your crayon! No wonder it was such high quality!” Jimmy said.

“Yeah, so can I have it back?” Sophie asked.

“Of course! Let me get it for you.” Jimmy said as he started to search his desk area. Sophie followed him into his and ZIM’s shared room.

That’s James Neutron or “Jimmy” for short. He’s older than me by about a year and came here shortly after Timmy did. Nobody's quite sure what happened to his parents but Mom and Dad found him just wandering in traffic and took him to CPS. They did find some of his relatives on his father’s side but nobody took him because he’s apparently some sort of “bad omen” or something, so mom and dad took him in. It was then they were like “Well we already got the two kids, why not open up a foster home for more?” So he kinda started the whole Vanguard Home for Wayward Children in a way. He built Goddard when he was around six so it was a year before I got there.  

Jimmy is super smart, probably the smartest of all of us entirely being skilled in several different fields of science already. Though this can be annoying when he acts like a know it all and won’t admit when he makes a clear mistake. He stays mostly serious and doesn’t really play too much with us. Mostly because of Timmy. Timmy annoys him. However, he acts like a leader to us and takes care of us so that’s pretty good.

“Ah! Here it is!” Jimmy said holding up the crayon.

“Thanks, Jim. You’re a peach!” Sophie said as she put it in her bag.

“No problem. See you downstairs.” Jimmy said as he grabbed his bag and headed out. Sophie also started to head out starting to recount her crayons until she bumped into a teenage boy with black hair and ice blue eyes.

“Ow sorry, Danny…” Sophie said grinning sheepishly.  Danny rubbed his head as he stood up with his Bulldog, Cujo’s leash in hand.

“It’s cool Soph I was just gonna take Cujo out real quick. Hold on. You got a smudge on your face.” Danny said trying to wipe it off.  

“Mom c’mon stop!” Sophie whined as she tried to squirm out his grasp.

Danny groaned and said “Sophie. If you just hold still this would be over in a second.”

A high-pitched male voice called to them interrupting the squabble. “Danny! Sophie! What type of eggs do you want for breakfast?”

“Scrambled, please! And can I have hot chocolate to drink SB?” Sophie asked politely as she rushed to the banister to get away from Danny, making him sigh shaking his head.

“Of course sweetheart! Danny! What about you?” SB called back from the kitchen.

“I’ll take sunny side up SB!” Danny said as he and Cujo walked down the stairs. Sophie watched SB’s elderly cat Gary go downstairs followed by Lion and Sparky.

Those were two of my older brothers Daniel Fenton/”Danny” for short and Spencer Bob Sawyer-Patterson or “SB” for short. They both came here not too long after Timmy and Jimmy.

Danny is 14 and a freshman in high school. His parents were great scientists but died tragically in a lab accident when he was around four-ish. While his sister’s Jazz and Dani went to an all girls home Danny was not allowed to follow them making him end up here. Soon after he got here Mom and Dad got him a bulldog named Cujo to help him cope.

Danny is a really kind older brother. He’s kind of one of our parents second in command. So much so we actually call him mom because he always scolding us for doing the stupid things we do and wiping crap from our faces like you just saw. Danny always groans when we call him that even though he tells groan-worthy puns in return. Though we all know he secretly likes us calling him that as a term of endearment.

SB is 20 and currently going to culinary school while he lives here at home with us. Like Jimmy, we don’t actually know what happened to his parents. Every time he’s asked about it SB just bawls his eyes out. So we just stopped asking. All we know about his parents is that they are the ones that took SB to get his cat Gary, who has lived so long none of us know how old he is. Not even SB who got him as a full grown cat. Timmy swears he’s immortal while I’m just hoping we don’t come home from school one day and find him under a sofa “sleeping”.

SB is super sweet to all of us though he can be a little clueless and super innocent at times. Though I think he knows that strangely enough. Mom and Dad let him cook the meals for all of us cause he’s just such a good cook. He even makes all our lunches for school which takes so long he actually gets up at 4:00 AM to take his time making them. He’s definitely more of an early bird than any of us.

“Danny! Hurry up! We gotta leave in 30 minutes!” a black haired and violet-eyed teenage goth girl called from downstairs. Danny got to the bottom of the stairs with Cujo in hand and Sophie followed close behind.

“I know Sam. I just gotta take Cujo out to pee.” Danny said as he kissed her cheek before going outside.

“Morning dad,” Sophie said as she passed Sam to get to the kitchen.

“Good morning to you too son,” Sam said as she bumped the back of Sophie’s head.

Sophie went into the kitchen where she saw her brother SB with his curly dyed bright yellow hair with his original ginger hair peeking out and bright blue-eyes putting food down in front of her other older brother with dyed pink hair and dark brown eyes named Patrick. Jimmy and Timmy were already in the kitchen racing each other in an egg eating race. “Morning SB. Morning Pat-Pat.” Sophie said as she kissed both of their cheeks.

“Morning Soph-a-Loaf! Your breakfast is almost ready!” SB said cheerfully as he put down a fruit salad down for Sam who just walked in with her spider-shaped bag.

“Thanks, SB,” Sophie said sitting down next to Patrick who was scarfing down his food loudly which went along so nicely with Timmy and Jimmy’s muffled yelling. Sophie giggled as Sam pinched the bridge of her nose.

SB put a hand on her shoulder and asked “Tea?” Sam nodded quickly as SB poured her a cup of earl gray tea.

That is my sister Samantha Manson or “Sam” for short and my brother Patrick Star. They both came here about a few months after Danny and SB. Both have connections to Danny and SB too. Sam has been Danny’s best friend since kindergarten and now she is his girlfriend. Patrick has also been SB’s best friend since kindergarten.

Sam is the same age and grade as Danny. Her parents tried to force her into a life of fame and fortune that she frankly never wanted. So much so she ran away from her parents and ended up here. She and Danny just kind of clicked and got together by the end of middle school. Mom and Dad were pretty accepting of this. They just ask Danny and Sam make sure if and when they do something they are either out of the house, the entire family but them is out of the house, or lock the door which I’m still not sure what they mean by that. Do they mean kiss? Cause they’ve kissed in front of us before. Like more than once.

While we call Danny “Mom” we call Sam “Dad” a lot as an inside joke between all us. If Danny mothers us by taking care of our injuries and wiping stuff off our faces then Sam fathers us by punishing us when we do something wrong. Like when one of my older brothers, Manny,  “wandered” into a Victoria Secret to see girls. Even Danny knew that he was a dead man when Sam went to fish him out. I do still look up to her as one of my female role models. I mean she so strong-willed and passionate that I kinda wanna be like her when I’m older.

Patrick is 22 and currently going through community college though he’s not that great at it. Not that he’s stupid, he’s just a little slow. His parents have been out of the picture for a while so his older sister was taking care of him. A few years later he said his sister got “lost in the tide”. Whatever that means. He also has a pet a rock named Rocky that he randomly just found in the park one day and took it home with him.

Patrick’s such a sweetheart and really tries hard for us despite his faults like him being slow and kinda lazy too. Seriously he like sleeps a lot. I think I tend to pick up habits from my siblings cause I swear I have fallen asleep in some weird places just like him. Mom and Dad depend on him to feed the pets while SB feeds us.

Patrick got up and started putting down the food bowls for the pets after scarfing down his breakfast. He put down a bowl of nuts and bolts for Goddard, three bowls of big dog for Sparky, Boodles, and Perrito, a bowl of medium dog food for Cujo, two bowls of cat food for Gary and Lion, he put some sprinkles on Rocky, put out a muffin for Minimoose, and he put out a bowl of clams for Grudge. Goddard, Sparky, Gary, and Lion were already eating. Danny came in with Cujo and Cujo made a dash for his bowl as SB put down Danny’s and Sophie’s eggs. As SB poured Sophie’s hot chocolate into a mug, a tan boy with messy brown hair and green eyes rubbing his eyes sleepily came into the kitchen.

“Morning Tak!” Sophie said chipperly.

“Subah mere pyaare parivaar.” (Translation: ‘Morning my lovely family.’ {Hindi}) Tak said obviously not being too terribly awake as he made his way to the toaster. He spent a minute staring at it before he started to hit it. “Why. Won’t. This. Cursed. Machine. Work!”

Danny promptly went and stopped Tak from hitting it. “Tak. Leave the toaster alone. If you want toast so much then just sit next to Sophie and I’ll make it for you but Tak... the toaster isn’t even on.” Danny calmly explained.

“Oh…” Tak mumbled blushing as he sat next to Sophie. Sophie giggled and kissed his cheek.

That’s my brother Tak Pupanunu. He’s 13 and came here about a year after Danny, SB, Sam, and Patrick. He was the first one of us to come from a different country which he was raised in India. As far as we know his parents gave him up at one of the shrines and was adopted by his Uncle Jibolba and his adopted older brother Lok. However, Jibolba started to get sick and had to stay in the hospital most of the time. They moved to America so Jibolba could get better care. With Lok already being of age and Tak wasn’t it was inevitable he would be put into foster care. Tak is still allowed to visit Jibolba and Lok so it’s all good.

Tak’s gotten a good grasp on English though he still isn’t used to the technology. He’s a lot more mature than people give him credit for though he has been dragged into the childish side of the family by me, Timmy, and Snap before too. I was really scared when I first got here but Tak really helped me and actually treated me like a person unlike most of the legal people I had to go through to get here.

Now, this is where stuff gets kind of complicated so listen up. There was a very short pause between when Tak came and when the next kid came. Like maybe a month or so. Then Mom and Dad got five kids in a month. Like no joke. The first week were my brothers ZIM and GIR, the second week was my brother Manny, the third week was my sister Jenny, and the fourth week was my brother Blik. All of that in a row. It’s kind of insane how it happened.

“Good Morning my HORRIBLE family!” said a boy with light green skin, lavender eyes, and black hair strolled into the kitchen.

Sam rolled her eyes as she handed Tak his toast. “Morning ZIM. Did you take your meds this morning?” ZIM paused before shaking his head no.

“Zion Issac Martinez! You are supposed to take those every day.” Danny scolded.

ZIM looked down kicking the floor and mumbled out an apology. Danny sighed as he got him the right amount of pills and a cup of juice. ZIM took them without any protest.

Sophie then realized something. “Hey ZIM? Where’s GIR?”

ZIM looked at Sophie and said, “Well I did think he was following me down the stairs.” Suddenly everyone heard a loud squeaking noise. Sophie suddenly went to the stairs and caught a little five-year-old with bright blue eyes and long curly black hair.

“Hi, mama!” GIR chipperly said. Sophie sighed as a plush moose started floating around her.

“Thanks, Minimoose. Your muffin is on the counter.” Minimoose squee-ed happily as he flew into the kitchen. Sophie carried GIR into the kitchen with her.

“ZIM! You need to watch your baby brother better!” Sophie said as he put GIR in one of three booster seats and getting a bowl of Cheerios for him to eat.

“Not my fault he can’t walk downstairs.” ZIM shot back as Minimoose somehow ate that muffin in one swift motion.

Those are my brothers Zion Issac Martinez or “ZIM” for short, Greggory Ian Ramirez/“GIR” for short, and their robot Minimoose. ZIM is 12 while GIR is only five. GIR actually came here when he was pretty much a newborn. Oh, where to begin with these two. See ZIM was born to his mom as a really sick baby and he still is kind of sick but it’s better than when he was a toddler. I think it’s a sickness that affects his stomach and his liver so he can’t eat right and makes his skin this sickish greenish hue I call ‘I’m about to puke.’ green.

Anyway, their mom died shortly after GIR was born and with no father in the picture ZIM & GIR’s cousins took custody of them. They were abusive towards ZIM and didn’t take care for GIR. Eventually they just kinda got bored of toying with ZIM and listening to GIR’s cries that they just dropped them off here and didn’t look back. ZIM soon built Minimoose to care for both of them with daily reminders for ZIM to take his meds and keeping an eye on GIR.

ZIM is a bit… much? Oh, how do I even describe him? He’s brash, overconfident, and arrogant literally thinking he’s better than every one of us and better than anyone that he’ll ever meet. I have a theory that it’s because of him being bullied for being this sickly that he just ended up like this. He’s also really smart like Jimmy he just can’t really focus on a project for too long. I think mom once said after bringing him home from his doctor that he has ADHD or something like that.  ZIM is a good guy. Really he is. It's just really, really, REALLY hard to find the good in him. He does have his moments though. As for GIR well… I can literally describe him using two words. Sunshine and Sugar. Make of that what you will.

