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transmascnaotoshirogane · 2 years

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honey whiskey chapter 9

HEEHOO HELLO i am quite literally shaking as i copy + paste this chapter from the doc ummm yea its Reveal Time kirby grip = bobby pin

relationships; leg & his dog, leg & the chain, four & leg

ao3 link; x

Legend let out a quiet sigh as he and the others retired to his home that night. Turns out, magic is exhausting to practice and use. Ravio’s not here—he’s on his monthly visit to Lorule, meeting up with Princess Hilda and checking up on his former home—so Legend’s house is cleaned up and looks how it does when the shop isn’t open. …it’s also quiet. “I always forget how cool your house is.”Hyrule mumbled quietly. “Where’s that merchant of yours?”Time hummed curiously, raising a brow when he saw Legend deflate slightly. “Lorule.” “You seem bothered by that, vet.”Warriors pointed out gently. “I’m not.” “You sure?” “I’m not bothered by him being gone.” “...but something is bothering you.”Four hummed, glancing over from where he was not-so-subtly rummaging through the books on Legend’s bookshelf. “...this was my uncle’s house before it was mine. Ravio and Sheerow are a distraction from that.”Legend mumbled, falling back into a chair with a tired sigh. “Oh.”Wind pouted, sitting on the floor next to Legend’s chair. “...what was your uncle like?” “Sad.”Legend mumbled, considered, then nodded. “He was sad a lot. He had three siblings—one of which was my parent—and lost them all. I was the only family he had left. He…He was also scared a lot.” “Scared?” “I…I was a really sick kid. He was scared to lose all he had left. He told me a lot of things, ‘bout a lot of places. He wanted to take me up to the volcano when I was older. I…don’t know why, there’s nothing interesting up there. There was a carving of a dragon near the Tower Of Hera, though, it’s incredibly detailed. Whoever did it was either immune to the heat or really, really dedicated.” “A dragon?”Four hummed curiously, sitting in a nearby chair with a book. “Yeah. Looked cool enough, but I think Fabe covered the carving up. Don't blame ‘er. Some people started reading into it, making up theories about a dragon having lived up there. I mean, it could be true but I have a very hard time believing that, yanno?” “...so. Your uncle. What was he like outside of being sad?” “He was…temperamental. He didn't really have a good form of anger management, hence the odd hole in the wall. He never hit me or anything near me—he was just mad at life. He was mourning his family and having to look after a sick kid, ‘course he was pissed.”Legend paused, then let out a laugh. “He’d fucking kill me for doin all this adventuring, though. ‘You shouldnt be moving around, you break bones easily you fucking idiot’ was his favourite sentence with me.” “Your uncle called you an idiot?”Warriors snorted, leaning on the wall with an amused smirk. “No, no, he called me a fucking idiot. There’s a difference.”Legend grinned slightly, trying very hard not to laugh. “Yanno, he didn’t have much of a filter. Didn’t care how old I was, swore anyway. Told me not to repeat his words, of course, but d’ya really think I listened?” “Um…you didn’t repeat him, right?”Hyrule blinked, wincing when Legend gave him a look. “Legend—” “Rulie. Rule. Look at me. The whole reason my first adventure started was because I directly disobeyed him.” “...oh.” “Yah. So…”Legend shrugged, making a strange noise as he waved his hand slightly. “Anyways!” “What were you sick with?”Sky mumbled, frowning at the looks he received. “What? I’m curious.” “Dunno. Look, I dunno what it’s like for you guys, but the medical system here is…expensive.”Legend sighed, shaking his head as he kicked his boots off and removed his prosthetic leg. “I could sell everything I own and I bet you I still wouldn’t be able to afford a doctor.” “Was your leg expensive?” “Nope. Built it myself outta scrap metal that the blacksmith couldn’t use. Neat, right?” “Woah.”Wind’s eyes lit up. “That’s so cool!!” “Eh, not my most impressive creation, but it’ll do.” “What’s your most impressive one?” Legend paused, then stuck his fingers in his mouth and let out a loud whistle. A silence followed, before the door seemed to slam open and a dog made their way over. The most noticeable thing about the dog? Their front right leg looked like it was metal, too. “Oh—Hunter, I told you you can’t play with that.”Legend mumbled, pulling a wooden training sword out of the dog’s mouth. “Bad.” “You have a dog?”Twilight smiled, kneeling down. “Ah—yeah. His name’s Hunter.”Legend hummed. “Did you make his leg, too?” “Yup. He only wears it if he’s with Gulley, though. No need to wear it when he doesn’t need to.” “What’s this ‘bout?”Four snorted, taking the wooden sword from Legend’s hand. “Training sword. Uncle made it for me but I never got to use it. Oh, hey, yeah, Four? There’s some old swords and stuff in the basement if you want ‘em—I’ve got no use for ‘em anymore.”Legend grabbed a key out of the bowl on the table and tossed it at Four. “Knock yourself out.” Four let out a laugh, but chose to at least look at the old weapons. Hunter followed the smithy towards the door, and followed him down the steps once the door had been unlocked. “You my little buddy now?”Four mumbled, patting Hunter’s head gently. When Legend said ‘some’, Four didn’t expect a lot, but… There’s tons of half-made blades in here, a couple abandoned spears, a Vio amount of knives—did you just make my name into an adjective?—and a chest with a note on it that read the word ‘important’ in blue marker. Hunter padded his way over to Four, laying next to his feet and facing the direction of the chest. Do you think he’d mind if we opened that? Well, it isn’t Legend’s handwriting. I bet he doesn’t even know this is here. Surprised if he’d even be able to find it in this fucking mess Oh…well, we can always say sorry if he gets upset! Four made a noise, deciding to kneel down on the ground and pulled out a kirby grip to pick the lock. …Four will never admit that he can pick locks, or that he has kirby grips on him at all times. The lock opened with a click, and Four gently pushed the chest open and— If today was Red’s turn, he’s sure her heart would have stopped. Inside the chest lay four swords, each with different coloured gems in the pommel, and a box. Carefully, Four opened the box. There was a ring box that held two rings inside it—a simple, black wedding band and another similar black ring with an amethyst on it—and two birth certificates, Legend’s birth certificate and Fable’s too. With Violet and Shadow listed as the parents.

#red writes #royal wings au #honey whiskey #reds linked universe tag #linked universe #lu #linked universe legend #lu legend #linked universe four #lu four #linked universe chain #lu chain #hylias kid #rainbow road #lu fic #linked universe fic #linked universe fanfic #lu fanfic

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certainkindofscientist · 3 years

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wow ok so I saw this funny little bug fiend and was like. overtaken by the need to sketch em

cantu belongs to @brokenpuns

#man this design is MAD inspo material lol #cantu is FUCKING NEAT!!! i love them #this kinda sucky but yknow what. its ok #gives up and becomes a madness blog akjdh #anyways check this artist out because damnb. their art. its godtier lol #one of the couple of creators on the site that actually inspired me to make a self insert snrk #grabs their art and gently puts it in my favorite pile #AHEM #madness combat oc #madness combat #not my oc #my art #digital art #art #heehoo funny little MC ocs make me happy :)#i hope they dont mind the art cause i didnt check in before #if they do i'll take it down!

