#i really shoulda ask for one of those uhh

[frostbite-the-bat]

do you ever randomly get like. paranoid ? about your computer

yea

[incognito-lionbeast]

Forgiving Wylde

// Post-series Acceleracers drabble, ft. Mark Wylde & Vert Wheeler. I want them to be friends. Though this takes place after a hypothetical 5th movie, the details are kept mostly vague since... y’know, one can only speculate. I say as if there aren’t headcanons in here already.

---

    “Hey uhh… Vert, you got a minute?” Asked an imperious shadow from the doorway, arms reflexively crossed. It wasn’t on purpose, honest. Even before everything in his life went to hell, Wylde wasn’t so good with handling delicate situations – and boy was this something else. Every second lingering between him and Vert’s answer added to his desire to forget it, walk away. Way less complicated, but it wouldn’t sit right. The confusion written clear across Vert’s face didn’t sit right, neither, but such was the nature of the beast… so Wylde strode into the room, plopping himself kitty-corner from Vert on the bland Silencerz bunk, anyway.

    “Uh, hey Ma– Wylde.” Vert corrected himself. Old habit, old name. He shifted, twisting awkwardly to look somewhere just past Wylde. Out of all the guests he could have had right here and now, Vert never would’ve guessed that Mark Wylde would be among them. Sure, he’d made up with Kurt–or that was the impression Vert’s team had given him. Good for them. All it took was an arm. Yet, Vert hadn’t even gone to help rescue Wylde from the Drones. He chickened out. So, though things worked out in the end, well, not everything sat right with him, either. 

    “What’s up?”

    Too casual? Too something.

    “Mark’s fine,” Wylde mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. The signature growl in his voice was but a whispery afterthought, leaving something almost respectable. Maybe he should’ve tried for eye contact, but if Vert wasn’t really looking at him, then… eh, it was a work in progress. Words were the priority here. He hemmed, “Look uh.. been thinkin’ about it, and don’t think I ever told you what it meant when you let me on your team back then.”

    Words? Words.

    What a place to start, but he really was thinking about it.

    “Nobody never really believed in me before..” Especially not Kurt. If only for habit, Wylde wanted to say so, but Kurt wasn’t the one here. Anyway, it was beside the point–the point he was desperately trying to cling to before it evaporated along with all of his tact. Wylde stared at the wall. It was a boring wall, but maybe that made it easier to focus on. He felt Vert shifting again, a tickin’ blond time-bomb. “Anyway, point is, I’ve been a real–”

    “Jerk?” Vert finished helpfully. Wylde winced. Deserved that, but here was Vert coming for his throat already! The man took no prisoners–or so it nearly felt like–but his jab lacked even half the oomf Wylde was expecting. Nothing like Kurt. Probably better for it, honestly. Though, if Vert wasn’t a raging spitfire, then maybe this really was salvageable. Maybe he hadn’t screwed over every relationship he’d ever cared about. A warming thought.

    “Yeah,” he agreed, shaking his head with a stuttering, breathy laugh. “Somethin’ like that. I–” his face scrunched. “I shoulda known better. Should’ve at least realised Kurt’s a skank who wouldn’t have told you nothing.”

    In retrospect, it was awfully hard to betray a friend or side with the brother who’d gotten him sent to prison when you never knew that from the start. What an ass Wylde made of himself, and for what? He was mad. Hurt. Traumatised. Sure, he was all those things and more, but Vert was a better man than that–even if he was Teku. Could’ve at least tried to remember that much. It would’ve saved everyone a lot more trouble. Or at least a little bit more trouble. That was all stuck in the past, though, and Wylde could only try to move forward. First Kurt, now Vert. The person after that was anyone’s guess. Lani maybe? It couldn’t be any more awkward.

    Vert looked at him, processing. Nothing prepared him for this conversation, but what would he have done if he’d known this would happen? He couldn’t even imagine. Eventually–and it was a bit of a reach–Vert landed a soft blow to Wylde’s good shoulder. It was the best he could come up with. Effective, though. “Glad to have you back, Markie.”

    Just like that? Wylde blinked, catching sight of Vert from the corner of his eye.

    “Y’know it’s Mark, right?” Wylde said. “Markie’s some kid with divorced parents ‘n a chip on his shoulder to match. Think you’d better leave him alone. I dunno specifics, but he prob’ly bites.”

    Vert laughed. It was quiet and still a little tense, but all things considered? He was tired and forgiveness wasn’t beyond him. Wylde probably needed it more than whatever drama they could’ve dredged from the depths of this stupid, convoluted mess. Wasn’t it enough just to be here, trying? Call him easy, but Vert never really wanted to be mad at Wylde, anyway. There were a whole host of other people to be some kinda upset with instead. Things were complicated. Wylde had been a friend. He could be a friend for a second time–even if he was a Metal Maniac.

    More than that, they were both Wave Rippers.

    “Is that so? My bad.” His hand hadn’t left Wylde’s shoulder, unfolding into a supportive touch. “Well, Mark… I don’t think I ever told you that I’m glad you’re alright, and–I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help.”

    Wylde snorted. A weight lifted, and he found that he could finally face Vert for real this time. Humbled, grateful. Moving meant Vert’s gesture had to awkwardly drop off and return to his side, but never mind that. It was about time Wylde reciprocated, the force of his camaraderie pushing the blond back a solid few inches. Oops. “Eh, don’t worry about it. You ain’t the one who needed to come back for me. Hell, you probably wouldn’t’ve left in the first place. So, we’re even.”

    “Even, huh? I like the sound of that.” Genuinely. As weird as it was that Wylde was here, nearly shoving him off of the bed, Vert preferred being friends. The lesson on cooperation he’d learned during the World Race might have been muddied for a little while there, but he was remembering it again, steadily but surely. Suppose Mark was, too. Though, part of Vert wondered what spurred him to ‘think’ about it right here and now. They hadn’t even left the Silencerz’ base yet. Well, maybe he’d never know. That was fine. The machinations of Wylde’s mind were an enigma that Vert wasn’t qualified to speculate on.

    “Yeah, uh–just don’t think this means I’m switching sides or something. I’m still a Metal Maniac, no matter what my brother thinks,” Wylde clarified. That was important. As much as he might like it some to race with his brother… nahh. The Maniacs were welded. He learned that the hard way. They’d stormed the Drone headquarters to help get him back, even despite all of the trouble he’d caused. That wasn’t the sort of thing he could forget. Besides, the Teku look just wasn’t Wylde, and for lack of a half-decent personality? His image was everything. Probably.

    “I wouldn’t expect anything less.” Repositioning, Vert flashed a crooked smile, relaxing further onto the bed (lest he get shoved again). “Besides, it’s probably better this way. I’m glad you and Kurt patched things up, but… I think you deserve to blaze your own trail, Mark. You’re a great driver. Those Maniacs are lucky to have you.”

    His image was everything, but there were some things Mark just couldn’t control. So, don’t think for a second that Mark knew how to take a compliment.

    No matter how Wylde wished he could cover for it, he stared at Vert slack-jawed and scrabbling for something to say. Vert completely derailed any kind of wiseass comment he’d had in him. What’d he done to deserve this: a damn decent friend? He had to look away, pry himself away even, muttering a shockingly tame expletive under his breath–the sort that only the unruliest of suburban mothers and media censors still somehow found offensive. Vert waited. Was it something he said? Well, obviously, but watching the hyper-aggressive, tattooed spectacle of man get reduced to a fluster was certainly a sight. It was a welcome one, if Vert was being honest. 

    “Yeah, yeah… whatever. Of course I am,” Wylde eventually decided on, waving him off. Cool. Don’t you dare say anything. “You’re a real sap; you know that, Vert?”     Wait. 

    “Don’t answer that. Rhetorical.” 

    Better. 

    “Hey, I’m just being honest,” Vert defended amicably. Get used to it, Mark. They might still be rivals on the track–something Vert looked forward to the more he thought about it–but he was just calling things as he saw them. Mark Wylde was a talented driver totally in his own right, and hopefully if Kurt learned anything from all of this, then he’d do well to acknowledge that. “I might be an only child, but I do know how it is feeling like no one takes you seriously - especially family.”

    Major Wheeler, another complicated subject. Even in the heart of the Silencerz base, Vert tried not to think about him too hard. Wylde was a welcome distraction now that the thrill of racing the Accelerons began to fade. Wait, Vert suddenly realised, was that why..?

    “Y’know, I’m kicking myself for sayin’ this–” Wylde shook his head, hefting himself back onto his feet. Anything to get that sentimental focus off of him. “–Teku might be scrap, but they’re your family, too. Don’t let no one, not even me, tell you otherwise.”

    “Thanks, Mark… I’ll try to remember that.” Plus or minus the ‘scrap’ part, but that was just–it was just talk. Some things never changed. Yet, a twinge of disappointment gnawed at Vert’s expression as he watched Wylde stand and stretch. He wasn’t leaving already, was he? They hadn’t been talking that long. Though, as far as questions go, Vert’s was broadcasting loud and clear–even for someone as dense as Wylde. Frankly, he was flattered.

    “Aw, don’t go making puppy dog eyes at me, Wheeler. You can’t get rid of me that easy,” he said. “I was just about to ask you if you wanted to blow this joint. I got permission, a car, and I might’ve promised my ma ‘bout two years ago that she’d get to meet my new friends. Never did make good on that.”

    The permission wasn’t for Vert exactly, but what Vert didn’t know couldn’t hurt him. The guy needed a break–away from all this and his father. Hell, even Kurt was in on this one. For better or worse. It’d been longer since Kurt last visited their mother, but that was a Kurt problem. Just like explaining prison and a missing arm was a distinctly Markie problem. Yet, If Wylde still had sunglasses to tip slyly, they’d be glinting in the light. “You in?”

[bl--ankhaeji]

hiii! :). can i request a fic where hendery or yangyang have y/n over at place and she accidentally gets period blood on his bed but after taking care of her, and assuring she’s okay they face another challenge at the store when they try and buy some period items/snacks for her. :) ty!

Pairing ~ Yangyang x Fem!Reader

Genre ~ Fluff, Humor

Warning ~ uhh very light mentions of a slight panic attack not really but really two ig if you count yangs,, also unedited  

A.N ~ Sorry took me so long to answer 😅 hope you like it!

W. Count ~ 1.4k  

  The bright rays of light bleed into the room in which you and your boyfriend of a year sleep peacefully, that is until yangyang throws his hand towards your face in his sleep, slapping you awake. You jolt awake from the impact, “Yang what the fuck.” you spit angrily throwing his hand back on him. “Fucking bitch.” rolling your eyes before closing them you start twisting and turning trying to find a comfy spot to go back to sleep until you feel something wet between your legs. 

Your eyes fly open instantly as you curse internally praying that you’re just overthinking and you sit up looking down to see that what you feared was really happening. Your period had decided to come on in the middle of the night and not only that but you had heavily stained YangYang’s sheets and partially his comforter. “Fuck!” hopping out of bed you start silently panicking pacing back and forth wondering how you’re gonna hide this from YangYang. 

In the midst of your panic you didn’t notice that the very person you wanted to stay asleep had woken up. “Babe, what are you panicking about so early I can barely dream with all of your pac-” he stops mid sentence sitting up on the bed as if he had noticed something and instantly your heart drops as you cease all pacing, “Baby,” he starts out slow, “Are those my joggers? I have been looking for those everywhere, shoulda fucking known you had them.” Standing up he walks into his en suite bathroom. 

A breath leaves your lips as pure relief floods your bloodstream and it’s as if someone lifted a brick off your shoulders. You swear you had never stripped a bed of its dressing so quick in your life trying to get it into the washer before YangYang comes out. Gathering everything in your arms you start to trudge your way out of the room, the end was near you could see the finish line just a few more steps and you’ll-. Yangyang’s hand lands on your shoulder causing your body to stiffen immediately and he makes his way in front of you grabbing the bed set out of your hands. 

“There’s some bath water in the tub for you, I’ll take these to the washroom real quick then bring you a towel.” He then leaves the room without another word closing the door softly behind him. The panic that quickly filled you at the thought of him probably seeing the stain on the back of his pants when he walked out of the bathroom leaves just as quick as it came when you realize that he had probably already known the whole time. In its place was an indescribable warmth accompanied with butterflies at the thought that he pretended not to notice because he knew how stressed out you were about it.

Making your way to the bathroom you grab some clothes to change into. The bubble bath that rested in the tub could only be described as fit for a queen; you could even see the freshly opened and used powdered bath milk packet resting in the garbage can. Stripping yourself you sit in the bath filled with water at the perfect temperature and you could feel all of the tension in your muscles loosen. 

You hear YangYang walk back into the room and then the bathroom standing at the door looking at you. “I hope the bath water temp is cool. The comforter should take a hour or two and I can order you some food if you’re hungry.” 

Looking down at the bubbles that rested above your hands, “Thanks for not making a big deal out of this. You’re the best.” YangYang nods with a ‘Damn right I am’ falling from his lips, and a bright smile splits his face before moving to make his way out of the doorway until your voice calls him back.

 “By the way what did you do with that pad I left here last time? I forgot to put another emergency one in my backpack.” At your question the smile that once threatened to tear his face falls and a guilty expression takes its place. 

“Uhhh about that..” he trails off, averting his eyes, his right hand reaching for the back of his neck, “I kinda used your last pad to wipe up my Arizona Green Tea when it spilled.”  

“Yang I- YOU WHAT?!?”  

“I’M SORRY. THEY’RE- they’re really absorbent okay?” A silence falls between the both of you and you finally look back up at him staring him dead in the eyes a serious expression taking over your face. 

“I take it back, you aren’t the best.” 

“WHAT NO?!? You can’t take that back away from me. It’s undeserved, I had nothing else to clean it up with cause we were out of paper towels.” 

“No, it is deserved because now what am I supposed to do? I can’t just sit in the tub until my period goes off.” You say giving him a deadpan expression. 

“I’ll go to the store and get you some more, okay? I’ll even get you some snacks, what do you want?” 

You give him a list of snacks and tell him explicitly what type of pads to buy, “And if all else fails you can always just call me and I’ll tell you which ones to get.”

Yangyang scoffs, “I’m not stupid how hard could buying some measly pads be.” 

“What the fuck is we doin?” Yangyang drawls out at the sight of all of the pads. “So many words and I have no idea what any of them fucking mean.” he whispers. He picks up a box of pads, “Ok I’m pretty sure the wings are those flappy things that got stuck to my hand when I was wiping up the tea. So that means she wants them to have them, right?”

“Super absorbent..Heavy flow. Does y/n have a heavy flow? I assume so from the amount of blood she got on herself and the bed this morning, so I should buy these right? Wait, but they say teen and she’s not a teen.” putting the box down he picks up another. 

“Maxi, overnight, Super Pads? What makes these super? What the fuck is all of this?!?” Meanwhile Y/n is at the house saying I told you so because she can feel his distress all the way from the store.

Apparently Y/n isn’t the only one who can sense his distress because another boy walks into the section scanning the boxes with precise eyes grabbing one confidently and on the way to the counter when he sees a panic ridden Yangyang. “Hey, bro do you uhh need help or something?” he asks a chuckle falling from his lips. 

Yangyang’s head shoots up looking at the man as if he was a god, “Bro please I have no idea what the fuck any of this means and my girlfriend offered to facetime me if I had trouble but I ran my mouth about how I didn’t ne-”

“Need help and now that you do you don’t wanna call her and hear the I told you so? Yea I know that feeling and I refuse to let another brother feel the same.” The stranger's hand falls on Yangyangs shoulder as a father would his son as he guides him in the ways of the sanitary pads. When he was done Yangyang knew not only of pads but tampons as well and with his chest puffed out he made his way to the counter with the snacks and the pads ready to tell Y/n how he didn’t need help picking out some freaking pads...well not her help anyways. 

“Wow, you actually got the right ones.” you say walking into the room flopping down on the bed beside Yangyang. Opening one of the snacks he got you you lean back on him waiting for him to press play on the movie. 

He clears his throat drawing your attention up to him, “Is there something you would like to say to me?” he asks, raising an eyebrow. “It rhymes with Shime Shma Shmest...” 

Smacking your teeth you roll your eyes, “Fine, You’re the best.” 

Wrapping his arms around you pulling you more into his chest he nods, “Mmhm I sure am. Don’t forgot okay?” you shake your head at the saying he picked up from his roommate Haechan. 

Yangyang proceeds to press play on the movie and you get a couple minutes in, “Yangyang.” 

“Hm?” 

“I know you got help from someone cause I- mmgmhhmhMMSHSHMMHM” Yangyang’s hand flies over your mouth covering it in order to mute what you’re saying. 

“What’s that I’m sorry babe I can’t hear you. Did you say I’m the Best? Oh, okay thanks so much babe I love you too.” 

[kayr0ss]

A Ring On It

[Diakko Week 2020, Day 7: Free Day, Help Diana, Fluff, Feelings, a bit of humor, Established Relationship, Diana is Trying Her Best (TM)] AO3

Happy to participate in Diakko week 2020! @dianakko-week

---

‘If you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it! If you like it then you shoulda—’

With a flick of Diana’s wrist and wand, the music player that sat along a side table in her office fell to silence.

“—put a ring on it.” Hannah hummed, smirking up to Diana. She was sitting on the camelback sofa opposite Diana’s desk, shooting the blonde witch an infuriating look that she urgently wanted to wipe away. “I was listening to that, you know.”

“I didn’t think that sort of music was your type.”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Hannah raised an eyebrow. “Besides, I think it had a very good message to convey.”

“One which I surely don’t need any further reminders on.” Diana replied in a clipped voice, leaning on her arm above the desk. She so rarely let her posture slack, but this was Hannah, and the thoughts weighing on her mind were heavy enough to let her shoulders slump.

“As the wise Beyonce so graciously exclaimed, ‘If you like it, put a—”

“I am working on it.”

“You have been for three months.” Hannah groaned in exasperation, dropping the porcelain cup of tea that matched their dessert plating. The set went remarkably well with her simple hardwood furniture, if Diana could say so herself.

“What’s stopping you?”

The blonde witch rubbed at her temples, wishing that Barbara had joined them this afternoon so that at least one other person would see the logic of biding her time. Then again, even Barbara’s patience was beginning to wear thin. Their initial excitement at the prospect of Diana proposing served to bolster her resolve and the firmness of her decision to do it soon. But then Akko had to fly to Japan within the month, on account of caring for her mother who had fallen ill (and thankfully is fully recovered by now). She thought to maybe follow her—perhaps find a scenic mountain where she would get down on her knee and ask for everything she had ever wanted—but then she supposed it would leave a poor taste in Akko’s mouth, with an ailing mother to worry about at the time being and all that.

The month after that, it was Diana whose affairs had gone awry one way another—her work in Medical Magic hounded her well into the weekends, even late at night at home. There was even an argument about it at some point, with Akko growing tired of Diana barely having a minute to spare for her.

That was the sign that told her to sort out her horrible habit of over working and under-delegating. Akko had always been an understanding partner. She knew that she prioritized her career and never slacked away from her responsibilities, and it would have taken a lot to push her into being upset. So month two was a no, for sure, but she was thankful they took the time sort out issues which would have come up sooner or later. How well they handled that obstacle in their relationship solidified her decision to take the next step towards marriage.

By month three it was all just nerves if she were to be honest with herself. What if she messed it up? What if Akko decided she wasn’t ready yet? What if Diana was misinterpreting the progression of their intimacy and it turns out they weren’t on the same page, thereby making it—

“Diana, I can hear you.” Hannah snapped her out of her thoughts.

It was also by month three that her two best friends started their incessant badgering.

“Really. Relax. Haven’t you two already had a conversation about this?”

“We have, of course. I wasn’t planning on just catching her off-guard without establishing that.”

“So it’s just a matter of when.”

“It is.” Diana sighed. She was thankful for the reminder. Akko was quite clear about it—she was ready now. But no one was in a hurry, and she didn’t want Diana to feel rushed. The latter witch appreciated it, greatly.

But she was ready too.

“I have a tip, with regards to the timing.” Hannah said pointedly, taking a sip of her tea to emphasize her dramatic pause.

Diana leaned forward to listen.

“Soon.”

---

She sat in a booth at her favorite corner café, jotting down the outline of her plan. The coffee was wonderful, and so was the feeling of finally having a place start.

Daunting tasks became surmountable when one broke them down into smaller, more manageable pieces. This line of thinking served her well throughout life.

Why should a proposal be any different?

She decided to set a small goal as the first step towards achieving ‘The Proposal.’ Of course, the other steps have been vaguely outlined by now, but her focus mustn’t shift away from Step 1: Finding Her Ring Size.

Diana felt good about this.

The ring, of course, would have to fit Akko perfectly—and how hard could it be?

---

It was much harder than she anticipated.

Akko was staying over the night.

At this point in their relationship, it could be said that they practically lived together—but to the surprise of many, it was Akko who insisted that she maintain her own space and a separate apartment. She still considered it as ‘home’ around half the time of each week. Diana could respect this, space was important, and somehow it helped make sure she didn’t take their nights together for granted. It gets cold—a large and empty bed, that is—when you’ve grown used to falling asleep with so much… warmth.

And Akko was so wonderfully warm this evening, slumbering at her side.

She was illuminated in hues of blue by the moonlight streaming in through the window. Diana allowed herself to stop and stare for a minute before carrying on with her plan.

She tucked a strand of brown hair behind a freckled ear.

She couldn’t wait for this to become her life every day.

Her eyes fell towards Akko’s left hand, resting easy above the thick covers she pulled up. Diana moved slowly, methodically, so as not to wake her target. She reached over to her night stand, pulling out a spool of red thread which she would expertly wrap around the finger in question. Smooth. Easy. Couldn’t possibly go wrong.

She licked her lips, careful not to disturb Akko’s slumber, and slowly began to pull lengths of the thread. She lifted her partner’s ring finger gently, keeping it up as she used her other hand to wrap the thread once,  twice, and then thrice—

Akko began to stir. Oh no. Oh no!

She was usually a very heavy sleeper—small actions like this wouldn’t be enough to wake her, for sure! The blonde kept still, holding her breath.

Akko’s fidgeting came to a stop, and she went back to snoring.

Diana sighed in relief.

But then out of nowhere Akko rolled over and—oh by Beatrix she didn’t cut the thread! She hastily reached over for some scissors, but Akko had rolled a full one-eighty-degrees and entangled them both in thread. Diana gulped. Right. The scissors!

Akko decided to roll around one more time, coming full circle and facing at Diana again. Except this time she found herself fully entangled in thread, blankets, and furiously messy brown hair.

“Diana,” she mumbled softly, arms reaching forward in search of a warm body to hold. This effectively pulled on the string even more and—ah. What a mess! Now they were both entangled, but thankfully thread was easy to manage and she could probably just charm it to fix itself.

“Dia?”

But then Akko just had to wake up.

“Hush darling, I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

Akko blinked her vision back into focus. “What is this?” she looked at her hand, half-awake. Diana swallowed. “Are you pulling some red-string of fate shit at me?”

“I—” She honestly had no idea what she meant by that but she’ll take the out. “—I suppose so, yes?”

“You are so cheesy.”

“I am?”

“It’s cute.” Akko yawned. “But it’s itchy.” She whined, swatting away the thread she was entangled in and haphazardly pulling the knot Diana made along her ring finger. “Now—sleep.”

Akko snaked her arm around her waist, and as much as Diana enjoyed the sensation of being so near, it was also now out of her reach.

Diana sighed.

Perhaps another day.

---

“It’s for medical reasons.”

Diana said with as straight a face as she could muster which, honestly, was quite ironic given her sexual orientation. She would have laughed if she weren’t so nervous.

“You want to examine my hand for medical reasons?” Akko blinked.

“Yes.”

“I mean, sure!” Akko happily held out her left hand, and Diana obliged, taking it into hers and scrutinizing it with dedication. “Well?”

“It’s looking quite handy.”

“I did not just hear you say that.”

She wasn’t exactly sure what she aimed to accomplish with this, and she wanted to flick herself in the forehead. Akko was blinking at her expectantly.

“Do we still have that tape measure?”

“Uhh.” Akko looked upwards, squinting in frustration as she tried to remember. They used it some time ago, to help with getting her measurements for all the costumes changes she’d have to do. “Yeah! Let me grab it real quick.”

By the time Akko returned with the measuring tape, Diana had realized just how poorly planned out this whole endeavor was. She figured she couldn’t just go and measure one finger and be done with it, right?

“I’m going to measure the circumference of all your fingers now.”

The more you know, she supposed.

“That is weird.” Akko narrowed her eyes. “But! You’re the magical doctor and shit between the two of us so okay I guess.”

“For health reasons.”

---

She couldn’t believe that actually worked! Diana walked briskly towards the Manor courtyard, eager to fly to the central market district of Blytonbury where Paul could be found. Finally! After all her (very awkward) efforts! She actually had to measure all ten of Akko’s fingers, but after that interesting examination Diana had breezed through the remaining paperwork she had to look-over for the day—if only so that she could give Paul the specifications before evening.

“Could you grab me some of those sweet buns I loved so much back when we were in school?” Akko called from the center of the courtyard. She was practicing another one of her performance routines. Her next show was in Glasgow, and the central theme of this particular run was fire and light magic.

Akko captivated her.

So much so that Diana stopped in her tracks, mesmerized, just watching Akko perform feats of magic that nearly looked like a dance. Fire trailed her fingertips—it matched her eyes, her hair, her spirit. She reached out and caused a spectacle of flames in blue, green, and orange. It looked a little bit like an oriental dragon, and her mastery of it impressed her so.

She was warm, yes, but sometimes Akko could burn and Diana knew this in every sense of the word.

The blonde nearly forgot that she was leaving for a quick trip to the jeweler, especially when Akko caught her gaze. She winked at Diana, and blew her a teasing, flying kiss.

Diana felt her mouth dry up, and suddenly her priority was to move towards her partner, temporarily forgetting about getting on her broom.

But then something… smelled like it was burning?

“Oh, shit!” Akko squealed, and Diana finally began to register that her fingertips were very, very warm. “I’m sorry!”

Akko had somehow set her little piece of paper on fire.

The paper.

Which had her measurements.

Diana felt her stomach sink as though she swallowed lead. She would like to perish. Preferably soon. But it would be quite problematic to perish, because then she wouldn’t be able to follow-through with her plans of eventually marrying this wonderful woman—despite the raging temptation to hex her at this moment.

 ---

 “Her ring size?” Amanda leaned against one of Diana’s bookshelves with a shit-eating grin.

“Yes.” Barbara sighed in unison with Hannah. “And it is taking her ages.”

“I’m right here, you know.” Diana deadpanned.

“You know, why don’t just magically resize it?” Barbara offered.

“Because the ring will be crafted by one of the goblin workers that protested with Akko. Paul—worked in the kitchens? Brought her snacks. He’s a jeweler now. I don’t want to tamper with his craftsmanship, and I’m sure it’s something Akko would appreciate deeply.”

“That’s really thoughtful of you.” Barbara swooned.

“Now if only the thoughts became actions.” Hannah laughed. Diana rolled her eyes.

Barbara piped in, “did you try the thread thing?”

“Ended in disaster.”

“Get a mold of one of her old rings?”

“She doesn’t weary any.”

“Ask her parents?”

“Her… parents?”

“They might know!”

That could be worth a shot, she supposed. She had already asked for their permission anyway. It seemed like as good a lead as any, but her hopefulness was quickly damped by the sound of Amanda snickering.