“We should probably teach GIR how to properly walk downstairs at some point,” Jimmy pointed out.

“We could probably cut his hair and he would be fine.” Timmy also pointed out as Sophie got out a brush and gasped.

“Absolutely not! His hair is a gift to society and should never be cut!” She started to brush GIR’s hair and tie it back into pigtails as GIR happily ate his Cheerios.

“So are you gonna brush his hair every single day?” Tak asked teasingly.

“I will if it means preserving his beauty!” Sophie said confidently.  

“What are we talking about?” a boy with tan skin, chocolate brown eyes with a scar over one of them, and curly chocolate black hair walked in with his bag.

SB handed him a plate with a sausage smothered in hot sauce. “Soph-a-Loaf got offended by the idea of cutting GIR-Bear’s hair.”

“I don’t see what the big deal is? It’s just a haircut to make him look shiny and clean!” Patrick said clapping.

“Of course it’s a big deal! How else is GIR gonna get all the ladies in his kindergarten class? He’s stinking handsome with his hair.” The boy said ruffling up GIR’s hair as GIR giggled and the boy took a bite of his sausage.

“Thank you, Manny for seeing my point,” Sophie said.

“Anytime Mi Amor,” Manny said winking at Sophie. Sophie groaned and rolled her eyes.

That’s my brother Manuel Pablo Gutierrez O’Brian Equihua Rivera or “Manny” for short. He’s 13 years old and actually is the second one of us to come from a different country. That being Mexico. His parents got divorced when he was really little and lived with his father and grandfather. However, it was deemed an unsafe living environment for Manny to live in so he was sent here. Both his parents and grandfather do still have visiting rights so that’s good at least.

Like Tak, he adapted to speaking English pretty fast and unfortunately has developed quite a habit of flirting like I mentioned with the whole Victoria Secret incident. Also, he just likes rebelling against authority just for the fun of it. Don’t get me wrong he’s just as protective as all my other brothers but he can be a bit obnoxious sometimes.

“What? Can’t handle my charm huh?” Manny said wiggling his eyebrows.

“Yeah, something like that…” Sophie mumbled.

Manny narrowed his eyes and squeezed her sides as he said “¡Ataque sorpresa!” (Translation: ‘Surprise Attack!’ {Spanish})

Sophie let out an inhuman noise and bumped her knee on the table. “You little ffff,” Sophie growled blushing.

“Sophia. Language. Little ears are listening.” Danny said pointing to GIR.

“...fluffer.” Sophie finished with a bite in her voice. Manny laughed along with Timmy and ZIM as he high-fived them. “Why do I suffer this type of abuse in this household?” Sophie grumbled.  

“Boys leave your sister alone. Just cause she’s younger than you doesn’t give you the right to pick on her just at random. At least be consistent if you are gonna tease her,” a teenage girl with red hair, blue eyes, and a robotic brace on her right arm and leg scolded as she walked into the kitchen. The boys rolled their eyes and each mumbled out an apology.

Sophie smiled and said “Thanks, Jenny.”

“Anytime Soph. Say, Jim? Can you loosen up the brace on my arm? I think it’s too stiff and I can’t really move it around that well.” Jenny explained.

“Sure thing Jen!” Jimmy said getting out a screwdriver from his backpack.

“You keep a screwdriver in your bag?” Sam asked raising an eyebrow. Jimmy just shrugged and got to work.

That’s my one of my other older sisters Jennifer Wakeman or “Jenny” for short. She’s 16 and is the oldest of us girls besides Mom. Jenny and her mom got into a really bad car crash that left Jenny’s mom paralyzed from the waist down and in a wheelchair. Jenny wasn’t hurt nearly as bad but it left her right arm and leg paralyzed and unusable without special braces. Jenny can still visit her mom who now lives in an assisted living facility. She lived in all girls home before being transferred here.

Despite the trauma she’s been through, Jenny is a super sweet and upbeat person if not a little naive at times too. She’s usually the one who takes all of us shopping for clothes whenever we need it. She’s super into fashion and literally spends hours on the computer researching the latest trends so she can be a designer when she’s an adult.

“Finished!” Jimmy said as he pulled the screwdriver away and put it back in his bag. Jenny flexed her arm and sighed happily grabbing a granola bar to eat.

“Much better. Thanks, Jimmy!”

“No problem Jen.”

“By the way after school, we need to go to the mall for some new summer clothes,” Jenny stated munching on the granola bar.

“And who’s exactly paying for this?” a man with brown skin, black hair tied back in a man bun, and goldish eyes asked as he walked into the kitchen with a newspaper under his arm.

“Good Morning Blik!” Jenny said cheerily as she hugged his arm. “I was kinda hoping you would?” Jenny asked batting her eyes at him. Blik side eyed Jenny and it was then decided by Sophie that her sister needed help.

Sophie tugged at Blik’s pants and said in a cutesy voice “Pwease Bliky? We are growing children. We need new clothes.”

Blik blushed at the nickname, sighed, and picked Sophie up placing her on his hip. “Alright fine. I will pay for the clothes.”

That is our oldest brother Blik Cramdilly. He’s 25 and just finished college this year but moved back to help Mom and Dad take care of us all. His father ditched him and his mom after he and his brothers were born. Unfortunately, their mother passed away when they were kids and their grandmother passed away when they were teenagers. This led to them being unable to inherit their massive fortune and while his brothers, Waffle and Gordon, had family members to take care of them due to both their father's side of the family, Blik did not. This is how he ended up in foster care. Six months later he did inherit his fortune along with his two brothers before they went off to college. However, Blik remained loyal to our strange family and would come back to visit us until he graduated. He then came back home to help raise us and help with the finances.

Blik can be a real grump sometimes. And loud. Very loud too. He likes buying things for himself so he can seem very powerful to those who try to cross our family. Even though he acts like it’s the worst thing in the world I think that he secretly likes buying us things. I don’t know, he just seems like he’s in good mood after seeing me with the tablet he bought me for drawing or when SB thanks him for the new set of pots and pans Blik got for him. He also is the one who keeps track of our doctor visits and allergies surprisingly enough. I think that shows he’s at least somewhat concerned for our wellbeings.

“Ugh, do we have to go clothes shopping AGAIN? We already have okay clothes.” Tak complained.

Jenny sighed and booped Tak’s nose. “Someday dear brother you will understand the importance of fashion.”

Blik put Sophie down and said, “Alright does everyone have their backpacks?” He was met with a chorus of Yes’s, Yeah’s, Yup’s, and Duh’s.

“Alright then. SB give everyone their lunches.”

“Okey Dokey!” SB said cheerfully as he handed everyone a personalized lunch box.

The lunch boxes were hanging up on a rack in the kitchen. Each lunch box was a different color to tell who’s was who’s. Blue for Jimmy, Pink for Timmy, Green for Danny, Violet for Sam, Yellow for SB, Lime for Patrick, Orange for Tak, Magenta for ZIM, Teal for GIR, Brown for Manny, Bright Blue for Jenny, and Light Pink for Sophie.

“By the way, your sushi is in the fridge whenever you eat your lunch today,” SB said looking back at Blik who was getting coffee.

“Thanks, SB.” Blik said taking a long sip of that coffee from a ‘Nope.’ mug.

A frazzled looking woman with pink curly hair and wearing a yellow blouse came into the kitchen. “Okay! It is almost time for school! Is everyone in the kitchen? Let me get a headcount,” she said as she started silently started to count.

That’s our mom Wanda Cosma. Her dad runs a successful garbage company and she’s the heiress so we get funds from her dad. It’s pretty cool. She may run the company if she ever gets sick of being a stay at home mom which I don’t think is happening anytime soon.

She’s pretty much our responsible parent. You know the usual stuff. Stopping us from doing stupid things and making sure we don’t go to the hospital more than once a month each. That kind of stuff. She tends to play bad cop in actually disciplining us instead of letting us run wild and free. She’s actually really great at balancing all of us and making sure we get the attention we deserve and/or crave.

“Wait there is only 13 of you and Poof is upstairs with your father so which nine are we missing?” Wanda asked.

Blik looked at what lunch boxes are left. “Indigo, Aqua, Fuschia, Bubblegum Pink, Red, Gray, Bright Green, Powder Blue, and Moss Green.”

Wanda was trying to connect the colors to the kids as Sophie spoke up. “Snap isn’t down here.”

“And Boodles didn’t come in for breakfast…. so Bunsen isn’t up yet either.” Jimmy deduced.

“Neither did Perrito so Dora isn’t up,” Jenny added.

“Meaning Marinette and Tikki aren’t up either,” Sam concluded.

“Now that you mention it… I don’t remember seeing Adrien or Plagg get up either.” Danny said.

“Well, I know Vendetta and Charlotte are up,” Manny said shrugging.

“Where are they then?” Wanda asked with her hands on her hips.

“In the backyard with Grudge doing… something? I don’t know. Vendetta is a weird kid.” Manny said throwing his arms up like ‘what do you want me to do about it?’

Wanda sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose as she walked out of the kitchen and into the foyer. “Snap White! Bunsen Knai’livac! Dora Marquez! Marinette Dupain-Cheng! Tikki Dupain-Cheng! Adrien Agreste! Plagg Agreste! Charlotte Winfrey! Vendetta Mortcheva! It is time for school! Come to the kitchen!” Wanda waited for a moment before she heard feet running from the downstairs bathroom and down the stairs.

From the downstairs bathroom was a pale teenage girl with blueish-black short pigtails blue eyes, and freckles carrying a five-year-old girl with fair skin, short dark red hair, and matching blue eyes. The two coming down the stairs was a very lightly tanned teenage boy with blond hair and green eyes carrying a five-year-old boy with dark brown skin, messy black hair, and matching green eyes.

The two teens nearly crashed into each other as they both said with a slight French accent: “Sorry mom!”

Wanda shook her head. “What were you doing that took you so long? Marinette? Adrien?”

“Tikki’s hair was a real mess so I’ve been messing with it so it stays flat for the day,” Marinette said as she let Tikki down to get a poptart from SB. Wanda nodded to Marinette before looking at Adrien and Plagg for their excuse.

“Plagg was being a butt and whining about going to school so he was not being cooperative this morning,” Adrien said bluntly.

“SCHOOL IS BORING!” Plagg yelled from Adrien’s arms.

“Plagg sweetie. If GIR and Tikki have to go to kindergarten then so do you. As much as you want it to be so, Adrien can’t carry everywhere.” Wanda explained calmly.

Plagg pouted and said “Fine but there better be Camembert in my lunch.”

Wanda nodded and looked at SB who was giving the Bubblegum Pink and Red lunch boxes to Marinette and Tikki. “Oh right!” SB said as he grabbed the Gray and Bright Green lunch boxes and walking over to Adrien and Plagg. He handed Adrien the Gray lunch box before kneeling down to Plagg’s height giving him the Bright Green lunch box.

“And I put extra Camembert so you can be an extra good boy today!” SB smiled.

Plagg grinned hopping up and down. “Cool! Thanks, SB!”

If you couldn’t tell the girls are Marinette Dupain-Cheng and her little sister Tikki while the boys are Adrien Agreste and his little brother Plagg. Adrien is 15, Marinette is 14, and Tikki and Plagg are both five years old just like GIR. All four of them are originally from France actually and came around the same time about a few months before Poof was born so it was a little stressful for mom but dad handled it really well. Marinette and Adrien are also dating too and follow the same rules as Danny and Sam.

Marinette and Tikki’s parents tragically died in a car crash on a really rainy night while Marinette was babysitting Tikki. Her parents always dreamed of moving to America with their daughters to start a franchise of bakeries so that’s what Marinette told her grandmother, who really was too busy traveling to take care of her granddaughters. So she came over to America with them and dropped them both off here and they stayed here ever since.

Adrien and Plagg’s story is a bit more troubling. See shortly after Plagg was born Adrien’s mother went missing and Adrien’s father became more and more closed off towards his sons. His father wanted the Agreste name to be absolutely perfect with no smudges what so ever. So he forced Adrien to be a model and controlled what Adrien did, where he would go, who he would talk to, and even what he ate. Plagg though wasn’t as treated as “nice” as Adrien was. Their father didn’t see Plagg as his son due to his skin color and locked him away in a back bedroom. Adrien was the only one allowed to care for him and this caused Plagg to become inseparable with Adrien. After Adrien’s bold move of divorcing his father, he and Plagg were moved to be closer to their mother’s friends, the Bourgeois’, who lived in America leading them to come here.

