#half the people there: uhhh like she's joking right it's just a threat?

[covertblizzard]

bart 🤝 kon 🤝 greta: experimented on as a child

[charlie-minion]

Could the same SPN finale make a little more sense with some additions/changes?

I’ve had the idea for this post stuck in my head for days now, but with every new conspiracy theory and every new eventuality in the fandom, it became difficult to cool down enough to write something less ship-related and more narrative-focused.

What Supernatural and non-SPN fans have to understand is that a lot of us have expressed disappointment and frustration after 15x20, not because of Destiel (that’s just one part of the whole problem), but because the finale doesn’t make sense. Everything was leading up to something beautifully crafted until the end of 15x19. Beyond that, it’s hard to understand what happened. The story rendered all the character growth irrelevant, invalidated the themes of free will and “family don’t end in blood”, regressed to the original brother codependency they spent 15 years trying to overcome, made a queer non-binary character in a male vessel and a deaf female character basically disposable, and kept the show’s reputation of queerbaiting and misogyny until its very last breath.

That’s not going out with a bang! At least not a positive one. We all were ready to mourn Supernatural, but we wanted to feel proud of its legacy, and somehow TPTB managed to tarnish that legacy in less than 45 minutes. What a way to ruin the other more than 13,600 minutes of story!

It doesn’t matter who is to blame (The CW, Robert Singer, Andrew Dabb). It doesn’t matter why it happened (homophobia, censorship, marketing for Walker, bad writing). What matters is that at the end of the day, the finale that aired is what we got and that’s going to hurt for a long time. It hurts even more when we realize that the same finale could have easily made more sense, even without being perfect.

That’s what I want to do in this post. I want to show you how things would have been less jarring (for the fandom), while still keeping the goal to please the general audience.

Before I begin rewriting 15x20, I have to mention that I talked to my conservative boomer sister about the finale. She hasn’t watched the second half of season 15 yet (she’s waiting for Netflix to have it), but she’s been watching the show for a long time (she introduced me to it 8 years ago). She’s the perfect example of a viewer from the general audience. Loves the show but doesn’t give a second thought to it and definitely isn’t paying attention to character development or themes. Doesn’t engage with fandom, actors, or any of the show’s social media. Pure GA! When I told her the series finale had aired, she asked me about it and I refused to give her spoilers. Because of that, she told me the ending SHE wanted. She said she would be happy with either of two possibilities: the boys retiring and finally living a normal life OR they going to heaven and finding peace at last. She saw Sam and Dean as a unit, which means: both retiring or both going to heaven. AND she saw Cas as part of that, too. She wasn’t so sure about Jack. And for her, we could use the “Eileen who?” and it wouldn’t be a joke. She didn’t remember her.

NOW IT’S TIME TO WRITE A NEW VERSION OF 15X20 (KEEPING 15X18 AND 15X19 EXACTLY THE SAME AS THEY AIRED). This will be a very long post:

The opening remains almost the same. No “Carry on my wayward son” to induce feels. Too soon and too predictable! (Reasoning: Everyone was expecting it to play right there, so it would bring more tears at the end)

In the opening, after the scene where Jack says “People won’t need to pray to me or sacrifice to me”, we also see the scene from 15x19 where he says “I won’t be hands on”. Then we see the rest of the opening as it was. (Reasoning: People needed to be reminded that Jack would NOT intervene and that’s why later on, he would NOT save Dean).

We get the same montage, but when Sam takes a break from his morning run, we see him reading a message on his phone. A simple: “Hey Sam, what’s new?” from Eileen. Sam smiles fondly and begins to type a response we don’t get to see. The next scene continues the same, Sam making breakfast. (Reasoning: A text was a very simple way to show that Eileen was alive and still in communication with Sam).

The montage slowly ends as Sam enters the library (not after he sits down). He seems to be talking on the phone but we only hear an “I’ll tell him. Bye”. As he walks towards the table, he tells Dean: “Charlie says hi. Mentioned something about Stevie’s perfect scrambled eggs we have to try.” Dean’s answer is “Awesome!” (Reasoning: Just ONE line was needed to unbury Charlie and her girlfriend. ONE LINE).

Sam sits down, opens his laptop and everything continues the same. The title card shows for the last time.

YOU SEE? In the first 4 minutes they could have acknowledged that THREE WOMEN were alive and safe: Eileen, Charlie and Stevie. It wasn’t hard! Don’t blame bad writing on Covid! Now let’s continue.

Sam and Dean arrive at the Pie Fest just the same. Dean goes to get some “damn pie” and Sam takes out his phone. He dials and when someone picks up, he says “Hey, Jody, how are ya?” We don’t hear the rest of the conversation. The scene moves to Dean coming with his 6 portions of pie. Dean sits down and Sam tells him, “Talked to Jody. The other hunters haven’t had much work lately.” “That’s good, isn’t it?”, Dean says. All we get from Sam is “Yeah.” So, Dean looks at him and asks “what’s wrong?” like it happened in the episode. (Reasoning: Again, a couple of lines to make sure the people that were killed in 15x18 are safe and remembered by the boys in 15x20. Why is this important? Because they’re family!)

The conversation about Sam’s sad face happens the same. Sam is the one that mentions Cas and Jack. (Reasoning: Because this episode was so Sam-centered, it’s obvious he was the protagonist in the finale. If we see him communicating with Eileen, Charlie, and Jody, then it’s NORMAL, even expected of him to be the one to bring up Cas and Jack). Without these additions, it’s harder for people to understand that most of the finale was NOT from Dean’s POV but from Sam’s.

Dean’s “if we don’t keep living, then all that sacrifice is gonna be for nothing” stays the same. (Reasoning: I believe it’s necessary that the show sticks to the importance of “letting go” and “what is dead should stay dead” for the first time ever because the message is “even when you lose someone you love, you can still find some form of happiness and keep living, for you and for them, because that’s what they would have wanted”. Bringing someone back means “I can’t live without you”, and that’s just more codependency. It’s how the demon deals began in the Winchester family –Mary being the first one to do it. This would explain why Dean didn’t ask Jack to bring Cas back, as he asked Chuck. He understood Jack was NOT going to interfere anymore and accepted it. Besides, when Cas saved Dean from hell, Dean thought he didn’t deserve to be saved. This time that Cas saved him, Dean finally feels worthy enough to accept that YES, HE DESERVED TO BE SAVED ALL ALONG, just as much as he deserved to be loved by that angel of the Lord. In this scene, Dean also says that the pain is not gonna go away, which means that from HIS PERPECTIVE, it still hurts that Cas is not there. The problem is that the finale is not showing his POV but Sam’s.  

Sam pies Dean on the face just the same. (Reasoning: That part was just to avoid ending the scene on a sad note).

Everything related to the case happens exactly the same. (Reasoning: At this point, people don’t really care about the MoTW, they care about Sam and Dean).

NOTE 1: The case is important to show that even when the Winchesters are finally free of Chuck’s influence, they CHOOSE to keep hunting. It isn’t something they do out of revenge or because it is their destiny anymore. Maybe they were forced into the life at first, but they’ve learned to find joy in saving people. Being hunters is who they are. However, the fact that a job application was shown on Dean’s desk is also important because it means he was willing to explore what else was there for him besides hunting. Maybe he could find a balance? Maybe he was thinking it was time to quit? We will never know! The thing is that Sam only finds out about it when he goes into Dean’s room after his brother is dead, so maybe that’s when it hits him that Dean wanted to explore his options, and Sam starts to think it���s time for him to do the same.  

NOTE 2: I believe the masks the vampires are wearing is something we can blame on covid. If they had their faces covered, it was easier to use people from the SPN crew for some scenes, instead of using more actors unnecessarily.

NOTE 3: When Sam and Dean arrive at the barn, we get 3 visuals to remember Cas in the same scene (those are for the fandom, not for the general audience): a) the barn, obviously; b) the bag that resembles Cas’ trenchcoat so much that many people thought that’s what it was; and c) two feathers hanging on Dean’s right when he opens the trunk.

The scene with the throwing star happens the same. (Reasoning: The episode is still told from Sam’s point of view, so it makes sense that he fondly sees his brother as a man child).

Jenny the vampire? Uhhh… I mean, it’s not the best piece of writing I’ve ever seen, but it’s not the worst, so okay. That stays the same. (Reasoning: There is none, but she’s not what really ruined the finale, so whatever!)

Dean still dies impaled on a rebar. (Reasoning: OK. HERE ME OUT!!! I hate as much as everyone else that Dean is killed. I think it’s lazy writing, but that’s what we got and I can’t change that in this re-write, so if killing Dean is what we have to work around, then, memes aside, death by rebar is better and here’s why. There’s no one to blame for Dean’s death: no Chuck (the boys were willingly hunting even after Chuck was defeated), no vampires (they were all killed and were no real threat, so it was impossible for Sam to begin a quest for revenge against all vampires. What was Sam going to blame? A rebar? Can you kill it? Hunt it? NO. It was an ordinary death, a stupid accident. Just like any person can die at any moment by slipping on a banana peel. Is it a good death? No, but it’s good to know he doesn’t die trying to save Sam or Cas, because Dean Winchester is NOT willing to give up his life in exchange for anyone else’s anymore.

Sam takes out his phone and says he’ll call for help, but his phone is more visible to the audience. He dials and it’s almost to his ear when Dean stops him and Sam hesitantly hangs up. (Reasoning: People have complained that Sam didn’t call an ambulance, but actually he tried to. It’s just that people missed that part, maybe?)

After Sam puts his phone back in his pocket and says “OK” to Dean, he adds, “I’ll pray to Jack”. Dean’s immediate answer is: “No hands on, remember?” “But Dean”, Sam says, and Dean interrupts him with “OK listen to me” and tells Sam what to do with the kids they rescued. (Reasoning: Jack is God now and how come Sam didn’t remember? The viewers remembered, so it was necessary to include a line that ruled the option out and that showed Dean didn’t want Jack to intervene. The rest was fine).

The lines “You knew it was always gonna end like this for me. It was supposed to end like this, right?” disappear completely from Dean’s monologue. (Reasoning: This is the most problematic part of Dean’s dying speech. He fought God and earned free will, he is no longer controlled by fate or destiny. Accepting that he is supposed to die on a hunt regresses his character development and denies his desire to keep living. This was a total mistake and should be removed).

Instead, if going to heaven is the ending TPTB wanted to give Dean, at least he should say something more empowering. Sam tells him that both of them are going to take the kids somewhere safe. Dean answers and the scene follows like this: “No. Sammy, we made our choice, didn’t we?”, he smiles with difficulty. “We were free to write our own story and we did. We decided to keep saving people, hunting things. Because it’s what we love despite the risks.” (Reasoning: If Dean’s going to die it doesn’t have to feel like it was always meant to be that way. He should die knowing that he exerted his free will until his last breath).

The rest of the dialogue between Sam and Dean happens almost the same. Except that instead of Dean saying “‘cause when it all came down to it, it was always you and me. It’s always been you and me”, he says “’cause when it all came down to it, we’ve always had each other’s backs. Always.” And instead of Sam saying “Don’t leave me”, he says “I still can try to save you.” (Reasoning: It sounds way less codependent without diminishing the importance of their love and support for each other).

Besides, let’s change Dean’s “I’m not leaving you” for “You don’t have to be alone. You’ve still got family.” The rest stays the same word by word. (Reasoning: Dean reminds Sam that “family don’t end in blood” and there are still lots of people out there who love Sam and will be with him).

“I love you so much, my baby brother” stays exactly the same. (Reasoning: Dean always had trouble to express the big L word. I always believed and said many times that before Dean could say “I love you” to Cas or any other character, he had to say it to Sam. So, this is important as part of Dean speaking his truth).

The last part when Dean insists Sam tell him that it’s okay stays the same. (Reasoning: It’s the final moment when the codependency cycle breaks. No more running in circles).

The forehead touch between them stays the same. (Reasoning: I think I would do something similar if my sister were dying. I know there are w*ncest shippers out there, but it shouldn’t matter because the moment feels appropriate for that kind of goodbye). 

See? There are changes but not too many. That’s why I’ve been saying that it was easier to get it right, yet they still managed to screw it up.

The second montage stays the same. (Reasoning: Life goes on, but of course Sam has to mourn).

The call about a case in Austin remains the same. (Reasoning: It’s the only part of the episode where someone from the found family is mentioned, so I think that Donna’s name is perfect in that moment. However, without the other additions I’ve made in this re-write, that off-hand mention feels too little. Its purpose was to tell the viewers that if Donna was alive, so were the others, but the way the episode was executed gave us an isolated Sam, incapable of having friends and a family without Dean).  

After 30 minutes of Sam’s POV, let’s finally see the last bit of Dean’s POV that we’ll ever get.

Dean arrives in Heaven and Bobby receives him. All their conversation stays almost the same, except that after mentioning Rufus and before saying “and your mom and dad…”, Bobby adds an “Ellen and Jo let me borrow their place”. (Reasoning: If you’re gonna put the man outside the Harvelle’s place, at least mention them for Jack’s sake!).

Besides, after Bobby tells Dean that Sam will be along and that time in heaven is different, Dean gives a small smile and says, “Well, there’s no rush. I want him to have a long, happy life.” Bobby answers with: “I would expect nothing less from you, boy” and tells him he got everything he could ever want, etc., just like it happened in the episode, and finishes by asking “What are you gonna do now, Dean?” (Reasoning: It’s important we know for sure that Dean is NOT codependent anymore and that he doesn’t expect to have a miserable afterlife just because his brother is not there yet).

Instead of saying “I think I’ll go for a drive” Dean says, “I think I know what I want” and walks towards baby. Bobby still tells him to have fun. (Reasoning: “Know what I want” is ambiguous enough to help us introduce the last piece of the puzzle, the one thing Dean’s wanted for many seasons and has never been able to express).

 The biggest change is coming:

Dean gets on the Impala and has a moment of silence while he contemplates the wheel. He begins to pray: “Hey, Cas, you got your ears on? I hear you’ve been busy working on this updated Heaven with Jack. You were right about him, Cas. You had faith in him and he saved us all. You could always see the best in everyone, even when they couldn’t see it themselves. Even when I couldn’t see it myself. There’s so much I want to tell you. Maybe you can visit sometime. I hope prayer’s still a thing up here.” (Reasoning: Dean’s side of the confession was unaddressed and that was terrible writing. If there was no way to get him to speak his truth textually, at least take him as close to it as possible).

We listen to a flutter of wings and a “Hello, Dean” from the back seat. We don’t see Cas, but the camera shows us Dean’s cocky smile and he says “Took you long enough.” He turns around slowly. End of scene. (Reasoning: The flutter of wings confirms that angels have their wings back and ties that loose end. The final “hello, Dean” was highly anticipated and it made sense. If Misha couldn’t be there to film, for whatever reason, or if the problem was the kind of conversation Dean and Cas would have, then don’t show it, but leave the door open. Let us know that the two characters were reunited and will talk, but whatever Dean has to say is so private that it’s not for us to hear, only for Cas.  

We finally hear “Carry on my wayward son” and get a montage that begins with Sam playing with his kid. Then we see Dean driving, super happy, and Sam living his life to the fullest. We still get Sam’s Blurry Wife, BUT… we see pictures of Eileen in the living room (not just of John, Mary, Sam, and Dean). We also see photos of Jody, Donna, Charlie, and AU!Bobby. (Reasoning: FAMILY DON’T END IN BLOOD).

The scene where Sam is wearing the party wig and looks miserable inside the Impala is cut and nobody talks about it ever again because it never existed. We get a scene of Sam teaching his son how to fix the car instead. (Reasoning: First of all, don’t give Sam a life where years later he’s still in pain. Second of all, the fucking wig was a crime).

Sam’s dying scene stays the same. The only thing is that his son signs a couple of phrases to him before actually speaking. (Reasoning: More confirmation that Dean Jr. is Eileen’s son).

We hear the final “Evanescence-like Carry on my wayward son”. Again we see the photos and there’s family other than the Winchesters there. (Reasoning: Obvious at this point).

The rest is exactly the same. The show began with two brothers and it’s okay if the last scene is with the two brothers reunited in Heaven. At this point, the other parts of the story are acceptable enough for us to feel happy that they get to see each other again after years of a happy (after)life.

Now look me in the eye and tell me this was too hard to execute. I still think that bad writing is a thing we can’t deny here, adding to the possible meddling of the Network. Maybe Dabb wanted us to hate the finale because he couldn’t get away with what he truly wanted. If that was his intention, then kudos to him. He and The CW really gave us a finale that only 30% of the fandom liked.

I hope you guys have enjoyed this and it helps to give you some peace of mind. In my heart, this was the finale we got. It wasn’t perfect, but it didn’t drop the ball either.

[cowboyshit]

twenty questions

tagged by: @dustofinsanity (thank you so much my dear!!!!!!)

what do you prefer to be called name-wise? honestly I’ll probably answer to most things as long as they aren’t mean. but ash, ashley, doe, those seem to be the solid three I’m known by around here when is your birthday? november 30th!  where do you live? in a tiny, backwoods cow-town smack dab in the middle of california three things you are doing right now? filling this questionnaire out, eating dinner I just finished cooking, and petting sadie with my foot since she’s curled up at my feet after she finished her dinner four fandoms that have peaked your interest. I guess I can go with four I’ve been heavily involved with, even though there’s plenty more than that since I’m a little fangirl at heart, but wrestling (obviously), black sails, the night shift, and pirates of the caribbean how has the pandemic been treating you? uh, I mean, it hasn’t been great and I’ve had to deal with some pretty bad shit as all of us have, and probably some of my worst mental health battles I’ve had to face in about a year or so, but honestly? I just kind of count my blessings these days. lucky to still be employed, even if my pay got a little cut it was nothing that keeps me from paying my bills. all I had to do was take away a few luxury things to make ends meet, and that’s a lot, LOT less than other people have had to do. so yeah, it’s been pretty shitty, this year has been bad news after bad news both personally and globally, but whatever. it could be worse. a song you can’t stop listening to right now? it is no-joke like a four-way tie. a bunch of good songs were in my discover weekly and I’ve been playing four of them on non-stop repeat one after the other. oh! and one my best friend showed to me. this baby don’t cry by k. flay, rock bottom by grandson, ok ok by hoko, and insurgents by the poolside by denny recommend a movie. i’ve jumped into holiday mood early af because tbh I need the holiday cheer, so keeping in that theme, I suggest the holiday with jude law because DUH how old are you? thirty! school, university, occupation, other? had some college, been working in my current career for the past ten years. hoping to pursue a promotion finally since my supervisors have been telling me for the past eight years that I need to promote do you prefer heat or cold? cold pleeeaaaase! I’m a radiator and put off heat like nobody’s business. I’m always warm. name one fact others may not know about you. this is hard because I just constantly blab everything about me, and I have two people who literally know EVERYTHING about me lmfao uhhh I guess... something people may not know... uhhh... on my dad’s side of the family one half was ashkenazi jewish who had to flee germany to avoid the holocaust, where they went to live in italy, while the other half were nazi’s committing some pretty bad stuff that my family won’t talk about, even to this day. funny how two descendants eventually met in america and fell in love, huh? and when they DID fall in love one of them was half italian and in the mafia! so I always joke that my bubbly cheerful self is a descendent of some pretty evil shit, and it feels like a nice little stab at those shitty ancestors of mine. are you shy? uhhh yeah and no??? like. I think I’m shy, since all interaction terrifies me and exhausts me, but everyone tells me I’m a social butterfly? and I’ve noticed in places I’m comfortable and confident, I do tend to be less shy and more involved and interactive? but I think I can be shy. a lot of waiting for other people to initiate because I’m too afraid to, struggling to talk or carry a conversation at times... I don’t know I think I’m overcomplicating this answer LOL preferred pronouns? she/her!  biggest pet peeves? gatekeeping, to be perfectly honest. I stopped following wrestling back in 2014 because when I first tried to get into the fandom, someone was trying to gatekeep a wrestler I also liked and had started making content for and they made me feel like shit for liking them, and I absolutely hated it. that’s why it took me an entire two years of quietly lurking in the wrestling fandom before I finally got brave enough to come out of the woodwork, and I’m grateful I’ve been so well received this time around. but now I’m hyper-sensitive to gatekeeping and I fucking hate it. no joke. and since it’s a pet peeve and I’m irked just remembering all that bs I went through, ima say I’m only a part of fandom to share my love of whatever that thing is with other people who love it too. I can’t stand anyone who thinks they have some sort of “claim” over a celebrity or a show or anything. get a different identity that isn’t wrapped up in that thing and stop seeing it as a threat when other people like it. be happy someone else is as passionate about that thing as you are and make a friend. damn. what is your favorite “dere” type? I’m pretty sure this is something with anime or that originated from anime, right? unfortunately I don’t know what they are so I can’t say LOL I don’t even know if I’m right about it coming from anime tbh rate your life from 1-10, 1 being crappy and 10 being the best it could be. 4, 5, but I’m putting in the foundation now and working to make it a 6, 7, or possibly 8 by a year or two from now. what’s your main blog? funnily enough? this one. my OTHER blog that was my main blog since I joined tumblr in 2009 got shoved to the side for this one last year LOL I assumed I’d log onto this blog once in awhile, but now it took over my whole damn life so here I am I guess list your side blogs and what they’re used for. I’m going to be fair and ONLY list my active ones because I have a few side blogs from when I role-played on tumblr that I haven’t touched in over a year. @doedreamss is my non-wrestling blog that WAS my main blog before this one, @cowboysht is my archive where I am ONLY putting my original gifsets/analysis/fanfiction so that one day I can offer people a blog of just my original work and no other posts (the queue is very slowly catching up I think I’ve queued posts up until june this year), @illfatedandstarcrossed is just a non-frequently used outlet for me to mope and dump emotions when I get sad about my relationship things (like a diary! but... public? and not my original thoughts? LOL), and then I have one more blog but it’s locked and private and it’s LITERALLY my diary where I can just vent when I got shit I wanna get off my chest but don’t necessarily want people to see it. Is there something people need to know about you before becoming friends? I probably won’t talk to you daily, tbh. I may not even talk to you weekly. socializing takes a lot out of me, on top of an already energy draining day-to-day in my personal life. I have a handful of people I connect with who I talk with frequently, but unfortunately as much as I’d love for it to be endless, I have to keep that list short for my own sanity. my infrequent conversations mean absolutely nothing about my lack of interest in you or how much I care about you. my granny once said I would be the perfect friend for someone you only want to talk to twice a month and she thought she was insulting me, but deadass I just said “YEAH! EXACTLY!!”

tagging: I really like this one so I WANT to tag people, but I feel braindead and also just want to post it cause I feel like I am definitely gonna forget to tag someone tbh aaaaahh okay okay I’m just gonna throw some names out there but please don’t feel pressured to do this (it is TWENTY questions) @kennyhoemega, @champbucks, @superkickparty, @adampage, @hintsofsunshine, @audreyhrnes, @sheslikealostflower, @lancearchers, @champnick, @janelanutella, @edgecution, @superrezzy00, @wardl0w, @writinglionqueen, @orangechuckiet, @hungmanhorsecarriage, @icouldbesus, @thatnerdwriter, @rampagewriting, @snarkandsarcasmftw, @tetsuyainthesky AND I DUNNO JUST ANYONE WHO WANTS TO OK I LOVE YOU ALL BYE

[thiswasinevitableid]

68 from the winter prompt list seems Very sternclay and I would love to see your take on it, nsfw if it fits would be great too, thank you!!!

Here you go, it is indeed NSFW!

68. you’re obsessed with my homemade soup that I serve at my cafe and I’m too embarrassed to tell you that I’ve only been trying out new recipes to see you get excited for the soup of the day

Stern tries to avoid being rude in public, or in general, really. But right now he’s wondering if he can get away with shoving his face into this soup bowl and licking out the bottom. The food at Amnesty Lodge has always been stellar, but lately the soups are the highlight of his day.

Reluctantly, he leaves the last delicious dregs at the bottom of the blue ceramic bow and heads to the counter to pay his bill.

“How was everything?” Dani rings him up with a smile. 

“Incredible. I swear, Barclay out does himself every time I come.”

“Great! I’ll tell him you said so. I know he loves getting feedback on new recipes.”

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“You did not say that.” Barclay drags the rag down the counter top. 

“Okay, so I didn’t add ‘especially from guys who he thinks are hot,’you got me.” She smirks as she clocks out. 

“It’s not my fault he’s so cute when he gets excited about food.”

“Barclay, just ask him out already.”

“But he’s a customer!”

“Who you also see once a week at game night at Duck’s. He’s for sure in friend territory at this point.”

“She’s got a point. Besides, sometimes flirting with customers ends well.” Aubrey leans against the kitchen door, twirling her car keys and winking at her girlfriend, “right, honey?”

“Absolutely, firebug.” Dani loops her arm around Aubrey’s waist, then levels Barclay with the look that routinely makes people mistake her for his little sister, “ask him out, or I am going to leave your number on his check the next time he comes in.”

“Okay, okay” He holds up his hands, chuckling, “you win.”

He waves goodnight, finishes locking up once the two women are gone. Then he climbs the stairs home. Amnesty Lodge was a real lodge, once upon a time. But as the city grew and buildings were divided and repurposed, only the restaurant and the rooms above it, plus the small house next door, remained. Mama, the owner, lives in the house, and Barclay has the apartment. It’s nice; he has no commute, he can run up and change if he gauges his layers wrong, and he likes being able to hear the river running nearby and the traffic humming through his window. 

Maybe Joseph would like to come up here after closing some night for coffee? Or is that too forward? Would he be interested if it was forward, or if they took it slow? Would he be interested in Barclay at all? Does he just like him for his soup?

God, the soup. He never meant for it to become a thing. His usual menu had three or four soups of the day in rotation, but then Joseph ordered a bowl of the corn cheddar chowder to go with his club sandwich and ate it so joyfully that Barclay caught him licking his spoon. Which did nothing to quash his budding crush on the guy. So he started trying out new recipes just to see Joseph get excited, and now it seems like Joseph is coming in just for the soup, and the upshot is he may be stuck forever in a soup-loop because of the way Joseph’s eyes crinkle when he’s happy. 

He knows that Joseph agreeing to a date would make him happier than a fresh produce delivery. But he has no clue if he really stands a chance with a guy who’s always well-dressed and friendly, when he himself is an often quiet, scraggly looking cook. 

Well, if nothing else, he has to try. Dani is not a woman of empty threats. 

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“How do you do it?” Joseph rests his chin in his hand, spoon sitting in his empty bowl. He’s at the counter seating, so he can see Barclay working at the grill. 

“Do what?”

“Come up with such good recipes. And don’t try to say it’s cookbooks; you said last week that you’ve come up with a lot of them on your own.”

“It’s, uh, it’s nothing special, just a lot of tinkering.” He gets an idea, one that flashes over him so hot and fast he’s afraid the stove caught fire. 

“Would, uh, would you like to help me out with the newest one? I get off in an hour since I was on the early shift today.”

“I’d love to! I have some errands to run downtown, so as much as I’d like to hang around for an hour and watch you show off, I’ll see you at seven.” He sets down the cash to cover the bill and a tip, winks, and heads out the door. Barclay really hopes he stays in the suit when he comes back.

“Uh, dude?”

“Yeah, Jake?”

“Toast’s on fire.”

“Fuck!”

-------------------------------------------------

Barclay finishes setting out his mise en place right as there’s a knock on the front door. He swings it open and finds Joseph waiting patiently, a grocery bag slung over his shoulder. He’s still in his suit; Barclay can just spot his black tie with little ufos on it peeking out of his winter coat. 

“Dani said I should just come on up.” He slips off his shoes, revealing socks with Bigfoot on them, “and I brought some wine, and a fancy beer I found at Jenny Street Market, since I wasn’t sure what kind of soup it is.”

“My take on a traditional Irish stew, so let's do the beer.” Barclay grabs two pint glasses and pours as Joseph finishes hanging up his coat and joins him in the kitchen. He’s down to his dress shirt and slacks, eagerly rolling up his sleeves before taking the glass. 

“Right, what do we do first?”

Barclay takes a prolonged sip to avoid blurting out his real answer, then starts explaining that they need to figure out the right ratio of vegetable to lamb and which spices work best in the stock. 