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autismcupcake · 3 years

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New icon babey

#heehoo #I picked up saying that from a friend and now it's just. a thing for me ahsjwbsgwshsvsgs #anyways I put this in the bio too but I'll say it here anyways #icon art is by sammedup!!#I highly suggest you check them out :]#personal #????

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altheadajoysoul · 2 years

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((Click/tap for better quality))

((Reblogs give me 💙motivation and serotonin💙))

"Hey guys, check out this funny meme I found on tumblr dot com :D"

This drawing took me so long, help-- :')

But anyway, LETS GOOOO VETERAN TRIOOOOO!! They went to the mall, heehoo :3

Will this count as my drawing of december?? Cause y'know,,, snow???,,, :'D

#THERE ARE ALSO A LOT OF THINGS I LOVE ABOUT THIS #ONE. ALTHEA'S SWEATSHIRT. LIKE. CHILD. HAND IT OVER 🤲#I WANT IT SO BAD ANFBSHFBD ITS SO CUTE #AND TWO. OH MY GOD THE BACKGROUND I LEGIT HAD NO IDEA WHAT TO DO AND I JUST DID IT FROM SCRATCH #GOD IT WAS HARD BUT I WAS ABLE TO TAKE IT SOMEWHERE #NOT THE BEST OFC BUT MAN #MAKING A BG FROM SCRATCH IS HARD :'D #my art #my OCs #OC art #Soul Squad #Althea #Vince #Third

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seaofghouls · 3 years

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Steps Forward: Chapter 2

[ heehoo x reader ]

[ damien x reader ]

[ D.A Reader ]

Warnings: Graphic Violence, Blood

@markiplier

Spoilers for Who Killed Markiplier, Unus Annus ( although, U.A is gone now, unfortunately. )

taglist: the-spiciest-sinnamon-roll

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Y/N rubbed their eyes as they sat up. Heehoo was still asleep. They had another one of those dreams again. Although, it could be classified as a nightmare.

They got everything ready for the morning and cooked some breakfast for them and Heehoo. They just.. couldn’t take their mind off of it.

It’d always start out normal. Damien and Y/N would be walking through the park, just like they used to. Then.. the ground would cave in form beneath them. When they landed, Y/N lifted their head to see Mark with his foot and Damien’s head. With way more force than he should have, he crushes their best friend’s skull from right beneath his feet. Blood splattered everywhere, all Y/N can do is scream until they wake up.

They set breakfast on the table and sighed. It felt like all they could do is relive their best friend’s death. Over and over again, all at the hands of that rotten snake. Tears were forming in their eyes, they did their best to keep them there.

“Fuck.. why couldn’t I do anything?!” Y/N bit their lip. They were pulled out of their thoughts by something nuzzling their arm.

Looking down, they saw Heehoo’s worried face.

“..Hey, Kitten. Sorry about that. Just.. just a nightmare. Yeah.” They seemed to be trying to convince themself more than Heehoo, but it was obvious that it wasn’t working.

“L-let’s just get breakfast, huh?” Y/N gave a weak smile.

Heehoo nodded. “So! First lesson! Standing, sitting, and walking.” Y/N said.

That along many other lessons, took up Y/N’s evenings and weekends. Never once did Heehoo destroy the house while they were out.

Several months later, he was trained enough to go out shopping and go out into the town with Y/N. They still had to work on his speech of course, but most of the time he was silent while they were out anyways.

There ,of course, have been way too many times to count where Heehoo reminded Y/N so much of Damien that it hurt. Heehoo was always around to comfort Y/N when they had these awful nightmares.

With a few more months of practice, Heehoo’s speech was perfected. He talked as proper as Damien, in fact. Strangely enough, Y/N never taught him a lot of the proper terms that he uses.

They had found a job opening for Heehoo, an attorney, that would work along side the neighborhood officer, which would be Y/N. That way they could check up on each other.

Y/N smiled as Heehoo looked in the mirror. He was dressed in a black suit. Just like the one that Damien used to wear. Y/N tried to shake the thoughts from their head.

They had come a long way since they had first met. From a feral caveman to a proper human being.

"Well.. how do I look?" He nervously smiled.

"You look amazing." Y/N grinned.

"Well, you ready to go? We'll be late for the job opening if we don't hurry." Y/N said.

"Ah, yeah. We should go." Heehoo smiled.

"You'll be an attorney! I'll be able to visit you whenever I fee like it, too!" Y/N giggled.

"Yeah!" Heehoo grinned. "Oh, speaking of that, do you still want me to call you Heehoo or would you like a different name?" Y/N asked.

"I don't know why.. but I feel like Damien fits. So.. call me Damien." He smiled.

"Alright, Damien! The next step awaits us!" Y/N said with a smile.

....

“So the little worm found his way back to our daring district attorney, huh? Ignoring his role~! What a naughty boy. This just won’t do. Although, the villain role is now fulfilled. So what shall we do with this outcast?”

The man in red laughed.

“As they say, steps forward.”

“He’ll just be excluded from our story.” With a mad grin, he laughed again.

...

#wkm damien #wkm y/n #who killed markiplier #wkm actor mark #wkm district attorney #heehoo #heehoo x reader #heehoo x da #mayor damien x reader #damien x district attorney #mayor attorney #markiplier #markiplier egos

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parismemes · 3 years

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THINGS I’VE SAID ON DISCORD (OCTOBER EDITION) AS SENTENCE STARTERS.

