#it dawns on me now that the visibility on this is kinda awful. sorry about that

[doodlebeeberry]

scribbling again (on pink!)

[gurenscumrag]

Summary: Xiao see’s that you’re hurt and takes the time to reassure you and tease you.

Word count: 1,285

Xiao Lemon

You breathed in, a large smile gracing your lips, fingers gripping the ceramic plate that held almond tofu. You were just outside the entrance to the top level of the Wangshuu Inn, excited to see the adepti that guarded the premises. The two of you had grown very close in a short amount of time, you would come bearing food and would sit down together, Xiao would happily eat, listening to you ramble on about your adventures and the things you had done while in Liyue. Although he would never say it outloud, your visits to him was one of the many happiness he indulged in the mortal world, but you’d never know this. Instead, he would listen quietly, making comments here and there, watching the sun set in and the stars start to make their appearance. It was utter bliss between you two.

“Xiaoooo,” you sang out, walking towards the slender man who turned to face you at the sound of your voice. You offered him the simple dish, taking your usual spot beside him, your legs swinging off the ledge, “Goddness, the hilichurls were awful today. They kept kicking my ass…”

Xiao hummed, the sound coming out soft and apologetic. Chopsticks bringing the firm tofu to his mouth, greedily gulping it down. You laid back, eyes focused on the dimming sky above you both, “It’s kinda been a good day, I haven’t done much, just a lot of running around and gathering materials for my sword. Damn thing needs so many lustrous stone.”

“You have the Serpent Spine, don’t you?” 

You nodded at the comment, “Mmm, yeah, but I was able to ascend it to tier three.”

“That’s becoming a good weapon, treat it kindly.”

You smiled, Xiao had a sweet habit of personifying objects, “Of course, I’m giving her a break for the day. She needs a good cleaning too, I’ll do that before I sleep.”

Xiao, who had just finished his food set his plate aside, leaning back on his hands and studying your face. 

Your eyes met and you gave the mermaid-ish man a bright smile, “Hey you.”

“Hello.”

“Anyone come to visit you?”

He let out a puff go air through his nostrils, “You know nobody does. Only a few even know I exist.”

“It never hurts to ask, ya know? Maybe someone will, I don’t wanna miss out on hearing about that” You countered, reaching a hand out to lightly trace your fingers over the green iridescent tattoos that decorated the beautiful man. He shivered slightly under your feathery touch, but didn’t move further from you. He trusted you, something that hadn’t come easy and had taken you both months to come to an understanding, but he was grateful for the trust and patience you had given him.

“I know,” Xiao almost whispered, “I wouldn’t keep it from you. I can assure you.”

You hummed in delight, turning your head a little to the side, the last of evening sun slowly disappearing. You were content, these were your moments of happiness. You honestly couldn’t remember what you use to do before Xiao appeared in your life, perhaps you just would trudge into some inn or tent and pass out from pure exhaustion. Sometimes you would walk all night, your legs burning and your lungs gasping for air after scaling mountains and almost dyi-

“What’s that?”

Xiao’s voice brought you out of your thoughts, you turned to gaze at him, expecting to meet a soft expression, but what you got was a cold stare. Xiao was starring at you as if you were a stranger to him and it sent a chill down your spine.

“W-What? What’s what?”

His eyes narrowed, reaching out with a hand and cupping your cheek. It kept you still despite how nervous you felt. This went way beyond the bounds Xiao was comfortable with, and you didn’t understand what was going on with him. His gaze was cold, his thumb stroking a small patch of your skin before he carefully pressed down, causing you to hiss out in pain.

“You’re hurt. What happened?” His voice was growing colder and more demanding.

“It’s nothing, Xiao.”

He clicked his tongue, scolding you firmly with the simple sound, “If it was nothing, then why does it go further down?” To prove his point Xiao trailed two fingers along the bruise, tracing the pulse point on your throat down to your visible collarbone. You thought he’d stop, spare you some dignity, but he didn’t. He pulled the top of your shirt downwards, almost exposing your nipples to him, nevertheless he exposed the large and dark bruise. 

“Xiao,” you breathed softly, unsure what to say or even do, you’d be lying if you didn’t have countless nights dreaming about Xiao caressing and fucking you. He was attractive and a refreshing pleasure in your exhausting life, it manifested into feelings of admiration and almost love. To have his hands on you now, so close to your nipples that ached for his touch was overwhelming to say the least, “There’s this one hilichurl… Kinda looks like a giant rock creature… Someone needed help, they kept asking for me to save them, but I couldn’t beat him… I couldn’t save someone, they were stuck and I couldn’t kill the hilichurl. He got me too many times so I had to retreat.”

Xiao let go of your shirt, letting it fall haphazardly back on your skin. One of his hands coming to rest just above your head, he rested his weight on that hand and leaned forward. Your noses almost touching, his cold amber eyes bore into yours, “I told you to call me if you needed help.”

“I… I thought you were just saying that.”

“I meant it. I’m here to protect you. All of you.”

“But how can I call for you?”

“Say my name.”

Eyes widening, your cheeks flushing a bright red, “W-What?”

“Say my name, (y/n).”

“Xiao…” your voice came out breathy, shaky, and in a desperate whimper.

His golden eyes flickered down to watch your lips momentarily, a teasing smirk gracing his own brims at the sheer neediness in your voice, “I meant just generally. Say my name and I’ll hear it. I always do. Always.”

You stared flabbergasted and embarrassed. You wanted to run, to scream, to hide, but you were still trapped beneath Xiao, and then it dawned on you… He can hear his name anywhere?

“Oh…”

He hummed, smiling widely, showing off the sharp fangs in his mouth, “Yeah… Oh.”

“Why didn’t you tell me beforehand that you can hear that?!”

“I didn’t expect you to need my help, let alone moan it.”

“Xiao!?” You screeched, your cheeks an unearthly shade of red, bringing your hands to your face to hide your blush but you were stopped when Xiao grasped your wrists in his free hand

“I’m always here to help, (y/n).”

“…okay…”

“Now, about that hilichurl, don’t worry. If you remember where you left him, I’ll handle it.” You nodded quietly, still stuck under Xiao’s gaze and grip, so he continued, “Let’s get you to QiQi, okay? I’m sure the zombie can heal you up.”

Xiao pulled back, dropping your wrist from his grip. He stood easily and offered a hand to you which you graciously took. As you helped yourself up, mumbling, “I’m sorry, Xiao.”

“Whatever for?”

“Doing... that....”

He hummed, tapped a finger to his chin in an fake thought, “I’m not sorry for listening and watching you. Let’s go now.”

“What?! What do you mean watching me?! XIAO?!”

But Xiao had already sprinted inside, heading down the stairs and motioning you to follow him, all while you stared, mortified.

[deviltrs]

Hear me out: Reddie on a “date” to a fair (it’s a date in eddies mind but richie is clueless) [i will die on the Richie being clueless on occasion hill if I have to ]

i see you AND i hear you, anon. 100%

tbh i HC richie is pretty oblivious when it comes to dating, dates and eddie’s blatantly obvious feelings for him LMAOO 

so i kinda set it in HS?? and its like 1992-1993, so they’re about 16-17. 

i hope you enjoy anon! i’m sorry if it sucks a little bit (or a lot)

i haven't written anything publicly for a HOT minute and definitely need to brush up a little bit on my writing skills

and i’m also sorry if they’re really OOC, i’m still learning and trying my best.

NONE OF THIS WAS PROOFREAD SORRY LMAO

---

Eddie invites him to the towns annual fall festival. Just the two of us, he’d said on the phone yesterday.

Richie could never deny Eddie much of anything, so he immediately agreed. The idea of the two of them hanging out alone, oddly enough, makes him feel like there are butterflies in his stomach. He shrugs it off, as he’s done for the past three or four years, and he goes through the rest of his day, anxiously awaiting the next. 

And that’s where he is now. With Eddie, at the festival. 

Everything’s fine, so he doesn’t know why he’s freaking out so bad. Honestly, everything’s more than fine. Richie buys him an ice cream, and for once, Eddie doesn’t go on a full-blown rant about Richie spending his money on him when he’s perfectly capable of paying for himself. 

Eddie doesn’t shrug his arm off when Richie throws it around his shoulders while they’re walking towards the games, either. He leans in a little closer, actually, which feels like it sends a jolt of lightning straight through every fiber of Richie’s being. 

He’s just... all smiles, no rants, no freak-outs. A few insults or two, though, because that’s just how Eddie is, and Richie wouldn’t have it any other way. But... it’s weird not to see him reaching for his fake inhaler to ease his nerves, or thoroughly sanitizing his hands after he touches everything. He’s been like that all day, too. Didn’t even complain about the god awful mess in Richie’s car when he got in.

Now, as it begins to get darker outside, he’s sitting down right across from him at a picnic table, sharing a funnel cake. Their hands have brushed once or twice, and Eddie’s even wiped some powdered sugar off of the side of Richie’s mouth, and he isn’t even going to think about how red his face fucking got when that happened.

“Earth to Richie!” he hears Eddie yell.

He blinks once, twice, three times, trying to rid his mind of the thoughts that kept him so in his head, and turns and flashes a big smile in Eddie’s direction.

“What ‘s it, Spaghetti?” Richie replies, reaching for several pieces of the funnel cake and plopping all of them in his mouth at once. “‘S there anything you wanna do?” he asks in-between chewing, and Eddie visibly grimaces.

“Say it, don’t fucking spray it, dickwad. You shouldn’t talk with your mouth full.” Eddie complains, and Richie would’ve laughed if he wasn’t chewing his food. “And chew with your mouth closed! Jesus Christ, who taught you your table manners?”

After Richie swallows his food, he takes a large gulp from his Coca Cola and shrugs. “I was raised by apes, they taught me everything I know about manners, Eds.” he teases.

He gets a small laugh out of Eddie at that one, along with an eye-roll. “Very funny. And don’t call me that, Richie!” Eddie replies, reaching across the table to give Richie’s shoulder a small shove. Richie laughs, now that his mouth isn’t full, and shakes his head.

“Don’t lie, you like when I call you Eds.”

Eddie blushes? Richie thinks he is, anyways. But why the hell would Eddie be blushing?

Eddie’s voice snaps him out of it before he can dwell too much into it. “Whatever you say.” he grumbles, reaching and grabbing the last piece of their shared funnel cake. He grabs a napkin and wipes his mouth when he’s done, and he doesn’t even give Richie time to speak before he’s talking again.

“Do you want to get on the ferris wheel? It’s getting darker, so we can see all the lights better.” he speaks hurriedly, pointing over towards where the ferris wheel sits, spinning as they sit a little ways away from it. The lights are coming on, now, on all the attractions. Shades of pink and purple, red and blue, green and yellow. They’re bright, but they light up Eddie’s face in just the right way to make Richie think god, he’s beautiful.

“Sure, let’s get to it, Eduardo!” Richie replies, loudly, standing on his feet. He grabs their trash and throws it away in the nearest trashcan, and walks back over towards Eddie, who grabs his fucking hand and starts walking towards the ferris wheel.

He starts to wonder if this is even Eddie, because it dawns on him that Eddie doesn’t even like festival rides. They’re covered in bacteria and germs, dumbass, he’d usually say. But that isn’t the case this evening, apparently, because Eddie is smiling as they approach it, grabbing his tickets from his back pocket and handing two to Richie. 

“You know I have my own, right?” Richie asks, but Eddie just shakes his head. 

“You used at least ten tickets on that darts game until you won me that stuffed Kirby. Shut up and let me be nice to you.” Eddie retorts, and Richie does as he’s asked. He mimics zipping up his mouth, locking it and throwing the key away, which gets a small chuckle out of Eddie. He counts that as a win, so long as he sees Eddie laughing, at least. 

Spoiler alert: he doesn’t shut up. He doesn’t know how.

Eventually, after bickering back in forth in line about everything they could think of, they’re finally getting on the ferris wheel, being seated and secured in before they take off and are stopped again.

Eddie turns to Richie, his hands on the handlebar, looking as content as ever. “Thank you for saying yes when I asked you out on this date. I know it was kinda stupid to ask you over the phone, but-- whatever. Thank you, asshole. I’m having a great time.”

Richie feels like his jaw has dropped. 

Asked him out on what?

“You-- me-- date? What? Since when?” Richie stammers, and Eddie’s brows furrow. His face becomes redder than the top of the haunted house’s tent.

“You didn’t know this was a date?” Eddie asks, and Richie shakes his head repeatedly.

“No! You didn’t say anything about a date!”

“I literally fucking said it was!”

“No, you said ‘Hey, do you want to go out with me to the festival tomorrow, just the two of us’ and that is not asking me out on a date!”

“I said ‘Do you want to go out with me to the festival tomorrow, just the two of us,’ emphasis on go out with me, and that was literally me asking you on a date, dumbass!”

Richie processes. 

And processes.

And processes some more.

“Holy fucking shit, I’m on a date with you.” Richie says, blank faced. On the inside he’s screaming with absolute joy.

“Yeah, you are, dumbass. You-- forget I said anything--”

Richie interrupts him, quickly, “No, no! I’m not like-- freaked out about it or anything. I’m happy to go on a date with a cutie like you, Eds!” he says, leaning towards Eddie and pinching his cheek affectionately.

Eddie swats his hand away, blushing and grumbling, but he’s smiling nonetheless. “Do you-- fuck, do you like me, Rich? I mean, I-- I’m obviously into you.”

Richie nods, very enthusiastically, and smiles wider than he ever has when one of Eddie’s hands come off of the handlebar to grab one of his. “Absolutely, Eds, I mean-- how could I not? You’re my best friend. And, also, you’re so easy to piss off and rile up. It’s fuckin’ cute!” he says, smile never falling from his face. 

“I am not easy to rile up, you dick.” Eddie argues, but his tone holds no distaste or actual anger within it.

So Richie, being Richie, shakes the passenger car they’re in as soon as the wheel takes motion again to prove a point, and Eddie screeches. “You fucking dick! Why the hell would you do that? Do you know how many deaths have happened because of people rocking these fucking things?” he yells, and Richie lets out a full belly laugh.

“Oh, it’s so fucking funny, isn’t it? Do you want to die on a ferris wheel in this shit town? Do you--”

Richie finally makes a move, and decides to shut Eddie up with a kiss. 

It works.

[svu-ncis-criminalminds]

You Left

For @yes-sir-hotchner who requested : I was thinking maybe Hotch (from cm) and reader are childhood best friends and it’s kinda like a love triangle (where reader likes Hotch) and at some point reader says “you weren’t there! I spent the most awful years of my life without my best friend” and she breaks down crying bc of all the bad things that have happened to her. Sorry if it’s so long and all over the place I just think it’s be so cool for someone else to write something I wanna reader idk but tysm if you do it and please tag me

You fidgeted nervously with the visitor badge clipped to your sweater. You’d just gotten back to Virginia that week after spending several years living out on the West Coast. The elevator you were on dinged and you stepped out, suddenly on the edge of a very busy room. People were walking in all directions, some on phones, some with stacks of paper but everyone looked like they were in a rush.

“Hey, can I help you? You look lost.” A woman appeared in front of you and you couldn’t help but smile slightly. She had her hair all done up and her makeup was flawless. Her dress was colorful and had polka dots and she was wearing an eccentric pair of glasses.

“I’m looking for Aar-Agent Hotchner’s office?” She nodded and smiled genuinely, pointing towards the other end of the room, you followed her hand.

“Right up there, it says his name right next to the door.” You thanked her and nervously made your way to the door. You hadn’t seen Aaron since you left. You’d been unable to make Haley’s funeral and it was still something you regretted immensely, even if you did send flowers, you knew it wasn’t enough. You reached the door and read the title, “SSA Aaron Hotchner” you remembered when he was still a prosecutor. Hell, you remember him long before that. With a deep breath you knocked.

“Come in,” A familiar voice called and it felt like coming home. ‘No.’ you had to tell yourself. Too much had happened, and while the voice still belonged to the man you knew and loved, you knew once you opened that door the memory would be gone and replaced with a new reality. So you breathed in deep and opened the door. Aaron looked at you from behind his desk, pen in hand. “Can I help you?” He didn’t recognize you, but he looked practically the same just older.

“Hey Aar,” you didn’t mean to whisper the old nickname but you did and he looked at you with his eyebrows knitted together in confusion, before suddenly you got to watch realization dawn on his face.

“Y/N?” It wasn’t often you got to see Aaron in full shock.

“In the flesh,” you joked. He got up from behind his desk and came to you, eyes still wide and mouth slightly opened.

“What are you doing here?” He asked, stopping just in front of you, eyes scanning up and down as you took in the sight of his old friend. You shrugged slightly, crossing your arms over your chest nervously.

“I’m back in Virgina, you changed your cell phone number. I knew you still worked for the FBI and I wanted to.. Get ahold of you.” You explained. That was what had hurt the most. When you found out your job was moving you back East and you tried to call to tell him you were met with a disconnected number message. He never contacted you with a new one. Just like that he was gone, and you weren’t going to let that happen again. At least he had the decency to look ashamed.

“Y/N, I’m-” Someone opened his office door, a pretty young blonde woman, she glanced at you then looked at Hotch.

“We need to go. I’m briefing everyone on the plane.” Hotch nodded and turned to you.

“I’m sorry,” You weren’t sure if he was finishing his last apology or giving you a brand new one. You nodded your head and shrugged smiling slightly.

“It’s okay.” Aaron went to his desk and grabbed something before scribbling something on it and coming back to you. He handed you a business card and you turned it over to see a cell phone number.

“Call me, I promise you we will catch up when I get back.” You nodded and pocketed the card.

“Sure.” And with that you watched him walk away, another familiar sight.

---

You entered the coffee shop and looked around, spotting Aaron towards the back of the shop, back to the wall and two mugs on the table. You approached, giving him a half smile.

“Hey,” He greeted, gesturing for you to sit, “I hope peppermint tea is still your favorite.” That shouldn’t have upset you as much as it did. You sat down and stared at the steaming mug. Of course it was still your favorite, but how dare he do that? How dare he just so casually remember such a small detail from your past when he couldn’t even remember to pick up the phone and call. “Are you alright?” He asked and you looked up, eyes slightly glistened.

“I’m fine Aaron. Now I am.” You hadn’t intended to start off like this immediately, you did want to catch up a bit before easing into the confrontation that was well over do. He frowned.

“What does that mean?” you laughed slightly, shaking your head.

“You know what? This was a bad idea.” You went to grab your purse but Aaron grabbed your wrist instead.

“Dont.” He shook his head, “Don’t do that, Y/N. You always do this, sit down and talk.”

“I always do this?” You asked and he winced slightly, realizing maybe that wasn’t the right choice of words. “You don’t know what I always do, you haven’t seen me, spoken to me in years!” You were trying hard to keep your voice down in the public venue you had mistakenly agreed to.

“You left,” He reminded you, leaning forward slightly and keeping his own voice down, “You chose to do that.” You pointed at him, jabbing your finger slightly.

“You know why I did that. I lost you as a friend long before that.” Aaron groaned and leaned back.

“No you didn’t,”

“Yes I did Aaron! Haley never liked me and you know that! I was your best friend and she didn’t appreciate it.” You were visibly upset, someone at a nearby table looked at you and you made a face back at them. Aaron tisked at you, god he wasn’t always this boring. “You-You knew I loved you. So did she, but I knew you loved her. We were okay as friends, but you took her side and you deserted me.”

“Y/N-”

“Shut up for once and let me talk, you asked me, let me answer you,” You took a steadying breath, “You promised you would always be there and that we would always be friends and you broke that promise. You weren’t there, Aaron! I spent the most awful years of my life without my best friend. And I couldn’t even reach out. And then I move back, and I went to call you to talk to you. To get some closure for myself and you’ve changed your number, no word to me. Do you know how that feels?” You asked, and he just looked back at you. “Thanks for the tea.” You grabbed your purse and stood up.

“Y/N,” You didn’t turn to look at him, instead you walked quickly towards the door. When you got outside you made a left and began your not too long walk home, not turning around once. “Y/N,” He called again, jogging to catch up to you.

“Leave me alone, I said what I wanted to say,” You continued to walk quickly but he easily met your stride.

“I didn’t to reply.”

“I don’t want to hear it,”

“That’s not fair”

“Tough shit Aaron,” He laughed and you finally stopped walking, turning on him, finger pointed at his chest, “Don’t you DARE laugh!” You yelled, and he stepped back hands up.

“I’m sorry, I know it’s not funny I just… I missed you, even this part of you.” You glared at him. He tried to step towards you and you stepped back still glaring. “You’ve always been passionate. Fiery.”

“Stop! You have no right to tell you you’ve missed me or that I’m passionate, you have no right to remember my favorite drink or anything, you’re not my friend Aaron, I don’t even know you.” He nodded his head.

“Alright. You’re right. Okay? You’re right, you’re right Y/N.”

“Fuck off,” You turned and started to walk again. Maybe you’ll get a cab just to get away from him. He followed again.

“I’m being serious! You are right! You know how many times I wanted to call you but I couldn’t because of my own guilt? I knew I hurt you, alright? I knew you loved me, and I did-did love Haley. But that didn’t mean I didn’t care any less about you and it was hard, but we were married. And I felt guilty, alright? I felt guilty telling Haley there was nothing to worry about when I knew that was partially a lie. I would never cheat on her but every time I looked at you I felt like I was, emotionally at least.” You stopped again, but didn’t turn to him this time. “I thought I was doing what was best for you and me and Haley. I couldn’t continue how it was and I am so sorry Y/N, that I did that to you. Please look at me.” You looked over at him.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” You asked. He shook his head.

“I couldn’t. I wanted to and I should but I couldn’t bring myself to. And I regretted it, but then you left and I thought maybe I really did do the right thing. You were leaving to live a wonderful successful life.”

“I was running away.” you admitted and he nodded.

“I know that now and I am sorry. I’m going to make it up to you I promise.” You shook your head.

“I don’t need you to make it up to me, Aaron. I need.. your friendship in my life and I need you to do better this time.”

“I will.” He nodded, “I will. Do you…” He trailed off and you waited, “Would you like to meet my son?” You smiled slightly and nodded your head.

“I would.”

[silence-burns]

Please Hate Me //part 21

Fandom: Marvel

Summary: Based on "Imagine having a love/hate relationship with Loki." by @thefandomimagine

Loki wouldn't call himself a master of lockpicking, but he certainly possessed his fair share of skills regarding the matter.

Their origins were varied, some including childhood punishments requiring him to be locked in his chambers. Some came from the times his curiosity whispered to him from places people didn't want him to peer into. Both of those gave Loki a rather good hold on what he was able to do in just a few minutes under no supervision.

Most of his skills, unfortunately, required a lock to be picked.

Loki stared at the wall and a panel next to the door. In the hopes of not gaining your attention, he tried to look utterly disinterested in the room you brought him into some time ago, but now he regretted not noticing how you opened the door.

He was sure you fished something out of your pockets. He just didn't think it could be something other than keys.

The panel didn't have any visible buttons, so guessing the code was out of the question. The whole thing seemed blended with the wall, as many things in the damned Tower did.

Loki left the matter of the door for later. The opposite side of the room held a large window, now looking more inviting than ever.

Loki grabbed a handful of chips on his way there. The sandwich you gave him earlier, although (surprisingly) not awful even with the heart on top, did little to completely satisfy his hunger. He sneered at the memory of it.

The window was big enough to allow a proper way out, Loki noticed with professional assessment. He had slipped through enough windows to know his own flexibility and the importance of right angles.

His heart dropped a little when he looked through it, only to find the night view over the shining city be a very high one. Loki wasn't really bothered by heights, but a look down the Tower's side made him hesitate a bit. He remembered he told you he wouldn't sneak out anytime soon, but it was important to know his options in advance, right? Besides, the drop wasn't even that steep, come to think of it…

He turned, a little guilty, when you walked back into the room. Peeling off the dirt and dried fluids of varying sources did wonders to your presentation, only for the effect to be immediately killed off by the disgusting gray outfit, twin to his own.

"What, you thinking about jumping out?" You asked as if reading his mind.

Loki didn't answer as you approached him, throwing your towel on a nearby chair. The chair didn't protest, already carrying a few items you forgot about. You peered outside.

"Damn, it's already snowing. I personally wouldn't recommend sliding out this way anytime soon."

Loki raised his eyebrows. "You make it sound like you've already tried that."

"I made it 4 floors down before I got to the one without any good outside handles. I mean, there were a few, but I kinda slid by them, thanks to the frost."

"Was it worth it?" he asked with actual curiosity.

"It was a bet—of course it was worth it."

"I see."

He watched you settle on the bed, bringing all the food closer, and turning the TV on. A spare blanket was even found for him, and laid to your left. He had to ask, though.

"What do you plan on doing?"

"Watch something mind-numbing, eat, regret I ate so much, and go to sleep."

"Mind if I join?"

"You're my bestie, of course I don't mind."

With a tormented sigh, Loki laid on the mattress, pushing your legs to make more room for himself. "Is that really necessary? It's so crowded here."

"With your bloated ego, I'm surprised the Tower is capable of housing you at all."

He watched you fill your mouth without skipping a beat.

"Can't you use a plate? You're making a mess. I'm not going to sleep on the crumbs," Loki complained, brushing some off the sheets already.

"You can always sleep on the floor. I won't mind, it's all yours."

"I hate you."

"Can't blame you."

He took the muffin you'd been consuming out of your hand and finished it out of sheer malice. Your shocked face made him feel a little better.

"You truly are evil, Loki—to starve the injured and weak…"

"Don't call those few bruises an injury," he scoffed, gesturing to the few cuts on your cheek.

"A few bruises? You see this? My arm is going to kill me tomorrow!" You put your elbow in his face, showing a growing mark that already darkened a large patch of your skin.

It didn't hurt much yet—only when you touched it—but you had enough experience to know it was just the beginning. It was a surprise you could move the arm at all. You remembered falling on it quite a few times, so a broken bone or some joint injury could have been expected at least.

Loki pushed your arm out of his face. "You call that bad? Look at my poor ribs and guess whose knees are imprinted on them!"

He pulled on his shirt to reveal the damage, although he had to admit it wasn't as dramatic as he wished to. His stark white skin contrasted with the grayish bruise, but it looked like the damned bracelet didn't stop his body from healing faster than a regular human's. A few more hours and there would hardly be any trace left of it.

You laughed in his face. "Poor baby. At least I can say I didn't have any choice in that, as I was hauled into the trunk right after you. Do you want me to remind you of the time you basically threw one of those monsters at me? And pushed me off a bridge?"

"How many times do I have to remind your tiny little human brain that it wasn't my fault—"

"You're already looking for excuses—"

"Because normal arguments completely miss you—"

"Shut up, my phone is ringing."

If your hand didn't cut him off with a slap to his mouth, he might have made a remark about your injuries being an obstacle only when it suited you best. Instead, he had to resort to peeling it off his face while you looked for your buzzing phone through the blanket with the other one. Your so very painful injuries didn't seem to be slowing you down.

He stole another cupcake. It wasn't awful.

"Damn, Peter is facetiming us.” You seemed happy.

That alone made him wary. His mood only grew gloomier as the boy's cheery face appeared on the screen in your hand.

You moved closer to Loki to let Peter see the both of you. Loki's ribs were not spared in the process and neither were the sheets as the crumbs left his mouth along with an undignified whimper.

"My favourite teenager, you have no idea how happy I am you're not dead and Aunt May won't be hunting my ass anytime soon." You sent Peter a blinding smile. Loki only shot you a dark glare, trying to free his right arm from under your body.

