#fair but lookit!! she's lovely

[rebouks]

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Transcript:

Rhys: I wanna do this kinda shit full time after uni so it’s good practice, y’know? Tommy: It ain’t work yet though, don’t get carried away n’ forget to have fun. Rhys: This is fun.

Ivan: Oscar ain’t no employer, do whatever y’want; take a million n’ get a portfolio goin’, or sit n’ eat cake all day. Oscar: [laughs] As long as we get one or two photos we can stick up; it doesn’t really matter-.. just save some cake for me. Rhys: I’m more of a savoury kinda guy, don’t worry.

Bruno: Aren’t you nervous? Oscar: [scoffs] No way. Ivan: I reckon I would be.

Oscar: Pfft, of all the shit we’ve been through recently, getting married is like.. the least worrisome thing ever. Ivan: Holy shit! I ain’t thought about it like that. Oscar: Right?! This is a piece of piss in comparison.

Ivan: [laughs] Christ-.. we fuckin’ did it, bud! Oscar: Fuck yeah, we did! Ivan: And t’think I almost left…

Oscar: I’m glad you didn’t. Ivan: Ahh, I love y’too much. Bruno: Maybe you two should get married.

Ivan: Awh, but then I couldn’t marry you! Oscar: Are you jealous? Do you want a bear hug too? Bruno: [chuckles] Save it for later, I think everyone’s ready.

…

Ella: I swear, if anything goes missing… Norma: Don’t be daft. Ella: Well, you were investigating these lot not long ago.

Norma: [snorts] You never listen, it wasn’t-.. I suppose it’s complicated, but they’re fine! Ella: Hm. Norma: Come on! The grass is dry, the pond is a little less stinky, they cleaned the barn up for us-.. it’s cute.

[DISTANT HOLLERING] Norma: We ought to tell them to leave it all up, renew our vows. Ella: Pfft.. if we’re doing that, I want to be somewhere hot with a cocktail in my hand.

Norma: [laughs] Deal. Ivan: Dude! You good t’go?! Norma: Are you ready, Bernie?

Bernard: Always! Ella: Don’t forget what to say this time. Bernard: Good lord, that was over twenty years ago-.. give me a break!

[mama-qwerty]

WIP Wednesday

Lookit! I remembered two weeks in a row! WOOOO

Today's WIP bit is from the unintentional second chapter of the kaiju fic. I started it yesterday and am about 2400 words in. I have no idea if I'll finish it, but I've been having some other ideas pop into my head for it, so maybe it'll turn into (yet another) multi-chapter fic?

