#even with the new job i feel stuck invisible lonely stupid

[heart-bones]

this is just my biweekly post to let the internet know that I would very much like to di e

[waywardwrestlewritingwaif]

Raise the Stakes, Part 8

I swear, I will wind this one up in the not-too-distant future but I keep kind of thinking of different things to do with it. Bad writer, bad. Finish your work!

You can find the previous bits of the story:

Place Your Bets

Part one two three four five six seven

Pairing: David Finlay x OFC (referenced Jay White x OFC)

Word count: 3,824

Content advisory: graphic sexual content, cursing

You feel like an idiot for actually believing that he was going to talk to you the next day, or that he was going to do anything other than ignore you the way he has since your arrival. If anything, he’s ignoring you harder than ever, or at least taking greater pains to be anywhere around you. If you see him, he’s always moving and with others. The wall between you is so thick you start gaslighting yourself, wondering if you imagined the tryst in your car.

The whole company is buzzing. It’s the last few days before the big Slammiversary show, the peak of their year. The excitement for the show and for finally having a small audience is mingled with the knowledge that every year, there are some surprises. THe bigwigs play their cards close to their chests, which means that the talent and behind the scenes people, yourself very much included, don’t know who could pop out at any moment. New Japan has been frustratingly tight-lipped. It’s supposed to be your job to bridge the gaps between New Japan and Impact but no one will tell you who might be trying to cross those bridges.

Is Nagata coming back? You’ll find out.

Another appearance by Phantasmo? Wait and see.

Tama and Tanga are mouthing off at the Good Brothers all the time on social media. Are they showing up?

It’s like shouting at a wall.

Finlay and Robinson are there, they tell you. Take care of them.

It’s almost more frustrating to hear that because, of course, you’d like to do that but one of them is very determined not to let that happen.

By Thursday afternoon, you’ve done everything you can.

“Take a day off,” Scott Damore, the man tasked with keeping this little beehive running tells you. “Go home and relax. You’ll want to be rested for Saturday.”

You want to tell him there’s no need for you to leave now but your aching back, neck, and head disagree.

“What time do you need me here Saturday?”

“Morning?” He looks surprised. “Just come in an hour or so before the show.”

“But what do you need me to do?”

“Sit in the audience, cheer at the right points, look excited if the camera passes you.”

“That’s it?”

“There’s nothing that needs to be liaised in the middle of a show. Grab a seat, have some fun. Be a fan for a few hours.”

You laugh a little because you can’t remember the last time you were able to just be a fan.

“You do like wrestling, don’t you?”

“I do,” you chuckle. “I just don’t really have the opportunity to indulge that very often.”

“So go home, have a nice dinner and a glass of wine. Do whatever it takes to get rid of that headache that I can see right through your skull. Spend the day in your pajamas playing videogames with teenagers online.”

You rise slowly, thanking him as you move to go.

“Hey,” he calls softly, “you’re doing a great job. Don’t think they’re not going to hear about it in Tokyo.”

It’s such a sweet note to leave on that you’re most of the way home, or to the temporary rental that’s passing for home right now, before you think about the fact that you haven’t laid eyes on David all day. He’s been around, because if he hadn’t been, you’re the one who would have had to field questions about it. But he’s been invisible to you.

You end up taking Scott’s suggestions very much to heart. You order dinner from the Chinese place you’ve become addicted to, watch early episodes of The Walking Dead, and have a couple of drinks until you can feel a warm blanket of sleepiness wrapping itself around you.

And that’s when your doorbell rings.

You grab your phone, although there’s a large part of you that wants to ignore it because it’s a little unnervingly late to be getting callers. But you pick it up just on that off chance, because there’s that sliver of hope that it’s…

“It’s David.” He sounds tired and grumpy but you don’t even care because he’s there, at your door and it makes your heart race. You buzz him in and then just stand in front of your apartment door like a complete idiot until you hear him knock.

As soon as you open the door, though, your heart sinks.

“Seriously?” he snaps, holding your panties up for anyone to see.

“How long does it take you to go through your damn pockets,” you hiss, trying to hide how close you are to crying.

“What the hell is wrong with you? You want me to get a restraining order?”

“I’m sorry,” you croak. “I know it was stupid, I just thought maybe if I left you a little reminder that… I don’t know. I thought that if I could get you back once…”

“You did not get me back. I’ve been lonely and I had a weak moment. And even then I couldn’t bring myself to fuck you.”

“Fine. I misinterpreted and thought it was me you wanted. Happy to have given you a show and a nice warm surface to rub one out.”

He throws your panties on the floor without another word. Now you have a problem. You know perfectly well that the second you let him out of your sight, he’s going to disappear. But the door to your apartment is going to lock automatically if it closes unless you step back inside and adjust it. So if you want to avoid giving him the chance to run away, you have to find a way to reach your discarded panties without allowing the door to close behind you.

Awkwardly, you bend forward but it’s immediately obvious that the offending garment is still out of reach. You try looking at him but he seems amused by your predicament. So you have to get right down on your knees and stretch, all while keeping your foot on the door, which weighs a ton. You’ve never felt less elegant in your life, nor more ridiculous than when you glare up at him. His expression is scornful and amused, but there’s a hint of something else you can see in his eyes. There you are, the bitch who he believes used him, the one who’s been begging for his attention, now on her knees in the most humiliating position.

You grab the scrap of fabric and scramble into a standing position before starting to speak. Unfortunately, you move enough that your foot slips from the door. You flinch as you hear the heavy thud.

“Fuck!” he yelps, loud enough you think the neighbors will show up.

It takes a second for you to register that he stuck his hand up to stop the door from closing and that the full weight of it crashed onto his fingers.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” It’s like every time he gets near you, something awful happens to him.

You push the door open and take his hand, trying to see if there’s any damage. He’s obviously irritated and tries to pull it back but it occurs to you that this could be serious.

“Come on, you have to at least let me put some ice on that.”

“No.”

“You have to. If it swells up, your hand could be screwed up for Saturday.”

He looks positively disgusted as it dawns on him that you’re right but he lets you lead him gently into your apartment.

You take out your ice tray and wrap a few cubes in the dish towel, pressing it softly against his hand. He swats you away and holds the makeshift ice pack himself. There’s a little grunted sound that might be a thank you.

“What even happened?”

“I thought the door was going to lock if it closed, I just tried to stop it. Don’t know why I did that.”

“Thank you,” you say softly, guilt soaking your voice. “I would have been locked out.”

“Boohoo.”

“I’m really sorry about the panties, I just-”

“You’re just a disaster area and I need to stay the fuck away from you. I should have just thrown your little present in your face at the show.”

“I’m so glad you didn’t.”

“I’m going to wait a few minutes until I’m sure my hand is ok. I would really appreciate it if you would just not speak for the rest of the time I’m here.”

The look on his face is so pained, so defeated, that you just nod and look at the floor. But you can’t hold it in. The insanity of the situation you’ve put yourself in and the feeling of having him close enough to touch while also being so remote burns through your insides like a wildfire and you just… break.

You let one loud yelp out and then it’s nothing but tears and loud sobbing. He immediately looks up at you and although your vision is blurred, his expression isn’t unsympathetic but that just makes it worse and you cry harder as you try to speak.

“You’re right, you should stay away from me… I thought that if I came here… I thought that if you knew I left him… that I left him for you…”

Your voice breaks up and you have to wipe your face just to keep yourself focused.

“I didn’t think about how bad I am… for you… for whatever… I just wanted…”

You break down in sobs again and you’re just about to go and hide on the balcony until he leaves when it happens. A miracle. He lays the towel on the counter and walks towards you. Even through your tears, you can see that his expression is much softer and that allows you to hold it together until he lays his hands on your shoulders and pulls you just a little closer.

At that point, once again, you lose it, the memory of how that touch felt back before you’d made a mess of everything. He presses you close to his chest, which amplifies the feeling and you feel like you’re going to pass out.

“Look at me,” he murmurs, cupping your face with his hand.

You open your eyes a little and he makes a face.

“You’re a mess.”

“I know,” you blurt. “I don’t know why I do the shit I do, it’s just-”

“No, I mean your face… there’s mascara stuff happening. It looks like an oil spill.”

Despite yourself, you laugh, holding back the tears as he uses his sleeve to wipe your face.

“Your hands are freezing.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t have another pair with me. Besides, it helps with swelling, remember?”

You laugh a little again, trembling when he holds your face in his hands. For the first time in ages, he doesn’t have any of that vicious resentment in his eyes. It’s almost like the way he looked at you that day you had breakfast in the cafe, just sadder.

He looks at you that way for what feels like a long time, allowing you to regain control of yourself.

“You have really cute ears.”

“Wh- what?”

He smiles. “Your ears. They’re so cute, you have no idea. You always have your hair pulled back or up and I just remember noticing at one point. I’d smile about it all the time when you weren’t looking.”

“How do ears… be cute?” You can’t imagine what he’s talking about and yet the weirdness of the compliment makes it wonderful.

“Come here.” He takes you by the wrist and leads you into the bathroom. He positions you in front of the mirror, standing behind you and pulling you back against his chest. He takes your jaw in his hand and gently turns your head so that you can see the side of your face and your apparently adorable ear.

“You see,” he explains, running his thumb delicately along the outer ridge, “it’s kind of big and round up here, and then it tapers right off into this perfectly proportional little lobe and it looks like a half a heart. So they look like two halves of a heart. I can’t believe you’ve never noticed this before.”

He laughs softly and presses his face against yours, the scrape of his beard on your skin sending shivers through your whole body. His lips touch your cheek so fleetingly that you almost wonder if you’ve imagined it.

“Crying takes it out of you,” he sighs. “Let’s put you to bed.”

You feel numb as he leads you into the bedroom and helps you onto the bed before turning to close your blinds.

“Do you like being back in the States?” you ask, hoping you can stretch out his visit a little longer.

“Yeah, I do. I mean, it’s weird, all the back and forth lately. I swear I think I’m still jet lagged, or I’m just permanently fucked up.”

You smile as he sits down on the side of the bed. He smiles back but he makes no move to touch you or get closer.

“How do you like Impact?”

“I like not working Japanese hours.”

“Damn, I’ll bet. It’s one thing with the wrestlers but they don’t give you guys a break ever.”

You suddenly realize that you don’t want to talk about your work in Japan at all.

“I heard your brother is getting into wrestling too now?”

“Yup. I’m not sure Dad wanted either of us doing this for a living but I guess it really is in the blood.”

He takes your hands and places them on your stomach, very ladylike and demure, and pats them with his.

“You need to get some sleep. I’ll go fight with the door to get out.”

“Tell me a bedtime story?” You try to make yourself sound as cute and harmless as possible and not like some crazed broad desperate to prolong the moment.

“No.”

You pout a little, gratified when you hear him chuckle.

“Ok, once upon a time there was an extremely silly little princess who could never figure out what she wanted. And no one ever seemed to be able to help her decide what that was, no matter how hard they tried. The end.”

You can’t help but give a wry laugh at that. “At least it’s nice to be a princess.”

“Who said I was talking about you?”

You stare at him a long time, trying to figure out how to untie all the knots of what you’ve done. You can’t even imagine. You’re still trying to figure it out when he bends down and touches his lips, very softly, very quickly, to yours.

He pulls back but then almost immediately repeats the gesture. Then repeats it again. And again. He shifts so that he’s hovering over you, continuing to give you these little kisses.

“Stop that,” he rasps.

“Stop what? You’re the one kissing me.”

“Hm. I guess you’re right.” He leans in again. “Stop me.”

“I don’t want to.”

He doesn’t stop.

“Yeah, I don’t really want you to stop me either.”

And from that point, it gets more insistent, more romantic, and more passionate, until you feel him easing your pants down and running his hands over your thighs and ass. Determined that he is not just going to turn this into another resentful mutual masturbation session, you pull at his shirt. He wriggles free of it immediately easing you out of yours.

“How do you manage to run around without a bra on like that?” He squeezes and licks at your breasts with a little wink.

“I’m in my own apartment. I’m allowed to walk around however I want.”

“Yeah. But you don’t always wear one at work either, do you?”

He crashes his mouth into yours, tongue eagerly breaching your lips.

“Don’t think I don’t notice,” he pants.

He slides down and presses his face between your legs before you can think of a witty comeback, and once he does, you can’t think of anything. It’s so intense, so determined the way he goes at this, the way he picks up on every little twitch and tremor in your body, how he paces himself and you enough that it never feels like a rush to a goal. You don’t deserve this. You have no right to have him be this good to you.

You twist your hand in his hair, pulling it loose from the disheveled bun he’s always sporting. The parts of it that were trapped inside are still damp and you tug firmly to make him look up at you.

“Did you shower before you came over here?”

He smiles coyly and presses two fingers inside you, curling them like he’s beckoning you forward, making you moan and twist even as you’re trying to keep your mind focused.

“I shower pretty frequently,” he grins, “what’s it to you?”

He presses his lips close to your clit, allowing his tongue to flick ever so lightly against it.

“I don’t know,” you breathe, trying not to get overwhelmed by what he’s doing, “I like thinking you got yourself all cleaned up and handsome for me.”

You feel the soft vibrations of his laughter as he dives back into you, tongue pushing up inside you and making you scream before you grab at his hair again.

“I don’t know why you’re doing this,” you whimper.

“Oh I love doing it.”

“I mean I don’t know why you’re doing this to me, when I’ve been so-”

You’re cut off as he goes right back at it, licking and pushing harder for a few seconds before he whispers, “If you had any idea how often I’ve jerked off fantasizing about eating you out, you’d probably stop speaking to me.”

With that he pins you down and continues in earnest, going at you with a zealot’s vigor so that you can’t question him or do anything but scream and beg him to continue what he’s doing until you fall apart, trembling and gasping.

You feel him wriggle out of his pants before he pulls you onto his lap, kissing you and playfully biting at your lips, his arms wound tight around your waist. You run your hand slowly down the length of his shaft, smiling at the little gasp this elicits.

“I want you inside me.”

“Yeah…” the hesitance in his voice terrifies you. “I was… I was hopeful enough to get all showered and freshened up before I came over but I wasn’t so confident that I actually brought any kind of protection with me.”

“I’m on birth control. And I get checked regularly, I swear, I’m-”

He kisses you hard, so passionately that you almost tumble over.

“You sure?” he whispers when he breaks the kiss.

“Very sure.”

He flips you onto your knees and pulls your hips back towards him. As he enters you, you realize that you’d convinced yourself you weren’t ever going to get this again. It’s like a reprieve from prison, feeling him fill you up.

He leans down enough that the feathery tips of his hair brush against the skin of your back, a stark contrast to the powerful hold he has on your hips. There’s an unbroken stream of praises coming from him but all you can think of to whimper in response is, “Thank you.”

“What?”

He slows his pace just a little.

“Thank you,” you repeat. “I didn’t think you’d want to touch me again. I don’t deserve you being this good to me.”

“Oh sweetheart no.” He pulls you up and holds you against his damp chest, one hand immediately falling to your clit while he continues to thrust inside you. “It’s ok, I’ve got you. I want to feel you come again, I want you to come on my cock.”

You let yourself relax into his touch and it takes very little time until he has you falling apart for him again, your muscles contracting sharply around him as he clearly fights to keep control.

He flips you onto your back like you’re nothing and smiles down at your dazed face.

“Let’s do this right.”

He leans down and pushes himself back inside you slowly crushing your body close to his and planting a fierce kiss on your lips. His movements are agonizingly slow, letting you feel every bit of what’s happening, picking up only when you hitch your hips against his. He keeps you wrapped up tight and close, faces practically touching as he finally lets himself come, eyes locked on yours. It’s a long, tender few minutes while he holds you, touching his lips to your forehead.

“I love you.” You just put it out there before the post-coital haze can fade, hoping it’ll stop him from closing himself off again.

“I love you too,” he whispers, nuzzling against the side of your head. “But you knew that already.”

You dig your nails into his shoulders a little.

“Stay with me. Sleep here, please.”

He looks thoughtful but it doesn’t take long for him to smile, stroking your cheek as he does.

“Yeah,” he beams, “I will.”

He rolls onto his side and pulls you close again.

“Did you seriously think I was going to be able to stay away from you forever?”

“Yes. I was pretty sure that you didn’t entirely want to, but I figured you’d fight it off.”

“How long have we known each other?”

“About six years.”

“You were working at the dojo and we all used to hang out together, right?”

“Yes.”

“How long had we been there before I asked you out to dinner?”

“I don’t know. A few months.”

“Closer to four. And I was already so hung up on you that I could barely think straight when you were around.”

You look at him in surprise. Yes, you’d known that he’d flirted a lot, but at that point all the boys at the dojo were trying to scheme their way into your pants. You’d always assumed that his real interest had developed much later.

“Yeah,” he says, noticing your expression, “I was that into you that early. And you know damn well it only got more intense from there.”

He wraps his arms around you and presses your head against his chest, kissing your hair. “And you thought that having finally gotten to take you to bed, having gotten you to say that you liked me, that I was going to be able to walk away?”

You squeeze him tight and nestle against him, your head immediately finding its way to the hollow of his shoulder. And as soon as it does, your whole body feels warm and safe and content. You want to keep talking to him but you can’t because this sort of bliss doesn't allow you to stay awake.

[immortalcoelacanth]

Between the Walls, Chapter 3: To Earn His Keep (Dream SMP fic)

*hits table*

I have so many wips, why is my muse just like this?

Word count: 5313

Summary: Jobs are assigned and questions are asked as to why the hell Tommy and Techno are still putting up with one another.

Tommy had been confused as to what Techno meant by him having to work to earn the right to stay in his house. What work could he possibly do that would benefit him?! He couldn’t chop wood, or mine any precious resources. Crafting was also out of the question since he could only make things that were good for someone his size, so that left…

Nothing.

There was nothing he could do. There was no possible job that would suit him that Techno would benefit from, so he honestly had no idea what would come of the deal they had made. Perhaps nothing at all, and he would be allowed

Yeah right, as if he had ever been that lucky.

