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xaviernottheprofessor · 5 months

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Kiss and Makeup.

Who: Xavier and Fletcher @fletchervanhall Where: The Winter Gala When: Saturday, January 20th (time travelers fr) A/N: Xavier and Fletcher try to play nice. Really nice.

XAVIER

Xavier was glad to see that the auction had been successful. Scanning the audience, he was able to zero in on most of his friends and it warmed his heart that everyone had shown up for the kids. Leo was beyond excited his father ended up getting a date and while everyone scattered to either the casino room or the room that held all the memorabilia and baskets that were being raffled off, Xavier was parched. He reached for a glass of wine from one of the servers and thanked them. Maybe some fresh air would help him cool down a bit and then he'd go mingle. Someone caught his attention and he waved politely, walking backward towards the exit when he ended up crashing into one of the guests, spilling his wine all over himself. A white attire party was probably not the best place to serve that. He'd make a note of it. "Oh shite. Fuck. I'm so sorry." He wasn't even concerned about himself as long as the guest was alright. "You alright there?" He smiled, turning to face the person he had crashed into, hoping he didn't hurt them in the process. When he realized who it was, he felt the need to sink into a hole somewhere. "Oh. I didn't expect to see you here, Fletcher." He placed his wine glass at a nearby table. "I'm sorry. I wasn't looking. The lights were a little too overwhelming. You alright? I asked that already--" Xavier reached for his handkerchief and wiped the smaller stain on the other's top. "Sorry."

FLETCHER

Fletcher knew he'd given both Xavier and Rodrigo a hard time about the event but he had to admit that the date auction had been more entertaining than he expected. He'd told Rodrigo as much and even went over to Celeste to give her props on her obviously unsuspecting date candidate. With the night nearly ending, or at least his time at the event nearly ending, he felt it safe to have a drink that wasn't water. But as soon as he'd taken a glass off of one of the server's trays and was preparing to thank them for whatever was in it, he found himself, collided into with some of his beverage, or the other's--he really wasn't sure which--spilled on his white shirt with a few flecks staining his vest. His own drink spilled on his hand a little but he was looking down at the red stains now glaring on the otherwise white fabric of his clothes. "Goddammit," he hissed, fully prepared to glower at who had run into him. And the moment Xavier turned around and Fletcher saw that he'd stained his own clothes, his eyes narrowed a bit. "Yeah, I noticed that." If it had been a different setting, Fletcher probably would have abandoned his sparsely-used filter to answer Xavier's question honestly. Instead, he gave a sarcastic, "Peachy," and then sighed. He reached up to gently guide Xavier's handkerchief-wielding hand away. "It's not gonna come out with that so save it." Drawing in a quiet, deep breath, he tried a slightly nicer response when Xavier apologized. "Don't worry about it. I was gonna leave soon anyway, so I'll take care of it when I get home." He had bleach at home and if that didn't work, then he'd have to throw the garments out.

XAVIER

He bit his bottom lip at Fletcher’s very obvious distaste and even though they had their disagreement , he was truly impressed with the man showing up. So to be a good sport, Xavier put his handkerchief back into his pocket and shook his head at the other. “No no. Please let me fix this, yeah? You have to stay. You made it all the way here.” And that’s when an idea poured over him. “Listen, mate…I’ve got a room upstairs. My luggage is there. I’ve got extra clothes since I’m hosting. Let me get you something ? Peace offering. And if you stay for the last half hour then great. If you choose to leave then you won’t have to worry about people seeing that wine stain. And I can get that out for you. I’ll return it to you good as new.” Xavier was trying hard to be nice. Maybe it was DJ’s words playing over in his head of how Fletcher was a decent person. Maybe it was because he was such a people pleaser . It couldn’t be because he had slightly obsessed over the interaction they had days ago. He didn’t quite know why but he didn’t want to dwell on that. “It’ll only take a minute.”

FLETCHER

At first, Fletcher was confused and wondering where Xavier was going with this and how he was going to fix it. He was about to say something smart but stopped and listened to the younger man in full. His head shook as he first said, "I don't really care if people see me with the stain." He didn't care what the people here thought of him. A few were friends and they wouldn't be scandalized by a wine stain, and the rest were people whose opinions of him weren't valuable to him. But when Xavier insisted further by saying it wouldn't take long, Fletcher's once tense shoulders dropped a little as he relented. "Fine, okay." And he gestured with one hand for Xavier to lead the way.

XAVIER

“Well good on you, lad. I’m terrible. Maybe a little vain?” He joked, letting a soft laugh fall from his lips. “Actually it’s social anxiety. I hate eyes on me believe it or not.” He then cleared his throat, realizing he was over sharing as per usual but with a participant that didn’t quite seem to want to participate. Deciding to keep his mouth shut, he led the way up the winding stair case at the entrance and walked towards one of the bedrooms. He looked behind his shoulder once to make sure the man was following him and then opened the door, standing in the doorway to let Fletcher in first. “Uh just one minute.” His phone notified him of a text from Henry who was somewhere in the mansion hanging out with Leo and the other kids and he smiled at the photo of them playing Roblox downstairs. He slipped his phone back into his pocket and then went to work, pulling his pink luggage onto the bed so that he could open it. Xavier searched for something that would fit Fletcher and decided on a white cardigan that he loved. “Here you go. This would look flattering on you.”

FLETCHER

Fletcher listened to Xavier and while he was surprised to hear that he hated having eyes on himself, he was mindful of that. But he was also surprised that Xavier was telling him this. Fletcher knew he wasn't being warm and fuzzy towards the other man. Warm and fuzzy wasn't Fletcher's typical M.O. though, especially with people he hardly knew. He followed Xavier anyway though and when they reached the room Xavier was using, he headed inside. After a glance back at Xavier and seeing him on his phone, Fletcher turned back to look about the room for a moment. His fingers were absent-mindedly undoing the buttons on his vest first while asking outright, "So why the hell were you walking backwards with red wine in your hand. At a white party?" He shrugged the vest off and began unbuttoning the dress shirt. "I don't think that's gonna fit me by the way. I'm taller than you and -" he paused, looking Xavier up and down for a moment, "I'd bet my torso is little longer."

XAVIER

He was slightly confused and surprised at Fletcher’s words. Xavier couldn’t understand why the other man wasn’t responsive to him being nice. Furrowing his brows together, he tired to gather a comeback but out came more biting words. “Yeah, well it’s just for a bit. It might not be too much of a bad fit. Probably a bit tight but that might look nice actually I think it will”. His compliments were genuine but maybe Fletcher wasn’t buying it. Even if Xavier thought they’d never be friends, he could admit that the other was a very good looking man. “I wasn’t thinking when I was walking. Look, I know this is the last place you want to be…” he walked up to Fletcher to give him the cardigan and once he was close enough, he realized immediately that the tattoo artist smelled pretty amazing. “Trying to be nice here..throw me a bone, okay?”

FLETCHER

Fletcher's fingers stopped about two-thirds of the way down from unbuttoning his shirt as he listened to Xavier. "I guess so," he said, but he also wasn't the most comfortable with borrowing the cardigan. It probably costs hundreds of dollars and if he had a repeat of their situation with someone else spilling something on him, then it'd just look like he did it on purpose. He finished unbuttoning the shirt and left it hanging open as Xavier approached him with the clean top. And after gazing at him for a few seconds, he accepted the cardigan with a small chuckle, "Somehow, I get the feeling you don't have to try very hard to be nice." He finally shrugged out of the shirt, exchanging the cardigan from one hand to the other and turning his back to Xavier for a moment while looking for somewhere nearby to set his discarded shirt and vest. With his back tattoo and two sleeves of tattoos on display to Xavier, Fletcher was completely unfazed by his own half-nakedness. Ultimately, he balled up his clothes and left them on the floor next ot his foot, and then pulled the cardigan on. It was soft and smelled amazing, and Fletcher was surprised to find that it wasn't as small as he thought it might be. "You don't need to do anything with my clothes. I'll figure it out. But I do need to find a way to get this back to you. Do you... I don't know, do you have your stuff sent out to be dry cleaned?"

XAVIER

Relieved that Fletcher took the garment from him Xavier smiled and then laughed at the other man’s words. “I don’t know. I’ve had to try hard with you so…it’s not entire impossible.” Xavier watched Fletcher discard his clothing and then let his gaze focus on his back. It bounced from his back to Fletcher’s arms. Curiosity got the best of him and as he watched Fletcher closely, Xavier’s thoughts were elsewhere. He knew his pulse was racing because he felt the need to try and focus on just about anything else but he simply couldn’t. please do not let this mean man catch me staring Xavier wished he could get a closer look but that would be weird. It wasn’t until he realized there were words coming out of the other man that he somewhat snapped back into reality. “I’m sorry, I—what was that?” He turned to face the bed again, finding a silk button up he could change into and unbuttoned his Jacket, folding it nicely to the side before removing his dress shirt. “Um you should stay. There’s gonna be raffles and you can laugh at me terribly written jokes. Right? Maybe I’ll get as famous as Rebecca Black tonight.” Xavier turned to face Fletcher again after getting the silk shirt on. “That was…really fucking mean” he laughed and looked down to button up his shirt. Anything to avoid meeting Fletcher’s gaze.

FLETCHER

Fletcher's face scrunched a bit with genuine confusion, "No you don't." He shrugged and plainly syated, "Just be real. That should be effortless." He continued getting changed and then fixed his gaze back on Xavier after asking about the clothes. He was about to repeat the question but hearing Xavier suggest his stay took him aback. He stared at Xavier'a back--and briefly, his ass--until the younger man had turned back around. "Oh come on, Xavier. Really?" He folded his arms while stepping closer to the other man. The lack of eye contact wasn't lost on him though and while Fletcher knew he could be intimidating, he honestly didnt think that would be the case here. So he softened his generally hard tone a fraction. "Okay, look, you're a comic, right? And you work for SNL. You can't be a stranger to dishing out or taking roasts. Besides, like you said, you've got an Emmy. And you were obviously wanted to be here hosting tonight because you’ve got a helluva lot more talent than the one-hit anomaly behind Friday." He rolled his eyes, not at Xaiver but at the thought of the perpetually annoying song. Now standing in Xavier's space, he said, "But... I'm sorry. Alright?"

XAVIER

“Thanks.” He looked up at Fletcher and then shook his head. “This kind of stuff doesn’t bother me, usually?” He laughed soft enough for Fletcher to know it was all light conversation. “Like, criticism comes with the job. So it’s okay and all forgiven and water under the bridge. He smiled, finishing up the last of his buttons. “Besides I like it when people are a little mean. Probably a kink or something.” He laughed again not fully realizing the weight of that little confession. “Probably something I should work out someday, huh?” He finally let his gaze fully fall on Fletcher now wearing his cardigan. “Hey, I was right. Looks good on you.” It was in that moment that he noticed how close they really were. “Don’t hurt em…yeah?” He wondered what he tasted like…

FLETCHER

As Fletcher's eyes went from Xaiver's face to watching him button up his shirt and covering the view that was only glimpsed at, he replied, "Yeah. At the same time, I'm a dick, so. There's that." One thing Fletcher was though was more self-assured than most people he knew. And sometimes that alone got him labeled as a dick, which confused him. At the mention of meanness as a kink though, he snapped his gaze back to Xavier's dark eyes, lightly snorted and then quipped, "I guess? Depends on what you mean by that though--working it out. With dating or sex? Probably. With therapy or journaling? Ehhhhh..." His shoulder shrugged again and then he unfolded his arms, quickly checking the time on his watch and then sliding his hands into the pockets of his dress pants. "Thanks. And to your suggestion about staying longer, I can't. Not for much longer anyway. I'll probably make my rounds to friends and then head out. Gotta.take care of some stuff before I go to bed." Bending down, picked up his clothes, "And I'll take these with me. Like I said earlier: don't worry about it. And as for returning your cardigan, I can either give it to Rodrigo or someone to get to you, or you can stop by my shop sometime and get it back. Up to you."

XAVIER

"I don't know. Probably all of those things. Like, I'm sure I don't like people who are awful or anything. Just...people that are challenging and I'm sure dominiance plays a factor there." He couldn't help but laugh. "Imagine journaling all my kinks. Sorry, you don't need to be hearing any of that. Chatty Cathy this evening I suppose." Xavier really needed to shut up. He was only digging himself some strange word vomit hole and this was probably just not the guy to do that with. When Fletcher said he couldn't stay longer, he felt a mixture of sadness and relief. At least if Fletcher left, he wouldn't have to say any more stupid things. "Yeah, I understand." In truth, Xavier had known of the man. He saw him at most events and he had close ties to a lot of his friends. There was always something curious about him and maybe Xavier had developed a bit of a crush but he would never act upon it. It was tricky and Xavier didn't know about his sexual preference and while that could have been cleared up in a simple conversation, he never knew how to even initiate that. When he answered his message board post, Xavier was kind of thrilled until he wasn't. Having him this close and looking that fine was extremely conflicting. "I'll come by your store sometime next week. In peace." He chuckled "Maybe you can tell me more about your tattoos or something. Couldn't help but admire them." He cleared his throat before taking one more step closer so that he could reach for the pair of pants sitting on top of the luggage and behind Fletcher. This time it was too close. He could really smell his sorta-kinda rival's cologne and maybe aftershave? say something, you idiot.(edited)

"You should go before we argue again and then I'm fighting the urge to actually like you or something." He hadn't even noticed his voice dropping an octave and his eyes settling on Fletcher's. Xavier didn't catch on to his own smirk or the fact that this was definitely flirtation. He might as well wore a sign that begged Fletcher to be mean to him so that he could fantasize about an interaction that 'could have been' later.

FLETCHER

"Sounds like you know what you like. There's nothing wrong with that," Fletcher replied with another shrug of his shoulders. And sure Xavier did ramble but he didn't seem to mind it much it didn't hurt that the man was cute too. But he didn't know Xavier's preferences so he continued casually speaking with him. "Alright. Yeah. It's The Ink Tank in case you didn't already know." He smirked a little, "I'm surprised you saw much of their detail but I guess the dark ink stands out well enough on my white ass." After a light snort he went quiet, watching Xavier step closer to him. Fletcher stilled, waiting to see what the other man was doing but his eyes dropped to one of Xavier's arms and watched him reach past him. Instinctively, Fletcher stepped aside but he hadn't really changed his nearness to Xavier. His brows furrowed though. "Why would you fight...?" His sentence trailed off as he shook his head. "Nevermind. Later, Xavier." And at that, he turned for the door.

XAVIER

FLETCHER

Brows flicking up, Fletcher gave an impressed look to Xavier about his photographic memory. "Damn. That's cool." And although Fletcher doubted he was of any real, positive interest to Xavier, he couldn't deny the guy was kind, or kind enough to try and make up for the accidental wine spill. But he wasn't sure what to make of the abrupt end to their conversation. Sure, he had to go soon but he hadn't minded getting to know Xavier a little more, outside of the online forum or what little Fletcher had seen on TV. Still, he'd made to leave, up until he felt a hand halt him at his stomach. Fletcher glanced down and then turned back to Xavier, candidly wearing all of his confusion on his face yet again. At first he'd resisted the tug to the cardigan by standing completely still, but the moment he saw Xavier's tongue dart out over his full lips, Fletcher noticed that the other man was eyeing his own lips. He'd leaned in without really paying attention to the fact that he was drawing closer, and then to his surprise, he found his lips pressed to Xavier's. His hands were just a few inches away from the sides of Xavier's body as they kissed and, for a couple of seconds, Fletcher was kissing him back, chasing the pillowy softness of those full lips. If he hadn't been so bewildered by the moment, he would have kissed Xavier longer--held him close and deepened the kiss. But he jerked his head back, ending the kiss more suddenly than it had begun.

XAVIER

The nagging voice in his head tried it's best to interfere. Why are you doing this, why are you doing this? Xavier found it easy to ignore it all for jut a couple of minutes. What started as a simple little thing ended in Xavier pouring some of his vulnerability into it. It's not that he hadn't kissed another man before. In fact, there were a few but this was dangerous territory. What if Fletcher didn't like guys? What if Xavier had really stepped over the line with this? Celeste would kill him. Dj would crucify him. He should be more careful. And when Fletcher pulled away, it was almost as if all his questions were devastatingly answered. He felt terrible. Why did he think this was okay? "I'm--so--" and before he could finish that sentence, he heard Adam calling out for him. "X, are you upstairs? We need to do the raffles!" Xavier closed his eyes and reopened them quickly, not wanting to look at Fletcher in the eye. Not wanting to feel like worse than he already did. "I'm sorry. I thought...we--" He sighed. "I'm coming!" He shouted, looking down at the now wrinkled pants in his hands. He decided to wear the white shirt untucked, turning so that he could pull off his belt quickly and nervously and drop his pants so that he could replace them with the new pair. "I didn't mean to overstep." He licked his lips, still facing the door as he finished getting dressed. He pulled the belt on again into the loops of the clean pair of pants. before turning to face the tattoo artist again. "You're more than welcome to punch me now for real. Maybe next week when I get the cardigan. I've got a photoshoot this weekend." He was so embarrassed.

FLETCHER

Fletcher was almost never at a loss for words, even when said words got him into trouble or labeled an asshole. So when he ended the kiss and looked down at Xavier, it was no surprise that he had something to say. But Xavier beat him to it. And then he was interrupted by Adam Driver. And then Xavier was apologizing and fumbling and hurrying to get out of there. Xavier initiated the kiss and were Fletcher not confused by the moment, he would have let it go on. But he was... well, he didn't know what Xavier thought of him at this point. "What the hell.." He whispered of nothing specific. His eyes did wander to watching Xavier change his pants but he didn't blatantly stare like a creep. Instead, he glanced down at his wad of clothes in one hand while questioning, "Overstep?" He glanced Xavier's way and was about to address that comment but then heard Xavier permit him to punch him. "What the fuck? I'm not gonna punch you. Not for that, anyway. I wanna know why you did it though. You jumped to these conclusions about me before and after kissing me, so I'm a little fuckin confused right now."

XAVIER

Xavier could hear Adam in the background urging him to hurry and that he had 5 minutes. It was playful and his colleague didn't seem angry or anything but if he could disappear any which way, he would. Fletcher's question got him chewing the inside of his cheek and he moved to sit on the ottoman at the foot of the giant bed. "I'm sorry for doing that. Jumping to conclusions. I--fuck, am I nervous?" Bingo. This bloke was making him nervous. That was a first for Xavier--someone who never had to work for anything. He never had to chase for too long or at all. He was spoiled, in a way and it gave him this false sense of security and confidence. "I have five minutes so I'll be quick. You're incredibly attractive and that doesn't mean I go around kissing everyone that I find attractive but I've thought so for a long time. I was just hopeful that's all. But I'm sorry. For not asking for your consent, for making assumptions, for the wine, and for whatever else." He slipped his feet back into his dress shoes and then looked up to Fletcher. "I was glad you came when I saw you. I mean, I still am. This was nice you know until...it wasn't?" He offered him a smile and then the sincerest gaze he could muster up. "I did it hoping there was a chance you'd do it back. No strings or anything. Just thought it would be nice... kissing you." Adam's voice again, this time against the door. "Two minutes, Mitchell!"

