#jaded normal person who's so down on their luck they ended up stuck working for a major villain

[larrythefloridaman]

Danjack for bingo?

dan deserves a wish fulfillment cool earnest dork wolfboy bf. hes earned it i think .

[starshiningsirius]

Dr. Jerkyll and Mr. Hyde (Yandere Leech twins x reader)

An au idea I had came to mind based off @yandere-wishes Victorian twst story and @yandere-romanticaa 's Extraterrestrial story.

I love these two eels and I'm late on their birthday but it's still their birthday for me.

The clear moonlit sky shown brightly over the waters of the ocean. As yet another scream echoed within the streets of a supposedly vacant city.

The detective woke up with a start but not from the scream, but from the ringing of her phone. A report she had been writing stuck to her face from the humid atmosphere. She picked it up getting a few details from Idia, who was panicking on the other side of the line. Considering he worked in the criminal department at the desk and didn't have to see any bodies whatsoever you would think he'd be calm when trying to say what happened.

"Calm down Idia. Tell me what happened?" Her voice was gentle since yelling wouldn't help his nerves.

"Therewasanothermurder! Theyclaimedanothervictim!" He spoke so fast that his words wouldn't be understood by most but she was used to this with him and every word was caught by the detective's ears.

"Where's the crime scene?"

"In front of Sam's shop on Crystal Road, Ms. Y/n L/n." The voice of Idia's younger sibling popped up a contrasting his older brother's cowardly behavior.

He wanted to be just like his older brother so he spent his days in the office with him. Though there were times when Idia tapped out and his brother had to step in.

"Thank you both. I'll head their now." She hung up after hearing a farewell from both brothers.

The candle was long out and she grabbed her gun, notebook, and pen within the darkness, before venturing out the confines of her home.

When she got there a crowd had surrounded one spot in particular.

Cater was already there taking photos of the scene as it was his job being a forensic photographer.

"Hey, hey! Y/n's here, make way!" The crowd parted for her as soon as he announced her presence.

Whispers were muttered as she passed through into the middle of the crime scene. Mostly about how she hadn't caught this killer yet. She ignored them though and went on to meet with her coworker.

"It never ceases to amaze me how your always here first Cater, if anything you should be a suspect." She started off saying to her compatriot.

"Can't help it if I want to stay informed dectective, I just want to stay informed before anyone else." His smile on his face was out of place as he took another photo of the corpse.

"Who was it this time?"

"Such a poor fate to befall dear Monsieur Heart." A new voice joined in the conversation.

"Rook, I see you've arrived but can I get their name please?" The detective said sighing at the theatrics of her friend.

"His name was Ace Trappola, I can't imagine how Monsieur Spade must be feeling about this tragedy." Rook feigned a sorrowful look.

"Oh yeah A-Deuce kun were inseparable, I feel sorry for him. Think he knows already?"

"If there as inseparable as you say Cater then I suppose not, he isn't here yet otherwise I'm sure he'd cause a scene." She noted.

"That doesn't make him a suspect though right? I mean sure he's been a suspect in many crimes before, but Deuce kun far too soft!" Cater was a bit frantic at the thought alone.

"No, I doubt it was him he wouldn't want to disappoint his mother with something as vulgar as murder, he cares for her far too much to do that." That calmed his worries.

"You know I've heard Monsieur Heart have many laments on how his delivery to Roi d' Rose-" Cater didn't let Rook finish.

"RIDDLE?! No way he did this! Have you seen how strict his mother is? Just waltzing in their office and so much as suspecting her son is a one way ticket to hearing her screams! Besides I doubt his mother would even let him out this late anyway, he's always about following the rules set in place for him." Cater says with an imaginary sweat that could have formed to express his fear and anxiety.

"True, and I can't afford another headache from that lady, but we could get some valuable intel from him about Trappola's demeanor the past few days seeing as it may be a pattern in the serial killers motives."

"What about Sam? He's gotta know something considering the murder occurred in front of his shop." Cater's gaze went toward the shop to the right of them.

"Ah the shop keep, a wonderfully eccentric man with many secrets." Rook stated his opinion of him from what he gathered on his own free time.

"Says the French man whose got info on everyone from stalking them on the street." The detective says shaking her head at the strange man next to her who happily smiled at her statement.

"I wouldn't call it that more so getting to know my prey more personally." She sighed hearing his reply.

"A crime analyst such as yourself is such a good cover up!" Cater's response made her sigh once again.

She shook her head toward her coworkers. They took their job in a mild manner but beyond that they did do well to get it done. Even though the means of how they did it were very much questionable in her eyes.

She looked toward the ground seeing the body of the former male right on the cusp of adulthood. His orange hair was a bit disheveled and the looks of shock on his face petrified in time.

"Ah, the dectective is already using those perceptive eyes of hers." Cater's words fell on deaf ears as she was examining the crime scene closely.

"As expected of Reine de la déduction, such dedication in her work. Très bien!"

Their bones were disfigured, just like the last person. No one has this type of strength it didn't make any sense. The only lead that was given but she noticed a glowing substance in his mouth.

"Cater, Rook, I need some confirmation. Out of all the other times these cases have been appearing there weren't any liquid substances to be found beside the occasional blood right?"

"You are correct."

"Yeah, nothing else to be found from what I could see." They both confirmed her suspicion.

She had to go talk to Jade again, but first thing tomorrow she had to interrogate Sam, as well as Riddle Rosenhearts which was sure to be headache on her part.

* * *

His mother was an agitation to say the least. During her entry into his mother's office and upon stating the reason for her entry, Riddle's mother had already hated her the moment she finished speaking. Yelling and hollering about how her son would never commit such a crime even though the dectective never stated he was a suspect in the slightest.

She only asked to question the behavior of Mr.Trappola as of late before he met his end. He was under no suspicion whatsoever but she wasn't having that and kept screeching until her son had to calm her down.

It was much more pleasant afterwards but the headache Y/n had in the early morning just listening to her screeching didn't disappear throughout the whole endeavour.

Just before she bid him farewell he apologized deeply for his mother's behavior with a red face of complete embarrassment. To which she replied it was alright and thanked him for his time. Unfortunately though she had to bear that burden on her own as Rook and Cater had their own jobs to partake in analyzing the other crimes and investigating the trend within the series of murders. It was unfair but that was life. By the time she exited their establishment it was already in the afternoon a little after lunch.

Next was to venture to Sam's shop which was right where the crime had taken place. The body was already removed and taken to forensics, so the only thing left was a broken street lamp.

"Ah, well if isn't the dectective, I believe I already know the pleasure of seeing you here on this fine day," He tipped his hat to her with a smile on his face.

"Afternoon to you too Sam. I would like to acquire any information you have on the murder of Ace Trappola that occurred last night, in front of your establishment."

"Such a shame the little demon, was too young to have bite the dust. But you know as well as I my information comes with a price."

"A thousand madols should suffice a description of what you saw right?" She questioned handing a stack of the paper currency to which he smiled at.

"All I know is that last night was certainly something else. I heard a smash of a lamppost outside my window, up on the second floor. Shop was already closed though. When I looked down I saw what looked to be two silhouettes outside the window. One way taller than the other though, I recognized of Trappola on the ground and something glowed within the hands of the killer, a vial of sorts. He poured it down the throat of the little demon, but Trappola put up a good fight before it was over."

"Over? Can you specify?"

"As in he was left on the ground for dead, it looked like he was choking on whatever was consumed. The killer held him tightly after he realized he was choking. It was similar to a hug but one that was more deadly than a normal one. After he dropped him to the ground and walked away laughing hysterically at who he squeezed."

"And you weren't going to go to the police to inform that you had witnessed the murderer of a serial killer!" Her voice had raised a bit in volume as her agrevated state didn't alleviate since earlier in the day.

"I'm not one to get involved in others private life, Dectective. I've got a business to run." She understood his point though exhaling a sigh through her nose.

"Right. If you want to keep your life you keep your mouth shut. Alright I thank you for the intel." The dectective closed her notebook after writing down many notes on the case.

"Pleasure doing business with ya, Dectective! Best of luck to you as well! You'll be needing it more than anyone." She was only able to hear the first part of it not when his cheery demeanor went away.

She walked out to her final destination of the day, a close friend of hers. His name was Jade Leech, a smart man that excelled in pharmaceuticals just as did Riddle's mother but in a more different sense. His potions were revolutionary with in the subject of alchemy and his botany skills and knowledge made his fame and fortune.

He's helped her on countless cases before, with his expertise in potions it aided in knowing key components to solving head bangers such as this.

As she reached the door of his manor she knocked before waiting a moment or two to see his smile.

"Dectective, how pleasant it is to see you today." He flashed his signature smile toward me, with pearly teeth straight and white.

"It's nice to see you too Jade. May I come in?"

"Your always welcome here, though I must say you do look exhausted how about I put on some tea?" He made way for me to step in.

"You don't have to Jade."

"I insist, naturally I should show good hospitality to all my visitors. Your free to take a seat wherever you like."

"So how are your mushrooms doing?" She said starting up conversation on a favorable topic for him. He was in the kitchen that connected to the empty dining room, that opened the way to the living room where she sat.

"I imagine you didn't come here just to speak on how my mushrooms are doing alone?" He spoke it in the form of a question but he already knew the answer with a knowing smile on his face that she couldn't see but knew he had.

"You are right, my apologies, I actually require your aid with a substance that could be the key in solving the recent serial killings." She watched as he walked in with two plates in hand.

"It's fine, I'm glad you can come to me for help." He served the two plates, one in front of her and the other in front of himself.

They had pasta on both of them with the mushrooms I mentioned. It smelled heavenly. Her stomach growled loudly which caused Jade to laugh lightly.

"I'm assuming you haven't eaten much of anything have you?"

"No I had too much work to do today." She blushed looking away from him.

He sighed making a small 'tsk' noise.

"You have got to take better care of yourself, that dedication of yours is admirable but otherwise you'll drive yourself into an early grave with that sort of work ethic." He chastised.

"Ah, I just don't have the time these days, I'm sorry for all the trouble you have to go through for me." Her eyes traveled toward the food with a slight guilty feeling.

"You speak as if your some sort of burden on me, quite the contrary I worry for your safety and yours alone. You may be a skilled dectective but, I care for your well being first."

Her face grew to an intolerable temperature that would make people think she was sick. She was very much surprised by his words. The first time anyone has ever said anything that endearing to her in a while.

So to ignore the feeling of her heart racing she picked up her plate kept her eyes trained on it. Her expression looked to resemble pouting.

"L -let's just eat then shall we?" She stumbled on her first word internally cursing as she heard Jade's laughter.

. . .

After they had eaten Y/n had spent some time explaining to Jade the situation with Trappola's murder and handed him the vile of the substance found at the crime scene.

He listened attentively and chimed in few times for clarity. He said he would have the analysis of the substance done within two days. Soon enough she was on her way out the door even though he had offered her to stay the night she had declined politely. It wasn't weird since they were close friends with one another anyway. Not to mention there were times where she would fall asleep while waiting for Jade to finish his analysis and he would be nice enough to place her in a room.

"Thank you Jade, I would have loved to spend more time with you, but I've been really busy as of late with all these murders." She thought for a moment and then looked up at him. He was a bit tall, scratch that he was tall, of course so she got on the tips of her toes and placed a kiss on his cheek to show him her gratitude.

Jade's face lit a flame, cheeks flushed as he touched where her lips made contact.

"I'll see you later." Was all she said before walking away briskly passed the gates of his house not looking back.

She would've heard the glass breaking inside the male's house in which indicated another presense inside.

. . .

Two days had passed and the dectective was trying to piece together what was the link between these series of murders.

She had to go check with Lilia who is the pathologist that had completed an autopsy on all the bodies of the victims. As eccentric as he was he was more tolerable than the combo of intricacies that are her co workers. Then again everyone in this office was weird in their own way.

"Ah, dectective what great weather we're having today, is it not?" He said with a smile on his face.

Unlike Jade he was significantly shorter than him so she had to look down a little to see him or stand a few feet away.

"It is indeed, Lilia. You seem to be in a good mood today."

"That is because I have made a breakthrough on today, while working through the night." His smile grew and the magenta eyes affirmed his happiness toward the news he had to share.

"On Mr. Trappola's body, I have found something strange but interesting nevertheless! A scale and not only that, but there is something you should see for yourself!" He brought her over to said man's corpse luckily the bottom half of his body is covered and the top half as well up to his shoulders.

Lilia grabbed one of his tools for dissection and beckoned her to come closer as she showed her what he had found. That's when she saw it.

Lilia had a small knife and maneuvered it to a small spot itself, lifting up a small piece of skin that was already slit and based on the size of the knife and similarity to another a butter knife it wouldn't have been able to cut the skin.

"There are two more like this on this side of his neck and three on the other side. So it seems like they're gills.

"What about the other bodies?"

"I spent the night examining those as well and they all have the same gills but Trappola here is the only one who had a few scales."

"So maybe the substance has something to do with these oddities on him. Trappola probably ingested some."

"It's quite possible that whoever this murderer is trying to test the substance on the person instead of themselves but based on Trappola's few scales being the latest attempt it seems they are making improvement for whatever the elixir's use is. These strange characteristics it reminds me of some fairytale I heard some time ago." He drifted off sounding like an old man reminiscing.

"Enlgihten me then Lilia." Knowing just how Lilia liked to ramble on about myths and legends like he'd seen them and lived through their stories.

"Well if you insist but this one involves merfolk certainly you've heard of mermaids and such right these scales on legs don't they remind you of those types of things. Gills on their necks so that half people half fish would gain the ability to breath underwater."

"Ah right but this is reality. Seeing is believing though right? Who knows though maybe they could help with the case." She was skeptic hearing about a bunch of lore that could just be coincidental but she knew better than that. Coincidents were more than just preordained.

. . .

Now back at Jade's manor the dectective was contemplating what in the world such a myth could play a factor in a murder scene. It just didn't make any sense as to why the person would need such a potion. What type of person would you have to be to go that f-

She couldn't finish that thought since Jade had opened the door.

"Ah, Jade good day to you-" the dectective looked up toward him to see the tall man staring at her for a bit longer than a few seconds. She did notice the strand of black hair usually on his right was on the left.

Unconsciously she reached up and was about to grab it before her hand was grabbed.

"Just what are you doing little dectective?" His voice got a bit darker towards the end sending shivers down her spine for a second before she saw his eyes in front of her and thought to herself for a second.

'Was his gold eye always on the right?'

A slight tighter squeeze on her hand woke her up form her head. She was reminded of the situation again. She could feel his breath closer to her face, she was internally malfunctioning and was losing her train of focus.

