#gaslight gatekeep girlboss au

[bones-of-a-rabbit]

planning smthn,,

(and by planning i mean i have one(1) page sketched out at all even a little bit period)

but stay tuned,, for a tale of some emotionally unwell robots and their struggle to be normal abt it every time you leave for more than five minutes <3

[swagginmun]

Chapter 1: Regroup and Rebound Page 67 You should be able to handle this easily! Start|| Previous || Next

[puppetmaster13u]

Jason practically adopting the phantom siblings but they take turns overshadowing his shadow to keep an eye on him. It also helps with intimidation! Jason knows but he plays dumb whenever the other batkids or heroes mention it. His shadow has glowing green eyes and is flipping them off? No, he doesn't see it, when was the last time you slept per chance...

[thatdeadaquarius]

Hello there, friend I'm here for fluff

OK, this has been on my mind for a while

But like

The reader is just becoming the biggest parent to the Benny's adventure team kids

And the wolfs

We are like a parent of like 27

Knitting and making food brushing razors hair(let's be for real, you would hear a crunch when you brush it)

I'm not gonna lie

Do these kids know what spices are?

Cuz when I think about it

Razor hasn't had shit so he's has the least tolerance for spice

He would probably cry if you feed him a pepper

Bennett has tried spicy food but does go well with it

And not completely sure if fischl has had a spicy food before

But what flavor does mondstadt add to their food??

These kids need the damn flavors

AHDHAKALL FERAL ANIMAL AQUARIUS- ANOTHER PLATONIC ASK AAHHHHGGGGDJJSFHSAK!!!!!

AND ITS YOU!! ITS- ITS- ONE OF THE WRITING RULERS OF SAGAU (FOR ME AT LEAST) <3 !!!!!!!!

You cooking in genshin all anime studio ghibli style looking like food from god (literally): ⬆️

Sun: Reader (you/they/them)

Orbit: Headcanons-ish

Stars: Benny’s Adventure Team! (Bennett, Fischl, Razor), Diluc, mentions of other Mond characters

Comets & Meteors: Content Warnings: mild cussing, & Trigger Warnings: none known.

Please comment if I missed any. /gen

☆

^^ The posts being referenced in ask, (OG Razor ask) (Benny + Razor) and a more direct sequel, a part 2? a part 4 atp?? of this post (Imposter/Not Dark AU + Razor + Diluc) ^^

OMFG

ALRIGHT LISTEN UP BITCHES

SINCE UR IN TEYVAT

YOU GONNA COOK LIKE TEYVAT

AS IN-

SHIT BE SUPER EASY TO COOK, AND MASS MAKE DEPENDING ON COMPLEXITY OF DISH

(So, like Zhongli's special Bamboo Shoot Soup is like getting made... once a year if you read the little desc. for that dish 💀)

AND THEYRE ALL LIKE-

ANIME GORGEOUS FOODS ✨️❤️‍🔥

OKAY SO

PROMO TIME-

U GUYS HAVE TO WATCH THE ANIME "CAMPFIRE COOKING IN ANOTHER WORLD"

Bc that's mostly where this inspo gonna come from to both be realistic cooking + best parts of video game cooking

A guy gets isekai’d and instead of hero powers he just gets the skill of "online grocery shopping" LMAO

and ofc he gets insta gifted whatever he orders and starts making dishes and adding spices and regular stuff you know. like soy sauce.

but the best part is the food in that world is like British medieval soup shit

like barely salted, no spices definitely, no sauces, its barren

so he ends up attracting all kinds of interest that want to eat his cooking ofc

And it gives buffs too!

dw i didnt spoil anything u don't learn in the first episode, but that's just to say that's exactly whats happening here

u DO have to manually collect more ingredients but its so worth it, also u can just buy in bulk or put a commission thru the adventurer guild

tbhhh now that i say that, that could be how u end up drawing in Benny’s Adventure Team even more, bc they just take all ur quests for collecting ingredients around Mond!!

(u have to actively sneak behind their back and whisper to Katheryne that you want to put in other food quests in other guilds tho, silly kids will absolutely go running around Liyue and crazy shit just to have an adventure and do smth for you + eat ur banger food lol)

omfg the first time u barbecue smth???

the wolves, Razor, and Andrius??? Go feral.

Fischl and Benny who were already on their way to u guys to hang out again start booking it thru the woods, dodging hilichurl camps (thatve since settled down and been v peaceful to the wolves + anyone in the woods of Wolvendom after u started living there)

they knowww ur cookin smth fucking amazing

(and u even have some hilichurls and mitachurl that wander close to Andrius’ edge of the woods to shyly beg for scraps,, u give them a portion)

Razor was actually lookin at u like u hung the stars just for him when u gave him a homemade barbecue sauce to put on his food

(u acc may have done that to Teyvatians according to Andrius + the stories u overheard from Springvale…)

ok but the amount of begging u get for desserts like-

No, Razor u cannot have chocolate cake/cupcakes after every meal, u need to take care of ur teeth

(u use ur collection of mora-monster-donations for comms for more ingredients and living supplies like fabric + furniture, u cant afford dental on top of that for ur boy)

Fischl dutifully declares you the “best chef in the kingdom” and writes down all ur recipes (u have them auto-stored in ur settings obv but it cant hurt to have a physical copy, and they look so happy doing it, u don't have the heart to tell them its not necessary-)

Benny insists on both giving u extra ingredients when he takes ur commissions, and giving u handmade trinkets or weapons for the meals!!

No!! He will not take “im good” for an answer!! ur sharing ur home-cave with him, taking care of his best friend Razor, and now feeding him food better than Liuli Pavilion!!! There’s no way he can just take all that and give nothing back!!!!

and theyre not the only ones getting some food tbh

when the knights begin patroling near Wolvendom and slowly all of Mondstadt to search for their “All God”, u break up the beginnings of a fight between 2 confused knights and the now peaceful hilichurl camp at the edge of Wolvendom

U offer some snacks u were going to give Benny’s Adventure Team when they got back (u made little triangle sandwiches, rice balls, etc. finger foods, and u made plenty extra bc u kno their teenage appetites lol)

the knights and hilichurls nearly cried with appreciation, which made for a hilarious sight when the teens actually showed up lmao

ur wearing ur cloak, bc u dont wanna take on that whole “creator of worlds” title just yet, and the kids helped verify u werent anyone suspicious (Benny + Fischl keep ur godly secret, theyre the best like that 🥰)

the knights just swing by for snacks occasionally (they also either pay u in trade or with mora, theyre not bullies)

another person who gets flavored food privileges is the lazy librarian witch herself

u also sometimes pick Razor up from Lisa’s tutoring and bring “the best tea and tea snacks in the world” along with to share with Lisa and him

(she is also fully aware after awhile of meeting u of what u are, and fully believes this is why the food must be enchanted to be so good, but u dont want to be treated super reverently she can tell, so she keeps ur secret too and is just extra flirty when u come by lol)

(Razor refuses to let his pare- Lupical move out of ur cozy cave to the library, so he sometimes hauls u away when Lisa flirts too much LMAO)

…and the moment you've been waiting for.

