#his tail is also a lot longer i just condensed it since this is a tiny guy vers of him

[bawkrya]

mngfh. Xidorn

[dimensionwriter]

100 Days

Part 2   

Part One

M! Alien x GN! Reader

Warning: Innuendos, mention of torture

Word Count: 2519

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Remember to LIKE, COMMENT, and REBLOG, please. I love to see the comments on my stories. 

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The air was so cold and dry in the room. The room was dead silent except for the low pitch buzz emanating from the computer. This room seemed unwelcoming to any person who dared to enter; However, you barely noticed as you stared at your creature in the giant container.

His form was still leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. Two black arms wrapped around his thin grey torso. The second and third set was just lightly floating in the liquid as he continued to sleep. A giant smooth tail that laid on top of his first set of arms, allowing his head to lay against it. His grey skin was a lot more muted while slumbering, it seems. A glance over would allow you to think that everything was the same as you left it.

However, there was something new. On his neck were these tiny slits that were moving with his chest. It was unknown to you that the creature contained gills. It was theorized that the creature breathed through the tiny slits sitting below his eyes. Maybe it had to do with something about him being a shift shaper. Was the creature changing his respiratory system while sleeping?

Walking over to the computer, you open the coding program. You couldn’t help how quickly you put in the stop coding for the sleeping medicine. It has been two days since you last saw him due to the weekend and you were just itching to learn more about this fascinating creature.

You fixed your lab coat and walked to the front of the container. Gosh, it felt so nice to do it. You are so used to seeing him floating in the container unconscious that now that you get a chance to interact with him, it was thrilling.

His tail slowly slid off his arms as he shifted in his sleep. He seems to be snuggling into the glass. So he enjoys sleeping. How does his species do their sleeping arrangement? Is it more of a hibernation or daily occurrence?

“...” He let a small grumble as his eyes fluttered open. You were expecting to see a pair of pitch black eyes, but instead they looked quite humanish. In fact, they looked really familiar. Wait a minute.

“Morning, Shark,” you spoke slowly. He looked at you groggily before turning his head around. You could see the confusion on his face. You’ve heard from coworkers that this sometimes happens. “How do you feel, Shark?”

“I had this dream where this beautiful angel was in front of me,” he grumbled as he stretched his arms out in every direction. It was kind of unique the way he had to contort his body in order for his six arms to get that stretch. “And I open my eyes and they’re still there.”

“You dreamed about me so much that you decided to wear my eyes,” you teased. It was odd seeing an alien with such human eyes. So far, most of the aliens usually have odd shaped eyes or none at all. But you guess with Shark, you can’t put him under the category for normal aliens.

“I-what!” His top arm went to his face and rubbed his eyes harshly. Guess he didn’t even notice that he didn’t have his normal eyes. You should document that and see if that’s a constant when he wakes up. “When I said I wanted you on my body, I didn’t mean this.”

Your movement towards the computer stopped as you processed what he said. Did he mean- that’s more of a human phrase- can he even? Your brain is becoming overwhelmed as you unpacked the single sentence. How does he even know that type of language?

“Sorry, sweetheart. Didn’t mean to fluster you like that, even though you look so cute. I’ll tone it down for you,” he explained. He swam up to the top of the tank where he folded his top arms on top of it. A giant smirk was on his face revealing that he most likely didn’t regret his comment.

“You seem to have quite the understatement on the human’s culture.” He manages to talk in perfect English while also using phrases that only people integrated in the culture could understand. Has he been hiding within the humans for a while?

His tail swishing slowly in the liquid made him appear relaxed in his environment. That’s a good sign for most specimens to have. If his behavior continues on this path, he might be able to leave the container and you can gain more data on him that doesn’t involve verbal communication.

“I got it by abducting a human and strapping them to a lab table to eat their brains. I learn the different waves of human’s vocals by their screams of pain. Quite the range, I may say,” he spoke with a glint in his eye.

Cold sweat dripped down your back as you froze in front of the computer. This is the first time you have felt fear in a while. Just the thought that a few feet away from you is a killer and the only thing stopping you is a glass container that he has proven many times to be able to lift himself over, is enough to make your stomach lurch.

You won’t lie and say it’s uncommon to contain an alien that has kidnapped humans or killed them in the search of science. But, they never understood what they did was wrong. However, Experiment 337 has shown signs of understanding human’s speech, therefore he should have an understanding of the human moral. Does he just not care?

“Sweetheart, you look so adorable when you scrunch your face up from overthinking. But to calm your nerves, I was joking,” he sang out. He released his hold on the top of the container and floated down. His grayish blue muscular legs began to lightly move causing him to swim a little. He contains mobility in liquid, noted.

“You got nothing to worry about. The only person I want to strap down and have screaming is you.” His black eyes looked at you through the liquid and gave a swift wink. Heat started crawling up your neck to your face.

“Didn't moments ago you said you would ‘tone it down’?” You asked, turning to the computer to appear busy. There’s pros and cons to having an alien that can speak english and have them understand some phrases. Although, you didn’t think being flirted with or having a dirty mind would be one.

“Oh that was tone downed. What I wanted to say was I would love to have you lying underneath me with your legs spread as I-” You cut him out with a loud screech. He jumped before laughing at you.

“Okay, my apologies for complaining. I don’t mind sticking to the previous level,” you squeaked out, rubbing your cheeks to get them to calm down. Do you even put this down in the notes? How would you word that your alien has a libido?

You pulled up the notes on the computer and stared at it for a while. Then just typed it “Understands the human language, Appears to be in search of mate.” That’s the best you can do at the moment.

“I’ll give you a break. I know so much about the humans because you have all of it in the open. Stacks and stacks of books on languages, anatomy, how you interact, ways of thinking,history, etc. Then there’s also this system humans have called ‘The Internet’ where I can interact with humans in multiple ways without having to show my face. It was great practice,” he explained, rolling his top left wrist. His bottom set of arms were pushing against the base of the container to bounce through the water.

You were quick to write down what he was saying and highlight how he used the internet to communicate with humans. You never heard of an alien using Earth’s own resources to learn more about it. How many are out there that are using these resources at this very moment? How many people online are actually humans?

“So, have you just been studying just human?” You asked, turning toward him. He flipped himself around to sit on the base of the container. His legs folded on top of each other and surprisingly the muscles seem to fit together to allow for a smooth surface.

“Nah, not really. The animals on this planet are pretty cool,” he grumbled. His top right arm went to his chin slightly as if he was thinking for a moment. “Yeah, my favorite animal is the… the um… I forgot what you call it. Just look.”

Suddenly, a giant black smoke cloud exploded from Shark’s skin, covering all the liquid in the water. You couldn’t see a thing inside. The now black liquid only showed your worried and terrified expressions. Who knows what this specimen has in store?

“Tadaaa,” he yelled, somewhere in the black liquid. You moved around the container as you tried to see what he was and where he was. The blackness seems to be dissipating the longer you stared at it. However, even that wasn’t enough to see him.

“I can’t see you, Shark.” You were trying to call out to him, but he didn’t seem to be appearing. The liquid at this point was a murky grey that allowed you to see through with it. But the container was empty. Did he escape?

Oh gosh, what’s the protocol for an escaped experiment? You need to press the alarm button. No, you need to lock down the room so he can’t leave. Which one goes first?

“Human, babbbbeeeee,” a tiny voice called out to you. You looked around the container for anything. Grey, grey, grey, orange, grey, grey… wait.

In the upper corner, there was a tiny fish with shimmering orange and yellow scales all over. Tiny black eyes stared sideways at you. The fish seem happy to have your eyes on it because it started swimming around in circles.

“Shark? You can shrink to 1/50 of your height and 1/400 of your weight. How? That-that breaks all laws of physics,” you rambled in disbelief. He has too much mass for it all to just condense into a goldfish. He would collapse into himself due to the density.

“Once again. Yeah, and you can’t,” his now squeaky voice teased from inside of the water. You were quick to press your face to the glass of the container. Shark swam over until he was right in front of your face. “It’s not that hard.”

“I have the coolest experiment in this place,” you whispered. His body wasn’t showing any signs of distress or struggle with swimming. The gills on the side of his neck showed that he was still breathing just fine, telling you that he could transform his lungs to fit his changed body.

“And I have the hottest scientist in the entire universe who I am going to make mines.” It felt so weird to be flirted with by a tiny goldfish that you couldn’t even take his comment seriously. You wouldn’t mind all his flirty statements if it was delivered by a cute little goldfish.

“Let me document this. And I got to check your vitals,” You mumbled to yourself. The vital cords were still attached to him, but seem to have shrunk to accommodate his new form.

You pulled up the vitals recorded to see everything had changed. The oxygen level had dropped significantly and so had his heart rate. His body temperature was so much lower that anyone reading this would think he temporarily died.

“Shark, you amazed me,” you mumbled, scrolling through the documentation. Now you need to go back to the previous day to see if his reading has changed when he shifted into you. From the looks of things, he understands the organ system of the organism that he shifts into.

“But I haven’t even taken you to dinner yet and you already tell me how good I am.” You turned back to the container to see he had transformed back into his usual self. His giant six palms were pressed against the glass closest to you as he stared at the computer screen.

“Just take the compliment,” you teased. You flipped to your notes and began to type in everything that has happened. Shark swam a little closer and squinted his beady black eyes. Guess he was reading what you were writing.

“Appears to be in search of a mate?” He read out with a tone of confusion. Once again, you were in a state of cold sweat as you realized what he read. It just happened, but you were so in science bliss of him breaking physics that you forgot about his earlier statement.

“Just an assumption...based on the way you speak,” you stuttered, avoiding his look. A deep laugh escaped out of him. His grey body swam up again, so he was peeking out the top of the container.

“Sweetie, did you not hear me earlier? I’m going to make you mine. You are my mate. Okay, darling,” he purred, sending a swift wink. There’s that warmth crawling up your neck. How do you respond to this in a formal way?

A buzz in your ear alerted you for an incoming call. You pressed the ear piece with your shoulder to answer it. “Hey, it’s lunch time. Meet in the section Sub 4B in 20 minutes.”

“Everytime you get on that ear piece, you leave. I might just take it away from you, so you will never leave me.” You let out a laugh as you pressed the ear piece again to end the call. Even though you are a scientist that works with experiments, that doesn’t mean all your time is with them. It happens outside, where data is collected and talked about.

“I’m sorry. But you’ll go to sleep again, so you won’t even notice time has passed.” You slide the reading off the screen of the computer and pull up the medicine supplier. The code for the sleeping medicine was quickly placed in.

A huge frown came onto Shark’s face as he watched the blue liquid coming from the computer and towards him. He instinctively swam to the bottom and sat down. His back was placed against the side glass with his tail wrapped around him. The top and bottom set of arms were crossed over his knees while the middle set just floated down.

“See you later, Shark,” you whispered. His calm even breathing was the only response you got back. Leaning towards the glass, you gave it a little kiss. It was something dumb you did when he was unconscious and had to leave him.

You discarded your lab jacket in the waste bin and grabbed your things. As you exited, you gave one last glance at Shark’s sleeping form with a happy smile. You were so grateful to have him here at work.

“97 days left.”

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Here it is. You guys asked for it and I provided it. I’m actually starting to really love writing Shark’s character. It’s different from the usual soft boy that I write. I like it. Anyway, remember to leave a LIKE and a COMMENT. Hope you enjoy the rest of your day.

[falconfriend]

AU where some different things are possible. Don't read too much into Jay's techno babble, quite honestly, I might edit some of it out, it's not the point.

Don't be surprised if you see this edited before the final ff.net post, but it's here, and I'm happy with it. The original concept has a chapter in which our two main characters talk together and process, and that is still very, very important to me, I'll probably bring it back.

See tags for warnings.

--

The amount of power Zane is channeling right now shouldn't be possible. Jay made darn sure to learn everything he could about Zane's possible repairs while Dr. Julien was still alive—the other guys didn't like to think about it back then, but come on, he was old, Jay knew, everyone else knew too even if they weren't saying it— so anyway, he'd spin wild hypotheticals, ask what happens if one tiny piece of machinery goes wrong.

Lloyd would hit the point where he wanders off, self-consciously chuckling that this isn't really his area but he feels like he's kinda learning things, and Jay would watch the clock tick until Nya got bored... and then, that was his opening, to fire off whatever question would come off as too rude while the others were around.

The doctor would smile in a sort of understanding, if slightly flummoxed, way, and he'd start answering. Jay got a lot of answers! He figured out how to put all of Dr. Julien's numbers into his numbers, you know, the kind we learn in the modern century, and made a copy of Zane's schematics with his notes. He had a harder time finding the focus to figure out the Falcon, but Nya and Lloyd are on that anyway. Logical division of labor.

What is he talking about. What was he thinking about. Zane's dying.

Distractedly, he answers- "I said critical mass. If he doesn't contain that, he could go nuclear."

"He's containing it, right?"

"It doesn't- matter." Containing it also means dying.

"Why wouldn't it matter, Jay-"

Jay asked a lot of questions, but he never did even think to ask about Zane's power source. Shouldn't that be the first thing? Why weren't we asking questions about the power source?

He knows approximately how much power Zane runs on. He knows it isn't this much. He knows how a storm feels, right before lightning is about to strike, what builds up in the air and how much damage it can do, right before he—

Jay takes a step forward.

Wu puts an arm across his shoulders, pulling him back. Jay just about slaps him off before realizing that's a quick way to get himself thrown to the ground and shut up before he can start,

So he waits, a frustrating two, three seconds, until he finds words.

"I can help." His throat is dry and he wouldn't mind except that he needs to be louder. "Get me to him, I can help!"

The rest of the ninja are turning to look at Jay… so… slow. Cole looks like he could be swimming through molasses. Jay seethes, and flexes and unfurls his fists by his sides to let it out, and takes a small step back instead of forward.

It works. Sensei releases him, almost.

Kai looks like he might be committing a crime if he lets himself look away from Zane, which isn't helping. Finally, though, he opens his mouth before Jay can. "Your powers? …Do you think?"

"'Do I think-' yes, I think, that's electricity. Or, electromagnetic- whatever. It's energy. I can feel it, Kai- this is taking too long! Where's Pixal- Pixal! Pixal, yoo-hoo, tell them I can help!"

"That won't be necessary," says Wu. Everyone is moving like an old man right now, taking their time; Jay's sure of it. Remember that comment about Cole? It feels like Jay's the only thing who isn't wading through molasses. Jay and the Digital Overlord, that is, and Zane, who cries out so bad Jay spends that moment sure that everything's over and Zane is gone now-

Everyone is moving like the slow old man Sensei talks like, but then Jay sort of- must have blinked, or something, because suddenly, they're all shifted. Cole sets a hand sturdily against his shoulder. It takes him a moment to realize that they're all on his side.

Jay finds a hardened, gold feeling deep in his chest, and latches onto it, and uses it to find his voice. "Okay." Okay. Look. Think. "Cole, I'm going to run at you and I need you to launch me, onto that web. Lloyd, use your energy to boost me."

"But-"

"We don't have time! It's just a scratch."

"Keep him on the edge of the blast. Try to center it about two meters from him." Jay looks back at Nya, Nya looks back at him. It's like they're both realizing how small everything has been. They're nineteen- Jay's nineteen, Nya's eighteen. It's like- like, we didn't need to know the shape of the care right now, I care about you.

Nya waves him away to the task at hand with a smile that means What? Anyway, you're coming back.

Jay looks at Cole and Lloyd. They look back at him. "Well, let's go." With a serious expression, not a word in response and not wasting a second, Cole stoops, palms up and fingers intertwined, a foot-sized platform.

"I'm ready for you, Walker."

He gulps. Time freezes for a second and then skips forward again, like half a second that definitely shouldn't be allowed to be that long. "Okay."

Kai steps forward, like he's going to- hug him, maybe? Rub his back? Push him forward?

"Okay ninja-go—" he kicks off and twists. Off the ground, off Cole's intertwined hands, launching him into the air- about to panic and yell Now, Lloyd when Lloyd finds the right moment anyway, blast re-aiming him just as he's about to fall-

He's sailing through the air, back sore and ears still ringing as the wind whistles past them. Ninjago city sails beneath him. He's two feet short of Zane's hand. He's going to miss.

He's going to miss, he's sorry, and they don't have a second shot, and not that it would be okay if he didn't but now he's going to get all caught in the explosion too,

And Zane reaches back, and grabs his hand.

The jolt that immediately moves through Jay is an absolutely massive electrical discharge. It tries to run from him straight to ground; at first, he was not connected to the circuit, so the electricity is looking for him as its way out. Here's the thing about electricity—it doesn't ask questions. It's already moving by the time your question is halfway out of your mouth, and that's why you need to either be five steps ahead or be ready to start improvising right now or else you're dead.

Something about that isn't how electricity should work, though. It doesn't rush into... a wire that isn't connected to a throughline. Batteries have two ends, positive and negative, and a wire that isn't connected to both of them might as well not be a wire at all— electricity isn't trying to get out, it's trying to get to somewhere, electrons hungry to get to that battery's positive side. Every single electrical invention in the world is formed by humans forcing those electrons to take the long way.

This electricity doesn't have a destination.

The Digital Overlord is always destroying. That means energy in him is leeching outward; this isn't just entropy, this is entropy gone rogue. Jay doesn't know where he's getting the electricity from, but- if he can destroy, maybe he can create. Who knows. Whatever. What becomes apparent right then is that it seems like the Overlord needs to always leech outward, and what Zane is doing is containing him. Sooner or later the snake eats its own tail.

Zane nods, with a firm little hum, as if he can tell from Jay's face what's going on in his head. It's businesslike, and it jolts Jay back to work. Jay can stand this for a few minutes longer, but Zane- Zane's dying.

So: parallel paths. Create two paths, two options, and the electricity will keep looking for how it can be the least crowded. It's like the reason air leaves a popped balloon, kinda like pressure but with a thousand electrons that all hate each other and feel indifferent about you. Or picture... getting into a crowded convention center, and someone coming running to announce they've just opened a second doorway, and that you can get in through either line. Create two paths, and only half of it goes through Zane.

Zane releases his hand.

They really, really need to have a talk later, but Jay is relieved it's not a talk about being willing to be saved. He's helping himself be saved.

Jay holds one of the golden contact points in one hand, and one in the other. The energy rolling around his ligaments and bones deflates, taking the easiest path.

"I had hoped you would do that behind me," says Zane, whose eyes are now closed.

Jay doesn't really try for a little laugh, so much as his body tries for a little laugh, like his brain is fine-tuned into making his excuses with or without him. "You could've said that earlier."

"No, it's alright. Just… here, scoot a little to the side-"

"This is pathetic," hisses a condensed-evil murmur over their shoulder, like it's obligated to, "YOU THINK YOU CAN DEFEAT ME?"

"Yes," says Zane.

And the bluewhite what-is-that-stuff that he'd once used to take down a plain old treehorn beams closer past Jay's cheek than he can really say he's comfortable with. It's almost like being near a fire- a live wire, static. He's not too cold, but he's sure if he touched it, it would move straight through rapid-action frostbite into part of his face falling off.

"Jay, now." Jay isn't sure what he means by now, that uh, isn't very clear, but he spends a half-second in panic before realizing Zane's ice is running a cable to ground. It'll keep a direct hit from coming back for them. It means, since this is the only window before it connects, they need to hit him now.

Jay pulls the electricity out of himself, out of the air- he takes whatever excess Zane will give him, when he touches his hand- and he breaks the circuit. He shoves it, with force, the opposite of the ways electrons want to work, not the way lightning wants to work—but that's the first step of making lightning. You build up a gap. The buildup snaps from him into the Digital Overlord's metal body. Something is wrung out of him like a sponge.

There's a thunderclap that shakes the city and an explosion that's- like a video game character died. Like it's not a real explosion, it's just something- dissipating. The city just turns white.

Jay becomes aware that he's flying again for the first time in two years, and Zane is holding onto him but losing strength. And then it turns out that he's got his arms around Zane, too. He only figures that out when he starts to panic that Zane's going to fall, and the tug of Zane's weight on his arms doubles, and alerts him that they're there, secure. His body was thinking ahead, even if he wasn't.

Zane's out. He's… fine. He's fine. He's got to be fine.

And while we're at it, Jay's hoping he's fine. His heart feels- wrong.

The first thing he needs to do is get back to land, the second thing he needs to do is look at… is get Nya to look at Zane, he's not even sure he can trust his senses. Huh, hang on, there's a sound other than the ringing in his ears.

"Jay!"

That's Pixal.

"Jay!"

She's standing on the roof of Borg Tower, waving her arms, and just as Jay starts to settle enough to realize he's not frozen, adrenaline's not gonna stop him from moving and he should fly somewhere. ...Huh. He has to pick where.

It would be a really good move to let their friends see they're alive. Nya's good at robotics.

Pixal and Borg… can probably fix him faster.

Zane sparks, hard.

Like Superman, made of light, Jay descends toward Borg Tower in a graceful arc. His feet connect with the roof with a very soft patter. He locks eyes with Pixal to hand off their boy to her.

"Whoa, okay, Sparky, geez. Just thought I'd keep the sweat out of your eyes."

Well. That's not correct.

There are the tiles of a hospital ceiling in front of his eyes, which feels more correct. Apparently, Kai is also in the room, because—

"Yeah. He's okay."

—well, because that's Kai.

Cole, of all the things that could happen here, squeezes Jay's hand. It occurs to Jay that he could have died on- on really, really weird terms with him.

Whoof. Jay takes stock of his body. He starts by feeling the sheets, just to figure out where his body is, then investigates the muscles and aches beneath them. He's in one of those medical gowns that closes in the back.

Everything feels... pretty okay? No, everything feels like he's just been stretched in every direction like a piece of toffee.

No, everything feels like he's just been stretched in every direction like a piece of toffee, but also maybe like he is toffee, so he's fine.

He, uh, definitely can't move. And that feels wrong, but at least he's identified the reason he's in a hospital bed, rather than wondering. He'd find this a lot harder to process if he had walked away from it without a scratch at all, even though it would have been cooler. He sort of wonders if anyone would bring his chart over where he can read it.

"Uh, yeah, that's all great, but what about Zane?"

Kai lets out a small, slightly-amused very-concerned snort. "Jay, you asked that already. He's okay."

"Go easy on him."

That's Lloyd. There are, wow, a lot of people in this room. It's gotta be a pretty small room? Hospital rooms aren't that large. Are his parents here?

"They're on their way."

"My mouth keeps saying whatever's in my brain."

Cole laughs. "Hey, don't worry everyone, he's back to normal."

Jay's breath does a weird thing in his lungs. It's like his body is focusing on every sensory detail except where it hurts. "Yeah, you're just jealous of how I looked up there."

Cole could nearly double over laughing at another time, but right now everything about him is subdued, gentle. Jay could see him ruffling his hair if he wasn't, you know. In a hospital bed. "Sure am, sparkplug."

And there's quiet for a beat.

Jay continues, still staring at the ceiling, "Hey, Nya, how bad are you gonna kill me."

"Oh, uh—" That's Lloyd again, kicking one heel awkwardly back against the wall. Kai speaks quickly—

"She wanted to be here. It's killing her not to, I mean— everyone did. Sensei, too. We told them we've got you."

"That's nice."

"I-I said I'd run and call her once you're awake, just to let her know. I should probably go do that now. She's—"

"With Zane," Jay finishes, no bones about it. Kai nods. "That's nice." The way energy thrums from Jay's palms feels different now, like he's not just pulling it from the air, like there's a battery under his skin, but that's. That's a question for training time. It's sleep time, now.

