#like aki yells at those two like it's second nature

[meownotgood]

Is canon aki mean? In any case whether he’d be annoyed, irritated or just having a horrible rough day would he be mean to his s/o canonically?

no, he isn't mean at all. aki is easily the kindest character in the entire manga, in fact. his identity as a character centers around his complete and utter selflessness, even towards those he says he doesn't like.

aki has a strong sense of morals, so he can be serious or strict at times. he keeps a cold facade because he can't have people knowing how he really feels, and because it's the only way he can continue on in such a horrible world. but he's never outright mean, nothing he does is out of spite.

he's rude towards denji at the beginning of the manga because he knows devil hunters who don't know what they're getting into often end up dying, he's trying to protect denji in this way. and at the beginning, he still carries a lot of blind hate towards devils. but all of his values end up getting tested as the manga goes on and he finds he cares deeply for denji and power, because that's just the kind of person he is.

so I don't think he'd ever be mean to someone who he loves. sometimes, he can get irritated, but he would never take it out on you. actually, I think being near you would help to calm him down. he would want your presence and company after he's had a really terrible day.

[dollscircus]

Adenn Baar’ur - Chapter 2

(Merciless Medic)

(Inspired by Stubbychaos Paz x Nurse!Reader fic)

Summary: Finding an injured Mandalorian wasn’t how you expected the night to end; surprisingly forming a strange friendship with “Big Blue” however he begins to realise that you have a connection with another mandalorian which was unknown to you.

Paring: Paz Vizsla x F!Reader. F!Reader & Din Djarin (Siblings)

Includes: Wounds, swearing - Canon typical stuff. Also flirting and fluff.

Words: 2,226

Chapter 1 Chapter 3

A03. (Sometimes chapters are posted earlier on A03)

Tag list is open! Just send me an ask!

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As you woke up, your body felt so stiff. Letting out a quiet and drawn out groan, you turned your head towards the shuffling sounds. Aki and your cots were only separated by a flimsy scrap of fabric, she was always a morning person which greatly irritated you and you curl into yourself and let out a shudder but you let out a yell when the fabric was suddenly pulled to the side and a body dropping on top of you. Aki shook your shoulders while demanding you to wake up while your arm flew and your hip bucked up trying to kick her off. After a few moments of you and Aki yelling and fighting you both stopped. The woman was still straddling your waist when you picked the pillow up and covered your face with it.

“Get up- Y/N. You oughta get up.” She dropped her head so it rested on your shoulder, her breath brushing against your neck. It sent a shiver up your spine so you rolled to the side and that caused Aki to fall next to you.

“Nope. Didn’t get much sleep last night.” You said through the pillow but after you finished you removed the pillow and stared at the ceiling. Aki playfully scoffed and turned her to you.

“Yeah because you took in a patient when you had just done a twelve hour-“ She stopped when seeing your expression, it was tired and soulful. She saw the dried tear tracks under and on your cheeks, her lips parted slightly and her eyebrow furrowed slightly.

“Oh, you had-“ She trailed off as you nodded your head and let out a quiet and sad chuckle, “Alright, get some more sleep.” She leaned in and placed a kiss on your temple.

Aki disappeared down into the infirmary leaving you in the cot again, exhaustion still lingered on your body and mind yet your brain refused to let you fall back asleep. Scrunching up your face and you brought your hands up to your face, cupping your face. Letting out an annoyed groan. Your mind was still groggy as you were waking up so the memories were slowly coming back to you. The thought of Big Blue crossed your mind, your thoughts apron these memories fondly. Smiling slightly as your arms dropped to your side than the memories of Blue mentioning rumours. Rumours about you. You didn’t know if you should be insulted or flattered.

You sat in silence for way too long, after laying in bed for an unknown amount of time. You threw yourself up and off the cot quickly dressing yourself after deciding that you might as well get on with work. You mean, you were already awake. You walked into the infirmary as Aki was sending someone away when seeing you she scoffed and pointed towards the door;

“You barely slept, go back to bed. Medic.” Aki was careful not to say your name aloud. She didn’t know why but you’ve only told your name to her. You never wanted anyone to know your name so you earned the simple name of ‘medic’ or ‘nurse’ around Navarro. However, you must’ve earned a couple of other names that you weren’t aware of.