FLETCHER

As many events as he and Xavier had both attended prior to tonight, Fletcher was realizing that he hadn’t really had a face-to-face conversation with the guy before. And now that he was, he'd been a little amused by Xavier. Not because Xavier was a comedian or that he was even trying to be funny at the moment. But he was most definitely nervous and hearing his rushed confessional was sort of adorable, if unexpected. He tugged one side of his lips up into a crooked smirk and then, when Xavier finished, he stepped to the younger man, halting only when Adam's very close voice came through from the other side of the door, making him flinch and then recover with an eye roll. Giving a pointed stare to Xavier, he said in a low voice, "See? I told you it was too much having you both here for this thing." He shook his head and then reached up with his free hand to gingerly bracket his thumb and fingers around Xavier's chin, tilting it up. "I can do 'no strings or anything' with you," he murmured and then bent his head to kiss Fletcher full on the lips with absolute intention.

XAVIER

"He thinks he's my boss..." He whispered before he cracked a smile followed by a soft but quiet laugh. He'd continue the banter but now Fletcher was in front of him and he wondered what that meant. Xavier knew by now that there was no weird tension between them but he was still pretty nervous. He didn't answer Adam and Fletcher's touch lit his cheeks on fire. "yeah?" Like a puppy dog, he waited patiently for the other man's next move only for his eyes to snap shut when their lips met again. How was it possible that something that had just happened moments ago felt so new again? Xavier reached to tangle his fingers into Fletcher's hair, standing slowly without breaking their kiss. It was killing him already this would have to be short-lived. His fingers massaged Fletcher's hair as his lips melted against the other's. He sighed deeply through his nose, humming against Fletcher's affection. he had to fucking go. Slowly and reluctantly, he pulled away just enough to flicker his warm eyes up to catch the man's reaction. "Why'd you do that? Now it'll be all I think about." He smirked. "And cancel everything out. I was right. It was nice."

FLETCHER

Fletcher'shead tilted a little when Xavier stood up. His skipped his hand from the younger man's chin to cuff the column of his neck, all the while enjoying how tender Xavier's lips were. And when he pulled away, Fletcher's brown eyes met the comedian's pair. "Because I wanted to. And you wanted me to. I'm not really sure how that's a problem though--you thinking about that kiss." He grinned a little and then carded a hand through his hair as though it was a substitute for having someone else do it the way Xavier had done mere moments ago. "Yeah, it was nice. But now you have to go. And so do I." He sighed a little, stepping aside to let Xavier go. He could wait a little before leaving too, so not to create assumptions with his co-host waiting for him nearby. "Go do your thing. I'll see you again sometime. Soon."

XAVIER

He didn't mean to rush any of this and if not for the fundraiser, the night might have ended a little differently but that uncertainty made it all thrilling. He'd have something to look forward to. He'd have something to finish. "Right." He was slightly in a daze. It was a high, if you will. Xavier could have done that for hours. He checked himself in the mirror quickly, smiling at the sight of his neck, imagining Fletcher's fingers at his pulse before shaking that thought off so that he could function better. "Hey, can I have your phone? I'm going to plug in my number. I'll be in the UK until Wednesday but then I'm back in the States. I'll send you a meme or two." He smiled, arranged his collar, and then turned to face the older man with his hand out so that he could plug his phone number in.

FLETCHER

Fletcher took in Xavier's expression with a bit of smugness creeping through in his own smile. He could have stayed up there with Xavier longer, rolling with the turn of events between them. But he had his uncle to think of, and Xavier had a fundraiser to co-host. So he behaved. But after stepping aside, he heard Xavier's request and reached in his back pocket for his cellphone. He held it out but quickly lifted it back, saying, "Aht. Text me on your way downstairs so I have your number too." And then he handed the device over, thinking about the times he'd gotten texts from numbers he didn't know, all because his work crew would give his cell number out for referrals.

XAVIER

Xavier reached for the phone only to chuckle when Fletcher lifted it back. “Obviously. Im not an amateur, darling.” His laughter melted into a grin and he took the phone from the older man so that he could not only save his number but also send a text hey, handsome. It’s your favorite comedian. and then handed it back to Fletcher. “What time do you close during the week? I’ll head over there before closing time so that I don’t mess with your work day.” The comedian then took one last look and raised his arms before dropping them at his sides. “Do I look funny enough to end the night on a high?”

FLETCHER

"Good to know," Fletcher quipped and then just before handing his phone over, he tapped his own number on the screen so Xavier would have it. He folded his arms casually over his chest while Xavier tapped his number in place of the digits Fletcher put on the screen, and then he watched Xavier save his own phone number in his device. Once his phone was back, he held onto it and then felt it buzz a few seconds later. Looking at the screen, he read the text on the home screen and then rolled his eyes with a smile. Looking skyward, he said, "Forgive him, Robin Williams. You're still number one," and then lowered his amused gaze back to Xavier. "I close at eight. That way if any of us is still working on somone's ink, we've got some time to finish, get our station cleaned up and head home at a decent hour." He slid his phone in his back pocket while arching a brown, "'Funny' isn't the word I'd use to describe how you look." Even beyond tonight, he'd noticed Xavier was a sharp dresser. The man knew how to look good, or had a great stylist. "Knock 'em dead. Charm the wallets off the stiffs."

XAVIER

“Robin Williams is my favorite too. Look at that something in common.” He grinned and then nodded at his words. “Okay, I’ll come by 745 or something.” He couldn’t help but smile at Fletcher’s compliment. “Eat the rich. Am I right ?” Xavier came from nothing and there were plenty of times he forgot about how much that had changed. “See ya, love.” He flashed Fletcher another grin and opened the door. “You’re a royal pain in my ass Adam. You’re no longer my favorite Adam.” He laughed and walked off with his co-host, looking down at his phone and unable to shake off the knowing grin on his face.

#PARA: KISS AND MAKEUP #FLETCHER

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cookinguptales · 2 years

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Gonna get to work in a few minutes, but I was just thinking about one little thing...

I’ve noticed it before, but Guillermo’s relationship with other familiars is kind of interesting. He seems to feel an innate kinship with them in some ways, but I don’t think any of them return the favor. I think some of it is that there’s such an intrinsic selfishness to being a familiar in the first place (I mean, you have to be willing to sacrifice your own kind for your desires) that most of them only feel the need to network rather than create real relationships...

Like, they have a mailing list! But actual friendships seem rarer. Guillermo goes out of his way to help other familiars, like Celeste, but then she didn’t even remember his name and was more than happy to manipulate him (and scores of other familiars) for her own ego. No one even told him about the mailing list!

And you’ve got the relationship between Topher and Guillermo, which was fairly acrimonious even before Topher tried to eat him... Again, Guillermo was way more into the work situation and building a familial relationship than Topher was. For him, it was just a side gig and Guillermo was just an uptight coworker.

I feel like the apex of it is really at the familiar fights. Guillermo did everything in his power to protect the other familiars from their own masters’ capriciousness, but not a single one of them had the same compunction about him. Several of them even seemed like they really enjoyed trying to hurt him.

I think that must be really hard for Guillermo to swallow. He keeps on trying to build relationships with other familiars, but seems pretty unable to do so. Some of that is his social issues, but some of that seems to be that most familiars are even more selfish and amoral than he is. It’s definitely a work relationship for them, not a real social one, and that must suck because like... what are his alternatives? Be friends with humans, the people he’s had to train himself to see as disposable? Be friends with vampires, who largely despise him for being both a familiar and a vampire slayer?

He’s really only got the household, doesn’t he? The very few humans he’s managed to maintain relationships with (his mother, Jeremy, and Freddie) all know so little about him that they’re... not really relationships based on trust or intimacy, are they? None of them know the first thing about his real life. So how deep can a bond like that really go, and how emotionally fulfilling can it be?

And the familiar he’s probably closest with is Sam, aka The Best Familiar. (Sorry, Guillermo, I don’t make the rules.) That’s........ pretty sad.

So then there’s just the house. Nadja and Laszlo don’t even seem to like him most of the time, Colin is more of a nephew situation... God, it really is just Nandor, isn’t it? No wonder Guillermo is so goddamn codependent.

(And yes, all this does make me want to write fic about Guillermo and the Djinn, the only other person around who probably knows exactly how Guillermo feels about serving idiotic masters...)

#guillermo download bumble and make some friends or something #non-virgin friends so you don't get tempted #wwdits #wwdits meta #guillermo de la cruz #wwdits s4 spoilers

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catgirl-catboy · 1 year

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Finally someone who gets the symbolism in him, he is very greatly crafted and very symbolical one and it hurts to see people just care about Inori's death and reduced him just Inori's murderer.

Gosh I love him.

And I believe he and Taka can actually tolerate eachother, it is fun to Imagine my favourite characters interaction.

Well I would agree Kanade being a victim in some degree, her parents really bad parents and it did not help she was bullied too, there is no positive figure for her but still she is very bad about finding coping mechanisms!

And which character dynamics would great to see other than Byakuya and Taka?

I'm gonna write the last part of this first because I have a list!

Mondo and Junko are perfect foils, but he has to go and die before they can interact. They literally committed the same crime, but one of them regrets it an aaa. I am actively resisting the urge to write a fic about those two due to scheduling.

I know we get an entire set of FTEs, but I'd really like more interactions between Makoto and Mukuro in the main storyline. I love Sayaka, but can Muku have like, 20% of that screentime. If I were in charge of writing the series, I'd have her actually develop her crush on Makoto here and get cold feet about this whole plan, and then have her defy Junko for real. We can still get her dying lines, but in a "how did you know I was going to betray you before even I did" way.

Speaking of Mukuro, can I drag you down into rarepair hell with Mukuro and Celeste? There's so much potential there for drama. Celeste is an Ult. Gambler, she is the most likely to catch onto the fact some shady shits going on. Celeste wants to be served and Mukuro has served others her whole life. Its such an interesting concept that we never got to see.

Taka and Toko are also an interesting one. I imagine that the possibility of Toko being locked up for a crime Syo committed would challenge his already shaky sense of justice. I also think he'd be torn about her self loathing. On one hand, she's a genius. On the other hand, anyone can work hard enough to overcome their flaws. Also, Toko is a romance novelist, so if anyone can convince Taka to snap out of it and keep living, its probably her.

There are more I could talk about (like Byakuya and Sayaka) but this is getting to be long! The epic version of THH that exists only in my head is a wonderful thing.

A Byakuya fan? Excellent taste! I'm so sorry the fandom did him dirty by either erasing his flaws or demonizing him for his treatment of Toko. (which was scummy, but she was equally if not more toxic.)

I could see him and Taka getting along in chapter two, after Taka has learned to be slightly less judgmental of others. Taka did not care about his negative comments, which bodes well!

Nah, if I ever met Kanade in real life, I would run like hell! But since she's fictional, I can enjoy her depravity! (though I would prefer if she never made that face again. You know the one) Same holds true for most of my faves. I just really dislike the "she was born evil" take. I mean, from canon I think she shows signs of being a psychopath, but not all psychopaths end up becoming mass murderers! I think it'd be like, especially fucked up if during that scene of her killing her parents, she gets called Hibiki. Ouch.

Yessssss the symbolism in Danganronpa is so fun, and nobody overanalyzes it enough. One of my favorite gems of symbolism in the series is Gonta getting killed by mechanical wasps, aka technology. Because he was a victim of the virtual world just as much as Miu. and Kokichi too in a sense. I could write a whole essay about stylistic choices such as these, but people'd probably think I've gone batshit. (Anyways, the Sword not being very practical represents Sayaka. Despite everything, she's not really made for combat and leaves residue (clues.) wherever she goes)

(Tangent, the more an execution tries to teach a fucked up lesson to the killer, the better it is. You can't change my mind.)

#ask tag #danganronpa

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aiiwa · 4 years

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hi pretty baby 🥺 for fmk -> oikawa, iwaizumi, tsukishima. i’d marry iwa of course loml <3. and then probably fuck tooru and kiss tsukki

celeste baby this was hard for me to choose from hehehe, but you have great taste <3

FUCK - iwaizumi hajime. i saw this head cannon that iwa can’t do fwb because he’d already be in love with the person and i just- yeah.

after a triad of back to back failed relationships, you were officially taking a break from romance. but you still had needs. so when one of your girl friends had suggested having a friend with benefits you weren’t necessarily opposed. though you were surprised iwa was quick to offer himself when you had briefly mentioned it to him - he wasn’t necessarily your first choice, only because you thought he wasn’t into anything like this, but you’d be lying if you said you hadn’t thought of sharing a bed with him.

you found iwa to be a passionate lover; so much different than other guys, so much better. he wasn’t afraid to take his time with you, to savour you; it was so clear your pleasure, was his pleasure. but i guess you should’ve realised much sooner than three months in, that it was deeper than just friends who have sex.

“iwa, fuck, feels too good.” you panted out, nails digging crescent shaped moons into his forearms.

he was holding himself up on top of you, your knees by your head, as his arms were tucked against the underside of your thighs. you were basically folded in half, and as you glanced down, you could see the connection between you two. his thick cock sliding in and out of you, coated in your juices - a bulge poking into your belly with each stroke. you can feel he’s near when he starts hitting deeper inside, twitching.

“gonna cum.” he groans, and just as both of your orgasms peak, lost in the high you still manage to make out what he says next. “fuck, i love you, y/n.” you gasp, eyes shooting open to meet his looking down at you. a panicked expression taking over his face, as he tries to cover up his confession. “shit! uh...i love this, i mean- uh, yeah…”

he’s still buried inside you, cum leaking out; that all you can do is laugh at the situation. “how about you try that again later.” iwa’s just nods sheepishly.

MARRY - oikawa tooru. another chaotic marriage.

when you had asked your husband what he missed most back home, aside from his best friends and family, he had said milk bread. it wasn’t common here in argentina, but nonetheless, you were determined to give your husband a piece of home. so calling your sister-in-law had been the first option for retrieving the recipe, and although your japanese was a tad choppy, you had the recipe and you begun preparations to have it ready before tooru returned home.

everything had seemingly gone well. when tooru unlocked the front door, announcing his arrival;you were quick to greet him with a lingering kiss, before dragging him into the kitchen.

“something smells good, mi amor.” and when his chocolate eyes catch sight of the warm milk bread on the countertop, you swear you see sparkles in his eyes. “you made this for me?”

nodding your head, you serve him some milk bread, watching in anticipation as he has his first taste. when he freezes, and struggles to gulp down the first bite, you feel your heart sink. of course, tooru is quick to notice, and offers you the brightest, most painful looking grin you’ve ever seen.

“don’t even try to lie to me, tooru.” you cut in before he has a chance to speak. having a taste for yourself - you’re quick to spit it back out into the trash. “oh god! where did i go wrong for it to taste that bad!”

your mortified expression is quick to turn morph into laughter, as both you and your husband keel over. and then your laughs turn into sobs as you groan about how you wanted to do something nice for him. tooru only pulls you into his chest, peppering kisses across your face as he comforts you.

“mi amor, just the thought of you doing this for me, is enough. i love you...but please don’t ruin my favourite food again.”

KISS - tsukishima kei. i used to wanna fuhhh this man so bad (still do) but me and him would sass tf out of each other.

your time in college was dedicated to two things - keeping your streak record of top grades and pissing off tsukishima kei. and just your luck you got to do both at the same time. it couldn’t have been a coincidence that the two of you were taking all the same courses this semester, or the fact that all of your professors had seemed to come to a mutual agreement for placing you as partners for each group project.

which is how you found yourself sitting in the library, with a salty blondie sitting across from you, golden-brown eyes glaring daggers into your relaxed form.

“do you plan on actually doing any work today?”

stretched out on the table in front of you, the side of your face pressed against your open textbook; your voice come out muffled. “nah.” tsukki continues to stare at you, grip on his pencil tightening, when a random though pops into your head. “hey, tsukki?”

“stop calling me that.” he grumbles, looking back down at his worksheet. when you don’t start talking again, he speaks up. “what? don’t know how to talk anymore? thank god.”

rolling your eyes, you sit up a bit, resting your chin on the flat of your palm. “why don’t you have a girlfriend, yet?” the pencil between his fingers snapped. you hated to admit it but over the years, tsukki really started to fill out his tall frame. he was handsome, though you hadn’t openly admitted so, but by third year of college you would’ve thought a girl would be attached at his hip.

putting down the broken pencil, he pushed his glasses up his nose, staring at you with an undecipherable look. “there’s...someone i’m interested in.” at his confession, you perk up. “she’s one of the most intelligent people i know, but she’s too dumb to even realise.”

“oh? maybe you should just confess then?”

“alright.” he agrees easily. “y/n, you’re the biggest idiot, and i like you. there, how was that?”

it takes a moment for his words to process, mouth agape in shock, before you’re leaping up from your seat, pointing an accusatory finger. “you like me?!” he only rolls his eyes, clicking his tongue. “ooh, tsukki, you wanna kiss me!”

and it’s mid teasing that he too stands, leaning over the table to grip your jaw, and press his lips to yours. he tastes like the strawberry shortcake he’d eaten earlier, and when his tongue slowly teases against yours, you felt yourself melting into him. when he moves back, you shouldn’t be surprised when he mocks you for being so dense.

“shut up.” you grouch. “i’ll be your idiot, just kiss me again.”

FMK CLOSED.

#💖 nona hits 500 #celeste❣️#haikyuu scenarios #haikyuu smut #iwaizumi x reader #oikawa x reader #tsukishima x reader

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nemrut · 3 years

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Epic 7 - Next Heroes to Raise

Well, thinking about the next projects.

There is, of course, the new dragon knight who might come out in the next few weeks. Probably gonna get her, even though it might be unwise since she is unlikely to be limited, what with the collab being...while not exactly near, i think, at least closer than might allow someone to accumulate enough ressources to get 2 or 3 limited heroes and their artifacts.

Even if we might not get another Dizzy, who straight up dominated the game for at least a year and still is one of the best PVE heroes, even though she might have fallen off slightly in PVP, there is probably at least one quite good hero or artifact coming there. And it is at times hard to tell which of the heroes will be good where. Baiken was decent but then it was later revealed how much easier she made one shot teams for Banshee since she attacks twice in succession.

So, gonna keep some molas and skystones/bookmarks in reserve.

Other than that, Ainos is next on my list so far. Saw a reddit post of someone building her and I wasn't aware she had such solid skills. I don't know if I would bring her to six stars anytime soon, but she will get gear and five stars at least. Especially since the 6 star awaken is just 6% more atk which doesn't really matter for a Soul Weaver.

Other heroes I am considering are still Crescent Moon Rin and Kitty Clarissa. Already talked about the latter before but CM Rin also seems useful, but she also requires some molas and she is also best served with the R&L artifact and I like that on Assassin Coli atm.

Glenn is supposed to be a decent budget extinction one shotter, who requires no mola, which is cool for someone who doesn't want to build scissors girl but I have a rather strong Sigret by now and if I need to, I could bring her along. The problem with that is, she would need the aux lots cleave since she is build for wyvern and there are a lot of answers to aux lots cleave atm. Glenn could be built with more speed so that a CR pusher like Ainos would suffice in making sure he is fast enough to kill an Arby. The no mola part plus his greater attack buff is tempting in that regard.

I just like to use Singelica a lot though, which makes other extinction characters unnecessary for now, especially since she is rarely banned. Also, Arby is no longer the problem he once was once you roll up against him with a tankier team. Ravi, ML Krau, F.Ceci and others can tank his annoying S3 just fine.

Other characters who could be raised are Ray and Pavel. Don't really like them as characters and am meh on ther kits, so unlikely to do that any time soon. Similarly, no interest in Haste, Kwaerik and Choux.

Troublemaker Crozet sees some use but I have more than enough tanks atm but I might do so at a later point. Am always tempted to build BBK though. She would be a versatile cleaver and I like her design but since she is a super damage dealer, that means I would have to give her enough molas to +15 her in order to make her work plus really good gear.