They talk as they work, Joseph sharing his theories on the plausible plot twists in this season of Agent X and Barclay teasing him whenever he gets going on a tangent about the monster of the week episodes. The easy back and forth, the warmth of the apartment as the air fills with spices and butter, the way the kitchen lights plays off Joseph’s face; it feels like a home, and his stomach twists whenever he remembers that the other man will leave in an hour or two. 

“Barclay, I have to ask; why the sudden zest for soup?” Joseph sets his glass down, still half full because they’re talking too much to drink more than a sip at a time. 

“Uhhh, just, uhh a good fit for a winter menu.” Barclay sets the lid onto the dutch oven; it’ll take at least forty-five minutes for this batch to thicken and develop flavor. When he hazards a glance at Joseph, the man is studying him, one eyebrow raised. 

“Is that all?”

He washes his hands to buy time to build up his courage, then sighs, “Nope. It started after the first time you ordered it. You just got so excited whenever I had a new soup of the day, and I liked making you feel that way, so I just kept finding or making new recipes I hoped you’d like. Heh” he rubs his wrist, anxious, “sounds hella weird when I say it out loud like that.”

Turning, he finds Joseph with his hands covering his mouth. 

“Fuck, sorry, probably shouldn’t have confessed that when we’re alone-”

“What? Oh, Barclay,” Joseph steps forward, taking his hands, “I’m not upset, I’m shocked. That’s, um, that’s one of the sweetest things anyone’s done for me, going to all that trouble, you didn’t have to.” The words are a bit stuttery and jumbled, Joseph going pinker after each one. 

“I wanted to. I’d make a whole new menu every day if it’d make you smile that way.”

His lower back bangs into the counter as Joseph crowds him, fingers digging into his hair so roughly that it starts coming loose from its tie. He tastes like beer and stock he kept sampling, and Barclay licks it up, pressing his tongue between his welcoming lips, desperate to bring them as close together as possible. 

Joseph pulls away, resting their foreheads together, as he undoes Barclay’s shirt with ruthless efficiency, “Do you have any idea how hot that is?”

“The...doing nice things for you part?” He cups Joseph’s cheeks, trailing his thumbs over the hints of five o’ clock shadow. 

“You went to all that trouble, just for me.” Joseph drags his mouth up Barclay’s neck as he continues, “just to make me happy.”

“I mean, made me happy too.” He mumbles into black hair.

“I’m trying to compliment you, big guy.” Joseph nips his bottom lip. 

“Oh fuck.” He whimpers at the nickname, at the way the other man doesn’t hesitate to shove his hands up his now-bare chest, demanding and adoring, “guess all those jokes about the way to a man’s heart being through his stomach are true.”

“While the food helps, there’s so much more about you that I like. For instance” he drags his hands down to Barclay’s stomach before palming his hardening cock through his jean, “you’re the most handsome man in town.”

He whimpers louder this time, Joseph keeping up the light pressure on his cock. 

“Bedroom?” It’s both an encouragement and a question, the ton letting Barclay know he’s welcome to continue but not obligated to.

“The, can’t, can’t leave the stove unattended.” He gropes Joseph’s ass through his slacks, kisses his neck as he tries to calculate if turning off the stew will mess up the recipe. 

“I love how responsible you are.” It’s another compliment, a dead serious one, “and I have an idea.” He steps back, hurries over to the grocery bag, and pulls out a small, rectangular box. 

“I couldn’t tell if this was a date, so I decided to be on the safe side.” He surveys the kitchen, “feel like picking a surface to bend me over?”

Barclay practically knocks a stack of cookbooks off the tiny kitchen table, dragging a laughing Joseph over to shove him across it. 

“This okay?” He pants as he covers the back of his neck with kisses. 

“Better than okay. Barclay please, I’ve, um, I’ve been thinking about this for weeks, and basically non-stop for the last two hours.”

“Fucking-A” He’s amazed there isn’t a cartoonish boi-oi-oing  when he gets his pants and boxers down, his cock--his whole being, really--aching for the chance to fuck the man in front of him. Getting Joseph’s pants down takes two tries, and opening the condom takes three because he’s shaking so hard from excitement. 

“Need a hand, big guy?” 

“Nope. Just need this.” 

“FUCKohfuck, shit” Joseph reaches forward, gripping the far edge of the table as Barclay sinks into him, “yes, need it too, need you so bad.”

“You got me babe” he loops one arm around Joseph’s hips, sets his free hand next to his on the table for balance, “and I got you.” He starts slow, relishing every little sound he gets in reply to his thrusts, kissing any exposed skin he can find, then rucking Joseph’s shirt up his back to find more. 

Joseph’s hand moves down towards his cock, but Barclay gently guides it back onto the table, “No need to babe. Like I said, I got you.” 

He doesn't mean to start railing him the instant after his fingers find his cock. It’s more that feeling him soaking and hard, all because of (and all for) him, the grateful moan he lets out at the contact, the way he grinds his hips back and forth, it sets off every part of Barclay’s brain at once, and all he wants to do is take him, make him cum, break the fucking table showing him how much he wants him. 

“Ohmylord” Joseph gasps, raising his head, “oh my fucking--Barclay yes, like that, lord you don;t disappoint.” His smile is ecstatic, more than the worlds clumsiest hand-job deserves, and Barclay forces his fingers to find their professional finesse, rub and stroke in the ways that make Joseph beg for more. 

He growls as he feels his orgasm building; not yet, no fucking way, he wants to feel Joseph cum around him. With Herculean effort, he stills his hips and focuses, growling again as Joseph tightens around him. When the man beneath him cums, the last of his restraint evaporates and he hammers into him, table scraping forward inch by inch in time with his grunts and Joseph’s weakening moans. 

His climax doubles him over, and he spills with a muffled moan, mouthing at Joseph’s shoulder through his shirt. 

Then his legs give, ten minutes of furious fucking after a ten hour shift enough for them to peace out. He lands with an “oof” on the floor, and Joseph is laughing again as he turns to stare down at him. 

“Are you okay down there?”

He gives a thumbs up, “Cute guy just shorted out all my circuits, no big.”

Joseph fixes his pants and shirt, joins him on the floor and pulls him into his arms, “I’d say it was very big.”

Barclay snickers, rests his head on his shoulder, “Walked into that one. Gimme sec, then I can make us some dinner. Don’t know about you, but I���m starving.”

“We’re not having soup?”

Barclay kisses his cheek, “Nah, you can have that for dinner tomorrow at the Lodge.”

Joseph’s smile is full of delicious trouble, “How about for breakfast?”

He holds him close, smiling at him, “Babe, you got yourself a deal.”

[lost-eternity]

Matchup requests: CLOSED

Matchup request for: anonymous 

Okie dokie. I match you with...

Undertaker!

You are absolutely fine, dear. My form is about thrice as long so I totally get it. Besides, This way I have more to go on. Anyways, I can already tell that we would get along so well, pffft.

It honestly took me all of 5 seconds of reading this to decide your ship, I hope you enjoy it. 

Power couple right here

I mean, seriously 

There is no hell you wouldn't raise

I hope you don't mind getting your hands dirty, though 

But my goodness, no one is safe from the two of you

Your humour, dark and inappropriate as it may be, is right up Undertaker's ally. You can send him howling with laughter with a single offhand remark or retort. 

Most of the time, I would ship someone with chaotic energy with someone who is more calm and level headed but honestly, Undertaker is the exception to this rule

He would genuinely get on the nerves or anyone who can't match his level of chaos

But ooooh boy would he be able to keep pace with you.

The constant playful bickering would be extremely amusing to watch, not that any of you would get any work done 

The two of you would be too buzzed on caffeine and laughing until your guts hurt

Every night at his place is more like a sleepover

So many go there more sparingly. You both technically need sleep.

Also pet names!

You two would have the weirdest pet names for each other

"Undie"

"Death goddess" (Undertaker has a cruel sense of irony)

This is the only instance where the pet name "Boo" is acceptable 

~

Undertaker would be able to see right through your dirty, airhead façade, if only because he puts on the same one.

It piques his interests. "What is she hiding?"

The first time you saw one of his "guests", he assumed that you would be off put by her presence as most were. 

She was a young female, brutally mugged on the street, her corpse left to rot when the thief accidentally killed her. At least, that is what he thought. 

You, on the other hand, did not seem even the slightest fazed.

He actually looked a little disappointed. "What? No screaming? I love the sound of my goddess mewling." Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge. 

You kinda look at him incredulously.  "It's a dead body. What is it going to do, get up and chase me?"

The smirk on his face was slightly alarming. "Maybe..."

Okay that was a little bit... worrisome. 

Regardless, Undertaker concluded that she resisted her mugger and he slashed her throat, killing her before running off

Of course, you saw a completely different story and pointed out something that slipped his notice entirely. But of course, you would be grinning from ear to ear and speaking in a light-hearted and airy tone as you loom over a gruesome maimed corpse. "No, no, the multiple lacerations to the jugular could not have been the cause of death. Notice how there is little to no blood-clotting and the edges of the wound appear singed. The injury was cauterized and simultaneously inflicted. And since blood loss, not asphyxiation, is the primary COD on slitting one's throat, this could not have been the killing strike."

A little bit taken aback, an exuberant laugh bubbled from Undertaker's lips. He was impressed.

To use a heated knife meant the killer, whoever it may be, did so on purpose with the intent on keeping her alive long enough to torture her. 

Hmm...

~

You two probably met in the weirdest fashion

You were in the city, heading to get a fitting for your newest corset when you heard someone shrieking.  

It took you a few moments to register that it wasn't exactly shrieking that you heard- rather maniacal laughter. 

Pausing, you noticed a group of individuals clustering around a shop labeled "undertakers". If their clothes were anything to go by, these people were nobles. 

A woman dressed from head to toe in scarlet held a pale, unworked hand to her lips.

Beside her a kid slightly taller than you on the account of the wooden heels he wore on the back of his shoes looked quite ticked off. 

It was quite an interesting collection of individuals. Besides. What would nobility be doing WAITING outside an Undertaker shop? They usually had other people waiting on them, rarely was it the other way around.

On second thought,  who in the world had the guile and lack of self-preservation skills to make nobility wait?

The door creaked open as a raven haired man stepped outside, looking all too pleased with himself.

While you couldn't ignore the handsome curve of his face, his smug expression told you all you needed to know regarding the sheer levels of impudence and egotism surrounding this individual 

Those wine russet eyes opened, directing a firey stare at you, boring into your own gaze. 

You held his eye contact for a moment then turned on your heels and continued on your little errand. 

The rest of the nobility seemed to finally be allowed in the shop

~

On your way back from the fitting, you decided to stop by this Undertaker's to try and find out the reason for the things you witnessed. Those nobles seemed to be long gone so you were safe as you stepped inside.

It was black. Pitch black. A peal of deranged laughter echoed from the abyssal chasm within. 

You remained unnerved as you folded your arms and gazed across the room with steadfast resolve 

Something nudged against your foot looking down, through the shaft of light that shone through the door frame, you were able to spot a literal skeleton hand on your foot

You quickly kicked it off and appeared even more incredulous 

Whoever had been trying to scare you appeared to give up

The candles flickered back to life and you spotted a grey-haired man, swathed in a black coat, lackadaisically stretched across an examination table. His silver mane tapered into a thick fringe which completely obscured his features save for the cheshire grin that seemed to be a permanent fixture on his face. "My. It's not often that I get two customers in one day..." he purred ominously 

"Yeah. About that. What was with those nobles earlier?"

He chuckled and pressed a clawed finger to his lips. "A gentleman never kisses and tells."

You just kinda looked at him like ???

It really wasn't your business what this Undertaker and that butler were doing in here alone as everyone else waited outside but wasn't that a bit-

The thunderous laughter that burst from Undertaker's chest told you that he was joking

How he managed to do so with a straight face was beyond comprehension. But perhaps he found your genuine consideration of his sentence to be amusing.

You two end up striking a deal. And it was a weird one. Undertaker would tell you what the nobles were doing and in return you would have to get a fitting for a coffin. 

He lamented that it was not his usual payment but "The little Earl is being so stubborn, he refuses to let me fit him. You are just as tiny. I think you will do wonderfully."

Like "uhhh? Thank you?"

It's not every day you get a chance to be fitted for your future coffin. 

So you allow him to take measurements 

His fingers ghosting against your skin as he does so, sending goose-flesh pricking across your arm

Once he is finished, he divulges all he can, which only seems to confuse you more.

Nobles who solve murders? Isn't that the Yard's job. What are nobles doing getting involved. Half of them have never cleaned a single dish in their life, how can anyone expect them to catch a killer.

The Undertaker watched you with a smirk equal parts knowing and amused. He just loves seeing you think things through and figure them out. 

Meanwhile,  you caught on to his mannerisms. He knew more than he was letting on. But you doubted he would tell you more.

Thanking him for his service, you headed out.

You barely made it a block when you were jumped by someone.

A shadow

Strong arms pinned you to a wall, you tried to call for help but the soft leather of a gloved hand clamped over your mouth. You were left to stare into those same burning russet eyes for the second time that day.

The boy from earlier, taking a step out from behind his attack butler crossed his arms. You noticed the eyepatch he wore, but did not have the mind to question it. You were currently pinned to a wall, your mind was a bit preoccupied

"Why are you following us?" The kid demanded

You rolled your eyes and looked back at him before angrily gesturing to the mildly irritating hand over your mouth.

The kid looked just as irritated. "Sebastian."

The butler needed no further command. He removed his hand but kept you constrained in place. 

You appraised the pair warily. 'So, the butler's name is Sebastian... heh. More like Sebastard'

You were also smart enough to know that if they were investigating such a high profile case like Jack the Ripper, they were probably into some pretty shady stuff. If they were speaking with Undertaker, then they had connections to the Underworld. After all, every dead body killed in the underworld usually makes its way to the Undertaker at some point or another. It was quite brilliant, actually. 

The boy looked impatient so you answered truthfully.  Albeit carefully. You were wondering what a bunch of nobles would be waiting for and wanted to meet the person who had the nerve to keep them waiting.

The kid seemed somewhat satisfied with your answer, if not entirely indignant towards it. You had a feeling that you chose your words well because he appeared to agree with what you were saying. He obviously did not like the Undertaker. 

Sebastian- sorry, Sebastard, on the other hand, did not appear all too convinced. But he seemed to have gauged that you were not a threat and decided not to voice his concerns.

You were let off with a stern lecture about meddling in "Phantomhive" affairs. 

Dodged a bullet on that one

Still. The revealment of his surname only brought more confusion upon you. Phantomhive was a KID'S toy company.  Why is the head of a kid's brand investment murder?

The more you looked into it, the less it started making sense 

And that sent you down a spiraling trail that eventually lead you back to the Undertaker 

Whether or not you return to him as a friend or one of his "guests" is completely up to you and how careful you walk this dangerous tightrope

Oooh, ominous. Thank you for request, dear.

[thewaterisblackwithvenom]

My initial impression of Kieran was that he was an anxious, weak nerved kiss-up. I mean he doesn’t make any attempt to fight back when Arthur captures him, even if he stands there and does nothing. Dude’s got a gun. Makes zero attempt to go for it. My initial thoughts was he was too cowardly to even fight back, when in reality Arthur was running for him with a lasso. His hands are literally full. Who Arthur is doesn’t really matter; he doesn’t have a weapon drawn and is clearly trying to take him alive. Unless he’s a massively terrible shot, he could’ve easily shot Arthur. Clearly he’s more afraid of what Colm will due to him than just dying(which makes sense, especially with how he went out : )))) ), so it really would’ve been in his best interest to die trying to kill Arthur instead of being captured, most likely killed, and most likely tortured beforehand. Far as I can figure, reasons for just surrendering would’ve been

Fear (logical, but with his biggest fear being whatever Colm would do to him, doesn’t seem as likely, even if he was straight up panicking)

Pacifism (not saying he’s a pacifist, but he’s definitely not a fighter by nature, despite his will to live) 

Once he’s captured, he holds out for about a month in sh*t conditions. He breaks once they turn their violent attention to him, but even then he still tried to hold out. The only reason I can think of why he wouldn’t just talk is fear of what Colm would do to him if he made it out alive. If he was scared that the Van Der Lindes would kill him after he talked, he could’ve stayed quiet longer, I guess, though really who could hold out when you’re being threatened with castration lmao.

After the fact, I expect my initial impression to be right. It wasn’t. I mean, I was 100% right about him being a genuinely nice person, not exactly cut out for outlaw life, and not a rat or weaselly person. Things I were wrong about were his general demeanor. 

He’s a naturally positive and friendly person. Despite being constantly picked on and flat out threatened, he’ll even greet Sadie(who is probably most likely to kill him in the beginning, let’s be honest) with a level of confidence I didn’t expect. He doesn’t slink around her with his head down, but is 100% aware that she hates him, and I’ve never heard him try to change that. He’ll greet her, but goes out of his way to let her know that “I’m here and realize that you hate me so I’m giving you space”. Anyone else who calls him “O’Driscoll”, he’ll get upset and correct them. Sadie straight up tells him to die and he doesn’t say boo. I love that he is aware of her pain and doesn’t try to change her feelings about him just so he can sleep better at night. He plays the long game; respecting her boundaries, and not giving her any other reasons to hate him, hoping that someday she’ll maybe at least not despise him for just being connected to her enemies in the past. He could b*tch and moan about how he had nothing to do with Jake’s murder; he wasn’t there, he didn’t pull the trigger, and he didn’t want that to happen. He really is innocent. But he leaves that and her the f*ck alone, the only contact he initiates is just general politeness. She makes real threats, and he has ever reason to believe her, but he still has the balls to not cower around her. If anyone else in the gang makes any kind of “O’Driscoll” comment, he gets genuinely irritated and corrects them, even if it’s hopeless. Not just the women, who(save for Sadie and Mrs. Grimshaw) aren’t a threat. But he’ll get upset and snap back at Arthur and Javier that he’s not an O’Driscoll. I don’t believe for a second that Kieran thinks he could beat either of them in a fight. He’s not a fighter, and he’s also not stupid. He’s survived about half his life being beaten around. The reason he’s survived could be luck, but also him knowing how far he can press his luck with very dangerous people. I used to find it amusing in the beginning when he’d snap back, because like. Lmao, you really wanna get upset with Arthur? Seriously? Dude. Don’t go there.

He stands up for himself, and is confident enough in himself to be as bold as to say to Arthur’s face, that he’s not a bad person, and that’ll he’ll warm to him eventually. That also caught me off guard, because I was under the general assumption “god this kid is me. anxious af, doesn’t like people, just likes horses”. I projected far too much lmao, because despite him feeling more comfortable with horses, he’s pretty outgoing, in a confident way. If people are just indifferent to him, he has no problem going out of his way to greet people with confidence. When he’s being bullied, he’s ballsy enough to stand up for himself, and when people are genuinely nice to him, he’ll show signs of being flustered/anxious, likely due to the fact he probably has very little experience with kindness. Whatever kindness he experienced outside family was most likely fake and extremely conditional. He never made any comments about having relationships of any kind with anyone. His life has been about survival. He knows how to not press his luck with the wrong people, knows basic social manners(how to be friendly without being overbearing, how to give people space, and even when he helped Molly out of the stagecoach), but I feel like he has the least experience in healthy relationships. Relationships where someone is actually nice to him. That’s also why I’m 1,000% peeved that we didn’t really get to befriend him. Watching him come out of his shell more was so nice. Save for his massive guilt about Jack(which wasn’t even his fault anyway), he was finally starting to feel like he belonged there. Sh*t hurts man.

I think the thing that caught me most off guard was his level of confidence that you really get to see in his fishing side mission.

Arthur says that he’s(Arthur) not that great a fisherman, and Kieran, not missing a beat, comes back with “But I am! *laughs* I’ll teach you something.”, all of which happens seconds after Kieran is done straight up mocking Arthur’s teasing of him. If I hadn’t spent 5,000 years wandering around camp, and getting to see everyone’s personalities that you’d miss if you flew through story mode, that mission would’ve made my head spin. If your impression of Kieran is “soft scared horse boy”, there’s so much that happens in like, a minute that’d throw you off.

Arthur asks Kieran if he’s going fishing

Kieran, likely caught off guard by someone going out of their way to interact with him in a non-hostile way, says yes

Arthur, incapable of just being nice to him follows up with a threatening tone “... or running back to Colm O’Driscoll?”, bc f*ck this guy actually knowing I’m starting to warm up to him, I have to be a Big Tough Outlaw bc I am a Bad Man

Kieran, irritated and a bit nervous now, snaps back that of course he’s not 

Arthur responds by bumping his fist against Kieran’s shoulder/chest, gives an amused chuckle, and responds with “pffft, I’m just joking w/ u lol relax”  (I love this interaction because it really shows, at least to me, that Arthur is genuinely starting to like Kieran. instead of continuing along the lines of “watch yourself”, his tone and body language gestures that “I don’t mean it, I’m just messing with you”. Even if he’s still being an *ss, it’s not like his previous interactions. The playful physical contact, non-menacing laugh, and “I’m just kidding w/ u” comment are all friendly gestures. He wouldn’t do any of those if he actually didn’t like Kieran. Arthur’s not a touchy-feely “I’ll fake like I’m your friend so I can slit your throat later” kind of person)

Kieran’s nervousness instantly melts away and he responds with “wow. ur so funny. hah hah. rlly had me goin there. ur hilaaaaarious.” he’s 100% done and just rolls his eyes at this point.

Arthur just goes “shut up”, and I love the way he says it this time bc he’s more like. Offended/irritated that he’s being sassed instead of actually meaning “shut up or else”. He’s all “>:((( shut up brat” and it’s cute lmao. 

Not two seconds after Arthur tells Kieran to shut up, he absolutely doesn’t and invites him fishing. Like, a genuine “hey wanna go fishing?” and not like, a “desperate for your approval, please give me more opportunities to prove myself to you”.

Arthur says he’s not a great fisherman, and Kieran responds with “Yeah but I am!”, laughs, and says he can teach Arthur something.  I found this part super fascinating, because as someone with severe anxiety, my response would’ve been totally different. I’m confident in a few areas; I know what I’m good at, and what I’d be semi-competent at teaching people, but if someone-- especially someone higher on the social ladder than I am-- said that they weren’t good at something, that I was really good at, I always try and downplay things so as not to make the other person feel like they’re lesser than me. I like to think my art skills are decent, so if that kind of situation came up “I’m not a great artist”, my response would be more like “Heh neither am I, but I know some tricks that have made things a lot easier. I can show them to you!” Kieran straight up told Arthur Morgan that he’s a great fisherman, and could teach Arthur something. Former O’Driscoll, teaching Dutch’s right hand man something. That was a cocky move, even if it’s true. I love that he has the confidence to flat out say that without even backpedaling. Kid knows his worth and isn’t afraid to just blurt it out.

Arthur responds with a friendly “Sure”. Not like an “yeah alright fine”, but more like how he responds to people who considers friends. Come to think of it, other than certain instances where Kieran pushes his luck here, Arthur is friendlier/less hostile and grumpy with Kieran than he is with Sean lmao. Granted, Sean is uhhh, overbearing and obnoxious, but Arthur sees him as a younger sibling, not an ex-O’Driscoll. 

On their way to the beach, Kieran brings up past vs present. “who would’ve thought we’d be going fishing together when it wasn’t that long ago that I was tied up on the back of your horse begging for mercy?” He says it with such a light hearted tone like it wasn’t even a big deal. He could’ve died from dehydration/starvation/the cold, and he’s literally like “isn’t life funny?” Don’t know whether to be impressed that it didn’t leave him with serious trauma and resentment or said that maybe he doesn’t see it as that big a deal because he’s had worse. Either way, the way he says it is interesting to me.

Ofc Arthur has to remind him “how do you know I’m not dragging you away from camp to kill you?” bc again, can’t let this kid know I’m actually starting to like him. He Must Know that I am a Big Bad Threat.  “..because I saved your life”  “ya and every day I don’t kill you I’m saving yours” “you don’t mean that” “yes I do I am Serious so shut it” Kieran knows Arthur well enough that while the threat is still a touch unnerving, he has the guts to point out that he doesn’t mean it. he knows Arthur well at this point, and despite the slight possibility he might actually mean that, he choses to believe it’s just Arthur being... Arthur.

Throughout the trip, Kieran opens up about camp life and his past, and in general Arthur doesn’t have anything that nice to say. Arthur’s genuinely a nice person, but I wouldn’t call him “soft”, so that doesn't’ surprise me. Despite this, he’s not exactly mean to Kieran like he used to be. He’s not remotely sympathetic, but at the same time he wouldn’t be for really anyone else, either. Maybe the women bc women, but. However, towards the end, when Kieran talks about losing his family and being on his own since then, Arthur does comment along the lines of “well, look at it this way, you’ll never be alone again”. I could be misinterpreting it, but I think that’s Arthur’s way of saying “you’re one of us now”. Can’t really say anything nice to him or show sympathy, but “you’ll never be alone again” could’ve been his way of trying to comfort him in an offhand sort of way.

Not what Arthur meant, but I couldn’t help but laugh when Kieran was like “do you think Dutch trusts me now?” me and Arthur both laughed, sad thing is I laughed bc I’m like “yo Dutch don’t even trust Arthur lmaooo, shoot for something actually obtainable Kieran”

This is already five pages longer than I intended it to be lmao, but literally my entire point is that my impression of Kieran had been that he was a soft, nervy person with low self confidence. The way I see it, all the evidence proves that he’s a lot more than a lot of people give him credit for. 

He is a sweetheart by nature; I really don’t think there’s a mean bone in his body. He’ll stick up for himself and get irritated, but I can’t think of a single instance where he did or said anything mean-spirited. He’s helpful for the sake of being helpful, and is grateful for any actual kindness shown to him. He grows to genuinely care about the gang’s overall well being, and goes so far as to flat out state he’d give his life for Jack’s if he could, despite Jack being a brat to him in the beginning. But despite the fact that he’s a kind hearted individual, he will stand up for himself, and if the follower glitch dialog is accurate, he will engage in combat if he has to. A lot of his dialog is pretty snarky too, which I thought was interesting. I thought he’d be a lot more jumpy and nervous during a shootout, but again I was wrong.  To me all evidence points to his anxiety/nervousness all being circumstantial. It really only presents itself when his safety is actively being threatened, and in foreign situations(people going out of their way to be friendly to him; catches him off guard). So yeah, I think you could technically call him an anxious person and it be somewhat accurate, but he’s not anxious like people today are. His anxiety isn’t “across a broad range of circumstances”, as are anxiety disorders. I think it’s more accurate to say that Kieran is a pretty self confident, moderately outgoing person with a bright personality, despite the sh*t he’s been and still going through. And that’s what I love about him.

I started out feeling bad for him, with a touch of amusement, just for the fact that I really did pity him. He just seemed like such an unfortunate person. I felt really bad having to bring him in, because my general impression was that he’s really not meant for the outlaw life and was probably a nice person. Hated having to bring him in, but having read his bio before playing the game, I was at least relived that his position as part of the gang meant that me bringing him in wasn’t going to result in having to be the cause of his demise. Him being tied up for weeks made me feel really bad since I couldn’t do sh*t to help him out any, because Arthur didn’t give a damn. Poor thing didn’t even have shelter when it rained in 40℉ weather, and didn’t even have his coat on. Once he was free to move around, I was a bit surprised at how confident he was in greeting Arthur. Save for Tilly, in my game, Kieran greets Arthur more than anyone else in camp. Always bright and cheery. Seeing as how I spent most of my time in camp on the outskirts doing chores(see also: avoiding Dutch lmao), running into Kieran a lot was unavoidable, especially because Arthur’s morning routine is cooking breakfast by the campfire. Eeeevery morning, there’s Kieran. Literally can tell what hour it is by where Kieran is and what he’s doing, and vice versa. If it’s 2pm, I know exactly where Kieran is. With how much time I spent at camp, it didn’t take any time at all before I was very familiar with him. I never had any negative feelings or suspicion towards him, but other than our shared fondness for horses, I had no real reason to like him(pity isn’t exactly a reason to like someone after all). But I grew fond of him so quickly ever since dragging him down from Colter, especially after he saved Arthur. He was brave enough to stick up for himself, brave enough to risk his life saving Arthur, and brave enough to state that he’s “one of you now”. He does more than his fair share of chores every day, stays out of everyone’s way, and remains bright and friendly despite his sh*t circumstances. Oh and he loves horses. Those are the reasons I grew attached to him, and still am. I thought he was just 1889 me, but now I realize he’s a lot of what I wish I was. I love his confidence, despite the fact that he has no one backing him up. Ever. I have supportive people backing me, and yet if someone says sh*t to my face it’s going to make me seriously question my worth. Kieran Duffy fights back anxiety, plants his feet and defends himself. I’m f*cking proud of that boy.

