#he is terrified of them because he is built like a tree

[wabart]

He thinks he's the funniest guy on the planet

IDs below:

[ID: Six digital sketches of a tiefling Tav, named Ataash, and Astarion from Baldur's Gate 3.

1: Ataash has two broken horns and a scruffy mustache. He is dressed in a low-cut shirt and a jacket covered by feathers. He points toward the roof of a cave, where a bat is sleeping. He is asking "That your friend?" with a smug expression. Astarion stands beside him, grimacing.

2: Ataash is smiling with half-lidded eyes. He holds a mug in both his hands. It says "#1 BULLY".

3: Ataash lies on the ground next to Astarion, who seems to have just woken up; Astarion is bundled in blankets and looking exhausted. Ataash is squeezing a pillow that looks like a cartoon dog; he and the dog have the same wide-eyed, cutesy expression. Ataash says "There's a bat in my tent pls help."

4: This image and the following two are part of a set. This image shows Astarion and Ataash standing opposite one another. Astarion is sneering, has his arms folded, and is wearing simple leather armor. Ataash has a slight smile, is wearing sleeveless armor, and has his hands on his hips. Astarion's eye-level is at Ataash's chest. The image is semi-realistic in style.

5: An image from Ataash's point of view, looking down at Astarion from above. The sketch is semi-realistic in style.

6: An image from Astarion's point of view, where Ataash's chest is the focus. It occludes his head, which barely appears at the top of the frame, very cartoonish and low in detail. /end ID]

[victoirey]

hi!! would you be able to do a tsu’tey x fem! dreamwalker reader? i always think about that scene where neytiri cradles human jake in her arms as he’s “dying” and it’s just so sweet. would you be able to do something similar but with the reader and tsu’tey? like she’s a dreamwalker with the avatar program (maybe a teacher? idk!) and she met tsu’tey and like fell in love with him so he is just absolutely frantic when he thinks she’s going to die. (let’s just pretend he didn’t die LMFAO) thank u!!!! ❤️❤️❤️

♡. "I see you." —

synopsis / tsu'tey is yours.

gn!avatar!reader | wopwop👍🏻 reader is kind of in distress right now since unlike jake they do not know the way of battle and are actually a scientist NOT a marine @kiiyevame hi. so I heard you liked tsu'tey

tags : @bo0p0918 @somerandomweeb2 @loaqi @mylovelo-ak

zdinarsk was a stubborn fucker.

it's what she was built to be‐ stubborn and strong. her punches were known to cause immediate knock outs — her kicks broke ribs, her forehead was so hard that when slammed onto another person's forehead— they'd lose half of their braincells. a knife was more than just a weapon in her hands, it was a scythe. every reaper needed a scythe. zdinarsk? brought death wherever she went.

you just hoped she didn't bring it to you.

"come out, come out wherever the fuck you are, you fuckin bitch —" zdinarsk sneered, knife in her hands and held in such a murderous way. you had to hold in a whimper at that. god, this woman is terrifying. "you fuckin' slashed me. seemed a bit freaked out when ya did, though. you new to killing? let me give you some pointers!" she said, feigning kindness. "number one, hold yer blade like a banana." she started, and you could hear her footsteps getting closer and closer. "number two, be smart. find a good hiding spot if ye don't wanna get caught. dumbass bitch..." she muttered, and you swear you're seven seconds away from dying right now.

your eyes don't hover from the lab, because although you can only see it from the corner of your eye— you can see it. that's enough. that's hope.

a knife is slammed into your avatar's leg—you cry in pain. and you run.

you run straight to nowhere , you run to the trees and their embrace and you hope that she won't see you. you can hear zdinarsk calling for backup, and you can hear the march. their march of fuckin' absolute death.

you are screwed.

you are so, so screwed.

you jump through the forests— your leg aching with every step you take, and yet you run. you run for yourself, you run for jake, for neytiri, for mo'at, saeyla, ka'ani, for all the friends you made on pandora — who taught you everything you needed to know in order to truly be one of the people. you fought and you are still fighting for them, because as you run, you escape from every marine's clutches while sabotaging their tech and stealing their weaponry— because you've always had good hands. it's best those hands do what they're meant to do. there is a sharp pain that grows each step , and it has been growing ever since you sped away from zdinarsk— but still.

you run.

if not for yourself, then for him.

"FLY!" you commanded your ikran, and it obliged. way too quickly— as you screamed, the ikran accelerating at ... unbelievable heights; neytiri & jake watched in amusement. tsu'tey, however, observed you carefully. he watched as you slowly adapted — and he watched your terrified face turn into a happy one. your smile was big— your laugh was absolutely melodic. your laugh, oh— your laugh. tsu'tey couldn't get enough of it.

"join them." neytiri pushed tsu'tey, recently snapped out of his trance— "it is expected, you are their teacher." she said, and tsu'tey agreed. not because it was expected— because he got to look at you. he called for his ikran and bolted for you. he couldn't help this feeling he felt— because of you, a dreamwalker. a dreamwalker so stupid he was positive your brain was made of viperwolf shit mushed into one big miserable dough. a dreamwalker who, slowly but surely, got him to open up. a dreamwalker who ...

who was kind.

"HOLY SHIT!" you yowled, a phrase you'd seem to have adapted in your time here on pandora. you steered your ikran left, and then right— and then left again, laughing as you took ahold of the ropes and for once, were positive to say you knew how to do this. which is weird because pandora is a place full of things you don't know. you don't want to think about that. you continue to fuck around with your ikran— who seems to have grown accustomed to the name "susan." you don't know whether you should name her that or not, but it seems appropriate.

"well done!" a voice applauds, and you almost fall off your ikran— only for you to realize, oh, it's tsu'tey. "not bad." he said, you smiled at him. "I made ya proud!" you exclaimed, he can only close his eyes and nod. your eyes, however, went as wide as saucers— jaw dropped. "I made ya proud?!" you repeated, "I made ya proud!" tsu'tey nods once again— his ikran steering left as yours followed. almost like your ikran knew you'd follow tsu'tey.

now, & to the ends of the earth.

"now that you are omaticaya, y/n.. you may make your bow from the wood of the hometree." tsu'tey explained, as he laid with you on the tallest mountain you could find— you stared at the stars, he stared at you. "really?" you asked, "really." tsu'tey confirmed. "you are also eligible to find yourself a mate." he added, "really?" you asked again, in awe, and he sighed— "really." he confirmed. you giggled, you had always been passionate about love afterall.

"y/n."

"hm?"

"who are you interested in?"

what a strange question from such a stoic man. very straightforward, you thought. who were you interested in? him , of course. it had always been him. it will only ever be him. tsu'tey, tsu'tey, tsu'tey.

"tsu'tey." you muttered, nonchalantly. to that, he got up immediately— caught off guard. you did too, except instead of being caught off guard— you were absolutely horrified. you had just admitted you were interested in the greatest warrior of the omaticaya clan. infront of him.

'that's another type of insanity, y/n' you thought, 'that's another type of insanity.'

tsu'tey could only stare at you aghast, both at your boldness and the fact that — that was the push he really needed. to realize he loved you too.

"you have chosen me?" he asks,

you sigh, and with nothing to lose, you nod.

"tsu'tey, I have chosen you."

his breath hitches, and he nods— taking in the information before he leans in closer, and you see in his eyes a galaxy— a galaxy so full of life— and his hands make their way to your waist and they're calloused and rough except what else do you expect? tsu'tey protects this clan. tsu'tey is a defender.

and as tsu'tey looks down on you, mouth parting to deliver words you've been aching to hear for centuries —

"y/n, I have chosen you."

tsu'tey is yours.

your lips lock and you feel your knees go weak, your skin melting from how hot it was suddenly getting. tsu'tey was the one who pulled away, it seemed. yet, you can't get enough — you kiss him again, and again, and again– and he has to place a hand on your chest to stop you, in order to do what he has to do. he delicately pulls his tswin , holding it out— and you do the same. you steer your tswins, closer and closer until finally —

they connect.

they connect and suddenly, you're overwhelmed with so many senses and feelings and thoughts and you can't help but shiver— your hands twitching, your pupils dilating— you gasp at the sudden sensation. you need to get your hands on tsu'tey— anywhere, anyhow. just now.

tsu'tey isn't being much calmer, naturally. his hands are balled into fists— nails digging into the palm because he's afraid if he tries to make contact with you without grounding himself, he'll break you. it isn't hard to accept the fact that you are meant to be, at this point. tsu'tey wants to feel you. tsu'tey wants to know what it's like to be trapped inside of your heart. he wants to know, if he were to show you all of him— would you feel this way too?

as his lips align with yours — you know you are fated.

your reminiscing has seemed to have halted.

zdinarsk corners you, wainfleet and walker at her side. you hiss as you ready your knife – zdinarsk prepares to taze you, it is a duel at this point. who attacks who first? who ends victorious?

it wasn't your lucky day.

in mere seconds your avatar is splayed on the soil of Pandora— next to the lab. near a certain warrior, who seems very busy fighting off sky demons right about now. zdinarsk looks at your knocked out avatar self, and she snickers.

then an arrow goes through her head.

tsu'tey immediately flees to the scene, "Y/N!" he calls for you, and yet there is no answer. he shakes you as hard as he can, crying your name out — desperation seeping in as he prays, and as you fade in and out of consciousness, you can only point to the lab— so near and yet so far. "...lab." you mutter, " I am there. " tsu'tey looks confused. you ... are on the verge of clocking out. "go, tsu'tey. go."

then everything fades to black, and your back in the pod and suddenly it's just so hard to breathe and you can barely speak and the sirens are so loud and you're getting ... you're getting overwhelmed. everything is a bit tripper today. your eyes see nothing but rainbow color objects. you fall off your pod as you cough, reaching for the oxygen mask— except you can't. you're too weak. it's been more than 10 seconds and you can barely breathe. everything is going so much faster, right now.

It is in these seconds , you experience your life.

tsu'tey is in most of your memories. it is always him, only him. first meeting him, taming a direhorse with his help, slowly getting used to the na'vi lifestyle, flying on your ikran, falling off a tree, waking up next to him on that mountain, everything. in all your memories , he is featured.

you wouldn't have it any other way.

a slab of blue appears as your vision blurs.

"y/n?!" it calls. the voice is wary, hoarse & a voice cracking was undeniable–

tsu'tey.

that's tsu'tey.

he was horrified. he had just got you, and now he was seconds away from losing you— it's enough to make him tear up at the thought. "no, no, no —" he muttered, eyes panicky. "no! no! ma y/n! ma y/n!"

