#how do their flaws compliment each other!!! how do they complete each other!!! how to they stand together against the odds!!!!

[sun-n-moon-showdown]

oh one last thing before i log off for the night, please give me a little more info on duo submissions besides their name and/or media. like why they’re being submitted for instance, what makes them a sun and moon duo y’know? because while i don’t mind doing my own research i do have School going on so saving the extra time is really appreciated

[cyjammy]

Vox and Alastor’s Dynamic is so FUN

Hazbin Hotel Season 1 Episode 2 Spoilers ahead!

I have to talk about Vox and Alastor’s “rivalry”. I love how Alastor just couldn’t care less, he’s witty, he’s emotionless and that makes him all the more powerful.

Well, not emotionless since he does express outward disgust towards anything digital, but the fact he can keep himself composed because he knows he is the shit and that’s what makes him my absolute favorite.

That showed through in the pilot and the show didn’t fail to deliver. I love how he’s handled. Viv’s characterization is wonderful.

Most fics I have read with Alastor have shown him as vunerable despite the story never alluding to that and it’s such a breath of fresh air to have canon content of Alastor being his authentic self.

My god do I love a character that’s strong and not swayed by emotion, but they can be handled well too. I.E. VOX oh my god. Every fanon had him pegged down as the victim to Val’s wrath, but he’s the mastermind behind the scenes. A complete subversion of everyone’s expectations. And that’s for another post I’m about to go crazy on, but I digress.

Vox is a man up in his ivory electronic tower with villainous intentions, but he falls short because of emotion!

Handling Velvet’s demands to get Val together? A quick pep talk with himself and he’s got it.

Addressing unforeseen circumstances with concerned sinners? Easy.

But Alastor?

He sees RED. He let Valentino have it when he even thought about going on a rampage over a sinner under his thumb.

When it comes to Alastor, Vox goes on a hate campaign and makes a fool of himself.

Meanwhile, Alastor was minding his business, and Vox couldn’t deal with that.

So much so he causes a blackout in the Wrath ring!

Why? Because of his rejection sensitivity.

He is this all powerful overlord with companions in his rule and when he asks someone of similar station to become his equal he gets rejected.

It’s unheard of for him. He cannot fathom it.

Because that makes Alastor a factor he cannot control.

Val says that Alastor “almost beat him”. Val may not have witnessed that fight and Vox spun it around to claim he came out on top.

But if he did, he definitely wouldn’t let Alastor get away.

Valentino and Vox have known each other for a long time, as shown in a photo in the background in the episode.

So either this spat began before they had met and Vox lied or Valentino witnessed it. I'm excited to see which way that goes.

In terms of influence, Alastor seems to win that battle. Vox is in charge of electrical currents and anything in the digital space.

Alastor is so far removed from that Vox has no influence over him. He refuses to be involved with new technology.

But with Vox having an army of sinners under his wing through subliminal messaging, he had security and power.

With Alastor’s return he brings CHARISMA and he’s doing it SO FUCKING WELL.

This is not a battle, it’s a slaughter, and Alastor is WINNING. With television there are so many ways to captivate a viewer but with radio all the host has is their voice and personality. It all has to be shown in a medium that doesn’t have many options for uniqueness.

Alastor defends himself with grace. He throws out compliments to his fellow overlords while still having it be a slight to the man who began the fight.

THE Vs ARE PREENING AT HIS PRAISE. THIS MAN IS GOATED.

It's night and day, but that's probably because Valentino and Velvet are tired of Vox's shit. I love this parallel so much!

Vox needed to be the person he was with Valentino at all times if this is a battle he wants to win, but he’s so bitter he will never see that.

He’s stubborn and that’s his main flaw.

And I fucking love it.

Alastor knows what he’s thinking and how to avoid it.

Always a step ahead. And their duet showcases that perfectly.

Alastor uses his opponent’s power against them, seeing the slanderous TV campaign and immediately going on air.

He does that in the pilot as well and seeing that this has become a habit for him is so fun to see.

Alastor is not to be messed with and I feel like people decided to gloss over that. But it’s so in your face you cannot deny it.

Alastor is TERRIFYING with a chilling deposition that will give you nightmares if you dare cross him.

Give him the respect he fucking deserves.

And the music and the visuals of the song — A whole fucking masterpiece.

I’m in love with their dynamic so far and I can’t wait to see where it goes.

So far Vox is the obsessed fanatic that couldn’t handle rejection.

There has to be more than that.

[sparrowsoupp]

some of the most iconic queer poster children of the warrior cats fandom. happy pride to the girls gays and theys (particularly those who enjoy brawling feline content)

dabble in my headcannons for these pairings under the read-more button if i’ve piqued your interest…

RAVEN x BARLEY (gay x gay)

i know there’s been a bit of controversy going around about these two and how they could be seen as toxic, with barley being insecure over ravenpaw’s connection to thunderclan. i get that perspective for sure, but i think it’s representative of REASONABLE flaws in a real relationship. obviously it’s not ideal that they never completely resolve it (since it’s ‘solved’ in the graphic novel but reopened in ravenpaw’s novella) and i wished that they addressed that more concretely (i say about a fucking middle grade book about talking cats LOL) but even more so i think you could see it as a realistic relationship as with issues in those, they often subdue and reoccur at intervals. it’s just about talking it out with your partner 🦭👍 plus if the majority of their relationship outside of this is good (which i definitely see it as, since obviously the books have to take place at points of conflict for there to be interesting things to write about) then it seems to be a somewhat small flaw.

that being said i haven’t actually read the books this comes up in so take my opinion with grains of salt, just online discourse about it. totally get if your life experience makes you see their interactions another way as this is just my two cents based on my experience with people.

overall i’m not a superfan of the sickly-sweet reputation these two get but i do like them for what i see them as, which is a Normal Relationship with Some Flaws. i like that they find solace in each other in a peaceful place after fleeing their less peaceful pasts. it’s a great dynamic (and i’m a sucker for farms) and i think they compliment each other’s personalities really well, with barley bringing ravenpaw out of the shell he’s been forced into and ravenpaw inspiring more cautiousness in a very brash barley who would otherwise probably jump into fights at the drop of a hat.

on a somewhat unrelated note, as a kid did anyone else wish that ravenpaw dropped his paw suffix? or blue/firestar granted him an honourary suffix for everything the poor kid went through? this isn’t like a super big meanigful thing but it just annoyed me when i was younger that the paw suffix kind of belittles him to apprentice level when after the fuckery the poor kid went through i think he deserves more recognition from the clans than that.

BLUESTAR x YELLOWFANG (bi x bi)

OKAYYY old women! while fanart of the two of them being in a loving happy relationship is very cute i like to take my old woman yuri one-sided and traumatic.

i think that yellowfang would have an unrequited crush on bluestar. what’s there not to like?! at the point when they meet bluestar is a compassionate but commanding cat in the prime of her leadership. after a bit of her being in the camp i think bluestar would also start spending a curious amount of time in the medicine den… unconciously she definitely saw the appeal in yellowfang from the getgo- it definitely strengthens the reasoning of her surprising decision to defend yellowfang as a member of thunderclan depsite risking a full on war with other clans from it, and her other clanmates lives in the process. obviously bluestar’s a leader that wouldn’t base a decision like that just based on a crush, and it was definitely because of what she wants her clan to stand for, but it’s Not a downside that the cute lady she used to see at gatherings gets to stay a while

bluestar’s definitely not letting it occupy her mind though, of course, totally not (the lady has Trauma from her relationship with oakheart and i see her as having an attatchment issue where she doesn’t feel like she deserves to have a healthy relationship, especially after losing mosskit. she’s just not fully ready yet). yellowfang pines as she watches bluestar throw herself fully into her work to distract herself from the growing feelings, and at some point probably grows annoyed with the cat-and-mouse and starts dedicating herself fully to her own work as a medicine cat too. there are moments of sweetness and clarity and words on the tips of tongues, but just as unexpectedly as they come bluestar will turn her head back to her duties.

unfortunately once tigerstar’s betrayal happens all cute flirting comes to a screeching halt as bluestar is consumed by the paranoia. on the good days she’ll hold stilted conversation with her clanmates, but not so much on the bad days. yellowfang hurts as she watches her crush sprial into madness and dysfunction, the likes of which is only heightened when the fire happens and yellowfang passes- completely insetting bluestar’s hatred for starclan for taking her love (who she still does have deeply-buried feelings for) away from her.

overall, can you tell i love inflicting mental anguish on bluestar? it’s my favourite hobby. i’m not even joking.

LEAFPOOL x MOTHWING (bi x lesbian)

okay this one might make you realise i love doomed yuri. Anyways,

put simply, i think leafpool and mothwing find each other attractive and secretly hook up on a frequent basis for some…. Funny Business. Hanky-Panky, if you will. ‘no-strings-attached’ yeah right i don’t think sapphics have ever pulled off a no strings attatched relationship without casualities.

mothwing definitely wants to confess but leafpool by that point has been forcing herself to move on and ends up telling mothwing about ‘liking’ crowfeather right before mothwing works up the courage (reading leafpool x crowfeather for the first time in the canon books geniunely felt like someone’s ao3 crackship. i guess that’s what traumabinding will do to two mfs). or maybe mothwing notices that leafpool is pregnant (which HOW THE HELL DID NOONE NOTICE IN CANON) and backs the hell off from that. maybe a very angsty argument over that… delicious.

how very ‘good luck babe’ by chappell roan of them! i think things end pretty awkwardly for mothpool and neither leafpool nor crowfeather are really in love with each other they’re just something shiny and distracting from each of their respective circuses of personal lives. i literally hear the clown music playing as they run away together. maybe it’s tinnitus.

they probably pine for each other forever and ever after that, neither falling in love again because they never get over each other. damn. how awkward is it to see your kind-of-ex at the moonpool every month…

anyway thanks for reading though beau’s cat rambles! if youve stuck it out to here… a tip of the hat to you

[aha-chuu]

Kaveh's Drip Marketing

I have a lot to say about the connections between the Kaveh info that released today and Alhaitham (and what we know about their relationship with each other). I'm not looking at this in a romantic way necessarily, but just in how tightly knotted their characters are with one another.