Oh my GOD this is embarrassingly long lmao, but I f*cking love Kieran Duffy with all my heart and I feel like so many overlook how strong he actually is. He’s not an ~anxious soft boy~. He’s sweet, and kind, hard working and self reliant, open and honest, confident and snarky, and is just overall such a lovable, wonderful person. He’s not a weak little snitch, nor a skittish people-pleaser. He wants to be liked for who he is, and while he’s always trying to prove himself, he plays the long game and lets that happen naturally. He’s not a boot licker like Micah. I hate that a lot of the gang gave him such constant sh*t, and that despite the fact no one liked him, Micah was treated like “one of the gang”, when he said so much sh*t. Motherf*cker made comments about throwing out the women since they were “dead weight who you can’t even f*ck”, and older “less useful” members like Uncle and Swanson. Meanwhile Kieran works himself to death on a daily basis, but all the Big Men of camp pretty much hold his past over him constantly, despite the fact that he didn’t have a choice, and wasn’t even really part of the gang. It’s just really sh*tty and I hate it lmao.

I’m going to shut up now and pray to GOD this doesn’t make it into the tags or so help me I’ll tag it later lmao. 

[bobowhooo]

Potent Savages

Genre: Shitty Smuttt!!/ Some daddy baek (yes, that’s a genre)/ Uhhh kinda sweet?/ Trigger warnings??

Exo, OC, and blackpink gang au!

Summary: When baekhyun finds out about aya’s seductive secret mission, baekhyun decides to teach her a few lessons the hard way.

A potent savages short!

      Liar, liar, you spark my desire.

Earlier Today

“Eugene Andrews. He’s a very dangerous mercenary with deep connections in the Kaja group, which is something like a mafia made up of the powerful businessmen around the city. Now that Choi Siwon isn’t running it anymore, he’s taken over. With that being said we need him on our side.” Suho spoke sternly while sitting at the head of the meeting table.

“Okay, all of that makes sense. Now, what does that have to do with me?” I asked in slight confusion. 

“Well, we need someone to get close to him. Someone who isn’t a threat and also knows how to get into someone’s head. I first thought that baekhyun fits that description pretty well. But, then I realized he could pose as a potential threat in Eugene’s eyes. That’s not what we want, it would have to be you. So, I was thinking you can work some of your charms on him, get him close. You know?”

I nodded with my eyebrows askew. “You want me to seduce him?”

“Yes.”

“I.....uhmmm.”

“Do you accept?” Suho pressed.

“I mean, sure, why not.”

“Great! This is going to be amazing, aya. I just know it.”

“Mhm, I just wonder how baekhyun is going to react.”

“He definitely won't like it. Which is why we can't tell him.”

I looked at him with a scrunched up face. “I'm not going to lie to him, suho.” The man chuckled as if the words meant nothing to him. “I'm serious. I won’t do it.”

“Aya, you can’t. Think about it. The last time I told you to do something like this you got kidnapped. I mean, that was different than this in a lot of ways, but he won’t think of it that way. He’s not going to let you go and we can’t have that because we need Eugene for our future endeavors.” Suho said in a passionate tone. We both know if I tell baekhyun, he will go to suho first. Suho is just trying to save his own ass at this point. But I can understand why. 

“Aya, just do me this favor. I’ll definitely owe you one.”

“Fineee. But you better do whatever I ask.” I said before punching his arm.

Later That Day 

My arms wrapped tightly around aya as we rocked side to side on the edge of the pool, only our feet emerged in the water. The warm air surrounded us in its own embrace and I gently kissed the top of her head in content. It’s been about a month and a few days since we rescued aya from Siwon. Let me tell you something, the saying you never know what you have until you lose it is so true. I was so miserable without her in my life. In my arms. Just near me in general. I felt like a piece of me died when I thought she was killed. But with all that being over, I don’t think I’ve ever been more happy and content. This was the biggest wake-up call of my life. 

“Baekhyun?” Aya called. I hummed in response before turning to look at her. “Do you think you would be okay if I did some work by myself tonight?” 

I went stiff for one second. “No, I wouldn’t be okay. Why? Are you sick of me hanging around you?” I asked teasingly. She gave a shy smile and giggled. “Well, too bad. I'm not letting you out of my sight. You should know that by now.”

“I understand why you feel that way, honey. But I'm going to have to get out on my own again sometime soon, anyway.” She said sweetly while looking at the pool. I looked around with a soft scoff sounding from my lips. “Why are you trying to run away from me? huh? I should throw you in this pool.” I joked even though I'm actually curious. She chuckled and nudged me in my stomach. 

“Seriously, baekhyun. It won’t be dangerous, I’ll go with all the girls. It’ll be chill.” She reasoned. 

“What is it that you will be doing?”

“Uhmm, conversing with a future client, you could say.”

“Who?”

“Just a guy.”

I felt a tinge of protectiveness and jealousy. I don’t want her around sketchy men anymore. Not without me. “What do you mean by just a guy?”  

“A guy that’s a potential client.” She said with a smile. “I'm not smiling.” I said back at her.  

“Don’t worry. Suho told me all about him. He’s harmless.”

Later On That Day

My hands pulled up my black silk gown as I slipped my body into it. I posed in the mirror to look at the open back of the dress, popping my knee out to see how high the slit goes up on me. It stopped somewhere close to the top of my right thigh. I look to die for and that’s exactly what I want. 

“Eh? Someone’s all dressed up.” Baekhyun said as he stepped out of the bathroom with wet hair and a towel hanging around his waist. He took the other towel that was around his neck and began to dry his hair with it while staring at my reflection in the mirror. I turned around to face the mirror, looking back at him. “Why are you so dressed up just to meet some guy?” He asked.

“i-i just felt like it.” I answered him with a slightly nervous tone. Of course, I can’t tell him I'm dressing like this to seduce a guy tonight. The guilt of lying to him entered my stomach as I looked at his face. Baekhyun let the towel fall around his head and dropped his hands to adjust the towel on his waist. “As long as you’re doing it for yourself I'm fine with it.” He spoke while moving to the bed. plopping on the mattress with a small pout. I matched his pout before bending over a bit to play with my hair and pat the lipstick on my lips. My eyes caught baekhyun’s staring at the back of me, his bottom lip caught between his teeth. 

“You should know better than to stare, baekhyun.” I teasingly grinned at him.

“Well, you know what it does to me when you wear silk.” He got up from the bed and snatched the towel off of his damp brown hair. “Hey, no, don’t give me that look.” I said with a chuckle. He stared me down with hungry eyes, wetting his lips with his tongue as he walked towards me slowly. “What’s this? Are you nervous?” He asked in a sexy low tone.

“Yo, baekhyun, I have somewhere to be and I can’t get caught u-” I tried to stop him with words before he grabbed me roughly. My body twirled around, my face hitting his bare chest. “Do you think I care about where you have to be? What’s so important about that guy anyway?” He pressed while walking forward and making me take steps back. The skin of my back that is exposed by my dress pushed up against the mirror and baekhyun’s hand did the same. I was trapped by my half-naked, jealous boyfriend all because of this stupid silk dress. “Don’t make me hunt that bastard down.” He spoke with a smile because he was teasing. He enjoyed the expression on my face at the moment so he’s pressing for more. He wants more. My gaze traveled down his soft neck to his lean torso.  I scoffed before putting my hands on his chest. “Baekhyun, as much as I would love for you to rip this dress off of me and fuck me on that balcony....” I got close to his ear before I finished. “I have to go.” I whispered, slipping away from him slowly. 

He grabbed my wrist and clicked his tongue before pressing his body up against mine, wrapping his arms around me. “I love it when you talk like that.” He smirked. I giggled, struggling to get out of his hold. “Nope! You can’t run away from me now. It's too late.” 

“Knock, knock.” Suho’s voice barged in as he crept inside our room. “Aya. it’s time to go.”

“What?” Baekhyun looked between me and suho. “You’re going with him but I can’t come?”

I laughed and patted his shoulder. “Well, I thought if he came you would more at ease.” Baekhyun slid my hand off his shoulder and kissed it. “So this is how bad you want to get away from me? Okay, I understand, love. Have fun tonight.” He spoke softly. It’s obvious he’s trying his best to be understanding which makes my stomach hurt with guilt even more than before.  “I love you, baekhyun. After tonight I don’t want to be apart from you, okay?” I said with a tilt of my head. He gave a pout and nodded. “I’ll see you later, then. Stay safe.” He whispered to me. I hummed in agreement before giving him a quick kiss and slipping out of his reach. 

“Ready?” Suho asked.

“Yeah, let’s hurry and get this over with.”

As Night Falls

Chanyeol drove us to our destination in a large black van that probably costs more than my Bugatti with ease. Suho is in the passenger seat setting up some equipment for our very important “mission” quietly. The only other person with us is jisoo, who will be something like my back up tonight. She’s driving a separate car here to act as a getaway, and if I need to act like I came here by myself it will come in handy. I'm hoping I won’t need her though. The fewer people inside the lounge, the better. Chanyeol parked a few feet away from the place, he turned around and gave me a thumbs up before tapping suho on the shoulder. Suho was fiddling with wires absent mindedly and got startled by the sudden touch. 

“Oh! right....here, put this on.” Suho said as he reached out to hand me a small earpiece. “We’ll use this to communicate and listen in. We already have access to all the cameras in the lounge so don’t be worried because we’re watching you.”

“Who do you think I am? Why the hell would I be worried?” I said with a confident smirk. “Nothing scares me anymore!” I yelled into the earpiece and suho winced as he held his ear. 

“Get out.” Suho said in a dismissive tone. I looked at a smiling chanyeol before pulling the van door open and hopping out. I have to admit, I feel great right now despite lying just to get here. Something about taking on this “mission” by myself is exciting. I mean, the last time I did something like this I got kidnapped and thrown into a concrete hell but this time, ohoho this time! I'm going to avenge myself! “Let’s fucking get it!” I yelled as I closed the door and smiled at the grunts of pain suho made. I walked fast across the street in my expensive high heels. I looked at myself in the glass as I walked up to the door. As always I looked like a damn snack. 

“I'm inside. Tell me what you see.” I spoke as quiet and discreet as possible while talking to the people on the other side of my earpiece. 

“Everything is looking normal. We can see you clearly, no sign of Eugene though. He might be in some VIP room or something, which is to be expected.” Suho said.

“Hey....you couldn’t get me a VIP room? I don’t want to mix in with all these weirdos.”

“Boo fucking hoo.” Chanyeol said before laughing loudly into the mic. I winced then rolled my eyes. Fucking buttholes. I swayed around the room until I came to the bar. I slid my silk-clad ass into the luxurious red bar stool. I ran a hand through my hair and waved for the bartender. “martini.” I spoke quietly, despite the vibey jazz music playing pretty loudly. He nodded and began my order. I pursed my lips, kind of surprised he heard me so well. “The target is entering, over.” Chanyeol said as if it was a walkie talkie. 

“Wait, he wasn’t here this whole time?” I asked discreetly.

“It appears so.” Suho sang into my ear. I bit my lip and looked around to see if I could spot the target. “It’s go time, aya.”

“No shit, sherlock.” I sipped slowly on my martini as I looked around. “Is that him, over there, with the small gold chain and shades at night. Only violent guys do that.” I said while holding my glass to my lips.

“Yup, that’s his crazy ass.” Chanyeol chuckled.

Eugene’s head turned for a second and I quickly looked the other way. I hope he didn’t catch me at that time. “He’s entering a VIP area. I repeat, it’s an area, not a room and it doesn’t have curtains. He must be trying to observe his surroundings.” Suho said.

“Or observe the wide range of sexy ass classy ladies around here, look at that girl, hyung!” Chanyeol yelled into the mic. I heard a faint sound of hitting before chanyeol started making noise in my ear out of pain. 

“Aish! Stop zooming in on aya, you dog.” Suho scolded the guy. 

“Okay, okay! I was just kidding around. I should fucking hit you back.” He barked back. 

“Both of you, shut the hell up, will you?” I whisper yelled with my hand on my ear. I looked towards the VIP area eugene is lounging in swiftly. I made sure he didn’t catch me look before I locked my gaze on something else. He pretty good looking, he’s no baekhyun, but he’s good looking. Right off the bat, he seems like the type of person that will only talk to someone that piques his interest. I have to make sure I catch his eye because I might not even get a hi out of him if I don’t. I downed the rest of my martini and slammed it down on the bar counter.

Watch out, Eugene. I'm coming for you.

Meanwhile

I twisted in my silk covers over and over again, worried about my baby and how she’s holding up right now. I fumbled around throwing a small fit before sitting up. My hands ruffled up my already fluffy hair. “Where the hell are you...” I said to myself. I want to go to sleep but I can’t stop thinking about her. Should I go out by myself? Should I play just like her? I pouted thinking about how she was so adamant on not letting me come with her. Not only is she out meeting some sketchy guy but she’s wearing that sexy black silk dress I only saw her wear once, Which is a good thing because I probably was going to rip it this time around. But, so, I could have just brought her a new one. 

“Snap out of it,baekhyun. She’ll be fine without you.” I spoke to myself while slapping my cheeks. I reached for my phone and clicked the call button on chanyeol’s contact. I refuse to be bored and worried tonight. 

“H-hello?” Chanyeol answered reluctantly. 

“Chanyeolll!” I whined into the phone. “Should we go get drinks?”

“Uhhh, i-im actually really busy right now, and i can’t.” Chanyeol stuttered back at me, raising my suspicion.

“What? Where are you? And why the fuck are you stuttering?” I spoke with my pout still on my face. 

“I’m sitting in the car.....”

“Sitting in the car where, idiot?” 

“Uhhhh....” Chanyeol just stalled in a nervous voice which was pushing my patience past its limit.

“Chanyeol! If you stall one more time i will jump through this phone and drive a pencil through your head, you bastard!” I yelled into my phone in frustration. He sounds like such an idiot stalling sentences like that. “Ahhh! Okay! Shit! I’m out with suho and aya!” He yelled back at me this time. I knew he could never lie to me. “YAH! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING THERE!?” My anger was boiling up my whole body. What does she have the whole squad invited to her stupid appointment? Why did she insist on leaving me out like this! “Where the hell are you, huh!?” I hopped out of my bed in a rush before falling face first on the floor. I heard chanyeol asking what happened and grabbed my phone. “Tell me where you are and what you’re doing. And don’t even try to lie.” My voice was intimidating and my eyes squinted all on instinct. That little punk, making me worry so much even though she probably has half of exo with her.

“Okay, goddamnit! We’re out watching her seduce Eugene Andrews! It was suho’s idea!” I heard chanyeol get smacked harshly before yelling some more. “Yah! You know I can't lie to you! Why are you putting me in this position!?”

“SHE’S DOING WHAT WITH WHO!?”

As Baekhyun Get’s Ready To Bust A Cap In Someone’s Ass

“Well, how could I not talk to you after you gave me that look?” Eugene said with somewhat sparkling eyes.

“And what look is that?” my eyes on him, unwavering, as I sipped on my second martini. 

“You look too cunning to play dumb.”

“I know that, but it’s much more fun to do so.” He stared at me before chuckling with a sly grin. He’s that greasy type of handsome the girls in the gangster movies would go for. Not my type but I can see him dominating the minds of many helpless women. The man downed the rest of his drink and ran a hand through his grease styled hair. I grinned as I watched him to make it seem as if I'm intrigued by every move he makes. He caught my face and smirked. 

“Don’t stare too hard, sweetheart. You might burn holes.”

I almost scoffed at his cockiness but held it in. The point is to boost his confidence right now anyways. Even though, I wonder how much more confident can he possibly get? “What would you do if I said I can’t help but burn holes?” I downed the rest of my drink while keeping eye contact.  He gulped along with me and then nodded his head. “Well, it’s not a crime.” the words flowed out of his mouth clearly. He’s not where I want him right now, but I'm on the right track, that’s for sure. I stared at him deeply, silently urging a conversation out of him. Come on, tell me something important.

“Have you ever killed someone with an ice pick?....” He spoke nonchalantly. 

I tilted my left eyebrow upwards with interest. Now, this is something I want to hear about. “No, never.”

“Abe Reles. A very important murder inc. gunman, and an ice pick prodigy. Let’s just say his skills were never forgotten and my grandfather taught me how to do it after learning how to do it from his grandfather.”

“Was his grandfather in murder inc or something?”

“That’s a secret.” He whispered in my ear after leaning into me. For a second I froze. Did he just make me nervous? Could it be that he was just threatening me? Or was he simply just telling me something interesting about himself? 

I cleared my throat feeling a bit impressed at how he took control of the conversation and my emotions so quickly. “You’re definitely going to have to teach me how to do it one day.” I said. I put my hand on his shoulder with my eyes piercing into his. “But you know, while we’re on the topic, I might be able to teach you how to swing a bat like Frank Abbandando.” 

“Ahhh, so I'm not the only one deeply interested in the members of murder incorporated.” He smirked and backed away from me to eye me up and down.

“Of course not. Who wouldn’t be interested in those cold-blooded killers?” I chuckled slightly and turned to pour champagne in my martini glass. 

“True. In all honesty I kind of look up to them. I try to do things just like them. Living by their rules and all their tactics. It’s what helps me run the Kaja group so well. You know what the Kaja group is right?” He asked genuinely.

Finally, things are starting to get deep. “Yes, of course.”

“Well, you wouldn’t be as plugged in as you seem if you didn’t. Anyways, I'm sort of running it now. It’s much more difficult than I thought but enforcing the rules and regulations of the men who basically started it all, things seem much easier.” He spoke while staring deeply at nothing.

What is this? A slight obsession maybe? Can I look at this as a weakness? “I know what you’re thinking. Yes, you can.” Suho said quietly in my ear. I smirked. This mission is already a success. “Well, since we’re being honest right now, I am surprised no one from your group tried to kill me yet.” 

“And why is that?” He asked.

“Because. I played a big part in the burning of siwon’s body.” 

“Well, no one liked him anyway. If anything you did us a favor. I will personally thank you for that. You’re good at what you do.” I smiled at his compliment and raised my glass. “A toast, to a dead siwon and a job well done.” I said before he tapped his champagne against mine. “I must admit, the stories I hear about you never seize to surprise and intrigue me. It’s actually pretty nice to meet the infamous aya of blackpink.”

“What stories are you referring to?”

“Archie Langston. The British boss of racketeering. A murder that put your name in everyone’s mouth. You slit his throat in front of all his underlings and beat the rest of people there into submission with the rest of your gang at a warehouse filled with contraband and cash. 20 people were there. 10 deaths occurred. 10 were severely injured. And 4 killers got away smoothly with the perfect leadership of their gorgeous fifth member aya. I'm sure you enjoyed all that cash.” He spoke in a low tone his eyes seductive. Mesmerized by his own words as he painted a scarily powerful picture of me in his mind, his left hand loosened his tie. 

“Yes, I did actually.” I said with a small smile. That was the first time we ever did anything like that. We were so happy we made it out alive that the money was an afterthought. 

“You probably look amazing when you do things like that.”

“Well, we’ll have to see if you think that when you witness it first hand.” I leaned forward so I could whisper my words slowly in his ear. I used the things he did earlier to return the confusing feelings he gave me. “Getting this close to me is dangerous, you know?” He whispered back. 

“And why is that?” I asked.

“Because it might cause a fatality.” I heard a familiar voice barge in. 

I whipped my head towards the person and gasp. “Baekhyun!?”

“Baekhyun?”  Suho yelled in surprise. 

“Ahh, whaaat!?” Chanyeol yelled, sounding faker than fake. How much do you want to bet he knew baekhyun was coming? I heard chanyeol wince in pain after a slapping noise went off in the earpiece. 

Baekhyun pulled my arm upwards to bring me over to him. “Just what the hell do you think you’re doing aya?” He asked with a vicious tone. I looked up at him with a nervous expression. “Aha....long story?” A nervous chuckle came out of my mouth without trying. “I have time.” He cocked an eyebrow at me with dangerous eyes. His skin looked so fresh and his hair was done up in a sly and sleek style. A stylish dress shirt adorned his upper body, the top buttons completely undone. The pleasant smell of his cologne filled my nose and all of a sudden it was hard for me to focus on anything else. He looks so delicious right now...

“Hey, answer me, little girl.” His voice stayed low and my arm was still being held tightly in his grip. 

“I don’t mean to interrupt, but is there a problem?” Eugene asked. 

“Well, I'm her-”

“My friend!” I yelled on top of his words. He looked at me with scary eyes making me cower completely. “He’s my boyfriend....”

Eugene laughed and looked at baekhyun up and down. “You know, I hear a lot of things about you, aya, do you really think I don’t know you’re dating the very well known byun baekhyun. I didn’t mean it that way. I was asking if there’s a problem with me flirting with your girlfriend, byun baekhyun?” My eyes widened at his words.

I felt baekhyun take a step forward and pushed my hands on his chest to keep him back. “Well, this is just a simple misunderstanding. I think we should all take a deep breath before continuing this conversation.” 

“Or I could show him just how much of a problem it is.” Baekhyun said. “I'm sure you have heard about me, so don’t think I will hesitate to beat your ass.” I laughed loudly to break the tension and then cleared my throat. “Wrap it up, aya, a fight between them could jeopardize everything we accomplished tonight.” Suho said with frustration in my ear. “It was really nice to meet you, eugene. I hope that we can form a beautiful friendship in the future.” I smiled politely while pushing baekhyun backward. His eyes were locked on eugene and euegene’s were on me. 

I pushed baekhyun all the way out of the lounge as he did nothing but stare at eugene. “Baekhyun? Baekhyun? Baekhyun, I can explain.” I said in a slight panic.

“You lied to me, all night.”

“Yes, but-”

“Just to come flirt with eugene andrews. He’s probably even worse than siwon was. And here you come running to this mission like your life depends on it. Did you want to be away from me this bad? You had to lie to me?”

“Baekhyun, I was just doing it because I thought I could get the job done better than anyone.”

“Oh, you’re fucking correct on that one, aya. If I didn’t know any better I would think you were actually going to fuck him, you know, for the mission.”

“Hey!”

“What!? Did I offend you!? Just how the hell do you think I felt when I found out you persistently lied to me and I pull up on you just to see some guy seconds away from eating your face!?”

“Don’t you think you’re being too much right now!?”

“I don’t think I'm being enough! Maybe I didn’t make myself clear enough when I told you that I'm trying to keep you safe!”

“You did!”

“Then, why are you here!? Why did you want to ignore everything I’ve been saying so badly tonight?”

I looked at him with sad eyes. I don’t have an answer in me. I guess if I'm being honest with myself I just wanted to get back out and do something risky. It’s what I live for. But I wasn’t thinking of anyone else’s feelings except mine. “I’m sorry, aya.” Chanyeol said. “No, this was all my idea. I’m sorry.” Suho pushed his apology with a sad sigh. I stared at the ground, biting my lip with mixed feelings.

“Just get your little ass in that car. Hopefully this time you’ll actually listen to me.” Baekhyun said with his hands in the pockets of his dress pants. His gaze locked on my head, which is facing towards the ground. “Don’t make me repeat myself, aya. My patience is very thin at the moment.”

I looked up quickly and he pointed in the direction of his Veyron. I nodded and walked over nervously. I could faintly hear him scoff before he followed behind me. “Do you even know how hard it is to be mad at you while your ass looks that good in your silk dress?” He spoke low sounding as if he was trying to keep his words to himself. I pouted and pulled open the car door the moment he unlocked it. “Make sure to put a seatbelt on. Oh wait, maybe you want to just ignore me and put your life in danger, nevermind, forget I said anything.” He said while getting in the driver's seat. I scoffed, rolling my eyes. He’s so damn annoying. I get it! I fucked up! Why does he have to act this way!? 

“Could you stop?” I said.

“Sure. I won't punish you with words anymore tonight.” He said with serious eyes.

“Thank you.” 

“I'm just going to put you on your hands and knees to make sure you remember not to do anything like this ever again.”

“M-my hands and knees?”

“I won’t let you off easy tonight. I think you need to feel just how upset I am with you. Maybe this time you’ll learn your lesson.”

My heart rate sped up as if I had been running for a while. I don’t think I'm ready for this.

“Ewwww! Turn the damn earpiece off, you fuckshits!” Suho yelled in my ear while chanyeol made dramatic gagging sounds in the background. I took it out and rolled down my window before throwing the small piece of technology out of it. 

Back At The Exo Mansion

I entered baekhyun’s room first and he came in second. The silence between us becoming more prominent. “You seem nervous. Don’t be. As much as I want to be rough with you, I won’t be too harsh. You’re still my little baby doll after all.” 

I turned around to look at him. My face turning gentle automatically after hearing those words. Really, the reason I'm acting this way is from the fact that I fucked up really badly today. I didn’t want to upset him like that. I'm normally the type of girl to love a bit of a rough lover. But right now, I just feel bad for what I did. I don’t think I can even look at him in his eyes. 

“Take the dress off, gorgeous.” He said lowly as he stood at the closed door with his hands in his pockets again. “Ah, ah, ah. Slowly. Do it right or I’ll have to do it myself.”

“Y-yes.”

“Yes, sir.” He corrected.

“Yes, sir.” I took the dress off at the pace he requested. The silk was somewhat arousing as it slid on my skin in such a slow manner. So smooth. It makes me bite my lip. I looked up at him with my cheeks starting to heat up after remembering my choice to go braless tonight. He smirked and nodded his head, telling me to continue. I let the dress slip passed my stomach and move down my ass. My hands pushed it down my thighs and knees, and let it fall the rest of the way by itself. “Good. Get on the bed, honey. Daddy will come to you in a minute.” His voice was so soft and sexy i almost moaned without him even touching me. I watched him go into the closet, every step he took looking all too slow and sensual. He came out with his upper body bare and a remote-controlled vibrator in his right hand as his left hand ran through his hair. I remember that thing. It has its own damn aura. A dirty dark lewd aura. I don’t hate it though.

“On your hands and knees. Panties off.” He spoke while walking towards me.

I did just as he said. Hesitation didn't seem like an option tonight. “Good girl. Be still now, I'm going to put it inside.” 

I gasped softly when I felt the small vibrator push its way inside of my hole. “Perfect. Stay like that.” He took some steps backward. I closed my eyes when the vibrator turned on. My hands dug into the silk sheets of baekhyun’s king bed. “Now, is there anything you want to say to me, darling?” Baekhyun asked sweetly. I just moaned with my ass swaying in the air. “No, that’s unfortunately not the correct answer.” He said. The intensity was turned up and instead of my eyes being closed they shot open quickly. “Try again, gorgeous.” I moaned louder with the vibrator shaking up my insides. “Baekhyun...” I moaned softly. “Incorrect again, baby.” He shook his head before turning up the intensity again. “Fuck!” I cursed into the air. My toes started to curl and my hands did the same, taking a fist full of the silk sheets with them. “You look to die for.” He whispered. I moaned louder while digging my face in the mattress. “Fuck, baekhyun.” I moaned. Baekhyun chuckled in a soft manner. “Did you just curse at me?” He asked teasingly. Before I could answer he upped the intensity once more. I'm going to cum at this rate. There's no way I can take any more of this without cumming. 

“I’m going t-”

“Don’t even fucking think about it.” He interrupted in no time. I shut my eyes and my legs started to shake at the feeling of holding back such an intense orgasm. The position I was in began to falter before I felt him turn it up to the highest intensity. “Don’t move. You stay in that position until I tell you it’s time to move.” His voice was raspy from being turned on and his stance never wavered while he stood on the left side of the bed, watching me. “If you apologize correctly, I might let you have the release you’re craving so desperately.” 

“I’m sorry for what I did, b-baekhyun. I’m really sorry!” I huffed out. I shook my ass a bit, showing how much I need to finish. 