“tell me everythng.” “HEHEHEHEHEHEHE” “i have read every single one of them and do not intend to stop” “i on principle only like songs that go hard” “I DIDNT THINK IT WAS GOING TO BE THAT SAD WHAT THE FUCK” “heehoo. water boy.” “why i always sleep through this shit i hate it here” “gacha games count as gambling” “im also there. im laughing” “u r doing so much math and im just like hehe money” “what the fuck what the fuck NOOO what the fuck im dfgjhhfjgdhjfgkjdkghjd” “what a traumatic backstory” “I CAN SEE YOU READING MY MESSAGES IM GONAN GET FINESSED OUT THE FUCKIN WINDOW“ “THAT’S not good!” “if hes a fraid of dogs that sounds like a him problem” “i honestly deserve recognition for the absolute shit i just pulled off” “YES FUCK YEAH YEAH YEAH HELL YEAH FUCK YEAH HELL FUCKIN YEAH WOOOOOOOOO YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!” “why the fuck would you want that” “yeah hes my only one true love” “by a few i of course mean like 600″ “no one fucking appreciate me” “thank you ___ for being the only person who appreciate me” “i reveal it in pieces and make you put it together like a puzzle” “im smart and never regret it“ “see, i just dont think thats right” “i will continue dangling it in front of your face like a scientist dangling bait in front of a fish (who is also in a maze)” “hes actually like an absolute fucking nerd a complete fool a fucking dumbass” “sorry your message glitched and i cannot read. anyway back to my leverage over you which is forcing you into a corner,” “it's not extortion because i don't know what extortion means” “why do they talk like exes. its because they are exes” “TIME SENSITIVE QUESTION PLEASE RESPOND” “he's a content creator he'll be fine” “what does this mean? but yes” “NICE NICE NNICE NICE NICE NICE NICE NICE NICE NICE NICE” “for future record ___ just used the word poggers” “look at all these fuckin blondes” “its only been like a week and a half at most” “hes doing it out of affection” “ISNT THIS THE FUNNIEST SHIT YOUVE EVER SEEN” “you are terrible and also the worst” “i was going to send it at midnight but i got distracted trying to figure out the most barebones way to say happy birthday without sounding weird” “do you think i get punished more or less if i do sins” “i dont think the sins count as extra points if you commit them on the way to hell” “run over pedestrians” “i am slowly descending into insanity today, as a hobby” “you are a shit boy. a little shit boy go eat boxes“ “it's ok. we can figure it out later” “i didnt notice at first but it is in fact All The Fuck Over” “ITS BEEN OVER 12 HOURS” “hey guys just turns out we might have a ✨ gas leak ✨” “im sure if we put our braincells together we can figure SOMETHING out” “curious georg” “thank god. i could and would have argued this for several hours” “i think the worst thing ive heard today is someone calling the movie enchanted a reverse isekai” “i should not and will not stop” “i was RIGHT AHHAHAHAHAHAGAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA” “that wasnt a question you read it wrong” “i have no idea who this is but that wont stop me” “THIS MAN REALLY SAID HEAD EMPTY WHAT IS MONEY” “sometimes i say things and its best to just pretend you know what i mean” “WOT THIS” “I DONT WANT PEE ON MY BED“ “tired of all these stupid fuckin plants” “could you even really consider jelly filled donuts donuts?” “actually everything is real” “if you eat cereal for dinner, you're not having fucking breakfast” “i think my in real life superpower is that i have freakishly fast metabolism” “i dont care if you are evil you are MY TYPE” “you dirty criminal” “is a dessert item a dessert if it isn't eaten after dinner? discuss” “ok im done for the Right Now” “found a concerning orb. in the sky.” “HOW DID YOU KILL THEM” “why do i do this to myself why do i keep doing this” “the only simp here is me” “I No Longer Wish To Know!“ “DID THEY JUST END AN ENTIRE SPECIES” “WE ARE DETERMINED” “this is also really funny by virtue of the fact that these people are all fucking british” “they throw rocks at me and say we want the himbo” “THE CONTEXT IS IMPORTANT HERE” “its something that i SPECIFICALLY am passionate about” “hanburnger?” “thats just what living with siblings is like” “howd she get there? fuckin beats me dude idk” “i remember everything i am like a shark with an abnormally good memory” “i am sorry that you are predictable” “Hey Guys, Just Checkiing In To Make Sure You Got My Joke, Just Making Sure, I Just Wanted To Check In And See If You Got The Joke, Because I Was Afraid You Wouldnt Get It, So Im Just Checking In,” “i marked your worm” “what are you gonna do. unsend whatever you send me? i am Shaking in my fuzzy socks rn” “you Know i hate the idea of being wrong” “You Did Not Need To Stroke His Ego” “i am too stupid to live and if i was not vaccinated my genes would have no chance of being passed on because i would be dead” “~the oldest anarchy server in minecraft history~” “am i shaking because of adrenaline or rage.... who can tell” “I HAVE SO MUCH ADRENALINE IN ME BUT ITS 1 AM IN THE MORNING” “jokes on u i fucking HATE ___ i think hes the worst” “JUST IMPULSE MADE BROWNIES AT 9 PM HEYOOOO” “cry about it more bitch boy maybe piss your pants while ur at it” “im getting so casually toxic back to toxic gamer boys” “itll be fiiiiiine” “we are all stupid mice who take turns being the piper” “queen of bargains is me i am the queen of bargaining and scoring deals” “its not TECHNICALLY a direct threat but also yes it is” “i see a demon i go possess me then bitch boy u wont” “AAAA THE FUCKIN VIIIIBES” “IM NOT GOING TO STOP BEING MAD ABOUT IT”

#sentence starters #rp memes #ask memes #rp meme #ask meme #the first one i did of this did really well....

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im-definitely-not-trash · 3 years

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Heehoo here’s the first prompt for whumptober! This is the first year I’m determined to complete it on time by posting every day so here’s the beginning of the attempt. Anyway!

Alt prompt #6: Head Injury

Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender

TW: vomiting, mentions of vomit

Word count: 2591

“-idge! Pidge, come on! Answer me!”

“K… Keith?” Pidge opened her eyes, squinting at the shadow above her.

“Thank god, Pidgey, I was… I’m glad you’re okay.”

“What happened?” Keith pushed her down by the shoulders as she tried to sit up.

“Green got hit, bad. You crashed on this moon and we couldn’t reach your comms.”

“Where’s everyone else?”

“Finishing off the Galra. It took us a while to spread them thin enough that I could come down here.”

While recapping the events, Keith had been checking over Pidge thoroughly for any injuries, and he seemed content. “Okay. Let’s go. The others are surely done and waiting for us. Can you get Green back on?”

Pidge got up with Keith’s help. She stumbled into him once on her feet.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Just got up too fast, just a tick.” Pidge used Keith as a support as the blood rushed to her head, trying to find her footing and balance. It took a bit longer than she thought it should, but eventually, she got her bearings and sat in the cockpit chair. “Go ahead and go back to Red, Keith, I’ll get her up and running. Then I’ll meet you guys at the castle.”

“I don’t want to leave you here, that was a really rough crash. And not only that, you were thrown from your chair and were on the floor. Outwards, your body looks fine, but I don’t want to leave you alone until we’re sure everything is fine internally.”

“Keith, I feel fine. I was a little dizzy when I stood up but I had been on the floor for… I don’t know how long, you know better than me, but whatever! I’m fine!”

Keith’s face was still brushed over with concern.

Pidge sighed. “If you’re really that worried, once we get back to the castle we can do a full scan and if needs be, I’ll go into a pod.”

Keith sighed as well, ready to resign his worries. “Fine, but if anything feels off, you need to tell me as soon as you can. Here’s a communicator if Green won’t wake up.” He handed it to her. “Let me know if something feels wrong, with Green or with you.”

“Okay, whatever you say, Keith.”

“Good. I’ll talk to you later.” He waved and ducked out of the cockpit. Pidge saw him running to Red from the windshield. She sat in the pilot’s chair and groaned. Her head killed. Her stomach rolled. She still felt dizzy.

She tried to shake off the feeling to connect with Green, and Green woke up.

“Hey, girl.”

The lion groaned as it stood, sounding much like Pidge felt.

“Okay, we got hit and crashed hard, but we’re fine now. We need to get back to the team to help.”

Green seemed to say, You aren’t well, paladin.

“I’m just as well as you. Banged up but functional.”

You’re worse off then me. You have a fragile body.

“Your mom.”

Green went silent, knowing Pidge wouldn’t listen.

Pidge steered Green to where they could safely take off without damaging the surrounding ecosystem and off they went. Once in the atmosphere, Pidge grabbed the little communicator. “Paladins of Voltron, this is the Green Paladin and her lion.” The sound of her own voice echoed in her ears loudly.

“I hear you, Pidge,” Keith said. “We’re still fighting, and the others don’t have this communicator frequency. We could really use your help right now.”

“I’m not sure if Green is up to it.” She was lying through her teeth. Green seemed fine if not a little banged up. It was her who wasn’t up to it.

“Then stay still, we don’t want the Galra to see you and target you when you can’t dodge or counterattack.”

“No, I want to help! Green is just banged up and can take all the time she needs to recover in the hangar of the castle. I’m on my way.”