"Ah, I was, I was just trying to flip your black strand of hair." She stuttered and didn't internally curse herself this time since the proximity was still a factor in her brain turning to mush.

Jade suddenly smiled a wide one at that. Usually it'd be small and polite even when teasing he'd have a signature closed eyed smile keeping the adorable image of his flustered dectective in his head. But that wasn't the case this time. This smile was more menacing and sent bad news toward all who saw it.

Jade towered over her a bit more leaning to the right a bit toward her ear.

"Dectective do you know what you remind me of?" He questioned with a wide smile on his face.

He leaned in too close for comfort his breath could be felt on her right ear, while his hand on her shoulder kept her still.

"An adorable little shrimp! I could just eat you up!" He said it slow to build up suspense but it sounded serious and at the same time.

She pushed him away feeling her face heat up tremendously like an oven.

"J -Jade!" She couldn't find the words to describe what she just heard feeling beyond embarrassed and having her heart pound loudly that she swore he could hear.

"I -I have to go, thank you for your time!" She frantically stated about to run off but before she could Jade had grabbed her wrist and pulled her back.

"Aww can't I get a kiss too, little shrimp? Besides aren't you forgetting something?" She was too put off by the request to understand the sentence, but her mind did process part of the sentence and she remembered why she came here.

He held up a folded up sheet of paper in his hands toying with her holding it out of her reach.

How could he say that in such a cool voice? Her nerves couldn't handle so much teasing, it wasn't unlike him but it seemed he had gone over his usual gentlemanly behavior.

She hurriedly kissed him on the cheek in which he hadn't expected such a quick response to his question with a blush on his face becoming apparent and his frozen stature. She took the opportunity to jump up for the paper and ran from near the doorstep bidding farewell with the sheet of paper she had took in hand leaving a blushing male to watch her run out. His smile grew as he saw her frantic behavior, excitement bubbling within him.

He ran outside to the backyard of the mansion to go share his newfound happiness.

. . .

"Jade! Shrimpy is really cute!" The one male spoke to Jade in a tone of voice that was different than that of a few minutes, one that would have made him believe he was Jade himself.

There appearances were so similar, cept for the eyes and voice they were twins after all. With a little makeup and easy voice tone change one could hardly tell the difference anyway.

"I'd thought you'd understand if you saw her up close, Floyd." Jade was actually outside tending to his mushrooms in the garden while his look alike was entertaining the female detective that had left in a hurry. Though knowing his brother he could already assume how it must have went. Thinking of his little dectective being so flustered indefinitely brought out his sadistic side a bit.

"Can we keep her?" Floyd was so fond of her seeing her turn red, hearing her heart beating loudly, when she stuttered and that kiss on the cheek pretty much sealed the deal for him. She was so full of life and it brought excitement for him since he had to stay within the manor and avoid everyone. His behavior would be brash and scare many in the public eye not only that but his strength was inhuman which could cause problems for the person on the receiving end. Especially if you were trying to blend in.

They only came from the sea to see the lives of humans and unlike one of their friends who started a business in this day and age. Jade could survive on land with the ability to easily fool others with a facade whereas Floyd couldn't do that all the time and would probably squeeze someone for no reason other than boredom.

He didn't like being confined but after seeing the dectective sleeping on the couch once, he became curious as to who she was and why Jade spent so much time helping her. He knew for a fact his brother was not at all kind or generous. He was beginning to finally understand.

"We are but you have to be patient, you did give her both sheets of paper before she ran off correct?" His brother inquired finally seeing the hunger in his brother's eyes.

"Yup, she gave me a kiss just so she could distract me and take it. Shrimpy is so cunning she makes me want to squeeze her and pay her back for catching me off guard like that." The thought alone sounded enticing to Floyd, he couldn't wait to wrap his tail around her.

"I need you to go on another 'outing' tonight we have to perfect this first if we want to have any shot at having her to ourselves." Jade's words did nothing to damper his mood as his excitement reached a new level at the thought of showing his little Shrimpy off to everyone.

They were trying to get make a potion in which a human could become a sea creature, though it was easy for Jade to make one for himself and Floyd to come on land. The same can't be said for a person that's been human and has not a single gene that ties them to the ocean. Altering genetics is difficult and delicate and one mistake and their dear little detective could end up just like those poor unfortunate souls that were test subjects. Jade would never risk bringing her with them under the sea if he wasn't sure she'd make it.

"Okay~ Jade!" He said eagerly!

Now that Floyd was on board as well he would be more motivated and inclined to help, making it more easier for Jade as he wouldn't bother and complain so much about being on land longer.

. . .

She barely slept a wink after what had occurred. Every time she thought about her encounter with Jade she'd blush and bury her face into a pillow with frustration.

She tried before to get some of her work done before that, but that didn't work out too well as her mind drifted back to the same situation.

How close he was, the warmth of his breath against her ear, it was enough to make her brain stop functioning as if he were there again.

He seemed far more clingy than usual and she didn't know how to describe it other than strange. The notes from the alchemist were neat and precise and confirmed what Lilia and her examined on the bodies earlier in the day. But that wasn't the only thing that fell from the folded piece of paper. It was another small piece with neat cursive that matched the analytics on the other page.

'Would you like to spend your day off with me?'

Yet another reason she wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight.

. . .

After getting off from work she mentioned to her coworkers how Jade had offered her to spend her day off with him. Well they asked what she was gonna do with her day off since it was a rarity. First Cater asked her if she said yes to him yet. She said no and he understood from the get go that she was way too flustered to even respond to him. So he offered to go respond to him on her phone.

Rook congratulated her and went on a rant about love even though she tried to get through his head it wasn't a date. He asked what she would wear and she had no actual clue, in which Rook took that as an invitation to lend his aid and expertise.

He brought her to one of his friend's businesses. Cater said this place was highly recommended and that anyone whose anyone came to the place for a makeover. Specifically called Vil's beauty salon and boutique. She didn't understand how a person could have both but he seemed to be managing it fine. The said shop owner gave her one look and shook his head at her appearance.

His words were, "What a poor excuse for a girl to go on date with such a potato face such as that, it's shameful for not only you but the guy as well."

He had her try on clothes and by the end of it all, she felt different. Her head hurt from all the pulling around of her hair. She had put on enough clothes that she believed she was playing dress up. The outfit settled upon was different from her usual style and she had on makeup for the first time in her life.

Rook and Cater applauded Vil's work new appearance. The dectective had to admit that when she looked in the mirror she understood why Vil had such a reputation that Cater reccomended him highly.

She had to buy all of it of course and thanked Vil immensely for his efforts. There was actually a discount considering Rook brought her and she looked so 'pathetic'. He had a victoriously smug smile on his face and complimented his own efforts before waving the trio off. She thanked her two coworkers and bid them farewell, looking forward to the her first day off in a millennia.

When she met Jade the next day at his door he was plenty surprised by her appearance. He blushed with his eyes widened in astonishment at the change. Not to mention on the side of the manor Floyd could see just how beautiful she had dressed. It was going to be a long day especially with the heels she was wearing and trying her hardest to walk in.

. . .

The two friends went to Clover's bakery where Jade offered to pay for any sweets she wanted but it seemed they were terribly busy today and the line was a bit long not mention the place was packed inside so there weren't any tables to sit in.

Trey said it was nice to see her out and about for once not on dectective business for once. He said hello to Jade as they were all friends though she only knew Trey from Jade who introduced me. On rare occasions she would go to his bakery for something sweet. He handed them two cupcakes for free but also asked for a favor for him.

"Can you give deliever Riddle this tart please? His mother isn't home and he rarely ever gets anything sweet. I usually have Ace do it but-" He looks away for a moment.

"It's fine, Jade do you-"

"It's no trouble at all, we'd be happy to." He says with an enchanting smile on his face.

Trey handed over the box containing the tart to them and they made their way over to the clinic where Riddle resided.

On the way Jade and her conversed. She asked him why he agreed so quickly and he responded with his own unique answer.

"I know it's in your nature to help others. Yet another fond trait of yours."

It's more embarrassing hearing it for the first time and out loud no less. She could feel her face heat up again.

"Then there's when you turn into a cherry, one of my favorite traits." He said in a teasing tone with a smile toward her making the dectective flush even more and look away biting into her cupcake. To ignore the laughter emitting from her friend alongside her. Now this is the Jade she knows.

. . .

To be completely honest both of them enjoyed their time today with one another. They had delivered Riddle's tart which was almost a complete disaster.

Considering she asked Jade to be lookout in case his mother came back. Long story short she did arrive earlier than expected. After she and Riddle heard her voice outside the walls right near the entrance gate, the dectective told Riddle to go before she found him with the tart. Riddle was far more worried about her but the dectective told him she'd be fine.

By fine she meant ducking in the rose bushes for cover, there weren't any thorns surprisingly all been cut off. She waited for Riddle's mother to enter the house and had to scale the wall that was located next to an alleyway. Climbing up was the easy part but getting down was the hard part. She was wearing heels and that drop looked like she would possibly break a bone if she landed the wrong way.

She came to a decision to take a leap of fate and let her heels drop to the ground. One thought passed about Vil being pissed about her ruining them. She shook her head though and pushed herself off.

Before she could land someone else caught her. Looking up at her savior she saw the two colored eyes of Jade. Who smiled happily at making it on time.

"Ah look at that, my assumption was right. I thought you'd take this route out their place. It would've been such a shame if you were to get injured."

"Thank you Jade, can you put me down now please?"

"I don't think so I'd rather hold you like this until we get to the resturant for everyone to see." He playfully said watching her face heat up.

"Wha-? N -no I can walk on my own!"

"But you might have hurt something besides someone who can't get their words out is akin to a child so they must be coddled correct?" His teasing was endless today.

. . .

After leaving the Monstro Lounge a business run by one of Jade's friends, Azul Ashengrotto, the sun had already long set.

"Let me accompany you to your apartment, Y/n it's supposedly dangerous to be out after dark correct? Or you can just spend the night again?" He offered.

"I have to decline besides I've already used enough of your generosity I don't want to take it for granted. It's been such a great day thanks to you Jade, wish we could do these more often cept for the fact I have work tomorrow." She said in a relaxed tone.

Despite all the teasing she really did enjoy herself with the man. Having her heart beating loudly all day and having her brain short circuit was all too amusing to the man beside her, but out of everyone else even his own brother she made him feel strangely different. He couldn't explain the feeling itself, but he knew for a fact he'd never do all of this for someone he would use.

"You wish to spend more time with me? I can grant that you know." Jade had said that so simply and out of the blue but in a calm tone as well.

"There's no way you can do something like that but I appreciate the thought. It's fine though you've done enough already. I'd rather not burden you with a simple wish." She said with content.

Before he could respond to that statement fast footsteps hurried over to them both and made the pair turn around.

"I saw the killer it was Mr.Leech! He ran away from the scene!" His hair was a light green, eyes full of life and the loud tone of his voice was distinct.

"Sebek what do you mean you saw Jade kill someone he was with me the entire time!We just left the Monstro Lounge Azul saw us leave!" The dectective was defensive pertaining to justice being served, not to mention her friend was being accused and she had been with him the entirely of the day.

"No it was him I saw him Felmier was killed by him!"

"Felmier was killed?! You should've started with that! Take me to the body did you make sure he was dead?!"

. . .

Sebek had spread all about the town that Jade was the murderer even though the people who had seen us together throughout the day vouched. Trey, Riddle, Azul, Rook, and Cater even Vil had seen them together. Some actually took Sebek's words in and started to distrust Jade even so.

Vil and Rook two friends of Felmier had paid for the funeral costs as Epel's family was struggling. It was admirable to see the young man take on the vicious job as Vil's protégé. It really was a shame. Vil actually kept up a face and Rook though he looked upon the casket with blank like expression it was easy to tell he was out for blood. Jade did show up to pay his respects even though some glared at him and were suspicious.

Vil came up to dectecrive during the repass and told her to make that fool pay dearly. She would of course no argument there. Epel had been a good kid and may have been a bit brash but still good nonetheless. So was Ace.

And thus a good day ended on a sour note.

The dectective would have more sleepless nights. Lilia performed an autopsy on Epel's body with Vil standing by his side to make sure he didn't damage it. Even he was shocked to see more and more scales near his legs and gills that were more prominent.

These people were getting even more closer to there goal it seemed and she couldn't do a thing. She was so frustrated at that fact alone. Jade's analysis did help some though. Looking through shops though that sold what would be the components of the elixir nothing suspicious could be found in any of the people who had brought those items. Not to mention those who did didn't have all the items brought from another store, there was no reoccurring name in sales.

Speaking of Jade though she had begun to think back to Sebek. He wasn't the type to lie not on the name of the mysterious nobleman Malleus Draconia that he served would he ever embarrass himself to stain his name even slightly. That's what Lilia told her at least.

He said Jade had did the deed. But he was with her the entire time. Come to think Sam's description had also matched Jade's strange behavior before he gave her the analysis, but it didn't make sense. Jade was one person he couldn't be in two places at once!

Maybe someone was trying to frame him and to that extent she went to go question if he had any enemies of the sort. His response was that he didn't have any as far as he knew. That could have been a good lead.

With no others she sighed looking extremely worn out and Jade had a frown seeing her state. He insisted she stay the night and she denied saying she had to finish this case even more so now. He at least offered her a meal in which he put slipped some sleeping pills that made her fall asleep after eating.

Both pairs of two colored eyes gazed at her peaceful state not liking how she'd exhaust herself with so much work. Only for the sake of others and waste time and effort for people that isn't them. It was annoying to Floyd and agitated Jade more than he liked to admit. She did say she wanted to spend more time with them right?? If only she didn't have that stupid job. Even more a reason to push the date up to the next few days.

. . .

About a week and a half had passed and the dectective had no other leads still. It was killing her to say the least. All those unfortunate victims and those families and friends that mourned definitely weighed on her shoulders, guilt eating at her insides. Such a shame too within the end of the day she was at home taking an evening nap on her day off in which she didn't even go out today. Her phone buzzed waking her up from her slumber.

A text from Jade. It had been awhile since they last talked seeing as she fell asleep at his manor again even though she didn't intend to.

Rubbing her eyes she read the text from her bright phone screen.

'Meet me at the dock at 10 today.'

She wasn't as flustered as last time in fact she considered not going as this case took top priority. But this was Jade, her closest friend, and she hadn't taken much of a break as her nap was only 30 mintues probably the only amount of sleep she would get today if she was being honest with herself.

