#based on evidence i have to say that my natural hair is very dark brown and my eyes are like. dark blue. they look brown from a distance id

[pillars-of-salt]

looking in the mirror several times a day just to confirm that i have literally no clue what i look like

[lindszeppelin]

Okay here are my thoughts on what just recently dropped. I will not subject anyone on my timeline to reading it if you don’t want, so I’m not tagging anything and I’m putting it behind a read more so you can scroll on. But since people want to keep gaslighting us about what’s going on, then I’m gonna stand up for Austin and speak my mind.

So, photos of Austin and Kaia in Paris dropped early this morning. People are claiming they were from today. The earliest known account that posted those pics on Instagram were from 9 hours ago at 2am my time. France is 6 hours ahead, which would have made that morning time around 8am when the sun is up. Clearly these pap pics were not taken in the morning hours and they are not from today. You can’t refute the weather and the sun not being up lol.

But diving deeper. Let’s start with this. Kaia posted to her story a few days ago a vid of her backstage at a Ben Harper concert. Clearly it was not from that night because from what I recall, she posted that story early in the morning. Looking at Ben Harpers current tour dates, he was in Germany on the 1st and Paris in the 3rd.

So from this it would make the most sense she was at the show in Germany. Since everyone was up in arms about her being there like it was 100% fact.

And speaking about Germany, let’s dive into that little nugget. People are suggesting that based off of some Instagram location feature that if you look at Austin’s Instagram, it says he was in Germany. I’m debunking this one right now as not being a valid piece of evidence to throw at the wall. Because if this were accurate, then why does it say that Kaia is still in the US when clearly she’s in Europe?

If people are saying this is 100% accurate then why does it still say she’s in the US when she’s not? Looks like that piece of the puzzle has been written out from the narrative, I wonder why.

Moving on from that and getting back to these recent pictures, Kaia appears to be brunette. We can all see this. It’s not magic and it’s not rocket science, we can all clearly see that she is not blonde. Let me explain something to you guys, as a professional hairdresser that has worked in the industry for years. She dyed her hair all over honey blonde back in the 18th. She posted a selfie to her story yesterday still looking very much so honey blonde. When you bleach hair, it will not darken, the brassy undertones get revealed. When you bleach hair, you always tone your clients hair to the desired undertone of blonde they wanna be. As Kaia is a natural brunette, like level 5, her hair would have yellowish-orange undertones. Her hairstylist then toned her hair with a honey golden gloss. Toner is Demi permanent and usually will start to show signs of fading after a few weeks, and by fading I mean that those yellow-orange brassy pigments of the hair shaft will start to show itself again. Therefore, at that point you’d need to touch up with another toner at the salon.

In these pictures, her hair is brown. It’s not blonde. It’s not brassy. It’s not bleached except for her ends, which is the old hairstyle she used to rock while she was growing out her bleach job from the pandemic times. You cannot refute something as factual as science and chemistry when it comes to hairdressing. You wanna say that she just slapped some brown dye over her hair? That’s not how that works. A corrective coloring service takes a lot of time. Going from blonde to brown is a delicate process and it often times takes more than one session to get the desired effect. This is her natural hair color in these picture. This does not have the flat appearance that boxed dye gives, and does not reflect a Demi permanent brown put over bleach blonde hair. This is her natural brown hair.

This honey blonde looks the exact same tone, and it is not dark nor is it brassy. The lighting may deceive your eyes, but my trained hairdresser eyes can tell you it is the same blonde tone. Also, her baby hairs are not the same between the blonde pics and the brunette pics.

I will not have people acting a fool and saying she dyed her hair back to brown. People can have impulses and dye their hair and then do it all over again, but her hair in these paris pictures is not peofessional demi permanent color (because no sane hairdresser would use permanent. its more damaging) and this is not box color.

Now, let's talk about the timeline here. People are suggesting these pictures came from today, wednesday the 5th. I already debunked that earlier on with the weather. But let me give you guys some more concrete proof that you cannot refute.

A fan FROM paris, who lives there, saw these pictures and commented that the Gucci store they were walking infront of said that the Gucci store was coming soon. As someone who is familiar with the area, she commented that store had already opened in the winter time...in 2022...in December. and with a simple google search she is right.

I blocked out her name and other users for privacy. pappiaustin doesn't really need the privacy as she puts herself out there lol.

and here is the proof. this is just one article of many i saw that spoke about it. apparently it was massive news in France. This specific shop is the same one where apparently Kaia and Austin were suposedly near, the Costes Restaurant on Saint Honore.

I think i made my point that these pictures are NOT from today. So if that Gucci store wasn't even opened until December 20th 2022, then lets go with the theory these pictures of them are from that time.

Austin had wrapped Bikeriders early December. He was back in LA for the runway show at The Wiltern on the 8th. And then he wasn't seen again since he flew to NYC for SNL around December 13th.

So that gives us a window of a few days to work with when they could have flown from LA to Paris. It wouldn't be that far of a stretch considering I also heard a rumor that Lisa from Blackpink and Peter, a guy who works for Celene (i think hes the creative director) was also supposedly with Austin and Kaia around these Paris pics, although there are no pics to even confirm that anyway.

So this timeframe makes sense to me. If we wanna run with the notion that some members of Celene were supposed to be at this dinner with Austin and Kaia in Paris then it makes sense since they were just at his fashion show on the 8th of December. And it was around this time that Austin would have shaved his facial hair for SNL. So it checks out to me.

Here are some of the pics in question for those that have not seen them.

Now I wanna add one last tidbit before I end this post. Because i've made myself and these points very clear. Remember, Kaia posted that selfie of her showing off her celene necklace yesterday. then these pap pictures came out. This is not the first time that Kaia has posted selfies like this before a batch of pap pics get released to make it seem like everything is copacetic.

remember back in may, when Austin had some bikeriders tattoos on his arms as they were seen walking the dog. people were confused why he had the tats on, as he was supposed to be in New York for something that we still cannot confirm with 100% certainty what that business was for. but people were saying those dog walking pictures were not recent at all, mostly for the simple fact that his tattoos were gone very quickly the next time he was papped after these pictures were dropped.

So she has now a history of doing this not once but twice. we have to take people for who they are when they show us their patterns. and this is clearly her pattern.

IN CONCLUSION: they are not in paris, they were but back in december 2022, kaia seems to be in germany, and austin still is nowhere to be seen officially from any real source. last we saw was that flight attendant picture from a lufthansa flight but i said my peace on that.

please use your brains. and do not keep drinking the kool aid. do your own research.

PS. I ALSO wanted to post THIS, from a kaia news account, that clearly has some kind of information to prove that austin is NOT interested in marrying kaia. so to all you idiots that were saying austin proposed to kaia in germany, blah blah blah, no.

/RANT

[jeannereames]

Hello Dr.Reames,

In your novels and lots of other popular works, Philip is usually depicted with dark hair and dark eyes. I wonder if it is a modern creation or it has been recorded in historical source? By the way, do you know the usual hair color of ancient Macedonians? Is it different from some of the southern Greek states, like Athens? Because Alexander is always depicted as blond. I wonder if this is common in Macedonia. Thank You!

As I noted at the bottom of my prior post about Philippos’s thoughts on Alexandros in Dancing with the Lion (which may have generated this question?), we don’t actually know what Philippos’ coloring WAS. No ancient evidence says. We’re told he was apparently very good-looking in his youth, but that’s about it, other than his wounds/scars.

This brings me to your larger question, the usual hair color of Macedonians…we don’t know that either.

And that raises the most interesting fact of all:

Interest in hair- and eye-color was just not that important in antiquity. What I call “driver’s license descriptions” are mostly absent. There might be some reasons for that:

First, most people from ___ area all had the same eye- and hair-color. Remember, lighter shades are mostly a feature of select populations and great divergence a factor of colonial and immigrant activity. If everybody you know has brown hair and eyes…why would you bother saying as much when describing them? Descriptions focus on points of difference.

In Greece, there was some variation, maybe. I’ve mentioned before that red-blond was considered especially beautiful, so Aphrodite was a strawberry blonde, as was Helen of Sparta/Troy. Because it was unusual. Some populations were considered fairer (maybe not fairly…pun intended). Whether Spartans really were fairer or it’s a generalization from Helen is a good question. Athenians were supposedly darker due to Pelasgian (indigenous people) ties…why Hephaistion is dark-haired and quite olive-skinned in the novel. But from pottery—which is largely Athenian, later—it would appear that most people had dark hair. I do remember seeing a teen boy depicted on red-figure pottery with obviously light (probably blond) hair, but it stood out to me, and was almost certainly meant to.

There is some implication the Macedonians were fairer, and the images in mosaics from Pella might bear that out. We see a lot of blondies/redheads. But is that reflecting real people or ideals? Wall paintings show brunettes, too. Supposedly Thracians were known for having more redheads, but is that true or a stereotype?

The plain fact is…the ancient Greeks don’t tend to highlight hair color (or eye color). Maybe that’s because most people had brown hair and eyes, so why mention it? Or maybe hair- and eye-color just wasn’t that important to them.

Descriptions of Alexander himself are exemplar: he’s described as “ruddy-fair”…of COMPLEXION. He walked fast, spoke fast, had a bent neck, a rough voice, and wavy hair and anastole, but no mention of his eye- or hair-COLOR. Apelles is faulted by Plutarch for making him “too dark”…of COMPLEXION. That’s led to a popular perception of Alexander as a blondie, which isn’t unrealistic. And, again, the few probable depictions of him that show coloring show him as a strawberry blond/redhead…except for the Pompei Mosaic, which is supposed to be based on an Apelles painting (maybe). But there are some other Romanizing aspects to it, so his coloring may have been tampered with too (Apelles or no Apelles).

In fiction, Olympias is almost always depicted as having black or red hair…usually as a factor of her “witchy” nature. That’s always annoyed the hell out of me. So as ATG was (likely) blond or red-haired, I chose to make her also a blondie in Dancing with the Lion. I have Alexandros look a lot like his mother on purpose, including coloring and height (or lack of it).

But truth is, we don’t know what color hair (or eyes) she had. Or that Philip had. I chose to make Philippos dark-haired (and eyed) mostly to underscore that Alexandros doesn’t (obviously) look like his father, although he does in less obvious ways. By contrast, my Kleopatra has the dark coloring, but otherwise, she and her brother resemble each other more than a bit. Genetics are fun.

[blazlngblade]

I haven’t played much of CotC, but I didn’t know that Vanessa had a sister?

It's more of mine and my brother's headcanon than anything, but it does have some evidence to support it. I am thankful you asked because I've never actually shared my thoughts on this headcanon in detail!

So basically, I am pretty sure that Vanessa's sister is Shelby, an apothecary from the initial 64 Travelers.

Most notable things when looking at Shelby. - Purple everywhere. - Apron and corset combo. - Short, hooded cape. - Dark gray-black skirt/dress with a design around the rim of the outfit. - Brown boots and a brown apothecary satchel. - Purple-black hair.

Now let's look at Vanessa.

- Purple everywhere. - Apron and corset combo. - Short, hooded cape. - Gray skirt/dress with a design around the rim of the outfit. - Brown boots and a brown apothecary satchel. - Purple-black hair.

They share a lot of similar things to their designs. Now this could just be a coincidence, but who really knows. It's a pretty uncanny similarity.

Let's take a look at their sprites now!

The design is similar with their hair colours being slightly lighter than their artworks and its dark hair colour. The apron suddenly both has a purple stripe on it (Vanessa's concept already had this, but Shelby's art doesn't.)

Another thing that I find a bit curious, is the fact that Shelby has brown eyes, and originally so did Vanessa. Her boss sprite is shown with gray-brown eyes, as well as her artbook chibi.

So either Shelby's design was based around Vanessa for no reason at all, or this was intentional.

For context, Champions of the Continent (2017) was being developed at around the same times as the first Octopath Traveler (2016). There is also art book evidence that CotC's plot may have been the original game's idea, but they decided to go smaller to play it safe for a first game.

Next, I want to share brief name meanings. Both Shelby and Vanessa are English orientated names, and they are also very beautiful meanings as well as based around nature. Shelby means 'place where willows grow'. Vanessa means 'of Venus' or 'butterfly'. I could go into more detail with both, like willow trees spiritual meanings (which fit Shelby pretty well when I searched it up) and the best place to grow is near the water, an explanation to Shelby's ice magic. And Vanessa is related to butterflies, which could give her light magic. But that's beside the point.

Beauty plays a pretty big factor in both characters as well. It is obviously there for Vanessa in her appearance, but for Shelby, we are told that she's very attractive and men fall for her easily. That said, personalities are purely opposite as well. Vanessa's confident in herself, a bit vain, etc. and Shelby is very different. She's not the most confident, very shy, etc. I always found a fondness for opposite siblings, I am sure others do too!

Also did I mention both of these characters have/will have Wealth influences? Shelby has basically zero reason to be Wealth, she should probably be Fame, but she's not, and maybe it's because Vanessa when she's playable will eventually be Wealth too!

With those aspects aside now, let's talk about descriptions and family life! The more proper way to help connect these two ladies aside from just appearance.

First, character description.. We recently got Shelby's Radio Show information, so this allows me to share a little more. We'll start with Shelby.

Radio show doesn't give too much, but the main thing to think about is age and her appreciation to "happy homes", I'll get to that soon. It's also important to mention that they didn't deconfirm her having siblings or not having them. Other characters have gotten family mention more proper from the shows. (Example: Sofia is the oldest sister, with three little sisters!)

Now Vanessa's description!

Vanessa's description also says that she "leaves her criminal life behind" but she is obviously still an apothecary, and is a skilled one too, she sells her medicine at a high price still, but not because she's after wealth, but because her medicines are good and are worth the price. So anyone saying she's a "fake apothecary", this is incorrect. She's skilled at her craft. Apothecaries can create good or bad medicine, as told in Gertrude's Traveler Story, and others.

And now that you've seen their descriptions with ages. Shelby is the older sister. Shelby's "mid 20s" listed is in favour of CotC's 3 years in the past. Shelby is ~28 and Vanessa is 26, giving them a ~2 year age difference.

Let's pretend for a moment, that not only her encounter with Alfyn, but perhaps her older sister Shelby had also helped support her sister's change of heart. Family support is exactly what Vanessa might need to get on a better path. That's exactly what our "happy home" loving Shelby would want for her family. Shelby would 100% help her sister, by getting her a job at the LeRuiz in Valore. It's run by Rosso, like Shelby, a member of the Bargello Family! Even though I play as Iris, Shelby is my canon Chosen One.

These descriptions imply that both are quite skilled apothecaries even if Shelby hardcore downplays her skills in favour of not being "better than Cooper" *cries* Could their skills come from the parent that Vanessa's description mentions?

That said, Shelby's Traveler Story also brings up family mentions.

It might not seem like much, but if Shelby's mother gives herbs out for her husband's birthday, it implies that one or both of these people are apothecaries as well. More people would say they give flowers out on birthdays, not specifically herbs.

So basically, it's possible that the two are sisters, and their parents are apothecaries. It's common for children of specific jobs in this timeframe and game to learn the same field of work as relatives.

Another thing, that I want to get to before ending this, Vanessa's description that a parent is a "famous apothecary" and Shelby's Traveler Story mentions Ogen as one of the best apothecaries she knows. It's possible that if it's true that Shelby and Vanessa are related, that this famous apothecary parent and Ogen are friends, or at least acquainted.

Part of the interesting thing about the Ogen mention, it's almost as if the writers wanted their players to remember Alfyn, thus by remembering Alfyn, you might remember Vanessa, and then you just kinda think, "wow, Vanessa and Shelby look similar!"

That being said, Ogen isn't playable yet, so we've never had canon interaction with Shelby and Ogen, just apparently that the two know each other. Shelby actually rarely gets Recollections despite being a popular 4-Star, so she's never had much to disconfirm anything. Maybe when Vanessa is playable, she'll be able to interact with Shelby? This is very possible since they had Leon Bastralle's quote said by Lord Elletrix of Grandport, and then later Leon appears in Elletrix's Traveler Memory, plus one of Elletrix's subordinates being jealous of Leon's friendship with Elletrix. All this proves that the two were friends. Rosa, stop talking about your OTP Long story short, first game characters are 100% allowed to interact with characters from CotC, so long as the writers want to do something with it. It's possible they could one day allow Shelby to talk to both Vanessa and Ogen.

Okay, that should be all...? Anyway, to reiterate, this is just a headcanon of mine, it is not canon in anyway. Take it as you will or not at all! It's no bother if you don't want to imagine them as sisters, but that's what I want to do until it's proven otherwise.

Now I just want to share the fanart I've done of the Hysel Sisters!

I've headcanoned these two as sisters since basically the first moment I met Shelby! And that was in 2019.

^^^^ I want to remake this one ^^^^

^^^^ Kid versions I designed, the other characters are Narr and Glossom. I headcanon those two as twins and childhood friends of Vanessa and Shelby, that's another story though. Purple sisters, and pink twin brothers!!

^^^^ Designs I made for a project of my brother's! Check it out on twitter if you want to see more Hysel Sisters!

Thank you to anyone who has read this! I appreciate it! And now after writing this out, I think I want to draw the Hysel Sisters again sometime soon!

Again! This is just a headcanon until proven right or wrong by the developers.

Let's end it off with a silly picture of the sisters.

[homunculusgirldick]

The rambling in question

So, I am Latinoamerican, a woman, trans, gay, autistic, and some other fun stuff. I am,  fundamentaly a minority in every concivable way, but funnily enough, I have been called a “White, Straight Man” by MY OWN SISTER.

Granted, this was mostly valid, i didn’t know i was trans, and the gay part comes with the package, and i hadn’t recived a proper autism diagnosis, even if i think it was pretty clear i wasn’t neurotypical. So i was, at the very least, a cis straigth man, with no disabilities and born in a privileged, high middle class family. 

The White part is... Complicated. Escentialy, I am, by no definition, white, i am not even “White Passing”, my twin sister is a lot paler than i am, while me and my older sister (the one that called me “white”) are both fairly brown skinned, and even after spending all day inside, i think it would be ridiculous to call me “white”, my natural hair kinda turns into and afro if you let it be, it is VERY curly. 

Obviously, even beyond fisical aperance, calling a latinoamerican person “white” is already weird, because while a lot of us are clear skinned, that does not take from the fact whe are latinoamerican, and kind of by definition, outside of the “white” label, at least how it is usually used. Still my sister, called me white, why?

Well, simple, because i am part of the privileged mayority in terms of skin color in my country. While i do think steriotypes and opretion that puts more clear skinned people in a social position of generaly less shittiness, in my country, discrimination based on physical diferences, or “race” just, works diferently than in the United States, in fact, almost all countries and regions of the world have a diferent standard and a diferent history of discrimination. In my country, being anywhere from very pale white to dark brown is generally not tha diferent, you are part of the ambigous mayority that is on some level, mixed. If you are evidently native american, afrocaribean, asian, or, specially, from our neighbour country, then there are steriotypes, discrimination and all that bullshit, but most people exist as part of a general, privileged mayority, that can’t really be called “white” or “black”.

However, while the United States sistem doesn’t exist over here, a lot of its standards have been brought over time. Obviously not just in the present, history is plagued by U.S influence, but more resently, the comversation around “race” and discrimination up there has traveled through social media and into the young progresive kids in my country. Generally not a bad thing, but it often leads to a strange sort of filter. Which leads to my sister, knowing that i was part of the privileged mayority in terms of discrimination based on apeareance and persived “race”, to call me “White” because, that’s the word the U.S uses.

And this always remains as a petty memory i have, my sister has changed a lot, and gained a deeper understanding on stuff, so i don’t she would seriously use that word again like that. But it always shocked me that she thought that, that she tried to apply that very foreign filter to her literal sister.

All of this to say, that this is why i think i have a very diferent perspective in all of the issues people discuse in the internet? Because, i am not from the U.S, i am a latinoamerican* trans, gay, neurodivergent woman, my isues, how i deal with them, how they came to be in the first place, it works very diferently to the isues in the U.S, even if i end up knowing more about y’alls policies than my own contries. 

Yes, i am a “racial” minority, i also have never suffered “racial” discrimination, because i am also, a racial mayority, because, you know, i am a latina in latinoamerica!

I know of the discrimination people like me face abroad, i have family and people i know that have suffered it, but i am not, inherently a victim, you get what i mean? Being a Minority, being priviliged, or opressed, is kind of a fluid thing, and it is very complicated. Again to the things my sister said, the labels and standards she was using at the time inherently didn’t fit, talking about “white people” in the context of the “racial” discrimination of latinoamerica is probably gonna fall flat. 

But she wasn’t wrong about the other stuff, even now, that i came out of the closet and take pills and i take the public bus in a skirt, i haven’t recivied almost any form of discrimination, its been varely 3, 4 months? no one has said anything super bad, the university is a very safe space, specially on the social sciences building, my friends and family where accepting enough, even if my dad can be a dick. I have a progessive minded, high middle class family, I had profetional help when it comes to my necesities as a neurodivergent person, i recieved psycologycal aid during my darkest moments (and came the other side queer and autistic ;3).

I have struggled and suffered a lot honestly; but because of my specific situation, i have the privilege of not taking the brunt of it yet. My grandmas don’t know i am queer yet, and the other day i had my heart in my throat as i told a childhood friend i was trans, and he shrugged and said he didn’t mind. 

broadly, weirdly, i am okay! Life hasn’t quite kicked me with its underprivileged hammer, in fact, plenty of not-queer people i know probably where and are less “privileged” than i am, despite the fact i have the whole batch of pokemon types XD. 

So, i guess i just have a particular perspective on privilege, because of all of this. Not to say, i am not not privileged, i just think it is... complicated, and i also think i really cannot have a more valid opinion on a lot of this stuff, because i haven’t lived it. I cannot tell you much about what is like to be a “racial Minority”, i cannot tell you much about what is like to be openly trans in public, even if i am both of those things, and have learned a thing or two about them; my specific situation means i have a specific expirience. I am not dumb enough to say “being trans in public is fine in my country” because i don’t fucking know, i get on a bus and drop into a nest for comunists called a university, and get out of the bus and drop into my personal nest of comunist called my room.

 I only went to the mall once with a friend and the lady at a pizza place called us girls, so that’s neat, and i spend most of the time pretending to lift my skirt to tease my friend and taking turns rambling about bushit we where hyperfixating on. I loved it, but can i realy tell you it is safe? 

Would it be the same for a trans girl from a much nastier religious family, having to walk through the city center every day? for a girl having to work in public, rather than having the chance at higher education? For someone whose vaguely homofobic childhood friends didn’t turn out to be nicer guys? I don’t know, i don’t think so. i simply am, despite all, a very privileged person, as much as i am an underprivileged one.

Also, this friend in the mall I went with, he is kinda who i’m talking about, she has some codependant relationship with her hyper religious witch of a mother and they need a lot more therapy that i ever did, but they can’t really get it, because that Hyper Religious Mother is a helicopter parent who he needs to ask permition to go out with me, WHEN SHE IS 19 YEARS OLD AND MAKING A CAREER. 

I dunno, what i wrote? I just... it stated with me being all baffled and almost facinated with Demily’s whole story about the discrimination she and her dad faced. I just had something personal to say, but, not to her.

[writefightandflightclub]

Trial by Fire (Part 1/3) Santiago “Pope” Garcia x GN reader

Summary: You’re finally introducing your new boyfriend to The Boys. It must be intimidating for your guy because, hello? Not only are they literally lethal, as well as infeasibly handsome, but they’re hella protective of you to boot. They want the best for you so, naturally, they make your guy run the gauntlet the whole evening. Santiago, though? Well. Given that he is secretly in love with you? Let’s just say he doesn’t handle the situation very well at all.

Genre / tropes: angst, friends to lovers, love confession.

Author’s note: I wasn’t planning on writing this (in fact I’m writing the opposite, where “Santi has a new girlfriend and you don’t take it well” as a series, loosely based around the 7 deadly sins); but, in the meatime, I wrote this to get back into the swing of things after a lil break. It’s just a quick one, but there will be a second and final part, if you want it! Let me know!

Word count: somehow, 4.4k.

Warnings: language, angst, best friends arguing, Santi being an asshole.

Rating: T

The boys aren’t being as awful as you had anticipated, at least. For the most part, they’re actually being pretty friendly, and although they’ve transitioned into grilling Dean about every aspect of his life, they are at least listening intently and smiling at his answers. All except for one fucker, of course; and, naturally, surprising no-one, the fucker misbehaving is one (1) Santiago “Pope” Garcia. 

The group - the boys, yourself, and Dean- are huddled comfortably around the blazing warmth of the fire pit in Frankie’s yard. The dancing, oranged flames cut through the dark and cold of the crisp night, as you sit upwind of the smoke on scattered, mis-matched camp chairs.

Whilst the others are evidently enjoying the evening -faces painted with smiles, body language open and leaning-in to chat to Dean- that fucker Santi is leaning back in his chair, his jaw twitching in seeming aggravation, his arms folded, and his intense eyes needling your beau. In this dim light, with the firelight licking over the sharp planes of his face, he looks every bit like a trained killer about to leap out of the shadows and garotte someone. Well… a very petulant trained killer. His call sign should have been Mr. Grumpy Pants, you think idly.