"Yeah, it didn't go as bad as I thought," Peter laughed as well, although the cut on his lip made it visibly uncomfortable. "I'm just grounded forever, but I'm fine. I've got super-healing, remember?"

You sighed. "Why am I the only normal one here? It's unfair."

"I feel so sorry for you," Loki spit the words with venom coating every one of them.

Peter's face lit up immediately. It got bigger on the screen as the boy peered in closer.

"I'm so happy you're okay too, Mr. Loki! I'm so sorry we kinda dragged you into that, you probably hate our planet already, but it's not that bad all the time, there's plenty of—"

"Peter, how badly are you grounded?" You cut through his rambling, sparing Loki (and yourself) from the never ending stream of words.

"Well, I'm not dead, but if I'm one minute late back home, I might be," he admitted, earning a chuckle from Loki.

"But you're still going to school tomorrow?" you made sure. "I kinda want to grab some shawarma with my bestie, so you could join us during your lunch break?"

"That's so cool! There's a place I can get to in like 3 minutes, so it's a perfect—"

"When exactly did I agree to that?" Loki frowned.

You patted his bracelet. "When you didn't throw our friendship bracelet away."

"I told you I've already tried everything I can to get this thing off me."

"Sounds like a you problem."

Peter nodded silently from the screen, not really minding the fact he'd been forgotten for a moment.

A muscle shifted in Loki's jaw. He muttered with all the politeness he managed through gritted teeth, "And when exactly did your brave and just Avengers agree to that idea?"

"Tomorrow," you answered with all the confidence that had Loki's blood boiling. "Have you no trust?"

"In you? Please, don't get me started…"

You shifted your attention back to Peter, only to find him staring at the both of you with hearts shining in his eyes.

"What?"

"Nothing," Peter said with a smile suggesting the opposite. "See you tomorrow, guys!"

"Huh." You looked at the suddenly dark screen. "He never hangs up so quickly."

Loki muttered something inaudible. He focused on feeding the rage within him with another cupcake. There weren't many left. You assessed the image.

"Are you mad at me?"

"Yes."

"Is watching a compilation of fails the Avengers wish could be erased from the surface of the world going to make you feel better? Thor's included."

Loki hesitated.

"Yes."

The internet was truly a wonderful place, if used right. That truth was only beginning to dawn on Loki, as just a few minutes through the videos worked wonders on his mood.

"How do you even come up with so much footage?" he dared to ask as the replay of Steve slipping on some loose debris during a fight played.

"It's the internet, darling. We've got footage of everything that ever happened on those streets and of a few things that never did."

Taglist: @writerjmlove @drakonwild @eeveesjourney @lokislilcaribbeanprincess @oatballsoffury @inumorph @ejectur @nerdybabywrites @twhgirl @nikkoliferous @unlikelygalaxygiver @multifandomreaderinsertfanfics @dreamingofonceuponatime @iamfelixc @bluebunnlee @effmigentlywithachainsaw @sadwaywardkid​ @ravenclawpossum​ @waitforthehurricane​ @absentmindeduniverse​ @unicorniorosacomefrutillas​  @toboldlyscream​ @waitforthehurricanrose​  @cluelessnitwhit​ @iamverity​ @absentmindeduniverse​ @the-corruptor​ @just-another-romantic​ @breakawayfromeveryday​  @oh-no-a-whovian​

[ask-odyssiaoctavius]

♬ - a friend/best friend memory

It’s not often that Odyssia would visit the beach that neighbored the Living Depths. But, figuring to take her break outside for once. It’s still her first day with magic, still getting used to the new sensations she was now privy to. It would seem that the Writhing One gave her something akin to a sixth sense, allowing her to take note of the atmospheric vibes everyone gave off... This was a godsend, now that she was able to get a more accurate read on everyone around her. Perfect. No more guessing games.

But as she was strolling on the boardwalk, she stopped, feeling a presence of something on a secluded, out of the way section of the beach. But this didn’t read as any of people she’s encountered today, no—this wasn’t human. Nor was it visible... or so it would seem. Scanning the area on the shoreline, what appeared to be a large dune was sitting there. While this looked like any old sand pile at first glance, her newfound sense was begging her to check it out.

Why is this reading as... ‘entity’? I know sand is important to the marine environment but what’s up this area? How come none of the other abiotic components of the beach are sending out vibes like this dune?

Odyssia squints at the odd dune as she heads to the nearest stairwell down to the beach. Approaching with caution, she could feel the presence of this being become much clearer. This... thing had magic too, albeit, it was very unlike the Writhing One. The magic was ancient, yes, but it felt more in touch with nature. Something more terrestrial.

As she got close, the pile shifts as if someone was in there... or rather, the pile itself was coming to life. Two small, bleary eyes form from the sand’s mass, blinking as if woken up from a restless night. A mouth forms to yawn as the dune forms into a humanoid shape, long arms stretching up briefly before being slumped back to its sides.

Odyssia was left speechless at the sight, her eyes wide as she silently watched this thing get up. It didn’t notice her at first, seemingly too tired to acknowledge her presence... Perhaps now was a good time to walk away—

“What the—?! A human?” the entity yelped as it whipped over to face her, just as shocked to see Odyssia as she was to see it.

Odyssia nearly fell over as her composure evaporated and her posture stiffened. Staring blankly at this entity, her breath came out in hitches as she attempted to find a way out of this.

“Jesus—don’t hurt me, please! I-I didn’t mean to bother you, I’m really sorry.” Odyssia stuttered as she stiffly tried to back away.

The entity tilted its head, as if a bit taken aback by this. A look of recognition dawned upon its face as it blinked at her.

“...What? Why would I hurt ya? I’ve seen ya before and I got no reason to hurt somebody like you.” It replied, bending down to meet her at eye level.

Odyssia froze in place. “Wait, you... you know me? How?”

“I’ve seen ya on my beach with a bunch of other people sometimes, picking up the trash all over my home... and I’ve seen you take care of some of the sea animals too. You take the hurt ones into that building over there—“ it says, pointing towards the aquarium, “—and then I see them come back all healed up and ready to go back to their home. Why would anyone want to hurt somebody who does all that good work?”

Holy shit. This entity saw me do beach cleanups and help out with nursing animals back to health... What else do they know?

“Incredible..” she mutters as she relaxed her posture before speaking up more clearly, “Now, if you don’t mind me asking this.. what are you and what is your name?”

“Me? I’m a sand elemental. Basically a fae that is made up of—and can control—sand. Like this.” With that, the entity raised their palm, focusing on the sand surrounding them. In an instant, the sand’s form twisted and altered itself into the shape of an intricately detailed sand castle in minutes, which with human hands, it would’ve taken hours to complete.

With a flick of the wrist, the sand castle’s form rose into the air in spirals. Odyssia watched on in awe as the sand formed rings and gently descended back to the ground. The sand shifts around and it appears to look undisturbed.

“As for my name,” they continued, “Call me Sandman... or Sandy. Or Flint. Eh, I don’t really care what ya call me. What do you call yourself? And don’t worry; I don’t do the whole ‘I know your true name and now I’ll ruin your whole damn life’ thing. I wouldn’t know what to do with a true name even if I did get it.”

Just as Odyssia was about to introduce herself, she paused. “Uh... Excuse me?”

“Oh... So you’re new to magic? Should’ve figured,” Sandman said, rubbing his chin. “It’s uh.. kinda like... you know how you shouldn’t tell people one of those ‘social security numbers’ or ‘credit card number’ things? It’s kinda like that. But like, a lot worse in the hands of someone who can get power from names. But I’m not academic enough to explain it well..”

He trails off for a moment before returning his attention to Odyssia. “Hm.. Maybe ya can just make yourself a name right now! So you don’t have to worry about guessing who can take your name or not when you’re talking to magic people.”

Odyssia considered the new information she was getting from Sandman, as strange as these new rules seemed to be. Though to be frank, this wouldn’t be the first time she used names aside from her legal one...

After a moment of thought, she turns to face Sandman with a smile. “You can call me... Doctor Octopus.”

[unicyclehippo]

jester confronting beau about her comment on how "you know everyone does" for who has a crush on her :-)

a gentle hand shakes beau awake, rouses her to the sweet view of jester above her—before beau crashes down through just a couple painful memories that crowd her mind instantly: the hag, her offer, and the clawing promise she had made, for now at least, not to leave.

[[MORE]]

‘hey,’ jester whispers.

beau scrubs sleep dust from the corners of her eyes. ‘hey,’ she whispers back, voice rough. ‘m’time for watch?’

‘no. i mean, if you want.’ jester leans back onto her heels, tucks her hair behind both ears in an odd manner beau doesn’t recognise. ‘i thought - maybe - we could talk?’

despite jester giving her the space to do so, beau doesn’t sit up. she lays still, frozen in place, by a sudden fear.

‘why?’

jester’s eyes widen. ‘oh. i—do you not want to?’

‘what? no, i—still asleep. sleepy. um. talking to me, yeah, definitely. what about?’ it’s very probable that jester doesn’t believe her. very probable indeed. she considers trying to lie some more, but it already feels like she has made a little hole for herself and that can only get worse.

she is contemplating this when quite out of nowhere she realises that the shimmering she sees is not light playing across jester’s shoulders and the diamond dust there, but rather the light of the hut catching the silent roll of tears down her cheeks.

beau sits up fast enough to rattle her brain; that must be the reason she doesn’t hesitate to lift a hand and ever so gently cup jester’s face, slide her thumb over her cheek. the tear is oddly cold. beau folds her thumb into her palm, wiping it off on her hand wrappings. ‘what’s this?’ she whispers. ‘what’s got you crying? is it nott? because i think, y’know, she’s scared but i reckon there’s no way she won’t still love us. i don’t think changing bodies does that. her heart is all the same.’

‘technically,’ jester sniffles, ‘i think that’s not true? not that i’ve ever really looked at goblin organs or - or halfling organs but i think they’re probably a little different.’

‘goblins have three ventricles,’ beau tells her.

jester blinks. ‘what?’

‘yeah.’

‘that’s—you’re lying, i don’t think that’s possible? you’re lying,’ jester says again, with a little more certainty.

beau lets a smile break across her face. ‘yeah, i’m lying.’

jester scoffs a small laugh. sniffles again and lifts her hands to wipe at her cheeks. it has them both realising at the same time that beau is still touching her, fingers crooked against her jaw, thumb stroking soft over cheek and jaw. beau drops her hand into her lap, pulls her legs in to cross before her.

‘i’m sad about that,’ jester says after a minute. she doesn’t meet beau’s eyes, fingers twisting over her many rings. ‘the whole thing is just—awful. it’s just awful what was done to her and i - i can’t believe—‘

‘hey, hey, hey, you’re gonna work yourself up into a real waterfall situation. c’mon, it’s okay.’ beau sets a hand on jester’s knee, squeezes. ‘she’s gonna be okay, she’ll figure it out. and you saved her.’

beau focuses hard on not letting her voice go hard like it wants to; she is proud of jester, and scared for her, and many other feelings beside, but the worse of the lot is the very small choking vine of anger that threatens to twist up her innards. jester was saving nott. she wanted all of the nein to be safe. beau shouldn’t be angry with her just because she didn’t get to go out the way she thought might feel better than simply being left on the wayside.

‘yah.’ jester turns her head so she can brush her cheek again, this time on the shoulder of her shirt. ‘um. can we talk about - something nicer?’

beau nods. she’s tired, bone tired, and sad. she wants to sleep. but she’d been on the cusp of giving everyone up and she hasn’t had to, nor yet, so she’ll soak these moments up while she’s got them.

‘sure, jes. what do you wanna talk about?’

‘oh, well, something fun? like—‘ jester giggles, and beau turns a smile on her, happy to hear something genuine in the laugh. ‘who do you really think has a crush on me? like you said yesterday?’ jester doesn’t seem to notice the way beau freezes again. ‘or anyone. i used to be so sure caleb and nott were like, best friends, but then nott kissed him? that,’ she tells beau, eyes wide, ‘i did not expect. what do you think, beau?’

beau clears her dry throat. fumbles for her waterskin. ‘ah. i dunno.’ she recalls vividly nott confiding in her—and their linked fingers—and knows if she wants to expect any kind of secrecy from nott, she can’t tell jester about a second of it. ‘cad seems sweet on fjord. that was funny, him getting toasted at the leaky nip.’

jester blinks. ‘you noticed that?’

‘huh? yeah, why wouldn’t i have?’

‘oh, well, because you were—‘ jester cuts herself off, worries at her lower lip. ‘you know. having a moment with fjord.’

‘deep in my cup?’ beau suggests, tone purposefully light.

‘...yah.’

‘just goes to show how very obvious cad was being.’ jester lightens visibly when beau smiles, obviously relieved that beau finds it to be something she can talk about without bursting into tears. honestly, beau just feels numb and it doesn’t feel good, exactly, to laugh at the things that happened around it but it helps her to not feel like those moments have been blanked entirely from her mind. that would—that’d scare her. to not remember. ‘does that bother you? cad flirting with him?’

‘huh? what? why would it?’

‘well. you know.’ beau shrugs. jester just stares at her so she continues. ‘because you’ve been crushing on him since, like, day one.’ before jester can confirm that, beau says, ‘he didn’t answer you in the zone of truth. he got got by it, right?’

‘mhm.’

‘right. so it’s possible.’

‘i would know for sure if you hadn’t interrupted,’ jester says, and for all that she sounds disappointed, she also just sounds amused. ‘not the time, i suppose. and not at all romantic.’

beau wants to bite her tongue off when she feels it form the words. ‘what would be romantic?’

jester affects a thoughtful moue, tilts her head up toward the slowly turning lights of the hut, shakes the hair back out of her face. ‘hmm. well, romance is all about atmosphere. so it would be, you know, at dawn or at dusk or under a full moon or something else special, you know?’

‘mm.’

‘and there is always an activity involved.’ she waggles her brows. beau laughs obediently. if it sounds a little hollow, the way it feels, jester doesn’t notice. ‘no, but really, like going on a walk or painting together or, or,’

‘taking watch.’

‘yah, yah, yah!’

‘and not under a spell, obviously.’

jester pauses. plucks at the pleats of her skirt. ‘is that—would that be bad?’

beau nods.

‘oh. but—how would—i’d want to know it was the truth.’

beau brows shoot high, near up to her hairline. ‘if you don’t know they’re telling the truth about that kinda thing, they’re probably not a catch.’

‘right, right, right.’

they sit for a moment in that. the moment stretches. one minute. then another. the drone of insects seems impossibly loud, and the light of a half-moon creeps down through the tangled knot of the canopy overhead.

‘sorry i didn’t let him answer,’ beau says finally to break it. ‘i should have—didn’t want vendetta to steal from us though.’

‘we don’t have much to steal, to be fair.’

‘true. she could throw a party.’

‘that’s true! i didn’t ask her that.’

‘mm. when we get back.’

jester nods. ‘good idea.’

taking watch together. light of a half-moon. there are worse times to tell someone you like them, beau figures. and if history has taught her anything, it’s that either jester will believe her and hate her, or she will continue blissfully to misunderstand.

‘i like you, jes,’ beau tells her.

jester turns slightly toward her. her eyes are distant and somewhat unfocused but she shakes her head like she’s shaking away a particularly insistent bug and refocuses her attention on beau. the smile she gives beau is enough to tell her that she doesn’t understand, that it doesn’t click; the smile she gives beau is lovely, regardless, and pleased and warm and thankful and beau is glad to have said it.

[leggomylino]

light switch | yandere!seungmin

Genre: yandere, romance/fluff, thriller, a little angst, some comedy (mainly in the first half) Pairing: yandere!Seungmin x reader Word count: ~11k (and this is only the first half…) Warnings: Author rambling, run-on sentences, mild language (censored), a few memes, moments of high tension and possible anxiety, ooc, and mild abuse/violence A/N: Requests are open~ | Masterlist in bio! | rip this turned out WAYYY longer than I meant it to and it’s my first time writing this format (and yandere for that matter) but, I hope y’all enjoy :’)) Thanks for reading!! <3

Okay so

You and Seungmin had been friends for a while

Y’all met in junior high and immediately hit it off

Here’s what happened fam

It was your turn to stay after class and clean up

The other kids who had been assigned to help you had already done their jobs and left

You let them off easy because it was raining and you didn’t want anyone to miss the bus

You always walked home since you lived in the neighborhood and you liked the rain so it was no big deal to you

*cringey middle schooler voice* “Hey is it okay if we head out? Are you okay by yourself?”

“Oh yeah sure go ahead! Have a great day!”

“Thanks! See you later (y/n)!”

Yeah a n y w a y 

So it’s raining out and it’s just you in the classroom after school, cleaning the whiteboard and sorta zoning out

The cloudy weather and sound of steady rainfall on the asphalt outside isn’t helping

But luckily you’re almost done, just gotta get a chair to reach the top of the board and--

Chunk!

What the

Um

Hello?

What was that sis

You look over your shoulder mid-swiping to see the silhouette of a person climbing in through the window

But you can’t see who it is at first cause right at that moment there’s a flash of lightning that lights up the whole room and casts everything in a veil of black and the hollow roar of thunder (just like in all the cliche horror movies), and a scream gets caught in your throat (like half of the cliche horror movies)

It successfully freaks you out a bit but

Once you’re able to see clearly again you realize it’s a boy

A boy you recognize

Barely tho

Like hardly

Because he’s honestly never around

Always skipping class

Typical delinquent kid

His name, you scarcely recall, is Kim Seungmin

He probably thinks he’s some sort of billy-badass or smth, you dunno

Well he’s just frozen like you are, halfway inside with his legs straddling the windowsill, soaking wet, just staring at you

Staring

Staring

Still staring...

You furrow your brow at him, slowly getting back into the groove of getting your business done and hightailing it outta there. “Take a picture, it’ll last longer.”

He smirks and leans forward, resting his hand on his chin, just watching you while half of him is still getting soaked by rain; he looks like the freakin’ Cheshire Cat. “The same could be said about you.”

You’re about to ask him what kind of a comeback that is when it dawns on you that you’re still staring as well, and you visibly shun yourself and whirl away to face the board again. He chuckles and you hear him toss his incredibly late ass all the way inside, closing the window and leaving a trail of rainwater and mud and dead leaves and outside nastiness on the floor that you just finished sweeping and cleaning uGH WTF BILLY-LATEASS WHY YOU GOTTA DO ME LIKE THAT

Great now you’re gonna miss the newest episode of Totally Spies and that rerun of Sailor Moon you were really looking forward to...all because this punk had to show up half past four.

He lifts one of the chairs off the desk and takes a seat, and when you curiously peek over your shoulder to see wtfudge he’s doing, he’s watching you. Again. Just sitting at what would be his usual seat in the middle of the room if he were ever in class on time at all. You roll over the teacher’s desk chair to finish cleaning the board and have just decided to leave the trail of dirt and wet grass for him to clean up

But uh

Unfortunately you have a brain made of spaghetti like the author

And well

You somehow managed to forget for a second that the chair has wheels, and the floors are still a little slick

So the moment you clamber your (enter height here) ass up on that chair guess what happens?

Just guess

Yeah you guessed it

London bridge comes falling down

Well in this case (y/n) bridge

It all happened so fast

And yet

You never touch the ground

No you didn’t spontaneously gain superpowers like in a Marvel or DC comic

This isn’t My Hero Academia either, you’re definitely quirkless

It’s this guy

He actually managed to throw himself over the desk and slide over just in time to save you

Wow maybe this is a bit of a superhero movie

Go Spiderminnie B))

Batminnie?

...Okay lame names and rambling aside, he saved you

You stare at him with a shocked look on your face, a bit winded from the experience

But also at the way he’s staring at you

It’s kinda sus sis

He’s looking at you like...almost like he’s seeing right through you

Into your soul

You know how they say the eyes are the window to the soul?

Well this bish is sunlight and he’s cutting right through...effortlessly

Gracefully radiating a strange unnatural light you aren’t really sure how to define

It’s weird, and foreign, and a bit uncomfortable

But a part of you kinda likes it

Which bothers you because sure this guy did just save you from getting a concussion and possibly breaking your neck but still

“Uh...thank you…” you mutter, not sure what else to say. It’s a miracle your spaghetti brain even managed to remember to say “thank you” at all smh

He’s smiling down at you kindly (even tho it’s a bit creepy, surely he means well) and uh

Does he plan on letting go of you anytime soon?

I mean 

He’s still wet and you like the rain and all but

Okay there we go he’s setting you down now

Phew see he’s not a weirdo or anything, it’s all good

“That was a smart move you just pulled. I’m guessing you aren’t very fluent in the common sense department.”

Uh eXCUSE ME?!

Okay wow rude much

Who says something like that after saving someone?

Who says something like that to anyone they barely know ever?

Way to ruin the moment … wait what moment

There wasn’t a moment

That wasn’t a moment that was just uh...he was just…

:)))) moving on

You squint at him and scramble up to your feet to get away from this rude boy who you’re just starting to notice is kinda cute even if the way he looks at you is a little creepy and his attitude needs work, dusting yourself off and inwardly cringing at the chill snaking up your side. That’s just from the rainwater, right...? “Like you’re one to talk.”

He laughs at that...his laugh sounds like a bell. A bit obnoxious, but it’s still pleasing to you. And that makes you pretty angry.

“Stop laughing at me!”

“Stop laughing at me!”

“Huh?!”

“Huh?!”

“I mean it! Cut it out!”

“I mean it! Cut it out!”

He’s mimicking everything you say in a horribly applicated high-pitched voice, which only fuels your anger and frustration. Not to mention your embarrassment.

You’re embarrassed, right? That’s why your face feels so hot right now? Or you’re running a fever. Maybe you caught the bug that’s going around. People catch colds all the time during a rain shower, it’s only in every cliche romance anime ever.

Wait a sec…

Romance anime?!

Uh hahaha no no sis that’s not what this was

Not in the slightest

But I mean

It’s all set up like one

The rain

After school atmosphere

Cute delinquent guy with a bad attitude rescuing and teasing airheaded good student

Crap crap crap

Abort mission abort abort

You gotta scram baby

So that’s just what you do

...Well you try to anyway

But next thing you know he’s lifting you up in his arms and like

Dude

Have you not heard about personal space before?!

You turn your heated face down to him and he’s smiling up at you, so sweetly, so purely, all rainbows and sunshine

“Sorry, I was just teasing you. I thought maybe you could use a lift?” ❀

Well crap

He wasn’t wrong tho

Hnnnnn you can feel your face heating up again; er, even more

HNNNNN THIS REALLY IS AN ANIME ROMANCE ASDFGHJKL;

Okay okay calm down (y/n)

Just go with the flow

No use fighting it

Nothing good ever comes of fighting it

So you smile and mumble your thanks and let it happen

And guess what?

You two end up becoming the best of friends \^-^/

It’s quite cute actually

And it happens very naturally too

A nice slow burn transition into acquaintances, then friends, then good friends, and finally by the time you reach high school, y’all are besties

He’s always there for you when you need him

...

Like, always

It’s kinda strange actually...

He always knows right where to find you and texts you the moment you unlock your phone to text him

You: 𝖶𝗈𝗐, 𝖨 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝗃𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝖺𝖻𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝖾𝗑𝗍 𝗒𝗈𝗎! 𝗈𝖠𝗈

Him: 𝖮𝗁 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒? 𝖧𝖺𝗁𝖺𝗁 / 𝖶𝗈𝗐, 𝗐𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗈𝖽𝖽𝗌? / 𝖨 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝗃𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝖺𝖻𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝖾𝗑𝗍 𝗒𝗈𝗎!! :) / 𝖦𝗎𝖾𝗌𝗌 𝖨'𝗆 𝗉𝗌𝗒𝖼𝗁𝗂𝖼 :𝗉

But more recently, it’d gone a little something more like:

“𝖸𝖾𝖺𝗁, 𝖨 𝗄𝗇𝗈𝗐 <𝟥”

… *shrugs* 

Guess he’s got some kind of a sixth sense or something

He just knows you so well

But you don’t think much of it because the two of you do spend an awful lot of time together

As in you’re practically joined at the hip when you’re not separated by classes or your mom calling you home for dinner if you happen to go out on the town somewhere

Usually it’s the ice cream parlor or the mall

His buddies Felix and Changbin work at one of the shops there so you like to stop by and say hi to them

But you don’t stay too long because Seungmin really values your alone time

Just the two of you strolling side by side, sometimes hand in hand, while he listens to you ramble on about your day and get excited over cute things in the storefront windows and grumble about being hungry every time you pass the food court

You always tug him in front of one of the stands with the full intent of buying, yet he always ends up paying; he simply insists on it

Because he loves it

Your whining 

Your excitement

The way you ramble over the speed limit and express your passion so effortlessly

It’s real to him

Attractive

Inspiring

Photogenic 

He’d bottle each memory up and relive them over and over again if he could

Of course they’ll always be in the picturebook of his heart, but that’s a little cringe

He doesn’t care though cause it’s true

Watching you twitch your nose and turn your head like a muskrat as the scent of fresh cinnabuns wafts through the air 

It makes him smile and beam with delight and the whole atmosphere becomes warm and inviting

Of course, you don’t know that

Because Kim Seungmin isn’t an open book

More like a locked diary (with chains all wrapped around it like something out of a medieval fairy tale)

Some people have questioned why the two of you aren’t dating yet

But Seungmin’s too shy to say anything; the very notion makes him feel faint and his heart race; and you always dodge the question or tell people you’re simply “just friends”

Because to be honest, any feelings you thought you had for him have sorta cooled down into a comfortable friendship 

And while you may have thought about the two of you being an item before

You’re not sure how he feels 

Before you rant at the author whAt do YoU mEAN hAve yOU nOt beEn pAYInG aTTENtiOn to WhaT’S gOinG On?! 

LET ME (well you) EXPLAIN

While the two of you HAVE been rather inseparable over time since that fateful encounter in junior high

Seungmin is still a bit of an odd duck

Ya know him

But sometimes it feels like you don’t

Lately he’s been getting harder and harder to read

At least when it comes to the feelings department

Aka pathos

You know he certainly cares for you, a lot

And you care for him...a lot

But surely it doesn’t mean anything...more

He’s like the brother you never had

Just looking out for you, wanting the best for you, like family

It’s not anything romantic~ or lustful~ or anything like that …

Is it?

I mean uh

So what if you cuddled while watching movies together, and when you started to drift off against his chest you distinctly felt him place a soft kiss atop your head? So what if you shared milkshakes and ice cream sundaes at the parlor while holding hands beneath the table and speaking of hands you both blushed and giggled cutely when they touched while reaching for the popcorn at the same time? So what if he made you flower crowns and took pictures of you looking like a beautiful mess down by the river, or at the beach, or in the garden behind his house? So what if he occasionally showered you with gifts and bought you food and always left you the biggest mess of flowers and chocolates on Valentine’s day and worked himself tirelessly trying to teach you material you didn’t understand, and was the first one calling to see how you were doing when you got sick, even going so far as to skip class to bring you soup and tease that “you probably caught that dummy virus you had the day we met” and stayed sitting crisscross applesauce on the floor while you laughed stuffily at Tuxedo Mask calling Usagi/Sabrina a Meatball Head and he smiled at your congested laughter while mimicking you in a memey fashion (to which you respond by throwing used tissues at him that never get very far), copying all of the days notes you missed into your journal with that surprisingly pretty cursive handwriting of his...and leaving cute little love poetry off to the side for you to find later...so what if...something is starting to click inside your head...it doesn’t mean anything. None of it does. None of that meant anything!! \(>-<)/ …

……

……...right?

