#and yeah find a way out is a recent event! but that's why you gotta at least kind of keep up because prsk's story is ongoing

[mymarifae]

ok so like. unironically i think disliking any of the girls in project sekai is a major red flag ESPECIALLY when people say they don’t like the girls but “ stan ” akito/toya/rui/tsukasa. but can i be honest. at this point disliking any of the characters at all is a red flag. in my brain. i know everyone has their preferences but it’s just... these are all well-rounded, very complex characters. when someone calls any of them “annoying” or “boring” or “mean” it just immediately tells me that they didn’t read the damn stories. or they read the main stories and skimmed maybe half of the event stories. because adjectives like Annoying, Boring, and Mean are the most superficial conclusions you can come to about a character, and if you finished reading the text you’d see that they quite literally do not apply to prsk’s main cast. ok well maybe annoying i will concede on that one a tiny bit but they’re teenagers. maybe don’t play a game about teenagers if you aren’t prepared to be annoyed/subjected to secondhand embarrassment sometimes

like. oh you hate akito? 🤨 why. what part of the text led you to the conclusion that he’s an unlikable character. what did you read. tell me. if you say anything about the way he talked to kohane in the main story you’re going to be in big trouble

[doobea]

SPITTIN' OUT LIKE LISTERINE ─ RIN I.

synopsis: sae is great at a lot of things, his brother... not so much. when sae calls you up to tutor rin for his upcoming exams the first thought should've been 'yeah, sounds like easy money' rather than 'why does it look like he wants to kill me right now'.

MILESTONE EVENT || MILESTONE MASTERLIST

contents: gn!reader, reader is two grades above rin, college AU setting, forced proximity, best friend's brother, rin is a lil emotionally constipated but its alright bc we love him, sae is a physics major in this idk why word count: 10.9k (haha... why do i do this) a/n: hi hi umm idk if i know how to write tbh its been quite some time,,, but im slowly finding myself getting back into the groove and umm yeah it'll still take some time!! anyways, thank you for beta'ing @popponn and of course this fic is dedicated to you too my sweet <3

You meet Itoshi Rin at a coffee shop, of all places.

The kind of shop that you often see campus influencers hanging around. Hole in the wall. Dangling fairy lights paired with a few overgrown rose bushes in the front. A bit old-schooled, wooden counter tops, with well loved espresso machines. It’s not a big cafe, just enough to hold a few couches, a singular bookshelf packed with all sorts of board games, and low rise tables with way too many heat stains. 

At the start of the year, it started out as a quiet job. Never too overwhelming and had just enough downtime for you to finish up assignments in between breaks. Recently, due to a couple of self-proclaimed foodies on campus, business has blown up ten-fold. So, instead of catching up on your latest lectures, you’re stuck brewing teenage girls their overpriced lattes that are just mostly multiple pumps of flavored syrup and copious amounts of whipped cream. It’s rough but manageable to say the least, judging from the tips. 

You’re currently on scholarship, top of your classes and major, but you’re also living on your own so rent’s gotta get paid one way or another. Whether it be working part-time as a teaching assistant, a barista, or both.

On this particular day, you’re just about done closing up shop. The last hour had you rushing back and forth, fulfilling a last minute order from a Karen that swore up and down that she placed a mobile app order for ten frappuccinos twenty minutes prior. It’s been a long day, but the evening has finally calmed down. You’re scrubbing down the counter, putting all the remaining elbow grease you have into this one particular syrup spill earlier that you didn’t realize that someone had walked in until they started clearing their throat.

You barely look up, having the stain just almost disappear from the counter, but the information you register is enough to know that it’s a guy, and he’s by himself. 

And, okay, in a normal setting you would probably be smart enough to realize that a guy wearing a black cap, oversized hoodie, and a large gym bag at nearly nine o’clock at night is anything but suspicious. You, however, worked a long day. Your eyes are strained from operating the bright tablet menu. Your hair is a frenzied mess. There’s tea stains all over your apron. You get the gist.

So you don’t really notice at all, except that this guy is idling in front of the counter, looking over at the menu with equally strained eyes as you. That’s not unusual. You’ve learned when to be helpful and when to give someone their time and space. It’s slow now, not like it’s common for more customers to show up this late anyway. 

After a moment, the customer clears his throat again. You turn around, fixing your apron, and work up a friendly smile and a quick “ready to order?” when it dawns upon you that this guy is breathtakingly gorgeous. So much so that if you could take over the rights of the Oxford Dictionary, you would attach this guy’s face underneath the word gorgeous and emo.

Dark wispy bangs, striking teal eyes, long mesmerizing lashes, and lips that naturally fall into a small frown giving him the ultimate resting bitch face. They’re also very kissable lips, and you hate yourself for jumping to that thought so fast. It’s not usual for you to hit on customers, let alone just anyone, and it’s probably safe to say that anyone as handsome as The Duke of the North (because you’ve also been reading too many romance comics on the side and this stranger definitely fits this role) probably has a partner of his own. 

“Hey,” The Duke of the North looks awkwardly pained, as if he hates starting a conversation. His eyes drift down to your name tag that’s proudly displayed on your apron, littered with all sorts of stickers and pins. “I—um, what do you recommend?”

Working in food service made you absolutely hate this question with a burning passion. Everyone’s taste is subjective. You get this question all the damn time, and you have to put on your best customer service act, all preppy and bubbly. It’s not like you hate helping customers, you do. But, when they don’t give you anything to work with, it becomes your fault if the drink is bad. 

Though, for obvious reasons, you don’t mind extending the conversation with The Duke of the North. Just by glance alone, you can tell he’s a bit of a health nut from the lean physique and the hefty gym bag that’s tossed around his shoulders. Looks scary and a little daunting, but you have an inkling feeling he’s more of a traditional type of guy. 

“If you want popular suggestions then I’d rec our brown sugar boba for beginners or, if you want something less sweet, I always prefer our in house rose oolong milk tea.” You answer, good-naturedly.

The Duke of the North seems to be in deep pondering. The look on his face makes you feel a little uneasy, like maybe he’s missing something, but eventually he settles with the latter.  “Rose oolong,” He says thoughtfully, almost unfamiliar with the term. “I’ll have that then.”

“It’s one of our signature drinks,” you ring in his order with a smile, “tends to be popular with a lot of the older women.” There’s tease laced in the tone, but you mean no harm. Maybe just a tiny amount for him coming in before closing. 

And, after collecting the cash payment, you can tell that he’s struggling with the awkwardness hanging in the air. You assume he’s not used to jokes, or even hanging around others willingly for that fact. There was another comment you wanted to ask, more so his background and if he goes to the same university, but it quickly vanishes when the guy scurries to the furthest corner of the shop. 

Okay, that’s fine too. Not everyone is suited for small talk.

You get the feeling that this guy wants to avoid people and maybe he’s also had one hell of a day. You’ve learned pretty early on as a barista to never ask anyone about their problems, only because you’ll accidentally sign up to become their therapist without meaning to. 

You decide to brew up a warm batch of rose oolong tea, despite the fact he never specified if he wanted it hot or iced - he looks like the type of guy to always order a warm drink, even on a summer day. And, being the lovely barista you are, you decide to give him a large for the hell of it. This will go down as your one positive action for today, hoping that the good luck will carry over for tomorrow’s rough schedule.

“Hope you like it,” you present him with the tea and watch him as he swirls the drink around. He doesn’t look upset that it’s warm, so you take that as a good sign. “Feel free to hang back a little, I still have to clean up a couple of things in the back.”

“Sure, thanks,” he nods, and the words sound genuine. Without missing a beat, he retreats back in the corner and pulls out a laptop, notebook, and somehow manages to balance the drink on the cushion next to him. Yeah, definitely a fellow student working overtime like you.

True to your word, you go back to your boring list of chores to do; tons of equipment to be sanitized, chalkboard to be erased and be replaced by tomorrow’s daily specials, counting the register, taking out all the trash… maybe it’s not too late to find a less taxing job.

If you weren’t so tunnel visioned in your deep cleaning, maybe you would’ve noticed The Duke of the North spilling some of the tea on himself, asking if you had some extra tissues he could borrow, but only growing self-cautious when he realized that your earbuds are shoved in. And maybe you’d notice him cleaning up the spill with his own clothes from the gym bag, dabbing the spot furiously and making sure it looked like the same state prior. 

You’re almost done with your long list of closing chores when The Duke of the North returns with an empty cup. “Thanks, again. ‘S was good,” he awkwardly offers up.

“Glad to hear,” you flush a little, because your uniform is a mess, and you clearly look the part still. Nothing is more embarrassing than a cute guy staring down at you while you’re sweaty, tired, and have soap suds all over your apron.

There’s a bit of a silence, and then he says, even more awkwardly, “I’ll, uh, see you around. Good night.”

“Sure,” you reply in a quiet voice, in a tone that’s taken on a dreamy sort of quality. “Night.”

You let out a ragged sigh by the time he was out of sight, praying to see him again in better circumstances. By the time you’re locking the front door, you’re half debating to FaceTime your best friend about the random encounter. Somehow, Sae tends to know just about everyone on campus, even if his friend group only extends out to you. Though, noting that it’s nearly midnight and you should really catch the last bus of the day, you quickly toss that thought out the window and save the energy for tomorrow’s session.

“Mind tutoring my brother for me?” Sae asks out of the blue the next day.

You flail a little, shooting him an exasperated look over your shoulder as your fingers stop in mid hover over the keys of your laptop. An hour and a half into the TA grading session and somehow things feel slightly more off than yesterday night. 

There’s only one single thought running through your mind as you stare at Sae, best friend of nearly two years, “You have a brother?!”

A swarm of “shh” and “quiet down” soon blows in your direction in the library. You’re quickly met with glares from other senior students from nearby tables and study rooms as you mumble back flurries of “sorry” while Sae only rolls his eyes.

It’s nearing midterms, everyone and their mothers are camped on every floor and crevice of the building, thus making gossiping quite impossible and frowned upon. So you stare in disbelief at your friend on the wild fact that he potentially has a brother and didn’t bother telling you until now. 

Sae blinks, “…Yeah? That’s shocking news to you?”

You laugh a little sheepishly, “You’ve never mentioned having one, let alone anything familial.” Then again, this is Sae. Talk about emotionally guarded. 

“You’ve never asked,” Sae huffs before setting down a stack of graded papers. At the top, you see an unfortunate student’s work marred in everything red from Sae’s corrections. He’s always been a tough grader and, for any poor soul who has to take physics, chances of them retaking are high when he’s TAing.

“No offense, but you’ve always given me only child vibes,” you say, lamely, not hiding the fact you’re mildly annoyed. Seriously, this guy knows just about everything about your personal life and now you’re just finding out about his?

“All offense taken,” he replies dryly. 

You scoot closer and whisper, “So, who’s the unlucky guy?”

Sae heaves, ignoring your comment, and continues, “Rin. He’s been focusing too much on sports lately to care about his midterms. He knows about the arrangement. I would offer to tutor him but… we don’t have the best sibling relationship.”

And, Sae being Sae, this doesn’t really surprise you. “See? The only child vibe checks out.”

“Anyways,” Sae rolls his eyes for the nth time and tosses you a half folded sticky note with the name and contact info of his presumed brother. “He gets his shitty attitude from me, so try not to get too upset if he doesn’t seem talkative.”

“I haven’t even given my answer to—”

“Just how often do I ask for your help?”

“Like never,” your reply is instant and Sae only raises his brows in confirmation. You take that as a sign of he’ll somehow return the favor. It’s a rare opportunity, perhaps even once in a blue moon, but there is just one thing that you’re wondering about—

“Don’t worry about the money, you’re going to be covered,” Sae reassures as he throws another thick stack of exams on top of the finished pile. “He’s a fast learner when he wants to be, just not as of recently since he’s started the semester.”

“I take it he’s a grade below?”

“About two years younger, in honors.”

You laugh, pulling away and readjusting your attention back to your laptop screen. “Seems smarter than you, I like him already.”

It’s a terrible day, because you’re awake before your alarm. Hell, you’re awake before sunrise.

It’s absolutely nonsense and your boss knows to stop giving you these opening and closing shifts back to back, but apparently nobody else had been available to open. 

“You’re competent,” your boss had said over the phone last night. “I trust you more than our own managers, so you should at least feel proud about that.”

Should you?

Of course, you don’t fall for his stupid flattery, not when your alarm is finally blasting in your ear at five in the morning. Normally, you at least try to make yourself look half-presentable but, working on approximately four hours of sleep, the best you could do for yourself is throw on a sweater and jeans before heading out the door.

As a whole, you really do like your job and usually get the later shift but the recent manager got fired for stealing cash from the register, and your other co-worker called off for the next few weeks due to a family emergency, so now your life is a living hell — at least until they return. And, let’s not forget to mention that somehow you’re also stuck with tutoring your classmate’s younger brother because somehow he couldn’t have done it himself. Also a so-called “family emergency”. 

The only thing you appreciate is at least it’s warm inside the cafe once you’ve turned on the lights and tossed your bookbag in the back room. The store might be short-staffed today, but mornings are always slow, which only means you can at least get paid by watching some YouTube videos while finishing setting the place up.

You barely get through setting up the pastries when there’s a knock on the door. Dear god. It’s barely seven, you’ve been here for exactly fifty minutes, and already you’re debating smashing your face against the coffee machine to put yourself out of this misery. If it’s a customer, you swear you’re going to kill someone.

As you glare intently at the window, in the early morning, pre-dawn glow, you can make out a tall guy, dressed in athleisure, peering through the glass. You’re about to grumble out loud about entitled customers showing up before opening hours but the door knob suddenly turns, all because you were too tired earlier to lock it, so now you have to put on your dumb customer service voice. 

The bell chimes loudly as the guy walks in. The lighting in the coffee shop is low, with that quiet, comfortable ambience of soft piano background music playing through the speakers. Your eyes are still half-awake too, blurry around the edges with sleep. But that face, no one could possibly forget that.

“You’re back,” you say this in awe, offering up your best smile, even though it’s lopsided and droopy. The annoyance ebbs away slowly as the man approaches the counter.

The Duke of the North scratches his cheek, and looks around the cafe a bit more, realizing that he’s quite literally the only one here. “...Am I early?”

“Kinda, we open in thirty minutes,” you shrug. It’s not an accusatory thing, because at least this time he has the manners to come in before it’s open rather than before closing. That’s something you can work with. You were irritated earlier but now you’re suppressing a giggle. “Did you like the drink that much?”

Before he could answer, he tips his baseball cap and grips his bookbag before settling down on the nearest couch by the counter. Wondering if the comment had came out as off putting, you’re about to throw on a free pastry when—

“My brother recommended this cafe. Needed a quiet place to get some work done,” he explains with a slight pause, and continues, “The drink you made was good,” he says quietly and starts unpacking. For whatever reason, that puts a dumb cheesy grin on your face. You’re thankful he’s too occupied to catch that.

“Well, you’re welcome to stop by anytime. Just, you know, within actual store hours.” You laugh when you see the tips of his ear flushing a light shade of red. 

“I suppose you’re right,” and you don’t have to look at him to hear the tiny smile in his voice.

“Did you want me to make you anything?”

He shakes his head. “Nothing at the moment. Thank you.”

You two are quiet again for a long time. He’s minding your space while you’re trying to finish your opening duties. When you’re finally done fiddling with the coffee bean grinder, you twirl around, mind racing and checking off your internal checklist with the next task being to actually open the shop. Though, as you turn, The Duke of the North is already by the front door, flipping the sign over to OPEN. 

Can this guy get any more charming?

“Oh, you didn’t have to do that,” except that you totally loved the fact that he did just that. Maybe a concerning amount. 

“I was getting up anyways,” he reasons simply with a shrug. Somehow he slightly reminds you of a certain someone, but you ignore the nagging voice inside your head.

“Well, keep that up and we might just hire you,” you tease.

The Duke of the North strolls up to the counter, presenting a credit card in his hand, and looks over the menu behind you. You give him space, but you absolutely try to make out the name on the card. You probably shouldn’t refer to him as The Duke of the North any longer than you should. Then again, if the shoe fits, why change?

Suddenly, the front door bell rings and the sight of maroon catches your attention.

“Sae?”

“You’re here awfully early,” Sae comments, nonchalantly. 

You sigh, rubbing a hand to your temple. “Got moved to first shift, unfortunately.”

“Wasn’t talking to you, I was talking to him,” he nods towards The Duke of the North.

Blinking hastily, you choke out, “Wait, you two know each other?”

“Are you that blind?” Sae deadpans and stands next to the taller male, who looks mildly taken back, like somehow he doesn’t want to be here anymore. “This is Rin. The guy I was talking about yesterday. My brother.”

To say that you’re shocked might be an understatement. The correct emotion might’ve been appalled, or even dread? You’re not sure. But you weren’t expecting the meeting to be as unnerved as it was. Rin doesn’t even allow Sae to finish explaining, just ends up walking out with the promise of showing up to the shop at the end of your shift. You remember catching Sae’s irritated expression which, in itself, is extremely rare. It placed a strained smile on your face.

Back at your apartment, you’re currently trying to balance this tutoring session by turning it into a personal study time too. Though, you keep the sight of Rin in your peripheral as you complete your assignments in bed. It didn’t take you too long to look through his current curriculum and throw together a few practice and multiple choice questions for a quick knowledge assessment. He seemed pretty adamant about knowing everything, but Sae has his doubts.

Rin keeps looking over at his quiz, your digital clock, and the floor — all in that order. You don’t want to distract him anymore than he already is, though you can’t help but to spare a glance of what he has done so far. 

The multiple choice questions have been filled out, with a couple of eraser bits on the side, but the short answers have hardly been touched. A lofty attempt has been made to the first short answer, where Rin drew a small circuit diagram to determine the internal resistance of a battery, but it kinda just stops at that. Any answers he has written for the problem set are mostly brief notions of what’s already stated in the prompt. 

Rin currently has his fingers knotted in his hair, pencil tapping against the table and, underneath the desk, he’s bouncing his leg like mad.He tries to look indifferent on a surface level, but you can easily see the vein popping out on his neck.

By the time you’ve finished grading, Rin barely scrapes by with a C-. And, while some students would be ecstatic with that, it’s surely not enough to raise his current grade to a passing one. 

Sae mentioned that Rin’s a fast learner when he wants to be and he never said tutoring would be an easy job. No worries, it’s not the first time you had to mentor a student before. What you’re more worried about is how Rin had been so sure that he knew what he was doing… when he obviously doesn’t.

You hand back the paper with the corrected answers in red ink. You even drew a tiny smiley face by his name to give him some sort of comfort, but Rin just makes a disgruntled noise and looks mildly disgusted.

“I don’t need your sympathy.”

You certainly didn’t expect him to snap at you. Rin visibly tenses and blood rushes to your ears.

Your lips part, finding the right words, as he redirects his attention to your bedroom window and stretches his jaw. Then, after an agonizing long pause, he tips his head back, slouches down in the chair, and sighs in defeat. 

“Sorry,” his voice cracks a little and he leans down, resting his forehead on the edge of the table. 

You pinch your lips together, eyebrows raised. He looks frustrated, but you can tell it’s not aimed at you. “Let’s… take a fifteen minute break, how does that sound?”

“I think I should go.” He’s a little breathless, possibly uncomfortable under the weight of your stare. 

“I’m not delicate, Itoshi,” you say, slowly. You’ve dealt with a fair share of angst-ridden undergrads flustering over their assignments. Rin is no different, and you’re not the type to easily give up after a mini meltdown. It’s all about having the right approach, if you send him home now then the next session would just start off even more strained. “Stay for a while longer, we’ll go over everything one by one.”

“It’s fine.”

You sigh, lips curling ever so slightly. “Itoshi, has anyone told you that you’re a terrible liar?”

From the look on his face, it seemed like the world had slipped out from under his feet. You soon realize that Rin almost reminds you of a raging teen, when he’s like this. He’s fiercely independent, that’s for sure. The type that doesn’t like to make others worry but it ends up backfiring in the end. How he’s managed to get through with life is way beyond your comprehension, but you have a feeling that it has something to do with Sae.

“I… I don’t talk about stuff like this,” he admits and chews down on his lip - it seems like a nervous tick, a bad habit. 

“I can tell,” a chuckle bubbles from you but you pause when you catch his glare. You start clearing your throat awkwardly, “I—um, I don’t talk about my feelings often either. I don’t think many people do. We’re all trying to figure things out as we go.”

“Have you figured it out yet?” Rin seems to surprise himself with that question. 

Maybe for him, you look like you’ve got all your shit together. As if you’ve figured out all the great secrets in life. And maybe, you think, he just wants reassurance that he’s not alone, struggling, to find purpose. Or perhaps Rin wants you to offer up some adult advice, something only seniors would know. 

Your eyes widen for a moment. Rin furrows his brows tightly together and stares at you for answers. You both know well enough that you don’t have a solution, but he looks at you anyway. All you offer him back is a warm, big smile. 