First, Kaveh's title and description:

"Empyrean Reflection", or more simply, 'Heavenly Reflection'. This ties to his constellation, "Paeadisaea", which is the genus for the birds of paradise. 'Paradise' is a more general term for Heaven, but neither of these are particularly divine in nature in a deity sense. Personally, I think they might be denoting a reference to the Golden Ratio, AKA: Divine Proportion. It's a mathematic concept often used in artistry, which matches well with Kaveh's archectural design profession and his education from the Ksharewar Darshan, which is the Sumeru school of technology.

So that's what it means for Kaveh's own characterisation/lore imo, but it also links to Alhaitham. Firstly, Alhaitham's constellation is also a bird (Vultur Volans, or essentially 'vulture' even though his name means hawk), which is a nice match to Kaveh's birds of paradise. But more interestingly, this is what Alhaitham's Character Story 4 has to say about why he lets Kaveh live with him:

He views Kaveh as a "mirror". What is Kaveh's title again? "Empyrean Reflection".

And the mirroring is all over the place. Here's a section from Alhaitham's drip marketing from December:

He is

Largely unknown

Only puts in the minimum effort required to do his job

People don't pay attention to him

In contrast, here is a corresponding section that came out with Kaveh's drip today:

He is

Extremely well known

Incredibly hardworking

People pay attention to him even when he isn't asking for it, as a by-product of his career

Basically exact opposites; complete mirrors. Here's something else, first from the end of Alhaitham's description and then second from the end of Kaveh's:

Alhaitham's life is super comfortable, ideal in every way he desires. Meanwhile Kaveh is practically crippled by anxiety, made uncomfortable by his life circumstances. The wording itself is mirrored!

Ofc, Kaveh and Alhaitham provide one another's corresponding quotes in the drip marketing. Here is what Kaveh has to say about Alhaitham:

This is an amusing quote, basically a backhanded compliment of "oh he's very smart but he's too self-centred so his talents are made worthless since he never uses them to help others". Alhaitham's quote about Kaveh goes like this:

Alhaitham is a little more wordy so I'll simplify -

Talented people have a lot of outside pressure on them, which can be a burden

However, letting other people get you down is a character flaw, not an inherent part of being talented

Kaveh disagrees

Once again talking about an individual's talents and how worthwhile they are in the context of a society. Where Kaveh complains that Alhaitham can never accomplish anything worthwhile with his skills because he doesn't take other people into account, Alhaitham argues that Kaveh gets nothing done as a consequence of listening too much to other people's expectations. It's not surprising, then, that Kaveh is bankrupt but successful and Alhaitham is comfortable but unknown.

It's like - can these two stop talking about each other for five minutes? Anyway, this post turned out to be more of a collection of Kavetham quotes, but I think it's hard not to draw comparisons. I'm looking forward to seeing Kaveh's actual voicelines if there's this much material just from one marketing post lol

[berlingotesque]

What are your ships for Batim? :D

VERY GOOD QUESTION- I know my answer should be rather straightforward but I feel I have to put some context to my answers since they may seem contradictory/paradoxical otherwise, so bear with me-

Sammy x Norman : Well. I think that one was pretty obvious, anyone who's seen more than 3 of my posts knows that I'd die for these two. They're just so PERFECT for each other, from their complementary personalities to the fact that their relationship allows us to delve deeper into batim's historical and social context. Sammy and Norman have one of the few relationships that develop the most during the game's lore : Norman originally complains vehemently about Sammy's frenetic behavior, only to end up lamenting to Buddy and Dot how 'Sammy isn't the same anymore'. What's interesting about this statement is that he says it in relation to Sammy's strange behavior : clearly, the two men have grown close enough for Norman to differentiate Sammy's extravagant habits from his ink-influenced behavior.

Furthermore, Sammy is a very gray character morally, a perfectionist who is extremely socially maladjusted (surely due to the fact that he's coded on the spectrum and autism wasn't properly diagnosed at the time), naturally ostracizing him. For his part, Norman comes from a rural background (which surely earns him the animosity of the people at the studio, given the historical context and the fact that he could very well be poc) and also seems ill at ease socially : to me, it's fascinating to see two characters excluded from their peers because of differences they can't change (being autistic or poc and gay) getting closer to each other, to the point where Sammy, who is deeply misanthropic, naturally compliments Norman by describing him as very bright. To me, Norman is the perfect partner for Sammy : ready to apprehend him as he is, since he's completely free of social conventions, without taking any shits from him.

I think Sammy and Norman can really get the best out of each other, during a historical period when being different was strongly proscribed. I think I'd have trouble enjoying Batim as much without their dynamic at its heart (considering how narratively rich it is) : Norman is Henry's confidant, Sammy is Joey's, both remain morally gray deuteragonists fundamentally opposed to the ink machine, while remaining fascinated by its powers. And who wouldn't love a good old enemies to lovers ending tragically with the unwitting murder of one by the other ? After all, Norman's main flaw is that he's too curious for his own good, and it was Sammy who inevitably led him to his doom..

Allison x Tom : what more can I add. She's everything. He's just Tom. I've always been drawn to characters/ships with a vibe completely opposite to the vibe of the work they originally came from, and the 'turning poison into positivity' energy that Tom and Allison bring to Batim has always fascinated me. In a world as tragic as their own, I find it touching to see these two find beauty in all the ugliness and manage to ask themselves 'what if we were happy after all ?' It's really striking and brings a narrative richness to the work, since they directly mirror what failed with Sammy and Susie : Allison is perfect, but that was never what was at stake in Tom's eyes. Tom was looking for humanity, not perfection, and he managed to go beyond the image of the muse to discover a friend, unlike Sammy with Susie. They're literally Romeo and Juliet but, well... Not dead.

Joey x Henry/Henry x Linda : oh boy. These three... Let me get it straight right away : Henry and Linda are perfect for each other. She's exactly what he needs to be happy : she's present, patient. There's no denying that he loves her immensely. But Joey... oh Joey is undoubtedly Henry's soul mate. The subtlety is that Joey can't bring him the stable happiness Linda can : Joey tugs at him, pushes him over the edge. He knows exactly what to do to push him beyond his own limits. The love Joey offers Henry is an uncomfortable but unconditional one, one that would allow Henry to go beyond what he thinks he's capable of achieving because no one knows Henry better than Joey ! And let's be honest, Batim only exists because Joey refuses to move on, to live his dream without Henry in it. He's stuck in unrequited love and refuses to learn to live with it. And that's the tragedy of this trio : Henry sincerely loves Linda but is truly himself with Joey, which prevents him from hating OR loving him (And Joey exploits this information by remaining extremely toxic and convincing himself that he can wear him down lmao). Henry is stuck with this dilemma : Existing peacefully with Linda or living painfully with Joey. And that's why I love the dynamic of this love triangle : because there are no solutions that will satisfy everyone.

Joey x Sammy : okay, don’t get me wrong : these two are HORRIBLE for each other. Does Sammy periodically want to quit just to piss Joey off? Yes. Isn't Joey's fascination with Sammy intimately tied to his refusal to forget Henry, who was a genius like Sammy? Yes. Nevertheless, it's impossible for me to read The Illusion of Living without feeling embarrassed and like I'm reading Joey's diary : whether you ship them or not, Joey is practically canonically smitten with Sammy. I sincerely don't think Joey and Sammy can sustain a healthy relationship with each other, but oh boy, surely that won't stop me from exploiting their bizarre obsessive love-hate relationship, where it's hard to determine whether they're going to throw hands or make out.

[finnzhal]

You&I

@limeonthegreat asked

Hi asshole it's me again ur lover I'm here to request because I blocked u in all social media platforms

Can I request a yandere Idia headcanon but we're not his lover just bestie who he have the biggest crush on

FINN's response :

BAE NAURRRR YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO BLOCK ME !! GADAMN this request was a long time ago . . Sorry pookie i did delete my past fanfic about this since i wasn't confident about it . But here's your yandere cutie patootie

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Reader : GENDER NEUTRAL , YOU / YOUR

Character : IDIA SHROUD (TWST)

Mentions : Yandere criteria ( Delusional,Stalking,Ruining your Relationships with other people,guilt tripping)

NOTE

Forgive me for having the shittiest titles ever .

I don't condone this behavior in real life, I just find it fascinating and write about it .

If anyone's interested into requesting , I'm always open ! Check my INFOs for more !

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0 It all started when you started giving him the attention and care , having the same interest , almost so similar to each other . He's not used to being treated with so much affection . It made something click on his brain , he wants to know more of you .

0 After that , He wants to see you 24 / 7 but not going far as to getting out in public . . He's still not comfortable going out but he of course follows you to his ipad or phone or Ortho !

0 He always records everything about you whenever you guys hang out or talk or just basically every interaction you guys have, he makes it into playlists naming it as " (name)/day/date/year/hour/minute " and he always listens to them whenever you're busy or unavailable:((

0 I can see him being the delusional and Possessive type, He always thinks that you like him back despite how many times you call him your 'friend'

0 He'll say the flaws on the student you've been with. trying to make you avoid the student for him . He always happened to find dirt on every student . He says this as a "bestie" advice

0 He couldn't stop fantasizing you about being with him for the longest time. No one going in-between you both,just you and him in the dark.

0 He always mix the reality with his fantasy , he always have a realization every night and having a meltdown over it .

0 He HATES the students being so close to you and he always manages to have a dirty background check on them . Later then , you find the student on the school page online getting exposed by something horrific . Real or not . He despises them so much but he couldn't do anything about it since he's always in his room but once you come in his room , you'll know he's all over you .