A/N: Why did the writers say "it's reaching critical mass." I still don't know what that means. Zane's power source is presumably based on some kind of nuclear fission then, but I'm not sure what "critical mass" has to do with the Digital Overlord encounter? If anyone knows how that's relevant to how Zane died, please lend me your knowledge, I'd be very grateful and schooled.

Anyway, critically, this is an AU where it is possible for Jay to help, not an AU where Jay notices he can help. It's built on the assertion that there was nothing Jay could do in the original, but in this universe, different things were possible.

[crystalrose555]

Don’t make me slap you pt. 5

Reblog if you want more!!!

Mochi released a drawn out yawn as her eyes fluttered open. She rolled off her back only to discover that she was floating in a body of water. With a splash, she was upright in a decent sized inflatable pool in a bedroom with leafy vines and foliage spread throughout. She snorted as she looked around, looking for any potential danger before she pulled herself out of the makeshift pool and onto the surprisingly plush floor. Turned out she landed on a thick beach towel that lined the pool’s border. 

Mochi shook her head in disbelief as she focused on the room and looked for a way out. Unfortunately, she didn’t see any windows except for the skylight above her that reflected a night sky, thus leaving her the door frame that was lined with cutesy thick curtains. If she had eyebrows, one of them would be raised out of reaction to the questionable design choices but she shook that from her mind as she bounced her way out of the room. She had to find a window, she had to figure out where in the world she was since she failed to take in her surroundings due to her sudden kidnapping and forceful relocation by the mysterious men.

Mochi grumbled to herself, thinking about how she should have taken at least one of them out to better her chances but as she bounced down the hallway, it began to sink in how that wouldn’t have turned out well. However, she still toyed with the idea that if she could have taken out the big guy in the red coat, she would be the one in charge. She snickered in her mind as she quietly made her way to the stairs. Her heart sank inside her chest as she noticed how steep the staircase was. She knew if she iced the entirety of the stairs to slide down it would take a lot out of her and she would overheat but she was definitely not a fan of the second option. Her third choice crawled into her head but she knew that she had to keep that one hidden no matter the cost, at least until the odds were in her favor. So she went with option two.

She scrunched her head and neck into her body and condensed herself into a ball, tucking her flippers in and lining her side with the edge of the stairs. Then taking a deep breath to inflate her blubbery body rounder, she closed her eyes and rocked herself to tumble down the stairs. With each step, her pudgy body bounced harder and faster. She held her breath and prayed for the stairs to end. However, she didn’t account for the amount of momentum she built as she reached the landing and crashed into the waiting wall. 

The hanging portraits and paintings rattled and shook from the force as Mochi tried to get her head to stop swirling. Once she shook off her dizziness, a large painting slipped from its spot on the wall and bounced off her plentiful blubber, leaving it leaning against the wall over her body. Mochi released an audible sigh as she developed a minor headache, wishing she had something to relieve it.

“What the hell was that?”

Mochi tensed immediately as she pulled herself together and balled up behind the sizable painting. The sound of footsteps grew closer as Mochi remained as still as she could, cursing herself for attracting unwanted attention. 

“Looks like a painting fell from the wall.”

“Well that would explain the thump but what about the squeaking noises?”

“Guys, I just checked Mochi’s room and she’s missing.” Asmo pointed out.

“The beast is loose!?”

Mochi rolled her eyes as Satan sighed.

“Mammon, you really need to calm down.”

“Oi, you calm down when she tries to bite you.”

“Whatever, let's just split up and find her.”

“Why should we? The blubber bucket is Levi’s responsibility, I say we don’t do jack.”

“Scummy as usual, besides if she gets eaten by Beelzebub then we all get in trouble.”

Mammon grumbled as the sound of footsteps echoed away. Mochi remained still and refused to move, she felt as if she wasn’t alone. Mammon, on the other hand, refused to move the landing.

“Why do I have to find the stupid seal? Besides, how far can something that fat go? It’s probably stuck somewhere.” He commented as he checked his phone.

Mochi wanted to hold in her growl but pieces leaked out the corner of her mouth. Cold escaped her body from her current aggression of being insulted.

“Huh?”

Mammon turned his attention back to the painting which seemed to be icing over to the point of being a solid rectangle of ice. Mammon backed away with his eyes wide and his cheeks puffed from a stifled laugh.

“No fucking way she can be that fucking dumb?” Mammon snorted out.

That was it, Mochi had enough of his mouth. With all the power she could muster, she bounced out of the corner of the landing and launched herself down the stairs on top of the frozen painting, riding it to the bottom but not before running Mammon over with her icy chariot. The further she went, the more joyous she felt. While keeping her balance, she raised herself up enough to clap and laugh at Mammon’s dumbfounded misfortune. By the time she reached a lower floor, her joy exploded at the thought of breaking out. However, it was short lived as her momentum dragged to a crawl. She lost her smooth patch of ice from knocking it against the stairs but she was on her way out and that’s what counted.

Mochi bounced down the hall softly, making sure she remained in the corner out of sight. She finally got a glimpse of the outside through a window but all she saw was night time and an eerie looking tree with a number of dark birds flying around. She trembled at the thought of being outside. However, that no longer mattered upon hearing the growing swears of a recovered Mammon. She bounced faster, looking for a room to dip into to avoid him.

“Mochi, where are you~”

She froze, realizing that someone was close by and actively looking for her. Quickly she hid behind one of the hallway decorations and peaked to see a puzzled Asmodeus looking around.

“Hmm, where did she go?” He questioned out loud.

Mochi gave a small snort, figuring Asmodeus was no better than Mammon since he also wanted to make a coat out of her. She, however, remained silent as she looked around for a new hiding place. 

“Oh, I know, I’ll get Beel to sniff her out!” He excitedly claimed as he began to text his brother.

Her fur suddenly stood on end as the name of Beelzebub rang in her brain. For her, his eyes and hunger reminded her of sharks and leopard seals whom she could take on in the water anyday. However, she was out of her element and she needed to get to it. She waited till Asmodeus walked past her and down the hall before she bolted towards an open area. Confused by her name being called throughout the house, she picked a random hallway that wasn’t calling her. She could feel fatigue picking at her since she used a good amount of her energy on the stairs and Mammon but her hope was rearing its head as she heard water.

Hoping it was outside, she went faster only to end up in a dead end. The room was lined with windows with a fountain in the center. She sighed in disappointed relief, at the very least she found water to refresh herself. While approaching the fountain, she took in the planets and stars on the ceiling. It would be nice if she wasn’t running for her life. However, her hope was short-lived as she felt her back flippers being pulled by a pissed off Leviathan. 

“I am not missing the Ruri-chan semi-seasonal virtual VIF conference! So get back in your room, you stupid seal!”

His serpent tail, glowing orange eyes and his pointed coral like horns would strike fear in any mortal but Mochi was no mere mortal as her own anger had reached its peak. Like a rubberband pulled past its breaking point, the room was filled with a sharp slap noise. Levi stared in astonishment, not only was he slapped in his face but it wasn’t by a flipper. There in front of him was a young ample woman with fierce purple eyes and frown on her face. Pearls seemed to drip from her fluffy black aquamarine hair as she covered her naked front with what looked like Mochi's fur. However, before his brain could process, he found himself being pulled down to the level of his short attacker.

“Haven’t anyone ever told you not to pull a lady by her flippers, ‘cause it fucking hurts!” She hissed.

"W-Wa-"

"And the next one of you to call me stupid is going to get their brain rattled! You got that, Geek Boy!?"

"Wa-Waaaaaaah!?"

[captaincravatthecapricious]

Mabel AU- The Letters

@haberdashing

Martin is an at home care giver, trying to reach the Grandson of his latest client.

This is basically a rewrite of the first episode of Mabel.  There really aren't many direct quotes, only a couple very short ones, everything else is mine.

Thanks for reading!  If you want more of this AU, let me know, or just let me know if you enjoyed!   Another fic of some sort or other will be posted next week!

ARCHIVIST: Hello, you’ve reached Jonathan Sims.  I’m not here to take your call right now.  Please leave a message after the beep.  Thank you.  

[BEEP]

MARTIN: Hey, Jonathan, right?  My name is Martin Blackwood, and I’m with Kings County Home Help?  I’ve been taking care of your grandmother for the past six months.  I’m her at home carer?  I know I probably shouldn’t have your number, but I wanted to check in with you.  Nothing’s wrong.  Nothing’s wrong.  Gertrude Sims is fine.  Good, actually, for her age.  Sorry, is that insensitive?   In any case, I’d like a call back, if you aren’t too busy.  Right.  Let me apologize for how I got your number.  I know it’s probably unorthodox, probably breeching some privacy agreement or something… 

[SIGH]

[ASIDE]

Don’t tell him that, Christ what is wrong with you?

[TO JON]

Right.  Well I got your number from my coworker, Sasha, who’s friends with Tim, who’s friends with you.  And he apparently hasn’t heard from you in a little, and would like him to call you back.  He told Sash to tell me to tell you that, by the way.  That was the price for your number.  Sorry for that.  I’m sure you have …things.  A life in the real world and not in this distant and lovely house.  

…Sorry, that was… Anyways, give me a call back when you can, yeah?  Thanks.  Bye!

[ASIDE] 

Christ!  What’s wrong with you… catch sight of one pretty photo… SHIT, right, hanging up.  

[BEEP]

[MUFFLED THROUGH A POCKET] 

[QUIETLY SINGING TO HIMSELF OVER THE SOUND OF KITCHEN] 

…Onions in the paaaaaan.  Why aren’t you hot enough yeeeet?  The water sizzledddddd, but it isn’t sizzling noooow.  

[NEGLECTED PHONE SOUND] 

[REALIZING]

OH SHIT.  SORRY.  

[BEEP]

[CLEARS THROAT] 

Hi, Mr. Sims.  It’s me again.  It’s Martin.  I… I’m trying to reach you… again.  …As you probably can tell.  It’s just been three days, and I would really like a call back.  I just realized I didn’t give a number or like, I know you can probably figure out that you can reach me through this number, but I didn’t say it and I didn’t tell you when I was available, and maybe that’s why you haven’t gotten back to me.  At least I hope that’s why.  I… I can’t imagine not calling one of my Mum’s doctors back.  Anyways, my number is [CENSORED] in case you can’t just ring back or something.  Maybe your phone blocks unknow numbers and you haven’t even gotten this.  Maybe I was listed as private and you couldn’t call back.  Maybe you’re very polite and didn’t want to bother me when you didn’t know my schedule.  I’m available from 2-5pm and in the evenings after 9pm.  Or maybe you’ve got phone anxiety.  I know I do, heh.  I’m sweating just leaving you this message.  

Or maybe you’re just busy.  

Or maybe you tried to call, and I just didn’t get it.  The reception isn’t great out here, as …you probably know.  Given you grew up here.  But anyways I have made sure I can get your message even with the dead-phone zones.  It’s all set up.  So… just needing a call back when you can.  Well, not needing.  But… I’d like one.  Thanks.  Bye.  

[BEEP]

Hi.  It’s me …again.  Just… trying to reach you.  Whatever.  

[BEEP] 

Call me back and let me know you aren’t dead in a ditch somewhere, okay?  Sash says Tim is really worried… And… I might be too.  Not that I even know you.  Not really.  So if you aren’t rotting in some hole somewhere, give me a call back, please?

[BEEP]

Where did you go?  

[BEEP]

Hi.  It’s me.  …I’ve heard a lot about you, you know?  Mostly from you Grandmother, Gertrude.  

[ASIDE] 

Christ, Martin.  He knows his grandmother’s name.  

[TO JON]

Right.  Anyhow.  She’s told me a lot of stories, you know?  She’s actually pretty sharp.  Most of the time, anyhow.  Mostly lucid.  I’m not sure if that’s all because of her medicine or what.  I’ve… I help a lot of old people, at the end of their lives.  And well… when I say she’s sharp, I mean that she is sharp comparatively, and also just remarkably so.  Her words are confident, and considered.  She doesn’t waste words, but she doesn’t shy away from telling stories.  (I’m sure it’s just because she has no one else to talk to.  Not even you.)  But… you’ve stopped feeling like a real person on the other end of the line.  That’s part of why I wanted to call?  I guess?  The longer that it’s been since my first message, the more I doubt myself for calling, and why I called.  Sorry, then, for wasting your time.  Thinking of you more like a book character, than someone with feelings and thoughts and a life.  Someone who I know too much about for us to be casual strangers, even if I am a complete stranger to you.  It just feels like a weird imbalance, you know?  

Also… it’s a bit lonely out here, you know?  Gertrude has a lot of old photographs of you.  None of them are recent.  And I know it isn’t my business, but… never mind.  It isn’t my business… and I get it.  

But… she still has your photos up.  It’s my job to dust them.  So, every week or so, I get a really good look at them.  There’s one of you on the tire swing out back… it’s still back there, you know?  You have mud all over your dungarees.  And in your hair.  Then there’s one… you look about 7?  Your hair is in pig tails, and you are scowling at something off to your right.  I don’t know what it is, and I know I shouldn’t find that kind of adorable, but I do.  And there’s one of you in uni.  You’re flipping off the camera and your hair is short and you’re wearing eyeliner.  You look some odd combination of pissed off and like you’re having the time of your life.  

[ASIDE]

And really, really, really hot.  Christ, Martin, keep it together.  You are literally on the phone with him, and you haven’t even talked to him.  Jesus!

[TO JON]

I.. wish I could have known you then.  That’s the oldest you look in these.  Most of these are pictures of you when you were little.  Mostly just you.  A few of your dad when he was young, and one of your parents.  She’s pregnant, and it’s sunset.  They look so …happy.  Christ, I’m sorry about what happened to them.  I… I didn’t really know my dad either.  

Sorry.  This isn’t about me.  

I’m calling because this place is… spooky.  Spooky like a dark fairy tale.  

Everything here is a bit… magical and creepy.  

This house is old.  Like a museum.  Dusty boxes in the attic, full of treasures and dust the relics of the past, like the Long past.  Not just the past of one lifetime.  The garden is overgrown, despite my best efforts.  Sometimes, Gertrude comes out and helps me garden.  Usually in her chair.  Mostly I just wheel here out so she can get some sun while I work.  That’s where I hear most of the stories about you.  

It’s overgrown with twisting vines and the most beautiful roses I have ever seen, with scary-long thorns.  

I feel like I’ve walked into the setting for a classic.  Like Jane Eyre or Pride and Prejudice, or hell, even Tolkien.  Or even Grimm’s fairytales.  The original, dark ones.  

It’s… unsettling.  Especially when it’s foggy out.  

The rest of the hills disappear into the fog and the condensation clings to the flowers, desaturated with the thickness of the moisture in the air, and the everything is coated in the most delicate, perfect little water droplets.  

Anyhow.  The reason I’m really calling… are the letters.  

I was helping Gertrude move some things up to the attic.  She’s one of the practical sorts of old people.  She isn’t afraid of her death.  She wants everything to be easy on you, you know?  Make sure you don’t have to go through too much stuff when she passes on.  I’ve lived with a lot of people through their deaths.  It’s nice… making sure no one dies alone.  Making sure they are comfortable.  Making it as painless as possible.  

[ASIDE]

Lord knows my efforts were never good enough for my mother… but if I can help other people…

[TO JON]

I know it’s a little morbid.  But I like it.  I feel… useful.  I’m good at it.  I’m good at keeping up conversations, and at cooking, and cleaning, and providing medical assistance, as needed.  Not that I’m an actual doctor, but I, you know, do have a lot of training.  

Anyway.  The letters.  I was helping her move some stuff into the attic, and bringing down some older boxes so she could go through them and decide what she was ready to toss, when I found them.  This box full of letters.  Hundreds of them.  All unopened.  Sealed with a kiss.  Lipstick red.  Red as dying embers.  Stamped returned to sender.  Slightly scorched around the edges.  Tied in bundles.  Identical envelops.  Identical loose, looping cursive.  All from someone named Agnes?  All addressed to Gertrude.  

That would be fine, I guess?  

But she screamed when she opened it.  An inhuman sound.  

Like the sound was ripped from her.  

And, I have never cared for a more grounded person.  I have never seen her anything but… well not completely calm all the time, but mostly calm, you know?  I’ve seen her sharp, I’ve seen her annoyed.   Heh, half the time it looks like she wants to judge me, but then doesn’t… if that makes sense?  Mostly she looks… like she knows so much more than I do and that she is calm in her knowledge?  I’ve seen so much as a carer.  There isn’t much that rattles me.  Not death, not illness, not panic, but… but this was different.  

After that… she was shaken badly.  Screamed for what seemed like hours, then just stared at me and said “I’m going into the ground for you.”  I… I couldn’t calm her down.  Not until late evening, and I didn’t even have a break because the relief carer was off sick.  

I finally got her to bed, and… I had to take another look.  That’s when I got a good look at the envelopes.  I… I want to open them.  I haven’t.  I know I shouldn’t…. but…. I want to know what could have shaken her that badly?  Someone that stable and grounded, you know?  

Heh, maybe you could call me back and make sure I don’t do something stupid.  And ya know, let me know that you aren’t’ dead in a ditch.  Tim’s started texting me directly now!  He’s… he’s really worried about you.  

Anyhow, I just need to know-

[BEEP]

[CONTINUED BEEPING]

AUTOMATED VOICE: The voicemail inbox for [Jonathan Sims] is full. Please call again later. 

[DIAL TONE] 

[normiewrites]

like a deer in the headlights

hello all, this is apart of the monster collab that @bigpokico organised. firstly, yes i know that a buck and a deer aren’t the same and that this is most probably how shapeshifting doesn’t work but we gon roll with it, thanks.

thanks to @kingtamakimurder and @kenmaksuwu for helping me edit!

also tobio is very ooc and this is my longest fic yet, thats it, sorry.

Warning(s): slight stalking, semi public sex, virgin tobio, virgin reader, lots of running, unprotected sex, fluffy tho, fucking a shapeshifter in human form, f33lings

Shapeshifter!Tobio x (fem)Reader

“Bye y/n!” your friend called out to you as they entered the grey world, a rainbow umbrella protecting them from the pelting rain drops as they made their way to their house, opposite to yours. You were stuck in the school because of how harshly the rain was pouring, and you parents would only be able to come in another hour or so due to work. You didn’t quite mind the rain, in fact you loved it, but you just didn’t want all your books to get wet.

“Fucking hell” you murmured under your breath as you accidentally stepped into a puddle, too eager to touch the rain, distorting your reflected image. Your left shoe was completely soaked as the cold water seeped inside to greet your foot. You internally sighed, knowing that you most probably could catch some chills now, and you wondered about how parents would always make you cover yourself up to not catch a cold, even though a cold is a virus. Your scientific debacle was interrupted as your image was joined by another, his black hair and slightly tan skin being rippled through.

“Club is cancelled, why are you still here?” Tobio asked, looking at you with the straight face he always had. You had been his clubs’ manager since the first year, and even though you both had grown much since then, Tobio Kageyama was still the same in his third year. You both weren’t close, but you always held a special spot in your heart for him. However he was someone who kept to himself, so you just admired him from a distance.

You looked up at the ceiling that hung over the both of you, noting how the colour matched his skin. You could feel the cold breeze rush to your open neck, plus something else that was lingering, yet you ignored it. You snapped Tobio’s stare at your neck as you brought your chin back down, answering him, “I forgot my umbrella and my parents are gonna take time to pick me up. You?”

“Had some work with Takeda sensei about the upcoming finals. You live near Konoha, right?” he asked, unbuttoning the strap on his dark blue umbrella.

It might have been just you who noticed this, but dark blue seemed to be his favourite colour; he must’ve known how addicting his eyes are.

You nodded at him, smiling at how the underside of the umbrella was decorated in Mikasa volleyballs; he was such a dork. You were about to say your goodbyes as he stepped into the rain, but his offer stopped you.

“Come with me, I live near there” he actually didn’t, but his racing heart made his mind not give a fuck about the consequences that would follow him going so far.

You smiled softly, taking your phone to update your parents before you joined him underneath the umbrella, your arms rubbing against each other, faces blushing as fingers grazed each other the whole way home.

Finally reaching your house, you sneaked a kiss to his cheek as a thanks, laughing at the flustered mess he became under your charm. You quickly hopped into your house, turning back for a final wave goodbye as you rushed to the living room.

You dumped your bags and shoes near the couch before sitting on the floor in front of the big sliding windows that lead to your backyard. You looked through the thickness of the trees, the darkness of it teasing you as you tried looking for it; more specifically him.

He was a beautiful black buck, his coat always so shiny, his eyes dark blue and his antlers a tan colour. You snickered at the thought of how it reminded you of Tobio, something that seemed so impossible. It was odd seeing a male deer of this variation, but it didn’t stop you from anticipating his visit at 5pm sharp every day.

He first came to visit you after you came back from the volleyball training camps. You were tired of catching up on schoolwork, relaxing on your back porch and you had looked up for a distraction only to find him teetering on the edges of the woods that grew into your back yard. Once his eyes had caught yours he jumped away back into the woods, only for him to come the next day and so on, for the following 2 years.

These days you enjoyed his visits even more as you knew your time in this house was nearly coming to an end, graduation sneaking up on you. He seemed to sense this too as he would stay for longer than the previous year. You could always take the antlers he shed during spring, but it was nothing compared to how beautiful his presence was.

You really wanted to touch him, to feel his snout press up against your palm before you let your fingers run through his shiny black hair. You wanted to scratch the spot between his antlers but he would only ever let you get so close. So for now, all you would do is sit cross legged in the prickly grass of your backyard, the two of you just looking at each other.

Sometimes you would talk to him as if you were talking to a human, and you could swear that he seemed to understand you from how he nodded or shook his head from time to time. Other times he would bring you something from the woods; an acorn, a pinecone, flowers, pebbles, anything really, but most times the both of you would just sit and enjoy each other’s presence.

However much you wanted to touch him and follow him into the woods, you knew that you would only be making yourself suffer, because what if you were to scare him off forever? Your thoughts were yet again distracted by a movement in your sight, revealing the anticipated guest. Checking the clock that hung over the couch, reading that he was an hour late? It was odd, but nevertheless you were still glad to see him. Crawling to the sliding doors, you sat on your knees as you let your hands rest on the doors, condensation forming from the contrasting temperature of your hands and the outside.

You carefully caught his blue eyes with your e/c ones, smiling as you bowed your head for him and he copied. You both had a very respectful relationship, but it wasn’t the type that made you hold your breaths, it was the type where you could sit in silence for hours and still be satisfied. You couldn’t deny that this relationship was strange, but it wasn’t that reason that kept you from telling anyone about it. It was for the sole purpose of keeping it all to yourself. It was a greedy thing, but you enjoyed it better when only you could ever know of it, it was much more intimate.

Suddenly, the buck walked out a bit from his original position from the edge of the woods. You saw as he panted softly, tiny huffs of smoke leaving his mouth, and it made you wonder why he was late and so tired. He didn’t seem to be injured or scared, in fact he seemed to be getting closer to you each second. Experimenting, you raised your hands to the handle, watching as he didn’t flinch before you opened the doors, slowly crawling out onto the wet and muddy grass. You couldn’t care as the mud stained your skirt and knees, because all you could see was a buck lowering his head, his eyes looking up at how’d you react.

You gulped softly, you didn’t know if he wanted you to do what you wanted to do for so long. There were so many things you didn’t know. Was he really allowing you to touch him? Closing your eyes, you put your hand out, letting it hover above his head before letting a breath go as you felt soft hair brace your touch. It was everything you expected and more, even the wetness caused by the rain couldn’t ruin it for you. Popping your eyes fully open, you gasped softly at how close his face actually was to yours, you could feel his hot breath grazing your cheek as your hand remained on his nose. You slowly moved up his face, your fingers finally reaching that spot between his antlers before you started to scratch it softly. He shivered softly, closing his eyes and shaking a bit as you hit all the right spots, he had to stop himself from pushing himself fully into your grasp.