“‘M can’t sleep.” You scratched the bad of your head, “Might as well work.”

The day went as most days do until the evening - people came in bloodied and bruised you and Aki would patch them up then send them on their way however when it got dark a typically when you would really get the crazies. As you threw away the last bits of bloodies rag, Aki worked to restock the supplies but let out a sharp curse causing you to glance in her direction;

“We’re outta bacta spray.” She groaned while closing the cabinet, “Guess we’ll get some tomorrow-“

You sighed and rubbed the back of your neck, trying to soothe the soreness you felt in your neck. Your whole body was sore, practically begging for you to rest but you continued to work even saying to Aki that you’ll go get some from your usual supple guy.

“You really don’t have to-“ She started, “It’s late and I’m pretty sure Karkolt has a thing for you.” Karkolt was one creepy son of a bitch but small so relatively harmless, you put of a fake smile and replied with a light chuckle that

“I’ll use that to get them for cheap prices then!” Before Aki could protest anymore, you slung a bag over your shoulder and left the building.

Karkolt was your supplier. You weren’t sure where he got his supply’s from but you weren’t going to pass up the discounts you get for having a cute face. Despite how late it was, Karkolt never seemed to sleep so when you arrived at his house you weren’t worried about waking him up. Knocking on the door, you waited for a couple of moments before he opened it without sounding like a horrible person. The best way to describe Karkolt would be unsightly. However, you offered your typical fake smile and tone while greeting him.

“Medic! Lovely to see you!” He greeted, you could smell his breath from where you were standing but you’ve been around him enough time to be used to it.

“Karkolt.” You said, “You got any bacta spray left?”

He smiled, a smile that sent shivers up your spine as he gestured for you to come in. As you walked, his hand hovered over the small of your back. Maker, you were thankful he never actually touched you than all self restraint would’ve gone out the window. Sitting down on a chair as Karkolt disappeared into a separate room, you silence for a few moments while listening to the distant sounds of rustling.

The door slowly opening caused you to jump and your hand to rest your weapon. You've never run into Karkolt’s other customers but you guessed they weren’t all upstanding folks. However, you were presently surprised by who opened the door. Big Blue. It was comical how huge he looked in the door frame, the thought caused you to giggle before greeting him.

“Nice to see you haven’t been stabbed again-“ You said with a smile. He looked you over before replying with an amused voice.

“You following me, Adenn Baar’ur?” Maker, you had forgotten how those words sounded when he spoke them. Please keep speaking. You shook your head trying to rid yourself of that train of thought as you rose to your feet and pointed at him.

“I was here first- Blue. If anything, you’re following me.” Playfully, you tilted your head to the side in mock suspicion before adding, “Besides, I don’t chase after men. Do I look desperate?’ The following few second of silence made you frown but Blue spoke before you could,

“Of course not, mesh’la.”

“Oi, don’t use words I don’t understand. Mandalorian.”

“Or what?” His tone was increasingly playful and you felt a real smile plagued your lips, “You'll throw me across a table?”

Did he just- He did! How did he hear about that? You don’t like fighting- you never go out of your way to start a fight but where you work and who you work with might cause you to. You thought the advent he was referring to was when you had to stop by the cantina to speak to Greef about a payment and one of the hunters decided to get handsy with you. So naturally you threw him across a table- you're deceptively strong and he had to learn that the hard way. You felt your cheek grow warm in embarrassment, is that what you're known for?

“How did you-“ You began to question but much to your annoyance Karkolt returned with bags apron bags in his hands. His presence reminded you, why was Blue even here? Karkolt looked to Blue and greeted him with,

“Ah, I was wondering why you hadn’t picked up your shipment! Nice to see you aren’t dead.”

You glanced up at Blue and he simply nodded at the other man, who seemed to notice how close you were standing to Blue, which you hadn’t even noticed until Karkolt did a double take.

“I wasn’t aware that you too knew each other.” The way he said it was odd, there was annoyance laced in with his fake cheerful attitude. You coughed while moving away from Blue, painfully aware of your actions now. Taking the bags from Karkolt, you pack your own bag while he disappears again presumably to retrieve whatever Blue was here for. You dropped a few credits on a nearby table while throwing the bag over your shoulder. Looking to Blue before leaving you smiled and uttered,

“Goodnight Mandalorian.”