This one is from Knux's pov.

~~~~~

Six months.

It’d been six months since Knuckles returned to his planet. Since those bastard versions of his friends yanked the cracked chaos emerald from his eyes and tossed him through a portal back to his original world. The pain had been excruciating, both from the removal, and the way his body shrank and reverted to a mortal form.

Not his original form. No. He’d been in the kaiju form too long for that.

But a mortal form. One that didn’t heal almost instantly from injuries. One that didn’t mutate and reshape itself to be even more deadly, more efficient at killing. At destroying.

One that wasn’t as painful, every second of every day.

There was still pain. There would always be pain. He was sure of that. His joints ached. His back. His head. But it wasn’t as sharp or jagged as when he was a monster.

He was blind now. The first shard had done that when he’d transformed the first time. When a shard took control, it usually migrated to the eye socket, essentially taking a front row seat to piloting the body. He’d had a kind of funhouse mirror vision when it had been there. Everything looked crooked and stretched, tilted and angular. It hurt his head, and only fed the anger inside. The rage.

Of course, the twisted version of Amy that had apparently been shrunken and hidden in his ear, whispering doubts and feeding his insecurities didn’t help matters. It was her voice, disguised as his own, that made him question himself in the weeks leading up to that fateful day. That urged him on in the kaiju form, commanding him to kill. To destroy.

She’d spurred his rage, taking delight as he destroyed the city he so loved. Every town and village he’d come across. Everything in his path had been rendered to splinters. To ash. To death.

Once she’d shown herself, he’d tried to end her, but she’d implanted something in his head that delivered painful shocks if he disobeyed. So he’d gone with her as she led him through a portal, to a twisted and insane version of Tails.

And together, they’d caused the same trail of death and destruction on other worlds. Other universes? He wasn’t entirely sure of the details. But he saw other versions of Sonic. Of Tails. Amy.

Himself.

It was strange and frightening, and he wanted to stop, didn’t want to hurt anyone, but the shards implanted in his eyes and the punishing shocks he received if he faltered made him move. Made him kill.

But after a while, he didn’t know how long, the rage inside him faded. Even the shocks and pain didn’t make him act. The false Tails had been angry with him, but then his lips curled into the twisted smile, before he pulled a device from his big box of horrible inventions.

“Aw, is the big boy too tired?” he’d said, his high-pitched voice cracking in that demented laugh he always had. “Tut, tut. Well then, if that’s the case, I guess I’ll just take what’s mine and let you go back to live out your pathetic little life. Doesn’t that sound fair?”

The Amy behind him had tittered. Even to Knuckles’ monstrous ears, she sounded insane.

Then there’d been pain. Literal, blinding pain. The twisted fox had pulled the two chaos emerald pieces from Knuckles’ eyes, resulting in a deafening, pain-filled roar before he’d gone to his knees. His body changed, shrinking and shriveling and tightening as the chaos energy within him faded.

And then they’d chucked him through a portal. He’d landed on the rubble remains of the city he had wanted so badly to protect.

It had been so quiet. So damned quiet.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d laid there. Shocked, trembling, and adjusting to having actual thoughts again. Ones that weren’t overshadowed by fear and rage and pain.

Once he’d realized where he was—the smell was the same—he’d picked himself up and contemplated his next move. He was home, but . . . everyone and everything he’d ever cared about, ever knew, was gone. What did he do now?

Scarlett.

Was she still alive? Would she even want to see him if she was? He’d done horrible things. Killed so many. What would she think of him?

Those questions had stalled him. But after a moment he’d shaken his head. He’d face those questions later. When . . . if he found her.

With a grunt, he’d turned and picked a direction to start walking.

His search began.

It had been hard. Without his eyes, he had to rely on his other senses. They’d stepped up, for the most part. His hearing was better. His sense of smell stronger. He could sense objects nearby, and he’d developed a kind of sense for other shard possessed creatures. Could sense the shards themselves, almost hear them. As if they called out to him.

He resisted that call. Now that he was himself again, he was absolutely not going to let the lure of some sliver of chaos emerald take control of him again.

He walked. He searched. He fought other shard possessed kaiju. Days passed. Weeks. Months. He wasn’t sure how many. It was hard to keep track.

And then, he’d smelled it. Smelled her.

They’d grown up together, as close as siblings, so her scent was as familiar as his own. Just a brief whiff of it, caught on the wind. His heart had given a hard thump in his chest, and he’d picked up the pace.

A dead kaiju. Recent, by the smell. And her scent was all over. A sharper edge to it—blood. He leaned down and sniffed the thing’s claws, tasting her scent on his tongue as he did so. It had injured her. Anger flared within him, and he resisted the urge to tear this corpse apart, a delayed retribution for it daring to hurt her.

Instead, he turned to follow the stronger scent of her.

Stronger. It was even stronger here. But, higher? Sounds from above him and he stepped back, waiting to catch more information before making a move. To be sure.

A thud and a pained grunt. A relieved sigh. Her scent reached him, stronger than ever.

It was her.

He let out soft grunt, and sensed her freeze.

Smelled her fear.

He didn’t move, trying to figure out what he should do. Could he speak, would his vocal cords even work? He wasn’t sure.

Before he could try, a screech from above. Another kaiju, a larger one, with two shards.

A fight. They’d moved too quickly for him to get involved, his lack of sight preventing him from knowing how to attack. He didn’t want to hurt Scarlett by accident.

But then she’d been down. Hurt. Helpless. And he’d acted.

That had been two months ago. Since then they’d been inseparable once more. Roaming the land, seeking food and shelter and any sign of anything good left.

They hadn’t found much.

[wonderlandleighleigh]

anything with lily!!!

At four, Lily looks quite a lot like Esther did, though Esther has their mother's blue eyes, while Lily's are her father's hazel, and one of Lenny's very favorite things is to watch the kids together.

It'd be easy, with the big age gap between Lily and her siblings, for the older kids to ignore her, but they never, ever do. Sure, Ethan (15 and making noises about dating), Kitty (14 and starting to get way too fucking smart) and Esther (eleven, and as outspoken as ever), have their their own things going. Baseball practice and the school paper and orchestra rehearsals, but when they're home, Lily is their favorite person.

On Sunday nights, they watch the Wonderful World of Disney together, and takeout, Ethan old enough to be in charge when Midge and Lenny have work. After dinner, they all sprawl out with their homework on the living room floor and play music while they work, and Lily plays with her dolls, pulling her siblings into the narrative every so often.

They've loosened up at family dinners, too, though Joel, Moishe and Abe are still not in favor of having all the kids sit with the grown-ups, but Lenny loves it. Especially because Lan is there, too, and the kids are all goofy and weird and snappy and clever.

"We should get a boat," Lan tells all of them. "Lenny and Ethan fishes and we can swim!"

"You're not swimming in the Hudson," Abe tells the seven-year-old. "We don't know what's in the Hudson."

"Probably a lot of people your grandparents didn't like very much," Ethan jokes.

Mei laughs, startled, while Joel narrows his eyes at his oldest son.

"You gotta?" he asks.

"It was a good joke," Ethan argues.

Joel rolls his eyes and turns to Midge. "You got anything to say to your son?"

"Oh, so when he makes wildly inappropriate jokes about mafia hits, it's my fault?" Midge asks.

Joel nods. "Yes."

Midge nods back. "Actually, that's fair. Ethan. Not at the dinner table. Save it for dessert."

"Sure, Ma."

"Real nice," Joel grumbles.

Lily giggles, though everyone knows she's too young to understand exactly what she's laughing at.

"Oh, is something funny?" Noah asks his little niece, reaching out to tickle her. "I'll give you something funny."

Lily giggles and squirms, and Astrid laughs, while Chaim (eight and too smart) reaches out to help with the tickling.

"Not too much, she'll throw up," Rose warns, looking mildly amused at the spectacle.

"Yes, let's not end the night with vomit," Midge agrees.

"This is why the children should eat in the kitchen," Abe grumbles.

"The kitchen in our apartment isn't big enough for all six kids to eat comfortably without one of them sitting on the counter," Lenny tells him. "And this is too much fun."

"Sure. Fun," Joel grumbles.

"Cheer up, Joely," Shirley tells her son, patting his hand. "These dinners aren't half as horrible as they were when you and Midge first separated."

"And nothing ever will be," Moishe agrees. "And it's...not so bad having all the kids around. God knows Esther holds her when in a debate."

Esther smiles proudly, and Lenny knows that she'll make a hell of a lawyer one of these days. He nudges her and grins with pride. "Lookit you, impressing the hardasses at the table."

Esther giggles and shoves at his face as he ruffles her hair.

Kitty beams happily and rests her head on Midge's shoulder. "I like eating with everybody. It feels nice."

Midge strokes her hair away from her face and kisses her temple. "Well I like having you all around the table."

"Where's Auntie Susie?" Lily asks, now perched on her uncle's knee and eating some of the leftover rice on his plate.

"Auntie Susie had to go to one of her client's gigs tonight," Midge explains. "But she said to eat an extra apple tart for her for dessert."

Lily's eyes go wide with excitement. "Two apple tarts?"

"Oh, she'll definitely throw up from two," Astrid chimes in.

"We'll split a second one, kiddo," Noah promises. "And then we'll look at the big plant book Papa Abe got you for Hanukkah."

"Flower book!" Lily squeaks happily.

"Midge, you gave birth to a nerd," Joel teases.

"The best nerd," Midge beams, glancing at Lenny.

He grins back and steals one of Esther's carrots, getting him whacked in the arm, making him and the rest of the able laugh.

[thefactsofthematter]

43 for sprace but race said that

43: “YOU DID WHAT?”

y’all ready for some fluff??? i’m absolutely loving this little au and i hope you do too!! no content warnings here, just pure sweetness and stupidity 🤩

-

It's a Saturday afternoon in the middle of July, it's gorgeous outside, and Racetrack Higgins is stuck in his bedroom, doing homework.

He's not sure how long he's been staring at the same page of his textbook, his eyes unfocused and not really reading anything anymore, when he hears the door of the apartment swing open. His roommates went out a couple of hours ago to go enjoy the beautiful day, like any other sane people who opted not to take an unbearably hard summer course would do— they must finally be back now.

"Hi Race!"

There's really no need for Spot to shout, as their place truly isn't that big, but the man seems to only have two volume settings— silent and stoic, or obnoxiously loud. It's kind of hilarious.

"Hi Spot!" Race calls right back, silently thanking all that's holy for the interruption and excuse to leave his desk for a bit. He stands up to head out to the living room, and his whole back cracks. He's clearly been sitting too long. "What's up, dude!?"

"You gotta come see this, bro!" Spot continues. "Me and Olivia got matching tattoos!"

Immediately, Race's brow furrows in some mixture of amusement and confusion.

"Wait, you did what?"

When he turns the corner, there stand his two roommates— or rather, one sits happily in a baby carrier, strapped to the chest of the other, because she's only ten months old and not very good at standing yet. They're a very cool pair, in their matching sunglasses and tank tops, and they're both grinning like absolute devils. It's adorable.

"Lookit," Spot beams, holding up Olivia’s chubby little arm to show the temporary tattoo of a sparkly purple unicorn that's been applied to her bicep. He's got the very same one shimmering on his cheek, as his face is one of the only parts of his body not covered in real tattoos. "We're twinning!"

Race can't help but laugh.

"You are. Where'd you get those?"

"There was this street fair thing going on a few blocks down, some booth was giving away all these little stickers and tattoos and stuff," Spot replies, toeing his shoes off and dropping his diaper bag by the door. He pulls something from his back pocket. "We got you one too— Livy didn't want you to feel left out." He passes the square of paper into Olivia’s tiny fist. "Here, give it to Racer, baby."

Race walks over to grab it from her, and she giggles and blows a raspberry at him.

"What did your daddy do to you, Liv?" he teases, crouching down to coo at her. "Pretty soon you're gonna be all inked up, just like him!"

She babbles and reaches out for him.

"Can you hang out with her for a minute?" Spot asks, carefully unclipping the carrier to take her out. "I need to give her a bottle and put her down for a nap, but I gotta piss first."

"Of course. I'm always down to hang out with this little princess." Race takes the baby, making all kinds of silly faces at her to distract her as Spot walks away. He bounces her gently in his arms and wanders over to the kitchen. "Where should I put my tattoo? What do you think, Olive?"

He opens the fridge to grab a pre-mixed bottle— Spot usually keeps a few on hand— and gives it a good shake. Olivia has gotten picky lately and only likes cold formula, rather than warmed or room-temperature, so he passes it straight to her and she's happy to go to town on it.

"Man, you were hungry," he chuckles. "Look at you go. You're drinking like your daddy doing a keg stand— did you know he was a party animal? Believe it or not, your dad used to be cool."

Spot is still cool, Race supposes, but it's fun to pick on him; he obviously doesn't go out as much as he used to, even though he's finally legal now, because he's a little busy looking after a tiny human most of the time. In fact, it's incredibly cool that Spot balances part-time school, part-time work, and full-time single fatherhood so gracefully at only twenty-one, because Race is rather sure he'd have some kind of stress-induced mental breakdown every other week if he were in Spot's shoes.

Actually, Spot is kind of the coolest person alive, if you really think about it.

And Race does think about it... a lot.

Not in a weird way, because he's been best friends with Spot for over three years, ever since they were randomly assigned roommates in their freshman dorm, and he's also seventy percent sure Spot is straight— but, like, he probably admires the guy a little more than would be considered normal for your best pal.

"Now, about this tattoo, huh?" He changes the topic from his own overthinking, keeping Olivia cradled in one arm as he rummages around for some paper towel with his free hand. "There's no chance I'm putting it on my face. What if I match with you and put it on my arm?"

Race doesn't have nearly as many tattoos as Spot, just a few doodles all around his arms and chest, and he's currently shirtless because it's hot as balls in his bedroom, so he could really stick the sparkly unicorn practically anywhere. He wets the paper towel in the sink and uses it to press the little square of paper to the bicep of the arm that he's holding Olivia with.

It's just as he's peeling the paper off to reveal his new ink that Spot emerges from his bathroom break.

"Aren't you two just the cutest?"

Race grins.

"I know, I'm pretty adorable. I guess she's okay too."

Spot rolls his eyes. He looks totally exhausted but incredibly content, which has basically been his default ever since Olivia came into the picture. He never complains about his situation, though it surely isn't easy— he just keeps trucking along and doing his best, rarely even asking for help.

"Dumbass," he laughs. "Thanks for feeding her, though. She was getting super fussy while we were out— I think the heat was a little much."

"I'll go put her down when she's done eating," Race offers. "You look beat. Just chill for a bit, I've got her."

Spot leans against the counter, rubs his hands over his face, and lets out a deep, tired sigh. He clearly needed this little break.

"Fuck. Thank you. You're amazing."

Race rocks Olivia gently— she's settled right down, looking very comfy and sleepy. He truly didn't think he was good with kids until this little angel came along; he's apparently got some kind of magic touch, because she's always perfectly calm for him.

"No problem, bro. I'm always happy to help."

Spot sets to work on making himself something to eat, so Race just paces around until it looks like Olivia’s about done with the bottle, her eyes starting to fall shut.

"Alrighty. Time for a nap, little dude." He sets the bottle in the sink and heads off to Spot's bedroom to lay her in her cot. He carefully wiggles her into her sleep sack, pops a pacifier in her mouth, switches on the white noise speaker, and draws the curtains. "Have a good sleep, Livy. I love you."

He gently shuts the door behind him— he knows she sleeps like a rock, but he still gets paranoid about being too loud— and when he steps back into the living room, Spot is unabashedly staring at him from where he’s settled himself on the couch.

"Dude," Spot says, after a second, "I think I might be in love with you."

Race stops short. His heart skips a beat.

"What?" He shakes his head. "I mean... awesome. Sick. That's great. But, like... what?"

Spot laughs a little to himself, with that stupid sparkly unicorn still shimmering on his cheek.

"I can’t believe I just realized it. You’re just, like, the best person ever— you’re hot, and you’re smart, and you take such good care of Liv, and I’m so into you… is that weird?”

Race blinks.

“No, not that weird.” He sits down next to Spot on the couch. “I don’t think so, at least. It’s chill.”

“I just told you I’m in love with you,” Spot laughs, “and all you can say is it’s chill? What does that even mean?”

Now, for someone who talks an awful lot, Race is terrible with words. He’s got absolutely no clue what to say, so he simply pulls Spot in for a kiss.

“Does that answer your question?” he asks, after a few seconds.

Spot rolls his eyes.

“You are so fucking stupid.”

But he kisses Race again, so he can’t possibly be that annoyed.

Race smiles into it— everything about Spot’s kiss is perfect, and he can’t help but think that this is exactly how their weird little family was meant to be.

[arcplaysgames]

Ann wanted to go to Inokashira Park, and my GOD ITS PRETTY HERE! GOSH IT'S SO PRETTY! You just take a train and suddenly you're in like a beautiful park with a lake?

AND THEY GOT SWAN BOATS? gtfo oh my god

anyway, Ann wants to strengthen her heart and her first tactic is to ask Reverie to say mean stuff to her and she'll brace herself and take it.

I'm bad at saying mean shit to Persona characters' faces, that what I have this blog for, so I wuss out and Ann is like "Hm this is maybe not working." Yeah no kidding.

okay god i put it off but mishima keeps texting me about the fucking maidwatch thing

I've never met guys less cool than you two and I knew Yosuke Hanamura in a previous life.

Also wow that. Is a small apartment. New Yorkers would look at that and balk.

Ryuji you are the Worst of the bros. You shouldn't even get to be called a bro, you're so bad at being a bro.

Mishima and Ryuji abandon Reverie, an act of betrayal I will never forget and never forgive. They go hide on the balcony.

oh my god they voice that one specific line, where is the eject button

I'm trying to save Reverie with all I have, but like the protagonist of any decent tragedy, he was doomed from the start.

oh my god i'm gonna lie down on the floor and expire

ma'am, i am so sorry, also your outfit is so cute, but i am SO sorry, i can get you the names and addresses of the boys who set this up if you want to strangle them

anyway. yep. okay. she's just working this part time for some more money and I'm super sympathetic to that. also, someone clearly set her up, as the flyer for her maid service was stuffed in Ryuji's locker.

I missed the screencaps, but one of the other teachers is trying to expose Kawakami's side gig, so I covered for her. I figure I owe her that much. SIGH.

also i dunno what the deal is with this girl but she's p much stalking Reverie????? idk

she's also, like...... in the entrance hall hiding behind a magazine as she peeps on ppl. what is her deal. i don't wanna be mean but you like in Tokyo, get a hobby, girl.

dawww lookit morgana and reverie watching TV

Reverie, your posture is terrible, sit back dammit

Ann asks Reverie for exercise tips and I cackled. YANNO, CATS ARE HEAVY.

ANN IS THE BEST GIRL. Thank you, Ann. I know that the game is probably wanting me to think Ann is weird, but I am so fucking relieved honestly.

In a much worse Confidant link, Mishima is using the Phansite to get a girlfriend, and I want to sink into the floor. I'm dying.

WHY A DOUBLE DATE?! WHY NOT JUST GO YOURSELF? YOU SAID YOU HAD INTEL ON ANOTHER JOB. /screams into hands

oh but don't worry, the girls apparently scoped out Mishima and Reverie from afar and decided "nope" and got back on the train Which, fair.

Mishima, why are you fighting for the Worst Boy spot so ardently, it doesn't have to be this way.

ugh bad screencap but: Reverie doesn't wear his glasses all the time? BAFFLING to me. he must have better vision than me, i would kill myself on the stairs without my glasses

I'm so glad my team can come together in making fun of Mishima. This is a bonding exercise.

Man I'd love to bring Yusuke here. Where is Yusuke? The only thing carrying me through some of the more dismal scenes is I wanna know what Arcana Yusuke is. I have no idea. I feel like Fortune would work for him pretty well,

Morgana, if I didn't get to carry a cat around in a bag in this game, I literally don't know what I would do with myself. Thank you for being here and being the best character. I love you, Morgana. /mwah

[gardenofshadcws]

Dracula Daily Day 82

Dr. Seward’s Diary

It’s always nice when Quincey shows up

“There has been so much trouble around my house of late that I could do without anymore” That is the biggest understatement ever made

Van Helsing throwing shade at Jack for being a skeptic gives me life

You know, VH, if you would just be straight with people it’d be a lot easier to get their permission

This is such a fascinating condemnation of Victorian repression.  Never question why you’re doing something, just do as you’re told and focus on maintaining your social status as a gentleman and a Christian and nothing else matters!

Aaaand opening your dead girlfriend’s coffin seems pretty sacreligious to me but what do I know?

Awww Arthur sweet bean he got his hopes up so high :( 

Of all the times for Van Helsing to be straightforward it’s “May I cut her head off?”

Arthur is a real one.  It’s so sweet how protective he is of Lucy, even if he’s misguided.

Time for sneaky sneaks!

GASP she’s gone again!  You know, sometimes you wake up and want to go for a little walk

Quincey in particular is taking all this VERY well

“Dark-haired woman?”  I thought Lucy was blonde?  Or did turning into a vampire give her a Goth dye job?  Which, you know.  Fair.  Gotta keep the aesthetic.

It’s so sad to see everything we loved about Lucy turned monstrous, as much for us as it is for the suitor squad

“Come, my husband, come” shiver

Quincey and Jack catching Arthur as he collapses is too pure.  We love the polycule

Hey Van Helsing you want to stop leaving small children abandoned on the side of the road?

Dr. Seward’s Diary

They don’t even need to communicate anymore, they’re all on the same wavelength.  You love to see it.

Not sure I love the idea of Lucy being monstrous because she’s not “pure”.  Stoker conflating those things and demonizing desire is kinda icky

Vampire Arthur would be an interesting AU

It is now Not Fucking Around O’Clock

Goodbye Lucy :(  

The descriptions of Vamp!Lucy dying again are deliciously gruesome and absolutely chilling

And to end it with Lucy sleeping there like nothing happened is gut-wrenching.  Goodbye, sweet girl.  Now you can finally rest in peace.

Bless you, Stoker, for letting Arthur cry and not being all macho about it.  We love when men are allowed to have feelings

Surely The Horrors are over now!  Look, the sun is shining and birds are singing!

Oh right Dracula still exists

And Mina!  Mina’s coming!  The squad is together again!

Mina Harker’s Journal

It’s okay Mina he’s just reminiscing

It’s even more impressive that Jack can recall all these conversations word for word as recordings.  I wonder if he does voices for all his friends

Awwww he’s embarrassed!  What a dork.

RIP Jack Seward you would have loved podcasts and Voice Memos.  You can search through those

Look at these two babies getting to know each other by reading each others diaries I love them

Dr. Seward’s Diary

Awww, Mina.  Lookit her being all empathetic

“We need have no secrets amongst us” Why did no one say that like a month ago?

Mina Harker’s Journal

Holy crap this is a long day

“Fortunately I am not of a fainting disposition” Bless you Bram Stoker for not falling into that Victorian trop

“The world seems full of good men - even if there are monsters in it” is SUCH A GOOD QUOTE

Jonathan Harker’s Journal

IT’S MY GOOD FRIEND JONATHAN!!!

God Dracula really did think of everything.  Eugh.

[simcatcher-ts2]

Legacy Challenge - 1

it all starts here.

Sheva Lemonlion, founder and broke, has just enough money left to build the 3first foundations of her future home.

3§ left, and she doesn’t even have elementary plumbing and bedding.

before she’s too exhausted, she digs as many treasures as she may

and she’s lucky!

with the money she earns, she gets toilets and a shower. Hm, still no bed though

she uses the remaining § to get pizza! she’s still quite okay

she enjoys a minute, and then, back at it!

inevitably, she digs a little too deep....

Also forgot to mention (and failed to track it down), but she engaged as a cop!

she can eat again, a bit, but then she still does not have a bed... with the last cents she earned from the treasure digging she could get a sofa...

the poor thing tries to make it through the night before starting her job, but she doesn’t gain any sleep from napping here sporadically... :(

ah! cash in! with that money our next step’s a bed.

there it is! finally she can sleep :) and also make some extra §§ because lookit those bare walls...

pizza again

her bestie (name: forgotten) came say hi!

Oh no! she loses a body point! she had to jump rope a fair share to get there T-T

the house is now closed (thanks plumbob bedore winter arrives) annnnnd she know how to warm herself thank u ;)))

so we pay our bills right, vade retro repoman

and then we gain that body point again ;)

in love with these anims <3

upgrade <3

so the house (if we can call it that) too gets an upgrade

i take it you’re not interested

cant believe i shared my pizza with your ungrateful*ss :@!

spending that money real good

Oh hey, hi!

when the stars align <3

poor bby’s not doing well </3

so far, she’s still not preggo so she tries and gets hit full force with the modesty of her situation

you’ll get there, mama!

what a way to say hi uh!

now now how do you like that, eh? if i remember well you REJECTED her some time ago

lucky you her wants are all about you

uh oh have i spoken too fast?? she is preggers

annnnnd that’s our house now! it kinda looks like a house!

and a good place to split it!

[bittyfromquotev]

Madie Aizawa: Origin: Part 3

WARNINGS: Not edited, somewhat detailed smut/rape, cussing, sex toy/restraint, pet names, hate sex

Puppeteer sucked in air and exhaled deeply. “Man, that was a lot of talking!” she exclaimed. “But, there shall be more to come.” Endeavor leaned back in his chair, making it squeak. “You mentioned a party that seemed important. Where did it take place?” Puppeteer nodded. “Yeah, yeah, okay. So…I finished my project, summer came and went, the new school year started, blah blah blah.” She cut herself off to clear her throat before continuing. “Then we got to the party, which I chose to go to Japan for. It was so much fun!” A knowing grin spread across her face when the sarcastic comment was made. Every Pro in the room began to grow slightly concerned, and they showed it. Hawks, Mic, Eraser, Endeavor, Jeanist, all of them. “Go on. Keep talking,” one of them said. Puppeteer began stomping her feet, giggling in a manic excitement. “Yes!” she cried. “Haha, yes! I get to expose them! Okay…lemme see…” . . . They left for Japan on October 4, at 1:30 PM. Madie and her parents looked into Japanese time in order to arrive on time, so it would already be the sixth when they arrived. The plane ride was fun; she sat with Bri and Tokoyami on the way, and when they arrived, she was glad to have been fluent in the language. “Pretty sweet country, isn’t it?” Madie’s heart skipped a beat when Johnathan brushed his hand against hers. “Mhm.” “Makes ya wonder why your dad didn’t want to join us.” Madie nodded, making eye contact. “Exactly! He never talks about why he moved!” The boy made a peculiar face in response. “Yeah. Oh, you might wanna get your suitcase, Madie. Looks like we’re leaving.” Crap!

Everyone invited met up at a large, expensive-looking hotel that Madie’s mom booked to put their stuff in their designated rooms and officially start the day. She went up to hers, and found Johnathan organizing his things. He grinned at the sight of her. “Oh, lookit that! We’re sharing a room? This must be a love hotel.” Madie pursed her lips, eyes watering a little. “No…” she blurted, voice wavering. She tried composing herself, and it worked, but she’d been put in a downhill mood. Johnathan cupped her check in his hand, thumb dragging across her lips smoothly. He scolded her with those quiet, sweet words he used on everyone before he released her and left the room, jogging in the direction of the elevators. She followed suit soon after, hoping that nothing went wrong before…before they had to go to bed.

When Madie arrived at the lobby of the hotel, everyone was gathered in a group, ready to head out. Before Selena could say anything about how the day would go, the hotel doors swung open dramatically as two people stepped in. One of the was the one that was missing before. In a foggy flurry, Madie had dashed over and wrapped her arms around the tall boy’s slim waist, burying her face into his chest. His fair arms returned he hug, one hand placed comfortingly on her head. He lifted her head to face him with a look of nothing but happiness and concern etched in his features. With a low voice, he greeted her back. “Hey, I missed you too. What’s the matter?” He looked back up, his icy gaze scanning the hotel. “Who. Hurt you.” His voice was louder now, more firm and threatening. Not to her, but to the others. Madie shook her head, breaking the hug. “Yes, hello Leo. No one’s hurt me,” she assured him. “Yet.” His faint freckles glowed in the light when his face relaxed, transforming from murderous to teasing. “Still as short as always, I see,” he laughed, patting her head. Madie nodded back, playfully annoyed. His mother stood tall, watching the interaction with eyes that analyzed all they gazed upon. She tapped Madie on the shoulder. “Hi there, sweetie!” she chirped. “How’ve things been since we called?” Madie made eye contact with the taller woman, grinning in phony kindness. See? I’m just like you today! “Hi Ms. Takami! It’s been fine. You?” The woman nodded in return, her expression responded ‘me too’ without speaking. Madie pointed to the small group of (mostly) preteens. “My mom’s over there, if y’all wanna talk.” Ms. Takami didn’t hesitate to make a beeline to Selena, leaving Madie and Leo by themselves, standing awkwardly. Madie began to chew on the loose, dead skin around her fingers, flicking her eyes back and forth between Leo and anywhere else in the hotel. “Uh…” she began. “How’s, uh…How’s life been?” “Oh. Life’s been great!” Leo snorted. Yep. Could’ve guessed that from his demeanor. “You?” “Hah! Bro same,” Madie huffed, voice laced with excessive sarcasm. “Anyways, you ready for this fuckin’ party?” Leo grinned, a sparkle in his brown eyes. “Yes. So fucking ready for this fucking party.”

The whole day was spent traveling around the country, seeing sights and eating some good food. Some of the best food Madie’s ever eaten, actually. The group went to stores, parks, bridges, anywhere interesting they could afford and find. Tokoyami was introduced to Leo, and was “officially” made part of their little friend group. A lot of catching up happened, and overall a lot of talking between everyone as well. Nothing really noteworthy happened until right after dinner. The party group sat in a couple benches of a circular area of a large park. Madie’s friends and family carried gifts to her in the form of boxes and bags. Why did they get me so much stuff? She opened her gifts one by one; there were some clothes, fancy bags, makeup, books, and even school supplies. She smiled and accepted all the gifts, hugging the givers. Polite words of thanks and compliments were exchanged for every gift she opened. Almost everything that had happened that day had lifted her spirits from earlier. Then Johnathan and his friends handed her a gift bag.

How did she get here? Wearing some weird, skimpy sex-toy thing, holding onto a pillow with her dear life as Johnathan thrust that cock of his into her? That wasn’t important. The boy gripped her sides, making her wince through her own choking sobs. “You wanna say something, bitch?” He seethed threateningly, stopping for a moment to rest. “What did I do!?” Madie shrieked, spitting the cloth of the pillow she held out of her mouth. “I didn’t…I didn’t say anything to you!” Johnathan picked up his pace, both hands on her shoulders as he lectured her about taking back. About being ‘easily provoked’ and gullible. It wasn’t fair. If she was forced into the whole ordeal, it would be fair if she was at least allowed to speak. But life is never fair, right? Yeah. Keeping her mouth shut and following orders is what she was taught to do, so she should just do that. Just shut up. “Mhm…” the boy behind her was finally wrapping up his little lecture. “Stay quiet and still. Just like that.” Madie’s nails dug into her palms when he yanked and twisted her body to fit his desires. She was twisted around like an action figure until she laid on her back, feet up and knees almost touching her bare chest. Johnathan moved along with her, making sure he was the only thing in her limited field of vision. The only thing. His hands snaked up and down her body in a way most people would call ‘loving’. The rest was mostly a blur, both visually and mentally, save for a few sickly sweet insults and praises. When this happened, which was often, all Madie could do was cry through it. Her eyes stung and fogged up, even more than when she had her glasses off. She tried to suck it up and stay quiet. She had to, didn’t she? Unless, of course, she wanted to end up with more blood and bruises on her body than the act itself could inflict on her skin. Johnathan always ended up getting what he wanted regardless of what transpired before then. It was always the same; it made her cringe. She knew it wasn’t for her, though. He gripped the contraption he called a gift that was locked onto her form, removing it roughly and tossing the thing aside before resting his head in between Madie’s breasts. He murmured something like, “How the fuck are your tits so nice,” loud enough to make her shiver in embarrassment. Shut up, dude. The boy propped himself up, sliding off of Madie and the bed she lay in and proceeded to quickly throw his pajamas on and get in his own bed. “If you wanna shower, do it now. I don’t wanna hear another sound from your mouth until morning.” He strut over, now fully dressed, and planted a tender but hateful kiss on her temple. “Baby Bunny should want to look good for her friends and family on her birthday night, right?” Shut up. “Hurry up.” Yep. They hated each other with a passion.

The next morning, Madie felt sore. More sore than she’d ever felt in her life. She got up, changing out of her sweaty pajamas and into some nicely comfy clothes, slowly putting her glasses on and rushing out of the room. Quietly. Don’t look scared. Leo’s the only one who’d believe you anyways. Downstairs in the lobby, several party members were waiting, including a few parents. They all greeted her, congratulating her on becoming a year older. Her mother and Ms. Takami began to almost smother her with questions about her night. Weird. “Uh, I slept great.” Madie strained to hide her sarcasm as best she could. Again, nothing really noteworthy about the rest of that morning. Until, that is, right after a few attendees left for the day.