The moment lasted shorter than it should have as you sneezed into your arm, startling him as he backed up a bit. Sighing softly, you realised how the warmth of his body distracted you from the cold that had seeped into your skin from the rain, cursing it for the first time in your life. You were drenched, your hair sticking to your skin as your clothes followed the outline of your body. Before you could apologize to the startled buck, he bowed his head before hopping back into the woods, making you groan in frustration at the missed opportunity as your eyes followed the two white dots that were embedded on his right hind leg.

Little did you know that it wasn’t going to be the last time you touched him like this.

­­____

The next week

____

"Graduation is tomorrow. Next week, I’ll be going to Germany for Uni to study criminology and forensic sciences” you told him, your hands playing with his ears, chuckling when he shook his head from how ticklish it was.

It was one of those times you could have sworn he was human as he huffed softly at your announcement. He almost seemed sad with the way that his tail perked down along with his head, his eyes not on you anymore.

“Come on, it’s not like you’ll miss. I bet you have a nice family in the woods” you chuckled softly as he sneakily poked an antler into your side, making you yelp softly.

You were happier that you both had gotten so close to each other in the past week, yet each time he always ended up hopping away within twenty minutes, not enough time for you. It was as if he was hiding something from you, or he was too scared that you’d skin him and use his fur as a mat in your uni dorm.

You honestly couldn’t care anymore, you wanted him to stay longer, even if he was just going to poke you with his antlers. You didn’t know why you needed him so badly, maybe because he was the only one for you there when you came home. Your parents were never home, always too busy for you with their jobs, so he was almost like your anchor. He reminded you that life has its quirks and that your life was just as precious.

So as he took his leave, you stood up, quietly stalking behind him. Of course, he knew you were following him, and it worried him, because, how long were you going to follow him until he was to reveal his true form? Shapeshifting may seem like an amazing ability, but it came with many limitations.

You kept following him, not minding the way the dark bark of the trees dug into your skin, or how the ferns tickled your bare knees, you just followed the escaping buck, your heartbeat drumming in your head as the patches of sunlight that came through the trees gave you warmth for a few seconds or so. Gradually you picked up pace to match his till the point where you were running after him. You were thankful for the trees being so tall as no branches wacked you in the face. It was hard following an animal, especially with how fast and agile they are, but with the way that he stopped before making turns or slow downed a few times, it seemed like he wanted you to follow him.

Upon entering a clearing, the buck stopped, oddly tired as he watched you approach him, his body leaning against the trunk of a tree.

You were equally as tired, scratches and marks littering your skin as you rested your hands on your knees, taking a breather. Despite the exhaustion, you were filled to the brim with joy, because you finally got to him, and you were a lucky cat as you weren’t dead yet. Before you could reach to him, your whole world fell. Everything went up as you went down, the leaf covered ground coming closer to you as a root was snagged on your foot. You closed your eyes, bracing for the impact that never came. Instead you felt a more cushioning fall, and it felt all too human like, especially with the groans that were underneath you.

Peeping open your eyes and placing your hands on the surface you fell on, you realised that it was a human. A human named Tobio Kageyama.

What

The

Fuck?!

You scrambled up behind, pushing the leaves as you tried your best to back away from the naked boy, confusion raking every cell in your body.

How the fuck was he just a buck right now? A human and animal? You pondered what type of mushrooms were in your soup last night as the boy had caught up to you, making you yelp softly as he pinned you underneath him, one of his hands covering your mouth as the ground hit your head softly.

You tried screaming but all that came out were mumbles and you couldn’t do anything to resolve that as his other hand had gripped both of yours and held it to the ground. Despite all the thrashing around, you could see the frantic look in his eyes, the same eyes that would watch you make a flower crown with the flowers that he would collect from the woods.

Slowly realising that he was overpowering you easily, you calmed down, hoping that things would be explained by him quicker.

“Shhh, keep it down, you have such a loudmouth!” he said before grunting as you nipped his hand, still not removing it.

“Listen, I’ll explain everything if you just shut up” he growled, finally removing his hand to inspect all the little marks you left there.

“What the fuck, Kageyama?” you said, still trying your best to get out of his grasp, trying to knee his back.

What hurt more was that you were using his last name instead of his first like you always did, but he had to control himself from letting anything slip.

“Please, just promise me you’ll not run away or do anything stupid, and I’ll explain everything and leave you unscathed” he whispered, slowly loosening his grip on your wrists.

“Leave me unscathed? Are you tryna kill me?!” you said, pushing him back as soon as you got out of his grip, backing away even further before he grabbed your ankles, pulling you back underneath him.

“Jesus Christ, if I’d had known you were this stupid, I wouldn’t have ever fallen in love with you” he finally let you, pinning your arms down yet again, as wrinkles drew up between his eyebrows in frustration.

Those lines faded away once he realised what he had said, groaning as he hung his head down, deliberately not making eye contact with you whatsoever. He had definitely increased his body temperature from all the chasing and transforming but the blush on his cheeks took him to a whole new level, he thought he had a fever, well, this was a fever dream anyways. How the fuck were you supposed to explain to your crush that you were a shapeshifter and that your stalking was valid?

The shared silence became more awkward as the adrenaline slowly faded from both of your bodies, making you realise that one of you wasn’t clothed appropriately for this situation, and if it weren’t for the fact that Tobio may not be human, it could be the opening scene to a hippie porno.

“Why do you love me? You barely know me” you panted softly, watching as his head snapped up at that.

“What kind of stupid question is that? I’m still the same black buck with the two white spots on my hind leg, I know a lot about you” he quipped as he subconsciously rubbed your wrists with his thumbs.

“At least answer my question, even if it is stupid” you groaned, remembering all the personal stuff you had told him.

“Don’t make fun of me then, I know you will”

“I won’t”

“Sure”

“I’m serious, just tell me already”

“Fine…I just kinda love everything about you. It’s hard to explain but my heart keeps racing so fast whenever I see you and it’s so annoying because it does that at the tiniest little things and distracts me from practice. Like when you come up to me and give my bottle and towel with a smile, how you can easily joke around with T-Tanaka and Noya, how you give me tips at the end of a few sessions of mistakes that I were making, how you laughed and smiled when you woke me up with an ice bucket during training camps, how you do that stupidly cute little wave whenever you see me or how you use your sarcasm to fuck around with my s-stupidity, there’s just so much that I love about you that I can’t ignore. Most importantly, I love how you treat me so gently, so delicately as you try your best not to drive me away, and your touch is so soft, AHH, see?? There’s too much to handle”

Tobio was out of breath as he kept rambling on. His bare chest heaving as he willed himself to stop, blush spreading to his ears and neck as he buried his face in his hands. Something inside you spurred on, and your heart felt so light yet warm. Everyone always longed to love and be loved and here you were, living the dream. You hadn’t noticed the matching blush on your face that had crept up with a small smile. To be honest, you always had a soft spot for him. You loved teasing him just to watch his face burn up and his lips stutter and you had to admit, your room was more dark blue that it should have been. Looking at this boy, you never had a frown on your face because everything just seemed more…colourful. You might not have noticed it because dating was never on your mind or it was just your normal reaction around the setter, and you regretted not acknowledging your feelings for him earlier, so you had to do what you could with the time you had.

Stopping him during his ramble, you leaned up and capture his lips with yours, giving him a light kiss. He was certainly surprised, but the adrenaline in his body didn’t make him hesitate as he kissed you back deeper, his hands now intertwining with yours, pining them back down.

“Y-you like me?” he whispered against your lips, his eyes on them as he awaited your answer.

You admired how pretty he looked up close, it was ethereal. He didn’t have to wait any longer as you gave him another kiss, one which was more passionate than the last as you tightened your grip on his hands. The kiss was anything but lewd and you took it further by prodding his mouth with your tongue. He didn’t hesitate to let you in, the feeling new to him as he felt his body heat up from how your tongue danced with his. He shifted his body so that his right thigh slipped between your legs, not letting you clench them close, which earned him a whimper form you. He earned another whimper as he separated his lips from yours, his eyes hazy with lust as he panted softly before trailing his lips from your mouth to your cheek, whispering “tell me if you’re uncomfortable at any time” against your ear before they went down to your jaw, pressing lingering and hot kisses. You unlaced your hands from his to tug on his hair, letting out small moans as he kissed against all your sweet spots, making you curl your toes from the light touches.

“I’m not so sure about what I’m doing, so guide me” he whispered, kissing against your throat as he looked up at you.

“Just, just lightly nip and suck at a few spots, Tobio” you mumbled softly, looking up to the patterns of the branches that rested at the tops of the trees, rays of light flickering down upon the both of you.

He did as you guided, his lips sucking on a few spots before his teeth nipped right at your sweet spot, sending tingled down your spine as you tangled your fingers in his hair, moaning out his name softly. The feeling of his wet and hot mouth against your skin was addicting and you pushed his head closer to you, wanting to be as close as possible.

“Tobio, you’re such a tease” you panted out softly, letting out a moan as he shifted his thigh to rest right at your damp panties, a jolt going through your body at the sudden pressure on your clit.

“I won’t be able to hold myself back if you say my name like that” he softly moaned against your collarbone before licking the mark he left there.

“Then don’t, Tobio” you whispered sneakily into his ear, making sure you emphasized his syllables in your sultry tone.

His hand sneaked onto your thigh, feeling the warm flesh that your school skirt exposed before his fingers slowly travelled up, sending warm tingles as he inched closer and closer to your most needy part.

“Should I touch you there?” he asked, nibbling on your earlobe. He was so innocent but the way he said it almost sounded like he was teasing you as his fingers danced on the edge of your panties.

“Please” you whined softly, gasping as you felt his warm fingers graze against your clit over the material of your panties, the barrier teasing you.

You were about to protest with how soft he was being before he slid your panties down to your knees, slowly plunging a finger into your wet and tight walls. He mumbled out a curse at how your pussy sucked in his finger, it was all so new to him. He watched your contorted expressions change from pain to pleasure as he curled the finger before taking it out. He was fascinated from how your body reacted so much from such a simple thing and the throb in his cock make him crave more as he added another finger to the one that was already thrusting inside of you.

You scratched down his back and made him groan as he plunged both of his fingers deep inside your clenching walls curling them just right and hitting your g-spot. Nothing prepared you for when his thumb circled your clit, going faster as he registered your reaction. His setter fingers were doing wonders for you.

“Fuck, ngh, right there, Tobio!” you moaned, uncaring for the twigs that pinched your shoulders as you arched your back.

He looked in awe as you continued thrashing around, taking it as a good sign as you begged more from him. He might have seemed like an innocent virgin, but he was a normal hormonal boy, of course he had a few videos he could reference from.

“T-Tobio, stop being a tease and fuck me already” you moaned, sliding your hands back up his bare back to tug on the roots of his hair. It seemed like that had done it for him as he moaned underneath your touch, following your orders.

“P-please tell me if it hurts, I-I’ll stop” he mumbled against your neck as he nuzzled his face there before guiding his tip to your entrance.

You gasped softly at how hot his tip felt against your clit, begging him to put it in as you wrapped your legs around his waist, giving him better access.

He didn’t wait any longer before slowly inserting it into your warm and wet walls, letting out moans as he felt you clench around him immediately. You on the other hand scrunched up your face, an unsettling pain humming in your pussy before you controlled your breathing, letting the muscles relax. Tobio didn’t noticed the painful expression on your face until he was in all the way, both of your pelvises touching from the close proximity.

“F-fuck, are you okay?” he asked worriedly, slowly taking himself out before you stopped him, your hands clenching onto his strong and muscular shoulders as you shook your head.

“J-just wait, let me adjust, stay still, ngh” you panted out softly before taking deep breaths and relaxing your muscles again, getting used to the feeling of being so full. After a bit, you started enjoying the feeling of his hard cock rubbing snugly against your walls.

“You can move now” you moaned softly as he started to thrust in and out slowly.  

“F-fuck, y-y/n, you’re so tight” he whimpered against your neck, his neediness vibrating against your skin.

“Y-you’re so good, Tobio” you moaned, tugging onto his hair even tighter, feeling him thrust deeply into you from that action, moaning and curling your toes as you felt his tip press against your g-spot.

“Fuck, ngh, right there” you moaned, feeling how his back muscles flexed as he thrusted deeper, angling perfectly into the spot. He was always on point, determined to get you to orgasm, it was his setters’ way of life.

You arched your back, loving how the cool Earth felt against your heated bodies. The woods were silent and peaceful except for the sounds of moans and skin slapping. It was so blissful and not even the birds flying overhead could distract you from the boy on top of you.

Bringing his face out of the crook in your neck and close to your face, you captured his swollen lips with yours, swallowing his moans as he increased his pace, still thrusting deeply into your tight pussy.

“I love you, y/n” he whispered through grunts as he parted your lips for a second before attacking them again.

You didn’t have to question him; you knew he did. He was always one to mess up with his words and not be able to express his feelings whole heartedly, so when he did, he meant it. And you did too. Squinting open your eyes slightly confirmed those feelings, falling in love with the way that he scrunched his eyes shut, sweat dripping down his forehead as his face was redder than a strawberry. You loved it all and so you tightened your legs around his waist, moaning loudly as you felt his tip press harshly against your g-spot in one final deep thrust, spilling all over him.

Tilting your head back, you felt your whole-body spasm as your orgasm ripped through your body, the coil in your abdomen snapping as you came undone. Your own release sent Tobio hurtling into his own, your clenching walls milking him of all his cum.

“F-fuck, shit, y-y/n” he moaned, collapsing on top of you, panting against your neck as he gripped your waist tightly, a few tears leaving his eyes once his high settled down.

You relaxed your hands on his back, rubbing his hot skin softly, wanting nothing more than to stay in this moment forever, to not go to a different university and just live in the woods with Tobio. You didn’t fully know what he was, but you still loved every part of him.

“Tobio?”

“Hmm?”

“I love you too.”

[fanfictionaries]

Love and Academia Ch. 3 - Dream Homes and Disloyalty

Pairing: AU Professor!Bucky x OFC

Warnings: Swearing, smut, NSFW/18+ only, mentions of death/violence/suicide

Author’s note: We get a nice little look into Bucky’s perspective this week. Also because this is an AU and I am the God on the worlds I create, Steve has a big family and he’s from the midwest. I just want him to be a happy little farm boy! 

And as always, I do not currently have a beta reader so please excuse any larger issues. it’s just little ol’ me!

***

Bucky’s feet hit the ground. Left, right, left, right. He was on the final mile of his morning run. Usually by this time he’d be well into his runner’s high, feeling great as he finished off his fifth mile, but today it was like each step made him weaker and slower. His legs cut through the air like a knife cutting through frozen butter. He thought about stopping, just giving up and calling that day’s run short, but a yip at his side and the brush of a cold nose on his calf eliminated the idea immediately. Trixie, his border collie, would be an energetic wreck all day if she didn’t get her full five miles. So, he pushed through, finally slowing to a walk when he’d fully completed his run.

“There, ya happy?” Bucky asked, looking down at his dog. Trixie looked up at her owner briefly, tail wagging, tongue hanging from her mouth, and looking as pleased as ever as she padded beside him. He held her leash loosely in his hand as Trixie led the way towards their new house. Their new home.

It was a red brick Victorian style home nestled on a quiet back street. It’s deep green door, white trim, and beautiful garden of roses and irises held a certain charm. The garden had been the main selling point for him and Diane. Diane had been so taken by the white picket fence in the front yard, with the ivy-colored trellis framing the walkway to the front door. She insisted they put in an offer straight away, even though they weren’t planning on moving for another year. Bucky had called her crazy, saying that it was insane for them to pay both rent in Brooklyn and a mortgage in Idaho. But she had reasoned that with both of their jobs and their minor expenses they could easily afford it and it was a small price to pay for their dream home.

“You mean your dream home?” Bucky laughed.

“It’s not your dream home?” Diane asked, slightly crestfallen at the realization.

“Your dream is my dream,” Bucky said, and it was true. His dream was her and therefore whatever her dream was, was his as well.

But now as he treaded across the loose boards on the front porch to unlock the door that stuck, he cursed her for making this their dream. Opening the door and crossing the threshold, he unhooked Trixie’s leash and placed his keys on the table next to the front door. Trixie, apparently wiped from their run, laid on her bed across the living room and promptly fell asleep. Bucky reached for the remote and turned on the TV, skimming through the channels until he got the local news, and then settled into the rest of his workout. It was always the same: sit ups, pushups, pull ups, repeat. The same simple routine helping to bring him clarity. Something he needed a lot of these days.

The decision to leave Brooklyn had been his idea. His contract with NYU was coming to an end, and he just kept feeling like he needed a change. He’d called Brooklyn home his entire life. Despite his short time away for undergrad at Boston University, he’d been born in Brooklyn, grown up in the streets of Brooklyn with his brothers, gotten his PhD at NYU, gotten his first teaching position there, met Diane there. But he was growing restless of the same old story. Diane, thankfully, agreed. She, being from Montana, enjoyed her time on the east side of the country, but was ready to be closer to home.

Bucky had just finished his last set when his phone buzzed on the coffee table. Not even thinking, he reached for it and pressed the green call button.

“So, he finally answers,” Steve boomed from the other end. Bucky sighed inwardly; he’d been avoiding Steve all week since they’d last seen each other at the bar.

“Hey man, what’s up?”

“Oh, you know, I was just wondering if I could actually see my best friend and catch up with him finally. Or will I have to wait another six years?”

“Alright, alright, message received jerk. Why don’t we grab coffee this morning? I’m headed into the office a little later and I have time before then,” Bucky said, feeling guilty for not making it up to Steve for completely bailing on their guys night last week. Steve laughed and agreed, throwing out a time and place before ending the call.

Bucky showered before dressing in a pair of jeans and white t-shirt. He brushed his wet hair and contemplated trimming his beard before saying ‘fuck it’ and walking out of the bathroom. Making his way down the stairs, he was halfway down when a step gave under his foot. With a loud crack, the wood split in two and he was ankle deep in pain and frustration.

“Jesus fucking Christ!”

Bucky pulled his foot from the hole and continued walking down the stairs gingerly. Pulling up his pant leg, he assessed that there was minimal damage, and proceeded to grab his wallet, keys, and phone from the coffee table. He crouched down by Trixie’s bed and gave her a scratch behind the ear.

“I’ll be back later girl,” Bucky said. Trixie nuzzled his palm with her nose before giving it a kiss and laying her head back down on her bed.

Fifteen minutes later and Bucky was seated at a table in a small coffee shop, ice coffee in hand, with Steve sat across from him.

“It’s good to see you man. Really good,” Steve said, taking a sip of his coffee and leaning back in his seat.

“I know, it really is. Tell me again why you moved all the way out here after college?” Bucky asked, rubbing a bead of condensation away from the side of his cup.

“Oh, you know me. Boston was fun but after four years I was done with the big city. It’s not home, but most of my family isn’t even in Minnesota anymore anyways.”

“And you’re liking it here so far?”

“Oh, I love it. My parents are here, so is my sister Mary. Mike’s still in Bloomington, but him and the wife have been talking about moving down here too. You know us Rogers—can’t stay apart for too long. We always end up finding our way back together,” Steve chuckled.

“Yea, you are a dysfunctional bunch, aren’t you,” Bucky teased.

“Oh please, I’ve met the Barnes family several times. How many times has your mom called you?”

“Today or in the last week?” Bucky laughed, thinking about how his mom had called him at least three times a day for the past month he had been in Idaho.

“Mary still seeing that finance guy?” Bucky asked, trying to remember the small details Steve had dropped about his family over the years through their phone calls.

“Oh Doug? God no. No, he turned out to be a real piece of shit…why? You interested?” Steve grinned, raising an eyebrow at Bucky.

“You seriously trying to set me up with your sister man?”

“Hey—" Steve held his hands up in defense “—I’m just saying. She’s always had a bit of a thing for you.”

“Well, that’s certainly news to me, but I’m not exactly single Steve,” Bucky sighed.

“I thought you said Diane said—”

“Yea, I know what she said but it doesn’t really mean I agree with it. That was her idea, not mine.”

“So, the other night at the bar?”

“Was a mistake. Besides, nothing really happened.”

Steve looked skeptical, “She seemed pretty upset right before she left. You sure nothing really happened?”

“What are you implying?”

“Nothing. I’m just worried about you.”

There was a long silence as they sat there. Bucky refusing to look at Steve. Steve refusing to look away from Bucky. Bucky had felt guilty that night with Emily. He truly had. Diane’s words had run through his head that night over and over again. He thought that if he had kept it impersonal, maybe he could do it. With Diane not there, he was lonely and god, he had been wildly attracted to Emily. Probably more than he liked to admit. But no matter what Diane said, when it came down to it, it still felt like a betrayal.

“Well, at least something good came out of that night,” Bucky stated, steering the conversation in another direction.

“Oh yea? What?”

“I’m assuming you went home with her friend, yea?”

At the mention of Natasha, Steve’s face went bright red and he coughed into his hand, “We uh, no we didn’t. She wanted to but…”

“You said no?” Bucky asked shocked.

“Yea, well you know me. I’m a bit old fashioned. I want to take a girl out on an actual date before we—”

“Fuck each other’s brains out?”

“Something like that—" Steve smirked into his coffee cup, “—I’m taking her out for dinner tomorrow actually.”

Bucky smiled at Steve, his best friend looking bashful but excited, “Gonna’ show her the ol’ Steve Rogers’ charm?”

“I’m just hoping I don’t make a fool of myself. It’s been a while since I went out on a date. You know, what with me and Peggie splitting and she’s…very confident. She definitely knows what she wants,” Steve admitted.

“Oh, you’re for sure going to make a fool of yourself, but I don’t think that’ll hurt your chances.”

Bucky laughed as Steve reached across the table and tried to punch him in the arm.

“Jerk,” Steve said, smiling the whole time. They talked for a while longer, Bucky asking about Steve’s family and Steve doing the same. They talked about mutual friends and what they were up to. About an hour had passed when Steve asked about Bucky’s new job.

“So, when do you start your new gig?”

“This coming Monday. I was actually going to stop by today and take care of paperwork, maybe check out my new office,” Bucky said, draining the last of his coffee.

“Well, I won’t keep you from that. I should probably get going. I’ve got to head to the gym and then get home and get some stuff done.”

They stood and said their goodbyes, promising to hang out again soon before exiting the coffee shop and getting in their cars. It was a short drive from there to the university. The red brick and lush green trees reminding Bucky of home. However, stepping out of his truck, the dry heat was a pleasant reminder that this place was definitely not humid, sticky Brooklyn in August. Locking his car behind him in the visitor’s parking lot, he walked casually towards the Life Science’s building. He admired the landscaping as he walked, always finding humor in how every university seemed to try and make their campus as pretty as possible right before school started. A nicer grounds always did well for visiting prospective students, parents dropping off their children for their first year, and returning students who wanted a reason to stay.

The Life Science’s building was definitely older than some of the other buildings on campus, but that didn’t both him too much. He climbed the stairs, old linoleum steps peeling and cracking as he double checked the office number on his phone. Room 439. As he neared the room tucked back into a corner of the floor, he began to hear music. Gradually it increased in volume, a punky beat from a band that he recognized. It became clear that the music was coming from room 439 when he entered through the front door. Looking around he saw an older lab, boxes piled high and lab equipment strewn about haphazardly. The music was coming from the office within the lab, this time though, he could hear a voice singing along to it. It was loud, raspy, and overall offkey. Maybe he had the wrong room number? He walked towards the office, hoping to ask whoever was in there for some help finding the right place. Inside was a young woman dressed in a pair of baggy jeans and t-shirt. He watched in amusement as she danced to the music, obviously under the impression that she was alone as her hips wiggled and head bopped side to side.

