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undertalethingems · 5 years

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Bark at the Moon, Chapter 2: Reconnections, Recollections

Or read on my Ao3>

Rating, Setting: Gen, Pre-canon

Chapter Warnings: None

Chapter Summary: Sans is at a loss for what to do. He's lucky his brother isn't the only one who looks out for him, and that he's not the only one looking out for Papyrus... But they both have a lot of work ahead of them.

It had been two weeks. Two long, empty, lonely weeks. Sans hadn’t given up on his brother, per se, but he had given up on looking for him. A check on the numbers revealed nothing out of the ordinary; as far as he could tell, Papyrus was definitely still alive, and there was nothing funky with the timeline. More mundane sources of information continued to come up dry, and the few times Sans had gone out, there was a subtle unease in town. If only Papyrus knew his neighbors missed him... not to mention his own brother. It was like he'd vanished into thin air, and Sans knew that was one thing his brother couldn't do. So he was just... gone.

Sans was starting to feel he'd messed up somehow. He knew he was far from being a perfect or even a really good brother, but he didn’t think he’d done anything to make Papyrus feel running away was necessary…. No, Papyrus would have aired his grievances long before that, he was sure.... But then again, would he? It's not like Sans ever did anything about all the things he nagged him for. Maybe after feeling unheard for so long, he'd left. A cruel voice in his mind liked to whisper as much and worse, and without Papyrus to motivate him, he wasn't doing much to combat it.

He rolled over on the couch and ignored the empty chip bag that crinkled under him, the remains of lunch. Going to Grillby’s had become too taxing sometime last week, and most other foods were similarly inconvenient if they sounded good at all. He wanted nothing more than for Papyrus to burst in and scold him for being so lazy, but dreams of exactly that and the knowledge none of this mattered anyway had spoiled his hopes. He’d just wait, like he always did. He heaved a sigh, and was letting his eyelids drift down when a knock on his door startled him.

He waited, and it came again--much harder.

“Sans?” Undyne called, her voice only slightly muffled by the door. “Sans, you better be in there. I'm gonna bust this down if you don't answer now!”

Oh boy. He hauled himself up, brushed off the worst of the crumbs, and answered the door. Undyne grimaced as she studied him.

“Oh thank god, but dude, you look awful. I was here to see if you were okay, but, I think I just got my answer. C’mon, you’re not staying inside anymore.”

“eh, i’m not really feeling up to going out,” Sans mumbled, wondering if he looked as tired as he felt. “was kinda hoping you had info on my bro, to be honest, but…”

“Sans, no one’s seen you in three weeks,” Undyne stated.

Sans looked up at her with brows furrowed, questioning.

“i was just at grillby’s like… five days ago,” he protested, but Undyne shook her head.

“Grillby himself called me in on a wellness check. It’s been three. Weeks. Two since Papyrus… disappeared. I… guess you lost track of time, huh?”

Sans wilted--he was missing a whole week. “… it really flies when you’re having fun. sorry you went through all this trouble. tell grillby…. i dunno. tell him i’m ok, i guess.”

“You’re not okay,” Undyne growled, snatching the shoulder of his hoodie. “What if Papyrus came home to find you like this? Or—or worse!? Come on! We’re getting you cleaned up, making you eat some real food, and then we’re going out to look for Papyrus because if this keeps going we’ll lose BOTH of you.”

Sans didn’t have it in him to protest. She... she was right. He let her strongarm him into his own house and into the shower—though she gave him his privacy once she’d turned the water on, and the warmth felt so nice he considered staying in for a few days. But that would mean missing out on food he probably wouldn't be paying for, and he was actually hungry now. He washed up and put on the change of clothes Undyne had left him, and when he did finally emerge he found she’d thrown most of the trash away and there was an open spot on the couch. It was fated to remain empty though as she hooked her arm around his shoulders and marched him out the door.

Grillby’s exploded in shock when the two walked in, and they were swarmed by the regulars trying to greet them. Undyne howled, ordering everyone to give Sans some space, and they were finally able to make their way to the bar. If Sans was honest, part of him didn’t really want to be here, but more of him could admit he’d missed it. His friends were quick to fill him in on the latest gossip and jokes, and he realized they were doing for him what he'd done for them so many times before. They were trying to cheer him up.

After enjoying good company and a meal Grillby had assured him was on the house, at Undyne's urging they headed out to begin the search anew. Sans dreaded reaching the tile puzzle now, knowing it was the last place with any evidence of his brother and yet be such a glaring dead end. He sighed, and nudged some of the freshly accumulated snow with his slipper as Undyne talked on her phone behind him.

“Wait a minute, I’ll ask. Hey Sans,” she spoke, tapping his shoulder. “You remember what day it was that all this started?”

“yeah. it was… tuesday, exactly two—well, three weeks ago,” he answered.

“Thanks! Okay, um… as far as I know, he starts at 6 AM, sharp. Yeah. It would’ve taken him a little while to… okay, gotcha. I’ll hang on.”

There was a long pause. Sans wondered if he really could fall asleep standing up. Odds were looking pretty good. He let his eyelids slip down...

“So… you do see something? Uh-huh… that’s too bad about the lens, but you can confirm there was movement here during our timeframe? Awesome. Well, not awesome, but, you know. Thanks Alphys, you’re the best. Talk to you later.”

“well?”

“Dr. Alphys set up these cameras all over to watch for humans, and as it happens, they caught Papyrus walking over here, but not getting any farther than that. Thanks to that snowstorm, this area’s camera got iced over--of course--but she could see enough to make out… something,” Undyne explained. “Hold on, she’s gonna text me a couple pictures.”

There was a ping, and she studied the images with a frown before holding it out for Sans.

“I dunno. I definitely see something, but, can you make any sense of this?”

Sans took her phone and studied the blurry pictures. He could barely make out the trees in the background, but at least the division between them and the snow-covered ground was clear enough. There wasn’t anything that looked particularly like his brother, but there was a whitish arch of something and a smudge of orange that seemed to dart across the frame. It was a better hint than anything they’d had before, but what was it?

Sans squinted at the pictures—wait, was the arch a spine? And his tired mind dredged up memories he hadn't known he had. A lab. A scientist. Two living weapons, the pinnacle of magical engineering--and an accident that erased nearly all evidence it had ever happened. A hand on his shoulder steadied him, and he looked up to see Undyne giving him a worried look. He handed her phone back wordlessly and shoved his hands into his pockets, magic racing.

“Are you okay? You got kinda… unsteady there for a moment.”

“’m fine,” he answered, well aware his eye lights had blinked out.

“Sans, dude, you’re freaking me out,” Undyne called as he walked away, inspecting the edges of the clearing and peering into the trees.

“can i ask you a favor?”

“Uh… yeah?”

“go pick up the least greasy thing from grillby’s you can and wait here. i know what happened to papyrus,” Sans stated, staring into the depths of the forest. The indents were distant and faint from layers of fresh snowfall, but he could see the pattern now and wondered how he hadn’t noticed them before. No points for him, that was sure.

“Uh, sure thing. See you… both? Soon,” Undyne said, and in a blink he was gone.

The forests outside Snowdin were thick and ancient, and most monsters avoided their depths. It was largely the threat of frostbite and getting lost that kept them away, but save for a few exceptions monsters generally preferred company and civilization to untamed forest anyway. If this was where he’d run, it made sense Papyrus hadn’t been found by anyone.

Sans followed his brother’s tracks—long, bounding marks that only increased in distance from one another as he’d picked up speed—and called his name, hoping the trees and snow wouldn’t simply swallow his muted voice altogether. It got darker, and quieter, and there was a growing sense he was trespassing. If he didn’t have his shortcuts Sans might’ve been afraid of losing his way, but it didn’t matter. Shortcuts or not, he would have kept searching now that he had a lead. Considering what the last four weeks had done to him, who knew what state Papyrus would be in.

He eventually found himself in a wide clearing where fresh snow and gusting winds had swept the tracks clean, and sighed. His trail had gone cold again, and he gave a halfhearted laugh at the pun. Papyrus would have hated it…. What he wouldn’t give to hear his exasperated groans again. He called his brother’s name, and listened to it echo faintly until silence laid heavily over him once more. That was the worst of all—the utter silence of an empty world.

Wood cracked behind him, and Sans whirled, magic flaring in his left socket. A pair of orange rings that almost matched met his gaze, and for a moment it was all he saw before he made out the rest of the entity’s face and body from the surrounding gloom. His magic faded, and he sank to the ground. He wasn’t sure how much time passed as they simply stared at one another, but it had to have been at least five minutes before he found his voice and finally addressed the being watching him.

“papyrus?”

A raspy whine answered, and Sans winced. It was his brother’s voice, but weaker, and wordless. Papyrus had always been so proud to learn new words, but now he wouldn’t say even one. This was bad.

“c’mere bro, let’s get you home, huh?”

Papyrus stared for a while, and Sans tried not to listen to the rising panic in his soul. He'd come when he'd called, he had to remember, had to recognize him, right? Why was he still standing so far away...?

"... bro?"

Finally, Papyrus shook himself out, inhaled, then staunchly shook his head with a huff. He hesitated, but did walk over, head held low as he slowly approached. He paused again, only a few feet away and studying him warily—then sat and curled around himself. Sans eyed him sadly, not liking how faint his eye lights were or that he didn’t want to come home. He thought for a while, then leaned back on his hands with a sigh.

“look… i get it. you don’t want to show off your cool bod, it’d be too awesome for anyone to handle and you can’t bear to do that to someone.”

Something that sounded loosely like “nyeh heh heh” chuffed from Papyrus’ jaws.

“but… it’s been three weeks, bro, goin' on a month. everyone wants to know where you went. uh… i’ve been… even lazier than usual without you. i’ll warn ya now, you’re gonna have some major vacuuming to do.”

An exasperated groan rose from his brother.

“i know, i know. but… bro… you can’t be okay with living like an animal out here. I’M not okay with you living like an animal out here. c'mon, undyne’s waiting for us with food, somethin’ hot from grillby’s, and i specifically asked her to get the least greasy thing she could order 'cause i know how you feel about it. there’s a whole month of mtt shows to catch up on. there’s… bedtime stories, and i can’t afford to slack on those, heh…”

Papyrus gave a shuddering sigh. Sans watched as he stretched out his long forelimbs and turned his palms up, contemplating the digits tipped with slender, deadly claws. Then, he buried his face in the snow and laid his hands across his skull, a picture of despair.

“bro, papyrus, it’s ok. you’re smart, you’ll figure out how to change back,” Sans comforted, reaching out to pat his brother’s head. "you're not gonna let something like this get you down, are ya? c'mon. let's go home.”

Papyrus finally raised his head. He looked so tired as he fixed him with a weary look, and Sans’ soul ached. He could only begin to imagine how his brother had felt out here, by himself in a body that must have stirred up old memories—too many of which were unpleasant. But the light shone in Papyrus’ sockets just a little brighter, and he stood up swiftly, head held high.

And then he fainted.

Sans did his best to appear at his side to catch him, but even if skeletons weren’t heavy monsters Sans was decidedly not in shape and the impact made him stumble. He took a moment to regain his footing, but with his brother limp but in his grasp at last, he removed them from that part of reality and placed them back in the tile puzzle room. Undyne jumped at their sudden appearance and would have probably summoned a spear or two if she weren't already holding a takeout bag. Her eye darted over them, and Sans might’ve laughed at her dumbfounded expression if his brother hadn’t still been unconscious.

“What. The HELL. IS THAT?!” she finally shouted as he laid Papyrus down gently, and he bristled at her harsh words.

“excuse you. THAT happens to be my brother.”

Undyne gestured wildly before finding words to express herself again. “BUT? HOW?? WHAT??!”

Papyrus finally moved, his eyes blinking open, though it took a moment for his irises to reignite. Sans ignored Undyne’s flailing and snatched the takeout from her, sitting near his brother’s head and digging around for whatever awaited in the small paper bag. A few days without food wouldn’t affect a monster’s health much, and certainly not someone with high stats like Papyrus, but nearly a month was another story and he was more than a little worried. He withdrew what turned out to be a toasted turkey club sandwich, mentally thanked both Grillby and Undyne for listening, and helped his brother sit up to finally eat something. It wouldn’t be enough to bring Papyrus’ energy back all the way, but he’d be better off than where he was now by a long shot.

The sandwich was snapped up upon being offered, and after a moment Papyrus felt strong enough to stand on his own. Undyne had settled into just staring at them both skeptically, jaw slack and hands clenching and unclenching as if to summon a spear at any moment. Sans crumpled up the bag and stuck it in his pocket, and looked from his brother to the guard captain with amusement. Papyrus looked nervous—or maybe embarrassed, and his first attempt to speak came out as a gusty hiss. But he stepped back, took a moment, and coughed into his fist to clear his throat.

“Hello, Undyne.”

If Undyne had been dumbfounded before, she was well and truly stunned now. She sank to her knees staring, and Sans couldn’t help but laugh at her. A scream started to croak from her, and he decided it’d be best they all headed back to their house before her yelling attracted attention from the other patrols. He beckoned his brother over, and took Undyne’s wrist as he laid a hand on Papyrus’ shoulder, and in an instant they were in the living room... not a moment too soon.

Undyne screeched at the top of her lungs, reaching a truly impressive volume even Papyrus winced at. Her next instinct was apparently to fight, lunging for her friend as if to throw him over her head. Sans darted out of the way as she sped past, and a soft ping sounded before she was flung sideways into the couch. Papyrus gave his brother a disapproving look, but he gave it right back.

“no fighting in my house,” he said, wagging a teasing finger. “sorry to burst your bubble, undyne, but until papyrus is back at full strength i’m not letting you beat him up.”

“I’M NOT GONNA BEAT HIM UP! I’M JUST GONNA PUNCH HIM FOR BEING DUMB!!!” Undyne roared, leaping from the couch and promptly hauled flat on her face. She growled and pushed herself up, only to fly to the ceiling and stick flat on her back. “Will you QUIT with the BLUE MAGIC?!”

“not unless you stop trying to hit my bro,” Sans countered, and Papyrus laid a hand across his eyes.

“Sans, please put Undyne, who need I remind you is our boss, back on the ground?" he asked, voice still shaky from disuse. "I am quite capable of handling her rigorous expressions of affection, thank you.”

Sans looked over to him and sighed. “you’re right as always bro. i just… i know you’re tough and all, but you’re also not at 100 percent and undyne is pretty intense.”

“YOU BET I AM!”

“plus, i haven’t seen you in basically forever after you disappeared, so forgive me for bein’ a little protective.”

Undyne drifted down at last, and though she glared at Sans she didn’t seem intent on continuing her charge when she landed. Instead, she sat decisively on the couch and folded her arms, fixing them each with a sharp look. “Okay. Here’s what’s going to happen. BOTH of you are going to explain what the HECK is going on with Papyrus, and THEN! We’re getting him something else to eat so we don’t have to treat him like a delicate flower.”

“Flowers are actually quite tough!” Papyrus offered, but shrank under a skeptical glare.

“SO! Who wants to start telling me why or how Papyrus ended up as a… dog-dragon-horse thing?”

The brothers exchanged looks.

“It’s just a skeleton thing, you wouldn’t understand,” Papyrus dismissed. “Most of the time I am the wonderful tall fellow you are familiar with, but if I so wish, I can become… this! It’s a thing.”

“yup, it’s true,” Sans confirmed, but Undyne didn’t look convinced.

“So, you could transform into this awesome creature this whole time… and you never told me?!”

“W-well, you see, I never had reason to bring it up! My usual good looks are more than enough as well as more practical for my day-to-day life, so, I much prefer them. Not to mention I… actually completely forgot how to change. Such things happen even to someone as great as me, tragically…” Papyrus explained, his claws fidgeting, "but it's fine! This is totally a normal thing."

Undyne considered his words and finally relaxed. “Huh. Well, do you… remember how to change back?”

“do you think he would have run away if he did?” Sans shot, and she deflated.

“Right. But, if it’s just something you can do, why’d you hide it? There’s all sorts of monsters out there, no one would even blink at you.”