“TECHNOBLAAAAAADE! YOU FUCKING DICKHEAD!” Tommy howled as he clutched the wooden bars of the makeshift cage he was in. It was practically a repurposed box, the gap between the bars being too slim for the borrower to slip through, but even if they were big enough, he wouldn’t dare escape.

Primarily because of the large pit of groaning mods below him.

Apparently, the “work” Techno had planned for him was nothing more than him acting as bait for a basic mob farm. He was suspended above a pit, his cage attached to a wooden outcropping, and the faint glowing of the strange, red and orange cubes below him allowed him to easily see the hoard of zombies, skeletons, and the occasional creeper milling about.

He glanced back at the house and scowled, knowing Techno was probably sitting inside, all safe and warm. The cage barely blocked out any of the freezing winds, and since Tommy hadn’t been able to grab a jacket before being put out here, there was nothing to protect him from the cold. He was stuck, freezing and yelling at the top of his lungs.

Damn that stupid pig-

… Or hybrid.

It was a term the borrower was vaguely familiar with, he had been eavesdropping when one of the farmers back in Borrowton mentioned “hybrid plants” and how useful they could be. From what he knew, hybrids were like a sort of mixture, two different things being used to make one. Two different plants producing a new one.

He guessed one of Techno’s parents really was a pig fucker.

Tommy snorted at the joke before shuddering in the brisk breeze, arms wrapping tightly around himself while he huddled up on the floor of the cage. It sucked, being out here with nothing but the mobs for company. At least when he had been with Techno, he’d been able to interact, to socialize. It was something that he had always craved, to be able to reach out and connect with people. Even Techno’s occasional barbs, jokes, and the anger he caused Tommy to feel was better than being stuck outside.

Bastard, going from acting like he wanted to protect him to sticking him out here.

… Speaking of which, it had been very strange to witness that exchange. See the way that Techno hesitated to reveal his presence, and the fact that he had tried to hide Tommy further after the librarian made it aware that he knew the borrower was there. Some part of him had cheered, recognizing that maybe the pig-hybrid actually cared about him in some way, even though they had only known one another for about a day, but Techno’s actions earlier-

“What’re you making?” Tommy hesitantly asked as tried to stare at the crafting table. He had basically been told, ordered, to wait on the table while Techno finished whatever it was that he was making. Not wanting to anger the pigman, he had reluctantly done his best to stay in place.

Fidgeting the entire time, of course. Staying put had never been his strong suit.

“Just something to help with your new job.” Techno explained before turning around and showing off the cage he had made. “Gonna make things a lot easier.”

“... What’re you gonna put in it, then?” Tommy questioned, not at all liking where this was going. Of course, the answer he got was one he had expected, but still never wanted to hear.

“You, duh.”

Techno grinned, and Tommy felt his heart drop.

“You’re gonna be the bait.”

Had obliterated the small sparks of that hope. Techno didn’t care about him and only saw him as a means to an end. Probably why he got so huffy when that other guy noticed him. Clearly no one was allowed to mess with or torment Tommy unless it was Techno himself-

Twang!

The borrower let out a startled yelp as an arrow slammed into the side of his cage, making it rock and sway. He scrambled to the side of the enclosure and tried to spot what had shot at him. His eyes scanned the empty yard, briefly landing on the empty stall that Techno must have built for some reason. It was weird to just have that structure sitting there, all empty and ready for some animal to inhabit it-

There!

Tommy shook himself out of his thoughts as he spotted the source of the arrow. A lone skeleton that had, somehow, not stumbled over and fallen into the pit, was aiming at him, bow drawn and another arrow pointed in his direction. He immediately backpedaled, arms flailing as the newest arrow was released, just barely missing the cage.

Shit, shit!

“Fuck off you stupid bitch!” Tommy howled as the skeleton readied another arrow. As it was aimed at him, his panic and the pitch of his voice increased until he was practically shrieking. “FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU-”

Twang!

Another arrow slammed into the skeleton’s skull, bone shattering and turning to dust. The monster dropped to the ground, the fallen bow and arrows the only sign of it ever having been there, and he quickly looked over at what, or who, had shot the arrow.

Technoblade.

Of course.

“Couldn’t have shown up any sooner, you bitch?!” He shouted, internally cringing when those too bright, red eyes landed on him. He watched as the hybrid rested the crossbow he had used to kill the skeleton on his shoulder before making his way over to the wooden post. He glared down at Techno, more than aware of how not intimidating he looked as he shuddered in the cold. Although, his glare lightened up when he was finally removed from the post, less exposed to the winds as he was unintentionally sheltered by the hybrid’s body.

“I was just testing a hypothesis I had.” Techno simply responded. The borrower waited to see if he would elaborate on what that meant. A moment passed, then two, and then-

“Well tell me then! You don’t need to act so secretive!”

That tiny, near invisible smile on Techno’s face grew as he started to speak. “A hypothesis on whether your voice is annoying enough to instantly agro mobs, and it is from the looks of it. Congratulations-”

“Wh-you bitch!” Tommy sputtered as he raged and pointed aggressively at the amused hybrid. “I have the voice of an angel! It’s not annoying!”

As if trying to prove Techno’s point, and in turn prove the borrower wrong, another arrow was launched at the duo. Techno easily dodged it, hardly sparing a glance at the new skeleton as he returned fire and took it down, while Tommy was jostled about thanks to the sudden movement. He just barely managed to stop himself from smacking his head against the wooden bars, and that scowl on his face grew deeper.

For some reason, Techno possessed the uncanny ability to infuriate Tommy no matter what he did. Whether it was his occasionally smug, know-it-all attitude or how obtuse he could be at times, there was just something about him that never failed to upset the borrower.

… Not that he would ever tell him, of course.

Of course, his general unease and anxiety towards this new situation did not help in the slightest, leaving him on edge and ready to snap when something potentially bad happened. It was a miracle he had not been killed yet, and he quietly wondered how much longer his luck would last.

Not that such a thought would stop him from acting like how he typically did.

So, as was in his nature, Tommy immediately started shouting and cursing once more. “And why the fuck did you stick me up there for so long, anyways?! It was freezing up there-”

“You wanna go for round two?” Techno interrupted, lifting the cage up so Tommy could easily see the wooden post he had been hanging from. Immediately, the borrower backed up and started shaking his head.

“No! No, c’mon man! I was just teasing you!” He backpedaled. “Just a little joke, I swear!”

“The only joke here is your accidental pun.” Techno quipped, his smile growing as he watched realization, and then horror, cross Tommy’s face.

“Listen! It’s-it’s a crime to make jokes about me being small, because I’m not! Absolutely criminal!”

Techno let out another chuckle as he shut the door behind him and made his way towards the table. “It’s a good thing I don’t follow laws, then.”

Tommy didn’t dare ask what that meant.

Fortunately, a distraction soon appeared in the form of the cage being set down on the table, followed by one of the sides being removed. He quickly jumped out once there was enough room for him to move, stumbling a bit over the lip of the cage before he straightened himself out.

He ignored the amused snort he heard from beside him, not at all looking at Techno, and instead chose to bask in the sensation of finally being indoors, even if he was still freezing. Tommy shuddered as he wrapped his arms around himself, doing his best to heat up after being exposed to the cold for however long he had been stuck outside. The roaring fireplace definitely helped to chase away some of the chill, and he found his eyes lingering on the large pot that had been added to the fireplace. The air smelled… nice, and it looked like Techno had decided to make soup for himself.

Strange, since he swore the hybrid’s diet consisted of nothing but steak and the occasional, weird sparkly apple.

God, he’d been dying to bite into one of those and see what they tasted like…

He jumped in surprise as Techno placed a small, obviously handmade, wooden bowl filled with soup on the table. Curious, he slowly walked over and checked it out. It was still a bit too large for him to use, he’d probably drown himself if he tried to drink straight from it, but it was definitely much more manageable for him to use.

“Is… is that for me?”

The hybrid just nodded as he got himself his own bowl of soup. As such, he was unaware of how Tommy’s jaw dropped in pure shock, as he carefully traced the side of the bowl. The guy who’d spent the last twenty four hours tormenting him had made something for him, made something that would make his life easier!

He hadn’t been given any cutlery when he’d been kicked out of Borrowton, all he had were some basic tools and rations of food. The absolute bare necessities. And, instead of letting him suffer and search for something he could use, Techno had made it using his own two hands.

It dawned on him, in some strange, iconic twist of fate that he had unintentionally helped Tommy out more than his own people had. Invested more care into making sure he didn’t just survive, but was also comfortable.

… And not spilling soup all over the place-

Regardless, it was one of the last things he would have ever expected from Techno, and he quietly wondered if the hybrid had been working on the bowl while he had been stuck outside. Was this…

A reward?

Tommy’s breathing hitched and he quickly wiped his eyes before any of the budding tears could fall, idiot, crying over something as stupid as a bowl. By the time he had gotten his emotions under control, Techno had looked over to find him just staring at the bowl, appearing to be doing nothing.

“Did you expect me to spoon feed you or something?” He chuckled, waiting for Tommy to respond. When the borrower said nothing, his smile faded. “Bruh-”

“Don’t look at me like that!” Tommy objected, nearly knocking the bowl over as he turned his attention to Techno. “I’m just surprised! Big, bad, Blade making a bowl, never thought I’d see the day. Guess you’ve got little dainty girl hands for that!”

Techno rolled his eyes as the borrower continued rambling, tuning him out as he went about his supposedly dainty hands, and questions about if he made bird houses in his spare time. Eventually, Tommy got that he was done interacting, and the duo focused on their respective meals, with the borrower burning his tongue in his haste to try the soup.

“Fuck.” He hissed, waving a hand over the bowl to help it cool down as he cringed in pain. After waiting for the burning sensation to fade, as well as checking to see whether the soup had cooled down enough, he carefully tried again.

As he slowly sipped away at his soup, he watched as Techno made his way over to a chair, picking up the book that had been placed on it, as well as putting on his reading glasses. They were surprisingly worn, primarily held together by tape, and just barely managed to stay on the hybrid’s face as he sat down and cracked open the book. He then quickly realized that the book was the one he had gotten from the librarian.

The one about borrowers.

He felt… weird knowing someone was basically researching him, studying up on the supposed myths about his kind, and wondered to himself when he would get interrogated. Would Borrowton be mentioned in that book, or one of the other settlements? Tommy had never visited them, but he knew they were out there.

Knew about the rumours of the secret tracks that had supposedly connected each settlement to one another and was used to ship goods back and forth. He and Tubbo had tried searching for them one day and had only wound up with bruises and a stern scolding from the adult borrowers, telling them it was foolish to believe in made up stories.

But he never listened. Those tracks were there, had to be there. He and Tubbo had spent so many nights dreaming of how they’d get away, racing down the rails in a minecart. The angry yells and shouts fading as they raced off into their newest adventure.

They had planned to find a home using those rails.

And they would, Tommy promised himself as he grit his teeth. They would go on that adventure, they would find a home. He would get back to Tubbo, no matter what. All he needed was to figure out how to get back to Borrowton, and perhaps snag some supplies from Techno when he wasn’t looking.

… Maybe that book would come in handy after all.

Not that he had any hope in hell of stealing it, or even really reading it since the book was considerably larger than him, but it was the only chance he had at figuring out where Borrowton was and how he might get there.

It was ironic, to think he had spent so long dreaming about getting away from that hellhole and then ending up stuck in a situation where he needed to do everything he could to get back.

All in the name of Tubbo, of course.

He’d rather spend the rest of his life stuck with the annoying prick known as Technoblade instead of going back to Borrowton if it weren’t for Tubbo.  

… He did need a proper plan, though. He had to survive, figure out how to escape the hellish tundra he was in, get supplies for his journey which would probably last several days, and figure out what path he needed to take to reach Borrowton. Plus he’d need to figure out how to sneak in and find Tubbo, too.

So many things… did he even have a chance at completing them all? He could easily freeze to death in the snow, get mauled by some monster, starve, get lost and never reach his destination-

Don’t think about it.

He let out a sigh and placed the bowl down, distantly noticing he had finished his soup. It was nice, tasted like potatoes and something else. Unconsciously, he started rubbing his thumb against the smooth rim of the wooden bowl. All in all, being exiled wasn’t nearly as bad as he thought it was going to be, aside from him missing Tubbo of course. Techno was a bastard, a prick through and through, but he was surprisingly…

Nice wasn’t the word. Less cruel than he thought he would be? He thought back to the discussion with that nerdy librarian and let out a snort. Borrowers and hybrids working together, living together, sounded like a load of crap.

… Even if he was technically doing that just now.

But it wasn’t like there was some mystical force making them act all soft! Like… like they were best friends or something! He and Techno weren’t buddies or allies, they were just stuck together until either Techno got tired of him and kicked him out, or he left.

Nothing more, nothing less.

With both his meal and mental contemplation finished, he stood up and made his way over to the edge of the table, attaching his grappling hook to the end and throwing the rope over the side. He didn’t bother to check on what Techno was doing as he slid down, bowl carefully pinned between his arm and his body, and felt no need to tell the hybrid he was leaving. The last thing he wanted was to piss him off or something.

As he made his way over to the hole in the floor that would lead to his home, he was unaware of the contemplative, glowing red eyes that followed him. Nor did he see how those eyes narrowed as they landed on the bowl he was still carrying.

The next day, Tommy jolted awake as the sound of knocking reverberated through the hollow he lived in. He yelped in surprise and promptly tumbled out of his makeshift bed, a pile of wool and other fabric he had managed to steal from Techno. For a moment he stayed on the floor, looking up at the carved ceiling as he contemplated whether it was worth it to get up or not.

The more trust you gain, the more you can get away with. Work. Take what you can. Find a way back to Tubbo-

Yup, that was enough motivation to get him moving.

Slowly, he pushed himself upright and got ready for whatever Techno had planned for the day. Since it was morning he doubted he’d be acting as bait again, nor did he think he would have to deal with any mobs. Perhaps he would get a chance to relax?

Maybe he might be able to scope out some of the more valuable items Techno had that could help him since he didn’t have to worry about sneaking around as much. Or he could always try and check that book out and see if he could actually move the pages enough to read it.

But before he could even consider doing that, he had to figure out what Techno wanted from him.

It didn’t take long for him to finish freshening up, and soon enough he was quickly making his way back through the tunnels towards one of the few exits he had made. Fortunately, the section of the tunnel that Techno had damaged had been replaced.

Of course, the hybrid had left it up to Tommy to actually carve out the replacement tunnel, which left the whole system feeling pretty disconnected since the walls no longer lined up.

The prick.

Eventually he made his way out of the tunnel, climbed out of the hole in the floor, and walked out into the open. Instinctively he shuddered, hating how exposed he felt. This feeling only increased as he felt the ground shake with each of Techno’s steps. In no time at all, he found himself in the hybrid’s shadow once more, reminded of just how vulnerable he was.

He hated it, hated it so damn much, but he did his best to swallow his fears and not retreat back into the comforting shadows of the shelf.

“So, what’s the plan for today, big man?” Tommy asked, rocking back and forth in place as he stared up, and up, and up, at the hybrid. Damn Techno and his stupid tallness, making his neck hurt with how far up he had to look.

He let out a startled yelp when he was picked up, the back of his shirt pinched yet again as he was moved from the ground and carried over to the crafting table. It took all of his willpower to stop himself from struggling, lest he was dropped, and he felt no small amount of relief when he was put down.

“The fuck was that for?!”

“I didn’t feel like watching you fumble with a rope.”

“Fumble?” Tommy scoffed and flexed his arms. “There ain’t no fumblin’ with manly muscles like these-”

“Are they just for show or do you actually know how to use them, then?”

Well that question definitely caught him off guard. The borrower paused, momentarily uncertain as to how to respond, before he that cocky smile appeared on his face once again. “I’ve won plenty of fights with these bad boys-”

“Great.” He didn’t miss the way Techno rolled his eyes, nor did he miss the heavy sarcasm that laced his voice. “Try this out.”

The item that the hybrid nudged over was… surprising to say the least.

“It’s… a stick.” Tommy blinked as he picked the stick up and looked it over. It was a bit longer than the length of his forearm, and if it weren’t for the lack of a sharpened end he would have assumed it was just a toothpick. “You gave me a stick.”

“It’s for practice, I’m not gonna give you a sharpened one and watch you trip and stab yourself with it.”

“I wouldn’t-practice?” All the anger Tommy felt at the implication of being a clutz, which he absolutely was not, evaporated as what Techno was saying registered. “For what?!”

“Self defense.” Techno shrugged. Upon taking note of the aghast expression on Tommy’s face, he elaborated further. “Not everyone you meet is gonna be as nice as me.”

Especially if I need you to spy on L’Manberg.

“Yeah, like you’re just the shining beacon of goodness.” Tommy scoffed while rolling his eyes.

“Beacon? Paragon has more impact to it. You really need to work on that lexicon of yours, kid-”

“And there you go makin’ up words again! Paragon! Lexicon! What’s the next word you’re gonna make up? Ontological?”

“... Tommy, that is a word.”

“Your mum’s a word, and that word is bitch!”  

“Are you going to keep throwing a tantrum over the tiny dictionary you call a brain, or are you actually going to listen to me?”

Tommy grumbled and kicked at the ground before sighing and looking up at the hybrid. It was time for him to pay attention, no matter how reluctant he was about this whole practicing thing.  “Yeah, so what should I practice, huh?”

“Stabbing me.”

A burst of high pitched, somewhat hysterical laughter escaped the borrower upon hearing Techno’s deadpan response. He slapped a hand over his mouth as he struggled to control his response, not wanting to piss him off further.

What a weird day this was turning out to be.

“You want me… to poke your hand? What the fuck, man.”

“Are you planning on just asking questions or are you going to use those manly muscles of yours?” The narrowing of Techno’s eyes combined with the immense amount of sass in that question told Tommy that his patience was running thin. The borrower quickly nodded and took a step forward.