"ma y/n!" he yelled once more, then— picking you up along with the emergency oxygen mask. he placed it on your face and you could swear you heard a whimper come out of his throat at your state— you jolted out of your trance, twisting the gears of the mask — oxygen flowing into your body as you coughed violently after such long exposure to the air. "ma y/n..." he said, his voice soft. "you are safe?" he had asked then— and you nodded.

it is only then tsu'tey fully processes your human form. it is small, very small. you also seem to be very soft. your eyes are different color, and yet your features are still similar to the you he knew— and even with this little you, whose not what he expected to fall in love with, he still loves you. "tsu'tey?" you refer to him, noticing he is far too spaced out. in response, he leans closer to you and placed his forehead as close as he can to yours. you giggle— "I see you." it comes off as more than a greeting, it comes off as a profession of love. tsu'tey responds,

"I see you."

[whereserpentswalk]

There are things all around you in the world, trying to survive, that you'll never get a chance to notice.

There's a werewolf in the café that you always go to, working on his laptop. It's already far enough into the lunar cycle so that he's becoming semi wolflike at night. He'll spend to weekend upstate this month when the full moon finally hits, like he always does. He tells himself it'll be nice to get the fresh air, and he's glad he's privileged enough to not end up hurting anyone. You just think of him as taking business trips every month.

There's a ghost whose possessing a human body for the first time in a long time, standing on the subway platform with some of her living freinds. She's laughing about how weird it is to walk around as a person, and slightly nervously commenting on how there's plastic in this body's blood. This is her first time she's possessing a male body, and the awkwardness of it has given way to a strange fascination and euphoria as to how it feels compared to her body when she was alive, she likes how people look at her, and how handsome she feels.

There's a goblin whose been stealing food from that deli that you always go to, and petting the cat every time he get a chance to. He lives in subway tunnels, because it's safer to dodge trains then dodge the eyes of humans. The world is a much bigger place to someone so small, and the streets and buildings weren't built for him, and neither were the trees or animals. He wakes up every day hoping to survive, in a world where humans are giants that stalk the streets, and where scaring someone is a crime that may cost him his life. He prays he won't die for the crime of being small, or the crime of being ugly.

There's a vampire on your college campus, trying to still have a normal life after being turned. She knows everything from her human life will be gone in a hundred years, it was supposed to be gone the momment she was bitten but she tries to make it so she can still keep moving forward. Her body lacks so much that it used to, she doesn't sleep, doesn't desire sex, doesn't eat, but she's still a person, who can talk to her freinds, and still go to classes like she used to. She'll survive like this as long as her family is supportive enough to let her stay in their apartment, and as long as her girlfriend let's her drink blood from her hand, as if she was handfeeding an animal. And for awhile it'll be like she's still a person.

There's a demon on the sidewalk near your campus, standing right near the subway station, whose having to focus their energy on a spell that makes them look human, knowing their true form would terrify the humans around them. They're walking every street so excited, so amazing by the city around them, by the world around them, the glistening towers, the people outside talking, the sky that's so very blue. It's all so mundane to the humans around them, but to a demon, who was told they never deserved any of it, that they'd never see anything but the underworld, it's the most amazing thing possible. And the world is so pretty, so hopeful, through their doomed eyes.

[narcissisticmf]

tender | chris sturniolo x fem!reader

request: ""i love you." "what?" "i love you and it terrifies me." with chris s? tyyy!!" from anonymous

description: after having a conversation with y/n, chris reveals his feelings.

trigger warnings: mentions of anxiety, subtle angst, mostly fluff, foul language, etc.

word count: <1k

"Did you seriously have to say that in front of all those people?" You laughed as you and Chris both slipped through the exit doorway of a convenience store. The air was brisk and caused the skin on your face to tighten. As you released breaths, it appeared like smoke in the cool atmosphere.

"Hey, it wasn't on purpose!" Chris giggled as the two of you held the paper bags of snacks you had gotten for the triplets, since they'd be filming one of their car videos later that night. "My voice just carries!" He continued laughing.

"Yeah, whatever," You rolled your eyes as soft chuckles began to escape your mouth.

"Before we head back home, do you wanna head to the lake for a little while? I know you haven't seen much around here, so.." Chris trailed off as you began to smile.

"Sure," You nodded as the two of you walked along the paved sidewalk. The store wasn't far from their house in Boston, so you decided on walking and Chris reassured you that the lake wasn't far.

.

Along the side of a back road, sat a babbling brook that ran through the trees. It was a gentle scene with doves mourning in song and bees buzzing in the air. It looked as though it was a scene written out of a book or from a movie. You smiled at the way the water danced across the rocks poking out from under the shallow parts.

"I wouldn't have expected such a beautiful place around here," You admitted.

"Me either," Chris pressed his lips together as he admired the way you observed everything.

"It's so green," You released in a breath.

There was a rusty old bench that sat right before the water and you ushered Chris to follow you towards it. He obliged and took a seat with you on it, after you did. It was small so you were fairly close to one another.

"It smells like spring, like.. you know when the grass is freshly cut and stuff," Your pupils dilated as you watched the water. It settled your mind and for a mere second you had forgotten about all your anxieties and all the tasks you knew you needed to get done.

Chris sniffed as he had his eyes on your profile, it took you a bit of time to take note of his staring.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" You furrowed your brow.

He laughed nervous, "Nothing."

"How'd you find this place?" You asked, curiously.

"Nick likes to come here a lot," He replied. You nodded with a soft smile and turned your head back to watch the water.

There was stillness for a while. The only sound came from the gurgling water.

"Y/N," Chris started and you turned your head to face him.

"Yeah?" You asked, your gaze was relaxed.

"I think I.." He trailed off, trying to figure out how to piece his words together with great care.

"You what?" You urged.

He swallowed a lump that built in his throat and stared at you, "I love you."

It came so suddenly and you didn't know how to react, "What?"

Chris released a breath, "I love you and it terrifies me. I haven't ever done or felt any of this before and it's always been because I've been so scared an' shit. But every time I try to push down these feelings, they always come back up, no matter how hard I try to push them away. It's like a cursed boomerang."

You chuckled lightly and stared at him with a warm gaze.

"I guess I'm just scared of what this could do to you and me if we don't work out. I love being your friend, but I also hate seeing other people look at you the way I do," He spoke softly.

"How long?" You questioned.

"What?"

"How long have you felt like this?"

Chris thought for a moment, staring into the distance, "I met you two years ago, right?" You nodded and he continued, "Two years. I guess the only thing that's been keeping me from telling you is–"

"I love you too," You interrupted with a soft growing smile. Chris was shocked and said nothing, his lips parted gently as you leaned over to implant a kiss to his cold skin.

After you pulled back slightly, Chris stared at you, "This is crazy."

"I know," You nodded, "But it'll be okay. We'll be okay. I promise."

.

a/n: hi angels!! thank you so much for this request! it definitely gave me a new challenge because in all honesty i was super unsure of how to execute this properly. based on how chris comes across, i've always gotten the vibe that he's terrified of commitment and being in a relationship in general, which is totally normal for a lot of people and i hope this piece captured that well enough! thank you so much for 1k once again!! i love you all so dearly. — angelina.

[cryptidsofwakemoor]

Chapter 1 - First Sighting

Story starts here! Freshly escaped from Aria Labs, an experimental bioweapon seeks shelter in a quiet seaside town...

~*~

Spooky

Project Matchstick’s heart drummed rapidly against his ribcage as his feet pounded against the grass and dirt below. The uneven ground was completely alien to him, a far cry from more familiar smooth, sterile tile flooring. No, there were obstacles here- rocks, twigs, branches that whipped past and scratched him, bushes that threatened to trip him up... The uneven ground was only one obstacle of many. But he had to get through them, because what he left behind him was far more terrifying than the unknown he was running blindly into.

He had no idea how long he'd been running, but it somehow felt simultaneously like five minutes and an eternity. He was no longer on fire, but he had to have been leaving some kind of trail of smoke and soot regardless, his frenzied breaths puffing out of his mouth in the form of dark clouds.

Everything hurt.

He may have been built for strength and endurance, but he still had limits... and he'd probably hit his a while ago, running purely on adrenaline ever since. The trees and grass were blurring together, and his head was starting to feel like it was floating... A sudden pain of his foot catching on something startled him back to alertness, but by that point it was too late for him to do anything as he was sent tumbling down a hill.

Any bearings he had were completely lost as a moment of weightlessness ended abruptly, the world turning over and over as the ground battered him from all directions. It mercifully stopped as he finally landed with a loud WHUMP in a ditch below. He just... laid there for a bit, stunned and desperately trying to catch his breath. Having been forced to stop, any attempt to get himself to move again was a LOT more difficult... Alarm bells were still blaring in the back of his mind, but his body was absolutely fed up with cooperating by this point.

He was in that ditch for a while... There were times where approaching bright lights would shine across the leaves in front of him and a loud vehicle would pass by on the nearby road, each time making him go completely still and hold his breath in hopes he wouldn't be spotted... Maybe because it was dark by this point, he mercifully wasn't.

It was hard to tell how much time passed, or if he was even conscious for some of it... but eventually, his exhaustion eased enough for him to move again. Instead, it was replaced by a new uncomfortable- yet vaguely familiar?- sensation in his stomach. He wasn't... sure why, but the rest of him wasn't feeling much better either, so he shrugged it off for now as he climbed out of the ditch and hurried across the road. The sky was still dark, but slowly getting lighter... And it wasn't much longer at all before the trees were mostly gone, replaced with what he could only recognize as more buildings.

Surprised, he hid behind the closest tree he could and peeked around it, trying to get as good of a look as he could without being spotted... The building he'd escaped from had been a large one, and it looked nothing like the ones he could see from here. These were way smaller, and had more bright colors around them, and windows... He couldn't see in through them, though, because they were too dark. There were a few parked vehicles around... but most notably, there were no people to be seen.

He cautiously waited for another minute or two, before the lack of people gave him enough courage to venture closer, beyond the treeline and into the town. He looked with curiosity at the various colorful signs that adorned the buildings and streets, and the hanging lights that blinked yellow in places where the roads intersected. He approached one of the parked cars, silently reading out whatever letters and numbers he recognized on the front plate before pulling the windshield wipers up to see what would happen. He pulled at a handle on the side of the thing too, but then it started honking- angrily, he assumed- and he scrambled to get away.