“Hmmm, good enough. Go ahead, love. Let it go.” He said with the tiniest bit of reluctance. My eyes rolled upwards and shut tightly. I moaned out loudly as the wonderful feeling of an orgasm rushed through my body like a wave. My hands pulled on the sheets harshly and the left side of my face pushed down into the bed. My legs shook before I fell from my position. Jolts of pleasure came and went, making my body jump out of nowhere. Baekhyun’s right hand slid up my thigh, his other dipping into the bed right above my head along with the rest of his body. Softly, sweetly, he caressed it, kissing my cheek in the process. “Consider yourself forgiven, darling. I’m taking it extremely easy on you tonight. I think you know that. But if this happens again, you can trust.....” He whispered in my ear  His hand grabbed my throat suddenly and I gasped. “I won’t be so easygoing.” 

He grabbed my arm with his other hand that was above my head. I was flipped onto my back with one pull. His hold still strong but gentle on my neck. It got me biting my lip in pure pleasure. I’ve always loved baekhyun’s long slender fingers around my neck. He has a way with his hands that I can’t explain, but all I know is they feel like they were made to please. It’s amazing. He took his hand off of my neck and I gasped again but this time to take in air. I watched him unbuckle his belt and pull it out of its place right above his hips. He flashed me a quick smile before throwing it somewhere unknown to me. I sat up as he grabbed my chin and pulled it towards him. I looked at him before putting my right hand on his bulge. 

“Ask nicely for it.”  Baekhyun whispered again.

“Please, fuck me, baekhyun.” I asked meekly. He bit his lip and grabbed my hand that was on his clothed dick. He pushed me back down as he kissed me with rough bites on my bottom lip. Baekhyun held my arm over my head, pinning it down like the rest of my body. I pushed his pants and boxers down with my free hand, trying to keep up with the pace of his kisses. My leg lifted up to do the rest of the work. “Did I tell you to do that?” He spoke into my ear. I froze up.“N-no, si-” Before I could finish my sentence he pushed his dick inside of me while holding my arms down. “Fuck!” I moaned, my back lifting off the bed. His hips moved at a fast pace right from the start. He wasn’t easing into it like usual. “Baekhyun, wait.” I said while grabbing onto his back. He chuckled as he sped up. Longevity is not the word for tonight. We both know this pace will make this end quick. I squirmed under his hold, his name slipping off my lips loudly at every stroke. He looked at me with dark eyes. “Next time, you won’t lie. Next time, you will tell daddy the truth, right?” I nodded in response, moans replacing all my words. My neck was grabbed without notice, sending surprise pleasure through my body. “Say it. Say you won’t do it again.” He stroked deeper and faster as he choked me. I put my hand over the one on my neck and licked my lips, silently asking to lighten the grip. 

“I-i won’t do it again, e-ever.” I murmured. 

“Good girl.” He let go of my neck to move his hands to my legs. He put them over his shoulders and placed his fists right next to my head. I grabbed hold of his forearms as he drilled into me. I yelled his name relentlessly as he continued to thrust his cock, pounding me faster and faster. My nails dug into his arms, yelling his name. “Are you going to cum, babydoll?” He asked sweetly. I nodded again while biting the shit out of my lip. “Good girl. Don’t hold back.” He continued with that sweet. My body started to feel hotter while I came close to my peak. This is the main event. “Baekhyun!” I shut my eyes tight, holding onto his forearms for my dear life. The release that’s been building since I first saw baekhyun walk into that lounge tonight. “Yes, Fuck yes!” I yelled as my body shook in pleasure. I caught a glimpse of baekhyun’s face. He was obviously trying not to cum before me which somehow made my orgasm even harder. 

“Do you think you’re finished?”

“H-huh?” I responded in a daze. 

“We’re not going to be finished until you beg me to stop. Actually...” He stroked long and deep and intertwined his fingers in mine. “I don’t think we’ll be finished then either.”

“Baekhyunnn!” I whined.

“Don’t worry, you’ll enjoy every moment, babydoll. Just take it like a good girl.”

~~~~~~~~~~~ THE END.

[the-arg0naut]

A Song For Every Moon

soulmate auuu where they hear the thoughts in their soulmate’s head! anyways i wrote this in collaboration with @you-call-those-glasses and!! yes!!! (also i forgot to post this for like three weeks shhhshshh)

also blood tw! its not big described but its there so Yes

~~~~~~~~~~~

Well this certainly isn’t ideal, now is it?

It all happened so fast. He was on set crew for the school’s various shows, he always was. So it was expected that he knew his way around the various machines used for set, yeah? Usually, yes. But today was just not Virgil’s day at all.

First, he had to step out of class first block due to a panic attack caused by some stupid freshmen who thought purple was a “girl’s color,” (Who gives a shit, it’s just a color. Last I checked, colors don’t have penises or vags.) Then, Logan had to take lunch to their math class to make up a test they missed so he had to sit alone-because god forbid he go up and actually talk to new people (They’re all looking at me, I’m all alone and they’re staring at me and calling me a loser). 

And then he gets to set construction, the one place he truly does feel safe, and secure, and comfortable.

And Grant just had to yell something from across the shop to him, when he knew he wouldn’t be able to hear him with the saw running.

He had turned to try and make out what he was saying. Kept feeding the wood into the machine. Didn’t even notice when his hand went just a little bit too far past the guard.

Honestly, he didn’t feel anything. Not initially, at least. Just a bit of weird tingling in his left index finger, something warm yet cool at the same time over the rest of his hand. A bit of a loud noise when the machine forced itself off, but he had earplugs in anyways, so it made no real difference. 

He only realized something was wrong when Grant started screaming at him, yelling something, good lord what’s all this yelling for-

Well. That’s quite a bit of blood. I didn’t even know I had so mu...

He barely had looked at his hand, barely had time to think a single thought before passing out. Blood and all really isn’t so cool when it’s cascading down your hand and onto the piece of plywood you were previously trying to cut.

He faded in and out of consciousness for a little while. Caught glimpses of things. Grant and Brandon carrying him out of the building. Flashing lights. Latex gloves. 

He came to in the ambulance, two EMTs and Grant beside him. He registered that his hand hurt, jesus christ my fucking hand hurts, good god, can’t they give me some drugs or something-

Drugs? What would you need drugs for? And what do you mean, your hand hurts? Oh goodness, this has to do with the blood you mentioned earlier, doesn’t it? 

Whoops. No one had thought to contact Logan, his soulmate. They must’ve heard him when he saw his hand, and promptly passed out. God, they must’ve been so worried, just a mention of a shitton of blood and then nothing, can’t even imagine-

Yes, it was very worrisome, and even more so when you wouldn’t answer my phone calls. What the hell happened?

Just a… bit of an incident with the table saw.

Table saw?!

Calm down, it’s got that cool thing where if it senses, like, warmth or flesh or whatever, it forces itself to turn off. Breaks a bunch of the parts inside, but- oh god, James is gonna be pissed, those parts aren’t cheap-

Virge, I don’t think how the saw’s doing is what we need to be worrying about right now. How bad did it… cut you?

No idea. I passed out after seeing all the blood. I never got a good look at it. I could ask the paramedic next to me.

Oh good, you’re in an ambulance, at least you’re getting treatment. Yes, ask them, and then ask which hospital you’re going to.

Will do, love.

He turned to Grant and the paramedic currently busying herself with a bag beside his head.

“Hey, Grant. Hey, uhhh, I don’t know your name, paramedic person,”

“My name is Annabelle.”

“Cool, hi Annabelle. So, uh, how bad’s the damage?”

“Well, we’ll be able to better tell exactly how much got lacerated when we get to the hospital, but from just getting it cleaned up, it doesn’t look too bad. A cut maybe half a centimeter in on your left index finger.”

“Cool, I won’t lose my finger. Where are we heading, by the way?”

“Since your friend here let us know that you’re still 16, and legally a minor, we’re headed to B. Major Children’s Hospital.”

“Grant, how dare you snitch on me.”

Grant only tentatively chuckled. Dammit, he blames himself.

Huh?

Grant. I’ll explain once we get there. We’re going to B. Major Children’s.

I’m on my way. What did the paramedic say?

Nothing awful. Just a cut on my left index finger. Half a centimeter, she said.

Okay, good. You had me worried that you’d lost it or something.

Nope. It lives to do homework another day.

Does it still hurt?

Like a mother trucker. Hurts like a buttcheek on a stick.

You’re insufferable.

You know you love meee.

Yes, yes I do.

I’m gonna ask Grant what’s eating him. See you in the ER?

See you in the ER.

“Hey Grant?”

He startled a little bit, having been staring off into space. “Yeah V?”

“You alright?”

He looked away again. “Yeah. I’m fine. You’re the one who nearly lost his finger.”

Virgil laughed. “Oh, hush, you heard the paramedic. It’ll be fine.”

“Yeah…”

Virgil sat up some, looking at him. “Hey, dude, it wasn’t your fault. I was the one who turned away from it.”

Grant continued avoiding his eyes. “Well, yeah, but I was the one who distracted you. If I hadn’t tried talking to you with the saw on…”

“Bro, it’s alright. I don’t blame you. Just think of it as me testing out the saw’s safety feature. We know it works!”

He finally laughed some. “Yeah, but I’d rather that feature not have to be used.”

“So does the school. Oooo, and James. Imagine, the one day you’re not there, one of the kids gets his finger nicked by the table saw. I’d hate to be him right now.”

“I’d hate to be him any day. I mean, the guy drives a Volkswagen Beetle. A damn Beetle!”

“Man, imagine. Tragic.”

“Truly tragic.”

~~~

They pulled in to the ER not long after, Virgil awake, talking and laughing. The doctors got him in his room and began assessing it. Virgil looked away, not particularly wanting to pass out again. He tuned back into his/Logan’s thoughts (it was hard to tell the difference sometimes), only to hear a stream of frustration from his partner.

...stupid bureaucracy, the hell do you mean, “I have to wait,” my boyfriend got his damn hand caught in a table saw! I think that counts as urgent enough, and I’m practically family at this point, which doesn’t even matter to them because either you’re blood related, married, or complete strangers by their standards-

You’re rambling again.

I’m aware. These damn receptionists won’t tell me where you are, because you’re in the ER and I guess I’m not close enough related to you to go back and see you…

Lo…

...which is stupid because some people don’t have blood relatives that can or want to come visit them…

Logan…

...which means that some poor patients here are probably all alone because they won’t let their friends go and see them-

Logan Sanders listen to me or I’ll come and find you myself!

...that would be preferable.

It was a threat, nerd, and anyways I can’t even move, they’re sewing it shut.

Did they at least give you Dilaudid or lidocaine?

I’ll guess those are painkillers?

Yes, and Dilaudid is a highly addictive painkillers, which is why I hope they didn’t give you that and just used a nerve block like lidocaine-

Lo.

Sorry.

They did numb it with something, not sure what. Either way, it’s numb, but I can still kinda feel them messing around over there. I am choosing not to look so I don’t pass out again.

Yes, don’t do that again. Radio silence from my boyfriend isn’t exactly a pleasurable experience.

Doesn’t exactly sound like it.

One second, the receptionist is talking to me again.

I’ll be here.

Quiet for a moment. You usually don’t think about the words as you speak them, which Virgil found  little annoying, because it meant he couldn’t hear what Logan was saying. It was a couple minutes before Logan popped back into his head.

She finally told me where you were. I’m on my way up.

Oh good, I missed you at lunch today.

I heard.

Oh yeah. I forget you can hear me sometimes.

I wish I could forget. Remember that one thought from last week?

Oh my godddd let it gooo.

“Teenage meetant neeja teetles”???? What does that even mean???

Shhhhh don’t try and figure out my shitpost brain.

Wouldn’t dream of it. Have the doctors finished sewing you up?

Yep, it’s all pretty and clean and bandaged. They told me not to move it too much but jokes on them, I’m left handed, so catch me wiping my ass with my fucked up hand.

One, ew. Two, do not do that.

Y’all can’t stop me.

“But what if I could?” they said as they walked into his room, sitting in a chair beside him.

“You wouldn’t.” he teased. “You know you’d just watch me be stupid and shake your head at my ridiculousness.”

“It’s almost as if you’re speaking from experience.”

“Me? Being serially stupid? Never.”

Logan laughed, smiling at him. “... Are you okay though? Like, getting your finger lacerated by a table saw probably isn’t that fun.”

“I mean, nah, it’s not that great, but hey, I get to miss school for a day or two.”

“Are they keeping you overnight?”

“Yeah, just for a night, to make sure the saw didn’t have any bad garbage that got in my finger.”

“Do you want me to go and bring you anything?”

“I’ve already texted Patton about what happened and he’s gonna bring me… food. He didn’t specify what, but he yelled about bringing me sustenance.”

“Sounds about right. Are you sure you don’t need anything?”

“Honestly, Lo? I just want you to be here with me.”

“That I can do.”

~~~

Patton walked into Virgil’s room, tupperware in hand, humming some sort of something. Probably some of those lo-fi songs Roman deems “not dramatic enough.” He smiled at the two, asleep, Logan holding Virgil’s good hand. He left the tupperware container on his bedside table, set Logan’s glasses beside it, kissed them both on the forehead, and walked out, still humming.

Virgil would later swear he heard his humming and would aggressively question him on what song it was (“I know it, I know I know it, I know I know I know it!”). But he wouldn’t let up. “Just know it’s definitely a love song.” (“Of course it’s a love song, it’s Patton”).

“It’s a song worthy of the moon.”

[ff2-soda-pop]

watching ninjago season 10 and im writing down All The Thoughts:

Tv has text saying “Preparing For Playback” and anyway its making a HORRIBLE static sound

Actually no take it back - the static sound is just,, in the background and won’t go away

did they just lock lloyd in there jhgfds

OHMYGOD STOP BEING VAUGE PLEASE

jmhgf lmao why Should he trust him anyways?? he hasnt even CLEARLY said what the threat even was

there’s a mayor now????? last time it was more of a freaking monarchy. can we get SOME clarity on how this stuff works like did we just casually brush past how all known members of the family that was in charge just kinda all Died. when was this set up is this just specific to ninjago city if so why wasnt this established more when they introduced harumi and her family why-

“the bounty was-” kjhg and it literally Is the bounty

how the heck did someone get the blueprints actually

firstly, jays being adorable again, secondly im just- kai Please stop ohmygoddd

ok but Why is dareth here exactly??

nyas outfit looks like her old one!! but blue!! :0

oh ok so the tales from the monastery shorts were before this season but after the 9th one. ok that helps

KJHGF THE CONFUSED LOOKS KAI AND DARETH GIVE EACH OVER ABOUT THE ONE ABOUT SEASON 6 THATS A NICE DETAIL AND I LOVE IT

“the tornado of creation? remember??” i mean. whens the last time they even used that

why is my first thought here “is the dragon dead”

is faith ok???? oh no?????

wait she said something??

jay thats not. a joke or anything. stop laughing.

see also: oh sorry but y’all thought the serpentine thing was just a “bedtime story” and look where that one went. why are you asking this like half the “legends” that get mentioned in this show end up being Actual Things

oh its a thing w/ borgs logo. can we see borg actually??

“nothing and nobody is getting in here” ok my memory is bad but,,, haven’t people gotten in there before???????

ohhh what is this

“someone must have wired the lever wrong” .......thats gonna be important later isnt it

“we only have tazors” oh my god

why are the police trying to do Anything like firstly thats a storm cloud thing you cant really fight it, secondly when do the ninjago police do like. ANYTHING TBH

its a storm cloud stop trying to attack it that wouldn’t work

OH NO????

ok nope we’re fine

“you can’t” thats is Not helpful

jhgfd lloyd looks So annoyed

the audio just cut off??? i mean it went to a commercial but?? the audio cut off???? why???

jhghgf this scene makes me miss season 1 aaaaaaa

“if master wu is right” where is he actually

can i ask what the actual point of shutting the engine off was

“THAT BUTTON IS LABELLED” where i didnt see a label anywhere

i started Feeling Things slightly too much so i had to get up and wander around aaaand the sound turned itself off again (it does that sometimes)

okay nope im feeling things and theres nothing i can do to stop it

cole thats a Horrible analogy

woah zane types Fast

could lloyd hypothetically go in the cloud without getting hurt??? he has oni blood in him right??

“a pillow!!” EVERYONE LOOKS SO ANNOYED/UNAMUSED JHGFGHJKHGFDFGHJHGFDSASDF’ (i like. actually laughed at that jghftd)

“you are PART oni” aren’t- ok you know what nevermind i gave up on understanding this stuff awhile ago

but i mean thats Still a valid point. its probably not a good idea to just blindly jump into Oni Death Clouds based on a “what if” idea

jays trying so hard,,,

“that side of you is weak” “its also stubborn” jkhgf

i mis-heard “cole” as “cloud” what the heck

OH COME ON

it really just took like five seconds for this to get Super chaotic huh

YOU FORGOT THIS INFORMATION???????????

is lloyd ok and also can he breathe in there

oh my god poor pixal!!!! D:

can we Please get an idea of how far the smoke cloud has spread

oh and we’re back with those slow motion scenes??? i thought they stopped doing those

“follow the darkness” uhhh have you noticed its literally Everywhere

oh what is that thing. I Hate That Thing.

i can barely understand the omega (is it time for captions?? probably)

garmadon: if anyone’s going to destroy ninjago its going to be ME | lloyd: *just looks Very Concerned™ in the background*

“well i thought it would work!” WHY DIDNT YOU ADMIT TO THAT EARLIER??? I CANT UNDERSTAND WHAT GOOD COULD COME OUT OF NOT ADMITTING TO THIS EARLIER

“i am a nindroid i can withstand the clouds affects” “you don’t know that!!” ......pixal,,

hgbfvd gayle is so serious about her job

oh no??? oh no??????

OH NO OHHH NO

THAT IS. THAT IS VERY BAD

OH MY GOD. OHHMYGOD

and the audio cut out again. ......why does it keep doing that??

c’mon they gotta make it!! they HAVE TO!!!

!!!! they made it!!!!!!!!!!!!

awwwee zane immidientally going over to pixal to make sure shes okay

oh no

im gonna Cry aren’t i???

aaand there it is. im crying over lego people Again but whats new there.

NYA NO THAT WAS AN ACCIDENT YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED TO BLAME YOURSELF NO

ohhh my god garmadon SHUT UP THIS IS SO NOT THE TIME

“You! nindroid!!” theres two i think you’ll need to be more specific than That

ohh hey theres the news people. i kinda forgot about them

hgfd vinny is acting So Excited

“Lots of things! Friendship, [...] and love, and harmony, and trust, and the truth, and courage,” jhgf awwwweee i love this

ok Theres wu

seriously cant figure out why some people dont like misako aaa??

oh theres faith! :0

theres so many oni omg

!!!!!!!!! its cole!!!!!!!!!!!!

wait i thought just being In the cloud turned people to stone?? y’know what nevermind

oh????? oh???????????

hey whats happening

HEY OKAY CURSED

THAT IS. VERY CURSED.

hey whats with the echo

OH MY GOD AWWWWWW!!!! THAT WAS SO CUTE ❤❤❤

wait are they gonna

are they gonna do The Thing 👀

they’re gonna do the tornado!!!! they haven’t done this in forever!!!!!!

wait im confused. they need garmadon for this work this time?? they didnt last time

whats?? going on??

oh pretty location

wheres Everyone Else??

oh!! a dragon!! :O

whos talking who is this

OH!!

OH!!! :O

i have. some question??

side-note: this is the first time in a Very Long Time lloyd’s been referred to by his Full Name

ohhh no??

hey PLEASE tell me that didnt imply dying

STOPPP I DONT WANNA CRY OVER LEGO NINJAS AGAINNN

??

oh!!!! oh good!!!!

oh my god!! this dang show had me worried for a minute!!! :O

garmadon like 24/7: :|

....what does that say where’s the book where did i put the book

is that a “D” or is it something else i cant tell

....no wait yep its a “D”.

aaa?? that was So Good??? also im emotional AGAIN OHMYGOD

THIS SHOW. THIS SHOW KEEPS GETTING TO MY EMOTIONS JHGFDS

[soybeantree]

be careful what others wish for pt. 1

excerpt: “Are you Mark or some other idol?” Her best friend’s body sighed and rolled her eyes. “You really think anyone else would be this calm about waking up in some random girl’s body?” pairing: erm…ofc/mark, ofc/jinyoung, markjin…kind of parts: o1 genre/rating: LITERALCRACK! fluff. word count: 2.2k a/n: so yes we wrote a sequel to our garbage. if you want to read the original garbage you can do so here. italics is spoken korean.

Burrowing deeper in her covers, Dee tried to conserve the warmth and fight her growing wakefulness. She wasn’t ready for the busy day ahead of her, and she guessed she still had about thirty minutes before her alarm went off. Just as she felt herself drift, the door to her room slammed open. Dee whined and kicked her feet, getting them all balled up in the covers. “What the hell, Jay? Let me have my last thirty minutes?” “I’m not Jay.” 

The voice was Jay’s without a doubt, but this was one joke her friend would never make. Sitting up, she stared at her best friend’s body which stood in her doorway outlined by the hallway light. At this point, most people would question the sanity of their friend, supposing some mental break had happened, but Dee didn’t have that luxury. She knew that while the body before her might be her friends, the soul it housed was not. “Are you Mark or some other idol?” Her best friend’s body sighed and rolled her eyes. “You really think anyone else would be this calm about waking up in some random girl’s body?” “I don’t know, perhaps. I’m sure there has to be someone who would be so excited by the novelty that they wouldn’t freak out at first.” Mark furrowed his brows, and Dee just shrugged her shoulders. “I’m sorry. I don’t know. I’m still half asleep and trying to process the fact that this shit happened again.” 

Over a year had passed since her friend had made a ridiculous wish which had sent them off on the craziest adventure of their lives. Jay had wished to spend the day with Got7’s Jinyoung. The universe had granted her wish in the most unconventional and inconvenient way possible. She had swapped bodies with Got7’s Mark. The two had eventually switched back, and Dee and Jay had parted ways with Mark. While they had stayed in touch the first few months after the switch, life and distance had gotten in the way. Dee hadn’t heard from Mark in nearly a year. “Believe me, you are not alone. Has Jay been wishing again?” Dee let out a dry laugh and shook her head. “After what happened last time, she gives water fountains a wide birth, looks away whenever there’s a shooting star, and refused to have candles on her birthday cake. She learned her lesson. What about you?” Mark shook his head. “I’ve been too busy with work.” Dee’s eyes went wide. “Work. Oh shit! I completely forgot about work.” She glanced at her phone just as the alarm went off. “Shit.” She threw off her covers and stood up. The chill morning air hit her bare legs and sent goose bumps racing up them, reminding her that she had only slept in an old t-shirt and a pair of shorts which, given the present company, were far too revealing. Her head whipped around, and she found her best friend’s eyes on her legs. “Mark Tuan!” “I forgot you didn’t wear much to sleep.” The comment earned him a pillow to his face, but he effortlessly caught it. “Does this mean I can’t use the ‘you might hurt Mark tactic to get out of trouble?’” “Yes.” He laughed. While the sound emitted from her friend’s body, the laugh was completely Mark’s. They really had switched again.

After putting on a pair of pants and brewing a pot of coffee, Dee sat at her kitchen table, reading through the nearly one hundred messages on her phone. Instead of calling and waking her - because Jay knew how much Dee loved her sleep - the girl had blown up both Dee’s and her own phone. Mark was also reading through his messages as he sipped on his coffee. He chuckled ever so often. “I forgot how over the top Jay can be.” He said as he finished up the last message. “Well, if you ever want to swap her out with another member of Got7, I’ll take Youngjae in return.” Dee shook her head. The messages were a downward spiral of panic. Jay had apparently woken as Mark in the middle of a restaurant surrounded by Got6. After hiding in the bathroom for thirty minutes, she had been forced out by Jinyoung and spent the rest of the evening with him and Yugyeom which had been both wonderful and the most painful experience of her life. As she finished up the last message, another one popped up. ‘I don’t know how I’ve lasted this long, but I don’t think I can take it anymore.’ “Jay just messaged ‘I’m sorry, Mark. It looks like your going to have to stay in my body forever.’” He showed her the message, and Dee rolled her eyes. “I think it’s time to call.” She clicked on the call button and waited through five rings before a scream filled her ears. She dropped the phone and hissed at it. “You LITERALLY don’t have to scream in my ear!” The banshee wail ceased, and Dee picked up her phone. “Sorry, it’s just been a long day and I had to sneak away to the bathroom to answer this call and I just needed a moment to freak out because I haven’t had one.” She could hear Jay gulping air as she recovered from her word vomit. The sound of Mark’s voice brought a small smile to Dee’s face, even if it was Jay speaking. “Still doesn’t mean you should scream in my ear, and we know how long your day has been. We just read the play by play.” “Is Mark with you?” Dee made a sound of acknowledgment. “Is this his fault? Did he do this because he misses you so much and you wouldn’t call him or text him so-” “Shut-up! You’re lucky you’re not on speaker, or I would kill your body. Then your soul would have nowhere to go when you two switch back.” Mark eyed her from across the table, but she waved away his concern. Jay had made many similar jabs over the past year, but Dee always steadfastly ignored them. Her friend may be convinced that Mark liked her, but she did not hold out such hope. The friendship they had only existed because of a shared experience and had no place outside the confines of that weird history. “You really think Mark would willingly do this after everything that happened last time?” “Well, it wasn’t me, and he’s the one who lives in Korea where the wishing fountain is.” She defended herself. “You’re sure it wasn’t you?” The line went silent, and Dee could practically feel the anger seething through the phone. “It’s not a ridiculous question.” “But it is a rude one.” “You’re right. I’m sorry.” She sighed as she met Mark’s eyes. He had scrunched up Jay’s face and was flicking her eyes between Dee’s and the phone. With a sigh, she placed it on the table and hit the speaker button. “You’re on speaker now.” Threats laced her voice. “Mark!” Jay called, genuine glee in her voice. “Long time no talk. We really shouldn’t wait until our bodies switch to catch up with one another.” Mark snorted and shook his head. “What’s our plan of action?” “You’re the one who’s been awake the longest. You haven’t thought of anything?” Dee asked. Silence again before another sigh. “Not really. I was hoping that Mark had made the wish for some reason. Then I could possibly go and unmake the wish in his body like we did last time.” “But we don’t even know if that’s what really changed us back last time.” Mark piped in. “The only other thought I had was the time.” “Time?” Dee and Mark asked in unison. “Yeah, like you pointed out, I’ve had a lot of time to think. And I was thinking that last time we were in each other bodies for about 24 hours. So maybe this body switching thing is on some sort of timer. All we have to do is wait 24 hours, and we’ll switch back.” Dee and Mark met eyes and shrugged their shoulders. It was as good an option as any. “It’s worth a shot. How long has it been?” Dee asked. Another pause as Jay fiddled with something. “Uhhh… about seven hours, so far.” ‘Seven?’ Dee mouthed the word as her face fell. “You can’t tell me you’re disappointed that you get to spend sixteen or so hours with Mark.” Mark snorted and Dee glared at the phone. “I shouldn’t have said that should I?” “No.” Mark said with a chuckle. “We’re hanging up now. We’ll talk in sixteen hours.” Dee ended the phone call before Jay could add anything else. “So what now?” Mark asked. He rubbed at the handle of his coffee mug and avoided her eyes, but there was still a smile on his face. She could strangle Jay sometimes. “First, I have to call into work.” “You have to work?” Dee blinked uncertain of how to respond. “I mean it’s the holidays. You have to work over the holidays.” Dee nodded. “I got off for Christmas, and I’ll get off for New Years, but my company’s not able to give us a full two weeks off for the holidays. Thankfully, I do have a little vacation time to use, and I think Jay does too.” She said as she stood up and cleared her mug. “I wouldn’t think it’s that surprising. I mean you work over the holidays too.” “We performed on Christmas, but we don’t have any other performances until New Years Eve. We have a fan sign tomorrow though.” The mug slipped out of Dee’s hand and crashed into the sink. She whirled around and faced Mark, her eyes wide.“And you didn’t think that was something you should share with Jay? What time is it? Will you two have switched back by then?” Mark tried and failed to keep a smile from slipping across Jay’s face. Dee knew that smile. She hated that smile. It always meant trouble for her. “Fan signs aren’t hard. There’s no performing. You just have to entertain the fans.” “You’re cruel.” Dee shook her head and turned back to the sink. The mug, thankfully, hadn’t chipped. She turned on the faucet and grabbed the sponge. “I’m not cruel. I just think it’ll be funny. Can you imagine Jay at a fan sign, along with all the other boys?” She could, far too clearly. The image was hilarious, but that didn’t mean it should happen. Dee rinsed off her mug and set it in the dish wrack to dry. She turned and nearly jumped out of her skin. Mark was standing next to her, holding his mug. “I can wash it.” He held the mug close to his chest, but she reached out and grabbed it from him. Her fingers brushed his as she did and a spark raced up her arm, sending chills down her spine. Her cheeks immediately flushed as she stepped back. The reaction was unexpected and unwanted. While it was Mark standing next to her, it was still Jay’s body, and she had never had that reaction to her friend. Mark grinned, and she growled. “I hate this. I hate this so much. Why does my best friend have to switch bodies with-” But she stopped before she could embarrass herself further. “With?” Mark goaded, taking a step forward.