“Damn, Cavendish!” Amanda looked about ready to burst into laughter. “I would have thought by now you’d know all about how girthy Akko’s fing—”

“Out of my office, O’Neill!’

 ---

She's tried it all and was so very near her wit's end. She asked Lotte and Sucy. She discreetly tried to slip a paper ring onto her while they held hands but Akko was much too excitable to stay still! She even tried sneaking around, like a thief in the night, in case Akko might actually have a few rings hidden somewhere in her portion of the closet. Diana didn't get very far. It was the guilt and fear of seeing something she shouldn't.

And so she finally gave in to Barbara's suggestion and phoned in for some help.

“H—Hello?”

Diana flinched. She never stuttered anymore these days, much less on the phone, but this wasn’t an ordinary phone call, no, it was one of utmost importance.

[“Diana!”] A deep, excited voice greeted her at the opposite end of the line. There was familiarity in the way he spoke, as though she had received this particular warmth before. It immediately put her at ease. Akko, it seems, took after her father.

“Mister Kagari.”

[“Call me dad!”]

She swallowed, feeling herself grow flustered at the thought of doing such a thing. “I—I need your advice on a matter, sir.”

[“Sir?”] He almost sounded aghast. [“Didn’t I just say it’s ‘dad’ now?”]

She sighed. This was going to be a long phone call.

 ---

 It was snowing.

They were sitting on a bench in Blytonbury, huddled together in the evening while flakes of frost floated down from the sky. Akko’s seen snow so many times before—both back home in Japan and here in her new home—but it amazed her every time. Diana cherished it. She wished that her childlike wonder would never dull or fade away.

She loved her a lot.

And as these feelings once again made themselves known to her, she couldn’t help but feel the frustrated at her foiled attempts at furthering their relationship.

“Whatcha thinking?” Akko asked.

“Nothing much.”

“I hate to break it to you, but that’s pretty much impossible for Diana Cavendish.”

The blonde huffed in laughter, coming up in puffs of mist through the crisp and cold air. Akko wasn’t exactly wrong.

She’s decided to drop all the secrecy and plotting and simply just ask. It was just a ring size. It wasn’t anything too much, given where they already were in this relationship.

“Could I get a look at her your hands again?”

This time, Akko looked suspicious albeit teasing. “Is it for ‘health reasons’ again?”

Diana smiled. “Definitely.”

Akko reached over, settling her hand facing up on Diana’s lap where she held it reverently.

She had such lovely hands. They were tan, because Akko loved the outdoors, but they were so much softer than people expected. Akko was a tactile individual; she liked to reach, hold, touch and feel the sensations that the world had to give. But for all the brashness of her voice and personality—her hands were soft.

Diana turned it over, tracing her fingertips along the indentations of her veins. How lovely it would be, to see two rings glistening on one of those fingers. The thought of it made her giddy a little. She couldn’t wait to wear her own wedding band as well.

She heard Akko giggle.

“Medical reasons, huh.”

Akko leaned forward, soft and teasing, and kissed her at the nose. She felt Akko’s fingers thread along with her own, and her stomach fluttered along with her heartbeat.

“If you wanted to hold my hand—” Akko grinned.  “—you could have just said so!”

The brunette’s father had more or less given her the same answer. Akko was straightforward and beating around the bush would do her no good. She may as well just ask—that was apparently what he did to get her mother’s ring size before he proposed himself. So far, it seems it worked. So why the hell not?

Diana was tired of stalling, and this was a sure-fire way to get it right.

“I’ve been meaning to ask, Akko.”

“Mhmm?”

As she turned her head to meet her partner’s gaze, Diana’s breath hitched.

Akko looked so beautiful under the lamplight and snow.

“Diana?”

Right. Ring size.

“I—”

—am so in love with you.

“You good, Dia?”

“I just wanted to ask, since we’ve talked about it already, we should begin looking and shopping around for—”

Akko blinked, her eyelashes batting with flakes of snow caught at their tips. Diana’s mouth dried up.

I—

She wanted to marry her.

“You look wonderful,” Diana blurted out.

The brunette flushed red, beautifully, and it took her breath away.

“I just meant to say, that, I—”

“Diana?” Akko asked softly, concerned, because Diana’s speech was broken and rambling by now. “What is it you’re trying to say?”

She loved her so much.

“Will you marry me?”

 -

fin

-

[numba99]

The Lies Between Us

A/N: I have no idea where this came form I just started writing and this came out LMFAO honestly I don’t know how much I love this but uhh there’s not enough Quinn content for me and I needed to fill that void so I hope y’all enjoy either way. Word count: 2.7k

Warnings: smut

You shouldn’t care. You shouldn’t be jealous.You weren’t his girlfriend, you weren’t his anything, not really. Yet see his hands on her waist stung in a way you never anticipated it would. His hands used to hold you like that, she was in your spot. It was like a white hot knife to the heart, searing, unrelenting.

You were gripping your drink so hard you wondered if the glass might shatter in your hand. It would hurt less, you thought, than watching this. Watching him kiss the side of her neck, the spot he knew you loved so much. It shocked you how much hatred you could harbor for this nameless woman. It wasn’t her fault, how could she know? How could she know she was standing in your spot, with the man you’d fallen for? It wasn’t rational to hate her, but the alcohol flowing through your veins was making it difficult to see anything other than red. It wasn’t just her, though, you hated him too. Or you wanted to.

“Uh, is everything okay y/n?” your best friend Brock questioned. You quickly looked away from Quinn and the girl, fearing if he followed your eyes he’d see what was upsetting you. He’d put two and two together.

“I don’t feel great,” you lied, not looking at him. You hated lying to Brock, you really did, but that’s all you’ve been doing lately. He didn’t know about you and Quinn. When the two of you started hooking up a few months ago, you both agreed it would be better to keep things secret. You were in the same friend group, things would get complicated if other people got involved. Neither of you wanted to deal with the unsolicited opinions, about how it was a bad idea. Of course you knew that. When was it ever a good idea just to fuck someone? When did friends with benefits ever work? 

It had been dumb, you absolutely knew it. But when Quinn looked at you, when he touched, when you felt his lips on you, well, all reasoning left you. He evoked something in you that no else did. It was primal, almost, the need you felt for him. It drove you wild to just be in the same room with him, and you knew he felt the same way. Some things you just can’t fake.

“Looks like you wanna kill someone,” Brock noted, sipping his drink. You could feel he wasn’t buying it. He knew you long enough to know something was up. Part of you wanted to come clean, to finally let it all be out in the open. But you were scared Brock would be mad, and you wouldn’t blame him. You’d been lying to him for months, sneaking around to fuck his best friend. He'd be furious with you, you were sure of it. You couldn’t deal with that right now, it would be too much.

“Just some stupid boy,” you lied.

“Do I know him?” he asked casually. He was used to hearing you vent about the shitty men you came in contact with.

“No.” Another lie. God you hated yourself. Since when were you the person who lied? To their best friend no less. You wanted to blame Quinn for making you keep this all a secret, but even through your anger you knew that was not fair. It was as much your idea as it was his. 

You hated how much you enjoyed it in the beginning. It had been fun, sneaking around, the fear of getting caught, the absolute thrill of not. It was intoxicating. You thought of all the places you’d managed to fuck without anyone knowing, how each time had been better than the last. One of those times happened to be in the very club you sat in tonight. You thought that if you saw Quinn pulling the girl he was with to the bathroom where he’d had you... well you just might kill someone then.

“Whoever he is, he’s a loser. You deserve better than some asshole who’s gonna get you so upset,” Brock tried to comfort you. It just made you feel more guilty. Would he be saying the same thing if he knew who you were upset with?

“Thanks,” you replied flatly. You were about to open you mouth to say something, but Quinn caught your eye again. He was kissing her, this time on the lips. You felt sick to your stomach, and not because of the alcohol you drank. You couldn’t do this, you couldn’t be here anymore. 

“I have to go,” you jumped up suddenly, nearly teetering over.

Brock’s hand found your arm, keeping you from falling. “Y/n, are you sure you’re okay? Something seems really wrong,” he was studying your face now. You’d have to put on your best act. Your best lies.

“I’m fine, just had too much to drink,” you started. It really wasn't a lie, it was hard for you think straight with the mixture of alcohol and pain swimming through your body. “It’s not a big deal, I'll be over it tomorrow, I just need to get some rest.” You definitely would not be over this tomorrow, but you needed Brock to believe you were okay. You needed to get somewhere that you could be alone.

“Let me take you home,” Brock replied.

You forced a laugh. “I’m not a child I don’t need an escort. I’ll make it home fine.”

“Stay at my place tonight then? So I can check on you when I get home,” Brock insisted. He was worried about you, and you knew he wasn’t going to drop it. It pained you how much he cared about you in that moment, you didn’t think you deserved it. But you also knew fighting it wasn’t going to work. You figured you could just slip into the guest room and have a melt down before he got home. You could be asleep by then, or at least pretend to be asleep.

“Alright, yeah,” you nodded, “But I just want some time to myself. Stay and have fun, okay? I’ll be okay I promise.” Brock agreed, slipping you the key to his place. You forced another smile, saying you’d see him later before heading out. Tears were already pressing at the back of your eyes as you slipped into the car you called.

You wanted to be mad at Quinn, well you were, but really you were more mad at yourself. You brought on this shit storm. Of course you caught feelings for him, who were you kidding? From the first time you kissed, you knew, you felt the sweetest spark in the pit of your stomach. It wasn't lust, it was love. You loved Quinn. As much as you hated to admit it, you did. You didn’t want to be his secret, you didn’t want to hide anymore. But he didn’t feel the same, at least you didn’t think so. It always seemed to be about sex for him. You couldn't tell him you loved him, it would ruin everything.

So you ruined things differently. You cut him off completely. No texts, no calls, nothing. It was wrong, you knew that, but you'd be lying for months now what was one final shitty act? You avoided him for awhile, making up excuses to Brock why you couldn’t come out. Working late. Friend needed you. Whatever worked.

Until Quinn showed up at your door, demanding answers. The words spilled from you venomously, shocking yourself. You told him he wasn’t worth it, that you didn’t want anything to do with him. More lies. A part of you wanted him to fight for you, to ask you to stay or try to talk things out. For a second, there was a flash in his eyes that made you think he would. But he left without a word, leaving you all alone.

That encounter had been a few weeks ago. You were running short on excuses to tell Brock, which is why you came out tonight. You convinced yourself you didn’t care, that you could handle seeing him. And maybe you could have, if it was just him, but seeing him with someone else stung. It confirmed to you that he never felt anything more for you than just a hook up buddy. How else could he have moved on so quickly?

Tears were slowly freely be the time you hit the guest bed in Brock’s place. You didn’t bother getting undressed, just kicking off your shoes and curling into a ball. You felt ridiculous, but you needed to get it all out. Maybe then you would feel better.

You’re not sure how much time had passed, but you knew it couldn't have been that long when you heard the front door open. Fuck, you should have known Brock would come back early to check on you. There was no way you could hide that you’d been crying, so you turned away from the door, hoping you could pretend to be sleeping and he'd leave you be.

“Y/n?” asked a familiar voice. But it wasn’t Brock’s.

“Quinn?” you gasped. He was the last person you were expecting. “What are you doing here?”

“Brock said you left in a rush, that you seemed upset. I wanted to check on you,” he told you, hovering awkwardly in the door way.

“Why do you care?” you asked. You intended for it to sound cold and uncaring, but you sounded more sad than anything else.

“Because I-” Quinn paused, as if he was stopping himself from saying what he wanted. “I don’t understand what happened between us,” he said finally.

“Us? Was there ever really and us?” you questioned.

He looked hurt. “I mean I thought...” his voice trailed off.

“You could just call me whenever you wanted to fuck and I'd come running?” you filled in the blanks.

“Is that what you think of me? Of how I felt?” Quinn questioned. You don't know how you were expecting him to respond, but it was like that.

“You couldn’t have felt much if you were making out with some random girl,” you huffed.

“That random girl was my shitty attempt to get over you,” Quinn replied, “And it didn’t work.” You stared at him, feeling like you couldn’t possibly have heard him right. If he was trying to get over you did that mean...

“Fuck,” you said, because you didn't know what else to say.

“What?”

“I think I made a big mistake,” you began, “By pushing you away.”

“You mean...”

“I liked you,” you replied, “I still like you, who am I kidding? I just thought you didn’t feel the same and it was all getting to be too much. I don't know, god it sounds so stupid now.” You shook your head at yourself. 

“I like you too,” Quinn replied. It made your heart flutter. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I shoulda said something, I was just scared it might fuck everything up.”

“Apparently fucking everything up is my specialty,” you sighed, both of you laughing a bit. “I am sorry though, seriously. I shouldn’t have said what I did and treated you like that. I’m really sorry.”

It was then you realized Quinn had made his way over to you during the course of your conversation. He put his arm around you, giving you a reassuring squeeze. “It’s okay, I’m just glad I know what it was all about now,” Quinn replied. You were really looking in his eyes for the first time since he arrived and that pull of desire started to bubble up in you.

“Quinn... would it be crazy if we tried this? Us? Like no hiding, no secrets? Be together like normal people,” you asked, your heart hammering. Just because he forgave you, didn’t mean hed want to be with you.

Quinn didn’t leave much time for you to wonder, though. “There’s nothing I’d want more.” His lips found yours and in an instant all the pain you’d felt in the past few weeks disappeared. Everything about him kissing you and touching you felt so right. It was impossible to feel anything but bliss when he held you, his lips moving perfectly against yours.

Before you knew it, Quinn was pressing you into the mattress. You savored the familiar heaviness of his body on top of yours. You missed it so much. You missed him so much. Clothing peeled off between kisses and nipping at skin. Quinn slid his hand between your legs, running his finger over your already wet core.

“God I missed this,” Quinn groaned, stealing the words right out of your mouth. He slipped his middle in ring finger into you, just as you liked it. No one knew what you liked like Quinn did. They curled inside you, pressing your most sensitive spot.

“Quinn,” you gasped as his lips found your boobs. His tongue sliding across your nipple, making you shiver in the best way. It had been so long since you felt him like this, you were going to last long.

Quinn seemed as eager as you; you could feel him hardening against you. It only drove you crazier. When Quinn’s thumb found your clit, it was over for you. It took just a few moment of the extra stimulation to send you over the edge, moaning his name as your hand tangled through his hair. He always loved when you pulled it.

Quinn smirked up at you as he always did when he made you cum. It never got old to him, and you loved that. “Come here,” you purred, pulling him back to your lips. As you kissed, you looped your fingers into his boxers, pulling off the one piece of clothing that separated the two of you.

“Need.. you.. now,” Quinn murmured between kisses. You weren't about to object. Quinn pressed into you easily, as you were slick form your first orgasm and he knew exactly how fast he could go with you. He found his pace right away, building your second orgasm quickly.

Quinn was peppering kisses all over, something that gave you butterflies even now. Sex with Quinn was always good, but this was different. It was more than just sex now, which made it so much better than you ever thought it could be.

“Quinn I’m gonna-” you lost your breath in your second orgasm before you could get the words out. Quinn let out a low curse, feeling you tighten around him. He only managed a few more thrusts before he was cumming along with you.

Quinn was smiling again, though this time it was less pride and more joy. He was happy to be with you, really with you. Before either of you could say a word, the front door opening broke the silence between the two of you. Your eyes widened at each other, knowing there was no way out of this. You had no time to even get your clothes on, so you just scrambled to get under the covers.

“Well would you look at what we have here,” Brock was biting back a smirk in the doorway.

“We can explain,” you responded quickly, feeling a blush tint your cheeks.

“What that the two of you have been fucking for months? Yeah we knew that,” Petey piped up from behind Brock. They both looked thoroughly amused.

“You guys knew? How come you didn't say anything?” Quinn asked incredulously.

“How come you didn’t say anything?” Petey shot back, brow raised. Fair.

“You’re not mad?” you asked.

“Not at all,” Brock shook his head, “Just glad you two idiots figured it out.”

“Thanks Brock,” you smiled at your best friend, feeling the weight of the last few months lift from your shoulders.

“Of course. Now you two lovebirds enjoy yourselves... just don’t stain my sheets,” Brock closed the door behind him. Even in the dark you could see Quinn’s cheeks were just as red as yours. However, embarrassment quickly gave way to joy as he planted a quick kiss on your lips before pulling you on to his chest. You and Quinn finally had each other, in the way you truly want, and that was all that matter. 

[nightklok]

Kiss prompt (if you are still doing them!) Lavonna/Nathan - #75 Kisses Meant To Distract The Other Person From Whatever They Were Intently Doing

76 Kiss Prompts  [Open]

Oh of course, these sort of prompts are always open! :O And I’m sorry for this taking so long, I’m just now getting through to these prompts I owe! And I realize that this may not have filled the prompt but i hope you enjoy it either way!

75. Kisses Meant to Distract the Other Person from Whatever They Were Intently Doing

Lavona placed an ice pack over her head as she looked at the other members standing before her.  They had a look of defeat on their faces as those uninjured tended to the injured. There had been quite a lot of losses from their side and their deaths were sadly in vain as they hadn’t won. It felt selfish to say they had to continue on. Well...the manager seemed to no longer be in the picture so perhaps they could try again. They were running out of ideas, however and the member size was dwindling.

She set the ice pack aside, trying to get the attention of her members, “This has been a day of failure for all but we can’t lose the purpose of our mission, our destiny-“

And then her phone rang and once she checked, she saw that it was a text message: Hey  so I was thinking the other day and ur kinda hot so im fine with 4getting wat happened that day so uh wanna go out?

Followed by another text.

It’s Nathan btw

And another.

From Dethklok

Well, seemed like she had a plan now.

Her triumphant smile easily outshines the worn looks of her members, “looks like we have a good chance of getting him.”

___

The arcade lights of the Dave and Busters were bright, a little too bright for her, but it was what he had picked. Well, it was her fault for saying he could pick whatever he wanted. And that she should’ve listened to that gossip magazine saying Nathan preferred amusement parks/arcades as first dates in a ‘Which Dethklok member should you date?’ quiz. Who knew they were fairly accurate?

Nathan wasn’t wearing his signature black shirt. Well, it was black but it looked more like a polo shirt and he threw on a leather jacket as well. If it weren’t for the fact he was already a tall and intimidating looking guy, he would’ve definitely appeared more nervous than he already must’ve been, “So I hope that this is okay.”

“It’s fine,” She answered as she looked around. There was no one around except for a few klokateers that were near the exits, and in random areas for the room. Most likely the place was bought out for the night for security reasons. She would’ve panicked that it would destroy her plan but it was a plan that didn’t require her members to be put into anymore peril. She glanced around the various arcade games and crane machines, some familiar but others not as it had been years since she last went to one, “What do we do now?”

“Oh uh well, you can pick. We can eat first or play some games, it’s your call.”

“We can play some games,” She answered as she looked around. Surely there must be some game that would let them be alone to be able to take things further? She tried looking but couldn’t find any or didn’t see from her angle. It was a good idea to at least try and play some games, gain his trust and maybe a little flirting here and there wouldn’t hurt. She looked at a crane machine that was full of, ironically, Dethklok themed teddy bears, “I wanna try that one.”

“Oh, crane machines, huh? Nice choice,” Nathan answered. He offered his hand and she took it. Holy shit, his hand was huge and warm and surprisingly soft.

The crane machine was themed around Dethklok unsurprsingly enough. It was with black with blood splatter and an 8 bit version of their songs playing, thankfully not the same song in a loop. A klokateer quickly handed them each a cup full of coins and Nathan inserted a few into the game. The game changed songs and a timer was shown next to the joy stick.

Nathan had given quick instructions on how to effectively strategize. She look around the sides, did mental calculations, and she had the bear in the claw’s grasp only for it to fall completely. She cursed to herself at losing at such a childish game.

“Guess it’s really rigged. I can get a-”

“No, I’ll just try again,” Lavona said quickly. She inserted as many coins as the game would allow her before trying again.

It took about five tries before Lavona realized that Nathan was right; the game was rigged.

Before any of them could even say a word to each other, they both punched through the glass. An alarm quickly sounded from the machine but was quickly shut off from one of the attendants. They picked a bear that wasn’t covered in glass and handed it to each other with a simple ‘thanks’.

Though in all honesty, the sentiment of breaking glass using their bare hands was rather touching. Nathan really didn’t need to do that and probably could’ve had a klokateer smash it for him an attendant un-rig the game. Maybe it was impulse or him trying to make her feel better; but it was the same result of him giving her a bear regardless. It gave a feeling that she hadn’t quite felt in years.

“How about we try some other games?” She asked once klokateers finished bandaging her hands.

“Oh, you still wanna continue? I mean, I understand if you wanna call it a night or something. Sorry about your hand,” Nathan said sheepishly. He took a sip of the cheap beer that was given to them.

“I’ve been through worst dates, Nathan,” She answered, “Besides, it’s been only thirty minutes. There’s still time.”

“Oh yeah, that’s true. Then maybe games that don’t have claw machines?”

“Deal. What other games are there?”

As Nathan began talking about the type of games there are to play, Lavona noticed a klokateer grow limp near the exit and be dragged out. The klokateer, or rather one of her members dressed in their clothes quickly replaced them. The member gave a thumbs up though Lavona tried to tell them to leave. That wasn’t part of the plan!

As Nathan finished talking about one of the arcade games, he noticed that Lavona seemed distracted. Then she noticed that he had stopped talking asked him to continue on talking and he obliged though he did seem a bit wary of what she was looking at.

Suddenly, there was a shout from a klokateer and before Nathan could react, she pulled him down by the shirt collar to kiss him. It was as warm as the first time they kissed among the flames. This time, there was no urgency or even fear or adrenaline. Just a kiss and that was all. Maybe a spark but that was beside the point. She couldn’t just...fall in love with her target-that was completely unethical!

There was silence thankfully though she had a feeling her plan was ruined. And for some reason? She didn’t seem to mind. She took his hand afterwords and they went over to a shooting game.

Aside from whatever the heck happened in the beginning, the date went on without a problem. They played games, won prizes, and ate. There was something she felt when she spent more time with him. It wasn’t the sexual attraction she had always felt with him but rather something more. It felt like being some teenager again and falling in love with the cute guy in math class or something. Felt innocent, almost.

Maybe she could’ve been able to fulfill her plan successfully. After all, Nathan and her relaxed quite a ton thanks to the conversations and beer by the end of the night. But for some reason, she had a feeling that he wasn’t the type to want to go further on a first date and she didn’t mind the delay. 

At the end of the night, when they had only smashed two crane machines and won a ton of prizes, the dethlimo pulled up to Lavona’s house.

“I had a great time. Thank you for asking me out, Nathan,” Lavona smiled at Nathan.

“It’s not really a problem. Thanks for accepting. I had a great time,” Nathan answered with a smile of his own. It was slightly creepy but cute and she liked it.

They kissed and Lavona pulled apart. A klokateer opened the door for her, another bringing out the stuffed animals to carry for her. Once the klokateer dropped off the stuffed animals in her living room couch, they returned and Nathan waved before the limo drove off.

One of the members greeted Lavona though paused when they saw her hand was bandaged, “What happened? Did you get hurt by him?”

“Not at all,” She answered but refused to tell what really happened, “It’s fine, the date went well.”

“So you seduced him?!”

“No, I’m afraid not. It seems like...I’ll have to try again for another date.”

Another member had heard the conversation and went over to them with a sigh, “Nathan seems like the kind of guy who would want to take things slow. It might take weeks, months even! Are you sure this is the most effective plan?”

The idea of getting to spend months with Nathan made her face flush though she tried to downplay her excitement, “Well, whatever is needed for the church, right?”

____

"So did you figure out who she is?” Pickles asked when Nathan went to the living room. The rest of the guys were there as well, watching whatever disturbing horror movie Toki had picked.

“I-uh-yes and no. I know who she is but not what she’s doing exactly,” Nathan answered.

“I knew you couldn’t do it! We shoulda had me ask her on a date!” Murderface said.

“Looks at yous. I thinks she’d justs dies of embarrassments if yous dids.” Skwisgaar didn’t hide his disgust at all.

“Look, I have a plan for this. And it’s just gonna take a while, okay?”

“How longs?” Toki asked suspiciously.

“Uhh..a week...maybe a few months?”

“Are you sure just...asking her is not an option? To save us the time?” Pickles asked.

“Uh, no. Has to totally be my plan. If we wanna figure out what really happened that night, my plan is the only option if we wanna actually..y’know, live.. Anyway, gonna go to bed I’m tired. Good night,” Nathan quickly left before the others could object.

He could ask. He knew that. She would most likely tell him everything. But his mind went back to that kiss and the fun time he had with her. Besides, if she enjoyed destroying crane machines as much as him, maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to delay the plan as much as possible.

Before he went to bed, he went to his phone to send only one text to Lavona.

Had fun 2nite. Wanna go out again?

[jubilantwriter]

Heart Shaped like Sea Glass

(First)  (Previous)  (Next)  (AO3)

Part 8 - Reflected like Sunlight Against the Waves

Summary:  Getting the human to do what needs to be done is harder than Daniel realizes.  But each part of the process takes steps.  And he’s willing to put forth the effort, so long as it gets him the results he needs, however long it takes.

// // // // //

It's not often that the sun comes out.  But it's very often that it disappears back behind the clouds without a single word.  Routine returns without another word.  And not another word is mentioned as they settle back into fish and silence and the ever lingering darkness that follows with the changing of the seasons.

Daniel finds that he doesn't enjoy the silence that much anymore.  But words are hard to coax out.  Hard to lure out when he's scrabbling for a purchase as the human stares at him blankly from where he resides.  He doesn't know too much about humans.  Doesn't really want to get too close to them.

(A lie and a half.)

But now he's starting to... feel a little concerned.  No, not worried, of course not.  But he's a little concerned.  Because the sun, or what little of the sun he used to see, is dipping down below the horizon faster and faster.  There's a chill in the air that he can finally feel.  A warning.  He watches as the gulls around him begin to dwindle in number, their little eyes looking at him with a mild curiosity as he remains.  A whisper draws his attention, but he pays the sea no mind.  It's been awfully calm lately, strangely calm.  But he doesn't have time to question the sea and why it decides to whisper instead of yell.  There's more important things to consider.

For instance, if Daniel makes his seasonal trip to the warmer waters, where other humans are more likely to be easier meals, would the human here still be alive for him to feed when he returns?

Will the human remember to feed himself?

Will the human be able to care for himself?

Difficult, difficult questions that should not be questions.

On one hand, he could perhaps ask the selkie for a favor.  Her little human lover could be of help.  Maybe feed the human while he's away.  He can even suggest which winter fishes to feed the human in order to satisfy his nearly nonexistent palette.  And because she's a selkie, she's less than likely to show herself around the human.  

But... she's also a selkie.  A selkie who finds humans such curious creatures, despite her natural instinct suggesting she stay the fuck away from them.  No no, it seems more so that her friendly nature wins out every time, and that's what keeps her from completely leaving her lover behind.  Not only that, but her playful nature would make her endearing, which would make her convincing.  Maybe she'd even convince the human to crave life instead of death!  Awful, really.

No.  He cannot depend on the selkie for help.  She'd never leave him alone if he asked her lover to call her for help.  And the old fool would oblige, because of course he would.  Years and years of obsessing over eating the human managed to endear the siren to the old fisherman, when the old man should have felt fear instead.  Daniel groans and rubs at his face.  Humans make no sense.  They should be fearing him - a siren!  He's their natural predator.  But of course not.  He has one old fisherman that waves to him when he sits on his rock, and another human that practically begs for Daniel to eat him.  An involuntary shudder shakes his feathers, and he finds himself fluffing himself out to better keep himself warm.