He ran behind one of the nearby buildings- a large one, with a big glowing sign out front- and spotting some huge boxes, he wrenched open the lid of one of them- padlock breaking and clattering to the ground as he did- and climbed inside to hide. The smell in there... was not very good, and he was surrounded by plastic bags. Those guys who cleaned the lab kinda carried around something like these things... Never had any idea what was in 'em.

Without much else to do, he tore one open to see what was inside, and to his surprise, little bags of bread came tumbling out! Food! Holy shit, these things had food in them?! That feeling in his stomach came back with a vengeance, an ache so deep that he almost felt nauseous. Regardless of the fact that some of the bread was a bit spotty in places, his brain seemed to shut off for a few moments and the next thing he knew, he had ravenously torn into the packaging and devoured two whole loaves and was halfway through shoving a third into his mouth when the lid above him suddenly opened.

Mystic

When the lid is removed and light shines down around the box, he could see a figure behind it, silhouetted with impossible to discern features. The blazing light made it impossible to see much more than the outline of a head and set of shoulders.

There's a clatter of junk and plastic as the stranger gasps.

"Hey!" They yell, the voice one that he'd never heard in his life- and with a level of outrage he'd never heard in his life, "-is someone in there? You get outta there! You broke the padlock?? Get! Get out!"

The light- which appears to be coming from a metal rod grasped in one hand- moves aside, letting the feral kid in the dumpster see a bit more of their face. They're a scruffy-looking human of some kind, with a scraggly startup to a beard and tousled hair. They're glaring down into the dumpster, dropping something else they were holding- another bag of foodstuff? It makes a clinking sound when it hits the ground out of sight.

The hand that wasn't visible before comes back with a broom, shining the flashlight directly on the teenager in the trash this time.

"I said get out! You're going to attract- raccoons-"

Their anger dissipates into shock and surprise at the sight of the strange kid, stumbling back from the dumpster.

"What the hell-?!"

Spooky

For a moment it probably looked like two flashlights were shining right back up at him. The strange kid in question had gone completely still in fright the moment the lid had lifted, but while his body could blend in with the shadows easily enough, his glowing eyes were another story entirely. He flinched when the angry-sounding human pointed the light directly at him, and the moment the man reacted, he did so as well. The shadowy figure lunged upwards, scrambling out of the box and tearing off across the small, empty employee lot, before clearing the fence on the other side of it like it was nothing.

Preoccupied with escaping the human, he didn't pay attention to where he was going until he was confronted by a rapidly approaching pair of other bright lights, followed by a loud honk that got him to leap out of the way just in time to avoid being run over. Nerves thoroughly frazzled by this point, he kept running, desperately searching for a place to hide. Apparently this place wasn't as empty as he'd thought, and with the rise of the sun it was only going to get more active as the town woke up...

Mystic

"Whoa- what-?! AHH-"

The stranger's yelling fades quickly as the kid absolutely tears ass away from the building.

He ran and ran into the darkness of the night, dodging the glaring spotlights of streetlamps and vehicles soaring past him on the roads. Startling, to say the least!

The men in lab coats would come looking for him- he knew they would. They were furious when he managed to break out of containment, the intimidating one with the ponytail the angriest of all. He knew they had flying drones with cameras- he'd seen them taking video footage of his 'training' sessions, the few times he didn't blast them out of the sky himself. He couldn't let himself be seen. Not by anyone, not by any cameras.

Solace is found only at the very edge of town, where the lights are few and the people fewer. It was late at night, now. Everybody must be asleep. The only experience he had with 'night' was whenever the ponytail man in the lab coat said it was time for him to sleep. Shortly afterwards, he would fall unconscious whether he wanted to or not. It was way past that time, now, and he didn't feel the slightest bit sleepy, all hiked up on adrenaline as he was. Nonetheless, his bones felt like they were quaking under his skin from exhaustion. Guess being tired wasn't the same thing-

-and the ground suddenly dips under his feet as he jogs along the tree line. He's sliding down a dirt hollow, into a divot in the earth. The soil was softer under his hands and butt than he expected- and as a result, he kept sliding deeper, until he slid to a stop.

...It was pitch black in here, but he could still see the entrance. He could see the back, too. Shallow, but wide. A vacant den of some kind?

Spooky

He propped himself up on his elbows, trying to take in as much of his surroundings as he could, but it was too dark in here for even the glow of his eyes to fully penetrate, and in the mostly enclosed space his anxious breathing sounded too impossibly loud for him to hear anything else over it. When nothing immediately popped out of the dark to attack, though, he carefully rolled over onto all fours and crawled around the perimeter to make sure he was alone before he finally allowed himself to relax a bit.

At the very least, he was fairly certain no drones would be able to spot him down here. They'd probably see a hole in the ground, but any random creature coulda made that, right? And humans didn't seem the type to crawl into a dirt hole in the ground. They wouldn't see him here...

There was a worried thought of 'what if whatever dug this place out came back', but everything else pointed to this being the safest place he'd found all day. There was only one way in, so no one could sneak up on him at least... Too exhausted to think of any better options, he moved over and situated himself against the back wall of the den, where he could keep an eye on the entrance. He sat there for a little while- legs curled up, his arms crossed over his knees with his chin rested in them- and did his best to keep watch, though his eyes refused to stay open for long. Exhaustion could only be fought off for so long, and there was only so much adrenaline one could burn through in a day. Within minutes, he was out like a light.

~*~

Chapter Index | Next

[so-long-soldier-writes]

Stormy Weather

kai parker x reader

summary: the rule is always the same: thirty minutes after it storms, kai can spend some time outside. that's when most people are still in their homes and it's too muddy for the children to go out yet. though this time, his father bends the rule, just a little, and lets his son out one wet, chilly afternoon. it just so happens that something bad is about to go down at that very same time, and luckily, kai is there to protect her.

tags: abusive parents, self-harm, one line about suicidal thoughts, blood, aspd / sociopathy, minor blood tasting, non-graphic violence, threats of r4pe / noncon (nothing actually happens), threats of violence, high school bullies, kai gets protective, kai loves his sister, a few cuss words, stabbing, hurt / comfort, happy-ish ending

word count: 3.3k

a/n: i made a post about this, but so many of my works lately have had dark themes; i'm going through it right now... i'm trying to write more fluffy things because i think we could all use some fluff, so if anyone has ideas, let me know! ♥

It had rained the night before. Dew is left on the grass and there is a chilliness in the October air. That afternoon, the children don’t want to put their jackets on to go outside, nor does their mother feel like cleaning them up after an hour in the yard. They opt to stay inside instead, occupied by books and puzzles. 

That’s why Kai is allowed to take a walk down to the end of the road. Usually, he could only go out moments after the storm, when it is cold, and wet, and the children are still too scared from the thunder. And while Kai loves storms, he doesn’t so much like being in them. Today is different. His parents are letting him out nearly a whole fraction of a day later. He is grateful for that, even if that choice is only a result of his siblings’ resistance. 

“Thirty minutes,” his father says, “and stay on the property.”

Kai nods. The property is huge, so that’s no problem. It accounts for a huge field, on which the house is built, a stone perimeter, a long driveway, and an edging of forest. Kai spends his time, thirty minutes per each post-storm, on every inch of the property. His favorite place, of course, being the woods. Oaks and firs ten times taller than himself create a canopy from the sun. Part of him feels like if the sun can’t see him, neither can his father. It is dark in the trees. Sticks crack as animals dodge back and forth. The woods terrify his siblings; they never go past the pine lining. 

Kai, on the other hand, goes as deep into it as he can. The extent of the property ends just enough to block out the house. As soon as the wet, darkened trunks cover the sight of the white, country-esque looking house, he sits. His butt will be moist from the ground in a couple of seconds, but he’s come to care less about that. 

A sigh escapes the boy’s lips as he stares into the great expanse before him. He’d love to explore more of it, but the fear of an active locator spell stops him. His father would never go into the woods after him, though he’d have a beating ready the moment he showed up back home. And trust him, Kai’s considered running away. He’s debated the pros and cons of trying. But when your family is a coven of witches, and the only world you know is your own property, Kai fears luck would not be on his side. 

With another sigh and a need to take his mind off things, he pulls out a switchblade. It’s funny - he had found the knife in these very woods, kicking up dirt as a pastime. His father would never let him keep it if he knew, so he buries it in a hole in the tree against which he’s leaning. Kai admires the blade; the silver that looks back at him when he wipes off the dirt. Several times he’s considered using it as an escape from his life of hell. But if the blade is too dull or proves too small, it would be a pointless, reckless attempt. 

He cuts his finger instead. Just a pin-prick on the edge of his pointer. Blood oozes and he watches it drip, down, down, down, until he touches it with his other finger. The knife is the furthest thing from clean, but Kai doesn’t care. The relief it brings is too important to him. It’s a distraction from the pain in his mind, even if he feels a jolt in his spine with every cut. 

Every cut, he thinks, bringing his attention to where to draw next. His mother would notice his wrist; his father would see his stomach. The last time, he picked his shoulder, but when his beating consisted of the man pulling him by the collar, it risked exposure. Kai scans his body, eyes eventually landing on his belt. Neither parent ever saw below it, thank god for that. 

Kai stands up, hilt of the knife in between his teeth. He unbuckles his belt quietly, acknowledging the metal clashes are the only sound echoing throughout the words. It makes him feel dirty, though he had never done that out here. Kai shakes his head to clear his mind. A drop of water drips from his head, down his cheek. He hadn’t felt it fall from the tree. It feels like a tear, though that’s an unfamiliar feeling; Kai was fourteen the last time he remembers crying. He’s eighteen now, and feels most of his emotions like a weight in his chest. They’re there, mostly in the form of nauseating pain, but he doesn’t feel anything sharply enough to cry about it. A stark contrast to his little brother, Caleb, who cries over anything and everything. 

The boy bites his cheek. He lowers his jeans just enough to find a good spot. Right below his briefs, maybe, where the skin’s not so thin he’ll bleed to death. As tempting as the thought is, a slow death isn’t the way he wants to go out, especially if he’s not sure it would kill him. Kai takes a deep breath, then readies the knife against his thigh. He starts with a small cut, but graduates at the sight of blood being released. A longer, deeper one is made directly under it. It hurts, but as the weight in his chest eases with every drop on his skin surface, he can’t stop. Kai makes a third, and then instinctively reaches out to catch a bit from his second cut before it can stain his jeans. It runs down his leg, threatening the denim that his mother would surely see in her weekly rotation of washes - the woman demands to do his. Whether that’s his father’s order or of her own accord, Kai doesn’t know. 