What’s up with him this time?! you wonder.

He gets these moods sometimes. And, when it strikes him, he can be a little bit hostile - despite the fact he’s a puppy underneath it all. You had hoped that for once, maybe he would suck it up, and yet, your hopes had been in vain, it seems.

Every time Dean speaks, or touches you, or even laughs at another of the guys’ stories, Santi’s expression sinks further and further through layers of distaste; and, by this point, he’s eyeing Dean as though he’s a war criminal the squad have been sent to take-out. You half expect him to leap up and take down Frankie any second for fraternizing with “the enemy”, if you’re honest.

Truth be told, you’ve had just about enough of this. Your friend had better buck his ideas up, sharpish, or he’d be reminded very swiftly that you were Delta Force too.  

For now, trying to ignore the bastard, you look back at Dean, and the sight of him in animated conversation with your buddies causes at least some of your aggravation to fall away. Things have been going well between you and Dean, even if you do say so yourself. Originally from Michigan, he now worked as a lecturer at a nearby music school. He was also a banjo musician in a bluegrass / synth power-pop mash-up of a band, which (sort of) explained his retro-inspired mop of brown hair and his thick dark moustache - majestic enough to rival Frankie’s. True, he wasn’t your usual type, but he was honest, and sweet and kind... Plus, he’d never killed anyone with his bare hands, which was rather refreshing too, if you were honest.

Safe to say, so far, things were working out. So well, in fact, that you’d recently met his parents for the first time while they were in town. So well, in fact, that -after keeping him purposefully away from the boys for as long as you feasibly could- you’d now brought him to meet your family. That’s what this squad was to you, after all. Your family.

Remembering sporadic moments from the past few months together, you smile gently as you listen to Dean talk. You watch him seamlessly integrate some tailored conversation starters you’d fed him ahead of time, and you gently squeeze his thigh in an act of reassurance and appreciation. He is feeling the pressure, you can tell, although he is handling it well. To be fair, you think, who wouldn’t feel the pressure? You’d been nervous enough to meet his parents, but this? A bunch of Delta Force guys and an MMA champion? This squad was lethal; literally -you’ve lost track of your combined kill count, though Will probably hasn’t, you are sure.

Aside from that though, most of all, they are your family. You need them to like Dean and vice versa, and you know that isn’t necessarily a given. You are a tight-knit group, with little hope of outsiders grasping the full extent of your decade’s old in-jokes, or the intense camaraderie instilled by facing a hail of bullets together. Plus, as the baby of the group, they were protective as all hell of you.

It came from a good place, you knew: they wanted what was best for you. But, there was a reason you’d delayed this meeting... It’s not as though they were threatening or anything. They didn’t do the whole “if you hurt our buddy, I’ll kill you” thing, for example (at least, not while you were present – you couldn’t vouch for what happened when you were out of earshot).  However, after introducing a succession of boyfriends to them over the years, the squad had developed a well-rehearsed system for sizing-up your new squeeze. In the past, not all of your squeezes had made it through the gauntlet. It was a trial by fire, to be sure, and you were pleased that Dean has not yet been burned.

Of course, whilst the boys’ approval didn’t mean everything to you, you couldn’t deny it was important; perhaps especially this time, with this guy. And, out of all of the group, Santi’s approval meant the most to you. Always had. Probably because Santi meant the most to you, full stop. You simply couldn’t imagine having someone in your life that didn’t get on with your best friend. And, so, you are not overly thrilled at the reception Santi is giving Dean right now. The reception he had been giving him all evening, in fact. And the more you dwell on it, the more an anger bubbles forth from you. Even though you try to push it down, and focus on Dean, that fucker in the corner of your eye sends you.

“What’s wrong with you tonight, Garcia?” you blurt out, a little louder than intended, causing the amiable chat and giggles to stall, all eyes turning to you - then, in turn, following the direction of your fiery gaze over to Santi, who shifts uncomfortably in his seat.

Now, he leans forward. Looks back at you with a rare venom in his eyes. With a smug curl of his mouth, he dips to pick up his beer from the floor and takes a swig - buying himself some time. Trying to brush you off. Still, your gaze does not relent as he rests his elbows on his thighs, bridging his fingers together in the space between, thumbs sticking in the air.

Now, he engages, and he looks directly at Dean, his eyes sweeping dismissively over the entirety of his form. Now, he speaks, his voice filled with far more bitterness than the situation merits. “Nothing at all. I’m fucking peachy. So, Dean. You play the motherfuckin’ banjo?” he offers, and yet, it sounds far more like an accusation than a question.

What the fuck is up with him?

Wilting a little beneath Santi’s stare, as the ex-operative squints his eyes in his direction, Dean casts a helpless, sideward glance at you from his place in the circle, and yet, you are so stupefied by anger that you can do little to help.

“I think what my dear friend means to say -” Frankie dips in valiantly, smacking Santi pointedly on the thigh, likely hoping to smack some sense into him too “- is why don’t you tell us more about your music, Dean?”

Frankie’s eyes and smile are soft when he looks at you, surreptitiously exchanging a pointed look -what’s up with that pendejo?- and you are grateful that at least some of the evident tension is diffused when he picks up the slack in the conversation.

Santi and his mood swings be damned, and, feeling bolstered, Dean continues on.  

“Actually, it’s going pretty frickin’ well with the band. It’s a side-gig to my lecturing job, but we’re planning a tour during summer vacation. The States -east coast- and Western Europe for now. Maybe headlining a couple of small festivals, if that pans out, who knows.” Dean relates, humbly.

“That’s great, man,” Will chips in, helping Frankie get things back on track. “We’ll have to come down to a gig soon, hear you play.”

“Actually, we have something to tell you about the tour, don’t we, babe?” Dean says bashfully, and he looks at you expectantly, waiting for you to pick-up the thread. You’d talked about it before coming today, and it had seemed like a great idea at the time, but suddenly, now that the announcement is imminent, your mouth is dry - as if filled with cotton. Still, you force a smile, and you’re not sure why, but you look anywhere else but at Santi as your lips form the words. “Yeah – kinda big news, fellas. I’m going to join Dean on the Europe leg of the tour. I’ll be leaving you losers behind for a few months.”

Dean’s face cracks into a smile and he reaches for your hand, looking made-up at the prospect. Still, while you will yourself to be fully present in the moment, you find yourself focussed on looking anywhere but at Santi, sure that his stare must be boring into the side of your head. You hadn’t told him yet. Unfortunately, at Santi is where just about everyone else ends up looking, as the fucker abruptly pushes his camp chair back and stands, storming indoors before anyone can hope to fathom it.

You exchange glances with Frankie, Will, and Benny, with Benny thankfully stepping-in this time to distract Dean from the obvious, and asking him which stops you two will be making, and which sights you plan to see.

“Look, man, don’t mind that tool. Got any sightseeing plans?”

What is Santi’s problem? Why can’t he give Dean a chance? Yes, you’ve made some mistakes in the past- been hurt, and Santi had helped you pick up the pieces -every time- but you had a good feeling about Dean. A really good feeling. Can’t he see that too?

Frankie throws a concerned glance back towards the house and motions as if to stand, but you beat him to it, wanting to get to the bottom of this. “I’ll go,” you insist, motioning for Frankie to stay put, and with a quick promise to Dean that you’ll be back soon (and a silent plea to your boys to take care of him in your absence), you do just that, walk-jogging across the grass.

When you step inside to the kitchen, you find Santi stood, hunched over the counter, his palms clasping the surface tight enough that his knuckles pale, and his head hung low, his shoulders rising and falling as he takes in exaggerated breaths.

“Well?” you ask pointedly, with zero tolerance for his bullshit. “What’s going on with you? Wanna explain why you’re being an ass to my boyfriend?” you challenge to the back of him, and he instantly whips around at the sound of your voice. 

“I’m being an ass?” he asks indignantly, his eyebrows shooting towards the top of his head. 

“Yes. In a nutshell. Yes,” you hiss, any other interpretation feeling impossible. You fold your arms and purse your lips, making it plainly evident that you are waiting for some explanation. And, oh boy, it had better be good.

Instead of explaining though, Santi simply huffs out breath, gesturing angrily out of the window. “That guy, really? That’s the guy you’re gonna go all in for? Go to fucking Europe for?”

That guy, you mouth silently, completely stupefied for a moment. You’re not sure exactly what your so-called friend is insinuating, but you are clear that you don’t like it one bit.

“What is your fucking problem?” you ask, punctuating your words with motions of your hands, as if you are trying to strangle the air in-between you in lieu of his neck. “Dean’s a catch. He’s hot, he’s sweet, he’s a nice guy. He’s there for me. He takes care of me.”

“Like I don’t take care of you?!” Santi exclaims, his voice rising and abrasive; and then, immediately after the words tumble forth from his lips, he steps back imperceptibly, as if startled by his own outburst, his hand rasping over the stubble on his chin.

“What in the...? This isn’t about you, you ass!” you bite back, face scrunching up in confusion. Your fingers come to your temples as you grow increasingly lost-off and perplexed, and seemingly, your riposte only makes Santi double down on whatever the hell he is complaining about.

“Who’s the one who’s always been there for you, hmm? Who picks up the pieces every time you make yet another dumb shitty choice with another shitty guy?” he rambles, gesturing his hand towards you dismissively.

You step back from him this time, just a little, tears spiking instantaneously in your eyes at such an unnecessarily cruel blow. He’s right, in a sense: you had always relied on Santi to heal you, not to hurt you - and yet here he was dealing these painful, incoherent blows out of nowhere.

“Shit, Garcia. If it’s that much trouble to be there for me don’t bother next time,” you snap, your voice breaking as the swell of anger and hurt and adrenalin sends tears spilling over your cheeks. “Don’t worry though, I don’t think I’ll need you again. In fact, I have a feeling this guy might stick. So, maybe? Maybe you should think about the fact that the only shitty guy around here is you.” 

“You really think he’s good enough for you, hmm? He’s really who you want to end up with?”

You listen, aghast, as his tirade keeps coming. However, as Santi’s voice breaks with emotion part-way through his second question, you can’t explain it, but you feel an intolerable sadness in the pit of you. Even though you’re not sure what’s causing all this, what you’re barrelling toward, you want to thrust this sadness away from you. Push him away from you.  You want to push away the knot in your stomach for fear that if you tug at that thread, you might arrive at an answer to his question.

Exasperated, overwhelmed, you roughly paw tears from your cheeks, not knowing where all of these feelings are coming from, in either direction. “Fuck, I... I don’t understand what this is. I don’t get it!” you say, waving your hands, palms-up, through the air. “Is this some macho bullshit? Have I pissed you off somehow?”

At that, the wave of Santi’s anger crests and breaks; as you wonder if you annoyed him. Then, as suddenly as his anger came it is waning, his eyes pooling with rare tears now. With a huff of breath he tears off his damn cap, tossing it aside to run a hand through his grizzled hair. 

“No. No,” he backtracks a little, palms up in surrender. “You haven’t... I.... I just...” He pinches his lips in-between his teeth and looks up at the ceiling as his words trail off, perhaps trying to steady his voice before continuing. Or, perhaps he has nothing else to say to you. Perhaps he’s said enough.

You examine him. Still pissed as all hell, but worried now too, and ultimately, your love for your best friend slightly edging-out the anger. It’s rare that anything affects him like this, and you can’t help the sudden rush of concern.

Cresting too, you exhale a tightly held breath into the now silent, taut space between you, and your body sags - just a little. You chew over your words a moment, but when your voice comes back the volume is lower, your tone softer - and, although it cannot be considered friendly, by any stretch, it’s the best you can do right now.

“You know what,” you offer, generously, wrapping your arms around your own middle, stroking your forearms with your own fingertips. “I’m giving you a pass. You don’t even want to give Dean a chance? Then just leave, Santi. Just go. I’ll give the guys some bullshit excuse that doesn’t leave you looking like a total ass, because I’m not a dick to my friends. So just go, okay?” You pump your eyebrow at him indignantly and await a response, your manner stiff and unyielding.

Santi closes his eyes and knits his brow together, something like regret finally passing over his face and he shuffles guiltily from foot-to-foot.

You puff out air through your teeth and shake your head, as you observe this Delta Force hero; the bravest man you know in many ways, but still too cowardly to tell it like it is. To admit that he’s in the wrong. You are afraid to say that even as his gaze comes back to you, misty-eyed, you have little sympathy for his plight. You are sure it is of his own doing. You are almost as sure that he won’t open-up.

“You know,” you begin, breaking from your position and gathering up a fresh cooler of beers from the fridge, turned away from him as you speak. “I brought Dean to meet my family. Do you understand that? I didn’t have parents and siblings for him to meet. I have you guys. You’re my family.”

Still nothing. Nothing but silence greets you. Nothing but a pained expression on his face, his brows drown together and the artificial light of the kitchen highlighting the harsh planes of his face as you look over your shoulder at him, waiting for some reaction. Some admission of guilt. None comes. He simply slots his hands into his jean pockets, looking sheepish.

“So,” you continue, greeted with a brick wall, “fuck knows why you don’t want me to be happy, but I am. I’m happy with him. Thanks a ton for shitting all over that.”

You don’t even bother to look towards him this time, instead placing the last of the clinking, condensation-adorned bottles into the carrier, resigned to head back out without him, and without any apology.

“I’m sorry,” he finally says, and your head whips towards him in surprise.

He looks it - sorry. He looks apologetic. Deeply so. He looks sorry for this, for every way he’s ever slighted you, for every time he’s hurt you, even in ways and moments you never knew about. He looks sorry down to the pit of him, and it catches you off-guard when you see it freely offered there in his eyes.

Even so, this is a stubborn man. There’s an apology, but there’s no explanation. Nothing to explain his behaviour. So, even though it seems genuine, it also doesn’t seem like enough.

It doesn’t appease you, and yet, all you can bring yourself to do is sigh deeply.

You know Santi better than anyone, but there’s always been a part of him that has seemed out of reach, even to you. You’re not sure -never have been- whether to be scared or excited by those unknown parts of him. Not sure whether the impasse hints at buried secrets too dark and deep to bear, or whether it hints of a possibility of something more. Something deeper or something better you could have together, if only he would let you in. You don’t know, and you never have, but all you are sure of is that you have constantly teetered on the edge of that abyss, too much left unknown to know all of him, however much you may have wished to. He’s entitled to his secrets, of course, but you hate how they hurt him. 

With a little sympathy now, you examine his watery eyes, and when your voice comes back this time, it is softer and slower than you intended. More tired than you expected.

“You know, Dean wants to be with me. And he tells me so.” You casually dip down to pick-up the cooler handle, eyes still fixed on your best friend. “He might not be Delta Force… he might be a banjo player from Michigan… but even he’s brave enough for that.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Santi says, bristling all over again, his hand rasping angrily over his stubbled jaw, and yet, you decline him an explanation. Instead, keeping your own secrets now, holding back, you head towards the door, beers in hand.

Still, you turn back to him. You might be angry, but you still care for him -more than you could say. 

“If you figure out what’s up with you, let me know, and I’ll be there for you. Whatever you’ve got going on, you know that, right? But this? This isn’t okay, Garcia. You might think that I make dumb choices -you ass, by the way- but I’ve watched you hit self-destruct so many times instead of dealing with your feelings. Maybe you should look at your own life, huh, instead of shitting all over me for trying to be happy? Shit, at least I fucking try.”

His eyes shift from side to side in the room, the muscles in his jaw twitching, chin jutting forward, and his thumbs locked in his belt loops. He can’t quite bring himself to meet your gaze; at least not until you are disappearing through the threshold; until it’s almost too late. Why can’t he ever manage anything unless it’s too late?

“Wait!” he pleads, but you cut him off, before he can speak. Even though, truth be told, you’re not sure he would muster anything to say at all, even if you gave him a chance. He’s so used to holding back.

“No,” you say firmly. “Forget it, I’m done. I still love you- you’re my best friend. But, fuck, just go home, and get out of my sight, Santiago. I’m so pissed with you right now.”

And so, you turn away, and when his words finally do come, they are spoken to the back of your head. They are spoken without you ever seeing his lips move, and you wonder if he ever said them at all, or if this might be some cruel trick of the night. Some witching hour spell. That is, until you turn towards him and you see the words painted clearly on his face too.

“Fuck it. I’m in love with you.”

I’m in love with you.

Why can’t he ever manage anything unless it’s too late?

You’re not sure what reaction he was expecting, but you almost choke on the sudden lump in your throat. You feel a taste of bile rising-up into your mouth. An intense, resurgent anger fills you, which near makes the room spin, and makes your hands and your legs tremble.

Even if a hidden, unconscious part of you has been waiting, hoping for these words all these years, when they finally come all you can feel is... royally pissed off.

“Oh. No. No. No,” you repeat, words gradually increasing in volume, looking at Santi as if he has mortally wounded you, rather than offered that confession. “You do not get to do this to me.”

You see a hard swallow bob down his throat, a near-instant regret on his face, and your heart pounds in your chest as you reel with the implications of his words.

The coward. The fucking asshole. He waited until now? All the times things had gone to shit, and he waited until you were happy?

“All the times...” you accuse, your tone as bitter as the taste in your mouth, the metallic tang of blood as you feel a rushing in your ears. “All the fucking times. All the chances, Santi, and you do this now?” you continue, your finger sawing through the air, wagging accusations at him, even as your voice wavers, as your hands notceably tremble. “No. Fuck you, Garcia. Fuck you.”

You want to cry, or scream, but you are too angry. So angry, that it eclipses anything else which might come to light. So angry that you almost come full circle again, beginning to stabilise out at eerily calm.

Santi looks down at the floor, and exhales air, chuckling disbelievingly to himself, then lightly nodding his head, lips pressed tightly together. His feet shift agitatedly below him as he brings his endlessly familiar eyes back up to meet yours. This time when he looks at you, it hurts. You remember bullet wounds, and you swear that was nothing compared to this.

“That’s it? That’s all you’ve got to say to me, hmm? Fuck you, Garcia?”

“What the fuck were you expecting?” you say, launching your words before you realise the implications of them. Yes, you know fine well that your boyfriend is sitting outside, likely wondering where you have got to. But, if you had the wherewithall to have thought about it, you would know exactly what Santi was expecting, despite all of that. You would know that a part of him must be expecting, hoping, that when he told you, you might reciprocate. That you might love him back.

And, would that be so outside of the realms of possibility? Would it be so hard to imagine that the deep, magnetic, and unshakeable friendship you shared could be something else? Something more? That you could tip over the edge you had long been teetering on? Maybe it could, or maybe it could have, but right now, you can’t see past the flashbang he has just dropped over your life, and it is clouding your vision.

You were happy. You are happy. Fuck him for doing this now.

Why would you fall into the unknown for him, if you never knew whether he would catch you? If you never knew whether ruin or safety awaited you if you let yourself tip? He always held back.

What the fuck were you expecting?

Your words linger in the space between you, and in lieu of any other lifeline, realisation dawns on Santi’s face. Realisation that, although he jumped, you are not intending to catch him either. But how could you catch him, with your arms already full?

And, so, he slowly nods his head once again, his eyes beading with glassy tears and his hand grazing over his chin in a self-soothing gesture. Wordlessly, he sets his jaw and he abruptly replaces his baseball cap on his head, padding a few steps forward to stand opposite you, sucking all of the breath from your lungs. This time, when he looks at you, you see all of your past, but you still can’t see beyond that. The abyss still scares you too much.

Like this, facing each other down, eye-to-eye, the silence in the room grows sharp as a knife, refined to a point. So, when Santi abruptly turns to leave in a sharp, determined trajectory, without so much as looking at you, it is as if he has dragged the blade across your skin in an equally swift motion. As if he has left you open and bleeding-out, having delivered a mortal wound with the act of his exit. You’ve felt like this on the battelfield before, and in life, yet he was always there for you. Always there to patch you. To pick up the pieces.

Instead of screaming open-mouthed for help, this time, you simply watch him go, and now you are the wordless one, mustering nothing but a gasped inhale of breath before your vision blurs with tears - as you watch his hazy form disappear along the hall and out of your sight.

“Santi,” you call pathetically, your voice small and weak and teary, barely making it past your throat, and he doesn’t hear you. He doesn’t hear you but even if he had, you’re not sure anymore if he would have stopped.

When Santi slams the front door behind him, you shudder with it in its frame, your hand coming to your chest as if to hold your heart inside your opened-up ribs, and you close your eyes against the jarring sound, tears spilling down your cheeks, your face screwing-up into a shined, contorted grimace.

Entirely lost, now alone, you bizarrely wish for the room to be filled with anger again, instead of the intolerable sadness - which all too suddenly takes hold of you as your emotions crest and break. It is all you can do to stumble forward a few paces and hunch over the countertop, finding yourself in the exact position you had discovered Santi in. You stand, bracing yourself with your arms, fingers clutching the edge of the worktop, and your head slumped forward, tears freely spilling out of you as your chest heaves.

You wonder whether he’d held himself in this same position because he had felt an intolerable sadness too. An intolerable sadness at seeing you happy.

Suddenly you could understand it.

That fucker. Santiago “Pope” Garcia.

I’m in love with you.

I’m in love with you.

The words echo in your mind, but this time, if you’re honest, you’re not wholly sure if they’re his, or yours.

PART TWO IS HERE

[jedi-order-apologist]

A Refutation of Telltale’s “Is the Jedi Order a Cult?”

I was directed to this video that claims that the Jedi Order is a cult during a discussion on reddit earlier, and while the person who linked it respectfully asked to end the discussion we were having, I figure the video is worth addressing on its own, separately from that discussion. So I’ve cleaned up the points I made over on reddit and stripped out the stuff relevant to that conversation, to explain just what I took issue with with this video.

To the video-maker’s credit, he does acknowledge that the Jedi are presented as correct within the narrative of the films. Having run into one too many “the point of the prequels was the flaws of the Jedi” across the Internet, I have to say it’s refreshing to see Jedi-critical arguments made without that assumption.

I still disagree with pretty much all of the points made in the video, and found it to be uncharitable, blatantly incorrect at times, and almost completely lacking in concrete examples and evidence of his claims, but he has a right to his own interpretations, especially in that he acknowledges that they’re not the intended takeaway. But I hope that my response will show that it’s not something actually reflected by the source material, and that the Jedi are not actually a cult, even setting aside creator intentions.

Disclaimer – I’m not familiar with this video-creator’s other work, but from what’s said in the video, it does seem that this isn’t his usual kind of material, and that he intended this as “lighthearted” video. With that in mind, its lack of robustness and misinformation is forgivable – this response is mostly meant as something for me (or you, if you want) to point to the next time someone brings this video up to support their position, not as a criticism of this video-creator or his work in general. If you choose to engage with the video directly, please be kind.

He begins his arguments by claiming that the Jedi erase people’s identities by having them block their emotions completely - this isn't true; what we see the Jedi say is "be mindful of your feelings" (Mace Windu, TPM), and "don't let your personal feelings get in the way" (Obi-Wan, AOTC), and "don't let your feelings cloud your judgement" (several times). All of that requires acknowledgment of one's emotions and dealing with them appropriately.

He then claims that those who leave are shunned - this is again, blatantly untrue. For instance, at the beginning of AOTC, Dooku is still spoken of highly long after he has left the Order - the Jedi are reluctant to even entertain the idea that he could be behind the attack on Padmé. The Sith are for one thing, not necessarily ex-members of the Order, and for another, they’re "shunned" because they're going around torturing and murdering people, not because of heretical views on the Force. We see in TCW that the Jedi Order co-exists peacefully with other Force traditions, even dark-sided ones like the Nightsisters.

Another claim he makes is "There aren't any checks and balances for the Jedi Council", which is again, untrue - the Jedi are accountable to the Senate, and, if anything, that arrangement is skewed in favor of the Senate, because the Senate is not truly accountable in turn. The Jedi Council is ultimately pressured into decisions against its will, especially as the war goes on – most notably, Anakin’s appointment to the Council in ROTS.

He is critical of the Jedi taking in children, but the same can be said of any adoption - simply taking in children is not, in of itself, cult behavior, or else every adoptive family is a cult. The approach the author of this video takes to this category is too broad and does not adequately establish how to distinguish cults preying on children from healthy child-rearing.

He then claims that Jedi are expected to obey unquestioningly – but I disagree that this is evidenced in the source material. The Jedi are expected to respect their elders but we don't see harsh punishment for disobedience or dissent, merely disapproval. For instance, the most trouble Qui-Gon, as a noted maverick, gets is some exasperated side-eye. Similar to the previous claim, the approach the author takes is too broad and doesn’t distinguish a cult’s expectation of obedience from a parent’s expectation of obedience.