Papyrus grunted nervously. “Consider that this form is considerably more intimidating, and I, already a sight to behold… Not to mention! I want to be known based on my merits--my wit, my battle prowess, my shockingly handsome bones! Not a silly transformation gimmick that wears off within an hour of playing with it.”

Undyne laughed, a welcome sound after her furious screams. “I guess that’s fair. Wait, if this is a skeleton thing… does this mean Sans can do it too?!”

“nope. even if i could... i'm way too lazy for any shapeshifting shenanigans,” Sans answered lightly. “my bro has the ‘cool werewolf’ gig all to himself.”

“I am not a werewolf!!!” Papyrus cried, stomping his feet as the others chuckled. "I am still, clearly, a skeleton!"

“Alright, well, I guess that’s good enough for me. You dudes need anything, let me know, but now that this is resolved I have work to get back to. Oh yeah… Papyrus, consider figuring out how to change back your new assignment. If you really don’t want to go out looking like that, I figure it’s pretty much top priority. And Sans… you get half watch shifts this week, since you’ll probably have to help Papyrus out with… a lot. Sound good?”

“you know i won’t complain about working less,” Sans teased, and she rolled her eye.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll see you punks later, okay? Call me if you need anything--it's... really good to have you back, Papyrus.”

Papyrus looked like he didn't know what to say.

She finally left, closing the door behind her. Sans heaved a sigh, and debated whether to make the effort to move to the couch or just sit on the floor. He decided the floor was good enough. Papyrus made a face but sat too, drawing his own deep sigh.

“Well, what are we going to do, brother?”

“i dunno, bro. you need something else to eat, for one. but beyond that… i dunno. mostly… i’m just glad you’re back too.”

“If I am honest, it is good to be back. You weren’t kidding about the vacuuming though, ugh. Did you do anything while I was gone?”

“… i slept.”

Papyrus groaned. “You would. In any case… I am still rather famished. As you can guess, the forest... didn't exactly have grocery stores. Pardon me if I don’t cook fresh spaghetti for us, I’m sure you’ve missed it terribly.”

“more than i thought i could,” Sans laughed, and it was true. It had never been the flavor that was enjoyable about Papyrus’ cooking.

Sans proposed various techniques for Papyrus to try changing back over dinner, many of which he’d already thought of and attempted. He continued regardless, suggesting progressively ridiculous remedies until Papyrus laughed at him. They curled up on the couch together to watch TV, and Sans was happy to see his brother’s eyes drift closed—Papyrus never seemed to sleep, even when he really needed it.

No doubt he really needed it now.

The next day saw about as much progress, and Papyrus’ happiness fade. Sans tried to ignore the worry growing inside him, but it was clear that the time alone with no success had done a number on Papyrus’ self-confidence. Toss in whatever memories he might’ve relived and no wonder he was having doubts.

Sans watched him pace the living room floor, occasionally sweeping up stray bits of trash he hadn’t noticed before. He was antsy, and judging by the way his tail lashed he was increasingly agitated by the situation. The fact he had to stay inside probably wasn’t helping either.

“you wanna go let off some steam somewhere?” Sans suggested before his brother could start another transit across the carpet, and he startled out of his thoughts.

“Hm? Oh, I’m fine! I just need to think!” he replied, standing stiffly. “The Great Papyrus will not be bested yet!”

“no way, but, i was just thinking you might like to get out before you wear a rut in the floor,” Sans continued, and Papyrus glanced at the carpet. There were a few places where his claws had snagged, and they all aligned perfectly with where he’d been pacing.

“Ah. I see your point. Where could we go? I don’t want anyone to see…”

“i was thinking the woods, middle of nowhere. kinda where you ran away to, but not for another three weeks, heh.”

“That sounds suitable. Alright! We do have a nice house but I can admit it is rather cramped for someone of my stature at this time, so! Take us away, brother!”

Sans obliged, and in an instant they stood in the clearing where they’d reunited only yesterday. Papyrus inhaled deeply and took off running, and Sans happily watched him tear across the field—getting some exercise was just what an active guy like his younger brother needed, and it wasn’t fair to make him stay indoors all the time. He leapt, and rolled, and sprinted through the snow, cackling all the while as he exerted himself. Sans waved to get his attention, then summoned a maze of bones for him to dodge and weave around. Papyrus raced through it flawlessly, and Sans couldn’t help but swell with pride. His brother was so cool.

As he watched, he could almost remember what it was like too.

Something juddered out of sync in his soul, and he froze. Oh no, nope, he was not doing this now or ever again. He shut his eyes and thought about how nice it was to be what he was now, tried to focus on how his soul had felt before something else had awakened within it, and was relieved to feel that foreign sensation die away. The Underground didn’t need two of them running around, and Papyrus had always had an easier time switching forms than he did—even when they both remembered how it all worked. Rubbing the side of his skull, he sat in the snow, and when the magic maze dissipated Papyrus came over to see what was wrong.

“Sans? Are you alright?”

“yep, fine. all those bones wore me out.”

Papyrus made a face. “You really do need to work out more! That was hardly anything compared to what you used to do.”

“yeah, well, that was before i discovered being lazy is the best thing in the world.”

Papyrus groaned. “If I need exercise you do too! Come on, lazybones!”

He was hauled up with a clawed hand and nudged in the back by a toothy snout, and gave an exaggerated groan as he stood. “these legs were not made for running, i’ll have you know.”

“Oh, come on Sans, I know you can do it! Chase me!”

Papyrus dashed off once more, and Sans took a few steps before simply cutting into his brother’s path. The indignant howl he got in return was worth being shoved into the snow, and in retaliation he used a touch of blue magic to bowl his brother over. Papyrus kicked, sending a shower of slush over him, and for a moment they just laughed at one another.

“I suppose I shouldn’t have expected anything else from you,” Papyrus finally said, pushing from the snow. “You have grown to enjoy a much slower pace ever since we… since whatever happened."

“yup, i’m gonna enjoy every moment i get. though, i will say… without you around to push me, i do get… too lazy,” Sans admitted, then sighed. “to be honest bro... it woulda been fine if you’d given me a sign you were okay, a note, anything, but not knowing if you were ever gonna come back... or why you left... well, it was rough. so, uh, i guess what i’m saying is… don’t do that again or i’ll have to ground you.”

Papyrus studied him, then hung his head. “I’m sorry Sans, I know I should have, but… I was. Uncertain.”

It was Sans’ turn to prop himself up and look quizzically at his brother. “about what?”

Papyrus fidgeted under his gaze, clearly considering his words before he continued. “How much do you remember of what happened to us?"

Sans furrowed a brow. "more than i'd like, but less than i should."

“S-so, w-well, when this, happened, I—I didn’t want you to see. I didn’t want anyone to see, but especially not you, because I remembered—I remembered a little of how bad we had it, and if you didn’t remember, I didn’t want to accidentally remind you,” Papyrus explained, digging his claws into the ground. “And then you came and found me, and didn’t care that I was what I am, and I felt like a fool for thinking it was better I had left without a word. I’m sorry, brother.”

Sans leaned back with a soft, bittersweet chuckle. “and here i always kept the fact i remembered anything a secret ‘cause i didn’t want you to worry either. we’re hilarious, a real comedy of errors.”

“Indeed.”

“anyway. the important thing is figuring out how you can change back. i don’t remember a thing about that myself, and obviously neither do you. seems like a thing you just gotta feel.”

“Agreed,” Papyrus huffed. “It used to be so easy! How did we do that? As effortless as the bones we conjure, as natural as breathing! It’s so… so frustrating Sans. I… I don’t want to be this. It’s so easy to just... let my thoughts slip away. And I remember that... they wanted us to lose them, wanted us to... be less of us. And after all I've worked for, I refuse to go back to that!”

"you got this, bro. despite everything that's happened, it's still you."

“I know… It’s hard though. But! Hard things have never discouraged me before! We just have to keep trying no matter how long it takes!”

“you got it,” Sans said, his mood lifting at his brother’s boundless optimism. “you ready to head back home then?”

“I think I’m going to take one more lap! You should try to as well, and no cheating!”

“if i did we’d be here for another hour. you go ahead, i’ll be right here.”

Sans watched him rise and make one last circuit around the clearing, then in a blink they were both back home. Papyrus shook snow from his talons and gave a contented sigh, then sat with a determined look on his face. He puffed out his chest, and Sans knew he was in for one of his brother’s monologues.

“Now that my restlessness has been cured, it! Is time! I can approach the issue of my transformation with a clear head! The simple fact remains that my memory of the technique has been obscured by forces strange and concerning, but! I was able to recall how to turn with the simple triggering of a distant memory of the instruction to do so, so! It stands to reason that a memory of the opposite instruction will have the same effect. Said memories may be distressing and difficult to pinpoint, but! The Great Papyrus has never been one to back down in the face of danger! Nyeheh!”

“nope. like i said bro, you were the bravest one there,” Sans affirmed, sifting through his own tenuous recall of their old lives. “i was never strong enough to do anything, and the... assistants, well... they never spoke up about animal cruelty either. says a lot about them, and none of it’s good.”

Papyrus looked at him sadly. "You know, Sans... I don't think they knew what we really were. With how he was, how could they? I think even he pretended not to sometimes..."

Sans huffed a short sigh. "yeah. think you might be right about that."

“… I wish it all could have been different.”

“me too.”

“But! It’s different now! We’re the determiners of our fates! And I say I will be this beast no longer!” Papyrus declared brightly, banishing the grim mood that had settled in momentarily. Standing proudly, he scrunched his eyes shut and concentrated—to no avail. He sighed, and let his legs slide out from under him until he lay spread-eagle on the carpet.

“i can’t believe i’m seeing my brother lay down on the floor with my own two eyes,” Sans teased, and Papyrus scrambled to rise.

“Nyeh! Do not think for an instant I was being anything remotely close to ‘lazy’ or ‘tired’!” Papyrus refuted, glaring at him with comically bugged eyes. “The effort of trying to overcome my natural inclination for this form simply took some recovering from!”

“so, you were tired,” Sans summarized, earning more disgruntled complaint from his brother. He’d missed this so much.

“Fine! Yes! I required a brief respite,” Papyrus conceded, sitting back on his haunches so he could fold his arms. “If I am honest I am quite tired of this form’s stubbornness! I know I must have been instructed to change many times, but I cannot recall how I managed such a simple task and it! Is! The! Worst! Thing!”

“wow, and that’s pretty bad, since that means it’s even worse than my jokes,” Sans commented, and his brother stamped his forefeet down.

“It is!”

“well, we better get to work then. undyne said this was your new assignment, i can’t believe how much you’ve slacked off on it already.”

“No! Nooooo!” Papyrus howled, clasping his head in his hands.

The banter continued as the brothers worked to recall what had once been a regular part of their lives. Some memories slowly filtered back, hazes of shadows and sharp objects resolving into people with needles and too-bright rooms full of instruments. Long nights that sometimes became days that became nights again, spent alone and shivering in an empty room. Hours of training for a task neither of them really understood, harsh tests of every aspect of their abilities imaginable, pushing them to the limits of their endurance. Fleeting moments of happiness together.

All encouraged and directed by a man whose words could seem kind, but masked a cruel curiosity and an unbending will. They were never meant to have souls or personalities. He was going to ensure his work continued despite those.

But for all these memories, there were still gaps. Black holes that would never divulge the information that had once been there--and considering the nature of what Sans did remember, he couldn't help but feel perhaps that was for the best. But if Papyrus' memory of how to shift back had been engulfed by one of these voids... then he might not ever remember, and have to figure it out all over again. On Sans’ part, he’d at least recalled why he didn’t know the method to change back, and it had nothing to do with a spotty memory.

“AT LEAST IN YOUR OTHER FORM YOU LOOK MORE LIKE A SUCCESS. NEVER TAKE THIS SHAPE AGAIN.”

The words had stung anew, a biting remark on a small, frail body that was useless to a lab that only made weapons. He ought to at least look the part, and wasn't allowed anything else. It was only the third time Sans had taken that smaller form in the lab; from then on, he'd slowly accepted his life as a beast. It was easier that way.

"I think perhaps we've had enough," Papyrus said in a low voice, shaking him out of a flat stare after recalling that particular memory. "Let's take our minds off things for a while!"

Sans was glad to get up and laze in front of the TV as Papyrus reheated leftovers for them both. MTT had something mindless on as usual, and it was just the thing for drowning out painful memories. Papyrus snorted when he noticed his brother had fallen asleep, and busied himself with cleaning up the dishes before rejoining him on the couch to doze himself. It had been a long day, but more were sure to follow. They needed all the rest they could get.

It wasn't going to come easy.

#undertale #undertalethingem writes #gaster blaster au #sans (undertale)#Undyne (undertale)#papyrus (undertale)#bark at the moon fic #in which papyrus is a cryptid XD #a little less angst this chapter but there's still a lot =u=;

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avinrydarchive · 4 years

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hallow’s eve, saint’s day

Author: AvinRyd Fandom: The Bartimaeus Sequence Rating: G Pairing: Gen Word Count: ~8500 words

When in Prague...

Some lighthearted spooky shenanigans for you this October.

Written for the Bartimaeus Fic Exchange 2020. Check out the collection on AO3 to see everyone else’s awesome fics!

Read on AO3

Chapter 1: Somewhere: Sometime

22,643

“...”

“Hello, glad to see you’re awake.”

“Um, hello. Where am I? How long was I...asleep?”

“Well, twenty-two thousand, six hundred and forty three spirits have passed by since you arrived, so I’d assume about five days on the mortal plane? Hard to say exactly, but I’ve had a while to put a model together. “As to where you are? Stuck.”

“Stuck?”

“Stuck. I have many theories as to where and how, but the fact is that we’re stuck here between the two dimensions known to my people—and yours, I’m assuming, since you came from the same direction I did.”

“Oh…

“You said you’ve been here for a while? Is it permanent, then? This being stuck?”

“In theory? No. I believe it’s possible for us to leave, should the right situation arise. However, in practice? I’ve yet to see a situation that would afford an exit so...it might be permanent, yes.”

“...”

“How long have you been here?”

“I lost count a few centuries ago.”

1,962,573

“Hey, the gates haven’t done that before.”

“Oh, that usually means someone on the mortal plane came up with something interesting. What… Oh. That’s very interesting. I wonder…”

“What? No. No, stop—whatever you’re ‘wondering’ it’s a bad idea.”

“Hmmm, doubtful.”

4,747,821

“...”

“Finally! That was way too long, don’t do it again.”

“How long?”

“Thirty thousand, six hundred and fifty seven. I didn’t think you were going to form back up that time.”

“I was so close though. It closed just a fraction of a second too soon. Next time—”

“Next time?! Did you hear how long I said you were gone? You’re going to get yourself dispelled at this rate, and there’s no guarantee it’ll work!”

“It will.”

“Oh, so when I say stuff like that, it’s arrogant, but when you do it’s just fact?”

“It’s not arrogance when my previous hypotheses have all been correct. It’s based off the same knowledge, there’s every chance I’m right. I know I’m right. I—

“Wait, there’s another one.”

“Ah, no. Hold on—”

“I’m going to do it. This time for sure.”

“Wait! What if it doesn’t work? What if it does? Will you— That is, I’ll be…”

“Don’t worry. I’ll work out the method, then come back for you. I promise, my friend.”

“Friends? Is that what we are? I—wait, no!”

“...”

