#flying raccoon suit | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

stealingyourbones · 1 year

Text

Submitted Prompts #99

Jazz went to Gotham to finish her degree away from her parents, as their obsession with Ghosts started becoming dangerous to everyone. So, of course, she brought Danny with her, so he's also far away from them and the GIW.

Danny held out a whole year without going out on patrol, just establishing his haunt in the new city. Lady Gotham was very happy to be able to show them to their new place, almost giddy that the little King and his Queen Mother have come to live in her beloved city.

Of course, the first time Phantom floats out of his window and into the night, he has a new suit, made of padded black leather, and a fluffy white cape with a hood (imagine the Lightkin Cloak from Destiny2, but snow white, rather than black and grey), along with a facemask engraved with a fanged design. New haunt, new look, and the new look fit right in with the viciousness of Gotham City.

And, as luck would have it, his first Gotham Rogue was Poison Ivy. Thinking back to his fight against Undergrowth, Pantom opened with his ice, forming a double-sided axe to better cleave her vines apart, and locking Ivy herself down with ice.

To further distance himself from his identity as Phantom, in case the GIW somehow became smart at some point, instead of blasting ice like most ghosts fire ectoblasts, Danny asked Pandora for lessons on fighting with weapons, and Frosbite taught his how to channel his element as an aura, or a freezing breath. He even sat down to listen to Nocturne speak as they wove spells and ectoplasm, and the Personification of Dreams softly taught him how to use his powers through objects acting as catalysts, or as manifestations of his will, rather than throwing his affinities around by brute force.

With his new abilities and look, rather than fight like a feral raccoon, Danny took to fighting more like a spellblade, slinging around ice shard and spells to enhance his physical strikes, controlling the pace of a fight to get the upper hand on his enemies.

Suffice to say, Poison Ivy hadn't expected the Avatar of Icy Vengeance to lock her in a pillar of ice up to her neck while her vines withered into frosty sculptures.

Gotham's newest hero got awarded a new name by the news the next day: Ymir, Frozen Progenitor.

Danny thinks it's too pretentious for a random ghost, or random halfa, like him. Joke's on him, the perception of Gotham's people slowly starts empowering him, slowly enough that the only reason he notices his oncoming Ascension to myth as a Protector Spirit is when a terrified kid begs for his help, and he hears them loud and clear out of nowhere.

The Bats are confused by this Entity. Constantine stepped one foot in Gotham, felt it's cleaner air, the sharp bite of ice in his nose and lungs, and the overwhelming pressure of the new Godling training under Gotham herself to control his new powers, and ran out screaming about not getting paid enough to deal with divine beings. Zatanna is trying to contact Ymir to ask them to join the Justice League Dark.

Jason is vibing with the tall redhead Amazon he's met at Babs' library, and her feral little brother who cured his Pit Rage by biting his arm when they first met. One time Jason is in a pinch after a stakeout gone wrong, Bellona (Ancient Roman Goddess of War) takes the fight to his captors to free him, dressed in golden armor and wielding a spear Pandora and Firght Knight made for her. Nocturne and her brother worked together to imbue a spell into her back to give her wings she can use to fly or fight with. The fact it left a badass tattoo on her back, is just another way Jazz rebels against her parents. It also has Jason weak in the knees when he first sees it.

#bones submissions #dpxdc #uh hi bones here... HOMIE THIS IS MASSIVE #HOKLEY FUCK

1K notes · View notes

explode-this · 5 months

Text

youtube

We’re waiting on ourselves to bloom

And finding that there’s no room for treating yourself badly

But the mirror’s laughing back at me

These insecurities will rot with all the worries of what

You never told me, just goes to show

All the worry on your mind, on your mind can’t erase

All the problems that you face, that you face so well

#flying raccoon suit #album: moonflower #track: sunflower #3 and a half minute dance party #Youtube

0 notes

musicshelfwithmustard · 2 years

Text

Around the World with Andy B

Mustard and Mister Substitute had the pleasure of speaking with Andy B of Andy B & The World. Together we discussed being joined by the world, collaboration on a global scale, Andy's "desert island" album, and so much more!