The weather is growing colder.  And that means he has to leave soon.  Which means...

Which means he needs to convince the human to take care of himself while he's gone.

He stands up, wings spread wide as he dashes across the waves and beats his wings for added momentum.  Even as his feet touches the sand, he keeps up his pace and aims for the door.  Just as he's about to tackle the door with the full force of his body, the door opens.

Goddammit.

A loud grunt greets him as he and the human crash and tumble onto the ground.  Daniel squawks in shock as he pulls away from the tangle of limbs he finds himself in.  The human takes longer to sit up, groaning as he rubs his head and shoots a half-assed glare at Daniel.

"Really?"  Annoyed words leave the human as he continues to sit in place.  "You got tired of kicking my door in, so now you wanna start slamming into me instead?"

"I didn't know you were going to open the door!"  Daniel points at the empty bed and glares back.  "Normally, I have to struggle to get your ass up and about!  What made you suddenly decide to get up now?!"  

"Well, I heard you coming and thought, 'Gee, maybe I should just invite him in instead of letting him break my door,' and what do I get for trying to be polite?  An aching back and a puffed out siren."

Daniel grumbles as he tries to relax, pulling his wings back close to his body.  "I didn't ask you to open the door."

"Yeah, well, I shoulda realized that sirens don't have manners."

"I have manners!"

"In a manner of speaking."  The human ignores his outraged cry and stands up to stretch.  Looking around, the human tilts his head to the side and blinks slowly.  "What?  No fish?"

"No."  Daniel gets up and dusts himself off as he remembers why he came here in the first place.  "I can't keep feeding you like this.  You need to take care of yourself."

"Stellar idea."  The human turns on his heel and begins crawling back into his bed.  "I'm going to take care of myself by never waking up."

Irritation creeps through Daniel as he clears his throat.  It's not his favorite thing to do, but it's the only thing that works.  "You can't keep doing this-"  He hesitates for a moment, realizing he doesn't even know the human's name.  However, the gentle tone and higher pitch is enough to get the human to freeze in place.  "I wish you'd take care of yourself...  It makes me so sad seeing you like this."

"Dave..."  The human slowly turns to Daniel, tears in his eyes.  "Davey."  

Their eyes meet for a moment.  The smell of heartbreak grows stronger by the minute, and Daniel heaves a sigh through his nose as he drops the voice.  "He'd want you to take care of yourself."

"Y... no, why do you care?"

"I can't be around to feed you all the time."  He crosses his arms as the human sits on his bed.  The brunette's head droops as he focuses his gaze on the wooden floor.  "You need to start feeding yourself.  Or at least, attempt to care for yourself.  Maybe that will change your attitude enough to make me want to eat you."  

"I do want to get eaten."

"Then fucking eat.  Or do I need to teach you how to do that too?"

"No, absolutely not."  The human's face scrunches up as he thinks.  "Do sirens do that thing that birds do to feed their babies?  Davey told me once that they uhhh, digest food and then spit it back up into their kids' mouths."

"I can show you, it's quite easy actually-"

"Nononononono, absolutely NOT."  He stands up quickly and waves his hands in front of him.  "You already tried to shove worms into my mouth, I do NOT need bird spit up in my mouth instead!"

"It's actually more complex than that.  Look, it's easier if I just show you-"

"Hey, how about we start working on that 'feeding myself' thing, yeah?  Instead of you puking up your last meal to 'show me' or whatever."

"I was going to show you one of these days, since you insist on acting like a little chick."  Daniel smirks as the human gags.  "Little chicky food for the little chicky baby."

"Gross!"

"I'll be happy to resort to it if you insist on making me continue to feed you."

"I'd rather eat the worms, thanks."

"How about I get some right now, just so you have the chance?"

"No, keep your dirty worms to yourself."  As the human continues to cringe, Daniel takes a closer look around the one-roomed shack.  The fisherman uses a fishing pole or whatever to catch his meals.  He looks around and spies nothing of the sort.  Actually, the more he looks around, the more he realizes that the human simply has... nothing.  There's a bowl or two, sure, the roasting sticks, some logs of wood that the human must have dragged from somewhere, a single plate, a knife that's duller than his talons, and old, drying fish scales littering the floor.

There's nothing in here.  Nothing but a bed and a human and a sad excuse of a living space.  Even Daniel's cave looks more luxurious than this travesty!

"...How did you feed yourself before I came here?"

"Uhh."  The human looks around at his empty shack and shrugs.  "I traded most of my things away."

"...Why?"

"I didn't have a use for them anymore."  The brunette rubs his arm slowly, as if the reality of his home begins to dawn on him.  "I mean, I kept a few bare essentials.  But I was considering trading the bowls for something too before you came here.  I don't have money.  Everything I arrived with is gone to someone else.  And..."  He shrugs as he looks at Daniel.  "It's not like I had anything worth keeping."

(A painful thought tries to surface, but Daniel shoves it down.  Not here.  Not now.  He doesn't want to... relate.)

"So," he sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, "you have nothing to get you more food.  No tools, no money, nothing of worth."

The human hesitates.  "Well..."  He kneels beside his bed and carefully pulls out an object.

An... instrument?  Daniel's seen those before, on ships that would pass by in the warmer waters.  He's never seen one so up close before.  The human strokes the instrument gently, refusing to look up as he gazes at it almost wistfully.

The scent of rot almost... lightens as he sighs.

"This belonged to Davey.  It's the only thing I have left."

"Can you play it?"

"What?"  The human looks up in surprise as Daniel settles down in front of him.

"I said, can you play it?"

"I-"  He glances between the instrument and Daniel as the blonde focuses his attention on the instrument in front of him.  It looks to have... many strings on it.  He loses count after the tenth or so string.  But the body of the instrument reminds him of a drop of water, and that's enough to have him tilting his head in interest.

"Play it?"

"I don't uh, I don't know how."

"Unbelievable.  Fingers are wasted on you."

"You have fingers too!"

"Yes, with talons."  He flexes his hands out in front of the human to emphasize his point.  "I can't make music with my hands like you humans can.  Only with my voice."  A little bit of bitterness enters his voice as his wings slowly curl around his sides.  "My songs would be perfect with a bit of instrumental backing."

"You really care about your songs being perfect."

"Of course!"  He puffs his chest out proudly as he smirks at the human.  "It's how I lure desperate idiots like you to become my meals."

(And it's how he passes the time.  How he fills the emptiness all around him with something.  Fills the air with nonsensical noise so that he doesn't feel alone.  Drowns out the ocean's cries and the faint whispers from his memories.  It's all he has.  It's all he's ever had.)

"Well, you're not wrong."  The human idly plucks at the strings, plucking the siren's interest in turn.  "But I honestly don't know how to play this."

"Just do what you're doing.  It doesn't have to make sense."  Daniel just wants to hear something new for once.  A little nonsense doesn't hurt, after all.

"...Sure."

The human plucks at the strings, strums a bit, before returning to random plucking.  Musical notes jumble together in a strange pattern as the brunette gets a feel for the instrument.  It's nothing special.  It's nothing interesting.  But it's something relaxing.  Daniel sighs softly as he watches the human's fingers wander the many strings on the instrument, closing his eyes as he listens to the idle noise.

"...Davey used to play me songs all the time."

Daniel keeps his eyes closed as he nods along.  "Mmm."

"He'd always come up with new songs.  Most of the time, they were just silly tunes about whatever he saw that day.  Like the trees swaying in the wind.  Or the stars sparkling at night.  Sometimes, he'd make songs at our friend's behest.  Something like, 'Gwen isn't your mother, so stop asking her to fix your clothes for you'.  That one was always one of my favorites."

"Mmhm."  

"He loved the hell out of this thing.  Said it was the best gift I'd ever given him.  Well, second to best gift."  

Daniel opens his eyes wordlessly as he focuses on the human's sad smile.

"My very best gift to him was my love, or so he said."

"...What about you?"

"Hm?"  The human stops plucking at the strings to focus on Daniel.

"What did he give you in return for your gifts?"

"...His smiles.  His laughter."  The human's eyes grow watery, but not a single tear sheds as Daniel watches.  "I loved seeing him happy.  I'd do anything to see him shine brighter than the sun and the stars.  I thought that I wouldn't need anything else in the world.  Just him, and his sweet, bright smiles."  

They both look down at the instrument held tenderly in the human's hands.  Bright smiles and happy laughter are long gone now, Daniel thinks.  But the memories remain.  So maybe, not all is lost.  The instrument, despite how the loss of its owner still affects him, garners positive emotions from the human.  He smells less like rot, which is good.  But nothing else comes from him.  No sweet scent of happiness, no fragrant scent of wistfulness.  Nothing but rot, though the scent is a little weaker than usual.

So.  It's a start.

"Keep the instrument."

"What?"  The human looks up at him with shock.  Daniel rolls his eyes as he continues.

"Keep the instrument.  It obviously will give you something to do in this empty excuse of a shack."

"I guess but-"  The brunette looks around at the noticeable lack of food.  "I don't have anything else to trade."

"So then, what?  You're going to trade away your beloved's beloved instrument?"

The human hugs it closer to his chest.  "...I refuse."

"Good."  Daniel stands up with a grin and heads towards the door.  "At least you have some semblance of life in you.  That'll make you tastier to devour."

"But what about the food?"

"I'll just catch fish until you figure something out."  He shrugs as he pauses by the door, a thought returning to him as he studies the human still seated with the instrument.  "By the by, what the hell is your name?"

The human squints at him suspiciously.  "Why do you want to know?"

"To perfect my song, obviously."  He rolls his eyes.  "Makes it more personal, more intimate.  More believable.  I thought you wanted to drown in your delusions just a little bit more?  If I make my songs more palatable to you, then maybe you can finally experience the ounce of joy needed to make me consider eating you."

"My name-"  The human cuts himself off, frowning as he looks away from Daniel.  He considers a little bit too long as Daniel snaps from where he stands.

"Well?  What's your name?  Or do you not have one?"

"I have one," he says calmly, not looking at Daniel, "but I'd rather not give it to you."

"Why the hell not?"

"I don't want you to grow attached."  The human glances at Daniel before returning his attention to the instrument.  "It'd be harder for you to eat me if you know my name, right?  I wouldn't be another nameless human you want to eat.  I'd be that guy you know, that guy who's name you'll say everyday like it's commonplace.  You'll get attached, and then you'll reconsider making good on your promise to eat me.  Better for us both if you don't know it."

He blinks.  Once.  Twice.  Dumbfounded, almost.  He didn’t think he’d be rejected being told a name.  His chest twists into knots as his fist trembles by his side.

Daniel swallows hard as he glares at the human's head.

"Fine."

(He's not disappointed.  He's not.)

The human flinches at his hard reply, but before he can get another word out, Daniel races out towards the sea.

He hears the ocean whisper, but he ignores it in favor of diving into the waves.  And for once, the ocean welcomes him with a pitying embrace.

Pathetic, he thinks, as he lets himself sink.  How truly pathetic.

[snarkwrites]

10 | gangsta ; sweetpea

Notes:

SO.. I uhh... Got super into writing this recently. I just really liked where it was heading after part 7. Yes. Yes, I realize that literally no one asked for more of this but.. I wrote it. Might as well share it.

I warn in advance. There as a graphic and detailed fight in this chapter. Also. There is a LOT going on in this chapter. A LOT. I mean it and I cannot stress this enough. There is a LOT to process here. I basically took two or three episodes and mashed them together.

This is the third of four parts I have already written and waiting to go. I know, I know.. Literally no one asked for this. But you’re getting it anyway.

Warnings:

loosely canon compliant - this is the biggest warning, so if you’re into things that follow exact canon plot you are… definitely not going to like this. angst & slow burn, heavy sexual tensionstarting now, actually - this is just so everyone who started reading this thinking the smut would transpire in a hurry knows that apparently, it is not. violence / swearing & fighting, possible underage drinking and other shenanigans- look.. it’s high school. shit happens. also apparently, my ofc Alyssa uses the word fuck like all the time?…eventual sexual content / a virgin original character- this one is self explanatory. yes, i plan to write a smutty chapter in this at some point. when? i don’t rightly know. it’s got a while before we get there. revenge porn / grooming behaviors + an older boyfriend that Alyssa had in Chicago and moved to Riverdale to get away from are hinted at here. And this chapter might not be the only one in which we hear about Dave Novak. - I put this here so it doesn’t trigger anybody. I tried to be very very very vague when I wrote out things.. But if you can’t handle it, I understand. This is not going to be a huge part of the fic, no worries. It will have a small arc, but then it’ll be resolved.

Pairing:

Andrews!Sibling OFC, Alyssa x Sweet Pea

Other Parts:

[ one - two - three - four - five - six - seven - eight - nine -   soundtrack ]

Other Stuff:

[ faq - tag list doc ]

Tagging:

@brithedemonspawn​ is the only person on my Riverdale tag list. If you’d like to be tagged for this story by all means.. Please let me know. Please, I beg. It’d make me super duper happy!!!

                                                      TEN.

Toni was awake already. Jabbing at me tentatively. “Okay sleeping beauty. Don’t make me go downstairs and fetch the Prince Charming you moaned for half the night last night.” she teased. Laughing when I went bright red in the face and apologized profusely. “That must have been some dream.” she teased again.

I stuck out my tongue at her, grumbling. “Oh. It was. But it was a dream.”

“Doesn’t have to just be a dream. I went for it with Cheryl. What’s stopping you? Hm?”

“First of all, I am pretty sure he only tolerates me because of you and Fangs. Secondly.. Even if I did think he felt anything…” I took a deep breath. “ I don’t even know how to begin to tell him.”

“Well, I mean.. You open your mouth and words come out.”

“Smartass.” I teased, smiling at her.

“You love me though.” she teased back.

We made our way down into the kitchen just in time to snag what was left of breakfast. What shocked me was that one, my brother was actually sitting at the table and eating with my father and I, his actual family and two, he and the Serpents hadn’t somehow managed to unalive each other during the night.

He even seemed to be talking to a few of them.

My dad caught sight of my face and I tensed a little. He grimaced and walked over, surveying the damage. “What happened, tiny?”

“Fucking Amanda Geller.”

“Language, tiny.”

“Okay, the diseased blight of the earth named Amanda Geller.” I chose a different wording, making my dad laugh and shake his head.

“You shoulda seen it, Mr. Andrews. It went viral.” one of the Serpents spoke up, holding out his phone so my father could see the fight. 

I groaned and dropped my head to my arms, lightly beating it against them, swearing to myself quietly. “I knew someone would record the fight. Well.. this is just great.” I took a few deep breaths and continued with my explanation. “All I have to say for myself dad, is I got sick of taking her crap. So when she stole my clothes and hid them all over the hallway, I walked out to get them. She was all in the door when I threw it open to go back inside in a hurry before I got caught. The door hit her nose, she started to scream like the harpy she is and it all went downhill from there.” I reached for a piece of toast and the butter knife to butter the bread a little more.

My dad rubbed his chin. “I think I need to go down and have a chat with Weatherbee. I should’ve done this weeks ago, actually. When this started. Let me know if she posts a video. I mean it, Al. That’s a serious offense. Don’t try to go and handle it yourself. Let me handle it, tiny.”

FP chuckled. “Fred, you know your daughter’s every bit her father’s kid. Meaning, she’s a hothead. It’s going in one ear and out the other.”

“Again, Forsythe. Don’t encourage her, man.” my dad teased FP, gazing at me firmly. Waiting on me to nod and agree. I did, but I also added quietly, “Dad. It’s over and done with. And if it isn’t, I was the one who chose to fight her. If anything comes of it, kind of time for me to quietly take my lumps.”

“This is the same Mandy Geller who had you upset the first week back at school here, right Because I think I know her parents. Maybe I need to talk to them about their daughter’s crap too?” my dad asked. I nodded. Quickly shaking my head when he mentioned involving her parents. It wouldn’t do any good. If Mandy was a bitch, her mother was the queen mother of bitches. 

He shook his head. “Honestly, while I’m not in agreement with  fighting… I can’t say I blame you. And I told your mom that everybody has a breaking point and that if Archie’s allowed to reach his and explode, it’s only fair that you get the same slack when you finally hit yours.”

He hit play on the fight again, chuckling as he watched it. “ You are lucky you didn’t break your thumb, tiny. If you’re ever in a situation to punch again, don’t tuck your thumb. Fastest way to get it broken.”

FP spoke up, chuckling from nearby. “Your dad knows that way too well, little red. Broke his thumbs three damn times before we finally got it in his head that you don’t tuck it.” 

“Forsythe, don’t encourage her, man. Mary would have a fit.” my dad shot FP a look.

“Oh, she already did when I talked to her on video call last night and she saw it.” I admitted quietly, shaking my head. I hated fighting with my mother, but sometimes it felt like my mother went looking for reasons to lecture and nag at me. Like she held me to this god tier standard that she didn’t hold Archie to and sometimes, that really bugged me.

“Sounds about right.” my dad muttered, shaking his head. “How is she?”

“Well, she said she’s got another big case coming up. Then she lectured me like usual. About the fight and about not making waves. Because of everything going on here. I guess she just doesn’t want me overloading you guys.” I laughed, shaking my head. My dad nodded. Telling me that she was just worried about me and that we butted heads because I was a lot like her at my age.

I snorted, shaking my head in disbelief. “Not likely.”

“Sweetie, your mom used to sneak out of the bathroom of Riverdale High to ditch with FP and I. She could drink me under the table sometimes. And if somebody so much as looked at her wrong, she was not hesitant to call them out on it..She was a lot like you are now. I know she seems so straight laced now, but she wasn’t always.”

Something in my dad’s tone made me think that maybe Mom turning uptight had a lot to do with the reason their relationship got so strained. I kept quiet though. Nodding. Taking in what he said.

After I gathered up the plates on the table and put them in the sink, grabbing a wash cloth, Sweet Pea wandered over. Grabbing a cloth that sat nearby, running it under the water. I glanced at him, my eyes naturally settling on his lips straight away. He reached out, grabbing the bottle of Dawn from the edge of the sink, putting some on the rag.

“You don’t have to do this.”

“I wanna.” he shrugged it off. We finished off washing the dishes together quietly.

Then Toni, Sweet Pea and I set off for school. And as we walked along, I felt his hand brush up against mine again. Wordlessly, I gave his hand a squeeze.

None of us were talking because all three of us had a lot on our mind at the moment.

A time or two, I felt Sweet Pea squeeze my hand. Just as we went to step into the hall at school he muttered quietly, “It’s gonna be okay, Cherry. Stop overthinking. I can smell the burning.”

I gave him a pout as I met his gaze. Managing a nod.

Toni and I were looking all over for Cheryl. Not a sign of her.

“Maybe she’s with Nana.” Toni took a few deep breaths.

“If she’s not here by lunch, we’ll go to the hospital.” I assured Toni. She nodded, hugging herself a little. “It just bothers me because she wanted to meet us both in the middle of the forest to tell us something. Then she disappears before she gets the chance.”

“I know what you mean. And it doesn’t help that her mother is.. The way she is.” I responded quietly. Trying to come up with something, somewhere else she could be. The treehouse we attempted to build in the forest was torn down years ago, so that ruled that out by default. I shook my head. 

XXX

“Your girl’s got herself one hell of a body, Serpent. If I’d known that was hiding under those cardigans and little dresses, man.. Whew.” Chuck smirked at Sweet Pea, waiting on a reaction.

Sweet Pea took a long and deep breath. Opening and closing his fist.

“She’s not my girl. But about the next time you say some stupid shit like that, you’re going to be looking up at me from the floor, dog.” Sweet Pea leaned across the aisle, grabbing Chuck’s collar and pulling him in real close. Sneering at him. Daring Chuck to push just a little further.

He was already in a mood. Between Fangs being held at the station for no reason other than public rumor, being run out of the only place he knew as home and then seeing Alyssa so upset earlier, Sweet Pea was essentially just waiting for further provocation.

Chuck seemed happy to oblige. “I might just have to bump her up higher on my to do list. Since she’s not your girl.”

“Yeah, how about no the fuck you’re not. Forget I said she wasn’t my girl. As far as you and your mangy friends are concerned? She’s my girl.”

“Well, which is it, Serpent? And what are you gonna do to stop me, hm?”

Sweet Pea stood abruptly, sending the chair scraping noisily against tiled floor as it slid in his haste to stand. He reached across the aisle, grabbing Chuck’s head, putting him in a full nelson. Really making sure he locked it in.

“Consider this your only warning, you mangy fucking mutt.” Sweet Pea muttered calmly and quietly before carelessly letting go and letting Chuck spill into the floor.

From the front of the classroom, Archie turned, fixing his eyes on Sweet Pea. And after a few minutes, he wandered back, taking the seat in front of him. Speaking up quietly.

“Did he say something about my sister. Yes or no.”

“Depends on what the fuck is going to be done about it, Andrews.” Sweet Pea answered, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down. Trying to remember that right now, there was sort of a shaky alliance with at least Archie Andrews. And deeper down, remembering Jughead’s advice about the situation with his growing feelings towards Alyssa the night before after everyone else had gone to sleep and the two of them sat out back of the Andrew’s house talking about it.

If he wanted Alyssa, he had to understand that she was nothing if not close to at least two members of her family. He needed to really prove to both the male members of the Andrews family that he wasn’t out to hurt her or just looking for a good time. That he could be trusted.

“Oh. Trust me. If you say he said something, Chuck’s going to wish he’d never even fucking looked at her when we get to wrestling practice this afternoon.” Archie assured Sweet Pea, pausing to continue, “It’s better if I do something, man. We both know that Weatherbee will take one look at you and expel you for nothing other than daring to be a Serpent and not willing to change. I can take a detention, a few late practices where I’m pushed to the brink and it’ll be dropped.”

Archie did make a good point.

And Jughead’s point the night before came back to him too. After debating a second or two, Sweet Pea filled Archie in on the entire confrontation the afternoon before between Alyssa and Mandy. Then he told Archie what Chuck had just said in the hopes of starting a fight.

Archie growled quietly. Turning to meet Sweet Pea’s gaze. “ You want to prove you’re not a threat to my sister? Keep an eye on her.”

Sweet Pea nodded. “Yeah. I can do that.”

Archie managed a smile, nodding. “Leave Chuck to me. I’ll get him when we have wrestling practice. Want me to get in a hit or two for you?”

“Fuck yeah.” Sweet Pea answered with no hesitation.

As class started, Sweet Pea found himself dwelling on Chuck’s assumption that Alyssa was his girl. Wondering if everyone else thought the same. Trying to figure out exactly how he felt about it and wondering if he needed to nip it in the bud for Alyssa’s sake. Wondering how she’d feel about having the assumption thrown at her.

He didn’t have to wait long to find out, because as he wandered the hallway looking for Alyssa and Toni during free period, he turned a corner and found her in a quiet heated discussion with Reggie Mantle, who was going overboard lately with the gifts and gestures to try and win her back.

XXX

“You act like it’s hard to break up with the guy, princess. All you have to do is just stop talking to him. Stop hanging out with them all the time. C’mon. Did you not see just how serious the trouble they can bring you was when the police raided the South Side last night and arrested half of ‘em?” Reggie leaned against a locker, gazing down at me.

I rolled my eyes. Worried about everyone’s assumption that Sweet Pea and I were a thing as of late. Worried that people saying this stupid shit was going to make him like me even less and make those few little friendly moments we’ve managed to have lately vanish.

And that was the last thing I wanted.

But I wasn’t so worried about people assuming Sweet Pea and I were together that I immediately shot down the assumption as Reggie made it.

Instead, I folded my arms over my chest. Gazed up at him, annoyed. “Are you still trying to win the bet? Is that what this is, Reg? That has to be all you want with me.” I mused. Reggie instantly shook his head, trying to reassure me that anything physical had nothing to do with it. Reminding me that he loved me and losing me was killing him. I laughed at that one.

“You don’t even know my favorite color. You don’t know anything about who I actually am, Reggie. You’ve based all of these feelings on the me you knew in fourth grade. I’m not the same girl. Not by a stretch.”

Reggie grumbled. Grabbed hold of my hip. “I know this, princess. And your favorite color is pink, by the way.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “It’s actually black, meatball.”

“But you always wore pink stuff…”

“Have I since we broke up and I didn’t have to pretend to be some quiet little priss though?” I questioned, waiting on Reggie to really stop and think. Realize that he was looking at me through blinders.

“Sweet Pea is not the kind of guy you date unless you want to piss off your family.” Reggie ground out the words, his jaw clenching. I could tell the entire situation was totally lost on him. Before I could stop myself, or stop to think that maybe Sweet Pea didn’t want the entire student body thinking he was bored or desperate enough to date me to begin with, my temper got the best of me and I blurted out, “ There you go, saying stupid crap without stopping to really think. How do you know I didn’t choose you strictly to piss off my family though? How do you really know I’m not choosing Sweet Pea because I actually care about him? I mean... think about it, Reggie.” flashing a smirk as I said it.

Petty and childish? Yes. Did I care much beyond hurting him like he hurt me weeks ago when he made the bet in the first place? Or every single time he’d casually speak over me or try to subtly suggest I do something differently to please him? No. No, I did not.

“Your dad liked me though.” was all Reggie could offer up as rebuttal.

I laughed, rolling my eyes. “You don’t take hints very well, do ya meatball?” I opened my locker, digging through it for the books I’d need after free period ended. Reggie sighed. “ You’re the first girl I actually loved. Forgive me if I’m not willing to stand back and watch you throw it all away on some fucking prick in a gang.”

This irritated me. Way more than it normally would’ve. I think it was just because of whom he was referring to and my growing feelings as of late. I slammed my locker door and whirled around, stepping closer to Reggie.

“But Reggie.. If I actually want Sweet Pea, then it’s not throwing myself away, now is it? Aw.. I know what this is. You’re afraid I’d let him punch my V card before you. Newsflash, Reggie.. If I were going to give it up.. I’d choose him one hell of a lot quicker than you.”

Reggie looked so hurt. And deep down I felt terrible for all the things I’ve said whenever Reggie Mantle forces me into a corner with this shit. I really do regret every single thing I’ve said. I hate hurting him, but he won’t just let me go. He has to keep fighting. Insisting that he loves me. Insisting that he knows me so well when I’m not stupid. I know he doesn’t really love me, more or less, he loves the idea of me. And he doesn’t know the person I am now at all. He only knows the quiet and sweet little girl I used to be back then.

He doesn’t want to know the real me. Every time I tried to open up to him and show him bits of myself, he’d quickly try and stamp it out under the guise of concern and care.

I did my best to keep a straight face. To pretend as if I didn’t feel the least bit of remorse saying everything I’ve been saying to him since we broke up.

After a few seconds of tension filled silence, I sighed and shook my head. Looking up at Reggie.

“You have to leave me alone, Reggie. I don’t love you like that. I thought I did but I.. I don’t, okay? This is over. The more you try to fight for it, the further you push me away. Move on already. Find any of the other girls here that are dying to date you. Just leave me alone.”

“I don’t want anybody else. I want you.” Reggie said it frantically, putting his hand on my upper arms. Gazing down at me. Biting his lip.

 And it killed me. It really killed me. 

Because I’ve had enough time by now to realize that I don’t feel the same way about Reggie that he insists he feels about me. Something in me snapped and I raised a hand, placing it palm down against his chest to keep him at bay when he tried to step closer. Shaking my head and gazing up at him as I told him firmly. Quietly. “And I don’t want you. This has to stop.”