As the hybrid’s hand stretched out in front of him, fingers uncurling and palm facing upwards, Tommy quietly realized this was the best look at Techno he had ever gotten. Previously, he had only ever really processed snapshots of the hybrid. The long braid, the glowing eyes, the sharp tusks that seemed to shine in the light, everything had only ever been pieces and not the whole.

But now here he was, and his situation felt far more real than it had before.

He could feel the heat radiating off Techno, the natural warmth his body produced reminding Tommy of the furnace he would huddle next to with Tubbo when the weather grew too cold. He could see the scars that littered the hand in front of him, and the callouses that covered the palm and fingers. He could also see the nails, dark in colouration and dangerously sharp, that tipped each digit.

He had been wrong about Techno having dainty hands, and for some reason this realization only made his appreciation for the gift he had been given grow stronger. It was so easy to imagine the hybrid hunched over with a tiny block of wood held in his hands, struggling to carve it and muttering curses when it accidentally broke. How long had he spent working on it-

“Tommy.”

Shit, he’d zoned out.

He could practically feel Techno’s eyes narrowing in disgruntlement, and he immediately looked up and threw his hands into the air in exasperation, nearly conking himself on the head with the stick in the process. “Don’t give me that look! It’s all so… so weird!”

Weird to be doing this! To be so close to someone who could kill me! It’s all wrong!

And yet, it felt right in its own way. The weight of the makeshift weapon in his hands, and the part of him that longed for some shield to hold up. Tommy had always been a fighter, using dirty tricks to get out of dangerous situations while quite literally throwing hands with anyone who threatened him or Tubbo, but this was another kind of fighting entirely.

A style that felt both familiar and alien at the same time.

The hybrid, choosing to not engage with the turmoil visible on the borrower’s face, decided switch tactics. Demonstrations would happen later when he was more settled and less likely to break down in borderline hysterical laughter, the time for basics was now.

For the next several minutes, Techno explained where it was best to attack in order to do the most damage and even disable his opponent for a short period of time. He was… strangely calm, and knowledgeable as he pointed out which parts of his hand were softer than the rest, more vulnerable.

It was unexpected, and Tommy could only ask himself one question.

Why?

Of course, he got no answer, not that he had ever asked the question to begin with. Rather, he just threw himself into practicing the maneuvers he had been shown over and over again, quietly thinking about how helpful they might be.

Tubbo, he might have to fight to get to Tubbo, and if practicing whatever Technoblade taught him would help, he’d do it.

Meanwhile, the hybrid silently studied the borrower as he thought about all that he had learned so far, from the book to his general observations of the kid. There was obviously something else going on with him, from the way he randomly spaced out at times, to that determined look that would sometimes appear on his face. Anger would occasionally appear, too. A kind of anger that Techno was intimately familiar with.

Tommy was expressive, too expressive.

At least that made things easier for him, but it also left him with far more questions than answers. Questions he didn’t really want to ask, but was still curious about.

It was obvious that the borrower had lived somewhere else before he had decided to invade his cabin. According to the book, most borrowers either stuck to a house they stayed in for their entire lives unless they were forced to move, or lived in community settlements. There were also the “wild” ones, but Tommy’s clear lack of any self-preservation instincts made it clear he did not fit in that category, and yet both of the remaining options made little sense as well.

There were no nearby houses nearby that he could have previously lived in, he doubted the kid would have been living in the village without the librarian’s knowledge, and a tundra biome was one of the last places he would expect to encounter a settle of tiny people. So, what had happened that wound up with him being out here in the first place? And why did he care so much?

Ah, the greatest question of all.

Why?

Why was he putting so much effort into this obnoxious kid? Sure he had his reasons, but were those reasons enough to justify the work he was going to have to do. Why had he let Tommy stay instead of throwing him out like he would have done to anyone else, aside from Phil.

Why had he gotten so protective of the kid at the library? It didn’t make sense-

“Look Techno!”

Tommy’s shout snapped Techno out of his thoughts, and the hybrid looked over to see that he was now holding one of the other practice sticks. He grinned and enthusiastically waved them.

“I’ve got two sticks!”

He raised a brow as the borrower started hitting some made up enemy, swinging the sticks through the air and letting out noises that he probably thought were intimidating, but only made Techno quietly laugh to himself. His laughter grew louder when, during one of his more enthusiastic swings, Tommy ended up smacking himself in the face.

“You’re supposed to hit other people with those.”

“Oh fuck off!”

Hours later, Tommy let out a groan as he flopped into his makeshift bed, burying his face into one of the pieces of fabric. The cloth was cool and soft, and he let out a happy little sigh as it helped him cool down. His muscles ached, and he wanted nothing more than to pass out for the next couple days, but his mind was abuzz with thoughts.

Techno was teaching him how to fight and was apparently making him armor. It sounded like such a horrible idea, teaching the person who was practically a pest in your house how to fight back, and it made Tommy wonder why.

Why was he being taught how to fight? Why was he being given weapons and armor? Was there something he needed to keep himself safe from? Someone?

“It’s a good thing I don’t follow laws, then.”

The hybrid’s “retirement”. The amount of weapons and armor Tommy had seen. The potions.

Was… was Techno a criminal? Had he unintentionally put himself in more danger by choosing to stay here? He knew nothing about him other than his dry sense of humour, his aloof personality, and how intimidating he was.

Dammit, this is why he needed Tubbo. Tubbo would have warned him about the possible dangers, discouraged his ideas, and brought reason to his chaotic thoughts.

It was at this moment that Tommy also realized that among the training and sparse breaks, he hadn’t been able to check out the book either.

Fuck.

                                   xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ah yes, the slow development from “you’re a pain in my ass and I’m only putting up with you for personal gain” to “okay, you might be decent”.

Also, there are many things I'm gonna make Tommy kind of cry over. A bowl of soup is just one of the more out there instances XD

[papermajesty]

redmancy

— the act of loving in return.

“A boy born of myth, against every instinct, travels to the metaphorical ends of the earth, hoping to catch and preserve a love he never thought he could have.”

Verse: Spiritborne

Characters: Seamus Frost, Selina Calabrese

Rating: T

Word count: 4433

Let it be known, there were very few things that Seamus would go to the ends of the world for.

After living for as long as he had, one eventually learnt to keep few things close to the heart. Everything was temporary, after all — words, promises, even his very memories. Try as he might, they all eventually slipped through his fingers like grains of sand. What was the point of devoting his heart and mind to things that were destined to break them?

This was what he told himself, every time he was tempted to break his invisible code. He whispered it to himself in the silence of a golden twilight, looking on as his mother was lowered into the earth, followed far too closely by the first girl he’d ever loved. He gasped it as he gripped a fallen brother in arms’ hand against his chest, blood and grief tasting bitter on his tongue. He bit it out as Manhattan’s Upper East Side’s moon painted whorls of silver on skin barely covered by silk sheets, ripping his suit jacket from the floor and turning his back, eyes flinty in the dark. “Everything was temporary.” He had made an arse of himself in the name of his code, sacrificing kindness and cheer for brusqueness and snark in the face of anything remotely resembling the possibility of comfort. He shrank away from light, from love, from peace, and told himself that at least he was protected, at least he was safe.

And yet.

And yet, and yet, and yet.

If he were typical, a puff of white steam would have billowed from his lips as he sighed, turning his cheek up to the moonless sky that domed this backwater city, sprinkling snowflakes that drifted down and rested on the black wool of his coat. His hands were stuffed into his pockets, one of them gently brushing a slip of paper that detailed exactly how unwanted he was in his current location, complete with a death threat and an announcement that she didn’t need him for anything, thank you very much. His eyes swept past the urban scenery, watching as the wraiths of city nightlife dawdled on street corners and sped down alleyways, leaving him the lone idiot foreigner standing stock still under a lamppost, looking remarkably innocent and very pickpocketable. Of course, to catch the mouse — hah — he wanted, looking that way was probably beneficial, but that was only if she didn’t know his face.

She did know his face. Very well. She’d probably say too well, knowing her.

God, he missed her. He missed her laugh, her smile, her face first thing in the morning, her awful way with jokes and her utter lack of comedic timing. She was cheek and mischief personified into copper corkscrew curls and glinting hazel eyes, and for the longest time she’d seemed like just another blip in the eons long timeline of his life. She was to be another strange character he’d had the pleasure to meet, a random American thief with too much time on her hands and nothing worthwhile to spend it on.

Until he started seeing her everywhere he went. Until she started to inexplicably worm her way into his everyday life. Until he found her only two steps behind him on some London rooftop, gripping onto his coat with a smile like diamonds and lips that whispered like a secret and a declaration all at once: “Gotcha.”

She was nothing. Then, suddenly, she was everything.

And here he was, having crossed to the metaphorical ends of the world for her. His fingers crumpled the paper in his pocket, and he tried valiantly to resist temptation, before succumbing with a sigh and pulling her last note to him out. It was written in an almost unreadable scrawl, with ink that looked suspiciously like it came from his favourite fountain pen. Despite its contents, he huffed a laugh, gazing fondly at the messy writing, bare fingers brushing the angrily written warnings and accusations.

Seamus,

I never wanted this. Don’t come looking for me.

Whatever happened between us, all of it, it doesn’t matter. It never did.

If you find me, you’ll wish you’d have left me alone.

I hate

You’re the worst.

Selina.

Seamus closed his eyes, imagining how she would have looked writing the words in his hand. She would have probably been all scrunched up, expression furious and limbs tensed, ready to fly off into the night. She had probably wanted to write down more, but that would have revealed that she actually did care about him, and heaven forbid she let him know anything like that.

Or... maybe she didn’t. And this was all for nothing.

The thought brought a wry smile to his face. Classic Selina. He would never be able to predict her. Her actions were incomplete and erratic, with no real pattern other than her own whims and fancies. When they’d first met in the back of a London alley, he had originally thought her to be an oversized alley cat. The way she had tried to rob him was remarkably strange. He had not expected a girl instead from the quick slashes and scratches at his coat, but, well, she had never failed to surprise him, even from the get go.

Frost had speckled the leather of her jacket, blindingly white against the black. Her arm had been trapped against the wall by a chunk of ice that flared out unnaturally in jagged strokes, following the strike of his arm. Her eyes had flashed dangerously in the moonless night.

“You should’ve picked on someone your own size,” he had growled, eyes flashing blue in the glow of his ice.

She had bared her teeth. Alley cat. “What are you, some kind of freak?”

He had cocked his head. So recklessly brave. “You could say so.”

He had wanted to leave her there — the sun was beginning to rise, and the ice would have melted eventually. But there was something in the way she glowered at him, the way she beat the heels of her boots against the wall in frustration, the curl of her fists. A certain franticness and fear. Not of him, but of the city around them.

His fingers had curled into his palm. I should leave her. If she had the gall to rob a man blind in an alley, she could handle the London underbelly. He didn’t owe her a thing.

Her gaze had snapped to his. His breath had caught.

… He’d fractured her arm, anyway.

He wanted to believe that he had just felt bad for injuring her, but when she ripped her freshly bandaged arm away from him, eyes trained to the floor with a grumbled out ‘thanks’, he had let his fingers hover over the leather of her jacket sleeve a couple seconds too long before pulling away.

Sighing, Seamus folded the note. So she’d had him since the beginning. What else was new? A wave of frustration crested over him at the thought. If everything was temporary, why had the feelings remained when he’d ripped the note from its innocuous perch on his bedside table? Everything he felt for her: joy, irritation, guilt, affection — they’d stuck to his mind like wads of cotton on Velcro, refusing to fade, as luminescent and bright as the day they had sprouted.

She’d somehow had her claws stuck in him from day one, and now, he’d be damned before he gave up on her.

How could he? She had dragged him back from hell. She’d snapped and snarled and slapped him back to his senses whenever he got caught on the dangerous precipice that led to damnation. He still remembered the smell of her hair when she gripped at his back one chilly night on some obscure rooftop, her face hidden in his chest as she heaved out a breath that sounded too big for her body.

“What do you think you’re doing?” He’d asked. His voice had felt dead in his mouth, ashy on his tongue.

“Saving you,” she had bit out from her hiding place. “Because you’re too stupid to save yourself.”

Seamus’ eyes fluttered closed against the scene in his mind’s eye. The paper felt thin in his fingers, scarily thin — like at any moment, the smallest spark might set it aflame and crumble it to ashes. For all of winter’s might he possessed in his veins, he felt powerless to stop it, should it happen. He would have probably deserved it.

Which was stupid, once he considered it. There hadn’t been anything wrong between them. If anything, things had been going great. She’d finally stopped visiting exclusively in the night. She would have breakfast with him and Jamie every once in a while. Sometimes, she’d even use the front door. Her note and departure had felt like a kick to the chest, because he had never seen it coming.

The shock had propelled him here, he guessed. Even if she had abandoned him, even if he’d done something wrong, he couldn’t believe that she would want nothing to do with him ever again. He couldn’t believe that whatever was between them, tenacious and fragile as it was, had broken without him trying to fix it first.

Everything was temporary, but just this once, he didn’t want it to be.

His fingers tightened on the note as he exhaled. He moved to slip it back into his pocket, before abruptly, its presence disappeared. His fingers clutched at empty air as they stuttered halfway to his pocket, and his eyes snapped open, flashing blue in the night as his power pushed beneath his skin, ready to strike. But there was no target to hit.

For a moment, he deliriously applauded himself for jinxing it. The paper must have actually caught aflame and crumbled in his fingers, just as he had predicted. Bloody good job on his part. Likely, too, considering his rotten luck.

But then, clumps of snow pelted his hair, and automatically, he looked up. The light of the streetlamp blinded anything above it, but he didn’t have to see her to know she was there. Silent as she was, he could still recognise the subtle way she shifted on her perch, little clumps of snow dotting the pavement around his feet as they fell from the streetlamp’s arm, disturbed by her weight.

The city seemed to fall silent around them, the distant sounds of car horns and roadside chatter softening to nothing as they appraised each other. He could feel her eyes travelling up and down his body, and felt almost cheated at how he couldn’t make out a single feature on her. But he reckoned that was how she wanted it.

It felt like ages before she broke the silence. “I told you not to come,” she said, her voice rolling effortlessly over his shoulders, unlocking them and miraculously relaxing his entire posture. Mentally, he scoffed. She was probably about to berate him, yet his body still responded to her voice like a balm.

Her statement hung in the air for a couple seconds, before he exhaled. “You did,” he admitted.

Her boot made a squeaky noise against the metal as she shifted. “Then what the hell are you doing here?” She asked, harsher than any ice he could ever conjure. He suppressed a wince.

Seamus cleared his throat, shrugging one shoulder. “This city’s tourist attractions are something else,” he said. “Maybe I’m just sightseeing.” 

“Sure,” she said, scoffing. “I’ve heard raving reviews about this particular lamppost from tourists all over.”

Seamus bit down on his lower lip. “I’ve heard it’s a favourite meeting spot for alley cats,” he said, forcing nonchalance into his words. “Miraculously, I’ve become a cat person in recent years.”

Silence stretched between them. For a moment, he wondered if he had overstepped, before realising that he had passed that line a few hours ago when he got on the train from Manhattan to here. Head first, eyes closed, he supposed. There was no going back now.

Selina seemed to have gone stock still above him. “I don’t know where you heard that from,” she said stiffly. “Someone’s lying to you.”

He huffed a disbelieving breath. “Then why are you here?” He asked. He knew the answer he wanted to hear. He wanted her to swing down from her roost and tell him that she was here to see him, that she didn’t really want to go, and that there was a reason behind all of this. Even if she had wanted to go, he thought he’d earned an explanation as to why this had gone wrong: how he’d messed this temporary good thing up and had it ripped away from him before he could truly appreciate it. He felt alone and too young again, vulnerable against the chilly London winds as Alice was lowered into her grave, and he wanted her to block those winds and tell him that things were going to be alright, that she’d protect him, that he’d be okay.

But everything was temporary, wasn’t it?

Selina was silent, and he could almost hear the cogs working in her brain, weighing each option, deciding on what to say to him. Her fingers flashed in the light as she adjusted her grip on the lamppost. His own twitched, anticipating a fall to catch her from, though he knew that she would never fall, and even if she did, she’d always land on her feet.

“... I don’t know,” she said finally. He had to blink a couple times before he fully registered her answer. Her voice was impossibly quiet. “I know what I wrote on this thing, and I know I meant it, but I’m still here.” With a crinkle, the paper fell to his feet, floating to rest on a small mound of fallen snow. “I can’t… deal, with the way you make me feel, but… I can’t seem to cut you off.”

He couldn’t help it. He felt hope prickle at his heart. His heart usually rested at a beat so slow it could barely be detected, but at her words, it jumped to hyperspeed. His fingers almost felt warm. “How do I make you feel?” He tested the waters, balling his fists in his pockets.

She huffed something unsavoury under her breath. “I shouldn’t be saying anything,” she said. “I don’t even want to see you.” But she didn’t move from her perch.

He chanced a ghost of a smile. “Cat,” he said. “How do I make you feel?”

He heard her frustrated grumble all the way to his toes. “Good!” She said, her sudden volume startling him into taking a step back. “Happy! Content! I don’t know!” The lamppost creaked with her weight as she shifted. “I’m not used to it!” Her voice cracked on the last word. “I don’t know what to do with it, with any of it. I just…” Her voice trailed off with a desperate air, like she was dying to finish her train of thought, but couldn’t put it together well enough to say out loud. His heart palpitated in his chest. How could he respond? He longed to push off the ground and come eye-to-eye with her, to see the emotions flickering in her unfathomable eyes and find some way to comfort her, but she stayed blended in the shadows, intangible and untouchable. All he could do was wait.

“I just… I don’t want to feel like this,” she said finally, voice small and unfamiliarly weak in the night air. “I just want my old life back, Seamus. The one where I… I didn’t have to worry about hurting anyone, because they’d always hurt me first.”

