#but yeah the whole summoning he had just the biggest “blowing you up with my fucking mind” aura

[minthological]

hello, fwendy-wends!

i bring you my little painting of wiggog y'wrath because i am. not normal about him. haha

sketch + alt pics below the cut <3

the one above is before sealant, these ones are ~30 minutes after sealing! also tilted one a little so you can see the shinies better! highlights my beloved 💚

[meltwonu]

| 🎃 𝕸𝖔𝖓𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕸𝖆𝖘𝖍 🎃 |

↪ ✦ devil i know ✦

this chapter pairing; incubus!seungcheol&incubus!dino x reader

genre&warnings; incubus!au, threesome, anal, dirty talk, dom!seungcheol, dom!dino, blowjob, creampies, sex toys, degradation/dumbification/name calling, spitplay (honestly this ones just pwp hhrhdkhs).

notes; off the bat, this incubus!au in monster mash doesn’t follow any of the drabble game posts! also thank you for all of you interest in the first chapter 🥺💕 that one was def one of the ones I knew I'd struggle with since half the damn draft was from 2018 ☠️ LOL (altho ch13 draft is from 2013,,,,) anyway djkfhdks enjoy! 😉 and see ya’ll in tomorrow’s chapter! 🎃💕

word count; ~2800

chapters; 1 - 2 - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x

you tell me, ‘eat the whole cake’, it’s what i deserve.

every time i take your lead, feels like a curse;

and every time i try to stop, feels even worse.

You bite your lip, fingertips on the spine of another summoning book.

This is the third one.

A sigh escapes your lips as you flip through the thick book; maybe this wasn’t the right answer?

You turn to the exact page that you’d used the first time you’d summoned an incubus; the spells rolling off of your tongue as you wait for anything to happen. You give it a second, letting the words sink in.

Glancing around the room, you notice that absolutely nothing has changed and that you were still, very much, alone.

Why was this so fucking hard!?

You sigh frustratedly, slamming the book shut as you place it back onto the bookshelf. It was Halloween night; if there were any night it would’ve been easy to summon an incubus, you would’ve thought it would be tonight. And it was usually never this hard to get in contact with Seungcheol, or even Chan, for the matter. Your brows furrow as you blow out your candles, fully intending on taking care of your issues alone even if they didn’t want to show up.

A loud moan rolls off of your tongue as you press the vibrator harder against your clit, heels digging into the sheets as you spread your legs wider to the empty room.

You would’ve much preferred Seungcheol or Chan, but maybe you also shouldn’t have told them both to show up less.

That was definitely your biggest mistake.

You had started to feel a growing attachment to them both, despite neither of them knowing you were seeing them both. A sense of guilt washed over you in an instant and you begrudgingly told them on two separate occasions that it would’ve been better if they didn’t show up for a while; that you needed time to think about what you were doing.

That had only been three weeks ago and you were already feeling yourself going through withdrawals without either of their touches.

“Mmh… S--Seungcheol…” Whining, you raise the setting on your vibrator; back bowing off of the bed as you imagine Seungcheol fucking you hard and fast, his lips curled into the cocky smirk you’d grown to love.

Gulping, you let your mind wander, adding Chan into your mental fantasy.

Now that you’d thought about it, you never thought of them at the same time before.

Seungcheol was always much rougher with you; hands locked in your hair when he fucked you from behind or body bent in half when he held you down in a mating press. He liked it messy too; cum dripping out of your spent pussy or dripping past your chapped lips after you’d choked on his cock and he had cum down your throat.

Chan, on the other hand, was much kinder and softer, almost romantic in the way he fucked you; fingers interlocked with yours while you rode him or soft flicks of his tongue while he ate you out for hours. And unlike Seungcheol, Chan liked it clean; lapping up the dripping cum from your pussy until you came on his tongue again or taking care of you and getting you cleaned up before he left.

A dreamy sigh escapes your lips as you start to imagine both of their hands all over your skin, toes curling when you think about them both fucking you at the same time. Chan underneath you, whispering soft praises with his cock in your pussy while Seungcheol left bruising kisses on your shoulder, balls deep in your ass.

“O--oh, fuh---fuck!”

Your legs clamp shut as your orgasm washes over you, trapping your hand between your thighs as you keep the silicone toy pressed tight against your clit. Both Chan and Seungcheol’s names roll off of your tongue in alternation, aiding to the pleasure that floods your body.

“Awww, would you look at that, Chan? Dumb little cocksleeve must’ve really missed us.”

Their soft chuckles mix together, sending you upright on the bed as you toss the wet toy to the side.

“Wh---what? Wait, hold on but I---”

“You what? Tried to summon us earlier? Yeah, we saw. You looked so cute, so pathetic on your knees trying to summon us. It was really somethin’.” Seungcheol licks his lips, crimson eyes trained on the wetness on your skin. “Who were you wishing for more, baby. Me or him?”

Chan watches with a dreamy stare, lips curved into a tiny smirk of his own. “Yeah, baby, who were you thinking of?”

You feel a shiver up your spine as you sneakily try to rub your thighs together. “I--I don’t k-know...”

“What was that? Speak up.” Seungcheol teases; rounding the bed until he’s on the side where you’d tossed the silicone toy. He picks it up, tongue already peeking out as he licks the drying wetness on it.

“I d-don’t know… I--I just wanted… someone…”

Chan walks to the other side of the bed; his two toned hair falling into his eyes when he leans over you. “Just wanted someone? Anyone? Baby, that hurts me…” Pouting, he takes a seat in front of you, fingers already undoing the buttons on his suit jacket. “You know you’re the only one for me though, right, baby?” He shoots you a beaming smile, throwing his jacket to the other side of the bed as Seungcheol watches your interactions. Chan leans in, licking his lips before he kisses you, soft and slow just like you were used to. He moans into the kiss; fingertips locking into your hair as his tongue licks at the seam of your lips. You part them with ease, melting under Chan’s soft touches.

“Isn’t that cute? Like two lovers, all nice ‘n vanilla.”

Seungcheol laughs, stripping himself of his suit jacket and neatly pressed button up before he, too, joins you and Chan on the bed. “That’s not what we’re here for tonight though, is it, Chan?”

The grip in your hair tightens in an instant as your eyes flutter open to meet Chan’s crimson ones; a mocking smirk on his lips when he tilts your head up to meet both of their stares.

“You’re absolutely right Seungcheol-hyung, it’s not.” This time Seungcheol leans in as well, his face only centimetres from yours. “Did you really think we both wouldn’t find out about each other? That all incubus are just loners? Tsk, to think you were trying to save our feelings out of all the things. Kinda cute, right Chan?”

Chan runs his fingers through his messy hair, careful of his sharp black horns. “You must’ve forgotten we feed off of sexual energy, huh?” He leans back in, right next to Seungcheol as he smiles.

“Don’t worry, baby, we’ll remind you.”

Chan holds you down onto his cock for almost exactly fifteen seconds before he tugs you by the hair, soft chuckles on his lips when you sputter and cough.

“Look at our cute ‘lil cumslut. All her cute ‘lil holes are filled up just like she wanted.” Seungcheol nods in agreement, already easing a finger past the tight ring of muscle as his eyes flit to the silicone dildo already stuffed base deep into your pussy. “S’okay, that’s what she’s good for, right? Being our dumb ‘lil cumdumpster that only knows how to take cock.”

You moan at their filthy words, clenching around the dildo pressed snug against your cervix and Seungcheol’s finger in your ass. “P--please… more, fuck m-me harder…” You whine, pushing your hips back as you try to get Seungcheol to move quicker.

“So goddamn impatient.” He grumbles, collecting more spit in his mouth before he leans over, letting it fall onto your puckered hole as he positions another finger. “Why don’t you choke on Chan’s cock, huh? Keep that mouth of yours busy.”

Chan guides you by the hair, grinning at the precum on your lips, “Open wide~”

This time you gladly let him use your mouth, hollowing out your cheeks around his cock as Seungcheol finally gives you what you want and fucks your ass open with two of his fingers. You moan around Chan, eyes rolling to the back of your head at how full you felt.

“It won’t be the same after this, will it, baby?” Seungcheol asks, scissoring his fingers to stretch you and get you ready to take his cock. “Now all you’ll ever crave is both of us stuffed deep into your holes, begging us to keep you filled.” He thrusts his fingers into you harder; his free hand reaching for the dildo as he starts thrusting it in and out of your pussy. You whine, abdomen tightening as the pleasure builds up even quicker than usual.

“Fuck, I think she’s gonna cum. She’s getting so fuckin’ tight around my fingers and this fuckin’ toy.”

“Cum, now.  Let Seungcheol-hyung feel how tight your ‘lil ass gets for him.”

You whimper around his cock, eyes clamped shut as you cum on Chan’s command. The vibrations of your moans around him have a shiver running up his spine; a soft moan of his own floating through the air. “Ngh, fuck, your mouth is so fuckin’ tight around my cock. But I don’t wanna cum down your throat, baby.” He tugs you off of him; a trail of precum and spit connecting your lips to his cock. You inhale deeply, riding out your high as Seungcheol continues to fuck you through it.

“No, I wanna cum in your cute ‘lil pussy while Seungcheol-hyung cums in your ass.”

Seungcheol slides the dildo from inside of you, tossing it to the side as he pulls out his fingers as well. You let out a small mewl at the sudden emptiness, “I--please… I--I want you both to fill me u-up with your c-cum…”

Chan lets go of your hair, letting you slump over in his lap. “Okay then, come sit on my cock.” You nod against his thigh, willing your still shaking body to position yourself into his lap. Seungcheol comes up behind you in a flash, hands on your waist as he guides you.

He holds you up as Chan guides his cock towards your entrance, a smirk on both of their lips when Seungcheol starts lowering you down onto the younger male’s cock. The stretch alone has your eyes rolling back, toes curling when Seungcheol lets go of you and you slam down onto Chan in a single motion. “O--oh, god!”

Seungcheol doesn’t wait another second before he presses a hand down onto your back, making you lean over Chan.

“Your fuckin’ cunt is already stretched so prettily around Chan’s cock. But now your cute ‘lil ass is gonna be stretched open by mine.”

Garbled noises spill from your lips, muffled against Chan’s warm chest. “Shit hyung, I think we fucked her stupid already.”

They share a teasing laugh just as Seungcheol positions himself at your puckered hole. “Let’s just turn her brain into mush so that she’ll really only know how to take our cocks.”

“Pl--please…”

“Oh? See? She’s asking so nicely, hyung. She wants to be our dumb ‘lil cocksleeve.”

Seungcheol ever so slowly starts to ease his cock in, letting another glob of spit fall down onto the shaft of his cock as it disappears into your ass. “Fuck, she’s taking me so fuckin’ well. Maybe we’ll have to reward her for being so good.” Chan laughs lightly and you can feel the vibrations in his chest.

“Isn’t us cumming in her a reward in itself?”

“Mm, that’s true.”

It takes a few more tense seconds before Seungcheol is completely seated inside of you and you can feel the breath knocked out of you with how obscenely full you felt with both of them inside of you, finally.

“Hmm, we’re really stretching out your pretty ‘lil holes, huh? I can feel Seungcheol-hyung pressed up right against me. How do you feel, baby?”

You let out a choked cry, easing yourself up and slightly off of Chan’s chest. “Mmh, ‘m suh--so fu--full… feels, ngh, s-so g--good…” Feeling yourself already close to another orgasm, you start squirming. “Fuck m-me, please!”

Seungcheol places his hands on your ass just as Chan places his on your waist and plants his feet firmly down onto the sheets. They share a knowing look just as they both start fucking you at an alternating pace.

“Oh--oh my g-god, oh my god!”

Your cries and mewls are music to their ears; food to their being as they feed off of your pleasure. “Takin’ our cocks so well. Such a good girl, aren’t you?” Seungcheol coos. You nod frantically, biting into your bottom lip with how good they were making you feel.

“Look at me, baby. C’mon.” Chan uses a hand to tilt your head down until your bleary eyes focus on his soft crimson ones. “So pretty filled with our cocks. We’re gonna fill you up nice ‘n good with our cum. Get you good and satisfied since you haven’t seen us in a while, huh?” He beams up at you and you see the soft Chan that you were used to.

Chan licks his lips a second later, eyes glinting something different this time. “Spit in my mouth, baby.”

“H-huh?”

He laughs airily, watching as your face contorts in pure bliss when Seungcheol fucks into you harder. “Lemme see you do something for me.” You nod shyly; a pale blush on your cheeks as you collect the saliva in your mouth. Chan parts his lips for you, sticking his tongue out as you lean over and let the spit fall from your lips, directly onto his waiting tongue. He draws his tongue back in, laughing at your shy expression.

“God, you’re so fuckin’ cute.”

Seungcheol thrusts into you hard as you slump against Chan’s chest again. “Aww, baby, don’t forget about me~” He teases; nails digging into the skin of your ass. “She plays so coy but look at her, fuckin’ suckin’ our cocks even deeper.”

“Mmh… I---I wanna c-cum again…” You mumble, hips moving on their own as you meet their thrusts. “Please… please c-cum inside me…”

“You want us to cum inside you? Let us hear how bad you want us then, baby.” Chan murmurs.

“A-ah, please, I’ll--I’ll be, hah, your--your c-cocksleeve for--forever, please just--”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, sweetheart.” Seungcheol teases.

The two of them start fucking you at the same pace, filling you with their cocks at the same time until their names are rolling off of your tongue in a hurried mess. Chan’s cock grazes against your cervix; your mouth opening in a silent cry as he growls, “That’s right, cum with us, baby. Fuckin’ soak our cocks while we fill up your holes with our cum.”

The ringing in your ears becomes unbearable as your orgasm hits you fast and hard; drowning out the sound of their praises as you drool slightly at the feeling. You clench down onto their cocks in a vice grip, and it’s Chan who follows first, unloading him cum into your tight pussy.

Seungcheol lets out a growl, cock throbbing as he, too, cums hard. “Fuck, fuckin’ take all of it, cumslut.”

You let out a sharp whine, body tingling as they continue to fuck you; cocks covered in their cum and your wetness as they fuck it deeper into you. “Oh, fuh--fuck, please, I---mmh!” Biting your lip, you swivel your hips as you try to fuck yourself onto their cocks as well. “Fuck, it--it feels so g-good! ‘M so full!”

The two of them bask in your post orgasm glow, soft groans on their lips when they can still feel their cocks twitching inside of you.

“Mm, shit, baby. Look at you, still fuckin’ yourself on our cocks, huh? You want more?” Seungcheol goads.

You nod desperately, still feeling the arousal coursing through your body. “Y-yeah…”

They pull their cocks out of you at the same time, both watching from different angles as the cum drips from your spent holes.

“Hmm, how should we take you next then, baby? Want us both stretchin’ your cute pussy out at the same time? Or is that too much for you tiny ‘lil cunt?” Chan offers.

You feel your throat go dry, pussy clenching around emptiness. “I--y-yes, I---I want t-that....”

They lick their lips, already feeding off the desperate sexual energy you were exuding. “Whaddya say, Chan? It’s Halloween, after all. We have all night to play, don’t we?”

The younger male grins up at Seungcheol; both of their eyes twinkling with wickedness as they move to switch places.

“You’re most definitely right, hyung. It’s what she deserves.”

[theanimesideblog]

hello! i discovered ur blog recently and omg i rly love ur writing!! can i pls request hc w Bakugou, Todoroki and Shinsou with a crush that has a devil quirk? she can summon all kinds of demons to battle, she even has like little horns and is super fast and has this axe like zack from angels of death and kite from hxh? but over all she’s super skilled and rly playful/childish, and how would they confess? sorry of this is hard i’ve had this idea for a while now 😅 Thank you sm in advance!❤️

Bakugou, Todoroki, Shinsou x Demonic Quirk!Fem!Reader: Little Devil

TW: cursing

A/N: ive never seen hxh or angels of death so i’m so sorry if it’s not what you expected. hope you enjoy it!! and no need to apologize!!

Bakugou

Okay Bakugou definitely thinks you’re hot as shit

You must look like raw power itself and he definitely has a thing for powerful women

He loves your aesthetic and how scary you look to some people

Honestly was flabbergasted when you showed your true nature

I imagine you and Mina are really good friends since you’re both rather goofy but can look odd at first

Seeing you two joke around makes his heart flutter but he won’t tell you that

He loves your smile. It looks so sweet, but your whole aesthetic is evil looking. He loves the contrast and tries to make you smile by making fun of Denki

You know that “My Axe” song that has been blowing up on tiktok??

Yeah he’ll show you that song and be like “reminds me of you nbd.” LIKE BRUH

He asks you out during a training exercise

You just mess up the competition with the biggest smile on your face and he can’t help it

He wants to be romantic but in that moment he can’t help but blurt out “I wanna take you out on a date so bad.”

You’re like “oh??? oh okay!!!” And all the little devils you spawned to help you are blushing

He finds it hella cute

Todoroki 

Todoroki didn’t realize he liked you

I know I always say this, but he definitely wouldn’t be sure if he actually liked you 

Tsu notices and is the one to point out that Todoroki stares at you a little longer than he should

He brushes it off but he slowly realizes that she’s right

He loves your energy. You’re always able to go the extra distance and make jokes to make him smile

He loves that you’re able to do long distance attacks (the devils) and close range attacks

Being paired up with you means he’ll always succeed 

He knows that making all the devils is draining though so he usually has some extra water for you 

Probably asks you a lot of questions; you do most of the talking, but that’s okay. You’re able to keep the conversation flowing and you don’t make Todoroki feel awkward for not talking 

He notices more and more about you after Tsu mentioned that he liked you, and it finally became clear

He goes simple, because he’s still awkward, and gets you some of your favorite candy. He’ll give it to you when only the two of you are going to hang out and ask if you want to go on a date with him

When you say yes, he feels the weight of the world come off his shoulders

Shinsou

He fell in love with you slowly

You came up to him after the sports festival and gushed to him how much you liked his quirk

He felt so awkward and at first thought you were joking since you made it farther than he did

He can’t get rid of you, no matter how he tries. You’ve decided you’re buddies

It’s hard not to like you; you understand what it’s like to have an “evil quirk” better than anyone else

You two definitely vent to each other about how people react to your quirks

Your romance is slow and lazy. Shinsou wasn’t looking for love, and yet he found you. You dragging him to do fun things ended up dragging his heart with you in the process

Watching you run around quickly with endless energy became endearing over time

Whenever he feels sluggish but needs to be energetic, he’ll call you up

Your own energy is infectious, and he’ll find he has that extra bit he needs to pull through

I imagine Shinsou as a very causal person, so he casually asks you out during lunch one day

A bright smile lit up your face as you eagerly agreed. Shinsou felt his heart melt ever so slightly

[maybankiara]

NO GRAVE CAN HOLD MY BODY DOWN (I’LL CRAWL HOME TO HIM)

pairing: JJ Maybank x Pope Heyward

summary: JJ realises he’s immortal when he wakes up buried in a coffin. He’s got to make his way back to his friends - more than anyone else, back to Pope, whom he hasn’t admitted his feelings to. (Not like he admitted them to himself either, anyway).

w/c: 4.3k

a/n: gay angst with some immortality!! also, there’ll be no mention of claustrophobia, just jj trying to figure out how to get out. i have another mayward fic planned with immortal!jj but basically everything else is different. 

masterlist | tag list

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JJ wakes up in a coffin. He comes to the realisation when he makes an attempt to turn around, thinking he’s in the bed of the spare room at the Chateau he’d long ago claimed his own, only for his shoulder to bump into something hard.

 ‘Ow!’

 The sound of him hitting the wood and it feeling oddly…contained, for the lack of a better word, summons a series of flashing images.

 A gun in his hands. Topper Thornton dangling by his ankle from a tree, screaming bloody murder. John B shouting JJ’s name. Pope crying it out in pain, Kelce’s hands on his neck.

 A gun in Rafe’s hands. White thunder.

 ‘Fuck,’ he whispers. And then— ‘Holy shit, I’m immortal!’

 Laughter that falls from his lips is maniacal. He thinks of all the pranks he could do now – if there’s no death to fear, there is nothing to fear. Even if he doesn’t know the limits, JJ can only think of the endless possibilities of what he could do – what do you do when you aren’t afraid of anything?

 JJ’s hand slams against the top of the coffin and he does it again, on the verge of crying from excitement. His breathing is rapid and so is his heartbeat.

 ‘Take that, Rafe! Whoo!’

 He wants to tell the pogues. He wants to see the look on their faces—all the questions they’ll have—and he wants to see who’s missed him out of others, if anyone has. He has to ask Pope about the implications of his immortality and how it works – if his memory hadn’t suffered up when Rafe blew his head up and it still serves him right, Rafe did blow his head up. It was probably a closed casket.

 Huh.

 JJ’s fingers hesitate for a long second before touching his chin, half-expecting to find nothing but a mesh of whatever his body was made of. But they’re met with a firm, hard jawline, skin connecting it to his neck, and his lips, and keeping his blood and whatever—Pope would know better—where it’s supposed to be, inside.

 The blond lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. It comes out in the form of a chuckle, airy and free.

 Pope would find this the most interesting. Does JJ have scars? He’d know how his body managed to heal, how his brain preserved.

 He begins to wonder about what effect this has on the rest of his life—afterlife?—when he hears a small voice, just like Pope’s.

 ‘Being buried alive is one of the worst ways to die,’ he told the pogues months ago, solving a past paper that someone who wants to be a coronary would take. ‘You’ve got five and a half hours’ worth of air, tops. You’ll suffocate before someone finds you, if they ever do, anyway. It’s not all bad, because the carbon dioxide you produce breathing eventually overtakes most of the air inside the coffin, and you fall into a coma. You die and you feel lightheaded, like you’re falling asleep.’

 You die like you’re falling asleep.

 JJ wonders if he’d wake up again. Probably. Does he have nine lives or an infinite number?

 He’d like to test that.

 But for now, if Pope’s right—and JJ is kind of hoping he isn’t—then he’s got about five hours to get to the surface. Even if he wakes up again, there’ll be no air for him to breathe, which essentially keeps him dead, until possibly thousands of years pass and someone accidentally opens his grave and he storms out like a zombie from another time like in that movie with—

 Focus.

 ‘Focus. Yeah, I gotta focus.’

 JJ nods to himself. He calms his breathing and starts to think about every possible way to get out of his situation. He’s not claustrophobic, which is surprising, but that might be because the fact that he vividly (kind of) remembers being shot in the head is kind of more dramatic than waking up in a casket six feet under.

 Four feet, he remembers – the earth on the Cut where they made the graveyard isn’t good for digging, or anything, really, so the graves are usually shallower than the standard six feet.

 He should be able to push through it – right?

 Right?

 JJ’s died and come back to life. If he can do that, then he can make his way out of here.

 For the next however long, JJ tries to remember every piece of information that would help. He knows from John B and when they worked at a construction site for some quick cash that when he opens the casket, all the dirt will fall into the hole he just made and fill it out.

 He knows from surfing that aerodynamic works best the flatter the object is, so if it applies to water, it probably applies to earth, too. When he opens the casket, he needs to shoot upright as straight as possible—doing something straight will be the biggest challenge, really—and let the dirt fall over him.

 It’s a game of seconds. He’s really got one shot at this.

 ‘If there’s a massive fuckin’ hole in the middle of a graveyard, someone will notice, right,’ he mutters to himself.

 It’s fine. It’s something.

 JJ presses his palms flat against the massive wood over him. The material is hard and stiff, but when he bangs against it, it moves a little. Enough for a few bits of the earth to fall in, on his chest.

 (Or so he thinks. It’s not like he can see.)

 He figures that his best bet is pushing it open like a door, then squeezing immediately as he keeps pushing it. The gravity of the earth falling should hurt him—he knows this isn’t going to be easy, or nice, or pleasant—but he should push through if he does the Superman pose, with his hand in the air.

 The thought makes him chuckle, and as his lips stretch, he tastes sweat in the corners. He wipes his forehead with the back of his hand and it leaves a wet mark, so he wipes that on his shorts.

 JJ sighs. ‘They buried me with the fuckin’ cargo shorts.’

 He hadn’t given much thought to how he’d be buried, but now he reckons his hair is a mess, his shirt is a basketball-style, holes big enough so that the sweat from his armpits soaks into whatever carpet they put at the bottom of the coffin.

 JJ stinks – like, badly. He remembers Pope said that corpses shit and pee themselves and fart and whatnot, but has no clue if he acted like a real corpse. Was he dead dead, or just kind-of comatose without a heartbeat?

 Shit, what if he’s been dead for a while? If his dead had been blown off then it must’ve taken ages to reconstruct.

 What if he comes back and the pogues have moved on, they have families and kids, and Pope’s gone off to university and—

 ‘Shut up,’ JJ whispers to himself. This pitch-black darkness is making him see things, and feel things he doesn’t want to.

 He’ll deal with that later. The only thing that matters right now is getting the fuck out of here.

 JJ doesn’t let his hand shake when he applies pressure to the wooden board above him. He does it slowly, and when it doesn’t budge, he knows slowly isn’t the way to do it.

 So JJ just thinks of Pope, John B, and Kie, and their faces on the HMS Pogue, and slams through the coffin. He slithers through the whole immediately, eyes and mouth closed and the same hand that opened the coffin is outstretched, high above his head, and he’s pushing with his legs instead of his back.

 He was right – the earth is heavy. He feels it crumbling around his chest, around his feet, around every inch of space he’s just created, but he keeps pushing.

 If he doesn’t push, he’ll stay like this—half buried—forever.

 The tip of his finger touches the air – then another, then all five. The fact that he’s so close gives him a surge of adrenaline, coursing through his veins, and he pushes through the weight of the earth even further, until his entire hand is above the ground.

 fuck yeah.

 Then an elbow. Then he slides his other hand across his torso, feeling the weight tug at the bones until the pain is so intense he thinks he might’ve broken it. His chest tightens—it’s been almost a minute—but he manages to get the other hand out, too.

 Just a little more.

 One more push.

 that’s what she said, he thinks.

 And pushes.

 Being out of the coffin after spending it in about an hour or so is like jumping from a tall cliff – thrilling, chill-inducing, and very much like breaking the water tension with your back instead of the head.

 He gasps like a fish out of water, still trapped from shoulders and below, but he breathes.

 JJ laughs, and then realises he’s also being soaked because it’s raining harder then he can remember, and figures it’s okay to open his eyes. It hurts, at first glance – the sky is shrouded in dark grey clouds and rain is absolutely pouring, but he sees that it’s day, not night, and he sees that the trees still look like late summer.

 ‘FUCK YEAH!’

 Thrilled to be alive, JJ lets himself have a moment to breathe. He sees he’s buried in one of the cheapest parts of the graveyard—which says much considering his dad must’ve been the one who paid for the funeral—and most of the other graves look terrible. He turns his head to the side, just enough to look at his own.

 J. MAYBANK. 2003 – 2020. BELOVED SON AND FRIEND.

 ‘Sons of bitches,’ he mutters. ‘It’s like it would’ve killed them to be fuckin’ creative for once.’

 His arms ache and his legs feel like they’re about to give in, but he’s got to get out. With a deep breath, he buries—ha!—his fingers as firmly into the ground as far as he can, and then tugs.

 He’s out a minute later, but he’s damn glad no one was around to hear him grunting like a little pussy.

 JJ shakes his limbs, getting some blood through them. He looks disgusting – dirt mixed with sweat means that it’s all sticking to him, and he doesn’t even want to know what his face must look like – even if it isn’t absolutely mangled. His hair is terrible probably, too, because the strands that aren’t sticking to his face seem mucky when he tries running his finger through it.

 i thought they made dead men look pretty.

 Then he tells himself not even dying and crawling out of a grave could make him look any less pretty, so he’s okay.

 ‘Ha,’ he muses to himself, ‘my pretty goes beyond the grave.’

 About ten minutes later, when his muscles feel as alive as he does, he begins his twenty-minute trek to the Chateau. He figures it’s his best bet – it’s next to the marsh, which isn’t too far from the graveyard, and JJ’s not going to get anywhere near the road if he’s taking the fastest route.

 So, looking like a dead man walking, he sets off for the Chateau.

 By the time he’s arrived, some of the dirt has washed off—he conveniently stood under a tree that was basically leaking water—and he guessed he didn’t look a lot different than anyone walking around under this kind of weather. There were no puddles for him to look at himself at, which was quite a shame, but he figured he’d just check himself out at a mirror in the Chateau.

 Now, JJ is just… He’s just standing in front of the backdoor to the place. The marsh is behind him and the house in the front, and this should be simple, except he’s got no clue what’s about to happen. Lights are on in the living room, that much he could see from the outside, but there was no guarantee it would be his friends.

 Panic started to eat him inside out – what if he walks in, unannounced, and it turns out he’s been dead for years and some completely random people live here, instead?

 Before he manages to chicken out, he opens the door. The door creaks—that’s a good sing, thinks JJ, John B was going to have it fixed by the end of the year—and promptly closes behind him. Old reggae coming from the living room is the only sound aside from water dripping off of JJ.

 fuck it.

 JJ makes his way to the living room. A lightning strikes somewhere nearby and, just as he rounds the corner, thunder follows.

 His friends are sitting on the floor, in the middle of the room.

 JJ grins. ‘Tell me, do I make Freddy Krueger look pretty?’

 In that very moment, three things happen. John B screams. Kiara knocks over the speaker. Pope faints.

 And as for thing four, that happens a moment later, JJ just sighs. ‘That bad, huh?’

—

‘…and that’s how I ended up here.’

 About two hours later, JJ’s finally finished his story. It took them quarter of an hour just to stop freaking out—Pope had been convinced he’d seen a ghost until Kiara and John B managed to explain to him he hadn’t—and even then, they weren’t ready to hear the story.

 They made him take a shower, first. Fair enough.

 John B went with him to get some towels and clean clothes, and Kiara stayed in the living room, getting Pope some water. Nobody spoke for a very, very long time.

 When JJ looked at himself in the mirror, he was both distraught and amazed. There was a scar running from cheek to cheek, over his nose, and well underneath his jaw, with skin inside this circle looking like it had been slightly burned years ago, with colour different to the rest of his face. JJ ran a finger over it – the texture was rough in some places, smoother in others.

 Somehow, he was convinced the scars would persist, but his skin would heal. He felt it in his bones – it rang as true as the fact that his heart was about to burst through his ribcage the moment he’d locked eyes with Pope.

 JJ took a shower, cleaned himself up. The clothes John B had brought him were his own, and he smelt them for a second – it felt like coming home.

 The Chateau had always been his home.

 When he returned to the living room, Pope looked a little better – they all did. JJ reassured them that he had, in fact, died and been buried. Pope went on to state in graphic detail how mangled his body—head more so than other parts—had been when they’d last seen him.

 JJ forgot Rafe had killed him in front of them.

 ‘Y’all must be scarred for life,’ he said as he took a seat on the floor of John B’s living room, and then grinned. ‘But not on the outside, like me.’

 They didn’t find it as funny as he did.

 So, with the aid of some water and pizza they had leftover from earlier, JJ told his story. There were a lot of interruptions—not as many from Pope as he would’ve thought, considering dead people are his expertise—but he managed to get it done.

 And now, he grins at them, arms spread over the couch behind him. ‘So, y’all impressed already?’

 The silence is pregnant. Kiara’s hands are folded in her lap as she leans her back against the couch, and John B mirrors her position, only on the wall. Pope, unlike the other three, is standing with his side against the doorway, biting his nails. (JJ is pretty convinced that’s a habit he picked up from him.)

 Kiara clears her throat. ‘JJ, you were gone for two months.’

 ‘What? No way, that’s— That’s impossible, Kie. It was just yesterday—’

 ‘We buried you,’ says John B, voice hoarse. ‘Mourned you. Had to learn how to live without you.’

  ‘But I’m back now! That’s great news, right?’

 ‘JJ, we’re fuckin’ happy you’re back.’ John B leans forward and pats him on the back, squeezing his shoulder. His smile is grim, but it’s there. ‘It’s just a little unbelievable. We watched you die. It’ll— It’ll take us some… time.’

 At the doorway, Pope is still staring at JJ as if he’ll disappear at any given moment.

