#but that's ok as long as he's got his suit he's recognizable

[s0dium]

Business

Alpha!Gojo x Omega!Reader

A/n: I know its been a long time in the works, but its finally here! The second part to the Alpha series! I did not expect the sukuna one to blow up like ALMOST 10K HOLY SHIT. Neway I hope you guys enjoy :) ALSO THANK YOU FOR 10K FOLLOWERS!!!!

Synopsis: For most of your life, you did a pretty decent job of hiding the fact that you were an omega. So when you met your boss for the first time, the feeling in your stomach was un-recognizable to you. The feeling was fear, fear that someone knew who you really were.

Warnings: Stalking, drugging, DUB-CON, knotting, heat, breeding, sub-space, reader is love sick, pet names, teasing, dry humping, squirting, kidnapping (if you squint)

Check out part one!: Cursed (Alpha!Sukuna x Omega! Reader) 🔞

~

For most of your life, you did a pretty decent job of hiding the fact that you were an omega.

When you went to apply for a job people automatically assumed that you were a normal beta from your average appearance or your scentless body. Even your friends, ones who had stuck by your side since elementary school, believed the lie that you were, well, normal.

So when you met your boss for the first time, the feeling in your stomach was un recognizable to you. The feeling was fear, fear that someone knew who you really were.

At first you thought it was just anxiety about the new job and meeting such an intimating alpha. To be fair, Gojo was one of the tallest men you had ever laid eyes on and the fact that you could see his muscles through his suit didnt help either. But it was the way he looked at you that really set you off. Sometimes you could see his sky blue eyes glint behind the lenses and pupils dilate when he locked gazes with you; like a predator eyeing his prey. And then there where times where he got a little too close, like when the two of you were stuck in an elevator and he leaned over to press a button and you swear you heard him inhale the scent of your hair.

But then again, maybe you were just paranoid. Yeah, it could totally be just that.

~

“Y/n?”

You turned around from your office desk and faced your co worker, Kiyotaka was his name you thought.

“Yeah?”

“Mr. Gojo said he’d like to see you in his office.”

You thickly swallowed at the sound of your bosses name. “Did he mention what for?” You say, standing up and straightening your white blouse.

“Nope, just to have you in his office as soon as your available.”

You nodded, biting your lip and glancing through the glass door to see your boss in a dark blue pinstripe business suit staring at his computer.  

“Ok thanks kiyotaka.”

Your coworker gives you a small smile before you head toward the glass doors; mentally preparing your self for the worst possible outcome.

The shut of the doors behind you alerts Gojo of your presence and he gives you big grin and nods to one of the chairs in front of his desk.

“Please, Y/n, sit.”

You smile softly and so what your told, making your self comfortable in the char infront of the desk.

“So, y/n,” Gojo leans forward, taking off his signature round glasses and locking eyes with you. And god, you are now painfully aware of just how captivating his eyes are. “I know about your situation.”

His words snap you out of your haze and send your mind immediately racing.

“Wait what?”

He knew you were an omega? But how? You spent so many years building the perfect facade how did he see through it? Was this the end of your professional and personal life? Would he try to black mail you? What if-

“Yes, I know that your house was broken into recently.”

Oh.

“Uh,” you cleared your throat, recouping your self and your composure. “Yeah, it was, how did you know?”

“Oh you know, office chatter.”

Funny, cause you only told two people here.

“And needless to say y/n, I’m quite worried about your safety, do you have a place to stay?”

“Uh not really, I’m working it out right now…” you trailed off, what was he getting at?

“Well as your boss i thought I’d offer you a place since it’s my job to ensure the safety of my employees. This company owns a vacant building, for recreational purposes or sorts. It would probably be in your best interests to stay there for a couple of days.”

You choke. “Sorry what? No, sir, I couldn’t I-”

Before you could finish, Gojo grabs your hand from across the desk and squeezes it. The hold he has on you is tight, like you couldn’t pull away if you wanted too. And the way he looked at you, the way he looked at you; blue eyes glinting at you like you were caught in a trap, made your stomach twist into knots and sent shivers down your spine.

“Please, y/n” He says with a soft smile and pearly white teeth. “I insist”

Your throat went dry, and you open your mouth to speak but no words come out. All you can do is nod, making Gojo grin.

“Fantastic! Well the day is just about over,” he chirps while looking at his watch. “So why don’t we head over to your house now in my car, pick up your stuff, and I’ll show you the place!”

All you can do is nod as your fate seemed to be in the hands of your boss.

~

It was very obvious whose car was Gojo’s in the garage of the office building. Probably because of the fact that it was the most expensive one there; it being a sleek black Ferrari with custom deep velvet wheels.

“After you.” Gojo says with a polite smile that could make grandmothers faint, holding the door to the shot gun seat open.

You nod a thanks and step into the car. The door shuts behind you and the one across from you opens and Gojo sits next to you in the drivers seat. There is a moment of silence as he starts the engine and backs out the parking space, but before he exits onto the road, he stops and leans over to reach for something behind you.

“Can’t forget to buckle now can you?” He hums, reaching over you and grabbing the strap to buckle you in. Your eyes widen as a wave of his scent fills your nose, and god, he smells like heaven. It’s a sickly sweet mixture between pine, lavender and something heavy, muskier. It clouds your brain and senses, and you want to bury your nose into it over and over again.

Which is strange.

Usually your medicine dulls your sense of smell since an omegas nose can become hyper sensitive. You were sure you took your meds this morning, you haven’t missed a day since you were a kid.

You immediately snap out of your daze and and pull out your bag, digging through your bag and pulling out the bottle of medication.

“What’s that?” Gojo inquires, starting the car and heading out onto the road.

“Oh uh, allergy meds, you know with it being spring and all.” You respond shakily.

Better take some now just in case.

You shake out three pills and sallow them, giving Gojo a small smile after you do.

“Well, I hope you feel better.” He says and you nod. Then it hits you.

“Oh do you know where we are going? I forgot to give you the address.”

Gojo’s eyes widen and for a second it feels like you caught him doing something, but he quickly gives you a small smile and gestures to his phone.

“Oh I have all of my employees emergency information saved back when you filled out those forms when you first came to the job.”

“Huh…..” you trail off, nodding. “Wow sir, I had know idea how dedicated you where.”

~

Something was wrong. Something was really wrong

The ride to the new place was excruciating. All of your senses where over run with the smell of Satoru’s in the small car, for fuck sakes you could practically taste the pine on your tongue like hot sugar. Your breathing was heaving and irregular and it felt like the seat belt was strangling you.

What was worse was the ache between your thighs that just wouldn’t go away no matter how much you clenched or rubbed. Your skin felt sweaty, sticky from the perspiration and you could see in the car mirror that your face was flushed a deep red.

Gojo has took notice of your state and asked if you were ok multiple times to which you responded with a nod or a affirmation when really you were getting worse.

“Y/n, are you sure your fine?”

Your stomach twisted into knots when you heard the way he spoke your name like it was dripping with honey.

“Mmmh, can you just uh, turn on the AC a bit lower sir?” You say in-between heavy breath.

“Y/n it’s already freezing, and please call me Satoru.”

“A-are we almost there?”

“Yup just around the corner.”

You breath a sigh of relief as you pull up to the garage or the building. But building wasn’t the right word, it was more like a pent house apartment complex. But you had to energy to question the luxury of it all, instead you were dead set on getting fresh air and a bed to rest.

“I got your stuff.” Satoru says, popping the trunk and grabbing your suitcase while you tried to catch your breath outside of the car.

When you thought fresh air and getting some space from your boss would be the trick, it only made things worse. It was like your body was craving for his presence, his scent, anything that was Satoru Gojo.

“Come on the elevator is this way.”

You nod and follow the white haired man to the elevator door, allowing him to press the button of the floor, and there is a moment of silence as the two of you stand in the tight space, and it’s then you realize just how handsome your boss is.

Sure his eyes were a fascinating but ever part of his face seemed to be perfectly sculpted in an amazing combination of ‘pretty’ and ‘handsome’.

“Hey we are here y/n I promise you’ll have plenty of time to look at me later.”

Gojo’s words snap you out of you haze, painting your skin a deep red and you timidly nod.

As Gojo opens the door, you step in and immediately a thick wave of his scent crashes into you like a tidal wave. Its such a sickly sweet it has you dizzy and a pool of saliva fills your mouth. You look around the pent house flat in confusion, finding a couple dress suits laying around and a rack of fancy mens shoes by the door.

This was-

This was his place.

That’s when it all came together. How he knew your house was broken into, the meds and why they werent working, how he knew your address, and that he knew what you were.

Click

The door locked.

But for some reason that was not the most pressing issue. All of your senses were over run with the presence, the smell of Gojo, making your mind spin like your body was drunk on him, An immense wave of heat had overtaken your body and hit you hard in the gut, knocking the wind out of you and making your knees wobble and buckle. This was exactly why you couldn't miss a day of your medication, because you’d be thrusted into a vicious heat cycle  triggered by years of hormone build up.

“Wha- what d-did you do to my m-meds where did you bring me w-what is happening to me”

Fat hot tears start to fall down your face, and you begin to fall down but Satoru catches you; scooping your up in his arms bridal style and bringing you to his chest

“Shh shh shhh baby don’t cry, I’ll take care of you, I promise.” He says softly, sweetly, peppering kisses on your cheek and jaw as he walks over and sets on on the giant king bed.

You whine when he crawls on top of you and places his knee between your legs which brushes against your clothed crotch. You involuntarily buck up your hips to try and gain more friction, making Satoru chuckle; his shit eating grin widening

“Needy, arent you?”

You can only whine in response as he pulls off your business pencil skirt and hooks a finger under your pastel pink panties; pulling the material down to reveal your gushing cunt.

Your hands fly down to hide yourself but he swats them away, giving you a glare before sliding a finger up and down your wet slit; collecting the jucies before pushing the digit into your tight hole.A hand flew down to hold his arm but it was hardly to pull him away, no this was just you needing to feel any part of him under your fingers.Next he felt you clench and he almost grinned, knowing full well that, that squeeze around his cock was going to feel so amazingly good later on.

The first curl of his fingers knocks the wind out of you, as it hits the sweet spot inside of you that you could only dream to reach on your own.

“Hah~ I cant-” You whine and whimper, stomach clenching and legs trembling from the pleasure. You’re high strung, drool slipping from your mouth more and more onto the white cotton sheets as you cry out when the pressure in your gut builds and builds.

“Shh shh baby, yes you can, i just need to prep you before m’go in ok?” He coos, making you sniffle as you nod.  You cant help but push your hips out, angling them so his digits reach deeper into that sweet spot that sent tendrils of electricty through your body. You don’t even notice that he had unbuttoned your blouse until he latches a mouth onto your hardened nipple and begins to suck. The added stimulation has you clenching around his digits and digging your nails into the fabric of his suit for some sort of stability.

“S-satoru I’m gonna-” your attempts to warn the white haired man in front of you falls upon deaf ears as he continues his prodding and curling of his fingers in your cunny. Suddenly the tension inside your stomach snapped and you were tumbling faster toward and orgasm then you could put a stop to it. You open you mouth to scream but no words come out. Moaning and rolling your eyes back you almost melt then and there on the bed as you soak his fingers in sheets of sticky liquid. Boneless and limp you can only bob your head when you feel yourself being manhandled; bigs hands grabbing the underside of your plush thighs and pressing them to your chest.

You watch through the haze of your orgasm and Gojo shrugs off his expensive blazer and lossens his tie, licking his lips as he does so. You don’t even notice that he had pulled out his dick until you feel something pressing against your entrance, making you look down and eyes widening as you do so.

“M’wont fit there’s no way it won-” your babbling is cut off when Satoru attaches his lips to yours and you practically melt. It’s messy, and hot, and your by no means as experienced as him and it’s obvious. Spit smears on other side of your lips as he pushes his tongue into your mouth, whines and sweet moans escaping your throat as he does so. The kiss makes you dizzy and you can’t even remember what you were so worried about, you can only think of one thing.

Satoru.Satoru.Satoru

“Don’t worry sweet cheeks, i was made for you. And if it doesn’t fit,” he hums, his voice just above a whisper “we’ll make it.”

You’re about to open your mouth to say something but all of a sudden Satoru pushes his dick into you until his hips are flushed against yours. It feels like your being split in too, and the way his tip smushes against your cervix makes you unable to find your breath. The unfamiliar feeling has you squirming and clenching around his cock; body desperately trying to push out the foreign intrusion.  

“Shit you gotta loosen up doll, cant fuck you like this.” There were veins popping on his temple as he started to rub tight circles on your clit. Bolts of pleasure shoot up your body, and you desperately try to relax your body.

“Atta girl” He coos, withdrawing his hips before slamming into your.

The first thrust completely knocks the wind out of you. The collision with your gspot has you arching your back of the bed; eyes screwed shut and letting out a loud moan. Every vein on his cock dragged against your velvety walls, catching on your entrance as he pulled back before thrusting back in. his thrusts were deep, the tip of his cock reaching spots you could only dream of hitting with your fingers. Your skin is buzzing, and your entire lower half is shaking from the pleasure. His pace is brutal, unforgiving, and he grabs the headboard above you with one arm to help his brutal and unforgiving pace into you.

“Mm’so good- don’t stop, please don’t stop!” your babbling strung out of your lips without much of a thought other than how good he was fucking you, his thick cock driving in and out of your velvet walls. It was as if you were made for each other, your cunt sucking him in with each push and shove that hit at just the right spots.

“Not gonna stop,” his grunted through barred teeth, canines brushing at the delicate skin of your neck, “not gonna stop until I give you my knot-” He cuts himself off with a loud groan of his own before grabbing your ass and bring you upwards. Instinctively you wrap your legs around his waist as you sit fully seated on his cock, strong arms lifting you up and down his dick; picking you up them slamming you back down.

“M’love you! Love you so much!” The pleasure was muddling your brain, making you boarderline incoherent.

“Oh?” Satoru chuckles, delivering a particularly harsh thrust into your gushing cunt which makes you jump, “Knew you’d come around, want me to breed you dont ya’? Stuff you with cum till its spills out?”

You dumbly nod, drool slipping out the side of your mouth as you do your best to raise your self and drop your self back onto his dick,

Your ankles lock around his lower back and you cry out when the head of his cock kisses your womb, your legs shaking as you feel your self start to be thrown into an intense orgasm. You want to say something about the weird feeling in your stomach, how your skin is buzzing but its all to much and before you know it your tumbling toward the edge. It feels like your whole body was shot with electricity and color dance in your eyes as you float in ecstasy.

"Sh-Shit, shit, fuuuuck~" He chuckles into your ear, choking over his words as his hips sputter inside of you, hot cum fills you as much as you can hold inside of your stuffed cunny. You babbled and puled as it built and built and built, like there was a dam of his seed spurting into you. You unintentionally, probably instinctually, squeezed around him, drawing more out and he whined and murmured his praise. "Good girl, get as much as you can." You buried your face in the crook of his neck, breathing in his intoxicating scent.

A/n: I couldnt figure out how to end it im so uncreative LOL

[thebisexual-cousin]

Damage Control

Warnings: NWH Spoilers; Peter being forgotten(not by reader lol); canon events of NWH; Normal sad Marvel

Pairings: Peter P x Asgardian!Reader; Loki x Sister!reader; Thor x sister!reader

Summary: After the events of No Way Home, Y/N and Loki are tasked to go to Midgard to repair damages, and a blue and red character is surprised by a certain someone.

Word Count: 798

Content: Maybe a whole fic.. more than a Drabble at most.

Staring at my tablet, they showed the damage caused on Earth. "Princess Y/N, you're needed by King Tho-," I heard a maid say, not finishing when she saw me watching the news. "Princess Y/N, you know the news is bad for your mental mindset." The same maid mentioned while cleaning up my vanity. "Oh alright..." I put my tablet down on my nightstand and stood.

I wiped my sweaty palms on my dress and walked out the door to head to the throne room. Loki was also walking out of his chambers. His face lit up in mischief. "Hello sister, do you know what this oaf wants?" "No, Loki, I do not, and don't call him that, you know he hates it." I said calmly, with a bit of humor.

Thor was pacing back and forth, frantically, might I add. "Ahh..you're finally here." He announced clapping his hands. "Brother, what is needed from us?" I asked after I curtsied before him.

"Well Y/N, I need you to go to Midgard and help with the damage." He stated." Ok.. and why is Loki here?" "He is needed by Doctor Strange for some multiverse issues." Loki rolled his eyes, but underneath, I knew he was pleased by being needed.

"Alright, you ready to go now Loki?" I asked him, with a smirk on my face. I transformed quickly into trendy midguardian clothes and started racing Loki to the Bifrost bridge. I made it there first, Loki showed up seconds later. "Princess, Prince." Heimdall bowed.

He turned the sword and Loki and I were transported to Midgard." Alrighty, Thor is sending me to the Sanctum in Greenwich." I sighed. I turned to look at Loki and hugged him. "Be safe and don't do anything I would do," Loki said as he returned my hug and kissed my forehead.

"You too brother. See you soon." I said. I took out my phone that Thor gave me before I left. I put in the address "43-25 43rd St. Long Island City, New York." Not wanting to attract attention to myself, I decided that walking was better than teleporting.

*20 Minutes Later*

I looked at the building, or what was left of the building. Noticing the fire, the rubble, and the lack of civilians, I got to work. I closed my eyes, my palms out, and called my magick forward. I felt the surgery of power flow through my veins.

I started removing water from the lake nearby. I put out the fires easily, despite the resistance of my magick collecting the water. Looking ahead, I chose not to rebuild the building. I put the remaining rubble in the lake, thanking the element for allowing me to control it.

I called my magick back into me, keeping it secured. I saw a shadow in my peripheral. It was blue and red. The colors were easily recognizable. Peter! I thought. To assure myself that it was Peter, I called out his name.

"Peter! Hey Peter!" The figure quickly turned around and swung toward me. "You-you know my name?" He asked, looking confused. "Um yeah...you're Peter right?" "Yeah, I-I am." He chuckled.

"Why were you confused?" I asked. "It's a long story." He explained. I looked at my phone. No calls from my brothers. "I have time." "Oh-uh, ok. Well, my apartment is a couple of blocks away from here." I followed him back. We reached the complex, found his loft, and unlocked the door with his keys.

He allowed me in. I took in the simple aspect of the small space. I walked over to his desk, noticing the sewing machine and scraps of his suit. I looked closely at the coffee cup, "we are happy to serve you" it said.

I looked behind me, noticing Peter standing there with a pained look on his face. "So...what happened?" I asked, getting straight to the point.

He poured everything from the government accusing him, to his aunt passing, to now a world not knowing that Peter Parker exists. "Oh, Pete," I said, not wanting to cry. "Anyways, how do you still know who I am?" I wiped my eyes before the tears could fall.

"I wasn't on Earth when this happened. I was up in Asgard after the final battle." "Oh." He said simply.

We sat in silence, until my phone went off, signaling that Loki was done with his mission. I looked up at Peter, who was lost in his mind.

I leaned forward and put a kiss on his cheek. "I have to go back, but my number is on the table if you ever need to talk, ok?" I softly smiled. He nodded and kissed my cheek back. "Thank you." "Always." I smiled and teleported back to the meeting point.

[reinarandraw]

"Why do you cut your hair?"

OFMD Rare Pair Week 2023 @ofmdrarepairweek

Day 07:   Free Day [Art + Fic 700 words]

The reason why I draw my old Sam Bellamy with short hair instead of long hair. It can be seen as a missing scene for The Last Voyage.

Ao3 link [HERE]

You can click read more and read it here!

Izzy had been working as Sam's first mate for a while now. He really enjoyed working for the man because he was always clear with his direction and goal. He valued Izzy's input and never dismissed his concern. He never played guessing games or played tricks on him. Izzy liked how Sam could separate business from pleasure. Sex didn't have any real effect on their professional relationship. Izzy really appreciated how structured Sam was so ready to do anything to help Sam.

One thing that he was required to do was cut Sam's hair. Sam had thick straight hair that would be a hassle if he kept it long. Well, Sam used to have his hair long. Edward also had long hair and beard, but he was an outlier. Izzy respected Sam's decision to keep his hair short even though deep down he thought long hair really suited Sam. He remembered seeing young Sam - pre Whydah - and his glorious long black hair. That was how he got his nickname Black Sam. Sam Bellamy and his long black hair.

He wondered how Sam would look now with longer hair. The man had a peculiar gray hair pattern that was concentrated on his bangs. Sam's hair was also strangely healthy and soft despite the fact they were on a pirate ship. Izzy really enjoyed running his fingers through Sam's hair during sex. It felt like silk.

Would Sam be even hotter with his long hair framing his face? He tried to imagine Sam leaning to the bulwark as he pushed some loose hair strand away from his face. Izzy found himself hot and bothered by his own imagination.

So one day, when Sam asked him to cut his hair, Izzy dared himself to ask him a question.

"Why do you cut your hair?" 

The question caught Sam off guard. "For practical reasons. It's hot here and I don't really want people to know that I'm still alive."

Fair enough. "Long hair didn't bother you much when you were young."

Sam took a moment to think about how to answer that. Sam tried not to keep any secret from Izzy. He seemed reluctant to do it. There must be a good reason for the hairstyle change. 

"Three things," Sam suddenly said. "First, to make me less recognizable. Second, hair loss. Long hair is making me lose more hair.  It became gradually worse over time. I don't think I can pull a bald look like Paul. Would you still like me if I'm bald?"

"Shut up," Izzy snorted, smiling.

"And third," Sam continued, "I can't tell you. It's between me and the sea."

Although he was still smiling, there was something melancholic in Sam's eyes. The palpable sadness tugged something in Izzy's chest, making him want to protect this man from any harm that would come his way. 

“It’s not like I don’t trust you,” Sam continued. “It’s just…”

“Yeah, ok,” Izzy cut him. If Sam wanted to keep it a secret then it was his choice. He could take care of his captain without knowing all his secrets. The fact that Sam allowed him to cut his hair was enough to prove that he trusted him. “When do you want me to cut your hair?”

It wasn't until that time Sam told him about the dark days he had after Whydah that Izzy finally learned Sam cut his hair during one of his breakdowns. His long hair reminded him of his failure. His once pride and joy now brought him terror to his heart. He blamed himself. The guilt tormented him. Sam cut his hair to help him get through the guilt of being the only survivor.

"Do you like me better with long hair?" Sam asked one day when Izzy was cutting his hair.

Izzy's put the scissors away. "Would you like to grow it back?"

Sam didn't say anything at first. "I don't know."

Izzy put a hand on Sam's shoulder and leaned down to kiss Sam on the top of his head. "Do what you want with your hair. I don't care."