Marinette is a lot like Jenny actually. She’s sweet, outgoing, and very into fashion. She’ll be the one most likely to help Jenny shop for clothes for us. This is because the boys don’t care except for Adrien, all Sam knows is Hot Topic, I get distracted by the simplest things, Dora is still new to this “teenage girl” thing, and Tikki, Vendetta, and Charlotte are way too young to understand. Though her differences from Jenny, Marinette is a bit more awkward in social situations and way clumsier than any of us. She has her moments of confidence though. Especially when she’s sticking up for Tikki or any of us for that matter.

Tikki is the polar opposite of both GIR and Plagg oddly enough. For a five-year-old, she is incredibly calm and quiet. Like to strange level. Of course, she’s extremely kind and loving towards us. Sometimes though she just quietly follows us around. She does this for cookies. We give her a cookie and she goes away to follow someone else. We know we shouldn’t be feeding her habit but that’s literally all we can do. She won’t accept anything else. The only one that doesn’t seem to mind is Marinette because she’s used to this. Tikki is a really sweet girl though.

Adrien is definitely a people person during parties but he’s actually much of an introvert due to his father’s “brainwashing”. We’ve been helping him get more freedom though. This has turned him into a more fun loving person. Oh sure he’s still kinda serious but he’s getting better. Unfortunately, Danny has gotten him into saying puns and it’s gotten kind of annoying. Still, Adrien is an extremely kind person despite what his father has done to him over the years and is being a big help to us with the smaller kids.

Plagg apparently used to be a very silent and obedient child under his father’s rule according to Adrien. Yeah... I don’t buy it for a second. To me at his best Plagg is carefree and sarcastic, at his worst he’s a lazy and sour little kid. He has become Timmy, Manny, and Snap’s protege when it comes to pranks. It sucks but it makes him happy so why not? Plagg is also an extremely picky eater. He will not eat anything unless we give him Camembert cheese with it. It’s kinda weird.  

“By the way Mari? Tikki? Where’s Dora? Don’t tell me she’s still asleep.” Wanda said.

“Oh no. Perrito was whining earlier this morning so Dora took him out earlier than she usually does.” Marinette said as she bit into a banana.

Adrien came and wrapped an arm around Mari. “I think it was like six o’clock when she left cause I was in the bathroom with Plagg.”

“Well do you know when she’ll be back?” Wanda asked. Marinette tried to remember as Tikki tugged on her foster mother’s pant leg. “Yes, Tikki? What is it?”

Tikki starred at Wanda chewing on her poptart until she finally said: “Dora said she would be back before school.” Just as Tikki said that in walked a 12-year-old girl with tanned skin, long chocolate brown hair, and brown eyes holding a leash with a chocolate lab at the end of it.

“Lo Siento mama. Perrito really had to go to the bathroom,” (Translation: ‘Sorry mom.’ {Spanish}) the girl said.

Wanda sighed and said “It’s alright Dora. Just remember to take your phone with you next time you go out with Perrito. Okay?”

“Si, mama.” (Translation: ‘Yes, mom.’) Dora said letting Perrito off the leash to get his food. “By the way Patrick, could I have one of those little cookies for Perrito? He had a hard time going outside.” Dora asked. Patrick nodded as he got a special biscuit for Perrito and put it in Perrito’s food.

“Dora! Here’s your lunch box.” SB said handing the Fuschia lunch box to her.

Dora grinned and said “Gracias SB!” (Translation: ‘Thanks, SB!’)

That’s Dora Marquez. She’s 12 years old and roughly came here about a few months after I did. Like Manny, she came here from Mexico and moved to the states when she was around eight years old with her parents, her little brother and sister, her grandmother, and Perrito. When she turned nine her parents had to go back on an expedition of the rainforest to help some injured animals so while her grandmother and siblings stayed in the city, Dora and Perrito moved in with us.

Dora is a super kind person. Like to the point that it’s almost sickly sweet and I don’t think I’ve ever seen her get angry at like anything. She is kind of a tomboy like me so I look up to her a lot and like to go on adventures with her. Though lately she’s been getting more and more girly. I mean I don’t mind it so much it’s just that I either have to go with my sisters who are girlier than I am or with the boys who can be very, very annoying. Otherwise, though Dora is probably the nicest sister I could ask for.

“Dora? Did you see Bunsen or Snap get up for school?” Blik asked as Dora turned to him.

“Well I did see Bunsen’s door closed but I’m not sure about Snap,” Dora said shaking her head.

“Oh. Snap is still asleep. At least he was when I left our room.” Timmy said casually.

Wanda and Blik both facepalmed. “Sport, if he was still asleep why didn’t you wake him up?” Wanda asked.

“I dunno. I’m not his keeper!” Timmy argued.

Blik mumbled an ‘Oh my god.’ as Wanda asked: “Can one of you please go and remind your brothers that you can’t sleep in on a school day?”

“I’ll do it!” Sophie said raising her hand and then running upstairs.

“Thank you, sweetie!” Wanda called after her.

I guess it’s my turn to tell you about me huh? Like I said at the beginning my name is Sophie Hathaway and I’m 10 years old. I used to live in Hawaii with my biological family and we were all pretty happy. That was until my mother died when I was three then our family just started to drift apart. By the time I was six years old everyone was kinda placed where they needed to be and while I was supposed to go with my uncle, he was traveling too much to take care of me. So that’s how I ended up here a few years after Blik came but before Dora, Marinette, Tikki, Adrien, and Plagg. I still see some of my older siblings often enough and my dad comes to visit us once a month with my siblings Skylar, Silas, Liv, Nate, and Stef so it’s okay I guess.

I was really scared of everyone when I first got here though. The smells and sounds were all different and while I was used to having a big family these people were basically strangers to me. Also, I spoke Hawaiian primarily in my old house and now I am forced into English daily now which six-year-old me did not approve of at all. However, they were understanding knowing I needed time and over that time I learned to trust them which was very hard for me to do. Now I couldn’t imagine my life without them.

Sophie finally made it upstairs and was pulled from her thoughts when she heard the bathroom faucet running.

“Maybe Snap or Bunsen is already up?” Sophie thought as she knocked on the bathroom door. “Hey, is someone in here?” A few seconds later a man with neatly combed green hair holding a little baby boy with a tuft of curly purple hair and purple pajamas came out of the bathroom. “Morning Dad! Morning Poof!” Sophie cooed at her little brother.

“Morning Muncha-Bunch,” Cosmo said kissing the top of her head.

That’s our dad Cosmo Cosma. He eloped with our mom! His mom never did forgive him for that but it’s fine. She stopped being mad at our mom when we came into the picture. She’s like the super cool grandma that brings us gifts like all the time.

Cosmo is our fun parent that likes to take us on trips and out to eat a lot. Though Wanda seems to rain him in when he goes too far because he can be a little careless at times but he definitely loves us. Like I said he’s the good cop to Wanda’s bad cop. He usually sneaks us dessert when Wanda scolds us too hard.

And that little baby he’s holding is our baby brother Poof. Poof is Mom and Dad’s only biological kid but despite that, they still love us equal. Poof is only like a year old so he’s the youngest of all of us

He is literally the sweetest thing. We all take turns looking after him. Except for Vendetta, Charlotte, GIR, Tikki, and Plagg. Four out the five of them should never be trusted with babies. I mean Tikki is arguably okay but everyone else is a disaster waiting to happen so just trust me on this. Don’t.

“So what are you doing upstairs? I thought you guys were ready for school?” Cosmo asked bouncing a gurgling Poof.

“Well most of us are but Snap, Bunsen, Charlotte, and Vendetta aren’t. They didn’t come downstairs.” Sophie explained.  

“Well, I saw Snap was still in bed with his door open and your sisters are outside but not sure about Bunsen,” Cosmo said tapping his chin.

“Thanks, Dad! I’m gonna go figure this out.” Sophie said.

“Okay. Get your brothers up though. We are on the clock!” Cosmo said patting her head before heading downstairs with Poof gurgling.

“I will!” Sophie called back.

She made her way to Timmy and Snap’s room to see her light blond brother hugging his pillow dreaming. Sophie sat down on his bed and started to gently shake his shoulder. “Snap. C’mon you gotta get up. We gotta go to school.”

Snap groaned and gripped his pillow tighter. “Mmmm five more minutes Buckette…” He said in his thick Bronx accent.

“No, you need to get up like right now,” Sophie said sensing the urgency of the situation. “We leave in literally 15 minutes.” Snap snored loudly to indicate the conversation was over. Sophie narrowed her eyes and said, “You leave me no choice dear brother.” Sophie pulled back her covers, slipped her hands under Snap’s light blue t-shirt, and tasered his sides.

Snap flipped the heck out and made a girlish squeal before falling out of bed. “What the heck Buckette?!” Snap yelled his bright blue eyes glaring at her.

“Told you I was left no other choice.” Sophie shrugged sticking out her tongue.

That’s one of my younger older brothers, Snap White. He’s 10 like me and Timmy though he’s a few months older than Timmy. He came here about six months after Poof was born. He originally came from a foster home in Greenland before moving to the states. Specifically the Bronx part of New York City which is where he gained his accent. So his speaking is a mix of West Greenlandic and English. He didn’t really enjoy being moved again so he acted out a lot which concerned my parents. He got super mad at a teacher for telling him his superhero clothes were ridiculous and put glue on their chair which Mom and Dad were not happy about. Then one day he saw me drawing and asked me if I was an artist. I said yes and suddenly he’s super cuddled up to me. Cut to a day later and we are basically best friends. He tells me that his cape is actually his old baby blanket and it’s the only thing that makes him feel secure. I told Mom and Dad and they took care of it. Since then Snap has been one of my closest brothers.

Snap can be really stubborn about things he thinks he’s entitled to like you just saw with the sleep problem. He’s always looking for ways to get out of boring things like adult parties or school and tries dragging us along with him. He is super clingy though like in a physical sense. He’ll cling to your arm, random hugs, hold your hand, etc. I think he may have abandonment issues but I don’t really wanna say anything to him since he’s just gonna deny them to be a “real man”.

“Þú ert að borga fyrir þetta.” (Translation: ‘You are going to pay for this.’ {West Greenlandic}) Snap glared as he put on his mask and cape.

Sophie laughed and shot back in Hawaiian, “Inā 'oe makemake i wale loaʻa i loko o ka wahi mua au makemake ole i kūpono ai i loko o ka hoʻokolokoloʻiaʻana” (Translation: ‘If you would have just gotten up in the first place I wouldn’t have resulted in the torture.’)

“I’m just saying when you walk through that door this afternoon you are dead,” Snap said as he put on his gloves and boots before walking out the door. Sophie just responded by blowing a raspberry at him. Now she was going towards Bunsen’s room.  

Sophie noticed the door was closed so she knocked on it. “Bunsen? You up? We gotta get to school.” After waiting for a minute Sophie quietly opened the door to see Bunsen’s St. Bernard puppy, Boodles, sitting at the door waiting to be let out for breakfast. “Okay, Boodles go get breakfast,” Sophie said pointing downstairs. Boodles barked and ran downstairs. Sophie quietly went into Bunsen’s room and shook his shoulder while he slept. “Bunsen we gotta go to school. Wake up.” Bunsen slowly woke up and grabbed his glasses rubbing his eyes.

“Sophie? What’s wrong? Why are you rushing me?”

“We need to go to school in like 15 minutes,” Sophie stated.

“WHAT?!” Bunsen screamed as he rushed out of bed and to put his school clothes on.

That’s one of the newest members of this family Bunsen Knai’livac. He’s 12 years old and originally came from Taiwan because his parents thought more opportunities would arise here. He’s still getting used to being with us and speaking English mostly instead of Chinese. He got here about two months ago but he’s made progress at least. The first thing he connected with was Boodles in a pet store so naturally, Mom and Dad got Boodles to give him some stability.  He still does have panic attacks about breaking the rules cause he grew up in such a strict household. We’ve been getting really good at calming him down and he’s even joined theater at school!

People who don’t really know Bunsen would describe him very loud and excitable which I mean is true to a certain degree. However, to us, we know him better than some strangers. He has the anxiety of letting his parents down constantly on his shoulders that he wouldn’t be a real functioning member of society. He can be a total theater nerd sometimes but for the most part, he’s pretty quiet and nice with the occasional bits of snark here and there.