Mustard and Mister Substitute had the pleasure of speaking with Andy B of Andy B & The World. Together we discussed being joined by the world, collaboration on a global scale, Andy’s “desert island” album, and so much more! 1. Mustard is grateful to have Andy B & The World join them at Music Shelf. How is everyone? Well my good condiment, I’m very grateful to be asked to join them! Happy and…

View On WordPress

#andy b & the world #andy b and the world #collaboration #Common Sense Kid #Flying Raccoon Suit #indie artists #indie music #music interview #music shelf with mustard #ska #ska music #the upbeat allstars

0 notes

irradiatedsnakes · 3 months

Text

dialtown furry world

yellow-footed rock wallaby oliver (he feels like a mammal to me, but something unconventional- hence, marsupial. the charismatic, energetic vibe of a macropod suits him, but not the implied violence of a full-on kangaroo, so i eventually settled on a wallaby, with the species in particular for visual reasons.)

great black-backed gull randy (while i originally considered something that swans prey upon, probably some kind of small fish, fig @/tigsbitties instead suggested something that is a predator of swans. which is much funnier. gulls also fit in with the sort of "trashy" vibe, slotting in neatly alongside pigeons, raccoons, and opossums.)

band-eyed brown horsefly karen (vibes-wise, much like oliver, she just really strikes me as some sort of insect. horsefly is a bit of an obvious joke, but i do like fly in particular, as a very mundane sort of animal, subdued in appearance, with hidden depth (at least, i think so. ever looked at robber flies? cool as fuck). which, i suppose, could be said about lots of bugs, but flies in particular i think are really underrated. as before, species chosen for design reasons.)

furry world gingi is visually identical to regular world gingi.

#art #furry dialtown #dialtown #oliver swift #randy jade #karen dunn

80 notes · View notes

chrisgraue · 2 years

Text

#ska #string cheese #flying raccoon suit

3 notes · View notes

cupidjyu · 11 months

Text

don't think so

sunwoo x reader

when you hate the man who sits in front of you at the office, but end up getting stuck in a closet with him

genre: office au, enemies to lovers (pretty one-sided), setup like jim and dwight from the office, bickering, close proximity in a closet, teasing, flusteredness notes: hey so.... i don't have any other excuse besides school is trying to murder me. so busy i haven't even been able to keep up with tbz so it's a little hard to write for them at the moment 😭 i hope you enjoy and not sure of the coming months :( word count: 3.1k

Avoiding him was the main goal.

And when you set a goal, you meant it. You would sacrifice anything to achieve it: your sustainment like the lunch breaks that you’ve purposely missed to avoid seeing him, your enjoyment like when you sat in the very back of the meeting rooms where you couldn’t see to avoid sitting next to him, and… your sleep.

It was an ungodly hour in the morning. Your eyes were threatening to glue shut but at least you would be early enough to work that you wouldn’t have to see him.

But then again, there was the disappointing fact that he still sat at the desk in front of yours. Waking up early only stalled your time away from him. When your shift actually started, you would still be forced to look at his obnoxious face.

With a yawn, you walked over to your desk and put your stuff down. When you looked up, you quietly gasped at the sight.

Sunwoo.

Sunwoo was sitting at his desk, you know, the one right in front of yours, dozing off. He was dressed in his usual work attire–a suit and a tie–but the only thing that was different was that his hair was messy. Like he had just woken up recently.

The whole plan was to avoid him yet you still failed. Suppressing a groan, you walked over to him, leaned down, and slapped him right on his cheek. He startled and his eyes shot open.

“What was–” He looked up at you before narrowing his eyes. With a grumble, he thumped his head down onto the desk. “What do you want?”

You scowled, crossing your arms over your chest. “You were sleeping. So I woke you up.”

“It’s cause I came early,” He mumbled, ruffling his own hair as he sat back up, leaning back in his office chair.

“And why’d you do that?” You raised an eyebrow, reaching over and purposely knocking over one of his figurines. A raccoon to be exact. It looked like him.

“Because you usually come early,” He bluntly replied, picking up the figurine and threatening to throw it in your face. He smirked when he noticed you flinch, annoyingly enough.

You scoffed. “Yeah, for a reason.”

“The reason is me, I presume?” He looked at you unimpressed.

“Precisely.”

Turning on your heel, you walked back to your desk, narrowly avoiding the fact that he actually ended up throwing the figurine. And apparently, bickering with your office enemy causes time to fly because you already had to start your work. You turned on your computer and began to type, ignoring the man in front of you who was kicking your desk.

