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ckret2 · 2 years ago

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The most unpleasant breakfast.

I feel like this picture is a perfect summary of the fic so far.

Chapter 5 of The Pines Capture Human Bill Cipher But Can't Tell Anybody Because They Don't Know Whether Killing Him Will Restart Weirdmageddon (title TBD). Masterpost here. Updated 8/7/2024 for TBOB compatibility!

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The group asking for a seat at the truck stop diner was an odd sight: three adult men; two children; and then one disheveled barefoot lunatic in a cartoon pony toga, handcuffs, a chain restricting one arm, and the dirt-smeared remains of a butterfly marker mask. But truckers and odd sights were the only things you saw at 3 a.m. in a Roadkill County truck stop that was old enough to still have functioning pay phones, and the handcuffed guest wasn't blinking SOS in Morse code, so the weary party was escorted to the round corner booth without question. They sandwiched Bill between Soos and Stan and silently awaited their menus.

"Hey, I'm Dani, I'll be taking care of you tonight." A waitress passed out menus to the group, hesitated uncertainly with a couple of paper kids' menus in front of Dipper and Mabel, and handed them over when Mabel made grabby hands for the accompanying four-pack of crayons. "Can I start you off with some coffee, or...?" Dani's gaze fell on Bill and her face lit up. "Oh, hey! Toga Lady! Hi!"

Bill gave her a puzzled smile and raised brows. "Hello?"

"Oh, yeah dude!" Soos laughed. "Wendy got a picture of you the last time you came by. You're totally a local meme now."

"Okay, I've gotta know." The waitress gestured at Bill's ensemble with her pen. "What's your story?"

"Well—" Bill opened his mouth, and froze; and the whole table went still as they simultaneously had the same realization.

If anybody revealed Bill's identity, in Gravity Falls, the epicenter of Weirdmageddon, they'd have a mob on their hands. At worst the town would rip Bill to shreds, and at best they'd throw him in a cell so they could schedule his shredding for a pleasant Saturday afternoon when more people could watch.

Bill couldn't risk the possibility that he'd die for good, and the humans couldn't risk the possibility that he'd be re-released as a triangle.

None of them could reveal anything.

And all of them knew it.

"Party," Bill said. Warming to the cover story, he went on: "This is my party uniform. A little anachronistic, but what can I say? There's nothing I like better than being the center of attention at a wild party!" He cast a sideways glance toward the Stan twins. "Until the fun police break it up."

Ford grumbled, "Partying wasn't the problem. You were going to burn down the town."

"You get so worked up over a little bonfire, sheesh." Bill rolled his eyes, leaned toward the waitress, and said, "These geek types, I tell you. Some people wouldn't recognize a good time if it appeared to them in a divine vision."

"Maybe if I ever had a divine vision..."

Bill shot Ford a dirty look. They quickly broke off their mutual glare, conscious of Dani curiously watching, and Bill breezily explained, "He had a bad trip and still blames me for it."

Dani laughed. "You're crazy! What's your real name, Toga Lady?"

Bill hesitated. "Guess!"

"What?"

"Guess! It's a game. You guess mine, I'll guess yours."

She looked down at her name tag. "I already told you my name's Dani."

"But did you tell me it's Danielle Miranda?"

Her eyebrows shot up.

Bill beamed. "I'll give you three guesses! While you're thinking about that, could we get a round of coffee, and... do you serve anything more toxic than mildly spoiled apple juice? No? Just coffee."

"And a chocolate shake," Mabel threw in.

Bill's eyes lit up. "Make that two."

Stan snapped, "I am not paying for you to get a chocolate shake." Bill sighed.

Once the waitress was gone, Bill said, "Trauma still disrupts humans' long-term memories, right? Have the locals forgotten my name yet?"

"Yeah, no, everyone remembers," Soos said. "I know two different Williams that got their names legally changed."

Bill groaned. "Great. Terrific! Fine. I don't even care. My last pseudonym was getting stale anyway, it's about time I find a new one. Do I look like a Silas?"

The others stared at him. Stan said, "What?"

"A Silas, do I look like my name could be Silas."

"Sure, that sounds stupid enough for you."

Bill shot Stan a dirty look. "Fine, you try. I've spent the last couple of days getting killed, tortured, drugged, beaten, and starved—"

"Whoa, wait," Soos said, "you've been what?"

—so all I'm coming up with is 'Not-Bill' and 'the letter A.' Somebody else think of something."

Stan let out a loud sigh. "Who cares? Bob."

"No."

"Will."

"No, and you sound stupid."

"Hey—!"

Ignoring Stan's irritation, Bill looked around the table. "Anyone else?"

The others at the table considered the question. Soos said, "Ferdinand. I think Ferdinand is way cool."

"Coming out of you, that's not the high recommendation you think it is, Questiony."

Soos winced. "Ouch."

"C'mon, give me something that sounds a little bit like me."

Dipper said, "Troy Angle?" Mabel laughed.

Bill didn't. "Troy again."

Ford ventured, "Xanthe?"

"Ha. Sure, just call me 'yellow hair,' why not. I like the direction you're thinking—"

Stan—whose barely-suppressed rage at this whole situation had been steadily building back up since Bill called him stupid—snapped, "Why are we looking for a name he'll like? Why does he get any say in this! I say we call him whatever he can pronounce through a mouthful of broken teeth! Because when I'm through with this sonovab—"

Bill blocked his view of Stan's threatening fist by holding up his menu. "But Stanley's got a point, I need a simple name. How many Americans know how to spell Ξανθή?"

"Get this stupid thing out of my—"

Mabel, who'd been mulling over the whole "yellow hair" idea, stood and slammed her hands on the table, interrupting the brewing argument. "GOLDILOCKS!"

Bill erupted into a peal of laughter that made the rest of the table flinch. His handcuffs clattered as he smacked his hands on the table and he leaned toward Mabel. "Yes yes YES! Perfect! Ha!" It was like a light switch had flipped on in Bill, re-energizing him, and suddenly he was brighter than he'd been since before his capture. "Funniest coincidence, I—well, forget it, you wouldn't get it." Eyes crinkling in genuine amusement, Bill said, "But I like you, kid. You're the one with the fun ideas!"

Mabel blinked in surprise, any pleasure at the unexpected compliment dampened by the knowledge that being liked by Bill was never a good thing. "Oh. Yep," she said flatly. "Fun's my thing."

Miffed, Dipper said, "Hey, I made a pun."

"I don't like puns."

Ford said, "If you'd please stop trying to win over my grand-niece with flattery..." but fell silent as Dani came back with drinks.

She passed coffee around, set a chocolate shake down for Mabel, set a second one down for Bill—"On the house"—and winked. "Is it Rumpelstiltskin?"

Bill cracked up again. "No, but give me three hours and a particle accelerator and I could teach you to spin straw into gold!"

"Worth a shot! Okay, is everyone ready to order?"

There was an awkward pause. Soos finally said, "Oh man, we all got to talking and completely forgot to look at the menu. Can you give us like five minutes?"

"Sure. Just wave when you're ready."

The group steeled themselves to the task of picking a meal, which felt far too mundane for such a bizarre night. Dipper frowned at the paper kids' menu he'd been handed. "Hey, Soos. Can I look at your menu when you're done...?"

Wordlessly, Bill stole Dipper's menu and crayon box and slid over his adult menu.

"...Thanks."

Bill had already dumped out the crayons and started drawing triangles on the menu. "Don't mention it!"

By the time Dani returned, Bill had covered a quarter of the menu in tiny doodles of his own triangular face, reluctantly scratched them out after Soos pointed out he could get arrested for those, and covered half the rest in countless eyes. Soos ordered a burger, Stan ordered bacon and eggs, Ford ordered an omelet, Dipper ordered an omelet too not because Ford did but because it sounded good and maybe he wanted to try one okay that's all, Mabel ordered rainbow sprinkle chocolate pancakes, and Bill ordered a banana octopus pancake and a side of bacon "as floppy as you can make it" over Stan's objections to letting Bill get a side item.

"And raw bacon. Got it." Dani closed her notebook, gave Bill a considering look, and said, "Is it Blondie?"

"Ha! No! But you've been a good sport so I'll give you a hint! It's something in between your first two guesses."

