#is ninety percent of it just... family bonding chaos? also yes

[flowerflamestars]

Robin fic snippet

It went so much worse than Dick anticipated.

He was late, for one thing, arrived still pulling on his jacket to find Damien already looking down on Eleanor. Literally, down- at sixteen Dami was already making it clear he was going to grow into a Bruce-level height, awkward stretched limbs and just beginning to emerge cheekbones that made him look like a paused time-lapse.   “You.”

“Me,” Eleanor had answered, hands shoved deep into yet another perfect coat, combat boots teetering platforms just high enough to raise her to level with Dami’s chin.

Damien, after a long pause, nodded.  Held out his arm in the perfect, immaculate, out of time courtesy he’d been capable since he was a small child and largely refused to bother utilizing.   She took his elbow.   Neither of them had any use for Dick, for the rest of night.   “She threatened his math teacher,” Dick recounted, hysteric, face smashed to Llewellyn’s hip the next morning.   Cool fingers carded into his hair, furthering the slow melt of Dick’s body boneless. “The homophobic math teacher?”   “I left them alone for ten minutes,” Dick tried to explain, “And Dami picked out a roster of combat instructors for her. B is still trying to figure out why he bought roundtrip tickets to Paris for fall break.”   Llewellyn hummed, low in his throat. Leaned down and carefully slotted his mouth to line of Dick’s shoulder, kissing softly scarred skin. “Who’s in Paris?”   “An assassin,” Dick muttered, “Who killed our sister, once.”   The Lady Shiva, Dami had dropped, out of goddamn nowhere.

[magpiemorality]

Are We Into It?! pt.9

The soothing balm of a tentative friendship

Warnings: knife mention

First | Previous

***

When Logan opened the door later that night to lead the subdued but mostly at peace foursome back to their own hotel room the door didn't open onto the hallway he expected. With a curious glance behind and an answering flush from Roman Logan pushed the door open to reveal the other hotel room was apparently attached. Through some clever (and honestly shaky physics-wise) warping of reality around them Roman had managed to move Deceit and Remus's room so it was now one of three doors coming off the central living space instead of two. The way both of their faces lit up- Remus with a wild grin and Deceit with a little, innocent widening of his eyes- made it all worth it.

They all wandered through, Deceit carrying a tired Virgil on his back and Remus bouncing around with unfailing energy, but quietly, at least. Patton yawned and bid them all a goodnight, following Logan into their shared room. There was a slight pause as the remaining sides worked out what to do next. Roman glanced warily at Virgil, who was clinging rather childishly onto Deceit and avoiding his gaze. But Remus was also avoiding someone's eyes, and Deceit knew that while it was tempting to let the twins share and keep this sweetly needy Virgil with him; he needed to mend things with Remus and Roman and Virgil needed to do the same.

"Off you get, go on," he urged, carefully straightening up until Virgil had to set his legs down or topple them both. He chose the former, sighing and shoving his hands in his pockets. "We'll see you in the morning."

"Alright, let's go then." It wasn't the enthusiasm Roman had clearly been hoping for but he smiled at the other two and trailed after Virgil, closing their door quietly behind himself with one last wave and nervous grin.

"Do you think he's going to get eviscerated? Ooh maybe beheaded! I was thinking about that earlier how you could be the Cheshire cat or-" Remus stopped, quelled by the hand Deceit raised. "Um."

But Deceit shook his head. "Not here. Let's go back and get some rest, okay Re? I think we both need it. And we can maybe snuggle and have a midnight chat, like when we were kids. The darkness is-"

"Safe. Yeah." Remus managed a smile, and the final door clicked closed for the night and the place fell quiet.

Three different conversations took place behind those doors, the contents of which no one discussed in the morning, but when they met in the middle for their first ever shared breakfast there was a collective noticing of lighter footsteps and easier behaviour around each other.

Virgil even nudged and snorted at Roman when he made a terrible joke over his cereal, and Deceit's eyes shone warmly when he wrinkled his nose and told Remus off for eating so fast he was spraying crumbs everywhere and no he could absolutely not add extra jam so it looked like he had blood dripping down his face; they were on holiday and he would behave. Mostly.

The twins shared a laugh at that and Patton almost combusted with joy, shaking his fists by his chest to get some of the ferocious glee out physically. He tempered the emotion down to a warm contentment when he caught Deceit's glance, reaching over to squeeze his gloved hand with apology and understanding.

"So. We're here for the rest of the weekend. Which is… Today and tomorrow. Not long; but I have created an itemised itinerary for us to choose options from. We are, of course, somewhat limited by our proximity to Thomas, but Roman has of course- oh..." Logan frowned at his notes and then looked up at the twins sat side by side at the table. "Remus, I suppose you'd be able to help as well if you so wish. Please discuss with Roman when we have reached a consensus on our activity of choice. In any case; Creativity of one, either or both sorts will be able to allow us access to whatever we would like to visit, even if we aren't always nearby. Although the real thing is, naturally, preferable."