 JJ’s neck stiffens, and he’s sure John B feels it, because his hand falls limp to the side. The blond mumbles something, incoherently enough that not even he knows what he said, then shakes his head. ‘I should probably get some rest.’ His eyes fall to his lap. ‘Apparently two months wasn’t enough.’

 His words seem to cut through the atmosphere in a way that alienates him from the rest of them – the uninterruptedly living.

 Nobody says anything, but JJ still rises to his feet. His hands pat his shirt and his shorts, as if they could do anything to smooth the creases. He glances at John B, whose eyes are fixed on him. ‘My room still empty?’

 ‘Nobody’s touched it since you…’ The brunet shakes his head, as if a thought needed to get out. ‘Might be a little dusty.’

 ‘You want me to fetch you anything?’ asks Kiara, voice wavering. ‘I can go to the Wreck—’

 ‘I’m good. Thanks.’

 JJ doesn’t linger around to see their reactions – if there are any, anyway. Last thing he sees is Pope, still leaning against that door frame, unmoving and stoic as ever.

 Like John B said, the bed needed to be dusted. JJ was done with that in a couple of minutes, and then he stripped into his underwear (what a waste of fresh clothing) and slipped under the covers.

 The weight of these past few hours crushed on him like a raging storm. It doesn’t matter that he crawled out of his grave to join them – they had two months to figure out a way to live without him. Two months is more than enough to move on, to accept the new reality.

 He knows because he’s been through it.

 Outside, the storm rages on, too. JJ thinks of John B, a little calmer and quieter now; Kiara, distant like she seemed at the beginning of her kook year; and Pope.

 Pope, who wouldn’t look him in the eye for longer than a second. Pope, who always had a smartass comment to chime in with, now pushing himself to the side and not participating.

 JJ sighs. His chest is heavy and his face is stinging a little, but the realisation is heavier than any physical pain – his friends managed to move on from him. Couple of hours for JJ meant a couple of months for the pogues. Maybe it was for the best. Maybe he gets to leave, now, when everybody thinks he’s dead.

 Some time later, JJ lies awake, still. The storm has dwindled to mere tapping on the window, but his mood hasn’t changed.

 Another kind of tapping him reaches him – full, against the wooden door separating him from the rest of his life.

 JJ gets out of his bed with a tired sway to his hips, legs dragging along the floor. He rubs his eyes before he opens the door and when he does, he leans against the door frame, blinking against the sudden light.

 ‘Hey,’ greets Pope.

 ‘Hey.’

 There’s hesitation reeking off the boy in front of him. His shoulders are slumped and JJ feels like he’s his height, even though Pope has always been taller.

 The blond scratched the itch underneath the left side of his jaw. ‘You want to come in?’

 Pope nods. JJ moves to the side and closes the door once they’re both in.

 Out of habit, JJ plops down onto the bed, face-first. He doesn’t even notice Pope hasn’t done the same until he shifts a little and realises there’s a silhouette positioned against the window, blocking the moonlight from entering the room.

 JJ drags himself to the edge of the bed, feet bare on the floor. His elbows are draped over his knees and he sees Pope a little better now – hands in his pockets and a frown on his face, lower lip with a quiver to it.

 ‘What’s up?’

 ‘You’re really here, right?’ Pope doesn’t miss a beat. ‘Alive?’

 JJ chuckles, but there isn’t much humour to it. ‘As far as I can tell.’

 ‘But we watched you die.’

 ‘I know. I can remember all of that.’

 ‘You shouldn’t be here. Alive.’

 ‘I know,’ JJ says. ‘But I am. What are you going to do about it?’

 The hesitation that comes off of Pope is different this time. It’s fleeting—ephemeral—and JJ only gets a moment’s worth of looking into his eyes when there’s hands on his cheeks, and warm lips smashing against his own.

 All he hears is the rain tapping on the window, or the beating of his own heart. The warmth of Pope’s lips on his, or the cold of the storm.

 The touch disappears, and JJ thinks he’s about to wake up in hell, and this was just a way to torture him – to give him something he’s yearned for and take it away like it was nothing.

 open your eyes, boy. we ain’t finished.

 His dad’s voice is like electricity and JJ opens his eyes, terrified.

 Except it’s just Pope staring at him, looking just as distraught as he feels. JJ isn’t in hell. He’s in John B’s room, and while it might stink like hell, it isn’t it.

 The storm is still quiet and gentle, but JJ doesn’t even notice it so much. Not after—

 ‘I thought I’d missed my chance,’ Pope says, weakly. ‘I just needed— I couldn’t—’

 JJ shifts the weight to his feet and his hands find Pope’s neck like they belong there (because they do). He holds him—gentle, cautious, fragile—and shakes his head, at loss for words.

 He wants to say ‘me too, Pope,’ except it’s not good enough. Except it doesn’t encapsulate what it feels like to die thinking the man you love never loves you back, or at least you’ll never find out, only to wake up, alive, and find out that your feelings have been reciprocated all along.

 To crawl out of a grave for him.

 JJ kisses him with the very same ferocity, with more hunger to it. JJ’s felt death—he’s felt the unknowable—and he won’t let another moment pass without doing the things he’d been afraid to do.

 By the time they part, both boys are catching their breath, not even an inch apart. JJ’s hands are firm on Pope’s neck, thumbs tracing the lines of his jaw, while Pope’s hands grip the blond’s shirt at his sides.

 JJ wants to say something, anything.

 Pope is faster. ‘I thought I’d never get to do this.’

 All JJ can do is nod; no words could ever be enough.

 The shaky breath that falls from Pope’s lips only moments later is different from the boy who was leaning against the door frame earlier – more like the Pope JJ knew.

 fell in love with.

 It’s a little bit cynical, and a little bit guarded, but nevertheless free and innocent like JJ always knew him to be. But he takes creates some distance between the two, and JJ’s hands drop to his sides.

 Pope’s smile isn’t what JJ thought it would be. It doesn’t reach his eyes. ‘You’re leaving.’

 He should’ve known Pope would realise it. He just wondered what gave him away. ‘I don’t know.’

 ‘Don’t lie to me, JJ. Not after we just—’ Pope cuts himself off. He clears his throat, resting the back of his head against the window.

 Breathless, JJ sits down on the bed, same position as earlier – as if his entire life hadn’t just been rocked from one side to the other. ‘I’m dead, Pope. You buried me. That’s what John B said. I get to— I get to do whatever I want. Go whatever I want. I’m… I’m free, Pope.’

 The moon peeks through the clouds, bright enough to bask Pope’s silhouette in silver. JJ thinks of how much the boy resembles an angel – how he felt like one when he’d kissed him, granting him a wish he’d never dared to voice.

 ‘You could stay,’ suggests a small voice. ‘Be our own little ghost.’

 JJ lets out a full laugh. ‘Is that what I am now?’

 Pope’s smile becomes a little clearer as the moon gets back behind the clouds, and JJ wishes he could see his eyes clearly, too. ‘I can’t lose you again.’

 He knows he should leave. They both know, Pope more so than anyone. JJ’s dead—legally—meaning that he can’t be seen around town without raising more than a couple of eyebrows. He can’t live on his own. He can’t—

 He’s free from his dad, from obligations, but if he stays, he becomes enslaved to his own death.

 But if he stays…

 i lost you once already, pope. i can’t do it again, either.

 He sighs and, unaware JJ’s already made his choice, Pope drops on the bed next to him, hand holding the blond’s. ‘Just for a year. Not even that long. Then I’ll be off to university, where no one knows any of us, and— And we can get a fresh start. Together.’

 Careful, JJ cups the boy’s cheek. He can see his eyes now, as the moon shines on them like no other person has been worthy of its light – they’re not sad, or hopeful, but they are fretting.

 JJ kisses his cheek, before turning his head slightly to place a chaste kiss on his lips.

 He could never think of giving up on this. Not when he’d died to get it.

 So he echoes, ‘Together.’

  ★

tagging. @the-pogues @ronnieweasley @outerbankslut @drewstarkey @jjmaybanky @sacredto @thatsme-johnbookerroutledge @outrbank @drewstarkeyobx @ilovejjmaybank @teamnick @jjmaybanksbaby @mahleeyuh @nicolewithasoul @starlightstarkey @stargazingstarkey @anonymous0writer @outerbongs @jjandreidsgirl @kaitieskidmore1 @maybanksbaby @obx-direction-sos @stfukie @abbiesthings @tempestuousjj @solllaris @ijustgotnothingbetter2do @rafej-cambanks

[kuriboo]

Hugsaku 2021

Day 5 - Awkward Hugs | Dueling But The Final Blow Is A Hug 

I’ve been writing a continuous story with prompts for Yusaku. This part is getting close to the end of the story. If you’d like to read the whole thing, you can read my previous posts or read the whole thing on ao3; I’ll link the ao3 in the notes. The general story is this: Yusaku finds himself in Heartland with no memory of how he got there, and Yuma decides to help Yusaku figure out how to get home.

As you can guess by the prompts I used, there’s a duel in this one. Probably most of this is actually the duel, and the duel made this pretty long compared to the other days I wrote. I probably actually spent two or three weeks working on just this part because of the duel. I’ve held onto 40 different screenshots to plan out this duel, I had to watch a specific episode of Zexal twice and track down part of an episode of Vrains that I rewatched a bunch of times. I also had to rewrite this duel probably around twice because I used the wrong cards and misread card effects. All the work paid off, though. The duel should all be correct now, and this was one of my favorite parts to write.

⁂

The four of them were doing research together in a park when another one appeared.

It was Tori who had taken the books out from the library. Given she was the biggest reader out of herself, Bronk, and Yuma, she was the only one with a library card. She brought the books to the park and the three of them, alongside Yusaku, read through them.

All the books looked like they discussed the idea that other worlds existed out there somewhere. Their hope was that they discussed how to get to those worlds so they could find a clue.

To help Astral remember his past. To help Yusaku get home.

A lot of books on the subject weren’t really intended for a younger audience. Yusaku seemed to be having an easier time reading through his book than everyone else was. Everyone else other than maybe Yuma, who was cheating and having Astral read his book for him. It wasn’t that Yusaku was overly interested in the subject, Astral was definitely more interested than he was. But Yusaku had read through lengthier, more complicated material to learn the knowledge he needed to see his revenge through. He was used to this.

The book was deep in an explanation of the possibility of other dimensions and what they could be like when they all heard the commotion.

That’s when they chased after its source, and that’s when they found another Number.

Yuma took the Number on, of course. His opponent didn’t take long to summon the Number. Rank 2, 100 Attack. This Number didn’t seem that threatening on the surface, but Yusaku knew better. XYZ Monsters were always more than just their stats. That’s what they had Overlay Units for, and this Number still had all of its own.

Yuma summoned Utopia on his next turn. Immediately after, he entered the battle phase. His victory seemed assured in his eyes, but Yusaku wasn’t so sure about that.

Neither were Yuma’s friends. Bronk, Tori, and Astral each yelled out their own warnings, but Yuma ignored them all. He declared an attack with Utopia against the other Number and…

The monster was destroyed, the other duelist’s life points dropped to 0, and the duel was over.

Yusaku blinked. Surely that Number had an effect. An effect that probably could’ve saved it, he guessed. Why didn’t the other duelist activate it? Why did they let themself lose?

Bronk confronted Yuma about his reckless play, but Yuma didn’t want to hear it. Apparently, as long as he won, he didn’t care about the possibility that his plan went horribly wrong. Yusaku sucked in a deep breath. He was definitely on Bronk’s side on this one, but he also still had to live with Yuma. Joining the argument would just make life more annoying. 

Eventually, Yuma and Bronk’s yelling reached a boiling point. The two of them turned around and left in opposite directions, leaving Tori and Yusaku by themselves.

“I don’t know how he doesn’t understand how dangerous that move was,” Yusaku muttered.

“Yuma never thinks things through like that. I mean, he focuses more on the victory he sees in front of him than the possible obstacles in the way. It helps boost his confidence; if he worried about the roadblocks too much, he’d give up every time. Plus, if that Number used an effect, Yuma could’ve saved himself with Utopia’s ability to negate the attack. Anyway, it doesn’t matter anymore. The duel’s over. We can’t let their friendship end like this,” Tori fretted. “Bronk and Yuma have been best friends for a long time. I don’t know if we can get them to see eye to eye on this, but we have to do something…”

‘We’. Right. Yusaku wasn’t one to care about friendship and friends, but after everything Tori, Yuma, and Bronk had been doing to try to help him, he owed them. Besides, Yuma wasn’t like Yusaku. Yuma deserved to have good friends. But what could Yusaku do about it? It wasn’t like he had much experience with this kind of thing. 

What would Kolter do if Yusaku was stubborn like this? The two of them had a different kind of relationship than Bronk and Yuma, but… 

“You try to talk to Bronk. I’ll try to talk to Yuma. If their friendship should be stronger than this one argument, we’ll try to remind them of that. You know Yuma better than I do, so maybe you can get Bronk to see where Yuma’s coming from.” Yusaku had a feeling that would go better than him trying to convince Yuma to see Bronk’s point of view. “Maybe we can get them to talk after they’ve cooled down a bit.”

If it didn’t work out, though, then it didn’t work out. If they were determined to be mad at each other, Yusaku didn’t know if he could stop them.

“Yeah…” Tori nodded. “I know they can work it out if we can get them to talk. Thanks, Yusaku.”

Yusaku shrugged. He didn’t feel like he was really doing much.

Tori ran after Bronk, while Yusaku headed back to Yuma’s house. Yuma had gone off in that direction, and Yusaku didn’t know where else he might go. If Yuma wasn't home, though, he’d have to go home eventually. Yusaku would be able to talk to him either way.

Luckily for him, though, Yuma was already at his home. As soon as Yusaku walked through the door, Yuma pulled Yusaku into his room to rant to him.

“Who cares if my attack in that duel didn’t work? It did, and that’s all that matters!” Yuma was still really worked up about this. “I know Bronk’s better at dueling me, but that doesn’t mean he has to put down my successes as much as my failures! I’m trying to get better, and he knows it because he’s been trying to help me. Doing a pretty lousy job of it right now, though.”

“Maybe you both have different dueling strategies,” Yusaku suggested. He was having trouble figuring out what to say, but he thought back to Tori’s words. “Sometimes it’s better to declare a reckless attack than to never do anything because you’re afraid of what could happen.” Yusaku knew from experience that that line of thinking would definitely lose you the duel. 

“Exactly! I have to attack if I want my opponent to lose life points! If you were in my situation, what would you have done?”

“I would’ve been thinking about what that Number’s special ability could be. I would’ve felt safer with Utopia than most other monsters in that situation, since Utopia can negate the attack if it looks like it’s going to go back. But it’s always possible the opponent had an effect that would’ve prevented Utopia from using its effect, so I would’ve been cautious. I definitely would’ve wanted a Spell or Trap card backing me up. There’s a possibility I could’ve declared an attack, but I’m not sure.”

“It’s not as black and white as Bronk made it seem, anyway. He doesn’t need to be so high and mighty about it!”

“I don’t think it’s that,” Yusaku said. Not fully, anyway, he didn’t know Bronk that well. But Bronk knew Yuma better than Yusaku did, which meant Bronk probably had stronger feelings about this than Yusaku. At the very least, Yusaku had Kolter’s reactions to help him out on this, whenever Yusaku’s grades slipped or he skipped a class or he skipped meals for Playmaker business. He’d already had this discussion with Kolter multiple times. Yusaku’s relationship with Kolter was still different from Yuma’s relationship with Bronk, though. “I won’t say I know how he’s thinking without any doubts, but…he’s pointing it out because he cares about you. He was worried about you. Not because he thinks you’ll give up if you lose, but these duels involving Numbers are different from duels against your friends. You want to get all the Numbers to help Astral, and Bronk wants you to succeed because he cares about you so… He wanted you to win, and he was afraid you might not. He’s afraid that this could happen again and not work out for you. Or, uh, something like that, I think.”

“He’s not just trying to be mean?”

“I don’t think so. I don’t think friends are like that.”

Yuma sighed. “I was feeling the flow in that duel. Felt like I could do anything and it couldn’t go wrong. All I could think about was how I was gonna win. When I feel like that, sometimes it feels bad when everyone around me’s not supporting me.”

“You don’t always think ahead as much as other people tend to do. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It can be good to be in the moment and to enjoy the moment while you’re in it.” At the very least, Yusaku did miss that.

“I don’t wanna lose Bronk, but I don’t know what to do…”

“Talk to him. Communication is important in any kind of relationship working out. Figure out where you’re going from here. He probably doesn’t want to lose you, either.”

Yuma agreed to it, and later Bronk agreed to it, and they met up again after school. Tori went with them, while Yusaku met the group there. 

However, it didn’t go well. The meeting turned into more fighting and arguing, and Bronk pushed Yusaku away from him. When he did so, he accidentally disconnected the key hanging around Yuma’s neck from its rope. The key went flying, landing near Yusaku. Yusaku bent down and picked the key up, not sure what else to do in this situation.

Astral was present for this meeting, floating silently next to Yuma. Since the most recent duel against the Number, he’d kept to himself and stayed fairly quiet. But now he was staring at the ground next to him, no longer absorbed in his thoughts. “Yuma, what is that?”

Yuma looked down as well and yelped when he saw it. Black slime was creating a puddle around Yuma, oozing around his shoes. Yusaku looked around the slime for its source; it appeared to be dripping out of Yuma’s deck. That was strange, considering Yuma did not coat his cards in black slime. Everyone else noticed this at the same time as Yuma before focusing their attention back to the slime on the ground. Now it was flowing towards Astral. Astral screamed in pain as it began to envelope him.

“Astral!!” Yuma reached a hand towards Astral, but didn’t make contact.

“Number 96… It is trying to take control of me!” Astral’s body started to turn dark as more of the slime reached him. He opened his eyes and looked towards Yuma. “Yuma… give Yusaku… card…”

Yuma blinked. “What card? Why?”

“Just do it!”

Yuma reached into his deck and pulled out a couple of cards. Briefly, he looked at them as if deciding which one to pick. Then he tossed them to Yusaku, who caught them easily.

Yusaku glanced over the cards Yuma had just given him. One of them he recognized as Utopia. Another he recognized as.... the card he’d found when he first arrived in Heartland…

Were these the cards Astral wanted Yuma to give him? Why did Astral want Yusaku to have these?

Then Yusaku heard laughter, and he looked up from his cards. Astral had been completely overtaken by whatever that darkness was; even his eye that was normally all white was now all black. His lower body turned into long tentacles that curled around Yuma’s arms and torso. Yuma was lifted in the air. 

Yums screamed. “Who are you? Let me go! Let Astral go!!!”

“I am the strongest Number of them all. When you dropped your key, you allowed me to escape.” Not-Astral was smiling coldly. The strongest Number? Astral had mentioned a Number when this started happening. Was this Number 96? “Now onto step two: acquiring Number 39, Utopia!” He glared at Yusaku. Yusaku took a step back. 96 already knew Yusaku had Utopia, then? “You will give him back to me.”

96 stretched his arm forward towards Yusaku, intending to grab the card out of his hand. Yusaku held the cards close to him to make them harder to grasp. 96’s hand came closer but something stopped it before his hand could get close enough. As if an invisible wall was protecting Yusaku. Yuma’s key, still in Yusaku’s other hand, glinted in the light. Did the key protect him?

This all started when the key was separated from Yuma… Was that how 96 had been able to gain control of Astral?

“No matter.” 96 pulled his arm back until it was at its normal length. “If I can’t get it back by force, then I’ll get it back with a duel. All this is is delayed satisfaction.”

Yusaku snorted. Bold of this Number to assume Yusaku would lose. “I’ll take you on to free Astral and Yuma.” Yusaku only dueled when he had to, so luckily for 96, his hand had already been forced. He glanced over at Bronk and Tori. “Stay out of this. I’ll get them back.” 

Thankfully Yusaku was able to keep cool under the pressure. Link Vrains had given him experience dealing with people who seemed menacing and talked a big game. Tori and Bronk weren’t so lucky. They were both clearly worried and panicked. The two of them nodded and moved to be more on the sidelines. Their eyes barely left Yuma, still trapped in the air.

“Excellent.” Number 96 lowered Yuma to the ground. Yuma then proceeded to put on his duel gazer and draw his starting hand. “Oh, and by the way… Yuma will be dueling for me. Not his mind, but his body, so be careful..”

Yuma stared at Yusaku. Yuma was definitely scared, Yusaku could tell, but he knew Yuma wouldn’t lose his determination, either. “Can you duel?” Yuma asked. “You don’t even have a duel gazer…”

“I can duel without it.” Yusaku drew his starting hand as well, after sliding his cards from Yuma into his extra deck. It wasn’t like he could use his Link Monsters, anyway. “I have my deck, and that’s all I need.”

It’s all he ever needed. All the other students at his school had fancier duel disks and everything, but this duel disk that Yusaku had had for years still worked fine. The rest of his apartment had older tech anyway, from his phone to his kitchen appliances. It fit the aesthetic, as if that mattered.

“I’ll go first,” Yusaku announced before looking down at his hand. When he did, he could feel his stomach drop.

Maybe he should’ve asked to borrow Bronk’s deck, or something like that. For just a moment, he’d managed to forget the way his deck was built. It wasn’t just that he couldn’t use Link Monsters. A lot of his cards worked well with Link Monsters, many of them even having effects that required him to have one on his field. He wouldn’t be able to use some of his cards at all. He could win like this, right?

“What’s wrong? Ready to give up already?” Number 96 taunted.

Yusaku shook himself out of it. He could still win. Of course he could win. He couldn’t lose. Especially not now. “Because I have no monsters on my field, I can special summon Linkslayer from my hand.” He normally could start to pull combos in his first turn, but these conditions made it more difficult. “I place two cards face-down and end my turn.”

“A weak start.” Number 96 chuckled. “My turn now.” Yuma drew a card, grimacing. “First, I will place two cards face-down. Next, I am summoning Acorno. I can summon this card by sending one card in my hand to the graveyard. And, you see, since the card I sent to the grave is Pinecono, it sprouts back up right on the field. Next I summon forth Darklon. And now, since Darklon was summoned, all my monsters increase their level by 1. But, I am not done yet. Next, I am overlaying these 3 level 2s to XYZ summon a copy of myself. Number 96: Dark Mist!”

A Number card already? 96 didn’t like to waste time. 

“Wait, how is that thing Dark Mist?” Tori asked. “It’s completely different from before.”

Yusaku didn’t notice any difference, but that was because he couldn’t see Dark Mist at all without the Augmented Reality system. That seemed to be working in his favor right now: Bronk, Tori, and Yuma seemed far more intimidated than him by the newly summoned monster.

“That is because this is Dark Mist’s true appearance. And now, Dark Mist, attack Linkslayer!”

Yusaku frowned. Dark Mist only had 100 Attack, but 96 was still declaring battle. 96 must have something up his sleeve; Yusaku knew there was more to Dark Mist than first appeared.

“I activate Dark Mist’s special ability. By using 1 overlay unit, Dark Mist can steal half of your monster’s Attack points in order to power itself up.”

“So as long as Dark Mist has overlay units, it’ll always be stronger than any of my monsters.” Yusaku grit his teeth. This wasn’t good.

“You catch on quickly!” 96 grinned back at Yusaku. “Now, let him have it.”

Dark Mist started to unleash its attack on Linkslayer, but luckily Yusaku was prepared for an attack, even if he wasn’t sure how. “I activate my trap: Three Strikes Barrier. Linkslayer isn’t destroyed.”

“But you still take the damage! Now, I end my turn,” 96 finished. 

Yusaku drew his next card. “Since Linkslayer’s Attack is different from its original Attack, I play Cyberse Cache and draw 2 cards.” Perfect. “Now I activate Linkslayer’s special ability. By sending two cards to the graveyard, I destroy your two face-downs.” Destroying the cards themselves wasn’t too important to Yusaku’s plan, but it was a bonus. “I summon ROM Cloudia. ROM Cloudia allows me to add Latency to my hand from my graveyard. And since Latency was added to my hand from my graveyard, I can summon it right away.” Latency went to the field on defense. 

Yusaku stared at the cards on his field. Dark Mist should have 1100 attack right now. Linkslayer couldn’t beat that, but ROM Cloudia was a different story. “Now, ROM Cloudia attacks Dark Mist.”

“I use another overlay unit to use Dark Mist’s attack again!” 96 smirked at Yusaku.

“So you can use that effect during my turn as well,” Yusaku mused.

96 laughed. “Perhaps now you see. For every move you make, I can make one better.”

At least Yusaku knew for sure now. “From my hand, I activate Security Block. Neither of us take damage, and ROM Cloudia isn’t destroyed.”

Dark Mist should now be up to 2000 Attack. This wasn’t looking good, but Yusaku could work with that. “I place one card face-down and end my turn.”

“Stay tough, you hear me?” Yuma called out to Yusaku. 

Yusaku nodded. He had a plan in mind by now, since he was sure how Dark Mist’s ability worked. He wasn’t coming out of this duel with anything but a win. 

Now it was 96’s turn. He looked over the card he drew, and smiled. “Let’s have a do-over. Black Mist, attack ROM Cloudia. Black Mist’s ability activates once again!”

That brought Black Mist up to 2450, if Yusaku’s math was correct. Yusaku frowned. Why was Number 96 so fixated on ROM Cloudia? He couldn’t save ROM Cloudia this time, but he’d already…

96 laughed. “It’s pointless to keep fighting.” He turned to Yuma. “Do you have any insights into what he’s planning?”

“I wouldn’t tell you even if I knew, but I’ve never seen Yusaku duel.” Yuma shrugged. “I’ve never seen his cards, either. It’s all as new to me as it is to you. I’m on the edge of my seat, I can’t wait to see how Yusaku pulls off a victory!”

“He won’t. Not like this,” 96 muttered.

Yusaku looked over his cards. He could make this work. Everything was coming together. “I summon Draconnet. And using its ability, I can summon Dotscaper from my deck.”

“I hope you’re planning something with all these monsters,” Bronk commented.

“I always have a plan.” Normally, it’d be a Link Summon, but this time Yusaku had something different up his sleeve. “I overlay level 1 Latency and Dotscaper.” Yusaku held both his hands out, palms forward, and crossed them over each other. The number 13 appeared, glowing, on his right palm. “Appear, Rank 1, Number 13: Embodiment of Crime!”

As the Embodiment of Crime took the field, Yusaku felt the same feeling he did when he first picked up this card when he arrived in Heartland. Revenge. An overwhelming desire to lash out, get revenge against the people that hurt Yusaku and the people he cared about. It threatened to consume him, just as before. But this time he could direct it. Number 96 had hurt Yuma, taken him hostage, and like this Yusaku could clearly see how much he cared about Yuma. He could direct it at 96 and still do exactly what he intended to do before he had been given any Numbers.

Yusaku had been fueled by his revenge before, and now once more he would direct it to achieve his goals. He still felt that strong desire, but it stopped trying to overtake him as he committed himself. 

Number 96’s eyes widened. “That’s not Rank 4… That’s not… Utopia… What is this?”

“You thought I was trying to summon Utopia?” Yusaku rolled his eyes. Did he look like Yuma, always trying to win his duels with Utopia? “If it was convenient, maybe. But I’m not done. Embodiment of Chaos uses one overlay unit to change all your monsters to Attack mode.”

“Black Mist is already in Attack mode,” 96 pointed out. “I’m starting to wonder if you should have placed your hopes in someone else, Yuma. Someone whose deck you were familiar with and you knew could win, perhaps?”

“I know Yusaku can win. I don’t need to know his deck to know that.”

“And I’m still not finished. Since Dotscaper was the overlay unit I used, its ability activates, allowing me to Special Summon it,” Yusaku went on. “Next, I play Cynet Defrag. I Special Summon Protron from my graveyard. Once again, I overlay both my level 1 monsters to XYZ Summon Number 31: Embodiment of Punishment!” 

This time, during Yusaku’s XYZ Summon, the number 31 glowed on his left palm. 

“Another Rank 1 monster with only a seemingly worthless ability to help you,” Number 96 mused. “If you want to win, your next move better be good.”

“I end my turn,” Yusaku said.

“You pulled off two XYZ Summons and you aren’t even gonna attack?” Yuma puffed his cheeks.

“Why would he? Check you math, Yuma, Embodiments of Crime and Punishment both have only 500 Attack,” Tori pointed out.

“Why summon monsters with almost no Attack??”

As confused as Yuma was, Yusaku wasn’t going to explain anything. Not until Number 96 entered the Battle Phase, anyway. 96 was cautious about the new Number, but Yuma wasn’t about to let him get away without battling.

“I use one overlay unit to activate Embodiment of Punishment’s effect. Dark Mist is forced to attack Embodiment of Punishment. As long as Embodiment of Crime is on the field, Embodiment of Punishment isn’t destroyed as long as it still has one overlay unit, and you take the damage I would take!”

“I do not like this,” 96 said. Even if Black Mist had an overlay unit left, it would only make the situation worse for him.

“Well, you’re going to positively hate what’s coming next. Do you feel it, Yusaku? I sure do!” Yuma yelled.

Black Mist had 2,450 Attack. Embodiment of Punishment had 500, leaving 96 to take 1,950 points of damage, and all the monsters on Yusaku’s field had enough Attack to take out the rest of 96’s Life Points.

96 scowled. “I suppose I have no choice but to end my turn.”

From there, the duel was practically over. All he needed was Cyberse Wizard’s effect, and his monsters took care of the rest.

And as they attacked, he ran forward. He ran towards Yuma. Once he was within reach, Yusaku threw his arms around Yuma. After a moment, Yuma hugged him back. And while they stood there and hugged, Yusaku tied the key’s rope together around Yuma’s neck, allowing him to wear the key just like he had before. 

The hug had started out awkward. Yusaku couldn’t remember the last time he gave a hug, he only ever remembered receiving them, and the way he’d wrapped his arms around Yuma definitely didn’t seem how it felt whenever Yuma had hugged him. Not to mention the difference in their heights. But Yuma did hug him back. And hugged him back. He didn’t let Yusaku go for what seemed like a long time. From behind him, Yusaku could hear Tori and Bronk running towards them as well. Resigning himself to his fate, Yusaku braced himself for a group hug. 

Once the key was securely around Yuma’s neck once more, Astral reappeared beside them. He reabsorbed Number 96, and obtained Black Mist once more.

“Only friends so close fight so much...” Astral mused to himself.

Only seconds later, Yusaku could feel himself being hugged by three people at once, and he was starting to regret some of his decisions.

Bronk and Yuma immediately started apologizing to each other for everything.

“I’m so glad everyone’s getting along again,” Tori sighed. “Of course, we have Yusaku to thank for that!”

“Yeah, that was awesome! I know you said you could duel, but you did so many cool moves, and you totally had a plan the whole time that you made work no matter what, and you saved me and Astral, and I wish I could watch you duel again!”

“Not interested.”

[tripleaxeldiaz]

with your heart, my soul is bound

for @hearteyesforbuck <3

part of the vermont series

read on ao3

When they told Maddie they had decided to get married in a month, Eddie was pretty sure she was going to pick both of them up and throw them out the window.

“You’re telling me,” she said with an eerie calm that made the hair on the back of Eddie’s arms stand up, “that I only have 31 days to plan a wedding from scratch in a town I barely know, all because you guys are too impatient to wait at least a year like normal people?” 

“It’s actually more like 27 days—” Eddie squawked as Buck elbowed him in the ribs. He turned back to his sister, doing his best to replicate the puppy dog eyes and pout that Chris always used to try and stay up past his bedtime. 

“Look, Mads…it’s just too far away.” Buck said, threading his arm through Eddie’s, squeezing his bicep. “We could go to the courthouse and get it over with, but we want to do it right. We want to do it now.” Maddie just looked at them, eyes skeptical and contemplative. “I mean, if you don’t think you’re up for it, we can always hire a wedding planner…”

“No, no way. I can do it. I’m doing it.” 

Buck grinned, turning to Eddie and shooting him a wink. Eddie laughed and rolled his eyes, planting a kiss on Buck’s shoulder. 

“You’re the best Mads, seriously. We owe you big.”

“I am the best, and you absolutely do, and I will absolutely be holding this over your head until the end of time.” She sat up straighter, picking up her laptop from the nearby coffee table and firing it up.