“Ó, wǒ de shàngdì. Wǒmen yào chídàole wǒmen de lǎoshī huì shēngqì, māmā hé bàba huì shēngqì. Nàme tāmen bù zài xūyào wǒle!” (Translation: Oh my god. We are going to be late! Our teachers are going to be mad and Mom and Dad are going to be mad. Then they won't want me anymore! {Chinese}) Bunsen ranted off quickly as he got dressed.

Sophie sighed and put her hands on his shoulders to calm him down. “Bunsen it’s okay. You made a mistake. Nobody is gonna send you away for that Bunsie Boo.” Sophie kissed his nose to drive her point home.

Bunsen smiled a little and kissed her forehead. “Thanks, Soph.”

“You’re welcome. Now finish getting ready and get downstairs.” Sophie said going out of the room.

Sophie made her way downstairs with Snap close behind. She didn’t think much of it until Snap’s hands found his way to her sides and Sophie squealed and started laughing. “Snap! What are you doing?!”

“Hefnd er mín!” (Translation: Vengeance is mine! {West Greenlandic}) Snap shouted. Bunsen passed them giving his siblings a weird look as Snap tickled their sister and Sophie laughed like a doofus and clung to the stair railing.

“Jenny! Snap is trying to kill Sophie again!” Bunsen yelled as he entered the kitchen.

Jenny poked her head out and glared at Snap. “Snap! Leave your sister alone! Look at her! She’s dying!”

Snap groaned and rolled his eyes complying with his older sister’s request. “Fine!”

Snap continued to walk down the stairs smirking as Sophie panted and clung to the railing. “Oh thank the gods he stopped.”

Suddenly a knock came from the front door. “I’ll get it!~” SB called as he opened the front door.

A 10-year-old boy with poofy blond hair, hazel eyes, and wearing a dark brown aviator jacket with a glow stick bracelet is on his left wrist was standing there with a smile.

“Oh hello, Xavier! You here to go to school with us?”

“Yup! Managed to escape my stick in the mud parents. Is Sophie around?”

“Hey, Xavier!” Sophie waved as she laid on the stairs.

“What are you doing lying on the stairs?” Xavier asked before sitting next to her.

“Snap nearly killed me!” Sophie yelled loud enough for Snap to hear.

“Not my fault you are so sensitive!” Snap laughed from the kitchen.

“I mean he’s not wrong.” Xavier shrugged sheepishly as he sat next to her on the stairs. Sophie playfully hit his arm in response.

That’s my best friend Xavier. He’s 10 years old like me and is a week older than me. While he isn’t part of the family he might as well be. His parents are kind of overbearing so he likes coming over here more. I met him when his family was vacationing in Hawaii. Since then we’ve been inseparable. He was the one who helped me with my English and helped me to adjust to mainland America. Honestly, I couldn’t imagine living without him. He’s just always there for me and gets along with the family well. He’s kind of like the unofficial kid of the family where he’s part of the family but “legally” we aren’t responsible for him. So that’s pretty cool.

He’s super intelligent in the book smart kind of way. I remember when his family visited Hawaii and we became friends, he would read on the beach and I would just listen to him. Sometimes I would even fall asleep to him reading. Xavier is also 87% of my impulse control. Like if I didn’t have him, I’d probably would've died by now from a stupid decision.

“What? I’m just saying you are and there is nothing wrong that.” Xavier said putting up his hands in a defensive position.

“Ugh, you’ve spent too much time with this family. I swear to the gods. You are starting to sound like most of my brothers. You better not start selling me out to them.” Sophie scolded. “BLIK does that enough!”

“Hey! I have never done that in the four years you’ve lived here.” Blik argued as he walked into the room

“Yesterday you sold me out for a root beer to Danny!” Sophie argued.

“That wasn’t a sellout that was a trade. Very different. Now can you please get our sisters from the backyard so we can leave?” Blik smirked.

As Xavier said “Yup” Sophie let out a less enthusiastic, mumbled “Yeah.”

Blik grinned and said “Oh Timothy!~ Sophie needs-”

Sophie immediately hit his arm. “No. Shut up. I’m fine.”

Blik chuckled ruffling up her hair. “Fine then.”

“C’mon let’s go get them,” Sophie said getting off the stairs and heading towards the backyard with Xavier in tow. They walked into a pretty big backyard which has an above ground pool, a trampoline, a small playground, some swings hanging from trees, a sandbox, and a playpen for Poof to keep himself from roaming anywhere he pleases. It also has quite a lot of trees as well. Sophie spotted two girls around eight years old huddled in a corner doing… something? Sophie and Xavier both couldn’t tell what they were doing. They could only see the backs of the short, curly blonde hair of the peach skinned girl and the long, brown hair styled in messy pigtails of the much paler girl who seemed to be holding something.

“Um, Vendetta? Charlotte? Mom says to get inside. It’s time for school and Grudge still hasn’t eaten.” Sophie said pointing her thumb to the back door.

Both girls turned their heads around revealing the blonde girl’s bright blue eyes and the brunette girl’s dimmed green eyes.

“Okay Sophie!” the blonde girl said chipperly as she skipped over to hug Sophie’s waist. “Grudge made a new friend and me and Vendetta watched it!” Charlotte said bouncing up and down happily.

“What do you mean new frien- oh my god!” Xavier shouted as Vendetta came over holding her pet raccoon, Grudge, who had a snake in his mouth. A dead snake in his mouth. Lovely.

Sophie put her face into her hands and groaned. “Vendetta. You know what mom and dad have said about Grudge… erm… “making friends” with wild snakes,” Sophie censoring herself for the sake of Charlotte.

“Stupid Raccoon wanted to make a fiend.” Vendetta stated simply in her thick Bulgarian accent. “That is not mine or Charlotte’s fault.”

“Don’t you mean friend?” Xavier asked curiously.

“I said what I said.” Vendetta shot back rather rudely.  

Xavier gave a look to Sophie as Sophie sighed, “Look. I’m your big sister now so tell Grudge to drop his snake friend or fiend or whatever and get in the house so we can go to school.”

“Fine. Stupid Raccoon. Drop.” Vendetta commanded as Grudge spat out the snake.

“Yay! Time for school! Come on Vendetta!” Charlotte cheered as she grabbed Vendetta’s hand skipping into the house.

“Do not touch me you stupid blue girl!” Vendetta yelled as they both disappeared into the house.

Xavier turned his face back to Sophie and said: “I’m sorry but what the heck is wrong with your new sister?”

“Oh, so many things…” Sophie sighed shaking her head.

So like you just saw those are our new additions to the family Charlotte Winfrey, Vendetta Mortcheva, and Vendetta’s pet raccoon… yes, raccoon… Grudge. Charlotte and Vendetta are only eight years old and just got transferred here last month. They got transferred here from their old foster home in a place called Clamberg because the foster home was terrified of Vendetta and her and Charlotte are a package deal.

I’ll explain Charlotte first because really. She’s a lot easier to understand than Vendetta is.

Charlotte got put into the foster care system when she was super young. Both her parents died while attending a music festival outside of Vermont in a mass shooting, unfortunately. This caused Charlotte to be placed in Clamberg with her only known living relative, her grandmother Charlene. The sad thing is that Charlotte still doesn’t know her parents died. Charlene told her that they were both astronauts living up in a space station. Nobody has had the heart to tell her yet. Charlene got too sick to raise Charlotte so when she was six years old Charlotte was placed in the foster care system.

Charlotte is a super sweet girl. Like probably the sweetest you’ll ever meet. She loves everything in the world and everyone in it. Probably if you take her to Disney World she would be smiling the whole time and say hi to all the characters. Even the villains! She is a little… “slow”… sometimes though. She doesn’t quite understand what's happening most of the time unless someone, usually Vendetta, tells her.

Speaking of Vendetta, let's talk about her because oh boy. There’s a lot to talk about.

So as you noticed by her accent Vendetta is from Bulgaria. She moved to America when she was a toddler with both of her parents, her older sister Vasilika, and her twin sister Joanna. Soon after her parents had three more children. Vendetta’s younger twin brothers, Darian & Valko, and her baby sister Rosica. However starting after Darian and Valko were born, Vendetta’s father started to get more...abusive towards his wife and older daughters. Well, TWO of his older daughters. He never laid a hand on Joanna or any of his younger children. He did frequently hurt his wife Violetta and Vasilika but it was Vendetta who got the raw end of the deal. Vendetta’s father, if you can even call him that now, considered Vendetta his child from hell. It wasn’t just physical abuse either. When Vendetta was finally admitted to the foster after the incident (which I’ll get to in a minute) she was malnourished and was so dirty that initial reports had Vendetta’s skin and hair color way darker than it actually was.

About the incident. One night Vendetta’s “father” had been drinking quite a lot. Violetta tried to get him to stop for the children’s sake but that just made him angrier. He ended up shouting so loud he had woken up Vasilika, Vendetta, and Joanna and in a moment of panic, Vasilika grabbed the family gun. When the girls got downstairs that had found their father had just finished strangling their mother to death. When he saw his three daughters standing there witnessing him kill his wife. He was enraged and started moving towards Vasilika first and she ended up shooting him once in the head. He fell dead on the floor inches from his now dead wife. Joanna had broken down into tears. Vasilika had no idea what she had just done and just stood there in shock. But Vendetta… oh, Vendetta. She was furious. She began yelling at Vasilika for not doing that sooner. That they all could have been freed earlier if she would have thought of this. She yelled at Joanna to stop crying and blamed her for being the “perfect” one. She yelled at the corpses of her parents. Her mother for not being stronger and her father for being a complete asshole to his own wife and children. She even yelled at herself for being a ‘devil child.’  The only people she didn’t blame for this was her younger brothers and baby sister since they had nothing to do with this. Later in the early morning, Vasilika called the police and all six of them were put in the custody of CPS. Three of them scarred for life and three of them too young to understand what was happening.

After that Vendetta essentially disowned her sisters and refuses to talk to or about them. She doesn’t talk about her parents either. She still visits her younger siblings as long as Vasilika and Joanna aren’t there. When she got to the foster home in Clamberg she never played with the other kids and spent nights alone in the backyard. The entire staff and all of the children were terrified of her. Accidents started happening around the home and they blamed Vendetta but none of them could prove it. She even one night came back with a raccoon which was Grudge. He was trained to essentially be a house cat. This confused the staff for two reasons. One: Raccoons are not native to Clamberg. So where did she find this raccoon? Two: How did she even train this creature? The staff had no idea on either of these questions and they weren’t about to question Vendetta of all people so they let her keep Grudge. It was just the two of them for two years until Charlotte got there. She was the only person that wasn’t afraid of Vendetta and that struck a nerve with Vendetta. So Vendetta became Charlotte’s soul defender even though she still insulted Charlotte from time to time, though Charlotte clearly doesn’t mind.

Cut to a month ago where the Clamberg foster home had enough of Vendetta’s reign and sent her here far away from Clamberg. Charlotte just came with cause they are now a package deal.

Vendetta doesn't seem that bad as her previous foster home made her out to be. Sure she’s dark, sarcastic, weird, sometimes super mean, and cusses in Bulgarian thinking we can’t hear her when we can. She’s also super bright though and probably the smartest girl in the house. We just wish she would relax a little bit and realize we won’t let her get hurt here but we also realize she needs time and we will give her that.

...What? I told you Vendetta is a complicated creature with a complicated history.

“Let’s just go so we can finally get to school. Max is gonna chew the two of us out if we are late again.” Sophie said tiredly. Xavier nodded and followed her back into the house and into the kitchen. They stood next to Charlotte and Vendetta who was letting Grudge eat his clams from the palm of her hand. The two of them just watched the chaos conduct in the large kitchen as everybody was shouting over each other.

“Alright, kids! Listen up!” Cosmo clapped loudly as all his children proceeded to quiet down. “Okay everybody go upstairs one last time. If you have a pet put them up in your room or if the pet is in a cage in your room feed them. Double check you have everything and then proceed to the van as planned. Ready? Go!” Cosmo yelled.

Sophie picked up Lion and motioned for Xavier to follow her. She was followed up the stairs by Jimmy carrying Goddard, Timmy carrying Sparky, Danny carrying Cujo, SB carrying Gary, Patrick carrying Rocky, ZIM leading Minimoose, Bunsen carrying Boodles, Dora leading Perrito, and Vendetta carrying Grudge. The other siblings followed up the stairs to double check their rooms to not forget anything. All except Blik whose room was the garage and Poof who was safe in his mother’s arms.