~~~~

[kornwarner]

My Most Favorite Animaniacs Episodes (also including songs) by Animation Studio

Original series (1993 - 1998)

TMS: Hello Nice Warners, Yakko’s World, Ups and Downs, Potty Emergency, The Brave Little Trailer, Roll Over Beethoven, Temporary Insanity, Noel, The Great Wakkorotti: The Master and His Music, Drive-Insane, Little Drummer Warners, LA LA Law, The Monkey Song, Hooked on a Ceiling, Pavlov’s Mice, the Wheel of Morality segments, The Senses Song, Piano Rag, Turkey Jerky, The Three Muska-Warners, No Place Like Homeless, The Flame, Clown and Out; the Tower Escapes, Chases, and Returns segments, A Christmas Plotz, Fair Game, Newsreel of the Stars, I’m Cute, Babblin’ Bijou, The Great Wakkorotti: The Summer Concert, Taming of the Screwy, Garage Sale of the Century, H.M.S. Yakko, Cutie and the Beast, the Mime Time segments, Cookies for Einstein, The Warners’ 65th Anniversary Special; Hot, Bothered, and Bedeviled

Startoons: Wakko’s America, Chairman of the Bored, Ragamuffins, Bully for Skippy, Dot - the Macadamia Nut, Wally Llama, Meet Minerva, Magic Time, Cartoons in Wakko’s Body, Slappy Goes Walnuts, There’s Only One of You, It, Plane Pals, …And Justice for Slappy, Critical Condition, Guardin’ the Garden, Windsor Hassle, Be Careful What You Eat, What Are We?, The Big Candy Store, Testimonials, the Randy Beaman segments, Meet John Brain, Meatballs or Consequences, Bumbie’s Mom, Karaoke-Dokie

Wang: Space-Probed, Go Fish, Soda Jerk, The Return of the Great Wakkorotti, Win Big, A Hard Day’s Warners, Battle for the Planet, Three Tenors and You’re Out, Mobster Mash, Dot’s Quiet Time, Hiccup, Gold Rush, The Sound of Warners, Yes, Always; With Three You Get Eggroll, Lookit the Fuzzy Heads, Super Strong Warners, The Party, Message in a Bottle, Take My Siblings Please, King Yakko, From Burbank With Love, the Good Idea, Bad Idea segments; Night of the Living Buttons, Fake, I’m Mad, Bones in the Body; No Pain, No Painting

Freelance: Chalkboard Bungle, Nighty-Night Toon, Moby or Not Moby, Survey Ladies, Of Nice and Men, Les Boutons et le Ballon, When Rita Met Runt, The Cat and the Fiddle, Katie Ka-Boom: The Blemish, General Boo-Regard, The Mindy 500, Animator’s Alley, Katie Ka-Boom: The Broken Date, Up a Tree, the Dot’s Poetry Corner segments

AKOM: Hurray for Slappy, Bingo, Raging Bird, Astro-Buttons, Multiplication, Noah’s Lark, This Pun For Hire, Dough Dough Boys, I Got Yer Can, Hello Nurse, Goodfeathers: The Beginning, Opportunity Knox, Boot Camping, White Gloves, The Girl with the Googily Goop, Mesozoic Mindy, Star Truck, Moon Over Minerva, Anchors A-Warners, Bad Mood Bobby, Back in Style, Dot’s Entertainment, No Time for Love, Jokahontas, Ten Short Films About Wakko Warner, You Risk Your Life, A Very Very Very Very Special Show, We’re No Pigeons, Kiki’s Kitten, Four Score and Seven Migraines Ago

Koko: Boo Wonder, The Carpool, Birds on a Wire, Cute First (Ask Questions Later), Here Comes Attila, The Sunshine Squirrels

Revival series (2020 - present)

Titmouse: WhoDonut, Math-Terpiece Theater: Apples, The Cutening, Hindenburg Cola, Manny Manspreader, Rome Sweet Rome, No Brainer, Bun Control, Mousechurian Candidate, Warner She Wrote, Teeniacs, Please Submit, Yakko’s Big Idea, Wakkiver Twist Parts One and Two, Talladega Mice: The Ballad of Pinky Brainy, Rug of War, How To: Brain Takes Over the World, Rejected Animaniacs Characters, Warner’s Ark, Equal Time, The Warners Are Present

Snipple: Gold Meddlers, Gift Rapper, Jurassic Lark, Fear and Laughter in Burbank, Good Warner Hunting, Suspended Animation: Part 1 and 2, Of Mice and Memes, Warners Unbound, Ex Mousina, Ralph Cam, Close Encounters of the Worst Kind

Digital eMation: Yakko Amakko, All About the Benjamin, Slappy’s Return, The Warner’s Vault, Mouse Madness, The Pinktator, My Super Sour 16, The Flawed Couple

Saerom: The Apology, WARnerGAMES: Parts 1 and 2, Christopher Columbusted, Wakko’s Short Shorts: Now Loading, Know Your Scroll, Santamaniacs, The Longest Word, The Hamburg Tickler

[designedparadigm]

[ GRIND ]:  sender  grinds  on  receivers  thigh. / for simon

   “c'mon  pre'y  girl.”  there's  a  lazy  bliss  filled  smirk  across  simon's  face.  told  her  -  get  one  out  on  his  thigh  while  he  recuperates  himself  because  he's  not  done  with  her  tonight.  jus'  give  i'  a  minnit,  luv.  he  doesn't  want  to  leave  her  with  nothing  -  but  it  would  be  nice  to  also  put  her  to  work.  offering  one  of  his  thighs  that  seems  to  draw  her  attention  for  her  to  grind  on  seems  a  fair  trade  -  and  she  takes  it. 

   “'ere,  luvie.”  his  hands  move  to  cup  her  breasts,  starting  to  massage  and  toy  with  them.  “lookit  you,  swee'hear'.”  a  normally  gruff  voice  comes  out  smoother,  soft.  inherently  simon,  a  complete  lack  of  what  makes  ghost.  he  smiles  at  her,  and  it's  with  love.  though  pupils  stay  dilated  from  the  unyielding  desire  that's  still  there.  that's  starting  to  build  up  in  his  core  again,  stirring  his  cock.  how  he  ended  up  with  two  partners  that  can  stir  him  up  this  heavily  is  beyond  him  -  but  he  loves  it.

   “think  ya  can  be  a  good  girl  an'  come  for  me?  jus'  usin'  my  thigh  like  tha'?”  he  punctuates  it  by  bouncing  his  thigh  up  into  her  as  she  grinds  down  on  it.  “or  should  i  pull  ya  offa  me  jus'  before  ya  ge'  tha'  swee'  spo'?  should  i  edge  ya?”  he  inclines  his  head  slightly,  a  devious  smirk  crossing  his  lips.  “make  i'  all  th'  swee'er  for  ya  t'  come  on  my  cock.  ge'  ya  overstimula'ed.”  he  leans  forward,  putting  his  lips  inches  from  hers.  “whimperin'  an'  cryin'  while  i  ge'  t'  my  climax.  sobbin'  an'  screamin'  when  i  star'  cummin'  deep  in  ya.  might  ‘ave  ya  beggin’  me  t'  pu'  tha'  baby  in  ya  ye',  yeah?  c'mon.  tell  me  wha'  ya  wan',  luvie.  i'll  give  i'  t'  ya.” 

[blindrapture]

("And here we are, those that skipped. Jordan was coerced into becoming a European terrorist, earning the name 'the White Jester.' He floundered his way through France and Spain, encountering some weird rabbit holes and seeing a lot of death. Then he came back to England, and he and Donnie defeated the Harlequin, their powerful abuser, in the town of Blackpool. There will be other important plot details I skimmed over, but bringing attention to them here would tip my hand to those who didn't skip. It's okay. There's plenty of story left, and no more to skip.")

SATURDAY JUNE 18TH, 2011 (In the Name of Comcast, We are Blessed for this Pornography)

7:15 AM What a beautiful day outside, just lookit that beautiful red sky! It looks just about ready to hug. I want to hug the sky. Don’t you, journal? I do. :D

7:23 AM There’s a goddamn zombie in the kitchen. Just one. He’s slowly looking around. He looks half-comatose. I wanna say he looks like an adult’s mind trapped in a little kid’s motor skills. I’m gonna go get Donnie. We need to get outta here, anyway. And yeah, journal. I kept my promise. Well, half. I told her it felt so strange, after what Mist the Harlequin did. So she respected that, though I tried my best. I feel almost like a slut. But that’s not fair, journal, it’s not; I’ve read, y’know, about abuse victims and they think really badly of themselves and.. I mean, I guess.. I’ll get over it. Oh, I don’t have to get Donnie; she’s coming down now.

8:01 AM She’s very affectionate today. I’m still getting my mind together. I guess the fact that I killed the Harlequin is still—wait, no, that’s not true, is it? She’s not even dead. I don’t think she can even be killed. We’ve just tried our best to trap her in a freezer. Ohh god, I need to talk more with Donnie about thaaaat.

8:24 AM She says she’s been thinking about that, too. We’ve agreed that we really need to get out of here. But we’re not sure where we’d go. We’re gonna go out, look around. There’s gotta be something, y’know?

8:30 AM Going into town. There’s gotta be something, gotta be. Otherwise all that craziness last night would have been for nothing.

8:38 AM Internet cafe. Internet’s not up, is it? Half this shit doesn't even work.

8:41 AM This computer works. ..but the internet doesn— IT DOES,WAY TO GO INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS, THEY’RE THE REAL HEROES It’s just really slow! Heh, ain’t that always how it is? aim aim aim aim AIM EXPRESS FUCK YEAH WHO’S ON, okay, it’s 8 AM so it’s about 3 AM back in the States, but who the fuck is gonna be on? ..Paul Botsford. That’s a surprise. Haven’t spoken to this guy in ages. Old old friend!

8:53 AM Paul’s not been hit by the apocalyptic shit too bad; Sandy Springs is a really quiet place. I’ve been trying to explain my situation so far, with the Harlequin and Spain and all that crazy shit. Paul’s response? “DAMN! Dude, everything bad happens to you.” I.. can’t help but concur. Donnie seems to have found a computer with internet, too, so I guess we might get to stay here awhile. WHOO.

8:59 AM TVTropes looks as fun as ever. Even in the face of the end of all life as we know it, tropers remain caring and organized. I love that. ..oh my god, my thread in OTC is just filled with posts asking if “DJay’s okay.” Somebody mentioned how “there was news of a troper gathering in Blackpool falling victim to the Harlequin,” and.. hang on, right-click that, copy… New Post. Right-click, paste. [[quoteblock]] and [[/quoteblock]] bookending. Now, “The Harlequin isn’t a problem anymore.” What a dramatic entrance. :D I’m explaining most of what I can to these people. “And also, the doubletap really does help, thank you to whoever suggested that.” Explaining how quite a lot of British tropers are unfortunately no longer with us. Kay, posted my stuff. I also asked if anyone had any idea where I could go.

9:12 AM OH HEY PORN

9:13 AM “HOT Rachael-on-Rachael Action!!!” Nah, I prefer dominant women; I’ll pass. “How I Tamed A Rake With My Penis” That just looks like a guy in white latex. “ESCAPE to the UNIVERSE of ONLY NAKED WOMEN!!!” I like how it was done in the style of a B-list horror movie, but I’ve been to that universe. It wasn’t that good. “Rubbing My Balls In A Zombie’s Face” Exactly What It Says On The Tin, and as boring as it sounds. “spider cat gives eight handjobs at once” o___o I guess bestiality’s okay now that civilization’s dead. “THE WOMAN WITH TESTICLES CLICK HERE” …*clicks* “VIAGRA VIAGRA HOT SEX VIAGRA” Yeah no, we still have spam. “SLENDER MAN TOUCHES KIDS” ……that’s what he does? I can’t even tell what’s going on in this; there’s too much distortion! “KINKY SEX HERE” The video description says “help.” What is this? ..oh god. The Harlequin only made me write stuff down. I guess that’s what happens if she sees you have a video camera and internet. o_e Well, I’ll hand it to ‘em. It’s kinky. Okay, enough of that. None of that stuff was much good. I mean, the woman with testicles was interesting, but I wouldn’t fap to any of this shit.

9:25 AM ”Entry #42.” Mister Wagner kept going with Marble Hornets? Heh, I imagine he wouldn’t have much trouble making horror now.

9:30 AM Holy shit. The first minute is just Jay grabbing a shotgun and shooting the Operator in the face. Well, the lack of face. Now Tim’s in the shot. He has a knife and is wearing his mask and he’s asking to join forces, as “The Operator will be back, and in greater numbers.” ..wait, what? O_O That’s a plot twist, Tim. Now Cool Guy came in, or Blasky or Hoody or whatever you want to call him, and he said he’s totheark and they’re joining forces. Now this is a survival video log. Bastards are copying me!

9:48 AM Advertisement for “The Camper Festival.” “IT’S FREE!” “SUCH BIG NAMES AS RUSH GENESIS METALLIC DREAM THEATRE MEGADEATH MASTODON OPETH YES PINK FLOYD GENTLE GIANT KING CRIMSON and many more out there as we locate them!” The fact that they misspelled “Metallica,” “Theater” (it’s a name, so the original spelling applies universally), and “Megadeth” really annoys me. But I gotta admit, it’s a pretty damn good festival. I should go back some day before the bands revolt. The wording on the rest of the page is pretty weird, too. I take it English wasn’t their first language, whoever wrote this.

9:53 AM Still no new replies to my thread. That’s okay; I’ll check back soon.

10:27 AM I’m feeling pretty hungry. Donnie says she is, too, so.. food time!

10:45 AM FOOD, oh my god lots and lots of endless FOOOOD. Flan, crisps, soda, sausage rolls, more flan, chocolate milk efsgji0b BEER. Oh my god. Beer. Oh my god I can have the heavier stuff now. FUCK YEAAAAAAH

11:02 AM I finally stopped throwing up, oh my god. Shit, that stuff tastes horrible.

11:11 AM I WISH I HAD A GIRLFRIEND. Yep, I’m back to wishing for that. …actually, I wish we could find a great way to get as far away as possible.

11:14 AM I’m gonna take Donnie to the beach. Why? ‘Cause I feel like it. :3

11:29 AM Wow, the beach has a lot of junk all over it. Like, lookit this! What is this? It’s a stinkin’ flyer! For what? What could possibly need a flyer in the apocalypse? ..actually, this is quite good. Oh my god. It’s an advertisement for a boat going to America. June 29th, 2011. This year. In a week n’ a half. The R.M.S. Exodus. The flyer says this’ll be its last voyage; it’s never coming back. It’s in Liverpool. Fuck, that’s close.

11:37 AM I showed Donnie. She thinks, if it doesn’t crash and burn, it could be our ticket out. It could be our unicorn. I need to know how close Liverpool is. BACK TO THE CAFE!

12:01 PM Google Maps says it’ll take about fifteen hours on foot. Shit, that’s.. yes. We can do that. We can easily do that. We’ll do it tomorrow. I guess we’ll just relax today. ..I guess we need a day of relaxing.

3:45 PM Replies to thread: Only one was any help, and it was talking about “some ship” which is going to America in a week. So yeah, we pretty much hit the jackpot with that flyer. I mean, both of us wanna leave England for some reason or other. It really is perfect! I just wish it wasn’t over a week away. D:

4:38 PM IMed with Danny. Told him about the Exodus. He asked when I thought I’ll be in the States, and I told him, if the boat gets that far, probably July 4th. We’ve agreed to meet up sometime after the arrival. This’ll be pretty exciting, meeting up with an online friend! Hell, if we can do this, who knows who else we can meet up with?

9:20 PM We had dinner at a fancy restaurant. It was dinner for two. Reminded me way too much of the date with Harly. But then again, I can get over that. I hope. ^^;

10:27 PM Donnie wants to listen to Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. I love that girl.

10:57 PM Noises from downstairs.

10:59 PM ZOMBIES IN THE LIVING ROOM

11:11 PM I WISH… uh.. hm. I WISH I HAD A GIRLFRIEND. There we go. :D

11:23 PM Donnie’s going to bed. I think I will, too. I mean, big journey ahead of us tomorrow. Plus, it’s fun to sleep with her. (Hahahaha… ha…)

(Attached: “The Internet Service Providers have to deal with a lot of problems in the apocalypse. At first, it was just the Neonate who wanted to take over the internet, but for reasons that will eventually become obvious he gets a little too distracted to keep that up, so the World War Web event doesn’t continue until the Ruin tries for some reason to freeze it all– was he trying to make a pun? From that day forward, the ISP starts issuing its workers flamethrowers as part of their daily protocol. The Morphs are eventually coerced by the Judge to do some catastrophic damage to the world’s servers, but amazingly enough by that point the ISPs have become the equivalent of every country’s defense budget– all remaining governments, in a series of ballsy unprecedented motions, unanimously vouch all their support and give them all the weapons and equipment they need. ISP workers go down in history as war heroes of the apocalypse, keeping watch over all humanity’s information, defending logic itself– and reason!– from otherworldly menaces. Comcast, we salute you.”)

[PREV LOG] [TABLE OF CONTENTS] [NEXT LOG]

[readinginthereadyroom]

it’s sympathy for the devil (spn 5x01) and cas carves enochian sigils onto sam and dean’s ribs. and it’s also good god, y’all (spn 5x02) and dean gets x-rays of them. glamour shots.  to hide them from the angels.

and I think it’s only fair to assume that bobby gets them at some point as well.

but now that the winchesters are invisible to angel radar, cas has to start carrying a cell phone. and the angels have to resort to human informants to track and locate them.

but the thing that’s seems to escape everyone’s notice is baby. the impala is a very distinctive car—and would get them noticed just as easily.

so my headcanon is that when dean and cas are partnering together in free to be you and me (spn 5x03), dean pulls into a roadside park. or an abandoned gas station. or the side of a dirt road. and takes out his toolkit, the car jack, and the x-rays. pulls cas into the grass or gravel or asphalt and has him help angel-proof the car.

they spend the afternoon that way. shoulder to shoulder on the ground. dean shows cas some basic car maintenance, intersperses it with stories of his childhood—him and sam carving their initials in the impala’s floorboards. painting the devil trap on the lid of the trunk. and lining her frame with pvc-enclosed salt (so she doesn’t rust).

and of course how he got john to buy her back in 1976.

castiel listens. smiles at dean’s stories. carefully draws the angel sigils—monumentally aware of the privilege he is being granted.

because dean is showing him his home. his heart. his secrets.

and eventually, in the safe recess under baby’s chassis—cas a comforting presense beside him—dean talks about taking a crowbar to baby’s windows. his rage at being alive. his rage at john. at so-called destiny.

because hey, lookit that, sammy did go darkside after all. took a few decades in the pit and an apocalypse but he sees now that john was right.

cas staunchly disagrees. his gravelly voice is resonant in the small space between them. he emphasizes how dean chose the impala. how he convinced john to buy her instead of the vw bus. making the impala dean’s car. always his car. john was just borrowing it while he grew up.

and dean was the one who rebuilt her. he chose to do that. to invest the time and energy—his love and his hate, his grief and his happiness—to fix all the cracks in her chassis.

dean’s responding smile lights up something in cas. some feeling that is yet unnameable. it lodges in the center of his vessel’s chest, like grace. but it’s not cool blue harmony. it’s warmth. sunshine. bright and blinding like lightning.

so when the enochian sigils are complete. when baby is invisible to angel radar. cas adds a single symbol. paints it with a flourish and imbues it with his grace. it glows an ethereal blue.

it’s his capital N name. so he’ll always be able to find them. the winchesters. sam and dean. his family. dean grins and paints two little wings to each side of the sigil. guess this is your home now, too, cas.

[votederpycausemufins]

The last chapter of the Jrumbot story, but look out for some bonus stuff coming in the future.

Rustic House Club

True froze when she saw them just standing there. Sense was holding Grifter close to him by the waist while holding some sort of new redstone weapon in his other hand. Meanwhile his husband had TNT in one hand and a spawn egg in the other.

“Hello True. I don’t think weapons will be helping you out here then, hmm?” Sense spoke up, making her grip the handle of her axe harder. “If you want to make this easy on yourself, you can just step down and let me take over. Or…”

“Not a fat fucking chance. If you two are in power, there won’t be anything left within a few days.”

“Oh please, we can probably leave some land intact.”

True growled back at Sense. “Why don’t you just fuck back to season four and rule there?”

“Because then we still have to live with the fact that you still have Gri’s replacement here.” Sense spoke, pulling his hand away from Grifter to put it on his own hip. “And you know he’s still angry about that.”