“With you.” She managed to say around the lump in her throat. Mark shook his head. “No, that’s not what you were going to say.” Mark had lowered her friend’s voice and somehow made it sound husky. She was done with this. She was done with Mark being in her friend’s body, and she was done with her body reacting to it. She grabbed a nearby spatula and brandished it at Mark. “Do you think Jay would be okay with you acting this way in her body?” She questioned. “Yes.” The sad thing was he was right. Jay would be dying in the corner if she was able to witness this. “Why do I have to have such a weird best friend?” Dee passed a hand over her face, but still kept the spatula aloft between them. “I have a question.” With a weary sigh, Dee nodded for him to ask. “If I was in my body, would you act the same way?”   “Yes!” The answer was instantaneous, and her eyes snapped up to meet Mark’s as it slipped out. “No. What? I don’t- why are you asking me that?” Mark shrugged, but his lips were pressed into a thin smile. Her friend had never worn the expression before, and Dee’s mind raced for an explanation for it. Over the years, she had learned to read her friend’s every emotion from her facial expressions. When Mark entered her friend’s body, the skill had remained. Jay’s body, it seemed, was hardwired to react certain ways based on emotions. But whatever emotion Mark had was one Jay had never expressed. “Mark-” “We should call in. Do you know the number for Jay’s work?” The expression was gone, and Jay’s face was blank. Dee sighed and shook her head.

[blastovkatamarinecromancy]

[OC] Chapter 2: Moving out & in & out & in & out again

Hey everybody. Here's the second chapter of The story I started here about a Musketeers-inspired superhero team. As always, shout out to my boy @theoneandonlyspudbud. Good looking out, bud!

I'm gonna keep it under the cut, because it's loooooooong! ENJOY!

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******scene 1: check for (bed)bugs******

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*KABOOOOOOOM*

The violent cacophonous explosion ripped through the quiet Sunday morning in Downtown Atlantica city, as debris from the empty Brunch Eatery flew out onto the relatively empty street. A confident foot stepped over the rubble from inside the exploded eatery, its owner obscured by the resultant smoke and dust clouds.

"People of Atlantica City, you are not safe." A booming voice belonging to the red-and-yellow clad perpetrator emanated from a hovering speaker drone. A screeching feedback noise halted his speech for a second while he adjusted the volume controls on the microphone placed inside his full-face helmet shaped like an ant's head.

"You are never safe" continued the strangely garbed man, as more strangely garbed and brightly coloured individuals appeared from behind the veil of smoke and dust. All of them wearing bug-themed masks "not as long as those ridiculous Mu5keteers continue their inept reign as your sanctioned Hero team"

The ruckus started to gather a modest crowd of vaguely disinterested early morning joggers. But their presence was enough to excite the red-wearing masked vandal "I say out with the old, and in with the new!

We!

Are!

... BugOUT!!!"

He then proceeded to strike an uncomfortably back-breaking pose as he shouted his nom de plume "Fire Ant!!!"

The tall BugOUT member in Blue behind Fire Ant removed two crystalline scythes from their holsters on his back as he nervously mumbled "ummm...I-Icy Mantis!"

The short & plumb one in yellow jumped forward as she excitedly shouted "SPARK BEETLE!!" And then she bumped her taser-gloved fists together enthusiastically causing her namesake to fly out in an extremely flashy manner! (Sparks, that is, not beetles!)

"Ugh Leafy Ladybug or whatever" dismissively scoffed the green-hued one as she absentmindedly scrolled through the holographic screen of her SmartBand.

"This is stupid, I'm not saying this!" Refrained the huge man in the pink outfit as he looked visibly embarrassed, even though the full-face helmet.

"Ey, whassamatter, Billy?" Inquired Fire Ant with genuine concern while pressing the side of his own helmet to make his visor slide open. "We agreed on these personas weeks ago!”

"Why do I gotta be the most embarrassing name? It's easy for you, Carlos! 'Fire Ant' is at least mildly cooler-sounding than 'pink romance butterfly'..."

"Ok, first of all, it's 'Sweet Romance Dragonfly', we've been over this already" replied Carlos indignantly "Second of all, I tailored each of our roles and identities to match up against each Mu5keteer separately. Your size make you the perfect rival to their fat pink bastard!"

"Then why do I have to dress in pink and use that silly name?! I could just as easily be something cool...like...uh...Black Tarantula!!"

"No! It's a theme match up, we gotta show them how we're superior...just-Just trust me, OK!" Replied Carlos in frustration “We’ll be Atlantica City's newest Hero Team before Brunch-"

"Well, maybe not Brunch in this neighborhood, 'cus this place is toast! Haha, you get it?"

"YOU!!" Carlos whirled to face the source of the terrible pun, knowing exactly the kind of person who would utter such nonsense unapologetically.

"CARLOS! I knew it was you!" Tristan smiled ecstatically as he stood in front of BugOUT's quintet in his red and white Fire Musketeer outfit.

"RRRAAAAAGHHHH!" Carlos let out this bloodcurdling roar as he used his Psy-Q ability of pyrokinesis to ignite a blue fireball in the palm of his hand. He thrusted it vehemently toward Tristan.

"So, how you've been?" Calmly inquired Tristan as he used his own pyrokinetic Psy-Q ability to deftly direct the blue fireball away from his face.

Carlos closely followed behind the fireball with a vicious right hook, which was similarly dodged by Tristan as he swiftly stepped aside from the charging Fire Ant. Carlos reached for the holster strapped to his back, producing an iron Nunchaku with red cloth handles.

"It's time to see who's the hottest fire hero of all time!"  Carlos then expertly swung the Nunchaku in a fearsome manner, but it barely even registered as a threat in Tristan's eyes.

Instead, the Musketeer simply smiled as he withdrew his rapier from its scabbard "so how's your mother doing?" Asked Tristan casually while parrying and dodging Carlos's furious barrage of nunchaku strikes!

"SHE'S GOOD" screamed Carlos in frustration, the special cloth on his nunchakus burning brightly with an eerie blue flame! "She's gonna be proud that her son became Atlantica City's newest Sanctioned Hero!!"

The fight seemed even more impressive with the blue flames spinning wildly, but it was clear that they were working against Carlos. Tristan was able to easily take control of the flames and change the trajectory of the Nunchaku's spinning arcs ever so slightly, causing them to barely miss their targets.

As if he suddenly remembered they were there, Carlos looked back at his teammates and shouted "GET HIM! If we take him out, they'll be leaderless and directionless"

The remaining members of BugOUT charged toward Tristan with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

"Wow, you're either overestimating my leadership skill..." smiled Tristan as he nonchalantly glanced at his rushing opponents, who carelessly splashed through the flooded storefront.”...or you're just underestimating my team."

Suddenly, a pillar of ice sprang from the water beneath the BugOUTs, hoisting them on a plateau of slippery ice.

The ice was enough to stop some of the BugOUTs, but Spark Beetle used her momentum to charge gleefully with an electrically-charged fist towards Tristan! Her gloved fist, however, was halted abruptly by a yellow gauntlet sporting strange coils and doodads. The gauntlet, belonging to Priya the Lightning Musketeer, drained all the electrical power from Spark Beetle's Taser-Gloves then dissipating it harmlessly into the air.

"Would it kill you to wait for the rest of your team, O fearless leader?!" Asked Priya as she used the momentum of Spark Beetle's failed attack to flip her down onto the ground then pinning her shoulder with one hand, while restraining the other hand behind her back.

"I set you up for a perfect entrance, and you repay me with your sass and ingratitude. Does your insolence know no bounds, Vanderluss?!" Tristan shook his head half-mockingly.

"Hey, can we get this over with already?" Grumbled Lance, the Ice Musketeer, wearily as he stepped off a little patch of ice which quickly evaporated as soon as his feet touched the ground.

"It looks like it's already over, Mr. Grumpy pants!" Teased Blossom, the Green Musketeer, as she gently stepped off a large cluster of sturdy vines. She joyfully patted and squished Lance's hat as she asked the sleepy youngster "what's the matter, cutie? Not getting enough sleep?" She withdrew her hand quickly to avoid the razor-sharp Leaf Shurikens hastily thrown by the hands of Leafy Ladybug. Blossom's eyes faintly glowed green and she motioned with her hand as she used her Psy-Q ability of Botankinesis to command the vines to shield her from the next barrage of shurikens.

"Merrgh! Why don't you ask Casanova over there?" Lance shot Tristan an angry side glance that the Fire Musketeer pretended not to notice as he continues to dodge Fire Ant's attacks.

Blossom turned her attention back toward Tristan after she entombed Leafy Ladybug in a cluster of vines.

"Why would-" Blossom stopped mid-sentence as her eyes widened in sudden realization. Priya who also experienced the same epiphany shouted “OH HELL NO! TRISTAN!!"

"Whaaaat?!"

Blossom hugged Lance's head closely to her bosom, jerking him away from the uncertain swipe of Icy Mantis's crystal scythes. Blossom ignored Lance's indignant cries as she scolded Tristan "Don't tell me you bring your...your...overnight guests every night with poor little Lance in the very next room?!"

"H-hey now, it's not every night..." Tristan paused as he recalled last week "umm...huh...it was every day...nice-WHOAH! Almost got me there, Carlos! You're getting there."

"JUST DIE ALREADY"

At that moment, Leopold, the Love Musketeer, landed with a mighty thud just a few feet beside the rest of his teammates. He looked around at the bizarre scene in front of him before asking "uhhh...so what did I miss?"

"You're mine, you pink bastard!" Sweet Romance Dragonfly's wings fluttered furiously as he flew toward Leopold; he planned to take out all his attire-related frustrations on the Love Musketeer. Without missing a beat, Leopold grabbed the helmet of the pink-garbed BugOUT member in an iron grip, almost crushing it with his gloved hands, before smashing Dragonfly face-first into the concrete.

Blossom whirled to face Leopold, still hugging a visibly irate Lance, who was somehow able to freeze Icy Mantis's feet to the ground, "Poor Lance can't get any sleep because Tristan can't stop hooking up with girls every single night!!"

"H-hey, they weren't all girls! There was Greg from Thursday night..." Tristan blurted out as he deftly parried Carlos's Nunchaku strike, before twisting the blade around the chain and flinging the flaming weapon aside, disarming Fire Ant in the process.

"Oh, yeah. He made pancakes the next day." Lance's muffled voice barely escaped the tight embrace of Blossom's arms. "He was all right, I guess."

"See?" Tristan smiled nervously "he had pancakes-"

Lance squeezed himself out of Blossom's arms as he interrupted Tristan "and then there was Monique, who made all those short jokes at my expense. That was fun."

"Ummm..."

"And don't forget Inspector Jessica the day before. Never gonna forget that she pulled a neutralizer to my face my first day in Atlantica City. Well, I don't have to, because she thought it would be funny to remind me of that first thing in the morning! You know how FUN it was to have someone point a Neutralizer to your face while you're on the toilet?!"

"L-Lance buddy..." Tristan stammered nervously.

"OH! But how can I forget Radha and her stupid 4 AM alarm. WHY DO YOU NEED AN ALARM SO EARLY, RADHA?!"

"Uh, sorry to interrupt your tirade..." Carlos finally spoke out. He was getting frustrated at how effortlessly they dispatched his team. But he was more frustrated at the fact that they did it while barely paying attention to them!

Lance completely ignored Fire Ant as he continued "I know what you're all thinking! It would be so easy for me to just get some ear plugs, isn't it? Well, you know what?! Maybe I don't WANT to get ear plugs! Maybe I feel they'd inconvenience me-" Lance's right hand balled up into a fist, as ice kept building up around it in copiously thick layers.

"DON'T YOU DARE IGNORE ME!" Fire Ant's hands lit up with gigantic blue flames that bathed the entire street in its alluring azure light! He then lunged towards the Mu5keteers while delivering another blood-curdling scream.

Suddenly, Lance rushed past Tristan to throw a wild Haymaker punch with his ice-covered fist squarely in Fire Ant's face. The devastating impact sent Carlos flying in the opposite directions with a shattered helmet and traces of ice trailing behind him.

Lance's icy fist slowly melted away revealing a terribly tattered gauntlet barely covering a cold blue hand. Lance grabbed his frigid right hand, trying to warm it up as he continued "-as much as I have inconvenienced you..."

There was a heavy hush enveloping the tense scene, even the remaining conscious members of BugOUT dared not break the silence.

"....Lance...I..." Tristan finally spoke.

"There's only a week or so left before I move in to the dorms at the Academia Atlantica" Lance interjected softly "but I don't think I'll be able to stay at your place even a single night more."

Lance slowly walked past his teammates and he conjured a patch of ice beneath his feet using his Psy-Q ability of Cryokinesis. He sped off further away and out of sight of the rest of the Mu5keteers.

Priya squeezed Tristan's shoulder encouragingly. She mustered her most sympathetic tone to utter "heeeyyyy, big guy...don't let it get you down, now...."

Tristan stood in silence. His eyes stared at the horizon towards the direction Lance went.

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************Scene 2: moving out**********

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Lance zipped up his duffel bag while whistling cheerfully. Just as he was leaving his room, he met the glassy gaze of Tristan; who opened his mouth slightly as if wanting to say something before closing it shut again.

"Oh, hi Tristan!" Lance greeted his brother with a smile "you don't mind if I keep the rest of my stuff here for now, do you? I'll be moving to the dorms soon, so why bother moving it now, y'know?"

Tristan looked a bit befuddled as he mouthed and gestured in agreement. Lance was just about to cross the hallway before Tristan finally said "uh...Lance...so...where... Will you be staying?"

"Oh, here and there mostly. For now, Priya said I could crash at her place for a couple of nights. See how that goes from there."

"Ah" replied Tristan, looking away absentmindedly "that's...uh...that's good, then."

Lance reached out and gave Tristan a hug. Tristan was a bit startled at first, but then he wrapped his arms around Lance returning his hug.

"Thanks for putting up with me all these weeks, Tristan."

Tristan felt as if his guts were caught in a vice! He looked at Lance with saddened eyes.

"Lance..."

"Haha! Now that Lance the square is away, the real party can start! Amiright, bro?!" Chuckled Lance as he gave his brother a playful punch to the shoulder.

Lance then grabbed his duffel bag and strapped it on his shoulder "I'll go get settled in at Priya's and then we can all meet up tomorrow for lunch."

He then left through the apartment door, giving one last look back to Tristan while waving goodbye "see ya later, Tristan!"

The door gently closed behind Lance, leaving Tristan alone in the silence of his thoughts.

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************Scene 3: moving in************

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"This ain't exactly the Ritz" chuckled Priya as she fiddled with her keychain that contained an inexplicably huge number of keys! She stood just outside of her apartment's door while talking to Lance.

"But, hey! At least there's only one pesky house guest to deal with." She gave a look back to Lance with the biggest and stupidest smile sprawled across her face.

"...hilarious. And don't mind me too much. You'd barely notice me at all."

She finally found her apartment keys in the unholy mass of iron and brass. After unlocking the door she held the doorknob and gave a serious look over to Lance "I gotta warn you: I wasn't expecting company, so it miiiiii~iiiiight be a wee bit messy."

"Pri, I went to a very lax all-boys boarding school. Messes never really bothered me anyway"

"Haha! Love your attitude, little man" Priya swung the door wide open then dramatically gestured for Lance to enter "Step into my parlour, said the beauty to the beast"

Lance cautiously stepped into the darkened apartment as his hand reached on the wall for a light switch. That's when he felt something wet and springy squish beneath his feet. The slimy sensation sent shivers up his spine. He almost hoped to stay blissfully unaware of the true nature of the squished object beneath his feet. Unfortunately, Priya had no room to indulge his childish musings, as she flicked the light switch near the door to illuminate the harsh reality Lance will have to face.

The living room, if you could still call it that, was in complete and utter disarray! Clothes were strewn about with abandon. Discarded fast food containers sheltering half-eaten and half-rotten meals of ages past were scattered about on almost every surface. In fact, there was an open Pizza box right under Lance's feet at that very moment. The disgusted youth slowly lifted his feet up and noticed traces of moldy cheese getting stuck to the bottom of his shoe.

"You can sleep on the couch there" Priya casually pointed to a spot in the centre of the living room that seems to be the epicentre of all the clutter in the apartment. The couch was barely visible underneath all the garbage.

"Y-you LIVE like this?! The Hell, Pri?"

"Hey, now" answered Priya defensively "you just caught me between cleaning days, is all."

"And I guess those happen once a year, I suppose."

"Oh, shut up!" Priya kicked most of the trash from atop the couch onto the ground "there you go, your majesty!"

Lance took a deep sigh and then proceeded to wade through the pile of scattered trash to finally sit on the couch. It was surprisingly comfy.

"If you're up to it, I'll get us some snacks..." Priya went to the kitchen and briskly wiped one of the bowls that was soaking in the sink for God knows how long. "...and then we can fire up some vidya games! Tristan and I used to do this all the time back in high school! That guy did not like to lose in Smash Bros., I can tell you-"

Priya stopped talking after she took a peek from the kitchen door to have a look at Lance, only to notice that he was sleeping soundly. She smiled softly, and went into her room. Her bedroom was a stark contrast to the living room and kitchen, as it was immaculately clean and tidy! Trendy storage systems delineated where everything goes with neat labels in beautifully legible handwriting. Priya gingerly stepped toward a chic double dresser and opened a drawer labeled "Blankets & Linens - Guests" to find rows of neatly folded blankets with varying colours and patterns. She carefully considered her options, finally settling on a light blue blanket with a domino pattern on its edges. She was pleased with her selection, thinking it would be very suitable for her house guest.

Priya quietly draped the blanket on top of the sleeping Lance. "Good night, little man. Poor guy must've been pooped."

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************Scene 4: Brunch************

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Lance picked at his food with his fork unenthusiastically. His listless expression concerned Blossom deeply. They were both sitting in a booth at the recently re-opened Brunch Eatery. Priya was also there, as she was furiously stuffing her face with waffles and washing them down with the bottomless Mimosas. After a long stretch of awkward silence, Blossom attempted to coax Lance into opening up with some small talk.

"It's amazing that just a few days ago, those BugOUT idiots blew up this restaurant..."

"Mm-Hmm" mumbled Lance passively as he dragged his fork across the unappetizing mess that used to be an elegant Belgian waffle.

Priya continued the conversation to make up for Lance's lack of interest "But I still can't believe they got off Scott-free!"

"I wouldn't call it 'Scott-free' per se" a soft-spoken voice brightly interjected. Both Lance and Blossom looked up to meet the smiling face of Jericho Landon, attorney at Law. He was carrying a tray of the healthiest items available the Brunch Eatery's buffet table.

From behind Jericho, a tall and athletic figure stepped closer carrying a tray packed with very carb-heavy menu items. Lance, Priya, and Blossom quickly recognized him as the ringleader of the same team they were just gossiping about.

"Carlos!" Shouted Blossom in surprise "what are you doing here?!"

"They have some of the best pancakes in the whole city! They're good for Carbo-loading."

"Yeah!" Priya stood up gleefully to high-five Carlos.

"N-no, I mean...you'd think blowing up the restaurant would be the easiest way to get a life-time ban..."

"Oh!" Carlos smiled as he draped his arm over Jericho's shoulder "My boy Jericho here got it all sorted out. He's the best dang Lawyer in the city! He's almost as good as these pancakes."

Carlos then looked at Jericho and playfully winked "and twice as sweet!"

"Oh, you." Smiled Jericho warmly "speaking of sweet, can you grab me a mimosa while I go find us a booth?"

"Sure, babe!" Carlos lightly kissed Jericho on the lips before rushing to get that drink.

Priya stood up carrying her empty glass "hold up, Carlos! I'm refilling mine, too."

As Carlos and Priya walked off toward the bar, Blossom looked absentmindedly to their direction. She was understandably startled when she felt Lance's cold, tiny hands grasping hers. Her face was blushing red! She did not know lance to be so direct. She knew he had an innocent, childish crush on her when they first met. But that was years ago, she told herself. He grew out of it, she reminded herself. She looked at his eyes, they looked determined, yet desperate. She knew that there's no easy way to do this: she'd have to reject him straight away to preserve the friendship, she decided!

She was just about to let Lance know of her decision when he blurted out "Please get me out of that horrid apartment!" His voice was cracked as if he was about to sob.

"Wha-?" Blossom was somewhat relieved, but no less confused by the situation.

Lance whispered as he stole hurried glances at Priya who was waiting in line for the bar "I can't live at Priya's anymore!" That place is a pig sty!"

"Seriously?!" Blossom was vexed, if a bit puzzled. She feared that Priya had gone back to her bad habits. She recalled all that time she spent with Priya coming up with a reasonable system to clean up her apartment regularly. And how they spent a whole afternoon buying the perfect dresser for her new linen collection.

"No, that's not fair. A pig sty is much, MUCH cleaner!" Mumbled Lance "but you gotta help me out! I don't want to hurt her feelings, and I can't go back to Tristan after I made that whole scene!"

He looked at Blossom with his big, sparkly eyes that look like they are a hair-trigger away from bursting into tears "Please, Blossom..."

Blossom took a deep breath and smiled softly. Sometimes, she told herself, I forget how young he is. She took Lance's hands in both of her hands and reassured him "leave it to me! I know how to be subtle..."

Priya finally made her way back from the bar and was about to sit down back in the booth. But before she could do so, Blossom dramatically wrapped her arms around Lance affectionately and addressed Priya angrily "It's not fair that you get li'l Lancey all to yourself! I wanna play with him, too!"

"Haha what?" Laughed Priya nervously, unsure if Blossom was joking or not.

"He's staying with me from now on, no questions!" Blossom suddenly stood up dragging the bewildered Lance in tow "we're getting his stuff from your apartment. BYEEE~EEE!!!"

Blossom slapped down a handful of bills on the table to cover her share - and then some! She continued to drag Lance all the way to the exit of the restaurant.

Lance finally shook off his surprise and blurted out "THAT's being subtle?!"

"Hey, it worked didn't it?" Giggled Blossom "C'mon, roomie, let's get your stuff!"

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

******Scene 5: Moving in (again) *********

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Blossom opened the door to her spacious condo suite as she gestured warmly for Lance to enter ahead of her. The boy was astonished to see the luxurious and clean dwelling, which made Priya's place seem even more of a squalor in comparison. Though sparsely furnished, the few furniture neatly arranged in the suite's modern living room were very sleek and elegant. Nothing too gaudy or frivolous, it was simply functional and to the point.

However, it was impossible not to notice the huge planters strewn here and there. Lance noticed that all the planters housed lush green vines that were drooping lazily onto the floor. They were easily identified by their five pointed leaves as the Alien-borne Edan plants, which were Blossom's area of expertise.

"Wow!  That's a lot of plants." Lance said as he adjusted the strap of his duffel bag on his shoulder.

Blossom seemed flustered as she replied "Y-yeah, sorry about the mess. I was running out of room to put them in the lab back there, so I had leave them out here for a bit."

"Haha, you forget where I've been crashing the last few days?" Chuckled Lance "this is nothing. It's actually quite pleasant! They have such a nice smell as well-"

Lance stopped mid-sentence as he realized why the smell was so familiar. The light, smoky fragrance from the Edan plants is something he always smelled on Blossom! His cheeks burned red with sudden realization: he'll be sleeping under the same roof as Blossom! He could not believe it! If he told himself five years ago that this would happen, his five-years-ago self would have died from giddiness -subsequently creating a temporal paradox, so it's a good thing that Time Travel does not exist yet.

"Lance?" Blossom reached out a hand touching Lance's shoulder.

Lance nearly jumped from her touch. He was just about to come up with an excuse to leave as quickly as possible, if it wasn't for Blossom ushering him toward the guest room.

"C'mon, sweetie, you must be exhausted"

Lance reluctantly stumbled into the dimly lit guest room, which was strange since the fancy chandelier was turned off, so the windowless room should have been completely dark. He turned his head toward the source of the light in the corner of the room. His eyes widened in shock and he felt goosebumps all over his skin.

In the corner of the room there were several lit candles underneath a literal wall of pictures varying in size, shape, and material; from glossy photo paper, to black and white newsprint. Some were as small as passport photos, while others were poster-sized and took up a good chunk of the wall. Despite these differences, they all had one thing in common: they were all pictures of Armand Hammer, Blossom's deceased boyfriend and the original Ice Musketeer. His shoulder length golden locks shone in the candle lights from several of the colour pictures comprising the eerie shrine.

Blossom cheerfully turned on the light switch of the chandelier, revealing even more pictures of Armand on the other walls, as well as on the table and nightstand. The weird shrine wasn't only confined to the corner, the whole room was a shrine!

"Make yourself comfortable!" Blossom smiled as she was about to leave the room.

She can't be serious, Lance thought to himself, is this some kind of sick joke?!

"Ummm-" Lance started to speak before deciding to remain silent. Even though it's already been five years since that day, it's possible that Blossom is not completely over the death of her beloved Armand. This must be her way of dealing with her loss, thought Lance to himself, who am I to judge how she copes?

Blossom turned around to lance and looked puzzled "something the matter, Lance?"

Lance nervously avoided eye contact as he mumbled "o-oh n-nothing"

Blossom walked slowly toward Lance and stared at him quite menacingly "you'd tell me if there's anything wrong, right? You wouldn't try to hide it from me, would you?"

Lance backed away slowly while sweating nervously. He managed to stammer out "N-nah! Me? Pshhht! Of c-course not."

Blossom looked sternly toward him for a few seconds, then her features softened up to her usual pleasant self "OK! Just wanted to make sure!"

Lance finally breathed a sigh of relief. He was not sure if Blossom was really that oblivious, or was she just sadistically enjoying watching his reaction.

Suddenly his train of thought was interrupted by the sound of two distinct distress signals emanating simultaneously from both his and Blossom's SmartBands. They both brandished their SmartBands with the blinking HoloOrb facing upward.

"Lance here."

"Blossom here. Go ahead, Sarah."

The HoloOrb stopped blinking after processing the vocal pattern authentication protocols. Recognizing them to be the correct recipients, the orb glowed brightly while emitting a beam of light that manifested a small holographic screen at a comfortable eye-level of its users.

The screen showed a lab coat-clad young woman seated in front of the monitoring station at Mu5keteer Command Centre. Sarah adjusted her brightly-coloured floral hijab as she said "Attention all Mu5keteers: we have a hostage situation in the confectionery district. An unknown challenger team have taken control of La vie en Rose Chocolate factory and has taken around 50 employees hostage. They demanded that the Mu5keteers come to challenge them."

"Wait" Lance interjected "they want to challenge us? Why not just demand that we concede the title to them like every other challenger team we faced?"

"That's a good question, Lance." Replied Sarah sarcastically "maybe you could ask them yourself while you're saving the hostages!"

The screen went black and flickered off as Sarah turned off the signal.

"Well, you heard the boss." Blossom said earnestly "time to suit up!"

She held her SmartBand out in front of her, and Lance followed suit. They both took a deep breath and recited clearly toward the SmartBand's microphone "One for All...”

Holographic vines spread from the HoloOrb on Blossom's SmartBand, they quickly covered her hand and continued up her arms. The vines sprouted beautiful white flowers that rapidly burst in an explosion of petals; and as they disappear into the aether, Blossom's green Musketeer outfit is revealed underneath them! This pattern of "vines > blooming flowers > exploding petals > costume reveal" continued on every part of her body until she stood clad in her Green Mu5keteer outfit.