Sophie lead Xavier into her room and closed the door behind them.It was a small bedroom with a tiny closet, a small bed, and a small bookshelf. When they move Sophie requested she get her own room since she was a growing young lady now and thought it be better if she didn't share a room with Timmy and Snap. Xavier flopped down on Sophie’s bed as Sophie put Lion in his cat carrier. Lion meowed in protest as Sophie answered back “I know Lion you don’t like it but it’s only for the morning.”

“Do you think he can really understand you?” Xavier asked.

“Mmm, I like to think he does.” Sophie answered as she went to her closet and pulled out a box labeled ‘Special Things.’ She rummaged through it and pulled out two books. One was was a glittery sketchbook while the other was a scrapbook with the title of ‘Family is Forever.’ She hugged them close to her chest before stuffing them into her backpack. “Okay, we can go now,” Sophie said smiling.

“Finally. You know Max is gonna kick us out of the group if we keep showing up late.” Xavier said getting up from her bed.

“No, he can’t,” Sophie said as she opened up her door and turned her light off. “First off he would have to find a new second to replace me. Second, I basically own his soul at this point. So even if wanted too he couldn’t kick us out.”

“Fair enough,” Xavier shrugged.

Sophie went to each room to check everybody was out and essentially take roll for their mother as one of her chores.

Timmy had put up Sparky in his crate as Snap fed his hamster Musty and his pet frog Wiggums. For two fifth grade boys, they could sure make a mess of everything. Sophie was glad she moved out of there.

Jimmy and ZIM put Goddard and Minimoose on chargers and left their neat bedroom. It was neat because they both pretty much spent all their time in the basement lab with Vendetta.

Danny put up Cujo in his crate as Adrien put on his mother’s ring to wear on his right hand and Plagg grabbed his black cat plush from the top bunk of his and Adrien’s bunk beds. Plagg refused to sleep with GIR and Poof in fear of losing Adrien.

SB had put Gary in his cat carrier and grabbed his clean uniform while Patrick carefully put Rocky on the side table on his side of the room. The two had shared a room every since Patrick got there and they decided to never ever switch.

Tak had fed Navis, his and his best friend Jeera’s shared guinea pig, as Manny grabbed his soccer uniform for the day. Tak wanted the room with the biggest window and Manny just wanted a huge bed so they ended up with the biggest room on the floor.

GIR had grabbed his green dog plush and Poof’s baby bag from their room as a favor for Wanda and Cosmo. ZIM didn't even want to be near GIR as he slept. GIR had his own room until Poof was born.

Finally, on the boy's side of the hall, Bunsen had put Boodles in his crate and grabbed his script for play rehearsal. Bunsen just had his own room for now until another boy showed up at the foster home.

Meanwhile, on the girl’s side of the hall, Sam had grabbed an umbrella, since it was supposed to be bright that day, and Jenny grabbed some fashion magazines for her and her best friend who was a girl, Misty, to share at lunch. Their room consisted of a lot of black, pink, and purple. The color scheme was a compromise.

While Dora had put Perrito in his crate, Marinette grabbed her late mother’s earrings to wear that day and Tikki grabbed her ladybug plush from the bottom bunk of her’s and Marinette’s shared bunk beds. As the only little girl in the house, Tikki ended up sleeping with her sister and Dora didn’t mind the extra roommate.

Finally, Vendetta set down Grudge down on her gothic styled bed, since she refused to put him in any confinements, and Charlotte fed her hamster Buttons and her bird Buttons 2 before grabbing her brightly colored girl scout uniform along with Vendetta’s black girl scout uniform. Their room was like night and day. Vendetta’s side was green and black the only decoration being her striped blanket… which was also green and black. Charlotte’s side, on the other hand, was bright blues and pinks with posters and frilly things just thrown everywhere.

Sophie counted each of her siblings going down the stairs before yelling down to her parents. “We are all ready to go, mom and dad!”

“Finally! Let’s go already!” Blik groaned as everyone went outside and piled into the large van.    

“Okay, Pacific Grove High School, Summerfield Jr. High, Sunnyside Elementary, Blue River Kindergarten, Grandview School for the Culinary Arts, Seaside Community College, and then the bank. Got it dear?” Wanda asked. “Got it and away we go!” Cosmo announced as he drove away from the house.

Cosmo was driving while Wanda sat in the passenger seat. Jimmy and Timmy were arguing about something stupid again while Danny tried to break them up with Sam chuckling at the three. SB was going over some new recipes he’s learned while Patrick drooled at all of them. Tak was messing with his seatbelt as ZIM was ranting about this kid named Dib. GIR, Tikki, and Plagg were playing with Poof happily. Manny was checking himself in the mirror, Jenny and Marinette were checking their Amazon account for new deals as Adrien listened, and Blik was reading the paper. Snap was telling Sophie something cool while she listened writing in her journal, Xavier read a book, and Bunsen was going over his lines once more as Dora giggled while Charlotte talked to her with Vendetta rolling her eyes in disgust at the two.

So yeah that’s my insane family except for my brother who's in college right now. You’ll meet him later!  Anyway, it’s a miracle I’ve survived this long. I’m glad I’m here though. I feel loved where I am and I know that I will always have a place with them even if it seems like nowhere will let me fit in.

[docholligay]

Destiny

“Guard, I can’t be in here,” Seth seemed surprisingly menacing, despite her height, “I am,” she lend her voice an otherwordly tone, “the CHOSEN.”

She had her eyes dance as if she were seeing something faraway, the odd color of them, like a paste jewel faded in the sun, lending to the illusion, and the guard seemed impressed for a moment, leaning toward the bars. Closer...closer….

Suddenly, there was a guffaw from behind her. “Hell, me too, now as you mention it,” There was the clacking of hooves behind her, and she looked over to see the very annoying white and brown leg of the centaur from the pub, “I’m the chosen one. And...you better let me out of here, before fate itself comes crashing down on you. Cosmos. All that.”

“Me too!” Came the call from the back of the cell. “I’m the chosen one!” Soon, there was a cacophony of claims, and the guard rolled his eyes, unimpressed, and smacked the bars with his stick, sauntering off toward the office.

“Excuse me,” Seth let out somewhere between a growl and a hiss, turning slowly toward her “The fuck do you think you’re doing?!”

“Oh for shit’s sake,” the centaur tossed her chestnut hair, “That’s the worst attempt I ever saw at--” She looked down at Seth, examined her face, and backed up a touch, “My god, you actually believe it. Well,” She tipped her hat, “been nice meeting you.”

“Oh, you throw a bottle at me, but I’m the crazy one.” Seth threw her arms up.

She whirled around, quicker than Seth would have assumed she was capable of in such a small space. “I didn’t throw a bottle at you, you got in the way of the bottle I was throwing, and that’s a difference,” she snorted and shook her head, “was it my fault you outright flung a red hot nail at my damn head?”

Seth rolled her eyes. “And here was me wondering why centaurs don’t come around the cities much.”

“Yeah, on account of they’re full of goddamn loons whose hair looks like sagebrush on a rough day.” She stamped her foot, frustrated.

Seth tried to think. She could get out of the cell itself. Hardly difficult, one man, one charm, one moment. It was escaping the city after that. There had to be a way, if not by force, which she never contained enough of for her liking, then by trickery.

A drunk man leaned over toward the centaur. “Shouldn’t you be in the stables?”

She bucked both her back legs into the wall, shaking dirt from the ceiling of the cell. “You want to die tonight, you little bitch?”

Actually, force wasn’t out of the question, now as Seth considered it. She strolled over, past where the man had wisely decided to cower in the corner and forget his observations on where centaurs belonged, and stood alongside the centaur.

“Listen, I don’t like you.”

“Take a goddamn number, pinky.”

“But,” She pointed up to her, “I think I can help you. And you can help me. We can help each other, you see.” She smiled in a way she thought was charming. Charm was not foreign to Seth, exactly, but there was a certain quality of effort to it, and she always wondered if today was the day her gift failed her.

“You gonna chosen me free?” She looked down skeptically.

“Listen, do you want help or not?” Seth put her hands on her hips. “I think I can get us free, and, as much as I hate it, you’re the least useless person in this cell. After that, we can both go our separate ways. Free.”

Kitty considered for a moment, and then gave a stiff nod. “What’d’you got?”

Seth smiled, and called for the guard.

____

There was a delight unmatched by very little, to Seth, as the delight at watching her magic sway over their eyes, and hearing them do her bidding.

It was very nearly matched by the way the centaur stared at the scene, as the guard led them to collect their belongings, not even flinching as Seth took her small dagger, and even handing the centaur her shoulder holster, which she clipped back across her body.

“You know there’s a whole mess of officers in the next room, short stuff.” She strapped her bag to herself, and put on her tan leather coat.

“Really??” Seth sang mockingly. “And here I was just bringing you along because you’re so friendly, and you smell so nice. See that back door?”

She gave a glance backward. “Yeah?”

“This is a human city, there’s no way it can stand up to you.” Seth looked at her. “Just…” she whinnied, and pawed at the air.

She scowled, the brim of her hat tipping over her eyes. “I’m not a horse.”

“Whatever, just--”

But before she could finish, the centaur had burst down the door, running out into the night, Seth barely behind her, suddenly regretting that she hadn’t come up with a reason for them to stay together, when she stopped and looked back at Seth.

“Your short little goddamn legs are gonna get us both caught up.” She knelt down. “Get on.”

Seth nodded as if this had been in her entire plan from the moment she stepped into the pub. “You know, it’s only right you’re my beast of burden since, you’re THE ENTIRE REASON I WENT TO JA--”

The cowgirl took off like a shot, one hand on her hat, the other at her gun, safe in its shoulder holster, barrelling down the streets, as the officers poured out behind them, screaming and shouting, pursuing on their own horses. Seth had read about riding before, and when the centaur had allowed her on her back, she had pictured herself elegantly astride her, hair flowing in the wind.

But the whole thing was so much faster than Seth had ever imagined, so much more abrupt, and Seth imagined that usually, when one rode a horse, you decided where they went. Riding a centaur was very different, she reflected, as her ride flew down the streets and cornered hard down alleyways, the police behind them firing arrows close enough that she could hear the whistle next to her ears.

“Use your magic! Just tell ‘em not to shoot us!” She called back to Seth, who bounced on her back, less graceful than either of them might have hoped.

Seth barely grabbed her belt before falling, just steadying herself. “It doesn’t work that way! ….usually.”

“What the hell use are you?!” She shot backwards, scattering them briefly, startling the horses with the thunderous sound, but they collected too quickly, and there was a gleam in the young man’s eye as he shot.

The arrow shot true, and Seth had a moment of wondering how she could tumble away, in the ensuing scuffle, the arrow firmly planted in the centaur’s hip. It was the perfect distraction. Then it flashed in her mind, the centaur’s hooves on cobbles as she turned around, the moment she wasted kneeling and letting Seth on her back. She didn’t understand why she had done it.

But Seth was not about to be undone in gratitude by a centaur.

She summoned up her magic, and focused on the arrow, willing it to slow, willing it to weaken, and by the time it hit the centaur’s hip, it glanced off, leaving only a thin red line instead of the open wound it should have been.

She felt the centaur’s eyes upon her, and then they both looked forward. A large barricade of barrels and crates were in front of them, coming nearly up to the centaur’s human shoulder.

Seth gave a sharp intake of breath. “Uh, question. Can you make that?”

“Great Mare willing!” She shouted into the air.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Seth braced herself and held on tighter to the back of her temporary steed’s coat.

She leapt into the air, and Seth held her breath, waiting for the inevitable tumble, but it never came, just the sharp jar of landing, the centaur catching her from falling off, as she blazed out of town, toward the the forest at the edge.

_______

“You know, if we got some sort of bridle for you--”

“I hope you enjoyed that, as it ain’t never happening again.” She set Seth down on a stump in the camp where she must have been spending the night, which made a certain amount of sense--Seth wasn’t sure which inn in town might be okay with having a centaur stay, and she must have simply decided not to hedge her bets on it.

Although, with her scintillating personality, it might just have been to keep a lower profile.

“Kitty McCrae.” She extended her hand.  “Sharpshooter, mostly.”

Seth looked down at Kitty’s extended hand, mildly disappointed that centaurs were like every other creature in the one they most often offered.

