#i can literally imagine that he saw athena embarrassed and was like i see this as an absolute win

[sierice]

ep 4 of the show was actually craaaazy imagine athena getting downright embarrassed in at the weekly family mail opening meeting because your 12 year old daughter was an accomplice in playing the biggest screw you to the gods in forever and then there's poseidon whose son was the one who CAME UP w the idea and he's like my parenting MY parenting im so proud of him. im going to help him on his quest right now actually. why is he falling.

[stargazer-balladeer]

December 11: Going to a Tree Lighting Event (Ace Attorney)

Characters Included: Phoenix Wright, Miles Edgeworth, Franziska von Karma, Apollo Justice, Athena Cykes, Sebastian Debeste, Simon Blackquill

Notes: Time to get back to writing :D. I also realized while doing this that most of this characters have sad backstory and then there’s Phoenix- 😃😃 Hope ya’ll like this!

Warning: none

December Fics | MAIN PAGE |

Phoenix Wright

Phoenix is literally a child in a man. He would basically drag you outside when it starts to snow. You can see literal stars in his eyes whenever snow falls around you two.

Even though he might be busy with his job as a Attorney, he would always make time for you. He might overwork himself a bit during these times, though whenever you mention this, he would only say that he will finish all of his work so that he could spend more time with you-

I believe its his idea if you two go to a tree lighting event. It’s basically a tradition for him to attend one of this in a nearby town, with his family. And now, he wants to experience it with you. Because he wants to share something precious to him with you.

“Look, Nick!” You excitedly said as the tree started to light up before you. Whether it’s your first time or not, it always feels you with glee whenever the tree started to light up. Phoenix laughs as the crowd started “ooh”-ing at the sight.

Instead of looking at the lights, Phoenix was staring at you. His face filled with adoration and love. He wraps his arm around your waist and pulled you close to him. He pressed his lips to the side of your head. “I love you so much.”

“You’re being too cheesy right now.” “Aren’t I always?” “.. touché.”

Miles Edgeworth

Miles isn’t one for childish things, so he’ll be indifferent to things like snow. However, that was when he was still with von Karma. Now that he’s free from his mentor, he can finally relax and enjoy the simple things in life.

Miles might be very busy since he’s the Chief Prosector, but he’ll do his best to make time for you. It’s just that his work usually takes up all of his time, so it’s basically up to you to drag him away from his workaholic state-

Miles isn’t into childish things, but he enjoys seeing the tree lighting event. Him and his father usually watch this when he was young, and it was a good memory that Miles keep in his heart. So it’s mostl likely that he’ll be the one inviting you to the event.

You two watch from the distance as the tree started to light up. You were standing at the far end since you knew that Miles isn’t too fond of being in a crowded place. You don’t really mind as you watch in awe as the lights light up.

Miles have a smile on his face as he breathes out, making a puff of cold smoke. The memory of his father clouded his mind as his gloved hand tighten on yours. You noticed as you lean on him, making him stiffined. “Your father is very proud of you, you know. He wouldn’t want you to be sad on such a jolly occasion.” You softly mumbled as you gaze at the tree.

Miles looks at you in the corner of his eyes before smiling again. “Perhaps. Shall we go and walk around then?” “Are you saying that because you’re already cold?” “Nonsense. Let’s go.” “You’re blushing~.” “You’re imagining it.”

Franziska von Karma

Similarly to Miles, Franziska isn’t one to be into childish things. But unlike her adopted brother, she doesn’t have any memory of anything special. All her life, she’s been mentored by Manfred von Karma, kept inside all of the times. She was raised to never indulge in her desire. So now that she is no longer in his watch and now with you, she’s honestly lost. Though she would keep up her ‘know-it-all’ attitude.

Franziska is constantly busy with her life of being a Prosecutor and being with the Interpol. So she might not have much time with you. Whenever she’s free, she usually spends it with either still working or relaxing with you. So it’s best if you schedule when you two will go out so that she’s aware of it and can clear out her schedule.

No doubt that you’ll be the one suggesting it. Though there’ll be a low percent chance that she might suggest it, about 5%- Either way, Franziska would join you. She’s actually excited to see one, but she wouldn’t outwardly show it- 👀

You stared at Franziska as her eyes go wide and sparkle at the sight of the tree lighting up. It warms your heart to see her lowering her guard and let the child inside her run free. It’s rare to see Franziska like this so you basically bask at the sight of her awe face. (Though you secretly want to kill Manfred- 😃🔪)

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” You said as you put your attention the humungous tree. Franziska blinks before coughing and looking away, with a tint of pink in her cheeks, clearly embarrassed to show such awe face- “it’s.. alright. Though I still think it’s foolish to waste time here instead of doing something else.” Franziska said. You sighed while smiling, same old Franzy-

“However, I would admit.. this is rather enjoyable.” She mumbled. You smiled widely as you intertwine your hands with hers. Even though she was looking away from you, you can tell she’s embarrassed with how red her ears are. “See~ I told you that this is enjoyable!” “Only a foolish fool would think like that.” “Then, that means that you’re a ‘foolish fool’ as well, Franzy!” “!! I- That isn’t what I mean-!”

Apollo Justice

Apollo tries to act mature but he really isn’t. He also doesn’t have any fond memories in his childhood years, but he did remembered that there was one time that Clay dragged him to a tree lighting event. He still remembers the awe as they watch the tree lighting up. Of course, when he grew up, he forget about his childish innocence. But it slowly resurfaces when he saw something related to the event.

Apollo is busy with paperwork, and heading the Khu’rain’s judicial system alongside Nahyuta. Even though his supposed uncle, half-brother and half-sister and the queen is helping him, it still result in him overworking. Nahyuta basically asks (force) you to drag his poor excuse of a brother to take a rest—

It doesn’t matter who invited who, Apollo is bound to forget about it. Can’t blame him really. This guy has a lot going in his plate so don’t fault him if he forgets about it—

You look at your watch as you frown sadly. “He’s late.” You mumbled sadly as you look up to look for your workaholic boyfriend. He promised he’ll be here to watch the event, but it doesn’t appear he’ll be appearing any time soon. And the event is about to start.

You sighed as you continued to wait, gazing at the tree while doing so. Your ears pick up some crunching noises and someone huffing, you turn around to see Apollo running towards you. You brightened up as you stood up properly instead of leaning on the wall and meet him halfway. He was huffing heavily while staring at you apologetically.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t think that the trial would take so long-! Or that the cab that I’m riding would break down—“ “calm down, Apollo. It’s alright. I get it.” You reassured him as he manages to catch his breath. He looks like he was about to apologize again but you cut him off. “Look! The tree lighting is starting! C’mon!” “Woah! You almost made me fall-!” “Call it a payback for making me wait for so long!” “I thought you said you get it?!” “I take it back.” “[Y/N]-!”

Athena Cykes

Obviously, Athena is excited for this event. She never had a chance to go to one of this event, since she was basically kept inside the facility with her mother. Her childhood is basically black-and-white (similar to a certain samurai 👀). So it isn’t much of a surprise to see her bouncing up and down when she heard of the event-

Athena isn’t that busy since she finishes her work very fast. So she has plenty of time to spend it all with you. Though sometimes, she would get caught up with her work. But rest assured that you wouldn’t wait for too long since Athena is a fast reader and writer 😃

No doubt that she’ll be the one suggesting it- though she wouldn’t ask you to go with her, she drags you over there- no matter what your response is, you are going with her whether you like it or not 😃

“Are you excited to see the lights?!” Athena said as she pulls you towards the center of the plaza. You giggled at her enthusiasm as you tried to match her fast pace. “Ooh! This is my first time seeing it in person! I usually see it in the TV and stuff-!”

Her excitedness seems to radiate much more, as its started to rub on you. You manage to match her pace and walk beside her. “Well, let’s make this a memorable one then!” You were surprised to see Athena’s already wide smile widened some more as she side hugs you. “Yes!!”

“Why don’t we buy some candy first to snack while watching it?” “Aren’t you hyper as it is-?” “Nah, I mean.. a little sugar wouldn’t hurt, right?” “And when you mean ‘little’, you mean one bag, right?” “.. maybe.”

Sebastian Debeste

Sebastian would surely be surprised to hear about such event, since ya know, with his father and childhood- when he either asks you about it or research about it, his eyes would sparkle as he continued to listen/read. He would basically ask you if you two could go and see one (protecc this bby TwT-)

Sebastian is busy studying and doing Prosecutor work, afterall, he is being mentored by Miles Edgeworth. Though, Miles would grant him a vacation so that he could enjoy the holidays. However, I think Sebastian would still continue studying words and stuff so that he wouldn’t be much of a burden. It would be wise to drag him away before he overwork himself-

Sebastian would (shyly) ask you if you two could attend this event because he really wants to see one in person. Unless you don’t have a heart, your heart would melt at the sight of him. Please bring this poor child to the tree lighting event already-

Sebastian stares at the tree in amazement and awe as the lights started to dance around. He pulled your sleeves slightly. “Woah! How does the light do that?!” “Professional. Magic.” You said in a sarcastic tone. Though Sebastian didn’t hear it as he’s busy watching the lights.

You smiled at the sight as you let your hand intertwined with his. His ahoge shot upwards as he looks at you. You smiled gently at him. He blushed as he quickly revert his eyes back to the lights. You chuckled at him.

“We should do this more often.” “.. yeah, we could go kahooting!” “... you mean snowboarding?” “Oh.. um, yes! That’s it!”

Simon Blackquill

Simon is the kind of guy that looks like he doesn’t care about the holidays but he secretly likes it- even though he despises it because Taka can’t fly freely since its too cold for her/him to fly. He still likes the scenery and the coldness of it. As for the tree lighting event, it is kind-of a tradition for him and his sister to go to one. But ever since the UR-1 incident, it vanished. So he might go there in memory of the times where he and his sister fought while waiting for the event to start.

Simon is constantly busy with work. He is usually in-charge of interrogating witnesses and stuff, and he has paperwork to sign. He’s a workaholic like Miles, but he also spend his time practicing his samurai skill. But other than that two, he would find time to spend it with you.

He would not obviously say it outwardly, but he would hint about going there. So you either pick that up or you genuinely want to go there even if Simon doesn’t want to- either way, he isn’t complaining. This time, he’ll be seeing the tree lighting up with you instead of his obnoxious older sister.

“Are you sure you want to watch the tree lighting with me?” You asked as you two walk towards the plaza. He huffs before looking at you in the corner of his eyes. “If I’m not sure, then why would I be here?” You sighed. “Well, it’s hard to see if you are obligated to be here because of me or you’re here on your own free will.”

He stayed silent, so you decided to let it go. You two continued to walk, when you felt his hand over your shoulder, slightly pulling you towards him. You look up at him but couldn’t see much. “Hey, what-?” “If you don’t hurry up, we’re gonna miss it.”

You blink before chuckling. “Is this your way of saying you’re here because you want to?” “Let your mind think what it wants to think.” “Then my mind is thinking of how adorable you are.” “Oh really now?” “Hmhm.” “You have a weird mind-“ “You are the definition of weird.” “Touché.”

[theartofimaginaryfriends]

Hey! I was wondering if you could do some angst with a happy ending for Percy. Maybe him and his S/O get into an argument or something. If not I totally understand. Also I love your blog!

Change the Subject

Premise: Percy doesn't shut up about Annabeth, and Y/N has had enough. 

Masterlist

A/N: I often get these requests around 3AM my time, and the only reason I know that is because I straight up don’t sleep. Also, I tried to make this angsty but don’t know how well I did on that part? It took me about three tries and three different variations of the same idea to get it done, but it is done. I personally feel meh about it, but I hope you like it! Also thank you!! I’ve been bored and decided to be more active on here XD

It wasn't Annabeth's fault, but it still irked Y/N whenever Percy brought her up in conversation. He had broken up with the daughter of Athena a year ago, and it was clear to them that he wasn't over her. On every date, or any time they spent together, he would point out something that reminded him of his ex and would start telling a story about how she would probably know everything about whatever caught his eye.  

Y/N couldn't help but feel jealous of Annabeth and Percy. They managed to remain best friends, and somehow that brought the two closer than ever. Y/N on the other hand? They were just a mortal that met Percy at Goode High School. They weren't anything special.

They hated conflict more than anything, and always brushed aside the jealousy that unfortunately came along with spending time with Percy. They thought about the first few months of dating when Y/N was oblivious to Percy being a demigod. He had mentioned that he was still friends with his ex, but that was about it.  

When Y/N finally met Annabeth, they noticed how close she was with Percy. The blonde reassured them that the two were just best friends and nothing more, but that didn't stop Y/N from being envious of her. She was smart, stunning, and while a little abrasive, was kind to them. They could see what Percy saw in Annabeth. She was perfect in every way. It didn't help that after Percy told Y/N the full truth, they felt like a major downgrade from his ex.  

Here they were, trying to study in Percy's room, trying to tune him out as he went on and on about how if Annabeth were with them, studying would be easier. "I mean, I hate studying and she-"

"Alright, stop talking." Y/N rolled their eyes and sat up on the bed. "Is she really all you can talk about?"

"Where is this coming from?" Percy asked. "I thought you liked Annabeth."

"I do," Y/N said. "It's not anything against her, but ever since I met her she's all you've been able to talk about."

"She's my best friend, Y/N."

"I know that, but think about it." Y/N sighed. "She's your best friend, but she's also your ex. Did it ever cross your mind that maybe your current significant other wouldn't be okay with hearing about her all the time? I mean, I get it. She's perfect in every way imaginable, and I'm not. It's hard not to feel jealous when you're clearly still in love with her."

Y/N waited a couple minutes, waiting for Percy to say something, anything. When they were met with silence, Y/N hastily packed up their things and left the apartment. Part of them knew that the conversation wasn't over, but they weren't keen on getting into a full-blown fight. It wouldn't get them anywhere if Percy wanted to fix things as much as Y/N did.  

They were halfway down the block when they felt someone touch their shoulder. "Here to yell at me for overreacting?"

"I'm here to talk about what just happened." Percy responded. "I didn’t say anything right away because I was processing what you told me, and you're right."

"I'm listening." Y/N turned around to face Percy.  

"Look, I didn't realize how much I talk about Annabeth until you said something," he started, stuffing his hands in his hoodie pockets. "and you should've said something earlier. It's just that she and I have been through hell and back together, and I mean that literally."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"That is a story for another time." Percy's eyes darkened. "The point is, she's been a big part of my life for a long time. I promise you, I don't have feelings for her anymore."

"Either way, it's hard to measure up to her." Y/N looked away, embarrassed of their jealousy. "I mean, Annabeth's so perfect. I'm... not."

"You're very different from her," Percy agreed. "But that's not to say you're just as wonderful."

"Percy, stop bullshitting me."

"I'm not!" Percy felt anger rising, but pushed it aside. "Y/N, half the time I'm talking I'm barely listening to what I'm saying. I want us to work, and I'm willing to fix this if you are."

"How can I be sure you're not lying?" Y/N meant for that question to come out as confident, but it came out as a small whisper.  

"Look at me," Percy stepped closer to them and lifted their chin so he could see their eyes. "You are way too important to me to let this fuck up break us apart. I have never felt this way about anyone in my life. I love you, Y/N."

Percy kissed Y/N before they could respond. After a few seconds of shock, Y/N melted into the kiss, pulling Percy closer to them. When they broke apart, Y/N smiled at Percy. "I love you, too. Sorry for overreacting."

"It was justified," he chuckled. "But next time, talk to me right away if something's wrong. I don't want to lose the best thing to ever happen to me."

"Will do."  

[amindofstone]

Nyx- Im Changkyun

{

a/n: For better reading keep in mind that the words in italic are Changkyuns train of thoughts.

Genre: Fantasy (ancient greek gods)

Words: ca. 1500

Info: I won´t be writting this and the other six storys fully based on the actual mythological gods and their myths. I will be making changes or only taking aspects that are fitting the ideas I had for each imagine.

Warnings: None (maybe grammar or spelling mistakes. (I apologize. English is not my mother tongue and I´m trying to improve.) Have mercy)

!!! Please do not steal my idea or work. Credit me please if this is shared or published in any other platform. The pictures used aren't mine. Credits to the rightful owner. But the moodboard is made by me. !!!

Inspired by @monxhours (IG) ♡

Q.: Should I do a part ll to this? I kind of have a idea. The ending...  }

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There is this place. A place everyone knows but tries to avoid. A place every living being fears. A place that makes you feel uncomfortable, lost and weak. No matter how strong or how old you are. That place makes you feel small and gives you the feeling of being inferior while the place itself turns into being the superior. A place even the gods from the Olymp don`t like. But at the same time it can also be comforting and loving. It´s silence and raw beauty can be mesmerizing and warm. All he´s doing right now is think about it as a place but is it even one? A place or a location? What is the actual word one can use for describing this existing spot? Spot, location, place. Why does every word sound so weird. No, even wrong when I try to put it in a same sentence with it. “Darkness is a place....” , “The darkness is a location in...”, “Darkness is a spot just right at the bottom of....” A frustrated sigh left his lips. Why is it so complicated? All I wanna do is try to explain my home to a freaking friend. “Dammit!!”. I really should start reading dictionary's. Mother and me are literally reading the same books but how come her vocabulary is better than mine? This absolutely makes no sense. Should I get help from Mr. Google? “Oh my god! Did my brain really just said Mr. Google?! Shit Maddox is really making me dumb as well.”He was about to take his phone from his nightstand when a knock on his door made him stop in his tracks. Is mother already back? 

“Yes, come in.“

Just right after the allowance left his lips the massiv black door to his chambers was fully opened. Changkyun was lying in his bed shirtless and just in his boxers when he saw a woman of pure beauty enter. Oh how he regretted not changing into his night garment after showering. “Mother?!” His cheeks turned into a light pink what put a smile on her face. While looking everywhere but her face he tried to cover himself with a pillow. “I´m your mother. There is no need to be embarrassed my little prince. I raised you up. I carried you in my arms. There you where sometimes clothed and sometimes... well... not. But you always liked to be comfortable at home. I can´t blame you. It actually was always really adorable.”. A little giggle left her lips while she closed to door. When the doors where closed she turned around and looked around her sons chambers. While she did so she tried to hold back a laughter. “You really were bored when Maddox left am I right?”. A little confused Changkyun looked at his mother and then around himself. “What do you mean?”, he asked while giving her a sign to have a seat. She looked around one last time and decided to take a seat near the chimney. It doesn´t matter how much time he spend with his mother or how close of a mother son relationship they had. He was always amazed by her gracious and charming appearance. Beside her beauty which is well known, she was more than just smart. Even Athena was amazed by her. She might not say so and not even think about admitting it but sometimes he could see a glimpse of jealousy when Zeus asks for his mother advice on anything he was up to. Not only Zeus but also his beloved wife. Would he ever be respected and feared at the same time just like her? Will he ever be someone worth to be called a god? Someone who couldn´t even answer the question of his friends. A question of such a simplicity. What´s darkness to you?

And again Changkyun got lost in his thoughts. The goddess sitting in his bedroom was intensely looking at him with a bit of concern. She knew that he was only physically with her at the moment which why she cleared her trot to get his attention. The moment he looked in her eyes again she gave him a warm smile. “Lately I have been finding you lost in your thoughts a lot, my dear son. What´s the cause of you lately wandering around the palace without a destination or reason? Did Eros say something?”. Should he tell her why he was so confused and aimlessly spending his time in his or his mothers library? If so, what exactly was the reason? Why was he like this? Lying to his mother by making something up was not an option since he knew that she can sense it when he or anyone lied. Saying that he was alright and fine would theoretically be also a lie since he obviously wasn´t in a great state. He was lost. “Mother. May I ask you something?”, with a small nod and a loving smile she gave him her approval. “What is darkness to us?”, the little smile his mother carried left her just to be replaced with a sweet laughter. The goddess stood up just to approach her son and sit next to him. While still laughing she put his right hand in hers and gave him a kiss on his forehead. “Get dressed. I want you to accompany me tonight. Would you like to do that?”. A little confused and also pained about his mothers laughter he simply nodded and stood up to get dressed like she requested it. Before he could enter his wardrobe he was told by his mother that she would be waiting for him in the entrance hall and that he can take his time.  “I´m not in an rush, I want to spend time with you.” He clearly did not understand her but still went along. “Oh and your place is a huge contrast to your personality but I really like it. Black and gold really does go well together.”

Leaving his room he was greeted by the dark hall of the palace he lived in. Black sconces which were slightly shimmering in silver where lighting up the massive halls. The halls in this quarter of the palace had just a few windows what were exactly the reason why he choose his room to be here. Although he had to argue with his siblings a lot about it. Mostly with Alec who is known for being annoyingly stubborn. The thought of the many fights he had with him over the room made him smile a bit. And just for a second he felt happy and carefree again but just for a second. At the end of the hall stairs lead him down to the entrance hall. Thinking about having to take the stairs from the highest floor in the palace makes him want to go back to his chambers and lay back down in his bed while reading the book he recently started. Damian was the title and indeed a book one can´t miss. But he can´t be doing that. All in all he´s supposed to meet his mother who wants to take him on a walk. With a last sigh his eyes turned pitch black and wings spread at his back. Each wing being as tall as Changkyun himself and as beautiful and majestic as the ones his mother had. With a small smile he spread his wings and let himself fall from the window to his left. Let´s see if I get scolded again for being lazy. So it happend that he did not came approaching his mother by waling down the stairs but flying through one of the black glittering windows. Lighter than a cat and quieter than a feather falling down he landed in front of his mother. “I apologize for making you wait.”. With a innocent smile and a look through his warm chocolate brown eyes into hers he offered her his arm before she could think of scolding him. 