0 if anyone hurts you , DAMN he'll call someone to do his dirty work for him while he pampers you with affection

0 He always compare himself to the people around you , making you feel guilty , making you want to stay with him even longer . Just like he wanted

0 He was obvious about his romantic feelings towards you but if you point out his abnormal behavior, he will deny it while his hair is complete pink

0 He will write informations about you even the ones you didn't even told him about. He'll write your name over and over, he believes in manifestations

0 Will literally melt on your hands if you compliment and praise him, he will get all giggly and his eyes turning glossy.. he couldn't believe someone like you loves him this much . He tried complimenting you and praising you but he only ends up being the one flustered and stuttering

0 He place hidden cameras on your dorm and anywhere you always come or walk to . He gets excited and watches you with a lovesick smile across his face . Of course he's saving it , don't mind the boxes full of USBs under his desk

0 I don't really see him as a yandere that wants to capture you and cage you but I do see him getting mad at you for getting close to the person he warned you about . He'll ignore you for a week or so , giving you the cold shoulder ( While every night he watches all of the videos of you that his cameras took )

0 He doesn't care if you only see him as a friend ( Well , he does and he'll ask you the exact same question " Why? " And guilt trips you and tells you how much he have done for you ) . . He just thinks that you're just into slow burns just like those animes he watched and he's willing to wait

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That's probably all for now ! Gosh 15 headcanons . . I have so much ideas for Yandere!Idia this night (8:00-9:00)

If you found some spelling or grammar mistakes, please let me know !

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© Do not steal. Please. FINN's fragile

[penultimate-step]

One thing that interests me about Koyomi and Tsubasa's relationship, especially early on, is the contrast between how much they care about each other and how little they really understand each other. From their first meeting, their relationship begins with a complete lack of understanding.

All through Bake, Hanekawa is talked up extremely highly by Koyomi. In his eyes, she's the one who knows everything, the one who is always right. Her own catchphrase might be "I just know what I know," but this is in response to Araragi complimenting her about knowing everything. He rarely thinks that she can possibly be wrong - which makes it almost funny in retrospect to realize that he holds this opinion of her despite the fact that one of the first inferences he every sees her make is massively misreading his own issues.

In Kizu, spurred by the day's sense of melancholy and the sudden absurdity of Hanekawa's skirt situation, Koyomi briefly opens up and is emotionally honest with Hanekawa. (Given that we as readers learn most about him from internal narration, this is bigger than it seems: this is one of the moments when he shares the most about himself out loud to others in the whole series.) It's not his whole deal, not by a long shot, but he gets across the basics: his strained concept of the value of friendship and human connections, his sense of nihilism, and his desire not to have to live as a human: "I want to become a plant," he tells her, "so that I wouldn't have to talk or walk." Honestly I'm not sure what a good response is to someone you are only now having a first conversation with telling you all about his depression, but Hanekawa chooses to reject it. She tells him that normally people would dream of becoming something like a rock, but in his case, since plants are a form of life, "You still want to be a living thing." Subtextually: "You don't really want to kill yourself. You aren't suicidal." To this, Koyomi basically thinks, Huh, never thought about it like that. Maybe you're right. and moves on.

….20 pages later, Koyomi chooses to kill himself for Kiss-Shot's sake, stating, "There isn't a single reason for me to bother staying alive." Kizumonogatari is in large part about Araragi's suicidal depression. Hanekawa, I love you, but you misjudged this one.

Even at this early stage of their relationship, Hanekawa thinks highly of Koyomi, much more than he deserves. As such, when confronted with something she considers a weakness, like his supremely low self-worth, she tries to justify why this isn't actually a trait he has.

Much later, by the time of Neko White, she's gotten a better chance to get to know him and become familiar with his him as a person, including his flaws, enough that she and Senjougahara can list them for hours. But that doesn't necessarily mean she understands him or his motivations - because she cares for him so much, she ends up idealizing his bad traits and his personal weaknesses into charm points and strengths. She says at the book's start that she admires him because of his confidence in his own identity, describing him as a person who doesn't hesitate over questions of who he is as a person or what he should be and do moving forward and comparing herself unfavorably to her own lack of sense of identity.

Readers, having read his narration in Kizu and Neko Black know this is far from true; that he spends a huge amount of page count trying to reflect on where he stands in life. The climaxes of both those books are great examples. In Kizu, Koyomi has a huge internal crisis after seeing the death of Guillotine Cutter. He tells Hanekawa that he is unsure if he is human or monster, worrying even that he'll eat her. He is unsure if he is going to oppose Kiss-Shot or not. And on top of that, his own guilt is eating him alive, causing him to question the worth of all his actions in the book so far. There's no way that this can be called a man sure of who he is, and it is Tsubasa herself who snaps him out of it. He relies on her presence as a guide to move forward. She has first hand experience seeing him experience deep uncertainty as to what kind of person he wants to be, but her narration in Neko White claims the opposite - that his consistency and surety is a trait she admires. A similar kind of struggle happens in Neko Black's ending, though given her own stresses and struggles at the time its very understandable that she didn't catch this one. Time after time Tsubasa is the one to see Koyomi's doubts and greatest moments of weakness, but rather than harm her view of Araragi, if anything it seems to have raised her opinion of him. In her Neko White letter, she admires what she calls "confronting his own weaknesses." She talks about falling in love with him when she saw that he was crying as he saved Kiss-Shot, comparing it negatively to how she showed no emotion and smiles through both suffering and aid. She basically says this outright in the letter: to her, all of Araragi's flaws becomes positive. Moments of self-doubt become moments of self honesty, to cry while acting is to remain true to oneself, and so forth.

Not that Koyomi is a genius at understanding her, either. While he admires her, for most of Kizu a lot of whats going on between them is going on in his head - he's projecting his own issues onto her and he deals with her more as what she represents to him than an equal friend, as he will come to treat her later in Bake and beyond. Neko Black, taking place between these two points, shows him in the middle of this transition.

I feel like there's less to say on his side though, just because Neko Black is much more explicit about Koyomi's failure to understand Tsubasa than Kizu is for the reverse. When she feels obligated by friendship to tell Araragi about her struggles with her family, in a reversal of their first conversation from the start of Kizu, he has this to say about it:

Despite having been friends for a month by then he realizes he has still been seeing her more as an ideal than a person. However, his reaction here, in contrast to when the situation was flipped, also illustrates that his way of misunderstanding is subtly different from the way Hanekawa misunderstands him. Rather than a direct dismissal, Koyomi, while originally ignorant, does come around to understanding What Tsubasa will do. However, he does this while blocking out any understanding of Why she would act like this. He can grasp the actions and emotions, but not the underlying causes.

As an example, near the end of Neko Black, after Koyomi has had some time to internalize his new understanding of Hanekawa, he is able to predict her words to her father before Meme tells him, then later develops a plan to deal with the Cat based around predicting her actions well in advance, first luring her out and then baiting her into attacking him. However, despite all this, he seems to have no knowledge, or perhaps is intentionally blocking out, the motivations behind her actions. Theres a reason she calls him "the worst" when he offers to give his time and energy to deal with her stress. (And much like when he healed her injury earlier, this is him dealing with symptoms rather than the true problem.) Because he's totally misjudging what she actually wants.

A similar pattern can be seen in the Cat chapter of Bake, when he first sees the cat. He realizes this means she's stressed, and can guess at how this will make her act and that things might get dangerous, but has no idea what set her off this time, not until the Cat tells him outright why things got to this point.

Koyomi views Hanekawa so highly, almost like she is incapable of making mistakes, despite having personal experience from the get go that she is very capable of making mistakes and that sometimes her inferences are wrong, and that she is often wrong about him, specifically. Hanekawa is wrong about Koyomi because she does the same thing, and views him so highly that she dismisses and glosses over his faults that she has seen personally. Together, they both consistently fail to understand each other because they place the other on a pedestal without meaning to. And yet, the book is clear that despite this gap in understanding, the friendship is no less for it. The care between the two is real, as is the effort they take in each other's lives.

[thatdamndonnareed]

One of the things I love the most about Tim Bradford & Lucy Chen is that they are just  simply a good example of what a healthy relationship should be and look like. And once they are fully out in the open, their relationship is going to FLOURISH.

They communicate honestly and openly with one another. They know what the other needs without having to be asked directly. Tim is always willing to step in if needed, but knows and trusts when Lucy says she has something handled. And Lucy knows when to step in when Tim is struggling from his emotional trauma in a way that doesn't bring attention to it, and with no expectation of any acknowledgement in return. Tim is constantly impressed and surprised by Lucy. You can just feel his pure happiness that he's finally got his person, his missing puzzle piece, and vice versa for Lucy.

One of the little details that I loved from this episode was Lucy showing Tim how to use the new coffee maker (he's of course totally impressed but can't show it fully), and then she gives him the mug of coffee she just made with no fanfare or fuss, like "it's okay, babe, I got you." It was such a small gesture, but filled with so much love. And I just *swoon.* 

They love one another completely, flaws and all. They truly know each other "so well." 

And, while I would have loved Tim to have swooped in like a knight in shining armor when Lucy got herself into that harrowing domestic call, I'm ultimately glad he didn't. Because Lucy has proven time and again that she saves herself and she doesn't need Tim to do that for her, which is again so healthy for the two of them. 

I just love these two ding dongs and how well they compliment each other. I know you need conflict for drama or whatever for a television show, but I'm perfectly content with watching these two just gush over the other and be so totally happy and at ease forever. It's all I need, and they warm my little heart up so much. That might make for boring tv, but I don't even care, give me domestic bliss Chenford for a million more seasons. 

Again, they are both such a goddamn delight, and brighten up my weeks. And I just love love love this show so much. 

[dorosen]

you are the only correct portrayal of rufuss on the internet. need more toxic horse yaoi where rufioh isnt the toxic one (why would you do this)

That's a pretty big compliment, thx! Yeah what I love about them is how bad they are as partners. Rufioh has his obvious flaws, but wanting to leave a relationship with someone he's fallen out of love with isn't one of them. Horuss is also flawed, one of the more notable traits being his selfishness and how that affects his relationship. Horuss continues to elongate something that should've ended sweeps ago, and Rufioh's feeble attempts at ending things is a great recipe for a (admittedly tame) disastrous matespritship. It seems like communication is an entirely foreign concept to them, and Horuss' new behavioral change (thanks to his moirail who he's not even truly pale for) just makes it worse. Rufioh avoids conflict and confrontation like the plague, and Horuss pretends everything is just peachy. It's great, honestly.