“Itoshi, I’m two years older than you. I’ve had a little more years to figure it out,” you begin slowly, “I’ve had my ups and downs, almost flunked out a few courses when I was starting out, too. I didn’t just magically have it all come together.”

He appears doubtful, almost hard to believe. Rin looks like he’s about to protest but one look and he soon realizes that you’re pushing some truth there. You can tell that he’s struggling, mind working in overtime to try and process all of his internal conflicts — only because you’ve gone through the same. 

“Honestly,” you continue, after a long moment of silence, and lean to the side, giving Rin’s shoulder a little nudge, “It’s not my business to dig around your psyche, but just know that you’re welcome to tell me anything. Physics related or not.”

Rin doesn’t say a word, but you take his silence as a contentment. 

“So, uh,” you start to get up from the bed and pace towards the kitchen area, “I have some sliced fruit in the fridge, if you want some. Can’t solve these problems on an empty stomach.”

You two spend the rest of the night assessing the problems he got stuck on and going over shorthand tricks to easily remember what formulas to use. To your surprise, Rin stays mostly quiet and attentive this time around. He doesn’t stare at the worksheet in irritation anymore, and asks questions when he finds himself stuck on a problem. At the end, he manages a passing B on the new practice assessment. And, of course, while downing a bowl of freshly sliced honeydew.

It’s almost midnight by the time he starts heading out. You’re certain that this is going to kick you in the ass tomorrow morning, because you somehow forgot that you have an 8:00 AM class. It’s fine, you think, at least the atmosphere feels a lot lighter than when you guys first started, so you consider that as a plus.

As Rin begins to put on his shoes, you try to lean against the bedroom door casually and nearly fall over. Looking unimpressed, Rin looks up at you.

“Hm?”

“Do you dislike me?”

“You’d already be dead if I hated you,” Rin says this with a certain level of confidence that makes you both shiver and relax at the same time. You’re positive that he isn’t a serial killer but, then again, you don’t know if Sae is the only source of all that pent up angst. 

When his hand rests on the front door knob, Rin suddenly looks back, eyebrows knitted together, and you can’t tell what his expression translates into. Nevertheless, it makes your breath catch in your throat, and you swallow hard. 

“Yes, Itoshi?”

”You… your room is messy,” Rin eventually comments, very unnecessarily, which causes you to release a heavy sigh, sticking a disapproving tongue out.

“Wow, you really do get that shitty attitude from him!”

Rin just snorts, hands in his pockets, and you think this is the first time he’s ever really laughed. It throws you off and, before you get a proper chance to recover, he’s out the door. 

“You’re surprisingly getting the hang of this, Itoshi” you’re glossing over the practice quiz he had today, feeling a surge of pride knowing that Rin was able to handle it just fine. He ended up receiving a B minus, which is nearly a grade higher from his past averages. Guess a heated vent session is the answer to most problems. 

“I’ve cleared my head,” he shrugs nonchalantly, as if it’s the easiest thing to do in the world. 

Outside, a storm rages and rattles the windows every time thunder roars. Typhoon season is nearing as the weather starts to get warmer, which ultimately means your evening shifts are cut early to avoid flood risks and violent winds. It’s been about two weeks since the first tutoring session and there’s been a slow progression in your relationship. 

Having Rin over almost feels weirdly second nature, despite the short amount of time. You try to meet at least three times a week, two of those times happen right after your shift. The thing you miss the most about being a sophomore is the amount of free time you had. Rin’s classes practically finish before three every day and arrive at the coffee shop right after football practice everyday. Majority of the time, it would just be exchanging shorthand greetings but, whenever the evening rush dies down, you try to strike a quick check-in. Afterwards, the two of you  would make the trip back to your apartment to continue the session. 

Which leads to this current situation. 

About an hour into the session you suggested a well needed break, for you at least. You’re laying down in your bed, playing a mobile game on full volume, while Rin is disciplined enough to still scroll over his previous lecture slides at your desk. You’re not sure if this is what he does to “relax”, or if he’s just simply not grown comfortable around you just yet. Either way, it’s hard to believe that you’re being out mentored. 

“You know you can chill, right?”

“I know.” You hear muffled sounds of a lecture recording from his laptop. 

“Well, I don’t hear you chilling.”

“I don’t need to be.”

Okay, yeah, you’re starting to see the family resemblance here. But it’s going to take a lot more than that to stop you. How else have you survived as Sae’s best friend for two years?

“Don’t you have any fun weekend plans?” 

Rin shakes his head, eyes never leaving his screen. “Maybe not fun by your definitions.”

Your ears perk at this and you subtly lower the volume of the game. Maybe this is a sign to get to know his likes and dislikes, and whether or not he has a significant other — because that’s all important information. At least, that’s what you convince yourself. If Rin just so happens to be in a relationship, then you’ll easily set aside that growing curiosity. If he’s not, then a little harmless flirting won’t harm anyone, right?

“Itoshi,” you sit up from the bed with more purpose than before, Rin seems to catch on and visibly grimaces. “Tell me, I wanna know.”

“We should probably go back to studying,” he sighs.

You hop to your feet, sauntering to the desk and shutting his laptop with ease. Ohm’s Law can wait just a little while longer. “You’ve been at it nonstop since we’ve arrived here. It’s not good to cram everything in that big head of yours, that’s how people burn out faster. C’mon, a ten minute break won’t kill you.”

Rin doesn’t bother to argue against you, he’s been over well enough to pick up that you won’t let him become a complete workaholic. 

“Fine,” he gets up and makes his way over to sit on the edge of your bed, because if he doesn't then you’ll eventually force him to sit elsewhere. Something about separating work and personal spaces to improve learning.

You plop down a few inches away with a winning smile, “So, what are your plans?”

“Football practice—”

“Something other than what I already know.”

He exhales loudly. “Catching up on coursework at the cafe, probably.”

This takes you by surprise, only because you work this upcoming weekend. “Really? Well, guess we’ll see each other then.” Maybe tenacity is just rooted deeply in the family’s genes.

“It’s a nice place,” he reasons, sneaking a glance at you.

You begin squirming, trying to turn from Rin without looking like a complete idiot. Then, slowly, “...What do you like about it?”

And, of course, the words barely escape your lips when the whole building seems to creak and groan under the effort of the storm. The power flicks suddenly around the room, and then it’s complete, utter darkness.

You don’t feel Rin’s presence next to you until a sudden gust of air hits your ear. You flinch and clap a hand over your ear while Rin mumbles out a quick apology and stumbles to establish his own personal space on the bed. 

It starts to rain heavier now, water slapping hard against the window panels in big, ugly raindrops. You should probably get up and find a flashlight or any lighting of some sort, something to make the situation less awkward, but your body feels like a rock. You don’t want to move but, at the same time, your mind is telling you to run far, far away from Rin.

Heart throbbing against your chest, you gather up the courage to look at Rin’s face with the help of the dim lighting from the window sill. His eyes are half-lidded, seemingly glazed over in deep thought. He doesn’t say a single word, and every moment of his silence stirs the growing anxiousness inside. You swallow, suddenly aware that he’s beginning to unravel your sanity just by being there besides you. 

“Are you, um, are you okay with thunderstorms?” you adjust your position with shaky limbs, trying your best to not cross his physical boundaries.

Rin fidgets in response, but you can tell he’s also trying to keep his cool. “I’m fine with them. I just wasn’t expecting the power to suddenly…”

“Yeah, my apartment sucks,” you groan, inwardly. “This doesn’t happen all the time, I swear.” A flash of lightning illuminates the room, you squint against the light. “Maintenance won’t be on site ‘till tomorrow morning. I doubt you want to stay so we’ll have to cut the session short for today.”

You feel the mattress dip a little. The two of you fall silent, and there’s a weird awkward tension hanging in the room, one where it leaves you both red and flushing. Your mind is racing, and there’s a million questions. He hasn’t made any moves of getting up, nor has he said anything about leaving. It’s a bit uncharacteristic for Rin to be unsure in a given situation like this, or is he just being polite? This feels different from your first meeting, it’s still unpredictable, still a confusing mess.

“Or we could talk!” you quickly add on. “I…uh, if you want to talk, that is.”

After a few more moments of that awkward, creeping silence permeating the room, Rin sighs. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to talk about,” he whispers and looks up, his face looking worn out.

“You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to. Silence is also okay.”

“I like silence,” he confesses.

“We can just sit here then,” you agree, “silence in itself can be therapeutic, too.”

You don’t necessarily agree with yourself. If it’s not for work at the cafe, you spend a good deal of your time in silence. Studying, grading students’ papers, thinking about your family back home, and preparing for life after graduation. It all gets overwhelming when you sit and process everything in your mind. Even so, the silence that falls between you and your best friend’s brother feels comfortable, in spite of the initial close proximity. You find yourself leaning back into the bed frame’s headboard, curling up sideways.

About ten minutes in, Rin cracks.

“When I was a kid, I used to be afraid of storms. Sae used to make dumb blanket forts with me. It’s silly, but…”

And, despite it being dark, you shoot him a knowing look. For a moment, Rin looks like he regrets even opening his mouth, like he’s about to blurt out a quick ‘nevermind’, but you don’t give him a chance.

“I’m listening, you don’t have to stop.” Unknowingly, you give his shoulders a little nudge of encouragement. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Rin thinks it over, and he only has to for a moment. “Yeah, I guess I do.”

He talks for a while, until he runs out of things to say. Or, rather, he runs out of energy to say anything. His thought process is a jumbled mess of how his relationship with Sae developed. Being the younger sibling, it’s natural for Rin to look up to his brother, to want to gain acknowledgement and become some sort of a mirror image. The thought of Sae looking after Rin while both of their parents were working overtime to provide for their education is also something you could heavily relate to. Around some point down the line, Sae began to distance himself from Rin without any apparent reasoning, at least in his eyes. Towards the end, it becomes a rambling about nothing, too, and you’re positive that Rin hasn’t even gotten into the meat of the issue.

Rin appears mildly exhausted, flustered, and a little embarrassed by the time he’s done. He turns to you, eyes narrowed, “Don’t say that you feel sorry for me, I’ve heard it about a dozen times already. It gets old.”

You shake your head, processing everything. You can tell he has so much more he wants to get off of his chest, so many things he wants to unload, things that he hasn’t even realized that’s been weighing him down. 

“I wasn’t gonna say that,” and he stays still, studying your next words with high concentration. “Sae and I have been close for quite a while, and I totally get how he’s an ass—to you and just about everyone else. He’s abrasive and straight to the point with a lot of things. Also pretty sure he’s allergic to communication. Hell, I’m not entirely sure how I was able to get close to him in the first place,” you flare a deep breath out of your nose and rhythmically tap your fingers along your thighs. “But I know he has a weird way of caring for others, too.”

“How so?” Rin doesn’t sound annoyed, just confused. Almost hopeful, even. 

“Well, he’s signed you up for tutoring, which might actually not be a good example of care but, um… He normally hates asking people for favors. This is just an unconventional way of saying that he’s making sure you’re doing okay.”

“Could’ve said it himself.”

“Yeah, well, you came to the cafe because he told you, right?”

With that, he quickly shuts his mouth, forming it into a subtle pout. Is he embarrassed that you’re right?

Another flash of lightning comes by, followed by low rumbling thunder. Then, an idea brews.

“This is gonna sound a bit crazy but… do you wanna build a fort?”

Rin snorts. “What’s with that?”

“Well, it doesn't seem like you’re in a rush to leave. Then again, maybe a taxi service would be expensive right now…”

He offers up little resistance to your suggestion and ends up dragging a couple of chairs into your living room from the kitchen. You dig around in your closet and pull out a heavy winter blanket, the ones with a giant tiger imprinted on the front. It’s been stored away for quite some time, leaving bits of dust and other mysterious remnants in the air as you straighten the fabric out. Hopefully Rin’s not sensitive to dust mites. 

One side of the blanket is stretched around the edge of the couch and tucked beneath the cushions. Another corner is wrapped and fastened clumsily around a chair. It hangs over the edge of the coffee table and is held in place by the second chair in the corresponding corner. The overall impression is ridiculous, but there's a decent space on the floor in front of the sofa. 

“That’s a bit better,” you decide, with a faint laugh. 

You’re pressed close to one another, and you have to admit that it’s intimate in a way that you didn’t expect. The air is a little warm, heavy with their breath and the faint heat from the candles. It’s… nice. Outside, the wind is howling, but it is fainter, partially obscured by the blanket barrier that keeps the outside world away.

You decide to stream a horror movie to pass the time, until the weather subsides a bit. You’ll probably go over your data plan for the month, but right now, you don’t really care. You prop the phone up against one of Rin’s textbooks that he didn’t get the chance to go over today, and end up watching a really shitty slasher movie from the 80’s.

At some point, you doze off, leaning in and head tipping to tentatively rest on his shoulder. It’s not the most comfortable position. You’re both slouched back against the couch, pillow wedged under your backs. Your phone eventually runs dead, and the candles burn into nothing—smoldering and smoking as they sputter out.

“Hey,” Rin faintly calls out your name. “It’s getting late.”

You stir in your sleep, finding the strength to open your eyes and tilt your head up. You’re sure that your heart is going to stop beating when he takes notice. The look on your face must’ve been a good one, because now Rin’s six shades of red deeper and he’s got his hand over his mouth. 

“Oh god, I’m sorry, Itoshi!”

“It’s… okay,” his voice is low, sounding almost uncertain. “Rin is also fine.”

You fail to notice his fingers making their way past your forearm, past your neck, until you feel them settle on your warm cheek. Shivers course through your body, and the resulting sounds you release is halfway between a sigh and a whimper. His eyes are half-lidded, glazed, and you’re positive yours are no different.

“Sorry, Rin…” you’re apologizing again, his name sounds foreign on your tongue but feels like home all at the same time. Your voice begins to trail off. You can’t finish, your eyes are already closed, head tilted. As you breathe, with your heart rattling in your throat, you feel Rin lean in close.

As soon as you collide into him, his lips meld against yours.

It’s funny how life works. Some days seem to drag, impossibly slow, especially when you’re trapped in your own mind — replaying everything, obsessing over every single action you’ve done wrong in your life. There are days where you barely get out of bed until it’s time for classes or to get ready for work, where you just go through the motions. 

Other days, they fly by in the blink of an eye. Sometimes it’s because you hole yourself up at the library, nose glued to your textbooks, and body running on adrenaline. Other times, it’s because you keep replaying that kiss you gave Rin, wondering what it means, or if it just means nothing at all. You remember being roped in by the shy, tentative edge in his voice that reminded you when you first met him at the shop, where you first had been infatuated.

Rin hasn’t spoken to you since that night at your apartment. On one hand, while you’re worried that you might’ve said something out of line, and maybe that kiss came off too strong. Which, of course it fucking came off too strong. You kissed your best friend’s brother, and that just spells disaster on its own. Although, on the other hand, you’re glad that you guys are on a first name basis.

That’s fine. Rin seems to be going through a lot and the best professional way to handle this situation is to be… professional. Everything is all too much, and you've decided that you need to take a break.

That night, you’ve made a quick trip home after work to stay at your family’s. You don’t have time to mull over a certain junior of yours, not when you have your own things to take care of. 

Your parents’ are currently on their anniversary date, leaving behind your two younger siblings all by themselves. You think two eight year olds could handle themselves just fine for a few hours but, then again, kids these days are just built differently.

You ended up ordering takeout and made them sit through a painstakingly long foreign film. Subtitles always put kids to sleep faster, you’ve learned. After carrying them to bed, you decide to spend the rest of your night sitting outside on the patio and wait for the return of your parents.

The skies are always clearer in the suburbs compared to the bustling city lights that pollute everywhere else. You sit down on a small plastic chair, one belonging to your siblings, and spend a good few minutes appreciating the twinkling stars and the raw smell of the countryside. You fix your gaze out in the distance, at the same hills and mountains the sprawling city overlooks.

Feeling inspired, you fish out your phone and decide to send Sae a quick picture of the surroundings with the caption ‘miss you loser :P’. It’s a small mini-game that you two started a year back, sending each other photos whenever away from campus, even though it’s mainly you sending the photos and he sends back middle finger emojis. 

Though, as soon as you hit the send button, dread immediately fills your gut. 

“Wait, shit, shit—wrong brother!” 

Your heart hammers against your chest as you stare at the now seemingly flirty caption and, dear lord, your reputation might as well be down the gutters. This will go down as probably the most embarrassing moments of your life, and what makes things even worse is that you know Rin has seen it because three gray dots are now jumping up and down in the chat log.

God, what are you even supposed to say to that?

[Sae’s Brother!!!]: I’m sorry?

When you receive the responding text, you feel yourself losing ten years off your lifespan. You bury your face into your hands and whine, loudly. 

This incident on top of whatever the hell happened during the night of the storm… Rin probably thinks you’re a creep for doing this. You can already imagine how it’ll play out: Rin tells Sae that you’re harassing him, Sae stops being your friend, and you’ll probably have to drop out and move out of the country. Rin might never even show himself to you again, and that thought alone makes your throat tighten up.

However, before you can descend into further madness, if that’s even possible, your phone vibrates again. You swallow the needles in your throat and peek through the cracks between your fingers.

[Sae’s Brother!!!]: Looks nice. 

And, to your surprise, there’s an image attached to the text. It’s a dim photo of his opened textbook, a filled in study guide sheet beside his laptop, and on the right side of his desk is a drink from the cafe. You want to make a dumb oolong tea joke, but now you feel bad for disrupting his study session. 

Then, another notification comes through.

[Sae’s Brother!!!]: Miss you too. :P

Your heart promptly multiplies into a thousand pieces. You lean into the chair, almost tipping yourself over. Your heart’s beating so hard that you can practically feel it pulse against your temples. Taking deep breaths, you don’t look at your phone until the urge to run away fades. 

It feels like you're dreaming, and you know it’s absolutely stupid and silly, that you feel like you’re floating right into a dumb romance drama right now, but you can’t help it. Not when Rin is pulling stunts like this. He probably meant it as a joke, maybe only responded back to mirror you, who knows. But someone like him should not have the power to be so, so adorable under all that hard exterior. That’s just illegal…

“God,” your breath shudders out and you thumb over the keyboard to respond back.

[You]: didn’t mean to send that to you haha… ;; [You]: but i take it that studying is going well??

Rin replies back within seconds.

[Sae’s Brother!!!]: I know. [Sae’s Brother!!!]: Studying’s been fine. Might need to look over something when we meet up again, if that’s okay. [You]: of course!! just lemme know what day works :)

Rin sends you a thumbs up emoji and you don’t get a response for a while after that, figuring that he probably went back to work. It doesn’t matter anyway, because it feels like a hundred pounds just got lifted from your shoulders and you feel so light that you’re convinced that you can see the stars even clearer now. 

Thank the heavens he didn’t make it weirder than it already was.

Fuzzy-brained, you decide that it might be best to call it a night and retreat back into the house and towards your old bedroom. Even while laying down on your plush mattress, curled up, with the aircon on blast, you couldn’t fall asleep — at least, not for a long while.

By the time you pass out, it’s from sheer exhaustion and adrenaline rush. Your phone remains gripped against your chest as you sleep, and you end up missing another message from Rin late in the night.

[Sae’s Brother!!!]: Your manager doesn’t make good oolong. Come back soon.

There are several moments when you tell yourself you need to take a couple steps back. That you really, really need to calm down about Itoshi Rin.

The rest of the week comes and goes. You haven’t seen Rin in a few days. You guys sorta text, with him giving you curt updates on his assignments, but Rin goes long periods of time without replying. And, when he does reply, even though it’s just a text on screen, you get a distinct idea that he’s probably tired. So most of the time you end up lounging around at Sae’s apartment, busying yourself with your own assignments and bothering Sae about the end of the year assessment. And maybe you mope to him about his younger brother. Just a little bit.

“Does Rin hate me?” 

“Why do you ask?” You could practically hear the eye roll in his response.

You feel a bit juvenile when you explain the reasoning, it’s obvious in your tone. “He’s, um, been kinda dry.”

“Is water dry?”

“...No?”

“Then there’s your answer,” Sae yawns and flips to the next page in whatever new psychological thriller novel he picked up. “Should feel lucky that he’s even responding back, I barely get an emoji out of him.”

Part of the fun thing about being friends with Sae is having full 24 hour access to his apartment. Whenever you’re running low on food, it doesn’t matter if it’s milk or potatoes, somehow there’s always extras at his place. The least fun thing about being friends with him is that he’s god awful at keeping up with conversations. Or, at least in this case, giving you advice on how to approach Rin appropriately.

You decide to change up the topic, slightly. Your mind’s currently running on three shots of espresso and one shitty breakfast sandwich from the dining hall, not really the best combo, and the words start flooding out. “On a different note, if someone you kinda just met shows a side of them that they’ve probably never shown to anyone, how would you react?”