In less than a second and even before Changkyun could ask where she planed on going they were leaving the dark. He could see that they were leaving the underworld behind what made him think that she might bring him to the olymp. But he was wrong. Midway to the olymp they were stopping and landing on earth. A little confused and lost he was looking at his mother with a slightly tilted head. The place they were standing on wasn´t making it better. In fact it confused him even more. Why would she bring me here? Was someone coming to see us? But if that would be the case why would they want to meet up in a place like this? One question after another was going through his head what made him feel uneasy. When there was something he hated the most, it was not having a answer to a question. He couldn´t bear the feeling of being clueless. It made him feel small and weak. Powerless, dumb and pathetic. He was turning around while trying to absorb his surrounding but still he couldn´t understand why he was here. Not being able to handle this ignorance he turned to his mother. “Why are we here? Is someone coming? Did something happen?”, but his mother keeped quiet. “Mother?”. Still keeping the silence she decided to have a walk while telling him that she is trying to find a spot to sit. Although he couldn´t understand her because they could be sitting anywhere. He still followed her. Letting her son walk behind her all confused and lost in thoughts she was calmly enjoying her nightly walk through her favourite place. Stopping infront of a sea and looking over her shoulder to check if her son was still keeping up with her. When she saw him still following her, she smiled and offerd him her hand. Changkyun on the other hand was a bit mad since his mother decided to ignore his questions and make a inprovised trip to the forest with him. Seeing him hesitating she smiled and took his hand in hers and lead him to the pedistrian bridge she was walking to. Careful on when and where he made a step he followed her and wondered if her dress was not bothering her. The train wasn´t even that long but still made him wonder if it was hard walking with it. It´s train was definitely shorter than the dresses she usually wore but still long enough to be thankful that he is a man and not a woman. At the end of the bridge she stopped and sat down while letting her legs dangle above the sea. Changkyun was about to tell her that her dress might get wet but then realised that it would be ridicolous. So he simply keeped quiet and sat next to her. A long pleasant silence filled the atmosphere what was broken for a few seconds by the goddess of darkness by simply stating that this was her favourite place. Changkyun closed his eyes and gave every little noise around him his attention. From the insects and the forest animals up to the howling of the wind. He absorbed every little noise. This place was so different compared to his home. With every minute passing you could hear something else. There was not even a second where Changkyun could feel the comfortable silence he liked and was used to. The silence he grew up to. After 120 years of living and visiting the olymp, the underworld, the earth and of course his home the darkness, it was the earth he liked as the least one. It didn´t resemble his home at all. If was way to different, loud, hectic and chaotic. No matter where he was on earth, he simply felt out of place. But his mother liked the earth compared to him. In fact she loved it. There was not even a night where she didn´t left for a walk on earth. 

“You asked me something, remember.”. Changkyun who´s eyey were still closed opended them to just to be greeted by his mothers loving smile. How could she be always in such a positiv and happy mood? “How could I forget that. If you would ask me this in hundred years I still would be able to remember it because you literally called me stupid by laughing at me.”. Changkyuns words made his mother hold her stomach because of laughing. Her laughter was filling the silence of the nights darkness. As if their entire surrounding was just waiting for a sign of her happiness the clouds which were covering the night sky slowly were leaving and allowing us the sight of a beautiful starry night. With every second passing the amount of stars on the sky were increasing and were showing themselves brighter and clearer. With every second passing more stars were filling the night sky. Just like a nation that is gathering around a pedestal to come and take a look at their leader and savior. To come and thank them, show them their respect and love. As if the stars around the univers are getting together out of happiness and respect to the goddess of the dark who was visiting them after a long time. A amazed sigh left his lips while he was looking at the starry night sky. Next to her he never felt like a god or even like a king. His mother, the goddess of the dark, the Nyx was literally the definition of majestic. He always felt like someone noble who was simply lucky having her around while being able to say that they are from the same family. 

“Oh Changkyun I wansn´t laughing at you. I just was suprised to hear that question from you. I remember Amalia saying that you will never come to me to ask that question because your simply too proud of yourself and who are. Who thought that my proud little son would come up with that question now after 120 years. But I guess that Jooheon and Kihyun were messing with you again.”. His mothers words made him smile and shake his head slightly. “You know me to well mother. But yes, that´s exsactly what happend. We were talking about what we like to do the most and what our favourite places were. Without thinking much about the queston I said home and my chambers but that was confusing them a bit. Even Kihyun what was actually really amusing.”. The goddess turned a bit to her left so she could look him in the eyes properly. With a sweet smile she went through the hair of her youngest and maybe even favourite child and tried to help him out of his weeks of thinking about a simply question. “You see home can be anything and everywhere. It differntiates from person to person. Home can be a house, a city or even a whole country. Home is where one feels safe, happy and comfortable. Home does not have to be a place it can also be a moment in which you feel secure. Jooheon for example is the most happiest when he can fly around the sky of the olymp. And Kihyun for example feels home in literally every existing libary. And for you my beloved son it´s the deepest and darkest location of the entire universe. The darkness. The darkness that is me and you. The darkness that is the only reason why day and light exists. Son, my dear Changkyun, look around this beautiful sight. It only exists because you and I exist. This is you and at the same time your home and comfort. Our existence is a bleassing to anyone and it doesn´t matter if we´re talking about humans or gods. They are alle appreciating and loving us. One way or another it´s us that shows them the beauty in chaos.”

After finishing her train of thoughts she took her sons hand and gave it a light kiss. And without even giving him a chance of saying anything or starting a dialogue with her she gave him a last smile and said “I know that you want to see that one half goddess you always give a visit. You should do so otherwise she might get mad at you for making her wait.”. Changkyuns cheeks turned into a light shade of pink what made him look down in his lap. With a little chuckel the Nyx left him alone. Embarrased and a bit flustered he went through his hair and took his phone out. Turning his phone on he saw that he had a message from her what made him laugh. Amalia was right. Trying to keep a secret from the goddess of the dark was impossible and a waste of time.

[cherrysweather]

Omg if u wanna do a black quill one shot 😳... ill request one of a date pre UR1.. BUT IF YOU DONT DO HIM its ok

Of course I’m going to write for Blackquill!! I missed writing for him uwu I tried to write something the least boring possible but I need to thank you for giving me an opportunity to write for pre-UR1 Simon because I found interesting how he matured, he changed from how we imagine him pre-prison to how he is after it and I really enjoyed writing about it So thank you so much again and I hope you’ll like this >-< (I’m so sorry for the long wait, I hope you’re reading this even after all these days Anon, I’m sorry :( --------------------------------------

Laugh with me [Simon Blackquill x Reader]

"He’s coming!" as they heard an acute voice coming towards them, they turned their head and saw an orange ponytail moving as a little girl approached them

"Hey sweet orange" they knelt down to meet Athena’s height "How are you?" they hugged her as soon as she was enough close

"I’m feeling good today!" she moved the hair from their face to place a kiss on their cheek

"I’m happy to hear it" they passed a hand on Athena’s thin back

"Where are you and Simon going today?" she asked curiously as she dragged them to sit to a table

"I found two tickets for a traditional show at the theater near the seafront and then he offered to choose where to dine" they smiled while speaking "Don’t worry, tomorrow I’ll completely leave him to you" they softly patted her hair, laughing at her face

"It’s ok if you spend time with him too! The hearts of you both sing songs of happiness whenever you two are together; even now I can hear that you’re happy!" Athena smiled in such a pure way that the blush on their cheeks could only increase

"Don’t say these things loudly!" they tried to keep Athena’s mouth closed

"Why? Did I say something bad?"

"Just don’t" they looked around to be sure that no one heard Athena, and luckily no one was close enough "…H-His heart too- He’s happy when he’s with me?" they asked after a moment of silence that seemed endless, not looking Athena in the eyes for the embarrassment

"Yes! Every time he speaks about you to my mom or me he seems like he drunk two liters of energy drinks" she kept that smile on her lips as she spoke

"Thanks" they poked her nose and sighed softly, thinking about what that meant, sensing a feeling of satisfaction, happiness, knowing that Simon was happy with them; not that they doubted it, but hearing it so directly, has its effect. They began to tap their fingers on the table, waiting for “His Holiness” to come down from heaven. And, he actually arrived!  

"Did I kept you waiting too long?" when that deep and calm voice came to their ear and a heavy hand rested on their shoulder, they turned towards him and pulled his body toward them from his wrist into a hug

"Oh no no, it just seemed that I was waiting for you to finish an interrogation" they smiled and kissed his cheek

"At least appreciate that I asked Athena to warn you"

"You’re always overworking this poor girl" they pushed him to get up, sticking their nose to his but moving the moment he leaned over to kiss them "Say sorry to Athena first" they looked in his eyes, teasing him but receiving a sigh as an answer.

"See you tomorrow Athena, go to your mother and eat something" he caressed her cheek with his finger and giving her a smile before turning toward the exit. "Where are you going!" they stopped before going after him, kissing Athena’s forehead and waving at her while running to reach Simon. "Stop right here!" She jumped on his back, holding him tight

"Do you want to arrest me?" he grabbed their thighs and took them on his back

"I’ll probably lose against you, so I won’t even try" they hugged his neck and kissed the back of his head

"A good choice indeed" once they were out the space center, he let them down his back, wrapping their shoulders with his arm to hold them close

"How were your lessons today?" they took his hand and looked up at him

"Pretty good, I always manage to learn something new"

"I’ll wait for this samurai to master the emotions and psyche of others patiently" they leaned on him on purpose with all the weight

"Do you want me to become a psychological manipulator?" he held their weight, amused by their childish behavior

"I’m saying it for you too! It could be useful for you as a prosecutor; like when they put you in charge of questioning suspects and you take ages to finish" they tried to convince him of what they were saying

"You have a point on that but, my teacher isn’t a manipulator herself"

"You’ll learn from yourself, you’re intelligent so you can do it" when he didn’t reply for nearly a minute, they turned to his face and laughed softly seeing the contrasting blush on his pale face, hugging his arm but avoiding teasing him.

"You still haven’t told me where we’re going" he said as they stopped to check the shortest way to get to the theater

"I’ll tell you once we’ll be there" they looked up from the phone and smiled at him "You also have to tell me where are we going tonight" they returned to search on the phone

"You’ll see" he answered with their own coin, accepting their challenge when they placed their gaze on his eyes, staring into theirs and nearly into their soul, forcing them to look away

"Stop it"

"You started" he smirked and looked around them, getting closer to them when too many people started to walk near

"There’s no need to protect me" they smiled seeing a shadow in front of them, resting their head on his chest

"Too many people" he wrapped their hips with his arms and tried to see something on the screen of the phone

"Don’t worry, I found it" they tried to reach his lips "You still have to give me a kiss"

"You’re the one who walked away when I tried to give you one"

"Stop being a douchebag" they tried to pull him down by his jacket

"But that’s how I am" He stayed where he was, not giving them victory even when they tried with all their strength

"I’ll climb on you if you don’t bend over" they pouted at him sighing but when they pulled one last time, he “softened” and his forehead slammed against theirs, and when they bent on their knees holding their forehead, it seemed that they were stuck to the ground

"I’m sorry" he reached down to help, trying to contain his laughter

"You could have just told me you didn’t want to instead of head-butting me" they tried to hit his arm with the same strength as his head, not being able to hold their laughter too as she looked at him

"I didn’t want to" he pulled them up, pressing his lips on their head "Do you need some ice?" he passed softly his hand on their head

"I need new neurons, and perhaps a new skull" they squeezed their jacket to avoid beating him, waiting for the pain to pass

"Oh? Did you have any neurons in there?" he pretended to be shocked, putting a finger under their chin when she looked up

"I think I had at least two healthy" they punched his shoulder and looked in his eyes, offended

"They’re still there, don’t worry" he pinched their nose with that amused smirk still on his lips, leaning towards them to try to make amends by resting his lips on theirs "Will you forgive me?"

"I’ll see" they didn’t even give him time to finish the question, pulling him to walk again.

He took that one gesture as an answer that only strengthened the provocative smile on his face.

"Ok, are we going to the park, that bar, or do you want to make a new building appear from the ground?" he asked when they sat on the edge of a fountain

"You called them all except the one where we’re going" they patted the spot beside them, taking the two tickets from their pocket as he sat down "Guess what’s this" they covered the name of the show, leaving uncovered only the Japanese print that was on them

"That’s a print of Meguro since there’s the Fuji in the background, so probably it’s a show set in Meguro? Or?"

"Better, a Rakugo show of which one of the many stories is set in Meguro" they handed him one of the two tickets to show him "I remembered you once said that a friend of yours knew a Rakugo crew and that you would like to go see one, so I searched for the first show that would be held nearby; happy?" they slipped under his arm and looked up at him, seeing an expression full of surprise and happiness

"You don’t forget anything uh? I think I told you that thing at least one year ago" he pulled them to him, kissing their head repeatedly, suddenly moving his lips to theirs "Thank you" he held their hand in his, cuddling it with his finger

"It’s nothiing" they laughed at his reaction, squeezing his hand and getting closer to him "But we have to wait about fifteen minutes before we can enter" they took their small bag, searching something in it

"We can talk or do something in the meanwhile"

"Yeah, about that; did you have lunch?" they pulled out of the bag a box covered with a colorful cloth "I brought you something to eat if you haven’t yet"

"You didn’t have to" "Knowing that someone uses the excuse of working until night to eat nothing all day, I definitely had to" they hit his arm weakly "So eat, I did it with all my love".

He sighed and opened the box, finding in it three onigiri, some vegetables, and other side dishes

"There are both the chopsticks and a fork in the box" they waited for him to taste something and get his opinion "How’s that?"

"Mh, it’s edible, nothing special" he waited to see their sad face before laughing "I’m joking, this is delicious" he hit them with his shoulder "Thanks again" he passed them something with his chopsticks, taking his hand away when they tried to bite his finger too "Beast"

"Rude. And evil".

When the minutes passed, the two of them entered the theater and they gave the two tickets to the staff to certify them before entering the hall "Wait wait! I know how these kinds of stages are called!" They sat down in their seats as they thought about it "They’re called yose, right? Or koza?"

"The yose is the traditional rakugo theater, the koza is the stage" he corrected them "Study better next time" he laughed softly at their face

"At least I try"

"And I couldn’t be happier, I’m glad you try to share my interests" If Athena were here, she would only jump all over the place from how Simon’s heart is full of happiness and relief from all the busy days before this, grateful to be able to spend it with them.

Since they were seeing a Rakugo show, some Japanese Rakugo-ka took turns to tell a different story both in English and in Japanese, that then an interpreter translated, sometimes interrupted by the laughter of the audience.

- “When the Lord saw the dish in front of him he was very surprised As far as he knows fish is supposed to be red and flat like sea breeze, he's never seen anything like sanma before. At first, he can't believe that these long black things are really fish; what's more, they're still covered with smoking cinders, which make a sizzling sound "They're crying" "No Master, they're not. Please try some" - "Delicious! Sanma is the best. Farmers are lucky, they eat better food than I do! From now on I'm going to eat sanma at every meal" - - One day, the lord is invited to the home of his cousin "Thank you for coming to my home, I'd like to serve your favorite dish so, what can I ask my cook to prepare for you?" "I'd like the sanma" "Huh? Sanma? You want Anma?" "No no, you can't eat Anma, I said Sanma; it's long and black, and smokes and sizzles. You can't stop eating it, I'm dying for Sanma!" "Oh okay, I'll go talk to the cook" "Huh? A cheap common fish?" - "Oh okay, I'll rush out to the nearest market and get some" "Wait wait wait! Don't go to our usual place, buying it there will give us a bad name, you better go to Nihombashi" "Ok, I'll go" - - After he buys the fish, he thinks how to prepare it in the best way for the Lord; he knows the best way to cook the Sanma is to grill it and serve it with grated radish and soy sauce but, he thinks he'd better remove the fat by steaming the fish so that the lord doesn't get indigestion and that he'd better remove the bones so they don't scratch the lord's throat. So the freshest Sanma in all of Edo is served to the lord as soup; without fat and bones and in a very fancy bowl with a lid on it. - "What's this? Sanma should be long and black; are you sure this is Sanma?" "Yes yes, it's Sanma" The Rakugo-ka mimed the moment to eat that soup, spitting it out immediately afterwards "Yuck! Where did you get this- this Sanma?" "My cook went to the fish market in Nihombashi that has the best Sanma in all of Edo" "Huh? This isn't the best Sanma, everyone know that the best Sanma comes from Meguro!"” - "This was my first time at a Rakugo show, but I’m already waiting to go to another one"

"I'm happy you liked it" he took their arm and walked away with them.                                                                       He took them toward one of the great streets of the city, keeping them close as they walked

"So? So? Where are we going?" they asked, pulling his shirt like a child

"You’ll see" he didn’t even look down the face they were making for him to change his mind "I'll say just that a friend of mine runs it, so you'll eat well"

"So you're bringing me at a romantic dinner"

"Not in a super fancy and expensive restaurant, so I hope you'll like it anyway"

"If you like it so much you want to take me, I’m sure it will be one of the best I’ve ever tried; today I understood that your tastes are very reliable" they followed him, arriving at some point on a road near the river that was empty "This place is pretty isolated" they looked around them, noticing also that the sky darkened as the sun went down

"That’s one of the things that makes me love this place" he stopped for a second, looking up to the sky and moving away from them for a moment "What time is it?" he looked at them"

"Um, it’s almost eight o’clock; why?"

"Someone has to eat too, you know" he then whistled into the air, making as much noise as possible to be sure of an answer "We can go in the meantime"

"What did you do?" they asked looking back

"Wait some seconds and you’ll see" they pouted at him, tired of always being kept on the edge, understanding what-, or better, who Simon called when she heard a scream, a screech, approaching them but stopped once that two sharp “paws” landed on Simon’s shoulder

"Taka!" they smiled but took a few steps away from him as they know he still doesn’t really like them "You gave him a new bandana! He’s so cute" they greeted him with her hand

"I thought he deserved a change of style" he scratched the back of his head and under his beak, taking then a packet of pieces of dried meat from his jacket’s pocket

"Can I try to feed him?" they said hesitantly

"If you want to try it’s ok, he’s still a chick, so he should stay calm" he patted his head with his finger, passing the packet to them and stopping from walking

"If he bites me, I’ll cry" they said laughing, taking a piece of meat and bringing it close to him, trembling with their hand, breathing a sigh of relief when he took the dried meat and not their skin.

"See? It’s easy" he let him fly free again moving his shoulder suddenly, noting that the sky was now only a single cloud

"You do it every day, easy to say that" fortunately they arrived shortly after it started to rain. They remained behind his back, looking around and waiting for him to lead the way

"Heyo Simey!" a short boy approached them and Simon walked to greet him

"Hey pillock" he patted him on the back as a greeting

"Stop calling me like that" he punched his arm and his eyes fell on the other person with him "Oh, you're that friend of his? Nice to meet you! I’m Bucky!" he took their hand and shook it

"It’s nice to meet you too" they approached as if pulled by him

"Every time Simey comes here to eat, he always talks about you. He’s completely in l- Ouch!" he stopped when Simon’s hand hit his head

"Silence, that’s enough." He sighed and didn’t even look at them

"You can use your words instead of your hands; they’re harsher but lighter" Bucky looked at him badly and passed before him "Take a seat and let him eat so maybe he calms down" he said in a low voice, looking at them

"I can hear you, you know"  he made Bucky run straight into the kitchen as he spoke

"You’re unbearable" they pinched his hand looking at him

"He’s used to it" he laughed softly at their face, moving his eyes to the window after a thunder

"Shouldn’t you call Taka back? It’s dangerous for him to fly around with thunders"

"I was thinking about it" he got up and went out, whistling immediately after a thunder to prevent Taka from not hearing him, coming back inside with a soaked chick in his arms

"Aww wait a second" they took a jacket from their bag, opening it and wrapping Taka in it

"Is he alright?" Bucky returned with two menus and some water, looking at Taka

"He’s just wet, nothing hurt him" Simon answered, patting Taka’s wing

"He’s strong" they adjusted her jacket like a nest to keep Taka warm as soon as the orders, kindly advised by Simon, arrived "Anyway, thank you for bringing me here" they smiled at him, separating the two chopsticks

"If it hadn’t started raining, it would have been a perfect day, but we have to settle" he moved the soba in the broth, adding some soy sauce to it

"But I enjoyed it and I’m still doing it! Hearing you laugh at the theatre was the best part of course" they smiled and imitated him in mixing the soba

"That’s why you chose a Rakugo show instead of any other kind of show?"

"I chose it because you wanted to go see one, and because it was comic, so I could hear you laugh" they blew on the soba to cool it and make it edible before tasting it.