Yes, Diluc got to try ur food that night he was searching Wolvendom for signs of the god of Teyvat

tbh Diluc was half-convinced that shit was a fever dream.

a bunch of sleepy wolves, a coffee table in the stone colosseum, a giant spirit wolf licking a big plate clean, the wolf-kid glaring at him, and you.

you with gold eyes, staring right thru his soul, like you already know everything there is to know about him, (like the way Kaeya looked at him that night),

like he doesnt even have to introduce himself

and he doesnt, u just lightly smack Razor’s hands until he gets rid of his claymore w/a pout, since Diluc had long since dropped his,

and grab a plate, piling on what leftovers u could, and turn back around from the coffee table to smile at him, patting the cushion-seat beside u for him to join

The giant glowing wolf licks his lips and watches him, the wolf-kid’s creepily watches him, and you, with eyes gold in teh light of a simmering bonfire just past the table, watch him

he just sits down and begins to eat.

its the best food he’s ever had, its his dad’s favorite dish, but not realistically, but the way memory embellishes a dish so much it can never be tasted again, except its right here. in front of him. u pour some wolfhook juice for him, and offer him a napkin to wipe his mouth and eyes

Diluc visits often after that, obviously.

u give him snacks too, and when he lets the staff try some, Adeline will not stop harassing him abt gettin ur recipes/ingredeints so u get him to pay Fischl to get a copy of their recipe book :)

including blank pages for future entries, and Fischl is literally glowing with happiness, would not stop monologuing abt ur food for weeks (send help Oz wants some peace and quiet sometimes)

Oh Diluc absolutely told the Favonius knights he found you. But he’s not saying where LMAO

Jean is actually begging him, Diluc ik u hate the knights but this is an international investigation-

this is the closest Diluc has ever gotten to getting under Venti’s skin.

when he told him this at Angel’s while bartending, he just casually ofc said this, just his smug little smirk, and the anemo god cracked a glass and everything- esp when he said he tried ur cooking??

he's gotta start looking over his shoulder in the city bc not only is Venti stalking him, the entirety of Mondstadt’s citizens are glaring at him in envy everywhere he goes LMAOO

(Venti now has a bar glass or too on his tab to pay off as well)

mans is literally paying u in weapon/artifact materials/mora to make him lunch one day and Venti nearly lunges over the counter

(Diluc purposefully ate it in front of him 💀)

ur food is the ultimate, “u could make a religion out of this!” /ref

like Diluc fully gives u offerings of ingredients he can pay for shipping from other countries + along with regular materials after grinding in domains

does the rest of Mondstadt + the world find out where u are?

only if Diluc lets them tbh. LMFAO

☆

bk trashfire my beloved <3 love ur ideas and stuff, goes without even saying im so sorry i took actually forever to respond :’(

hope u have a great weekend and i did this little side story justice for you

Safe Travels BK Trashfire,

💀♒

If you wanna join a taglist, DM me what for! "Pspspsss, please tag me for [All SAGAU posts, Only SAGAU Language AUs, diff fandom, etc.]!"

(If you ever wanna drop, just DM me! "No more taglists/[specifically this AU/fandom] please!")

♡my beloveds♡

@karmawonders / @0rah-s / @randomnatics / @glxssynarvi / @nexylaza / @genshin-impacts-me / @wholesomey-artist / @thedevioussmirk / @the-dumber-scaramouche / @chocogi / @fallen-starr / @areaderofbooks / @devilangel657 / @esthelily / @justinsomniachild / @nanithefuck / @questionotmystopit / @chinuneko / @silvers-tongue

@kiyomi-uchiha777

[n01r-kn1ght]

What’s this? Sketches for another AU sans? Don’t mind if I do

Sketches of @aka-indulgence chaotic Moon God sans

Post-Capture

Designs were inspired by @zenubi-scribbles version of Moon God sans and Astel from Elden Ring

I like to think when he was wreaking havoc, his powers became too strong and unstable that shards of moonstone burst out of his skeleton and pieces of debris became permanently embedded into him

Pre-Capture

Played around with some over the top designs for sans back in his heyday

This is Astel if anyone is curious

[mylifeingotham]

[ghouljams]

You asked for gaz, I’ll come running

141 witnessing luck commit Canada level war crimes, but the minute Gaz calls her pretty, love, or beckons her she’s melted into a puddle

Gaz and Luck truly a winning combination, they're so mushy and so deadly.

Gaz takes two steps to the left and Soap raises a brow. There's no need for the concern, he's set charges enough times to know the blast radius. Besides Gaz isn't usually so paranoid about explosives. It's when the other sergeant waves him over that Soap really starts getting annoyed.

Then of course the charges go off and tear clear through the floor, crumbling rubble down onto the covert of enemy operatives that had seemingly been lying in wait for them. Soap's never seen rebar spear through anyone's spine like that before, never seen such precision crush injuries either.

"You know that was gonna happen?" Soap asks him, glancing back at Gaz.

"Had a bad feeling," Gaz shrugs. He picks his way carefully around the edge of the hole, knocking out the last hanging pieces of wall from the breach. "Luck doesn't tell me what's gonna happen, just gotta trust," he explains.

"A little heads up would be appreciated." Soap grumbles.

-

Ghost tracks Gaz across rooftops, keeping him in his sights and picking off the enemies that don't have some terrible stroke of luck befall them. So far he's witnessed more guns jamming and grenades prematurely exploding than he's seen in all his years in the service. One soldier actually got knocked out by a door Gaz blew open. Another accidentally sliced his carotid trying to throw a knife.

The shadows behind Gaz swirl and latch onto boots, sticky like tar as they trip soldiers. Gaz stops short of a roof edge, waiting on something. Ghost leans his head towards his radio in preparation to tell him to get the lead out. Gaz tips his head back to look towards the sky, Ghost leave his sight to look himself. Then just as quickly trains his rifle on the helo making its way towards Gaz.

It's really a lucky shot when he hits the pilot dead between the eyes. It's a little more than lucky the way he slumps over the controls and sends the craft plummeting towards heavy artillery that had been making its way towards town. The car flips top over tip, rolling over the soldiers waiting for Gaz on the ground. When he trains his sights back on the man of the hour Gaz has already jumped down onto a cushy awning. Shadows swirl at his feet, inking his every step as he continues his dash towards point.

-

You hand Gaz another spare part from the shadows as Price surveys the field. "Be a lot easier to tell where their damn trails are if the grass wasn't so fuckin' high," Price grumbles. Gaz glances up at him, then around him to look out the window.

"Everything'll work out captain," He tells him, twisting the silencer into his rifle. You peak out the window, blink at the tall grass, doesn't seem so bad to you.

Gaz shoulders his rifle, stance wide as he looks down his sights at the grass. You see the spark of flame at the same moment he does, and knock his gun a little higher. When he fires you feel your magic click into place, the world slotting all its little coincidences into your path. The cigarette drops into the field and ignites the spare powder that was spilled by whatever bomb was being created. There's a small pop, a small hole blown in the ground, the smoldering ashes immediately catching the release of methane from the field.

Everything goes up at once with a boom. The heat wave of it hits the building you're stationed in but the blast hardly grazes you. Gaz lowers his gun, Price makes a "huh" noise, and you content yourself with staring at the smoldering remains of what previously could have been called tall grass.