She reluctantly sighed and decided to get ready an hour before meeting him and walk there a bit early to have some time to her own thoughts. She thought about going to Vil's shop to buy another outfit but it would have been a waste if they were only meeting for a short time. Not to mention she didn't want Vil to come to the conclusion she was slacking off with Jade even though the bags around her eyes were very much proof.

As she sat at the edge of the dock admiring the stars the waves hitting the edge of the pier calmed her head. It was nice to say the least.

She wondered what Jade would have to talk about. She looked at her phone and saw it was 10:05, Jade being late was a surprise, hopefully if she waited a bit longer her worry would ease. That atmosphere could not have lasted any longer.

A slight wind blew and during that exact moment something pulled her under by her feet into the cold ocean waters below. She managed to hold her breath and open her eyes to see nothing but darkness even with the moon behind the clouds right about now only endless shadows were there.

She could barely hear but she could have sworn something swam by her. Arms touched her waist which almost made her scream for a moment though that was something suicidal. It touch the sides of her stomach and stayed there for a moment.

Even though she tried to struggle it was fruitless when the thing that held her tickled her sides making her open her mouth and succumb to breathing in water then choking soon after. That wasn't the only thing to occur since the next second lips were on hers and a fluid trickled down her throat along with the water that she was trying to swallow. The tongue of said thing dipped inside her mouth and would have made her gag if they hadn't pulled away.

She regretted it the moment they did cause she still could breath and with her mouth open she thought she would take her final breath. Both or what she assumes were two people backed off letting her go to meet her demise with her slowly closing her eyes. She didn't notice the glow of what transpired around her lower half of her body. She could finally take in some much needed breaths except her neck for some reason felt sore and she could no longer move her legs separately to try and swim up for air.

Looking down she saw the horrid image of a long tail with a fin on the end where her legs were supposed to be. The pain form her neck was from three newly formed slits on either side of her neck. Her fingers traced over them finding this whole situation unbelievable. When she finally came to her senses she found herself hearing voices as well.

"Shrimpy's still here! It worked, Jade!" A cheerful voice could be heard in the cold waters that surrounded her.

Something slimy wrapped about her new found lower half. Pulling her closer to be within someone's arms. They held her a bit too tight like all the air, water in her lungs could have been? Did she still even have those anymore she wondered? Even still the amount of pressure put on her by the creature hugging her was able to be felt.

He was laughing happily spinning around in circles with the former human female getting dizzy by the second.

"I can see that Floyd. How wonderful, but do take it down a notch she only was just turned after all." That voice was all too familiar. She couldn't help but say it aloud, but that couldn't be true.

"Jade?" Her voice was a whisper but of course he still heard it.

"Yes, my dear angelfish what is it?" He responded in an endearing tone that was calm despite the situation she was just put through.

She glanced toward the voice to see what appeared to be a creature similar to that of an eel by the tail. Her eyes trailed up to the sight of his face. It was him no doubt about it. The eyes were exact and so was the hair the only difference was the body and skin.

"Aw Shrimpy why'd you acknowledge him first? I'm here too." A voice whined in a more child like tone directly in her ear. It brought a shiver down her spine.

'Shrimpy?' That was unmistakably the nickname Jade gave her when he acted weird.

She turned toward his way and saw a sharp toothed grin on his face when she looked at him.

"Floyd you haven't even introduced yourself." Jade sounded like his normal self and this Floyd person was just the complete opposite of him.

"Oh right Shrimpy I'm Floyd, Jade's brother and your going to be with us in the sea from now on! Isn't that great? I can't wait to show you all my favorite places you'll love it!" He sounded so excited while dread built up in the mermaid.

"What do you mean stay here?! What have you done to me? Who, what even are you two?!" She said those words with malice laced into them having them both chuckle in response.

Jade had also wrapped his tail about her upper half restraining her further. He brought himself closer to her face, a smirk etched on to it.

"My, my, Y/n you did say you wanted to spend more time with me, isn't this what you wanted?" He tilted her chin up showing a sadistic smile on his face that only built up even more dread than what his brother had already.

"I didn't realize or expected anything like this and you know that! Why would you do this?! You! You-" She thought for a second processing all that had occurred the past couple of weeks.

"You killed them you gave them that exlixir that ended their lives. Every single one of them." This time it was the other brother's turn to speak.

"There's our little dectective she's so smart!~" Floyd just made her completely uncomfortable with how he would call her that nickname and whisper words in her ear.

"Why? Why would you do this?" She became defeated knowing turf like this was theirs and she stood no chance against them in the first place.

"Eh why? Is Shrimpy really that blind Jade?" Floyd mocked her with no remorse as tears streamed down the dectective's eyes at the thought of letting so many people down.

"Why? My dear angelfish haven't you noticed? We've become quite enamored with you. Hm no better word to put it is obsessed, at first it was just me but with Floyd's impatience I just had to get him in on understanding why we didn't go back home already. As for those people they were necessary for testing the elixir for this very moment. We couldn't have you dying on us afterall." He said with absolute calmness evoking rage within the mermaid.

She clenched her fists.

"So many were sacrificed, I should've died, instead." She murmured the last half but both the twin eels heard it.

There expressions turned dark and their tails gripped the female tighter startling her from her state of guilt.

"Eh, why would you say that Shrimpy, we can't have you leaving us. We finally got you all to ourselves and I haven't had much time with you, and yet you say you want to leave." Floyd's arms contracted her more than Jade's tail already, now she understood what it must have felt like for Trappola.

"He is right Y/n dear, we only want what's best for you and having you say that only makes our blood boil so please understand." Jade gripped her chin with a scary amount of strength. This was the first time he ever seemed so much more intimidating to her.

"Don't ever say something like that again am I clear?"

From that point on she was stuck between the twin eels who loved her so. She only wished she could have been able to listen to Sebek when he said the truth. Mr. Leech did do it just not the one she thought.

[kyber-kisses]

September 18th

Dean Winchester x Reader

Warnings: none, maybe some cursing but that’s about it. Begins during 4x01 Lazarus Rising.

Summary: Dean Winchester is the last person to ever believe in love at first sight, but when a hand hell’s pull him from the earth, he lays eyes on y/n, and everything changes. glimpses of memories are all that is needed to understand their story.

A/n: you guessed it! Another song fic! This one was based on Louisa by Lord Huron. Please enjoy! ( also its a hot mess so have fun!)

Song link: https://open.spotify.com/track/4BzUOXsZ3DqryXFi1bB5aV?si=C1tGnKhLS2WI9EZCI11gLA

When Deans soul was marked for hell, the last thing on his mind was falling in love. Even before that, he just didn't think it was in the books for him. He was a hunter, and he couldn't let himself go getting attached to anyone, and it also wasn't like he had found anyone that truly connected with him.

There would only be a small handful of people who would miss him when he was gone. He wasn't a celebrity among the hunter community by any means. Dean Winchester was just a shadow, a ghost moving through towns, solving cases and saving the day before anyone really knew what was going on.

He was just a nameless hero. He would go out guns blazing and that would be that. Life over.

Good for nothing is the name they'll remember me by Done nothin' with my life for no one, I'm just waitin' to die I turned my back on the world You know I'd given up on livin' til I met you girl

September 18th, 2008. That was the day you met Dean Winchester. The day your life changed forever.

It was supposed to be a milk run. Just a simple case, but when you came across the blast site you knew it was going to be anything but simple.

It looked like a bomb had gone off. Trees were knocked over like they were tooth picks, the earth dead and dry within the space. But what really caught your attention was the man laying in the center of the blast site. Chest heaving and covered in dark soil.

“Holy shit-“ you breathed, slipping your gun into your waist band as you raced across the ground.

He must have heard you coming, because once you were close enough, he attempted to lung at you, failing miserably due to his loss of strength from fighting against the coffin. You dodged his half-assed attempt, pinning him back against the ground.

“Who the hell are you?” He growled, trying to blink the remaining dirt from his eyes.

“I should be the one asking that. I just saw you crawl out of the ground.”

Then you came into my life with come hither in your eyes Pulling me outta the grave what a nice surprise I die when our nights end, but I only stay dead til I see you again

Once the dirt had left his eyes, Dean squinted under the blinding midday sun, trying to see who exactly had him pinned to the ground. It first it was just a silhouette, but then as his pupils adjusted he felt his breath catch in his throat. His struggle against you hold ceasing.

Your face was smeared with dirt from his sudden struggle, big y/e/c eyes looking down at him as the wind blew several loose pieces of hair across your face, the sun outlining you in an almost golden trim.

“Where am I?” He spoke slowly, for some reason finding it hard to break away his eyes from your own.

“Just outside of Pontiac, Illinois.” You informed him, your tone firm as you spoke, “now, once again, who the hell are you?”

“My name is Dean Winchester!”

That’s when you froze. Your grip on him loosening as you rolled off of him, “No offense, but you’re supposed to be dead.”

“Well no shit Sherlock.” He coughed, brushing off some more dirt from his clothes as he pushed off front he ground, extending his hand to help you up, which you accepted.

Once you were on your feet, Dean was finally able to tear his eyes away from you, suddenly scanning the surrounding area.

“Who are you and what the hell happened here?”

“I’m Y/N Y/L/N. . . And the hell if I know. I heard rumors of a blast site outside of Pontiac and came to check it out. Sounded weird enough.” You admitted, quickly pulling your hair into a low pony tail as you talked.

“Why?”

“I’m a hunter. Weird is kinda my thing.” You shrugged.

When he looked back over to you, he felt his heartbeat pick up suddenly. He blamed it on his adrenaline from crawling out of the ground. He didn’t know you at all, and he found himself drawn to you like a moth towards flame.

I lie awake in the night just to see another dawn Used to be the sun was my weakness but them days are gone I feel your lips on mine Will you meet me by the river, baby, one more time?

“Am I ever going to see you again?” He asked slowly, leaning back against the car you had helped him jump start, eyes ever so slightly lighting up.

He didn't understand it. He had known you for maybe three hours now, and he was completely entranced by everything about you.

You gave him a surprised look, fishing into your back pocket and pulling out a poorly folded sticky note, you jotted down your phone number, passing it over to him with your index and middle fingers. “You've known me for what? three hours? and you’re already asking for my number? You really don't waste time do you Winchester?” You mocked, backing up towards your vehicle and flipping your keys.

“Its not like that!”

“You keep telling yourself that, Cowboy. Good luck out there!” slamming your drivers side door shut, you revved the engine before putting the car in drive and taking off down the empty stretch of back road, but not before blowing the jade eyed hunter a kiss.

Once again, At that time, Dean didn't know how much you would effect his life. The two of you would run into each other so often that you finally both agreed that it must be fate. A deep friendship blossoming from being the one to pull him free. And he found himself falling deeper and deeper in love with you each time your paths crossed. Eventually you just stuck around, and that made his heart and the very bones in his body shake.

September 18th, 2008. That was the day Dean Winchester began to believe in love at first sight. Because that was the day he met you.

I'll give you what you wanna have, I'll take you where you wanna go I'm the only man you'll ever need, girl, and now you know I'll write your name on my skin, as a promise that we'll never be apart again

“Damn it, y/n! You just had to barge in guns blazing didn’t you?!” Dean huffed, tearing the mid section of your shirt to take care of the new gash in your abdomen.

You let out a burst of light laughter, amused by his worry as he popped open the first aid kit, “You guys were getting your asses handed to you. It was just a couple of werewolves.” You breathed, wincing as Dean rubbed an alcohol wipe across the wound, not caring for gentleness. He was mad at you. . . Again.

“Yeah, a couple! Look at you! Your bleeding out!” He snapped, his hands working fast to clean and close the wound.

“No need to get so upset-“

“Well it’s a little late for that sweetheart!” Slamming the kid of the kit closed, he gave you one of his famous death stares. One of which you got way too often.

Swallowing, you pushed yourself into a sitting position, “I’m sorry, Dee. I just didn’t want you to get hurt.” You mumbled, eyes begging for his forgiveness.

Deans shoulders fell along with his face as he let out a sigh. The anger was now gone, quickly replaced with concern and worry. Instead of pushing up from the ground like he normally did, he leaned over, pressing his forehead against yours, “I know, I know. I’m sorry I got mad. I just freaked out when I saw you hurt.” He admitted.

“Well, I’m okay because of you. You saved me. . . Yet again.”

I feel alive when I'm with you, baby So tell me that I won't ever be lonely again Don't wanna die I wanna wander the world with you And no one else for the rest of my days on this earth

The sound of the bunker door opening, followed with a string of laughter told Sam that you and Dean had just returned from the supply run. It was always the same each time you returned.

Closing the laptop in front of him, he turned in his seat, watching the two of you descend the metal stairs, arms full of grocery bags as you continued to laugh.

“I’m guessing the supply run went well?” He mused.

Dropping the bags on the table, you looked at the younger Winchester with wide eyes, “Dean slipped and fell on the ice outside!” You blurted, doubled over in laughter once more as Dean sidled up next to you, shaking his head as a massive smile took up his features.

“Alright, get your laughter out.” He grinned.

“He’s a total klutz!” You wheezed.

Rolling his eyes, Dean stepped forward, wrapping his arm around you and throwing you over his shoulder in a fireman's hold “Alright, you and I are gonna go and have a talk.” He chuckled, beginning his walk down the hallway.

“Oh, are we?” You mocked, your voice fading as the two of you disappeared into the depths of the bunker. Another burst of laughter echoing down the hall before being cut off by a slamming door.

A small smile tugged on Sams lips as he turned back to his work. Ever since you had come into his brothers life, Dean had seemed happier, more full of energy and life, even during hunts and hard times. He was grateful for you. They both were.

I turned my back on the world I wasn't always like this, girl Do you know what loneliness does to a man? Turn him into the walking dead I may have died but your lovin' raised me

“You stubborn, stubborn idiot!” You whispered harshly, falling to you knees next to a very unconscious Dean Winchester, “you just had to go and get yourself knocked out.”

The case had been going fine. Hell, it had been going great. Two hunters. Two vampires. Halfway through your fight with them, your partner had to lose focus, resulting in him getting his head slammed into a door, rendering him useless for the rest of the fight. Luckily you had taken the second one down with ease. . . But now You had a 180 lb mass to take care of.

Taking the loose flannel that was tied around your hips, you quickly tore it down the middle, being careful as you went to wrap it around the gash on his head.

“You stupid, stupid idiot.” You sighed again, taking in deep breaths as you tried to calm yourself.

“Would you quote calling me stupid and stubborn?” He groaned suddenly, green eyes fluttering open to look up at you.

And then you slapped him, the sound almost echoing through the empty barn, resulting in a light yell from Dean as he grabbed your wrist.

“What the hell!?”

“That was for not listening to me, and getting yourself hurt!” You snapped, before quickly pulling him upright and into a hug. “Don’t do that!”