“You’d really choose that Serpent… over me.” Reggie looked so hurt. He tried to hide it, but I could see it in his eyes. He shook his head sadly.

“I already did if you want me to be honest...” I admitted, going quiet. Feeling like a weight had been lifted at me even admitting the way I felt about Sweet Pea to anyone.

Nevermind that I was admitting it to Reggie, in the hopes of forcing him to finally leave me alone.

It hit me hard. I meant every single word of it.

Somehow, knowing that didn’t have me up in arms. I felt calmer. More relaxed.

“Whatever. When you get hurt, princess… all you have to do is come back to me.”

“Reggie, you have to let go.” I grumbled, gritting my teeth. Shaking my head at him being as stubborn as he was being about this whole thing.

Rather than argue, I sighed. Shrugging.

“We’ll see.” I side stepped Reggie and made my way down the hallway and into the student’s break room.

XXX

Sweet Pea stood there, shocked for a second. Everything she’d just told Reggie played over and over again in his mind. It froze him in place and he stood there in a daze. Just letting himself even begin to attempt processing what she told Reggie with no actual hesitation on her part.

 Suddenly, he found himself thinking back. Going over every single interaction that he had with her since they’d been thrown together in Biology. Before that, even. When he’d taken his motorcycle through the car wash fundraiser that the Vixens held one weekend right after she moved to town. The way he’d just kind of.. Seen her and singled her out. Behaving like a jackass because at the time, he’d written her off already. Nevermind that he didn’t know her at all. He’d kind of hung around the car wash that day, giving her hell. Getting a little more curious whenever he’d say something and she’d argue right back. He chuckled quietly when he remembered the part where she’d finally had enough and she’d taken her entire bucket of soap and upended it on his white tee shirt and then she’d doused him with the hose on full blast.

He listened closer. Alyssa only continued to confirm her feelings. His fists clenched every single time Reggie had the audacity to insist that she was making the wrong decision. Every part of him wanted to step out and reveal himself, but curiosity kept him hidden. Listening. Rooted where he stood until he knew the conversation between Alyssa and Sweet Pea was reaching an end because he could tell by the tone in Alyssa’s voice that her patience was reaching it’s last thin strand.

He finally had the sense  to rush away down the hall when he heard her walking away. Flopping over the back of the couch in the student break room and settling across it. Staring at the ceiling as he replayed her entire argument with Reggie Mantle. Everything she’d admitted that she felt for him in the process.

Having a verbal confirmation that he was wrong and Alyssa Andrews did have feelings for him completely threw him for a loop. He’d been content to just keep going like they were. Keeping his own growing feelings deeply hidden. To just keep being her friend because it was so much easier than making a move and ruining a friendship.

But now that he knew how she felt… Everything in him wanted to fight. To start attempting to make his own feelings for her known.

He chuckled to himself and made a mental note to tell Fangs later that he’d been right. And he had no doubt in his mind that Fangs was never going to let him forget that, not for a single second.

The door to the break room flew open and Alyssa wandered in, flopping against the couch dramatically. Her head leaning against his thigh. Making him catch his breath a little at the rush it sent racing through his body.

Everything felt amplified right now. From the smallest brush of soft red hair against his arm, to the way her perfume smelled.. The way she looked up at him with a raised brow and slowly licked her lips before asking him what he was giving her that goofy look for.

God, he thought to himself, if we were anywhere but school grounds right now… He quickly pushed the thought out, shrugging. Staying quiet, because he was half afraid if he opened his mouth right now, everything he wanted and needed to say was going to spill out. Messy. Unplanned.

Not how he wanted to go about doing it when he finally figured out how at all.

No, when he finally told her.. He was going to do it in a way that she had absolutely no doubt in her mind that he meant every single word he said.

She nestled her head completely on his thigh and if he thought the jolt at her doing so before was something, this time it was downright electric. Putting him on pins and needles instantly.

“Toni, have you heard anything?” she asked Toni.

Toni shook her head no. Veronica spoke up. “According to someone in the office, her mother came in and told Mr. Weatherbee that due to a family emergency, she was being taken out of school for a while?”

Alyssa shot up off the couch and Toni swore, standing to drag her hands through her hair.

Veronica cleared her throat. Looking from Alyssa to Toni. “Oh no. No you don’t, either of you, whatever you’re thinking.. If you go storming over there right now, guns blazing, it’s only going to make things worse.”

“What the hell do we do then? I’m not letting my girlfriend be locked away like some shit straight out of V.C Andrews, Lodge.” Toni said it calmly, but Sweet Pea knew she was panicking. And he had a second to think. If someone had done that to Alyssa, he’d be storming the place himself.

He took a deep breath. Grabbing hold of Alyssa’s hand. “I know you would literally fist fight God because she’s your best friend. Maybe Lodge is right.” his face went sour as the words left his mouth and Veronica mouthed thank you at him. Sweet Pea got Alyssa sitting down again. “I will physically restrain you, cherry, don’t test me.”

This time when he saw her blushing just slightly as they locked eyes, he knew he wasn’t imagining it. 

Veronica cleared her throat, pointing out the obvious flaws in what Toni and Alyssa had been seconds away from doing in going to Thornhill and confronting Penelope Blossom. She emphasized that maybe it would be easier if they went when they knew Penelope was away from the house. Maybe if they talked to the staff left on premises or to Nana Rose even..

“I doubt we’d get anything out of her.”  Toni butted in, reminding Veronica that the woman was starting to go senile. Veronica spoke up. “It’s worth a try. I say the three of us go over this afternoon. Under the guise of delivering her assignments. One of the girls on the welcome committee normally does that. I can talk to her and talk her into letting me do it instead. And you two can go with me. If I can get it out of her Nana where she’s been taken, then we’ll regroup  somewhere and plan accordingly.”

“I still say we just go straight to the source. We know Penelope’s behind this.”I pointed out. Too angry to really stop and think about things clearly. All I wanted was to go and storm the place.

“And that’s why we need to proceed with caution. Because whatever we do will come back on Cheryl. We don’t want that. She’s our friend.”

“And my girlfriend.” Toni spoke up quietly. Mulling over Veronica’s carefully thought out proposal.

Sweet Pea eyed Alyssa. “You know she’s playing the smarter game here, Cherry.” 

Alyssa grumbled but ultimately nodded. “Fine. Fine. Okay, we’ll try to figure out where Penelope’s taken her first.”

And Sweet Pea relaxed a little, not even realizing just how much he’d tensed up just then. 

Alyssa settled back against his leg, digging around until she found some romance novel in her messenger bag, opening it to where she’d left off reading.

Sweet Pea feigned interest in his cell phone. Not bothering to move himself because he didn’t want her thinking he didn’t want her close. Toni glanced at the two just when Sweet Pea’s fingers tangled in Alyssa’s thick red hair as he gazed down at his phone intently.

“Hey, you two. Look up and say Snakes.” Toni called out to Sweet Pea and Alyssa. Sweet Pea glanced up, giving her a dirty look almost as soon as he saw her phone raised. Shaking his head. Alyssa rose up a little, leaning against him dramatically, holding up her middle finger against the side of her face visible to the camera as she locked eyes with him, laughing quietly. “It’s just a picture, Sweet Pea.”

“I realize this, Cherry. But I want to be an asshole, so…”

She pouted at him, laughing quietly.

He let an arm settle around the back of the couch and across her shoulder indirectly. Pulling her closer as subtly as he could get away with. She gazed up at him a second or two, swallowing hard and Sweet Pea bit his lip, smirking right back at her.

From across the room, a throat cleared.

Jughead leaned in the doorway. “They’re letting Fangs out.”

Sweet Pea went to stand. Alyssa smiled. Digging around in her messenger bag for a pen. Taking hold of his hand. He raised a brow watching as she wrote a phone number across his palm in black ink.

She kept hold of his hand and muttered softly, “If they try anything.. Call that number. Ask for Mary Andrews. Tell her everything you find out and let her talk to Fangs. Don’t let them toss him a shitty public defender if they have anything they think they can take to court, okay? Please.” before smiling, nodding towards the door. “You need to get going. You guys are gonna have to sneak him out, I’m pretty sure of it. A bunch of people were all stirred up when that news report came on tv last night about him being a suspect in Midge’s death.” 

Sweet Pea nodded. He took a step towards the door, but he stopped to look back. “If anything feels weird when you guys go to check up on Cheryl, cherry.. Don’t push. Just leave and go find someone.”

He knew she crossed her fingers behind her back and he grumbled to himself, shaking his head. “I mean it.”

“Okay, alright, shit. Go. Go get our idiot out of there.” 

Sweet Pea nodded and stepped out into the hallway with Jughead. “If the tension gets any thicker, Pea, you’re both gonna explode.”

“If only you knew, Jug. If only you knew.”

Jughead eyed him and as they walked towards the police station, noting the crowd gathered out front angrily, they ducked behind the building to meet up with Fangs instead. As they stood there waiting on their friend’s release from jail, Sweet Pea found himself telling Jughead every single thing he’d overheard in the hallway.

Jughead chuckled quietly. Nodding.

“So.. please tell me you’re going for it.” Jughead glanced at him. Sweet Pea took a few shaky breaths and nodded. “Subtly though. She made it really clear to Reggie that she’s trying to get her head on right.”

“Yeah, given what Archie told me about Chicago, I don’t really blame her.”

“What happened?” Sweet Pea asked. He halfway didn’t expect Jughead to trust him enough to tell him. To his surprise, Jughead told him everything he knew… From the fighting Alyssa kept getting in trouble with. Sneaking out to frat parties, getting brought back to her mom’s place in cop cars at 3 am. And then he took a deep breath and told him quietly, “This part stays between us though. And it’s the biggest reason Archie’s twice as protective of her as he is right now. She got mixed up with this older guy, an asshole named Dave Novak. Guy was trying to pressure her into.. Stuff. You know what I mean.” Jughead stopped talking and glanced at Sweet Pea and Sweet Pea nodded. His jaw setting firm because he got the feeling that he was not going to like anything Jughead told him.

And as Jughead got into the whole thing, from the pictures sent because Dave pressured her into doing it, to the way Dave basically started trying to isolate her and put distance between herself and her mother.. To her finally having enough and breaking things off. Telling her mother what happened when Dave wouldn’t take a hint and leave her alone and he kept showing up. Leaving her harassing calls. Uploading the pictures he’d pressured her into sending him of herself to some revenge porn website.

Sweet Pea’s fist clenched and he took a deep breath. “Fuck.”

“Yeah. When all this Black Hood shit started, Archie’s first thought was Novak. But he found out Novak got arrested for pulling similar shit that he’d pulled on Alyssa with a way younger girl and he’s in prison.”

“He better fucking stay there.” Sweet Pea muttered quietly.

“Oh, trust me. If he gets out and he’s dumb enough to show here? You’re gonna have to fall in line. Behind Archie’s dad and Archie. Because Archie went with Fred to pick her up from Chicago and she told them everything on the way back because she was pretty scared. It took everything in them both not to go back and find the guy themselves.” Jughead informed, shaking his head. “She’s always kinda been a handful though.”

“Yeah. I kind of got that idea when Archie was talking about some of the stuff she used to do when they were kids last night. When he was trying to embarrass her but he only made her spray him with the sink hose instead?” Sweet Pea chuckled. Going serious. Staring at the number scrawled across his palm in black ink.

He wasn’t used to anyone giving a shit.

In all of this, adjusting to the fact that she did in fact, give a shit, was probably the biggest thing he was having to adjust to. Because he just wasn’t used to it at all.

Fangs finally made his way out of the station and as soon as they spotted him, the two made their way over, trying to get Fangs out of there as quickly as possible.

Just as they shoved through the crowd, Reggie and some of the other Bulldogs stepped forward, attempting to block their path. As Sweet Pea, Fangs and Jughead as well as some of the other Serpents who’d shown up were trying to fight their way through that situation, a shot rang out.

Fangs hit the ground and Sweet Pea and Jughead dropped beside him. Trying to stop the blood as it flowed from their friends body.

The Bulldogs scattered, as did the rest of the Serpents.When someone finally came to help them, they were rushing Fangs to the hospital. And in the hours following, all Sweet Pea could do was sit there and wait.

Quiet. Angry. With absolutely no way to keep himself calm.

XXX

Veronica came rushing back towards where Toni and I were hidden in the flower bushes that surrounded Thornhill, blocking a clear view of the place. Veronica cleared her throat. “Nana Rose is more clear headed than we thought, ladies. She’s clear-headed enough that she saw you two hiding in the bushes and she wants you to come in too.”

Toni and I shared a look. Wary.

“Penelope’s not in there, right?”

“Nope. That meeting she had with my father will take a few hours at least. Which is perfect, because it gives us time to find Cheryl and get her somewhere safe.” Veronica reassured us.

Toni and I walked in behind Veronica. My eyes darted around as I stood in the entryway of the grand lodge. I’d only been here twice as a kid. Both times Cheryl snuck me in right under her mother’s nose.

The place always felt more like a well kept tomb than a home to me and I always remember feeling horrible about having to sneak back home, knowing I had to leave my best friend behind in such a place.

If not for Jason, I would have felt so much worse. But Jason was gone now, Cheryl no longer had someone with her day in and day out to protect her from her cold hearted shrew of a mother.

Toni nudged me and I realized that Nana Rose was speaking to me. Offering a fond smile. “I remember you. You’re the little one Cheryl used to sneak in to play. Sit.” she told the three of us, nodding towards a deep red velvet covered chaise lounge opposite her wheel chair.

After a few minutes, the old woman sighed, shook her head sadly. “Penelope’s taken her from me. Took her off to that Sisters of Quiet Mercy. Because she refuses to have her daughter’s behavior in this house.”

“And yet..” I started but Toni quickly covered my mouth. Nana Rose gazed at me, nodding.

Veronica spoke up quietly. “Do you happen to know what happened to you?” she asked the question in concern.

“Of course. That hell spawn I call a daughter in law tried to kill me. Cheryl found out what she was up to.. Found me.” Nana Rose was starting to get that vacant look in her eyes and the three of us stood. Checking to make sure the woman was comfortable and that she had everything she wanted or needed in her reach before we made a hasty retreat out of the manor.

Once we were outside, Toni and I both exploded, talking over each other. Thinking up clever ways we’d love to get even with Penelope Blossom if we knew we could get away with it. Veronica cleared her throat, bringing us both to a hush a few seconds later.

“We have to break her out. You guys realize that the Sisters perform extensive conversion therapy, right?”

We shared a look and swallowed hard. “Like a conversion camp? To scare the gay away? What the fuck.” Toni dragged her hand through her hair as she stood there, trying to process. Freaking out even more because now we knew where our friend was. 

“We can try to break in and get her tonight. Pretty sure whatever meeting my father’s having with Penelope won’t be over for a while. I can get Archie to stall if we need.”

“One day all bets are gonna be off and I’m going to crush that woman’s vocal cords with my thighs.” I grumbled quietly as we hurried back towards town. To Pops so we could sit and think. Maybe come up with some sort of plan.

“Get in line behind me, cherry. Get in line behind me.” Toni muttered, hugging herself as she shook her head. 

XXX

The  doctors came out, solemn and quiet. With FP glancing at both Sweet Pea and Jughead.

“Fangs didn’t make it.”

Sweet Pea felt his stomach churning. He stood in a hurry. Still angry from earlier. Convinced that one of the Bulldogs had been the one to fire the shot. Jughead only barely managed to stop Sweet Pea just shy of destroying the waiting room completely.

“We’re gonna meet down by the quarry. Have a little memorial. Then we’re all going to focus on finding out who the fuck did this to our boy. Do you read me, kid?” FP grabbed hold of Sweet Pea, giving him a firm gaze.

“We know who did it. One of those fucking bulldogs.”

“Sweet Pea..”

“Shut it, Jug. The only one who’s halfway decent is Andrews and that’s questionable right now.” Sweet Pea ground out the words angrily.

“You need to get a fucking grip, kid.” FP commanded. Knowing it wouldn’t do him a lot of good. Feeling bad because he was having to lie to his son and one of the most loyal members of the gang but reminding himself that it was for Fangs own good. The quicker he got the kid out of town until the heat was off, the better.

“I need to go find whoever the fuck shot him and get even.” Sweet Pea answered calmly before storming off.

“Get going, Jug. Go after him and make sure he doesn’t do something stupid, son. I mean it. Now.” FP ordered his son. Jughead eyed him, a brow raised.

“I said go, son.” FP repeated firmly. Nodding to the door. Jughead raced out, stopping Sweet Pea in the parking lot. Getting him at least  a little reigned in.

“I know you don’t like me. But trust me right now, okay? The Bulldogs were not the one to fire that shot today. It doesn’t make sense. We’d have seen them.”

“Mantle had something in his jacket.”

“I doubt it was a gun. Let me dig around before you go off on a wild hair, Pea.”

“We don’t have time for you to play detective.”

“We’re going to make sure we get the right person and make them pay. I want them to pay just as much as you do.” 

Sweet Pea eyed him and then grumbled. “Fine. If you don’t find who did this by the end of the week, I’m getting some guys together and we’re doing this my way. We clear, Jones?”

“Crystal, Sweet Pea.” Jughead took a deep breath. Hoping he could pull off a miracle in just a few days.

XXX

Veronica gave Toni and I the thumbs up and we slipped in through the back way. Grabbing some nurses uniforms and quickly putting them on. We hurried through the halls, about halfway down the first one when Veronica slipped in and caught up to us.

“The wing she’s listed as is down the left hall. Not this one.” Veronica nodded and Toni and I walked down the hallway quickly. Once we found the door with Cheryl’s name on it, we peered up and down the hall to make sure it was all clear.

Nobody was around. Toni burst into the room. Going straight for Cheryl. Fussing over her, the two of them crying as Toni helped her out of bed. “God bless your Nana Rose.” I muttered as I made my way over after giving them time to reunite. Pulling her into a hug. “You scared the living hell out of me.”

“I didn’t even know what my mother was up to until she got me here.” Cheryl hugged me back. Veronica peeked in, nodding at us to hurry. “Run. Now. I’m going out to bring the car around.”

She took off to bring around the car she’d borrowed and the three of us hurried down the hall just as one of the night guards glanced up. Before he could say anything, we were at the end of the hallway.

And then one of the nuns stepped out.

We turned, bolting back the other way. Making a break for the other exit in the building, but then Toni spotted a door leading down to the basement open. She grabbed Cheryl and pulled her in and I leaned in. Hissing quietly, “You guys go down this. Follow it to the end. I’ll meet you outside.”

I hurried through the exit at the end of the hall, ditching the nurses uniform and hat as I went. Skidding to a stop in front of a tunnel. Veronica ran over, and between the two of us, we figured out how to get the padlock undone.

By the time we heard Toni and Cheryl’s footsteps in the tunnel, we had the door open and we were hissing at them to speed it up because we could hear the night guards outside shouting back and forth, looking for the escaped patient.

We tumbled into Veronica’s borrowed car out of breath and shocked we’d actually pulled it off.

And then, Toni checked her phone.

“We need to go to the hospital.”

I eyed her.

“Fangs. When the guys went to get him from the station, somebody fired a shot. It.. It hit Fangs.”

Veronica dropped us off at the door of the hospital and the three of us hurried inside just as Sweet Pea was storming out. Angry. Shouting.

And deeper down, upset. Hurting.

I could see it in his eyes.

Toni ran in with Cheryl in tow to find out what was going on and I caught up to Sweet Pea.

“Hey.. Whoa. Calm down.”

“He’s dead.”

I blinked in shock.

“No.” I shook my head. It didn’t make sense at all. “What happened?”

Sweet Pea was sitting on the sidewalk outside of the hospital by now. I sat down next to him. Trying to gauge the situation before doing anything. Eventually realizing that tonight was the time to push any feelings or anything else in my mind down and just be there for my friend. I leaned against him a little, putting an arm around him. The chill in the air crept in and I realized that I hadn’t even grabbed a jacket earlier, I’d been totally focused on the mission Toni and I had in going to break Cheryl out of the Sisters of Quiet Mercy.

“Those assholes on the football team blocked us so we couldn’t get him outta there fast enough. Started fighting. And in the middle of all that, somebody took out a gun and shot it. They hit Fangs.” Sweet Pea muttered the words quietly. As if he were in shock.

“I left earlier. Was going to go find ‘em. Jughead stopped me. I still want to though. Reggie…” he trailed off, going quiet. I tensed a little, reaching up to grab his jaw. Guiding his eyes down so that he had to look at me. “Was Reggie the one with the gun?”

My stomach churned. Because as much as I needed to know the answer, I was also afraid to hear it. It didn’t track with the kind of guy Reggie was, but these past few weeks have been a real eye opener for me about people I thought I knew.

“All I know, Cherry… He went in his pocket for somethin, right before the shot was fired.”

I fought back the way everything I ate rose up my throat. Took a few shaky breaths. “Was the place as crowded as it was last night?”

“More, actually.”

“It could’ve been any of them.” I bit my lip as I said it. Sighing. Shaking my head. “But if he was reaching into his pocket… Do the cops know you saw him reach for his pocket?”

“Do you really think they’re gonna listen to me, Cherry?” Sweet Pea held my gaze, taking shaky breaths. I swallowed hard, nodding in agreement. Because he was right. They damn sure hadn’t bothered to listen to Fangs when Fangs tried again and again to prove his innocence, hours following his arrest.

I don’t know why I thought it was a good idea or why I did it, but I moved from sitting on the sidewalk beside him to sitting in his lap. Facing him. Leaning against him. Starting to tear up myself because it wasn’t even two days ago Fangs and I had been arm wrestling at lunch. Taunting one another.  And if I wanted to sob right now, I couldn’t imagine just how bad Sweet Pea was hurting.

“They won’t listen to you. But maybe they’ll listen to me.”

“Whatever you’re thinkin, don’t.” Sweet Pea gazed at me firmly shaking his head no. I sighed, nodding. “That goes double for you, okay? I mean it, Sweet Pea. Whatever you’re thinking about doing.. Don’t do it yet.”

“I already told Jughead and FP I’d stand down. I don’t fucking want to, but Jughead thinks he can dig around. Find out who actually fired the shot.”

I nodded, leaning into him a little. “Right now you have to be super careful. Because those assholes in there are looking for literally any excuse to lock you guys up… And I don’t want that to happen, okay?” I gazed into his eyes, my hands on either side of his neck. My thumb dragging softly over the raised imprint of the double headed Serpent on the side of his neck.

He sighed again and then he leaned forward. Dipping his head down. Resting it against my chest. I didn’t say anything, but I knew when he started to silently cry. And I sat there, not moving. Letting him get it out.

Toni and Cheryl were walking out of the hospital, hugging each other. They were both crying too. When they sank down to the sidewalk beside us, nobody really said anything for at least ten minutes.

There wasn’t anything to say. We were all too shocked.

“Cheryl, we need to talk to my dad about stashing you at my place. Warn him what’s going on.” I muttered after about ten minutes. Cheryl nodded silently. Toni spoke up. “It doesn’t feel real.”

I nodded in agreement quietly. “You guys go ahead to my dads. If you go up the side of the house, my window should be open.”

Toni eyed me and I mouthed, “I’m behind you guys. Just trying to make sure the giant lug is okay.” to her as she nodded. And then they were gone, leaving me with Sweet Pea.

“You need some sleep, Pea.”

“I need to find out which one of ‘em did this, Cherry.”

“Let Jughead try first, okay?” I pleaded. Knowing in the back of my mind that most likely, my pleas held no weight with him in the situation because I wasn’t deluding myself here. I was still an outsider. He probably tolerated me for the sake of our shared friends.

And me pleading with him to take it easy, keep a low profile right now was admittedly selfish on my part because I loved him.

As selfish as it was, it didn’t stop me from trying.

“You need to get goin.” Sweet Pea muttered quietly. Gazing up at me, biting his lip. I shook my head. “ I don’t wanna leave you like this.”

He nodded and after I pulled myself to my feet, he stood up too. We started down the sidewalk and the further the hospital got from view, the heavier the tension seemed to get. I reached down and laced my fingers through his. Squeezing his hand.

He squeezed my hand back. Taking a few deep breaths.

“I’ll let Jughead try to find answers first.” he spoke up solemnly as we made our way into my dad’s house. I nodded, lingering at the bottom of the stairs. Making sure he actually settled down and tried to sleep.

After a few minutes, I went into the kitchen. Found my father sitting up, talking quietly with FP about something. Agreeing that whatever FP had done was something that needed to be done for safety.

They stopped talking when I pulled out the kitchen chair and sat down in it.

“Tiny, it’s late. What are you doing up?”

I shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep. I.. I wanted to ask you something. Can Cheryl stay here with me a few days?”

My dad nodded. “Penelope, huh?”

“Mhm.”

“Do I want to know?” he asked.

“She stuck her in Sisters of Quiet Mercy. Cheryl barely made it out of there.” I answered as I opened the fridge, digging around for a soda. Pulling the tab and taking a drink. Sinking down into a chair across the table from my father. Staring at the can of soda in front of me for a few seconds. Because between the events of the evening, I was just barely starting to process.

“She did what now?” my dad asked, gazing at me. Waiting on me to tell the whole story. I told him what we thought was the reason she’d done it, but I didn’t mention that Toni,Veronica and I had gone and gotten her out of there ourselves earlier. 

Then I spoke up again quietly after a few seconds. “Fangs was shot when he left the station. The doctor said he didn’t make it.”

“C’mere, tiny.” my dad held his arms open and I went into them, smooshing myself against him as I started to cry all over again. FP stood and cleared his throat. “I’m gonna make sure that kid Sweet Pea is actually in the livin room with the others and not out.. Trying to look for somebody to pay for it.”

“Yeah, you do that.” my dad answered, breaking the hug to glance at me. I shook my head. “It doesn’t feel real.”

“I know, tiny. I know.” he answered quietly, using a tone he always used to soothe my brother and I when we were little and we came to him upset about something. “If they have a memorial or anything and you wanna go, I’ll take you.”

“Please?”

“Yeah. You need to get upstairs and actually  get to sleep now. I’m pretty sure I know where you were earlier.”

I eyed him.

“You’re my kid. I know when you’re sneaking into and out of the house, tiny.” my dad gave me a small smile and I nodded. Letting out a deep breath as I stepped into the living room. Bumping into FP.

“He didn’t sneak out, did he?” I asked in concern.

FP gave me a knowing smirk. “Nah. He’s in the living room, talking to Archie about what happened. Any reason you’re askin, little red?”

I shrugged. Swallowed hard and managed the feeble answer, “Because he’s my friend and I was worried about him when I saw him at the hospital just now.”

“Mhm. Well, he’s here. Madder than hell. Plotting someone’s end, but he’s here. Keep an eye on him, will ya?”

“Yes sir.” I answered, hurrying up the stairs and into my room. Cheryl and Toni were sitting up talking and I shut the door behind me.

“I told dad where you were and I asked if you could stay here. He said you could definitely stay here. I did not tell him that we were behind your escape. I doubt anybody will do anything, but.. If they do, ah well.” I shrugged as I flopped onto the foot of my bed, glancing up at the two of them, propped on my elbow.

“Fuck them if they do. If they do, we’ll turn over everything we know about Penelope.”

“My mother told me that it was one of the Vixens who told her about Toni and I...” Cheryl spoke up, shaking her head. Disgusted with it. I grumbled to myself about it, glancing at her. “Yeah, it figures it’d be one of them.”