He claims that the Jedi control clothing and hairstyle - this is misleading at best. While the padawans all are expected to wear the braid, the hairstyle isn't set beyond that (many species don’t even have hair!), and even with the Jedi sporting a traditional outfit, we see their robes and tunics come in many different shades and colors. Some forgo the traditional robes all together, such as Ahsoka Tano, Luminara Unduli, Aayla Secura, some of them even wearing the ornamentation of their homeworld cultures on top of that (again, Ahsoka, Luminara, and Barriss Offee, and Depa Billaba, and Shaak Ti...).

Sith are, again, not ex-members as the video-author implies, and again, the issue with them is the torturing and murdering and enslaving people, not simple philosophical differences. The Jedi are perfectly allowed to speak with outsiders and presumably critics of their Order; they just don’t want to let a bunch of genocidal despots have their way with the galaxy. The video also makes an unfair assumption that Jedi can't get information from outside sources; there is no evidence for this – in fact, we see in AOTC that Obi-Wan turns to an outside source when he can’t get the results he wants from the Temple droids, and even trusts that outside source over contradicting information coming from within the Temple’s information base (i.e., the existence of Kamino – he does not simply accept that Kamino doesn’t exist, he seeks further wisdom on the matter).

The video-author completely omits the fact that Palpatine is arrested not merely because of being "on the dark side", but because the man had orchestrated a war for his own sake and was attempting to turn the Republic into a dictatorship under his control. That is a very good reason to arrest someone.

Regarding the good versus evil section - first of all, the Jedi in the first six films never once refer to "the light side". Not once. I don’t recall if it came up in TCW (aside from the beings on Mortis, but they are not Jedi), either. Luke does refer to the "good side" in the OT but his teachers don't call it that. This point also goes against the visual metaphors that Lucas makes use of: “Color plays an extremely important part. The bad guys exist mostly in a black and white world; the good guys live in an organic world of browns and greens. Philosophically the bad guys live in an absolute world of black and white, where the good guys live in a more naturally nuanced world.” - George Lucas, the Making of ROTJ. The Jedi’s belief system is more nuanced than “this is good” and “this is bad”, and their rules and Code are not purely about morals.

The video goes back to the identity thing – but as I've already said, several Jedi are seen wearing the garments and ornamentation of their birth cultures. They also keep their birth names, and seem to value names highly given how they approach the clone troops under their command. Here’s a good post going into that even more.

The "Code" and swearing-in ceremonies he cites are not used in the films or TCW. I’m not sure where the swearing-in is sourced from, either, and the “Code” is a meditation mantra.

The things the Jedi say are not to stop complex thought – his example of Obi-Wan even at once point telling Anakin to “use the Force! Think!”, indicating that he would like for Anakin to think things through – he echoes this later in ROTS, trying to get Anakin to consider the Chancellor’s suspicious behavior. There’s also the fact that the way Yoda speaks is by George Lucas's own words, designed to get people thinking about what Yoda is saying.

Comparing meditation to hypnosis is...completely uncharitable.

And again with the emotions thing - at no point are any emotions labeled evil, nor do they avoid them - they are expected to be mindful (i.e. cognizant) of them, and to not let those emotions rule their actions. There is nothing to indicate that their teachings are the most uncharitable and extreme interpretation you can take from their words (as this video does) instead of a reasonable and healthy approach to self-control that is actually valuable psychologically.

His final claims repeat the earlier claim of “shunning” - again, there is no evidence for this behavior towards non-believers, especially as we see them having friends outside the Order. And at no point does anyone say that there is no happiness outside of the Order.

I hope I addressed all his points and sufficiently explained why they don’t match up with what we see in the source material. If you want further reading on how the Jedi actually function, with robust sources, I recommend checking out @gffa’s reference guide for the current continuity. There is also my “in defense of the jedi” tag, which collects my and others’ meta posts on the Jedi, their philosophies, and actions.

[wiypt-writes]

Stark Spangled Banner

Ch23: In The Flesh Part 1: Who Doesn’t Love Revels?

Summary: Tony’s revels don’t go quite according to plan and the peace that the Avengers had been enjoying is shattered as a new foe appears.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

Warnings: Bad language, violence and crazy assed robots.

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

A/N: @angrybirdcr​ does it again!!!!

Chapter 22

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

“So, now the whole Hydra and Sceptre thing is over, you two gonna set a date? You’ve been engaged for what, ten months” Nat asked the elevator stopped and the two women stepped out. They’d gotten ready for the party in Nat’s apartment, and were fashionably late as it was already in full swing.

“Hmm, maybe. We haven’t really talked about it.”

“You surprise me you know.” Nat shrugged as they walked towards the bar. “It’s not like you’re known for your patience.” “I can’t wait to marry him, Nat.” Katie smiled, feeling her cheeks blush, looking around for him but failing to spot him “Thing is I’ve always wanted a late summer wedding and think we’ve left it too late to organise for this year…” “What is it Tony says?” Nat smirked “Throw enough money around and anything is possible?”

“Yeah, maybe… “ Katie muttered before she turned to the red head, a smirk on her face. “Anyway, I’ve been meaning to ask. You and Bruce? What’s going on there?“

"Nothing.” Nat shrugged.

“Though not for lack of trying?” Katie asked, and to her surprise Nat’s cheeks showed the faintest sign of a flush underneath her expertly applied rouge “C'mon Nat, you’re not as subtle as you could be. And for what it’s worth, he clearly feels the same… “

“I errr, I don’t know about that…”

“There’s a reason that lullaby doesn’t work coming from anyone else.” Katie said, stopping at the bar a few feet away from where Tony and Thor were talking to Maria Hill and Rhodey.

Natasha looked thoughtful for a moment, then grabbed her drink before she walked off, arching an eyebrow at her friend. Katie watched her go before she sidled up to Tony.

“You know, the suit can take the weight right?” Rhodey grabbbed a glass of champagne before he turned back to Tony as Katie also took one, nodding to them all as Tony dropped a kiss to her head. “So I take the tank, fly it right up to the general’s palace, drop it at his feet, I’m like boom…you looking for this.”

Rhodey gave a grin, and Katie waited for everyone to laugh, having joined the story half way through she wasn’t going to understand, but when no one did the smirk slipped from Rhodey’s face and he licked his lips.

“Boom…you looking…why do I even talk to you guys?” he sighed, shaking his head as he looked at Thor “Everywhere else that story kills.

“This is the whole story?” Thor frowned.

“Yes it’s a war machine story.” Rhodey shrugged as Katie took a sip of her drink

“Oh in that case, it’s very good then!” Thor grinned, turning to face her and Tony. Katie snorted at the look of exasperation Rhodey shot her way before he turned back to the God who took a drink of his beer “It’s impressive”

“Quality save Thor.” Rhodey rolled his eyes sarcastically before he smiled at Tony “So, no Pepper? She not coming?” Tony shook his head, “Nah.” he said softly. “What about Jane?” Maia asked, “Where are the ladies, Gentlemen?” “Well Miss Potts has a company to run.” Tony said, looking at her.

“I’m not even sure what country Jane’s in.” Thor nodded eagerly, a look of pride crossing his face “her work on the convergence has made her the world’s foremost astronomer.” Not one to be out done Tony turned to Thor “And the company that Pepper runs is the largest tech conglomerate on Earth so…”

Thor nodded, and then upped his game “There’s even talk of Jane being given a…err.. nobel prize.”

As he talked Katie rolled her eyes at Maria and Rhodey, the 3 of them sharing a look.

“Yeah they must be busy because they’d hate missing you guys get together…” Katie sarcastically quipped.

“Testosterone.” Mariah coughed out, “Oh excuse me…” “You want a lozenge?” Rhodey asked, playing along. “Yes please.”

Katie laughed as the two of them walked off together before she patted her brother’s shoulder as he huffed out a chuckle before Thor simply smiled

“But Jane’s better.”

Looking around Katie finally spotted Steve. He was playing pool with Sam and he looked good. He was wearing a light blue shirt and it fit him well. It was tucked into smart, dark blue jeans and his toned waist sported a tan belt whilst he was wearing his brown leather jacket.  

Katie watched as he hit the cue ball, Sam beckoning his hand, instructing the ball to move to where he wanted it to, but it didn’t and Steve straightened laughing as Sam dropped his head in a defeated motion. Leaving Tony and Thor, the two still discussing Jane and Pepper, she walked over to her to Steve who was watching Sam’s shot he straightened up, shrugging off his jacket. He then bent back over the pool table and Katie stopped for a moment, simply admiring the view before Steve looked up and their eyes locked.

“Is there anything you’re not good at?” Sam groaned as Steve made a seemingly impossible shot. "How do you do that, man?”

Steve didn’t answer. Jesus Christ, just when he thought she couldn’t get any more beautiful… she was in a skin tight navy blue lace dress, which finished just above her knees with a V neckline at the front with sleeves that finished a few inches above her elbows. He felt his mouth drop open slightly as she made her way round the table and she couldn’t help but smirk to herself as she reached Steve’s side. His arm snaked round her waist and he had to fight off the little groan that bubbled in his throat as he felt his hand brush her skin, realising the dress was backless .

“Of course the man who spends his time ricocheting his shield off of hard objects would be a natural at calculating trajectories and angles.” Sam continued to chunner as he eyed the balls on the table, Steve paying him no attention as he dropped a kiss onto his girl’s cheek.

“You look incredible” He said, eyes still wide.

“Thank you.” She smiled at him, flushing a little. “Hi Sam!”

Sam’s eyes jerked upwards and he straightened up, grinning. “Damned girl!” He kissed her cheek gently. “Don’t you scrub up well?”

The arm round her waist pulled her closer as Steve spoke a little more gruffly than normal.

“Your turn, and in answer to your question it’s nothing to do with calculations, I’ve just always liked pool, was the one thing I could always beat Bucky at.”

He dropped another kiss to the side of Katie’s head and then moved to take the next shot, potting the black and winning. Sam groaned.

“I don’t know why I even try.” He rolled his eyes as the three of them made their way over to find a quieter spot so they could catch up.

Sam filled them in on his latest six-week wild goose chase for Bucky. The only hard evidence he had found recently was a blurry security camera image from a store in Fort Worth of all places, showing a man that could have been Barnes - assuming Bucky’s hair had grown past his shoulders and he had stolen a motorcycle. In turn they told him about the raid on the base in Sokovia, the three of them heading through the party goers and making for the stairs that led up to the mezzanine balcony.

“Sounds like one hell of a fight, sorry I missed it.” Sam smirked, taking a sip of his drink and eyeing up one of the girls that walked down the stairs, catching Katie’s eye with a wink.

Steve grinned “If I’d have known it was going to be a fire fight I’d have called.”

“No, I’m not actually sorry” Sam chuckled, “I’m just trying to sound tough. I’m very happy chasing up cold leads on our favourite missing person’s case.” he said, a hint of sarcasm on his voice as Steve turned to him, smiling again. “Avenging is your world…your world is crazy”

“Be it ever so humble…”  Steve said, trailing off as they looked over the balcony at the party goers distributed across the large lounge area below.

“You found a place in Brooklyn yet?” Sam asked, looking over at us sipping his drink.

“Not sure I can afford a place in Brooklyn.” Steve replied, as Sam turned round so his back was leaning against the glass barrier. He looked at Katie, puzzled and she shook my head slightly, telling him not to press it further.

“Well, home’s home ya know…” Sam replied simply, glancing around the room before he grinned. “What about a date for the wedding?” “You been talking to Nat by any chance?” Katie eyed him and he shrugged, a guilty look on his face.

“We may have had a chat before…” His eyes scanned the space behind her and he nodded at someone. Katie turned to look and spotted a girl was sat on one of the chairs behind us.

“Her name is Sarah, she works in R&D.” She supplied “She’s nice.” “So am I.” Sam grinned, patting her on the shoulder and heading over in her direction.

Steve snorted as the pair of them watched Sam leave, heading off to try his luck before Steve moved so that he was stood in front of Katie, his hands either side of her hips, trapping her between him and the balcony.

“Wedding date?” He arched an eyebrow.

“Yeah Nat asked if we were going to set one now our HYDRA and Sceptre chase was over.” Katie replied. “Well, I’d be lying if I told you I hadn’t thought about it.” He smiled. The sooner the better as far as he was concerned. “I can’t wait to make you Mrs Rogers…or Mrs Stark-Rogers, or Mrs Rogers-Stark, whatever the hell you’re gonna call yourself.” He said as she chuckled before he looked her up and down again “By the way, you know that dress is very tight.”

“Don’t you approve?” She asked him innocently.

“Very much…” He said, “It looks great on you. It will look even better on the bedroom floor later.” “That’s very presumptuous of you Captain Badass…” She looked up at him coyly.

“Yeah. It is. What you wearing underneath it?” His eyes flashed mischievously.

“Not a lot. It would ruin the lines.”

His eyes darkened and he gave a low growl “Stop it.”

“You asked.” She shrugged. “Come on, I want a drink. Let’s go and mingle…might help keep you distracted…”

***** 

“Captain Rogers!” Thor’s loud voice cut across the room. Steve looked up from where they were stood to see he was waving and gesturing.

“Be back in a moment.” Steve said Katie, dropping a kiss to her cheek before he headed over to Thor who was stood near some sofas which sported a handful of war veterans.

“I gotta’ have me some of that.” One of the older men exclaimed as Thor poured a small measure of ambler liquid into a glass and handed it to Steve.

“Oh no, you see this was aged for thousands of years in the barrels built from the wreck of Brunnhilde’s fleet.” Thor told the older men as Steve gave the glass a curious look and took a sniff. It had a pleasant enough smell. “It is not meant for mortal men.” Thor warned mockingly.

“Neither was Omaha beach blondie.” The small man on the couch said. “Stop tryin’ to scare us.”

Thor looked to Steve, who shrugged as if to say the man had a point before Thor sighed and nodded. “Alright.” He said then pouring only a drop, if even that much into each man’s glass.

Steve took a sip of the spirit from his glass and nodded, appreciatively. “Not bad…”

“Now if that doesn’t have an effect on you, nothing will.” Thor said, watching the old men carefully who were all sipping their drinks and pulling faces, letting out whistles, before he looked at Steve again.  “This stuff could knock out Banner, when he’s big and green…”

“It’s actually pretty good.” Steve smiled “You got this from home?”

“I can summon certain things with my hammer.” Thor nodded. “I have a cask in my room upstairs.”

“I think it may have just claimed its first casualty.” Steve muttered, taking another sip and nodding at one of the old men.

Thor turned round and shrugged “I warned them…”

The two Avengers stood chatting for a while, until one by one the old men fell victim to the Asgardian strength liquor and they had to call in reinforcements in the shape of Rhodey and Sam who had brought the Veterans. Thor and Steve helped escort them out, Sam bid them goodbye, stating that he better make sure they all got home ok before he got his ass whipped by a nurse.

“And not in a good way.” He grimaced.

Steve walked back into the room and headed for the bar to grab a drink that wasn’t Asgardian, as that stuff had gone to his head, giving him a nice, fuzzy feeling. Natasha and Bruce were there, and he was amused to see the red head smiling suggestively at the Scientist. Trying not to earwig, he caught the tail end of their conversation and smirked, commenting to Bruce that it was nice, before the Doctor had stuttered and tried to explain what was going on.

“It’s okay. Nobody’s breaking any by-laws!” Steve chuckled, his hand raised “If they were, well Katie and I broke them first.”

Bruce smiled.

“It’s just, Nat’s not the most… open person in the world. But with you she seems very relaxed.” Steve finished.

“No, Natasha, she…she likes to flirt.” Bruce said and Steve shook his head

“I’ve seen her flirt, up close.” Steve smiled, reaching over the bar for two bottles of beer as he spotted Katie approaching. “This ain’t that.” Bruce looked down as Steve continued “Look, as maybe the world’s leading authority on waiting too long, don’t. You both deserve a win.”

With that he smiled as Katie slipped her arms round him from behind. He handed her a beer, kissed her head as the pair of them headed away.

“Wait…what do you mean up close?” Bruce called. Steve let out a chuckle and turned back to the man.

“It was a mission, didn’t mean anything.” “What did you just say to him?” Katie asked as they crossed the room towards where Clint was sat at a drum kit, Tony showing him the various pieces of the instrument.

“Oh I overheard Natasha, she was being very, well, sweet” Steve smiled. “Banner was trying to shrug it off, saying she was flirting so I told her I’d seen her flirt, up close, and that was different.” “Steve!” Katie rolled her eyes. “God, you can be a dumbass at times!”

“What?”  He frowned.

Katie sighed. “Bruce doesn’t need to know about Nat flirting with other men.” “Yeah, well I told him not to wait too long or he would regret it.” Steve shrugged, and Katie felt something in her stomach as she turned to face him.

“Like you?” she turned to look at him “With Peggy?” Steve sighed, instantly realising what he had said. “No, I didn’t mean that.” He shook his head “What I mean is I constantly let so much get in the way of just letting myself be happy. And with you, well I should have asked you out months before I did.”

“You do want to marry me don’t you?” Katie almost whispered, the doubt which had suddenly flooding her system was evident in her tone and Steve let out a sigh.

“Of course I do!” He mentally kicked himself for being such an idiot. He didn’t ‘regret’ not being with Peggy because his future was right there in front of him. He reached out and wrapped and arm round her, pulling her to him. “Doll, I love you so much.” She looked up at him and as his eyes locked onto hers she felt the worry leave her system, she could tell by the shine in his eyes he was telling the truth.

“Can we set a date then?” She asked and he smiled, and nodded.

“Yeah, let’s do it. Talk about it tomorrow, properly?”

Katie nodded and he placed a soft kiss to her lips before they were interrupted by the loud sounds of drums and symbols coming from across the room along with a few cheers as Clint began to thrash out a beat.

******

When the party goers began to filter out later in the evening all that was left were the Avengers along with Maria Hill, Rhodey and Helen Cho all spread out across several couches and chairs. Half eaten takeaway containers littered the surface tops along with empty bottles, dirty glasses and the remnants of a chocolate fondue- Tony’s idea.

Katie, Steve and Thor sat on one couch, Katie nestled between them both, her bare legs hooked over Steve’s. He had a flush on his cheeks, and a slight glaze in his eyes.  She grinned.

“You’re drunk.” She whispered to him.

“A little” He grinned back. Katie laughed and gently brushed the back of her hand across his warm cheek.

“Thunder boy!” Clint’s loud, tipsy voice interrupted everyone. “You gonna tell us the secret of that hammer?” “Secret? I do not understand.” Thor frowned.

“Why none of us but you can pick it up?” “I’m the God of Thunder.” Thor shrugged, drinking another mouthful of his drink.

“It’s a trick.” Clint gestured at the hammer which was innocently placed on the table in the middle of the group.

“No it is much more than that my friend.” Thor chuckled, sitting back comfortably in his spot. Steve gestured for Thor to pass him the hip flask he was currently refilling his glass with and he obliged before turning to Clint.

“‘Whosoever be worthy shall haveth the power,’” Clint mocked in a deep voice gesturing to the hammer, 2 drumsticks in his hand as he twirled them through his fingers “Whatever man it’s a trick.” He said in his normal voice shrugging.

“Well please be my guest.” Thor said extending and inviting hand out to his hammer as Steve took a drink from the flask.

“Really?” Clint questioned excitedly, at Thor’s nod he sprung up from his spot on the floor but calmly approached the hammer, not wanting to seem overly eager. Katie raised an eyebrow at Thor but he only shrugged bringing his glass up to his lips.

“Oh this is gonna’ be beautiful.” Rhodey teased setting down his cards to watch.

“Clint it’s been a tough week, we won’t hold it against you if you can’t get it up.” Tony joked from his spot on the other couch.

“You two know I’ve seen this before right?” Clint pointed out, looking at Thor then Katie referencing the first time the 3 of them met. Thor sniggered as Clint wrapped his hand around the hammer’s handle and pulled, of course nothing happened.

“I still don’t know how you do it.” He said releasing the hammer with a laugh.

“Smell the silent judgement?” Tony continued to gibe.

“Please Stark by all means.” Clint waved a hand toward the hammer.

“Here we go.” Katie sat up slightly as Tony stood unbuttoning his suit jacket with a flourish.

“Never one to shrink from an honest challenge. It’s physics.” He shrugged. “So if I lift it do I then rule Asgard?”

“Yes of course.” Thor responded easily.

“I will be reinstituting Prima Nocta.” Tony slipped his wrist through the leather strap. He grunted pulling on the hammer but it didn’t move.

“Be right back.” Tony quickly left the room pulling off his jacket as he went.

Steve took another drink from the flask before handing it back to Thor who simply smirked as Clint continued to protest the fact they couldn’t lift the hammer was down to some kind of scientific illusion. When Tony returned they all let out a laugh as he had the sleeves of his shirt rolled up and a detached Iron Man gauntlet on his hand. He gripped the hammer again and pulled even engaging the thrusters but still nothing. He coaxed Rhodey into helping him with his War Machine gauntlet but even together with both thrusters fully engaged they couldn’t do it. Finally they gave up.

“Banner you want a piece?” Tony asked on his way back to his seat.

Bruce rose to the challenge but didn’t take it serious, instead pretending to Hulk out. “Nothing?” He questioned awkwardly shuffling back to his seat as Natasha’s smiled at him, shaking her head.

“Cap?” Hill questioned from where she was sat on the floor opposite, next to Clint, wearing his leather jacket. Katie shrugged when he looked to her for approval, then over her shoulder at Thor. Grinning, he placed down his drink and moved Katie’s legs from where they were swung over his, getting up to try his hand.

“C'mon Cap.” Clint grinned “No pressure.”

Steve stepped round the table, shooting a determined look at the hammer before wrapping both hands around the handle and beginning to pull.

Katie felt her mouth drop open as there was a squeak and the hammer moved ever so slightly. She cast a quick look at Thor next to her, whose playful smile had been completely wiped off his face and he was now staring intently at the item on the table. Steve readjusted his grip, pulled again gritting his teeth, then held his hands up in surrender.

“Nothing.” Thor shook his head as Katie looked at him. He avoided her stare

“I saw that.” Katie whispered into Steve’s ear when he took his seat once again, returning her legs to where they had been resting on his lap.

“Don’t know what you mean.” He said immediately, his hand curling round her leg so his fingers were resting on her thigh and gave an expectant raise of his eyebrows. Rhodey clearing his throat rather loudly, made them turn to see all of the men wearing the same look, watching her.

“Kiddo?”

“Oh no,” Katie shook her head immediately. “I know my limits.”

“Widow?” Clint looked at Nat

“Yeah that’s not a question I need answered.” Natasha said, drinking from her beer bottle and also refusing the challenge.

“All deference to the man who wouldn’t be King, but it’s rigged.” Tony brought the attention back to him as he got up to retrieve another beer. Katie gestured at him to get her one as her bottle was empty.

“You bet your ass.” Clint said.

“Steve, he said a bad language word.” Maria said her voice taking on a mocking tone pointing at Clint innocently.

“Did you tell everyone about that?” Steve asked looking at Katie who shrugged, then to Tony who ignored him.

“The handle’s imprinted right? Like a security code. 'Whosoever’s carrying Thor’s fingerprint’ is I think the literal translation.” Tony said finishing up on his ridiculous line of thought as he crossed to the bar.

“What an interesting theory…but I have a simpler one” Thor said, getting up off the couch and easily picking up his hammer, giving it a little toss in the air for added teasing “You’re all not worthy.”

Everyone began to protest in jest and someone threw a coaster at him from the table, when a loud screeching noise caused them all to flinch.

“Worthy?”  A deep voice drawled and they all looked over to the back of the room to see a half destroyed Iron Legion bot standing there. “No, how could you be worthy? You’re all killers.” The bot said gesturing to the group who had begun to stand in preparation.

“Stark?” Steve questioned tensely, pulling Katie behind him. In response Tony took out his phone and began poking around on it.

“Jarvis?” Tony questioned aloud when he was getting no response.

“I’m sorry, I was asleep. Or I was a dream?” the robot continued speaking tilting its head as if trying to recall a memory.

“Reboot, legionnaire we got a buggy suit.” Tony said continuing to poke at his device.

“There was a terrible noise and I was tangled, in strings.” The robot looked down, wires dangling uselessly all around it’s body. “I had to kill the other one, he was a good guy.”

“You killed someone?” Katie frowned.

“Wouldn’t have been my first call, but down in the real world we’re faced with ugly choices.”

“Who sent you?” Thor questioned with authority.

“I see a suit of armour around the world.” The robot responded but this time it was Tony’s voice that sounded.

“Ultron.” Bruce summarized with a horrified look as Katie snapped her head round to Tony who continued to stare at the robot.

“In the flesh.” Ultron tried to stand tall but failed. “Or no, not yet. Not this chrysalis.” It said looking down at its body again. “But I’m ready, I’m on a mission.”

“What mission?” Thor questioned

“Peace in our time.” Ultron said again in Tony’s voice and then the wall behind it burst open and more legionnaires flew into the room.

Everyone sprang into action. Gun shots, repulsors, people jumping onto the backs of robots… it was a short but fairly intense fight which was finished when Steve spun round and launched his shield into the last robot.