He just smiled as an answer, having some blush in his cheeks, trying to hide it eating. When Taka recovered, he started to hop around their table, searching for food "He can eat this meat right?" they took a piece of meat from their bowl, blowing on it so as not to burn Taka’s mouth

"He prefers it raw, but even if boiled it shouldn’t disgust him" they gave it to him with the chopsticks once it was cool, happy that Taka ate it willingly, like the rest of their leftover

"And with that, he dined too" Simon said as he stretched himself, hitting his belly "Did you enjoy?" he looked for a second outside the window, seeing the rain still falling

"Yes! We should come here more often now that I know how good this food is" they stood up to stretch too "Now we need a good run in the rain to digest" they took Taka and put him back in their jacket, going then to pay with Simon

"I can’t pay for myself right?"

"You paid for both the theatre tickets, so no, you can’t" he patted Taka’s head, thinking about how to go back home without drowning in the rain "This rain isn’t going to stop soon, so we’ll have to get wet" he took off his jacket and covered them when they approached him

"And you?" they looked at him, trying to cover at least his head too

"Don’t worry about me, think about Taka" he patted their head laughing, saying goodbye to Bucky before going out.

After nearly half an hour, they found repair at Simon’s house, running inside at the speed of light "Go take a hot shower or you’ll get a cold"

"Can you please stop worrying about me as if I’m a kid?" they released Taka from their chest, placing their jacket on a chair

"Because you are a kid to me; or at least, a kid definitely dressed lighter than me and who might freeze faster than me" he touched their forehead, sighing and going toward his bedroom

"Go in the shower, I’ll bring you some clothes". He returned then in the bathroom with some of his clothes "These clothes should fit you, tell me if you want something else"

"They're ok, thanks" they smiled, but in the meantime, they pushed him out of the bathroom

"As if there’s a problem with seeing you undress" he rested his back on a wall next to the door "I already seen everything there’s to see; you thin back and every detail of your thighs. Oh and, I already saw also your-" he was interrupted when they suddenly opened the door, red like a tomato "-Embarrassed face as I admired it all" they were so close to punching him, but all they could do was lock themself into the bathroom to ignore him. When they came out, they kept their gaze away from him, still embarrassed by his words

"A tiny lion entered the room" he passed a hand on their still warm hair, kissing them quickly before taking his turn in the shower.

They just sat on the carpet, sighing and trying to get Taka’s attention from where he was. They patted him slowly, still scared, since they knew they weren’t too appreciated by the raptor, but strangely he was accepting their attention; he started it. They were interrupted by the sound of the entrance door opening, and Aura entering "Hello Ms. Aura!"

"Now I’m a miss? What are you doing here? And where’s that weeb?" she threw her stuff on the table, hugging them as if they were her younger sibiling

"I’m here because we were out together and since it started raining I took refuge here; he’s under the shower now"

"Oh great, I hope he made you eat" she went to her room, slamming her hand on the bathroom door in the meantime "Don’t even think about letting them sleep with you tonight, I forbid it; and hurry up in there!" He actually came out minutes after, still drying his hair with a towel "Aura came back?" he sat on the sofa, keeping a hand on his head

"Oh yes, you heard her?" they laughed, showing in the meanwhile Taka to Simon

"W-What have you done to him?" he laughed as soon as he saw him

"He trusted me so I made him beautiful! I dried all of his feathers, I combed them and I changed his bandana with a dried one; you like him?" they laughed too when Taka flew on Simon’s leg

"He’s handsome, like his owner"

"Oh please" they took a pillow from the sofa and threw it to him

"You’re saying I’m not handsome?" he threw it back to them

"Probably" they approached him and rested their chin on his knee, smiling innocently, managing to receive a kiss from him like that, a gentle and slow one, which was however interrupted when he hit their forehead with his finger

"Rude"

"Me?! You’re the one who just hit me!"

"Revenge" he was so calm, but deep inside he was laughing like a devil

"Treat them well you emo weeb!" Aura’s voice thundered from the hallway, scaring both of them that then ended up laughing like two idiots.

  "Choose; Samurai or Ninja?" he looked at them, taking the remote control in hand

"For?"

"Choose." They saw the remote in his hand, so they understood

"Samurai I guess"

"And samurai it is" he grabbed their arm and pulled her on the sofa with him, putting an episode of the Steel Samurai "We can do the entire rewatch of it if you want"

"I already like the theme, so I’m completely ok!" they nestled in his arms and after a while, Taka joined them, as if he too, was interested

"Don’t turn them in a weeb too, please" Aura sighed before that scene, shaking her head

"At least they try to look into what I like, ignorant’ Simon looked into her eyes as if to challenge her, but it took Aura less than a second to turn her heels and walk away, surrendered. 

------------------------------- Just here for a useless thought but, the UR-1 Incident will take place on the 7th of October this year! Probably someone at Nasa will be killed or something OwO In doubt, I’ll mark it on the calendar XD Maybe an irl Simon will appear, who knows ¯\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/��

[sweets-fanfics]

Homecoming 9

Title: Bear

Word count: 2248

warning: Fluff af

Tags: @rollyjogerjones

A/N: most of the Chapter is Arthur’s POV because he’s a big soft and I love him.

---

 At the crack of dawn, Arthur decides it should be time for them to go. He had a special surprise to cheer you up. When he was out looking for the bastard he had run into a lady whose dog had had puppies. When the lady showed Arthur he saw a bunch of tiny brown pups all sleeping soundly.

 Arthur right away asked if they were ready for sale. She happily said yes and even tried to have him take one that day, “No, I’ll come back tomorrow if it’s okay. I wanted my girl to pick the one she wants out.”

 “Oh, ain’t that just the sweetest.” the lady had squealed.

 Arthur walked into your tent and lightly taps your shoulder. You’re asleep on your stomach with your face away from Arthur. He can hear your soft snoring which makes him smile a bit. “Y/N, come on let’s go.” Arthur hears you grumble as your pulled from sleep.

 “Why are we goin’ so early?” You said in a groggy voice.

 “Come on now, I got ya some coffee.” Ah, the magic word to wake you up. You slowly start to roll over and sit up. Arthur almost falls in love all over again as he sees your cute bed head as you stretch in your bed. “Here ya go princess.” He jokes as he hands you your cup.

 “Thank you, cowboy.” You mumble taking a sip. You let out along. ‘Ahh’ after making Arthur chuckle. He leans down and kisses the top of your head.

 “We gotta long ride so get dressed.”

 “Henry hid my horse.”

 “I found her yesterday. He checked her into the stable in Saint Denise. We can pick her up on the way.”

 She gave Arthur a smile so warm and beautiful that he almost forgot about the black eye. It seemed to be starting to yellow around the edges. But every time he saw it he wanted to kill the man who did it. When he had found him in Rhodes the day before he was in the saloon in town bragging about how he had had the most ‘amazing’ sex. It took literally everything in Arthur to not shoot him right then and now but when he thought of how disappointed you would be in him he was able to walk away.

 Arthur hopped up on to his horse and waited patiently for you. When you walked over you had on a green skirt and white button-up blouse. Kinda like the one you were wearing the day he met you. You were finishing up braiding your hair over your shoulder.

 “Don’t you look pretty,” Arthur said as he pulled you up in front of him.

 “I only wore a skirt in case you try to take me somewhere fancy. But just in case you don’t,” You lifted your skirt a bit to show you had black pants on underneath.

 Arthur chuckled as he started his horse. “Oh, I thought of a name for my horse finally.”

 “What did ya choose?”

 “Athena, I heard you and Henry fighting over a goddess or somethin’ like that the other day and it got stuck in my mind.” Arthur felt quite proud of himself.

 “That’s a lovely name, Athena is my favorite goddess. She’s the goddess of wisdom and warfare but also may other things.” You explained.

 “Is that so?”

 “Yes, she’s a tough, versatile woman.” You smiled.

 “Just like you.” Arthur nudged your arm a bit.

 “Pfft, hardly.”

 “Well, you play multiple instruments, you can shoot, your tough as hell. I say you are exactly like Athena.” Arthur could see your cheeks turn red.

 “I’m not wise though…”

 “Ah, I think ya are.”

 “Thank you, Arthur.”

 “No problem… princess.” Arthur heard her sigh a bit. He could almost imagine her rolling her eyes and smiling. “You talk to your dad?”

 “No, only Hosea, whenever I’m near him he just hovers. And I get somethin’ shitty happened, but hovering doesn’t make me feel any better.” You explain to him, Arthur rubs your arm trying to calm you down.

 “You’re gonna break your daddy’s heart.” Arthur joked.

 “Maybe I’ll talk to him after we kill that bastard.” Arthur can tell by the way your shoulders drop that you’re feeling sad again. He leans forward and kisses the top of your head softly.

 He slows down as the two of you near the stable. You hop off before he even stops.

 As you land on the ground your hurt leg buckles a bit but as you head towards the ground Arthur grabs the back of your shirt and pulls you back to your feet.

 You turn and look at him embarrassed but then continue inside. As he follows you in he can hear you call to Suzie.

 “Oh, my baby! Did my mean brother hide you?” You pulled out a cloth from your bag and when you unwrap it there’s a handful of strawberries. Arthur smiles as you feed them to Suzie happily. “Sir,” you call to the stable hand, “Can I get my horse out? My brother stabled her as a mean trick.”

 “Yeah yeah, he said you’d probably find her.” The man walked over and unlocked the stable door.

 He had to quickly jump back because Suzie started to plow through so that she could get to you faster. The stable hand looked terrified. Arthur pulled out a couple of bucks and gave it to him. “I apologize, the horse only really likes her.” Arthur patted his shoulder before following you out as you hugged Suzie.

 Arthur noticed how Suzie kept trying to rub your black eye. As if she could tell how hurt you were and was trying to help. “Where to now, Mr. Morgan?” You ask as you pull yourself onto Suzie.

 “Now it’s time for your surprise.”

 “Oo, I do enjoy those.” You say trotting behind him and Athena. “Is it in town?”

 “Nah, it’s a bit further. We are halfway there.” Arthur could hear you sigh a bit but when he peeked back at you you had the biggest smile. Your smile alone made his heart start to melt. He kept asking himself how he had got so lucky with someone like you.

 During the ride, Arthur could hear you singing to yourself. He didn’t call attention to it because he was afraid you’d stop. So he quietly listened enjoying the pretty ride.

 When he got to the cottage where the lady had said he saw her sitting out front.

 “You made it.” She called and waved at both of you.

 “Arthur, where are we?” You ask. You look unsure if you want to get off of Suzie, but when you see Arthur hop down you follow.

 “This must be your girl.” The lady smiles.

 “How do you do?” You say shyly.

 “I’m doin’ just fine. Come on inside.” The lady turns and heads for the door. “I’d hurry up and follow, they like to try and make an escape whenever I get to the door.”

 “Who?” You ask as the lady opens the door and seven brown puppies run out and head right for you and Arthur. “Oh my goodness!” You squeal and sit on the ground. All the pups surround you begging for pets and kisses.

 Arthur knelt down next to you, “You can pick one out.” He says softly.

 You turn and look at him in shock. He takes in your shocked smile and bright red cheeks, “Really?”

 “Of course, I met this fine lady yesterday, said she’s tryin’ to sell them and I told her how I knew the perfect mom for one of them.” You pull him closer and give him a big long kiss before turning your attention back to the puppies to make your choice.

 Arthur stands up and walks to the lady with his face feeling warm. “How much should I give you?” He asked starting to reach for his money.

 “Don’t worry about it.” The lady puts her hand on his arm stopping him.

 “Are… Are you sure?”

 “Her eye… She’s been through somethin’ nasty, this is the least I could do for the both of you.” The lady smiles at Arthur sadly.

 “Arthur,” You call making him turn his focus on you. He sees you holding a tubby little brown pup over your head as you smile, “This one.”

 Arthur chuckles and walks up to you as the lady starts to round up the other pups. “He sure is adorable. You got a name in mind?” He scratches the pup’s head who already seems very comfortable in your arms.

 You hum as you think of a name, “Bear, ‘cause he looks like a little baby bear.” Bear yawns and lays his head on your shoulder. You look up at Arthur in surprise. “He likes me.” You whisper.

 “That he does, I guess we should head back now. Will you be able to carry him or do you want me to do it for ya?” You shake your head and head to Suzie.

 “Suzie, this is Bear, you gotta be nice to him okay?” Arthur watches you as you let Suzie sniff the pup in your arms.

 You climb on Suzies back with Bear still laying against you like a baby. “You got it?” Arthur asks you one more time as he climbs on Athena.

 “Yeah, let’s hurry home so I can show Henry and Jack.”

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

 The two of you get back into camp around dusk. Bear stayed asleep for most of the ride, very comfortable with his new momma. You kiss his floppy ears as you carefully climb off of Suzie. You feel Arthur’s hands around your waist as he helps.

  He must have hurried off of Athena to help you,    you think to your self. When you’re safely on the ground you adjust Bear so that he’s in your arms like a little loaf of bread.

 You spot Jack first as he sits by Abigail. “Jack, look at this.” You call running over and sitting on the ground by him.

 “Whoa. Auntie Y/N you got a puppy?” Jack asked as he rubbed Bear’s head.

 “Arthur got him for me, I named him Bear.”

 “He looks like a bear, Momma look.” Abigail leans over and pets Bear.

 “How cute. He seems to really like you, Y/N.”

 “He slept with his head on my shoulder the entire ride back.” Bear sits up and licks Jack’s face making the boy fall back laughing.

 “Auntie Y/N maybe Bear will like Cain.”

 “Who’s Cain?” You ask confused.

 “Oh, a stray who has been hangin’ around camp. Jack named him.” Abigail explained.

 You stood up holding on to Bear. “I can’t wait to meet him, I’m goin’ to go find Henry.”

 “He’s been with Auntie Tilly all day,” Jack said pointing to the fire.

 When you turn to look you see Tilly, and Henry sitting very close to each other on the log. Also sitting at the fire is Micah, Hosea, and your father.

 You take a deep breath and walk over. Bear seems to be able to tell your nervous and keeps trying to lick your face. You look around for Arthur not being able to see him in that exact moment. It was going to be just you and Bear.

 “Henry, I gotta show ya somethin’,” You say to him.

 “Can it wait, I’m kinda- Is that a dog?” He stares at Bear who is only inches from his face. “Did you steal a dog?” That makes everyone look over.

 “Henry, no!” You say embarrassed. “Arthur got him for me, his name is Bear.”

 “Let me get a look at him,” Hosea says. You walk over and lift Bear a bit so Hosea can see. Bear immediately tries to lick Hosea which makes him laugh. “He seems like a very healthy boy. Good choice.”

 You turn a bit and show Dutch, “How about you, Pa?”

 Dutch leans forward a bit to get a closer look. Bear hesitates a bit but finally tries to attack Dutch with kisses as well.

 “We already gotta deal with Jack’s mutt now you bring him another dog?” Micah asks groaning.

 “I didn’t ask your opinion, Mr. Bell.” You say in a bitter tone. Bear looks over towards Micah and starts to growl.

 “Ugh, he seems like an ass.”

 “Bear is very sweet, he can just tell when people are mean.” You say as Tilly pets Bear with no problem.

 “Labs are good guard dogs, Dutch.” She says in case Dutch wasn’t convinced of him staying yet.

 “As long as Y/N takes care of him and trains him, I don’t see a problem,” Hosea adds.

 As you turn and look at your dad you see him look directly at your black eye and sigh, “Yes, you may keep the dog.” Is all he says before he stands up and heads to his tent.

 “He’s mad at me.” You mumble.

 “No, he’s been in that mood all day. He’s pouting that you won’t let him…” Hosea’s voice dies a bit, “Ya know.”

 Hosea saying that reminds you of Arthur’s promise. You hurry and find him sitting at the table with John. You still have Bear in your arms as you approach him. As he looks up he can see the look in your eye which tells him what you are going to ask him.

 “Arthur,” You say in a serious tone. “It’s time to tell me.”

[takaraphoenix]

percy jackson for the ask game

Thanks for playing! ^^

Top 5 favourite characters: Percy Jackson, Nico di Angelo, Clarisse la Rue, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Silena Beauregard

Other characters you like: Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Thalia Grace, Leo Valdez, Charles Beckendorf, Tyson

Least favourite characters: Hera, uuuhm I mean Drew I guess and Nancy?? I don’t know, I’ve gone through so many cycles with PJO, I’ve come around on most characters

Otps: again, let’s make that a Top Five? Nico/Percy, Jason/Percy, Octavian/Percy, Triton/Percy, Will/Pery

Notps: Percy/Annabeth, Leo/Calypso, Grover/Percy, Tyson/Percy, book Luke/Percy

Favourite friendships: Canon? Grover & Percy, Clarisse & Percy, Nico & Reyna

Favourite family: I meeean technically they are ALL family since all of the gods are siblings/cousins! ;D Okay, okay. Paul, Sally, Percy and Tyson! A very obvious pick

Favourite episodes: doesn’t have a TV show adaptation yet? xD

Favourite season/book/movie: The Battle of the Labyrinth

Favourite quotes: not really a quote-kinda-gal

Best musical moment: haven’t gotten to see the musical yet!

Moment that made you fangirl/boy the hardest: I mean obviously when black on white it was confirmed that Nico was in love with Percy? Like? You can imagine, yes? :D

When it really disappointed you: …so often *whispers softly, voice breaking* but to sum it up basically from The Mark of Athena through to the end. The above mentioned confession was honestly like the only highlight out of those three books...

Saddest moment: WHEN THEY KILLED OFF BECKENDORF AND THEN KILLED OFF SELINA. I CRIED THE WHOLE FUCKING DAY

Most well done character death: Luke’s death was shit, Ethan’s death was frustrating because it was a cheap cop out of an actual redemption arc I really hate the “chose the wrong side and now immediately dies in a Heroic Sacrifice”-trope (which plays into why Luke’s death was shit), Bianca’s death was ridiculous - the fact that out of ALL of the Huntresses they picked the one who had been a huntress for 0.2 DAYS was just pathetic and literally projectd “this 12 year old child with zero combat training is totally gonna die” all along and it pisses me off so much, while Silena and Beckendorf made me cry they were also frustrating because they were avoidable had people used their brains, Octavian’s death genuinely made me furious because it was played for cheap laughs... I guess Bob and Damansen by default then...?

Favourite guest star: uuuuuuuh I got nothing

Favourite cast member: Leven Rambin as Clarisse la Rue?? Holy shit blessed casting thank you

Character you wish was still alive: ...one? I only get one? *distressed Phoe-noises* Silena? Charles? Ethan? Urgh. How dare you make me pick only one...

One thing you hope really happens: ...I know there are people out there still reading the new books and I wouldn’t wish this for them because they clearly still enjoy it, but good gods do I wish Riordan would just finally stop and give Percy a rest. Like, not even stop writing - he could write new things. but stop dragging Percy Jackson personally into everything, be that visiting the Norse because hey it’s his gf’s cousin, or getting dragged into Apollo’s weird shit, seriously just... move on, please

Most shocking twist: quite truthfully that Ares was the traitorous god in The Lightning Thief and not Hades. I am so used to Hades being painted as The Bad Guy and the Evil Mastermind bullshit that it was genuinely so refreshing that no actually he’s just wronged because he wants his property back too and he’s not actually the bad guy??

When did you start watching/reading?: 2010, I guess, right after I saw the movie for the first time

Best animal/creature: BLACKJACK BLACKJACK BLACKJACK. No wait Mrs. O’Leary is also there! :O Both? Both!

Favourite location: THE UNDERWORLD

Trope you wish they would stop using: Everyone Needs To Be Paired Up! Seriously, obsessive shipping in canon is cringey but if you have a literal ship with seven crewmates and it turns out to be three couples and the seventh is first in a Love Triangle with one of the couples and THEN gets his own girlfriend, that’s... that’s genuinely pathetic, like I would raise a judgemental eyebrow at a fanfiction that ships everyone off this perfectly paired up, but a published actual work that is not the author’s very first publication? That’s embarrassing, man

One thing this show/book/film does better than others: portrayal of Greek gods and myths

Funniest moments: snarky Percy sassing gods :D

Couple you would like to see: This implies a non-canon couple I’d like to see become canon and just honestly, genuinely, none, good gods there is already too much romance as it is, dial it back

Actor/Actress you want to join the cast: honestly, the second movie took the two only fancasts that were dear to me and actually cast them. Anthony Head as Chiron and Nathan Fillion as Hermes. That was such perfect casting and were my only casting wishes, so like... I got nothing

Favourite outfit: Clarisse’s movie outfit?? It’s? So? Good??

Favourite item: I mean, Riptide is really practical?

Do you own anything related to this show/book/film?: A very dear friend of mine gave me the movie poster for the second movie and it is hanging on my ceiling :D But other than that, sadly enough this franchise is not exactly heavy on merch - which is ridiculous to me... the opportunities. Please make this into a cartoon and start producing ALL of the figures and toys. All of them. Seriously, the toy opportunity on this franchise is so huge??