“I didn’t even ask his name…”

Chapter 2: Prague: Hallow's Eve

“—so there’s no need to worry about it. Piper and Harold can badger me all they want, send all the nastily worded imp messages they like—it’s not like I’ll run out of 'fuck,no's. I’ve got an unlimited supply.” Kitty sighed and shifted, trying to ease the ache in her back without smudging chalk lines. Sitting on the hardwood floor was murder on her over-taxed body, sending sharp spikes of discomfort up the curve of her spine and into her creaking hip joints, but this circle was so fragile she didn’t dare risk throwing a chair into the mix. The ringing at the base of her skull wasn’t terribly comfortable either, but it was a side effect of this spell they’d been unable to mitigate. Over the slight resonance, Bartimaeus’s voice replied, “Alright, alright. And since you’ve left Bruges they’ll probably have a time finding you for a while, at least. How’s Prague?” “Beautiful. Old. Rainy. A bit spooky, but I suppose that’s to be expected.” The laugh ringing through their connection wasn’t just one voice, but many. That was the interesting thing about this; she was speaking to Bartimaeus, but he was only separated from the Other Place just enough to exist as “Bartimaeus”—the rest of the Other Place was nearly an equal part of their conversation, which had taken some getting used to. “See, that’s the appropriate response. Certain modern magicians I’ve known—particularly young, bratty, British ones—have no appreciation for the old magic that city is steeped in. And speaking of magical detritus from a thousand failed spells, you did bring your instruments with you when you left Belgium, right? This is the longest we’ve ever had the portal open, and—” Kitty sighed again, much put-upon. “Yes, Bartimaeus. I have them and they’re set up and everything is stable. There was a tiny spike a few minutes ago, but everything is normal otherwise. I left Bruges to get away from the hovering protective people, you know. Please don’t you start being one now.” Bartimaeus scoffed, but the humming presence behind him was at least half on Kitty’s side, she was sure. “Fine, far be it from me to care about silly humans doing insane experimental magic with minimal education. I place full faith in your absolute knowledge and will immediately cease worrying that the portal will explode in your face and leave a Kitty-sized crater in one of the oldest standing magical cities of the mortal realm. I wash my metaphorical hands of it.” It was Kitty’s turn to laugh, bright and clear in a way it’d taken years for her to get to. “You do that. Anything in particular I should know about the city: places I should go, things to avoid?” “Eh, just keep your wits.” Kitty got a strong, almost visual impression that, had Bartimaeus been in a material form, he’d be looking on with an unimpressed twist to his mouth. This was such a weird spell. “If you’ve got that aura-viewing skill on tap still, keep a sharp eye out. Avoid any bridges without auras—they’re most likely falling apart internally. And costumed men with ‘distinctive’ candles!” “O-o-okay? That’s highly specific, should I be concerned?” The suggestion of a shrug and his words came through crackled with interference. “Not really, he was just a bit creepy by human standards, and that candle… Not a thing for polite company. Thought you’d prefer to steer clear of anyone similar. Don’t go to graveyards tonight, either.” The ringing at the back of Kitty’s mind was escalating to a high whine and she reached up to massage the base of her skull. One of the glass phials outside the circle, sealed and full of swirling gas, was starting to pulse with a faint glow. “Alright Bartimaeus, we’ve got to stop. The spell’s starting to break up. I’ll try again after I’ve spoken with the print master, okay?” “Good, this was probably too much strain on you anyway. Have fun bullying old men into changing books!” The djinni’s voice sounded further away than before, and before Kitty could reply, the connection snapped off. There was a sharp pop and a flash of sparks in the air above her as the spell collapsed—another issue to work on. She’d love to reach out to Button for ideas on a fix, but that would invite more pleas to return to London and Kitty was so, so tired of those. Government was not for her, not even a little bit. Even her drive for activism had waned, though she suspected it was simply burnout—and as Bartimaeus and Jakob and everyone else had said, this was some well deserved burnout indeed. Standing up was a process for Kitty these days: gingerly uncross legs; wait for the shriek of pain to stop; get knees under herself with careful movements; press up using stiff wrists to stand with popping knees; roll slowly upright, feeling every sore vertebrate slot into place. Painkillers. She had a couple left from the drugstore in Burges, right? She hoped so. She was far too tired to be exploring the city for a drugstore—or an apothecary? Who knew what this place had. Her travel bag lay on the bed, flap sagging open to reveal her essentials. The white plastic of a drugstore bottle peeked out from under the sweater Mrs. Hyrnek had made for her, and she’d just reached for it when— “Did you know that, when a djinni is dismissed, the gates between our world and the Other Place are open for precisely eight-point-five-two seconds?” Kitty whipped around. The room was empty; the disembodied—familiar?—voice already just an echo bouncing off the window panes. Light from streetlamps flickered strangely through wavy glass and water droplets. Somewhere, thunder rolled. “Second—” There it was again, but there was nothing to see, no matter how hard Kitty looked. “—and you must know some of this, having visited the Other Place yourself—but did you know that a human soul is, pardon the pun, in essence the same composition as any spirit? Though with a deep affinity for the earth element that other spirits abhor. And that, if sufficiently stimulated and accustomed to the act, a soul can exit the body—voluntarily or not—and bridge the worlds; even following another spirit on its way away from our earthly plane?” The voice was familiar, and yet...not. Kitty could swear she’d never heard this person speak—a boy with an absolutely unfamiliar accent. And yet? And yet, in her mind she heard an echo… What do you presume…? “And thirdly: did you know that your absolutely ingenious bit of spellwork holds the Elemental Gates open longer and with more stability than any spell used in the last two thousand years? And that, if a spirit were somehow stuck in a crevice of those gates, your spell provides an opportunity for escape not given in those same two thousand years?" The voice came from behind her now, and this time Kitty turned slowly—mindful of the crick in her neck her last turn had caused, and also not near as fearful. She knew now that there was nothing to fear from this voice. On her bed—or rather, floating slightly above it—sat a teenage boy, visible at last. Yellow lamp light and the watery orange glow of the street lights did not bring up warm highlights on his dark skin as they should have. He was nearly transparent and so washed out the ends of his curly hair faded out of sight. Seemingly unbothered by this, he grinned up at her, flush with the satisfaction of solving a millenia-old conundrum and shining with an emotion Kitty suspected might be gratitude. Cautiously, she returned the smile and—in a very steady voice, thank you very much—quipped, "Ptolemy. Are you aware you're floating three inches above the bedspread?"

Chapter 3: Prague: Hallow's Eve

“Ptolemy. Are you aware you’re floating three inches above the bedspread?” Ptolemy’s face twisted. “Am I? Irritating. Rekyt made this material form business look so much easier than it is.” “Well,” Kitty said reasonably, moving to sit on the bed as well, “he has had quite a bit more time to practice. And human souls aren’t terribly used to having to keep themselves in a form, are they?” Brows drawn in concentration, Ptolemy drifted downwards about an inch and muttered a distracted, “I suppose so,” before managing to drop the remaining space. Now he was flush with the worn bed quilt, but didn’t make so much as a wrinkle in the fabric. Kitty watched in fascination as, with experimental movements, Ptolemy brought his hand to the bedspread, then pushed it into the bedspread, then waved it in and out a few times. In a sudden flash of mischievous inspiration, she grabbed the drugstore bottle she’d reached for earlier and turned to Ptolemy, lobbing the rattling object with a quip of “Catch!” The boy’s reflexes were not quick—even in the best of circumstances he would have ended up bonked in the nose—but it didn’t matter. The bottle phased through his fingertips, then through his face and chest to land with a clatter on the pillows behind him. Kitty met his unamused stare with a grin, absolutely unrepentant. “Had to check. Scientific method and all that.” Still looking a bit miffed, Ptolemy pulled his foot up to “rest” on the bed and wrapped his arms around the bent-up knee. “If you hadn’t built that spell, I’d be tempted to say you’re the least scientific person I’ve ever known.” Kitty rolled her eyes and leaned back to reach around Ptolemy for the bottle she’d thrown—her joints really did ache after that long conversation’s worth of sitting on the floor. Pulling herself back upright after the extension wasn’t exactly painless either, but she was very sure it would be rude to reach through her visitor to grab something, especially since she’d been the one to throw it through him in the first place. Deftly, she twisted open the puzzle cap and tapped two tablets into her hand before closing it and trading it for a waterbottle in her travel bag. When she’d done, she met Ptolemy’s interested stare with grin. “You’ve only just met me, but you are pretty close to the truth. I didn’t do much with the technicalities of inventing that spell. It was my idea, and I know how it works and how to monitor it, of course, but the construction was a collaboration between Bartimaeus and two magicians I know back in London. They did most of the actual science.” The water tasted strongly of mineral and metal, filled at the last petrol station her bus had stopped at, but it wasn’t awful and got the job done. The moment also gave her time to consider how the hell to move on from here. There was a boy dead more than two thousand years sitting in her boarding room, and she had no idea how he’d gotten there. He seemed to have minimal purpose other than just...arriving—not indicating he had any message or any particular reason for not being able to move on. If his opening remarks were to be believed, he was back on the mortal plane because of a magical glitch in the system. He’d gotten sucked away before death had fully taken hold. Her musings were interrupted by Ptolemy moving, reaching to pull a book from her bag, then huffing when his fingers slipped right through the corner. “This is not going to work,” he muttered, focus completely on the stubbornly stationary book. He made two more swipes at it before giving up that approach and staring intently at it instead. Nothing happened and he flopped back dramatically to stare at the ceiling, hair falling right through the bed. “This is not at all workable. Kitty, I think I need your help.” “I don’t know why. You seemed to be doing quite well on your own.” “Are you always like this?” Kitty snorted in a very unladylike fashion. “Pretty much. Why do you think Bartimaeus likes me so much?” A moment of contemplation, then: “That does make an unfortunate amount of sense. Still, I really would appreciate a moment of sincerity, this is a matter of utmost importance.” “Utmost importance, huh?” Kitty laid back on the bed with a groan. “What’s that, then?” Ptolemy’s face was solemn as he looked over at her. “There’s someone else who’s stuck, and I promised I’d get them out.” “They can’t just...fall through? Same as you did?” Ptolemy snorted a laugh, serious moment broken. “They could, but they won’t. Too unsure of the results. If we’d had physical forms, I’m pretty sure they would have tackled me to keep me from doing something this reckless.” A day’s hard travel and spellwork dragged Kitty’s eyelids down—an inexorable pull. She hummed in exhausted consideration, then said through a yawn, “I don’t suppose a normal summoning would do the trick, would it?” Her jaw cracked mid-yawn, nearly drowning Ptolemy’s reply of, “Probably not…” Then, “I sense we may need to continue this conversation in the morning?” “Mmhm…” She’d given up the fight to keep her eyes open. “Well then.” His laugh was softer, almost fond. “Until the morning, Kitty.” She tugged her feed up onto the bed and shifted a bit, trying to find a comfortable spot on the lumpy mattress. “G’night, Ptolemy.” Kitty’s last thought before slumber was a deep confusion as to if this was not all just some elaborate dream, caused by magical backlash-induced unconsciousness. Quietly, she hoped not.

Chapter 4: Prague: Saint's Day

Early morning sunlight cutting across her eyes pulled Kitty to consciousness. She’d forgotten to close the curtain before going to bed. Odd. She was usually quite conscientious about that—woe betide wherever woke her up too early, up to and including the sun itself. Still, last night had been quite strange, hadn’t it? Her fuzzy brain struggled to remember. Movement in the room drew her gaze. A boy, crouched next to the circle she’d forgotten to clean up. Habit moved her mouth before her brain caught up; she mumbled, “Bartimaeus, we don’t do magic science early in the morning, remember?” His face turned, familiar in shape but not in expression, and everything clicked back into place. Ptolemy looked rather bemused. “Does Rekyt take my form often? Or are you just so unused to any company other than his?” Oh. Right. “...both.” Kitty scrubbed at her eyes and pushed messy bedhead from her face as she sat up, the last night’s events reordering themselves in her mind. Two thousand years’ death seemed to have little effect on the boy sitting on the dusty floor of her sleepy, second-floor boarding room in the middle of Prague. He looked at her expectantly, fingers sketching circles on the floor and making no trace in the scuffed dust. With a groan, she flopped back onto the bed. Ptolemy’s intent gaze was still trained on her, she could feel it, but her too-tired brain wasn’t up to meeting it and thinking through the morning’s problems at the same time. She stared at the cracked plaster ceiling for long moments before sighing heavily. “Alright then. We’ve got your business of ‘utmost importance’ to get to, right?” An affirmative sound, so she continued. “Well, I’ve got some business of importance to get to today as well. You’ve obviously been awake, thinking about this. What do you want to do?” A glance over at Ptolemy proved Kitty’s suspicions—the boy was practically shaking with the effort of not simply spilling all the plans he’d made overnight. Ghosts, apparently, didn’t sleep. She quirked an eyebrow and he immediately began: “We need to summon Rekyt. You said he helped design this circle, and I want to use it as the basis for mine, but I don’t understand a good third of how it’s build. Magic has moved on and—oh, but Kitty this is fascinating, I never could have dreamed—” He stopped, catching Kitty’s second raised eyebrow and pulling himself back on track. “Right. Between us and Rekyt and some intensive research, I think I can put together a spell that will do the trick. So. First: Rekyt; second: library.” Pushing upright once more, Kitty shook her head. “Other way around. Library first, Bartimaeus second.” She continued ahead before he could interrupt. “A summoning, a real one like that? That isn’t a small undertaking for me. I’ll be knackered for the rest of the day afterwards so—unless you figured out how to conduct an entire summoning while insubstantial last night?—we’ll go to the library and printers’ first, then come back with your research and summon Bartimaeus. Agreed?” Ptolemy studied her closely, quietly, and she felt a blush threatening to flood her cheeks. Ridiculous, really. He’d barely been able to stand after his trip to the Other Place; she had no business being embarrassed by her trip’s cost of physical stamina in front of him. A long, long staredown later, he nodded. “Agreed.” Good. She stretched and swung her legs off the bed to stand at last. There was a washroom just down the hall, communal for the boarders but Kitty was the only guest at present. She was glad of it—sharing washing up space with strangers was not something she wanted on top of everything else. After digging out her toothbrush, she turned to Ptolemy. “Stay here. We don’t know if anyone can see you yet. I’ll be back in a second.” Ptolemy looked just the slightest bit abashed. “Actually, I do know. A little after midnight I may have...taken a stroll? No one else can see me, or hear me.” “Oh. Well then. That’s good to know. I’ll...still be back in a second.” And she stepped briskly into the hall.