“God, you’re insane. . . and I am completely in love with you.” Dean sighed, resting his hand on the base of your neck before pulling you back down to his lips.

I feel alive when I'm with you, baby So tell me that I won't ever be lonely again You saved my life I just wanna repay you in kind Ain't no one else ever tell you you're beautiful, girl?

He didn’t know how long the two of you had been sitting there, but one thing was for sure; he didn’t want this moment to end.

You and Dean had been sitting on the hood of the impala for what felt like hours, watching the sun set behind the trees. What used to be a lovely apricot sky, was now a deep navy blue, almost black. The star scattered sky felt like a blanket laid across the earth, and neither of you could bring yourselves to go inside.

Tearing your eyes away from the heavens, you looked over you shoulder at Dean, a light smile on your lips, “Didn’t you bring me out here to ask me something. . . Like a few hours ago?”

“Yeah, yeah . . . But if you want to just keep looking at the stars, that’s fine.” He grinned, his hands still deep in his coat pockets as he fidgeted with the small item tucked within. Unfortunately you quickly caught on to his uneasiness, sliding over the hood of the car and turning your body to face him.

“Alright, what’s going on?”

He wasn’t good at these sorts of things. . . Then again, he never really had done anything like this. It didn’t help that you made him a nervous wreck. You were so beautiful and badass. You rendered him speechless more times than he cared to admit.

Slowly he took his hand out of his pocket, opening his palm to show you the ring resting in the center. It wasn’t elegant by any means. In fact, Dean had made it from solid iron.

His nerves only grew when you didn’t say anything. After a moment he felt your fingers graze the skin of his palm, picking up the small piece of jewelry.

“Did you make this?” You breathed, turning it over in your hands as you looked at it, the moon giving off enough light to allow you to see it properly.

“Yeah. I know you don’t do fancy, so I made it out of iron.” He explained, watching a massive smile light up your face. That was a good sign, right?

“Dean Winchester are you asking me to marry you?” You smiled, quirking your eyebrow as you smiled at him.

“Been meaning to for awhile. . . But yeah, I am.” He nodded.

His heart stuttered in his chest when you moved to open his palm, slowly surrendering the ring to him once more. “Y/n, wait-“

“I think you should do the honors.” You smiled again, extending your fanned out fingers.

Dean let out a sigh of relief, shoulder instantly relaxing, “oh thank god. I thought you were saying no there for a second.” He breathed, taking your hand so he could slide the cool band over your ring finger.

“I could never say no to you.” You smiled, gripping his hand in yours as you looked over at him.”But I do have one question, there was something engraved on the inside of it, what did it say?”

“September 18th.” Dean spoke plainly, squeezing your hand, “Because that’s the day I met you. The day I started to believed in the love at first sight. . . It’s also the day I plan to marry you on.”

I feel alive when I'm with you, baby So tell me that I won't ever be lonely again Don't wanna die I wanna wander the world with you And no one else for the rest of my days on this earth

The End.

SPN Taglist: ( Still open)

@familybusinesswritingbro​​​​​@a–1–1–3 @awesome-badass-cafeteria-sauce @music-is-all-i-need @agusdoti​​​​​ @callmekda​​​​​ @jordangdelacruz​​​​​ @orphiceseum​​​​​ @andthatsmyworld​​​​​ @marvelfangirllll​​​​​ @fandomnerdespressourself​​​​​ @gladiosamicitias​​​​​ @castielsangelsx​​​​​ @lxstgxrl-ck​​​​​ @tis-i-the-wayward-idgit​​​​​ @amendoise​​​​​ @phoenixuprisingsstuff​​​​​ @ericalynne007 @kaitlaitlaitl​​​​​ @neerness​​​​​ @totallyluciferr​​​​​ @supernaturalenchanted​​​​​​ @dolanfivsosxox​​​​@supernatural-ocs @emptycanvasposts​ @akshi8278

[quicksilversquared]

There’s No Camembert in Tibet: Chapter 9

A sequel to Plagg and the Butterfly Costume

With Hawkmoth defeated and school out for the summer, it’s time for Ladybug and Chat Noir plus their newly-assembled team of superheroes to head to Tibet to try to rescue Mrs. Agreste. Hiking, magic, and adventures await them, and hopefully at the end, they’ll be returning to Paris with Mrs. Agreste in tow.

as like normal recently, links will be in the reblog.

Shortly after their early lunch, Chloe heard the most glorious combination of words that ever existed:

"Chloe, I think we should be close enough to the next landmark for you to transform and fly ahead."

(Well, they were the most glorious combination of words on the trip so far, at least. Her standards were a little bit higher- a lot bit higher, actually- at home, where she didn't have to walk until her feet were sore and there wasn't an annoying little floating cat singing some nonsense about Gouda after midnight and cheddar to the dawn.)

Chloe grinned, waving Pollen over. "It's the crack in that cliff way up there, right? I'm on it!"

She transformed in a flash, zipping up and away as fast as she could. Queen Bee let out a happy sigh as her weight lifted off of her poor, abused feet...and as she finally, finally moved out of range of Plagg's awful, awful singing.

How Adrien put up with that kwami, she didn't know. And how he listened to that music- the music that his kwami was clearly creating cheese-themed covers for- well. Hopefully Nino would use the rest of the summer productively to update Adrien's playlists a bit, because otherwise she would have to do that and it would take away time from her hairdresser appointment to even out her haircut and put in a few highlights, and her spa appointments, and the weekly mani-pedis that she was going to have to schedule in order to get off the ugly calluses that she was starting to get from her boots.

Queen Bee peered downwards as she flew forwards, hoping to get a good look at the trail farther ahead. If she could see it from way up above, then it would make it easier to find whatever landmark they were looking for next. But the trail seemed a bit overgrown to start with, and there were oodles of little deer trails all over the place from the herds of antelopes or whatever they were that made it really, really hard to pick out which was the right one.

Well. Maybe she would just go directly to the mountains- they were more like rock fins, really, not mountains at all, not like some of the peaks they had seen over the past however-long-it-had been- and try to find the passage that Mrs. Agreste had described and even tried to illustrate in the notebook. It had worked before, and surely it would work now. All she had to do was some speed sprints along a section of the rocks and she should be able to find the passageway.

Strategy decided, Queen Bee zipped forward, squinting against the wind in her eyes as the once-distant rock features grew closer and closer. It still took a good ten minutes to get there, and then Queen Bee could start her searching. There was just one big problem.

There was a strip of forest at the base of the rocks, thick enough that it was difficult to see down to where the break in the rocks would be most prominent. Queen Bee growled, frustrated.

Why couldn't this ever be easy? Just once, she wanted there to be a landmark that she could see from ages away once she was in the air, so they could just pack up and zip over instead of her having to spend forever searching.

"Maybe I could fly above all of this stuff and find it that way," Queen Bee mused. She flew higher into the air, glad that she could actually fly, unlike Paon, who was stuck with his weird little flutter-leap-glides. The air was maybe getting a little thin as she kept flying higher, but she would get used to it and it would be worth it, Queen Bee was positive.

...as it turned out, the fins of rock turned into an absolute maze behind the rock face. There were little crevices going everywhere, things that might have been the walkway but might not have been, and dead ends and pinch points galore. Queen Bee gave up after a minute of horrified staring and zipped back down to ground level.

Well. So much for that idea. Clearly she would have to actually work for this one. Grumbling a bit, Queen Bee headed back down to search properly.

And search, and search, and search. She couldn't find anything.

Queen Bee zipped back in yet another zig-zag, dipping down between the trees to get closer to the ground and scowling when she didn't spot the crack in the rock that Mrs. Agreste had described in the journal, even after another pass.

That was annoying. Why couldn't Mr. Agreste have just entered the GPS coordinates in his journal like a normal person? Didn't he know that he would have to be able to find the temple again and some ridiculous kiddie treasure hunt instructions- honestly, Queen Bee could remember similar instructions in some of her childhood treasure hunt games (turn to the left; walk twenty steps. Turn to your right and walk ten steps. Face the windows and walk eleven steps. And there's the treasure!)- was not up to the standard she would expect from Mr. Agreste. Or. Mrs. Agreste. Or anyone with the last name Agreste at all.

She would have expected for him to have coordinates for points on the path, at the very least. Maybe even the coordinates for the valley itself, so they could just hire a private helicopter and fly themselves in and out in a matter of only a couple days, or maybe just one day. That would have made for a fun trip.

Grumbling, Queen Bee widened her search. At least she didn't have to hike this. Flying was so much more fun and ages faster. If she turned around, she could see the others still plodding dutifully in a straight line across a meadow, following the faint traces of the trail hidden under long, swaying grass.

A line of shadows caught her eye, and Queen Bee perked up. She headed right for it, dodging between the trees, and let out a little squeal when she saw the crack in the rocks that had eroded into a narrow pass, the trail leading up to it faint but still visible from the air. Smirking just a little (another point for Queen Bee- that had to be a couple hours of hiking, at the VERY least!)- she landed, reaching for her trompado as she did so she could call Master Fu. As soon as she did, though a rustling in the bush made her pause and she turned warily to see what had made the noise, squinting into the gloom of the forest.

A giant rodent face stared back out of the shadows.

Queen Bee screamed, flung her trompo at the face, and took off into the sky without a backwards glance.

 Adrien laughed at a joke Nino told, feeling more relaxed and more like himself than he had in weeks as the group of them headed across a field full of tall grass and flowers. Even though he was ages away from home, he wasn't even remotely homesick.

He was among friends, with adults who actually cared about him, and far from the nosy reporters. He had found that he quite liked hiking- and after Chloe's meltdown early on, wasn't he glad that he had spent days clomping up and down the stairs both in his own home and in Marinette's to try to break his boots in a bit before they took off?- and even when his muscles were sore from walking and there were bugs and he was so exhausted that he was falling asleep the moment his head hit the pillow every night, Adrien couldn't make himself hope that the trip would be over too soon. He was just having too much fun.

The field dipped down between several rolling hills and Adrien followed the gentle slope, even as Jade Turtle charted a determinedly straight course along the slide of the hill to follow the proper trail. Marinette's mother sat in the back of his shell among the piled bags, enjoying the gentle breeze and a bit of a break from the walking. Nooroo perched on her head, sunning himself.

Up ahead, they could occasionally spot a flash of yellow as Queen Bee scouted for the crack in the cliffs where they could slip through the rocks to the far side. She didn't seem to be having much luck so far, proving once again why it was a good thing that Jade Turtle was also taking the slower route. It would take longer, but they would make it right to the cliff passage eventually.

"Our legs are going to look amazing after all of this is done," Nino joked, giving his legs a little shake before jogging for a moment to catch up again. After a few days of pain as their legs adjusted to the intense exercise, they were all doing a lot better. "Can we talk about how much I'm looking forward to the being transformed on the way back thing? I can just fly the whole way, practically. Well, jump and glide, at least."

Duusu made an unhappy little noise, shuddering slightly. "Oh, that's going to be awful, being transformed all of the time. It's going to be days of almost nonstop transformation, only eating once per day-!"

"You'll be detransformed at night," Marinette pointed out. "And it'll be two meals, not one. And it'll be faster going back, too, since we can just use the GPS and mostly just take the straightest route back instead of the flattest and most accessible."

"Unless there's a mountain range in the way," Adrien chimed in, because that was definitely a concern in this particular region. "But then we could also just transform and go as fast as we can using the GPS."

The field started giving way to forest as it sloped upwards again, and Plagg zipped away to go scavenge for mushrooms. Adrien couldn't help but let out a small sigh of relief at that- hopefully Plagg would find something he liked, and he would stop nagging Adrien about being hungry all the time and wanting to dip into their stash of cheese. He had been singing cheese-themed covers to popular rock songs for most of the morning, and it was nice to finally have a moment of peace.

"I hope Chloe finds the pass soon," Alya commented a few minutes later, glancing up as the flash of yellow appeared again, dipping in and out of sight along the tops of the trees. "I could use a turtle shell ride break about now."

"You could just join Mrs. Cheng," Adrien pointed out. "We don't need to be speeding ahead for you to ride in the shell. And you've taken advantage of that before."

"I know, but-"

Alya abruptly cut off her words as a faint scream echoed through the valley. Adrien's eyes flew open and his head jerked up, finding the blur of yellow streaking towards them. Queen Bee was flying flat-out, as fast as she could possibly could, right back at them. It only took her a couple minutes to reach them, and she didn't even try to slow as she came in for a landing. Her feet ripped long trenches into the ground, sending dirt and grass everywhere. They all dove out of the way, arms flying up to keep the flying dirt from hitting their faces.

"Chloe? What's wrong?"

"G-giant rat!" Queen Bee spluttered as she finally tripped and somersaulted to a stop. She sat up, pointing back in the direction she had come. She was pale under the mask, her eyes wide. "It was just lurking, and then it was staring at me when I landed! Who knows if it was trying to attack me, or- or kill me, or-"

"A giant rat, you said?" Jade Turtle inquired, sitting up straighter and looking intrigued instead of alarmed. "Or was it the Rat superhero?"

"There's a rat superhero?! Whose bright idea was that?"

"Chloe, we talked about the Rat before, remember?" Alya pointed out. "They're related to someone Adrien's mom knew."

"Or they were related," Adrien corrected automatically. "The new Rat might not be."

Then he froze. The Rat that had attacked his parents was nearby. Who had threatened his parents and, by extension, him. That could be bad. Really bad.

He didn't want to be detransformed for this.

Jade Turtle seemed to have the same idea. "Kwamis, power up," he ordered. "We want to transform as soon as possible. I doubt that he would attack us outright, but we want to make it clear that we're superheroes on a mission, not lost tourists or people looking to plunder the temple."

The kwamis zipped towards the bag of food, diving in. Adrien looked around frantically- he had been glad when Plagg flew off to forage, but now he didn't know how to find his kwami. There was no sign of Plagg, though, and Adrien wondered if he could get away with just hiding behind Marinette when the Rat came to investigate.

Tikki emerged first, making a beeline towards Marinette. The other kwamis didn't take long to follow, and the area lit up with the flashes of light as they transformed. Adrien edged closer to Ladybug, twining his fingers with hers for comfort. He really didn't like not being able to transform right now.

Out of all the times for Plagg to scurry off...

Adrien was just starting to consider trying to transform even without Plagg in sight when a familiar black shape appeared among the trees. Plagg glanced around at them curiously as he munched on one of the mushrooms he had gathered up in his arms.

"What are we transforming for?"

"Queen Bee spotted the Rat and we wanted to be prepared," Jade Turtle explained. "Finish your snack, and then Adrien can transform too."