Sam snorted. "Even when I go bald?"

Izzy chuckled. "Yeah. I bet you're still hot with a bald head."

Sam reached out to touch Izzy's hand. "Thank you, Israel."

Sam probably wouldn't grow his hair back anytime soon, but who knew? Maybe one day, when the wound had healed completely, Black Sam would have his long beautiful hair once more.

[th1rt33n]

i do not care if there's no in-game incentive to save him i do it out of love for benny and hate for the legion <3

[narutakijune]

About ATLA Relationship Arcs

So, this is me, finally trying to write some meta after lurking in my little tumblr corner for months! Hi!

Although I’ve tried to tag properly, if you are a Kat*anger and just want to enjoy your favourite couple in peace, this might not be the post for you. I am not trying to bash characters but I do have a lot of critical stuff to say about the writing.

Anyway, you have been warned and here is my story about my personal first Atla experience: I watched the show this year for the first time, and after the end of Book 1 I decided to look up spoilers, because after what happened to Yue, I wanted to make sure that Zuko and Iroh would be ok. So I knew what was going to happen: Kat*ang endgame and absolutely no Zutara at all. Still, by the end of Book 3, I was convinced that I had read wrong - that there would be an epilogue with a different ending or at least that Aang would only get together with Katara post-show- in that Korra series or something - because anything else wouldn’t make sense- right?

….

After I got over my shock and surprise, I went online and found out about that decade-long aggressive passionate ship war and how even the showrunners got involved.

And then I really worried that I might have missed a few points. Apparently ”Aang and Katara were the DNA of the show”, according to the creators themselves, and “Zutara could never have happened”.

Another popular anti-ZK argument I found was: Why do you always go on about Katara and Zuko? Just look at Zuko and Aang! They are the hero/ anti-hero and each other’s foils, their relationship is much more meaningful!”

So I tried to find out what it was that I apparently couldn’t see.

(Another disclaimer: I love analysing stories (like many Zutarians apparently) and this will get long and rambly. If you get bored to tears when people start talking about “narrative structure” you will probably not like this.)

Talking about narrative structure, I do believe that, in order to let your story, your characters and their relationships really shine, a good basic structure is important. There should be a recognizable development and individual parts of the story that build upon each other and lead to consequences and change, until there is a completed arc - because it is all about the journey that takes you to a satisfying ending, right? So that’s what I tried to do, with my personal Kat*ang vs. Zutara take, I tried to look at the structure and development of their relationship arcs.

The argument that threw me off track for a while is that compared to Aang and Zuko, Zuko and Katara’s relationship is not supposed to be that relevant for the plot. After all, Zuko is the foil, the anti-hero, the deuteragonist to Aang, who is the hero protagonist.

This is all true of course. But then why is it that in every finale, Zuko’s main opponent (and later ally) is not Aang but Katara? Why is it that their sun/moon, red/blue, fire/water dichotomy is so obviously highlighted?

I think one reason why Zuko and Katara are paired off so frequently in the story - as opposite elements, as opponents and as allies - is that they BOTH are Aang’s deuteragonists. While Zuko also acts as antagonist and Aang’s foil/mirror, Katara takes over the more traditional deuteragonist role of confidant / best friend/ narrator.

Protagonist Aang is what connects them, although they are on opposite sides: Both need Aang because he represents their hope to save their world. Very simply put, Katara protects him, so he can make the world a safer place again, and Zuko wants to capture him, so he can go home and be safe again. That rivalry between them is already established in the first episode, even before they meet each other: Katara, who hopes that the Avatar will return (as she tells everyone in the intro), and Zuko, who seems to be obsessed with finding him for more sinister reasons.

And just to make sure, I am not talking here about the characters’ feelings and emotions! This is just about the abstract roles they have been assigned within the narrative.

When regarding Zutara’s special connection to Aang and their rivalry with each other, it makes absolute sense to stress their “same but different”ness as well, visually and metaphorically: Red and blue, fire and water, sun and moon, arguably Painted Lady/Blue Spirit, and, when you put into account their story arc, also Oma and Shu.

With this basis, which puts them together and sets them apart simultaneously, their relationship already becomes very dynamic and interesting, even before you consider any romantic potential.

And here’s another thing, Zuko and Katara also have their own story arc within the main plot. Although they don’t have many scenes together before Zuko joins the Gaang, when they do meet there is always a new shift in their relationship and in quite a few cases their interactions are important for the main plot as well. If you just look at their “end fights” at each book’s finale, there is an obvious and consequential build-up, like any decent story arc should have:

Book 1 starts with Zuko as the powered-up enemy and Katara as the weak newbie waterbender. Both are battling over Aang. At the end of Book 1, they are finally established as equally powerful fighters but still fundamentally different (You rise with the moon, I rise with the sun!)

In CoD at the end of Book 2 happens the next step: they realize that they are not different at all! But Aang still doesn’t represent the same for them and they end up on opposing sides of the war again.

In the Book 3 finale, when Zuko has completed his own (anti-) hero's journey and Aang represents the same “hope” for both of them, they do not only join forces: Their “same but different”- traits make them such a uniquely suited match that they are even able to save each other’s lives during their fight with Azula (who in turn happens to be Katara and Zuko’s antagonist/mirror/foil).

And in addition to their own story arc they even get an individual recurring theme, which also appears in every book whenever their relationship status changes: The lost mothers, especially Katara’s mother.

In Book 1, Katara’s necklace (the symbol of Kiya) plays not only a major part in two of Zuko’s capture attempts, it is the reason for their very first one-one one encounter in the story.

Their first friendly connection in COD in Book 2 happens because they start talking about their mothers. And in Book 3, their final reconciliation (sealed with a very cathartic hug) happens after their life-changing trip which is, of course, all about Katara’s mother.

Again, I am not even trying to analyse their characters and motivations within the story - there are many metas that have already done that much better, more detailed and with screenshots. This is just dry structure and tropes and themes. But I think people recognize and connect with a well-structured arc, even subconsciously, which is one of the reasons that makes Zutara such a compelling couple. They complete and contrast each other, their relationship dynamic constantly changes, builds up, falls apart, reconnects. Such a setup is the perfect playground for a lot of creative takes on what-ifs and alternative scenarios and of course, shipping them romantically is extremely tempting - think of all the possibilities! It’s no wonder that the Zutara fandom is still so active decades after the end of the show. And it’s also no wonder that the Zutarians are known for “over-analysing everything”. You can only over-analyse if there is anything that gives you enough food to analyse to begin with. Which brings me to

KAT*ANG

I just go right to the top and take the quote from Br*yke themselves:

Kata*ng was in the DNA of the thing from the start…. [Zutara] was just dark and intriguing.

If you read this quote and then start watching the show, I would (grudgingly) agree that:

Aang and Katara understand and complement each other really well. Aang gives her the chance to have fun and go on adventures and in turn, Katara is his fiercest supporter from the very beginning, something that he really needs after he lost all his people AND has to find out that the world thinks the war is sort of his fault. In turn, the journey to the North Pole is as important to Katara as it is to Aang, because it is her dream to learn waterbending properly. That’s what she literally says when Sokka & Co try to banish Aang: (Sokka: Where do you think you’re going? Katara: To find a waterbender. Aang is taking me to the North Pole.) In that way, they are friends who give and take equally and are equally taken care of. They even have the last Airbender/ last Southern Waterbender status that connects them. The few times they have a fight, Aang does something in the end to redeem himself (perform some heroic feat) and Katara sees that she is right to believe in him.

Aang has this very sweet crush on her and it will be very sweet and wholesome when Katara will return his feelings at the end of their adventure after he has hit puberty. On the other side, there is also some heavy shipbaiting with Zuko: I save you from the pirates. The betrothal necklace. June and her excellent shipping taste. But in the end they are enemies, they barely know each other and, come on, it would be too dark and intriguing! There is no real threat against friends to lovers Kat*ang, the soft heart of the story. It’s very straightforward and there are a lot of simple “the hero saves the day” scenes for Aang but that’s fine! It’s not really my kind of ship but that’s not the point, it works for the story they want to tell.

End of Book 1.

In my - probably harsh- opinion, everything you really need to know about the Kat*ang relationship has been told by this point. If you want to be really mean, already by Book 1, episode 3.

That explains maybe why many (not all! but many) pro-KA arguments sound as if their shippers have not watched Book 2 and 3 at all. The Book 1 synopsis also perfectly sums up Bry*ke’s quote above. But then Book 2 and 3 are still there and I don’t know what happened but it seems as if they somehow decided that the Kat*ang story does not need any new and lasting input. Maybe because they were afraid that too much new development and change would stray too far away from their original Kat*ang vision. But there are still 2 more books and more adventures and Kat*ang somehow has to be kept apart until the finale.

So the tension in their potential romance is based largely on the question whether or not Katara will return Aang’s feelings. In general I don’t have a problem with that will-she-won’t she-technique. It works well in books where the love interest is not a POV or in shows/ movies where the love interest is not one of the main characters. But Katara is not only the female lead but also arguably the narrative voice of the whole story! As a result, this kind of writing makes Katara look as if she doesn’t have any agency in their relationship, which is not surprisingly a very popular anti-KA criticism.

Additionally, since her dream - learning waterbending - has been fulfilled by the end of Book 1, the relationship work becomes a bit one-sided. Of course Aang is the hero and his journey is the heart of the story. But in order to highlight their special connection it would have helped to give Katara another personal agenda, which Aang could have supported in some way. She is still the last Southern Waterbender and he the Last Airbender but this is not really explored in the Kat*ang relationship. And her other personal agenda, her mother, is already reserved for the Zutara arc.

Instead, in Book 2 and 3 the Kat*ang story is somehow all over the place. Of course there is new conflict and a few romantic scenes as well. But obstacles are either introduced too late or just dropped when not needed anymore, conflict is not resolved and their flirty, romantic moments never lead anywhere- and if they do, they lead to more conflict that is not resolved (yes, I am looking at you, EIP Kiss!).

Take for example Katara’s very sudden argument that they cannot be together now because there is a war going on. We hear her saying that for the first time in the very last episode (EIP) before the 4-part finale. That is too late to have any impact! That she has these kinds of thoughts was never even alluded to before. Not once.

Or the pattern Aang runs away/ is flaky - Katara is upset - Aang comes back and does his hero thing - Katara is relieved. In regards to their relationship arc, nothing changes here between Book 1 and the finale, only the stakes for Aang’s heroic performances get higher.

Or Katara being the one who is able to calm Aang down when he cannot control the Avatar state (which, in my personal opinion, is neither romantic nor healthy). This is also connected to the problem with the seventh Chakra, that Aang needs to let go of his attachment for her. I will be angry forever with how they wasted this for a possible relationship development! That Aang has to decide to either do his duty or save his forever girl (because let’s be fair, he did try to let go and only ran when he had the vision of Katara in danger) - that’s a fantastic setup!

But no, it doesn’t have any real consequences for Kat*ang at all. Instead there were only half-baked attempts – Aang does lie about his failed practice with Guru Pathik but the ultimate reason why his chakra is blocked is Azula, not his decision to run. Aang does try to let go of Katara for a little bit but then Azula shoots him. Nothing in Book 3 shows any change in his feelings that could have been a result of his instant let-it-go. If anything, he gets weirdly obsessive - which could have been used as a side effect of his blocked chakra but – again, no, nothing happens.

I suspect the whole thing was just introduced to create temporary drama for poor Aang, but it is never explained why Katara holds him back, what aspect of the attachment is blocking him or what would happen if he did let her go. Maybe they tried to make a statement about how love is more important than Avatar rules – which would have been fine but it’s also never properly explored. Instead, as soon as that plot point becomes inconvenient it’s simply dropped like a random rock™.

Compare all that to the Zutara arc, where both characters’ feelings about each other are always very much in the open, and where every interaction causes lasting effects in their relationship. Yes, it is unfair to compare that to Kat*ang, because up to the end of Book 3, Zuko and Katara almost never meet, while Aang and Katara spend almost every episode together – of course they cannot do meaningful things all the time. But on the other side, with Kat*ang, there would have been a great chance to show a subtle, gradual build-up instead.

It also doesn’t help that the Zutara arc seems hellbent on sabotaging every romantic moment Aang is allowed to enjoy:

There is Kat*angs first maybe-kiss in the dark before the background of the Oma and Shu legend. But it does not lead anywhere. Instead, Zuko and Katara almost reenact the legend itself in the Book 2 finale as two real enemies to almost-friends, including a glowy rocks-backdrop and the right costume colours, just so nobody misses the message.

In Footloose The Headband, Aang and Katara have a really sweet dance together, and everybody can see how they almost intuitively know each other's moves. This could be a great hint on how well they will fight together in the finale. But is it plot-relevant? No, because the final tag team is Katara and Zuko! While Aang gets paired off with random rock™.

Then there is Aang’s riding off to battle- kiss in DotBS, which Katara is not even allowed to enjoy, because keeping her feelings vague is apparently more important than character development at this point. It is the only romantic moment that gets mentioned again, but in a way that sinks the former cute and wholesome ship into the deep ocean, and the reason is - Aang is jealous of Zuko!

If all of this was only done for the sake of shipbaiting, then it really went out of control at some point.

In the end, the showrunners still had their reasons to choose Kat*ang, maybe because that corresponded more to their own vision, and there are still enough people out there who agree with them. Which is absolutely fine! In the end, what matters most is how you personally connect to the characters and nobody needs to defend their personal taste. But the typical anti-ZK claim, that all the Zutarians with their crazy analysis and rambling meta essays are reaching and delusional and that they desperately try to construct something that isn’t there, is not only a very lazy argument but simply not true.

And I’d claim that in spite of the canon choice, Zutara is technically the better written relationship. By far.

[i-am-ironic]

The time that Dick dragged Marinette and Damian to the police because damian was nice to someone.

The title is a bit of an over simplification but it got the most votes and i think its funny. This probably isn't what you were expecting but damian wasn't expecting it ether so here we go!

Part 2

*********************

Damian was not having a good day. It had started out fine. He had gone to Wayne Enterprises to look over some paperwork and was planning on introducing his long time girlfriend to his family later that day. As he was headed back home he saw a flower shop, it had been a while since he had gotten marinette anything after work so he decided to stop and get her a bouquet.

He picked out a beautiful set of flowers, with lilys and some yellow flower he didn't know the name of.

But, as he was walking down the sidewalk toward his car a woman stopped him and said, "would you mind holding this for me? Just for a second?"

Now usually he would say no but marinette had been telling him he needed to be nicer to people so he said, "yes, just hurry."

He soon learned he should not have said that.

The woman handed him a bundle. Right before sprinting back to the flower shop and around the corner.

Damian's first though was 'well crap. This is a bundle of dr*gs isn't it?'

He carefully stated to unrap the bundle so he wouldn't disrupt what ever was in there. He didn't want any of it on him and he didn't want to touch any of it.

Well it wasn't dr*gs.

When he removed the blanket from the top of the bundle he found a face. The eyes were closed and the little pink mouth was open. Soft black hair was poking out from the edge of the blanket.

This was a baby.

He was just handed a baby on the sidewalk.

The baby was asleep.

He didn't know what to do. He couldn't process what just happened. So he did what any logical man would do. He walked to his car, and got in it. Then he realized he couldn't drive anywhere with the baby so he got out of the car and started walking back to his apartment.

He must have looked pretty strange walking down the street with flowers in one hand and a baby in the other. He was still wearing the suit from the office and he was a Wayne. As the youngest of the Wayne's and only blood son he was pretty recognizable by the public.

When he finally reached the apartment the first thing he said after walking in the door was, "Marinette I'm never going to be nice to anyone again."

"Why babe?" Marinette called from the kitchen where she was cooking something for dinner. "What's wrong? Oh you brought me flowers how kind!" She grabbed the flowers turning on her heal to go put them in some water.

"Mari, im sure what ever you are cooking will be great," he said, she knew that today was his day to cook but they would have to talk about her overworking herself later, "I need some help over here."

"Why? What happened........." she saw the baby but then put her head in her hand before saying, " Damian Wayne is that a baby?"

"It is and I don't know what to do, and we don't have milk or diapers, or clothes, or....... Marinette? Are you okay?"

"Just give me a minute, I wasn't expecting my boyfriend to come home with a baby today." She stood there for a second before shaking her head and looking back up at damian. "OK so we have a baby. I guess we should see if he or she needs to be changed before we go to the store."

"We don't have any diapers." Damien added helpfully.

Marinette took the baby and walked to the living room as she said, "okay so go to the kitchen and get a towel and while you are in there turn off the stove."

As damian looked for a towel he heard marinette yell from the other room, "its a girl!"

After the 'diaper' situation was taken care of the two of them just stared at each other and the baby between them. She had woken up. She had the biggest blue eyes ether of them had ever seen. She couldn't be more then a month or two old. But she wasn't crying. She just looked around.

"Okay, so," mari started, "how about you tell me how you acquired a baby girl, in the car to the store."

"Yeah, about that, um, you see I didn't have a car seat so I just kind of walked here from the flower shop."

"Of course you did. It's fine we can walk, ill hold the baby if you promise to carry all the stuff we buy."

"Deal." He could carry all the things they would need, plus it would give him a great excuse to show off.

"So.... are you going to tell me where you got this baby?"

"Well, pretty much i went to get you flowers and as I was leaving a lady asked me to hold something for her and I remembered how you told me to be nicer to people so I agreed and then she took off running and I saw the baby and brought her home."

"So a lady just handed you a baby and ran, dang. You are aware no one is going to believe you right?" Mari said still trying to process everything.

"Yes I'm aware. Anyway we can't keep calling her 'the baby' we have to give her a name."

"Any ideas?"

"Marry."

"Kate."

"Emma."

"We are not naming her emma. What about Adélie?"

"How about Martha?"

"After your grandmother? That would be a good middle name." She paused for a moment, "I know Gabrielle, Gabby for short."

"Gabrielle Martha Dupan-chang al Ghul Wayne, poor kid has such a long name." Damien laughed.

"We might not be able to keep her dames, then what?"

"First we are going to get clothes, diapers, clean blankets and some formula. Then we can go to the police and file a report for fear for the safety of a child. The fact that she was just handed to me on the street should be enough evidence, they should give us custody until everything goes through. In the mean time we can try to get approved to foster her and maybe even adopt."

"One step at a time."

By this point the two of them had reached the store. (Im imagining like a Walmart or Target type of store) They made a bee line for the baby section. Neither of them had any idea what to look for and they didn't want to call any more attention to themselves then they already had. After all this was Damian Wayne walking into a store with a girl no one knew, and a baby, who had a dish towel wrapped around her waist. Needless to say people were staring.

Marinette picked out three outfits, a pastel purple dress, a green onesie and a blue onesie. Then they got some bottles and pacifiers before heading over to the diaper section. Neither of them expected to see Dick Grayson-Wayne walk around the corner as they were trying to figure out how many diapers a baby really needed for a few days.

The shock on Dick's face was worth all the questions he was inevitably going to ask. First he looked at his brother, then marinette, then the baby products damian was holding, and finally the baby in marinette's arms. He closed his mouth that had been hanging open and nodded, walking over to the three of them.

"Im not going to ask about the dress," he said Indicating the baby clothes marinette had handed damian " or the girl, and frankly I'm too scared to ask about the baby, but are you still coming to dinner tonight?"

"We don't know yet." Obviously annoyed Damian looked between his brother and marinette, "we didn't expect to have a baby this morning, so the plan has changed."

"What do you mean you didn't expect to have a baby? If you're girlfriend is pregnant then you are going to have a baby! That's usually how that works. Honestly Damian!" Then he seemed to remember all the days of school Damian had missed because of Robin dutys, "oh no. Damian when you were in high school did you miss the class called-"

"Im going to stop you right there," Marinette finally cut in "um, you see this isn't, exactly,our baby."

"And to the police we go!" Dick said dragging them out of the store barely letting them pay for their stuff. When ever ether of them tried to speak he would shush them and say they should tell it to the judge.

Did he honestly think they had stolen a baby? Well, to be fair, that's pretty much what Bruce did to Jason soooo....... and he had just met marinette and didn't know what kind of person she was. But they were planning on going to the police after the store anyway so this actually worked out.

Once they arrived marinette went to the bathroom with Gabby to change her diaper and put on some of the clothes. Damian and Dick went to Commissioner Gordon so Damian could explain the situation.

Marinette walked in right as damian was finishing the story, " And Dick saw us in the picking out a bottle and he asked about the baby and when I told him she wasn't our he dragged us here."

"So what your telling me is that you want to keep the baby until and unless the parent or gardien comes forward?" Commissioner Gordon looked quite surprised, "Damien you are so young, you don't need a baby that isn't your responsibility, and what does your girlfriend think about all of this?"

"I agree with damian," the three men looked up at Marinette holding baby Gabrielle, they had been so caught up in their talk they hadn't noticed her walk in, "i know what foster care is like, one of my roommate was in the system and she barely mad it out alive, it's been years but she still has nightmares and calls me in the middle of the night. Ha," her laugh was humorless and cold, "we bonded over our trama. I wont let this sweet little girl go through that when I can stop it."

Dick had slight tears in his eyes he remembered life before Bruce adopted him. There weren't many good memories. "I think they should keep her. If anything goes wrong they have the whole family to help, and no one should have to wonder where they are going to sleep that night."

"If you all are that determined then i'll start the paperwork. But," he said stopping the smile that had started to form on the new parents faces, "you will both have to agree to give her up if we end up finding her legal gardien, before you officially adopt her. After you adopt her she is yours and no one can take her back."

Marinette and Damian hugged making sure not to squish Gabrielle. They went back to the store, while Dick told the rest of the family Damian and his girlfriend would be a little bit late, and they had a surprise for everyone.

Damian walked in front of marinette as they entered the house.

Alfred the butler was there to great them, "good evening Master Damian and you must be miss mar-" the shock on Alfred's face was evident as he stared at Damian's tiny girlfriend holding a baby's car seat. "Is-is that?"

"Alfred could you please tell my family to gather in the living room we will be up in my room until then so they won't see the 'surprise'." He put emphasis on the word 'surprise' gesturing at the car seat.

Alfred nodded and smiled mischievously. Damian lead marinette to his room were they left all the baby stuff. When you have a baby you have to travel with a ridiculous amount of stuff.

When Alfred came back to get them he started at the baby girl, "what is her name?" He asked softly so he wouldn't wake her.

"Gabrielle Martha dupan-chang al Ghul Wayne." Damian answered just as softly.

"How old is she?"

"We aren't sure, we when to the doctor earlier today after we finished at the store and he said she was about two months old."