***

Ten minutes later—longer than her usual habit but hell if she didn’t need a good five minutes of overwhelmed solitude—Kitty returned to her room to find Ptolemy floating cross-legged a foot off the bedspread, exactly level with the windowsill so he could look out. At the creak of the door, he didn’t turn so much as roll backwards, ending upside down with curls falling to and fading through the bed. Inane as it was, she couldn’t help but grin. Bartimaeus held such a reverence for the memory of his old friend; Kitty wondered if that was the source of his gravitas in the guise, or if the new freedom of insubstantial spirithood was breathing new mischief into an otherwise solemn boy. The grin stayed as she moved to pack up her travel sack once more. She saw the grey chill outside the window around Ptolemy’s inverted form and tugged her jumper from the side of the bag where it’d gotten jammed. It was grey-blue wool and knitted by Jakob’s mother—a gift. She saw Ptolemy’s eyes catch on the textured fabric as she finished tugging it on and offered her arm. “Have you figured out how to touch things yet?” He shook his head but reached out anyway. As expected, his fingers swiped right through it. Less expected was the world-wringing sensation of his fingertips passing through her wrist. Early on in their experiments with the communication spell, Kitty had directly touched their “spectral conduit” to the Other Place, as Mr. Button had called it. Before Bartimaeus had snatched her back, she’d felt her self, her essence, tenuously bound to her body at the best of times, begin to be siphoned out and up and away. It felt like that, except in reverse. Connection was made and into the vacuum of her not-quite-full body flowed another gust of person. She felt him for a moment, entranced and inexorably drawn to the lure of earthen control once again before she was able to batten down all hatches and shove the presence away. With a jerk, Kitty yanked her arm back. She could feel her eyes popped wide in panic as she stared at Ptolemy, who was also wide-eyed but in fascinated joy. “Kitty,” he breathed, wonder under his words, “Kitty, let me try that again. That. It was… I could have— we could have—” “No!” Her voice was too loud in the quiet room and Ptolemy flinched. “What? Why? I just want to try it. If we were a bit more careful, I might be able to—” “You might be able to do quite a lot! And you won’t be trying, thank you very much.” His brows furrowed in consternation. “Alright, then. I can try it with someone else, I suppose. I wonder if you need their true name to—” “No, Ptolemy.” She didn’t yell that time—her voice was as flat and cold as London pavement. She cut off Ptolemy’s next attempt at speech with a harsh, chopping motion of her hand. “No. That is an invasion of self no commoner can even attempt to consent to, even if you did ask, which it sounds like you weren’t going to do.” Hideous silhouettes danced behind her eyes, though she tried to push them back. Glowing, demonic eyes in the faces of helpless puppets that haunted her nightmares. Breathe. She just had to breathe through it, just like she did all the other times. Through sheer force of will, her heart rate slowed down to something resembling healthy and she was able to bring her vision back into focus. Ptolemy was staring at her—very human, but also not quite. She forced down a shudder. “Come on. We’re going to the library. I’ll explain why you can never, ever do that, but I’ve only got it in me to do it once, so you’ll have to hear it along with the master printer.” She didn’t wait for an answer, just turned, snatched up her satchel, and headed out the door, closing and locking it behind her. Ptolemy was a ghost, he’d be able to follow just fine. He did. She couldn’t hear him coming behind her, but she now had a disturbingly unerring sense of his location that she hadn’t possessed a moment ago. Possessed. With a shudder, she rubbed the skin of her wrist under the jumper, trying to scrub off the sensation even as she mentally tracked Ptolemy’s progress behind her back. They went in silence like that—Kitty walking at a brisk pace with Ptolemy trailing behind—for nearly ten minutes of winding through dreary streets. Kitty had a map, and directions from the proprietor of the boarding house, which she trusted more. Concentrating on the confusing tangle of twists and turns busied her nervous mind into calm—calm enough that when Ptolemy cleared his throat, her quiet “hmm?” was genuinely amicable once more. “Where is this?” His voice was soft, awed. “I know I’ve...been gone a while, but I’m fairly sure this not Alexandria.” Kitty snorted and replied, “Prague,” before snapping her mouth shut. The street wasn’t busy by any means, but there were still people about who might look sideways at the out-of-place British girl talking to thin air. Quickly, she stepped from the sidewalk to stand under the awning of a cafe. The map made crisp sounds as she unfolded it and brought it up to her face, hiding the movement of her lips as she whispered, “We’re north of Alexandria, by a lot. Across the sea, past Rome, up where we call Eastern Europe, now. I’ll find you a map when we get to the library, yeah? For now, I can’t be talking to myself all the way across the district.” “Right.” He agreed with a quick nod, already distracted by the pastries displayed in the cafe window. Rolling her eyes, Kitty folded the map once more and headed off. The grey above threatened more rain and she quickened her pace. It wasn’t a short walk to the Holy Roman Archive and she’d rather not have to make the last third of the trek getting dripped on. Ptolemy was at her side now, gasping and exclaiming every other second at some new thing he’d glimpsed, and she had to actively suppress a wide smile. Grinning inanely at nothing wasn’t a look she wanted to project either. As they began to emerge from Old Town’s winding alleys, though, the city’s mood began to pick up and match Ptolemy’s joy. They stepped onto the larger, more toured streets around the great Charles Bridge, where tourists and business people alike made their way on foot regardless of the weather. Ahead, the bridge’s towers loomed and, just off to the left, Kitty saw the large buildings of the Klementinum. She made straight for it. The tourist traffic was, thankfully, a bit dimmed by the unpleasant weather and it was only another few minutes walk through ornate, baroque halls and courtyards blanketed in autumn-hued ivy before they reached the Holy Roman Archive. Home of what was left of Prague’s magical lore, it was also adjacent to the most influential of the Czech Publishing Guild’s members: Petřín Printers. They handled all of the magical texts to come out of Prague; all of the magical knowledge of Eastern Europe flowed through this print house and into the Archive. Kitty stepped past the enticing hush of the Archive, hoping Ptolemy would follow since she couldn’t physically drag him like she was afraid might be necessary. A glance to the side showed the boy’s feet were indeed dragging, eyes gazing with longing at the doors. “Soon. We’ll go there next.” He followed with an insubstantial sigh. “Yes, alright.” Kitty blinked. She hadn’t meant to say that aloud. It was so quiet in these halls, anyone could hear. The lobby of Petřín’s was unassumingly quiet, but Kitty wasn’t fooled. The walls hummed with the aura of a spell, most likely a silencing charm to keep the workings of the printers from disturbing the immediately nearby library. At a desk just inside, a man sat scribbling in a ledger with a fountain pen but he looked up at Kitty’s approach. His cheerful greeting was in Czech—thankfully one of the phrases she’d picked up staying with Jakob and his family. She replied in kind, following up with a somewhat abashed, “English? That was about all the Czech I know.” The man laughed and nodded. “How can I help you?” “I need to speak with Mr. Pavel Vlastislav? I’m here on rather urgent magician’s business, as well as with a delivery from Karel Hyrnek, of Hyrnek and Sons. I think he sent word ahead that I was coming?” “Hmmm, let me take a look.” The clerk flipped through his ledger, then ducked behind his desk to grab another book. As he did, Kitty looked around and saw Ptolemy studying a world map to the left, artistically rendered and nearly as large as the wall it was painted on. She couldn’t see his face, but she had an idea as to what it might look like, and what he was going to sound like in three…two...one… Right on cue, as the clerk popped back up into view, Ptolemy’s voice flooded into her ear as if he were standing right next to her and not ten feet away. “Kitty. Kitty this is— Is this the whole world? The entire globe? Have people truly been to all of these places?” The clerk was chatting at her as he flipped through his notes with Kitty nodding along distractedly, trying to pay attention as Ptolemy continued, “—and this map! It’s nearly as good as the cartographers of Alexandria’s work! Rekyt described many of these places to me, but they were not all in places I could plot on an available map… You said we’re in...Europe? To the east—oh! Yes, this must be it! You’re right, we are much, much further north. I wonder—” “Ptolemy! A minute? I need to focus,” was what Kitty thought to herself in a moment of irritation, mouth clamped tight over the words, but the boy stopped rambling immediately. “Ah, my apologies.” Well, that was fun. Maybe that mishap back at the room had been good for something after all? It was the only thing she could think of that might have caused such a strange phenomenon… Distracted, she had to once again refocus on what the clerk, Radim, was saying. Frankly, she’d missed what he’d last said, but then he was standing and ushering her through a door on the right and chattering about the privilege of being able to see inside the prestigious print house and Kitty was tuning him right back out. She was here on business, not to see the inner workings of yet another magical publishing shop. This was her third one in the past year; they all sort of looked the same at this point. Pavel was in his office when they arrived, Radim knocking a quick rap on the doorway before entering. The man inside stood, head still tilted towards a jet black sparrow perched on his shoulder—the imp’s presence explained ease with which he greeted her, a heavily accented but cheerful “Ms. Jones!” before Radim even had time to speak. He and Radim had a quick exchange in Czech too fast to catch, then Radim stepped out and Pavel gestured her to enter. “Come in, come in, Ms. Jones. You have news and a package from old Karel in London, hm? Please, sit down and tell me why he needs send such a lovely lady friend, rather than this news in the post.” Kitty swallowed. This was the hardest part, always the hardest part, and she’d already done it twice. Out of her bag she pulled a plain book, bound in brown cloth and printed on scrap: a manuscript printed by Mr. Hyrnek. There was also a pamphlet. Assuming today went well and Pavel accepted her request, she would need write her friends back in London and request him to send her another copy before she left Prague. Hands shaking, she set the book on Pavel’s desk and took a deep breath. Ptolemy perched on the edge of the desk, invisible to Pavel and watching her intently. Another deep breath, trying to dislodge the shaking behind her breastbone. Her trimmed down, bare bones narrative of the London Disaster was practically recited by rote now. Only by keeping it clipped, clinical, and precise was she able to get through the worst of the story without stuttering, but she’d told the story before and she’d tell it now. Unfortunately, the shuddering terror of the hybrids needed to be the focus of the tale—that’s why she was here. Magicians, the humans who practiced the enslavement of spirits, needed to know what happened from a first-hand source, told with compassion and urgency, or they would simply take the whole incident as either fairytale, or use it as a way to further demonize both the British Empire and the spirits themselves. If this came out wrong, the enslavement of spirits would worsen, not move closer to eradication. When she’d finished, wrapping up with a quick note of the Interim Council’s formalization of an integrated Parliament and the supposed plans for the country, both members of her audience were silent. Staring. This was a normal reaction, she’d gotten it from the print masters in both Paris and Madrid, and she didn’t blame them or Pavel. It was a lot to hear. It’d been a lot more to live through. Eventually, Pavel spoke. “That is...a harrowing tale. We’d heard of some horror from across the channel when the empire broke two years ago, but to think…” He swallowed. “Yes, this needs to be recorded. I assume this manuscript is the account?” Kitty nodded. “Yes, originally published by Hyrnek and Sons, but we all agreed that something like this should be shared. If nothing else, please, we request you bring this to the Archivist and have it included in the archive. If you are willing to print and distribute it, that is for the best, but I understand—” “I will, of course, do my best to ensure it is placed in the archives. And we will see what can be done about distribution.” Reaching out—just missing Ptolemy, who jumped away before his arm could be brushed—Pavel picked up the pamphlet. “And this?” “A list of the spirits who perished in the disaster, to update the newest editions.” And maybe a few others, but who was to know? Pavel flipped through it and Kitty stood, scooping up her satchel once more. Alarmed, Pavel stood as well. “Ms. Jones! Surely you don’t mean to leave so soon?” Exhaustion weighed her voice, two haunted years dogging her steps. “I’m sorry, Mr. Vlastislav, but I need to be going. I’ll leave the address I’m staying at with Radim and I’ll be in town for a few weeks. Find me there if you need anything.” That was the nice thing about her situation—after all the horrors and all the insanity and quite literally visiting another plane of existence, social niceties were near the bottom of her priority list. With a parting nod, she let herself out of the office without another word. Ptolemy was silent as she retraced their steps back to the lobby, still silent as she left her contact information with Radim, silent all the way until they’d reached the Archive once more. He didn’t suggest a book to start with, so Kitty made her way to one of the study tables and pulled another book from her satchel, rather than any of the shelves. Delicate pages with scorched edges crinkled as she turned them, scanning the handwritten translations in the margins. She’d been offered a fresh copy of Ptolemy’s Apocrypha with an English translation printed in, but Button’s book was special, and translating it with Bartimaeus’s help was a good memory. Credit to his perturbation, when Ptolemy finally spoke it wasn’t about the book she held. “I’m sorry. What happened… I can’t imagine. I didn’t realize the kind of trauma what I did would cause you.” “You couldn’t have,” Kitty replied diffidently, blithe tone slicking her thoughts to icy smoothness. “Like I said, it’s something no commoner would be able to understand, and most magicians too. The only ones who could come close are those of us who were there, and even then… The one who would best understand the bond you were trying to attempt is— Well, he’s dead.” Silence again, then: “And you? Would that make you the closest living authority?” “Actually, no.” She was able to look up and smile. “That would be Bartimaeus, so let’s hit the books and then you can ask him yourself, yeah?”

Chapter 5: Somewhere: Sometime

4,752,256

Dread emptiness pressed in around him. Is this how his friend had felt, all those years alone? When the spirits passed—back and forth and back and forth—he could sense their movement, know their passing, but there was no sound to hear, no sight to see. Even this place he was stuck, a place he felt should have something of substance to perceive was just...nothing. To stave back the madness, he began to study the passing spirits with whatever senses were available to him. Thousands upon thousands passed before his examination, and on every few he focused his attention. Going one way, they seemed to mournfully coalesce from liquid freedom into a speeding, aerodynamic form to rocket through the other side of the gate; coming the other, solid misery flared and flittered out in joyous reaching for the far bank. Nowhere did the strange, fluid channel appear again. Only cold, clinical, slippery-walled openings to pull the beings to and from. He’d reached out to one once, only to find himself sliding off, lacking whatever was needed to be included in the transference. Probably for the best. Once the temporary madness left him, his logic reasserting itself over the crushing loneliness, he drew away from the traffic in fear. To be loosed in the fearful current without anchor or guide? No, he couldn’t… Or at least he thought that. And thought that. And thought that until he came to the point—singular and horrifying—that he could. His watching took on a new edge: analytical, searching. Time barely existed here, but some amount of it had passed before something caught his attention. Another direct stretch, calling for a specific being, but something about it was...softer. It was inviting but wary, familiar but fearful, like a stranger singing a long-buried song from childhood. Carefully, not flinging himself with abandon like someone had, he approached. It was tenuous, as all of these were—temporal and not meant to last long, unlike the fluid path they’d seen before—and this one was even more ephemeral than most. Holes in the weave, it could have been described. From one end, movement came, barrelling closer and closer and...familiar. Yes, the being speeding down was definitely a construction of substance he recognized but couldn’t put a name to. Names were hard here. Names were hard, but suddenly decisions were not. As the spirit sped past, he impressed some effort upon the pulling force, imposing himself on the construct until he fell through in a flurry of movement that he could suddenly feel, not just perceive in an abstract sort of way. He could feel it and he still felt it as he tumbled through. The portal did exactly as all the others did. He felt himself being compacted and compressed, separate from the being it was actually meant for thankfully, as he’d hopped in a good moment past it, but the bonds were ill-fitting. A familiar word that wasn’t his word. And so, when both he and the other tumbled out the other side, he felt himself spinning and drifting, formless and dazed as his traveling partner took form in a circle.