“Seth. Seth Fuzlae.” She extended her left in return, and waited for the question, or maybe some quip, but Kitty merely glanced at Seth’s right hand, noticed, and extended her left in return, with nothing to add for commentary.

Seth decided she liked Kitty very much.

Kitty started up the fire in her stone ring, heating some meat over it and toasting a bit of bread. It was simple fare, but it likely sufficed. She put on a pot of water and offered it to Seth, who was forced, painfully, to admit that she didn’t have much to contribute to it. Kitty gave a smirk, but sat by the fire and peeled a few potatoes into it. They sat mostly in silence, the stars spreading out like a carpet over them. Seth looked up and thought of the stories the gnomes told in them, and wondered if centaurs’ were the same.

“So what’s this chosen thing, other than a figment of your tiny imagination?” Kitty took a bite of steak wrapped in bread.

“None of your business.” Seth huffed.

“Seeing as I sprung you hoping to collect on this chosen thing,” she took a swig of her ale, “it kinda is.”

“It’s destiny, they tell me,” she gave a mirthless laugh, “they never stop telling me. The details are different, depending on who you ask, and the day, but they all say I’m here to do something great. Great good. Great evil. Could be either. Great bullshit, if you ask me. Which you did.”

“All anyone ever thought I was destined for was jail.” Kitty looked into the fire, and there was a moment of sadness danced with the flames reflecting in her deep brown eyes, but she laughed, “Which. Guess they were soothsayers after all!”

“Is that what you’re looking for? A destiny?” She took a bite of her potatoes.

“Next bottle, mostly. So you looking for this greatness?”

Seth exploded like an ember in the fire. “Looking for a way out of it! I’ve searched everywhere, for years, trying to find a way to get out of this damn chosen thing. I won’t be a slave to destiny. This doesn’t deserve my life! I will not let it define me!”

Kitty stared at her. “You’ve been searching after this chosen thing for years of your life so it won’t rule your life?”

“Exactly.”

Kitty laughed and shook her head. “Alright, then.”

“He shouldn’t have said that to you in the pub.” Seth offered it cautiously.

“Well he sure as shit found that out, didn’t he?” Kitty shrugged. “Not stupid enough to imagine the world’s any other way. One thing every race can agree on, ‘s thinking I’m half-wrong for living.”

Seth suddenly felt a bit of guilt, and a bit of solidarity.  “I’m sorry I whinnied at you.” There would be a time, later, when she would happily whinny at Kitty, and Kitty would simply roll her eyes and ask if she was going to go make some cookies in a tree or something, but those times, when both of them felt something like belonging, were written in the stars still, and not yet reflected on earth.

Kitty shrugged again, wordlessly.

Seth toyed with the blue scarf around her neck.  “If you’re not looking for anything but a bottle, I know a town where you can find one. I’m going there. My magic, your speed, your gun, my, for example, actual social skills. We could do okay. ”

“I go on by myself and for myself.”

Seth grinned across the fire. “Of course. That’s why you didn’t let them capture me, even though you could have gotten away without me, it must all be part of your great plan to serve yourself, lone gunslinger.”

“You woulda ratted me out.”

Seth snorted. “I didn’t know your name, Kitty.”

Kitty gave a smirk. “Well, magical gnome who’s,” she wiggled her fingers dramatically, “chosen, and all that...might be of use to me.” She smiled and extended her jog. “Ale?”

“Thanks. ” She accepted it gratefully, and took a deep drink.

“I might could see my way to running with you a spell.” She rolled her blanket out on the ground.

“Partners, then.”

Kitty hung her hat on the tree and pointed at Seth. “Let’s get one thing straight, you try that little mind trick on me, it’s the last thing you ever do, we understand each other?”

“Fair enough.”

Above, the stars moved and turned into position.

[ohthehypocrisy]

Whole Again

Requested by TheOneAndOnly1993. This drabble takes place between Escape from the Citadel and The Tower.

Word Length: 2.7k

“Hello?” replied the princess.

“Uh, hey PB,” replied Jake the Dog, “Um, we’ve got a bit of a situation here.”

“Oh? What’s up? Gimme the deets,” she said nonchalantly.

Jake breathed to say something, but was interrupted by a voice in the background. Jake replied, but it was muffled. He was covering the receiver, the princess thought.

“Uh, actually, you’re not too busy, are you?” the dog asked hesitantly.

“Well, kinda,” she looked at the quivering green humanoid bound in chains before her, “I thought you had a situation, though?”

There was more muffling, followed by an angry short response dampened by Jake’s hand.

“Uh, never mind, princess,” the dog finally spoke up, “Can we see you tomorrow morning?”

“Oh uh, sure,” Princess Bubblegum replied, although there was more muffled arguing she could barely hear.

“Sorry, didn’t catch that. Whaddya say?” Jake asked.

“I said, of course you can see me tomorrow morning,” she restrained herself from voicing concern.

“Alright cool thanks bye,” Jake signed off hastily.

The princess looked at her phone as the dial tone beeped. Considering that it was Jake she spoke to, she couldn’t help but wonder if something had happened to Finn. She shook the idea out of her head. It was probably nothing, she thought.

“Good morning Jake,” she greeted the dog, then turned to the boy, “And good morning to you Fi-UWAAHHH WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR ARM?!”

To her horror, it actually was something.

It was far worse than anything she could have envisioned.

The adolescent boy she knew as Finn was nowhere to be seen. What stood before her was this misshapen husk of a kid missing an arm and any positive emotions that once beamed on his face. He was sulking, even as he stood taller than his adopted dog brother, eyes fixated on the floor refusing to look at anything remotely alive.

“Finn!” she shouted as she rushed across the lab floor and grabbed him in an enveloping hug, “Oh my Grod what happened to you?!”

Gone were the formalities of royal conduct. Nuts to that, Finn needed his friends right now, not some delicate princess who was good at science. She turned to Jake, her distraught face turning to anger.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” she demanded, Jake backing up at this, “Why did you wait until morning?”

“Hey, it wasn’t my idea!” he defended, paws up innocently. She felt Finn tremble underneath her in reaction, “I wanted you to fix this yesterday, but Finn didn’t want you getting involved in this.”

“Fix this?” she asked, letting go of him and taking a better look at the boy, “This isn’t some kind of pit stop, Jake!”

“That’s what I meant!” Jake shot back, immediately stepping behind Finn, “He’s been like this all day!”

Finn maintained eye contact with the floor, refusing to acknowledge his part in the conversation. He leaned a little further down, even attempting to pull his hat down to cover his face.

“Oh my Grod, Finn,” she leaned down to his eye level, the boy turned away predictably, “Who did this to you?”

Now that she got a better look at it, a good portion of his arm was missing. Fingers, gone. Wrist, erased. Forearm, vanished. Elbow, might as well not have ever been there. So many important parts of the human arm, replaced by a nub of flesh and skin and a dainty little flower sprouting from the humerus bone and probably marrow. The fact that this was his right arm…

‘Oh Gob this was his sword arm,’ she thought in horrific realization.

…his sword swinging arm had revealed to her that he probably lost it in a fight. But where did this flower come from? And what kind of wound left it perfectly amputated like this? Her scientific mind had gotten the better of her as she realized she could have just asked the two.

“What happened?” she asked sternly, turning to Jake as Finn gave no response.

“Okay, so,” Jake scratched his head, “It started when I left Prismo’s party…”

In the span of two minutes, Jake had explained everything, from this person who he called Prismo, to Finn’s dad escaping through a warp portal. It was a lot to take in, and the princess had a lot of questions, obviously. She had never heard of a Citadel, and Billy had neglected to bring it up in casual conversation. The idea that cosmic criminals were now roaming the universe concerned her, but hearing that the Lich had been neutralized indefinitely was far more comforting. All in all, the short of it was that Finn lost his arm trying to keep his father from running away for presumably the second time in his life.

“That’s…some really heavy stuff,” Princess Bubblegum finally said after seconds of silence, “I mean…wow.”

“Yeah,” Jake replied, bashfully kicking the floor, “How do you think I feel? I was there for it.”

“But…how does Finn feel?” they both turned to the boy who had taken to curling up and sitting in a corner, his flower arm laying uselessly to the side, “He must feel so ashamed.”

“Ashamed?” the dog asked in surprise, “Of what?”

“Letting his feelings get the better of him,” the princess answered as she leaned off the table, “You know Finn gets like that sometimes.”

“Yeah, but it’s not his fault,” he looked at the pathetic boy sitting lifelessly like a statue, “He meets his real dad for the first time, and he turns out to be a real dingleberry. It’d break any kids’ heart.”

“Or maybe he blames himself that he wasn’t strong enough to stop him,” she crossed her arms, “Finn gets really bad guilt trips, you know.”

Jake gives the princess a curious look before saying, “You really know a lot about Finn, don’tcha?”

Princess Bubblegum bashfully looks away, “Well, I mean, he’s my friend. I notice these sorts of things.”

Jake gives her a soft hum of assurance before a surprising groan of frustration rumbles from Finn.

“Can you guys stop talking as if I’m not here?” he groans, keeping his head down from his position.

Jake folds his hands on his hips and retorts, “Well, maybe if you actually talked back to us, we would.”

The princess was quick to alleviate the tension brought on by Jake’s passive aggressive remark, “No, Jake, don’t talk to him like that.”

The princess stepped to kneel before him, close but not too close, to comfort him with her presence.

“He needs to feel comfortable enough to talk,” she said, eyeing Finn as he clenched his body further, “But he doesn’t have to. Gestures are good enough.”

Jake watched as Princess Bubblegum tried to do what he had spent all of yesterday trying. She sat there, patiently with her legs folded underneath, as she spoke to him softly and slowly.

“Finn, does it hurt?” she asked.

He didn’t move.

“Good,” Jake raised a brow at this, as Finn gave no implication of an answer, “Now tell me, do you blame yourself for what happened?”

His fingers clenched.

“No, of course not,” she replied, “Are you disappointed?”

He crossed his legs a little.

“About your dad?”

He curled up tighter.

“You want to know why your dad ditched you, right?”

Finn erupted.

“Why did he leave me like that?!” he shouted as he threw his head out from his knees, tears flowing freely, “Why would he do something like that?!”

Jake was caught by surprise as Finn threw himself into her waiting arms. He embraced her tightly, sobbing loudly as he unloaded his pent up feelings from the past few days.

“What did my dad do to get jailed up in the Citadel? Am I a crime baby? Was his life of crime more important than me? Why did he pretend like I didn’t exist? It’s not my fault! Is it? Is it?!”

Finn cried loudly, his words muffled through her fabric. There was no stopping him, she knew. All she could do was console him as he bared his feelings in full, stroking his head as she held him in her arms. As Finn bared his troubles, she couldn’t help but think to herself, despite the fact that he was roaming the cosmos somewhere in space, if she ever met Finn’s dad, she would make him suffer just like his son was at this very moment.

‘No child should ever have to feel this way,’ the princess thought to herself.

Finn’s crying finally slowed to indistinguishable babbling, preferring instead to bury himself in the comfort of her hug. His desperate breaths slowed, his tears shrinking to a trickle, his one armed embrace weakening, he fell to a slump as he laid to rest in her lap. Yet, the princess did not stop petting him, because it was all she could do to maintain comfort for him.

All became quiet in the lab as the two sat there. Even Jake dared not to say anything, understanding that the healing process was delicate, preferring to sit his buns on the lab table as quietly as he could. He had doubts that the princess would have been able to do anything about Finn, but it wasn’t like he was making any progress himself. Jake had to recognize the limitations of their brotherly bond, as Finn was adopted by his parents, who were dogs. Therefore, Finn would always have some part of him that he would never know unless he sought it, and when he finally did? It ran away from him and took an arm with it.

Jake had never known such a magnitude of loss, having lived with his loving dog parents and dog brother and human brother. It’s not like he ever had polarizing father issues in his life before.

That’s when an idea came to him.

As quietly as he could, he stretched his arm over to the princess and poked her shoulder to get her attention. She looked over and saw Jake making an impression of his dad, Joshua the dog, by wearing a hat and tie made from the folds of his skin.  Princess Bubblegum immediately understood.

“Finn, listen to me,” she said softly, “I don’t know how we’re going to fix this mess. I don’t know what we’re gonna do about your dad. But I do know this.”

She beckoned him to look up at her with gentle pat of his cheeks. He obeyed, seeing her comforting face with red tear-stained eyes.

“You had a father. A real father,” she said with a smile, “He may not be with us anymore, but Joshua was a way better father in his lifetime than your real dad ever was or ever will be.”