To sum up how crappy Horuss is at romance (quoted from a blog whose url I can't remember please forgive me): "Horuss is so "rarely able to maintain close relationships so any time he manages to bond with someone he gets overly attached to the point where the stability of his mental state is dependent on that relationship" coded. This ties in nicely with his very explicit "lacks a sense of identity (largely due to issues relating to his also-very-blatant dissociative disorder but that's a topic for another post) so he obsesses over his relationships with other people to make himself feel more 'complete' without actually making any effort into those relationships beyond a performative surface level" storyline"

Rufioh, on the other hand, is a good example of what a manchild is. He takes no responsibility for his actions and is actively terrible to the people closest to him behind their backs (in a very bland, douchebag-ey way). He's obviously very flippant, and his methods of keeping things peaceful without rocking the boat aren't always a good thing. He literally just rolls over on his back and lets shit happen because he refuses to put his foot down (interestingly enough both guys have an issue with acknowledging things. Surely this isn't bad for the relationship...)

So yeah, together, they're pretty awful lmfao, but nothing is ever black and white. Neither of them are innocent in this, and they're both to blame, but that's why I enjoy it so much.

But then again, all the dancestors are bad people and they're only friends with each other because no one else likes them (they don't even like each other), so even if Rufioh and Horuss broke up and sought out another romantic partner within their friend group, I doubt it'd turn out well I'm still going to ship rufuss and croruss though idc

[actuallysaiyan]

Kinktober Day 30: Mixophilia(I Was Born To Love You)

warnings/kinks: mentions of body dysmorphia, mixophilia, unprotected sex, cervix mention, tooth rotting fluff pairings: V x Fem!Reader word count: 1k tag list: @beneathstarryskies, @ricflairdrip20, @witchofcustom, @loki-love, @xailem, @the-eternal-sunflower

When you look in the mirror, you find yourself picking and prodding at every single flaw you could see. You hate the way your belly looks, or maybe your arms just look so flabby today. It hurt you so deep inside, and you knew you had such a hard time looking into the mirror and finding just one good thing about yourself. And he started noticing so early on in your relationship, so he knew he had to figure out something to make you feel comfortable.

It starts with simple things, like him complimenting you and doing his best to point out the beauty he sees in you every time you’re in front of the mirror. Then he begins to coax you to take off your clothes after a long day at work, and V will sit there with you and compliment all the little parts of you that he loves so much. And for him, that means absolutely everything about you. Where you see flaws and imperfections, he sees such beauty and resilience within you. He sees intelligence, kindness and warmth. The parts of your body you try to hide, he wants to show off to the whole world. You are the apple of his eye, his everything. 

One night, he suggests something new to you. He wants to have sex with the mirror where you can watch yourselves. He wants to take some pictures too, but he promises they are for his eyes only. It makes you feel so intimidated, but you know that V would never do anything to make you completely uncomfortable. He does like to push your boundaries a little when you consent to it. He only wants to help you overcome some of those anxieties.

“If you want me to stop,” he says between heated kisses, “you know the safeword. That’s all you need to say.”

You tell him you understand, but you also coax him to continue with his plans. Your mind is going wild with lust as you finally let the reality of his fantasies settle in. V pushes you back onto the mattress, and he begins undressing you. With the mirror propped up next to the bed, it becomes exciting to know you’re about to watch yourself do something so beautiful with the man you love.

“You’re so beautiful,” he breathes as he leans in to kiss your lips. His hands are busy taking off your clothes.

You blush at his words, but you know better than to argue with him. “Thank you, V. You’re beautiful too.”

He pulls you in for a deeper kiss, and you both let yourselves melt into this kiss. Out of the corner of your eye, you can watch yourself in the mirror. You have to admit it’s a lot sexier than you thought it would be. Your body curls up into his so sensually. It’s almost like the two of you were made for each other. V’s hands cup your cheeks as he pulls away from the kiss, and he looks at you in the mirror as well.

“That’s my pretty angel,” he sighs softly. Your heart skips a beat at his tender words.

He’s always been so flowery and tender with his words, and this is what ultimately led you to falling head over heels for him. It didn’t matter about his complicated situation, all that mattered was how good he would make you feel. And you knew you never wanted to let him go.

The more you make out, the more you’re getting more aroused. V takes his time undressing the both of you, and he spends many precious moments complimenting you and making you feel so loved. When he’s finally ready to fuck you, you’re so stimulated and wet just for him. It’s incredibly exhilarating for him to feel so needed at this moment.

You’re both panting as he slips his hard cock into your warm slit. It takes a few moments for you to adjust to his length. V takes it nice and slow, but he’s quick to get your attention to the mirror. You watch as he pulls out almost completely, leaving only the head of his cock nestled into the entrance of your hole. You whine for him, but he directs you to keep your eyes on the mirror.

“I want my beautiful girl to see herself the way I see her,”

V slips into you once more, making you cry out when the head of his cock kisses your cervix. He’s so deep inside of you now, and he pulls you in for a sweet kiss. He can feel your walls wildly fluttering around him as he stays still. He knows you need a little time to adjust to his length, and it drives him wild to have your sweet juices drip down his shaft and onto his heavy balls. Something about being able to admire you through the mirror too makes him excited.

“So fucking gorgeous,” he whines as he begins a slow pace. 

You cling to him, “I love you so much,”

V thrusts into you a little faster now, and every thrust is so deep within you. The sounds coming from him are just angelic as you can tell he’s feeling so full of love and lust right now. You both begin to watch yourselves in the mirror once again, and you can feel yourself getting even more wet. V leans in to kiss you, and then his kisses trail down your neck.

“I wish you knew just how breathtaking I find you,” he murmurs against your skin.

“I know it, my love. I can feel it.”

This makes his heart race. He knows he is actually getting to you now with his words and his actions. You’re starting to blossom into someone who can finally accept their own flaws and find themselves so beautiful. And V is so happy about this. It’s all he’s ever wanted for you.

“I love you,” he moans. “Now, and forever.”

[deathmetalunicorn1]

Hello, i don't know if request are open or not, and i'm Sorry to bother you, but May i request an headcanon for (it's kinda personal and touches very sensible topic) Jack the ripper,Tesla and Buddha comforting/reassuring a very insecure s/o that struggle with heavy body-imagine issues? Maybe even gets bullied,

Btw i really love and appreaciet your work it's beautiful and you're a great writer ❤️

-You couldn’t help but frown, giving a small twirl in the floor length mirror in your room, a new sundress of F/C hugging your figure. It flowed beautifully when you twirled, but you could only see your flaws, how it hugged certain points of your body, your hips and tummy, just a bit too snuggly. You frowned, turning to look at yourself from every angle, trying to see if your flaws were still visible if you changed views or poses. You felt tears starting to sting your eyes as your throat started to tighten, making it hard to swallow as you remembered when you were out shopping earlier, wanting a new dress for your date this afternoon. There were some other girls in the same shop and you did your best to ignore their giggling and pointed, their cruel glances and whispers, but now, standing in front of your mirror, you couldn’t help but want to call and cancel your date.

-You had no time however, as your boyfriend walked into your room, here to pick you up as the tears finally fell, completely visible in the mirror.

-Jack- He was frozen in the doorway, stunned stiff in seeing you in your new sundress, color rising to his cheeks, but then he saw your tears and instantly he saw into your soul and glared, seeing you were upset and angry. He crossed the room quickly, surprising you as you turned but his hand quickly came to you cheek while his other hand grabbed one of yours, “Y/N, what happened? Who do I need to-” your free hand came to his mouth, your fingertips against his lips, halting his rant as he was ready to set the world ablaze to see you smile again. You couldn’t look him in the eye, he watched your mouth open and close a few times, lips pursing as if it was hard to speak before you let out a small sigh, “No- don’t do- don’t do anything. I’ll be fine once I change out of this dress. Then we can go.” His eyes instantly hardened, keep ahold of your hand, his eyes serious but full of love, “I must insist that you keep it on. The radiance I saw when I took in your form when I first entered took my breath away!” he paused for only a moment before he pulled his hand to his mouth, as if pondering, “Or maybe we should stay in, I don’t want to share such beauty with others.” You couldn’t help but snort, a smile easily coming out and he grinned before he cupped your cheek, tilting your head up to peck your lips softly, taking your hand and led you out.

-Tesla- His jaw dropped before he instantly approached, holding his hands up as he looked at your from each angle, “Beautiful! Stunning! Exquisite!! A vision of unparalleled beauty!! But what’s this… tears do not suit someone so gorgeous!” he brushed your tears away, seeing the color rising in your cheeks from his compliments, but was more focused on your tears and bringing your smile back. You sniffled softly, trying to force out a smile, one he knew was forced, making his eyes harden slightly, seeing that you were trying to lie to him that you were okay when you obviously weren’t, “I-I’m okay Nikola. I’ll be ready in just a minute. I need to change.” His hands came to his hips, looking down at you with all the fondness in the world, “Nonsense my beautiful muse! You are as stunning as the day our eyes first met, even more so in such a stunning dress!” Your hands came to your belly subconsciously and he easily saw this, grabbing your hands in his, pulling them to his lips to peck at the back of your fingertips, “Do not hide your beauty from me, Y/N, this dress is beautiful, but your stunning body in the dress is what makes your beauty unparalleled. Now come, I must get this masterpiece before me back to the museum before I’m arrested for stealing the artwork!” your smile easily comes to your lips as he takes your hand, grabbing your purse on the way out and laces his fingers with your own, smiling down at your own smile, love in his eyes.