You scream internally into the void

For you do not know 

(╥﹏╥)

One day after school of your senior year you’re doing rounds like you normally do

And you whine like you usually do

And he snickers like he regularly does

And y’all wander over to the food court like two happy little love birds (to him) and a couple of friends in a we-aren’t-dating-we’re-just-great-buds-it’s-complicated relationship (to you)

And that’s when you see him

Wow

I mean WOW

This new guy behind the counter

You recognize him from school

He just transferred to your school from out of town

His name is

Uh...

Shoot what’s his name? (._.”) ??

It’s almost your turn in line

Guess you’re about to find out ♥

Gosh he’s gorgeous wowowow

He’s looking more attractive the closer you get, and you’ve only seen him from a distance at school and he was ALREADY the bees knees then

You take a step forward up to the counter…

That is until Seungmin stops you

This bish just completely cut you off 

His tall 5’9 ass is completely blocking your view of Hunkilicious >:((

Your peeking around him as best you can, but it’s hard when he’s constantly shifting his weight in time with you; you still manage to get a glimpse though, and wowza he’s fine (♥‿♥)

That sandy blonde hair

Those gorgeous bright eyes

A whole snacc sis

You smile at him while Minnie’s placing your order, and he catches your shy little wave, sending a flawless wink back at ya

 (/❛o❛)/❤,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸,.-~*´¨¯¨`*·~ o(~_^)o

OOF

MAN DOWN MAN DOWN

HE GOT YOU

ONE HIT KO

AHHHHHH <3

If love at first sight is a thing

This may very well be it

He’s. So. Cute~ 乂❤‿❤乂

At least you think so

Seungmin, on the other hand…

…

Not so much :))

In fact

The way he’s looking at this guy

You may not know what he’s thinking

But you can tell

He’s trying really hard to put up a normal/average front

His aura is…

Well

It’s not pleasant that’s for sure

When you two stand off to the side, waiting for your order

You tug at his sleeve and ask him if he’s alright

“Hm?” He snaps out of glaring daggers to peer down at you, smiling softly. “Yeah, everything’s fine.”

You highly doubt that, but you aren’t about to open any doors that should remain locked

“Okay…”

Just then your order is being called, by the cute blonde by that recently stole your heart

You instantly light up like a Christmas tree, and before Seungmin can make a move you dash over to the counter to pick it up

Leaving Minnie in your dust

“……”

He doesn’t say a word

Meanwhile, back at the food stand, you’re taking the bag of goods from…

You’re squinting at his nametag…

Only to notice he isn’t wearing one. Now you feel kind of dumb.

“It’s Jaemin,” he laughs, dropping some extra napkins in the bag. But also…

Why is winking at you like that?

“Maybe I’ll be hearing from you sometime?”

What…

You look down into the bag

Sure enough, there’s a phone number scribbled out in pen over the top napkin

...Wow. He’s not even trying to be sneaky about it. He’s letting you know what’s up.

But doesn’t he think that…?

You look at him earnestly. “Don’t take this the wrong way or anything, but um…”

His eyes grow soft, and looks disappointed all of a sudden. But he seems to be taking whatever he thinks is going on respectfully. “Oh, so you are in a relationship. I’m sorry, I thought that-- well, Jeno told me you two weren’t anything serious, so I thought that--”

“Jeno?” You look over his shoulder, and sure enough there’s Jeno, school jock, meeting your stare and giving you a quick “what up” nod before he hustles back to work

Jaemin sighs, making himself look busy by swiping down the counter. “Sorry, again. That was really rude of me, you can just ignore--”

“No!” you cut in.

He’s looking back up at you, a bit surprised, and you clear your throat. “I mean uh...he’s right. Jeno’s right. I’m not...seeing anyone right now. I mean, I’m not in a relationship or...anything like that. Seungmin and I are just really good friends. He’s like a brother, almost.”

Jaemin’s surprise quickly spreads into a smile that travels from ear to ear, and chuckles mostly to himself, giving himself a nod as well. “Okay. Sounds great. Maybe I really will be hearing from you then.”

Hnnnnn your insides are turning to goo, and you nod a little too ecstatically, having to contain the excited squeal threatening to erupt from the butterflies in your stomach as you hurry back over to Seungmin’s side

He’s right where you left him, and he looks…

He looks like a kicked puppy

There’s no way he could have heard what just happened

But you knew he saw the whole thing

...That didn’t matter though, right?

Cause it’s not like you guys are dating

He doesn’t even like you like that

Just friends

Just friends, (y/n)

So it’s fine

You don’t even care if he sees the phone number napkin

Which he’s looking at right now; actually glaring intensely would be a better word

And now he’s

Oh

He’s reaching inside the bag

He’s taking it out

He’s glaring at it

He’s debating something

He doesn’t look very happy

Brave (Y/n) tries to reach for the phone number

Her attack missed

Minnie’s power level is too strong

It’s over 9,000

Now he’s walking away and…

You gulp as he waits to get Jaemin’s attention

exchanging some words with him

Oh dear stars

What are they saying?

What’s going on?

You’re not sure why, but your legs won’t move

There’s some kind of...barrier...there’s this aura emitting off of Seungmin. It’s the same as earlier when he first caught you smiling at Jaemin. 

But now it’s stronger, more powerful. Clearly you aren’t the only one who feels it either, because the customers and employees around him are taking a few steps back and sending curious glances as well...when he comes back, he’s empty handed. And he looks…

Calmly pleased with himself. “Sorry about that, (y/n). He won’t be bothering you anymore.”

You frown. “He wasn’t bothering me, Minnie. In fact--”

You don’t get to finish that thought, because he’s ushering you off like a shepherd herding a lost sheep away from a pack of wolves...

Except you’re starting to suspect that he may be a wolf in sheep’s...well, shepherd's clothing

You sit down to eat, and it’s like nothing happened. Minus the twitch in his face every time you so much as look toward the Cinnabon shop.

~~~

The next day you’re sitting in your chosen science course, Environmental Systems. It was either that or Quantum Physics...and let’s face it, you hate math, so ES won ten to none

You’re sitting at your lab table totally zoning out...you can’t stop thinking about Minnie’s behavior the other day. What the heck had gotten into him? Why was he acting so strangely? So rudely?

He’d gotten better after he started hanging out with you. He’d stop skipping classes, started taking his classwork seriously

It turns out Minnie is actually really smart; like, really smart. His IQ has gotta be in the 150 range. It was just a matter of applying himself and actually giving a hoot; and for some reason, he’d listen to you. Most of the time, anyway.

 So you’re sitting there all slumped over in your stool, elbows on the table with your head propped up in both hands. Your eyes are locked in an internal battle with the clock on the far wall; each second that ticks by is a second lost, a second wasted, a second longer that you STILL can’t figure out what’s wrong with--

...Say, why is this bothering you so much anyway?

You two ain’t dating

You’re just friends

But you still care about him and are worried for him...as a close friend, right? That’s normal, isn’t it? You’re like a fretting sister worried about her brother’s strange behavior

Yeah yeah that’s all it is

Also what was up with that aura coming off of him?

You’re pretty sure even the Fire Nation would have turned and run with their tails between their legs

Wonder what it was he said to Jaemin…

...Aw man

Jaemin

So much for that romance waiting to be written (“=3=)

You feel a hand on your shoulder

“Ahh!” 

You whirl around to see Seu--

…

Lucas?

He gives you a tender smile, slinging his backpack to the floor beside the table. “Hey. You okay?”

“Oh…” You sigh, shaking your head to clear it. “Yeah. Yeah I’m...fine.” ...Not fine, but it’s okay.

New character introduction! → This is your lab partner, Lucas. He’s sat beside you all year, but you normally don’t speak much beyond idle chitchat and classwork. 

But today is different

Because today is the day he’s finally getting up the courage to…

...No, not confess his undying love for you. He just wants to talk more. He’s seen you around with Seungmin a lot; in fact the two of them share a class together, and let’s just say you’re not the only one who’s noticed some odd behavior. Lucas is a caring guy, and he’s worried about you… He thinks you’re a good person. And to him, good people are precious treasures that must be protected!! (/oAo)/

He takes a seat in his stool beside you, the one next to the window, and looks at you with concern in his eyes. “So, listen...I know we don’t talk a lot, but…is it okay if I ask you something?”

“? Sure, go ahead.”

“You and Kim...what’s your relationship like?”

You frown. “We don’t have a relationship. I mean, I’m not romantically involved with him...we met in middle school. We’ve been friends ever since.”

“...Are you sure about that?”

...what?

“What do you mean?”

“Well...not to sound out of line or anything, but I’m a bit surprised...well, I have a hard time believing...erm, seeing a person like you hanging out with a person like him. And it’s not just me, either. Anyone who knows either of you feels the same way.”

(• ε •) ? Why tho

You’re looking to him for the answer, but he doesn’t give you one. Instead he’s changing the subject.

“...Not to be nosy, but Jaemin told me what happened the other day. Uh…” He rubs the back of his neck, glaring down at the table. “He wanted me to apologize to you again, in his place. But you really should have told him if you were--”

“I’m not in a relationship with him!”

You’d slammed your hands on the table, jumping out of your seat. The rest of your classmates all silence their chatter or last minute scribbling of unfinished homework assignments, staring at the far left corner of the room where your table is.

Oops

You uh

You hadn’t meant to do that

Muttering an apology you sink back down into your seat, head bowed to allow your hair to hide your face like a curtain. Showtime’s over, folks. No encores, please.

Lucas hesitates, but after a moment he places a hand against your back. Something wet rolls down your cheeks...sheesh, when did you become such a crybaby? Are you seriously crying about this right now? But why…?

 You hear him swallow, and next thing you know he’s asking you for your side of the story, and you tell him everything. About Seungmin flipping like a light switch. About his scary aura you’d never noticed before. That you had no idea he was gonna react like that.

“I see…” Lucas is quiet for a moment. Then he holds out his hand to you. “Give me your phone for a sec.”

??? Okay…

You give him your phone, and he smiles a bit at the phone charms of things you stan clinking together as it’s being passed over to him. He grabs your wrist for a second (lightly) to unlock it, making you chuckle, then he’s opening the contacts app. He slides it back over not but a few moments later with the friendliest smile he’s ever given you; a smile letting you know that everything’s going to be alright.

“Text me anytime. I gave you Jaemin’s number as well. You should call him. I know he seems kind of like...a womanizer, but he’s really not. That’s just a dumb rumor going around from the popular crowd ‘cause he turned one of the cheerleaders down. He’s really a nice guy, and he talks about you a lot.”

……

QAQ <3

LUCAS I COULD KISS YOU RIGHT NOW

OmgoshomgoshomgOSH \(^.^)/ 

GO LUCAS YEEHAW

You do hug him at least

You can’t help yourself

You feel like a weight has been lifted

Like you can breathe a little easier

Lucas just laughs half awkwardly, half genuine, and pats your back before the teacher walks in and makes a comment about PDA, and you both roll your eyes and take your seats

You spend the whole class chatting and catching up like two good friends that hadn’t seen each other in a long time, really hitting it off even though you’ve been lab partners the whole semester 

Your teacher doesn’t mind as long as you get your work done; today is a relaxed, catch up on late assignments kind of day

You’re so engrossed in a debate about which flavor of ice cream is superior that you scarcely hear the bell ring; you notice it but it leaves your mind after five seconds because this hoe over here is trying to convince you that vanilla is better than chocolate

CHOCOLATE IS SUPERIOR OKAY?!? (Author Note: if you feel otherwise, just pretend the roles are switched✌️)

 You’re going into heavy detail about how your flavor is just melts-in-your-mouth kind of good, being a river of pure joy when you notice Lucas staring towards the door with a troubled look on his face...is he trying to tell you he needs to go?

Probably. Well shoot, is it pretty rude to keep someone from getting where they need to go…

You’re about to apologize and turn to get your things and uh

Seungmin is there

At the door

Just watching you two

He’s wearing the same resting b*tch face he wore during the Jaemin fiasco

Uh-oh.

He doesn’t approach you like you fear he will, though. He simply waits patiently, one eye on you, the other on Lucas.

The moment you get your things together you bow your head to Lucas, being overly respectful in a state of minor panic before scurrying for the door. Seungmin flips his attitude again to be all smiles and sunshine, taking your hand a bit too forcefully and sending a look over his shoulder before hauling you off. 

“What was that all about?”

He may be smiling, but his tone is the complete opposite, making you frown

He’s not gonna freak out again like yesterday, is he??

Uh uh uh

Wait you don’t have anything to hide

You have the right to have friends

You know what

YOU KNOW WHAT

You’re about to tell this guy

This whole thing is dumb, you’re probably making it out to be way worse than it actually is

It’s surely nothing

Guys are just weird and testy

...But when you open your mouth to let him know how you feel

Aka the truth

Nothing comes out

Not a dang thing

You close your mouth; open, close, open

N o t h i n g

Then something finally does come:

“Lucas is my lab partner. We were just talking about--”

He cuts you off, squeezing your hand a little tighter. Ow. “No, not that. I meant before class.”

Be--

Before class?!

“I saw you handing your phone to him. What happened?”

Uh

Sis what

He saw that? He was there?!

WHERE?!?

He always walks you to and from class, but you were sure you saw him leave after he dropped you off! He...He had to be hiding somewhere…

Normally you’d think it was a bit cute because “oh he’s just a helicopter brother” or laugh ‘cause he’d be trying to pull a prank on you but

Given what happened yesterday

It freaks you out.

He’s squeezing your hand tighter. It’s really starting to hurt.

“Um...it was nothing! It was part of a warmup assignment!”

“Warm-up assignment?”

“Yeah! We were comparing the current temperatures around the world, and his phone wasn’t working, so I let him borrow mine!”

The lie comes tumbling out of your mouth like a rolling stone

You can’t very well give him the truth

Not if he can’t handle the truth

Plus you need time to sort out what’s really going on with him

But does he buy it?

Well let’s see

He stops and looks you in the eyes

His gaze is cutting through you again

Just like it did when you met him some four or five years ago

It’s more than a little unsettling, but you refuse to crack

Please buy it please but it please buy it…

He sighs and studies you, more gently this time, before pressing his lips together and giving a few small nods. “Okay. I guess that’s okay.”

He uh

He what now?

He guesses that’s okay…?

……

“...Listen, Seungmin. I think we need to talk later.”

“I do too. I have something for you.”

He um

He has something...for you?

Another present?

“What is it?”

His grin is almost too excited. Yet it also seems so pure and innocent. His eyes are smoldering… At least that’s how your brain interprets it, but surely he’s just trying to scare you as is his hobby 24/7. “But you’ll have to wait ‘til tomorrow to open it.”

~~~

Tomorrow comes sooner than you know it

It’s Valentine’s Day

Flowers and chocolate and greeting cards are all over the place

Ribbons and lace and delicious cakes

Hey that kinda rhymed B)) You’re the new Shakespeare

Okay anyway

You’re at your locker; for once Seungmin isn’t around between periods, he’s being held up with a board meeting

Oh yeah, that’s right...forgot to mention, he’s on the Student Council

Told you he was smart tho

But that also made him a lot more...worrisome, given his recent outburst and weird personality flips

The Student Council had a lot of influence at your school

They practically ran the whole circus here

For example, you knew it wasn’t a coincidence that you no longer shared Statistics class with Jeno, Jaemin’s buddy.

… sigh

This whole thing was just one giant me--

UM

What is all this?? (o.o)

You open your locker, right

And well

There’s a huge mess of roses

And chocolates

And greeting cards

And ribbons and lace and delicious cakes; word 😎

You have to grab a few bouquets and boxes before they spill all over the floor

How is it that...since when did you have so many admirers?

No offense to you or anything

You were a very nice girl

Cute, smart, sophisticated, good sense of humor

But you were also rather quiet and shy

Mostly because Seungmin took up all your free time

He kept it that way

Once you survive shoving everything back into the locker in a way that won’t result in them burying you alive, you open one of the greeting cards while a janitor and a few students give you looks at the mess of petals all over the floor

(𝑌/𝑛),  𝐻𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑦 𝑉𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑒'𝑠 𝐷𝑎𝑦! (\(^-^)/) 𝑊𝘩𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝑚𝑦 𝘩𝑢𝑔? 𝐽𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝑤𝑖𝑡𝘩 𝑡𝘩𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑦 𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 ;𝑃 -- 𝑆𝑒𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑚𝑖𝑛

You open another:

𝑅𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑑, 𝑉𝑖𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑙𝑢𝑒, 𝐿𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑡𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑠 𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑟𝑑'𝑠 𝑒𝑦𝑒 𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤

??? Okay then…

You’re noticing that all the cards and boxes are labeled “Seungmin” or “Minnie” or “you know who” as you’re shuffling through the garden that has become of your locker

You find the tulips near the back next to some daffodils and classic red roses, having to use half your strength just to wrestle them out

Oi vey

You peer inside from “a bird’s eye view”

…

But you don’t see anything

Wait a second yes you do

There’s something dark and boxy buried inside the bouquet

You dig inside...fish it out

It’s a lovely black box, long and rectangular, with a beautifully elegant ice-blue ribbon tied around it

Wow this thing looks pretty pricey...how much did he spend on you exactly?

Seungmin had always been a little extra when it came to you but this year was overkill big time

There’s a note sticking to the back of the box; it says: 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑚𝑒

Wow he may as well just attached all the notes he gave you into a novel

But okay you read it

You like reading anyway

𝑂𝑝𝑒𝑛 𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑐𝘩𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑝.𝑠. - 𝐼'𝑙𝑙 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠 <𝟥

...Huh??

You examine the flowers before you…

Your eyes instantly land on the one in the center, which looks slightly different from the others

Because it’s fake...

~~~

Minnie helps you carry your things home after school. He handles your bags and chocolates and most of the flowers, but he insists that you carry the tulips

Why not roses? →  Tulips were your favorite flower

But even if they hadn’t been, he’d bought you one of every kind of flower on the freaking planet anyway, as well as every good chocolate combination in existence

He’d even gotten you that cute plushie you’d been eyeing in the window of a toy shop in the mall

“Did you like everything?”

“Yeah...it’s great. You didn’t have to, though.”

His face gets a little...resting b*tch again. “Nonsense. I wanted to. You deserve it.”

M’kay…

“...Thanks, Minnie.”

“I mean it. You deserve this and more.”

“No, no. This is plenty. Wayyy more than enough.”

You laugh at first, but the moment you notice Seungmin’s not laughing, you stop.

There’s an uncomfortable silence in the air for the rest of the walk, that is until you reach your house.

“Listen, (y/n)--”

“Welp thanks for everything today!!”

You rush inside, dumping the load in your arms by the front door. When you run back outside to get the rest of what Seungmin is carrying, he tries speaking to you again.

“(Y/n)--”

“Geez it’s awfully cold out! Winter sure is a bummer huh? But I do love curling up inside and um...oh wow I’ve got a lot of homework to do--”

“(Y/n)!!”

You wince at the harsh tone in his voice; if you were an animal you’d have your ears flat against your head right now. “...Y-Yeah?”

Something...uh...uh-oh

His cheeks are turning the color of the roses in his arms.

This can’t be good

But when his lips part to say what he needs to say, nothing comes out

Cause here comes Lucas riding his bike down the street

And there’s a red rose gripped against the handle

Oh dear stars what fresh hell is this

You’re lost for words

Maybe he’d just passing by on his way to give some other girl a--

Nope he’s putting on the break in front of your house

He’s wheeling his bike over to you

Seungmin’s going into resting b*tch mode again

Why does karma hate you??

“(Y/n),” Lucas chuckles. “Don’t get too excited or anything. This isn’t from me. Jaemin asked me to give it to you. He’s been swamped by girls all day and hasn’t had a moment to himself to come find you. He’s got practice after school so...well I owe him a favor after losing a bet last week, so here I am. Haha...ha.”

Oh man, karma really does hate you

You look over to Seungmin, slowly, careful that any sudden movements will set him off (if Lucas’s words haven’t)

…

……

Wow he’s actually pretty calm right now

Hey maybe he’s okay

Wait no he’s not

He’s crushing those roses and chocolates in his arms pretty tightly

He looks really stiff and rigid

You’re surprised there isn’t a vein throbbing out of his forehead right now

And that scary aura is leaking back into the air again…

“Uh, th-thanks Lucas…” You can’t stop stuttering as you reach for the flower

You take it and after exchanging a few lame jokes and chatter, he waves and gives Seungmin a Bro Nod before riding off

...I mean

That could have gone way worse

You honestly thought Seungmin was going to try and stop you

Or say something

And truth be told the author did plan that

BUT

Then she got another idea okay back to you (y/n)

Gee thanks >->

Okay now

You’re watching Lucas ride off into the sunset (not romantically or anything, just seeing him off and secretly cursing him for choosing such a poor time to pull a stunt like that) when Seungmin blocks you view and is standing...really close to you. 

Why is he so close?

He’s...looking down at you intently. Watching you closely.

Huh who what

Why

This is weird

He just keeps getting weirder and weirder

Making less and less sense

And then he says:

“(Y/n)...listen for a second. Please?”

Um okay

Kinda scared to but sure

“Okay…”

“About what happened yesterday...I’m sorry.”

Oh! He’s apologizing!

He’s not crazy after all (っ◔◡◔)っ ♥

I’m fine you’re fine everybody’s fine

You smile in relief, feeling your muscles relax and all the tension leave the air. You’re seeing the old Minnie you became friends with in those sparkling eyes, that kind lopsided goofy smile, those soft lips, that...that uh…

……

Soft lips?

Sis I

*internally shaking your head*

Girl you gotta get your butt inside RN

You quickly tell Minnie that it’s alright and sweep the whole thing under the rug, giving him a FRIENDLY kiss on the cheek that he may or may not have taken the wrong way

And you get your crushed flowers and broken chocolates and scramble up the sidewalk leading to your doorstep.

…

You fail to notice how long Seungmin is glaring after you with the purest, yet most lecherous, smile on his face

~~~

The moment you yeet yer ass back into the house

It’s like a reminder notification goes off in your head

And you remember about the tulips

Luckily your parents are out having a romantic dinner at some four-star restaurant, so you gather up all the stuff Seungmin had bought you and make three or four trips getting everything securely into the closet of your room

Plushie goes on the bed

You put the tulips in a vase, pondering curiously at what to make of the whole “last flower dying” business

But that can also wait

Because you have a gift to unwrap

You crack open a box of broken chocolates first (hey they’re still good even if they are a little messy and no longer visibly attractive), then you set the box down before you on your desk and just...stare at it for a minute

Admiring how pretty and fancy it is

It’s after school now, sooo…

You tear into that bad boy ヽ(⌐■◡■)ノ♪♬

…

……

………

It’s

It’s a

   ᴵᵗ'ˢ ᵃ ᵏᶰᶤᶠᵉ

Seungmin

He

He got you a--

Holy cow uh

Holy shiz

What

What are you supposed to make of this?? 

……………………

There’s another note inside the box, beneath where the knife was

You carefully set down the weapon, you don’t know if it’s a switchblade or what and the last thing you need is this thing popping out at you

𝑊𝑖𝑡𝘩 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑡𝘩𝑜𝑢𝑔𝘩𝑡

𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝘩𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑑

𝑆𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠

𝐵𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝘩𝑒𝑦 𝑔𝑜 𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑑

……………………………………..

*takes a breath*

Okayyyyyyyy

You take it back

There’s a sinking feeling in your gut right now

You have an idea of what this could mean

But you don’t want to

…

You peek outside your window

No one is there

You stick your head out into the hallway; no one’s home either

Normally you’d hope Mom and Dad would bring you home some leftovers

But tonight you’ve lost your appetite

You don’t even know why you’re stuffing your face with chocolate right now

Stress eating you guess…

…...

You close your door again with a small shiver, reaching down to examine the knife he gave you

Once you manage to get it open anyway

You let out a little yelp the first time, but after practicing a few times it becomes easier and less scary, your confidence in not cutting yourself or losing an eye growing

You turn the blade in the sunlight

It was really freaking pretty

Like 

Really really pretty

It’s shiny af

So so shiny

And let’s face it you love shiny things

You were probably a seagull in a past life with how attracted you were to sparkly objects 

S o s p a r k l y ✨💕

The colors blended so beautifully too, one spectrum flawlessly cascading into the other, then the next

The whole thing was very elegant and feminine

But also cool and kind of retro-looking

A rainbow-stained blade with a black chrome handle

It had a little pocket clip on one side, in case you wanna clip it to your jeans or attach it to something

The design on the handle is pretty

It honestly looks like a butterfly knife, but it’s not

Just a basic spring-assist

You only know this because Minnie catches you examining it again the next day and tells you 

Why did you bring a knife to school, you ask?

Well…

What if your mom decided to do cleaning? Was your whole thought process; she always gets a little nosy after Valentine’s Day and likes to tease you about all the stuff Seungmin usually busy

Wait til she gets a load of Butterfly Gardens in the closet

You’re looking over at Seungmin now, who’s all peaches and cream, looking cute as a button for someone who just gave you a deadly weapon the other day

He looks really excited and pleased with himself 

And then he asks you

“Are you gonna keep it?”

...

Well let’s see

You’re pretty sure if you bring a knife home

As in, your parents see you walking through the front door and actually find out about it

Even if you are just about a legal adult now

Your mom is gonna freak

Your dad won’t be having any part of it either

“yOU’ll shOOt yOUr EyE OUt!1!1!”

“Mom it’s not a gun and this isn’t A Christmas Story!!”

“You’LL STaB YouR eYe ouT1!1!”

Ugh yeah it’d be a no go sis

Plus with that poem he wrote you…

And everything else…

Even if you are friends and all…

Or whatever the heck your connection to him was

It’s all too much

You’re about to respectfully and politely decline when you look at Seungmin’s face and

...

He’s staring at you

Hard

Really hard

Like he looks a little pissed

It’s almost like he read your whole thought process just now

Like he knows you’re about to say no and hand it back to him

Holy shiz

Uh okay bro chill out haha...ha

“Well?”

Dang he don’t sound very pleased either 

Uh uh uh

You smile to cover up the weird feeling in your gut, gripping the blade close to your chest (closed, ofc): “It’s great! So pretty! I love it!”

...That’s not a total lie, anyway.

It is really pretty

And you do like it

Even if it does creep you out a little a lot

But you getting grounded and swamped by Angry Mom™?

Not so great no

Seungmin is suddenly all smiles again, back to his usual goofy/cheerful self. “That’s great, I knew you’d like it. It suits you perfectly. It’s colorful and charming...just like you.”

He swipes a stray hair from your face, tucking it behind your ear tenderly. The whole action is oozing with love and affection...but you’re not sure if it’s the good kind. It’s light on the outside, but it’s got some weight to it. It’s got a...it’s just...

The final bell rings, signaling that All Students Must Yeet Themselves Off The Premises Because Teachers Wanna Go Home Too

Seungmin places a hand against the small of your back, leading you off campus

Once you turn the corner off official school grounds that hand snakes it’s way around your waist, resting on your hip

U m

You’re uh

You’re honestly too scared to say anything

A chill runs up your spine that doesn’t disappear until after he’s dropped you off at home

The next day goes by in a flash, mostly because for the first time ever you stayed up horribly late way past your usual bedtime to stare at what Seungmin had given you, other than a recent case of the heebie-jeebies (> ︿ <”) 

You’d managed to keep the blade hidden from your parents; the moment Minnie dropped you off you’d rushed inside before he could invite himself over (since you could tell it was heading that way and uh...well he was starting to get a bit more handsy) and stormed straight up the stairs to your room, shutting the door and stashing the deadly weapon in a drawer

Seriously, what the heck was going on?! Why was he acting like this? >:((

...