Similarly, Lance's HoloOrb on his SmartBand generated a sheet of spikey icicles covering his entire body, encasing him in ice.  Cracks started to form on the holographic ice cocoon, they quickly sprawled across the entire edifice until the whole thing exploded in a hail of holographic ice revealing Lance in his Ice Mu5keteer outfit!

"...AND ALL FOR VICTORY!!" Both Blossom and Lance recited the rest of the Mu5keteer battle cry with their trademarked enthusiasm!

"Huh..."

"What is it, Lance?" Blossom glanced toward him curiously.

"My duffle bag..." Lance looked around and kept patting his shoulders and back trying to fruitlessly find the missing bag.

"Ha!" Blossom laughed sweetly "it must have teleported to your locker in HQ during the outfit transformation."

Blossom walked briskly toward the spacious 14th floor balcony as she dragged Lance by his hand "C'mon, we can get it later! We have to get to the chocolate factory!"

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******Scene 6: In the Name of Love...****

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"I-it's not too tight, is it?" A flustered, soft voice that belies the massive, hulking build of its owner asked meekly.

She was dressed in an elaborate fuchsia-coloured costume with lots of frills and flowy pieces of fabric, which surprisingly worked wonders to highlight her impressive biceps. The outfit had an overwhelmingly prolific heart motif that was accentuated by a giant pink heart centred in her Tiara with faint cursive writing that say [Philia].

"O-oh not at all!" The middle-aged factory foreman blushed and stammered slightly at his captive's concerned words "It's actually quite soft..."

"I am glad to hear it" a melodic voice softly wafted through the air, accompanied by its equally angelic originator. She wore what appears to be an overly ornate rose-coloured nun's habits. Her sheer skirt and frills were floating softly just a few inches off the ground. Her outfit was similarly adorned with a heart motif, albeit with some crosses thrown in for good measure. A faint cursive writing on her heart-and-cross brooch reads [Agape].

"Ludus there chose the rope herself. It's 100% organic bamboo fibers. She really wanted to make sure no one was uncomfortable" the angelic figure named Agape gestured toward a young brunette with pink highlights and pigtails. The girl blushed brightly enough to match the salmon colour of her sleeveless outfit. She fiddled with the hem of her short skort as she blurted out defensively "I-I didn't do it because I was concerned or anything! I just thought the bamboo fibre would be stronger, that's all!"

"HA! You are simply too adorable, Ludus" chuckled a tall, dark, and beautiful woman with a head full of curly dark brown hair. Her luscious lips curled upward in a seductive smile, which were glistening the same shade of wild magenta as her low-cut outfit.

She walked confidently toward one of the young male hostages who was tied up to folding chair. "If you're staking claims already, I better make my move, too. I call dips on this hottie..." She then lifted her fishnet-stocking clad leg and rested her high-heels in the small visible area of the seat that lie between the hostage's thighs.

Eros then bent down closer to his face and asked in a breathy voice "You look like a man who does not...dislike...being tied up. Isn't that right..." She traced her hand from the man's trembling neck, down to his shoulder, finally stopping to fidget with the plastic ID badge clipped on his front shirt pocket. "...John?"

John swallowed and cleared his throat nervously as he stammered "w-well ...ahem... Uh...."

"Eros, please do not tease the hostages."

A stern, yet caring, voice called out from the back of the cafeteria room where all 50 hostages of the La Vie en Rose Chocolate factory were corralled. All 50 pairs of eyes, along with the 4 extra pairs of their captors, turned toward the direction of the voice to meet the serious gaze of their leader's dark green eyes which were adorned with thick, dark eyebrows that match the long dark hair that flowed past her waist. She carried herself proudly and walked with a warrior's gait. Her flowing pink cape, pink epaulets, and pink saber resting at her waist as it dangles close to her flowing pink skirt: they all contributed to giving her an air of military might and leadership. A heart-shaped medal pinned to her left breast sports a faint cursive writing identifying her as [Pragma]

“Heh, sorry, boss." Smiled Eros as she played with her hair "I just couldn't help myself...."

She put her foot back on the ground and walked away slowly while caressing John's blushing cheeks. "...But can you blame me?"

Pragma smiled softly, she then scanned the room to make sure she got everyone's attention before speaking in an authoritative, yet gentle, voice "My name is Pragma, I represent Longstanding Love, and we are the Love Maidens. We apologize for troubling you. Once the matter is settled, you may return to your peaceful lives."

She then grabbed her sheathed saber and held it out in front of her dramatically "I swear by my blade that once we're your sanctioned Hero Team, your lives will be threatened never more!"

In a bizarre - yet probable and extensively documented - behaviour, the hostages' eyes glinted with sympathy and admiration for their captors.

Suddenly, a yellow figure crashed through the cafeteria's skylight and expertly performed a few somersaults before landing gracefully on the ground below!

"HA!!! Eat it, nerd!" Priya exclaimed loudly as she looked up toward Tristan who flew in through the shattered skylight.

"Tch! You got lucky. All those skyscrapers were in my way..." Tristan pouted as he landed gracefully next to Priya.

Lance and Blossom made their respective entrances through opposite entrances of the cafeteria, as they planned beforehand to surround the captors.

"All right, ladies" Tristan addressed the Love Maidens while ignoring Priya's exceedingly smug smile "We're here to accept your challenge. Just let these people go, they got nothing to do with this."

"Indeed" replied Pragma "but they shall remain here as witnesses to the collapse of the false-wait a minute..."

Pragma stared at the Mu5keteers angrily before growling "where is he?!"

"Uhhh...where is who?" Lance nervously asked

"It's 'where is whom', little brother." Tristan smiled as he patted on Lance's blue hat.

"It's really not." Blossom chimed in, feeling a slight case of second-hand embarrassment.

"WHO ELSE WOULD I BE TALKING ABOUT?!" Pragma shouted "The false idol of love-"

At that exact moment, the Love Mu5keteer finally caught up the rest of his teammates as he landed with a thud through the shattered skylight.

"-HIM!" Pragma pointed her sword toward the tardy Musketeer "Leopold Wong, the Love Musketeer! We are the Love Maidens, the true embodiments of love, sworn to protect this city! You are a false symbol of love, and must be crushed beneath our boot heel!!"

"Wow. First of all, rude." Leopold adjusted his hat trying his best to conceal his irritation. "Second, what makes me a false idol?"

"What kind of idol of love would stumble around like a hippopotamus?!" Pragma shouted in reply.

"And you're about as handsome as one, too" added Eros with a sarcastic smile

"You're probably some kind of pervert!" Ludus yelled in a huff

"Y-yeah" nervously agreed Philia

"God loves all his creatures" softly smiled Agape "take solace in the belief that at least one person loves you."

"Okay, that's enough of that" Priya barley contained her rage as her eyed faintly glowed yellow and electricity crackled from her Tesla Gauntlets.

She was about to pounce and wreak havoc upon the Love Maidens, if it weren't for a giant pink gloved hand that gently held her back by her shoulder.

"It's ok, Priya"

"It's not, Lee!!" Priya shouted at Leopold who walked calmly toward the Love Maidens. "How can you let them-"

Priya stopped mid-sentence as she felt another gloved hand holding her back by her other shoulder. She looked back toward its owner to see Tristan's concerned face look at the back of his old pal.

"I could ask you the same" said Priya, directing her ire toward Tristan "he's our friend! How can you let them just say those horrible things to him?!"

"You think Lee was ever bothered by anyone talking smack about him?" Tristan calmly answered "he's the sweetest, most loving human being I ever met, and he can tolerate an extraordinary amount of hate and bitterness..."

At that moment, Leopold stood in front of the Love Maidens who nervously adopted a defensive stance instinctively due to his intimidating size. Tristan continued "...But those girls are going to wish they stuck to badmouthing him rather than question his dedication to the concept of love."

"I had high hopes for you" Leopold calmly addressed the Love Maidens "seeing fellow warriors of love warmed my heart, and gave me hope for the future. However..."

Leopold slowly lifted his head, his usually half-closed eyes are wide open in anger as they glowed faintly with a pink hue "...I cannot abide by such shallowness tainting the essence of love!"

The maidens felt a low rumble around Lee that urged them to instinctively jump back. Their instincts proved to have been correct, as the ground crumpled violently in a 3-meter radius around the Love Musketeer. His bulky gravity boots glowed red instead of its idle blue aura.

"Don't you know what love is?!" Leopold cried out as he squatted low.

With blinding speed that belies his girth, Leopold kicked off the ground and charged toward the biggest target among the Love Maidens: the powerhouse Philia!

The raven-haired Maiden fumbled a bit with the transforming gauntlets in her hands, but she was finally able to switch from the standby gauntlet mode to the defensive bucklers just in time to barely block Leopold's charging open-palm strike! The thunderous impact sent Philia flying in the opposite direction as Leopold shifted his attention to the other Maidens who have already brandished their weapons.

"Love is patient, love is kind." Leopold recited diligently as he unsheathed his rapier to parry the slashes of Pragma's saber and the bludgeoning strikes of Ludus' Bo staff. "It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud."

While being occupied by Pragma and Ludus, Eros took the chance to position herself behind Leopold and out of his effective range. She then removed her heart-adorned whip from its back-strapped holster and unfurled it noiselessly. After expertly winding-up the whip, she aimed precisely at Leopold's sword hand in an attempt to disarm him. To her surprise, Leopold whirled around and grabbed the whip with his free hand while still continuing his speech undeterred "It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs."

As he said those words, he wrapped the whip around his forearm to get a good enough grip to pull Eros toward him.  Ludus futile attempts at resistance were for naught, as her svelte form went hurtling in the air before Leopold aimed her toward Ludus and Pragma. The impact of the three Maidens sent them tumbling to the ground, but behind them a rose-coloured figure flew into the air.  

"You dare quote scriptures to me?!" Although Agape's angelic demeanor barely changed, a noticeable twinge of rage can be felt as she spat out those words.

Her magnificent dress glowed pink with the light of various anti-grav discs sewn into the fabric; which allowed her to stay afloat like a deadly jellyfish! Agape waved her hands close to two giant silver crosses strapped besides her hips. The proximity sensors triggered the mechanisms in the crosses to spring out what appears to be a gun handle from the short end of each cross. The other end split menacingly and an eerie pink light glowed from within. She grabbed her cross-shaped ray guns and began firing pink plasma bursts at Leopold.

"Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth." Leopold weaved through the barrage of pink death unperturbed, the plasma bursts seemingly veer slightly away from him. He quickly slid beneath one of the Cafeteria's tables and lifted his legs up to touch its underside.

With a mighty heave - and a little help from his gravity boots - Leopold flung the table upwards toward the surprised Agape. The table struck her entire body and lifted her all the way to collide with the ceiling, producing a mighty thud! All the while, Leopold dutifully continuing his lecture while on his back "It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

A shadow rapidly increasing in size draped Leopold's body, who reacted just in time to avoid Philia's crushing double-fisted hammer blow. Ludus and Pragma regrouped and joined Philia in a desperate attack on the titan.

"Love never fails." Leopold parried Pragma's saber and grabbed Ludus' staff with his free hand.

"But where there are prophecies, they will cease..." He whirled with the staff in hand, dragging Ludus alongside him before flinging her toward the ground - barely missing her teammates.

"...where there are tongues, they will be stilled..." Leopold then stabbed his rapier into the ground as he locked both hands with those of the charging Philia. Though not as bulky, she was slightly taller than Leopold and sported more well defined muscles. Alas, this was no contest of strength, but one of technique and experience! As Leopold displayed his years of fighting experience to use Philia's momentum against her in an expert Judo throw that left her face down on the ground.  Using the spinning momentum of the grabbling move, Leopold whirled around and grabbed his sword from the ground just in time to block Pragma's vengeful saber!

"...where there is knowledge, it will pass away." Leopold finally completed reciting his favourite quote as he locked swords with the last remaining Love Maiden standing.

"H-how?" Pragma stuttered in frustration, tears welling up in her proud eyes. "How are you so strong?!"

Leopold simply smiled "as a fellow warrior of love, you already know the answer..." He then expertly twisted his blade and flung her sword upward, disarming Pragma in the process. As he grabbed the fallen saber, he pointed the tip of his rapier toward Pragma's neck while resuming

"...it's because Love conquers all."

Pragma's eyes softened and her tense hands went limp as she fell to her knees with downcast eyes. She was able to meekly admit with a quivering voice "I...I c-concede..."

Leopold sighed deeply as his shoulders drooped with exhaustion "Oh thank God! I'm about to collapse!"

"THAT WAS AMAZING!!"

Leopold nearly stumbled due to the sudden weight on his shoulders as Lance pounced ecstatically while embracing him from behind. The other Mu5keteers were right behind Lance as they all rushed joyfully lauding Lee's fantastic feat!

Blossom brandished her SmartBand that was transmitting with the supervising officer of the police barricade outside throughout the entire debacle. She brought the HoloOrb closer to her lips and declared "Captors have been subdued, and the hostages are secure."

"Roger that" answered a gruff voice "we'll take it from here."

Within seconds, the wrecked cafeteria quickly filled up with S.W.A.T.-geared police officers. They moved quickly and efficiently to detain the defeated Love Maidens, as well as releasing the hostages from their bondage.

The Mu5keteers quietly made their way outside, with both Tristan and Priya supporting the exhausted Leopold out proudly. One by one, they transformed back to their street clothes. All except for Lance, who futilely kept pressing the manual recall button on his SmartBand's holographic screen in order to transform back, but to no avail.

"Yeah, sorry, Lance." Leopold scratched the back of his head "We had to shut your teleport module off temporarily"

"Huh? Why is that?!"

"Well, you had your duffel bag on you when you transformed, right?" Leopold replied.

"Y-yeah...?"

"You know how the transformation works, don't you?" Leopold explained, going into 'Professor Lee' mode "Your clothes are teleported and switched with the Mu5keteer outfit that's kept in your locker back in HQ. As you know, the matter teleportation device that was developed by Tristan and me is still technically a prototype. It was not designed to teleport an entire duffel bag worth of matter along with your clothes. It didn't catch on fire or anything, but I had to take your module offline and run diagnostics just to be safe. 99% sure that it's nothing, but I can't risk the quark accelerator overheating, it was already overclocked as it is! But then again, the buffer algorithm was slipshod to begin with. Your hotshot programmer brother thought it was fine, but I always told him that theta compilers were not reliable-"

Leopold paused a second as he noticed Lance's confusion. He sighed realizing he was babbling again and simply explained "Anyway, we had to shut down your locker. You'll need to come with me to HQ and get your stuff back."

Leopold looked outside and noticed that it was getting dark. His eyes lit up and he quickly turned to Lance asking "Oh, here's an idea! Why don't you spend the night at HQ with me and the wife? I'm sure Sarah would love to have you over! You can go back to Blossom's place in the morning-"

"THAT'S A GREAT IDEA" Lance excitedly interrupted Lee, as memories of the guest room/dead-boyfriend-shrine awaiting him at Blossom's gave him chills.

"O-oh, all right, then!" Leopold smiled nervously at Lance's enthusiasm "next stop: Mu5keteer HQ!"

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**********Scene 7: HQ sweet HQ********

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Leopold lead Lance through the ornate revolving doors of the historic Arcadia Tower Building, one of Atlantica City most famous landmarks. The Building is very prominent in the city's skyline and has been around for many years. Its massive lobby, adorned with numerous plaques and statues commemorating the tower's rich history. Lance kept staring around in awe as he followed Leopold who confidently made his way to the elevators.

Instead of pressing the buttons of the main four elevators, Leopold walked a little beside them as he came across a smaller elevator door. Instead of a standard call buttons, there was a sophisticated biometric scanner and a SmartBand authenticator module.

Leopold brandished his SmartBand closer to the authenticator, which glowed yellow for a second before turning green. He turned his head up toward a blinking red light and spoke clearly "Wong, Leopold; plus one."

"VOICE RECOGNITION: MATCH" a robotic voice emanated from the speaker atop the elevator door, as a red light scanned Leopold's face. "FACIAL RECOGNITION: MATCH. RETINA SCAN: MATCH."

The light turned off, and a yellow light glowed from the screen of the biometric scanner; indicating for Leopold to place his palm on it.

"What's with the voice?!" Lance asked curiously.

"It's great, isn't it?" Leopold answered excitedly as he placed his palm on the screen as indicated "Sarah and I were going for that retro science-liar feel. So we found a soundboard program online for Zankarr. You know, that evil robot king from that old Japanese Sentai show Wild deRanger?"

"FINGER PRINTS: MATCH." The red light atop the elevator turned a bright green as a cheerful tune played from the speakers indicating that the elevator doors are opening "WELCOME HOME, FLESHY BOSS-MAN." The recording's voice changed slightly as it added "plus one."

"Sorry, I hadn't gotten around to adding your biometric data into the database yet." Leopold apologized as he pushed on one of two buttons on the elevators, the one marked with the Mu5keteer's logo. "We can do it tomorrow morning so that you can come and go whenever you please."

"Are you sure about that?" Lance asked quizzically "you and Sarah live here, I don't want to intrude. Besides, I'm only here for a day or two, tops!"

"HA! Why would we mind?" Chuckled Leopold "the entire top floor is our team's HQ. Ideally, we should all be living here together. We certainly have the room. But it wasn't convenient for everybody, so they all stayed at their own places and only Sarah and I moved in."

The high speed elevator gradually reduced its ascending velocity as it neared the secluded 76th floor, inaccessible to the public and only authorized individuals are allowed entrance. An electronic chime sounded off as the elevator completely stopped and the same robotic voice from earlier declared "YOU HAVE NOW REACHED THE 76TH FLOOR, HOME OF THE MU5KETEERS!"

The doors opened revealing a spacious loft, its ceiling was at least three stories high! Gigantic screens took up most of the space on the walls, each screen showing multiple major intersections and famous landmarks in Atlantica city. A colour-coded ticker tape running across all the screens displayed a transcribed version of the city's police band; the ticker tape had a predominantly green background, indicating low-level incidents already handled by the police force and hence not requiring the Mu5keteer's intervention. At the end of the long foyer, a complex console with three large holo-screens was situated in the middle of two spiral staircases that go up to the second and third floors of the loft. The gigantic swivel chair in front of the main console whirled toward Lance and Leopold, revealing Sarah with a half-eaten doughnut hanging from her mouth.

"LFffPoffLD!" Her muffled voice barely coherent through her stuffed mouth.

Sarah coughed as she almost choked on her doughnut. She swallowed hard and called out "And Lance! Finally gracing us with your presence, your highness?"

  "Hi, Sarah" Lance smiled nervously.

"Ah, lay off the guy, honey" Leopold wrapped his arm around Lance's shoulder "he's our new roomie!"

Sarah jumped out of her seat "Seriously?! Aw, that's awesome! Let's get you to your room, but first..."

She took long strides to leap into Leopold's arm, kissing him passionately "...missed you, pookie-poo"

"Missed you more, sweetums!"

Lance nervously averted his gaze away from the happy couple, embarrassed by this gratuitous display of affection inches away from him.

"Oops! Sorry, Lance." Sarah looked toward Lance sympathetically.

"O-oh don't mind me..." Stammered Lance awkwardly.

Sarah looked back to Leopold "we better tone it down a bit, now that we have a roommate."

"But not too much, right?" Smiled Leopold as he gently kissed Sarah's neck.

Sarah's cheeks burned bright red as she giggled "Oh, Leopold! You're so bad!"

Lance turned his head away in awkward embarrassment, when he noticed that the second floor doors on the right-hand side have a symbol on them for each Mu5keteer's emblem.

"Uh, H-hey, I guess, that's my room up there, huh?" He pointed toward the second door from the staircase that had the diamond shaped emblem of the Ice Musketeer. "I'll uh just go and get some sleep. Seeyouguyslatergoodnight!"

With that hasty goodbye, Lance made his way up the staircase, three steps at a time, until he reached the unlocked room. The door slammed behind him as he quickly entered the room.

"Oh, jeez." Sighed Sarah "do you think we overdid it?"

Leopold shrugged in response before kissing her again.

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****Scene 8: Breakfast at Leopold's (and Sarah's)******

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"Mphhfffzzzat eggs?"

A dishevelled Sarah wearily mumbled as she lay half-awake on the bed next to the sleeping Leopold.

"Hmmm?" Leopold grunted in response without opening his eyes.

"Whut time izzit?" She reached her hand to grab an alarm clock shaped like a fluffy bunny that was on top of the nightstand next to her side of the bed.

"IT'S 9:13!!!" Sarah shouted in shock as she violently shook Leopold in an attempt to rouse him quicker "Wake up, Lee!! The alarm didn't go off!"

She left Lee slowly waking up as she leapt from her side of the bed in her yellow bunny-themed pyjamas. Her messy brown hair getting in front of her face as she hastily brushes her teeth while getting her clothes ready.

"Whuzz rong, bae?" Leopold sleepily asked as he stood at the open door of their bathroom while leisurely scratching his belly. "Whutz the hurry?"

"Lee, I told you" she hastily replied as she quickly got dressed "I'm expecting new volunteers starting to work the dispatch shifts today."

Leopold began washing his face as he recalled "oh, yeah! The summer kids are going to school soon, I forgot."

"Yeah, I wanted to wake up early to get everything sorted before they come in today at 10AM" Sarah was clumsily adjusting her Hijab as she made her way out of their quarters on the second floor and onto the main foyer.

"Oh, Good morning Sarah!" She looked puzzlingly toward the voice on the other second floor across the way from her. Lance was standing in the middle of the spacious kitchen area while wearing an extremely loose frilly pink apron; obviously belonging to Leopold. Sarah looked at the pan and spatula in Lance's hand and she finally realized the source of that mysterious egg smell that awakened her.

"Uh good morning, Lance" she walked across the bridge connecting the two second floors. "What's uh what's going on, big guy?"

"I thought you guys were going to sleep in, so I was planning on making you breakfast in bed." Lance looked away embarrassedly "y'know, as thanks for letting me crash here."

He quickly turned over the French toasts on the pan, he was satisfied to see it turned a nice golden brown. "It's nothin' special, just French toast and omelettes." Lance dusted the French toasts with powdered sugar as he put the final touches to the placement of the two breakfast trays.

"Oooh! Finch Toast!" Leopold licked his lips expectantly.

Sarah whirled around to her husband and she muttered "I-I just can't..."

"Huh? What's wrong?" Lance asked in confusion.

"I'M SORRY, SWEETIE!!" tears welled up in Sarah's eyes as she hugged the surprised Lance closely "I-I didn't want to do it but they convinced me ...FORCED me, actually..."

"What are you talking about?" Lance tried to squirm loose from Sarah's embrace, but with little luck.

"We planned on making you so sick of our lovey-dovey lifestyle that you'd have to move back with Tristan" Leopold answered flatly as he munched on his breakfast "boy, this is really good. Did you put rosemary in the omelette-"

"Wait wait wait wait..." Lance interrupted "what do you mean 'you planned' it? Who else was on it? And why?"

Sarah finally let go of Lance and fiddled with her hands slightly ashamed yet relieved to be confessing this little scheme "Tristan was feeling really down because of what happened after the BugOUT fight. We all tried cheering him up, and he'd smile and laugh and all that, but you can tell he's just keeping it inside. So we...uh...we thought it would cheer him up if we made you decide on your own that you wanted to go back to living with Tristan again. And they decided that the best way to do that is to make you hate living with any of us..."

"No offence, Sarah, but that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard" Lance shook his in disbelief

"That's what I told Lee!"

"To be fair" Leopold interjected while licking the powdered sugar from his fingers "we were very drunk at the time"

"I wasn't!" Sarah retorted defensively.

"Which only means you're double guilty." Leopold smiled before taking a huge gulp of orange juice.

"It all makes sense now!" Lance grabbed his head in slow realization "is that why Priya's place was trashed?!"

"Hehehe, you never went to her room, did you?" Smirked Leopold "I bet it was spotless. The day you left, she practically drowned her apartment in cleaning products trying to get it back to her usual standards."

"Uh-huh" Lance mumbled unconvincingly, it was hard to picture Priya's living room without all that garbage "but what was up with your plan?! Why did you think that I would want to leave because of you guys being extra ...um... Affectionate?"

"I don't know, man" Leopold threw up his arms in frustration "we had to improvise! Beside, wasn't that kind of the reason you left Tristan's apartment in the first place?! We get it: you're a love-hater."

"I'm not a love-hater!" Lance yelled out in shock "don't tell me that's what you guys think of me?! Aw jeez..."

Lance's eyes widened as he recalled "Does Blossom think I hate love, too?! Arggggghh! Is that why she decided to build that Armand shrine? To scare me off because I'm a 'love -hater', huh?"

"Uhhh, no..." Leopold and Sarah looked down nervously, then Lee continued "she's been building that shrine since he passed away..."

"We...uhh..." Sarah stammered "just could not confront her about it..."

"You know how she can get..." Leopold added cautiously.

All three stood in awkward silence as each recalled their own experiences dealing with that Blossom. However, they were startled by a muzak tune followed by the grating robotic voice punctuated by another more human voice "ELEVATOR ENTRY AUTHORIZED. AUTHORIZED USER...Tristan Dumas...PLUS.... FIVE...STANDBY, FLESHY ONES!"

"Oh!" Sarah exclaimed as she rushed downstairs toward the Command Centre "they're here already!"

She removed her SmartBand from its charging station and quickly strapped it on her wrist. The holographic screen lit up in front of her outstretched hand as Sarah pulled up the file on the new volunteers.

"I can't believe they actually got off with just community service" Sarah mumbled to herself as Lance joined her in the foyer, while Leopold stayed in the kitchen cleaning up "thank God for our revolving door criminal justice system."

"Huh?" Lance crossed his arms perplexed "your volunteers are criminals?!"

"I know what you're thinking. I thought it was weird, too." Replied Sarah with her eyes still on the digital dossier "but they actually requested to volunteer here at Command Central."

The muzak tune chimed again, followed by the robotic voice "YOU HAVE NOW REACHED THE 76TH FLOOR, HOME OF THE MU5KETEERS!"

The elevator doors sled open revealing Tristan in a smart casual suit, behind him were five young women who looked oddly familiar to Lance.

"Wait a minnit" Lance suddenly recognized the women being escorted by his brother "You're those Love Maidens lunatics! How in the hell did you get off so quickly-"

"I'll give you one guess, little bro" smiled Tristan

"Uggghh" Lance smacked his palm on his face in frustration "damn that smooth Landon!"

"Uh-hey...I'm sorry about yesterday..." The giant yet oddly timid short-haired girl mumbled meekly "I-I hope we can be friends now"

"Of course, we can!" Interjected Sarah excitedly "first of all, I'd like to welcome you ladies to the Command Centre. My name is Sarah Hessler, I'm the Mu5keteer's Coordinator and Dispatch. I will be supervising you all during your appointed community service period."

Sarah then turned to the tall girl who spoke earlier "you must be Minowa Runningbear, alias Philia - which stands for the kind of love between friends, right?"

"Y-yes" Minowa blushed slightly” m-my friends call me 'Minnie', so I g-guess you can, too..."

"Thank you, Minnie." Sarah smiled warmly and then turned her attention toward the other maidens.

"Agatha Deveraux, alias Eros" a pair of luscious lips curled into a sultry smirk as if in acknowledgment "I...uh...I guess it's kinda self-explanatory what type of love you represent"

"Mmm-hmmm" Agatha curled her dark brown hair in her fingers playfully "but I would have loved to hear you say it"

"Ahem" Sarah blushed nervously but quickly regained her composure "moving on! Tomiko Watanabe, alias Ludus - which stands for playful love"

"PRESENT!" Tomiko raised her hand excitedly.

"I'm not taking attendance; you don't have to call out like that"

"Could've fooled me" Tristan smirked while elbowing Lance.

"Any-way!" Sarah shot a piercing glance toward Tristan who nervously tried to evade it by looking away nonchalantly. She continued her totally-not-taking-attendance "and then we have Theresa Santiago, alias Agape. Which just so happens to be my favourite kind of love: Divine Love."

"Ah! Why thank you, darling!" Theresa smile practically lit up the entire foyer, almost rivaling the mid-morning sunlight coming in from the window!

"And finally we have Faisal Basheer...?" Sarah looked closely at the picture of the final member of the Love Maidens on her digital dossier. The picture was from an old I.D.  With a bunch of Farsi writings on it, it showed a young teenage boy with predominantly thick eyebrows.