He stares at the blood, both that on his finger and what gathers on his thigh. He can feel the pain - a sharp stinging now, a dull throbbing later - and lets it in in place of his emotions. The heaviness in his chest is replaced by the harsh sensation, and as gruesome as it is, it’s something he much prefers. 

Kai stands still as the blood dries in the place he left it. In another minutes’ time, he’ll scrape it off, then pick his nails with his teeth. Again, dirty. Gruesome. He’s stopped caring. He’s all alone out here anyway. 

When the time comes, he does just that. Dried blood collects under his nails, and then the dark red substance meets his tongue. His taste buds are overwhelmed with the rich, metallic taste. He’s not sure if he hates it or loves it. 

At age twelve, his historical studies consisted of lore. Aunt Maggie would visit him and Jo every Tuesday and Thursday to teach them about it. The two were homeschooled, like every other child in the coven, and taught by their elders. One particular week, Aunt Maggie hit the topic of vampires. His father told her to touch it lightly. Kai overhead the reasoning, though he didn’t understand it. “The boy is a siphon,” he reminded, “we don’t need to repeat old mistakes.” 

But whatever old mistake it was, Kai wasn’t bothered. He was used to being called a mistake, and figured that’s what his father meant. Kai then listened to his Aunt tell the lore, and the stories, but that’s all he ever thought they were. Now, at eighteen, Kai still isn’t sure what he thinks. Maybe vampires are real; maybe they aren’t. Maybe they are monsters. Maybe they’re just people burdened by the pain in their lives; people who express that pain differently, and are seen as abominations for it. 

Kai wonders if that makes him one. For dealing with his pain by cutting it out of his skin. For licking his own blood when it drips from his wounds.

What would he know? He’s never seen one. 

After two more minutes, Kai finally pulls his pants back up. He starts to fumble with the belt, knife back in his mouth, when he suddenly stops. A wind blew past his ear, carrying the faint cry of a girl. He listens for a moment, but upon hearing nothing new, goes back to his previous feat. Kai turns to the tree to hide his knife. The wicked laughter of a group is heard in the distance. The shuffling of leaves. Another feminine whine. 

The pieces puzzle themselves in Kai’s mind, and he arms himself with his knife once more. To check the sound out, at the very least. To scare them off his property, maybe, or just to scare them. 

Kai treads carefully through the woods, knowing where to step to conceal his identity. A skill his new friends don’t seem to have. He approaches until he comes across a circle of boys. His age, but bulkier - better fed - and slightly taller. The way they stand looks as if they’re trying to cower over someone - a sight Kai doesn’t appreciate, having been the one forced into submission over a hundred times in his life. One rattles off an insult. Another kicks his leg out. 

“Please stop,” the broken voice of a girl he can’t see enters his ears. She’s in the circle, he supposes. Kai watches a little longer, trying to decide how the situation makes him feel. 

A boy barks in laughter at her plea. He mocks it, then bends down to grab her. With brute strength, he lifts her by her shirt collar and pins her to the tree behind her. Her hair gathers around her, bouncing from the force. Tears sting her eyes, yet she’s brave enough to not let them fall. 

“You’re not going anywhere until we’re done with you,” he says, head pointed down to her chest.

Suddenly, the girl reminds him of Jo. Beautiful, brave. Bound to end up in a situation like this, because sometimes she’s just a little too trusting. Despite their forbearance from each other’s company, Kai loves his sister. He misses her visits, when she used to sneak into his room to play when they were children. He misses her touches, those she’d steal in defiance of their father’s direct order. It wasn’t until recent years that they drifted apart. The babies took her attention away, and she slowly morphed into a daddy’s girl. Doing right by him became her mission, which meant leaving Kai behind to rot in his room alone. 

Still, Kai loves her. As best he can, at least, as he feels each emotion he ever knew bury itself inside his soul. An overwhelming darkness conceals them, blackens them, and replaces them with nothing but the dense weight. 

Another cry escapes her lips, freeing Kai from the entrancement of his memories. The boy’s hand creeps up her sides, under her shirt. Soft skin is exposed as he bunches up a handful of the material. He pulls, and his friends egg him on. They’re just as vile as he is. 

Kai gives away his position with a crack of a stick. Six pairs of eyes whip around to face him. He leans against a tree, teasing the knife between his fingers. There’s a silent standoff for a moment, until one of them speaks. 

“What are you doing here?”

“Me? This is my property. I think the better question is, ‘what are you doing here’?”

“Run along home then. This is none of your business.”

Kai cocks his head. “Who’s she?”

“Also none of your business.”

The girl locks her eyes on Kai. She stares, hoping he’ll meet her gaze. Finally, he does, and he can confirm she’s not there on her own accord. 

“Y’know, my father has a lot of rage. He won’t like knowing that little high school boys are taking advantage of young girls on his property.”

“What’s he gonna do? Shoot us?”

“Maybe.”

“What are you gonna do about it?” Another of them challenges. “He’s not here. And we could easily take you.”

Kai steps forward. As he does, the supposed leader tightens his hold on the girl. Fear flashes in her eyes like a fire. Kai isn’t threatened, though. He keeps his eye on her, while moving to stand in between the group. They all watch him cautiously. 

“Let her go.”

“No.”

“Let her go, or I’ll fucking stab you in the neck,” he replies calmly. 

The boy wavers, but doesn’t let up. “You wouldn’t.”

Kai flicks the knife in his hand again, then points it at each of the boys. “Get the fuck out of here. I’m not asking again.”

Another minute. Suddenly, one of them bolts. He races through the forest at seemingly mach speed, barreling into trees and weeds as he goes. The one that was closest to him then follows. 

“Hey!” The boy in charge yells. “You pussies!” He turns back to Kai. “You’re full of shit, I’m not afraid of you.”

Kai doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t have to - the glare in his eyes does it for him. 

“Y’know, Thomas, maybe we should go,” one of the remaining four mutters. “She isn’t worth it.”

“We’ve had this planned for weeks and you assholes are bailing because of some skinny kid with a three inch knife.”

The girl’s face pales at his words. Kai’s jaw tenses.

How easily Jo could be a target just for being beautiful. 

The boys shuffle their feet, but none of them move. Thomas, the one within spitting distance of Kai, stares back at him. A smirk curls on the edge of his lips. It’s at that moment that Kai decides he’s had enough. One graceful stride lands him close enough to jab the knife into his neck. The boy had no time to react, but does so now by releasing the girl and grabbing at the wound. His friends shriek in terror. They jump around uselessly, having no clue what to do. Kai steps back and grabs the girl before she falls. To his surprise, she lets him. Her face buries in his chest as she tries to find her own strength. 

The boy, rather stupidly, pulls out the handle and throws it at Kai’s feet. “You’re fucking crazy!” He screams, as if Kai didn’t already know that. He takes one more look at the emotionless boy, then the girl gathered in his arms, and runs off into the woods. His friends scamper after him, not wanting the same fate. In thirty seconds’ time, the woods are silent again. 

“Are you okay?” He whispers, still holding her. It’s a weird feeling to him, to have a girl in his arms. Kai isn’t sure how long he’s supposed to hold her, or comfort her. He doesn’t really know what to say, either. 

She remains quiet for a few heartbeats longer, but then nods. Her head moves against his chest until she finally looks up at him. “Thank you.”

He only looks at her. 

“Are you okay?” She asks back. 

This confuses him. “What?”

“You stabbed him.”

“Oh.” Kai shrugs. “I’m fine.”

She straightens her posture, maybe to read him better. “Not a fan of bullies, I take it? Do you have your own at school?”

“I’m homeschooled.”

“Oh.” She looks down into the fallen leaves. Her eyes trace the forest floor, and then she takes a few steps back to grab something lying in them. His knife. She hands it to him. “Well, thank you anyway.”

Kai nods. Then, for whatever reason, he gives her a small truth. “My father.”

“What?”

“Not a fan of bullies.”

“Your father? The one you mentioned, with the rage… he bullies you?”

“Something like that.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” 

She takes another step towards him. “It’s not fine.”

“There’s nothing I can do about it.”

“I understand,” she says, reaching up to brush her thumb against his cheek. Kai flinches. “I’m sorry.” Her hand recoils, but he catches it.

“Don’t apologize. I’m just not used to it.”

She then takes a seat on the forest floor, patting the spot next to her. “Sit with me?”

Kai figures he still has ten minutes before he must go home, so he does. It’s quiet for a little while. They listen to the wind in the trees and feel the chill at their backs. Both enjoy the others’ company, neither fortunate enough to have it often. 

But the girl then breaks the silence by tucking her knees into her chest. The leaves crinkle around them, and Kai’s attention shoots to her movement. 

“I can’t believe he said he was planning that for weeks,” she mutters.

“Do you know him?”

“I know of him. He’s the quarterback at my school. I’m the girl that eats alone. Why would he target me?”

“Because you’re beautiful,” Kai blurts out. She looks at him, and he suddenly wonders if that comment warrants an apology after what she’s been through. “Sorry. I meant that as, like… Not in a creepy way.” Okay, that was worse. “You remind me of my sister,” he finally says. 

“I do?”

He nods. “She’s beautiful, too, and too kind for her own good.”

“She sounds sweet. Are you guys close?”

“Not anymore.”

“Oh.” 

“My family’s kind of fucked up.”

“That makes two of us.”

Kai looks at her. It’s nice to hear that someone relates. Of course, not nice for her, but there is a comfort in knowing he’s not completely alone. 

“If those boys ever give you shit again, come back here. I live around that field at the edge of the trees. You look like Jo. My father will protect you if he sees you need help.”

She nods. “What about you? Where will you be?”

“In my room. Unless you catch me on a day where I’m allowed out.”

“Which is?”

“Thirty minutes after every storm. Because my mother doesn’t want to clean the mud off my baby brother’s clothes.”

“That’s fucked up.”

“Like I said.” He then turns to her. “But I’m serious. If they come after you, go to the field.”

“Because I look like Jo,” she confirms. 

Kai nods. 

“Thank you.” She takes a deep breath. “I should be heading back soon. My parents care less about me, but still don’t want me out late.”

“A statement to which I relate too much.”

“Will I see you again maybe? Perhaps after the next storm?”

“You’d want to see me again?” He’s for sure she’d be terrified of him after earlier events. 

“It’s not everyday a cute boy stabs my bully with a knife.” She smiles. 

“Okay.” She’s different. Not at all like he’d expect her to be, if he were to only judge her by her smile and bright, kind eyes. Of course, most people are able to hide their pain behind a well-designed mask. Only a small fraction become neck-stabbing sociopaths. 

Despite that, though, she isn’t afraid of him. If anything, she seems more curious. 