"Huh..." Dani considered that a moment; then noticed Bill trying to pick up his shake with handcuffs on. "Do you... need help with those? I think the attached gas station's got bolt cutters."

Firmly, Ford said, "We've got bolt cutters at home." Bill gave Dani an apologetic shrug.

As soon as Dani was gone again, Ford leaned forward. "All right, Bill. If you're going to be in our house for who-knows-how-long, we need to establish some ground rules."

"Boy, do we ever," Bill said, with the confidence of somebody who assumed he'd have an equal say in deciding what the rules were.

Ford went on without acknowledging Bill. "For now, we can lock you back in the cellar—"

"Cellar's right under the gift shop," Stan pointed out. "I was thinking a storage closet. Just stuff him in there and pile a bunch of furniture in front of the door."

"You know, Stanley, I think that would be safer," Ford said, like he was trying to pretend he liked the idea based on safety rather than based on how satisfying it would be to make Bill as uncomfortable as possible. "Although I'm sure Bill knows he'll just be putting himself in danger if he makes enough noise to catch anyone's attention—so there's rule number one, no sounds. And once I've done some repairs, we can move him to the bunker..."

"No, I don't think so," Bill said. "I don't like that at all."

Coolly, Ford said, "Well, Bill, you're our prisoner, so we can do what we want, you don't get a say in it, and you don't have to like it. In fact, the more you dislike it, the more I think I do like it."

Stan laughed, elbowing Ford. "Took the words right out of my mouth."

Bill said, "But that's just the thing—I do get a say in it! I'm as worried as anyone else about what might happen if this body is killed. But there are fates worse than death. Like boredom, for instance! You know what I'm talking about, right?" He gave Mabel an appealing look.

She doggedly avoided making eye contact, slurping her shake.

Bill shrugged and returned his attention to Ford. "You know and I know you'll only keep me alive until you think of a way to kill me that I can't come back from—and that gives me an advantage. It means I've got nothing to lose. If I'm not living a life that's at least barely tolerable, then your only way to stop me from choosing death on my terms instead of your terms is by sticking me in an artificial coma." His smile stretched wider. "And are you really, really sure I don't know a way to kill myself in my sleep?"

Ford and Stan's scowls deepened the longer Bill spoke. Stan muttered to Ford, "It's not too late to take our chances killing him the old-fashioned way."

Ford shook his head. "What do you consider intolerable conditions."

"Being locked in a little cell with nowhere to stretch my legs, no entertainment, and no company. Abandon me in your bunker? I'll bash my skull in."

Bill declared this with such vehemence that it momentarily gave Ford pause; but he asked, "And if we lock you in the cellar?"

"Then I scream for help until someone calls the cops, and we all get to learn what they find more convincing: 'You've gotta believe me, this lady is secretly Bill Cipher in disguise,' or 'Help me, officer, these lunatics think I'm some kind of demon pyramid!'" Bill rolled his eyes. "I'm not asking for much. Just a little entertainment. Only enough to make this place more appealing than dying! A few rooms I can move freely in, the occasional conversation, a window or two I can look out of..."

"In other words," Ford said, "if we don't want you to do anything drastic, we need to give you a slight chance to escape."

"See, this is why you're the smart one!" Bill graced Ford with a brilliant smile. "And in return, you've bought yourselves time to look for a guaranteed way to finish me off. It'll be like a game: can you figure out how to get rid of me before I find a way out?"

"I stopped playing games with you a long time ago, Cipher."

Bill leaned across the table toward Ford, ignoring that he was at risk of shoving his elbow into Stan's chest and that the kids had started leaning over the table too as if they were prepared to lunge at Bill. "We never stopped playing. You just stopped having fun."

Their negotiations were interrupted by Dani's return. She distributed their meals, then said, "Okay, I've got two guesses. They're dumb, though."

"I'll allow it!"

"Rapunzel or Goldilocks."

"Hey, guess number four! Smart girl! Give her a nice tip, Stanley."

Stan grumbled, "Stop trying to spend my money."

Dani laughed. "You're joking!"

"No, really! Goldilocks!"

"No, no way. You're totally lying."

Studying her face to gauge how much of her skepticism was sincere, Bill amended himself, "Okay, okay, you're right—first name Goldie, last name Locke. Funny though, right?"

"I didn't think I'd get it. Goldilocks the Toga Lady. Ha! You guys enjoy your meals."

Once she was out of hearing range, Bill muttered, "Tabitha, I should have gone with Tabitha. That's a way more believable human name than Goldilocks. I could pull off a Tabitha."

Ford cleared his throat to catch Bill's attention. "All right, Bill, here's your situation. You're trapped within a small geographical radius and surrounded by enemies. You have no money, no identification, and no connections. The last time we saw you, you were pleading for rescue through a book—"

"'Pleading' is so pejorative! I was offering mutually beneficial deals, but you were too busy taping judgmental selfies in my book to—"

"—SO, wherever you came here from, you clearly can't go back there. And if you still have any powers at all, they're obviously dampened or we'd be dead by now. Your options are limited even if you do escape—so before you try, think how much less latitude we'll give you once we catch you."

"Sounds like somebody's about to agree to my terms."

Ford glanced at Stan, to see if he wanted to voice any objections; then Soos, as the current owner of the shack; then the kids, with a silent apology for what this would mean for their summer; and when no one protested, Ford said, "You'll stay in the main shack. You can go anywhere that isn't closed behind a door—that means the kitchen, the living room, the R&D room, and the attic. You don't get to enter any room behind a door without supervision. You don't get access to tools, poisons, or anything you could potentially use as a weapon. No phone, no computer, no borrowing anybody's cellular phones. I suppose there's no harm in letting you use the TV." He glanced around at the family. "Does that all sound agreeable?"

Nobody was thrilled with it, but nobody protested.

Bill said, "Question."

"What."

"How will disputes over what to watch on TV be resolved."

"Everybody in the house gets priority over you."

"You're being petty. We can't even vote on TV selections?"

"Fine, let's vote. Who's in favor of being petty and never letting Bill choose what to watch?"

Everyone but Bill raised a hand.

Bill laughed. "Okay, I walked into that! But I want books."

"Fine. You can have books."

"And writing materials."

"Under supervision only."

"Sheesh, paranoid. Okay. And a radio."

Ford considered that.

"Come on, you don't think I could get into trouble with a radio."

"You can use the record player."

"Nobody uses records anymore. I want a CD player."

"Fine. You can borrow a CD player."

"Fine." Satisfied, Bill picked up the maple syrup bottle and poured way too much on his pancakes.

Mabel cast a quick, envious glance at Bill's banana octopus. It had chocolate chip eyes and was way cuter than she'd expected.

Bill caught her glance, gave her sugary pile of sprinkles and chocolate an equally covetous look, and said, "Want to go half and half?"

She shoved her plate over. "Like you wouldn't believe!"

Dipper hissed, "Mabel," and Mabel flinched, guiltily glancing toward Ford to see if the Head Bill Cipher Expert had any objections to the pancake swap. Ford grimaced, but said nothing. Mabel had already agreed, Ford couldn't think of anything Bill could have done to an untampered-with plate of pancakes, and if Ford objected on principle he'd just end up making himself look like the bad guy—which he had a sneaking suspicion Bill would immediately pounce on.

Meanwhile, Bill certainly hadn't waited to see if Ford approved. He mercilessly sawed his mushy cephalopod in half, the swap was made before anyone could protest Mabel sharing her bounty of sugar with the worst person in the universe, and Bill gleefully added more maple syrup to his new source of sweet sensory overload. He scooped up a forkful of pancakes, stuck it in his eye, then jerked his head back at the pain and stared in confusion. He tried the other eye before he remembered his mouth.

Mabel played with the banana peel tentacles on her half-octopus. At Dipper's grimace, she said, "It's fine, he'll be fine! Octopuses grow back if you cut them in half."

Soos had worked through his burger like popcorn at a movie while he watched Ford and Bill's hostage negotiations. Now that the important decisions had been made and Soos was down to fries, he said, "So, how do we keep Bill out of all the other rooms? Am I gonna have to put locks on every door tomorrow? Because if we just say 'don't go there,' Bill will be like, 'okay,' and then do it anyway, you know?"