"Actually" the last of the maidens quietly interjected. Her long black hair and thick eyebrows were very recognizable as belonging to Pragma, the leader of the Love Maidens. "...I prefer going by 'Feiroz', there were still some paperwork I still needed to have changed. A lot of them were from the old country, so it was difficult to go through them all with me living in Atlantica city..."

"O-oh!" Sarah blushed in embarrassment and felt guilty about her outdated data "I'm sorry, I should have double-checked the dossier I got from the courthouse! I'll make sure to update your information accordingly!"

"Thank you" replied Feiroz earnestly "I think I speak on behalf of all my compatriots when I say we are glad to be here. We're looking forward to helping the Mu5keteers keeping this city safe."

"Yeah, not to be an icy, wet blanket" Lance interrupted” but why are you helping us? You could be doing anything besides working directly under the team that whooped your asses-"

Both Tristan and Sarah kicked the rude boy in both shins "ow-OW!! N-no offence."

"Haha, none taken." Pragma smiled softly "let's just say that we are repaying a debt for a lesson well learned."

"Oh! I didn't think I'd see you guys again!" Leopold called out from the second floor kitchen.

As he made his way down the stairs, all of the maidens looked visibly perturbed. Agatha tried to play it cool, but her hands were fiddling with the zipper of her jacket. Tomiko looked away from Leopold while grabbing her arms timidly. Minnie looked down nervously as she squeezed the hem of her skirt. Theresa's face barely changed its expression, but her hands were nervously stroking her own hair relentlessly. Feiroz stood up straight as if standing at attention, her thick eyebrows knit in a fearsome scowl, which would have been more intimidating if not for her blushing red cheeks!

"Uh, you guys all right?" Leopold asked with concern as he stood in front of them.

"L-LEOPOLD!" Abruptly shouted Feiroz.

"Y-yes?" A shocked and confused Leopold answered.

"W-we're honoured to be working alongside you! And we would like to apologize-"

Leopold's outstretched hand stopped Feiroz's words as he calmly said "don't worry about it."

He lowered his hand as he continued "the honour's all mine. You'll find that the Command Centre is our lifeline. We depend on the information we get from this room so that we can protect this city. With it, we can stay one step ahead of danger and act safely and decisively! I want you to know that our lives are in your hands."

Leopold held out his hand, offering to shake Feiroz's hand "I'm counting on you, Feiroz."

Feiroz looked at Leopold's hand as she hesitantly brought her shaking hand closer to his. She was startled a bit when he reached his hand closer to clasp her hand firmly yet warmly.

As they both eventually let go, Feiroz brought her hand close to her heart while keeping her head down. Her cheeks burned bright red as she managed to stammer out a "...th-thank you..."

The other maidens tried to hide the jealous glances they were shooting at Feiroz, failing miserably in the process. Sarah, sensing a weird tension in the air, decided to get the orientation back on track "Ok, Ladies! Please follow me to get your sweet, sweet biometrics recorded in our system to get your level Beta access."

Sarah then led the Maidens to the third floor mainframe room, leaving the three men in the foyer. Tristan turned toward Lance before grimly asking "Lance, you got a minute?"

Lance faced Tristan with concern, as Tristan continued "we need to talk."

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

**********Scene 9: Clear the Air**********

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

The door to the rooftop patio of the Arcadia building flung wide open as Tristan and Lance stepped out into the morning sun. The Patio's relaxing green potted shrubbery and comfortable lounge chairs were a stark contrast to the grim faces of the Dumas brothers. Tristan took a seat on one of the lounge chairs and gestured for Lance to follow suit.

After a brief moment, Tristan let out a heavy sigh "Lance, we need to address the elephant in the room...we haven't spoken about it since you left the apartment, and I think we've been intentionally avoiding it..."

He looked up at Lance while fidgeting absentmindedly "...you are aware of my proclivity to share my nocturnal life with a multitude of nightly companions have caused you much alarm, has it not.”

"Hehe..." Giggled Lance "your vocabulary gets more eloquent the more nervous you get. Just like dad!"

"It does?" Blushed Tristan "w-well whatever, the point is you must be wondering about my... uh... extremely active social life"

"Not really-"

"You see" Tristan interrupted "when I was in high school, I found that I loved being in...relationships...with as many people as possible. Some of them at the same time! That pissed a lot of people off, as you can imagine."

Tristan got up from the lounge chair and paced the rooftop "I'm being flippant, but time has dulled the pain. The cravings I felt for something new, the pain of being tied down while still loving the one I'm trying to leave, the euphoria I felt when my inhibitions are released, and the ache I felt after my betrayals..."

Tristan clenched his fists tightly "...my life was a torment of whirling emotions. I always wondered what's wrong with me! I kept promising to change but I also keep going back to my old destructive self. I lost so many friends over this, and I lost trust in myself."

Tristan softly caressed the rooftop's garden hanging tree branches slightly above his head as he continued "it wasn't until University that I had an epiphany. There was nothing wrong with my...urges. My sin was that I was not honest with the people I was with. So I made a vow to always be truthful and upfront about everything with them before they get to know me."

"Why are you telling me all this?" Lance interjected cautiously.

"I-I have not been upfront with you" stammered Tristan in response "you were subjected to my lifestyle without talking to you about it first. I sh-should've-"

"Should've what?" Lance stood up from his seat "asked my permission? You think how you live your life was something you needed to clear with me first?"

"Y-yes? No?" Tristan looked toward Lance in confusion "I don't know! You were upset and I thought it was because-"

Lance interrupted Tristan's frantic ramblings with a tight embrace. Tristan's tense shoulders relaxed a bit as he wrapped his arms around Lance to reciprocate the hug.

"Tristan" Lance spoke with his head still nestled in his brother's chest "You don't have to ask me to accept you. You're my brother, I will always accept and love you. No matter what."

Tristan fought back the tears from his eyes. Fought and failed, that is, as his eyes misted slightly. "Lance..."

"I was so happy that I got to spend all this time with you" Lance choked slightly while letting his tears flow freely "but I realized that you have your own life here. It was clear I was in the way, and I felt I was cramping your style."

Lance then looked up toward Tristan, his big brown eyes glistening with tears "I'm sorry I yelled at you! I f-felt that I'd just get in your way and eventually you wouldn't even want me around-"

Tristan pulled Lance even closer and tightened his embrace "Never! You're my brother." Tears streamed from Tristan's eyes as he continued "I'm the one who's sorry! I should have been more perceptive. You've always been such a sweet, sensitive child. I should've made an effort to make my apartment less of a swingin' bachelor pad, and more of a home."

Lance gently broke off their embrace and said as he wiped his tears "No! You shouldn't deny who you are. I just...I just want you to know that I want you to be happy. I don't have to be comfortable with it so that I can accept you. Besides..."Lance smiled at Tristan as he continued "...I tried sleeping with ear plugs last night, just for a lark. Guess what? Not that inconvenient at all and I had the best night sleep of my life! I guess all that outburst was for nothing..."

Tristan chuckled as he grabbed Lance and patted his hair playfully "HA! My little drama queen! Well, at least you got to spend some time with the rest of the gang, they were complaining that I keep you all to myself!"

"R-really?!"

"Probably! They most definitely should, anyway..." Tristan gave another chuckle as he patted Lance "...so, do you like living at HQ?"

"It's all right" Lance answered as they were making their way back downstairs "but I'll be going back to spend the night at your apartment today"

"Wha-?! REALLY?!!" Gasped Tristan in excitement before regaining his composure "ahem, yeah, like whatev thass cool, fam..."

Lance smiled back at Tristan's flustered antics "I'm not moving back in with you, bro."

"B-but, I thought..."

"I'm going back to pack my things" Lance interrupted "did you forget? It's moving day tomorrow! School is starting soon and I gotta get settled at the dorms before then!"

Tristan pulled out his SmartBand and started typing out a text before decisively hitting the sending button "There! I just cleared my schedule! We're going to give you the send-off slash packing up party of the century!!"

Tristan put his arms around Lance's shoulders affectionately as they walked into the main foyer, while ignoring the incessant text alerts from his SmartBand.

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

*************End of Chapter 2*************

[wolvesandfoxes25]

My take on episode 3:

Oh my! I actually really enjoyed this episode. I honestly didn’t think I would, but I did.

Starting off, we have Tyrion and Jon meeting again. Awhhh. Then, we have Tyrion bringing up Sansa, asking if she’s well, Jon responds that she is. Tyrion then cracks a joke, that Jon does not find funny. 

“Does she miss me terribly?” Needless to say, Jon glared down at the man, making Tyrion turn, and immediately try to right the statement, saying they never consummated the marriage.

“I didn’t ask.” Jon snaps, not even letting Tyrion get the whole sentence out. Oh Jon, you didn’t ask, but you thought about it.

This is the THIRD time a ‘suitor’ of Sansa’s has suggested something sexual with Sansa. First was Ramsay, second was LF (I love Sansa, as I loved her mother, which means...hey wanna fuck your sister) third is Tyrion, (we never consummated the marriage.) 

I’m sorry but the mention of Sansa sleeping with these men, really gets to Jon. Also, he knows the marriage was a sham, Sansa said as much. She also said she respected Tyrion. He respected her, didn’t touch her, etc. So, Jon doesn’t go in snapping at Tyrion. It was just the little jest that bothered Jon. 

Now, the meeting between Jon and Dany. I don’t know, it fell flat to me. Just...not very...enticing? Maybe it’s because Dany is self absorbed, while Jon is trying to get her to understand what is coming for all of them. She tries to go through the history of house Stark bending the knee to house Targaryen. Saying the last Northern king did. Well, Dany, you’re wrong because ROBB STARK was the last king in the north. 

Moving on: She tries to get Jon to bend the knee, because the stark ancestors did. Well, when they meet, she asks him not to judge her by her father. Yet, she expects Jon to bend the knee because HIS ancestor did. Uhhh, hypocrite much? 

I don’t know, Dany’s ferocity and stubbornness, not to mention her arrogance really gets on my nerves. She’s like a child throwing a temper tantrum, all she needed was the foot stamp. She’s just so...cold now. Fine by me honestly, I’d rather see Targbowl then Targcest.

Jon refuses to bend the knee. 

He’s now, basically a prisoner. 

Also, shipper goggles all the way off here, I saw no chemistry between Daenerys and Jon. With Sansa and Jon, I saw it instantly, it jumped off the screen, slapped me right in the face. That’s what made me ship Jonsa. I was DRUNK last night ya’ll, and saw no chemistry. Jon was wary of her. Cause honestly, Dany is getting that ‘crazy’ look about her to me. 

Oh, and this analysis will NOT be in order. 

Mel and Varys talk when Jon and co. show up. She ‘claims’ she got fire and ice together. Which is not accurate. Jon by himself is ice and fire. He’s not full ice. He’s half. Anyway they talk, Varys telling her she should leave. Mel said she would return to die in Westeros. Also saying, he has to die here as well.

Foreshadowing?

Euron is a riot to me. He’s just so...joker-ish? 

“Did you see little Theons face when he jumped overboard? Oh noooooo. Twat.” I’m sorry but that was hysterical. I laughed for a good two minutes at that line. He’s such a character, completely mad, but damn...completely hot. TO ME.

He delivers the sand snakes to Cersei. Asking for his reward. She says she will give him whatever he wants, when they win the war. 

Now, I personally think the sand snakes deserve what is coming to them. They murdered Doran, Trystane, and Mrycella. All innocent people. Oberyn died in trial by combat, his arrogance killed him, he should have dealt the finishing blow. Not paraded around and played with the mountain. So....they're a shrugged shoulder to me.

Cersei poisons the daughter of Ellaria. The same way she poisoned Myrcella. Now that’s poetic justice. And for a split moment, when Cersei is talking to Ellaria, asking her why she killed her daughter, we caught sight of human Cersei. The woman who has been killed and buried beneath grief, and hate. I love Lena, she is so amazing. The sand snakes did well here too. The acting was intense on all fronts. 

Sorry Sand snakes, but Cersei will draw your punishment out until the very last breath leaves your body.

Tyrion stumbles upon Jon Snow brooding. Shocking huh? Well, he’s back in  his cloak. He’s thinking. He’s thinking about Winterfell ‘cough’ Sansa. And he thinks himself a fool, and says he should have listened to his counselors, because he is now a prisoner. 

Well, Jon, you should have listened, lol.

Tyrion tells Jon that he should talk things out with Dany. Jon says he doesn’t believe him, but Tyrion says he does. Tyrion props up Dany. Of course...

Jon walks down, still in his northern cloak I might add, to talk to Dany about mining the dragonglass. Before this, Tyrion and Dany discuss letting Jon mine the glass. Tyrion tells her it’s not a big deal, and she didn’t even know it was here. Tyrion lets her know that Jon is not a liar. And to let her allow Jon to mine the dragonglass, hopefully wooing Jon over to their side, having him bend the knee.

Jon and Dany talk, both facing away from each other. Hmmmm. Still, the chemistry fell flat to me. Dany always has this resting bitch face now, it is annoying me.

Anyway, she allows him to mine the dragonglass.

Winterfell! Best part of the episode to me. We get a scene of Sansa overseeing food, shelter for the Northern houses that might flee to Winterfell, incase the war starts. She is walking around Winterfell, making sure armor is being made right. 

“Aren’t these supposed to be made with leather on them?’ Yes, they should. It keeps the cold out a little more. 

Gah. Foreshadowing? Sansa is the only ruler, right now, well, her and Jon, who are thinking about the smallfolk. Dany and Cersei are to busy fighting over the iron throne. Sansa and Jon are concerned about the people who are being effected by all the madness. Sansa is insuring that food is stocked, so when the families flee, they don’t have to worry about packing any. 

Bran comes home! I cried ugly tears, even with Bran being a frigid shell of his former self. Sophie stole every scene she was in. She’s become so good! Her reaction was so powerful!

“I wish Jon were here.” :( Yes Sansa, we wish Jon were there as well. He is not having a pleasant experience in the south at the moment. 

Sansa tries to talk to Bran, asking him what the three eyed raven means. She doesn’t understand, but he decides to ‘show’ her, of sorts. He tells her sorry about all the terrible things that have happened to her. And apologized that they had to happen in their home. 

He then tells her about her wedding night, and how she looked beautiful.

Poor baby :(

She gets choked up and leaves. 

You know what I love though? The leak said he would tell her the Night King was real, and that they must prepare. Well, she believed Jon, and has been preparing! I loved that. Even with Baelish, he tries to dismiss the threat, but she says, “As they should be.” She trusts Jon. She misses Jon. She wants him back home....

:(

The unsullied ‘take’ casterly rock, with Tyrions knowledge of the sewer systems. But, they really didn’t. The Lannisters were too busy setting up shop over at Highgarden. GW then looks out at the sea, to find the Greyjoy fleet destroying the last of the Targaryen fleet. 

That was so damn clever.

Tyrion has vastly underestimated Cersei. 

Euron is her wild card. He’s dominating right now, lol.

So...the unsullied are trapped. They have no transportation out of Casterly Rock. 

Oops.

Jamie talks with Olenna, after sacking Highgarden. Now, people are saying this was way too easy. Well, you have to remember that Randall Tarly pulled his armies out of Highgarden, backing Cersei and Jamie now. So, that was a good chunk of her army. 

They talk. Olenna tells Jamie that Joffrey was a cunt. She tells him that Cersei will destroy him, and that she is truly terrible. 

Jamie gives her poison, she drinks it. Unlike the strangler, this poison is painless, and works quickly. 

She admits, before Jamie leaves that she is the one who poisoned Joffrey, and to tell Cersei. 

R.I.P Lady Olenna, say hi to Margaery for me!

Well, that is it really. I enjoyed this episode, I liked how after meeting Dany, Jon put his cloak back on immediately, and he also had it on when he talked to her the second time. I liked how Sansa was mentioned. Sansa was just...amazing. A TRUE QUEEN my peeps, she’s actually focused on the real threat, not some pointless squabbling. Not on the iron throne, but on her home, on Winterfell, and the people that will need sanctuary if something were to happen. I like that Cersei is coming out on top, because Tyrion underestimated her and her powers of persuasion. She really did pick up a few things from Tywin. He’d be proud.

Hope you enjoyed!

[neganandblake]

I think I liked you better when you didn’t have a knife in your hand, Peaches... chapter 3 - Lemonade

The hours ticked by in the dark cold cell….yet sleep was not something that managed to come easily to Blake.

She tossed and turned, her head resting on nothing but bare concrete.

Every part of her ached, partly due to old bruises that littered her body in hidden places, but mainly due to the sheer cold. The gap beneath the door was drafty, and all night a chilly wind seemed to whistle beneath it, preventing her from falling into a deep sleep.

The hours seemed to crawl slowly by. And before Blake realised it, it was morning.

She could hear footsteps passing by in regular intervals and the sound of muttering floating under the door.

Yet the cell still remained as dark as ever…

Blake heaved herself up, propping her back up against the wall.

Her mouth and throat were parched. It had been twenty-four hours since she had had anything to drink and it was all she could think about.

It wasn't long before the morning drifted by too. And by the time ,that she calculated as lunchtime, came, Blake could take it no longer.

The caramel-blonde woman gave a pained groan and bashed her fist against the steel door.

"Hey!" she cried as loud as she could, with her croaky voice.

A second passed of silence before Blake banged her fist against the cold metal once again. "Hey!" she yelled.

Half a minute slipped by, but before she could knock once more, the door was suddenly wrenched open.

The blonde man she had seen with Negan last night was there once again, staring down at her. She now noticed that one side of his face, that had been, last night, obscured by his lengthy hair, was badly burned.

"What?" he uttered sharply.

Blake gave a difficult gulp.

"I…uhhhh….can I get some water….?" she said in a quiet tone, staring up at him. "…uhhh…..please…."

The man surveyed her carefully for a long second….. before abruptly slamming the door in Blake's face once again.

She gaped for a short moment…before bashing the door with her fist again.

"Please!" she cried out, before giving a small roar of frustration and leaning her head back against the wall behind her.

If she didn't get some water soon, she felt like she'd surely die of thirst.

Blake closed her eyes, slowing her breathing….

She wondered what David was doing right now?

Was he ok? Was he locked away in a cell too? Held prisoner until Blake dished the dirt on Rick and his group. Dirt that she did not even possess!

She was cold, thirsty, and right at this second, felt so so alone.

How had she got herself into this mess and how the hell was she going to get herself out of it again?

Could she makes something up? Try and sate Negan and the Saviours' appetite just long enough for her to hatch a plan?

Ughhh. It was useless.

That Negan guy would be sure to see through the lies in seconds. She knew men like him. He wasn't a fool.

And then what….a swift blow to the head with that baseball bat of his and it would all be over.

She still didn't know what to make of him. Negan. Sure he was intimidating, but he hadn't scared her as much as she'd expected. Perhaps that was all part of some sort of plan of his.

Blake gave a heavy sigh as the minutes seemed to drift by….alone and desperate for a drink of any kind.

Was this really what her fate was to be? After escaping death for so long, was this going to be the thing that killed her off?

She was painfully thirsty now and in desperate need of something….anything to quench that thirst.

Her eyes travelled nervously to the bucket that was serving as a bathroom in the corner of her darkened cell. Luckily or unluckily for her, however she looked at it, she hadn't need to use that yet…so that was thankfully not an option.

But before she could ponder her predicament any longer, suddenly and without any warning, the door to her cell was wrenched open, sending a cool shaft of artificial light streaming across her face.

Blake winced, blinking a couple of times before staring up to see the blonde man standing there once again, beside the open door.

But this time, he wasn't looking back at her. No.

Instead he had his head bowed…his eyes on the floor…

….and it took Blake a second or two, to realise why…

She gave a sudden gulp…her mouth salivating…

For standing at the end of the long corridor was Negan, leaning up against the wall, in that same old leather jacket and legs that seemed waaay too long for him. He still had that annoying grin plastered across his stubbly face.

In one hand was his trusted baseball bat…but it was what was in his other hand, that had caught her eye…

"Lemonade?" Negan uttered in that low drawl of his, lifting the glass pitcher full of ice cold liquid in his hand.

Blake heard the ice inside the jug tinkle.

Never in her life had she wanted something more. But she didn't move.

"Oh come on now," continued Negan, flashing her a cocky smile. "I know how badly you want it…"

His eyes met with hers.

"…the lemonade that is…"

He gave a chuckle at his own joke, as the blonde man at the door gave a thin laugh in reciprocation.

It was obvious that Negan's men were scared of him. So Blake knew for a fact that him offering her lemonade right now, was not an act of friendship.

It would never be that easy.

Negan gave a sigh, pushing himself from the wall and peering down at the pitcher in his hand.

"Just thought you could do with a nice cold glass of this, after spending the night stuck in that utter fucking shit-hole," he said nodding towards the dark cell. "And, you have no idea how many skulls I had to crack to get a hold of this."

He tinkled the pitcher again, strolling towards her.

Blake gave a gulp.

"Well you know what they say," Negan muttered, arching his back as he spoke. "When life gives you insolent motherfuckers, you make lemonade."

Blake looked up at him, breathing hard.

His words were so callous, so uncaring. She didn't doubt for second that he wouldn't kill people to get his hands on something as simple as lemonade, either.

"I don't think that's how the saying goes," she said in a simpering voice, narrowing her eyes at him.

But Negan just scoffed, shrugging his leather-clad shoulders, staring down at her. "Tomatoes, tomatoes…Doll."

Blake rolled her eyes.

God, how he infuriated her.

"So you gonna get up yourself, or is Dwighty-boy here gonna have to shut you in that cell again?" said Negan after a second or two.

The blonde man at their side glanced at Blake for a slight second, before looking away once more, keeping his eyes on the floor.

Blake gave an inward sigh.

What choice did she have right now? She was desperate for something to drink and right now she couldn't face another moment alone in this cell.

She frowned, picking herself up, wincing as he did so. Her body felt stiff and sorer than it had after she just woken up. She was almost 30, and so far too old to be sleeping on floors anymore…

She stood, brushing down the back of her dark jeans and pushed her long caramel hair back over her shoulders.

Blake noticed Negan eye her, a bemused sort of expression crossing his long features, as she exited the cell, stepping into the harsh light of the corridor.

She half expected to get pounced on by Negan's men at any second, but the threat never came. To her surprise, she found that it really was just her, Negan, and the man named Dwight, out here.

Blake folded her arms across herself, her eyes travelling up to the leader of the Saviours, as she approached him tentatively.

"Well goddamn, Doll-face," said Negan, his chocolate eyes traveling across Blake's features. "You really are a beauty, ain't ya? The night-time didn't do you justice."

But Blake just frowned up at him, ignoring his comment.

"Where's David?" she asked, her voice steady, and as calm as it could be under the circumstances.

But at her question, Negan sucked his teeth, glancing away for the slightest of seconds.

"Oh he's settlin' in nicely," he uttered in a matter-of-fact tone, looking back at her. "Just like you could be….if you tell us what you know about Rick the Prick, and his gang-o-rebels."

Blake pursed her lips, taking a step closer to Negan.

She had nothing to tell him. Nothing at all.

"I want to see him…David…" she said defiantly, raising her head and staring directly into Negan's eyes.

But the dark-haired man merely smiled, although obviously impressed by her stance, he lifted the baseball bat in his hand and swung it towards her middle gently, where it missed her by inches.

"All in good time, sweetheart," he said winking at her. "But first, how 'bout we enjoy this lemonade out on my porch. What do you say?"

Blake gave an inward huff of frustration, knowing she probably had very little choice in the matter.

She blinked in compliance, lifting her head, her green eyes settling on Negan's dark ones.

And for a long moment they stared each other out, Negan running his tongue over his lips and giving her a grin, before he lifted his bat in the direction of the doorway at the end of the corridor.

"Ladies first…" he said with a husky growl.

And Blake almost immediately found herself doing what she was told, and heading off down the hallway, feeling Negan fall into step with her instantly.

She knew where she was going. She guessed correctly that the balcony Negan had been referring to, was indeed the raised platform she had been brought out onto the night before.

And so heading around the corner, the man at her side gave the large steel door a shove with his bat, as Dwight followed behind them silently.

It was a bright and sunny day and the heat seemed to hit Blake more than it probably would have done, had she not felt so dehydrated.

She stopped for a second, gazing around.

Two large rocking chairs, and a small dark wood-stained table had been brought out here to the little balcony overlooking the fences surrounding the Saviours' camp.

In the daylight the place looked ever more horrific than it had at night, with several men in baggy grey clothes keeping the advancing dead at bay as well as they could. It was almost the opposite to the tranquil life that Blake had now become accustomed to behind the high walls of Alexandria.

She suddenly felt Negan's shoulder meet with hers gently, bumping her as he passed.

"Take a seat," he muttered close to her ear, in a low voice that seemed to send shivers all down her spine. She jerked her head around to look at him, feeling defensive all of a sudden.

What was all this? She had almost expected Negan to take her to his 'porch' and torture her until she gave him what he wanted….whether that be information on Rick…or something else completely…

But Negan strolled casually over to the rickety-looking table where two glass tumblers sat, and filled them both with the enticing lemon drink.

Blake breathed hard, the sun beating down onto her caramel blonde hair…

She cautiously walked over to him and took a seat in the chair nearest to the door. Not that she had much chance of escaping, not with Dwight guarding the door with a gun in his hand, at least.

Negan took a seat next to her, placing his baseball bat down between them casually, resting it against the small table, before reaching over and handing her a glass.

Oh god, she wanted it so badly, but she paused for a second, staring down at the cold tumbler in Negan's hand.

Why was he so eager for her to drink it, huh? The Saviours had denied her anything to drink for so long….so why now?

"You've put something in it…" she said giving a gulp, her eyes flickering from the glass and back up to Negan.

But Negan merely chuckled, placing the glass down beside her and picking up his own, before leaning back in his seat and taking a long, drawn-out gulp of lemonade.

It was a moment or two before he placed the glass down again on the table beside him and pointed to her with his finger.

"That's the problem with you people," he said raising an eyebrow towards Blake. "You are all far too suspicious. Here I am, giving you an audience with me, as well as a lovely glass of cold lemonade….and there you go accusing me of trying to drug you."

He shook his head, turning away from her and staring out across the lot.

"I mean, goddamn doll-face," he said with a sigh. "Have I given you any reason to believe that I'm out to hurt you?"

But Blake gave a scowl, almost gaping at his words. "You've had me locked in a cell AND you killed people from my camp…" she said in an incredulous voice. "You fucking bludgeoned them to death….with that thing-"

Blake pointed at the barbed wire-covered baseball bat.

"…so excuse me, for not trusting you," she snarled, huffing and turning away from him, folding her arms across her chest once again.

She could feel Negan's eyes on her, but his face, she couldn't read.

Her chest rose and fell rapidly, knowing that he could very well use that bat on her right now.

But she if she was going out, she was going to go out, having quenched her thirst at the very least.

She turned back towards the table and picked up the glass Negan had just drunk from, bringing it to her lips and taking a well-needed sip.

The lemonade was sharp and cold, and tasted like the best thing Blake had ever, ever tried in her entire life. She could barely stop herself from closing her eyes as she gulped down mouthful after mouthful.

She finished the last drop and gasped for air, hearing Negan give a quiet laugh.

He was still staring at her, through his dark lashes. But Blake didn't care anymore. She just licked her lips and placed the glass down again.

Now he was free to do with her what he liked.

"You know, I think I can see why your fiancé brought you here…" said Negan after a second, shifting slightly closer to her and biting his lip. "I mean if I had a gal like you, there would be no way I'd be leaving you behind."

Blake blinked her eyes.

"What?" she asked, her mouth suddenly going dry again, despite her thirst already being quenched.

Her eyes darted across Negan's face, trying to read him.

What was he talking about?

But Negan just looked back at her lazily.

"I mean there is always an open spot for you as one of my wives -" he started teasingly, with a widening grin, but Blake cut across him hurriedly.

"You said that David brought me here," she said breathing hard.

Negan stared at her, looking a little bemused.

"Yuh-huh," he said with a nod, smiling. "Ol' Davey-boy was pretty fuckin' insistent that you coming here was all part of the deal. You were already passed-out when Simon found him on the side of the road. He was waiting for them with you, like he'd said he would be."

Blake got suddenly to her feet.

She could feel her heart hammering in her chest.

She hadn't been knocked out and brought here by the Saviours at all…. she'd been brought here by David….wait, was he the one that had knocked her out?