And suddenly, it clicked. Selina was an alley cat, a pickpocket, an orphan with very few she could truly call friend. She had never had a place to visit during the day, never had anyone to have breakfast with, never had the chance to ring the front door. Her life existed in the shadows, and it was only when he’d brought her home to bandage her arm that she’d stepped out. Maybe he had done something wrong to scare her off, but in the end, she hadn’t run because of him. She’d run because of herself, because she was scared that if she stayed with him and the world he came from, she’d have somewhere or call home, somewhere she could feel happy, somewhere she was…

“Safe,” he murmured. He heard her go still above him.

“What?” She asked.

He blinked, before looking up at the space he assumed was her perch. “That’s it, isn’t it?” He asked. “Why you didn’t want to stay.”

“I don’t—“

“It’s because I— we make you feel safe,” he fumbled, bending down to snatch up the note. “You didn’t have that. But we gave it to you. And now that you could have it, you’re scared. Scared because—“

He could practically feel her hackles rising. “I’m not scared—“

“Scared,” he said, firmly, “because you could lose it.” He barked a short laugh. “Selina, that’s the point! That’s what having a home feels like!”

More snow pelted him from above. “What the hell are you even talking about, Frost?” She asked, tone gruff.

“Maybe I’m completely off base,” he said, feeling a grin stretching his lips as he smoothed out her note. “But I think that you wanted to run away not because you didn’t want this, but because you’re afraid of wanting it. Because if you want it, you’ll have something to call your own. You’ll have people who care about you and who you’ll care about in return. You’ll have a place to stay and come home to after a hard day. You’ll have something that matters.” He scanned the words in his palm. “‘Whatever happened between us, all of it, it doesn’t matter. It never did.’ ”

He heard Selina shift above him. “Stop that,” she muttered. If he didn’t know her so well, he’d have thought she was angry at him. But he knew that tone. She was feeling shocked, maybe even guilty.

“‘If you find me, you’ll wish you’d have left me alone.’,” he continued. “Except it did matter, and I did find you, but you haven’t told me to get lost yet.” He looked up at her again, folding the note neatly in his hands. “You want this, Selina. You want to come home.” His fingers felt so warm. “Don’t you?”

She didn’t answer immediately, and for a moment, he thought she’d somehow dematerialised from the spot above him. He felt a foreign kind of anxiousness creep in over the hope, a kind he hadn’t felt in a long time. “... Or, maybe—”

A shadow blocked the streetlamp’s light, making him blink rapidly, before he felt cool fingers brush his hand. His vision refocused on Selina, in the flesh, her hood barely containing the copper corkscrew curls he’d missed so much that barely brushed his chin. Her head was lowered, gaze focused on the space between their feet, but her fingers poked out of her jacket sleeve to grip at the hand still holding the note. Snowflakes continued to dot her hair and jacket, stark white against the black. He felt a surge of nostalgia.

She didn’t speak for a moment, though her jaw worked rapidly. He felt his lungs tighten with a held breath. It seemed unlikely, even now, that she would come home with him. After all, he could never predict her. But he hoped beyond hope that for once in his life, he’d done something right, and that for once he didn’t have to watch as something precious slipped through his fingers.

He hoped that for once, he could have something permanent.

Her throat cleared. “I…” She murmured. “I don’t know... if I could ever… you know.” Hazel eyes glinted at him beneath her hood. “I don’t know if I could call this, whatever this is, mine.” Her fingers tightened their grip. “But I… you’re… you’re right.” She looked up, catching his gaze and his breath. A thousand emotions flashed by in them, too quick for him to catch, but he felt a tremendous pressure press in on him, feeling the weight of each one nonetheless. He knew how hard it was for her to admit what she was saying. “I never had a home. I never had a family. It’s always been me against the world.” She chuckled. “Even when I met Donnie, I couldn’t… fully relax around him, and he was—is—my best friend. I ran away from that too. But you…” she made an incoherent noise. “You tried to kill me, but then you saved me. You took a look at a random street girl and opened your door to her, even though you owed her nothing. You let me meet your sister, your friends, your family… then you gave me a chance to be a part of that family.” She laughed something soft.

“I ran away because when I saw you, I could let myself relax. I didn’t have to fight. You…” Her gaze flickered from their linked hands to his eyes. “You’re right. I felt safe.”

He couldn’t keep the fondness out of his voice. “And you were scared of that.”

She snorted. “Can you blame me?” She asked, picking the note from his hands with her free hand. “I'm what you like to say so much: an alley cat. Alley cats don’t have homes.”

“This one does,” he said, and he nearly startled himself with how confidently he said it. There was no hint of doubt in his voice. He couldn’t imagine his London apartment without her window escapades and her lounging on the kitchen counter anymore. Gently, he interlaced their fingers, feeling his own warmth seep into her hand. “That is,” he hedged, “if she wants it.”

A sliver of a smile ghosted her lips as she watched their fingers clasp each other. Something felt right about that image. “She does,” she admitted, running a thumb along the side of his palm. Her free hand crushed the note in its palm. “She… really does.”

A weight lifted off his chest, and he felt his shoulders sag with obvious relief. “Good,” he sighed, tipping his head back, “if not travelling here would have been incredibly painful.”

Selina raised a brow, looking up at him with a small grin. “What, you can’t handle this city?” She asked. He couldn’t even be mad at her insinuation. The grin on her lips was far too blinding to detest.

“The tourism here is decrepit,” he raised a brow of his own, mirroring her expression, “and I would rather die than stay a night at the ‘Rochester Abyss’.”

“What? That doesn’t exist. Someone is seriously lying to you,” she said, then paused. “... Why would you stay? You could have just left if I had told you to scram. You don’t owe me anything.”

He huffed a laugh, bringing his free hand up to smooth a snowflake from her cheek. “I wouldn’t have given up,” he admitted, watching as her cheeks flushed a delightful red. “I’d have stayed a week, or a month, or longer, if I needed to. Even if you didn’t want to come home with me, I’d have wanted to make sure you were okay before heading back, and… if I’d done something wrong, I’d want to know what.”

Her gaze flitted to the side, a grumble escaping her throat. “You’d never,” she said, sounding almost petulant. “You’ve always been good to me, even when you were being stupid.” She rolled her eyes. “I wanted to hate you, you know, but you didn’t give me enough ammo to.”

He grinned then, a real, big one, feeling the last vestiges of anxiety break away from his heart. “I’m glad I didn’t,” he said. “I didn’t want this to be temporary.”

She looked back at him then, a disbelieving laugh on her tongue. “Temporary?” She asked, looking almost amused. “Seamus, you do a lot of things half-assedly, but you’ve never made me feel like my place was temporary.” She pressed his palm to her cheek. “I want to stay with you and everyone else for as long as I can. Does that sound temporary to you?”

He felt like he could fly him and her home in one shot then. He feared his face might get stuck in a ridiculous smile for the rest of his life. “No,” he said softly. “It doesn’t.”

Her grin burned bright into his mind, searing into his eyelids. “Good,” she said, sounding delightfully satisfied. Her feet shuffled a step forward, the hood of her jacket falling back with the movement. He got a face full of grinning, copper and hazel warmth, and his stomach swooped, like he was a kid again and his crush  had just smiled at him from across the room. It was giddying. Terrifying in its intensity, but oh so exciting in its reality. This was real, and it was good, and most importantly, it was here. Was it permanent? With his lifespan, hah, but he’d be damned if he let it slip through his fingers now.

Everything was temporary. He was beginning to realise this. He couldn’t stop it. He couldn’t defy it. But… he could learn from it. Selina was another blip on his eons long timeline, but she was a very real, very loud blip, and she made his heart go insane and his gut drop from beneath him, and even if it would hurt him in the end… he was beginning to think that he didn’t care anymore.

No, not that he didn’t care… he was beginning to accept it.

There were very few reasons he’d go to the ends of the world for. Selina Calabrese, with her unkempt hair and diamond smile and cat like eyes, would always be one of them.

His cheeks flushed red as he realised this. He caught her eyes widening at the sight, but before she could marvel at it, he swept an arm around her waist, pressing her to his chest. “Let’s go home,” he said softly, and the smile that unfurled across her lips proved time to be a bitch who didn’t matter in the slightest, because it’d never steal that image from his mind.

Her fingers tightened in his coat, melting the snowflakes that dotted the material. He had never felt warmer in his life. “Yeah,” she breathed, white steam billowing into the sky. “Bring me home, Seams.”

[julietandcinderellavocaloid]

Determined Alice Chapter 2

Sometimes, being an Alice left Meiko feeling invisible. Cinderellas were expected to be leaders and path makers, and Juliets were expected to be servants and slaves. Alices were . . . just there.

Meiko knew she couldn't complain too much, however. Having a cerulean butterfly tattooed on her left wrist instead of a blood rose meant she had the basic human rights most Juliets were denied. On the other hand, having that same cerulean butterfly tattoo instead of a silver crown meant Meiko would never have the opportunities available to her that were practically gift wrapped for a Cinderella.

News that had been circulating all over the media this past week didn't help. Some sources labelled this as the war between Cinderellas and Juliets. Nobody talked about the Alices. It seemed nobody cared. Alices were the middle class. As far as anyone who wasn't an Alice was concerned, they didn't fit anywhere in all of this.

Of course, such thinking was dead wrong. Alices had been in play long before anyone so much as heard about these so-called Thorns. Nobody suspected an Alice, leaving the Alices to come and go as they pleased.

Meiko's second cousin Teto, when spent the past year spying through the Cinderella Academy undetected by even the master of the school Opera Tonio himself, was a perfect example of this.

It was why Meiko didn't let the looks anyone gave her as she took her seat in the hovercraft get to her. Or at least that was what she told herself. She didn't want to admit that she was too impressed with the interior of the hovercraft to think about much else.

This was the kind of hovercraft seen in space war movies. Unlike most hovercrafts, which relied on autopilot to get its passengers to the destination coordinates punched in, this one was built for potential battle and thus driven by a pilot. Others would man additional aspects of the craft, such as communications and weapons. Back in the day, these were the types of hovercrafts the military utilized. Now only the secret service had these. The secret service, and anyone else who knew how and where to get their grubby hands on them.

Big Al and Rei, his hand-selected second-in-command, took their seats in the front. Rinto took over communications. Hio and Meiko sat in the weapons section although the weapons were deactivated for this mission, Hio preparing them just in case they needed to be used and Meiko gauging fuel efficiency.

Wanting to prove herself, Meiko ran through the checklist given to her in preparation for takeoff. When Hio tried to help, she growled at him to back off. The boy stared at her with his wide eyes.

"We're a team, Meiko," he whispered as to not be overheard by the others. "There's nothing wrong with letting me help you."

"As if I'm going to give you the chance to tell Big Al that you had to help me run through my own station," Meiko snarled. "I got this."

"Meiko, you've never done this before. Nobody is going to look down on you if you let me help you—"

"I got this!" Meiko snapped before turning away and running through everything twice more. It looked as if everything was properly set up. She didn't need Hio making her, the lone woman on the team, look as if she was the only one who didn't know what was going on.

"System check," Big Al announced as he started the engine. "Coordinates?"

Rei. "Check."

"Communications?"

Rinto. "Check."

"Weapons?"

Hio. "Offline."

"Efficiency."

Meiko sounded proud as she announced, "Check."

"Are you sure?"

Gritting her teeth, Meiko had to keep from shouting, "How dare you question me and not the men!"

"Check," was what she said instead.

"Then we are ready to launch." Big Al flipped a few switches. "Everyone, buckle up. It's going to be a bumpy ascension."

Meiko buckled her seatbelt and leaned back in her chair. The flight to the Capital would take a couple of hours. Until then, it was only a matter of remaining calm and showing these men that she was just as capable as they.

For the most part, the flight was uneventful. Their fellow legion flew right beside them. The others laughed and joked as they hurled through the air at over three hundred miles an hour. Meiko kept to herself. Considering the guys didn't try talking to her or anything of the sort, keeping to herself wasn't that hard.

All the while, Big Al ignored the others as he focused on the flight ahead. Not having anywhere better to look, Meiko stared over his shoulder through the window. The cover of endless night should keep them well-hidden from those on the ground below.

As for other aircrafts, that's what prayer was for.

"I don't like this," Rei said after half an hour. "It's quiet. Too quiet. I feel like something should have happened by now. Even just a minor hiccup would be more reassuring than this stillness we've been experiencing since liftoff."

"Agreed," Big Al muttered, "but we shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, Kagene."

I would be looking all the gift horses in the mouth. Meiko double checked her station. No change. That was more than fine. She wasn't entirely sure what to do if something needed to be fixed anyway.

The flight grew to be so boring, Meiko wished she had followed Hio's example and brought something with her. That beanpole had a book on him. Not a tablet. An actual book. As in a large-leather-bound-stack-of-paper-with-words-printed-with-ink-onto-the-pages book.

As rare as tablets were in Meiko's hometown, physical books were rarer. And this fool had the nerve to bring one with him on a potentially dangerous mission. Meiko tried not to stare, both at awe at such a device and at how stupid she thought Hio was.

She must have not restrained herself well enough though. Hio caught her staring and asked, "Do you want to look at it?"

Yes. "No," Meiko spat, committing herself to not looking at the boy for the rest of the flight.

That newfound commitment only lasted for ten minutes.

"Radar is picking up another craft," Rei announced. He audibly swallowed. "It's coming this way."

"Commercial?" Big Al questioned.

"Negative," Rei replied. "I studied all flight schedules the night before. This wasn't on the list. Besides, it's approaching far too quickly for its main purpose to be carrying citizens."

Big Al cursed. "Rinto, has the first legion picked up on the signal?"

"As a matter of fact, they just messaged me about it." Rinto adjusted the glasses on his nose. "Arls thinks we should contact them, tell them we're carrying supplies to the Capital."

"Just what I was thinking."

For a moment, Rinto typed on his keyboard. It must have been getting serious, for Rinto pulled a headset on and began speaking softly into the microphone. In a matter of seconds, his words were getting quicker and more urgent.

Pulling the microphone away, Rinto said, "Big Al, Arls's craft has been denied contact with this oncoming ship. Orders?"

"Try contacting it yourself."

Not even a minute later. "Connection denied."

Big Al swore again. "I don't think these guys are going to ask questions before they begin shooting. Kagene, how close are they?"

"Too close for comfort, sir."

"Looks like we're going to have to get our hands dirty for this one. Loid, Sakine, fire up the weapons. If our new friends are looking for a fight, then they are going to get one."

Finally, something to do. Meiko turned her attention towards her station and began flipping the necessary switches. Lights lit. Buttons blinked. Numbers flashed on display. Meiko gripped the lever to pull it down.

It didn't budge.

What the hell?

Meiko kept pulling, but the lever wasn't going anywhere.

Great. Not only was she the one person the others thought needed help to do her job, but she couldn't even pull the freaking lever down as well. She could already hear the men crackling at what a weak woman she was.

"Systems online, sir," Hio announced to the fleet.

"Efficiency?" Big Al questioned.

No matter how hard Meiko pulled the lever, it didn't move in the slightest. Father of many ugly and stupid children! "Anyone got any oil?"

Although he spoke at normal volume, there was still a lot of anger in Big Al's words as if he yelled at her. "You mean to tell me you didn't wiggle the lever before takeoff?"

Meiko furrowed her brows. Her words sounded dumber to her than they had to sound for everyone else. "I was supposed to?"

If there was one thing Big Al did as if it were an artform, it was swear. He further displayed that talent before snapping at Meiko, "These ships are at least a decade old, Sakine! We have to make sure nothing rusted into place before our lives depend on the functionality of those same levers. Didn't anyone tell you that?!"

Face burning hot, Meiko returned to the lever and tried to pull it. Nothing. That sucker was stuck good, all right.

"Arls is awaiting your command," Rinto supplied, a sweat breaking out on his forehead.

"Fire at will," Big Al replied. "As for us, we have a bit of a situation here."

"Let me help," Hio said, getting up and walking towards Meiko's station.

Meiko bared her teeth. "I got it!"

"No, you don't."

"Leave me alone, Loid!"

"Meiko, now isn't the time—"

"I said leave me alone!"

"Sweet mother of baby Jesus! Get out of my path!" Big Al bolted from the pilot's seat and stalked towards the section. After literally pushing Meiko and Hio out of the way, he wrapped his meaty hands around the lever and forced it down with a mighty grunt.

Then things began flashing that Meiko was sure weren't supposed to be flashing.

"You said our efficiency was in order!" he roared at Meiko.

Gritting her teeth, Meiko did not allow herself to cower. "According to the numbers, everything was exactly where it needed to be."

Big Al looked at the display before turning back to Meiko. "Yes, our takeoff and flight fuel is working splendidly, but did it ever occur to you to switch to the weapons tank to see how our energy beams were doing?"

Oh.

"Your job was simple," Big Al growled. "Make sure everything was in order, and make sure there was an order for everything. How do you screw up this badly?!"

Snarling herself, Meiko spat, "How was I supposed to know all these rules about these crafts unless someone told me?"

"Ask someone to walk you through it. For the love of God, Sakine, didn't anyone offer to help?"

Meiko was more grateful than she cared to admit that Hio opted to keep his mouth shut. She had to have been set up. There was no other reason everyone but she, the woman, had a section that worked perfectly.

Before another word could be said, everyone cried out as the craft violently jerked to the side. It corrected itself after half a moment, but the ride was no longer as smooth. Nobody needed to be told what had just happened.

"Rei," Big Al began, "you're in charge until I get back. Hio, fire only if you know for sure you will hit a target. Sakine and I are going to the belly of the craft to see if we can load up the emergency guns."

Although she heard what Big Al said, Meiko still questioned, "What?"

"You heard me, Sakine." Big Al began walking, not even turning around to make sure she would follow. "It's your fault we're in this tight situation. Now I'm going to show you one of the ways you can fix your mistake."

Figuring it would be better to swallow her pride and at least try to correct her screw up, Meiko followed Big Al out of the control room and down to the generator. It was warmer down there than where they had come from, but Meiko didn't take off her coat even as Big Al did. She kept her arms crossed over her chest, eyes boring holes into the back of her superior's head.