Alfred looked quite confused but knew they would explain once they got to the living room with the rest of the family.

Damian walked in first to block marinette and the baby from his family's view. The room was packed, there was Bruce, Dick, Jason, Tim, Cass, Stephanie, and Barbara, not to mention Selina Kyle Alfred and Duke. When they had said the WHOLE family wanted to meet Damien's girlfriend they ment the whole family. When Damien sat down and they saw Marinette and Gabrielle, and i am not exaggerating when I say, all hell broke lose.

In the chaos it was hard to hear what specific people were saying but someone said, "i knew it wasn't like you to want us to meet your girlfriend now it all makes sense!" And "Well Bruce, at least he knows about his kid." There was also lots of swearing probably by Jason. Tim chugged an entire pot of coffee. Only Bruce was silent. He started at the them and waited for the room to quiet down.

"Damien, would you like to explain yourself?"

"Well this is all marinette's fault if you think about it."

Marinette looked offended as she responded "it is not my fault! You were the one who took a random baby home!"

"YOU KIDDNAPED A BABY!!!" Jason cut in.

"I mean its kinda the opposite of kidnapping if you think about it."

"I did not kidnap Gabrielle, she was handed to me on the street and I didn't know what to do so I took her home."

"Oh my God!" At this point everyone was confused. "What do you mean she was handed to you on the street?"

"Well i was walking out of the flower shop and a lady came up to me and asked if I would hold something for her and I said yes, so she gave me something and took off running. I looked down and there was a baby. I took her home and then marinette and I went to the store to get her some stuff. That was when we saw Dick. When he found out Gabrielle wasn't our baby he took us to the police i explained everything to them and we are going to keep her until her guardians can be found. If they don't find anyone we are going to keep her."

"What a story." Tim said. "Well that clears that up let's eat."

They continued talking late into the night about all the things that would have to change. But all things considered it went pretty well.

When the little family got home marinette went through the blankets Gabrielle had been wrapped in and found a letter.

"Dear Mr. Wayne,

This is my daughter, I don't have the money to take care of her, please give her a good life I don't know what will happen if she is put in the foster care system and I don't want to think about it. If you decide to keep her I will sign over all parental rights to you, I just ask that you give her the life that I couldn't, and that you let me see her on holidays. My name is Amanda Jones you can find me if you want to or just let me be. tell her I love her but I couldn't keep her. I love her so much."

She would have to give this to the police in the morning. But for now she had to get some sleep before Gabrielle woke up.

***************

This took forever to write but here it is i hope everyone likes it and thank you to everyone who voted on the name for this. I'm not entirely happy with how it turned out but its not bad, and I don't think it's going to get any better.

(Part 2)

@wannajointhecrabcult

@corabeth11

@i-wanna-be-a-ninja

@animegirlweeb

@spyofthenightcourt

[watanabes-cum-dump]

Rating Genshin character designs pt.1

I am by no means a professional character designer, hell I’m not even a professional artist (I’m self taught) but I just really wanna do this become Genshin Impact is home to some of my favourite character designs and some that I fucking hate. So let’s get into them 

Jean

I fucking hate it

Don’t get me wrong, I love Jean, she carries my fucking team and I’ve maxed out my friendship with her. She’s a great character and has a great presence in the story, I can see why a lot of characters respect her, and I really hope to see more of her. 

But what the fuck is this design???

Basic blonde bitch face, I don’t even fucking know what’s going on with her outfit. I just really really really REALLY hate her tights. I don’t know why, but I have a vendetta against tights. Maybe it’s because I grew up in BC where girls consider tights to be fashionable, but I fucking hate tights. White tights especially since more often than not they’re transparent. 

I don’t know what it is, but I just don’t vibe with the colour scheme, ya feel me? There’s a rule with character design that I learned, which is have one main colour, and then have a secondary colour, and then have other colours that support those two colours. Jean is like... I can’t tell is her main colour is white or blue. The colour placement is sort of all over the place. 

Jean is just basic and it just doesn’t stand out when you compare her to the other characters. I just feel like she should look better than this, she’s the acting grandmaster of the knights for crying out loud, and yet she looks like a generic background character. 

She looks like Saber from the Fate series, I feel like she’s just so plain and there wasn’t really anything put into her design. Her in game model looks a bit better but it’s still kinda ‘meh.’

Like what does this outfit tell you about the character? Nothing! She doesn’t look like a powerful figure, you can’t tell she’s gentle and graceful, it doesn’t tell you that she’s a leader or tells you about how she carries herself. All her design says is “Hi I’m disposable blonde with a sword no. 235″ 

With all of the negatives, I do have to say that her design does a good job of directing you to look at her face. The colar and the way her hair frames her face is great but then again, her face isn’t much to look at. 

Kaeya

Ok, we have so much to unpack here because I LOVE Kaeya’s design

I mean look at him! Right away you can tell what he’s like! He screams shady, flirty, and eccentric! 

One qualm I do have is that he looks more like a pirate than a knight, with the fur, buckles, and details, but I guess that’s fine. At least he doesn’t look basic or forgettable. And the design is a bit confusing but even then it still tells you a lot about him. 

The colour placement is smart and he looks very cohesive and put together, nothing looks out of place. Kaeya’s tanned skin contrasts the cooler values perfectly and I’m honestly sad that we don’t get to see him too much. 

It’s really a shame Kaeya isn’t more important and that Mihoyo doesn’t promote him the way they do the other characters (Noelle, Diluc, Zhongli, Xiangling and Fischl) He’s even overlooked by the community which is kind of sad. 

Real talk though he kind of reminds me of Sinbad from Magi. Maybe not the same level of himbo energy, but the whole shady, manipulative, womanizer that pretends to be good thing is there. 

But yeah, Kaeya’s design is great and I love him so much plz give him more screen time-

Albedo 

They really did my boy dirty. Seriously, he looks so fucking fine in all of his art, but then you have his in game model and he looks all greasy and weird. Someone said that Albedo with the adult male model would have worked better and honestly I agree. 

But anyways! Let’s talk design!

Albedo’s colour scheme is simple but works well together, he very much looks like someone who works in a lab with his long white coat, but other than that he looks like a swordsman. It works really well for him since he is a captain in the knights of favonious as well as an alchemist. 

That’s all well and good, it tells you his occupation but it doesn’t really tell you about his personality. Like if I were to show you this guy without any context, you’d assume he’s kind and gentle soul. Which is kind of true (depends on who he’s interacting with) but we know Albedo to be analytical and sort of brisk and cold. Not cruel by any means, but he’s not very nice and gentle either. 

Overall very nice, I like it a lot, I really wanna have a coat like that, 7/10 solid design. 

Diluc

It’s... it’s kinda meh. Is he hot? Absolutely he’s smoldering, but I just... I don’t know. You can tell that he’s rich and all of that since he’s sort of wearing a suit, but that’s it. I also really hate that they didn’t give him coattails, I think coattails would have carried this rich untouchable vibe better. The weird fur is just kind of tacky. 

I feel like giving his outfit more red would help him immensely, I’m not digging the white, it’s just there. For no reason. I guess it helps to break up all the black, but giving him a red vest would have easily done the same thing while staying true to him. He has red on his gloves, why not put a bit more on his body?

I guess my point is more red accents would do him good. Diluc is recognizable, but it’s mostly thanks to his hair. If I gave him a different outfit with the same colours it wouldn’t really change much. He lacks things like like Kaeya’s details or Albedo’s coat that make him really memorable. You could have a character who looks different, but I think to be truly memorable it’s gotta sell the character and suit them. 

Overall, his design is sort of overrated in my opinion.

Ningguang 

Ok ok queen alert I love her so much. Ningguang doesn’t just look hot her design sells her so well I love her. 

You can tell that she’s ruch, elegant, and powerful. The white, gold and black just go so well together and the way it’s placed is just aaaaahhhhh she’s so pretty what the hell. I strive to make a character that looks this good. 

I just have no idea what’s going on with her shorts. That’s like my only complaint. Just give her regular booty shorts? Like Beidou’s? You don’t need the diamonds, if you wanted them you could make it like a pattern. 

But other than that she really looks like she rules a country. She’s just so pretty omg. 

Design aside, Ningguang deserved to be a five star, she’s so strong like there’s a guy who’s Ningguang can so 29k per crystal with her ult. Ningguang has such a strong presence within the game compared to Kequing and Ganyu who are just sort of there. Ningguang is one of the few characters who get a 10/10 in performance, design, and character wise. I love her. 

Beidou

Another queen. I am so whipped for Beidou and Ningguang guys it’s not even funny-

Anyways I love Beidou so much, I love her dress her colour scheme, she’s just so cool. The black and red is consistent and well placed unlike SOME OTHER CHARACTER. 

You can tell that she’s a pirate, that she’s a strong warrior and idk why but she just screams laid back lesbian aunt. Those are the vibes I get from her. I love her. You can’t tell in this image, but she has anchors on the back of her gloves and it’s a really nice touch that adds to her as a pirate. 

The hairstyle, her outfit, the eye patch, Beidou is just iconic and so easy to recognize. I remember not knowing anything about Genshin impact but I saw some advertisements for it and Beidou’s design really stuck with me because I recognized her when I got her. 

Another one of the few who get a 10/10 in all aspects. Love her, and I can’t wait to set sail for Inazuma with her.

[catboycafe]

I Will Now Express Every Thought I Have About Pacific Rim: The Black 

⚠️ spoilers for the whole thing baby

I actually forgot Pacific Rim: The Black was premiering today until I saw it in an article this morning! When I first heard about it months ago, I was decidedly not sold on a Pacific Rim anime. Uprising burnt me the fuck out and I don’t have a lot of trust left in me for new entries to the franchise. But I had heard rumblings of Raleigh and Herc being referenced after going into #pacificrim and I decided I may as well check out to see what was up! I binged it in 4 hours and it sure was a whirlwind, I’ll tell ya

The Plot

I really enjoy the setting and initial concept! We’re so use to seeing Kaiju/Jaegar shenanigans play out within these major cities with helpless civilians everywhere that spending so much time in a lonesome desert and these destroyed civilizations was really cool and indicative of the changes Pacific Rim has undergone in the last few years. I also looooved the Desert Settlement from the beginning!! It seemed really homey and picturesque; I wish we’d spent more time with the other survivors and got to see more of their day to day aside from farming and sitting. 

I also found the first episode set up to be really tight and well written! I was hooked during the initial flashback, Hayley and Taylor’s fight was really poignant and well acted, and the reveal of Atlas Destroyer felt really huge and epic!!

But once we left the Desert Settlement and the plot started actually moving along, the pacing becomes suuuper rough. We spent way too long in Bogan with Shane and Mei; there’s only 7 episodes and we spent, like, 3? 4? within the confines of that camp and I felt it weighed the plot down. Boy is introduced in the 2nd episode and, because the narrative spends so much time on Shane’s evil machinations and Mei’s back story, we still don’t know anything concrete about his origins or purpose 3 episodes later! That felt frustrating to me

The story beats overall were very predictable. I was able to pick up on Mei’s backstory via her dynamic with Shane in their introductions, so her memories felt too built up and too hollow once they were revealed. The same with the reveal of Boy’s Kaiju form; he was in a big green test tube in a PPDC base - I assumed immediately he was a part-kaiju experiment and again his reveal felt hollow, especially after the glacial pace of it’s development. 

Even when events weren’t predictable, they lacked weight. The appearance of several Kaiju Breaches in “Boneyard” felt very cheap for some reason; I wasn’t scared and I didn’t feel tense about these odds mounting against the protagonists. This was just happening and I was just watching. 

The Art Direction and Animation

I’m very obsessed with all the new Kaiju we got from this; I love how Copperhead is rendered, they’re a joy to see on screen!! The Rippers are also very cute and deserve little plushies...i love these neat little dogs. Boy’s Kaiju Form is very intimidating with an interesting color palette and I loved seeing him next to Copperhead’s highly saturated design!

That’s unfortunately all that I liked however; All the human character design is unmemorable to me. Every character looks exactly like another easily identifiable anime character from a different property (Hayley looks exactly like Zero Suit Samus to me, for example. And Mei kept reminding me of both Bernadetta Fire Emblem and Motoko Kusanagi from GitS. The list goes on). 

I can sort of understand why they’re so bland? A franchise going from Live Action to something as heavily stylized as anime is probably a really difficult transition and these designs are probably meant to be more lowkey than more unique anime designs in order to help that transition. But realistically stylized designs can still be recognizable and unique! These feel uninspired and bare bones.

 I have no problem with the switch to CGI animation that modern anime is doing because I know it’s a lot cheaper to produce and it can still be really unique and striking! But The Black’s model animation felt very stilted and inconsistent. I don’t have a lot of knowledge about animating so I don’t think I can accurately describe what I disliked? Wooden is probably the best term. Character movements felt wooden and things like hair and clothes felt plastic. 

Impacts also had very little weight. The fight between Tayler/Mei and Copperhead reminded me of when you’re in a dream and trying to punch something, but you can’t punch hard. It was simply too floaty and too soft. The final showdown in “Showdown” was better, but not by much. It was very immersion breaking seeing these Giant Robots and Giant Monsters unable to throw a real solid hit!

Characters

My favorite character was unequivocally Joel Wyrick. We love Joel Wyrick in this house! Joel’s character has real charisma and charm. I love his flirtations with Loa, how his cocky disposition is juxtaposed with his drinking problem and later insecurities over his lost memories, and his genuine kindness shown to Mei, Taylor, and Boy. No one ever plays with Boy, they just run after him and drag him around...but Joel has this moment in “Escape from Bogan” where he kneels down to Boy and helps him collect rocks. It was sweet!

So of course, when Joel dies for absolutely no reason 5 minutes later - pissed! I was pissed! I yelled “COME ON” aloud in my studio apartment! I was genuinely so excited to see him interact more with the rest of cast then, poof. No More Joel.

His death felt like it was for shock value to me rather than actual narrative development. Why kill him when we still don’t fully understand his and Mei’s relationship? Why were they so close? Were they childhood friends, or just coworkers that happen to become friends? Why did he specifically know all the details of Shane’s abuse towards Mei before she did? 

What did his death accomplish? It made Mei sad...ok? She was already...very sad. Her running away from Shane already had consequences - the consequences of Shane coming after them for revenge in the future. Why did Joel have to become a causality? 

His death is ultimately tied to Mei’s character arc which is, unfortunately, my least favorite :c I find Mei to be a really one dimensional character with a personality, backstory, outlook, and motivation that I’ve seen done a million times before with a million other characters. She feels very out of place in the franchise as a whole - Pacific Rim is, at it’s core, a story about connecting with others. Her self-centric arc and lack of desire to connect outside of drifting really alienates her from the story at large and it frustrates me how long The Black’s narrative spends on her. 

Hayley and Taylor were otherwise very interesting in the pilot episode, but become similarly one dimensional at the story chugs on. Taylor’s unflinching (bordering on unhealthy) faith in their parents was really interesting next to Hayley’s complete acceptance of their parents’ death. But once the two of them make up their differences, they lack an interesting dynamic and become very passive protagonists.

 Taylor especially has no personality - how would you describe Taylor? He’s...brave. He’s the older brother. He’s a leader? He’s nice? There is nothing noteworthy about him at all, which is sad considering I think he has the potential to be a really interesting way to explore the original movie’s influence on The Black’s story.

Hayley’s grief and self-blame are more interesting than Taylor’s...nothingness, but she still falls into this one-note trope of being the naive, excitable little sister. I guess I feel abnormally frustrated about this flat character writing because Pacific Rim’s incredibly unique cast has always been an inspiration to me! It feels sad that this new iteration into the series is full of what feel like stock characters. 

Then we get to Boy. How come Boy can’t have a person name? It’s specifically written in a dialogue between Taylor and Hayley: “I’m not going to call him Chad or Barnaby or one of those names for a baby brother you wanted as a kid,”

Why?

He’s by all accounts a human child when they find him. Yes, he was found in a big green test tube - but he walks and acts just like a human child. The only difference, seemingly, is that he is non-verbal and engages in strange/annoying behavior (running off, eating bugs, etc). So he isn’t deserving of a name?? I don’t know why that makes me so mad, it just does. it’s like they refuse to treat him as a human even before they find out he’s a Kaiju  - it’s super weird! How can the story sell me on the three of them becoming found family (like they’re seemingly trying to do) if the protagonists won’t even treat this kid like a kid??

Misc. Thoughts

The callbacks to Stacker, Herc, and Raleigh were cool! I also like that Herc is a major plot point! We love Herc Hanson and it’s what he deserves. I also find Loa’s connection to Horizon Bravo very interesting...and the fact we’re getting Kaiju cultist lore! Love that! Love that!

Fucked up that the only two dark skinned characters were: 1) removed from the story 10 minutes in with no call back yet, 2) Killed after having 1 line of dialogue and fridged for the character development of the blonde white girl. I really need to know what the deal with those 4 characters leaving in the beginning was about - I absolutely thought we’d see them again by now, but no dice

I don’t know how to feel about Ajax and have no clue what their purpose in the story is. They’re cool, but whats the point? 

If Mei and Taylor are paired up together romantically, I’m putting Craig Kyle and Greg Johnson in the time out box. Very tired of seeing random hetero romance B plots in stories that can’t even get their A plots together

Overall, it’s kind of subpar! It has the foundations of a really interesting story, but the pacing and characters really took me out of it. I’m interested in Season 2! I know season 2 is already ordered and I’d love to see how things continue to develop, see if the character writing gets any better - but I’m not too hopeful unfortunately. I really really love Pacific Rim after all these years and I’m happy to still be getting content and world building! There’s just sooo much I would change about this however. At least fanfiction’s free! 

Thanks for reading all this, I have ADHD and just go on and on if u let me. hmu if You Too have thoughts about Pacific Rim: The Black and have no one to talk abt them with

[nitewrighter]

Hey there, I have a writing question. How do you go about finding or picking names for your characters? Especially sci-fi/fantasy characters like your ocs? Is there a trick to it? Also, if you have any resources for this and tag them, I'd love to take a look at them if that's OK with you.

Well the process varies from character to character. When it comes to naming my own characters, I am a big fan of like... Dickensian naming conventions where the name audibly fits for the character, but also thematically fits for the character. I also like names that can kind of play off of each other. My naming process is a a combination of browsing baby name websites and... also my own intuition.

When it came to my Overwatch fankids, a lot of the names kind of cropped up organically--like in Marti's case, I wanted a name that sounded both French and Spanish, so that obviously meant a romance-language name. You have like, a longer, more feminine full name with 'Martina' but then you shorten it to a cute, practical 'Marti.' So like, she's pretty, she's feminine but also the name Martina means 'Servant of Mars' which is kind of a reference to her having a bumpier origin story than the other fankids. Marti, in my head sounded like a nickname you could easily hear in a French or Spanish language film--a little androgynous, a little streetwise, but there's also Marty McFly in the Back to the Future series, so you sort of have that "relatable everyman" element to it--someone with a good heart who is very adaptive.

For Jaime it was largely me going with "I want a name that is clearly Spanish, but also plays off of McCree's name, Jesse." So you have a little bit of that visual association with "Jesse James" but it's Spanish so y'know it's pronounced "High-may."

Rei, as I've said before, is a name that's both Hebrew and Japanese, so it fit for my "Mercy is Jewish" headcanon and also I like Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Akasha's name is a reference to the Hindu concept of "Akasha" which means "Space" or "Aether" so that's kind of foreshadowing to her being stuck in the void... Also the fact that she carries a sword and the fic title "Sword of Akasha" is literally just me making a Code Geass reference for funsies.

Seye I got from browsing a couple of Yoruba baby name websites and comparing the different interpretations of the names the sounded most pleasing to me. I remember I was looking for names which meant "Heir" or "Prince" or "Chosen One" but Seye, which means "Honor" had the winning combination of sounding the most pleasing in my head and also being memorable and easy to spell while still being distinctly Yoruba. Also it had the bonus of the little "ey" sound at the end so it kind of seemed diminutive in comparison to "Akande."

Rajeev and Samir got their names from baby name websites--and it was important to me that you had a little assonance in their names. I wanted a bit of a reversal since their moms are Egyptian and Indian--so Rajeev, who takes more after Pharah, got the Indian name, and Samir, who takes more after Symmetra, got the Arabic name... so you have a bit of a switcharoo there but there's also kind of an audio association with their respective moms' names--the "rah" sounds with Rajeev and Pharah and the "Sm" sounds with Samir and Symmetra.

With Andrea, it was pretty funny because I had all these people pouring into my inbox with name suggestions, but I wanted a name that would sound natural in Spanish, but was also common enough to be American. And Andrea means "Of Man" which y'know... she has two daddies.

"Aidan" or "Aiden" is the more common spelling of Aedan's name, but I went with "Aedan" because Aed is the Irish god of the Underworld and Moira's Goth AF.

Faustine is Faustine because Obvious Reference to Goethe's Faust is Obvious... but also it's a name that means "lucky" and she's associated with Monaco and Casinos and money.

I think like... the auditory element of my naming process is kind of hard to describe and boils down to 'vibes' a lot. Like I already tend to "hear" my writing as I'm writing it, so a lot of it is determined by "yeah this sounds right."

When it comes to my OG OC's, Val and Aria, I was 17 and very adamant that Aria was Welsh, because if she was Irish, that would make her a self-insert--so I went with "Arianwen" which means "Silver Fair" and Aria for short and this was years before I was remotely aware of Arya Stark. I know it's a common name but honestly it suits her. It feels like her, and that's what's most important.

As for Val, his full name is "Valendin Dard Felov"--which I think I grabbed from some websites on Chechen names that I've long since forgotten--but his middle name "Dard" I stole from my Indian music professor in college, Dard Neuman. Dard is a Greek name that means "Son of Zeus" but in Hindu it means "Pain of Separation." Also the last name "Felov" was a bit of a pun because my boy Val GOES THROUGH IT and I was like "heheheh he 'Fell Off.'" I was developing Val along with a lot of my worldbuilding--I was really obsessed with him being from a mountain based culture so I was taking elements from Andean and Himalayan cultures, and I gave him a Chechen name because... Caucasus. So really it's a combination of like, the kind of everyman, melodious name of Val, and a longer name that kind of ties into the worldbuilding and his own story.

When it comes to making up names, my advice is to run your made up names through google or google translate.

So in summary, the NiteWrighter Patented Method For Naming Your Characters:

1. Who do you have already named and how will that name fit in among those names?

2. What is their backstory and what conditions might influence their naming?

3. How will the name fit in among the fictional world you're working with?

4. Does it sound right--is it memorable? Can it have variations in address and still be recognizable? Do you look at the character and go, "yeah that's _______"

5. Do you just think it's neat?

6. Pace around your house. Consult the wind. Feeeeel the vibes. But also don't overthink it. But also do. This is very important.