For once in his life, Plagg listened. He inhaled the whole pile of mushrooms in one gulp (Adrien cringed- seriously, his kwami had no manners, and it was just gruesome when Plagg's mouth stretched like that) and then zipped over to Adrien. In a flash of green, Chat Noir joined the other superheroes in the field. They headed forward like they had before, this time as a much more tightly-packed group. It was almost ten tense minutes later before they spotted the grey-clad man heading across the field towards them.

His outfit wasn't like the that of the younger superheroes. It was more like a simple grey suit, with the only out-of-place things being the thin tail snaking out the rear of the pants and the ratlike mask covering the upper portion of his face. He didn't look particularly friendly- even at a distance, they could see the pinched expression on his face.

So this was the man who had threatened his parents and drove them into installing fortress-style levels of security in their home. Adrien honestly couldn't blame them. While the seven of them all looked fun and friendly while transformed, this man's outfit screamed business. If he were trying to look threatening, then Adrien wouldn't blame anyone who decided to run.

"Remember, only use our superhero names around others," Jade Turtle reminded them as the Rat drew closer. "Just in case this Rat is suspicious of us as well. It will be good practice anyway for once we do the ritual."

Chat Noir nodded stiffly, doing his best not to hide behind Ladybug. Her fingers gave his a light squeeze and her hip bumped into his, a reminder that she was there with him. The group came to a halt, and Jade Turtle gestured for them to stand behind him in a group.

"Try not to look aggressive," Jade Turtle instructed. "We don't want to force a confrontation if he's just here to see what we're doing. He's a local, so he could be an invaluable source of information for helping us find the temple."

Chat Noir's ears flattened, just a little. He didn't really want to travel with the Rat. He just- maybe they hadn't actually talked to the Rat yet, but he wasn't comfortable with being anywhere near the man, just based on the notes his parents had made. Maybe the Rat would be different with actual superheroes.

The Rat kept approaching, and Chat Noir was pleased to see that there was a slight wariness to his expression. He stopped a good twenty or thirty meters away from them, calling something to the group.

Tibetan, Chat Noir was willing to bet. He couldn't catch anything that was being said, which was frustrating. Jade Turtle responded, and the Rat nodded and stepped forward a little closer. Their back-and-forth continued for a few minutes, the Rat's expression relaxing and pinching in turns as they conversed. At one point, Adrien could tell that the Rat was repeating something insistently. Jade Turtle frowned, shaking his head, and then sighed and nodded. With that, the Rat nodded, satisfied, and Master Fu turned back to the group, a not particularly happy expression on his face.

"He says that if we want to get to the temple, we will have to follow him."

  The silent way that the Rat led them through several valleys and around a lake was frankly eerie. He walked quickly, only occasionally glancing back to make sure that they were following.

Ladybug was just glad that Queen Bee hadn't tried to throw a fit about getting her father involved or anything. They didn't need to get on the Rat's bad side, not without learning more about him first.

Next to her, Chat Noir's hand was wrapped securely around her own. Paon walked on Chat's other side, only centimeters between their shoulders. Queen Bee lagged behind them, still clearly not sold on the whole Rat superhero thing. Their entire group was silent, and it made the entire walk seem like it was taking hours longer.

Ladybug didn't know how the Rat could patrol the area by himself. She would be fine for a day alone, maybe two, but after that the lack of human company would get to her. She had to imagine that most other people would be the same.

They headed around another bend and started up a steep slope. Ladybug could see Paon stretching impatiently, clearly wanting to fly up the slope instead of walk it. But they didn't want to upset their guide.

It wasn't as though him abandoning them in the middle of the wilderness would make them lost, not at all. Jade Turtle had marked where they had gone off of their trail on his GPS, so that they would be able to find it again with no trouble, and Ladybug had seen him marking waypoints as they went along. But they did want to learn what the Rat knew about the entire situation, and he might be able to get them closer to the temple area faster than they could get there themselves.

"We aren't going to go all the way back, are we?" Queen Bee asked in a loud whisper an hour later. She had clearly recovered at least a little from her earlier scare. "Mast- er, Jade Turtle, did he tell you...?"

"His home is half a day's journey away from our path, according to him," Jade Turtle replied. He patted his shell, and Queen Bee flitted over to perch on the edge. "There are small villages this far out, remote and hard to get to. I'm guessing that his home is near one of those. And, hopefully, the previous Rat will be there as well."

Queen Bee didn't look particularly mollified.

Another hour in, the Rat called something back to Jade Turtle, and he gestured for him to come forward. Queen Bee hopped off of the shell and he sped forward, stopping by the Rat to let him hop in. The two of them had a brief conversation, and then Jade Turtle nodded and turned around.

"We were a little further out than he remembered, so we'll be going faster for a bit," Jade Turtle called back to the rest of the group. "Anyone else for the shell?"

There were head shakes all around.

"Wanna ride on my back again?" Chat Noir asked Ladybug as they all started forward again, this time at a much quicker pace. "Since your yo-yos aren't super-helpful out here?"

"That would be great."

What followed was probably the strangest procession that the valley had ever seen. Jade Turtle and the Rat sat in the shell, moving across the grass at a fast clip. Lycaena and Queen Bee flew behind them, staying a little higher. Paon's flights were shorter, long glides before he had to leap and take off again. Rena Rouge had given up on running almost straight off the bat and was sticking to long jumps.

And then there was Ladybug and Chat Noir bringing up the rear, vaulting into the sky and coming down in long arcs.

"Wait, no one told us we were going to cut across the lake!" Rena Rouge yelled several minutes later, when the turtle shell took an abrupt turn across the giant lake. "Wait up, Ma- er, Jade Turtle!"

"I wonder how deep that lake is," Ladybug said as Rena took a running jump and landed squarely in the middle of Jade Turtle's shell. Paon jumped and glided and would have missed the shell had Jade Turtle not expanded it just in time.

"Well, we'll find out," Chat Noir said cheerfully, extending his baton again. "Don't worry, I don't think there's a limit to how long I can make this."

"Is there a limit to how fast you can retract it, though?"

"Yeah, why?"

Ladybug clung to Chat Noir's back as his baton plunged into the water for the first time. It splashed on the way in, but the rapidly growing length more than made up for the sudden drop in the ground level. They shot up into the air, then tipped forward. Chat Noir's baton retracted and he spun it to slow their fall before extending it again. This time, it had to extend more to make up for the lake's depth. The time after that, it had to extend even more, so much that Chat Noir only barely managed to catch them before they hit the water's surface.

"Well, maybe I'll just put us higher up so I have more time to catch us," Chat Noir suggested as they shot up again. "Ready?"

Ladybug readjusted her grip on Chat Noir and nodded. "Ready!"

They tipped forward, and just like always, Chat Noir started retracting his baton as fast as he could. But this time, there was too much baton in the water for him to get it all out in time to helicopter down. They shot downwards like a rock, and Chat Noir's expression turned slightly panicked as he glanced backwards at his baton, which still hadn't emerged from the water. Ladybug's stomach dropped, and she scrambled to grab her yo-yo before they could hit the water. Her fingers had just closed around it when the water rushed up to meet them and she and Chat Noir went under with an almighty splash.

It was cold.

Ladybug brought her yo-yo to her lips immediately, latching on and taking a deep breath in of the magically-made air. It would have been way easier to panic had she and Chat Noir not used their weapons as a source of air before.

No matter how exhausting and disruptive and all-around annoying as the akuma fights had been, at least they had given her a cool head during emergencies.

Next to her, Chat Noir was still struggling with his staff, pulling it back towards him with a tight-lipped grimace on his face. Ladybug took one last deep breath and then pushed her yo-yo into his face so he could get some air as well. He shot her a grateful look, taking several deep breaths before passing it back.

Several seconds later, their heads broke the surface and they both gasped and spluttered. Queen Bee and Lycaena had stopped and were staring down at the water at them, while the occupants of the turtle shell far up ahead apparently hadn't noticed the splash.

"C-c-cold," Ladybug spluttered as Queen Bee swooped down to haul Chat Noir out. Lycaena came down as well, pulling Ladybug up and out of the water. "T-thanks."

"We're not going to be able to fly like this, though," Queen Bee told them as she struggled upwards. At long last, the end of Chat Noir's baton came out of the water and snapped back into its original size. "You're going to have to figure something else out."

Ladybug frowned as her mom nodded. She glanced around, trying to draw inspiration from their surroundings like she always did during akuma fights.

She didn't turn much up. There was lake, lake, and more lake, with some distant mountain peaks. The far side of the lake was a ways across, but it almost looked like the shore was a bit craggy-

-and that was it. Craggy rocks could provide a spot for her yo-yo to latch on. Sure, it wasn't high, but it would work. She looked around again, and spotted a flat-ish piece of wood floating around just a short distance away.

Perfect.

"Well, as long as we're already wet, you might as well put us back down," Ladybug said, trying not to grin at the way Queen Bee was holding Chat Noir. Her hands were under his arms and she was holding him as far away from her as she could, like he was a wet, smelly cat that she was trying to keep away from herself. "Then Mom, can you get that piece of wood over there? Chat Noir and I can use that."

Queen Bee dropped Chat Noir right away. He yelped as he went under again, spluttering as he came up seconds later. Once he had shoved his hair out of his eyes, he shot Queen Bee a betrayed look.

"What was that for?"

"Ladybug said I could put you back down," Queen Bee said with a small shrug. "So I did."

"A little warning would have been nice!"

Ladybug giggled at the look on Chat Noir's face as Lycaena let her down much more gently and then flitted over to grab the piece of wood. "Such a pouty kitten."

"I'm wet," Chat Noir complained. "And what's the plan, anyway?"

Ladybug only grinned.

"I'm reserving the right now to laugh at you if this all goes sideways," Queen Bee said two minutes later as Ladybug cast her yo-yos out, securing them on the far bank. "You're going to wipe out, I can tell now."

"Or this is going to be the coolest thing ever and you have to promise to take pictures of us," Chat Noir shot back.

"I'm going to take pictures of you failing spectacularly and spend the rest of the trip laughing at you about it."

Ladybug poked Chat Noir's side. "Focus. Are you ready?"

Chat Noir tightened his hold around her waist and dug his feet into the wood. "Ready!"

"Scoot back as soon as I tell you to. We're going to tip backwards for a second before we start going forwards." Ladybug racked her brain for everything she knew about water-skiing, which...wasn't much, honestly. And on top of that, they didn't have skis, they had a board. Still, she figured that as long as the front of their piece of wood pointed up out of the water and they didn't get yanked off straight away, it should work. Maybe. Hopefully. "All right. In three, two, one- go!"

For one heart-stopping second, they tipped backwards, nearly falling off into the water. Then Ladybug's yo-yo strings tightened, and they were skimming across the top of the water, half-standing and half-crouching on top of the piece of wood.

It actually worked. It actually worked. Ladybug was thrilled.

"THIS IS THE COOLEST THING EVER!" Chat Noir yelled in her ear as they pelted across the water. They were fast catching up to the group in Master Fu's shell, which was still somehow oblivious to the commotion behind them. "THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!"

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT WORKED!" Ladybug yelled back, spluttering a little as some of the spray of water that the board was kicking up got in her mouth.

"DO YOU THINK TIKKI COULD CREATE A PROPER BOARD FOR US TO USE?" Chat Noir bellowed. "WE COULD DO THIS ON ALL OF THE LAKES WE HAVE TO PASS OVER!"

"I DON'T KNOW!"

They whipped forward, past a shell full of wide-eyed superheroes who had finally noticed that something was going on behind them. Paon looked like he was laughing and Rena Rouge yelled something, but the sound of the wind in their ears drowned their friends out.

Chat Noir adjusted his grip on Ladybug to wave cheerfully at his friends as they whipped past, sending water spraying in their wake. As soon as they had passed, he clapped his arms back around her waist before he could fall off.

Ladybug adjusted her grip and bent her knees a bit more as they drew steadily closer to the far shore. The shoreline swelled up on the horizon, all dark rocks and green moss with grass and flowers growing behind.

And it was then that Ladybug spotted one critical problem with her plan.

"We're going to hit the rocks!" Ladybug yelped as her yo-yo strings grew shorter and shorter. "Chat Noir-!"

"Let go!" Chat Noir yelled, winding an arm around her waist and extending his baton out in front of them as they closed in on the shore. "I'll vault us over! In three, two-"

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Their board hit the rocks and sent both of them flying into the air, aided by Chat Noir's baton as it dug into the soft ground near shore, pole-vaulting them into the sky. They tumbled through the air, screeching loudly as they did, before falling to a mercifully rock-free patch of ground. They lay there for a few seconds, breathing hard.

"We could have managed that better," Chat Noir admitted after a minute. He pushed himself partway up, then flopped back down bonelessly. "I think my heart stopped for a moment there. Wow."

Ladybug just nodded, staring up at the sky. After a few seconds, the view was interrupted by a howling Queen Bee.

"That was fabulous," she managed, waving her trompo at them as she tried to catch her breath between guffaws. "Your screaming? That flying up into the air ass-over-teakettle? Absolutely priceless. I got that all on camera, and I'm gonna frame it and hang it up in my bedroom as soon as we get home."

Ladybug could only groan.

[loubuggins]

Surprises

A One-shot based on THIS post and a conversation on discord. 

The green changeling smirked evilly as his master plan played over again in his sinister head. It was the perfect plan, one that could only end in his favor. It was actually rather simple, this idea of his, but he was confident in its effectiveness if only he could pull it together until the most opportune time. For timing was everything in this scheme. Remembering this crucial detail, he forced down his giddiness and bit the inside of his cheek as he walked down the hallway with a basket of laundry in his arms.

Doing the laundry wasn’t really his style, in fact, he wasn’t entirely sure how to even work the washing machine. Luckily, he only needed to pretend to know what he was doing and everything else should fall right into place before he even made it to the laundry room. He knew he had made an enticing target out of himself, with him carrying a mountain of laundry in a flimsy plastic basket and no one else in site. As long as he could make himself seem distracted, he would be delicious bait to the person who had been preying on him mercilessly for over a month. Sure he probably deserved it since he kind of started it, but he still thought he had endured enough torture to justify defensive measures.

It had been over a month ago when he last pulled a prank on the unsuspecting empath. It was an innocent jest, but the woman on the receiving end of his trick was not as forgiving as he had originally thought. All he did was change into a snake and slithered up the back of the couch, where he surprised a very shocked and terrified demoness. She had sensed his mischievous emotions early on but did not expect to see a diamond shaped, scaly head starring right beside her face. Just like he did not expect her to be so afraid of the reptile that she would jump right off the sofa and send a wave of black magic that destroyed every light bulb in the common room. In hindsight, he should have known startling his teammate like that would only bring disaster, but alas, the promise of laughs was too valuable to refuse. If only he had known the monster he had created at that moment.