What house/team/group/friendship group/family/race etc would you be in?: uuuuuuh honestly no god really fits me so I don’t know

Most boring plotline: Annabeth’s third book side-quest really bore me

Most laughably bad moment: When they had a prophecy about an “angel’s breath” and Annabeth Chase, daughter of ATHENA, stood right there, not figuring it out - but Piper did. That... That did Annabeth such a freaking disservice, seriously the disrespect from Riordan there. Why did you even make her a daughter of wisdom if you aren’t going to use her to be clever? That actively made me bang my head against the nearest wall because it was such an obvious part of the riddle like seeeriously

Best flashback/flashfoward if any: I loved learning more about Annabeth, Luke and Thalia’s past together

Most layered character: I mean Percy, but that’s also due to getting five books exclusively from his POV

Most one dimensional character: lol like the dozen or so characters who only exist as First Name Only? And yeah, I get it, you can’t flesh them all out more. But Jason Grace had a whole-ass life before he came to CHB and we got name-drops of his closest friends in The Lost Hero, but most of them remained a name only and Jason not only didn’t get to team up with them later on, to try and convince them to join his cause, he also never actively thought about them. I don’t know, but if I’d spend months away from all my friends, I would definitely spend some of my POV thinking about them...

Scariest moment: thiiis was not a scary series

Grossest moment: When Riordan tried to sell domestic violence as cute, aka Annabeth judo-flipping her boyfriend in punishment for getting abducted by a goddess :D”““ what the fuq

Best looking male: if we go by actors, I guess Chris Rodriguez? xD

Best looking female: oooh definitely Clarisse when we go with the movie faces *^*

Who you’re crushing on (if any): mmmh yeah no

Favourite cast moment: I do not know any xD”

Favourite transportation: shadow-travel! It’s so cool

Most beautiful scene (scenery/shot wise): them entering the underworld was pretty damn cool??

Unanswered question/continuity issue/plot error that bugs you: NICO’S AGE. CONSISTENCY. Stop posting things that contradict each other like just stop tweeting canons out if you don’t have a fixed list of what is canon. ALSO SALLY’S MOTHER IS NAMED LAURA, SHE WAS NAMED LAURA FOR YEARS BEFORE YOU FORGOT THAT YOU NAMED THAT CHARACTER LAURA AND NOW SALLY NAMED HER CANON DAUGHTER FUCKING ESTELLE AFTER HER MOTHER’S NEW NAME. Good gods. How do professional authors not have lists to crosscheck about vital information of their own characters, like their birthdates and their parents’ names.

Best promo: I don’t watch promos

At what point did you fall in love with this show/book: Honestly before I watched the movie already, when I read on wikipedia that a son of Hades was not just A Good Guy in this bookseries but also a main character :D

IN DEPTH FANDOM QUESTIONS

[packsbeforesnacks]

Contact Improv || Blanche, Orion, & Winn

TIMING: Tuesday, February 11th, 2020, Early Afternoon LOCATION: UMWC PARTIES: @harlowhaunted, @3starsquinn, & @packsbeforesnacks SUMMARY: Blanche tries to exit out a fifth-story window. Orion kisses a wolf and likes it. Winn unleashes his personal trauma on some freshman. WARNINGS: None.

Acting class had to be one of the most stressful parts of Orion’s day, and that was saying something. He had switched into the class the week prior, after dropping a class that his sister had joined at the last possible minute. He spent enough time around her.

With the late notice and the already limited amount of availability for entry level classes, he had been down to only a few options. From the moment Rio had walked into the class his hair stood at the back of his neck. He had felt this same feeling a few times before. There was a supernatural creature somewhere in the class.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have much time to dwell on it, as the teacher, Miss Darbussy, had embarrassed Rio half to death by putting him on the spot to introduce him to the other students. After, Rio had scurried to the back of the class and hidden there for the rest of the class.

Now, a few classes down the road he had safely remained mostly unnoticed in the classroom. He always found a seat towards the back and tried making himself as small as possible and trying his best to disappear from existence. Now if only he could keep this up for the rest of the semester.

Introduction to Theatre was the bane of Blanche’s existence, but for Winn it was just another Tuesday. Winn knew the former fact for a number of reasons — not least of which was Blanche’s griping (and his complaining back, in solidarity) about the class any chance that she had. Today seemed… different, though, and not only because Blanche had begged Winn to let her skip another class. But Winn didn’t want to see Darbussy’s face (or feel her wrath, by simple association with Blanche), nor did he want Blanche’s GPA to tank because she was being dramatic (ha), and so he’d driven them both in.

Then, on the elevator ride to the fifth floor, he sensed it. He heard her heartbeat pounding, knew the telltale signs of fight-or-flight from years of experience as both a wolf and a psychology student. So, he did what any reasonable person would do and, as the elevator chimed that they’d hit the fourth floor, sighed deeply, and said, “Don’t.”

And, because really saying it aloud was more of a Band-Aid solution, Winn reached out with his good arm and hoisted the shorter woman up and over his shoulder as they hit the fifth floor. “C’mon, B. You’ll survive.” He ignored the stares from the faculty and students as he made his way to the room, as well as the hole that Blanche’s glare was burning into his back. (And thank fuck he’d kept her hands away from his nips, eesh.)

Darbussy tittered as they entered the studio, mumbling something about the “drama” of it all. Great. Grimacing, Winn deposited Blanche into one of the Department-standard padded floor chairs, gripping her hand tight within his as he sat down next to her. He looked at the new kid from across the room, waved sunnily (mostly to bug Blanche), and ignored Marissa’s pointed gaze — Blanche could take her.

“Don’t make me go—” she had said it at least a hundred times on the drive over, another fifty on the way to the building, and at least twenty-five on the way to the elevator. Blanche was not happy and it was because of fucking Orion Quinn of all people. Or, as she remembered solemnly, Onion as she called him repeatedly because she forgot how to make the Or sound with her mouth. How embarrassing. She had a plan though. Blanche decided it between floors two and three, and was gearing up to absolutely fucking book it out of the elevator and hurtle herself down the emergency staircase when Winn clearly caught onto her plan.

Well what the fuck was he going to do about it? Carry her?

That was exactly what he did. As a smaller human, she was used to being jerked and pulled around, and hell, Alain had literally thrown her the other day. It just made her even more mad that she was used to it, that Winn had just plucked her off the ground like an angry cat, and strode into class with her like that. Blanche waited till she was deposited safely on the padded chair and immediately tried to bolt —

Oh, wait, Winn was holding her hand like she was a five year old. She shot him a glare. “You’re the worst,” Blanche grumbled, crankily settling in her chair. No getting out of it now. She looked ahead, all the color in her face draining when she saw Orion from across the room. “Oh no, Winn this is! So! Bad! He probably hates me!”

“AS I WAS SAYING—” Darbussy interjected loudly and dramatically. “We are all going to experience scene work — we’re working on the dynamic shifts between each other and how power shifts between actors. And why don’t our late arrivals, Mr. Woods and Ms. Harlow, join our newcomer, Mr. Quinn, to start us off?”

The last two that walked into class were a shock to Orion in a lot of ways. He hadn’t expected Blanche Harlow to walk — or rather, be carried through the classroom doorway and join the class. Orion had figured that his one off with Blanche the other night had been exactly that — a one off. He was fully prepared to never see her again, but fate had apparently had different plans. And if Orion knew anything about fate, it was that fate sucked ass. But even more shocking than that, was Winn. Of course, he had picked Winn out of the group right away. Easily the tallest in the class, Winn’s seemingly carefree nature and habit of waving at anybody that he made eye contact with had been dangerous to Orion. Just like the other classes, Winn waved at Orion as he carried Blanche to their seats, Orion giving a small wave before realizing how ridiculous he was and face planting his forehead against his lap.

Still, that hadn’t been the part that had shocked him. It was that feeling that Orion got when his parents had set the werewolf loose on him and Athena. The goosebumps that had prickled at his skin and hummed at him. Until now, he had only known that it was somebody in the class. But the late arrival of Blanche and Winn coupled with the sudden appearance could only mean one thing. Winn must have been a werewolf. That complicated things even further.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard his name being called. He perked up from his near fetal position, meeting the eyes of Miss Darbussy and finally connecting the rest of the dots to what she had just said. Rio’s eyes grew wide and his face felt flush, he could only imagine how red it must be. He was stupid to think that he could have escaped this all semester, but he had hoped he would at least make it a couple more weeks. Not to mention, Winn and Blanche? This was the absolute worst case scenario. “Oh uh — Ma’am. I don’t want to ruin the scene or anything. Maybe someone else should go first so I can, uh… observe?” He tried his best to get out of what could only be the single most horrifying experience he could possibly imagine.

“Oh no, acting is learning by doing. There is no such thing as ruining a scene, there’s only such things as a scene running flat — and if a scene runs flat, we fix it. It’s that simple, Mr. Quinn, now please, join me up here. And Mr. Woods and — oh for the love of God, Ms. Harlow can you two stop gripping each other like you’re both going to die. Get up here. Now!”

At his core, at his most essential self, Winn knew he just wanted to please others. It was something he’d worked through, first with the pack, and then in therapy for a few years. There were times when it was helpful — like when he needed to charm the pants off someone who was angry at him — and times where it overwrote his impulse control, and he just moved as quickly as possible to fix whatever was wrong.

A stern voice from an old white lady might, in retrospect, be a trigger of Winn’s. He wasn’t proud of the way he yanked Blanche up off the ground, mumbling a “sorry” (RIP to her arm) before letting go of her hand, or of the way he scurried up, tail between his legs, to stand at the front of the studio. He took some deep breaths. He could do this. He lifted his head, regarding the rest of the class — and avoiding Marissa’s gaze, Christ — with a smile that, he hoped, read as cheerful and even a little dopey.

He understood the newbie’s hesitation, but, really, how bad could it possibly go?

Blanche yelped loudly in pain as she was wrenched upward. Unlike Winn, she was not afraid of the old white lady. In fact, she relished in watching them get angry. Maybe that was why her and Darbussy had such an antagonistic relationship. Blanche glowered at Darbussy.

“I could climb out that window right now,” Blanche said to Winn under her breath.

“No,” Winn said.

“I could do it, there’s a tree right there.”

“If you two are done—” Darbussy cut in, waving them over to join Orion. “I’m going to give you an improv scene. Shall we?”

“N—”

“Alright! Since you two are so… handsy today—” Blanche looked up at Winn, wrinkling her nose.

“Didn’t like that,” she muttered under her breath.

“You two are the married couple.” Blanche snorted. “With the added tension of you, Mr. Woods, have been having an affair with Mr. Quinn’s wife. Would any of you like to explain the struggles of tension and power here?”

“After you, newbie,” Winn said, gesturing to Orion and winking.

At the teacher’s insistence, Orion crawled up from the chair and slumped towards the front of the room to stand with Winn and Blanche. For wildly different reasons, they both made him extremely nervous.

He kept his head trained at the ground at all times, only glancing up when someone spoke. “My uh—my wife?” Orion asked, laughing nervously which sent him into a fit of coughing. His wife. Clearly this wasn’t meant to be realistic. He made the mistake of looking up to Winn when he spoke and caught the man's wink at the wrong moment. Orion’s mouth went completely dry and he struggled to form anything close to a coherent sentence for what felt like minutes.

“I — uh— well— um, you see…” Orion fumbled through words and finally paused to take a deep breath. His voice was still shaky but at least he was able to speak in full sentences. “So, uh, clearly the tension is a man confronting another man about the affair.” He hated being here. He was smarter than this. His brain was practically the one useful thing about him, something his family had constantly reminded him of since childhood. But even that damned thing was useless as soon as he was in front of a crowd or hot guy.

“And I guess the struggle of power will be shown through us two... uh, fighting for control of the scene?” Either this class needed to be over, or Orion needed to finally pass out. He didn’t care which one came first.

“Good, Mr Quinn!” Darbussy said, enthusiastically. “That is one level of tension. Would you like to explain a second leve—”

“I’m here,” Blanche said flatly. This was bad. This kind of shit made her want to just keel over and die for the hour and thirty minutes, but Orion looked like he was legit going to drop like a rock. At least she was usually joking. Darbussy turned to glare at her.

“What?”

“If I’m Winn’s wife, and On— Orion is confronting Winn about the affair with his wife in front of me, that means I know, and that probably means I didn’t already know. So Winn is, like, totally in the doghouse.” Blanche grinned cheekily.

Winn covered a laugh with a cough.

“And what are two other—”

“Layers of tension in a scene. L.O.R.T. Stuff we covered in class last week while I was sick. Initial Tension, the T, is Winn sleeping with Orion’s wife. Relationship is our relationship—” she nudged Winn with her elbow “—as husband and wife, and if we wanted to add a secondary relationship, we’re all friends. Two couples doing… things married couples do today kinds of friends. Objective is Orion pointedly telling Winn he knows about the affair with his wife. Location is — uh —”

Blanche faltered slightly, and Darbussy grinned. “Yes, Ms. Harlow?”

She thought for a moment. “... Public.” Blanche said. “We’re in a restaurant. O— Orion’s wife went to use the ladies room.” Darbussy frowned. Ha, get fucked, she was right.

“I have a question,” Winn said, with a soft frown, perfectly oblivious to the mental standoff. “Why does it have to be Orion’s wife, Professor? Doesn’t that sort of uphold the tired tropes inherent in our society, tropes which value the drama and interiority of opposite-sex couples over the drama, melodrama if you like, of same-sex couples? Isn’t it more compelling, true to life in the twenty-first century even, for the couples to have inherent troubles of attraction and a more, I don’t know, nuanced dynamic than simply an affair? Aren’t the stakes higher when it’s Orion, and not some nebulous Other, whom I’m in love with, my best friend, someone whom I didn’t know I could love until I did? Doesn’t it mean more to him if his stake in it isn’t just personal, it’s internal?”

He stopped, taking in the slack-jaw of Darbussy, of the class, of Blanche, and the look on Orion’s face. What was that look?

“What? Did I say somethin’ weird?” he asked, to no one in particular.

Everyone in the class went silent at Winn’s monologue. Clearly nobody expected him to have that much to say about a scene, especially some randomly chosen one during a class. Orion felt like he was going to puke. He could only imagine what he must have looked like to the rest of the class right now. A million things ran through his head. He wondered why Winn had been so adamant about changing things up. Was he legitimately some LGBT ally? Or had he noticed Orion staring not too discreetly at him the last couple of classes and had decided to fuck with him? He was mortified either way.

“I—uh that’s a twist,” was all Orion could think to say. Was the room suddenly baking or was he just him? He felt sweat gather at his palms and wiped at his forehead just to be safe. He was pretty sure the back of the class could hear his heart pounding right now. It was ridiculous how worked up he was getting over some stupid scene. He needed to calm down or he may legitimately puke on one of his co-stars.

“I’m not sure how believable it is that he would be in love with me,” Orion mumbled, mostly to himself at that point. He had seen the look in Darbussy’s eyes. Whether she wanted to admit defeat or not, she loved Winn’s idea. And apparently all of them had some vendetta against Orion. They clearly wanted to see him embarrassed to death. “How—how do you feel about this new development Blanche? Does it make sense for the scene?” He turned to her, non verbally begging for her assistance.

Blanche could see the annoyance on Darbussy’s face as she scowled at Winn. Really, Winn was right, but Darbussy hated Winn, but she also had this… begrudgingly proud look on her face? She loved the idea and she was going to have to admit it. Ha, get fucked. Blanche snorted, before her head snapped to Orion when he addressed her.

“Uh—” Dude! Don’t drag her into this! She could see the begging in his eyes and could practically feel the anxiety rolling off him. Blanche glanced to the window again, the only viable option to get them both out of there at this point, especially if Orion was actually looking as green as she thought. “Uh—”

“Yes, Miss Harlow, what do you think?” Darbussy asked.

Shit. Blanche’s brain went static. No! Bad! Stop that right now! Why?! “Uhhh, I think that… The scene makes sense with how Winn said,” she blurted out. Shit. That was the opposite of helping. She shot Orion an apologetic look. “But—uh—uh—the dramatics don’t come from Orion. But from Winn’s reaction!”

“And what about your reaction, Miss Harlow? To being cheated on? And with friends no less?”

Bitch, Blanche thought. “Well, I’m probably sad. But to be honest, it’s probably a good thing! Well, not a good thing, good thing, but like, if Winn’s happy with Orion, that’s good! And it probably means our marriage wasn’t working out that well in the first place, so maybe it’s really best for everyone? Right, Winn? We need a divorce!”

Winn got the sense he’d maybe done something, well, not wrong, but definitely off. Orion and Blanche were, well... stumbling was generous. (And what was that comment about it being unbelievable that Winn could love Orion? No one else had heard it, just Winn. Hmm.) He didn’t know Orion well, even a little bit, but he knew Blanche “Filthy Cave Sex” Harlow pretty well at this point, and knew when something was up. Alright, improv. He could do this, right? He’d gotten them here, and he’d lead them out. Confidence, Winner. Confidence.

“Y...eah. Yeah. I think my character has, um, trouble being honest with his feelings, some trouble expressing himself. He hasn’t been clear to Orion or to Blanche about what he wants. So, even as his heart is, like, pushing him towards Orion, Blanche is the, uh, safer choice in some ways. If he stays with her, the story of his life has been written. It’s good and predictable. And maybe he likes that.” Winn took a deep breath. Alright, this was bad, but it was good. He knew how this story continued.

“But with Orion, there’s, you know, a deep friendship that could be something so great and, um, I don’t think my character’s a bad guy. I think he’s told Orion something, but maybe not the most important things, and I think he’s let it get a little physical, but only, um, recently. But he’s,” a pause, “a little religious? So, he’s got that, um, Catholic guilt. He needs absolution. He needs to be clear, with both of them, right here and now. He needs to make… a choice.” He knows he’s looking at the ceiling, knows there’s a light blush on his cheeks, knows that there’s something in his voice that’s maybe a little too wistful, maybe a little too emotionally honest. There was a nakedness to what he was doing, and it burned at his neck and his ears.

But, being as he’d just based a character on his ex, he probably deserved whatever came next.

At this point, Winn rambling felt like he was reading Orion his last rites. But a few things piqued Orion’s curiosity. Safer Choice. Catholic Guilt. Was Winn inside Orion’s head? His family was obsessively Catholic, a religion Orion had abandoned long ago, along with any other religion. For many reasons, Orion never saw himself disclosing his sexuality to his family. Not only because of the religion, but because Orion rarely pictured himself having a future at all, and definitely not one that included his family. His family would never approve anyways, so it just seemed best to keep those things to himself. This scene, the one that Winn stood directly in front of Orion pitching to the teacher, the class, him; that was the sort of resolution Orion could never see for himself. It made the idea for the sketch all the more gut wrenching.

But Orion also understood that the longer that this planning went on, the more his torture would be prolonged. He was clearly not escaping it, unless by some miracle a fire started on the campus or the sky literally fell. The best plan now was just go jump in, get it over with and then dip out as quickly as humanly (or hunterly) possible.

“Um, I guess I — or, um, my character is feeling very confused. He probably feels backed into a corner, approached in public, in front of Winn’s wife. But in a lot of ways I think he also feels sort of, relieved? That things are finally coming to the surface and everything will be out in the open. Assuming he survives the conversation, I imagine there must be this overwhelming cathartic feeling that goes with it.” Orion shrugged, accepting his fate. “Or something, I guess.”

“Great! Now that you all have deep and personal connections with each of your characters—” Darbussy said, happily. “Do the scene!”

Blanche froze. “What?”

Darbussy looked at her expectantly. “Do the scene,” she said, slowly. “Anyone can start. Rapid fire now, remember that there’s no wrong answer, but to always be accepting. Yes and, remember?”

Blanche looked at the other two, a little fearfully.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Darbussy said, helpfully. “Start in the middle of the tension, rather than before it happens. It’ll rip the bandaid off.”

Blanche almost let out a frustrated scream. This was so terrible! Why did she have to do this?!

Finally she turned to Winn. Whatever, shoot for the moon, or something.

“I can’t believe you.”

Oh, they were just… jumping into it? Winn knew his role well, for better or for worse. Hopefully, it went better for Winn than it had for César, when he’d been here years and years ago.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I… I don’t know what else to say to make you understand, Blanche.” He looked askance, focusing on a stain from where he’d knocked over Darbussy’s coffee a few weeks ago, and hoped it looked sufficiently “torn.”

Nervous laughter started pouring from Blanche as she looked between the two. That was always a problem with her whenever they did improvised stuff, she couldn’t help it. “I—” nervous laughter. “Don’t—” Crap. Crap. Crap. Tears sprang to her eyes. Oh! Wait! That was a good thing. She could work with that! Blanche looked between the two and immediately burst into tears. “I just wanted everyone to be happy!” she wailed.

“Uh,” said Winn unhelpfully, looking away from Blanche to stare into Orion’s eyes for a long pause, searching for something. “I— What do I do, Orion?” Right, ‘cause Orion — Winn, in the actual past — was supposed to have all the answers. Super fun trip down memory lane, Winner. He sighed. “What can I do?”

Rio helplessly looked back and forth between Blanche and Winn as they began their scene. Rio forced his gaze forward, too afraid to glance out at the class who had been staring at them silently this entire time during setup. Orion’s face must have been so red that it looked like it was ready to pop. He was relieved that there was nowhere around that he could see his own reflection. All the feelings of confusion and embarrassment were building up. He needed to find a way to relieve the pressure before he passed out. Copying Blanche’s tears seemed tacky, but not exactly unnatural for a scene full of emotion. It only took a tiny bit of motivation for the tears to start rolling down his own cheeks.