“And when I find out which one, they’re on my shit list.” Toni spoke up quietly.

Glancing over at me. “How’s Sweet Pea?” she asked a minute or two later.

“He’s still downstairs. He’s still messed up about Fangs. I’m just hoping to hell he listens to Jughead and at least tries to let Jughead find out who really shot the gun because I…” I went quiet, shaking my head.

“Yeah. I don’t want anything to happen either. But the whole thing didn’t help tensions at all. FP said earlier that he might have found a place on the outskirts for all of us to go. Some old fairground or something.”

“Yeah. I think that’s what he and my dad were whispering about just now. He knows we all snuck in, by the way.” I informed.

“We should all try to get some sleep. Doubt any of us can, but we should at least try.” Toni spoke up quietly. Cheryl and I nodded in agreement and then the three of us proceeded to do the exact opposite, sitting up all night to hold our own little private memorial for Fangs Fogarty. Talking about all the stuff we’d managed to get into, laughing through tears. Stating what we’d miss about him.

When we finally did attempt sleep, the sun was just starting to come up.

[thirdplacemag]

Danger, Keep Out!

by Edward Radzivilovskiy 

[original artwork by Laura Baran]

It’s the holidays and I’m alone. I’m a recently-dumped, burned-out, New York lawyer and here I am. Sitting in traffic on I-76, driving to my family’s Christmas for the first time in three years? My ex, Brenda, yeah, she didn’t go in for these things. She was technically Christian, but didn’t do holidays, period, so we never went. 

About halfway there, traffic comes to a dead stop. Ugh, the worst—bumper to bumper! I know I have an eighteen year old Macallan in the trunk, but that is just a no-go considering my past indiscretions. I reach into the back seat and grab the box of Cohibas I bought for my father. I know Dad won’t mind me dipping into his present. My fingernail slides perfectly along the cellophane and I get the box open. I light up, using the cigarette lighter of my 911. Most cars don’t have a cigarette lighter anymore, but some European ones still do.

As I start to settle in, relaxing to the soothing sounds of The Dark Side of the Moon, my GPS app starts chirping about getting off the highway: “Alternate route, recalculating route, confirm”.

“Are you seriously telling me to take surface streets right now? Isn’t this how horror stories start??”

My mind begins to wander. I picture my mother at her front door. I really want to get home before they go to bed. 

“FUCK IT” I say, and turn off the highway like Siri tells me to. Gorgeous freakin’ West Pennsylvania countryside. I tell Siri to play Joni Mitchell’s “Morning Morgantown”, just to set the mood and keep me sane and on the road.

I follow the GPS to the letter, but oddly, the streets get darker and darker. Eventually I’m on an empty, country road, curvy as hell. “Time to let this Porsche eat up the road!! Let’s go!”

I drive like a bandit for about three or four miles, letting the engine roar and flying through turns. When the road straightens out, I see a white barrier up ahead, across the road about twelve feet tall. “Am I on a dead end? Why is there a white wall blocking the road?”

This is just my god damn luck. Siri, you asshole! I shoulda used Waze! Waze knows about these damn closures! 

I see a door in the middle of the wall and I knock on it. There must be somebody out here who can direct me back on my way. I’m not going back the way I came, just to get stuck in that traffic. 

There’s a sign on the door: “Danger! Keep Out!”

As I move closer, I notice a smaller sign: “Door to the Beyond.”

“Ha!” 

I turn the handle and am surprised to find the door is unlocked.

As I step in, the door swiftly shuts behind me.

The sun dips below the horizon, and twilight illuminates the view ahead. 

“Well, this is certainly not a construction site.” 

Twenty yards in the distance, the clearing becomes a dense forest. Deeper inside, a tiny light shines between the trees. 

I head toward this peculiar light. 

“It’s an oil lamp!” 

There’s also a chair. And a bearded old man sitting in it! 

The old man is reading a large tome.

“Some place this is, huh? What are you up to?” 

But the old man keeps silent, and simply stares into the book. 

I press on: “Why are you here, in a forest in the middle of nowhere, reading a book?” 

The mysterious man turns to face me. He has a twisted looking face, with big blue eyes and round black rimmed glasses. 

“Welcome to the Night Library, young man,” he says, with a hint of a mile. And at these words, twilight turns to darkness and the lamp shines brighter. 

“I am the Night Librarian.” 

“What’s the point of all this?” 

“The purpose? Really? You might just as well ask: What is the purpose of dreaming?” 

Feeling slightly reassured, I sigh with relief, “Ahhh. So this is a dream, then?”

The cold night air of winter creeps in, and I begin to shiver. The old man, noticing this, starts a campfire. 

“Sit here on this chair.” He motions to the other chair near the fire which I didn’t notice before. I obey and sit. 

“I am the Librarian of Souls,” the old man says. “I work in the night.” 

I chuckle nervously, “Come on, man. What’s your deal? I don’t think I even got your name yet?”

“I go by different names to different folks. To you, I am The Librarian.”

“Alright then...Librarian...what’s the freakin’ deal here?”

“Why are you so surprised? You entered The Door to the Beyond. There was a sign, right?” 

“Uhh yeah, there was a sign.” 

“Well, then. There you go. What did you expect? Heaven or somethin’?” And he lets out a big belly laugh. 

Anxiety building up, I exclaim, “I don’t know! Not really, but what are you implying? What is this place? Anyway, what’s your plan?” 

The librarian throws more logs into the fire, something weird forms in the flames. 

“I have your soul here. Well, a copy of it. You see, it’s all in this book.” 

“Uhhhhh.”

“Tell me, and answer truthfully,” the librarian instructs. “Is your soul good or bad?” 

“Well,” I pause to think for a few moments. “I think mostly good.”

“Hoo-aah! Mostly good, huh?”

“I’d like to think so.” 

“So you don’t know so.” 

“Come on, man! Are you a librarian or the fucking devil?” 

The librarian then slams the book shut and casts it into the fire. But he replies in a cool, steady voice: “Your soul is no more.”

“What?”

“I gave you one chance to own up to what you are. And you failed.”

“You burned my soul out of existence? But...I don’t feel any different. I feel just the same.” 

“Ha! You fool! You don’t feel the same. You just don’t feel.” 

Nonsense. I try to summon a feeling.  

Feel fear, I mentally instruct myself. 

Nothing.

Feel anger.

Nothing. 

Sadness. Loneliness. Happiness. Courage. 

Still nothing. 

“Man, I really am just a burned out, good-for-nothing lawyer,” I say. 

So the librarian and I sit in silence for some length of time, listening to the cackling and crackling of the fire and staring into the flames, those hypnotic flames. My mind is blank...I’m in shock and awe, speechless and afraid.

“Hey buddy,” the librarian breaks the silence, “you know, it’s time for me to come clean. I’m just messing with you.”

I gaze at his old, twinkling eyes with bewilderment. 

“This is just a construction site near the forest. The state is planning to widen the roads or something. Anyway, I’m a writer. My cabin is up ahead. I like to write at night. I come here at sunset.”

I continue to stare, unblinking. 

“I’ve been dealing with writer’s block, you see. It’s become a big problem. So I’ve been going into this forest with my oil lamp and my chairs. I was hoping to get some inspiration here. And then, well, you came along.” 

[garbage-empress]

hey guys did you know that super mario bros 2 for the nintendo entertainment system wasn’t really a mario game originally it was part of government mind control program MKUltra II?

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! quotes This is a list of quotes from the television show The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!. They are listed by character. Contents 1 Mario 2 Luigi 3 King Koopa 4 Toad 5 Princess Toadstool Mario"Hey paisanos! It's The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!" - Opening Credits "Do the Mario!" - Closing Credits "Don't worry, Princess! Luigi and me'll climb that mountain before you can say "Spaghetti and Meatballs"! -"The Bird! The Bird!" "Okay, wait here! And if you become lunch for a polar bear, don't blame us! -"The Bird! The Bird!" "I hate to run on an empty stomach!" - "The Bird! The Bird!" "Must be a beehive nearby, and when there's bees; there's raviolis smothered with honey" - "King Mario of Cramalot" "If Toad doesn't get us outta here soon, I'm gonna eat this mattress!" - "Butch Mario & the Luigi Kid" "Wake up, Luigi! The only time plumbers sleep on the job, is when we're working by the hour!" - "Butch Mario & the Luigi Kid" "Catfish pizza? This may be a first, but I'm not hungry!" - "Rolling Down the River" "Excuse my brother, he gets nervous around guys six times bigger than him." - "The Great Gladiator Gig" "We can fix anything if there's spaghetti involved!" - "The Great Gladiator Gig" "Hey, Koopa! I hope your Big and Tall shop blows up, with you in it!" - "Mario and the Beanstalk" "Those ain't wedding bells in your tower! They're bats in your belfry!" - "Love 'Em and Leave 'Em" "Hey! Where'd you learn how to ride a bike!?" - "The Great BMX Race" "Get back here, Koopa! Don't you know vegetables are good for you?" - "The Great BMX Race" "Not on my melted mozzarella! - "Stars in Their Eyes" "If food isn't pasta, it doesn't count!" - "Jungle Fever" "Unstoppable? We're plumbers! If we can unstop a stop, we can stop the unstoppable!" - "The Fire of Hercufleas" "Magnifico! You're stronger than Grandma Mia's garlic chip cookies!" - "The Fire of Hercufleas" "Faster than a vanishing clog! More powerful than an electric drainsnake! It's Super Mario!" - "Pirates of Koopa" "She's not much, but she sure beats swimmin'!" - "Pirates of the Koopa" "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em! Then beat 'em!" - "Pirates of the Koopa" "Remember, Luigi, you gotta act tough!" - "Pirates of the Koopa" *singing* "Hush, little Princess, don't you cry. I'm gonna buy you a pizza pie. And if that pizza pie gets ate, Luigi'll buy you a New York steak." - "Two Plumbers and a Baby" "This is the first time my lunch ever took a bite out of me!" - "The Adventures of Sherlock Mario" "I just love food that's spicy!" - "On Her Majesty's Sewer Service" "I always cry at wedding feasts!" - "Mario and Joliet" "Koopa's gonna take a trip he didn't plan on!" - "Too Hot to Handle" "I hope the food's better than the furniture!" - "Mighty McMario and the Pot of Gold" "As we say in Brooklyn; Banzai!" - "Mario Meets Koop-zilla" "Save the spaghetti! Save the spaghetti!" - "Mario and the Red Baron Koopa" "Koopone, you've Kooped your last Koop!" - "The Unzappables" "It doesn't look good for the good guys, Luigi!" - "The Mark of Zero" "I guess Mexican food doesn't agree with El Koopitan!" - "The Mark of Zero" "When Luigi's unfrozen, he's goin' on a diet!" - "The Koopas Are Coming! The Koopas Are Coming!" "It's ugly, but it floats!" - "The Trojan Koopa" "What? Only one pizza?" - "Quest for Pizza" "The Mushroom People get the mine, and Koopa gets the shaft!" - "The Great Gold Coin Rush" "When the plumbing gets tough, the tough get plumbing!" - "Plummers Academy" "I can't quit now, Luigi! I was born with a plunger in my hand!" - "Plummers Academy" "Me Marzan! King of the jungle!" - "Mario of the Apes" "Can't we discuss this man to Mouser?" - "Princess, I Shrunk the Mario Brothers" "First, we'd better get inside by a fire, before we turn into pasta-sicles!" - "Little Red Riding Princess" "The Provolone Ranger is ready to ride. High ho, Ostro, away!" - "The Provolone Ranger" "Help, help! There's a big, ugly spider in here! Help! My yelling's gonna keep you up all night, unless you get this spider outta here!" - "Escape from Koopatraz" "Luigi, are you a man or a Mouser?" - "Mario of the Deep" "I guess somedays, even Super Mario can't think of everything!" - "Flatbush Koopa" "Don't count your reptiles before they're hatched, lizard lips!" - "Raiders of the Lost Mushroom" "I was hoping we'd have lunch, not be lunch!" - "Crocodile Mario" "I just love playin' Koopa in the middle!" - "Crocodile Mario" "I just had the strangest dream. I was a TV dinner!" - "Star Koopa" "He's showing a plumber how a garbage disposal works?" - "Star Koopa" "Watch it, gang! His toes are loaded!" - "Robo Koopa"Luigi"I can't! I'm allergic to mountains!" - "The Bird! The Bird!" "P-polar bear? Lunch!?" - "The Bird! The Bird!" "Hey, Super Mario! Super-cook their goose!" - "The Bird! The Bird!" (*sobs*) He was the nicest little fungus I ever knew!" - "The Bird! The Bird!" "Who could forget? Don't take chances or you'll go down the drain!" -"The Bird! The Bird!" "C-c-crama's here in-in Koopalot? Uh, I mean, uh, Koopa's here in Cramalot? I mean, uh, shee, let's split this place!" - "King Mario of Cramalot" "Me? B-b-but I can't swim across the moat! I'm, uh, gonna have a baby!" - "King Mario of Cramalot" "Fellons? Yo, I never fell on nobody! I'm uh..." - "Butch Mario & the Luigi Kid" "Oh no! End dend! I mean, dend dead! I mean shee, we're trapped!" - "Butch Mario & the Luigi Kid" "I've had it! I've had it, I've had it! I'm tired of Koopa chasing us from world to world! I wanna go home!" - "Brooklyn Bound" "Guess we're stayin' in Mushroom Land." - "Brooklyn Bound" "Mama mia! We shoulda rented a camel with air conditioning!" - "Mario's Magic Carpet" "Look at that loot! Diamonds, gold, rubies! It must be worth over a hundred bucks!" - "Mario's Magic Carpet" "I told him that he wants really yummy carpet to head for Koopa." - Mario's Magic Carpet "So, what do we do now, Mr. Big Time Gambler?" - "Rolling Down the River" "Okay, Mario. One all ya got, coming up!" - "Rolling Down the River" "He's too busy eating, Mario! He's your kind of horse." - "The Great Gladiator Gig" "Hey! That's my brother Mario, you three-faced double-crosser!" - "The Great Gladiator Gig" "Leapin' lasagna! This room's bigger than the Brooklyn Public Library!" - "Mario and the Beanstalk" "I th-think I liked it better when we outnumbered them!" - "The Great BMX Race" "I'd feel better if we went back and got my stomach." - "The Great BMX Race" "That's what I call Shower Power!" - "Stars in Their Eyes" "Yo, my brother: the pasta vampire." - "Count Koopula" "Gee, that Mario. He can pulverize a pasta factory and still have room for dessert!" - "The Adventures of Sherlock Mario" "Gee. Mario gets the brainstorms, and I get the backaches!" - "Do You Princess Toadstool Take This Koopa...?" "You got 'em!" - "Koopenstein" "You don't got 'em." - "Koopenstein" "Let's really keep it a secret that we're agents, uhh, by stayin' here"! - "On Her Majesty's Sewer Service" "Eh, it was nothin'! Danger is our business!" - "On Her Majesty's Sewer Service" "Annette Funicello? Where?" - "Mario and Joliet" "Pluggin' up pipes goes against everythin' we stand for!" - "Too Hot to Handle" "Zelda of Legend! Next the from scenes! Some me show halfwit you!" - "Time Out Luigi" "The dungeon? I'm allergic to dungeons!" - "Hooded Robin and His Mario Men" "Better make that "The more for Mario"!" - "Hooded Robin and His Mario Men" "We're stuck here like hairballs in a drainpipe!" - "Mario Meets Koop-zilla" "Hey! I may be crazy, but I'm not dumb!" - "Mario and the Red Baron Koopa" "This place is emptier than a flushed drainpipe!" - "The Ten Koopmandments" "I want my mommy!" - "The Ten Koopmandments" "The Koopas are coming! The Koopas are coming!" "When our soldiers thaw out, we're gonna throw your tea in the harbor!" - "The Koopas Are Coming! The Koopas Are Coming!" "But I get seasick on a horse!" - "The Koopas Are Coming! The Koopas Are Coming!" "Aww, Toad. Did'ya hafta say dead?" - "The Trojan Koopa" "How ooga bugga-mugga wa-ooga-ma!" - "Quest for Pizza" "Ouch! Someone's standin' on my toe, and it's not me!" - "The Great Gold Coin Rush" "Mario's mind was where it always is: on pasta." - "Karate Koopa" "Relax, princess! He knows who he is! Mario's always gone ape for meatballs!" - "Mario of the Apes" "I'm a chicken of the sea!" - "Mario of the Deep" "The only good thing so far is: we got to ride the roller coaster without a ticket!" - "Flatbush Koopa" "Stop him, Mario! Tell him Italian food is not on his diet!" - "Crocodile Mario" "I knew we should've built this raft with brakes!" - "Crocodile Mario" "Bein' garbage really makes a guy feel down in the dumps!" - "Star Koopa" "Koopa was scary enough when he was just a slimy reptile!" - "Robo Koopa"King Koopa"Koopa Pack, attack!" - Various episodes "He who koops and runs away lives to koop another day!" - Various episodes "Watch it soldier, when I want my feet licked, I'll ask for it! {quickly} I want my feet licked." - "The Bird! The Bird!" "Like my grandfather Poopa La Koopa always said: "Cheat, beat, and be merry!" - "Butch Mario & the Luigi Kid" "Don't know what I'd do without my carpet phone!" - "Mario's Magic Carpet" "I'll get you for this, you pesky plumbers! A Koopa never forgets!" - "Mario's Magic Carpet" "Happy? Imposter! I never use the H word." - "Rolling Down the River" "Fool! Those pinhead plumbers are bound to try to rescue Princess Toadstool, and I intend to capture them before they do." - "Rolling Down the River" "Don't question my orders, you rotten rodent! Just do it!" - "Rolling Down the River" "Don't interrupt me, not while I'm boasting and gloating!" - "Rolling Down the River" "Stop wisecracking, mushroom, or I'll turn you into soap!" - "Rolling Down the River" "One of the nice things about being evil is... you get to lie a lot.  Ha ha." - "The Great Gladiator Gig" "Fum fee fi fo! I smell the brothers Mario!" - "Mario and the Beanstalk" "That goose is gonna smother you brothers!" - "Mario and the Beanstalk" "OK, that does it! You're all gonna be Koopatized!"  - "The Great BMX Race" "There'll be other crooked races and other ways to cheat!" - "The Great BMX Race" "You're breaking my heart, princess! Now, get to work! Now that you and these Quirks are my slaves, I got other planets to plunder! *laughs*" - "Stars in Their Eyes" "You call that music? Stop that racket! I hate that music! I hate spaghetti! I hate Quirks! I hate those faucet freaks!" - "Stars in Their Eyes" "Alright! Which one of you messed up? Who ruined all my sneaky underhanded plans?" - "Jungle Fever" "Thank you, princess! You saved me all the trouble of hunting you down! You're so nice to me!" - "Jungle Fever" "The courage beyond compare, the bravery beyond description, I praise this great hero, the superior fiend... me. Koopa Khan the magnificent. If I didn't deserve this, I wouldn't give it to me." - "Brooklyn Bound" "Last one into the cave is a goodie-goodie!" - "Brooklyn Bound" "Goodbye, jerkos! And don't come back!" - "Brooklyn Bound" "Those annoying wrench-heads won’t ruin my evil plan! Prepare an ambush, Mouser! Make road pizzas out of them!" - "Toad Warriors" "These fireballs are fantastic! Think of the destruction; think of the wreckage; think of how much this'll lower my heating bill!" - "The Fire of Hercufleas" "Mouser! More marshmallows!" - "The Fire of Hercufleas" "Say ciao to your friends, Princess Toadstool. That's goodbye in Italian, because when you see 'em again, you'll be a tomato sauce sucking vampire, just like me! - "Count Koopula" "Fire a warning shot! ... On second thought, blow the plumber-boys and the Princess right off the boat!" - "Pirates of Koopa" "Listen up, you reptile retches! It's time to play 'Auction the Princess'! Do I hear one-thousand gold coins? Remember, the money goes to my favorite charity... Me." - "Pirates of Koopa "I'm rich! I'm filthy, stinkin', mouth-watering rich!" - "Pirates of Koopa" "Ga ga goo goo! Now you terrible tots will do all my chores, while I play!" - "Two Plumbers and a Baby" "Stop, or I'll tell on you!" - "Two Plumbers and a Baby" "I'll be back to get you! When I grow up!" - "Two Plumbers and a Baby" "Rotten reptiles! It's that pasta-eatin' plumber!" - "The Adventures of Sherlock Mario" "You don't scare me, you linguini-lickin' losers!" - "The Adventures of Sherlock Mario" "I'm gonna turn these two fat little plumbers into two flat little plumbers." - "Do You Princess Toadstool Take This Koopa...?" "Keep your crown on! You want people to think I'm marrying a nag?" - "Do You Princess Toadstool Take This Koopa...?" "Boogie with Koopa, you fungus brats! Boogie right into my double-dealing clutches! Gwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! (playing flute)" - "The Pied Koopa" "Mouser, this is not a nursery school! This is an evil castle!" - "The Pied Koopa" "No one is that stupid!" - "Koopenstein" "Oh, goody-goody! The Tunnel of Doom! My favorite!" - "On Her Majesty's Sewer Service" "When I get my mitts on you, you're gonna be creamed, Mushroom!" - "Too Hot to Handle" "I'm always ready for sneaky badness!" - "Too Hot to Handle" "I love being rotten!" - "Too Hot to Handle" "Just because I said it doesn't mean I meant it!" - "Too Hot to Handle" "You mean I can't destroy the island? I hate those Marios! They always spoil my fun!" - "Too Hot to Handle" "You were hoodwinked by Hooded Robin! I'm gonna pluck that bird nerd wing from wing!" - "Hooded Robin and His Mario Men" "Kiss Koopa's feet and I'll gladly get rid of the sea monster for ya!" - "20,000 Koopas Under the Sea" "Let's ram 'em, slam 'em, and ruin their day!" - "20,000 Koopas Under the Sea" "Pesky persnickety plumbers! I wish they'd never been invented!" - "20,000 Koopas Under the Sea" "Mouser, if anything happens to the princess, I'll turn you into Swiss cheese!" - "Mighty McMario and the Pot of Gold" "Too late! His gorgeous self is here!" - "Mighty McMario and the Pot of Gold" "Run, you teensy tempura tasters! I'm gonna squash this city flatter than a tofu pancake!" - "Mario Meets Koop-zilla" "Scram, pests, or I'll call an exterminator!!" - "Mario Meets Koop-zilla" "'"Stand still so I can squash ya, you little vermin!" - "Mario Meets Koop-zilla" "Ba humkoop!" - "Koopa Klaus" "Plug your ears and watch your rears! We're goin' Bob-Omb bowlin'" - "The Unzappables" "Let's stash this cash and dash!" - "The Unzappables" "Gosh, this tyrant business is hard work! I'm too pooped to Koop! Think I'll take a Koopa catnap." - "The Ten Koopmandments" "Lousy lizards! This is enough to make a grown Koopa cry!" - "The Ten Koopmandments" "You call yourself an army, you miserable misfits? Why am I cursed with such incompetents?!" - "The Koopas Are Coming! The Koopas Are Coming!" "It's those dumber plumbers, the Mario Bros.!" - "The Trojan Koopa" "It's... it's... it's horrible! It's disgusting! It's me!" - "The Trojan Koopa" "And you're gonna spend the rest of your life digging for it! Hahahahaha!" - "The Great Gold Coin Rush" "More! I want more! More!" - "The Great Gold Coin Rush" "Make way for the big daddio, the headman, the new king of Sock Hop Land: Koopa, the Kool!" "Elvin Lives" "Come back here! We got a date for the prom!" "Elvin Lives" "No way, José! They'll never catch the Koopilac! I got dual carbs! I got four on the floor!" "Elvin Lives" "When you hurt Koopa's nose, you've blown it!" - "Plummers Academy" "In just a few minutes, the bidding for Princess Toadstool and her slimy friend Toad will begin! So drink up your Koopa Kola!" - "Karate Koopa" "Welcome aboard Air Albatoss. This is your Koopa speaking. This flight is non-stop 'til ya drop!" - "Mario of the Apes" "We're gonna celebrate the capture of those faucet freaks by letting me win a baseball game." - "Princess, I Shrunk the Mario Brothers" "Now is plumber squashing time!" - "Princess, I Shrunk the Mario Brothers" "OW! I hate plumbers! OW! I hate... OW! Why can't they pick on... OW! Someone their own size?" - "Princess, I Shrunk the Mario Brothers" "It makes me feel so warm, to be so cold!" - "Little Red Riding Princess" "I want that ranger in danger! Now!" - "The Provolone Ranger" "Koopa Court is now in session! Bailiff Mouser, read those phony charges you and I cooked up!" - "Escape from Koopatraz" "Congratulations! You've won a five-hundred year all-expense paid trip to Club Koopatraz!" - "Escape from Koopatraz" "It was so much fun being your crooked judge, I decided to become your cruel warden!" - "Escape from Koopatraz" "This better be a bad dream, plumber, 'cause if it's not, you're in deep fettuccine!" - "Escape from Koopatraz" "What the Koop are you talkin' about?" "Mario of the Deep" "You mean this is all?! There ain't enough gold here to bother Kooping about!" - "Mario of the Deep" "You Mario Bros. ruined my evil schemes, so I'm gonna ruin the burg that you love best!" - "Flatbush Koopa" "Hold your applause! I know it's a genius idea, but I have them all the time!" - "Flatbush Koopa" "Fan-kooping-tastic, it worked!" - "Raiders of the Lost Mushroom" "I love Down Under Land! It's where Mario Bros. went down- and under!" - "Crocodile Mario" "Go to Warp 10, Mouser!" "Star Koopa" "If you want something wrong done right, you gotta wrong-do it yourself!" - "Star Koopa" "I am the mighty Robo Koopa! Half Koopa, half machine. Built for destruction! And I'm gonna destroy you miserable little meddlers! (fiddles on his control panel) Drat! Where is that 'destroy-you-miserable-little-meddlers' button!" - "Robo Koopa" "The fun's not over yet! I've got Super-vision; Super-hearing; Super-strength; And yes, even... Super-toes!" - "Robo Koopa". "If it isn't... Robo-Rooter!" - "Robo Koopa".Toad"Hey! Let me go!" -'"The Bird! The Bird!" "I'm warning you, I get airsick. Heeeelp!" -"The Bird! The Bird!" "What're ya trying' to do, ya wacko bird, drown me?" -"The Bird! The Bird!" "Mommy? You're not my mommy!" -"The Bird! The Bird!" "I can't be your little Cheepy, lady! I don't have wings! Look! No wings, no feathers. I'm just a mushroom that can't stand heights!" -"The Bird! The Bird!" "Flyin' lessons!? Are you outta your mind!?" -"The Bird! The Bird!" "The least that featherbrain could've done was lend me a parachute. Hey! That's it! A parachute!" -"The Bird! The Bird!" "Hey! It's me! I mean, him! It's little Cheepy! The Birdo's real lost baby!" -"The Bird! The Bird!" "Oh no! I'm not going back up there! Never!" -"The Bird! The Bird!" "When I get my hands on that King Koopa, I'll fix his wagon!" - "Butch Mario & the Luigi Kid" "I'm no frog. I can't even swim." - "Butch Mario & the Luigi Kid" "Bombs awaaaaaaaaaaaayyy!!" - "Butch Mario & the Luigi Kid" "What did you tell him?" - "Mario's Magic Carpet" "Who did you expect? Pee-wee Herman?" - "Rolling Down the River" "Looks like you guys saved the day again! Almost." - "Rolling Down the River" "By the power of the shining star, I am the...Toad Warrior!"-Toad Warriors "Hey, man, I’m the Fantastic Fungus! The supercharged Mushroom of Might! I’m the Toad Warrior!" - "Toad Warriors" "Give me five. NO! Give me five bomb plants!" - "Toad Warriors" "Whoever slows down first, loses!" - "Toad Warriors" "Whoa! No more Toad Warrior!" (After turning back to normal) - "Toad Warriors" "Y'all made it!" - "Toad Warriors" "You blew that one, Koopa Stoopa!" - "Pirates of Koopa" "Some Mushroom Retainer I turned out to be... I was so close! I couldn't save her..." - "The Trojan Koopa" "Naughty turtle, you've been hittin' the sauce again, well, have some more!" - "Count Koopula" "Let's make like eggs and SCRAMBLE!!!" - "Mario of the Deep" "So much for hope." - "Stars in Their Eyes" "Don't do it, Princess! Don't marry Koopa! I'd rather be a rock!" - "Do You Princess Toadstool Take This Koopa...?" "Koopa you stoopa! Watch it with the Bob-Ombs!" - "The Great Gold Coin Rush" "By order of his most royal repulsiveness, the reptile Sheriff of Koopingham! The castle road shall require a toll! In the amount of: One wagon full of gold coins!" - "Hooded Robin and His Mario Men"Princess Toadstool" “Milled uranium ore—U3O8 or "yellowcake"—is dissolved in nitric acid, yielding a solution of uranyl nitrate UO2(NO3)2. Pure uranyl nitrate is obtained by solvent extraction, then treated with ammonia to produce ammonium diuranate ("ADU", (NH4)2U2O7). Reduction with hydrogen gives UO2, which is converted with hydrofluoric acid (HF) to uranium tetrafluoride, UF4. Oxidation with fluorine yields UF6." - "The Bird! The Bird!" "Look! The Birdo took Toad to the highest peak! Please, Mario! Toad saved my life a hundred times! We've got to save his!" - "The Bird! The Bird!" "(*Teary eyed*) Goodbye Mario, goodbye Luigi." (About to watch Mario and Luigi leave) - "Brooklyn Bound" "Mario! {Kisses him} Luigi! {Kisses him} You came back!" (After being rescued from Koopa and realizing that the brothers went back for her and Toad) - "Brooklyn Bound" "Oh, dear. I think he wants Toad for an appetizer." - "Crocodile Mario" "(*sobs*) I always cry at weddings!" - "Mario and Joliet" "What was that about pancakes and maple syrup?" - "Quest for Pizza"

[snow-lavender]

The Last Day of Mediocrity

AKA, “Enter Marvin, Stage Left.”