“Goodnight, mech’la.”

“That better be a nice word you’re calling me.”

He followed you to the door, as you stood outside looking in he tilted his helmet to the side as he spoke; “what else am I meant to call you? I don’t know your name.”

“That’s by design. You don’t get that until the fourth date.” You stopped for a second to playfully smirk, “Besides, I don’t know your name either.”

“Also by design.”

“Of course, Blue.”

“Then two dates to go.” You could hear the smirk in his voice, hearing it caused you to bite down a wide smile.

“No this isn’t a date- chance encounter and first time you were stabbed. Not sure about mandalorians but I like my dates to be romantic and not bloody.” You teased but the hardy chuckle from Blue caused you to falter, made even worse by him leaning down so his helmet was closer to your face.

“Then what would class as a date?”

“Are you asking me on one?” Your teasing didn’t give up though, who would break first. Surly not you, you didn’t have an delusions that he was only joking so-

“What if I say I am?“ He cooed, MAKER- dammit. You broke first.

“Then- I would say; I’m almost always at the infirmary. Stop by sometimes.”

“You didn’t answer my question- what would class be as a date? What do you class as a romantic little medic?”

“I dunno.” You tapped a finger on his helmet guessing where his nose was, “Figure it out, Blue.”

Finally you pulled your eyes away from Blue and turned away, hiding the wide smile that shaped your lips and stifling a giggle. You felt like a schoolgirl, giggling over a guy but you said screw it to yourself. This might not be anything, could just be some playful flirting. Whatever this was, it was interesting. You were in a good mood as you approached the infirmary and opened the door. Calling out to Aki but you were greeted by something slightly more concerning.

Standing in the center of the room was a human. You had seen him before- knew he was a bounty hunter. His blaster was pointed towards you, you narrowed your eyes and reached your hand toward your weapon, however he shot at the wall next to you, demanding that you don’t move. Your heart was rapidly beating in your chest, you felt a slight tremble in your hands and legs.

“How may I help you?” You stared, the fear just about visible in your voice.

“The mandalorian- he was here.” You looked him over, finally noticing his poorly patched up wounds and bruised face; You barely hid the amusement at the thought of Blue beating the snot out of him.

“Yes, but he’s not here now-“ You explained

“Where did he go?” He yelled, starting to approach you.

“I don’t know- I don’t follow the people I-“ He was close enough to now so struck the blaster against your skull startling you with the sudden pain, the shock caused you to freeze for a second so you didn’t reach for your weapon. Grasping the collar of your shirt he lifted you up and slammed you into the wall, you couldn’t hear much from the ringing in your ears.

“Where did he go!” He demanded, you could feel him wrapping your weapon and threw it to the side. You grasped his wrists as stared him in the eyes.

“I don’t. Know.” He growled and swung and punched you in the ribs. Winded, you tried to draw in a breath but failed to. Much to your horror, you heard a crack.

“Where.Is.He?” You weren’t a stupid person, so you carried two weapon, a blade withdrawing it you plunged it into his hip. He yelled and pulled back and stared at you before raising the blaster at you. About to fire you raised an arm to defend yourself but the shot never came but a shuffle and loud thud instead.

Opening your eyes while gasping for air, the throbbing pain in your rib kept you from moving too much. The bounty hunter was on the ground while Blue stood above him, relief washed over you as your body tried to fall over but Blue caught you in his arms. You let out a pathetic whimper as the pain clogged his mind.

“So you’re following me?” You teased, your voice was quiet and painful.

“Baar’ur.” He said sadly, “I’ve got you.”

Your vision was fading and your body gave up while you passed out.

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[justformyheroacademia]

A Disaster (In More Ways Than One)

based off of this post by @sparkingstoryinspiration | (check tags for tw’s!)

“I need you two down at the far end of Musutafu. Now.” Their teacher’s urgent tone instead of his typical monotone snapped both of the boys out of their playful bickering. “What’s happened, Aizawa?” Kirishima questioned, already out of his place on the dorm’s couch and moving towards the door. The exhausted teacher followed the two up to the floor their rooms were located, explaining the situation to the best of his ability.