For only a couple short days after that, he had been in his room playing an intense game of Super Monkeys 4, when he felt the temperature in the room drop and heard the familiar “pop” of a portal opening. It all happened so quickly and so randomly, that he was completely unprepared for the normally soft-spoken, introverted heroine to come jumping out of the portal with an alarming amount of enthusiasm.

“Boo!” She shouted while sticking her face in his and flexing her claws.

The green teen nearly jumped out of his skin as he lost his grip on his controller and went flying into the air. He soared high enough that he shape-shifted into a cat and sunk his claws into the drywall of the roof. His tiny feline body shook and his fur puffed out in a vain attempt to look bigger. His attacker smirked and held back a giggle as she looked up at him with amusement in her violet eyes.

“Hmm...what do you know? This is fun.” She said before vanishing through another portal to leave the changeling alone to ponder on the events that had just transpired.

Said events continued throughout the following days. At random moments in the most inconvenient places, Gar would find himself either upside down as a cat or hidden in the shell of a turtle due to the sheer fright the vengeful sorceress would instill on him. Today, this vicious game of cat and mouse would officially change directions in his favor. At the thought of it, his gloved hands clenched the sides of the laundry basket as he carried it along with the utmost care. There was a precious surprise hidden under the laundry mountain in his arms. It was the perfect cover too! For not even the all-knowing, ever-observant empath would be able to spot a perfectly constructed stink ball hiding beneath layers of same dirty laundry used to create it.

His plan was flawless, so long as he could be successful with this final phase. He stopped a good few yards away from her door and began the mental preparations. Once he was ready, he took long strides forward, shaking the basket in his hands and letting out fake sounds of a struggle. He gracelessly stumbles right past her room, being sure to linger outside her door, before continuing on his clumsy path. His heart pounded against his chest, but he forced himself to keep his breathing steady. He went as slow as he could without giving himself away. He waited, ever so carefully, hoping she would take the bait. Of course, he had made it to the end of the hall with his guard beginning to lower as he began to accept his failure when his pointed ears twitched at the familiar popping sound. His hand dove into the pile of dirty clothes and his fingers sunk into the smelly stink ball inside. He yanked it out of its hiding place, sending the clothes pile to crumble. Dropping the basket, he spun around with the filthy projectile clutched in his claws and held up over his head, ready to be fired.

The dark beauty that was now in front of him had her hands up as she was about to make her sarcastic remark regarding his reaction, but upon noticing the item in his hand, she became frozen in time. Both parties stood still as if someone had pressed the pause button on their lives. It was the first time she noticed the faint dusting of freckles painted across his cheeks and nose. His breath was like a warm blanket wrapping around her face. For him, it was her eyes that had caught his own gaze. Like an endless void that sucked him in, so dark and deep, flowing like a lilac river with twists and turns that continued into a mysterious mauve beyond. And like an adventurer attracted to the unknowing, he found himself drawn to excavate this newfound territory.

The rolled up heap of scum in his hand fell to the floor with a noticeable “thump,” as he leaned forward only an inch and caught her unsuspecting lips in a quick kiss. Her eyes stayed opened as she looked past him and stared down the empty hall, her body still stuck in place. It was just a peck of his lips, before he pulled away and dashed down the hall. His laundry and the remains of his plan being abandoned on the floor. She stood there for another moment longer, then carefully used her fingertips to graze the spot where his mouth had just been. The warmth he had left still tingling her lips.

The jade-skinned boy hurtled him into the safety of his room and hide in the form of a cat under his bed. He waited there for some time, wondering if it will ever be safe for him to return. Then he heard the dreaded popping noise and saw the small blue boots appear through the crack between the bed and the floor. His heart stopped and he held his breath.

“You forgot something.” Her voice rang out in its typical drawl, then suddenly a round-shaped object block his vision. Before he could react, the said object came barreling toward him. He let out a yowl as his own laundry and garbage smacked his head and covered him from head to tail.

“Better luck next time.” She said in a steady voice, but he could practically hear the smirk on her face as her blue boots disappeared for good.

A growl rose in his throat as his anger boiled inside him. His anger was mostly directed at himself, however, as it was his fault the plan did not go as predicted. Although, maybe it was her fault after all? Did Raven possess the power of enchantment? Was it a spell of her making that had clouded his judgment, and made him act so impulsively?

Who knows, the world is certainly filled with surprises.

[greyias]

“if anything happened to you…” Theron/Grey

Umm… this got angsty… like whoa. I’m, uh, sorry Nonnie? I probably owe you some fluff after this. (Also not going to lie, this piece of art by @meonlyred​ was the image in the back of my mind while writing this.)

Set Post-Copero. Theron’s trying to keep it together, but the cracks are starting to show. Please be warned this is a bit dark, as I don’t think our boy is in a good place right now.

The days are long, but the nights even longer.

Sleep is elusive. When it’s not chased away by visions of the galaxy being devoured in flames, it seems to be pushed aside by the nightmarish memories of late. Sometimes it’s the faces of the lost souls damned by recent events, other times it’s just one shattered face that won’t let him rest. Tonight it’s somehow all of the above.

Theron sits up in bed, one hand scrubbing across his face as reality chases away the last remnants of his dream. He lets the soft hum of hyperspace travel drown out the words echoing in his skull, lets the darkness dampen out the too bright image of her face being consumed by flames.

“If anything happened to you…”

Except it already had. In his dreams it always does. Even the ones that start out pleasant somehow go off the rails quickly. Like his subconscious doesn’t believe he’s allowed them anymore. It’s possible he doesn’t. His usual cure for insomnia is meditation, but he can’t risk performing those techniques in case someone’s watching. Can’t look like he’s trying to hold on to any piece of the past he’s made a spectacle of swearing off. He’s tried to adapt some of the mental exercises to lying down in bed, but his results are mixed at best. Some nights he’s so exhausted he falls into a dead, dreamless sleep — but he never wakes feeling rested.

Theron has been undercover before. And for far longer stretches than this has dragged on — but he knows this time is different. Knew it before he ever set foot on that damn train. It’s not that he doesn’t know how to play the part he’s chosen, or how to act to expectations, but the constant and unending scrutiny is starting to wear at him. One wrong move and it’s all over — that kind of thing used to give him a thrill back in the SIS. Now it just fills him with a cold dread.

There’s no safety net here, no one coming to his rescue if he screws up. He is completely and utterly alone by his own design. He always used to work best that way, fly by the seat of his pants to get the job done and probably get yelled at by Marcus once he got home. There’s no boss waiting to yell at him, and there’s no home for him to return to. He left Odessen behind with nothing but the clothes on his back — and now he doesn’t even have those.

Sometimes he doesn’t feel like he has anything left.

Nothing but the mask he slips into place every morning before he walks into this den of serpents he’s embedded himself into, as he listens to every poisoned word that’s formed by their forked tongues. He fits right in.

Theron hates this character he’s playing with a passion, the jaded traitor looking to end it all — but every time it starts to chafe, when he wants to plant his fist into the nearest cultist face, or he starts to falter as their requests chip off another piece of his soul, he closes his eyes and he’s reminded why he has to keep the mask in place.

In his mind eye, she’s always the first thing he sees. She’s wearing that last smile she graced him with, the one on Odessen as they’d shared their last kiss. That was the image he’d forced himself to burn into the back of his mind. Not the shattered look he’d left her with on Umbara, although that one visits him often enough in his dreams. But he has to hold on to some semblance of perfection, some reminder of why it’s important for him to not slip up. Something beyond the wider, dire galactic repercussions. Something personal and dear to him. It may be selfish, but at this point what does that even matter? One happy little memory, a cherished thought at the back of his mind to keep him going is all the momento he has. Too risky to bring anything else with him to contradict his cover story, even if sometimes he wishes he had something physical to hold onto during his weaker moments such as this. When he keenly feels the absence of the warm body he’s grown accustomed to sleeping next to. That he knows he’ll likely never feel again. 

He’s seen the way some in the Alliance still look at Arcann. Theron’s not sure if his fake crimes outweigh those of the former emperor or not, but forgiveness is not in everyone’s repertoire. Not everyone has the seemingly endless patience and open heart as his Jedi.

However, he doesn’t expect her to be waiting for him at the end of this — a large part of him doesn’t really expect to survive long enough for that to even be an issue. He just needs to get the Alliance the intel they need to snuff out this conspiracy, root out the whatever moles have infiltrated their ranks. At some point, everyone’s luck runs out, and Theron’s pretty sure he used up all his chances ages ago. And probably a few other people’s as well. But… as long as she makes it through, and one day flashes that smile he loves again, even if it’s never for him, then maybe everything will have been worth it.

One of them deserves a happy ending.

She of all people does, after everything she’s been through. More than anyone else he knows. He’d been a fool to think that somehow he’d get to share in hers. After Haashimuut, it had been clear that life would never go according to his plans, so there had been little point in making any beyond the moment. Dreams were just that, it was always better to focus on reality and the problem at hand. He’d never been destined to have a normal life — and every time he catches glimpse of one it’s immediately snatched away.

There was a moment after Yavin where he’d forgotten this, but then there had been Ziost to remind him. Then after Ziost there had been Zakuul. Then there had been five hellish years where that lesson should have finally sunk in. Should have stuck when Valkorion haunted every early step of their relationship. Should have known that after they’d finally defeated Vaylin that their near domestic bliss had been too good to last. Worse, he’d let it distract him from the clever web being weaved around them all until it was too late.

He had been blind before, but Theron knows now. Nothing in his life will ever be permanent. No matter how hard he tries to hold on, it will always be snatched away from him — whether by his own stupidity, or by darker forces trying to make their mark on the galaxy.

But they will not make their mark upon her.

Those bastards might have set this entire chain of events into motion — but Theron will not let them finish it. His progress with them is slow despite everything he’s done to ingratiate himself to them. Sometimes he wonders if they really believe any of the lies he’s fed them, or if they’re just using and baiting him along as much as he is with them. It feels like they’re about to move into the final act of this prelude to galactic annihilation, and Theron has yet to see the whole picture — but he’s seen enough. If he could only verify all the players in this little production, then he could identify the true puppet master pulling all the strings. Then he could cut this serpent off at the head.

Not for the first time he wonders if Lana has been able to put the clues together he’d left behind on Copero. A thread of doubt weaves its way in. Theron had pulled enough sabotage on behalf of the Republic. He knows how to make damage look convincing but still leave enough viable data behind. He’d designed the charge he’d used on the map himself, but there were so many variables, if he had miscalculated…

Valss’s vision surfaces in Theron’s mind and he allows himself the shudder, fairly certain it won’t be noticed in the dark. The Alliance needs those coordinates, needs to finally confront and dismantle the Order of Zildrog. Stop them before they can use that weapon. Perhaps he should have found a way to make a copy of the data, even with the eyes of the Order watching. But he’d already risked enough letting that transmission get intercepted so they’d know who was behind this. He tries to have faith in Lana, faith in her endless tenacity and quest for the truth to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

He’s already trying to come up with a backup plan, figure out a way to draft a communication with the coordinates to the planet — and make sure it arrives to its intended recipients. Every one so far has him going down in a blaze of glory as he holds off the Order — something he’s trying to save as a last resort. They still have to search the planet for the hidden vault. There’s still time for the good guys to catch up and put a stop to this madness. Time for the legendary Outlander to pull off the impossible like she always does. He just has to give her the chance to shine.

Somehow the dimness of the morning brings clarity he needs after another sleepless night. There’s no coming back from this, and the dark path stretching out before him is the only one he can tread. He never wanted to walk this road, he still doesn’t, but he’s burned the bridge leading back home. It’s too dark here for the light he loves so much to flourish, and he refuses to let it extinguish her flame. He’d promised to do anything to protect her, and despite what it may look like to the outside observer, he doesn’t break his promises to her.

So, wearily, he fixes his mask back into place, and walks back into the den of serpents.

[miphastudies]

17 Questions for 17 People

Thanks @its-bianca​ for tagging me in this! Sorry it’s taken so long, we’re in a third lockdown and I’m pretty sure my body thinks that time no longer exists.

Nicknames: Kim, Kimbo, Kimberlim, Kimothy, Kimberley Dibberley (For some reason my family thought that a nickname based off Cat’s other personality from Red Dwarf, Dwayne Dibberley, was funny and it’s stuck with me my whole life), as well as KIIII (shouted by my sister when she was about 2 and couldn’t pronounce my name, my best friend now yells it when she wants my attention) and Kim-Kim by my Dad who refuses to believe I’ve grown up (beats Kimberley Dibberley any day) 

Height: 5'9 - towering over most men is fun, I suggest it to all of you, I’d rather round it up to six foot, but I probs stopped growing at 20.

Hogwarts House: Well I got Gryffindor when I first went on that site, but being my goth self I had to take the test again until I got Slytherin - as far as I remember I had unicorn hair (or horn?) or something of the like in my wand but I’m not gonna fuel JK’s anti-trans pockets by visiting Pottermore ever again. 

Last thing I googled: The soundtrack for Futurama’s Luck of the Fryrish episode, I knew Simple Minds were on it but I could’ve sworn Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty was on it, but apparently not. I spent a good half hour trying to sing it into google with their new song-analysis thing to no avail, so I ended up siphoning through all the songs Lisa Simpson has ever played on her Sax to find out what it was (I should be doing my dissertation proposal but my tutors haven’t got back to me yet so what can ye do).

Song stuck in my head: yknow wha I’m just gonna list the songs that have been stuck in my head so far today because it’s too many to be just one as I keep cycling through them (also gonna link them so you can see how garbo weird my music taste is)

Run - Joji Alive - Pearl Jam Clinging On For Life - The Hoosiers Tension - Avenged Sevenfold  Boots of Spanish Leather - Bob Dylan Nutshell - Alice in Chains Jaded - Aerosmith  The Sea of Tragic Beasts - Fit For an Autopsy 

I’ll add my current favourite at the bottom too for good measure (Honestly I spend way too much time listening to music and I regret nothing)

Number of followers: Currently 85. I’ve got about 2k on my main blog but I’ve not touched that since July 2017.