“Um, excuse me. I think this is my office,” he called over the music, feeling bad that he was probably going to embarrass the girl. She jumped at his voice and when she whipped around the ground fell out from underneath him.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he asked. Anger, for some reason, being his initial reaction to seeing Emily standing in what was supposed to be his office. Emily, a woman who had told him that she was a bartender. Emily, a woman he had almost hooked up with and then snubbed very dickishly at a bar about a week ago.

She seemed pretty upset right before she left. Steve’s words rang in his mind.

[tbehartoo]

200 Follower Thank you

Once upon a time, I said hey I’m about to have 200 followers. That’s 199 more followers than I ever expected to have. Maybe I should show these people some appreciation for following my hodgepodge of a blog? I asked what would be considered a good Thank you and received a whopping one (1) reply to the possibilities I mentioned. This is a result of that poll. Please note: I will NEVER volunteer to do this again!

200 Head Canons from the various fandoms I’ve written fan fic for (Fairy Tail, Miraculous Ladybug, and Voltron: Legendary Defenders). Please note these are made up things from my very tired brain and not necessarily thought through or even complete ideas, though I did try to make them internally consistent there are no guarantees. They might contradict each other and most certainly will contradict canon. Please take everything with a grain of salt, and enjoy!

Erza Scarlet (Fairy Tail)

1-Erza only likes red fruits- strawberries, cherries, raspberries dragon fruit, apples, etc.. But they have to be red in color not other versions of the same kind of fruit. No black cherries, green apples, or the like- she can taste the difference even blindfolded.

2- Erza likes to go stargazing on summer nights, but can’t sit still for watching clouds.

3- Between missions she will occasionally try to write poetry. It does not go well

4- She has never told anyone about the poetry!

5- There is a small part of the space she uses for her requip items that contains the locked box with her writing journals. 

6- Erza and Mira like to go shopping together. The stores tremble in fear when the two are on a campaign to find the perfect outfit. One boutique has had to hire a couple of mercenaries at the door to give the staff sufficient time to brace for impact, whenever they have a sale and the girls are in town.

7- There is a cat colony near Fairy Hills and every single cat knows Erza. They are all feral cats, but they trust Erza to provide calming attention.

8- Two things Erza does in any new place is find the baths and find the gyms. 

9- She likes to go to different gyms to observe new fighting techniques, but she doesn’t like to be recognized so she always goes in disguise.

10- Every time she asks to be taught a new technique, there is one guy (you know that one guy) that feels he needs to mansplain things to her.

11- This man is always handed his ego on a silver platter with a side serving of crow. Sometimes quite painfully.

12- Erza was once invited to an underground gym by a woman she met at the baths. She was so surprised to find it was a group dedicated to learning to fight like the Great Titania. Most of the women had histories of being abused, but had been inspired by the leader of the Fairies to stand up for themselves and get safe. They then worked to make sure that others are safe on the streets of their city and in their homes. Erza actually broke down at learning of their strength and resilience. 

13- The only time she purposefully took off her disguise was for these women to thank them. She then spent the rest of the night helping them train.

14- Erza is demisexual which is why she fell so hard for Jellal as she had a strong connection to him. 

15- She continues to have fond feelings for Jellal, but is no longer romantically or sexually interested in him.

16- Erza doesn’t bother to tell others in her guild about her changed feelings for Jellal which means the girls are always trying to get them alone together whenever he’s in town.

17- Meredy once sneaked a sensory link between Erza and Jellal and herself to figure out what was going on with them. She never told anyone what she found out, but she worked at toning down the FT girls’ attempts at matchmaking. 

18- Erza works really hard to keep her strength in check. She has trained with Guildarts to get her control as finely tuned as it is.

19- Erza has yet to find a mode of transportation that is fast enough for her. It’s a pity that Magnolia doesn’t have jet propulsion or rockets.

20- Her favorite hot drink is cinnamon tea with a little sweetened condensed milk in it.

Lucy Heartfilia (Fairy Tail)

1- Lucy prefers the feel of cotton over silk, but she prefers the look of silk over cotton.

2- She has to invest in cotton, linen and woolen clothing as a member of Team Natsu since they don’t burn as easily as other materials.

3- Lucy has asked Levy to look for a fire retardant/ fire proofing spell to be able to use for both her clothing and her apartment.

4- Lucy was taught to crochet when she was a young girl. Though she doesn’t make the fine lace she was expected to produce as a child, she does use those skills to make tiny amigurumi mice for Happy.

5- Lucy also crochets scarves and hats every autumn for her friends. Often she makes a couple extra ones to donate to the local women’s shelter.

6- Aires likes to bring Lucy wool like thread/yarn from the spirit world for her to use in her projects.

7- Lucy likes to go fishing with Natsu and Happy.

8- She does not like catching fish with Natsu and Happy.

She like casting her rod and reeling it in, but she does NOT like baiting her hook or killing the fish. Natsu and Happy have no problems taking care of those things for her.

9- Lucy prefers moving rivers and creeks over still ponds and lakes.

10- She loves going to the beach to watch the waves break along the shore.

11- Lucy was taught how to steer a boat, well it was a yacht but why quibble over details?

12- She once claimed she was going to sail around the globe, but her father told her not to talk nonsense and then sold their boat to keep her from ever trying.

13- Lucy made friends with the birds in the garden and can whistle their calls almost as well as the birds themselves.

14- Lucy has always told herself stories. Even when she’s on a job with Team Natsu she’s often composing short stories as her day goes along.

15- Lucy hates the taste of truffle and will instantly distrust anyone who claims to like it.

16- She prefers to have short hair, but keeps hers long to be able to use the comb and brush set her mother used to use.

17- Lucy has two special silver hair pins that her mother gave her when she twelve. They belonged to her grandmother and her great-great-aunt. They get passed down to the next generation on the twelfth year after they have sparked. They always end up with a celestial mage.

18- Lucy’s understanding of celestial contracts is both modern and archaic. She is well aware of what is expected from a modern magic user, but she has been well taught in the lore of celestial beings. 

19- Most celestial spirits are pretty plain speaking with what they will, can, or won’t do. Some however, the eldest spirits, are very tricky and will find whatever loopholes through imprecise language they can to do what they can to be maliciously compliant. This is why, even though the elder spirits are more powerful than most of their siblings, they are rarely contracted with.

20- Lucy eventually has five contracts with elder Celestial Spirits. None of them have been able to twist out of their responsibilities to her.

Natsu Dragneel (Fairy Tail)

1- Natsu only flies off the handle so easily so that he has “legitimate” reasons for using his fire.

2- He has to eat a lot to have enough fuel for his fire.

3- He really just likes to eat and uses his fire so often so that he has room to eat more.

4- Natsu often lies awake at night trying to come up with good insults for Gray, Gajeel, and even Loki, though he rarely remembers them thus having to fall back on old and well used insults.

5- When Natsu does remember a new insult, he will rate the reaction on a scale of one to five and if it doesn’t get a four or a five he will drop using it.

6- One time he said something about Levy to Gajeel that was rated a ten and after he healed up, he never used that particular insult again.

7- Because of the sheer amount of energy that routinely flows through Natsu, he has a faster healing rate than most people, including dragon slayers, except Wendy. Wendy’s magic makes her quick to heal so that she can heal others.

8- Natsu has several potted succulents that he and Happy take care of whenever they are in town. 

9- Natsu talks to his plants and has named each one.

10- One time a new neighbor overwatered his plants while Natsu was ot of town, killing all of the plants.

11- The new neighbor was mortified and offered to buy replacements, but Natsu was offended. You don’t buy FAMILY MEMBERS they are FOUND!

12- Natsu and Happy took nothing but desert and costal assignments for a year to find new plants for their place. They even took a few over to the neighbor to teach them how to care for the very laid back plants.

13- Natsu isn’t dumb, he’s just simple. No need to be all stealthy when you can just flame broil a problem. Right?

14- Natsu likes to come in Lucy’s apartment through the window because she’s always good for a laugh when he does it.

15- Happy, and Natsu, likes to stay the night at Lucy’s place because she will read them a bedtime story.

16- Natsu’s favorite stories are about the constellations and the heroes that got put into the stars.

17- Happy’s favorite stories are about animals acting like humans, and who like to eat a lot. (Basically he likes Redwall stories, just those from Earthland)

18- Natsu hates the Pied Piper story because the kids didn’t help their lame friend go with them and Happy hates it because he scared all the rats away. Somehow the book with that story in it mysteriously burned to a crisp.

19- Natsu doesn’t have a favorite color. It changes every time someone asks.

20- When Natsu is really stressed Happy will curl up in his lap and start purring. When Happy is stressed, Natsu will raise his body temperature slightly and then hold Happy close until Happy feels like he can purr again.

Gray Fullbuster (Fairy Tail)

1- Gray doesn’t like the feel of most of his clothes touching his skin.

2- He only likes the feeling of heavy clothes touching him. Lightweight clothes bug him.

3- Gray prefers to take jobs that take him up in the mountains because it’s cooler there, and there tend to be less people he has to deal with.

4- Gray’s favorite place to vacation is the beach in the summer, but otherwise he prefers foothills in the spring for all their blooms, mountain slopes in the winter for the ice and snow, and mountain valleys in the autumn for the color change of the leaves.

5- While ice and snow don’t bother Gray, and even charge up his magic, he still prefers to come in and sit in front of a toasty fire with a warm beverage after being out in the snow.

6- One reason Gray doesn’t object to Natsu being around and being annoying is because he always has that portable space heater thing going after being cold when Natsu is around.

7- Gray experiments with poetry when he travels on his own. He never writes any of it down.

8- Gray is obscenely good with numbers and logic puzzles.

9- He’s been banned from many gambling establishments for exposing their crooked practices, even the ones that usually go unnoticed.

10- Gray kind of assumes that other people also see what he sees and doesn’t understand why he’s expected to spell everything out for the rest of Team Natsu.

11- Gray is slow to warm up to people. He’s been let down before, so once he considers you a his friend, he’s your friend for life.

12- People that really know Gray were surprised at how quickly he befriended Lucy. With most people Gray takes at least a year to even start acknowledging their existence.

13- Gray thinks Lucy is like a little sister that needs careful watching up until Tenrou.

14- After Tenrou, Gray thinks of Lucy as an equal that can and will kick his butt if he needs it.

15- Gray is not afraid of Erza, unless Natsu is involved.

16- Gray was once emotionally and verbally abused by a girlfriend, it’s what makes Juvia’s first behavior and love declarations so uncomfortable for him.

17- Gray will never admit that he’s jealous of Natsu and Gajeel’s exceed companions. But he does want to have his own flying cat occasionally.

18- Gray’s least favorite food is egg nog ice cream. He just doesn’t care for the flavor and you couldn’t get him to drink hot egg nog for love or money.

19- Gray’s preferred hot drink is Lapsang souchong tea. He likes the pine flavor in his tea cup.

20- One time Lucy, Erza, and Wendy invited Gray to accompany them to a fancy Hotel for afternoon tea. It was the only time he willingly wore a three piece suit!

Marinette Dupain-Cheng (Miraculous Ladybug)

1- Marinette likes to make lots of different kinds of pastries.

2- She only likes to actually eat a few types of pastry.

3- There are baked goods that she makes, but never eats because the textures give her the heebie jeebies. She knows other people love them so she’ll still make them.

4- Sabine, Marinette’s mom, was a martial artist of Chāquán. It is “a Chinese martial art that features graceful movements and some acrobatic aerial maneuvers. Chāquán also includes a large range of weapons.” Sabine was especially proficient in the use of the hookswords and the spear, which she has taught Marinette.

5- Sabine still goes over her forms every morning and young Marinette practices with her.

6- Marinette was fairly good at the acrobatic maneuvers until she hit puberty. Her mother often reassures Marinette that after she finishes her growth spurts she’ll be back to doing those moves again without messing up every third one.

7- Even though her father is an only child Marinette has dozens of “uncles” from around the world. Tom played on a rugby team in college and even was in the minor league for awhile. All of his team mates were made honorary uncles when Marinette was born. They get dozens of Christmas cards, letters, and emails to keep in touch.  

8- Marinette and Tom once did a tour of Europe only staying with his old teammates. They never had to find a hotel during the two weeks they traveled. They’ve had a fair few of them stay at their place in Paris, too.

9- Marinette often makes presents for her uncles, aunties, and cousins throughout the year, and receives small presents from them as well.

10- She was saving up for a trip to Australia and New Zealand for her sixteenth birthday, so that her family could visit with a couple of uncles in that part of the world, but suddenly Hawkmoth came up and now she’s not sure they will ever take that trip. 

11- She mentioned Chat Noir and Ladybug in an email to one of her ‘cousins’ in New Zealand who hadn’t heard of them, so she linked them to Alya’s Ladyblog telling her that this was really going on in Paris.

12- Two weeks later she got a video from them asking Mari to pass it along to Ladybug and Chat Noir. It showed their family and all their neighbors doing a haka for Paris and the heroes. They said it was to encourage the heroes to be strong and have courage in the face of Hawkmoth.

13- Mari cried when she saw the video as she knew what a big deal it was for them to do this for her. She asked for a translation of the words and was surprised to find it was actually written by her cousin’s grandfather, who was considered a great warrior chief, specifically for LB and CN.

14- Mari asked if only someone from her cousin’s tribe could perform that haka or if it would be considered appropriation for her and her friends to do it, too. She received another video that was an interview with the man who wrote it. He explained the tradition, the words, and showed exactly how each part should be performed. Then he gave all of Paris his blessing to do his haka for the heroes.

15- Marinette brought Alya over right away and showed her the videos. Alya promised to put both videos up right away. The traffic shut down the blog host’s servers!

16- Marinette invited this cousin’s family to visit during the summer to thank them for all that they did. During their visit an akuma attack happened. This family was delighted to suddenly have Ladybug calling the city to order and joining in as all across the capital young and old were preparing to dance strength and courage into being.

17- Marinette has noticed that her strength to stand up to Hawkmoth and perform her duties as Ladybug has increased dramatically ever since she, and the rest of Paris, has started doing the special haka.

18- Marinette likes to put youtube on autoplay and start on a random video when she’s trying to come up with a design and feels blocked. She stops it on the third and seventh video and then tries to come up with a design based on the video’s title.

19- Marinette has just started trying out needle felting and loves to make little felt mice for the animal shelter Chat Noir has endorsed.

20- Marinette has become the vice-president of the Chat Noir fan club at Francois- Dupont. Nino is the president.

Plagg and Tikki (Miraculous Ladybug)

1- Plagg watches  a video of camembert making on loop whenever he can get Adrien’s phone. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atOpLj-q5nA) [People in the comments are seriously convinced that Plagg would like this video!] 

2- Tikki likes to watch crafting videos and always makes sure to leave an encouraging comment on each one she watches.

3- Tikki prefers sweet things to eat, but she can recharge on almost any food. 

4- Plagg actually needs those fermented, slightly spoiled foods to recharge completely otherwise he’s acting on about half power.

5- Plagg wanted to explore Adrien’s house more, but Gabriel’s interest in Adrien’s ring has made him stick close to his boy.

6- Plagg spent the first month of being awake getting familiar with current events using Adrien’s phone. The invention of the computer has made him ridiculously happy.

7- Plagg may or may not have had something to do with a computer virus that infected the mansion’s protection protocol after Gabriel was akumatized. Now Adrien can get out of his room an time lockdown is initiated and doesn’t have to feel trapped in his room.

8- Tikki doesn’t sleep as much as Marinette does. She gets about an hour a night.

9- Tikki emits strong “sleep rays” when she sleeps to help her holders get to sleep. Her creative types can be overthinkers that need help dropping off. 

10- Tikki doesn’t need to sleep. Whenever creation is happening she is energized and really doesn’t need to rest. She’s the originator of “pulling an all nighter”

11- Tikki tends to get a surge of power at the equinoxes while Plagg receives more power at the solstices.

12- Tikki loved coming across this video of The HU and plays it as often as she can. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM8dCGIm6yc

13- Plagg found out about punk rock and now plays it as Adrien sleeps hoping that the messages of the music makes through that thick layer of “presentability” Gabriel has forced on Adrien. 

14- Tikki sometimes leaves Marinette’s purse to flit over and peek at Nathaniel’s progress on his drawings if the lesson is boring.

15- Plagg’s hearing is very sharp and his ears let him tune into conversations without moving much. He is careful to check into the class gossip, but also listens in to what’s happening in Mr. Damocles’ office and the teacher lounge.

16- Plagg listened in on Tom and Gorilla’s talking about Marinette and Adrien and snickers whenever he remembers Gorilla saying, “My money’s still on Marinette confessing first. Mine’s to dense to realize how far gone he already is. He might believe she likes him on their golden wedding anniversary.”

17- Even though Plagg can phase through matter he still has a healthy respect for Gorilla’s brute strength and doesn’t want to test if he’d be quick enough to dodge the big man in the even of an emergency.

18- Tikki spends many nights creating pictures of fractals using Marinette’s digital drawing tools.

19- Tikki may or may not be the cause of Marinette having more advanced capabilities digitally than any major studio on earth.

20- Tikki despises the nickname Sugarcube, but it is the best out of Plagg many, many tries so she puts up with it. Stinky Sock is the mildest nick name Tikki has ever called Plagg. 

20.B- Most of her other names for him would be considered unprintable, but they’re in dead languages so it’s probably safe for her to use them. 

20.C- Plagg tries not to mess up so badly that she uses the Babylonian curse on him.

20.D- Plagg can tell how angry Tikki is by what language she slips into. The older the language is, the more angry Tikki is.

Nino Lahiffe (Miraculous Ladybug)

1- Nino used to play percussion on everything he ever came in contact with until his uncle brought over a small hand drum for him to play. His parents called it ‘tapping’ when he was little.

2- The rule around the house was that he could only tap on the drum and not other parts of the house, when he was inside. Everything outside of the house was fair game.

3- Nino’s uncle came over every day to teach him the basics of playing his doumbek.

4- After a year of lessons, his uncle would take him to his weekly drum group where the more experienced drummers would teach little Nino drum tricks like rolls and pops.

5- By the time Nino was eight, he was a regular member of the drumming group and often went with them to play at weddings, parties, or other events. He was the cutest kid! When he was all decked out in traditional Moroccan garb playing smoking hot solos, he was often the source of viral videos.

6- In school he tried to join the band, but he was far too advanced for the beginning players and they didn’t have an advanced group for him to join.

7- The band teacher wanted to help him continue with his music so he showed Nino how to record and remix his own drumming.

8- The summer after that, he spent every day busking with a different member of the drum group to be able to afford his own recording equipment and programs.

9- The summer music money plus his share of the money for playing events with the drum group allowed him to be able to turn his room into basically a recording studio.

10- He soon became the group’s recorder which led to him also video taping performances.

11- The year before Stoneheart happens, the art teacher was able to teach Nino some basic film editing.

12- Nino’s tapping was one way for him to relieve his anxiety, the other way he tries to release it is through blowing bubbles as a kind of meditation.

13- It was hard for him to use his bubbles again after the Bubbler incident.

14- When Alya and Nino got locked in the cage at the zoo, it took all of ten seconds for Alya to figure out he didn’t actually have a crush on her. It took fifteen seconds for her to figure out it was Marinette he’d liked. He was really embarrassed about it.

15- However, after talking a lot about things they liked and disliked they found they really had a lot in common. Alya told Nino about Marinette’s crush on Adrien and Nino was upset for a moment, but then Alya made him laugh and he was suddenly thinking, “Marinette who?”

16- By the time they were out of the cage Nino was firmly in Alya’s corner for matchmaking Marinette with his friend Adrien.

17- Nino’s anxiety can get high during an akuma attack, unless he has someone to watch out for or protect, then he’s calm and collected. Which makes running after Alya toward the big scary monster the better choice for him during those moments. 

18- Nino was a natural at wielding the Turtle Miraculous as it played to his need to protect.

19- After being Carapace, battles in which he wasn’t called to be a protector of Paris were excruciating to watch even as he kept Alya from coming to harm. He craved using the Miraculous as it allowed him to care for more people at once.

20- Nino introduced Wayzz to both smooth jazz and rap music just to see what the kwami would do. He loved everything Nino threw at him! Wayzz requested a copy of Nino’s latest mixes and a song by Sade before he had to go back to the Guardian. Nino found an old iPod to give to the little godling who claimed it would be his most precious treasure. Nino couldn’t talk for a full five minutes as he was too embarrassed and proud to speak.

M. Gorilla (Miraculous Ladybug)

1- Gorilla and Tom played Rugby on the same team in college.

2- He often stops by the bakery after dropping Adrien off at school if he isn’t needed by M. Agreste immediately.

3- He’s convinced that Adrien is in love with Marinette, as are Tom and Sabine. It’s a topic of great interest and much discussion when he comes in, if there aren’t other customers around. Sabine and Gorilla have a bet on who will confess their feelings first. (Sabine’s money is on Adrien.)

4- Tom and Gorilla met their future spouses as they acted as bouncers at a local club on weekends all thorough their Junior and Senior years at university.

5- Sabine and Gorilla’s significant other, Jerome, were in a group of friends that frequented the night club regularly. Sabine dared her friend to get the cute bouncer’s phone number by the end of the night. After a few shots of liquid courage, he’d brazenly asked Tom for a date and his number, but Tom gently, and privately, told the young man he was straight. He then motioned for Gorilla to come over and introduced the two. The young man returned to the bar with two phone numbers: Gorilla’s for him and Tom’s for Sabine. 

6- Tom made the cake for Gorilla’s commitment ceremony, before same-sex marriage was legal in France. When Marinette was ten, he also made the wedding cake for Gorilla when he and Jerome were legally able to be married.

7- Jerome had a child from a previous relationship that he and Gorilla took care of for the first five years of the girl’s life. She was taken away when the girl’s mother claimed that Jerome wasn’t the father of the child. DNA tests proved he wasn’t. The mother tried to sue another man for child support, then took the girl and moved to another country.

8- Gorilla and Jerome were distraught to have their little girl taken from them. They tried to adopt another child, but they were denied and not even allowed to foster any children.  

9- Gorilla started working for the Agreste family shortly after he lost his daughter.

10- Emilie saw how angry he was over anyone that wasn’t an Agreste coming near Adrien and eventually got the story out of him over why he’d be so protective to keep people from potentially taking her son away. It was something she was very appreciative over. Gorilla considered her a friend after she went out of her way to find out about his heartbreak.

11- Gorilla is legally Adrien’s godfather. When Emilie heard what that woman had done to Gorilla she took Gorilla and Adrien to her lawyer and made Gorilla legally responsible for Adrien and any future children she may have regardless of his continuing employment by the Agreste family. Gabriel signed the papers without complaint, but didn’t actually read them carefully, or register exactly what he was signing..  

12- Gorilla worked for the DGSI, the French CIA, as an informant while playing rugby. It allowed him to travel for legitimate reasons and keep tabs on one of the players for the DGSI.

13- After university, Gorilla was recruited to become an agent. He was injured on an assignment and decided to retire to be an up and coming rocker’s body guard.

14- He and Jerome get invited backstage any time Jagged is in town to be able to catch up.

15- Gorilla really enjoyed doing his job as a bodyguard, but wanted to be home more with Jerome, especially after their little Marie was taken from them.

16- The DGSI came to Gorilla to ask if he’d be interested in working for them again as they look into the workings of one Gabriel Agreste and the Gabriel empire.

17- Gorilla was actually key in getting Nathalie in the door at Gabriel. She is also an informant gathering evidence on Gabriel Agreste.