“First things first, what poor sucker am I going to have to yell at to get a venue booked on such short notice….”

~~~~~~~~~~

Eddie’s not sure if there’s a higher power at work, but if there is, they really wanted this wedding to happen. Maybe they had taken pity on them, saw both of them work and fight so hard for their own lives that when they finally found each other, found the grace and joy in each other that they hadn’t been able to give themselves, the universe said alright, you guys deserve a break. We’ll go easier on you now.

When they couldn’t find a space no matter how loud Maddie yelled, Karen had an opening at the inn in their biggest room, the perfect size for all their guests. When their first caterer fell through, Bobby stepped up immediately, offering food and desserts and a cake free of charge as a wedding gift. When none of the rental places had a dance floor big enough for what they wanted, Buck insisted on building one from scratch, and had just enough time to finish it. 

When Eddie’s parents weren’t going to make it, some excuse about airline prices and not enough time to prepare, Sophia volunteered herself to walk Eddie down the aisle before he could even be too hurt about it. 

A month later (27 days, Eddie, that’s not a month, those four days matter), he’s standing in awe in the middle of the room where he’s going to marry the love of his life in about 20 minutes. Buck always talked about how he was sure his sister had a little bit of magic in her, but she must have summoned a whole lot more for this because she’s worked a miracle. Forest green carpet covers the center aisle, leading to a hand carved archway Chim surprised them with at the rehearsal the night before. The arch is covered in roses and chrysanthemums in burgundy and wrapped with vines of ivy. Fairy lights hang all across the ceiling, making Eddie feel like he’s in a completely different galaxy, starlight following him wherever he goes. He feels his eyes water as he takes it all in, because even in his wildest fantasies, he never imagined everything coming together this perfectly.

“Don’t cry now, you haven’t even seen Buck yet.” Maddie’s walking up the aisle, clipboard in hand, a vision in her silver dress. It might just be the lights, but she looks a little misty too.

“Maddie, I really don’t know how we can ever thank you for all of this,” Eddie says as he looks around again. She stops in front of him, places a hand on his shoulder, silent until he looks at her dead on. She’s got that familiar sparkle in her eyes that must be a Buckley trait.

“You already have. You love my brother like he deserves to be loved, with your entire heart and soul. I can never thank you for that, but maybe we can call it even now.” She pulls him into a tight hug, kissing his cheek before letting go. “Alright, back to your room, the guests will be getting here any minute.”

He gives her a mock salute as he leaves, jogging back to the room down the hall where he and his sisters have set up camp. When he left, the kids were loud as always, fighting Sophia as she tried to get them dressed. She won, thankfully, and they’re quiet now, watching Chris play a game on his Switch. Sophia is in one of the lounge chairs, head back, eyes closed, a beer held loosely in her hands.

Eddie almost feels bad disturbing her peace when he flicks her forehead.

“You better not be drunk before my wedding,” he says as he sits in the chair next to her.

She cracks an eye open, giving him a deeply unimpressed look. “Please, one beer isn’t gonna do me in, I’m not mom.” Eddie’s stomach goes a little funny at the mention of their mother, hands unconsciously clenching into fists. Sophia sets her beer down and reaches over, rubbing his hands in hers until they relax. “You know you would have been ten times more stressed if they were here. Dad would have already found 15 things wrong with the inn, and Mom would be fighting with Maddie about the decorations.”

“I know,” Eddie sighs. “You’re right, but still, it’s so…”

“Shitty? That they refused to come to their only son’s wedding? Yeah, it is.”

“Buck’s parents aren’t coming either, they didn’t even respond to the invite. This just feels like something they all should be able to give up their pride for, you know? For family’s sake.”

“But they aren’t your family, Eddie, not really. Your family is here today, everyone who loves the both of you and wants to celebrate your love. Those are the people that matter.”

Eddie nods, squeezing Sophia’s hands. “It’s really annoying how you’re right about everything.”

She nods sagely. “It’s the cross I bear as the oldest sibling.”

They settle into comfortable silence, hands still clasped, the drone of arriving guests floating in from the main room. Despite the short notice, they’re expecting almost 100 people across family, friends, co-workers, and Army buddies. As the voices continue, Eddie’s leg starts bouncing, and he can’t stop playing with his cufflinks. 

“Nervous?” Sophia asks.

Eddie shakes his head. “Not at all. I’m just— I really can’t wait to marry him.”

Sophia squeezes his hand this time, her smile soft. “I’m so happy for you, Eddie. Not just that you found Buck, either, but for everything you’ve done since you sold your book. I only ever wanted you to have the good life you deserved, and I’m so glad you have that here.”

“You’re the one who started it all,” Eddie says. “None of this would have happened if you weren’t such a snoop.”

“That’s true,” she says, laughing. “But you did all the real work. You invested in yourself and you made it happen. I just lit the match under your ass, you built the bonfire.”

Eddie’s throat feels too tight to speak, so he kisses the back of her hand instead. There’s a knock at the door before Maddie comes in, clipboard replaced with a bouquet.

“Everyone’s seated, it’s showtime.”

Sophia claps as she stands up, herding the kids, straightening ties and flattening flyways as she sends them off with Maddie. Eddie offers her his arm as she grabs her own bouquet and meets him with a blinding smile.

“Alright, Bromundo, let’s get you hitched!”

Eddie’s too excited to even fight the nickname, matching his sister’s smile as they walk out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~

The music begins and the guests stand, facing the back entrance of the hall. The twins come down the aisle first, Alexa tossing fistfuls of rose petals in front of them every few steps. Chris goes next, beaming at everyone as he goes, getting a high five from Adriana and a kiss from Abuela before taking his place at the altar. 

Eddie offers Sophia his arm, and they nod to each other as they head out. When he steps into the hall again, he’s hit with the same wonder he felt the first time, even more so seeing everyone filling seats, full of joy and tears and love for him. For them. His smile is the most genuine it’s ever been, and he doesn’t even care that his cheeks already hurt. The butterflies in his stomach fly faster the closer he gets to the altar, the anticipation making his skin buzz in a wonderful way. They stop in front of the archway, and Sophia pulls him into an iron gripped hug, her arms so tight he’s worried she might leave bruises.

“You deserve this, Eddie. Every bit of it,” she whispers as she pulls away, taking her seat next to Adriana. They each blow him a kiss as he settles at the altar, Chris flashing a thumbs up from his side. Eddie looks towards the back of the aisle and feels his breath stop completely, the rest of the world melting to nothing around him. He’s glad they decided to let him walk down first because he’s not sure he’d be able to take one step with his knees feeling this weak.

Buck looks nothing less than ethereal, like the gods sent him straight down from the skies so the world could finally see what real, unfiltered beauty looks like. His burgundy suit hugs every glorious inch of him, makes his birthmark into even more of the angel’s kiss Eddie knows it is. His hair is styled but soft enough that the curls are still loose, glowing under the lights like a halo. It’s not long before Eddie’s vision blurs with tears, the happiest tears he’s ever felt, because despite the perfect packaging he’s in today, Eddie knows the man underneath, knows his passion and his mind and his gentleness, and that is the man he can’t wait to spend forever with. 

He makes his way down the aisle with Maddie, his smile growing the closer he gets to Eddie. He kisses Maddie’s cheek as she drops his arm, and then he’s there, right in front of him, looking even more beautiful up close. He’s not a dream, not a trick of the light, not a cruel hallucination Eddie’s brain has cooked up. He’s real and looking at Eddie like he’s the only person in the world worth looking at.

“Hi,” Buck whispers as he takes Eddie’s hands in his calloused ones, threading their fingers together.

“Hi,” Eddie responds wetly, feeling more grounded just being in Buck’s presence than he has all day. 

He doesn’t hear much past “dearly beloved”, too focused on committing every detail of Buck — the feel of his hands, the lights reflecting in his eyes, the flush of his cheeks, his smile, everything — to memory. They’re both broken from their haze as the officiant clears his throat, looking at them expectantly.

“Sorry, what?” Buck asks.

“I said, I believe the grooms have written their own vows?” They nod as the audience laughs behind them. “Eddie, whenever you’re ready.”

Eddie takes a deep breath, his knees somehow going weaker. It had been easy writing his vows — the hardest part was keeping them short, since he could easily fill up volume after volume with how he feels about Buck. But he wanted them to be special, wanted to look at his almost husband the entire time he spoke so he could see in his eyes how true his words were. So he left the paper in his pocket and memorized his words instead, went over and over them with Chris until he had them down perfectly. He was worried he’d lose everything as soon as he looked at Buck, but if anything, it cemented the words in his mind even more, branding them across his heart, completely making Buck a part of his very being.

“Evan,” he starts, sees Buck’s smile wobble, feels his hands grasp tighter. “A long time ago, I accepted that I wasn’t meant for love. That there was no one who would see my scars and love me because of them, because of the man they made me into, not in spite of them. And I was happy, for the most part. Happy to focus all my energy on Chris and raising him, making sure he knew he was loved and that he mattered. It was easy to ignore, to forget wanting to be found like that.”

“But then I moved to Vermont, and a tree fell into my son’s room. You showed up to fix it, and everything changed.” He reaches a hand up to Buck’s cheek, wiping away the tears tracing paths down his face. “You fixed everything in our house, but you didn’t try and fix me. You saw the cracks and scuffs and pieces hanging by threads, and you still thought I was beautiful. You’ve witnessed the best and ugliest sides of me, and you’ve never made me feel the need to compensate for not being perfect. You see me, all of me. And for the rest of my life, I will do my best to make sure you know I see you too. To make sure you know, always, that Chris and I love you to the ends of the earth. That even if your own cracks get deeper and your scuffs get worse, I will always see you for the amazing man that you’ve become. Thank you for loving me, and for letting me love you. Thank you for not fixing me. Thank you for finding me.”

Buck sneaks a look at the officiant before leaning forward and placing a quick kiss on Eddie’s cheek. There’s laughs again, in between sniffles and rustling tissues. He sees Buck take his own breath, meeting Eddie’s eyes again, and Eddie can’t help the laugh that bubbles out of him, his own happiness apparently too much for his body to keep inside.

“I’m clearly not the writer in this relationship,” he says, with more laughter from the audience. “I’m not always the best with my words, but I am a man of action, and I always keep my promises. So I promise you, Edmundo Diaz, to always have your back. I promise to love you every day, and even more on the days that you don’t think you deserve to be loved. I promise to catch you when you fall and to always fight for you, even if you are the person I have to fight. You talk about how I found you, but baby, we found each other. And I have no intention of ever letting you go.” 

He takes a step past Eddie then, taking a knee in front of Chris and taking both of his small hands. “And you, Christopher,” he says. “I promise you that I will always keep you safe and do whatever I can to make sure you’re happy. I promise to help you be the best person you can be, and to support you no matter what. And I promise to always order extra olives on our pizza for you, even though I know your dad hates them.” Eddie snorts, and Chris’s laughter is loud and bright as he throws his arms around Buck’s neck, crutches clattering to the floor.

“I love you Buck.”

“I love you too buddy,” Buck whispers, kissing the side of Chris’s head. He straightens up, hands Chris his crutches before taking his place in front of Eddie again. It takes every ounce of strength he has to not kiss Buck right then, instead mouthing “I love you” because it’s the only thing that won’t get him yelled at by the officiant or Abuela.

They exchange rings, promising love and honor, to cherish each other until death do they part. Eddie’s hands are steady as he slides Buck’s ring on, because there’s nothing for him to be nervous about now. This is the one thing in his life he’s most certain about, most secure in, even more so than being a father sometimes. His love for Buck is unwavering, built of the strongest stuff in the universe. There’s no room for doubts to creep in.

The officiant wraps up, has barely pronounced them husbands when Eddie wraps his arms around Buck’s waist, pulling him in and kissing him like he’s been wanting to since he walked down the aisle. It’s deep and all-consuming and perfect, and Eddie feels absolutely electric. He kisses him again, and again, and one more time just because, before turning to scoop Chris up in his arms. He holds him on one hip, his other hand in Buck’s, and the three of them make their way back down the aisle through their clapping, cheering family.

~~~~~~~~~~

Cocktail hour passes in a blur as they mingle with guests on the back deck of the inn. They’re surrounded by the oranges and yellows of the autumn forest, and everything feels cozy and warm, full to bursting with happiness. The room is transformed for the reception, tables draped in burgundy and forest green, candles burning in their silver centerpieces, adding to the glow of the fairy lights. Dinner is lively, but everything is background noise to Eddie. He’s too wrapped up in Buck, in the feel of his arm around his shoulder, in watching him laugh, listening to him commentate on their family interacting and laughing along with him. Every so often he’s slapped by the reminder that this is it, that he and Buck are he and Buck forever, and he’s sure this unbridled joy that he feels will never fully wear off.

Maddie makes a speech, full of heartfelt wishes for their future together. Sophia makes one too, more focused on roasting her brother to oblivion, but with all the love in the world. When she’s done, she hands the microphone to Chris, who stands and faces the crowd.

“Hi, I’m Christopher, and those are my dads.” He points to Buck and Eddie at their table, and Eddie feels Buck’s breath hitch. It’s not the first time Chris has called them “his dads”, but it seems to catch Buck by surprise every time. Eddie smiles, kisses his cheek, and places a comforting hand on his thigh.

“I just want to say that I’m really glad Buck is officially part of our family now. Dad always tells me to find the things that make me happy, and I know Buck makes him very happy, and he makes me very happy too. I love you guys! Thank you!” Buck is up in an instant, quickly striding towards Chris to wrap him up and swing him around in a hug. Eddie is quickly behind him, arms coming around them both. 

As they set Chris down, the DJ announces that it’s time for the first dance. Buck offers his hand, leading Eddie out to the middle of the homemade dance floor, and Eddie once again feels like they’ve been transported to their own universe, just the two of them among the stars. As they sway, chests pressed together, eyes never leaving the other’s for long, Eddie takes in the lyrics of the song:

Life is ever changing but I will always

Find a constant and comfort in your love

With your heart my soul is bound

And as we dance I know that heaven can be found

And that’s what they are together: constant, comfortable, a home that they’ve both been searching for for longer than they can remember. Things won’t always be easy, since life never is, but they know that they’ll always be able to fall back on each other. No mistakes, no slip ups, no amount of darkness will be able to crack the steel-enforced foundation of their love. They’re in this together, tied together for life, and while that could be scary for some, it’s exhilarating for Eddie. He is finally, finally, in a love that consumes him. And he finally believes he’s worthy of it.

“What’s on your mind?” Buck asks, a curious smile on his face as they keep dancing.

“You,” Eddie responds, kissing Buck’s jaw as his blush grows. “Us. How much I love you. How excited I am for our future.”

Buck smiles, rivaling the sun, and rests their foreheads together. Eddie could stay in this starlight filled bubble of theirs forever.

“This is just the beginning, baby,” Buck says. “Us and Chris against the world. And it’s only gonna keep getting better from here.”

[mila-dans]

Drunk and Loving

Characters: Reader, Dean, and Sam

Words: 4000

Description: Sam and Dean get drunk based on the lack of presence from their female friend. What happens when she, the Reader, comes back home to find a train wreck of issues all caused by the boys? Well... let’s just say, there is no easy way to describe the situation. ;)

Author’s note: I wrote this when I was half asleep like two months ago. I’m sorry. That’s all. This is chaotic.

Thanks for the gifs: @starlightcandythings​ and @impalaimagining​

“Y/N!” Dean’s voice carried all throughout the halls.

“Y--Y/N! YYYYYY/NNNNNNN!” Sam repeated, slurring all the syllables.

What now? You thought to yourself. You just opened the bunker door and didn’t get but within a foot of the entrance before you were being summoned by the boys.

“What?!” You shouted, gradually walking down each step of the stairs, carrying the grocery bags that you managed to pick up from after your hunt with Jody. It was a simple salt and burn but the girls were gone for the weekend. You decided to stop by and take a break from being with the boys non-stop. Sure you loved them but every now and again, every once and awhile, God, they were a handful. But bigger than a handful cause there are two of them and both are giants especially when compared to you. They get so stupid sometimes. Though it may be a key component to their character, it’s still not good. When one gets sick, the other one gets sick. You have to take care of them both because if you don’t, they will be stubborn and try to go on a hunt, getting themselves killed. And when one gets drunk… oh boy… well, you’ll see.

“Y/N!” Dean called again, almost going up an octave. “Y/N, come here! We neeeeeddd youuuu!”

“Ya! We um,” Sam starts to giggle, “We need you for something!”

They were drunk. And from what you could tell just by them talking, they were very, very drunk. The boys being drunk wasn’t a rare occurrence but it wasn’t very regular either. It took a whole bar to get Dean really smashed and Sam only got drunk after a grueling hunt or when Dean wanted to show off how he could down a bottle or three.

“Guys, wh--” You started to speak as you set your load on the war room table but were stopped once you saw the library.

Books everywhere. Mattresses, yes, mattresses, everywhere.

“Guys!” You shouted as you stomped towards the kitchen. “What the hell did you guys do?!” You navigated through the halls as you heard continuous childish giggles erupt from the boys. You did not like where this was headed, wherever that may be.

“Y/N!” They both shouted with glee as they put their feet on the ground to stop from spinning in circles from the wheeled brown wooden chairs that they must’ve brought from the archive room. They looked like they had a hell of a time while you were gone. Dean’s hair went in two different directions and Sam’s hair looked as if it gained three inches in volume along with what appeared to be a braid that someone started to weave on the back of his head.

Their choice of apparel was another topic of concern. Sam had on a pair of shorts and his red flannel shirt, unbuttoned, with nothing underneath. Dean on the other hand had on sweats complete with socks, and white tank top with a blue tie hung loose around his neck.

Your mouth hung ajar as your face became washed over with shock and confusion. Both the boys were wearing the biggest lopsided smiles as they looked at you with pure drunk happiness. You were only gone for a week at the most. First time you’ve been gone and away in months. Surely this partying wasn’t due to the lack of your presence. You thought you needed to get away from them for a moment, maybe they needed to blow off some steam without you.

Whatever the situation may be, it was chaos that the minute your boys were sober, they had some cleaning up to do.

“What did you all do?!” You let out as you gave the boys big eyes filled with wonderment of how hammered they got to create this catastrophe.

“Um,” Dean started to say with giggles between each word, “We--we got dr--drunk!” He finished before a hiccup cut him off. Dean tried to speak again but Sam just glanced at him and yet another fit of laughter filled the air between the brothers with hiccups coming from the eldest every now and again. You shook your head in defeat knowing that getting them to bed was not gonna be an easy task. Taking a deep breath, you strided over to the table, crossing your fingers that they would return to wherever their mattresses were compliantly.

As you walked, the boys pushed their feet off the ground, causing them to spin around in circles all along the kitchen floor; chairs sliding, feet and legs hanging out as arms were put in the air while shouting echoed throughout the room.

“Woo hooo! Yeah!” Sam let out as he spun faster and faster. You stayed still, weary of the fact that no trash can was in sight and from the looks of it, they were about to need one. You decided to rush back to the library, grabbing a can, and taking it back to the boys before one of them belched up their supper.

“Dammit, boys!” You shouted, coming back just in time before Dean fell out of his chair. “Stop it, will you?!” You asked in anger as Sam’s legs managed to hit yours as he continued to keep spinning in his seat. The youngest Winchester came to a screeching halt as he lunged forward, face planting onto the floor. That has got to hurt. Especially since there wasn’t much clothing on his person to soften the blow.

“Ow…” Sam muttered under his breath as he tried to stand himself up unsuccessfully. You were with Dean at the moment, making sure he wasn’t gonna copy his brother’s actions. You took the blue knotted tie from his neck before he could unintentionally choke himself with it and threw it to the side out of, hopefully, harm's way. Once you had the green-eyed boy sitting as still as possible in his chair, you went to the other, bringing him up off the ground.

“You two are gonna have some explaining to do when you aren’t eating the floor,” you stated, pulling the 220 pound man back into the clutches of the poor chair that had struggled to keep him up in the first place without creaking.

Once the audience was seated, you took a step back and placed your arms over your chest, making sure to give the boys a look of shame as they watched you. Their eyes followed you as best they could as they sat quietly, minimal hiccups coming from Dean. It was like this for a moment until you decided to get what info you could as to the series of events that took place while you were gone.

“Someone spill,” you said with a huff. The boys looked towards each other in confusion until Dean decided to grab one of the bottles with copious amounts of alcohol in it and start to spill it on the ground.

“No--” You started to say, reaching over to his hand to stop him. “Not literally!” Before you could set the bottle back on the table, Sam fell to the floor as he took off his shirt, and placed it on the ground to soak up the drink. “Sam--Dean--” You took a deep breath and let them continue to play out the scene before you. They looked up to you with smiles as they got met with an agitated frown. “This is why I can’t leave you two alone,” you mumbled under your breath. “Alright, one of you will tell me what happened.” The brothers looked up to you with blank stares.

“Well,” Dean started to speak, fumbling over his words. “When you left, we wanted to do something nice for you so we did nice things and like we knew that you didn’t like your mattress so we switched it out and then we did the library too.”

“What do you mean you ‘did the library?’”

“We wanted to organize it for you. So, we took all the books off the shelf--”

“No,” Sam butted in, “You took all the books off the shelf!”

“But how else do you organize it then?!”

“You don’t make a mess is how!”

“I didn’t make a mess! You made a mess when you tried to mess up my piles!”

“There weren't any piles! Only books scattered everywhere!”

“Yeah, too! I knew what those piles were until you tried to fix it!”

“But--”

“Boys!” You shouted, cutting Sam off before he could go into the scientific definition of what a pile was. “Get to the point, will you? Why are you drunk and tell me why the mattresses are in the library.”

“We got drunk cause we missed you,” Dean said with sad puppy eyes that would’ve made your heart melt if your leg wasn’t in as much pain as it is from when Sam hit it.

“Yeah,” Sam smiled, “We missed you a lot and then Dean was drinking and then got me to drink with him and then we put the mattresses in the library. You’ve never been gone before or at least not as long as this and we just got really,” his eyes became teary as he started to sniff, “really sad because we love you so much.”

“We love you so much, Y/n,” Dean added, in a similar state as his brother with red cheeks and tear filled eyes. “We didn’t mean to get so drunk! We just didn’t want to be so sad without you.”

“Exactly! See, this is your fault that we are drunk and that’s on you cause we are pretty drunk?”

“Yeah. Fairly drunk.”

“Fairyily drunk, and we… wait… what does fairyily drunk mean?”

“I don’t know. It just sounded smart.”

“Good. Fairyily good.”

“Fairyily drunk!” Sam shouted as they once again erupted into laughter, causing you to laugh a little yourself.

“Yeah,” you started to speak, “‘Fairyily’ is not a word.”

“Oh,” Dean said with a happy smile on his face, imitating Sam’s. You shook your head and moved closer to Dean, giving him a kiss on his forehead then doing the same to Sam. Idiots. Your idiots.

“We forgot to tell you something!” Sam let out. He looked at Dean, giving him not so subtle hints as to whatever it was he was talking about.

“Oh, yeah!” Dean grinned.

“What?” You asked cautiously. Before one of them could reply, Sam shot up from his seat, walked towards you as best he could without falling. He put his one hand behind your back to bring you closer to him, who was indeed shirtless at this point, and then used his other hand to bring your head aligned with his as he planted an extremely passionate kiss on your lips.

You were in shock of the situation as Sam’s tequila tasting lips clashed with yours, leaving you out of breath as he took you for a ride of passion and tenderness using only what he had to work with. It must’ve lasted a couple seconds because it seemed to feel like the longest moment in your life.

Finally, he let out of your lip lock and looked down at you with his hazel dewy eyes as his lips formed a proud and joyous smile. His hand that was placed on the back of your head found its way to your hair as he brushed a single stray piece and tucked it behind your ear. He let out a little satisfied hum as he again placed his lips on yours but only for a little peck this time.

“Hey!” Dean shouted. He stood up just as quick as Sam did and stumbled over to you, pushing his brother back. “That wasn’t fair! You got to do one kiss, not two!” He stated. Before you had a chance to question or share your concerns, Dean hands brought your head colliding with his as he then made your lips meet his.

His lips were soft as silk. The whiskey lingered on his breath and the force he used made your heartbeat rise. He didn’t even take a breath as he went all in and all for it with the simplest of ease and the confidence that could rattle a room. His hands moved all over your head and neck gingerly with a softening touch that left warmth radiating throughout your existence.

His lips reluctantly left yours only to create a wide smile that plastered his freckled face. His thumbs gently brushed your cheeks as his green eyes stared into your own. He gave you a moment to recollect and take a breath before he gripped your hair, pulling you closer to him once again, then giving you another intense kiss that sucked the soul out of your body.

“Dude!” Sam called out as he made his way back to you and Dean. “That’s totally not fair! That was like three kisses and we only agreed to one!”

“But you did two!” Dean reiterated.

“But I didn’t mean to!”

“Well, fine then!”

“Fine!”

They both crossed their arms as they sat on the edge of the kitchen table. You stood still, speechless. You weren’t quite sure what was going on. There’s not much else to say.

“You wanna just restart?” Dean asked. Sam looked to his brother and contemplated the thought for a moment. He nodded in agreement.

“One kiss?” He questioned.

“One kiss.”

With that, Dean’s luscious lips were intertwined with yours once more.

If you thought the first was the best, you were happily mistaken. The second time, Dean made sure to let you breathe as he moved between your lips with such a powerful motion, letting you fall into his arms that were gripping tightly around your waist. This time, he was sweet and slower as he did the deed, knowing how to do it just right. He didn’t stop the invigorating affectionate force for a moment as he kept going and going til he was gone.

The second Dean’s lips left yours, Sam’s replaced them causing you to tremble backwards. Sam’s big arms grasped at your waist as he sat back on the table, bringing you with him. His might that he planted in the kiss brought you off of your literal feet as the rushing raging blood flowed through your veins, pulsing throughout your skin. His intensity made sure that the only thing you could think about was his velvety lips as they embraced your own.

As his arms loosened around you and his kiss became nothing but a memory, he leaned back on the palms of his hands, sitting on the edge of the table. Dean was sitting down in one of the chairs but both of the boys were staring at you with glee as you remained standing in between Sam’s legs.

Blushing was an understatement. As was being shaken up. As was every other word that didn’t mean ‘freaking the hell out.’

“Huh?” Sam said with a proud smirk, implying for you to respond as to whether or not it was good.

“So?” Dean let out with the same implied question and even more of a prideful grin on his face. Your eyes went to look at the brother’s faces as they both gave you a wink, almost insync. You took a step back and pulled a chair behind you as you took a seat. Trying to gather yourself together, you took a deep breath and wiped whatever alcohol remained on your lips from the boys.

“Um,” you cleared your throat, “You uh, you guys wanna explain what that was?”

“D--Did we not tell you?” Dean asks innocently. Right about now, you had just remembered that they are smashed though it definitely didn’t feel like it a minute ago.

“No,” you stated with a bit of annoyance in your voice. “You didn’t tell me.” You looked to Sam and Dean who had realization come across their faces.

“Oh!” They both said insync.

“Yeah,” Sam started, “We were trying to decide who was the better kisser and we couldn’t kiss each other or Cas so we decided to kiss you instead cause it’s been bugging us for hours because we only have ever kissed the same person like once. You know, it was that Annie girl who died and became a ghost around the same time Bobby died.”

“Oh no,” Dean added, completely out of it.

“So we needed to have someone to kiss both of us and then let us know who was the better kisser and we didn’t want to use some girl so we wanted to use you and we figured you wouldn’t mind because you love us and we definitely love you but that’s a whole other topic but we had to know cause I know that I am but Dean doesn’t believe me so you see why we had to use you.”

“Sorry we forgot to tell you.” The Winchesters looked up at you with sorry puppy dog eyes and you couldn’t help but let a bit of laughter slip from your core.

“Guys,” you said with a huff, “Do you know how drunk you two are right now?”

“Um,” Sam tried to mumble. “Pretty drunk?”

“Fairyily drunk.”

“Fairyily drunk?”

“Yeah. You know, fairyily drunk.”

“Is that a word?”

“Yes. Maybe. No.”

“Guys!” You yelled, bringing their attention back to you. “You two have had enough of being conscious for now. You’re going to your rooms to sleep and that is final. No more kissing contests, or alcohol, or anything but sleep. Got it?” They both nodded as Sam hopped off of the table, almost falling down. You caught him before he planted his face on the floor again by placing your hands against his bare chest and couldn’t help but feel his abs. He smiled as he started to do the pec pop. “Sa--Sam!”

“What?” He asked knowingly.

“Stop it!” You demanded as he kept eye contact while his muscles danced. You tried to hold in laughter but failed miserably. He leaned in closer to you and brought his head down towards your ear as he began to whisper.

“I know I was the better kisser,” he said not so quietly.

“Stop that!” Dean ordered. “Don’t persuade her! You cheat”

“What?! No! Of course not!” He told Dean as he turned back to you, giving yet another wink. You rolled your eyes in return and sat him back down in the rolly chair.

“I’m taking my shirt off!” Dean shouted.

“Wh--Why?!” Sam asked.

“Cause, you have your shirt off and you are trying to be sexy and do things and I can do things too cause I’m sexy so Y/n, look at my sexiness!” Dean then continued to not just take off his tank top but do what he could to rip it off. You chuckled as you now had two shirtless giants in your possession. Had you been away from these mumbling idiots any longer, they might not be in any clothes when you’d get back considering how they've essentially been stripping all night. But, good things must come to an end.

“Time for bed you two,” you stated.

“No!” The two brothers let out in harmony as they both reached out for one of your hands.

“What?” You questioned as to what would await you if you didn’t take the brothers to bed at this moment. Who knows.

“We--We don’t wanna go to bed yet!” Dean said.

“Yeah! And you gotta tell us who won the kiss!” Sam added.

“Oh yeah?” You shook your head with a smile. “How about I tell you tomorrow?” They nodded yes, not understanding that by then, they’d most likely forget what happened tonight. “Good. Now, let’s try and get you guys back to your bed.”

“To Y/n’s room!” Dean declared.

“I--I’m sorry?” You asked.

“Yeah! Our mattresses are in your room.”

“Wh--Why are your mattresses in my room? You know what? Nevermind. Where is my mattress?”

“In your room!” Sam stated.

“Great.”

“Yeah it is! Now we get to snuggle you!” Dean let out with a childish excitement.

“Yes!” Sam said, copying his brother’s joy at the idea.

“No, that doesn’t mean that you two are snuggling me. That’s not how this works.”

“But Y/nnnnnnnn!”

“Yeah! Pleaseeeeee?” Sam insisted. You took a deep breath and just decided to take the two to your room. You grabbed onto the back of Dean’s chair as you rolled Sam’s forward, through the halls and towards your room.

Many happy sounds came from the giddish children who you were bringing along for the adventure to your room. They just enjoyed getting pushed around the halls and even had their hands in the air at one point.

It didn’t take long to reach your room but when you arrived, you watched as the boys lunged for the three beds that were lined up on your floor, almost perfect for each of you to have your own individual space. Within an instant, Sam took the bed on the left and Dean took the one on the right. You just were standing, wondering where all your stuff was.

“Y/n!” Dean called out, arms reaching out towards you.

“We need you!” Sam stated as he brought his set of covers up to his neck, leaving his arm out in the open. You considered the options you had: either go to sleep on the mattresses in the living room that had no covers or, sleep in here with the boys who were most likely gonna hog all the covers.

“Alright,” you mumbled as you kicked off your shoes knowing that letting the boys sleep right next to you while shirtless was gonna raise some questions in the morning. But at this point, you were too tired to care and so were the brothers.

You slowly crawled up onto the middle mattress which you had hoped was your own bed and moved the pillow so you could lay your head down. Before you could even reach for any covers, Sam took his head and placed it in the crook of your neck all while holding your hand. Dean then threw the covers on top of you as he snuggled on the opposing side by hanging onto your arm for dear life and gently resting his head on it as well. You could barely move having had two grown men weighing you down. It wasn’t uncomfortable, it was actually really really warm. This wasn’t the first time you’ve shared a bed with one of the brothers. Certainly not the only time one of them drunk snuggled you. You spent all week away trying to blow off some steam and be away from the boys but as it turns out, none of you could do much good when being away from each other. Clearly the boys needed you but maybe you needed them too. You were family.