His speech finished, Logan handed out neat, thin booklets with lists of what to do and when to do it. Deceit and Virgil shared small smiles as the group (family? were they a family now?) pored over the options.

There was a clear winner once Logan opened the floor to debate, and despite Virgil's misgivings at the dangers they all collectively (amazing, really all things considered) agreed on the Rockefeller Ice Rink. Ice skating was what Roman had first dreamed of as the focal point for this trip after all, and he had been right in his original statement that it was one thing they all unanimously liked. Yes, even Virgil with his usual uncertainties about slippery ice, sharp skate blades and too many children.

It just so happened (there may have been sidely hijinks involved but no one would fess up) that Thomas had also decided to go visit the centre on that bright December morning so there would be no need for either twin to get too creative. And a good thing too, with the way they'd very seriously been discussing similarities between ice skates and knife edges, and had then run off on a tangent about that one video of a ballet dancer dancing on knife-pointe (Patton had enjoyed the pun, if not the actual concept).

The air was cold and crisp and they layered up despite not really needing to, because by now ninety percent of their habitual behaviour was set dressing and the suspension of disbelief. Even Logan put on some sensible gloves and a scarf, although he steadfastly refused the knit hat Patton repeatedly tried to sneak onto his head. It had a large pom-pom on top and he genuinely pouted at the idea (but Deceit smirked at the denial oozing from him). Patton tried similar with all of the sides in fact, parent instincts running on overdrive. Virgil had a nice scarf and mittens; Roman and Remus received matching sweaters and hats and Deceit-

"Would you like a hat too?" Patton offered shyly, coming to a halt in front of the final member of the group. His hands were conspicuously held behind his back, and when Deceit's unimpressed facade broke and he allowed a small grin along with his nod, Patton brought out the grey and yellow beanie he'd been hiding at the ready. It was warm, with flaps that dangled down to cover his ears, and a little pom-pom of its own that bobbed around on top. It was perfect. "Do you like it?!"

"Like it..." Deceit pursed his lips. He let the silence hang until Patton started to look worried, and Virgil nudged him with a roll of his eyes. "Of course I do, Patton. Thank you very much."

Patton squealed and very gently hugged him, bouncing off in raptures to join the twins, who were equally high-energy as they waited impatiently to leave.

Ice skating was perhaps the exact sort of unbridled fun and chaos and bonding they'd all sorely needed. There was no room for hesitation or wariness when you were sliding along between throngs of equally as uncoordinated people, desperately clinging to the first person you saw when you started to fall. Remus and Roman were annoyingly good at it, picking the hockey boot option and figuring out how to chase each other round with wild shouts, while the other four followed with a little more decorum. Patton slipped everywhere but kept going with a smile, chatting away to a serenely gliding Logan, occasionally hanging onto his arm for help, and Deceit trailed after them.

He wasn't confident on the skates, but he tried to copy the movements and held only lightly onto the side as much as he could, until Virgil skated smoothly up beside him and swivelled to skate backwards. "What on earth-" Deceit muttered, jaw dropping at the display. Virgil flushed.

"Yeah well, I figured it was only gonna be safer if I actually knew what I was doing, so I maybe took advantage of the imagination a time or twelve after last Christmas. That was a disaster..." He held out his hands, the edges of a hopeful grin playing around his lips. "Can I help?"

"I'm not so sure I'm not going to just bring us both down, you know," Deceit warned him, but he took tight hold of the hands anyway.

It didn't take them long to get into a good rhythm, catching up with Logan and Patton and skating alongside them. Thomas was somewhere among the rest and they passed him occasionally, watching with four identical, fond smiles as he laughed with his friends.

Once their time was up and they'd corralled both Creativities off the ice and back into regular shoes they tucked themselves away in a hidden corner of the adjoining cafe and sat in tired peace sipping a variety of hot drinks. So far so good, they all thought, glancing around at the others with tentative smiles. So far so good.

And that stayed true for the rest of the day, and indeed the trip. With the foundations laid for a more equal footing among them something like true contentment took root in Thomas at last, and they all felt the warmth of his gratitude that night as he settled down to go to sleep, dreaming of good things to come.

– Next

[akelyokikagu]

The Cursed - chapter I

# The Cursed  - Chapter I

## Crimes strike at midnight

Midnight was the hour crimes struck, as it was universally known criminals fancied midnight as the time to initiate any of their machiavellian plans. The plans could include elegant thefts to savage murders, but tonight’s was from another genre if crimes were books that had an end, or not. When it came to murders or thefts there always had a trail of clues the police of Edo could hike through; but now it had been weeks since the Shinsengumi couldn’t solve the case. It was everywhere: newspapers, TV , everyone knew and everyone were frightened for their sisters, daughters or lovers.