True looked over at Grifter who was playing with his TNT. She flinched every time it spun between his fingers, expecting an explosion every time. “Obviously we’ll start by kicking him out. Then we can do a little… renovating around here. I mean, who built this place anyway?”

True threw her axe at Grifter before running at him. Sense pointed his weapon at her, firing some sort of laser at her leg. It went right through her armor, making her scream as she collapsed to the floor. She tried to get up, but Grifter put a foot on her side, not giving her the chance to move. The pressure was light enough that she probably could, but it likely was only done that was to try and goad her into making an attempt.

Sense moved closer to Grifter, playing with a tuft of hair and kissing his cheek before looking back down at True. “Now, is the throne mine? Or will we have to do more?”

The empress stared up at the pair for a few moments before letting her head fall to the ground. “Fine… you win, bitch. At least give me a chance to tell Whiskey first.”

“Very well.” And Sense holstered his weapon, watching the message True typed out and sent, making sure the receiver was listed as WaltzWare. “Alright them. Get out of my castle or we’ll finish you off.”

When Grifter’s foot pulled away from her chest, True immediately got to her feet and ran away limping. The pair watched her go, making sure she wasn’t coming back. Then, once Grifter was absolutely sure, he put the items away and wiped his cheek. “Did you have to kiss me?!”

“Sells the part sweetheart.”

“Ugh, do not call me that.” Grian huffed. “Now anyway, I get the TNT, but why the mob egg? What would it have spawned?”

“An aerwhale. Largest mob in hels since we don’t have a dragon here. Might even be bigger than a dragon now that I think about it. Either way, spawning it in here would create massive damage. And just having a spawn egg is something to flaunt about here. EX did his best to ban them back in season two. Only four people can really get them anymore and I snagged this off of one of them.”

“Oh really? I’m guessing Evil X is one of them.” Grian said as he started to walk back to where they had left Mumbo.

“Yes. Since he’s admin, he gets that privilege. True also does as empress, but I guess that will be me soon enough.”

“I suppose so. And the others?”

“People EX trusts not to destroy the place. Prof gets that opportunity even though he and EX have a sort of love hate relationship.” Before Grian could ask, Sense answered the question. “Prof is essentially the resident hero of the server, so he stops EX just about every time he’s got some scheme for Hermitcraft. Otherwise they hang out.”

Grian nodded. “Alright. And the last one?”

“Your kid of course. Not really from Hels and is nice to EX, so no surprise there.”

Grian stopped walking. “How would you kn- He’s only been- Sense, how long has my kid been here?!”

“Since the tail end of season three.”

Grian’s eyes widened. “And we’re in season five now! Did you use some sort of time machine?! Where did you get it?! What did you do to Jrum?!”

This time Sense froze. “Wait, Jrum? That little robot that needed a charger? That’s who you’re looking for?”

“Yes! Of course him! Who else would I be looking for?!”

“NPG!”

Time felt like it stopped for Grian. He wasn’t sure if he was hearing things. NPG? NPC Grian, NPG? His first robotic creation? But he was gone! He had been left in Evo. He hadn’t gone through all the portals, so before the world was closed, he would have been in the Down Side Up. But then Grian remembered. The error message. Someone who had been in that world as well as Grian’s single world. But there had only been two versions of helscraft listed. So was it someone else? “You said he joined in your season three. How?”

“No clue. He popped in out of nowhere and EX had to mess with his entire system to fix whatever issue was linked with it. That didn’t get fixed up until the next season.”

Then that would explain it. It was NPG, and he had been the one coming into Hermitcraft. And he had been the one to kidnap Jrum. Why? Was it to pull Grian to the server and put him into a situation like this? Punish him for his bad judgement in the past? Fine. That was perfect as long as he got Jrum back.

“Er, are you two okay?” Mumbo’s voice spoke up as he peeked around a corner. “I heard yelling between you and no one else, so I assumed it was just you two arguing. Is everything alright?”

“I… yeah. Everything’s fine…”

“Are you sure Grian? You don’t sound-”

“I’m fine! Let’s just go find Jrum and go home.”

“Lookit! I’m doing it! I’m doing it!” Jrum cheered as he was able to glide in the air, the special elytra Prof had made working well.

“Yes! It is very good!” NPG agreed.

“The only problem is it doesn’t seem balanced right. I keep having to tilt the other way.”

“Alright, then we’ll just need to tell that to Prof! How about until then we go looking for Grian?”

“Okay!”

From there, NPG led Jrum to the world’s main island. He pointed out a few of the rustic houses that were built there as well as the ones that used to be there, but various helsmits had destroyed. They even stopped down by one that NPG was especially proud of, which Jrum was happy to see, though it also made him sad.

“What’s wrong? Isn’t this a good rustic house?”

“Y-yeah! It is!” Jrum stuttered out. “It’s just… I kept building what you told me, but only because you told me how. No matter what I do, I just can’t figure it out!”

NPG rubbed his chin. “Hmm, well, while I hate suggesting it, it could be that you can’t build rustic houses, but some other style.”

Jrum shook his head. “No! I can’t do that stuff either. I tried. I just… I can’t build! And I hate it because everyone else can! It’s just not fair! Daddy can build even though he’s good at redstone and Dad is the best builder of all time! Why can’t I build anything?” Jrum sat on the ground and curled up, NPG sitting down next to him to give him a hug.

“Well, I suppose it could be due to your origins. I am aware that there is some good to styles other than rustic, as rustic houses would not be considered rustic if there were only ever rustic builds. That being said, I have found I am unable to do much when it is not with a rustic house. That is due to my programming. You may have a similar situation.”

Jrum curled up more. “Why? Why would I get made that way?”

“Why did I get made the way I was? Jrum, we are built. The people who built us are not perfect. Even with normal people, they can’t do everything. I’m sure if you tell your parents, they can try to change some things, but even if you cannot build well, that is perfectly fine.”

Jrum was quiet for a few moments, thinking it over before hugging NPG back. “O-Okay. I guess that makes sense.”

“Of course it does. Now. Let us go find Grian. My guess is he is right over where that new death machine is.”

“The what?” Jrum looked around, then saw something on the castle which had not been there before they landed. “When did that get there?”

“My assumption is it is a creation of Sense since he likely believes Grian is actually Grifter. Meeting with him should clear some things up.”

“Um, okay.” And Jrum got up off the ground to head over to the castle with his brother.

“Why are you building this? What are you even building?” Grian asked as Sense was under some new build, putting together the redstone for it.

“Well, once everyone is aware you’re not who they think you are, they won’t hesitate to try and remove me from the throne again. I’m making this as a show of power to make sure they won’t attempt anything.”

Mumbo got on the ground to look at the redstone. “What the devil is all this? None of it makes sense! Even for me!”

“Well then I suppose I’m the better redstoner.” Sense smirked. “You’re used to all your own redstone mumbo jumbo, meanwhile all this makes perfect sense to me.”

“...Are you serious. Did you really just- You know what, never mind. Mumbo, I’m just going to sit over here until we can go.” And Grian sat down on the ground to wait.

Sense worked a bit more before he slid out from beneath the creation. “That should do it. Now we should find something to test it with.” Sense then peered through a scope that was on top of the weapon and he moved it around, trying to find a good target. “Oh, that’s perfect! I can get rid of that fucking imposter once and for all.”

“What do you mean imposter?” Mumbo asked as Grian jumped up from where he was sitting.

“No! No you cannot fire at him! He’s probably got Jrum with him!”

“Wait, who’s got Jrum?”

“NPC Grian!”

“He’s alive?”

“Yes! Now don’t you dare fire that weapon at him.”

Sense rolled his eyes. “Oh alright fine.” Then he slammed a hand down on a button. “Oh, whoops. My mistake.”

“No!” Grian yelled and Mumbo jumped at the weapon, slamming his shoulder against it to change the angle just before it could fire, having the laser that fired from it miss its target. Mumbo breathed a sigh or relief before he was lifted up off his feet by his tie. Sense had grabbed it and was now slowly tightening it, starting to choke Mumbo.

“How dare you do that! I was going to help you two, but I suppose if you’re trying to stop me, I’ll have to do the same to you.” He continued to choke Mumbo as Grian ran to stop the helsmit, but before the avian could get too close, Sense pulled a remote out of his pocket and pressed a button. A net seemed to appear out of nowhere and wrap around Grian, making him fall to the ground.

“H-How…?” Grian started to ask, but Sense quickly answered him.

“Oh please, the genius part of evil genius is in there for a reason. Did you honestly think that I didn’t know you weren’t Grifter from the start? You have parrot wings, those of a scarlet macaw to be exact. Grifter is a Magpie avian. The difference in wings is extremely obvious.”

“Ugh, you knew I wasn’t him when you kissed me and all that?”

“Of course. I didn’t know what you were up to at the time however, so I took precautions and put that safari net under your shirt when I was feeling up your chest. I’ve never really gotten the chance to test it with a hybrid before, but the results aren’t too surprising.” With that, Sense looked back through the scope. “Now, where has he gone?”

There was a thunk from above and Sense looked away from the scope to see NPG standing on top of his weapons. “Hello Sense! That is a nice new weapon. What does it do?”

The helsmit cursed. “It’s supposed to destroy you and send your metallic guts flying. Though right now I wouldn’t mind something a bit more bloody.”

“NPC Grian!” Grian yelled out, making the robot look at him.

“Oh! Hello Grian! It has been a long time since I have seen you last!”

“Yeah, hi. Is Jrum with you?”

“Ummmm, no?” NPG replied, making Sense sigh.

“Great, I don’t need anyone else messing things up.” The helsmit pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fine, I guess we’re doing it the hard way then.”

“The hard way?” NPG asked as Sense dropped Mumbo to the ground, leaving him gasping for air. The robot moved to check on the redstoner, but the moment he had his back turned, Sense hit him over the head with some sort of weapon, and NPG fell to the ground unconscious.

“”Now, let’s see if we can’t kill three birds with one death ray before the fourth comes to play, hmm?” Sense asked no one in particular as he tied Mumbo up and then dragged him and Grian against the wall of the balcony, then moving NPG between them. Grian and Mumbo both struggled in their ropes, trying to escape or get a hold of any useful items they had on themselves. Meanwhile Sense had started moving the death ray back and tilting it down to point directly at the trio. “Just think, after this EX will have to be so scared he’ll have to let Grifter into season five!”

Grian and Mumbo could only stare in horror as the end of the weapon started to glow, charging up to fire at them. They had no clue if they could even respawn here, and based on what Sense had said, they likely couldn’t

“Now then, goodbye!” Sense smiled and hit the button.

-

-

-

And nothing happened. 

“What?!” Sense yelled as he slammed the button again and again. “Why isn’t it working?!”

“Um, because I broke it?” A voice came from under the machine before poking their monitor head out from under it.

“How did you break it?! It was meant to be impossible to break unless you knew what you were doing! And no one does!”

“Well you had it in an odd place, but your pulse clock was easy enough to break. That being said, I saw how the line continued into what looks to be a strength gate which paired with other pulse clocks. From that I was able to disable the strength gate and then go on to break the RS NOR latch as well as the rapid pulser.”

“Are you telling me you could understand everything in there?” Sense asked, completely dumbfounded.

“Well yeah. It’s overly complicated, but based on the function, I can see why.” Jrum briefly poked his head back in. “Though based on everything here, a RS NAND latch could have worked better, though that might also need a T flip-flop added in.”

“Here, can you show me?” Sense asked, getting under the machine as well.

“Yeah, if you go right here, I’ve already done some editing.”

“Oh really. Wait, this part doesn’t look like it will help power the machine. It looks more like-” There was a large clang from inside and Jrum came out from the inside of the machine while giggling. “Release me from this trap right now!”

“Nope!” Jrum answered, going over to his dads and untying them. Once the two of them were free, Jrum was attacked with hugs from the both of them.

“Oh Jrum I’m so glad you’re okay!”

“Yeah! It was a little scary here at first, but then NPG let me stay with him and took care of me! He even helped me get these special elytra!” And Jrum pulled away from the hug to turn around and show off the wing pack Prof had built. “It’s not perfect yet, but NPG said he can probably tweak it now that I’ve tried it.”

At the robot’s name, Grian looked over at him to check him over and then sighed in relief. “Okay, it just looked like the knock to his head just jostled his power source slightly and cut it off. I’m sure if we just turn him back on, he’ll be fine.”

Grian pressed a button on NPG and his eyes lit up as he powered on. “Oh! Hello Grian! You seem to be untied now.”

“Yeah, how are you doing?”

“Perfectly fine! I even have a new idea for a rustic house!”

This time Grian hugged NPG. “I can’t believe you’re alive. I thought you were gone for good when Evo disappeared.”

“That was not the case. Even after the evolution world was destroyed by the Watchers, the Hels world for it remained intact.”

“Wait, the Down Side Up was a hels world?”

“Correct! All normal worlds have a hels counterpart! They can vary greatly and no two systems are alike, such as how Down Side Up had a standard overworld and nether whereas here our overworld resembles the nether and instead of the nether we have access to the aether like some other mostly normal worlds have.”

“I don’t fully understand that, but I don’t really care because I’m just so happy to see you alive! How on earth were you getting to Hermitcraft?”

“Badtimes has made a place called the cursed village which features a large magical crystal. I love to visit because of the rustic builds that make up the place and one day I heard someone unfamiliar there.”

Grian nodded. “I see. In our world Scar has a magical village with a large magic crystal of it’s own. My guess is the two are in the same location and the crystals linked up, letting you two hear each other. But that doesn’t explain you actually getting into Hermitcraft.”

“Oh! Xannes had mentioned you guys had a place called the upside down and I was able to convince the code of the Down Side Up that your upside down was a part of it, so I went through there.”

“I- That’s possible?!”

“Apparently so!”

Mumbo cleared his throat to get the attention of Grian and NPG. “I’m sure you two have a lot to talk about, but we really sure find Xisuma to get back home.”

“Right. NPC Grian, do you have any ideas where he could be?”

NPG nodded. “Yes, though I would ask for you to call me NPG. Makes me sound like more of my own person.”

“Right, sorry about that.”

“It’s fine! Anyway, your admin is likely to be at one of Xannes’ bases since he’s told me before how he messed with files so that if his brother ever joined the world, he would spawn in a trap!”

“He what?”

“Wait Evil X is named Xannes?”

“Yes, that is his name.” NPG answered Mumbo first before looking back at Grian. “Do not worry. It is not the worst that could be done. He was planning to enact a plan using that mechanic for when all of you went on to your season eight world, but Prof forced him to put it away.”

“What exactly was he going to do?” Grian asked before quickly adding on, “I’m sure Xisuma will want to know if he does manage to use that plan.”

“Oh! I see! Well, his plan was to randomize your spawns on your new world as well as disable your chat functions. From what I could tell, he couldn’t disable death and advancement messages, but most of you would likely be caught in death loops with no way to contact help.”

“Oh, that sounds horrible.”

“Yes! Which is exactly why Prof stopped his plans. And I doubt Xannes will use them because of a very good point that was brought up.”

“And what was that?” Mumbo hesitantly asked, making NPG look over at him.

“Well, Xannes is just upset that his brother seems to have a perfect server life while he himself got the short end of the stick as a clone.”

“Wait are they clones or brothers?”

“They are both!” But yes, even though Xannes is upset, there is still one thing about Hermitcraft he would never want to destroy.”

“And what’s that?” Grian asked, but NPG shook his head.

“I am sorry, but that is not my secret to share. Prof and I are the only ones he’s told since we are his friends!”

“Right, anyway, let’s go pick up Xisuma.”

“Stop messing with that! You’ll break it!” Xannes rolled his eyes as Xisuma complained.

“We have the same helmet brother. I’m not going to break it. I’m just trying to access your data on Hermitcraft to unban me and put myself on the whitelist.”

Xisuma struggled to escape again. “You can’t do that! Hermitcraft is supposed to be a safe place for the hermits. I can’t have you destroy it.”

“Well, you don’t have to let me. I can let myself over there just fine.” He uses a screwdriver to pop open a panel. “Ah, there we go.”

“Oh! What are you doing Xannes?”

The helscraft admin paused his work again at the new voice. “Go away NPG. I’m busy.”

“Well can you stop being busy? I need some help from Xisuma.”

“Why him?”

“Oh, well he came here with some hermits because I brought Jrum here and they came looking for him and now they want to go home.”

Xannes looked up from what he was doing to face NPG, seeing the two hermits and robot behind him. “Oh please. I’m sure I could send them back just as well as he could. Especially with his helmet.”

“Okay! Then can you do that?” NPG asked. Were it anyone else, Xannes would expect some malicious intent or sarcasm, but he knew NPG was always extremely sincere. 

“Alright fine.” He replied after a pause. “On one condition. I’m only sending them back, not you.”

“Oh that’s fine, I wasn’t planning on going back anyway.”

That caught Grian off guard. “Wait, you’re not? Why?”

“Even though you have been in multiple worlds in the past, you consider Hermitcraft your home, correct?”

“Yeah, which is why I want you to come with us. It could be your home too. It’s really dangerous here and… I’ve missed you.”

“That’s the thing. This is my home now. And It is not as dangerous as it seems. I have gotten used to living here and have made friends. I know my staying here will not help the fact that you will miss me, but perhaps we can meet more frequently at the respective village crystals and at least converse with one another.”

Grian looked sad for a moment, but then agreed. “I guess that does sound nice. Speaking of, did you help teach Jrum how to build rustic houses?”

“Indeed, though he seems to be more replicating my instructions than actually building. I believe his programming is not formatted for actually building.”

“He did do well with that redstone earlier.” Mumbo spoke up. “Even I couldn’t quite understand it all, but he has an eye for redstone mechanics to the point where he might like to meet those from Scicraft.”

At this point, Xisuma joined the conversation. “While I am very glad you all haven’t had too much of a bad day, I believe I am still tied up while my brother tries to hack into Hermitcraft yet again.”

Grian and Mumbo jumped into action to help their admin out and quickly untied him by cutting the ropes. Once he was standing, Xisuma rubbed his wrists where the rope had chafed him before grabbing his helmet, earning a ‘hey!’ from Xannas.

“Oh, before you guys go, could I make one request of you Xisuma?” the admin nodded, though a little reluctantly, and then NPG leaned in to whisper to him. X listened, and then started nodding.

“I believe that can be done, as long as you promise that he won’t cause too much destruction.”

“Well, I would also suggest allowing Prof too, but one of us has to stay to make sure that there’s something to come home to, especially with Sense being emperor now.”

“He’s wHAT?!” Xannes yelled, putting his helmet on. “Oh bloody fucking hell. How did he manage that.”

“Hey Xisuma! How about we leave now!” Grian quickly said, leaving both admins confused for a moment before they understood.

“I believe we can Grian.”