Sae straightens from the couch, eyes flickering to you then back to the book. “Depends on who it is,” he shrugs. He doesn’t sound too interested in the conversation.

“Wise words, I see…” you hum in deep thought. You begin strutting around the tiny living room, circling around in front of the TV and keeping a somewhat watchful eye on Sae as you choose your next words carefully. “What if… it’s like a big thing? Super pent up for so long that they just start pouring all their emotions onto you? How would you react to that?”

“Sounds like a weird person. I would probably leave,” Sae’s voice is dismissive.

You groan, fully understanding Rin’s personal dilemma. “At least pretend to be serious right now!”

And, with that, he shuts his book and rests his cheek against his palm, sighing. “Maybe they told you because they’re afraid of talking to their close friends. Or maybe they just feel comfortable around you, I don’t know. Since you’re so caught up about this… who are you talking about?”

Shit, he caught on. 

Sae hardens his gaze on you, suspicion sprawled across his sharp features.

“I—um, uh, it’s a classmate of mine! We were going over grad school applications and they seemed really lost about if they wanted to apply or not… I was just a little surprised when they started talking about their insecurities with me, that’s all. We’re a little bit closer now, though…” your voice trails off and Sae cocks his head a little, pursing his lips, but decides to leave the topic be.

“Right, well… how are Rin’s studies coming along?” Sae asks after a long pause and backs out of your space. 

It’s not like Rin’s doing terribly at his studies. He’s picking up some of the methods and variables faster than most people in your department, perhaps even learning at a faster pace than yourself. Though, and this is just an observation, you’ve noticed that Rin rarely takes notes in his classes. When he does, well, it’s sloppy and unfocused. You’re starting to worry, since his midterm is rounding the corner, and you’ve been itching to ask if he remembers the material or if he doesn’t care. You want to, really, but it’s technically not your job to look after him full-time.

Unless it totally has something to do with the weird family dynamic that you can never really nail down? Yeah, you’re definitely not sticking your nose into that mud anytime soon. The last time you did that, well… 

“He’s doing fine!” You offer up that much. It’s a little taste of honesty. Not the full truth. Somehow, you know that Sae is damn well aware of that, too.

“As long as he’s motivated, that’s all that really matters.” Sae mumbles. He drops the conversation and it’s probably a good thing, because you can’t concentrate at all.

By the end of this particular meeting, you feel like you’re going to vomit. Your stomach has jumped into your throat, and you’re struggling to keep your breakfast down. It’s way too late to call out of work, so you power through and manage to make it in time for your shift. It’s not until you arrive that you notice a familiar tuff of black hair behind the register, eyes glimmering with all flirt and talk with a female student across the counter. 

Then, it hits you, if there’s one person other than Sae who can give mildly okay advice, it’s him.

When the evening rush dies down, you relay the situation back to Oliver, throwing on the crucial details—well, minus the kiss—unfortunately you can’t risk that information going out of his mouth. Unlike Sae, he shows interest from the get go, providing you live reactions and commentary as the story continues. When asked for his thoughts, Oliver covered his face and howled in laughter for a long while, getting stares from customers, before leaning in and eyes you very seriously.

“Kid’s got a massive crush on you, that’s for sure.”

Oliver is obviously a better listener compared to Sae, but also has a tendency to stretch things out for dramatic purposes. You should’ve mentally prepared yourself for this.

“Wait a sec,” Oliver sits on the countertop, despite the rules encouraging against it written on the chalkboard behind him, ponders hard for a moment, and then, “You like him!”

You almost spill a shot of espresso all over your fingers, letting out a small screech, and look up, doing a bit of a double take at your friend. “Don’t you have better jokes to make?!”

Oliver tosses you a clean towel from underneath the counter space and offers an apologetic smile, but he looks amused. “You wanted my honest opinion. Hot, young stud falls for his tutor who also works as a barista? The prompt just writes for itself.”

You swallow a gagging noise. “Please don’t ever refer to Rin as a hot, young stud… even if it is true.”

“If we want to peel back several more layers, maybe this is all part of Sae’s elaborate plan to hook you up with someone.”

“Can’t you have another family emergency again?” You like Oliver. He’s possibly your only favorite coworker out of all the other part-timers, but you’re very unimpressed with him right now. “I’m still in college. You’re acting like I’m going to be forever alone, or something.”

“While that might be true,” Oliver agrees, mildly. “I still think the kid might just be bad with… y’know, showing emotions.” He motions his hands in a heart shape near his chest. “I was like that when I was his age, too.”

“Gross, now you’re just making yourself sound like an old man.” With that beard, it sure adds a few years to his face. No wonder he’s so popular with the ladies.

“You should be more honest with yourself,” he softly chastises, offering you a blueberry muffin that he definitely stole from the back. “Life would feel a lot easier.”

“You talk as if I’m a fictional character in some stupid story,” you sigh, gracefully accepting the baked good in defeat.

There’s a part of you that feels bitter after the conversation, afraid that he’s right. You’ve been solely focusing on your academics for the most part, and that’s not to say that you haven’t had others showing interest in you. 

You remembered Oliver hounding you down on your very first day at the coffee shop, trying to get your attention by making you clean up his spills, not sure why he thought that was a good idea… Another guy from your department also tried hitting asking you out by creating a fake math problem that would eventually lead to him asking for your number, but the variables were messed up and all over the place that it didn’t make any sense. 

You don’t put relationships on a high pedestal, and you don’t necessarily need to be in one right now. Maintaining a steady income and keeping your scholarship should be your top priority. That, and not falling for your best friend’s brother.

Things go uneventfully for a little while longer at the shop. You and Oliver were going to put on the latest episode of the Bachelor to pass the remaining shift but, by the time you were just about to finish setting up the monitor, the front door bell chimes.

You blink. You and Oliver are in the corner tucked at the back of the store. It’s ten minutes until closing and your stomach churns wildly at the thought of another inconsiderate customer. Because if it happens to be another frat guy ordering a “secret menu” item that some person made up on TikTok again… well, you’re gonna start crying.

“I’ll go take care of it,” you sigh, fishing out the store’s keys out of your pocket. “Just tell me who the guy ends up with.”

Oliver grins as he presses the play button. “Roger that, boss.”

You hadn’t really expected to see Itoshi Rin of all people to swing by.

He barely gets any words out when you emerge to the front counter, needless to say you were the same. After a few mindless scrabbling around and awkward shifting, Rin spits out that he needs an emergency tutoring session, back at his apartment of all places. And, at some point in the night, between your mind turning into mush and Rin refusing to look you in the eyes, Oliver sends you off a little early before you have the chance to help him close.

Which ultimately leads you off here.

“So, what’s the burning question you have for me?” you ask, setting down your book bag on the floor. 

Rin’s apartment is a lot minimalistic compared to yours, and more on the traditional side. His place is a bit further out of the downtown area, into the quieter parts of Tokyo, but not terribly far from the school’s public transit. Here, the buildings aren’t skyscrapers and the traffic is manageable, which means a lot more parks and greenery. 

Instead of a dining table with chairs, he opted for a low coffee table and cushions instead. There’s tatami flooring, a small bookshelf in the corner with organized sports magazines, textbooks, and a few horror films. Hanging on the walls are a variety of posters; most of them are famous foreign football players and some are a few popular movie covers. 

The coffee table is placed right near his bedside, so it makes a perfect back rest for you. Rin keeps a small desk lamp on, he’s mentioned to you in passing that small amounts of warm lighting helps him focus. This setup is certainly a lot more comfortable compared to yours.

Rin decides to sit next to you this time, pulling out an array of notebooks from his bag and fidgets with his pens on the table before flipping to his last pages of notes. “It’s about… torque and resistance.” He buries half of his face into his palm as his fingers trace, almost obsessively, through the notes. From one glance, his writing looks coherent enough, better from when he first started out.

“Um, yeah, sure,” you keep a close eye on him. Rin is behaving rather strangely. Restless, agitated, annoyed, or a combination of all three. Though, a minute into the small lecture, Rin softly calls out your name. “Y-Yes?” you can begin to feel your neck growing dangerously hot.

“About that night, last week…” he finally pushes the words out, but lets them hang in the air, inconclusive.

Your cheeks flare up, and you turn away, clearly embarrassed. Suddenly, you feel like a complete idiot all over again. “I—I’m sorry about that,” you stammer out, staring down at your fingers. “I don’t know what came over me, everything was so dark and—”

“You don’t need to apologize,” he consoles, quickly. “I’m glad that it happened. It was… I… it was good.”

It’s a bit of a rambling response, but it leaves you stunned and flustered, without even realizing it.  You finally turn to look at him, eyes a little misty, your cheeks still warm. You’re relieved by Rin’s reply. You open your mouth to respond back, but nothing tangible comes out.

“I want it to happen again,” Rin finds himself saying, tone suddenly low and dark. He shoots you a look, one that you can’t quite interpret. It’s like he’s hovering somewhere between concern and fear that he’s pushing too far. And maybe he is, but you are too.

You let your legs slip out from underneath and you lean up against Rin’s bed. If it wasn’t there, you’d collapse for sure.

Rin follows suit but pulls away from you abruptly, and you manage to look up just in time to catch the flush in his cheeks and neck. It’s hard to see it in the dark but, if Rin’s body language is anything to go by, he’s incredibly embarrassed. 

“Are you okay?” His voice is quiet, and you manage a shaky nod, but that nod is immediately followed by another involuntary sound from the back of your throat.

“I, um, should we tell…?” 

You’re not entirely sure where Rin stands with his relationship with Sae, nor if both of you can predict the outcome of what would happen. Sae is still a close friend, but you can’t hide the fact that you like Rin away from him forever. Plus, would this even realistically work out? Graduate school, job interviews, things of that sort aren’t in Rin’s horizons, but…

“We don’t have to do anything right now,” he seems to catch on and clears his throat, looking away. “I just wanted to make my feelings clear.”

You briefly think back to Oliver’s advice earlier in the night, about being more honest with your feelings. How things will magically become easier. It’ll be unfair if you didn’t pour out your heart like Rin had done just now. But words can’t be the only way of showing your honesty.

“We can take it slowly,” you stumble out.

Screw it, maybe you can ask Sae for a favor after you’re done tutoring.

Those words seem to melt Rin’s hard exterior almost instantly. Wrapping both your arms around his neck, you press a chaste kiss to his inviting lips.

Rin doesn’t say anything else, but there’s another little teasing nudge of his shoulder bumping against yours, and it somehow communicates more than it should.

taglist: @hellothere9597 @itzmeme @scaraslover @kidd3ath @torureadz

a/n: hi again everyone... if you've made it this far - thank you ;; this piece might just be the longest fic i've ever written (to date...) and tbh im not sure if i like it ? maybe i do idk!! there were so many times i wanted to throw my laptop against the wall gaah did you know that i originally wanted sae to come in and interrupt towards the end? thank god i didnt otherwise our two main love birds wouldn't have been able to kiss... anyways, ty for reading and hopefully you'll see me around more <3 <3 ty i love you

[dearsnow]

CUDDLES AND CONFESSIONS

- jacaerys has hidden his feelings for you, his childhood friend, but everything unravels during a midnight confession. (jacaerys velaryon x gn!reader, modern au, pining into fluff, luke definitely turned down the heater so the events of the story could take place but we ignore that)

word count: 2,692

a/n - this was inspired by the very incredible @valeskafics’s modern au stories :) i love love their fics so definitely check them out ^^ this is a lot longer than most of the stuff i’ve written recently because it came straight out of my heart. please enjoy <3

Sunlight filters through Jace’s window as he repeats vocab words for you to study. The shadow he casts is long and warm toned on his carpeted floor, stretching just enough to reach the base of the chair you’re sitting in. He shifts his position from cross-legged to lying flat on the floor, fingers holding an index card. You rattle off the word you know connects to the definition in his hands.

You slump forward a little bit, arms wrapped around your knees. “God, Jace, we’ve been going at this for hours. It’s gotta be time for a break.”

“Well, I wouldn’t phrase it like that,” he all but laughs, “but sure. I think we’re well-prepared. I mean, as well as we could ever be.” He lifts his hand to his mouth to yawn.

In actuality, his mind has been elsewhere for a while now. He helped you study like a good friend while his eyes gazed over your form lightly, imagining how soft your hand would feel in his. How you could hold the stars in your palms and love in your eyes, shining as bright as the burn he felt for you. How nice it would be to graze over your face with his fingers, feather-light touches roaming the expanse he longs to kiss. It would be nice, he thinks, to see your eyes crinkle in a smile as he kisses the corner of your mouth.

He shakes his head, breaking the immersion. He can’t let himself get hopeful. You’re just a friend. A best friend. His best friend. A friend who he dreams of loving, a friend who makes the tips of his ears turn red when he looks at you too long. And that’s all you ever will be, he reckons. He’s far too invested in your happiness to risk it with a silly move like asking you on a date.

“Let’s get a snack, yeah? I’m hungry.”

“You’re always hungry.” You look down, happiness on the curve of your lips. It’s surprising how much he can eat, really- he could put an elephant to shame. It’s just one more thing you’ve noticed about him, one more thing you’ve grown to love.

He scoffs lightly. “Like I haven’t been hearing your stomach growl for the last ten minutes. I literally offered you a snack and you said ‘no, I’m okay’.”

“Shush,” You say, stretching your legs. “I was focused.”

He scrunches his nose. He would drop anything to give you what you want. He’d find a way to bottle the moon in a jar if you said the word and give you the sun if you asked. “Sure.”

He gets up, and you follow.

The sun disappears below the horizon, wind whispering softly through his open window. His room is illuminated with the soft light of a lamp, and you sit on his floor partially covered by a blanket.

It’s not unusual for you to spend the night at his house. His mother and stepfather treat you like their own (when they’re home at least), and his brother and half-sisters are as dear to you as any siblings would be. A warm feeling erupts in your heart when Rhaenyra ruffles your hair and Luke bursts into Jace’s room to spend time with you. In some ways, you feel more at home with him than you do in your own house.

You’ve known him for forever, so the line between his family and yours blurs sometimes. It all really started when the Targaryen/Velaryon family moved in to the house right next door to yours.

Why they did it is a question that you don’t think will ever be answered, though you think it has something to do with the odd circumstances surrounding Jace and Luke’s dubious parentage. They needed a fresh start, they told you one time. They wanted to give their kids a chance at a normal life despite their riches was another excuse. In any case, you’re glad they did.

Jace became a quick friend of yours. You first met when he was playing outside your window- you looked down on him like a royal stuck in a tower while your prince teetered on a little blue bike with training wheels below you. You called down to him, and he answered.

You often pretended to ride on dragonback with him, cruising through the streets on his bike. His stepdad put some little steps on the back of it so you could ride at the same time, though you’re not sure his mother approved. You would hold on to his waist as he peddled; he never seemed to let his exhaustion show, even when you were sure his legs were sore and aching. He only let you ride on the front a handful of times, insisting that he was stronger, so it was only right that he should carry you.

In his mind, he was flying. Nothing seemed to matter except the feeling of your arms around your midsection and the wind in his hair. It was freeing, giving him the first glimpse of life he had ever felt. In that moment, he was a prince of old, written into a thick book of fairytales, and you were right there with him.

He started noticing that warm emotion and how it was always present when you were in the room. How you started to make him feel things he had never felt before. He became excited when he got paired with you for group projects and when his hand brushed yours while you were playing in your room. These feelings, the love (and whatever else he might have felt) built up inside of him until this moment, this night, when you were snuggled up in his clothes on his floor talking to him.

“…and he was saying that it wasn’t important at all! It’s totally important. I don’t understand how people can be so dense.” You shiver.

“Yeah, seriously.” He hesitates, swinging his legs over the edge of his bed. His room is unusually cold. Even with the window open, it never gets cold enough to give him bumps on the flesh of his arms. For some reason, tonight is different. “Do you want to come up here? It’s kinda cold, and I have thicker blankets.” He reasons. You glance up at him. Sometimes, when you look in his direction, your heart gives a funny little twist.

“Are you sure that’s okay?”

“Totally. It’s not like we haven’t done things like this before,” he chuckles. A strange mix of anxiety and anticipation is boiling in his stomach. It’s true: you have slept in the same bed before, though that was a long time ago with far less feelings attached. He figures it doesn’t matter as much to you as it does to him.

It does matter to you, though. Your heart pounds at the thought of something so quietly intimate. You’ve liked him since the moment you laid eyes on him all those years ago. He is your fairytale prince, even when there’s no hope of him ever reciprocating your feelings.

He’s strong, kind, and bold in an endearing way. You’re sure you would follow him to the ends of the earth if he asked. So you hop onto his bed and give your heart a sad stroke of pity when he wraps his blankets around you.

You shuffle a little closer to him, hoping to feel his body heat a little more. The goosebumps on your arms begin to fade, but you shiver still when his hand brushes your side.

Jace clears his throat, hesitantly putting his arm around your form. “We’re uh… we’re getting pretty comfy, huh? I hope you’re not cold still.”

“God, that’s how you break the tension?” You laugh. Your nose is almost touching his chest, he realizes with a foolish hope.

“What? I was just saying.” He snorts. The pleasant warmth of another body next to his is something he thinks he will never get tired of. The fact that it’s you out of anyone else brings a different sort of heat to him, but he tries to push that away.

You feel a touch lightly brush your bare back, where your shirt has lifted up. It sends a little shudder up your spine, but it feels as natural as sunlight.

“Sorry.” He whispers, eyes staring down at you. You don’t seem to notice his gaze.

“It’s okay.” You whisper back, cheeks as hot as dragonfire. You wouldn’t mind if he kept his hand there. You wouldn’t mind a lot of things, really, but you’re afraid he would.

It’s silent for a moment, a moment that seems to stretch for an eternity. It breaks with the quiet movement of your head finally turning to look at him.

“Jace, um, I…” there’s a brief pause.

“You what?”

“Nothing. It’s a stupid question anyway.”

“There are no stupid questions, unless it’s about Luke’s macaroni project.” He quips. You laugh at a joke you created so long ago it feels like a lifetime in the past. A joke made of love and fluff and just the slightest little bit of teasing. That’s how you know it, right then and there. You’ve fallen in love with Jacaerys Velaryon. “Seriously though, what is it?”

You hesitate, trying to bring up the topic in an inconspicuous manner (which is hard in the middle of the night while his arm is absentmindedly wrapped around your waist, which you desperately try to ignore). “Do you like anyone?”

He sucks in a breath, letting a beat of awkward silence pass. “Where’s this coming from?”

God, how he longs to say “you”. How he longs to tell you that his heart beats for you, fast and desperate and aching in the cold nights when you’re apart. It’s almost unbearable to keep it inside, shoved in a little corner of his consciousness so he doesn’t ruin what you’ve already built.

He decides, then, that he can’t hold on to comfort forever. As awkward as it may be, as terrible as the most likely outcome is, he needs to say something.

“I just want to know. I’m interested in your love life.” You try to play it off as a joke when you know full well it’s not. The question has been scraping your mind raw and dull for months now.

“I do.” He croaks, voice hesitant. Your heart drops.

It could be that girl he was staring at in math class, you think. The one with pretty bleached hair and a smile so bright it could kill the gods. Or maybe the person he was talking about after school; his friend, he said. A friend that made his nose scrunch up cutely when he talked about them. It could never really be you. It’s wishful thinking, you tell yourself.

A million thoughts race through your head, but one screams its purpose above the others: who is it?

You tap his chest lightly with your fist. “I can’t believe you’ve been hiding that from me. Who is it this time?” You’ve had this conversation a few times in the past. He’s attractive and kind and smart, he was bound to have a few significant others over the years. You’ve met both of them. You figure this is another one of his crushes, as fleeting as they usually are.

He takes a deep gulp of air, blood pounding in his ears. He hopes you can’t hear his heart beating. It’s time, he decides.

“You.”

Your brain almost doesn’t register his words. You… you? Really? Is there anyone in your school named You, or is he really saying what you’ve wanted him to say for years and years?

“Me?”

“Yup.”

You can’t say anything. You feel lightheaded and like you’re about to explode at the same time.

“Why?” You ask. There’s a giddy edge to your voice, bordering on disbelief. You can’t fathom why the hell your best friend likes you, when he started liking you, and what is going on in his mind.

He smiles in the dark, where you can’t see him; his lamp was silent and lightless. “Y’know my last girlfriend? She broke up with me because I didn’t want to kiss her. I was saving my first kiss for something special, someone special. Then I knew I wanted it to be with you.” Your heart all but explodes. “I’ve been in love with you since before then. Since before I even really knew what love was. I just… god, I was just a coward. But here I am, and here you are, and if you want I can drop you off at home and we can never speak of this again.”

He feels like he’s about to cry and laugh at the same time. Of course you don’t love him. It was foolish to believe you could ever like him as anything more than the boy next door.