Maybe this wasn’t so bad.

You softly planted a kiss on each of their foreheads like you did most nights, looking down at the children who had each taken an arm and claimed it as their own personal pillow. Idiots. Adorable idiots. You took a deep breath and leaned your head on Sam’s, then shut your eyes to go off into slumber.

“I love you, Y/n.”

“I love you too, Y/n.”

“Goodnight, boys.”

[astranne]

Crossover MCU/DC

So... it’s more like a Crossover between Dr. Strange and the DC universe but yeah... anyway

Dr. Strange is the Sorcerer Supreme, the protector of earth and all this shit. But he’s also the protector of the multiverse. And I think, as the protector, he needs to travel between all this worlds. And one of these worlds is the DC universe. I’m more a Marvel fan, know much about the MCU but DC... uhhh, I often read some post about facts of some charakters and often use wikipedia and all. But I haven’t read comics, just watched some movies, so if I have something wrong, it’s fanfic my dudes. 

Anyway (I use this word to much) through this whole protecting shit, travels among the universes, he meets the Justice League and becomes a member. He’s often called, when some mogic villians attack the earth. But Stephen realizes, that’s just too much work. So he creates Kamar Taj in the DC universe, Wong becomes a teacher and so on and on. And Kamar Taj becomes like a door/portal for travels between the two universes Dr. Strange lives. 

Anyway. Because of Thanos the whole multiverse is screwed up and when the Avengers defeat him five years later, it’s repaired, but not like before. The Infinity Stones are the most powerful things in the multiverse, they are beings (creepy) and decide, they need a host. Because Thanos is absolut shit and who says, there are not more like him? So... after the multiverse was screwed up, Dr. Strange goes to the heart? idk if that exists in the comics, but everything has a zentrum and yeah. He goes there and everything is in absolut chaos. He tries to ‘clean’ up, but it doesn’t help much. Then he realizes, that this whole energy can’t be guided in the different universes with some simple speels. So he starts to collect the Infinity Stones and places all six of them in the middle of this whole energy stuff. Uhh, it’s really hard do describe? Hope it still works

Anyway. The stones ‘realize’ that they are finally at their right place and think Stephen is worthy. But he’s still human and humans can be corrupted. So they basically make him a father and create their ‘host’/heir whatever. Basically, Stephen has a daughter now. Who controls and holds the power of the Infinity Stones. And because she was created in the heart of the multiverse, she controls also the universes? This is just an excuse to make my charakter overpowered :) But Stephen can have the Time Stone back, and places all the other Stones back where they come from. They can still be ‘used’, but everytime this happens, Stephen’s daughter knows this and can block the stone or summon it. So basically she protects the stones and the multiverse. 

And now I need a name. Uhm... I’ll call her Thea (greek for goddess) So, Stephen has now a teenage daughter, who is too powerful, wise and yeah. But he treats her still like she’s a teenager and she loosens up? Yk, becomes a little bit more human. So, now, he introduces her to the Avengers and the Justice League (the both groups don’t know each other). But yeah, he tells them, that this is his daughter and now the hero Infinity. When she’s in her ‘hero’ persona, her eyes become glowing white, her voice echoes and her hair has the colors of the stones. And yeah... another excuse to make her absolutly gorgeous and badass and powerful-

Anyway. Thea never shows her real power, just uses magic like her father. All heroes think she’s the host of an Elder, a group of immortal beings, who existet before the Big Bang. Probalby the goddess of life or something like that.

So... now. Ra’s al Ghul hears of her and her powers, well what everybody think her powers are. The villians and civilians don’t know, what the heroes know. So, Ra’s thinks she’s just a powerful sorceress, after all her father is the most powerful of them. He gathers all the magic users together and tries to capture her. And Thea thinks, why not. Let’s play with mortals. (I have no idea, if I should make her immortal or just half human, half universe. Like after her death she becomes one with the multiverse...)

Anyway. She comes to the League of assassins, her magic ‘stolen’ or that’s what everybody thinks. Because they are not Mordo, who can steal the magic from people like in the MCU. So, Ra’s thinks, she’s magicless and trains her. Thea plays the scared teenager, almost adult woman and learns fast. And then she meets Jason, who’s the pet project of Talia. The two of them often train together. When he finally escapes or whatever he does and goes back to Gotham, she tells him to go to Kamar Taj, that the people there can help with the pit madness. Jason still wants revenge and tries to kill Bruce, but when then Bruce tries to help and he can’t really, Jason searches Kamar Taj. Stephen finds him and becomes his teacher. So Jason learns about the multiverse and that Stephen protectes it and suddendly feels very small. He wants to help and becomes fast a Master of the Mystic Arts. One day, Thea comes back, tired of pretending she’s a helpless girl agains the League. She blows up the whole place, and nearly kills Ra’s. 

So, Jason meets Thea again, accepts the fact, that she’s literally the child of some stones and the multiverse. He also meets tha Avengers and wants to become one. Because they don’t have a problem with killings, not like the Justice League or Batman. 

Anyway. Jason still becomes Red Hood, that he has magic now is his biggest secret. Thea becomes his right hand, names herself Hela (like the sister of Thor), basically becomes her, with her powers and all the stuff. But she only uses them, when it’s necessary. So, Jason takes over Gotham, controls crime and slowls reduces it. Bruce doesn’t really notice it, because Jason let’s all the Bosses (like Black Mask) life, and controls them. But then Bruce hears them talking about Red Hood and his right hand Hela. He never saw them and first thinks this are just rumors, but the talk never stops about them. Bruce begins to search this Red Hood, becomes a drug boss, while Jason watches every step of him. 

It takes some time, but Bruce becomes a part of the Big Bosses of Gotham. Probably has some ridiculous name and a mask, which hides his face. And then he’s finally a part of the meeting with Red Hood. There are many drug bosses there, some villians and the Joker... They all wait for Red Hood, but first meet Hela. If some people don’t know her, here is a picture.

This is so big... anyway. 

So, she stalks in this room and sits at the head of the table, grins like she’s crazy. And then comes Red Hood in, in a neat suit and I’m just putting another picture here..

Something like that. And Jason just sits there, Thea at his right side and stares at the people. Suddendly he points his gun at Bruce, who starts to freak out, because no way this Red Hood knows he’s Batman- Jason shoots the Bodyguard behind him. Bruce just blinks, while Thea summons some daggers/swords? whatever this weapons of Hela are and kills all the rest of the Bodyguards. 

“Now we are finally alone...” Jason glares at Joker, who grins like the madman he is. 

“I’m sure, everybody of you wants to know, why am I doing this?” Bruce wants to sigh, now this typical ‘I’m the bad guy, I need to monologue’ stuff. 

“It’s rather easy. I grew up in Gotham, I lived through the good and the bad things, I lived as a poor boy and as a rich boy. I died here and came back.”

“Thanks to me”, Thea grins, while Jason chuckles. 

“Yes, thanks to Hela. Don’t worry, she’s not some pretender, she’s the real goddess of death.” Now most of the bad guys start sweating, because there is a fucking goddess and she’s the right hand of this guy-

“But we’re not finished yet... I died, in the hands of a madman, because my own mother betrayed me and my... father couldn’t save me.” 

“I didn’t really intruduce myself. My name is Red Hood and before I died, I was the second Robin.” Now Bruce really started to panic. Before anybody can do something, Jason kills the Joker. 

“I always hated his stupid grin...” Thea slowly stands up and kneels beside the body of the Joker and brings him back to life. Joker is just confused and Bruce’s now thinking, that this was a really really bad idea. 

“I’m going to torture you later, but I really needed to shoot you in your stupid face. And don’t think, that Batman is going to save you.” The other villians are shocked, because their new boss was once a hero, a Robin and now he kills people?

“Now... let’s start the real buisness.” Bruce knows, that he’s fucked, because there is a goddess and he’s pretty sure, that this goddess knows, that he’s Batman. 

When the whole meetings ends and everyone is starting to go, Jason calls Bruce by his fake name. Everybody stops, because this is a new guy. Either he dies or he becomes rewared. 

“I always hated Batman for being so cold, almost heartless. But he never seemed to do the bad thing, he was a hero after all. I was rather shocked, when I learned, that he had killed before and from who he had learned... but he never hurt innocents. Not before and not now. So... what is different now? Why does he send you, an innoncent, to the middle of the lion’s den? Tell me, Bruce, what is different now?” 

“You always seem to protect Batman, is he your secret lover? Or just a friend? Or your enemy? After all, you allowed him, that I could be his sidekick... tell me, Bruce, why are you taking this burden? To help him, to do his dirty work?”

Jason doesn’t expose Bruce to all the villians there, just warns him. When he ever steps a foot in his ‘kingdom’, he’s dead. Just like all his allies. And Bruce now knows, Jason is able to do that. So, Bruce distances himself of Red Hood, but tries to find Jason. Jason doesn’t cares about that, he’s happy, he protects Gotham, well, as good as he can and he protects the multiverse.

I think Thea would become his lover and maybe one day, Red Hood becomes part of the Batfam and they meet ‘Hela’. And Infinity is together with Drákon, the right hand of Dr. Strange. Jason is choosen by an ancient sword, which holds the power of dragons. (something like Genji of overwatch) So yeah... Jason and Thea have many personas and love to confuse people

If anyone wants to write a story about this, tag me, so I can read it! This is one of my favourite ideas :) and if anything is confusing about my writing style... I’m swiss, I have like no idea how to write in english ._.

Masterlist

[razorblade180]

Light reading

[Patch]

Tenzen:*walking down stairs* Morning Jaune.

Jaune:Morning? Try evening sleepy head.

Tenzen:Really? Opps hehehe, I guess I slept longer than I thought. Where’s Jin?

Jaune:Probably in the forest clearing. In fact... *holds two bento boxes*

Tenzen:Aye! You learned how to make them!

Jaune:Believe me when I said Ren talked about these a lot through the years. Could you go out and give this to Yujin?

Tenzen:Alright, gotta pull my own weight somehow.

Jaune:Please, you’re not a burden at all. It’s nice having more people in this house. Yujin especially enjoys seeing you more. *smirks* is there anything I should know about?

Tenzen:*remembers the kiss* N..no, I guess it’s only natural when friends move in together.

Jaune:That is true, but you must remember I moved in with my close friends and look how that ended. Marriage, a kid, basically my whole life.

Tenzen:Are you.....about to give me the threatening dad talk? Because I already know you can wipe the floor with me.

Jaune:*chuckles* Tenzen you’re probably the only boy I trust and my bundle of joy. I know you would never do anything to hurt her on purpose or take advantage of her. Even if you did, your mom and dad would probably kill you before I even got the chance.

Tenzen:I can see that...

Jaune:I’m just here to tell you that life has a way of setting things up and starting something big without anyone realizing it for a long time. Just be aware of all the little moments and actions you possibly can. They just might build up in unexpected ways. *hands him boxes*

Tenzen:*smiles* Yes sir.....

[Forest Clearing]

Yujin:*Sweating* Okay.....ONE MORE TIME!!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Her aura shines extremely bright as her sword erupts in pale yellow flames and eyes change. The very air around her starts to heat up.

Yujin:DRAGONSLA-

Tenzen:Hey Jin! I have lunch!!!!!

Yujin:Tenzen!?

The flames get to intense and explodes; knocking her flat on her back.

Tenzen:Oof....*winces* you okay over there?

Yujin:*literally smoking* Oh you know, just accidentally blowing up again. I thought we discussed calling ahead so we can keep training a secret.

Tenzen:I know but you weren’t answering and I figured you wouldn’t mind a break. *shows her the food*

Yujin:Bento? *sits up* could you be anymore of a anime nerd?

Tenzen:I could dress like a literal ninja or be summoning mythical animals.

Yujin:You’re already jumping through trees and stuff. *pulls out Yang’s book* meanwhile I’m putting my mom’s advice to good use.

Tenzen:Ooooo care to explain.

Yujin:Not to give away too many details she thinks there’s a way to make my semblance more offensive than defensive. Problem is I gotta get used to moving while I’m that dense. My plan is-

Tenzen:*Smiling*.........

Yujin:*pouts* You almost had me for a sec. Well I’m keeping my mouth shut.

Tenzen:Pfft I don’t know what you mean. I’m just making conversation and delivering food.

Yujin:Sure you are Mr.Rule Breaker; I’m gonna snoop in on one of your private training sessions one day and then you’ll be the grumpy one.

Tenzen:Screwing up in front of people is annoying and honestly I just don’t think I could concentrate well enough with you around.

Yujin:Are you saying I’m distracting.

Tenzen:Yeah have you seen your eyes?

Yujin:*blushing* Shu....shut up! Keep those comments to yourself you hear?

Tenzen:Hehe, I couldn’t help myself. It’s funny, for awhile I didn’t think I’d see this side of you again.

Yujin:Honestly.......you’re not the only one. For the first time in a very long time things feel different, brighter even. It’s hard to describe but *grins* I’m really happy with my life.

Tenzen:Even though your mom left again?

Yujin:It doesn’t bother me. Even if the worst happens and that train was the last time I saw her, I think I’d be able to move on. Our feelings towards each other were sent loud and clear.

Tenzen:What did they say?

Yujin: “I’ll you passed the end of days.” Or at least that’s what I like to think anyways.

He took a moment to look at his childhood friend. Never in her life did she look more at peace with herself than this moment right her. A healthy glow, welcoming eyes, and a smile that rivals his own. This was her, the daughter of Jaune Arc and Yang Xiao Long real self finally showing. Brave, bubbly, a little dorky, but also strong and a strength unique to her and her alone. Tenzen couldn’t get enough of it.

Tenzen:You know Tempered Steel is starting to sound like a better nickname for you instead of the name of your sword, or maybe Phoenix.

Yujin:Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?

Tenzen:Oh nothing, just thinking aloud.

Yujin:Boy sometimes I really don’t get you Tenzen.

Tenzen:The feeling is mutual dork.

............

Tenzen:Hey......can I break another rule?

Yujin:Which one-

Suddenly his face was inches away from hers. Both of them staring in comfortable silence as their face slowly grew more red. Yujin didn’t dare lean back yet was constantly trying to prevent herself from getting any closer. She could already feel his breathe tickling her knows. It took a moment to realize he was serious about asking permission; not once did any signs of him getting closer show. Just slight fidgeting out of anxiousness from both of them.

Yujin:We....we’re supposed to focusing on getting into Beacon and things to settle down remember? N....no extra distractions; those were the rules.

Tenzen:I know it’s just you’re really...... something else.

Yujin:Do all fan girls hear that?

Tenzen:So you’re a fan now?

Yujin:I’m you’re biggest fan you dummy.

Tenzen:Prove it......

Yujin:................ damnit, just this once.

She practically lunged to close the little gap between them. No more words, no more looks, and no more tension. For that moment it just two teens breaking the rules. Two teens sharing a kiss under the evening sky.

[p-artsypants]

Longest Night (29) Succumbing

Man, I hate writing fight scenes.

Sorry this is late. Blame my boss for making me work on Christmas. :)

Ao3 | FF.net

—

It neared midnight when the team finally tracked down the akumas. The rain persisted as a drizzle, enough to cast the lights in a haze. A news crew had spotted them on the Arc de Triomphe, and broadcasted the scene as an update, both from a van from below and a helicopter circling overhead.

The crowd of spectators that gathered at the base of the Arc was alarming.

Rena wanted to shout at them to run. Didn’t they know the akuma were the most dangerous they’d ever had? But she stayed quiet, just as Hawkmoth had instructed. They waited on a nearby rooftop, watching from the distance, and the newscast on Carapaces’ screen.

“It is unknown what the goal of the akuma is at this time, but it seems that they are planning to hang something from the Arc.”

Indeed, it seemed that way, as Lady Lacrima continued to summon long steel cables with hooks at the end. She slid down them, and checked to make sure each was equal in length.

“What is she doing?” Carapace asked quietly.

“Look!” Queen Bee pointed on top of the Arc. “Adrien’s up there.”

“He’s got something. I can’t tell what.”

“I’m almost afraid to find out.” Said Hawkmoth. “There’s not going to be any way for us to get up there but to climb the stairs.”

“Or we can lure them over here…” Suggested Rena Rouge. “Let’s just see what they’re doing. Then we’ll make our move.”

“Um…” Started Chloe.

“What’s up?”

“I was just thinking…Alya, maybe you should stay back here while the rest of us go up.”

“What?! Why?!”

“I was just thinking about the last time I saw them in person, back before this whole thing. And then I remembered the stupid trick that Lila pulled.”

Rena frowned at that. “Yeah, and?”

“Well, you took Lila’s side. I mean, I did too, but I wasn’t friends with Marinette.”

“I-!! It was a mistake, Chloe! You don’t think I’ve learned my lesson!?”

Chloe scoffed with a roll of her eyes, exasperated. “That’s not what I’m saying at all. I’m saying…Marinette doesn’t know how much work you’ve put into trying to save her. To her…you’re still a traitor. She’s likely to go for the kill.”

“I gotcha,” said Carapace. “I’ve got my shield, and Chloe’s got her top to swing away, and Hawkmoth has a sword. Rena, you’ve just got your flute. You’re the least protected.”

Rena frowned, seeing reason, but not particularly liking it.

“She’s terrifying.” Chloe continued. “She wouldn’t listen to a word I said. Neither would Adrien.”

“Strategically speaking,” added Hawkmoth. “It would be better if Rena stayed back so she could cover our retreat if something goes awry. But she won’t be able to do that unless she has her flute. Grimalkin’s cataclysm can damage our weapons.”

Rena sighed loudly. “Then I don’t see how this is going to work. If neither of them will listen, and Adrien can blow up our weapons, what do we do?”

“They didn’t listen to Chloe,” said Hawkmoth. “But I’m the one that gave them the akuma.”

“And I took Adrien’s side in the argument, so we’re good,” Carapace added. “Between the two of us, we might be able to talk them down.”    

“Are we even sure they have the Miraculous on them?”

“Even as an akuma, I can’t imagine Marinette would leave her Miraculous behind. I believe Grimalkin’s suit is almost the same as his Chat Noir costume. He should have pockets.”

“Okay,” began Nino. “If we have to...I can pin Marinette down with my shield, while Chloe freezes Adrien with her venom. It’s not going to be easy, but I need some sort of plan before we go in. I’m not good at winging it.”

“Sounds as good of a plan as any.”

“Looks like they’re ready.” Rena pointed as the group watched as Lady Lacrima pulled all the cables back up. And then Grimalkin got to work doing something while she lowered herself down on a lip of the Arc.

“We need to get over there.” Hawkmoth spoke softly. “Stick to the shadows and make your way up top. Adrien might be watching the stairs, so step lightly.”

The team departed, while Rena remained back, not liking the situation one bit.

“Paris!” Lady Lacrima shouted, her voice echoing over all the traffic and thousands of voices.

It seemed like the world stood still to hear what she had to say.

“I’m disappointed in you.” She began. That hurt more than it should have. The hero that everyone adored, respected, disappointed with them?

“Do we mean nothing to you? Are we just trophies for you to show off to the world? ‘Here! Look at our wonderful heroes! They can do anything!’” She threw her arms open in a wide gesture. “‘Ladybug and Chat Noir will handle everything! We don’t need to do anything for them! They’ll save themselves!’” Her voice wobbled with anger. “Well, we did. We saved ourselves, with a little help from the person we were fighting against the whole time! It seems that we had the wrong enemy! The man that creates distracting little minions that turn people into Ice Cream should have been the biggest problem with this city! But he’s not!”

With a wave of her hand, Grimalkin heaved their project over the edge of the Arc, a cacophony of screams bursting forth at the reveal.

Bodies.

Eight bloody, mangled bodies, all hanging in an array of deranged marionette dolls. In the middle, a huge business man in a blood-soaked white tux.

“It’s the parasites of the underbelly!” Lady Lacrima continued. “This city is controlled by the likes of men who consider themselves Gods! They know the worst of the worst, every dark detail that you try to bury! They feed off the cowardice of the feckless elite, pulling the strings and rewriting the rules! You were never safe! You never knew how awful it was!

“Many years ago, I made a promise that Chat and I would keep you safe.” Lady Lacrima continued. “But Ladybug failed. She couldn’t even stop Hawkmoth. So that is why I, Lady Lacrima, and Grimalkin have stepped up and did what no one else in this goddamn city had the brains to do! End things permanently!”

Someone wailed from below.

“Let this be a warning to anyone who thinks they can cross us. We offer no trial, we cannot hear begging. God has turned his face away from Paris, for he cannot bare to witness the Justice we demand!” She inhaled, trembling. Her voice was so raw and broken. “I’m tired!” She spat. “Tired of holding this city up on my shoulders! Tired of lying, of making flimsy excuses! Tired of having to do everything myself! I’m tired of being an object of affection instead of a human with emotions! I'm tired of pretending like everything is okay, that life just moves on, when the fact of the matter is, I can't. I'm done with this place. I'm done with entertaining the Pharisees and playing nice! I’m tired!”

“Then you should rest,” a man’s voice cut in.

Lady Lacrima leapt back up to the top of the arc to find Grimalkin glaring down their intruder.

Hawkmoth stood just at the other end by the stairs. He appeared alone, as Carapace and Queen Bee stood just out of sight. He rested his weight on his cane, and tried to play the role of a non-threatening business partner.

Neither of the Akuma bought it, as they both poised to strike, if anything went awry.

“What do you want?” Lady Lacrima asked, a bite in her tone.

“Just to talk.”

She said nothing, allowing him to elaborate.  

“Well, for one thing, I will be needing those akuma’s back, you know. I can’t make any more. And having them in use is exhausting me.”

“You’ll get them back in time, Hawkmoth. But we have work to be done.”

“I can see that.” He looked pointedly at the cables hanging over the edge. “I’m just worried about you.”

“Worried?” She scoffed. “Since when have you ever been worried about us?”

Hawkmoth sighed. “I know. I know I don’t have a right to be concerned, after all I did. But I am. Even more so now. This isn’t like you both. You’re good, and just.”

“We were good!” Lady Lacrima corrected, harshly. “But Salo took that away from us!”

Hawkmoth raised his hand and spoke softly. “You still are good. The akuma are just clouding your judgement right now. Just…give me the Miraculous, and we can fix all of this. Okay?”

Lady Lacrima shrieked at him, her voice breaking with the passion. “You don’t want to help us! You’re a liar!”

“Marinette—“

She gripped the side of her head as she continued wailing, then she hit herself in the temples over and over.

“Stop that!” Hawkmoth demanded.

“Stay away from us!”

“Just listen to me!”

Grimalkin, who had be semi-willing to hear Hawkmoth out, growled instead and ran at him, claws out.

Hawkmoth defended himself by drawing his sword. “Plan B!” He shouted.

Carapace then leapt from the stairwell and ran at Grimalkin, colliding his shield with his shoulder. “Sorry dude!”

Grimalkin was knocked off balance and rolled across the ground, and back onto his feet.

Carapace attempted to make a run at Lady Lacrima, to execute his plan, but Grimalkin was already on him again, and snagged him by the hood.

Okay, changing plans. Carapace thought, whirling around to hit Grimalkin with his shield. Once we do Miraculous Cure, this should fix anything I do to hurt him… Still, it was painful to hit his best friend.

Meanwhile, Hawkmoth had darted around to go for Lady Lacrima, as Queen Bee attacked from the rear. Lady Lacrima took her whip with one hand and summoned a shield in the other. She threw the shield up to block Hawkmoth’s incoming swing, and used the whip to snag Queen Bee by the ankle, and pull her to the ground.

“You’re with them!?” she shouted at Hawkmoth, accusingly. “I thought you wanted to help us! But you—you just want to make us disappear! Erase the failures!”

Queen Bee had regained her footing, only to be bashed by the shield and sent sprawling again. Lady Lacrima focused her efforts on Hawkmoth, deflecting his blows and attempting to disarm him by snapping the whip at his hand.

“We’re all trying to help you, Marinette!” Hawkmoth shouted at her. “There’s no one against you!”

“That’s not my name!” She shrieked, as more black lines drew under her mask. “That’s not my name! Marinette was a coward and a liar! She couldn’t even find the nerve to talk to the boy she loved! I don’t want to be her anymore!”

“Marinette is wonderful!” Hawkmoth argued right back, “she’s smart, and creative, and kind! Why wouldn’t you want to be her!?”

Lady Lacrima heard Queen Bee’s exclamation of “venom!” from behind her.

Faster than Hawkmoth could comprehend, she snapped her whip out to grab his wrist, and yanked him right into her shield, stunning him. Then she dismissed the shield and turned around.  

Queen Bee was almost about to sting her, and Lady Lacrima only had to redirect her forward momentum onwards, right into Hawkmoth.

He froze, stung by the venom, and Queen Bee was all alone in the fight, and only had five minutes left.

Carapace hadn’t faired much better with Grimalkin. Each swipe of the claws against the shield sounded like nails on a chalkboard, and made his skin crawl.

The worst part of it all was that Adrien was just not speaking at all. He snarled and growled and frothed from the mouth. But no matter how hard he tried, Carapace could not get a word from his best friend.

“Come on dude! We don’t have to fight! You need help! Please!”

But Grimalkin grew tired of all of his attacks being blocked. He brought his hand back and clenched it into a fist, pulsating with energy.

Carapace watched in horror as his shield disintegrated in his hand. With only one trick left up his sleeve, he called “Shell—“ before being body slammed in the ground.

Grimalkin ripped the bracelet off his arm and flung it away from him.

“Adrien!” Nino shouted in fear.

As Grimalkin stared back at him, the narrow slits in his eyes dilating until his eyes were mostly black. His ears laid flat on his head, and he backed away shamefully.

“Hey, hey dude…come on man…you didn’t know.”

Grimalkin started crying, a sensation that was not familiar to his akumatized form.

“I’m not mad, I promise. It’s going to be alright…just hand over the Miraculous and we’ll get you to a hospital, okay?”

Grimalkin let out at mournful wail, and continued to back away.

Rena Rouge watched the fight, biting her nails. Once Hawkmoth was frozen, she prepared her flute for the worst.

Then Nino’s transformation went out, and she jumped into action. The illusion would either cause Lady Lacrima and Grimalkin to flee, or allow her teammates to escape.

Lady Lacrima stood, one foot pressing on Hawkmoth’s chest. “You never deserved that Miraculous,” she said to Queen Bee. “You don’t know how to use it, and even your best attempts end in failure. Why do you think I never called on you for help?”

“You said you were trying to keep me safe, because Hawkmoth knew my identity…”

“It’s a lot nicer than calling you a failure and an embarrassment, hmm?”

If Chloe was going to respond to that, she didn’t get the chance. Ryuko and Viperion stepped in between them, protecting Queen Bee.

Lady Lacrima let out a gasp of horror as she glanced around the arc.

King Monkey, Pegasus, Mayura, and Bunnyx had all appeared as backup.

Lady Lacrima panicked, but only for a moment, because of one key detail. That being that Rena Rouge was not among the group. She looked over to see Grimalkin standing awkwardly over Nino, unsure of what to do.

“Rena Rouge is here.” She told him. “I’ll find her. Keep an eye on these nuisances.”

Grimalkin nodded in acknowledgement, not taking his eyes off Nino.  

Lady Lacrima scanned the area, looking across the Place Charles de Gaulle. It was far too dark to spot her from the arc, especially with the light of the helicopter on them.

Oh, but the helicopter would work for her.

Summoning another steel cable and a grappling hook, she hooked a foot of the helicopter, ran, and leapt off the arc and out of the spotlight.

In the dark haze of the city, Lady Lacrima soared over to the nearest building, and started searching for the color orange.

“You’ve used your power!” She shouted. “You’ve only got five minutes left! Then what will you do?! You’ll be completely defenseless! It’s only a matter of time Alya!”

Alya had been picked as the first auxiliary member for a reason. Marinette trusted her. She was smart and passionate about doing a good job.

And she knew when to run and fight another day.

Silently, she slunk from her place on a roof to a fire escape, then released her transformation. She knew the light would likely draw Lady Lacrima’s attention, so she leapt down the ladder and tried to get down into the alley as soon as possible.

“You can’t hide from me!” Lady Lacrima’s voice teased from above.

Some tenants of the building thankfully left a few bags of garbage out on the escape and Alya was quick to dive under them.

“Alya!” Lady Lacrima screamed. “Come out and face me! Face judgement for your neglect and betrayal!”

But Alya just laid still, her heart hammering in her chest, threatening to give her away.

The hunt was over as soon as it began. A loud yowl caught Lady Lacrima’s attention, and brought her gaze back to the Arc.

Chloe’s transformation had worn off, and with it, her paralyzing venom. Hawkmoth had recovered, and held Grimalkin in a headlock, his arm behind his back.

Horrified, Lady Lacrima took her cable and returned to the battlefield.

“Get the Miraculous!” Hawkmoth screamed at Nino.

“I’m sorry dude! But this is for your own good!” Nino unzipped his pocket and reached his hand in.

Only to be body slammed by Lady Lacrima. She summoned a knife, and pointed it at Hawkmoth. “Let him go!”

“Marinette, please…just listen…”

“I’m only giving you a warning because you’re the only person that cared enough to save us! Now let him go! Or I’ll jam this in your eye!”

“I can’t—“

At his protest, she stabbed the knife into his shoulder, forcing him to drop Grimalkin and cry out in pain.

Lady Lacrima gathered Grimalkin, and in a flash, disappeared from the rooftop.

Chloe and Nino came to Hawkmoth’s assistance immediately.

“Don’t—Don’t pull the knife out,” Hawkmoth advised. “It’ll bleed worse.”

“Oh god…” Nino moaned, unsure of what to do. His hands fretted, though didn’t touch him.

Chloe just rested her hand on his good shoulder, offering him comfort.

“Get…get your Miraculous back. The police will be up here at any second…”

“R-right,” he agreed, scrambling off to the corner.

Just as Nino recovered his bracelet and called his transformation back on, a fleet of police officers stormed the roof. Carapace looked up to the helicopter, his gut sinking. His identity had probably been compromised too. And with the amount of police surrounding them, there was no way they were letting Hawkmoth get out of this.

And Alya…where was she? He could only hope she was safe.

Setting his fears aside, he pushed through the crowd and made his way back to Hawkmoth. Then he used his shield to bash apart the handcuffs they had already put on his wrists.

“What are you doing, kid?!”

“This man is a hero! He saved Ladybug and Chat Noir!”

“Yeah, and he turned them into monsters too!” The officer shot back. “Do you know how many people are dead because of those akuma?! Because we don’t! We haven’t found them all!”

“What do you expect?!” Carapace shrieked back, “no one else could find them! The second Hawkmoth could reach them, he took the chance to give them powers so they could get out! They’re hurt and angry and scared! Why the hell to you think we’re here!? To have a tea party!?”

“Carapace…” Hawkmoth tried to placate by grabbing his wrist.

“No! No, everyone needs to hear this! I just fought my best friend, okay!? He’s confused and in pain…and so lost! We need everyone on deck to help bring them in, and that includes Hawkmoth!” He gestured to man. “He’s the one who lasted the longest against them! Ladybug—er, Lady Lacrima gave him mercy! He’s the only one they’re willing to listen too!”

Hawkmoth gripped his wrist harder. “No. This plan failed. We should have never approached them like this.”

“Come on, man, what else were we supposed to do?”

“I have another idea. I just…we need to regroup.”

“We will,” said Chloe. “After you get stitches.”

He stood on shaky legs. “I’ll be fine. Carapace, go find Rena. Chloe, recharge and suit up. We’ll meet up back home.”

—

Lady Lacrima cried furiously as she swung her and Grimalkin away from the fight. She held him tightly to her as they moved, his breath pulling slowly. That low grating breath that had plagued her since the moment they were akumatized.

It didn’t take long to find cover in a hidden rooftop alcove. It was dark and out of the rain, and she gathered him close to her chest.

“I never learn, do I?” She sobbed. “I keep leaving you behind…I’m so so sorry.”

A quiet purr rumbled through his throat as a soft smile graced his features. His breathing was coming smoother now, as he recovered from the fight.

“I’m not trying to drag you along on my revenge plot, but—“

He nuzzled her cheek with his nose, assuring her it was alright with him.