Word count: 2382

Here’s a little ditty I like to call: Whoopsie, completely forgot to put these on Tumblr so now I’m posting three chapters in rapid succession. This is my take on Marvin’s creation, hope you enjoy!

AO3 Link Here

Marvin O’Sullivan paced around his apartment, talking animatedly on the phone. “It was great, you shoulda seen the kid’s face! I think Luke took a video of it. And we made so much cash, I’m gonna make my rent and then some this winter.”

“So what I’m hearing is ‘I had a great time, Emily, thank you for convincing me to go even though I was being a stubborn brat.” replied the phone.

Marvin rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I’m sorry for being a dick about it. But c’mon, cut me some slack! This was my first time leaving the country.”

“Well, that’s the kind of shit that happens when you’re homeschooled.”

“I’m not disagreeing.” Marvin snorted. He sat down on his sofa and started flipping through a book. “Really, Em, thank you for letting me take your spot.”

“Eh, don’t worry about it.” she said. “Gotta keep the talent fresh, am I right? Seems like it did you some good.”

“Yeah, it did. I got so inspired by the other performers there, I gotta jot some of these ideas down. Talk to you soon?”

“Sure will. Bye Marv.”

“Bye Em.” 

Marvin hung up the phone and slumped back into the couch. He summoned his notebook and started writing.

quick change?

Art on stage for ambience ambiance

More riffing w/ audience

kid orented set?

balancing shit

Amethyst out of juice

Need more rosemary

Flashier teleportation: saltpeter, indigo? got a theme

buy coffee

Small flames

↑LOTS OF PRACTICE↑

Aura residue on cards 

After a few minutes of brainstorming, he put down the notepad. If he was going to get

anything done, he needed to do some shopping. Which then lead to the hardest decision of any day. 

What to do about his face. 

He fiddled with the crude mask in his hands. Deal with disgust, or deal with disapproval? There was, of course, no good option. Either way people were going to stare at him. And normally he loved the attention. Hell, it was why he chose a career as a busker. But then, it was okay to be wearing a marker-covered mask from Poundland. At Tesco, not so much.

His hands automatically went to his cheek. Even after five years, the skin was scarred and rough. He remembered the doctor saying it would be that way for the rest of his life, never fully healing.

The flames around him grew higher as he screamed, Ma, please, help me! 

He stopped that train of thought right in its tracks. He was better off now. He was a fairly successful performer, he was providing for himself. He had coworkers who respected him, and people at the local coven who said he was the most talented wizard they’d seen in years. Hell, he even went to Pride in Dublin last month! Everything in his life was flying in the face of those assholes.

He was strong. He was accomplished. He was magnificent.

“Fuck it.”, he muttered, pulling the mask over his face.

Today, he was going to be who he wanted, general public be damned.

>=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=<

A few hours later, he returned to his flat, arms full of bags. He hung his mask up and shoved the door closed with his hip, making a beeline for his kitchen. The green light from the orb reflected off some of the cans and into his face, so he put those away first. Then he threw the beef in the fridge, restocked the butter, and shit, he was almost out of jam. Why didn’t he notice that this morning?

Finished with the groceries, he closed the pantry and grabbed the other bags. The more volatile plants would need to be stored carefully to prevent reactions, and he needed to grab some iron shavings for that new potion, and-

Wait.

Green glowing orb?

Marvin turned toward the TV, confused. Sure enough, there was a strange sphere floating above his sofa.

What the hell?!

He backed himself slowly into the wall. Thankfully, it didn’t react, but he still moved very carefully toward the hall. As soon as he figured he was out of its line of sight, he ran into his bedroom and slammed the door shut. 

“Okay, okay, calm down.” he whispered. He couldn’t think of any recent spells that could have caused...that.

Which meant this was something else. An intruder?

He ran for his bookshelf. Panicking, he pulled out the largest book he could find and started flipping through it. “No... no...no, come on!” He dropped that one and grabbed another. Halfway through it, he found the section on wards. “Okay, okay, weak, strong, proactive.. ...reactive!”. Silently cheering, he went over the spell in his head. Nothing too complex, just some clove and mugwort. He dogeared the page, grabbed those herbs, and left his room.

The orb was still there.

Marvin cursed and laid the supplies in front of him. He opened the book and started to cast the spell. 

“Cruinne beannaithe, iarr mé do chumhacht. Moladh dom neart agus rath a thabhairt dom.”

Purple energy began to swirl around him. He relaxed, but then noticed the other light source was growing brighter.

“Bacainn a chur in aghaidh olc. Cosain an teach seo ó dhaoine ar mian leo dochar a dhéanamh orm!”

His voice grew louder with fear. The things should have been weakening by now! He squinted, the light making it harder to read. 

“Iarr mé go héasca-”

Just as he reached the climax of the spell, the light became overpowering. He dropped the book to cover his face, and his magic vanished. He could feel power swirling around him, foreign and uncomfortable. It grew brighter and more stifling, making him cry out, until suddenly there was a flash, and everything disappeared.

Including himself.

>=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=<

Several miles away, he crashed to the floor. “Shit, shit, shit.” he muttered, scrambling for his spellbook. If he was quick, he could whip up a teleport before anyone noticed he was here-

“Uhh…”

Marvin whipped around. Standing in a doorway was a dumbfounded teenager, holding a steaming mug. He froze, still on his knees, grasping the book. “Hi….?” continued the teen.

Marvin was on his feet in a second. “I don’t know who you are, but let me go, now, and no one will get hurt.” he snarled. The other guy took a step back. “What? Let you go? You’re the one who materialized in my cousin’s flat!”

Marvin lowered his hands. “You didn’t summon me here?” he asked. “Then what was that light in my living room?”

“Light?” the kid repeated. He perked up. “Like a green, glowy orb thing?” 

Marvin nodded. “Okay, great!” the other said. “I mean, not super great, cause I bet you’re confused as hell, but that explains a lot!” He fished a phone out of his hoodie pocket. “I’ll text Seán. He’ll need a few minutes to stop recording, but then he can help you figure stuff out. You’re probably Marvin, right?”

Marvin bristled. “How do you know my name?” he hissed.

Kid shrugged. “It’s kinda complicated.” He held out a hand. “I’m Jackie. You want anything to drink? There’s still hot water in the kettle, I think.”

“Sure.” he replied, shaking Jackie’s hand warily. Marvin followed him into the kitchen, not wanting to let this stranger out of his sight. “You cast the spell that pulled me here, then?”

“Pfft, nah.” Jackie snorted. “I can’t do magic. Not traditionally, anyhow. That’s Seán’s scene.” He pulled another mug out of the cupboard. “Earl grey cool?”

“And Seán is your...cousin? The one who owns the flat?” Marvin guessed, leaning against the wall.

“Eehhh…”Jackie replied. “Technically no? He’s got custody of me, but we’re not...exactly...related. At all.”

“Then why..?”

“So we may have fudged the papers a bit. But hey, no harm done, right?”

Marvin stared at him. “And you’re just telling me, a random stranger, this? Not a great way to stay in his custody.”

Jackie shrugged, pouring more tea. “You’re gonna be living with us anyway, so why not?”

“Wait, what the hell?” Marvin stood up suddenly. “How did you get to that conclusion?”

“Shit.” Jackie replied. “I didn’t mean it like that. I mean, usually people like us stick together. I think. I’m still the first one here, but with the others, it seemed like-” he stopped. “Marvin, you okay?”

Marvin wasn’t listening. What the fuck did he mean by that? He’d said he wasn’t trapping him here! He hadn't felt any wards when he’d got here, but Jackie had acted like he wasn’t leaving. How was he so calm about this? His chest was tightening. Was it darker magic that had brought him here? Was this Seán dude a warlock, had he brainwashed this kid? He couldn’t breathe. He didn’t want any exposure to corrupt magic. The last time that had happened…

What the hell are you talking about? Please, just help me!

“Hey, Marvin, dude.”

Marvin’s head snapped up. When had he sat on the floor?

Jackie knelt next to him. “You back with me?” he asked.

“Y-yeah.” Marvin stuttered, accepting Jackie’s help as he stood up.

Jackie nodded. “Great. You really spaced out there for a sec.”

Marvin rubbed at his face. “Sorry, I-” he stiffened. He didn’t have his mask.

Jackie backed up as Marvin started looking around frantically. “You need something or…”

“My mask. Did you see where it fell?” 

Jackie shook his head. “I didn’t see any mask.”

“I need it.” Marvin insisted. He hated how standoffish he sounded, but this was important.

Jackie bit his lip. “I can go look, if that would help.”

“I need it.” Marvin repeated. “People are going to see.” See...see…

But Jackie had already seen his face. He hadn't been wearing it when the orb had shown up.

“Yeah, I got nothing.” Jackie said, returning to the kitchen. When had he left?

“Never mind.” Marvin said shortly.

“Are you sure? It sounded important-”

“Just drop it.” Marvin, pushing Jackie aside.

Jackie looked lost. “Oookay?” Then his phone dinged. “Oh! Seán’s finished recording. He’ll be down in a sec.”

Right. Fuck.

Marvin turned back to the living room. “So what exactly is going on?” he asked as they sat on the couch. His hands twitched, ready to cast at any moment. 

“What did you need Jackie?” a new voice said. 

Marvin turned. Standing in the hall was a man a few years older than him, maybe 25? He looked confused, but that changed to shock when he saw Marvin. “Oh.”

“Tada…” Jackie said, doing jazz hands in Marvin’s direction. He stopped when Marvin glared at him. “Where the hell am I?” he demanded, standing up. “He says you pulled me here. What the fuck do you want?” His hands glowed purple. 

Seán raised his hands. “Calm down man. No one’s going to hurt you.”

Marvin’s eyes narrowed. “Explain. Now.” 

“You know what a tulpa is?” 

“Yeah, so?”

“Okay, so, as far as I can tell, sometimes the universe tries to make tulpas based on characters I do, but it gets lazy and just pulls someone similar here instead.”

Marvin stared at him in disbelief. “What?”

“Look, I don’t get it either. Jackie can vouch for me though, he got pulled here when I did a superhero character last month.” The teen waved nervously.

“What, and you think I’m like that? I’m human, not preternatural. Don’t pull that ‘magicians are a different race’ shit, that got disproven in the seventies.”

Seán pulled a face. “Hell no. I’m just trying to make an analogy. Nothing really fits with this situation.”

“Just...okay, fine, I’ll go along with this. For now.” Marvin said, rubbing at his face.

Seán stuck out a hand. “I’m Seán McLoughlin. Nice to meet you.”

Marvin shook it. “Marvin O’Sullivan.”

“Wait, wait?” Seán pulled back. “Holy shit, I haven’t seen you since we were kids! How have you been?”

“Huh?” Marvin squinted at him. Then it clicked. “Jack!?”

Seán beamed. “Yeah! Man, of all people...it’s good to see you.”

“Wait, you two know each other?” Jackie interrupted. 

“The McLoughlins used to be some of the strongest magic users out there. My parents wanted connections, so we used to hang out.” Marvin explained.

“Yeah, I was the only kid in our family around his age, so we’d play together when the adults were talking.”

Marvin looked Seán up and down. He seemed to be doing pretty well for himself. He was almost as energetic and happy as he had been when they were kids. And if that hadn’t changed, well, he didn't seem like the type to deal with shady magic.

“Alright then. What was it you were saying about tulpas?”

>=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=•=<

Marvin stared out the window of the bus. Thankfully, Seán had paid for his fare back to Galway, since he’d left his wallet in his flat. He’d be back to his place by midnight.

This was a lot to process. Meeting someone from his childhood like that, well, it had brought a lot back up. Stuff he’d rather keep buried. He’d burned most of those bridges, and the rest had been burned for him. Now, a lot of the wreckage from those fires was coming to light.

Oh yeah, and the whole “figment of the imagination” thing. That was a lot to take in too.

Still, it was nice to see Jack again. 

Marvin looked down at his phone. Seán had given him his number if they needed to get back in touch. 

Of all the people he used to be close to, Jack was probably the least asshole-y. Maybe talking to him more would be nice. Especially since they had similar backgrounds.

The drive to Athlone was short enough that he could travel it for a weekend.

He opened the texting app.

From: M. O’Sullivan

To: S. McLoughlin

M.O.: Hey, could I come back up in a few days? I’d like to hang out more.

A few moments later, the phone dinged with a reply.

S.M.: Sure thing! :) 

[popatochisssp]

Make Your Mark, 8/10

Series: Undertale, Swapfell Relationship(s): SF!Papyrus/Reader Chapter Warnings:  Potential tw before the cut for being drunk around unpleasant people, nothing happens but could be scary, take care of yourselves!

AO3 Link

In a world where soulmates exist, monsters and humans have one thing in common: the first time two soulmates touch, a mark randomly appears somewhere–anywhere– on their bodies to represent their match.

It still doesn’t make relationships easier…but maybe it does make them a little more interesting!

You…may have made some bad decisions.

It had seemed like a good idea at the time to go out and celebrate your move to a brand new city. You didn’t have any friends yet to go with, or any idea of where to go, but you didn’t really see why that should stop you from having a good time.

You were in Ebott now, the very definition of excitement and opportunity!

…But…you were coming to realize that there was perhaps such a thing as too much excitement.

Casual revelry with strangers at a monster bar was fun at first. So were the glowing, sparkling, color-changing drinks they’d encouraged you to try, even buying them for you when you admitted you were on a bit of a budget.

You’d been having a great time.

But now, somewhere between the drinks and the strangely-colored smoke in the air, you’re…kind of intoxicated and… the smiles your new monster friends are giving you seem to be taking a turn for the sinister.

You wave off the next glass slid your way and get up, trying not to stumble. You’re met with groans, chiding and coaxing you to stay, just a little longer, but no, no, you really can’t.

You’re disoriented, struggling to remember where the exit was and how to get there while cloying claws and paws and tentacles brush against you, not quite trying to hold you back…

Yet.

It occurs to you that probably every eye in this place is squarely on you—the lone, dizzy human making itself easy pickings—and it sets your heart going hard against your ribs, robbing you of precious breath.

For one terrifying second, you feel like you’re about to faint.

And then, an arm drapes across your shoulders, pulling you into somebody.

You look up into the eye-lights of an actual skeleton— tall and menacing, with one gleaming golden fang.

“you’re cute,” he tells you in a low, raspy voice. “let’s get out of here.”

“Uhh—?”

You don’t have a chance to argue.

The skeleton is strong and he tows your dazed and staggering self along with him like it’s nothing, and you certainly don’t have the wherewithal to fight him.

You look around and in a moment of clarity, you realize you’re suddenly being given a very wide berth.

You don’t know what to make of that.

As you’re dragged out of the bar, into the empty street behind it, the ever-worsening nature of your predicament hits you: you were really, actually about to become a statistic, mugged or murdered or worse in an alley with no one around for miles to call or even notice you were missing.

You think you’re too scared right now to even scream for help, anyway.

Suddenly, you stagger as the arm around you unceremoniously lets go.

“……sorry,” the skeleton says. “i shoulda asked ‘fore i… i just……didn’t really have any other…ideas…”

All you can do is stare at him, blankly.

Under your gaze, his cheekbones go a stunning shade of violet and he turns to stare at the wall of the building, like he can’t quite look at you.

“i mean. you… you just…looked kinda nervous? i…i saw you an’ thought, ‘hell, i know that feeling,’ an’ you didn’t come in with anybody, so. …not!” he hastily adds, “that i was watchin’ you or anything, uh, weird, just, humans, you stick out, an’ you were alone, so if you needed help, i………”

The skeleton pauses, sweat beading along his skull as something seems to occur to him.

“maybe you were havin’ fun?” he wonders with a wince. “in which case, i, uh…probably ruined your night ‘cause i didn’t… i didn’t even ask you…!”

He breaks off with a wordless noise of embarrassed frustration and your fuzzy brain can’t quite parse…most of all that anxious word-vomit, but you at least get the last bit.

“I wasn’t,” you hastily blurt out. “I wasn’t…having fun, I… Thank you, for…for getting me out of there? I… Thanks.”

The skeleton looks very relieved to hear that.

“o-oh…yeah, that’s…it’s fine,” he shrugs, with the most forced nonchalance you’ve ever seen in a shrug. “i mean, you probably shouldn’t…go places like that alone, though? humans know about the buddy system, don’t they?”

You can’t be sure, but you might be blushing, too.

“Yeah, well… I didn’t see you with a buddy,” you mutter, maybe a little childishly.

“i got…connections,” the guy tells you. Then, he laughs a little. “…nyeheheh, and a…a pretty good ‘resting bitch face.’”

You snort. “Yeah? Let’s see it.”

The skeleton takes your dare and it’s like flipping a switch—the shy magic coloring vanishes from his cheekbones and he fixes you with a look nothing short of stony. His expression is flat and his skull is abruptly all sharp, spooky angles where there’d only just been a cute, sheepish grin.

He tilts his head back, just so, and you think you understand now why nobody tried to stop this monster from absconding with you: looking like this, he seems like the type of guy who really would’ve dragged you into this alley to murder you.

“Snrk…holy shit. That’s… that’s really good, dude!”

The skeleton flips right back the second you laugh, looking inordinately pleased with himself.

“papyrus,” he says, introducing himself at last, and you happily introduce yourself in return.

When he asks if you’ve got a ride home and you admit that you don’t know your new address too well—you wrote it down, on your phone, but of course it’s dead, your forethought is in peak form tonight—he offers to let you spend the night at his place.

It’s probably another bad idea and maybe you’re still reeling a bit from all the monster-drinks and secondhand who-knows-what, but he feels like a nice guy.

Trustworthy.

You let Papyrus take you home with him.

-

It turns out you put your faith in the right skeleton.

Even though he only had his own bed to offer you and you insisted he not go sleep on the floor, you woke up safe, sober, and fully-clothed (albeit very thoroughly cuddled).

You stayed the morning to make breakfast, as a ‘thank you.’ You met Papyrus’ very scary brother who stared at you across the table until Papyrus wandered in and eased some of the tension.

It was still a little awkward—turns out, Papyrus’ default state was ‘quiet’ and he spent most of the time wolfing down his syrup-drowned pancakes while Sans held eye-contact with you and downed a whole bottle of Sriracha (a power move?), but somehow, by the end of it…

You still decided to give Papyrus your number, in case he ever wanted to hang out or…do whatever. You were new to the city and anyone you could call a friend was a good person to know!

All things considered, it wasn’t long before Papyrus went from ‘friend’ to ‘boyfriend.’ He was a sweet guy with a real gift for snuggling and an untapped well of affection that he was happy to shower you in with only the slightest provocation.

Just a few short months after your first near-disastrous night in Ebott things are going great for you—you’ve got a decent job, actual furniture in your apartment, a cuddlebug boyfriend, and even a passing civil relationship with said boyfriend’s brother.

There’s not a single thing you would change about your life right now!

…Except…

Well.

You have a soulmark.

Which is either really, really good, or really, really bad.

You found it when you got home from that first breakfast, after your…unpleasant…night at the bar.

You’d been out of it and so many strange and dubiously-intentioned monsters had brushed up against you, skin to scales and slime and any number of textures.

Really, any one of the people there that night could’ve sparked your soulmark to manifest.

In your heart—and maybe even all the way down to your soul—you know which strange and dubiously-intentioned monster you want to have left the twisting strings of ivy wrapped around your belly, climbing up your torso and always seeming to have moved from the last time you looked.

And…Papyrus has a soulmark, too, you’ve seen it, so he’s…

It’s probably yours.

But you’re just not sure.

It doesn’t really matter if it isn’t, of course: you’d rather be dating Papyrus than any of the shady creeps who’d plied you with drinks that night, and even if he’d gotten his own mark long before he met you, he seemed perfectly content with your relationship; more than!

It doesn’t matter… but there’s still a part of you that wants to know.

-

Papyrus is sprawled out on the couch, and you’re lying on top of him.

It’s not the most comfortable position for you, with him being a literal skeleton and all, but he told you once that he likes to feel you on him, so you’re hanging in there awhile longer.

And thinking about the soulmark thing again.

Papyrus seems to notice your preoccupation and cranes his neck down a little to nuzzle your hair.

“what’cha thinkin’ about?” he murmurs.

You don’t see any reason to lie.

“The night we met,” you say. “…you were pretty smooth back then. Y’know, the first…five minutes or so, at least.”

You bounce a little as he laughs.

“daiquiris, angel,” Papyrus winks up at you. “coupla those an’ i’m a regular casanova.”

You snicker…but, “Knight in shining armor, more like.”

His skull turns a very cute shade of lilac.

“…aaahhh, stop,” he grumbles. “it wasn’t…that big a deal……”

“It was to me!” you insist, pushing yourself up on his ribs. “You saved my ass and you know it, Rus.”

“mmmnn…s’a cute ass…”

Papyrus was hot garbage when it came to just accepting a compliment.

You fully intend to work on that, but you decide to have mercy on him and let it go for now.

Instead, you go for a different sort of gamble.

“You’re just saying that ‘cause we’re soulmates,” you accuse.

You keep your eyes on Papyrus’ face, not sure what kind of reaction you’re looking hoping for.

The way he just…smiles at you, eye-sockets crinkling at the corners, feels a little like running into a step on the stairs that you didn’t know was there.

“nah,” he says, “it’d be cute no matter what.”

You sag a little in sheer surprise— was it really that easy?—and Papyrus tilts his head, trying to piece together what’s going on in your head.

For as awkward as he is around people, he’s not half-bad at jumping to conclusions.

“……did you…not know?”

“No,” you hasten to assure him, “no, I…knew. Or, I mean, I kinda figured… I hoped, mostly, but…” You laugh a little, more at yourself than anything. “It was kind of a…weird…night, and we never exactly talked about it…”

Slowly, but surely…

Papyrus starts to snicker.

And then to outright laugh.

“nyeheheheheheh, holy shit,” he wheezes, “i thought i was bad… yuh…you weren’t sure and you took this long to ask about it??? pfft, stars above,you’re the best…”

If it wasn’t for the total, unflinching sincerity in that last bit, you think you might be a little offended.

As it is, you don’t really protest very hard when Papyrus deftly turns you over on top of him, so your back is to his chest, or when he starts to wriggle a bit and you can’t really see what he’s doing.

Apparently, he was shrugging off his jacket.

When he wraps his arms around you again, they’re bare and you can see the artful line of feathers along them, trailing all the way down from his scapulae.

“why d’you think i call you ‘angel’ so much?” he chuckles, setting his jaw atop your head. “m’wearin’ your wings…”

He says it so simply, so matter-of-fact…

And honestly, it’s everything you needed to hear.

You’re so glad Papyrus found you.

UT!Sans | UT!Papyrus | US!Sans | US!Papyrus | UF!Sans | UF!Papyrus | SF!Sans | HT!Sans | HT!Papyrus

[thelastspeecher]

For the prompt, how about the werevamp au where Stan and Angie celebrate Chistmas together since Angie can't exactly go home to her family to celebrate, but also it's also Stan's first actual Christmas

I wanted to include something at the end about Angie asking Stan when Jewish holidays are so they can celebrate them together, too, but I liked it ending like this.  So here, have Stangie celebrating Christmas in a cheap motel room with a sad Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

              Stan wokeup freezing.  Without opening his eyes hereached out for Angie.  His hands brushedagainst blankets, but not Angie’s warm body. He opened his eyes.  He was alonein the bed.

              “Angie?”he asked.

              “I’m overhere, darlin’,” a soft voice said.  Stansat up with a groan.  He lookedover.  Angie was crouched on the sill ofthe only window in the cheap motel room, staring outside with a distantexpression.

              “What’swrong?”

              “Nothin’.  It’s just…” Angie sighed.  “I can’t believe it’sChristmas Eve.”

              “Oh,yeah.  It is.”  Stan got up from the bed and walked over tohis girlfriend.  “Merry Christmas,” hesaid, putting a hand on her shoulder. Angie sighed again.  “Babe,somethin’s wrong.  What is it?”

              “I can’tremember any of my fam’ly’s holiday traditions,” Angie said after a moment.  “I- I know we had ‘em.  I have this- this vague memory of warmfeelin’s and comfort.  A full stomach.  But I can’t remember anyone involved, or whatexactly we were doin’, and-”  Sheswallowed.  “What sort of Christmastraditions does yer fam’ly have?”

              “Uh,none,” Stan said.  Angie stared athim.  “I’m Jewish.”

              “…Oh.”  Angie’s mouth quirked in a small grin.  “Didn’t know there were Jewish vampires.”

              “Didn’tknow there were Christian werewolves.”

              “Touche.”  Angie looked out the window again.  She wrapped her arms around herself.  “I just- I want to celebrate with my fam’ly.”

              “Youmight not be able to celebrate with them, but you’ve got me,” Stan said.  Angie managed a small, weak smile.  “Whattaya wanna do?”

              “Gocaroling.”