“I—I don’t know what you want me to say…” Orion’s voice was barely a whisper as it escaped his lips, but he could make that work for him. The character was confused and flustered, much like Orion. And even more like him, he hated how public Winn had made the scene. “I can’t tell you what you need,” Orion hissed, letting a single, humorless laugh escape. “And God knows I can’t make your decisions for you.” He finally risked a look around the room, now self-conscious about how long he had been staring at Winn with tears running down his eyes. “But do we really have to do this here? In front of all these people?”

Winn had never been totally comfortable, facing down multiple crying people, and, even though he knew it was all just an act, he felt a bubble of anxiety sit in the pit of his gut. Fuck.

“I didn’t—I wasn’t planning this or anything, Orion. You both,” Winn paused to glance between the both of them, his hands clenched tightly at his sides, “do you really think I’m such a coward? I just… I c—can’t.” His breath stuttered out, a soft chatter to his teeth. Shock. He remembered that. Winn hadn’t been comfortable either, especially given his status. Winn backed away from the two of them, leaning against the wall. He brought a hand to his hair, letting out a nervous laugh as he ran it through.

“I’m fucking it up. I’m fucking this all up. I’m going to lose both of you, aren’t I?” He slumped, sliding slowly down the wall. All the while, he looked at Orion, too guilty to look to Blanche. Winn remembered the way César had stared at him, ignoring Oleana. Winn had been too shocked to think about it, then, but — shit, this had probably sucked for her. He had to say something. But all that he could choke out was: “I’m sorry, Blanche,” he said again, uselessly. “I didn’t… I didn’t mean for this to happen like this. This was the last thing I wanted, but I can’t lie anymore.”

Blanche didn’t like this. Of course, Darbussy was eating this shit up, and she seemed all too delighted by the steady stream of tears that were rolling down Blanche’s face. Good one, she mentally patted herself on the back. Granny was going to be so proud. The thing that struck her panic down and actually made her feel something was the what seemed to be genuine distraught on Winn’s face and in his voice, and the I can’t lie anymore. It was like she was suckerpunched in the gut.

“Holy shit, they’re really going for it, huh?” Dray was whispering to Echo, she was pretty sure.

“Good for them! Get it!” Echo cheered quietly.

“I never asked for you to lie!” Blanche bawled, hurriedly using the sleeves of her sweater to start dabbing at her face. All her makeup was waterproof, thank god. Later, on the way home with Winn, she would make a joke about her eyeliner being on point even in the middle of a crisis, but now she could be grateful there were no eyeliner or mascara stains on her sweater. “I don’t want anyone to lie, I don’t want any of this! I just need— ” Blanche tearfully looked over to Orion. “— I just want everything to be okay and everyone to be happy and I don’t want — I never wanted — I don’t want to lose anyone! I’m sorry.”

The whole class was staring at them and Orion couldn’t have possibly been more embarrassed. All three of them were in it now. For better or worse. Definitely worse. It was too late to back out now, he supposed. It only made it worse that they were using each other’s real names. It made it that much more painful when Winn called Orion by name. “I can’t do this.” He whined, resting his face between his palms and staring at the ground. He took a deep breath, forcing tears into his eyes and then made a loud sniffling noise for dramatic effect.

“Don’t be sorry. This wasn’t you—this was…” He focused on Blanche. Despite the two’s short history he was more comfortable around her than anybody else in this class, hell maybe even this town. She could help ground him, make sure he didn’t completely lose his cool in the middle of this acting exercise. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Blanche. This was us.” Orion pointed at Winn and then back at himself. “… All us. I’m so sorry, I—” He let himself choke on his own words. For once his awkwardness and stammering could work in his favor. “I never meant to fall in love with him.”

Winn laughed, sharp. He knew his voice was harsh, bitter, but he couldn’t keep it out — or, more accurately, he had to get it out. “I didn’t even know I could fall in love with him. That’s the bitch of it all, right? It should be clawing out of me, should make me feel like crap… But…” He smiled, a little sad. “I’m sorry for how this is happening. Really, I am, Blanche. You deserve better — so, so much better. I can only hope you find it in your heart to forgive me — us.”

Orion was either very convincing, or there was something here for him, too. Winn looked him in the eyes, a step forward to him. “I’m not sorry that I fell in love with you, Orion. This feels good, feels right. And… I do love you. I love you. So much.” He could feel tears prickling at his own eyes, moved by the emotion of the memory and of his fellow actors. He leaned in. Big moves. Winn took another step forward, roped an arm around Orion’s back, and looked deep into his eyes. “Kick me if this isn’t okay,” he whispered low, before kissing Orion soundly.

This was fine. Everything was okay. Surprisingly, Orion was not freaking out as much as he thought he was going to. Once they got into the groove of the scene and they got into whatever characters they were pulling from, things didn’t seem so bad. Orion noticed that he had a habit of staring towards Blanche, only looking at Winn when he was directly speaking to him or if Orion was feeling really brave, he would glance at the class. But despite the fact that Blanche and him couldn’t really be considered friends, she was sort of a constant in Rio’s life. From childhood up to high school and now in college, they had known each other. That in itself was comforting.

“I— I’m not sorry either,” Orion managed to say, his breath catching as he realized that Winn was leaning closer to him. He heard Winn mention something about kicking him, but still hadn’t connected the dots until Winn’s lips touched Orion’s. He immediately tensed up, the new sensation shooting up his spine. He couldn’t tell if that was just from the kiss or because his werewolf senses were going haywire. If it was the latter, his body either really hated the idea of a hunter kissing a werewolf or really liked it. Since he didn’t feel like he could move anything at the moment he couldn’t really assess. The problem was… Orion knew he didn’t hate it. Even if he should. For so many reasons he should hate it.

When the kiss was over Orion stared at Winn for a long moment, his breath caught in his throat. “I—” he began finally, trying to find something to say. Something in character. “That was— I just—” Then he felt it. The pain in his chest. The trembling. Sweat collected at his palms. Not here. Not now. Please, anything but that. “I can’t do this.” He forced himself to speak aloud, before shoving past Winn and Blanche and heading for the classroom door.

He made it out into the hallway and stumbled into the bathroom, turning the faucet on and collecting water to splash onto his face. Of all the places to start a panic attack, it had to be here? He couldn’t go back into the classroom. Not in the state that he was in right now.

Blanche wasn’t able to speak real words, if only because she muffled crying had mixed into half hysterical laughter because this was getting way too deep and she laughed when things were uncomfortable. And she was certainly uncomfortable, especially with this fake situation. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve, holding up her hands defensively as she saw Winn go on for the kiss — only realizing what was happening the second before it happened. “Oh, Winn, wait—” Blanche said, eyes widening in shock. She definitely hadn’t been expecting that. Make bold choices. Or something like that. But with Orion already being the most anxious of the three, maybe that was a bad idea. “I — er — uh — uh-oh,” Blanche said, dumbly as Orion shoved past them, with a simple I can’t do this.

“And scene! Excellent—” Darbussy had started and Blanche shot her a look, looking over her shoulder. She reached out to tug on Winn’s good arm.

“I think we should go after him,” Blanche said.

“Fuck,” Winn said, going with Blanche out of the room. He took a long pull of air in through his nose, zeroing in on Orion’s scent. There was a bathroom down the hallway that seemed a likely candidate, especially since the last thing had heard from Orion had been a pounding heart. Fuck. He’d given the dude a panic attack.

It had been a good kiss, all things considered. Orion’s lips were very soft, and he smelled nice, and— Well, and Winn had maybe made a dumb move. But it hadn’t been a pass! He’d just… leaned into the moment. Maybe a bit too hard. Maybe the nostalgia was getting to him. Maybe he should reach out to Ber— No. Firm no. He had bigger problems, for one. And for another… Just. No.

He pushed the door of the bathroom open gently, gesturing for Blanche to watch the door. He’d ask later, maybe, how she knew Orion. But first. Orion looked… well, he looked like shit. But Winn wasn’t going to tell him that. Instead, he walked up to the sink, squatted, and tried to look up at the other man. Shifting power, or something. Plus, good angle for Orion if he wanted to break Winn’s nose. He started talking, low and firm, “Hey. Breathe, buddy. Just breathe. I’m sorry. That wasn’t cool of me. I’ll ask before I kiss you, next time.” He mentally swore at himself, choking out a weak laugh. “Let’s get out of here, yeah? I drove Blanche in, and I can take you home. No one’s gotta see you if you don’t want ‘em too. Promise.”

He knew Orion likely wouldn’t appreciate his touch, no matter how gentle, right now, and so grabbed a paper towel for the younger man to dry himself with when he came off the anxiety rush. It didn’t seem like a “straight person freaking out about a gay man kissing him.” But Winn wasn’t going to push, or to pry. It wasn’t his business and, besides, asking Orion if he was some flavor of queer right now felt sleazy. He needed a friend. Winn could be that.

Orion heard the footsteps. Could smell Winn coming towards him. Plus that stupid tingling feeling came back again. He really hated that feeling. He hurried to try to make himself look normal before realizing that Winn probably heard him from the classroom anyways. Orion wasn’t the only one with super senses, it seemed. Still, because he had always been told that image was everything, he couldn’t stop himself from trying to wipe the tears from his face and control his breathing before Winn got into the bathroom. It wasn’t perfect, but he was at least sort of able to calm himself down before Winn knelt down and was looking him in the eyes. Again.

Winn’s words were a jumble. On one hand, his voice was calming, but on the other than just knowing that the words were coming from somebody like him made Orion inherently nervous. Still, he was able to calm himself enough to laugh nervously at Winn. Had he just said next time? Best to ignore that. And repress that memory. Forever. Less painful that way. “Sorry— sorry it wasn’t that. It was just… all of it.” That certainly played a big factor into it, but he wasn’t about to make Winn feel worse about the situation. Because he hadn’t hated it per say. He just hated himself, for liking it. “I’m always a nervous mess. I’ll be fine.” He sniffled one last time, his breathing now back to relatively normal and he smiled, flashing a thumbs up at him. “See? Good to go.” This was so embarrassing.

Outside of the bathroom, they met up with Blanche. “Well, that was embarrassing. Can we do me a favor and just like… never talk about this again?” he begged the two. If he was lucky, maybe the teacher noticed his pain and would take pity on him for the rest of the semester.

“Your call, bro. But I wasn’t askin’ about ditchin’ the rest of Darbussy’s class. I was tellin’,” Winn said, signaling to Blanche to steer Orion out the door. Darbussy could kiss his ass, for all he cared. They’d killed the scene, for better or worse. They deserved the rest of the day to fuck off.

And off they went, a new friendship (?) forged.

[0ccuria]

What're your thoughts on how Maya and Zer0 were handled in BL3? Both in the sense of theur individual plots and the whole 'despite being best friends they never talk to each other directly' thing. I've really wanted to hear how you felt on that in specific!

whew boy this is such a loaded ask ngl lol. so I’ll give a loaded answer. sorry if I forget some details etc.. I can’t possibly remember everything

fair warning, SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS. like big huge spoilers. 

I’m so torn because these two are obviously my fave BL2 VH’s. Or just overall, really. Maya and Zer0 are held so dear and near to my heart whether they’re together or by themselves. So I was really nervous, but excited how they’d be handled.

One one hand, I really do love what they did for Zer0. It’s exactly how I’ve always imagined them, give or take a few things. There is so much positive character growth. They aren’t such a loner anymore. Being around people isn’t just tolerated.. “part of the job” etc, but it is welcomed now. They chose to be around such dorkwads that they proudly refer to as friends. This was kind of shown in TFTBL as well. They were serious about “doing things again” after Ep 5.

They are just as much of a dork as the others. They like watching sitcoms when no one is watching, they tell stupid jokes and puns, we even hear them mess up their haiku because they, too, get flustered in front of beautiful people. They just have this playful aura about them underneath all that edge that really got to shine through in 3 because now they are their own person. Not just a playable character with some funny dialogue.

They honestly had me in the first half when Zer0 went missing, and Katagawa taunting that they had joined him. I was scared that it was true mostly because…. I knew that wasn’t Zer0. They wouldn’t do that, even if they missed assassinations etc. I was scared the writers were going totally OOC. But I was extremely relieved when we were proven wrong.

Witnessing Zer0 in action had me fucking dead tho. It was sort of an out of body experience because I’ve mained Zer0 for soooo long. Seeing them slice open them doors was just… 👌👌

I’m veeeery curious to see if that line they ask about how Katagawa obtaining a copy of their suit is answered in the future because uhhhh… wtf do they mean by that?

Now.. Maya….. 😤 firstly, I also love her development. She chose to go back to the place that initially used her because of her powers. She saw that they needed help and took it upon her self to carry that responsibility, as well as Ava later on. She only wants the best for her people and Ava, even if it means being a bit of a “debbie-downer” about it sometimes. She eventually kinda became the thing she rebelled against, but she still knew how to have fun. Of course she’d ride on the back of a tactical and take down another vault monster, she is ALL about that hype. She never lost that edge.

But man… I am… SO.. fucking disappointed. Angry. Disgusted at they way she was treated. I had written a post about it a little while ago but I’ll kinda reiterate here. I really don’t know what the writers were thinking. How any of what happened was approved. It makes… NO sense at all.

Maya, the one siren that actually studied, read, and eventually taught ancient techniques, the one siren who even remotely called “Nyriad” by name, even if not aware of who that was, the siren who had the power to literally hold anyone or thing in the air and flail them around…

..is the one that gets the most embarrassing, degrading death.

She’s not given any ounce of dignity. She’s just thrown out like used tissue paper, while Lilith and Tannis both get some heavy plot armor and are allowed to be rescued and have a heroic death(so we think as of now)

And then, to make it even worse, the twins are just CONSTANTLY reminding us about it. Troy’s stupid meme video of her dying playing in various spots, and then he somehow gets to use all of these powers that Maya apparently had but we never really got to see??? How convenient for him that he JUST THEN discovered that he TOO can suck the powers out of others???? It just so happened to be Maya so that his plot could develop.

It was honestly heartbreaking to see her powers used against us in such a way. I don’t think I’ve ever felt what I did in BL3 with any other game.

I would have been okay with her dying if she had gotten a heroic death, or just one that made sense. I was expecting it ever since the trailers. I was hoping she’d get to use her powers to their full potential in order to help take down the twins, along with Lilith and Tannis. But nah.. she’s shafted like a quarter into the game.

No (real, meaningful) memorial.

No statue.

Not even a grave or mention of her on Athenas.

And this is where I get disappointed about her interactions with Zer0, or visa versa. I’m not speaking of them as a “ship” here, either. Only in a general sense.

They don’t even stand near each other. They are never in the same room together. They don’t throw back witty one liners or reminisce Pandora to each other on the Echo. It’s like they were never even friends or worked together to begin with.

Here they are on the same planet after 7 or so years.. and they never bother to meet up even once???

Sure, Zer0 mentions to say hello to her and they will mention how they were the “deadliest team” and that “she deserved better” after her death, but that’s really it. That’s all we get.

You would think that BL2 being one of the most popular and played games ever, people would want to see the characters they’ve become so attached to interact with each other. Just like the BL1 crew got to.

It’s just bad my dude. Really bad. Everyone in general just feels SO… so disconnected.

[jflashandclash]

Traitors of Olympus IV: Fall of the Sun

Eighteen: Thalia

Love Bites (But Not Literally!)

             Saying Thalia’s insides felt jumbled would be like saying you might want to wear sunglasses if you’re going to look directly at Apollo’s chariot during his peek time.

           They finished up their separate forts. Axel had removed their door barrier and tried the door a few times to see how thoroughly the Lemnians had barred it. Considering they heard something being bolted into the door, she imagined facing these creeps was becoming more and more of a heroic task set out for two other heroes, maybe child of Hephaestus or Athena. She wished Annabeth were here. She could think of the tragedy the children of Dionysus would write about them now, titled: Lieutenants of Artemis and Kronos, Murdered by a fandom.

           They discussed pretending to have fallen in love with Phil and Hypsi. Thalia even tried, excited by the prospect of wringing the guys’ neck. Apparently, such inspiration made her flirtation come across as disingenuous and “homicidal” to Hypsi and Phraxa. Pft. They’d never flirted at a concert before.[1]

           So, Axel and Thalia sat on either side of half-a-massage table (that had been split in half for makeshift shields) with a sheet from the cabinet pinned to the ceiling as high as Axel—with his six foot Oh-My-Gods inches—could reach.

           Not that Thalia found his height attractive, but being around preteen girls didn’t lead to the most vertically advantaged tent making.

           Earlier, Thalia had been pondering out how to tell Euna that Artemis said girl-to-girl relationships were still a no-go, something that both made Thalia happy—since girl-to-girl romances should still be considered romances and taken seriously—but also disappointed, since Thalia was interested in Euna and wasn’t sure how she felt about potential loopholes. That already left the Lieutenant of Artemis questioning her feelings on being a huntress.

           Of course, she was terrified for Euna. Euna had seemed… broken when they spoke at Camp Half-Blood, and—despite Axel’s assurance that time moved differently here—time could also be moving differently on whatever path that psychotic talking head was taking Euna.

           “Time,” Thalia demanded.

           There was a small tear in the sheet where the ends met the top of their table divider, making a tiny hole in their oh-so-impenetrable wall. Axel hesitated, then slipped his hand through, so his wrist was visible.[2]

           Like last time, she kept telling herself it was to check to see how far away Euna could have gotten. It was, she growled angrily, eyes flicking to that stupid half-empty glass of pink liquid before looking back to their divider.

           This was not to look at his hand or touch it.

           His index and middle finger were missing most of his nail. Although the healing springs must have cleaned up the blood and wound, it was weird to see a fingertip with scarred skin instead of a nail, especially with how long, sharp, and feline his other nails were. (When checking the time previously, she’d made him lower the Mist on his fingers, since she accidentally cut herself on one.)  

           That must have hurt way more than he feigned.

           Thalia took his hand to twist his wrist into better view. She wanted to annoy him, to make him complain that she was being childish or bratty, to get into an argument and agree how much they disliked each other.

           He was in mid-comment, “—ventilation shafts are way too small to squeeze through.” He did little more than grunt when she bent his arm further. “No secret passages found on your side?”

           Stupid Axel with all of his stupid plans and ability to stay focused.

           “Nope, fresh out of secret passages. Any other brilliant ideas?” she snapped, hoping it sounded mean instead of desperate.

           Eleven minutes had passed. Thalia’s head felt like it was swimming. This feeling could get worse? Hypsi said this would become unbearable in fifteen minutes!

           His laugh sounded pained. “Thalia—”

           “Lieutenant,” she tried to distance their names, but felt like her comment had come out weaker than she wanted.

           “Maybe it’s because Luke told me how you used to flirt with him, but you’re really bad at pretending to hate me.”

           Thalia growled in anger, “I told you that I didn’t drink that stupid potion—“

           Axel squeezed her hand. Her heartbeat skipped to see that they’d enlaced their fingers, without her even realizing they were moving. His calluses were rough, like hers and the gentle pinch of his remaining claws was comforting, reminding her of the cute paws on Artemis’ silver wolf pack.

           The wolf pack.

           The Hunt.

           A dulled sense of panic made her tremble.

           “Thalia,” Axel said gently, “Even without… current circumstances—” She could hear him squirm on his side of the table. “—we’re still friends. You pretending to hate me or be mad at me isn’t going to help. Though… you might undo the healing spring’s work if you keep bending my wrist like that.”

           He tapped his two fingers without nails against the top of her hand.

           “I don’t have to pretend to be mad at you,” she whispered, glaring at his hand. She tried not to think about how he was seated on the other side. They’d agreed to stay on opposite sides of the rooms. That worked when they were searching around for other potential exits. Also without intending to, they both sat as close as possible once they were done searching.

           Thalia clenched the grip on her bow with her other hand. Axel had instructed her to shoot him with a knock-out arrow if he tried to come to her side of the room, with the warning that he’d had much more of the potion than she had. But, what if she came to his side of the room? Would he be able to fend her off when he’d run away from Hypsi like a little kid?

           Not that she would admit to drinking any of the potion. Or having any problems. She just wanted to go over there and sock him in his dumb, ruggedly handsome face for almost dying by the hands of a hidden monster and almost drowning and getting them into this mess.

           “Axel,” she said.

           “Leonis Caput,” he offered.

           After hearing his chuckle, she realized he was teasing her for the “Lieutenant” thing. “Shut up,” she said.

           “Yes, Lieutenant.”

           “I’ll break your wrist.”

           “I’m sure you will.”

           She rolled her eyes. “You asked about why I didn’t side with you guys, uh, during the Titan War.”

           “Yes…” his voice was soft again.

           Thalia frowned. She wished she could play with her choker, but knew she should keep her hand on her bow.