“Are you sure? I…we only have one more person to pay back, but I think you’ll agree with me…they won’t put up a fight.”

His red eyes glanced up at her, gleaming with malicious intent.

“Oh kitty,” she purred, caressing his hair. “Get your strength back, and then we’ll go. And when we’re done,” she pecked his lips, “We’ll rest.”

—

Lila Rossi was grounded.

Not that she could really blame her mom, what with getting kidnapped and almost dying. Lila supposed it was fair. Besides, having a phone, internet, and TV would only allow for her to watch people ridicule her.

And she wasn’t really fond of that idea.

So she slept, completely and utterly unaware that Marinette and Adrien were akumatized, and on a rampage.

That is, until her window shattered.

She jolted to wakefulness as glass rained down on her.

“Wha—?” Was all she was able to utter, before sharp claws grabbed her ponytail and yanked her out of bed.

Two people were in the room, one of them a woman who was locking her bedroom door.

“Lila Rossi. Oh, you have no idea how good it feels to be here right now.”

“Who—Who are you?” Lila sobbed in fear.

Grimalkin tilted her head to face him, getting a clear shot of his red feline eyes and glistening fangs.

“Us? We’re your worst nightmare.” A glimmer appeared in her hand, shortly replaced by a pair of clamps. “We’re the consequences of your actions.”  

“My…actions?”

“You have a nasty lying habit, Lila. It’s even in your name.”

Lila grasped at the hand holding her. “I made a mistake! No ones perfect! My classmates hate me, I’m grounded for life, and I’m drowning in guilt! And I’m sure there’s going to be a hell of lawsuits coming my way! What else do I have to endure!?”

Lady Lacrima snapped the clamps a few times, to test them. “Oh, I want you to go though all of that still…but we’re going to make sure you can’t weasel your way out of any of it.”

Lila tried to back away, though Grimalkin held her tight.

Lila gasped, finally realizing who she was looking at. “Marinette? Adrien?!”

“My, you’re even dumber than I thought. Pity. Now stay still, this will only hurt a lot.”

—

“Lila! Lila answer me! Open this door!” Called her mother from the other side.

Her fingers trembled as she turned the lock.

The door swung open and Mrs. Rossi gasped in horror. “Darling! Are you alright?! You’re covered in blood! What happened!?”

“…ey…am…ey…ough…me…ongue…”

“What? What are you saying!?”

Lila opened her mouth, blood rushing down her jaw.

Her tongue was gone.

—

Some dozen blocks away, Lady Lacrima and Grimalkin landed on an old familiar balcony.

“Hawkmoth said my parents are with your father at his mansion.” She provided. “Which should give us a little time to hide out here before they come looking.”

Grimalkin blinked a few times, his eyelids growing heavy.

She pulled on the hatch, but it didn’t budge. “Locked…wait, I can get us in.”

Grimalkin watched as she swung over the side of the balcony, and pushed on a little window that was cracked open. It gave way, and she weaseled her way in.

In seconds, the lock flicked and the hatch popped open. “Please come in, kitty cat.”

With a purr, Grimalkin obliged, and slunk in the window, forgoing the ladder to just flop on the bed. The softness of the comforter and warmth of the blankets only enhanced his purring as he nuzzled the blankets.

“Hey! You’re getting the sheets all bloody and wet!” Lady Lacrima scolded.

Grimalkin hunched his shoulders in shame.

“Oh, it’s not that big of a deal, love. Just wait here a second, alright?”

He nodded to her, politely sitting on the edge of the bed.

She jumped down into her main room, noting that it had been ransacked of valuables and personal belongings.

But the towels by her sink were still there, and so she snatched them up and got to work drying her cat. She placed the towel on his head and tussled it gently, like Kelly had done, then she rubbed at his cheeks.

“There’s my good boy, he was hiding under all that blood.”

He grinned.

She finished him off by buffing the towel over his suit.

When she took a fresh towel to clean herself, he stopped her and returned the favor, gently cleaning her face. The black marks wouldn’t disappear, but that was alright.

Once she was clean, he placed a teasing lick on her cheekbone.

“Oh you’re a naughty kitty!” She teased back. Then tackled him to the bed.

They tumbled around, playing roughly, before Grimalkin let out a long yawn…which proceeded to make Lady Lacrima yawn.

They both settled down, Grimalkin nuzzling into her chest as she wrapped her arms around him. “Good night my sweet prince.”

He purred in response.

[ro-visiting-the-bureau]

So, You Summoned the Ghosts of Your Ancestors... - TCR Secret Santa 2019

@deadbonessinderhellaton, I was your Secret Santa this year! I decided to go for your prompt “Ghosts are like relatives. Once you let them in, they never leave.” Enjoy, and a very Merry Christmas to you!

Haru didn’t quite burst through the door of the cafe, but she did push it harder than she usually would and was through it before it open all the way. She swiveled her head and spotted Hiromi sitting at a table by the cafe’s fake fireplace, a mug of hot chocolate cradled in her hands. The strawberry blonde looked up as Haru approached and smiled. “Thanks for coming so quickly.”

“You left me a message saying ‘We screwed up’ and asked to meet me here asap,” Haru said, taking off her gloves, scarf and hat as a waitress came over to take her order. He asked for a hot chocolate and a small plate of pastries and then turned back to Hiromi when she left. “What happened?”

“Well, you know Tsuge and I have been clearing out his grandmother’s old house so we can move in after the wedding.” Hiromi played with the sapphire engagement ring on her hand. “We found a old journal in the attic, and flipped through it. It was written by Tsuge’s great-great grandfather, and he was a big paranormal-supernatural nut. Wrote down all these rituals that supposedly let you communicate with the dead.”

Haru didn’t need to hear another word to know exactly where this was going. She rested her elbows on the table and put her head in her hands. “You didn’t…”

“Well, we didn’t think they were really real, and Tsuge thought it’d be funny to try it.”

“You’re best friends with a paranormal investigator and you didn’t think there was a chance it was real?” Haru shot Hiromi a glare, making her curl up a bit and give a weak smile. 

“Well…”

Haru sighed and folded her arms on the table. “What happened?”

“Well, we found one that was supposed to bring up a old homeowner, and figured, ‘you know what, let’s see if we can learn home more history about this place that Grandma didn’t know’. So we grabbed some old playground chalk, drew one of the sigils on the ground, lit some candles…

~

“Is that the right shape?” Tsuge asked, kneeling over the circle and checking the sigil drawn on the inside.

“I think so,” Hiromi said, looking from the book to the shape. IT was mostly straight lines, with a few circles, and had particular instruction on how to draw it. Next to her was a old compass and a motley collection of candles, from from the same trunk as the book and compass, the rest dug out from closets and cabinets in the house. “Do you think it’ll be effected by us using the scented candles?”

“I’m not running out to grab tea lights in this weather.” He pointed out the window, where the snow was flying, not storming, but enough to encourage people to stay indoors unless you had to go out, or were a kid wanting to play. “Besides, it’s not like it will actually do anything.”

“Yeah, guess you’re right.” Hiromi shrugged and picked up the compass, holding it over the center of the circle. She took the two white ritual candles and put them at the north and east-northeast positions, which were the most important for the communication aspect they were looking for. Then they placed a small cinnamon candle at southeast, a large pine candle at south west, and a rose-scented tea light at west-northwest. Then Tsuge struck a match and used it to light a stick of incense, which he then used to light the candles in the same order they had been placed, before blowing it out and placing it in the center of the circle with a stand. He and Hiromi stood on opposite sides of the circle, holding the book in both hands over the center of the circle. Tsuge cleared his throat and started to speak. 

“Mortuus pacificus invocabo. Siquid erit vobis dicerem nobiscum hac nocte nos sacri.” His pronunciation was not too bad, but any Ancient Romans who might have heard it would find his accent horribly thick and-

( “Well, it wasn’t your first mistake, but your biggest is that you never do an incantation without practicing the correct pronunciation until you can be clearly understood. You’re lucky you didn’t summon a demon with that.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure…” )

The couple watched in shock as the ritual circles actually began to glow, a blue-white light that started softly, then grew until it almost hurt to look at. Then a breeze started tickling their ankles, flowing into the center of the circle. Streams of light spun with the breeze, creating a vortex over the sigil. Hiromi gasped as it started to rise and grow up, spinning faster and faster and it climbed past their knees, and almost to their waists. Tsuge quickly read the book, and recited the next line of the spell. “Mortuus: venite, et locutus est ad nos, sic fiat semper.”

The vortex stopped growing, but increased in speed, it’s light almost blinding. Then a low note, separate from the whipping wind, started to grow, louder and louder, until it was recognizable as a scream. Another joined it, soft and then louder, then another, and another, until the strident calls was so loud it was hurting their ears. Then, something slingshotted out of the vortex, just missing Tsuge’s nose, then another buzzed Hiromi’s ear, and more flew out around them and the room before impacting the walls and seeming to disappear. The vortex slowly lost power and sank down to the floor, sending out one last whip of wind which blew out the candles before disappearing completely, and the glow dimmed to nothing. 

Hiromi and Tsuge stared at each other for a long moment, before stepping back and letting the book fall to the floor. 

"That was…" Tsuge trailed off, completely flabergasted. 

"It worked. That was an actual spell." Hiromi raised her hands to her face. "Harry is gonna be so mad." ( "You're darn right I'm mad!" ) "She always says this is not something to take lightly."

"Hey now," Tsuge said, coming over and placing his hands on her arms and rubbing them soothingly. "Maybe it's not so bad. Maybe it's Grandpa, and he'll go away once we have a pleasant conversation with him."

Hiromi sighed and was about to speak when a man's voice behind her cut her off. "Kami, what are you wearing!?"

Hiromi and Tsuge turned and saw a figure by the wall. It was a man, maybe in his mid fifties, hair in a topknot and wearing an old fashioned kimono. "This is not a bathhouse, put some clothes on!"

Hiromi looked down at her sweater and jeans that covered her from neck to wrist and ankle, and then Tsuge's t-shirt and jeans (he always ran warmer than her). They were even wearing socks, so you couldn't see their feet. "Um, sorry, but these are perfectly modest clothes for these days. Can I ask your name, honored ancestor?"

"Modest indeed,” the ghost huffed, coming into the room. “I am Kaneda Fujimaro, and these are the lands of my family. We have lived here for over a hundred years, and I now ask what you are doing here?”

“Can’t you see, you old man,” a new voice said, and a woman came through the wall, maybe a few years younger than Fujimaro, holding a cane, and wearing the same style of kimono. “They’re obviously our descendants, or can you not see your jaw on that young man’s face?”

“Of course I can see it, woman, I’m not blind!” 

“Well, you could have fooled me.” The woman floated - actually floated ( “Well of course she did, she’s a ghost!” ) - over to the couple, and reached a hand to touch Tsuge’s face. Tsuge flinched, but turned his head as the woman directed him to, and she gave him a critical eye. 

“Yes, you have my husbands jaw, but these cheekbones… they look just like the Yasui family. And I had hoped Naozane was not fool enough to go through with that betrothal.” She patted his cheek and stepped back.

“Now see here, Etsuko” Fujimaro said, “Yasui Sozui was a fine man, and his son was just like him.”

“A fine thief, you mean,” Etsuko turned, raising her cane a little at her husband. “The whole village knows he only got to rich from those ‘trips’ he took to Edo and yet no one has ever gotten a straight answer as to what he did there.”

“A man’s financials are not the business of other men.”

“They are when your granddaughter will marry into that man’s family!” 

Etsuko and Fujimaro started bickering, and Hiromi and Tsuge glanced at each other, growing more uncomfortable and awkward by the second. The movement in the doorway caught Hiromi’s eye, and she looked to see another ghost, a younger man maybe in his thirties, waving from the doorway. He made a “come here” motion, and with the only other option being to remain next to the old couple until they remembered they had an audience, the young couple quickly did so. 

Once they were in the other room - the younger ghost having moved back to give them room to enter - the ghost breathed a sigh of relief. “I am so sorry you had to deal with my grandparent’s first. They love each other, and the family, but in their old age they constantly got on each other’s nerves. Or at least, I was told by my father, I was only a child when they both died.”

“And who was your father, honorable ancestor?” Tsuge asked. 

“Yasui Taroemon, his father was Yasui Sozui. I am Yasui Norio.” He turned and a woman about his age seemed to just appear at his elbow. “And this is my wife, Kaneda Hisae. We’re your… four times  great-grandparents?”

“Six times,” Hisae said, and when she smiled, Hiromi could see her fiance in it. “Tetsuo told us he’d had a newborn great-grandson the last time we talked. Tsuge, right?”

“Y-Yes, Nashito Tsuge. And this is my fiance, Takanori Hiromi.” He and Hiromi both bowed, and Norio and Hisae bowed back. 

“It is lovely to meet you both,” Norio said. “Though it could have been under better circumstances.”

“I’ll say,” Hiromi said. “You two don’t seem surprised by this.”

“Oh, we’ve done this plenty of times,” Hisae said. “Tsuge’s great grandfather Kentaro loved to talk with us all the time. We had several visits with him, sharing family stories and such. He wrote quite a lot of them down, they should all be in his journals.”

“Mother always wondered about that,” Tsuge said. “She and everyone else assumed he was transcribing for another family, but kept the journals for some reason.”

“Well, you see, when our son Sotan was a baby, we were all here visiting my family when a fire broke out. We were all trapped, but we managed to hand Sotan to his sister and the two managed to escape. Unfortunately, Naoko died from her burns a few days later, and Sotan was adopted by a lovely couple who you know as your ancestors.”

Hiromi suddenly remembered. “Wait, there are four of you here right now, you two, Etsuko and Fijumaro. But I know at least five ghosts were thrown past me from the vortex, and more past Tusge so where are they?”

“Scattered over the neighborhood, probably,” Norio said. “Most of this valley used to belong to either the Yasui or Kaneda families, so they could appear anywhere on the lands. But they’ll all come back here soon, since this is where the summoning happened.” He narrowed his gaze. “Though with how you messed it up, I don’t know the state they’ll be in. The ritual is supposed to only bring back those who were at peace when they died, like Hisae and I, but the different candles might have causes a change to it. They might even be stuck here.”

Hiromi and Tsuge paled at the thought of over a dozen potentially angry ghosts appearing in the house they were going to move into, and the couple looked to each other. 

“Call Haru.” 

“Right.”

~

“...And here we are,” Hiromi said, giving a very strained smile. “Tsuge is trying to hold down the fort with Norio and Hisae, but I don’t know how well that’s going.”

Haru pinched the bridge of her nose between her hands, taking a deep breath. “Okay, this is going to be way too big a job for just me. I need to call in the whole team.”

Hiromi’s eyes widened. “You think it’s that bad?” 

“Ghosts are like relatives, Hiromi. Once you let them in, they never leave. And you have the unfortunate case of them being actual relatives.” Haru drained the last of her hot chocolate and stood, putting her coat back on. “Come on. You’re gonna be the one to explain to Baron why we need to pull Sephie and Louise off the Osaki case.”

Hiromi gulped, and Haru felt a little pity for her best friend, but it was overruled by irritation. This was not how she wanted to spend her winter vacation.

[sabraeal]

So a prompt for the Wide Florida Bay, Haki meets Haruto meeting.

Wide Florida Bay | With Hands Molded, as Galatea

Issue: Jan 1994

Vogue sat down with the illustrious Ms Bergstrom, known for not only her modeling career in her youth, but also her current occupation of philanthropic works. 

Bergstrom: I was an actress as well, briefly.Vogue: Yes, who could forget?Bergstrom: (teasing) You, apparently!

“God, this whole island is so fucking boring.” Andalusia slaps her copy of Vogue onto the table, glaring down the line of chaises. “Whose idea was it to come to Santorini anyway?”

“Haki’s!” Cristal pipes nervously before tilting her hat’s brim down over her face. It’s such a pitiful act, Haki can’t even manage to summon up a glare.

“Ugh, Haki, what the fuck.” Andaulsia rolls over, foxing her with a scowl that would make Cristal burst into tears. “There’s nothing here but honeymooners and old people.”

This was my mom’s favorite place. It sits right on the tip of her tongue, a sure way to win the argument, to get everyone on her side and leave Andalusia slinking around the suite like a scolded terrier. But it’s also ammunition, a piece of her that can be flung back when tempers get high or when someone needs to prove that she’s too emotional to weigh in.

And that’s not what she wants her mother to be: yet another little pin to prick her with, another weight to hold her down when someone wants to climb higher. So Haki grits her teeth, making a show of applying more sun screen.

“And sunsets,” Tomomi offers with a studied offhandedness. “Those have been pretty killer.”

Her mother had thought that too. At least, that’s what her father said, when she’d asked, a wistful expression on his face. Never the same one twice.

“God, fuck sunsets. We should have gone to Ibiza.” Andalusia flops restlessly on her chaise, like a fish on the dock. “That’s where everyone who’s everyone is. Not this shitshow.”

She knows she’s supposed to apologize now, that she’s supposed to offer a half dozen explanations for why she thought Santorini would personally float Andalusia’s boat, but–

There’s none. It’s their first trip since they started college, the first time they’ve been together so long since they flung themselves across the country to colleges so far apart it seems almost purposeful, and Haki’s just felt…adrift. She’s made friends, yes, with all the right people who go all the right places, but it all fits her like a dress two sizes too small, like she’s still trying to stuff herself into the Zac Posen she wore to her Sweet Sixteen.

She’s had a single year of freedom, a single year to think for herself, and all that’s been buzzing through her head for months is that she doesn’t want this.

“Ibiza is so last decade.” Mariazell sits up in her chaise, tossing her sheet of blonde hair over her shoulder. “God, my parents went to Ibiza.”

Mariazell had been a last minute addition, a friend of a friend of Andalusia’s who she’d met at a party and thought was as cool as a Hilton. Haki had been prepared to hate her guts, but, well–

It seems as though things are looking up.

“Saint Tropez, then,” Andalusia decides, “I heard–”

“Old news.” Mariazell inspects her nails with an air of disinterest Haki can only aspire to. No one goes there anymore.”

Outdone and annoyed, Andalusia does the one thing she knows best: pouting. “Fine, then where is everyone?”

“Mykanos.” She says simply, as if anyone with a brain would know. It’s the sort of trick that rolls off Haki’s back, but Andalusia looks like she’s about to have an aneurysm.

“Where the fuck is that supposed to be?” she snaps, red-faced even under her tan. “Turkey or something?”

Mariazell lets out a laugh. “Oh my god, seriously? It’s right here. Like three hours by boat.”

“How come I’ve never heard of it?”

Mariazell levels her with the driest expression anyone has ever dared. “It’s exclusive.”

Haki coughs, tucking her mouth into her shoulder. Andalusia was the biggest hanger-on she knew,  at the forefront of what everyone else thought was cool, and now here she was: hopelessly behind the times.

God, she’s almost starting to like this girl.

Mariazell tosses her head. “Or at least it was, but now anybody who’s anybody parties there.”

“Then that’s where we should be.” Andalusia’s mouth bends into a sly curve. “Do you think we could get– what’s his name? That guy with the yacht?”

“Touka?” Tomomi supplies, casting Haki a worried glance. “Touka Bergatt?”

“Yeah, him.” Andalusia lounges, crossing her legs the way models did in magazines, as if it might make her taller. “He was all over us yesterday. Do you think he could get us there?”

Haki can’t bite back her grimace. His arm still feels heavy around her shoulders, leaning in far too close as he asked if she would like a private tour of the captain’s cabin. Alone. “Isn’t he old?”

“He’s twenty-five.” Her eyes flash, like a cougar watching a hare, and Haki braces herself for the pounce. “I mean, he’s just as old as Izana Wisteria.”

Mariazell raises an eyebrow. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Oh it doesn’t.” Andalusia’s sprawls on the chaise like a panther, playing with its pray. “Haki’s just obsessed with him.”

The I’m not is at the tip of her tongue, but Mariazell beast her to it.

“You are?” Her second brow joins the first. “Aren’t your families friends or something? Don’t you know him?”

“Their mothers modeled together back in the 80s, along with Cecile Seiran,” Andalusia supplies helpfully, her face the very picture of poorly-feigned innocence. “She met him once, refused to talk to him, and then hyperventilated in a hallway when he said hi.”

That’s not precisely wrong, but it’s definitely not the way she would prefer to tell that story. Which is never.

“I don’t see why hitching a ride with Touka Bergatt’s such a problem,” Andalusia continues, “not when she’d happily jump on Izana Wisteria’s dick if he let her.”

“That’s gross,” she snaps, body flushed and fists clenched. “I wouldn’t jump on anyone, not matter who they are. Just because he’s–” a genius, an innovator, and sexy as hell– “attractive doesn’t mean I want to fuck him.”

She’s known plenty of people who look good on paper but don’t complete the fantasy in real life. Izana Wisteria would probably be one of them. She’s not an idiot.

“Don’t be fooled. Haki’s saving herself for him,” Andalusia coos, drawing giggles from the other girls. Well, everyone but Tomomi, whose mouth has thinned to nonexistence.

“I’m not saving myself for anyone,” she grits out. It’s impossible, since there’s nothing about her to be ruined or rescued just from having sex no matter what Andalusia thinks, or her father, or the tabloid that ran a countdown to when she was “legal.” It’s the fucking 2000s, not medieval Europe. No one’s going to be airing her sheets on her wedding night, showing the peasants how she bled on the sheet like a good, God-fearing girl.

Not that she wouldn’t be burned at the stake by popular opinion if she did sleep around. Haki Bergstrom has a reputation to keep, but that could be solved by circumspect partners and careful planning, if she wanted to. Which she hasn’t.

Of course, this all jumbles in her throat, anger boiling it down to, “High school boys are gross.”

Andalusia grins. “We’re in college now. College boys exist.”

“You know what I mean,” she snips waspishly. “Boys our age are obsessed with getting their dick wet and anal.”

“And putting their penis between your boobs,” Cristal adds, shrinking as they all turn to her. “I-I mean, so I’ve heard.”

Andalusia scoffs, mouth curling like the has a secret. “Then don’t date boys. Date men.”

Ugh, she would say that; she’d been the first one to get a boyfriend at sixteen, a twenty-two year old DJ that had gotten her grounded for a month when her parents found him sneaking out of her window. They’d never gotten much further than French kissing and hand jobs, but Andalusia might as well have gone all the way since she likes to lord it over everyone.

Mariazell snorts, tossing her hair. “Adult men who date girls are the grossest of all.”

Andalusia recoils like she’s been slapped. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Come on.” Mariazell smiles, giving the distinct impression that she’s outside the joke when anyone with a brain is inside. “Guys in their mid-twenties trying to shack up with girls who are ‘freshly eighteen?’ They want a blow-up doll, not a relationship. And with girls like us? They just want Daddy’s money.” She raises a brow. “Surely you’ve figured that out.”

“Of course I have,” Andalusia lies, flush spreading down to her chest. “But Bergatt’s our best bet to get off this island and into where all the right people are partying. I’ll do what I have to do to for that.”

“But will Haki?” Mariazell’s smile spreads into a Cheshire grin. “That’s who he was all over yesterday.”

“Count me out,” she says, settling against her lounge. “We could party back in Miami. I like the silence here.”

Cristal yelps, “But if you don’t go, he might not take us.”

She’s tempted to tell her, my worst nightmare isn’t Andalusia not getting her way, but it’s too cruel. As much as Cristal’s brown-nosing annoys her, she’s a skittish little thing, always scared of being left behind, and Haki knows better than anyone– they are only what their fathers have made of them.

“That’s not Haki’s problem,” Tomomi snaps. “What do we need her for anyway? Isn’t Andalusia always saying how she can get any man she wants?”

“I can!” She’s too eager, too defensive, and it’s clear the only person on the deck that even half believes it is her. “You think I can’t?”

Mariazell’s mouth curves. “I think you aren’t a tall, leggy blonde. and Touka Bergatt is used to having his pick of the litter.”

“Fine!” Andalusia bolts up from her lounge, looking like thunder herself. “You have an hour. We’re getting off this island.”

Haki snorts. “I’m not going–”

“You’re not invited,” she shrills. “We don’t need you. I’ll wrap Touka Bergatt so tight around my finger he’d take us back to Miami, and I don’t need you messing it up.”

She stomps off the deck, Cristal hurrying behind her, and Mariazell gives Haki a knowing smile.

“Enjoy your solitude,” she murmurs, unfurling from her seat. “I know I would.”

Vogue: We’ve heard that you disdain the party scene. Bergstrom: I spend much of my life with my husband in Miami or in LA doing business. They call New York the City that Never Sleeps, but in those cities no one ever breathes. Why do I need to go to a club when every business appointment is a three-ring circus?Vogue: So where do you go to unwind?Bergstrom: While I was modeling, many years ago now, I used to take trips with my friends to a small island in Greece– Santorini, you may have heard of it? The sunsets are not to be believedVogue: Once or twice. By friends, you mean fellow models-turned-business moguls, Haurto Wisteria and Cecile Seiran?Bergstrom: Yes, I believe my publicist has sent you the photo?Vogue: Yes, it’s gorgeous. Thank you for letting us print it.Bergstrom: (laughs) Oh, what woman wouldn’t like you to print a photo of her when she’s twenty?Vogue: Twenty year olds!Bergstrom: Too true, too true. We’re so harsh on ourselves, and then we look back years later and think, ‘now what did I think was wrong?!’

Haki could always ask for a car; Axel Bergstrom’s daughter would have a fleet of Santorini’s finest, discreet limos should she but ask the concierge, but it seems important to do this the right way.

She’s never ridden a bus before, but she’s seen movies. She drops her coins into the till, takes her seat, and politely ignores every person around her as she scrolls through her phone. The ride to Oia feels like a lifetime, but– but–

Her mother wasn’t riding in limos when she came here. She’d barely been older than Haki is now, a young model with hardly anything to her name.

So that’s how she takes in Santorini: on foot, relying on her smile and the few Greek words she learned from the hotel staff when she called for room service. It gets her just as far as her mother always said it would; right up to the twisty alleyways of Oia, mounting step over step to find the right vantage point.

Her calves are burning when she finds it, protesting another step: a terrace, overgrown with vines and abandoned, three ancient lounge chairs laid out across the white stone.

She vaults up the last few stairs, mouth stretching wide as she takes in the view of the caldera. It’s perfect; an unobstructed view straight out to the horizon, and it’s the closest she’s ever felt to her mother’s presence beside her. She doesn’t believe in all the stuff normally, but a find like this is beyond coincidence. Maybe there’s nothing of her mother back in Miami, but here on this rooftop, every breath she takes is thick with her, heavy with a scent she hardly remembers–

“Ah,” huffs a voice from behind her. “Company.”

Haki spins on her heel, hands clutching at the lip of the wall, as if that might somehow stop the terrace’s owner from asking her to leave. “Oh, I– I’m sorry, I thought no one would be up here. I–”

It’s a woman who emerges onto the roof, windswept blonde hair haloing around her face as she sweeps across. “Oh, no, don’t worry. I don’t own this house. I’ve just borrowed its terrace for the evening.” She sweeps out a hand, the one not holding an electric blue cocktail, and gestures toward the lounges. “There’s no reason we can’t share.”

She’s older, Haki realizes, but her age is impossible to place. There’s crows feet starting to stretch their talons at the corners of her eyes, but she wears them so casually they’re almost an accessory than a mark of time.

“Please,” she insists, perching on her own chair, “sit. Are you traveling alone?”

“Oh.” Haki sidles over to a lounge, taking an awkward seat. “Ah, today I am.”

Her eyebrows raise, perfectly shaped. “Just today?”

“My other friends took off for Mykanos,” she explains, swallowing down the good riddance.

“Ah, I see.” The woman smiles of the rim of her cocktail glass. “Santorini’s too slow for them, hm? I’ve heard that’s where the real parties are at nowadays.”

“Yeah.” That’s all she needs to say, but there’s something about this woman’s steady gaze, inquiring and yet not expectant, that makes her add, “I’m from Miami, thought. I can party any time–” not that she wants to all that much anymore– “but I can’t get these sunsets.”

The woman’s brows hike up even farther, but it’s…approving. Impressed. “I wouldn’t expect to hear that from someone your age. You must be in college now, aren’t you?”

“Ah, yes.” This is the last thing she wants to talk about. “I’m a sophomore.”

“Oh, how nice!” She sounds…actually pleased, as if it were some pleasant surprise. “My youngest is a sophomore too! But in high school.”

This woman does not look old enough to have a high school sophomore for a child.

“And my eldest just graduated a year ago. He’s getting his MBA now,” she confides with a flushed-cheek sort of pride.

Haki can only stare; this woman is either extremely well-preserved, or she was pushing out kids when she was sixteen.

“What are you doing?” she continues, interested. “You seem like the sort of girl who has a plan.”

Haki can’t imagine what about her says that; she’s a lone woman on a stolen terrace in the middle of a country she doesn’t even speak the language of, with little more than a phone and a transit card in her pocket. “Ah, not really. I’m actually Undecided. For now.” She gives her a helpless shrug. “I’m still learning what I like, I guess.”

The woman stills, eyes narrowing. “Do you mean you’ll learn what you like, or you’ll learn to live with what you’re supposed to like?”

Haki knows she looks like an idiot, sitting there slack-jawed like she belongs on the Miami version of Jersey Shore, getting drunk and having drama for the amusement of the masses, but–

But no one’s ever asked her that before.

The woman curls towards her, chin propped up on a hand. “That’s what I thought. What do you want, really?”

“I want to mean something.” She claps a hand over her mouth, mortified. “No, wait! I mean–”

Cool fingers wrap around hers, she’s filled with a sudden, complete sense of comfort. Her words evaporate on her tongue, lost. “I know what you mean. Go on.”

Haki blinks, staring at the long, strong hands that cover her own. This must be what it’s like for people who have moms. “I want to make a difference. I don’t want to do what my dad does and just…make money.”

There’s more to it than that, so much more. She’d never thought about money before, only known that she had it, had a lot of it, and then she’d went to college and–

And she’d found out the price of it. Filled in swamp lands and critically endangered animals. Weather growing worse each year as the earth changes, forced to be flat so hotels and condos and timeshares can be built on it. Laborers who work grueling hours and still can’t pay rent, who have to choose between dinner and a doctor’s visit. All to line the pockets of her father and his friends.

She can’t do it anymore. She can’t be happy knowing what she knows. She doesn’t want to be forty, seated on the couch with all the other wives waiting to be swapped out for someone younger, someone stupider as her husband brags about destroying the Everglades for a parking lot.

No, she wants to be the one that stops it. “I want to be a lawyer. A, um, environmental one.”

The woman squeezes her hand, reassuring. “That won’t be easy.”

“I know,” she sighs. “My dad will never let me.”

“Of course not.” The woman smiles. “You’ll get really good at lying.”

She stares. Adults aren’t supposed to give you this sort of advice, she’s pretty sure. Especially not moms.

“There’s a half dozen majors you can do and get into law school.” She shrugs. “Pick something that your father expects from you. Business. Literature. Political Science. And then take whatever classes you need to learn what you have to.”

It sounds so easy when she says it. “But what if–”

She holds up a finger. “Ah, remember: Axel Bergstrom never checks up on an investment when he feels like a return is assured.”

“Right. But…” Her teeth snap down with a click. “How do you know who my father is?“

One of the woman’s hand’s lift, tilting up her chin. “Oh, Haki. You do look so much like your mother. And seeing you here, sitting right where she did…”

She blinks. The picture. Her mother, Cecile Seiran, and–

“Haruto Wisteria,” she breathes. “You’re Haruto Wisteria.”

Her mother’s closest friend. And Izana Wisteria’s mother.

Oh, god.

“You…you’re…” she feels faint.

“She’d be so proud of you, you know,” Haruto says, her thumb rubbing coolly across her cheek. “She always worried the money might ruin you and Makiri.”

She can hardly breathe. “My mother?”

“Oh, of course.” Haruto smiles, distant. “She chained herself to a bulldozer once, protesting the destruction of some natural landmark in Sweden. That’s where she met your father actually.”

She doesn’t need to be told which side of the bulldozer he was on. “And then they…?”

“He was charmed by her tenacity. And Ingrid thought she could change the world, let alone a single man.” Haruto lets go of her chin, mouth giving a rueful twist. “We were young then.”