"Fantastic work doll," Gaz smiles at you, settling a hand on your head. You can't stop the smile that splits your face, giggling as you drop back to the shadows to let him pack up. He doesn't let you, his hand following you into the dark to pull you back out with a grin. He kisses you quick and then you really melt, digging your claws into his tac vest to keep pulling him back in for more. "Baby," he laughs. Baby, you feel every edge soften, your claws gone as he glances at Price. "Later," Gaz promises.

-

"Your civvie is taking a shine to combat," Price breaks the strangely tense silence in the barracks.

"Steamin' hell she has," Soap agrees. Gaz tips his head, his fingers dragging up and down your arm as you cuddle close to his side. He looks down at you, the quiet way you turn the page of whatever novel you're reading.

"Seems the same to me," He tells them.

"Steam rollin' half a dozen men seems the same to you?" Ghost asks, hardly looking away from his own leisure activities.

Gaz hums, moves his arm around your shoulders to tip your head back. You meet his warm gaze and feel purrs shake loose in your chest. He's so sweet when he smiles at you, when his thumb rubs against your cheek. You drop your head against his shoulder, pupils blown wide as you stare at him.

"Pretty love," He murmurs, you could die right there and never have been happier. He looks away from you and the spell doesn't break, you cuddle a little closer, raise a hand to cup his cheek as you kiss his jaw. "Nah, same as always," He tells the rest of the 141. You can feel his pride beaming, the confidence he has in you growing with each incredulous look the rest of the team gives him.

You wonder what they were talking about, but it doesn't matter much when Gaz pulls you onto his lap and carries you to his room.

[nomsfaultau]

Problem solving is their forte.

[micclok]

Frisk and Some weird ass guy

UhhhHHh, HEheheeh, frisk and ,yeah, this uhh old man, ig

[sonicchaoscontrol]

[Ch. 1, Page 25]

[FIRST] [PREVIOUS] [NEXT]

The servers are the seven (terabytes of old data)

(Image formatted for mobile or fullscreen - view in new tab if you experience fuzzy resolution!)

[bones-of-a-rabbit]

THE ABANDONMENT ISSUES COMIC IS IN THE WORKS RN I SWEAR the prologue/opening will be longer than the rest of th parts just bc but it's iN THE WORKS AS IN IT HAS MULTIPLE PAGES THAT R FINISHED NOW jsdfhdsf

so until the opening bit is finished have some fuckin memes ig jdskfhsjkdfhsjkdfh

[bonefall]

i feel like the question was asked loong long time ago, and the answer will probably be 'it would make things way too simple and easy', but. what was stopping Cinderheart (or maybe even Lionblaze, since they would need to somehow explain Dove the Firekin Prophecy) from invoking Queen's Right when taking Ivykit and Dovekit?

could there be a deeper in-universe reason, or just.. it would be way too soon after The Gathering and having someone right away invoke that law cause further drama? or maybe Thornclaw's subtle-unsubtle bias as Thistle Law sympathizer making her not even consider it (since he was her mentor.. unless it was changed)?

i do think the whole situation as it is is more interesting, and the parallels are juicy! just genuinely curious.

It was so that Jayfeather and Poppyfrost could equally maintain access to their kits! Poppyfrost was obviously upset by the fact Jayfeather was choosing the Cleric's Den over their children and didn't want to raise kits alone, so they brought Cinderheart into it.

Cinderheart is bitter that she went through all of this, watched the cat she was courting not take it very well, co-parented with Lionblaze as he was an AWFUL Mi to their kits... only for Poppyfrost to just totally bail on that "access" they went through all this for.

HONEYFERN was more involved than she was :/ AND THEN POPPYFROST ENDED UP WITH HONEYSNAKE'S CRUMMY EX...

The ground is confronting a single one of your problems and Poppyfrost says,

(also Thornclaw isn't Poppy's mentor anymore! Firestar refused to give him another apprentice after his little "ThunderClan is too MIXED" stunt.)

[alecz-obssesionz]

Is the Radiance a cult leader or a CEO of a business here in your Modern AU?

▪︎ She's the CEO of her own bussiness, but probably has the cult leader attitude all around, she knows how to manage and deal with others<3

▪︎ I like to imagine her company being called "LightPlague" or something, this one being in charge of studies, sale of medicines, psychiatry services and other remedies oriented towards sleep and it's dissorders~

On the surface yes, they work to help people but she has her own issues

+ FULL PAGE

[minecraftbookshelf]

Gone Fishing

Mr. InTheLittleWood I know you’re in your tags on here, walk away from this one.

(No, this isn't Marriage of State, that is still with my beta, this is something i started writing for Mermay and then semi-abandoned until these past couple of weeks.)

Mildly Dark Comedy Urban Fantasy Adventures featuring Sleep Deprived Martyn, Selkie!Scott, and Swan Maiden!Cleo and Pearl.

AO3

Rating: T on AO3

Wordcount: ~4k

Characters: Martyn InTheLittleWood, Scott Smajor, ZombieCleo, PearlescentMoon, bonus appearances by JoeHills (with accompanying breaking of the fourth wall) and Rendog.

Relationships: Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss + Martyn (its not quite Divorcee Quartet imo) Background Martyn?Ren and Referenced Past Flower Husbands

Warnings: Off-screen murder and on-screen blood spatter, kidnapping, selkie tropes and the adjacent concepts

-

This is directly inspired by that one tumblr post (I'll link it if i ever successfully find it again) that starts out "swan maidens would be hella built and down for violence, actually" and ends with "a swan maiden and a selkie team up and do violence"

-

3AM calls directly after the full moon are officially Martyn's nemesis. Nonetheless, he listens to the flustered emergency dispatcher stammer through a semi-explanation of the situation. (Murder. Kidnapped mythicals. The usual. He's not even on call this week; how and why is he the only Hunter in the area?) He hauls himself out of bed, knocks on Ren's door on the way out to let him know he is leaving and grabs his keys. He pauses, halfway out the front door and texts Ren because there is no way he'll remember given that he probably didn't even wake up when Martyn knocked, deep asleep and dead to the world in a way only exhausted werewolves can manage.

It's a bit of a drive; some fancy, palace-like mansion outside town on the far side. About as far away as it can get while still being in Martyn's district.

He gets two more calls on the way over, one from the same dispatcher, one from the police on the scene, practically begging him to hurry up with all the usual frantic desperation of humans who've never encountered magic before.

He stops for coffee.

It's a right mess by the time he does arrive; multiple police complete with flashing lights. The press (complete with their own version of flashing lights) a coroners van, at least five ambulances, and an arch-fey lurking by the tree-sized bush sculpted into a pegasus.

Oh no.

Joe Hills gives a jaunty wave that Martyn returns on autopilot.

There's only one reason Joe Hills ever leaves Tennessee.

One cup of coffee is not enough to deal with Cleo.

Much less what they usually drag with them.

Maybe-if Martyn is really, really lucky-Cleo was flying solo when they got mixed up in whatever the hell this is. (Even if they tend a bit more towards arson than murder.) Maybe its just them and not any of the rest of their crew.

He slips through the frazzled crowd of medical and law enforcement personnel, taking note of the battered and sickly looking people sitting in the backs of the ambulances, all of them visibly Not Exactly Human. He recognizes the vampire in the nearest one. Her missing persons case has been sitting on Jimmy's desk at Guild HQ for almost six months now with no new leads. She's sipping on a blood packet while a nervous paramedic hovers just out of her immediate reach.