           “When I woke up from being a tree, Percy was the first person I saw. He brought me back. He and Annabeth updated me on the years I’d missed and taught me how to be a person again. They told me about how Luke had sold his soul to evil or whatever. Camp Half-Blood was the first safe place, outside—outside of being with Luke and Annabeth… that I could call home. It was safe. Before that, I was always running and hiding, either from my mom or other monsters…”

           She took in a shaky breath. “Even if I wanted to fight against my dad, or how the gods treated their children, Luke’s path wasn’t the way to do it, and I couldn’t turn my back on my new family. How would you feel if Pax joined Camp Half-Blood?”

           “I’ve been trying to convince him to for months now,” Axel said, sounding defeated. “As he’ll tell you, he’s like a parasite that’s impossible to get rid of. And he knows I’ll never join Camp Half-Blood.”

           “You guys are so weird,” she said and sighed. “You won’t join Camp Half-Blood, but you’d become a hunter or join the legion?”

           “The legion was different…”

           Thalia felt a spike of resentment tighten her chest. She knew for whom Axel wouldn’t mind compromising his beliefs. Normally it made her happy to think of Reyna finding a guy who properly cared about her…

           “And I still think being a hunter would be incredible,” he said.

           She snorted. “How long before you fell in love with Lady Artemis?”

           “With you around?” he teased. She could see the sheet tremble as the shadow of his other hand traced the cloth. Then he flinched and withdrew his hand. “Sorry. This is…” He cleared his throat. “Difficult.”

           Thalia felt her cheeks get red. “At least our wall has a hole in it.”

           “Yes, so we can plan our escape,” he said with that same hint of amusement from earlier.

           “Our super successful escape that doesn’t result in us being captured by non-combat creeps,” she grumbled. “Augh, this is just embarrassing.” Thalia checked the time again, groaned, and pressed her face against their enlaced hands.

           Axel let out a soft noise. “Thalia, don’t…”

           “Hey.”

           “Mm?”

           “It’s been thirteen minutes,” she said. While she knew time was moving faster in their section of Tartarus—or the Labyrinth?—than outside, it felt like Kronos was making each second take forever as one last middle finger to Thalia—or at least a slow moving “second” finger.

           Axel swore under his breath. She could hear him pop his cheeks, a cute, self-conscious noise. His nails dug into her hand for a tense moment, piercing her skin, before he released her and stood up. His silhouette loomed behind the sheet, the shadow of his ears perked and alert.

           “Axel?” she asked uncertainly, lifting her bow.

           “I’m going to try to get them to open that door,” he said, lowering his voice. He picked up the second half of the table—propped alongside the one they’d been leaning against—and lifted it up as a shield. Thalia flinched as a piece of their boundary line disappeared. “This is around the time they thought we’d break, and, even if they don’t believe you with Phil, Hypsi seems to think I looked at her.”

           Axel took a step forward. With the second half of the table gone and the sheet too short to touch the floor, his feet and the animalistic arches of his calves came into view. Thalia could feel her heartbeat pounding in her head. She thought about the humanoid monsters she and the other girls tracked down.

           Before she could stop herself, she asked, “Axel, do you think you could survive if a huntress hunted you as prey?”

           He stepped to the edge of the sheet and half-peered around with a devilish smile. “After we get out of here, you’ll have to find out, huntress, won’t you?” His golden eyes glistened. “I should warn though, it’s hard to force a predator to stay prey.”

           Axel began to push the sheet back and froze. One of his towels was coiled around his shoulders, the other wrapped around his waist. Now that she was looking at it, the spa garb and table-shield made him seem weirdly domesticated, like Disney decided he looked too militaristic with his lion pelt and leather skirting and replaced them with some last minute, bad CGI cover-ups. She found herself staring—as she’d struggled not to before—at the horrific scarring along his hip and that annoying V indent of muscle along his abdomen.

           Stuff Thalia might have typically observed with the same interest as a math review book, at least as a huntress. That’s what she kept reminding herself, though his presence made it difficult not to think about how attractive she’d found Luke or Apollo before she joined the Hunt.

           Axel cleared his throat, puffed up his cheeks, popped them, and looked away. The hand he had on the sheet trembled. “Tha—Lieutenant. I need your help making this sound convincing.” His voice was low as he took a difficult step away from her, towards the door.

           Thalia reflexively leaned forward. She was terrified to realize that she’d let go of her bow upon seeing him. She scooped it back up, slung her quiver over her shoulder, adjusted the towel she’d wrapped around her chest for extra coverage, and approached him as casually as possible.

           Each step felt like it came with little Huntress of Artemis chastity road signs of Danger this way! and Hot Man Ahead! Proceed with Caution and maybe speed readers that just said SLOW DOWN in place of a mph.

           Was he having as many problems as she was? He looked so calm.[3]

           Keeping her bow between the two of them made Thalia shake with effort. This whole thing was so stupid!

           “How can I help?” she choked out.

           Axel was trying to keep his eyes on the door. His shoulder and back muscles quivered as much as his hands. He walked up to the entrance. “Assuming they open the door, we need to strike fast—”

           “Yea, I know the combat plan, Cat Breath. How can I help with Hypsi?” she hissed.

           “Stand here.” He vaguely gestured to the wall beside the door. A good tactical spot for sniping anyway.

           Thalia complied, trying her hardest not to touch him as she got into position.

           He chuckled painfully. “Normally, I don’t let emotionally compromised people go into battle.”

           She rolled her eyes. “Are you serious right now?”

           Again, Thalia told herself to wait on pummeling Axel until after the potion wore off. She had so much excess, pent-up energy, she was in perfect condition to wreck Phil and the Lemnians. Smashing people’s faces in was the perfect distraction from… this. Something to use as a strength and not to mark her as “comprised.”

           “You’re not the one I’m worried about bursting into Mayan love poetry,” Axel said.

           Thalia choked on a laugh. “You have Mayan love poetry memorized? Who are you? Apollo? Is there even that much of that?”

           Thalia pictured Axel reciting a romantic haiku and giggled.

           Axel mumble something in Mayan before saying, “Shut up.” His cheeks were bright red as he glared at the door. “Hypsi!” he called, much louder.

           “Axel!” Thalia hissed wearily. He never said what else she could do to help.

           Axel balled his fist, pressed it firmly against the doorframe closest to her, and leaned down until his head was about six inches from the door. With how he’d leaned down, if he turned to her, their faces would be at the same height. If he took one sidestep to the right, or if she ducked under his arm to tiptoe left, Axel’s arm would be positioned perfectly at the crook of her neck, and his face…    

           Thalia went silent. If her cheeks could get hotter, she was pretty sure they could melt the door down.

           While they still weren’t touching, this was the closest they had stood since taking the potion. They’d agreed to keep more distance…

           Thalia was annoyed to catch his cinnamon-chocolate scent.

           “Don’t hit me until this is all over with,” he whispered, “Me crying out in pain or being interrupted might shatter the illusion.”

           Shuffling sounded outside the door. There was some whispering. Thalia wondered what the Lemnians had been doing this whole time, though couldn’t focus on it while staring at how Axel had braced his arm.

           “What?”

           Hypsi’s voice was shaky, like she’d still been crying. If Thalia could have broken her eyes away from Axel, she’d have rolled them at the Lemnian’s tears. Sure, get really upset that a guy you tried to force to love you didn’t really love you. (Shocker.)[4]

           Axel took a deep breath. “I know… we haven’t known each other well for very long,” he said, loud enough to project through the door, but quiet enough not to blow out Thalia’s ear drums. “And I know these emotions are sudden, and that… that I shouldn’t want you, that I shouldn’t feel this way… and that they’re coming from… from magic…”

           Thalia wanted to flick Axel’s nose. Maybe she’d been out of the romantic business for a long time, but this didn’t sound the best way to woo a girl. When they got back to camp, she’d have to tell Piper and Calex to give him pointers, else he was doomed.

           Then she noticed how his eyes kept trailing to her.

           He wasn’t talking to Hypsi. Thalia swallowed. His arm was straining against the wall to keep from touching her, just like he was struggling not to keep eye contact.

           “You were right. This… is unbearable. I’m slipping. I just want to touch you, to give you the hugs you never got when you were feeling insecure or vulnerable. To remind you of how amazing you are for handling all the incredible things that you brushed off as being part of your family, or being who you are. I know you don’t need me, and you already know you’re strong, but I…”

           Axel’s voice broke.

           Thalia’s stomach felt like it decided to dive into a trampoline park without her permission.

           “Sorry,” Axel whispered to Thalia. His jaw clenched. While keeping his fist firmly against the door—as another barrier, Thalia realized—Axel leaned his head to the side, pressing his forehead to her shoulder.

           Her breath caught. Thoughts clogged to a halt. She tried to think about Artemis, about her huntresses, the wolves, the camping, the wild, Luke—she tried to think about how much it hurt to have someone she loved so much betray her and become a monster—

           She tried to remember this was one of her friends, someone Reyna had a thing for, someone she didn’t want the troops of Artemis to hunt down in vengeance and that didn’t need her death (by the hands of a vengeful goddess) on his conscience. What would she do if this were happening to a friend? Maybe one of her sister-huntresses reaching out for emotional support to get through some horrific trickery?

           Thalia awkwardly patted Axel’s shoulder, in the best, most platonic there, there motion she could muster. And to not curl against him and ask for that hug, since she definitely didn’t want or need that.

           And he’d been talking to Hypsi to get out of here. Not her.

           Thalia glanced at his wrist. They were at the fifteen minute marker. For a startled moment, she realized her eyes felt warm and wet.

           “Yes?” Hypsi said softly on the other side of the door.

           “I need out of this room right now,” Axel’s voice was still soft, but it was enlaced with an inner, threatening growl.

           Whispers erupted on the other side of the door. With how close she and Axel were, and how excited the Lemnians were talking, she could make out what they were saying.

           “Phil! Phil! It worked!”

           “I don’t know, Hypsi. What if he’s faking it like the girl?”

           “No—that’s almost verbatim how Medea’s How To pamphlet said he’d feel. I mean—yea, he knows he drank the potion, and it came with the warning of amorous side effects may vary—“

           “I don’t know…”

           “You’re just sad the girl’s potion ended up being a dud.” That was Phraxa.

           “Either that, or she just realized you’re too gross to like even with a love potion,” Hypsi’s voice was lighter, the tears were gone. She sounded hopeful.

           Maybe this would work.

           “Come on,” Phraxa continued. “The lightning rods are installed in the hallway, so the girl can’t hurt us. If he’s a Mayan sorcerer, he can’t perform magic without any fire. We’ve got the nets all set up. If they end up still rejecting us, we’ll just hack them into pieces and toss them into the river—”

           Axel punched the door, making a thud loud enough to make Thalia jump.

           “Hypsi, let me out. I can’t handle being in here any longer,” he said. The undertone of his voice took on that gravely quality.

           Hypsi giggled. “Oh! He sounds impatient!”

           “I’ll get the drill,” Phraxa said.

           Thalia guessed the noncommittal grunt came from Phil. “Okay, fine. Everyone else, stand by to decapitate a hero if they come out fighting.”

           There came a cheer from at least five or six other voices.

           The door shuddered with the sound of some power tools.

           Axel and Thalia released sighs of relief.

           He turned his head to look up at her. They should have been getting ready to rush the Lemnians. They may have been outnumbered, but both Thalia and Axel agreed these weren’t exactly primed warriors. Even if they were, they’d rather go out fighting than be captured (again).

           Ready to be decapitated? Axel mouthed, nuzzling against her shoulder. The hairs of his goatee tickled her skin, making her heart leap.

           She wanted to tease Rather that than hear your Mayan poetry, but she couldn’t bring herself to tease him. Maybe to knock his lights out for all those… nice and horrifically inappropriate things he had said (though, only to trick Hypsi, right?) but she couldn’t do that yet since she needed him conscious for this fight.

           The door gave a loud thump as it came loose from some exterior barrier. The knob jiggled.[5]

           “Oh, jaguar warrior, you locked the door,” Hypsi sang.

           Axel stood up straight, his eyes glistening with excitement. He squeezed Thalia’s shoulder and picked up his table-shield and makeshift table-leg-club.

           Thalia felt like a normal girl would be offended by how easily he’d withdrawn from her shoulder, since the love potion must have taken full effect. However, Thalia could sense the same thing he could while she prepped her bow with an arrow: beating the snot out of these jerks would be the most romantic outing either of them could possibly go on at that moment.

           Axel carefully unlocked the door. “Ready for me to take you, Hypsi?” he asked.

           Thalia could see him choke back a laugh. She did the same at the double entendre.

           What they saw when they opened the door was not what they were expecting.

           One moment, they could see Hypsi standing there—looking relatively normal in her chiton, though she was now armed with two daggers—with two people in imposing mechasuits behind her. One held a crossbow trained on the door, the other held a net gun. Phil grumpily leaned against the wall, almost out of sight, gripping a sword.

           Looking at the suits, their table-shields felt a little unprepared.

           Before the door was open enough for Axel to lunge forward, someone down the hallway screamed in alarm.

           A familiar voice let lose a crazed, boisterous laugh. “Trying to use love spells on me?”

           The person in the mechasuit with the net gun repositioned to whatever bigger threat was down the hall.

           Axel didn’t have a chance to take advantage of the distraction. A silver greyhound with ruby eyes slammed into the mechasuit, knocking Ms. Net Gun to the floor.

           Before the person with a crossbow could fire at Argentum, Thalia shot a knockout arrow at the second mechasuit. While it didn’t damage the armor, it did ruin their aim, their cross-bolt harmlessly slamming into the wall.

           The second mecha suit didn’t have a chance to reload as a golden greyhound knocked them to the floor.  

           At the same time as this onslaught, a golden bolt struck Hypsi’s shoulder from down the hall. She went rigid, noticed something, and sprinted out of sight, all while shouting, “Wait—fly! Your wings are so beautiful! Nothing could compare! My love for you, I must declare!”

           Thalia was ecstatic that Axel hadn’t burst out like that.

           Phil was half-way through drawing his sword when a tall boy with a black scarf and a red-and-black beanie nailed him over the head with one of the pink punch pitchers. The glass shattered, spilling the love potion all over Phil’s head. Before waiting to see if that was enough to take out the creepy Lemnian, Calex followed through with a solid punch to the side of Phil’s head.

           Phil crumbled onto the floor.

           Calex dusted off his hands on his Camp Half-Blood sweater and unslung his golden bow from his back. He beamed at Axel and Thalia. “Hallo! Lovely day to be seeing you in an inter-dimensional plane.”

           He poked his head back into the hall to shout, “I win! You’ve gotta get rid of this rubbish.”

           Clatters and panicked shouts came from the location.

           Reyna just sounded annoyed when she spoke back. “There’s a lot of it,” she sighed, then, louder, “Aurum, to me! Argentum, stand guard!”

           The golden greyhound took off down the hallway while the grey one stood by the door like one of the Lemnian sculpture sentinels. From the looks of it, one mechasuit wearer was unconscious and the other had crawled away.

           Calex returned his grin to them. “We had a running bet on who would find you first and who would need to find your gear. The first bloke we threatened at the front said they were in two different places.”

           Axel clapped Calex’s shoulder, beaming with—Thalia blinked—pride? Thalia suddenly felt like she was intruding on a moment where a commanding officer distinguishes a soldier for his bravery, or, really, a moment of bromance.

           “Thanks, Calex. And you used to be worried that you wouldn’t be a commendable hero.”

           Calex glanced away in pleased embarrassment, noticing Thalia. His eyes widened, and he glanced from Thalia to Axel. He took a step back, pointing between the two of them in confusion.

           Thalia felt her chest constrict again. Yea, it was taking every fiber of her being not to walk up and bump her shoulder against Axel, but it shouldn’t have been that obvious. There was no way Calex could tell—

           They were both mostly naked.

           Thalia felt her cheeks go bright red again. Another boy on the Eye Gouging to-do list.

           An understanding hit Calex, making him snap his fingers. “Ah, right. Love potion. But, how did you two—and why—?”

           The smile fell off Axel’s face. “Fix us,” he hissed with more desperation than she’d ever heard from him.

           Thalia felt dumb for forgetting who Calex’s father was.

           Calex put a hand to his beanie, examining them. “Um, I’ve never… taken away someone’s—”  

           “Do it,” Thalia snarled, taking a threatening step towards Calex. The motion brushed her shoulder against Axel’s, sending a tingling sensation down her spine. Axel went rigid.

           “Can’t you two…” Calex shrugged. “Wait it out?”

           “No!” they both said at once. If they tried that, Axel would be spouting out Mesoamerican sonnets and she’d end up killing him, since there was only so much punching he could handle once she resorted to that to avoid hugging him. And to save his self-respect, since no one should know love poetry.[6]

           Calex tentatively touched his bowstring, giving Axel a critical stare. “Aphrodite tried to seduce you, mate,” he said skeptically, “and you can’t handle a love potion?”

           Thalia was about to yell at Calex to hurry up, but paused.  “Is that why she cursed you?”

           Axel frowned. “Better story to tell when we’re not under the influence.”

           He turned back to Calex. “I hated Aphrodite, and she wasn’t a brave, beautiful punk warrior that I’d been told amazing stories about since I was fourteen,” Axel hissed. “And the Leonis Caput wanted to murder Aphrodite, not go on some weird date-hunt thing because he knows she’d be into it.”

           Thalia’s head spun, trying to gauge how old Axel was and exactly how often he had conversations with a murderous cat-creature in his head. Good reason to join the huntresses of Artemis—when all the guys you like end up being partially possessed. “Luke had been telling you stories about me since you were fourteen?” she asked.

           Axel puffed up his cheeks and popped them. When the jaguar warrior blushed, Calex looked like he couldn’t decide if this was hilarious or disturbing. “Right,” Calex said, pulling back his bowstring. “Let’s shoot you two.”

           A burst of grey energy exploded to life on his bow. The volatile vortex tightened and solidified into a scarily thin, black metal arrow.

           Calex paled. Sweat broke out on his brow as he struggled to pull the bowstring to full draw. He took aim, point blank, at Axel’s heart and paused.

           Axel didn’t flinch. He kept his eyes locked on Calex’s. One of his hands slipped down to link a pinkie with Thalia’s.

           This felt wrong. Thalia suddenly wondered if they should be reversing the potions effects or if the potion just wanted her to think—

           “This is a bad idea,” Calex said, his arm shaking. “A leaden arrow might… might make you incapable of being friends. And…”

           Calex dipped his point to the floor. Slowly, he relaxed his arm. The black arrow dissipated into smoke.

           Argentum growled.

           “Calex,” Axel said in a tone similar to the greyhound.

           Thalia felt the same, wanting this over with. Not that it should matter, but the crashing down the hall had stopped.

           Calex shook his head. “We can’t have you two hating each other on this trip. Let me try something else. I think I can… hyper accelerate the effects? It might make you feel like rubbish for a bit.”

           Axel nodded. “Just… please don’t not shoot me this time.”

           This time, when Calex drew his bow, the bolt was fiery white and gold, sparking madly. There was no hesitation or struggle in Calex’s stance. This seemed natural for him. He drew his bow and immediately fired.

           Axel may have mentally prepared himself to be shot.

           Thalia hadn’t.

           The arrow split. The second half arched and struck Thalia in the chest.

           For a moment, she thought Calex’s arrow would be fatal. Because the arrow had glistened like a mirage of light, she thought it wouldn’t hurt.

           The force of the impact made Thalia stumble back. Her chest felt like someone had jammed a knife into the impact spot and twisted it to crack open her ribcage. Instead of going through her or vanishing like she thought the arrow would do, the arch of light liquefied and burrowed into the wound, like a flaming snake that wanted to fill her insides until they splintered.

           Everything shook. Thalia felt like she’d been hit with a falling anvil. Emotions stuck on fast-forward: the months of seeming isolation with the huntresses, the guilt and shame of wanting to betray Lady Artemis and abandon the way she honored Zoe, her once-tranquil solitude turning into a maelstrom of loneliness and ache, finally reaching the catharsis of getting over Luke’s treachery while crumbling under the distance between she and Axel and the fact that they could never be together and the pain of knowing he only wanted her because of some stupid love potion and what could have happened if she’d joined Luke’s side of the war and the confusion and—

           Thalia could hear Axel collaps to his knees.

           She crumbled soon after.

           Tears streamed down her cheeks. Thalia clutched at her chest, wishing she could tear the liquefied arrow out.

           “Holy Maiden Artemis,” she gasped, “Love bites.”

           From the brief glimpse she got of Calex, he had slung his bow over one shoulder, leaned against a wall, and folded his arms. “You two still want to thank me?” he asked, watching them—with some concern—withering in anguish.

           Axel had curled into a ball, but managed to withdraw one hand for a thumps up. “Thank you,” he choked out.

           Thalia nodded in begrudging agreement. She couldn’t imagine living all of that in real time.

           The pain eased. Her breathing returned to normal as did her heartbeat. When she glanced over at Axel, she no longer had that annoying butterfly feeling or empty wanting. Instead, she saw an embarrassed friend straightening out of a crouched position with as much dignity as he could muster.

           And fumbling to grab his towel when it slipped to the floor.

           Thalia was relieved that her genuine reaction was, “Axel! Gross!”

           Axel gave her a relaxed smile once he was covered. “Sorry to offend your eyes, huntress.” He stood fully and offered her a hand. “Things don’t need to be weird between us, right?”