Haki can hardly picture it; even if her mother wasn’t just a blur in her memory, the though of her father young and in love…

Well, it seemed far-fetched.

“I meant to keep in touch, after…” Haruto’s voice quivers, and she takes a sip of her cocktail. “Well, sometimes we know what we should do, but the pain stops us from doing it. You understand?”

Haki stupidly, blurts out, “No.”

She expects offense, but Haruto only smiles fondly. “No, of course not. Ingrid was always the strong one.” Her hand squeezes tight around Haki’s. “I’m so glad to find you’ve followed in your mother’s footsteps.”

There’s so much to say, but she can only manage, “My mother tied herself to a bulldozer?”

Haruto laughs. “Chained, dear. Chained.”

It’s almost too much to handle. “I…I came here because I read an article about my mom. An old one. And I’d been feeling so lost lately, I just though maybe…maybe if I came here, I’d find myself too, like she did.” Haki hesitates, looking out toward where the sky has begun to pink. “But I think what I was really looking for was my mom.”

“That’s why I come here too,” Haruto murmurs, her voice suddenly thin. “I never feel her so much as I do here. If we get to choose where we are when…when it’s all over, Ingrid would be here.”

Haki turns to her, seeing the shine in her eyes, the fondness in her expression, and even though she’s only ever been a story in a magazine to her, it feels– like more than just one meeting. Like a history stretched out behind them and before them.

“I don’t remember much about my mom,” she admits, “but I feel like she’s here. With us.”

Haruto smiles down at her. “I’m glad you stumbled up onto my terrace, Haki.”

She squeezes her hand, the sky blurring. “Me too.”

Vogue: Where is this, if you don’t mind me asking?Bergstrom: A rooftop in Oia. We thought it was abandoned, only to be joined by the owners a few moments later!Vogue: Oh no!Bergstrom: No, no, they were too gracious! They let us stay, gave us cocktails. Told us to come back any time. And we have! I think they didn’t expect that (laughs).Vogue: Is this your favorite place to watch the sunset?Bergstrom: Yes, yes! I think if I die this will be my heaven. No matter how much I love my husband, my children, part of my heart will always be in Oia.

“You know,” Haruto says as the sun sets over the horizon, leaving only the palest sky behind, “you should meet my son.”

Haki nearly rolls out of her lounge. “What? R-really?”

“Oh yes.” Haruto’s lips twitch as she looks down at her. “I think you’d give him a real run for his money.”

[the-desolated-quill]

‘But They’re Covered In Nipples’: The Story Of Destroy All Humans - Quill’s Scribbles

Another E3 has come and gone. There was some good announcements. Square Enix unveiled their Avengers game, Keanu Reeves came on stage to give us the release date of Cyberpunk 2077, Ubisoft are making another Watch Dogs set in London, and... um... what else happened?

Oh yeah!

DESTROY ALL HUMANS IS BACK!!!!!!

Yes, the cult classic Destroy All Humans is returning next year, developed by THQ Nordic and Black Forest Games. This was quite possibly the nicest surprise I’ve ever had. When the teaser trailer came up on my YouTube recommendations, I practically screamed the house down. It’s a level of excitement I felt when 20th Century Fox announced they were finally making a Deadpool movie. 

Yeah. That excited.

Destroy All Humans was my favourite video game series growing up. I played the first two games non-stop on my PS2 and I even bought a Nintendo Wii and PS3 just so I could play Big Willy Unleashed and Path Of The Furon (yeah, we’ll get to them). Unfortunately, while the series was reasonably successful, it never quite broke through into the mainstream, and it ended up having a very short lifespan, making it one of the most underrated franchises of all time.

So, to mark the return of Crypto and Pox, I thought I’d take a retrospective look at the series as a whole. Analysing each game in the franchise and talking about what made them so good, whilst also looking at how it faded into obscurity and how THQ Nordic and Black Forest Games can hopefully avoid this fate with their remake.

Radioactive, Exploding, Zombie Cows

The first Destroy All Humans was developed by THQ and Pandemic Studios (the latter probably most famous for making the original Star Wars Battlefront games. You know? The good ones that weren’t overloaded with loot boxes and microtransactions) and was released in 2005 on the PS2 and Xbox. You play as a Furon warrior called Cryptosporidium 137, or Crypto for short, who is tasked with harvesting the brains of humans in order to extract pure Furon DNA from them. His leader Orthopox 13, or Pox, explains that the Furons are at risk of cloning themselves into extinction as they are unable to reproduce naturally due to a lack of genitalia and the DNA in their cloning banks are starting to degrade. Fortunately the Furons visited prehistoric Earth on their way back from destroying the Martians and took the opportunity to ‘let off some steam’ with the natives. As a result, humans possess a strand of Furon DNA that can hopefully restore the Furons’ reproductive organs. Unfortunately a secret government organisation called Majestic (a sort of cross between Project Blue Book and the Men in Black) have caught wind of the Furon invasion due to Crypto 136 crash landing in Roswell 10 years earlier. So Crypto 137 will have to be extra cautious in his quest to take over Earth.

The game was released four years after Grand Theft Auto III, which had completely revolutionised gaming with its open world sandbox. As a result, other companies were attempting their own open worlds and putting their own spin on them. While Destroy All Humans didn’t quite have the same scale as GTA, it made up for it with quality over quantity. The game offered six small open world areas for players to have fun in and its central premise was utterly captivating. After countless games where you had to fight alien invaders, Destroy All Humans allowed you to play as the alien invader.

Pandemic Studios completely embraced the alien invasion premise, giving the player a vast number of weapons and abilities to wreak havoc on planet Earth. You had access to weapons like the Zap O Matic, Disintegrator Ray and Anal Probe (no, really, there’s actually a gun called the Anal Probe and it’s as funny as it sounds) as well as mental abilities such as Psychokinesis, Hypnotism and the Cortex Scan, which allowed you to read the thoughts of humans and was also used to help maintain your Holoblob disguise in stealth missions. And if that isn’t cool enough, you also get your own flying saucer, which you can use to destroy buildings and landmarks. The game gave you a lot of freedom, essentially dropping you in a small destructible playground and telling you to go and enjoy yourself.

But the thing I loved most about the first game was the writing. The plot itself is actually pretty good with plenty of twists and turns as the military and Majestic become more and more desperate to stop you. And the humour, my God the humour! Honestly Destroy All Humans remains to this day one of the funniest games I’ve ever played. It’s use of satirical humour and 50s pop culture references never failed to make me chuckle. There was one moment that I’ll always remember where I scanned the mind of a police officer and it revealed that he was thinking about forming the Village People. If only he could find a cowboy, an Indian and a construction worker. 

The game’s main source of comedy mostly came from poking fun at the culture and attitudes of the time period. 1950s America was of course gripped by ‘the Red Scare,’ which the game mocks frequently as we see Majestic and the US government try desperately to cover up alien activity by blaming the death and destruction on communists, to the point where it just gets more and more absurd. At the end of each mission, a newspaper headline is shown, often blaming recent events on freak weather or communist propaganda. Yes, that should explain perfectly why people’s heads are exploding and why the cows are glowing green. It’s all perfectly normal. No aliens here. What’s that? A little green man in a flying saucer is blowing up ice cream trucks? Damn you commies!

The game also pokes fun at 50s sci-fi B movies, often parodying and lampshading the tropes and gimmicks one would expect in a low budget sci-fi flick. For example, the game ends with you fighting a giant robot that houses the President’s brain. It’s fully aware of how ridiculous and stupid it all is and clearly revels in it. Killer robots, mind control, radioactive animals, mad scientists and secret government conspiracies galore. Destroy All Humans is very much a love letter to cheesy sci-fi.

But by far the biggest draw was the main characters. Crypto and Pox. They’re both such funny, wonderfully realised and likeable characters. Pox is voiced by Richard Steven Horvitz, who you may remember from Invader Zim, and he gives the character a maniacal glee. I honestly could listen to his rants all day. He’s the quintessential evil genius. Crypto meanwhile is voiced by J. Grant Albrecht, who gives the character a Jack Nicholson-esque voice. Unlike Pox, Crypto is crass, crude and craves destruction, which often puts him at odds with Pox, who favours more subtle styles of invasion such as mind control. The two characters often bicker and squabble, which never fails to be entertaining, and yet there is an underlying respect and fondness for each other that helps ground the relationship. It’s the perfect double act.

Destroy All Humans was a good game, but does it still hold up? Well there are a few issues. Controls can be a bit clunky at times and missions can often get repetitive. Destroy x number of farmers. Collect x amount of DNA. That kind of thing. Also, annoyingly, there’s no checkpoints, which means if you die or fail the mission, you’re automatically sent back to the Furon Mothership and you have to start the mission all over again. But the writing, humour and entertainment value more than make up for it.

Hot Monkey Love

While the first game wasn’t what you’d call a hit, it was successful enough for THQ to commission a sequel. Destroy All Humans 2 was released in 2006 on PS2 and Xbox, just one year after the first game, and this time Crypto was going international.

Set in the 1960s, ten years after the events of the first game, the KGB in Russia learn about the Furon’s takeover of America and plan a counterattack. They nuke the Furon Mothership, killing Pox, and try to assassinate Crypto 138, who is posing as the President of the United States. The assassination fails and Pox’s mind is able to survive in hologram form. The two then embark on a global adventure, seeking revenge against the KGB and uncovering a massive conspiracy that puts the entire Furon invasion at risk.

Destroy All Humans 2 is an ambitious sequel that increases its scope from the first game. No longer confined to America, we see Crypto terrorise San Francisco, London, Tokyo, Russia and even the Moon. Our arsenal of weapons are also expanded. The original weapons from the first game return as well as some all new ones such as the Disclocator, which fires a purple disc at a human or vehicle and sends them flying around the map, the Burrow Beast, which summons a Tremors-esque space worm to cause carnage, and Meteor Strike, which I think speaks for itself. We also get a few new mental abilities such as Transmogrify, which allows you to turn objects into ammo, and Free Love, which causes everyone in the general vicinity to start dancing, allowing you to make a quick getaway while they’re distracted. The saucer too has some extra features, including a cloaking device and the ability to drain vehicles of health using your Abducto Beam.

This sequel pretty much takes everything that worked from the first game whilst tweaking the things that didn’t. The GTA style Alert system got a complete overhaul. If you want to raise or lower the Alert level, all you have to do is bodysnatch a cop or a soldier and make a call using a police box (you can also make prank calls from them, which is good for a giggle). Holoblobbing has been replaced with Bodysnatching, which works so much better and it does away with the annoying Concentration meter, so you can PK cars and humans to your heart’s content. There’s also a lot more stuff to do now. There are numerous collectables such as Alien Artefacts, which unlocks the Burrow Beast weapon, and FuroTech Cells, which are your main currency that can be used to upgrade your health and weapons. Missions have greater variety than in the first game. There’s a lot more side missions, including Odd Jobs and my personal favourites the Cult of Arkvoodle missions, where Crypto brainwashes humans to worship the Furon God Arkvoodle of the Sacred Crotch.

As you can tell, the humour is still just as wacky and ridiculous as ever. Destroy All Humans 2 lampoons and ridicules the 60s mercilessly, taking aim at the Cold War and the hippie counterculture movement. It also pokes fun at 60s sci-fi films, spy films and Japanese movies like Godzilla. In fact there’s a boss fight that involves you fighting a Godzilla-esque monster and it’s honestly the best boss fight in the series. It regains health by destroying buildings, so you have to destroy them first before you can kill the monster. It’s a great premise.

Story-wise, Destroy All Humans 2 is a worthy successor, raising the stakes and expanding the lore. We’re introduced to the Blisk, the Martians that were presumed extinct by the Furons millions of years ago. It’s a brilliant conflict and ostensibly allows the developers to make commentaries on America and Russia at the time using the Furons and the Blisk respectively as stand-ins. Crypto and Pox are well written, funny and likeable as ever and we’re also introduced to an assortment of new characters, including the Russian spy Natalya and MI6 agent Ponsomby (voiced by none other than Anthony Head from Buffy). The game is engaging and rewarding, but it crucially never takes itself too seriously. For example there’s one instance in Tokyo where Crypto learns about the battle between the White and Black Ninjas and he guesses that the conflict started because of the cliche student betraying his master type origin, but it turns out that both groups of ninjas were originally Grey, but then they ran out of grey fabric and disagreed over which colour they should be instead. There’s so many great comedic moments like that and they pretty much hit bullseyes every time.

That being said, there was one aspect of the game I didn’t like and that was the crude sex jokes. Crypto 138 is the first clone to have pure Furon DNA, which means he now has genitalia. As a result, this new incarnation of Crypto is far more randy than 137 was in the first game.  This mostly takes the form of Crypto constantly trying to hit on Natalya, despite her showing no sexual interest, which I personally found pretty gross. Worse still, the game ends with Crypto cloning Natalya and ‘making a few adjustments’ so she will consent to have sex with him. The word ‘creepy’ doesn’t begin to cover how I felt about this. If THQ Nordic and Black Forest Games ever decide to remake the second game, I really hope they consider rethinking that ending because... Jesus!

On the whole, Destroy All Humans 2 was a brilliant sequel. It was also sadly the last Destroy All Humans game to be developed by Pandemic Studios before they were bought by EA and eventually shut down in 2009. Unfortunately this would have a severe impact on the future of the series going forward.

Limp Willy

The next game in the series was a spinoff for the Nintendo Wii, released in early 2008 and developed by Locomotive Games. A PS2 version was also planned, but was scrapped due to budget cuts (remember this. It’ll become relevant later).

Destroy All Humans: Big Willy Unleashed was... underwhelming, to say the least. Set in the 1970s, six years after the second game, Crypto and Pox have opened a fast food restaurant called Big Willy as a way of disposing of the corpses left behind during Crypto’s missions. However a rival fast food chain, run by Colonel Kluckin’, is stealing their business and socialite Patty Wurst is threatening to expose Big Willy (smirk). So it’s up to Crypto to protect Pox’s Big Willy (haha) and maintain their cover on Earth.

Now you’re probably thinking this sounds quite tame compared to the previous two games, and yeah, it is. But it’s a spinoff, so I can understand to a certain extent. However there are a few narrative discrepancies. The big one being Crypto has retired from being the President. No explanation given as to why and we have no idea what Crypto is doing instead. When we first see him, he’s watching TV. He doesn’t even know Big Willy exists until Pox brings it up. So what’s going on exactly? Are they still trying to invade Earth or have they gone native? Also, compared to the grand conspiracy stories of the previous games, Crypto protecting a fast food restaurant sounds a little beneath him.

Gameplay is virtually unchanged from the previous game. There’s some new guns such as Ball Lightning and the Zombie Gun, but nothing special. The biggest addition is Big Willy, the restaurant mascot that’s actually a Furon battle mech in disguise. It’s... fine. Not that much different from the Saucer really. We also get some new locations. Harbor City, Fairfield in Kentucky, Fantasy Atoll (a weak parody of Fantasy Island) and Vietmahl (a painfully obvious homage to Vietnam). None of these locations are particularly interesting however. There’s also a multiplayer mode, which... exists.

Honestly the game as a whole is just lacklustre. The story just isn’t as good as the first two games and the humour doesn’t have the same wit or intelligence. Most of the comedy surrounds the fact that Pox has called his restaurant Big Willy and isn’t entirely aware of the double entendre, which admittedly is funny for the first few missions, but by the time you’ve finished Harbor City and move on to Fairfield, the joke gets old real fast. There’s less of an effort to actually satirise the culture or films of the time, instead merely making 70s pop culture references without ever actually doing anything with it. It’s like the Family Guy school of comedy. Take Fantasy Atoll for instance. A pisstake of Fantasy Island, but instead of Mr. Roarke and Tatoo, we get Mr. Pork and Ratpoo. That’s the level of humour we’re talking about here.

What’s worse is that J. Grant Albrecht and Richard Steven Horwitz don’t return as Crypto and Pox. Sean Donnellan and Darryl Kurylo voice the characters instead and it’s just not the same. It doesn’t feel like Crypto and Pox. So from the very first cutscene, we’re already off on the wrong foot.

And then there’s a bunch of other stuff that I find really questionable. The most obvious being the revelation that Colonel Kluckin’ makes his chicken wings from the corpses of the Vietmahl (Vietnam) war, which just seems in very bad taste to me. If there is a satirical point being made here, I can’t find it for the life of me. There’s also some side missions where Crypto finds out that he and Natalya have a son, which goes absolutely nowhere and doesn’t feel like something that should be in a Destroy All Humans game.

Overall, Big Willy Unleashed was a massive dud meant to tide us over until Destroy All Humans 3 came out later in the year. Honestly the one aspect of it I thought had potential was the side missions involving Crypto and Pox being assessed by a Furon Efficiency Expert called Toxoplasma Gondii. Considering what happened in the second game, including the destruction of the Furon Mothership, the return of the Blisk and the Furon operation on Earth being jeoprodised, this could have been a great premise for a sequel.

Instead what we got was... 

Disco Inferno

Oh boy. Where do I begin?

Path Of The Furon was developed by THQ and Sandblast Games and released in December 2008 on the Xbox 360 in North America. The PS3 version was cancelled because Sandblast (and Locomotive Games) was closed down before development was finished due to THQ’s financial problems at the time. However the PS3 version was released in Europe and Australia, so either THQ got another studio to complete it or, more likely, they just released it in a broken, buggy state.

Fans really didn’t like this game, myself included, but before we go tearing it a new one, lets look at the few positives the game has. First off, J. Grant Albrecht and Richard Steven Horwitz return to voice Crypto and Pox, which is great. As a result, the original chemistry is back and they help salvage the game when the writing fails to deliver. There are a few cool new weapons, like the Black Hole Gun and the Venus Human Trap, which creates a giant man eating plant. The Saucer’s weapons have been tweaked, so now they affect the environment as well as destroy buildings. So if you fire your Death Ray at the ground, for example, you can create scorch marks. PK now has its own dedicated button, which means you can pick up and throw objects whilst using your guns simultaneously. There’s also the titular ‘Path Of Enlightenment,’ which upgrades your mental abilities significantly as well as allowing you to freeze time.

That’s the good stuff. The bad stuff is... pretty much everything else.

The humour is, again, quite poor. Rather than satirising 70s culture, the game continues to make references to 70s films like The Godfather and Star Wars, but not actually doing anything with them. Just making the reference. The writing as a whole is quite substandard as the plot pretty much recycles the plots of Destroy All Humans 2 and Big Willy Unleashed, except instead of the Big Willy restaurant, it’s the Space Dust casino and instead of the Blisk, it’s Nexosporidium warriors, who are basically Furon cyborgs. Things do threaten to get a bit interesting when Crypto and Pox discover someone has been manufacturing synthetic Furon DNA, but nothing ever really comes of it. Instead the game focuses mainly on the Master.

Ah yes. The Master.

In an attempt to recapture the magic of the second game, Path Of The Furon tries to spoof kung-fu movies just like how DAH 2 spoofed spy films. Unfortunately this leads us to a slew of unfunny gags, cultural appropriation and some of the worst racial stereotyping I think I’ve ever seen. The Master is a Furon who crashed on Earth a hundred years ago and embroiled himself in Eastern culture, enhancing his PK abilities. This is what he looks like:

YYYYeah.

Oh and if that’s not awkward enough, he also speaks in an over the top ‘ah so’ accent. It’s incredibly cringeworthy and made me want to crawl out of my body and hide in the darkest corner I could possibly find. How anyone involved in this game’s development could look at this deeply racist and downright embarrassing excuse for a character and think this was okay, I don’t know.

And before anyone tries to excuse it by saying that he has been living in China for a hundred years, so he’s bound to pick a few things up, please note that Nolan North is in this game playing the Furon Emperor Meningitis, who also has an over the top ‘ah so’ accent. Now I suppose some could argue that the game is satirising how Asian people were portrayed at the time, but if that’s what the game is going for, they’ve failed miserably. See, the problem with that argument is that replicating something doesn’t count as satire. By recreating over the top racist caricatures, you’re not making fun of them. If anything you’re just reinforcing them. The first game’s satire of the Red Scare worked so much better than this because there was an actual point behind it. It comments on how paranoid the people of the 50s were at the time by using Majestic to exploit the threat of communism in order to cover up alien activity, and everyone willingly buys into it because of that sheer paranoia. Now yes, admittedly the humour in Destroy All Humans isn’t the most sophisticated in the world, but it used to be a LOT better than this. Not only do I find the racial stereotyping in this game deeply offensive, it’s also frankly beneath this franchise. And it’s not just limited to the Chinese either. The final act takes us to the Furon homeworld (which was pretty underwhelming after four games worth of buildup) and we meet another Furon called Endometriosis whose only characteristics are that he has an Italian accent and wears a beret. It’s these broad strokes and general laziness that makes this game such a disappointing experience.

Path Of The Furon is subpar in every way imaginable. The writing, the humour, the gameplay and even the graphics. The first two games looked so much better than this and they were on older consoles from the previous generation. It’s shocking.

It’s hard to blame Sandblast Games for this considering they were shut down before development was finished. It was THQ’s mismanagement and financial woes that killed off this franchise and indeed themselves. The company went bankrupt in 2012 and their various IPs were sold off to other studios, with Nordic Games buying the lions’ share, including Destroy All Humans, which briefly reignited hopes that we might get another game, but that seemed unlikely considering the franchise has never exactly been a mainstream success. There was even talks of doing an animated sitcom based on the games for Fox, to be written by the same guy who did King Of The Hill, but that never went anywhere.

No. It seemed like Destroy All Humans was gone for good and fans reluctantly made peace with that. It was fun while it lasted, but perhaps it was time to move on.

Oh The Furonity!

I’m not going to lie. I was pretty sure we were never going to see Destroy All Humans return. Not just because of its lack of mainstream appeal, but also because game development studios and publishers in recent years have become more and more reluctant to make single player, mid-tier games. Instead pivoting toward massive triple A releases and ‘live services’. So it came as a rather pleasant surprise when Nordic Games, now named THQ Nordic, released Darksiders III in 2018, a sequel to a series of games that were also not very mainstream but still had a significant cult following. This briefly reignited a small flicker of hope within me that maybe, just maybe, we might see our favourite Furon return.

And as you already know, I got my wish. A new Destroy All Humans game will be released next year by THQ Nordic and Black Forest Games.

So what can this remake learn from the franchise’s past? Well thankfully the writing and voice acting is going to remain the same, so story, characterisation and humour won’t be an issue. They’re also incorporating elements from the sequels such as Transmogrify from Destroy All Humans 2 and giving PK its own button like in Path Of The Furon. There’s also a few new additions that I’m excited about such as the ability to dodge and strafe using the jetpack. That should make combat much more exciting and dynamic. I know a few people have a problem with the new cartoony designs of the humans and the world, but I honestly don’t mind. In fact I think it suits the tone and setting quite well. Hopefully people will eventually get used to it. The big question mark hovering over all this is whether they’re planning to remake the other games in the series. I for one would love to see a remake of the second game. As for Big Willy Unleashed and Path Of The Furon, I think it’s best to leave them firmly in the past. The big dream would be to see Crypto and Pox have further adventures together beyond the first two games. Hopefully even have enough sequels to get the characters to the present day. We’ll just have to wait and see what the future brings. My only word of advice for them would be to never forget what made the first two games so good and so beloved. Big Willy Unleashed and Path Of The Furon lost their way, as its writing and humour grew lazier and lazier. If we are fortunate enough to get more games, the developers will need to remember what it was about the first game that made it so special and build off of it.

This is a second chance. Not a lot of franchises get this. Don’t waste it. Here’s hoping the remake will provide the definitive Destroy All Humans experience and that it will gain the success it deserves.

[razieltwelve]

Invasion (RWBY AU Snippet)

Yang wasn’t sure what possessed her to brandish her newly acquired cat like a protective charm, but the results were undeniable. The demon closest to her evaporated in a cloud of sparks and smoke, and the demons further away recoiled as though they had been physically struck.

“What happened?” Ruby murmured as she clutched at the chair leg she’d been using as a makeshift club. “Yang?”

“I don’t know,” Yang replied. “But I think the demons are afraid of Blake.” Another demon advanced toward them only to reel away as Yang lifted Blake up over her head and waved the feline around in the air. “Yep. They’re definitely afraid of her.”

“But why?” Ruby asked. A hissing, winged… thing swooped out of the air only to veer away with a terrified screech as Yang swiftly jabbed Blake in its direction. “Okay… never mind. Who cares why it works so long as it keeps working.”

“Yeah.” Yang gulped. “But where did all these demons comes from? I mean… I didn’t even realise demons were a thing, and then pow… demons coming from everywhere.”

“I think we can talk about that later.” Ruby pointed. There was another horde of demons headed their way. This particular horde was led by an especially large and menacing demon, a scaly fellow with three horns and what appeared to be blades for arms. “Right now, I think we should be running.”

Safely held in Yang’s arms, Blake sighed. This whole mess was probably Weiss’s fault.

X     X     X

Weiss, Göddes of Bureaucracy, frowned. Someone had filled in the wrong paperwork. Even worse, she’d accidentally stamped it for approval. Brows furrowing, she read through the paperwork again, eyes widening as she realised what she’d just accidentally approved.

Apocalypse Plan 12-B: Destruction of the Mortal World via Demonic Invasion.

“Oh… crap.” Weiss raised her voice, so one of her assistants could hear her. “Could you tell Nora that she needs to go down to the Mortal World? I need her to handle a few things while I try to fix this.”

As her assistant scurried off to summon Nora, Weiss covered her face with one hand. She’d begged the Council of Gods to approve a more streamlined procedure for dealing with accidental approvals. They’d refused, stating such procedures were unlikely to be necessary. Now, instead of simply stamping the paperwork with an ‘Unapproved’ stamp, Weiss had to file at least fifteen other forms, all of which would, at some point, end up on her desk anyway.

“Maybe now they’ll listen when I recommend a change in procedure,” Weiss muttered. “But I wonder how Blake is doing. She is down there on holiday, after all.”

X     X     X

With their faithful feline as a shield, Ruby and Yang continued to make their way through the ruined city. Blake had appeared in their apartment a few weeks ago and had made herself right at home. At the time, Yang had wondered if the cat would prove more trouble than she was worth, but Blake was more than pulling her weight now.

At first, Yang had thought that maybe the demons were afraid of cats, but some passersby had seen the demons recoiling from Blake and had attempted to copy the strategy. It hadn’t worked. Instead, they’d been horribly mangled while their cat ran for its life. Apparently, the demons only feared one cat: Blake.

Yang was still pondering why the demons were so afraid of Blake when a massive hammer crashed out of the sky and flattened the biggest, scariest demon they’d run into yet. With a single blow, thirty-feet of giant, man-eating demon, was turned into bloody pulp. By some miracle, the gore managed to miss Yang and her sister, and the blonde could only stare as an orange-haired woman appeared atop the hammer.

“Behold the power of Nora, Goddess of Thunder, Smiter of Demons, and Incarnation of Awesomeness, mortals!”

“…” Ruby tapped Yang on the shoulder. “Did some lady just drop out of the sky on a bolt of lightning after crushing a demon with a giant hammer.”

“Yes,” Yang replied. “But considering the fact that the only reason we’re even still alive is because demons are afraid of our cat, maybe that’s not too weird.”

“I guess.”

The self-proclaimed Nora, Goddess of Thunder, Smiter of Demons, and Incarnation of Awesomeness, hopped off her hammer and then slung the massive weapon over her shoulder with casual ease. “Fear not, puny mortals, Nora has come to save the day.”

“Uh… thanks,” Ruby said.

“Ahem.” Nora cleared her throat.

“Uh… thanks, Nora?”

“AHEM.”

“Uh… thanks, Nora, Goddess of Thunder, Smiter of Demons, and Incarnation of Awesomeness?” Ruby tried.

“That’s better, puny mortal.” Nora patted Ruby on the head. “Now, run along, I will deal with the demons plaguing this city.”

“How?” Yang asked. “I mean… you crushed that one demon with your hammer, but there are a lot of them…”

“How else? With thunder and lightning!” Nora cackled, and the skies above them began to fill with dark clouds. Lightning crackled through the sky, and the boom of thunder filled the air. “Trust me, mortal, there’s no problem in the world that can’t be solved with enough thunder, lightning, and a really, really big hammer.”

Bolts of lightning began to rain down on all of the demons in the city until the sky was so bright that Yang could barely see.

“Here.” Nora handed Ruby and Yang each a pair of sunglasses. “For your puny mortal eyes.”

“Thanks.” Ruby grinned. “Nora, Goddess of Thunder, Smiter of Demons, and Incarnation of Awesomeness.”

“I like you, puny mortal.” Nora ruffled Ruby’s hair. “I’ll be sure not to accidentally smite you while I’m smiting all of the demons.” Her eyes narrowed as she finally noticed Blake. “Nice cat you’ve got there.” She poked Blake with one finger. “Stop being lazy. The mortal world needs saving.”

Yang yelped as Blake, her cat, leapt out of her arms and transformed into a dark-haired goddess with cat ears. “What… the…?”

Blake, who was apparently a goddess not a cat, sighed. “I’m on holiday, Nora. I thought you’d be happy to do all the smiting yourself.”

“Normally, I would be, but Weiss can get so crabby when I accidentally blow up a continent. You’re much better at not, you know, turning half the world into collateral damage.”

Blake made a face. “Fine. I suppose I can help.”

Yang jabbed one finger at Blake. “You’re a goddess?”

“Yes.”

“I… I fed you tuna.”

“And it was good tuna.”

“I caught you trying to eat our goldfish!”

“They looked tasty.”

“I let you sleep in my bed!” Yang cried.

“And it was a very comfortable bed.”

“Oh?” Nora nudged Blake with one elbow. “Planning to get your claws into this mortal, Blake? Well, she’s not bad looking, I’ll say.” Nora made clawing motions with her hands. “You know, there’s nothing to get a lady’s blood racing like saving her world.”

“Nora…” Blake shook her head. “Can you not?”

“Nope.” Nora chuckled. “Remember how much you teased me about Ren? Well, now it’s my turn.” She threw one arm around Yang’s shoulders. “Don’t let Blake’s tendency to wander around as a cat put you off. She’s most definitely a woman although some say she can be quite the tiger in - OOF!”

Blake punched Nora in the gut with enough force to shatter every window in the street and send cracks racing along the ground. Behind Nora, several building turned into dust. “Stop talking.”

Nora shook off the blow and laughed. “Heh. You’ll have to hit me a lot harder than that to get me to stop talking.”

“Uh… guys?” Ruby pointed. “Maybe you should, I don’t know, go back to fighting the demons? There’s a weird portal thingie appearing in the sky.”

There was indeed a fiery portal into the depths of the Demon Realm appearing in the middle of the sky.

“Keep heading that way,” Blake said, pointing down the street. “Nora and I will handle things here.”

“But what if we run into more demons?” Ruby asked. 

“It’s not like I can brandish my cat at them,” Yang pointed out. “Since you were my cat.”

Blake whistled sharply. A corgi appeared beside her.

“This is Zwei. He’ll protect you.”

“He’s not going to turn into a person, is he?” Yang asked. 

“No. Zwei might not be a corgi all the time, but he definitely won’t turn into a person.”

“So what will he turn into?” Ruby asked. “A dragon?”

“Not quite.”

Zwei bared his teeth. There was a flash of light, and the cute and adorable corgi was now a massive hell beast of a canine the size of a house.

“Okay,” Yang said. “That should do the trick.”

“Don’t worry,” Blake said. “He’ll get bigger if he needs to.”

X     X     X

Author’s Notes

Sometimes, even a small mistake can have big consequences… like accidentally causing a demonic invasion. Ruby and Yang might be okay for the time being, but where is Ren? And what about Jaune and Pyrrha? Perhaps you’ll find out in the next instalment of Invasion, also known as ‘that time Weiss stuffed up and almost ended the world’.

You can find me on fanfiction.net, AO3, and Amazon.

[catattemptsart]

Training NALU Oneshot

A year after Fairytail's biggest battle yet, the fight with Zeref and Acnologia, Lucy decides to improve her hand to hand combat skills. And who else can help her but none other than Natsu Dragneel?