A smaller town on the outskirts of their large city was at the epicenter of an earthquake. Despite it being contained within the town, it most likely wasn’t a villain attack, just nature being nature. Bakugo huffed as he snapped on his gauntlets. Of course this would happen while everyone else left. At least he didn’t have to this alone, he thought, sparing a glance at his bright-haired friend.

The pair made their way towards the disaster, deciding the Bakugo carrying Kirishima while blasting in the air would be quicker than catching a bus or cab. “Aizawa, where are you going?” The blond turned his head to see their teacher running towards the school. “He’s obviously getting more heroes, idiot. You expect them to trust two first-years to help an entire town after an earthquake? C’mon, you’re wasting time,” Bakugo responded for the pro. His friend mumbled something under his breath, something he couldn’t hear. As much as it irritated him, Bakugo didn’t press him, just grabbed him and took off towards the town in danger. They needed to get there as soon as possible.

“Fuck,” Kirishima let out a breath as they examined the town. And fuck was the only thought in Bakugo’s mind as well. Neither of them predicted it to be this bad, seeing as they didn’t even feel the ground move from the dorms. Buildings, once tall and proud parts of the infrastructure, now dwarfed to half their size and unnaturally slanted to the opposite side of the other. Debris of varying size and material covered the ground, leaving nothing but awkward footing for the two students to tread on. It split a major apartment complex in the center. Everything around them looked as if one wrong step and it would all collapse on top of them—especially the people. Parents hugged and consoled their children while other tried to clear an area for them. These people had no clue what they were doing, just imitating what they saw heroes do on television.

He rested his hand on top of Kirishima’s shoulder, “C’mon, we gotta help these people before any of them seriously hurt themselves.” The two launched into action instantaneously. Kirishima cleared an area and reassured the civilians, treating those who were injured, while Bakugo started looking for anyone trapped under rubble of in a collapsed building.

Before he could get far, he felt a hand grip his gauntlet. Before he could yell at the person responsible, a man with bandages around his head said, “Please, find my son! He was playing in the yard when the ‘quake happened. Please, please, find him!” The father pointed towards the caved in apartments. “He has a watch just like mine!” he flashed his bulky, silver watch, “I’ll do anything, just-just find my Aki, please, sir!” He choked out, emotion clogging his voice. “I will, just relax as you see the future number one do his job,” Bakugo responded, gesturing to Kirishima as he did so, who came over to treat his head injury again.

Without interruption this time, Bakugo set off towards the apartments the man gestured towards. He’ll find this kid, then check if anyone else is nearby, he thought as he quickened his pace. The unsteady rubble made rushing more difficult than he wanted. But the student got to the destroyed apartment complex, beginning his search. He started with a quick sweep, not bothering with checking inside but focusing outside. It must have been a nice play area before the earthquake, filled with playground equipment. He would’ve ruled over this place as a kid. The light-hearted thought then turned into a stone and sunk straight into his gut when his eyes laid upon the scene before him.

A mighty oak tree laid on the ground, debris from the broken apartment decorating the surrounding ground. Underneath the large branches stuck a little hand. It lay limp, barely able to reach the top of the branch, as if the human attached to it tried to escape. A striking flash blinded the boy for a moment. Upon focusing his eyes a bit more revealed the source—a bulky, silver watch, similar to another he just saw. Bakugo was frozen in place, stomach acid rising, legs shaking. He’d never seen this before, someone’s corpse. UA never prepared him for this.

He heard a soft “Bakugo! Aizawa’s team is here!” some ways away. He stayed staring. “Holy shit…” Kirishima’s voice came from beside him. A faint feeling on his shoulder—a hand, Kirishima’s hand—caused his side to move. He has to snap out of it, but he can’t. He knew this was reality, that sometimes people can’t be saved, but he was never told how to deal with it.

Another voice, the striking gruff voice from their homeroom teacher, came from his other side. “Bakugo, go meet up with Midoriya’s, I can deal with this.” It was barely above a buzz, but he obeyed anyway, following Kirishima—still holding onto him—towards the sound of more voices. Not even the stumbling caused by the uneven ground could ground Bakugo to reality. He was stuck.