“Oh no! Don’t you dare leave with them! I swear if Sense ends up-”

NPG cut Xannes off. “Bye guys! I hope to talk to some of you soon!”

“Bye NPG!” Jrum waved, and then Xisuma took them back to Hermitcraft.

[newsiegirlscout]

Bar-Lover’s Fortnight: Thanksgiving Dinner, let’s goooo!!! 

Once again, this features the highlight of platonic love and nothing else; today, it features. Relentless storge. Everyone loves Barley, including the person reading this! 

Cheers to @thederpyhipster for hosting the event!

Barley stopped abruptly, dusting the flour from his hands on his apron. 

“Absolutely not.” he said. 

“Please, boys…” Laurel pleaded with a small, sad, smile, “I know you three haven’t had the best history, and I won’t say this will end all of that, but...it would be a nice start.” 

“It’s not...it’s not that.” Ian interjected quietly, resting his spoon on top of the salad bowl, “Mom, Thanketh-Giving’s always been about family….Lightfoot family. Maybe one day, Colt can be a part of that, but, you know…” he shook his hand waveringly side-to-side, “He’s got his own thing. Besides, we’re not….not really supposed to have people over, y’know?” 

“Ian…” she sighed, “He spent most of lockdown with us. If he’s not family now, I don’t know when he will be; I won’t ask you to take him in, or be his best friends, but please, would you be willing to try your best?”

The younger Lightfoot brother sighed deeply, but nodded. Barley, on the other hand, glared down at the kitchen counter. 

“Fine.” he said finally, softly, “Tell him not to ticket GWNIVR2”. 

Ian returned to seasoning the salad, failing to suppress his snorts of laughter. “Tshh--that’s a hard reflex for him.” 

“Right?” the older countered, rolling another Lembas bun, “Parking violation: Ah don’t know, but knowin’ Barley, it’s somethin’.”

“Disturbing the peace, probably.” Ian joked, “Peace of mind, at least.”

Barley laughed. “Given how much he likes to talk, I’d expect a lonnng sentence.” 

“Nope, nope, nope.” Ian laughed, cuffing his brother on the shoulder, “That joke is too terrible, I’m locking you up right now.” 

As her sons bantered, Laurel slid the phoenix into the oven and reached for her cell phone. 

--The boys said yes...they won’t say it, but I think they’d love to see you

The “typing” signal looped, in short constants followed by long silences, as if the recipient were starting over or thinking about what to say, before the response chimed. 

~~Don’t tell them under oath of silence, but I’d be glad to see them too. 

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

Though it wasn’t the first time either of the brothers Lightfoot had seen their mom’s fiance in a suit, it still registered as a mild shock every time. 

What was really new, however, was the gentle expression of sincerity he wore as he presented the baked confection in both hands, looking almost….shy, somehow. 

“Saluta’tions.” he greeted, still as boisterous as ever, “Ah wasn’t sure if any of you’d ever tried it before, so this ‘ere’s honeysuckle-lavender pie--” 

“Traditional centaur dessert.” Barley finished, a smile lighting up his face, “The notorious favorite of Trophonius.” It was subtle, but Ian noticed his brother’s smile was fake in just the tiniest detail, but...it was nothing. He’d live. 

“Ee-yup.” Colt said proudly. “Oh, an’ Barley, Manticore sent these…” he turned, displaying the weighted saddlebags on his sides as he started withdrawing covered dishes, “Said she wanted to thank you for helping out at the restaurant.” 

Ian’s eyes widened as he looked at the dishes. “What? Dude!” 

Barley chuckled, but something about it was disheartened. “Yeah, moved a few orders when she was short-staffed. Something to do, I guess.”

“Barley, man, she must have loved you--what is this, a hero’s feast?” 

Laurel chose that moment to walk in, intending to greet her fiance and instead being frozen in her path seeing the pies. After a second or two of silence, she looked at her son, then to the desserts again. The eldest flushed a light shade of lavender, then stacked the cheerfully-labeled dishes in the refrigerator. 

“Well, tell her I said thanks.” he said conversationally, “Never too much pie, so….nice to get an appreciation like that. Ian, y’wanna see if we can’t find the old game board?” 

“Oh! Ah, sure!” he said, and just like that, the boys were gone. 

Laurel wrung out her teatowel over the sink, made a start towards cleaning the counters. 

“No magic in the house!” she called after them, but softer,  towards Colt, “Barley found Quests of Yore when he was eleven--Ian didn’t quite understand it, but he wanted to play with his big brother and Barley was more than willing to try and teach him. He didn’t quite pick up on stats, but he liked the story, so they made up a game where they could follow a campaign and act however they wanted...still have some of the old characters they drew somewhere.” 

Colt moved beside her, made a start on washing the pans in the sink. “Mm-hmm?” 

“Yeah.” she said softly, almost nostalgically, “They didn’t get to play as often since Bar started high school, but they always play it on Thanketh-Giving and Yuletide. I remember….there was one guy, a rogue with a...I wanna say it was stealth bonus, but if he rolled too high, the opponent would forget they were there.”  

“Did you ever play?” 

“Once or twice. They never forgot a character, so Mom-adriel is still running Dragon Bento somewhere.” 

The centaur washed the dishes in silence.

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

“Barley, dude, what’s your deal?” Ian asked quietly as they rummaged through the chest for the since-discarded Quests of Yore figurines. 

The elder stopped, tugged off his beanie and ran his fingers through his hair. 

“Lots of things, alright, Ian?”

“No, with Colt, I mean….I know, it’s weird, but..he’s not that bad a guy.” 

“Ian, I could win a Nobel Peace prize right now and he’d still think I’m a lost cause. He told me when I was fourteen that I’d end up exiled.” 

“Hmm.” Ian sighed, disappointedly, “Well, he’s...he’s trying to be cool. Plus, we crushed his car under a landslide that one time, so….” 

“So we’ll be ‘cool’ to him, but we’re just not ending up buddies--not unless he wants to come up here, himself, and make an effort. No matter how the mead flows, it’s never enough to forget.” 

The sound of footsteps--no, hoofsteps--thumped on the stairs, and Barley could hardly say he was surprised to open the door to Colt Bronco. 

But softly, sincerely, he bowed as well as a centaur could to the boys. 

“Do you have room for one more in your game?” he asked. 

The elder Lightfoot cocked an eyebrow; Ian silently pleaded with his brother, widening his eyes and raising his head. 

“Tally-ho, good sir! There is always room for one more on a campaign!” Barley announced, leading him in, “Take your place at the table, Sir Iandore will teach you our ways!” 

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

Colt was bad. Really bad. 

The path was endless, with no exit to be seen; after walking in loops for a minute or so, Ian cast the Flying Skull cantrip, allowing a flying skull illusion to go wherever he directed it and see through its eyes. Each one, successfully, found the exit, yet the same was not to be seen as the players approached it. 

Colt left a silver coin every league; the exit was not to be seen. 

All the rope gained from the previous battle was led out to see if the ends formed a loop; they did not. 

Ian sighed deeply. 

“I’m casting mage hand to carry Colt wherever the flying skulls are going.” 

The centaur protested, but upon successful roll, he soon realized what his fiance’s son had thirty minutes ago: 

The solution to the maze was only visible upon not touching the floor.

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

“The Gelatinous Cube approaches!”

“.....I attack.”

Barley winced. 

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

“The dragon lies ahead, keeping watch over their horde. Behind them, you see the Princess Unattainabelle’s sword bolting the door behind them; the princess herself is nowhere in sight. They have yet to spot you; what do you do?” 

Colt tossed the dice in his hands, weighing the options. “Ian?” 

Ian shrugged. “A….a non-violent approach, maybe?”

“We roll to seduce the dragon.” 

The younger elf’s eyes widened, but Barley chuckled. “Sure! Roll away, good sir!” 

The clock ticked. 

The air was still. 

The dice rolled. 

Nat forty-six.

The elder Lightfoot’s eyes widened the same, until finally, he spoke. 

“The dragon falls forever in love with Denryx the Second; they return to their form as the lost satyr princess, and their horde and kingdom is willingly bequeathed to you.” 

“Well, lookit that.” Colt said with a self-satisfied knicker of laughter, “We won!” 

Just then, the scent of richly-flavored smoke reached them; Ian’s cheers ended abruptly with a laugh as he reached the door. “C’mon!!”

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

The roast phoenix’s flames blazed, then subsided in a waltz of luminescence; the bird itself was beautifully cooked. The fire extinguisher came to rest on the table, unused; Blazey scrambled up Colt’s barrel before he nabbed her in one hand and shook his head, relenting regardless to pet her head. 

Lightfoot tidings were less spoken aloud than internally, but voiced all the same; by fate or fair fortune, anyone looking upon the scene would have seen the glow of contentment on Laurel’s face, her thankfulness for her sons and fiance, her health, and most of all, her kitchen. (There had been a few scorch marks from less successful Thanketh-Givings past).

In the overtones of sincere love in Colt’s laugh, he was thankful more than anything for the same; for Lightfoot traditions past and present, and though he wouldn’t say it outright, for Ian and Barley and the shenanigans that had always been the talk of the station. 

For Ian, his thanks lay mostly in contentment with the way things were looking to be; for his mom continuing to be as supportive as ever, for a world that never lost its magic, and for a brother he’d always had. 

But for Barley? 

Everything.

For Thanketh-Givings past and fure, for the appreciation given by those who didn’t know how much it meant, for the way Colt was genuinely trying, for all magic and mayhem yet to come, and just....to the spirit of being. 

Barley Lightfoot didn’t know it, but at that moment, he was the happiest person in New Mushroomtown.

[is0gild]

Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Bonus Chapter 2

Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC

Summary: Modern AU. She's an introvert ball of nerves who works at Ice Palace, a mall food court ice cream shop. He's the outgoing, sassy goofball who works at the Pizza Planet across the way. Hilarity, snark, and fluffy romcom hijinks ensue.

Word Count: 11,634

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!

“Pssst. Raindrop. Check it out."

I paid little mind to the new conversation apparently taking form in the kitchen behind me.

"Hm…? What is it? What am I looking at here?" A pause, then a tiny gasp. "...is… is that what I think it is?"

I just kept scrolling through my phone from my seat on the couch, only listening with half an ear.

"Mm-hm! Her first one! Ain't it a beaut?"

Riku was currently out for what was looking to be a particularly long day at work for him and seeing as how we both had the day off ourselves, Lea and I had decided to hang out at my apartment and keep Rayne company. We'd settled on watching a movie, but my roommate had paused it to go get herself a drink. A few seconds later, Lea had gotten up as well, claiming to be a bit parched himself.

"Oh my god, it's so cute and little!"

We'd even brought Marshmallow with us for a visit with his auntie, especially considering Saïx would have flayed us alive if we'd stuck him with dog-sitting duty yet again. My fingers absently scritched behind one of his ears as the little pup contentedly rested his head in my lap. Though my use of "little" was strictly in the loosest sense of the term. Having had him for close to two months at this point, he'd grown quite a bit. He still looked like a puppy, mind you… there was just a lot more puppy to love now.

"I know, right? So precious, so smol. Just a wee baby hickey!"

My head jerked up at the last word, eyes wide. Then I hastily twisted around in my seat. The scene that greeted me in the kitchen was that of Lea with one finger hooked into his tee-shirt collar and tugging it down to show Rayne a tiny patch of discoloration on his skin just below and slightly to the right of his collarbone.

"Lea!" I snapped, face reddening while my hand gripped the backrest of the sofa so hard, my knuckles turned white.

They both looked at me and froze, Lea muttering, "Uh-oh."

Dropping my phone onto the cushions, I was on my feet in a heartbeat and charging towards them, "That was supposed to be private!"

"Now now, El," he soothed as he quickly moved to put the kitchen table between me and him, "how was I s'posed to know that? You never said anything about-"

"It was implied, you… you… ugh, come here!" I snarled, running around the table with Marshmallow hot on my heels, barking excitedly. Rayne just sniggered as she sidestepped out of our way.

Lea was easily able to keep ahead of me, maintaining the table as a barrier between us. "Aw, c'mon, babydoll! This was a big step for you! I was just proud of you and wanted others to share in my joy!"

"No!" I slapped one palm down on the dining surface while angrily pointing a finger at him across it. "No others! You can't tell anyone else, you hear me?!"

"Alright, alright, I won't tell any other people, I swear!" he raised both hands in a placating gesture. Then he pursed his lips to one side as his gaze averted. "Well… any more other people…"

I blanched. "...who? Who else did you already tell? Roxas? Xion?"

He scoffed, splaying his hand against his chest in offence. "Please, just what kinda man do you take me for? I'm a gentleman, I don't do any of that locker-room talk bullshit." He crossed his arms over his chest, harrumphing as if the very notion was an insult to everything he stood for. Then he gave a small shrug, "...I just told Anna."

I choked and spluttered, unable to find words for a few seconds. "My… You told my sister?!" I took off after him once more, but curse him and his freakishly long legs, the jerk was able to move fast enough to keep the table between us. Marshmallow kept prancing about down around our feet, just out of his mind and beside himself from the sudden burst of activity. Stopping once more, my hands seized the backrest of the nearest dining chair and squeezed the life out of it as I growled, "Why? Why on earth would you tell my sister?"

"Lookit it this way. See, it's like… baby taking her first steps, ya know? I just want all of baby's family and loved ones to feel included in these special lil milestones! Baby being you, of course!"

Oh, "baby" was so going to murder this boy.

"And may I just take this moment to add," oh dear lord, he did not know when to stop talking, even if his very life depended on it, "what a privilege, nay, honor it has been to have a front row seat to - not to mention be instrumental in - your sexual awakening these past several weeks and-"

I threw a coaster at him.

"Hey now, watch it, those are fragile!" Rayne chided as she scooped the other ones off the table to tuck away safely in a cupboard before taking out a different stack to hand to me. "Use these instead. They're garbage, but hard as rocks!"

"Don't give her more ammo!" Lea yelped and ducked as I rapidly chucked my freshly stocked supply of munitions at him. Once I was out, I made another dash for him. Once again, he tried to bolt. This time however, he tripped and stumbled over Marshmallow with a tiny, "Shit!" He managed to grab the edge of the table and catch himself but he'd already lost his lead, giving me a chance to close the distance. Right before I could deliver my righteous justice however, he scooped up Marshmallow and was suddenly holding the giant, squirming ball of white fluff up between us, desperately asking, "You wouldn't hit a guy holding a stupidly cute puppy, would you?"

Huffing through my nose, I narrowed my eyes on him. "Put the dog down, Lea," I said, my voice dangerously low and even.

"Seeing as how the lil furball is the only thing between me and an untimely date with my maker, I'm gonna hafta give ya a hard pass there," he chuckled weakly, inching back a step. Then he was calling over his shoulder, "Lil help, Raindrop?"

She just grinned and shook her head from where she'd taken a seat at the dining table. "Mm-mm, nope. You're on your own, Red."

"Dude. Harsh. I thought we were frien- ow!" he hissed as I took advantage of his distraction to pinch his arm. Marshmallow came in for the assist, chomping down on Lea's fingers and forcing a yelp out of him as he dropped the puppy. Giving his abused hand a shake, he scowled down at the culprit. "Et tu, Marshmallow?"

In response, he just wagged his poof of a tail and sunk his teeth into Lea's leg.

"Destroyer of Worlds, my ass. More like Destroyer of My Ankles, you lil-" Lea's grumbling died down instantly as he saw me take a menacing step towards him. Gulping, he took several steps backwards, snatching up one of the kitchen chairs to use for a makeshift shield. As I kept stalking towards him, he continued backing up until his rear hit a countertop. Sitting atop it and scooching back even further until his spine was against the wall, he stretched one foot out to press against my stomach, holding me at bay with it while he shoved the chair legs in my directions a couple times, "Back! Back I say!"

I froze, blinking at him a couple times. "...are you seriously lion-taming me right now?"

He frowned, eyes darting down to the chair he was holding, then back up to meet my gaze. "Depends. Is it turning you on, my sexy lioness?"

My eyelids drooped. "Not even a little bit."

"Then nope! No, mm-mm, definitely not what I am doing." Something suddenly started ringing back from the direction of the living room. Lea straightened up, eyes brightening, "Oo! Oo! That's your phone, isn't it? Better go answer it!"

"It can go to voicemail," I ground out through my teeth, shoving his foot off my abdomen and taking another step closer.

Still frantically using the chair to defend himself, he asked, "You sure 'bout that? Could be important!"

"It can wait."

"I'll get it!" Rayne chirped, rising and moving to the couch where I'd left my phone. Picking it up, her thumb swiped the screen and she held it up to her ear, cheerfully greeting, "Elsa's pants, she's not in them right now!"

"Rayne!" I whipped my head around to glare at her. She simply winked and blew me a kiss. Sighing, I muttered, "You're just lucky you're pregnant, otherwise you'd be next up on my kill list."

"Hey, double standards!" Lea huffed. "No fair, I can't get pregnant!"

Palm covering the lower half of the phone so it wouldn't pick up her voice, Rayne whispered, "Maybe you're just not doing it right."

"Huh… I'm game to give it a whirl." He smirked at me, "Go on, El. Put a baby in me."

My answer came in the form of grabbing two of the chair legs and giving them a hard shove, ramming the edge of the backrest into Lea's gut.

He grunted and wheezed, "Don't think that's how that's done, babe."

Before I could make a retort, Rayne was abruptly holding my phone in front of my face. "It's Larxene."

My head rocked back slightly, my anger dispersing in an instant as my eyes darted from the mobile, then to my roomie, then back again. Why was the assistant director calling me? Brow furrowed, I finally took it from her and held it up to my ear with an uncertain, "...hello?"

"Get your ass down here. Now."

"I… o-of course! But-"

Click.

She'd hung up.

Both eyebrows shot up my forehead as I slowly lowered the phone, staring at my reflection in the now blackened screen.

"What's up, El?" Lea asked, voice immediately colored in concern as he dropped the chair and slid off the counter onto his feet.

I shook my head. "...guess I better get my ass down there."

Leaving Marshmallow in Rayne's care, Lea and I were on the road within minutes and heading towards Sunset Hill Auditorium. That was my best guess anyway as to wherever it was that Larxene wanted me to get my ass down to. I tucked in my bottom lip as I watched the buildings rush past, my fingers fidgeting with my braid.

Why was I being called in?

The not knowing had me on edge.

Our grand opening of Wicked had occurred last weekend. As was to be expected, I'd been so nervous I'd practically choked on all those butterflies jam-packed inside my stomach trying to escape. But it'd been a good nervous. An excited nervous. And in the end, it'd been so much fun and the show had gone off without a hitch.