18- Gorilla was speechless when their higher ups requested that he and Nathalie continue to aide Gabriel once he became a magical terrorist, they were interested in seeing the power of the moth Miraculous and what it could do. Nathalie complied willingly, but Gorilla refused to do anything that would put Adrien in trouble.

19- Gorilla despaired of Adrien ever figuring out how to give him the slip, and he was so proud when Adrien succeeded at eluding his tailing him through the Metro. Then he panicked because he just lost his child!

20- Gorilla is fully aware that Adrien is Chat Noir. He was the one to change the angle of the security cameras, and conveniently show Adrien their blind spot right outside his window. (Seriously, that boy needs all the help he can get.)

Pidge Gunderson/Katie Holt (Voltron: Legendary Defender)

1- Katie was introduced to Pokemon when she was very young.

2-For awhile all she managed to find were Pidgeys in her game. And she collected every one she could.

3- Matt laughed at her for this and nicknamed her “Pidge”.

4- Katie didn’t like his teasing and vowed to make her pidgeys the strongest she could to beat Matt’s team.

5- She eventually fulfilled that vow.

6- Later Pidge went on to collect and evolve almost every pokemon in the pokedex.

7- Matt never recovered from being beaten by a flock of pidgeot, and has refused to pick up the game ever since that time. Pidge considered that her greatest accomplishment until she infiltrated the Garrison.

8- Katie has loved robots ever since she watched the Iron Giant movie with her dad.

9- Katie first started building robots when she got a MeccaSpider Robot Kit for her sixth birthday. 

10- She was dissatisfied with how klunky the spider turned out to be and proceeded to borrow a few parts from something of Matt’s to make it work better. It’s ability to move as quickly and silently as a spider was not appreciated by all the inhabitants of her home. 

11- Katie has never grown out of her ability to see other uses for mechanical parts past their intended use, or for cannibalizing parts from anywhere she can get them.

12- While Katie likes to build robots, what she really adores is programming them. She hopes someday to make a small robot that can serve to help the physically disabled with everyday tasks.

13- Seeing her mother’s father struggle after he fell and broke his hip was what has spurred Katie on in her endeavor to build helper robots.

14- For all the squabbling and tattling that she and Matt engaged in, they were very good friends. When he left for the Garrison, and had to stay there, Katie cried every night for a month.

15- Katie hates to be in the middle of drama, but she loves to watch it unfold. She has been guilty of bringing snacks to watch Lance confront someone about a perceived slight.

16- Katie is a multishipper of fictional characters. When Hunk asked if she shipped Lance with any of the other cadets at the Garrison, she read him the riot act for shipping “real people”.

17- Pidge faked a crush for a whole week while in the Garrison when Lance wouldn’t stop pestering her about it. Then the female cadet showed up with a girlfriend and Lance tried to console Pidge about not having a shot since her “crush” was into girls. Pidge didn’t know how to feel about the entire situation and started telling Lance to “Zip it!” whenever he started up about Pidge needing a girlfriend.

18- Pidge finds the idea of “love at first sight” baffling and illogical, unless it’s a sweet piece of tech. Then she totally gets it. Her idea of a “sweet piece of tech” is not the same as Lance’s, but Hunk gets her.

19- Pidge is curious about everything! She likes to tinker with things to find out how they work as well as read about discoveries others have made.

20- Pidge finds sociology fascinating. People and cultures can be hard to understand, robots are nicer that way, but once she gets to meet so many other sentient beings, see their environments, and how they adapt to them- she thinks they are almost as awesome as the robots.

Hunk (Voltron: Legendary Defender)

1- Hunk’s grandmother (his father’s mother) was a chef at an upscale hotel. She’s the one that gave him his first lessons in cooking, knife skills, and developing one’s palate.

2- Hunk’s grandfather (his father’s father) was a fisherman who demonstrated traditional fishing techniques at their island’s living history museum three times a week once he’d retired. There was always plenty of fish to go around on those days.

3- Hunk’s other grandfather (his mother’s father) was an electrical engineer and worked for the county as lead engineer. He often had little models of circuits and old mother boards that he let Hunk tinker with and program.

4- His other grandmother (his mother’s mother) was the designated worrier of the family. She also had a lush garden that she tended daily. It was full of strange plants that often bore unusual fruits for the family to eat. 

5- Hunk learned to combine the strange fruits with the kitchen skills he had to make things his younger siblings would eat. Not every experiment turned out well, but he always tried to analyze what went wrong and strategize a better plan to execute his vision for the star ingredient.  

6- Hunk and his cousins often had “Bake offs” when they went to TiTi’s house for sleep overs. Hunk usually lost as baking was not his forte.

7- When he and his cousins did their own version of “Chopped” then Hunk usually won hands down. Especially when given a strange basket of ingredients to work with.

8- Hunk is highly anxious but working in the kitchen helps to calm him down. The rules for cooking are simple and there are few surprises he’s not prepared to deal with.

9- Hunk uses his cell phone to ease his anxiety about things in the kitchen. He always takes a photo with a time stamp when he leaves the kitchen. Also he has remote access to all appliances with alerts to let him know when everything is being used.

10- Hunk has installed cameras and view screens on every major appliance in his family’s homes so that if he starts to worry about them, he can check his phone to see what their status is.

11- The first time Hunk left something on in the Castle he realized he’d need to come up with the same kind of thing so he wouldn’t worry while on a mission.

12- The Castle had no clue what Hunk was doing, but eventually allowed Hunk and Pidge to install primitive sensors in the kitchen appliances (and the garbage disposal for some reason) but absolutely refused to allow remote activation of anything. Hunk had to be content with that.

13- Hunk has difficulty standing up for himself, but his anxiety has “Protective Mom” override mode. He will absolutely end someone messing with his friend or family member.

14- Hunk’s favorite color isn’t yellow, it’s orange. However he was drawn to the Yellow Lion because they both want to protect their friends and family.

15- The first night Hunk spent in the Castle of Lions he made sure to lock the door then proceeded to do a traditional siva tau in memory of his family whom he never expected to see again.

16- Hunk has composed a special siva tau that includes some of the people and places he’s been. It offers each of them encouragement to be strong, to trust in the goodness of others, and realize that they are not alone in the universe.

17- Hunk has performed his siva tau on only three occasions. Each time it was at the request of Allura for other groups that had lost their home planets. After each performance Hunk would have several people ask if he would teach them the dance.

18- After the defeat of the Galra, Hunk composed a second siva tau to celebrate the victory and also to mourn those who were lost to the conflict.

19- On the anniversary of this moment Hunk, his family, and any Paladin that is near will gather to celebrate. The evening always closes with the bon fire being stoked up and a performance of that second siva tau. 

20- At Hunk’s death there was a large crowd full of many species that honored his family and expressed their grief at his passing by performing Hunk’s first siva tau. It was said that the earth trembled as each foot/appendage touched down and the skies carried the sound of their voices all around the globe.  

[mobius-prime]

205. Sonic the Hedgehog #137

Robo-Dyne Systems

Writer: Romy Chacon Pencils: Steven Butler Colors: Jason Jensen

The Freedom Fighters have set out to go rescue Tommy from New Megaopolis. Sally expresses worry that she didn't tell her father they were coming on this mission, while Sonic is surprised that Sally has elected to come along at all given her anger with him for wanting to go on missions. She says that since Tommy is a childhood friend of hers as well she wants to be there to rescue him, and this is good enough for Sonic, who is just happy to have a hint of the old Sally back.

Nicole calculates a route through the buildings to the factory, and the team makes their way there, realizing that this is specifically a factory to produce lifelike robots when they see a number of said robots without their covering of skin and fur. Apparently Eggman is unaware that Robotnik tried this once before, and it was an abject failure. They make their way deeper in, and are shocked by what they see there.

They're discovered by a swatbot patrol, and Sonic leaps into action to fight while Rotor puts together a plan to electrocute the floor, thereby taking out all the swatbots. Sally swoops in to grab Sonic off the floor before he's caught in it, and makes a weird quip about hoping he's not embarrassed about being saved by a girl, which seems totally out of place considering their history. I mean, when has Sonic's personality ever included even a hint of an opinion of guys being better than girls? He has the utmost respect for Sally and Bunnie as valuable members of the team, and regularly encourages everyone around him regardless of gender. The only place I can even think of her getting this idea is during her year without Sonic, since her parents and the monarchy in general seem to be a bit more stuck in traditional gender roles. But regardless, Sonic and Sally get separated from the others, and Sally decides to trust Bunnie, Antoine, and Rotor to handle blowing the facility up while she and Sonic focus on saving Tommy. However, at the same time, Rotor finds himself and his friends being approached by… Sonic and Sally, who act like they've been searching all over for them. Rotor becomes suspicious when he notices Nicole isn't strapped to Sally's hip like usual…

The three take out the imposter Sally and Sonic, while the real ones have a happy reunion with Tommy, and both teams make their way to the facility's rooftop once the bombs are in place. They're tailed by a huge swatbot force, and have no way to get back to Tails and the Freedom Fighter Special, but suddenly…

The bombs go off as they zoom away to safety, and Sonic cheekily tries to pull a "See, being on missions isn't so bad!" on Sally. She huffs and reminds him that they still have to find a way to explain this to her father, which he admits he forgot. Ultimately, it still seems like she's upset with him, but they're no longer as cold as they were after the party when she slapped him, so that's good at least.

Mobius 25 Years Later: Trouble in Paradise

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Steven Butler Colors: Jason Jensen

This story is a bit weird. Essentially, we follow both Sonic and Sally, and Knuckles and Julie-Su, through their mornings on the day of their families' get-together. Each page is divided in two from top to bottom, with Sonic's side of things on the left side, and Knuckles' on the right. It's an interesting and creative idea in theory, but in practice it doesn't work very well, as the conversations between both sides are very different and the action (well, "action") doesn't flow well if you try to read it page by page. It's actually better to read each side in isolation, focusing first on the left then the right. I'll just explain the conflict of each side on their own, and then show a page that manages to exemplify the conflict of both sides at once.

Sonic is reluctant to go on the trip because apparently he and Knuckles had some big fight last year that they're both still mad about, but Sally forces him to go along anyway. On the way there he's quiet, and Sally asks him what's wrong, and he decides this is the perfect time to voice his misgivings about being king. I reiterate - he's been king for over fifteen years now, even started a family in that time and been an active force in raising a future prince and princess, and never once given any sign of his unhappiness, and now suddenly he's deciding to make it known that he doesn't like his position. Sally rightly points out that he should have known what he was getting into when he married her, and while that explanation makes sense for this timeline, it's weak when you compare it to what we've actually seen in the comic's main plot. Present Sally has repeatedly rejected the idea of being her father's successor in the future, and though I can see her stepping up out of duty if necessary, it's clear that in the end, she doesn't actually want to be queen. Sonic meanwhile, as he points out, thrives on adventure and freedom, and isn't much of a leader in broad terms, making him a poor fit for king. I honestly can't see the Sonic we know putting his relationship with Sally over his own freedom. I really think that despite his deep love for her, if it came down to a choice between being railroaded into being a king, and being able to keep his freedom to go on adventures and do whatever he wants, he'd choose the latter. It just seems bizarrely out of character for him to somehow sulk his way through fifteen years of kinghood just to start complaining about it out of nowhere on the way to a dinner party with his now-apparent enemy.

Oh, speaking of which! On Knuckles' side of things, he finds himself being awoken by a worried Julie-Su, who is frustrated that he won't talk to her lately (gee, can you notice a pattern here? Every married couple in this timeline seems to have a weirdly unhealthy relationship with each other and it sucks). He evades her questions as they get ready in the morning, but eventually confirms that he's not at all pleased about Sonic coming over. He's also angry about whatever it is that happened last year, but turns out this isn't even what Julie-Su is worried about. She had already expected him to be hostile to Sonic, but she still feels like he's keeping something from her, so he tells her about Rotor's suspicions about the weather. He doesn't yet have enough information to tell her more about what's going on, but she merely reassures him that they'll get through it "as a family," and they head downstairs with Lara-Su and Abby to greet the royal family, who have just arrived at the door. And now, the promised example page:

You see how weird and disjointed it is to follow? Eh, whatever. The only important things we even learn in this issue are that Sonic is unhappy as king (shocker there), and that something happened between him and Knuckles a year ago that's made them hate each other, although there still seems to be something more to their enmity than we've been told. All together, this arc is dragging on insanely slow so far. I could literally condense everything we've seen into two, maybe three stories by cutting a lot of the unnecessary chatter and constant repetition of plot points we've already heard several times over. Like, yes, we get it Penders, the weather is bad. We already heard that the first forty-seven times you told us. *sigh*

One Part Ooh-La-La, and Two Parts Treachery!

Writer: Romy Chacon Pencils: Al Bigley Colors: Jason Jensen

So we've established that Antoine has had some strange changes in his personality while Sonic was away in space - namely, that he has become cold and distant, caring more about war than his friends, even Bunnie. One day, he's planning an acceptance speech for his promotion to escort for the king and queen while they're away from Knothole when he accidentally stumbles upon a note Bunnie had written him some time ago - all the way back when Robotnik had first been defeated, in fact. Antoine had received a letter from someone and was reading it when Bunnie came into the room, startling him. With an obvious guilty conscience, he tried to pretend like nothing was wrong, even fleeing the room and trying to hide in the forest, but when Bunnie caught him easily she made him explain what was the matter. He admitted that when he was a kid, there was a girl he had a crush on, Tatiana, and he did everything he could to impress her, including bragging about his exploits as a Freedom Fighter.

The letter he was trying to hide from Bunnie was, of course, from Tatiana, who had by now grown up and was visiting Knothole, wanting to see him now that they were older. Of course, at that exact moment Tatiana burst from the bushes and happily embraced Antoine, flirting heavily and implying she'd like to "catch up" over by the lake. Antoine greeted her graciously, but as Bunnie began to get jealous he rejected Tatiana entirely, pointedly putting his arm around Bunnie and mentioning that he was about to go on a walk with his girlfriend, leaving a shocked Tatiana behind. Once they were out of earshot, Antoine admitted to Bunnie that after Tatiana broke his heart before, he'd become scared of falling in love - until Bunnie came along and showed him what real love was like. This seems to be a bit at odds with what we saw before in the comic, considering he had an obvious crush on Sally for a while there - but regardless, Bunnie made him happy, and that moment was the first time he said he loved her. Aww, they're so sweet together! And thus, we come back to the present, where Antoine is rereading Bunnie's old note to him.

Ouch.

[gildedmuse]

Oh my God, you guys! We finally get to check in with my other lost babies. Also, Sanji and Brook are there.

I wonder how this little off shots of total diaster human beings is faring.

Oh, lost and separated on a mysterious island on the middle of a thunder storm while a yonko is right on their tail?

(I kid, Brook. Your skeleton puns have won me around.)

Yep. Sounds about right.

Sanji-Kun

I feel almost bad, because in the lead up to this it was playing that cheerful little musical cue and doing that half shadowed camera work it does when it wants to ramp up your excitement. Like guess who it is you guys? I mean, yeah, we know it's obvious but... You're excited? Right? Right? Ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod IT'S-

Let me stop ya there for a second.

See, despite all the right camera angles and sound edits, there is a teeny-tiny small problem: Sanji's story-beats just make me uncomfortable too often and, try as I might (and I really have tried because Nate, Merri and Em all love him) I just cannot care about him for any longer than the length of any specific, nonsexism filled scenes in which he might be temporarily awesome.

So I'm sorry all your excitement build up had to go to waste there. I--

(Pictured: One of my favorite characters in those show. Also: Sanji and Ceaser)

Wait.

Wait... Is that? It is!

The return of the gas jacket!

But goddamn, I love this overly villainous labcoat so fucking much! I mean, first, it just looks cool with the smoky edges, right!? Actually, I am all over Cesar's design. It's definitely a case of a villain who is neither conventionally handsome not does he have a devilish charm to make up for it and yet I find his design so attractive! I think I would break it down like:

Physical Acumen: 4/10 - would likely not tap dat gassy ass and now that I've typed that definitely wouldn't

Personality Appeal: 2/10 - actively sought to committee Nazi science crimes. Still isn't Vander Decken though so... Congratulations.

Over All Design: 8.5/10 love it love all of it

Also, the fact that Ceaser went out, bought a labcoat, and then patiently sat there embroidering the word GAS on both sides amuses the hell out of me. And, yes, it must be embroidered (or stitched or at least ironned on but that would be less recommendable since I imagine keeping your labcoat with a constant collar of visible gas has to create some condensation) and not just a construct of his powers, because it's on both versions.

And that is one of my favorite things about this baby. When he is put in those seastone handcuffs it turns into just a normal labcoat. Like honestly without that snog effect it's kinda meh. And that makes me love it all the more.

You see, he could have gone with an entirely gas jacket, but clearly it was really important to him to have that added layer of protection offered by actual labcoats while still looking properly evil. Of course, maybe he already had a labcoat that had GASGAS across the chest and after he ate the fruit it seemed wasteful not to wear it (plus it makes his aunt Mindy happy to see him in that Christmas gift she sent him.)

Chopper!

(Chopper!)

Chopper!

How I've missed you sweet fluffy baby. They tried to make up for your absence by making Donflamigo oh-so-fluffy, but it wasn't the same.

Although, I mean, I do kinda have a question about why you're dressed as an American football but you're busy. It can wait.

Quick side note: I know biology and chemistry are very different fields, but come on Ceaser. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A REINDEER AND A RACOON!? REALLY? Hell, my area of specialty is Victorian Novels and I think I could answer that one.

(And the Reindeer defense line has done it again? Can nothing get through this line of racoons?)

You know what, I should have never questioned you, Chopper my main doctor (sorry Law, but look at him!). Clearly you did require that football equipment since immediately after I said that you tackled Ceaser to the grown like a bad ass boss.

Ah, look how cute he is trying to be so scary!

Brook

Wait? What has happened?

Let me get this straight. There was a Mysterious Woman™. You and Nami were so distracted by said Mysterious Woman™ that Sanji - SANJI of all people - got seperated from you. From you, Nami, and a Mysterious Woman™?

Look, I'm sorry this story does not check out at all.

(Admittedly this section contains nothing about Brook but I fit TWO different skeleton puns into posts today so he knows I'm thinking if him.)

Nami-Chan!

There she is!

I have a lot of favorite character types, but two big ones are the honorable idiot fighter and the good hearted but first a survivor characters, and what Zoro is to the former Nami is more than happy to balance out on the latter.

She's not going around looking for ways to hurt people, necessarily. She has a.moral compass. But push comes to shove and she's tripping you and getting v the hell out of there before you have time to stand up and shove her back. Much like when the fighter has everything else stripped away you know he'll make the big, stupid but honorable sacrifice a survivor is someone who may have plenty of other goals but when you get down to the bare bone (how can you not? That's all Brook is. Yohohoho!) Of the matter a survivor is going to be the one who lives, damnit.

That's this bitch right here and I adore her for it.

[hisgirlwonder]

Atonement - Part Four

Length: 3.2K words Warning: Oral and sex, humiliation, degradation, allude to a drinking problem, abandonment issues, probably other stuff too (plz see notes) Synopsis: With his trust broken, Michael is doing all he can to make you regret ever crossing him. Notes: Don’t read if you’re easily triggered by things as this series is made to be somewhat horrible; here, as I’ve said, we write for many kinks. The idea with Michael and Y/N is that he sways her with his powers - the ones that allow him to charm a room, see into her thoughts, feel what she’s feeling, and allow her to give into her desires. She’s 100% consenting because I won’t write noncon. Also, thinking I may divulge onto Michael’s mommy issues so... hope you enjoy if you read. Other stuff can be found on my masterlist :)

The dining hall seemed to be empty for the most part but that still didn’t stop you from feeling mortified at what was going on. Nausea made you feel sick to your stomach as you wait for Mallory - Michael sent her away to grab something from another room and your entire body tensed in fear as to what it may be.

Mallory eventually returns and you notice there’s a double dished pet bowl in her tiny hands - one side held water and the other contained some kind of food. Whatever was in it smelled amazing and your stomach begins to rumble. Michael instructs you to get on the ground once the bowl is placed down and you cringe at the thought but you’re too hungry to care. You immediately drop to your hands and knees and begin lapping the water up so you’re able to swallow the food without it getting stuck.

He laughs when his talented nose picks up the stench of your embarrassment but stops when he realises you haven’t eaten anything. Michael squats down so the two of you are eye-to-eye only to scoop up what looks like mashed potato and shoves his fingers deep in your mouth all the while tormenting you about being ungrateful. You liked potato but not when it was being forced down your throat to make you gag.

When he’s done he wipes his dirtied hands clean with your hair in a display of dominance and rises from the ground. Michael only says two words get up and you follow without hesitation. Once you’re on your feet he decides to take it a little bit further, shoving you into the table close by. The pain from your hip bone colliding with its edge causes you to double over and lean into the piece of furniture.

The space between the two of you condenses when Michael draws his body into yours like a magnet; his crotch pressed against a part of your ass and the fullness of his concealed erection is made known. His hand pulls and pushes the plug in and out repeatedly to stimulate your hole and you’re left feeling weak because the throes of humiliation were replaced with ones of want.

“Close your eyes and stay right there. I’ll be back in a minute.”

*

The sound of Michael’s shoes hitting the floor fill your ears upon his arrival back in the dining hall and every nerve in your body is throwing a fit over the uncertainty. He removes the tailed plug from your ass, placing it to the side of the table, and slips the mask he retrieved from his office over your eyes. Michael’s slender digits brush through your locks far too slow for it to be an accident and when your thoughts transfer to him and how sweet it seems, he tugs at your hair to bring some order to your wandering mind.

You can no longer feel hands touching you and, little do you know, he’s signalling for his suck up loyal follower, Duncan Shepherd, to come over. Duncan commended Michael on his punishment of you and apparently now Michael wants to offer you up as compensation for unwavering loyalty. This man wasn’t someone you got up close and personal with but you knew exactly who he was. Everyone did. He was egotistical and inexorable in his denunciation of the Greys (or lesser beings, as he calls them) but even that wasn’t as harsh as the way he’d look at you; with even more disdain than the others.

Female Greys would fawn over Duncan like he was famous and you found it sickening. He berated them on the daily and yet they’d just giggle as if the misogyny was endearing. I guess as girls we’re taught that if a boy is mean he likes you and that��s why girls must go for the asshole, right? Duncan is physically attractive and if he came up to you in a bar with a proposition you wouldn’t say no but that shit-eating grin and wolf whistles in your direction, while you walked around in the god awful outfit made you wear pissed you off to no extent. Punishment alluded Duncan because Michael had one law for him and another for everyone else and that’s the way it was because man is above women and, according to the pair of them, they were even above man.

It was near impossible to escape the allure of Duncan Shepherd but you did try. In his presence, you’d keep your legs firmly shut to prevent relighting the fire in your loins that had a tendency of raging when he was especially revolting. The thought crossed your mind often as to whether or not Michael told him about your desires – it made a lot of sense for the way he treated you because he’d think you loved his chauvinistic behaviour.

Michael hooks his hands around your arms and pulls you back so Duncan can sit on the table and purrs vindictively about the present he has just for you – apparently his harsh behaviour warranted for a reward in the form of something you’d been fantasizing about for months. You were so desperate for Michael to return to his old self that you didn’t give it a second thought. The idea didn’t even cross your mind that it could potentially be another person because Michael didn’t exactly seem like the type to share his toys. However, if it was, you’d gladly do whatever he asked because that’s how devoted you were to him and he knew it.