Then, you heard footsteps behind you and a cup being placed down on your desk. You widened your eyes, noticing that it was your favorite drink–warm and inviting, perfect for the weather. You looked up, coming face-to-face with Sangyeon leaning against your desk.

“For me?” Your eyes brightened.

He nodded, smiling kindly. “It was on the way.”

“Thank you so much!” You beamed, waving as he walked away. You stared at the drink lovingly. Already, you could feel that it made your day.

After you took a sip, you were about to turn back to your screen when you realized that there was a certain someone glaring daggers at you. His eyebrows were furrowed and he obviously looked annoyed.

You eyed him, your smile souring. “What?”

“Nothing,” He curtly replied. “You’re just irritating when you’re happy.”

You frowned, reaching over and moving his monitor until it completely blocked his face. “Then don’t look at me,” You gritted out.

He peeked around the monitor anyway. “I can’t help it.”

You huffed, choosing to ignore him.

Whenever you were getting focused, you liked to put your hair up. It didn’t matter what style, as long as it didn’t bother you. And so, bringing your hair up, you were about to put it up when you could feel a presence staring at you.

You looked at him, unimpressed.

“You know you’re really creepy right?”

And it seemed that you actually caught him off guard because he quickly sat up and cleared his throat awkwardly.

“I wasn’t staring.”

After working with Sunwoo for–unfortunately–a while, you found that he hated it when you showed no interest in him. If you acted unbothered or bored with him, he would quickly become annoyed. That was your favorite way of pestering him.

And so, you simply shrugged, turning away.

“Okay.”

And just like you had expected, he huffed in disbelief. You could tell from your peripheral vision that he was getting irritated.

“Actually,” He decided to speak up. “I was staring at you.”

So, that wasn’t what you expected him to say. You expected a mere insult but for him to admit that he was actually looking at you tying your hair up was something else.

“Sunwoo,” You whispered, getting up from your chair to lean over his desk. “Wanna know something?”

He leaned in to hear you. “What?”

“Shut up.”

He leaned back with a roll of his eyes. “No. Also, there’s a piece of hair sticking out.” He motioned to the side of your head.

You groaned, got up from your desk, and rushed to the bathroom. Except, when you looked in the mirror, you realized that he was in fact, lying. Your hair was perfectly fine.

“That asshole.”

“I don’t think it’s all too bad,” Sangyeon said, sipping on the new flavor of coffee that your boss insisted on replacing the old one with. The old one was perfectly fine.

“It’s not,” You groaned. “The coffee’s the only reason why I come to the break room.”

Sangyeon shrugged, taking the cup from you. You’ve counted that he’s already drank four cups of coffee. This is his fifth. A little worrying in your opinion.

Then, you stood up and twirled for him. Sangyeon lifted an eyebrow at your sudden action. You huffed.

“It’s a new outfit. What do you think?’

“Oh,” Sangyeon laughed. “I was confused for a second. It looks good and suits you well,” He answers, smiling. You were about to thank him but you noticed that he was balancing his coffee in one hand and his computer in the other. He groaned. “Sorry, I have to go now. Eric’s been bothering me on how to send a stupid email.”

You shake your head and say goodbye. Going back to work is the least ideal thing that you wanted to do so you attempted to stay back and look busy. In the break room.

“Someone’s awfully happy to be talking to Sangyeon,” A deep voice sounds from behind you.

You yelp in surprise and quickly turn around only to accidentally elbow Sunwoo in the stomach. At first, you tried to say sorry but when you realized that it was him and that you both mutually hate each other, you kept your mouth shut.

He winced, holding onto the spot that you had just elbowed.

“Why?” He managed to say.

“You scared me.”

He simply hummed as a response. You peered at him curiously, noticing that something was a bit off with him. He looked more grumpy than usual, his eyebrows furrowed with what you could assume to be frustration.

You decided not to beat around the bush. “Why do you look more pissed than usual?”

“Because I am,” He snapped.

Though it was common for Sunwoo to be a bit snarky, you couldn’t help but be a bit taken aback.

“How come?” You tilted your head.

He froze and you could have sworn that his eyes wandered away from your face, down to your outfit. “Just that…” He trailed off, fidgeting nervously. You could tell he was stalling. You could tell that he wanted to run. But instead, you stepped closer, staring straight into his eyes.