Now he just has to find someone who knows what's going on-

"Hiyaa!"

Oh no.

Scott Smajor is sitting in the entryway of the stupidly fancy house, wrapped in a shock blanket, practically beaming at Martyn around the paramedic who is very clearly just trying to do their job and is not being paid enough for this.

Martyn can relate.

Scott's smile is wide and bright, his eyes are glassy and feverish, and he's visibly shaking. There is blood spattered on his clothes. And that is just what Martyn can see around the blanket.

He should revisit that offer from the Syndicate. He's pretty sure their annual salary is double what the Guild pays. More than enough to make up for not being a strictly legal operation. Half the stuff Ren brings into their apartment would get them both imprisoned in a pocket dimension somewhere for centuries anyway, might as well go all in.

With a resigned sigh he sucks it up, sticks his hands in his pockets, and strolls up to the front steps.

"Well if it isn't our favorite friendly neighborhood black widow," he says, dry as summer in purgatory. Already piecing together the picture to form something of a complete answer to the question of 'what happened.' "Fancy meeting you here."

Scott actually has the audacity to look offended. "Excuuse you. Most of my husbands are still alive."

Based off the amount of blood spatter on his clothes and the presence of the coroners van, Martyn is going to assume that the most recent one isn't.

'Clothes' is a bit of a generous term. Scott is wearing what most people would consider appropriate-if a bit risque- for clubbing, and what Martyn recognizes as what Scott wears when he's hunting. Most strongly indicated not by what he is wearing but by one very specific and important thing he isn't. This kind of scenario usually ends in at least a week of headaches and several different levels of bureaucratic hell for Martyn that he has to deal with all on his own because Jimmy and Scott are apparently fighting or something and Jimmy reuses to touch anything to do with this nonsense with a fifty foot pole. That could also just be Jimmy deciding to be smart for once and growing a backbone at a time extremely inconvenient for Martyn in particular.

Every day, Martyn regrets getting mixed up in mythical society. If he'd known it outstripped even the smallest of small towns on the 'everyone knows everyone' front he would have run so fast in the other direction. No matter what Grian had to offer. And now he's stuck here.

"Speaking of husbands," Scott purrs, craning to look around the paramedic, ostensibly at Martyn but he's really not as subtle as he thinks in the way he scans the driveway around Martyn's car. "Where is your partner?" He's hiding it well, but his jaw is tense and his eyes pinched. It's probably been hours since he was Separated.

"So what kind of trouble did you get yourself into this time?" Martyn ignores his question and brushes past it, offering an alternate distraction he is actually willing to play along with. He does not have the energy to deal with the drama surrounding his partner and said partner's ex(?)-husband, especially when Jimmy isn't here to give a hard time over it. It already gets brought up way too much every time Scott pops up yet again, dancing merrily back and forth across the line between victim and perpetrator in yet another one of their cases.

"Are you the Guild agent?" A loud voice demands from behind him.

Martyn whirls on his heel, far more ready to trust Scott at his back than some random police. (Not that he would ever admit it.) "I am!" he responds brightly, deliberately irritating in the way he knows best. "What happened here, Officer?"

The policeman, clearly someone important by the lack of wear and tear on his...everything, pulls himself pompously up to his full, rail-thin height and peers down at Martyn over his nose. "Aren't you lot supposed to keep your rabble in check?"

Oh, its going to be like that, is it?

Martyn fixes a blandly polite smile on his face and slips his voice into something a little bit more professional. "That still doesn't answer my question. What happened here?" Behind the officer he can see Joe Hills, still lingering amongst the topiary, eyes fixed on the officer's back. Suddenly it is a lot more reassuring, knowing there is an exit strategy for the people without the protection of a government employee ID. Even if that exit strategy is one of the most dangerously unpredictable beings Martyn is aware of. Which really is saying something.

"That," The officer (Hughes, his nameplate says) jabs a finger over Martyn's shoulder, presumably at Scott. "Has murdered an upstanding citizen and has the audacity to claim immunity!"

Martyn cocks his head to the side. "From where I'm standing, you're pointing the finger at a selkie missing his skin, so yeah, there is probably immunity involved."

"Well first of all," Cleo announces their presence as they emerge from the depths of the house, trailed by a very nervous looking police officer.

They stop in the doorway to drop a bundle on Scott's head, the dark mass makes contact with his bright blue hair and unfolds to drape over him. By the time Scott has discarded the shock blanket to wrap himself in his pelt instead, Cleo has stepped past him to stand shoulder to shoulder with Martyn. They're taller than Officer Hughes, which a very petty part of Martyn appreciates. The crisp white feathers of their own skin tickle his arms as they cross their arms. There is blood spatter on their feathers.

"He didn't kill the asshole," they continue without so much as looking at Martyn. "He physically couldn't. I did. And I'd do it again."

Cleo is hardly new to scenes like this, neither are they squeamish. The combined records of the entirety of their little squad speak to that. But something about this one clearly has them rattled and angry. At least Officer Hughes is here to take the brunt instead of them turning it on Martyn.

"Chapter four of the Magical Coexistence Treaties, Section B, Paragraph 13; 'Should the autonomy of any selkie, swan maiden, or similar being be violated, any and all members of their pod/flock can take whatever measures they deem necessary to right and/or avenge the wrong and secure the freedom of the violated party or, should the victim have perished, obtain were-guild from the one who harmed them.'"  Cleo rattles off the sentences that Martyn knows by heart at this point, from the frequency he's encountered them in more or less this exact context with this exact cast.

They point at Scott. "Selkie." They point to themself. "Swan." They gesture back and forth between the both of them. "Pod, flock, whatever you want to call it. And given I just retrieved his skin from the asshole's locked personal office I think his autonomy was violated enough." Their voice is deeply sarcastic in the way that only Cleo can be. Martyn is half-surprised Officer Hughes isn't on the ground bleeding from it.

"And all that was before we found the dungeon in the basement." They turn to Martyn, brushing Hughes off with as much concern as if he were a fly. "He was a collector, apparently. And he'd been at it awhile."

Martyn looks around the assembled ambulances and their occupants with a new, more critical eye. A starved and weakened vampire, a silver-collared werewolf, two nervous and twitch sirens (wrapped in damp blankets as a paramedic with a lock-picking kit fiddles with the muzzles fitted around their faces. Martyn makes a mental note; someone with flexible skills set like that might work out at the Guild. And they can always use more medical personnel.) an emaciated naga. As he turns back two more paramedics emerge behind them, carefully wheeling out a criminally (literally) small tank containing brackish water and an insensate mer.

Oh this is going to be so much paperwork.

Martyn is very glad the guy is dead. At least that means he won't have to work on a prosecution on top of everything else.

"There's more inside," Scott says behind them. Martyn glances over his shoulder and is glad to see him looking a lot less feverish and pained than before with the return of his pelt. "I got a grand tour. He's got a dragon-hide hanging on the wall in the library and a whole hall of displayed...parts."

So much paperwork.

Jimmy had better enjoy that vacation. They'll still probably be sorting this all out when he gets back.