Finn strained, but he shifted himself so that he was resting the back of his head on her legs as he faced the princess.

“So what if he was your biological father, Finn?” she asked rhetorically, “You still have Jake, and BMO, and Shelby, and all of your other friends here in Ooo. You don’t need your dad, because you have people who care about you here.”

Finn snorted loudly and rubbed the moisture out of his eyes with his left hand. He looked at the princess endearingly, resting his arm on his forehead, before finally speaking up.

“Thanks, PB,” he said quietly.

The princess smiled in return, placing a hand on his cheek. It was the cheek she slashed at accidentally with a pair of scissors that one night, when Finn and Jake had disappeared along with the Lich for all of one second. There was hardly a scar there anymore, but she had a hard time forgetting about it. Not just the wound, but the look of hate and distrust on his face when it happened. Glob forbid she ever hurt him for real, she loved him too much to bear that thought.

“I still love you, Finn,” she said quietly.

“Whuh?” Finn spoke up in response.

“Uh-I mean,” apparently she wasn’t quiet enough. She placed both hands on his cheeks and squished them playfully, “I can fix you,” she coughed, “What I mean to say is, would you like for me to build you a new arm?”

“Pbbt?” he forced through his mouth before Princess Bubblegum lightened her hold on his face, “You can do that?”

“Of course! I can engineer a living creature no problem. Prosthetic replacements should be a cinch,” she stated proudly.

The boy leaned to sit upright and turned to her, “Oh, that’d be great, princess.”

She watched him stand up before helping herself stand, “It’ll take me a while to make it. Just leave it to me.”

“Alright, well,” he looked to the door of the lab and itched himself awkwardly, “We should probably get going.”

“Yeah, I don’t wanna keep you boys,” she shrugged as Jake walked past her, giving her a wink and a thumbs up, “Just check in tomorrow, alright?”

“Will do, princess,” Jake said, turning to the boy, “C’mon Finn. We gots lots of adventurin’ to catch up on.”

“See ya tomorrow, Peebs,” Finn waved with his amputated arm, then attempted to wave with the other before being pushed out of the room by Jake.

“Bye, guys!” the princess said, looking to the mess of tears on her dress.

“See? I told you this was a good idea,” she heard Jake whisper to Finn as they walked down the hall.

Whatever Finn replied with, she didn’t hear. First things first, she needed a change of clothes.

“Hey princess!” Finn greeted, forcing his enthusiasm a little bit, “How’s the prophecy coming along?”

“It’s prosthetic, Finn,” she corrected, not looking away from her chalkboard notes, “And it’s coming along great.”

“That’s good,” she could hear him shrug his shoulders through his tone, “Is that it?”

She turned to look at the prototype prosthetic she had lying on the table. It was made of gumballs and had marshmallows for fingers.

“No, that’s just the prototype,” she looked back at her notes, “I’m using it to calibrate some details for your actual arm. It’s going to have multiple functions in addition to basic movement. Just trying to figure out what to add when I actually get around to-”

She was interrupted by the sound of wood crashing. She turned around to see Finn waving the candy arm around, although it looked more like it was tugging him around.

“Finn! Don’t put it on!” she exclaimed, “It has no inhibitors in place!”

He gave her a forced smile, “But, it’s fine! It works really well!”

He tried giving her a thumbs up only for the candy arm to reel back and hurl him into a wall. The candy wall crumbled under the force and the princess worried for a moment before Finn shot up from the rubble and maintained his façade.

“Besides, I can use it to beat up monsters way better than with my old arm,” he tried to reason, but the princess turned steadfast, giving him a disapproving grimace.

“Finn, take that arm off and let me finish the prosthetic,” she said sternly.

“But I-” his face fell and he gripped his prosthetic with his other arm, “…don’t take this away from me…”

Guilt suddenly consumed her as she recognized his need to become complete again. Resolving the issue with his father was easy enough, miraculously, but nobody gets over losing an arm overnight.

She sighed loudly in frustration, “I suppose…you can use it for now. I already have the data I need…”

He should have been happy, but he too bore the look of guilt on his face. He got up and dusted himself off with his normal meat arm and said, “I can get used to it, don’t worry. I…this means a lot to me, Peebs.”

It was just a prototype, she thought, but she couldn’t help but smile at him, “You’re welcome, Finn. I’ll have your new arm done soon, I promise.”

“I’m gonna go home and make myself some spaghetti,” Finn announced as he walked to the door and ripped it open attempting to leave, “Uh, sorry about that.”

“It’s fine, Finn,” she waved off his concern, “As long as you’re happy.”

He smiled at her before leaving, the sound of candy walls breaking echoing in the hall as he made his way out of the castle.

The princess just sighed despondently, “I’ll make you whole again one day, Finn. Count on it.”

[avengersohyeah]

Trace

Part 12

Masterlist

Trace Masterlist

(No pics or Gifs cuz my internet has been crappy this past week. it won’t upload)

A/N : This whole series is nonsense! It’s all just crappy fantasy stuff. There’s no such thing as the son of time, the rating game, or anything said in this series.

But that’s the point in fanfiction.......

(Y/N)’s POV

Crazy… just crazy… I know she is, but this is far beyond that “Father tell me again why can’t I fight against her ?” I’m fumming by now. He had informed us all that Cosmos already get everything for the game ready. And by everything I mean we just need to step into the place, and the game would automaticaly begins.

“Son… you have to calm down, this game would never begins without the agreement on both sides… Let’s just meet the judge first…”

“You mean God ?.....”

“For humans yeah he is, but for me he is a friend…” he opened a door that lead you to one of the many converence hall in the castle. As soon as I stepped into the room, I can’t help but to notice the very blue of eyes staring right at me. There, stood very shocked Castiel right beside his Father, God himself. He’s looking at me with wide eyes, as if he knows me. But that’s impossible right ? I mean their reality have been changed, he never met me before. The voice of my father brought me back from my wandering mind. “So he’s the Angel that you told me about ?”

“What? What HE told you about the Angel father ?” I cut in

“This game would be the last rating game son, you already know the agreement between me and my sister. That’s why this game will also be the bigest one that could ever happened.” From his words, I just raised my eyebrows in question. “My sister has told me her condition for the game….. We can use any other place to battle aside from the τη γέφυρα της διάστασης (ti géfyra tis diástasis) The bridge of dimensions. And you know what that means ..”

“The innocents would be in danger too….” I clenched my fist tight holding my anger. How could she ? Damn that bitch !

“That’s why, My friend here, as the judge of the game agreed to my condition…. To protect those innocents, by sending HIS angels to protect them, and he told me that he would ask someone to lead them in that duty.”

“And that’s him ?” I turned my head to Castiel who still had this shocked expresion on. Then I looked to God, HE nodded. “I.. I need to go…” I left the room running. The fact that Castiel was there, and God does he looked shocked to see me only means one thing. He remembered, and if he did, Sam did too, Dean.. my Dean did too. Oh God ! why did this happened, i bet he hates me now, he should be, because of all the things he told me not to do, I did the worst one. I left him, and even worse I made him forget about me, about us, about what we had. I hate myself, I hate myself for leaving him, I hate myself for made him forget what I’m sure he never want to forget, I hate myself to make him hate me. As I walked down the hall with these thoughts, I failed to notice something in front of me until I bumped my head to it. Or him, there, stand tall, with the same cocky smirk and those armors that made his body looks bigger than it’s already is. I looked up to see none other than the queen’s knight himself, Templar. I chuckled to myself and say

“It’s funny how I always manage to bump into you when my thoughts is not with me.”

“Not my fault that that pretty little head of yours is empty…”

“Now you’re saying I’m stupid…. Anyway I’m not in the mood for argument right now, so I’ll just leave..” I walked past him purposively bump my shoulder to his.

“Watch out….” He said shortly, I turned around and ask him

“Of what ?...”

“We might be threatened by your power, but the queen isn’t… just know that she’ll do anything to make sure that she would win the game…..” Before I could ask for more he already leave.

Akeno’s POV

“Remind me again why we’re here ?” I asked to (Y/N).

“We’re here because you like Arthur…” He said indifferently, I smacked him hard on the back of his head. He knew right away that I developed a crush for the knight and won’t let me go easily.

“Don’t say that kinda thing again, or else I’ll kill you, a prince or not!” I threatened, and He just chuckled on that.

“You know, after all of this over, you gotta promise me you’ll say something to him..” To his sudden serious tone, I couldn’t help but to stare at him in worry. It felt like those years ago when he would asked me to do something different from our plan, as if knowing something wrong is going to happen if we stick to that. And he alwas right, back then I’ll ask him about it and he would say that his power allowed him to see the possibillities of the results from our plans. But now I know for sure, he saw something is going to happen. I know exactly that his power now, doesn’t just show him the possibillities, but the real future of what is about to come. And when he get’s serious like this, I know for sure that I don’t want to know what is about to happen.

“I… I promise…” I answer him in a whisper.

“Good, just know that I love you Akeno…”

“I know… How about that angel ? He remembered you right ? Means they all do…”

(Y/N) exhaled the breath he’s holding “Yeah and I’m sure by now they hates me because of that..”

“No they won’t…” To my statement he froze, but a moment later his shoulder slumped

“You don’t even know them..”

“But I know you… everything you did is to protect people that you love. And we’re not that blind, they’re not that blind. From what you told me about them, I know that they care about you, they love you. So they won’t hate you (Y/N) trust me…” He squeezed my hand and muttered ‘thank you’

Before I could say anything else, there’s a voice coming out of nowhere.

“The time has come, for the battle that would change it all. The battle that would keep everything in existence as it is, or destroy it to begin a new start. Here, in this place… where all places in all time connected. Here, in this place, the bravest people gather to fight for keep and to fight for kill, for those that couldn’t do it for themselves. And here, in this place for the last time.. I stand as the judge of the battle between the time and the space, two of my good friends fighting for what they belive is ri…” I didn’t hear the rest of  the”God’s” opening speech, I didn’t hear anything else in fact. Everything is muffled around me I’m too engrossed in watching my best friend’s expresion. He looked strong so strong, intimidating no less, just like those time we fight together. He would wear his battle stare on his eyes that I’m sure could shake anyone’s nerve with just a glimpse of it… But I knew better, behind all of it hidden a broken hearted men that only want to keep everyone he loved save. A men that ready to put himself aside to save everyone he cared about. Soft pat on my shoulder pulled me back to reality. The cruel reality where I choose to fight side by side with (Y/N) to protect the earth, people that we care, people that we love, people to comeback to, to protect our home. I looked to the side and met with the pair of clear blue eyes.

“You ready Akeno ?” Arthur asked with his impossibly charming smile.

“I..I ..yeah I’m ready let’s get this over with..”

Normal POV

Ninety minutes.

It’s been exactly ninety minutes since God anounced the beginning of the game. Ninety minutes since the the queen made a move, and lost a pawn. Their bishop’s pawn, the one that could multiply himself. Right after God left them, the said pawn attacked Akeno in hope to figure out her power since they never saw her fight before. Given the fact that it’s just over two months Akeno been there, and everyone was busy preparing themself for the game. It was pretty smart actually, to try to find out your enemy’s strength that you don’t know as early as possible. However it didn’t end as they planed. (Y/N) knows exactly what the pawn intended to do, attack Akeno, make her use her power, then move before her power deals any damage to him. But they didn’t expect her power to be able to stop the pawn’s movement, she stunned him with her low voltage lightning and doesn’t hesitate to strike him again with much stronger one a second after. Everyone was in utter shock, not only her power is dangerous, but she doesn’t even hesitate to kill. More over she smiles innocently after that, making her them visibly squirmed in place. They went to the fortress that protect king and his pawn inside, just like what queen have. It is one of the many rules of the game where the king and the queen could only choose to fight right away from the beginning of the game, or they would let their pieces fight first. In this case, they choose the later.

Two hours.

Two hours since they sent Aria to spy on them, and Pegasus to watch from above. Both pawn hadn’t comeback nor gave them any contact through the necklace they all wearing. Everyone is getting restless, but none of them shows any sign of it. Everyone is sitting as still as tone, until (Y/N) stands abruptly and pace the length of the room.

“Calm down your highness, they would back..” Hilda tried to asure him.