              “Uhh…”

              “I’mkidding,” Angie said, nudging him.  “But jokin’aside, it might be nice to get a tree.”

              “It’sChristmas Eve.”

              “Mm-hmm.”

              “You dorealize that if we manage to find a tree, it’s gonna be one of those shittyCharlie Brown ones, right?”

              “It’sstill a tree.”

              “Yeah.  Okay. Lemme get dressed.”  Stan walkedover to the chair he had tossed his clothes onto the day before.  He picked up his shirt and sniffed itidly.  “Did your family go to church onChristmas Eve?  My high school girlfriend’sfamily did.”

              “I haveamnesia, I don’t-”  Angie paused.  “No, wait. I do remember.  Yes. We did.”

              “So youguys were like, Christian Christians.”  Deciding the shirt didn’t smell too bad, Stanslipped it on.  “I shoulda figured.”

              “How couldya have figured it out?  I didn’t realizeI grew up goin’ to church until ya just asked me.”

              “A fewthings.”  Stan tugged on a pair of pants.  “You never say ‘God’, you say ‘Lord’ or ‘goodness’.  You corrected a Bible quote we saw the otherday.  And whenever we’re around jewelry,you go right for the crucifix necklaces.”

              “Huh.  Yer right, there were a lot of ways to figureit out,” Angie said softly.  Stan turnedaround.  “Why are ya wearin’ thoseclothes again?” Angie asked.

              “They don’tsmell.”

              “Not toyou,” Angie muttered.  She got down fromthe windowsill.  “A few things are comin’back to me.”

              “Yeah?”

              “Yeah.”  Angie furrowed her brow.  “When we went to the Christmas Eve service,my older brother would always fall asleep. And my- my older sister…  We hadto dress up, so she’d braid my hair fer me.”

              “You havea brother and sister?”

              “…Iguess.”

              “Do youremember their names?” Stan asked.  Angieshook her head.  “You’ll remembereventually.”  Stan shrugged on hisjacket.  “What’s the flavor ofChristianity your family practices?  Newand Improved or Classic?”  Angie staredat him, bemused.

              “Wh-which branch of Christianity is which?”

              “Catholicsare Classic, and the other one is New and Improved.”

              “Hon, that’snot-”  Angie shook her head.  “Okay, well, Classic.”

              “You’reCatholic?”

              “Yep.”  Angie frowned, thinking.  “I remember vaguely learnin’ prayers thatweren’t in English.”

              “Latin?”

              “No…”  Angie shook her head again.  “I could almost hear one of ‘em, but it’sgone.”  She looked up.  “Let’s go get us a tree.”

----- 

              Stan dugthrough the grocery bag.  Angie hadinsisted that they not steal on Christmas Eve, but he wanted to make sure thatshe didn’t see the one item he had surreptitiously pocketed at the store.

              “Youreally should shower,” Angie said.  Shewas decorating the tree they had found at the lot.  It looked exactly as Stan had warned:scraggly, tiny, and losing needles with every jostle.  Angie carefully draped a cheap garland overthe tree’s branches.

              “I showeredyesterday.”

              “Youshowered three days ago.”  Angie lookedat Stan.  “I love ya to bits, but I havea wolf’s nose, Stanley Pines.  If ya goone more day without takin’ a shower, I will hose ya down myself.”

              “Don’t offersomething if you don’t plan on following through.”

              “Itwouldn’t be sexy,” Angie warned.  Stansnorted.

              “That’swhat you think.”

              “No, Imean it.  Think less ‘we are bothunclothed and there are soap bubbles everywhere’ and more ‘I am fully clothed,holding you down while I hold the shower directly over yer head like I’m givin’a dog a bath’.”

              “…Could stillbe sexy.”

              “Lord,yer insufferable.”

              “You knowit, babe.”  Stan found the small box hewas looking for, slipped it into his back pocket, and kissed the top of Angie’shead.  She swatted him playfully.  “When do we put up our socks for free candy?”

              “Afteryou shower.”

              “Fine,fine.”  Stan strode into the bathroom,whistling.  He paused before closing thedoor.  “Hang on.”

              “Stan, Imean it, I can’t deal with yer stink much lon-”

              “Did youjust say you loved me?” Stan asked. Angie stilled.  “If you did, I’d-”

              “Justshower,” Angie said in a small voice.  “Please.”

----- 

              Tenminutes later, Stan opened the bathroom door to let the steam out while hefinished toweling off.  He paused.  Someone was singing.

              “O, holynight, the stars are brightly shining…” Stan stuck his head out.  Angiewas sitting in front of the tiny tree, her eyes closed, singing.  A small smile began to spread across Stan’sface.

              I don’t get to hear her sing very often.  He cleared his throat.  Angie looked over, startled.

              “That wasnice.”

              “…Thanks,”Angie mumbled, her face pink.  She duckedher head.  “And thank you fer showerin’.”

              “Eh, Iwoulda had to shower soon anyways, if I wanted to maintain my impeccablehairstyle,” Stan said, gesturing to his mullet. Angie snorted.  “You should singmore.”

              “I don’tknow.  I feel so strange singin’ in frontof people,” Angie said quietly.  Stanwalked over, only wearing a towel wrapped around his waist.  He sat on the floor next to her.

              “I’m ahomeless vampire.  Pretty sure I don’tcount as people.”

              “Nah, youdo.”  Angie leaned against him.  “By the way, earlier, when I said I loved you…”

              “Yeah?”

              “I meantit.”  Like her, Angie’s voice was soft,but full of warmth.  “And it ain’t someStockholm Syndrome thing, neither.  You-yer a good man, and you challenge me and take care of me and-”  Angie kissed Stan on the cheek.  “I can’t think of anything else to describemy feelings fer you.”

              “Not justreally good friends?”

              “No,Stan.  I love you.”  Angie’s eyes caught his determinedly.  “I mean it.” Stan stared back at her silently, at a loss for words.  Finally, he cleared his throat.

              “Okay,uh, yeah, uh, I guess, uh-”  He clearedhis throat again.  “I’ve got somethingfor- uh-”  He rushed back to thebathroom.

              Dumbass, why’d you put it in your pantspocket if you were gonna take your pants off right away?  Stan dug hurriedly through his pile of clothes.  Ha!  He grabbed the small box from earlier andreturned to where Angie was sitting. Angie cocked her head at him curiously.

              “What’sgoin’ on?”

              “Here.”  Stan handed her the box.  Angie shot another confused glance in hisdirection before turning her attention to the box.  She slowly opened it.

              “Oh.”

              That’s it?  An “oh”?

              “You hateit,” Stan said, dejected.

              “No,”Angie said.  She removed the necklacefrom the box.  “No, Stan, I love it.”  She let the chain of the necklace slipthrough her fingers to admire the crescent-shaped charm.  “A lil moon.”

              “‘Causeyou’re a werewolf.”  Stan rubbed the backof his neck.  “Girls like sparkly things,and you always get excited when we go to a store with jewelry, and you don’thave any jewelry, so I figured-”

              “This iswonderful,” Angie said softly.

              “It’s nota cross, though.  You always look at thecrosses.”  Stan scratched his cheek.  “I’m allergic to religious shit, so that’swhy I didn’t get the cross, but it’s still not-”

              “Shut yeryap and help me put this on, would ya?” Angie interrupted.  Stan grinned. Angie handed him the necklace and turned around.  Stan carefully clasped the chain.  Angie turned around again.  The necklace sparkled on her sweater.  “Does it suit me?”

              “Babe,everything suits you,” Stan said earnestly. Angie laughed.

              “Stan,this was a wonderful Christmas present. Thank you.”  Her eyestwinkled.  “I actually got you somethin’,too.”

              “Really?”

              “Mm-hmm.”  Angie nodded at the tree.  A box was resting underneath it.  “Go ahead. Open it.”  Stan eagerly ripped thebox open.  His eyes widened.  “I saw you lookin’ at those watches.”

              “Oh,hell, yes,” Stan breathed.  He slid thewatch onto his wrist.  “Now my wristlooks way classier than the rest of me. It’s perfect.”  Angiechuckled.  “How did you afford this?”

              “…I didn’t.”

              “Ithought you said you didn’t wanna steal on Jesus’ birthday.”

              “Hisbirthday’s tomorrow.  Not today.”

              “Myhabits are rubbing off on you.”

              “Yep.”

              “Probablynot a good thing.”

              “Fer ahomeless vampire and werewolf, I think it’s perfectly fine.”  Angie leaned in and kissed Stan on thelips.  “Merry Christmas.”

              “MerryChristmas.”

[eerythingisshaka]

Wakanda Got Y’all Pt. 3

[Black Panther x Insecure Mashup]

Word Count: 2.5K

Part 1 Part 2

A/N:  I think I got one more chapter in me to close this little series out!  So enjoy this and the finale coming soon!

Issa and T’Challa met at the community center to begin their work with the neighborhood.  Today, with Issa’s help, they would start the recruitment process for their after-school program.  They unloaded boxes with brochures and fliers and applications onto their tables.

“You think you got enough to go around?”  Issa asked jokingly at the pile of papers in front of them.

T’Challa looked around slightly panicked, “Oh, do you think we may need more?  I could call up Nakia to go by the office-”

Issa waved her hands, “No, no!  I was kidding.  We probably have too many honestly.  People don’t usually show up to these things until school actually starts, you know, typical students.”

T’Challa clicks his tongue, “Well, if we get one, it would be an accomplishment.”

They take their seats at the table to wait for their future members.  The outside of the building was lined with signs and balloons announcing their grand opening, but as time passes, Issa began to wonder if she this was a waste of time.  

She pulls out her phone to look through her socials but sees a notification for a new text from Molly.  She is supposed to be seeing Erik tonight.

M: What do smart thug niggas look for in their girl?  Should I be professional lookin or a little thotty?

I: Uhh, I don’t think he would turn away thotty at all.  How much do you want from him?

M: You think I’m getting money from this nigga?  

I: No!  Like are you wanting to DTR or DTF?

M: Girrrrl, ain’t nobody tryna get in their feelings over here.  I could smell his intentions a mile away, it’s just a matter hosing down my garden.

Issa snorts, causing T’Challa to look at her confused.  “It’s just my friend…”  Issa says trailing off.  I: So our pussies require lawn work now?

M: Shieet, I already got my trim, bedazzled the shit, now all it needs is moisture!

I: Ok, I’m gonna throw up.  Peace.

“Is your friend the one from the bar?”  T”Challa asked.

“Oh, yeah, you seen her.  Molly.  Your cousin is supposed to be taking her out or something.”

T’Challa makes a noise.  “What?”  Issa asks.

“Ahh, it’s nothing.  Just...Erik is pretty known to be a ladies man, practically prides himself on it.”

Issa shrugs, “Oh she could tell that!  She has her list of guys too.  I mean, you know, she ain’t a hoe or nothing but, she’s a lawyer so she won’t be worked around I’m sure.”

T’Challa nods, “Good, sounds like they’ll have a good time.  Thank you again for welcoming us into your program.  I am glad that we can guarantee your roster of students as an option to take advantage of our amenities.”

“No problem, T’Challa!  It’ll be good for them to get a change of environment from what they are used to.”

A mother and two girls walk into the center.

Issa greets them happily.  “Hi!  Thanks for coming!  What brings you here to see us?”

The mother plops down in a chair in front of them, looking exhausted.  “Yeah, what’s your hours for the after school stuff?”

T’Challa hands a brochure to her, “From 4-7pm.  Are these your daughters?”

The mother takes the brochure to fan with, “One is mine, the other is my niece.”

They both talk to each other in low voices and cackle.

T’Challa asks, “How old are you all?”

“I’m this many.”  one with afro puffs holds her hand out, fingers balled together.

T’Challa looks at her hand intently, “I don’t understand…”

Issa sees it and instantly rolls her eyes, “Come on, y’all.”

“GOTTI!”  the girls exclaim, high fiving each other.

Issa turns a smile back on, turning to them, “What grades are you all in?”

Afro puffs crosses her arms, “I’m in 7th.”

One with a struggle ponytail says, “I’m going into eighth.”

T’Challa asks, “What are your favorite subjects?”

Afro puffs looks T’Challa up and down, “Sex ed.”

T’Challa looks at her horrified.  “Uh…”

The mother/aunt pops her. “Girl, shut yo ass up!  Quit being rude!  Sorry, she got her mama’s fast ways.”

“Oh, so she is your niece?”  Issa asks.

She looks at Issa like she is crazy, “No, that’s my daughter.”

Issa shakes her head shooketh as T’Challa cuts in, “Well, we don’t offer that right now…”

“...or ever.”  Issa adds.

T’Challa clear his throat, “Right, but we specialize in the sciences, math, history…”

Struggle pony asks, “What kind of history do you teach?  I don’t know nothin bout Africa.”

T’Challa chuckles, “No, we would stick with American, but we do have African american studies tutor if you need that.”

Afro puffs simulates a hair flip.  “I’m plenty Black, Prince Joffer.  But history might not be on your side.”

Issa whispers, “What do you know about ‘Coming to America’?”

“You’re talking too much, little girl.”  The mother/aunt cuts in on afro puffs.

T’Challa questions, “What do you mean, little miss?”

“You shoulda came here when Obama was President man, getcho citizenship.”

Struggle pony adds, “Mhm, this is Trump’s America now.  No matter your papers, you gettin kicked out.”

“AND you Black?  Pssh, if the police don’t get you first, you’d be lucky.”

Issa butts in once more, “Well you girls really know your stuff on current events, so you probably won’t need anything but proofreading your reports.”

“You sayin my babies can’t read?”  the mother/aunt asks offended.

Issa stammers with anxiety.  This was not a smooth start.  “No, not at all, but everyone could use some editing help for grammar and punctuation on papers-”

“Uh huh, come on.  I don’t know what someone who’s first language isn’t english can teach my kids.”

“English was my sixth language, to be specific.”  T’Challa adds for shade.

“Well, whatever the hell!  I don’t get why some African had to come in to help a community he ain’t knowin shit about!”  She turns on her hills walking out.

“Bye Mr. Joffer!”  Struggle pony exclaims flirtily.

“Niggatrynafucksayswhat?”  Afro puffs says while backing away.

T’Challa looks at her leaning his ear, “I’m sorry, wha-”

Issa slaps her hand over T’Challa’s mouth, “Have a good day girls!”

Taking your hand away, T’Challa wipes his mouth, “What was that for?”

Issa sighs.  The best and brightest really came to show out for you all “Listen, these kids will play some weird ass tricks on you, because of fun.  Torture is their pastime, right?  So you have got to stay more alert and less trusting with their ways, T’Challa.”

He nods, “I have a jokester for a sister so I understand young people and their games.  But I couldn’t grasp what they were even talking about.”

“Welcome to being an elder millennial!  These gen Z kids are going to burn the world to the ground, I swear.”

You and T’Challa had sat there for a couple more hours and saw a handful of less colorful folk.  It was finally time to break things down.

T’Challa helped Issa with the table.  “So, what got you into this kind of work?”

“Well, although I don’t make much, I needed the paycheck after college and it was open and hiring at the time.”

T’Challa nods, “Nothing wrong with that for a start.”

“But I also wanted to help people too.  I think I found that out as I got into it.  These kids are crazy a lot of the time.  Disrespectful, ignorant, smelly-”

“But?”  T’Challa asks with a smile to move you along.

“Right!  BUT, they are basically all me.  No one cared about kids from my side of town.  We didn’t get great field trips or outstanding class options.  I remember every time we had a debate team or math league enter a tournament, we could never get further than the first round because culture shock!  Their schools were bigger with vending machine that had school supplies and full sandwiches, we didn’t know how to act!  So, I just hope that our program can expose them to the best, so they can work to build that and maintain it for themselves.”

T’Challa looked at Issa in awe, “That is a beautiful sentiment, Issa.  Very well put.  I knew we had a good thing going when I met you.”

Issa smiled, “Yeah?  Me?”

T’Challa nodded, “Of course!  You have been nothing but professional, and getting to know you more in your element leaves me quite starstruck.”

Issa felt light with his compliments, so genuine.  “That is possibly the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me, especially on the job.”

T’Challa laughs, “You deserve it and more.  Are you through for the day after this?”

Issa thought to herself, “Uh, yeah, I think so.  Probably just goin to do some chores or whatever.”  Issa know she didn’t wanna clean.

“Maybe we should catch a movie or something?  Blow off some steam for a job well done.”

Issa said excitedly, “That sounds great!”  Issa hoped this was a step closer to getting with him.  He was so fine and nice, no way she would fuck this up.

--

Molly sat in a booth at the Waffle House with Erik, kekeing the night away.  Erik told her all kinds of stuff about his college years and time in the military.  She learned he was even an amateur pilot in his spare time.

“I need to take you around sometime.”  Erik said after snapping into a sausage link.

Molly screwed her face up, uh uh.  Those are the planes you always here engulfing in flames and crashing, an engine breaking down and crashing, the pilot was high and crashed it-”

Erik laughs, “Well you ain’t gotta worry about alladat, ma.  I’m good, just gotta put a little trust in me….like I’m tryna put a little trust in you…”

“Tsk, is your dick named Trust?”  Molly inquired.

Erik paused, “Nah, but my tongue never lies.”  He says with a wink.

“Ok, nigga!  You swear!”  Molly joshed him but loved every minute of it.  Even though they were in a regular degular spot, she loved it.  It felt like college again and you got the finest Alpha in line to ask you out.

The bell at the front door rings as it opens.  You hear a loud familiar cackle.

“Kellie?  What the hell you doin here, girl?”  Molly asks surprised.  

Kellie walks in under the arm of M’Baku with a slight limp.  “Ooh, hey girl.  Can we pop a squat with you all a sec?”

Molly nods as Erik greets them.  “Wassup, Bak?  You and ol’ girl still hanging?”

M’Baku beams as he holds Kellie’s hand.  “Yes, very much so.”

Molly leans over Kellie, “Whatchu got a limp for, girl?  You fall or sumthin?”

Kellie nods sticking out her lip pitifully, “Mhm, you ever try to come off the dick too fast, before you figure out your hip flexors ain’t quite relaxed yet?  Yeah, I pulled somethin girl, talk about cow tippin!!”  Kellie cackled, tongue all out.  M’Baku was very entertained by his woman’s antics, elbowing an annoyed Erik.

”Moooo, bitch, get out my hay!  Get out my hay bitch, get out my hay!”

Molly chuckled at her friend as the waiter came by for their orders.

“So Erik, what are your intentions for my friend here?  I see you have expensive taste, I don’t want her to feel too spoiled now.”  Kellie says smiling into her water cup.

Erik shakes his head, “Nah, I do this as a test.  You don’t rock with the House, you don’t rock with me.”

“Hell, do the House rock for us?  Wasn’t we supposed to be boycottin them or somethin?”  Kellie asked.

“Yeah, but I mean, the cheap prices are kinda like reparations, so we’ll let it rock for now.”  Erik adds.

Kellie and M’Baku’s food arrive.  M’Baku takes a sausage and holds it up.  Kellie freezes in place.

“Are you hungry?”  M’Baku asks in a deep tone.

“No...but I could eat.”  Kellie asks seductively.

“You know the rule: closed mouths don’t get fed.”  M’Baku licks his lips sinisterly.

Kellie scoffs, “Since when am I keeping my mouth closed.  Gimme that damn meat, Baku!”

M’Baku clicks his tongue, “Is that how we ask?”  

Kellie tucks her chin into her chest, “No...I’m bein bad.”

“And I know you are a good girl, aren’t you?”

Kellie nods.

Molly and Erik are looking at them with horrified expressions.  “Kellie, what the hell-”

“Open up for me.”  M’Baku demands, Kellie obliges.  “Wider.”  Kellie follows.  “You know this meat is plentiful, make room for it.”  Kellie stretches her mouth to its widest.

“Nigga!  Give her the damn food before I fuckin lose what I paid for all over this damn table!  Nasty asses.”  Erik exclaims.

M’Baku finally feeds Kellie who chews on it happily as they giggle in each other’s faces.  M’Baku inhales sharply all of a sudden,  “Yes, you are a good girl, always a people pleaser.”

“What can I say?  My man wants what he wants!”

M’Baku bites his lip gripping the table as he growls under his breath looking at Kellie as she licks her lips.  Erik shakes his head, giving Molly the signal as he lays cash out on the table.

“Ok y’all, we gotta go.  Let us through.”

“Oh, hell naw, Molly.”  M’Baku grunts.

“Come on, Bak!  We gotta go!”  Erik says pushing him.

“Don’t touch me right now, I’m close.”

“Dafuq you mean??”  Erik’s voice raises an octave.

Kellie taps Molly to say, “Girl, climb the booth.  This ain’t goin nowhere.”

Molly rolls her eyes as she gets up to straddle the back of the booth.  Erik follows behind.  

Molly looks back to say goodbye and finds the culprit of their problem:  Kellie was footing M’Baku’s crotch under the table.

“Woooow, my boy a real freak huh?”  Erik laughs out loud as they walk out.

“That’s your boy alright.”  Molly says shaking the image from her head.

Erik beeps his car to unlock, “Let’s get you home, ma.  I know you busy and shit.”

Molly sucks her teeth as she gets in, “I ain’t that busy.  It’s a weekend after all.”

Erik starts the car up, “Lawyers get days off?  You sure you ain’t slackin?”

“Boy!  Ain’t nuthin slack about me!  Whatchu talkin bout!  I’m tight son!”  Molly says with a B-boy pose.

Erik shakes his head laughing, “You brazy girl.”

Pulling up to Molly’s spot, Erik turns off the engine.  “Why you turning the car off?”

Erik has his car keys in hand, getting out, “I gotta walk you to your door.”

Molly looks after him suspiciously before getting out.

As they walk to her door, Molly says, “Ok, this is me right here.”

Erik puts his hands in his pockets biting his lip, “Ok, no doubt.”

Molly stands there looking around nervously.  “Isn’t this it?  You go back to your car.”

“Pssh, come on, I know you been eyein my mouth since you met me, so I’m just giving you the option.”  Erik says all cocky.

“Nigga, what have you done for me to warrant a kiss?”  Molly asks defiantly.

“We just got back from Waffle!  Plus I got you the fresh squeezed orange juice!”

“Please, buying me a drink ain’t appeasing, believe me!  And they lied to you, shit was Sunny D.”

Erik cursed under his breath, “Ok, well, what about, I had a damn good time with you and it would be dope of you felt the same way.”

Molly thought on it.  She did have a real good time today with him and the night was still young.

She sighed heavily getting her keys out, “You can come in, but for a quick minute!  Just to wind down, but you out after that!”

Erik smiled big, golds glimmering, “That’s all I need, ma.”

Part 4

RagTag

@hbicprettyprincess @kimianostalgia@afraiddreamingandloving @chaneajoyyy@myfavemarvelfanfics @nys30

Other Works

King Kil’mawalls  

T’akia

Some Weeks Are Better Than Others

Commencement Day

Song of Stevens

The Coffee Prince

N’Jadaka’s Helpful Hands

If I Could Do It All Again

#SundaySweat

[superfreakerz]

TDDUP5

"Til Death Do Us Part"

Rated M for smut and heavy themes.

Immortal/Reincarnation AU.

Summary: There are immortals and those who reincarnate, but it's best to keep these things hidden. Lucy is attending college and meets Natsu, a mischievous boy with pink hair, a devilish smile, and a body that never ages.

Read earlier chapters on FF.net

Chapter 5

Smoothies

Lucy groaned as sunlight peeked through her curtains directly onto her face. Begrudgingly, she checked her phone for the time and was upset to find that she had to wake up in less than five minutes. Figuring there was no point in trying to sleep again, she forced herself out of bed.

The corners of Lucy's lips curled downwards into a heavy frown as she found nearly thirty unread texts from Levy. It was now Monday morning. The weekend had passed since Levy's friends sent her out of Fairy Tail. She was a sobbing mess after that. She couldn't even bring herself to look at Levy's texts, scared that they were all going to be angry sentiments about bringing up Juvia's speech-related quirk.

It wasn't that Lucy meant to offend Juvia. She was just genuinely surprised to hear someone talk in third person.

"I never should've went. I just lost my only friend."

With sluggish movements, Lucy finished getting ready for school. Each step closer to school caused her stomach to churn with anxiety. Even though the girl could avoid Levy's texts, she couldn't avoid seeing her in class. She had no choice but to face what happened.

Lucy stopped just outside of the classroom, taking a deep breath. Facing Levy was hard, but she couldn't just ditch class for the rest of the quarter. Swallowing thickly, the girl forced herself to push forward, entering the room.

Immediately, Levy's head whipped towards Lucy. The two girls made eye contact, their eyes wide. Lucy, feeling as though she was going to break down at any moment, tore her gaze away and glumly walked to a desk in the back, away from Levy and Jellal. There was no way she could just sit by them now that they hated her. With tears pricking her eyes, she picked up her pen and began to write, hoping that it would drown out her sorrow.

Once class ended, Lucy moved as quickly as she could to pack her things. She felt Levy's stare on her all throughout class. Even now she could tell that she was being stared at.

Grabbing all of her belongings, Lucy rushed out of the door without sparing Levy a glance. She took the biggest strides she could, trying to put as much distance as possible between them. Part of her expected- maybe even hoped- that Levy would call out to her or come rushing after her, but she didn't. If that wasn't a clear message, Lucy didn't know what was.

Now, she had to do it all over again in her math class. Wiping away the stray tear that managed to slip down her cheek during her walk, Lucy took a deep breath before entering the classroom. As usual, Natsu and Gray weren't there yet, and probably wouldn't be until right before class started.

Lucy glanced around the room, finding a table that only had one seat available. With a breath of relief, the girl sat there instead. Unfortunately, it was towards the front of the class, so she wouldn't be able to write without Aquarius catching her. But Lucy didn't care so long as she didn't have to sit by Natsu and Gray. That would've just been embarrassing.

Right before the bell rang, Natsu and Gray came stumbling in as usual. Lucy kept her gaze glued to her desk, not wanting to see them or be seen. Luckily, they went to the back of the room, allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief.

"This is going to be one stressful quarter."

Natsu frowned, his onyx eyes boring into a head of gold sitting at the front of the class. Lucy was leaning her head on the palm of her hand, for once listening to Aquarius' lecture.

"Now I can't read her story," he thought, his frown deepening. It wasn't just that, though. He didn't like that the girl was sad, and he especially didn't like that it was because of his friends.

Last night was a total disaster. With Erza's interrogation, Juvia's snide remarks, and Gajeel's full-on yelling session, it was no wonder that Lucy ran out. Natsu felt bad for her. She didn't do anything wrong and she seemed like a nice person, she didn't deserve to be treated that way.

Natsu wished he had said something that night, but it was hard doing so when he knew why they were all so cautious to begin with. He felt that he couldn't say anything without trampling over their feelings by trudging up horrible memories. So, he silently watched as the girl ran out of Fairy Tail, clearly holding back tears.

Natsu also felt bad for Levy. This morning, she left for school without waiting for any of them. She hadn't spoken a single word to them either. None of them had ever witnessed her so angry before, they didn't know that she had a wrath that could burn all that came in contact with her.

Natsu couldn't imagine what is was like to lose a friend because of another. He knew he wouldn't have liked it, though. Glumly, he continued to stare at the back of Lucy's head, all the while wanting to cheer her up.

He didn't know what was motivating him to do so, but he had to try to fix things.

Once class ended, Lucy tiredly packed her things. Keeping her eyes awake during lecture was nearly impossible. All of the formulas and theories, it was all too much after a night of limited sleep.