7. Do you know someone with a cool name whose name you can just fucking steal? Like the Fae?

8. Baby name websites, I guess.

[unbelievableholland]

Hi!!! Congrats on 117 followers aahhh you so deserve it! May I please request prompts 16,42, and 45 with Peter Parker or Tom Holland? Thank you so so much - 💕💕

Far From Home

Pairing: Peter Parker x MJ, Peter Parker x Reader

Warnings: Injuries, angst.

Words: 2,290

Summary: During your European trip, you and Peter drift apart.

A/N: I’M SORRY THIS TOOK WAY TOO LONG, and I dunno if this was what you had in mind😅 I went through MAJOR writer’s block, but I powered through it and made this. I got a little carried away, and yeah it might be a 2 or 3 part mini series.

Prompts:

16. “Am I really that bad?”

42. “Making you fall in love with me was never my intention”

45. “I’m fine, really. I always knew he wasn’t the one. I guess you can say he’s just my almost.”

——————————————————————

“Ned! We’re clear on the plan, right?”

You and Ned were talking when Peter interrupted you, bouncing with enthusiasm. Ned looked at you with sorrowful eyes before looking at Peter, masking his previous expression with an emotion almost as enthusiastic as Peter.

“Uh, pshh yeah duh. Don’t be too obvious about it though. You were literally shouting.”

Peter rubs the back of his head with his right hand, looking around to see if anybody heard. He’s giggling nervously and you can’t help but adore him for it, he’s just so cute. Gosh, this boy will be the end of you.

“Okay, okay, I’ll keep it down. Sorry to interrupt you guys. I’ll head to my class. See you later!” After he did his handshake with Ned, he left to go to his class since he doesn’t have Biology with you and Ned.

Ned looks back at you. You both didn’t miss the fact that Peter barely paid attention to you before he left. You understand it though, he’s excited for his plan to get MJ. He’s giddy.

“Ned, stop it. I don’t like it when you pity me.”

“Yeah, but I can’t help it. Probably all of Midtown expected the two of you to get together. Hell— I thought you’d end up together! I was really rooting for it.”

You see, Peter and you used to be inseparable. You had nicknames for each other, he used to put his arm around you and around your waist all the time. He even used to kiss your cheek from time to time. Used to.

Those didn’t happen anymore though. He used to flirt— apparently unintentional though— with you all the time. Everyone thought so, but again, those don’t happen anymore. Especially with MJ in the picture.

You just accepted it. Even if you’ve been practically in love with Peter since freshman year.

“You sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine, really. I always knew he wasn’t the one. I guess you can just say he’s my almost.”

“Almost?”

“Yeah. Almost. I know that we weren’t ever together, but you know” You shrug it off, wiping your eyes before the tears could fall.

You couldn’t explain it properly, but yeah. You know there was something between you and Peter, but maybe there wasn’t? Maybe there almost was?

Damn mixed signals.

Ned just shakes his head and sits back in his chair as the teacher enters the classroom to begin the lecture.

When they told you you’d be going to have a European trip, you didn’t want to go. As much as you want to explore the rich culture and art of Europe, you’d rather stay home. Just because of Peter’s plan. You know he’d never stop talking about it.

But when Peter begged you to come, begged you to join him and Ned on the trip. How could you say no?

It’s not like you have anything against Michelle. You actually think she’s a cool girl. Smart as well.

She’s not like Peter, and that’s what makes them good together. Opposites attract. Right?

On the day of the trip, you’re pretty early, so you got first in line to enter the plane. Mostly because you’re trying to avoid Peter though.

On the plane, you picked a random seat around the middle and picked the one beside the window so you could look outside. You’ve never been on a plane before, so you’re pretty anxious, but you still want to see the view outside.

Your plan on avoiding Peter has worked pretty well so far. You half expected him and Ned to find you, and you expected at least Ned to be the one to sit next to you.

Instead, when you feel someone shuffling beside you, it’s not either of them.

It’s Flash.

He sees you, and instead of leaving or saying something rude to make fun of you, he smiles. A genuine, happy-to-see-you smile.

The happy vibes radiating off of him influenced your mood, so you smiled back as he moved to sit on the seat next to you. You didn’t say anything though and you turn your head to the window once again.

It weirds you out a bit that Flash just smiled at you instead of being rude. Of course, he had never been mean to you. Only Peter, and that in and of itself resulted in you not wanting to talk to him.

Maybe he wasn’t who you thought he was.

You shake the thoughts out of your head because he’s bullied Peter enough. He doesn’t seem nice. Not to you at least.

But, you’re open minded to the thought of befriending him. At least during the trip. You don’t want to be alone and you don’t want to have bad blood with him if he’s going to be sitting next to you.

Since the moment you’ve been in your head though, you have been unconsciously staring at Peter that has been in his seat for about 5 minutes now.

“You know, if you really like Parker that much, you should tell him”

You flinch when Flash leans a little closer to you and whispers. You heart beat calming down after a few seconds.

“I don’t— what are you talk— ok, fine. I do like him, but he doesn’t like me. End of story.”

“He did. If it wasn’t obvious enough, he did. Now, he likes MJ. What are you going to do about it?”

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing, and, you never got confirmation that he liked me so…”

“Okay then, if you’re not going to do anything, who are you going to be with for the trip? It looks like you’ve been avoiding him judging from the fact that you chose to sit alone, and Ned looks like he’s getting along fine with Betty over there.” He snickers, as he points to Ned and Betty next to each other, giggling like children in a candy store.

Peter on the other hand, ended up next to Mr. Harrington due to his failed attempts at trying to get seated next to MJ.

“I dunno. I’ll probably spend it alone. It’s not like I have any other friends.”

“Hmm, well, I guess I can make an exception”

“What?”

“You can hang with me for the duration of the trip”

Your eyes widen and your back straightens in shock. Did— did Flash just offer to hang out with you? It might be a bit weird, but you like the idea. You like the idea of enjoying the trip with someone else, at least.

“I… I’d like that, actually.”

“Then it’s a deal.”

He smiles once again at you and leans back on his chair, putting on his headphones and closing his eyes to try and get some sleep.

Once you arrive in Venice, you pick up your bags and of course, follow Flash. Peter and Ned on the other hand, stared in shock when you went passed them to go to Flash in front of the boat for the canals.

You’re talking and laughing with him. They didn’t ever think you’d be friends with Flash. Ever. You always talked about how he annoyed you, how he was such a prick.

Peter steps forward, moving to keep you away from Flash in fear that he might do something to prank you or hurt you, but before he could, Ned stopped him.

“Peter, come on. She looks like she’s having fun. Let her have fun.”

“But it’s Flash! You know we can’t trust him!”

Peter whisper shouted. He always felt protective of you. He always did, and will continue to be.

“Yes, I don’t trust him, but I trust Y/N, and I know you do too. She’s not yours Pete. You have to let her live her life”

With a huff, Peter finds a seat on the boat and watches you interact with Flash, unintentionally sending a death glare at the two of you.

This went on for the rest of the trip. Even when Peter’s fighting the water monster, he takes a second to spare a glance at you to see if you’re ok. For some reason, he felt…something when he saw Flash next to you with his hand holding yours while both of you are running away.

He forgets about it though. Especially when Nick Fury and Mysterio came along.

When you made it to Prague, you actually thought back about the things that have happened, and it’s crazy.

First, you actually enjoyed your time with Flash. Second, everything that involved Mysterio and your trip. You know something’s up, and you want to find out what it is.

So, the night Mr. Harrington forced you to watch the opera, you snuck out. Knowing full well that Peter snuck out as well.

Things get even crazier. You see Peter, in an all-black suit, but you only realized that it was him when you saw the web.

That’s definitely Peter.

You had gone to the ferris wheel since you saw Ned and Betty there, but before you could even go near it, a lava monster appears. While you know there most likely is a name for these things, you’re too busy trying to run away to think about it.

Running to the opposite direction, you bump into someone, both of you falling down in the process. You quickly apologize without looking at him and continue to run.

Although, you definitely should have looked at him, because during the fall, he quickly attached a tracking device on the bottom of your shoe. Tiny enough that it wouldn’t be recognizable.

Out of breath, you stop in a random alley where you see Peter. Your breath hitching when you notice that he had noticed you too.

“Uh…hey Y/N! I-uh,I can explain I—”

“Cut the crap I know you’re Spider-Man.”

“What! What are you—”

“Pete”

With a sigh, he was about to speak, until he noticed something on your arm.

“Y/N! Your bleeding!”

“What? No I'm—”

You look down on your arm where he had his eyes on, and yes, you are in fact, bleeding. You just assume that it’s from the debris earlier that was flying everywhere.

Peter is examining your arm like a mad man though. When you notice that he’s holding you, you yank your arm away from him.

“Peter I’m fine.”

“No you’re not! Why won’t you let me help you??”

He’s still trying to get your arm to see if it’s still bleeding—which it is— but you keep backing away from him.

“Y/N, let me help.”

“No.”

“Why?! Why are you backing away? You know what, why are you even avoiding me? And why Flash?” Yes, the question seems random, but he has to ask. He’s been thinking about it since the first day of the trip.

You don’t answer, the floor suddenly being a source of interest.

“Why!?! Why Y/N!? Why d—”

“Because I love you! I’ve loved you for a really long time but you never even liked me back. I didn’t mean to avoid you, we just grew apart when you suddenly kept hanging out with Michelle, and-and Flash? He’s actually a really really nice guy. To me, at least. A-and I know it’s my fault I fell for you b-but there was something, right? I mean, you kissed me on the cheek, you wrapped your arms around my waist and everything! Everyone thought we were together!”

Out of breath, your chest heaving and you have tears in your eyes threatening to fall. You look like a mess, but Peter could care less what you look right now. He didn’t known you thought that way and he feels horrible that he had done this to you.

“I’m sorry—”

“I-I don’t need your sympathy Peter. I get enough of that from Ned.

“Ned knows?”

“Yeah.”

“I love you too, Y/N b—”

“but not in the way I love you. Yeah, I know.”

“Making you fall in love with me was never my intention.”

Peter didn’t know what else to say except that he’s sorry. He feels a little betrayed by Ned that he didn’t tell him, but he understands. Ned’s you friend as well, and he isn’t obligated to tell Peter everything.

You begin to walk away slowly, trying to get out of the situation to go wallow in your own sadness, but not before turning around to face in one more time.

“I have a question. You don’t need to answer, but it’s really been bothering me ever since MJ.”

He looks at you expectantly. Hoping that you’d stay a little bit more.

“Am I really that bad?”

Peter’s a bit taken aback by your question. How could you even think that? To Peter, you’re perfect.

“What— No! How could you think that??”

“Because you chose her.”

He has to admit, there was something between the both of you. He wouldn’t have been acting so intimate with you if there wasn’t.

“There- there was something between us. I didn’t know what is was and I still don’t. I have to admit that, but I guess MJ… Y/N, your perfect. You are, but—”

“But not as perfect as her”

“I didn’t say that—”

“You didn’t have to”

“Will you just let me finish!”

Just then, your phone rings. You check your phone, and you have about 28 texts and 5 missed calls from Flash and 15 missed calls and 35 texts from Ned. You assume they’re looking for you.

Saved by the bell, you think.

“I-I have to go. They’re probably looking for me.”

Before Peter could even speak, you run away to the direction of the hotel. Clutching your arm to help stop the bleeding.

Still, oblivious to the small device under your shoe.

——————————————————————

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[technomaestro]

Top 5 Video Game Soundtracks

Ok. Let's try this *again*. I had a whole thing written up and I accidentally refreshed the page, so tumblr ate the entire thing, and I lost it.

Destiny 2 There's a reason D2 is one of my all time favorite games, and the music for it is one of those reasons. Destiny 2's sweeping orchestral soundtrack is full of songs that encapsulate that grand, epic nature of the world and conflict you find yourself in as the Guardian. From the mission tracks like 1AU/Forge Ahead , Valkyrie, and Guns Blazin which provide this cinematic backdrop as you fight for your victories, to the epic swelling of the raid bosses where the tension in their first phases is replaced with triumphant moments where the tide turns as seen in Riven of a Thousand Voices or Insurrection Prime (even the most hated boss in Destiny has a pretty baller theme with tons of brass in it as you get ready to put him in his grave one last time after fighting him multiple times throughout the raid). Locations such as the Dreaming City have tracks that manage to encapsulate the mystery and history behind each location. No matter my feelings and critiques on the gameplay or the story, the music in Destiny 2 is just an absolute gift of musical genius. Michael Salvatori (yes, that same Michael Salvatori from Halo) is one of my favorite composers for the work he's put into that series. Favorite track: Journey ft. Kronos Quartet. This is the song that plays after the deafening silence that comes from escaping the city during the initial Red War campaign, where you montage your way through an unforgiving wilderness, powerless, as the city fades into the distance behind you. You've been beaten, your home taken from you, but the music swells with hope as you follow a sign from the Traveler - and you know you'll return to reclaim your city. I highly recommend taking a peek at the mission, as you can't play it anymore, to see what I mean as to how the track absolutely enhances the experience.

Hades Supergiant games - the people behind Bastion and Transistor, two other games with amazing soundtracks - really did knock it out of the park with Hades. This game's soundtrack is a wonderful blend of classic acoustic instruments (Check it out - it's called a Bağlama) mixed with metal and electronica to create a theme that evokes not only the aesthetics of the region, but also give it a modern twist that meshes with the dark, haunting vibes of the underworld that you reside in. Each track flows so well from one into the next, mixing perfectly with each area or character you encounter. And the two musical characters you encounter - Orpheus and Eurydice - add in plenty of musical flair to the game themselves. The motifs present in the songs are called back frequently to make it a coherent, consistent soundtrack, and it remixes so incredibly well. Favorite Track: God of the Dead - the theme for the final boss of each run, this track is incredible. Not only does it reflect the theme of Zagreus in a different key, showing the link between Hades and his son, before delving into this heavy, frantic track that perfectly encapsulates having to fight

Payday 2 There are exactly two ways to play Payday 2. The first is stealth - you won't have much in the way of music as you silently slip by cops, cameras, and civilians to reach your score. The other is the way I play, where you suit up in the heaviest body armor you can get, grab two automatic shotguns, and go to town to some of the best soundtracks in the game. Payday 2 has a unique musical cue system with it's audio during loud heists, where it amps up the tracks in time with what the cops are doing. At first, before you've been detected, you have the Stealth track which is always low and very basic to not intrude. In low points, like when you first go loud and the first responders arrive on the scene, you're in a Control track. Then, as the police gear up, it switches to a higher temp Anticipation Track, and then when the police storm your position, the Assault track. So each "song" in Payday 2 is actually 4 songs in one, that the game blends seamlessly together in order to match the audio with the gameplay. It's an incredibly clever system that keeps you immersed in the tension of the heist even as Bain, your mastermind, calls out over comms with instructions. And it helps that almost all of the tracks are exceptional bangers in their own right, with amped up electronica with great percussion and bass lines alongside rebellious hard hitting metal and rock. But during those assault tracks, there's something satisfying about hearing the build, reloading your guns, then timing you leaving cover to unleash fury with the bass drop. There's a great playlist here with links to the different types of tracks if you want to take a peek yourself. Favorite Track: I Will Give You My All - one of the few tracks with built in vocals. This particular track feels like the exact kind of music I'd see in a movie, and with the build I run in game for Loud stuff at the moment which incentivizes me running face first at bulldozers and cloakers, giving it my all is *exactly* what I intend to do in that game.

Horizon Zero Dawn HZD's soundtrack is full of the same sort of sweeping orchestral stuff that made me love Destiny 2, with tracks that serve to accentuate the world around you. The only reason it's down here at 4 and not higher is because there's a somewhat lack of variety; as a singleplayer story game, most of the music you encounter tends to be in cutscenes, rather than during gameplay. That isn't a *bad* thing however, and over the hundreds, if not thousands of games I've played, reaching #4 on the list is no small feat. The actual orchestral bits pair so well with being able to cultivate this theme of a world full of grandeur, the kind of which you'd see in nature documentaries. The various tracks illicit this feeling of a long forgotten hope, which if you know anything about the plot, ties in perfectly. The music that *does* play outside of the incredible cutscenes add to the world's aesthetic so well, pairing the sort of instruments you'd find people playing in the civilizations you encounter with the environments you find them in. Even the battle music, when there is battle music, is a tense affair; the game incentivizes you to stalk your prey, as Aloy is not a frontline fighter: she's a hunter among predators, and the music matches that tone. Favorite Track: A tie between Aloy's Journey, which provides not only natural sounds mixed with the instruments of the Nora and the underpinning of techno that permeates the story (in addition to one of my favorite musical things where you have these grand sweeping vocals that aren't actually lyrics) and Your Hand of Sun And Jewels, which gives off this sort of air of walking through city streets in golden sunlight, where people dance just a block away and you can smell the fragrant spices of the local cuisine. It makes me yearn and if I listen to it on full blast I can forget that I'm stuck at home for a moment.

Pokemon Heart Gold & Soul Silver Pokemon OSTs hold a special place in my heart because as much as I loved games as a kid, getting started on things like Mappy for the NES (which, now that I write that, really shows how fuckin *old* I am), Pokemon was one of the first things that I basically turned into my personality as a child. Silver version especially was one of the ones that *truly* got me going, as in Blue version I always felt one step behind my brother but Silver was *my* game, my generation. I have extremely fond memories of that game, from the Lake of Rage to trying to beat a ghost gym with a Sentret and it taking four hours because normal types and ghost types are just... immune to each other. But when Soul Silver came out and remastered the soundtrack, it brought back this wave of nostalgia. The bit tunes I remember had been brought to life, in a way that was recognizably Pokemon. Hearing it again brought back the waves of wanting to journey and be a hero again that when the game came out, I was sorely missing. The music in the game is upbeat and chipper, befitting a near solarpunk world that I want to live in. Iconic tracks remain iconic but with a bit of cultural flair, showing that the Johto region hasn't lost touch with it's roots. While it isn't the almighty trumpeting of Gen 3, the nostalgic tracks that are already evocative of nostalgia brings a yearning back for a time when things were simpler and I could just play games. Also, the Rival theme is *rocking*. Favorite Track: Route 26 Theme. Route 26 is also known as Tohjo Falls, the place which connects Johto and Kanto together. And for me, this route represents having reached a triumph and the energy to explore what's next. It's a critique directly against the Hero's Journey's unfortunate end, that they can never go home - the hero here *can* go home, but they choose to set out again for new sights. It's full of the fact that when it plays, you're taking your steps into something new, something bold, and full of new challenges that await you. It is, by far, one of my favorite tracks and the orchestral version brings me to tears.

[sunshinesukuna]

codename: agent k

✯  pairing: spy!kuroo x reader

✯  genre: flangst

✯  tw: guns, mentions of assassination and organized crime.

✯  summary: you’re a spy trying to capture a mysterious person by the identity of “agent k.” who would’ve thought you’d be catching feelings instead?

✯  inspired by: 特務J (Agent J) - jolin tsai, goodnight n go - ariana grande, my oh my - camilla cabello 

✯  nnyeyeahahldalsalsa i feel like a british royal after writing this omggg. and hey, crossover pt. 2! worked really hard on this, so i hope you like it!

Venice, 22:16 CET (GMT+2)

The stench of the rich was never as pungent as this moment right now. Wine glasses caught the twinkling shine of the diamond chandelier above as the people below mingled with one another. Ornate masks decorated with all manner of feathers and rhinestones obscured the identities of the rich elite atendees.

You had to give it to the organizer, the party was sort of fun. You would have definitely joined in, if you hadn’t had a job to do. By the grace of the government’s connections, you had managed to score an invitation. Not without intention of course. You weren’t here to get drunk and bathe in jewels, no.

The Fukurodani Syndicate was a group of organized crime groups that converged into one, taking the name of the original syndicate. They consisted of Nekoma, Fukurodani, and Karasuno. With new leads coming in over the course of several months, the government had reason to believe that one of the leaders of the Syndicate would be here. His name was Agent K, and he would be your target tonight.

“Ah! Marie!” a voice called out from behind you. You did a double take. But you remembered that you were not (Y/N), you were a woman named Marie Sourice.

The invitation you had obtained was addressed to a French businesswoman named Marie Sourice. The real Marie would have no clue that she was invited to the event, much less that someone had gone in her stead.

So you turned around and smiled graciously. The organizer of the event was a stout old man that had a taste for the Venetian arts of mask making. Thus the masquerade theme. Despite all the obscured identities, the man was easily recognizable through his booming voice and his name tag that read “Giovanni.”

“Giovanni!” you called out, doing your best to match a French accent. Giovanni gave you two kisses on the cheek. 

“’Ow ‘ave you been, my old friend?” you asked. Giovanni replied with a bubble of laughter and something that couldn’t register in your ear because you were transfixed with the tall figure next to him.

“Meet the son of a good friend of mine.” The figure came to a halt right next to Giovanni. “His name is—”

“Mr. Bakugou Katsuki.” The figure’s voice was deep with a ringing timbre that would suit an opera singer.  You eyed his wild black hair. Was this Agent K? Agent K was never really one to disguise himself in any of his little encounters. But the mask and the lavish clothes made it hard to tell. Something warm landed on your hand. This man was kissing your hand. 

“Mademoiselle,” he said. Mysterious ebullience danced in his eyes. Perhaps there was more emotion in his face, but his bejeweled mask hid it all. Secrets danced in between the garnets like they did in a sinning man’s heart.

“He works in the IT industry,” Giovanni said.  “Who knows, maybe you two could strike up a deal, grow your companies,” he cupped his hands around his lips, “light a new flame.” Giovanni’s show whispering was awkward at best. You flashed both of them a reluctant smile. 

Giovanni took a look at his sparkling golden watch that did not go with that mask of his. “Look at the time! My other guests shall be arriving soon.” He turned over to Bakugou. 

“Shall I leave you two alone? The music will start at twelve o’clock. I assure you, no Cinderellas will be here.” 

“Of course, sir,” Bakugou said. 

This man is Agent K, a voice speaks in the back of your mind. But the others tamper it down as reason takes over. Agent K was a fast worker, and any objective of his should be in the process of being fulfilled, or is already fulfilled by now. Was this man just having fun with you? Or was he part of a larger plan? 

But time only confirmed your suspicions. He talked exactly like Agent K, he moved exactly like Agent K, he even smelled like Agent K. The same poison that laced Agent K’s words dripped off the ones from this man.

“Miss Sourice?” he asked. 