It was on your mind the rest of the evening, while you were doing homework, when you were having dinner

Not even a few episodes of Sailor Moon or your favorite sitcoms were helping

Not even Studio Ghibli

Your mind was present for all of five seconds of Arrietty before you came back to reality and the credits were rolling

Preferably that one part where the dad goes, “sometimes it’s best not to go looking for danger...”

S i g h

Tell me about it, Papa Borrower

You’re trying but it’s like danger won’t stop looking for you

Danger by the name of Kim Seungmin...

...

Was he really dangerous, though?

Kim Seungmin? Dangerous?

He was such a sweet boy

A former delinquent, yes, but the worst he’d done was skip class to do...whatever it was he did. He’d never hurt a fly— at least, not that you knew of

He’s was a Chaotic Shy boy with a kind face that loved photography and flowers and being a sarcastic ass half the time

So what if he had a thing for knives?

It’s normal for teenage boys to be into all that stuff

And maybe he didn’t even have a thing at all

He probably just wanted to catch you off guard to fool you

He wanted to freak you out on purpose

It was all a joke

Yeah!

That’s it!

A dumb prank

Finally you could get some shut eye…

“Would you like to answer this one, (y/n)?”

Your head snaps up, and a few giggles circle round the classroom. Your face flushes in slight embarrassment. 

“Um...yes Mrs. Hwang, of course”

Okay you’ll get some shut eye as soon as school is over

You got the answer wrong, btw

Stupid Seungmin 😞😒 you’d let him have it for giving you a scare like that later

That poem was a nice touch too, the bastard

And as soon as later rolls around, you’re ready to pass it over, boys

Here comes the thunder

It’s your free period, and while you thought about taking a nap and telling a friend to wake you a few minutes before Environmental Systems (that friend being Lucas), you were too upset to sleep

You had to give this jerk a what for 

A good slap upside the head outta do the trick

Yeah!!

He should be in Woodshop right now, if your sleep deprived brain was remembering correctly

Get ready you jerk 😤 cause here comes the—

...

Your froze in the doorway

Wanna know why?

It’s because your eyes instantly find Seungmin

But the moment they do they can’t help but travel downwards to the project he’s working on in his hands

It’s a statue of you

Like okay hear me out

You ain’t tryna be vain or nothin

Because while the carving is really beautiful and all

It’s totally you

There’s no mistaking it

It’s really freaking detailed

And you see yourself in the mirror at least twice a day

So you should be able to recognize yourself when you see her

And bish that is most certainly, without a doubt, a wood carving of you

......

What are you supposed to do now?

What were you doing here again??

Um uh uh

Sh*t bro

This ain’t good

Normally one would be flattered, right?

But you don’t know

You don’t know what to think

You haven’t known what to think since the incident involving Jaemin

You really aren’t sure how you feel about this sudden new development 

You’re just standing there two steps into the room with a fist raised when the boy next to him, your friend Felix (but mainly his), looks over his shoulder and smiles to you, not even questioning why you’re frozen like that. 

“Hey, (y/n)! How’s it going?”

Crap.

Seungmin immediately looks up, and his whole demeanor goes from zero to sixty, calm and focused to chaotic and delighted

If only you could say the same about yourself

“(Y/n)...I wasn’t expecting you to come find me.” He smiles. He does that a lot so long as there isn’t another guy around. (Felix and Changbin not included). “Is everything okay?”

“Um…” Say it, (y/n). Say it! 

You put on a brave face, trying to look as stern as possible. But that idol of you staring you down from across the room is weakening your stature like kryptonite. “Actually...no, it’s not. It’s really not. I need to talk to you--”

“Then let’s go someplace quiet.”

Wait

Right now?

Apparently so

He’s pulling you out into the hall, yelling at Felix to “cover for him.”

The last thing you see is the freckled boy giving him a thumbs up before you’re dragged off to the Student Council office

It’s empty and dark when you get there; the door is locked

Seungmin must have known it would be

He pulls out a key and unlocks the door, sliding it open and sweeping you inside.

He closes the door but

He doesn’t turn the lights on

So you reach and try to feel your way along the walls for the switch, but your fingers find his instead

Causing him to intertwine them with his

He pulls you right up against him…

And he kisses you

Softly

It’s very gentle, very tender

And you find yourself melting into it, even though just a second ago you were ready to klonk his brains out

But then…

Then he shoves you into a wall

No, he’s not passionately throwing you up against it

He’s slamming you into it

Hard

It honestly knocks the wind out of you for a second

And the first thing you see now that your sight has adjusted are his eyes; they’re boiling, dark, violent

He’s definitely not a happy camper

His grip on you is tight; like he’s trying to make you pop or something

It hurts bro

It really, really hurts

You suck in a sharp breath of air, but he silences you by getting the first word in

“Why the hell are you so difficult?”

UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUh

You, difficult?! He’s one to talk!

“Wh-What are you--”

“Shut up! I’m not finished talking yet!”

He’s totally cutting off your blood circulation

You feel your arms starting to go numb, then your hands. He continues yelling at you in hushed tones.

“Why did you let me kiss you just now? Why did you kiss me back? Why are you...and them…”

...Them?

Is he talking about...Jaemin? And Lucas? And all the other guys you’ve so much as smiled to?

“...I can’t do this anymore, (y/n)...not if you’re not going to listen to me or do as I say. It’s driving me crazy. Don’t you get it? Don’t you f***ing see how I feel about you? Have you really been so dense this whole f***ing time?!?”

You

You don’t know what to say

But that’s okay because he’s not finished yet anyway

“The other day...on Valentine’s Day...when you told me...you said it was too much…...even if you were just joking…”

He loosens his grip on you for all but two seconds before squeezing you again tenfold

You no longer have it in you to meme the situation or find any part of anything remotely ironic or lighthearted

You let out a whimper of pain and he shoots a hand over your mouth to stifle it...then he’s cupping your face with both hands, using his thumbs to brush away the tears

You’d run

But you’re too scared to move again

Seungmin is much stronger than you

Taller

Faster

And now that you think about it

You’re pretty sure you heard him lock the door while you were fumbling around for the light switch

“......”

“......”

You hiccup and bite your lip, trying to stop yourself from crying so he’ll give you the space you need right now

This isn’t driving you crazy anymore

It’s scaring you

He’s scaring you

You want the old Seungmin back

The one that wasn’t bipolar and insane

Cause it was all starting to come to you now

The dots were finally connecting

How could you be so blind…?

…

Blind…

Blind.

The poem

What did it say again?

𝑊𝑖𝑡𝘩 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑡𝘩𝑜𝑢𝑔𝘩𝑡

𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝘩𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑑

𝑆𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠

𝐵𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝘩𝑒𝑦 𝑔𝑜 𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑑

……

You just got an eerie feeling in your chest

Seungmin is still looking at you like a puzzle he can’t seem to piece together. You’re sure you’re looking at him the same way.

“(Y/n). I need to know...tell me, do you…” You can feel his cheeks getting hot inches away from your own. “...Do you feel the same way?”

Crazy? No.

Scared? Upset? Yes.

“...I……” You end on a little sigh, a hesitant puff of air. You can’t get your voice box to work properly.

Unfortunately for you, Seungmin takes this the wrong way; slamming you back into the wall again, he reaches into his pocket, cursing while punching in a number you can’t see. Probably because you’re sinking down the wall with fresh tears in your eyes. You seriously want to go back five years ago and reverse such a terrible mistake...or at least be at home.

You think he’s calling someone, but for some reason he only holds the phone to his ear for all of five seconds before hanging up and putting it away. Guess whoever he was trying to reach wasn’t around.

“......”

And then you see something slowly cross over his face. Like watching a sunrise of realization. Like waking up from a horrible dream, a bad nightmare. 

And then you see that he’s crying.

The tears are silent and steady

And he angles his body quickly to gape at you with a look of pure horror on his face. 

“(Y-Y/n)...”

He drops down to his knees, reaching for you again

But you squeal in panic and flinch away, and he retracts his hands, gripping them close and hanging his head in shame. He’s shaking all over...staring at his hands in disbelief

“......I...I’m so sorry, I...I just...wanted to protect you, (y/n).”

“......”

“Th-Those guys you hang out with. They aren’t good for you. I wanted you to see that...”

“......”

“I’m the only one, (y/n). I’m the only one that understands you. But when you toy with my heart like this--”

“Toy with your heart?!”

You found your voice again. And she ain’t happy.

“...” he swallows, tilting his face up to look you in the eye. Still crying, softly. “...Yes. I--”

“I’ve never toyed with your heart once in my life! I can’t get a word in because you scare the heck out of me! Ever since I met Jaemin at the mall and started talking to Lucas you’ve been acting totally crazy! It’s like I don’t even know who you are anymore…!”

………

And then it’s silent for quite some time

“......” he swallows again, turning his head away and muttering curse after curse to himself while he heads to door.

He locks it behind him.

~~~

Well you found the light switch, but turns out it doesn’t work for some dumbass reason

You’re sure you’re doomed

Your phone is in your bag with the rest of your belongings

You’re confused

And sore

You don’t know what to think anymore, for real this time

You could try calling for help? But…

The Student Council hall is located in a more isolated part of the school that rarely anyone uses

Then Seungmin comes back

And he’s got a first aid kit with him

As well as that kicked puppy expression on his face

Nothing really happens, thankfully

He just patches you up (even though you don’t really need it, since it’s just a few bruises and minor scratch marks)

……

And he leaves you alone

School is long over, so you grab your things from where you left them in your cubby--

…

Wait where’s your stuff

Your bag is gone

Your phone was in there

All your textbooks and homework

Gone

...This day just keeps getting better and better doesn’t it?

Then you turn around

And Lucas is standing there

He’s looking pretty worried with his bag slung over his shoulder, yours in the opposite hand

“Where were you today? You just up and vanished all of a sudden. It’s not like you to skip out on class like that.”

“......”

“Some girls in your class told me you didn’t show up for Statistics either.”

“......”

“Or English.”

“......”

“...” Lucas sighs...then his eyes travel down to your arms, catching on a bit too late, and he gapes at you. “...What happened…?”

“......” You can’t help it. Maybe it was the traumatic experience you just had. Maybe you were about to start your time of the month. But (y/n).exe shut down and fell apart.

Lucas drops everything as you run to him, and he stands there and holds you while you sob into his chest, just letting everything spill out: tears, secrets, all of it.

“(y/n)...”

You gasp for another breath, looking up at him. 

“...” His face is twisted with pain, letting you know you’re not gonna like what he’s about to say. “...I think you should stop hanging around him. In fact, I think you need to get a restraining order. I’m not kidding. You don’t know this, but...the way he acts when you’re not around...it’s very different than when he’s with you. He’s very hostile and closed off. He rarely speaks a word to anyone unless he absolutely has to. He’s civil at first, but he gets short pretty easily...he gets hot under the collar the moment anyone, especially a guy, so much as mentions your name...and then today, with you…” He squares his shoulders, standing straight and tall as he’s looking down at you. “Why don’t I walk you to my house? You’re parents went out of town today, didn’t they? I don’t think it’s safe for you to be alone if he knows where you live…”

…

It was true

You’d practically forgotten

Your parents would be out of town for the evening on a short overnight business trip

……

You really don’t want to be alone right now, and you’ve never gotten a bad vibe from Lucas before. You’d grown closer to him since the two of you exchanged numbers as well, so…

You nod your head, and he gives you a kind, sympathetic smile as he leads you away with an arm wrapped carefully and lightly around your shoulders.

~~~

The moment you get to Lucas’s house

You call your mom to let her know you won’t be home

In case she tries calling the house phone and you don’t answer

You can’t tell her you’re staying at a boy’s house that she’s never officially met before, because even if you do trust him she won’t go for it; and because you don’t want to tell her about the Seungmin fiasco either, you mean to tell her you’re staying at a galpals place

But unfortunately for you you don’t have any you can recall off the bat, and because Seungmin is still on your mind his name is the first one that rolls out of your mouth

And you have to go with it

Your mom is a little unsure at first, buuuuut...well okay, Seungmin is a nice boy, he’s over all the time and you’ve known him forever. Just be careful and don’t stay up too late!

Honestly you thought she’d yell at you even if it was Seungmin, so you’re a bit surprised but 

Oh well

At least she won’t call or worry now

You ask if you can at least stop by your house to get a change of clothes and your toothbrush, but Lucas doesn’t think it’s a good idea; instead he buys you a new one from the convenience store and let’s you wear his clothes

The t-shirt nearly swallows you and you have to tighten the drawstring pants all the way to keep them up but

It works out okay ^_^

You’re still a little shaken up over everything, but Lucas is a really good friend; he makes up a space on the floor just for you (he insisted a million times you take his bed; he’d changed the sheets and everything) but you didn’t wanna put him out since it was all such short notice, and he finally caves but makes a tent for you that’s as comfortable as possible

The two of you actually have a lot of fun making a pillow fort.

He orders delivery and the two of you curl up in the tent together watching some old Disney movies on a small box TV he hauls out of his closet

Wow this dude is vintage af with his VHS tapes

But it’s nice

The two of you sipping noodles and laughing at Toy Story and Finding Nemo

You started drifting off halfway through Emperor’s New Groove when he decided it was time for lights out and cleaned up everything

He tucked you in and made sure you were nice and comfortable before closing the tent and turning out the lights

Big Brother of the Year award goes to: Lucas Wong. *applause*

But, well…

M e a n w h i l e

At a certain Dandy Boy™ house

Something was rotten in the state of…[enter town name here]

It started with a phone call he’d just gotten from a little someone called (Y/n)’s Mom

Or as he referred to her, Mrs. (L/n).

“Mrs. (L/n)?”

“Hey, Minnie! I was just calling to check on (y/n) and remind her to bring the mail in before she gets too comfortable. She’s not answering her phone and well...you know how scatterbrained my daughter can be sometimes. I’m sure she’s just got it buried in her purse again or forgot to turn it off of Silent mode.”

“...I’m sorry, I don’t understand. Is (y/n) not home right now?”

“...Well no...is she not with you? She called about...oh, three hours ago? Said she was spending the night at your house.”

“......”

𝑻𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆𝒅.

[johnny-boy-17]

STAR VS THE FORCES OF EVIL or The Art Student’s Awakening (A Review)

Oh hey, it’s another review by me that nobody asked for! Ok, this one is actually gonna mean a lot to me since this show is pretty much the reason I even started posting things on this site to begin with (thank you and curse you Tumblr), so I need to get it all off my chest. 

Short version: It’s really fuckin’ good, and y’all should check it out. The ending could have used a little more finesse, but it’s still pretty damn good.

Long version: *gasps for air*

Ok let’s start with the story. Yeah, it’s certainly a rollar-coaster. What starts out as a fun little-romp-of-the-week type of story...

...becomes this tale of power corruption, racism battle, and a tale of trust in one another and unity among the people.

Whether or not it handles that well seems to be half and half. On one hand, grace under fire this show is not. It does seem a little rushed in the last season, and you can really tell it wanted to be a bit longer, flesh out ideas, but didn’t have time for it (I blame the Mouse on that). 

I mean I dunno about you, but a show that introduces time travel right the fuck out of nowhere in a medium never seems to end well, this show is no exception.

That and they reeeeeaaaaaally try to knock you unconscious using a hammer with all the prejudice allegories.

On the other hand, good characters can make a shit story seem like high-class art. And good characters this show has in spades (no eclipsa-related pun intended).

Firstly, Star Butterfly herself. It seems stupid not to start with her. And... yeah she’s a really fun protagonist. Not only is she basically Sailor Moon hyped up on too much nose candy, but she has an incredible story of growth to go with. She starts as a fun-loving monster battler that’s too eager to run away from her problems to this teenager facing the looming shadow of adulthood head on and ready to ditch her past of monster-ism(?) for good, never to let such discrimination see the light of day again. Not to mention Eden Sher just absolutely brings this character to life, even if it’s just little things she says like “yeah totally totally totally” or “we got burger juice on the wall rug.” Something in her performance just absolutely friggin’ works wonders. I’d say she’s probably one of my favorite protagonists out there that “the big D” has come up with, but my favorte character they’ve created in a looooong time? That award... 

... goes to mother-fuckin’ Marco Ubaldo Diaz. I cannot BELIEVE how much they won me over with this guy. I think it’s because I saw so much of myself in this guy to the point where I am convinced he’s my long-lost brother. This B0I starts out as this paranoid play-it-safe ‘nother brick in the wall type who just wants to get through his teenage life without any kind of trouble, and by the end is a guy who’s ready to shrug off getting impaled by an evil unicorn being ridden by a corrupted version of Star’s half-demon ex just to get him to snap out of it (it just now dawns on me how fuckin’ batshit this show is). I just love how as he’s easing up on his paranoia, he learns to stop taking himself so seriously and let loose every now and then. Adam McAruther deserves praise for playing this guy, and I don’t know who could ever play this guy like he did. If no other takeaways for this show were to be, it’d be that Marco is in a lineup of my favorite fictional characters of all time.

Now I sense some ears (ok fine all ears) are waiting for me to talk about the two together, so I’ll touch on it once, and make an entire post on it later: It’s great. It’s pleasing to the eye, it’s wholesome for the soul, it makes them both into better beings, the opposite attracts thing is done beautifully, the chemistry could make Bill Nye proud, and I think their ending was as good as it could be for them... though I do hate how long it took to get there. 

OK LIGHTNING ROUND GO (can’t get ‘em al, so sorry):

-Tom: I like the guy, definitely a more relatable and visible character arc and his design is neat.

-Jackie: I wish my lesbian venice beach girl got more appreciation, but I luv her none the less.

-Janna: I luv my strange bisexual filipino witch-wannabee (you know what I said is true don’t deny it)

-Moon: Never really gave her full trust, but was not disappointed by her in any way, despite various actions in the end.

-River: I liked him in the beginning season, sorta trailed off by the end.

-Kelly: Not sure why she was there, but she was cool.

-Eclipsa: We stan that queen! Loved the fact that her motives were so grey, and you every could tell if she was going to turn out to be truly bad or not.

-Globgor: We stan that king! I adored how he actually was a threat back in his day, but now regrets everything he ever did then (plus him size shifting in fights is creative as hell), wish we could have had more of him, but it’s cool that we got any at all really.

-Glossaryck: I loved him, true chaotic neutral god. He was such a troll, and he has my respect (and to think all he wanted to do was die).

 -Ponyhead: I hope that sack of shit gets donated to a glue factory.

But what is a good story without good villains? Well, this show wants to have a ton of good ones, but nothing really sticks to the wall too well, though they do leave an impact.

LUDO: This is how to do  a comedic villain right. You have fun with him in the beginning, and then you make him into a legit threat the next, and by the end give him a redemption arc so as to let him go back on his old ways without soiling his actual good moments as an antagonist. He was the one who surprised me the most.

TOFFEE: Ooooohhhhhhhhh everybody loves this lawyer-lizard B0I and so do I. This guy’s plan was 1: not evil at all, 2: his methods were borderline black and grey, and 3: it was still going on in the background of the story of the entire show since his arival. His personality was cool, suave, persuasive, manipulative, downright terrifying sometimes, and he was just so good at it. While everyone certainly wishes we had more of him, what we got and how long le lasted just cements him as probably one of my all-time favorite villains ever really.

Ms. HEINOUS/METEORA: Oh shakespeare where art thou? Such a wondrous work this tragedey is. Heinous just starts out as a villain who pushes the patriarchy so you can say “fuck that shit,” tries to steal youth for herself, wants to kill Marco for ruining her perfection, y’know yahoo. But the moment you realize her name is Meteora, and what her past has been like... yeah, this is a fuckin’ shakespearian villain for certain. It gets to a point where you begin to agree with what she’s doing, and you’re glad thing turn out all right for her in the end, but god-damn she was such a captivating force to go up against. Scar can suck one compared to this.

MINA LOVEBERRY: I wanna say this was a good attempt at an Aku-type villain (humor and terror in perfect balance), but yeah she could have been handled better. For what we did get with her though, I’m content with it. It’s just funny to see hobo-usagi here just hulk out and talk with a southern accent about what is essentially senile racism n’ shit. There are hints to a tragic past that led to this, and that was nice, but overall not exactly a swan song.

In fact, that’s kinda how the whole ending was wasn’t it? It was serviceable, but nothing big to write home about. I could have definitely used a little more polish to flesh out some things, but we got left with enough to tide over I suppose, though I so wanna see more. 

I mean, look at this new world we were left with! Could you imagine a new season just exploring that? It sounds like so much fun! However, the crew have this “leave them wanting more mentality (ha! hope you were paying attention to that foreshadowing!),” not to mention I have seen the creator Madame Daron Nefcy encourage all the creative fans this show has to do all sorts of stuff (of which we seemed to have wasted no time and not even waited for the show to end to start doing *glares at the fan-made-starco kids everywhere*).

Really, at the end of it all, I’d compare this entire series to a friend doing a cannonball from a high-dive. First, you’re amazed that they decided to climb the ladder. Second, you’re in awe of the guts their showing to prepare for the jump. Third, you gawk as they actually did jump off into the water from the height. But fourth, you see them underwater and watch them un form the ball and into a weird janky zero-gravity water thing swimming up for air, not to mention you remembered they didn’t swan dive. But that doesnt mean the plunge was all that bad, you enjoyed watching all the steps to it, didn’t you?

Overall, the score I shall leave it at would be... 7.5/10, and an easy thumbs up approval. It’s ending and other aspects have a lot to be desired, but the story and characters are too good to ignore. 

Check it out if you haven’t already (probably binge it), and to Madame Nefcy (if by some stroke of a miracle you see this) thank you so much for creating this show. I am so glad I saw it despite my gripes, and I’d gladly see it again.

[rossotronic]

Gummi Venture

Part 3: Tower of Ruin

Greeny carefully released the two gummi bear passengers from his bag of holding under the seemingly perpetual rain. They were on a mostly buried ancient stone walkway, beside an immense fallen stone column which lead up to the once-great spire. The ogre had spent all day, and a couple hours of the night walking and wind-leaping to finally reach the fabled Tower of Ruin in the heart of the Sandibas Desert. A cold night wind buffeted the three of them as they approached the entrance to the tall, foreboding structure. Only one column partially remained upright alongside the sand-worn road leading to the massive doorway. Time had long eroded away the high wooden doors, so rain, sand and whatever else had made the ground floor nearly indistinguishable from the outside world as they made their way to the interior.

“It looks even bigger inside!” Cubbi said and whistled in awe as he turned his face upward to see as far as he could. An immense limestone spiral staircase wound its way up the inner walls, leading much further than the eye could manage into the pitch black above. There were tall, thin open windows here and there to allow some light in, but being dark outside they offered nothing in the way of visibility. High, stacked stone columns helped to hold the heavy steps in place and provide additional interior support for the monstrous building.

“Can you feel that?” Asked the ogre. “That magical presence? The armband is glowing brightly. It’s making my skin tingle.”

“Maybe, a little?” Cubbi said, touching his fingers to his own arm.

“Can we cast the spell you require now that we’re here?” Zummi asked, wanting to get to it and be done as soon as possible.

“No, what we require rests at the top.” The ogre said, pointing skyward.

The trio walked around, further exploring the sprawling ground floor, looking through rubble. If there had once been evidence of a society that built this place, it seemed all but gone now.

“I’ve read that this tower was constructed centuries ago, by an advanced mociety of sages, ah, society of mages.” Zummi told Cubbi and Greeny as they explored. “Back then, history tells us this was in the center of a fertile green valley. I wonder what happened.”

“There was a great tragedy here.” Said Greeny, lighting a torch with flint and tinder from his pouch as he began to more closely inspect some etchings on the tower walls. “This spire was actually made to strengthen a powerful sorceress, built by the gentle folks who used to live here. The people didn’t want to, but they were afraid of her, afraid for their families and way of life, forced to do as she commanded. The tower, the way it was built, and where, was to create a conduit of magical energy, so she could become even stronger.”

Zummi and Cubbi looked curiously at the ogre.

“How do you know all that?” Zummi asked. “I’ve never read any of it before.”

The ogre blinked down at the magician. “What do you mean? I just read it, here on these walls. See for yourself.” He held the torchlight nearer the writing, illuminating a large section of characters etched deep in the stone bricks of the wall.

Zummi adjusted his spectacles and leaned forward, peering more closely before standing upright again. “This is ancient human writing. I’ve seen some of it before, in small part in the Great Gummi texts I’ve collected over the years. You can read this?”

“Huh.” Said the puzzled ogre. “Yes, I can.”

“I sure can’t.” Added Cubbi with a shrug.

“Have you read these words before?” Zummi asked the ogre.

“I suppose.” Said Greeny.

The ogre sat down on a carved slab of fallen limestone, the others followed suit, making themselves comfortable just near the start of the enormous winding staircase. Here the wind and rain wasn’t reaching them, and it was a rather pleasant, if cool temperature in the musty interior.

“I wore myself out, getting here today.” Greeny explained. “We should camp for tonight, and start up the stairs tomorrow at dawn. Sound good?”

Zummi smiled to himself. It was the first time that the large fellow had included Cubbi and he in his plans. “That does sound good. What say you, Cubbi?”

“Aw, I was in the bagworld all day so now I have all this energy being outside again! But I guess I can wait until tomorrow. It’s kinda exciting being here, right? Are we the first gummi bears to ever come to the tower? I bet we are!” The cub exclaimed.

Zummi and Greeny laughed at the boy’s exuberant nature.

“You might be at that.” Said the ogre, a broad smile across his face.

Zummi looked over the big man’s grinning face, and couldn’t help but notice that Greeny no longer felt like the scary monster he had first met in the glen with the others. He had softened somehow, his nature, his very presence around them felt more relaxed.

***

Sir Thornberry, Gritty and Tummi had made decent progress in their journey through the desert. The tracking had become much more challenging with the nearly constant rain and wind, but Sir Thornberry was a determined, stalwart gummi if ever there was one. He sniffed their way forward, and when he couldn’t quite pick up a trail, he looked for other telltale signs, or deduced where they must have gone. He had even gone so far as to limit their sleep to just a few hours the previous night as to cover more ground in better time. He wasn’t sure if they could catch up to the swift ogre or not, but it certainly wasn’t going to deter him from trying.

“How far is this blasted tower?” Gritty griped.

“Not gettin’ tired already, are ya Gritty?” Thornberry asked, a smirk showing on his muzzle. “You’re much stronger than me, younger too, and I could keep goin’ all night!” The old bear chided his friend.

“Why do you think they’re heading to the Tower of Ruin anyway? It must be little more than crumbling rocks by now.”

“Well, there’s nothin’ else out here is why. No one would just cross the Sandibas by going through the middle, so it only makes sense.” Sir Thornberry explained.

Tummi stuck his broad tongue out and tipped his head back, taking a drink from the rain, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “At least we won’t die of dehydration while we’re out here. Although drowning is a concern.” He muttered.

“We’ll be alright. We stay near the tops of the dunes, where the big rocks jut out, just like I told ya.” Thornberry said.

Gritty adjusted the wide leaf that had been lashed to his head. Thornberry had made sure to find a particular broad-leafed fern before they left the forest and pulled some leaves for each of them. They angled water to the center, along the stem and while they were covering each of the gummi bears’ heads, the rain water was angled back and off, or into a waiting waterskin. He had to admit it, they were lucky to have the eccentric old bear along. Despite how silly they all looked, they were practically dry in the pouring rain, at least from the legs on up, allowing each of them to focus on other hazards like sandpits, flash flooding and desert denizens.

“H-hey, look there!” Tummi said pointing off into the distance.