"Take me to see him," Blake said in a sudden demanding tone, staring daggers at Negan.

But the leader of the Saviours just stared up at her coolly, giving a smirk.

"Now what has got you all riled up, peaches?" he said tilting his head to the side and surveying her carefully.

But Blake was in no mood to play games.

She didn't care about where she was…or who she was talking to…

"Now!" she cried, snatching up Negan's baseball bat suddenly and holding it out towards him threateningly, shifting her weight from foot-to-foot as she did so.

Almost instantly, she heard the click of Dwight's safety being removed, and the feeling of the barrel of a gun being pressed into the back of her skull.

Negan looked amused, sitting back in his rocking-chair, and looking her up and down, his eyes twinkling with something Blake couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Well, hot-diggity-dog," he said giving a chuckle and placing his bearded chin in his hand and gazing at her. "You are giving me, just the biggest hard-on right now, you know that-"

"Shut up!" cried Blake talking over him. "I want to see David….take me to see him."

Negan's smile lingered for a moment, before his face suddenly because serious.

"Dwight," he said in a measured voice, his eyes never leaving hers. "Take her downstairs to see her precious Fi-an-ce."

From the corner of her eyes she saw Dwight give a confused frown.

"Boss?" he asked questioningly.

But Negan gave a wave of his hand and turned away from them both disinterestedly.

"Give the lady what she wants, Dwight," he said, picking up the second glass of lemonade and bringing it to his lips.

There was a beat, before Blake felt the barrel of the gun being pulled from her head, and the blonde man grab her shoulder, turning her back towards the door.

Suddenly there was a cough from behind them both, causing Dwight to stop Blake in her tracks.

"Ahem," came Negan's growling voice. "Lucille?"

Blake gave a frown, and glanced back at the dark-haired man over her shoulder, who now had his free arm stretched out towards her.

Blake wavered for a moment before looking down at the bat in her hand.

Wait, had he really named this thing Lucille?!

She gave a scowl, her darkened eyes staring directly into his, as she handed the weapon back to him, dropping into his hand with a thud.

Blake knew, that all he had to do was stand up and use 'Lucille', and that could be the end of her….

But he didn't, he merely smirked, and turned away from her once again, taking another sip of lemonade, before giving a satisfied hiss.

At this Blake heard Dwight mutter an irritable "hurry up" into her ear, as he tugged her,once again, in the direction of the door.

"Say hi to David for me…." Negan muttered quickly, in a low voice from behind them, "…oh and Frankie…if she's still down there."

Blake's eyes widened and she snatched one last look at Negan as she was pulled abruptly through the doors.

What the hell had he meant by that?

But she didn't get another chance to ask him as the steel doors swung promptly shut behind her, blocking all sight of the dark-haired man…..and Lucille….from her questions.

.......................................

Next chapter coming soon.

.......................................

@collette04

[indigomasquerade97]

A Shift In Perspective pt3

Okay, here’s the final part to my entry for @arc852 . Enjoy!

'Where the bloody hell is he?' Jack asked aloud, glancing again at the clock on the wall. It was nearly lunchtime, and Mark still hadn't returned home. He'd been gone nearly twelve hours now.

Jack fidgeted on the couch cushion. Mark had never done this before. He'd never just stay out all night like this.

Worst case scenarios began to form in his head. What if Mark had gotten hurt on his walk? Or kidnapped? What if the giant goober was dead? If anything had happened, there would be no way for Jack to find out. He couldn't open the door or windows, and even if he somehow found a way outside, he'd just be walking aimlessly in a world built exclusively for humans. And if any of them saw him, they were likely to snatch him up and he'd be stolen away from his search. Away from his best friend.

There would be no way for him to fight them, and they wouldn't listen to his pleas for search and rescue. He was just a dumb animal to humans, after all. Why would they ever listen to him?

Click.

Jack's head snapped up at the noise. The front door was creaking open. He sniffed, wiping at his wet eyes. He stood up, determined to hide his moment of indulging in depressive thoughts. He had a giant to reprimand.

As soon as Mark walked through the hallway, Jack let him have it.

'Mark Edward Fischbach! Where the fook have you been? I was worried sick, dude!' He yelled out, used to having to raise his voice to be heard by his human. His natural loudness helped immensely. Mark froze, his relieved smile turning into one of uncomfortable shock. Yeah, you'd better look uncomfortable, Jack thought irritably. How dare his human scare him like that!

Then someone was chuckling. A human wearing a dark cape sauntered in after Mark, looking thoroughly amused by the standoff.

'And I thought Takota was a handful.' He joked. He seemed amused that both of them had green dye through their hair, though the humans was a lighter, more vibrant colour.

'Uhhh... who's that?' Jack asked, trying to repress his initial fright at being around an unknown human. Mark was here. Jack was safe.

'Um... this is Jason.' Mark introduced awkwardly, and Jason waved pleasantly. He was shorter than Mark by a few inches, and younger than Jack first thought. He couldn't be older than eighteen. But he seemed non-threatening.

'Okay, pleasantries aside... Mark, where were you?' Jack demanded. Back on track. I'm mad at 'im!

The two humans shared a glance. Mark looked like he was lost for words. Jason looked amused, silently laughing at his struggle.

'Um... would you believe me if I said I was abducted by giant aliens? And Jason's one of 'em and saved me?'

Jack glared heatedly. Really? Mark was going to go with a ridiculous story like that?

'Do I look like a fookin' idiot?' He asked. Jason snorted, failing to hide his mirth.

'He ain't bluffin, half-pint. I got him and a bunch o' others out of the beginnings of a major slave trade. We only just got around to getting him home, since he's been trying to convince me to come for a drink the last hour.' Jason said, smiling warmly. Jack rounded his glare on him.

'Look, I know you humans think my kind are stupid and gullible, but aliens don't exist!' Jack declared. Jason raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

'A hundred years ago, humans didn't think you guys existed, either,' He said, leaning forward almost ominously, 'Just because you haven't met one, doesn't mean we don't exist.'

Then something frightening happened. Jason's form began to melt and pixilate, becoming a swarm of colours that squirmed and waved before returning to their initial pristine shape. Jack felt himself pale, especially when the kids eyes began flashing different colours.

'Expand your horizons, eh mate?' Jason said, leaning back casually with a small chuckle.

'Uh, anyone want something to drink? Okay, in here.' Mark quickly led Jason into the kitchen, which gave Jack a moment to compose himself. He blinked, a hand clutching at the thick fabric over his heart. Jesus, that was terrifying!

Mark returned soon after, holding a bottle cap full of soda and a giant cookie. He gingerly placed them in front of Jack.

'I, uhh... I'm sorry about scaring ya, dude,' Mark said timidly, smiling hopefully, 'Forgive me?'

Jack glared at him, then glanced at the cookie bribe. It was a chocolate chip, and looked delicious.

'Never! I'll never forgive you for abandoning me!' Jack declared dramatically, bending down to drag the cookie closer, 'I'll just take this with me!' He sat down and pulled off a chunk, taking a bite. Just as chocolatey as he'd hoped. Mark was smirking at him almost triumphantly. Jack pointed at him mock accusingly.

'This means nothing!' Mark laughed, gently nudging him with his knuckle. Jack nearly did a double-take; the familiar action was much slower and gentle, as opposed the the careless speed Mark usually portrayed.

'Whateva you say, leprechaun.'

'You two are adorable, you know that?' Jason said, leaning against the doorway to the kitchen. He held a small cup of water in one hand, which he didn't drink from.

'You aren't gonna have your drink?' Mark asked. Jason smiled, gently placing the cup on the coffee table.

'To be honest, this form can't actually consume food or liquids like that.'

'Then... why did you come over?'

'Truth be told, I wanted to see your relationship with Jack,' Jason said, looking sheepish, 'You guys really are close friends, huh?'

'Yeah...?' Jack said, glancing up at Mark. But he was too distracted to notice his silent look of inquiry.

'Actually, I was wondering if you two would like to partner up with us,' Jason continued, sitting down in a chair opposite them, 'I need to send a memo to my mentor so she knows this planet is liable to go down a dark road. We want to try and avoid that if possible.'

'And... where do we fit?' Mark asked. Jason sighed.

'This “pet trade” is unacceptable,' He said heatedly, 'I want to create a movement to outlaw the trade and form legal rights for the smaller folk.'

The two friends glanced at each other. A movement to put an end to the horrendous trade? Sure, their friend Phil was a lawyer and was doing what he could to help, but there was little support from the general public to support such a reform. But, if the alien truly wanted to help...

'How would we do this?' Jack asked, his interest peaked.

'We need to show the population that your kind is not the stupid, lesser beings that the media claims you are. If we can prove that, we can begin to show how both your species would benefit from a mutual agreement rather than a master/pet one,' Jason explained, 'They need to see a Tiny being treated as an equal rather than an animal. With enough exposure and prompted discussion, eventually the people will become more open to the idea and we will have a stronger case.'

'Well... it's Jack's choice, really.' Mark stated after a moment.

The two looked down at Jack, who felt put on the spot. He gulped, thinking it over. Their friends were very vocal about their views of Tiny's, and they were practically ridiculed for it. If they went on a higher scale like this, that mild ridicule could morph into full blown hate and death threats. It was risky...

But he thought about his family back in Ireland. They were constantly in fear of being discovered by humans. And if they ever were, they would be damned into a life of servitude for some human. There was no guarantee they would find a kind human, and even most of those still saw them as mere animals. If they could do this, they would not have to live in such fear. They would be free. He, and all his other friends would be free of the looming threat of losing ones free will.

'I want to help.' He declared, feeling determined. Nothing would deter him from this!

'Excellent,' Jason said, standing up, 'I will get in contact with you at a later date. For now, I need to get everything sorted.'

And then Jason fizzed out of existence, leaving no trace of his presence. The two friends were left alone. They looked at each other.

'So... you were serious before? About him being a giant to you?' Jack asked.

'Yeah.'

'… Did he grab you? Or pick you up?'

'… Yeah.'

'Did ya squeal like a wee girl?' Jack grinned as Mark blushed with embarrassment.

'A little, yeah.' Jack began to cackle with amusement.

'Ha! Oh jasus! Now you know what its like!'

~

Marshal strolled through the hallway, practically ripping his hair out. He tried desperately to ignore the men squabbling around him like seagulls, but found it harder than he thought.

'Sir, please-'

'Slow down-'

'Mr President-'

You have been missing for hours-'

'Where have you been?'

They were too loud. He needed to get away. He needed to think. He needed time alone!

He rushed towards his office, the gaggle of men still on his heels. He sighed, turning to face them once he got to his door.

'I will inform you of my whereabouts at a later date,' He said, discretely backing into the room, 'But for now, I need a few minutes to recuperate myself.'

He quickly shut the door, locking himself from their concerned demands. He sighed, resting his head against the cool wood. It was nice to be alone for a moment, even if he could still hear their muffled voices on the other side.

He turned to his office, the symbol on the polished floor shining despite the relative dark. Faint sunlight lit up the edges of the closed curtain, and he reached out to switch the light on. The lights remained stubbornly off, despite the repeated attempts.

Marshal sighed in annoyance, rubbing his temple as he strolled towards his desk. Light outages weren't common, and it made the actual occurrences all the more annoying. But he didn't open the door to inform anyone of the problem. If he did, the room would be invaded by the very people he was trying to get away from. But maybe a nap would be better than catching up on paperwork, anyway?

'Afternoon, sir.'

Marshal gasped, flinching back at the unexpected voice. His big chair spun around, revealing a pretty teen girl. She was wearing modest clothes, all black and making her partially blend into the dark. She had her arms crossed, a serious glint in her blue eyes as she silently appraised him. He took a deep breath, frowning at her. How did a sixteen year old girl get passed security?

'Who are you?' He demanded, 'How did you even get in here?'

'You can call me Ashley,' She said, smirking as she added sarcastically, 'and I fazed through the wall.'

'You aren't supposed to be in here!' Marshal said, stepping closer so he would loom over the shorter girl. His attempt to seem intimidating fell short when he tripped over his own two feet, planting a hand on the desk to keep himself from falling on his ass. She rolled her eyes at the pathetic attempt.

'I have to disagree,' She said, calmly standing up, 'We have a lot to talk about.'

Marshal shook his head, turning his back to her. He had to call in security. While he doubted the girl was a real sort of threat, he still couldn't allow someone to simply break into his office.

But he froze when he noticed the second intruder, idly throwing an apple in the air like a softball. Marshal felt his heart begin racing. Familiar dark green eyes, flaming lime hair, shimmering grey cloak... Jason smirked at his look of horrified recognition.

'Hey mate,' He muttered, cocking his head as he tossed the apple again, 'Didn't I saw we'd see each other again?'

Marshal opened his mouth to scream, but a slender hand covered it and effectively silenced him. He struggled against the girl, but her willowy form betrayed her strength. She had no trouble dragging him to his chair, dumping him into it.

Marshal was near hyperventilating, eyes darting between the two beings. There was little doubt in his mind that the two were aliens, though he didn't know how they were able to appear before him like this. Weren't they meant to be huge?

'W-what do you w-want with me?' He demanded, trying to keep himself from stuttering, and failing miserably. The girl looked sheepish, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. Jason's hard expression never changed as he tossed the apple.  

'Your planet is progressing to the point where our enemies are becoming aware of you,' She said, shrugging apologetically, 'We need to form a contract with you so we can legally get involved when they inevitably attack.'

'But... your just talking to me?' He asked. First contact should have been important enough to warrant a meeting with all world leaders, right? Then why were they only talking to him?

He flinched when Jason snorted, twirling the apple absently in his hands. As it was twirled, Marshal noticed a large slice had been cut out. With how he concentrated on twirling the fruit, it was almost reminiscent of a calming exercise... His eyes were quite red at that moment, though he never looked right at Marshal.

'Don't let your head swell, mate. The others are talking to other leaders as we speak,' He said, eyes flashing as he looked up to glare heatedly, 'Your not special enough to warrant special treatment!'

'Okay Jay,' Ashley warned, placing a calming hand on his shoulder, to which he backed down immediately, 'The world leaders will be getting in contact soon enough. We just wanted to have a word with you first.'

Marshal gulped, believing he knew exactly where this was going.

'Word about what?' He asked, hoping playing dumb would help him now.

'About that.' Ashley said, nodding to the cage sitting on a nearby desk. It was empty, the bowl of pellets untouched. His young female Tiny was instead sitting on the desk with her blanket over her shoulders, contentedly munching on a slice of apple as she watched the confrontation. When their eyes met, she smiled, but her eyes were full of dark glee and resentment.

Oh fuck...This isn't going to end well.

The end?

[he-was-a-memer-boy]

ngl today just solidified my hatred towards many people on this campus

for the past week, this girl deadass would tell me to get tested

telling me that i’m at risk because I traveled to the Philippines over winter break and she’s uncomfortable around me

bitch, then stay home if you’re so scared

don’t come after me

we went into Manhattan last week on Thursday and after I used a ticket machine for the railroad, the same girl dEAD AS S put on a glove to use the machine

she also brought up my vacation to the Philippines during my scene painting class and when I said that they closed the airports after a few cases were discovered right after we landed back home, my professor looked at me and asked me seriously, “This is not something to joke about, should you be quarantined?” uhhh no what? are you serious? do I look like im dying to you? is anyone else around me sick rn? do I look like a problem to you? are you fucking kidding me? are you really gonna listen to half of what I said and conclude that I am a threat rn? are you fucking for real rn?

then the same fucking bitch ass motherfucker had the audacity to tell that same professor that she doesn’t want to be near me because she’s afraid of getting sick when we were taking our midterm, and when I went to my spot on the other side of the work table she told me, “it’s so you don’t breathe on me”

then THIS FUCKING CUNT had the nerve to come into class today and say “I’m immuno-compromised, I have asthma. I shouldn’t even be in this class today” repeatedly telling every person who walks into our classroom until I finally snap and tell her that asthma doesn’t make you immuno-compromised and that if she’s able to be vaccinated and take medicine and be healthy then she doesn’t have an autoimmune disease, IN WHICH SHE SNAPS BACK WITH, “I have asthma. I’m at risk. I have a weak immune system. I know what I’m talking about. Don’t tell me that I’m not at risk because I am.” So I just let her win and was about to walk away because she’s fucking dense as hell, but she just HAD to get the last fucking word in anyway and said, “PLUS, my mother has fibromyalgia, meaning that she has a weak immune system. I’M immuno-compromised.”

FUCKING WHATTTT???

FUCKING SHITTY ASS MOTHERFUCKING CUNT

YOUR MOTHER HAS FIBROMYALGIA DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT IS IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HER IMMUNE SYSTEM AND EVERYTHING TO DO WITH HER BONES AND MUSCLES FUCKING DUMBASS FUCKING BITCH

AND YOUR MOTHER’S DISABILITY DOESN’T MEAN THAT YOU HAVE IT AND ARE MORE PRONE TO GETTING THE VIRUS YOU’RE SO FUCKING DENSE AND I HATE YOU AND I HOPE YOU DO DIE FROM THE VIRUS BEFORE YOU DIE FROM THESE HANDS IMMA THROW AT YOU IF YOU EVEN TRY TO SAY A WORD TO ME AGAIN FUCKING TRY ME BITCH I WILL KILL YOU I PROMISE YOU THAT

that bitch better stay the fuck away from

STAY SCARED OF ME YOU CUNT

I can’t believe a professor said that to me. I can’t believe that my shitty suitemate is home, avoiding our apartment because three of us are Asian. I can't believe that same shitty suitemate told her Chinese roommate that out of everyone in the apartment, she would be the one to get infected. I can’t believe that after all this crap, I still have to argue with a classmate that this whole hysteria is based on racism -- “it started out with racism, now it’s just chaos” ummm yeah racist chaos. All these people need to get the virus now.

[holygayrightsbatman]

Wondering When Lingered Lips: Chapter 2

heres the second chapter to my spideypool fic (tumblr) (ao3) if you want you can also read it on ao3

summary: peter finally meets deadpool and its uhhh.... well its intertesting

Peter was about two hours into his usual patrol after school. So far he had gotten a cat down that was stuck in a tree, stopped a handbag thief and helped a group of tourists with directions. Nothing really big had happened that day but that was pretty usual since it was 5 o'clock and people didn't tend to commit more serious crimes until later into the night.

He had just stopped another handbang thief and was in the middle of returning the bad to its owner when a man who looked to be in his mid-to-late twenties approached him.

"Hey Spiderdude, there's like a guy dressed up kinda like you. I saw him trying to parkour over a bench but failing." The man said.

"Ok number one, it's Spiderman and where did you see him?" Peter questioned.

"Alley Pond Park."

"Thank you dude!" Peter happily called to the man as he started webbing up the building he was next to and swinging his way over to the park. He was a mix of flattered and genuine curiosity. Flattered that someone could possibly of been inspired by him to become a hero themselves and curious as to how this new hero was helping people. By the sounds of it they were probably quite new the being a hero and Peter really wanted to help them if they needed it. And, well he couldn't lie, he'd love to have a new friend he could share his superhero-ing with. He loved and looked up to Tony Stark a lot but he only really responded to big threats where as Peter handled the little stuff, it would be nice to have a friend he could share his love of petty crime stopping with.

- - -

Peter had swung himself to the park in quite a short time and had probably been going way too fast then what was safe to be swinging hundreds of feet over New York, but damn it he was so excited! He landed in the park and began looking around although it didn't take him to spot a tall looking guy in a red and black running around the park doing a parkour and singing very loudly to a song Peter wasn't sure was in English on a walkman he had strapped to his belt.

He felt a strong surge of happiness overtake him, this guy looked great! He didn't just mean his suit (which had been tailored very well might he add), but the guy looked like a lot of fun. Peter began to approach him, trying to think of something both cool and casuel to greet him with.

"Woo boy, stop over-thinking, Hey boy, just judge me with what you see, My boy, my heart for you is already big like a bubble, Bubble bubble bubble pop!, Bubble bubble pop! pop!"

Peter had to stiffle a giggle realising this guy was singing to kpop very loudly in public, it was honestly very endearing. Peter raised his hand up to wave at the mysterious man. "H-hey there, I'm Spiderman, what's your name?" He asked, a little embarrassed that he stuttered.

The guy whipped his head around so fast that Peter was sure that it must of given him whiplash but the man didn't seem to give off any indication that he was pain.

"Oh my good sparkly gosh! It's Spiderman! Yo dude, I'm such a huge fan. I've been watching all the videos of you on YouTube for like forever. Your power is so cool like you can climb shit and shoot webs? It's amazing! I love tha- Oh shit I've been rambling, haven't I? Sorry. My names Deadpool."

If Peter thought he couldn't be more endeared to Deadpool before he was sorely wrong. "Nice to meet you, Deadpool." He held out his hand for him to shake and almost immediately Deadpool grabbed his hand and shook it vigorously, this guy is strong!

"It's so cool to meet you!" Peter could practically see the guy grinning wildly underneath his mask.

"Why did you pick the name Deadpool?" He question curiously because if he was honest a name with the word 'dead' in it didn't sound very superhero-y.

Still grinning Deadpool answered, "Do you know what a deadpool is? It's when people bet on who's gonna die in like a fight or something, right? And my power is that im basically immortal so I thought it'd be hilarious to be called Deadpool because if you bet on me you'd never win."

"That's such cool name!" Peter said genuinely. "And here I was thinking I was clever calling myself 'Spiderman'." They both started laughing at that.

"Nah dude, Spiderman is cool name too. It's simple and straight to the point like you know straight away this guy is has spider powers, you know what you're getting with you." Deadpool said.

Peter had been so preoccupied with how excited he was he didn't even notice that the man had guns strapped to his back and two katanas on his back. Peter felt his stomach sink slightly, he really hoped that Deadpool hasn't been using them to kill people.

"Why do you have those, uh, weapons?" He asked in a slightly quieter voice.

"Oh, these?" Deadpool gestured to them wildly, "These are my unalive-ing tools." He then pointed to each one of his katanas, "This one is Bea, shes great! She's such a joy to work with and very dedicated. This one is Arthur, she's grumpy-wumpy." Deadpool giggled to himself.

Peter cringed, hard. Oh fuck, he thought. Of course the new guy that I'm getting on with so well just has to be a murderer! He really didn't know what to do, he certainly didn't want to allow this guy to go around the city murdering who ever he liked. Didn't he say he was immortal though? That was a very, very scary thought. If he told the guy to stop killing and it went south and turned into a fight this guy might be able to keep fighting for a long time after Peter couldn't anymore. Not that killing him had even been a thought that ran through Peter's head but, God, was he terrifyied right now.

He was pulled out of his when he heard Deadpool calling his name and waving his hand in front of Peter's mask. "Hey Spidey, are you home because it doesn't look like any lights are on."

Peter jumped back. "I- uh, I just- um, I-" He had no idea what he was going to say. So much for being able to find my words, he thought.

"Can you not- uh, like kill people?" His voice got progressively queiter as he spoke.

"Oh baby boy, don't worry! I'm not here to kill anyone right now. I already got my dickbag target Francis and everyone associated with him. Unless someone tries to come after me or someone hires me I'm not gonna kill anyone." Deadpool cheerfully answered.

"Um ok- wait did you say hire? You're an assassin?!" Peter gaped at the man unneath his mask.

"Well not assassin, I prefer the term mercenary, but I can see how you could confused between the two."

Peter felt disgusted. "Please don't tell me you're here to kill someone."

"Nope! I just moved here actually. I'm not currently taking jobs, I've decided to focus on other things right now."

"'Not currently taking jobs' as in not doing mercenary work again, or just not as of right now?" Peter question.

"Hmm, not sure really. I'm gonna see how being normal superhero first. You know you really inspired me Spidey? Like you made me wanna change being a merc' and do like good shit. Before I would of gagged at the idea but now I kinda like the idea." Deadpool answered truthfully.

Well ok, at least hes trying to change his ways. "Um right, thanks... just be careful with those things." Peter gestured to his many weapons, "Please don't kill anyone here."

"Of course not! Anything you say, boss!" Deadpool gave him a salute.

Peter let out a sigh of relief, although he wasn't quite convinced and he knew he'd have to keep an eye on him he thought that if he was being genuine about wanting to change his ways then that was a good thing, right? Maybe I could help him become a real hero, Peter thought to himself.

He gave a small smile to Deadpool before realising he was wearing a mask and he definetly wouldn't of been able to see him and then said, "Thanks." He checked his phone and then seeing it was already half-past six o'clock and May would be getting both annoyed and worried that he wasn't home yet.

"Oh shit I gotta go!" He said. "Um, nice meeting you Deadpool."

Deadpool, bless him, looked over the moon (even in a mask). "Really great meeting you too baby boy, hope to see you around soon!"

Peter just nodded at him and swung away home, left with his thoughts about this mysterious new man.

- - -

This Deadpool guy had been on Peter's mind a lot, he missed his whole first period lesson thinking about the guy. Well, more worrying about him what he might do but he completely forgot about him as soon as he saw Wade at lunch that day. Peter was pretty sure he was harbering a tiny little crush on the guy, even though he'd only began to actually know the guy for a week now (he cursed himself for getting crushes so easily.)

"Wassup guys?" Wade greeted as he sat down at the table.

Ned took that as an invitation to talk all about how Mr. Cemanos was the worst English teacher to ever grace God's green earth, to which all of them tuned out because there was never a day Ned didn't complain about him.

Wade turned to Peter and softly asked, "Hows yous?"

Peter giggled. "Tired as hell, you?"

"Tip-top, right as rain, guv-nar!" Wade replied, awfully imitating an English accent. "I joke, I'm actually about to die. God, has it been sooooooo slow."

Peter pressed his mouth into his hand, trying not laugh too loudly. "I know right? I've hardly been able to concentrate today, I think we got set homework in my last lesson but I was so out of it I don't even remember."

"Oh I feel you, Pete." Wade answered, smiling at Peter.

Peter could feel a blush creep its way up his neck and onto his cheeks. God, I'm so embarrassing! Every little thing Wade did was giving him butterflies in his stomach and a light airy feeling that touched him from the tips of his tops to the tips of his fingers. He smiled shyly back at Wade.

"Ok can you guys please not flirt at the dinner table, you're putting me off my food." MJ said. Apparently they had both got so lost in each other that they hadn't realised that Ned had finished his rant. Peter went bright red stammering about how they-hadn't-been-flirting-thank-you-very-much but Wade just smirked and sent MJ a which they returned. Yeah, they definetly know. Peter sighed inwardly, he hated that he made his feelings so painfully obvious. After Liz had said she knew about his crush he had began to realise just how bad he was at trying to hide his feelings for someone. At the very least he knew that Wade was also flirting with him very openly. They were in that awkward phase where they both knew that they liked each other and that other knew about their feelings but they weren't ready to talk about it yet or make it official. Peter wanted to wait until he knew the guy for at least over a month first because getting in a relationship with someone he'd only known for a week felt a bit too fast (even for him.)

Ned rolled his eyes at them. "You two are so gross."

"You're just jealous." Wade said. Both Peter and MJ giggled at that (although MJ tried to hide it.)

Ned gave Wade an annoyed look and then changed the subject onto his newest LEGO Star Wars set he'd gotten. Apparently he'd gotten the Millennium Falcon this time as very excited to start putting it together.

"Do you guys wanna help me?" He asked.

"Yeah of course!" Peter answered happily, he absolutely loved putting together LEGO with Ned. They had actually bonded over theyre love for LEGO in middle school and that's how they became friends.

"Absolutely not." MJ gave one of their now iconic short stoic answers.

Ned then look expectingly at Wade, who honestly looked shocked. "Are you inviting me too?" He questioned genuinely.

"Of course, you're part of this group now dude!"

Wade broke into one of the happiest looking grins ever, "I'd love to!"

"On one condition though," Ned said. "Please you two don't be too gross."

Peter snorted and almost choked on the water he was drinking. "Sh-shut up, we're not gross!"

"Oh Peter, darling, you gotta admit we're a bit gross." Wade said.

Peter, as red as a cherry tomato, reluctently agreed, that yes, they were more then a little gross.

"Ok then, meet you guys after school at the entrance?"

The other two boys both nodded at Ned and continued on with their conversation. The both of feeling increasingly nervous and excited as the day went on. They'd never hang out with each other outside of school yet and they were both pretty happy that their friends were being accepting of their burgeoning romance.