“Yes, Mr. Bakugou?”

“Have you ever experienced a first love?”

“I—” You catch yourself as you are about to answer. “Yes.”

“Care to elaborate?” Amusement crawls up his face, but there are hints of longing, and perhaps... mourning? 

“It was... unlike anything you could ever imagine.”

Your job as a spy was to lie, lie, lie all the way through. But your words dripped in pure candor as old memories came flooding back.

Tokyo, 13:00 JST (GMT+9) 9 years prior

The air was rich with the scent of chocolate and sugar. He set his bag down near the couch and followed the source of the scent to the kitchen. You were stooped over the counter. A tray was set over to the side filled with chocolate covered strawberries drizzled in more chocolate.

“Are you going to eat that?” he asks. He swoops in for the catch, to find himself firmly rebuffed by a swat on the wrist.

“Hands. Off! I. Put. My. Blood. Sweat. And. Tears. Into—” Each word is followed by a fist on his back. He shields his body with his arms from the raining torrent of ruthless punches.

“Ow! Ow! Stop it, you violent woman!” You don’t stop. With each playful punch, you corner him over to the couch, where he collapses in defeat. You sit down next to him and take off your apron. 

“You started it!” you said.

“Didn’t I earn it?” Before you know it, he’s suddenly on top of you. His warm breath, mixed with the heating inside the house. draws sweat from your skin. He cocks his head to the side, as if challenging you.  Your shoulders rise up from the couch at the provocation, but he pushes them back down to the soft leather ever so easily.

“Miss Second Place,” he whispers, lips oh so close to your ears. You gasp at the reminder of your devastating defeat to him last week during finals. That’s enough. You raise your hips up from under him. But he’s faster and stronger than you. As your knee rises up to kick him, he shoves them down with immense force. He reasserts his position above you.

“Besides, it’s Valentine’s tomorrow,”  he says. You sigh. Even if you gave him just one, there would be no guarantee that he would stop at just one. 

“One. Just one.” you say. He pulls himself off of you and sashays over to the kitchen. Keeping an eye on him is pointless, but you do have to finish decorating the rest of the strawberries anyways. He makes it a point to exaggerate his gestures and facial expressions. You want to slap him all the same.

He notices your irritated face.  “I wasn’t going to give any of them to you,” you say. 

“Oh? Then who are they for?”

“People that are not you.” He lets out a groan and puts a hand over his heart.

“I’m hurt,” he complains. You roll your eyes as he buckles to the ground in pain, holding his crotch.

Osaka, 21:00 JST (GMT+9) 8 years prior

The dingy motel’s lights blinked from inside your room. Water dripped down onto the tiled floors as you closed the door. The roar of the torrents of rain enveloped Osaka. Which is what led you to take shelter in this motel for the night. 

It seemed a little shady, since the only room you both had been able to get was one with a small queen bed. And that was ok, actually. There was a whimsical feeling about running through the streets in heavy rain, troubles washed away like dirt on the road. What you weren’t keen on was the person that you would be sharing that bed with.

“I call dibs!” he shouted. He dropped his luggage to the ground as you collapsed on the couch. Your wet hair was splayed out on the couch, turning it soggy. Sighing, you got up and decided to make yourself comfortable.

He didn’t take long to shower. Steam came out of the bathroom, shrouding the shirtless figure that walked out of it. A soft white towel rested around his neck, and another sat on his hips.

Six years of volleyball could do wonders to a man’s body. Muscles cultivated from the sport finally found their place in the limelight of your eyes. You could feel your mouth water a bit. A sheen of sweat started forming on your temples.

He saw your reflection in the mirror in front of the bed. “Like what you see?” he asked.

You scoff and roll your eyes as you continue taking your stuff out of the luggage. The bed groans under his weight as he sits down. 

“I’ve seen you shirtless a lot of times before,” you said. At least that was true. You think back to bathing together as kids, putting gauze on his chest when he got into a fight. “I’m okay with it, why shouldn’t I be? It doesn’t gross me out.”

There is a loud bang, and now your body is sandwiched between the wall and his body, still dripping with water from the shower. He doesn’t smell any different than usual, but your nose cannot help but pick up the soft tangs that make up his scent. Sweat. Grilled salted mackerel pike that he loved so much. The orange flavored hotel soap.

Common sense is screaming for you to keep your eyes on his, but the wonder that is his body after puberty lures you in deeply. His smoldering gaze locks you in place in between his arms. 

“Do you not see me as a man?” 

The question is short, but it encapsulates everything going on between you two. “Am i still the kid that pushed you off your bike back in 2nd grade? You still see me as a kid?”

Did you? A small inkling inside of you said yes — the same part that would cry when pushed over the edge and still couldn’t fend for herself. He would forever be the bumbling kid that knew no better to that part of you. The other voice said the opposite. You could only stare blankly at him as your heartbeat got faster every second.

“Would you like for me to see you as a man?” you asked. He cocked his head to the side.

“Yes.” No one dared move an inch. The atmosphere was Pandora’s box, ready to be opened and the evil inside unleashed.

He lowered his head so that his lips were on the same level as yours. His breath tickled your nose. “May I?” he asked.

Without giving him an answer, you pressed your lips onto his.

Venice, 23:34 CET (GMT+2)

“Shall we dance?” he asks. 

He’s cunning, not even giving you anytime to think. He’s pinched you in between the incoming stream of guests. Either you’re forced to carry out this twisted dance with him, or risk losing all your leads on him. 

“Why of course, I love to dance!” You swear your brain is on autopilot right now. His hands are suddenly on your waist and shoulder. The music starts.

The light of the chandelier reflects red figures on his face from the garnets on his mask. His smile and eyes are the only windows to his mind, and even those are kept shut with a lock of mischievousness.  

The conductor raises his baton. Like a well-oiled machine, the dance floor becomes alive. It’s a dizzying array of whisks, twists, and turns. Fortunately, this Kozume man has enough grace to keep both of you on your feet. 

“And who is this acquaintance, lucky enough to grace the heart of a man like you?”

“Her name is (Y/N) (L/N).”

That was all it took for you to confirm everything about this man. It was Agent K in the flesh, no doubt. He flashes you a smile from under his mask. To the sane person, it would simply look like a normal smile, but after years of running after Agent K.... you were sure that debonair smile belonged to him.

Making you feel like you have him cornered, then disappearing again. It’s a reiterating game of cat and mouse.  You swore to yourself that you would end it tonight.

The music’s tempo changes. You’re suddenly thrust into the arms of another man in a mask. Agent K is just a few feet away from you, a new woman in his grasp. He shoots you a glance before continuing his dance.

But the trills of a flute breaks the silence, and he’s disappeared from the room. Classic Agent K. The woman that was his dance partner also looks around in confusion, but she is quickly distracted by what seems to be her third bottle of wine of the night. You swear you spot Agent K’s garnet encrusted mask on the other side of the room. But the cellos play their euphony again, and Agent K is gone.

You mutter a few apologies to your dance partner and stalk off. Agent K’s coattails flap in the wind as he turns a corner. His footsteps reverb against the wooden walls. They turn silent as he treads over the velvet carpets. 

No one is in vicinity by now. The cheerful chatter was left behind in the ballroom, as your target leads you up a winding staircase. Whistling noises come from several flights above you. He knows you are here. 

Paintings on the wall stare at you accusingly. Their eyes on you only accentuate the adrenaline that is building up in your bloodstream. You pay them no mind and fix your eyes on Agent K’s ascending figure. 

The creak of a door alerts you to his sudden movement. Is he escaping into a room? But a gust of cold wind and the sounds of the city welcome you to the rooftop of the building.

The only source of light was a dingy bulb covered by moth eggs. You could barely make out his figure in the dark, but his spiky black hair meant that that was definitely Agent K.

No one was on the rooftop at this time of night. It was just you and him then. This was your chance. 

The original plan was to slip something in his drink, but you knew from experience that he would never fall for that. You glance at the city, sound asleep below. Traffic lights blink here and there. The perfect opportunity. A simple push from this height would do it. 

“So we meet again,” he said. You take the high heels off your feet and stalk over towards him. He’s leaning over the railing, head on the edge like he’s tired but still wants to enjoy the scenery. He makes no sudden moves of attack. You assume the same position, cupping your head in your hands.

“What does Bokuto want from me this time?” Bokuto was one of the leaders of the Fukurodani Syndicate, and a childhood friend of Agent K. The one that created it all. And the one you would have to take out after you took Agent K out.

“Must we burden our enemies every time we meet?” Agent K turned around to meet your eyes. His fingers ran over the smooth stone of the railing.  “That crazy owl doesn’t want anything this time. He just wants me to get to you before Ushiwaka or Oikawa do.” 

You raised an eyebrow before rolling your eyes. “Pssh. Hurry up and kill me.” To emphasize your point, you put your hands up in mock surrender.

Agent K smirked before moving closer to you. The lock of hair in your eyes, brought there by the wind, was moved to the side by his gloved fingers. The garnet mask that was the only barrier between a huge lead and potential failure stood tantalizingly before you. You had half a heart to tear it off his face. No. You needed to draw this out.

“Not before I indulge in a conversation with the subject of my affections.” Classic Agent K. Agent of Mischief both in and out of the bedroom, they said. You tilted your head to the side.

“Quite the suave man, aren’t you?”

His laughter was a boyish chuckle that did wonders to his usually intimidating face. He had a dimple on his left side, you noticed. What fun were you having, fraternizing with the enemy. But you couldn’t seem to pull away from him.

“I do enjoy thinking of my self as such, my lady,” he replied. You folded your hands over your chest.

“How many women have snuggled their way into your bed with that silver tongue of yours?” 

It was an open secret that he was a ladies man, the rumors only being more and more obvious as he was spotted at the many red light districts he was spotted at.

“None.” Well that was new. He could be lying, though. 

“Then... how many women do you intend to court with your smooth words?”

“Just one, sweetheart.” The words rolled off his tongue like they were made to be said by him, and only him. 

“And who might that be?” 

“You. Miss (Y/N) (L/N)” You scoff. No way were you about to be put on that long list of women. You walked closer to him.

“As if. When you manage to kill me, and thwart the—” Agent K was chuckling as you rambled on, trying to prolong the interaction. He put a finger over your lips. 

“That is merely a misbegotten attempt to humiliate the both of us. Does it really look like that from the sidelines?” 

What? This was Agent K. Known for his ability in twisting, turning, and confusing the hell out of his enemies. You furrowed your eyebrows.

“Humiliate? I— what else would it be?”

“Well,” he peeled his mask back, “being sent out to eliminate your first love isn’t quite a job for the lily-livered, isn’t it?”

Under the mask, there was the familiar mischievous smile, the observant eyes, and the same smirk from years ago. He discarded the garnet mask over the railing. 

“Kuroo?” The sheer shock at his revelation was enough to send you stumbling back. “You’re... Agent K?” 

"I wouldn’t be anyone else, darling.”

Hands reach out from behind you to find something to hold on to. The knot in your stomach has only gotten tighter and tighter since this whole ordeal started. You don’t know how to process the feelings racing through your heart right now. How could he? Leave you all those years, then come back to you like this? How dare he? But the sounds of the party are coming closer and closer to the rooftop, and a police siren is wailing down below. Kuroo notices it too.

“I do hope that we can meet again, under, ah,” he adjusted his gloves, “more appropriate circumstances.”

“Until then,” he said. He inched his body closer to yours. The scent of old wine and cologne clung to his body. Kuroo pressed his lips onto your forehead.  “goodnight, little angel.”

He tips his lanky body ever so close to the edge of the building, before succumbing to the effects of gravity. Strangely enough, you find yourself reaching out to him. His name on the tip of your tongue, threatening to spill out. 

The wind whips through his hair as he falls through the night air. Then suddenly, he’s not there anymore. The roar of a helicopter from above indicates Kuroo’s savior has come. Kuroo’s suit clad figure hangs from a dangling ladder below the aircraft. He catches your eye for a moment. A gallant smile graces his lips, but it strikes you as rather...disingenuous. 

Kuroo climbs up the ladder and disappears inside the helicopter. The blinking lights fade into the stars above as the wind leaves your lungs. Damn you, Kuroo, you curse in your mind. The fresh air does little to clear the haze in your mind at the situation that just unfolded. Several minutes pass by, with you trying to take deep breaths. You pick up your discarded mask and put it back on. As you leave the roof, you swear his cologne still lingers in your nose.

[spooky-z]

NETi

NeTi au is from @rhub4rb Maribat (Daminette) from @ozmav

The songs NETi sings are Shameless & Easy by Camila Cabello.

Warning: This is 4K and has brief mentions of suicide in the "EXTRA".

The red carpet was full of journalists, fans, curious and bloggers. It was the night of the Paris Music Awards, where musicians like Jagged Stone and Clara Nigthingale competed for the biggest prize of the night.

But beyond expecting to see Jagged, there was also another buzz. One that could be bigger even than the prizes themselves and competitors.

NETi. The musical revelation of 2028, the sweetie of almost every artist (even non-artist), the girl who broke records and records in less than a year.

Someone who, despite all the explosive success, still kept her personal life private and secret identity. No one had found out who NETi was, and she had made it clear that she would only reveal herself at PMA. Then the mood was high.

At any moment the exclusive of the year would happen.

The red carpet had already passed some other important personalities, both from the music industry and the entertainment industry.

Even people from the fashion world was here.

People like Mayor Bourgeois and his family; Kagami and Tomoe Tsurugi; Luka Couffaine and his girlfriend Aurore Beauréal, TVi's new climate host; American tycoon Bruce Wayne with his wife Selina Kyle; the four Wayne heirs had also passed the red carpet. They were accompanied by their loved ones.

Among the four couples, Damian Wayne and his wife, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, stood out. Also known as MDC, a designer who had entered the fashion industry shaking the structures of everything.

The couple had dressed to impress. There was no doubt that these were original MDC.

Damian Wayne alone would not have attracted much attention had it not been for the red kufiyyah on his head. He was wearing a completely black suit, as was his tie. So, the highlight was all in his head.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was her own show. With a front slit in her black dress, the highlight went to the upper torso. The gold and red details, the raised feathers, the tight belt at the waist. She made it clear where the inspiration for her outfit came from.

Their passage across the red carpet had been a blast. Everyone wanting a piece, an interview, a photo of the couple, as Wayne's family was famous for leaving their personal lives in private. Apart from what they purposely let others know, the rest was a complete mystery. So everyone was euphoric to get some of their attention.

A pleasant surprise on the red carpet had been the famous couple of reporters, Clark Kent and Lois Lane. They were accompanied by son Jonathan (another reporter in the family), who was holding hands with another sweetie from Paris, Adrien Agreste. All four with huge smiles on their faces.

When a more fearless reporter got an opportunity to interview them, she jumped at the question everyone was asking.

“Adrien, could you please tell us why you are holding hands with Jonathan Kent?” She waves the microphone at the model's face. All cameras facing them.

The blond looks at the brunette, who smiles and blinks mischievously, before returning to the reporter. He looks straight into the camera, a shitty smile on his lips.

"He's my boyfriend." And leaves. Waving to everyone, signing some posters and fan notebooks. The boyfriend firmly by his side, never failing to smile.

When all the guests had arrived and there was no one else to walk the red carpet, the rumors that it was possible that NETi would not actually appear began and that made everyone upset.

Until, well, notification of an official tweet from NETi.

NETi @NETiOfficial

Are you ready? Because I am!

#NETiatPMAs

And they all went crazy again.

She had passed without anyone noticing. Probably using the entrance to the paying audience to keep everyone expectant.

-

Nadja Chamack and her team were the ones covering the event inside. She was standing at the camera, waiting for the signal from Jean (the cameraman) so she could finally start talking live with viewers.

Some interviews had already been done, ready to air as the event unfolded and when Jean “ok” with his fingers, pointing at her, Nadja smiles.

“Good night, Paris!” She begins. “I am Nadja Chamack at a special event. The Paris Music Awards, or rather PMAs. Where our greatest talents come together in wonderful performances and awards are given to those who stand out!”

-

“I'm so happy for Lila!” Sabrina squeaks.

"My girl will be the highlight of the night." Alya brags and Nino laughs at his girlfriend.

"Too bad she won't walk the red carpet." Mylene sighs sadly. "It would have been a triumphant entrance."

"She already explained why, My." Ivan comforts the girl.

Nathaniel says nothing, but laughs at his friends.

Although they were busy with their careers, they had found time to gather to attend the PMAs. Watch when NETi-or rather, Lila, revealed herself to all of Paris.

Yes. They were proud to be friends with such a talented person as Lila. She could have time to be such a good friend! Even when her schedule was so tight being a humanitarian and now a successful artist. Besides being a model.

“And is Adrien Agreste there? Oh my gosh! Is Adrien Agreste holding hands with the famous American journalist Jonathan Samuel Kent?!” They were startled by the reporter's scream and went back to watching the live TV shoot.

They sigh in surprise.

"I didn't know Adrien knew Jonathan Kent!" Alya shouts.

"And who is Jonathan Kent?" Nathaniel asks.

She turns to him, a familiar fire in her eyes.

“He's just the youngest voted best journalist in the world!” She replies, hysteria in her tone. “Adrien Agreste will pay for hiding it from me!”

“Could you tell us why you are holding hands with Jonathan Kent?” The reporter asks, placing the microphone toward his face, waiting for an answer.

Adrien exchanges glances with Jonathan before turning to the camera, a mischievous smile on his face.

"He's my boyfriend." And keeps walking the red carpet.

The reporter is speechless, looking shocked. She shakes with the screams of the fans and goes back to interview other famous as they passed. Pretending the embarrassment had not happened.

In the living room of Nino's, everyone's mouth was open. Without understanding.

"Wait- Is Adrien gay?" Sabrina asks, looking at Nino.

He looks as lost as the rest of the room.

"He never said anything to me." He says. "I'm his best friend and he never told me!" The anger in his tone.

Alya feels sorry for her boyfriend, not knowing how to comfort him.

“Maybe he wanted to make a big revelation?” He says. "Do you know how he is-"

“It's MDC with Damian Wayne! Hey, MDC!”

Once again, their attention was diverted back to the TV and there was the camera focusing on a couple posing for the photos on the red carpet. Of the two people, one was recognizable.

"Marinette...?" Alya sighs, not believing what she saw.

The couple finish taking the pictures together and start posing alone, turning only to get a better angle for all photographers.

"These are Damian Al-Ghul Wayne and Marinette Dupain-Cheng." The reporter says, looking at the camera. “Damian, son and one of Bruce Wayne's heirs, came with his wife MDC, the newest successful designer in the fashion world. They are known for not being very open about their relationship, but it is obvious that the two love each other and make a powerful couple.” She blinks, wiggling her eyebrow.

“What-” Nino chokes.

“Look! They are coming. I'll try to get an exclusive for you!"She squeezes among other journalists, almost falling on the red carpet after tripping over someone's feet, but is saved by none other than Marinette.

Damian right behind her like a shadow, his face serious. The camera takes everything.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" The girl moans as she stands up. "I hurt you? Pardon. I'm very clumsy.” She doesn't even fake an act for the camera, nor does she notice Marinette's affectionate smile.

“It happens to the best of us, Manon. It's okay.” Marinette says, the flashes doing nothing to diminish her beauty and kindness. "Good to see you. You look beautiful."

The reporter-Manon straightens, her face red. She seemed to have forgotten she was live.

"Thanks. You look awesome too.” Coughing, straightening her clothes and hair, before turning to the camera again. “Would you mind giving a little interview? In the name of the old days when you took care of me.” Teases.

Marinette laughs, dyed red lips and flowing hair. Damian's expression softened at that.

"What I don't do for those puppy eyes, isn't it?!" Marinette plays with Manon, making the girl blush.

“So, could you tell us something about your relationship? I don't want to be invasive, but a lot of us are curious.” Manon says. “I know you've been together since you were fourteen, but a lot of people don't know that. There are plenty of rumors about you with Adrien Agreste and Luka Couffaine.” She extends the microphone to the designer, looking more professional than a few seconds ago.

Marinette rolls her eyes. This was clearly a subject she was fed up with.

“Like you said, we've been together since I was fourteen. Eight years of dating, one of marriage.” She responds, raising her left hand to display the gold ring with a huge blue diamond in the center. The sassy expression on her face. "About Adrien and Luka... Well, you got your answer when Adrien came in with Jon and Luka with Aurore."

Manon jumps when Marinette mentions Jonathan Kent. The eyes shining.

“Can you tell us something about Adrien and Jonathan? Like how long they've been together.” She asks. “Just for everyone to cry over from missing the start of such a good ship.”

The designer looks at Damian quickly, eyebrow raised, and he responds for her.

“We had to put up with them being gross for five years now.” Despite the laid-back affair and the funny speech, his voice was pure steel. "I don't understand why nobody noticed this before, it wasn't as if they were hiding."

Manon moans, upset. (She hadn't really seen it coming. Of course they had photos together on Instagram, funny tweets to each other, traveled together, but she was sure it was purely platonic.)

“FIVE YEARS?” Nino gets up from the couch, indignant. “FIVE YEARS AND I DIDN'T KNOW NOTHING. MARINETTE DID KNOW! EVEN DAMIAN WAYNE KNEW AND I, THE BEST FRIEND DIDNT!” He shouts in frustration.

"Marinette has been dating for almost ten years and I didn't know." Alya whispers, still not believing. "I was her best friend and she never told me."

"Guys..." Mylene mumbles, heartbroken for her friends.

“Thank you for giving us this interview, Mari! Hope to see you at family dinner on Thursday! You too, Damian.” Manon nods, a bright smile pasted on her face.

Marinette smiles, returning the wave with her hands and Damian with his head. They walk until they enter the theater, disappearing from camera view.

Other famous people were passing and being interviewed, but no one else was paying attention to it. They were more focused on understanding what had happened. Alya, especially, was the one that was most shaken, because she was a journalist (intern, but journalist) and was proud of it.

But here were things she didn't even realize. Things that were no secret, but that everyone seemed to know but her.

The break came and went, no one daring to say anything. Each trying to assimilate what had happened, when suddenly the cell phone of the six began to beep, signaling messages. Chat messages from former students of Ms. Bustier.

Sabrina was the one who got the phone first.

[Alix 8:40]: Hey, did you guys see Mari on tv? [Max 8:42]: Yes! She said she would show up with Damian. [Alix 8:42]: Dude. They were beautiful. [Kim 8:42]: Adrien had texted that he was nervous. [Max 8:44]: Nervous?! [Juleka 8:44]: I think it was because of Jon. [Rose 8:45]: They are both so cute! [Kim 8:46]: Damian was very funny with the question about them. [Juleka 8:46]: Luka said he's still complaining about both of them. [Rose 8:47]: He sent pictures!