Pidge could hear Keith sigh over the comms. “Okay, but be careful. Don’t get hit again.” Static crackled and Pidge knew she was alone again.

Her vision blurred as she looked up to see where her friends were fighting. There were blurs of pink and blue lights, coming from the Galra and from the Lions. She was too far away to see any of her friends clearly, just the lights from the blasts. And assorted explosions.

For once, Pidge was grateful that space was a vacuum, because if she had been able to hear those explosions, her head probably would’ve exploded itself.

Slowly, she crept up on the battle, trying to figure out where she could possibly go in to help. “Hey, Green, activate the reflective shield.” Invisible, she got even closer.

Her comms crackled to life.

“-m on the left, someone get-” That was Lance.

“-eith, where’s Pidge?! We need to for-” Shiro.

“She said she was coming! I don’t know-” Keith.

Hunk seemed to be quiet but active. Coran and Allura were shouting affirmations for everyone from the castle.

And Pidge was sitting here doing nothing. The yells from the comms were louder than they had been earlier, but that was probably just from the little “time-out” she had on that moon.

“All right,” she said to herself. Then she shot Green forward to the middle of the battle and joined all the chaos on the comms.

The whole team was still yelling, but this time more excited that they had a chance to win this now that they could form Voltron.

The lights were closer now, brighter than before.

Every explosion shook Green, and Pidge inside.

For a minute, everything was quiet and dark.

Pidge gagged and vomited.

It wouldn’t stop, she was so dizzy and everything was so loud and she couldn’t stop moving and her head- oh god her head—

She coughed and heaved and she couldn’t breathe and it wouldn’t stop it wouldn’t stop it wouldn’t stop it—

And then it stopped.

But Pidge didn’t know that.

~~~

Keith tuned out everyone’s voices. They were all saying generally the same thing. ‘Pidge, are you okay,’ ‘Pidge, are you there,’ ‘what’s going on,’ ‘is she okay,’ all the same stuff.

I shouldn’t have left her alone, he thought. I should’ve known that she was lying, of course she would, she never wants to feel helpless.

“Keith!” Shiro yelled through the comms. “It doesn’t matter what you should’ve done, stay focused!”

Was he saying that out loud?

“Yes, sorry.” He glanced again at the Green Lion, eyes glowing and standing in ready position, but not moving at all. No pilot to control it.

“If Pidge is incapacitated, we can’t form Voltron! We need to defend her and beat the Galra,” Lance said. “We can’t separate more than we already have, and we can’t run.”

“I’ll go protect Pidge, my lion can take blasts meant for her until we can overpower them,” Hunk said.

“You can’t take them for long, it would be easier to just get done with the Galra.” Shiro sounded exhausted and worried, reasonably.

The team was still trying to plan amongst themselves when Allura bursted into the comms.

“Everyone, get out of the way, and take Pidge with you!”

The Paladins and their Lions quickly left where they were surrounding the Galra ship, and Keith and Red shoved Green out of the proximity.

A huge blue blast came from the castle and hit dead on the Galra ship.

There was nothing left of it.

A collective sigh of relief made it’s way through the team, and then Lance said, “Why didn’t you do that earlier?!”

Allura moaned at his lack of logic. “It took time to charge up to be that powerful, Lance, and with us helping with the smaller shots from the turrets, it took much longer than it could’ve. Be glad it worked at all before anyone got hurt.”

“Thank you, Allura, Coran,” Shiro said. “Let’s get back.”

It was quiet while everyone was taking a couple breaths, finally done with the battle.

“We can’t take more time, guys,” Keith said. “Pidge… Pidge was definitely worse than she let on to me. I’ve got Green, but Red isn’t strong enough by herself to push Green to the Castle.”

The Yellow Lion showed up at the Red Lion’s side, then Blue too. Together, they pushed Green as fast as they could to the Castle.

~~~

Everyone met in Green’s hangar.

“Green, you have to let us in!” Lance was a bit frantic. “We get you’re trying to protect her but we can protect her too, and you probably don’t have the tools to help her if she’s hurt!”

Lance kept pleading with the Lion while the others stood by, worried about their youngest family member. Allura walked to the Lion and put her hand on its leg.

“Please, Green Lion, I can’t lose another Paladin. Please let us in to help Pidge.”

The Lion didn’t answer.

Allura turned to the Paladins and Coran. “If the Lion won’t open… there’s only one explanation.” Her voice broke and tears welled up as she tried to blink them back. “The Green Lion is waiting for a new Paladin to take Pidge’s place because she’s—”

Everyone finished that sentence in their minds.

Coran started working on something to open the Lion in the corner. Lance kept begging, Allura quietly started to cry. Hunk tried to put on a brave face, but his eyes were watering too. Shiro paced.

Keith couldn’t believe it.

Pidge was like a little sister to him. A best friend. She managed to get him to open up when he wouldn’t talk to anyone else. He trusted her with all his heart. If she had said she was fine, she was fine, not…

Not dead.

He’d had enough.

“OPEN UP YOU STUPID LION!!! YOU CAN’T KEEP HER!! SHE’S OURS, SHE’S HUMAN LIKE US, NOT A STUPID ROBOT LIKE YOU ARE AND YOU NEED TO GIVE HER BACK!!! PIDGE IS OUR FRIEND, AND EVEN IF SHE’S YOURS TOO, SHE WAS OURS FIRST! SO LET HER OUT OR LET US IN!!!!!”

Everyone went silent at Keith’s outburst.

“Keith, it’s okay. We’ll get in soon enough.”

“No, it’s not okay!! She was hurt, and I thought she wasn’t, and if she’s still alive, I doubt she will be for much longer! We need to help Pidge now!”

Tears were falling down Keith’s face, along with some snot down his nose.

A thud echoed through the room.

Green’s maw was opened wide.

~~~

Keith was first to reach the cockpit. He turned the pilot chair toward him and saw Pidge. She was quiet, still wearing her suit, but not her helmet. She hadn’t had it on when Keith had first gone to check on her and Green when they first crashed. Had it come off in the crash or was she just not wearing it? And then why didn’t she put it on again.

There was puke all over the front of her suit. A goose egg showed through her bangs. Pidge didn’t have any good tanning abilities, but she was paler than usual. Keith knelt in front of her and pulled off the pieces of her Paladin suit after unbuckling her.

“Pidge?” His voice shook.

She didn’t respond.

Keith put his hand under her mouth and for a few terrible seconds, nothing happened, but then he felt warmth cover his hand as she exhaled.

Breathing. That’s good.

He checked her over for injuries, just like he had done a couple hours earlier, but slower and more carefully.

Nothing seems to be broken.

Then he got to the back of her head.

It was warm and wet.

“Shit.”

Gently, he let her body flop over him. He saw her flight suit stained red all down her back and her hair matted near the base of her neck.

No wonder she was off balance and dizzy. If she had hit her head bad enough to bleed, surely she had a concussion, at best.

Keith picked her up so her arms were over his shoulders and he had grip on her legs. He made sure the back of her head wasn’t going to hit his chin or anything else and carried her out of the Lion.

Allura, Coran and the Paladins stood waiting as he walked out. The room held its breath.

“She’s alive,” Keith said.

It let out the breath.

“But she really needs a pod, like immediately. She must’ve hit her head without her helmet when she crashed. I missed it when I checked her over the first time. She’s bleeding.”

The room then went kind of crazy. Shiro grabbed Pidge from Keith (with his permission [he has attachment issues]) and ran to the infirmary with Coran. Hunk walked over to Keith and talked to him. Lance paced and Allura sat near Keith to support.

Eventually, they all sat in the common bay with each other. Hunk got up and made some food for everyone and they all ate together in silence.