Celeste; Rin and Shadow Rose wouls also be solid builds. Especially Celeste could be useful to combo with C.Dom.

Then there is Zealot Carmainerose who i don't think would be super useful for anything but she is so extra, I kinda wanna build her. Achates is actually quite useful nowadays and it would be worth building her.

Need to raise a lot of dogs though, regardless of the choice in question.

#epic 7 #epic seven

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hs-analyzing-and-theorizing · 4 years

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Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc: What’s their Classpects?

Hello welcome back to “What’s their Claspects” where i (Rage/formally Time) look at pieces of fiction and try to find out the Classpects of the Characters.

Today we’re looking at Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc to find the Classpects of the cast, we’ll skip over backstory only characters & monokuma (Monokuma would likely be a first guardian in homestuck anyway) (Also this gonna be very long)

Makoto Naegi: Muse Of Hope

Alright so i think this one is very clear to see why I’d think this, Makoto isn’t one to act & instead is one to cause others to act for him. Him almost dying near the end of the game is what brings the group together to stop Junko & all Makoto had to do to cause that was trust in Kirigiri. As whole Makoto tends to lead others to hope but doesn’t force it, there’s only one time he leaned into an active role which was in SDR2 which we all know how that almost turned out for him, His plans & ideas work best when he’s not being active & instead helps others. Makoto is a very good example of a good Muse Of Hope. (Though you could make a case for him being a Light player)

Junko Enoshima: Lord Of Rage

Ah yes the queen of despair, of course she is the opposite Classpect to Makoto, though had Makoto fit something like Witch of Hope better I’d still give Junko Lord Of Rage, she is by far one of the most active people in Danganronpa, often making people serve her so she spread her despair farther than she’d be able to on her on. I’d very much say the people who serve Her remind me of Lord English’s followers by making it harder to deal with the Lord and by bringing more people into the fold. Junko mainly fits the parts of Rage to do with negative emotions also She could also fit Mage/Seer of Rage due to her analytical prowess.

Kyoko Kirigiri: Knight Of Heart

Kyoko’s childhood caused her to hide away her heart & feelings making her the cold but thoughtful young women we meet in the first game. She like other Knights hides the part of herself tied with her Aspect, she acts like the things around her don’t brother her & acts stone cold but behind that she’s a very emotional person who sometimes boils over & shows how she’s feeling. (Like when Alter Ego thought the headmaster could be the mastermind) Kyoko also mainly acts to serve others, working to keep everyone alive without caring how that could hurt her, (like making her seem shady to the others) she acts for other’s wellbeings way more often then for her own gain, even when letting Makoto take the fall was for the greater good of the group instead of her own good.

Byakuya Togami: Page Of Light

Byakuya was probably the hardest in this set to figure out but here it goes. Byakuya tends to avoid being the acting when he can help it, he tends to try to have others to serve him be a butler to serve him or the others knowing about Jack to make sure she doesn’t do anything to him. Byakuya tends towards the part of the Light Aspect about knowledge & fortune not so much on the luck part, the knowledge Byakuya has tends to be used by him for mainly his own gain though he is willing to work towards greater goods as long as he cares about it.

Toko Fukawa: Rogue of Doom

Alright so this one is more about DRAE:UDG as in the first game Toko was kinda role playing as a Knight due to trying to serve Byakuya but within Another Episode we get to see Toko act without Byakuya around. She tends to act for others instead of herself & often the way she helps hurts others, like with always around Byakuya it did keep him safe in the killing game but it kept him in a role where his bad side would show more along with making it harder for the others to deal with Jack. Within Another Episode Toko in a way steals Komaru‘s fate to become another Junko and gives that fate to Monaca to help Komaru along with the city & Byakuya. now Toko fits to doom to a t when it comes to personality being a very gloomy person.

Jack: Thief of Life

Unlike Toko Jack is very upbeat even though she’s one of the darker characters in Danganronpa. She tends to kill for her own gain (trills & the like) without caring what that will do to others (like Toko having to deal with the guilt) as a Jack tends to take what she wants without caring for others. Though once she starts showing a better side to herself that can be caring & protective of people other then Byakuya. Like Meenah (who shares a classpect) Jack can be very rude & uncaring at times but also can be loyal and protective.

Aoi Asahina: Sylph Of Blood

Hina is besides Makoto is the friendliest of the students, often trying to include people are were shy (like Toko & Chihiro) in group activates, which definitely falls in well with how often Sylphs act like they know best when it comes to their aspect. Like other Sylphs Hina takes a active role in protecting her Aspect/with her Aspect, when she thinks the group has caused the death of her best friend she jumps to act to kill the group.

Yasuhiro Hagakure: Seer Of Breath

Yeah Hiro’s a Seer, it just makes too much sense with who he is, he’s someone who already has seer powers so really all i needed to do was find his Aspect. Hiro was probably one of the more selfish students in the game, trying to trick people to try to get out of debt & being a bit of a coward. He also was very laid-back & didn’t get too overly close with anyone, not to say he didn’t make friends but unlike the others he didn’t seem as close with everyone.

Sayaka Maizono: Bard Of Heart

Sayaka did a lot to be an Idol including things that don’t really match up with the her we know in-game (like that modeling we see in dr3), Sayaka also used feelings in her murder plan, had it worked out Leon & Makoto (Plus everyone else) would’ve been screwed due to Leon being into Sayaka & Makoto caring & trusting her. Now why Bard instead of Prince is meanly Sayaka’s goal wasn’t really to destroy nor did she act well actively instead her plan relied on others to act/destroy instead of herself.

Mukuro Ikusaba: Prince Of Time

Mukuro’s life made sure she would be a killing machine. Since she was a kid the road she’d walk would lead to killing. Like other Time players she is very determined and is willing to do what it takes to get her goals done, & like other Princes tended to be the loner on her path though still very loyal to those they stayed close with. A in-canon case of her fitting this role would be all of IF (I’d say Mukuro was also kinda role-playing as a Knight) (Also you could make a good case for other classpects like a Muse of some kind)

Leon Kuwata: Maid Of Mind

Alright so think less the logic part and lean more into the choices. Leon at the start of the Game (along at the start of him going to Hope’s Peck) Leon wanted to change his talent just for a girl he didn’t even seem to very close with, like other Maids he started out relying on others for his Aspect and in the game he doesn’t get past this point, i think had he had the time he likely broke of the idea of having others decide what he’d be, hell tbh he seems like he’d try to just not be an Ultimate anymore so he’d be able to enjoy whatever he’d pick to do with himself instead of being told he has to do it.

Chihiro Fujisaki: Knight Of Void

Chihiro acted for other’s well-beings above their own, being the one to make Alter Ego who helped save the students. Like other Knights Chihiro hid a part of themself, though unlike other Knights no one have guessed Chihiro was hiding anything, in a way hiding in plain sight. Chihiro served the group using the secret of Alter Ego to do it.

Mondo Owada: Witch Of Rage

Mondo tends to be a victim of his own anger problems more then anyone else, (like other Witches who tend to suffer at least a bit from their Aspect) said problems harder to deal with then they already were. Like other Witches Mondo isn’t happy in the role he plays but keeps playing it.

Kiyotaka Ishimaru: Sylph Of Mind

Like cannon Sylphs Taka is very pushy about his Aspect, mainly he knows best when it comes to justice, (which likely at least a bit tied to Mind) He tends to try to act as a leader to others even though there are people who’d likely be better leaders. Like other Mind players Taka seems to have a hard time having healthy relationships with people even though he wants to.

Hifumi Yamada: Heir Of Space

Tbh wasn’t fully sure what to give Hifumi mainly cause Danganronpa tends to turn fat characters into jokes but anyway here’s my best shot. Hifumi is for sure a passive player i mean the guy only does things when he’s told too, so the guy ain’t an active player, now as a guy who didn’t have any friends and dealt with that by making things that screams Space player like a lot. Hifumi was always away from people & didn’t have people to be close with, he was surrounded by Space all the time which did help him live for quite awhile, had he not close with anyone he would’ve been safe

Celestia Ludenberg/Taeko Yasuhiro: Mage Of Void

Celeste is the queen of lies so of course she’s a void player all i needed to do was find the fitting Class. Celeste like other Mage’s caused a lot of other people to get caught up with her aspect, her lies over took all of the 3rd Class Trial & with said lies she was able to make Hifumi do things he otherwise wouldn’t do. Also like other Mages her own Aspect hurt her a lot, her lies only made her feelings about her true self worse.

Sakura Ogami: Muse Of Blood

I’ll keep this one short. With her sacrifice the rest of her classmates came together which was something that without her wouldn’t have happened, she was someone who was protective & strong but the she used her Aspect fits best with a Muse.

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thirteenthspirit · 5 years

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ESG Investing in the Pokémon World

As a financial advisor (aka professional bank pimp), it seems the concept of “Sustainable Investing” has really taken hold this past year, despite being around for quite a few years. I was pondering new investment ideas and recommendations (so they can sit patiently on my desk waiting for my boss’s approval) and noticed that most of them are ESG-focused. Of course.

As a Millennial (like that means anything), imagining that your investments might go towards helping someone or doing some good for the world is a key motivation. I don’t mind even sacrificing some additional returns, if that means my money is being put to good use. Unfortunately, I don’t really have a lot of like-minded people as Clients, so raw returns still dominate the investment sphere. But we’ll get there!

I want to explain a bit what it is we call ESG – Environmental, Social and (Corporate) Governance Investing. It is a very studied and elaborated research topic that has become so convoluted that virtually any company can be qualified as ESG-passable (sigh). A company with a high ESG score means it Excels in all or one of these three key areas. The ESGest of them all, try to integrate in their daily practices some of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which range from ending world hunger to reducing inequality, climate action, etc.

I’ve also been replaying Pokémon Platinum (ayyy you see where this is going don’t you?) – probably not, since you haven’t read my previous newsletters. But anyway.

Sinnoh could really benefit a lot from some ESG-focused investing, especially in the Environmental aspect of it. The first thing that popped into my mind was the Fuego Ironworks. No, it is not related to the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest runner-up’s song of choice, but rather a big warehouse-like facility harboring a huge furnace in the center of it all. If you manage to get past the arrow-one-direction-thingies leftover from the renovation of the Viridian Gym, you eventually reach this massive incinerator. Ok, so, fossil fuels are a big no-no in the battle for climate change. Hydrogen plants and renewable energies trump coal mines and similar facilities. So I would take that big chunk of investor money and shut down the Fuego Ironworks. I know what you’re thinking – WHERE ELSE AM I GONNA CATCH A POKÉMON WITH FLAME BODY THIS EARLY IN THE GAME so I can hatch that perf Togepi (because what else) – but fret not, those Magmar can relocate to Stark Mountain. But uh… maybe I’d try to throw a couple of Slugma near the Lost Tower or something, so you can still hatch them eggs early on. Need a motherboard-frying Magnemite? You can now catch them in Iron Island! Have fun.

But shutting down a massive energy-producing (assumption here assumption there la la la) facility like this is BOUND to have an effect on the residents, especially for the people who live in the nearby towns – I mean where else are Floaroma residents supposed to work? Smell the flowers in the floaroma medow (which is somehow located DANGEROUSLY CLOSE TO THE IRONWORKS but ok)? Serve as night guides to wandering girls and their Chansey in Eterna Forest? Or sweat away in the Valley Windworks?

Huh? Windworks? Like an actual wind power farm? Grab ‘em Pachirisu and let’s go!

Seriously, the Valley Windworks would be exactly where my inflows would go. From any residual money gathered from the sale of the Ironworks, my investors could provide a massive overhaul of the windworks. We could bring specialists in from Hoenn’s Weather Institute and build a ton more Teletubbies (my boyfriend’s endearing nickname for those huge fan-thingies). Maybe we could even expand to hydraulics, what with that huge river flowing alongside the facility. Just imagine the drifloon! One for each doom-bearing child.

Ok great! We’ve managed to take action by remodeling the energy supply from the area, effectively diminishing its carbon emissions while preserving the citizens’ quality of life. For me that qualified as a big E investment! And maybe our work wouldn’t stop here, if you’ve got a few cents in your pocket imagine if we could harness the energy from Mt. Coronet! With cares not to disturb any dimensional beings or pseudo-gods. Just a thought.

Miss Moving On is a song by Fifth Harmony. Next we have the “Social” aspect of ESG investing. This would be the category where you would find the community-improving or demographic and populational aiding aspects. Infrastructures, accessibility, any and every thing that could better a population’s daily routine and ensure its sustainability for generations to come. So which issues plague Sinnoh residents? I can think of a few – weird people with bowl-shaped haircuts stealing Pokémon, people-swallowing marshes, freakin’ SELFDESTRUCTING ROCKS (née Geodude) and the occasional time/space distortions from the odd attempt at creating new universes.

Well let’s not go overboard with our intervention, we cannot hope to solve ALL problems plaguing our beloved residents. Let’s start with a simple issue. Little Timmy loves everything related to boats. Boats boats boats and sometimes ships – so he loves going to Sunyshore City, to see the Lighthouse. He goes whenever he can - he swears one time he even had a date with a girl who was visiting with her Ampharos! Legend has it for him it was love at first sight. But she had a ship to catch, bound for her hometown region. So they agreed to meet that very night, before she departed. She waited and waited, but Timmy never came. With tears in her eyes, the girl was last seen boarding the ship, never to return…

Dang it Timmy! Why did you do that?

Well… the thing is, Timmy tried. Timmy lives in Solaceon town and works for the local newspaper. So on that afternoon, after collecting his heart scales, he cheerfully got on his bike and began pedaling, heading to meet his lover. But there is no direct route from Solaceon to Sunyshore – Solaceon is pretty much isolated where it stands, one has to either go North trough Veilstone or face the marshes of the south through Pastoria, to finally traverse route 222 to the city.

Since a bike would sink pretty hard on the bog, Timmy rode North. He got drenched in rain before reaching Veilstone, though – forcing him to change clothes in the city before carrying on. Oh and he claims to have also had an encounter with a couple of Psyduck which seemed pretty checked out… I assume Misty rammed her bike into one. After leaving the city, he just had to face – I’m sorry, am I reading this correctly, inexistent participant – “hellhounds”. Um… ok… Timmy is a BIG Supernatural fan (Destiel FTW). But he finally made it to the Hotel Grand Lake – the last rest stop before reaching Sunyshore. His legs were already tired, and he was sweatin’ bullets, but his spirits were high as a Staravia!

“I’m sorry sir but Route 222 is closed until further notice, due to the occurrence of a blackout”.

Aaaand that was the end of Timmy’s love story. Don’t feel bad for him, I hear he went on to win a Pulitzer from his work on exposing the Ditto sex trafficking scheme.

Maybe if Timmy had been a little faster on his route, he could’ve avoided the blackout altogether, it is just such a long stretch of Sinnoh to traverse…

Like Timmy, many residents who work in East Sinnoh face this issue in their daily commute – the lack of viable connections. So where could we begin to tackle this subject?

Well I heard of a guy who has been trying to dig a tunnel from Route 2014, to Solaceon Town, all by himself! Must be tough, Excadrill weren’t even invented back then…

Maybe our kind investors could give him a hand with their funds! We could make the efforts go faster and more smoothly, maybe even establish some underground ferry mechanism to aid in the crossover. Create a separate entrance, so people wouldn’t have to disturb the Unown. The newly crafted pathway would sure come in handy for travelers, maybe even helping in dynamizing Solaceon or Celestic Town with tourists staying at the Hotel Grand Lake! Seems like a somewhat simple-enough project for us to tackle.

So we basically identified a necessity, designed a way to overcome said necessity and then implemented it – thus creating sustainable impact!

Fantastic! Stunning!

Speaking of stunning – hrm, our efforts might be a bit derailed if these “blackouts” continue. Maybe someone could go have a chat with Volkner, to stop experimenting with the power grid? Perhaps Flint could help, I hear they get along quite well… Does he even have a license to tinker with the mechanisms? What, imaginary voice? You don’t need one in Sinnoh? So you mean I can just connect my Raichu to a generator and power my entire 12-story building?

That seems… unlawful. Couldn’t we do something to change that? Well, we could write a strong-worded letter to the lawmakers of Sinnoh, urging them to pass legislation on these activities. Maybe even use our leftover funds to raise enough awareness on this issue, so we could enact this change in policy! Wow, that’s what I call putting the G in Governance.

Random segway aside, that is exactly what the last letter in ESG is meant to state – policy, rules, means of internal conduct and culture that an organization runs with. And apart from Volkner’s constant need to reinvent his contraptions, there is a topic on which we can praise Sinnoh – gender equality.

Now, we recognize that we don’t know the details, but let’s assume Gym Leaders are paid equally, as not to have poor shivering Candice earning 70 cents on the poke-dollar, compared to Byron’s wage. 4 female and 4 male gym leaders comprise Sinnoh’s gym challenge. 50/50, nice message to relay. Ok fine, if we only look at the number and don’t analyze much else, we can give Sinnoh a passing grade on this one… what about the Elite Four?

The Elite Four is also comprised of 2 male and 2 female members. Wow, nicely thought out. And Cynthia is given enough screen time to actually be a fleshed out character, even appearing in several generations. She is, after all, in my opinion, the toughest Champion the Player is required to face.

But other generations don’t really follow suit – the list of League Champions or Elite Four members is comprised mostly of men… In these regions perhaps some gender diversity or inclusion metrics could be put in place, starting with getting each of them to affirm their stance and compromise with ending gender inequality in the League Challenge!

For that, I guess we’ll have to take that same ship and sail away to another region, with the sure knowledge that (maybe) we managed to help Sinnoh inch a little closer to a sustainable future!

Your ESG-type Trainer,

-João A. (Pachiren)

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jess-the-vampire · 5 years

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Sky And The Forces Of The Multiverse, Chapter 25

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- Landon never felt happier to see the three-headed dog in his entire life, all of her ears perking up as he walked in with celeste and she eagerly started giving him big kisses with her tongues. He felt himself lean into it, petting her much to her delight. He really hoped he wasn't heading in for a trap himself, cause that was the last thing he needed to deal with today. He just hoped wherever this girl was it wasn't too far away, it couldn't be right? He swore she looked familiar. It was hard to get a good look at her from where he sat but still. "So hows this gonna work, we going good cop and bad cop on this random demon girl? Isn't that maybe an abuse of power for you?", he gave what she considered an awkward look that told her well enough he wasn't entirely sure. "We'll just, find her and ask her some questions....that's fair right..? I mean, she's a kid....she can't be too tough". Actually that was a lie, he had no idea what to expect out of this kid, especially when she had hands on papers from the book of spells. He bit his lip, pulling out his compact to take a pictures of both sides of the paper, just in case he needed it.