Chapter 6: Prague: Saint's Day

In a brilliant bit of foresight, the first thing Kitty asked Bartimaeus to do once he’d arrived was cast a nexus about her room to silence all noise coming from within. A good move, as her explanation of the situation first garnered her a bemused “what?” Followed by some silence. Then some contemplation of the figure who was making a concentrated effort to appear on the mortal plane to more than just Kitty. Then followed by a roar of the same word that had come before. There was a lot of yelling for a short time. Possibly some crying as well, not that Kitty would ever tell. But when it was done, and all explained and settled and understood, she might have asked Bartimaeus to remove the nexus. Absentmindedly, she forgot. This turned out to be a good thing as, five hours later, both she and Bartimaeus stared at Ptolemy over their sketches of runes, figures, and half-circle diagrams in consternation. Together, their query was definitely loud enough to have been heard by the good matron downstairs. “You don’t have their name?! ” Kitty groaned and set her pencil aside. They’d been at this for hours, and only now did Ptolemy mention he was lacking this key piece of their puzzle? Bartimaeus looked just as crestfallen in his guise of a young, dark skinned man, wearing a traditional desert kilt and bedecked with a necklace of amethyst, but also not terribly surprised. “Ptolemy, my friend. I always knew your disinclination for names would come back to bite us in inconvenient places. Admittedly, this is the furthest situation from what I could have imagined, but still.” The ghostly boy in question was not meeting either of their gazes. He was staring at the bedspread he sat on, stunned silent. Then quietly, obviously not in reaction to what either of them had said, he breathed a word Kitty had never heard in her life. Bartimaeus, however, choked on his non-existent spit, indicating that it was probably something foul. After a few more moments of unintelligible invective that had Bartimaeus’s jaw on the floor, Ptolemy muttered, “I can’t believe I forgot. We were there for what must have been years, how did I not ask? I promised. I’m a magician, I know how important names are. How could I have forgotten?” Kitty winced. They had maybe been a bit harsh. “It’s alright, I’m sure we can figure something out…” Ptolemy stood up and began to pace, making circuit after circuit of the tiny room. Amusingly, every time he turned a corner, he also stepped upwards about an inch, beginning to spiral upwards as he muttered to himself. Kitty glanced over at Bartimaeus, who shrugged, leaned over and whispered, “Don’t look at me, this is new. He didn’t used to pace.” “Hmm…” A ghost pacing was a strange phenomenon in that you couldn’t hear them, the fact that they were pacing of above your head at this point notwithstanding. It was painfully quiet. Kitty and Bartimaeus went back to fiddling with their designs, pencil and quill scratching loudly in the silence, but still working around a glaringly blank space where, in all of them, a name had to be placed. “I need a calendar!” Ptolemy’s voice, loud in the room, had Kitty jumping nearly a foot out of her chair. He was suddenly right next to her, face intent and determined. “I had a formula, I just need to do the calculations and we can figure out when my friend arrived. From there— Well, only a few specific circumstances could cause this, so maybe someone will have heard about it happening?” “Well, it’s somewhere to start…” Bartimaeus hedged, and Kitty agreed with the hesitant tone. How on earth were they going to sus out a single death of magical happenstance, even if they could narrow it down to an exact date? Kitty caught Ptolemy’s gaze again. There was a light, one she felt mirrored in her own past. Hope. And hell if she could ignore that. She’d wrestled demons, ransacked governments, and crossed dimensions for a hope like that, and well—Ptolemy had been the source of a lot of that hopeful vision. It was the least she could do to try and help him in turn. As Ptolemy still hadn’t managed enough substance to actually touch anything, Kitty was the one to walk to her duffel and dig out yet another book. She was becoming quite the librarian herself, these days. This one was worn, thick, full of cramped handwriting with a ribbon bookmark between the last few pages. Returning to the small table, she set it down. “Not a calendar, but close. My journal goes back two years, almost. Think your friend showed up in about that timeframe?” Ptolemy nodded firmly. “It couldn’t have been longer than that. Now, let me just…” He trailed off, fingers tracing invisible numbers on the table. With his brows drawn together in a focused frown, Kitty thought privately that he’d never looked less like Bartimaeus’s replication. Similarly, the fond expression Bartimaeus watched him with was a brand new thing to see on the spirit’s face, and something warmed in her. For the span of about an hour, a long time ago, Kitty had cared about a djinni and a boy more than anyone else in her probably-about-to-end life. This wasn’t the same, couldn’t ever be the same, but she liked it anyway. Across the table, Ptolemy was now rattling off numbers to Bartimaeus, who flipped through the journal pages—first in large swaths, then fewer and fewer at a time. Closer and closer to the front cover until— “That’s the end of it.” Both of them were staring down at the first entry on the first page of Kitty’s journal—a date, five words, and a tiny shard of glass taped to the paper. Bartimaeus continued, “How much further back?” “Two days.” Kitty looked at them blankly. They both looked back—Ptolemy glowing with the triumph of a puzzle solved, Bartimaeus with...something. Probably the same something building somewhere in the pit of Kitty’s stomach. “There’s no way,” she managed eventually, voice hoarse, throat suddenly dust dry. Bartimaeus’s reply was just a nervous chuckle while Ptolemy glanced between them, his high fading into confusion. “What’s the matter?” It took Kitty two tries to clear the lump from her throat. “Erm, well. You remember what I said about the only person who would understand possession by a spirit being dead? And what Bartimaeus said about the Glass Palace?” “Yes?” “That all happened two days before my first journal entry. I didn’t think to start recording events until— I was a right mess, basically, until then.” Understanding dawned on Ptolemy’s face and brought a smile to his face. The smile grew, bit by bit as he looked between his two friends. “Well then, shall we try? It’s our best guess, and the worst that will happen is it doesn’t work.” They both watched as he breezed over to where Kitty and Bartimaeus had left their sketches. A moment of careful study, then he pointed to Bartimaeus’s page—the djinni smirked at Kitty, who stuck out her tongue. “This one. Let’s try this one.” He bounced on his toes, each bounce taking him higher into the air. “Come on! I still can’t hold the chalk, help me draw this!” So they did. The dingy, dusty boarding room was a flurry of activity for long minutes. Bartimaeus did most of the kneeling and drawing while Kitty held the string guides and lit the few candles they needed for the spell. Ptolemy supervised, directing them in drawing a half-circle diagram. Lines stretched out from it in rays, similar to Kitty’s communication spell, but with a few slight adjustments. More geometric than ornate, the completed spell was chalked innocuously on the floor as Bartimaeus scratched out the last few runes. At the apex of the arch, a blank space had been left. Almost reverently they all knelt, Bartimaeus handing Kitty the chalk as she regarded the bare patch of floorboards before bringing the chalk down. Her handwriting was nowhere near as calligraphic as Bartimaeus’s—her chicken scratch legible but not beautiful as she spelled the name out: Nathaniel Chalk still in hand, she traced under the letters with a finger, the spell still cold and not yet activated. Together, Ptolemy and Bartimaeus reached out as well—and then another transparent finger traced along the top of the word. Glancing up, her gaze met with blue eyes, happy and calm in a way she’d never seen them while he was alive. “That’s what it was. I guess I just needed someone to write it down before I could form up properly. Took your time about it, didn’t you?” Surprise jerked her hand and brought her in contact with all three of the other beings in the room. Her vision spun and everything was very mixed up for a very confusing moment. Kitty was, for seconds or hours, not just Kitty anymore. Four souls rushed around and around in a feedback loop, bringing nausea to a body that wasn’t even really hers to experience it. It was like being back in the Other Place. Actually, it felt exactly like that, and the similarities echoed through their loop loud enough to bring the chaos to a balance. Carefully, they all extracted themselves from the morass—all but Nathaniel at least understanding the mechanics of the feat—and another moment brought Kitty solitude in her mind once more. She had fallen onto her backside, legs twisted awkwardly, and three beings of unearthly substance lay sprawled nearby. On seeing their mess, pushed up on her elbows, a giggle bubbled up from her throat. Then another, and another, until she couldn’t hold them back and collapsed onto the dusty floor, laughing until their was no more breath in her body. Around her, Ptolemy joined in first, then Nathaniel, then Bartimaeus, until they were all cackling like maniacs for long minutes. Good thing the silencing nexus is still still up, Kitty thought faintly, which sent her and her friends off into more gales of laughter. They laughed until all their surprised energy had been spent in joy. Jittery adrenaline rush settled to a wondrous warmth in Kitty’s chest as she looked at her friends. There was no telling what they would need to do now. But as far as she was concerned, it didn’t matter. They were together, no one was dead in the traditional sense of the word, and the world hadn’t tried to end for two whole years. She didn’t get sappy often, but today seemed like the day to try—the most pleasant Hallows Eve and Saints’ Day she’d ever experienced, by far.

#the bartimaeus trilogy #the bartimaeus sequence #bartseq #bartimaeus #bartimaeus trilogy #kitty jones #ptolemy #Nathaniel Underwood #fics of ryd

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buckybarnesbingo · 4 years

Photo

BBB Week 13 Roundup!

Sorry it’s a day late, Tumblr Mod is just losing her mind a little bit!

Title: Enemy Collaborator: grimeysociety Link: AO3 Square Filled: U1 - Bucky/Darcy Ship: Bucky/Darcy Rating: Explicit Major Tags: Explicit Sexual Content Summary: Friendship with Bucky began like pulling a thorn out of a wolf’s paw. Word Count: 3522

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Title: Because I could not stop for Death - (He kindly stopped for me): Chapter 4 Collaborator: Faustess Link: AO3 Square Filled: C3 - Free Square Ship: WinterPepperony Rating: Teen Major Tags: Inspired by Corpse Bride (2005), Angst with a Happy Ending, Not Cheating, Pre-Poly, Supernatural Elements Summary: Tony apologizes and realizes his feelings for Bucky go deeper than he'd realized. Later, Dr. Strange points out that they aren't truly married because Tony is unfortunately alive. Count along - there will be three weddings and a (very hasty) funeral in this chapter! Word Count: 16,249

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Title: “That treasure of yours better be worth it Stark!” - Moodboards Collaborator: sianmcawesome Link: Tumblr Square Filled: K2 - Bucky/Clint/Tony Ship: WinterIronHawk Rating: Gen Major Tags: moodboards, snakes, skulls, medical equipents (for pics under the cut), mention of Obediah Stane Summary: 4 moodboards for the WinterIronHawk meets Indiana Jones/National Treasure/Blood and Treasure/every other Treasure Hunter movie and show out there story I´ll probably never get around to writing.

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Title: Pinup Calendar October: Steve/Bucky - Mad Hatter Day Collaborator: carnival_of_rust Link: AO3 Square Filled: C4 - Secret Admirer Ship: Stucky Rating: Mature Major Tags: art, nudity Summary: The Alice In Wonderland AU wherein Bucky fingers some butter and smol Steeb forgets his pants.

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Title: Pinup Calendar December: Steve/Bucky - Midnight Kisses Collaborator: carnival_of_rust Link: AO3 Square Filled: K2 - Love at first sight Ship: Stucky Rating: Mature Major Tags: art, nudity Summary: Ever wondered where the bubbles in champagne come from?

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Title: High on You Collaborator: hddnone Link: AO3 Square Filled: U3 - Teammates Ship: WinterIron Rating: Explicit Major Tags: Sex Pollen, Dubious Consent, Non-consensual drug use (from the sex pollen), allusion to Clint/Nat/Steve Summary: Sex pollen. Just another Tuesday as an Avenger.Strucker is wrong about it distracting the Avengers too much to fight - well, with the exception of those with the serum. It hits them a little differently than the rest of the team. Word Count: 3481

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Title: End Of All Days - Chapter 18: Part XVII Collaborator: Minka Link: AO3 Square Filled: K4 – Terrible Choices Ship: Stucky Rating: Mature Major Tags: extremely unsettling happenings, non-sexual power play and some good old-fashioned ‘torture for information’ tactics Summary: Alright guys, we all knew this was coming! Warning for some extremely unsettling happenings, non-sexual power play and some good old-fashioned ‘torture for information’ tactics. Parental guidance recommended…?? IDK. But like, if you can’t get through a James Bond torture scene, or a violent episode of Game of Thrones or equivalent, then this chapter probably isn’t for you. Word Count: 83,731

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Title: (It All Started With) A Night at the Nat - Chapter 9 Collaborator: Politzania Link: AO3 Square Filled: Pining & Apology Ship: WinterIronHawk Rating: Explicit Major Tags: explicit sexual content Summary: The three of them have breakfast together, and after seeing Tony off, Clint and Bucky hang out and discuss boundaries and expectations. Word Count: 11,746

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Title: Stardust Collaborator: Avidreader6 Link: AO3 Square Filled: Kink: BDSM Ship: WinterIron Rating: Explicit Major Tags: explicit sexual content Summary: The lights in the bedroom are dimmed to a warm soft glow when Tony enters and he’s not surprised to find that Bucky has gotten there first. He’s waiting on his knees, in the center of the room, and there’s only the slightest twitch of his shoulders to give away that he knows Tony has come in. Word Count: 6834

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Title: N/A Collaborator: zainniko Link: Tumblr Square Filled: K2 - Bucky/Tony Ship: WinterIron Rating: Teen Major Tags: art Summary: Bucky gives Tony a massage (No powers AU)

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Title: Subliminal Advertising Collaborator: Kalee60 Link: AO3 Square Filled: K2 - Kink: “Harder.” Ship: Stucky Rating: Explicit Major Tags: explicit sexual content Summary: Bucky is a walking disaster when it comes to gorgeous men. He stumbles over words, says inane things and makes a bit of an idiot of himself. So when he sees the most glorious man in all existence helping a little old lady out at his local supermarket, he knows there is no way he can string a sentence together and look smooth (considering he’s a train wreck in disguise). Cue an impromptu photo opportunity with a well placed product, that in turn somehow begins a pun laden photo game as Bucky starts to bump into the breathtaking man on the regular while shopping. Who’d have thought so many mundane advertisements were so suggestive? So with a little help from his meddling best friend, a lot of misunderstandings and a crush the size of the Empire State Building, can Bucky find enough courage to ask out the man who hopefully, will ‘melt in his mouth, not in his hand?’ Word Count: 22,770

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Title: That's What She Said Collaborator: betheflame Link: AO3 Square Filled: C2 - Shopping Together Ship: Stuckony Rating: Explicit Major Tags: Get Together, Drunk Consent, explicit sexual content Summary: Steve had a massive crush on his TA, which he was hiding from his boyfriend, until a chance meeting in the chip aisle at Target changed everything. Word Count: 3378

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Title: No Other Love (3/3) Collaborator: grimeysociety Link: AO3 Square Filled: C2: “It Wasn’t Worth It” Ship: Bucky/Darcy Rating: Explicit Major Tags: Explicit Sexual Content, References to Violence/Gore, PTSD, Angst, Hurt/Comfort Summary: While on the run, Bucky meets Dee, a working girl he can’t seem to shake. Word Count: 19,616

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Title: Pinup Calendar December: Bucky Barnes - Christmas with Captain Snowman Collaborator: LiquidLightz Link: AO3 Square Filled: U5 - Realistic Art Style Ship: none Rating: Teen Major Tags: art, nudity Summary: My December pinup of Bucky Barnes with Captain... Snowman 🙃 celebrating Christmas 🎄 🎅🏻 and Winter ❄️ ⛄️This is just one of over 40 artworks created, by 20+ artists, for the Marvel Art Party Pin-Up Calendar 🎉😍Click on the collection to check out all the other months, from July 2020 to Dec 2021, and download your favourites to put together your own printable calendar.

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Title: Missing Pieces Collaborator: LiraelClayr007 Link: AO3 Square Filled: U1 - galaxy Ship: WinterHawk Rating: Teen Major Tags: emotional hurt comfort, childhood memories, angst with a happy ending, established relationship Summary: When Clint becomes down and distracted, Bucky takes it upon himself to discover what’s bothering his boyfriend. Even though Clint won’t talk about it. Even though Bucky has too many missing pieces. Or, In which Bucky goes to great lengths to make Clint smile. Word Count: 2942

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Title: When a Bad Day (Month) Turns Good Collaborator: Purple_ducky00 Link: AO3 Squares Filled: Chapter 1 - Tony’s POV: B1 - This might as well happen Chapter 2 - Bucky’s POV: U2 - Bucky/Tony Ship: WinterIron Rating: Teen Major Tags: Broken bones, Sleep deprivation, unhealthy coping mechanisms Summary: Tony and Bucky are both having terrible days, or, in Bucky's case, months. When Bucky falls asleep on Tony, how will they both react when we wakes up? Word Count: 2106

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Title: Because I could not stop for Death - (He kindly stopped for me) Collaborator: Faustess Link: AO3 Squares Filled: Chapter 2 - B2: ‘Oh hell, no.’ Chapter 3 - U3: “Don’t say it!” Chapter 4 - C3: Free Square Ship: WinterPepperony Rating: Teen Major Tags: Inspired by Corpse Bride (2005), Angst with a Happy Ending, Not Cheating, Pre-Poly, Supernatural Elements Summary: Howard Stark and his wife are wealthy industrialists looking for an entrance into polite society. Lord and Lady Potts are aristocrats one sneeze away from the poorhouse. Their heirs will marry and both sets of parents will get what they want... as long as everything goes According To Plan. (Hint: it doesn't). Word Count: 17,099

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Title: Are You Sure About This? Collaborator: Fighting_for_Creativity Link: AO3 Square Filled: U4 - Bucky/Tony/Rhodey Ship: Bucky/Tony/Rhodey Rating: Explicit Major Tags: explicit sexual content Summary: Tony, Bucky, and Rhodey had been dating for a long while now. They were in a happy and healthy relationship, able to talk about almost everything. When Tony had down days, the other two were there to cheer him up, show him how good life could be. And Tony did the same for them. Sometimes, though, they still had hiccups in their daily life. But, ultimately, that was ok, because they were ok. Maybe that was why Tony felt safe enough to just say what he thought with them. Maybe that was a deciding factor in why Tony blurted out that he wanted both of them, inside him simultaneously. Word Count: 3658

#buckybarnesbingo2020 #bbb2020 #weekly roundup #bbb week 13

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bloodofvalyriaarchive · 5 years

Text

otp ask requested by @statichvm (asks love to mess up formatting so here we are)

1. who pulls the other closer while sleeping? it takes some time for them to spend nights together, mostly on rhea’s account. but once they do they intimacy sort of happens without much effort. cliff pulls rhea in close in his sleep -- she’s small and easy to scoop up in his arms.

2. how do they wake up next to each other? ex - tangled in each other’s arms? is one falling off the bed? etc. rhea sleeps like a rock, very still and silent. unless cliff pulls her over in her sleep she’s usually in a ball on her side of the bed. they don’t fall asleep in each other’s arms much... at first.