-Buddha- His eyes narrow almost instantly, coming over as you turn, hearing his voice, “What happened?” you wave your hands in front of you, nervously, trying to play off that you weren’t crying, “Nothing- it was nothing, I’m fine now!” his arms folded under his chest, glaring down at you over his glasses, his stunning eyes piercing into your own and you quickly deflated. One arm came to stroke the other in a fit of nervousness, looking away from him, “I’m- I was shopping early, for this-” holding the skirt out a bit, “-and there… there was some- some girls…” he heard your voice cracking, the words becoming strained as your throat tightened a bit. His eyes softened as more tears forced their way out and he approached, his arms wrapping around you, one hand cupping the back of your head, holding it to his chest as your hands rose to clutch at his tank top, trembles in your shoulders. He stroked your hair gently, soothing you quietly, anger in his eyes but he was more concerned about getting you calmed down. He had you pull away, his thumbs brushing your tears from your cheeks before he bent forward, capturing your lips in a slow, soft kiss, but it left you breathless by the time he pulled away. He grinned, seeing the color on your cheeks, before he spoke, “They’re not you, Y/N, you’re beautiful in your own special, unique way, a beautiful way that nobody else can ever even think about replicating. You’re beautiful, inside and out, but if you need me to prove it, I’m more than happy to~” he ended his statement with a wink, hinting at something else and he couldn’t help but laugh as your cheeks puffed up, shoving his chest playfully which got him laughing and you couldn’t help but smile before he hugged you again before you headed out to the bakery you had planned on going to, hand in hand.

[alfredosauce50]

I know this may sound like a silly question, but how come your headcanons of Allen and Alfred don't get along in most of your stories? I've read over your interpretations of them, and I can understand where their differences lie. However, I have also seen a lot of places where their personalities can actually compliment each other quite nicely. [For example: Both are very loyal individuals, Alfreds a complete goof, and Allen could be a stand-up comedian if he really wanted to, etc]

(Sorry for the long ask. I'm borderline obsessed with your headcanons of these characters 😭😭.)

(Also, if you're busy w/ university n' stuff, pls dont feel the need to answer right away (`･ω･)ゞ✨️)

It comes down to circumstances. The thing with headcanons is that they’re just isolated descriptors, but in a story, a lot of other factors come into play. They’re more than likely to end up in very different places in the world and have clashing motivations.

In Avatar, Alfred was a human being and Allen was a Na’Vi. In The Place Beyond the Pines, Allen was the father of your child, and Alfred was your boyfriend. In What makes me human, Allen was living a cushy life as a suit and yakuza member, Alfred was a terrorist that wanted to destroy any and all semblance of that.

You can understand why they would naturally hate each other in those situations. But towards the end, they usually set their differences aside for a common cause that’s more important than the both of them. So unless they were in an agreeable setting that let them complement each other, they wouldn’t.

My headcanons are also a lot tamer because they’re for a broader audience. These two have a lot of traits that would pit them against each other that go unmentioned in them, but show up in stories.

TLDR: Allen and Alfred may have some similarities, but environment is very important in influencing their relationship with each other. But they’re also very emotional beings with flaws and demons. Maybe they have stigma toward each other, or are jealous of each other for doing something better.

[libras-interactives]

DO YOU HAVE ANY TRIO (marius, jack, and mc) MOMENTS YOU CAN GIVE??? DRABBLES, THOUGHTS, OR ANYTHING?? IM SORRYY I JUST I LOVE THEIR DYNAMIC SM

if its not any trouble ofc 👀

I had some thoughts!! Some miiinor maybe kinda spoilers? Some may be mentioned in the story, some may not. So i'll put a cut just in case LOL.

Gunner!MC taught Marius how to hold a gun properly. It's kind of ridiculous how he went this long without knowing, but from the jump it's obvious the young man didn't lead a normal life before coming across Flynn. He just ... appeared one day, and no one really knew where he came from, though apparently he was related to Flynn's coveted Eva Beau. That kept most people away from him, but Musician!MC had no such reservations. Marius would've approached them first, complimenting their music with his usual charm, totally out of place at the Duchess with his shabby clothes and just-off-the-boat broken English.

Accountant!MC would've helped him get situated in Chicago best, explaining the places to shop and the currency. Distiller!MC even had him help around the distillery and storage, and quickly learned Marius was something of a vagabond - and he liked it that way. He had no interest in the straight and narrow kind of life. Callgirl!MC couldn't blame him, and the two bonded over similar taste in men and cons and fashion. Regardless of the MC's thoughts on him initially, Marius attached himself, and went from a fairweather friend to dutifully loyal within half a year. Partners-in-crime seemed to be something he was used to having back in France and England, and he was eager to reform that kind of bond. It's hard to see him as some hardened criminal, though, with that dashing smile and carefree personality ... maybe that's why he got away with so much and kept pushing the envelope.

Marius met with Jack before MC did. In spite of his odd looks and size, Jack kept himself shadowed and small. He was fearful at anyone approaching, and preferred to work alone, which was tricky - his face was too distinct to be out in public, he did not want to be found by certain individuals. Flynn was the only way to hide, and Jack was used to answering to a frightening authority. He wasn't used to a friend, and Marius' attempts were frightening for a while.

Eventually Marius dragged Jack along on his own jobs, and he was (mostly willingly) included in with Marius' friendship with MC. A femme!MC would be a bit more intimidating - he's still a young man with limited to no experience with 'womenfolk'. A Gunner!MC is especially scary at first, until he realizes they won't actually hurt him... and they know to best weaponize Jack's own 'scary' side. A Callgirl!MC quit teasing him early on, realizing how uncomfortable it made him, and got him to lower his guard the fastest. She often thinks that she reminds Jack of someone else, because he's slipped up and nearly called her by a different name a few times. The Musician!MC gets him to open up and actually sing along to a song - only if it's just the three of them, of course - and puts him at ease like Marius. An Accountant!MC can be something of an older sibling or even parent, fussing about his clothes and eating habits and overall ignorance of the world, not just the big city (how are these two alive? Seriously.) Distiller!MC and Jack, meanwhile, often share amiable silence as they observe crowds or work alongside each other. They both know when to reel Marius in and when to let him be.

Marius and Jack's friendship felt much more complete when MC joined, like a missing piece slotting into place. Their temperments suit each other well, and they know most of each other's flaws ... and most of each other's stories. Some things have been unsaid, or unasked, and that's alright for now.

Flynn cares little about the trio, other than they can get their assigned jobs done - he places little stock in Marius and Jack individually, and knows they'll fall in line behind the MC. He's not worried, but a certain other trio are thinking Marius, Jack and MC hold more loyalty to each other than their employer ...

[vedicastrology-thestarsguideyou]

Hiiii !!! I am new to Vedic astrology but I'm obsessively getting deep into it and finding your blog has been a blessing 🩷 ^^

I've read a little about how nodal synastry is the best avoided but I really want to know from your opinion (you really give articulate insights in your posts)

what do you think about Mars (F) - ketu(M) conjunction (syn) in 3rd house? Should I run ? lol

Hiii 🙂❤️

Thank you for the compliment ☺️🌻

Nodal synastry is very karmic. Thus very important for completing karma and also thus can be very challenging for the individuals involved.

If you believe in past lives.

Then this nodal synastry indicates also our past relationships with the current personality of the individual.

Imagine having a Venus ketu synastry. Meaning the person might have been your life partner , guru , teacher , lover etc.

Now imagine you both in past loved each other deeply ,or lost each other, quarelled , fought over issues , deeply hurt or betrayed each other which could not be resolved in those past lives.

Now these issues / blessings both will be deeply karmic and brought into focus in this life for both of you to learn ,love or balance or to let go.

🌸The people closest to our hearts teach us the most beautiful & the most heart wrenching results . So these nodal contacts do reflect such relations. 🌸

Some support subconsciously , some visibly. Some hinder us , can be toxic , challenging , some push us to grow.

I have in my life , certain imp people whom I have deep nodal contacts in D1 , D9. Both.

My sister's , sun Mercury mars conjunct my ketu. One person I really love with all my heart , has rahu ketu synastry both in D1 , D9 chart. This relationship has been such a in depth lesson & a blessing of soul mate type relationship.

☘️ They bring out your inner latent talents , blessings , flaws , shortcomings but more importantly a fuller , more integrated whole self. 💞

Thus a mature perception and loving and lot of forgiveness & letting go is required & laughing. Laughing a lot at ourselves , and the drama of life we live 😋🫂🙃🌸

Mars ketu synastry indicates the person & you might have been a brother , sibling , soldier friend etc . The issues regarding courage , arguments, assertiveness , decisions, competitiveness might have been resolved. :)))

Try to give your mars energy a healthy outlet outside the relationship too :).

This will help both of you too.

It can be a bit challenging in the sense Men feel more fulfilled when giving & women when receiving.

In this relationship it might be a bit opposite in this connection.

But there's so much in whole chart. So can balance it out tooo 💕😉🌻😋☘️ ..

[smol-grey-tea]

Secret Ending Three - Chapter Seven: The Healthiest Option

Again, I dunk the mop into the bucket, then wipe the wooden floor left to right, left to right. The water splashes my shoes. I just bought those... Left and right, up and down, back and forth. And dunk again. Mopping the floor: the most boring job in the world.

This morning is very quiet. There's only two customers in right now, a couple of girls. I watch with jealousy that kid, Zion, another cherry boy, tending to their table. It's not at all interesting to put any thought into the mopping of a floor that's already clean, so I let auto pilot take control of the chore while I lend an ear to the conversation at the back of the room.

"Oh go on, pleeease?" "Ah, but Mr Hobin will get mad-" "It doesn't have to be long!! We'll tip double for it!!" "I... Alright."

What's he doing? I watch the cherry boy walk past me and towards the furthest corner of the cafe, in the area lit with dainty chandeliers and decorated with quaint bookshelves. The girls watch on with huge eyes, already seeming to record the event. He steps up onto a small stage, taking a seat at the harp...

When he sits down, he's still for a moment, his eyes closed, and he breathes in and out. In an instant, his hands meet the harp's strings and begin to pluck. The elegant sound of it fills the room and it's as if everything stills but the stage and the song. I put down the mop before I can even notice, and it's all that seems to exist in this moment.

It's a slow and calm melody that captures the feel of the cafe entirely. Had he composed it himself? I never knew that he could play. As the piece continues, I hear in it exactly what it lacks. It's already gorgeous on it's own, of course, but it just makes sense in my head in a way that I can't explain... I hear in my head what I would add to the song on the piano, I see the colours and textures of the sounds come to life in front of me, the dull pinks and purples interacting with each other and dancing through the melody. It's beautiful...