"He was going to put me in a concrete enclosure, Martyn, he showed me. It's so ugly. Almost as bad as the rest of his house."

Of course that is equally offensive to Scott's sensibilities as his entire free will being stolen. That tracks.

There is still an elephant in the room that Martyn hasn't sen hide nor feather of at all.

"Pearl?" He asks Cleo, almost dreading the answer.

"Left already."

Suspicious, but at least it means he only has to deal with Gaslight and Gatekeep here. Or whatever they call themselves.

This time.

Because this is not the first time The Terrible Honeypot Trio, as they are unofficially referred to at Guild headquarters, have used this exact legal loophole to go after a creep or two. The murder is outside the norm, admittedly. Usually they limit themselves to theft and arson. It's a very lucrative racket for them and they have it down to a science. Dress Scott (its usually Scott; Cleo is scary and Pearl has a stab first ask questions later policy) up, flaunt his selkie status, and dangle him in front of a bunch of rich guys and see who takes the bait.

And every angle of it is legal.

Multiple Guild members are of the opinion that, whatever their (financial) motivations they are also providing a valuable public service. Their trail of victims is also a trail of overall shitty and predatory people that the Guild can make sure get nailed for something else, whether mythical or mundane in nature.

Ultimately, given that all someone has to do to not end up as a target of 'The Three Gs' is, you know, not abduct someone, they've never had a very convincing entrapment case leveled against them. Though a few of their victims have tried.

This one likely won't be, given that his blood is currently smeared all over Scott's clothes and Cleo's face.

Hmmmmm.

Martyn squints thoughtfully at the spatter on Cleo. It's hard to tell, since they've clearly been doing things, he's not going to think too hard about what, and its been smeared quite a bit...but that doesn't look like murder spatter. That looks like adjacent to murder spatter.

Which means, given that Scott couldn't, Pearl was probably the one who actually killed the asshole.

Honestly, that tracks.

Cleo and Hughes are in some kind of stare down now, Martyn would wish the officer luck but honestly, he hopes Cleo eats him alive. He ignores the two of them and turns back to Scott, who's still sitting on the front step, leaning against the door-frame. He looks tired and is shivering a little, but winks at Martyn when he notices his attention. Getting his pelt back has cleared away most of the lingering discomfort or shakiness and as annoying as it is how unruffled he seems after having just witnessed a murder at what was very clearly close proximity, it is reassuring to have him back to his usual demeanor. Despite having made a career out of it, playing the victim really does not suit Scott at all.

"See something you like?"

Martyn snorts a laugh and nudges the discarded shock blanket with the toe of his boot. "You should probably take this back."

"Awww," Scott coos at him, head cocked to the side. "You do care!"

"It's like, 6° out and you're wearing fishnets," Martyn says, somewhat proud of his deadpan and also for resisting making a joke about how fishnets seem a bit on the nose. "It's making me cold just to look at you."

Scott rolls his eyes, but concedes enough to drag the shock blanket over his lap. "You realize I don't really get cold, right? It's like, a whole selkie thing."

"Yeah, when you're in seal form, which you're very clearly not, at the moment."

"It doesn't just go away," Scott grumbles, but tucks the blanket more securely under his knees anyway.

Martyn is going to blame his fussing on still being in post-full moon mode. He'd been throwing blankets and pillows and soup at Ren all afternoon and is going to have to pick right back up where he left off when he gets back home. Ren is notoriously terrible at self-care after a transformation.

"Right," Cleo is suddenly there, looming threateningly over Martyn's shoulder. "Martyn, can you tell this idiot that he's not going to be able to arrest us so we can get on with it all."

God, Martyn hates inter-departmental politics. He leans back to peer around Cleo's shoulder at Hughes. "They're in my custody, you can't have them."

He ignores Hughes' subsequent blustering to give Scott and Cleo his full attention. "Is there anything else either of you needs, or can we get out of here?"

The sun is just starting to peek over the horizon. Martyn has spent the past several days taking care of a worn-out and antsy werewolf he is supposed to be dead asleep right now. He will send a preliminary report into HQ (text his boss a two sentence summary) and then he is done. This can be someone else's problem until he's had a minimum of twelve hours of uninterrupted sleep. The murder part has already been done anyway, what's left sounds like it is much more in Research & Preservation's jurisdiction. And Medical. He'll be sure to add a whole extra sentence to that effect.

Scott and Cleo exchange a glance and shake their heads. "Didn't bring anything," Cleo says with a shrug. "I got what I came for."

Scott kicks at their ankle but also looks kind of touched. For a second and only a second, because those two don't do sappy emotions. He then kicks the shock blanket back off and begins hauling himself to his feet. Cleo gives him a hand up and he wobbles on his high-heeled boots but stays standing. Given how shaky he still looks, Martyn is counting that as a win.

He's starting to think Scott might have been separated from his skin for more than just a few hours this time. He's usually completely shaken off the effects by the time Martyn shows up. He's never seen this level of severity.

The two mythicals wander over, Scott still holding onto Cleo's arm, pacing carefully to try and hide the way he is leaning on them for support. Cleo, being Cleo, blatantly ignores the entire situation but still slows their usually brisk stride to accommodate.

"You'll have to give us a ride."

"What?" Visions of his bed vanish before Martyn's eyes at Cleo's declaration.

"You heard me," Cleo repeats, heading towards the edge of the crime scene, Scott only staggering a little bit as he keeps up. "Now where did you park, I'm ready to be rid of this place."

Martyn opens and closes his mouth a couple of times, "Excuse me?" He looks back at the topiary Joe Hills had been standing by. 'Had been' turns out to be the important part of that sentence. "What happened to-"

"He had to go pick his kid up from school, keep up, Martyn." Cleo yells over their shoulder without looking back. "He has a schedule to keep and you took too long. HE was just here to take down the wards."

"Wards?" Martyn rushes to catch up to them. "This is the first you've said about wards. What kind of wards?"

"The kind that keep people like us out," Cleo snaps back, not slowing down at all. "What kind do you think?"

They beeline directly for Martyn's car, pull open the passenger door, and push Scott into the seat. The entire time Martyn has known Cleo, they have never given up the front seat for anyone.

Martyn wonders just how close their luck came to running out this time.

Cleo closes the back seat door behind themself  and then the two of them are looking at Martyn impatiently through the windows, as if he is the one acting weird.

There are not enough braincells in Sleep-Deprived Martyn's head to untangle all of this. He gets in the car.

He gives both Scott and Cleo a onceover while starting it. Now tthat they are out of sight of the masses, Scott is slumped against the door, face pale and eyes closed. Cleo is being very deliberately casual in a very Cleo way, and their face is pinched and the line that shows up on their forehead when they are stressed is definitely line-ing. The hand they have held up, pretending to pick dried blood out from under their nails, is shaking.

"Can we get chicken nuggies?" Pearl asks, her face very suddenly right in Martyn's.

Martyn does not yell or flail. Just for the record. And he certainly doesn't scream or jump.

Pearl just stares at him, eyes eerily blank behind her usual 'thrilled with violence' sparkle. She must have been laying down in his back seat. She's sitting in the middle now, next to Cleo, spattered with even more blood than the other two, in a way that bears out Martyn's theory on who actually killed the homeowner.