Mylene looked up from her cell phone, confused.

“Does that mean they knew? I don’t understand."

"There's only one way to know." Ivan replies.

[Ivan 8:49]: Did you know? [Alya 8:50]: HOW DID YOU KNOW AND I DON’T?! [Nino 8:51]: Why would Adrien tell you and not me? [Sabrina 8:51]: Can you explain that? [Mylene 8:52]: I'm very disappointed with you. [Nathaniel 8:52]: Guys.

They waited for answers, seeing the "writing" balloon disappearing and appearing several times before a single answer appeared.

[Alix 8:55]: Shit. Wrong chat. Sorry guys.

After that she went offline, as did the other four.

"They just...?" Nathaniel muttered incredulously.

"What the hell is going on?!" Alya screams in frustration.

“-and awards are given to those who stand out!” Nadja Chamack's voice comes from the tv. “Now what everyone was expecting: NETi. The presentation of the latest music discovery will start anytime!”

"Oh my God! It's now.” Alya shouts, forgetting what had happened.

The stage light goes out, everyone screaming for NETi.

The screen turns on, starting a quick sequence of indistinguishable images before stopping on an empty avenue.

The camera begins to slowly approach a person standing in the middle of the street. The sound of the bass playing rhythmically. The camera focuses on the person dressed in white in the middle of the street.

NETi.

MDC.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

“What the hell is going on??” Ivan snorts, already annoyed by everything he has seen.

She walks slowly, powerful and barefoot. The sharp eyes. Her lips move and she whispers "Shameless" before the screen goes out and red lights take over the stage.

The audience screaming at the top of their lungs. The cameras filming the reactions of guests and fans, each one more surprised than the other.

Don't speak, no, don't try It's been a secret for the longest time

NETi's voice echoes through the theater, the audience calms down.

Don't run (oh), no, don't hide Been running from it for the longest time

The camera focuses on NETi standing on the stage, her hair loose and wild. It was not possible to distinguish the color of the dress she wore, but it was noticeable in certain parts of the fabric and had sleeves. The cleavage dropped to above the navel, details with flowers on the side of the ribs and a dangerous slit in the thigh.

She was still barefoot.

So many mornings, I woke up confused In my dreams, I do anything I want to you My emotions are naked, they're taking me out of my mind

She squats on stage, the slit in the dress giving wide mobility in her movements and the microphone was firmly in her right hand. The left arm resting on the bare thigh.

Right now, I'm shameles Screamin' my lungs out for ya Not afraid to face it I need you more than I want to Need you more than I want to

She closes her eyes, running a hand through her hair and pulling tightly. Showing despair.

Show me you're shameless Write it on my neck, why don't ya?

The hand goes down to the neck, showing that there was something written there.

Damian Wayne

The camera focuses on him standing next to his family, the Kents, Adrien, Luka and Aurore.

Jonathan and Jason tease him with pats on the back and malicious smiles. He just remains mesmerized by the presentation.

And I won't erase it I need you more than I want to I need you more than I want to

She opens her fierce eyes and stands up. The dancers come in, circling her, dancing to the powerful beat of the music.

No, uh, uh, don't wanna do this now No, uh, uh, don't wanna do this now No, uh, uh, don't wanna do this now No, uh, uh, don't wanna do this now

She swings the hips to the beat, the camera surrounding her with the dancers and she never looking away from the camera.

There's just inches in between us I want you to give in, I want you to give in, oh

The camera comes closer to her as to her face be the only thing in sight, before pulling away again.

There is tension in between us I just wanna give in And I don't care if I'm forgiven

She reaches the middle of the stage, where a microphone stand rested and the dancers leave. That's when the melody cuts off abruptly, before a softer one starts. More innocent.

NETi attaches the microphone to the stand and the lights brighten.

Her dress was lavender with purple accents.

(Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha)

The camera refocuses solely on her and she does not take her eyes off the lens.

You tell me that I'm complicated And that might be an understatement Anything else? (Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha)

She blinks at the camera. A sly smile on her face.

You tell me that I'm indecisive Fickle, but I try to hide it Anything else? (Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha)

NETi shrugs, demonstrating that she didn't care.

You tell me that I overthink 'Til I ruin a good thing Anything else? (Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha)

She tilts her head, daring. Never failing to look at the camera.

You tell me that you'd rather fight Than spend a single peaceful night With somebody else (ha-ha-ha-ha-ha)

The camera zooms out a bit to catch a full-length scene. The whole dark stage, just her lit up.

You really, really know me The future and the old me All of the mazes and the madness in my mind

The voice rises a little and she closes her eyes, feeling the letters.

You really, really love me You know me and you love me And it's the kind of thing I always hoped I'd find, yeah

A satisfied smile appears on her face and she squeezes the microphone in the hands.

Always thought I was hard to love 'Til you made it seem so easy, seem so easy

She dances along with the beat of the drums, the melody rocking her body. It was hard to take the eyes off.

Touch me 'til I find myself, in a feeling Tell me with your hands that you're never leaving (no)

She pulls her hair, showing once again, despair.

Always thought I was hard to love 'Til you made it seem so easy I never liked my crooked teeth You tell me they're you're favorite thing (mm-mmm) Anything else? (Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha)

The eyes back open and she smiles at the camera.

The stretch marks all around my thighs Kiss 'em 'til I change my mind About everything else (ha-ha-ha-ha-ha)

Her hands navigate the bare skin until they close around her waist in a single hug.

The camera returns to film Damian, capturing a rare smile from the man.

You really, really know me The future and the old me All of the mazes and the madness in my mind

She stares at the camera.

You really, really love me You know me and you love me (uh, huh) And it's the kind of thing I always hoped I'd find

She winks and the audience screams again in delirium.

All I know is you Heal me when I'm broken, heal me when I'm broken, oh

Eyes closed, she intones the voice.

All I know is you Saved me and you know it, saved me and you know it

The raw emotion in her expression and voice.

Always thought I was hard to love 'Til you made it seem so easy, seem so easy

The song ends and there is hysteria. Screams, applause. It is a mess.

NETi moves away from the microphone to take a breath before returning.

“Thank you, PMAs. That was amazing.”

She waves her hand at the audience, greeting everyone gratefully before having to leave the stage.

The camera goes back to Nadja Chamack who was the example of the confusion.

“Well, great day to know that my daughter's old nanny is a designer and a pop star.” She jokes blandly. “Now we are going to take a break and we will be back with Luka Couffaine's performance.”

The group of friends were sitting motionless. A hard lump to swallow stuck in their throats.

Sabrina is the first to speak.

"There has to be some explanation for that."

Nathaniel smiles weakly.

"Yes. Of course, there is.” But there is no conviction in his voice.

Alya quickly pulls out her phone, typing something and waiting.

“Al, what-” Nino is interrupted by Alya's hand spread out in a “stop” sign.

Her cell phone beeps and she chokes, her eyes teary.

"Alya, what happened?" Mylene asks, already desperate.

She doesn't answer, just passes her cellphone to her friends before leaving the room.

"I'll go after her." Nino says and leaves.

Mylene, Sabrina, Ivan and Nathaniel come together to see what had left their friend in that deplorable state, but they regret not long after.

[Alya 9:26]: Did you lie to me? [Lila 9:28]: ...I didn't lie. [Lila 9:28]: Just said what people wanted to hear.

Sabrina sighs, her eyes wide.

"Does that mean she-"

"Yes." Ivan whispers shaken.

Marinette and the others were right. They were blind.

Alya returns to the room next to Nino, eyes red and unrivaled fury.

She reaches for the phone and Mylene gives it back.

“She lied to me for years. Fool me all these years. If she thinks this is going to be it...” She says. "Then she better gets ready, because I'm going to destroy her life."

"And how do you intend to do that?" Nathaniel questions.

Alya stares at her friends.

“I have everything recorded. Everything. And I'll still look for more.” Growls. "She'll regret everything she did and said."

She would do not only for her, but also for Marinette.

Alya owed it to her former best friend.

It was the least she could do.

EXTRA:

“Earlier today, the Italian model Lila Alois Rossi, was arrested by the Parisian police. It is still unclear whether she will remain in prison here in Paris or be deported back to Italy, but we have had access to the prosecution and I tell you: there is no way she can escape it by just bailing.” Nadja Chamack was sitting in the armchair her studio. The expression was hard as stone.

"Along with the prosecution, irrevocable evidence was attached, giving no breach for Ms. Rossi to mount a defense."

Nadja's image is placed in the corner, highlighting the video of Lila Rossi being handcuffed in the police car to the police station.

The Italian had lost the healthy tone of her skin. Her pale lips and the obvious discomfort with the flashes. They didn't realize they would ever be able to see this: Lila Rossi hating the attention on her.

“Among accusations of defamation, there are also many about sexual harassment, blackmail, bullying and… accomplice of murder. Apparently, she was the reason for some suicides in the schools she studied, told no one and even encouraged the victims.”

Damian raises his eyebrow at the television, turning to Marinette and Adrien, sitting beside him on Chloe's couch.

“How do you think this happened?” He asks. He was right that Lila Rossi would get over after all these years of trying to knock her down.

Adrien tilts his head, thinking.

"Alya." Marinette doesn't even have to think before answering.

Adrien nods frantically.

"Certainly, Alya."

"She must have finally discovered Lila's lies and that's her way to get revenge." Marinette says.

"And raise a white flag for us." Adrien continues.

Damian turns his attention back to the TV. He was impressed by Césarie's work. She could be a decent reporter when she researched and checked her sources first.

[tag list]

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[full-hd-sun]

answer me

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Relationship: Dong Si Cheng | WinWin/Nakamoto Yuta Characters: Dong Si Cheng | WinWin, Nakamoto Yuta, Moon Taeil, Suh Youngho | Johnny, Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Qian Kun, Liu Yang Yang, Wong Kun Hang | Hendery, Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten Additional Tags: Awkward Flirting, Attempts to flirt, Fluff, Attempt at Humor, Firefighters, Phone Calls & Telephones, alcohol mentioning

The Japanese never paid strong attention to people’s voices.

  It started on a cool October season when a hotline operator called him. He reported that a few streets from the fire station, a flat was burning, in which, according to the victims’ neighbors, there were kids and two old humans. Nakamoto thanked him, writing the coordinates and some info on a piece of paper, and, calling the team, moved to work.

  A few days afterward, the same voice reported about a kid whose hand was stuck between the bars of the fence.

  “The injured kid is about nine years old. Previously, he got stuck till the shoulders, as the incident reporter struggled to help the child, but he did not move a millimeter.”

  “Did you find and tell his parents?”

  “No, but the informant told his parents, who know the victim.”

  “OK, thank you for the report. We will get there as soon as possible,” with these talks he instructs his colleague Jisung, who, after passing his eyes over the piece of paper, thanks Yuta and rushes towards the squad. Nakamoto is bad at granting first aid, so he is useless there. He leans back in his chair and stretches, crunching his back stiff because of long sitting. Then he closes his eyes.

  The first thing that comes to his mind is that he has not even started the edge of housekeeping, since because of regular shifts. To get into his room, he must complete a quest from uncleared boxes from pizzas eaten on the go in the morning and scattered clothes everywhere; in most cases, he justifies his job as a firefighter - if you want to take out somewhere on his day off, wake him up first.

  And suddenly the voice of the operator creeps into the image, which anyway attracted him. Usually, when the operators announce what happened, they have a panicked tone, as if it, God forbid, happened in their family. But the tone of this operator is entirely calm, and if the condition was fatal, he announced this in a quiet voice with slight hoarseness; probably talks a lot during the day.

  The loud sound of the phone brought out of his dreams, so Yuta had to open his eyes and in four steps be near the dial.

  “Well, already ... Are you firefighters or who?” he discovers a recognizable and somewhat annoyed voice on the other hand of the line. “Be more gathered,” the same voice reads, and the Japanese just grins. It delights him.

  “Did something happen again?” asks Yuta keeping a pen with a piece of note wide-awake.

  “I’m calling because of a child whose hand stuck in the fence. We called the parents. But they are a somewhat dysfunctional family because they just so violent to me when I told them of the event!” on the last words the operator’s voice breaks down a bit, which touches the firefighter. “So the boy will come to you, and there you will already call the guardianship authorities and all the cases.”

  “Ok, I found out. Thanks for the info.”

  “And be more responsive to calls. A person dies because of your delay in responding, how will you live after that?” the operator says in an instructive manner.

  “Are your parents not dragons by any chance? Then how do they explain that you are such a fire?” Yuta says in a languid tone, and, covering the mic with his palm, he giggles. There is a silence of the phone for a minute, accompanied by a deep sigh, and Nakamoto swears that he can feel the operator rolling his eyes.

  “Excuse me, of course, but did your grand-grandfather teach you how to tackle, or are you so ancient?” the tone is humbler - sweet and smooth.

  “It did not work?” expresses the firefighter in a somewhat agitated tone.

  “Of course not. You have to study and understand the art of a flirt,” here is a minute of silence, “but your voice is as sweet as honey, which I add to my tea.” Yuta hears a gentle chuckle on the other side.

  "Was it a tackle or are you teaching me to tease, mister..." - the firefighter stumbles, because he does not know the name of the operator, he never introduced himself. In response, there is the most magnificent and pure children’s laugh that a Japanese has ever heard.

  “I’ll tell you my name if the next time you pick up the phone when I call,” a voice murmured on the other side,” and now I have to go to accomplish my shift. So let’s try your luck, Big Time. See you.”  and the operator drops the call, leaving Yuta with an idiotic grin all over his face.

            He had never run-up to the phone so rapidly before when it called, picking up a call and holding his breathing, expecting, but it was not him. This was the second week. Some voices were regularly repeated, but the one he lacked so much was seldom on duty. It’s marvelous how much Yuta wants to hear this operator. He rushes headlong, even if he is standing at the other end of the hall, at the sound of the ring.

  When Nakamoto comes to the later shift, having already given up any confidence when the call sounds, he pauses to pick up, but something inside pushes him to receive the call, and he responds to the call.

  - Hey? - he is silent for a couple of seconds, and suddenly it dawns on him that the firefighters should not say in such a way. - Oh sorry. Fire station number one, what can I be ...

  - Well, hello, - the voice says with a laugh, making Yuta fell into a stupor.

  - You…

  - Me, - the firefighter hears on the other side a slight laugh in his voice. - What am I calling. There, several people were stuck in a shopping center elevator.

  Yuta writes all the details and the street and then gives the piece of paper to Doyoung. After making sure he’s gone, Nakamoto returns to the phone. - Well, honey, you were right, I am lucky.

  There is a chuckle on the other side, and the Japanese man quite closes his eyes.

  - You only thought about it all the time?

  - Well, really, you developed a reflex of Pavlov’s dog. I’ve never picked up my phone so immediately, - says the firefighter, sitting down on a chair and throwing his legs over the back of a nearby chair.

  - For a second I imagined you in a collar and with a chain which I hold at the end, - the operator laughs. Yuta just chuckles and looks at himself in the mirror - maybe it would suit him.

  - Why were you not on duty for so long? Probably fell from your home - paradise? - at least in the Japanese's head this tackle sounded cool, but judging by the silence of the operator, it was again a failed number.

  - Now you asked to teach you how to roll from your great-great-grandfather? - the operator imitates the stern voice and then laughs. - But tell him that this is much better.

  The firefighter is glad to understand that he’s already doing better.

  - So, tell me your name, I picked up the phone when you called.

  - Did I say that? - The voice asks in surprise.

  Yuta chuckles in response, straightening his red hair, which sticks into his eyes although he tied it in a ponytail at the back.

  - Well, then I want to take back my promise.

  - Why? Am I unpleasant to you? Don’t you like my voice? - tries to hide Nakamoto’s anxiety.

  There is a burst of sincere laughter that caresses his ear.

  - No, of course not. I just like to play, and you heartily accept my rules - the voice becomes languid, or does it seem so to a Japanese in love?

  The corners of the firefighter’s lips spread across his face in a grin, exposing his fangs.

  - Well, you may be right. I like to hunt you, - taking off his legs from the back of the chair and sitting down, he adds in a whisper: - But baby, take it down a notch, that I am not as simple as I look, - leans back and feeling unbearably good, says Yuta. The operator chuckles in response, and the Japanese involved in this game likes it. He likes that this kid does not so easily fall into the clutches of a predator.

  They were silent for another minute, and Nakamoto felt uneasy.

  - Um ... How are you? - Coughing softly, he asks.

  On the other side, he can hear a peal of chesty, rolling laughter.

  - Are you asking this to talk a little longer?

  - Stealing your time? - Yuta’s cheeky grin grows as he looks at himself in the mirror. - Yes, I’m such a thief. And you, by the way, are also a thief.

  - And why is that? - the operator is indignant, and it amuses the firefighter.

  - Because you stole a piece of my heart. - Now it’s Nakamoto’s turn to laugh out loud while the operator thinks about something.

  - Hmm, it was good, - the voice finally answers, and Yuta, burying his fingers in his hair, conducts through them, pleased with himself.

  - But back to the previous one. It was you who brought me into the game, so I’m running after you.

  - Well, I did not force you to do it.

  - Hmm. Here you are right. I’ll reformulate - I’m running after you of my own free will, - says the firefighter, stretching in his chair.

  - Did I interest you so much? - says the voice on the other side.

  - You don’t even know how much, - the Japanese grins.

  This seems, surprised the operator very much, as he became quiet. Yuta runs her tongue over her dry lips in anticipation of an answer, and when it doesn’t follow, she asks:

  - Are you surprised that your fabulous voice charmed my callous heart and envelops it with the desire to live on and continue your game?

  Nakamoto hears the operator on the other end speaking Chinese and then brings the phone to his ear.

  - No.

  Yuta bites her lower lip as she imagines that voice just got embarrassed.

  - Oh, the dear angel was embarrassed.

  - Not true! At the last word, the guy’s voice breaks again, and Nakamoto smiles triumphantly.

  - Yah? You flirt like a god, but here you were embarrassed by a compliment from me? The fireman purrs, teasing the operator.

  - Yes! I’m not embarrassed! Is a blatant lie, but Nakamoto rolls his eyes and runs his tongue over the gums under his lower lip. He senses how long it takes for the kid to answer, so he’s sure he’s blushing.

  - Good, good, red maiden. I’ve got things going on here, so I have to leave you. Until the next call, - without waiting for an answer, Yuta drops the call and grins triumphantly, exposing his fangs.

  If the kid wants to play, he will suit him. One: one.

          Their subsequent calls were purely working, with no game. During this time, Yuta manages to find out quite by accident that this is operator number 2810. Of course, this information does not bring him closer to revealing the guy, but it pleases him even more because the game continued.

  Unexpectedly, Taeil, their department head, after intercity meetings of all fire departments, decided to put several operators on the first floor of the fire department in which Japanese works. He explained this by the fact that the operator’s department has so little space that they almost sit on each other’s heads, and the first fire department has an empty floor idle. Everyone didn’t care if there were more people or fewer, but Nakamoto, deep down, hopes to see the operator who has been encrypted for three months now and has not been led into his bait.

  Closer to Christmas, some of them already have all the communications that operators need so badly, and somewhere the other day they should announce themselves.

  Everyone goes home, only Yuta and Johnny remain, who, alas, will not be able to spend this New Year with their relatives. They decided to pass the time by decorating the site with a Christmas theme. Youngho takes out garlands and toys from the attic, while Yuta cleans the snow tree in the courtyard to decorate it. Of course, one cannot do without a snow carnage, but Johnny, due to his height, is less agile, so Nakamoto throws snowballs at him from head to toe.

  Decorating something is a favorite of the Japanese. He pleases to create the everyday interior colorful, so on the table near the phone on which he speaks to the operator, there are always animal figures made of wood or any other material, and next to the desk there is a huge pack with Valentines. He works here not so long but has a lot of valentines for that time. He’s a local Don Juan in their little area.

  When Nakamoto helped Youngho get shit off the snow, they set about decorating the tree. Yuta does all, and Johnny only gets to the places where the Japanese could not get it. So for an hour of such friendly work, the Christmas tree lights with a sweet and gentle white light, without eating away the eyes, since this time. Suh took a garland with a less bright light. In a few more hours, the entire department is decorated with socks in which you need to put gifts, Santa Claus, which hang on the walls and, having asked the workers in advance not to close their lockers, Yuta and Johnny throw each a packet of sweets and a small handwritten card with wishes for a Happy New Year and Christmas. The guys also arrange a small concert, turning on New Year’s music for the whole department, and dancing their wild dances, because there is no other way how Yuta “flies” on a broomstick, and Johnny imitates playing the guitar, holding his leg. Suddenly Youngho seems to remember something and slaps his forehead, walks over to the speaker, and reduces the volume.

  - I forgot that we have a club where you can have a lot of fun every New Year’s Eve. My friends invited me there. I’ll go and call them back, ask if everything is still valid, and let’s go there, - without waiting for an answer, Suh went out the door.

  Yuta takes off the jewelry that the elder hung around him and puts them neatly in place. On this New Year’s Eve, he truly wants to call the 2810 operator, but how? Nakamoto slowly walks to the window, looks through the snow-covered window at the sky, noticing the shooting stars. Once upon a time, his parents told him that if you absolutely believe and wish, and when you see a falling star, make a wish - it will surely become true. Nakamoto only smiles with the corners of his lips at these memories, but the Devil may play any trick. He closes his eyes and makes his wish right before Youngho walks back into the room.

  - So, I will make you happy - we have a team, so come on, change from work to normal clothes, and let’s go hang out. You will remember this New Year, - Johnny smiles, mysteriously twitching his eyebrows, which annoys the Japanese a little, but it won’t hurt to try, so let’s go.

  Changing from suit into a fiery sweater that matches the color of his hair and thick black pants, he places a few jewels in his haircut, braiding them into a ponytail, and fixes his naughty bangs with several invisible ones. When Yuta comes to work in this form, he usually hears sighs behind his back about his amazing image. And the Japanese himself dreams of hearing this from his beloved phone caller, whom, though, he counts on to see tonight, because all these conversations of the elders are true, right?

  Johnny, looking at such a Nakamoto, whistled, and thumbs up.

  - Now, besides my boyfriend, you will also glow in the club, - he laughs with joy, picking up his bag over his shoulders. Yuta rolls his eyes at this.

  - There can only be one star on the tree, and that’s me, - he replies, running his palm through his hair and smirking. The Japanese don’t even need alcohol to be so confident and ready to roll.

  - Let’s go then, a taxi is waiting for us, - Youngho points to the exit, letting Yuta ahead.