“That?”

“That you’re wearing that outfit.”

The small light of hope in your heart quickly dimmed into nothing. You took a step back, a frown taking over your curious smile. “You’re mad because I’m wearing this outfit?”

His eyes widened. “No, I–” But he sighed. Though it almost looked like he wanted to say more.

You stayed quiet, taking even more steps backward. “I mean,” You started, your voice laced with hurt. “If you’re that bothered by my existence, you might as well just stop talking to me at all.” Without giving him a chance to reply, you turned around and walked away.

You laughed, watching as Sangyeon desperately tried to get the printer to work. Then he approached you with a tired look on his face.

“Can you go to the supply closet and get more paper?” He asked, his tired look turning into a pleading one.

You rolled your eyes. “Fine.”

As you got up, you let out a small sigh of relief. Sunwoo’s nowhere to be seen. Good, because you were still angry at him. Of course, you were always annoyed, but this time it was different. Walking past his desk, you headed towards the closet.

It was incredibly small–not the best for people who might be claustrophobic. Still, you just needed to get the paper and get out. But, just as you were leaving and opening the door, you almost ran straight into someone’s chest.

Startled, you were about to apologize, only to realize that of course, it was him.

“What’re you doing here?” You clenched your jaw.

“I have to get a mop,” He calmly replied. “Eric spilled coffee all over the floor.”

But of course, he didn’t let you exit. Instead, he cornered you into the closet. When he noticed you stumbling and backing up against the wall, he smiled in amusement which you grumbled at.

You could hear the door closing behind him, engulfing you two in only the dim light that the closet provided. It was harder to see and so you gulped when he reached around you for the mop, touching your waist briefly before backing away.

Then, he paused, setting it to the side for a second.

“About earlier…”

You frowned, not really in the mood to talk about it right now. “Can we at least argue outside of this small closet?” You didn’t even allow him an answer as you’re already pushing past him. But, as you try to turned the handle, it doesn’t budge. You shook it, pushed down on it, everything, and still, the door refused to open.

That’s when you realized that you’re doomed. You stood there, shoulders stiff and brooding over the handle as you prayed that maybe this was all just a prank.

And what made it worse is that you’re stuck in a closet with the man who you pronounced a long time ago to be your sole enemy. He stood behind you, peering over your shoulder.

“Too weak to open a door?”

You sighed, turning to face him, only for your breath to hitch because you completely forgot just how close he was to you. “It’s locked.”

“It’s what?” He widened his eyes, searching your gaze to make sure you were not messing with him. He reached around you and tried to turn the handle as well. You truly hoped that maybe he had magic and would open the door. But again, it wouldn’t budge.

You hung your head back and leaned against the wall, trying your best not to curse. Meanwhile, Sunwoo turned to you and set a hand on the wall, right next to your ear to keep his balance. That’s when you realized that he was practically pinning you to the wall.

“This is uncomfortable,” You bluntly stated.

He stayed quiet as he tried to move around to create more distance. Instead, he only ended up stepping even closer with most of his body against yours.

“I can’t move,” He sheepishly said.

“Don’t try,” You mumbled, shutting your eyes with embarrassment. And as if it would help at all, you placed your hands on his chest. He stared quietly before looking away. But even under the dim light, you could tell that he was suppressing a shy smile.

“I’m sure someone will start looking for us soon,” He spoke quietly. “Just wait.”

“Fine.” You let your hands fall to your sides. For such an annoying man, he smelled awfully good. And for such an obnoxious man, he was… handsome up close. But before he would tease you for staring, you spoke up again. “So what were you going to say about yesterday?” You looked up into his eyes.

He cleared his throat and quickly broke eye contact. It was almost like he was too… shy to look you in the eye.

“I wanted to apologize.”

You were shocked, to say the least. “Apologize? You?”

“What, is that so shocking?” He grinned. “But seriously, it was all a misunderstanding.”

You tilted your head. “Then what’d you mean to say?”

“I was mad because you… you didn’t ask me what I thought about your outfit.” His voice was quiet before but now it’s barely audible.

You stared at him in surprise. And then your lips began to widen into an amused smile, your eyes twinkling.

“Hold on,” You giggled. “You were jealous of Sangyeon?”