“No, I don’t want that. I like you too. I love you.” You blurt out, burying yourself further into his sheets. “I just never thought you would like me back. I mean, I never thought I could be your type. Or that I could date you or anything. I just didn’t want to confess because I thought you would hate me for it.” The lilt of your little speech makes tears well up in his eyes. He wipes them away furiously.

“Of course I like you. You’re my everything.” He huffs. He can scarcely believe that you feel the exact same way, that you had the exact same worries.

He slides down to lie face-to-face with you, breath fanning across your face. You hold his face in your hands, and he whispers, “I’ve really thought about this a lot and I just wanted to ask you before I did it, so here I go. Can I kiss you?” It takes every last drop of your respect to not let a giggle slip in the face of his very vulnerable confession.

A sliver of moonlight shines on your face, illuminating your wide grin with a sort of halo-like effect. When you nod, the glimmer bounces off your teeth.

He presses his lips to yours. Finally, finally, he kisses you. You run your finger along his jawline, eyes closed and heart full. Your touch brands his skin in a way he knows he won’t ever forget.

That one kiss holds all your feelings and more. When you finally pull away to take a breath, he traces the outline of your lips with his thumb. You’re breathless and panting and so very alive; it’s better than pretending to fly on a dragon, you think. Much, much better.

It’s a while before you can speak again. You’re so giddy you think you could run a lap around his house if you weren’t so tired. Jace feels the same, like all of his worries have been gently plucked from his mind and discarded. You could get used to this, you both think.

“So, can I be your boyfriend? Officially at least.” He sounds so serious that you can’t help but laugh. The events of the night have been so incredible that everything has a little twinge of humor to it.

“But of course, my prince.” You tease. He scrunches his nose like he always does and gives you a peck on the cheek. You’re sure he can feel how hard you’re blushing just by grazing your warm face.

“I’ll choose to ignore that.” He says. He wraps his arms around you more securely, also choosing to ignore how red his own cheeks are.

You give a small “mm” in reply, snuggling closer to him. Your faces are so close together you can almost imagine they’re kissing without touching at all.

You almost don’t realize you’re falling asleep before it happens. Jace’s arms are just so comfortable, and you’re just so tired, and the night is just so perfectly dark and the outside noises are just so perfectly droll.

You slip away into a good dream as Jace draws hearts on your back with the tip of his finger.

Reblogs and comments are greatly appreciated!!

[d1xonss]

Desert Rose

Chapter 12 ~ Cherokee Rose

✧ Pairing : Daryl Dixon x Rose

✧ Era : Season 2

✧ Word Count : 3.1k

In this chapter ~ When the rest of the group was informed about all the recent events, it was clear they became fearful, wanting to formulate some sort of plan. After reuniting all together at the farm, they are left with the anticipation if Rose would pull through. Meanwhile, the search for Sophia continues.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ THIRD PERSON POV *~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lori and Maggie eventually made it back to the farm safely and the woman jumped off the horse in a flash, rushing inside to see her son and her husband. Unimaginable relief filled Rick's chest the moment she walked through the door, safe and unharmed. However he quickly informed her that she needed to give a blood transfusion in order for them to perform the surgery Rose needed. To keep her alive.

Upon hearing that, Lori gladly went over to have her blood drawn as quickly as possible. Just seeing how pale she had gotten, how terrible this all escalated in just a few hours, it was a lot to process.

Although Lori hadn't interacted much with Rose she was still a part of the group, and had kept her son safe countless times since she stepped foot in their camp. And because of that, Lori knew she could trust her, and if giving her blood helped her stay alive, she would do it in an instant.

Carl never left Rose's side the entire time she laid there so still in the bed. All he wanted was for her to be okay as he constantly watched Hershel work and check on her more times than he was able to count. He just wordlessly sat there holding her hand, hoping Shane would be back soon so they could use the supplies they found to save her.

The two men hadn't come back yet even though it had been hours, but all the rest of them could do was wait and hope for the best. Even if the minutes were slowly ticking away at her fate.

"Shot? What do you mean shot?" Dale asked the group as they made their way back over to the RV, explaining why only a third of the group emerged from the woods.

"God, I don't know Dale. All I know is that this girl rode in on a horse, telling us my best friend got shot and took Lori so she could give her a blood transfusion, I think. It all happened too fast, they kept talking about blood types..." Glenn rambled.

Dale just stood there with wide eyes and his mouth slightly parted, not knowing what to say as they all dumped this information on him. But he couldn't get a word in even if he tried, Daryl already beating him to the punch as he gathered himself.

"I dunno about y'all but m' headin out. Gonna make sure she's okay." he said while heading to his bike, not sparing them a second glance.

"Right behind you." Glenn muttered, walking with him as he too couldn't stop worrying about what was happening to her.

Carol stuttered, "W-Wait! We can't leave, my daughter is still out there." she said before they were able to take off.

Carol was concerned about Rose, of course she was. But she needed to find her daughter and didn't want to just leave the highway in case she somehow came back.

"Yeah, well y'all can stay here and wait but m' not." Daryl argued.

"Okay, wait, hold up Daryl," Dale said to catch his attention, "This group is split enough as it is, we have to plan this. How about we wait until tomorrow morning and if she's still not back we'll leave her a sign, some supplies, and come back every day to check and see if she came back before heading to this... farm." he ranted.

"Great, you guys do that. I gotta get to Rose." Daryl responded.

"Jesus Christ Daryl, she's going to be okay. Why are you so persistent about getting to her anyway?" Andrea asked with a hand on her hip.

Daryl's eyes narrowed at her as he seemed to clam up, not knowing what to say. He knew the reason he wanted to get to her so badly, but he didn't want to admit it out loud. At least not yet. He could barely even admit it to himself. It was a tough pill to swallow that his redneck ass had actually formed a schoolboy crush on her.

Andrea scoffed at his silence, "Oh okay, yeah I get it." she said in a tone that got under his skin.

"Look, she's a few miles away from us, dyin for all we know, why aren't you people more concerned?!" Daryl snapped.

"We are!" Dale defended, "But someone has to be thinking clearly right now, and I think splitting us up even more isn't going to do us any good."

Daryl only scoffed, fed up with the whole conversation and the constant back and forth that was only wasting more time.

Though Glenn stayed quiet as he listened. Both of them had good points and although he didn't want to be clueless of what was happening on that farm, in his head he made up his mind. After debating back and forth for a few lingering seconds of silence that was spared, he figured they could wait just one more night.

He dreadfully walked closer to Daryl to speak quieter to the man, hesitant on what he was about to say, "Listen they...they might be right."

"What?" Daryl asked sharply.

"Look, I want to get to her just as bad as you do," he stated, causing the man to glare daggers at him from the subtle assumption.

But Glenn scoffed at his expression, "Don't look at me like that, I've seen the way you treat her versus how you treat anyone else around here. My point is...I want to get there too, but let's just wait one more night and then first thing tomorrow we can head to the house all together. Let's just avoid the fight."

Daryl was taking in his words carefully. Had he really been that obvious that he was growing to care for her? Did the others know like he did? Reguardless, he was about to protest further but then Glenn cut him off.

"Do you really want to sit there and watch her be in pain? Hear her scream? I don't know what they have to do to help her but it must be pretty bad if she needs blood. I don't want to watch her go through that." he admitted.

The truth was, that's what scared Daryl too. Genuinely scared to go there and see her because he didn't want to see what had happened to her, he dreaded it in fact. He just wanted to picture her like the last time he saw her. Having a small smile on her face, and a light behind her eyes which he could only assume was hope to find Sophia, before she headed off with Rick.

He didn't say anything, but he nodded once, finally giving into staying one more night.

Carol saw him get off his bike and sighed in relief, "Thank you, thank you both." she said to the men.

Daryl just nodded again, hoping she couldn't see the slight annoyance that filled him at the idea of waiting. He hated waiting. He didn't have enough patience to wait around for something, and his mind almost couldn't handle it with the number of thoughts that constantly clouded over his head. And this was no different, in fact it might be worse.

But he swallowed his pride for once in his life and respected Carol's wishes seeing as she was going through enough already. He just silently headed into one of the nearby abandoned cars to sleep, hoping that tomorrow would come faster that way.

However, the truth was, the next morning couldn't come soon enough and both Glenn and Daryl were itching to get there as fast as possible. Daryl didn't sleep hardly at all that night, and it felt like days before the sun finally began to rise. But the second everyone was awake, they all gathered their things, left a sign for Sophia along with some food and water, and headed towards the house.

They raced down the many dirt roads in the limited vehicles they had left before taking a sharp turn towards where they were instructed. Daryl kept repeating the directions in his head, the woman's voice playing like a broken record as he kept an eye out for the mailbox that she mentioned. Once they had finally passed it, it wasn't long before a big white farmhouse came into view, only causing him to pick up speed.

Once the remainder of them finally arrived and pulled through the metal gates towards the entrance, they all squinted to see Rick and Lori, standing on the porch waiting for them to come up. They all collectively raced out of their vehicles and Daryl nearly ate shit trying to get off his bike, jogging up to the couple before anyone else could.

"How is she? She okay?" he asked them, trying to hide the panic in his voice.

Rick smirked slightly to himself, "She's okay, she's going to be okay." he confirmed.

Daryl sighed a bit quietly in relief though he heard Glenn do the same from just a few inches behind him, a pressure being lifted from his chest at the news. The rest then started to come up and greet them on the porch with hugs and relieved smiles, but Daryl just stepped aside. A part of him wanted to go inside and see her, but he was nervous. He wanted to prepare himself to see the state she was in. His mind could only imagine so much as to what she looked like after everything that had happened to her.

But it seemed his decision was made for him as Hershel then came outside to introduce himself to the new people and explained a little bit more of what happened to Rose. He said she was resting but he didn't expect her to wake up for a little while longer, as he only finished the surgery a few hours prior. Maybe that was a good enough excuse to stay away for a while longer.

The older man then asked everyone if they would want to gather around to have a small ceremony for a man they lost. Otis had sacrificed himself in order to save Rose according to what Shane told the group, died from a herd of walkers that somehow tore through the high school. Everyone agreed instantly and slowly trailed out to an open field, standing quietly while Hershel said a few words about him and read from the bible. Patricia, Otis's wife turned towards Shane after a few moments of silence, asking if he would tell the story of how it happened. And he did, not wanting to deny as he felt he didn't have a choice.

The story that he told was long and drug out, as the man wasn't able to look at a single person in the eye when speaking about what had happened. Though everyone seemed to believe his words and sympathized for the family...everyone except Daryl.

He knew Shane was lying straight through his teeth, but kept his mouth shut about saying anything at all about the fairytale he told. He knew in the back of his mind that no one would believe him if he were to speak up about it anyway. And the only person who would, was currently unconscious.

After the service for Otis, Glenn didn't waste anymore time as he rushed into the house to find the room she was in, seeing his friend lying almost lifeless on the bed looking deathly pale. His eyes widened drastically as he sped over to her on the right side of the bed and grabbed her hand with tears in his eyes, moving some of the hair from her face.

He started to whisper things to her as if she could hear him, getting everything off of his chest as he began to feel guilty for this happening to her. He didn't know why, the events had nothing to do with him, yet he still felt terrible that she was put in this position. Perhaps he should've protested about her leaving to begin with. Though he knew it was wrong to think like that, he almost couldn't help it.

"I'm sorry about your girlfriend."

Glenn's head suddenly snapped back up towards the doorway, seeing a younger shorthair girl standing there with obvious sympathy.

He was taken off guard at the assumption as he quickly shook his head, "Oh no, she's not my girlfriend. We're just friends. Well... I think she's my best friend, but she might disagree with that one." he said jokingly.

She laughed a little with a slow nod in understanding, "Well, sorry to assume. I just saw you and the guy with the crossbow were both real worried about her."

Glenn thought back for a moment at the obvious concern Daryl was showing for his friend, smirking to himself about the possibilities. But he just silently nodded to the girl in appreciation before turning back to Rose.

Back outside the house Rick, Daryl, Shane, and Hershel were all looking at a map on the hood of a car, trying to figure out the best plan for finding Sophia. They all quickly realized there was a lot of ground to cover, and with how long she had been missing, it would probably take a lot longer to track her down than they had hoped.

"How long has the girl been lost?" Hershel asked.

"This is day three," Rick responded, then looked back towards the map, "This is perfect, we can finally get this thing organized."

"We'll grid the whole area and start searching in teams." Shane said.

But Hershel was quick to shake his head, "No not you, with the way you hurt your ankle, push it now and you'll be laid up for a month. No good to nobody." Hershel told him.

"Alright then it's just us today." Rick said to Daryl.

"Nah, we should split up. I'll go east a little ways and you check around this area." he said pointing north.

Rick furrowed his brow, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. M' better on my own." he responded.

Rick nodded his head before they continued discussing about how more people would go out tomorrow so they could actually start doing this right. The large setback they had was bad enough as it was, but now knowing that the girl could've gone farther was the thing now weighing them down.

But Daryl found himself volunteering to go out on his own simply because he needed the distraction. He couldn't bring himself to go in and see Rose just yet, he had no idea what he would be walking into. So he decided to make himself useful and help look for Sophia for the time being, wanting to be able to finally bring her back safe.

Rick noticed however, how frantic Daryl was the second he saw him, how so clearly he cared without even fully realizing it for himself. But he was since left confused as to why the man hadn't just gone up to see him for herself, not even to check on her once.

So when the group eventually split after they were done talking out the details, Rick took the opportunity to get some answers out of him.

"Hey," Rick called after Daryl before he had a chance to get away. "Did you go in and see Rose yet?" he asked.

Daryl shook his head, "Nah."

"Well, why not? You seemed pretty concerned when you first got here." he said.

Daryl shrugged, "Just wanted to hear she was okay. Now come on, we ain't got all day, we got a little girl to find." he said bluntly before walking away a bit quicker than usual.

Rick smiled to himself knowingly, but turned around and went on pretending like he didn't know a damn thing.

The minutes had slowly turned into hours since Daryl went out on the lookout for Sophia, and since they hadn't found a thing. He was searching high and low for any type of sign that she could be nearby or maybe passed through recently, but was left with nothing as he continued his search. He felt defeated under the scorching sun, growing more tired than he was ever willing to admit as he continued to push himself to the limits.

But suddenly, he came across an older white house, barely coming into view across the large field and decided to check it out just in case she could be hiding out there.

He walked up to the front door, trying to listen for walkers before kicking the door open with a loud bang, signaling the corpses towards the noise if there was any in there to begin with. When there was only silence, he slowly stepped in and down the longer hallway, searching room after room he came across. Nothing quite caught his eye as he scanned around every inch throughly, just a trashy house that was abandoned a long time ago.

Even the very last room towards the end didn't leave him with a lot of hope, just a bunch of cans and trash surrounding the floors. That is until something managed to catch his eye. A larger cupboard tucked in the corner was left open just enough for him to catch a glimpse at what was inside. It was small, maybe nothing, but a pillow and a blanket on the floor along with some opened food that had been picked apart recently.

To him it was a sign. Maybe it wasn't Sophia that was hiding in there, but it was a sign to keep looking. After checking the whole house, with no other sign of the girl, he hesitantly walked out the back door with the intention to head back to Hershel's farm. That is until something else caught his attention out of the corner of his eye.

From a good few feet away, there sat some flowers blooming fairly close to the house he just cleared. He began walking over to them slowly, only to find out that they were Cherokee roses, to which he knew quite well. These flowers were very beautiful and had a backstory behind them that he would never forget, which only caused the wheels to turn faster in his head. He thought of Carol, how these flowers must have bloomed for Sophia, and decided to pick one off to take back to her and share the story he had come to know. To give her a little bit of hope that she needed.

He turned around with the intention of leaving to head back, but then out of the clear blue, Rose suddenly crossed his mind. He turned to look back at the flowers again, debating if he should take one to her too, or if he should just leave it be. Maybe she would appreciate it, love it even. Or maybe she didn't even like flowers at all, thinking it was pointless to receive something that would only die in just a few days. Daryl didn't know her thoughts behind something like this...but he knew her. And that was good enough for him.

So, after overthinking it for far too long, he walked back over to quickly pick another one and headed towards the farm again, before he changed his mind.

~ Thanks for reading!

[barry-j-blupjeans]

"Lucretia," Barry's voice said, urgent. "Take down the lich wards."

Lucretia hadn't had a full conversation with Barry in… years. There was a time, years and years ago, where Barry would reach out to her every once and a while, or she would reach out to him. The lonely years. The first few after the Redaction, where she felt much older her body said, even after Wonderland. Sometimes, she find him and they'd just sit. They wouldn't talk about it, they wouldn't try to argue with each other. Lucretia knew that Barry needed that as much as she did. He was a lich built on bonds for goodness sake.

Other times, Barry reached out to her. He'd give her updates on what was going on down planetside. He kept track of Taako's tour for her, though she hadn't needed an update after Glamour Springs. He delivered a gift from both of them to Magnus's wedding, an old wooden duck hidden in an unmarked box. He kept an eye on Merle for her as he left the Coralheart Clan.

The last few months had splintered their relationship more than ever and Lucretia knew it was her fault. But you couldn't make a good story without a good villain and, well, Barry was right there. After Goldcliff, he had called her. Lucretia's heart broke a little more with the single-word question "why?". She had hung up without answering.

Now, he was calling again.

"What-"

"Lucretia," Barry said. "Please."

Lucretia hesitated. She had been doing that a lot recently.

"Tell me what for," Lucretia said, already walking toward her holy ward to turn it off.

"They-" his voice crackled through the Stone. "Taako has Lup's umbrastaff."

Lucretia exhaled. Alright. She could deal with this.

"He's had it since before he came up here," Lucretia said, voice low. She deactivated the traps on the way to the smaller voidfish room. "I'm- I'm sorry, I don't know when he go-"

"No," Barry said. "Listen. Taako has Lup's umbrastaff."

"I'm aware, Barry."

"The umbrastaff Lup designed to absorb defeated magical things," Barry said. "If- If Lup died with it- she did, they told me she did in the- the crystal lab thing- Lucretia, if Lup died with it, Lup is inside it."

Lucretia stopped in the middle of the hallway.

"Oh," Lucretia said. "Shit."

"Yeah," Barry said.

"Shit," Lucretia said again, with feeling.

"Yeah," Barry repeated. "Lucretia, I can't- if she's in there, I can't just- we can't leave her in there, I gotta- we gotta do something."

Lucretia tightened her grip on her stone, as she had started to lose her grasp. She tried to think. There had to be a logical way to go about this.

Narratively speaking, Barry was her enemy. They were two sides of this same fucked-up coin. That being said, Lucretia was struggling to recall a time in the last few months were Barry had vocally argued with what she was doing. He had his chance, in the Millers' Lab. He could have told the boys she was lying, or that she was the one who couldn't be trusted. Instead, he had left them with a warning that had nothing to do with Lucretia at all. He wanted to help them. She wanted to help them.

"Are we sure," Lucretia said, walking with intent towards her holy ward, "that Lup is inside the umbrastaff?"

"Eighty- no, ninety- ninety-five percent sure," Barry said. Lucretia took a deep breath in, but Barry continued. "Luce, just- you've been around Taako more than I have the past few months. Have you ever seen the umbrastaff do something without his control? Or have you heard about it doing something- something weird or like it's acting by itself?"

"There was an… initiation trial," Lucretia said. There was a sinking feeling in her gut at the fact that she had been able to think of an event immediately. "When the boys joined the Bureau. Taako, uh, snapped his wand by accident and went to use the umbrastaff instead. And with the magic that Taako knew at that moment, the Magic Missile he shot was nowhere near the skill he possessed. That's not a- I'm not trying to downplay him or his abilities-"

"Lucretia," Barry said. "Try to tell me Lup wouldn't try to fuck up something that Taako is facing, especially after he lost his only weapon."

Lucretia slid the door to the small voidfish chamber open. The baby voidfish floated to the top of its tank, peaking out at her. The holy ward sat on the table nearby.

"Take down the lich wards," Barry said again, sounding more than a little desperate. "I'm- I'm beggin' ya, Lucretia. Please."

"Finding Lup… isn't going to stop me," Lucretia said. "You know that, right?"

"Lucretia, I- I'm not gonna say what you're doing is right, but I know I can't convince you otherwise anymore. I'll play along with whatever weird, shitty story you've got set up if you can help me get Lup back."

"You can't come up here," Lucretia said, setting the stone down on the table.

"I just want-"

"You've got a whole moon's worth of people who think you're the bad guy, Barry," Lucretia said. She picked up the ward, turning it over in her hands. "And I'm- I'm sorry that it came to this, but even with the lich wards down, you can't come up here."

"Ple-" his voice cracked. "Please, Luce."

"I'll get her to you," Lucretia said. She turned a notch on the ward, deactivating it. Her hands were shaking when she set it down. "I promise."