Amount of sleep: Good lord, so I aim for 8 hours, sometimes I only get 5.5 or something along those lines, other times I depression nap during the day and can’t sleep at all, sometimes (like this morning) I’ll go to get up at a normal person time such as 9am when my body naturally wakes me up, but it’s so dark and gloomy outside and cold in my room that I just stay in bed and end up accidentally falling back asleep. 12pm gang rise up xo 

Lucky number: 7

Dream Job: Hopefully I get somewhat successful in monetising my hobbies, I’m working on it all atm (I don’t know why but I really hate telling people about my plans because I’m deathly afraid they’ll mock me or do whatever they can to ensure it doesn’t happen, I’ve got this list of things I need to do for my own mental health sellotaped to my laptop stand that had things like when to clean the house, do my laundry, shower, exercise etc, and my old flatmate/friend saw it the other week and mocked me, so I haven’t followed it since and need to find some sort of other way of organising my life instead). But yeah, hopefully hobby based, I don’t want to be stuck in an office job all my life, and I want to leave the UK (although I don’t want to leave my family) so hopefully I’ll be successful enough to bring em all with me.

Wearing: Well I was gonna wear jeans and my Unus Annus longsleeve but I decided to go full kitchen witch and wear this black milkmaid looking dress with long sleeves that I’d bought for work when I got my thigh tattoo started (all the old men appreciated the legs but I didn’t make any more tips, oops)

Favourite song: My favourite song of all time would be The Verve’s Bittersweet Symphony , the band formed at my college, has great meaning and has resonated with me since I first saw the music video after it was played at my Stepdad’s funeral in 2002. Weirdly enough on my last day of college, right after my last exam, I went to get the bus home - put my Spotify on shuffle (bearing in mind I’ve got 805 songs on this playlist) and this came on straight away. That’s probably not important to most people, but being pagan, I like to think that small things like these are signs from loved ones that have since passed. Not too happy that it’s used as the England Rugby theme because it gives me anxiety every time as though I feel like everyone hearing it doesn’t have the same emotional connection with the song as I do, but idk. I saw Richard Ashcroft live and he played this and I legit bawled my eyes out in public, safe to say I’ll try and hold it in next time. I suggest you all have a listen to the song or even watch the music video for it, it’s the most simple but most meaningful music video to me. 

Favourite Instrument: I’m left handed and I had this Yamaha acoustic guitar that my stepdad gave me - and taught me to play when I was about 5, a few months before he died (it’s still weird to me that I had no idea he had cancer at that point and instead spent his last few months teaching me his favourite hobbies) all he had was right handed guitars, so he taught me to play Metallica’s Nothing Else Matters upside down on this 20 odd year old right handed acoustic. He hadn’t played upside down himself before but did it so I could see what he was doing. I remember sitting in our green living room on the couch with him moving my hands to the right position (I don’t know where my mum was in this scenario, probably in the kitchen). He’d brought this guitar with him the first day I met him, it was probably like 11pm but I was 4 and thought it was 3am or something, but I heard voices coming from the living room and had gone to investigate - there sat my mum and my stepdad having Chinese on the living room floor, laughing together, my stepdad saw me and had brought sweets for me and my brother for when we woke up, but he beckoned me over, gave me a lollipop, stuck a two litre bottle of tizer in front of me and told me to dip the lollipop in the drink and lick it (not a good idea as I would’ve been bouncing off the walls, but I think I must’ve had a sugar crash and fallen asleep). My mum had no idea he was coming as he’d sneakily been texting her, asking what her favourite drink was, her favourite food and flowers etc, after they met in a pub when my mum was at a hostel with my brother after my Dad had taken me. My mum told him that the council had given her a place and he decided to show up and surprise her with all her favourite things and play guitar for her after my brother and I had gone to bed, I don’t remember much time passing before we’d moved into his house (where my mum and her new husband live to this day), but they got married a few months later and I still can’t play that Metallica song (I did try to teach myself more of it though). I also had this black left handed Ibanez prestige that my Dad got me for Christmas about 9 years ago, I could play quite a lot on it but eventually just stopped. Very good at piano though. 

Aesthetic: I’m not sure what this entails but I’m a sucker for neon/RGB/cityscapes and that type of malarkey. Also space. Love da space.  Also whatever Cornwall would be considered as. Cottagecore? I think that’s only an animal crossing related aesthetic but I’m claiming it nonetheless. 

Favourite Author: I’m a big goth so it has to be Stephen King by default. I’ve got copious first editions of his books from the 70′s and 80′s that my Mum bought when she was a teen. At my flat I’ve got Carrie, Christine, Salem’s Lot, Misery and The Shining first editions and the others are in my room at my Mum’s house. I don’t tend to read for joy like I used to, or write for fun either but I’m hoping I do more in 2021. Currently reading The Outsider by King, it sounds eerily familiar to a novel I wrote for coursework in college in 2014 and I’m half pressed to think he’s stole my brain ideas. I’m watching you Stephen. Always watching. Always. 

Favourite animal sounds: I don’t have favourite sounds, but my husky Nanook is my favourite animal because he’s dumb and I love him. Also Kookaburra sounds are terrifying and you all should go listen to what a koala sounds like. When I go to Adelaide (hopefully this year, if not next) I am NOT stepping foot in a nature reserve unless I’ve got an anti-kookaburra noise suit on. They obviously don’t exist so I’m gonna have to make one.

Random: I’m part of a viking reenactment group where they use actual swords and fight each other, and we have to basically sign our lives away when we join, to say that if we die, it’s not the groups fault. I don’t actually do the fighting though, I’m part of the villager group, so I do all the crafting and food making and most of the teaching when we do shows. I’ve not yet been to a show as I’ve had uni to go to, but my parents, sister and brother do - They stayed within Whitby Abbey last year during the Viking festival where everyone did the show and the adults got drunk round campfires in the castle grounds. Zacky Vengeance once complimented my shirt if that’s something. I’m also colourblind, got glared at by Liam Gallagher in the Liverpool Echo Arena parking lot and have too accurate a sense of smell.

Sorry this was so long, obviously I felt like word-dumping and my brain has a lot to say as I find too much meaning in these things.  Thanks again for tagging me! I’ve not got 17 people to tag as I don’t interact with anyone at the moment but I’ll come back to this and add people as the week progresses :) 

[heartslogos]

newfragile yellows [276]

“I’m sorry about your staff,” Dalish says, sitting next to Ellana, leaning her own staff against her shoulder. “Can it not be repaired?”

Ellana holds two separate halves of her staff, trying to answer that very question. It’s not the staff she set out with at the start of her journeys many years ago, no. That staff lasted a little over a year. One of the many things she’s learned is how to pick a staff for heavy travel.

The one she holds in her hands she’s had for about five years. It’s been damaged and broken between then and now, but she’s been able to repair it before.

“The core is damaged,” Ellana says, tilting the end with the focus to examine the center. “It won’t channel the same if I try and piece the halves together.”

She’d had a similar break on her last staff. She’d shaved down the blunt end to make it shorter and grafted an iron grip to put the two halves back together, but her magic became jittery. There was a strange interference and her spells had strange edges. Useable, but uncomfortable and unknown in a way that would be dangerous to rely on. If she were as she were now, surrounded in people she could trust to handle themselves and not turn on her, maybe she would have stuck with it to figure it out.

“It is a shame to lose such a fine instrument,” Dalish says, stroking her thumb over the dark green cloth of her staff’s grip.

Ellana nods at it, “Cedar with moonstone?”

Dalish’s lips tilt up, “Talking shop with me, da’len?”

“Da’len?” Ellana’s eyebrows raise, “I wager I’m not that far behind you in years, sister. Come tell. Cedar with moonstone?”

“Cedar with moonstone, but with quartz added for continued clarity,” Dalish corrects. “The cedar core is also minimal to the staff’s design. The magic mainly relies in the focus.”

“Better aim,” Ellana nods, “Normally the archers I know keep the magic in the staff itself for greater flexibility. Long range?”

“Long range,” Dalish confirms and then shakes her head nudging her staff and rolling it a little, “You’re the only one who believes me when I say I’m an archer and this is for aiming.”

“You’re one of Dirthamen’s,” Ellana replies, “Why wouldn’t I believe it?”

There are some who turn to Andruil or Ghilan’nain for the hunt, occasionally Elgar’nan or Mythal. But Dirthamen is the secret keeper, knower of the hidden paths, discoverer of lost places, patron of the lost. Dirthamen’s hunters are persistence predators. Their school teaches them to hunt their quarry across nations for decades. Ellana would hate to be the target of someone who took Dirthamen as their patron god for hunting.

“This is why we need more of ours out in the world,” Dalish muses, patting Ellana’s knee, “Or on the Chargers, specifically. Aside from the staff are you alright? Nastly blow.”

“And my good staff here took the brunt of it,” Ellana shakes her head. She’d used barrier magic and reinforced the air with ice, too, but the morningstar still broke through and cracked her staff. She’d thrown herself back in time to avoid taking damager herself - aside from some scratches that were easy enough to heal. “I will need a new one.”

“We’re two days North from the closest town,” Dalish furrows her brow, biting her lip, “And our next mission is four days west. We can ask the Chief if he’ll let you borrow some people to go with you and then meet up with us.”

“It would take too long and there’s no guarantee that this town would even have something compatible with me, let alone people willing to sell it to a Dalish savage,” Ellana points out, tapping her fingers on the worn wood. It’s risky but she could try and sing-shape the wood together. It’d be slightly better than making a new grip and putting the halves together with that, but she’s never been the best shaper and she’s never tried this before.

But if she does not work, there is no money.

The little nothing has even less than when she started, Ellana glances to the side and sees the Wolf in the distance watching her, Come. You did not ask, but you will receive anyway.

“I’m going to try and find something to bind it with,” Ellana says to Dalish, “I’ll be back.”

Dalish nods, “Good luck. Do you need anyone to go with you?”

Hopefully the path the Wolf puts her on doesn’t lead her too far in over her head.

Ellana waves her hand, “It’s fine.”

The Wolf is gone by the time she reaches the point he was at, and has reappeared farther in the distance.

She follows as the Wolf leads her farther and farther away from the Charger’s camp and into the woods.

“I haven’t seen you in a few months,” Ellana says to the forest. “Have you gotten bored with your other entertainments?”

The Wolf appears at her side, brown-gray with eyes that remind her of fresh grass, Perhaps.

“And where are you leading me to?” Ellana asks.

A place where you can get a new staff, The Wolf replies, eyes changing into dark moss, You need that staff to work, you need a staff to travel. You must travel to find something so that you are less of a nothing than you are now. If you become less of a nothing than you are now then you will become something, and something is always very interesting.

“That’s perhaps the closest you have ever come to saying that you are fond of me,” Ellana says, “And where am I to get a replacement staff in the middle of the woods?”

The Wolf ignores her, trotting ahead and Ellana resists the young and childish urge to say your ass is fat and it wiggles when you walk to get him to reply. The Wolf is, after all, doing her an unasked for favor. Her god is rarely so considerate.

He remains silent for the rest of their walk through the woods, as underbrush gets thicker and wilder, as the trees get larger and older. Ellana is getting worried that she won’t make it back to camp before they leave tomorrow morning, but the Wolf stops, eyes changing to a honey-gold amber as he lowers his head and paces a circle.

Here. Dig, The Wolf says.

“Dig?” Ellana blinks.

Yes, The Wolf repeats, Dig. Breaking your staff did not break your understanding of language. Dig.

“You might have told me to bring a spade,” Ellana says, slowly getting to her knees and casting some protective spells on her hands before she starts moving leaves and twigs and rocks to the side.

I might have, I did not, The Wolf trots off to the side and lies down, yawning. Dig.

“Yes, yes,” Ellana says.

The sun is almost gone, Ellana is actually inside of a hole, and the Wolf is napping like an actual pup complete with his tail over his nose, when she finds what she guesses the Wolf brought her here for.

Ellana scowls and stretches up on her toes to peer up over the edge of the grave she is supposedly meant to rob, “You didn’t tell me I’d be stealing it straight out of the hands of a dead person.”

The Wolf’s ears flick towards her and a few of his eyes lazily blink open - the rest remain closed or eerily wide and unfocused, or maybe hyper focused on something - and the Wolf says, Does it matter? They no longer have use for it. You do. Besides, it was mine to begin with. I do not see why I cannot give it to whomever I deem needs it most.

Ellana lights a flame in her palm as she carefully crouches down to inspect the staff. All that is left of its previous owner are bones. Even the customary wraps have mostly dissolved into nothingness.

Some sort of black wood - it’d need cleaning to figure out what sort. A bladed end, she’ll need to see if that needs replacing. She can barely make out some pattern engraved into the wood. The focus, though. She can still sense dormant power int he focus. It is a ring with bladed ornaments hanging off of it. At the top of the ring there is a small wolf’s skull.

“Unsubtle,” Ellana says, but she carefully takes the staff out of the dead person’s hands anyway.

The Wolf is right. She does need a staff.

After a moment’s consideration Ellana places the broken halves of her own staff with the body before climbing out of the hole and starting to refill it.

“Thank you, I am sorry I have nothing better to give you or respects to pay to your name,” Ellana says to the skeleton as she returns it to darkness, “Forgive me, though I have not earned it.”

Ellana stands over the freshly packed grave and examines the staff closer. The weight and balance seem good. A little long, but that’s the bladed end. She can feel dormant power within it, sleeping, quiet.

Well? The Wolf asks, trotting up next to her, tail swishing a little, Give us a spin.

Ellana rolls her eyes and holds the staff out, balancing it in her hand and slowly feeding it some of her power.

The staff wakes up with a vibrant white-green that bursts through her and knocks the air out of her lungs.

The dirt and rust and corrosion on the staff dissolve away instantly, and the wood warms in her hand, Ellana feels the staff’s magic braiding around hers, through hers. Weaving.

Does it suit? The Wolf asks.

“You know it does,” Ellana replies, breathless as she holds the staff closer to herself, inspecting the new details uncovered by its reawakening. Iron bark, for certain. There are jade rings around the base of the focus - the rings on the focus are also have jade on the non-bladed sections. Ellana taps them with her fingernail and they let out a clear ring that seems to ripple through her ears, her bones, sharpening her vision for a second. There are all sorts of sigils and runes etched into the staff.

Enhancement, clarity, guidance, protection from back-lash, protection against consumption, energy storage, circuits for greater channeling efficiency, barrier spells, preservation spells, energy rejuvenation spells, focus guides. No elemental effects aside from a cooling and heating regulation as well as a basic grounding near the base.

No curses or traps from what she can tell, which is really the most important part here.

“It suits, as you knew it would,” Ellana says, and she lights a simple flame at the top of it. The fire is clear, pure, and brilliant. “Now I need to get back before they shred up my contract and I lose out on all that money I need to become something interesting.”