~~~

A few days passed and the whole team had sort of gotten back into a routine of checking on everything. Checking for Galra outposts on planets that needed help, checking in with the Blades of Marmora, checking on Pidge, checking on the Lions, et cetera.

Almost a week later was when the pod opened. It was the middle of the night and Pidge walked out to discover she was alone.

“Guys?” She was bewildered. The last thing she knew was crashing to the moon that was near their battle with the Galra. “Hunk? Allura?” She walked around the castle in the pod suit. “Guys, hello?”

Making her way around the entire Castle, Pidge made it to the common bay and sat down on the couch and she felt a lump underneath her.

“Ow, Lance, get off. No one else has a butt that bony.”

“Keith?”

“I said get off.”

“Keith! What happened?”

Keith finally seemed to wake up and he flipped the blanked off his head. “Pidge??”

“What happened? And why are you sleeping on the couch?”

Keith stood up, throwing Pidge to the floor, and then jumped on her and gave her a hug. “Pidge!”

“Yeah, that’s me. What’s your deal?”

“It’s been about a week.”

“Since what?”

“Since you crashed.”

Pidge’s demeanor changed and she got off the floor. “A week? All I remember was being on my way down to that moon. That’s it.”

“Oh, Pidgey. You hit your head really bad when you crashed. When I got to you, you were unconscious and thrown from your seat. You woke up and complained about dizziness but you got Green up and came to help but then something happened and you were out, unable to control your Lion. We won and brought Green back to the hangar but she wouldn’t open, so Allura assumed you were…”

Pidge’s hands shook as she reached to Keith. “I’m not though.” She smiled.

“You don’t know how glad I am for that,” he said, laughing.

They hugged again, Pidge pulling Keith tight. “Thanks for protecting me.”

“I’m just glad you’re okay. I can’t imagine losing a little sister, especially since you’re my only one.”

“Too bad you aren’t my only big brother. I could have a favorite that isn’t you.”

Keith pushed her off him so she could see his pout.

Pidge laughed. “Just kidding. I already know my favorite is Hunk.”

Keith was about to protest but then nodded. “His food though.”

“Exactly.”

#whumptober2021 #altno.6 #voltron: legendary defender #VLD #Pidge whump

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crispinrice · 3 years

Photo

i have once again made cover art for a fanfic i wrote.

697 words; no warnings, is merely kinda floof that’s based on the fact that bucky wears his dogtags in canon.

no spoilers (at the most, very mild info tidbits, but it’s hardly much) for the falcon and the winter soldier.

if you could check it out, i’d be very happy C: anyways i’ll stop rambling

if you like my art and want to support me, i have a heehoo kofi ; otherwise, have a nice rest of your day :D

#heehoo crispy #bucky barnes #james buchanan bucky barnes #james buchanan barnes #bucky marvel #bucky fanart #bucky fanfic #tfatws bucky #also i might slow down to 1 post a week #been a bit demotivated lately to lack of feedback #also a bit of artblock #but yeah it'll be easier on my bones

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spicycreativity · 3 years

Text

Fear in Friendship (is an ugly trait)

Heehoo, this oneshot is short enough to crosspost on Tumblr instead of just linking to my AO3

Length: ~5k Premise: Percy Jackson AU/Fusion Characters: Roman, Remus, Janus ships: N/A Content Warnings: PJO-typical violence & injury, potential very very light ableism vibes (more info in the beginning notes on AO3)

Read on AO3

"Janice?" Roman asked, tilting his head at the new student Remus had brought to meet him. He was about to be late for after-school rehearsal, but Remus had come trotting up dragging the newcomer by the hand, and he'd looked so excited that Roman just couldn't bring himself to blow his brother off.

The new student glared. "Jan-US," he said, with an incredulous look at Remus, as if to say 'this idiot is your brother?' "Like the Roman god." He said it like it was obvious, like Roman was some kind of moron for not knowing. The sneering tone made Roman's blood run hot with anger and shame.

"I don't know all about that nerdy shit," Roman said, waving a hand dismissively.

Janus rolled his eyes. "Really? I would never have guessed; you seem so smart."

He was almost handsome, Roman thought, trying to study Janus' face without giving away that he was staring. He really might have been good-looking if it wasn't for the look of irritation that had been glued to his face ever since he'd entered Roman's field of vision.

A field of scarring spanned the left side of his face and traveled down his neck until the painful-looking swirl of pink and white disappeared under his high-collared shirt. The scarring itself was not necessarily unusual, just standard burn scars. What caught Roman's attention was how they just stopped, all in a straight, uniform line directly down the center of Janus' face. Almost like… Roman tried not to shudder as the thought came to him. Almost like someone had done it on purpose.

He swallowed hard and tried to get himself back on track. "Least I don't share a name with our librarian, Miss Janice."

"God, you're such a dick." Remus ran a hand through his unruly hair, shooting Roman a dark look. Roman stuck out his tongue. "Forget it." He took Janus by the wrist again and turned away. "Come on, let's go see if we can hack the vending machine."

"Oh, no you don't." Roman lunged forward, irritation coursing through him, and grabbed the top of Remus' backpack. "You're coming with me so I can keep an eye on you."

"No way!" Remus squirmed, but Roman kept his grip tight. "I don't wanna go to your stupid rehearsal."

To Roman's surprise, Janus chimed in with a keen and interested, "Rehearsal?"

"He thinks he's hot shit because he's playing Danny Zuko." Remus rolled his eyes, still trying to wiggle free of Roman's grip. "News flash, anyone can memorize lines and prance around in a leather jacket."

"So why don't you try out?" Roman asked rhetorically, starting to pull Remus down the hall.

Remus went along with it, though Roman knew full-well that he could have slipped out of his backpack and made a run for it at any time. "'Cause I'm too busy bangin'! Ba dum ch!"

As they made their way down the hall, Janus walked beside them in silence. Roman watched him out of the corner of his eye, frowning at the way he continually glanced over his shoulder like he was expecting to get in some sort of trouble. It was a look Roman was well familiar with. He had seen it on Remus and he had worn it himself far more times than he was comfortable with. Roman and his brother seemed to attract danger wherever they went, from stalkers to muggers to one stranger's memorable attempt at running them over in the crosswalk. It was never the same person twice, and each isolated incident could be chalked up to an accident. Roman didn't like to think about it for too long and worked hard to keep Remus from talking about it. After the first mugging, Remus had sworn for weeks that their assailant had had a tail. Roman had denied it out loud, but he couldn't lie to himself. Something wasn't right.

If Janus was equally as twitchy… Was he part of it? Did he know something?

"I understand the compulsion, since I am quite good-looking," Janus said, in a tone so dry it could have drained an Olympic swimming pool, "but you'd better quit staring at me before you walk into a door."

"I spaced out," Roman said, unable to think of a snappier retort. He couldn't help but shoot Janus suspicious looks out of the corner of his eye as they continued toward the Main building. "Where'd you transfer from, anyway? How old are you?"