           Thalia snorted. She glanced at Calex, who had respectfully become engrossed looking down the hallway. She took Axel’s hand—glad again that it felt no different from taking that of a huntress—and said, “Just don’t tell anyone I gave you CPR, and we’re good.”

           Axel blinked as he helped her to her feet. “You gave me CPR?”

           Thalia scowled, feeling her cheeks redden form embarrassment that had nothing to do with the potion. He was joking, right? “You didn’t know!? Between the drowning and the electric shock—why do you think I’ve been calling you Cat Breath all day!”

           After Hypsi and the others completely disarmed them, Thalia hadn’t trusted Hypsi or the others to touch Axel and her electrical surge was what made him need CPR. But—she thought he’d politely pretended not to remember.

           “Is… my breath that bad?” Axel asked, cupping a hand over his mouth to check. He frowned self-consciously.

           Thalia remembered his soft scent of spices and chocolate, but she wasn’t about to admit to that, especially after the day’s events. “Yes,” she said firmly.

           “Leonis Caput, you need a tracking device on your clothing,” someone said from the doorway.

           Thalia jumped when Reyna jammed Axel’s clothing, lion pelt, and weapons into his arms. He startled.

           Reyna turned to Thalia. “Huntress,” she greeted, offering Thalia her clothing and weapons in a much gentler fashion. Aurum trotted up, proudly shouldering their supplies packs.

           There was no anger in Reyna’s voice, but, from the scarily controlled tone and hardened expression, Thalia suspected Reyna knew everything that happened, or Reyna thought she did.

           Thalia took a deep breath. Reyna wasn’t an idiot. If Thalia judged her humor correctly…

           “I had to give Axel CPR because he got his ass kicked by a slime pup. Would you say Cat Breath is an appropriate nickname for him?”

           A terrified moment of silence passed, but Thalia knew Reyna was awesome. There was no way—

           Reyna’ face cracked into an appreciative smile. She looked relieved.

           Axel looked mortified, clutching his towel to himself as Calex choked back a laugh. “I—um—”

           “Get dressed, Cat Breath,” Reyna commanded. “We need to make up time in our hunt for Euna.”

           “I—” Axel started.

           Calex patted the stunned boy’s arm, then dragged him out the hallway to find a different changing room. “Looks like you’ve got a new name for the rest of the trip. Let’s see if it catches on the surface world.”           

               The moral of this story is, don’t consume food or drink from strangers in their creepy Grecian bathhouses. Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed!

So Many Footnotes:

[1] Jack disclaimer: Depends on your concert. Metal heads? Utter gentlemen and gentleladies that know how to have a good brawl. Punk concerts? Prepare to be punched in the dick.

[2] Mel immediately called out what play-within-a-play this is referencing. Our conversation, “A lion keeping them apart.” “Despite wanting to be ly-ng on each other!” Pax *cry laughing* Jack *applauds Mel’s pun*

[3] MelBetaComment: “Just don’t look too far down.”

Jack: *ehem* “I can neither confirm or deny Mel’s assumption until I’m several oceans away from a certain Mayan warrior.”

[4] I’d like to think, “Shocker” is one of Thalia’s favorite expressions.

[5] Definitely wrote “the door knob giggled” in my original draft. Mel took it literally and was quite confused.

[6] False. Jack should know love poetry *wink*

[words-writ-in-starlight]

1 ok part 2 today! I like Olympus, but it all feels kind of surreal. Too perfect? Or perfect in a heavy way, an overbearing way. Marble is gorgeous, but it’s heavy, and so is gold; gems the size of human hearts are just excessive really; gardens that spill their perfume, cloying and inescapable, don’t sound so beautiful somehow. There’s no delicacy in a place like this. The only part that actually appealed to me was the water that tasted like starlight. ++ She’s one of the three big gods, and

2 she was mortal once? Must be a heck of a story behind that. I wonder who was Death before her, or if anyone was. ++ “Olympus was a jeweled setting” An odd contrast to how Crispin was described as a jewel in a setting. But then, he probably did fit into this over-glittering place, or seemed to. But if Olympus is the setting, then Brenneth is the jewel, just as perhaps all gods are, and she’s a jewel that doesn’t fit this heavy ostentation. One that doesn’t glitter much, probably.

I’m so glad that Olympus sounds…like, almost oppressive in its opulence.  On the one hand, that’s largely Brenneth’s perspective on it, but also it’s kind of the truth, you know what I mean.  And yeah, I like the mirroring between Crispin as a jewel in a setting (literally imprisoned) and Brenneth as uncomfortable in the jeweled setting of Olympus (perceived as a prison).  She likes her work and she likes her home and she doesn’t really care for the other gods’ ostentatious sense of decor.  She’s too much of the cranky mortal hero, torn out of her humble forge and quiet village and thrust into the life of a god, of the Rich One, no less, her realm dripping with precious metals and gems.  Brenneth can accept that sometimes finery is called for, but she’ll probably never like it.

3 Her horse melts the snow. Again with Brenneth and heat, fire. And she warms the acolyte, as I was sure she would. She’s so kind, thoughtlessly, for no reason other than to bring others peace. She is well suited to being Lord of the Underworld, to tending to souls for all eternity. It’s my favorite sort of Death - one who cares. ++ “half a lie accompanied by half a shrug” is a great sentence ++ Brenneth forgetting how formal language works these days is hilarious, as is her (presumably

4 exasperated or regretful) sigh turning into a blanket of warmth for the priestesses. ++ I like that Torei is Athena, and it’s interesting that Brenneth worshipped her once. And that she dresses her hair as she did then, when she wants to speak with her. I wonder if it’s more ‘remember the good old days’ (probs not ‘good’ but you get the gist) or more ‘remember that I was loyal to you’. And if so, is it ‘I will be loyal still, as in on your side’, or ‘you owe me a debt’.

There’s this quote from Neil Gaiman about Death of the Endless about how writers tend to write wish-fulfillment Death, a Death they would be willing to go with, and to be frank, I would want Death to think about things like how mortals get cold.  So Brenneth does, both because it’s very in character for someone who’s so purely driven by her heart and because that’s what I would want to god of death to be.  And more than that, she was mortal at one point, and she’s very used to seeing the gods ignore what mortals need, so there’s also a certain level of…kindness born out of spite, if you feel me.

And I think part of the reason Brenneth wears her hair as she did when she worshiped Torei, in this particular moment, is to remind Torei that, not only was she once her worshiper, but that Brenneth was mortal and that she does come down in some degree of opposition to the gods at the moment, as a result.  And because a patron god owes loyalty to those who give loyalty, and Brenneth is reminding Torei that they’ve been loyal to each other through a lot over the years, so this isn’t the moment to break that bond.

5 I’m glad she tells the priestess what’s going on. I know it’s reckless, but it would have felt high-handed if she hadn’t, almost.. not cruel, but not nice either. That’d be unlike her, I know even after so little time. She’d rather bring what comfort she can to mortals, even if it’s the cold comfort of just knowing why the world is frozen, than keep the gods’ silence. When she has to choose between them, she chooses mortals. I wonder if she’s aware of this about herself.

6 Brenneth’s magic is badass :D (also Parthenos isn’t on your greek list) ++ Only Torei and Crispin can count on Brenneth’s good will - not even Erza? Also hey I called it! Crispin did relax when he saw it was Brenneth kidnapping him. He does trust her. (I wonder how he feels about being jailed by her. I wonder if he’d rather it were anyone else, anyone at all. I wonder if he’s glad it’s not.) ++ "Brenneth had to concede that the goddess of battle being in love with the Lord of the Underworld

7 had a certain symmetry to it.” yeah it friggin does, that’s downright poetic that is (also nice job presenting it, it’s very smoothly integrated in the narration) ++ I love the idea of Torei embarrassing Brenneth into better tactics, that’s hilarious. ++ So there was no Death before, and that’s how Shiko raised her armies. Interesting. I guess Brenneth’s there to make sure it never happens again, and all the rest of it - caring for her subjects - is extra.

REAL GOOD CALL, part of the reason that Erza generally can’t count on Brenneth’s good will isn’t because Brenneth is willfully problematic, but because she almost inevitably comes down backing humanity, not the gods.  Erza is the Lord of Olympus and that means she and Brenneth are at odds a fair amount of the time, just because the desires of the gods don’t always line up well with the needs of mortals.  It would have been very much Erza’s preference to keep everything quiet, with the chaos on Olympus, but, A, she technically can’t command Brenneth because Brenneth isn’t an Olympian, and, B, Brenneth would have disobeyed the direct order not to tell the priestesses and taken the punishment without batting an eye.  Erza needs Brenneth’s steady hand on the Underworld too much to kill her for insolence.  She can’t supplant Brenneth with someone less sympathetic to mortals because she knows that no one else would be even-keeled enough to keep things under control.

Also, yes hi I love Brenneth and Torei’s relationship and, for all that Torei kind of fucking haunts the actual novel, I’m terribly disappointed that she doesn’t ever appear.  I’m thinking about working Rada in, though.

8 Unless something wasn’t shown, she was away for a few hours, tops. Denying Crispin food for so little time is a little hilarious. ++ Rada is marvelous and I love him. ++ "found herself looking not at her own chambers, but at Crispin,” ok it might just be that I’m tired but that threw me for a bit, I thought he was in her room or something, dang that would’ve been weird. ++ god Crispin’s reactions are fascinating. That he’s at ease about his execution, but not about being questioned. That he’s

9 at ease about his execution, but not about being questioned. That he’s found some sort of peace, somehow. Has he been going hungry these past two weeks? It won’t hurt him, but maybe he’s been thinking that she’s going to let him starve to death. Maybe that’s even brought him peace, or maybe the peace comes from her showing up in his room, proof that he hasn’t been forgotten or abandoned. If he thinks she’s here to sentence him, maybe he’s glad it’ll be over soon.

Crispin’s death wish is on full display in this whole conversation.  In case you’re curious about what the first act of the novel looks like, just take this talk he has with Brenneth and buff it out to like…forty pages.  He feels like the only way he can find justice for what he did is to pay with his life, and Brenneth…isn’t into that.

10 Oooh, I like this. That he killed quickly. That he refuses to admit it. He probably thought no one would notice - no one would’ve, if Brenneth hadn’t asked the dead. And none of the other gods would have bothered to do that. ++ It’s funny that I don’t doubt he’s telling the absolute truth. Not sure why, I just don’t. He doesn’t even know why he murdered everyone - how horrible, to lose yourself so thoroughly, and then when your head finally clears, you look back and find yourself a monster.

*slams gavel* A kind heart is NOT A WEAKNESS, and Brenneth’s greatest strength and flaw is that she has a heart able to hold a world and everyone in it.  She’s old and tired and jaded, but she still has it in her, both in the novel and in this, to offer kindness and an attentive ear to anyone who needs it.  The other gods would never think to talk to mortal victims, but they’re Brenneth’s people, and by her code, that means they deserve anything and everything she can give them, up to and including two weeks of utterly undivided attention while they cry and she listens.  

11 I wonder if Crispin is even aware he can leave this room. I know Brenneth told him when he arrived, but he might have just forgotten. Probably he just doesn’t care to go anywhere, but still. He must be really bored. (Oh - he probably doesn’t want to face his victims. He doesn’t know which shades are there by his hand, and so he might well imagine they all are. I’d hide in my room too, if the other option was facing all the hundreds of people I’d killed.)

Crispin…doesn’t trust himself, I think.  It’s a lot of his problem in the novel, is that even with all his remorse, all his personal growth and change, all of that, he doesn’t trust himself anymore.  You know that cliche “character is who you are in the dark?”  He’s terrified of who he is in the dark, without someone there to watch him.  So when he’s imprisoned, he’s more relieved than anything else, and when Brenneth offers him free rein of the palace, he decides that everything will just be better if he never leaves his chambers while he waits for his execution. 

12 ok time for sleep, but I did want to say that I also love Rada and am most distressed to hear he is dead in canon. he’s good and I trust him, he deserves better than to be killed by Crispin, which I assume is how he dies in canon but that’s just bc I assume that’s how most people die in canon. PS ‘the unbroken one’ is a friggin badass name for Brenneth, fits so well and so tragically. (wonder how on earth it fit Hades)

RADAAAAAA my darling boy.  I got so attached to him over the course of this piece I’m considering trying to work him into the novel proper at some point even though he’s been dead for literal centuries.  And actually he did NOT get killed by Crispin in canon!  He survived the hunt for the White Wolf, and proceeded to live to a grand old age surrounded by family and friends, and died in his sleep with Torei holding his hand, still almost as young as she was when she first fell in love with an eighteen-year-old smith with a beautiful voice and a strange accent.  His family’s vineyards are still the pride of the southern coast, and Brenneth’s first meal on solid ground in Alleirat has one of their wines, four hundred years later.

The ash did the soil good, you see.

[meshugana1]

Could you do a story for me where a hot college girl wishes for an even hotter figure and sex life, but ends up a gorgeous sexy lady who stays home all day because she has too much fun masturbating to leave her house? And she’s so embarrassed by her new like pervyness that she becomes super shy with other people?

Tess walked through the parks brightly lit knolls and hills on her way to her dark apartment. She didn’t get why she was always alone. She was hot, funny and had a bright personality. Her dates just never seemed to go anywhere and she hardly ever got a second or third one. She really was beautiful. She had slender short legs that lead into a nice pert bottom, a pinched in waist and respectable firm breasts. Her blonde hair framed a loverly face and her wardrobe made her standout particularly well with plenty of exposed flesh.

She noticed a few of her friends had gathered around one of the old fountains that dotted the park. She checked her make up and adjusted her top to maximize her cleavage and walked on over, sexualizing her steps as best she could. “Hey guys. Anybody mention me yet?” She said with a soft chuckle.“Oh hey Tess, I didn’t know your classes had gotten out yet.” Athena said. Tess and Athena had know each other since their room assignment had made them friends in their freshman year. Despite her namesake Athena was a plain looking girl, but in the arena of the mind she did the greek goddess proud.“I decided to blow them off. It was nothing new today anyway. So any fun plans? Are we finally going out clubbing?”“Sorry but we were all going to Adam’s house for an over the weekend study party. You’re welcome to come with.” Tom said. Tom and Athena had been an item for a month now and things seemed stable if a little bland for Tess’s tastes.“Why don’t you come with Tess. I’d love to spend a weekend away with you.” Nora said. Nora was Tess’s biggest obstacle. It wasn’t a secret that Tess played for the other team but she didn’t go around advertising it either. Nora did however and it was almost like she taunted her with flirting and passes that she brushed away as jokes. She was insanely hot too with full tits that cried out for attention and an athletic figure and a subtle tan that made her seem an amazon.“Yeah, maybe later.” Tess was a master at getting in her own way. She also had a bit of a shyness issue. If she were hotter this wouldn’t be a problem.

“Well as you wish then. We best get going before it gets too dark. See ya later.” Athena said, accompanied by ‘goodbyes’ and ‘later’s’ from the group, and one wink from Nora that produced a rosy color on Tess’s cheeks. She sat down on the bench and chided herself for her lack of courage. She looked up at the circular fountain and admired its intricate design. The park was old, built soon after the campus was in 1904. There were over a dozen fountains and each one had stories built around it. It was said that it you kissed your sweetheart near the one in the center you would be forever in love. Another one was supposed to help you pass any test as long as you drank the water from it. If Tess remembered right this one was the traditional ‘wishing’ fountain, toss a quarter in and get a wish but it always came with a terrible and ironic price as wishes normally get you.

Tess reached into her pocket and produced a handful of loose change. “Why the heck not?” she said and tossed all the change into the still water. She clasped her hands and spoke aloud “I wish I had a super sexy body and had a way better sex life.” Nothing seemed to happen, no ‘wish granted’ or pillar of light enveloping her body. Not that she expected much but somehow she always had a sliver of hope that something would happen when she made a wish. Tess returned her hands to her pockets and continued her walk back to the empty dormitory. Along the way however she suddenly felt just a little sick. She raised her hand to her forehead and felt a fever and her stomach was going summersaults.

She just crossed the threshold of her room when she began to feel bloated and off balance. She took off her coat and tried to remove her thin tank top but found it stuck in place. She quickly realized why as she saw her modest chest had grown in size! She had a respectable pair of C’s but now they were passing the double D range. She stood shocked at what was happening. She hadn’t eaten anything and didn’t have any allergies she knew about that could do this. She was snapped out of her contemplating by the straps of her top digging into her shoulders, and a similar sensation in her pants. She quickly mover to the kitchen and grabbed a pair of scissors and cut the offending straps, but her melons had grow too large and were now being crushed inside the small piece of clothing.

Her ass felt like it was also being crushed inside her jeans but before she could move her scissors to free her new flesh  her clothing had lost its battle with Tess’s expanding ass and seems popped and stitching tore, ruining her expensive designer pants. She hardly cared though as all the felt was a sense of relief at the absence of crushing pressure on her ass. Her breasts were still in peril though and she without a thought began cutting down the center of her abused top. The cut wasn’t even halfway when the fabric finally gave way and split apart, sending Tess’s new tit flesh spilling out in front of her. Tess stared in awe at her breasts, they were larger than any natural pair she’d ever seen.

She had no time to enjoy them though as more pain filled her body. She fell onto the floor and rolled onto her back. She looked between her cavernous cleavage and saw that her legs were growing longer and her thighs thicker. Her tummy, which had just a slight bit of fat from the holidays had flattened and become taught and smooth. Her hair, which she kept ironed and straight, had become curly and wild and a vibrant shade of autumn red. Her neck became delicate and swanlike and her face though pretty before had shifted into a sultry and deeply beautiful image and was dotted with faint freckles. Her eyes had shifted into a sea green and suddenly all the pain and discomfort stopped.

Tess gingerly stood on her new shaky legs. After finding her new balance she walked to her closet mirror and inspected the damage. She was stunned by the image that greeted her. The woman in the mirror was over six feet tall and had breasts that put any stripper to shame, Tess reached up with her hand to probe one and was rewarded with an intense sensation coming from her pussy. She couldn’t help her other hand as it explored her other boob and felt her orgasm building immediately. She had no idea breasts this large could be that sensitive, or was it just her? She gave it no more thought as she continued to fondle her big boobies nearing more and more to an explosive orgasm.

One of her hands left her breasts and dived straight into her waiting, overheated pussy and she was instantly at the threshold of a brutal orgasm. She did her best to control the momentum and make this incredible feeling last and she was quite successful. She used whatever objects she could find in her dorm to pleasure herself and jilled herself off for literal hours until finally she allowed the orgasm to roll over her body and send her to heights of pleasure she had never even imagined.

The all night session was so intense that she remained motionless, just letting the remnant of her orgasm ripple though her body for hours. It was past lunchtime when she finally stood up and tried to find clothes that would fit her new sexy body. She dug into her closet, at first finding nothing, then she happened upon an old halloween costume she once wore. It was a habit for a nun, she just thought it would be funny, but now the outfit just slack enough to make a wearable outfit. She slipped it on and took a moment to appreciate the irony of her incredibly sexy new body in an outfit created for modesty. Her breasts tented outwards and left little to the imagination, her ass did the same and the dress ended just below her knees. Man, she thought, Nora would love this. Then it hit her. She was a super sexy dynamo now! She could easily seduce the pants off Nora. She immediately hit the streets and began the walk to Adam’s place.

At first the walk was like any other, but then Tess began to notice the stares she was drawing to herself. She initially chalked it up to her sexiness but then another thought creeped into her mind. Did they know? Could then somehow tell she spent the whole night masturbating? She didn’t know how the could but the thought just wouldn’t go away. Everybody was staring at her and it was starting to embarrass her. How could she have done that? It was such a pervy thing to do, she even used her roommates pillow to help jill herself off. Oh god people can totally tell.

She did her best to remain inconspicuous as she approached her friends home. She knocked on the door and looked behind her to make sure no one was staring. Adam opened the door and was in awe of the incredibly sexy woman before him. “Whoa! Who are you?” He asked. Tess remembered that she looked totally different and did her best to scramble up a cover story.“I…I…I’m…uh, HimynameisTeresaI’mTess’sfriendcanIstudywithyouguys?” She said all in one burst. Her face as red as her hair.“Um…sure?” Adam said, growing more confused at this woman by the second. Tess let out a deep sigh of relief, so happy to be back with her friends. As the two walked back in Adam introduced her as Teresa and everyone said hello, except for Tess who had clammed up at the sight of so many people. She weakly waved and took a seat at the very end of the large couch trying to will her tall body into a smaller shape. She didn’t make a peep for hours, to nervous to talk to her former friends afraid they might ask what she did last night.

It was Nora who finally got a word out of the shy sexpot. She sat about three feet away from Tess, extremely too close for the nervous girls comfort. She said nothing she reached over and patted Tess’s thigh just above the knee, not in a sexual manner but more as an assurance of friendship. This was far too much for the new Tess and she stood stock straight and said “ThanksforhelpingmeIgottagobye!” and quickly stepped out and ran back to her dorm. She slammed the door and immediately began another masturbation session crying out “She touched me! Nora Touched me!” This would last well into the night, and come the next day Athena entered her dorm room and was immediately greeted with the smell of sex and found Tess on her bed, still in the throws of orgasmic bliss.

The end. Be careful what you wish for!