"You don't think she's....", celeste drawled out as the dog came him to smooch her as well, forcing her to be wary of her wiped away her makeup on her cheeks. "Her? No, i kinda don't think so...but having a book of spells page, we should at least ask how she got a hold of it...it made it's way to the underworld somehow and we'd do better to see why.". He motioned for the dog to sit, he wasn't used to having her track down things for him, that was usually his parents. But he knew she could do it, so there had to be a way. "Yeah....and what if lucy here takes us somewhere else instead? to all the other people who've fingered that paper..". "Look, i'm trying ok? Could you at least sorta kinda help instead of making it worse on me right now?", she reluctantly held out the paper, frowning as she held it up to lucy, "Uh...hi? Sniff this, we need to find the demon girl who was holding it...can you find her?". Yeah, there was no way this was working at all, though the giant dog was sniffing with all of her heads, looking up at landon as he smiled awkwardly and shrugged. She moved back, panting before sniffing the air, landon taking this as a positive sign. "C'mon, let's open the door and get on her back.....", celeste couldn't even protest as landon flew and pulled her up, but just barely. Riding a dog was not something fairly common to the girl but she didn't have much of a choice as the doors were opened and lucy bounded out of the room and outside of the castle. Her noses high in he hair and smelling around as her companions gripped her collar fiercely. Celeste regretted going as she practically hugged the collar. This wasn't like riding a unicorn, this animal was much MUCH more unfitting for giving rides. She was bigger, and had a much higher risk of throwing them off her back, celeste was sure she'd be sick. Though much to her surprise, the dog soon stopped, scooting to a stop of course, and making Celeste feel more sick. She tried to catch her breath and get herself together as she tried to make light of where lucy had taken them and if it was even where they were supposed to be. Landon seemed to have held himself much better then her, probably because he was used to this to some degree. Thanking lucy before helping celeste off and telling his dog to stay. "The stables?". "It's where we keep the dead unicorns, dark horses, all that jazz... they run our carriages and are used by soldiers at times as well, my family doesn't really go down here all that much. The nice thing about skeleton horses though? You don't have to feed them, though the dark ones really enjoy demon fruit.". Celeste hummed in interest as she followed him along, "So....you think she's here? In the stables? I mean, don't tell me you have people living in here...". "Actually no, i think.....I think i get it...", landon headed inside the grand building housing most if not all of their equestrians, it was made of stone more then anything, dark stone, even their stables were covered in dark architecture. Skulls along the walls, and torches for light, as she checked out the snorting and even talking horses in their stables. The place even actually smelled like a stable, well, that and....burned toast? Well, it stuck, that was for sure. "Is every building in the underworld look gloomy and dead?", celeste asking, kicking some rocks inside that turned out to be alive and moving. Landon seemed to find her question ridiculous, snorting as he walked passed servants taking care of the horses and cleaning up any messes they could find, "Well, i mean, what did you expect down here? It's sorta our thing, have you even been to the underworld that much before you started staying...here?". "No...things.....were complicated...plus i never had a reason to come down here...", he shrugged and kept moving, looking around every corner before stopping, and motioning towards his sister. Celeste stood next to them and looked to where he was staring. He found her alright, a small girl sitting by herself in the stables, going through the brushes used to clean off the skeleton horses and said brushes falling out of her hands half the the time. This girl seemed clumsy overall, but it was very much the same one they saw. Now at a better distance, they could make out her features better. She was blue for one, blue skin, dark blue hair with a bit of a light blue streak in it, a tattered dress tied with rope and covered in good luck charms, long orange and black horns that stuck upright, and one big orange eyes that stuck out like a sore thumb thanks to her mostly blue color scheme. She had a lot of luck charms alright, from very dried up 4 leaf clovers, to a rabbit's foot, to even a horseshoe from one of the horses of the stables tied to her. Guess she was a little superstitious. No wonder Landon felt she was familiar, she was a servant, he'd probably seen her around the castle a few times even if he usually didn't pay that much mind to most servants considering his terrible social skills. Though he would admit seeing someone so young be a servant here bothered him just a little bit, his parents would never agree to letting kids as young as mason take on tough tasks so this was an odd revelation. He cleared his throat though, knowing he'd need to speak to the rather gloomy looking girl and ask her question. Though before he could think of what to say, Celeste had already taken the matter into her own hands, bumping past him and over to the girl. "hi, who are you?". Well, that was one way to do it. The girl looked up, and though landon was expecting a confused and maybe innocent reaction, the girl herself seemed rather unenthusiastic about their appearance, in fact she seemed like she didn't really care much at all about being called on. She glared over both of them with her one eye and her eye lingered on landon a bit more, she probably knew he was one of the princes, which would definitely make her one of the few who did notice him. "Prince lucitor? What are you doing down here?", seems the girl wasn't void of sass, looking him up and down and then Celeste once more. "Just so you know, i'm not the head of the stables so...maybe you want to talk to my superior?". Landon sighed and held out the paper instead, the girl's eye widening, "We saw you drop this.....why do you have a page from the book of spells?". So they were just going to come right out with it weren't they? No prep, no idea what to expect. Just lay it all out there . Landon was expecting denial, outrage, even maybe violence, but instead...he was met with relief. "Oh? So that's what that paper was? I wasn't entirely sure about it, plus the writing is in another language entirely, i almost thought it might've been from the lucitor archives since Relicor keeps the weirdest things down there...". Landon blinked at her, shaking his head, "Wait? What? You didn't even know what this paper was?". The small girl shrugged, "When i found it i assumed it was important but I've never seen that book before...well, then again i can't really see most books that aren't from a bookstore of library and don't accidentally burn up.". "It's from the butterfly kingdom", Celeste grumbled, the girl looking towards her, "Oh? Well that explains so much actually....well, you can keep it then...i was hoping to return it to wherever it came from but....seems i continued my streak of losing things.....that's 5 times this week". The two royals looked at each other, well, this was the last thing they expected, watching the girl trip and get back to sorting through her items. Landon coughed, "Uh...where'd you find this? It's kinda far from home...". "The woods...i went to the surface and found it, i think someone lost it out there....probably the princess or someone who really didn't keep track of their items". "The woods?". "There's a nice patch out there where i like to pick clovers for my collection...", she motioned to the dead clovers attached to her dress, "It was there, lying around....though i assume you two weren't the ones who lost it?". They shook their heads at her, "I see many things in those woods, not a safe place...full of creeps....i haven't been back since, but that's because knowing my luck, i'd run into the person who lost that paper out there and i probably don't want to know at all.". Landon looked the paper over and handed it to celeste, "Have you ever seen anything...creepy in there?, like a masked lady?". "Prince, why are you looking for masked ladies?", she was such a young girl and yet she asked rather good questions, "I thought you weren't into ladies?". Celeste snickered at that one and landon sighed, "Ok, who told you that one?". She finished gathering her stuff and started heading over to one of the skeleton horses, clearly prepared to clean him, "My family's been serving yours for years, everyone talks, word gets around...it's common knowledge in the underworld at this point, for the record i don't blame you for going after human boys, they probably smell better then the cold depths of the afterlife". Landon shook off his embarrassment to proceed with questioning as the weird girl started to dust the dead horse. "Look, she's a wanted criminal, or he, or they or...whatever they are....maybe you've seen where they're camping out...". "Oh Fae!" Fae? Odd name. The girl turned to another demon who bowed at the sight of the prince before acknowledging the small girl again, though she seemed rather anxious around fae, as if the small girl would attack her despite her small size "Please make certain you finish sweeping your part for today before heading out, and tell your family hello for me?", Fae nodded to her and she bowed to the prince before moving away rather quickly. The girl went back to work before looking at her companions, "Describe this masked lady...i'm just assuming you aren't going to leave until i spill the beans on whatever you need.". Did she actually know something or not? Landon wasn't sure of anything around this girl, she seemed rather moody and unhelpful but she was all they got right now. "Tall, i think? White doll mask with a crack, long flowing black dress, you can't seen any of her skin in her costume...". "She, they, he,whoever... has good taste...". "She scares the living daylights out of everyone in mewni because no one can find her, we need to know if you've seen anything peculiar.". "Nah, i'd remember her.....". "We think she broke into lucitor castle once, like, and kept lucy from even sniffing them out, do you think you have a reason as to how they could figure that out?". "She sounds fun....well never saw her but....if you're looking for something weird I did receive...a note....ages ago it feels", she glanced to them oddly, "Asking me for information about the lucitor kingdom....in exchange for helping me with....things, but it burned before i could really do anything with it...so if you're looking for something odd, well....yeah...some person was desperate for help with the castle....but then again, there are many demons who'd do anything to enter.". Landon snorted, "Burned? How?", but that seemed to make the girl more embarrassed, "Things tend to get destroyed around me, i was probably the last person they should've asked for help...people who're around me, tend to end up dissapointed". Landon was already sure he knew where this was going, "Well.....you know, we believe this person....broke into the castle....at one point...so...". The girl didn't seem amused, "Prince, i'm sorta obliged to be as truthful to you as possible, I had nothing to do with anything like that....i got a note and it burned.....don't even know who sent it, i'm only 13 here.". She was quiet for a moment, pausing in her work, "I rarely go anywhere outside of the stables, truthfully i wouldn't have been any use...". "But this person thought you'd be useful?". "If they thought i was useful, then they must've been desperate to find anyone....because they didn't know me..."., she closed her one eye, thinking, "Also probably a bad burglar in the first place considering i might've just went to the king and queen with the note....they really didn't think things through..". Didn't think things through? That didn't sound like the type of villain they were going after? They seemed so much more cunning, and powerful to do something as dumb as that. Must've been someone else then, right? False lead, dammit. "Geez if you were gonna be this helpful why didn't you come to anyone about any of this?", Celeste stepped forward, making the young demon's pointed ears twitch, "I'm 13, if a 13 year old girl went up to you and told you this stuff without any proof how would you think you'd react?" She turned around, leaning against the skeleton horse and sighing, "being a peasant is not the same thing as prince pink over there living in his castle, the crimes that happen, the rumors, The small oddities? We know about them...". "You're kinda young to be well...a servant?". "Family's been serving yours for years, we need the money and this was the only job i couldn't screw up....because technically I can't accidentally kill things that are already dead", she shrugged, " Don't worry, your parents never assigned me anything better for adults,they knew we needed the money so they gave me this opportunity, i take care of the horses...even you could do that.". Geez, the last thing landon expected when looking for this demon, was to get so many more questions then answers, such a strange little girl. "You think i'm weird, don't you?". "What?". "i can see it with my one eye......", she pointed to her large orange eye, for emphasis, "It's fine, i know i'm strange....you've only just met me and i'm spouting out nonsense about my family and problems and weird junk, but you asked for it...". The horse behind her laughed, reminding landon that, oh yeah, their horses could speak English. She rolled her eye, "I went out to find a place to read to myself and take a break but...i didn't expect it'd lead me to meet Prince Landon of the lucitor kingdom...". "Well i didn't think it'd lead me to someone who had so much to talk about...". "I have....a habit of getting into bad situations....just my luck..". She looked around, keeping a eye on the other servants, "Well, you can take that paper with you, i don't need it for anything. But whoever had it might come looking for it, and if it's some giant creepy lady thing then maybe you should watch out prince...". They exchanged looks and fae paused, looking between them, "What else do you want? You wanted more info, i told you everything i know!". Celeste coughed into her hand, "I was kinda like..attacked....by something in those woods, and now you're kinda saying you found this paper in these woods....are you sure you've never seen...anything else out there?". "Those woods have always been creepy, tales of bogbeasts and evil plants that drag you under and mysterious figures, if you're so sure they're out there...you're better off looking, but.....yeah wandering in the woods tends to be a bad idea.", she started cleaning her section and the two followed her,"Didn't you admit to going into those woods at your age? You're younger then both of us!". They both did kinda have a point as Fae put her cleaning supplied away. "I'm a servant girl, it's much worse if the prince goes missing out there then me...". There was silence. "Hey uh....thanks, for being helpful, and uh......talking to us about all this", landon mumbled, hands in his pockets, "Uh......if there's kinda like, anything I can do to help I-". But the girl cut him off, "Don't die, cause if i cause a prince to die....well....yeah...". She was a strange girl, but considering what landon thought she'd be, this was very much an upgrade. "Hey, if that paper is from the butterfly castle, and there's some freak wandering around...uh...does that mean....everyone is in danger?". To be honest, everyone seemed so concerned about the royals and other kingdoms, he hadn't even considered the citizens were in just as much potential danger. He felt a lump in his throat trying to answer, "Well, yeah....uh....I was unaware....you all knew so little about everything...I'm sorry...". Fae nodded, "Just be careful out there.....and um....i wish you luck on your mission Prince Landon, though....here...". She grabbed one of her clovers from her dress and handed it to him, "You might need some luck....we all do..". He clutched it before looking her over, thinking about something before spitting it out, "hey um....fae....". "Hm?". "We need to check out that spot, what if.....i paid you to take us there?". - Judas was still on edge. Still no word from Nora and now he was expected to just....do what with luna? Hang out? He was unsure about her but he didn't have much of a choice at this point, waiting for her just overall made him nervous and sky's texts weren't entirely helping. They needed luna to be in the best of moods if they ever planned to get something out of her and here sky was, making her more mad. I guess if it did anything it seemed to finally put a crack in her that no one seemed to manage to do before, and even though judas rightfully told sky she went too far as he looked through his texts. Having Luna mention anyone by name from where she came from was quite impressive. He waited outside the training room of course, hearing kelly wave out the knights as they finished up and left. Some even bowing to the prince on their way out, and he knew that blonde when he saw her, bun up and still rough looking. She paused at the sight of him, sighing to herself as she looked him over, judging him. "You told me you wanted to talk to me after training, I'm assuming this is meant to be important?". She eyed around them, watching for any listeners peeking around. "We need to talk, about some of the recent things going on, so....you got some free time?", she huffed but seemed a little more content now that judas was actually seemingly listening to her for once, it'd been awhile since just the two of them spoke, and usually when they did it resulted in slight tension. "Sky with you? Or are you really here alone to talk to me? Knowing her she already told me she had a spat with me earlier i'd rather not speak of.". "It's just me, i figure that would make you the most comfortable....I was thinking we could talk over a game of ping pong? I believe we haven't finished our match?". She scoffed but she also seemed to actually smile at that, "Cute, but we're here to talk about serious matters, not go out and play....last time it was because we butted heads, i'd rather not be angered any more then I already am from earlier and if you ask a single question about whatever sky told you...I swear..". "How about this, i tell you the info if you beat me?", he was being so smug about it, even though honestly he was sure luna had other ways at her disposal to get information out of him. And just as he expected, luna tapped on her disguised wand, unimpressed, "I would rather not have to get info from you from more.....controversial matters....no more games jude. You should spill the beans on whatever it is you want to talk about, you know full well calling me about info you don't intend to tell me is just asking for trouble...". "Gee luna, if you were so worried about losing you could've just told me.". She was competitive, he knew this would make her bend. Sky told him despite how sweet and caring he usually was, he also could be a major jerk if he wanted to be when he was teasing his friends and family. Something about that smile he had and his tone of voice, Judas described himself usually more of a nerd at heart, but then again he did seem to look almost like a mix between a prep or jock from one of those cliche high school movies he'd seen with sky and his family. The kinda guy you'd want to challenge and beat at his game. And Luna hated being bested or not seen as the top dog if anything. "I don't like that you have the ability to both make people love you, but also make people want to punch you in your perfect teeth...", she grabbed his arm, "Very well, let's go to the underworld, we'll talk there...but don't waste my time please...". She seemed rather thankful to find out they weren't going back to the safe room to play this time around, as the underworld had a clear game room, which was where the lucitor family always went to challenge each other to games. "I'm assuming what you have to say has nothing to do with any word from my mother or....well, the Spiderbites right?". He picked up a paddle and looked up at her, "No, it's neither of those things, i'm left in the dark for both those things as well at the moment....i hope they're ok though, i'm kinda worried about all of them.". She hummed, picking up a paddle, "Hearing some Intel about the ponyhead kingdom, their son escaping last night....not very reassuring to hear with everything else happening. But honestly the likelyhood a ponyhead can work that costume is very small.". "Not unless there's several in there working everything...", he mentioned, grabbing a ping pong ball and preparing to serve. "Well considering they have confirmed hands, I'll take that as a no.". He served and the ball bounced towards her, the two smacking it back and forth over the spider-weaved net. "Your Magic high commission seems rather.....well....they seem to do very little...", she gave a rather hard smack of the ball back towards him, "Doesn't bode well when even they can't find the things they should be able to find on a whim...if magic is going fuzzy in this reality...sheesh i don't want to imagine that...". The ball flew past her on the next turn and she sighed, going to pick it up, "Mewni is falling apart, do you have any idea what happens when mewmans start panicking?". "I...got some idea...",he said, swinging back and forth, "You should see some of them around me, snarking about my arm and sometimes terrified about me attacking them.....loki claims it's not true, people love me and i'm just not seeing it....but...I dunno, being born or er...created kinda imperfect....and having that constantly beating down your door, telling you everyone secretly hates you....it's a voice that's hard to get entirely rid of, no matter what you do...". She hit another rough shot, judas almost missing it but managing with a quick save, "You're probably heard all the speeches huh? The ones where you're told to ignore it, to scare them to teach them a lesson, that when you'll be king you won't have to worry about it, that you'll prove them wrong.". Judas said nothing, letting her talk and continue with her train of thought, he was surprised though, she was entirely right about all of those things. "You both duely want to keep them happy and oppose them instead of taking one direction or the other, it's a hard bargain because you don't know if it's better to be accepted by everyone or stay true to yourself. Is that correct?". Judas looked rather stern, catching the ball with his hands to look up at her, directly in the eyes from his side of the table, "If you're reading my mind, just so you know, it's not really cool to pry into other people's personal issues..". "No mind reading needed, i can just tell....", she replied simply, "For the record though, if you ask me what to do in your situation....don't let those people win, tradition might make people happy, but....well, it can be old fashioned and...i can't say our ancestors always made the right choices in the long run. I say you exceed expectations, strive to be the best and they'll learn to put up with it. You're being coronated soon right? I suggest whatever party you have, it's both elegant, and fitting for you...". "Why do you care?". She hummed, leaning against the table, "I just do, you'll never be a good king if you let everyone push you around like that and feed into what they want...". "Look, didn't we want to talk about info, the reason you're here?". She silenced herself before nodding, looking over the boy's face with a certain fascination. "Ok, spill the beans, why'd you really drag me here....?", Judas was about to answer when luna held out a hand, "I can tell i'm no one's favorite person around here, so the fact you wanted to hang out with me, tells me i'm missing something...". Oh shoot, she was on to them already? He needed to think of something fast to keep her distracted, even if he didn't know why eclipsa wanted him to do this, the last thing he wanted was to be on luna's bad side. "I don't hate you", he practically blabbed out. "Hmm?". "I don't hate you...", he repeated, "You're.....not easy to deal with, but....i don't really believe you're a bad person.", he sighed and headed to the far side of the wall, leaning against it. "Look, i have a younger brother, he's difficult to deal with sometimes, but when he's mad with me....i don't believe he really hates me....I don't believe you really think that you think the mind-wiping thing is entirely moral or that you think people who don't make progress are some kind of waste." "You don't know me judas..."., she smirked, "Things are just different for me...". "Look, you're kinda hard-edged, not great at making friends, and everyone is kinda intimidated by you...but....you clearly do care about people, i don't think you're so concerned over your mother for no reason. She means something to you back home? You have people back home you're desperate to see again aren't you?", the blonde snorting, shaking her head, "You're really trying to figure me out judas, i give you props, you're way better at it then celeste or sky are...you pay attention to things." "Do you not open up because you don't want us to know, or don't want anyone to miss you when you're gone?". "Is there actual info you wanted to tell me or is this an interrogation?", she walked over next to him, leaning against the wall as well, "For the record, i can't say you're very good at it, but it's a solid attempt.". They stood in silence, luna's shoulders sinking and looking around the game room, "Honestly keeping myself mad and stern all the time is tiring....but it's also necessary, between pretending to be a knight and trying my best to find what i need...you just have to keep up apperances..". "Why?", he mumbled. "Why?". "You're not home anymore, maybe you're like this at home....but....you don't have to be this way around everyone here...". "Says the guy trying to keep up appearances for people who hate him...", she laughed to herself, sending him a look that sent chills, "No wonder I enjoy your company more then the others, we have more in common then I thought....". She moved away from the wall, hand running along the pinpong table, "I have to admit, you're fun to challenge, but if you came out here to find out some secrets, you're going to have to keep guessing it seems.". "Luna look, i don't wanna pry into whatever is going on back in your universe, but i also don't want us to be enemies....we're clearly not communicating well and we don't seem to really trust each other. We should talk luna, we're going to have better chances if we're on the same team and working together here and if you truly respect me, then i think we both need to work out whatever's the matter so we can get things back on track and get this mission to get you back done....". She paused for a moment, thinking something over before taking a deep breath and looking judas in the eyes, "I've been doing my own research, but knowing you that was one of your many guesses into my mind, mind you, not very successful research, but still research.". She seemed relaxed, "I've been trying to find celeste all day so she would actually speak to me on everything happening but at this point this mission is falling apart so badly i'm not sure it would've lasted another day...". Judas's eyes widened. "Oh don't give me that look, you've been hiding things from me as well, i can tell...". He closed his gaping mouth, "Has she told you anything....personal?", only to be met with the relief of a shaking head. "Apparently i'm not nearly as good as commanding people as i am back home, your brother and Celeste? they fight back, they don't listen....they go long stretches to ignore and hide from me, they clearly weren't as up to the task as i expected them to be...i supposed that's what i get for hiring random teens rather then experienced solders...". Wait...landon was working with you?", he sounded surprised, not only that, but also a little dissapointed , luna picked up on that as well, "Purely out of spite for you, though considering how little he's done i'm not sure if he really meant it or it was from a spur of the moment thing to spite you..". Judas froze in place and looked genuinely heartbroken as his shoulders sank and his ears seemed to point downwards, "I....didn't know it was that bad...". "I wouldn't let it ruin your life, i've seen his type, void of attention for so long that it takes a hold on them, till they reach their breaking point and are so starved for attention they are willing to do anything to get it. You blame yourself too much and it won't make anything any better...", she was right, and judas nodded, "I know, i know it's not my fault.....i guess it just....hurts? to know your brother....feels this way...about you. I'm supposed to set a good example after all...". "Aren't we all? we're royals judas, our job is to be an example for our kingdoms, to be an example to others...it's....a lot of pressure to put siblings on top of that", she had a point, eyes wandering to the door, "I'll be honest, i don't agree with you sometimes and i think you need to take some things more seriously, but.....i can't say i enjoy watching you feel miserable.". She picked up one of the paddles again, "Another round? I still haven't beaten you yet...". "Didn't you say you never had fun, aren't your duties more important to you?". "Well, yes....they are, however....right now....". She practically leaped over the table with the grace of a gazelle and got into position, "After you dragged me down here and interrogated me and tried to pry into my inner thoughts, i now consider it my duty to crush you to pieces using my paddle...". Judas snapped out of his sadness to see her slam her hand on the table, scaring him as he grabbed his own paddle, "You're just doing this to make me feel better aren't you? You know you don't reallly-". "I'm not void of compassion, or do you really think that little of me?". His brows firmed, clutching his paddle tighter. "You're on...". He held back less then before, and luna was pretty good, not as good as him, but sill good. Maybe this was what eclipsa meant, getting luna to trust them again and open up with them, or maybe she just wanted luna to stop looking like a snobby mother, one or the other. Though as they kept playing, their playtime was ended as luna put it to a stop, catching the ball in her hand instead of using the paddle. Making Judas stop, almost worried something had come over her. and it did. an idea, in fact. "Luna...what's wrong?". "Judas....I have... a proposal for you....". - "Not the best day for a lesson...is it?". "What gave you that idea?". Eclipsa laughed into her teacup, "Well, judging by the fact guards are scattered all around my tower like little beetles sure helps, look at this poor boy, he looks as bad as I did when i ate some bad chocolate.". She was pointing to angel, on his usual side from sky, who was a nervous wreck this time around. His hair, thought still tied up, was messy as all heck. He was clearly sweating, and he wasn't even looking at anyone with any of his eyes. Sky had noticed this when he walked in for today's lesson of course, but she almost didn't even want to ask what