"It's not much, but that's something I've been working on. Thank you for letting me play for you," Zion bowed and the girls cheered, shouting praises. He was wrapping up to get back to work but I approached him.

"I have to compliment you, cherry boy, I didn't know you could play. I thought these were just for decoration." "Hm? You didn't know?" he said, raising a brow. "You've seen me play before, at least twice now." Had I? I wish the world would stick to just one story instead of combining all of them.

"Ahaha, calm down, Zion. Yuri's just teasing." In walks Tei, of course. Never a moment of peace. "But it was quite beautiful, I agree. Better than last time, even." This jerk.

"Hmph. I suppose anyone can see that the little lamb is talented. Not that you know anything about the beauty of music though." His grades spoke for themselves in that regard, I know. But he gives a strange smile at that. "Oh, I don't know anything about music now, do I?" "Hm?"

Tei steps up onto the stage and sits at the grand piano. When his fingers hit the keys, insanity hits my ears. He begins to clumsily but skillfully play a soft and gentle melody. But the insanity is not in the sound itself...

I sit down on his left and pick up the notes he's struggling with, completing the song perfectly. His brows are furrowed in concentration, lips pressed together, eyes trained on his fingers.

He pauses. "Ah... What part goes next..?" he hums, brows creasing even further in contemplation. It can't hurt: I guide his fingers to the right keys and begin for him, while he continues with a relieved smile.

There are definitely flaws in his work, but I can see the passion and dedication exploding forth from his fingertips, a love letter to the craft. He plays slower towards the end of the piece like he's struggling to remember how to play it, but above the notes I can just about hear him humming to himself, so it seems he has it memorised at least in his head, if not in his hands.

It takes me until the piece has finished to even notice that the girls are still recording us on their phones. I don't blame them though, I would too.

"Hmm, that's all I can remember how to do right now. Maybe I should practise it more," Tei smiles, cracking his knuckles and prodding at the keys. "How do you know that piece?" "Hm?" "It's mine. I wrote it. I haven't shared it with anyone yet. How could you know about that? Have you been eavesdropping while I was playing, pervert?" "No, Yuri, I'm not like you. You taught me to play it for Eri."

"I taught you..?" That's insane. How delusional is this guy to think that I'd believe I would go out of my way so far as to teach him to play, let alone such a complicated and personal piece?

"There's no way that would happen. You obviously just taught yourself," I say, although I do have to give him the benefit of the doubt that only my teaching could see results that good. "You probably don't even know the piece's name, do you?" I asked, a trick question. At least in my recollection, I haven't actually settled on a name for the piece yet and am between two titles.

"I'm pretty sure you titled it To You, Confession," he said plainly, standing up... Those were the two titles I was stuck between, I have to give him that... Maybe I did teach him to play it afterall. I can't comprehend why though. Nevermind. I'll just have to add it to the long long list of the many things I know I'll never understand.

I delight at the twinkle of the doorbell, anticipating the next beautiful customer. It's to my disappointment though that the new arrival is not a lovely lady, but just Mr Hobin.

He's holding a box when he motions for me to come over. "Here," he says, pushing it into my hands. The box is big and the word 'fragile' is plastered all over it, so I take care holding it. "I just bought these, brand new. Can you put them away in the kitchen for me?"

"Of course," I bow, and head into the kitchen, probably my least favourite place in the cafe. I can't tell whether the strong tea smell is pleasant or not, here in this cramped space so thick it's suffocating. Not to mention the mess of empty tea leaf boxes on the floor and the pile of teacups in the sink.

Leisurely, I place the box down on the counter and tear it open with the nearest knife. Inside, each individual item wrapped in it's own casing of bubble wrap, twenty five charming cups sit, sparkling clean. Decorated with little dandelions, the cups are all a baby pink with petite handles, perfectly matching the rest of the quaint decor of the cafe.

They're incredibly nice to look at, I cannot stress that enough. Truly, they remind me of before we came to life, when my honey would have tea parties with us, using the tiniest cups I'd ever seen, even at that height.

But emptying the box of these cups and peeling away the bubble wrap only fills me with dread. Ugh.

I open the cupboard and am reminded that all of the other cups are in the sink, so I have no frame of reference but my own memory. Did those boys do this on purpose just to see me suffer? Oh well, I'll just have to get it right.

On the bottom shelf, I place the cups in, one cup inside of the other, their handles facing opposite directions. On the left of the cupboard, the bottom handles point to the right, while the handles on the right point towards the back. The second shelf displays cups that are on their own, sitting right up against each other with their handles all facing outwards, and for the top shelf, I only place the cups on the left or the right, heavily avoiding the middle.

After finally getting each and every one of them in, I scrutinised the placements, pushed and prodded and tapped at some adjustments, making sure the middle row is even, all lined right up against the back, until it looked like how I remembered it. So annoying...but I'm sure that's how it's supposed to look. I just may have broken a sweat trying to get it right.

"Oh-" says a voice from behind. That perv again. Does he get off on surprising me? "I did it," I sigh. "Um." He looks at the cupboard and furrows his brows again, eyes searching for mistakes. They only furrow further the more he looks. Damn it!!

"Oh, I swear to God, if that's wrong-" "... Are you mocking me?" "Huh? No! What did I do wrong?? That's right, isn't it?? It's not like you gave me a step-by-step guide! I swear, if you make me do all that again without telling me how, I may as well just quit."

Tei stands at the cupboard and just looks at each cup in detail. I can see him counting in his head as he goes along. But he moves not a single one.

"Why have you done this?" he asks and I can't understand what expression he's giving me, but I assume he looks angry. "I tried," I huffed, rolling my eyes. "Don't say I didn't try!" "Tried to do what?" "To put everything where you want it to be put! You're such a pervert, you have to have things put in places in this one particular way, and if you don't, you have this big meltdown! Don't go and cry or pull your hair out just because I got the order wrong!"

Really, teacup arrangement isn't that big of a deal. But there's no possible way I can forget the time that he and I were alone for a full day here and he tore the place apart just stressing about the order the kitchen had to be organised in. I thought it might get better when my honey and her friends came to visit, but behind the scenes, it only made him worry more. Her order was late by at least fifteen minutes just because he thought her teacup wasn't clean enough. He refused to listen to me until it was perfect, but anyone else could see that he was scrubbing the paint job right off the ceramics.

It wasn't that busy of a day, so it wasn't too difficult to deal with the customers on my own, but I seriously have to wonder how the hell a person can be so two-faced. And why the hell did God have to curse me with seeing this guy's true self? Why the hell do I have to be the only one who can see through him? The only one who can see the way his teeth grit and his clenched fists shake when Zion or Mr Hobin will place something down in the kitchen in the wrong place, or not wash everything up so it was sparklingly spotless? What a strange guy...

"I never told you to do that," he states plainly and just looks at me with that piercing stare. "Oh, I'm sorry, your highness," I exaggerate, "has the filth on my unworthy fingers ruined them all? Shall we just throw them all away at this point?"

"Stop it," he sighed, a great big, tired breath of air. "You didn't do it wrong." "... Did I not?" "No, you put everything in the right place. But why?"

At last, I think I understand what emotion his face is displaying. It's confusion.

"Why? What do you mean, why? That's the way you insist it to be done." "How do you know that?" "You told me about it already. In my own world. So I just started doing it too, or else you get all irritated and jittery. Don't ask me why, you always said something about the owner being in danger. I didn't really get what the teacups had to do with my honey when she's not even here, but I just know that's the way you need it done."

"... So that's how you did it too?" "... Yes? Am I not supposed to? Are you the only one who's allowed to do it? Ugh, shall I just change it-?" "N-no! Don't," he shouted, stopping my hand from reaching the cupboard door. "No. Don't change it. It's perfect the way it is. Just don't touch them until you need to use them..." "Then what's the problem? Why are you looking at me like that?" "..."

He just sighs and glances between me and the cups. Then he looks down. "... I need to wash my hands." "Yeah, I thought you'd say that." He shoots me a glare when I say that, but I just roll my eyes. I've accepted that I'll never understand this guy.

After he's thoroughly massaged into his hands way too much hand sanitiser, he turns back to me, refusing to meet my gaze. "I thought I'd have to do it all myself." "You did complain about that a lot, how stressful it was to have to keep doing it and keeping it a secret at the same time," I shrug.

He looks up at me suddenly, like realising something at once. "You haven't told anyone about this, have you??" "No," I say simply, shaking my head. "You know people wouldn't believe me if I said that plates in the wrong order make you think that the owner will die." "... Yeah," he says absently, staring at nothing. It's a bit awkward now...

Tei opens his mouth to speak, but no words come out and he looks down at his feet. His hair falls over his face, and it's the most absurd thing to happen all day, but is Tei...blushing? His cheeks are the colour of the teacups.

"Well anyway, I should go and see if the customers need anything..." he says and quickly makes his way out. But he stops in the doorway, and he says, without turning to face me, "and um, well... Thanks."

[callsign-bunnie]

I will do ANYTHING for more of the mimic series!!! I love your writing so much 💕

I think this is part 6!

--

“She’s going to be glad to see you.” Alejandro informed Rodolfo, sitting in a chair in his quarters. “I accused her of killing you.”

Rodolfo was looking over that journal thing he had on the bed. God, he was beautiful. Alejandro had already memorized the lines on his face again. The new and the old. He kept tracing his eyes over them. Rodolfo looked up from the journal, frowning. “Why would she kill me?”

“To get to me.” Alejandro shrugged. “I was convinced she had…” He remembered being so convinced that he’d torn through the cartel looking for Rodolfo. It’d certainly shrank them. Every member got taken in for questioning. Maybe a few of them went missing afterwards. Alejandro had arrested so many, he couldn’t truly keep track of them. What did anyone expect?

He didn’t feel bad, either. Progress had finally been made. Even if they didn’t have Rodolfo, who cares? Valeria would have done the same to him.