3. what movie do they watch when they both had a bad day and just want to turn of their brains for a little while? they don’t really watch much for tv or movies! rhea is a big fan of anything from cheesy rom-coms to old westerns to horror and sci fi, and she’d be too nervous about sharing too much of her true interests with him in fear of embarrassing herself.. they don’t experience much for domestic intimacy for a long while. but cliff likes to take her to shows -- plays, orchestral performances and the opera. (fancy ass mf.)

4. who picks something up, says a pun with the object then laughs as if it’s the funniest thing they ever heard? surprisingly enough, cliff. which is one of the reason’s rhea falls so quickly for him.

5. how do they hype one another up? rhea is a bit of a stress case, especially when it comes to school and performing despite her natural talent and life long devotion to practice. she grew up under a pile of expectations from her father -- she needed to be the best of the best. always. she didn’t grow used to it over time and still cracks often but cliff is good at easing her nerves. lots of shoulder rubs and words of encouragement and admiration.

6. when one of them gets a new outfit, how does the other react? cliff loves to buy rhea gifts here and there -- formal clothes for formal events -- and he loves seeing her show them off even more. every time rhea see’s cliff in a new suit she screams internally over how fucking good he looks.

7. who tries to playfully scare the other person and who always knows where the other person is? rhea loves to goof around and scare cliff when she can, but he almost always knows where she’s hiding -- partially due to the quiet giggling. he does love to play along though.

8. when they grocery shop, what is one section they love to playfully mess around in and why? rhea doesn’t really grocery shop with cliff -- however her and gen are constantly dancing around laughing in every aisle of every shop.

9. when their partner has a bad day, what is something the other picks up to try and make their day better? ex - fast food, flowers, a punny card, ect. rhea tries not to talk about her bad days with cliff, but when they show he is more about gestures than gifts. he’s will run her a bath in his big tub and wash her hair and rub her shoulders. she’s never experienced that sort of pampering in her life and basically just turns to putty in his hands. rhea will come over with a bottle of wine if he’s had a particularly long day, ignoring the fact that he literally has a wine cellar full.

10. who runs up and hugs their partner while the other catches them? rhea could never catch cliff in a million years.........she is very very small.

11. what song reminds them of each other? a good joke answer would be any man of mine by shania twain. one night when rhea was drunk and a little out of her mind she did invite cliff over -- which never happens -- where she proceeded to drunkenly try to teach him how to two step. (imagine, a tall scandinavian man attempting to two step with rhea and her pink cowboy hat placed on his head and cigarette hanging from his mouth. there were absolutely noise complaints made that night.)

but the first time cliff ever heard her play it was après un rêve, op. 7 no. 1 by gabriel fauré -- granted they’d already slept together at that point, this definitely pushed cliff’s feelings passed being only physical and stuck in his mind.

13. what small quirks do they love about each other? cliff loves how excitable and passionate rhea is, the way she talks faster and waves her hands around when she’s describing something she loves -- whether its music or her and gen’s weird fucking cat named chad. rhea loves cliffs little mannerisms -- the way he smokes a cigarette, or how he adjusts his tie. she loves his calm demeanor, as she’s come from an upbringing that was very chaotic. cliff really puts her at ease once she’s comfortable around him.

14. who accidentally snorts when they laugh and makes both of them laugh harder? definitely rhea is the snorter.

15. what are some things that they do for one another because they know their partner hates it? ex - do the dishes, phones to make an order, talks to the sales clerk etc. they don’t live together but rhea happily does cliffs dishes after they make dinner together and will make his bed in the morning if she stays there.

#ask game #x: your best american girl #oc: rhea #death stranding au #cliff unger #rhea x cliff #i just.............have a lot of feelings ok #long post

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oswednesday · 5 years

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i thought about at first like having that town they share have two gym leaders ala older gens where a town might have an unofficial underdoggish type and a Big Fancy official type

totally aside i think lateral town is in reference to event horizon where time is believed to “split” in a blackhole? so does this suggest like multiple timelines, i like pkmn game theories like that!

anyway it was first like allister is just doing his thing in a boarded up run down haunted house ride where a cart goes through but thats sorta less fun then giving him his own thing, i like his design well enough and what little personality we get i want to run with it! i Cannot begin to express that the Most creepiest card in the game is not canon in this nuzlocke,

(in fact its like impossible to get clear photo of him at all, there's always orbs or mist around him, sometimes even his face blurs out and theres always some sort of technical difficulties during his matches)

(ability: disguise, moves: curse, wood hammer, shadow sneak, mimic)

(while he's still painfully shy, the mask is also a functioning prosthetic, he'll change up the story of the accident and why he has the mask when he is cornered long enough for an interview, an autographed card of his is the rarest of all but the resell value of his cards average less than other trainers, he has fans of course,)

(ability: mummy, moves: protect, memento, crafty shield, night shade)

(he entered the league at 18 and is the youngest gym leader at 22, most believe, even direhard fans of leon and raihan, that allister could take the cup and their rank if he wanted to, only he doesnt, every year he strategically keeps his rank #4 in the region)

(ability: flame body, moves: will-o-wisp, hex, inferno, giga impact)

(he’ll only use this one in the gym battle)

(in the town he reps in, ill figure out a name later, come kind of pun on funeral marches and maybe more nods to his namesake, he lives in in a grand manor along side a massive historic cemetery)

(ability: levitate, moves: shadow sneak, confuse ray, astonish, haze)

(the accident that injured his face also left him without parents and his older sister, he moved in with his great aunt and uncle, who are the title owners of the land and have been keeping care of the cemetery like milo's home town, the residents are mostly older but unlike milo allister doesnt appear interested in bringing new blood into the town)

(ability: disguise, moves: curse, pain split, draining kiss, grudge)

(this is actually the same mimikyu from the gym! he only ever uses four pkmn, i thought id just break the text up by seeing them again, in the gym battle he doesnt dynamax tho the gym supports capabilities to do so)

(he's often absent from league business due to his fears so its not terribly surprising when he doesnt show up)

(his sponsor is biggest provider of funerary services in the region, its actually against the law to use any others, because this provider is the only one with approved sanitation licenses but that doesnt stop citizens of galar in smaller communities from practicing cultural burial practices or from bigger cities to body dump in parks and the like)

(ability: magic bounce, moves: metal burst, dazzling gleam, reflect, mirror coat)

(this is a cup pkmn! im really pro the idea of gym leaders having impossible in regular game play pkmn)

(much less flashy than other gyms, his challenge is basically a self guided ghost tour! with many locked doors, winding mazes, invisible paths with pit traps, and deep galarian lore; all throughout the city! on the way you may encounter ghost pokemon and just straight up ghosts! when you do get to the end of the city wide maze, the key you find will let you into the manor, before you can claim the key there’s a gangar that dynamaxes on its own that you can find off the beaten path, weird right?? better send it to the prof! )

(allister will be locked in his bedroom, you have to talk with him a while for him to agree to meet you in the study, there might be an item sliding under the door involved? like a hand written note of encouragement on his fave stationary in invisible ink, all of which involves a fetch quest)

(ability: pressure, moves: shadow punch, lick, darkest lariat , conversion 2)

(its the same duskull just all evo’d up now! who’d he even trade with?? fun fact, i use to really really really hate the evo line, but now i have an appreciation the concept and design work! like ancient concepts meet new era imo the dusk stone should be used to get a dusklops, yea i know its a c im ignoring and then having dusklop On The Net somehow to become like a grim reaper for a digital age, like i just dig it so much more)

(they really focused on this thing having fists and not that its a techno reaper with a mouth belly huh)

(by time you get to the study hes already there! he'll show you a secret passage way behind the fire place that lets you two out to the stadium, avoiding meeting any paparazzi and fans on the way)

(the field is a graveyard! a fake one,,,maybe! your pkmn might flinch or be too scared to move! rattled and other abilities that take effect when hit by a ghost move are triggered by the field, the air is cold which reduces the speed of water moves, reduces water moves by 30%, with a 50% of the move becoming an ice type! fire moves do 30% more damage, dragon type pkmn may randomly fall asleep, ice attacks do 30% more damage and ice type pkmn are faster, grass type pkmn without ice or ghost or fire as a secondary type may lose a small amount of hit points, ghost type pkmn may gain a small amount of hit points)

(ability: mummy, moves: shadow claw, phantom force, destiny bond, cure)

(he dynamax’s this pkmn in the cup, he’ll probs say something like sorry about this, it has a special attack because i said so that’s mummy’s curse which makes the terrain poison type so pkmn take heavy poison damage at the every turn until this pkmn undynamaxs or is knocked out)

#wednesday plans a nuzlocke

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minyoongislaysme · 6 years

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bts with kids

namjoon: adores his baby, almost drops the baby a few times, “daddy forgot a grocery list” but no worries his kid got it for him instead, buys the wrong size of diapers, forgets a kid in a store, leaves a baby nappy bag somewhere, his kid can wear anything it wants, wears a matching skirt with his babyboy/babygirl

jimin: his kid is the love of his life? his lil angel? he’s so soft for the baby, he’ll spoil his princess/prince so much, styles his kid by the latest trends, they both look like they’re ready for a runaway anytime, records EVERYTHING, posts daily 2 pictures with a baby, his kid is so smart and sassy

yoongi: would be all over his kid, the kid is spoiled™, sings a lullaby to the kid while making it fall asleep in his arms, he falls asleep instead, writes a song for his baby, a lot of cuddles, he will fight you if you make his baby cry, very supportive of his kid’s dreams, finds out he will get another one and passes out

jin: dresses up with his kid in a matching pun costume for the halloween, his kid has chubby cheeks cuz it eats so well, ends up eating baby food cuz his kid doesn’t want it, gets addicted to a baby porridge, brags about how pretty his kid looks cuz of his gens, DAD JOKES, “dad you’re embarrassing me”,“i love you too”

taehyung: has 4 kids and one is on the way, plays with them 24/7, KISSES, reminds them at least 20 times a day he loves them, the gucci family, “daddy we want a dog”, each kid gets his own dog, kids! adore! him!, even the kids who are not his kids adore him, deserves the best dad award

hoseok: cries when his baby says it 1st word, holds dance classes with his kid, buys a little balenciagas to match with his, goes with his kid everywhere, his baby is such a happy baby who smiles at strangers a lot!, so much laughter and happiness!!!

jungkook: his eyes are so wide and full of love when he watches his baby, can’t stop cooing at it, he read every parenting book there is to read, he still ain’t ready, does pushups with a baby on his shoulders, plays video games with a kid and gets competitive, he won’t admit it tho

#bts #mp

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threshasaurus-writes · 6 years

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My SPN Fics by Ship (Gen Included)

I now have 85 Supernatural fics on AO3. I’m a multishipper and I thought it would be fun to see how those fics break down by ship. A few of them will repeat since they feature more than one ship, so you can scroll to the ship you’re interested in and see what’s there.

WIP chapter fics = ✍️ Completed fics = ✅ Contains art/cover art = 🎨 Explicit = 🔥 Podfic Link Included = 🔊 Newest fics = 🆕

Here goes the list!

Gen (No Ship)

✅🆕 The Right Thing - Dean can’t sleep after helping put down some vampires that look like children. The hunter involved in the case reminds Dean uncomfortably of himself -- and her vampire sister they just put down reminded him of Sam.

✅ The Evil Itch - Jack’s wings are itchy, and he’s worried something is terribly wrong with them.

✍️ The Biggest Heart - Through some magic mishaps, Jack is 40 feet tall, and will no longer fit inside the bunker. Sam keeps him company outside while Dean and Cas try to figure out a cure to the spell.

✅🎨 De-aged Dean 4: Duckie Dilemma - Sam coaxes Dean, who is still de-aged to four years old thanks to a witch, into taking a bath and a nap. Dean gets very attached to a cute rubber duckie in the process.

✅ Whiskey and Wool - Dean is hurt on a Wendigo hunt, and the weather's too dangerous to drive down the mountain in. Sam patches him up and they settle in for a night in the Impala.

✅🔊 A Little More Time - Cas tells stories to Sam’s little herb garden at night, thinking the boys are asleep and won’t hear him. Podfic Version Here

✅🔊 Who’s Counting? - Sam learns that Jack can count the number of hugs he's ever had on his fingers. Podfic Version Here

✅🔊 Of Bees and Necromancy - Bees are officially extinct, and Castiel is despondent over it. Sam and Dean try a spell to bring the bees back, but instead accidentally create zom-bees. Podfic Version Here

✅ Always - Teenage Dean saves his kid brother from a monster and makes him a promise.

✅ Devil’s Advocate - Sam muses about Jess and college…and Lucifer and Hell.

✅🎨 De-aged Dean 3: Comfort Bacon - After a witch hunt gone awry, Castiel comes home with a four-year-old Dean who won’t speak. Sam and Cas do their best to reassure him everything will be okay.

✅🎨 De-aged Dean 2: Small Smiles - Castiel drives quiet four-year-old Dean home in the Impala, and tries ways to get him to smile. Sequel to my little fic Suddenly Small, where Dean gets de-aged.

✅🎨 De-aged Dean 1: Suddenly Small - In a witch hunt case-gone-awry, Dean has de-aged into a little boy who doesn’t really talk. Castiel gives him his coat as a security blanket.

✅ Last Words - It’s been weeks since Jack died, so why does he keep visiting Sam every night?

✅ Feather Pillows - After a night time case gone wrong nearly kills Sam, he and Dean and Castiel retreat to a motel to sleep through the day. Everybody's a little shaken up still, though. Sequel to Barbed Wire.

✅ Aches - The night after returning from the past and learning that Lucifer is possessing Castiel, Dean can’t sleep. Turns out Sam can’t either.

✅ After Heaven - Jack returns from helping Heaven make new angels with his powers, and Sam, Dean and Castiel learn that he visited his mother while he was there.

✅ Nothing Serious - After several hunts that end in injuries, Sam realizes Dean thinks he deserves it when he gets hurt, and that it ties back to John.

✅ Strangers - Mary's having trouble adjusting to life after death - and she's not all that died in 1983.

✅ Barbed Wire - Sam is ensnared in a constricting, soul-shredding trap, and Dean and Cas resort to torturous measures to save him.

✅ Co-sleeping - Sam finds Jack crying in the middle of the night and is reminded that the nephilim is just a baby, no matter what age he looks.

✅🎨 The New Horizon - Sam and Dean and John go into stasis on a colony mission to Mars, but something goes horribly wrong, and that something is John. (Concept ficlet.)

✅ Magic Carpet - Baby needs a bath. Dean needs sleep. This car wash attendant needs a raise.

✅ Saving Juliet - If there was one thing Sam would never have guessed he’d be doing with his Friday night, it was playing veterinarian to Crowley's favorite Hellhound.

✅🎨 Unnecessary - Sam insists on patching up Castiel's injuries, even though they'll heal in a day or two anyway. Cas considers why.

✅ Carnival Memories - Sam and Dean drag Cas to a carnival. Cas does not see the appeal.

✅ Threads - When Sam is badly wounded during a hunt, a newly human Castiel tries to save him without healing powers.

✅ The Chills - When Dean gets whammied by "magic flu" that Cas can't cure, he's stuck on bed rest until it wears off on its own.

✅ A Favor - Something’s bothering Dean. He loves Cas — really loves him. Loves him too much to be just brothers, he thinks. There’s only one way to know for sure.

✅ Night Light - After Cas uses up the last of his grace saving Sam’s life, the brothers try to help him adjust to his now-permanent humanity. For an ex-angel, falling asleep feels a little too much like dying.

✅ Broken Wings - Sam finds a way to see angels' wings, helping them identify who is an angel on sight. He doesn't realize just how damaged Cas's wings are from Metatron's spell until he sees it for himself, though.

Destiel

✍️🎨🔥 8 Reasons - Space pilot Dean is caught trying to break Sam out of prison, and ends up tossed into a cell with a half-man, half tentacly monster alien. Now Rated Explicit; blame chapter 9.

✅🆕 Tbbloboerne and Edibles - A suspicious package arrives on Cas's dorm room doorstep addressed to his roommate Dean. Cas thinks the contents are a death threat.