was the cause considering everything about angel's background that could contribute. She wasn't good at the whole "Comforting thing" exactly, yeah sure, angel broke down in front of her and sought comfort once before but still....she wasn't used to it. Plus Eclipsa being in front of them, knowing her, only made it kinda worse in general. If Judas was handling luna, she should handle angel. Worse case scenario, they swap , though sky's last encounter with the tall and bossy blonde probably would make talking to her again.....less favorable. Judas was clearly better with both of them then she was still, but that was probably because the guy was normally a very friendly person and the only reason people didn't like him in her eyes, was that they judged him for his arm. Angel and Luna both seemed to hold some type of respect for him, regardless of how they felt about his opinions on them. Not to say there was no respect between her and them but....yeah. "I'm fine...", angel said in a 'not so very fine' voice, in his defense though, everyone seemed a little on edge. Angel's father dropped him off as he usually did, but this time he preferred the boy was on watch by someone, forcing angel to be picked up by eclipsa herself this time around. Much to his embarrassment it seemed, and much to his father's pleasure as it seemed he was still very much a Eclipsa fanboy, Sky may not have witnessed it herself but, judging by eclipsa's reaction and angel's after, it was mortifying. Though she doubted it was the reason he seemed so sickly. "Aww dear, I know right now times are stressful and scary, especially with star's plan to enchant the kingdoms.....but i promise, you'll be safe here....at least in the meantime. Honestly, we're lucky lessons weren't cancelled, but don't worry, things should hopefully only get easier from here." Angel didn't seem so sure but he silently kept to himself, his four eyes wandering around the room, as if expecting something to pop up and kidnapp him from the corner somewhere. "What's the lesson for today?", he muttered, still not looking anyone in the face. "I was thinking more....magic related?". This got the kid's attentions alright, even angel, who gave the woman a skeptic look. "I'm weak at magic, you know that...". "Well so was sky, so i see this as a great learning opportunity!". The teens exchanged looks before angel went back to ignoring everyone around him, "Sky is not weak...you saw how well she does, with or without her wand. She's kicked me from the kingdom 173 times.....whether her wand works or not...". His dark haired companion only raised her eyebrow at him and gaped at his statement, "Wait? Don't tell you you counted every single time that happened? Seriously? Did you make marks in a book or something about this? Please tell me that was a random number you picked out...". "I have a day planner that has all my visits to the castle for....well that, so....yeah...", he looked embarrassed, but then he shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest, "I don't have a compact, what do you think i do when i'm not at butterfly castle?". She sighed, fair enough, she'd normally guess prince stuff but even that was kinda out of the question since angel's idea of prince stuff was different from actual prince stuff that judas took care of. "Regardless, I think at a time like this...maybe it's better we move on to spells, don't worry it's going to be perfectly safe and not involve any fighting this time. Especially since there are guards out there who would probably add another mark to my record if i did, on the plus side though, Queen Janna's pranks are hitting more then ever since there are guards everywhere she can mess with, can't deny the one who fell into her bucket trap made me laugh.". She stood up, heading over to her bookshelf, "Now, sky may own the magic book of spells now, but that never stopped me from making my own collection of spells......sky....any spells you're currently working on for now?". Angel even turned to sky as she felt herself be put on the spot, "I-I uh....I've been a little busy to really come up with any....i mean, Fireskull Frenzy is a fun one, but uh....last time i used that i burned a tower and i'm not trying it anytime soon...". "Don't you have more...?", Angel popped up yet again, "Your bubble charm? Shard hearts? Of course your licorice rope counts as well....i also believe you made your own cloudy recently as well since you were always conjuring your mother's before...". Alright, now angel was starting to enter weird territory again, and it must've shown clear on her face since it made eclipsa laugh, sitting down with a dark book in her hands. "Oh c'mon sky, he's fought you so much, no doubt he'd know you quite well in that field", she wasn't wrong but it was still odd. "Uh......do arachmen really even have spells? Did you guys...like....ever....have spells?". Angel looked personally offended, "All monsters can use your wand sky.....which means all monsters can make spells, just because my species could do magic without a wand doesn't mean we never invented spells outside of making silk.". Then his face grew sad, "But, most of those recorded in our history...were burned, by queen solaria....even if we couldn't do magic much after the mewmans took over....losing those records....only made things worse...we stopped magic altogether and only knew the one spell...our weakest...honestly our ultimate is considered so unpredictable because we were never given the magical practice to control it, that war completely destroyed us...". Eclipsa's sad expression was enough for Sky to realize maybe that question was a bad idea. "Uh.....moving on...". "Don't worry sky, magic actually can be different depending on species, prince lucitor after all has different magic then you, and so do the ponyheads...it's not a weird assumption to make, i personally....i believe it's more of an in between, correct angel?". He grumbled for a bit before nodding, "Yeah, it's half our own magic, and partially theirs because we can't conjure it without magic that's not personal to us internally. We can do spells you can't....I think..". "Have you ever....tried using them?". "There's no point in trying things you can't do, servants do silk and outside of that...it's just the one web spell....that's it for me. Not like i'm in a position to create spells either, not skilled enough, too busy on other matters..." He trailed off, clearly thinking about other things, "Anyways, don't focus on that, you're the family that focuses on magic, you're the one who can go practice your spells.". Geez, he had no trouble at all trying to built trip her about her family history did he? He was so blunt about, but he also wasn't wrong. With her mother going out of her way to keep angel out of the castle aside from these lessons, sky really lacked an opportunity to hang out with him and question some of the things she wanted to ask , yeah globgor was out there doing his own investigating but there was something that told her angel was more of the person to put her focus on. Besides. leaving from this point on will no doubt be harder then it used to be, so going to angel's own castle wouldn't work out for her. She needed a way to keep him here, just a bit longer. "Sky?", Eclipsa tilted her head and smirked, "How about showing us some of your more innocent spells? You have been using your wand and practicing right?". Well, sky had to admit that she really hadn't been, she'd been falling behind a bit ever since the physical teaching stopped and mostly because she was now surrounded by more competent magic users who could do these things without her. Even as she took out her wand now her expression was enough indication for eclipsa. "It's ok dear, but honestly....use that wand more often.....don't be afraid of doing magic if you need to..". Sky looked over to angel, who simply blinked at her as she stood up. "I dunno, what if i try and my wand malfunctions and...", then she heard angel shush her and she turned in annoyance, "It only malfunctions because of your conflicting emotions, when your really god for it, it works just fine". She almost felt like rolling her eyes, Like yeah maybe, but that didn't entirely explain how or if she was responsible for bringing her sisters here....did it? Man that was so long ago, she really had no idea how she felt during that time. She knew she was still kinda upset, but she also was determined to do something, anything? It was a thing with her family, they had a problem? Use magic to fix it! Find a spell and make it work! Practice and keep up with said practice so you're ready to be a good queen. She looked at her wand, it's shiny heart shaped gem-stone glistened at her. There was still no telling how that had happened that night and who was entirely responsible, for all they know the masked person was just some rouge causing mayhem that had nothing to do with anything. But they'd never know unless they caught him, her, it. And there was a high chance she might be under suspicion or worse if she did nothing. "Princess Butterfly?" Angel got her attention, and sky looked at her wand again, thoughts and idea running through her head. With luna not being here, or any of the girls for that matter, she was finally on her own to make these choices when it comes to magic. Do her own thing, do things her sisters couldn't. Sure, Sunny seemed to share a care for Angel because she was rather empathetic and had a sweet spot for monsters in need, but Sky had the history, it was almost bizarre to think just all the memories she had stored about fighting this pest of as prince actually meant something to a degree. Angel sorta seemed to treat her with some kind of respect, she knew that, but it's not like throughout their childhood they were close with each other or anything, she mainly ignored him and she and judas had rarely hung out with anyone but each other. And yet, Angel seemed to know things she didn't think he'd pay attention to, geez now she almost wished she had paid nearly as much attention to him instead of being annoyed all the time so she had something to use against him. But regardless, if anyone was gonna get this from him, it'd be her. It better be. "Yeah yeah.....uh....is this really a good place to be doing magic? If i break anything in here we're so dead...", in which eclipsa snapped her fingers and everything cleared out, including the couches as angel fell down and landed on his back with a small whine. Eclipsa moved off the side of the room, ushering the fallen prince to join her as he lifted himself up with his extended legs and moved away, grumpy about his tea being gone as well until eclipsa magicked it up for him. "Honestly I've been waiting for you to do magic for a very long time...ever since i heard you were improving, angelus, name one of sky's spells....something that won't severely ruin my room please? I want Globgor to come by later and watch the stars.". Angel sighed and thought for a moment, going through his head, " Lazer Bat Blast?". Sky giving him a look before attempting to do the spell herself, jumping up and airming up before a measly purple bat came out and landed don the floor. Welp. "Look, it's a lot easier to do this stuff when i'm not being watched or....under pressure...", well, it wasn't too bad when bernard and melaine had been watching her but bernard was more focused on his card tricks and melaine well...she would like what sky did no matter what, sky kinda wished she was here right now. She'd had so many crazy ideas she was bound to know what to do in this situation, even if it was something from an insane earth movie. What would melaine do? Or Judas for that matter? Well, if melaine were in the process of thinking about how they'd question angel, well...actually she'd just do it, outright, pad and all without needing to worry about keeping angel here longer. If Judas were doing it he'd pull angel aside, talk to him in private, work a way around to discover what was happening, he was firm but also somewhat gentle. Those options kinda were out of luck considering how little they had in common with sky herself. "Sky?". "Look, i'm thinking ok!". "Dear.....don't think so hard about this, it's your wand, you're in control, don't focus so much on us, do it your way...". Her way? Duh. "Ok, well.......let's uh.....let's try that thing again ok? ", She grumbled at the flopping bat on the wooden floor, flapping about and just barely being able to get off the air. Not her best work, and the looks on her guests faces really weren't helping her already low self esteem. She hadn't used this spell THAT recently so she might be out of practice, but if she was ever going to manage it she needed to focus and do what she did before when fighting angel. Just get through the class, and then she could focus on what to do about angel later. "LAZER BAT BLAST!!!", she went for it again, this time trying to focus her wand a little better, luna talked to her about that didn't she? Wands and how best to grip and position them for her spells? The information was coming back to her again, and in a final blow the spell actually came out almost successfully. Not completely, but the 3 bats that did come out, were flying, and still had lazers that were actually working. A better attempt then her first one alright. Even eclipsa smiled, impressed, butting angel next to her to clap and lose his usual downer tone. He was reluctant, but still did so, he wasn't exactly heartless. Sky still wasn't fond of them watching there but at the very least she was a little more confident then how she started out , motioning for them to shoot her another spell to try. Not that she expected this to work full time, but as long as she avoided their gaze and kept her focus, she should relatively be fine right? Right. Angel asked her to summon her darker cloudy because of course he would, which unfortunately led to a few poofs before a successful first attempt was made. She kinda felt bad this "Lesson" was more for her then Angel though, it wasn't particularly kind of eclipsa to set up a class she could do but angel couldn't, unless...she was expecting sky to do something . She glanced over to angel, "Uh....you wanna come here and I mean.....we could at least...". She was inviting him to join? And do what exactly? "Uh.....at least...what now?". "I mean, do your web spell! It's the one you know right?". He blinked at her, "You....want me to use my magic? it doesn't do much! You know that! It's just a simple sticky web spell". But she still motioned for him to join still, and awkwardly and very un-prince like, he shuffled over. Smoothing out his fancy clothes and standing next to sky. His hands glowed only a little bit before sky saw webbing form, she really wasn't used to seeing it like this, well....not being shot at her from far distance and as he played target practice with it. She found he was better at it then she thought, webbing up her bats to the walls. Guess when you only have one spell the learn, you learn to easily master it. He wasn't even being smug about it, but then again, it wasn't typical for him, Loki maybe, but not Angel. If this is what he could do with weak magic, sky'd hate to see him at full power, pinches out, eyes glowing, and vemon prepared for attack. Geez, and people thought their butterfly forms were scary, no wonder even solaria was anxious about his species to reduce them to decay and hiding. Angel stopped when he finished his practice, huffing and reaching up to fix his hair, as some had got lose and had blown in his face from it's normally organized ponytail. "Go again....produce some spells...", Sky's nervousness at being watched by her frienemy and strange sorta grandmother was washed away, it was almost like doing magic alongside judas and her usual friends, where embarrassing herself usually didn't matter. She seemed to do more accurately after that, to the point she was actually enjoying herself, even eclipsa was enjoying the show of the two teens having fun together as more of sky's spells go stuck to the stony walls before eventually retreating into her wand. "That was kinda fun actually...", she mumbled, "i guess there's less pressure when it's more of a game then my mom asking me to do something over and over again cause I kept failing....or where she got weird about me not being perfect during my presentation in front of literally everyone". The older woman shrugged, "Well with your mother, it was either that, or mostly winging it....though i suppose i'm not one to talk, I had a habit of winging it sometimes as well...probably because me and Star both were looking for trouble most of the time, when trouble normally found you...". "Is it bad...i'm not..", she waved her hands around, "Winging it?". "Honestly if you were able to "Wing It" every time you got yourself in a jam, i don't think you'd be nearly as cool. You get through things with ingenuity and support, i say that makes you rather impressive in your own way.".She was probably saying it to make her feel better but Sky accepted it. Man why did the positive reinforcement she received slip away so easily, it was almost like she wanted to look down on herself way too much then keep eclipsa and judas's positive words of encouragement with her. "Well....", she eyed her monster companion and awkwardly patted his shoulder, much to both their discomfort still. This was still taking some getting used to and neither seemed entirely sure where they were at this point in their strange relationship, "You did...a good job.....with the whole.....webbing thing, well honestly i shouldn't be surprised considering how good you are with it when we had to fight and stuff but...yeah....there you go". She wasn't good at giving him compliments either, "She might as well be complimenting the drying of paint.". "Thanks?", he said, eyes looking to her hand as she pulled it away rather fast, "For the record i'm still mad at your mother....don't think...I'm not still mad...". She sighing, rubbing the top of her wand against her cheek, " Well, that's something we share in common....i'm kinda peeved at her too....". Eclipsa looked around the room, hands on her hips," i'm going to put things back in place, would you two be dears and grab some snacks from the kitchens? there's still time left in our lesson so we might as well eat together and i'm sure the guards can escort you there and back...oh and...watch where you step, you know the queen likes her pranks". She sent sky a wink as furniture started to reaper back into the room once again. Angel blinked at her before sky grabbed his arm and moved him out, good, eclipsa actually was giving her an opportunity to talk to him and ask him questions, whether on purpose or not, well...who can tell with eclipsa? Regardless she dragged him to leave, thankful, the guards taking note and one following them along because of course. Sky let go of angel's arm, and made a cough, the boy's pointed ears pricking upwards and he huffed as he lifted himself on a bit with his legs to walk instead, almost giving him the impression of floating next to her . "Spit it out, what is it this time....? If this is about us hanging out like we talked about....it's become more complicated now...especially in regards to what happened last night ". "Well yes, we wanna do it...but actually...I kinda wanted to ask you....something". He looked down at her from his current position, though something told sky he was anxious sky was about to ask him something rather.....weird. Though i guess when she thought about it, asking him about breaking into the castle and about the silk thing were not normal questions, it almost took her a minute to figure out how she should even ask him. "Look hey....it's been awhile...like...some time...but....that sleepover....why were you...like....in the caste?", ok, that probably was the worst way to phrase that but now she had to roll with it. And Angel's bewildered expression fit as he seemed to be wondering if the princess was serious or not, "If you're asking If i was up to anything...I was not, i was in bed and found myself there....in front of prince lucitor...". His ears dropped and he seemed utterly embarrassed, "He believed i was truly responsible...and....i can't entirely blame him either...". He shook his head, "Look, i'm not entirely proud of everything I did in my attempts to help my people who were wronged, but it's fairly embarrassing to be looked down upon by a fellow monster prince..". "Wait, what? Judas doesn't look down on you. I mean, he doesn't always agree with you and kinda thinks you should sorta know better but then again he acts like a mom to everyone, but yeah, like...he's the guy who kept telling me we should try and get along and stuff for the betterment of the future. I mean, you've seen him......he kinda does his best to not hate anyone, even when he's mad at someone....he doesn't think you're a bad person....I can promise you that."., she was sorta stumbling over her words but it seemed to be working judging by the boy's rising ears. "He doesn't?", angel seemed surprised, before coughing, "He's....a respectable individual, he's one of the few people who ever understood....well, he treated me like a person more then...an obstacle at least...". He paused and looked to sky, "Tell him i'm sorry....". This got sky's attention as she looked him over, "For what? Is this about stealing his compact or something?". Angel's eyes shifted around and he held his shoulders, "Sure, something along those lines...". They made it to the kitchens and sky realized angle had never been here before, getting back on his normal feet and awkwardly trying not to hit anything in the kitchens. The staff seemed happy to see Sky, angel seemed more of a mixed bag, no doubt that he had probably made their jobs harder from past protests in the past. He avoided eye contact with all of them as sky asked one of the staff for something they could eat, receiving some fresh rolls, a whole bag of them to bring back. Sky grabbed one to eat, the smell of fresh baked rolls reminded her of when she and judas were still kids sneaking food from the kitchens to make a fort and hung out in her room together, spending time under a nice pillow fort and fussing about their parents. Usually they'd grab a dozen or so cookies, some rolls, maybe even some fruits, though honestly the reason they probably stopped sneaking food out was judas's arm liked to pop out at inconvenient times and boy did it give them away easily. Angel it seemed, had never really had food....like this before, since truthfully, he was still a poor prince after all regardless of improvements. Though his reluctance to eat warm buttery rolls seemed to surprise sky, angel had a good sense of smell after all, he almost seemed entranced by the food as sky urged him to try it. He took a bite, chewing before immediately going in for another, considering his diet back home mostly was insects and whatever berries and creatures they managed to grab in those woods, this was brand new to him. And yet, he called a pizza place with jude's compact. Huh. "You seem....to really like these rolls...". "It's warm and buttery and.....reminds me of....spending time with my mom...", his mind wandered and he sounded sad again before wiping away his tears, "It's good, we don't get food as good as this stuff back home, guess we never had the freshest ingredients or anything....this isn't made with magic right?". his eyes seem to bug out with every flavored bite, and the princess watched him finish with extreme delight, "No, mom says food made from magic never tastes as good as food without it, it probably tastes funny to be honest anyway...". "Well, i wish we had more back home....". Sky had to take the basket away from him just to make sure he didn't eat the rest, "Nope, don't....we're bringing this back...c'mon.". She pulled him along she she found him actually smiling, a rare thing for him in her presence. But she needed to continue with her line of questions, even if globgor would look into the silk thing himself, hearing it from angel might at least help with her role on this wired team and make her seem more capable instead of putting her things aside. "Hey...so...the silk thing....you said you can do that again right?". "Not me exactly but-". "How'd your people get the magic for it?'. His eyes widened, "Oh? Um.....it was a rather kind gesture from a family member of yours...we didn't exactly need to "Get" magic, we're only so weak magically because of our lack of practice on much magic and exposure to the stuff is rare to come by. But, we were given a scroll on that spell again...and with some practice....the spell had finally been revised after so long. Our people stopped doing it and passing it along because they were afraid of solaria, who burned away everything, my people thought it best to avoid magic to avoid her gaze....but this act of kindness, might mean we can profit once again...". "Wait wait wait....who did this? Describe them?". Angel avoided her question though, moving forward and on his way back to eclipsa's only to find a bucket falling from above the doors as soon as they were opened in his quick attempt to get away from the princess. Sky moved faster to catch up with him, wondering if there was a reason he refused to actually answer that question and noticed the bucket as soon as the double doors were forced open. One of her mother's pranks no doubt, typical they'd run into one now of all time. And what happened next was in seconds as sky cast a spell, her licorice spell to rope around the boy and pull him out of harms way, only for him to be pulled back into her. He caught the rolls rather well surprisingly enough, but it seemed the impact of him hitting sky didn't leave her without injury. Sky rubbing her forehead and mumbling as angel panicked, the guard who was protecting them ran over in worry as sky felt herself close her eyes and pass out. "Sky? Princess? Skyler!?". Angel's panicked voice was the last thing she heard when she blacked out. - Sky saw only green, doors and voices, some calling out her names, she seemed to have no idea what was happening or where to go, though what she did know was that she was alone, and kinda terrified. Whoever was chasing her seemed to come from anywhere and everywhere and she both wanted to move and not move at the same time. She wanted to call out but couldn't speak, she wanted to hide but had nowhere to go, the light was getting brighter and her heart was beating faster. Where was she? Where was everyone else? Who was out there? She was panicking, the voices were getting louder, chanting her name over and over and- "Sky?!". Her eyes opened, making out the blurry images in front of her, she knew she was on something soft at the very least, and after a few minutes of readjustment she could fully comprehend that she was in eclipsa's tower, on the couch. Judas was here, with Luna, Eclipsa, and Angel, and surpisingly.....both her moms were here as well, looking over her and making sure she wasn't too injured. Sky tried to recall what happened and realized she must've passed out during the whole thing. "Oh thank goodness....", Star sighed, scolding Janna for her bucket pranks as Sky's other mom laughed and simultaneously showed an expression of guilt, a rarity for her. Judas smiled, typical for him, and luna seemed thankful but unamused, typical for her. Angel on the other hand looked more sickly then when he arrived earlier that day, awkwardly handing her one of the rolls they received from the kitchen. Sky took it awkwardly from him as the adults talked among themselves. Star seemed to thank angel, if you counted a nod as a way of saying "Thank you". Clearly star wasn't still sure about the boy but was in no position to really act scoffy about him, especially since he presumably was the one who had brought sky here. Star then started talking to eclipsa, pulling on her hair, "I'm glad sky's ok but....please, keep a closer eye on her next time....I REALLY don't wanna find out she drank something dangerous or got burned or anything...". Geez, did her mom think she was stupid or something? Thankfully classes were still going, but Janna's pranks were going to be reduced from now on, at least, if that were even possible. Star was still unfortunately incredibly busy, only checking on sky carefully before being forced to head out, janna on her heels and sending sky a jokey apology smile. Everyone else though, remained, Eclipsa making Sky some tea to help comfort her as Judas and Luna took their seats. "Don't worry about your mothers, they'll be ok, but you should thank personal angel over there for immediately bringing you here to get you help, bless his soul, he didn't know where your infirmary was..". Angel blushed in embarrassment, crossing his arms and tuning away as sky mumbled out a "Thanks towards him", he took another roll from their basket, eating it to help comfort him a little more as Judas grabbed his teacup. "You feeling ok? We were coming to find you and talk but this....really wasn't how we expected to find you in the slightest....", judas, being too sweet as ever, as per usual. Sky rubbed her forehead and adjusted her hat, " Apparently Angel slamming into you hurts more then I thought it would...". "You imagined angel slamming into you?", luna asked, "What kinda fights do you two normally get into?". Now angel looked like he wanted to hide in his clothes, embarrassed and probably guilty for being the reason sky got hurt in the first place, ears folding against his skull and curdling up into a little ball on his seat. And Sky gave luna a look, actually kinda annoyed at luna for probably making him feel worse about the situation. Yeah she got injured, but she'd been injured plenty of times before and she kinda saved angel from a much worse fate, thankfully. "Look, what are you here for....either of you?", honestly the sooner they moved the conversation along to something else the better at this point. She knew Judas had plans to talk to luna in private, to get her to speak, but wow he worked fast, she was at least expecting him to do something later tonight. But him and luna very much seemed on the same page, well if luna looking more determined then annoyed was some kind of giveaway since she rarely would go off to something like this unless it was important. "We're here for you.....we.....", he looked to angel, "Me and Luna need to speak with you, we've talked and we're on better terms.....but....there's something more we need to speak about.". He stood up and coughed, getting Eclipsa's attention, "Eclipsa? May me and luna go get some ice for sky from the infirmary? She might need some just to be safe...". Eclipsa looked over from her teapot to nod, "Of course, Angel, here....come help me till they get back, I want you to try some of this new tea i got from the monster village...". Angel walked over to her, his eyes briefly looking at the three other teens in curiosity as he headed over, sky getting off the comfy couch to be dragged away and out the door. Sky didn't have much time after to react as they headed to the courtyard and pulled her behind a rose bush to move away from the guards around the place. Sky brushed some leaves from her nice hat as she looked over the two in front of her with their stern faces, like parents ready to scold their child. Sky didn't like the look of this already. "Guys? What's going on?". They exchanged a look, and spit the news out fast. "We're going to the spiderbite kingdom, the three of us....we're going to find nora and miss Jackie...".