He stuttered profusely, “I wouldn’t put it like that but–” He paused, accepting defeat as his shoulders sunk. “Maybe, I guess.”

You laughed even more at his reply. “Why would I ask you? Don’t we argue all the time?”

“Because,” He sighed. “I was going to say that you look pretty. You would like that wouldn’t you?”

You froze at that and you felt your cheeks warming. You could see and sense the way his eyes wandered over you. Was it always this warm in here?

“I guess I would,” You mumbled, looking down to try to hide your reddening cheeks.

He chuckled. And yet again, he surprised you as you felt a gentle hand come up to your ear, tucking a stray piece of hair. You swallowed thickly, choosing not to look into his eyes. You wondered if he was regarding you with a teasing look or a glare.

But when you gathered the courage to look up, it was neither. Instead, his eyes were soft, full of an emotion that you couldn’t quite name.

Sunwoo, who you pronounced to be your sole enemy, wasn’t all that bad. He liked to bicker with you sure, but he never went too far. He even looked out for you sometimes like the time you tripped and fell. He had put a bandage on your knee.

You stared at him in wonder, seeing him in a new light.

“Sunwoo,” You whispered.

He smiled softly. “Hm?”

“Why do you hate me?”

He paused. You could tell he was getting nervous as he shifted awkwardly.

“Because you’re annoying.”

Except, when you looked closely, you noticed that he was blushing. His eyes were avoidant of yours, his cheeks and ears were flushed… he was shy.

The corner of your lips lifted up with mischievousness. And so, you let your hands crawl back up to rest on your chest and this time, it was you who leaned in closer as you held the eye contact. He inhaled sharply.

“I don’t think that’s why,” You teased.

And you expected him to try to refute. But instead, his eyes only softened further as he gave you a fond look.

“You’re right,” He whispered back. “It’s not.”

Slightly taken aback, you quickly recovered. “Then why do you hate me? And tell the truth this time.”

But then, your composure came crashing down when he leaned closer. It was like a game: who would accidentally initiate a kiss first? He stared down at you with a teasing look, a small smirk on his lips.

“I don’t hate you.”

Your heart thumped in your chest. “Wh–”

Suddenly, the closet was flooded with light. The door was open and the two of you turned to the source. There was Eric, out of breath and full of stress. He also seemed to be completely oblivious to the fact that he interrupted a tense moment.

“I found you!” He exclaimed. “I thought you two died!”

Sunwoo looked at him in disbelief. “Why would we?”

You didn’t allow any further conversation. With a new pounding in your heart, you shoved past Sunwoo and made your escape.

The next day, you couldn’t even look Sunwoo in the eye anymore. Every time you tried, you would be reminded of the scent of his cologne, of his teasing smirk when he said that he didn’t hate you, and of the new feelings that had bloomed in your heart.

As you were packing up your things, you realized that Sunwoo already left. But that was when you noticed a cup on your desk. It was your favorite drink.

“So he remembered,” You mumbled to yourself, turning it and picking up a note attached to it.

Meet me outside

When you exited the building, just like he said, he was waiting for you. He was of course still in work attire, leaning against the wall. His hair was slightly tousled and his features shone in the setting sun. He really was handsome when you didn’t hate his guts.

You approached him cautiously.

“Hey,” He greeted.

“Hi.” You offered a small smile. Small steps would do. Step by step.

You saw him hesitate for a moment before pulling out a bouquet of flowers from behind his back. He held it out to you.

Okay, so that was a pretty large step.

You stared at it in surprise, the colors pretty and vibrant. “What’s this for?” You gasped.

He smiled charmingly, tilting his head ever so slightly.

“Because you’re annoying.”

You huffed in amusement, rolling your eyes. Still, you took it and smiled at him.

“I don’t think so.”

“Right,” He whispered, leaning closer just like before.

This time, you laughed and took his hand in yours. No more small steps–might as well be bold. You enjoyed the sight of a flustered Sunwoo staring down at your connected hands. Swinging his hand, you started walking home together.

–

A thump on your desk.

Sangyeon’s hand as he leaned against it.

“Y/n,” He warned. “I have something to ask.”

“Hm?” You turned away from your computer.

“I went to the convenience store yesterday.”

You stared at him, bored. “Is that the question?”

“No,” He laughed. “But that’s on your way to your apartment, right?”