*

All you hear next is the word open and you oblige because after everything you’d still answer his every beck and call. You’re all too willing and you part your lips so fast it was almost as if the last few weeks hadn’t existed at all. A cock is guided into your mouth and the first thing you notice is that it’s thick. You run lengths up and down the shaft and it seems as if the person filling your mouth is rather ardent as your lips become glossed with pre-cum – you run your tongue over the mess to find it doesn’t really taste like much of anything.

You travel over every inch of this member, learning the route of its veins with your tongue, and get lost in the heat of the moment. It seems like forever since you last went down on a guy and you imagined it would be quite a while before you did again unless Michael decided otherwise. Overcome with lust, you deep throat the weeping cock as far as you can as if it were the key to your survival and Duncan’s biting at his fist to keep quiet; it would all be over the second you heard the moans.

He has no other choice but to vacate your eager mouth and off the table in a bid to gather himself. Michael points first at him and then at you and mouths you wanted her, didn’t you? Duncan mouths back I do but it feels too good and I’m about to lose it. He tiptoes around you and Michael whispers a reminder in his ear that there are other ways to use your body besides oral – almost as if he was egging him on.

You weakly whimper at the fact you wanted more because the hunger for a man you’d locked away had been set free when you were blindfolded had your mouth used like it was nothing. Fingers push through your exposed folds and into the depths of your pussy. Curled movements hit the soft spots inside and sounds of pleasure escape your mouth before you can hold them back.

“Ooh little grey, you’re burning with such an intensity right now. Do you want more?” Michael asks, Duncan’s fingers still hitting you in all of the places that had been neglected for so long. The person who got you into this mess was nothing more than a five-minute fuck and you hated wasting your time but thought maybe, for this moment right now, it was worth it.

You sink into the pleasure and struggle to string together a sentence which doesn’t please either of the men watching because they want to hear your words with their very own ears. Duncan decides to remove his slick-covered fingers from inside you and his palm meets head-on with the supple skin of your ass. Michael asks you again do you want more and this time his tone that of a parent demanding a child to own up to their bad behaviour. When you finally do manage to say yes clearly and clicks his tongue and grabs at your arm, taking you away from where you are.

*

You know exactly where you are with the crackling of flames and the rise in temperature - part of you hoped that Michael led you here to keep you from freezing but you know you were stupid to entertain a thought like that.

Michael demands you to kneel on this but you have no clue what he’s referring to so feel around and come across the couch. With a sneaking suspicion as to what could be coming (because what really comes after a blowjob?) you manoeuvre yourself into a position where your face is resting on your forearms and your lower half is sticking up in the air. If you were going to be humiliated further in front of everyone then you figured you may as well get some enjoyment out of it and let Michael roam free.

Little do you know, it’s Duncan behind you with a cock in his hand waiting to fuck you. The truth is that the disdain for you was actually pent up sexual aggression because he was attracted to you, a Grey, and didn’t want anyone to find out. Michael had called him into his office a few weeks ago, livid after your betrayal, and propositioned him about the idea of using you for a little fun and admitted to him in confidence how he knew you wanted it. Duncan didn’t take much coercing because Michael’s words made him salivate and basically jumped at the chance; admitted his desire to fuck you senseless.

Duncan guides his cock to your pussy and slides it in with ease as if this whole situation had flicked your switch on; unaware that Michael was the reason your slit was dripping. As he moved in and out of you it became clear to both him and Michael that the way your bodies worked together spoke volumes.

“Mi-mi-mi-ahhh”

You completely let go and begin to cry out in sounds all too familiar to the ears of Michael. Duncan was oblivious but Michael smirks, feeling pretty pleased with himself. You were being fucked by someone else’s cock yet so enamoured with the thought it was him you were trying to say his name.

Duncan doesn’t care that there are multiple pairs of eyes on the two of you because as far as he’s concerned he’s getting what he wanted and that was that. He pounds away at you like waves crashing against the shore; careless, messy, and unrelenting. They kept coming and there wasn’t a damn thing you could do about it. When he finally cannot handle any more he pulls out and unloads onto the curves of your ass, groaning through a closed mouth and clenched jaw. He puts his weakening erection back in his pants and wipes the sweat off his palms on the side of his thighs. Duncan walks past Michael, slightly breathless, and jokes how fun you were and how he’ll do it again sometime if needed.

*

Something hits your leg and lands on the indent of the back of your knee. You reach around and get a grasp on it – it’s a cloth. Michael sits down beside you and pulls the mask off, telling you to wipe yourself up. You do as your told and he’s smiling at you with an expression that’s almost unnerving.

“Ah, you enjoyed that. I bet you weren’t expecting it though, were you?”

He drags a few fingers along and up your face, tracing over your cheekbone followed by a push of the fallen strands of hair behind your ear. You timidly shake your head and your attention shifts from those knots in your gut to how cold his hands were against your flushed cheeks.

For the first time in a while, it seemed like the closeness has come back between the two of you when he’s caressing your face and rests your chin on top of his hand. That didn’t last long because the familiarity was broken by a smirk and drilling of unfriendly words about how right you thought you were but actually, in fact, you were very wrong. He snatches your face up one of his hands, applying pressure to your cheeks with his fingertips.

“See, there’s a thing I possess and you seem to forget it. I can feel every emotion and feeling that’s running through your body. And, those dreams? you weren’t the only one who felt them. You thought I was doing those things and you loved it, didn’t you? I could feel every wave of pleasure coursing through your veins.”

Michael turns your head, allowing you to see who committed the sin against you that brought you shameful enjoyment. You shut your eyes at the sight of him because his presence makes you feel uncomfortable knowing that now you have to face up to your disgusting attraction. Maybe you weren’t that different from all of the other girls at the Outpost.

“My oh my, I can feel your humiliation from here. You’re humiliated by the fact you enjoyed being defiled by Mr. Shepherd. You think he’s disgusting, but what, what’s this.. It was the most enjoyable experience you’ve ever had? Oh, Miss L/N, I think Mr Shepherd already knew from the sounds you made.”

When it hits as to what happened you forget for a moment where you are or about Michael’s reign, you get up and instinctively go to walk out of the room. He lets you walk until you’re almost at the door before taking a fist full of hair and pulling you back. You stumble and fall to the ground and a mix of sadness and anger rattled your ones. Anxiety kicks in and allows you to gather enough strength to push yourself up off the ground, onto your knees, and then up onto your feel.

As you look into the eyes of the man before you, you notice that those baby blues now appeared colder than ever.

“Now, why would you want to do something silly like that?” he mocks. In a split second you’re slammed into the wall behind by your throat. Michael applies pressure to the hand around your oesophagus and gives you a death stare of sorts for a brief moment.

In this moment he doesn’t see you, instead, he sees his mother standing before him as you tried to leave the room and the anger overwhelmed him. She abandoned him when he was young and needed her the most. You try to pull his arm down to stop him strangling you but it doesn’t budge. He huffs, “Why would you do this to me?”

You're turning red as he’s restricting your airflow but Michael realises he can’t kill you. He isn’t quite sure why exactly because usually he’d snap the necks of those who betrayed him without a second guess. He loosens the tightness, you gasp for breath, and it becomes apparent at this point his heart is broken when tears are glazing over his eyes but he’s trying to force them back to where they came from.

“Michael, please believe me, I never meant to hurt you.”

Both you and Michael locked as you eye the other off and you’re suddenly wondering if Michael could feel the apology you were silently screaming through your thoughts.  Mead rushes over to interrupt and yells at Michael to let you go which displeases him - he storms off after shooting a look of confusion at her.

Ms. Mead takes her jacket off of you and hands it out as a gesture of kindness. “Are you okay?”

You put the jacket on to cover yourself up and gulp down the hurt. Mead can sense this and tells you not to talk but instead go and have a shower and she’ll bring you something to help.

**

The door to the office slams behind Mead as she bursts into the room in a fit of anger. In the moments to come Michael would realise that it was a woman against a man and not a mother and son.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, pulling some shit like that? It’s one thing for you to call her names but it’s another thing entirely for you to use something like that against her. Duncan told me exactly what you two planned and I have to say I just feel pity for you, Michael.”

He’s too full of pride to say anything other than she hurt me. Mead doesn’t enjoy the lazy excuse and Michael can’t be bothered listening to this conversation any longer. He opens his laptop and unlocks it but as he’s typing in his password she slams it down; not caring if it gets broken.

“Look, I know you have some deep rooted issues but you need to get over yourself. I hate to break it to you but this girl is only human. She wasn’t thinking when she did what she did and clearly you know what that’s like.”

Mead was referring to the ongoing indecency towards the apple of Michael’s eye, regardless of if he would admit that his rampage of fury was actually a crime of passion.

“She doesn’t need to bear the brunt of your abandonment and mommy issues, Michael. You don’t even realise how devoted that child has been to you and now here you are, destroying her soul.”

Michael regresses into the state of a teenage boy to avoid confrontation of what he’s doing and rolls his eyes at her before attempting to open the laptop. Mead slaps his hand away because she was tired of this charade.

“You didn’t spring from my womb but I let you into my home and heart and loved you like your mother should have. You hurt my feelings constantly but I don’t try and ruin you, do I? I want you to really listen to me when I say I love you but I’m beginning to really not like you. Stop treating this girl like garbage or else you’re going to break my own heart and push one of the other people who truly cares for you away too.”

She figures she’s said almost everything she can and heads over to the door to leave. Mead looks back and can see by the look in his eyes he’s pondering something; knowing full well what it is. He’s thinking about how deep down he knows she’s right.

“She’s one of the only ones in the Outpost who isn’t trying to suck up to you because they’re desperate. She cares about you.”

Once Michael is alone with his thoughts he dives into the bottom drawer of his desk and pulls out a flask of alcohol. His heart had frozen over at the betrayal from you, but, as he’d come to realise that was the least of his problems as the ice started to melt.

Taglist: @avesatanormalpeoplescareme @sensitivethot @sacredlangdon @taintedaffairs @langdonsdemon @violett124 @queencocoakimmie @1-800-bitchcraft // Tagging because they specifically they like the series: @icylangdon @langdonsrapture @cocosfern @creamy-pasta-boi (let me know if there’s anything you want to be tagged for!)

[mai-stories]

The Florist and The Mercenary - Chapter Five: A Break from the Rain

Lily had been washed back towards the trees, downed by the miniature flood. When he came over to help her up, that would be a problem. Due to the amount of water that had soaked through her clothing, her involuntary magic activated, her boots and stockings pushed off as her legs changed into a thick, glimmering tail. Aquamarine scales lined the fish tail, a light blue fluke curling idly as she struggled to gather her footwear back into her grasp. Her eyes came up to meet Irvine's one, an embarrassed blush washing over her pale cheeks. "I.. Can't get up." She admitted, brushing damp locks from her face.

Using her magic to dry off was pointless, as the rain had yet to cease. The only option would be to get that tarp up and dry off slowly. Lily's bodyguard stood over her, one eyebrow quirked up rightfully so when faced with this new development. So it was true, she was definitely a mermaid Considering that they had just met a few hours prior, she was a meek thing and merfolk fetched notoriously high prices at the black market for their scales and tails and tears, and slave trade typically for their natural beauty... He could understand her worries. Irvine reached out and petted her head gently.

"No worries." He told the mermaid girl.

There was an automatic flinch when he reached out to touch her, though she relaxed when he told her not to worry. He lifted her, as dragging her undercover, especially her tail, seemed rude and probably painful. Despite her looks, Lily was surprisingly heavy with that thick tail of hers, so she hoped he wouldn't be taken off guard by that, as well. She hung on when he picked her up, pale fingers curling into the cloth as if she'd slip right out of his hold. He set Lily down, moving to realign the pitons to anchor the tarp over their heads once more, with a little tilt to it to allow water to run off. They now had reprieve from the downpour and could dry out. While he had readjusted the tarp, she took to slowly ringing out her hair and clothing, taking off her apron and ringing that out, too. He went to collect Lily's boots and stockings for her as well. With some extra rope, he made a clothesline to hang up said stockings as well as his soaked jacket. He shrugged off his boots and let a bit of water dribble out. Lily handed him the garment to hang up, looking over at him when they had finished hanging up clothing.

"Despite this, I still love the rain.." He said offhandedly, looking out of the grassland under the rain.

"I do, too. Even when I was confined to staying inside, I liked to watch the rain fall." She said in agreement, pulling her skirt up to about hip level to allow her tail to dry out. It would take a while, however, as she had no towel to dry with, and using her magic to dry would do more damage than good. "There's something soothing about the sound of rain, and the smell afterwards. It's calming." She murmured, curling up and hugging her tail close like anyone would their knees.

"Agreed.." And he took a moment to enjoy it. The constant heavy patter of rain mixed with the water filtering through the treetops didn't bother him in the slightest. He simply reclined against the opposite tree and brought out a cigarette just to hang lazily between his lips. "Never seen a real mermaid, didn't think you actually were one to begin with. Some milquetoast house girl who spent her days inside more than out, yeah, but not a mermaid.." He eyed his charge up and down, lone eye lingering on her tail. "Just thought you were imitating the race for fashion.. I can see why you don't get out to meet people.. The vast majority of us are jerks." He said, taking a long drag before blowing away from the tarp.

Lily looked over at him, noticing his gaze. It made her only slightly uncomfortable, as she wasn't used to exposing her tail to others, so she shifted a bit where she sat.

"Wouldn't make much sense for a gardener to stay inside all day, would it?" She said with a slight smile, the scales drying off in due time.

As it did, the scales started to glow every so gently, beginning to fade and evaporate away from her toes up. The fluke faded into nothing, her toes and ankles slowly reappearing, then her shins and knees. More and more scales disappeared, the girl covering up her legs with her skirt. There would be no need for him to see her blindingly pale skin, as it would only embarrass her further. Still, despite having legs again, she had to wait for the bones and muscles to realign and settle before she could stand, otherwise she'd break or tear something as soon as she tried.

"You're not really that bad.. Better than others, I'd say." She told him, pulling a small comb from her skirt pocket to brush her hair. He had shown some of his colors, but she had yet to see if they were true or not. Unlike herself, Irvine didn't seem to wear his hear on his sleeve. "Could we build a small fire? Something to keep warm?" Lily asked, looking around for some sticks to dry and make a campfire, wanting to warm up while the rain was still coming down.

Without a word, Irvine leaned in and began to dig a hole in slightly sodden earth. Their spot had not been long for the soggy weather to soak in deep, so he dug until he had reached a dry point and made a small pit. He took the relatively dry bark and created something of a nest, then brought out a red crystal. The crystal's lighter center glowed and danced like an encapsulated flame, the edges warm to the touch. The mermaid tilted her head when he brought out the crystal, eyes captured by the dancing flame. Fire was another thing she enjoyed, in moderation, as the small flames were warm and comforting.

"Ever seen a condensed bit of mana? Mainly forms in an elemental way or its pure magic energy. I like to carry a few around. Small ones are pretty cheap since this stuff can be found in the wild if you look hard enough." Irvine explained as he let it fall into the pit, the stone starting to glow. It immediately ignited and created a cozy flame that swallowed up the bark, remaining bright and lively. Hearing this, she wondered if water crystals existed, her hand reaching up idly to touch around her neck. Was that something like her heirloom? "Good for a few hours. Only water magic can put it before then," Irvine told her. "It's gonna burn, burn off all of that magic energy.. I'ts so packed with the stuff that natural water takes longer than most to put it out. You know, throw a fire or lightning crystal hard enough and it explodes," The lightning mage said with a smirk. It was quite the morose fun fact, which may explain why Irvine knew such a thing in the first place.

Lily, however, was so lost in thought, spaced out until she heard him mention exploding crystals.

"That sounds.. really bad if you fall on one hard enough." She told him, looking a little uneasy at the thought of exploding crystals and the shrapnel that would produce. "Do you want something to eat? We can roast some of the meat, if you're hungry." She asked, scooting over to open up her recently bought bag. She dug around to get some bread and a little bit of that cheese, only a small amount to eat so there would be more later. She also got out some of the dried meats, as he seemed like a carnivorous guy.

"I'd uh... like that.." Irvine seemed... uncomfortable now. It might have been a stray drop of water coming down his brow from what had soaked his head, or perhaps a bead of sweat as the usual straight-faced bodyguard brought out a small satchel and stared at it for a moment before gently, very gently, setting it off to the side. Odd how he had never considered that before, not that he was ever knocked on his ass to ever run that risk... but it made him sweat. That movement didn't go unnoticed by the mermaid, a slight smile on her face as he seemed newly wary of the crystals. It was a bit amusing, to say the least. "I'll take some of that meat. Pass me some fruit, too.." A little fireside meal with some chat might be nice. Pleasant, at least... Hopefully. Maybe.

The two of them were quite the contrasting pair. As long as his charge trusted his judgement and his words when it counted. Lily passed him some of the meat and a few pieces of fruit, passing that as well before beginning to make her own meal. A little bit of melted cheese on bread made for a nice snack, she found, and would really warm her up in no time. Irvine had used a stray stick to impale his bit of meat to cook over their open magic fire while peeling the rind from his orange. Meat and fruit, better than most meals that crap hole pub served up to him as half-assed payment for keeping the drunks at bay. He offered a couple wedges to Lily. The mermaid reached out and took the orange wedges, popping those in after eating her own food. The salty taste of the cheese and nearly sour citrus made for a strange yet exciting flavor in her mouth.

"I wish I had bought some tea... Tea goes so nicely with rainy weather." She lamented with a sigh, tying her bandanna back behind her ears to get her hair out of her face. The full force of the storm seemed to have waned, the rain ceasing only slightly in severity.

"You wouldn't guess it by the look of her store, but Zara, the woman who ran the apothecary, sells some great tea. Lots of flavor.. Kind of a gamble whether you get hallucinogens or not, though." It was a note worth sharing, Irvine however murmured under his breath to avoid scaring Lily. She seemed the easily startled type.

He gained her attention by speaking about the kinds of tea that strange old lady sold, and that he guessed right that she would've been startled by that. Being in her right state of mind was definitely preferred.

"It's a little after noon, so when the rain let's up, we could probably keep moving. Do you have that map?" She asked, unsure if he had kept it with him or put it in the bag. Regardless of his answer, she'd look in the bag anyway.

"Map.. map..." With no room to roll it out and Lily still grounded for the moment, he sidled over to sit next to his charge to unfurl the map across their legs.

She did little to no protesting, as it was necessary for them to look over the map. Road markers connected every town, mountain ranges lay to the far west and north, thick forests scattered about, but little in between. Lily looked it over, recognizing where her own home was, though it wouldn't be home after so long. Hollifern was her new home, a place where she could be safe and with her own kind.

"Woodmoore is over here.." The mermaid could not gave been further from any ocean water, though Woodmoore did have its small lake to the east outside of town. "We left from the south and have been following the road. Not terribly far, though.. If we continue then we're going yo see Bardale off to the side.." He rubbed his chin. "Hm.. We'll stop there. See if we can't by coats for the rain or umbrellas. If we have to stop whenever a strong rain pops up, you'll be broke before long." Irvine said. An umbrella sounded useful, or even some sort of waterproof cloak to keep most of Lily's hair under wraps with a hood.

She had spaced out once again, daydreaming now about all kinds of magically waterproofed items they could find in order to keep any accidents from happening. Irvine rubbed his chin again, mulling over a couple things. His lone eye drifted to his partner, his charge, as she seemed to drift away into her own happy thoughts. When the time came that she ran out of funds.. Just what the Hell was he going to do?! No doubt the girl was worried about that herself, what could a gardener selling flowers really make? His hand migrated to the back of his head and rubbed it, the bodyguard heaving a soft sigh and deciding to deal with that when it was necessary. This girl would be eaten alive! A yipping puppy might just scare her out of her skin if she wasn't paying attention! He looked out in to the rain and it had lightened up some. Probably not enough to keep the fish tail issue under wraps, but soon enough.

"Oi," And he gave Lily's temple a poke to get her attention if his voice wasn't enough. "How much gold do you have on you?"

Lily was shaken out of her thoughts by the poke, having tuned the world out, not listening until he made that little bit of contact. She looked up at him, head tilted as he asked her about her funds. She pulled out her wallet out, pouring the contents into her lap and letting her skirt catch the coins. She counted it out: eight gold, two silver, and seven copper.

"This is all I have." She said quietly, eyes drawn back up towards his face, an unsure look crossing her own. Did he not have his own money? Was that why he asked her to pay for all their supplies? She only hoped he wouldn't extort her for more by upping the price now that he knew her secret. "Will this be enough to get to Hollifern? I don't have anymore flowers to sell, so I can't make anymore money. All of my savings went to traveling to Woodmore, even my rent." She said, looking down at the money in her lap, gathering it back up to put into the wallet.

"Depends on how many days it takes us." Irvine shrugged his shoulders, giving his charge the simplest and most factual answer he could.

The rainy season could be rough, thunderstorms and monsoons aplenty sure to assail the land in time and soak their particular part of the country to the core. Given Lily's race and the side effects of her getting too wet, well, her tail suddenly appearing could be a hindrance. Slavers on her fish tail wanting her for their auctions, even worse. He gave her damp head a couple pats and reclined against her tree.

"Don't worry about it. You'll get to Hollifern. Plenty of towns have jobs open if you're ever in need of cash." He said, relaxing now that the danger was gone and he had a snack.

So long as Lily had her magic, rain wouldn't be too much of a problem. Buying some sort of waterproof cloak or raincoat would help keep her dry, and her boots would keep water off her feet for a good while. The idea of doing oddjobs along the way did give her a bit of hope, however. Her skills were meager and common, so she could do just about any job that required cleaning or cooking. She'd even help out with gardens and stocking stores if she had to! She had rested long enough for her legs to stabilize, using a bit of magic to withdraw water from her hair and clothing, refilling her water pouch with it. She reached over and grabbed her stockings and boots, looking over at him for a moment. They were the type that went all the way up to her waist, so putting them on in front of him would be a little embarrassing.

"Could you.. turn that way, please?" She asked meekly, still holding the barely damp hosiery and her boots.

Irvine heaved another soft sigh and sidled off to the side. He turned his back to Lily while sitting just under the edge of the tarp.

"Make it quick." He told his charge as he turned his gaze to the sky.

She took that precious moment of privacy to pull her stockings on, glad there was no resistance and that the rain didn't damage the thin fabric. She laced her boots up before patting her skirt down, making sure it was dry enough before slipping her apron on, tying it into a neat bow behind her back. The clouds were starting to thin out, and rain lightened up to a gentle sprinkle. It likely would not last, but the issue before had been the flood brought on by that... thing. Oh, right. Those monsters.

"Ever seen creatures like that before?" Irvine asked, knowing it was a definite gamble to ask, but he had doubted her before.

"Those monsters? No, not really.. They sounded familiar, though, like something out of a nightmare." She answered, making sure the bag was tightened, secured so none of their food or supplies jostled out. With everything checked, she tapped his shoulder to let him know she was done, though it was gentle and light, as if just touching him would shock her. He turned and nodded.

"Figured I would ask. I've never seen anything like that either.." Irvine couldn't help but shake his head thinking about those monsters. "As far as I know.. There is no natural born creature, with magic abilities or not, capable of doing... all of that." He just gestured a bit, the image of those creatures evolving at such a rapid rate to defend against the damage they take was... Interesting. Her bodyguard ultimately shrugged his shoulders. "I don't even know of a magic that can summon like that. There wasn't anyone nearby... My opinion doesn't matter. I dunno why I'm thinking on it so much... but those creatures, I think they were made of mana. Pure magic energy. ... That's as far as my educated guessing goes," He said as he lit his a new cigarette.