As moonlight made its way down past the cloud cover, the group could see that caught on a pointed rock near the edge of one of the desert streams was an unmistakable blue hat.

“That’s Cubbi’s!” Said Tummi with alarm.

Gritty carefully made his way down to it, hopping from exposed rock to rock, avoiding the deadly shifting sands. The large bear snagged the cap with his fingers before making his way back to his friends some meters above.

Thornberry took in the scent. “Definitely the cub’s. But he hasn’t been wearing it for a while now, maybe a day or more. Can’t smell much else. He didn’t lose it near here, somewhere far upriver would be my guess.”

Tummi’s eyes became glassy. “You don’t think that he…” His voice cut out.

Thornberry put his hands on his hips and frowned. “Of course I don’t think that! What’s the matter with you, lad? Cubbi’s braver and smarter than the lot of us, and he’s got that clever old wizard with him! He’ll be fine, no matter what!”

Tummi nodded his head a few times. “You’re right! Of course he’s okay. Sorry, I shouldn’t worry like that.”

Gritty patted his tubby friend on the back. “It’s alright to worry a little, just don’t give up on them.”

“Anyway, this is a good thing!” Said the old swordsman. “Means we’re on the right track, and the scent is gettin’ stronger! I think we might be approaching the spot where they spent the night last night! We just need to keep going, lads. We’ll find our friends before you know it!”

“And the Ogrelord.” Gritty reminded him.

The older gummi sighed. “And we’ll deal with him when it comes to that.” He said.

***

Greeny had brought a small assortment of food out from his bag while Cubbi and Zummi scoured the area for anything that would burn. They found bits of old tapestries, some dried out cactus parts that had blown in or was growing in the nooks of the tower by the door and started a small cooking fire using the ogre’s flint. The dancing flames lit the ancient tower up with eerie shapes and figures that moved and chased each other over the walls and columns. The three of them sat and ate.

“Is this a good time?” Zummi asked presently.

“Was that directed at me?” Greeny asked.

“You told me last night I could ask you about what you remembered, if I was still interested, which I am.”

“I guess I did.”

“Remembered about what?” Cubbi asked, taking a bite of bread.

“About me.” Said the ogre.

“Oh.”

Greeny looked into the small blaze before them, trying to collect what he could in his mind. It had been a long time, since anyone spent enough time around him to ask about his life and memories.

“There’s one story that I can recall, quite vividly.” He told the gummi bears. “But, I think there’re pieces missing.”

“When you’re ready then.” Zummi said gently.

The ogre pushed an errant bit of cactus back into the small fire with a clawed foot before beginning his tale.

“There once was a human kingdom, in a beautiful, verdant land where the people lived happily. The king who ruled this place with his family was wise and honorable.” Greeny said. “Folks traveled from far and wide to visit this prosperous land, to trade and to settle there. Its people were educated and kind, known to become renowned scholars, artists and philosophers. Outside the kingdom, in the forest some miles away was a large colony of gummi bears, and the two civilizations coexisted. It really was wonderful once, before that all changed.” Greeny’s brow furrowed as he continued to watch the fire, as if he could see the story unfolding within the licking flames.

“She was a sorceress, who commanded a vast army of ogres, and she descended on the peaceful kingdom like a plague. Her home had been far to the north, but many said that she had drained those lands of natural magic and required more. Her hunger to devour magic was insatiable, and so she was drawn to the little kingdom. You see, unbeknownst to the great king and his people, they had built their proud city over a powerful, natural magical source. Perhaps that was why the kingdom had been prospering, the plants and animals always healthy, the people so content. The sorceress saw none of that, only the means to becoming stronger. She and her ogres began to lay siege to the ill-prepared city, burning the people out of their homes, into the forest where their gummi bear neighbors offered them safe haven.”

Zummi and Cubbi continued to listen intently.

“The king had a plan though, and after his narrow escape from the sorceress’ forces, he knew the gummi bears could help him. He knew that while the witch wielded terrible, dark powers, the bears of the forest had their own opposing spells. By their very nature, gummi spells were meant to defend and protect, and even change, but not to destroy. The trick though would be reaching the witch who had already begun construction of her great tower, surrounded on all sides by her army. The ogres worked hard, with the people who weren’t able to flee to safety, who she enslaved. I suppose it had been some years since the people were forced from their homes into the woods… I should have mentioned that…”

Greeny began to look more confused as he tried to focus on details of his story. “Something, happened though, the plan was good but, they, couldn’t have known about the sorceress’ curse…”

Something snapped in the fire and the ogre visibly jumped a bit. He blinked and looked over to his audience, still captivated by the story.

“What happened? Did the plan work?” Cubbi asked.

“The, plan?” Greeny asked.

“From your story!” The pink bear almost shouted at the ogre. “The one you were just telling!”

Greeny tried to recall what he had been saying only moments ago. “I’m sorry, I don’t know.” He said and shrugged.

“Aww, stories like that, the ending is always the best part!” Cubbi complained.

Zummi nudged Cubbi with his elbow. “Cubbi, be polite.” He then turned to the ogre. “It certainly makes for a good stampfire cory, well er, a campfire story.”

“Uh, thanks.” Said the ogre.

“It is just a tall tale isn’t it? Do you recall when you first heard it?” Zummi asked.

“I’m not sure, it feels, real, almost like I was there.” Greeny said, stroking his beard with his thumb and forefinger, thinking back.

“Well it’s gotta be the same tower, and sorceress that you were reading about before. I bet you’ve explored this old place before, read the whole story on the walls. Bet there’s a lot more when we climb up tomorrow!” Cubbi said.

“That might well be so.” Zummi agreed with the young gummi. “You have been awfully familiar with the desert, and the old language here. It wouldn’t surprise me if you were some sort of historian.” The magician said to the ogre.

“Hm.” Said Greeny.

“What is really intriguing is the thought of humans and gummis living alongside one another in peace. That makes it a tale of the Great Gummis! If you memember rore, uh, remember more, I’d like to get it all written down, it sounds like folklore from long ago!” Zummi said, clearly excited by the prospect.  

“Could Greeny have been alive for all that?” Cubbi asked.

“No, no, that would make him, uh, I don’t know, a few hundred years old? More?” Zummi explained to the small bear.

“Oh, well, I guess that wouldn’t work then, but if you think about it, he could have been one of those ogres from the sorceress’ army, and then he would know all those things.” Cubbi said.

“I would have never served that monster.” The ogre said, a deep growl in his voice, which caused Zummi to shiver.

“Just an old story, Cubbi, now maybe we should think about getting ready for bed, hm?” The magician said.

“I’ll fetch the bed and whatever else you need.” Said Greeny, getting to his feet.

“How can you guys want to sleep?! I want to hear the rest!” Cubbi said.

“If he remembers anymore of the story he’ll tell us, Cubbi, won’t you Green?” Zummi asked.

“Sure thing.” Said the ogre as he set out the gummis’ bed, untied his cloak and laid it over the top.

Zummi headed to the tower entrance, to fill a few waterskins with rainwater, leaving Cubbi and Greeny near the dying fire.

“Hey Greeny?”

“Yes, Cubbi?”

“What happens, after tomorrow?”

“What do you mean?” The ogre asked, unfastening the axe from his back and setting it down carefully on the stone floor.

“Zummi will cast your spell, assuming he can, and then what?”

“That’s it, I just need your help for the spell. You’ll be free to go after.”

Cubbi shook his head. “I know that already, that’s not what I meant.”

The ogre looked down at the pink bear curiously. “How did you know I was just going to let you go, huh?”

“Because you’re not a bad guy.” The boy said. “I thought I was going to, drown last night, but, you didn’t let that happen.”

“Nobody wants to see something bad happen to a kid.” Greeny said.

“That’s why I think that maybe, you’re a good guy after all.” Said Cubbi.

Greeny said nothing, but smiled under his wild facial hair.

“But what I meant was,” Cubbi continued. “What are you gonna do when this is all done?”

The massive ogre cleared some room on the floor near the fire to lie down. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead. I, don’t really know.”

“Well, maybe you should start.” Said Cubbi as he climbed into the bed.

“Maybe I will.” Said the giant.

***

In the morning, Zummi woke up first, the ogre and Cubbi waking not long after. They packed up what few items they had out, drank fresh water from outside, had a decent breakfast provided by the pouch and prepared for the ascent.

“No desert to deal with today.” Said Greeny. “I won’t ask you to travel in the bag anymore, unless you want to.”

“I think we’re happy for the exercise.” Said Zummi.

“You say that now, but this tower has thousands of steps. If you get tired, I can carry you, both of you.” The ogre said.

“I might have to take you up on that, but hopefully not yet.” Zummi said and chuckled.

The trio started the climb. Cubbi hummed a tune to himself as he bounded from step to step. Greeny moved methodically, pacing himself carefully, always looking forward. Zummi brought up the rear, feeling each of the high stairs in his joints a little more with each one. Occasionally, a step would shift under the ogre’s weight, causing bits of rock and rubble to cascade off the side of the staircase into the middle void. As they traveled higher, long moments would pass before they could be heard crashing far below. An hour passed, and the ogre allowed a brief break, passing around a waterskin.

“We’ve come a long way already.” Said Cubbi.

“Not as far as you might think.” Said the ogre. “Perhaps halfway.”

“How can you be so sure?” Asked Zummi.

“I just know.”

After a few minutes more, the intrepid travelers got to their feet and continued the trek. Above them, out of sight, a sharp cry rang out and echoed through the hollow spire.

“What was that?” Cubbi asked in alarm.

“Not sure.” Said the ogre.

“We’re not as alone as we thought.” The magician said grimly.

They resumed their ascent, until the sound of buffeted air caused them to crane their necks.

“Get behind me!” Greeny shouted, and the gummi bears quickly obeyed.

The sound became a whoosh as a large, crimson form dived at them. Greeny bowed his head as sharp talons grazed through the short hair atop his green head. He looked up as the thing circled and regained height.

“A gryphon!” Shouted Cubbi.

The large red and black beast screeched at them, its eagle eyes focused on the small gummi bears.

“I didn’t think gryphons came out this far!” Said Zummi, clinging to one of the ogre’s fur-lined leather boots.

“They don’t, usually, but it seems this one’s made its roost here!” Said Greeny, pointing ahead of them on the stairs to a mass of dried grasses, bones and desert shrubbery. Above that, an entire portion of the tower’s outer wall had crumbled away from one of the tall window openings, revealing the stormy skies outside, and the gryphon’s way in.

The gryphon dived again, clearly only interested in the small bears. The ogre was merely in the way, blocking the feathered monster from snatching its breakfast.

“What should we do?” Asked Zummi over the beating of the beast’s wings.

“We just need to prove we’re not dinner, that we’re a threat!” Said Greeny, reaching back to grab his mighty axe.

Suddenly, the creature dived again, this time, using its forepaws ending in cruel ebony claws to grab the ogre by the front of his leather armor. It pumped its powerful wings, dragging Greeny forward on the stairs toward the cylindrical hollow in the center. The ogre tried to dig his heels in, to struggle against the creature’s strength, but the stone steps offered him no purchase.

“Don’t get dragged down with me!” He shouted to the others as he was bodily tugged over the side.

“Zummi, Greeny!” Yelled Cubbi as the two fell nearly out of sight, leaving the pink bear standing alone on the stair.

As the ogre dropped, the gryphon released its grip and climbed back into the air, preparing its next attack. Greeny reached out, grabbing the top of the stone, getting one hand and forearm over it. He looked down to find Zummi still holding on to his boot.

“You alright, old bear?!” He called down.

“For now!” Zummi shouted back.

The gryphon screamed and tucked its wings to its sides as it readied another strike. Cubbi watched it carefully, prepared to dive out of the way when necessary, but instead the monster seemed focused below.

“Zummi, look out, it’s coming after you!” The boy cried.

The magician looked up to see the powerful creature, half bird of prey, half lion, angle its attack towards him. He wasn’t sure what he could do in time. If he let go, he would fall to his death. He tried to maneuver himself around the ogre’s leather boot, to give himself at least some cover but the beast was too quick. Greeny was working to haul himself up, but he couldn’t get there fast enough. The gryphon’s large paws reached forward, dark, curved talons stretched toward Zummi, when suddenly the monster screamed and fell lower than it meant to and struggled to circle awkwardly back into the air. Zummi was shocked, he should be in the beast’s clutches at this very moment.

Greeny was able to pull himself back onto the stairs then, carefully grabbing the purple gummi and bringing him up too.

“You okay?” The ogre asked with concern.

“Yes, but where’s Cubbi?”

The winged terror screeched as it flapped above them, and for a moment, Zummi and Greeny saw something attached to one of its feathery wings. A small pink shape clung for dear life to the extended limb.

“He must have jumped onto it! That’s why it missed me!” Zummi shouted.

“Cubbi, don’t let go!” Greeny called out, using his hand at his mouth to be heard over the monster’s cries.

“I wasn’t planning to!” Yelled Cubbi.

Zummi pointed to the beast. “It’s not flying as well as before. Cubbi on its wing is throwing off the balance!”

Greeny reached over his shoulder and pulled the massive, golden-colored axe free with both hands. “Cubbi, hang on until the gryphon dives again, can you do that?” Greeny bellowed.

“Hope so!” Shouted the boy, who was trying to cope with how his stomach was feeling atop the lurching, flapping beast.

“Stand in front of me!” Said Greeny to Zummi. “I’ll protect you!”

Zummi nodded, moving closer to the edge of the steps.

Despite the annoyance that Cubbi provided the gryphon, it was still focused on its prey. Seeing the plump purple bear standing away from the ogre was too good to pass up and the creature dived at him.

Greeny readied his double-bladed axe. “Get ready to retreat to me, Zummi, and be hasty!”

“I can be quick when I need to be!” The gummi assured him.

“Run to me now!” Said the ogre as the gryphon folded its wings tightly to its strong body and attacked.

Zummi turned, bounded and slid between the ogre’s legs as Greeny began to swing the mighty weapon through the air.

“Cubbi, jump to the stairs!” Called Greeny, who waited just long enough to see the cub leap free of the monster.

As the boy’s small weight left the wing of the Gryphon, it altered its balance again, making it unable to change course. The ogre brought the axe down and around, a sweeping strike that swung like a bat. It caught the beast in the back of the head with the broad side of the blade, and hurtled it into the tower wall as if from a catapult. Zummi dived out of the way as the huge feathery body crashed all the way through the rocky stair and blasted out of the tower, creating an enormous, ragged hole and raining chunks of broken limestone around them.

Stones cascaded down from the creature’s sudden exit, smashing into the staircase and columns, shaking the tower violently. Zummi and Cubbi scurried to avoid the falling debris as the stairs under the heavy ogre began to fall away.

“Jump, Greeny! Jump up here, hurry!” Exclaimed Cubbi.

The ogre leapt, calling on the aid of his wind amulet to land safely on a more structurally sound part of the spiral staircase. The gigantic spire still shook, but seemed to calm down a few moments later. The broken ledge could still be heard crashing to pieces far below. The group collectively caught their breath.

“Look outside!” Shouted Cubbi, pointing through the gaping hole the gryphon had made with Greeny’s help.

The gryphon’s body had been plummeting down through the rainy sky outside when it suddenly seemed to wake up, shaking its head and regaining its senses. It screeched, but made no effort to turn back toward the tower. It appeared that its sense of self-preservation won out over the desire to grab a quick bite.

They watched it fly away, and enjoyed a nervous laugh together as they surveyed the damage around them. Dust fell from the stairs that formed the ceiling high above.

“That was close.” Said the ogre, as he let out a deep sigh.

“I’m not convinced this tower won’t still collapse.” The magician said, looking about them at the holes in the walls, missing chunks of stair and feeling the ominous rumbles the building continued to make in the storm.

“You let the gryphon live.” Cubbi commented.

Greeny fastened the mighty axe to his back again. “It won’t bother us again, it was just hungry.”

“I know, I mean, I’m glad you did.” Said Cubbi.

The ogre smiled down at the cub. “We’re almost to the top. Only a little farther now.”

“Good, I’ll be happy to be done with this place.” Said Zummi.

They reached the height of the ancient staircase, Cubbi and Greeny breathing hard. After the Gryphon incident, Zummi had finally asked, embarrassed, to be carried the rest of the way. It wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be, sitting comfortably in the crook of the ogre’s bent arm. Zummi pointed out more writing on the wall, which he and Greeny began to read.

“Some pictures this time.” Zummi commented.

There were some crude drawings, along with the etched words, depicting a few figures. One was a large, burly man with a curly moustache, next to him was a robed, thin fellow with hair over his face and next to him was a short, female gummi bear. It appeared that there was another figure standing next to them, but it had been scratched out, covered with dozens of deep marks, perhaps by large claws.

“Hey, a gummi bear!” Cubbi said excitedly.

“Osrid, Tulewyn, and Muddi.” Said Zummi, struggling a little with the nearly-forgotten language, as he read the names underneath.

“’Osric, Talwyn and Maddi.’” The ogre corrected him. “I know these names.”

“You do?” Asked the pink gummi.

“Very well. I… believe, they’re the reason we’re here.”

“Why is this one all scratched out?” Cubbi asked, pointing to the fourth image.”

Greeny shrugged.

“Are they the cause of the curse you mentioned?” Asked Zummi.

“I’m not, it’s still foggy.” Said the ogre.

“What else does it say?” Cubbi asked.

“Four heroes, chosen by the king, each with a powerful artifact were sent to stop the sorceress and save the land from her tyranny.” Greeny read. “There’s more but the stone face here has eroded away.”

They moved forward.

“These were the sorceress’ chambers.” The ogre explained. “The magical energy from the earth were channeled all the way up here for her to absorb, or whatever she did with it.”

“You can actually feel it in the air. It is nuch more moticeable.” Said Zummi. “Uh, much more noticeable.”

Just ahead was another heavy set of doors, but these too had mostly fallen and rotted away since they were wooden. Greeny set the magician on his feet as they all moved through the entryway.

“I thought it would be, I dunno, more interesting than this.” Said Cubbi, a bit disappointed as he looked around the large open room.

“It served its purpose I suppose.” Said the ogre.

The room was circular, the domed ceiling above had fallen through in a couple places and rain was getting in, pooling in a few areas, dripping through the stone floor to the tower below. There wasn’t much out of the ordinary at all, certainly nothing to indicate the spells or rituals that must have gone on here. Near the center of the room however were three notable exceptions.

The trio approached three carefully-shaped stone figures clustered in the middle of the chamber. The statues appeared to be surprised, craning their necks around to see something which of course was no longer there. It was a peculiar pose to capture in sculpture, certainly.

Greeny moved to stand before them.

Zummi stood at the ogre’s side, first inspecting the statues, wondering about their shocked expressions, then looking into Greeny’s face. “Statues, of the people depicted on the wall?” He asked.

“Not statues, Zummi. Cursed to become stone.” Said the ogre sadly.

“Who were they?” Asked Cubbi.

“These are the heroes chosen by the king.” Said Greeny, motioning with his large hands. “This was Osric, a powerful but good-natured knight, and here is Talwyn, the most adept mage from the scribes’ sanctum, and this--” He paused when he saw the last figure. “This is Maddi. She was from Gummiton, the gummi village in the forest, and she had quite a temper, so Maddi was just the nickname everyone called her.”

The ogre looked at the floor beside the third stone figure, where he found a pile of rubble. It seemed as though the fourth member of the stone band may have crumbled.

“It looks like there might have been another statue here.” Said Greeny. “I’m not sure what happened to them.”

The purple bear gently touched the ogre’s hand. “I, think that statue was you, Green.”

The ogre looked down at the small bear, as a sense of recognition swept over his face. He was finally beginning to remember the part he played.

“It is you, isn’t it?” Asked Zummi. “It seems impossible but, it must be. Your knowledge of this place, the language written on the walls, what went on here... how could you know all these things unless…”

The hulking ogre suddenly felt very lightheaded as if a heavy fog had been lifted from his mind, and his vision, clearing for the first time in countless years had to completely readjust. He sat down with a massive thud on the floor against one of the columns leading to the roof.

“I, remember.” He said quietly.

“Everything?” Asked Zummi, raising a fuzzy grey eyebrow.

“I, I think so. At least, I remember that night now.” Greeny said.

“Tell us what happened.” Said Zummi.

The ogre took a long inhalation.

“Osric, Talwyn, and Maddi: They were the three chosen by our king to infiltrate the tower and stop the Sorceress, however they could. It was a crazy mission, no telling what might happen but they were the ones to do it.” The ogre explained. “But in order to do that, there were two things they needed: A very good disguise, and someone with a way to sneak in. As fate would have it those things turned out to be me.”

“What do you mean?” Asked Zummi.

The big ogre undid the sack from his belt and held it out in his hand. “With this of course.” He stood up and smirked to himself as he looked at the amazing bit of cloth in his palm. “I had inherited the bag of holding from my grandfather, as he had from his father before him, making it mine, and allowing only me to use it. The council didn’t want me to do it because I was little more than a kid at the time, so I had to volunteer. I would be their way in, letting the others stay in the pouch until I could get them to the tower. But to do that, I had to be invisible, so to speak.”

The ogre got back to his feet, moved over to the statues of his friends and looked them over. His eyes grew distant as the events of the night continued to unfold in his mind.

“One of the gummis, a chief maybe, but a magic-user like you Zummi, had the perfect solution. He couldn’t make me invisible, but he could transform me into an ogre, not for very long, an hour at most before it wore off, but more than enough time for me to get to the tower. Some spies in the King’s army had also procured ogre armor to finish the disguise.”

Cubbi’s jaw dropped open. “So you’re really a human?! No wonder you don’t act like an ogre!”

Greeny continued his tale. “Before we left, the king entrusted three powerful, enchanted artifacts to the team. He had smuggled two of them out of his treasury and the third was from the gummi bears. For Osric, a mighty axe made of dwarven gold, able to sunder stone. Osric, being the capable knight that he was, would be able to wield it just fine. Talwyn was given the fabled wind amulet and cloak. He already knew many elemental spells, so he could utilize the powers of the artifact best. Lastly for Maddi, an armlet that resisted and sensed magics. It also changed its size to accommodate the wearer. This meant that she could ward off the sorceress’ direct attacks, keeping Osric and Talwyn safe to get closer and finish her. Maddi was quick-witted and agile, but she would never take a life as it was against gummi law.”

The ogre sighed softly.

“The plan was going well, at least, it was simpler than expected to reach the tower, talk my way past the guards and get inside. The climb back then just as nerve-wracking as it was today. The sorceress was in her chambers, where we stand now. When I was just outside I let my friends out of the bag and we got ready. I was supposed to wait outside there, as I didn’t know how to fight, would just get in the way. Still, when they charged her, I was too wrapped up in the enormity of it all and ran in behind them. Some childish notion of being a hero I guess.”

Greeny reached out and lightly placed his big hand on the armored shoulder of Osric as he looked into each of the stone faces surrounding him.

“The sorceress was caught completely by surprise, at first. It didn’t take her long to recover. As we had planned, Maddi got close because she was so nimble, and nullified several of the witch’s attacks. Oh you should have heard her wail in horror when her spells did nothing to that frightening little gummi bear.” The ogre grinned for a moment recalling that part.

“Osric and Talwyn had gotten closer too, casting wind magic and swiping at her with the axe, but I think it was then that she noticed me. I was trying to get a few good hits in too as I was still an ogre after all, could probably do some damage. Of course it also made me the biggest target, and she hit me with some sort of bolt attack, got me right in the head, giving me this scar.” He traced the angry pink mark beside his eye that traveled up over his brow ridge. “It hurt so much, like nothing I had ever experienced, burned through me. Anyway I blacked out from the pain almost immediately. When I awoke, the battle appeared to be over. Maddi was putting her bangle over my hand, which saved me from the worst of whatever spell had been cast on me. Osric and Talwyn were kneeling next to me, making sure I was okay. So because they were all worrying about me, they couldn’t see that the sorceress was still alive, pushing herself up from the floor where she had been felled.”

Cubbi made an audible gulping noise as he too looked up at the statues. His eyes were glassy.

“She had one last spell in her, and it was a real doozy too.” Said Greeny. “With her dying breath she cast a curse on us, and though I can’t remember exactly what she said, I caught the gist of it. As long as the tower remained intact, we would stay as its eternal prisoners. It hit me too, but because of the bangle, I didn’t get the entire effect. Apparently even this armband can’t stop magic that powerful, or maybe it was because I already had the ogre enchantment on me, I’ll never know. What I do know, is she turned the four of us to stone, and kept us trapped here, for a long time, centuries it would seem. It wasn’t until the tower finally started falling apart that my own stoneskin prison crumbled away, releasing me.”

Greeny nudged through the remains of his former statue form with his foot.

“For some reason, the artifacts hadn’t been turned to stone with the others so, I gathered them up for safe-keeping, and I’ve been searching the world for the spell that can free them ever since. Sometimes I’d think I found something and come back, but it never worked. I’d scratch reminders into the walls here to make sure I never forgot, but this ogre brain of mine, it gets harder and harder to remember. For twenty-two years I’ve been searching for the key to their salvation. If I can leave this place now, then they can too, or, they could if they weren’t like this.”

“My word.” Said Zummi after everything he had just heard.

Cubbi sniffed and wiped at his nose.

“If I hadn’t tried to play the hero, my friends would never have been distracted, could have finished her then and there instead of… this.” The ogre sobbed loudly. The sound of it echoed around the cavernous room.

Zummi placed a paw on Greeny’s forearm. “You were trying to help, it wasn’t your fault.” He said gently.

“It was, Zummi, there’s no question about that! I’ve beaten myself up for years about it. But maybe, maybe I can find some redemption if I’m able to help them. Lord knows I’ve been trying, and will keep trying. And that’s why you’re here, with the book now.”

“You think I can change them back?” Zummi asked.

“Yes! If one of your gummi spells can transform me into an ogre, there must be one to change someone who’s stone back to flesh!” Greeny exclaimed.

Zummi furrowed his bushy brows and looked to the floor.

“What is it?” Asked the ogre.

“Well it’s just, the transfiguration school of magic… it’s not such a thimple sing, uh, simple thing.”

“I don’t understand.” Said Greeny.

“When we turn a bear into a bird, it’s living thing to living thing, you see? And there’s unliving to unliving like a rock to a cup, but this…” He pointed, then let his paw fall back to his side.

“Well we have to try!” Greeny said, pleading in his voice.

“There just isn’t a spell for it, and it’s much too dangerous to try casting things willy-nilly!” Zummi explained.

“No, please, there must be a way!” The ogre said, begging now, as he dropped heavily to his knees. The tower shook again. “What about a counter curse?”

“Gummi magic doesn’t deal with curses.” Zummi said.

“I, I know.”

“Green, I’m sorry. Look what happened to you when you were cursed while in ogre form, it made an hour-long enchantment permanent! Understanding the magic at work is very important.” Zummi said, trying to provide the distraught ogre as much information as he could.

There was silence in the room, while Greeny thought about his friends, and the gummi bears were unsure what else to say.

Presently, the ogre wiped his eyes with the back of a calloused hand. “You’re right, that makes sense. I’ve waited this long, I can wait a little longer.” He said.

“That’s the spirit! We just need to find a better solution, but I’m sure it’s out there!” The old magician said.

Greeny got back to his feet, as he regained his composure. “Then I just need to find it.”

“And we’ll help you!” Cubbi said excitedly.

The ogre looked down at the pink bear. “Ha! I might take you up on that, after seeing how you handled that gryphon!” He picked the boy up and tossed him in the air with his large hands before carefully setting him down again. Cubbi just laughed.