  Saying goodbye to the few on duty who remained there, they disappear from the fence of the station and get into a taxi. Johnny gives the address and the car moves. As the Japanese one understood - they will go to the other edge of the city. They are silent all the way - Suh writes something to friends and seldom shows some memes to the boy, and Yuta looks at the night festive city. People walk in crowds on the street, having fun and wishing everyone a happy New Year. Someone is dressed in costumes, someone is handing out small gifts, street musicians are singing, there are many booths where you can buy hot mulled wine and warm up. In general, the atmosphere of a holiday is in the air. Nakamoto always spent New Year in his hometown of Osaka, Japan, but he was suddenly offered a promotion and needed to move to Korea. Leaving friends and family, he went to a completely unfamiliar country with great fear that he would not be accepted here, but fortunately, he came across such a boss as Taeil - a truly good person: he can be strict, but he never raises his voice and does not scold him for any then minor misses. He also got Johnny as his partner - just like him, a boy who came from America, who has been working here for four years, but this is their first joint New Year, which they spend together.

  As he thinks about his friends and family, he doesn’t even recognize how the car has stopped, and it is only when Youngho pinches his side that he wakes up.

  - We’re in place, getting out, - Johnny announces, extending his hand. Nakamoto looks around, sees the Neo Club sign, and after thanking the driver, gets out of the car. People around stand and smoke in large crowds, chatting about something of their own, but the entrance to the club is almost deserted, so, after standing in a small line of four people in front of them, they finally enter.

  Suh is already waving to people at the table, is almost at the other end of the entrance, and realizing that only he can see where these guys are, he grabs Nakamoto’s hand and drags him through the dancing heat. It surprises the Japanese to see how already drunken enough bodies are trying to move to the music, how everyone huddles together, and only grins at this - he likes this. Twice, someone tries to grab his free hand, but Johnny drags him along so quickly that Yuta, even if he wanted to, could not free himself from Youngho’s tight grip.

  When they are already leaving the crowd, Nakamoto sees a sofa where five “ready-made” guys are already sitting. Of all of them, he knows only Taeil - their boss and, in combination, the guy So, who, noticing his workers, waved to them and point to a place on the sofa next to him. Yuta is the first to let Johnny, who is near his boyfriend, kisses him nicely on the nose, and again on the lips, placing his hands on Moon’s hips. Later a Japanese man sits down next to him. All eyes at the table are looking at him, but he leans back on the back of the sofa, straightening his hair and showing with all his appearance that he is dad here.

  - This is Nakamoto Yuta, he is Japanese and works with me in the same department. This is the same legendary guy who, appearing on the doorstep, won the hearts of many firefighters. - introduces the guy Johnny, while everyone is looking at the red-haired one. He, it seems, is not nervous in an unfamiliar atmosphere, radiating all his sexuality and blinking innocently.

  -Nice to meet you, - he shakes hands with everyone, eyes shooting, making the two strangers blush slightly.

  -This is Lucas and Kun, - Suh points to the guys sitting opposite, - they were once in our department, but now they are a few streets away, in the third.

  Lucas and Kun smile as they shake the guy’s hands. Yuta realizes that they are only seemingly formidable, especially Lucas. Until he smiled, the Japanese thought he had squeezed something from Yukhei, and that he would now hit his face. Kun is calmer and looks like a bear, Nakamoto wants to pinch his cheeks.

  -And this is Yangyang and Hendery - our operators, - continues to introduce Youngho, pointing to the previously blushed guys. They shake hands and quietly squeak “Nice”, and suddenly Yuta recognizes the voice he sometimes heard in the background when talking to operator 2810; Sometimes Yangyang allowed himself to sing WAP in the background, which surprised Nakamoto very much if the kid knew about the translation, but his interlocutor did not seem to be surprised, because a few seconds after the start of singing this song, Kun appeared and scolded the boy. - They will soon be taken to our first floor. We will have about fifteen operators, right, Moonie? - asks Suh to the boy’s, who looks so sweetly at the American with loving eyes.

  - Yes, we planned more, but the electrician said that if we put them close to each other, this could affect the network and may not get through to the station, - the boss smiles, and Johnny pulls him into his bear hug under the enthusiastic sighs from everyone sitting at the table.

  Then a waiter walks up to them and updates the amount of booze on their table. Yuta hasn’t drunk for a long time, almost a year, but it’s time to remember what the taste of alcohol is.

  While talking about work and plans for this year, everyone is well intoxicated, and Lucas offers to play Uno for wishes. Of course, crazy desires come to a drunken head: Taeil, as the first loser, is told to lick alcohol from Johnny’s press; then Hendery loses and they told him to kiss with Lucas for a minute (as Johnny later explains, Hendery has been sighing for a long time towards Lu, but Wong does not see it, so they decided to bring them together). In the last game, Yuta loses, and having seen enough desires, which each time become more and more vulgar, he is ready to uncover. This time Kun makes a wish.

  -See the guy with raven hair? Come up to him and get his number, - Qian smiles, leaning back on the sofa. Yuta looks around and sees a lonely guy looking at the dance floor. His “victim”, even with his drunken misty gaze, looks great: a dressed shirt that bares a little collarbone, a harness worn over a shirt and lose pants - just a boy for sore eyes. Not doubting that he can easily cope, Yuta picks up from his seat, but sways, since he is helped by Suh, who is sitting next to him.

  Nakamoto walks over to the guy who is sipping a cocktail and just seems to be resting. A Japanese man approaches him and, using all his charm, says:

  - You, by any chance, are not a frying pan? Because you’re hot, - Yuta winks and grins. The boy hung, as he runs his eyes over the body of the fireman and rounds them. Shock can be seen in his eyes. He understood something, but Nakamoto is too drunk to find out, he only wants to fulfill the conditions of desire.

  The Japanese grinned with his trademark smile.

  -Did you swallow your tongue when you saw me, dear angel? - Yuta asks, grinning. The guy is down, as he shakes his head and only briefly asks in a voice a little rougher than his own.

  - What do you want from me?

  The firefighter smiles.

  - Just your number. By the way, your voice is so familiar ... but I do not remember where I could hear it, - at these words the stranger’s gaze becomes insane as if it had been opened.

  - Um ... It seemed to you. Have you heard a few similar voices in your life? - in neat handwriting, despite the anxiety inside, the boy writes his number and hands it to the Japanese, if only he dumped. He smiles triumphantly.

  - See you again, angelic creature, - Yuta says with satisfaction, hiding in the crowd and leaving Sicheng alone.

  “Oh no, it’s hardly him”, Winwin convinces himself. When Yuta is far enough away, Sicheng starts to run and quickly closes the door to the restroom behind him. After washing, he looks at himself in the mirror. He just happened to meet a man with whom he flirted so much, and could not even combine words into a sentence in his presence.

  He replays in his head everything that happened a few minutes ago. Dong recognized Yuta only from his tackle since his voice, in reality, sounds much lower than on the phone, which the Chinese like to goosebumps. This is unmistakably the firefighter with whom they have been communicating so sweetly for many months.

  Winwin imagined him, but not so fabulous ... He once again washed and dried himself with the napkins that hang nearby. This voice, this wink, this grin ... Sicheng is just an idiot that let him go.

            Taking the boy’s number, Yuta says goodbye to him and goes to the company, where everyone is already smeared on the sofa in pairs. He puts down a piece of paper loudly, drawing attention to himself, and sits down next to Lucas. He picks up a piece of paper and reads the contents, and only whistles, showing his thumb. The others clap their hands contentedly. Nakamoto, in his joys, hides the number, or suddenly they want to get drunk to meet his “victim” or call.

  They have been drinking and having fun for several hours, but the drunk guys do not have so much strength to have fun until the morning. And as the most sober, Kun takes them all home, calling a taxi. When the turn comes to Utah, he is already snoring on the sofa, and Qian cannot wake him up, drags him home.

  As soon as he opens the door of his apartment, he dumps the drunken body on a soft ottoman next to the door, closes the door behind him, trying not to make noise. But the Japanese, as luck would have it, wakes up and resents. Qian barely calms him down by sending him to the shower, he will not let him like that on his sofa.

  The firefighter, indignant and stumbling, drunkenly swinging from side to side, stomps in the bathroom's direction. He takes off all his clothes and gets up under a stream of hot running water. It’s very relaxing, but not right now. When he finishes the procedures, he realizes that he cannot get back into the alcohol-soaked things, and wrapping himself in a towel, he goes to look for Kun, who is looking for hangover pills in the medicine cabinet.

  - Kun-a, I have nothing to wear now. Maybe you can borrow something from yours? - asks Yuta, leaning on the corner. Qian clicks his tongue, surveying the Japanese from head to toe, and then walks into the room, returns with a shirt and shorts.

  - Thank you, Kun-a, - Nakamoto was about to climb with his hugs, but Qian stops him.

  - Your pills for the morning and water. I made a bed for you in the hall. Good night, - and leaves the kitchen, turning off the light.

  Yuta remains standing in the dark kitchen, and later, it looks that it reaches his drunken brain. He turns on his heel and stomps toward the audience. Turning on the lights, he puts the water and the pills on the coffee table next to him, while he looks for the phone. After spending ten minutes on this, he even finds him near the ottoman in the hall. From the cover sticks out the tail of a piece of paper on which he had previously written a number. The firefighter chuckles contentedly and calls this number back.

  He gets to the room, turns off the light, settles down snugly on the sofa and dials the number under the light of his mobile phone, but it takes an eternity before the subscriber answers the call.

  - Yes? - mutters a voice with a low tone from sleep, which gives Yuta a herd of goosebumps. He is silent for a minute, listening as the guy on the other side comes back in bed and yawns, emitting a kitty purr. - Are you going to speak, or am I ending the conversation? The voice says.

  Nakamoto wakes up immediately.

  - No. I’m that guy from the club, remember? - the Japanese asks with a heartbeat. Now the silence goes to the other side. The firefighter hears incomprehensible Chinese words, and he is ready to swear that elsewhere he heard it. -When I looked at you, I feel that I have known you for quite a long time. But I just can’t remember where I saw you.

  The second caller is silent and then speaks with a somewhat rougher tone than before.

  - As I said at the club, many people have similar voices. Maybe you imagined it. - Yuta hears how loudly his interlocutor swallows saliva. - Why are you not sleeping? Don’t you work?

  - Yes, I was going to sleep, because in a few hours on shift. - stretched out on the couch, Yuta whispers in a husky voice, which, as Winwin notes in his head, sounds insanely attractive.

  - Mmm ... - all that Sicheng answers. - And I’m going to go to visit my new workplace tomorrow, - says the Chinese, and then realizes what Nakamoto said. The Japanese smile from this.

  - So you are one operator who will now sit downstairs with us? - Yuta asks, remembering his mysterious operator.

  - You make it sound like you already know who’s going to work there, - Winwin says, stretching on the bed.

  - Well, I’m already familiar with three, - the firefighter grins.

  - I’ve only seen you with two, - Sicheng says in a surprised voice. Yuta raises an eyebrow at this.

  - So you saw me with Hendery and Yanyang? - Nakamoto asks. For a minute, his interlocutor is silent, and Yuta bites his lip in anticipation. And then, either from the past tense, or so the shower worked, the gears spin in the Japanese’s head, and he scrolls the vague, but events of the night. After that, his face lights up with a grin.

  - I’m ready to argue, my secret operator, I’ll find you tomorrow, - the firefighter whispers into the phone with the same insolent grin. The silence continues on the other side.

  - No! You won’t find me! - the voice is indignant with slight notes of panic.

  - You will discover, 2810. Sweet dreams, - dropping the call, Yuta has already thought through the plan for the morning.

  Two: one

            Yuta thinks about the plan to expose Sicheng so much that he falls asleep an hour before the alarm clock. Of course, he did not hear it, as did the next three repetitions.

  Only the disgruntled Kun could wake him up, who on his day off wakes up from the Japanese alarm clock at five-thirty in the morning, and to wake the guy up, he puffs water from the spray bottle and scolds. Nakamoto wakes up with the words “Well, if you don’t know how to drink, then don’t drink!”, after which Qian pauses and just glares at him, pointing to the phone.

  The firefighter rises on his elbows, straightening his hair, and reaches out to the glass - the events of last night make themselves felt. Having devastated him, he looks at Kun, who looks at him.

  - Good morning to you and Happy New Year, - Yuta mutters hoarsely as he gets out of bed wearing what his mother gave birth to. - And what happened?

  - Oh, I’ll tell you what happened. First - you ought to be ashamed of yourself. You couldn’t wait till I leave and after that did your striptease? Second - you drunks had very good fun yesterday, so I brought you back home. Third, - he points to the phone, - this devilish brat will wake up even the dead, but not you, and I, by the way, have a day off. Well, fourthly, now it is clear with whom our cute operator was flirting there.

  The Japanese almost falls as he tries to squeeze his leg into his trouser leg.

  - In the sense it is clear?

  - I have ears, I can hear, and I heard your conversation at night, and all the puzzles came together, - Kun smiles.

  Nakamoto looks around the room.

  - But how did you know about it?

  - Well, my boyfriend works with Winwin. And everyone noticed that he had a delightful conversation with someone and more than once at dinner said that he often talks with a firefighter with a charming, deep voice, - Qian shrugs. - And at night, when you were saying goodbye, you called him operator 2810, and I connected everything in my head.

  Yuta runs a hand through his hair, creating even more mess on his head.

  - Oh Qian Kun, oh Sherlock boy.

  He only bows.

  - And now it’s almost half-past six and you’re late for work.

  Today, a firefighter’s bowler hat cooks better, because the meaning of what has been said reaches him, and without even saying goodbye, he flies into the corridor with a bullet, barely putting on his shoes and grabbing a backpack, flies to the elevator. Taeil-Hyung, although his friend, even comes to work after noble celebrations, despite his condition. And after such a walk, he will check Nakamoto.

            After Yuta dropped the call, Winwin’s sleep vanishes.

  He spins in bed for another hour and a half, thinking about something of his own. Sighing, Sicheng sits up, shaking his head and driving away various thoughts. This is not the time to think too much. Then his gaze falls on the clock - only half-past five in the morning. It is very early, but if he lies back now, there is no guarantee that he will fall asleep.

  Winwin rises quickly, and from the sharp rush of blood to his head, everything floats before his eyes. Deciding that the morning shower can relax him, he grabs the phone from the nightstand and heads to the bathroom. By turning on his favorite dance playlist, the guy by any means tries to distract himself from what happened. But the year has just begun ...

  Today he needs to look presentable, as this will be an acquaintance with a new team, although Sicheng deep inside hopes that he will not meet Yuta among unfamiliar faces. The operators wear a loose dress code - a cute New Year’s sweater and black jeans. Examining himself in the mirror, his spinal cord catches someone’s gaze.

  -Aahh, Sicheng-a, have you finally emphasized your sweet side, and not dress like a bad boy? It seems that this firefighter flipped the right switch in your head, - Ten smiles, and then walks to the coffee table where Winwin keeps jewelry, and takes out a cute pendant with a star. He walks up to the guy and puts it around his neck, which makes Dong look so soft that he wants to be crushed.

  - You made a doll out of me, but I have to work, - Winwin mutters into his reflection, glancing at Ten.

  - I’m doing this so you can finally meet your firefighter and stop taking all the oxygen with your sighs about his beautiful voice, - Chittapon shrugs.

  - Oh, okay, it was only a few times, - Sicheng rolls his eyes, and then leaves the room.

  - Shall I count? Sorry, but not enough fingers. You started the game yourself, - says Ten following Winwin down the hallway and then looks at his watch. - Aren’t you too early? Only seven in the morning.

  - We need to familiarize ourselves with a new place, - Dong replies. I just came early to hide and not crawl out of my corner, rushes through my thoughts.

  - Good luck at work and don’t be as hidden as you can be. Especially in front of him, - Ten playfully twitches his eyebrows, to which Sicheng once again rolls his eyes and leaves the apartment.

          Having broken off with all his might to run, Yuta still arrives at the department before the chief. Nakamoto is thankful to himself for always keeping a spare set of clothes in his locker. Taking off his coat, the Japanese goes to the shower. It is an awful smell of alcohol on him, which needs to be interrupted with something. Fortunately, for the same reason, he bought himself a vigorous shower gel with a strawberry scent, which also works well as a shampoo.

  Changing into an elegant white shirt with puffed sleeves and not buttoning three top buttons, Yuta admires herself in the mirror. He twists and turns and then pulls her on his shoulders a little to reveal the view of the chiseled collarbones. He likes to radiate the energy of his grandfather, and everyone who works with him is already accustomed to such a Japanese, giving him a mountain of compliments every time, as if they are seeing him for the first time.

  Suddenly, the phone vibrates in the back pocket of his trousers, and it displays a message from Taeil in their work chat on the screen:

  Meeting in ten minutes on the first floor.

  Nakamoto closes his locker and, winking at himself in the mirror again, confidently leaves for a meeting with the operators, where he intends to reveal the identity of his beloved.

            The department is located not far from his home, so he walks slowly, enjoying the frosty winter air and the New Year’s atmosphere around. With a nice Christmas melody playing through the headphones, Sicheng notices a tree decorated by Yuta and Johnny. He has a well-developed sense of taste, so he has the right to dig into shortcomings because in the previous section it was he who decorated everything, for which their department was called the most elegant and ideal - it was simple and tasteful, nothing superfluous. He walks around the tree from all sides, looking at the multi-colored confetti, which is no longer in fashion, Winwin even manages to spy out among the branches a boot stuck in by someone and a used fire extinguisher, which is hung on a branch by a string. Shaking his head, he realizes that this will be a fun department, and just starts to wait for the others, sitting on a bench and taking out his mobile phone to while away the time playing another strategy.

  He does not know how much time passes, but he senses someone’s presence nearby due to the strong smell of alcohol and his gaze. Sicheng abruptly rises from his place, frightening the person looming over him, but it turns out to be none other than Hendery, but something in his form is not right - he does not push up, as usual, but looks happy and without the jokes on his face.

  - Can I wish you a good morning, or is it better to say good night? - asks Winwin Deri, who with all his appearance shows that he wants to share information about how he spent the night with the very Lucas, with whom they are spreading the site from the excess of stupid ideas that were in their dark heads. - Well, come on already, tell me ...

  - You can’t even imagine who I was with today! We first met at the club, then Kun sent us home, but Lucas told the driver to take us to that hill, from where the most charming view of Seoul opens. And then it turned out that we were both fat-headed fools who were embarrassed to confess their feelings to each other, but did not hesitate to create that crazy game for the entire department. And now we, as it were, are meeting, - the younger almost squeaks with happiness, and Winnie, pleased that everything worked out for his friend, approaches him with open arms.

  - And who are you leaving me to? Now, among all of us, I am the only loner left, - Sicheng says in a mock sad voice, moving away from the guy. - You, hike, warmed yourself too much because from you it smells of alcohol.

  - No, it was Yukhei-Hyung who gave me alcohol for the courage to give him… - Dery muttered embarrassingly, making Winwin touched.

  - Just go ahead without details. Of course, I’m glad for you, but I don’t want to be privy to such secrets.

  - Hyung ... - Kunhang nudges him lightly on the shoulder, and Sicheng just smiles his most innocent smile.

  - I would advise you to run home, change clothes, and drink something from a hangover, otherwise on the very first day Taeil-Hyung will regret taking us.

  - I have half an hour left, - Wong says, confused.

  - I think it will be closed for you to go to Lucas. - Winwin points out, playfully twitching his eyebrows. - If you hurry, then I don’t even have to cover your ass.

  - After what happened, soft chairs would not have interfered with me, otherwise ... - Sicheng interrupts the guy’s words, pushing him towards the house.

  - Save me from the details, feets in hands, and run, - Winwin laughs after the guy who is trying with all his might to walk straight, but God only knows how much alcohol he drank for the courage.

  Ten minutes after that, the meeting begins - slowly a small number of people from different departments meet and warmly get to know each other, so this helps Winwin to relax a little and forget about the call.

            Yuta loved to meet people, because connections, wherever they are, are never superfluous. He stands at the other end of the corridor and, leaning against the doorframe, drinks coffee, examining the newcomers whom Taeil leads around their department and introduces everything around. His eyes immediately lookout for the same guy, so all the time they walk down the corridor, Winwin nervously straightens the edges of his clothes, feeling the gaze on him. Sicheng madly dislikes being studied. “I’m not an exhibit”, he usually says. But here Nakamoto would argue: in the bright light in the corridor, Winwin’s skin looks like porcelain, his profile when he turns his face to Moon’s words “Look left”, as if the jeweler was doing because of these soft lines of his face, and the face itself is so childish and tender, that it is hard to believe that this guy can flirt and even give advice on how to do it right.

  Operators and Taeil walk down the corridor, and when they are already disappearing, then from the Japanese, as if a veil of charm falls. He remembers the gathering and, having made himself another portion of coffee, since he did not sleep, goes to a large hall on the second floor, where they usually have conferences.

  It’s a gigantic room with a lot of shapeless pillows to sit on and a big projector that their boss likes to display all kinds of statistics, graphs, and figures about the rescued or something. All seats are almost taken, but suddenly Utah notices Johnny, who waves to him on the other side of the “ocean” of people.

  Nakamoto sighs, “Could you take a seat in some other ass-place?”, he thinks to himself, but he’s also very grateful to Youngho that he didn’t forget about him. Having somehow reached, he collapses next to him, almost spilling coffee on himself. The familiar red top of Taeil comes out to the projector who congratulates everyone on the holidays, then he apologizes for disturbing those who, in theory, have a weekend, and begins to sum up the past year. All this lasts about twenty minutes, and when they reach the “sweet” - the operators.

  - This year we will have an amazing experience with operators on our site. I believe that they, as the main decoration of our department, will give a different look to the main department of the fire department and increase efficiency, we will be able to receive calls better, since now, so that there is no confusion, we will attach a firefighter to each operator to whom he will report accidents cases. For this, I give you a week so that you have time to make friends and choose your partner. This, of course, I do not by order, because I was told to distribute it myself, but it is within my competence to make your already hard work pleasant. So you have time, and I want you all to get along with each other. That’s all for me. Once again - all happy holidays and the beginning of the New Year, which, I hope, will change for the better for many, - with these words Taeil looks at Johnny, who smiles back with his soft smile and shows his thumbs-up: Moon is very afraid of performances, so Suh always sits down near the stage so that if Taeil gets scared, he can find his beloved face and calm down.

  The next to go to the projector is the operators themselves, who introduce themselves and talk about some of their interests. When it comes to Sicheng’s turn, Nakamoto puts his coffee cup on the floor next to the ottoman and, resting his face on his palms, looks straight into the guy’s eyes.