[esdeem]

Anchors, an Overwatch Fanfic

Okay, I’m going to preface this by saying I’ve not done much revision work at all on this, so I apologize for any egregious errors in grammar, characterization, lore or quantum mechanics. I felt really inspired so I just let it flow. I might pick at it a bit and post it a few other places.

It’s inspired by this amazing artwork here and I hope this little fic tribute does it justice. Also there’s not nearly enough Lena/Emily stuff out there and I’m hoping we get to see more of their relationship in the future, as I think it’s really cute. (And yes, I really do think the two of them would be big Disney nerds.)

Author rambling out of the way, here’s the story. I hope you like it!

-----

Winston stopped marking the passage of time in hours, day or weeks. Instead, he counted how many jars of peanut butter lay strewn across his desk, and how many white boards he'd filled with calculations. Presently, those numbers stood at fourteen and six. Soon, he'd have to start raiding other offices to keep up with the workload.

“You are working yourself toward an eventual sugar crash,” a voice called out from the computer speakers.

“I'll deal with that later, Athena.” Winston mumbled, chewing on the cap of the erasable marker in his hand. “I don't imagine anyone's come up with any major breakthroughs in the unified theory in the last few days, have they?”

“There are currently no new academic papers to that effect,” Athena replied. “There is a man in Wisconsin with some new ideas, but in my opinion they rely too heavily upon Doctor Who and the Terminator franchise.”

“Which ones?”

“Genisys.”

“Ugh.” He scribbled a few more calculations, though perhaps Athena had a point. The details of quantum chemistry had grown fuzzy, and he noticed with embarrassment that he'd assumed a superfluid in the current design behaved as a Bose-Einstein condensation, which of course was foolish. He erased the details with his forearm and grumbled. Literally back to the drawing board--

“Winston,” Athena interrupted. “You asked to be informed when Ms. Oxton reappeared--”

She didn't even finish, as Winston dropped the marker and bounded out the door, and down to the main lab floor.

* * *

The gorilla rested his hand on one fist, a brow arched high. “Really.”

“Cross my heart, love. Saw him pull it out of the stone and everything.”

“And they couldn't see you?”

“Think they were all a little distracted, what with the whole next King of England being chosen. Funny way to pick a king that, don't you think?”

“Lena, you know the whole King Arthur story was a myth, right?” Winston smirked. “And if he really existed, he wouldn't have been anything like the old stories.”

“Okay, fine, you got me. It was just a field again, nothing really happened.” She sighed, her shoulders slumping. “Y'know, a real friend would nod and smile.”

“I know, it's just... I keep hoping if I know when you're going, it would help me figure out a solution.”

“You don't want to hear it big guy, but maybe there's just... not a solution?”

“It's funny,” Winston said, ambling over closer to the containment field. “I seem to remember a member of Overwatch who believed in taking in a refugee from the moon and protected him from other people who claimed he was just a company asset. Someone who believed in his value, no matter what anyone else said.” He pushed his glasses back up and smiled. “You never gave up on me, Lena. I won't give up on you either.”

“Awww, you big lug. You're gonna make me cry.” She giggled, but then stood up and looked at a small table the others set up for her, where a simple picture frame sat. She remembered the day they took the photo, their first day in any of the six parks. The silver, geodesic  sphere behind them glowed in the Florida sun, but paled in comparison to the smile on the red haired woman's face. She'd dreamed of that vacation most of her life, and Lena hadn't told her until the day they boarded a plane for the United States. The trip had been almost perfect, save for the hurricane scare at the end. They'd not had a chance to see the Magic Kingdom itself, and to see the reveal of the majestic castle at its center. She promised to take them back one day....

She could close her eyes and see that smile, smell that perfume she always teased her about but secretly loved. If she tried, she could even remember the softness of her fingertips pressing against hers and the warmth of her embrace on a cold winter's day.

“You still don't want us to contact her?”

She reached for the frame, but her fingers passed through it. With a sigh, she reached into the pocket of her flight jacket, and her fingers closed across a small box, one of the few things she could still touch.

“She's better off not knowing about this, Winston. I'd rather she move on with her life, rather than keep holding out for a cure that might not happen.”

* * *

“It's safe?”

“Well, there's not really any guarantees, that's why they call the job test pilot, silly. But you know I've done a bunch of these already, right?”

“That,” Emily said, a crooked smile on her face, “Is a glorious attempt at sugar coating things.”

“I happen to know that someone likes their coffee with sugar and cream, so I tell her things the same way.”

Emily gave Lena's shoulder a playful shove. “You're terrible.”

“Guilty, but what does that say for you, then?”

“That I'm more attracted to your looks that your moral character?”

“How salacious!” Lena smirked, but then took hold of Emily's hands. “You know you're technically not supposed to know this, but if this works then we're going to save the lives of hundreds of pilots. And not just fighter pilots! Imagine if you put that in a commercial plane. They start to have engine trouble, they can just teleport it back to an airport for a safe landing.”

“Well then, Ms. Oxton,” Emily said, and squeezed her hands gently, “I shouldn't keep you from your mission to save the world.”

“Someone has to, right?” Lena reluctantly let go of her hands.“Oh, by the way? You might want to get dressed up while I'm off doing this. Someone might have scored reservations at Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester.”

Emily's eyes grew large. “You must really be expecting this test flight to go well.”

“Just a hunch, love.”

“I'll be ready,” she said, and let out a soft laugh. “I'm glad you told me, though. Usually you love springing things like that as a surprise.”

“Oh, maybe I'm turning over a new leaf.” Lena said, and pushed one hand into her pocket, and let her hand close around a small box inside. Silly Emily, to think she didn't have another surprise up her sleeve.

Emily had almost finished getting ready when Jack Morrison called with the news that the Slipstream vanished without a trace. And as the light swallowed the plane and its pilot, Lena Oxton's fingers closed around that same box as she apologized to Emily for missing their date.

* * *

“It's Higgs,” Winston announced. “Or more precisely, the Higgs Field. Whatever happens to Tracer during the accident, it prevents the bosons in her body from interacting with the Higgs Field. It's amazing, actually, because we had no idea that mass affected how we interact with time, and that does lead to some interesting implications for future research--”

“Winston? Focus.”

“Ahem, right. Sorry. We know how it happens, now we just have to figure out how to fix it.”

Angela Ziegler pressed a finger to her lips as she looked over the notes. Winston had done his best to simplify things, but the baffling world of quantum mechanics still provided a powerful obstacle. Lena Oxton's condition stood at a complex intersection of advanced biology and theoretical physics, and thus far attempts to combine the two fields proved frutiless.

To say nothing of the more practical concerns, which McCree once less than eloquently summed up as the pair discussed it with him in the room.

“Hard to give a shot to a ghost, ain't it?”

Dr. Ziegler still wasn't even sure how Lena had survived, since she'd not eaten anything in months. Perhaps the phenomenon that unmoored her from time halted the biological processes of her body. It made little sense, but to be fair nothing about this situation made any sense at all. She'd run a variety of simulations, but none of them came close to duplicating Lena's results.

And just like a shot, it wasn't as though she could take a sample of Lena's blood to study, either.

“If we could just bring her back in sync with our world, even for a moment...” she said aloud.

“I've tried a few different things,” Winston admitted. “But we never even know how long of an experimental window we have. She's vanished in mid conversation more often that not.” He jotted another formula on the board, stared at it a moment then marked it out hastily, growling.

“We have to be patient, Winston. If we give it enough time--���

With a roar, Winston punched the white board, sending it flying across the room. His skin started to turn red, electricity flaring around his eyes. “You know the numbers as well as I do! It's not predictable, but the mean amount of time she spends in our world is decreasing. If we don't hurry, she'll... she'll...”

Dr. Ziegler put an arm on his shoulder. “I know, Winston. And I know what she means to you. But your anger won't help her. Just... please calm down. We can't do this without you.”

Winston slowed his breathing, and slowly his skin started to return to normal. “I... I'm sorry. But we can't... I can't lose her.”

“I know. That's why you need to control yourself.”

The gorilla walked over to the white board and picked it up again. “I only wish Lena could control this, like the others can control their abilities.”

“Have you asked her to try?”

“Of course, but it doesn't work, at least not consistently. She's been able to phase in enough to move things just a little, but it never lasts.” Winston sighed. “Sometimes I wonder if McCree's right, and we shouldn't just call in a ghost researcher.”

“I don't know what's scarier, that you're considering ghost researchers legitimate scientists, or the fact the words 'McCree's right' just came out of your mouth.”

“It's not like we're having any better luck with our science.” Winston stared at the board again. “Of course, they'd say she was haunting this facility, or was even some kind of haunted thing.”

“There are haunted things?”

“Oh, all kinds of haunted items. Usually really old, and associated with some kind of tragedy in the past. Usually it's stuff like paintings or dresses. Oh, and dolls. Lots and lots of dolls.”

Dr. Ziegler said nothing, and Winston finally looked up to see the incredulous look she was giving him.

“Look, it gets really boring some nights here, and they play a lot of those shows at night,” he said. “But it's not like Lena's haunting us. She's very much alive, and it's not like she...”

Winston stopped speaking, the marker leaving a long streak on the white board. “That's it.”

Dr. Ziegler waited a moment to respond. “You need sleep, doctor's orders.”

“No no, I don't mean we call in the ghost people. But maybe that's what we've been missing.”

“What's that?”

“We've been focusing on curing Lena, and maybe she's right. Maybe that can't be done.” Winston wiped away the calculations and, instead of writing more, he started to sketch out a design. “But what if we didn't have to? What if, like a haunted object, there was something that kept Lena here? Like... a device that served as an anchor, pulling the Higgs field back toward her?”

“Then we could try to figure out a permanent cure.”

“There's just one problem,” he said. “I might be able to extend the field once it activated, but... she'd need to be wearing it first.”

“Which would require a greater control over her state than she currently possesses. I don't imagine you have any ideas on how to help her do that?”

Winston stared at the sketch and tapped the marker against the board. He turned to the side, lost in thought. As fate would have it, he found himself looking at a picture he and Lena had taken together, one that always stood next to his work station. Slowly, a smile passed over his face.

“You know why all those silly shows about ghosts said that some people stayed behind to haunt things?”

“I can't believe we're having this conversation, but why?”

“Because they had a reason to stay.”

It took her a moment, but once Dr. Ziegler understood, she smiled as well. They had a second, more important anchor after all.

* * *

When she was eight years old, Lena broke her left leg and right foot leaping from the top of a playground slide pretending she was a super hero. It happened only a day after the end of her summer term, and she spent her entire summer holiday between her bed and the sofa in the living room while she could hear the laughter and excitement from her friends outside. She longed to escape the house and rejoin them, but her parents said in no uncertain terms that super hero games would be off limits when she did.

Well, they said no playing but they never said no dreaming. Armed with notebook, pencil and pen she started to document her adventures as a super hero that could do a whole lot more than jump off playground equipment. In her version of things, Lena could copy the powers of other heroes by touching them. Really, it just gave her an excuse to use whatever power struck her fancy in the moment. She never gave the hero a name, until a friend visited and saw a drawing she copied from one of the books.

“That's not really yours,” they teased. “You just traced it.”

“What's wrong with being a tracer?”

The name stuck, and Tracer even became her call sign as a test pilot.

Those memories came back to Lena often since the accident, since both times she found herself unable to do much. Sometimes she'd reappear in the dead of night and beg Athena not to wake anyone, since she might vanish. She rarely found herself anywhere interesting during her time jumps, and never stayed there long enough to even see much, let alone start a decent conversation. Maybe she didn't have a notebook to record it all, but she could still dream.

Of course, a lot of her dreams dealt with food. Instead of rushing into a burning building to save the day, Lena imagined dropping off by the pub for a quick drink or a favorite spot for a bite to eat. Today, she went back to an old favorite. She used to stop by her favorite chippy at least once a week, where they always fried the fish while you waited. Little spots of oil singed your fingertips even through the paper. Then we went to the condiment stand, where she added the right amount of malt vinegar... or as her friends put it, “nearly drowned everything in it”. The aroma of the beer batter mingled with the tang of the vinegar.. it made Lena's mouth water just thinking about it.

She'd been just about to bite into the imaginary plank of fish when footsteps echoed from behind her. With a soft sigh, she stood up. “Can't a girl have just a few minutes to dream before you start running more tests?”

“...Lena?”

She froze.

“Lena, is that really you?”

Her fists balled up, and she drew in a halting breath. For the first time since the accident she felt afraid, and it kept her from turning around or even looking over her shoulder. The uncertain future, the increasing doubts of Winston and Dr. Ziegler, even the days when hope all but faded away, she could handle that. But seeing a look of pain on her face, knowing something she'd done brought tears to that beautiful face...

“You can hear me, can't you?”

It still took her a minute to find her voice. “You're still wearing that awful perfume, aren't you?”

“The one you gave me a bottle of for Christmas last year? Of course.”

“Only because you like the stuff, and I was daft enough to support you.” The silence hung between them a moment. “I didn't want you to see me like this, Em.”

“Your doctor explained it to me,” Emily said. “I don't understand it completely, but... I'm here now.”

“Truth is, I really hoped you'd get on with your life. Forget about me, move forward, maybe even start dating again and find someone a bit more normal. I can handle this burden, but I... I wanted you to be happy.”

“Happy.” Emily's voice drew closer. “I thought I knew what that meant, but then I met you. Hearing you giggle at my silly jokes, or make fun of how my hair looked in the morning, or hugging me after a long day at the office. Lena, it's hard to move on with my life when you are my life.”

“Em...” She still couldn't bring herself to turn around.

“You remember how you always made me a cake from scratch for my birthday, and insisted on putting the candles on it? I hadn't done that since I was a little girl, but you always made me blow out the candles and make a wish before I could eat it? That's what you brought me. You made me realize how special, how magical life really is. I did it again this year, and I made a wish again. You know what I wished for?”

“You know if you tell me--”

“I know, but I'll give you a hint,” Emily said, her voice starting to waver. “You just need to turn around.”

Dammit. Lena looked to the ground and closed her eyes, then slowly turned to face her. With a deep breath to steel herself, she opened her eyes once more. To her surprise, Emily wore a beautiful emerald green dress, her red hair cascading around her shoulders. And while her cheeks shone with tears, there wasn't a hint of pain on her face. Instead, she rewarded Lena with that perfect smile, the one she dreamed about seeing so often.

“See? You just made it come true.”

“You look amazing.”

“You think so?” A flush of red splashed across her cheeks. “It's... what I was going to wear that night.”

“And suddenly, I'm even more upset about the accident.” She giggled, and even drew a small chuckle from Emily as well. “I've missed you.”

“It's really quiet without you around. Believe it or not, I'm starting to hate it.”

“You might regret saying that some day.”

“If I'm lucky.” Emily reached a hand out.

“You can't actually touch me, you know.”

“I know, but someone taught me that it's okay to just dream sometimes.”

Lena lifted her hand. Truth be told, she dreamed of this often as well. She missed the little things, like just walking down the street with their hands locked together. Like the rest of her, her fingers had taken on a blueish glow, translucent enough to just see Emily's fingers through her own. They drew closer together, as she tried to stop just enough to make certain Emily's hand didn't pass through hers, to provide a stark reminder of how desperate her situation truly was. Closer, closer...

They touched.

...they touched.

Emily's fingertips pressed gently against hers, and the glow faded. She trailed her fingers down Emily's, to her palm. Wrapping her hand around hers, she gave it a gentle squeeze.

“I'm back,” Lena whispered. “You brought me back.”

Somehow, Emily's smile grew even more radiant than before. “See? I told you I wasn't going to let go of you so easily.”

With one swift motion, Lena drew close and pulled Emily into a tight hug. Both women started to sob as they held the embrace, Lena's head resting on her shoulder as she cried. After a moment, Lena lifted her head up and whispered into her ear.

“There's something I need to tell you,” she said.

“I'm not going anywhere.”

“This is hard to admit, but...” Lena bit her lip. “It was a box mix. Every year. I'm a lousy cook.”

Emily kissed her cheek. “I think I might be able to forgive you.”

* * *

“We can make adjustments as needed,” Winston said as Lena pulled at one of the straps that held the bulky contraption in place. “After it activates, the field generator will route the bosons in your body to the local portion of the Higgs field. I call it a chronal accelerator because--”

“Winston, love, I know you find all this really amazing,” she said. “But you lost me way back at 'It's simple physics'. Pretty much, I turn on the Matrix of Leadership here and I'm anchored back in the real world full time?”

“Yes, and there might be some interesting applications we can test down the line. More importantly, after it's been activated you won't have to wear it all the time. As long as you're in close proximity to the device and it still has power, you'll remain connected to our time.”

“Good thing, that. Would've made showers and changing clothes really awkward.”

“I did make it waterproof,” Winston said and pushed his glasses up with one finger. “I know how much it rains in London, after all.”

“Well, guess we'll give this thing a shot.”

“You'll probably want Emily in here with you,” Winston said, and glanced back to the lab's control room. “I should--”

“Stay here. You're as much a part of this as anyone.”

“She doesn't know about me yet, Lena. She'll think I'm like the others, and be afraid...”

“And then she'll get to know you, and love you like the rest of us do.”

“Like Reyes?”

“Difference is, Emily's not a raging asshole.”

“Point taken. I just, um, don't want to ruin the moment.”

“Okay, let me put it another way,” Lena said and jabbed a finger into Winston's chest. “If you so much as think about hiding in that control room, I will kick your butt.”

He sighed and took a few steps back. “Fine.” He pressed a button on his wrist comm. “Dr. Ziegler, we're ready to activate the accelerator. If you'd sent Emily in please.”

It took only a minute for Emily to make her way into the lab. She walked over to Lena, but stopped in her tracks when she saw the massive form of Winston standing across from them. She stared, and Winston could only manage a weak wave.

“Uh, hello. I'm Winston.”

Emily finally turned away from him, and to Lena. “Amazing. You weren't lying about the gorilla scientist.”

“Wait, you told her about me?”

“Before the accident even. Oops.”

“You are a walking security risk.”

“Guilty.” Inhaling sharply, she looked down at the chronal accelerator. “So, shall we turn this thing on?”

“If you're ready.”

She grabbed Emily's hands and gently squeezed them, giving her a kiss on the cheek. “Now I'm ready.”

“You should take a few steps back, miss,” Winston warned.

Emily nodded and walked beside him. Lena pressed the buttons in the sequence Winston told her, and the center of the accelerator sparked to life with a faint blue glow. Seconds later, she felt a strange wave pulse through her body. At first, everything around her seemed to move it slow motion, then sped up even faster than normal. After a few more seconds, a pulse from the accelerator bathed the room in blue light. Lena looked at the device, then to Emily and Winston. The gorilla moved to a nearby terminal and started hitting buttons.

“Am I supposed to feel any different?”

“I don't know, but all the readouts seem good. Did you experience anything strange when you turned it on.”

“Like the real world acting like I hit rewind and fast forward on a movie?”

Winston grinned. “The blink and recall functions worked at start up! You're going to like those, but we can talk about them later. Now that you're stable, I'm sure Dr. Ziegler will want to run a few tests. You might have to follow her around, since your blood will be just as unstable as the rest of her, but it shouldn't take too long.”

“Fine, but first things first.” She threw her arms open. “Hug time!”

Emily ran over and fell into her arms. Winston turned away to give them privacy.

A second later, he heard Lena clear her throat. “Winston?”

He turned to see both Lena and Emily with their arms stretched out to him.

“Huh?”

“You're the one who brought her back,” Emily said. “So you're a part of this hug too.”

“But I--”

“You're my best friend, you big lug. So get over here before I drag you into it.”

With a smile, he walked over and gently wrapped his arms around the two. It would be the first of many he'd share with his new family.

* * *

She'd booked the trip only a week after the accelerator tests proved successful, though this time she let Emily in on their plans a little sooner.

“I decided maybe Ducasse wasn't really our speed,” she said as she showed Emily the plane tickets to Orlando.

“Not surprising me this time? You're losing your touch, Ms. Oxton.”

Silly Emily, underestimating her like that.

Getting her out of bed that morning proved the most daunting challenge, as Emily hit the snooze button at least five times before Lena finally gave up and pushed her off the side of the bed. A few beignets from the food court bought her forgiveness. Emily didn't even bat an eye as a private town car pulled up in front of their hotel and whisked them away to the park, long before the gates opened to the public.

“Commander Morrison knows some people,” Lena said, and Emily accepted it without question.

Save a few cast members, it was empty as they walked down through the gates and turned the corner. Lena didn't take her eyes off Emily's face as the castle revealed itself in the distance, framed by the shops of Main Street. Lena squeezed her hand softly.

“What do you think?”

“It's amazing!”

“We should get a picture, shouldn't we?” Lena said, and winked to the photographer behind her.

“Oh, of course!”

She never saw it coming, maybe because Lena just hugged her for the first two pictures. The photographer directed them for the next show, getting Emily in just the right position.

“And Ms. Oxton, I think you know your pose.”

She reached into her pocket, for the box she'd held onto since the day of the accident. She pulled it out just as she dropped to one knee and opened it to reveal the ring inside.

“Surprise,” she said with a sheepish grin.

The next picture was Emily answering that question with a kiss.