Instead of reprimanding her further, as she expected him to, Big Al showed Meiko where the emergency generator for weapons was and how to activate it. "This will give Hio more resources for taking down anyone who's after us. However, these guns are not as powerful as the main source, so next time, make sure that's working before takeoff."

Meiko didn't respond. She only kept her arms tight across her chest. As if we both don't know you're going to talk to Mikuo to make sure there is no next time.

"Do you understand, Sakine?"

Trying not to growl, Meiko replied, "Yes, sir."

Before more could be said, the craft jerked again. This time Big Al and Meiko were both thrown to the ground. Meiko's head collided with one of the pipes, and she felt the vibration from her skull to her jaw down her chest. Ringing echoed in her ears for only a moment. She tasted blood where her teeth slammed down on her unsuspecting tongue.

Big Al pushed himself to his feet and simply ordered, "We need to get back now."

Then he did something strange. Leaning forward, Big Al offered his hand to help Meiko up.

Insulted, Meiko ignored his hand as she pushed herself to her feet. She wobbled for a moment, quickly pulling away from Big Al when he again reached out to wrap his hand around her arm. Although she wouldn't admit it, she was grateful Big Al waited till she regained her footing before he began stalking back to where the others were.

"Situation?" he barked as he and Meiko stepped inside.

Before anyone could answer, another shot from the attacking ship fired. Rei jerked the craft out of the way, but he didn't act fast enough. The side was hit, and fire and smoke began to rise.

"This is bad," Rei muttered, saying what was undoubtedly on everyone's mind.

Big Al opened his mouth to speak, but then he froze. Meiko looked in the direction his eyes were trained, and she froze too. She felt everyone else follow their example.

A missile whizzed past them, not coming close enough to touch the already damaged craft. Not that it mattered. Their craft wasn't the target.

Feeling to be trapped in slow motion, Meiko watched the missile hit the other legion, sending the main engine into a fiery explosion.

"We've been hit! WE'VE BEEN HIT!" cried the voice from Rinto's headset, which Meiko heard despite being over six feet away from Rinto. Then there was static. Then nothing.

They all watched the other hovercraft fall from the sky like a dead bird. Although they had already flown past the crash site by the time the other craft hit the ground, everyone still heard and felt the boom of their fellow comrades meeting the earth. It wasn't until Rei, the first to recover, yanked their craft out of the path of another oncoming missile, saving them by the skin of their teeth.

Everyone got to work. Big Al returned to his station and ordered Rinto to try hailing the other Fighter craft again. He continued letting Rei, whose reflexes were better than the older man's, pilot the craft. Hio shot at the enemy craft, but it was too big for his energy beams to do much damage.

Meiko, all the while, had nothing to do. Her job was to monitor everything. Monitor things that didn't seem to need it. There was nothing for her to do save sit and watch while the men took all the action. Hers was the most pointless job one could be assigned.

Watching as Hio tried to shoot their target out of the sky, Meiko got an idea. Something of that size would react no differently to a human stepping on a small, round rock. However, no matter the size, all crafts relied on electricity to get from point A to point B.

With that thought, Meiko jumped to her feet and bolted out of the control room, ignoring Big Al's shouting questions such as what the hell was she thinking.

If there was one thing Meiko did perfectly every time without fail, it was keep weapons hidden on her person. Daggers were strapped to her biceps and thighs, small knives were tucked into her sleeves just above the wrist, and there was even a switchblade hidden between her breasts. She could reach all of them and stab her unknowing opponent in a matter of seconds. Yet what she needed wasn't a blade. What she needed was an electro orb, which was conveniently tucked inside her inner coat pocket.

One other thing Meiko did right was check the weapons on board long before liftoff. Even though she had no plans to use any of them, since this mission did not require her to fight or defend herself or anything similar, she wanted to know where they were just in case. This was that just in case, and it took Meiko only a minute to retrieve the bazooka. Along with it she picked up and slung on a backpack. She didn't need it, but she wasn't dumb enough to break all the rules.

Feet planted firmly onto the floor, Meiko pushed the button to open the hovercraft. The large ramp began to descend while they still flew through the air, an enemy craft not far behind. The incoming wind whipped through Meiko's hair and coat, and she had to squint from the bitter cold air rushing into the craft and biting her skin and piercing her eyes.

With the door now open, Meiko got a clear view of the war craft right behind them. She saw the missiles launched their way. When another was fired and Rei swerved to avoid it, Meiko stumbled and desperately tried to regain her footing. Swearing, Meiko used her free hand to reach out and steady herself against the wall. She needed to act fast so she could close the door again without falling out of the hovercraft like an idiot.

Meiko slid the electro orb into the bazooka and aimed. It was as she was about to fire someone grabbed her shoulder and threw her onto the ground.

"What do you think you're doing, Sakine?!" Big Al roared as he stood over her. "You abandoned your station in a time of crisis! Do you have any idea what's in store for cowards who run away when their team is in danger?"

"I'm not running away!" Meiko argued as she pushed herself onto her knees. "I was going to take out the enemy craft until someone interrupted me."

"An electro orb is not going to work against something as big as that," Big Al sneered, and Meiko wondered how he knew she had an electro orb on her. "That thing is bound to have at least three generators; even if you kill the main power and two generators, odds are the thing will still be up, running, and coming at us with an even more aggressive approach now that you showed them what you can do. Firing that would only make things worse for us, not help us."

"You wouldn't be saying that if it was Rei or Hio here."

"Precisely, because neither of them would be as stupid as you to try to act on their own."

A retort was on Meiko's tongue, but it was lost when the enemy craft fired again and Rei swerved to avoid it. However, he didn't swerve enough, and the missile clipped the side of their craft. The force was enough to send the whole thing sideways as it violently jerked up and down from the blast.

There was no hope for Meiko to regain her footing as second time, and Big Al was even less balanced than she. Both were thrown into the air. Big Al flew out of the opening of the craft first, and Meiko, try as she might to hold on to the smooth floor, slid out to follow.

With no time to think, Meiko activated her parachute, grateful she decided to don a backpack after all. She was jerked yet again as it expanded and dramatically slowed her descent, but the journey downwards was otherwise smooth. An ache forming in her chest, Meiko watched as her craft flew away, the enemy craft not far behind.

[g0thb4rbie]

@princessrabies , mind u half of this was written high and i didnt edit this . also dont steal it lol

{title}

the hours of knocking finally stopped but the migraine that eliza had was still raging. her phone was thrown across the room sadly still ringing. eliza had entertained a few toxic people in her life but none of them acted like casey. casey was a 3 week old fling who became severely attached.

*27 missed calls*

“answer me”

“answer or ill kill u”

“i kno where u live”

“this is torture”

“ill kill u bitch”

“how could u do this to me”

“god i fucking hate u”

“u know how much i loved u right”

“nobody will ever treat u better”

“u dont even deserve better”

“ur such a fucking whore i hate u”

“i have pics of u”

“ill show everybody”

eliza sat sobbing in the corner opposite of the device, letting the insults sit on the home screen. she’d heard it all before. he had nothing. she barely even kissed him let alone send him photos of herself. they talked romantically and hung out 3

times in total. she used to fall for it but after the second time she gave up believing anything casey said. her head was buried in her knees and her sobs echoed through the room.

“can you shut that fucking thing off?”

her roommate cherry was sitting in the living room watching tv. footsteps followed the path from the couch to eliza’s room. eliza looked teary eyed fearful of what was to happen. she couldn’t handle that much more emotional distress. if cherry yelled at her she didnt know what she would do. the door flung open and cherry stood calmly with a tub of ice cream held between her arm and side and a lighter in her other hand.

“is that casey” she slurred, her mouth filled with melting ice cream. cherry never had a good feeling about casey. she’s right about most people eliza talks to, saying they give her “bad vibes” or that they “seem weird and off. “ she claimed she was psychic but maybe its because most of the people eliza dates say weird or off shit within the first few minutes of meeting cherry. cherry always brought out the weird in people. she was the weird in people. she constantly spoke about the devil and cults; sometimes spoke about how cool it would be to have one of her own.

“follower or leader” she said, “im there for the ride. “

“yes...” eliza spoke between breaths.

“oh lord” cherry walked toward eliza and handed the tub with a spoon stuck in the ice cream down to her. “i’ll handle it”

cherry found her way over to the phone. buzzing less often with the same threats of exposing eliza. cherry picked it up and pushed her thumb on the home button. eliza and cherry decided that in case of emergency they should have each other’s passcodes.

“cherry don’t... please. you’ll make things worse”

cherry raised a joint to her mouth and lit it.

“shut up. everything will be fine. he needs to know his fuckin’ place” she spoke through clenched lips. cherry waited for the line to pick up while pulling smoke tricks. the smoke rose to the ceiling and the call ended. “oh so now you don’t have anything to say” she called again this time the rings ending after thirty seconds. “pussy...” she chuckled and padded towards eliza, still teary eyed but distracting herself with the ice cream rather than focusing of the situation at hand.

“did you seriously buy the neapolitan kind again?” eliza stabbed the spoon into the strawberry section and dug out a small piece.

“yes its good, suck my dick.” she retorted. sitting down next to eliza and taking another hit. “what’s he even doing? he was begging like a minute ago”

“let’s pray he gave up.”

“he shouldn’t get off the hook that easily!”

“no, but i should.” eliza reached over cherry for her phone and turned it off.

“he has to pay... somehow.”

“he is. he’s a lonely scumbag who jerks off to Instagram models. he’s not worth my time.”

cherry sighed, “i just think that we both deserve better. i’ve had to deal with that prick for far too long.” she pulled up Twitter and began scrolling.

“i don’t even know what i could do to him. he shouldn’t even matter. it was three weeks.”

“yea and the terrorist activity has been going on for what. a month? i’ve lost sleep over this fucking guy. im pissed.”

silence fell over the two as cherry finished smoking.

“im serious. you always leave me with the strawberry, i dont fucking like it. just buy-“

“shhhhhhh, this might make you feel more empowered. check out eileen wuornos here. “

“who?” eliza turned her head.

“shut up, look.” cherry turned her screen to show a news headline that read: LOCAL WOMAN USES “DEVIL MAGIC” TO PUT HITS OUT ON ABUSIVE EX-LOVERS.

“Ha, that’s what they get.” Eliza scoffed and looked back at her lap.

“Wouldn’t that be so cool?”

“What, giving our souls to the literal Devil himself?”

“Well no, not the part,” Cherry looked off to the side in annoyance, “but the idea of getting anything you wanted, if you just chanted a few words and drew a little blood.”

“I would love to be invisible and never ever have to deal with being weak again.”

“Weak? You’re not weak.” Cherry’s brow furrowed.

“Yes, I am. I can’t even deal with this stupid guy.” Eliza dropped the spoon and put her hands on her face muffle her cries.

“I’ve dealt with guys like this before. I’ve done the same shit you do. You’re not weak.” Cherry sat on her knees and rubbed a comforting hand on Eliza’s shoulder. “Come on, let’s watch this video of that lady. I bet she sounds crazy! Crazy like ‘Oh fuck, you aren’t going to prison but you’re going somewhere for a long time.’ Cherry played the video as Eliza sat the tub next to her and rested her chin on her knees.

“So... May I ask? Why did you do this?” A T.V doctor spoke through a grey mustache. He wasn’t required to do anything but make her a laughing stock. She sat in front of him with long stringy hair, sunken eyes, and pale skin. She looked crazy but refer to his job description to figure out why.

“I felt compelled to the dark side of magic. Someone through the mirror called to me, asked me what my desires were. I told them simply and they said that for a price. I could be an elite. “ Her voiced was calm and pitched down. Her dark eyes stared at the camera as the last words trickled out of her mouth.

“What did you pay?” He watched her intently; waiting for her to jump at him or exorcise herself *LIVE ON CAMERA!!!!*

“The only money that matters... My soul...” She leaned forward, now glaring at the doctor.

“Right... So what did these men do?” He looked away.

“Well, they cheated, lied, stalked, beat and revealed pictures of me nehkid. “ Her southern accent poked through.

“You mean, naked?” The doctor dismissed it as soon as her asked, “And how do you contact those in the mirror, as you said?”

“I lit a few candles, said a few words, drew a little blood and asked for what I wanted.”

“Did you want them dead, initially?”

“No, I wanted them to feel as hurt as I felt when they did all that stuff.”

“And where did you find this... this chant?”

“Well the internet, obviously.” She rolled her eyes as the clip came to an end.

Cherry pulled her phone back closer to her and began looking for “Satanic rituals” as Eliza stared in thought of what she just viewed.

A small gasp left Cherry, “Eliza.”

“What?”

Cherry clicked a link and showed Eliza a website filled with gothic and bloody font and pictures of goth girls in corsets. “I know exactly what we’re doing tonight.”

[thequeenofcreole]

|《 A Dream of Fire: Chapter 4 - Scars of a Forgotten Future 》|

I’m woken swiftly from my forced slumber by the heart-wrenching feeling of falling. When I hit the ground, I let out a deep groan and slowly try to open my eyes to see what surrounds me. My eyes try to process anything familiar, but it looks like I’m in an underground…. warehouse? But it’s completely empty except for a lone desk

I notice three figures standing in front of me and I pull myself up to my knees slowly, making sure to keep the pressure off of the knee that still pulses with pain. My body aches, but I won’t let it show. A sharp, cold pain in my lip makes me lift my fingers to it. A hiss threatens to escape but I hold it in as I look to see blood on my fingers. I can feel the slow burn of my power in my chest slowly grow. Anger, frustration, fear. All fueling it.

This time, though, they came prepared. My eyes fall to the circle around me and the blood that must have sealed whatever spell that will attempt to keep me here. There are Wiccan binding spells drawn in chalk and blood on the floor and I look up between the three witches in front of me, eyes dark with the slow burning anger I felt before. One man, three women. The man brings his palm to his lips and blows a white dust in my direction. When the lines drawn on the concrete glow a dark red, I know the powder must be ground down bone. I feel the spell tightening around me, making the air thick. I take shallow breaths as I feel a sensation of tightening around me. Like someone is wrapping me tightly with rope. Witches and their fucking binding spells.

“The more you fight it, the tighter it will get. Understood?”

I look up at the woman in the middle, my jaw clenching in an attempt to steel myself. This spell, as showy as it is, is just that. Mostly show. But I want them to feel the facade of that security they’re clinging so tightly to. So, I nod my head slowly. The ghost of the rope slacks a little and I look between the three of the hooded figures in front of me.

“Which one’a y’all is Talia?”

A small witch that lingers in the back looks up at the one in the middle and my eyes find hers. The large hood of the cape she’s wearing covers her face and she slowly pushes it back until I can see all of her face.

“That would be me, Miss Devereaux. Welcome to New Orleans. It may not be the one you’re used to, but welcome home nonetheless.”

My brows attempt to furrow, but I hold it in. Home? I don’t want them to be able to read me in any way. I have no idea what I’m dealing with here and I want them to keep feeding me information. Let them think they’re in control. The grin on her face makes me clench my jaw tightly.

“I’m guessing you’re wondering why you’re here. Why I deceived you. I’m sorry I had to do it.”

My muscles tense at her words. The hint of fear almost completely hidden in the cockiness she tries to give off. But I can still hear her fear. Good. She’s scared. She should be. If she brought me here, she knows what I’m capable of. Pain, anger, and the fact that I have nothing left to lose is a powerful motivator.

“Ya stole my whole family from me. So ya bett’a get to the point. Quickly. I ain’t got much patience fa small talk nowadays.”

Her face falters ever so slightly. If I wasn’t paying attention, it would have come and gone without being noticed. Fear. I’m trying to keep my own cool, but I’m doing a much better job than she is. To her, I’m unpredictable. She wasn’t expecting me to nearly tear her spell to pieces before. I can see it in the writing on the floor that she’s made this binding spell to hold a specific power. But she doesn’t know my power….

“I….” She starts speaking, but my gaze on hers makes her betray her own resolve. “I’m sorry. But my people's existence is in jeopardy. You are Deréon Devereaux.” She speaks as if I know what she means. She speaks like I’m some deity in her realm. I can see that she expects some reaction from me but, when she doesn’t get what she wants, she shakes her head.

“We need to take her to Asha.” The man's deep voice causes my eyes to move to his. I look him up and down, assessing his threat level. I’m almost certain that he’s the one who hit me since the other three in the room are the only ones I saw in the alley.

I have nothing to lose by playing along. It’s clear to me now that they think I’m too important to kill. The question that stands is why? Why do they need |me|? Of all the people they could have called upon, why me? My thoughts stray briefly. To my children. My husband. Rafa. Zari. I look down at the floor, the anger I felt so clearly before rising in my chest.

“Y’all need to let me go. Now.”

My voice is stern. Demanding. Authoritative. So much so that they look between one another, hoping that someone else will address me. The man steps to me, his energy reading as threatening as he steps into the circle. With a wave of his hand, the invisible bindings around me tighten and it makes me emit a loud, deep groan. It squeezes me so tight that I can barely breathe. No. Fuck that. Not this time.

I take as deep of a breath as I can, the fire in my chest burning deep as I close my eyes. I can feel my energy rising and exuding from me, pressing the spell that wraps around me away from my body like a forcefield. Every muscle in my body is tense as the magic in my body builds until it fills every cell - every atom of my being. As I look up at them, I can feel the fire burning in my eyes as I do, giving my brown eyes an amber glow to them. I have no idea where this power is coming from, but I can’t stop now. The spell is weak and this could be my only chance.

My fists clench and I slam them hard against the concrete, the spell written out on the floor cracking beneath my fists. The realization that their spell is broken makes them take a step back from the broken circle. I slowly move to stand up, looking at the three of them, my eyes still glistening. The man reaches out, attempting to grab me, but the force surrounding me stops him in his tracks. He’s imobile but completely conscious. And he’s under my complete influence as I slowly walk toward him. As I push the hood off of his head to see his face, I shake my head disapprovingly. As my eyes study his, I can sense his fear. Smell it, even.