They had a strange relationship, he knew. She would offer to help him find Rodolfo, but… they’d destroy each other at the earliest convenience. Happily, too. Even when they’d been together for the very brief time… One arm around each other, the other holding a gun to their heads. Rodolfo had called them toxic and Alejandro had to suppose that was true. Valeria was a scorpion, striking hard the moment she even felt slightly threatened.

She’d called Alejandro a snake a few times. Maybe she was right. Always coiled, ready to attack. She had not meant this as a compliment and Alejandro had not taken it as one. 

Rodolfo had been different… Alejandro and Rodolfo had certainly had their fair share of arguments, of course. Alejandro wasn’t sure if he could ever have a truly healthy relationship with anyone but rather than feeling the need to constantly be on the defense with Rodolfo, it was more saying the wrong thing and feeling bad for it which would make him defensive. 

Alejandro was working on that, he really was. Rodolfo didn’t deserve that. But… Alejandro could acknowledge Rodolfo’s flaws, too. Well, not flaws. More just… things.

Rodolfo would bottle everything up until it was exploding out of him. He’d have an issue and blow up at a completely different issue because he felt like he couldn’t be upset at the real issue. Sometimes, he and Alejandro would have an argument and Alejandro wouldn’t see Rodolfo for days afterwards, despite the fact they spent most of their life in the same base.

That wasn’t healthy, which had been self acknowledged by Rodolfo. But, Alejandro couldn’t fault him for it, too much. He knew how Rodolfo had grown up… Alejandro had grown up knowing he was unwanted by his own parents. They said it, a lot. That had sucked.

But, Rodolfo had had to infer it. He’d never explicitly known. Which left him questioning every interaction. Growing up together… Rodolfo constantly needed reassurance that Alejandro really did want to be his friend and he wasn’t just pretending out of obligation. (As if Alejandro had that particular skill, though he wished he could.)

Alejandro was constantly on the defense because of his own childhood, he supposed. His parents made lots of snide comments about him, what he did with his life. Alejandro never really learned how to take compliments as compliments and not hear that “this time” at the end. He was… working on that, too.

Sort of.

Rodolfo finally answered. “Yeah, I can see her doing that.” He sighed and looked over the journal. “I heard the cartel was shrinking through the rumor vine. I tried to keep up with Las Almas.”

There it was. The trigger for that pesky defensiveness. “But not me.” Alejandro hadn’t meant it to sound so bitter but… maybe it was. Rodolfo had been alive for a year and he just let Alejandro assume he was dead. 

Rodolfo winced. “I was worried if I made contact, it would go back.”

Alejandro didn’t believe that at all. “Did it ever go after your partner?” Alejandro winced, able to hear how jealous that one came out.

“Alejandro…” Rodolfo looked down at the journal, staring at it and then he sighed and looked up. “No. It didn’t.” He looked exhausted.

Alejandro wanted to stop himself. To say sorry and let the issue drop. But, he’d never been good at that. “But it would have came after me?”

“It’s obsessed with you, so yes. Likely.” Rodolfo nodded and turned his eyes to Alejandro’s face. “I didn’t want to take the risk.”

That’s a good point. Just let it drop and move on. “I thought you were dead. How long were you planning to stay away?” Goddamnit.

Rodolfo’s shoulders dropped. “I don’t know…” He looked away. “A while, I guess.”

“You only came back because it did.” It wasn’t bitter this time. Alejandro was voicing a realization, not an accusation. But it cut deep. Rodolfo hadn’t come back by choice, he’d simply followed the thing back.

Rodolfo watched Alejandro before shaking his head. “I needed to kill the thing. I wanted to stay away until I did. I didn’t expect it to take an entire year.”

“One message, Rudy. Why didn’t I deserve that?? One indication that you were alive, what you were doing!” Alejandro exclaimed.

Rodolfo just… exploded. “Because you would have taken over! It wouldn’t be me trying to find the damn thing and kill it, it would be Alejandro Vargas setting out to murder the damn thing and his best friend just so happens to tag along! As it has been my entire fucking life!”

“Oh, that’s bullshit!” Alejandro snarled, crossing the room before he could stop himself. “I would have let you take the lead!”

“Yeah fucking right!” Rodolfo got off the bed, putting it between them. “All I have ever been to you is your sidekick! You’re fucking Batman and I’m Robin, or sometimes Alfred. Sometimes Selena.” Alejandro was shocked Rodolfo knew enough about Batman to even make those references. Rodolfo had never shown any interest in comic books. “I was whatever you fucking needed me to be! Just once I wanted to- I wanted to be the one to do something. I wanted to be Rodolfo Parra. Just Rodolfo Parra. Not second in command, not Alejandro Vargas’s best friend, not… and Rodolfo Parra. Just… Rodolfo. I had that opportunity, so I fucking took it! And it fucking sucked.” He dropped to sit on the bed, the anger draining out of him.

Alejandro stood there, frozen in surprise. He hadn’t expected Rodolfo to ever voice those feelings. He hadn’t realized that Rodolfo felt so… shoved to the side. “Rudy-”

“I expected to love being in the Sun. I’d been in your shadow for so long that I forgot what it felt like. I thought that it would be wonderful. I had forgotten that I stuck myself there.” Rodolfo had his back to Alejandro, staring at his hands. “It’s not fun being known. I forgot that.”

Alejandro softened. He could remember high school, when Alejandro had left for a year. Rodolfo had complained every day that people were talking to him, now. He’d hated it, apparently. When Alejandro had came back, Rodolfo had gladly moved back into the background.

“I still just… wanted something to be my own. I wouldn’t have minded doing it with you but… I knew you’d take over. It’s your nature. It’s why everyone admires you. Alexei… didn’t do that. We were partners.” Rodolfo finally looked back at Alejandro. 

Alejandro hesitated. He wished he could say Rodolfo wasn’t right but… Alejandro did tend to do that. It was less a “my way is always right” thing, though, and more that he’d rather be on the front in case they got hurt. He wouldn’t have wanted Rodolfo in danger.

“I’m not taking over, now.” Alejandro murmured and rounded the bed to him. “You can have full lead on this thing.” He decided not to add that it was mostly because that fucking thing scared the shit out of him. He sat by Rodolfo and took his hand. “You don’t need to be in my shadow, as well. None of Los Vaqueros saw you as just second in command.”

Rodolfo looked at their hands and then he disconnected them. “Please don’t. I can’t… play that game anymore. I don’t want half of you.”

Alejandro frowned, confused. “What game?”

Rodolfo looked at him, his expression exhausted. “This game where we dance around each other’s emotions and sleep with each other, but never call it love or a relationship.”

Alejandro cringed. He’d admit to that one. He just wasn’t sure how to handle his or their feelings. He wanted Rodolfo but he was scared of the consequences of breaking up. He was scared. There were worse things than breaking up. “I won’t give you half of me. If you’ll accept it, you can have all of me.”

Rodolfo frowned and stared at him for a moment before he looked away. “Let’s kill this thing, first. Then… we can discuss what we want from each other.”

“Rudy, I just want you.” Alejandro shook his head, knowing that if that happened, Rodolfo would take the opportunity to make up all of these horrible things Alejandro wanted. “I just want you. Whatever else you give me is up to you.”

Rodolfo flushed and looked at him before relaxing. He took Alejandro’s hand again. “I’ll give you all of me, then.” He murmured.

Alejandro relaxed. He knew they’d have to have a deeper discussion of their feelings after this was all over but… for now, he was fine with this. He was fine having it end with just them acknowledging that they wanted each other.

-

Valeria was missing from her storage crate. Rodolfo had been rather confused why she was in a storage crate, to begin with, and Alejandro had had to explain… well, everything. 

“Okay.” Graves sighed. “How the fuck did she get out?”

Rodolfo went to the lock of the crate, which was sitting on the floor. He picked it up and inspected it before sighing. “It got her.”

“Fuck!” Alejandro growled, kicking a rock nearby. “Of course it did. How fucking long has she been gone?”

“It’s been a week since we interrogated her, so I doubt longer than that.” Soap pointed out and Alejandro nodded, since he was right.

Rodolfo was staring at the lock, meaningfully. “It’s getting smarter.” He murmured. “It’s learning.”

“Why would it take the Drug Lord?” Graves asked, his hands on his hips as he stared at the crate. He was a funny little person. “How would it know she meant anything to Alejandro?”

Rodolfo shrugged. “There’s pictures of them, together.” He tapped his fingers on the lock. 

Alejandro took the lock from him, looking at the claw marks on it. He wasn’t even sure how it’d unlocked the damn thing. “Well, we have to get her back.”

Rodolfo snorted, though it was clear he agreed. “I need to make a phone call.” He sighed and got out a small phone.

Alejandro tried not to let that piss him off again, since that proved Rodolfo had had a way to contact him. With everyone around, it was a lot easier. “Are you calling Alexei?” He’d work on containing the jealousy later.

Rodolfo glanced at him, looking almost amused. “Yes.” He nodded and then walked away, making the phone call.

Alejandro sighed and turned back to Soap and Graves. Price and Ghost were still in the base with Gaz and Laswell, discussing some things. “We should check the cameras.” He gestured to a Vaquero with a tablet. “Alvarez, come.”

She jogged over, handing the tablet over when prompted. “I need a log of all the Vaqueros that have been on watch.” Alejandro stated. Someone wasn’t paying attention. 

Alvarez nodded. “Yes, commander.” She left, presumably to go pull the logs.

Alejandro put his sign in into the tablet, pulling up the cameras. There, he went into the logs and looked over them, going over each day. They’d captured her on a Tuesday, it was now the next Wednesday. 

It wasn’t until the day before that he saw it.

3 AM, the shadow crossed the camera. It had an odd gait. Alejandro glanced over as Soap and Graves moved closer to watch the cameras. Technically, he wasn’t supposed to let them do that. But… who gave a shit? He did move an inch away from Graves, though, earning an irritated glare. 

Alejandro turned on the sound and turned it all the way up, zooming in on the crate when the shadow reached it. A soft screeching noise came from the shadow and then Valeria’s voice could be heard responding with “Alejandro??”