You paused and looked at him in confusion. “Yeah, why?”

And then he smiled teasingly. “So why did I see you pressing a kiss to Sunwoo’s cheek?”

It was like an arrow straight through your chest. Standing up, you slammed on the desk, causing everyone in the office to look at you.

“We were–”

Sangyeon smiled wider. “Your collar’s messed up by the way.”

You looked down at it before flushing and turning away. But just as you did, you caught a glimpse of a smug Sunwoo, sitting at his desk, watching the whole ordeal. You mouthed to him a silent, “I hate you.”

“Admit it, I’m a great kisser,” He mouthed back.

You couldn’t respond to that.

#the boyz imagines #the boyz reactions #the boyz fluff #tbz fluff #tbz imagines #the boyz x reader #sunwoo x reader #sunwoo fluff #tbz x reader #the boyz scenarios #drabbles 💞#requests 💞

366 notes · View notes

wordtotherose · 7 months

Text

Sending Jay ahead was the right thing to do. It was.

But every minute on his own now is worse and worse and worse. It feels like the sun is setting quicker than he's moving, the shadows of the village getting darker and not really any bigger as they travel. Out there, past the small village, rocks the rowboat they arrived in, and further still the dipping sun over the water he and Gillion call home.

Puddle is going as fast as they can, Chip knows this, recognises the signs of an animal pushing themself further than their limits allow. Chip and Puddle. Racing down an empty road with urgency pumping their hearts and, at least for Chip, a screaming void in his head blocking all cohesive thought. The bracelet on his wrist is useless so far from its counterpart but Chip strains regardless to make sure he notices the very second he's close enough to make out the familiar presence of Gillion's mind nestled next to his.

Jay is barely a shadow in the sky when he sees her dip back towards land, still a distance from the village and her mother and Gillion Gillion Gillion. His breath scratches in his throat as he watches, waiting to check that she lands on her feet and keeps going, that, despite no shot ringing out, she hasn't been shot down. But no. Of course not. She's moving. Not even a stumble. Her hair is catching the fading light and the idea that they might still be too late is sickening, enough for his stomach to drop and his hands to shake. With every second they aren't there, every moment the spell isn't being done, Gillion is fading. Gillion is dying. Alone. Without either of them. With a stranger he was so desperate to still look his best in front of upon meeting, a stranger who doesn't know him!

May won't thread new braids into his hair in comfort like Jay does. May won't kiss his cheeks like Chip does every night before sleeping just to make the triton smile and stop his constant motion for a heartbeat. She won't know he doesn't like his hand held by anyone but his closest friends, Chip or Jay or Caspian. Will she work out that he needs to be kept damp? That he's more likely to drink if she offers water with salt mixed in? He needs to drink. Needs his strength.

Jay is flying again, in short bursts now as she tries to make the most of her energy. An angel in the sky. He has to fight back the tide of self-disgust he feels for having no true part in helping here. She'd have gotten the gemstones without him. Maybe even been quicker about it.

Puddle slips on a loose rock and Chip slides, clawing his way back up to being steady on the raccoon's back. Of all the bloody minded things for Gillion to do with the last of his magic, to turn a perfectly suited horse into a raccoon just because they were Jay's favourite. Because he wants to make them smile even when he's dying.

Chips shakes his head and focuses on the flare of Jay's orange hair until she vanishes between the buildings.

***

It's hard. The bed he's on, he means, and it isn't swaying with the bone deep sense of home innate to the waves he's always in or on.

Land? Where were they heading last?

Why is everything so blurry? So dark?

Continue Reading on AO3 or under the break...

He twists towards the side, hoping to turn over and find Chip or Jay nearby to ask his questions to.

Something stops him short. Tight resistance around wrists he cannot shift and legs he cannot feel and a chest he doesn't recognise the shape and agony of.

Where?

Kind words, a gentle but firm voice. Unfamiliar. Unknown. Where's Chip? Where's Jay?

Pretzel?

Oh. There.

Pretzel. In his hair, above his head. He can't hear her chirruping purring sound but he can feel it, vaguely. Half removed from the idea of sensation entirely.

He thinks he manages to convince his body to say something, a hand touches his own and he flinches away. It retreats and settles on his shoulder instead, over his wetsuit.

The flinch hurt.

The voice is starting to sound urgent.