“Okay,” she beams. “Bye…”

“Kai.”

“Y/N,” she offers in return.

“Y/N,” he tastes her name on his tongue. Her eyes light up at the sound of her name reverberating off his lips.

She smiles, and then out of nowhere, leans forward to kiss his cheek. “Thank you, again, Kai. You don’t know how thankful I am that you were here.” And with that, she’s off. 

Kai stares after her in a stunned silence. Her lips still tingle on his cheek. His skin feels hot to the touch, warming him up despite the passing breeze. 

It takes a couple heartbeats for him to come back to his senses. By that time, she’s lost to the forest, gone, and only in his memories. He hikes back to his tree to put his knife back in its spot, then makes his way home. He’ll see her again, hopefully. Next storm, she’ll be there. She’ll become more than just a memory, but maybe a comfort as well. A friend. 

[self-indulgent-paw-patrol]

Paw Patrol Appreciation Week 2024

Monday - The Beginning

For my very first Paw Patrol Week, I'm picking my good boy who looks like me in every way, Rocky!

To go along with this art, I made some sort of drabble which is divided in five parts (I swear it's a coincidence with Rocky's vehicle number, I didn't plan on that XD). I'll put it under the cut because it's kinda long ahsushshshshs

Anyway I hope you like it!!

As soon as she got there and placed the bag down, five small pups perked up and came out of the shadows inside the shelter. The first one was mostly light gray in color, with nearly white paws and tail tip, sniffing the air, while the others waited just behind.

The Beginning

Lightning flashed the night sky in the town. A dark gray stray dog ran through a couple streets under the rainstorm, bringing a plastic bag in her mouth. She entered a darker alley between an old restaurant and a residential building, going to the far end of it and depositing the bag on the floor, in front of an improvised shelter made of bricks, pieces of broken furniture and some cardboard and wood planks.

“Mommy?”

“Yes, dear.” The dog smiled. “I’m sorry your mommy’s smelling funny now. Had to go look for food somewhere else. Did you take care of your siblings while I was out, like I asked?”

“I did!” The gray pup puffed up his chest, proud. “No one got lost today.”

Another lightning strike, followed by a powerful thunder roar. The pup rushed back into their shelter, terrified. “Make the rain stop!”

The other pups glanced incredulously at him. “It’s just water.”

“I don’t wanna die like…” The gray pup shut up. He didn’t wanna die like their white and brown sibling, drowning during a flood just a few days ago.

“Shh… It’s okay.” Their mom went inside and laid down, beckoning them all closer to her. “We’re safe here. You built us a very good dog house in a higher place exactly for this reason, remember? Always remember this, my dear. We’re in a no flood zone now. The water won’t reach us here.”

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

“Hey mom! Look what I found!” 

The gray pup came running across the park to meet his mom, who was lying down under one of the trees. The other pups were playing around. She looked up, curious.

“What do you have there?”

“I found this funny rock while hiding in the hide and seek game. It has a lock in it and looks like a ball! Can I keep it?”

The mother took a closer look at the rock and smiled. “Oh, it’s a geode!”

“Ah what?”

“A geode. It’s a very cool kind of treasure, here, let me show you.” She investigated the lock more closely, frowning. “Hmm, it’s really closed. Do you think you can find a way to open this lock?”

“Sure!” The gray pup grinned and ran away. “I’ll be back soon!”

A few minutes later, he was back holding an old worn out screwdriver in his mouth. With a determined look, he picked at the lock with it until they heard a clicking sound and the geode opened in half.

That was the most beautiful thing the pup had ever seen! Inside the rock, there were so many green crystals, shining in the sunlight.

“Sometimes, nature plays pranks on us.” His mom chuckled. “Just like this. If anyone would look, they’d just see a round rock. But inside, it’s hiding a cool shiny treasure.”

“Like how people look at you and think you’re just a stray dog but have no idea you’re the best mom ever?” He grinned, earning a laugh from her. 

“Or maybe like you, who is actually so much smarter and more intelligent than most dogs I’ve ever known, and you’re not even six months old yet.”

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

“Pups, we need to go.”

They found it weird. Their mother seemed scared. What could be bad enough to make her scared?

The gray pup stepped up ahead of the others. “What’s happening?”

“I heard the restaurant owner talking on the phone just a minute ago. He’s calling animal control. Quick, we need to get away from here now!”

“What’s animal control?” A black and white pup asked, confused.

“It’s a car with bad people. They capture dogs and other animals on the streets, and take them away. No one ever escaped after being captured. We never saw anyone coming back alive.”

That made all five pups share a startled glance. The gray pup jumped out of the shelter and turned to the others. “Come on! We already lost our sister, we can’t let them take us now too!”

All pups and their mother were about to leave from their alley, when a van stopped just in front of them and two men stepped out, staring at them.

“I think these are the dogs we gotta catch today?” One asked, picking up a long stick with a lasso on one end of it.

“Mostly pups. This will be easy.” The other replied, holding up a net. “You catch the mother, I’ll get the pups.”

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

It had been five days and the gray pup was almost giving up. After being the only one to narrowly escape capture, he had run until he was out of the town, hiding in the woods. Without trash bins or dumpsters around, he had no idea where to look for food…

He kept walking until he found a dirt road.

“Maybe this will take me to another town.” He considered. “I can find food there…”

Now he was so weak already, and there was still no sign of another town anywhere near! Sometimes he had to get out of the road to not get hit by eventual cars driving by. More than twice he had to hide from hungry eagles or bears. He couldn’t continue like this…

The sun was so strong. He stopped walking and sat down on the dry grass beside the road. Looking up, he thought he saw something in the distance… Maybe another town? He couldn’t be sure, his vision was so distorted now. With a heavy sigh, he collapsed to the ground and closed his eyes. That was it…?

The last thing he heard was the noise of yet another vehicle passing by… But this one stopped.

He heard a dog barking.

And then, nothing.

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

The first thing he felt was… Cold.

No, not really. He wasn’t cold. He felt… Refreshed…? How was that possible?

Slowly, he opened his eyes.

He was lying on some kind of… Cooling mat? Daring to lift his head, he looked around.

He seemed to be in a big room. The walls were decorated with silhouettes of pups, bones and paw prints. Some colorful big pillows and beanbags were scattered on the floor. Just in front of him, there was a bowl filled with–

“Water!” He rasped as he hurried to crawl over and just dive his snout in the bowl, drinking it like there was no tomorrow. So fresh and clean, much unlike the rain puddles from where he last drank the day before! They tasted so bad and were so hot under the sun…

“Oh, you’re awake!”

This other voice startled the pup and he sat up, looking to the direction it came from.

Another pup approached, coming through the front door. He had brown fur, with light caramel colored face, underbelly and paws. This pup was soon followed by two others, one was white with a few black spots and the other was entirely cream colored and smaller than the first two.

The gray pup felt scared. What if it was their home and he wasn’t supposed to be here…?

The brown pup stopped his approach, keeping a bit of a distance from him. The other two watched curiously from both his sides, as he spoke again with a smile.

“You don’t need to be afraid! We’re not gonna hurt you. This water is for you, we figured you’d be thirsty when you would wake up.”

“... Where am I?”

“You’re in the Lookout tower of the Paw Patrol!” The spotted pup spoke now too, wagging his tail. “It’s our home! Isn’t it cool?”

“I was running an errand with Ryder, our owner, when we found you by the roadside.” The brown pup explained. “You passed out and seemed very weak. How are you feeling now?”

“... A bit better.” The gray pup eyed the water bowl. “Is it really for me…?”

“Yes. There’s more if you want.”

“Are you hungry too?” The spotted pup asked him, but didn’t wait for an answer. “I’ll get some snacks!”

They watched as the pup rushed to a food dispenser on the far opposite side of the room and pressed a button, making the food come out in another bowl. Then he pushed this bowl with dog food and placed it next to the water one, with a big smile. The gray pup looked up at them with relief and tried the food.

It tasted… So good?? He avidly went down on it, earning a chuckle from the spotted pup, who now backed away to give him space and sat down beside the brown pup again.

“My name is Chase.” The brown pup spoke again. “These are Marshall and Skye. What’s your name?”

“Name…?” The pup paused eating, thoughtful.

It just occurred to him that he didn’t have a name. Coming to think of it, he never knew his mother’s name either, only ever calling her “mom”, “mommy”, and so on.

But he couldn’t leave them hanging. A name…

Then he remembered something.

That special rock with green crystals he had found. He liked it so much. It was one of the things he missed the most after having to run away from his hometown, aside from his family.

“... My name is… Rocky.”

[trafficlife]

Dance Among the Embers (Revisit a Life I Still Remember)

Even though the Relation had burned, Joel and Etho's relationship became stronger in spite of it all.

And, because of it all, Etho finally understands why the universe made them soulmates.

word count: 1647

ao3 link

Etho had done this dance before, with the fervent flames as his stage. 

It happened so long ago but watching the Relation burn down brought back so many memories. Memories of a simpler time, when nobody expected to return for another round, much less two.

And Etho wasn’t usually one to dwell in the past. But the similarities were so uncanny, that it almost felt scripted.

****

It was a beautiful tree Etho had built in the center of the village. 

It was a dark oak tree, considered a rarity in this world, and Etho was so proud of his work. He didn’t think anyone would dare to burn it down the very first week.

That was his first mistake.

If given a match, almost every contestant would light it and throw it away, to let “nature” take its course. And usually, “nature” directed itself toward another contestant’s most precious symbol.

Something changed inside Etho, as he watched his tree disintegrate. He was bitter and cold and vengeance was making a nice home in his brain. But he didn’t take it too far. Apart from a few shenanigans, he knew to keep it cool. He knew how to play but, perhaps if he were smarter, he could've won. 

****

Etho glanced back at their work, lighting up in pride. "The ship burns, everything burns," Joel had declared. And he was certainly true to his word. The server had completely dissolved into flames, smoke, and embers billowing in the air. The wildfire spread fast, leaving nothing but destruction and ashes in its path. 

It was breathtaking.

Etho never felt so good being red. And he had Joel to thank for that. Joel earned a reputation for being unstable and violent, always bloodthirsty but never satisfied, desiring to cause as much mayhem as he could.  

The soulbond always united their emotions. But their current status amplified their emotions tenfold and Etho never felt Joel so intensely before. He never felt his soulmate's emotions like this. All the thoughts of vengeance and fire and bloodlust were as overwhelming as it was enticing. Joel would continue to play with fire, even if it meant getting burned, and Etho would follow him to the end of the game, to the ends of this world, even if he burned as well.