[cavefelix]

Finch Field: A location for Rinley’s Traveling All Stars

It’s been a while since I wrote about this setting due to life and whatnot. Here’s a place you can use in any game of Chuubo’s you want as long as it’s set on Little Island and the characters have a reason to go to a sports stadium in the middle of nowhere.

Property: The wind does what the wind does

Halfway between the Temple of Jade Irinka and the southeast shore of Little Island lies the home of the baseball team the Little Island Finches. There are no roads leading to the stadium, though there are a few faint foot paths, most notably one from the ferry port to the stadium.

(Photo from Alderidge, in a Camper Van’s tumblr)

Whoever built this stadium believed that it shouldn’t be visible. It’s not that they were ashamed of the work or that the locals dislike baseball (going to a game is considered a fine way to pass the time after a morning tending fields or inspecting windmills); it’s just that no matter how pastoral it looks, it wouldn’t fit in with the feel of Little Island. So it’s in a comparatively deep valley. There’s only one sign it’s there until you cross the hills, and that’s not obvious from all angles.

That sign is the Pine Throne. Unless you’re approaching the stadium from a certain angle, it looks like an extremely large pine tree, about 180 feet tall. But if you approach it from the the front of the stadium, you can see that the front part of the top has been carefully carved. Not only do the needles disappear, but there is a huge, ornate throne carved into it. It’s really a remarkable piece of work, and since the Throne is still alive (nobody wants to carve away so much that it gets damaged), it needs to be constantly trimmed of sprouting branches and carved back into shape. The Finches are the only team in Town where the highest paid person in the organization is the topiarist.

Topiary is also the main form of decoration you see when you scale the hills that surround the valley. The stadium is surrounded by trees and shrubs that are carved into graceful abstract patterns.

While the playing field is unusually large, for reasons we’ll get to in a minute, the parts for visitors are pretty modest. I know I’m calling this a stadium, but it’s more like a small high school’s athletic fields. There’s a few bleachers -- I’d estimate they can seat about 400-500 people. Remember, that’s still three or four times more than the Island’s population. But on years when the Finches make the playoffs, sometimes it’s not enough, and crowds who can’t find seats surround the field.

There’s no formal concession stands, but the food is generally quite good. For many who raise sheep, crops, or grapes, visitors to the game are a fine way to sell their wares and make some coin. There’s one shepherd, Esmerelda Mako, who makes some absolutely amazing cheeses. She won’t tell anyone the process she uses, except that she makes sure that the sheep graze in a field where buttercups grow. (I don’t like to think about the details too much, but sometimes  she also brings a really tasty mutton pie.) I don’t think that the three-star restaurants of Paris would accept the wines of Little Island, but you’d be delighted to drink them at a neighborhood bistro.

At first glance, there doesn’t appear to be any electricity; it’s just a field with bleachers; a scoreboard operated by hand (but much more modest than the one in Fortitude Field), and of course the ball field. But if you look at the base of the Pine Throne, you’ll see the buildings with some power have been built around it (literally; the windows in the away locker room face the west side of the tree; the home lockers face the east side). Again, they almost camouflage into the landscape. While the nearby windmills that provide the power would normally be a sign that there’s a structure nearby, windmills are so ubiquitous on the island that they too fade into the background.

The electricity, as far as I can tell, is only used for a handful of functions. It powers the radio broadcast (the Pine Throne has wires on it, making it a great antenna). And it powers the water pumps and heaters.

For players, the locker rooms are really unremarkable. Again, I’m put in the mind of high school facilities. Old fashioned ones. Cheap tin lockers; basic tiled showers. I think the vistor’s section is supposed ot be painted a vibrant shade of green, but it’s always faded away to an bland industrial green that you see in hospitals. But they’re still clean and functional.

I guess I should talk about the reason for the Pine Throne: Wind spirits love baseball. The seat is put there to show respect to the 12 emperors, a few of whom are said to be huge fans of the game -- though they’re only seen at about three games a year. However, just about every game has a few lesser spirits, and it’s fairly common, if I understand the term correctly, for some “lesser nobility” to attend.

There’s a tradition that if a batter hits the throne with the ball (any of the cleared area, not just the seat itself), he gets a silver crown. That’s not a tiara, but a British coin from the 1840s, about an ounce of silver. Some sailor who’d found a chest of them donated it to the Finches. It’s not common, but they do give away about two or three a year.

While the wind spirits may enjoy baseball, they also influence the game. I suspect that this isn’t deliberate, it’s just that wind spirits attract wind. As a result, you can never tell what the wind is going to do.

In most ball fields, the winds tend to either favor the batter, lifting the ball further and making home runs easier, or favor the pitcher, slowing hit balls down and keeping them in the ballpark. But Finch Field is entirely unpredictable, sometimes driving the ball out, sometimes keeping it in, and every now and then doing something totally bizarre, like making it stop in midair and come crashing down inches from leaving the park. At least, according to what I’ve been told. But it’s certainly true that the park has the Regional Property the wind does what the wind does.

XP Actions

Travelling to Finch Field is probably a Slice of Life. You talk to friends as you walk along the countryside, enjoying the unspoiled scenery and the sun shining down on you.

Sometimes though, travelling to Finch Field, especially if you’ve had an urban upbringing, or are in a hurry to get there,  could be Suffering Adversity. Every hill and valley on Little Island looks the same. There’s no road markers. Burrs are getting stuck on your clothes and it hurts to take them off. And the summer sun beating down on you is merciless.

Seeing the Pine Throne from a distance may be Foreshadowing. You climb a hill and suddenly spot this massive tree, towering above everything, an impossibly huge chair imposing on top of it. The image sticks with you.

Trying to climb the Pine Thrown is probably a Wicked Action. You know it’s dangerous, and there’s no good reason to do it. But you’re doing it anyway. For shame!

Examining the topiary around the stadium is sometimes Discovery, as the flowing abstract shapes capture your attention. It’s like a meditation garden sometimes, where the patterns in the sand make you realize something about yourself.

Ordering food is generally a Shared Action. These aren’t professional merchants, but farmers and shepherds showing off their wares. You can converse with and connect to them as you pick up homemade pickles or wine for the game.

For ball players

On the rare crowded days, especially playoffs, trying to field a ball can be Trouble. The fans are just standing around the field at the edge, and you may need to dive into them to make a catch. Do you risk hurting them, or do you risk losing a point. There’s no good answer.

Trying to hit the Pine Throne and win a crown can become an Obsessive Action. It’s mostly luck, but there’s just enough skill involved that you can’t give up. It takes over your game plan when you’re at bat.

Predicting what the wind will do can be Science Faith and Sorcery. Maybe you believe that when a particular spirit approaches there are more winds from the west so you should pull your bat accordingly. Maybe you have some other technique to figure it out for the day. But at the end, you’re coming up with an idea and testing it out.

A wind emperor showing up at a game you’re at is often Foreshadowing. They’re huge. They’re rarely spotted. Some are strange shapes. They captivate your attention. (THis will probably affect your ball game.) It may, instead, be a Discovery action if that would be more appropriate to the genre, since it is neat, mysterious and possibly a bit scary.

A Ritual: Highlight reel

As I mentioned a few times, this field reminds me of what you’d see at a school. I’ve figured out why: because Little Island is Town’s memory. Being at the stadium tends to invoke fits of nostalgia, in both the players and the crowds watching. It’s quite possible that some PC will feel this wave of reminisce, triggering others with this ritual.

Like the only part of Marcel Proust’s novel that anyone ever cites, you will pick out an item and say that it somehow takes you back to an event in your past. You just say that something in the stadium (the splintery wooden bleacher, the fresh tomato you’re eating, the scent of cut leaves on the wind, etc.) has triggered an experience. Give three or four sentences of the experience, then stop and move to the next character.

[willreadforbooze]

Hello!

BIG NEWS PEOPLE! Our Will Read For Booze twitter account (formerly Sam’s personal account) is going to be dedicated to the whole blog! So go check us out kthxxxx. While that’s amazing, Sam has to start from scratch on a new account, let’s show her some love huh? Check out her new account TheBooktender_  She’ll love you forever and ever.

Linz’s Updates

Ugh chronic pain is useless and work gave me a new grey hair, but I got promoted and finally had anniversary dinner, so balance?

What Linz read:

The Wife by Meg Wolitzer: Contemporary novel about a woman’s life as a a famous author’s wife. It’s not breaking any ground and the “twist” is telegraphed pretty hard early on, but it’s well-written and I enjoyed it

Sisters of Shadow and Light by Sara B. Larson: The publisher has kindly asked us to not post reviews until 2 weeks before sale date, so I don’t want to say anything just yet about this fantasy story involving 2 sisters who are stuck in a Paladin citadel, but I’ll post my review on Goodreads Oct. 22.

What Linz is currently reading:

The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis: OK so I’m an idiot and thought this book was about girls who were forced into magical servitude via cursed tattoos, but, like, as child soldiers, not prostitutes-in-training. Whoops. So given that I thought this was a very different book, I’m not into it yet, but I’m gonna try to hit 20% and re-evaluate if I finish it.

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing: JUST got this from the library and I’m a little excited to start reading it today. From Goodreads: “We all have secrets to keeping a marriage alive. Ours just happens to be getting away with murder.”

Sam’s Updates

It’s starting to get cold, so, like Linz, my chronic pain is flaring up. But who can think about that when thE NATS ARE IN THE WORLD SERIES?! We also have Dewey’s 24h Readathon this Saturday so my TBR is here too.

What I read this week:

Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern: So this is where I would normally tell you what this book is about, but IM NOT GONNA. It’s so much better to go into Erin’s books blind and I’m not going to ruin that. What I WILL say is it’s got a giant (as in world size) library. I have no words. This book was perfect and I already want to reread it. Drunk review comin sooon.

The Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin: This is the second book in the Inheritance series. Parker wrote a hilarious review. Listening on audio. I enjoyed this a lot more than the first one. Maybe it’s because I understand it more? Idk. I already downloaded book 3 from the library so that’s good news.

What I’m currently reading:

  Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore: So this is a story of a family that always has 5 girls, 5 cousins. The men that spawn these women disappear, so it’s always the women. 5 ladies, 5 mothers, 5 Grandmas (abuelas), when suddenly a boy appears. He has no memories. Guys I know I’m slow going at this but some stuff happened in the book and now I’m v v sad.

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: This is our book club book for the month. Basically it’s the 1920s-ish in Mexico, and our main character Casiopea accidentally lets the god of death out of prison and he gotta put himself back together before he turns mortal and for a variety of reasons (including potential death herself) Casiopea goes with him. I am getting some SERIOUS Hades and Persephone vibes from this and I love it.

Aurora Rising by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman: This is the first in a new sci-fi series by our fave Illuminae duo. Tyler has it made, he’s gonna get the #bestsquadever. But then when he’s out practicing space stuff, he finds a ship that has a buncha dead people in cryopods, except one isn’t dead, she’s Aurora. Anyway he ends up with the last of the last crews and may have accidentally witnessed the start of an intergalactic war. So.. that. I’m really really liking the dynamic of the squad, everyone is a little odd and a little broken but they’re starting to get to know each other. We’ll see if my love for them overcomes the pace of the story (slowwww).

Dewey’s 24h Readathon TBR

…And Other Disasters by Malka Older: I got this ARC in the mail a few weeks ago and I want to knock it out before it comes out. It’s a collection of poetry and short stories and I can’t wait

A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy: I picked this up at ALA and the cover has me hooked. Cannot wait to read it.

Girls of Storm and Shadow by Natasha Ngan: This is the sequel to Girls of Paper and Fire which Linz reviewed. I wasn’t super impressed with book 1, I’m giving the series another chance with book 2.

Minda’s Updates

What Minda finished:

These Divided Shores (Stream Raiders #2) by Sara Raasch – So really loved the second installment and double love that it was a duology. I think two books was the perfect amount to explore the intricacies of the island melting pot of Grace Loray and the threat its people face from the mainland. With plant magic! Stay tuned for review. 4/5 shots.

What Minda is reading now:

HEIST by Kezzy Sparks – A debut magic-based paranormal suspense novel that I will 100% finish this week. Look for the review around when the book drops Oct 31

Ginny’s Updates:

Well, I finished my first full week as an aunt and it was delightful! I got about 8 hours of baby time today (which equals approximately two hours of reading while mom, dad, other aunt, and nana all takes naps). Also, there were some other surprises this week (no worries – no books were harmed… actually some comic books were harmed, but for a good cause).

Currently Reading:

Queen of the Unwanted  by Jenna Glass: This is the sequel to Women’s War which came out last year. Because I got the arc of that, Netgalley asked if I was interested in reading this and the answer was YES. I’m not super far in but I’m excited!

Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi: I read a book by John Scalzi a while back called Fuzzy, where the main character discovers the cutest animal ever and it turns out to be sentient and he has to prove it. This is the kind of the opposite, aliens exist but they look like the thing of nightmares but are actually super cool. Tom, the main characters, is a Hollywood agent who has been tasked with figuring out how to introduce the aliens to the public. It’s pretty delightful, the idea and the characters are fun. You can tell it’s one of Scalzi’s earlier novels as there’s some undertones of (as the news has told us) industry-standard misogyny. The main character, luckily isn’t a dick, but there’s still some statements that were a little bit cringey. Doesn’t change the fact that I trust Scalzi and I’m enjoying this book.

Finished:

Laughter at the Academy by Seanan McGuire: I’m lucky enough to have gotten this as an ARC from Netgalley. This is a collection of short stories from throughout McGuire’s career. It’s delightful to see some of the earlier stories next to things that have a more modern feel. I’m planning on writing a review for this one!

Pocket Apocalypse by Seanan McGuire: Yes, okay, I read two of these books in the same week. This is the 4th book in the InCryptid series and continues to delight. Alex has to go to Australia to try to help end a werewolf infestation. Yet again, planning on writing a review of this so I’m not going to say too much.

How Long ’til Black Future Month by N.K. Jemisin: This is another book of short stories and like all collections, some are stronger than others. That doesn’t change the fact that there’s some absolutely amazing pieces among this collection, the kind of pieces that make you never want to write a single word ever again because you aren’t going to be able to write something so good. My particular favorites ended up being a story set in a reality bubble where people are only connected via blogs and one set during Hurricane Katrina that included a set of lizards that could talk. Both of those stories (and many of the ones I didn’t mention) had this beautiful flow to it, and had these really subtle feelings of hope or dread. 5/5

Until next time, we main forever drunkenly yours,

Sam, Ginny, Linz, and Minda

Weekly Wrap Up: Oct 6- 13, 2019 Hello! BIG NEWS PEOPLE! Our Will Read For Booze twitter account (formerly Sam's personal account) is going to be dedicated to the whole blog!