“That was dramatic.” Ultron commented still standing but swaying from side to side. Steve was stood in his typical combat stance, shield up in front of him, Clint to his left. Katie straightened up from behind the bar where she had taken cover, gun still held in front of her.

“I’m sorry, I know you mean well, you just didn’t think it through. You want to protect the world, but you don’t want it to change. How is humanity saved if it’s not allowed to change? With these?” It questioned reaching down to pick up one of the legionnaire’s disembodied heads, “These puppets. No. There’s only one path to peace, the Avengers extinction.”

He was cut off as Thor launched his hammer with enough force that it burst through the middle of the robot before flinging back into his hand. Steve looked at him, but Thor glared straight ahead.

They all paused for a second, each taking stock. The apartment was a mess, the bar was smashed to pieces, walls broken, windows shattered. Katie took a deep breath, lowered her gun, dropping it onto the bar top and ran her hands over her face as she stepped from behind the bar carefully, trying to avoid stepping on glass as she had kicked her shoes off earlier when they had sat down.

“You alright?” Steve asked, crossing the room and looking her over.

“Yeah, you?”

He nodded and glanced down her body gesturing with his eyes for her to do the same. She did and she noticed her dress ripped up the right hand side, stopping halfway up her torso. The skimpy underwear that she had teased Steve about before was about to become common knowledge.

”Great…” she groaned, rolling her eyes and looking around for something to cover herself up with. Steve handed her the nearest item, which turned out to be Tony’s jacket. He held it out for her and she slipped her arms into it swearing as she did so.  “Four hundred fucking notes down the drain.” and with that she turned and left with Natasha, the pair of them heading to get changed.

When Katie came back the lab was in chaos. Pepper was shouting at Tony from a speaker in the middle of one of the desks asking him why none of the servers were working. Tony, in turn, was barking instructions, to Banner and Natasha. Katie headed over to help and between the 4 of them they managed to get 3 out of the 5 StarkSats back up and running.

“All our work is gone.” Bruce sighed, taking off his glasses and looking at the computer screen in front of him.” Ultron cleared out, used the internet as an escape hatch.”

“He’s been in everything. Files, surveillance…” Katie looked up from a computer screen and Nat crossed the room to look over her shoulder. 

“Great. He probably knows more about us than we know about each other.” Natasha muttered.

“He’s in your files, he’s in the internet. What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?” Rhodey asked.

“Nuclear codes.” Maria Hill looked up from where she had been pulling glass out of her foot.

“Nuclear codes. Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can.” Rhodey suggested

“Nukes? He said he wanted us dead…”. Nat said, looking round

“He didn’t say dead. He said extinct” Steve interrupted her, bristling slightly.

“He also said he killed somebody.” Clint said

“But there wasn’t anyone else in the building.” Maria looked up, tweezers poised at her foot.

“Yes there was.” Tony sighed, his shirt collar and waistcoat were both open and he flicked his phone to project a 3D image of JARVIS. Only it was completely and utterly decimated.

“No.” Katie muttered as Steve drew a deep breath, crossing his arms as he looked at the image.

“This is insane” Bruce looked at the image, running his hands through his hair.

“JARVIS was the first line of defence.” Steve said gently. “He would’ve shut Ultron down, it makes sense.”

“No, Ultron could’ve assimilated Jarvis.” Bruce shook his head. “This isn’t strategy, this is…rage”

At that point Thor stormed into the room, full battle suit on, and stomped over to Tony, wrapping his hand around his throat and picking him up off of the ground.

“Uh, it’s going around.” Clint commented calmly.

“Thor…” Katie shook her head “Let him go.”

Thor ignored her.

“Alright, c'mon,” Tony choked uselessly trying to pry off Thor’s hand to no avail the God’s grip was unrelenting. “Use your words buddy.”

“I have more than enough words to describe you Stark.” Thor sneered.

“Thor,” Steve snapped sharply. This time the God took notice and dropped Tony, still not taking his eyes off him. Steve was the only one he would ever take commands from “The legionnaire?”

“The trail went cold about a hundred miles north of here,” Thor answered turning to Steve. “And it has the sceptre, which means we have to retrieve it. Again.” He shot a look back at Tony, glaring.

“Genie’s out of that bottle. Clear and present is Ultron.” Natasha surmised as she perched on the edge of the desk Katie was sat at, crossing her arms over her chest looking as unimpressed in Tony and Bruce’s actions as everyone felt.

“I don’t get it,” Helen Cho mumbled. “You built this program, why is it trying to kill us?”

To everyone’s disbelief Tony started laughing.

“Uh-uh.” Bruce said, shaking his head at Tony, telling him that this was no laughing matter as Katie glared at her brother, swivelling in her seat.

“You think this is funny?” Thor questioned in the same tone, looking at Tony.

“No?” Tony answered, turning to face the group, trying and failing to look serious and stop his chuckles from escaping. It didn’t work. “It’s probably not, right? Is this so terrible? Is this very terrible? Is it so, is it so…” He laughed again. “It is, it’s so terrible.”

“This could have been avoided had you not played with something you do not understand.” Thor said, his tone grave, his finger pointing at Tony.

“No, no I’m sorry,” Tony interrupted though it was unclear if he was apologizing for the interruption or apologizing for creating Ultron. “It is funny. It’s a hoot why you don’t get why we need this.”

“Tony, maybe this isn’t the time-” Bruce started to warn only for Tony to cut him off too.

“Really? That’s it for you? You just roll over, show your belly, every time somebody snarls?” he whipped round to look at Banner.

“Only when I’ve created a murder-bot.” Bruce said his face sporting a look as sarcastic as his voice.

“We didn’t.” Tony stressed nearly begging. “We weren’t even close. Were we close to an interface?”

Bruce shrugs nodding to say that they were close enough.

“Well, you did something right.” Katie said, rolling her eyes.

“And you did it right here.” Steve piped up glowering at Tony. “The Avengers were supposed to be different than SHIELD.”

“Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?” Tony changed the subject in lieu of a real response raising his hand in the air.

“Nope, it’s never come up.” Rhodey sarcastically responded while everyone else either groaned or rolled their eyes.

“Saved New York?”

“Never heard that.” Katie propped her elbow on the desk, chin resting in her palm.

“Recall that? A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We’re standing 300 feet below it. We’re the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the live long day, but, that up there?” Tony continued as his voice turned softer. “That’s, that’s the end game. How were you guys planning on beating that?”

“Together.” Steve told him his voice a lot less colder than it had been a moment ago.

“We’ll lose.” He said taking a step closer to where Steve was stood, looking at him sadly.

“Then we’ll do that together too.” Steve said determined but assured.

“Thor is right. Ultron’s calling us out.”  Katie said gently.

“Yeah, and I’d like to find him before he’s ready for us.” Steve said, looking round. “The world’s a big place. Let’s start making it smaller.”

“I didn’t mean for this to happen you know?” Tony sighed eventually, “It just…”

“I suggest we get some rest.” Steve said eventually as Tony trailed off “Reconvene in a few hours, come up with some sort of plan. Unless anyone has a better idea” Of course no one did.

*****

Chapter 23 Part 2

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

Title: The one where Vetinari is seventeen, has a UTI, and is deeply embarrassed about the entire situation. 

Rating: General 

Summary: what it says on the tin. Downey tries to be helpful.

(it’s the weird scene that I’m not sure if it’s going to make it in anywhere, so I thought I’d dump it here for good measure.) 

___________________ 

It is a cold night in his seventh year at the Guild and Vetinari sits in the bathroom feeling sorry for himself. 

He is unsure how all of this came about. Well, he knows logically how these things come about but based on what he knows, it shouldn’t be happening to him. Which is to say, it hurts when he takes a piss.

In some form of youthful naivety, he had assumed that urinary issues were things women dealt with, predominantly. Not men. Sure, men sometimes. But he never thought it’d happen to him. 

Therefore, it is in a state of mild discomfort that he sits in the inset of the first floor bathroom window and laments his life and how it is full of trials and tribulations. Not to mention frustration and embarrassment. 

The doors to the bathroom open and close. Bare feet on tile. Downey’s dark brown hair peeks over the stalls as he rounds the corner to the sinks carrying his toothbrush and a cup. Spying Vetinari, he makes a rude gesture. 

Vetinari watches the older boy splash water on his face then ready his toothbrush. Downey idly shifts weight from foot to foot. The tiles must be quite cold, Vetinari thinks. It is Ember, after all. A floor cold enough will send an ache up calves as muscles clench in retaliation to the temperature. 

Around the toothbrush Downey asks: ‘What’s wrong? You look like death.’ 

‘Go away, Downey.’ 

‘Why’re’you’in’ere?’ He spits. Resumes brushing. ‘It’s midnight.’ 

‘Same question back at you.’ 

Downey motions to his toothpaste and the sink. 

Vetinari believes that this is the last person he should tell anything remotely personal to. It’s Downey, after all. Downey will spread it like wildfire, surely. 

Dog-botherer something something a pun on pissing and pain, probably. Vetinari doesn’t know how Downey comes up with his ridiculous rhyme schemes. The boy evidently has a talent for it. 

Unfortunately. 

Yet, it is cold and it is late. Vetinari is tired but cannot sleep and hadn’t been able to the night before. All day he felt like he had to use the loo, but didn’t. And here is Downey, dancing foot to foot because he was daft enough to not wear stockings or slippers, staring at Vetinari as though he thinks Vetinari the stupid one. But it is a patient ‘you’re stupid, DB’ stare. 

So, against better judgement, Vetinari sighs: ‘I think I have a problem. Urinary related. Um. Have you ever had a thing where — where it hurts when you urinate?’ 

Downey blinks at him. Then, turns back to the sink to spit out his toothpaste and rinse his mouth. ‘Hurt how?’ 

‘It sort of burns and then, upon occasion, it feels as if I have to relieve myself, but I don’t.’ 

‘That sounds like a urinary tract infection. Classic, really. Piss in a cup and test the PH level.’ 

Vetinari blinks. Downey shrugs. 

‘Drink lots of water,’ Downey continues, gathering up his toiletries. ‘Sometimes it can be flushed out. If it doesn’t go away in a few days, talk to Dr. Herbert. My diagnosis, Dog-botherer, is that you’re a stupid scag but you’ll live.’

Then he leaves. The door bangs shut behind him. 

Vetinari leans his forehead against the window and returns to lamenting his life and the decisions he makes when sleep deprived and in discomfort. 

-

The next morning, Vetinari dreads breakfast. The very thought of it brings up his nerves and he is not someone who suffers from nerves. Walking into Hall he expects looks, whispers, laughs. 

But there’s nothing. 

He spends the next few days waiting for mocking that never comes. And after a week, Downey grabs his arm, smiles sneeringly at him, and asks, ‘Well? It’s gone?’

To Vetinari’s great relief, they are alone.

‘It isn’t something you want festering. I looked up what happens if you let it linger too long and it’s nothing good, I can tell you. The infection is caused by E. Coli, you know. Or, most of the time that’s the cause. Sometimes it’s another bacteria or fungus. Do you know how many different kinds of fungi exist on the Disc?’

‘This isn’t something I need to think about, Downey.’  

‘It attaches to the bladder wall, that’s how it starts. The fungus, or bacteria, latches on and forms a film around itself which makes it resistant to your body’s immune response.’ Downey laughs at Vetinari’s disgusted face. ‘I’m trying to be helpful, Dog-botherer.’ 

‘Well, you’re not.’ 

‘I thought you the sort who likes random bits of information. I can pepper you with esoteric knowledge about parasitic worms, if that’s preferable.’ 

‘Not really.’ A beat. Vetinari states: ‘You didn’t tell anyone.’ 

Downey, affronted, ‘Why would I do that? What do you take me for, DB?’ 

Vetinari doesn’t answer. Downey sniffs that he is a gentleman and gentlemen don’t discuss each other’s personal matters of such an intimate nature with others. It’s rude and not the Done Thing. Vetinari refrains from pointing out that Downey is often rude and rarely does the Done Thing.

‘Consider this the last time I attempt to make myself useful to you, Dog-botherer,’ Downey declares. Then he swishes around and waltzes down the corridor and out into the sun-filled Guild courtyard. There is snow on the ground. The air shimmers with light.

[lockefanfic]

Business Trip: Pt 21 - Recovery

Yoo Jeongyeon wasn’t wearing pants.

That was the first thought that crossed your mind, and it was followed up very quickly by the realization that she probably had the most beautiful pair of legs you had ever seen.

Her entire lower body was perfectly sculpted, flaring nicely at hips that led to healthy, delicious looking thighs before leading to thin, slim knees and lower legs. She seemed to go on forever. That old cliche of having ‘legs for days’ came to mind, and as much as it disappointed you to have to use such a tired cliche, you could think of no other way to describe her. But instead of going on for days, Jeongyeon’s legs stretched out into weeks and months.

This was not to say that the rest of her, covered by the extremely short hem of her chauffeur’s jacket, was in any way unappealing. The jacket clung to her like a second skin, and did little to hide the modest but still healthy curves of her chest. The black driver’s cap topped a small face with features that could be beautifully demure one moment, and cute and sardonic the next.

Her features were currently covered in an adorable pink blush of embarrassment as she slowly appears from the bedroom hallway, taking small steps towards you as she nervously plays with her hands, her eyes glued to her fingers as though she had never seen them before. You rise from the sofa, trying in vain to pick up your jaw from the floor as you do so.

“The outfit didn’t have matching pants that fit me,” Jeongyeon says, as if to explain away the fact that, well, she wasn’t wearing pants at all.

Through the one way glass between the observation room and the interrogation room, you watch as, for the third time, Park Jihyo rises from her chair, a look of frustration clear on her face. Saying one last thing in Korean to Yoon Bora, she leaves the room, swinging open the door and slamming it behind her.

 “She won’t say a goddamn word,” Jihyo says seconds later when she enters the observation room. You watch as Bora continues to wear the expressionless mask she has for the past two days, wondering just how someone so outwardly beautiful could be so inwardly ugly. She was so pleasant when you first met, so seemingly innocent and passionate about her dance studio that it was difficult to believe that girl and the one you were looking at were the same person.

 “You’ve confirmed that she and Hyorin have connections to Irene?”

 “Yes,” Jihyo answers, “we were able to confiscate their cell phones when we arrested them, and we raided their apartments and have their computers and other personal devices.”

 “And? Anything that could lead us to Irene?”

 “No,” Jihyo replies with a sigh, “there’s enough evidence and records to tie them to Irene but all their communications to her are on cloud-based servers. As you can see, Bora here isn’t exactly being forthcoming with her login information. Hacking their accounts would take some time and require a court warrant, and even if we do receive it Irene has likely deleted anything useful by now.”

 You let a soft sigh escape your lips, the frustration of knowing that Irene has once again escaped your grasp quickly beginning to overwhelm you.

 “So she gets away again?”

 Jihyo frowns as she turns her attention to Bora, who has not moved an inch.

 “We’ll break Bora. She’ll talk eventually, or maybe Hyorin will. We’ll get Irene soon.”

 You turn your attention back to Bora and watch as she brushes away stray hairs back behind an ear. It’s the most she has done in the past hour, her eyes staring blankly ahead and her arms folded in front of her chest. She seemed like an almost completely different person.

 “That sorry about her dance studio, that was all bullshit?”

 Jihyo takes a moment to answer, and when she does her tone is slightly more empathetic towards the woman in the interrogation room.

 “Yes and no. From what we’ve gathered from the data on her computer and cell phone, she really did have a dance studio on property that SM bought. I’ve done some digging and it seems she was really active in Seoul’s dance community. Some of my contacts have told me she and Jay were really passionate about teaching neighborhood kids to dance, and that she did it because she didn’t want them to fall in with the gangs operating in that area.”

 “So what happened?”

 “SM happened. They bought out her dance studio, and although their two partners wanted to keep the studio going, Bora and Hyorin bullied them into selling the studio to SM. Maybe they were temporarily blinded by greed; SM probably threw a lot of money at them. Irene probably recruited them then.”

 “Hmm. She told me her partners were the ones that sold the studio. But wait, so that dance studio she took us too - that was all a front? Those students weren’t real?”

 “No, they were. That was a real dance studio. To be honest, we didn’t know it existed. Maybe there’s still a part of her that is passionate about teaching dance. Maybe she used the money she received from selling their original dance studio to open her new one - maybe out of guilt.”

 In the interrogation room, Bora glances towards the one way mirror, and though she cannot see you or Jihyo, she surely knew there was someone there watching her. The same blank look on her features, she turns away again - although this time her gaze falls downward, as though she is deep in thought.

 “What about Jay?”

 Jihyo’s mood turns dark, and you didn’t blame her. Jay had been Irene and SM’s mole in Seoul’s Police Department, and no one knew just how many cases he had impacted.

 “He’ll survive, but he’s damn lucky our pointman didn’t give him two in the chest and one in the head. Like I said, he and Bora appeared to be genuinely interested in teaching kids to dance, but I think maybe he fell a little further than Bora did.”

 You frown as you finally turn away from the one way glass, giving Bora one last look as you prepare to leave the room. The young dance instructor was gorgeous, almost breathtakingly so, and you found yourself wondering just what was going on beneath that expressionless mask she had on.

 But then you remember the role she played in kidnapping two of your staff, and suddenly you are happy to let her rot in that interrogation room.

 ---

The next thing on your agenda after leaving the Seoul police department was to meet with Choa and Jeongyeon to ensure they were okay following their ordeal. Momo and Seolhyun insisted on accompanying you, and decided to stay with Choa and have lunch with her. Choa appeared to be her ever-cheerful self, and satisfied that your strong, confident executive assistant was okay, you went on to meet with Jeongyeon alone.

Tracking her down was more difficult than you thought it would be, given that she didn’t answer her phone or your text messages after she sent you the address of your meeting place. Said meeting place provided an explanation as to why she wasn’t answering her phone, as it turned out to be a PC café in downtown Seoul. It being the middle of the day on weekday, the café was mostly empty.

After some searching amongst row after row of gaming desktops, you finally found her in a corner of the café, fully engrossed in whatever game she was playing. The large gaming headset she had on provided an explanation for all the calls and messages she was missing. It came a somewhat of a surprise to you that she was currently playing Starcraft – then again, it wasn’t really a surprise, given your location and her nationality.

“Oh, damn, sorry boss – I’ll be just a second,” she says as she realizes you had arrived. She doesn’t turn her attention away from the game, however, her hands working furiously on the keyboard and mouse as the Protoss Zealots and Immortals on her screen do battle with Terran marines and siege tanks. A few moments later those two magical letters – gg – flash in the game chat, and the official game announcement of her victory comes soon after.

Jeongyeon is dressed simply, in a simple light brown cardigan and skinny jeans. She removes her headset and the large round pair of glasses she is wearing (that apparently are just for show) and finally turns to face you, taking a moment to release her brown hair from her ponytail.

You didn’t have much of a relationship with Yoo Jeongyeon aside from seeing her occasionally in the hallways at work and the occasional mention from Choa, whom she was friends with. You knew she was a rising star in the IT department at JYP, but aside from that, you rarely, if ever, had any actual contact with her aside from the odd glance and awkward smile whenever you passed in the hallways.

That all changed when the conflict with Red Velvet and Irene came up, and the need for an experienced IT specialist came with it. Choa was quick to suggest Jeongyeon, and you were able to requisition her services from her manager. In planning meetings for the trip to Seoul you were quick to notice not only her immense technical expertise, but also her cute features and the allure of her tomboy, guy’s girl aura. The bright blue hair she sported at the time helped with that latter appeal, of course.

But lately she had let a little more of her feminine side show, growing her hair out, dyeing it in more natural colors and wearing more subdued clothing – not that you minded the punk rock esthetic she was so fond of previously. Her clothing changes and haircut revealed a new side of her, and it was a side that was made all the more attractive by the knowledge that it had always been there, hidden by her tough girl aura and dry, sarcastic wit.

And so you found yourself momentarily stricken with awe as her brown hair comes loose from her ponytail to fall in a chocolate waterfall down to her shoulders. She smiles at you – a shy, awkward smile, but one that still highlights her large, deep eyes and small, cute features.

“Sorry, boss, just had to kick some ass there for a second,” she says – it seems that geeky wit of hers didn’t change, even if her hair and clothing choices did.

“No worries, Jeongyeon. Gotta keep those Terran noobs in their place,” you agree as you take a seat in the booth next to hers.

“How can I help ya?”

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay,” you begin, “after what happened the other day. I know the doctors cleared you and Choa physically, but I just wanted to make sure you were doing alright. Y’know, mentally.”

“I’m fine, boss,” Jeongyeon answers, “truth be told it was kind of terrifying. But all is well that ends well, I guess. If anything, I’m just a little pissed off about the whole thing.”

“How so?”

“Irene literally hired people to kidnap Choa and I,” she answers, a little more passion in her voice, “and we were lucky that things turned out the way they did. Anything could have happened. They could have shot us, or something could have gone wrong when Jihyo’s SWAT team raided the place…”

“But nothing went wrong,” you quickly interrupt, eager to ensure that she didn’t start to walk down the dangerous path of asking what might have been, “you said it yourself – all’s well that ends well. The fact is, Jihyo’s team saved you guys and we have the people who did it. They’ll be in jail for a long time.”

“But we didn’t get all of them. Irene is still out there.”

“Yes, and we’ll find her. Soon. I promise.”

Jeongyeon seems only half satisfied by your declaration. There is a determination in her eyes that is bordering on anger – she really seemed fired up by what Irene did to her.

“I’ve been continuing my review of the data we retrieved from their servers,” she begins, turning back to her computer, “and I’ll let you know if I find anything. I want to make her pay for what she did to Choa and I.”

“Good. Because I’m going to request that you’re transferred to my team permanently.”

Jeongyeon turns back to you with a surprised look on her face.

“…Really?”

“Yes. It’s clear that we need someone with your skills on the team. Who better than you?”

The young IT specialist takes a moment to absorb your offer, and the small smile that appears on her lips tells you that was happy to receive it.

“Well, I would accept your offer, boss, but I feel like I’d be a little out of place in that little group of supermodels you’ve gathered around yourself.”

“…What?”

“Oh come on,” she starts exaggeratedly, “Tzuyu and Mina are walking pieces of art. Sana is cuter than any girl has any right to be. Seolhyun has more curves in her pinky finger than I do in my entire body. And Momo is pretty and beautiful and hot at the same time – it makes me angry just looking at her. They’re the Plastics from Mean Girls, except on top of being gorgeous they’re all also super smart and successful.”

The thought of Momo being compared to Rachel McAdams makes you smile a little bit.

“And what makes you think you don’t belong right up there with them?” you say, allowing a sly smile to appear on your lips.

Jeongyeon takes your flattery in stride, although the slight hint of blush and small smile that appear on her cheeks and lips as she returns her attention to her computer tells you that it didn’t go fully unaccepted. She lets out a snort of dismissal, but if her intention was to convince you she didn’t care, it failed at it.

“Besides,” you continue, “you’re attractive in a way none of those other girls is.”

“And what’s that?”

“You’re a giant fucking geek.”

Jeongyeon lets a genuine giggle escape her, and you are heartened by the way her face lights up when she laughs, her mouth opening up into a large smile and her eyes following suit.

“Flattery will get you nowhere. Only by defeating me on the field of battle will I join your team,” she says, motioning towards the open booth next to hers.

“Bring it. Name the game.”

“We’re in Korea at a PC café. What else would we play?”

-

On the screen in front of you, your last few Terran marines fight desperately in a last stand against the Zerg hordes, but their cause is lost, and you are forced to type those to magical letters – gg – into the game chat.

“Geez, boss,” Jeongyeon quips, “that took five minutes. I even told you what I was going to do. And I still won.”

It was true – she did say she was going to six-pool you before the game even started. Not that it mattered.

“Clearly I can’t beat you in the national sport of your country. Is there any other way to get you to join my team?”

Jeongyeon childishly swirls around in her chair, an adorable thinking face on her features as she taps her chin with one finger.

“I guess you can get additional chances to beat me at something,” she says, a brightness appearing on her features that wasn’t there when you had arrived. Gathering her things and putting her faux glasses back on, she grabs you by the wrist and leads you out of the café.

-

The “additional chances” turned out to be a variety of games at the nearby amusement centre in one of Seoul’s large malls. The chances were many – various arcade games, the batting cage, even a few games of chance in the amusement park section – but Jeongyeon won them all; or at least, did so after you let her.

“C’mon, you let me win in the batting cages,” she quips after the two of you leave the amusement centre after a long afternoon of gaming and begin to idly wander through the attached shopping mall. There is a happiness to her that wasn’t present at the start of the day, and you had to admit the spending time with her made you feel happy as well. It turned out that behind the dry, laconic wit and heavy layers of sarcasm was a sweet, gentle girl that was happy to have some fun after what could have been a traumatic life event. The brightness her smile brought to the room was hard to ignore, and her casual nature and occasional tomboyishness made her easy to get along with.

“Maybe, but only because you gave me a head start for the drum game,” you answer, referring to the arcade game that involved you drumming a large taiko drum to the beat of the music, “not that it kept you from beating me by the end of it anyway.”