Some would call Joel reckless. Etho calls him beautiful.

They returned to the remains of their ship, the smell of burning dark oak lingering in the air. Etho watched Joel the entire time. Actually, it was more accurate to say Etho was admiring him. 

Joel's nails were painted with dried blood and his ruby red eyes were wide. There was a permanent maniacal look in his eyes, an indicator of his diminishing sanity. As terrifying as they were, Etho couldn't help getting lost in them, lost in Joel's presence as a whole. He drank in the sight of his partner, his soulmate, standing there like a God with the flames of his havoc in the background, and Etho was down here, worshipping him, and—

And… Man, was Etho in love with him.

Joel rolled up his sleeves, to reveal faint burns on his arms, and crafted additional flints and steels. Etho had seen the burns several times. Sometimes, he’d absent-mindedly take Joel’s hand and gently brush his thumb over the wounds, mostly for comfort. He didn’t think anything of the burns at first, just that they hadn’t completely disappeared from the previous games. But suddenly, his mind was racing with thoughts and more memories from the past. However, it was Joel's thoughts that Etho was seeing now.

This… Never happened before. 

Memories were seldom shared between soulmates. This only happened if they had an inseparable bond, outside of the tether that connected their lives. 

(Etho’s heart skipped not just beats, but an entire symphony at the implications of that. But if Joel felt that too, it was only the adrenaline and not the shared sensations.)

****

Joel was surrounded by the fire, his roof encased in an inferno. His skin was already scorched from his first death, red and covered with welts that hadn’t completely healed. But he couldn’t escape the fire. He couldn’t put it out fast enough. And he couldn’t heal fast enough. Actually, he couldn’t heal at all. He was too focused on putting out the fire, despite his roof already being a lost cause. Wherever he turned,  there was another flame to step into. 

Below Joel, watching the entire spectacle with a satisfied smirk on their face was Cleo, who was satisfied at first, until Joel mistepped and burst into flames. And he came back, like a phoenix rising from his ashes, but he was one step closer to his grave. 

Joel couldn’t believe that this was all over a missile, that didn’t even work as intended—

Wait. A missile?

Oh. Oh.

That was Etho’s fault, wasn’t it?

It was Etho's plan to fire a missile at the Crastle. He got Joel roped into it. The missile was disarmed before it could set off but Cleo was still furious. Like Joel, Cleo enjoyed playing with fire but was better at not getting burned. Like Etho, Cleo knew how to stay frosty but she was better at winning. Unlike the two of them, however, Cleo knew when to stop getting revenge.

Joel and Etho didn't know when to stop. They didn't want to stop. They'd put an end to this when the universe puts an end to their relationship. And Etho hoped that wouldn't happen for a long time.

“I know what you’re thinking, Etho.” Joel’s voice snapped Etho out of his thoughts. Now that his bloodlust was satisfied (for now), he sounded much gentler and his voice was softer. “Thinking about the burns you gave me, right?”

“Well- Yeah.” Etho walked over to Joel and took his hand, gently running his fingers over the burns. They melted into his skin so well but they didn’t diminish his beauty in any way, shape, or form. In fact, they only enhanced it.“I don’t think I ever apologized for causing them.”

Joel smirked. “Don’t have to. I got burned so many times, it’s honestly ridiculous. Remember Dare to Flare?” 

Etho chuckled, shaking his head. “Well, you gotta give it to Tango. He knew how to make it sound enticing.” 

“He did, he did. And, well, you know me. Always looking for a little danger to spice things up.”

Etho raised a brow, intertwining his fingers with Joel’s. “Maybe that’s why I’m your soulmate,” he hummed, “since I’m so dangerous.”

“Yeah, right…” Joel leaned his head against Etho’s chest, the flames from afar continuing to spread and inch closer to them. “I think I’m the dangerous one here. Dangerous and tall and handsome—”

“And crazy,” Etho interrupted. “You are literally up to my chest right now.”

Joel rolled his eyes. “You could at least pretend. Plus, you can’t say you don’t find my craziness at least”— he rested his hand on Etho’s shoulder—“A little attractive.”

Etho shrugged, mischief glinting in his eyes. “Maybe I do, maybe I don’t.” He lightly grasped Joel’s hip, taking a step backward. Joel reciprocated, a grin slowly appearing on his face. His eyes glittered slightly, like polished gemstones in the light, and Etho’s heart fluttered at the sight. 

They swirled around, the flames in the distance catching up to them. The fire was their stage and, as opposed to succumbing to it, they controlled it, together. It was a dance with death, but Etho and Joel were taking the lead. They’d take this world, hollow it out, and burn its remains while dancing on its ashes. Etho never thought he wanted this. Then again, he never thought he wanted Joel. But the universe proved him wrong.

And he didn’t mind that. 

Etho couldn’t keep his eyes off Joel. He didn’t want to because how had he spent these past few games, not giving Joel anything more than a second glance? How did it take him this long to notice Joel, to notice how seamlessly they worked together? And how could he not admit that he loved Joel, that he’d do anything he asked of him?

Void, did Etho fall for Joel. But he didn’t just fall hard. He fell directly onto bedrock.

Lost in a daze, Etho leaned down to kiss him but was stopped by Joel’s finger. “What, did you forget about the mask?” Joel asked, lips curled up into a smirk.

Ah, right. Etho forgot to take off his mask so often, it was as though it became a part of him.

“Yes, I did,” Etho said as he pulled down his mask. “But you distracted me.”

“Ah! So you do find me attractive!”

“I didn’t say that.”

“I think you did.”

Etho tilted his head, slowly closing the gap between them. “I haven't made my case yet.”

“You don’t have to. I already won, just by being my intelligent and handsome sel—” Joel was interrupted by Etho’s lips, pressing against his own. Etho smirked against Joel’s lips. The message was clear: I’m the winner here. 

And Etho had won, as cheesy as it sounds. Though the Relation ship was reduced to ash, their literal relationship felt stronger and more fortified than before. And to Etho, that was a better prize than making it to the end of this game. Now, don’t get him wrong, winning would be nice. But even if their allies backstabbed them, even if they burned together because that was their destiny at this point… That didn’t matter to him.

What mattered was that they were still together, still strong.

And they were both aware that, as the captains, they would both go down with the ship. As long as they went down together, and took the world down with them… it would still be a perfect ending to their story.

[lets-try-some-writing]

After seeing the post where OP is arguing with Unicron (whose his real dad in that au) all I can think of is how bizarre this would look to the humans especially because I don’t envision OP arguing in English but rather whatever dialect of Cybertronian comes most naturally so Fowler and the kids are just hearing OP make angry garbage compactor noises at a tree for an hour in the distance. Or how deranged it would look if Unicron picked a lady bug and landed on OP hand and so it just looks like he’s screaming at his own hand unprovoked.

Pfft. That would be really funny. Now I have no choice but to write about it. However this is probably going to be somewhat angsty considering the previous part of this au.

Off-putting Sounds

Optimus's relationship with his creator is... strained to say the least. He appreciates that his father made him and cares for him, but he is not the biggest fan of Unicron's desire to see everything destroyed. Even when returned to his base nature, Optimus has no desire to see earth burn since HIS humans live on its surface and require its resources to survive. As such his "talks" with his creator are anything but civil.

Even before Unicron fully awoke, Optimus could feel his father's presence and the thrum of his spark. He could sense Unicron's desires and wishes, often leading him to be unable to hear his own thoughts with Unicron's overwhelming him on bad days. On such occasions he tended to go out somewhere private and scream into the void, letting out all of his frustrations and demanding his creator shut up and leave him alone. Of course Unicron could not hear him, but it brought Optimus a degree of comfort anyway to be able to yell without fear of retribution. And since the team never followed or bothered him on such excursions, Optimus didn't worry much about his habit.

However after Unicron began to wake and he had to go force his father to return to his slumber, also causing Optimus's identity to be revealed with a great deal of fanfare, things changed a bit. After the initial reveal, tensions were high in base as the team struggled to figure out how they were supposed to feel about their leader. And so to vent his frustrations and deal with his far more volatile emotions due to his father's partial waking, Optimus left to go vent his frustrations more often.

At first his ravings were always loud and angry, cursing Unicron for waking, for revealing his identity, and for ruining the life he had built. Those times Unicron never talked back, merely allowing his creation to cry, leaving the chaos god guilty beyond measure as he saw his son's tears of anguish. The children only saw Optimus's angered raving once when they wandered through the groundbridge behind him with the intent to comfort him. However just that one time was enough for them to see how much the Prime was suffering. While yes, his rather terrifying screams in Cybertronian were frightening at first, they could see just how upset he was as he cried out. Optimus only noticed them long after he had fallen silent, exhausted from everything. He returned them to base without a word and left for his quarters too tired to even explain himself. The children didn't begrudge him that.

After a few months of the prolonged agony that was his ostracization, Optimus's ravings became calmer. He was till angry, lost, and upset, but no longer as vengeful. He began to take comfort in knowing his father could hear him as he left for quiet places on earth to vent. In response to his calmer approach, Unicron began to answer his sparkling's pleas. Controlling the body of an organism, he would communicate with Optimus using the creature as a vessel. When Unicron used plants, they pulsated purple as dark energon flooded them, causing them to grow large enough for the dark god to wrap branches or vines around his son in a hug of sorts. And when animals were used the creatures always died in the end, but while they lived Unicron had them rest on Optimus's frame to serve as a comforting presence. He rarely actually spoke through his highjacked avatars for fear of outright killing them, but when he did, it always comforted Optimus immensely.

Optimus: They hate me father. It does not matter what I have done for them, they look at me in fear and disgust.

Unicron: Precious creation of mine, do not heed their words or take note of their actions. No matter what they say, know you are loved, if by no other being than me.

His conversations with Unicron became special to him, so much so that he began spending more time away from base than within. When he was required at base it felt suffocating with the glares and fearful stares that were thrown his way from his team and the grown humans. To cope Optimus began bringing Unicron's vessels back to base with him. He couldn't leave for too long, not while the Autobots still needed his leadership and wisdom. So depending on the day and the circumstances, sometimes a small insect would remain on his shoulder, too small for most bots to notice as Unicron used it to whisper assurances to his sparkling. Other times a cat or another small creature was brought into base under the guise of being a rescue or something of the like (must to Arcee's disgust as she was now sure Optimus's kindness was all a hoax). The small organic creature was always sat upon Optimus's work station, hissing at the passing bots and resting on Optimus's plating as a kind reminder of the simple fact that he was loved.