Or at least, so I'd thought…

Maybe that's why Larxene was summoning me. Maybe I'd screwed up big time in my role without even realizing it. And I was part of the chorus no less - just one of many, so it would've had to have been one major flub on my part for her to take notice and zero in on me. We were back around to Friday now, so tonight was supposed to be our next showing, followed by several more weekends to come before the musical closed out. But maybe… if I had royally flopped super hard last week...

...oh god… was she going to kick me out of the show?

I gave a start as Lea's hand suddenly closed around mine, lacing our fingers together and stopping me from getting this close to tearing my hair out. He pulled it over to rest in his lap, brushing his thumb back and forth along my knuckles as he continued to drive one handed. "You're sure she didn't say anything else? Anything at all?"

Grimacing, I shook my head. "Nothing. Just told me to come and to be quick about it." I puffed out a sigh, staring down at my lap. "...I doubt it's anything good though. She sounded mad."

He gave an unimpressed razz of his tongue. "That hag always sounds like someone's spit in her Cheerios, so that's not saying much."

That earned him a feeble smile from me, one that swiftly faded. "...what if…" I began, but then clamped my mouth shut against the words, my frown deepening. "...there's this one scene… you remember, from when you saw it last weekend? The bit with the party, where Elphaba is pranked into wearing the witch hat? There's one part of that whole dance routine where we - the chorus that is… we're supposed to twirl to and fro, and maybe… what if I to'd when I should have fro'd and that's why she's calling me in? I to'd when I should've fro'd and wrecked the whole scene and now she's cutting me and making sure I can never, ever work in theater again and-"

"Nonsense, El," he chuckled, shaking his head as he pulled up my hand to kiss the back of it. "Your to-ing and fro-ing were perfect last week. Perfecter than perfect. Those to's and fro's were so perfect that everyone in the audience was too busy being enchanted by you to even pay any attention to the leads and whatever the hell they were doing. In fact, do you wanna know who was sitting in the very seat next to me during that showing?"

My eyelids drooped at how thick this dork was laying it on. "No, but I get the feeling you're about to tell me," I deadpanned.

He grinned big as he turned the car into a parking spot in front of the auditorium and killed the engine. "Why, it was none other than the Grand High King To-And-Fro Champion of the Universe himself! And he was so stunned, so amazed, so enthralled by your hella sick to-ing and fro-ing skills that I overheard him say," here his voice deepened theatrically, "at long last! I've found a worthy successor to bequeath my bedazzling, golden To-And-Fro Crown to!"

I scoffed, using climbing out of the car as an excuse to hide my small, traitorous smile. "Wow, there's a To-And-Fro Crown?"

"You bet your sweet booty there is!" he chirped as he exited the vehicle himself, slamming the door shut behind him.

An amused little huff escaped my nose as I joined him, slipping my hand back into his before making my way towards the entrance to the building. Then I was shooting him some suspicious side-eye. "...you're planning to make me a crown now, aren't you?"

"I dunno what you're talking about," he said a touch too innocently as we climbed the steps and walked inside.

I shot him a dull look. "Do not make me a crown."

"Oh-ho, you're getting a crown whether you like it or not, babycakes."

A soft snort escaped me as I pulled to a stop alongside the back row of audience seats. Then the chilly anxiety began to creep its way back inside my chest. Wrinkling my nose, I muttered, "It'd probably be best if I didn't take you in back with me, so just… wait here, I suppose. This should only take a few minutes… I hope."

Instead of releasing my hand as I turned to go however, his grip gently tightened as he said, "Wait, you forgot this."

"Wha-?" was all I managed to get out before he was tugging me back to him, cupping my cheek and pressing his lips to mine. For a moment, all thoughts of dread were forgotten, washed away by the waves of icy heat sent cascading throughout my body.

As he pulled away, he pressed his forehead to mine and trailed the pad of his thumb along the curve of my cheekbone, murmuring, "Whatever her High-And-Mighty Bitchiness wants, ya give her hell, you hear me?"

Face a little warm, I gave him a tiny smile and a single hesitant nod. Then I squeezed his hand before disentangling our fingers and heading towards the door that led to the backstage area.

The rooms back here were a ghost town currently. I knew however that in only a few short hours the place would be pure chaos with actors and techies alike rushing about in preparation for tonight's show. I frowned, fidgeting with my fingers as I slowly wandered from room to empty room, curious as to where exactly the fearsome assistant director might be hiding. Just when I was thinking about texting her to be sure this actually was in fact where she'd wanted me to come, I heard muffled voices. I glanced around for a second before making my way towards the dressing room as that seemed to be where they were coming from.

Poking my head through the doorway, I spotted three older women who I knew helped Sally with all the costuming for the shows here. They had a few of the costumes for the musical in hand, waving them about as they talked amongst themselves somewhat frantically. All their words were jumbling together into such a muddle of indecipherable noise, it was a wonder any of them were able to keep up with their own conversation.

Taking in a deep breath to settle my nerves before exhaling, I approached them with a polite, "Hi Flora, Fauna, Merryweather... Would any of you possibly know where Lar-"

"Ah! There you are, dear, and not a moment too soon!" The one in a red knit sweater, Flora, cried as she and the others whirled around to face me. "Come, come, there's too much to do and not enough time to do it all in! So many adjustments to make!"

And then I yelped as the three of them pounced.

Okay, maybe "pounced" was a tad strong. But they came at me brandishing tape measures in their hands and safety pins gripped between their teeth and if I'm being perfectly honest, it was a little distressing to say the least.

"Adjustments? What adj- hey, that tickles!" I squirmed as Flora, the one wearing the green hat, stretched out my arm to measure from wrist to armpit. "Adjustments to what?"

Flora smiled sweetly back at me as she wrapped the tape around my bicep now, "To the costumes, of course dear! What else?"

Well duh, I'd figured that much out! But which-

Oh! Hold on… could it be that…

"...was there an accident with one of my outfits? Did something rip and you just need to fix it?" Was that why I'd been called down here? Because if that's all it was, thank goodness!

The lady sporting a blue scarf, Merryweather, ignored my question as she straightened back up with a scowl after taking my height measurement. "Aww, phooey! You're shorter by five inches! Now we have to take up all the hemlines!"

My eyebrows knit together, "Wha… hemlines? What are you… shorter than what? Just what is going-"

"There you are!" A new voice exasperatedly joined the conversation from behind us and I turned to see Larxene striding into the room bearing a clipboard. Or rather, I tried to turn, only to have Flora flip me back around so she could resume measuring my shoulders. "Finally! You certainly took your sweet damn time!"

Wincing slightly, I began, "I… I got here as fast as I could, I-"

She sighed boredly, "Save it, I don't give a crap." Coming to a stop next to me, she eyed her clipboard as she flipped through a couple of the pages. "I got ahold of the others and they should be here any minute for our dry run. As long as no one fucks anything up, that should leave enough time to finish making sure all your costumes fit, your hair is done, and-"

"My hair? What are you doing with my... Wait, why wouldn't my- stop that," I hissed, shooing Fauna away from getting that tape cord anywhere near my bust before looking at Larxene again. "Why wouldn't my costumes fit? And dry run? What dry run? I didn't know about any more rehearsals being scheduled before the show today."

The assistant director gave me a flat look. "...Marluxia didn't tell you?" When my answer was only a blank stare, she growled in her throat, closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Of course he didn't. Why would he? He's only the damn director, ugh! Leave it to Pinkie to delegate without even bothering to tell me!" Cyan eyes locked on me once more and voice taking on what had to be the most unenthused tone in the entire history of all tones, she informed me, "Congratulations. You're Elphaba."

Sorry, I'm who now?

I blinked. Once, then twice. Then, "I'm…? Elph- Wha? Me? No, that can't- That's not- It doesn't- It's not- There's just- It couldn't- No, no, no, there must be-"

Gosh, I've always had such a way with words.

Pressing my lips together firmly and taking a second to gather my thoughts, I tried again. "Snow White-"

"Snow White has food poisoning and can't go on," Larxene enunciated as if she were explaining to a four-year-old child. "So Pinkie has shoulder-tapped you to step up and fill in. Mazel-fucking-tov, now can we move past this already?"

I frowned, barely even noticing now as the flurry of poking, prodding and measuring continued about my person. "But what about… I mean surely there must be a… an understudy! Or-"

She barked out a laugh. "An understudy? Princess please, this is community theater, what understudy?"

My gaze fell to the floor, a crease forming between my eyebrows. Then I was looking at her again, "But this just doesn't make any sense, there has to be someone else! Someone with… with more experience! Why not Tiana or-"

"Tiana's busy," Larxene rolled her eyes.

I shook my head, "Doing what?"

"Um, playing Glinda? Doi?" she arched an eyebrow at me, then scoffed. "We're not going to play musical goddamn chairs with all the leads just a few hours before the show starts. That'd be a royal shitshow, genius. So why don't I just leave all the prancy-wancy acting… stuff to you while you leave the assistant directing to me, okay?" That last word was dripping with enough sarcasm to fill a whole friggin' bucket.

"Then…" I bit down on my bottom lip, breathing shallow and mind racing, desperate to come up with any other solution. "...then one of the other girls! From the tryouts who aren't in the show! Like, oh, what was her name… Yuna?"

Larxene watched me blankly. Then she was tucking her clipboard into her armpit so she could clap her hands together once and coo in candy-coated sweetness, "Okay, yeah! Let's bring in someone who hasn't been to any rehearsals and doesn't know any of the stage layout or any of the choreography! It's perfect! Gee, why didn't I think of that?"

The mockery was neither appreciated nor lost on me.

"Fine! What about- I said stop!" Fauna had been making another shot for my bust and I stumbled out of that tangled mess of hands and measuring tape, huffing and puffing through my nose as I glanced back at them, "What are you even doing?!"

"Making sure we can get all of Snow White's costumes to fit you, dear! Now hold still, we're almost done," Flora said before they all ambushed me again.

Resigned to my fate for the moment, I turned my attention back to Larxene, "But what about one of the other girl's in the chorus? There has to be- There must be someone else who's more trained or… or would be a better fit or-"

"For fuck's sake, Snowflake, why are you fighting this so hard? Do you really need the validation of having me spell it out for you that badly?" Larxene snapped.

My head rocked back and I stared at her with eyes wide. "Wha… Validation? What are you… That's not-"

"Fine." She thrust up one hand to tick off her pinky finger, "One: you're consistent. Annoyingly so. You're the only chorus member who's shown up to every single damn one of the rehearsals. Maybe because all those other pathetic losers have more of a life than you? Don't know, don't care."

Hey now, I had a life!

...I think… it was still sort of a work in progress...

"Two," up went the next finger, "you know the show front and back and could probably recite the whole damn thing from cover to cover at the drop of a hat. You think we haven't noticed you backstage, mirroring all the other actors' stage directions and dance routines and miming along with all the lines and songs like some dumb parrot?"

Oh gosh, they saw that?! Color me mortified.

"Three, you actually got halfway decent pipes and should be able to handle Elphaba's songs at least well enough to not completely embarrass yourself."

Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence.

Jutting out one hip to plant a fist against it, Larxene stared down her nose at me. "So what's it gonna be, Shortbread? You've put in the time, you know your stuff, you got the voice… question is, you got the balls to actually do it?"

I stiffened, sucking in a breath and holding it. I'd run out of arguments to push back with. And honestly…

...did I really want to be arguing this?

The silence stretched as my heart pounded in my ears. Then finally and at long last, I gave a single yet vigorous nod. "Yes."

She smirked. "Good, cuz that was a trick question. You didn't actually have a choice, bitch."

The door to the room banged open as yet another person abruptly came sprinting into the room. She had long dark red hair beneath her newsboy cap and poking out of her shoulder bag was a crude hand-sewn doll that she was never seen without, though I'd never quite been able to figure out what it was exactly… a cat? A pig? Your guess was as good as mine. As for the girl herself, what I did know about her was that she also helped with costuming. Right now, she came bearing a giant black bottle that she waved high over her head. "Got it! Got th… the hair dye!" she panted out as she came stumbling to a stop and braced her shoulder against the wall for support, looking as if she'd just run a marathon.

"Hair dye?" my hand unconsciously went to my braid.

"Oh don't worry!" she gave an exhausted chuckle as she batted her hand through the air. "It's the kind that washes out, but it'll still look great on you!"

"Alright, wrap this up, ladies, we don't have all fucking day," Larxene snapped her fingers a couple times as she started making her way towards the exit. "Snowflake, your ass better be on stage in five so we can get this damn show on the road, got it?"

"Ah… y-yes, of course, I'll be-"

But she was already gone, slamming the door shut behind her.

"Shiki, be a dear and get these measurements to Sally," Flora finished jotting something down on two slips of paper before handing them both to the redhead. "There's a copy in there for you too, so you can grab Elphaba's nightgown for the Popular scene and start taking in the waist."

"Got it!" Shiki nodded as solemnly as a soldier being sent off to war. I was surprised she didn't salute before she darted out through a door in back that led to a deeper part of the dressing rooms.

The remaining three women were suddenly a red, green and blue whirlwind of activity as they bustled about the room, a cacophony of noise once more, flailing costumes as they went. I just kind of stood off awkwardly to one side, rubbing my elbow. Fauna noticed me long enough for a quick but friendly, "We're done, dear."

"Oh, okay," I nodded as she dashed off.

More awkward standing.

"Go on, shoo!" Merryweather impatiently whipped the outfit she was holding at me as she blurred past.

With a start, I gasped, "Right! I, uh… I'll get out of your way," before hastily retreating out the door.

I was still kind of in a state of shock. Because, come on… that was a lot to happen in the space of five minutes! Here I'd come in expecting to get cut, not to have a friggin' lead part dropped into my lap. None of this felt real. Was this a dream? Or maybe more like a nightmare, considering I'd actually been crazy enough to say yes. Oh dear god, was I even ready for this?

Feet seemingly on autopilot, I hardly realized where I was even going as I numbly walked back out towards the audience seating. Lea was slouched down in one of the chairs in back, lollipop stick poking out of one corner of his mouth and red Converse kicked up onto one of the backrests of the row in front of him as he thumbed through his phone.

Looking up as I approached, he grinned and hopped up to his feet with a chipper, "How did it go with Larxy?" But then he squinted at me with a frown. "...do I need to knock her block off? Cuz I'll do it. I don't care if she's a girl, I'll-" he cut himself off, lips pursing to the left. "Scratch that, that hag scares the everliving crap outta me. But I'll tell you what, I will definitely write her a strongly worded letter, or… ah! Passive aggressive post-it notes! That bitch is gonna be getting so many passive aggressive post-it notes from me, she'll rue the day she ever messed with my boo!"

Shaking my head slowly and still in an almost sort of trance, I said, "They're, uh… they needed to make adjustments."

One of his eyebrows quirked. "Adjustments?"

I nodded, staring off into space, eyes unfocused. "To the, um… the…" I gestured to my clothes by way of explanation. Don't think he got it. I kept going as if he had though. "And there's hair dye. And a dry run. Because of the poison."

"Poison?" he echoed again, this time slightly more alarmed.

"So they asked me to- well, I mean, I told them they should have a- you'd think they would have one, wouldn't you? But apparently no, not for community theater. So I said, well why not Tiana? But.. but Larxene didn't want to play musical chairs, and I suppose she had a point. And Yuna hasn't been around and wouldn't know any of the- not to mention all of the other girls have more of a life, so that apparently makes me the-" I suddenly inhaled sharply, digging my phone out of my pocket. "I should tell Anna."

"What? Tell Anna what?!" he asked, but I had already tapped her name in my contacts and was pressing the phone to my ear as I shushed him. His shoulders slumped and he muttered, "I have no freaking clue what's even happening."

It only rang once before a male voice answered, "City zoo, reindeer speaking."

Rolling my eyes as I also heard Anna's faint snickering in the background on the other end of the line, I said, "Hi Kristoff. Could you put my sister on please?"

Oh yeah, those two were an item now. Well, kind of… it was still new and Anna was taking it slow for once.

They were actually kind of cute together.

Though it was really weird seeing Kristoff smile so much now.

"Dweeb," came a muffled giggle from Anna, which I assumed was more so directed at my coworker than at me. There were some shuffling sounds as the phone presumably exchanged hands before she came in loud and clear in my ear with a bright, "Hey, Sis! What's up?"

At long last, a hint of a smile started to tug at my lips. "Something… something amazing has happened, you'll never guess! I-"

"Oh! I know already, and I am so friggin' proud of you, you have no idea!"

I blinked, tipping my head to one side. "You are? Wait, how could you possibly know already? I just-"

"Lea told me!" My forehead wrinkled at that as my eyes darted to him. Suddenly she let loose a piercing squeal and I flinched, holding the phone away a bit. "Ahhh! Lookit you! My big sis is all growed up and giving her man hickies! 'Bout friggin' time too!"

My right eye twitched.

Ah. Right. That. I'd almost forgotten.

My free hand snaked out to give Lea's arm another pinch and he yelped, lollipop tumbling from his lips. Fumbling to catch it, he grumbled, "Shit, El, what'd I do?"

Jabbing my fingertip against his chest at the exact spot where I'd left my mark under his shirt, I hissed, "You know what you did."

With a tiny sheepish chuckle, he scratched a spot behind his ear. "Oh yeah…"

Oh-ho, he was going to rue the day. And trust me, it wasn't going to be with passive aggressive post-it notes.

I narrowed my eyes on him as I continued my phone conversation, "First of all, I never want to hear the H-word coming out of your mouth again. You're my little sister, it's just… it's too weird." I paused with a small shudder, but then a grin slowly began fighting its way back onto my face. "Second of all… I'm Elphaba."

"...elle-fab-wha?"

I made a noise in my throat that was half sigh, half groan. What, did she sleep through the show when she saw it last week? ...honestly, I wouldn't have been surprised. "A lead. They made me a lead, okay? Th-" a gasp stifled my words as my free hand flew up to cover my mouth. It was finally actually hitting me. This was real. Saying out loud had suddenly made it so very, very real. "Oh my god, they made me a lead."

"They what?!" Anna shrieked in delight at the same time Lea surprised me by hugging my waist, picking me up and spinning me around as he laughed, "Babe, that's amazing!"

As he was putting me back down, I could hear Anna babbling, "How did this happen?! Tell me, I want to know everything! How is this even possible? Aren't all the leads filled?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but Lea started talking as well, "Did one of the stars call in sick? Shit, did she call in dead? You said something about poison, which is a thing I think we sorta glossed over and should circle back to."

Again, I took in a breath to form words. Again, I was cut off. "Did they realize how friggin' talented and beautiful and incredible you are and just write a new leading part specifically for you?"

"Was the actress poisoned? Was she murdered?" Lea then gave a dramatic mock gasp. "...did you murder her for the part?"

"What am I saying? Of course that's what they did, ah! I can't believe they friggin' wrote in a whole new character just for you! Except I can believe it and I do!"