#star vs the forces of evil #svstfoe #svtfoe #sky and the forces of the multiverse #janstar bby #tomco bby #starkie bby #starco bby #eclipsa #star butterfly #janna ordonia #janstar #my art #fanfiction #fanfic

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morganaspendragonss · 5 years

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Closing Time

Pairing: Charlie Bradbury/Jo Harvelle

Rating: Teen and up

Word count: 1700

Tags: Fluff, very mild innuendo, tiny bit of violence, some explicit language

Author’s Note: This is obvious, but to avoid any confusion, ‘Annie’ is Charlie. Written for @spnsafficchallenge

There's a girl who comes into Annie's bar, every two nights, 7 o'clock on the dot. She always chooses the same table (near the back, next to the fire exit, facing the whole room), always orders the same drink (cheapest beer she's got) and never talks to anyone in the bar, save whoever's serving her. She's exactly the kind of person whom everyone else wouldn't look twice at, which means she's also the kind of person Annie notices first.

It's not like she's stalking the girl. It's just... like calls to like, or whatever the saying is. The look on the girl's face is one of someone who's running from something, who's always on high alert because they never know when they're going to need to grab everything and go. Annie gets that.

Even so, it takes a ridiculously long time for Annie to finally get up the courage to talk to her. She's not intimidated by much these days, hasn't been since she was the trembling, 12 year old Celeste Middleton. But there's something about this girl that sets Annie on edge, makes her wary of approaching her. Something that, somehow, both daunts her and excites her.

It's on a Tuesday night, maybe a couple weeks since the girl first showed up in her bar, when Annie just thinks fuck it and decides to at least ask her name. She watches the clock all day, nerves slowly building in her stomach as the seconds drag on. Her co-workers notice her agitated state, and she notices them whispers to each other, glancing sideways and smirking at her the whole time. They've all probably figured out what she's planning; she's been talking about this girl pretty much non-stop since she got here. Annie tries to ignore them, but she's not sure she succeeds.

At 6:30, Annie's hands start shaking, and she almost spills someone's drink as she pours it.

At 6:45, she slips to the staff bathroom, quickly splashing her face and checking herself in the mirror.

By 6:55, she's booted Dale from his spot at the bar, making sure she'll be the first person the girl sees when she walks in.

At 7, Annie's eyes are firmly trained on the door, her hands working automatically as she fixes someone's drink. Her heart leaps when the door swings open, only for it to sink again when there's no flash of blonde hair to greet her. Her fingers drum in time to her heartbeat as the seconds tick by and there's still no sign of her, but she'll come, she has to-

7:01.

Later, Annie's wiping down the tables when Dale comes up to her, smiling sympathetically.

"No sign of your girl?" he asks, but the look on his face tells her he already knows the answer.

Annie shakes her head, refusing to look him in the eyes. She's had sympathy directed at her all her life; she's done with that shit now. "Nah. I thought she might just be late, but... I guess she was busy, or something."

"Aw, that's just too bad," he says, but there's something in his voice that makes Annie look at him properly, her heart leaping in fear when she sees his cruel smirk. She tries to edge around him, but he reaches out and grabs her arm, his grip impossibly strong.

"Don't even try," he warns her, almost conversationally. "You run, and it will be a whole lot messier for you."

Annie stares at him, her brain working in overdrive to figure out a way to get free. She knows how to fight - she learned it the hard way, living on the streets - but instinct tells her that this guy, Dale, or whoever he really is, wouldn't even flinch at anything she could throw at him. Dale smirks at her like he can tell what she's thinking, and suddenly pulls her close to him, his gaze predatory and cruel.

"I've been thinking about doing this since you showed up in this shithole town," he murmurs, his breath tickling her neck.

Annie closes her eyes and waits, praying that whatever Dale is planning, it'll at least be quick. But he never gets the chance; the door suddenly bangs open and a gunshot echoes around the bar, a glass on one of the tables exploding into shards. Dale's grip loosens slightly in shock and Annie takes the opportunity to wrest her arm free, darting away before he can grab her again. She glances around the bar for her saviour, and her breath stops in her throat as she sees who it is.

It's her, Annie's mystery girl, blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail, a gun levelled at Dale as she steadily approaches him.

Well, Annie thinks. Mark me down as scared and horny.

The girl's eyes flick over to Annie, then back to Dale. "Get down, Red," she says, and something about that kicks Annie's brain back into gear. She notices the way the girl's finger tightens on the trigger, how Dale looks like he's getting ready for a fight, and she dives down behind a table. At the same moment, Dale lunges forward towards the girl, and Annie goes to shout a warning. Before she can, though, a second shot rings through the bar, and Dale thumps to the floor, a hole in the middle of his forehead.

Annie stares at the body, her brain struggling to catch up with what just happened. She's still staring maybe a minute later, when a shadow falls over her, and she looks up to see the girl standing over her, holding a hand down. Annie takes it and shakily climbs to her feet, pain flaring in her arm as she does so. She looks down and sees a long, shallow cut running down her left arm. She frowns; she doesn't even remember cutting it. Unless... Oh. She'd flung herself directly into the shards from the exploded glass. Figures.

"You okay?" the girl asks, frowning at her in concern.

"Um," Annie says, intelligently. "I- I think so."

"Okay," the girl says, clearly unconvinced. "I'm just gonna deal with, you know, this," she gestures to Dale's body, "and then we'll talk. Think you can sit there for a while without passing out?"

Annie nods mutely, watching with an open mouth as the girl smirks and walks over to the body, giving it a kick for... good measure? She then grabs his arms and starts dragging him outside. It occurs to Annie that she should probably offer help - Dale wasn't a big guy, but even so. But the girl is outside before Annie can move, so she just gets a couple of whiskeys from the bar and sits down to wait.

About thirty minutes and a couple of shots later, the girl saunters back into the bar, flopping down in the seat opposite Annie. Her hair is now loose, flowing freely around her shoulders, and her casual posture is a world away from the highly-trained Wonder Woman Annie had seen earlier. She arches an eyebrow at Annie as she tries to clean up her wound, using the rudimentary First Aid kit she found in the back. Annie flushes deeply and stops what she's doing, avoiding eye contact with the girl. A silence falls between them, and Annie's mind is screaming at her to say something, but her vocal chords have apparently stopped working.

Fortunately, the girl saves her, again. "Nice place you got here," she says casually, folding her arms.

Annie laughs nervously. "It's, um, it's not actually mine. That's just what I say to impress all the girls."

She dares a quick glance up at the girl - if anything, Annie seems to have caught her interest with that comment. She flicks her eyes up and down Annie's body, a curious glint in her eye. Annie blushes and looks away.

"Well, I gotta say," the girl says, leaning forward conspiratorially. "It's definitely working."

Annie's heart skips a beat at that, her mouth opening and closing, but no words come out. She desperately tries to think of something to say - usually she's so good at this - but her brain seems to have stopped working. The girl smirks knowingly and leans back again, pointing to Annie's wound.

"I can help you with that, if you want," she offers. "I've got some supplies back at the motel I'm staying in, and I bet it can beat what you're working with now."

Annie raises her eyebrows, seeing her opportunity. "You're asking me to go home with you when I don't even know your name?" she asked, in what she hopes was a seductive tone.

The girl laughs. "Fair enough." She holds out a hand. "Casey Cronin."

Annie reaches over and shakes her hand. "Annie Tolkien."

Casey rests her arms on the table, looking at Annie knowingly. "You seriously can't expect me to believe that your real name is Annie Tolkien."

Annie copies the gesture. "Casey Cronin?" she challenges.

'Casey' laughs. "Touché." She reaches out her hand again, looking directly at Annie. "Jo Harvelle, nice to meet you..?"

Annie shakes her hand again, unable to contain a small giggle. "Charlie Bradbury," she says. She's been figuring out this new identity for weeks now - no better time to employ it than after her co-worker gets killed and she meets an incredibly hot woman who's apparently excellent at sniffing out bullshit.

"Alright," Jo says, pushing her chair back and standing up. "Wanna come back to my place, Charlie Bradbury?"

Charlie shivers at the glint in Jo's eye, one that promises a little more than First Aid tonight. She stands and nods at Jo. "Absolutely."

They begin to make their way out of the bar, but, at the door, Jo stops and turns. "For the record," she says. "I know you're still lying about your name, but you're too hot for me to care." Then, tossing her hair over her shoulder, she leaves the bar, the door nearly slamming shut in Charlie's face.

She watches Jo's retreating back for a moment, before a smirk spreads over her face and she quickly follows her to her car.

Oh yeah. Tonight is going to be very fun indeed.

Tagging: @sam-winchester-deserves-better

As always, anyone who would liked to be tagged in future fic, please drop me a message!

#spnsc #supernatural #charlie bradbury #jo harvelle #charvelle #charlie x jo #charjo #women of supernatural #wlw fic #spn fanfic #spn #spn wlw #fanfiction #my fanfiction #writing #my writing

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sebeth · 5 years

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Legion Of Super-Heroes #13

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

“State Of The Universe” by Keith Giffen, Tom & Mary Bierbaum, and Al Gordon

The issue opens with the continuation of the Shakespeare – Persuader brawl.

A few children in the pediatric wing of Quarantine worry over Shakespeare. Garridan, the son of Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad, comforts Ivy: “He’s gonna be all right, Ivy. I just know he is. My dad says Legionnaires are real strong. Like they’re real, real hard to kill.”

Garridan is dressed in an adorable version of Colossal Boy’s silver age costume. I wonder if Gim is Garridan’s favorite Legionnaire?

Speaking of Gim, he has arrived at Quarantine and is working with the Science Police to find a way to evacuate patients near the Shakespeare/Persuader brawl.

Gim and Kent unintentionally tag-team the Persauder, causing his capture.

A great introduction for Richard Kent Shakespeare and a nice way to touch in with Garridan, Gim, and the Persuader.

I wouldn’t mind seeing a more of this mature, self-confident, and comfortable in his career Gim.

The Persuader is the second member of the Fatal Five that we have seen in this volume. We’ll see more members later on.