Janus put his hands up like a cornered criminal. "You caught me," he said, affecting regret. "I'm a 43 year-old police officer trying to track down a drug ring. Promise me you won't tell?"

"Little does he know, I'm the distributor," Remus said, finally yanking free from Roman's hold. Roman let him go, knowing that if he had stayed this long, he probably wasn't going to run off.

Roman rolled his eyes. "Very funny, J Jonah Hill. But seriously."

"I'm 16," Janus said. "I transferred from a school in New York."

"All the way from New York? How'd you end up in Florida?" Roman yanked open the door to Main and held it for Remus and Janus. He was tempted to let it drop on Remus just to watch him stumble, but found himself distracted by a gold keychain on Janus' backpack. It was nothing special, just a shiny metal Gemini symbol, but the way it caught the light made Roman pause.

"Teleported," Janus said.

"Are you allergic to straight answers, or what?" Roman asked, unamused. Janus' mocking demeanor didn't sit well with him, and something about Janus' face didn't make sense. The scars seemed almost superficial, and didn't always move in conjunction with his mouth. Roman felt stupid just thinking it, but it was almost like they were masking something.

"What crawled up your ass?" Remus demanded. He turned to Janus. "Sorry, he's not usually such an asshole. He's probably just nervous about hitting all those high notes. I heard him practicing in the shower last night and it was like someone was skinning a cat."

"I sounded awesome," Roman said, blushing furiously. He paused before the theater doors, turning his back to them so he could directly address Remus. "Go find a seat. And I swear to God, if you cause any disruptions, I'll shave your drumsticks down into toothpicks."

"Not the Vic Firths!" Remus said, gasping in faux-horror. He dismissed Roman with a wave of his hand and motioned for Janus to follow him. "C'mon, let's go see if we can catch a cockroach."

Roman just shook his head and hurried backstage.

He had a hard time focusing during rehearsal, missing cues and tripping over himself on lines he had memorized days ago. But he was too distracted to even be bothered, subtly trying to keep an eye on Remus-- okay, on Janus from his vantage point on the stage.

Roman couldn't help it. He didn't trust Janus. The haunted look in his eyes, the way he was always looking over his shoulder… Something was off.

No matter how hard he tried, Roman couldn't force himself to focus. His thoughts kept whirling until they transformed into an overwhelming sense of dread that demanded all his attention. He barely even noticed when rehearsal ended, hurrying into the seating area to try to find Remus.

He wasn't there. Of course he wasn't there. Roman shouldered his backpack and strode off toward the bathrooms, trying hard not to panic. What if Janus was bad news? What if he had hurt Remus? What if Remus was lying bloody in a back corner somewhere because Roman wasn't there to protect him?

"Remus?" Roman called, checking both bathrooms. Nothing. "Shit." Where else did Remus like to go? Maybe the band room? Roman set off for it at a jog, his backpack bouncing against his back.

Nothing in the band room. Roman tried the handle anyway, just to confirm that it was locked.

"I'm going to kill him," Roman muttered, stalking off toward the football field. He swung by the vending machines on the way just in case, and came up empty. It had to be the football field, then. Remus had been talking about playing with the tackle dummies for weeks. That had to be it.

Roman forced himself to slow down as he approached the football field, not wanting Remus to know how badly he'd been freaking out. Of course Remus was there, doing cartwheels on the turf while Janus sat and watched.

"I told you not to leave!" Roman said, marching up to the pair of them.

"You didn't," Janus said, smirking. Roman glared at him. In the sun, his scars seemed to fade for a moment, revealing only the slightest hint of… green? Roman shook his head. It must have been the light reflecting off the turf. Janus continued, "You only said to find a seat and not cause any disruptions."

"I was gonna release a cockroach onto the stage and see if I could get it to go up your pants leg," Remus said, falling out of a cartwheel and landing on his back. "But Janus convinced me not to."

"You're welcome," Janus said.

Roman couldn't help but stare at him. His scars flickered in and out in the sunlight, the dark brown of his left eye flashing yellow. "Remus, get behind me," Roman said, deadly serious.

"What?" Remus lifted his head. "Why?"

Roman didn't answer, stepping between his brother and Janus. "What are you?" he demanded.

Janus' eyes widened before a look of realization crossed his face. "I'm a friend," he said in a silky, almost crooning tone. "You can trust me."

"He's a friend," Remus repeated. "Why are you being so weird?"

A sense of calm slid over Roman for half a second before he snapped out of it. "What are you?" he repeated, stepping forward into Janus' personal space. Now that he was looking for it, he could see it clear as day: Janus was half-snake. His entire left half was covered in dull green scales, and a slit pupil neatly bisected the sickly yellow of his left eye.

Janus put up his hands. "You're stronger than Remus," he said, almost to himself.

Roman grabbed him by the collar. "You have 30 seconds to explain what's going on."

"Look," Janus said. "You know you're not normal, right?"

"Bad start," Roman said, making a show of cocking his fist back. He'd never hit anyone in his life, save the occasional thrown elbow in wrestling matches with Remus. Should he go for the jaw? The eye?

"You have an absent parent, you get in trouble a lot, you've been in a lot of one-off dangerous situations that you can't really explain," Janus rattled off like he was reciting from a memorized list. "You're dyslexic, you make things happen like magic. Stop me when this sounds familiar."

"Some of those things, maybe," Roman said. Remus was dyslexic and they'd both had their fair share of dangerous run-ins. Distantly, he thought he heard the overlapping thumps of several car doors shutting. "What does that have to do with you?"

"You aren't human," Janus said.

"You aren't human," Roman shot back.

Janus rubbed his forehead and sighed. "Okay, look. You're the only one who can see my real face, right? Why do you think that is?"

"I don't know!" Roman said. Distracted, he let go of Janus' shirt. "What are you saying?"

"I'm trying to say that-- Okay, you know what? Let's just rip the blindfold off like a Band-Aid, sure!" Janus gave a hysterical-sounding laugh. "You're a demigod. You're both demigods."

Roman scoffed, unsure of exactly what else to say. A million questions raced through his mind, punctuated by that slamming car door sound again. What was that, anyway? He backed away from Janus and nearly stepped on Remus, who grabbed him by the ankle and bit. "You can stop harassing my friend now, you neurotic weirdo."

"Look at him!" Roman said. He bent down and hauled Remus to his feet, and was immediately distracted by a mechanical-sounding hissing and creaking. "I'm sorry, does anyone else hear a broken washing machine?"

"Whoa!" said Remus. "You're a snake!”

"I am not," Janus said.

Roman spun around, still searching for the source of the noise. It came into view a moment later and he froze for half a second, eyes widening. "Uhh, guys?" he said, backing up despite himself. He kept his gaze locked onto the massive copper bull that was striding directly at the fencing surrounding the football field, radiating heat that warped the air around it.

"What the heck is that?" Remus asked in obvious fascination.

"Listen," Janus said, his voice strangely calm. In the corner of his eye, Roman could just make out Janus as he removed his backpack and yanked the gold Gemini keychain off the zipper. "You need to get to my car. It's the blue Kia Soul parked by the main entrance."

In the distance, the bull backed up and smashed its way through the fence with a horrible clanging sound.

"Is that thing gonna try to kill us?" Remus asked.