More screeching. The shadow fucked with the lock and then it just popped off and fell. 

Valeria came out of the crate and before anything could happen, the shadow grabbed her. She clearly struggled hard and… it made Alejandro sick to watch. He’d only seen her genuinely panicked like that a few times and he could only imagine what the shadow was doing that would make her so afraid. 

Soap and Graves clearly shared the same sentiments because both of them looked away. Soap looked nauseous. “Do you think she’s alive?”

“Rodolfo mentioned it kept him alive for a while.” Graves spoke up. “I think she is.”

Alejandro agreed with him. “It’s trying to get to me… I think it wants me to try to find her.”

“So… are you going to let it keep her??” Soap looked confused. 

“No, obviously not.” Alejandro snorted. Even if they didn’t like each other, she wouldn’t let anyone else take Alejandro. They were each other’s problem to get rid of. “Rodolfo would likely know wherever it takes food.”

Soap nodded a bit. “So we have no choice but to play its game.”

Alejandro didn’t necessarily like that phrasing of it, but he supposed it was correct. He sighed softly, glancing to the distance where Rodolfo was still talking on the phone. He was… smiling. Alejandro did not like that. 

Even if Rodolfo had assured him that he and Alexei were not together… He was going to beat his ass on principle. Just give him the chance…

Soap nudged him. “Jealous?”

“Fuck off.” Alejandro glared at Soap, who laughed.

Graves snorted. “Rodolfo’s fine as fuck, I would be.”

Soap had to hold Alejandro back from grabbing Graves and beating the shit out of him. “I’m fine!” He huffed and shrugged off Soap, glaring at him. “Watch your fucking mouth, Graves.”

Graves looked deeply amused and Alejandro had an even harder to ignore urge to break his nose. But, he just took a deep breath and turned back to the tablet, watching the rest of the footage. It dragged Valeria off shot and Alejandro followed it through the cameras until it fully left the base.

“How did we miss this?” Alejandro muttered, frustrated. “How is it so smart?”

“I mean… Rodolfo had just blasted it’s shoulder off. None of us were expecting it to be back so soon.” Soap pointed out. “I certainly wasn’t, at least. I think… we all had higher priorities than someone we thought was locked in a storage crate.”

Alejandro winced, since he definitely had. His was making sure Rodolfo didn’t leave his sight again. “She’s going to be so pissed when we get her back.”

Soap laughed. “She seems like she’s always pissed.”

“You have no idea.” Alejandro muttered. 

-

They were back around the meeting table, discussing where to go from there. Obviously, the next step was rescuing Valeria but… They needed to figure out how. Who was going to go into the woods and retrieve her? 

Alejandro was immediately denied the right to. He was pretty upset about that, but Rodolfo pointed out that that was what it wanted. Alejandro was its “ultimate” prey, apparently. Alejandro did not like being prey. But… it was true. It likely did want to eat him. So, he would have to stay behind.

Rodolfo, however, would have to go. Alejandro was not happy about that AT ALL. Already, a million scenarios of Rodolfo not returning to him went through his head. 

“Alexei will be here tomorrow.” Rodolfo sighed and Alejandro felt his unhappiness deepen. “It will keep Valeria alive to get to you. It wouldn’t risk making the mistake of killing her and you finding out.”

Ghost spoke up. “Why are we saving her?”

“Sadly,” Rodolfo sighed. “She would do the same for us.” 

Alejandro agreed. “She’s a friend to us. In a… fucked up way.” He shrugged. “When we’re not trying to destroy each other.”

Rodolfo nodded in agreement. Ghost seemed to accept that and went silent again. “When Alexei gets here, we can discuss this whole rescue mission, fully.”

Everyone agreed and sighed softly. 

Rodolfo then moved on. “Until then, we need to start preventative measures.” 

Gaz spoke up. “There are preventative measures?” 

Rodolfo nodded. “It’s weak to salt. And… silver.” He pulled up his sleeves to reveal silver rings on his hands. He got out silver knuckles, a bright silver garrote, four silver knives, a gun, which he took the clip out to show silver bullets, and silver throwing spikes.

Everyone stared at the small pile of weapons on the table.

“Dude, you are so fucking badass…” Soap grinned at Rodolfo. “I like you.”

Rodolfo seemed caught off guard, blinking. “Thank you.” 

Alejandro chuckled, softly. “How many of these things have you used on it?”

“All of them.” Rodolfo nodded. “They all work.” He pulled over a chair and sat down. “Splendidly, may I add.”

Alejandro grinned. “I missed you, so much.”

“Alright, enough flirting.” Laswell spoke up, chuckling. “You’ve been tracking this thing for a while?”

“A year.” Rodolfo confirmed, his face flaming red at Laswell’s comment. “The only one who knows anything more about it happens to be my partner. But, he’s been tracking these things since 2019. He killed the other one. But… even there, his extra knowledge is slim. More motivations than anything helpful.”

Laswell nodded a little. “When will he be here?”

“Tomorrow.” Rodolfo reminded. He turned to the rest of the table. “He will be able to help. I trust him.”

“What is he even going to help with?” Alejandro huffed, softly. 

Rodolfo shrugged. “Well, he knows how to kill them. None of you guys have any experience beyond being attacked by it. Alexei and I have both tracked them and hunted them. And he’s killed one.”

Alejandro hated how necessary that made him sound. “What kind of name is Alexei, anyway?” Graves spoke up. “It’s so… pretentious.”

Soap nodded in agreement. Rodolfo laughed softly. “It’s Russian. He was a Russian double agent who abandoned Russia and faked his own death.”

“And you expect us to just trust him??” Graves snorted, softly. 

Gaz nodded in agreement. “He doesn’t seem like a good guy.”

“I don’t expect any of you to do jack shit.” Rodolfo shrugged. “If you decide to fuck off to wherever you came from… That’s fine with me. Alexei and I can kill the thing by ourselves. You seemed eager to join in.”

“We’re going to help.” Ghost spoke up. “We have no choice. Shepherd has burned us and he’s running this experiment. Graves, that includes you, too. We all agreed Rodolfo would lead this. If he trusts this man, then we have to.”

Graves set his jaw but he was silent, sitting back.

Rodolfo relaxed, looking at Ghost. “Thank you. Ghost, right?”

Ghost nodded. “Lead the way, commander.” He joked. 

Rodolfo smiled. “He will help us. He will be here tomorrow. In the meantime, we need to put salt everywhere. The Vaqueros can take care of most of it, I think.” He shrugged and sighed softly. 

Alejandro nodded in agreement. “I will get them onto it. What do we do about the rest of the cartel?”

“Ignore them. They don’t even know Valeria is El Sin Nombre. Her disappearance will mean very little.” Rodolfo shrugged.

Alejandro decided Rodolfo was right. “Why did we need her, anyway?”

“The cartel regularly has members go missing. The thing eats it. I… wanted to learn more about it’s eating habits. See if there were perhaps any bodies not being reported.” Rodolfo shrugged.

Alejandro frowned. “But you know how to kill it?”

“I just wanted the information.” Rodolfo shrugged. “I like knowing things. And… at the time, I hadn’t figured we’d be making an active plan to kill it.”

Alejandro decided to accept that. “Alright.” He nodded a little. “So… in the next day, we work on salting the entire base?”

Rodolfo nodded a little. “Yes.”

Alejandro shrugged and turned to the rest of the table. “Are we all fine with that?”

“If it keeps the damn thing out, I’ll throw pepper, garlic, and onion out too.” Graves sighed and shook his head.

Rodolfo laughed. “It’ll keep it out. Trust me.”

“I’m fine with it.” Ghost nodded. “Soap and I will go around and help where we can.”

“My Shadows have already been alerted, so I’ll tell them to salt the trucks.” Graves nodded, standing to do so, presumably.

Alejandro turned to Price, who he realized had been oddly silent. “Price?”

Price looked up. “Yes?”

“Are you fine with this?”

“Yes.” Price nodded.

Alejandro accepted that and he turned to Rodolfo. Rodolfo was now staring intensely at Price. “Rudy?”

Rodolfo didn’t say anything. He just stood and picked up the gun on the table. Alejandro didn’t even have time to realize what was going on because as soon as he did, Price was screeching and running out the door.

He half slammed into Price, who was walking in. Price jerked back, watching himself sprint from the room. His eyes seemed to go wide in realization, but before he could say anything, Rodolfo was out the door after it.

And of course, Alejandro was out the door after Rodolfo. He followed him down the hallways and out of the base, following the sound of screeching. 

He knew as soon as it would get outside, though, it would be gone. He had to half bear tackle Rodolfo to keep him from chasing after it, too. He trusted Rodolfo’s ability with it, but he didn’t want his friend getting lost in the woods chasing after that thing.

Rodolfo didn’t fight him off, instead he just screamed in frustration. “It was right there!” He bristled and shook his head. 

The others had followed them out, all staring into the woods where it’d went. 

“I’m guessing the fact that it heard all of our plans is not a good thing?” Soap winced.

“It’s a fucking awful thing!” Rodolfo exclaimed, gesturing. “That’s it.” He slid off his rings, giving one to Alejandro, one to Soap, and one to Price. “I will get more for the rest of you. Ghost… it’d be very hard for it to even mimic you, so you should be fine.”

“Why?” Ghost raised an eyebrow.

Rodolfo sighed. “It uses DNA. There’d be no way for it to get yours.”

Alejandro looked at Ghost who seemed to consider before shrugging. “Alright. So, we’ll all get rings. Why do the three of us have one, though?”

“It’s mimicked all of you, so far. We know it has your dna.” Rodolfo explained, shrugging. “Not sure how it got Price’s but… I’m sure it found a way.”

Price looked deeply uncomfortable with that but he nodded. “Alright… Well, I will not take this off.”

“Good. It won’t be able to mimic the rings so… we just need to start looking at everyone’s hands.” Rodolfo gestured.

Alejandro twisted the ring on his finger and sighed. “Convenient.”

“It really is.” Rodolfo nodded in agreement. He took a deep breath. “We need to get started with the salt. It will be back now that it knows."