In orbit above Earth: Circe has been called to task by the Dominators – they want damage control, they want results, and they want it now: “When we gave you effective control of Science Police Earth, allowed you to shape Earthgov’s public relations strategy, we expected results. It is time for you to demonstrate that our faith in you was not misplaced…Madame Circe, when you procured the services of Dirk Morgna, you assured us the Earthers would believe anything the ex-Legionnaires told them. We are now holding you to that promise.”

The Darzyl System: Mano, another member of the Fatal Five, reports to Starfinger that the Persuader has failed in his assassination attempt.

Starfinger isn’t happy. It’s not a good day for criminal overlords.

Back to Quarantine.

Science Police Chief Gigi Cusimano credits the Persuader’s arrest to Kent Shakespeare: “If you ask me, the Legion is sorely missed.”

Gigi was a supporting cast member in the Legion’s Baxter series.

Gim offers Kent a lift to Toonar. It’s as close to Winath as Gim can take Kent: “That is, if you’re ready to turn in your scrubs to get back into a Legion uniform.”

“To be honest, I couldn’t get out of here a moment too soon. Once I heard the Legion might re-form, I’ve just been counting the days. Of course, some of the kids out here…it’ll just tear out my heart to leave them. I haven’t even worked up the courage to tell them yet.”

A spying Ivy is devastated to hear Kent’s plans to leave.

An isolated farm on Khundia: a confused Jo deals with an equally bewildered Khund: “You don’t look like a Khund yet you are not a master. You are soft-looking like a Khundish girl, but you have the voice of a man.”

Only a Khund would think Jo, of all people, would have a feminine appearance!

Jo appreciates the wife of the Khund man making a stew for him. The Khunder officer states the stew appreciation is another clear sign of Jo’s brain damage.

Two Dominators, without the trademark head discs, land on the property. Jo uses his ultra-speed to rapidly leave the property: “Bloody liberty! Dominators! I didn’t recognize them without their head discs! A couple of Khund cud-chewers I can handle. But the Dominion? This is getting real weird!”

Jo muses to himself: “Khunds and Dominators together?! Cats and dogs maybe, but Khunds and Dominators? I must be on the Frontier…some world on the fringe of both spheres of influence, maybe? Or maybe U.P. Intelligence is out to lunch, Maybe the Khunds and Dominators aren’t the blood enemies they’re supposed to be. Where the blazes did Roxxas send me?”

For those unfamiliar with the Dominators: Dominators are a caste-defined society. The size of the red dot in the middle of the forehead indicates their status in the society. The bigger the dot, the higher the status. If a Dominator, doesn’t have a dot, he would be the lowest of the low in the society. A dot can be surgically made smaller or scraped off entirely if the Dominator has lost status in his society.

The Toonar Spaceport: Kent remembers his farewell conversation with Ivy. He attempts to reassure her that he loves her and will be back. It doesn’t go well and ends with Ivy stating: “I hope you die on your first mission.”

Children, so dramatic!

Deep space: Laurel curb stomps some Khunds. She deeply regrets not being on Winath during the battle with Roxxas. “If only I’d just stayed on Winath in the first place instead of running back to Zirr every two days to see how Lauren is doing. Baby daughter or no, I can’t ever forget my responsibilities as a Legionnaire.”

Laurel faces the modern dilemma of many women: motherhood vs career.

The Collingwood Inn on Gnogg: The bald head prosthetic Tenzil shoved on Brek’s head during his Earthgov trial is not coming off. Brek is quite put out and wants it off ASAP.

Tenzil: “Well then, I guess there’s only one thing left to try, now hold still!”

“Ow…ow! That’s my hair, you moron!”

“Hey! What’s going on in here?”

“My god! He’s eating that man’s head!”

“It’s okay! It’s okay! I’m a senator!”

“I’m a senator” is Tenzil’s defense for all of his shenanigans.

Winath: Rokk researches options for the new Legion’s headquarters: “There just isn’t enough room on Brande’s planetoid. And we couldn’t risk bringing down an attack on the U.P. Council, so we gotta stay clear of Weber’s World. But by the same token, we sure as heck gotta get off Winath before someone else attacks the plantation”.

Garth interrupts – he and Rokk were supposed to get in a round of links.

“So what’s the big headache? You need a new headquarters? How’s that a problem?”

“Things aren’t so simple anymore, Garth. The Legion doesn’t have the kind of friends it used to.”

“Well, you’ve still got one friend you can count on. Consider your headquarters problem solved.”

“You don’t mean here? We really couldn’t stay.”

“No, no…I’ve got something a little better suited to your needs, Rokk. Trust me.”

Before Garth can reveal the location of the new headquarters, he spies Furrball (Brin) in a hallway: “Hey, look who just wandered in! I guess Kono’s going to be relieved!”

Brin wanders past an arguing Querl and Celeste: “I’m fine! So I have a tendency to glow green. So what? Green’s a lovely color. You should appreciate that more than anyone.”

Kono encounters Brin: “There you are, you big stupid furball! What the Nykx do you think you’re doing, disappearing on us for days like that? I don’t know whether to hug you or kick your stupid butt to Tombor.

Violet overhears Kono’s dressing down of Brin: “She can sure dish it out! Wish I had her brass when I was that age. But I didn’t come down here to admire out latest Firebrand. I’ve been putting this off long enough. It’s time to take care of business.

Violet enters the room and asks Rokk if he “has a sec”. Garth hastily excuses himself.

If you haven’t read the “5 Years Later” series, Rokk and Violet’s home planets, Brall and Imsk, went to war during the five-year gap between the Baxter series and the present series.

Violet voluntarily joined her planet’s military during the war, Rokk was drafted.

Imsk’s military scientists created a doomsday weapon to use against the Braalians. Violet served as the chief of security during the project’s development. Violet protested the actual use of the weapon.

The weapon is deployed. Rokk is onsite at the weapon’s deployment at Venado Bay. The weapon strips Brallians of their native magnetic abilities. It also causes death and dismemberment.

Rokk loses his abilites and is badly injured and deeply traumatized in the immediate aftermath of the weapon’s deployment. Violet is also there – she is deeply appalled at the carnage she witnesses. Violet recognizes Rokk and approaches him.

The badly injured Rokk does not recognize Violet and lashes out, causing her to lose an eye and suffer facial scarring.

Violet is imprisoned by the Imskian military for her protests and refusal to take back her criticism of the weapon and its deployment.

Rokk and Violet both suffer long-term PTSD from the events of Venado Bay and the war in general.

Back to the present day.

The duo awkwardly attempts to start a conversation.

Rokk begins: “Look, Vi, I know you’re upset. And you have every right to be. All those months you spent in prison, protesting Venado Bay, and I didn’t even have the courage to thank you. I don’t know what my problem was. I guess I was afraid you’d never forgive Braal for attacking your planet. Or forgive me for so blindly obeying Braal’s lousy leadership.”

“Rokk, don’t…I’m the one who should be apologizing…I’m the one…who helped kill all those…god.”

“’C’mon, Vi. It’s gonna be okay.”

“I told…I told myself I wasn’t going to fall apart like this…”

“You’re entitled.”

By the end of the conversation, both Rokk and Violet are crying.

One of my favorite moments in the series. Neither Rokk nor Violet magically healed their PTSD or emotional trauma but they’re on the road to healing.

Kathoon: A heavily pregnant Lydda is reading a letter from Rokk: “You know, Lydda, that woman has never forgiven herself for just doing her duty. Did I mention the scar she has over her eye? Vi told me she got it over her eye? Vi told me she got it at Venado Bay. She say’s she’s never having it removed. She never wants to forget what happened there. What she did. It just made me want to keep hugging her until the whole thing disappeared forever. But I guess Venado Bay will never go away. It’ll always be with us. Both of us.”

It’s safe to assume Violet didn’t inform Rokk that he caused the scar. Violet correctly assumed the revelation would only add more guilt to the emotional turmoil caused by Venado Bay.

The “hugging” line adds another dimension to Rokk’s character. Starting with the 5 Year Later series and continuing through the reboot, the three-boot, and the retro-boot, Rokk has been portrayed as the serious, no-nonsense, all business leader of the Legion. It’s nice to see a sweet, comforting side of Rokk.

The letter continues: “Now that we’ve finally nailed Roxxas, I’ve got to get going on the arrangements for Blok’s memorial. Brainy says it’s too soon to make it a double ceremony so we haven’t completely given up hope on Jo yet. But damn, it’s hard to get over Blok. I guess I never realized how important he was to us all until he was gone.”

Rokk ends his letter with “It really is happening. Uniforms, headquarters, roll call. The Legion is officially back.”

Lydda excitedly yells “All right!”

The next few pages consist of a Brande Industries Memo from Marla Latham to Reep Daggle.

Volume 1: Disposition Of Known Universe

Currently the known universe is divided into these political entitites.

1) The Khundish Empire, 32%

2) Independent, unaffiliated, disorganized, 29%

3) United Planets, 24%

4) The Dominion, 9%

The memo states Khunds have conquered Lallor, Sklar, Tsauran, and Rann.

The Dominion is in a state of collapse “as worlds on the fringe continue to achieve independence”.

The memo notes the Dominion’s attempt to enslave the now-decimated Daxamite race and the “alleged secret domination of Earthgov”.

The extent of the Dark Circle remains unknown but may be as large as the Khundish empire.

Volume 2: Growing Threats

1) Mordru

2) Glorith

The memo notes the “destruction of magic at the conclusion of the Mystic Wars have proven totally erroneous. While the greatest known nexus of Magic was destroyed with the old Sorcerers’ World, many known ‘sympathetic points’ remain, most notably Tharn, the new Sorcerers’ World, as well as Orando and Venegar.

Volume 3: The United Planets

1) Current operations include “directing traffic, organizing defense, and enforcing the rules of the Recovery Initiative”

2) Compliance remains low, U.P. membership is still far below pre-Collapse levels

3) U.P. Militia has gained respectability as a barrier to Khundish encroachment

4) The critical blow to the U.P.’s collapse was the secession of Earth

5) The United Planets and the Science Police have relocated to Weber’s World

6) The corruption of Science Police Earth has undermined the credibility of all S.P. agencies

7) Organized crime has flourished.

8) Molock Hanscomb (Starfinger) of Darzyl is the most powerful figure in the underworld.

9) Leland McCauley III has emerged as the richest businessman in the United Planets. Rumors suggest that Leland McCauley IV has wrested control of the business from his father.

Volume 4: Earth

1) “With poverty and paranoia flourishing on Earth in the wake of the Great Collapse, that planet has lapsed into a period of uncharacteristic xenophobia and acquiescence to authoritarian rule. It is now alleged that the population has been manipulated and covertly ruled by the Dominion.”

2) Resistant forces have opposed Earthgov since 2990.

We end with an interlude featuring Glorith and the Time Trapper.

The Trapper informs Glorith of the “timelines that proceeded yours…what you owe me.”

He further reveals that “Mon-El obliterated my form, not my essence. All that was destroyed were my works.”

The Trapper and Glorith are referring to events that took place in issues #4 – 5.

Trapper continues: “I’ve seen how you performed my acts, lived my life to frustrate that poor fool Mordru once again. How you’ve become the new Time Trapper…but understand this, without me you can lose everything.”

Trapper issues the traditional “without me, you will fail but together we can rule the universe” speech.

Glorith rejects the offer, devolves Trapper into protoplasm and absorbs his essence. I don’t feel bad for Trapper as he did the same thing to Glorith in the Silver Age.

Glorith decides now is the perfect time to conquer the universe.

A great issue that wraps up the previous plot lines and sets up future storylines. The issue is a terrific example on how to handle a large cast – we checked in with 14 Legionnaires and 5 sets of villains.

#Legion Of Super-Heroes #Cosmic Boy #Ultra Boy #Lightning Lad #Shrinking Violet #Colossal Boy #Kent Shakespeare #Brainiac 5 #Glorith #Time Trapper #Dominators #Khunds #Starfinger #Timber Wolf #Kono #Celeste Rockfish #Night Girl #Matter-Eater Lad #Polar Boy

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fae-fucker · 7 years

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The One: Chapter 26-27

Chapter 26

America mopes around at home. Just a couple of things to note:

I didn’t even want [Lucy] serving me, and it seemed she was mostly fine with helping Mom however she could or playing with May.

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but there’s something icky about the fact that America accepted people serving her so easily. She’s supposedly someone who’s super poor, I feel like she’d be more squicked out by the idea of having servants, since that’s a rich people thing. Especially considering that Lucy admitted that they’re basically slaves. WHICH YEAH, WHY DID I SUDDENLY FORGET ABOUT THAT. Probably because the book did, but WHAT THE FUCK.

But I guess since America harbors no ill will toward the upper class, because they’re actually all good and precious and can’t help that they’re creating this caste system, she probably thinks that servants are totally cool. Maybe she’s such a NATURAL LEADER that it’s in her nature to have people wiggle around like worms at her feet.

Anyway, because KCass is a hack and TWU WUV can only happen once, we find out that America suddenly thinks that her thing with Aspen wasn’t real love, unlike what she has with Maxon. Which I call bullshit, because she describes her “love” for both exactly the same way. But I guess when your TWU WUV shows up, you realize that all those other times you’ve been in love was actually fake and worthless and terrible. (Sideyes SJM, too.)

You know what pisses me off though? We’ve spent three books with America as she tried to figure out which boy’s dick she wants to sit on the most, only to find out that one of the dicks wasn’t even a real seat in the first place.

Like, we all knew that Maxon was going to win from the first time we read the blurb, but the fact that Aspen didn’t even mean shit to America herself (not as much as Maxon apparently does anyway) at all makes this whole thing feel even cheaper.

Anyway, America talks to her older sister about the fact that she can’t admit to Aspen that she doesn’t love him anymore, despite also never having loved him for realzies in the first place. Why?

“What if Maxon picks someone else? I can’t walk away from this with nothing. At least if Aspen still thinks there’s a chance, maybe we could try again when everything’s over.”

She stared at me. “You’re using Aspen as a safety net?”

I buried my head in my hands. “I know, I know. It’s awful, isn’t it?”

THIS IS SOMETHING THAT’S A LEGIT CHARACTER FLAW THAT SHOULD BE BROUGHT UP AND EXAMINED AND RESOLVED. NOT SOMETHING YOU THROW IN ALL WILLY-NILLY AT THE END OF THE BOOK.

HOLY SHIT, KCASS, WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?!

This isn’t anything new, we all know America is a selfish twat, but still. What the actual fuck?

Whatever. The chapter ends with Aspen trying to talk to America about something (the fact that he’s in love with Lucy I bet), but because KCass doesn’t know the concept of having mercy, America nonsensically shuts him up and tells him to fuck off before he can spit out the truth.

Chapter 27

America returns to the castle and all the other Selection girls have a surprise party because Maxon is announcing his engagement tomorrow!

The room exploded with cheers, and I was so confused. Emmica, Ashley, Bariel . . . everyone was here. I hunted, but I knew it was pointless. Marlee wouldn’t be invited to this.

“This celebration that isn’t meant for me is POINTLESS because my personal dick-sucker isn’t here!” Cry me a fucking river, you selfish little bitch.

Apparently Celeste and Elise were kicked out and only she and Kriss are left. If Maxon really wanted to show America that he’s chosen her, picking her only real rival to stay as the last girl is ... suspicious. Why didn’t he just kick her out too? Oh right, because KCass can’t fucking live without idiotic last-minute drama, so Kriss has to stay for when Maxon and America inevitably break up again so he can pretend he’ll marry her for “tension”.

SJM (claims that she) lets her characters control the plot and steer it to nonsensical levels of idiocy, KCass forces her characters to do shit that makes no damn sense for the sake of the plot.

Both exremes are bad, children.

America confronts Kriss about being a rebel (because she’s wearing a dumb star necklace around her neck like an idiot) and acts weirdly pissed about it?

“I haven’t done anything illegal. I’m not mounting protests anywhere; I just support the cause.”

“Fine,” I spat. “But how much of your part in the Selection is you wanting Maxon and how much is your group wanting one of their own on the throne?”

Why the fuck is America being an uppety bitch about this? Her dad, whom she supposedly loves so much, was a rebel. Why the fuck is she suddenly so anti-rebellion? I know she loves to suck rich dick but what the fuck?

Oh wait, is she worried that poor Maxi Pad will be UUUUUSED for POLITICAL REASONS and not marry for TWU WUV. Poor Maxi-Waxy!!! Spare him from this horrible fate!!!

KCass, what’s wrong with you?

I wanted to tell her that Maxon and I could do great things, too, that we’d probably already done more than she could guess.

Oh, really? Tell me one thing. ONE THING, BITCH, CAN YOU DO IT?!

Besides, she and I had a lot in common. I came here for my family; she came here for a family of sorts.

You came here for your family? Lmao what? Don’t give me that bullshit, America. You were always motivated by men. You came because Aspen rejected you, and any time Maxon rejected you, you wanted to leave.

KCass, don’t try to pull this. I know you didn’t expect someone who can actually think about what they’re reading to read your schlock, but this retroactive motivation patch won’t fool me.

Should I keep my mouth shut? Should I at least let someone know? Was this even a bad thing?

Well, Kriss is a rebel sympathizer and remember how you refused to sentence one to prison even though he was already sentenced? Or do you not care if it’s a woman and she’s a rival competing for your maaan?

Fuck off.

Kriss also says that she won’t “back down” even if America tries to sell her out or blackmail her, but she’s like ... in no position to make such statements. We know how the rebels are punished. America could tell the king and have Kriss arrested and she’d become the princess because there would be no one left. I’m not saying America would do such a thing (but she obviously considers it), because that would require being proactive and ambitious and we’ve already established that America’s greatest strength is her being a passive doormat, but I’m saying that Kriss is overestimating her power here.

If there was something real between Maxon and Kriss, any attempt to expose her would look like a desperate last effort to win. And even if that worked, that wasn’t how I wanted to get Maxon.

I wanted him to know I loved him.

It’s all about Maxon. Everything revolves around Maxon.

Speaking of which, America leaves the party to mope and Maxon comes into her room to suck her dick some more.

“I’m glad I at least got to meet [her dad]. I can see bits of him in you, you know.”

[...]

“Your sense of humor, for one. And your tenacity. When he and I spoke during his visit, he grilled me. It was nerve-racking, but kind of funny at the same time. You’ve never just let me off the hook either.

“Of course, you have his eyes and I think his nose, too. And I can see your optimism beaming out sometimes. He gave me that impression as well.”

Sense of humor?? What sense of humor?? What tenacity?? Optimism??

Sense of humor: Where???

Tenacity: *anything goes slightly wrong* OH NO I’VE FAILED BETTER GIVE UP.

Optimism: *boy does something slightly mysterious* OH NO HE DOESN’T LOVE ME ANYMORE!! EVERYTHINS IS RUINED!!

Sure. Uh huh. KCass is just pulling these traits out of her ass at this point.

Anyway, Maxon apparently has bought her family a house. So that’s ... great.

He did this so they could live closer! But??? Why???? What does it all mean!!!! America is still as dumb as ever, I see.

They start making out but because they’re GOOD GOOD CHRISTIAN CHILDREN, we don’t get any dick-in-vag action.

I was going crazy, wanting so much more of him, aching to know if he’d let me have it.

FEED HER THE LITTLE PRINCE, MAXON. SHE NEEDS IT INSIDE HER.

He doesn’t. Instead, they finally exchange I love yous and:

I wanted to stay up all night with him, to explore this new feeling we’d discovered.

“New”? NEW? BAROLD, ROLL THE CLIP!!