House plants also began to appear in the base, usually around the console but with the odd one or two appearing the middle of the base in a large pot. They were always exotic in origin and covered in all sorts of different scents and chemicals to hide the dark energon flowing through them. No others could feel the waves of Unicron's essence that radiated off the plants since the dark energon within was miniscule, but Optimus could. He always took comfort in the feeling of his father's field, no matter how diluted it was as the team drew further and further away from him.

With time, Optimus simply stopped caring about hiding his abilities and origins. It was an open secret, the team knew the truth and they hated him for it. Optimus felt little remorse as he openly began conversing with the creatures he brought in and the plants he kept maintained in pots. His mutterings were quiet at first and only really spoken around the children who tended to watch in interest as the plants wrapped around his digits or the creatures responded to his words with frightening intelligence. But as the months ticked by, Optimus grew more bold, opening chatting with his father's vessels as no one aside from the children dared speak to him for more than a minute at a time. His loneliness overcame any other desire he might have had for subtly.

Optimus: *unicron's cat vessel knocking a pot over* Father! Please keep control of your vessel!

Arcee: *shocked and fearful* What the frag-!

Optimus: *raising his voice* By Primus, are you so old you can't keep your vessels in line?!

The whole team: *stops to watch in growing fear and confusion*

Unicron: *speaking through his spark bond to optimus using the cat as a medium* I will have you know that I am perfectly in control of my vessel. I simply had no desire to stop it from knocking over the pot.

Optimus: *vaguely irritated angry garbage compactor noises* You are the worst.

The team: What just happened?!?!

The children did not understand a word of what was going on, but they began to find it downright hilarious to watch as Optimus began yelling at whatever vessel Unicron was using over the smallest inconvenience. He tripped? The sound of shredding metal echoed through the base as Optimus cussed out his creator. He had to fight with Megatron? Somewhat terrifying gunfire sounding grumbles followed the Prime as he grabbed the nearest plant and shook it like it owed him money. He had a particularly bad day of being ignored and glared at by the team? The sound of something akin to a jet engine combined with a kettle squealing filled the main part of the base as Optimus raged as whatever vessel Unicron was using as he held it in his servo.

It was terrifying for everyone besides the children who rapidly got used to Optimus's methods of letting off steam, even joining in at time and blaming Unicron for everything as they went about their day. While it was a bit over the top, they did it nonetheless as it always got a faint smile out of the Prime, an increasingly rare event with the team avoiding him like the plague. June and Fowler were less than pleased with the children hanging around Optimus more and more, but did not do anything for fear of having Optimus lose his composure. He would never hurt them, but their fear remained despite that.

[may--hawk]

Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd (ineffable remix)

XXIV. Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd - Lana Del Ray

When’s it gonna be my turn? / Open me up, tell me you like me

One of the first things Aziraphale does when he gets up to Heaven is request access to the Earth observation files. It’s terrifying how expansive they are. He can see back through time, all the way to Eden. He can see the Flood, which he’d hoped to never see again. Can see inside a palace in the sixteenth century with lovely dark tapestries and lurking shadows. Can see altogether too much of a park in the late nineteenth century where he and Crowley argue. Can see the bombed-out remains of a church, and an angel standing in its ruins like a stunned statue. From up in Heaven, Aziraphale can look at all the wonders of the world, even those long lost to time and buried. He can see inside the pyramids, can see the gardens of Babylon. He can see all the way down to the bottom of the oceans, littered with skeletal shipwrecks haunted by the strangest of Her creatures, unsettling fish and beasts flickering through the waters, and Aziraphale wonders, do they know fear? Do they want? Do they love?

Aziraphale can see everything from his vantage point in Heaven, and it terrifies him. He’d been right all along. They’d been watched constantly, or could have been, or could still be. He’d been right to be afraid, or perhaps, he thinks, raising a hand to his lips, a hand that is now almost entirely steady, perhaps he’d been wrong, too. Because if the files are this expansive, then he and Crowley had been doomed from the start. They should’ve done it anyway. They could’ve done anything they wanted. They always were going to be seen, always going to be parted.

Aziraphale looks, and he sees vast paddies of rice, sees rolling green mountains, sees arid deserts. He’s looking for Crowley, of course. Except in every place he looks, every place he thinks Crowley might be - sprawled out on the sofa in the bookshop, or terrorizing the plants in Kew Gardens, or drinking at the little bar he’d loved just down the street and pretended not to - Crowley’s not there. He knows Crowley’s still down on Earth somewhere, knows that for all his talk, he won’t leave Earth, not now. Not without Aziraphale. So Aziraphale keeps looking, and looking. From up here, everywhere he looks he seems to see humans in love: sees them walking down the street and holding hands, sees them making love, sees them doing small little things for each other or weeping over a grave or…

When he finally finds Crowley, he’s in the Garden. Aziraphale’s not wholly surprised. Of course Crowley had found a way through the walls Aziraphale had sealed up at God’s direction. Crowley had always known how to get through Aziraphale’s walls. Goats turned into crows. A long draught of laudanum. A bagful of rescued books. Crowley’s slumped against the Tree of Knowledge, his long legs bent, his head in this hands. A dark streak on the bright grass, a snake in Paradise. And Aziraphale watches, and something aches in his chest, something that has started only recently, something he knows will not stop, perhaps not ever, not now that it has been released.

Aziraphale is very, very good at walls. He had built the first wall. She had tasked him with it, and he had built the walls of Eden much like Crowley had built his nebula. Aziraphale had completed it according to her instructions, and then stepped back, confused, because it wasn’t complete, not yet.

The strongest walls are finished over time, She had said to him.

And oh, he learned how right She was. He had watched humans love for millennia, from the very first, and he had wanted. Oh, that was his failing, what made him a bad angel, what profaned his very soul. It wasn’t the disobedience, wasn’t the forsaken sword, wasn’t the fraternizing with the enemy. It was the want, the need, the suggestion that She wasn’t enough, that there was something else he lacked. Over hundreds of years, thousands, even, he had penned up his longing, terrified at what it might suggest, terrified at its enormity. And Crowley spent just as long slowly chipping at it, testing it with a chisel all over, lightly, for faults. And for a terribly long time he hadn’t found any. Aziraphale had enjoyed it, perversely, had rejoiced in the unfailing strength of his walls, thinking them infallible, strong enough to withstand anything. And inside those walls his want, his longing, his love, had festered like a disease, something awful and ruinous, and Aziraphale had not known it himself, because his walls were so high, and so strong, that even he could not see in.

And then Crowley had found the weak spot after all, had crossed the bookshop in one long desperate movement and had struck out, his mouth on Aziraphale’s, his shoulders, under Aziraphale’s hands, trembling very slightly, and Aziraphale’s walls had come tumbling down in one blow, the entire thing structurally unsound all this time, a danger to all standing around it. And now here Aziraphale is, expose in his wants, his desire a raw wound, and what can he do with it now? It bleeds from him, seeping, like an ocean. Limitless, vast, full of terrible, unknown things. And always, all this time, there.

Also on Ao3 at:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/52878844/chapters/139815103

[sparkles-and-trash]

some dabihawks lovechildren fluff ~

To begin with, Touya was the nervous wreck.

With all his baggage and trauma he was terrified of transfering that to innocent kids.

Keigo was always calm, sure it was gonna be a-okay!

…until he actually like, held the twins.

Saw their tiny faces, held their little hands, he had a full blown «holy shit these are real humans I have to care for» moment that makes him a little crazy.

Touya however, regresses right back into his big brother years.

He loves being silly with them, throwing them in the air, making them giggle so heard they’re out of breath.

Everytime Keigo reads up on parenting books and forums and goes into a bit of a frenzy, Touya likes to remind him that;

«Hey, look at how fucked up our childhood was, and we turned out fine!»

…which used to make Keigo being up the villain and child solider point, but he gives up on that during the twins’ first year.

Keigo spends four years running around after the twins telling them to watch out, be careful, wear their helmets, don’t fly without supervision, to take care of each other, all without realizing how crazy he’s being.

Then they decide to build the twins a tree house.

It starts out with Touya and Keigo doing it together, but after Touya nearly killed Keigo five times within the first hour because of how helpless he is with tools, it ends up with Natsuo coming over and helping Keigo out.

Keigo goes into full on project mode, and Natsuo likes Keigo, and he loves his niece and nephew, so he hangs on the best that he can.

After three days the little birdhouse, as Natsuo likes to call it, is finished, and the kids are so excited they can hardly stay on the ground.

When they finally arrive to the scene, Touya has to excuse himself for a solid five minutes to get his laughter under control.

Keigo built their kids a tree house.

On the ground.

Well, it’s maybe two or three feet off the ground, but it’s hardly a tree house of any kind.

The kids are still happy as can be, they hadn’t really known what to expect anyway, and Natsuo has to explain how the hours started up actually in the tree, but got moved a little closer to the ground three times a day.

He’d try to talk Keigo out of it, but he quite honestly found the whole thing funny as hell.

Touya doesn’t have the heart to tell either Keigo or the kids how ridiculous it is to have a tree house on the ground, especially since all three of them can fly, so he just lets them have their fun.

When the twins gets a little older and brings friends over, some of them like to make some comments about the «ground house», but the twins always defends it so hard the other kids give up.

After all, were their tree houses buildt by the former no 2 hero???

Didn’t think so.

[hezzabeth]

"I don't think that's it. Here, let me show you something," Revati said, gesturing for her sister to follow.

Dityaa, who always found silence terrifying, spent the brief walk chattering away.

"I don't know if I should continue things with the Duke; he is adorable and very sweet, but I've been stabbed and bruised," Dityaa said, more to herself than to Revati.

"Exactly," Revati agreed.

"Of course, it would be nice to live in a romantic villa with a wardrobe filled with gowns," Dityaa added, touching her dress.

"You do love gowns, and that one is starting to look a bit shabby," Revati smirked.

"Don't judge me for liking feminine things! You act like a warlord but you still make lipstick out of ash and oil," Dityaa snapped back.

"I don't judge you for being girly! I judge you because you spend your life acting like one of the drunk moths hanging around our lampposts," Revati argued as they turned a corner.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Dityaa demanded.

"You go to balls and seduce dukes, ignoring the fact we are trapped here for the rest of our lives!" Revati said. It was something she had thought many times but never said. Mars had been long ago terraformed in pockets with massive stretches of freezing wilderness between countries and settlements. Older Landon had been built miles away from the nearest city in the middle of an AI machine zone. The only way to reach the park was, of course, by driving or on a high-speed floating train.