Lucretia hung up the stone, cutting off whatever Barry was going to say. She set the lich ward back down and took a deep breath, trying to really feel The Director role for what she had to do next.

She had a few plot holes to figure out.

[magicaldreamfox1]

Do you have any vegaspete fanfic recs for someone getting into the ship?

hi! i'm so glad u asked!! i famously love having opinions and have great taste so absolutely i would love to recommend some fics!

so i don't know exactly what u're looking for and since u mentioned getting into the ship i tried to give u a wide variety of recs to choose from!

let's get started!

Plain & Pleasure (Series) by @onstoryladders

fantastic tattoo parlor au. just trust me on this it's really good

Black Velvet (Series) by @kerrikins

black velvet is a canon divergence from the ep 7 torture scene until the end of the series and it is one of the most famous works of the fandom i think. like it is to me. u can read the first two chapters of black velvet the work as a standalone but why would u am i right. don't be intimidated by the length it's amazing!

i fill you up, drink from my cup by @petes-vegas

mmmmmmm pwp? pwp. post-canon vegaspete attend an event both pissed at each other and they start trying to make each other jealous. this might have u thinking uhmmm this is getting worrying they're really doing the most is this gonna go into cheating territory? and fear not the answer is no.

in your eyes, in your arms (series) by @pressignore

great post-canon series about vegaspetemacau bonding in the hospital. very cute very fluffy 10/10 would recommend.

Blood & Lust (Series) by @kerrikins

taking a dark turn after the last one this is a series abt. horny torture. honestly all u need to know. #justvegaspetethings and so on and so forth. might be ur cup of tea might not be. only one way to find out

Visiting Home by @raelle-writing

another fluffier turn. u gotta keep up here i move fast. so this is post-canon vegaspetemacau visiting pete's grandma. everyone is experiencing feelings. look me in the eyes. do u see the tears. it's fantastic. i especially love the buildup we get thru the whole fic and it pays off so beautifully in the end and it's just. an amazing fic i loved it very much

If You Had Something To Lose by @raelle-writing

now pay attention! this is an ONGOING fic. but it makes the list bc man. MAN. so it's an au. the theerapanyakuls are in the mafia, peteporschechay are not. one evening pete finds beaten up vegas in a back alley and saves his life. love at first sight? no u misheard. horny at first sight. shenanigans ensue. raelle plays with my feelings. now disclaimer i haven't read the most recent like. 4 chapters bc i'm depressed scared of sad cliffhangers i just can't deal with it 😭😭😭. but really this fic is fantastic it had me hooked from the very beginning and it just keeps going on amazingly and i have no doubts it will continue being great until the end.

discothéque rouge by @lu-sn

now i read this one recently and yeah YEAH. classic vp shenanigans it's such a good time. post-canon mafia shenanigans starring vp.

the weight of it's like hands around my neck by @wegathpete

now listen! i'm not a member of the peteporsche ride or die besties agenda but i know a lot of people like it and this fic is just so good. i hope op knows the babygirl paragraph lives in my head rent free. it's a post-canon introspection of vegaspete which also includes porn. aren't we lucky ❤️

Silly Secrets by @raelle-writing

have u ever wondered what vegas would do if he walked in on pete's preferred exercising.... routine. well u don't have to wonder any longer! it's exactly what it says on the tin! post-canon vegas discovers pete's silly secret! whatever will he do abt it!! only one way to find out 😌😌😌

Your Secrets And Lies by @kerrikins

another banger by kerri. post-canon vegaspete in the hospital. pete thinks vegas is holding back and decides to do smthg abt it. very simple very fun!

we've now arrived at the shameless self promo part of this post!

so i happen to write as well and i happened to have written some vegaspete fics!

best stranger by me

so this is more like. vegaspete adjacent but it still counts in my humble opinion. gotta promote myself! it's set post-canon in the hospital. arm visits to check up on pete. my armpete besties agenda ❤️

after the dust has settled we must pick up the pieces by me

my most recent series i've started! it's also set post-canon and contains oneshots of moments in their lives. they can all be read as standalones but in my mind they take place in the same universe (it's not an au this is just how my mind works. they're connected but they're not connected. u know?) it's not a finished series i will be uploading new fics so feel free to subscribe to it if u would like!

i hope this helped! if u liked one fic/series specifically and want more of that kind or would like more recommendations in general feel free to ask!

[rainbowwing251]

The Other Chris (Wild Kratts Tickle Fic)

A/N: I can’t. Believe. I’m doing this.

Seriously, I can’t believe I’m doing this. I should not be doing this, but I’m doing it anyway.

So uh… yeah, this is… a thing! It’s a tickle fic for the PBS Kids series Wild Kratts!

I know I said I didn’t want to make tickle content for the show, but truth be told… I really wanted to for… almost as long as I’ve been into the show. The only reason why I decided against it was because I was afraid. Afraid of how the Wild Kratts fandom would see me for making this kind of content. Afraid that the tickling community wouldn’t care about tickle content for this show. Afraid that somehow, someway, the Kratt Brothers themselves would find my content.

But recently, two out of my three fears have been proven false. It turns out that there IS a tickling community for Wild Kratts and that the tickling community as a whole does enjoy the limited amount of tickle content there is for it. I’m still concerned about whether or not the brothers themselves will find it, but I guess I shouldn’t worry about that for now…

This is a long author’s note, and I apologize for that, but before I get onto this fic, I would like to mention that this fic is a collab! This is a collab between myself and @kittyfluffies on Tumblr, whom I may have accidentally dragged into the Wild Kratts fandom with me… oops.

Well, let’s see how this goes! Real quick, this fic takes place shortly after the events of the episode “The Other Martins”!

P.S. Interpret this as Krattcest and I’ll get the sniper rifle. That shit is DISGUSTING.

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

Today was a horrible day to be Chris Kratt.

Everything that could go wrong today did go wrong, except for the appearance of one or more of the villains. But would that have been any worse than falling into a pile of rotten apples, nearly being dive bombed by a Purple Martin (multiple times in fact), finding an American Pine Marten, having an American Red Squirrel steal your Creature Power Suit, getting tickled by said squirrel and your brother at the same time, and falling into a body of water, in that order, all on the same day? All while your brother teases you relentlessly the whole time? Chris would argue that this is worse than anything the villains could throw at him and the rest of the Tortuga crew.

He tried to combat his bad luck by calling it a day early to try and think of animals that shared his name, but there was one problem with this plan: he can’t think of a single animal that has “Chris” in its name. Not a single one.

“Come on, there’s gotta be one animal out there with the name Chris that isn’t me…! There has to be…!” he thought as he laid in a bed in the basement of the Tortuga. He had intended to lie in one of the hammocks that was in the central room of the ship, but remembered that none of those were his. They belonged, from top to bottom, to Aviva, Koki, and Jimmy Z, and as much as he would have liked to be in a hammock right now, he didn’t want to risk being scolded for taking a hammock that wasn’t his. That, and he was already feeling irritated by the events of the day and didn’t want to be angered any further, so he chose to isolate himself to try and calm down.

This worked for some time, but eventually, the peace was disturbed by the appearance of someone else.

The moment he heard those footsteps, he knew who it was. And he groaned.

“Oh no…” He should have known that there was no way he would be able to go the rest of the day without seeing the one who was responsible for half of the troubles he faced today, and yet somehow, he thought he would be left alone.

The door to the basement opened, and in came the reason he was even lying here in the first place: his older, mischievous, and sometimes annoying brother, Martin Kratt.

“Hey bro!” he greeted before noticing the look on Chris’s face. He’s seen him direct that face at the villains and sometimes him a couple of times, but something about that expression in this moment seemed… off.

“What? Aren’t you happy to see me?”

“After everything you put me through today? No, absolutely not.”

That upsetted Martin a little bit, but he did understand why he’d feel that way. It didn’t stop him from teasing him a little bit more, however.

“Awww, come on, Chris! You got to see animals that share a name with your bro! Does that not make you happy? Not even a little bit?” he teased, putting his hand on his shoulder and leaning towards his face.

Chris rolled his eyes at his brother’s actions, “Remember when I said that purple martins didn’t annoy me anymore, but this one-” Chris put a finger on Martin’s chest, “-not so much? I meant it.”

“Awww, you’re no fun, bro. I was just messing with you! I wanted you to enjoy The Day of the Martins!”

“Your teasing didn’t help me get my Creature Power Suit back from that red squirrel.”

“But I still got it back!”

Chris sighed and poked his brother again, “You don’t get it, do you?” He was about to lecture his older brother before he heard what sounded like a mix of a giggle and a squeak, “You’re still laughing at my luck, aren’t you?”

“N-no, just watch where you’re poking me!” Martin explained, grabbing Chris’s wrist and pulling it away from him. Chris looked down to see where he had poked him, thinking he had poked him in the chest again, only to realize that he had accidentally poked his brother in the stomach.

Suddenly, he got an idea. An idea on how he could get back at his brother for his merciless teasing.

If he couldn’t think of any animals with Chris in their name, then he’ll have to invent one. One that can give him the power to take revenge on his brother.

“...Chris?” Martin’s concerned voice pulled him out of his thoughts, “You alright?”

A malicious grin formed on Chris’s face, “Chris isn’t here right now.”

Martin raised a brow at his younger brother’s statement, “Huh? What are you talking about, bro? You’re right here! What do you mean you aren’t-”

“Chris. Isn’t. Here. Right now.” The green brother grabbed Martin by his wrists and swiftly pinned him down onto the bed. “Only his alter-ego~”

Upon hearing that teasy tone in his voice, Martin immediately knew what was about to happen. “C-Chris? Can we talk about this…?!”

Chris let out a sinister-sounding chuckle, “I already told you, Chris isn’t here~ Only…” he brought his hands into Martin’s vision and wiggled his fingers.

“W-wait, nohoho! Don’t-!”

“The TICKLE MONSTER!” The younger brother drilled a finger into the other’s armpits, “But right now, you can call me the ‘Other Chris’~”

To Chris’s slight shock, Martin had already burst into a fit of giggles with a few laughs mixed in for good measure.

“Nohohohoho, Chrihihihihs! W-We can tahahahalk about thihihis!”

“Laughing already? And from a single finger in the armpits, no less~? This will be easy~”

The blue brother was already squirming under the ticklish touch, trying and failing to throw Chris off of him.

“Trying to throw me off, are we~? I think that warrants a punishment, wouldn’t you agree~?” Chris ignored the unintentional rhyme and snuck a second wiggling finger into Martin’s armpits, causing his giggles to rise in volume and his squirming to become a little more violent.

“C-Chrihihis nohohohoho! That t-tihihihihihickles!” Martin cried out, his arms coming down in an attempt to protect his armpits, but unfortunately for him, that only served to trap his brother’s fingers in there.

“I told you, I’m not Chris! I am the Other Chris!” The “Other Chris” protested as he broke through the blue Kratt’s defenses to slip a third finger under his arms.

“Chrihihihihis, I knohohohow you’re in thehehehehre!”

“Nope, Chris is nowhere to be found right now, but I promise, he’ll come back once I give him what he wants~”

“Whahahahahahat? What d-dohohohoes he wahahahant?”

Chris gave him the most evil smirk he could muster. “Revenge~” With that, he skipped the fourth step and slipped the last two fingers under Martin’s arms. With all ten fingers tickling him, Martin went from squirming to thrashing uncontrollably, nearly throwing Chris off of him a few times. He’d also started kicking his legs, desperately trying to distract himself from the tingly sensation under his arms.

“NOHOHOHOHO, BROHOHOHOHOHO! C-CUT IT OHOHOHOHOUT!” Martin seemed to nearly scream out as he kept kicking and thrashing for a few more seconds, only stopping when he felt a hand on his ankle.

“Are you trying to kick me~? How rude~!” Chris teased. He was about to stick a hand back under his brother’s arm before he was hit with another idea. Martin, who had squeezed his eyes shut during his laughing fit, opened them and giggled in anticipation. “C-Chrihihihihs?”

The evil grin his brother had on his face nearly made him burst into laughter again.

“You know, Martin… I’m pretty sure it’s not a good idea to kick another person, and yet you tried to kick me anyway. I think it’s time for me to switch spots and teach you another lesson~” 

“Whahahahat?” Martin questioned through his giggles before he felt his shoelaces coming undone. “Whahahaha- hehehehehey! Don’t remove my shoes, plehehehehehese! Chrihihihihis!”

“It’s too late to beg for mercy now, Martin~” Chris slowly pulled both shoes off before slipping a finger into the blue brother’s socks.

“Nononononono dohohohohohon’t! Dohohohon’t do ihihihihit!”

“Do what~?” Chris asked him, pulling one sock off of his foot, “Take your shoes and socks off? Well too bad, I will not stop until you apologize to me… and to Chris~”

“But yohohohou are Chrihihih- NOHOHOHOHOHOHO!” Martin burst into laughter upon feeling a hand on his bare left foot.

“Laughing already~? This will be easy~” With that, Chris dug in, scribbling his fingers all over the other’s feet. Martin absolutely lost it in response.

“NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO, CHRIHIHIHIHIHIHIS! S-STAHAHAHAHAHP!”

“Begging for mercy again are we~? I don’t remember you giving Chris mercy when he told you to stop, so why should I~?” Chris ribbed, leaning in closer to Martin’s face in an attempt to make the teasing worse for his older brother. Needless to say, it worked like a charm.

“PLEAHAHAHAHAHAHASE STAHAHAHAHAHAP TEHEHEHEASING MEHEHEHE!”

“And why should I do that~?” the younger brother asked, focusing the tickling on Martin’s arches, a spot he knew was unbearably sensitive to any kind of touch, “Does it tickle more when I tease you~? Does it make you lose all of your strength so you can’t fight back~? Tell me, Martin, does teasing make you weak to tickles~? Even more so than you already are~?” 

Martin’s only response was to throw his head back in uncontrollable laughter before immediately rushing to cover his face with a pillow to muffle himself.

“That was not a response, but I’ll take it anyway~” Chris reacted with a giggle, far too amused by how much his brother was laughing.  “Besides, now that you’re covering your face, you won’t be able to see what I’m doing~”

To prove his point, the younger Kratt suddenly switched from scribbling Martin’s arches to scratching under his toes. Just as he predicted, Martin’s laughter increased in both pitch and volume, though it was muffled a little by the pillow.

“CRIHIHIHIHS NOHOHO-MMMPH!” The older Kratt had lifted the pillow a little to plead for Chris to have mercy on him, but he had to cut himself off by pulling the pillow back over his face because he was afraid his laughter would alert someone upstairs.

“You brought this on yourself, Martin~ All you had to do was get Chris’s vest back without tickling him, but nope, you couldn’t resist~”

Chris looked down to return his focus to Martin’s feet when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a bright green disc in one of Martin’s shoes. For the third time that day, he was hit with an evil idea. He slowed the tickling under Martin’s toes to a stop and waited for him to catch his breath.

“Hey Martin~”

“A-are you fihihihinally going to have mercy on mehehehe…?” Martin let out his after-giggles and slowly lifted the pillow off of his face. Chris grinned a little at seeing the bright pink blush on his brother’s face, a clear indication that this was a job well done so far. He nearly laughed when he saw his eyes widen in horror.

“T-that’s…!”

Chris let out the most malicious laugh he could muster. “The Pine Marten Power Disc~” He then leaned in towards Martin again. “I think you know what I’m going to do with this, but first, I need to find a pine marten~”

The other Martin tried to snatch the Power Disc out of his brother’s hands, but Chris just dodged each attempt effortlessly.

“Now… how am I going to keep you from escaping…?” Chris pondered, realizing that he had not considered the possibility of using an animal’s Creature Powers to tickle Martin. At that moment, both brothers heard the door to the basement open.

“What’s going on down here? I thought I heard someone laughing…” Aviva walked into the room and spotted the brothers. Martin’s blush deepened into a dark shade of red while Chris’s face turned a bright pink, just like his brother’s face was a few seconds ago. The blush quickly faded from the green brother’s face when he realized that the answer to his question had just caught them in the act.

“Aviva, keep him pinned down for me, will you?”

“Huh…?” Aviva was very confused, but upon seeing the tears of mirth in the corners of Martin’s eyes combined with the blush and residual giggles, she quickly caught on to what was going on, “Ohhh, I see~ Sure thing, Chris~”

“I’m not Chris, I’m the Other Chris!”

Aviva couldn’t help but roll her eyes at that, “Whatever you say, ‘Other Chris’~”

Chris elected to ignore the sudden embarrassment that welled up within him upon hearing Aviva’s teasing words and walked out of the basement to go find his “partner” in crime. As soon as he left, Aviva turned to face the flustered mess of a Kratt brother on the bed.

“Hehehehey Avivahahaha…!”

She couldn’t help but giggle at him, “Chris got you good, didn’t he~?”

“Yeahahaha, and he’s not even dohohohne yet!” Martin answered as the remaining after giggles slowly subsided. “You’ll get me out of here, rihihight…?”

“Hmm…” The inventor pretended to ponder his question before she pinned him down, just as Chris asked her to, “Nope~ Don’t want to get on Chris’s- sorry, ‘Other Chris’s’- bad side~”

Martin’s giggles quickly returned as he realized there was no hope of escape, “Nohohohoho! I mehehehehehean, I geheheht it, but nohohohoho!”

“No what, Martin~? Do you want me to get on your brother’s bad side~? On ‘Other Chris’s’ bad side~? After everything he did to you~?” Aviva smirked at the blue Kratt’s sudden laughing fit, “No way~! If you can’t handle his tickle skills, how do you expect me to handle them~?”

Before Martin could respond (if he would’ve been able to answer at all given how hard he was laughing), both he and Aviva heard the sound of a Creature Power Suit being activated upstairs, followed by the sound of quiet footsteps approaching the door to the basement.

Aviva couldn’t help but let out an evil chuckle as she saw her pinned victim’s eyes widen in horror, “Looks like your time is running out, Martin~”

“NOHOHOHOHO!”

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

The whole time Aviva was teasing his brother, Chris had entered the main room of the Tortuga to find a pine marten. As soon as the door opened and he stepped inside, he finally allowed himself to break character.

“Phew… keeping up a fake persona is tiring… but oh is it worth it~” Chris thought to himself, “Let’s see… is there a pine marten in here…?”

Chris looked around the room and noticed that two certain crew members were nowhere to be found. “Koki and Jimmy aren’t here…? That’s a little odd…”

Before he could further question their whereabouts, his eyes landed on a pine marten that was sitting in Aviva’s desk chair. Chris grinned, “But right now, I need the help of my ‘partner’ in crime~”

He made sure to carefully approach the pine marten so as not to scare it away before he put on his Creature Power Suit and took Martin’s Pine Marten Power Disc out of his left pocket.

“Hey there! Li’l Marty, was it?” Chris asked the little creature as it turned to look at him, “Well I’ll need your help to get revenge on Big Marty~”

He put his gloves on. He was finally ready to enact the last part of his plan.

“Insert Pine Marten Power Disc!”

He put one gloved finger on the pine marten.

“Touch pine marten!”

He pressed the central button on his vest, and…

“Activate pine marten powers!"

The suit activated, and within seconds, he had become a pine marten.

“Haha, I finally got the chance to use pine marten powers! But I’ll have to test out the pine marten’s hunting tricks some other time. I have a more important prey to devour downstairs~”

Chris ran out the door and down the steps to the basement.

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

He made it to the bottom of the stairs, but waited a moment before entering the basement to listen to the pure terror that found its way into Martin’s laughter.

“Did he hear me activate my Creature Power Suit?” Chris wondered before smirking, “Good.”

He finally entered the room to see Aviva holding down a hysterical Martin, but while they did hear the sound of the door opening and looked to see if he was there, they failed to look down towards the floor, where he actually was.

“Look down here~”

Aviva looked down and giggled upon both seeing him and hearing Martin shriek out a “AVIHIHIHIVA, LET ME GOHOHOHOHO!” She just ignored him and greeted Chris.

“There you are Ch- Other Chris!” she corrected herself.

“You see what my plan is now, Aviva~?”

“Sure do~ Want me to stay here, or do you want me to leave you to it?”

Chris tried to think about his response, but couldn’t hear his own thoughts over the sound of his brother’s uncontrollable laughter. Out of playful spite, he decided, “Leave him to me~”

Aviva nodded, “Okay then~ Sorry Martin, but it looks like you’ll be stuck with him for a bit longer~ See you later… if you’re still alive that is~” She released said Kratt from her grasp before walking out of the door and heading back upstairs. The whole time she was walking away, Martin was pleading for her to reconsider and help him escape, but it was futile. She and Chris had already made their decisions.

Martin’s laughter had subsided a little after the inventor left, but he still had a hard time controlling himself, especially when he looked at his younger brother sitting on the floor. Watching. Waiting there. Menacingly.

“C-Chrihihihihihs? Hellohohohoho?”