Before long we were tangled together on the dirty, thin rug. Aspen pulled me on top of him, and I brushed his scraggly hair with my fingers, hypnotized by the feel. He kissed me feverishly and hard. I felt his fingers dig into my waist, my back, my hips, my thighs. I was always surprised that he didn’t leave little finger-shaped bruises all over me.

We were cautious, always stopping shy of the things we really wanted. [The Selection, Chapter2]

BUT I GUESS IT WASN’T REAL HORNINESS WHEN YOU WERE WITH ASPEN, RIGHT?! IT WAS ALL JUST A LIE!! ANYTHING THAT HAPPENED WITH ASPEN WAS IN THE MATRIX, THIS IS ALL IN THE REAL WORLD AND YOU AND MAXON ARE CURRENTLY MAKING OUT IN ZION WHILE THERE’S A HUGE RAVE OUTISIDE!!

There’s some noise outside (the rave probably) and Maxon freaks out and tells America that he can’t fuck her right now, because he’s so stressed out.

“Don’t be sad. I want to take you on a proper honeymoon. Someplace warm and private. No duties, no cameras, no guards.” He wrapped his arms around me. “It will be so much better that way. And I can really spoil you.”

[...]

“You can’t spoil me, Maxon. I don’t want anything.”

[...]

“Oh, I know. I don’t intend on giving you things. Well,” he amended, “I do intend on giving you things, but that’s not what I mean. I’m going to love you more than any man has ever loved a woman, more than you ever dreamed you could be loved. I promise you that.”

“I’m gonna dive in your cooch for so long I’ll develop gills, babe.”

I sighed, promising myself that we’d talk about Aspen tomorrow. It would need to happen before the ceremony, and I felt sure I knew how to explain things in the best way. For now, I would enjoy this tiny bubble of peace and rest securely in the arms of the man I loved.

Good fucking night.

#eff reads: the one #book rants

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omgmissmillie-blog · 7 years

Text

Sparks [Trent Seven]

A/N- y'all I procrastinate way too much and I’m sorry. After finals I will be finishing up a bunch of stories because I am very unreliable when it comes to fics sometimes 😂😂 but anyways this is for my mans Trent he gets no love sometimes so I decided to make a fic for him. So enjoy le chapter one ❤

Wordcount:3,684

Warning: Swearing & Cheating

Tagging: @hardcorewwetrash @screamersdontdance @asylumxclub @fuckyeahbulletclub @sammiielli

Little feet tread across the wooden floor, I held my breath and shut my eyes as I pretended to be asleep. “Mommy!! Wake up its time to see Miss Shannon!” My lovely child Gianna shook my arm but I remained silent. “Mommy!!!” Gianna jumped up and down on the mattress. I jump up and grab her. “Boo! C'mere little girl!” Her little screams and giggles filled the apartment.

“Did you try to get dressed?“ She stood up straight in front of the mattress and held a cute crooked smile. I couldn’t help but laugh at the outfit she picked out. “Gigi baby..are you sure you wanna wear your tutu out today? Its raining and it might get ruined.” I fix the slightly slanted tutu around her waist. “But…I told miss Shannon i’d wear it today.” Gianna brought her arms across her face and began to sniffle.

“Okay okay baby, If you go get your boots and jacket you can wear your tutu. I promise” I held my pinky out and wiggled it under her arm. She removed one arm and wrapped her small pinky around mine.

Gianna rushed out of the room to get her stuff, I grab my clothes and head into the bathroom to shower quickly. The warm water splashed off my skin and bounced to the bottom of the tub.

“Mommy..can I come in?” Gianna knocked until I shut the water off and wrapped up in a towel. I open the door, she sat cross legged on the floor looking up at me smiling.

“Ewww mommy is naked” she squealed and giggled. I smiled down at her, “Everything that I have you have as well Gigi, now come on lets brush our teeth.” I lift her onto the counter and grab the tooth brushes, Gianna kicked her legs forward and sang, “brush brush brush your teeth brush brush brush your teeth.” I lean over and bob into the sink, she followed suit and spit into the sink.

“Look at mommy and smile” I turn towards her and cup her cheeks, she smiled big and reached out for mine, “smile mommy!” I smile back and help her down. I pull my clothes on and slide into some old black converses. The rain came down hard against the window, I finished helping Gianna get ready and held her hand as we left our apartment.

We walked out of the elevator and headed to the mailboxes, Gianna enjoyed saying good morning to all the seniors, I found it rather cute that she wanted to run around and hug them and say hello. Mrs.Melody turned the corner from the elevator and approached us, Gianna gasped and ran over to her, she smiled at her softly and dug in her purse and pulled a lollipop out and handed to Gianna. I smile and finish gathering the mail from the box.

“Morning Y/N, how’s little Gianna?” A soft familiar voice emerged from behind me. I turn to see our landlord Celeste leaning against the mail box watching Gianna in amusement. “She’s great… My little bubble of energy,” She runs up to me and shows me the lollipop. “Look mommy! Hi Miss Cele” I bend down to pick her up and put her on my hip. “So Y/N rent was due yesterday.. Do you have it ready? Section 8 has been kicking my ass because I haven’t given them the money on time..” Celeste’s face spread with worry.

I let out a sigh and run my free hand through my hair, I was running low on money and I refuse to call my mother up and ask for money. “I don’t have it at the moment…I just had to pay this lawyer can you give me another week.. Please.” I pleaded. I was struggling and being a waiter wasn’t bringing in enough money…

Celeste studied me before smiling. “One week. I’ll give you one more alright. Otherwise we’ll have to terminate the lease,” I pull Celeste into a hug and thank her. “Bye Miss Cele” I put Gianna down and hold her hand as we walked down the street to the daycare.

Gianna took off running into the daycare building, her little legs wasn’t getting her too far as I kept up. “MISS SHANNON!” Gianna screamed as she ran and hugged onto shannon’s leg. I give her an apologetic look and lean against the counter, Gianna absolutely adored her and was always excited to come to daycare.

Shannon and I were friends since junior year ad she’s been there even after Gianna was born, she had my back even in the toughest times..

The little kids gathered on the carpet as Shannon started an episode of Sesame Street, She made her way over to show off her tutu. “I knew it’d make her happy so I went and bought one.” She smiled and hopped up on the counter. “Of course it would. Anything makes her happy..I love it” I played with my hair as I stared at Gianna’s back, she was playing and laughing along with the show.“So when do you have to go back to court?” I felt Shannon’s eyes burn into my skull as she awaited my response.

I sighed quietly, “Today..in an hour. I just paid for a lawyer but I doubt he’ll do me justice since he was a cheap one.” The judge ordered for Gianna’s father and I to be in court today to figure out who will gain custody of her. I used my last paycheck to get a lawyer but sadly the more money the better quality the lawyer is.

Shannon shook her head, “This is ridiculous. Adrian hasn’t been in Gianna’s life ever since she was born, why does he want her now?”

“I don’t know.. Did I tell you he tried to break into my apartment last week while we were sleeping?” I rub at my brow. Shannon gasped and cupped her mouth. “No way you’re lying… He’s crazy.” I pick at the leftover polish on my nails. Shannon never liked Adrian and had always expressed it with him around and behind his back.

Adrian and I met five years ago, I was still a waitress at Danny’s Diner. Every night he’d come in and order something and try his hardest to pull me in with his accent. Soon we were exchanging phone numbers and texting all night, he treated me like an absolute princess. After two years he insisted I moved in with him and start our lives…together.

But.. I learned my lesson, all fairytales come to an end. Mine came soon after a few missed periods and some trips to the bathroom with morning sickness. Everytime I went to sleep my dream sends me back to that night that I wanted to tell him..

My heart pounded as I approached the apartment. I don’t know how he’ll react or let alone if it’ll be good or bad, he said he wanted to start this together and I can only hope for the best.

I take a deep breath and unlock the door. “Hello? Baby I’m home.” The living room look like a storm ran through, pillows on the floor and the table slanted funny.

I froze as I got a whiff of some strong perfume, It wasn’t mine and I’ve never smelt it before either.. Is someone here?

A creaking noise emerged from our bedroom, I couldn’t stop myself as I headed back there. The closer I got more noise became clear, moaning and squeaking of the bed.

I peeked into the crack to see Adrian having sex with another woman. Everything felt like it went in slow motion. Why was he doing this.. What did I do wrong. Anger boiled inside me as I heard their moans.

I slam the door against the wall and stared straight at Adrian. The girl hopped off of him and tried to cover up, I can feel the tears sitting on my eye threatening to fall but I refused to let them come out.

“Who…the fuck…is she and why the fuck..are you having sex with her.” I tried to remain calm but anger filled my voice. He gave me a stupid look but couldn’t answer my fucking questions, I whip around quickly and storm out of the apartment.

The sounds of stumbling and tripping faded as I rushed down the stairs.

“Y/N!!”

“No! Fuck you and that bitch. Have a nice fucking life you bastard”

I didn’t want to be that person and keep him from his daughter but he refused to take my calls. I left him several messages regarding her but nothing so I decided to cut him off completely. The day that man came to my apartment and served me papers it felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest. The man who refused to answer any phone calls or text messages is trying to take my daughter, I thought it was a fucking joke until I actually walked into that courtroom and saw Adrian and his lawyer.

“Alright Shan.. I gotta start heading to the court house.” I push off the counter and walk to the door. Gianna smiled and whispered to me, “bye mommy.”

“Y/N, I forgot to tell you there’s this gym near my apartment you should come and stop by. The owner is really nice his name is Trent, he can help you release some stress” Shannon held a flyer out to me.

The smile threaten to spread as I tried to look disgusted, “I don’t have any “stress” alright. But I’ll check it out”

Shannon bounced on her heels excitedly, “Okay awesome. Go today I’ll keep an eye on Gigi until you get back.”

I shook my head and walked out towards the exit. I look down at the paper and smile, “British Strong Style huh…what a name” I shove the flyer into my pocket.

“Mr.Neville, before your daughter Gianna Marie was born is it true that Y/N was indeed trying to get in contact with you?”

Adrian mumbled a few words to his lawyer and shot a few dirty looks my way. I glanced over in his direction and rolled my eyes enough to see my brain.

“Your honor, my client –”

“I did not ask you. I asked Mr.Neville if he chooses not to answer then its up to him.”

Adrian lifted his hand and put on a charming smile, “Your honor she did actually but because of my hectic schedule I was unable to take any calls.”

The furrowed brow on the judge’s face indicated her reply was gonna shred Adrian to pieces. “If your schedule is so busy how do you expect to even care for your daughter?” Adrian played with his fingers behind his back, he only did this when he had to come up with something off the top of his head. “Well she would stay with the house keeper of course.. When I’m working that is.” The judge wasn’t impressed. Neither was I.

“Leaving your child with the housekeeper isn’t parenting. Mr. Neville, A child needs their parent not someone like it” The judge tapped her pen against the stand and looked down at me, “Y/N can I ask why you didn’t continue reaching out to him?”

I stood up and folded my arms. “Your honor, I tossed the bone for him but he refused to take it. I’m not going to continue wasting my time, even if I know he won’t help after this is settled. He comes in here trying to gain full custody like excuse my language but, Fuck that.” I shrugged off the glare the judge shot my way, I wasn’t going to bullshit her this was how I honestly felt. Adrian wasn’t taking my baby especially not after the stunt he pulled, this was unacceptable.

“You’re pathetic, Just accept whats best for our daughter.” Adrian snarled. My eyes widen, did this son of a bitch really just say that. “What’s best for our daughter? Where the hell were you the last three years huh? You didn’t even pick up my calls! When she’s sitting there asking me “Mommy do I have a daddy? Everyone at daycare has one” I have to figure out if I say I don’t know or that you’re just dead.“ I screamed as I tried to push past my lawyer, luckily he was holding me back otherwise I would’ve been caught up in another case.

"Order in the court!” The judge’s voice roared over us. I stopped and fixed my now messy hair, “I don’t care what’s going on with the both of you but you WILL come to an agreement in this court. By next month on the fifteenth I want you to have your minds made up, do you both understand?”

“Yes your honor” Adrian stood up and tossed his hands into his pockets. I couldn’t shake off the side eye he gave me as he walked out. This man was full of spite and nothing more, he cheats on me and doesn’t answer my calls for his daughter, I’m in the wrong clearly, makes absolutely no sense.

I looked up at the judge and nodded before leaving the room. This man..this evil fucking man wants my daughter. Its like he’s begging for war, well he’s got one. I won’t go back to being who I was and I won’t go back to being hurt.

As Gianna started to grow her features started to be more define, she had his eyes and her hair was definitely like his, I would sit up at night and cry until I couldn’t anymore. When she was able to walk and talk she would come into the bathroom and hug me and pat my head with her small hands.

I pull my phone out of my pocket and dial Shannon’s number. I held the phone up to my ear as I walked out to the bus stop.

“You have to tell me everything” Shannon forced the words into one, I groaned loudly into the phone before starting up.

“He came into court demanding full fucking custody Shannon. Is he stupid or is he stupid? He has another thing coming if he thinks for a SECOND i’m giving him my daughter. He’s lucky if I even agree with visitation.” I watched as the bus slowly stopped in front of me and opens its doors.

“Wait..you can’t be serious.What did the judge say?”

“She rescheduled our final hearing on the fifteenth either we both agree on something or she’ll decide what’s best.” I sighed as I sat in the back and watched as the people loaded into the bus.

“I’m sure you’ll agree on something don’t worry…” Shannon soothed my nerves temporarily.

“I hope so”

“I’ll call you right back, gotta feed the kiddos. Keep your head up Y/N.” The sound of little kids flooded my ears before she ended the call.

I sink low in my seat as the bus began to move. Work was getting hectic and this court situation is only gonna make me rip my hair out, I can’t let this turn badly. I pull the paper out of my pocket and examine it closely, 6252 Donovan street… that’s just around this corner. The bus stopped at the light, I pulled the cord and stop in front of the door, I push it open and headed towards the corner. Straight ahead an old looking building sat next to a vacant parking lot.

The gym was packed with big men lifting weights and squatting, A large ring sat near the back next to a few punching bags that were lined up against the wall. I toss my hands in my pocket and walked over to a guy with some weights in his hands, he wasn’t as tall as everyone else but he was quite fit with a seemingly impressive mustache. “Excuse me?” I place my hand gently on his back, he pulled his ear bud out and held an innocent smile, “Hey what’s up?”

I couldn’t help but smile back his smile was so contagious, his voice was kind and gentle,“um where can I find the owner Trent Seven?”

The young man place the weights back on the ground, “I can bring you to him, he’s usually back here”

I trailed behind and followed him to the ring where two men were sparing. One was tall,bulky and had quite the beard, the other was also buff and held a mean look on his face but was undoubtedly handsome.

“Alright Peter you’ve worked me hard enough lets take five.” The taller man walked over to the rope, his face was soft as he smiled, but there was something intense behind the glint in his eyes.

“Trent, I have a nice lady with a pretty smile here for you.” The sweet guy motioned towards me and held tight on both ends of the towel that rested behind his neck.

“Thank you Tyler, now shoo shoo.” The guy named Trent rolled under the ropes and leaned against the ring post. Now that he was up close he had some how gotten more handsome. His mouth was moving but I was staring intently at his beautiful green eyes.

He snapped his fingers in my face which brought me back to reality thankfully.

“Oh um…sorry, my name is Y/N. My friend, Shannon told me to come here and check this place out.” I tried to hide my shaky tone but i’m sure he has picked up on it.

A light chuckle erupted from his chest as he folded his arms across his chest, “Shannon you say… I am quite surprise she isn’t here today usually Tyler and her use Monday’s to max out.”

“She said I should come and sign up” I couldn’t stop myself from playing with a little bit of my hair.

“Alright do you got some clothes we can get started right now” Trent pushed himself off post and started walking past me.

“I mean I have some spandex shorts on…if that works?” I glance at all the muscular men chatting and praising each other as they worked their muscles.

He turned his head slightly and smiled softly,“It works just fine. I have a T-shirt in my office you can borrow, it maybe too big so you can tie it at the bottom.”

I noticed Trent heading towards his office near the corner, I move past all the men to follow him. He held the door open for me as I slide into the tiny office.Posters and awards hung around the walls,above the window sat a belt that read:

ICW World Heavyweight Champion

“You must be top shit holding that belt I see.” I point slightly up towards the belt.Trent smiled and walked over to the set of lockers.“Of course I was, I like to believe genuine winners are the real champions."I lean in to examine some of the awards."If that’s true why aren’t you out there defending those words and that belt?"I stood up and turned back towards him. Trent shook out the tiny shirt and held it out to me,"There’s no point anymore,the company was closed and I was the last champion so who is there to defend it from?” He shrugged as I took the shirt from his hand. Trent headed towards the door and placed his hand on the knob before slightly turning to me.“Once you finish getting dressed I can figure out what we can start you off with.”

After five long hours passed by the gym was nearly empty, Trent and I were sitting the middle of ring practically drained. “What time is it?” I lie back and look over at Trent, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, “Its almost ten.” My eyes widen as I quickly roll under the ropes.

“Woah what’s wrong?” Trent rolled out on the other side as I rushed to the office. “I have to leave or else I’ll miss the bus!” I knew Shannon was okay with watching Gianna but I hate feeling like a burden. “Slow down I can drop you off don’t worry.” Trent placed a hand on my shoulder as I finish slipping my shirt on. I stop and look up into his eyes, I didn’t want to miss the bus but he is offering. “Okay…thank you.” I finally got dressed and waited outside the gym for Trent to finish locking up.

Trent fished his keys out his pocket and walked towards his black truck that sat in the vacant lot. He walked to the passenger side and opened the door for me.

“You’re quite the gentleman Trent.” I smirk at the gesture, entering the car.

“I gotta be when there’s a pretty lady around.” Trent chuckled as he shut the door and made his was to the driver side. “Alright where am I heading to Y/N.” He asked. “Can you drop me off at the daycare near Arcadia Ave?” I told him, buckling my seat belt. He started the truck and backed into the street heading towards the stop light.

I pull out my phone and dial Shannon’s number. “Shan? I’ll be there in five minutes or so.”

“Okay, I’ll have Gigi ready by the time you get here.” Shannon said ending the call.

“Picking up a niece or something?” Trent cleared his throat as he slowly turned the wheel. “My little girl actually.” I said. “Yeah? How old is she?” His voice filled with astonishment.

I turn to face him and let a smile creep up to my face. “She’s three, why are you so surprised? Do I not fit the motherly look?”

“No. You don’t, you look like someone who wouldn’t want to be bothered with kids.” Trent’s smile hid under his mustache.

I swat lightly at his arm. “That’s rude, I enjoy kids. I won’t say it’s easy taking care of Gianna but she’s bright so she took it easy on me.”

The truck stopped in front of the daycare where Shannon and Gianna stood waiting.

“Thank you Trent for the ride.” I unbuckle my seat belt and open the door to get out. “No problem, it was nice meeting you I hope to see you again.” Trent waved me off and flash a sweet smile.

“Mommy!”

I shut the door and walk over to Gianna. “Hey cupcake, were you being a good girl for Shannon?” I propped her onto the side of my hip. Gianna nodded and rested her head upon my shoulder. Shannon waved to the truck before it pulled off, “oh man oh man you got alot to tell me tomorrow.” She smirked as she turned to head to her car.

I laugh to myself as I walked down the street holding onto Gianna, I could tell she was going to sleep good tonight since she seems all played out. “Mommy?” She mumbled as she tucked her head in the crook of my neck. “Yes cupcake?” I paused at the light and waited for it to change.

“Can I see daddy?”

#millie imagines

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