“I was feeling merciful. Clearly you are rhythmically-challenged. Either way, I do believe that you have yet to beat me at anything, and thus I still won’t be joining your-“

Jeongyeon stops mid-sentence, her attention suddenly captured by something in one of the stores you are passing. It takes you a moment to realize she is staring into the window of what appeared to be a costume store. In the window is the object of her attention – a green chauffeur outfit, comprising of a green suit jacket and matching pants, with a black driver’s cap.

“That’s gorgeous,” she says out loud, although her tone and volume imply to you that perhaps she didn’t mean to say it out loud.

“A chauffeur’s costume?” you ask, not quite knowing why or how someone like Jeongyeon could be interested in such a niche costume. Halloween was months away, at least…

Jeongyeon is surprised by your comment – she looked like she had momentarily forgotten you were even there - and a look of embarrassment appears on her face.

“Um, yeah… nevermind, boss. Let’s keep going.”

“Wait, wait,” you say, catching her by the upper arm as she attempts to keep walking away, “what do you want a chauffeur’s costume for?”

“Nothing, let’s just-“

“Jeongyeon, we’re not moving until you tell me. Don’t make me tell everyone at work how you put your batting helmet on backwards because you didn’t know which way it went on your head.”

Jeongyeon smirks at your mention of her faux-pas in the batting cages. A sheepish, shy look appears on her face as she turns back to the costume in the window. She plays nervously with her hands as she continues to admire it.

“I um.. I wouldn’t wear it out in public.”

“So when would you wear it? Halloween?”

The girl stares at her feet as though she’d never seen them before. She crosses her legs and plays with her toes, scratching at an imaginary stain on the floor with the tip of her shoe. She continues to play with her fingers, pinching her nails and running her digits over each other.

“I…. I’m kind of… well, I’m kind of into roleplaying.”

Jeongyeon was a shameless geek and the idea of her being into roleplaying games or something like cosplay or even LARPing didn’t come as much of a surprise.

“You mean, like Dungeons and Dragons? I was totally into that too. In high school, at least. I remember-“

“No, not that kind of roleplay,” Jeongyeon interrupts, a bright red blush appearing on her cheeks now as she stares down at the floor and awkwardly fidgets with her hands.

“Oh?”

“The kind of roleplay… that you do… in the bedroom.”

It takes you a second to fully digest what Jeongyeon says, and it doesn’t help that she turns away from you, nervously fidgeting with the zipper of her black puffy jacket. You take one look at her, one look at the chauffeur costume and suddenly feel an intense jealousy towards her boyfriend.

“I… wow. I’m jealous of your boyfriend.”

Jeongyeon lets out a snort of disbelief, followed by a nervous giggle.

“Oh, there’s no boyfriend,” she begins, “in fact there hasn’t been one for awhile.”

“I find that ridiculously hard to believe. I don’t know if you’re aware, Jeongyeon, but you’re kind of the shiny Charizard of girls. Pretty and a giant nerd? C’mon.”

Jeongyeon keeps her eyes on the chauffeur costume, afraid or unable to make eye contact with you. But the small blush that was on her cheeks is evident now, along with a smile creeping into the corners of her soft lips.

“Whatever, let’s go,” she says, eager to move on, if anything because it would allow her to get over the intense nervousness overtaking her entire being, “I won’t be wearing that thing anytime soon, anyway.”

Jeongyeon turns and takes a few steps away from the window. In that time you thank whatever gods may be for the ridiculous run of luck you’ve been having with women. Satisfied that your thankful prayers are safely on their way to the deities they were sent to, you open your mouth and say something before she is too far away to hear.

“You could wear it for me. Like, soon.”

Jeongyeon turns around mid-step, her eyes initially locked on the floor between you. When she finally gathers her wits enough to raise her gaze to match yours, you are momentarily stunned by what you see - gone is the awkward, nerdy, sarcastic IT specialist; in her place was a sly, sultry young woman.

“Wait here,” she says in a tone so dripping with allure that you would have refused to believe it was Yoo Jeongyeon speaking those words had you heard them yesterday. Jeongyeon bites her lip, a thin smile on her lips as she heads into the costume store. You follow her orders, standing  and waiting there in stunned silence.

---

The trip back to your hotel took longer than you thought it would, every second in the taxi ride filled with anticipation for what was about to come. Few words passed between you, but it wasn’t awkward; rather, it was a silence filled with intense anticipation, the both of you stealing loaded glances at each other, or smiling nervously when your hands grazed each other accidentally.

 When you finally reach her hotel room, Jeongyeon steps into the living room before turning and facing you.

 “Sit down,” she says, a sly smile on her lips as she watches you follow her orders before turning and sauntering towards the bedroom.

 It felt a little like an eternity sitting there, waiting for her to emerge from the bedroom, but when she does come out, you realize it was worth every second.

 Yoo Jeongyeon wasn’t wearing pants.

 That was the first thought that crossed your mind, and it was followed up very quickly by the realization that she probably had the most beautiful pair of legs you had ever seen.

 Her entire lower body was perfectly sculpted, flaring nicely at hips that led to healthy, delicious looking thighs before leading to thin, slim knees and lower legs. She seemed to go on forever. That old cliche of having ‘legs for days’ came to mind, and as much as it disappointed you to have to use such a tired cliche, you could think of no other way to describe her. But instead of going on for days, Jeongyeon’s legs stretched out into weeks and months.

 This was not to say that the rest of her, covered by the extremely short hem of her chauffeur’s jacket, was in any way unappealing. The jacket clung to her like a second skin, and did little to hide the modest but still healthy curves of her chest. The black driver’s cap topped a small face with features that could be beautifully demure one moment, and cute and sardonic the next.

 Her features were currently covered in an adorable pink blush of embarrassment as she slowly appears from the bedroom hallway, taking small steps towards you as she nervously plays with her hands, her eyes glued to her fingers as though she had never seen them before. You rise from the sofa, trying in vain to pick up your jaw from the floor as you do so.

 “The outfit didn’t have matching pants that fit me,” Jeongyeon says, as if to explain away the fact that, well, she wasn’t wearing pants at all.

 “I’m not complaining,” you say, matter-of-factly.

 “Good,” she replies, because your ride is ready, boss.”

 The use that title took on new meaning now - earlier in the morning it was merely an informal nickname, but now it meant something a little more.

 “Really? And where are we going, Jeongyeon?”

 “Wherever you want, boss,” she replies, crossing her legs while standing in place, her long, naked limbs intensely attractive in the low light of the hotel room, “you should know, though, that there is a fee attached to my transportation services. I insist that you pay a deposit immediately, followed by the rest of the fee once we arrive at our destination.”

 “And what might that deposit be?”

 The girl is quiet for a moment, and you lose contact with her eyes for a moment beneath the brim of her hat as she lowers her head as though she were deep in thought. She is still playing nervously with her fingers, and she is fidgeting with her long, naked legs, rubbing her thighs together in a way that is sublimely arousing.

 “You have to make me cum. Now. And when we arrive at the destination, you can pay the balance for the services rendered.”

 There is a split second, only a split second, of silence - the moments before the storm of passion breaks - while you stare into her eyes and find only lust and desire there.

 Your hand reaches up of its own free will and cups Jeongyeon’s cheek before you step forward and kiss her, softly at first but quickly becoming more passionate within moments. Your brain is alight with excitement at that first moment of intimacy with a new woman, and from the way Jeongyeon returns your kiss and wraps her arms around your neck and head you knew she felt similarly.

 Your hands are not idle, and while most of your attention is focused on her lips you find the wherewithal to snake your own arms around her small torso, delighting in the feel of her slim body pressed against yours. Your kiss deepens further, and you press your tongue softly against her lips before Jeongyeon accepts it into her mouth, pressing her own against it as you explore each others’ mouths for the first time.

 For a solid minute you are content to stand there and make out with the young woman, but soon you remember you had a price to pay for your travel.

 Breaking the kiss, you slowly trace a path down her jaw, placing soft, light kisses on her perfect, soft skin until you bury your mouth in the crook of her neck, satisfied to hear a light gasp of surprise emit from Jeongyeon’s lips; the first sound of yearning you had ever heard from her. As you kiss and explore her neck you can feel her breathing quicken as she fully submits to the desires and passion quickly overtaking her senses.

 You decide to take the next step, reaching your hands down her torso, pressing tightly against her tight, slim body until they reach and then eventually overtake the end of the short garment. You slide your hands up under her jacket until you are cupping both of her ass cheeks, relishing in the feel of her warm, full mounds of flesh beneath your palms.

 Jeongyeon lets a loud gasp escape her lips, one that convinces you that what she said earlier about not having a boyfriend was probably true - the way she was reacting to your advances made you think that perhaps it had been awhile since she was last intimate with someone.

 You caress her butt softly beneath the hem of her jacket, which was now hiked up around her waist. Your palms wander carefully around her ass, brushing up against what felt like a thin thong. You smile to yourself as you slowly slide your hands lower until they are mid thigh, before slowly and carefully picking her up.

 Jeongyeon gasps in surprise as you lift her easily - she certainly wasn’t heavy, and so you lift and deposit her on the extended portion of the sofa with ease. You step between her legs, and you are satisfied to find that she opens them easily for you as you drop to your knees. You take another look into her lust-laden eyes before you kiss her again, your lips crashing against each other with a little more passion than before.

 “I hope you don’t mind if I take off my uniform, boss?” she says, her voice low and full of lust,  “It’s getting a little hot in here.”

 With delicate fingers she undoes the buttons of her jacket, quickly sliding the green garment off her body once she has done so, leaving her in the white dress shirt and tie she wore beneath. There were few things sexier than a woman in a white dress shirt, but one of them was a woman in a white dress shirt that was undressing for you.

 Jeongyeon begins by undoing the small green tie around her neck, tossing it away once it is undone. Then, painfully slowly, she undoes each button of the white dress shirt, her eyes locked on yours the whole while. She is biting her lip again, the small action so extremely sexy.

 Her small hands reach for the top part of her shirt, playing with the thin fabric, her large, expressive eyes still holding your gaze. Satisfied that she held every ounce of your attention, she slowly pulls the garment open down her shoulders, the white fabric giving way to perfect, creamy vanilla skin as she reveals her chest to you. She doesn’t take the shirt completely off, allowing it instead just to fall down her back, her forearms still in its sleeves.

 You could now add a bra to the list of things she wasn’t wearing.

 Her breasts are small and humble, but perfectly shaped and in perfect scale with the rest of her slim, tight body. Her nipples are so enticing, so delicious, already erect with the promise of the pleasure that is to come. Her stomach is flat and slightly toned, but you found yourself unable to resist her breasts for much longer, and you find yourself staring lewdly at her naked chest, unable to move any further until she herself shakes you from your stupor. Jeongyeon leans back on the sofa until she is on her elbows, her long, slim torso laid out for you.

 “I’m ready to accept your payment, boss.”

 It’s your turn now to bite your lip, every word that leaves her mouth made so intensely erotic by the fact that you had no idea such a sexual, kinky creature was beneath the geeky, tomboyish exterior she displayed to the rest of the world. And here you were, standing between her spread legs as she sits on the desk in front of you with an open shirt, asking - pleading - to be devoured.

 With a hungry, devilish smile on your face, you bend to give her a quick kiss on the lips before quickly moving to her upper chest, planting soft kisses on her newly exposed skin, your hunger and desire for the young woman quickly becoming intolerable, unbearable. You had to have her - there was something about the way she had kept all her intense sexuality hidden all this time that only heightened your desire to have her, taste her, make her cum - and eventually, be inside her.

 Soon you reach her small, perfect breasts, and you waste no time in devouring her small, pink nipples, forgetting for a moment your earlier resolution to take your time given her likely inexperience. But you found yourself unable to resist the small mounds of flesh, savoring the taste of her hardened peaks in your mouth and the sharp, increasingly loud gasps and moans each lick and suck elicited from their owner.

 Her hands are entwined in your hair now, pressing your head against her chest as though imploring you to take more of her. You are happy to oblige, switching breasts, latching onto her left breast now as your left hand ensures her right breast is not unattended, gently squeezing and cupping her soft flesh and saliva-lathered nipple.

 It takes an extreme amount of discipline to tear yourself away from her chest, but you remind yourself of the task you had in front of you, and the “payment” you had yet to make. Regretfully - for both of you, if the moan of disappointment Jeongyeon lets out as you leave her breasts is any indication - you slowly begin to make your way downward, your lips leaving a trail of kisses on her flat stomach before you find yourself on your knees between her spread legs, the almost completely soaked thin cotton thong the only barrier between you and the delicious treat of her pussy.

 You reach up with both hands, grasping the thin string of her thong at her hips before you pull the garment off her, Jeongyeon lifting her butt off the desk and bringing her legs together momentarily to allow you to remove the garment completely. Her pussy is perfect, her lower lips soft and inviting and glistening with her wetness.

 Remembering for a moment your resolution to take things slowly, you turn and plant soft kisses on her spread thighs, the soft skin warm against your lips. In response Jeongyeon has closed her thighs around your head, her feet hanging over your shoulders and crossed somewhere on your back as she traps you between her legs; it was likely out of instinct, again likely because she was so inexperienced.

 It is a wonderful feeling, to say the least, being sandwiched by her soft, warm thighs, but you knew you needed full access to her body, and your mobility was limited somewhat with her legs wrapped around your head. Reaching up with your hands, you place them on the inside of her soft thighs before pulling them apart, spreading her legs again, allowing you more room to work.

 You look up for a moment, past the glistening lips of pink flesh in front of you, past her flat stomach and the heaving mounds of her breasts to her eyes, and you find a look full of lust, but also of yearning - the yearning to have you make her feel as good as you had always thought she looked - absolutely amazing.

 Unwilling and unable to wait even a second later, you finally allow your mouth to descend between her spread thighs, extending your tongue and licking her pussy lightly from bottom to top, just barely grazing her moist, soft flesh. Jeongyeon lets the loudest moan of the day escape her lips at the new sensations beginning to flood her body, and you take that as permission to continue.

 You continue to lick her most sensitive area, adding to the further build up of pleasure coursing through her veins, enjoying the sweet taste of her slick juices gathering on your tongue. Your hands, satisfied that she was going to keep her legs spread in their current position, move closer to your mouth, your left hand moving to the top of her mound and your right drifting downward toward her entrance.

 Once you feel she is ready - and the juices flowing freely from her body are a great indication - you take things to the next level, using your left hand to carefully spread apart the lips of her pussy, revealing the glistening pearl of her clit; simultaneously, you lightly penetrate her body with two fingertips of your right hand until you are two knuckles deep. Then, with utmost care, you give her clit a swipe with the tip of your tongue.

 “Oh, fuck!” the young woman exclaims, her hands buried in your hair as you feel her lower legs wrap around your shoulders, keeping your face pressed against her. Satisfied that you were on the right path, you move on, placing more, faster licks on her clit while pushing further inside her with your fingers. Soon you are licking her with a steady, passionate pace, and your fingers are almost completely inside her, curling upwards and finding that rough patch at the front of her pussy.

 Jeongyeon’s reaction to your first touches on her g-spot are ecstatic, and her hips rise off the surface of the table involuntarily, the young woman temporarily losing control of her body to the sparks of pleasure flaring out from her crotch. Her juices flow freely into your greedy tongue, and your fingers feel her slick, wet walls begin to tighten around them; she was getting close.

 “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,” she exclaims as if chanting, “oh god, I’m gonna cum!”

 You want to tell her to cum, want to tell her to let go, but it was difficult to speak with your mouth full of her hot, wet flesh, and so you encourage her the only way you could - by increasing your pace ever so slightly with your tongue on her clit and your wet fingers thrusting in and out of her slick flesh.

 The effect is immediate, and the orgasm that courses through Yoo Jeongyeon’s body is unmistakable, her long, slim legs wrapping themselves tightly around your head, trapping your face between her wet pussy and warm thighs. She convulses slightly, her limbs and hips quivering of their own accord. But most delicious of all is the feel of her pussy tightening so stiffly against your fingers, and the warm, sweet juices that flow freely onto your greedy, wanton tongue.

 It takes awhile for her to recover, but when she finally does, and when she finally allows her legs to loosen their deathgrip on your head, she finds the strength to finally speak.

 “Fuck.”

 The single word causes you to giggle a little as you finally lift your face from between her thighs, licking your lips as you gather the oily juice on your tongue and savor its taste. Jeongyeon reaches down with her hand on your cheek and pulls you up, making you rise from your knees to kiss her, her tongue eagerly tasting her own nectar on yours.

 From this position the bulge in your pants presses up against her crotch, and she breaks the kiss to glance down at where your pelvises are touching.

 “Payment accepted. I think it’s time we get going - wouldn’t want you to be late to your destination.”

 You both smile slyly as Jeongyeon rises from the sofa and takes a few steps towards the bedroom. With a look over her shoulder at you, she slides the white dress shirt off her arms, finally leaving her entirely naked - aside from the black chauffeur’s hat.

 That such a downright gorgeous woman could have been near you for so long without you noticing was utterly mind boggling. Every square inch of her tall, slim body was dripping with sensuality, from those deep, dark eyes to her long, curvy legs. Her body was so unlike the other women you’d had recently, so tall and slim and seemingly going on forever.

 She reaches over and takes your hand. With one more sexy, wanton look, she turns and begins to saunter over to the bedroom, those slender legs and wide hips making sure you watched every step she took.

 “Looks like we’ve arrived, boss,” she says seconds later in the bedroom, “and I do believe you have to pay the balance of the transport fee.”

 “Gladly, Jeongyeon.”

 “Good,” she says, her voice all soft seduction, “then come fuck me.”

 Your patience is not infinite; and going by the way Jeongyeon presses herself against you and kisses you deeply, neither is hers. Arms quickly work at your belt, and you take the moment to divest yourself of the sweater you are wearing - soon you are as naked as she is, aside of course for the chauffeur’s hat. Jeongyeon reaches up to her head to remove it, but you grasp her wrist and smile. She takes the hint and leaves it on.

 Mouths still locked in a heated, passionate kiss, you slowly push her forward until you reach the edge of the bed, which thankfully is relatively elevated and thus perfect for what you had in mind. Jeongyeon hops onto the bed, those gorgeous legs spreading easily for you as you step between them. She reaches down with her left hand and wraps her thin fingers around your hard shaft, a sly smile appearing on her lips as she does so.

 Jeongyeon lies down on the bed, her slim body laid out for you.

 “Put it in me now, boss,” she says, every syllable dripping with arousal, as if her flushed skin and glistening, inviting pussy were not enough evidence of her desire.

 You are not one to disappoint her, and, gripping your firm shaft with your right hand, you press it against her opening, delighting in the feel of her hot flesh against yours, gathering a healthy amount of her slick juices on the tip of your cock. Jeongyeon lets a soft moan escape her lips, and her hand darts out to grasp your wrist.

 “Go slow,” she says, her tone suddenly different, as though she were breaking character for a moment, “it’s been awhile.”

 “I will, Jeongyeon. We’ll only go as fast as you want.”

 Her smile is all the reassurance you need, and you slowly press into her opening, her warm, hot flesh giving way slowly as you penetrate her for the first time, her body slowly giving way to your shaft as it spears into her pussy.

 Jeongyeon grimaces slightly, but soon feels some relief when you enter her fully for the first time, her silky embrace wrapping tightly around your shaft as you fully embed yourself inside her. Wanting to reassure her, you bend over on the bed and kiss her softly. She returns the kiss and presses onto your chest with one of her palms, pushing you back to your upright position.

 “Okay, I’m ready now, boss,” she says, “please… please fuck me.”

 Moving slowly, you withdraw your cock, enjoying the the feel of her tight pussy grasping every inch of your shaft as though afraid to let it go. Jeongyeon’s tightness was on another level, and you absentmindedly wonder if it was because she hadn’t had sex in awhile.

 Her hands grasp your forearms, her nails digging into your wrist, and for a moment you are afraid you are hurting her, but the small nod she gives you when you look at her with a look of concern convinces you that she is okay. The last few women you’d slept with were comfortable with their sexuality, and it was different to be with a woman who was a little more less experienced; not that it was a turn off, but quite the opposite - you wanted nothing more than to please her, make her feel the way you felt she deserved.

 You continue to penetrate her at a consistent pace, your shaft fully lathered now with her juices, making each entry and exit easier and easier. Jeongyeon seems to settle into things, now letting soft gasps and moans escape her lips with each thrust into her body. Her legs, once spread hesitantly, now wrap themselves around your hips, and you relish the feel of her long limbs wrapped around your torso as you continue to fuck her.

 “Oh god… god that feels so good. You feel so good inside me! Oh god!”

 You increase your pace ever so slightly - ever mindful of her request that you go slow. You delight in the sight of her small breasts rocking up and down with each thrust, and the cute features of her face warped and twisted slightly in a pleasurable way that is beautiful in its own way. Your gaze travels the length of her slim, long torso, until finally it settles between those spread, long, perfect legs of hers, and the drenched, slick lips of her pussy, wrapped tightly around your shaft as it enters and exits her body.

 “Faster, please,” she gasps, her words almost a demand, “please, boss. Please fuck me faster.”

 You bend over the bed and drop your hands to the bed to stabilize yourself as you increase your pace slightly, focusing on the depth and length of your thrusts, ensuring she feels each thrust of your cock in and out of her body.

 “Oh my god, oh my god,” Jeongyeon gasps, “just like that! You’re gonna make me cum!”

 You are surprised by how quickly she is nearing orgasm, and happy that yours is still some ways away - you want to savor every moment you are having with her, and want to make sure you last long enough to do so.

 Jeongyeon cums soon after, her entire body shaking and quivering, her legs wrapping even tighter around your hips as she does so, her heels digging into your butt as she struggles to maintain her composure for a few moments until she loses it entirely and a long, loud gasp of sheer pleasure escapes her mouth. Her pussy tightens and convulses tightly around you, tight enough to send shocks of pleasure coursing through your body as well.

 When her orgasm finally subsides, Jeongyeon is a writhing, quivering mess on the bed, a sheen sweat lending a glistening quality to her naked body. You let your eyes savor the sight of her there on the bed, and you wonder how the hell you overlooked this young woman for so long.

 “Fuck,” she says again. It must be her post-orgasm word, you realize with a smile. She squirms a little on the bed, her hips moving slowly from side to side, creating delicious friction on your hard shaft, still fully embedded inside her.

 Jeongyeon raises her torso from the bed until she is upright, her legs still wrapped around your hips. Your hands caress her thighs softly, enjoying the feel of her warm flesh beneath your palms.

 “Thanks for paying the rest of the balance, boss,” she says, “although I think I owe you some change.”

 Without letting you answer, Jeongyeon pushes forward on your chest with her right hand, until eventually your shaft slips out of her body. Hopping off the bed, she turns around so that her round, firm ass is facing you, her long legs lending her butt a delicious looking curve as she leans forward, resting her forearms back onto the bed.

 “Fuck me, boss,” she says, turning around to lock eyes with you, “fuck me until you cum.”

 You reach forward and caress her round cheeks with your hands, squeezing the firm flesh and delighting in the sight of her glistening pussy, just begging to be fucked. You are unable to resist the sight, and before you know it you are dragging the tip of your shaft up and down on her drenched pussy, gathering more and more of her juices on it.

 If Jeongyeon was tight on her back, she was even tighter from behind. The way her walls embrace you as you enter her is almost enough to make you cum on the spot - it takes every ounce of self control not to fuck her as hard as you really wanted to. Instead you relish the feel of her tightness, of her wet, slick walls embracing every inch of your shaft as you begin to fuck her.

 Jeongyeon quickly gets used to the feeling of you penetrating her from behind, if the gasps and moans that escape her lips in a steady stream is any indication.

 “Oh god… oh god, you’re so big inside me,” she gasps, “it feels so good… please… please fuck me, boss! Fuck me! Make me yours!”

 Jeongyeon turns, her eyes dripping with desire beneath the brim of the driver’s cap still on her head. What she lacked in experience she certainly made up for in sheer allure, that unmeasurable something that made her so sexy, so attractive, and so downright gorgeous. The other girls were downright sexy, or cute, but Jeongyeon had something special, something none of them had, and you had no idea what it was; but you wanted more than anything else to find out.

 Your hands leave her butt to grip her hips, her words and her tight, slim body bringing you closer and closer to orgasm. You feel that build up, that approach towards the point of no return, quickly approaching, and you feel no need to delay it any longer.

 “I’m gonna cum, Jeongyeon, fuck I’m gonna cum.”

 “Wherever… wherever you want, boss! Cum for me… cum for me!”

 Fucking her from behind was amazing, of course, but you wanted to watch those beautiful eyes, wanted to see them as you came, wanted them to watch as you spilled your cum on her body. And so you pull out of her grasping pussy, and turn her body around until she is lying on her back on the bed again, her legs spreading once more to allow you between them. Taking your slick shaft in your right palm, you jerk it quickly, and before you know it your orgasm is overtaking your senses.