  Winwin tries hard not to look at this interesting face, but involuntarily he meets Yuta’s gaze, which is why a herd of goosebumps runs down his spine and he stumbles, and the Japanese at that moment innocently slaps his eyes and, covering his mouth, smiles disgustingly.

  Dong prays to all known gods that not all firefighters will be dismantled but noticing that most of the operators he knows are approaching their guys, while others are already openly flirting with unoccupied firefighters when he suddenly notices Doyoung who is trying to spy out the remaining guys.

  - Hey, what are you standing here for? Taeyong and Yuta are still free...

  - Who did you like more? - asks Doyoung watching Sicheng’s reaction.

  - What’s the difference? We don’t choose husbands… - Dong mutters as he tries to hide his gaze from the Japanese studying him, turning his back to him.

  - I suggest we must play rock-paper-scissors? - Young smiles. - Who loses - goes to Yuta.

  - Why Yuta? Why not Taeyong? - Sicheng’s lips are blowing, blushing at the mere mention of this fireman.

  - Sicheng-a, lose, for God’s sake. We want to see you two together, - Hendery’s voice suddenly sounds from somewhere behind, causing Dong to jump up and down and then roll his eyes. Kunhang comes up to them, hugging sleepy Lucas, who even looks like he is ready to go to be photographed on the cover of a magazine right now.

  - If you continue to shout so loud, then I will let you down the stairs, Yuta is close ... - mutters Sicheng, blushing.

- Let’s play, - Doyoung interjects. - Rock-paper-scissors!

  Do fall out scissors, and at Winnie - paper. A happy couple squeaks from behind, and Young smiles nasty and points to a Japanese who is standing and talking to some guy. Winwin gets a little angry with an unfamiliar cute guy near Nakamoto since he already believed that Yuta was in his chains. Sicheng sighs and blushes and heads towards the Japanese.

  Coming closer, Sicheng strains his ears to hear the conversation, but when he comes closer, the conversation stops abruptly, - Nakamoto smiles at the guy and nods, saying goodbye. Dong mentally hates him, because even when he smiles, it’s a smile with his whole face, and it makes him feel at home next to the Japanese — safe and comfortable. Sicheng hates to blush.

  - Did you want something, dear angel? - Yuta smiles and looks away so as not to embarrass the boy like that.

  - I wanted to ask if you are free? - stammering, says Sicheng quickly.

  - Alas, but no. One boy took my heart a few months ago, and it seems he has no intention of returning it at all, - Nakamoto shrugs.

  - Damn it, I mean, do you have an operator? - Dong blushes, trying to look only at Hendery, who stands in the background with his fingers crossed. Following the gaze of the operator, the Japanese smirks and, while the guy has not yet turned, wraps his arm around his waist.

  - Let’s go and discuss, - says Yuta hugging.

  If it had been someone else, Sicheng would have already run away and yelled at the entire site, but either falling in love dulls his brains, or is he so afraid - he allows the Japanese to take him to their call waiting room. All the way, Nakamoto holds Sicheng’s waist, stroking the thin waistline with his thumb and tapping with the rest of his fingers. Already just before the door, he releases the guy, opening the door in front of him and letting him in.

  The room is medium but quite cozy: Christmas decorations are scattered everywhere, various soft toys that were given by children for the firefighter’s day, and many photos of Yuta with his friends from Osaka.

  Winwin looks around the room with interest as his hands rest almost weightlessly on his waist again.

  - If you’re interested, you can take and look, - Nakamoto says, forcing the introvert Sicheng up to this point to run like scalded from object to object, looking around. Then he seems to remember his reason for being here, and Dong looks around absently.

  - Why did you bring me here?

  - So that you do not blush because of your friends, - smiles Yuta, - well, I need to find out how much more time you will play cat and mouse? I’ve already declassified you, operator 2810, - Nakamoto approaches the guy, runs his fingers over his hand. - Why did you start this game?

  - I thought everything would remain at the level of flirting. I was very afraid, - lowering his gaze, mutters Winnie. The Japanese man tilts his head to one side, gently pushes the guy’s chin with his fingers, lifting it.

  - What were you afraid of?

  - That in reality, you don’t like me, - Sicheng says, looking into the eyes.

  - Why? - Yuta’s tone of voice becomes more alarming, and his hand is already holding Dong’s hand, fingering the guy’s fingers.

  - Well then, in the club ... You were incredible. And you know, that day I made a wish to find my soul mate, but no one came up to me all evening. And when I was already drunk, but still thinking, you approached. At first, I thought it was just another guy for the night, but when you called me ... I sharply sobered up. I was scared to tell you my number, although the drunks remember little, - Sicheng says while Nakamoto listens to him intently, intertwining their fingers.

- And when I saw you, I realized that I would be like an ugly duckling - only I would spoil the whole impression of you. You look like a prince from a fairy tale, and I’m just a free... - unexpectedly, Dong’s confession is interrupted by a soft kiss on the lips from the Japanese, who gently crushes the lips of the guy opposite who have not yet closed.

  - Don’t talk about yourself like that, you’re wonderful. You are a little riddle that I have found and I want to solve the rest of my life. I want to love you madly, making you blush, because then your face takes on indescribably cute features, I want to fill you with love in every sense of this phrase; I want to hear your delightful voice; I want to take away every fear and anxiety you have; I want you to feel close it’s cozy with me, because I’m your home, - all this is accompanied by Yuta’s kisses on various parts of Winwin’s face, leaving not a single part of the skin without a gentle touch of his lips.

  Sicheng blushes at these words.

  - So you’re not mad at me for my stupidity? - Dong asks when the Japanese man stops kissing the operator and puts his arm around the waist, pressing him against the wall.

  - Of course not, silly, - the Japanese laughs. - I can’t be angry with such a miracle. By the way, can you teach me a couple of flirting tricks? Are you my operator now?

  - I’m yours for a long time, you just didn’t know about it, - Sicheng chuckles while gently kissing Yuta. - And you have not yet learned how to flirt with such a guy?

  - Well, why not? I need a professional opinion.

  Winwin chuckles, waiting for Yuta’s answer.

  - Can I borrow a kiss? I promise I will return.

  Dong blinks his eyes for a moment, and then pulls the Japanese into a kiss, biting his lip slightly.

  - Would such an answer suit you?

  - So ... I did well?

  - A kiss is not enough? I expected everything, but not this. It was powerful. You make me happy, - smiles Sicheng, reluctantly moving away from Yuta.

  They have a special love - they don’t need a lot of words, just a few touches or the light presence of the shadow of a kiss on each other’s lips is enough to feel loved and desired.

[interestsofabookwormbitch]

Season 2 Episode 2

Hey guys, felt sick today, should have watched some of the show during the day, but oh well. I'm here now.

What is with this cowboy opening. Lmao.

"Indian Boarding school" hmm... Residential school? Dude I could go on about how disgusting those are. Also, calling it a boarding school feels wrong. Maybe it's because we've only ever called them residential schools where I'm from.

Alex in a army suit. Don't Love it. But probably cause I hate military.

I am happy with how they have their own space now. That's a good development to see.

Ah, Liz doesn't want her potentially seeing all the hate. Right?

Ooh, Liz making stuff up. Also I relate to "ew affection"

So they just kinda took over Max's house hmm? Oh, the vandal is Rosa then. I mean, cool cool cool. Idrc about vandalism. It's pretty.

We got science crew, Rosa sneaking out (dangerous, but understandable), and Isobel training in martial arts. By the end of this season Isobel is really gonna be the toughest one huh? Girl is, perhaps unhealthily, training a lot.

Just Noah's organs sitting in jars. Remarkable how recognizable they are to humans.

Maria is gonna go through it this season, I can already tell, what with her mom, her little thing with Michael, plus the fact that she's the last main character left not knowing about the alien thing.

Ok, but they should also tell their dad. He's not a main character, and idk how he could be integrated, but I just feel he should know about Rosa. If it weren't for her coming back I think it'd be fine for him to stay in the dark, but she is back, and he'd want to know.

Girl cannot be sneaking into the bar right. That's way too risky. Oh, also I guess she needs to try and stay sober. I forgot about how much harder more she's gonna have to fight drinking than others were.

Ok Max, imma need you to stop popping up like this. Also she can't stop Liz. You know Liz is stubborn. Although, yeah, I guess burning slowly to death would hurt, I could see wanting it to end. But idk if they know how to properly kill you either. It might take just as long.

Obviously the bar turned out to be a dream cause Max showed up.

Look, see the physical aspect of addiction is fixed, not the mental aspect. Also she's kinda isolated. Like obviously there's not much that Liz can even let Rosa do, but yeah.

Ok, let's figure out the ship. Or I guess we can deal with trauma instead. That works too.

Manes literally be sitting weakened in a hospital bed and still trying to threaten to kill people. He's pathetic.

This may be awkward. Ooh, you know what, I like how Michael seems to be wrapping his hand as a way to hide the fact that it's healed.

"May never be coming back" I mean, that's one way of putting it

Maybe it'll be too emotional to be awkward. Yeah definitely.

Yeah, ok, Isobel for sure would be around to help how she could. Also stem cells hmm....

More serum. Great. It may be handy eventually, but idk how I feel about Isobel taking some.

Oh shit, Rosa's finally seeing what people actually think of her.

Why is this guy still here🙄. Also, I get what you're saying Michael, but it's too late now. The paper is ruined. He should still take the gum off with his hands though

I get you, but picking a fight isn't good for you. Even if it's with a guy who deserves it. Also, what's with Rosa being there?

Holy ahit this guy has a YouTube channel. Rosa, don't watch this trash. 😬😬😬

Congrats are not in order right now.

Her mother has been popping up a lot more often now. I feel kinda bad for her since she's trying, but things are a little too much for her.

Liz is gonna get mad at her, but Rosa is gonna be angrier.

Lmao! Why did she call him? That was such poor timing.

Maria and Isobel still not liking each other low-key gives me life

Ok, I'm gonna love this little time we have of Liz and Michael in a holding cell together.

Who the fuck is this girl? That's like kinda rude. Although what she said was interesting.

That guy committed to the scream! Lmao. This whole class is quite fun tbh.

"How's that working out for you" bitch fuck you. His petty ass is fun though.

This lady is fucking crazy. Like, I'm sorry. Unless you have any fucking evidence it wasn't lightening, which it technically was, you should not be pushing this hard on the topic. Like it's frustrating. There is no way in hell she'd be so hung up on it.

Ok, turning to Kyle for answers. I doubt she's gonna like what she hears.

Oh yeah, she isn't aware of the political climate at the time. Also I find it hard to imagine Wyatt Long was ever a nice guy.

Kyle's mom is just making my role my eyes. Literally needs to focus on actual fucking issues. No evidence of murder or foul play, why is she so hung up on it? She hadn't questions over instant cancer, but this is what she gets stuck on? I just I can't understand it.

Ok, see, Liz isn't lying here, and that's the best way of being deceptive.

How long does this class go on?

Hmmm, see I don't know how this is gonna play out later. Setting the fear on fire is cool, getting rid of the lentil, great, how she may approach that later, a little worrisome.

Also, Maria was definitely feeling something there. There's more to her and her family than just normal people. There's dome kind of ability.

Dream? I guess not. Yeah, that would be heavy. Honestly all of this whole dying and coming back to life would suck.

Fuck this girl. Literally isn't America the only like first world country that doesn't have free health care? It's realistic, only rich people who don't care for others, and boot lickers choose not to believe it is.

Yeah, she's rich. Also, Idk if that nail polish remover was meant to hint at her being an alien, but I hope not. I know it's unrealistic to hope she's not gonna stick around, but I don't think I like her.

Agreed about the uniform Michael. Also, I mean, yeah, ok, your mom's been on your mind for weeks. I can see why you'd want to find out more.

A name. Why does this make my heart hurt? I want to know more about this Nora, she actually seemed so nice

Dude, she was a year without getting caught. Did she take care of the pods? Is she why they were hidden away?

Oh, fuck off Michael (I'm kidding). Come on, you could still work with him.

Ok, here's the thing, and I feel bad saying this but oh well. Yeah, he likes Maria. Undoubtedly. But it feels like he isn't in love with her. Like end of last season, talked to Isobel about being in love with Alex, and then went to see Maria. It feels like he likes her, but also uses her as a way to run from Alex. I mean he's scared of course, he's been burned before, so he doesn't want it to happen again. I get that, but I'm just saying my point of view as of now. I am sorry.

Ow ow ow

Ok, Liz let's talk to Rosa now.

"Vanilla mayonaisse" lmao. Look, I get this is supposed to be serious but that made me snort.

In all seriousness though, I hope Rosa can calm down and see why they did that in the end. It took Liz a couple days, I hope Rosa will come around. I know it sucks, and putting her in the driver's seat made things worse than they could have predicted, but like Liz said, they were just kids. And there was no way to know that what they did would make people attack the Ortecho's.

And now she's leaving. I mean she's not actually gonna leave, but yeah. I can see why shes hurt.

Look, Maria's gonna start feeling like a fucking yo yo. He's so hot and cold with her. I'd be so confused.

I mean they're gonna get together now, but yeah, he'd be so confusing.

Ok, ngl this is kinda cute though. Like I'm ok with this development.

Hmm. I wonder what else is going on with Alex's brother. How did he just start having a heart attack? And lmao, Alex just standing there watching

Oh no Rosa.

Isobel. Isobel don't. This does not seem safe at all. This will not end well.

Ok, well Max and Rosa aren't quite on friendly terms. Rosa, not a good idea.

I feel like low-key she was just waiting for an excuse to drink.

And there's the episode all watched up and finished. Won't be watching much this weekend as I'm going home, so yeah. No binging this season probably

[mefd19]

Failing Forward PT 2

PT1

Two days out from Port Zoon they paused in the route to hunt and fix a broken wheel. It was good timing, according to Caduceus.

“We should probably make a plan.” Caduceus ladled soup into bowls. Caleb tasted his politely before reaching for the salts. “There are children involved, so we should be extra careful.”

“I think Beau is good with kids,” Jester grinned, “Remember how she was with her brother? It was so sweet, Beau.”

Beau shrugged and tilted her head. “I could help with gathering information I guess. And I mean, I am your first mate, so I’m happy to go in there for you.” 

“Yeah, something tells me the Matron won’t be as receptive to your brand of charm.” Fjord made an apologetic face. “At least from what I know of her she’s very protective of the children, and who she lets near them.”

“Oh!” Veth popped her head up from her bowl. “What if I pretend to be an orphan! I can change my shape and-”

Everyone shook their heads with varying degrees of intensity. 

“The kids aren’t allowed in the business areas,” Fjord explained.

At the same time Caleb said, “It would be incredibly taxing to keep you in character long enough.”

“Listen,” Fjord held up a hand. “I appreciate everyone wanting to help me, but this should be relatively easy. I walk in, I ask about business details as if I’m interested in adopting, find out what Sabien’s interest is. If he’s just trying to pay it forward, so be it and we walk away.”

Caleb set his bowl aside and rubbed his mouth. “You said the Matron is protective?”

“Yes, bless her. One of the good ones, from what I’ve heard. I hope that's true.” There’s a shadow there, under Fjord’s words and behind his eyes. A shadow Caleb recognizes when he looks in the mirror. 

Yasha tilted her head. “Wait, what if Sabien is there? Will he try to kill you again?”

Fjord shook his head. “He’s not in Zoon right now. At least as far as Kotho could tell.”

“So the plan is; you walk into the orphanage and ask about adopting.” Caleb asked.

“Yes, that’s about the long and short of it.”

“And the Matron will be amenable to that?”

For a moment Fjord paused. “Well, alright, maybe she will say no, but-”

“Oh,” Caduceus nodded, “I see what Mister Caleb means.”

“What’s wrong with me asking to adopt a child?” Fjord drew his eyebrows down and spread his hands wide, confused. “I was an orphan myself once, it makes sense I would come back to help another.”

“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Caleb held a hand out. “Nothing at all. It’s very in character. I just think it might be better if you had a partner. Two parents are better than one, are better than none.”

“That’s very good Caleb,” Caduceus smiled and nodded. “I’m sure you’ll be able to find any important information too.”

“Wait,” Caleb stilled, eyes going a bit wide. “I didn’t mean-”

“Suddenly I’m marrying Caleb?!” Fjord yelped, looking between Caleb and Caduceus. “Hold on just a-”

“-figured someone else would-”

“Ok ok ok!” Jester held her hands up. “We get it! Jeez. You guys don’t like each other enough to go undercover together, fine.”

Without missing a beat they both instantly started talking again.

“That’s not what I meant Caleb, I didn’t-”

“-wasn’t trying to push myself into the middle of-”

“-obviously you’re the most qualified because-”

Yasha whistled, low and drawn out. “Anyone else think they’re being weird about this?”

“Definitely.” Beau raised an eyebrow. “You two do make the most sense though, so maybe stow the panic for a second. Fjord’s got the know-how, and he talks good. Caleb talks good when he has to and he can find damn near anything that’s written down.”

“Plus he can pass messages with me,” Veth twirled the copper wire between her fingers before vanishing it back into her dress. “And it makes sense they would be at an orphanage. Newlyweds looking to start their family.”

“You can even use some of your real history in your cover!” Jester grinned and clasped her hands under her chin. “Oh how sweet, a teacher falling for his student!”

Beau grinned as she caught on. “That’s great Jess! Caleb was a teacher in, I don’t know, maybe Alfield? And Fjord went to learn magic after he got burned out working the docks.”

“And they’re coming back here to escape the war.” Caduceus nodded. “Nice and simple, I like it.”

“Great,” Fjord snapped. His cheeks were darker green than normal and he was avoiding looking at Caleb. “Now that you have my life re-written to suit your fantasy-”

“I’m sorry, Fjord.”

Caleb’s voice was so quiet, his face turned away, that it was surprising Fjord heard him at all. But he stopped and looked at the ground between his feet.

Caleb is good at something, after all. 

Fucking up.

---

Caleb’s spell components were exactly as he left them. He ran his fingers over the strange assortment of things, counting and recounting, looking for any sign that they would not perform. Satisfied, he began tucking them away again, updating his internal list of things he should purchase when the opportunity arose. Each small pouch was filled, patted. The drawstring was drawn tight, bringing the smaller compartments together and cinching the top.

“All set?”

Despite what Fjord liked to claim, Caleb did not spontaneously levitate. He was startled, because he thought his traveling companions were polite, and polite people do not sneak up and startle their friends. 

When Fjord stopped cackling to himself he leaned against the back of the cart Caleb was seated in. “Jester said you had some paperwork for us?”

“Yes.” Caleb had to lean to pull his bag out from under himself, muttering under his breath about sneaky green folk making his life harder. “Here, sign this one, make sure it looks alright.”

Fjord took the paper and his hand brushed against Caleb’s for a moment, eyes already flicking over the paper's contents. Caleb clenched his fingers and swallowed.

“This is uncharacteristically brazen of you, Caleb.”

His head whipped up to look at Fjord, eyes wide and throat tight. Did he think- did he know that-

But Fjord’s eyes were soft and teasing, and he tilted the paper at Caleb. “Also wholly unromantic. A marriage proposal by thrusting a certificate for me to sign? My dear we are going to have to work on your acts of love.”

“Oh.” Caleb’s mind was blank. “Er…”

Fjord rolled his eyes and turned back to the paper. “Relax, Caleb, I’m joking.” Then he frowned and tapped near the bottom. “What’s this about?”

Caleb leaned forward and peeked over the edge of the sheaf. “Those are our names, Fjord.”

In response Fjord threw him a look. “Yes, thank you master wizard. Except you took my last name.”

Looking up at Fjord’s face Caleb realized he made a mistake. Or maybe two. But one was definitely thinking it was a good idea to lean into Fjord’s space to look at the paper. He was too close to Fjord, who was looking down at him intensely. It made it hard to focus.

“Is that a problem?” He managed. Fjord’s eyes tightened and he chewed his lip for a moment. 

“I mean…” Fjord thought for a moment. “I suppose it isn’t. Not really? But also, I don’t think we should use my real name. I mean, something Sabien would recognize. Or could be traced back to us later.”

Of course. “Of course. I should have thought of that.” 

Fjord slid down so he was at Caleb’s eye level, resting on the back step of the cart. “Well, I don’t mind taking the name Widogast, but you’ve been using it for a while now haven’t you? That might be getting recognizable too.”

Caleb suddenly thought Fjord Ermendrud unbidden and inhaled sharply. “Probably,” he got out. “We could pick something new?”

“Hmm.” Fjord squinted out, across the fields. “Likely something Zemnian.”

“Why Zemnian?” Caleb frowned at Fjord. Did he think he needed to conform or something? Fjord had a habit of feeling inadequate, he didn’t even reveal his last name out of shame for months. Caleb had thought taking ‘Stone’ for his name would be appreciated, and now Fjord was turning things around on him. Again.

“Well my dear,” Fjord flourished a hand, cluing Caleb in that he was putting on airs. “We planned on staying in the Empire before this dreadful war started. Of course I would take a proper Zemnian name to help me fit in, so I wouldn’t draw so much attention to my beloved.”

“Hmm,” Caleb scratched his chin idly. “I appreciate that you were willing to give up your love of the ocean to be with me. But I think I was secretly thrilled to leave. We probably fought quite a bit about who got to be the martyr.”

Fjord barked out another laugh and Caduceus paused in walking by to turn and watch them. “Too true. But still- when we married we planned to stay in the Empire. A Zemnian name?”

“Gebirge?” Caleb tried. “Caleb and Fjord Gebirge? Or if you would rather have some alliteration, perhaps Felsen?”

“I like Felsen,” Caduceus said with a smile. He walked over to peer at the paper. “Fjord Felsen. Rolls off the tongue.”

After a moment in thought Fjord nodded. “It does sound rather Zemnian.”

“Here,” Caleb flipped through his papers and pulled out another, unsigned. “Let me just-” as he scribbled his new signature. Caleb Felsen

He blew on the ink for a moment, narrowed his eyes as he scanned the rest of the page, and handed it to Fjord. “Your turn.”

This time Caleb tried to keep their hands from touching, but the quill was small and delicate. Fjord’s hand covered his entirely as he slipped the instrument from his fingers. 

Fjord Felsen

“Wonderful,” Caleb pulled the paper away and rolled it up. “Now you are bound to me, my condolences.”

At that Fjord grinned again and rubbed his palm. “Does Felsen mean anything or is it an old Zemnian name?”

“Stone, rock.”

Caduceus’ laugh was loud, startled out of him, and Fjord narrowed his eyes at Caleb. “You sneak.”

Caleb ducked his head, cheeks slightly flushed. Entirely too pleased with himself.