The bull meandered closer, looking as nonchalant as a massive metal bull could. Roman fought the urge to back up, to grab Remus by the hand and get the hell out of dodge. "Why isn't it attacking?"

"It probably hasn't seen us yet," Janus said. He sounded as calm as ever, but Roman didn't miss the frantic rise and fall of his chest. "Walk off," he said. "Slowly."

"What about you?" Roman demanded.

Janus spun the keychain around his finger. The metal gleamed in the sun and lengthened into something Roman didn't recognize: a long metal pole with a half-moon blade at the end. "I'll hold it off."

"You can't seriously think--" Roman started, but the bull looked up and started to charge and the words died on his lip as raw panic choked out his rational thought

"Run!" Janus ordered. "Blue Kia Soul. Meet me there!"

Roman shrugged out of his backpack, grabbed Remus by the wrist and sprinted.

"Are you crazy?" Remus shouted. "We can't just leave him!"

"No shit!" Roman shouted back, still dragging Remus along. "We need weapons or something!"

"Hurdles," Remus said, veering off to the side.

Roman nearly tripped and was forced to let go of Remus’ hand. He wanted to argue, but there was very little of potential use on the field. The tackle dummies and tires left out by the football team were far too heavy for them to move. The track hurdles were the only things even remotely useful. Remus grabbed one and started hauling it back toward the fray, and Roman was quick to follow suit. He didn't want Remus going in first if he could help it.

The hurdle was unwieldy and made his hands ache, but he barely noticed, too wrapped in not tripping while he watched Janus in a state of adrenaline-riddled horror.

By some miracle, Janus wasn't dead. In fact, to Roman's puzzlement, he sort of looked like he knew what he was doing. More or less. He held his weapon with confidence and kept his center of gravity low. The bull seemed to have no other strategy than to aim itself at a target and charge, allowing Janus to dodge every time. Unfortunately, it seemed he could only dodge, as the long handle of his weapon, whatever it was, didn't allow for quick maneuvers.

They were locked in a stalemate, and it was pretty much a guarantee that Janus was going to tire out. He was already breathing heavily, keeping his moments sparing and conservative.

Then Remus came flying in and Roman could only watch as his brother flung the track hurdle with wild abandon. "Die!"

"I told you to run!" Janus shouted, barely audible over the clanging of the bull kicking furiously to try to dislodge its back legs from the hurdle

"We'll run after we finish saving your ass," Roman said. The bull's head swiveled between the two of them, as Remus was still behind it, and Roman swore he saw a spark of intelligence in its molten-metal eyes. Without any sort of warning, it kicked Remus in the chest and took off at a dead sprint for Janus again.

For a split second, Roman was paralyzed. Remus hit the ground hard and rolled and lay still; Janus stood frozen with guilt written all over his face.

"Move!" Roman shouted, already formulating a plan. If he could get the hurdle underfoot while the bull was charging, it might trip, allowing Janus enough time to… stab it or slash it or whatever his weapon was supposed to be good for.

Janas sidestepped again and dashed forward. He glared at Roman, too winded to speak.

"I need you to draw its attention again," Roman said, glancing at the bull. It left deep gouges in the artificial grass where it stopped, and the rubber smoked from the sheer heat it put out. It turned and pawed the ground. "And I swear to God, if you let it get to Remus again, I will end you."

"Like it was my fault," Janus panted, already in motion. He backed up, careful to step away from Remus. Lacking any spare fabric to wave, he threw his free arm out and shouted, "It's me that you want."

He used the same silken, commanding tone he'd tried on Roman earlier. Roman made a mental note to ask him about that when they weren't in the middle of a death match.

The bull charged. Roman threw the hurdle. Then everything went to Hell.

The bull did trip as Roman had intended, but it had so much momentum that it kept thundering toward Janus as it stumbled and scrabbled for balance on the melting rubber chips. A wayward hoof caught Janus in the ankle and knocked him flat, practically right underneath its massive chest. He gave a shout and dropped his weapon, and Roman realized with a feeling of sinking dread that it must have been too hot to touch.

Well, there went that.

He needed a new plan and he needed it now. Already the bull was finding its footing and turning its fiery glare on Roman.

Roman charged it, feeling more like Remus' brother than he had ever had before. "Die!" He rolled forward and grabbed Janus' weapon, barely noticing the heat that seared into his palms-- He didn't have time for pain or panic. Spotting a crack in the metal plating on the bull's back, Roman aimed the blade and shoved. The bull shuddered and Janus shouted something, but Roman had no room for thoughts more complex than kill, protect, kill, protect. He shoved and shoved until the bull gave a final hiss and went still, until sweat poured into his eyes and he could no longer keep them open, until the metal shaft of Janus' weapon snapped under his hand.

"Remus!" Janus shouted.

That got Roman's attention. He left Janus half-pinned under the steaming body of the bull and dashed for Remus' prone form.

He was already starting to sit up and self-assess, touching the back of his head and studying his bloodied fingers with an unsettling blank expression.

"Are you okay?" Roman asked.

Remus blinked hard, stared at him. "Is it dead?"

"Yeah, it's dead."

"Where's Janus?"

Roman frowned and looked behind him. Janus had extracted himself from the wreckage of the bull and was kneeling and wiping the sweat off his face. "Remus is asking for you," Roman said, trying not to let his bitterness show in his voice.

"You broke my scythe," Janus said, not moving.

"You could thank me for saving your life," Roman shot back, half-forgetting Remus.

"That was my best weapon! Now all I have is this stupid knife."

"Are you coming over or not?"

"I can't." Janus glared at Roman. "Somebody dropped a two-ton Colchis bull on me and shattered my ankle in the process."

"But did you die?"

"Can you stop yelling?" Remus murmured, burying his face in his hands.

Roman stared at him, heart hammering with renewed fear. "Are you okay?"

"I just want to go home."

"You can't," Janus said. Roman glared at him, but he continued without acknowledging it, "It's not safe. The monsters know about you now. You have to come with me."

"And why the Hell would we do that?" Roman demanded. "You almost got us killed!"

Remus peeked over the tops of his fingers. "I don't think it was his fault, Roman."

"Thanks for the backup, bro." Roman rolled his eyes and turned to address Janus again. "Why should we trust you?"

The look Janus gave him could have burned a hole in titanium. "Hm, let's see. Who has all the answers? Who just tried to save your ungrateful ass? Think hard now, Roman, don't be afraid to phone a friend."

"I get it, I get it." Roman got to his feet, surprised at how stiff and sore he already felt. He extended a hand to Remus only to yelp in sudden agony when Remus tried to grab on. He turned his hands over and found both palms bright red and shiny with small blisters on the centers. He offered Renus his forearm instead, and steadied him as he swayed. "You okay?"

"Super," Remus wheezed. "Fucking peachy. I got kicked right in the tit by a steampunk rodeo bull and busted my head open on the single rock in this entire field of soft-ass rubber chips. Can't wait to tell Mom."

"Shit!" Roman said. "Mom!" Realization hit a moment later-- she was out of town for a few days at some big-shot surfing exposition, no kids allowed.

"She's in for a nasty surprise."