It's dark.

And the world isn't swaying.

And his friends aren't here. Maybe it's a nightmare. Maybe he just has to grit his teeth and wake up eventually.

***

The streets are more full than normal, what with the Den being closed for business for the night. Jay dips and throws herself round corners and shortcuts with the surety of being home. People are calling greetings to her, making friendly jabs at her frantic pace.

She ignores every last one of them. There's no time to worry about good impressions, no spare seconds to feel anxious about being nice. They'll forgive her. Most of them watched her grow up, after all.

She's not sure she can stand for Gillion to die in her home. Not sure how to reconcile the loss with what this place has always been, what she wants it to always be.

But if she doesn't get these stupid gems there soon, before the sun sets fully probably, knowing their portentously shitty luck, well. Then she won't have a choice about it all.

The world will be new again, without Gillion.

It's a world she doesn't want to wake to.

***

They're dead.

That's the truth of it, that's the burning in his chest, the cause of the vice around his heart. That's why Pretzel is so upset somewhere above him, petting him like he's the one injured. He is, he supposes, if they're both dead.

What's left for him, what is destiny worth if he can't use it to protect them?

They died in his arms. Under his hands. With their eyes looking up into his for help, for rescue. He let them down. He let them die.

So maybe he just needs to wake up.

Or does he?

Which world is real?

Didn't he wake up earlier? With the knife? The ice knife?

He needs water. Needs to make another. Needs to check. Jay will just heal him if it's real-

If it's real then Jay is dead.

Fuck.

Someone is talking to him still. Have they always been? A woman. Talking. Asking him questions, it's in the lilt of her tone, she expects an answer.

He tries to shape a name, a question in return.

"Chip?"

He doesn't hear an answer so he tries again, screaming through the pain of grief; he never wanted to meet grief like this. Not with them.

"Jay?"

There's a gurgling sound and he fears it may have been him. There's movement. A shaking. A rocking but not the sea. Like a body coughing and bending up only to fall back with the effort. Like when Chip was having his nightmares and couldn't stop, couldn't think, couldn't understand. Chip…

Dead.

They're both dead.

Right.

Ice knife.

Wake up.

Or are they...

...if they're....then…

***

Chip falls off of Puddle into the dust of the street just as they pass the first home. His knees scrape and the pain is so far away, locked up in a chest in the back of his head for later. The trousers he loves, that Ollie has embroidered silly little sea birds onto the cuffs of under Drey’s patient tutelage, they're maybe ripped. His skin is maybe split and bleeding, the palm of one hand is for sure, blood smearing sticky and wet on his forehead as he pushes his hair out of his eyes, fixes his coat so he can breathe to run.

Puddle collapses into an exhausted lump and Chip would feel bad if he had any time.

As it is, he's scrambling to his feet, checking the bracelet is still on his wrist, and is bolting to the Eagle's Den with only a shout of apology over his shoulder to the creature.

People out are slow moving, glorying in what, to them, is the tail end of a beautiful sunset and the start of a warm, sparklingly starlit night. They are not best pleased when he pushes past them, gasping out more apologies that he knows they won't hear as he rushes past, leaping onto and over boxes outside homes and fences separating gardens and growing plots. He doesn't stop. Cannot stop.

The cresting wave of another's thoughts alongside his own hits hard, nearly knocking him off his feet again, absolutely punching the air from his already tight lungs. He's delirious still, jumping from one half formed idea to the next, remembering and imagining and percieving everything altogether in one muddled mess. It sort of hurts to try to look at too closely but it's still so faint that Chip doesn't dare take his focus away. Gillion can't hear him in return, he knows that, but this way he can know if Jay is there, if the spell is being done.

Only...nothing. Gillion is so far gone, slowing and slurring even in his mind...no…

Chip hops the last fence in his way and pushes through the burning in his lungs, the closed door ahead taunting him. Tempting him. Teasing with what little good he'll even be able to do in this situation when he does get there.

Gillion's thoughts vanish in one silent drop three steps away from the door.

Continue Reading on AO3...

#my writing #fanfic #jrwi #jrwi gillion #jrwi fnc #jrwi fish and chips #fnc #jrwi chip #jrwi jay #jay ferin #gillion tidestrider #ao3 #just roll with it #jrwi riptide

108 notes · View notes