✅🔥 Can’t Wait Anymore - Dean’s leg is hurt, and newly human Cas can’t heal it, so it’s up to Sam to drive the Impala home from their latest work-related road trip (and to try not to strangle both of them for how they’re handling the situation.) Meanwhile, Dean really, really needs to pee.

✅ Never and Always - Dean looks back on how he’s treated Cas over the years, and he’s got a lot of regrets.

✅🎨🔊 Seashell Hearts - The story of a merman named Dean who got caught in a fishing net, and the human named Cas who saved him. Prepare for a cuteness-induced toothache, and enjoy the accompanying chibi artwork. Podfic Version Here

✅🔊 Back Asswards - People still mistake Sam and Dean for a couple. Dean is irked they don't assume he and Cas are a couple, because they actually are. Sam can't pass up the chance to tease his brother a little. Podfic Version Here

✅ Little - Cas tells Dean how it feels to be immortal and in love with a human.

✅🎨 Winter Wonder Hell - When Crowley blames Team Free Will for Hell freezing over, they know they’re not going to have a silent night or any peace on earth.

✅🔥 Something More - Cas lets Dean touch his wings, and neither of them expect the kinky response.

✅🎨 Moon Eyes - Dean is the key to Castiel's revenge on Heaven. (Concept ficlet.)

✅🎨 Trust Exercises - Sam and Crowley have been dating, much to Dean’s dismay. When they decide to go to a couple’s retreat in the middle of the woods, Dean and Cas pose as a couple to keep an eye on them.

✅ Factory Reset - Castiel has lived with Sam and Dean for years when his hold on his vessel starts to slip. Sam can see what Dean’s love blinds him to: Heaven is overriding Cas’s programming. (Concept ficlet.)

✅ Sam Squared - When a spell goes wrong, Sam is split into two people, each with half of his soul — and half the morality that comes with it. The halves do not get along. Dean and Castiel try to reassemble Sam before the two conflicting sides of him can cause any damage.

✅ Old Habits - Cas is human, but he still wants to watch over Dean while the hunter sleeps. Unfortunately, Cas needs to sleep now, too — and he accidentally falls asleep in Dean's bed.

✅🎨 No Time At All - Sam is in a coma. An experimental drug lets him wake up for a few hours at a time, though, and be able to visit with his brother. Dean is helpless to change Sam's situation, so Sam decides to try to change Dean's.

✅ Hand in Hand - Somebody’s slapped a symbol on Crowley that keeps him out of Hell – and that is slowly killing him. Sam wants to research a way around it, but the demon seems content just to spend his last few days in the Moose’s company.

✅ Dancing Around You - Sam teaches Castiel to dance a few weeks before Dean’s wedding, and the angel confides in him.

✅ The Words - Dean and Castiel give in to their desires, leaving everything unsaid. The next morning, Cas wonders if they’ve ruined what they had before.

Sastiel

✅ Change in the Cushions - Sam and Cas think back on all the memories attached to the beaten up couch in their old shared apartment. The couch they’re leaving behind. It’s been with them the entire time they dated, and now everything is about to change.

✍️🎨 Heaven Help Them - Gadreel returns from the Empty just as Sam, Dean, Castiel and Jack are trying to solve Heaven’s angel shortage. If they can overcome the past, they might just be able to secure Heaven’s future.

✅🎨 The Night Stranger - Single dad Castiel’s car breaks down during a night time drive, stranding him and his baby son Jack in the middle of a storm. Writer Sam is researching for a horror novel when a stranger in a trench coat shows up on his doorstep...

✅🔥 I Love Yous - Sam likes to encourage Cas in bed. Cas likes to call his name.

✅ Bills, Bills, Bills - Sam wants coffee. Cas wants to talk about hummingbirds. Dean wants to know what's up with all of the puns about bills.

✅ Beneath the Surface - Cas helps warm Sam up after he falls through the ice during a winter hunt, and Sam can’t hide his longing from the angel.

✅ Heaven and Earth - Cas likes to stargaze, so Sam gets him a telescope.

✅🎨 Silver and Cold - When a cursed necklace turns Sam into a merman with an alluring effect on people, Dean and Cas must find a way to cure him. Dean seems immune to Sam's powers, but Cas is another story.

Mooseley

✅ Hell’s (Wedding) Bells - Co-ruling Hell is less intimidating for Sam than what he and Crowley might do on their wedding night.

✅ First Impressions - Sam and his tiny puppy encounter Crowley and his big scary dog at the dog park. First impressions can be deceiving.

✅🎨 Winter Wonder Hell - When Crowley blames Team Free Will for Hell freezing over, they know they’re not going to have a silent night or any peace on earth.

Saileen

✅🔥 Dancing With a Stranger - Eileen hates casual sex. She’s been dealing with her heat for years with artificial pheromones and a good vibrator. When the elevator breaks down and locks her in with a handsome alpha stranger, though, neither can resist the other.

WinCasWin (Sastiel, Destiel, no Wincest)

✍️🎨🔥 Shadow Box Butterfly - From Heaven to Hell, it's assumed that Castiel is in a relationship with the Winchesters. Everybody knows but Sam and Dean. That doesn't stop the other angels from making an example of Cas for them to find.

✅🔥 Burning Questions - Right after Sam and Dean admit their unrequited feelings for Cas to each other, the ex-angel recruits them to answer a perfectly innocent, newly-human-problems type question: what’s a gag reflex?

✅ Double Dare - Team Free Will have a few beers, and the brothers discover that everybody there but Cas has kissed a guy before.

✅ Wants and Needs - Sam, Dean and Castiel are in a relationship, but Cas’s conditioning from Heaven forbids being a lover to humans. He doesn’t feel like he’s enough for them without sex involved, and says so.

✅ Now and Then - (Sequel to Wants and Needs) Cas has gotten comfortable with sharing the Winchesters’ beds, and they seem happy with their arrangement. The angel still sometimes has flashbacks, though — and doubts.

✅ Love-Stuck - Do Dean and Cas love each other? Sam thinks so — and an honesty spell might just convince them to admit it to each other.

WinCroWin (Mooseley, Drowley, no Wincest)

✍️ Tender Loving Care - Crowley’s body has been stolen, his new meatsuit is a (dead) pregnant woman, and Sam and Dean convince him that ruling Hell with a baby bump is a bad idea. Crowley doesn’t care about the baby that will die if he ditches the new body, but having the Winchesters doting on him for a few months doesn't sound too bad.

Wincestiel

✅🔥🆕 Holy Hell - Sam has a plan for how to cure Dean of being a demon, and that plan involves Cas getting some grace into him the direct way. Unfortunately, it also involves Sam having to watch Cas do his brother over and over…and over…

✅🔥🆕 A Lover’s Touch - Sam is struck with a curse that makes all touch “a lover’s touch.” Dean and Cas have to carry him back to the car.

✅🔥 Attention - Cas gets turned on watching Sam and Dean make out. Noticing this, the brothers playfully decide to focus their attention on him.

✅🔥 Good - One angel, two hunters, and a little praise kinky bondage.

✅ Wins & Losses - A few months after Sam and Castiel start dating, the angel is killed. Still reeling from the loss of his best friend, Dean can’t just sit and watch Sam’s heartbreak slowly pull him away, too.

Wincest

✅🔥🆕 Eyes On Me - Sam and Dean are completely overpowered by a giant tentacled monster. At first it seems interested only in Dean, but when it sees how he responds to Sam’s attempts to comfort him, the thing gets other ideas.

✅🔥 If It’s You - Sam needs to have sex with someone right now, or the sigils on him will kill him. Dean tries to find somebody for him on short notice, but it turns out Sam wants him to do it.

✅🎨 Safe With Me - A case goes awry, and Sam and Dean are trapped in a rapidly-flooding cave that only one of them took a water breathing potion to explore. Dean must breathe for them both as they try to find a way out.

✅ Whisper to Me - Thanks to a case with a cursed item, Sam and Dean learn that they both told John about feelings for each other, and John forbade each from ever mentioning it again. Now there’s no barely keeping hands off of each other — they’re scared, and they’ve had a lifetime of practice at living just out of each other’s reach.

✅ Bad Days - With all of the things the Winchesters have seen — all the things they’ve done, and had done to them — sometimes they have bad days. Today it’s Dean’s turn.

Gadreel/Dean

Dean/OC

✅🔥 Enjoy Yourself - Dean’s not sure how he got here, and he’s not sure who has him, but they only want one thing.

✅ Holy Shovel Talk - Dean's convinced his new boyfriend can't handle the truth about him hunting monsters, and it's getting him down. Protective best friend Castiel decides to have a chat with the guy.

✅ Dancing Around You - Sam teaches Castiel to dance a few weeks before Dean’s wedding, and the angel confides in him.

Dean/Pie

Unforgivable - Dean never should have left his pie alone

Castiel/Castiel/Castiel

✅🆕 Dream On - Castiel visits Dean’s dreams with a message from Heaven, only to find Dean dreaming about two Castiels in bed together. Cas knows how to get the hunter’s attention.

Three or More Ships

✍️ 3-sentence AU Fics - 3-sentence fanfics written based on the prompt of a ship name + an AU. There's a different ship and AU and fic in each (tiny) chapter!

✍️🎨🔥 The Threshafterdark Art Book - A collection of my NSFW fanart for Supernatural, since I won't be able to post it on Tumblr anymore. Ships and types of smut may vary greatly, but they'll be one pic per chapter and clearly titled. I'll update the tags as I add new works.

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sambashua · 7 years

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11 questions tag~

i was tagged by @achuu-nice @s-lay-ing and @maetaamong for the 11 questions game where you answer 11 q’s then write 11 new q’s! a good time! (y’all this is 33 questions bear w me)

nom’s q’s

how are you? :D I’M GREATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT i hope you are too:D

sad ballads or happy upbeat songs? okay so like.. both so much.. but if i rlly had to choose i’d go for ballads bc i’m rlly a soft binch at heart (but red flavor will never not get me lit)

fave anime movie? maybe ponyo? or howl’s moving castle? i also really liked the girl who lept through time! (all credited to wonhankwan movie squad)

dogs or cats? bOTH i refuse to choose (but i got dos gatos)

do you keep stuffed animals in your room? no:( i have some on a shelf at my dad’s house tho? and i have mr. troll in my apt living room!

someone you miss? @atshinee :(

describe your phone case? iT’S GOT MOOMIN EATIN SOME CARROTS OR EGGS IT’S UP FOR DEBATE

favorite lore/myths? i’ve always been a percy jackson ho but i always thought persephone and that story was cool?? also the labyrinth

eardbuds or headphones? earbuds bc headphones are real expensive

can I steal your heart? i actually don’t have one to steal bc you already took it nom:’(

favorite thing about your ult bias? uMMMMMMM prObABLy his smile♡ (i say smth different everytime but i feel like i neglect his visuals oops)

cloud’s q’s

Do you know a ksong by heart? (bc I don’t :x I can hum a trillion tho) haaaaaaa well i mean i can’t speak korean ofc but i can p much believably sing all of seventeen’s title tracks.. and i generally sing along to every song ever even if i don’t know it??? oH I LEARNED ALL THE WORDS TO IF IT IS YOU BY JUNG SEUNG HWAN BC I LOVE IT exhibit a b and c for why!

When it comes to friendships, are you low or high maintenance? (As in your friends gotta talk everyday with you or you’ll feel like the friendship is dying OR if you can spend days without talking to them yet you still remain close) i like to think i’m a pretty low maintenance person! i’m easy-going by nature and i don’t mind silence at all and don’t even find it awkward usually. i have friends i don’t talk to for months on end and then we get together maybe once a year and we still remain close:) i like to think i’m easy to talk to so that could be part of it?

Do you have a secret that you will take to the grave? (Ofc I’m not asking you to reveal it) ajhfdksl tbh i don’t think so??? i’m kind of a private person.. but if someone asked me smth specific i wouldn’t not tell them ? idk tho i used to be a bit of a pathological liar so~~~

Recommend me 5 songs (not necessarily kpop songs) i’ll rec some non kpop since i’m sure you would know anything i recced ajkdhfjdk

honey - kehlani

to build a home - the cinematic orchestra (aka chanhee’s all time favorite song which makes me really emo)

broken clocks - sza

waves - young the giant

window seat - thomston, wafia

bonus! flirt right back - backbear :)

What do you prefer?: first, second or third gen kpop songs? third gen! since that’s when i joined i’m really into it at this point! also i think the variety of music is sooo much wider than it used to be? i’m not super in tune w all the older groups but i think it’s insaneeee how many groups there are rn snd they all have a lot to offer!

What’s the cheeeeeeeeeesiest thing you’ve done? (one time a former friend of mine was telling me about a problem she had and at the end of our convo I kissed her in the forehead bYE) um legit cloud i am cheesy 25/8 catch me being a soft snuggly bean popping trash puns left and right every day of the week

If you were asked to participate in a variety show, which one of the following would you pick and why? (Pick two!): problematic men, master key, hello counselor, weekly idol, one fine day, law of the jungle i think i’d go on weekly idol! i would wanna go toe to toe w doni and coni bc they’re always so harsh to lil baby idols ahhaha i wanna take them on!

Your top 10 kpop songs of 2017? binchhhh i’ll just go by my top nine according to spotify and my number one for apple music:)

When You Love Someone - Day6

Heartbreaker - NCT 127

My First and Last - NCT DREAM (also dunk shot tho byeeee)

Baby Don’t Like It - NCT 127 (tbh don’t remember listening to it this much what)

BABE - Hyuna

Like This - Pentagon

A Supplementary Story: You Never Walk Alone - BTS

Rollin’ - Brave Girls !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eclipse - LOONA (Kim Lip)

Wake Me Up - B.A.P

bonus! Coloring Book - Oh My Girl :)

Would you rather live in a huge mansion or a compact studio house? definitely a studio house! for sooo many reasons: 1) i hate walking 2) cleaning a large house is the worst 3) if i had the option to spend that much i’d just get a smaller house and spend money on more important things!

Tell me a fun childhood story (I’ll start! One time an aunt gave me money to buy ‘papas’ (potatoes) at the grocery store so bc I’m obedient af I went and asked the counter lady how many of em could I buy with the money I had so she went ‘uhh, not many tbh’ so i ended up getting like two and when I returned to my aunt’s house she laughed her ass off and said: I meant ‘papas fritas’ (potato chips) Not those! - and uh yeah this is funnier in Spanish but it proves that I’m such an innocent angel I mean wow) gIRL I WISH I COULDA SEEN THAT SPANISH EXCHANGE I DEFINITELY LAUGHED um????????? yo idk i can’t think of anything help uhhhh okay so when my sister and i were little our house was two stories so we’d take our stuffed animals and tie plastic bags to them and make them skydive ahahha but it wasn’t too satisfying for obvious reasons so we just attached this one stretchy pink scarf to them and make them bungee jump from the railing ajfdhgfdls classic

If you were offered to start a band, would you accept? yEAH if someone offered i would assume i had the talent and ability so.. yes.. even if i didn’t and someone offered i’d still say yes bye

kiki’s q’s

Link your favourite playlist here if you can and if you can’t write out the first 10 songs on it! (Not a question but shh) here she isssss okay wait so she’s not my go to playlist tbh but she has a mix of western and kpop so.. enjoy!

Is your current ult bias your first ult bias? If not who was your first? yes :) my first ever bias was joon but i didn’t even know what an ult was for a long time and by the time i found out i knew all along wonu was my boy

Who is your ult bias? jeon wonwoo ofc

Who is more likely to hog the aux cord, you or your ult? um me.. i’m kinda a hoe w music like i always play it.. when i drive my friends i am in charge of music bc duh it’s my car but then when they drive me they usually ask if i wanna play music ahahhaha MAYEB THEY’RE JSUT SAYING I HAVE GOOD TASTE THO????

Who is more likely to forget an important date, you or your ult? def wonwoo.. that boy couldn’t remember his own birthday if he didn’t pay attention.. for some reason i have a steel trao mind for dates?