"Cuz if you did, you know you can tell me, right? Your secret is safe with me, just damn, El... who knew beneath that whole sweet, doe-eyed routine of yours beat the heart of a ruthless, cold-blooded killer?"

"Both of you, shush!" I huffed, finally managing to get a word in edgewise. Jeez, I could barely handle one person talking to me on a good day, let alone two at the same time. To my boyfriend, I articulated slowly, "Food poisoning, Lea. Food poisoning." As he just sniggered and shrugged, I spoke into the phone, "And Anna, no, that's not how plays work. Someone fell ill, I'm just filling in." I puffed out a soft breath and hesitated, worrying my bottom lip between my teeth now. "...listen, are you busy tonight? Do you think… Would you be able to make it?"

"You want me there?! Really?" I winced at how shocked she sounded. "I mean, Sis, don't get me wrong, I'd absolutely love to go, but… me being there, that wouldn't, ya know… psych you out or make you feel more pressure?"

Restless fingers fiddling with my braid, I was silent for a few seconds. Then I gave a firm nod even though I knew she couldn't see it. "I would… really like it if you were there. Kristoff can come too, if you want."

Another eardrum bursting squeal. Don't think I was joking either. Pretty sure that was blood I felt trickling out of my ear now. "We are so there! We'll be like your groupies! We'll paint our faces and hold up signs saying how much we heart you and-"

"No!" I said quickly. Because I knew Anna. She wasn't kidding. "No face paint, no signs!"

"Oo, what's this I hear about face paint and signs?" Lea's eyes lit up.

I hung my head, pressing my fingers to the spot between my eyebrows. "Great, now you've gotten Lea's hopes up. You know how he latches on."

Giggling, Anna said, "And don't worry about inviting Mom and Dad, I'll pass the invite along to them for y-"

My shoulders stiffened. "Do not tell them! They won't care."

"But-"

"Just don't, Anna, okay? See you tonight." I scowled as my thumb pressed the 'End Call' button, silencing any further argument from her.

"Don't tell who what?" Lea asked, cocking his head slightly.

With a tiny exhale as I pocketed my phone, I said, "She wanted to invite my parents to tonight's show as well, which is ridiculous. They wouldn't want to come."

He frowned, then crossed his arms as he leaned one hip against an audience seat. "Do you want them there?"

I scrunched up my face. "...I haven't spoken to them in months. Not since that disastrous weekend you and I visited them. If the first thing they heard from me after all this time was to ask them to come see my silly little play… no, they wouldn't be interested. In fact, they'd probably be insulted. You know they discouraged my interest in theater all my life, so this would just be like a slap in the face to them. This is the last place they'd want to be, they wouldn't even be caught dead here. They won't come."

"But do you want them there?" he pressed again.

Hugging myself, I looked down, staring hard at my feet. "...Anna better listen to me. She better not tell them, or I'll-"

"What part of 'ass on stage in five' did you not understand, Princess?!" Larxene's voice was suddenly booming throughout the auditorium. I whirled around to see all the other performers had arrived and were waiting on stage with our illustrious assistant director in the front, glaring daggers at me as she impatiently tapped her foot. "Chop, chop, we don't have all day!"

"C-Coming!" I stammered back, then screwed my eyes shut as another thought struck me. I muttered, "Shoot, I was going to call Rayne too."

"Don't worry, I'll pass the message along. We'll all be there with bells and whistles on," Lea winked. I gave him a quiet thank you as I turned to rush off. Before I could take so much as a step however, Lea stopped me with a, "Hey." I glanced back at him and he grinned softly as he reminded me, "They gave you a lead."

I blinked. Then a huge smile spread across my face.

This was happening.

This was real. Like, really real.

Suddenly bubbling over with excitement and in need of an outlet, I flung myself at Lea and kissed him.

"God fucking damnit, now, Snowflake!" Larxene snapped.

"Be right up!" I called as I released him, tossing him one final hasty wave over my shoulder as I dashed towards the stage.

This wasn't a dream.

This was really happening.

And I couldn't wait to get started.

Scratch that, I could wait.

Maybe hold off for another hour or two? Or, I don't know… twelve? Tomorrow! Yes, tomorrow, would be great. Or better yet, perhaps a week from now? Heck, why not round it up to a nice, even year. Sound good?

If it wasn't obvious, I was having second thoughts. Not to mention third and fourth thoughts to boot.

It was kind of hard not to when I'd made the mistake of peeking out past the curtains to see just how many people were out there. Answer? A lot. So many. Too many. How did they even all fit in there? I could swear I remember the auditorium being a lot smaller… had it grown bigger in the past couple hours? Pretty sure it had grown bigger. I mean, that was the only logical explanation for the sheer amount of people in the audience now, right? Right.

Letting go of the curtain to block out the terrifying sight once more, I drew in a slow breath and held it for a few seconds. There was about fifteen minutes left before the show was to start. Fifteen very few, very short minutes. My face and neck were painted green, along with my hands that currently shook as I wrung them together. My hair was black and still braided and very tempting to tug at, but I resisted. My costume - a formal, blue three piece skirt suit with a knit cap - still didn't quite fit right in some places, but it fit well enough. The costuming ladies had actually done a pretty amazing job in the scant time they'd had to work with, I couldn't even fathom how they'd managed to get everything done. My best guess? Magic. It was the only thing that made sense.

My pulse chugged along at what felt like a billion beats per second and… crud, my palms were clammy. I hoped that wouldn't wipe away the body paint. Ugh, you would think I wouldn't be so nervous. I mean, what was the big deal anyway? So what if I was going to be on stage in front of that huge crowd? You know what, I'd been on stage in front of a huge crowd last week too and I'd handled it just fine. True, I'd just been a part of the chorus then, whereas tonight I was Elphaba, but what was the difference, I mean really? Just a handful of solo songs, a few hundred (or was it thousand?) more lines… then of course so many more eyes focused on me… so many more chances that something could go wrong…

Dammit, I was just being silly! Repeat after me, Elsa: nothing will go wrong. Nothing will go wrong. After all, the dry run had gone smoothly, hadn't it? Almost surprisingly so. Now I just had to do the exact same thing again, only this time in front of a room full of people!

...so many, many people...

Okay, this wasn't helping. I needed to take my mind off all this anxiety and calm down. What was that old trick for dealing with stage fright? ...picture the audience naked?

I hesitated, pursing my lips to one side. Then I poked a finger through the curtains once more to take another quick look. Then I was retracting my hand to my chest, letting the curtains fall shut again.

...yeah, no. Pretending like I was performing for a nudist colony? Not helping.

Now I was only nervous and blushing. Just dandy.

A hand suddenly clapped down on my shoulder, making me jolt and swallow a small yelp.

"Don't worry, you'll be great!" someone whispered next to me. I turned my head to see Tiana smiling brightly at me, looking stunning in her poofy, sparkly Glinda dress with her hair done up in lustrous curls. "Break a leg."

It took a second for my brain to catch up and remember that that was an old theater saying for wishing me luck.

Oh gosh, were we… bonding? I wasn't quite sure, I didn't know what it looked like. Everyone here had always been nice enough to me, of course, but it's not like we interacted all that much outside of rehearsals, not really. I'd been getting slightly better with this whole human interaction thing, but I still wasn't exactly big on the concept. I didn't know what to do with this newfound showman camaraderie.

...at the very least, I should reciprocate, right?

As she moved off to get onto her floating platform that she was supposed to make her grand entrance on at the start of the show, I quietly but hastily called after her, "You, uh… y-you too! Break both of them! And… and an arm as well!" Wait, what? "In fact, I'll break them all for you and-"

Both my hands shot up to gag myself.

For the love of… Learn to quit while your ahead, you stupid useless mouth!

Breathing a muffled sigh into my fingers, I slowly lowered my hands as I glanced up at the clock hanging on the wall. The minutes were ticking by far too quickly. My body was practically vibrating with all the nervous energy coursing through it and not for the first time, I seriously considered making a break for it. I knew where the back exit was to this place and I'd been left unsupervised. Really, that was just asking for trouble. Everyone should know by now what a goddamn friggin' flight risk I was!

I pushed that oh so appealing thought to the back of my mind however, locking it up and throwing away the key. A distraction… that's what I needed right now! But where to find such a thing…?

I looked to the heavy velvet curtain once more, pausing for a few heartbeats.

You'd think I'd have learned my lesson by now, but…

Yet again, I nudged it open a smidge to peek out.

It only took me a few seconds to spot them in the audience, third row from the front and slightly towards the right. Lea, Roxas, and Xion, chatting and laughing about something. Lea abruptly got Roxas in a headlock and started mussing up his hair while Xion just cackled. I hid a tiny grin behind my fingers as I watched Rayne reach across Xion, using her playbill pamphlet to swat at Lea's elbow trying to get him to stop manhandling Roxas.

This was what I'd needed to soothe me. To look out into that sea of people and see the faces of those I cared about.

To Rayne's right, Riku just read his own playbill and wisely stayed out of the mini-brawl that'd broken out. Then next to him were Anna and Kristoff. My sister was currently making a silly face as she took a selfie of the two of them, while he sported a goofy smile and couldn't seem to take his eyes off her.

Yes, exactly what I'd needed. One look at Lea, Roxas, Xion, Rayne, Riku, Anna, Kristoff, and my parents already had me feeling so much-

Wait…

Run that list by me again?

Lea, Roxas, Xion, Rayne, Riku, Anna, Kristoff, and-

I gasped, the curtain escaping my grasp and slipping back into place.

No, no, no, what were they doing here?! They shouldn't be here! They couldn't be here! There had to be some mistake! I must have been seeing things, it must have just been some… some trick of the light! Yeah, that had to be it! All I had to do was pull the curtain aside again and see for myself that it was just some other older couple who looked ridiculously rich, ridiculously out of place, and ridiculously uncomfortable.

Swallowing hard, I tentatively reached for that thick velvet fabric once more, parting it by an inch.

...fudge. No question about it. That was definitely and without a doubt... my parents.

I released the curtains once more, frowning. A few seconds ticked by. Then I poked them to one side again.

Nope. Still there. Still them.

...maybe I should try closing and opening the curtains one more time?

Zip it, brain, you're not helping!

This just… this didn't make any sense! What were they even doing here?!

My anxious eyes darted over a couple seats from them to where Anna was still in selfie mode, finger hooked in her mouth to flash her gums while she stuck out her tongue and crossed her eyes.

My eyelids drooped.

Why that little…

I dashed over to the dressing rooms, snatching my phone out of the locker I was using for my personal items before rushing back over to the curtains, fingers furiously tapping out a text message as I went.

I will END you.

Annnnnnnd send.

Sneaking a glimpse out into the audience once more, I watched as Anna suddenly went very rigid, face pale and wide eyes locked on her phone screen. Then, as if she could sense my icy death glare on her, she looked up and directly at the tiny gap in the curtains through which I was peering. I swiped a finger slowly across my throat. She quite visibly gulped, gaze darting over to our parents. Oh yes. She knew exactly why I was going to murder her. Then her thumbs were a blur as they started tapping at her phone. I felt mine vibrate in my hands and I glanced down at it.

it wsnt me i swear thy just showd up id nevr do that 2 u plz dont kll me i luv u and thnk ur so so pretty

As she then proceeded to spam me with various heart and kiss emojis, a crease formed between my eyebrows and I looked to the crowd once more. My parents wouldn't have known to come on their own, so someone had to have told them.

If not Anna, then who…?

My gaze landed on another certain redhead, currently snickering as his fingers ruffled his hair.

...oh-ho, he wouldn't have much left to snicker about by the time I was through with him.

Glancing to my phone once more, I swapped over to my text conversation with Lea and started typing.

Left backstage door. Now.

I watched long enough to see him pull out his phone, quirk an eyebrow as he read my message, then hop up to his feet to make his way towards the requested rendezvous point. I ran behind stage, turning down a hallway and descending the steps leading to the other side of that same door. As I pulled it open a crack to peer out, I could see Lea standing there with his back to me, hands shoved into his pockets as he idly rocked on his feet while waiting. The audience murmur was dying down as the lights began to dim, indicating the show was about to start. That was okay, that still gave me roughly ten more minutes before I had to be on stage.

More than enough time to hide the body when I was through with my meddling boyfriend.

"Psssst," I hissed to get his attention, opening the door wider.

Lea spun around, took one look at me and snerked, both hands coming up to cup over his mouth. His eyes crinkled as he seemed to take a second to compose himself. Then in a whisper that shook with barely contained laughter, he said, "I'm sorry, but you make… the cutest teenage mutant ninja turtle."

Not wanting to disturb the audience as the first notes of the play's music started up, I simply rolled my eyes, grabbed him by the front of the shirt and yanked him through the door, letting it fall shut behind him.

He stumbled into me, his hands immediately going to my hips as he smirked down the few inches that separated us. "Mmm, so that's what this is? Need me to help you work off some of those pre-show jitters, huh? Wouldn't think you'd have the time to squeeze in a lil makeout sesh, but if you insist…" He gently pressed me up against the wall, pinning my body there with his. Ducking his head down, his lips found my throat as he murmured, "I'll admit, I am pretty curious to find out just how far down this green goes…"

I shivered as his kisses down my neck left a warm tingle in their wake.

...reason…

There'd been a reason I'd wanted to see him, and this wasn't it.

...unless… was it?

Wait! No! Focus, Elsa, focus! I'd wanted to talk to him about, uh… about my, uh…

"Parents!" I breathed out at last, regaining some semblance of thought as I cleared my throat. "It was you who invited my parents here, wasn't it?"

He stilled against my neck. Then he was straightening back up once more and I had to choke back a laugh. Thanks to my body paint, his mouth had now taken on a lovely shade of emerald. "Maybe… who wants to know?" he asked with a playful shrewdness. I narrowed my eyes up at him, to which he grinned, "No seriously, who? I can't tell which one you're supposed to be. Donatello? Raphael?"

"Bold of you to mock someone who's has intimate knowledge of all your weak points," I deadpanned, poking him in the side where I knew he was ticklish. He yelped and squirmed. Ah, sweet sweet vengeance. I then released a grumbling sigh. "...I told you not to tell them."

Lea struck up a finger, "Correction: you told Anna not to tell them. You never said a word about what I myself should or shouldn't do."

"But I said I didn't want them here!" I shot back, mindful to still keep my voice low.

"Did ya though?" he cocked an eyebrow at me. My hand shot out for his ticklish spot again, but he caught it with a triumphant, "Ha! But no really, you didn't. You did however give me an impressive list of excuses as to why you assumed they wouldn't wanna come."

"Because they wouldn't!" I pressed. But then I hesitated, averting my gaze before muttering, "...or rather… I thought they wouldn't." I shook my head. "...what did you even say to them?"

His shoulders gave a small shrug. "Nothing much, I don't even remember really. But cliff notes version? Something along the lines of how important this was to you and if they ever hoped to have even so much as a snowball's chance in hell of being a part of your life ever again, it'd be important to them too."

My face twisted sourly. It was kind of getting hard to stay mad at him. Especially when I had to keep staring at those toad-lips of his. But damned if I wasn't going to try. "So what, you expect me to believe you just called them up and-"

"Oh," he chuckled and shook his head, "no, I didn't call. I mean, I tried to at first, but only got as far as leaving a message with the butler. So figured, hell, got several hours to kill before curtain time... why not take a lil road trip?"

I stared at him, eyes growing round. "Oh no."

Lea beamed, "Oh yes! We had quite the pleasant chat, your folks and I. In the... Jasmine Room I believe it was this time. It was nice. Cozy. There was even tea."

A quiet snort escaped me now as my expression softened, reaching a hand up to touch his cheek. "...that was a very sweet, not to mention a very stupid and overstepping thing to do."

"If by 'stupid and overstepping' you mean 'brilliant and endearing,' then you and I are in total and one hundred percent agreement," one side of his mouth quirked. He then puffed out a smug, lofty sigh, "What can I say, I just can't help being so awesome. Try not to swoon while in the presence of the awe-inspiring greatness that is yours truly."

I gave him a blank look. "Your lips are green."

He blinked, removing one hand from my waist to poke at his lips before pulling his fingertip away to discover it was now a delightful lime color. Then he flashed his dimple, "You say that like it isn't just another example of my awesomeness."

Biting back a small smile, I idly smoothed a thumb at the corner of his mouth. "I will say I am rather fond of the way it brings out the color of your eyes."

"Now ya gone and done it," he hugged me more tightly against him. "This moment right here? You remember it good. Now when I go and start making green lipstick my new aesthetic, just remember that it's all thanks to you telling me that."

"...fudge."

He snerked before leaning his face in closer to mine now, his breath warming my lips as he whispered, "Now whaddya say to me laying some sweet green sugar on ya, babydoll?"

I spluttered in amusement, clamping a hand over his mouth before he could finish closing the distance. "And risk you ruining my makeup even further? I don't think so. Besides, I should get back, I'm sure I must be due on stage any minute."

Pulling his face free of my grasp, he now rested his forehead to mine and nuzzled our noses together. "C'mon, you're fine. One lil smooch or two won't hurt any-"

A sudden loud, ominous crackle filled the air. We both turned our heads to discover now standing at the top of the stairs was a certain assistant director with a homicidal gleam in her eye as she held up a sparking taser. Larxene shut it off, gravely intoning, "Oh you miserable little man. How shall I fry thy lame-o ass for trespassing backstage? Let me count the ways." The taser buzzed with electricity once more.

"Gottarunbabeknock'emdeadoutthere," Lea blurted out, planting a swift peck to my forehead before bolting out the door back to audience seating so fast, you'd have missed if you'd blinked.

Leaving me to face the walking, talking electrocution chair in human form all on my own.

Gee thanks, Lea. So brave. So valiant. My hero.

The big, fat chicken.

I gulped, licking my dry lips and squaring my shoulders. "Larxene, I-"

"Will you just go get ready for your cue?" she huffed, stepping aside and gesturing with the taser for me to get a move on. "I'll chew you out after the show."

Releasing a small breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding, I nodded and ran up the steps past her. As I snatched up and put on my prop glasses, picked up the student briefcase to complete my costume and got into position just offstage, I saw that it was almost time for me to make my entrance. It was just now hitting me that I'd been so distracted by having my little chat with Lea that I'd missed out on precious panicking time. As if my body were trying to make up for it all at once, my heart rate abruptly skyrocketed, blood rushed in my ears and my knees trembled.

But beneath it all was also the teeniest flash of giddiness.

This was it.

There was no time left for freaking out or worrying about what could go wrong or stressing out about my parents being in the audience.

I tensed as I heard my cue, hesitating for a beat.

There was no time left for anything except to just go out there and get on with it.

So I did. I drew in a deep breath and took that first step out onto the stage.

I will never forget those first five minutes.

Everything about it had just been so… different. Being a lead had made it all different. The warmth radiating from the stage lights above had been different. The hush from an auditorium packed with people had been different. Even the very air itself as I'd breathed it into my lungs had felt different.