No one said anything to him—at least, he thinks no one did—as they arrive. A soft fabric wrapping around his shoulders shocks him for a moment. Bakugo can only focus for a second, but he sees something infuriating. It was a large, fluffy, grey blanket being wrapped around his shoulders. He ripped it off and face the culprit. “Why the hell do you think I need this goddamn shock blanket?” he yelled and thrust the blanket back at Uraraka. She began stuttering some shitty excuse. He didn’t need this, he screamed in his mind. Just as he was about to yell more at the girl, he caught Aizawa out of his peripheral. His teacher was crouched near the man he spoken to earlier, not long after, the father broke into sobs, hiding his head in his hands.

“It wasn’t your fault, Kacchan.”

“If only I were faster,” he whispered, voice tense with unspoken emotion, as he turned away from the peers trying to comfort him, “then that kid would be over there.”

With fists clenched in self-loathing, Bakugo announced “I’m going to look for more people over there,” before leaving the group, hoping his presence wouldn’t cause more death. He heard Kirishima call after him, but it fell on deaf ears.

Aizawa, after consoling the grieving father, turned towards the support group to see Bakugo leave. As much as he wanted to tell him to stop and process everything that just happened, he understood the feeling. The pro sighed, wishing Hizashi or All Might were here. He was shit at all this emotional stuff, barely understanding it for himself. Why couldn’t have he gotten here sooner? If he did, what would’ve changed? Maybe he would’ve found the kid, dead or alive, instead of his student.

The teacher stopped thinking about it, opting to focus on saving lives and pushing everything back, saving it for when he was up at five-in-the-morning again.

Overall, the mission was successful. Everyone’s injuries were treated, and the heroes moved them to a shelter within Musutafu. Only a single life lost. In the overall scheme of things, it was successful, but it didn’t feel that way to Bakugo. The teen who usually went to bed early now stayed up, staring holes into the ceiling, just thinking. The feelings he felt upon discovering the kid, images of the wailing father, discovering the corpse trapped—everything about that day.

He wants to tell his mind to shut up and stop tormenting him, but he deserves it. He shouldn’t have been so slow. This is his punishment for not being good enough. So he cries every night, thinking about the kid he failed, about how he doesn’t deserve to be number one.

[acoolguyscoollife]

Chapter 7: The Under-World

The simulation pretty much got the world right, with the smell at least. The entirety of The Under-World is set in an underground society, partially created from a sewer system that the inhabitants ended up turning into their own society when they began building places to live. The whole story, at its core, was an allegory for segregation and separating based on political views, but thankfully, it wasn’t too heavy handed, as this wasn’t exactly something I found entertaining, and this game was one of my favourites. Favourite game or not, however, the fact that I was most definitely ankle deep in shit was not a good thing.

“Oh jesus, I would have thought we’d have been put somewhere else!” Tabitha cried, causing me to look back at her. I had begun to look back forward before the image of her actually reached my brain, and my head whipped back around to look at her again. Her ragged lab coat had been replaced with a smaller, white coat that stuck out like a sore thumb in the dankness of the sewers, though was pristine all the same. The rest of us were still wearing the same outfits, thankfully, as I didn’t want to lose my jacket. It was important to me, as I felt it basically completed my look.

“Tab’, what are you wearing?” I asked, and Seth and Amy glanced over at her too. “When did you even change into that?” She looked down for a moment, then back up, as confused as I was.

“I… didn’t change it. I’m not sure what happened, maybe something to do with my innate magic passing through my outfit?” She replied, looking it over. “Though I have to say, it feels and looks pretty nice. I might just keep it.” She added, shrugging slightly. For some reason, this made me a little uncomfortable, but I wasn’t entirely sure why. Something about the stark white clothes, plus my admittedly faded memories of this game made my hair stand on end. A quick look over to Amy said that she felt it too, but for whatever reason, neither of us knew why. With a grimace, I pulled my feet out of the sewer water and onto dry land, groaning aloud as I saw the state my shoes were in. They were absolutely caked in mud, and pretty much ruined. Even if this was just a simulation, I still wasn’t happy with it, but what could I do? There was going to be a lot more sewer walking in the future, so I had to just grit my teeth and deal with it. Speaking of sewer walking, the four of us began our trek down one of the pipes, none of us actually sure where it would lead, but happy to just get out of this cramped area all the same.