Chris leered at him, “Are you ready for the grand finale, Martin~?”

“Nohohohohoho, nohohot at ahahahahahahall!”

“Well too bad~”

The green pine marten ran over to one of the legs near the foot of the bed, climbed up it, and ran across Martin’s body to get to his neck. The whole time he ran across his brother’s torso and ribs, he dragged his tail behind him, intentionally tickling him and sending him into another fit of laughter.

“H-hehehehehehey, wahahahahahatch the taihihihihihil!”

“What do you mean? I was watching my tail!” Chris snuck up to Martin’s ear before he spoke again, “I was watching it tickle you~”

He could feel Martin shiver as he brought his now-free hands up to his ears to cover them up. Unfortunately for him, the ears were the last spot his brother had in mind.

While his hands were up and covering his ears, Chris made his way to his neck and stood dangerously close to the collar of his shirt.

He could practically feel the heat radiating off his brother’s skin as he took note of the blush that had managed to spread from Martin’s face to his neck. He saw the tips of his ears through his fingers and noticed that they even had a tinge of red on them. He didn’t know his older brother could get this flustered!

“You ready~?” He asked teasingly, knowing full well what Martin’s answer was going to be.

“N-nohohohoho! Chrihihihis, d-dohohohon’t do ihihit!”

Chris couldn’t help the smug grin that made its way onto his face, though he didn’t turn to show it to his brother, “Too bad~ Here we go~!”

He stuck his head into the collar of Martin’s shirt, slowly inching his way in. He was only a few inches in when he suddenly pulled himself out and began sniffing at the blue Kratt’s neck. Martin was in no way prepared for this sudden change and nearly let out a squeal as he desperately tried to move his head from side to side to get his brother’s face away from his neck.

“H-hehehehehehey, don’t sniff my nehehehehck!” I-I dohohohon’t smehehehell!”

“That’s not what I’m going for, Martin~ I’m just here to make you laugh, and unless you apologize for what you did to Chris today…” Chris moved down to where Martin’s blush ended on his neck and went right back to sniffing, “You better prepare yourself~”

“I-I cahahahahahahn’t!”

“You can’t apologize? And here I thought you knew basic manners~”

The green pine marten stayed at Martin’s neck for a few more seconds before the sniffing came to an end. However, while his brother had his guard down, Chris quickly zipped into his shirt and ran across his stomach over and over again.

Martin’s only response to the sneak attack was a squeal so loud that it nearly stunned Chris. While he knew that the walls of the Tortuga are rather thick, he highly doubted that Aviva, Koki, and Jimmy were unable to hear that squeal, even if they were outside of the ship.

“CHRIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIS, NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO! I-I CAN’T- AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

“Huh? What was that, Martin~? I can’t understand you, you’re laughing too hard~” Chris taunted as he kept up the pace and continued to race around on his brother’s torso. He dragged his tail behind him once again, swishing it back and forth to make it tickle even more, and even stopped running a few times to pretend to use it like a paintbrush on Martin’s navel, which nearly resulted in him getting pushed out of his shirt by his hands. It didn’t take long for Chris to notice that Martin’s squirming and pushing was gradually fading, a tell-tale sign that he was nearly at his limit.

“Ready to say sorry yet~?”

“Y-YEHEHEHEHES! YEHEHEHEHEEHS! I’M SOHOHOHOHOHORY! CHRIHIHIHIHIS, PLEAHAHAHAHAHAHASE!”

The moment Martin said sorry, Chris brought the tickles to a halt and carefully climbed out of his sibling’s shirt, doing his best to not make any of his steps tickle him any further.

“Now that wasn’t so hard, was it~?” Chris teased him one last time before he hopped off of him and onto the floor, waiting for his giggly mess of a brother to catch his breath and calm down.

“T-thahahahaht… that wahahahahs evihihihihil…!”

“Good~ That’s what I was going for~ So next time, when you try to bully your brother for an entire day, remember… I will be here to tickle you until you apologize to him for your behavior~” With that, Chris stood up, said, “Deactivate!” and reverted back to his normal appearance and personality.

“You okay, bro?” he asked and held out his hand, worried that he might have taken his tickly punishment a bit too far.

“Y-yeah…” Martin breathed out, taking his younger brother’s hand and letting himself be pulled up into a sitting position. “Just give me a few more seconds to breathe…”

After two deep breaths, he got up off of the bed and stood next to his brother, “Do you think the crew heard me squeal…?”

“Only one way to find out! Come on, let’s see if they’re upstairs!”

A light pink blush returned to Martin’s face, but nonetheless, he went upstairs with Chris into the main room of the Tortuga. When the door opened, they were greeted with the sight of Aviva waiting in front of the big computer, while Koki and Jimmy were at their desks, having turned to face the brothers.

“So…” Aviva started with a smirk, “Who’s going to explain that loud squeal we heard downstairs~?”

Martin’s blush turned a dark red, while Chris just stood there, trying to look as though he had no idea what she was talking about.

“I’m not an expert on human noises, but I don’t think that squeal belonged to any of us.”

“Certainly didn’t come from me! I’d know my own squeals anywhere!” Jimmy responded to Koki’s comment, completely unaware of the engineer creeping up behind him until he heard a, “Boo!”

“AAAAAAH!” Jimmy didn’t squeal, but he did indeed scream and bolted behind Koki and her chair. Everyone couldn’t help but laugh at his panicked reaction.

“Hehehe, I think that’s enough to prove that it wasn’t him~” She then turned her attention back to the brothers, “Sooooooo~?”

The light pink blush Martin had the entire time turned a dark red again as his embarrassment grew, and even Chris couldn’t fight the faint pink blush on his cheeks as he tried his best to play it cool and pretend that he didn’t understand her.

No one said anything for a few seconds, then the blue Kratt finally spoke up, “I-It was me… and I’ve got to admit, Chris is a surprisingly good tickler if he got me to squeal that loud!” Martin quickly regained his usual energy and peered at his brother, who just looked at him with a confused expression.

“Huh? What are you talking about, bro? I didn’t tickle you!”

Martin gave him a “you’re really doing this?” look and decided to play along, “No, that was totally you, Chris, I swear!”

“No way! I’m not as good at tickling people as you are!”

“I think I remember hearing your voice teasing me into oblivion! I’d know your voice anywhere, bro!”

“I’m not good at teasing, either! Martin, I swear, you’re confusing me with someone else!”

For a moment, Koki and Jimmy thought that they were having a genuine argument over a supposed tickle attack, but when Aviva gave them a knowing grin, they immediately caught on to what was really happening.

“Nope, that was totally you! And you know what~?” Martin’s voice turned teasy out of nowhere as he brought his hands up into Chris’s view, wiggling his fingers, “I was lying when I said I was sorry~”

“Huh? Wha-” The younger brother was initially confused before spotting the wiggly fingers that were slowing approaching him, “W-wait, Martin noooOOOOHOHOHOHO DOHHOHOHOHON’T!” He immediately cracked when he felt his older brother’s fingers on his sides, ribs, and belly. It didn’t take for him to try to fall to the floor to escape the ticklish hell that was unleashed upon him, but unfortunately, Martin had followed him down, never stopping his assault.

“Haha, revenge sure is sweet!” Martin cheered, “Okay, I was sort of lying when I said I wasn’t sorry, I did feel bad for you, but right now, I care more about getting my revenge~”

Chris could only laugh and try to curl up as he felt Martin’s hand close in on the center of his stomach, but he managed to trap his hands there instead, sealing his tickly fate.

Aviva, Koki, and Jimmy couldn’t help but laugh along as they watched the chaos unfold in front of them.

“Hehe, these boys will never change, will they~?”

[championofravens]

My problem with Risen doesn't even start with Crow, it starts with Saladin's story and his little "moral." He's asked to stop a thief (when thieving was punishable by death), finds that a little girl was the culprit, and shows her mercy. Good.

But all he does is give her an extremely vague platitude before slaughtering her "caretakers," then goes on his merry way.

Mercy wasn't the problem in this situation, because people do deserve second chances! Things could have turned out differently if he'd put slightly more effort in, because ultimately the only thing he gave to her was a moral compass that said might makes right and something vague about wolves.

He left a literal child to fend for herself during one of humanity's darkest ages and had the audacity to call that mercy simply because he didn't kill her. How am I supposed to take this seriously as a moral lesson?

So, I read this aloud to my husband in the car during a drive. As soon as I finished, he told me he completely I agreed. I told him he was stupid. But we hashed it out for a good chunk of the drive and I really felt like we nailed some new points of contention with Bungee overall.

1. You *are* right. Both in recalling the canon events and the logical frustration of Saladin's actions. Because yeah. Why didn't he save that little girl? Why didn't he take her... anywhere else? Do anything else? Why were the only paths he saw before him to kill her or leave her? And that's when my husband relayed his frustration to me of Destiny's recent dichotomy issue in storytelling. Nothing rests outside it. The story presents a good option and a bad option which must be taken urgently over and over again with little desire to consider third options. Further more, we both agreed it would have been MUCH more in character for Saladin to have done something else! Something much more helpful! And this is an issue with has infected every aspect of Destiny's seasonal storytelling since (imo, it's most obvious with how Eramis is treated in the seasons that come after)

2. So, why did I disagree so strongly when I read your ask the first time? Yeah I'm a Saladin enjoyer but I'm also terminally INTJ pilled. I bow to logic and canon. I think my issue was that I felt it was... cheating. To even put forth the idea that Saladin could have done something else. Because the dichotomy. If you question any bit of seasonal storytelling with "why not just do something else?" a lot falls apart really fast. It's like watching a romcom and pointing out the obvious miscommunication. You are not WRONG but I feel like if you enjoy Destiny at all, you have to suspend your belief in certain ways or you start to pick at too many threads. Unravelling the tapestry.

3. But back on track- if you are right, if you are saying that the real moral was "Saladin failed in continuing the violent cycle of might makes right"

.......

THEN WHAT WAS THE POINT?

What does that have to do with mind reading Hive Guardians. What does Saladin failing a human child by adhering to barbaric justice have to do with Crow bumbling his way into killing a guy so he can turn off a machine? What does this moral have to do with Season of the Risen??? What was the fucking point of any of this. I'm tired.

4. This still proves Saladin shoulda just killed her, hilariously. Like yeah you've convinced me what he did was fucked up. Shame third choices don't exist in Destiny. GUESS SHE'S GOTTA GO!!!!!

[jujumin-translates]

Event | 5th Anniversary: The Way Back Home | Chapter 4 - Summer Planet Story

*Contains spoilers for Act 12 - eternal moment*

Muku: Yuki-kun mentioned something about it earlier, but what about how STARS was formed?

Kumon: Oh yeah, I’ve always kinda wondered about that! 

Yuki: All of our characters are quite different.

Misumi: So how’d they get to know each other~?

Tenma: Huh, so like an origin story for STARS? Sounds like an interesting idea for a spin-off.

Kazunari: If we’re wondering about it, I’m sure our fans are wondering about it too~!

Misumi: I’m sure they’d love it!

Yuki: So the plot of it would basically just be about how STARS came to be a team.

Kumon: I wanna do that! 

Muku: Should we think about what the story will be about in more detail then?

Kazunari: For sure, that way we can give Tsuzurun a better idea of what to write about.

Tenma: We’re all pretty worn out from traveling all day, so we can think about the specifics more tomorrow.

Kazunari: Plus we only have the practice room rented for the morning tomorrow, so we’re gonna have to get up early!

Misumi: Okay, let’s go take a walk and have dinner now~!

Kumon: Yeah!

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Kumon: One, two, three, four.

Yuki: Muku, can you help me stretch a bit? Come push on my back.

Muku: Sure, I can do that. Can you do the same for me after?

Kazunari: Alrighty, today’s plan is to practice first~, then have lunch at a café.

Yuki: Yep. And then after lunch, we’re heading straight to the place where they give the stargazing tours.

Misumi: I can’t wait~!

Tenma: Then we’ve all gotta practice hard so we can enjoy the rest of the day.

Kumon: Yeah! Let’s do it! 

Tenma: Alright, let’s start off with an etude to warm up.

Yuki: What should the theme be?

Kazunari: I mean, we are at one, so why not a hot springs ryokan as the theme!?

Muku: Sounds fun! 

Tenma: Let’s go with that. Yuki and Misumi can start us off.

Yuki: Got it. Ready whenever you are.

Misumi: Kaaay!

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Tenma: Oh, we’re out of time already.

Kazunari: Let’s neaten things up and get going~!

Kumon: Roger!

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Muku: So this is the café with the space and starry sky-themed menu.

Yuki: We got here before noon and there’s already a huge line…

Kumon: We’d better get in line too then!

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Staff: Thank you for waiting. A party of six then? Allow me to guide you.

Kazunari: …Huh? This is…

Yuki: It says it’s a mystery-solving attraction, so… is this a walk-through attraction attached to a café?

Kumon: Eh!? So that means…

Misumi: We got in the wrong line~.

Kumon: Yikes! 

Muku: Is this the poster for it? It says, “Survive and find the treasure!”.

Kazunari: Okay, but doesn’t that still sound supes fun!?

Misumi: So fun~!

Yuki: Well, we’re already here, so might as well, right? 

Kumon: Yeah! 

Tenma: Plus searching for treasure is something treasure hunters do.

Staff: In this attraction, the ending is dependent on your choices.

Staff: Make the right decisions, find the treasure, and then make your way to the exit. Well then, good luck!

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Yuki: It’s pretty dim in here.

Muku: It really is, we’d better proceed with caution.

Performer A: “I’m looking forward to finding the treasure!”

Performer B: “Yeah! The crystal treasure of the Yukinko… known as the Tears of Winter. We’re definitely gonna find it~.”

Tenma: …Yukinko?

Performer A: “Oh, do you not know of the legend of the Yukinko?”

Performer B: “The one where the winter fairy, Yukinko, goes missing while searching for the lost treasure. Ring any bells?”

Muku: G-Goes missing…?

Performer A: “Recently, they’ve been saying the Yukinko has returned and is searching for its treasure. Rumor has it that it’ll attack you if it finds you…”

Performer B: “No way that’s true!”

Performer A: “I know, right! So let’s get searching!”

Muku: W-Wait, could this be… a horror attraction!?

Tenma: Okay, time to go!

Kumon: Eeh!? But we just got here, we can’t go back!

Kazunari: And Yukinko stories aren’t even that scary anyway, right?

Misumi: Yukinko are supposed to be cute!

Yuki: And they’re not even supposed to be like ghosts, they’re fairies.

Muku: T-That’s true.

Tenma: Well, now that you say it…

Misumi: Well then, let’s set sail for the treasure!

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Performer A: “I heard a noise from over there… what do we do? Should we hide? Or keep going?

Kumon: Ah, this is where we get to make our own choices.

Yuki: Didn’t they say our decisions would determine our outcome? So what should we do?

Muku: I say we should hide and wait to see what happens.

Tenma: I think so too.

Kazunari: Alrighty! We choose to hide and wait!

Misumi: Let’s all hide over here.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Kazunari: Next, to open the door or not open the door~.

Kumon: We just hid, so I say we open it!

Tenma: But we have no clue what it might reveal.

Yuki: Maybe it’s a shortcut to the treasure.

Muku: It’s a little scary, but… let’s be bold and try to open it.

Misumi: Kaaay, I’m gonna open it. Here goes~!

*Door opens and wind blows*

Tenma: GAHH--!?

Muku: WAH--!?

Misumi: Waaah, that startled me! The wind that blew in was super cold~!

Yuki: The idiot and Muku were way too surprised.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Misumi: Now, should we put the hat on the snowman or not~.

Kumon: Shouldn’t we let our costume designer decide that?

Muku: Yuki-kun, we’re putting this in your hands!

Yuki: Well, I saw we put it on.

Yuki: And with that, there.

Muku: Waah, it looks so cute with the hat on.

Kumon: Huh? Another snowman appeared over there…

Muku: Eh?

Kazunari: Huh, uwhoa, whoa, whoa! It’s following us!

Tenma: Aagh!! What the hell!?

Misumi: Ahahaha, let’s run~!

*Footsteps*

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Kumon: A whole buncha other stuff happened, but we found the treasure!

Misumi: Teardrop-shaped gems~.

Yuki: This is the Yukinko’s treasure, the Tears of Winter.

Kazunari: Hell yeah! Treasure obtained!

Muku: Alright, let’s take the treasure and head to the exit.

Tenma: It’s great that we found the treasure, and I doubt that anything will happen on the way back, but… let’s stay alert on the way back.

Tenma: (…Hm? It looks like there’s some numbers on the wall. Huh, that’s kinda weird.)

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Yuki: This is the final mission… enter the code to open the door, huh.

Misumi: But, we don’t know the code, do we~?

Kumon: What could it be? Something related to the treasure?

Muku: Or maybe a number related to the Yukinko…

Tenma: A code… Oh, that reminds me, I saw some numbers written on the wall on the way over here.

Kazunari: Seriously!?

Yuki: Guess you can be useful sometimes after all.

Misumi: Let’s head back there and look~!

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Kazunari: Enter the numbers and…

*Lock clicks*

Tenma: The door opened!

Kumon: Woohoo! We made it out with the treasure!

Misumi: Yay, yaay!

Yuki: That was pretty fun actually.

Muku: Yeah! I’m glad we could work together to solve it.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Kumon: That attraction was really fun! We even got to get refreshing drinks after it too!

Yuki: The idiot sure chugged his down fast.

Tenma: S-So what!?

Muku: The food made from local ingredients is really good too.

Kazunari: The space-themed drinks also have such a perfect vibe to them!

Misumi: The little star decorations on them are really cute and yummy too~.

Kazunari: Ah, that’s right! I was thinking about this earlier when we were doing the attraction.

Kazunari: But wouldn’t it be like totes interesting if STARS met all while trying to get the same treasure?

Tenma: So something like the team was formed while they were trying to work together to get that treasure?

Kumon: What about something like Leo struggling to get a door open so then Orion and Del end up lending him a hand!?

Misumi: And then Link can notice a device that Trill was struggling with~.

Muku: And I’m sure Doctor Aquila can solve some sort of cipher for the device.

Yuki: The reason they formed a group could be that they thought it was more efficient for finding treasure.

Tenma: Now we’ve got some ideas going. Let’s gather all the ideas we have so we have something to give Tsuzuru-san.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Muku: It seems like we have a little time before the tour starts. Guess we got here a bit early.

Yuki: Wanna go check out the souvenir shop over there?

Kumon: I wanna do that!

Tenma: Okay, you guys can head over there for a bit then.

Kazunari: You’re not coming with, Tenten?

Tenma: Figured now would be a good time to call the Director and give her an update.

Kazunari: Eh, that’s so not fair! I wanna talk to Director-chan too!

Kumon: Me too, me too!

Tenma: It’s all snowy and cold out here, I can just take care of updating her myself.

Misumi: I wanna give Director-san an update too though~.

Muku: I kinda wanna hear Director-san’s voice too.

Yuki: And like you could give a proper update all by yourself.

Tenma: Hey, I obviously could!

Kazunari: Seems like we’ve all got things we wanna tell her, so let’s all call her together!

Tenma: Ugh, fine, whatever. …Okay, I’ll call her.

*Phone rings*

Izumi: “Hello, Tenma-kun?”

Tenma: Yeah. I wanted to call to give you an update. Is now a good time?

Izumi: “Yeah, now’s fine.”

Tenma: Great. The Summer Troupe training camp is going well. We all talked about the plot of the spin-off and decided on something together.

Izumi: “That’s great!”

Tenma: The others have stuff they wanna tell you, so I’m handing the phone off to them.

Kumon: Hi, Director? We were all just at a mystery-solving attraction and it was super fun!

Yuki: The hot springs here were also super nice. My skin is super moisturized and smooth now.

Misumi: We’re just about to go on a stargazing tour now. I hope we get to see a lotta stars~.

Muku: We get to take a gondola to the mountaintop. I’ve been looking forward to that since before we got here, so I can’t wait!

Kazunari: And we went to a totes perf café for lunch!

Izumi: “Fufu, seems like you’re all having lots of fun!”

Muku: We’ll bring you lots of souvenirs tomorrow!

Izumi: “Thank you! Have fun on your tour. And make sure to get home safely!”

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Misumi: The view from the gondola was really pretty~.

Muku: Yeah! It had a really romantic and wonderful feel to it.

Kazunari: Ah, the snow stopped.

Kumon: Waah! Guys, look!

Tenma: Incredible… The sky really is filled with stars.

Muku: I’ve never seen a star-filled sky like this before.

Yuki: I can’t believe it, this really is the best place in all of Japan to see the stars.

Misumi: There’s so many sparkly stars~!

Kazunari: I know, right? I can’t stop looking at them!

Muku: Somewhere out in that sky, STARS is talking about the next treasure to set their sights on.

Kumon: That’s pretty exciting to think about!