"Yeah, Stanford, how are you gonna keep me out of your rooms?" Bill was twirling a piece of bacon around his fork like spaghetti. "I hear I'm pretty sneaky." He stuck the fork in his eye again, flinched, and gave it a disappointed look.

"Well—" Ford glanced around to ensure no one was nearby, leaned closer to Bill, and lowered his voice. "I've actually got a clever idea about that."

Instantly intrigued, Bill leaned in closer. "Oh, do you?"

Like he was inviting Bill in to hear a secret, Ford reached past Stan to put a hand on Bill's shoulder—and said, "Amnesia Limina—"

"You—!" Bill tried to jerk out of Ford's grip, but was blocked by a wall of Soos. Soos caught on and grabbed Bill's wrists before he could shove Ford's hand away.

"—Stupidi Digiti—"

"I hate you."

"—Occultus Locus."

A bright red light flashed between Ford's fingers. Bill's eye twitched. He jerked out of Soos's grip and shrugged off Ford's hand. "When did you learn how to play dirty?"

Dipper had watched with such fascination that he hadn't even noticed a chunk of omelet fall off his fork into his lap. "Whoa, what was that?"

"A curse," Ford said. "Cast it on a door, and no one who interacts with it will know how to open it. Cast it on a person, however—and they'll forget how to open any door or window. We don't have to worry about locking Bill in if he doesn't know how to use a doorknob, do we?"

Bill asked, "What's a doorknob?"

Stan cracked up. Ford grinned at Dipper and gestured at Bill. See?

"Seriously, what's a doorknob? I know every word in the English language, I'd know if 'doorknob' was a word. Is it a wart? A kind of fungus?" Bill sighed irritably. "Where did you come up with that! I thought you forgot that curse years ago."

"I haven't forgotten anything you taught me," Ford said, clearly offended at the suggestion.

"No? Then why'd you waste all that time installing a retinal scanner on your lab door?" As it dawned on Bill that he no longer understood what retinal scanners had to do with the function of doors, he muttered to himself, "Why did he install a retinal scanner."

"I'm not a fool, I knew if I'd cursed the door you would have removed the curse as soon as you possessed me."

Bill laughed. "You idiot! Don't you know the curse can't be lifted by anyone but the person who placed it?"

"It. Can't?" Ford sat there, experiencing the unfamiliar sensation of being the student called on in class who'd read the wrong pages instead of the assignment, even though in his heart he was sure Bill must not have taught him that part of the spell. "What if that person dies?"

"Responsibility for the curse passes to the next of kin! Lucky for you, or this fork would already be in your throat—although I haven't completely ruled that out. Maybe one of your family will be more reasonable about the situation than you."

The rest of the table loudly assured Bill that they would not be more reasonable. Ford gestured toward them. "I don't think so. None of us are foolish enough to fall for your tricks anymore. You aren't going anywhere until we say so."

Bill ignored the rest of the table, gaze fixed on Ford. "Don't be so sure, Stanford Pines. You aren't the first cocky mortal to hold me and you won't be the last! I'll get out of here, and when I do—oh-ho-ho, I'll make you regret every single timeyou ever thought of crossing me."

Ford raised a brow. "I 'won't be the last'?" Stan laughed again, elbowing Ford. Bill cringed, face heating up.

The kids grinned. "Wow, Bill," Dipper said. "Pretty big of you to admit what a loser you are."

Bill rounded furiously on Dipper. "I'll show you a loser—" He lunged across the table toward him.

"Hey!"

"Get over here, you—"

"Everything good so far?" Dani asked.

The table froze. Bill had a fist curled in Dipper's vest, Soos had an arm around Bill's chest, Stan had his hands around Bill's throat, Ford was pointing a knife at Bill's face, and Mabel was prepared to bite Bill's wrist.

Bill slowly let go of Dipper. He gave Dani a thumbs up. "Everything tastes fantastic!"

"Great!" Dani moved on.

The guys slowly let go of Bill and sat back. Mabel gently bit Bill's arm to ensure he knew she meant business.

He didn't even acknowledge her. He'd fixed his glower on Ford again; and when Ford met his look, Bill pursed his lips and spat a thick, milkshaky wad of phlegm onto Ford's omelet.

Stan rounded on Bill so fast he kneed the table. "You little—!"

Ford put a hand on Stan's shoulder to stop him from making a scene. Calmly, he cut around the chunk of soiled omelet, scooped it up, and dropped it in Bill's milkshake.

A crooked smile broke through Bill's scowl. "You know—" he hooked a finger around his milkshake glass and tugged it closer, "this is the most fun I've had in a very long time." He squeezed one eye shut and made direct, defiant eye contact with Ford as he drank the shake.

Mabel and Dipper exchanged a look and cringed in disgust.

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When they left, in lieu of the extra tip Bill had wanted Stan to give the waitress, he turned over his paper menu and drew a map to an eighty-year-old buried cache of stolen jewelry just a fifteen minute walk from the diner.

He'd finished his milkshake, egg and all.

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(if you enjoyed, I'd love a comment! Thanks!)

#bill cipher #human bill cipher #gravity falls #gravity falls fanart #gravity falls fic #my writing #bill goldilocks cipher

395 notes · View notes

thelreads · 2 years ago

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Alright Yor, moment of truth, tell me: how many of them you can kill before the Director makes his presence known?

Ah damn, you were too soft on them, now the director killed three before we even got to know the answer.

Bah, the fight was already unfair against Yor, but now she has a sniper as backup? All the tension is gone, 0/10, I`m going back to read that harem crap I found earlier, I`m pretty sure the childhood friend is about to lose again.

C`mon dude, things were about to get fun, why did you had to ruin the fun? Yor was just getting warmed up, she was about to unleash hell on them, go back to send the french morse code or something please

#spy x family #spy x family liveblog #reading #manga #liveblog #SXFC52

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saglovesu · 4 years ago

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𝐇𝐚𝐢𝐤𝐲𝐮𝐮 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬

— 𝘽𝙪𝙯𝙯𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙪𝙣𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 ♡

Previous | next

CW: swearing, creepy stuff (?) ; quotes from a ghost hunter show! Description of violence;LMK if I missed any! ;P

A/N: I know this isn‘t a fanfiction bUT I‘ll put it up in the masterlist!! If u have any requests feel free to send them my way (´｡• ◡ •｡`) ♡ For now enjoy this thread I made at 5am 🤍 also I think I‘ll do a pt.2 of this cuz this is way too much fun

Sidenote: these aren‘t always 100% accurate w/ the characters sometimes I just chose certain ones cuz it seemed funny. So no guarantee that it‘ll be all accurate‼️

Oikawa: I‘ve connected the dots.

Iwaizumi: You didn‘t connect shit.

Oikawa: I‘ve connected them.

♡

Suna: Hey there demons, it‘s me, ya boi.

♡

Sugawara [in the haunted house]: I fucking hate this.

Sugawara: I‘ll shoot you in your face!

Daichi [from the outside]: I don‘t think he‘s having a good time right now.

♡

Tendou: so, at what point does the fear come in for you?

Ushijima: about when the life is draining out of my body.

Tendou: (wheeze)

♡

Nishinoya: this guy‘s a racist?!

Y/N: most of them [the victims] were Italian grocers.

Nishinoya: whoa... fuck this guy!

♡

Yaku: well you know what I‘ll do is I‘ll shoot you

♡

Osamu: I will now blink to you in morse code who I think did it

Atsumu: you don‘t know morse code!

♡

Aran: how much trouble could a family of farmers get into?

Kita: ohhhhhh...a biiiiii- a pretty fair amount of trouble my friend

♡

Taichi: yeah, I‘m just gonna start sending flowers to people‘s funerals, and say „love forever -Louise“

Y/N: you should say „Love forever -Taichi“ and a picture of yourself“

♡

[in a haunted house]

Kuroo: Lev‘s not scared of you either!

Lev: oh, no, nope that‘s not true! ...Woah, you keep tricking me into fucking talking with them you dickhead!

♡

Y/N: yeah I think you wear a mask sometimes

Sugawara: I think you should keep digging and maybe see what happens.

Y/N: uh... no I‘m good

♡

Semi: you think he‘s like... you think he‘s like taking his license out before and the ghost was looking at it but his thumb was covering his last name and she was like „Robert Randall? That must be my lover!“

Tendou: maybe!

♡

Tsukishima:if I could imagine any of my friends murdering me...