"Whatever they were... I'm sure they weren't the only ones." Lily murmured, lifting up the bag, the straps snagging her hair again. She gave an annoyed sigh, dropping the bag down on a rock before reaching up and braiding her hair into a thick braid down her back, keeping it all in one place to prevent the straps from pinching and pulling at it. The bag was not that much heavier than she had originally thought, so carrying it wasn't a problem. "Pure magic? Hm.." She murmured, thinking back on it. It seemed that the more magic he used, the bigger those things got. They absorbed the magic, but it seemed not all magic was a good combination. The lightning completely tore through their water based bodies, and water could remove the mud quite easily. A cycle of the elements, it seemed. "If it helps, I could use the tarp as a wrap to keep dry." She suggested, looking over at their cover. Sure, she'd look like some kind of ragamuffin homeless girl wrapped up like that, but at least she'd stay dry. Irvine nodded in agreement.

"Better than nothing. Wouldn't want that fishtail popping out out of nowhere," He told his charge. He really did not want to deal with hunters and slavers.Gradually, the rain lightened to a degree that should have been safe for Lily. Luckily, he was down to his last drag and he snuffed out the cigarette butt with a quick, firm stamp of his boot. "I'll throw it over you if need be. Let's get a move on.." He got out under the misty rainfall and tore down the tarp quickly, folding it up and keeping it under his arm for quick access. He took the bag as well. It wasn't heavy, but he didn't want to burden Lily. "We've got another mile... mile and a half, before Bardale. We can definitely make it before night." He said, looking down at her.

Lily looked up in return when he had taken the bag from her, not complaining as it made her walk easier. Puddles from the rain had formed in the pock-marked road, the mermaid couldn't resist stepping in a few, playfully splashing like her kind was meant to do. Her boots were water resistant, all the way up to her knees so there was no threat of water getting to her feet. It was a little fun, and definitely took away the thoughts of danger and hostility that the world had no control over. With the rain nearly gone, the sun would come out to shine, a faded rainbow across the northern sky. Lily hardly glanced up when rays of sunshine came out, a smile on her lips as she happily tapped Irvine's arm and pointed up at the sky. When she was relaxed, it seemed her childish nature came to the surface, the mermaid coming out of her shell now that she felt safe with him. Irvine's gaze followed her eager finger and he eyed the arc of light, and he nodded. Quite the sight, but that was of little interest to him compared to the the little mermaid that had been so meek before. She skipped and hopped into the light puddles, splashed him a bit, but it wasn't like that was of any consequence to him. It was actually pleasant, a breath of fresh air, to see his charge actually having some fun. The child-like wonderment came as no surprise to him. Hell, he gave his cute charge a couple pats on her head she was so cute. Would he admit that? Hell. No. Lily happily accepted the head-patting, as it gave her a sense of security. There was no flinch or even a recoil, the mermaid's trust now in his hands. It was clear to her now he had no intentions of harming her, so her guard was completely down. A couple field mice scuttled out of their muddy homes, as wild as wild rabbits whose fur was dark and matted, sticking up in stray directions. They hopped about in the sunlight, bouncing across their path. One took a sharp turn bounced around Lily even, but it went on its way as well. The quick movement of small woodland creatures caught her attention, making her stand absolutely still. Not in fear, but to keep from scaring the animals. It wouldn't be right for them to scare the little things back into still flooded grass, so she would prefer not to spook them. It still brought a smile to her face to see them bound across the path, and once they were safely out of the way did she continue walking. With abundant sunlight and cleared up weather, the walk to Bardale would be much more relaxed. The rainy season brought its fair share of strife, but there was no denying the change brought on after rain. Something was washed away for a new moment, the air cool and fresh. It was definitely his second favorite time, after a nice rainstorm itself.

[ellebeebee]

Indelible Valor

My first bit of tinkering w @queenscrownvn‘s game, which even as a demo is one of my absolute faves.  Uhm.  I’ve actually been sitting on this for a while and keep adjusting, but at this point I think I just want to post and be done with it.  Mostly self conscious because I play a lot with things that are purely my headcanons for background info.  Also, I know jack-all about horses, so please suspend disbelief while reading lol...

2,595 words, Noah/MC, general rating, on AO3

-

Behind them the palace sat high, and before them cold fog obscured the path wound down and around the hill.  Like a salt-heavy ocean in furious flux, the air shivered inscrutable before them, squeezing and stifling their world.  Still, his companion seemed to know her way, and her loyal guards were silent.

That pricked him, to be sure.  The two men riding behind, their small movements and the quiet of their oiled armor, not to mention their belonging to a previously enemy nation-- their presence rankled Noah on an instinctual level. But they were enemies no longer.  He would never turn down a friendly sword at his back, and, of course--

“Propriety” had to be followed.

The way they treated women here had a clear point of origin: their fixation on bloodline and the purity thereof-- or at least the appearance of purity.  Any perceived dishonor endangered their nobles’ power, both political and economical, and invited “outsiders” into the inner circle of the elite.  A most grievous state of affairs by Sinado standards.

He still puzzled over the incident with the former queen.

He glanced over.  Black hair pinned up simply behind the pale shells of her ears, she wore a modest riding habit.  They all dressed like that here.  Their sleeves covered their arms and their skirts swept the ground.  She in particular, though, seemed disinterested in finery or jewels or even colors.  If not for the requirements of her position, he felt sure she would deposit herself completely of all things superfluous.

Some years ago, they had been on the road in winter and came across a lake. A thin coating of ice gilded its surface, so perfect and crystalline that it did not obscure at all the dark, deep, and frigid waters.  The lake resembled a great expanse of night brought low to the earth.

Sometimes she reminded him of that lake.  Her serene face so immutable and still, her dark eyes glacial.  But should you take one wrong step, her surface would crack and drag you down into an inescapable undertow.

To think, if he was one to trust first appearances, he would have taken her as dull.

This morning though, the slightly deeper set of her mouth read as particularly pensive.  She turned to him.

“I wish to give you something,” she said.

She did not mince words.  Yes, she could weave a wickedly witty line, dry as the steppe in summer, but when she meant it she did not embellish.

He raised a brow, and knew his expression pulled in because he could feel it in his chest.

She continued, heedless. “I hesitate to call it a gift, though.  Because it requires a price of you.”

She stilled her horse and turned slightly in her saddle to look at him.  How many times had he faced that serious look she’d given him and turned it into a flush and a small twitch of a smile with a bit of teasing?  But he couldn’t summon the habit.  Not now, when he could feel the chill seeping up from mirror-thin ice.

“Of course,” she said. “It’s a price that you aren’t obligated to pay.  I leave the choice to you.”

He frowned, and for once found himself struggling for words. “You know that in Tawar…”

“I know.  You told me.  But this isn’t quite a gift.”

“And is this a custom of Sinado?  To court with not-quite-a-gift?”

“No,” she said, cutting down his attempt at a smirk. “Perhaps this hasn’t anything to do with Tawar or Sinado.  Perhaps this has everything to do with who I am, as an individual person.  And my personal intentions.”

The fog pressed around them, amplifying their small sounds: the calm whuffing of the horses, the creak of leather as the younger guard shifted in his saddle some paces away, her small exhalation into the icy morning air.  She glanced away.

“I know it is a strange concept to you,” she said. “But I have so rarely felt the compulsion for personal agenda.  Duty, above all.  That’s what we grew up with. Not until… I have not felt the need to have something of my own-- truly of my own-- until you.”

He was grateful for his own physical dexterity.  He was grateful for the docile responsiveness of his borrowed steed.  It made an effortless, natural thing of his sidle close, and his reach across to her.  His fingers cradled her hand like a fresh-cut flower, as if its petals should bruise if handled with anything but the softest touch.  His own ears thumping in the silent air, he brushed against the underside of her wrist.  Her pulse ran hot.

After all, she only appeared like an icy lake.

The older guard cleared his throat loudly.  She pulled her hand away, turning her heated face away.

He smiled. “Show me.”

Her boots nudged her gentle gelding forward as they followed.  The worn-smooth path descended down the hill, and forked off into slightly lumpy foothills. Sparse groupings of silver aspens and little golden maples fell in beside them. The smell of manure and the bays of livestock were the only things to alert him to their destination.

They passed several pens with unseen or skittish habitants absent from their view, and at the end of an overgrown path she stopped them by a large paddock. The chipped and dark wood fence rolled far into the distance, its boundaries obscured by mist.  She dismounted, so he did as well.  The guards remained several paces away.

The woolen pleats of her split skirt gathered the dew from grass gone slightly wild and long.  The trail of a single horseman, just an hour or two old, was the only clue that any human ever tread this far from the palace main.  She stepped up on the lower fence rung and gazed out into the empty pen.

Noah joined her, but he just propped his arms up and still his eyes grazed over the top of her head.

She was silent, so he said nothing.  He listened to the wind lapping at the brittle trees.  The heavy sway of the thick heath swept up across his boots and out over gentle knolls.

He heard it before he saw it.  One too many breaths huffing warmly, and the soft fall of heavy feet in an unusual rhythm.  Asymmetrical and deeper on one beat. The white fog condensed in a single point.  That white density hardened, moving with its uneven padding from the depths of the paddock.

It was a horse.  As the fog stripped away, he saw its yellowed hide did not actually refract like condensation.  It stopped, still quite far, and considered them.  He saw now it had a strange device on a hind leg, connecting it from the hock to the ground.  Bracken tangled in its mane, and he thought its tail looked somewhat ragged.

Its head lowered slowly and fog misted from its nostrils.

She turned to him.  “This is Indelible Valor.”

Her voice held a low, soft note. “He’s nearly two score old.  We hold our lineages very dear here, as you’ve found.  He’s the product of centuries of careful breeding by the royal family.”

She paused. “He was the last horse my father owned.”

His eyes broke from the slow sway of the horse’s great head.  She still stared over the drifting wisps over the grass.

“He’s a warhorse.  Knows how to toss a rider from their own horse, and whirl to crush their skull.  But it’s been many years since he’s done that.  He was already retired and put to stud before my father died.  But once Father was gone…” She shook her head. “He mourned.  He was never docile, but since then he’s bit and kicked so many stablehands.  There’s only one left that can approach him.  My mother and I can sometimes.  Roy had the best relationship with Valor.”

She stumbled a bit on the words.  And even with the guards at their back, Noah reached out to run a thumb over her knuckles.

“Roy’s horse, Dauntless, is Valor’s grandson.  My own Chi-Chi-- um, Chivalry-- came from him.  Anyway--”

She cleared her throat.  She stepped down from the fence rung and moved closer.  He gazed down at her, struck by her clean scent.

“Noah, my family has trusted this horse’s ancestors and offspring with their lives.  We’re like two families interwoven.  He doesn’t look like much now, but this horse saved my father’s life more times than he could count.  I’d like to give you the chance to know him.”

He gazed back at her. “So this is not so much a gift, as-- a test.”

“No-- well, not in the sense of the old fables.  ‘If you are pure of heart’ and all that.  It is more…”

She stopped.  If she were a woman from Tawar she would grunt in frustration or curse.  As it was, she looked to the side with a small knit in her brow.  His fingers found a strangling lock by her cheek and swept it back behind her ear.  She returned to him.

“Perhaps,” she said. “This moment here is the important part.  My telling you this.  What comes after is up to you, but ultimately this was what I wanted most.”

Her hand reached to his, his fingers lightly feathering her hair, and she pressed his palm more firmly against her cheek.  His chest lept with the rare contact, as small as it seemed, and with the tangles of their mingled gazes.

He grinned. “What would your people say, skirla, to know of such blatant selfishness expressed by their noble queen?  Shocking.”

“Surely not so shocking if we consider the more flagrant of the world’s rulers,” she smiled. “Why, if I am to be queen, proper abuse of power and classical greed are time-honored skills I must cultivate.”

He laughed.

She dropped his hand and stepped away.

“I must go.  Follow if you will, or don’t.  But I am expected elsewhere.”

She remounted her gelding with an elegant swing of her legs.  It struck him that, in billowing split skirts, that was the most he’d seen of them.  Yet.

“Wait,” he called.

Halfway back to her guards she turned in the saddle.

“How did he lose the leg?”

She raised a brow. “It wasn’t a battle wound.  It was his last cover.  The mare kicked him and quite put an end to his stud days.”

Her heels set her horse back along the path, and the guards circled to follow. Noah would laugh at her words except they were a touch too dark for even being darkly comic.

He went back to the fence.  Valor still watched him, yellow and ragged and shifting on his hooves.  The false leg pawed at the grass.  It struck him that perhaps she had been lying.  The thought thrilled him, that he could not be certain and she left him with a puzzle of mental sparring.

If she had been lying, then-- not a test, indeed.

He considered Valor.  Valor considered him.

-

The first time he climbed the fence, he immediately had to vault back to safety as a great weight of barrelling beast rammed the fence a few hand spans from where he’d been.

Noah laughed, let the horse see him laugh.  His blood raced.

“Good,” he said loudly. “Try what you will, you old pony.  But you will find me entirely different than these soft Sinado creatures.”

Valor huffed with a vile eye rolling at him.  He hobbled away into the mist without sparing a second glance.

Noah strolled around the paddock’s perimeter and found it generous in size with a small barn for what little currying the absent stablehand could manage. A broad creek ran through the enclosure, and a dense copse provided a lair for whatever machinations the beast was brewing.

He lingered for several hours until warm sunlight dappled by the surrounding foliage cut away the fog.  He watched the strange shape of the horse lurking in the copse, catching glimpses now and then.

He finally left near noon with his thoughts turning.

-

For a week, he spent his mornings at the paddock among the silvery trees.  His companions turned curious, but he shrugged it off.  She hadn’t said anything about keeping it secret, but something about the silent mists and the yellow-white apparition limping through the dark morning shadows made him want to keep it to himself.  How had she phrased it?  Something truly of their own.

He brought treats.  Valor ran him out of his territory.  Sometimes the old horse would let him tread a few steps through the grass on the other side, even disappear for a long stretch.  But then the rumbling of those uneven hooves and Noah had to bolt to avoid getting smashed into the dirt.

He started to notice things.  Old scars along that patchy hide, marks from swords and pikes and daggers.  An uneven set in his long face like a broken nose.  He could imagine the wet crunching thump from another horse’s hoof.  A constellation of nicks and indents.  Tough knots of ropey tissue.  His weight, and his broad shoulders and flanks, made him a terrifying battering ram.

This was no horse.  It was a warrior.

How many old men and women had he known so like this creature back home? How many, in fact, of those same people had faced this very creature on some old bloody field?

He could not summon any enmity though.  Not when he leaned against the fence and watched that noble form sway with cunning majesty and gleaming eyes attended as closely to his hands and feet as any sparring partner.

He admonished himself of the idea of owning Valor; how could such a spirit ever be owned?

-

She rode up the path and stopped her horse where he had tied his.  Dewdrops caught on the embroidery of her riding habit as she came to where he sat on the top fence rung.  A heavy basket sat on his knee.

She leaned near him. “So?  You’ve made progress in all this time?”

Noah held a finger to his lips.  He pulled an apple from the basket, splotched with pink and yellow and red.  He tossed it out into the field where it landed with an audible thump.

They waited.  The scent of damp and mud, and the seep of chill pressed on them.

Indelible Valor finally appeared, like a ghost.  He lowered his great wedge of a head and watched them.

Leisurely, as if doing them a great favor, Valor rolled forward on his truculent uneven stride.  His nose swept the ground and his white breath wafted over the grass.  He found the apple, and chewed on it.  

Noah smiled at her.  She smiled back.

“So you are pure of heart,” she said.

He laughed. “Ah.  I was afraid, actually, that it wouldn’t be enough.”

She climbed up to sit on the fence as well.  She took an apple as well. “No. This is about all even I can manage a lot of days.”

She tossed the apple near Valor, already bucking his head and snorting.  She picked another one from the basket and handed it to him.  Noah accepted it.  His smile lingering, soft, he let his fingers deliberately feather over hers.

“Thank you,” he said.

She hesitated.  But her dark eyes communicated that warm night sky brought low, and her fingers let go to run over his knuckles, over his hot pulse.

“I’m glad,” she said.

[aion-rsa]

Gillen Earns His License to Kill with James Bond: Service

Kieron Gillen has written comics starring some of Marvel’s most iconic characters, and penned books starring some of the “Star Wars” universe’s greatest heroes and villains. This May, the British writer will add another beloved pop culture character to his bibliography with the release of “James Bond: Service” from Dynamite Entertainment.

RELATED: Kieron Gillen, Antonio Fuso Enlist With James Bond: Service

The tale, which pits 007 against an assassin out to reshape what Britain is and its place in the world, is different from Bond’s past exploits in comics; rather than unfolding over the course of several issues, the story is told as a self-contained, 48-page one-shot. CBR spoke with Gillen about the challenge of telling a Bond story in such a concise format, the book’s meditation on Britain and its history, and the real world museum that will serve as a backdrop for “Service’s” action set pieces.

CBR: When we’ve talked before you mentioned that these days your interests as a creator lay primarily in projects that you’ve been involved in building from the ground floor up. I’m guessing though that when you’re give a chance to work on James Bond, a pop culture icon who’s beloved worldwide yet still uniquely British, it’s a different story, correct?

Kieron Gillen: Yes. There are two sides of it in fact. It’s true I’m generally not interested in much more work for hire projects at the moment. I’m focused on stuff that I’m already embedded with. I’ve wanted to work with Nick Barrucci and Dynamite for years though. We get along really well, but we’ve just never managed to find the time to work together.

EXCLUSIVE: Art from “James Bond: Service” by Antonio Fuso

So it was like, “We know you’ve got a lot going on, but how about doing a one-off James Bond story?” I told them, “Yes!” It was a chance to play with Dynamite and an icon! To use an old metaphor from Warren Ellis it’s like a chance to do a cover song. Here’s Kieron Gillen doing a four minute pop song of Bond. There’s something profoundly satisfying about it. It’s like, “Here’s my version of a song that’s been sung for a very long time.”

What’s your experience with Bond as a fan? Do you remember your first Bond film or book?

What a good question. The first Bond I read was “From Russia With Love.” It had a yellow cover, and I got it out of the library back in what must have been my early teens.

The first image of Bond I remember seeing was the poster for “Octopussy.” Bond was just one of those things that was always there. As a kid, I had very strong memories of Bond film characters like Jaws. “Moonraker” was also in my head as well.

What’s your sense of Bond and the things he deals with as a “blunt instrument” in the modern world of espionage, terrorism and global crime?

You kind of summed it up, but this is book Bond, so we actually lean harder into those things. He’s a very blunt instrument, and the story I’m doing is kind of an interrogation of that; both Bond as an instrument, and Britain as an instrument.

This is a story that looks over the tail end of Britain’s imperial history and where MI-6 came from. So it kind of harkens back to World War II. In fact there are whole scenes set at the British Imperial War Museum. So it’s a way for me to say, “Let’s talk about Bond. Let’s talk about British Intelligence. Let’s talk about empire and what Britain means anyway.” That’s all the stuff that runs through it.

This story also involves the relationship between Britain and the United States. As both countries are dealing with some complex and controversial political issues right now, are those elements part of your story?

I had to tweak my story structure a little. When I pitched this story, I was working off the assumption of a Hillary Clinton victory, and I had to tweak it anyway! [Laughs] This story idea came between Brexit and Trump’s election.

The tweaks were small and mainly required removing things that were suddenly much more pointed than required. The lines I wrote had a completely different resonance in a Trump presidency than a Clinton presidency.

EXCLUSIVE: Art from “James Bond: Service” by Antonio Fuso

The story kind of starts with the idea that Britain is less useful to America now as an ally. Because Post Brexit it arguably has less connections.

The other interesting element of your story is the fact that it’s a one-off and most people experience a Bond narrative as long form stories like movies, novels, and multi issue comic storylines. What’s it like writing a Bond story as a longer one-shot?

It’s tricky because as you say we’re so used to the idea of the novel or an hour and half to two hour movie. That’s a certain level of structure. So there’s so many things I have to throw out. I haven’t got space to do the cold open. At the same time though you want to cut to the fundamental Bondness of it. I wanted scenes with Moneypenny, M, and Q. I wanted those things percolating through it. I also wanted the dry moments.

The first thing I had about the story was essentially how it ends. It involves a bit of awful Realpolitik. I thought, “I’d like to see Bond doing that.” So there’s a Bond feel, but it’s a condensation of it. You want to see Bond doing spy stuff. You want to see him defiant and trapped, and you want to see him kill some dudes. Since there’s so much World War II stuff I thought, “If Bond doesn’t end up using a Sten Gun I’ve failed.”

[Laughs] Earlier you mentioned your story would have some scenes set at the British Imperial War Museum. What else can you tell us about Bond’s mission and the supporting characters he’ll run into and afoul of in “Service?”

The villain is a rogue agent who believes he’s defending Britain. He’s a lone terrorist and a lot of his methods and thought patterns harken back to World War II. I did some research into the history. He’s very much a defender of a certain idea of Britain and a lot of the book is a discussion of that.

In terms of the action set pieces, as I mentioned the Imperial War Museum figures prominently. [Laughs] That was part of the inspiration. I had bits and pieces, but I went for a walk around the War Museum, which is weird because it’s a place I go to look at for “Uber” as well. They actually had a spy exhibition going on. It had the history of MI-6 and the Secret Service. As I was wondering around the place I thought, “You know this would be a really good place for a shootout.” Because there were these amazing V-2 Rockets and all this other great old tech.

EXCLUSIVE: Art from “James Bond: Service” by Antonio Fuso

So if you’re going to write a story about history set it at a fucking museum. [Laughs] That’s one of the big draws about Bond. He gets to go to interesting places and shoot interesting people. This story has a lot of that and setting it at a museum gives it a really interesting vibe.

We also have some useful gadgets in the story, but nothing that’s too over the top. They’re part of the fun.

You’re working with Antonio Fuso who’s probably best known for his work on IDW’s G.I.Joe books. So it seems like action, espionage, and licensed characters are all in his wheelhouse. What do you enjoy most about Antonio’s art?

He’s clearly one of those artists who can convey the emotional harshness of the real world. So his work is not just real. It’s hyper real. I imagine he uses reference, but he also really stylizes his reference.

So he’d drawing a place but it’s all iconic, jagged, and modern. That’s a lot of what this book is about. The book would have a very different effect If we had a classic British Adventure style artist. You’d get these World War II aping scenes that almost appeared nostalgic. We have this stuff done in a more modern light and aware of the juxtaposition between the two. To me, that’s what the appeal is.

Finally, you’re a busy man, but if the opportunity presents itself would you be interested in returning to the world of Bond some day for more stories?

He’s a real interesting challenge. I’d have to think about what I wanted to say. With this project it was like, “Okay. I get to do one Bond story. What do I say?” So this is kind of a pure statement on it. You never know though… Never say never again! [Laughs]

“James Bond: Service” by Kieron Gillan and Antonio Fuso, arrives in May from Dynamite Entertainment.

EXCLUSIVE: Art from “James Bond: Service” by Antonio Fuso

The post Gillen Earns His License to Kill with James Bond: Service appeared first on CBR.