"I don't ignore it; I remember more than you do! I remember us running towards the gates trying to get the last train out! I remember watching people leave the park on foot thinking they could walk to the city," Dityaa replied. Sometimes, the Hardi brothers would discover the old bodies of tourists frozen solid in the wasteland. They would, of course, rob them and then rush back towards the park before night fell. Sometimes late at night, Revati could see the distant city lights. It didn't change the fact it was still a day's walk away.

"What's that?" Dityaa suddenly asked, stopping her tirade.

Dityaa had spotted the Android.

"I have no idea; it said it was looking for its daughter," Revati admitted as Dityaa stooped down at the Android curiously.

"Daughter? Can androids have a baby?" Dityaa asked.

"I suspect it was a human using the Android as a surrogate. The voice didn't sound like an AI appliance," Revati admitted.

"It looks familiar, doesn't she?" Dityaa asked.

"It looks exactly like the portrait of the lost princess in Whistleton," Revati said as Dityaa carefully touched the Android's face.

"No, it's more than that," Dityaa said in a soft dreamy voice.

Revati merely leaned down, grabbing the Android's broken legs.

"Go get the balloon cart and push it back here," Revati said.

"You're not thinking of taking it back home, are you? Amma will kill you," Dityaa protested.

"Obviously I'm bringing it back! I need answers," Revati snapped back, and Dityaa marched off.

The second she vanished around the corner, the Android's metal eyes fluttered. Its hand tried to grab Revat's wrist before falling dead once more.

******

A forest had engulfed Baker Street. A romantic, sunlit forest with twisting trees covered in puffy, bright yellow blossoms bursting from upturned cobblestones. Dotted among them were smaller, dark trees heavy with bunches of magenta berries. Two of the feral children had already attacked the berries, their lips a deep purple.

Dityaa stopped helping Revati with the popcorn cart and started skipping towards the children. Revati sneezed loudly as the pollen hit her nose. She hated to admit it, but it was all rather pretty.

A few feet away, Brigadeiro was working outside the greenhouse along with the school students and Dusk. Mrs. Gupta was glaring at them with firm disapproval. “Does that fool have any idea how much water plants use?” She grumbled to Revati, who was pushing the cart towards everyone.

“I told you, Mrs. Gupta, these are all drought-resistant native Australian plants,” Brigadeiro replied as he stooped over an upturned cobblestone, spraying the mud below. There was a faint rustling sound, and a bush burst from the earth. The bush had peculiar finger-like mint-green leaves. Seconds later, it was covered in hot pink fleshy fruit.

“They look like your hair,” Revati remarked, faintly startled by the entire thing. “Here, try one,” Brigadeiro replied, picking a piece of fruit and handing it to Revati.

“I was only gone for less than an hour! You’ve turned the entire street into a jungle” Revati pointed out.

[bespectacled-bookwyrm]

Some Colress Headcanons!

I saw some posted by @colress-commodore-enterprises and was inspired to write some of my own!

Colress squeaks when he's startled or flustered.

He is the second of three siblings: Lusamine is the eldest, Colress is the middle child, and Darach is the youngest.

Cynthia is his cousin; they get on very well.

Colress has long hair! It's mostly straight, but it does curl a bit at the ends. It falls to around his mid-back, but most people don't know about it because Colress usually ties it into a very low ponytail and stuffs it down the back of his shirt, along with brushing his fringe back.

Contrary to popular belief, his blue loopy is completely natural! Colour AND loop! It's a genetic quirk from his maternal side of the family.

Although absolutely terrible at looking after himself, Colress is absolutely amazing with children.

For whatever reason, Colress seems to trigger an instinctive feeling of safety in children. It's to the point where lost kids will approach him for help rather than the very-visible police officer.

On a particularly memorable occasion, Colress took a nap under the shade of a tree and woke up to being used as a pillow by a bunch of sleepy five-year olds.

Colress has quite the sweet tooth! Although fond of most sweets, his favourites are sherbet lemons.

He has been called a human Delcatty on several occasions. Colress didn’t understand why until Rosa showed him the 'Dex entries for said Pokémon.

He has quite a few scars, some larger than others. They're mostly from his experiments or machine mishaps, but he has a horizontal scar across his throat, courtesy of the Shadow Triad.

He is distressingly good at hiding his problems and/or when he needs help. The most notable instance of this was during his tenure as a scientist for Team Plasma. No one had picked up on the pit of apathy and loathing (directed both inwards and towards Plasma, especially Ghetsis) he had fallen into until Rosa all but kicked down his door and dragged the truth out of him.

He prefers to do the "Forehead Bonk of Love" to show Grimsley affection over kissing. He will, provided he's in the mood for it, but he greatly prefers the Forehead Bonk. Naturally, the Delcatty comparisons increased immensely.

Out of the entirety of Team Plasma, he only got on with (and liked) four of them: Aldith, Barret, Schwarz, and Weiss.

He struck up a delicate bond with Ghetsis' Hydreigon. Said Pokémon is now in his care and is basically a house pet. A very intimidating, very traumatised house pet, but a house pet nonetheless.

To Grimsley’s surprise, despite being abysmal at poker, Colress has a terrifying amount of luck when it comes to games that rely purely on luck. As in, win the roulette five times in a row lucky.

Grimsley jokingly calls him a lucky charm and has managed to coax Colress into joining him as an observer for his poker games in the hopes of his luck rubbing off on him. So far, the evidence is inconclusive.

Colress can't bake to save his life. The only baked good he can make is apple pie, and even then it has a 50-50 chance of going catastrophically wrong.

On the other hand, he is a brilliant cook!

Rosa sees him as a father figure, and he in turn sees her a daughter.

Colress LOVES plants. He's an avid gardener, and an anonymous someone keeps on entering him into gardening competitions. Not that he's complaining TOO much; the winnings provide some nice extra income.

It took a long time for him to stop flinching at the sound of someone walking with a cane.

Although very honest about what he did in Team Plasma, he is incredibly reluctant to reveal his personal experiences working for them. Looker can only assume they weren’t good; that scar along his throat is particularly telling.

Colress is actually a very anxious person; he's just very good at hiding it.

He gets on remarkably well with Looker. They inevitably butt heads over some things, but Colress can easily call the man a friend.

Despite being built like a noodle, Colress is stronger than he looks!

Colress used to babysit Lillie and Gladion for Lusamine, back when they were tiny.

He and Darach get along quite well. It's just that they're both so quiet and introverted that people think they're ignoring each other.

He and Lusamine bicker the most; it's usually friendly ribbing or silly spats, but sometimes things can turn nasty. They still love each other regardless.

Colress hums or quietly sings when he's happy during his work. The Frigate never had the luxury of hearing this.

When he squeaks, Colress can sound remarkably similar to squeaky Pokémon toys. On several occasions, Grimsley and Rosa have had to extract the man from underneath the fluffy excitement of their Houndoom and Arcanine.

He and Schwarz once made an unholy concoction they called "The Insomnia Shot". There's so much caffeine in it that only people with the highest tolerance can drink it, and only out of shot glasses. After being kept awake for four days, crashing, and sleeping for a week, the two vowed to never let its recipe see the light of day again.

I may add more as they occur to me.

They were fun to write, too!

[scribefindegil]

HI I LOVED the new chapter- can you talk about Serizawa a little bit? Is it that his anxiety is fending off the effects of the broccoli since he wanted to take Tsubomi’s request immediately or is it that Reigen’s behavior is reminding him of Suzuki and he doesn’t like that? He’s very interesting to me in this situation

(Also the way Reigen’s anger and panic is what finally tipped him over to Remembering because the brainwash is overcome by strong emotions- just So Good)

I'm so glad you liked the chapter!!

Serizawa's super interesting here because he's VERY susceptible to what Dimple calls "the passion of the masses;" I sometimes see speculation that he would have resisted the power of the broccoli because his psychic powers are so strong, but I think this is a bad read. Serizawa cares a lot about fitting into society, and he often doesn't feel like he has enough lived experience to trust his own judgment. Divine Tree takes place only a month or so after World Domination, so he's very much still adjusting to living on his own, and while he's starting to make his own decisions, he has a tendency to look to authority--Mob, Reigen, the business books his mom gave him--to provide structure and guidance. So when suddenly everyone in the city is exerting huge social pressure to care about the Divine Tree and the Psycho Helmet Religion, he's going to be swept along in that. His anxiety, rather than protecting him, just makes him more susceptible.

So why doesn't he speak up in defense of the Psycho Helmet Religion earlier in the chapter? Because of Reigen. I wanted to follow through with the way that Reigen's brainwashing manifests in canon; instead of becoming an outright devotee of the broccoli, the mind control just makes him complacent. He stops seeing the Divine Tree and its cultists as the threat that they are, and instead sees them as just a bunch of people having harmless fun. Nothing to worry about. And this is terrifying to me in its own way and makes him incapable of taking Tsubomi seriously when she shows up, but it also means that one of Serizawa's main authority figures has been advocating for complacency instead of devotion. That's why I included this bit:

Reigen grins. Gotcha. “But I don’t even like the Psycho Helmet Religion!” he says. “I’ve been complaining about how little business we’ve been getting now that everyone’s off having fun with the broccoli, haven’t I Serizawa?”

So basically before Tsubomi's visit, Serizawa's been sort of happily floating in a state where he just accepts what's going on in Seasoning City and doesn't really think about it. Both the societal pressure of everyone else in the city and the authorial pressure of Reigen are telling him that this is nothing to concern himself with. He's been made to forget Mob along with everyone else, and while he's probably aware on some level that something's missing, it's easy not to think about it. Not to worry about it. Not to worry about anything.

And then this girl shows up.

And Serizawa defers to Reigen during consultations. He's still learning. Reigen is so much more knowledgeable than him, so much more experienced.

But they're supposed to be helping people. He took this job because he wants to help people. He's not going to simply defer to authority if that authority is cruel; that's exactly what he was trying to get away from. And so when Reigen gets mean and sharp and dismissive, that, more than anything that Tsubomi is saying, is what gets Serizawa to push back. And once he refuses to blindly listen to Reigen, he also starts to break away from the influence of the Divine Tree.

The climax of this chapter is very deliberately evocative of both Separation Arc and World Domination. Reigen acts in a way that reminds Serizawa of Suzuki, and he refuses to accept that, and it makes him remember the first person who told him that he could have relationships that weren't just built on deference and fear. And Serizawa's refusal to back down reminds Reigen of Mob, and that makes him realize what he's doing, and instead of continuing down the path of control and denial he stops and decide that he isn't going to repeat his old mistakes.