Hinata: I can imagine one friend of yours murdering you.

Tsukishima: is it you?

Hinata: *looks at the camera* no

♡

Kogane: I‘m not scared of you, so please say your name!

Futakuchi: He‘s lying but, please say your name.

♡

Kageyama: it got a funny little face, kinda looks like you

Hinata: I was gonna say it looks like you with those long ass limbs

Kageyama: yeah but its got those little, like, those scared little eyes, you know, this is what you look like when you think you see evidence.

♡

Sugawara: maybe thats our pal JC, I don‘t know if he hangs out at every cross in the world.

♡

Akaashi:a shooting star just went by behind your head!

Bokuto: what are you talking- why didn‘t you tell me!!

Bokuto: Oh my I just saw another- no that‘s a bug

♡

Atsumu: I think when Sakusa‘s around it‘s easy to forget that you‘re in one of the most horrifying places on earth.

Atsumu: uh...and now, that he‘s not gonna be in there... *scratches chin* not to say that he‘s like my daddy or something like- I don‘t know why I said that. *laughs*

Atsumu: have fun with that one internet!

♡

Konoha: Alakazam! Ah bing bang boom! *slaps table* hope you like hell ya loser!

♡

Mattsun: choo choo pickle pie

Oikawa: (wheeze) choo choo pickle pie, what the f—?

Mattsun: I don‘t know. I‘m just thinking of a funny thing a ghost could whisper

Oikawa: (wheeze)

♡

Sakusa [sitting outside]: an hour or two ago-

Atsumu [from inside the house]: *incoherent screaming*

Atsumu: I HATE IT!! I FUCKING HATE THIS!! FUCK YOUUU!! FUCK YOUU!!! FUCK YOU!!! *more incoherent screaming*

Sakusa: *laughs* that is quite a reaction. I think we‘re making some headway.

Sakusa: *looking at the house* It‘s gone quiet now and I‘m afraid he‘s dead.

♡

Kuroo [to the ghost]: suck my balls dude!

Bokuto: bobby if you would like to suck our Balls can you turn that light off

Kuroo: *wheeze*

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runmildest · 3 years ago

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DC Fic Snippets - 9/?

Love Like a Drug(ged Slumber) - Adrian Chase/Fem!Reader (explicit)

“Sweetie bean, purest pie—” He laughs, too loud for the otherwise quiet morning, and weasels a leg between yours. “—you’ll never find a more dedicated dude.”

Vigilante comes home.

A filthy WIP excerpt for your Sunday psychopath needs:

CW: Somnophilia, Adrian Gets His Own Warning

The shadow of his suit is an indistinct shape on your floor, probably bloodstained and definitely bad for your carpet deposit. Most importantly, though, his cock presses against your back, insistent and hot.

“Oh yeah?” you murmur, then gasp when a flex of your hips earns you another dull throb at your center.

God, if you didn’t know better, you’d say you’ve already been ridden hard and put away—

—wetness slicks Adrian’s fingers as he strokes down the cleft of your legs, unerringly landing on the nub of your clit.

“Yeah, I had to have Adebayo teach me morse code for ‘I miss’ and also ‘my girlfriend.’”

“Wow, that’s dedica—aaayyy—”

He hasn’t been gone long enough for you to feel this needy. You are, though—tender enough to his touch that gentle foreplay is twisting you into knots. He knows just how to work you up, too—pressing hard just when you think he’s going to let up, stroking with a proprietary kind of laziness.

You bite your lip, heart whooshing too loud in your ears to hear your own desperate keen as he spells his name—his opening move, he’s said—on your cunt with one steady finger pad.

“Sweetie bean, purest pie—” He laughs, too loud for the otherwise quiet morning, and weasels a leg between yours. “—you’ll never find a more dedicated dude.” When he presses the hard line of his thigh to your cunt, you have to stifle a groan, feeling rather… well-used for the morning of your reunion.

“Did—did you—” You try to close your knees, but your limbs are tangled, pinned to the bed by his surprising heaviness. You can feel your own wetness, though, and the way it slicks up the slide of his skin on yours. Some of your skin feels… tight, though. Less like fresh arousal, and more like dried c—

“Like, she tapped out after I asked for the word ‘balls,’ but I already had ‘dick’ and ‘head’ from her earlier swearing lesson, and I was trying to tell Chris about our three month anniversary night—”

“W—why,” you gasp, all but riding his thigh as he strokes little shapes over your clit.

“Well, it was really good head, angel toes.” His voice might be conversational, but the precum sticking to your back tells a different story. “I had to tell Chris about my first ever religious experience, which, as you know, happened with my dick in your mouth.” A gusty sigh blows over your neck. “I didn’t see Jesus—or, fuck, I dunno, Buddha—but an image of my dad did appear when I came down your throat. He gave me a thumbs up, which is probably more of a miracle, anyway.”

Your head is swimming now, the rising buzz of an orgasm clouding your higher thought. If you could just… focus before you come apart entirely.

“No, why—why do I feel—” Your thighs flex again, though there’s a fine tremor there that wasn’t present a moment ago.

Adrian’s blunt nail catches the hood of your clit and tugs the skin taut.

“Feel what, sugar bear?” he croons. “Like you’re gonna come all over my leg?”

“Feel—fucked,” you wheeze, hips stuttering against his hand slickly. “Really well-fucked.”

There’s a reason you don’t usually swear around your psychopath, and that reason pulses against your backside, growing impossibly harder.

Though you hear his breath catch, Adrian’s voice is perfectly even when he says, “Well. That’s cause I fucked you, moon pie.”

[AO3]

#adrian chase x reader #peacemaker fic #dc fic snippets #reader fanfic #shouting into the void for fun and zero profit #fic snippets #vigilante romance

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urban-witch101 · 4 years ago

Text

(Byakuya Togami x Reader? That's how this idea started.) - Danganronpa 1 Ghost AU - "They Failed."

Oh it's as funky as it sounds. Just trust me on this one. Also, big fat Trigger Warning for assault, s3xual assault, murder, and angst.

Hope's Peak Academy is reportedly the most haunted high school in Japan. After the Most Tragic Incident the world had ever seen, the class of 78 was forced into a recorded killing game run by their fellow classmates Junko Enoshima and Mukuro Ikusaba and failed to survive. The Future Foundation, after eventually beating Despair and restoring peace to the world, established the high school as a National Monument to the pain and suffering of the students and turned it into a museum recording the history.

There are too many stories of the passed students to count, some from construction workers and some from ghost hunters. These are their sightings.

============================================

Yasuhiro Hagakure is reportedly the most active ghost, which makes sense as the Ultimate Clairvoyant.

He tends to greet visitors at the entrance.

If you drop your hat or gloves and don't notice, you'll find them by the coat rack later for you to find.

Children tend to see him the most, or they hear a whispered joke in their ear if they're particularly upset at any of the Despair history.

He doesn't tend to interact with adults a lot, but he's known to follow the descendants of all their relatives or friends to make sure they're okay.

10/10 ghost, very friendly and a chill dude. Makes sure kids are okay.

Toko Fukawa is rarely seen or heard, but if she's there you know.

She hangs out in the bathrooms with the most common sightings being in the mirrors.

She's often found playing with her braids or grimacing at guests if there are a lot of people.

The friendliest sighting was when a child got lost and found their way to the women's bathroom.

When the panicked mother finally found them, their child was calm and content while playing with a stuffed toy they know they didn't bring.

When the child was guided to leave, they turned and waved goodbye to the mirror.

8/10, antisocial but harmless.

Genocider Syo is extremely active.

She likes pulling pranks on tall, skinny men, like throwing their wallets across the room and pinching their elbows.

If said men are blonde with blue eyes, they will tend to feel watched whenever the enter the building and will continue to think so until they leave.

Children tend to be scared of her, but if she sees a scared child she'll tend to leave the room so they're more comfortable.

She likes knocking over stuff, books and coffee mugs in particular.

However, if the staff scold her she'll knock it off.

She never knocks over artifacts, but people have seen her scissors rattle in their case.

8/10, harmless prankster.

Leon Kuwata can be found in the First-Floor Dorms.

People report hearing guitar strings playing in the boys bathrooms.

If someone mentions baseball around his dorm, mirrors and glass will crack or straight up shatter.