All the victims were adult females, age ranging from eighteen to twenty-five, all of them accomplished in a way or another—the first was a famous artist, the second a gold medals champion, the third a skilled orator and daughter of politicians. Had all the girls targeted been famous, the Shinsengumi would be able to narrow potential preys and assure their security. This was not the case. Some became notorious only through the case; however all females also shared a common point besides accomplishment: beauty, thus earning the nickname of "Sleeping Beauties".  Indeed, despite calling over experts and doctors from all the country not a single one could elucidate what happened to the victims as there were no external nor internal injuries, no poisons or toxins, all were positively healthy. Supposedly. Instead, they were all sound asleep and wouldn't wake up no matter what.

It was as if life force itself had been sucked out of them, or as if they became soulless. How the criminal or criminals did so, no one knew.

As of now the public defiled the image of the Shinsengumi day by day as the list of victims grew longer, to the opposite of their clues. Journalists harassed Hijikata for not being as competent as rumoured, Kondo for his constant stalking instead of working and some even suspected Okita for being a deviant Sadist. Although the second was true and the last half, they were officers nonetheless and patrolled every district at night—unfortunately the dark circles below their fatigued eyes weren't what the public saw.  

"The Shinsengumi: a useless bunch of country bumpkins? Special pictures of chief Kondo Isao harassing cabaret girls!" Hijikata read the scandalous title from different newspaper with a strained tone, this had been their quotidian now, "Kondo-san I know you want to court Shimura-san but we can't afford to lose even more of the public opinion! And Sougo! What the hell are you doing around Yoshiwara with a chained girl?!"

"I need to affirm my feelings for Otae-san, Toshi! That's how you win a woman so beautiful and strong." "It's not my fault if sows just fall under my feet, Hijikata-san, what would you do if you find one? Just step on her, right?" "No one do that besides you, actually." Hijikata smashed none-too-gently his cigarette into the ashtray on the table, full of the different divisions' reports. "No clues today either."

An uncomfortable silence settled in the tea room, although the Shinsengumi officers were known to be country samurais with very "unique" personality, not a single of them were proud of the current affair. If they couldn't gather and solve the case now the Shogun might disband them because of their ineffectiveness, bolstered by the fact public opinion was assassinating their name. Disbanding would also mean tearing apart a shared dream from long ago, and all the sacrifices they made to be what they are now, all things left behind in order to move forward. Regrets, too.

"… Maybe the Yorozuya Boss knows something. He always does whenever we don't," Kondo finally suggested, "he might already be on it." "All because this lazy silver-perm is the protagonist of *Gintama* what's the point of having such useless main character…" He sighed, "but Kondo-san, you might be right. " "I'll go tomorrow with Hijikata-san." "It's rare of you to propose yourself Sougo! Daddy is proud of you, right Mother?" "WHO'S A MOTHER?" "Because of the patrols I haven't been able to beat China up, anyway. My body's dull, maybe I should go for a tabasco cake."

Kondo and Hijikata decided not to comment about the youngest's plans, after all, one shouldn't look too deep into a sadist's thought. ---- "Oi Kagura, stop reading so close or else you'll become a human wearing glasses like Patsuan." "That's not true Gin-chan, if I wear glasses then I'll be the cute heroine with glasses! There's no way I'll become something like Shinpachi." "Please stop talking like I wasn't here you two, who do you think cook and do all the house chores here?!"

As usual the Yorozuya were being noisy whenever clients weren't present, which to say represented more than ninety percents of the time. One could wonder about how could Sakata Gintoki afford to feed both a giant dog, a gorilla of a daughter in addition of himself, and still have a roof over his head, but then one would remember Sakata Gintoki didn't pay taxes nor rents. Policemen had yet to arrest them, as they did save Edo plenty of time, and most importantly if the chief wasn't aiming at the Shimura eldest as his wife.

"Oi stupid perm, open the door!"

Tax-robbers came.

"Kagura, did you hear? I think I just hear a mosquito right now, what should we do? It's still winter, do you think it's an alien mosquito like the alien cockroaches we had?" "WHAT DID YOU SAY BASTARD?" "Boss, I have a bazooka." "Excuse-me—" "Ah," Hijikata let out a satisfied sigh. "Mosquitoes. There are two right now, they're coming to suck our tax money dry. quick Kagura, we need to smash'em." "— There is a reward, Boss." "Pachi, please open the door to our respectable customers," Gintoki rose up and sat straight on the green couch, coughing up once before looking at Kagura with his dead-fish eyes. "Kagura, go make some tea. Bring the best!"

Kagura snorted back, not even deigning to sit properly. "We don't have good tea Gin-chan, and reading JUMP is better when you're lying down." Before she could continue the passionating story of *Death Pad* a kick came to her waist.