Those first five minutes would stay with me forever until the day I died. Because those five minutes had been undeniably and without question…

...the absolute worst experience of my whole life.

I'd tripped and stumbled over my own two feet. I'd forgotten simple stage directions. I hadn't talked loud enough at first. When I finally did speak up, I'd stammered through half my lines and completely skipped over others all together. At one point, I'd even accidentally said somebody else's line for them.

It'd been terrible. Simply awful. Literally a nightmare. One I was pretty sure I'd had before. One I'd kept praying to wake up from but never did. I'd wanted to run off the stage. Just flee into the night and never look back. Every last molecule of my being had been all but screaming at me to do so.

But I didn't.

Somehow - and I'm still to this day not quite sure how exactly - I'd stuck it out. I stood fast and stubbornly soldiered through it. And I'm so glad I did.

Because waiting at the end of those infernal five minutes had been my first song.

From the second those opening musical notes filled the air and hit my eardrums, everything had changed. My body began to relax as the tension eased bit by bit. For that tune had reminded me why I was here. That this is something I really, really wanted to do. Had dreamed of doing ever since I was a little girl. Suddenly it no longer mattered that there was an audience out there. It didn't matter that all eyes were on me.

All that mattered was pouring my heart into my song and giving it my all.

After that, everything suddenly seemed to just click. I knew where to go. I knew what to do. I knew what to say as clearly as if I'd had the script on a teleprompter in front of me the whole time that only I could see. I was no longer scared little Elsa trying and failing miserably at playing a role. I was that role. I was Elphaba.

And it was amazing.

Perfect, in fact.

Before long, I was singing my last song with Glinda. Before long, I was making my final exit offstage with the Scarecrow as the curtains closed behind us. Before long, I was stepping out with the rest of the cast to take our bows before the applauding crowd. And before long, it was all over and I was descending down the steps into the audience area…

...where I was immediately all but tackled to the ground by Anna, Rayne, and Xion in a vicious group hug.

"Guys, if you were trying to squeeze the life out of me, you've succeeded," I wheezed, trying to wriggle free. "It's done. There's no life left in me. Now for the love of all that is good and oxygenated, let go!"

Thankfully they released me. Ah, blessed, blessed air, how I missed thee. Xion was the first to pipe up with, "Oh my god, Elsa! You were fantastic! I had no idea you were gonna be so good!"

"Good?! Please," Anna scoffed before grabbing me by the shoulders to excitedly shake me, "Sis, you crushed it!"

"My precious bab is gonna grow up to be a star!" Rayne bawled, pinching both my cheeks.

Baby hormones. Don't mind her.

Pulling my face free of her fingers, I humored them with a shy smile. "You're all very sweet, but it's okay. There's no need to exaggerate."

Anna narrowed her eyes over a grin, "Please, don't even try to give us that BS. You were phenomenal and you know it!"

I gave her a flat look. "Oh yeah, so phenomenal. Especially those first few minutes."

"Shhhh," Xion pressed a finger to my lips with a smirk. "We pretend those minutes don't exist."

A throat cleared, causing the girls to turn and part to reveal the other half of their little group, aka the boys. Lea was front and center, one corner of his lips (oh dear lord, they were still the color of grass) twitching up as he stepped forward with a colorful bouquet in hand.

I fought a losing battle to suppress my growing smile as I took the flowers from him, not failing to notice the winter honeysuckle sprinkled into the mix. Crinkling my eyes up at him, I teased, "What a totally outdated and unnecessary gesture… thanks, I hate it."

"Liar," he snorted, slipping a hand around my waist as he pressed his lips to my hair. "Way to own that stage. I mean it, El. You kicked some serious ass up there."

Anna shook her head with a soft giggle, "That's what we were trying to tell her!"

"But the goob doesn't know how to take a compliment," Rayne tsked, flicking my forehead.

"What? C'mon, don't play coy. You know you were pure awesome incarnate, way better than that other chick that usually plays her," Lea booped his fingertip to my nose.

I suddenly felt very grateful that I was still caked in body paint. All the better to hide my blush with, my dear. I scrunched up my nose and averted my gaze, "You're just saying that because you're biased."

"Oh, one hundred percent. But doesn't make it any less true!" he chirped.

I rolled my eyes.

Time for a topic change.

"Your lips are still green."

Hey, I never said anything about it being a particularly good topic change.

"And this surprises you how? I already told ya, babycakes, this is my new brand. Speaking of, time to apply a fresh coat!" And with that, he began smothering me from temple to cheek to jaw in kisses. I squirmed, smacking him with the bouquet.

"Anyone else up for a late dinner?" Riku chimed in as he joined his wife at her side, hugging an arm around her shoulders and nuzzling her cheek before turning his gaze on me. "You must be starved after blowing away the whole audience like that."

Oh gosh, if one more person complimented me, I fear I might explode. I'd never been built to handle so much attention and praise. It made me uncomfortable and I never knew how to respond, nor did I really want it. All I'd ever wanted to was to simply put on what was hopefully at least a halfway decent show.

As the others rumbled in agreement about finding somewhere to eat that'd still be open this late, I nodded as well, "Just… give me a moment to get changed and clean off all this green."

"No no, my sweet, leave it on… for later," Lea cooed into my ear, waggling his eyebrows.

A huff of a laugh escaped me. "Now you're just making it weird."

Eyes dancing, his mouth opened to retort but before he could make so much as a sound, somebody else was interjecting with, "Pardon us."

I inhaled sharply, my spine snapping ramrod straight at that voice.

Crud, I'd completely forgotten that they were here.

Our whole group suddenly fell very quiet as all eyes turned to a nearby couple standing uncertainly off to one side, watching us all warily.

My parents.

Looking just as uncomfortable and out of place as they had before the show.

As they tentatively began to approach, Roxas and Kristoff shifted to make space for them. Their eyes settled on me at first before briefly flicking over towards Lea, who still had his arms wrapped tightly around me with seemingly zero intention of removing them, propriety be damned. I had to resist the very strong urge to clap my hand over his minty lips, abruptly very aware of the fact that that was probably what'd drawn my parents' fleeting focus to him. Thankfully, they made no comment. I'm not even sure what I would have said if they had.

Looking to me once more, Mother was finally the first to break the silence that somehow felt like it'd already been going for absolute centuries. "Elsa," she began but paused, an unsure frown in place as she seemed to search for the right words. "...you... did very well."

"Yes," Father lifted his chin slightly, the epitome of stiff politeness. "The show was… adequately entertaining."

I felt Lea's muscles go rigid beside me, could see his nostrils flaring out of the corner of my eye. I was quick to place a hand to his chest, speaking up before he could. "Th-thanks… Thank you very much," I told them softly with a small bow of my head.

They looked like they may have wanted to say more, but apparently seemed to think better of it. Instead, Father went with, "It's late. We best be off."

"See you back at home," Mother told Anna, reaching over a hand to lightly brush at her cheek. My sister's eyes darted from her over to me, then back. Then she just gave a tiny nod and said nothing as our parents turned and left.

Once they were out those double doors at the far end of the auditorium, Lea grumbled, "'Adequately entertaining' my ass… what was that bullshit?"

My gaze still on where they'd exited, a slow smile spread across my lips. "That was them trying," I murmured, glancing up at him. "I think maybe I'll give them a call tomorrow."

Author's Note: Ha! You didn't SERIOUSLY think I'd include "Wicked" in this and not let Elsa get to play the role of Elphaba, did you?! For those of you who don't know, Elsa's voice actress Idina Menzel is also famous for being Elphaba in the musical "Wicked"! So of course I couldn't let El's talents be wasted in the chorus for the entire show… our ice queen bab got her time to shine! And if how Elsa came around to getting to play the part sounds possibly far fetched, it's not as much of a stretch at it might seem! I did some research into it and it's true: it's very common in community theater to not have understudies, so if someone gets sick or otherwise can't perform, often the first place they'll look for a replacement is in the chorus! Side note: I for some reason took WAY too much joy in my stupid lil Snow White and food poisoning reference, don't ask me why xD In any case, El got to do one or two more shows as Elphaba (basically finished out that specific weekend's showings) before Snow White was feeling well enough to resume the role. But Elsa definitely had a blast and is eager to hopefully get a bigger part in whatever show her community theater decides to put on next! As for her folks, don't get me wrong, they're still in the dog house and won't be off the hook for a while yet, but the olive branch has been extended, a shaky truce has been formed and an awkward phone call is now made from time to time… for now xD Also - and this won't be any time soon, mind you - but I might have to go back at some point and write out another brief one-shot just for Lea's lil visit with El's folks where he "politely" (ha!) invited them to the show xD

Thanks for reading, I super duper appreciate it! And an extra BIG thank you to those of you who’ve liked, reblogged, and followed so far, seeing those lil notifications always brings the biggest, goofiest smile to my face!

Be back for next week's bonus chapter! In which there will be… BELLS! Do these bells have any particular significance to the plot of next chapter? Or are they just a brief prop and a red herring for this author's note? Stay tuned!

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[lowritesthings]

Resonance

Part 3 of ?? (Part 1)  << Previous // Next >> 

The celebration is already underway—sans Cloud—when you get there. Tifa looks up as you arrive and the first thing you notice is that there’s a little unease behind her normal smile.

“I’m glad you could make it,” she says, standing and coming over to you. She takes your arm and pulls you further into the bar, past the table where Jessie, Wedge and Biggs are reliving the night before.

“Where’s Cloud?” you ask her quietly. She wrinkles her nose and flicks a glance at Barret, and understanding dawns. “So, the boss man still has it out for the guy?”

“I don’t blame him,” Tifa replies, in a tone that says she truly doesn’t, but she wishes things were different. You pat her hand and take a seat with her at Barret’s table.

“I got next round,” you call over to the other table, and grin when Jessie lets out an excited whoop. There’s nothing she loves more than drinking for free, and you figure the team has earned it.

“We-ell, lookit miss moneybags over here!” Biggs toasts you with his mostly empty glass and laughs. “You sure do know your way to this crew’s hearts.”

“Bandaids and beer,” you joke as you exchange a smile with Tifa. “Works every time.”

“Is that your motto? I like it,” Wedge says. “Bandaids and beer! We should have someone make you a patch for your medical bag.”

You laugh and go with Tifa to help carry the next round of drinks. When you’re alone behind the bar you drop your voice. “Everything okay?”

“It’s just the next op. I worry, you know? And Barret won’t hire Cloud again so...I know they can handle it, but…”

“Tifa,” you start, but you don’t really know what to say. You can’t tell her not to worry, because you’re going to worry too, even without knowing the details. She forces herself to smile at you and you mimic the expression.

“I know you’re in the same boat, what with—” She shoots a glance in Biggs’ direction. You peek too, spot him watching you both, and immediately refocus on Tifa.

“I can come wait with you, if you want. Unless that would be telling me too much?”

“No, I’d like that. I think I’ll need some moral support. Can you come by tomorrow? We can camp out here in the back room. Marlene will be so excited if you’re here too.” She catches your hand and gives it a squeeze. “You’re a good friend.”

“So are you,” you tell her.

You pass out the next round of drinks and resume your seat, listening to Barret’s recitation of his heroics. You try not to laugh too hard at his more obvious exaggerations.

“You don’t believe me, girl? You think the merc did all the work?” He gives you an unimpressed look that makes you laugh even more. “Damn, you doin’ me dirty.”

“No no, I believe every word,” you tell him. You absolutely do not: you know what an unreliable narrator Barret can be, but it’s fun to listen to his stories.

“My round,” Biggs announces. He glances your way. “Wanna give me a hand? It’ll save you from hearing about how the big man shot a tank in half for the fifth time.”

“Sure.” You rise to your feet again and join Biggs at the bar. He begins lining up the glasses while you start pouring, and you can’t help but notice how easily you work together. It makes you feel warm, knowing that you’re good partners even when it comes to simple tasks like this.

He leans into you and says, quietly so the others won’t hear, “Does Jessie seem off to you?”

You watch her for a moment. She’s bright and laughing, so happy she can’t seem to sit still, and your heart sinks a bit. “Yeah,” you murmur back.

“Too peppy, right?”

You nod. “What do you think’s wrong?”

“She did get hurt last night. And I know she blames herself for how big that blast was.” He pauses, lost in thought. “She might be worried about her mom, too...if anything happens to her, Mrs R is on her own.”

“I’m sure it’s on her mind.” You finish pouring the drinks and tamp down on a small wave of jealousy. They’re friends, it’s natural for him to worry about her. He worries about everyone on the team. But you also know that just about everyone in the undercity—and Jessie’s mother—are waiting for the pair of them to make their relationship official. “Can we help?”

“Mm, not sure yet,” he says, still watching Jessie. You begin to gather the drinks, suddenly eager for this tête-à-tête to be over. He stops you with a gentle touch.

“Hey. You okay?” His tone is so soft and concerned that for a moment, you almost spill your guts. But you catch yourself and say, “I just hope she can shake it off before the next operation. Tifa seems worried enough as it is, but if Jessie’s head isn’t right…”

“Yeah.” He starts picking up the rest of the glasses. “I’ll see what I can do to fix it.” Then he bumps you with his hip and leans closer. “I’m glad you’re here. It wouldn’t be a celebration without you.”

You smile at him and ignore those pesky butterflies as you feel his breath on your ear and neck. “I’m glad I’m here too,” you reply, and your heart is a little less burdened as you pass out the drinks and take your seat again.

——

You notice when Jessie slips out of her seat and disappears after a few more rounds. You’re not surprised when, fifteen minutes later, Biggs and Wedge head out too. Tifa must notice your downcast mood because she gives you a hug and says, “Crash at my place tonight.”

You decide to accept her offer so you can avoid the trains both tonight and in the morning. And because you’re curled up in her room, you hear Cloud’s door open at some ridiculous hour of the morning. You’re not surprised when Tifa sneaks past you to join him.

You wonder if his absence had anything to do with the gang’s, and then you force yourself to close your eyes and ears and try to sleep.

——

“What the hell?” you hear Tifa gasp as you struggle toward consciousness the next morning. The obvious alarm in her voice clears away the last of the cobwebs and you rush to get your feet under you.

“Tifa? What’s wrong?” you ask. She’s standing in the doorway staring out at something, and from the look on her face you’re expecting something awful...but when you peer around her shoulder you can’t see anything. “Are you okay?”

“Stay here,” she orders you, and takes off toward the bar. You do as she says, utterly baffled by the fear and urgency of her tone, but you’re even more confused when you catch the sound of gunshots coming from the direction of the bar. Your anxiety ramps up immediately.

Before long, you hear the sound of Tifa’s boots pounding their way up the stairs. She blows past her apartment and goes right to Cloud’s. You make it to the door just in time to see them both rush back down the stairs—and abruptly stop in the courtyard below. They prepare as though they’re about to fight something—and then, somehow, they are fighting something. You can’t see them, whatever they are, but you feel the wind start to whip up around you as the battle below gets fierce.

Eventually, Tifa and Cloud break off and start winding through the streets, heading for the bar.

“Tifa!” you yell after her.

“Stay put, okay? I’ll be back as soon as I can!” she yells back, and just like that, you’re alone. You hope.

It’s Wedge that comes for you though. His face is pinched with concern and you can see that he’s in some kind of pain because he’s walking funny.

“What happened?” you demand. “Did you get attacked too?”

“No. I mean, the bar did get attacked but I got hurt last ni—you know what, that’s not important. Jessie needs you, she’s hurt,” he explains.

“Last night?” You grab your bag and follow Wedge out the door. “What happened last night?”

“Nothing!” His voice is way too cheerful and you narrow your eyes at him. “We...uh...just went to visit Jessie’s mom, had some pizza. Nothing too exciting.”

“Then how did you end up hurt?” you ask.

“Well, we had to help Jessie with something for the mission, but it was no big deal. We had Cloud with us. He’s a machine, you should see him fight! He even fought off another SOLD—I mean—” He shoots you a guilty look. “It...might have gotten a little out of hand, but it turned out okay.”

“Glad to hear it,” you say, though for some reason you’re furious. Three of your best friends could have been killed last night—probably would have been if Cloud hadn’t been with them—wiped out by a SOLDIER, and you wouldn’t have known until the news reported it. That they’d risked so much as a last-minute favor for Jessie...it feels worse than being left out of the normal Avalanche operations.

But you shove your anger down. Most of it is probably jealousy anyway, and that’s not fair. It certainly wouldn’t be fair to take it out on Wedge, so you don’t ask any other questions until you make it back to Seventh Heaven.

“Good, you’re here,” Barret says as you and Wedge walk into the bar. Jessie is on a table and Tifa is hovering over her. Cloud is hanging back with his arms crossed over his chest as usual, watching everyone impassively. “Princess Grace here took a tumble on her bad leg. Mind checking it out?”

“I told you, I don’t want anyone fussing over—shit!” Jessie’s words are cut off with a hiss as you examine her leg. Then you glance up at Barret and shake your head.

“Right, that’s what I was afraid of. Jessie, you’re out.”

Her head jerks up. “Huh? What about the mission? We already sent Biggs in, remember? Don't tell me you're thinking of calling it off?”

Barret stares down at her. “Nah...we got this,” he says, but you can tell he’s worried and so can Jessie.

“The hell you do!” she growls.

“I’m guessing it’s too late to pull Biggs out?” you venture.

“Even if I wanted to, I got no way of getting in contact with him. So that leaves…”

Everyone’s eyes turn to Cloud. He glances to each of you in turn, then hesitates when his gaze lands on Tifa. “Gonna need a raise,” he says.

I really think she could get him to do just about anything. She doesn’t even have to ask, you think.

“Consider it done!” Barret’s so relieved he’s almost shouting. He turns to you. “Gonna need you to tend to Jessie and Wedge. Keep an eye on Marlene too, if you don’t mind.”

“Wait—what? No, I’m perfectly healthy!” Wedge protests.

“Son, no one is questioning your dedication, or your bravery for that matter. But you’re injured and if things go down the way they did last time…”

Wedge looks like he might argue some more, but something about Barret’s demeanor convinces him to drop it. He turns to Cloud and you grab Tifa’s arm.

“Make sure Biggs is okay too, would you?” you ask.

“You got it.” She squeezes your hand.

“And be careful.” You glance at the mercenary. “I’m glad he’s going with you.”

“It makes me feel a lot safer too,” she admits. “Don’t worry, we’re all going to make it back in one piece.”

You let her go, feeling a vague sense of unease at her parting words. But it’s Barret’s show, not yours, so you turn to your reluctant patients.

“Alright, you two. Time to chill out.” You pull out a pair of ice packs.

Jessie groans at your lame joke, but Wedge gives a little snort. You grin at them both. “Get used to it,” you say. “You’re gonna be stuck with me for a while.”

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