 You force your eyes open to watch as thick, hot semen shoots from the tip of your shaft to land on Jeongyeon’s long, slim torso, on her small breasts and flat stomach, in long, hot streaks. Jeongyeon gasps at the feeling of each stream of cum as it lands on her naked body, the sexiness of her voice and her beautiful eyes and every inch of her naked body lending further power to your orgasm.

 When it finally ends and you stop pumping your shaft, you watch through half-lidded eyes as Jeongyeon’s chest heaves up and down, breathing heavily, stained with white streams of your hot semen. Her arms are splayed out carelessly on either side of her, completely drained of energy. The black driver’s cap has somehow managed to stay on her head this whole time.

 “I guess I finally beat you at something. So you’ll join the team?” you ask, still breathing heavily. Your wet shaft has come to a rest in that wonderful crook where her crotch meets her thighs, juices, both yours and hers, dripping off it and onto her warm skin.

 “Alright, I guess I can join up. But first I’m going to buy more costumes,” she says with a smile, “there was a schoolgirl one in that store I liked…”

 ---

 You are in the elevator on your way to your own hotel room when you receive a text from JYP.

 JYP says: Call me right now.

 Not wasting any time, you go to your directory and press on his name, steeling yourself for whatever might come next. So much has happened, so many trials and tribulations and outright dangers that you were almost unsurprised that yet another thing needed your urgent attention.

 But when you hang up the phone after a short conversation with your boss, there is nothing but a wide, genuinely happy smile on your face.

[jeffletstalkaboutit]

Hi there, this is part one of a series I’m working on featuring Jeff wittek and the female lead Avery. Still working on full story...

Full story will go up on Wattpad when it’s finished.

AVERYS POV

UNKNOWN LOCATION

My eyes violently flashed open, my body following the sudden shock of oxygen invading my lungs. I remained in place by straps, anchoring down each limb of my body to the seat beneath me. A dim light flickered, opposite of me, pushing my attention to the circle of heads surrounding me.

5 men, 5 women including me, all tied down to their seats, unconscious.

where am I?

All I could remember was waking up, here. My own name whipped from my memory. 

Just as I started pushing against my restraints I noticed the man beside me start to wake up. One by one their eyes flashed open and the sudden fear of not knowing where we were or who they were was evident in each of them, but no one said anything. The room went dark, with not even a flash of light to be seen, Until a tv just above the red flashing light from before, turns on exhibiting a woman with short black hair in a black suit top. She was in a lab of some sort, behind her was a group of people in lab coats, and a glass wall separating them. A loud static noise pierces through the air before the woman spoke up. 

"Hello, My name President Aries, You all are probably wondering where you are, why you're here, and who you are." as the lady spoke I couldn't help but notice the people behind her, they walked around urgently, scared. Yet, Aries was so calm a smile on her face. 

"Each of you, hand-picked for certain skills and unique brain patterns you hold, You were picked and put together to form a team that could survive just about any situation."

She paused for a second, displaying deceit covered by pain and discomfort.

Flashes of people dressed in fancy clothing danced across the screen. Tall Buildings with large glass windows, Fields of grass and animals, and lastly a globe covered in mixes of blue, brown, and green.

"300 years ago, the Earth was our home. The technology was thriving and taking the world by storm, but little did we know it would come to destroy us. The earth soon became uninhabitable, after the human instinct of destruction overcame our planet." Pictures of firey red explosions covered the screen, leaving me with one memory.

I was on a plane, when the bombs went off, 300 years ago? My eyes drifted to the people around me as they watched the screens intently, none of their faces bringing back any memories.

"Those who made it onto the exodus ship survived and were put into cryosleep, to be woken up when we reached our destination of the planet Larz. Fast forward 300 years into the future, sadly we never arrived. The exodus was sent back on route to earth. Around 52 hours ago 15 doctors and I, were brought awake for a code white. Emergency evac of the special alliance, That's where you all come in. The 10 of you make up the special alliance. The protocol reads that I set out an order for each of you to be removed from cryosleep and evaluated for the evacuation of the exodus to Earth. To put it simply, The exodus failed and we hope that this beautiful gift of life we have given you, can, in turn, save the human race." I watched in shock as the men and women behind her were shot down by men in black uniforms.

"Underneath each of you are backpacks filled with supplies all of you will need, Once you are released from your seats you are permitted to remain in your pod until the doors open by themselves then you are to make your way to Washington DC where you will be met by the last standing 'home' base, They will lead you from there. your names are on the back of your tags on your jackets, be grateful, for they are the only knowledge of your past life you will have. always stay together, and survive. You are the last of the exodus." President Aries ends her speech walking out where the gunmen were before the screen goes black. In that second all of our restraints are released and a dim light above us flickers on.

I Immediately, stand and rip my jacket off. Just as she said The name 'AVERY' was stitched into the inside of the collar of my jacket.

"Avery," I say lightly looking up at the group around me. Some of them began to slip their jackets off and relay their names out loud.

Xavier, Andy, dillion, lacey, Aubri, jeff, Luca, Abey, and Sam.

"she said we were handpicked for certain skills we each have? what skills do we have that normal people don't?" Xavier says as he slides his jacket over his tall stature. His hair was a dark mop of hair that almost covered his dark brown eyes.

"Dude they erased our memories and put us on a ship to a toxic, explosive planet and you worried about these stupid so-called skills we all possess?" Aubri speaks up next, she was a little taller than me but with raven black hair and bright blue eyes.

 As they all went back and forth, I found myself wandering back to my chair. I slid the black backpack out from underneath it before plopping it down onto the seat.

What happened on the exodus? and why was Aries lying? 

I unzip each part, searching around for any trace of my identity other than my name. I had to agree, the thought of never knowing who I really am scares me more than what's waiting outside of this ship. My fingers clutch a slip of paper in the front of the bag, I pulled it out quickly. It read,

"AVERY KANE

LEADER/STEALTHY"

I turn slightly so I'm facing the rest of the group before I speak up,

"Hey, There's a card in the bags, with your name on it...and I'm guessing our skill," I say loudly so everyone would listen. I rubbed my forehead, slightly paranoid about my card.  

"Dillion harris. Medical?" each of them read of their titles, dillion being our medic, lacey nature guide, andy communication, Luca hand to hand combat, Abey sharpshooter, Xavier building/construction, jeff strength, sam human map, and Aubri being stealthy. 

"Avery?" Andy questions, making everyone glance at me, ready for me to read my great strength.

"Leader,  stealthy," I say making Aubri laugh.

"so you're in charge? we're screwed." Aubri says, Before rolling her eyes and plopping down on the ground. Everyone stayed quiet, at loss for words at this moment.

the room stayed quiet for what felt like days but was only minutes, we all sat on the floor, rummaging through the things in our bags or just staring off into oblivion, trying to escape the lingering feeling of a complete and utter void of our lives. The feeling of fear, of not knowing what's beyond these thick metal walls, The feeling of distrust and not knowing each other.

The feeling of the unknown. I didn't want to lead? I'm the smallest person here.

That night I didn't sleep, waiting anxiously for the door to open. 

Everything president Aries said replayed in my head, dissecting every word.

She said that the earth was destroyed by humans 300 years ago, I was in a plane when the bombs went off, we were put into cryosleep along with the other survivors, something happened, code white was announced, the president was woken up and we were ordered to be sent to earth. She said we were the last of the exodus.

What happened on the ship that caused the code white? And where is president Aries? who were those people, gunning down the scientists?

Why would they erase our memories? what I did know is Aries's emotions weren't true in the video, so why should we believe anything she says?

So many questions bounced around my head, leaving my emotions swirling.

How was I supposed to be a leader? These people wouldn't listen to me even if I tried. Maybe Lacey but the rest of them either seem like a bitch or could be way smarter than me, bigger than me. 

And if everyone in the exodus is dead why would it matter if we stuck to what these dumb cards say?

The sudden sound of crackling filled my ears, my breath hitched in my throat as the door of the ship started to fold open.

The light flooding in. Burning my eyes, making me block it with my hand.

Within seconds everyone was awake, staring hopelessly at the door revealing millions of colors of green and blue. We all slowly advanced the exit with caution. 

The trees outside were thick and tall almost completely shading the ground, green moss and grass covering every inch of brown from the dirt and the tree bark.

It was beautiful. Breathtaking. The air felt moist and hot, so I'm guessing rainforest? 

"well, Avery since you're the 'leader' you go first," Luca says, my eyes drift over to his dark chocolate hair. The newfound light, illuminating his bright green eyes.  

"yeah, sure ill die first," I say as I step down off the ship and onto the green grass, just standing there for a second. 

"what? you waiting to kill over?" Xavier says with a light laugh. 

"if the air was toxic, we would have all died when the door opened," I say as I step further out just to turn around and look at the ship. It was a tall circular junk of metal with a pointy tip. 

My eyes drifted back to the others, who were all staring at me with questioning looks. 

"well?" just as the word flowed out of my mouth, Jeff jumps down, holding out his hand to Aubri. Which she took with a smile before hopping down. 

"So where do we start? we have no idea where we are or how to get where we are going." dillion says, he seemed very nervous. His blonde hair was short and styled back in a way that suited his face beautifully. 

"Anyone have a map?" Abey says. She had dark skin and beautiful, strong facial features. Her voice sounded like butter. My eyes drifted to sam, she is Koren, quiet and very pretty, with long brown hair. 

"sam, You're the guide, right? Check your bag for a map." I say, making her start making her way back in the ship. a few seconds later she returns with a piece of paper in her hands. 

She hands me the paper, making me sigh before I open it and lay it out so everyone can see. It was a map of the united states with a circle on one end and an x on the other. under the circle read 'Washington DC' 

"so I'm guessing we are the X?" Andy asks. I nodded slowly before glancing up at the sky, The sun was just on the horizon in the east. 

"It's 6 am, so we should probably get going, we need to find water," I say before handing the map back to sam and making my way to the ship before Luca speaks up. 

"I say, Fuck 'president Aries' we are alive and on earth, free-range. why should we listen to some dead president anyway?" he says making me roll my eyes, he assumes she's dead, does everything think that? why would they kill her, if she was the president...

Even if she's lying, we have to go.  well find out if she's lying when we get there. Staying in the jungle isn't going to find us any answers. 

"so stay," I say before making my way into the ship to gather my supplies. I pulled the compass out of my bag along with the pocket knife. After a few seconds Abey, lacey and sam come in. 

"We are with you, I don't know about the rest of them but That president lady put you in charge for a reason, and I'm not so happy with the idea of staying here with those idiots," Abey says as she gathers her stuff. 

"They won't survive on their own, we were sent here as a group for a reason, the special alliance," Lacey says, looking up to me. "and the rainforest can be very dangerous..." 

"They'll come," I say, making my way out with Abey, lacey, and sam behind me. I glanced over at lacey, "what kind of animals live here?" 

"Oh, just tigers, monkeys, elephants, gorillas..." Lacey says, getting quieter as she kept talking. we made our way out of the ship, 

my eyes followed Luca until I passed him, making my way into the woods. 

"You guys are just gonna leave?"Aubri asks dramatically. 

I tilted my head slightly with a shrug, before walking through the thick trees.

[marias-in-pyjamas]

Eclipse: Chapter 1.1

See more from the masterlist.

Pairings:

Commanding Agent Adam du Mortain x Detective Eliana Langford x Specialist Agent Mason ; Agent Nate Sewell x Detective Ellara Kingston

Content Rating - Warnings: G - none

At Detective Kingston’s Apartment 

Ellara groans as she felt her face slowly getting wet because of the thing that is excitedly licking it. Albeit reluctant, she opened her eyes only to be greeted by the sight of her dog's nose. 

"Woof." The dog barks, making her let out yet another groan before she wraps her arms around the small of its body. Stirring from her position, she saw the clock and realized what day it was. 

14 Jan ’19 – 05:00

It's so early omg. 

But it's not like she could complain. And she is feeling pretty excited about today too. Who wouldn't, when it's the first day that you are officially your town's detective? Ellara chuckles to herself, scrambling to stand on her feet. 

She stood in front of her bedroom mirror, carrying Sol with her. She stares at herself, and oh does she look like a disaster. But it doesn't matter. She can do a lot to fix it. 

And so with Sol still perched on her arms, she walked to the kitchen starting her morning rituals with breakfast for the both of them as usual. 

Everything feels like the usual except from the rapid beating of her heart inside her chest. She doesn't even know if it's excitement, or just her nerves trying to make her reconsider all of this. Well she wouldn't, would she? She dismisses the thought by shaking her head. She proceeds to continue eating as she happily watches her dog eat with the same enthusiasm. 

A few spoonfuls and minutes later, she found herself cleaning after their mess. It was quick, as she only ever need to wash a single breakfast set. Maybe I should sleep more. 

"Woof!" Sol calls out wagging his tail and getting his owner's attention 

The woman's eyes immediately went to him and she gave him a very fond smile. A smile that is a lot more genuine than a lot of her others. She crouches down and pets the pupper, "Wanna go for a walk? What do you say, boy?" 

"Woof, woof!" 

And that was all it took for her to understand the answer.

After the walk

07:15

"I hope the walk was enough for you, baby." Ellara smiles as she detaches the leash from Sol's collar, letting him run free around the apartment again. 

Thankfully, the weather isn't hot, and the walk wasn't that much of a bother. Getting ready for work before walking Sol is probably the best decision she ever made this week. Especially with Tina's message. 

Ugh, a murder? As my first case? 

Her smile turned into a frown just thinking about it. Wayhaven is a quiet town. And it's the first murder in town ever since she was born. It shouldn't even bother her, but it does anyway. Ellara values all of her firsts, so it's only natural that she's reading too much into this. 

Her thought was cut off just as she heard a motorcycle engine start up loudly. And, when did someone own a motorcycle in this street before? 

Curious, she quickly pulled her blinds open. Peeking on her window, she saw a figure sitting on a big motorcycle. The person has their back facing her, and with a black helmet on she can't even catch a glimpse of what they look like. The motorcycle zooms away. 

It must be her new neighbor. She saw a car parked in front of the apartment yesterday. Unfortunately, she weren't able to meet her new neighbor yet. Oh well, maybe she'll knock later at night just to make sure they're settling in. With a shrug, she closed her blinds once again. 

07:30

She looks around her apartment making sure that everything is in order before she grabs a box of dog food from her kitchen. She puts plenty of it on the pet feeder she had managed to assemble. At least now, she won't feel too worried for her dog during work hours. 

The dog catches up to her, and follows her closely behind until she stepped outside the door. Sol sits on the floor inside the apartment at a close distance. She crouches on the floor to level with him and smiles. 

"Bye, boy. Be good okay? Mommy will be home before you even know it," she says, giving Sol one last kiss before she stood, locked the door, and finally left for work.

At Detective Langford’s Apartment

14 Jan ’19 – 04:15

Eliana had been staring at the ceiling for almost an hour now, her racing thoughts still not calming down. She was woken up by a nightmare earlier, but considering her line of work, it’s not really much of a surprise to her anymore. The things she’d seen in the city marked her, haunted her. But it also made her stronger, fiercer. Things normal people would easily succumb into and feel squeamish about. But still, she persevered. She continued working hard. She continued doing her job well. She continued pushing forward towards her goal – to be the youngest police captain in the history of Metropolis Police Department. And for a while, it seemed like the universe was finally on her side. Her career was advancing according to the time line she had planned for herself. But of course, as it always does, something eventually happens to prove her how wrong she is to think that the universe is on anyone’s side. Just as she was finally getting the hang of being a detective, she was reassigned out of nowhere into some backwater town: Wayhaven. A wrench in her carefully-crafted plan. A wrench in her career.

So that’s how Eliana had found herself staring at the ceiling of her new apartment in Wayhaven, wondering if she was maybe cursed from something she did from her past life. Luna – her pet puppy – was snoring beside her. Her furry companion’s head resting on the crook of her arm. Careful not to jostle her too much, Eliana turned her head towards the clock in her bedside table to look at the time. Knowing that she will not be able to sleep again anytime soon, she fully turned her body towards Luna and cuddled the puppy closer to her chest. Counting down from five to calm her nerves, she inhaled the familiar scent of the puppy and planted a soft kiss in her forehead. Luna turned sleepily towards her and licked Eliana’s nose as a response before going back to sleep again. Chuckling softly, she gently extricated herself from Luna and scratched her ears before sitting up on the side of the bed.

Going to work early is not exactly new for Eliana. So with that in mind, she pushed herself off of the bed and started her morning routine. She changed from wearing her night clothes to her sportswear before she started stretching her limbs to prepare herself for a little rigorous exercise. After a few minutes of exercising, she proceeded to place some dog food on Luna’s bowl, causing the energetic puppy to clamber off of the bed in a hurry to get to her food.

Eliana went to her kitchen to make herself some much needed coffee. Whenever asked, she always say that she prefers her coffee as dark and black as her soul. While waiting for the coffee machine to finish, she sat on the bar stool in the kitchen island and searched the internet for the directions of the police station. Bookmarking it, she prepared all the stuff she needs for work and finished drinking her coffee, which actually counts as her breakfast.

After Luna finished her breakfast, Eliana spent a few more minutes spoiling the little girl with pets before fetching the puppy’s collar and leash. With a smile on her face that only her furry companion ever witnesses, she turned toward Luna and asked, “Who wants to go for a walk?”

“Bork, bork!” Luna exclaimed while wagging her tail enthusiastically, already running towards her human.

God, she loves that puppy, even if she’s not really on good terms with the one who gave Luna to her. Fastening Luna’s leash on, the pair of them went outside to do their usual morning run, but in a different area and surroundings now.

05:30

After an hour of running, Eliana decided to walk around the neighborhood with Luna, just to acquaint herself more with her current residence. The stares of the townspeople as she and her puppy passed was something she expected. After all, she knows that it’s not usual for people to see someone from the city transferring here as she herself is not even sure why she was transferred here. But what else can I do right now except to suck it up?

Taking the other way around towards home, Eliana and Luna walked together at a leisurely pace, knowing that there’s still a long time before she needs to prepare for work.

After the walk

07:00

After arriving home, Eliana rested for a little while before finally taking a shower. Enjoying the hot shower for a few minutes, she turned it off to get dressed and get ready.

Having finally finished dressing-up for work, Eliana stared at herself on her full-body mirror. Her hazel eyes stared back at her, the only memory of her late father that she remembers. Her lean form is hidden beneath her black button-down shirt that was tucked in a tight-fitting black jeans, with her police badge holder clipped on the side of her belt. A simple gold necklace is sitting prettily on the base of her throat partnered by stud earrings of the same color, three on her right ear and two on the left. The black combat boots she’s wearing gives her an extra two inches on her height, but even without the boots, she’s already taller than some of the detectives in the city. A black leather jacket completes her whole look, helping her fight off the chill when she’s riding her motorcycle. She’s about to turn away from the mirror – seemingly satisfied by what she saw – when her eyes zoomed in on the roots of her hair. The light brown color is reappearing again, a reminder that no matter what color of hair dye she chooses and uses – underneath it all and despite everything that has happened – she’s still her mother’s daughter and having that same hair color of hers is an evidence of that.

Making a mental note to buy more hair dye in the town square, she went outside her room and secured Luna’s playpen. She double-checked that the automatic food and water dispenser is working then kissed Luna goodbye. She shouldered her bag and her black helmet and turned to leave.

Not really knowing what to expect (although she thinks that she’ll most likely be bored to death on her first day as a detective in Wayhaven), she took a deep breath and went outside her apartment, locking it behind her.

Eliana went to the parking space where she left her motorcycle. Securing her helmet on and starting the engine, she decided to first try out the coffee shop she saw near the police station as she still has plenty of time to spare. Maybe she’ll stakeout outside the station for a few minutes, just to see how busy and active it could really be, this early in the morning.

Making up her mind, Eliana drove away from the apartment block’s parking space, the roar of the engine of her motorcycle heard by the detective living next door to her’s.

[katukutataka]

KH Theory: Kairi’s Grandparents

So last night Square Enix released the 4 new characters for Kingdom Hearts: Dark Road and everyone is flipping out. So am I since we’re all waiting for Dark Road to come out as well as other Kingdom Hearts games.

There’s already people throwing their theories and ideas that I thought I should tell mine as well before June 10, when we’ll be given a little more information. 

Based on the title of this post, I won’t be just talking about Kairi’s grandmother. 

Since the release of the photos and names of the new characters in the photograph, a lot of people are speculating that Kairi’s Grandmother could be Vor

[image provided by the Dark Road Twitter page]]

Now, Vor appears to be the youngest of the group in the photo. I say “appear” because if anime has taught me one thing, it’s that the seemingly young looking person is actually the oldest...But for this case, it could that Vor really is the youngest. 

Let’s just go with the latter for now. 

A lot of people on Twitter, Tumbr, Reddit, kh13.com and Youtube are theorizing that Vor could be Kairi’s grandmother. 

YouTuber HMK, ProdigyxCD, SHARKTANK, VTNVIVI, and others also agree with that theory, or at least point it out from their observations. Specifically because of the Norse meaning of Vor’s name.

[Name Information provided by Leamax on kh13.com]

So that would make sense as to how Kairi’s Grandma knew about the story of Light and Darkness that’s mention three times throughout the franchise:

1) Birth by Sleep: Kairi asked her grandmother to retell the story of Light and Darkness

2)Kingdom Hearts: Sora witnesses a flashback to Kairi and her grandma sitting in the Radiant Garden Library

3)Kingdom Hearts Unchained X: when you first download the game, a pop-up book version of Radiant Garden appears. Kairi and her grandmother are shown while the story of Light and Darkness appears in white text above.

If Nomura intends to use the meanings of the Norse names literally, then Vor has vast knowledge of not only Darkness, but also about Light. Maybe more so than Master Xehanort? 

“The gift of Providence” is interesting to me as the latter means “the protective care of God or of nature as a spiritual power”, “God or nature as providing protective or spiritual care”, “timely preparation for future eventualities” [Google Dictionary]. 

Could it be that Vor was preparing for what was to come around 75 to 85 years into the future? Could it be that she was going to prepare Kairi for the events that took place before KH1? 

Another thing that people are using as “evidence” is the similarity of Vor’s face to Kairi’s grandmother. More so about the smile and the eyes. 

People are saying that the smile between the two are very similar.

(i’m sorry about the small image. Literally just cropped it from the image provided by Dark Road Twitter page. Pic of Kairi’s grandma found on Google Images)

I suppose the smiles do look very alike, but it could be a trick of the eye and the inner desire of wanting this to somehow work is affecting us. 

The other thing that people are saying are similar are the eye colors:

On Vor’s image, her eyes are more green while Kairi’s grandmother is more blue. Indigo,if you’re picky. 

Now I know that sometimes the color of one’s eyes may “change” colors depending on how light hits it. For example, dark brown eyes can appear light brown in direct light or black in the shade. Green eyes tend to have to accent colors like a light brown, which is hazel-green eyes. Sometimes people will have a blue tint in them, blue-green eyes. Yellow is also seen in the mix. Sometimes when a baby has either green or blue eyes, it changes colors as they get older. It’s rare in those cases but still can happen. And yes, there are people with completely green eyes only even in adulthood. 

Given that this Tetsuya Nomura’s concept as well as the meaning of eye colors, the affiliation of Light and Darkness present in one’s heart can change their eye colors (and hair).

The main example of this is Young Xehanort, where he had silver eyes. But because of the Darkness, his eyes became more amber yellow. This has become a trend for fans to distinguish who are “good” and “bad”.

I will add in that that’s not the best way to tell if a person is good or bad as there are characters who have amber, yellow, light brown eyes.

So let’s break down the possibilities of the eyes between the 2 characters:

1) Vor’s eyes are green from a young age. However, if her eyes changed as she grew up, they became more blue, indigo colored, which is what Kairi’s grandmother has. 

2) If Light and Darkness are affiliated to the change of eye colors, then it’s possible that Vor’s eyes changed to more blue-indigo colored because of the abundance of Light (assuming).

3) It’s very possible that Vor and Kairi’s grandmother are TWO DIFFERENT women. Therefore, the color of the eyes mean nothing for the relation. 

The 3rd possibility would lead to “Master Ava is Kairi’s Grandmother Theory” and/or one of the many “Dandelions is Kairi’s Grandmother Theory”. 

Like, there’s so much that we don’t know about Kairi’s family and their backstory that many people, myself included, created fan-theories that relate to the Foretellers or the Dandelions somehow. Especially since the grandmother knows the story of Light and Darkness. 

I have an idea that I’m not sure if anyone else has spoken about on a media platform. If there are people out there that has a similar idea, please let me know so I can give credit! 

My idea banks off of Kairi’s GRANDFATHER. 

I know. A real stretch, but it could still be possible. Let me humor you. 

Let’s say the 3rd possibility is true: Vor and the grandmother are two different women. So, what of the grandfather? Who was he? Where was he? Did he pass of age or after The Fall of Radiant Garden? Who knows. Maybe Nomura didn’t think that far for Kairi or anyone’s family background...or did he? 