“Ya best keep ya hands off me from now on. Understood?”

I throw their words back at them and let his limp body drop to the floor before turning to look at the two women and the smaller one behind them. As angry and in pain as I am, I’m not them. I can never hurt someone the way they’ve hurt me and I won’t let my pain turn me into a monster.

“Y’all took me from my family. I ain’t e’en get to kiss my newborn children goodbye ‘fore y’all snatched me from them. If I had any sense, I would kill y’all where ya stand.”

The thought crosses my mind, but I hold it at bay. For now. They’ve told me enough about themselves for me to know that they aren’t nearly as powerful as I am. That gives me an advantage that I don’t want to have to use.

“Ya best start talkin’ ‘fore I change my damn mind.”

It feels like a while before someone speaks, but the one named Talia starts first. Her voice, that was once strong with a hint of confidence, that of a child now.

“We had to bring you here. Our people are being killed and you are a witch of legend. One of the most powerful that any realm has ever seen.”

I can’t help that my brows furrow in confusion now. I know I didn’t get pulled away from my children and mistaken for someone else. The tamed fire in my chest starts to stir again and I have to take a deep breath to calm it.

“Ya got the wrong one. I ain’t who ya lookin’ fa. I cain’t be.”

She shakes her head and turns around to the table behind them, quickly grabbing the book from there and flipping through quickly. My mind is spinning. What the fuck is going on?

“Look.” As she steps toward me carefully and hands me the aged book, I look down at the worn pages. “You are the Creole Queen of New Orleans. Legend says that you can travel through realms at will and that you’ll give birth to the most powerful generation of witches to come.”

My eyes skim through the pages and recognize the four pyramids…. From my dream. No. That was just a dream. This can’t be real.

“Wait. Hol’ the fuck up.”

My senses are overwhelmed and I hold my hand that isn’t clutching the spine of the ancient book up. This can’t be me. I’ve never been more than above average at rituals and casting spells. My only partner is @PetwoPonMeHead. I can’t be this Creole Queen. I can’t be….

“You got it all wrong. It ain’t me. Ya done made a deal fa the wrong one.”

Talia’s eyes shift from fear to confusion to anger but she knows better now than to let it show further than her eyes. As if I’m supposed to know that I’m this…. Creole Queen. It’s not me. I hear the man's voice from behind me and turn around to look at him as he struggles to get up off the floor.

“We have to take her to see Asha. She will tell her the truth.”

No. I’ve waited long enough to hear their stupid fucking fairytales.

“Nah. Send me the fuck home. I cain’t help y’all. I’m not ya girl.”

Talia shakes her head, her eyes narrowed in confusion at me. “You’re stuck here. Until your purpose is fulfilled. There’s no way out. Only through.”

[talented-headache]

I loved your last novaHD story! You're an awesome writer. Would you do another novaHD with them being strangers and meeting through their dogs? Dog park, walking them around the same time, one runs away.. whatever! Thanks!

Title: Long Walks and Leashes

Pairing: NovaHD

Summary: James becomes a dog walker for a few weeks and meets an adorable man and his even more adorable dog.

PS: Thanks! I really appreciate that you liked it and hope you like this one as much if not better. I tried to take it a little out of the box for what the dogs should do. Sorry it took so long.

Also thanks to @ice-like-dreams for being my editor here.

[Link][A03]

James needed to stop doing favors for his friends. It had been hard moving to L.A, and he had lost a lot during the move. He no longer had a lot of his friends or a lot of his common places to hang out at. His gym, his dog park, and the stores he had shopped at were all gone. Everything. Not that he had gone many places in the first place, but he still lost a lot. The move had been for the best, though.

It was supposed to be a brand new start in the new city, which was great, but nobody had told him there was a lonely feeling that went along with it. He was closer to his new job, L.A. allowed him to make more connections, and as a plus he was far away from his ex and those bad memories.

That’s where Brett came in. He was a friend and coworker who also happened to be a great networker and he just “wanted James to get out there more”. The problem was that Brett had a few very weird ideas on how to make that happen.

“I know the guy’s boss. There are only a few clients. All you have to do is walk them down to the park and let them play. After a couple of hours or so, take them back to their owners. No problem.” Brett explained as he continued to write down names and addresses on a piece of paper.

“Brett, I’m not touching dog shit. Besides, I’m busy.” James scowled at him.

“That’s what the baggies are for, dipshit. It pays well, get yourself a little spending money. It’s only two weeks and like three times a week at that. It’s literally nothing.” Brett rolled his eyes. “Look, most of the clients are friends of mine. So I’m helping out.”

“Brett.” James snapped.

“Besides, Ein could use the exercise and social time. Just like a certain someone I know.” Brett smirked, and it was that stupid fucking smirk. The one that made James so irritated he would do anything to prove the asshole wrong. It was the one that had pushed him over the edge to move in the first place.

Fuck.

“You calling my dog fat?” James asked, fake anger in his voice. Brett just continued to smirk, knowing he’d won. James would take the Job.

~

That’s how James ended up outside with Ein practically glued to his legs. While she was a happy and friendly dog, Ein wasn’t exactly sociable. One thing they had in common.

He was already irritated, and he started to glare at everyone who even looked at him as he walked down the street. The other three dogs he had for the day were all but dragging him towards the final house. He felt relief course through him as his phone told him he had arrived at the last client. It was a simple place, and James held tight to the leashes as he rang the button to the apartment.

“Hello?” The voice was male and deep. James heard a bark sound faintly over the com and the voice tried to hush it.

“Mr. Marchant? I’m the replacement walker, here to pick up Mishka.” James explained, careful to pronounce the name right, just as Brett had taught him.

“Oh, shit, dude. I totally forgot. Give me a second and I’ll be right down.” The voice replied, sounding somewhere between shocked and awkward laughter. There was a small beep to indicate he’d left, and James stepped back off the steps. He stepped on a leash and saw Ein cowering slightly behind his legs and the other three wandering the area with the short lead he had given them.

James bent down to scratch behind Ein’s ears. He wasn’t paying much attention to what was around him, so when a laugh came from in front of him, James nearly jumped out of his skin.

James snapped his head up to stare at the client as the other man leant against the doorframe. He had platinum dyed hair and one dark eyebrow raised up at him. He was also really pale for someone who lived in L.A. and most of him was covered by a blue striped sweatshirt and tan pants.

“-adorable.” Fuck, he was talking? James blinked and felt a blush rise on his cheeks.

“What?” he asked almost reluctantly. He probably shouldn’t have, because he’d rather look like an asshole than awkward with new people. That was what he got for being anti-social though.

“I said she’s adorable. Is she yours? Because she’s new to the pack.” Mr. Marchant repeated himself and his brown eyes squinted slightly as he chuckled.

“Yeah, yep. I thought I’d bring her along.” James stood straight and rubbed the back of his neck. He had the urge to avoid Mr. Marchant’s pretty eyes, so he did.

“Well, I’m Aleks. Thanks for doing this, man. I thought I was out a walker for the week.” Aleks said and turned to whistle behind him. James heard the clipping of nails against wood floors before a black and gray head popped out beside Aleks’ legs.

Aleks quickly grabbed a hold of the dog’s collar and attached the leash he pulled from his sweater pocket. “And this is Mishka.”

“She’s cute.” James offered and Aleks flashed him a quick smile.

James wasn’t prepared for when Aleks let Mishka go while he still had a grip on the end of her leash. Her excited face immediately darted for him. But instead of jumping on him like the other dogs had, she ran right for Ein.

Mishka all but head-butted the poor corgi and pushed her lightly to the ground. Ein went with the movement and fell onto her side. Mishka barked and jumped away, paws patting at the ground ready to rush again. James would be worried if it weren’t for the adorable dog grin on her face and Ein not returning a growl.

Ein slowly stood up then yipped, darted at Mishka, and pushed her back. They started to chase each other, but with both of them stuck on leashes they weren’t able to get very far. They just tangled themselves around James’ legs.

Aleks laughed, wrapping his arms around his stomach. His eyes were all but invisible with how hard he was squinting as he laughed and James had to stop himself from staring. The other three dogs watched the two, trying to stay out of the way and avoid the leashes.

“Ein.” James snapped at her and his blush deepened with his embarrassment.

“Oh, man. Have fun with that.” Aleks continued to laugh and handed over the leash. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

Aleks shut the door with a final smile and a wave. James stumbled slightly as he finally untangled himself. He tried to figure out what to do with his suddenly fried brain.

He gently tugged on the leashes to let everyone know they were about to leave. He left the complex grumbling all the way down the walkway. He almost swore he felt eyes on his back the entire way.

~

James watched the dogs from his spot under some trees in the park. He scrolled lazily through his phone, watched the battery level go down as he tried to get through Twitter. He only looked up every few minutes to count the dogs before going back to it.

That’s what he did when his phone really did die. He saw the three stranger’s dogs, but not his own or Mishka. James yelled for them, and panic settled in his body as he scrambled off his seat. A small ‘yip’ came from behind the bench and he knelt on it to look behind.

He couldn’t resist the grin that slowly spread onto his face. The two dogs were curled up together with the nearly empty bowl of water, the one he had set out for all of them. Mishka’s head popped up like a gopher and her sloppy dog grin said it all as she trotted towards him. Ein slowly fell over again in Mishka’s rush, but still stuck close to the darker dog.

“We should head out soon.” James muttered and scratched their ears. He looked up and saw the other dogs had all started to lay down around the area. “Yeah, definitely.”

He whistled for them and he was honestly surprised when they all trotted back to him. It was a little sad he had to drop them off; they were good, friendly dogs, and Ein seemed to adore Mishka. He briefly wondered if Aleks would want to set up a play date with him. For the dogs.

James shook that thought out of his head as quickly as it showed up.

Still James made what was probably a dumb decision to drop the dogs off backwards on the way back. That way Ein and Mishka could spend a little more time together, but it would also take fucking forever to get back to his car.

By the time he got back to Aleks’ house he was sweaty, thirsty, and ready for a nap. He walked up to the door and rang the bell. This time there was no waiting for Aleks to answer, just a small beep that let him know the blonde was on his way. James waited for him while Mishka and Ein settled down on the grass next to the walkway.

He didn’t wait long before Aleks opened the door with a bowl of water in one hand. He pulled a water bottle from the pocket of his hoodie and James raised an eyebrow at him. All he got was a sheepish grin in return.

“Looked like you needed it.” Aleks shrugged and handed over the bottle before he moved to put the bowl down with the dogs. It was just big enough that both their heads could get to it at the same time.

James thanked him and downed half the bottle in one go. The coolness felt great and when James finally brought himself to stop, he thought he caught Aleks staring at him. It was probably his imagination though, because Aleks looked back at the dogs. James decided that while Ein rested he could take a seat on the steps.

“So, you don’t look like someone who walks dogs?” Aleks piped up, and James glared at him. James knew he had a strong angry face; it went well with his loud voice, so it was a little bit of a surprise when he didn’t get a single reaction from the blonde outside a small, amused smile.

“I’m not. It’s a favor for a friend.” James said and grumbled as he sipped from the bottle.

“Let me guess; Brett?” Aleks asked and moved to sit next to him.

“How’d you fucking know?” James asked. He turned slightly so he could face Aleks.

“First of all, he’s the only one I told that the original dog walker couldn’t make it. Second, the dude tried the same fucking thing on me when I moved here. Except it was house sitting.” Aleks explained, counting his points with his fingers.

“That’s fucking dumb.” James laughed.

“That’s what I said, dawg.” Aleks said and chuckled along with him.

“What happened?” James asked.

“I brought Mishka along and she ate through their banisters.” Aleks replied, shrugging like it was nothing.

“Oh, shit.” James choked on the water. Aleks’s chuckle turned into a full blown laugh, his face contorting into that squinty-eyed look as he laughed at James.

“You said you moved here. Where are you from?” James tried to continue the conversation.

“East coast, then I lived in Colorado for a few years.” Aleks explained and pulled his own water bottle from his pocket. James hadn’t even realized there was more.

“What? No way?” James asked, shock and slight excitement leaking into his voice.

“Yes, way.” The blonde looked at him as though he was crazy.

“It’s just the same. I mean, PA, but still. I only moved here from Colorado a few weeks ago.” James explained.

“Wow, what a coincidence.” Aleks said, one eyebrow raised at him. Something in his gaze said he suspected something.

“Yeah, I guess.”

They fell silent not long after. James turned to look at the dogs. It was a comfortable silence that took over the whole front yard area. After a while, the dogs slowly started moving again, chasing each other around. James didn’t take long to finish the rest of the water and he started to relax. The nice quiet afternoon helped. Well, as quiet as Los Angeles could be.

“I should probably head out. Thanks for the water.” James muttered, even though he didn’t want to leave the comfort of Aleks’ front yard.

“Anytime; here, take my number. If you and Ein are ever in the neighborhood let me know.” Aleks pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it over. It already had his number on it. James raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to tease the blonde, but Aleks blushed deeply. Then he turned and whistled at Mishka and took her leash from James. He hadn’t even realized the leash was still in his hand. No wonder the dogs hadn’t gone far. Their finger brushed just slightly and a small spark shot through James’s arm. Aleks jumped back.

“Um, yeah, I will definitely do that. I should be back on Wednesday. For another shift.” James explained. It was like his body and mind were trying to be awkward on purpose, because he had to will his dumb fucking blush away. Again.

“Cool, dawg. I’ll see you then.” Aleks tried to chuckle and he looked adorable with his equally red face. “I’ll actually have her ready.”

James watched as Aleks walked backwards into the house, almost as though he didn’t want to leave either. Ein tried to follow Mishka into the house, her fat little body struggling slightly to get up the steps in the heat.

“Ein.” James called her and Aleks bent down to pat her head. Mishka came up to her and pawed at the corgi’s head.

“Maybe you should go first.” Aleks suggested and smiled up at him. James nodded and bent to pat Ein on her side. He started to walk away slowly and waited for her to catch up to him.

James looked down at her as soon as they were far enough away that he didn’t want to turn around. She looked up at him with sad eyes.

“Don’t worry asshole. You’ll see her again.”

~

That was how it went for the next two weeks. James would text Aleks before he left to get the dogs. After the second time he walked Mishka back last, it took way too fucking long to get back to his car and James decided to switch it up. Now he got Mishka first and got home faster.

After the walk back, he and Aleks would hang out when he dropped Mishka off. Aleks would already be at the door with a water bottle and a smile. There was one time when Aleks opened the door in a tank top and James thought he was going to have a heart attack from just the small glimpse of the tattoo peeking out of the v in his shirt and the full arms on display.

That was the day he decided to ask Aleks out for a date. Just set something simple up, like a walk to the park together with the dogs. He didn’t think Ein would forgive him if she didn’t see Mishka after this anyway. She almost drove him nuts over the weekend without her new best friend.

It was his last day as a dog walker for Brett, the original guy having called to let them know he was better. While it was sad he wouldn’t get to see most of the dogs again he was more worried about losing his chance with Aleks. That and he was fucking tired; who knew it would be so exhaustive to walk dogs for a few weeks?

James was nervous as he walked up the pathway; Ein trotted ahead with as much leeway as James would give her. Aleks was already at the door when he got there. Open and smiling, but his smile looked as if he was just as nervous as James felt. Mishka ran for them, and as they had learned she wouldn’t run off while Ein was there, Aleks let her go.

They started to roll around together as Aleks came to stand next to him.

“So I should expect you at two, right? I don’t have much going on today.” Aleks said and smiled at James. James blinked at him as his stupid heart skipped a beat.

“Yeah, yep. That’s the plan.” James returned the smile. They stood there for a minute as both dogs ran around their legs.

“Hey, Aleks?” James asked with a sudden rush of confidence. It was lost not even a second later when Aleks looked up at him with wide hopeful eyes.

“Yeah, man?”

“Nothing, actually. Sorry. I should probably head out. Don’t want to be off schedule, right?” James tried to laugh it off but on the inside he was hitting himself for losing that brief rush. He needed to get out of there so he could gain it back, maybe try again when he got back.

“Oh, yeah. I’ll see you when you get back?” It was almost a question. Like he knew he’d be seeing James again but something was missing. Aleks wrapped an arm around his stomach as his smiled wavered.

“Yep.” Short and simple. Now he needed to leave before his embarrassment killed him. He reached down to grab Mishka’s leash where it dragged on the ground. James started to walk away and regretted every step.

“Hey, James?” Aleks called out after them and James turned to look at him. It was almost a mock of what James had said a few moments ago.

“Fucking what?” James yelled back, knowing he wasn’t nearly as irritated as he sounded. Aleks took it in stride like he always did.

“Like I said, I’m not very busy. My meeting got cancelled today, so I’m free. Do you mind if I come along?” Aleks asked and James grinned at him. Happiness and relief filled him since he wasn’t the one to ask first. As much as he had wanted to, James knew his anxiety almost made him walk away forever.

“Better fucking hurry up then!”

Aleks ran to lock his door and grab a few things. He all but tripped in his hurry to get back to James. This time though when Aleks grabbed Mishka’s leash and their fingers brushed, neither jumped away.

[medicaldoctordana]

Untitled WIP

I know for a fact there’s tense issues in the first part. Please leave comments and message me if you’re up for helping me out with this idea! Right now I have it set in 1999 but I’m thinking of changing it to Post/Mid-revival. Let me know what you think.

Working title: ??

Chapter 1

A lone woman stands in a field of snow, a bitter wind biting at her cheeks with only the trees to accompany her.  Memories feeling like a dream she can't quite remember, the taste of strange metals stuck in her mouth. This is her new home, her new safe place. So why’d they drop her off in the dead of winter?

She was a quiet girl; the one who made comments under her breath. No one bothered to pay attention to her. She lived a life of silence, only speaking when she knew she would be heard. Someone had once said loneliness is a choice. “A choice of others,” she had thought. No one would ever notice if she went missing.