“We will help, you know.” Zummi said.

“No need to say such things, you don’t owe me a thing. I’m the one who got you two into all this, almost got you both killed.” Greeny said and frowned.

Zummi raised his paw in protest. “We didn’t have a great start, but I understand now why you did what you did, and to be honest, I’m not sure I would have done duch mifferently, I mean, much differently were I in your place. Yours is a noble goal, and I want to help you all I can.”

“We want to help all we can.” Cubbi added.

Greeny grinned under his bristly beard. “You two, you really, I’m really glad to have met you.” He said quietly.

“Me too! It’s been crazy, but fun, and scary too!” Cubbi said.

“Hope not too scary.” Said Greeny.

“Naw!” Said Cubbi as he waved his hand at the very notion. “So um, now what?”

“First things first.” Said Greeny. He put his hand over the pouch and called out the Great Book of Gummi. “Here Zummi, thanks for letting me ‘borrow’ it.”

“You’re welcome.” Said Zummi with a smile. “To be honest, I might need your help carrying this back to Gummi Glen, it’s a big as I am you know.”

The ogre laughed, realizing he was right. “It’s the least I can do. Guess I should get you two home safely now too, huh?”

“And maybe them as well?” Asked Zummi, pointing to the stone figures.

Greeny looked over at his frozen comrades. “What do you mean?”

“Well, it doesn’t seem like this tower is going to stay upright for too much longer. Certainly not while you make another journey to find help for them. It would be unwise to leave them here, when the floor could collapse at any time.”

“Geez, I hadn’t thought of that.” Said the ogre quickly moving to the statues and opening his bag of holding. He was exceedingly careful as he moved each one inside. “Feels strange, having them with me, I guess I won’t need to come back here anymore.” His face became serious. “Without my notes in the tower, I might forget about them!”

“We would never let that happen.” Said Zummi gently. “And what’s more, they’ll be perfectly safe back at Gummi Glen. Until we find a way to help them.”

“That’s too kind.” Said Greeny.

“What choice is there? Just agree.” Said the purple gummi bear.

“I, can’t thank you enough.” The ogre said.

“It’s alright.” Said Zummi. “We’re becoming friends aren’t we?”

“You’re my first ogre friend!” Cubbi said.

The ogre smiled broadly, and nodded to both of them. “Better get going then.” He said, trying to change the subject before he got too emotional again.

“Shall I carry the book back?” Greeny asked.

Zummi had in fact opened the great book and flipped through to a certain page. “In a moment or two, Green, there’s something I can still do for you.”

The towering fellow gave a quizzical look. “Oh, and what’s that?”

“Well,” The magician began. “I told you I can’t turn stone back into living flesh, but I can certainly remove a simple ogre enchantment, probably even a permanent one.”

Greeny looked at the portly purple bear, and his eyes widened.

“You can, change me back, to how I was, all those years ago?”

“Well, it wouldn’t be how you were all those years ago. You said you’ve been free of the tower for twenty-two years wasn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“So you’ll be a man of, however old you are now.”

“That… makes sense.” Said the ogre. “But part of me wonders: I’ve been this way for so long, can I go back? Will I even recognize myself?”

“It’s your decision, but I expect that, your body, your mind, everything will feel better when you’re really you again. I can’t even imagine how, being in a transformed state for so long has affected you. We know it’s had some effect already on your memories.”

“True enough. I’m worried that I’ve forgotten more than I’ll ever know again.”

“It’s possible that, when you’re back to your old self, the other memories will return too.” Zummi said hopefully.

“You’re right. I need to know who I truly am.” Said the ogre.

“Oh wow, it’s gonna be weird seeing you, well, not like this.” Said Cubbi.

“Are you ready?” Asked the magician, rolling up his sleeves and preparing himself for the spell cast.

“Oh, almost! I probably shouldn’t have this on anymore!” Greeny said, removing the anti-magic armband. “This axe might just about crush me too.” He said, undoing the monstrous weapon from his back and stuffing it into his bag.

“Okay, change me back, Zummi. Let’s do this!” The ogre practically roared.

Greeny was anxious, terrified, but overjoyed at the prospect of being himself again. However, what if the magic failed to work, or had some unforeseen outcome? And what if it did, what would it be like? Would his new, old body even know how to move and function properly anymore? He stopped wondering about the answer as Zummi cast the spell and Greeny felt a strange warmth flow through him as his body suddenly began to change.

[catboythanatos]

so... cecilos. i literally had to stop listening to wtnv last night because i couldnt focus on anything else, i was so emotional, i just want carlos and cecil to reunite so badly. their relationship is one of the most genuine and heartfelt things ever. its so amazing. so i stopped listening and i wrote this completely cathartic thing, i just started writing and didnt stop until it was past 4am. its been a long time since ive just written something with no plan just straight from emotional overload, so it was kinda nice. i like how it turned out.

i’m only up to episode 56 so later canon might contradict something in this but idgaf honestly this is some sweet and heartfelt cecilos from the middle of the night. enjoy

Cecil awakes in the desert. There is sand all around him, warm and course against his skin. He isn't sure how he ended up here, having no memory of coming here, but he's woken up in weirder places in the past. He is used to deserts, but this desert is not his own. He can feel it. Something in the air is completely different here.

He rises, brushing the sand off of himself as best as he can, and has a look at his surroundings. There is just desert, as far as he can see. Sand wastes strewn with sad, tiny shrubs and the strangest cacti he has ever seen. There is also a distant, looming shape -- almost mountain-like in size and appearance, however, it's difficult to say what it could actually be. He decides to start his journey towards that shape, drawn to it for reasons he cannot explain. He treks for quite a long time.

As the mountain-like mass gets closer, he sees that there is a light, blinking high upon it. It is red. Blinking lights are always red. The colour evokes an emotion within him. He recognizes it. He knows where he must be. His toes tingle with excitement underneath his sand-covered shoes. There is someone here he is longing to see.

As he continues moving forward, his steps become rapid, and his breaths become strained. He is running now, defying gravity, floating now, flying at maximum speeds. He watches the vast desert pass beneath him, dry and lifeless.

Before he even knows it, Cecil is floating up to a lighthouse. His feet find their way to solid ground, and it is his heart that starts to float next. Leap, perhaps, would be a better word. He can feel his throat tightening as he meets the eyes of the white-coated man standing before him, blinking in awe and confusion.

“Cecil?”

“Carlos?”

“Cecil!”

Carlos throws himself into Cecil’s arms, laughing a joyous laugh that's riddled with secret tears and longing.

“I missed you,” says Carlos, smiling into Cecil’s chest.

“I missed you, too.” Cecil holds Carlos tightly. “Don't scare me like that. I thought you'd be gone forever. I respect your research, and your acts of valiant heroism, but… I just wanted you to come home, Carlos. I've missed you so much.”

“Gosh, Cecil, I… I’m sorry. I missed you, too, more than you could ever even know. I watched you sometimes. I watched you through the photographs in the lighthouse. I saw you frowning, grimacing, whispering for me in the dead of night. I wanted to tell you that I love you, but I didn't want you to be freaked out over me watching you… It sounds silly now, but…”

“That's okay, I understand. Forget all that, Carlos, just… Shut up and kiss me, please,” Cecil begs, not caring about anything right now. What's past is past, what's now is now. It doesn’t matter how many lonely nights he spent longing anymore, because those days will be over now. Carlos is home! Well, Cecil is trapped in this desert otherworld with him. So neither of them are home home, but they're at home with each other.

Kissing Carlos is home. Running his fingers through Carlos’ thick, wavy hair is home. Carlos’ hands cupping his waist, his hand cupping Carlos’ delicate cheek, is home. Carlos and him, kissing, rolling in the sand, laughing, breathless, giggling, touching, being… Home is Carlos. Cecil cares about nothing else anymore in this moment. He loves Night Vale, but he would honestly leave it all behind if it meant Carlos’ sandy, unwashed hair falling into his face, and the feeling of his back pressed against the gentle roll of a sand dune, and callused hands of a scientist stroking his face, as he’s propped up on one elbow above him, staring down at him, eyes filled with love behind dusty, smudged glasses.

Cecil’s mouth had fallen agape, but his eyes were smiling. Carlos’ eyes smiled, too. His perfect lips grinned. He kissed his boyfriend again, laughing bubbly and brightly. Cecil’s heart tightens, filled to the brim with love and adoration. Carlos’ laugh was perfect. His mouth was perfect, his eyes were perfect, his hair, perfect. All was perfect. Carlos was his yet again. He never wanted this moment to end.

But then, just as soon as it had began, it ends.

Cecil awakens, once again. This time, he is in his own bed. This time, alone.

“Oh,” he says simply. “Oh.”

A small, weak whimper slides past his lips.

“Oh, Carlos,” he whispers, as he often does, helplessly into the still of the night. “Oh, Carlos…”

He stares up at the ceiling above him. He clutches at the pillow beside him, empty, devoid of any luscious presence; of any stray perfect hairs to tickle his neck as he shifts under the covers in the night. He sighs.

He sits up on the edge of the bed. The red light from his phone charging on the bedside table creates the only light in the room. It blinks. For a moment, he knows that Carlos would probably be awake right now, being, of course, in a desert otherworld where time is completely different from here at home, but he doesn't think he would understand. Deep down, Cecil knows that Carlos would understand because Carlos loves him, and misses him, and cares about him deeply, but … everything seems so complicated right now. He could call, text, or email him right now, and possibly get an immediate response, but for some reason, he doesn’t.

“I miss you,” he sighs hopelessly instead, as if there might be someone around to hear. There is no one around to hear.

Cecil flops himself back down on his bed, exhaling, long and dramatic. He tries to return himself to the dull lull of sleep. His heart aches so painfully that it is hard to even imagine that Carlos is alive and well and just a click of a button away.

He quietly watches the blinking light on his phone blink for a while, before it dawns on him that blinking signifies a notification. A solid red light is for charging, and a blinking light means something else is happening. He wants to think that different colours of the blinking lights should signify something, but he knows that that's ridiculous, since blinking lights are always red.

He reaches over and collects his phone from the bedside table, and is surprised, not unpleasantly, to see the notification on the screen. It is a Snapchat from Carlos.

The photo is of the night sky. There are specks of stars, and other strange shapes and lights, all along a backdrop of a dark velvety purple. It's obviously hard to capture something like the sky in just a cell phone camera, but it looks remarkably familiar. The caption reads: “How’s my favourite radio host doing tonight?”

There is a subsequent Snap reading “Is it night there?” And another saying “I don't mean to wake you up or anything, if it is. But the sky reminded me of home, and of you.”

Cecil’s chest tightens. The messages are sweet, but he wants Carlos to be here, with him, right now! He can't take one more minute of this treacherous absence.

He half-heartedly lifts his phone above him to snap a photo, in which he is pouting, barely visible in the darkness, one cheek pressed against the pillow.

He types various iterations of whiny ‘I miss you’s and needy demands before backspacing and starting over from the beginning, chewing his lip in frustration and thought.

“Missing my favourite scientist tonight,” he captions it eventually, hitting send in a haste before he can think too deeply about any of it.

It takes less than a minute for Carlos to reply. He has switched to the inside camera of his phone, where he has a sympathetic, but genuine, sad smile.

“I miss you,” it reads.

Cecil has trouble breathing suddenly. He wants Carlos home. He needs Carlos home. It has been days, maybe even a week, since he has even heard Carlos’ voice, and his heart is screaming with longing. If he is free to send photos, maybe he will be free to call…

Cecil brings the phone up to his ear, and the first ring feels like it lasts a century. But a mere millisecond into the second, Carlos picks up.

“Cecil?”

“Carlos,” Cecil breathes, trembling.

“Cecil? Are you feeling alright?”

“It is so good to hear your voice. I’m-- yes, I'm fine, Carlos, I… I just… miss you. I miss you so, so much.”

“Oh, Cecil,” Carlos sighs a beautiful sigh. “I miss you, too.”

“You need to come home now, Carlos.”

“I understand, Cecil. But you know it's not as simple as that.”

Cecil wants to be mad, he wants to scream, he wants to yell at his beloved Carlos, to come home, come home right this instant, I need you to be home, but… he does know.

“I… I know,” he sighs eventually.

“You know I miss you, too,” says Carlos. His voice is genuine, but it just makes Cecil sad.

“I know,” he mumbles.

“Go look at the stars, Cecil.”

“The stars?”

“The stars. Just pull back your curtain and look at them, just for a moment.”

Cecil rises, and walks over to the bedroom window. He does as Carlos asks. The sky is velvet purple with flickers of stars and other distant shapes and lights. “I… am looking at them now. Is there some kind of special surprise here I’m supposed to see?”

“There's not really a special surprise, no. I’ve not found a way back home just yet. I’ve just been looking at the sky a lot recently, and I wanted to share it with you.”

Come to think if it… The sky in Carlos’ picture did look very similar to the sky here in Night Vale. The sky probably looks similar no matter where you go. It is so vast, and everything else is so tiny, so insignificant.

“No matter where we are in the world, there's always a beautiful sky to look at. And if we do it at the same time… it's almost like we’re together.”

Tears prick the corners of Cecil’s eyes. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. I really do miss home, Cecil. And I miss you. I guess in a way, you are my home.”

“Have you been dreaming of me at all?” Cecil asks suddenly, recalling the powerful sentiment of his dream.

“I… no, why?”

“Oh. I've dreamt of you a lot. I keep dreaming I'll wake up next to you, or that I’m out in your desert, with you… together. But it's not real... None of it is real. You're never going to be home, are you?”

Cecil’s voice is breaking, and Carlos’ heart feels like it's breaking, too. “Oh, Cecil… Cecil. Baby. Don’t say that…”

Cecil softens considerably at the pet name. Carlos has never called him one before. It's gentle. But there are still tears welling in the corners of his eyes, threatening, dangerous, ready to spill down his face at any moment. “It’s--it’s been forever, Carlos.”

“Oh, honey,” Carlos coos again. “Oh, Cecil. I'll be home soon. I promised. A scientist always keeps their promises. I'm sorry if I've been … distant, recently. I'm sorry if I've made you feel left out with my scientific interest in this world. I haven't exactly been trying very hard to get home to you. It’s not that I don't want to come home for you, it's just that it's so very strange here… So very compelling. You understand, right?”

“Not really, no,” Cecil admits finally. “I don't understand. The most compelling thing to me … is you! I just want you here, I just want… you,” he huffs.

Carlos is silent for a long, long moment.

“I didn't realize that was how you felt, Cecil… Gosh, I… I am so sorry. I've been a real jerk.”

“No, Carlos,” Cecil sighs. “You aren't a jerk. I mean, I was kind of mad at you when you called that community more interesting than my community, but you aren't a bad person… Okay, I was really mad. Is that vague, possibly nonexistent desert even really a community? I disagree with that terminology. And I disagree with your opinion on their ‘scientific interest’. But… that's… okay! You didn't mean any of that. You--you always mean well! I just need you to understand how much I miss you, Carlos. I want you here ... with me! And I want you to feel the same way I do.”

“I understand, Cecil. I completely and actually understand this time. Ugh, you just wanted to be together and I brushed you away to gush about some silly science stuff. I am so sorry! I wish I could be home right now. I'm sorry I haven't been looking for doors home. I will seriously get on that tomorrow, seriously. I- I should have been doing that already. God, I’m sorry. I want to be home. I do feel the same way. I've missed… Oh, oh dear... We've spent our anniversary apart, Cecil, haven’t we. How can I make it up to you?”

“It's okay, Carlos. Sometimes we get invested in things, and forget to care about other things. I forgive you.”

“Really?”

Cecil is still mad, but he isn't lying when he says he forgives Carlos. It's not his fault that he's trapped in that other dimension, and he won't be able to be home instantly no matter how hard he is willing to try. He is definitely mad about the anniversary, but he doesn't see any use in bringing that up right now. Carlos truly feels sorry. The feelings of anger will pass. “Yes. I love you.” Cecil bites his lip, hovering delicately over the next set of words. “And … I'm sorry, too. I'm sorry for making you feel guilty about being interested in that other desert. I'm sorry for being jealous. I just want you home. I’m sorry if that’s selfish of me, but... It's been a really long time now and I just… I want to kiss you again. I want to hold you again.”

“I love you, too, Cecil. And it's okay to be jealous. It's okay to be mad. It's okay to be… anything you ever are. I love you no matter what.”

Cecil smiles, wiping up some of his spilling tears with the sleeve of his nightshirt.

“Now, Cecil?” Carlos is saying. His voice is like soft silk, a delicate, private whisper into Cecil’s ear, smooth; seductive; perfect.

“Yes, Carlos?”

“Tell me about your dream. I want to hear what fantastical truths your subconscious makes up about me when I’m not around.”

In another time, in another place, Carlos the scientist is lying down in the cool sand, unwashed sandy hair falling into his face as he stares up at a velvety, purple sky. His one hand rests on his knee, the other clutches dearly to a cell phone at his ear. The desert, vast and all-knowing, spans out wide and far in all directions around him. He pays no mind to this. His full focus and attention is on the smooth baritone voice drawling into his ear. He pictures the images from Cecil’s fantasy with awe, and a vague twinge of melancholy. He smiles, delighted, showing off teeth that are like a military cemetery.

Back home, in the other time and place, Cecil Palmer is yawning. His cheeks are decorated with a deep blush as he rambles embarrassing and personal stories into the distant ear of one that he loves. They talk until the latest hours of the night; until sunlight starts to stream in through the curtains of Cecil's window, too happy and too afraid to let the other hang up.

[rifleshotsandflowerpots-blog]

In which Jade n Jake meet and both the similarities and differences are striking between them. @tallyhothere

Mabs (PI/02/gT Jake)Last Thursday at 8:36 PM

Your name is JAKE ENGLISH and you are currently galavanting around the not countryside at all. Is cityside a word? It is now! You are galavanting around the cityside as you explore the concrete jungle you find yourself in.

It's been exciting! It's been new! It's been thrilling! But most of all...its been COLD AS THE DICKENS.  So you have found a sneaky technique to beat the chill is to step into random shops and browse around a bit.  Marvel at all the knick-knacks, chat with the clerk a bit.  Then skidoo out for another block or two. 

At this juncture, you find yourself jingling the small shop bell and are greeted with perhaps the best shop you've seen yet! Plants! Flowers! A bona-fide jungle inside a box!  Wonderful!  And warm....very warm.

You step inside, coat a flashing eyesore blinking as you start to look over the various flora. @🌺 Shadow 🌺 (Jade/Skylla)

🌺 Shadow 🌺 (Jade/Skylla)Last Thursday at 9:05 PM

Your name is JADE HARLEY and you're in your flower shop again. You are.... well, not fine but you will. In time. For now you felt like taking care of your plants!   

You just need to keep your hands busy and well, you think you've done enough murders for the next couple of days. Also you still got orders to finish! Not a lot mind you, but you like to keep on top of things. 

 You're finishing up another bouquet when you hear the bell ring. Another customer maybe? Or a friend perhaps? You do love to chat when it's a dear friend!~ 

"Just a minute!!" You say, tying the final bow for the flowers. Aw, this arrangement is rather pretty actually. Blue's a calming colour.

Mabs (PI/02/gT Jake)Last Thursday at 9:20 PM

Oh! A voice! Sounds like a lady, but who knows.  "Alright!" you call back.  "Take your time, don't rush?"  You aren't really sure what you are supposed to be saying in this situation.

Walking among the flowers, for the first time since you've arrived you actually feel a pang of homesickness.  The snow is a marvel, the city is fascinating, but...also so unfamiliar.  Being surrounded by greenery feels comforting in a way, even if it is an artificial jungle.

🌺 Shadow 🌺 (Jade/Skylla)01/19/2019

Oh! That's an odd accent; maybe a newcomer to the city? How fun! 

You set the lovely arrangement to the side and dust off your hands before walking over to where you heard the voice come--what on Derse is that weird light show coming from among your plant??? 

"Hello??? Sir??" 

No raves in your flower shop! Well at least there's no obnoxious music.

Mabs (PI/02/gT Jake)01/19/2019

Your attention is turned to the voice as you try to make your way towards it.

"Hello! Sorry! Was distracted!  Quite a lovely shop you have heeeeee...."

Your words taper off as you round the corner and for a moment you are confused by the lady in front of you.  She looks like the old photos of your grandmother, down to the hair.  Age her up some and she'd be a spitting likeness.

You blink, shake your head, blink again.  Hwah...wow.  Weird.  Maybe she's related to the Jude Harley fellow?  It suddenly dawns on you that this is another realm alltogether...she could in fact be a daughter or a granddaughter in this time to your grandmother?  The sudden concept that you could have very well a timeline of family who never had to deal with the batterwitch's terrible undertakings leaves you a bit speechless.

So you just stand there flabbergasted.

🌺 Shadow 🌺 (Jade/Skylla)01/19/2019

You blink at him. And then blink again just as astonished.

You have absolutely no idea who his guy is before you, but he reminds you alarmingly quickly of your Grandpa. You don't have much in the way of photos, but you remember his eyes, and his voice and it just... leaves you speechless.

Almost choked up even. He looks like a young version of Grandpa--!

Actually the longer you stare the more you kinda see Jude in him. A cousin to him then?? Maybe you and Jude might be more related than you thought.

"Ah.... w-well... you're new!"

Mabs (PI/02/gT Jake)01/19/2019

The vintage memory standing before you speaks, and you are reminded she is in fact a person and not just a surreal memory.  Right, she's....likely someone else entirely.  And you're here staring at her like a buffon.

You look away at the plants and give a laugh that is uncharicterisically shaken.

"Ahaha! I am! Right you are on that!  Bit of a newcomer to this city of Midnight!    Can sort of say I just dropped in really!"  Another laugh, a bit more comfortable sounding this time.

"I must say, been in and out quite a few shops but this one so far gets the egg!  Think I've seen more plants here than I have the entire time I've been here so far!"

🌺 Shadow 🌺 (Jade/Skylla)01/19/2019

You pick up on that; his nervous laugh reminds you that this guy can't be your Grandpa. He's dead after all. But the way he responded to you... well. You definitely don't think he knows you but maybe someone similar?

"Well it is a flower shop." You smile brightly, gesturing around you. "There's not quite a flower shop like mine in Midnight City! It's my way of bringing a bit of colour to this city~"

You eye his rave coat. "Though I must say, I think you've gotten me beat! I'm surprised that the Fashion Police hasn't stopped you yet."

Mabs (PI/02/gT Jake)01/19/2019

"Well I'd have to say you've done a right good job of it.  Bang up to the elephant even!"

Some of the plants are not anything like you've seen, but there's a few that make you think of home.  You lean over to smell one of the more tropical flowers.

The comment about the coat gets a chuckle.  "You aren't the first person to say that...what even is a fashion police?  I've met one policeman so far and he seemed rather friendly.  I didn't think the coat is that bad...though I guess not being able to turn it off really does make it a bit rough on the totsies."

🌺 Shadow 🌺 (Jade/Skylla)01/19/2019

Oh god he kinda talked like your Grandpa that's so weird!!!

"Why thank you Good Sir!~" You giggle, hands clasped behind your back as you observe him. "The Fashion Police are exactly what they sound like; they're a whole division devoted to making sure we Derse citizens stick to wearing clothes of the 1920s."

You tip your head as you step a little closer to the Grandpa double. "An off switch would have been smart yes!~ Really, I can't imagine that you came to Derse the legal methods; not that I'd tell anyone of course! Promise!~"

You really do. He's only in his odd coat and short shorts! And it's winter!!! Just how the heck did he get to Derse???

Mabs (PI/02/gT Jake)01/19/2019

"Huh....quite the oddity!  Wait....is it the 1920's?"  You suddenly look a bit confused. You thought this was just another planet.  "I swear this whole thing gets more and more tomfuddled the more I hear about it..."

Rubbing the back of your head, you think a moment.  "True.  Granted at this point not even sure if it does turn off. Been going for as long as I remember...but sheesh. I've yet to figure out what the legal methods are so not sure if I am or not? I suppose portal in sky meets ground is on the backlist of no-go.  I appreciate that though, last thing I came here to do was get arrested. Specially for coming here!"

🌺 Shadow 🌺 (Jade/Skylla)01/19/2019

Oh. Oh dear. He doesn't seem to have noticed much since he got here! When did this guy even arrive to the city?

"Wait wait; first! Not actually the 1920s but because of Prospit winning the war against Derse, they implemented the Technology ban and thus life on Derse has been stuck in the world of Earth's 1920s; yes that does include the alcohol ban too."

"Secondly..."  You narrow your eyes, and place you hands on your hips. "You came here via portal in sky???" That sounded very much like Dirk, but more on purpose. "Where did you come from exactly?"

Mabs (PI/02/gT Jake)01/19/2019

Prospit? War?  You read about the ban in Arq's files but huh...this all just sounded utterly silly.  Then again did you really have room to speak mister wearing shorts in the middle of winter?  Nope!  So you don't speak up on that bit at all.

At her gesture, you make a visible yerk as you are temporarily transported to a time when you were a child and your grandmother made that exact pose. The James Hamilton English what are you doing mister pose that causes the reptile part of your brain to immediately feel guilty over everything you have ever did in life.

"OH!  Well! Ah." You find yourself a bit more tongue-tied than you've been in years.  "It's a bit of a humdinger of a tale, probably going to make me sound more like I'm zozzled out of my gourd trying to sell you a dog."

🌺 Shadow 🌺 (Jade/Skylla)01/19/2019

You arch a brow, completely dissatisfied with that answer. He's kind of a dork, this double, but quite open about his expressions. Makes him pretty easy to read!  Poor sod; you hope he has friends that'll keep him from being manipulated then. 

"Well, good thing I already have a dog." Bec was the best boy hands down. "Now spill! If you came via portal, I'm guessing it had to be a very powerful portal to bridge you here from Earth. And since there wasn't any rips in the sky or blinding flashes of light, this portal had to be more discreet to not be spotted." 

All assumptions you make, but you say them to gauge.... this guy's expression.

....you should ask a name soon though.

Mabs (PI/02/gT Jake)01/19/2019

Well, she certainly seems sharp enough to know a bit about portals and things...so maybe this would be more believable.  If anything, worst case she'll think you're a nutter and that's that.

"I think it was discreet?  Hoo. Granted from my perspective I just felt like I was hurtling down from space itself for a bit, so not sure how big or small it was from the other end.   The portal my friends and I hopped through was about uhh....yey big.  Maybe the size of your shop window?"

You gesture as you speak, as if you're incable of speaking and standing still at the same time.

"As for where I came from! Well! From another planet it seems, in a whole other dimension!  Earth, though a different Earth. My friends and I came across time and space to find and rescue one of our dearest friends who vanished when we tried to transportalize him over!"

🌺 Shadow 🌺 (Jade/Skylla)01/19/2019

If you hadn't experienced Candy Hell and Horror Town you honestly would have thought him nuts! And yet you have and thus you believe him. He is also being openly honest about it too; there's nary a lie that you can see.

He's so innocent; untouched by the city and its own set of poisons and pain. He hasn't experienced what it's like to live in Midnight City, a world blacker than it's name suggests. 

You have a desire to protect that, but push it away. This wasn't like how it wa with Jay. You're both couldn't possibly be related!

"So... you came here. To my dimension. With other people. Just to find a friend??" You admire his loyalty.

Wait the only guy that he could be possibly referring to was--!

"You're here for Dirk!"

Mabs (PI/02/gT Jake)01/19/2019

The idea that it seems odd or perhaps suspicious that a random flower shopkeeper would know Dirk and catch on so quick is completely overshadowed by how excited you are to talk about all of this to someone.