Her expression turns wheedling and she leans forward even more, propping her chin on the back of Scott's seat. "Nuggies?"

How is this Martyn's life.

"Fine," he sighs as he pulls out of the fancy big circle drive, leaving the oversized house and all its horrors behind them. "We can get chicken nuggies."

-

Ren wakes up, for a given definition of "wakes up" at...some point. Checking the clock would require opening his eyes and, between the sandy sensation and general lingering exhaustion, he doesn't really want to do that.

He can feel the sun through the curtains and his window face west. So afternoon sometime.

His stomach rumbles.

Perchance he should investigate the kitchen.

A moment of consideration and he decides it still isn't worth opening his eyes. He wraps his comforter over his head and around his shoulders as if it were a winter cape and stumbles towards the door. It takes a few moments of groping around but he manages to find the doorknob and free himself from his confines.

He can smell coffee.

Coffee and people and fast food and...blood?

Instantly set on edge, the clinging territorial instincts from the moon reaction to unexpected intruders in the home, Ren finally cracks one eye open.

Half of the sofa is taken up by a blurry white mass that, after a few blinks, solidifies into a swan sleeping on a pile of messy blankets, head tucked under one wing. A very familiar swan that is awakened enough by Ren's racket to raise their head and give him a displeased hiss, before going back to sleep, settling deeper into their impromptu nest.

His attention is pulled away from Cleo by a shuffling from the kitchen.

Pearl Moon waves at him from where she is sitting on the floor, leaning up against the partition between kitchen and sitting room, halfway through a tub of Ren's ice cream. Ren blinks back at her.

Major is sitting at the kitchen table across from Martyn, who has his face down on the surface of said table and is giving off the general smell he does anytime his emotions are best summarized as "I don't want to be here anymore."

Major looks back over his shoulder and beams at Ren, "Oh good, you're up! Come take a look at these!"

Ren shuffles closer until he can see what exactly it is the selkie has spread all over the table.

It's quite the variety, all placed carefully on Ren's good tea towels. Several trinkets of questionable origin, a cursed box of some kind that smells of fae magic, some mundane jewelry, and a small collection of potion vials. Major taps one of the un-enchanted necklaces proudly. "How would you price this lot?"

Martyn groans against the table top. "Could you at least not conduct your illegal sales in my kitchen when I'm here?"

Ren pats him on the shoulder and does his best to wake up enough to give the haul a more critical look. "Hard to say without a close examination but at least a couple thousand."

Behind him, Pearl makes a disparaging noise. "Only a couple thousand?" She says around a mouthful of ice cream. "Wow, that's cheap."

She shakes something that makes a jingling sound. "Now come look at mine!"

Martyn groans again and shoves his chair away from the table. "I'm going to go get food, if this is what you are doing now." He heads for the door.

Ren takes his chair as Pearl scrambles to her feet and joins them at the table, pulling things willy-nilly out of the pockets of her bright red jacket. He certainly wasn't planning on business on a day off when he hadn't even opened the shop, but Cleo and friends were always a good source of dubiously obtained items.

Martyn closes the front door behind him and Ren can hear him grumbling his way down the stairwell.

He can smell cheap chicken nuggets and his stomach rumbles. Hopefully Martyn brings some of those back with him.

[doughnutshi]

Have my cake and eat it too 🍰

Anyways these were doodles in my simple style. I was trying to design modern Mizu and couldn’t decide hair down or up so both! 🩵 The first time I drew the hair came out too blue so I tried to fix it 😭

I don’t think I’ve ever posted this on here? If I did oh well I’m posting it again bc I have no memory! Lol

[twistedwonderlandsimps]

Yuu (Al-) Asim and Jamil

Look, I needed to get this off my mind, alright? Here’s some low-key, high-key Jamil discreetly having a crush on Yuu who is Kalim’s older sibling and it might also be a teeny, tiny bit yandere but not much (maybe). Might or might not be canon to the Sibling!Yuu AU lore. I just needed to get this off my brain, okay? I might make a part 2 but with overblot Jamil though I’m not sure. Anyway, enjoy! 

===

Yuu didn’t plan on staying at NRC for long. It was fun catching up with their younger brother and letting loose for a while but at the end of the day they were still a traveling merchant at heart and wherever there’s money to be made, they will be there. In fact, the only thing that made them want to stay for so long was because of the amount of students overblotting in the school. Yuu was very sure this shouldn’t even be a normal occurrence but it’s weird that it’s happened three times already within the span of a few months.

Riddle Rosehearts of the Heartslabyul Dorm was the first one to overblot. Yuu hadn’t really planned on getting tangled with whatever was happening in the Heartslabyul Dorm at first, but then Ace Trappola had come knocking on Ramshackle’s doors and Yuu really didn’t have the heart to turn the poor boy away, especially when he had nowhere else to go. Ace had been under the impression that Ramshackle was an abandoned building so he was thinking of spending the night there. 

Ramshackle was abandoned until Yuu rented it from the Headmaster. Yuu had more than enough money to pay for it anyway. They turned Ramshackle into a small shop that sold simple, fun things that they’ve amassed from their travels. Sure, they could’ve sold the same things as what Sam had in his store and they had the resources to definitely do it but they didn’t want to compete with the local business. The older Asim child didn’t even mind if they didn’t make a lot of profit. Additionally, they weren’t an idiot to mess with Sam and, by extension, his friends on the other side. Their sense of self-preservation was working properly, thank you very much, they didn’t need to test it.

The next one to overblot was Leona Kingscholar of the Savanaclaw Dorm. Again, Yuu hadn’t planned on interfering with whatever was happening but then the students just kept getting injured left and right. Yuu didn’t have it in their conscience to just let everything be so they asked permission from the Headmaster to investigate. That one was a wild run from start to end but thankfully everything ended well.

Finally, the latest to overblot was someone from the Octavinelle Dorm by the name Azul Ashengrotto. He had tried to take Ramshackle away from Yuu after Ace and Deuce made a contract with the Octavinelle Dorm Leader and failed to uphold their end of the deal. The stern lecture those two got from Grim was really something Yuu could never forget. Grim didn’t stop until two hours later. In fact, the cat-like creature would’ve most likely continued on for a few more hours but Yuu had taken pity on the Heartslabyul boys whose legs have become numb from sitting for too long and intervened.

Though after the overblot events, Yuu began to have a sneaking suspicion of its emergence pattern. They weren’t saying they were being paranoid but they weren’t taking any chances, you see? So, they discreetly placed Kalim under heavy watch for a few days and only eased up when they could finally be assured that their younger brother wasn’t acting any different and was not in danger of overblotting. 

Currently, they and Grim were in Scarabia Dorm. With Yuu’s living arrangement in NRC, they tended to alternate between staying in Scarabia and Ramshackle since they didn’t want to impose on their brother too much, much to Kalim’s disappointment.

Having said goodbye to the others as they went back to their homes for winter vacation, Yuu also began to pack their luggage and started planning on where they and Grim would go next. Coral Sea was out of the potential candidates since the ocean was bound to be frozen at this time of the year. Yuu didn’t want to pickaxe their way through the frozen ocean. Hmm… The Briar Valley was a good place, perhaps? Or maybe the Rose Kingdom–

“Yuu?” A familiar voice spoke up and Yuu paused in the middle of what they were doing to turn their head towards the source of the voice. Standing at the doorway was Jamil. “What’s all this?”