Paranormal investigators once spent the night in his old room, but they "forgot" to take off their shoes and slept above the covers.

They woke up with a blanket that hadn't been in the room covering them and their shoes neatly placed by the side of the door.

That same investigator used a Spirit Box to try and talk to him about what happened in the school.

Of course their older generations saw what happened live, but they never spoke of it.

"Do you have anything you need to say?"

"I'm so sorry."

6/10, ow.

Hifumi Yamada can be found in the kiln room in the Art Studio.

People hear camera clicks, as if he's still taking pictures.

Pencils will roll when the floor is completely flat.

He likes messing with the kiln and knocking off the hammers.

He loves playing the flashlight game.

If anyone mentions Celestia Ludenburg, people swear the room falls into a heavy and tense silence.

When everyone leaves the kiln, they feel his conflicting pain.

Anger? Sadness? They don't know. He's still grieving.

6/10, more ow.

Kiyotaka Ishimaru is silent unless he needs to talk.

He only talks if you do something wrong.

He doesn't play any of the games.

If you run in the museum, people swear they hear a loud voice telling them to stop.

If the staff breaks the rules at all, they straight up get smacked in the shoulder.

Groups of friends, particularly men, feel very welcome in his dorm room.

They all leave after a friendly, invisible squeeze is given to them on the arm.

6/10, he'll never change.

Mondo Owada has one reported sighting.

When construction to restore the building was going on, there was an incident between a worker and a girl on the street one afternoon.

He took her behind the building and attempted to hurt her.

A man in a Crazy Diamond gang jacket, which it should be noted that it doesn't exist anyore, pulled him off and hit him with a pick axe.

After the assaulter was unconscious, her savior didn't say a word; he looked at the girl up and down, presumably checking her for injuries, and passed her a card with a phone number before nodding to her and walking off.

It was the local s3xual assault line, which had been established only two years prior.

After she called the number, she was never able to find the card again.

She didn't even put two and two together until she visited the finished museum and saw Mondo's picture.

No one has ever seen him since.

10/10, badass.

Sayaka Maizono is in one of the boy's bathrooms in the dorms.

Visitors report feeling unnerved or even scared when they enter the bathroom.

She will not interact with you.

She doesn't like playing any of the games. Do not turn on the spirit box in her bathroom, the shower glass will crack.

One investigator decided to spend the night in the bedroom and turned on the shower in the morning.

When they got out, there was a message written in the fog on the mirror.

"LEON."

1/10, no fucking thank you.

Aoi Asahina hangs around the pool room.

She's reportedly like Hiro.

She's been seen walking the halls everywhere.

Children love visiting the pool room. They tend to feel excited and safe.

At night you can hear the pool splashing when no one is inside.

She has one recorded incident.

A child brought a small bag of donut holes to snack on.

Said child began to complain that "the air" kept pulling the donut holes out of his hands.

So they ran an experiment.

They dropped one on purpose and watched it roll away towards the pool room. After that, they didn't feel anymore pulls.

Now it's a tradition to leave a donut for her on Obon by the pool room or her dorm room.

Staff report donuts pulling themselves apart to share. If staff take a half that is offered, the treats are always gone by the next morning.

9/10, a whole mood.

Chihiro Fujisaki is relatively quiet.

They can be found in the boy's locker rooms by the pool.

People will smell a slight perfume over the chlorine.

Muscular men in particular will feel an odd sense of guilt when entering.

There was a guest, who was a muscular man, who took out their phone to record the room and listened back to it to find bits and pieces of the audio were gone.

They took it to a friend who deciphered it into a message in Morse code.

"I forgive you."

9/10, holy ow.

Celestia Ludenburg is only active in the kitchen.

Investigators have put on a full pot of tea water with no heat on the stove.

If they leave and come back, they'll find the pot whistling with the heat still off. The water is always the perfect temperature.

She is never active at night.

She'll only use the spirit box on Obon, but you have to make her a cup of milk tea first.

She's very picky about it.

There was one who got it right on the first try.

"Well finally," the box picked up. "Have some."

She will share details only she would know.

"I don't want to be rude, but do you have any regrets?"

A moment of silence. The cup on the table left for her shakes for just a moment.

"I have too many."

6/10, talkative but be careful.

Kyoko Kirigiri has never talked, but you'll hear her.

Staff will hear her heels clicking in the halls at night.

She likes writing in people's notebooks.

Random strangers will enter with an empty pocketbook and leave with a full one.

She loves to write.

She tells her side of the story.

If the mirrors ever fog up, she's there scratching out letters and numbers.

She also turns on the coffee pot in the kitchen.

Intuitive teenagers tend to know when she's there because they feel safer in rooms that people normally aren't comfortable in.

She writes clues to all the murders that she was never able to solve.

She's not done yet. She's made it very clear that she is not at peace.

9/10, talkative and informative.

Sakura Ogami is said to be hanging around in the recreational room where she committed suicide.

Children feel safe in there, but they never play with the old equipment.

There is an unspoken rule among them that they all know and have never discussed as soon as they walk in.

Some thrill-seekers sit in her chair.

They report feeling their head throbbing and intense nausea, some even passing out from the pain.

They also report intense guilt.

One child sat in the seat without thinking about it and they reported being fine but feeling a little sad.

She plays the flashlight game with investigators, but only if they're nice.

One turned on a spirit box and gave her a cup of tea on Obon.

"Thank you."

8/10, don't sit in her fucking chair you dumbass.

Mukuro Ikusaba is heard rarely.

Like Mondo, she has one reported calling.

In the gym, late at night, you can hear a quiet sobbing.

Children will hear a crying girl in their head:

"I didn't want this."

3/10, how is this even more ow.

Junko Enoshima is heard in the execution room.

Staff used to think there were multiple ghosts in there, but it turns out it's just her.

She laughs, cries, and shrieks.

The story is that she killed herself with her own executions after succeeding in the killing game.

At night investigators play the flashlight game with her.

Every visitor is always unnerved by her.

There is an unspoken bitterness towards her.

She doesn't deserve her success.

0/10, scary bitch.

Makoto Naegi is seen everywhere.

The Ultimate Lucky Student loves telling his story.

He's seen in windows and mirrors with his hoodie and a warm smile.

He's always kind and welcoming.

People leave him popular snacks at his dorm room on Obon.

He never speaks, he just likes watching everyone learn about them.

If children ever get lost he leads them back to their parents.

They'll always tell their family about the "nice boy with brown hair" who takes their hand gently and leads them to safety.

He feels a duty to protect the staff. They never feel alone at night. He's always there to keep them safe.

The descendant of Komaru Naegi, who happened to be a paranormal investigator, once spent the night in his old dorm room.

She reported hearing quiet crying and sniffling that morning before she opened her eyes and was flooded with a sense of relief.

Oh thank god, she was okay.

10/10, heart of gold.

Byakuya Togami is seen in one room and one room only.

He is the only one that people regularly see in the flesh as a full figure.

He's sitting in the library, reading a murder mystery novel.

He has never acknowledged any of the guests, except for one.

A small child, a descendant of Togami's old butler, gently knocked on the table to get his attention and waved politely. They thought he was a staff member.

He looked up at them, gave a little wave back, and went back to his book.

When they turned away and looked back, he was gone.

Staff will see him walking back to his room when the museum is closing up.

He's snobby, sure, but he has his manners. He won't purposefully get in the way of the staff.

9/10, super chill.

???

There is an unknown ghost that has one known/recorded interaction.

One night a paranormal investigator spent the night exploring the building.

They walked in the library to see Togami with a book and a lamp on that was previously off.

They nodded at him politely and went to the bookshelves to "find a book". They turned on a spirit box and stayed quiet.

The library door opened and closed.

They hear a passing conversation.

"Hello love."

A kiss, presumably on the knuckles.

"How was today?"

"Tiring", says a voice. "Lot of cleaning. Did you get any visitors?"

A chuckle. "Too many. I think they can see me."

"Probably."

A pause.

"Togami?"

"Hm?"

"Do you think they'll ever figure out what really happened here?"

Hesitance. "For their sake, I hope not."

============================================

Feedback would be lovely. Thank you for your time!