Anyway, if the grandfather is one of the Dandelions who avoided the war or is a disciple of the Dandelions, then he met the grandmother at some point, fell in love, married, had kids, then had a grandchild. During all that, it’s likely that the grandfather told the grandmother the story of Light and Darkness as a legend that will be passed down through the generations. 

Perhaps some of you thought of another person who’s also featured in the photograph:

Yup. I went there. I’m putting my idea that Bragi is potentially Kairi’s grandfather. 

I mean, his Norse meaning of the name is:

[Name definition provided by Leamax on kh13.com]

His name means “Poet”. Creative with his words with the knowledge of poems and songs, it’s likely he told told of the story of Light and Darkness the same way that Kairi’s grandmother told before. 

[Kairi’s grandmother story dialogue provided by u/blackdragoon747 on a reddit thread, “Kairi’s grandmother story (KH3 Theory) [Discussion]]

The story is told in a vague yet meaningful way. Something easy to tell the generations to come of what happened. Yes, I realize it ‘s not a poem so the relation between this and Bragi is small. But what if Bragi told the grandmother this version of the story because of how it was told to him by his Keyblade Master? Possibly the same Master who taught all 6 of them? 

I will admit that the Bragi’s orange hair is giving some “evidence” that he’s related to Kairi. It’s a stretch since the grandparents don’t have to have red hair to be related to Kairi. It’s likely that one of the Kairi’s birth parents had the same red hair color as her. I just wanted to throw that idea out there. 

I remember seeing an idea with art by laizy-boy (one of my favorite KH fanartist) where what if Xehanort was Kairi’s grandfather? Laizy-boy created Masako, an O.C. portrayed as Kairi’s grandmother, where she met Xehanort and Eraques when they were young. It’s hinted that Young(er) Xehanort had a crush on Masako in Laizy-boy’s artwork. If that was the case, then Master Xehanort was a fucked up grandfather to do what he did to Kairi in KH3. 

(I’m still salty that happened even if Kairi got her sweet revenge in Re:Mind!)

I wanted to mention that because I just remembered that and thought that if some people thought the possibility that Xehanort was Kairi’s grandfather, what about Bragi if not the former? 

There is notion that Hermod could also be a candidate, but I personally don’t think so? if you do, let me know! I’m always happy to hear what others think otherwise! 

There may be people who think that Urd is Kairi’s grandmother too, but I’m not sure. 

Anyways! This post is rather long as it is so i’ll end it here. Let me know what you all think! Send me your questions and I might make another post tomorrow after getting more info. 

[starlightsearches]

Could I please request a Hades and Persephone AU/ inspired piece for Kylo? I really think that aesthetic suits him so well 😍

Verdant

I’m still taking more requests, so if you have an idea please send one in!

Pairing: Hades! Kylo Ren X Persephone! Female Reader

AN: No warnings for this one, I don’t think. It was really hard to write because I don’t know anything about greek mythology, but I love the way it turned out 🥰

The field is verdant, wild, overflowing with flowers—the long grass kissing your ankles and the palms of your hands as you walk on your own. The warm sun strikes your skin, painting your field golden in the morning light, like the whole earth is yours to do with as you please. A false promise, as always. You sit gently in the clearing, flattening the greenery beneath you into a soft place to lay, stroking the tendrils of fragrant earth sprouting beneath your fingers. A peaceful moment—maybe one too many.

You begin picking the flowers, your hands working of their own accord. Weaving the patterns is second-nature to you, and you pluck the blossoms up by their stems, choosing only the most fragrant, the most beautiful, the flawless work of your hand. There’s freesia and daisy for innocence, you think to yourself, and sweet pea for bliss. Peonies for compassion and hyacinth for playfulness. Your hand stops, hovering over the asters. A symbol of love. You brush past them, grabbing some bluebells instead. It’s best not to think that way.

The crown is finished, and you admire it for a moment before placing it on your head. There’s a creek nearby, with still and shallow waters, and you wander over, taking in the full effect of your reflection. It’s truly lovely. If only there were someone else there to see it.

“Fit for a queen,” the voice startles you, deeper than any of the nymphs, who can’t be too far off. You jump, the crown falling from your head and into the water, and whirl to face the unknown visitor.

There’s a man standing before you, and his face goes rosey when you look at him. He’s tall, and strange, not like the others who inhabit this realm, or the humans, either: his hair is long and dark and falls over his face, skin dotted with freckles and so pale it’s almost translucent, even in the lemony light of the sun. But he’s soft to look at, all round pink lips and dark brown eyes, and a warm feeling finds its way into your chest.

“I didn’t mean to startle you,” he says.

“Who are you?” you ask. He’s shifting nervously in the grass, looking over his shoulder, back the way he must have come. You’ve never seen him before—never  really seen any man before—and you have to wonder if all of them are just as timid.

“Some people call me Ren.” You hum in response. It’s almost like a joke.

“Some people call me Kore,” you say back, and he scrunches his nose in distaste.

“It doesn’t really suit you.”

“What does suit me, then?” Is this what flirting is? You hope so. It’s making him nervous, and you like it.

“The crown you were wearing, certainly. I’m sorry that it’s gone.”

“Don’t be, I make them all the time.” You’re feeling guilty, suddenly, and you try to move past him. You’ve talked for too long already. If your mother found out . . .

“Please don’t go,” he says, grabbing you by the wrist. His touch is cold on your skin, but pleasant, like dipping your hand in the stream. He speaks again, “I was hoping you might . . . make me one of your crowns?”

“What will you give me in return?” you ask, and he hesitates.

“What do you want?” You don’t have to think before you respond. 

“A kiss.” You want to be nonchalant about it, but just saying it makes your heart race, and you look away, hoping to hide it. You try to look at ease, sliding your hand into his and pulling him towards the flowers. You can’t look at him.

“A— a kiss?”

“Yes. I’ve never done it before. I want to know what it’s like.” He nods, and swallows hard, and you can feel his hand tremble in yours. So he wants it too.

You pull him into the densest part of the field, guiding him to the ground and sitting beside him, and then take a moment to study him in silence. He looks back, a little uncertain, but you can tell he loves the way you look at him.

“What are you doing?”

“Reading you,” you say, and he quirks an eyebrow in confusion, “I can’t just pick the flowers at random. All of them mean something. You have to choose the right ones to send the right message,” you explain in a low voice, gathering a few blossoms and beginning the crown. 

You can feel his eyes on you, less guarded now that your own are occupied, and his gaze sets you on fire, makes you want to melt into the ground and become one with the earth. Or maybe you want to melt into him, find yourselves so intertwined that he cannot look at you without seeing himself reflected back. The very idea of it thrills you, and you scold yourself half-heartedly. It does you no good to think that way.

“We’ll start with amaryllis, for pride and determination. They make a lovely base. And then we’ll add some astilbe. They symbolize patience, waiting.” You look at him, and something new occurs to you.

“This isn’t the first time you’ve seen me?” You phrase it like a question, but you know it’s true before he confirms it. The flowers don’t lie.

“I found your field a little while ago,” he admits, “but I didn’t dare approach you until today.”

“Why?” You shiver at his admission, your eyes on him, not bothering to look at the crown in your hands, stringing together the purple asters and lilacs on memory alone.

“You’re—” he starts, and swallows before continuing, “a bit intimidating,” and you laugh, a sweet, pealing sound that brings a tender smile to his face.

“Intimidating. Me? You must be joking.” The crown is almost done. You fill in the gaps with some dahlias, add a few chrysanthemums, and admire your work.

“Yes, intimidating. Regal, even.” You move onto your knees, place the crown on his head, leaning over him where he sits. The high grass is shielding you from the rest of the world—a private place for secret acts. Against your better judgement, you bring your hands down, running them over his hair, brush the soft strands into place beneath the flowers, and he catches one of your wrists in his hand, bringing it close to his lips, his breath tickling your skin and sending pure light into your veins.

“What made you change your mind?” You’re whispering without thinking about it; the moment feels sacred and you’re terrified of desecrating it. He presses his lips to the inside of your wrist, and for a moment, the world stops.

“How do I look?” He dodges the question, but you can’t ask it again, can’t do anything but stare at him, drinking him in. His apprehension from earlier is gone, and now he’s permissive, attentive—tuned into your heavy breathing, the hammering of your heart.

“Beautiful.” It’s true. The crown is nice, but it’s nothing compared to his radiance. His long eyelashes catch the light of the sun as he looks down, pleased by the compliment.

“My payment?” It sounds desperate because it is. What had started as mild curiosity had turned into full-blown need, clawing at your insides like you’ll die if he doesn’t give you what you’ve asked for.

“If you insist.” He takes your face in both of his hands, gently, like a prayer. You’re not breathing, and you can’t remember how, can only focus on the shrinking distance between his face and yours. Somehow it’s impossibly fast and painfully slow, and then your lips meet, and everything is as it should be.

The contact sets you alight, and you pounce on him—you can’t help it—knocking him to the ground beneath you. It’s like you’re starving, possessed, consumed by him. The kiss is sloppy, on your part at least—but you can’t get enough of it, running your hands through his hair, pulling him close. You’ll never get enough of him.

He’s still beneath you, unmoving, and for a moment you worry that you’ve gone too far and you sit up, embarrassed. He follows, a little dazed, a dopey and vulnerable look on his face. You knocked the crown from his head with your urgency, and some of the flowers were crushed beneath him in the fall. You resist the urge to brush up against him again, and pick it up, run your hands over the blossoms, reviving them and avoiding his gaze.

“What was that?” he asks, but you don’t look up, handing him the crown back in shame. The evidence of your failure is gone, the flowers restored to their original perfection, but the guilt runs deep in you, until it is replaced by the sensation of his hand on your jaw as he pulls your gaze to meet his. His touch awakens something in you; you want to feel him everywhere . . . which makes what you’re about to do all the more difficult.

“I know who you are.” You say it, even though it will ruin everything. Purple asters and chrysanthemums. The flowers don’t lie.

“When can I see you again?” He looks a little pained, now that you’ve caught him, but there’s a want there too.

“Never.” You were right all along. It does you no good to feel this way. All you’d ever know is heartache.

“Please,” he begs.

“This field, this realm—for all it’s beauty—is nothing but a gilded cage, and I am its sole prisoner. If you ever come back, my mother will find out, and she will be furious.”

“I have to see you again,” he’s insistent, and he runs his thumb over your bottom lip, his cool touch setting your world on fire. You kiss him again, more gently this time, as a parting gift, and he pulls away too soon.

“Come with me,” he says. 

“You’re insane.” He’s breaking your heart all over again, and try as you might you can’t help but imagine a life with him, far beneath the earth, in a place where the sun never shines. It would be worth it to stay by his side.

“I cannot leave you here alone.”

“Loneliness is all I have. It’s what I’m used to.”

“Come with me,” he offers you his hand this time, and you don’t have to think before you take it.

[fardell24b]

Changes in Time and Space - Chapter 3 - Part I: The SGC

Chapter 3: Twelve and the Stargate

Part I – The SGC

1 February 2007

It was a normal day at Stargate Command; as normal as a day could get at a US Air Force installation with an interstellar portal device anyway. Everyone had their duties to attend to at the base and nothing seemed too out of the ordinary. The scanners had a few blips, but nothing too severe; this was to be expected with the base hidden under a mountain.

“Unscheduled Off-World Activation!” The claxon was blaring and the Stargate’s Iris closed; everything was going as per protocol. Then the incoming wormhole opened...

“Receiving SG1’s IDC,” Harriman reported while tending to the console.

“Open the Iris,” General Hank Landry commanded, his eyes never faltered from the portal.

Harriman pressed his palm to the reader and the Iris opened in just over a second. After a few seconds SG1 came through, stepping onto the platform one by one.

“Report to debriefing,” Landry said, once they had all emerged and the gate shut down.

“Yes, General,” Colonel Cameron Mitchell replied.

Things were not routine for much longer. Shortly after SG1 had emerged from the gate a reverberating grinding sound was heard. They immediately saw the source, as a box resembling a 1950’s London Police Box phased in and out with the reverberation and eventually solidified. SG1 and the Gate room guards were startled. They raised their weapons.

“What’s that?” Mitchell asked as he prepared for anything that might have come next.

“Unknown, sir.”

“What do you think is in there?” Mitchell asked as he approached what looked like a door on the box.

“It could be anything, Sir,” Colonel Samantha Carter pointed out as she followed.

“It could be a trap, ColonelMitchell,” Teal’c said.

The team paid attention as the door of the box opened. A tall brown haired man emerged from the blue box, immediately followed by a younger female companion with ear length dark blonde hair. The latter was startled by the appearance of the team, but quickly regained control of her expression.

Mitchell immediately raised his P90. “Don’t move! Identify yourself!”

“I am the Doctor, and this is my travelling companion, Tamsin Davis,” the Doctor said with a gesture to his companion.

“How did you penetrate this base?” Teal’c asked, flatly.

The Doctor looked at the symbol on Teal’c’s forehead. “Interesting Ornamentation. Is it of cultural significance?”

Teal’c stared at the Doctor.

The Doctor stared back.

“It signifies servitude to a false god,” Teal’c intoned in his usual near-monotone voice.

“Interesting,” the Doctor said.

“How did you penetrate this base with that box device?” Carter asked, her natural curiosity showing.

The Doctor hesitated. “I would be more inclined to answer if there were not so many guns pointed in my direction,” he pointed out. “Take me to your leader.”

Mitchell and Teal’c both rolled their eyes at the cliché. Mitchell didn’t really expect it to be said.

“Follow me,” Dr. Daniel Jackson directed. He lead the way out of the gate room, followed by Mitchell and Teal’c.

Tamsin nervously ran her hand through her hair. ‘He doesn’t seem that military,’ she thought. She and the Doctor followed the soldiers toward the left hand door.

Inside the TARDIS, Felicia Lovell and Kiara Asheru had been watching the view screen. “That was surprising,” Felicia indicated.

“What was?” Kiara asked. She turned and leaned toward the console to get a better look, sending her dark brown, minibraided, pigtails down the front of her torso.

“Usually Americans take us prisoner quicker than that!” Felicia emphasised, remembering the few times that they had run into American military forces.

“Maybe they are different in this universe?” Kiara asked, as she flicked one of her pigtails over her shoulder. ‘Tyria may not exist either!’ she thought.

“A good point,” Felicia conceded, as she ruffled her chin-length, light brown, hair.

“And now to wait for the Doctor to give us the all clear,” Kiara pointed out as she turned to Tamsin.

“Yes.”

“We’ll be bored.”

“We can use the scanner to investigate the base,” Felicia said. She knew that the scanner could probably see all of it, depending on how large it was.

“Good idea.”

Felicia’s phone rang. She grabbed it and answered it, seeing who the call was from. “It’s Tamsin, we can listen in on the briefing.”

Kiara sat down at the console as Felicia put her phone on speaker and placed it there. “That’s good.”

Felicia switched on the scanner as she started listening to the briefing. She looked at the diagram of the SGC that had appeared on the screen. “It appears that we are at least 28 floors underground.”

“If you want to keep something secret, put it underground,” Kiara observed, remembering that many criminal organisations on Tyria put their headquarters in caves. She had certainly found many such in her adventures.

“Certainly.”

“It’s beginning.”

Felicia increased the volume on the phone.

After entering, SG-1 and General Landry sat opposite the Doctor and Tamsin in the briefing room.

Landry leaned towards the Doctor and started by asking “So you say that blue box is your ship?”

“Yes,” the Doctor answered, after a second’s hesitation.

“Rather small for a ship isn’t it?” Daniel asked with a glance of slight confusion.

The Doctor remained silent, glaring at the archaeologist.

“It’s bigger in the inside than the outside,” Tamsin explained, after a minute of awkward silence. She felt that someone had to answer.

“What?” Landry asked.

The Doctor gave Tamsin a brief glare before turning back to SG1. “It’s dimensionally transcendental.”

“What does that mean?” Daniel asked, with similar confusion to before.

“You mean that the door to the box opens perpendicularly into a different dimension to the regular three dimensions of space, allowing for more space in the box than physics would normally allow?” Carter asked excitedly.

‘You’re good. I couldn’t understand it. I still can’t understand it,’ Tamsin thought with a wry expression.

“To put it crudely, yes,” the Doctor conceded as he gave Carter a slight look of annoyance.

Mitchell turned to Teal’c “Tell me you didn’t understand a word of that?”

Teal’c raised an eyebrow and stated, “I didn’t understand a word of that.”

“Thanks.”

“Neither did I,” Daniel added.

Landry turned back to the Doctor and asked. “But that doesn’t explain how the box managed to penetrate our defences. Isn’t the Gate Room supposed to be shielded against transporters?”

“It is, Sir, but the box obviously appeared via a different process,” Carter answered.

‘Evidently, yes,’ Tamsin thought.

“You’re good,” the Doctor stated.

“Thank you,” Carter replied.

“We only have their word for it,” General Landry said.

The Doctor didn’t like where this is going. “She’s correct,” he said, referring to Carter’s surmising.

“Are you saying we need to look inside that box?” Mitchell asked.

“Yes. Consider it an order,” Landry directed.

‘Great!’ Tamsin thought.

The Doctor sighed. “Wait a minute! Calm down. I am willing to allow your team to examine my ship. You only have to ask.” He didn’t want Landry to get any further riled up.

“Kiara, the Doctor is back with the soldiers,” Felicia observed, from where she was looking at the scanner.

“I’ll unlock the door,” Kiara decided. ‘At least the temporal grace field allows me to use my elementalist powers,’ she thought. She unlocked the door, and then stepped outside.

“Be ready if they try anything,” Felicia said.

Kiara took up position next to the door. “I’m ready now.”

“OK, some ground rules. Only two of the SG1 team are allowed in,” the Doctor explained. “And I’ll be asking about the purpose of this facility.”

“No,” Landry objected.

“Otherwise you will not know what is in that box,” the Doctor declared.

“Agreed,” General Landry said, after he had given the matter some thought.

“Colonel Mitchell and Dr. Jackson can follow me in,” the Doctor decided.

“Good,” Mitchell said.

“Why not myself?” Carter asked, looking surprised at the Doctor.

“He thinks you will be too curious,” Tamsin pointed out. ‘She’s definitely a military scientist,’ she thought.

“I’ll try to hold my enthusiasm in check,” Carter responded, as she longingly looked at the TARDIS.

The Doctor noticed her look. “No,” he objected.

“I won’t speculate too much,” Carter added.

“You wouldn’t be able to help yourself.”

“Agreed,” Landry added.

Carter nodded as the Doctor unlocked the TARDIS and gestured for Mitchell and Jackson to follow.

It took a while for Jackson and Mitchell to recover from their initial shock at the size of the TARDIS interior. The large roundled space was half the size of the Gateroom outside.

“This is amazing. This is definitely the product of a culture more highly advanced than the Lantians were or the Ori are,” Dr. Jackson said as he walked around the console room.He approached the console.

“Swell,” Mitchell said.

“Indications of wormhole activity,” the Doctor said, from the console.

“What did you say?” Mitchell asked.

“Wormhole activity. That round device in this room is a portal device isn’t it?” the Doctor asked, as he gestured to the image of the Stargate on the scanner screen.

“I’m not saying anything,” Daniel countered. He looked at Col. Mitchell.

“That’s classified,” Mitchell said.

“And my sensors are very advanced,” the Doctor countered. He looked at what the scanner had found out about the Stargate.

“He will get his answer,” Kiara maintained, from where she stood to the right of the two SG1 members.

“It is a Stargate. An artefact originally built by a culture who called themselves the Alterans and who later became the Lantians I mentioned,” Daniel lectured.

‘Interesting,’ Felicia thought.

“There are thousands of them across the galaxy,” Mitchell elaborated.

The Doctor thought for a few moments. “That sounds like something an advanced race would do,” he commented.

“So, you explore through the Stargate, looking for advanced technology?” Felicia asked, her eyebrows rising in surprise.

“That is part of it,” Daniel admitted.

“There is more, isn’t there?” the Doctor asked.

Mitchell lowered his sidearm and holstered it. ‘Not that shooting him would be a good idea anyway, he could certainly have a means of defense’ “Yes, there are aliens out there who want to conquer Earth. We defeat one interstellar Empire and we now have an intergalactic invasion to contend with,” he explained, his expression showed that he didn’t like the circumstances surrounding the invasion at all.

‘The more things change, the more they stay the same,’ Tamsin thought, with a wry expression.

“Interesting, I am not a native of this universe but I would like to know more,” the Doctor said, his expression showing his interest.

“Not of this universe?” Daniel asked, confused.

“Yes, there is a whole multiverse out there,” the Doctor pointed out.

“I know. I have been to two parallels,” Daniel said, as he remembered the incidents with the Quantum Mirror.

“Really?”Kiara asked, intrigued.

“Yes,” Dr. Jackson answered.

“The TARDIS can occasionally hop between universes, but not often,” the Doctor explained.

“TARDIS?” Colonel Mitchell asked. He looked around the room. He couldn’t see the name anywhere.

“That’s what the ship is called,” Kiara added.

“It means Time and Relative Dimension in Space,” Felicia said.

Mitchell was still confused “Time?” he asked.

“It travels through time as well as space,” Kiara elaborated as she took a step towards Mitchell.

“Definitely way more advanced than the Lantians,” Daniel said, and slight shake of his head.

“That is interesting, so your civilisation must be powerful in your universe?” Mitchell asked, curiously.

‘And they have only seen the console room!’ Kiara thought with a smirk on her face. She was sure that the Doctor didn’t want them to guess at the true scale of the TARDIS interior yet. She then considered what Mitchell had just asked. ‘You don’t know what you just asked...’

The Doctor frowned and didn’t answer. He evasively looked away.

Mitchell considered that what he asked had hit a tough spot. ‘Maybe he’s a renegade?’ he wondered.

“They are taking their time,” Landry complained, after ten minutes at passed. He gestured at the TARDIS.

“They could be looking at the various objects in the console room,” Tamsin explained with a look of slight annoyance.

“I would like to have a look,” Carter said enthusiastically, gesturing at the ship.

“If the Doctor lets you,” Tamsin pointed out.

“Can you trust him?” Landry asked, turning to Tamsin.

“Absolutely. Just don’t get on his bad side,” Tamsin said.

“Really? Is that all?” the general asked.

“Trust me! You don’t want to be on his bad side,” Tamsin emphasised, her voice slightly raised.

“That is not specific, TamsinDavis,” Teal’c objected as he turned towards her.

“You will know when you’re on his bad side,” Tamsin explained. An expression of slight fear and her voice showed that she was slightly intimidated by the Jaffa.

Teal’c raised his eye brows and glared at Tamsin.

“If you do something very unethical or hypocritical, you are likely to get on his bad side. Otherwise you’re fine,” she said with a slight wavering in her voice.

“Indeed?”

“Yes,” Tamsin said, recovering.

“Makes sense,” Carter added.

After another five or six minutes, the TARDIS doors opened and Colonel Mitchell and Dr. Jackson emerged.

“Wow,” Mitchell said.

“He was a member of a civilisation that makes the Lantians look like Victorian Britain by comparison,” Daniel explained, after he had emerged.

“Are you sure?” Carter asked with a look of disbelief.

“Yes. This machine here can travel in time and the interior is larger than the interior of Atlantis at least,” Daniel explained, gesturing at the TARDIS.

“You said ‘was’,” Landry pointed out.

“He said that his civilisation perished in what he called a Time War against a force of approximately equal advancement,” Daniel said.

“Time War? That doesn’t make sense,” Carter asserted.

“He also said that he has come from a different universe,” Daniel added.

The Doctor and Felicia emerged. “There has to be a reason why I am here. Fill me in on recent events,” he besought.

“Why do you want to know about our situation?” Landry asked.

“I may be able to help,” the Doctor said.

“Come to my office and I’ll fill you and one of your crew in,” Landry said, turning towards the doors to the right.

“Right away,” the Doctor said.

“Cool,” Tamsin attested.

“You can fill me in,” Kiara asked.

“I’ll choose,” the Doctor said.

Kiara acquiesced, as the Doctor and Tamsin followed General Landry to his office. “I’ll wait,” she added.

---

The Doctor reflected that lying about the Time Lords surviving was a good idea. ‘Best not to spook them too much.’ They had enough to worry about with the Ori.

---

Later that night SG1 sat in the SGC cafeteria.

“What do you think of the Doctor?” Colonel Mitchell asked from one end of the table.

“I don’t know. Other than what he revealed about the nature of his ship and the fate of his civilisation, he is rather private,” Daniel commented.

“That’s what I thought too,” Mitchell said.

“What of his crew?” Teal’c asked, from the other side of Daniel.

Daniel turned to Teal’c “They are not really crew. More like assistants,” hepointed out.

“Or travelling companions.” Mitchell added.

“They are either from Earth in their universe, or a planet in the Greater Magellanic Cloud,” Daniel said.

“From the United Kingdom,” Teal’c said.

“How do you know?” Mitchell asked.

“Ms. Davis said that she is from the county of Devon. She and Ms. Lovell both have the accents.”

“I must have missed that,” Mitchell commented.

“Do you think that the general would have told him about the Ori?” Carter asked.

“That is possible,” Mitchell realised.