“Oh, good morning Jamil!” Yuu greeted cheerfully with a small wave. Jamil was Yuu’s younger brother’s attendant. Yuu remembered having had an attendant once at a point in their life, too… Not anymore, though…

Well! It was best not to dwell too much in the past! Yuu had Grim by their side anyway!

“What’s wrong? Did you need anything?” Yuu asked, watching as Jamil’s questioning gaze moved to the luggage in Yuu’s bed and the older Asim realized that they hadn’t actually told anyone they were traveling soon, did they? Silly them! They forgot that it wasn’t just them and Grim here now. If they disappeared so suddenly, their brother would surely try to look for them!

“Oh, right! I forgot to tell you and Kalim, didn’t I? Grim and I are planning on traveling again.” They said and continued packing their clothes. “So sorry for such short notice! We don’t really tend to stay in one place for too long and we often travel without a heads up,  you see.”

Jamil hummed in acknowledgment and Yuu could hear the Scarabian boy approach them from behind. “Is that so? Well, would you like some help?” He kindly offered. Yuu chuckled lightly and shook their head. They didn’t have a lot to pack, they could finish this quickly. “It’s alright, it’s alright, you don’t have to! I’m about to finish up, anyway.”

However, it seemed like Jamil wasn’t taking ‘no’ as an answer as he reached out and firmly gripped Yuu’s arm, stopping them from putting their folded shirt in the baggage.

“Oh no, no, I insist.” Feeling the other grip their arm a bit too hard, Yuu instinctively whipped their head up to look at Jamil but as they did, they met his gaze and…and…

…

…and what were they doing again…?

Yuu stumbled backward, the feeling of vertigo consuming them momentarily but Jamil quickly reached out, a hand firmly planted on Yuu’s back as they helped the older person steady themselves.

“Are you alright, Yuu?” Jamil asked, worry etched in his features. Yuu blinked owlishly, dazed, and then frowned. They brought a hand up to their forehead and massaged their temples.

“Yeah… Yeah, I’m fine, I just…” Yuu said unsurely, a look of confusion on their face. “What was I saying again…?”

Jamil calmly said without skipping a beat, “You were planning on staying for a few more weeks. The weather’s awfully cold so you were going to live here in Scarabia instead of Ramshackle.”

Huh, that… that didn’t sound right. Did they really say that? Yuu tilted their head. “Is that so?” They couldn’t help but doubt it. Something here wasn’t adding up but Yuu couldn’t quite put a finger as to what.

“Hm…” Jamil hummed, scrutinizing them. “Maybe you’re feeling a bit under the weather? Well, why don’t I help you unpack your luggage since you said you weren’t going to be traveling as of yet. After that, I’ll make you food to help you feel better.” He gave Yuu a warm smile.

Seeing the other smile at them made Yuu smile too. What a kind and caring boy Jamil was! Kalim was really lucky to have such a compassionate and thoughtful attendant like Jamil. They were almost jealous!

Taking a quick glance at their almost-full luggage, Yuu hesitated for a bit, something in the back of their mind warning them of a danger they don’t remember, before helping Jamil unpack their things.

It was probably nothing… right? 

N̷̠͖̹̜͖̂͆̔͐͘ǫ̶̞͚͕̀,̸̳̑̓̐͒ ̸͈̭̟̫̭̃̈́n̸͔͋̕õ̶̘̳̩̪͂͝,̵̩̪̉͝ ̶̯̫̭͌̽̏̄͠ň̵̥̻̙͙̃͋ờ̵͉̇͑̔,̴͉̩͍̥͋̚̚ ̶͔͛n̵̲̎̂́́̍o̶̢̡̨̠̒,̶̫͇̕ ̸̞̞͔͈̏̎͛̌n��̤̔ȯ̵̡̍͐͗,̵͓͐̀́̂͑ ̷̲̖̲̐̋͑̉ș̷̼̗͊̿̓n̸̨̜̭͗͛͝ä̴̡́̂̽p̶͚̤͖͘ͅ ̴͍̍̈͐͠ȏ̷̮̟̱̻͘͠u̴̧̩̤͒t̶̡̲̼̠̒̾ ̷͚͚͉̋o̸͚̹̊͒f̶̻͙͛̑̓̿̉ ̸̖̆͆i̶͔͔̗̩͆̎͆̈͐t̸̡̏̋̕͝,̸͈̬̈́́ ̴̢̳̗̎̓s̸̗̄̒͂o̶̖̤̳͐̀̇m̵̛͎̝̂͘̚e̷̦͈͐̔̄̈́́ͅt̴̳̽̕h̸̳̩̱̗̒̀͘ȉ̸̢̩̘̠̼̎͛̔͂n̷̳͋g̴͖̼̪͙̗̊̊’̸̘̮͓̻̺̈́̕s̴̳͍̟͖͗̂̚ ̴̪͗͝w̶̘͈̞͇̿̓̔͛r̴͓͍͉̈̑͌̚͠ǫ̷̞̎n̷̤̒͂̋̑͝ģ̶̜̘͕̙̀̀̃̽̈́,̸̥͉̎ ̵̲̲̥̍̆̈́̚ś̶͉n̵̺̞͎̞̄̽̐̉͝ȃ̷̧͉̩̉̀̄͝p̷̧̢̛̛̜͇̟̃ ̴̛̘̾ó̷̭̭͍̜̕͝ͅu̷̪͍͓͂t̷̖͈̔̇̄̎̓ ̸̙̺̳̍o̷̧̯̻̮͑̌̌̾f̶̮̲̈̌́͜ ̸̱̘͈̈ḭ̷̾̿̕t̵͎͇̗̯̀̔̽̄̕,̴̩͗̐̄̚ ̸̧̝͙̄̍͑͛s̷̜̘̓̊͛͠n̷͍̜͇̮͆́̆̈́̆â̴̼̕ṕ̶̧͙͈̿ ̸̯̋̽͛̈͒ờ̶̢̻͍̹̤̔̕ú̷͕̭̠̽̋t̷͍͊̚͠ ̵̹̎̇̒̕ͅo̴̙̦͎͔͌̂̉͘f̴̛̣͛̐̏͠ ̶̰̖̹̏̅̕i̵̼̩͙͛–̸̯̌́͆̈

Right...

–

“Fngyaaa…” Grim collapsed down into the bedsheets, exhausted. “Yuu, you notice it too, don’t you? Kalim’s acting really, really weird! It’s as if he’s possessed or something! We managed to talk him out of having to force his dorm members to staying here but then he suddenly just shifted as if he was another person!”

Yuu groaned from beside him, lying face down on their bed. “Mou… I didn’t expect he’d actually force us to train with them… To think we’d be marching the desert for hours… Was he really that upset about losing the Magift Tournament? But he didn’t seem like he was affected, even with the stress of the exams.” Yuu would know. They did put Kalim under heavy surveillance, after all. So, why now? What was so different now? “In the first place, why did we have to exercise and study with them? We aren’t even going school here.” They sighed tiredly.

The two stayed silent and still for a brief moment before Grim’s ears perked up. The feline creature sat up from the bed and tapped Yuu’s shoulder repeatedly. “Hey, Yuu… Yuu, why don’t we just go and leave? It’s about high time we start travelling anyway.”