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scary-lasagna · 4 years ago

Note

Can we get some HCs about Jeff, Sally and Toby throwing a fit and threatening to run away?

brWell, Toby and Jeff are both grown men and can make their own life decisions. Slender will allow them to run out the door as they please. If they’re gone for more than a few days, Slender will reach out and check up on them to make sure they’re not dead in an alley somewhere, and might try to convince them to return and stop being petty.

Telegrams and Fruit Juicies

“Well don’t let me stop you, just make sure to pack your toothbrush.” Slender dismissed, and returned to looking at his papers.

Sally furrowed her eyebrows and balled her fists into her beloved teddy bear, “You’re not even gonna try to talk me out of it?!” Her brown, permanently messy locks faltered over her face. “I’m running away!” She paused and was met with the quiet scribbles of Slender’s fountain pen. Sally huffed and stomped toward the seemingly giant doors. “For good!!” She added, and turned back towards the desk.

Slender sighed and looked up, “Will you at least promise to send a postcard to wherever you may go?”

Sally hesitated, blinking a few times before answering. “W-Well yes! But it won’t be a good one!” Sally shouldered the door open and kicked it shut with her $32.99 glittered coated Mary Janes. Even with the door shut, Slender could hear her shouting down the hall.

“It’ll be a stinky one that’s soggy and wet! And stinks like GARBAGE! And it doesn’t have a good picture oN IT!!!”

“She’ll be back tonight after sleeping in the gazebo,” Slender reassured himself, and placed a period at the end of the parchment before neatly shuffling his papers..

____

“Come in, Tobias.” Slender hummed, placing a textbook on the top shelf next to the mantel clock. 7:30, it would be dark soon. The tall man had shut himself in his office, once again shutting himself off from everyone else.

“I got a telegram- fUcking BALd-for you, sir.” Toby mentally cringed at his own tic, and sheepishly handed over the crinkled envelope with a scarred hand.

The bald man sighed and ignored the brunette’s tic for the time being, “I thought telegrams went out of style in the 1970s.”

“Well, Sally in-insisted to use a solid form of comm-communication.” Toby nosily peered over Slender’s elbow as he opened the note. Tim translated the morse from whoever helped Sally over the phone.

“Dear Slendy er,

I’m STILL running away. I hope you like the picture.

Also Ben and I would like fruit juicies please.

In the empty space of notebook paper, there is a drawing of a pink, black, and green collection of stick figures in a gazebo, supposedly resembling Sally, Jeff and Ben. Sally is holding a rectangle with the words ‘Morse Code’ written inside it.

Love ( <3 ) , Sally & BEN.”

Slender sighed and placed the note gently on top of his paperwork, “I suppose I must deliver some fruit juicies, then.”

On top of carrying a packet of juice boxes, Slender also sliced some fruit and carried it to the runaways in a Tupperware container. Toby followed behind, waving to Masky who was peering out the window towards the backyard gazebo. It was almost like he was pretending to care what they were doing.

“Your juicies and some cut fruit, Ms. Sally Maryam.” The tall man hunched over and placed the box of juice and cut fruit on the plaid blanket.

“Do you think you can spare me some kindness in your heart to forgive me and come inside?”

“You’ll have to discuss with the council collectively~.” Sally chimed and stabbed the straw into the side of the juice, casually enjoying it in her different way of consumption.

Ben and Jeff whispered among themselves, “Dude we could totally bribe him and make him fix that bomb french toast or some shit.” Ben could’ve mentioned worse, but he was wise enough to know Slender was mere feet away and could definitely hear their schemes.

“No, no, we should make him agree not to room check this week, I still haven’t figured how to get the cheese off the ceiling.”

“Ahem!” Sally stood, clutching her juice box and shoving a piece of pineapple in her mouth, “I’m parth of the couthcil!”

“Alright, alright, fine.” The boys glanced between each other and Sally before settling on an agreement. “We’ll all go inside, BUT, only if you let Sally stay up late to watch Princess and the Frog with us.”

The tall man sighed, knowing he’s going to be the one to drag Sally out of bed to be dropped off at Mother’s since Splendor is out on business, “Yes, fine. But not too late, child. You wouldn’t want Splendor to think I’m spoiling you.”

Sally giggled, and forgot to ask before she climbed on the seven-foot eldritch beings spine to be carried inside. “Onwards then! Before Timmy steals the TV to watch those weird and overrated Netflix shows.” Slender glanced back at the boys, somewhat proud that they sacrificed their wants over Sally’s desire to spend time with them.

That night, everyone gathered in the rec room, eating Slender’s signature french toast and spending time amongst each other. Now all that was on Slender’s mind was to get the cheese off of Jeff’s ceiling.

#Sally #Jeff #ben #toby #tim #masky #slender #short story #scenario #creepypasta #creepypasta imagines #creepypasta headcanon #aaaaa not too happy with this #it feels awful wordy

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stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale · 4 years ago

Text

Top 5 Reasons Doug’s Pretty Great

It’s hard to believe that it’s been nine years since the first episode of S1 was released. I can still remember be a wee little lass first discovering it on youtube and becoming obsessed. At the time, I had no where to play it myself, so I watched as many playthroughs as I could until my family got an xbox.

While the first episode in this series has a lot of memorable moments, the one that always stands out in people’s memories is the moment where you’re trying to escape the drugstore as walkers pound away at the door and windows, and you realize that both Carley and Doug need your help or they’re going to die.

But... you can only save one, and whoever you don’t help, they end up being eaten alive by walkers and you get to feel bad about it for the rest of the episode.

I bring this up because it’s interesting to look back nine years ago and see that... well, not a lot of people saved Doug. Which is crazy, because now the stats are pretty 50/50 with Doug even having a bit of an edge over Carley. That definitely wasn’t the case back then because the stats were more along the line of 20/80.

Why? Well, the writer’s didn’t exactly do the best job of showing how great Doug is in ep1, especially compared to Carley who has more interactions with Lee and more screen time.... which is even funnier because they did actually think they did a good job and were surprised by the results after the episode’s release.

Even back then they had a habit of making imbalanced routes then denying the imbalance... something they never grew out of.

I guess they were a little butthurt about it since Doug is a favorite among the team given that he’s actually based on a real person, Doug Tabacco, an IT guy they worked with. This got to the point where Telltale never missed an opportunity to tell everyone to #SaveDoug over Carley.

I also love that they use the Stranger to guilt trip everyone who saved Carley by having him be like, “Doug was in a worse position! >:( You only saved Carley because she was a pretty girl!!” just.... real subtle, guys haha

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that more often than not, I choose to save Carley over Doug for many reasons, but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate Doug and enjoy having him around in the off chance I do save him. So I thought it’d be fun to talk about Doug as a character and why he was pretty great as a little tribute, y’know?

5. Doug’s a pretty funny dude

Now, I wouldn’t exactly call twdg a comedy, y’know? It gets dark, then manages to get even darker at times, but if the game was nothing but doom and gloom, it’d get boring and become unenjoyable.

While other characters do get a laugh out of me from time to time, I enjoy the humor that Doug brings to the group, even if it’s not intentional and just the way he is.

Even from the beginning, Doug had me chuckling with the fact that this nerdy dude didn’t want to bring profanity to Lee’s ears when talking about Larry, so he’s just like “ He's kind of a dick... pardon my french,” like Doug.... it’s okay, you can call him an asshole, no one will judge hahaha.

Then there’s the biscuit scene that I think we all know and love. Helps break the tension of meeting these weirdo’s who own a dairy and are totally not suspicious or anything.

But it’s not even just that Doug is funny, he’s also a character that gets you to crack a smile when he’s talking about something he’s passionate about, or when he’s proud of the alarm he rigged up, or when he’s being adorably awkward.

One of my favorites is in ep3 when Lee goes to ask Doug if he has any chalk, and he goes into this spiel about charcoal-- “You know, a piece of charcoal is a suitable alternative, depending on your marking surface. Since we're on the subject, did you know that while chalk is traditionally known to be calcium carbonate, what's often used in classrooms is actually made of gypsum, thanks to favorable domestic mining conditions?”

And Lee’s response is just-- “Doug, I did not know that.”

“Happy to be of service.”

It’s just really funny... and it makes you feel better after all the implications about Doug’s mental health in the episode... like you gave him a moment to flex his knowledge and get excited about it.

But yeah, what can I say? Doug makes me laugh and he brings a bit of light to the groups constant shitshow.