“I agree,” Daniel said.

“You think he could be of use?” Mitchell asked.

“Absolutely,” Carter said.

“He had to have encountered similar beings,” Mitchell added.

“That is by no means certain,” Carter countered.

Felicia heard a knock on the door of the quarters she had been assigned by SGC personnel. She went and opened it. “Hi, Tamsin,” she said.

“I was just wondering how you were.”

“I am fine.”

“I mean, we had defeated Vile, and now we are in a different universe. We are unlikely to find your Doctor here,” Tamsin said in a consolatory tone.

“It was a long shot at best,” Felicia said with a shrug of her shoulders.

“True,” Tamsin said as she sat on the spare chair.

“Thanks for coming by,” Felicia said in a welcoming tone.

“You’re welcome. Do you think something is going to happen?”

“It’s a military base. I certainly think that something is going to happen. Whether it would be one of those ‘Priors’ coming through that ‘Gate’, I don’t know.”

“I agree.”

“The Doctor might volunteer us to go with one of the SG teams on a mission. I wouldn’t put it past him.”

“Has that happened with your Doctor?”

“Yes, but not often,” Felicia answered, smiling as she remembered one of the times that occurred...

“Not that often here, either. But he did ask you to chase after the poisoner,” Tamsin said.

Felicia frowned. “We know how that ended.”

“I admit that, but it did at least put us on the track to taking down Vile,” Tamsin said, encouragingly.

“Thanks,” Felicia said, slightly happier.

“Now, what do you say about going online and finding out about this world?” Tamsin asked, standing up.

Felicia perked up. “Sure. I mean all we know is that America exists and that the Stargate Program is a secret.”

“Yeah.”

The two acquaintances (nearly friends, although they wouldn’t admit that) then left the room.

Elsewhere in the SGC, an enlistee sent a letter to their ‘superiors’. The TARDIS may be of interest to them... ‘Who knows what it can do...’

2 February 2007

The Doctor entered the cafeteria for breakfast. His companions (including the future one, Felicia) were already there, as were SG-1, all sitting around two tables that had been pushed together.

“Welcome, Doctor. Have you found a reason why you are here yet?” Colonel Mitchell asked.

“Possibly, what can you tell me about this ‘Adria’?” the Doctor asked as he walked up.

“Not much. She is the embodiment of the Ori in human form, and has many powers,” Daniel answered.

“What sort of powers?” the Doctor asked.

“Telepathy and Telekinesis and that is the start of it,” Daniel said.

“She can also heal people,” Cameron added.

“Is that all?” the Doctor asked, as he sat down.

“No, but Vala can better answer your questions,” Daniel answered.

“Vala?” the Doctor asked, his eyebrows raised.

“Vala Mal Doran, the Ori used her as an incubator for Adria,” Daniel explained.

“Incubator?” Felicia asked, with curiosity.

“They impregnated her...” Daniel began.

“That’s wrong!” Tamsin interrupted, disgust showing on her face. She shook her head as if saying “very wrong.”

“I get it,” Felicia said.

“That’s putting it mildly,” Daniel added.

“Where can I find this Vala?” the Doctor asked as he stood up.

“You would have to ask the General. She is currently exploring Colorado with an escort,” Daniel explained.

‘He doesn’t seem to trust her, even with an escort,’ the Doctor thought. He turned “Right! I will be back with her,” he explained. He left the cafeteria.

“Is he doing what I think he is doing?” Daniel asked.

“Yes,” Tamsin said, with surety in her voice.

“I better accompany him,” Daniel asserted.

“If he lets you,” Tamsin imparted.

“I am sure that he will once I explain to him,” Daniel rejoined.

“Be quick then,” Tamsin said, with a slight laugh and a shooing gesture.

“I will be.”

Daniel entered the TARDIS after the Doctor. “You want to come with me?” the Doctor asked, as he turned from the console.

“Yes. Vala won’t trust anyone else.”

Rocky Ford, Colorado, United States of America

Vala Mal Doran had just finished breakfast at the Subway on the corner of Elm Street and North Tenth Street, when the TARDIS started to rematerialise.

Her escort pulled their guns on the blue box as it appeared.

Daniel emerged from the TARDIS with his hands raised. “Don’t shoot!” he implored.

“Daniel! How did you get here?” Vala asked, her hands on her hips.

“An interdimensional traveller has arrived in the SGC,” Daniel explained.

“Like last year?” she asked.

“No, it’s different...” Daniel began. He looked around “...and we shouldn’t be discussing this on a street corner in the middle of a town. Come into the TARDIS and we will go back to the SGC,” Daniel said, he grabbed one of Vala’s wrists and pulled her into the TARDIS.

“Wait, Daniel!” Vala exclaimed as she resisted.

Vala was shocked. “How can this box be bigger on the inside than the outside?” she wondered aloud as she walked further in and towards the console.

“It is the product of a civilisation that would make the Ancients look primitive by comparison,” Daniel said as he lead her to the console.

“Really?”Vala asked, as her escort continued to enter the TARDIS.

“Yes,” Daniel explained.

The Doctor confronted the escort. “This is as classified as the Stargate, got it!”

“I understand, Sir,” the leader of the escort confirmed, whilst trying to hide his awe at the interior scale of the TARDIS.

“Good,” the Doctor said.

“We’re going back to the SGC?” Vala asked.

“Yes, where you are going to tell me all about Adria,” the Doctor said as he began to make adjustments on the console.

Vala tensed.

“Don’t worry, the Doctor just wants information,” Daniel said.

“Right,” Vala said, still worried.

The Doctor set the TARDIS in motion, heading back to the SGC. “Here we go.”

Stargate Command

The TARDIS rematerialised in the Gateroom. Vala emerged first. “Why do you want to know about Adria? And what kind of name is ‘Doctor’ anyway?” she asked.

“I may be able to help against the forces of the Ori. Stop their plan for taking over this galaxy,” the Doctor explained as he exited the TARDIS.

“Really?”Vala asked, turning.

“Yes,” the Doctor said.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes!”

“We better go to the briefing room,” Vala hinted.

“Yes,” Daniel said.

A few hours later, the Doctor entered General Landry’s office.

“Are you saying that you want your assistants to join SG-1 on their next mission?” General Landry asked, after the Doctor had sat down.

“Yes,” the Doctor answered.

“Why should I approve of this idea?” Landry asked with a dubious tone and look.

“They may be able to notice something that SG-1 might miss.”

“They would be liabilities!”

“They can handle themselves.”

“Unlikely!”

“You don’t know half of the things I encounter on a regular basis. Things that may make the Goa’uld look like school yard bullies by comparison!”

“That’s not proof that they can handle themselves, only that you can handle the threats that you encounter.”

The Doctor backed off slightly. “Kiara is a native of a world in a medieval era. She has fought things there that you cannot imagine.

“Don’t insult my intelligence. I could imagine what the Goa’uld look like just from the mission reports without any pictures.”

The Doctor paced in front of the desk before turning back to the general. “The point is, that she would be able to handle herself in a combat situation. She may surprise SG-1.”

“Fine, but what about the other two?”  the General asked as he made a gesture for the Doctor to sit down. “All I know about them is that they are British college students.”

“Ms. Davis has been in combat situations before and handled them well. She also has a black belt in Karate,” the Doctor explained.

“I will think about it. But that leaves Ms. Lovell, whom has said that she has only joined you recently.”

“In the most recent adventure of ours, she has proved most resourceful...” the Doctor began.

The General listened intently, while still being exasperated at the Doctor not staying still.

The Doctor approached his companions where they were talking in the cafeteria.

“Doctor, in this universe, Atlantis was an Ancient city that they left under the ocean in another galaxy,” Tamsin explained excitedly.

“Interesting,” he said as he took a seat next to her. “After a lot of persuasion, the general has agreed to let you go on SG-1’s next mission.”

“That’s good!” Kiara was excited.

“You will have to obey Colonel Mitchell’s commands,” the Doctor directed.

“That’s obvious,” Tamsin said, with slight sarcasm.

“Try to find out what this ‘Adria’ person is planning with regard to conversion of the Milky Way to Origin or whatever that religion is called,” the Doctor added.

“That would be difficult,” Kiara said as her face took on a whimsical look.

The Doctor considered. “Of course it will be, but at least try.”

“Of course I will,” Kiara assured.

“We won’t let you down,” Tamsin added.

“I know,” the Doctor said.

[itsthe-neo-zone]

Wands and Potions: NCTdream and WayV series

Please read the Masterlist before continuing ahead with the story.

Warning: mild language, mentions of self hate and slight manipulation

Chapter 15: 

[Selene Pov]

The entire castle was celebrating the start of the official Triwizard cup, cheering and hollers could be heard from the great hall reverberating and traveling past the walls of the building. Time goes by too fast, why is it always me that must slow down?

Desires changes and motives develop, it’s a slow change but it happens, and it will pass.

“Show me my heart’s desires.” I whisper my hand sliding down the dusted and ancient metallic trimming of the large reflection. Greeting the mirror like an old friend, gently, my eyes shut.

I stood looking back at myself. The mirror must have been broken It didn’t dawn on me that it was truly reflecting my deepest desires until it wasn’t a simple reflection.

It wasn’t my true self. It was a desirable me; a beautiful and most importantly a confident me.

Darker crimson maroon locks, laying across her shoulders, definitely a sly smirk plastered upon her face. It was malicious, that Selene was powerful, adorned in viridian robes she knew she belonged. Her orbs flashed danger; head held up high.

my fingers touched her, the reflection mirroring the same. she looked healthy, happy, content. There was a threshold I couldn’t pass. Nothing I’ll ever get. It was different.

Much different to the desires my younger self needed, wished and hoped for. Though it came to me naturally that my desires don’t happen, they don’t come true. Because I don’t deserve it. Dropping my hand I wake from the daze enchanted in turning to the figure my eyes caught from the reflection.

“Why so gloomy?”

A male much taller than I am, his brown hair falling across his fawn like eyes, chocolate ripples with a tinge of hazel. He had a grin plastered upon his lips. A foreign not wearing Hogwarts robes.

His attire consisted of a dark maroon robe the belt and leather boots carrying the code of arms he was affiliated with. Resting upon his shoulders was a thick fur coat and a matching hat in his hand.

“I don’t know what you mean, and how did you get here?”

“Oh let’s not play games now?” the male pursed his lips before flourishing a devilish smirk on his face, his eyebrows lifting slightly. “As for my unannounced entrance I came from there,” pointing to the doorway that was slightly ajar showing the outer hallway.

He stepped closer. “But if were talking about detail, then I came from Europe. On a boat. From Durmstrang.” Taking a slight step nearer he closed the gap between them with each phrase. I noticed his sharp tongue.

“You’re hear for the Triwizard tournament, right?” the realisation dawning on my face and as I shuffled away from the mirror the reflection vanished with a hazy whirl of light smoke.  Leaving I pause, he stood near the mirror not moving at all.

“Well, aren’t you coming?”

“I know my way back, I’m not lost.” I stopped, what was he here for then? As if he was a legilimence he replied like he was reading my mind. “I’m here because I wanted to get away from the noise and overpowering energy in the hall.” He smirked.

“Right then. Makes sense I guess.”

“Now, what were you doing here?” finally establishing his motive he placed me in an awkward position. Equality says I need to answer him to make it equal.

“I don’t know you, why should I tell you?” the male chuckled before rolling his eyes comedically. “Mysterious one you are. Alright let’s get to know each other, then you can let me know.”

[11:18AM]

“Hey, I need to talk to you.”  Selene was pulled aside by Rose; the ginger witch had exasperated features plastered on her face. Selene was going to tell me everything. “Sure but what’s wrong?”

“What did you tell Albus?” Selene and Rose repositioned towards the side of the hall; taking a seat near the back of the great hall a hidden by the column in the corner.

“He said something sparked him that night in the forest when you were in camp.” poking at a memory in Selene’s head she thought back to the night; the male did have a dazed look towards the end of their conversation, his head twisting thoughts repeatedly.  

“Albus looked like he was thinking of something, but I don’t know- he didn’t tell me.”

The frustration was building up within Rose, Albus was putting himself in careless danger and rose couldn’t stop him, he was slipping out of her grasp. “Are you sure you didn’t hear anything from him or his friends?”

“No, I don’t think he- he didn’t. I’m sure of it.” Rose had assurance from the truth behind her words, but it also filled immense worry and her anxiety hit the roof. Her heartbeat immediately sped up like a drum beating coming to a climax.

Selene watched the witch run out of the hall leaving the celebration early. Seems nice to have someone to care for him like that.

“Selene!” from a distance lyra waved beckoning her closer. “What did I miss?” taking a seat next to her on the benches that were placed upon one another.

“Not much just the introduction and the Triwizard rules. James is putting his name in apparently. And the fact that there’s no age limit this year unlike the past tournament.” the two got comfortable in their seating; they’d be there for a while.

“Durmstrang are entering this year with us and they’re absolutely stunning all of them. So is beauxbaton.” Irene whispered, grabbing the two witches attention. Comically, Jinny was stuffing her face with small cherries next to her.

“Ah really.”

A brief introduction was based about them from the minister himself then the grand gates were opened letting durmstrang students with their representative headmaster enter. The man with the golden detailed black robes and a large fur hat was familiar to Selene. She had seen him at the black manor a few times.

What really grabbed selenes attention was the brunett male she had met earlier with those warm inviting eyes. He entered captivatingly leading the dozen students behind him with confidence and a sense of power.

“Durmstrang Academy with headmaster Von Daniken!”

The male glanced towards selenes direction frowning when he caught eyes of the umber witches orbs. Selene looked down, she wasn’t cheering or clapping like the rest, something was up she always looked solemn. From the moment he arrived the witch had never once smiled.

“Merlin’s beard, look! He’s looking this way.” Irene’s voice squealing at Jinny with glee as she stomped her feet against the wood below her in excitement.  

Looking up, Selene found the boys eyes directed at her; he smiled, winking cheekily. Selene didn’t show any change in expression at all she was more worried about what rose was hinting at. Maybe Albus is in trouble and what if he’s pulled Scorpius and chenle into his mess too?

Shaking herself out of it she left a stern look on her face. I shouldn’t care about what happens to Chenle, Selene almost wished to see him hurt for what he did to her. And as for Scorpius he can take care of himself.

The ceremony continued with loud cheers and laughter as the students celebrated the gathering of nobility and glory between institutes of magical gifts and talents. Selene felt her mood gravitate towards gloomy and depressing motives as she was left to her thoughts further and further.

“Oh god, here we go again.” Jinsoul shuffled to take placement next to her “What is it now, what’s got your feathers in a bad ruffle?”

“Nothing, I’m fine.” “I’m sorry but you’re spewing utter bullocks.” The witch played with the inner skin of her lobes feigning pain from hearing selenes words.

“Why is it that you’ve always got a frown on your face, I’m sorry Selene but you’re just always so depressed, it’s gotten really bad.”

“It’s… I just- Really?” “Ask anyone, Selene snap out of it. Come back to being the sweet and lovable lene.”

“it’s not that simple,”

“Just try, for me. For all of us. We miss you.” She pulled the umber witch close to her side, arm twisted around the fragile shoulders of the witch.

The celebration continued way past the afternoon and into the evening the teachers set a certain time for students to get back to their dorms by inviting the headmaster and headmistress of the neighbouring schools for a tour and a delectable dinner.

Once gone, the students were able to mingle freely and introductions were given following gatherings of small groups to allow the unnecessary chatter about anything under the sun and moon, this would allow the basis of friendships to bloom and flourish.

She already declined around 5 offers from friends or random students from Ilvermorny to talk. This was the 6th now; an exasperated sigh left her lips.

“I just don’t want to talk, right now.” Selene abruptly stood, eyes wavering a little. The breath she took was stuck in her throat forcing a light cough. Scorpius who had offered they spend time with other students hadn’t realised what fell out of place between his cousin and best friend.

“Selene! This isn’t like you.” He called back the witch who had turned her back getting ready to step off the edge of the wooden table. She wanted to leave; her skin was trembling, itching to get away.

“Oh it isn’t? I realise that now.” The tingling frustration was very speedily climbing upon her entire body. The acrimony that was about to be spewed was evident in her palms turning into fists and her tongue spilling with sarcasm.

“What’s wrong?” Scorpius’s worry brought unwanted attention to the couple from around them.   “What happened lene?” Jinny and Olivia who had been with a few other students and the Ilvermorny pupils directed their attention -and everyone with them- towards Selene who was fuming now. At the wrong person too.

“Me, it’s all me! It’s all my fault, definitely not any of you purebloods so don’t worry your precious heads over it.”

“Did any of you have anything to do with this?” the blond boy spun on his feet, confusion taking over his expression. He asked the boys around him.

“I’ll make things easy for you Scorpius, none of them had anything to do with it. Especially not the noble Chenle Greengrass.” Selene sneered, her eyes flaming with bitterness.

“She’s officially gone deranged.” Jisung spoke looking up at Selene with a smirk plastered upon his face.

“I guess it runs in the family.” Chenle commented throwing fuel into the enraged flames.

“You know what?” the umber haired witch jumped down from her placement walking up to Chenle, she faced him seething with hatred. He had done it. She was beyond furious.

“I really fucking hate you.” The pure repugnance and hostility in the way she spat the words at him were clear for anyone and everyone to see. She despised his guts and if they had left her any longer with him standing there, she would have sent him straight to Madam Pompfrey’s wings. Seriously injured.

Selene was dragged out by her fellow classmates and house friends. Said girl was thrashing and violently tugging herself off their grasp. They barely got past the main doorway for the great hall.

“Selene that was way out of line!” Ravelle’s voice came out echoing in the immense entryway of the castle. The shrieking wails coming from the witch had calmed and all that was left was harsh breaths.

“I’m not going to be lectured by a slut who sleeps with more boys than I can count.” Selene was able to separate herself away from the girls around her, the umber locks trailing behind her as she ran out into the misty moonlight.

 [12:17PM]

“Can I join you?”

Selene had been sitting at the edge of the stairs close to the entrance of the astronomy towers, she was silently letting the tears fall, past her face. It was cold Selene had no blanket with her she pulled her robes over the rest of her body letting her senses adjust.

“I mean, if I say no are you going to leave?” the emotion was thick in her voice letting her almost feel like breaking down right there right then, the male chuckled.

“It’s really late, you should go back.” He added sliding to sit at the edge of the stairs mimicking her posture, he stared out into the cold lifeless scenery. Not much was out there except for the low wooing of an owl and the howling wind harmonizing.

“Don’t want to, I hate it there.” Her lips visibly pouted slightly, earning another chuckle and roll of his eyes. “Want to talk about it?”

There, left a bleak silence that was suffocating for Selene. She sensed his pity and that was one thing she abhorred from anyone; she didn’t want anyone’s sympathy. It made her feel worse.

“I know you barely know me, and we haven’t introduced properly but…”

“-from what you’ve seen, am I- do I always have?” She took a deep breath before continuing. “I mean do I look depressed all the time?” not moving her eyes she kept a focus on a fickle of bushes down below near the main courtyard.

“You want the truth though?”

Selene thought for a couple of seconds she, did want the honest truth. No window dressing, no friendly white lies. “Yeah.”

“Then yes. It’s visible on your face.” The boy murmured he continued extending his answer, “But in my opinion, it’s mostly visible through your eyes.” Selene felt weak. Her body shaking slightly. She wasn’t sure if it was the cold or her feeling vulnerable.

“They’re so sorrowful; Crying out. Pleading to be saved.” He sensed her sensitivity and stopped. He could have continued ahead; the male was observing her the whole day. Not once had she smiled. Her eyes showed no optimism.

“Sorry, I never asked for your name. its so rude of me.” She sniffled drying her face after a long relentless minute of lull. He let her have the peace content with just sitting as equals next to one another. No competition. No looking down upon one another. He liked it; He appreciated it.

“It’s alright. Its Yangyang. Liu Yangyang.”

“Selene, Adams.” The witch finally turned to glance at him and introduce herself properly. The feature that grabbed her attention was his fervent eyes. Selene didn’t know what brown was when she saw the marbles glistening from the cool rays of the moon. They held the colour of soil after a coppice downfall. And the metallic warm of copper flakes sprinkled between depths.

“Your name, it’s after the goddess of the moon. Selene.” Selene glanced away, Yangyang seemed to know a great deal about astronomy and astral knowledge. She nodded confirming his words.

“Yeah my mother’s maternal family names everyone based on astral terms.” Shifting she let her feet slide off the edge and dangle downwards like his. He noticed the physical sign of acceptance.  

“The blacks?” once he uttered selenes family name she turned to face him, a surprise evident on her face, “You know of them?”  

“I’m familiar of their legacy. Its really their tradition. To name children after astral beings and stars. Afterall they were one of the most noble and ancient wizarding houses.” Yangyang spoke with a shimmer in his eyes. He really knew a lot about them. Selene felt uneasy.

“I’m not going until you go back. Who know what might be out here?” changing the subject again he glanced down across the fields of evergreen trees. “Hogwarts students are so very lucky; the scenery is so beautiful here. Even at night.”

“You don’t have forests?”

“Durmstrang is surrounded by marble snow mountains, we have hills but not of forests so green.” He quickly glanced back at Selene grinning before marvelling at the sight before him. It looked like something out of a panting.

“Must get really cold.” Selene smiled a little at his gaping expression.

 [12th October]

“I’m late for class, Yangyang.” Selene was trying to get out of the companionship of the noticeably older and whining boy.

“Why can’t we go down to the lake, the first task is there.” He groaned tugging at selenes robes. He slipped the books slyly off her hold grabbing them tightly. Watching Selene jump to collect them off him “And its in 3 days. What time is it?”

Stopping his antics he looked at the watch resting on his wrist making sure to cover the armlet set just above his left wrist. “10:01” he grinned at her giving most of her books back. “Fuck, I’m late.” She groaned. “Yangyang this is your fault.” Smirking he spoke back sharply “And I’ll make sure your professor knows that.” He held onto the heavy textbook leading her to the class she was heading to.

“Professor Flitwick won’t like it.”

As she got to the doorway of the class she was scheduled for, she bid the tall boy goodbye. “I’ll meet you in the great hall for lunch, alright?” taking her bulky textbooks off him.

“You two have gotten very close, as close as sea slugs, right?” lyra nudged Selene smiling when the latter rolled her eyes. “He asked me to take him on tours of the castle. I accepted that’s all.”

“Right, definitely.”

The class was going extremely boringly. As usual professor Flitwick was taking all the time in the world to explain how the accio charm works. Some students were in awe by the charm, but Selene -now almost asleep and yawning- found this to be first year level. Her and Scorpius had been using the summoning charm ever since they were eight.

It was getting close to the end of class, and Professor Flitwick was still explaining the theory, Selene was so tired from the lack of sleeping well she decided to set her head down, fluttering her eyes shut to rest. She had lost track of time in her slumber.

“Miss Adams! since you’re so intensively attentive in my important class would you like to demonstrate how the spell works by summoning the book on the top shelf?” the sudden call of her name had shocked her awake.

There were sounded whispers and smug chuckles, the words echoed ‘half-blood’, ‘No ability’. Ignoring the voices, Selene stood shuffling to the ready stance lifting her wand she pointed it at the object above. “Accio, book.”

The book sat vibrating for half a second then released itself off the shelf and was sent flying towards the grasp of selenes hand.

“Well, it seems you can summon well. Just do keep your eyes open and pay attention.”

Lyra gave her a wink and a cheeky grin. “Well done!” she whispered when the umber haired witch sat next to her smiling.

“What I’d do to be out there right now.” Selene wistfully wished, she glanced out the ancient stained glass of the class windows. The almond shape letting her catch a view of the lake and forbidden forest.

“Yeah with the good looking durmstrang boy.” Jinny hissed entering their conversation. She had made up with Selene a couple of days after the incident on the introductory celebration. Though the two were avoiding Ravelle who was recently getting on jinny’s nerves too.

“it’s not about that.”

“Oh sure it isn’t. Your mood has slightly gotten better. only because you’ve been hanging out with him.” Selene scoffed; the statement was comically taken by her.

“I think it’s gotten better because I haven’t seen Ravelle and the other croaking frogs she’s around, not because of Yangyang.”

“First name basis already? Selene has fallen!” lyra squealed as quietly as she could, “It just proves my point.” Said girl smirked, pushing the ashy brown locks away from her eyes.

“I’d be careful though.” Jinny added, Selene was about to but in and shut her up. “No, I mean it. Durmstrang teaches the dark arts, they’ve been known to have the darkest wizards and death eaters of all time.” Selene nodded but she didn’t really care for her warnings.

Like Scorpius, her own family came from death eaters and have been known to use dark magic. They were notorious for the handling and the casting of sorcery so dark it was illegal. I wasn’t unfamiliar to it.

“I’ll be fine, Jinsoul. You don’t need to baby me.” She lifted her books slipping them into her bag as she heard the professor signify the end of class.

She was the first to leave the class carelessly not caring to ask the professor, Jinsoul was quite shocked to say the least. Selene was acting strangely.

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