“Why do you two like this game, anyway?” Seth asked, directed at Amy and myself. Tabitha had never played it, I knew that much, and while I had pestered Seth to get into it a long time ago, he never had.

“It’s an adventure about an outsider, who finds his way into a society of those who’d be deemed unworthy!” Amy said, almost hopping over to us, buzzing with excitement. “Romance, intrigue, subterfuge, the game has it all!” Seth just shrugged in response, but I pressed further.

“Wait, when was there romance in The Under-World?” I asked, and Amy smiled a coy smile.

“If you talk to the prince, or princess, of the realm right, you can take a path of romance where everyone wins at the end of the game, since your character gets to not leave. It’s a very PG ending, but… well, that’s what mods are for.” Amy’s smile was a little unnerving, but at the same time, it was still the same friend I’d always had, so seeing her like this was just something I laughed at nowadays.

“Ames, you are such a perv.” I said, and she pouted, folding her arms as we continued walking.

“Am not, I just think love is beautiful, in all of its forms, and sexual gratification is an amazing way of sharing love.” She replied, causing me to stop in my tracks for a second.

“Whoa, getting a little real there, huh Amy?” Seth said, and she let out a small laugh. “Got anything else you wanna tell us, while you’re confessing your sins?” Amy raised a middle finger at him, still laughing.

“Oh knock it off, Seth, you’re one to talk, you vanilla bitchbaby.” She replied, and it was Seth’s turn to pout and fold his arms. “I just feel like sharing love is important, and sex is healthy. Mods that help put that in my games are good, it adds a dose of reality to them.” Amy added, and Seth shrugged again.

“Whatever floats your boat, man. You do you, that’s the best way to operate in life.” Seth replied, and Amy grinned, flashing her white teeth that shone in the dim light from above.

“Honestly, I can completely understand your mentality now, Amy. Before now, I had suspected that you were polyamorous, but I wasn’t sure if I should say anything about it because… well, you know, when you assume, and whatnot.” Tabitha said, who had been walking on the other side of the flowing river of waste, but still close enough to hear the entire conversation.

“What’s polyamorous mean?” Amy asked, as the four of us rounded a corner at an intersection without even needing to ask each other which way we were going to go. Hopping across to the other side almost resulted in me faceplanting into the water, but Tabitha’s magic caught me before I could, hoisting me by the back of my pants.

“What? How can you not-” Seth began, but Tabitha shushed him, flashing him a frown in the dull light.

“Polyamorous means that you have multiple partners, kind of like an open relationship, but actively dating and loving multiple people.” Tabitha explained, and Amy nodded along to her every word, listening intently.

“That… makes so much sense.” Amy breathed when Tabitha was finished talking. “Low-key, that was a legitimate revelation as to my personality.” She added, confirming that she was being sincere, as her first sentence had the atmosphere of dry sarcasm that I knew she was fond of.

“That’s real great, all of us having epiphanies in a friggin’ sewer.” Seth muttered, but his smile gave away his true feelings about the situation. “I was joking when I asked if you had any more sins to confess, y’know.”

“So Amy, I kinda have a weird question now.��� I asked her, and she glanced over at me, now being one of the four of us in the front.

“Shoot, CG.” She replied, hopping over a tiny crack as she did so, causing her words to jutter slightly.

“Are you bisexual?” I said bluntly, not really sure how else to ask it while being delicate. From my side, the audible sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed through the pipe, clueing me in that Seth’s hand was now on his face in disbelief.

“Dude, of course I am. I thought that was obvious.” Amy said, frowning slightly, but I frantically shook my hands outwards, trying to communicate that I had more to say.

“No no, I just mean… what’s that like? Liking both sides of the street, as it were.” Every word that I said felt like verbal diarrhoea out of my mouth, piling out one after another in a clumsy, screwed-up manner. Truth be told, the smell made that idea actually seem quite viable, but dwelling on it wasn’t something I particularly wanted to do. Amy paused for a moment as we walked, making it so all we could hear was our footsteps as we progressed further into the pipes. God, I hoped we would get out soon.