“I know they’ll be fine, but I can’t help it…” (Y/N) knows that both pawns would be fine, it is other people that he’s worried about. Sam and Dean, if they remembered him they would do anything in their power to get to him. He’s worried that they would put themself in danger in trying to get to him. He knows, he know somehow, something is going to happen but he can’t see what. Even with his power. He couldn’t see anything about the future, even any possibilities that could happen. And he doesn’t like it one bit. It’s just like his power having a set back to years ago before he met the brothers, the time when he could only see just a glimpse of the past. He knew that worriying about something else outside the battle would only ruin his focus. And loosing focus while fighting against these crazy powerful people is not good. But he can’t help it, all these things were too sudden to him. He thought that joining the rating game after he made everyone he knows forget about him is the best thing to do. To protect them, to prevent them from butting in just like he know they would do. Besides, he’s the one that made Dean killed. He brought Dean back with the cost of erasing all of him from their memories. And he was dead set to win this game no matter what. But then Cas had to show up looking surprised like a deer caught in a headlight. (Y/N) could see that those blue eyes the angel have recognized him. And when he know something, the brothers knows too. Now he’s worried that the brothers would hate him forever. While worriying about people that would shortly risking their life to protect universe from Cosmos’s vile plan. So much is going on, he feel like he could faint at any moment now. These things just too much, he started to breath heavily, panting while clutching his chest. Everything felt so heavy around him. why now? Why of all time this happens now ? He couldn’t give up or he could ? The weight that he carry this whole time, he felt it now all at once. his whole body is heavy, his legs are giving up on him. He fall to his knees, tears streaming down freely from his eyes, he’s sobbing uncontrolably. Every intake of breath he do seems only intensify the tightness that he felt on his chest. Here, two hours since the game that he thought could save everyone he loved, (Y/N)’s having a break down.

Seeing their prince in such state makes them want to launch themselves to help him. To try to assure him that everything is alright, they always were, and they always would. They want to try to ease any pain that he felt, because he’s not just a prince. He’s a friend. But they can’t because someone stoped them. Someone that knew (Y/N) more than anyone in the room. She stoped anyone from even getting near him. When they asked her why, she responded

“Let him be, let him feel all the weight that he refused to feel before. Let him deal with his own demons. Let him fight his own battle to be stronger, because we can’t do anything to help him.”

“But Akeno.. he’s in pain, he’s barely breathing..”Arthur protested

Akeno only stared at him and ask him “Do you believe in him ?”

“What it has to do with this ?”

“Just answer me !”

“I do.. I believe in him”

“Then trust me when I ask you not to help him in his own battle. He’s strong, we all knew that, and we all believe in him. So now let’s keep on doing that, believe that he would be alright because I know he would…”

They did as Akeno said, they let (Y/N) to cry his heart out. Each and every sobs trigger their own tears. Only they cried silently, never they imagined that someone as strong as (Y/N) would break down this way. He was the strongest men Arthur ever fought with, the kindest men Hilda ever met, a good friend that Aria and Pegasus could ever ask for, a brother that Akeno never have. For a good ten minutes, they cry silently along with their prince. Until they see his shoulder is not shaking anymore, no whimpering, and heart wrenching sobs coming out of him. He looked up and meet their eyes. Puffy, blodshot, and wet from his tears. They expect to see his (E/C) staring back at them, but they met with bright purple irises instead. They knew it anywhere, your power is in work. They knew right away that he saw something, he’s now seeing something. It was only five seconds, the longest five seconds they ever have in their life. His eyes back to his (E/C) one, filled with nothing but fear.

“They will do it, Akeno they will do it…..”

“Do what (Y/N) ?”

Before he could answer, Aria  and Pegasus came through the door rushing in.

“Hurry, we need to stop them…!” Aria said rushing

“Stop them from what ?” Hilda asked

And then (Y/N) and Aria answer at the same time “Going to the earth”

Tags :  @thegreatficmaster @supernaturalimagine @supernaturaldaily @waywardwinterfics @buckyywiththegoodhair @angryschnauzer @mrgrant9559-blog @kaylzjordan @rawritsmeh @supernaturalfanfiction-com @after-avenging-hours @winchesterenthusiast​ @themerlintrashcan​ @wayward-warriors​ @themorningtrashcan @izzywinchester @avasparks​ @eve05glee​ @izzywinchester​

[risereigncorp]

Lena was waiting for Kara at a restaurant terrace. She was a little bit late but she didn’t mind it, sometimes her friend were late. She started thinking about the four times now she met with Olivia and her mother Reign, the first time the witty little girl amazed her such as her mother. The second time they met was again at the museum but this time at the opening of the expo, Olivia dragged her to all her favorite things of the museum. It was very interesting hear Reign talk about the space, constellations, cosmos and so. But it was surprising that Reign was an engineer. -“No, my job is not as interesting as yours. I am almost a mechanic”- Reign smiled -“But at least gives me the time to spend the weekends with Liv, when I’ve got divorced I fought for her custody but he won so… weekends are us”
Lena clenched her smile looking at her not knowing what to say because Reign said with non importance as it wasn’t that much. They spend almost the whole afternoon together that day and Kara were there too, writing an article for CatCo but some reason the little girl didn’t liked that much Lena’s friend. There were a time when Reign and Lena was talking when Kara and Olivia were in the other side of the hall that the little girl almost put Kara against the ropes with questions and saying that she was Supergirl and Kara decided it was time for her to go, so she said goodbye to Lena and waved her hand to Olivia and Reign Lena was so immersed between thoughts about this and that but almost about Reign that she did not noticed her best friend until she sat in front of her. “I’m sorry, have you been waiting for too long?” Kara apologized 
Lena blinked hearing her voice and smiled “No… no. How are you?” They’ve talked about how Kara’s work been when the waitress asked for their drinks and food. Several minutes later they had Iced coffee for Lena and Late for Kara. 
“Okay we have the list of your friends for your birthday, the cake”
“Huh, huh, huh, can we ask Lena if she can come too? Olivia asked with enthusiasm 
Reign smiled sympathetic “Liv I don’t think she would come or if we will see her again”
“We can go today to the museum and ask her mommy”
Reign felt sad for a moment because Olivia was being so positive in denial to find Lena Luthor all the weeks in the museum. The first time was a coincidence because they sneaked into the building and the second time was luck. And her daughter was talking about how awesome her birthday will be
“Sure, why not…” Reign couldn’t smash her dreams Reign and Olivia was walking next to a restaurant and it was time to eat but it was their weekend even tho the father of the girl didn’t liked the girl had cheat meal or junk food but it was their weekend. “What do you think about to eat here, I’ve heard they have a Terrance with some great views”
“Can I ask for ice cream and fries?” Olivia said going inside already Once of the waitress gave them a table near to the Terrance glass because Olivia almost begged the woman, they had to wait almost a half hour but Reign did her best playing and goofing with Olivia making people laugh when they passed by. They picked their order and Olivia screamed a big “yay” Lena was talking to Kara about something when she heard that known “yay” she turned around and saw them. Olivia moving her hands in the air typically when she was telling a story with her big smile and mimics and the back of Reign. Kara followed Lena’s sight making her narrow her eyes “So yes, I will travel to metropolis and…” Kara kept telling her schedule but Lena wasn’t listening any more
Lena turned her head to her friend trying to catch up with the conversation but it was almost impossible. A waiter was there and Lena call him.
“Kara excuse for a second” the waiter came quickly “Please can you send that table your best cupcake for the little girl and invite them to whatever they are eating, it’s on me” 
“Yes Miss Luthor” the man nodded
“Who are they?” Kara felt for the first time somehow annoyed. She was used to have all Lena’s attention ALWAYS
“I’ve meet them in the museum. You met them a couple weeks ago” Reign drank her lemonade when the waiter came with a chocolate cupcake with mascarpone and strawberries. Olivia opened the mouth in surprise as Reign raised her brows in confusion “We haven’t ordered this” Reign explained
“It’s a gift from miss Luthor” he placed the plate in front of Olivia “she’s over there” he leaned a little to Olivia pointing to the direction of her table but Lena and Kara were standing up “Miss you want another Lemonade?” Reign nodded kinda confused but surprised Olivia picked her spoon and shoved it to the cupcake to full her mouth with the desert just to get away running towards Lena between the tables. Reign woke up following her daughter leaving her purse. Lena and Kara were saying goodbye Lena felt a small body bump into her hips from behind and small arms hugging her with a fun giggle. Lena laughed touching the little hands turning around. “You are here” Olivia panted with a smile 
“Hey little sunshine” Lena said 
Kara gulped awkward but smiled too she wasn’t feeling ok with the situation
“Lena… Hi…” Reign was flustered “I…” Lena stared at Reign and her heart skip a beat for a second “I’m better get going” Kara dropped “It was nice to see you Lena” 
Lena gave a quick glance to Kara “Next time a brunch?” Kara nodded and waved to them before leaving “I’m so sorry to interrupt” Reign apologized while Olivia kept her embrace to Lena “Baby can you…” 
“Now we can invite Lena mommy” 
“Invite me to what” Lena asked to Olivia
“Next Friday is her birthday and she has been asking me if she can invite you” Reign explained “is gonna be at my home, a few kids, me and a couple parents if you can’t come we will understand”
Lena looked down to Olivia “Of course I will go” Olivia was using her puppy face but immediately changed it for her smile full of joy
“You will?” Reign was shocked “great”
“Yay!!!!” Lena was about to melt before how adorable the two of them has been. A waiter came with Reign black purse “Someday I’m gonna lose my head” Reign giggled “Thank you” The waiter and Lena stared at Reign’s smile like idiots. But Lena kept her cool as usual, but the waiter stumbled with his own feet as he walked away “Can I ask you your number so I can give you the details?” Reign opened her purse looking for her iPhone Olivia was playing with Lena’s hand when Reign gave her mobile. Lena’s did not understood what to do with Reign’s mobile “You can type it” Reign leaned on Lena’s face “So no one can hear it” she smiled Lena was feeling like she was about to have a heart attack because of the woman. She did what she was told with her free hand and hit on call so she would have too her number and gave Reign’s mobile back when she could listen her music tone in the table making this smile pleased. “Mommy Lena can come to play at home?”
“Liv I think Lena might be busy she was with her friend and maybe she have a lot of things to do”
“Lena please, I have a new rocket ship and Dinosaur dad bought me yesterday” Lena noticed how Reign rolled her eyes with the word -Dad-
“Sweetie I have to do some papers in the office” Lena felt bad
“Oh… it’s Ok… work is work” Olivia de attached her hand from Lena’s with a sad voice
Reign kneeled to her daughter “But we are going to watch a movie, the Spiderman new one, right? And then to home and write more things to prepare your birthday” Reign tried to cheer her daughter up “And we have Lena’s number so will text her later to send our address for your birthday party”
“Okay mommy” Olivia pouted Lena was feeling like a monster for some reason, never a kid make feel that way and the way her mother tried to cheer her up. She knew they only had the weekends together but she wanting to include her in their activities was killing her. “Olivia you know” Lena bravely spoke “what about if we go to dinner later?” 
“Dinner?” Olivia furrowed her brows 
“Yes, dinner and we can go wherever you want” Olivia took a deep breath as she had the best idea in the world, Reign looked at her daughter afraid about she was about to say “You CAN come home” Olivia said amused “Mommy does the best macNcheese in the world” She hugged Reign’s head from the position she was “right mommy? Huh huh and you can see my new rocket and dinosaur!” “I…” Reign was caught off of guard
“Of course” Lena agreed immediately 
Reign hesitated for a second “Yeah why not” She took her daughter in her arms and stood up 
“Awesome!” Olivia beamed 
“I should go… Reign text me later, ok?” Lena gave Olivia a kiss in the cheek making the girl giggle Lena walked to the exit leaving alone in the middle of the terrace. “You really like her don’t you?” Reign pointed with a half smile
Olivia shrugged “She’s nice and smart mommy, she knows a lot of things about space” 
“She is really nice Liv” Reign agreed
“And beautiful” Olivia jumped happy 
Reign looked at Lena in the distance checking her up and down “And beautiful” she shook her head clearing her thoughts “We have to pay, let’s go” Reign put her daughter in the floor They went to their tablet and called the waiter but he told them that they were invited to all. Reign scoffed with a smiled not believing in what just happened. In fact all what just really had happen. A few hours later Reign and Olivia were driving to their home when Reign got a text > Lena L: Remember to send me your address XX Reign felt a warm feeling and smiled. Olivia was taking a nap in the backseat. Reign sent her direction and drove home feeling kinda excited