"Very nasty," Janus said, "unless your godly parent warned her ahead of time. Is anyone going to help me up?" Roman forced himself to compartmentalize. One thing at a time. Remus seemed steady enough on his feet, so Roman stepped over to help Janus up. He couldn't seem to put any weight on his right ankle and clamped onto Roman's shoulder when he tried to step away. "You have two options," Janus said, "help me walk, or grab my keys and bring the car around-- Oh." He looked away, horror dawning in his face, and Roman followed his gaze to see what he was staring at.

"Let me guess," he said, examining the still-smoking remains of Janus' backpack. "They keys were in there?"

"The keys, my wallet, miscellaneous demigod survival crap. You know, nothing too important."

"I'll go see what I can find." Roman let Janus drop, privately amused by the undignified cry he gave out upon hitting the ground.

Janus' black Nike backpack had melted and fused with the rubber chips on the turf. Roman poked the mess with the tip of his toe and found it cool enough to touch for short periods, so he knelt and did his best to sort through what was left.

The Kia keys had miraculously survived, although the remote was unusable and the lanyard was nothing more than a pile of ash and melted orange polyester fibers. It sent flames of agony all across his palms, but Roman managed to extricate the car key and a few strange golden coins. He ignored the remains of a few Ziploc bags, but examined the orange Hydroflask with a critical eye. It had a hole in it, but whatever it had once held had a peculiar smell that cut through the stench of burning rubber and made Roman feel strangely at ease. It smelled like fresh-squeezed orange juice, and he could have sworn he caught a hint of guava and vanilla, like the nonalcoholic punch his mom made for the kids when she was hosting parties.

"Take your time," Janus called, pulling Roman back to reality.

Roman flipped him off, and it hurt like his hand was on fire, but it was worth it. Now that the adrenaline was well and truly gone, he just felt sick and wrung-out, and not at all in the mood to deal with Janus' ill temper.

"Got the keys," Roman said, turning around. "And these weird arcade tokens."

"Those are drachma."

"That's funny," Remus said, in a voice that was still much too quiet and calm for Roman's liking, "I thought they were ligma."

"Oh my God," Roman muttered.

"What?" said Janus, eyeing Remus with concern.

"Ligma nuts!" Remus said.

After a long silence, that Roman supposed was meant to restore some sense of dignity, Janus said, "Good to know you're not dying."

"So are we leaving or what?" Roman asked, jangling the keys.

Janus nodded, and gestured for Roman to help him up.

Roman was sure they looked ridiculous as they hobbled across the football field. Roman, who was the least injured, had to support half of Janus' weight as he limped along, and Remus kept getting lightheaded and grabbing Roman's other shoulder for balance. At least Remus was able to carry his and Roman's backpacks, though it slowed him down considerably.

Roman was winded when they finally reached the parking lot, his shoulders and obliques screaming in protest at the awkward position he'd held for so long.

"Can you drive?" Janus asked when they'd reached the Kia and he could finally let go of Roman.

"Uh, I have my learner's permit."

Janus closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Let me rephrase that: You're going to have to drive."

"Where to?"

"New York."

"New York?" Roman repeated. "Are you crazy? Why New York?"

"I'll explain on the way," Janus said, "but we really need to get out of here."

"Fine." Roman helped Janus into the passenger seat and then lifted Remus into the back so he could sprawl across the seats. His head had stopped bleeding on its own, but since they hadn't paused to apply any pressure, blood had dripped down his neck and dried on the collar of his shirt. "I don't suppose you have any first aid stuff?"

Janus yanked open the glove compartment and rattled off the contents. "Manual, registration, Taco Bell napkins, tire pressure gauge, plastic baggie full of mystery pills, novelty Medusa PEZ dispenser, Mapquest directions to the Lotus Hotel, titanium spork."

"Those are Aleve," Remus said, poking his head between the seats. "Can I have about 20?"

"You can have two," Roman said, snatching the bag of Janus' hands. His own fingers were stiff and clumsy and flared up with pain every time he tried to use them, but he couldn't deny the increasing compulsion to be in charge. He had to fix it for Remus, he had to make it better, he had to keep them safe--

"Like, now, or…?" Remus said.

"Sorry." Roman distributed the pills, then passed around his water bottle. "Okay," he said, struggling with the cap while Janus watched with a cool eye. "So, uh. Now I just have to drive to New York. With messed up hands."

"It helps if you get in the car," Janus drawled.

Roman said nothing, but as he walked around to the driver's side, he made a silent vow to hit as many potholes as he could.

"Road trip!" Remus crowed once Roman was seated. "Hey, Roman, how much money do you have?"

"I dunno," Roman said, trying to focus on backing out while only holding the wheel with his fingertips. "Like 20 bucks. You're the one with the backpacks, why don't you count?"

"I get to go through your stuff?" Remus asked, clapping his hands in delight.

"Just don't steal my good pens or I'll kill you." Roman put the car in drive and lurched forward.

"Accelerate with your toes," Janus said.

"No backseat driving."

"I'm not in the backseat."

"Keep running your mouth and I'll strap you to the roof." Roman turned up the radio before Janus could reply. He'd had enough; his hands hurt, his body ached, he was terrified. He couldn't deal with any more snark and attitude.

He took the on-ramp for I-75 North and started to sing, first to himself and then louder as traffic increased and he got nervous. In the corner of his eye, he could see Janus double-checking all their blind spots, peering in the rear view mirror, fidgeting with his seat belt.

It didn't help Roman's nerves any. He kept singing with the radio, privately grateful that it was already set to a pop station. He noticed two things at once as he switched lanes to let a bright red Maserati blow past him: First, a bone-deep exhaustion that left him so dizzy he nearly swerved onto the shoulder. Second, his hands no longer hurt.

He took one off the wheel and glanced at it, shocked to find the skin as smooth as if it had never been damaged at all.

"Did you do that?" Roman demanded, sparing a glance at Janus.

"What, make you hit the rumble strip? No, that was all you."

"My hands," Roman said impatiently. "They're better. Look!" He showed his palm to Janus, then to Remus.

"Lucky," Remus said. "I feel like somebody pushed me off a 69-story building."

"Nice," said Roman, unable to help himself.

Janus just rolled his eyes and turned back to face the road.

"So how about those answers now?" Roman asked, stifling a yawn behind his hand.

Janus nodded. "But no interrupting. If you don't believe me after everything you've seen, that's on you for being an idiot."

"Who said I was going to interrupt?" Roman said.

Janus looked at him out of the corners of his eyes. "Oh, I just have a feeling."

"We can be quiet," Roman said. He turned the radio off and sat back as much as he could without losing his grip on the wheel.

"Super quiet," Remus agreed. "Silent but deadly."

"Alright," said Janus. "The Greek gods are real. You're the children of one of them."

Roman pressed his lips together, determined not to make a sound. He kept silent as they continued to crawl down I-75 in rush hour traffic and Janus elaborated about gods and monsters and mythology.

It wasn't until the sun was well and truly down, until Janus had gone silent, until it was too late for it to matter, that Roman even realized he had been the victim of reverse psychology.

He scowled and doubled down on his vow to hit as many potholes as possible. Whether Janus was telling the truth or not, Roman didn't like him.

#as i said: the devil works hard but hyperfixating adhders work harder #sanders sides fic #sanders sides fanfiction #sanders sides #tumblr fucked up my tags so sorry if there's an irrelevant tag on here lmao #spicypost #spicywrites

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