"Oh, a piggy. Danna, do invite me if you're going to roast it, I'm a pro." "… Sadist!" "Don't fight oi, Sougo we came for something else." Hijikata went in front of the duo, not bothering to cross his legs. "Clearly, you aren't civil either. What did both of you come for? It's rare for the Shinsengumi to come to us with a request," Shinpachi laid snacks on the table, hoping to get some money out of the policemen. "Have you heard of the 'Sleeping Beauties'?" "Yeah, do you know how scared I am for my Ketsuno Ana? She stopped appearing on TV you know! Her big brother decided to guard her, I swear, I can't even wake up to her delicate voice and—" "Do you have any informations? Especially what can be the criminal? An Amanto, perhaps?"  

Gintoki shook his head, he had seen a lot in his life but not women suddenly falling asleep, maybe once when the giant ex-boyfriend came to take his red-haired brat although he doubted the current meticulous criminal had anything to do with foul oral odour. Kagura didn't worry him, this time, fortunately the criminal hadn't anything to do with a lolicon (or feminist) either.

The officers were in their way into frowning when Kagura interrupted with her index pinpointing a panel from *Death Pad*. "Why should it be an Amanto?  It could be something else, yes? If it was an Amanto, I would have known. Papy gave me lot of books about different aliens, but there aren't any that are like that."

"If it's not a human or an Amanto, what could it be? *Ryok*?" "Uh-uh, what if it's a demon? It's not like we haven't met ghosts in *Gintama*, and they like to take life force from humans, yes?" "JUMP is making you even more stupid than usual, China, why would a demon—" "Oi Sougo, the China girl might be right this time. The criminal doesn't let any clues, as if he could disappear into thin air, nobody has seen him or her yet." "Haah, are you listening to China now Hijikata-san? Wow, I didn't know you could be even lower in my esteem, congratulation." "Seriously Sougo, it's no time to get jealous—" (Jealous?!) "— Have you ever heard of Incubus? It's a male demon preying on women at night," he coughed as talking of such depraved creatures in front of Kagura seemed inappropriate. "I hope it's clear enough as to how they take life forces."

Hijikata's words buzzed into everyone's brain, with the exception of Kagura, linking and bonding with the datas they possessed. They had few notions about Incubus, mostly through their feminine counterparts, the Succubus, but imagining a demon very much active in Edo was unheard of. The dead belonged to another world where they couldn't reach the livings, only experimented *onmyoujis* and priests were able to whisper into their ears. Those said experts were from big families like Ketsuno Ana's, the Bakufu had them under their service in order to seal the city from the dead.

In the best case this meant there had been leaks from them, voluntarily or not. In the worst, it meant another or a group of individuals had a grasp of such power with the will of creating chaos within Edo. To treachery, it was the Shinsengumi's duty to bestow the justice, but the Yorozuya's to protect the city.

"Oi, how much is the reward?" "Enough to buy you months of parfaits and pachinko, Boss," Sougo smirked at the now-burning eyes of Gintoki, wondering if it was the idea of danger overshadowing Edo that worried the silver perm or the idea of enjoying his sugary treats. "The Yorozuya will accept this request!" "Gin-san/Gin-chan," two smiling figures suddenly appeared behind Gintoki. Simultaneously, the hands reached his shoulders in a strong, threatening grasp. "You have to pay us, right?"

Gintoki gulped. "H-Hah?"

Screams echoed all through the busy city of Edo. ---- The moon was bright and round when a lean figure slipped in the messy bedroom. Sheets of music cluttered the wooden floor so much one could hardly notice the planks underneath, even the furnitures were blotted with ink, waft of its scent drifting to the male.

"Did you know? Overworking is bad to a woman's health and beauty," the cackling voice resonated in the humble room. It leaned towards a female, deep into sleep, "but then again this is what make your soul so delicious." "Huuh.. You are here again," the purple-haired woman murmured sleepily.

Purple eyes gleamed akin to a predator's, the man licking his lips before pressing them to Otsuu's.

"Good night, sleeping beauty. I wonder if you'll ever wake up with what I left you with, artists like you have such a taste. It's a shame you never last enough," the voice of the individual bewitched Otsuu, like a gentle yet seductive whisper in your ears, resonating deep in you. Hypnotised, the idol let the cold finger lift her chin up while her eyes slowly closed down, lulled by the demon.

Some vile creatures were blessed with a special ability; mermaids had the capacity of captivating anyone who have the bad fortune— or good luck— to hear their voices. As much, Incubus and Succubus were pictures as great beauties snatching humans' hearts, but only few knew about the danger of listening to a demon's susurrus.

They penetrated into your soul, mind and heart, prying on all your memories before flaying you open, reading you like a book. Dangerous whispers talking to your desires and dreams.

END