Tenma: This starry sky is really connected to the rest of the entire universe, huh?

Kazunari: Better snag lots of pics and vids of this to keep as memories!

Misumi: I wanna take some too!

Yuki: I’ll take some pictures of it too.

Kazunari: Ah! And after that, let’s all take a Summer Troupe commemorative pic together~!

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Yuki: Now that we’re done with morning rehearsals and breakfast, it’s time to start packing up.

Muku: Yeah. We better make sure not to forget anything.

Tenma: This whole thing went by so fast, didn’t it?

Kumon: Yeah! But we still got to do so many things and it was super fun too!

Kazunari: Totally! It was a super hype and special training camp!

Misumi: I had soooo much fun too~! I wanna come here again!

Tenma: We had some really good practices and discussions, and it was nice being able to go sightseeing too.

Yuki: Well, it wasn’t too bad. I wouldn’t mind doing something like this again.

Muku: Let’s do another training camp like this together sometime!

Tenma: Yeah, of course.

Kazunari: Alright then, let’s get ready to head out so we can get these souvenirs back to everyone at the dorms!

[ ⇠ Previous Part ] • [ Next Part ⇢ ]

[maddogofshimano]

Territory of the Beast: Yama-oroshi boss rush

Spoilers for Y5 and Y6

Now I was pretty excited to see this new KSR Saejima card and to see that there was a Yama-oroshi boss rush event. 

But then I realized Saejima’s card said it was him in 2016 which is decidedly NOT when he fought Yama-oroshi in Y5, and then I was hooting and hollering

Summary: After getting out of jail for a third time, Saejima decides to visit the mountain village so he can properly thank Okudera for everything the man taught him. Unfortunately, a child has gotten stranded on the mountain, and Saejima rushes to his aid

In the wake of the war between east and west that swallowed up five major cities... An incident occurred after Saejima had once again left his imprisonment at Abashiri.

<Boots crunching on snow> Saejima: ....It's been a while. I hope Okudera-han's doin' well.

<He knocks on the door> Saejima: He ain't comin' out... is he not home?

<Another set of boots in the snow>  Nishina: Oh! Well if it isn't Saejima-san! What are you doing here?

Saejima: Oh, Nishina-han. Been a while. Saejima: Since I got outta jail, I wanted to give my thanks for all the help I got before, but... do ya know where Okudera-han is? Nishina: I see. You've been back in prison since last time. Nishina: Well, your timing isn't the best. Right now, Okudera-san's gone down the mountain to buy some hunting equipment. (Tl note: WHY are you always doing this sort of thing to Saejima you are SO MEAN) Saejima: ...Do you know when he'll be back? Nishina: Maybe today or tomorrow. Saejima: I see... In that case, I oughta clear away the snow that's piled up 'fore he gets back. Seems like there's a good amount.

Nishina: Great. I'm sure Okudera-san would be delighted. And, if he's not back today, swing by my place and you can stay the night. Saejima: Are you sure? Nishina: Mhm. I know the kind of man you are, and since you've paid your debt to society there's nothing to worry about. Saejima: ...I owe ya one. Thanks for this, Nishina-han. Saejima: By the way... Has Yama-oroshi been around? Has it approached the village at all? Nishina: It's been docile. As long as it's not provoked, I don't think it'll come near humans again. Nishina: We probably owe that to you driving it away from the village last time it came around. Nishinia: ...I really have to thank you again. Saejima: Hah, no thanks are needed. I'm the one that oughta be payin' ya back still. If it weren't for this village, I'd be dead. <music changes> Villager's voice: It's awful! Nishina-san! Nishina: What is it? What happened? <Nishina steps off screen> Nishina: ....!? I see. Got it. <He returns> Nishina: ...Sorry, Saejima-san. There's something I need to take care of. Saejima: What's going on? Nishina: ..............Okay. This area's landlord's son, he was playing on the mountain and got stranded... Nishina: ...It seems like he may have entered Yama-oroshi's territory.

Saejima: What!?

Nishina: A rescue party has been called, but it'll take some time for them to arrive, so I think we should go in separately to search too. Saejima: ...Then I'm comin' too. I can't let 'em kill Yama-oroshi. Nishina: ...............It'll be reassuring to have you come along, Saejima-san. I'll lend you a gun and clothes. Come with me. <they're now up on the mountain and the wind is howling> Saejima: (It's really comin' down... Gotta find him fast.....)

Saejima: ....! Nishina-han, here! Nishina: ...The size of these footprints... They must be Yama-oroshi's. And they're recent... it must be close. Saejima: .....! Over there... There's something there. Yama-oroshi: ...............

Nishina: Has it... noticed something over there? It looks like it's looking at something.... That's.... Saejima: ...............Is that the boy who got stranded earlier? Nishina: Y-Yeah...! This isn't good! Take aim! ....We have to stop Yama-oroshi before it attacks! <BANG> Yama-oroshi: ....! Roaaaaar!

Nishina: Saejima-san, hurry up and fire! It's turning this way! Saejima: ....No, Nishina-han. No more shootin' guns. Nishina: What? Saejima: I'll hold Yama-oroshi off. You get that stranded guy outta here. <Saejima drops his gun> Nishina: ...!? Hey! Why are you tossing your gun.... Nishina: Don't tell me... you're going to face it bare handed? That's insane... you'll be killed! Saejima: .....Please. Nishina-han. Nishina: Sa-....Saejima-san........ Nishina: ....Shit..... I'm coming right back. And when I do, if you're in danger I'm shooting it no matter what.

<Nishina leaves> Saejima: ....Thanks, Nishina-han. Yama-oroshi: ROOAAAAAR!

Saejima: ....Looks like you're full of energy, Yama-oroshi. Saejima: Well then... Let's have our first match in a while, yeah?

<the boss rush event occurs with Full-Scale Offensive as the background music>

Yama-oroshi: Roooaaaar!

Saejima: Haa... Haa... Just as damn tough as expected.

Saejima: (It seems like Yama-oroshi's taken a good amount of damage too...) Saejima: (...But the thick skin it's got is preventin' any decisive blows from takin' it down.... I gotta aim for the vulnerable spots on its face) Saejima: (But... Yama-oroshi is too damn fast to land a full force blow on its head like that....) Saejima: (If there's somethin' I can do to make it stop movin'.... I can use that as my chance to hit it squarely...) Nishina: Saejima-san! I brought that idiot kid back to the village!

Saejima: Nishina-han! Saejima: (This is bad... Now Yama-oroshi's going to be shot and killed...) Nishina: Saejima-san! Use this! <He throws something> Saejima: What's Nishina-han thowin' to me... This is...! Saejima: .......! ......Thanks a bunch, Nishina-han! 

Yama-oroshi: ROOOAAAAAR!

Saejima: ....Sorry, Yama-oroshi. I'm gonna pull a dirty trick...!

<Something is sprayed> Yama-oroshi: ....!!!!

Saejima: (Great, the bear spray stopped it! This is my chance!) Saejima: Haaaaaaaaa........ oraaa!!!! <a big punch> Yama-oroshi: ....! Grr.... rrrrr....

<Yama-oroshi drops> Saejima: Whew.... That was... a close one.... <Saejima drops too> Nishina: S-Saejima-san!!!!

Saejima: Ugh.... where am I?

Nishina: ....Thank goodness. Saejima-san, you're awake.

Saejima: Nishina-han... Ah, that's right. After I took down Yama-oroshi, I blacked out... Nishina: Seriously. What an absurd guy you are... Why the hell would you deliberately throw aside your gun to fight a bear with just your fists... Saejima: ......Thanks for not interruptin' that, Nishina-han. 

Saejima: This whole thing... was all because of humans enterin' the otherwise docile Yama-oroshi's territory. Saejima: So, I wanted to do my damndest to prevent Yama-oroshi gettin' killed for defendin' it's turf. Nishina: ...If you had used a gun, it would have ended in death. To avoid killing, you chose to fight it bare handed... Nishina: The landlord's stranded child and Yama-oroshi, you were working to save both of them. Saejima: ............... Nishina: ....When you said you were going to fight it bare handed, I thought you must have had a reason for it. Nishina: ...So, just in case you did, I grabbed the bear spray. Saejima: ...So that's why... Thank you again, Nishina-han. Nishina: Nah, it was nothing. I'm just glad Yama-oroshi wasn't killed. Villager's voice: Nishina-saaaan. On his way back up the mountain, it seems that Okudera-san's car got stuck in the snow..... Nishina: What? I see. I'll go right away. Saejima: Nishina-han, I'm goin' too. Nishina: ...Are you okay enough for that? I think it'd be best if you just rested... Saejima: It ain't a problem. The whole point of this trip was to try to repay the favor that Okudera-han did for me. Right here and now, I got a chance to help him in some way. Nishina: ...You're a tough man, huh. You're saying that despite having just fought a bear. Saejima: Heh, let's get a move on already, Nishina-han.

<EVENT END>

Bonus stuff:

SHOW US OKUDERA WHY ARE YOU HIDING HIM!!

okay first of all this was NOT the raffle prize but I am going to do that one still. the raffle winner very kindly wanted me to do this one first because we were both Very Excited to see what’s going on here

I really love Nishina being like “oh you went to jail again? after we very kindly hid you from the cops? fine. whatever.” and Saejima being like “oh a kid’s in danger? well I better make sure nobody kills the man-eating bear”

I also love Saejima’s smiling sprite. they do so badly with the smiles all the time. this one does kind of work as a shit eating grin tho

Very tragically I think this confirms the 15th anniversary book’s timeline that Saejima went back to jail at the end of Y5 and didn’t get out until the end of Y6, meaning he was out for 9 months during 2010, a few days/weeks at the end of 2012/start of 2013, and then back in jail until the end of 2016. I hate it here

Here’s the cards that came with the event! Saejima’s is “The Snowy Mountain’s Ferocious Tiger” and Yama-oroshi’s is “The Snowy Mountain’s Emperor”

and finally here’s the event music, it is unsurprisingly the music that plays in Y5 when you fight Yama-oroshi

[senjuushi]

Event Translation — Brand New Journey ~Italy Expedition Volume~

Episode 8: Galleria Umberto I

—After their one full day of sightseeing was over, (Player Name) and the others returned to Naples.

A recently built arcade stands right in the middle of a street lined with shops both new and old. 

Marks: There are so many people out, even though it’s nighttime. 

Carcanore: Hey, look, it’s Galleria Umberto I. 

Marks: ...? What’s that?

Benetta: This shopping gallery. It was built in the 19th century, during the large-scale redevelopment of Naples that followed the cholera epidemic. 

Benetta: After that, problems such as deterioration did come up, but it’s still the foremost shopping gallery in Naples, and always bustling with people. 

Carcanore: The domed ceiling is fifty-eight meters tall, and isn’t the mosaic on the floor gorgeous? It depicts the twelve constellations. 

Carcanore: You can find everything from fast-food restaurants to menswear stores with a century of established history here. There are other such galleries and shopping districts around, but I think this one is the most “Naples-like” of them all. 

Benetta: Precisely. —ah, that reminds me. 

Benetta: I have some business at the shoe store. Did you receive the items you ordered? 

The boutique Benetta went to was one of an ultra-luxury brand. 

Cutlery: H-Hold on a second! Is this... Salvatore Gamoferra*!?

Carcanore: Yep, Benetta only wears Gamoferra shoes.

Cutlery: I thought you were wearing super well-tailored clothes...! How much do your wardrobes even cost...!

Benetta: Sorry to keep you waiting. 

Marks: Is this store really that impressive? 

Cutlery: It’s a first-rate brand! It’s beyond expensive. 

Benetta: We hold Bella Figure in high esteem, and that means maintaining a pristine appearance.  

Benetta: Wearing products made by a trusted brand that represents Italy is only natural. 

Benetta: All of your clothes are from this brand as well, aren’t they?

Cutlery: Eh! Seriously!? You gave clothes like that to tourists who were just passing by...

Benetta: I couldn’t bring shame to my guests, could I? Especially when they saved Bonito’s life. 

Carcanore: Anyway, wanna take a little break and hit up a bar? There are some places here that are famous for their cannoli. 

Benetta: Before that... Bonito. 

Bonito: Yeah? 

Benetta: Go put these shoes in the car, please. It’s not becoming to walk around with a large number of shopping bags. 

Bonito: ...a-ah! No problem at all. 

Carcanore: ......

The bar was crowded with a large number of people. Tourists and residents of Naples all mingle together. 

Master: 

Today’s been fun. 

We were able to enjoy Italy to the fullest thanks to you. 

Carcanore: We should be thanking you too! You gotta come again sometime. I can show you around way better next time. 

Cutlery: Yeah. ...I thought bars like this only served alcohol, but there’s all kinds of food here too, huh?

Carcanore: Yep, everyone here in Naples has their favorite bar. 

Marks: The pubs in England feel totally different. This place is lively, but still relaxed... 

Benetta: That’s also Bella Figura.

Marks: Really?

Benetta: Indeed. Well-becoming behavior is also essential. 

Benetta: That’s why, even when going to bars, it’s unheard of to dress poorly or disgrace yourself with intoxication. 

Benetta: My gun, as you can see, also honors beauty. 

Benetta placed his gun on the table. The upper third of the slide is missing, and the barrel is exposed. 

Marks: ...the barrel looks off. What does that mean for how it functions? 

Benetta: It means that it’s beautiful. 

Marks: ...beautiful... Master, do you understand? I don’t get it at all. 

Benetta: It’s fine if you don’t understand. ...is Bonito not back yet?

Carcanore: Should I pay now? Umm... I wonder if I have one for this place.

Carcarnore pulled a pouch out of his bag— stuffed full to bulging with its contents.

Cutlery: What’s that?

Carcanore: Hold on a sec... got it! 

The pouch had all kinds of discount coupons inside, and Carcarnore took one of them out. 

Carcanore: I got this coupon half a year ago! The expiration date is... wow, just in the nick of time! It’s today, how lucky~♪

Cutlery: ...is this Bella Figure too?

Benetta: No... 

Benetta: Carcanore is a fine person, and fundamentally Bello. However, I don’t think this frugal behavior is ideal... 

Carcanore: I can’t help it. Even I don’t know why I do it— it’s just my nature, at this point. Or maybe a habit? 

Carcanore: Also, can you cut it out with the “frugal behavior” jab? I just understand the value of money! Isn’t it smart to think like that?

Benetta: I’m not going to answer that. 

Bonito: Sorry for the wait! The shoes are in the car now. 

Bonito finally returns. Instead of sitting down, though, he took a step back. For an instant, (Player Name) feels a chill run down their spine. 

Marks: —nh! 

*gunshot*

Benetta shot Bonito. 

Cutlery: ...huh?

Notes:

*“Salvatore Gamoferra” is an altered version of “Salvatore Ferragamo”, a real (and also highly expensive) Italian brand.

[solartranslations]

AF2 Arcana Academia: Pace

Pace: [Now that La Primavera is over, spring brings more new changes to Regalo]

Pace: [Arcana Academia]

Pace: [Sparked by the lord’s plan to turn the island into a center for learning, Arcana Famiglia aims to establish a school]

Pace: [With a goal to promote learning among the citizens]

Pace: [Today, everyone in the Family is once again busily fulfilling their young Donna’s wishes]

~*Scene: Vivace Plaza*~

Pace: Ugh, Debito sure is good at running away even without his powers

Pace: I thought he could actually help me

Pace: Ah, so what should I do…

Liberta: Pace! What’s with the long face?

Pace: Oh, just some minor problems

Liberta: Problems? Is it…the same as mine?

Pace: You have the same ones?

Liberta: Yeah. I’ve been thinking a lot, but still haven’t found an answer

Pace: Hmm…

Pace: Oh, Jolly!

Jolly: …

Liberta: Why’s he ignoring us!

Jolly: …What

Pace: Perfect timing, Mr. Advisor!

Jolly: Now’s the one time you bring up my title?

Pace: Come on, don’t say that. Can you give us some advice?

Jolly: No

Liberta: Hey! We didn’t even say anything yet!

Jolly: I already have a good guess. The Academia is opening soon, and you don’t know what to teach

Liberta: That’s Jolly for you…!

Pace: How did you know…!

Jolly: Based on current events that might cause you two distress, that was the most likely

Pace: Then you must know a super easy solution

Jolly: Don’t be naïve. Figure it out yourselves

Liberta: We wouldn’t be asking you if we knew what to do!

Jolly: …Hmph. If you can’t even do that, then you’ll never be able to stand on the same level as our Donna

Liberta: Huh!?

Pace: Whaaat!?

Liberta: N-No way I’d ever give up on Ojou!

Pace: Neither will I!

Pace: Ahh, I still don’t know what to do…

~*Scene: Vivace Plaza*~

Pace: Ugh, so what now? I just can’t think of anything good

Pace: I doubt thinking harder is going to get me anywhere

Pace: Ugh, forget it, I’m hungry! I wanna see Ojou!

Felicita: Pace…what are you doing?

Pace: Wah! Huh, Ojou!? How long have you…!

Felicita: Just a little bit… But you seemed worried, so I thought I should check on you…

Felicita: Then you just started yelling

Pace: Ehehe, sorryyy. I just wanted to a little bit

Pace: Anyway, Ojou, are you hungry? Let’s get some lasagna

>Not right now

>I don’t need any

Pace: Don’t say that. Let’s go, Ojou

Felicita: I just ate

Pace: Just a little. Please?

Felicita: You’re so persistent

Pace: Aww, you’re so cold!

Felicita: If I go with you, I won’t be able to stop eating

Pace: No you won’t. Let’s go!

Felicita: No, I won’t

Pace: Uwaaa, that’s cold! I love that about you too, Ojou

Felicita: But, I won’t say no to some dolce

Pace: Huh, really!?

(*shine) Pace: I’m so happy, Ojou…! That’s what makes you our Donna!

>Yeah, yeah

>You’re exaggerating

Pace: But it’s true! It’s really what I think!

Felicita: That’s enough to make you think that?

Pace: It’s because you’re you, Ojou!

Pace: No, I’m not! I really am happy right now

Pace: Being able to make me so happy is what makes you a great Donna!

Felicita: …Thank you

Pace: Hold on one minute. This gelato has been my favorite recently…wait, ahhh!

>What’s wrong?

>Did you find something?

Pace: I got it. That’s what I’ll do!

Pace: Huh, what?

Felicita: Didn’t you just find something?

Pace: Yeah, I guess I did!

Pace: What now, Ojou!

Pace: I just got…a super awesome idea!!

Felicita: ?

Pace: Sorry, I gotta go!

Pace: Oh! Are you free tomorrow, Ojou?

Felicita: Y-yeah

Pace: I’ll take you on a date to make up for this! See you tomorrow!

Felicita: ???

Love

~*Scene: Felicita’s Room*~

Pace: Ojouuu, are you awake?

Felicita: …?

Pace: Oh, asleep already?

Felicita: Pace…what…?

Pace: Don’t you remember? We made plans to go on a date yesterday

Felicita: It’s still nighttime…

Pace: It’s morning….sort of

Pace: Ehehe, I couldn’t sleep since I was too excited so I came to see you. Can I stay here for a second?

Felicita: …What did you have planned?

Pace: Right. You know, I was thinking yesterday. About what I could teach in the Academia

Pace: I just couldn’t think of anything. Then you showed up

Pace: And I suddenly got an idea of what I wanted to do

Pace: It’s all thanks to you!

Felicita: I didn’t do anything. You figured it out yourself, right?

Pace: But, I couldn’t think of anything until you showed up

Pace: So I wanted to thank you… Thanks, Ojou

Felicita: Pace…

Pace: Anyway, I wanted to practice for my classes today

Pace: Let’s get some milk from Mrs. Cow in the morning and make gelato!

Felicita: Gelato…?

Pace: Yeah. I wanted to find out where my food came from and how it was made

Pace: That way, everyone will find food more fun, right?

Felicita: Haha, that sounds like you, Pace

Pace: I hope you like my answer, Donna

Felicita: Yeah. Everyone will love it

Pace: …Sorry it’s so early. I’ll stay for a little longer, but you can go back to sleep

Pace: It’s still nighttime, right? I’ll wake you up in the morning

Pace: So get some rest

Felicita: …Okay. Thank you

Pace: I should be thanking you. …Sweet dreams, Felicita

Felicita: …Zzz

Pace: And if you dream of me, I’d be really happy

Pace: …*kiss*

Pace: Or not. *yawn* Now I’m getting sleepy too

Pace: Maybe I can sleep here…just for today

Pace: Good night, Ojou

Laugh

~*Scene: Felicita’s Room*~

Pace: Good morning, Ojou!!

Felicita: Good morning, Pace

Pace: Your smile is as radiant as ever! Looks like you’re ready, so let’s go

Felicita: Um…about our plans for today…

Pace: Hm? What is it?

Felicita: Well, it’s just…

Pace: Ojou?

Liberta: Ciao! Ojou, are you ready?