Heading out the door, Lucy walked out of the building and onto campus. The University of Magnolia was a beautiful school paved with red bricks and surrounded by trees. There were also strange, geometric sculptures that, while Lucy couldn't understand their meanings, were pleasing to look at. Her favorite part of all, however, was the giant fountain that sat in the middle of campus.

Mid-step, Lucy suddenly felt a warm hand wrap around her wrist, gently pulling her to a stop. Turning her head, she was shocked to find Natsu was the one who stopped her. The corners of his lips were slightly tugged downwards into a frown and he struggled maintaining eye contact. He was nervous.

"Uhh, can we talk?" he asked.

Lucy looked away with a frown. "I don't know… I'm a little busy…"

"I'll buy you a smoothie if you want! One from that place you and Levy are always going to!"

Lucy studied the boy. He didn't seem to have any malicious intent. Not to mention that he wasn't one of the ones that were mean to her last night. Hesitantly, she slowly nodded.

"A-Alright. I can go for a smoothie."

The walk to the smoothie shop was uncomfortable. Neither of them said a single word or made any eye contact, walking too far apart to be considered friends. Hell, they were too far apart to even be considered acquaintances.

Once they reached the shop, Lucy ordered a strawberry-banana smoothie while Natsu ordered a green apple one. Lucy led the way to the table she always sat at with Levy. The fact that she believed she would never have another "smoothie-sesh" broke her heart.

"So… What exactly did you want to talk about?" Lucy meekly questioned, absentmindedly twirling a lock of hair around her finger.

Natsu frowned and looked away. "I wanted to talk about what happened last night."

"I said I was sorry, I-"

"I know. I actually wanted to apologize too. I'm sorry for not sticking up for you even though you didn't do anything. Erza and the others are just stubborn when it comes to… new people."

Lucy's eyes widened and her mouth parted. She wasn't expecting an apology. "O-Oh. Well, you don't have to apologize. You weren't the one that said anything mean."

"No, but I should've said something to them, especially that jerk Gajeel," Natsu said, scratching the back of his head. "I wanna make things right with you and Levy!"

"It's too late for that," Lucy mumbled. "She hates me now."

"You're way off on that!" Natsu said, giving her a wide grin. "You shoulda seen the way Levy yelled at everyone when you left! She's pretty pissed with everyone because she really wanted to introduce you to everyone and they blew it."

"Really?"

"'Course! Now c'mon! Text Levy and tell her to come here!"

"I-I can't do that!" Lucy cried. "I'm scared…"

"Scared?" Natsu repeated. "Of what? I already told you she ain't mad. What's there to be scared of?"

"I don't know… I guess I just don't want to cause more problems between Levy-chan and the others. She told me that you guys are like family to her. I don't want to do anything to mess that up…"

Natsu studied the girl. She was genuinely concerned about Levy's relationship with them even though they treated her terribly. Just how nice was this girl? Weren't mortals supposed to be evil forces not to be reckoned with? Did she really mean what she said?

Natsu was a good judge of character. He knew that Lucy was a nice person, but was she really that nice? To be able to care for someone that wronged her?

There were no signs of dishonesty in her features. Natsu grinned.

"She's really nice. Levy sure is good at finding good friends!"

"Here, I'll stay with you the whole time," Natsu assured with a grin. "And trust me, nothing will separate Levy and the others. We are a family, just like Levy said."

Lucy couldn't help but blush from the sincerity in his voice and the way his eyes locked onto hers. "O-Okay." Grabbing her phone, the girl nervously typed up a quick text, asking for Levy to meet her in their signature spot.

In the meantime, Natsu did his best to comfort Lucy. He could tell that she was still anxious about seeing Levy, so he made it his goal to make her laugh.

"So, I saw that you couldn't work on your story during math today," Natsu said with a crooked smirk.

Lucy flushed. "I still can't believe you've been reading my story this whole time. But yeah, I didn't want Aquarius to catch me. She scares me."

"She scares me too. Just like Erza."

Lucy giggled. "You said something like that last night too."

"Because Erza is that scary," Natsu said, his skin paling. "Anyways, you gotta sit by me again on Wednesday. I gotta keep reading to find out what happens next! I'm hooked!"

Lucy's cheeks turned red. He wanted her to sit by him again? Could it be that she was making a new friend? Rolling her eyes, she replied, "Well now that I know you're invading my privacy, I won't be writing anymore in that class!"

"What!? But you have to! I need to know if Haru comes back for Elie!"

"Well you're never going to find out!"

"Oh yeah? I'll wait until the story is published if I have to!"

Lucy blushed again. She really had to learn how to keep her feelings in check around Natsu. Something about him was dangerous. She couldn't contain herself.

"You… You think that my story is good enough to be published?" she asked, her lips ghosting a smile.

Natsu gave her a face-splitting grin. "Well yeah! It's the only story that managed to keep me interested enough to want to read more!"

Tears pricked Lucy's eyes. It was one of the best compliments she had ever received, one that had an effect on her that Natsu would never know.

"Does this mean that if I didn't have to deal with reincarnation, my stories would be good enough to be published?" she wondered, her feelings overwhelming. For lifetimes, she had always hidden behind her reincarnation as an excuse. Deep down, she believed that even if she wasn't reincarnated, her stories would never be good enough to make it out in the real world.

And yet, a boy that she barely knew was slowly giving her the confidence she had been missing for lifetimes.

"Can we… Can we be friends?" Lucy asked, her face set ablaze and her voice meek. It was her first time since her first life that she had asked someone to be her friend. What happened with Levy happened out of nowhere, and she thought it was just a fluke. She thought that making friends was too messy with her reincarnation, and that it was a betrayal to all of the dear friends she made in her first life.

But she didn't care about that when it came to Natsu.

Natsu's mouth parted as he stared at Lucy. It was clear that she was embarrassed, not used to this sort of thing. She probably didn't have that many friends to begin with. He couldn't see why, though. She was a really nice girl, and also pretty funny.

She was also really weird. But in a good way.

Natsu grinned. "Duh! I'm all fired up!"

Lucy gave him a dazzling smile, one that made his heart beat a little faster. Natsu ducked his face into his scarf to hide his blush, hoping that she couldn't see it. Luckily, Lucy seemed to be focused on something else, her gaze locked on the entrance where Levy was entering.

Levy was shocked to find Natsu sitting with Lucy. Dismissing it, she grabbed a chair from another table and dragged it towards theirs since Natsu was sitting in her signature seat. With a frown, she faced her dear friend.

"Lu-chan! I'm sorry about what everyone did last night!" Levy apologized, tears immediately welling in her eyes. "I want you to know I don't agree with anything they said! Especially Gajeel! I don't know what's wrong with him!"

"I know you don't agree with them," Lucy assured. Tears were brimming her eyes as well, happy that things were alright between them. "Well, I do now, at least. Natsu told me."

"Natsu?" Levy repeated, turning towards the said boy.

"Yeah. He asked me to get a smoothie with him so that we could talk about what happened. He told me about how you stood up for me. And I'm sorry too, Levy-chan."

"For what? You didn't do anything wrong!"

"I did! I shouldn't have avoided you in class today! I'm sure that hurt your feelings…"

Levy tackled Lucy in a tight hug, causing her chair to fall back and the two of them landing on the floor with a loud thud. They didn't seem to mind, though. Instead, they both smiled, glad that everything was back to normal.

Natsu chuckled at the sight of the two of them hugging things out on the floor. They didn't seem to notice, or perhaps care, that everyone else in the store was giving them funny looks. All that mattered was their friendship.

"So what are you going to do about the others?" Lucy asked, sitting back in her seat.

Levy huffed. "I'm not sure yet. I'm not on speaking terms with any of them at the moment."

"I don't want to ruin your bond with them, Levy-chan."

The petite girl sighed. "Don't worry, you won't. We all have fights sometimes, but we make up eventually."

"That's good," Lucy said with a smile. "Life is too short to be fighting with your friends forever!"

Natsu and Levy awkwardly chuckled, rubbing the back of their heads and replying in unison, "Y-Yeah, life is too short!" Levy continued with, "And we've only got one life!"

This time, Lucy awkwardly chuckled. "Y-Yeah! Just the one life!"

As the sun was beginning to set, the trio threw away their trash before heading outside of the shop.

"I should get going now," Lucy said, smiling at her friends.

"Us too," Levy replied.

"Do you two live near each other or something?"

Natsu and Levy shared a quick glance. In truth, they lived in Fairy Tail's basement, along with the rest of the immortals. But they couldn't tell that to Lucy, of course.

"Yeah, we're in the same direction," Natsu lied. He didn't like lying, especially to his new friend, but it had to be done.

"That's cool," Lucy replied. "Well then, I'll see you guys on Wednesday! Bye!"

"Later!"

With that, Levy and Natsu began their walk back to Fairy Tail.

"So, what made you want to talk to Lu-chan?" Levy asked, breaking the silence.

Natsu crossed his arms behind his head and shrugged. "I don't know. She seemed nice and she didn't deserve what happened. And I wanted to apologize too."

"For what? Unlike that idiot, Gajeel, you didn't say anything stupid."

"No, but I didn't stand up for her either."

Levy smiled at him. "Thanks for making this happen, Natsu. I'm not sure if Lu-chan would've talked to me again if it wasn't for you. Even if she wasn't upset with me, she's very stubborn when it comes to opening up and making friends. I'm sure she considered leaving me be and continuing about with her life."

"Really?" Natsu asked, arching a brow. It was kind of hard to believe after Lucy had asked him to be her friend after their second time hanging out together.

"Mhmm. Truthfully, I don't know that much about her. I probably know just as much as you do, and you've only really talked to her today."

"Do you think she's hiding something like the others do?" Natsu asked, frowning.

Levy cupped her chin. "I wouldn't say that she's hiding something. More like she doesn't want to bring it up." After being an immortal and living life for so long, it became easier to pick up on other people's feelings. "Whatever it is, I'm not worried about it. I'm sure she'll tell us soon enough."

Natsu nodded, though really he didn't know. He didn't know Lucy well, he didn't have a clue as to when she would open to him.

"Anyways," he began, "when are you goin' to talk to Gajeel?"

Levy's face scrunched up in irritation as she haughtily replied, "Whenever he stops being a stubborn jerk."

"You know he's just trying to look out for everyone in his own, stupid way, right?"

"I know, but he doesn't have to be so stubborn about it!"

Natsu chuckled. Levy only got annoyed when she was talking about Gajeel. Their relationship was amusing, amusing enough for him to briefly wonder what kind of relationship he would have with a girl.

"I would say don't be too harsh on him, but I'd rather you give that bastard hell," Natsu said, his lips forming a smirk.

"Trust me, I will," Levy assured.

Reaching Fairy Tail, they saw their usual friend group sitting at their table in the back, staring them down.

"Where were you guys?" Gajeel asked.

Levy gave him and the rest the cold shoulder, deciding to go down to the basement. Natsu stayed with them.

"We were hangin' out with Lucy," he answered nonchalantly. He could see everyone whipping their heads towards him.

"Why were you hanging out with her?" Erza questioned. She gave him a hard stare.

Natsu only shrugged. "Because she's interesting. And I had to make sure you guys didn't ruin Levy's friendship with her."

"That was the point!" Gajeel shouted.

"Maybe for you, but not for me. I don't mind bein' around mortals or anything. And if Levy trusts her, then so do I. You guys really gotta have more faith in her. She's the smartest one here, you really think she wouldn't be able to tell if someone was a threat to her?"

"She's too trusting!"

"Nah. You guys are just too stubborn."

"I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I actually agree with Ash for Brains for once," Gray chimed in. "You guys literally chased Levy's friend out of here in tears."

"Because she deserved it!" Juvia argued. "She's a Love Rival!"

Gray rolled his eyes. "You gotta stop being so jealous. How many times do I have to tell you, there are no love rivals. I'm not saying you have to be friends with her, but just stop acting so harshly. I mean it, Juvia."

The girl crossed her arms with a huff. "Fine. Juvia will stop being mean to Love Riv- Lucy. But Juvia will not be friends with her!"

"You guys are idiots!" Gajeel yelled. "Are we really going to risk Levy's safety over some naïve friendship? Mortals are the enemy!"

"Perhaps it's time for us to rethink that notion," Jellal countered. "Makarov is a mortal, but we trust him inexplicably, correct?"

"Well, that's different!"

"Who's to say that Lucy isn't a trustworthy mortal as well? Makarov isn't the only mortal we've known that is trustworthy. Fairy Tail itself was built with Mavis and her mortal friends who wanted to protect her and others like her. There are plenty of good mortals, some of us have just been too blind to see it."

Erza tensed, knowing that he was also referring to her. "Do you trust her, Jellal?" She trusted his senses more than anyone else's. If he trusted the mortal, she would try to do the same.

"I do," the boy answered with a nod.

The redhead sighed. "Alright. Then I suppose we shall make amends tomorrow." It wasn't going to be easy to change her ideals, but she would try her best. She would still keep a close eye on Lucy, but she would tone it down.

There was a loud slam as Gajeel shot out of his seat, sending it crashing backwards on the hardwood floor. His face was etched with fury. "Screw that. You guys are blind idiots. You'll see. That mortal is hiding something."

Natsu glared at Gajeel. "Grow up already, Lug Nuts. Everyone but you already agreed to lighten up."

"And you guys will regret it. You shouldn't trust a mortal. I'm going to uncover the truth about that girl and show you guys that I'm right. I ain't apologizin' for shit."

With that, Gajeel stalked away from the group, down to the basement. Natsu had hoped he could make everyone onboard with being friends with Lucy, but this was a pretty good start.

Lucy smiled, staring up at her ceiling and holding her phone to her ear. Once Levy got home, they agreed to talk on the phone. It was their first time having a real conversation on the phone, and so far it was proving to be fun.

"So, are you going to tell me about your story since you're letting Natsu read it?" Levy asked. Lucy could practically see her wiggling her brows.

"I'm not letting him read it. He just started reading it on his own apparently," Lucy corrected.

"You could at least give me a sneak peek! Since I'm not going to be your first reader and all anymore."

"Ugh, fine. Well, the story is about a couple of wizards who join a wizarding guild and go on fun adventures together."

"Okay, now you have to let me read it! You know I love adventure stories!"

Lucy laughed. "You're going to have to wait! Same with Natsu!"

"At least it's even," Levy replied. "Speaking of Natsu, I'm glad that he fixed things between us."

"Me too. That was really nice of him."

"One could even call it cute."

Lucy rolled her eyes and groaned, her cheeks turning red. "Quit trying to set me up, Levy-chan!"

The said girl snickered. "Sorry, sorry! I can't help it! I've just been dying to go no a double date with you!"

"Well too bad! I am not dating!"

"Hey, Lu-chan, you don't have to tell me or anything, but is there a reason you're so against dating? I can understand if it's to focus on school or something, but you're really smart and you said you always get good grades, I think you can relax a bit."

A frown graced Lucy's face. "It's not that…"

"Did you have a horrible past relationship?"

Lucy thought about it. She wouldn't say that her past relationship was bad. She couldn't see it going very far as she believed they were better off as friends, but it was fun while it lasted before she died.

"I wouldn't say that," Lucy answered. "I just… I don't know how I'm supposed to act. I don't have much experience, so I guess it scares me."

It wasn't the full truth, but the answer was good enough. At least she didn't lie.

"I can understand that," Levy replied. "Thanks for telling me."

Lucy's cheeks turned red. "I may not date, but I do think some boys are cute. Remember when you asked me if there were cute boys in my math class?"

"Oh yeah! You said there were a few, if I remember correctly."

"I did. Well, the ones I was talking about were actually Natsu and Gray. This was before I even knew that they were your friends. How crazy is that?"

"Oh, so that's your type, huh?" Levy asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You like the lean, tone guys."

Lucy thought back to her first boyfriend. He did fit the description. "Huh. I guess that is my type. I never noticed. And your type is tall, bulky, punkish looking guys."

Levy laughed. "Yep! Anyways, who do you think is cuter?"

"Levy-chan! That's a weird question!"

"No it isn't! Everyone has their own tastes! I would say Gajeel is the cutest, Juvia would say Gray is the cutest, and I'm assuming you would say Natsu is the cutest?"

"H-How did you know!?"

Levy laughed again. "I could just tell. When I saw you two together, you looked like you were having a good time, so I kinda thought you might've been into him."

"Well I'm not into him! I just think he's cute! And nice! And funny."

"You sure you're not into him?"

Lucy blushed from head to toe. "I don't even know him, Levy-chan!"

"So?" the other girl replied. "Attraction happens fast, and some researchers say that you can tell from your first meeting if someone suits you or not."

"Don't bring science into this! A-Anyways, I have to head to bed now. I have class tomorrow."

"Aww. Okay then. Goodnight, Lu-chan!"

"Night, Levy-chan!"

Right before Lucy end the call, Levy said, "Have a sweet dream about you and Natsu! Bye!" And then she hung up.

Lucy groaned, covering her face with a pillow. It was embarrassing talking about that sort of thing, but it was also really fun at the same time. She knew she didn't like Natsu or anything, but it was fun to talk about.

She wasn't looking for anything romantic. She had just decided to expand her friend circle, after all. But maybe one day, she would let herself try again at relationships. And to her expense, a certain pink-haired boy popped into her head.

"Levy-chan is making me think all sorts of weird things."

Sneak peek of chapter six for the reviews I got:

Lucy flinched from his harsh words but turned away from him and smiled at the rest of the group. The only way to beat a bully was to completely ignore them, taking away their power. In the corner of her eye, she could see Gajeel huff, probably because she was still smiling instead of running out in tears like she did last time.

[incarnateirony]

One more P5 post

I wanna know how much time the creators spent arguing with people on twitter, considering the comments on the Phan-Site polls. Will put behind a cut.

I mean, they hit all sides from auto-believers, internet trolls, people who are like ITS STILL ILLEGAL!!! and THIS IS THE POLICE JOB pics or it didn't happen, whatever. But my favorites are "IF UR SO JUST, SHOW UR FACE", "I bet they're crying LOL", "Shibuya's fucked", "Hang in there you guys ;w;", "WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE", "world-famous fail looool", "kill this stupid website" or whatever else. Or the timeless “so wait, who do we hate?”

QUESTION: Do you believe in the Phantom Thieves? This poll is adopted on 4/15.

0-10%

"'of hearts?' What tryhards"

"I've been waiting for this!" 

"Isn't it just a prank?"

"Never even heard of them"

"Who made this site? Ridic"

"even kids aren't that dumb"

"gtfo with that shit LOL"

"is this a cult?"

"my friend says they're real!"

"sauce plz"

"viral marketing...?"

10-20%

"It's just a coincidence..."

"Petty criminals? Pointless"

"This is getting good!"

"Too elaborate for a prank"

"Vigilante justice is wrong."

"What about the pupils?"

"What's gonna happen now?"

"What's he gonna be hit w/?"

"i just can't"

"pics or it didn't happen"

"ppl really believe this? lmao"

"ppl who buy this... -_-"

"they can't catch EVERYONE"

"they're just making threats"

"thieves are the bad ones"

"was it rly a phantom thief?"

"what a joke"

QUESTION: Are the Phantom Thieves just? This poll is adopted on 6/11.

10-20%

"Akechi-kun is right!"

"Isn't it a crime?"

"It's called the law..."

"NO! justice ain't that simple"

"NO. They piss me off."

"Steal dem corrupt hearts!"

"They seem full of it, so NO"

"They're still thieves..."

"They've always been fishy..."

"This is the police's job."

"better be arrested soon"

"don't even bother with this"

"get off your high horse"

"hmm seems interesting"

"i hate Akechi, so YES???"

"if ur so just, show ur face"

"they're allies of justice."

"they're up to something"

"this has to be fake, lol"

"this is so immature."

20-30%

"Isn't it a crime?"

"Probably at least somewhat"

"They seem full of it, so NO"

"They're cool, so HECKYEAH!"

"They're still thieves..."

"get off your high horse"

"i dont buy into that stuff."

"of course not. done"

"that "justice" stuff is ehh"

"this is so immature."

30-40%

"both are crossing the line"

"fukkin hypocrites"

"get rekt, scumbags lmao"

"Hang in there you guys! ;w;"

"I bet they're crying LOL"

"Neither are just"

"Shibuya's fucked"

"they're both shit."

"What cheapass justice, lol"

60-70%

"AGAIN, YAAAAAAS!"

"Such annoying marketing"

"Their word is final."

"better than the cops"

"i bet it's worldwide news"

"justice was w/ the thieves."

"what a time to be alive"

80-90%

"Calling card! YAAAAAAS!"

"Exterminate his family too!"

"Here comes the apology rofl"

"I've been waiting for this"

"Leave everything to them~"

"Make him beg!"

"No apology yet? :["

"Ooh, a calling card! kekeke"

"SO MANY COMMENTS OMG"

"Take him out. It's an order"

"The world needs to see this!"

"They better not screw it up"

"Yeah, get that greedy CEO!"

"an apology isn't enough."

"become prime minister plz!!"

"dat okumura stock drop lol"

"destroy all evil!"

"let's hear from the workers!"

"no more big bang burg, lmao"

"stop fucking around"

"we're with you, p.thieves!"

"❤❤❤ Phantom Thieves ❤❤❤"

On 10/12, the support rate drops from the 90s to the 70s due to the death of Kunikazu Okumura.

70-80%

"Is he really dead...?"

"Now, who's next? ;)"

"Well that was disturbing..."

"die capitalist pigs!!!"

"whoa wtf"

On 10/13, the support rate drops a bit again to the 60s.

60-70%

"Awww, what a waste"

"Evil has perished."

"Gotta break a few eggs"

"So, whodunnit?"

"Were we deceived?"

"do we know how they do it?"

"eh, good riddance"

"killing ppl's a no-no"

"omg, the comments hahaha"

"omg, they went overboard lol"

"they got carried away..."

"what about his daughter?"

Over the next week, the support rates drops to the 50s, 30s, and then 20s.

""justice" sounds hollow now"

"—DELETED BY ADMIN—"

"Are the calling cards fake?"

"Blame the politicians too."

"Bloodthirsty killers!!!"

"Enough is enough!!!"

"Even Akechi's lost it"

"False charges happen, but..."

"Hurry and arrest them"

"Hurry up and execute them!"

"I dare to support them."

"I kiiinda sympathize..."

"I reported this website."

"I told you so..."

"I'm scared to go outside..."

"Is the admin an accomplice?"

"No hate-slinging, please!" (a message from the admin, Mishima)

"Officer, look!"

"Oh how far they've fallen"

"Pls don't kill me ;_;"

"Police were negligent too."

"Shut this site down!!!"

"That was traumatizing..."

"They must be punished."

"They need to be executed"

"They were screwing with us."

"They're assassins."

"Ugh. We were fooled."

"We can't leave them be"

"What about the politicians?"

"awful, they betrayed us"

"bring on the breakdowns~!"

"cant say w/o evidence"

"cmon, just kill everyone!"

"didnt expect much anyway"

"got anything better to do?"

"he had it coming, amirite?"

"id bet money on the rest"

"its just coincidence, yep"

"just turn yourselves in pls"

"lel, regret backin em yet?"

"lol dont be fooled so easy"

"lol, ppl still like them?"

"low expectations, ho!"

"media's garbage as expected"

"overhyped imo"

"p quick to switch sides lol"

"support went to shit lmao"

"tbh i just wanna troll, lol"

"their fans are guilty too"

"they even steal LIVES???"

"they're just suspects..."

"throw em in the slammer!"

"trash talking feels risky..."

"typical bandwagon, gg"

"uhh, yea they're evil"

"waste of tax money imo"

"wat do they want, anyway?"

"world-famous fail loool"

QUESTION: Are the Phantom Thieves innocent? This poll is adopted on 10/29.

Around 20%

"—DELETED BY ADMIN—"

"30 million yen OMG XD"

"Akechi-kun, save us!"

"Enough is enough!!!"

"False charges happen, but..."

"Is the admin an accomplice?"

"Oh how far they've fallen"

"Record-breaking evil"

"They gotta be arrested now"

"can't know w/o a trial"

"id bet money on the arrest"

"if ur innocent, show yourself"

"lol this place went to shit"

"ppl still stand by them?"

"that freaked me out omg"

"they're def guilty"

"they're freaking out hahaha"

"they're running loose rn..."

"this site pisses me off"

"waste of tax money imo"

"what if they are LOL"

"who cares either way?"

After the protagonist fakes his death, and approval drops to 0.3%.

"Akechi got the last laugh!"

"AKECHI IS BAE!!!"

"A worthy end for a villain"

"c'mon, leak his name!"

"Evil is destined to perish."

"he went down easy"

"hope things are safer now"

"Justice with Akechi!"

"Just like Akechi-kun said!"

"kid had it coming, lol"

"So did he do it or not!?"

"so he HAS to be guilty"

"The truth's lost to the void"

"We'll finally have peace"

"we do need a new authority..."

QUESTION: Do you support the Phantom Thieves? This poll is adopted on 12/7.

Around 0.8%

"a lil too late tho"

"dat comeback looool"

"I'd never support them"

"I'm getting confused..."

"I can't believe anybody..."

"i don't really care"

"Is Shido gonna apologize?"

"It's happening again..."

"just typical slander imo"

"lol no way i'd support them"

"may just be election shit"

"moar like phantom GRIEF"

"Must be tough for Shido-san"

"My scandal sense's tingling!"

"no one wants you thieves"

"phantom thieves WIN PLX!!!"

"political attack, REALLY???"

"ppl still defend them? lmao"

"Shido, just take the win"

"Shouldn't Shido explain?"

"Show yourself, Akechi!"

"smear campaigns are gross"

"So he didn't die..."

"srsly, a tv hijack?"

"Stay strong, Shido-san!"

"stop makin such a big deal"

"talk about election drama"

"they're still criminals"

"they can't take a hint"

"this country is effed up"

"this is a murder warning..."

"This isn't debunked yet?"

"this site's still up? :o"

"TV hijacking is terrorism!"

"was it the others? :o"

"was that statement a lie?"

"what about the election?"

"what a comeback..."

"Why isn't this on the news?"

"wow, ppl are desperate..."

QUESTION: Do the Phantom Thieves really exist? This poll is adopted on 12/19.

Around 19%

"And then, there were none"

"can't someone just fix it?"

"cmon thieves, say something"

"Enjoy prison, Mr. Shido~"

"even shido... FAIL"

"everyone, just disappear"

"Everyone was shameless"

"—GAME OVER—"

"go ahead & celebrate, idiots"

"I feel like an empty husk"

"im just like... so what"

"In the end, who's to blame?"

"i shoulda known better..."

"ive lost my will to live..."

"just destroy this country"

"kill this stupid website"

"my support was a waste"

"Next person please!"

"nobody asked for this"

"no thanks to those thieves"

"nothing changed. boringggg"

"Someone do something!"

"soooo is shido alive?"

"so wait, who do we hate?"

"so what WERE they??"

"The election was a farce."

"the future's screwed LOL"

"they're harshin my mellow"

"They better settle things"

"thinking hurts my brain"

"this country's done for"

"This is a stain on history"

"this is fucked up..."

"this is going nowhere"

"useless scum"

"we need answers"

"What's with this question?"

"who cares abt the election?"

"why'd we even bother"

"why this. even now???"

Then the dramatic final cut where everybody believes in them and it’s like # OF FANS ---> FAN POWER LEVELS ---> FIGHT Q( ‘-’Q )