"I am!  I am indeed! You're sharper than a tack!"  You smile wide.  "Days....I guess now months back?  Hoo time stuff. Time stuff I must say is the worst stuff.   Some time back Dirk vanished in our attempt to bring us all together at long last, and so the rest of us put our collective noggins together to find out he fell into some rift or wormhole that had unexpectedly shown up!"

You give a slight spin, coat flowing around behind you as you do.

"So we found a way to get here to find him! And I have!  Which is good, because hoo-diddy did I get very lost for a bit there.  But he's currently having a bit of a trouble spot with one of our other friends so I'm just...hm. Well I'm giving them some time and space to sort that barrel of figs out.  Gives me a chance to explore this whole city thing in all its delights and  marvels!"

🌺 Shadow 🌺 (Jade/Skylla)01/19/2019

You smile back. My god this boy is too precious and he's probably the same age as you. You might be that sharp but him? Duller than a butter knife. Or maybe you're just jaded and you hide it smoothly with your bubbly personality. One or the other.

You mean, he just told his whole story to you, a complete stranger! You sincerely hope he only did that because you remind him of someone, or that his friends are smarter street-wise; this city will gobble him up otherwise!

"Well, I'm glad you found Dirk then. He's a lovely friend." Good kisser too. "Though I'm worried about this trouble he has..." You figure it has to do with the Felt and Arquius. You do hope they both will be alright, all things considered. 

"Though if you were going to go explore, I have to ask why you didn't put on something a little warmer??" You question, eyeing those booty shorts. If you didn't like wearing pants on principle, you could probably pull off a pair of those too.

Mabs (PI/02/gT Jake)01/19/2019

"I'm glad too. I was expecting to have to search high and low for him in who knows what wilderness.  It didn't even dawn on me that he'd end up in a city, but perhaps for the best!  It's quite a nice place...full of people!"  you smile brightly.  "Did you know there are friendly trolls here?  Wait why am I asking that, of course you would.  Ahaha...sorry!  It's just been such a plum novelty since I arrived. Everything is so different, magical even!  Street lights, crowds of people, SO MANY PEOPLE, shops of just...things!  And snow!"

You look down at your outfit and chuckle.

"Yeah that was a bit of a blind-shot for me there, really should have thought of that one before I jumped.  It actually skipped my mind that of all the places to go, one may be a place that has more than one season that isn't tropical island. Hahahah...I mean I'm not sure I'll be here long enough to worry about getting pants."

🌺 Shadow 🌺 (Jade/Skylla)01/19/2019

Oh no he's ridiculous you want to protect this idiot child so much he rambles!!! You can't help but giggle in delight at his antics! 

"So I guess you were raised on an island then? A quiet one?" You tease just a little bit. "That sounds lovely; I think I used to live on one myself a very long time ago. I think that's partially why I have this flower shop. The city's not quite as colourful as an island!" Minus the red, black and pale light district of course.

"There's troll, humans and carapaces all living in Midnight City. Some are lovely people but others not so much. You best be careful when exploring; not everyone may take kind to you and your shorts~"

"....you know what? I don't think we ever exchanged names!" You can't keep calling him Dork in your head. "So sorry about that! I'm Jade! Jade Harley!~"

Mabs (PI/02/gT Jake)01/19/2019

"A bit yes.  Though that's likely another long tale in and of itself. " You grin.  It's just so...novel to be able to talk to another person face to face.  Is this what it's like to have a normal world and normal life?  Is this...small talk?  "It's true...this city does seem to be a bit low on color. But the lights are remarkable!  Just everywhere sparkling like the stars came down to nest!"

The caution is noted...you did expect sooner or later someone was going to get a bit irate at the strange man running around in shorts and flashing lights.  Dirk had offered you some of his clothes but...that felt a bit odd.  Besides, may as well enjoy this chilling cold while you can.

Your smile goes wider at the mention of name exchange, but you can't quite hide the surprise when she introduces her name and you feel yourself once again thrown for a loop.  Ooh heavens to murgatroy, this just got weird again.

Maybe she's an alternate younger version of your grandmother...or maybe she just was named after HER grandmother who would have been your grandmother. Oh god, what if she's an alternate YOU.  There is a bit of resemblence there.

"Ah! Right right.  I'm Jake. Jake English.  Please do m-meet you  G-Miss Harley!  Don't suppose you are related to the Jude Harley fellow I met a bit ago?"

🌺 Shadow 🌺 (Jade/Skylla)01/19/2019

"That's Midnight City for you! The city that never sleeps~"

Jake English; well not quite your grandpa's name but close! You're pretty sure his name could've been Jake too. Though you vaguely remember calling him Grandpa Harley.

"Please! Just call be Jade! Less I call you Mister English in turn!~" Oh he's met Jude?? He come to think of it, he kinda looks like Jude too! Hmm maybe in his dimension that Jude could've been an adult relative?? 

"So you've met him?? No, no relation of any kind! We just happen to share a last name. I don't have any blood ties." 

A small white lie, but you're not about to tell your possibly alternate younger grandpa about your illegally experimented dog gal sister when you've barely told anyone else.

Mabs (PI/02/gT Jake)01/19/2019

"Righto!  Jade it is! Pleasure to meet you Jade."  You give a good proper bow this time, realizing you should have done that earlier.  Human interraction is difficult.

"I have! I well, ran into the poor gent headlong when I shot into the brown on my landing here.  Still feel a bit bad for that really. Should make an apology proper before I leave.  Quite and alright chap!"

You listen to her speak and nod solemnly.  "The Harley name is quite the prolific one I daresay.  Was my grandmother's, though since she passed I think...well shoot maybe it's not that prolific at all now. Well that's a bit of a humdinger....SO! What do people here do for fun?"

🌺 Shadow 🌺 (Jade/Skylla)01/19/2019

Oh he's bowing; you let out a giggle and curtsy back. He doesn't have to actually but hey, you've always been a go-with-the-flow kind of gal~

"Oh! Yeah I think so; Jude's a sweet guy if a little shy." You like Jude a lot; you might not be related but he's a darling! Especially after learning he's not a stalker.

Ah; how odd! His grandma's dead, yours is too.... or maybe you're grasping at straws with that tidbit. "Well we are stuck in the 1920s so there's a lot of swing clubs and we still have movie theatres and casinos and the like! There's also bars if you know where to go; technically it's illegal to be drinking, but people love their drinks too much to really give it up."

Mabs (PI/02/gT Jake)01/19/2019

The giggle she gives sounds so much like your grandmothers, it's uncanny.  If anything, there was a strange surreal comfort at the idea that perhaps this is another time and place where your grandmother is alive and gets to have a happy life running a flowershop versus well...what all happened in your time and place.

Your eyes light up at the concept of clubs, and theatres!  Casinos...eh not so much cause it isn't like you have any money to gain or lose.  "Fair fair.  Not much for the gigglewater myself what with the whole island thing....though Roxy is quite fond of it.   She'll be glad to hear there's that."

You chuckle, not showing any opinion on the legality of things.  Not like that kind of thing is really your concern.  "A theatre sounds nice though! I don't think I've ever been to one before so I should definitely try to get to do that!"

🌺 Shadow 🌺 (Jade/Skylla)01/19/2019

"Roxy? Is she another friend of yours that came to find Dirk??" You wonder how many that makes; currently that's four people from the same different universe. How are they going to go home? Would they even make it back successfully...?

"There's are a lot of fun! I don't go often but sometimes it's nice to go watch a movie with some friends and popcorn. I very much recommend the theatre on Main and Bayview; they always get the newest movies first~" 

Honestly that sounds fun; you should probably go see a movie when you get a chance.

Mabs (PI/02/gT Jake)01/19/2019

"She is! She's the smartest most talented church-bell I've ever met!  One of my best friends!" One of your only friends, but you aren't going to let that detail get you down.  "Her, Hal and myself all jumped through and here we are. Though I guess Hal is now Arq?  I have noticed people sure love their name changes when coming over here. "

You laugh and then listen, nodding enthusiastically. 

"That sounds perfect!  I'll get to try popcorn for the first time! I've read about it, it sounds delightful!  Thank you for all these suggestions."

🌺 Shadow 🌺 (Jade/Skylla)01/19/2019

Awww she sounds wonderful. Maybe with your luck, you might run into this Roxy lady too. She sounds very pretty! And sweet~ "I think that's because there exists in this world a Hal? He's... he's very neat all things considered, but he was here first before your Hal~"

You laugh and smile back. "It's not any trouble Jake! Just be safe! The city is wonderful but it can be dangerous; not everyone is a sweetheart like you!~"

Mabs (PI/02/gT Jake)01/19/2019

"True true. I've noticed there seems to be a bit of a double up.  Wonder if there is another of me out there on adventures.  Maybe I'll get lucky and run into him before I have to go."  You like to assume that he is somewhere out there...doing some grand escapade.  Probably is really cool.

"Well if this city is half as pleasant as you are, I can't imagine it being anything but a paradise!  But I shall do my best to stay safe.  I hope I can meet you again before I go though, this has been the most delightful of meetings."  It's true, and admittedly you'd like to see this place once more before you stop off and away.  It feels so much like home, and she looks so much like her that it kind of recalls old feelings you wouldn't mind having at least once before you lose any chance again.

🌺 Shadow 🌺 (Jade/Skylla)01/19/2019

"Maybe!" You doubt it, if his counterpart was indeed your grandpa. Who is very much dead. Definitely not alive anymore.

You give another bright smile and before you know it, you're giving him a warm, patented Jade hug. "I concur!  You have been the most interesting person to enter my shop today! You're welcome back any time! You can bring your friends too it would be nice!~"

Mabs (PI/02/gT Jake)01/19/2019

The hug is a surprise, but a welcome one.  Goodness, it's been so long since you've been around people in general. But then you got hugs from Roxy, and Dirk, and Arq, and sort of one from the little green fellow, and now this!  Hands down, this is your best city experience ever.

You are already starting to miss it.

But for now, you smile bright!  "Oh! Definitely! I'll make sure to bring them as well! I expect they'd love this place, and be glad to meet you too! Thank you so much Jade. You've been the jammiest bits of jam!"

🌺 Shadow 🌺 (Jade/Skylla)01/19/2019

You give the best hugs! You've been told this many times so it must be true.

"You're very welcome Jake!" You let go after a few moments, hands clasped behind you once more. "You are also quite the darling! I hope you all get home safely. And uh," You eye his coat and shorts, amusement all over your face. "Try to find something warmer okay? City winters can be harsh, too harsh to wait it out."

Mabs (PI/02/gT Jake)01/19/2019

"Can do!" You give her a salute and a smile.  No sense bringing up the whole what is money and how you have none of it, the last thing you want is to come across as a nose bagger.

"Until next time!  Tally ho!"

And with that, you turn and make your exit.

🌺 Shadow 🌺 (Jade/Skylla)01/19/2019

You smile and wave him off, watching as he steps out of your shop and braves the cold once more. What a curious individual! And so very, very trusting. Too trusting even.

You pull out your phone and stare at it a little. Telling the bosses about people apparently dimension-hopping into yours would be pretty important you feel. You'd rather not give those Felt bastards any more potential help if possible. Hmm.... yeah, you should let others know.

Though you do hope Jake goes home. He would be safer that way.

[terra-magna-verse]

BIONICLE: Underground - Chapter 3

((Guys I’m incredibly sorry for the wait, I was out of “writing idea juice” and kept stalling by doing other projects. Underground is finally back!))

Conua did not move, he stood still, mouth agape at the tall figure standing before him.

“We’re here for a Toa of Earth, we’re in need of one. Is he present in your facility?” the figure at the door finally said.

“Kneekapu!” Conua called without a single turn of his head.

Kneekapu woke up with the sound of his younger roommate. Groaning and rolling his eyes in dismay, he sluggishly made his way to the main room.

The Toa of Earth stretched, “Did the sun rise yet? What is i-”

The slender Toa’s inquiry was cut off by the one good look he gave the Toa of Fire standing at his front porch. He couldn’t believe his eyes, was that who he thought it was? Was that the leader of his most admired Toa Team he would never shut up about? Was he dreaming, still? Only one way to find out.

He approached the doorway to get a better look. In doing so, his eyes had not only met the Toa of Fire, but an entire team behind him all smiling with pride and with an overall welcoming demeanor.

“Toa Ahiti...” Kneekapu finally managed to let out in a large exhale.

“Yes. Believe what you see, kid.” the addressed Toa of Fire assured, “We need to discuss your mission in our headquarters.”

“M-My mission?” the rogue stammered.

“Yep.” Ahiti placed his large hand on Kneekapu’s shoulder, “We’ll tell you all about your place in our team.”

“Wait!” a voice called out. Kneekapu and Ahiti both turned to the voice, it was Conua.

“Can I come with you? I wanna see!”

“No.” Kneekapu demanded.

“Why not? I won’t tell anyone!” Conua begged, “I wanna see what Toa teams do-”

“You have to watch Dombo.”

Conua got closer to the two Toa, “He’ll be fine on his own, he’s asleep anyway!”

“Ahhh....” Kneekapu made an incoherent noise in indecision, not knowing if this was right.

“I think he should come along,” Ahiti began, “The Matoran could use a bit of knowledge on Toa life. Who knows, it could probably come in handy some day.”

Kneekapu sighed, “Alright, alright. You can come, but close the door on the way out. We can’t have Dombo run off again.”

Ahiti made a gesture with his head to his team, ushering them to get moving to their headquarters. Conua remembered to close the door behind him as he and the Toa headed out.

The Toa travelled by foot to the headquarters. ‘Not really how I imagined we’d get to the headquarters.’ Kneekapu thought. Said Toa of Earth staying far back in the group, head hanging low in thought.

‘Why do they want me?’ Kneekapu pondered, ‘Is it not known how much of a screw-up I am? No Toa team I’d know would ever allow a troublemaker like myself to join them.’

The next thing he knew, they’d already made it to the headquarters. It wasn’t very big, nor was it very visible. ‘Very discreet,’ Kneekapu thought, ‘Very clever way to hide from enemies and commoners.’

The twin doors at the front of the building slid apart after a sensor next to it scanned Ahiti’s hand shape and element controlled within said body part, as both features of this Toa were distinct.

Kneekapu and Conua were agape at their surroundings as they entered. Unique weapons designated for each Toa, emblems of each respective element jutting from the walls, and even technology neither Kneekapu nor Conua have ever seen before powering the very headquarters. ‘Why hide all this?’ Kneekapu thought, ‘Some cities in Archoko could really use stuff like this, they’re missing out!’

Conua tilted his head at the emblems, noticing a strange pattern to them. A green beetle, a red dragonfly, blue butterfly, brown scorpion, a white moth, black spider?

“Hey, um...” Conua turned his head to the Toa, “What are the bug symbols for?”

“Something Kandoa came up with for the team,” Ahiti replied, referring to his Plantlife-elemental team member. “He loves bugs so much that he gave us all nicknames, so we just made it kinda our thing.” Kandoa nodded energetically in agreement and gave a two-thumbs-up.

“Oh, good. I was under the impression there was some element that makes you shoot spiders out of your hand.” Conua shuddered a bit at the thought, feeling itchy.

Ahiti frowned, he had just remembered the Spider emblem was there thanks to Conua reminding him. Spider was Zeyo’s respective nickname, and Zeyo had been long gone. He shook the feeling off and proceeded to tell Kneekapu his mission.

“Kneekapu, you might know of the tragic disappearance and presumed death of your respective Toa, Zeyo. Without the element of Earth, our team is incomplete, and nowhere near strong as we used to be.”

Kneekapu listened to every word intently, nodding firmly as he awaited his hero’s words.

“Because you are the only living Toa of Earth of Archoko, I’m appointing you.” he put his large hand on Kneekapu’s slender shoulder. “Do you, Toa Kneekapu, accept our offer of ranking you a true member of our team?”

The young Toa of Earth’s face lit up, eyes wide and mouth agape. His heroes, let alone the leader of his heroes, appointed him of all Toa. Kneekapu admired Ahiti’s Toa team ever since he was a Matoran, always wanting his existence to be acknowledged by them but was always just out of reach of them because of their quick disappearances. But now, they stood before him, their undivided attention towards him.

After a moment of thought, Kneekapu confirmed. “I accept, Toa Ahiti.”

The Toa of Fire smirked, “Welcome to the team, Spider.”

After Kneekapu and Ahiti bumped fists which gave a loud clank as their hand armor collided, the remaining Toa cheered and clapped at the initiation. Conua did not cheer, his hands on his hips.

“Hey,” Conua called, “If Kneekapu gets a cool nickname, can I have one? I promise I’ll work for you if I get a name, I’ll be the first Matoran to be part of a Toa team!”

Ahiti sighed, maybe they could use a little help from the Matoran. But what would an elementless Matoran do? Keep citizens calm? Sweep up and polish the headquarters? Whatever, he’ll find a use for him, he seems willing.

“Ah, yeah, kid. You could be, uhhh...” the Toa of Fire examined Conua’s small and slender figure, “...Ant.”

Conua slumped at Ahiti’s name choice, “Aw...”

“So it’s settled,” Ahiti announced in a proud voice, “we have a new Toa of Earth and it shall stay that way for however long we exist.”

The remaining Toa cheered again, welcoming Kneekapu and bumping fists with him one by one. One fist-bump felt unique, he felt the soft touch of the Toa of Water’s hand. He looked up to see her divine Kanohi Kaukau Nuva.

“Welcome to the team, Spider.” the Toa of Water named Kaliha cooed softly.

“H-Hahah, hi.” Kneekapu lightly chuckled nervously.

Kaliha walked away to follow her team out of the headquarters, a graceful stride as she made her way next to Ahiti, as she was his deputy.

Kneekapu stared, feeling he could watch her all day. He shook the feeling off as he remembered he had to go home. After all, he and Conua had a certain dog waiting at home who is probably tearing the house down in anxiety right now.

On their way out the door, Kandoa placed a hand on Conua’s shoulder, speaking privately to the Matoran in his ever-jubilant voice, “I’d say the name fits, you may be small, but you are stronger than you appear.”

Conua looked up at the Toa of Plantlife, feeling reassured. Yeah, he could prove just how useful he is! Maybe he can fit through small spaces for them, perhaps sneak past Makuta guards! That’ll do it!

The two followed the remaining Toa out the door to where Kneekapu and Conua resided, the pink sky signifying dawn just reaching over the hills.

[notgoingtohappen]

Revenge, Interrupted (Part 23)

1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22

Caroline was right.

Something had changed between her and Stefan. It was almost imperceptible; they still got along fine, they still spent the usual relationship-worthy amount of time together. Their friends wouldn’t notice, but when they were alone…

It wasn’t just her hypersensitivity. Since returning from the cabin, this entire week they had been more reserved, less talkative, more distant.

She was sitting on the couch with Elena, trying to listen to her relationship problems, but couldn’t stop her mind from wandering to Stefan.

“–and sometimes, I just want to strangle him! But then… that’s kinda hot, don’t you think? Caroline? Care!”

Caroline started.

“I knew it. Chewing your lip and staring into the distance, the sure sign you’re not listening. Not everyone’s relationship can be perfect! I told Nadia she was dead wrong, it’s Delena that’s in trouble.”

“I’m sorry, Elena. Wait, what?”

“Oh you know, our couple name. Damon and Elena, Delena.”

“No, um, the Nadia thing.”

“Nothing, she just said she got super weird vibes from you at the cabin. Asked me if you’d broken up. Something about Liam being interested in you.”

“No, of course, we’re fine…”

“That’s what I said.”

Bonnie walked in from her room and collapsed onto the couch. “What up, ladies?”

“Nothing, I just think my relationship is dead!” Elena cried dramatically and buried her face in a cushion.

Bonnie exchanged a look with Caroline. Oh boy.

“As for me, I am nervous,” Caroline added.

“Oh right, about your job tomorrow. Don’t stress, babe! You’re perfect for the job”

Caroline sighed. “I know. I just… am gonna obsess over it anyway.”

Bonnie looked around mournfully. “As long as we’re having a pity party, I’m terrified I’ll do something wrong and it’ll mess up a whole class of children and stay with them for the rest of their lives.”

“You are gonna be the best teacher they’ll ever have their whole damn lives, Bonnie Bennett.”

Elena extended an arm without raising her head and hugged Bonnie as she scooted into it.

“Are you guys sick or something?” Came a voice from above them a few minutes later.

The girls looked up wearily to find Stefan Salvatore standing there awkwardly.

“Oh look, it’s the brother. The perfect boyfriend. Blech.” Elena muttered.

“Excuse me?”

“Hey, Stefan! What did you think of your elementary school teacher? Any lasting impressions she made on you? Or any traumas associated with first grade you can recall?”

“Uh…”

Caroline had to save the poor guy. Hauling herself up, she moved to hug him, but he moved to kiss her cheek and it resulted in a really awkward dance that left her best friends snickering.

They were painfully out of sync.

“I’m uh, cooking you dinner. Because of tomorrow.” Stefan announced.

Caroline was touched. “Aw, thank you!”

Moments like these, it hurt to remember none of this was real. To see what they could have for real, but didn’t.

She followed him across the hall and to the Salvatore loft and perched on the kitchen counter, finding it had become an all too familiar spot.

Enzo and Damon greeted her distractedly from the TV and continued gaming. Stefan put some music on his phone to drown the sounds of virtual shooting out and Caroline watched him cook.

Nothing could drown out the memories of the rave from her mind. That night had been mind-blowing. It was an unfair joke on the universe’s part that what she’d told the girls a few days ago turned out to be so completely true: Stefan was the best sex she’d ever had. He made her feel things no other guys had, so easily it seemed almost too natural. Caroline couldn’t get it out of her head for too long, no matter how hard she tried.

She was over being mad at herself for it, though. Now she just had to focus on acting normal with Stefan. On both sides; alone and in front of the others.

It was going to be over soon, she kept telling herself. She wasn’t sure the thought brought more relief or heartache.

“How cheesy do you want the pasta?” Stefan asked.

“Did you say pasta, mate?” Came Enzo’s voice.

“Yeah, but I only made enough sauce for two. Sorry.” Stefan called back.

“Ugh. Pause the game, Enzo, I’m going to order some pizza.” Damon stalked into view holding his phone to his ear, glaring at Stefan.

“Chill out, Damon. He’s just being a good boyfriend” Caroline playfully raised her leg to stop Stefan when he passed by her. He turned to her with an easy smile and she rested her arms on his shoulders, nudging him closer to the counter with her legs. His hands moved to rest on her waist and he kissed her forehead gently.

She swallowed. She was expecting a normal kiss, and this threw her.

Fortunately, Damon and his grumbling came to the rescue.

“Do you two really need to flaunt your perfect relationship in our faces all the time? Some of us have actual problems, you know. I could throw up. Enzo, tell Steffy I could actually throw up.”

Enzo came into view and grabbed a bit of cheese. “Sorry, guys. I think he’s having some relationship problems with El–”

“Shut up, Lorenzo!”

Enzo raised his hands in defeat and swirled a finger near his ear, signalling that Damon had lost it.

Well. Caroline could have predicted that the day they met.

“I blame you four for setting such annoyingly high relationship standards that Elena gets mad at me for everything.”

“Just go talk to each other maybe?” She suggested.

“We just end up having sex,” Damon said glumly.

Stefan pursed his lips with a look that was a mixture of both disinterest and defeat and then went back to cooking.

“Extra cheesy,” Caroline whispered to him. “What the hell, treat yo self, right?”

Damon glowered. “That’s not a problem for you two, is it? I mean both the cheesiness and the sex. The last place I expected to find you drunk Hufflepuffs was upstairs in one of the rooms, but…”

Despite her best efforts, Caroline blushed.

“Back off, Damon.” Stefan snapped, noticing how visibly uncomfortable she was.

“Talk to your girlfriend instead of being a baby,” Enzo said helpfully.

“And we are Gryffindors! Or maybe Ravenclaws.” Caroline added.

“I never figured out which I am,” Enzo muttered.

~*~

Caroline couldn’t stop giggling.

“Candles? Seriously?”

“It’s what I’d do at this point in a relationship, especially on a special occasion,” Stefan said simply.

“Okay, then, I will dress appropriately for your fancy candlelight dinner and be right back.” She laughed and made her way back to her loft.

“Come on, no need” Stefan called after her, but no way was she letting an opportunity to dress up like this go. This was so unnecessary and fun. And cute. None of her exes had ever done stuff like this. But Stefan… it had only been a few weeks and he remained perfect. It was unbelievable. Who wouldn’t want him for real, brooding and messed up exes and all?

“Don’t you look cheerful. Going out?” Bonnie asked from the couch as Caroline walked to the door in strappy heels, eyeing her black gown and elegantly pinned up bangs.

“Nope, candlelight dinner courtesy of Stefan.”

Bonnie smiled. “Have fun!”

Stefan’s eyes widened slightly when he saw her. She’d never get tired of that reaction, she thought happily as she sat down on the chair he pulled out.

She grinned and then raised her eyebrows at him.

He didn’t look too bad himself. Oh, who was he kidding, she was probably mirroring his expression. Stefan Salvatore in a suit made her feel things she shouldn’t be feeling anymore. Or at all. Ever.

“Well as long as we were both committed to the fanciness of tonight,” Stefan explained. “Damon’s sulking in his room” he added quietly.

Caroline nodded. 

Honestly, they could probably go on like this for months. They were friends, allies, and it’s not like that much had changed. They hadn’t kissed since they’d got back, and they didn’t even have to talk about what had happened again. It was like they both wanted to forget anything that hadn’t been part of the plan. It was better that way.  Everything was fine.

“Are you nervous about tomorrow?” Stefan asked her as he handed her a glass of wine. They’d agreed it wasn’t hard liquor and wouldn’t do any harm.

“A little… okay yes. I want to make a good first impression, get along with the others, prove myself, you know?”

He looked thoughtful. “You’ll be great. Just relax today, get a good night’s sleep.”

She couldn’t help but stare at the shadows the candlelight cast upon his angular face.

“This is amazing,” she exclaimed as she tried the pasta. “Why aren’t you a chef again?”

“Thank you. Why aren’t you an actress again?”

“Ha ha, very funny.”

“The career options are unlimited” Stefan sighed.

“A true power couple.”

Once they’d polished the food and wine and were about to go chill in her loft, Stefan suddenly told her to wait and ducked into his room.

He came out carrying a small velvet box.

“Almost forgot about this.”

Caroline froze. Her heart literally stopped. Marrying a guy this perfect was the dream, and she’d gladly marry Stefan Salvatore (it would certainly fix the problem of her feelings for him being real), but they were too young, they’d just met, and really what the fuck.

Stefan stopped in his tracks when he saw the look on her face.

“Stefan, we’re fake dating, no one said anything about marriage!” She hissed, finding her voice once she saw the ridiculous look on his face.

Stefan looked like a confused puppy, and Caroline felt an instant rush of endearment. Damn it.

“What? No… that’s not… Caroline, it’s a gift I got for you.” He gave the box to her and she opened it curiously, and what the saw took her breath away.

It was a pendant, simple yet beautiful. A deep blue star outlined in silver. The gleaming stone looked like lapis lazuli, and the faint patterns under its surface only added to its charm.

“Oh my god. It’s gorgeous. Thank you, Stefan.” She reached up to kiss his cheek. “You didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to. It reminded me of you. Plus, you know, big gesture and all. You said to take care of it.”

Caroline’s heart sank as realisation dawned on her.

Of course that’s what it was.