Luca: Ojou-sama, preparations are complete

Pace: Wait, what? What’s going on?

Liberta: Huh, Pace? What are you doing here?

Luca: Right. Today, Liberta and I—

Felicita: I had a lot of other plans

Pace: Huuuh!?

Luca: Did you happen to have plans with Ojou-sama too?

Pace: That was the plan, but…?

Luca: Ojou-sama’s schedule for today is to head to the market with me and Liberta, then go shopping with Debito in the afternoon—

Pace: W-wait a minute! I thought this was Ojou’s day off!?

Luca: It is though?

Pace: Then why all the plans!

Luca: Obviously because everyone wants to spend time with Ojou-sama!

Pace: N-no way…

Luca: We all made our requests ahead of time and came up with this schedule

Pace: What!? I had no idea!

Luca: We decided on this a long time ago!

Liberta: I think you were napping at the time and didn’t hear it

Pace: You should have told me if you knew!

Liberta: It’s your fault for falling asleep

Luca: Well, anyway her schedule is full for today. You’ll have to wait until her next day off

Liberta: If she has an opening, that is

Pace: What, that’s awful!

Luca: It’s because Ojou-sama is kind enough to want to spend equal time with us!

Felicita: Sorry, Pace. I promise we can go next time

Pace: Ojou…!

Luca: Anyway, that’s how it is

Liberta: See you, Pace

Pace: Ojou! Next time! We’ll do it next time…!

(*door closes)

Pace: I can’t believe this! …Right, isn’t this what we have an advisor for!

~*Scene: Alchemy Room*~

(*bam!)

Pace: Jolly, you gotta help me!

Jolly: Can you remember to knock?

Pace: I just can’t believe this!

Jolly: …What

Pace: I just realized Luca and Liberta did this on purpose since I didn’t know…!

Jolly: Pace…if you’re not going to talk, then get out

Pace: Huh? I have been talking though!

Jolly: Then explain it in a way I can understand

Pace: Like, I, said!

Jolly: What

Pace: Liberta and Luca pulled one over on me, and…

Jolly: There is nobody who can follow what you’re saying

Pace: Ah, I just got a great idea!

Jolly: Now what?

Pace: Sorry, Jolly. I gotta go, see you!

Pace: Wait for me! Ojou!

Jolly: Hmph… What was that…

~*End of Scene*~

(Back to Directory)

[bloomboxygo]

Day 18: D/D/D - Different Dimension Day

@arcvmonth

A prompt on time, and that's akin to a fanfic? Ghastly...

Anyway, I don't have MUCH for this one, just an idea. An AU set... In the F-Zero universe in which we have a new Captain Falcon coming from ARC-V. You might imagine who it is. In fact, hint hint, that was the nickname he was given from the internet people when the show was airing. I'm doing this just to honor the nickname and because I've recently came back to be obsessed with F-Zero.

No content warnings here, characters are kept a secret for now. Don't worry, it's rather short. Also, imagine that they're both of age to drive.

A rather peculiar time attack session was unfolding in a training oval track seemingly located in Mute City. The objective was to pick up all the light capsules on the track, while finishing 3 laps on a 1 minute timer. The Blue Falcon was boosting all around the track to finish the race in time, with swift maneuvers to collect the cleverly placed capsules, to end up with a swift boost shift for the last two, ending the track with 5 seconds left, a new record for these settings. It would be a painstaking challenge for any F-Zero racer, but for the Blue Falcon, and for its legendary rider, Captain Falcon, that was merely a step up in his training to aspire to greater heights.

Said Captain Falcon now warped in, out of the track and back to his garage, exiting his trusted ride with his helmet, brown, with black visors and white, determined shining eyes, and his proud smile exuding confidence for all pores... Which were proficient in hiding a tender look towards a black-haired girl who came rushing at him, proud and overjoyed.

"Big Bro! You smashed that challenge... You were incredible! I couldn't imagine anyone else being as good as you!"

"Then you're imagining wrong." The Captain responded sternly. "Doing so is underestimating whoever will race alongside us in the Grand Prix. They'll be going all out on the greatest, most prestigious, and most dangerous tracks in the universe, and we would be foolish to be ill prepared."

"O...Oh." The girl quickly mellowed down after being somewhat scolded. "I'm sorry... You were so good out there, I got carried away..."

"There's no need to be sorry, Ruri."

The Captain took off his helmet to finally reveal the tough face, and the tender look, of Shun Kurosaki: half a ruthless bounty hunter with an immense reputation, and the infamy that naturally follows it, half a passionate F-Zero racer that wants to be truly fulfilled by this high thrill sport... And wants his little sister, Ruri Kurosaki, to feel that same joy, following her enthusiasm shown a while ago to follow in his footsteps. Not one to mince his words, Shun continued addressing his sister:

"Big results got me carried away too in the past... No matter what happens, you need to remember the reason you came to race in F-Zero in the first place."

The girl regained her grit and responded: "Right... I want to feel free, fly fast like a bird, following the currents, and visiting many places that the universe has to offer... And maybe, I'll find many friends with the same passion as mine! I won't forget it!"

"I'm sure you won't, Ruri!"

"By the way... I gotta ask, do you have many fans that... Smile when they see you?"

"Well, yes I do, but that's a bit of a weird question..."

"Well... Your talk about never forgetting why we race here made me think of a friend, Sayaka... She wants to race so she could make people smile with her driving. She told me it was possible thanks to that one F-Zero performer, Yusho..."

"Oh... Hah!" Shun couldn't help but give a chuckle. "Yeah, F-Zero is more than mere racing. There's always a lot of prestige when it comes to these events, and anyone can have fun and be thrilled even if they just watch. Sometimes the technique and drive alone can help one achieve that goal... But there's more than that. I can't simply explain it to you, you'll have to see it for yourself."

"Right... I didn't quite get it at first, but she was so sincere about it... I believe her! I can't wait to see how she does!" Ruri then turned her attention to the Blue Falcon, which was warped out of the room just now. "Oh, right! It's my turn to train now!"

"Yes, it is!" Shun then warped in Ruri's vehicle, which looked like a dark blue plane, with curved wings almost forming a shield to the boosters at the middle of the machine's body. He then clarified: "Oh, by the way, while the course's the same, I'm going to set the time limit to 75 seconds."

"That's 15 more seconds than you get!" Ruri exclaimed, a bit miffed but not showing it too much. "Come on, now. At least I can try being on the same page as you, Captain Falcon!"

"Well, no." Shun then explained to a stunned brunette: "That timing is incredibly tight, and your machine won't make it at all. Compared to my Blue Falcon, your Sapphire Swallow trades a lot of top speed for better bulk and maneuverability. Your focus will be on handling your cornering well without stopping completely."

"Ah... Right, I trust you then!" Ruri then enthusiastically hopped to the machine, and the glass hatch closed as she got ready. "I'll make you proud, big brother!"

"It's not about that, Ruri." Shun responded. "Focus on yourself and the track. Any review and criticism will be just for that."

And so, she warped in the track and the time trial soon started. Shun was observant of all her little movements, and how she collected each capsule less swiftly than he did, but more steadily. No risky maneuvers to be had here: there was no reason to in the first lap, as the booster is not active. Handling will always be the key in this track, and Shun had laid out these capsules in advance to take advantage of the Sapphire Swallow's strengths. From her movements, he noticed absolute confidence in her... But the first lap was about to be done, and as everyone says in the F-Zero world...

"The race starts at the second lap."

YOU GOT BOOST POWER!

P.S. To clarify, yes. People nicknamed Shun Kurosaki... Captain Falcon. But I'm sure they refer more to the Smash version, where he goes around punching people very effectively... As Shun does.

Then again, since now both rode a vehicle... Yeah, I thought it would be fun as an idea.

Also F-Zero is goated and it's a dang shame that a new game will likely never come out.

[duhragonball]

I'm babysitting a machine at work today, so I'm gonna pass the time by disscussing more DBSSH spoilers. Well, first I gotta figure out how to put a read-more cut on mobile...

Yeah, there we go.

Okay, so I talked about Cell Max last night and I got so focused on him that I forgot to discuss anything else. Sorry, but Cell is objectively the coolest character, so even an off-brand Cell takes priority in a movie like this.

This time, let's talk about the lore that gets sprinkled throughout the movie. It's not the main focus, and they probably could have edited a lot of it out and made the movie tighter and more efficient, but it's better this way. The old movies worked that way, just dumping viewers into Dragon World with scarcely any introduction to the characters, but the 21st century Dragon Ball movies are events. They need to be long and have plenty of fanservice (not the sexy kind), and that's what we've been getting. Tidbits like finding out Vegeta is "Vegeta the Fourth" is half the fun, I say. So let's take a look at what we have here.

One bit I liked was how Videl said she teaches a martial arts class of some sort. I think she called it a "combat training course" in the dub, so it sounds a little different from a classic dojo, like the one Tien ran in the DBS anime, but it's the same basic idea. For years, fans have complained about Videl moving away from the badass crimefighter she was in high school. My feeling has always been that nobody is the same person they were in high school, and if Videl wants to settle down and be a housewife, that's a valid choice for the character to make. But I never understood the assumption that Videl stopped fighting. For all we know she's kicking ass off-screen. Well, it turns out that she's teaching other people how to kick ass, which is the next best thing. Maybe she still fights crime, I don't know, but I think it's important not to put her in a box. Just because her recent appearances always involve her taking care of Pan doesn't mean that's all she does.

They threw in a line to lampshade Goten and Trunks' growth spurt. According to Gohan, all Saiyan children are like this, staying small for a while, then suddenly shooting up like weeds. I think that's been the fan consensus for some time, because that's how it was for Goku and Gohan, but DBS really strained credibility by having the boys look and act so young for so long. At least the franchise is acknowledging the issue.

On a related note, it's nice to see they remembered to keep Dende looking like an adult. I'm pretty sure there were Buu Saga episodes that screwed this up, so you never can tell with that guy. I liked how Piccolo considered asking Dende to awaken his hidden power the same way Guru did for Krillin and Gohan. And Dende explains that he can't because he's not old enough to perform the technique, which neatly explains why no one has tried this before. Then he proposes modifying the Dragon to do it instead, and Piccolo's like, I didn't know that was possible, and apparently it wasn't possible back when Kami was in charge of Shenron, but Dende knows tricks that must have been innovated since Kami came to Earth.

However, now that this has been established, they need to account for any other character who can take advantage of the power boost. Krillin and Gohan have already undergone the process, but apparently Shenron's version is more potent than Guru's, so maybe it's worth doing again? But besides that, this would be a handy way for Tien and Yamcha to "catch up", if they ever plan to use those characters more seriously.

On Beerus's planet, Vegeta is seen meditating, which he explains is his attempt to duplicate Jiren's awesome strength from the Tournament of Power. He reasons that Jiren wasn't actually that much stronger than himself or Goku, but he dominated the ToP because he had such precise ki control, only bringing it to bear at the exact moment when it was needed. Something like that. I'm not sure if this is meant to lead into Ultra Ego or some other form, but it's cool to see some explanation of why Jiren was so Different from the others, and that it's possible for other characters to beat him.

And that's what I mean when I say they could have trimmed down the movie if they wanted to. Vegeta's barely in this movie, and he's about as far removed from the action as he can be, so we don't really need to check up on him at all, much less hear him analyze Jiren, a character who doesn't appear in the movie whatsoever. But it still awesome to get this sort of footage anyway, and without a TV series, they don't have anywhere else to put it. The manga, sure, but it's got to move a lot faster than a movie like this. Again, the movie is an event, and Vegeta's observations are part of the icing on the cake.

But of course, the biggest lore contribution relates to the Red Ribbon Army. We learn Magenta is the son of Commander Red, which is fairly predictable for a story like this, but what surprised me was the revelation that Colonel Violet is his mother. Did anyone else catch that? There was a shot of Magenta's desk and he had framed photos of Red and Violet, so I think the implication is very clear. I'm not sure how those two ended up together, but it adds a new dimension to that scene where Red watches Violet raid the safe before she deserts her post.

Also, we learn Magenta's been running Red Pharmacuetical Corporation, which was a front for the Red Ribbon army all along. After Goku wiped out the RRA, the RPC carried on, but they also funded Dr. Gero's scheme in DBZ. This is awesome stuff, because I always envisioned Gero as a lone wolf trying to avenge an organization no one else cared about, but the RPC is a much more intriguing idea.

We also see the first canon reference to Gero's wife and son. Toriyama revealed in an interview that #16's design was based on Gero's son, but I don't think that ever got used in a story until now. While Magenta and Carmine go over their plan, there's a graphic of Hedo's family tree, and a 16-lookalike is identified as Gero's son, named "Gevo".

Likewise, Gero's wife is named "Vomi", and she's a dead ringer for #21 from FighterZ. I'm unclear about whether #21 is Vomi in an android body or just an homage like #16, but I find myself suddenly much more interested in the character.

I already wrote about the idea of Gero's Cell data being in the hands of the RPC, but I guess that's true for all of his other android projects too. The thought occurred to me that this is probably where all the android/cyborg/bioweapon characters in Dragon Ball Heroes must have come from. Sure, it looked like Magenta and all his goons got killed in the movie, but the RPC probably has offices all over the world, and a robust succession plan. And even if the company collapses, the data could still leak and other aspiring geniuses might try to reproduce Gero's work. So that's a cool idea.

I think that's all I got for the moment. I'm sure I'll remember more stuff to talk about later.

[existentialdreadinc]

Airborne Toxic Event

Greetings Mister Schiff,

On your desk you’ll find written directions as well as a map to an area at the east end of town.

Please arrive no later than nine thirty this morning.

Once at the designated location, you are to wait for an event to occur.

For confidentiality and security reasons we cannot describe the event, suffice to say it will be self-evident.

You are there merely to bear witness and should not try to engage with the occurrence in any way.

This is for your own safety and of the utmost importance.

After the event has concluded you are free to spend the rest of the day as you wish.

Sincerely,

Edwin McPherson – EDI Level Manager (34-39)

P.S.  We understand that you’ve recently become acquainted with Greg.

David walked into Around The Clock to find Roy standing behind an elderly gentleman wearing hunting gear, forcibly thrusting his fist into the man’s camouflaged abdomen.

A moment later a piece of something flew from the elderly man’s mouth and landed on the white tile with a wet plop.

Roy went around and made sure that the man was breathing.

“Keep telling you, ya gotta chew more Carl.”

The man coughed violently and spat on the floor.  “It’s these damn dentures.  Cussed things don’t fit worth a shit.”

“Well then you ought to get some new ones.”

“Yeah, yeah.”  The man said with a dismissive wave of his hand.  “What do I owe ya?”

“Nothing Carl, you’re good.”

“Get you next time.”

“Sure.”

David watched the man amble out the door and into the parking lot where he slowly lowered himself into a long brown sedan that looked like it could comfortably seat ten people.

Roy was looking down at the chunk of saliva-soaked meat on the floor.  “Real appetizing, huh?”

David chuckled.  “So you’re saying I shouldn’t order the steak and eggs?”

“Get whatever you want just so long as you don’t try to inhale it like Carl.”

“Noted.”

“Have a seat anywhere and I’ll be with you as soon as I clean this up.”

David nodded and sat down at a booth across from the lunch counter where Carl had nearly eaten his last meal.  He looked over the menu and decided on french toast with a side of bacon just as Roy approached the table.

“Sorry about that.”  Roy said.

“Don’t be.  You’re the reason that guy’s still upright.”

“Sadly, not for the first time.”

“Seriously?”

“Happened a few months ago.  Starting to think the old bastard is trying to do himself in.”

“Well I promise never to try and asphyxiate myself in your fine establishment.”

“Glad to see you stuck around; most new folks don’t last more than a day.”

“Like you said, the place takes some getting used to.”

“That it does.  What’ll you have?”

“Number three with bacon and a coffee please.”

“Coming right up.”

David pulled the paper map and instructions from his pocket and looked over them again.  The location seemed to be right at the eastern edge of Marterborough though it wasn't clear where the actual border was or why he was going there.

“New assignment?”  Roy said as he set down a large ceramic mug.

“Yeah, I’m supposed to witness an event?”

“What sort of event?”

“No idea, but they said that I’d know it when it happened.”

“Sounds about right.”

“That isn’t terribly reassuring.”

“It’s why I stick to serving food and saving lives.”

It took about half an hour to reach the location, which turned out to be an empty field that fronted a large wooded area.

He pulled his car off to the side of the road and started walking until he’d reached the approximate spot marked on the map.

Off in the distance he saw a herd of deer huddled together, half a dozen adults and a few fawns nestled in among the grownups.

David realized he hadn’t really seen any wildlife before now with the exception of that thing in the dumpster that Angie had dispatched.  The animals glanced up at his arrival, but hadn’t made any effort to distance themselves.  Usually you wouldn’t be able to get anywhere near them without the group hightailing it out of there, but they seemed perfectly content to just gaze over at him without any particular concern.

He took a few tentative steps forward then a few more expecting them to bolt at any moment, but they just kept on staring at him.

That’s when he saw it emerge from the treeline.

It was hovering just above the ground, darkly voluminous and billowing like a storm cloud but with a color that was closer to the mottled purple of a bad bruise.

There was no wind but it moved steadily forward through some unseen means of propulsion.

David saw where it was headed and shouted without thinking, wildly waving his arms about as he ran towards the deer, but they just stood there stock still as if entranced.

He was only a few yards away when the cloud reached the herd from the opposite side.

The sound was something closer to the frightened cries of children than any noise he’d ever heard from an animal.

David staggered backward and watched in abject horror as the cloud surrounded and devoured them.

When it was finished it drifted back into the forest leaving behind a pile of scoured bones.

[thedaveandkimmershow]

If there's a photograph that captures this year... you're looking at it.

2023 began with the both of us on a flight down to southern California where her uncle died less that very morning, early early morning. We were on the ground maybe twelve hours after Kimmer got that early morning phone call.

The flights continued through every month of the year. Not for that reason. Not only for emergencies. There were also some epic vacations in there. It also wasn't the both of us.

Me, yes. I traveled more this year than others in recent memory. Kimmer was on a plane every month. For emergencies. For vacations. For family care. For a lot of reasons.

I should also mention that any time Kimmer was on the road, she took her work with her. She saw clients from the road. She attended doctoral classes, did all that work... from the road.

Anyway. Every month.

Most of that was tied up in her aunt. Making sure of her care because she was on her own after the death of her husband. Coordinating with, well, seemingly every admin in the area.

Every month.

We also celebrated our wedding anniversary at Universal Studios, Florida. We also joined her southern California family and friends for camping by a lake... and then by the Pacific Ocean.

And yeah. Sometimes I joined her when she flew down to visit family and take care of her aunt.

So that photo of us above?

We did that move a bunch in 2023.

None of this, however, is my point, believe it or not.

My point is that Kimmer's aunt injured herself, broke her hip, and Kimmer was on a flight down nearly the next day. What sets this trip apart from every other... is that we bought a one-way ticket for her.

A one-way ticket.

Why?

Because we didn't know.

We didn't.

Know.

Because of that, we couldn't make a plan. We couldn't even make our best guess. What we could do, however, was make a start.

So we sent Kimmer away with a one-way ticket and a commitment to figuring it all out on the fly.

On the fly?

Yeah. She would, we would, figure it out in real-time. We would improvise when necessary and, as events and decisions played out, we would strategize and re-strategize. We would trouble shoot. We would course correct.

On the fly.

In real-time.

Its what you do, it's what you can do, when you have very little by way of answers.

So that's how we rolled.

Five weeks, by the way.

The answer is five weeks.

We made the choice to coordinate our lives from different states for an unknown amount of time. We were on the phone every day. We talked about her aunt's circumstance every day. Getting better? Getting worse? Any idea how much time left?

Because yeah. Her aunt was dying. She was going to die.

We just didn't know when.

When, by the way, turned out to be a handful of days after Kimmer returned home.

Five weeks later.

Helluva thing, I've gotta tell you. We lived our lives in tandem, in different states. Coordinating our efforts across 1100 miles.

When you get married, they say things like "better or worse, richer or poorer, 'till death do you part".

What they don't tell you is that sometimes you won't have the answers. A lot of times you won't have the answers. So you'll have to sort of make life up as you go. You'll have to wing it. Testing your circumstance every day and making decisions according to what you find.

It all worked out, by the way. We did it. What strikes me, though, is the ease with which we did it. The ease with which we managed the circumstance in which we found ourselves with 1100 miles between us.

It's probably for the best they don't tell you the kind of things that could happen when you're standing at the altar in front of everyone.

The kinds of things that come up during the course of a marriage will blow your mind. As will the kinds of things you're tasked with handling.

We're aided and abetted by a lot of tech. I won't lie. That totally helps. But I guess mostly I'm proud of what we handled and how we handled it.

I didn't know we could successfully do that kind of thing.

😁😁😁