‘Tis a bit steamy, fluff, and definitely needs editing 😂

Also I actually wrote this a year ago and accidentally deleted it off Tumblr so I’m reposting! I’m planning to get into writing again so thought might as well post it ❤️

-=-=+=-=-

“Gate of the Scorpion, I open thee! Scorpio!"

A blinding light arose before her as it shifts into the familiar shape of the arachnid celestial spirit. With a burst, the red cloth wrapped around the figure's waist flurried in the air and the man became visible. Instantly, he positioned himself for battle, the mechanical scorpion tail following after him.

"Star dress form, Scorpio!" Lucy yells after his summoning. A similar light binds around her curvy figure, as a red and black skin-tight suit replaces it. A chain coming from her backside ends with a curved, sharp point, replicating the stinger. With this suit her speed is enhanced and it also grants her the ability to blend and fly through the sandstorm freely.

She begins to run, then kicking off of the dry earth to fly through the sandy air. Her opponent is a Sand Elemental, able to control the grainy substance to its whim. And because of that it stopped the poor Smith family from growing their crops for the year.

Hovering through, she eyes the molded body, looking at its form. It was shaped as a woman with the texture of a sandcastle, but much more fearsome as it could recover with ease. Whenever Lucy attacked, the sand regained its form. It was as if she never touched it at all.

Lucy comes behind the entity as Scorpio distracts it, running around and never directly attacking. She whirls herself around with a foot extended, hitting the being in the head with her infamous Lucy Kick. The sand completely crumbles away but comes back just as fast. The gritty substance that dispersed swirled in the air before settling back to its original position, reforming the shape of the head.

The Sand Elemental begins to laugh distortedly as Lucy grunts to herself.

"You really think you can beat me?!" It whips around and the sandstorm begins to descend to the ground, instead coming together to pile around Lucy's feet. She tries to struggle her way out but does so to no avail.

"What? I should be able to move in Scorpio's form-" The sand reaches her neckline and begins to go beyond that. "Now, Scorpio!"

Scorpio points his stinger towards the Elemental. Instead of fighting fire with fire, he begins sucking in the sand towards the mechanical tail. It helped to disfigure the Elemental's form in order to find a weak point.

As the being became translucent, a glimmering, grey light was found at the knee. Lucy's eyes widen. She read in a book somewhere that the orb represents an Elemental's soul (alike their brain). The light is usually colourful, but when darkened, its spirit had become corrupted. It was the one mark of weakness in her opponent.

Realizing she had no way of making direct contact to the knee, she turns to Natsu as he sits on a rock with Happy. Lucy told him to stay out of her fight so she could get better in battle. But it seems like he was ready to blow up at any moment; his eyes are sharp while glaring at the Sand Elemental, a concentrated look masking his face.

"Natsu! Her knee!" She yelps as the sand begins to consume the edges of her lips.

"Got it!" A blur of pink and suddenly the temperature of the whole area begins to rapidly increase. "Fire dragons..." Lucy stares at Natsu as the red fire quickly builds, panic rising within herself. He was aiming directly at the Elemental, and her.

"Wait, wait! Natsu, you're going to hit me t-"

"-roar!" The flames burst out of his mouth and are centered towards the being's weak spot. Over the time Natsu left to train, he learnt to use his power in a less violent and explosive way. The fire seems to shoot out in a solid line and the Elemental freezes in fear. The attack hits the targeted orb with full force...but also goes beyond that.

"Wahhh!" Lucy screams as she is shot out of the sky. Happy, who had been happily watching the whole battle quietly, chuckles to himself.

"She looks like a flying fish."

Scorpio begins to chase after her, wanting to catch his contractor before she hits the ground.

"Why does this always happen to me?" Lucy asks with comical tears streaming out of her eyes, still flying in the air. Before Scorpio can reach her, Natsu seems to appear out of thin air and easily catches Lucy in his arms. She squeaks, noticing how gentle his hands are in holding her and how one was pretty close to her butt. Lucy flushes and squirms, jumping out of Natsu's hands.

"Thanks." She mutters, looking at Natsu from the corner of her eyes. He gives her his signature smile and throws an arm over her shoulder.

Scorpio looks smug before closing the gate on himself.

"No problem!" Natsu smiles. Lucy flushes in response, an irritating feeling burning somewhere deep inside her chest (as cheesy as that sounds). Both because of her changing feelings about her so called best friend, and the fight that she just battled.

She's not an idiot in realizing her feelings. Although admittedly, it did take a while for her to confirm what she felt towards Natsu. Ever since their final battle with Zeref and Acnologia, there had been so many close calls. Each time she thought Natsu might've died while not losing hope that he was still alive, a piece of her felt lost. She couldn't imagine a life without him and Happy. She could handle him leaving to train, but him leaving for good? That was a whole different story.

But of course, Natsu is as freaking dense as he is, so these feelings are going to be unrequited for quite awhile longer.

The other thing that bothered her was the fight. She told Natsu to stay out of it for the sake of improving her combat abilities, but she could never get by on brute force. Sure, she had brains that could help her out of any sticky situation, or the aid of her wonderful celestial spirits, but her strength alone left her vulnerable.

And that's what frustrates her the most.

Because she has come so far - years of training towards the final battle with Zeref and Acnologia. So letting her weakness stay as her weakness was not an option. Turning to Natsu, she contemplates asking him something she's been thinking of for a long time now. Lucy decides to just wing it. What's the worst that can happen anyway?

"Natsu?"

"Yah, Luce?" Even saying her name made her shiver, oddly enough. He only ever used that nickname every so often, but since the final battle with his brother and the dragon king, they both unconsciously grew closer. There hasn't been a day since then that he didn't call her Luce, or he hadn't slept in her bed. Now that she thinks about it, there hasn't been a day where they weren't by each other's side at all.

Levy started making fun of her, saying that their relationship was close to a married couple. Lucy spat back a couple remarks concerning Gajeel and that quickly shut the blue haired girl up.

"Could you teach me how to fight?" She asks straight up. Natsu looks at her blankly, before his signature smile spreads across his face.

"Sure! But why?”

Lucy shrugs, "I need to get better at hand to hand combat. At the moment it's my biggest weakness, and it always seems to get in the way of every fight I have." He frowns.

"But that's what I'm here for." Natsu mumbles quietly. His eyes suddenly widen, as if just realizing what he said. "I mean yeah, I'll help you get better."

Happy cackles quietly in a corner, chorusing to himself about how, 'he liiiikes her'.

"Great! Let's start tomorrow morning, okay Natsu?" He smiles again in confirmation and they begin their walk towards the old barn. After collecting their reward money, the three enter the neighbouring town to explore. Fast forward through multiple visits to a couple of bookstores and restaurants, the sky has darkened to a bluish, purple hue. The clouds were no longer distinguishable and Lucy yawns, petting Happy, being careful not to wake him up.

Natsu looks at his two partners, feel some sort of righteousness in the moment. His eyes hovered over Happy to Lucy's (squishy) face, before lowering to her exposed neck. Trailing down, his throat begins to grow dry as-

"Finally. There's an inn here." Lucy cuts into his thoughts, as she begins to jog lightly towards the blinking open-sign. Natsu shakes his head, feeling a little uncertain of his behaviour.

"Thank goodness, I'm tired from going to all of those bookstores."

"And I feel like I gained 10 pounds from all of the food you bought, but you didn’t hear me complaining."

They enter the wooden cabin, taking in the musky scent of the small area. An elderly man sits at the front desk, seemingly staring at the wall. A soft snore leaves him and he shakes slightly. Lucy creeps towards him, feeling bad to wake him up but really wanting a place to clean up and sleep.

"Uh, excuse me." He doesn't move. "Sir? Sir!" The man flinches and slams his hands on the table, making Lucy and Natsu jump with dumbfounded looks on their faces. Happy still stays asleep throughout all of this.

"Yes! How may I help you?!" The man unnecessarily screams and Lucy sweat drops.

"Room for one please." She murmurs, beginning to feel tired after the day's events.

"You-you mean with one bed?" The man then whispers, stuttering. He looks between Lucy and Natsu as if it was the most scandalous thing ever. They weren't even dating but either way it isn't that big of a deal. And the guy works at a freaking inn, of course couples were going to come by and do the diggity.

Natsu, getting grumpy with how long this is taking, leans really close to the elder. "Listen ya' old geezer, can we get a room or not?" He growls.

The guy nods, blushing, and Lucy can't help notice the resemblance between him and Erza.

"Up the stairs, the fourth door to the left." He puts the key down and gets out of his seat, shuffling away. The two mutter their thanks and follow his instructions, entering their room for the night.

The suite is very homy. Although small, it emphasizes the comfortable vibe the cabin initially gives off. It has wooden planks that creek with every step taken, and a basic, wood carved bed lying in the centre. An old TV sat in front of the bed and beside it lay a mini living room. Two small, beige coloured couches circle a wooden table and the balcony is blocked by a glass door, covered by thin, brown curtains.

"You can change first. I'm going to get Happy comfortable on the couch." Lucy says quietly, walking towards the two seats. Natsu makes a noise of confirmation and ruffles through his clothes. He enters the bathroom, changing into his red shorts and going topless. After freshing himself up he exits, only to find Lucy quietly dozing off.

He decides to wake her up, since she always complains about feeling disgusting in the morning if she doesn't clean up the night before.

"Lucy." Natsu whispers, leaning closer to her. His heart begins to speed up. The look of innocence on her face was...enticing? It made him feel powerful oddly enough. As if...

He shakes his head.

"Lucy!" This time he screams and she jumps up, screeching.

"Natsu! What the hell?" She groans, but drags herself out of the bed anyway. He smiles at her, patting her butt as she leaves. Lucy freezes, turning around to glare at the pink haired boy. He doesn't seem to notice his actions as he goes to crawl into bed. "N-Natsu?"

"Hm?"

Lucy sighs. "Nothing." It's Natsu of all people. He probably has no idea what that meant to an average person. As she enters the washroom, he catches the light, pink flush on her cheeks and smirks to himself.

Continue Reading

[bazzledazzled]

Have you seen that fanart of beauxbatons!Lance and Durmstrang!Keith? You could write about them meeting during the Triwizard Tournament... Maybe even attending the Yule Ball?

anon u have answered my prayers all i have been reading is harry potter fanfic I AM READY AND I LOVE THIS IDEA AND I CAN’T BELIEVE I HAVENT THOUGHT OF IT YET????? Anyways here we go this is gonna be great. 

Also lance with glasses fite me 

also i feel like i should have a warning about this but there’s langst which means basically boggart lance is telling lance that he’s terrible and ye (like the squip!)

This turned out way longer than expected so here’s a 10k word fic!

I am going to kill this boy, Keith thought to himself as his eyes narrowed at the Beauxbatons boy. The names had just been drawn for the Triwizard Tournament, and Keith was a whirlwind of emotions. 

For one, there was the fact that of all the people from Durmstrang including his adopted brother, Shiro, he was the idiot chosen to compete. He was the one chosen to be put in the spotlight when he barely even wanted to be at the stupid Tournament, even as a spectator. And now everyone was giving him attention, including a painfully cute brown haired boy with glasses and the most dazzling smile that would make anyone swoon. 

Except the brown haired boy wasn’t making Keith swoon at this very moment, because the brown haired boy decided to be annoying and actually talk to Keith, even though they were competing against each other. 

“So….. you nervous?” The boy asks, casually seating himself beside Keith. They were supposed to attend a meeting after the drawing to discuss rules and stuff for this years tournament. The brown haired boy named something stupid that started with an “L” was from Beauxbatons, the Hogwarts girl named something that Keith couldn’t remember who was wearing a Slytherin tie, and Keith, representing his own school, Durmstrang. 

“No,” Keith says, brushing the other boy off, ending his sentence with a definitive end to tell the boy to go away. The boy did not go away. 

“I’m nervous. I mean, I guess I’m not super nervous because I’ve seen this happen before and I’m pretty sure I could handle the different challenges, but it’s exciting, isn’t it?” There’s an excited smile on his face, one that could’ve been contagious if Keith wasn’t so angry at him for interrupting his brooding session. 

“I guess.”

“You guess? Wow you Durmstrangs are lame, am I right Ravenclaw?” The Ravenclaw girl seems caught off-guard as she looks up, eyes wide before nodding in agreement, definitely not knowing what he just said. 

“Are not!” Keith says, not sure why he’s getting defensive. He himself has said that Durmstrang is lame, but it hurt coming from someone else’s mouth. Especially from a Beauxbaton who had horrible taste. 

“Mmkay,” the boy says with a sly smile. Keith wanted to punch him. 

“You Beauxbatons are to pretentious,” Keith says with an eyeroll. The boy raises an eyebrow. “And the Durmstrangs aren’t?” Keith looks at him with an “are you being serious?” expression. 

“What! You were all flashy and stuff when you came in.”

“And you weren’t?!” Keith says, still confused as to where the boy was going with this. 

“Yeah but we did it in a cool way.”

“So did we!”

“Nuh uh!” 

“Yeah huh!” The Sytherin girl bangs her book on the table, causing both of the boys shut up.

“I am trying to read,” she says, exasperated. He wrinkles his nose.

“Since when do people read?”

“Since forever??” The brown haired boy rolls his eyes. 

“That’s lame.”

“Beauxbatons is lame,” the girl shoots back. The boy looks offended. 

“HAH! See?”

“You two are getting taken down.” The girl just rolls her eyes, turning back to her book. Keith tries to come up with a witty reply, but not before the headmasters of the three schools come in. 

“Congradulations! You three are the champions for this years Triwizard Tournament! Lance Mcclain will be competing for the Beauxbatons,” –Lance gives a charming smile– “Katie Holt will be representing Hogwarts–” “It’s Pidge,” the Slytherin girl pitches in, not looking up from her book. “And from our very own Durmstrang, Keith Kogane!” There was the sound of crickets. The headmaster of Durmstrang takes a deep breath. 

“Your first trial will be held next week, which should give you plenty of time to prepare.” The headmasters go on about rules and make sure they know that the games are dangerous and that they accept the conciquences, and basically reading over the terms and conditions everyone usually skips over to get to the good stuff. The Beauxbatons boy– Lance– couldn’t seem to sit still as he went from tapping his foot, to tapping his fingers, to fidgeting with his hair. It started to irritate Keith to the point where he wasn’t paying attention, just glaring at Lance. 

“Any questions?” There were none. 

“Great! We’ll see you next week for the tournament.” They leave the room, leaving the three of them to assume that they were dismissed. Pidge didn’t even skip a beat, definitely seeming to get some time to herself before she was pushed into various interviews with flashing cameras and annoying fans. Keith was about to do the same, but not before Lance grabbed his elbow. Keith turned in both surprise and annoyance. Lance was lucky he had such a pretty face, or else Keith might’ve broken his nose. 

“May the best man win,” he said with a smirk, holding his hand out. Keith hesitated before shaking it. 

“Good luck losing.” Keith walked out of the room, the tiniest of smiles on his lips. 

The first challenge was… moderate. At least for Keith. 

Lance on the other hand… struggled. 

The task was simple. They were to walk into the arena where a boggart was waiting for them. The boggart would morph into their greatest fear and they would yell “ridiculous!” and it would be gone.

Except it didn’t end there. Because as soon as you got rid of one boggart, two more would take it’s place. And you would keep doing that again and again, until you were surrounded by hundreds of boggarts, all portraying your biggest fear, which is something that Lance never wanted to become public. 

Lance stepped into the arena, heading for the closet, his head held high. He opened the door boggart walked out of that closet, taking the form of Lance, except it was some form of a twisted Lance, with glowing yellow eyes and fangs. 

It wasn’t scary or frightening in the way a spider was. It wasn’t stupid like Pidge’s where the boggart turned into one of her teachers saying she was failing every class except lunch. But Lance knew, as soon as the creature opened its mouth, the monster was supposed to represent his insecurities. 

You’re a coward. You don’t even belong here. Filthy mud-blood. 

Lance gulped, the spell on the tip of his tongue. It wouldn’t come out. 

Your parents would disown you if they knew who you really were. All your friends are faking it. They don’t care about you. No one does. You can’t even care about yourself.

Lance squeezes his eyes shut, hearing the words echo and bounce around inside his head. They were always there, at the back of his mind whenever he talked to a friend or he didn’t tell his family that he was actually a wizard instead of just going to some fancy private school he got a scholarship for. Or when he found himself daydreaming about a black haired boy, knowing that he was out of his league and the boy was probably straight anyways. 

You’re selfish. Everyone hates you. The world would be better off without you. 

Lance takes a deep breath. He can feel the tears welling inside him, and he knows everyone is watching. This is supposed to be a test of strength, a chance to prove that he isn’t some shitty wizard who everyone thought cheated the system to get into the Triwizard Tournament even though he didn’t. But standing there, facing the bogart, he started to wonder if the whole thing was a mistake. 

“Ridiculous!” He cries, summoning all his energy, every single pent up emotion inside him as he looked the bogart in the eyes, telling himself one thing over and over. I am enough. 

There was something different about the way his wand cast the spell than when he cast it before. For a moment he thought it was because he did something wrong and the spell was backfireing as a blue light started to glow from the wand. As it got brighter, to the point where it was blinding, Lance started to worry he might blow himself and the rest of the spectators up. Some Triwizard Tournament that would be. He could already see the headlines of the boy who ruined everything. 

And then.. something amazing happened. It was almost as if he cast a patronus charm, which didn’t make sense. The light danced in the air with no distinct shape. It saw the bogart, darting for it and causing it to disappear. Like before when Pidge did it, two more took its place, but before Lance could even raise his wand to get rid of them, the light darted through them, and they were gone just like the first. There were gasps from the crowd and Lance gaped in amazement as the spell took out bogarts faster than his eye could catch. It only faded when the biggest one of all appeared, towering over Lance in all its glory. Lance gulped, facing it, trying to tap into the same energy from earlier. 

As the bogart took form, Lance realized instead of being a large version of himself, similar to the ones before, it was shrinking, taking the form of a large mass of people, all of which he recognized. All of them were shouting insults as they surrounded him.

His family was there, his sisters and brothers and niece and nephew. His mom and dad too, both barely looking at him, telling him he was a disgrace to his family. He turned away, only to bump into his friends, shouting insults at him. Allura told him that he was a thorn in her side for years, and how she wanted to get rid of him, but he kept coming back. Hunk told him he never did everything right and that he would never be taken seriously as long as he had Lance for a friend. Tears pooled in Lance’s eyes as he turned away from them, wrapping his arms around himself. 

There were teachers there too. The told him he was failing, said that he was barely even a wizard considering how bad he was at magic. They said he was probably more of a muggle and never had a spot in Beauxbatons to begin with. Classmates taunted him, calling him crude names, chanting “mud-blood” as they grinned viciously. Lance curled in on himself, not sure what to do. 

“What’s taking him so long?” Pidge says inside the tent, fiddling with some muggle device. Keith leaned against the wall, practicing spells and ignoring her.

“You’re just mad because you failed.” Pidge shoots him a glare, but Keith doesn’t give her the satisfaction of even looking at her. 

“I did better than he is if he’s taking this long.” Suddenly shouts Keith assumed to be the crowd at first, grew louder and more vicious. It startled the two champions and they shared a look. 

“That doesn’t sound good….” They rush out of the tent, looking around, trying to figure out what is going around. 

The arena was filled with people. All of them were shouting angrily, at a specific person who Keith could only guess was Lance. The crowd was completely quiet, some of them turning away from the scene, feeling bad for the boy at the center of the chaos. The judges were talking amongst themselves, not yet sure if they should call it. Keith takes a look at Pidge and Pidge looks at him before he darts into the arena. He hears Pidge call his name, but he doesn’t listen. 

Inside the arena is madness. People were yelling and screaming and throwing things. They were trying to push their way through the crowd to get to the center, all of their words negative. None of the words were directed at him, but Keith could feel his self-esteem lowering, making him feel weak inside. He couldn’t imagine what it was like for Lance. He pulls out his wand, casting spells to get people out of his way. He needs to get to the center. From there, he doesn’t know what he’ll do. He doesn’t even know what Lance is facing since he was supposed to go last. 

He makes it to the center and sees Lance. The poor Beauxbatons boy is on the ground, curled up into a ball as tears stream down his face. A boiling hot anger suddenly fills Keith, one that he’s experienced many times before. He didn’t care if they all signed up for this, nobody should be put through this much emotional trauma. 

“Lance!” Keith calls as people try to shove him back. Lance doesn’t move. 

“LANCE!” Keith calls again. Lance grits his teeth. 

“LANCE!” Keith emerges from the crowd, looking down at Lance, who looks up at him, hatred shinning through his expression. 

“I just met you how can you already hate me?” Keith frowns, bending down to Lance. 

“C’mon. Your trial’s over.” Lance looks up at him, his chin wobbling. Keith immediately feels a sort of protectiveness for this boy. He was battling too many monsters, many of which Keith found himself battling as well. 

“Shove off, Kogane.” Keith huffs, grabbing Lance’s arm roughly and pulling him up. Lance pulls away, his shoulders hunched.

Someone jumps out at them, their expression vicious as they spit out words, calling Lance things like “mud-blood” and other even worse variations. Without thinking, Keith throws himself in front of Lance as if he could protect Lance from the person’s hurtful words.

Then something interesting happens. The crowd merges together in one large form, the image flickering and stretching. Keith furrows his brow in confusion 

It starts to take form, glimmering black hair styled like Keith’s and bright, glowing yellow eyes with purple irises. The creatures fingers elongated into talons coated in blood and even around it’s mouth Keith could see traces of it. There was a wicked grin on its face and its clothes were in tatters. Keith recognized it immediately. He recalled a Defense Against the Dark Arts class from years before when they first learned about Bogarts. He was faced with this same monster, his greatest fear.

He was scared he would turn into this monster. 

He grabs his wand, ignoring the fears rooted deep in his stomach as he shouted “RIDICULOUS!” 

The air was still. The bogart was gone. Behind him, Keith heard Lance sniffle. Everyone was looking at him with disbelief, including the Beauxbatons boy. 

“Why would he do that!?” Lance says exasperatedly as he talks to his friend, Hunk. Hunk was from Hogwarts and an old friend of Lance’s. Their families were close and Hunk was surprised learn that Lance too was a wizard. They usually didn’t talk much over the school year considering they went to different schools, but they hung out almost all the time over the summer, telling school secrets about Hogwarts and Beauxbatons that they thought the other might find funny. 

Hunk shrugs, obviously tired of this conversation. This is the third time Lance has talked about it since the competition. “Why don’t you ask him.” Lance gave him a repulsed look. 

“I can’t ask mullet why he saved me.”

“Awww you have nicknames for each other.”

“No we don’t! We barely even know each other.”

“Just because you don’t know him doesn’t mean you don’t like him.” 

“Wh-what?” Lance says, his cheeks reddening. Hunk laughs. 

“Look Keith probably saved you because he felt bad for you. I would’ve done the same.” Lance crosses his arms and sticks out his lip.

“I didn’t need saving.” Hunk sighs, knowing that Lance was probably embarrassed that he wasn’t able to handle a simple bogart.

“Did you prepare for the next task.” Lance groans. 

“No.”

“Do you know what it’s going to be.”

“I don’t know! They gave us a vague clue.” 

“Clues are supposed to be vague.” Lance huffs, hitting his head on the table.

“What is it? Maybe I can help.”

“They said something about looking through the history of Triwizard Tournaments.” Hunk furrowed his brow.

“Why?” Lance shrugs. 

“If I had to guess, they ran out of ideas and they’re stealing one from a previous one.”

“Did they say anything else?”

“They said it would jump out from history, that there was something about the tournament that was different than the others.” A lightbulb goes off in Hunk’s head. 

“We should head to the library.”

Keith just wanted to have a quiet study session for the tests he had to take, was that too much to ask? It didn’t seem like much and, for the most part, people kept to themselves in the library because that’s what people do at libraries. 

Lance Mcclain seems to have not gotten the hint.

“What are you doing here Kogane?” Lance says, looking at Keith with narrowed eyes. Keith looks up at him, a bored expression on his face. 

“Some of us actually go to school her,” Keith says, turning back to his textbooks. Lance huffs, siting beside Keith. 

“Do you want something or are you just here to make sure I fail potions?” Lance glares at him, getting more annoyed when he sees that Keith just ignores him. Lance puts his hand over Keith’s textbook, forcing him to look into the Beauxbaton boy’s blue eyes. He’s aware of how close they are and how cute Lance is… for a Beauxbaton. Too bad Lance hates him, Keith might have even dated him. 

“What do you want, Mcclain?” Lance’s jaw is set. He looks like a boy on a mission. 

“Why did you help me?” Keith bites his lip, trying to actually figure out why he did it. He shrugs.

“I felt bad for you,” he says, grabbing his textbook and scooting away from Lance. Lance grabs his arm. 

“I didn’t need saving,” Lance says, pratically choking on emotion. Keith puts his books down, turning back to Lance, concern in his eyes. Lance’s face flushed with embarrassment as he let go of Keith’s arm. 

“I just… I’m not stupid, alright?” 

“I didn’t say that you were?” Keith furrows his brow in confusion. 

“The cup picked me for a reason this isn’t some mistake.” Lance clenches his fists, barely even looking at Keith. 

“Are you… okay?” 

“No.” Lance slumps against him, crossing his arms. It catches Keith off-guard, considering he’s not the most affectionate person, but a look into Lance’s eyes tells Keith that he needs something to ground him. 

“Um….” Keith doesn’t know what he should do. In his head he’s going into a gay panic. 

“I’ll show them,” Lance says determinedly to himself. Keith doesn’t even know what he’s talking about. “I’m going to place first in the next challenge. I’m going to win.” 

“Hey Lance!” A voice calls. There’s a chorus of “shhh”s directed at a boy in a yellow Hufflepuff tie, he apologizes, running towards Keith and Lance. Lance jumps away from Keith, perking up slightly. Hunk takes the seat next to Lance, making Keith even more annoyed. Really he just wanted to study, not have a party with his rival and said rival’s friend. 

“What’s up?” The Hufflepuff flips through a book that seems to be full of old records. Keith can’t help but be slightly interested. He leans over Lance’s shoulder. Lance turns to him, a smirk on his face. 

“You trying to cheat, mullet?” Keith turns bright red. He moves away from Lance. 

“I wasn’t– I was just–” Lance looks thoughtful. 

“Tell you what…” Both Keith and the Hufflepuff boy raise an eyebrow. 

“I’ll help you in the next challenge.” Keith’s eyebrows seem to raise even more.

“Okay?”

“I mean, it’s the least I can do after… the incident that shall not be named.” 

“Okay??” Lance nods, satisfied, and turns back to Hunk. 

“Go on.”

“Do you remember Harry Potter’s Triwizard Tournament?”

The weeks leading up to the second trial were… interesting to say the least. Lance was dead set on repaying Keith after the first trial, which meant that he followed him. Everywhere. 

Keith wanted to complain but… he began to enjoy Lance’s company. Because they were visiting, students from Beauxbatons and Hogwarts weren’t required to go to classes like the rest of the Durmstrang students, but they were highly encouraged to go to these classes and experience new “cultures.” 

Lance claimed that he didn’t have a choice, but Keith knew that he secretly loved accompanying Keith to his classes, helping him figure out potions and listening to Keith laugh as Lance messed up a charm. But Lance was determined to do his hardest in everything, as if he had to prove something. Sometimes he failed, sometimes he embarrassed himself miserably, but he still kept trying, and Keith found it almost admirable. 

Despite being sort of kind of friends now, they still held onto some rivalish qualities, probably because everyone kept fitting them into those roles. They were going head to head in the Triwizard Tournament still, and Keith and Lance weren’t shy to go into a not so friendly competition during Transfiguration, much to their teacher’s annoyance. 

That’s probably why the media was always buzzing about them. 

There were tons of articles, some of them ridiculously sappy about how it’s beautiful to see their friendship blossom even though they’re from different schools. There were debates about Keith saving Lance, some people even saying that Keith should be disqualified. Some say Lance should be disqualified because he accepted Keith’s help. Some people, deep on the internet, suggested that Keith and Lance’s friendship is something more. Maybe it always has. 

Except Keith and Lance were too busy for the internet, between planning how to get through the second challenge, brewing potions to help them breathe underwater, and Lance pretty much tutoring Keith in potions, there was no room in between classes to casually surf the internet. Maybe if they saw these speculations, it would’ve drawn them apart with repulsion, feeling uncomfortable with this development. Or maybe it would’ve made them realize what they really wanted. 

“Scared mullet?” Lance says with a smirk, looking over at Keith as they stood over by the Lake, getting ready for the competition. Keith scowled. 

“Stop calling me that.” Lance sticks his face in front of Keith’s, a mischivious grin on his face. The slightest blush crosses Keith’s face. 

“Why?”

“Because my name is Keith,” Keith says, crossing his arms. Lance’s playful energy was contagious and that’s probably what Keith liked the most about him. 

“You’re the one who chose to have bad hair!” Lance says defensively. Keith gasps, touching his hair. 

“You take that back!” 

“Seriously who cuts their hair like that!” Lance says. Keith pouts. 

“You’re jealous.” Lance rolls his eyes. 

“It wouldn’t be so bad if you just…” Lance digs through his pockets, looking for something. He frowns. 

“Hold on.” He runs over to someone Keith supposes must be a friend who’s standing a few feet away in Beauxbaton robes holding a flag with Lance’s face on it.

“Yo Allura you got a hairtie?” Lance calls. The girl– Allura– furrows her brow. 

“Yeah why?”

“My buddy Keith needs it,” Lance says, pointing over at Keith. Keith’s face goes red as he buries his head in his hands, wondering why he still let Lance do these things to him. 

Lance runs back over, hairtie in hand. 

“Turn around,” he orders. Keith huffs, doing as told, his face still red. Lance runs Keith’s hair through his hands, untangling any knots. He gathers his hair, pulling it up and tying the elastic around it. He turns Keith around, smiling and brushing his bangs out of his eyes and behind his ears. Lance smiles. 

“You have eyes,” Lance says dorkily. Keith starts to snort, erupting into giggles and leaning on Lance slightly, the purest of expressions on his face. The smallest of blushes passes across Lance’s face and a thought flitters through his head. 

Oh god help me. 

Pidge, Keith, and Lance stood side by side, looking over the lake, their stomachs filled with anxiety. They all knew that they would have to find something at the bottom of the lake, thanks to them all being friends with Hunk, who was having a hard time choosing one person to root for, but they had no idea what they were actually looking for. The books from the library full of records had certain words blacked out, giving the competitors a vague idea of what the actual challenge would be. 

Then, there was a loud whistle, and the second trial began.

Pidge shoved some sort of plant in her mouth, jumping in without hesitation. Lance chugged a bottle of a blue liquid that looked like water, sputtering at the taste before jumping in. Keith, since him and Lance worked on the potion together, not only for Keith’s potions project but also for this competition, did the same. 

Being submerged in water was an… odd feeling. For a long moment, Keith floated, the potion taking a little longer to take effect, unlike Lance who was already halfway to the bottom. 

Then he felt something pull at his feet. He looked down, gasping in shock, fumbling for his wand to cast a stupefy on whatever it was. 

But there was nothing there. It was the potion, starting to take effect. Keith remembered what Lance told him, how it not only allowed you to breath underwater, but it made your body mass heavier, allowing you to sink all the way to the bottom of the ocean at a rather quick pace. It was a complex spell, one that Keith had struggled with greatly, but he got an A on the assignment and it didn’t seem to have any after effects. 

When Keith got to the bottom, he saw what the “treasure” was. There was three people floating in the water, tied there with seaweed. Mermaids flocked around them.

The first person looked a lot like Pidge. In fact, it was eerie how close they resembled each other. Keith knew for a fact that it had to have been Pidge’s brother or something. 

The second person was a girl. She had hair cut to about her shoulders and glasses that sat askew on her face. Her features vaguely resembled Lance, which obviously could only mean that it was Lance’s sister. Keith recalled Lance talking about her and the rest of his siblings. 

The third was someone Keith knew. He didn’t have to guess to know that this was his treasure. 

He would recognize his brother anywhere.

His feet touched the ground and he ran to Shiro, his jaw set. It was an odd, running in water. What was weirder was, even though Keith could see the fish swimming around him, it didn’t feel like he was running anywhere underwater. It almost felt like he was on dry land. 