“It’s… not really like anything, I guess is the best way to put it.” Amy said after some deliberation. “I like girls, and I like guys, and that’s kind of really all there is to say on the matter. No specific preferences, no reasons why I like both, I just… kinda do, you know?” She explained, and I nodded after she had finished. It was interesting to hear this from her, as I had never really focused on my sexuality myself. That being said, it was something I still didn’t really want to focus on, so I quickly tried to think of a joke to get out of the situation I had managed to fumble my way into.

“Haha, you like girls, that’s so gay.” I had to admit, my joke telling skills under pressure needed work, and the audible groan from Seth made that very clear. Amy just laughed, most likely sensing how awkward I was feeling.

“Says the guy who’s usually wearing leather.” She replied, and I was going to come back with a witty retort – like no you – when I saw the movement ahead of us. My hand quickly went to my sword, and Seth held his gun out in front of him. A low glow indicated that Tabitha had her dancing fire in her hands again, and Amy made the wall crackle for a moment with electricity as she pulled a small dagger made of brick and the metal pipe out of it. I had to hand it to her, she was making a lot of headway with her alchemizing. It seemed to just come second nature to her.

“Hey, who’s out there?” Seth yelled authoritatively, and I sighed, any hopes I had of being sneaky dissolving. “We’re not going to hurt you, so just come out.” He added, and for a moment, nothing was said in response, before a small voice rang out.

“I can literally see all four of you brandishing weapons, you know.” It said, and I immediately took my hand off my sword, motioning for the others to do the same. While it had been a long time since I had played the game, I knew that voice.

“Is that…?” Amy began, not sure whether to finish the sentence in case she was wrong. In response, the person came out of the shadows, the green eyes being the first visible thing. The person was human, or at least, mostly human. Most of the people put into the sewers were partially mutated, but none more so than this character. Long, slender cat ears were perched on her head, sticking out like… well, like long slender cat ears. Come on, I can’t be expected to find a simile for everything, now can I? Despite it being too dark to actually see it, I was certain that a dark furred cat tail swished behind the person. A grin revealed rows of sharp, predator teeth, but I knew from experience that this was a kind and gentle soul. “Aki!” Amy finished, barely standing still for a second before pouncing the catgirl into a hug.

“How… uh, do you know my name?” Aki asked, and Seth just shrugged. I was surprised that he hadn’t worn his shoulders out from how much he’d been doing it, at this point.

“Oh, I’ll explain later. It’s just… so good to see you!” Amy replied, looking her all over.

“Do I know you?” Aki replied, still dumbfounded. “Fur real, I don’t think I’ve ever met you guys befur.” Of course, I had forgotten this character had a habit of talking in cat puns. Both an endearing trait, and most likely grating to Seth and Tabitha, even though it had just started.

“Well, I don’t know who you are, but I’m Tabitha Williams. Next to me is Seth Allen, the girl hugging you is Amy Frays, and the guy in the sunglasses calls himself Cool Guy.” Tabitha roll-called the four of us, pointing to each of us as she did so. “It’s nice to meet you.” She added at the end, more of a formality than anything.

“Oh! I’m Aki Cataria! It’s very nice to meet you too, ma’am!” Aki curtseyed, and Tabitha looked away, decidedly uncomfortable. “Say, are you four lost? I could show you to the cat-pital, if you want.” I had to admit, Aki’s cat puns needed some work.

“Oh my gosh, please do! Come with us everywhere, if you’d like!” Amy couldn’t contain her excitement, and while Aki looked a little unnerved, the sheer happiness of Amy was radiating over all of us, and it drew a smile to Aki’s lips again.

“Well, I can’t deny someone as enfursiastic as that, can I?” Aki said, and I paused for a moment before realising that she said enthusiastic with another cat pun. “Come on then, it’s not far now!” She added, grabbing Amy’s hand with her anthropomorphic mix of a hand and a paw, causing Amy to squeal in delight. The two of them rushed forward, with the rest of us trailing behind slightly.

“You know, I’m just now realising that introducing Amy to a way for her to directly interact with all of her fictional crushes is, in layman’s terms, a really bad idea.” Tabitha said to the three of us, and I could do nothing but nod as I watched Amy talking Aki’s ear off. I sighed, something telling me that this was going to be an even longer day than it already had been.