Who is more likely to ask the other to pick them up after work, you or your ult? i like driving so i’d say maybe wonwoo? but i feel like he might be the type to want to offer to drive you.. who am i kidding that boy is always tired

Who is more likely to write the other a hand written note expressing themselves rather than just saying it, you or your ult? i think wonwoo.. i get the vibe that we’re both a bit emotionally inept and we would both have trouble expressing ourselves but he might find comfort w writing things down he’s a romantic binch he reads too much not to be

Who is more likely to cry when a dog dies in a movie, you or your ult? me bc dat ho doesn’t like dogs smh.. his only fault (jk he a mess)

Who is more likely to almost burn the house down while cooking, you or your ult? wonu? just bc i’m not that clumsy? he could do it tho

Who is more likely to start a pillow fight, you or your ult? neither of us we’re too tired

Who is more likely to ask the other to come over to cuddle with them so that they can fall asleep better, you or your ult? meeeeee i’m a cuddly bitch and he isn’t rip.. but he would do it for me he better

my questions:D

If you could travel anywhere, but were completely by yourself, where would you go?

What inspires you?

How many pets would you have in your ideal future? Any specific names or types in mind?

What are you opinions on fedoras

how many spoons can you balance on your face at once (picture or video proof preferred (i’m trying to get someone to do it pls anyone))

What is your favorite type of tree?

If you could convince one person to like kpop who would you convert?

What are three things you are normally associated with and/or what are three things you want to be associated with?

If you were in a kpop group what position would you hold (ie. leader, main vocal, moodmaker, etc) feel free to tag your mutuals and who they would be!

If you could have any wild animal as a tame pet what would it be?? (i’m ocelot loyal all the way)

What is your opinion on mint chocolate chip ice cream? (for maj)

i’m going to tag @yongpal-i !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (are you happy sister) @strawberryboo @everyonesabiaswrecker @kiheehyunie @indiepoptime @jungnoir @hwallsgrl @lipstick-chathao @yongceo @undinefin @kihqun @definitelythis @g-te @justsomekpopstuff (tagged you back:D) and @jeonwoooo if you guys want to try it out!!

#tagged #it's too late and i should sleep bc of classes wahhh #I HAVE TO LEAVE SO EARLY RIP ME #thank you for tagging me guys!!!#i was real excited to answer them lol #okay goodnight #you guys should tell me what you think if you listen to the songs #👀👀👀#mir moos

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02blessings · 7 years

Link

chapters: 1/1

words: 2.5 k

rating: G

additional tags: datekou gen, tortoise puns, aone and futakuchi friendship, nametsu mai roasting futakuchi kenji

“She was just here! I don’t understand-” Futakuchi turns his pockets inside out as if Speedy could be found hiding inside them- “how- what- why is she so fast?”

Or, Futakuchi likes to think he’s pretty quick on his feet. Not as quick as Aone’s tortoise, apparently.

Check it out on AO3 or below the cut!

Takanobu has heard a lot of untrue statements come out of Futakuchi’s mouth.

It was Shibayama’s idea.

No, don’t change. That shirt looks good on you, Moniwa.

I’m not scared, you’re the one who’s scared.

You’re doing great, Koganegawa.

Kamasaki is my favorite upperclassman.

Of course I remember Pantalons’ real name!

I don’t care.

But no statement has ever been as completely, unequivocally false as when Futakuchi told him, “You have nothing to worry about, Aone. Speedy and I get along great.”

In response, Takanobu had reminded Futakuchi that Speedy - and Russian tortoises in general - don’t “get along great” with anyone, as they tend to be distant with strangers. Speedy barely acknowledges Takanobu as anything more than a walking tree that supplies lettuce on most days, and they had been together since he was a child. Futakuchi had agreed that that may be true for Aone and the common masses, but he knew for a fact that he was superior to the general population, especially when it came to pet tortoises. Some might even call him a Tortoise Magnet. His words, not Takanobu’s.

So when Takanobu had to leave for the weekend to visit family in Tokyo, he asked Futakuchi to babysit Speedy. Because he trusted him and believed he was completely qualified for the job.

Well, sometimes Takanobu was untruthful as well. He had actually asked literally everyone else he knew to watch Speedy, but they had all been busy. He even contacted someone from Aobajousai, Iwaizumi Something, because he had seemed particularly responsible during their last match against each other. Iwaizumi had replied that he was going to be busy that weekend “watching another scaly reptile,” which Takanobu interpreted to mean he was either partaking in a Godzilla movie marathon or babysitting Aobajousai’s setter. Or both.

Eventually he had settled for Futakuchi, who was free because despite acting the opposite, Datekou volleyball was his social life. But Takanobu wasn’t worried at all.

Another lie. He was starting to wonder if he was in denial.

“Have fun on your weekend. Let loose, go wild, do something you wouldn’t want the team to see pictures of. But make sure you send us the pics anyways. I’ll take good care of your turtle.”

“Tortoise.”

“Semantics.”

Takanobu sighs and hefts his luggage onto his shoulder. He kneels down in the grass next to Speedy’s outdoor enclosure, draping his arm over the wire fencing to rub the top of her pale green shell the way she likes. He glances over his shoulder to see Futakuchi hovering his pointer finger over the needle of one of Takanobu’s prized cacti, muttering “don’t be a coward” to himself. Takanobu closes his eyes to allow his brain to reset, then gives Speedy a stern look. “Don’t give him too much trouble,” he whispers to her. She slowly looks up at him, and he swears he can see her smirking.

He decides to leave his phone volume on the highest setting just in case he gets a call from Futakuchi, or the fire department.

Takanobu stands next to Futakuchi, who is now letting Takanobu’s mother’s Venus fly trap eat his finger. He waits until Futakuchi turns to look at him, and Takanobu is willing to admit that he enjoys Futakuchi’s slight recoil from the intense expression on his face.

“Alright, alright. I promise I’ll be really responsible and I won’t do any of the things I’m considering doing. Get going already, you’ll miss your train.”

Takanobu stays still.

Futakuchi sighs. “Fiiiine. The emergency numbers are on the fridge, Speedy’s feeding schedule and food is on the kitchen counter, and more instructions are in your room.” And then, because he was Futakuchi, he added, “And I know how to use Google. So. Bye, now.”

Takanobu realizes that if Futakuchi hasn’t changed his behavior in the two years they’d known each other, he wasn’t going to change in the five minutes Takanobu had left before he was officially late for his train. He accepts the fact that his weekend will be cut short and backs out of his house, pointing warningly at Futakuchi until the front door closes.

“So, Speedy. Come here often?” Kenji snickers at his own joke and looks around the garden that she calls home. The edges are lined with a mix of Aone's cacti and his mother's flowering carnivorous plants, and Kenji is a big fan of the aesthetic. “You’ve got some pretty sweet digs here. This might be bigger than my bedroom. Definitely bigger than Kamasaki’s bedroom, the proletariat.”

He refers to the instruction sheet Aone left him, and decides that he has enough time to watch some TV before he has to feed Speedy. He eyes her as she meanders across her enclosure, pushing aside blades of grass taller than her. He suspects that she might be watching him as well, but he brushes it off as inevitable - not even beasts could resist all of this - and heads back into Aone’s house.

Slinging himself over the back of Aone’s leather couch, he turns the TV on and begins scrolling through the channels. “What’s with this Pokemon nerd shit? I’mma still watch it though, I’mma still watch. But only to make fun of it!” He yells the last part just in case Speedy is judging him.

Kenji sinks deeper into the couch. “You know, Speedy, you kinda remind me of that little blue turtle Pokemon. What’s it called again?” Kenji knows what it’s called. It’s Squirtle, it’s his favorite, and he has three plushie versions on his bed in assorted sizes. He’s just not sure if Speedy can be trusted with the knowledge that he still loves Pokemon.

“Hey Speedy, if I was a Pokemon, which one do you think I’d be?” Kenji yawns and props his feet up on the glass top of Aone’s coffee table. “Don’t say Magikarp.”

His head slides to the side to rest on a brightly patterned throw pillow. He watches as Ash orders Pikachu to use Thunderbolt on Team Rocket - how violent of Ash, he always knew he respected him - and whispers “it’s super effective” as they blast off. The last thought he remembers having was whether he should rewind the show to sing along with Team Rocket’s song or just wait for the next episode before he falls asleep.

“Shit.” Kenji sits up from where he had slid off the couch and onto the floor in a room that was significantly darker than he remembered. “Oh no, the turt- tortoise is going to kill me.”

He rushes to the kitchen to grab some lettuce for Speedy, checking the clock. He was thirty minutes behind her feeding schedule, and he was unsure if that was a noticeable difference for a tortoise or if that counted as, like, a second in tortoise years.

The back door slams behind him as he stumbles into Aone’s garden, piles of lettuce clutched in his hands. “Speedy, please don’t tell Aone, I’ll give you a carrot if you don’t talk- wait. What.”

Speedy was nowhere to be found.

“Nope. Noooooope. Nopity nope.” Kenji retraces his steps back into the house, waits for the world to fix itself, then goes back into the garden. Speedy is still missing. The lettuce falls from his hands.

He paces back and forth across the garden and does some quick calculations in his head. Assume that tortoises are slow, carry the 1, multiply by 2...Kenji concludes that there’s no way the tortoise got out of the garden. He begins searching under the bushes and behind the flowerbeds, even climbing the tree just to be safe. There’s no sign of Speedy.

“She was just here! I don’t understand-” Kenji turns his pockets inside out as if Speedy could be found hiding inside them- “how- what- why is she so fast?”

Kenji is beginning to panic, so it’s understandable that he makes the worst possible decision and calls the one person who actively enjoys watching him suffer.

“Futakuchi Kenji. What did you do now?” Nametsu Mai greets him. Kenji is stung that he didn’t even get a hello this time.

“Nametsu Mai. What makes you think I did anything- okay fine, I lost Aone’s turt- tortoise.”

There’s nothing but silence on the other end of the line, and then Nametsu is laughing at him. Kenji is disturbingly used to the sound.

“Did- did she go too fast for you? You must be a little...shell-shocked,” she grits out.

“Come on, this is serious-”

“No, wait wait, I have one more - Aone is turtley going to lose it when he finds out.”

“I’ll have you know, Speedy is a tortoise and she’s beautiful. Are you going to help me or not?”

Nametsu’s laughter cuts off abruptly. “Can’t. Aone actually asked if I could watch his tortoise this weekend, but I let him know the managers are having their monthly get-together where we swap stories. Mainly about you.” Her voice moves away from the phone as she talks to someone in the room with her. “What? Yeah, it’s Futakuchi. Tell Hana she was right, we owe her money now. He didn’t even last the night.” She moves back to the phone. “I have to go, Futakuchi, but I won’t tell Aone yet. Call some of the team. Actually, call all of the team and tell them exactly what you told me. See you Monday.” Kenji hears her yell “Yachi! You and me, Rainbow Road, right now!” before the call ends.

He takes a deep breath and scrolls through his contact list.

“Thank you all for joining me on such short notice,” Kenji says to the assembled group. He crosses his arms across his chest, only flexing a little bit. “I’ve called you here today to complete a very important mission.”

The long-suffering faces of Moniwa, Obara, and Pantalons look up at him from where he ordered them to sit on Aone’s living room floor. He likes to feel tall sometimes. Kenji had called Kamasaki and Sasaya as well, but Nametsu had probably gotten to them first because when Kamasaki picked up Kenji had been unable to say anything over the full minute of laughter he heard from both of them before they hung up and blocked his number. Kenji had decided against calling any of the first years, in order to maintain what little respect for him they still had.

“Don’t you think we’re wasting time talking when we could be looking for Speedy?” Pantalons asks wearily.

“Yes. Don’t interrupt. As I was saying, we’ve gathered here for a very important mission - Operation Ghost in the Shell.” Kenji pauses to let his joke sink in. He spent ten minutes working on it. He unfurls the poster he spent another ten minutes working on. “I’ve outlined a plan for us to cover the most ground in Miyagi before Aone gets back. It involves Moniwa getting a pilot’s license, a horse, and several pairs of rollerblades.”

“I don’t think Speedy made it any farther than a mile, max,” Moniwa says hastily, paling at the prospect of taking a test for a pilot’s license. He hadn’t even studied.

Futakuchi thinks for a second. “Don’t interrupt, but that sounds like a good starting range. We should split up and search the entire block.”

“I’ll take Obara, then. Onagawa, you go with Futakuchi,” Moniwa says, rising from the ground. Kenji revels in the fact that he’s still taller even when Moniwa is standing.

“Huh? Who’s Onagawa? Pantalons, you come with me. Moniwa, stop giving orders. I'm captain now,” Kenji leads the way out the front door, pointing imperiously down Aone’s street while Moniwa grabs Obara’s arm and speedwalks in the opposite direction, attempting to hide his laughter at the horrified expression on Pantalons’ face.

“Futakuchi. Give up, please. It’s time to call Aone,” Pantalons calls up to him. Moniwa and Obara stand next to him, Moniwa’s hands fluttering in panic. Pantalons had called them for help after Kenji started to make rash decisions when Speedy hadn’t been found immediately.

“No, he’s with his family! I’ve got this under control!” Kenji pulls himself up using another branch. He’s almost to the top of this tree, and then he’ll be able to see all of Miyagi. Kenji - 1, Speedy - 0, he thinks gleefully. She can’t hide from him now.

Kenji is preparing his victory speech to be delivered on speakerphone to Nametsu and the rest of the managers, when the branch he’s standing on snaps. Obara’s terrified screech almost makes him laugh hard enough to lose his grasp on the branch above him, but as he carefully looks down, he realizes he’s still alive but now stuck in a tree.

He pulls himself up to sit on the branch that saved his life, grabbing his phone and dialing Aone’s number. He picks up on the first ring.

“I just unpacked.”

“Hellooooo to you too, big guy. How’s the weather in Tokyo?”

“You lost Speedy.”

“I lost Speedy.”

Aone sighs. “I’m on my way.”

Kenji hangs up, then starts dialing the fire department.

Kenji - 0, Speedy - 1.

Aone enters the house quietly and makes his way to the backyard without pausing to say hi to Kenji, which was honestly really rude of him, it’s not like Kenji lost Speedy on purpose-

“You didn’t lose Speedy.”

Kenji stops in the doorway to the garden, Moniwa and the other second years peering over his shoulder. “What.”

Aone kneels down next to the enclosure and pushes aside a mound of dirt and- oh. Speedy’s head pops out and she turns surprisingly quickly to look directly at Kenji. He swears she’s smirking at him.

“I’m going home,” Moniwa says, turning immediately towards the front door and walking out of Aone’s house.

Obara and Pantalons sigh in unison, patting Kenji on the back and saying goodbye to Aone before following Moniwa out. The garden is silent for a moment as Kenji focuses intensely on the foliage. The first stars have started to appear, stark against the blue-black of the sky, but the edges of the horizon are still a soft pink. He thinks it makes the garden look even more disgustingly quaint than usual.

“It’s on her instruction sheet.”

“Huh?”

Aone offers some lettuce to Speedy. “Russian tortoises like to burrow.”

“Oh.” Kenji scuffs his shoe on the ground, avoiding eye contact with Aone and Speedy, that judgmental rock-lizard. “I’m...sorry you had to leave your family.” There. He said it. He hopes Aone isn’t recording this to send to Nametsu.

“It’s okay. I don’t like my cousins,” Aone replies, stroking Speedy’s shell as she munches on her lettuce.

Kenji brightens immediately. “So I did you a favor then!”

Aone doesn’t respond, which Kenji typically interprets as a yes or a no, depending on whichever answer would best suit him. This time it’s a yes for sure.

“Well, in that case, you’re welcome.” He settles on the ground next to Aone and reaches over to pet Speedy. She appears to appraise him, her eyes narrowing before allowing it to happen. Kenji beams at Aone and nudges his shoulder while gesturing wildly at the tortoise. Aone acknowledges them both with a small smile.

“Told you we get along great.”

#haikyuu!! fic #datekou #aone takanobu #futakuchi kenji #nametsu mai #moniwa kaname #aone's turtle #hq!!#my writing #its 5 am #fic: ggf #the adventures of aone and speedy

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