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[readbookywooks]

11 Sixty seconds. That's how long we're required to stand on our metal circles before the sound of a gong releases us. Step off before the minute is up, and land mines blow your legs off. Sixty seconds to take in the ring of tributes all equidistant from the Cornucopia, a giant golden horn shaped like a cone with a curved tail, the mouth of which is at least twenty feet high, spilling over with the things that will give us life here in the arena. Food, containers of water, weapons, medicine, garments, fire starters. Strewn around the Cornucopia are other supplies, their value decreasing the farther they are from the horn. For instance, only a few steps from my feet lays a three-foot square of plastic. Certainly it could be of some use in a downpour. But there in the mouth, I can see a tent pack that would protect from almost any sort of weather. If I had the guts to go in and fight for it against the other twenty-three tributes. Which I have been instructed not to do. We're on a flat, open stretch of ground. A plain of hard-packed dirt. Behind the tributes across from me, I can see nothing, indicating either a steep downward slope or even cliff. To my right lies a lake. To my left and back, spars piney woods. This is where Haymitch would want me to go. Immediately. I hear his instructions in my head. "Just clear out, put as much distance as you can between yourselves and the others, and find a source of water." But it's tempting, so tempting, when I see the bounty waiting there before me. And I know that if I don't get it, someone else will. That the Career Tributes who survive the bloodbath will divide up most of these life-sustaining spoils. Something catches my eye. There, resting on a mound of blanket rolls, is a silver sheath of arrows and a bow, already strung, just waiting to be engaged. That's mine, I think. It's meant for me. I'm fast. I can sprint faster than any of the girls in our school although a couple can beat me in distance races. But this forty-yard length, this is what I am built for. I know I can get it, I know I can reach it first, but then the question is how quickly can I get out of there? By the time I've scrambled up the packs and grabbed the weapons, others will have reached the horn, and one or two I might be able to pick off, but say there's a dozen, at that close range, they could take me down with the spears and the clubs. Or their own powerful fists. Still, I won't be the only target. I'm betting many of the other tributes would pass up a smaller girl, even one who scored an eleven in training, to take out their more fierce adversaries. Haymitch has never seen me run. Maybe if he had he'd tell me to go for it. Get the weapon. Since that's the very weapon that might be my salvation. And I only see one bow in that whole pile. I know the minute must be almost up and will have to decide what my strategy will be and I find myself positioning my feet to run, not away into the stir rounding forests but toward the pile, toward the bow. When suddenly I notice Peeta, he's about five tributes to my right, quite a fair distance, still I can tell he's looking at me and I think he might be shaking his head. But the sun's in my eyes, and while I'm puzzling over it the gong rings out. And I've missed it! I've missed my chance! Because those extra couple of seconds I've lost by not being ready are enough to change my mind about going in. My feet shuffle for a moment, confused at the direction my brain wants to take and then I lunge forward, scoop up the sheet of plastic and a loaf of bread. The pickings are so small and I'm so angry with Peeta for distracting me that I sprint in twenty yards to retrieve a bright orange backpack that could hold anything because I can't stand leaving with virtually nothing. A boy, I think from District 9, reaches the pack at the same time I do and for a brief time we grapple for it and then he coughs, splattering my face with blood. I stagger back, repulsed by the warm, sticky spray. Then the boy slips to the ground. That's when I see the knife in his back. Already other tributes have reached the Cornucopia and are spreading out to attack. Yes, the girl from District 2, ten yards away, running toward me, one hand clutching a half-dozen knives. I've seen her throw in training. She never misses. And I'm her next target. All the general fear I've been feeling condenses into at immediate fear of this girl, this predator who might kill me in seconds. Adrenaline shoots through me and I sling the pack over one shoulder and run full-speed for the woods. I can hear the blade whistling toward me and reflexively hike the pack up to protect my head. The blade lodges in the pack. Both straps on my shoulders now, I make for the trees. Somehow I know the girl will not pursue me. That she'll be drawn back into the Cornucopia before all the good stuff is gone. A grin crosses my face. Thanks for the knife, I think. At the edge of the woods I turn for one instant to survey the field. About a dozen or so tributes are hacking away at one another at the horn. Several lie dead already on the ground. Those who have taken flight are disappearing into the trees or into the void opposite me. I continue running until the woods have hidden me from the other tributes then slow into a steady jog that I think I can maintain for a while. For the next few hours, I alternate between jogging and walking, putting as much distance as I can between myself and my competitors. I lost my bread during the struggle with the boy from District 9 but managed to stuff my plastic in my sleeve so as I walk I fold it neatly and tuck it into a pocket. I also free the knife  -  it's a fine one with a long sharp blade, serrated near the handle, which will make it handy for sawing through things  -  and slide it into my belt. I don't dare stop to examine the contents of the pack yet. I just keep moving, pausing only to check for pursuers. I can go a long time. I know that from my days in the woods. But I will need water. That was Haymitch's second instruction, and since I sort of botched the first, I keep a sharp eye out for any sign of it. No luck. The woods begin to evolve, and the pines are intermixed with a variety of trees, some I recognize, some completely foreign to me. At one point, I hear a noise and pull my knife, thinking I may have to defend myself, but I've only startled a rabbit. "Good to see you," I whisper. If there's one rabbit, there could be hundreds just waiting to be snared. The ground slopes down. I don't particularly like this. Valleys make me feel trapped. I want to be high, like in the hills around District 12, where I can see my enemies approaching. But I have no choice but to keep going. Funny though, I don't feel too bad. The days of gorging myself have paid off. I've got staying power even though I'm short on sleep. Being in the woods is rejuvenating. I'm glad for the solitude, even though it's an illusion, because I'm probably on-screen right now. Not consistently but off and on. There are so many deaths to show the first day that a tribute trekking through the woods isn't much to look at. But they'll show me enough to let people know I'm alive, uninjured and on the move. One of the heaviest days of betting is the opening, when the initial casualties come in. But that can't compare to what happens as the field shrinks to a handful of players. It's late afternoon when I begin to hear the cannons. Each shot represents a dead tribute. The fighting must have finally stopped at the Cornucopia. They never collect the bloodbath bodies until the killers have dispersed. On the opening day, they don't even fire the cannons until the initial fighting's over because it's too hard to keep track of the fatalities. I allow myself to pause, panting, as I count the shots. One. two. three. on and on until they reach eleven. Eleven dead in all. Thirteen left to play. My fingernails scrape at the dried blood the boy from District 9 coughed into my face. He's gone, certainly. I wonder about Peeta. Has he lasted through the day? I'll know in a few hours. When they project the dead's images into the sky for the rest of us to see. All of a sudden, I'm overwhelmed by the thought that Peeta may be already lost, bled white, collected, and in the process of being transported back to the Capitol to be cleaned up, redressed, and shipped in a simple wooden box back to District 12. No longer here. Heading home. I try hard to remember if I saw him once the action started. But the last image I can conjure up is Peeta shaking his head as the gong rang out. Maybe it's better, if he's gone already. He had no confidence he could win. And I will not end up with the unpleasant task of killing him. Maybe it's better if he's out of this for good. I slump down next to my pack, exhausted. I need to go through it anyway before night falls. See what I have to work with. As I unhook the straps, I can feel it's sturdily made although a rather unfortunate color. This orange will practically glow in the dark. I make a mental note to camouflage it first thing tomorrow. I flip open the flap. What I want most, right at this moment, is water. Haymitch's directive to immediately find water was not arbitrary. I won't last long without it. For a few days, I'll be able to function with unpleasant symptoms of dehydration, but after that I'll deteriorate into helplessness and be dead in a week, tops. I carefully lay out the provisions. One thin black sleeping bag that reflects body heal. A pack of crackers. A pack of dried beef strips. A bottle of iodine. A box of wooden matches. A small coil of wire. A pair of sunglasses. And a half-gallon plastic bottle with a cap for carrying water that's bone dry. No water. How hard would it have been for them to fill up the bottle? I become aware of the dryness in my throat and mouth, the cracks in my lips. I've been moving all day long. It's been hot and I've sweat a lot. I do this at home, but there are always streams to drink from, or snow to melt if it should come to it. As I refill my pack I have an awful thought. The lake. The one I saw while I was waiting for the gong to sound. What if that's the only water source in the arena? That way they'll guarantee drawing us in to fight. The lake is a full day's journey from where I sit now, a much harder journey with nothing to drink. And then, even if I reach it, it's sure to be heavily guarded by some of the Career Tributes. I'm about to panic when I remember the rabbit I startled earlier today. It has to drink, too. I just have to find out where. Twilight is closing in and I am ill at ease. The trees are too thin to offer much concealment. The layer of pine needles that muffles my footsteps also makes tracking animals harder when I need their trails to find water. And I'm still heading downhill, deeper and deeper into a valley that seems endless. I'm hungry, too, but I don't dare break into my precious store of crackers and beef yet. Instead, I take my knife and go to work on a pine tree, cutting away the outer bark and scraping off a large handful of the softer inner bark. I slowly chew the stuff as I walk along. After a week of the finest food in the world, it's a little hard to choke down. But I've eaten plenty of pine in my life. I'll adjust quickly. In another hour, it's clear I've got to find a place to camp. Night creatures are coming out. I can hear the occasional hoot or howl, my first clue that I'll be competing with natural predators for the rabbits. As to whether I'll be viewed as a source of food, it's too soon to tell. There could be any number of animals stalking me at this moment. But right now, I decide to make my fellow tributes a priority. I'm sure many will continue hunting through the night. Those who fought it out at the Cornucopia will have food, an abundance of water from the lake, torches or flashlights, and weapons they're itching to use. I can only hope I've traveled far and fast enough to be out of range. Before settling down, I take my wire and set two twitch-up snares in the brush. I know it's risky to be setting traps, but food will go so fast out here. And I can't set snares on the run. Still, I walk another five minutes before making camp. I pick my tree carefully. A willow, not terribly tall but set in a clump of other willows, offering concealment in those long, flowing tresses. I climb up, sticking to the stronger branches close to the trunk, and find a sturdy fork for my bed. It takes some doing, but I arrange the sleeping bag in a relatively comfortable manner. I place my backpack in the foot of the bag, then slide in after it. As a precaution, I remove my belt, loop it all the way around the branch and my sleeping bag, and refasten it at my waist. Now if I roll over in my sleep, I won't go crashing to the ground. I'm small enough to tuck the top of the bag over my head, but I put on my hood as well. As night falls, the air is cooling quickly. Despite the risk I took in getting the backpack, I know now it was the right choice. This sleeping bag, radiating back and preserving my body heat, will be invaluable. I'm sure there are several other tributes whose biggest concern right now is how to stay warm whereas I may actually be able to get a few hours of sleep. If only I wasn't so thirsty. Night has just come when I hear the anthem that proceeds the death recap. Through the branches I can see the seal of the Capitol, which appears to be floating in the sky. I'm actually viewing another screen, an enormous one that's transported by of one of their disappearing hovercraft. The anthem fades out and the sky goes dark for a moment. At home, we would be watching full coverage of each and every killing, but that's thought to give an unfair advantage to the living tributes. For instance, if I got my hands on the bow and shot someone, my secret would be revealed to all. No, here in the arena, all we see are the same photographs they showed when they televised our training scores. Simple head shots. But now instead of scores they post only district numbers. I take a deep breath as the face of the eleven dead tributes begin and tick them off one by one on my fingers. The first to appear is the girl from District 3. That means that the Career Tributes from 1 and 2 have all survived. No surprise there. Then the boy from 4. I didn't expect that one, usually all the Careers make it through the first day. The boy from District 5. I guess the fox-faced girl made it. Both tributes from 6 and 7. The boy from 8. Both from 9. Yes, there's the boy who I fought for the backpack. I've run through my fingers, only one more dead tribute to go. Is it Peeta? No, there's the girl from District 10. That's it. The Capitol seal is back with a final musical flourish. Then darkness and the sounds of the forest resume. I'm relieved Peeta's alive. I tell myself again that if I get killed, his winning will benefit my mother and Prim the most. This is what I tell myself to explain the conflicting emotions that arise when I think of Peeta. The gratitude that he gave me an edge by professing his love for me in the interview. The anger at his superiority on the roof. The dread that we may come face-to-face at any moment in this arena. Eleven dead, but none from District 12. I try to work out who is left. Five Career Tributes. Foxface. Thresh and Rue. Rue. so she made it through the first day after all. I can't help feeling glad. That makes ten of us. The other three I'll figure out tomorrow. Now when it is dark, and I have traveled far, and I am nestled high in this tree, now I must try and rest. I haven't really slept in two days, and then there's been the long day's journey into the arena. Slowly, I allow my muscles to relax. My eyes to close. The last thing I think is it's lucky I don't snore. Snap! The sound of a breaking branch wakes me. How long have I been asleep? Four hours? Five? The tip of my nose is icy cold. Snap! Snap! What's going on? This is not the sound of a branch under someone's foot, but the sharp crack of one coming from a tree. Snap! Snap! I judge it to be several hundred yards to my right. Slowly, noiselessly, I turn myself in that direction. For a few minutes, there's nothing but blackness and some scuffling. Then I see a spark and a small fire begins to bloom. A pair of hands warms over flames, but I can't make out more than that. I have to bite my lip not to scream every foul name I know at the fire starter. What are they thinking? A fire I'll just at nightfall would have been one thing. Those who battled at the Cornucopia, with their superior strength and surplus of supplies, they couldn't possibly have been near enough to spot the flames then. But now, when they've probably been combing the woods for hours looking for victims. You might as well be waving a flag and shouting, "Come and get me!" And here I am a stone's throw from the biggest idiot in the Games. Strapped in a tree. Not daring to flee since my general location has just been broadcast to any killer who cares. I mean, I know it's cold out here and not everybody has a sleeping bag. But then you grit your teeth and stick it out until dawn! I lay smoldering in my bag for the next couple of hours really thinking that if I can get out of this tree, I won't have the least problem taking out my new neighbor. My instinct has been to flee, not fight. But obviously this person's a hazard. Stupid people are dangerous. And this one probably doesn't have much in the way of weapons while I've got this excellent knife. The sky is still dark, but I can feel the first signs of dawn approaching. I'm beginning to think we  -  meaning the person whose death I'm now devising and me  -  we might actually have gone unnoticed. Then I hear it. Several pairs of feet breaking into a run. The fire starter must have dozed off. They're on her before she can escape. I know it's a girl now, I can tell by the pleading, the agonized scream that follows. Then there's laughter and congratulations from several voices. Someone cries out, "Twelve down and eleven to go!" which gets a round of appreciative hoots. So they're fighting in a pack. I'm not really surprised. Often alliances are formed in the early stages of the Games. The strong band together to hunt down the weak then, when the tension becomes too great, begin to turn on one another. I don't have to wonder too hard who has made this alliance. It'll be the remaining Career Tributes from Districts 1, 2, and 4. Two boys and three girls. The ones who lunched together. For a moment, I hear them checking the girl for supplies. I can tell by their comments they've found nothing good. I wonder if the victim is Rue but quickly dismiss the thought. She's much too bright to be building a fire like that. "Better clear out so they can get the body before it starts stinking." I'm almost certain that's the brutish boy from District 2. There are murmurs of assent and then, to my horror, I hear the pack heading toward me. They do not know I'm here. How could they? And I'm well concealed in the clump of trees. At least while the sun stays down. Then my black sleeping bag will turn from camouflage to trouble. If they just keep moving, they will pass me and be gone in a minute. But the Careers stop in the clearing about ten yards from my tree. They have flashlights, torches. I can see an arm here, a boot there, through the breaks in the branches. I turn to stone, not even daring to breathe. Have they spotted me? No, not yet. I can tell from their words their minds are elsewhere. "Shouldn't we have heard a cannon by now?" "I'd say yes. Nothing to prevent them from going in immediately." "Unless she isn't dead." "She's dead. I stuck her myself." "Then where's the cannon?" "Someone should go back. Make sure the job's done." "Yeah, we don't want to have to track her down twice." "I said she's dead!" An argument breaks out until one tribute silences the others. "We're wasting time! I'll go finish her and let's move on!" I almost fall out of the tree. The voice belongs to Peeta.

[mobius-prime]

175. Sonic the Hedgehog #107

Crouching Hedgehog, Hidden Dragon (臣人豪猪臧龍) (Part Two)

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: Ron Lim Colors: Frank Gagliardo

Yes, those are the same Chinese characters as last time. I was kind of hoping they would have used different ones so we could have a second nonsense phrase to laugh over, but alas. The morning after the dragon's attack, Sonic and Tails are playing video games when they're called to a morning meeting with Station Square's president. Once in the meeting, the president begins to explain his strategy for taking on the dragon, but Sonic is less than interested.

Sonic suddenly realizes he recognizes the team as the one that captured him at the beginning of Sonic Adventure 2, and promptly bursts into hysterical laughter, remembering how easily he disarmed them last time. Sally is quick to salvage the situation by claiming that it's Mobian tradition to laugh at their allies as a show of respect, and a confused president and annoyed Paladin Team look on as every Mobian at the table howls with laughter to keep up the ruse. Sonic, however, is not pleased with the tough-guy, humorless attitude that every member of the team exudes, and Sally, Rotor, and Antoine stay behind in the city as Sonic, Tails, and Bunnie airdrop in with the team to Pyro Island, where the dragon is believed to be hiding out. The Mobians are cheery, singing and chatting with one another, but the leader of Paladin Team admonishes them for not taking things seriously. While everyone is distracted, two of the Paladin Team members lag behind everyone else, not realizing that there's a shadowy, snakelike figure stalking them from behind. As the Mobians and humans begin to argue, they suddenly notice the disappearance of two of their team members.

While the humans angrily head out to find their missing team members, Sonic, Tails and Bunnie press on into the trees, trying to figure out where a dragon might hide. Tails spots a cave behind a waterfall, and they duck inside, to be immediately greeted by… Dulcy! It's been a while since we've seen her! Her arm is in a sling, but otherwise she seems fine and happy to see them. Suddenly, the red dragon emerges from behind her, but Dulcy quickly explains that this is Zan, and she's in a relationship with him. However, he begins to act aggressive, insisting that the others are their enemies and shouldn't be here, to her dismay.

Well, that changes things a bit. Everyone tries to convince Zan to settle down so they can talk things out peacefully, but Zan becomes even angrier when Dulcy agrees. He's interrupted from scolding her for relying on them when a net entangles his mouth, shutting him up, and the humans all rush in with guns drawn, ready to kill both dragons. Sonic utilizes his super speed to take apart all their guns before they can fire, but then Zan breaks free of his muzzle, gloating that now that they're unarmed he can kill them easily. Sonic steps in the middle to prevent that from happening either, and then Dulcy, from the back, quietly speaks up.

So this isn't the only "surprise domestic abuse" plot in a Sonic canon. Anyone who's played Sonic and the Secret Rings knows that an abusive romantic relationship plays a big part in that game's plot as well. But it still does come as a big shock here. Sonic freaks out, infuriated that Zan would hurt his friend, and begins wailing on him, while Tails and Bunnie rush outside to check on Dulcy. She repeats certain stock phrases that are common of abuse victims, such as "he loves me" and "maybe it's my fault," while Bunnie reassures her that she's not at fault at all and deserves better than to be treated this way. It's honestly a decent portrayal of the guilt that abuse victims become stuck with, just very condensed, because this comic doesn't have time to throw in a whole long subplot about Dulcy's emotional recovery. Instead, it takes a fast-track approach, as while Sonic and Zan fight, Paladin Team sets up explosives and blows up the entire cave, with Sonic and Zan still in it! That'll solve it!

Everyone outside is horrified and rushes forward to try to dig them both out, but Sonic emerges safely, tunneling his way out from under the rock. However, Zan isn't so lucky. The team contacts the president, informing him that the dragon that menaced them is dead and the city is safe again, and he agrees formally to take in the Overlander refugees, while Sonic, Tails, and Bunnie stay with Dulcy at the ruins of the cave till nightfall, letting her mourn despite the abuse.

Fittingly, our character file for this issue is for Dulcy! She's an outlier in almost every way compared to the other characters so far. Since she's a dragon, you'd expect her to be bigger than the others, but I wasn't expecting her to be so massive. She's a whopping 240 cm or 7'10" tall, and weighs 111.8 kg or 245.9 lbs! That's easily taller than Big the Cat and E-102 Gamma, the tallest characters in the games (not counting bosses such as Iblis or Dark Gaia), though not nearly as heavy as either of them. Her wingspan also comes out to 169 cm or exactly five feet, which correspond well enough to how they're usually drawn as proportionately small. However, that's not the most interesting thing about her file. Based on her behavior and this recent relationship of hers, how old would you say Dulcy is? Seventeen? Eighteen?

She's thirteen.

I was honestly shocked when I found this out. This means that most of the previous times we've seen her, she was literally only twelve, not even a teenager yet. This actually puts a lot of her behavior into perspective - her somewhat crybaby attitude and nervousness in the face of danger, all that is due to literal immaturity. This means she was only about two years old when the war against Robotnik started, with her birthday being August 23. The file explains that when Robotnik began his coup, he heavily targeted dragons before any other creatures due to their sheer power. One such dragon, Sabina, sought protection for her daughter Dulcinea (Dulcy's real name) among the Kingdom of Acorn before she too was captured. Dulcy grew up over the years and helped the Freedom Fighters, though she mainly lived outside on her own due to her massive size. Interestingly enough, the file also attempts to provide a bit of a retcon for the whole "dragons can sense truth" plot hole that I pointed out all the way back during Endgame, instead suggesting that Dulcy in particular is just a very trustworthy individual who doesn't like telling lies and has an instinct for knowing when someone is being truthful, which I can accept. It's a lot better than the handwave from before, anyway.

Reunification (Part II)

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Dawn Best Colors: Robbie O'Quinn

Lien-Da is pissed. Apparently, she actually didn't expect Knuckles to be able to reverse the effects of the Quantum Beam, despite Dimitri not only promising Knuckles he'd do so himself, but even encouraging Knuckles to do so on his own. Dimitri is also shocked, though more at the sheer extent of Knuckles' power, which exceeds even his own when he was Enerjak.

What, Lien-Da? You think you're gonna recruit Remington or something? Remington's an upstanding guy, man, I think your chances are… uh… well, I suppose we mustn't forget about the time traveler girl who apparently thinks he's gonna murder Knuckles. Remington asks her for her name and she gives the name "Jani-Ca," though internally she notes that she's trying to hide her own identity, meaning this isn't her real name. Wynmacher and Lara-Le rush up, concernedly asking after Knuckles, and while Remington states he hasn't seen him, Jani-Ca hides her surprise at seeing a younger version of her grandmother. Wait - grandmother?! Then that means she's…

The Chaotix are back as well, having landed right back in the ruins of the Grand Conservatory, with their dialogue again suggesting that they haven't been away for long due to the slower time scale within the Twilight Zone. In Haven, the various members of the Brotherhood are dismayed to find the place trashed from Knuckles' earlier bursts of uncontrolled power, though they instead suspect the Legion's hand. They notice that Matthias and Hawking are no longer there, realizing that they've both died and headed on to the "next evolution," AKA echidna heaven. They sense one more soul with them, whom we know is Tobor, but they can't figure it out. Locke briefly worries that it might be Knuckles before hearing Knuckles' ghostly voice reassuring him that he's fine and currently in the city. Far from reassuring Locke, this only makes him worry that instead of his great plans for Knuckles to be a savior, instead his worst fears have come to pass. What, Locke, you starting to think that maybe genetically engineering and irradiating your unborn baby wasn't a good idea after all?

*sigh* So, yes, everyone, this is Knuckles' future daughter Lara-Su. Anyone who knows Penders and his whole lawsuit debacle will know exactly who this is. Now, she's kind of an unpopular character because of this (and because many people essentially dismiss her as Penders' Mary Sue OC), and there are definitely valid criticisms to be made about her inclusion into the comics, but I'm not going to immediately jump into hating her just because of the circumstances of her creation. After all, we still know basically nothing about her, not even how she came to be, and anyway you all know that I prefer to judge a character or story on its own merits and not on how likeable its creator is.

Everyone's conversations are interrupted by a flash of light, and Dimitri materializes in the middle of the group. Remington, of course, steps forward intending to arrest him, but Knuckles stops him much to his shock. Dimitri grins in a super-duper-not-an-evil-villain way and says that Knuckles has finally seen that he and his Legion only wish to rejoin the rest of echidna society, and that they're prepared to do whatever it takes to reintegrate…