4. Doug saved the group’s ass at the St John farm

And he did so with a laser pointer.

I always hate it when Doug/Carley leave the group at the St Johns and remain absent for most of the episode, though I chalk that up to the writers trying to make the different routes easier on themselves, y’know?

But, at least they come back to save the day.

In Doug’s case, he’s not comfortable with guns like Carley is, so he’s gotta get creative when it comes to getting Lee’s attention and stopping Andy from hurting Duck and Lee.

That’s where his fancy little laser pointer comes in.

We first see him with it during the walk to the farm, but then see it in action after Lee escapes the barn and is nearly blinded by the light. Doug claims he was doing morse code before Lee tells him and Ben that these assholes cut off Mark’s legs and tried to feed them to the group.

Now, here’s the thing... If Doug and Ben had done what they were told and stayed at the motor inn over night, things probably wouldn’t have turned out so good for the group. Doug is the one who shines the laser pointer in Andy’s eyes when he’s got ahold of Duck, giving Lee the advantage of attack. Without that, if Lee tried anything, he would’ve ended up like dingdong Kenny with a bullet in his side.

Also there’s just a lot of bravery from Doug, y’know? Like as soon as he finds Lee and knows the situation, the first thing he asks is what can they do to help, and he sticks around to do what he can.... even if it is just to point a laser in someone’s eye.

No one gives Doug enough credit for savin’ the day, y’know? And if you have any doubt, even Lee says, “I never thought a laser pointer would be the thing that saved our lives.”

3. Doug’s friendship with Lee

Speaking of Lee, his friendship with Doug is underrated. The two have chemistry and work off each other well in the scene’s they’re in. While it’s not as strong as Carley’s in ep1, saving Doug and having around in ep2 & ep3 lets you see it at it’s best, y’know?

After Lee saves his life at the drugstore, Doug is shown to mourn Carley and asks Lee why he would pick him, lamenting that he wished he had picked her over him and you can tell that Doug feels that he owes Lee a lot for saving him. Hell, he even says as much when Lee tries to give him food in ep2-- “Why don't you keep my share today. I know I said it didn't matter why you saved me and not Carley, but... I owe you a lot more than half a day's rations."

Also, I love this one line from Kenny when you’re on bad terms with him and they’re talking about going separate ways where he’s basically like “We all know Doug’s gonna stay with you because you saved him that ONE time >:(” and on top of it being such a bitchy Kenny line, it also shows that every can see that Doug is a loyal friend to Lee and would want to stick with him where ever he decides to go.

One thing that I think people tend to overlook, though, is how concerned Lee is with Doug’s mental health in ep3. There are implications that Doug might be suffering with depression due to the situation of the walkers, bandits harrassing and threatening them, and believing that he isn’t useful to the group, stating that he feel pretty worthless. Lee asks Clementine if he seems sad, and hell, he even talks to Lilly about it.

In fact, speaking of Clementine, Doug is real sweet with her, too. Of course, he gives her those batteries for her walkie, but he also asks about how she’s doing as they’re leaving the dairy. Hell, 8 years later, Clementine still remembers him by name and how sweet he was when fucking dingdong Lilly can’t remember his damn name. That says a lot.

Y’all know how important Clementine is to Lee, so he wouldn’t have grown as close to Doug if he wasn’t a genuinely good person who treated Clementine with kindess.

I dunno, there’s a lot of trust and care between the two and it’s a relationship that I truly love. I just wish we could’ve seen a bit more of it but y’know...#2 happened.

2. Doug saved Ben’s life

Yeah, I think we all saw this coming...

Look, doesn’t matter what you think about Ben, okay? Not what we’re talkin’ about. We’re talkin’ about Doug saving Ben’s life, which unfortunately meant ending his own.

Still haven’t forgiven Lilly for this one. Though I’ve always found the difference between Doug and Carley’s death’s interesting. With Carley, Lilly intentionally kills her after Carley tells her off. But with Doug, Lilly was aiming for Ben and even when Doug pulled him out of the way, she still fired the gun... even though she didn’t have a clear shot and ended up hitting Doug.

Then she tries to play it off like it was an accident which, yeah I guess it was but that doesn’t change that you were intending to murder this 6ft tall child.

It’s just... I dunno, man, it’s sad. I always feel more sorrow for Doug’s death, but more anger for Carley’s? Even though both make me angry, it’s just different characters, different things that led to their deaths, different feelings. This is the first real “Fuck you, Lilly” moment for me and she can spend the next 8 years wandering around for all I can.

Doug didn’t deserve this shit.

But, the reason I put this at #2 because it really says a lot about Doug as a character. The second he saw Lilly aim that gun, he yanked Ben out of the way. He could’ve gone into shock, he could’ve just yelled “no!”, or he could’ve gone at Lilly instead.... but no, his first instinct was to grab Ben and move himself in front and it really fucking sucks that that’s what killed him.

And y’know this isn’t the first time Doug has put himself in danger to save someone. I already talked about him saving everyone at the dairy, but can we not forget how he and Carley met? She was gonna get eaten by walkers then our big hero Doug came in and saved her?? Didn’t know her or anything, just saw her and her crew getting attacked and did what he could to save any survivors??

Like... no one talks about that because it’s so played off and never brought up again and I need everyone to remember this, okay?

Doug selflessly putting himself in danger to help those around him? Fantastic. Beautiful. Love that.

1. Look, Doug himself is just #1. His personality, intelligence, everything.

Wow, Doug’s personality being the #1 reason he’s so great? Who woulda thought?

Well, ME woulda thought because obviously.

Listen... in case you haven’t gather this from the previous four entries, Doug is an intelligent, awkward, caring, selfless, funny, and brave man, okay? He’s likable, he tries his damnedest to pull his weight for the group, he shows actual loyalty and kindness unlike some people, and when he tends to avoid the constant Lilly and Kenny conflicts, he does his best to step in when things take a serious turn, hence the Ben situation.

No to mention the dude is smart.

I mean, he really took a random remote and was like, “Oh it’s universal, let me just program it to work on ALL the random TV’s across the street as a way to distract these walkers!” like dude.... you just know how to do that, huh?

Or his fun little bell trap that alerts the groups of strangers and walkers? Oh, and remember when he fixed the RV by hitting it with a fucking hammer and was like “It works now, drive!”

And have I mentioned that he bested Andy St John with a goddamn laser pointer??

Oh, also wanna add that I really like his voice acting, as well. He’s voiced by Sam Joan, who does a good job at selling Doug’s soft-spoken but intelligent nature, and knows how to pull off “dorky” when needed... and I mean that in a good way, when he’s talking about charcoal Doug is being a dork and I love him.

I mean... what else is there to say?

All that’s left to do is pull a Telltale and--

#SaveDoug

---

Honorable Mentions

-Doug is a pie guy, going off of that time he named all the different kinds of pie he could thing of and I feel that. -He’s a very fashionable person. I want that weird polar bear deer thing shirt he wears in ep1. -also, you can’t go wrong with socks and sandals, my dude. -He had a crush on Carley and honestly, I feel that, too.

---

There it is, there’s my whole thing about Doug. What are your thoughts? When it comes to that choice in ep1 of s1, do you save Doug or do you save Carley? Do you agree or disagree with any of my choices for this list? Or have anything to add? I’m always down to chat.

Have any suggestions for future T5F’s? Feel free to send ‘em in! :D

—

Next week’s T5F

#twdg t5f #twdg doug #twdg lee #twdg clementine #twdg kenny #twdg lilly #twdg carley #twdg ben #twdg larry #twdg mark #twdg andy #twdg #oh boy next week is gonna be a doozy #talking about characters everyone hates?#lovely

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crystalninjaphoenix · 4 years ago

Text

Together

A Stitched Story (END)

JSE Fanfic

Man...this is it. The last one. That’s...wow. This was an AU three years in the writing, and with this, it’s over. I just...wow. I’m gonna need to just think about that for a second. Maybe wait a bit before starting something new. Anyway, this is basically wrapping everything up, taking care of all the final plot points and loose ends. There are emotional moments, including one big one, but...wow. I just have to keep saying that over and over again, it’s all I feel. The boys are settling down. Finally. Man, they’ve earned it.

Tagging @septic-dr-schneep for inspiring this AU with this post.