The mermaids didn’t stop him as he passed them. Lance was already there, tearing at the seaweed for his sister. He turned to Keith, flashing one of his dorky smiles. Keith rolled his eyes, smiling slightly as he used his wand to to cut the rope. He grabs Shiro, turning back to Lance. Above them they saw Pidge, looking angry at the fact that they beat her here. Lance pulled out a second potion from his pocket, this one more sludgy and red. Keith did the same. They looked at each other before, emptying the bottle. 

Pidge got to the bottom, letting her brother free. That’s when the potion started to take effect as Keith and Lance started to rise back to the surface. As they rose, Keith started to notice the effects of the other potion start to wear off. He found it more difficult to breathe and he saw Lance seem to have the same problem. But it didn’t matter. He could see the sun above him, feeling the warmth. Lance was a good deal ahead of him, but he didn’t think anything of it.

Until he realized he wasn’t moving at all. Lance kept going up and up and up, but he stayed right there. He started to gasp for air, trying franticly to swim back up to the surface. But it wasn’t working. He felt himself inhale water and his eyes widened with panic. He tried to call out for Lance, but Lance didn’t seem to hear. Pidge swam by him and he felt the truth sink in on him. 

He messed up the potion. He was going to die down here.

Lance felt like he was on top of the world. After the first challenge, he was sure the goblet made a mistake. The first challenge was supposed to be the easiest, and he couldn’t even face a bogart. 

But this? This was almost too easy. He always loved potions so as soon as he heard about the challenge he knew exactly what potion he needed to make. He didn’t need the weeks to prepare it. He could’ve done it that day and had it done by dinner. But he knew that Keith struggled with potions and decided to take things slow, taking his time to explain to Keith why things worked a certain way and how to be careful with the measurements. Still, Keith struggled. The poor boy always looked so defeated when the potion blew up in his face, saying that Lance should stop trying to help him it wasn’t going to work. 

But Lance didn’t give up. He wasn’t going to give up. 

He can see the surface, he’s almost close enough to touch the surface and feel the cool air. He grins, looking down to share a smile with Keith, who was no doubt behind him. 

Except Keith wasn’t behind him. Lance started to panic, looking around wildly. He saw Pidge come up behind him, her brow drawn. But Keith wasn’t there. 

Lance pulled out his wand, casting the spell to momentarily stop the effects of the potion, just for a little bit. The world stilled and he looked down for the black haired boy in a red coat. Far bellow he spotted him. He thought about how much time he had before the spell wore off and he would be forced to float back to the top. He could cast the spell again and again, but he could feel it already starting to wear him down. He took a deep breath, hoping beyond hope that those stupid swim lessons would be useful. He let go of Veronica, letting her float to the top. God she would be so angry when she woke up. Lance still has forgotten to mention the whole wizard thing to her.

He started to swim towards Keith, kicking his legs as hard as he could. He swam past Pidge, who looked at him with confusion, but didn’t stop. She was here to win, Lance knew this. He was too, but he couldn’t leave Keith down there. What if something bad happened. 

After what felt like hours but only was probably twenty minutes, Lance reached Keith. He was franticly kicking his legs, but Lance could tell he was losing energy. He had a death grip on his “treasure” and tears seemed to be pooling at his eyes. He was blue and looked on the verge of passing Lance cursed, pulling his wand back out and swimming up to Keith, grabbing his hands. Bubbles escaped from Keith’s mouth as he looked at him with surprise. Lance takes a deep breath, trying to stay calm even through Keith’s panic. He had to, or else something terrible might happened.

He remembered the charm, saying it in his head and pointing the wand up between them. A bubble swelled up between them, spreading wider and wider until it encompassed both of their heads, the bubble full of fresh air. Keith gasped, drinking up the air, his skin turning back to its normal color. 

“You good?” Lance says, touching Keith’s shoulder. Keith gulps and nods, not able to form words. Lance smiled warmly, releasing the hold of the previous spell, causing them to rise up. Thankfully, whatever was causing Keith to stay stationary seemed to disappear as Lance’s potion took over him. 

They surface both of them gasping as they swim to shore. Lance sees Pidge wrapped in a towel, standing next to her brother and shivering. He also saw Veronica, standing next to them, looking bewildered, but also relieved to see Lance. 

Lance helps Keith stand. Keith seems to be a little weak from almost drowning. Behind them, the guy that Keith was saving, called out. 

“Keith!” He runs up to him, hugging him tight. Lance smiles, walking over to his sister. She proceeded to look at him, soaking wet in his blue swim trunks. And then, miraculously, she starts to laugh. 

“What?” Lance says, blushing. 

“All this time I knew you were hiding a secret from us and all along its because you were going to some elite school because your a nerd.” Lance stumbles over his words, but Veronica just smiles, enveloping him in a hug. Lance smiles, glad to see his sister. 

He looks back at Keith, who’s staring at him, his expression a mix of awe and confusion. Lance just laughs. 

After the tournament, the three champions are ushered into a room, still dripping wet for interviews. It was obvious that they were excited to get the latest scoop, considering everyone saw Veronica surface without Lance and Lance later surface with Keith and Shiro. Everyone knew that it would add to the tale of Keith Kogane and Lance Mcclain, Friends or Lovers?

Before they started prepping them for interviews, the three discussed the events of the tournament quietly amongst themselves. 

“That task wasn’t that hard…” Pidge says, obviously taking pride in the fact that she came in first place. Lance pursed his lips, nodding in agreement but also looking at Keith out of the corner of his eye, who had his blanket wrapped around him tightly. Keith didn’t say a word, frowning. 

“Congrats on getting first, Pidge?” Lance says with a warm smile. 

“Here’s what I don’t understand,” Pidge finally bursts. Keith and Lance incline their heads towards her. 

“Lance… I saw you ahead of me. You could’ve won this and got in first place instead of making us all tied. So why didn’t you win?” Lance bites his lip. Keith looks at him too, a curious expression on his face. 

“Well I… I saw that Keith was struggling…” Keith looks away blushing. He swore he saw Pidge smirk. 

“So you decided to sacrifice your win to save the damsel in distress?” 

“Well… yeah.” Pidge just smiles, looking like she knows something. 

“I see.” They call for Lance for his interview. He grins and walks into the room, obviously enjoying the attention. Pidge turns to Keith. 

“You like him.” Keith turns bright red, mumbling incoherent nothings. 

“That’s ridiculous,” he says finally. Pidge raises an eyebrow. 

“He’s from Beauxbatons.” Pidge’s eyebrow arches further.

“We’re rivals.” Pidge bursts out laughing.

“WHAT!” Keith says defensively. She snorts. 

“Some rivals you are.” Keith plays with the sleeves of his jacket.

“I mean I guess we’re friends, but we’re competing against each other. Plus, Lance couldn’t like me back.”

“So you admit you like him.” Keith squeaks, his face as red as a tomato. 

“What? No I-I was– I meant– I–” Pidge puts her hand over his mouth. He gives her a panicked expression. 

“Look. I know Lance.”

“You do?”

“Yes he’s Hunk’s friend god have you been paying attention?”

“Oh yes that answered all my questions. Thank you,” Keith says sarcastically. Pidge laughs.

“Oh I like you.”

“What’s your point, Pidge?”

“I know Lance. I also know that he flirts with literally any girl he sees comma but the ones he really likes he gets all flustered and does a weird thing with his hands.”

“ I don’t understand what this has to do with anythi–”

“When he likes someone he tries to spend every waking hour with them and will do anything for them.”

“So?”. Pidge huffs.

“So I’m saying that he’s the same with you!” Keith scoffs.

“No he’s not. He’s just being Lance.” Pidge groans. 

“Wow you’re about as thick as he is.”

“HEY! Lance is really smart, I’ll have you know,” Keith says defensively, maybe a small part of his tone is dreamy. Pidge rubs her brow. 

“I’m too ace for this.” Lance walks back out into the waiting room, a nervous smile on his face. Keith feels his heartbeat quicken and he scratches his neck in an attempt to hide his blush. He didn’t know if it worked as Lance walked up to him.

“How did it go?” Keith asks. Lance purses his lips, fidgeting with his hand a little. Pidge gives Keith a look.

“It went good! They asked some personal stuff about… nevermind.” Maybe it was wishful thinking, but Keith swore he saw Lance blush the slightest bit. But the moment was gone. 

“Kogane!” The lady called. Keith takes a deep breath, walking into the room.

The room is just a normal classroom, set up for an interview. Two chairs sit across from each other, one occupied by a lady with curly hair and glasses. Keith gulped, sitting down across from her. 

“Hello Mr. Kogane,” she says, smiling warmly. 

“H-hi,” Keith says, pulling at the sleeves of his jacket. 

“So. This challenge was a lot harder for you, wasn’t it.” Keith gulped and nodded.

“Yes.”

“Do you care to explain what happened?” Keith dug his nails into his palm. 

“I don’t know. I made my potion wrong and I couldn’t get to the surface so Lance saved me.” She raised an eyebrow. 

“Do you know why he did that? Rumor has it he would’ve won if he hadn’t gone back for you.” Keith curled and uncurled his fists. 

“I don’t know. It was probably payback for the first challenge.” She hummed. 

“That’s not how Lance tells it.”

“How does Lance tell it?” Keith growls. The reporter flips to a new piece of paper. 

“Next question. How did you feel when you saw Lance come back for you.” Keith didn’t know what this had to do anything. 

“I don’t know. I was happy that I could breathe.”

“In the metaphorical sense?” Keith raised an eyebrow. 

“No? He spelled a bubble around us so we could breath.” She raised an eyebrow. 

“Did you say anything to him in this… bubble?”

“I couldn’t breathe?” Keith doesn’t know where she’s going with this. 

“Next question. How do you feel about Lance Mcclain? Do you think your relationship has evolved?”

“Well… yeah.” The lady leans forward slightly. Keith coughs, his cheeks reddening. “Well I mean–” Keith coughs. “We’re closer friends now and stuff. And he’s really smart and helps me with my potions…”

“Is she trying to make a move on him?” Lance says, face pressed up against the glass of the classroom door. Pidge groans, playing Zelda on a DS.

“She’s not, Lance. And if she was then that would be creepy and wrong.” Lance frowns. 

“She’s too close.” Pidge huffs, stepping on the tips of her toes to look in with Lance. She rolls her eyes. 

“They’re literally a meter away from each other.” Lance huffs. 

“He’s blushing.” Pidge groans, slinking against the floor. 

“Keith’s always blushing.”

“Yeah but…” 

“Lance.” 

“I mean….”

“Lance.”

“What if…”

“LANCE!” Lance turns to the Pidge. She pushes up her round glasses. 

“Keith is fine he’s just nervous.” Lance sighs, sinking to the ground. 

“I know I just….”

“What?” Pidge sits next to him. Lance frowns, seeming conflicted. 

“I just know how shaken up I was after the first challenge and how answering their questions made it worse and… you didn’t see him down there, Pidge.” Pidge sighs. 

“Keith will be fine. If he’s not I’m sure he’ll deck her.” Lance laughs a little. 

“Yeah.” Lance looks down into his lap, his features soft. 

“Hunk was right, you got it bad.” 

“What?!” Lance says, jumping. “I swear if Hunk told you–” Pidge rolled her eyes. 

“It’s obvious Lance. He didn’t need to tell me anything.” Lance threads his fingers through his hair, sighing. 

“It is?”

“The only person that doesn’t seem to know is Keith.” Lance huffs, resting his chin on his hand. 

“What should I do, Pidge?” Pidge coughs. 

“Are you seriously asking me for relationship advice?” Lance glares. 

“Just ask him to the Yule Ball or something. That’s coming up soon.” Lance chews his lip. 

“Maybe….” The door behind them opens, causing both of them to yelp, scrambling up. Keith frowned at them. 

“Why were you sitting by the door?”

“It was Lance’s idea,” Pidge says with a shrug, heading into the room, closing the door tightly behind her. Lance starts to fidget with his jacket and Keith scratches his neck. 

“So….” Keith says, coughing. Lance bites the inside of his cheek. 

“Want to go find something to eat?” Keith grins. 

“Sure.” 

“Who’s Keith talking to?” Lance says, leaning into Hunk, a frown on his face. Hunk follows his line of sight. 

“Acxa. Why?” Lance raises an eyebrow.

“Who’s she?”

“A Gryffindor girl. She’s friends with Allura’s ex. But don’t worry, she’s cool.” Lance chews his lip, glimpsing back at them. He knew what flirting looked like. 

“Do you think she’ll ask him to the Yule Ball?” Hunk shrugs, taking a bite of his food. 

“Pidge has heard rumors about it. They might be true.” Lance looks back at them. Keith has a frustratingly cute expression on his face as his brows draw with confusion, tilting his head curiously. Sometimes Lance swore he was like a puppy mixed with a cat and it made Lance’s stomach flip. He sighs, resting his chin on his hand.  

“Wow. Pidge was right.” Lance squeaks, jumping and turning away from Keith.

“Right about what?” Lance says nervously. 

“That that Durmstrang boy is going to be the death of you.”

“N-no he’s not!”

“Lance you’re looking at him again.” Lance sighs dreamily. 

“He’s so pretty.” Hunk rolls his eyes. 

“Tell me again why you haven’t asked him to the Yule Ball yet?” Lance huffs. 

“Because Hunk.” Hunk raises an eyebrow.

“”Because… I don’t know. It would be weird, wouldn’t it?”

“No?”

“But it’s Keith, Hunk.” Hunk just  laughs, shaking his head. Above them they hear a chirping sound. Everyone in the room cranes their heads up at the noise as dozens of birds flood the room, all of them with letters tied around their ankles. They swooped down, landing at tables where students recognized a family owl and took the letter, reading it to themselves with smiles and frowns. Another round of owls came in, dropping in the daily newspapers. Lance picks one up, casually flipping to the article on the Triwizard Tournament. 

There’s a picture of the three of them, all drenched from head to toe. Pidge was grinning wildly, her eyes dancing with excitement. Meanwhile, Keith was shivering, wrapping himself tighter in blankets. Lance was beside him, looking slightly concerned for his friend as he offered Keith his blanket. Lance skipped over the picture to the article.

“Yesterday the three Champions of this year’s Triwizard Tournament completed their second challenge. Katie “Pidge” Holt from the Slytherin house at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry came in first place, saving her brother, Matt from the bottom of the lake. Next to come up was a bewildered muggle by the name of Veronica who is our second champion’s sister. However, Lance could not be seen, causing anxiety to build up within the stands of the arena, wondering what could possibly have happened to the Beauxbatons boy. There was still no sign of the Durmstrang boy or his treasure. 

“Just as the officiators began to organize a team to look for the two boys, they shot out of the water, arm and arm, both of them holding tightly onto Takashi Shirogane, Keith Kogane’s adopted brother. The audience cheered, rising up in the stands as Keith and Lance tied for second place, causing a three way tie between the three champions. They were all–” Hunk kept poking Lance’s shoulder and it was really starting to dampen his reading ability. He huffs, getting slightly annoyed, and turns to Hunk. 

“What?!” Hunk chews his lip. 

“Uh dude…” Hunk points to a picture later on in the article. It was of before the match where Lance was helping Keith with his hair. They were facing each other, both of them blushing, looking soulfully into each other’s eyes. Lance gulps as he reads the headline. 

“Rivals… or Star-Crossed Lovers?” Lance looks over at Hunk, a nervous expression on his face. He quickly turns back to the article, pratically inhaling the words on the page with a frantic energy. 

“One cannot deny that since the first trial in the tournament there has been a spark between the two boys of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. As some may recall, Keith Kogane came to Lance Mcclain’s aid when he couldn’t muster the courage to face his greatest fear. Since then, the two boys have been almost inseparable. Sources say that it was because Mcclain felt indebted to Kogane after he saved him and was bent on helping the Durmstrang in any way he could. 

“But one cannot deny the energy these boys give off. Hidden deep within there is a passion that most anyone can see, and it has only been strengthened since the second trial. The two boys have become a popular… so to say… ship amongst fanatics of the Triwizard Tournament. And they no doubt are gobbling up this exclusive interview with Lance Mcclain:” 

“Whatcha reading?” Keith says from over Lance’s shoulder, scaring Lance senseless. Without hesitation, Lance takes the article and shoves it in his glass of milk, looking up at Keith. 

“Just enjoying my breakfast!” He says, laughing nervously. Keith squints at him, sitting down beside him. He reaches for the pitches of orange juice, his hand brushing Lance’s in the process. Lance goes bright red. 

“Okay but seriously, what were you reading?” Keith says, staring at him from over his orange juice. 

“Nothing.” Keith frowns. Lance can feel everyone looking at him now. They no doubt read the article, read about all the embarising ways Lance gushed about Keith during his interview in ways he didn’t mean to. If he could do anything to change that moment, he would in a heartbeat. 

“What did Acxa talk to you about?” Hunk asks, bless him. Keith shrugs, stabbing his egg and frowning. 

“She asked me to go to the Yule Ball with her.” Oh no oh no my life is over I failed bury me now–

“What did you say?” Hunk says, looking at Lance nervously. He could tell that Lance seemed on the verge of a breakdown. He made a mental note of the best escape route for his friend. 

Keith continues to frown, stabbing his eggs, looking at Lance through his lashes. 

“I said no,” Keith mumbles. Lance gasps, standing up. 

“You what?” Keith seems to shrink in on himself a little, thrown off by Lance’s outbreak. Lance immediately feels horrible as he sits back down. 

“Sorry, sorry I… what do you mean you said no?” He says in a much gentler voice, leaning slightly towards Keith. Keith shrugs, holding his gaze. 

“I just… said no?”

“But she’s so your type!” Keith almost snorts. In fact he does… a little. 

“I just…” Keith pushes his bangs out of his eyes, not meeting Lance’s gaze. 

“I was just hoping someone else would ask me,” He says, a bright blush spreading across his cheeks. Lance gapes at him. 

“Who is it?” he says, a little too quickly. Keith chews his lip. 

“C’mon you can tell me.” Lance says, smiling and bumping his shoulder with Lance’s. Keith blushes, smiling a little. 

“You’re going to have to wait, loverboy.” Lance’s heart pounds in his chest and in that moment, he wants to do nothing more than kiss Keith and tell him how he feels. But, the mullet boy’s heart is taken by another. 

“You coming with me to Charms?” Keith says, gathering his stuff to get going. Lance smirks. 

“How else can I beat you into a pulp with my fancy spellwork.” Keith laughs a snorty kind of laughter that makes Lance’s heart flutter. 

It was a day before the Yule Ball and Lance still hasn’t asked Keith to go with him. 

At this point Lance wasn’t sure why he was worried. Everyone Keith hung out with seemed to have a date, so it wasn’t like one of them could be Keith’s-mysterious-crush-that-he-was-hoping-would-ask-him. But Lance still couldn’t help but feel a lump in his throat every time he tried to ask Keith to go with him. 

In the end, he said it the night before the actual dance and made a complete and entire fool of himself. 

They were up in Keith’s dorm, lying next to each other on his bed with books propped open, their eyelids drooping.

“Why did your professor assign you a test on the day of the dance anyway?” Lance says with a yawn. Keith sighs, face planting into a textbook. 

“Because my potions teacher enjoys watching me suffer.” Lance sighs, pulling the textbook away from Keith, who pulled his head up in surprise, turning to Lance. Only when Lance put away the textbooks did Lance realize their noses were almost touching. 

“What are you doing?” Keith says, looking confused. Lance huffs. 

“You’re way too tired for this and we have the Yule Ball tomorrow you need to get some sleep.” Keith groans, rubbing his eyes and sitting up. Lance does the same. 

“Do you have a date to the ball yet?” he asks curiously. Lance feels his heart pound in his chest, wondering if this was the moment. He takes a deep breath, telling himself to chill out. He leans back, relaxed. 

“No. All the girls are too shy to ask this guy,” he says cheesily, pointing finger guns at Keith. It was a lie, a bunch of girls asked him, but he said he had his heart set on someone else. And he did, if he would just work up the courage to ask the boy in front of him. He just needed to say those eight words. Will you go to the dance with me? 

“What about you? That lucky lady ask you yet?” Keith frowns, playing with a loose string on the bed. 

“No.” Lance tapped his fingers against his leg. 

“Great. So neither of us have dates.”

“I guess…” Lance laughs. 

“God that’s going to be so embarrassing.” Keith furrows his brow, confused.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean we’re the champions and we don’t have dates.” Keith doesn’t look at him as he continues to mess with the blanket. 

“So?” Lance chews his bottom lip, his face heating. God, how is he supposed to say this? Its a good think Keith is distracted. 

“So I mean… It will be kind of embarrassing… won’t it? Being the center of attention without a date?” Keith shrugs. Lance knows that Keith probably doesn’t care, but he needs an excuse, something to hide under if Keith lashes out at him. 

“What are you saying, Lance?” Keith says, looking tired. Man, he should really go to sleep. Lance threads and unthreads his fingers together. 

“Well you know… maybe we can both go together? Since we don’t have dates…” Keith was suddenly wide awake now. His eyes fly open as he turns to Lance, who’s trying to hide his blush. Did he just…. was he playing a trick on him? Keith drew his brows together. Lance started to panic. 

“Is this some sort of joke?” Keith murmured, not looking into Lance’s eyes. Lance scrambled up, his heart pounding. 

“Sorry I’m sorry Keith I….” he starts to grab his bags, running his fingers through his hair, getting that look in his eye. It was the same look he had in the arena when facing the bogart. Keith wanted to reach out but he was too frozen. His heart was pounding, Lance’s words ringing in his ears. 

“I shouldn’t have…” Lance was rambling like he did when he was upset. It was funny how much they’ve gotten to know each other within the span of this competition and Keith wanted nothing more than to go to that dance with Lance Mcclain. 

But by the time he finally opened his mouth to tell him yes, yes I want to go to the dance with you, Lance was rushing out the door, rubbing tears from his eyes. Keith stood up to chase after him, opening the door and running down the stairs into his common room. He emerged into the hall, but by that point, Lance was gone and all of Keith’s opportunities went down the drain. 

“HaveyouseenLance?” Keith said the next morning to Hunk and Pidge, completely ignoring the other three girls sitting at the table. They seemed startled by his appearance, but Keith didn’t care. He didn’t sleep at all the night before and every time he laid down he tossed and turned. Eventually he snuck out to try and find Lance, but he ended up getting caught and sent back to his dorm. 

“Wow Keith so polite of you to say hi to our friends Allura, Shay, and Romelle,” Pidge says sarcastically. Keith glares.

“Where’s Lance?” Hunk raises an eyebrow. 

“He’s not with you?”

“Why would he be with me!” Keith runs his hands through his hair, sitting down. 

“You guys were studying together last night where did he go after that?” Keith whimpers. 

“I don’t know. He stormed off and–”

“Wait. He stormed off?” one of the girls, Allura, pitches in. Keith nods worriedly. 

“Dude what did you do?” Pidge says. Keith buries his head in his arms. 

“He asked me to the Yule Ball.” Everyone at the table gasps. 

“Keith I swear if you said no–”

“I didn’t say anything but he started freaking out and I just…” Everyone is leaning close to him. 

“Did you tell him?” Pidge asks. Keith shakes his head. 

“I thought it was a joke! I didn’t think he would actually ask me!” Pidge shakes her head sadly. 

“Do you ever read the Daily Prophet?” Romelle says. Keith looks up at her, an angry look on his face. Pidge shoves a paper in his face. He looks down at the article. 

There’s a big picture of him and Lance, standing close together just before the second challenge. The headline read, “Rivals… or Star-Crossed Lovers?” Keith raised an eyebrow. 

“What’s this?” 

“Lance’s interview. You haven’t seen it?” Keith shakes his head, starting to read intently. 

“R: So Mcclain, would you care to explain to us what happened in this round of competition?

L: Well, this part of the competition was always meant to help repay Kogane for helping me in… the first challenge. I felt bad and I wanted to help him as much as I could so we worked together to create our potions to help us. We started swimming up together, but I noticed that Keith was no longer next to me. 

R: So you gave up a win to help him?

L: Yes.

R: Why? 

L: I… well I don’t know. It only seemed fair considering he lost a significant amount of points for helping me. 

R: You still could’ve swam for the surface and got him help. You didn’t have to be his knight in shinning armor. So why did you save him yourself?

L: I didn’t think of that….

R: No, you didn’t. 

R: Would you have done it differently?

L: No. I would’ve risked everything to save him– I mean, I don’t want to see a fellow competitor get hurt. He would’ve drowned. 

R: I see… and what are your opinions of Keith? You two have gotten extremely close during this competition.

L: We have. Keith has been amazing, the kind of friend I never knew I needed. He’s a bit temperamental, but once you get through his shell he has so many admirable traits and he’s so handsome….

R: Would you ever see Kogane as more than a friend?

L: Ye–NO! NO not at all that’s not what this is. We’re just friends, sometimes rivals. We would never– he would never– we don’t like each other in that way

R: Maybe he doesn’t, but how about you, Mcclain?

L: *no comment*”

“This isn’t real this had to have been forged. Lance would never say this.” 

“He saw the article and tried to burn every copy of the Daily Prophet so you wouldn’t see it.” Keith frowns. 

“Because it makes him look bad.” Pidge rolls her eyes. 

“You need to go talk to Lance.”

“I don’t know where he is.” Pidge huffs. 

“C’mon.”

Keith knocked tentatively on the door Pidge said was Lance’s. They had a little house set up with rooms for each of the students and Keith was sure he was going to get lost, but Pidge managed to find their way. 

“Yes?” A voice called, cracking towards the end of the word. Keith felt his heart splinter. He was aware of some people around him whispering about his appearance saying things like “the Durmstrang boy” and “Lance” and “Klance.” He ignored them. 

“It’s Keith,” Keith says. Keith hears sniffles from inside. 

“Can I come in?” There’s no answer. Keith takes a deep breath, opening the door. 

The room was actually really neat. So neat that it made Keith felt bad about the times he brought Lance into his dorm which was utter chaos. But everything seemed to have a place, down to the pencils on the desk. 

“Wow your room is so neat…” Lance rubs his eyes. They’re red and puffy. 

“I organize when I’m upset…” Keith walks over to Lance’s bed, sitting next to him. Lance pulls his knees to his chest. Keith bites his lip, trying to figure out what to say. 

“You look tired,” Lance says, frowning. Keith yawns. 

“Maybe I didn’t sleep.” Lance looks appalled. 

“Keith! You need to take care of yourself! You have a test today that’s it your skipping first and second block.” Keith smiled a little. 

“What about you, Lance?” he says softly. Lance seems a bit surprised. 

“What about me?” Keith frowns. 

“Look Lance about last night–” Lance presses a finger to Keith’s lips. Keith looks at him with surprise. 

“Keith look. I shouldn’t have asked it just made things awkward I’m sorry.”

“Lance listen to me–” 

“Keith you don’t need to apologize. I understand you don’t feel the same way.” Keith grabs Lance’s hands, twining his fingers through Lance’s, his face red. 

“Look I… I’m glad you asked.” Lance searches Keith’s face, looking confused. Keith shies away from him, seeming super flustered, 

“Keith what–” Keith looks up at him.

“I said no to Acxa because I was waiting for you to ask me.” Lance gapes at him. 

“No.. Keith just… Please don’t do this to make me feel better that’s so much worse–”

“Lance I’m not–”

“Keith really its okay if you don’t like me–” Keith has never been good with words. He knew that there was no way to tell Lance the way he felt. So he fists his hands in Lance’s shirt, pulling him close. He hesitates for a moment, their lips centimeters apart. Then, Keith kisses him. 

Lance pulls away, a surprised look on his face. Keith looks at him with those eyes, those purple eyes with unreadable emotions that Lance finally understands. He kisses Keith again, his heart pounding, not sure if this was real and not caring. 

When they break they look at each other for a long moment… then burst out into giggles, laying down on the bed, Keith’s legs hanging off the end and Lance’s propped against the wall. Lance looks back at Keith and Keith looks back at Lance, both of them smiling. 

“So…” Keith says, grinning dorkily. Lance loved that grin. “Wanna go to the Yule Ball with me?”

Allura helped Lance get ready for the dance because, well, he was a bi disaster. 

“Do you think he’ll like it?” Lance says, frowning down at his suit. Allura rolls her eyes. 

“You know blue looks good on you Lance. It matches your eyes.” Lance huffs. 

“I know I just… I want to make a good impression. This is our first… I guess date?” Allura just smiles.

“That boy is over the moon for you. I’m sure you could wear a trash bag and he would think your the hottest guy in the room.”

“Do I look good, Lura?” Lance says for the last time with a sigh. She smiles.

“Yes Lance, you look great.”

“Shiro where’s my tieeeeee.” Keith groans, running his hands through his hair. His outfit was almost complete, he just needed find his freaking tie. 

Shiro decided that it would be a good idea to help Keith get ready for the Yule Ball for unknown reasons. He kept going on and on about how him and his boyfriend, Adam, met at a school event similar to this one. He was such a romantic it made Keith gag, although he wasn’t any better. He kept stressing, trying to make everything perfect. 

“Keith. You’re wearing your tie,” Shiro says with a bored expression. Keith looks down. 

“Oh.” 

“You okay?”  Keith bites his lip.

“What if he decides he doesn’t like me?” 

“He’s not going to do that Keith.”

“What if he backs out? What if I get stood up?”

“Keith calm down.”

“What if–” Shiro grabs his shoulders. 

“Lance fell in love with you, he wants to go to this dance with you.” Keith huffs. 

“Alright…” Shrio smiles. 

“Just be yourself. He loves that.” Keith sighs and nods. 

“Do I look okay?” 

“You look perfect. 

As instructed, Lance, Keith, and Pidge arrived early to go over the procedures for how they were to handle the Yule Ball. They arrived at their given time, much to to the headmasters surprise. He frowned when he saw them. 

“No one got dates?” Lance coughs. 

“Uh we’re together….” He takes Keith’s hand. The headmaster smiles a bit. 

“My brother said he’ll dance with me.” 

“Okay then. I trust you all know how this works?” Pidge nods, Keith and Lance shake their heads. He takes a deep breath. 

“It is tradition that the Champions walk out once everyone has settled and do the first dance.” Keith stiffens. 

“Something wrong?” Lance whispers, his brows drawn in concern. 

“I can’t dance,” Keith says nervously. Lance laughs. 

“No one can.” Keith pouts. They go over a few more things. People start to trickle in, mingling amongst themselves. 

“You know… you look amazing tonight,” Lance says, playing with Keith’s ponytail as they wait for their cue. Keith blushes brightly. 

“S-so do you!” he says defensively. Lance laughs. 

“Thank you.” Keith wraps his arm around Lance, snuggling close to him. Lance felt his heart thud in his chest. 

“I bet I can dance better than you,” Keith mumbles. Lance snorts. 

“You’re on Kogane.” 

Lance felt like he was flying. Everything about the night was perfect, and it didn’t matter that he was about to face the third trial soon. All that matters was he was sitting here, in the warm and inviting dorm of Keith Kogane, explaining what a cell phone was and how Keith needed to get one immediately. Keith seemed confused. 

“Where do the messages go?” Lance laughs. 

“They come to me, silly.” Keith gets that adorable, quizzical expression on his face. 

“But how do they get there?”

“You’re questioning actual muggle technology proven with science but not the entirety of magic.” Keith shrugs. 

“I’ve always lived around magic. I guess I never thought about it.” Lance sighs, leaning against Keith. 

“Thank you.” 

“For what?” 

“For just… being the most amazing person I ever met.” Keith turns to Lance, a flustered smile on his face. 

“It’s only fair. You’re the most extraordinary person I ever met.” Lance blushes, burying his face in Keith’s shoulder. 

“Keiiithhhhh who taught you how to flirt?” Keith laughs. 

“If I recall, you did. When trying to help me get the guy I was holding out on to take me to the dance. Which was you.”

“I do recall that…”

“Remember that time I made you blush so hard you had to physically walk out of the room?”

“IN MY DEFENSE– I was not prepared for you to be that good.” Keith laughs softly. 

“I just can’t believe you didn’t figure out that I liked you.” Lance huffs.

“To be fair, you didn’t figure it out either even when it was all in a nice interview tied with a bow.”

“You got me there.” 

THE END