Never sitting in the front of class, nor the back: she preferred the middle, a perfect place to blend in. She grew tense and unfocused when people would take the seats next to her. Her freedom was limited; she loved the middle for its invisibility but hated it for the lack of escape. Neither mattered, she could escape within herself.

Drifting quietly through the halls, a soft “thank you” would fall on deaf ears for each door held for her.  The rain that would fall on her head, splash on her jacket, never bothered her. It’s nice to feel something, she thought, something other than the constant touch of solitude. It was like she was a ghost, haunting walls- no one believing in her.

There wasn’t fear when the lights came to get her. A strange sense of calm washed over her when the voices called. The feeling of acceptance overwhelmed her when they welcomed her with open arms. They aren't as evil as people make them out to be. They gave her a safe place, provided her with a family- a home. She would make sure she was seen in this new world.

“50 documented missing persons all at the same exact time Scully, you don’t find that strange?”

Scully crossed her arms and leaned her hip on the desk. “I’m not saying it’s not strange Mulder, I’m just questioning if it qualifies as an X-File. People go missing all the time. Every single missing persons case hardly warrants an FBI investigation.”

“Scully, you’re not hearing me. All 50 persons went missing at the exact same time on the same exact day.” Mulder clicked through his slides, showing the faces of missing people around the world. Mulder announced each slide as he flipped through the various profiles.

Andrew Vickers, an ethics professor from Honolulu, Hawaii- 7:31am. Farah Asfour, a chemist from Dubai- 9:31pm. Brooke White, boomerang kid from Rutland, Vermont 2:31pm. Miguel Castillo, an engineer from Mexico City- 12:31pm. Charlotte Berkman, a small business owner from Sydney, Australia- 3:31am. Emily Williams, a physics major from the University of British Columbia- 10:31am.

“Mulder, these all happened at different times and completely unrelated places.” Scully placed her salad back on the desk, knowing she wouldn’t get a mouthful in while Mulder was discussing this.

“Different places, yes, Scully. But if you convert all the times to be in one time zone-” He paused to see if she was catching on, she wasn’t. “It’s the exact same moment. You said yourself: time is a universal invariant. Plus, there’s not a single person over the age of 55. What’s the probability that out of 50 cases, none are younger than 18 and none are a day older than 55?”

“Very low, I’ll give you that, Mulder. But what evidence do you have that suggests these cases are connected? Isn’t it equally as plausible for these people to have gone missing for inconsequential reasons? Maybe the boomerang kid finally got a job and didn’t tell her parents. It is possible that the chemist got so deep into her work she hasn’t checked in with anyone for a few days? What if the college student ran off with her boyfriend, Mulder? You have no evidence here.”

“Ah but Scully, the plot thickens.” Mulder’s stupid grin widened as he set up the next part of his presentation. “March 13th, 1998: 68 unsolved missing persons cases. Exactly one year prior to the 50 cases I just showed you. It’s a seemingly random demographic, from different places all over the world, at the exact same moment. No two people who could have known one another. This isn't the first time this has happened and I suspect it won't be the last. We have to investigate these cases to prevent the next wave of missing persons.”

Scully couldn’t argue that her interest had been piqued. She walked closer to the projection screen, taking a closer look at the two sets of names. “So what’s your theory then?” Turning to look him squarely in the eyes, she said, “don't say aliens, Mulder.”

“Come on Scully, who else could have executed 50 plus abductions occurring at the exact same moment in time? It's the only plausible explanation!”

The sigh that rose from Scully's lungs came with such exasperation that it surprised even Mulder. “We can’t investigate the cases from other countries, Mulder. They’re outside FBI jurisdiction.”

Mulder put down his slide clicker and moved around the office to grab a manila file folder from his desk. “But we can investigate the cases inside the U.S. I’ve got two tickets to paradise. You in?”

“Where’s paradise, Mulder? I think you and I have two very different ideas of the notion.” Scully looked at him with her skeptical eyebrow raised high, wondering if she would be packing her bags for Hawaii or some Podunk town in the Midwest.

The two tickets were hit against his palm, “Let’s go see what Clark Mayhew’s family knows. And pack your winter coat Scully. We’re going to Montana.”

“What are we doing here?” “Let us go!” “What do you want with us?” “Who are you?”

The voices carried through the large, empty room they were in. Questions, accusations, and allegations echoed and bounced against the high walls and ceiling.

“We have plans for you,” The voice echoed back. “Plans we cannot execute unless you are willing. We must convince you of your destiny. Only then, will you be truly free.” Silence filled the room, as if the voice sent the people into a trance.

“We will listen,” came from a young girl, jumping feet first into her destiny. “We will believe.”

[coffee-and-2-am-writing]

Kiss and Tell

Sam was banned from using magic for several reasons. Many of them I got to personally experience, though none targeted me directly except for one. You see, Sam wanted to find a faster way to get home and being the impatient person he is Sam tried to create a spell to get us home after a long day. Needless to say, he messed up big time and yours truly ended up in an entirely different universe. It was difficult to tell at first. New York City was generically the same, the buildings just as high, the streets justs as busy, the city just as noisy etc. But when the last thing you’ve seen is your idiot of a wizard friend suddenly vanishing, you get the feeling that something is wrong. At first, I thought maybe he had teleported himself somewhere or turned himself invisible.

“Sam? Sam what did you do?” No answer proved the later question wasn’t true. So maybe texting Sam instead would get some answers. I didn’t have any service, for some reason my phone wouldn’t work at all. Obviously, this was worrying to me. It felt like that one scene in the first Captain America where Steve Rogers gets out into the modern world and looks confused as hell.

If someone had seen me during that time, that could probably confirm that I pretty much looked like that scene almost exactly.

There weren’t many places that Sam could’ve gone to. His work, Jakes’ place, the apartment building and Cherry’s were the main places that you could find most anyone in our friend group. I decided on heading to Cherry’s, even if Sam wasn’t there hopefully Lani would be and she could help me sort out whatever was going on. The streets seemed a bit different, stores weren’t where they were supposed to be or knock off stores like the Calina Klein store and others like that. It took several wrong turns and asking some confused people in the street to get to the familiar cafe. Yet even there something seemed off. From looking in through the windows I couldn’t spot the energetic red headed woman who usually was walking around talking to most anyone she could. I only could see a red headed man instead, greeting people from behind the counter with another guy standing next to him.

Never once had I ever seen either one of them before in all the years I’ve ever been to Cherry’s.

Nonetheless, I headed in on my mission to find Lani no matter who was at the counter.

“Hi, I’m Cherry what can I get you?” A weird noise of surprise came from my throat. This man was not Cherry, Cherry was a short lady who was for sure not this muscular man with a beard. Despite giving him a weird look, the man claiming to be Cherry continued to smile at him.

“Uh, sorry, I’m looking for my friend Lani Farrell. Is she in right now?”

“Do you mean Landon?” The boy next to “Cherry” asked. “It’s an often confusion, my sister calls me that sometimes in public to embarrass me.” I looked at him in confusion. Who the hell was Landon? Why did I care about what his sister called him? Where was Lani?

“No, no I mean Lani. I need to talk to her about the stupid thing that her boyfriend, Sam, has done. It’s urgent.” His face turned very serious instantly before suddenly he was coming around and pulling me to the side to chat. “What did Sam do? She’s done a lot of stupid things.”

“Is your Sam a wizard?”

“How did you-.”

“Do you live with her and your brother wait no sister?” Landon’s brows furrowed together, confusion clear on his face.

“Who the hell are you? How do you know that?” It was all starting to set in. Sam hadn’t set himself far away. No, he had sent me into a whole other universe. Another dimension where Lani was now a male and Sam, Mori and Cherry were female. Did that mean the rest of the gang also were other genders? Was there a female me? Now that was an intriguing question.

“Look, Landon, my Sam made a big mistake and I’m not too sure if you are going to believe me but I’m kinda hoping you will.My name is Jason Romanos.” I took a deep breath. “And I think Sam sent me into a different dimension.” For a long time he just stared at me, maybe thinking over what I had just told him. Although I had no idea, maybe he just thought I was pretty who knows. But he was staring at my face for a long time, it felt like someone was staring into my soul. I didn’t know much about kitsune but I wasn’t sure whether or not that was something they could do. Eventually I was let go and he took a step back.

“Okay, I kinda believe you. You’re gonna need to stay here though, try not to interact with too many people. After every episode of Doctor Who that I’ve seen I cannot have you messing anything up here. So just stay here and I’ll get Sam and we’ll send ya back okay?” I nodded slowly before he was off quickly out the door, shouting some excuse to “Cherry” as he left. And then I was stuck there, not that I wanted to leave anyhow. Cherry’s at least had coffee, and if you were close enough to Cherry sometimes the occasional beer. It seemed unlikely I would be getting myself beer in this universe so I got myself coffee instead and sat at the counter.

What if I didn’t get home? How would Naomi and Charlie survive without me? Or worse, I thought, how would I survive without Namoi and Charlie? I couldn’t stay in in this other universe, if all the genders here were swapped then my job belonged to some girl version of me. Hopefully a hot girl version of me. Grinning slightly to myself, I sipped my coffee idly trying to picture what girl me looked like.

“Hi.” Assuming the greeting was for me, I looked up to where the voice had come from. I was greeted by a smiling blonde leaning up against the counter next to me. My grin slowly turned into a sly smirk as I turned my body slightly to face her.

“Hi there.”

“Mind if I join you?” With a shake of my head, the blonde took the seat next to me. As a waitress came over and she ordered herself some coffee, I took the time to really look at this girl. If she could take my mind off of everything that was going on in the moment, it’d be perfect. Glancing at the door as well it didn’t look like Landon was going to be back any time soon, perhaps I could convince this blonde to go get drinks or something before I was whisked away back to the universe I belonged in.

“So, can I ask why a beautiful girl decided to grace my presence?” She nearly choked on her drink, her face turning a nice light pink color as she began to laugh lightly.

“You just, you looked kind of lonely if I’m being honest. And my friends kind of pushed me to come over and talk to you.” The blonde gestured behind her at two brunettes who were watching the two of them closely. They both waved slightly at me, one giving me a cheeky wink.

“How nice of them, what are their names?” I never asked her name, did I

“Oh um the one on the right is Steph and the one on the left is Jess.” Funny, their names sounded close to...oh. I had found Stefan and myself.Giving a slight wave back I looked over myself and damn, I was one hella hot girl. I didn’t know you could turn yourself on.

“Nice names, and I’m realizing now that I never got yours and you never got mine,” I laughed holding out my hand to her. “I’m Jason.”

“I’m Marcie. Marcie Jackson.” My smirk returned faster than Usain Bolt running in the olympics. Girl Marcus was hot, it was nice to see we were all attractive in this universe as well.

“Well Marcie, how would you like to go get a drink? And I don’t mean more coffee.” Her face turned a shade darker and I began to see the similarities between her and my Marcus back home. Both did not take compliments well.

“I’m not sure-”

“She’d love to, I’ll just drink the rest of your drink.” One of the girls from the table had joined us. She gave me a smile, or was it a slight smirk, that seemed eerily familiar.

“I’m Jess Romanos.” Ah, that’s was why. I shook her hand introducing myself, not bothering to give my last name. I was even hotter up close, it should’ve been impossible to be so attracted to yourself but god damn. “Anyways, I’m sure Marcie would love to get drinks with you Jason.” The look Marcie was giving her friend said otherwise. After a few harsh whispers between the two, Jess was taking Marcie’s cup of coffee and leaving with a wink sent towards us, it wasn’t clear to whom it was more towards. Knowing myself, it could’ve been to either of us.

Taking Marcie to get drinks was not my best plan I’ll admit it. Landon was going to get me help, it would’ve been responsible to stay put and wait for him to come back to go home. But when you’re stuck in a parallel universe with the very attractive girl version of your neighbor, you may want to take advantage of that. 

Especially if they start flirting with you.

I remembered a few things from that night after that point if I’m honest. We ended up having quite a few drinks at the bar and back at her place later on. One of the things I remember was being dragged into the girl’s bathroom as a panicked Marcie looked for somewhere to escape from seeing her ex in the place we ended up going to. When Marcus got flustered around me it usually ended up with him telling me to go fuck myself or almost punching me in the face. Flustered Marcie was just really shy and, well, flustered.

I decided I liked flustered Marcie a lot better than her counterpart pretty fast.

“I’m sorry he’s just-he cheated on me and I have no idea what he’s doing here he’s not even supposed to be in the city and last time I saw Eli was a bad night and I just-I’m really sorry I just dragged you into a bathroom.” She laughed nervously looking around her awkwardly. “I’m so sorry, this is probably all really weird right?”

“A little bit, but honestly it’s not the weirdest thing to happen to me today.” I chuckled, my gaze dropping for a moment to her lips as she bit her bottom one. 

“But uh that may be a story for another time.” Another time that would never come around, but Marcie didn’t know that. No, she was still biting her god damn lip. The blonde could’ve talked about anything, I just hummed occasionally something that sounded like I was listening as Marcie and was not just completely entranced by her lips instead. They were quite pink, whether from lipstick or something else.

“-like I said I’m really...sorry...Jason are you okay?” My eyes snapped back up to her confused blue eyes, attempting to act like I hadn’t just spent her whole little spiel staring at her mouth.

“Hm? I’ll be fine in a moment, give me a second I have to do something quickly.” Cupping her face, my lips were pressed against hers. In my opinion it was all very very smooth. She made a small noise of surprise before she was kissing me back. To most, making out in the girls bathroom is kind of strange. There are stranger places that you could make out with someone at, I’ve been to quite a few so trust me.

Kissing Marcie was both strange and enjoyable. Technically I was kissing Marcus, but this version of him actually seemed to like me and was a joy to be around. Not to mention, a great kisser. Her lips were soft, and it was easy to figure out that pinkness was not lipstick as none was on my own lips after the brief kiss. I had said it would be quick, but I found myself being disappointed when I pulled away from her. From where we stood, I could see and feel the smirk I held before making it’s way back. Marcie looked slightly in shock, her hands still resting on my chest where she had placed them in the midst of our kiss.

“Okay, I’m good now.” Her face flushed as she opened and shut her mouth like a fish. Perhaps that was moving too fast for her, after all it was technically Marcus and I could not remember the last time I had ever seen him on a date. Like, ever.

“Well now I’m not.” Marcie’s words were quiet and I never really got a chance to ask her what she meant as my lips were brought back to hers. When I had kissed her it had been careful and sort of slow. When Marcie kissed me? She had placed her hands on the back of my neck and pulled my face down to hers, kissing me quite roughly. It was something I would have never expected from someone who was supposed to be the shy and generally unconfident neighbor. Like I said, I only remember so much. I remember we somehow maneuvered so I had her pressed against the wall as we made out in the bathroom, and that eventually someone came in and kicked us out. While we had been there we had each had one or two drinks, so we weren’t drunk and I don’t believe the alcohol we consumed that night had anything to do with the attraction nor why I don’t remember all of it. The latter is more scientifical stuff and is boring so we won’t go down that road.

After getting kicked out I ended up walking Marcie home. The route was familiar, after all in another world the exact same path was void of the both of us instead being walked by perhaps the gang and some strangers. Looking down at Marcie, she had a permanent flush to her cheeks for the entire walk back to her place.

“Are you cold? Your face looks kinda red.” Her blush deepened, trying to hide it in the collar of her coat.

“I’m fine, just embarrassed. I’ve never gotten kicked out of a place for making out with someone in the bathroom before.”

“If I’m being honest, I don’t have the same feeling.” This recieved a look I was quite used to see from Marcus only now it was on a slightly shorter female with bouncy blonde curls. “What? I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve made out with people in bathrooms and have gotten kicked out. It’s fine, life goes on.” I told her, grinning slightly as she huffed, blowing a strand of hair from her face.

“You’re practically a stranger Jason and I just made out with you in a bathroom of some bar. That’s not normal for me whereas with what you just said it seems pretty normal for you.” I felt that sting there at the end, that still didn’t make me ashamed of what I had done in the past. It was the past, and my ways were my ways. I was a siren, it was my nature to be like that but this wasn’t something Marcie needed to hear.

“Getting out of your comfort zone and doing things you’ve never done before is a good coping method most of the time. What are you coping with?”

“Seeing my lying, cheating, bastard of an ex.” I nodded in understanding. Everyone had someone that just seeing them could lead them to make dumb decisions. I was curious if that had been the reasoning she held when she invited me in. Or if had been her reasoning for offering me another drink. Or if it had been the reason she had kissed me again while we were sat on the couch. Or if it had been the reason behind her leading me to her room. Or if it had been the reason for her eventually pushing me on the bed, kissing me more before proceeding to help me get her clothes off and my own off.

Perhaps I lied, maybe I do remember a lot of it.

But just from being in 7D helped learn a few things that I could use to my advantage in my proper world. 1. Marcie had a stash of an assortment of snacks in her room to keep hidden from Jess and Stephanie 2.They are really good snacks 3. A slightly tipsy Marcie is a very, very honest, giggly and kind of decently good at flirting Marcie 4. Marcie wasn’t just a great kisser. Oh no, she was good at a lot of other things.

And yes, her being good in bed is one of those things mentioned above. There had been a brief panic at one point of whether I had a condom or not but thanks to the very generous roommate, there was a condom on her nightstand along with a note telling us to have a good time along with a winky face. It was signed Jess so I wanted to thank myself for looking out for me.

The next morning, waking up was almost blissful. Keyword there: almost. I got out of Marcie’s bed carefully looking for my pants, because god knows where they had ended up when there was urgent knocking on the door before it was opening and there stood Landon.

A great surprise truly. Especially the extreme look of slight disgust and a little bit of disappointment. But mainly anger. Yeah there was a lot of anger in his eyes and in his voice as he dragged me out of the apartment practically by the ear.

Okay.

Maybe it was literally by the ear but that’s besides the point. I was scolded as if I was four years old by both Landon and Samantha, who also looked very nice in this universe but I kept that to myself as to not upset either of them any further. In the end, honing in on the energy my world Sam was using to get me back, Samantha managed to get me home.