Yuu looked at Grim with a confused expression. “What? What do you mean?”

“Fgnya! It’s not like we have to stay here! You’re Kalim’s older sibling, would he really force you stay here if you were firm about in leaving? You have to put your foot down and really mean it, Yuu! Don’t spoil him!”

Yuu sighed but didn’t deny his words. Grim had a point. They knew they should be acting their part as Kalim’s older sibling and scold him for being too hard on his dorm members. To use their vacation time for training and studying without even being able to see their family was just unnecessarily cruel. Although they felt like they were being a bit unfair to Kalim too, they just couldn’t stand by and see him ruin himself.

Yuu sighed once again but rolled out of bed. “Alright, alright. You stay here, I’ll go talk to Kalim that we’ll be heading off at the soonest convenient time.”

After making sure they looked presentable in the mirror, they left the room.

Walking down the hallways of Scarabia, Yuu didn’t expect to bump into Jamil.

“Oh, good evening, Jamil…” Yuu tried to greet the other with the same cheery expression that they usually had but judging by the look on Jamil’s face, they weren’t successful. Yuu was just too exhausted to care right now, anyway.

“Are you alright, Yuu?” Jamil asked, putting a hand on Yuu’s back as they led them to a nearby balcony to get some fresh air. Yuu felt touched by their thoughtfulness and the cold night air really helped. “Was there something you needed? You could’ve just called one of the dorm members. I’m sure they won’t mind getting you what you need.”

“No, it’s…” Yuu scratched the back of their head. “It’s fine. I was just heading over to go and have a small talk with Kalim.”

“Hm? Why is that? Why do you need to go have a talk with him?“ Jamil inquired in curiosity. Though, had Yuu been paying attention closely, it was more like he was interrogating them.

“Well,” Yuu started. There was a lot of things they wanted to say, honestly. But they don’t know where to start. “I was going to tell him to cut your dorm members some slack, you know? I know there are times to get serious and times to have fun but Kalim’s just… taking it too far right now.”

“Ah, I see… I can’t say I’m not surprised.” Jamil nodded, agreeing with Yuu’s words. “Kalim has always been… willful. Though, he wasn’t always like this. Perhaps being the Dorm Leader of Scarabia is taking a toll on him. It is hard to manage all this all on his own but the way he’s going about it is…” Jamil trailed off but Yuu understood what he was trying to say.

Some people were just good at being leaders and some people just needed… maybe more than a few lessons here and there to be good at leading. And right now? Kalim wasn’t… fit to lead, as harsh as it sounds. He was acting more of a tyrant than anything and if Yuu knew anything about tyrants, it was that people were bound to overthrow them sooner or later. Yuu didn’t want to see their brother get hurt once that happened.

Yuu sighed once again. They’ve been sighing a lot ever since they decided to stay here. Maybe staying at one place for too long was getting to them. They weren’t used to it. Ever since Yuu was young, they’d always had the habit of travelling all around different places. Yuu looked up at the night sky and watched as the stars twinkled up above.

“Objectively speaking…” Yuu gave a quick glance at Jamil through their peripheral vision. He, too, was looking up at the stars and quietly waiting for what Yuu had to say. “I think… you’d suit to be the Dorm Leader right now, Jamil.”

“...!” Jamil, not expecting that Yuu would  say this out of the blue whipped his head to the side to look at the older Asim with wide eyes. “...What?”

“I know I’m foolish at times, but I’m not blind.” Yuu laughed lightly, finding the face Jamil was making at the very moment funny. 

“I’m a merchant, Jamil. I have an eye for these things. Although you’ve tried to hide it, it’s clear that you’ve got a good head on your shoulders. You’re more than capable enough to run this place. I know Kalim’s currently the Dorm Leader but he’s still… young. He still has a lot to learn.” Yuu’s smiled turned melancholic. “Though, I do understand if you’re against it. There are a lot of households serving… attending the Asim Family and to go against them… us would be a bad idea.”

Jamil stayed silent. Yuu looked over to him with a small smile. “But, if you wanted to be the Dorm Leader, would you, Jamil?”

“I… that…” Jamil looked conflicted but he didn’t answer. That was fair. Jamil had been serving the Asim Family for so long that he was probably hesitant to even do something that would be perceived as going against them (not really but it’s not like Yuu knew what was happening). Yuu patted his shoulders gently and gave him a cheeky smile. “It’s alright if you don’t have an answer now. But if you ever do want to, just call me, alright? I may have not visited home for years now but I know my words still have weight around in the Asim Family. I am the oldest Asim child, after all.”

The two became silent, only the sound of the howling wind and the chirping of crickets preventing it from becoming becoming fully awkward.

Yuu lightly coughed. Right, they almost got off track for their real reason they left their room. “Anyway, have you seen Kalim anywhere? I also need to tell him that Grim and I are going to depart as soon as we can.”

“What?” Just like that, the peaceful– almost gentle– lull of silence between the two was broken. Jamil looked at Yuu with furrowed brows, not understanding why Yuu would just say that out of nowhere.

“Grim and I are planning on going to travel as soon as we can. ” Yuu confessed. It wasn’t like they had any reason to keep it from Jamil. Jamil was so nice and considerate and caring and– these aren’t your thoughts, why are you thinking these things, you have to wake up–they know they could trust him!

“I don’t know what happened last time but we really are planning on continuing our travel this time. I was about to head over to Kalim to tell him about this. I wouldn’t want him to wake up next morning and wonder where we suddenly went, hahaha!” Yuu chuckled lightly but their amusement died down as Jamil made no noise or movement beside them.

Feeling something in the current situation was weird, Yuu looked towards Jamil with a frown. “Jamil…?”

Although Jamil was smiling, their face held no joy. In fact, his smile appeared strained and the aura around him seemed… dangerous. Yuu tensed up, feeling a chill run down their spine. Their intuition that they honed through years and years of travel screaming at them to turn away immediately and start run. And who were they to deny their intuition when this had saved them multiple times from getting terribly injured?

Just as they were about to turn away, Jamil opened his eyes and met their eyes, the smile on his face gone. Yuu found their limbs locked in place. No matter how much Yuu tried, they couldn’t find it in themselves to look away from Jamil’s piercing stare.

“And here we were having such a sweet moment, but you’re still actually thinking of such things?” He said in a low voice, scowling in displeasure. “Looks like I need to completely wipe that thought out of your mind again. Really, why do you keep trying to leave when you can just stay? Now, look into my eyes. Snake Whisper...”

The next day, Yuu woke up in bed with no memory of what had transpired the night before. They never got to speak to Kalim about leaving, either. How odd… When Grim asked them about this, Yuu just gave him a weird look and firmly stated that they were staying in Scarabia, much to Grim’s chagrin.

Though, Yuu felt as if they’ve forgotten something very important… They wondered what it was but they couldn’t seem to get their mind to focus as Jamil smiled at waved at them from the front as the entirety of the Scarabia Dorm was preparing to go to the East Oasis. 

Yuu smiled and waved back, the nagging feeling they had getting pushed back to the back of their mind. Well, if whatever they had forgotten was important then they’ll most likely remember it later. Right now, they should get ready to march.