Before she could collect herself and say something about going to go sleep, the door burst open and in the doorway stood a very determined looking Elena Gilbert.

“Salvatore!” She called out. “We need to talk!”

Enzo emerged from Damon’s room and on seeing Bonnie hanging behind in the hallway, made a speedy exit with her to god knows where. Their beloved diner, probably.

Elena’s gaze landed on the couple standing in the living room. “Oh hey, Stefan. I didn’t mean you. Aw, you guys look pretty. Wait, is that a–”

“Pendant!” Caroline held the box up quickly.

“It’s so cute!”

“Like hell, we need to talk.” They turned to find Damon standing in his doorway. The couple was facing off from opposite ends of the living room and Caroline and Stefan exchanged a look that clearly said ‘run’.

“Stefan, let’s go to my room. I can thank you for this properly.” Caroline winked hurriedly, well aware of how comical it would have looked, and practically dragged Stefan to her loft.

They collapsed against the closed door, safely away from what was going to be a messy fight.

Caroline ducked into the bathroom to change into her pyjamas and washed the makeup off, running her hands through her hair to loosen the pinned locks.

The sight of Stefan sitting on her bed and smiling at her as she got in next to him, made her heart flip-flop against her will.

“So I’m going to sleep now. Feel free to crash here if you want to avoid, you know.” Caroline pulled the comforter over her shoulder.

Stefan took off his shoes and got in beside her. “Okay, thanks.”

When she moved to rest her head on his shoulder, Caroline told herself it had nothing to do with habit. She didn’t prefer to sleep next to him. She wasn’t that far gone.

~*~

When Caroline woke up, Stefan was gone, but she didn’t dwell on it. All her thoughts were focussed on her first day of work.

She grabbed a piece of toast, quickly hugged the girls, and rushed, determined not to be late.

~*~

The day went by smoothly.

Caroline had gotten along with the other two assistants, a goth-looking young woman and a blonde guy, just fine. Her boss and her other co-workers seemed nice enough, and the work looked interesting. The girl had shown her around the place and explained her job to her, and by late afternoon, Caroline was free. Her work hours weren’t that long. Plus, it was the first day, and she just had to shadow them.

Once she was home, she watched some reality TV with Bonnie until she left for Enzo’s for the night, and then Caroline was alone with the daunting task of cooking dinner for herself.

Suddenly, a much better alternative presented itself to her. She dialled Stefan’s number.

“Hey, wanna check out that diner? I wanted to get some dinner.”

It wasn’t too much, she told herself. Friends went for night-time walks to eat meals outside all the time. She may feel more for him because of their messed up situation, but they were still friends, and that’s what his presence was for her.

She kept telling herself that. 

24

[whipplefilter]

Let's say Cruz goes to a party (gets drunk and everything) unbeknownst to Lightning. She comes back and he finds her at the entrance of the town, looking very exhausted. She even vomits in front of him. What does he do? Does he yell? Does he panic? What happens?

Oh man, this was a tough one, because in my mind, Cruz is a very Good Girl™! But it was interesting to think through the circumstances and how they might fall out. Thanks for the brain-teaser, anon! And since this is kinda long, there’s also a Fanfiction.Net version available for ease of reading!

fic: Flowers in the Desert

Lightning’s yelled at Cruz before. He’s championed her; he’s consoled her. But this is the first time he’s ever lied to her.

–

It was a music festival. One of those desert affairs she’d heard so much about but never attended. She’d liked the idea of them–blazing sun glinting off of everyone, music everywhere, all the time, of all sorts. Apparently it happened every year, though Lightning hadn’t seemed to know much about it. (Cruz is beginning to suspect that outside of racing, Lightning’s life is deeply boring. But he seems to enjoy it well enough.)

Fillmore had had a bit more intel–in that he’s familiar with both deserts and music–but his grasp of the music scene dwindles where anything past 1973 is concerned. He’d only told her that if she likes music, she should totally go, man. Nothing beats music against red rock, resonating in the canyons, murmuring low when the sun goes down.

And so Cruz had gone.

And so here Cruz is. She makes it to the edge of town, because when all other options are desert, Radiator Springs is not hard to find. But the edges of the buildings pulse in and out like crayon sketches and the road doesn’t feel right beneath her and suddenly, she is very afraid that she is going to hurt something. One of the buildings, a statue–or, Heaven forbid, scrape the lime-white plaster of the Doc Hudson museum facade. Or maybe it’d be worse, and she’d hurt a car. What if she hurts someone?

What if?

Cruz pulls to the side of the road, sits in a sizable tumbleweed, and cries.

She must doze off, because immediately, the sun is up and Lightning’s in her face. When she squeaks, gives her engine a startled rev, Lightning must decide that she’s okay, because he backs up.

He asks three questions in rapid succession. “I thought Fillmore said you were gonna camp out for the night? What’s wrong? Did you get lost?”

Why he’d think she could get so lost she wouldn’t know Radiator Springs from a mile away, she’s not sure, but it sounds better than the reality. Now that she’s awake, last night’s alcohol is quickly becoming this morning’s hangover, and the reality feels horrible.

It’s not the nausea caught in her throat, though that’s there too.

She’d messed up. What had been fun now felt stupid, she’d lost control, she hadn’t been careful enough. She’s responsible–she is. But she hadn’t been, and she’d driven here drunk, and it all just felt so. Stupid. It was all just stupid and reckless and stupid and childish. She hadn’t been the kind of girl she knows she is. She wants to cry again.

“I just wanted to come back,” she says. It doesn’t clarify much, but at least it’s not a lie.

Lightning eyes her quizzically. “Are you okay?” he asks. But before she can answer–before she has to lie–he says, “Never mind. Maybe you should head back to town and get some real sleep.”

She must look awful, but maybe she just looks like she spent the night in a tumbleweed. Maybe he can’t tell what he’s looking at. Cruz isn’t sure whether to be relieved or not. She doesn’t want to disappoint him; but she knows that if he doesn’t know already, she can’t keep this secret. She’d rather he just know without her having to confess.

She looks down at her tires, and her gaze flicks to Lightning’s. Dirt track tires. He must’ve been headed out to the butte then.

“Can I go with you?” Cruz asks. Her voice sounds small. In her mind, the track beckons: It is retribution. It’s forgiveness. She can shed the night and all will be well.

“You don’t need to ask, you know,” Lightning points out. “Willy’s Butte doesn’t have a waiting list.”

He smiles, but a question lingers underneath it. A minor interrogation.

Still, he lets her follow, because it is dawn and it’s summer and it’s going to be a hot one. Because this is his time on his track and even in her cotton-headed hangover haze, Cruz watches him get visibly antsy about getting out there right now, right this moment, no more detours. If Lightning doesn’t get his track time, he loses his mind, and truth be told, it’s all he’s thinking about right now. Any of Cruz’s potential transgressions fall to the wayside in the face of it.

At least until they pick up speed.

Cruz initially figures a few laps will be a great way to wipe the slate clean and feel a little more alive–because what isn’t cured by vigorous exercise? But for all it clears her brain it doesn’t do the same for her pipes.

She spins out, and is violently ill down the dusty side of the canyon.

And Lightning, well. Of course he sees, and now of course he knows. The worst part is, he doesn’t seem terribly surprised.

Had he known, then? This entire time, had he known?

He advises her to let it all out. She’ll feel better faster if she doesn’t fight it. He strokes one of her front tires with her own, and part of Cruz wants to lean into this, wants to let Lightning offer some kind of absolution and tell her she doesn’t need to feel bad about what happened last night, and make it so it’s like it never happened.

Part of her just feels worse, because she knows she doesn’t deserve it. She holds herself to higher standards than that.

“I didn’t think–” she starts, hiccuping. Her mouth tastes like dirty oil. “I didn’t think that–”

That, what? That she’d get that drunk? That’s just an excuse.

“I didn’t think,” she says, and stops. It’s the only real way that sentence should go. “Please don’t be mad.”

“I’m not mad,” says Lightning. And it’s true. He’s not yelling. Lightning, incensed, has a tendency to rant. But he stops rubbing her tire, and doesn’t say much more.

“Maybe you should go back to town now,” he suggests.

“I’m sorry,” Cruz blurts out.

“You’ve got nothing to apologize for. I mean, not to me, anyway,” he says. “Look, it’s fine, Cruz.”

It occurs to Cruz that he’s lying to her. (Lying for her?) She knows it’s not fine, and surely he does, too.

He takes her home.

–

He’s avoiding her. At first Lightning’s his ordinary kind of scarce and Cruz is asleep, then he’s busy on the Cozy Cone phones. But the whole town tends to get quiet around siesta time and even then, he doesn’t come looking for her.

“But he was sittin’ right there with all of us at Flo’s. Didn’t you notice him? Though between you and me, that blue’s harder to pick out in a field than the red so maybe–”

“I know he was there, Mater,” Cruz revises. “But you know how sometimes he’s talking with you but he’s not really talking with you?”

Mater blinks at her.

“He looks at me different,” Cruz confesses. He does; she can tell. It hurts to admit it because the admission makes it real. In Cruz’s worst nightmares, which she’s been playing and replaying for herself all day, this is what changes everything. One night of stupid, stupid mistakes and Lightning McQueen never looks at her the same way again.

Mater blinks at her again. “Maybe he just looks different on account of the blue–” he starts.

“Mater, I said he looks at me different! I messed up! And now when Mr. McQueen looks at me–”

“I heard you, I heard you!” he says. “I’m just saying maybe his face looks different on account of the blue. He’s gotta be your crew chief now, ain’t he?”

Cruz furrows her brow. “Yeah, but–”

“But shoot, I wouldn’t worry to much about it,” Mater assures her. “If you think the worst he’s seen out here is a little hullabaloo leaking out from the desert, you ain’t been here long enough!”

Mater sinks lazily into his suspension. “Plus ‘ol Doc always said Lightning was the worst thing to ever happen to this town. Right up ‘til the day he died he was saying that! Lightning ain’t mad. You just got a little Radiator Springs on you now, like the rest of us!”

Mater gives her a cheerful jounce, and her headache knocks back to her temples. The spots where her mirrors used to be itch.

–

Ramone just laughs at her. “Look, I never get mixed up in this kinda stuff. I run a body shop, and I’m not tryna moonlight as a gossip mill, you know?”

“I mean, I know he’s not mad,” Cruz continues, ignoring Ramone’s gentle objection. “I’m just not sure what he is. I just–”

They can hear the roar of Lightning’s engine from here, echoing off the Butte in the still calm quiet of the desert.

“Ramone. He went without me.” Cruz’s tongue feels thick.

Ramone just shrugs. “So go catch him! The road ain’t closed.”

“But–” She’s already interrupted his day once.

“Look,” Ramone sighs. “I’ve gotta do some designwork for that Weathers kid today, so–”

“Cal?”

“Fancy planter boxes. He says they’re for a friend. Anyway, you can’t keep skulking around here afraid of Lightning. You’ll get lonely, girl! No one’s afraid of Lightning.”

What he means is, stop being pathetic. She knows that’s what it looks like. Sitting around, moping. Not confronting her tangle head-on. She’s probably given all the advice she’s been getting a hundred times–a thousand. But when she closes her eyes she’s swerving down a desert road and throwing up on a tumbleweed. She feels so dirty.

“Are you Catholic?” Ramone asks.

“I’m sorry, what?” It’s so out of the blue. No one’s ever asked her that before. Except her one aunt, but that’s just what she says when she’s disappointed in you. Are you Catholic, or dead to her?

“Are you Catholic?” Ramone repeats, and says, “'Cause maybe think like, propongo firmemente nunca más pecar–you know, that sort of thing. But hey, you didn’t hear it from me.”

–

Lightning sees her. He’s wandering around the track more than he’s racing it, but when she pops over the horizon he picks up the pace, slides around a few more times with real speed, then drops off to nothing, letting the dust settle. Cruz feels it pepper her cheeks.

“Hey!” he calls out to her. “How was the music thingy? Did you have fun?”

“It was ‘fine,’” says Cruz, as she dips down into the canyon and joins him on the track.“But you love music,” says Lightning.

Cruz doesn’t join the charade. “Mr. McQueen, pretending this morning didn’t happen isn’t going to help anyone.”

Lightning’s cheerful, if somewhat empty, expression falls. “I didn’t want you to feel bad,” he says.

“Well, I feel terrible!”

Lightning grimaces. “It’s okay, Cruz, I–”

“But it’s not, though,” Cruz interrupts. “It was stupid. I was stupid. If I’d been in the city, or on an Interstate, driving like that I could’ve– I mean, if someone else had been out on the road, I could’ve– I didn’t even have my headlights on, I could’ve–”

“I know!” Lightning shouts. Then, quietly: “But what am I supposed to say to that? What am I supposed to do?”

Cruz doesn’t know. She just wants Lightning to know.

“I’ve never been in charge of anyone but myself before,” admits Lightning. “I don’t know how to do this. I guess… I feel responsible that like–”

“But this was my mistake, not yours.”

“Yeah, but you shouldn’t have had to–”

“I’ve been trying all day to figure out where I stand with you. You kept looking at me like–”

“That’s what I came out here to figure out! 'Cause I don’t know how I’m supposed to react, okay? Am I your friend? 'Cause Cal’s gotten drunk and ended up on top of Willy’s Butte before, so it’s hard to judge– And Bobby– Or am I supposed to feel like your crew chief? Am I supposed to suspend you? Is that even my call? This isn’t the Cup. Or your mentor–”

“Friend,” Cruz cuts in. “That’s the part that’s most important to me. Mr. McQueen, you never have to be responsible for me again, but I want us to always be–”

“Whoa, wait. You can’t get rid of me that easily! I’m gonna show up and coach you whether you want me to or not.” he teases, fake-angry. But Cruz doesn’t want fake-angry.

“Then be mad at me! Yell at me!”

“You don’t need me for that,” says Lightning, the levity gone from his voice. “I know you, Cruz.”

“A DUI is a crime.”

“Yeah, and if I were Sheriff, maybe this’d be a different conversation. But that’s not my job. And I guess–” Lightning looks past her, towards the red sky as the sun drops beneath the sand. “It’s not my job to make things go away, or try and–I dunno, protect you when I can’t. Or shouldn’t. It’s my job to let you be responsible to yourself.”

“But I– I–” says Cruz. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “Thank you.”

“Does that sound good?” Lighting asks.Cruz rocks back and forth, deliberating. “Eh, delivery was so-so. I feel like it could be catchier, you know?”

“Oh, come on–”

“But it feels good.” It feels clear. Open. Absolute.

It feels honest.

[imagineyourstars]

Hi, I'm starting to get the flu and I'm pretty sad since I also have to give away my dog tomorrow so it is just making me worse. Can I have a scenario of Rei, Ritsu and Mao taking care of a very sick Anzu that can't get out of bed who's also having high stress? Thanks! :)

oh no i hope you’re doing better now !!! i wrote this as soon as i saw your request, i hope i’m not too late… please take care of yourself ! ♥ - mod mademoiselle

Mao :

“Really, Mao, you didn’t have to come all the wayhere…” Your boyfriend pointedly looks away, now busy making sure you haveenough pillows and you feel comfortable in your bed. You squirm a bit under thethree blankets he’s piled up on top of you, and he mistakes that for you tryingto grab another pillow. He’s already put one under you before you even havetime to protest, and you just sigh, admitting your defeat.

“It’s fine, I was planning to come anyway. And I can’tjust leave you like that, who knows what you’d be up to if I wasn’t here ?” He laughsembarrassedly when he meets your eyes, and lets out a little sigh of his own.

“Maybe I kinda overdid it”, he mumbles, eyes on theground. Now you feel like comforting him. Great job, Mao.

“Yeah, you did, honestly.” He looks up at you, stillstuck and unable to move under the pile of blankets, your fifteen pillowsthreatening to take over the bed at any moment. His nerves eventually get thebetter of him and he starts giggling like crazy, soon joined by you. Once yournervous laughter finally subsides, you’re left wiping away at a stray tearwhile he fumbles around, retrieving a bottle of cough mixture from a paper bag.

“Did you buy medicine too… ?” He nods at your question, busy readingthe package leaflet while you’re left staring at his bag in awe. Did he really think of everything… ?

“Of course. I’d be a pretty bad boyfriend if I didn’t,right… ?” He laughs weakly, trying to measure how much cough mixture he should pour in thelittle plastic spoon he found inside the box. You just stare at him, vaguelyembarrassed, while he timidly moves the spoonful of medicine near your mouth.

“It’s not exactly tasty, but it should do the trick… Ithink”, he says hesitantly. You groan when a drop of sticky liquid falls on your chin, and hebarely suppresses a nervous chuckle before angling the spoon better and finallygetting it in your mouth. You can only grimace as you swallow the medicine, andhe smiles, putting the bottle away.

“It’s the worst I’ve ever had”, you comment, lookingaway as he bends closer to you to wipe the drops that fell on your chin andpillows, courtesy of his trembling hand.

“Sorry about that. It works really well, I promise.”He smiles weakly at you, although his cheeks are more than a little red. Maybeit’s the sudden proximity… He jumps up a bit when you grip his wrist, admittedya bit tighter than you intended.

“It’s fine, Mao. I’m… I’m just really happy you’rehere… Especially since I needed you so much.” Wow. You managed to say all thatwithout bursting into tears. Your voice did crack a bit on the last few words,but you’re still mildly proud of yourself. Are you this emotional because ofthe fever, or is it because you’ve been so stressed out recently, you wonder…

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t let you deal with that byyourself. Besides, thanks to Ritsu, I’m used to taking care of sick people. Youwouldn’t believe how cranky he gets when he’s sick.” You laugh softly at hiscomment, making him smile in his turn. You can’t help but notice how pretty hiseyes look when they’re twinkling happily, and so close to yours at that… Youwant to look away, but he inches just a bit closer, already slowly closing hiseyes. His cheeks are beet red, and you try your best to muffle a chuckle beforehe shakily presses his lips against yours. They’re so warm and niceagainst yours… You close your eyes in your turn, parting your lips slightlywhen his tongue shyly pokes against them. Before you have time to truly melt into the kiss, a sudden weight on you makes you gasp, and Mao immediately movesback, removing his hands from where they awkwardly landed on your chest.

“Sorry, I kind of toppled over…” He tries his best tosmile despite the embarrassment, before his face suddenly contorts in disgust.“You were right, this cough mixture tastes disgusting”, he adds, nose scrunchedup in a way that makes you giggle.

“Told you so. It’s your fault for suddenly kissing melike that. What if you get sick too ?” He just shrugs at your question, givingyou a shy little smile that makes your heart beat slightly faster.

“I don’t really care. If it’s the price to pay to seeyou smile and get better, then so be it.” You’re left staring at him, eyeswide, and he awkwardly blinks. Then realization dawns on him. “Did I say somethingcheesy again ?” he laughs, and you can only join him.

“You did. But it’s fine. I like it.” You’re not sureyou actually said that last part out loud, but the warm smile on your boyfriend’s lipsand the blush that spreads on his cheeks and ears seem proof enough. Maybe he’sjust as glad to be with you as you are he’s there taking care of you when youmost need it…

Ritsu :

“I can’t breathe, Ritsu…” You squirm a bit, but hesqueezes you even tighter in his arms. You didn’t even know he was that strong…Maybe it’s what you deserve for not knowing he had it in him to almost hug youto death. Your boyfriend mumbles adorably, still half-asleep, then lazily openshis eyes. His red gaze meets yours, and he lets out a little smile.

“Too bad. I’m not letting you go.” You groan inresponse, and he chuckles, slightly relieving the pressure of his arms aroundyou. There, much easier to breathe. He waits until you’ve made yourselfcomfortable on your bed to nuzzle against your neck, sighing in pleasureas he gets ready to nap again.

“Are you sure it’s going to make me feel better ?” youask, not entirely convinced by his method of choice. He simply nods, looking up at you from under long dark lashes.

“Trust me, I’m an expert… A good nap can do wonders.Just rest and let me heal you…”  You’re about to question that last part when hestarts nibbling on your skin, right at the junction between your neck andshoulder. You barely muffle a little yelp, while Ritsu just smirks against your skin.

“Is that part of the whole ‘healing’ thing too ?”Ritsu doesn’t answer your question, letting his lips wander lower and lower,kissing your collarbone and licking his way down to your chest, where he restshis head before he shoots a grin at you.

“Yeah. It’s supposed to make the illness go away.” Youcan only blink at him while he lovingly nuzzles against your chest, handspawing at it. He really looks like a cat… You’d almost let him do as hepleases, just because of that lovely face of his, weren’t it for oneparticularly insistent grope.

“How is that supposed to make me feel better… ?” Herolls his eyes at your question, as if the answer were obvious and you werejust particularly slow.

“Simple. To make you feel better from a fever, you’resupposed to get hot, right ?” His mouth is pursed in an adorable self-sufficient little pout,almost making you want to kiss him. If only you didn’t risk making him sick too…

“Well, yeah, but…” He cuts you off before you havetime to explain.

“Don’t you feel hot, right now ?” He’s staring at youintently, lips finding their way to your neck again. You’re not sure if he’sgenuinely trying to help with your fever or if he’s just found an excuse to doas he pleases again…

“Um, yeah, I do”, you concede, looking away when heinches closer. He’s grinning widely now, visibly satisfied his unusual remedyis working wonders.

“There you go. Told you it works.” Before you havetime to refute his claims, he suddenly kisses you, not leaving you time tobreathe. You were just starting to kiss back in earnest when he pulls back. He’ssomehow still smirking, but you notice he’s slightly out of breath too…

“Was that part of your healing technique too ?”  youtease. He nods, snuggling close to you again and looking supremely satisfied.

“Yeah. And the next step is a long, long nap. Luckyyou, I’m an expert at this too.” You roll your eyes but it’s too late : he’salready dozing off. Your fingers softly run through his hair, petting it slowlyas he falls asleep.

His chest is moving slowly as he takes deep breaths,and you’re left to admire how pretty his face looks when he’s asleep. He looksalmost like an angel… too bad he’s not always like that. You smile a bit,imagining his reaction if you’d told him that. He would probably huff hischeeks and cross his arms, throwing you an unamused glare… Really, his glareswould impress you a lot more if he didn’t look like an adorable but quitepissed off cat.

As your thoughts are wavering, you find youreyes slowly closing. Unconsciously imitating Ritsu’s deep breaths, you’re onthe verge of falling asleep. He’s so warm against you, too… You lean againsthim, cuddling him as your conscience drifts away. You’re barely awake whenhe opens one eye to smirk and whisper “Sleep well…”

When you wake up, you’re feeling strangely refreshed.Maybe the medicine Ritsu gave you really worked wonders on you… You still feela bit feverish, but you’re doing a lot better. You turn to your boyfriend to tell himwhen you notice he’s tightly gripping you, face hidden in your neck. Is hestill asleep… ?

“Ritsu ?” You gently touch his shoulder, and when helooks up at you, your eyes go wide. He’s shivering and his cheeks are burninghot… “Oh no, looks like you caught my fever…”

Your boyfriend barely represses another, longershiver, looking at you as stoically as he can with cheeks that red. “I’m fine.What matters is that you’re better. Besides…” Before you can say anything, he’shiding in your neck again, hot breath dancing on your skin.

“You can always try my great healing method on me…right ?”

Rei :

Honestly, this all feels so weird. Having Rei lovinglynurse you while you’re sick definitely wasn’t what you expected from a guy whoclaims he’s a vampire and tries so hard to be seen as hardcore. Well, himgiving you medicine wasn’t so bad. But maybe reading you a bedtime story beforeyour nap was a bit too much. You did fall asleep in record time, but still…

You wake up to feel slightly disoriented, before youremember you’re in Rei’s bedroom. The furniture clearly mirrors his aestheticand tastes… He’s nowhere to be found, though. You’re just about to get up andgo look for him when he comes in, holding a tray, and smiles at you.

“Oh, fret not, my love. Go right back to lying down,would you ?” You begrudgingly comply, while he puts the tray on the nightstandand comes to arrange your pillows so that you’re in an almost seated position.

“You know, I can get up just fine”, you say, but hedoesn’t answer. Instead he lets you rest against the pillows, brushing a pieceof stray hair behind your ear.

“You do not need to. I believe I already told you howI planned to take care of your every need.” He sits next to you and grabs aplate on the tray he brought, gently blowing on it to cool down its contents. Is it… soup?

“Did you cook for me too… ? You really didn’t have to,you know !” You’re feeling a bit embarrassed, but he gives you a little smile.Clearly, he’s happy nursing you like an overprotective mother.

“You took such good care of me when I was in need, mylove. How the tables have turned…” He chuckles, but brings a spoonful of soup closerto your mouth, and you feel your cheeks slightly blushing when you realize hewants to spoon-feed you.

“Really, I can eat myself—“ He completely ignores you,but you can see the corners of his mouth quivering. Is he fighting off a smile?

“If you would please open your mouth, just like me.Aaah~” He opens wide to set an example, and the little light twinkling happilyin his eyes tells you he’s having a lot of fun. You dejectedly do as he says,looking away as he spoon-feeds you. The soup is delicious, making you suspecthe really cooked it himself… He clearly reads you like an open book, given that hesmirks a bit.

“I see you are enjoying my home-made cooking. Do notworry, I longingly thought of you as I was preparing it…” You’re too tired todo much else than rolling your eyes. He’s gonna tease you no matter what,anyway. But as he dutifully feeds you until you get embarrassed and take thespoon yourself, you’re left thinking he’s not doing this to make fun of you.Not with the loving way he looks at you. Once you’re done with your meal, hetakes the tray from you but makes sure you take vitamins. There’s really no wayto escape his surveying gaze and you down them soon enough, much to hissatisfaction.

“Very good. You shall see, you will be doing muchbetter now.” He seems to mean it’s thanks to his loving care, but truth betold, it might rather be the ultra-efficient medicine he got you. You just nodwearily, but blink down in surprise when he leans down to softly kiss yourforehead. His lips barely touch your skin before he turns away with one lastsmile.

“Now, if you will excuse me, I have dishes to wash.”He was about to leave when you manage to catch his arm, and he immediately stopsin his tracks. He doesn’t even look surprised, rather worried.

“Wait… Can you stay with me ?” Rei doesn’t answerright away, instead slowly blinking. “Please ?” you add in a tiny voice. You’realready feeling all gloomy again. Maybe that’s because of all the stress you’vebeen feeling lately…

Rei just puts the tray down again and sits on the bed.Before you know it, he’s looming over you and kisses your forehead again. Thistime, his lips caress your skin a little longer. His fingers gently brush yourcheek, and you can’t help but get lost in his mesmerizing ruby eyes for amoment.

“Of course, my love. I am devastated you are feelingso sad.” You don’t remember ever telling him about it, but it’s not evensurprising. Rei’s ridiculously good at reading you… When he hugs you tight, youhide in his chest. He’s big and his arms are strong, making you feel safe andprotected… You close your eyes when he starts tracing intricate and soothingpatterns on the back of your neck with his fingers, whispering sweet nothingsin your ear until you calm down.

“Everything is fine, do not worry… I am here, by yourside…” You weakly nod, sniffling softly. It feels kindalame, just unloading all your stress in front of your boyfriend, but at leastyou feel a bit better now. And when he leans in to kiss you, all the tension just meltsbehind your closed eyelids.

When you resurface, he’s gently cradling you in hisarms, his voice a caressing murmur trying to lull you into sleep again. Withhow tired you are, you gladly snuggle against him, letting go of all yourworries. He smiles gently at you as you fall asleep, and you weakly smile too.He is so good to you…