Upon arrival, I socked Sam in the shoulder with a light threat to murder him if he ever did that to me again. Of course, I explained where I ended up and described what their counterparts looked like to the best of my ability, though there was a snap decision to wait until the right moment to share that I had made out with and hooked up with Marcie Jackson. Would I word it like that? 

Probably not.

Would I word in a way to make sure that when it was announced coffee was spit out like a spit take? Hell yeah.

Until then I had a certain apartment to break into to steal some food and certain blonde to bother.

[helloinvisiblemanassignment-blog]

chapters 5-8

That church sermon was crazy. The main characters rant at the beginning of the chapter was a pain to read, I could barely make sense of it. He just went on and on, I wanted to close the book and just give up. The way the author juxtaposed dr. Bledsoe and other founders was a perfect insight into how much Bledsoe probably sacrificed to get to where he is. He is the face of the black community within that school and what the students have to live up to if they want to feel successful. He’s able to touch white people casually without doing a good or service for them. Once church began it became even weirder as the preacher spoke about the founder and created a whole sermon based on the struggles of the founder. He treated the founder like a prophet from the bible, the same way one would talk about the story of Moses freeing his people from the Egyptians. The founder freed uneducated blacks from their “ignorance” and taught them to be better. It was a biblical storytelling with a Jesus like figure. The whole church congregation basically worshipped the founder more than they worshipped god. The founder was god himself within that school, and it all felt very cult-like. Black people were compared to sinners who get delivered out of “the land of ignorance.” The sermon did its job, the narrator felt guilty about his “mistakes.” His black ignorance let down the founder and he felt sufficiently chastised. The narrators talk with dr. Bledsoe was a hot mess. No matter how much the narrator tried to explain himself, Bledsoe ran him over and constantly accused him of lying. It was a classic gas-lighting moment to punish the main character. Tell someone they’re wrong enough times and they start to believe they’re wrong too. He starts to question his story and wonder if what he did was actually okay. Then Bledsoe gets verbally violent and calls him the N-word. This leaves the protagonist in shock as he is not used to a refined black person using such crude and hurtful language, especially not against their own race. The narrator tries in vain to stand up for himself threatening Bledsoe and it backfired. Although Bledsoe promised Norton that no harm would come to the main character, Bledsoe didn’t give a damn and needed to make an example out of the protagonist. So, the main character lashed out and threaten to tell people, to no avail. There’s a difference between the way things are and the way they’re supposed to be, on the surface its all the main character’s fault for the fiasco that ensued when he took Norton out for a drive, in reality he was innocent if not a little stupid. Bledsoe puts him down but then claims to like his spirit which is a total lie and cover up to soothe and make him complacent. He inevitably got kicked out of the school with a small piece of hope to return. They make an agreement that he must leave to work and save up money to come back in the fall. The scholarship is gone and so is his admittance, the letters are his lifeline to the school. He leaves at the crack of dawn the next day which shows his commitment to his dreams. Seven letters and a small suitcase are all his worldly possessions.

His trip starts off with an ironic twist as he is accompanied on the first leg of his trip with the man who ultimately ended his time at the school. How funny to be smacked in the face with a reminder of your demise. Too bad the veteran finally got something positive out of the situation, he finally got his transfer to another institution!!! The ride was filled with nonstop chatter till eventually the vet got off. Of course, the narrator felt lonely as soon as his last remaining link to the school was gone. New York is a different beast compared to the south, it’s more liberal and understanding (obviously). I feel like the protagonist tries wayyyyyy too hard to impress his invisible audience. There’s absolutely no one watching him try to blend in which makes him almost stick out more because of his unconscious desire to be unnoticed but also noticed. Like in an elegant type of way where you see a stranger and know absolutely nothing about them but you want to know more. The letters were dispersed and he did his best, no one can doubt that. All the secretaries were polite but distant which honestly just feels like standard secretary code of conduct. Things seem to be stuck in a stall till he finally gets a letter back from one of the men.

[coffee-and-2-am-writing]

Kiss and Tell by Katie McCombs

Sam was banned from using magic for several reasons. Many of them I got to personally experience, though none targeted me directly except for one. You see, Sam wanted to find a faster way to get home and being the impatient person he is Sam tried to create a spell to get us home after a long day. Needless to say, he messed up big time and yours truly ended up in an entirely different universe. It was difficult to tell at first. New York City was generically the same, the buildings just as high, the streets justs as busy, the city just as noisy etc. But when the last thing you’ve seen is your idiot of a wizard friend suddenly vanishing, you get the feeling that something is wrong. At first, I thought maybe he had teleported himself somewhere or turned himself invisible.

“Sam? Sam what did you do?” No answer proved the later question wasn’t true. So maybe texting Sam instead would get some answers. I didn’t have any service, for some reason my phone wouldn’t work at all. Obviously, this was worrying to me. It felt like that one scene in the first Captain America where Steve Rogers gets out into the modern world and looks confused as hell.

If someone had seen me during that time, that could probably confirm that I pretty much looked like that scene almost exactly.

There weren’t many places that Sam could’ve gone to. His work, Jakes’ place, the apartment building and Cherry’s were the main places that you could find most anyone in our friend group. I decided on heading to Cherry’s, even if Sam wasn’t there hopefully Lani would be and she could help me sort out whatever was going on. The streets seemed a bit different, stores weren’t where they were supposed to be or knock off stores like the Calina Klein store and others like that. It took several wrong turns and asking some confused people in the street to get to the familiar cafe. Yet even there something seemed off. From looking in through the windows I couldn’t spot the energetic red headed woman who usually was walking around talking to most anyone she could. I only could see a red headed man instead, greeting people from behind the counter with another guy standing next to him.

Never once had I ever seen either one of them before in all the years I’ve ever been to Cherry’s.

Nonetheless, I headed in on my mission to find Lani no matter who was at the counter.

“Hi, I’m Cherry what can I get you?” A weird noise of surprise came from my throat. This man was not Cherry, Cherry was a short lady who was for sure not this muscular man with a beard. Despite giving him a weird look, the man claiming to be Cherry continued to smile at him.

“Uh, sorry, I’m looking for my friend Lani Farrell. Is she in right now?”

“Do you mean Landon?” The boy next to “Cherry” asked. “It’s an often confusion, my sister calls me that sometimes in public to embarrass me.” I looked at him in confusion. Who the hell was Landon? Why did I care about what his sister called him? Where was Lani?

“No, no I mean Lani. I need to talk to her about the stupid thing that her boyfriend, Sam, has done. It’s urgent.” His face turned very serious instantly before suddenly he was coming around and pulling me to the side to chat. “What did Sam do? She’s done a lot of stupid things.”

“Is your Sam a wizard?”

“How did you-.”

“Do you live with her and your brother wait no sister?” Landon’s brows furrowed together, confusion clear on his face.

“Who the hell are you? How do you know that?” It was all starting to set in. Sam hadn’t set himself far away. No, he had sent me into a whole other universe.

Another dimension where Lani was now a male and Sam, Mori and Cherry were female. Did that mean the rest of the gang also were other genders? Was there a female me? Now that was an intriguing question.

“Look, Landon, my Sam made a big mistake and I’m not too sure if you are going to believe me but I’m kinda hoping you will.My name is Jason Romanos.” I took a deep breath. “And I think Sam sent me into a different dimension.” For a long time he just stared at me, maybe thinking over what I had just told him. Although I had no idea, maybe he just thought I was pretty who knows. But he was staring at my face for a long time, it felt like someone was staring into my soul. I didn’t know much about kitsune but I wasn’t sure whether or not that was something they could do. Eventually I was let go and he took a step back.

“Okay, I kinda believe you. You’re gonna need to stay here though, try not to interact with too many people. After every episode of Doctor Who that I’ve seen I cannot have you messing anything up here. So just stay here and I’ll get Sam and we’ll send ya back okay?” I nodded slowly before he was off quickly out the door, shouting some excuse to “Cherry” as he left. And then I was stuck there, not that I wanted to leave anyhow. Cherry’s at least had coffee, and if you were close enough to Cherry sometimes the occasional beer. It seemed unlikely I would be getting myself beer in this universe so I got myself coffee instead and sat at the counter.

What if I didn’t get home? How would Naomi and Charlie survive without me? Or worse, I thought, how would I survive without Namoi and Charlie? I couldn’t stay in in this other universe, if all the genders here were swapped then my job belonged to some girl version of me. Hopefully a hot girl version of me. Grinning slightly to myself, I sipped my coffee idly trying to picture what girl me looked like.

“Hi.” Assuming the greeting was for me, I looked up to where the voice had come from. I was greeted by a smiling blonde leaning up against the counter next to me. My grin slowly turned into a sly smirk as I turned my body slightly to face her.

“Hi there.”

“Mind if I join you?” With a shake of my head, the blonde took the seat next to me. As a waitress came over and she ordered herself some coffee, I took the time to really look at this girl. If she could take my mind off of everything that was going on in the moment, it’d be perfect. Glancing at the door as well it didn’t look like Landon was going to be back any time soon, perhaps I could convince this blonde to go get drinks or something before I was whisked away back to the universe I belonged in.

“So, can I ask why a beautiful girl decided to grace my presence?” She nearly choked on her drink, her face turning a nice light pink color as she began to laugh lightly.

“You just, you looked kind of lonely if I’m being honest. And my friends kind of pushed me to come over and talk to you.” The blonde gestured behind her at two brunettes who were watching the two of them closely. They both waved slightly at me, one giving me a cheeky wink.

“How nice of them, what are their names?” I never asked her name, did I

“Oh um the one on the right is Steph and the one on the left is Jess.” Funny, their names sounded close to...oh. I had found Stefan and myself.Giving a slight wave back I looked over myself and damn, I was one hella hot girl. I didn’t know you could turn yourself on.

“Nice names, and I’m realizing now that I never got yours and you never got mine,” I laughed holding out my hand to her. “I’m Jason.”

“I’m Marcie. Marcie Jackson.” My smirk returned faster than Usain Bolt running in the olympics. Girl Marcus was hot, it was nice to see we were all attractive in this universe as well.

“Well Marcie, how would you like to go get a drink? And I don’t mean more coffee.” Her face turned a shade darker and I began to see the similarities between her and my Marcus back home. Both did not take compliments well.

“I’m not sure-”

“She’d love to, I’ll just drink the rest of your drink.” One of the girls from the table had joined us. She gave me a smile, or was it a slight smirk, that seemed eerily familiar.

“I’m Jess Romanos.” Ah, that’s was why. I shook her hand introducing myself, not bothering to give my last name. I was even hotter up close, it should’ve been impossible to be so attracted to yourself but god damn. “Anyways, I’m sure Marcie would love to get drinks with you Jason.” The look Marcie was giving her friend said otherwise. After a few harsh whispers between the two, Jess was taking Marcie’s cup of coffee and leaving with a wink sent towards us, it wasn’t clear to whom it was more towards. Knowing myself, it could’ve been to either of us.

Taking Marcie to get drinks was not my best plan I’ll admit it. Landon was going to get me help, it would’ve been responsible to stay put and wait for him to come back to go home. But when you’re stuck in a parallel universe with the very attractive girl version of your neighbor, you may want to take advantage of that. Especially if they start flirting with you.

I remembered a few things from that night after that point if I’m honest. We ended up having quite a few drinks at the bar and back at her place later on. One of the things I remember was being dragged into the girl’s bathroom as a panicked Marcie looked for somewhere to escape from seeing her ex in the place we ended up going to. When Marcus got flustered around me it usually ended up with him telling me to go fuck myself or almost punching me in the face. Flustered Marcie was just really shy and, well, flustered.

I decided I liked flustered Marcie a lot better than her counterpart pretty fast.

“I’m sorry he’s just-he cheated on me and I have no idea what he’s doing here he’s not even supposed to be in the city and last time I saw Eli was a bad night and I just-I’m really sorry I just dragged you into a bathroom.” She laughed nervously looking around her awkwardly. “I’m so sorry, this is probably all really weird right?” “A little bit, but honestly it’s not the weirdest thing to happen to me today.” I chuckled, my gaze dropping for a moment to her lips as she bit her bottom one. “But uh that may be a story for another time.” Another time that would never come around, but Marcie didn’t know that. No, she was still biting her god damn lip. The blonde could’ve talked about anything, I just hummed occasionally something that sounded like I was listening as Marcie and was not just completely entranced by her lips instead. They were quite pink, whether from lipstick or something else.

“-like I said I’m really...sorry...Jason are you okay?” My eyes snapped back up to her confused blue eyes, attempting to act like I hadn’t just spent her whole little spiel staring at her mouth.

“Hm? I’ll be fine in a moment, give me a second I have to do something quickly.” Cupping her face, my lips were pressed against hers. In my opinion it was all very very smooth. She made a small noise of surprise before she was kissing me back. To most, making out in the girls bathroom is kind of strange. There are stranger places that you could make out with someone at, I’ve been to quite a few so trust me.

Kissing Marcie was both strange and enjoyable. Technically I was kissing Marcus, but this version of him actually seemed to like me and was a joy to be around. Not to mention, a great kisser. Her lips were soft, and it was easy to figure out that pinkness was not lipstick as none was on my own lips after the brief kiss. I had said it would be quick, but I found myself being disappointed when I pulled away from her. From where we stood, I could see and feel the smirk I held before making it’s way back. Marcie looked slightly in shock, her hands still resting on my chest where she had placed them in the midst of our kiss.

“Okay, I’m good now.” Her face flushed as she opened and shut her mouth like a fish. Perhaps that was moving too fast for her, after all it was technically Marcus and I could not remember the last time I had ever seen him on a date.

Like, ever.

“Well now I’m not.” Marcie’s words were quiet and I never really got a chance to ask her what she meant as my lips were brought back to hers. When I had kissed her it had been careful and sort of slow. When Marcie kissed me? She had placed her hands on the back of my neck and pulled my face down to hers, kissing me quite roughly. It was something I would have never expected from someone who was supposed to be the shy and generally unconfident neighbor.

Like I said, I only remember so much. I remember we somehow maneuvered so I had her pressed against the wall as we made out in the bathroom, and that eventually someone came in and kicked us out. While we had been there we had each had one or two drinks, so we weren’t drunk and I don’t believe the alcohol we consumed that night had anything to do with the attraction nor why I don’t remember all of it. The later is more scientifical stuff and is boring so we won’t go down that road.

After getting kicked out I ended up walking Marcie home. The route was familiar, after all in another world the exact same path was void of the both of us instead being walked by perhaps the gang and some strangers. Looking down at Marcie, she had a permanent flush to her cheeks for the entire walk back to her place.

“Are you cold? Your face looks kinda red.” Her blush deepened, trying to hide it in the collar of her coat.

“I’m fine, just embarrassed. I’ve never gotten kicked out of a place for making out with someone in the bathroom before.”

“If I’m being honest, I don’t have the same feeling.” This recieved a look I was quite used to see from Marcus only now it was on a slightly shorter female with bouncy blonde curls. “What? I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve made out with people in bathrooms and have gotten kicked out. It’s fine, life goes on.” I told her, grinning slightly as she huffed, blowing a strand of hair from her face.

“You’re practically a stranger Jason and I just made out with you in a bathroom of some bar. That’s not normal for me whereas with what you just said it seems pretty normal for you.” I felt that sting there at the end, that still didn’t make me ashamed of what I had done in the past. It was the past, and my ways were my ways. I was a siren, it was my nature to be like that but this wasn’t something Marcie needed to hear.

“Getting out of your comfort zone and doing things you’ve never done before is a good coping method most of the time. What are you coping with?”

“Seeing my lying, cheating, bastard of an ex.” I nodded in understanding. Everyone had someone that just seeing them could lead them to make dumb decisions. I was curious if that had been the reasoning she held when she invited me in. Or if had been her reasoning for offering me another drink. Or if it had been the reason she had kissed me again while we were sat on the couch. Or if it had been the reason behind her leading me to her room. Or if it had been the reason for her eventually pushing me on the bed, kissing me more before proceeding to help me get her clothes off and my own off.

Perhaps I lied, maybe I do remember a lot of it.

But just from being in 7B helped learn a few things that I could use to my advantage in my proper world.

Marcie had a stash of an assortment of snacks in her room to keep hidden from Jess and Stephanie

They are really good snacks

A slightly tipsy Marcie is a very, very honest, giggly and kind of decently good at flirting Marcie

Marcie wasn’t just a great kisser. Oh no, she was good at a lot of other things.

And yes, her being good in bed is one of those things mentioned above. There had been a brief panic at one point of whether I had a condom or not but thanks to the very generous roommate, there was a condom on her nightstand along with a note telling us to have a good time along with a winky face. It was signed Jess so I wanted to thank myself for looking out for me.

The next morning, waking up was almost blissful. Keyword there: almost. I got out of Marcie’s bed carefully looking for my pants, because god knows where they had ended up when there was urgent knocking on the door before it was opening and there stood Landon.

A great surprise truly. Especially the extreme look of slight disgust and a little bit of disappointment. But mainly anger. Yeah there was a lot of anger in his eyes and in his voice as he dragged me out of the apartment practically by the ear.

Okay.

Maybe it was literally by the ear but that’s besides the point. I was scolded as if I was four years old by both Landon and Samantha, who also looked very nice in this universe but I kept that to myself as to not upset either of them any further. In the end, honing in on the energy my world Sam was using to get me back, Samantha managed to get me home.

Upon arrival, I socked Sam in the shoulder with a light threat to murder him if he ever did that to me again. Of course, I explained where I ended up and described what their counterparts looked like to the best of my ability, though there was a snap decision to wait until the right moment to share that I had made out with and hooked up with Marcie Jackson. Would I word it like that? Probably not.

Would I word in a way to make sure that when it was announced coffee was spit out like a spit take? Hell yeah.

Until then I had a certain apartment to break into to steal some food and certain blonde to bother.