Taglist (finally): @bupine @violet--majesty @ari-trash

It was surprisingly sunny, for an autumn day. Busy, too. Cars rushed through the streets, and pedestrians populated the pavement. Jameson shielded his eyes from the sun’s glare as he peered around a street corner and saw their destination. We’re almost there. One more block, he said, tapping the message out in Morse code on a nearby lamppost.

“Good, I hope we are not late,” Schneep replied. “What time is it?”

JJ checked the clock on his phone. 1:25. Do you think it’s already over?

“Possibly. In any case, it would be better to be early.” Schneep turned the corner, speeding up, running his cane over the sidewalk to check for cracks. JJ hurried to catch up. “Chase would be upset if we are not there.”

He’ll be fine, JJ said reassuringly, now tapping the message on Schneep’s arm. But I suppose we can make haste.

The two of them soon arrived at their destination, turning into the hospital parking lot and walking towards the building’s front entrance. “Oh! I think he is here, yes?” Schneep said.

Yes, I can see him. JJ waved. Chase was standing outside the glass doors, bouncing on his feet and scanning the area. He had his usual bandanna and cap, but was wearing a new sweater, one that the others had given him as a group birthday present to make up for missing it a few months ago, and an old backpack Stacy had lent him. Once he saw JJ waving he smiled, and waved back.

“Ha! Knew it. I am getting good at this,” Schneep said proudly. “If only sensing souls could help with telling apart the toothpaste and burn cream.”

JJ laughed, muffled as usual, and the two of them hurried across the parking lot. Chase ran up to meet them at the edge of the sidewalk. “Hey guys!” he said. “Good to see you.”

“Good to see you too,” Schneep said lightheartedly. “Well, well? Did everything go fine?”

“Oh, uh, mostly.” Chase rolled up the sleeves of his sweater. He wasn’t wearing his wristbands. Instead, there were white bandages. “She managed to get the ones on my wrists off, but said she didn’t want to risk messing with the one on my neck. It’s close to an artery or something? I don’t know, it was some complicated medical stuff.”

“Ah. That is too bad,” Schneep said sadly. Jameson shook his head sympathetically. “But it is glad to hear some of the stitches are gone. I told you that Darla was good. Trustworthy, too. She will not tell anyone.”

“If you say so, doc.” Pulling his sleeves down, Chase turned to JJ. “Are you sure you don’t want to try? I mean, it’s a lot more inconvenient for you than it is for me.”

JJ hesitated, then nodded. I am fine, he signed. I’ve gotten used to it, and yes, there are many downsides, but considering what happened last week, I think it is good enough.

“Man. If you’re really sure,” Chase said reluctantly. “They’re already a bit looser, right? Maybe whatever magic’s making them hard to cut through will fade over time.”

“Wait, Jameson, did you bring up last week?” Schneep whacked JJ’s legs with his cane. “I said that you should not try yourself! Things could go wrong!” He paused. “But everything is fine, right?”

Yes, it was a shallow cut, JJ said. Your scissors are pretty sharp.

“I know. They are not normal, and I am starting to think they were always supposed to be weapons.” Schneep sighed. “Well, I am putting them away soon.”

JJ and Chase exchanged a significant look. “You’re gonna put them away?” Chase repeated.

Schneep nodded. “If I need them again, it won’t be hard to pull them out.”

In the month since they’d finally gotten rid of the strings, Schneep had kept carrying the scissors around. Just in case, he’d said. Just in case those glowing green strands of black magic managed to worm their way back into the world. But the past month had been quiet. Busy in other ways, but nothing had appeared to attack any of them. So maybe ‘just in case’ wasn’t going to come. Maybe it would be fine to leave them at home. Or, well, in whatever pocket dimension they came from.

“If you’re sure, doc,” Chase said. “A-anyway, it’s a bit past 1:30. We should hurry, or we’ll be late to meet up with the others. You guys walked here? C’mon, there’s a bus stop across the street.”

We’d definitely be on time if you drove us, JJ said teasingly.

“Hey, I can’t be blamed for not having a car.”

Ask Stacy.

“Nah, it’s fine. I should practice a bit before I do any serious driving, anyway. It’s been a while.”

“You took the bus here?” Schneep asked, puzzled. “But what about people sitting next to you?”

“It’s okay, I just put the backpack next to me. And it’s alright if it’s you guys.” Chase stepped off the sidewalk curb and onto the parking lot asphalt. “Now let’s go.”

The bus ride was short, and soon the three of them were getting off at a stop outside a small restaurant—or, more of a cafe, really. Despite being near lunchtime, the place was almost empty when they walked in. Soft piano music was playing over a speaker system, and a chalk signboard near the front entrance read “Please Seat Yourselves” with a hand-drawn smiley face. Chase read the sign out loud, and the three of them spotted the rest of the group, sitting at a table in the corner of the dining area, right by a window.

Jack had looked up at the sound of the bell chiming when the door opened. “Hey, they’re here,” he said to the other two sitting at the table.

“Huh? Oh, good.” Jackie was turning the menu over and over, listening to the sound of the laminated paper against the air. Marvin didn’t say anything. His head was leaning against the glass of the window, eyes closed, a pair of earbuds blocking out most sound. But he did make a small sound of acknowledgement.

“Hey guys.” Chase arrived first, taking the chair across from Marvin, next to the wall. Schneep and JJ took the next two. “Did you already order?”

“No, I told the waiter that we were waiting for people,” Jack explained. “But, more importantly, how’d it go? Are they gone?”

“Wrists are.” Chase once again pulled back his sleeves. For a moment, Jackie glanced at the bandages on his wrists, then bit his lip and looked away. “Apparently the neck stitches are too close to an artery or something. She didn’t want to mess with it.”

“Shit. Well, two out of three’s not bad,” Jack said.

“Jack, my friend, how are the repairs going?” Schneep asked.

“Pretty good, I think. The walls just got repainted, and the living room has new chairs and stuff. Still a long way to go.” Jack laughed. “Honestly I’m just glad that the water and Internet didn’t go out.”

Are the police still talking to you? JJ asked.

“No, not really. You guys?”

The other three all shook their heads. Dealing with the police had been...complicated. They had to, of course. They couldn’t just go back to their old lives without people asking “what the hell happened to you?!”JJ had it the easiest, in a way. Nobody had reported him missing, which was a bit sad when he thought about it, and all the regular patrons of his shop had assumed it closed down. Jack and Chase had more difficulty, since they were pretty public figures. The moment Jack had uploaded a video explaining he was back, the Internet had gone up in flames wondering where he’d been.

In the end, they all decided on the same story. It was pretty lame, as Chase often said, but it worked. They all just lied and said they didn’t remember anything. Weird stitches on Chase’s wrists and neck? Nope. Scars all over Jack’s body? Don’t know what happened there. Schneep losing an entire sense and gaining weird scars that looked like tears dripping from his eyes? No idea, officer. The police had prodded them, but eventually given up, essentially leaving the case unsolved and concluding it was a strange psychological phenomenon. The case would go down in history, but nobody would know the truth.

Of course, when it came to Marvin and Jackie coming back to life, things were going to be a bit difficult. Fortunately, they had magic on their side.

“Have any of you heard from Yvonne?” Jack asked, sliding each of them a menu.

“Dude, why would she talk to me? I’m the least magical person here,” Chase said.

Not since she offered to help, JJ added.

Schneep merely shook his head and picked up the menu. “Oh! They actually have—”

“Yeah, I explained the situation when the waiter came over and he gave me a Braille copy,” Jack explained. “Anyway, she called me the other day. Says that the records should be all fixed now.”

“I still say that can’t be legal,” Chase muttered.

“It’s not.” Everyone jumped, a bit surprised to hear Marvin talk. He didn’t move from his position against the window or open his eyes, but he did continue. “She’s not really into stuff being legal, you know. Normal laws or magic laws. Always thought they got in the way, that...that...her. That...name.”

“Yvonne.” Jackie gently bumped Marvin’s shoulder with his own.

“Right.”

Jack gave the others a meaningful look. Memory issues. One of the lingering side effects Marvin and Jackie were dealing with. They could forget something in seconds. Jackie had taken to writing things down, if not with an actual pen and paper, then by finger-spelling it on his hand over and over. Marvin just sort of let it happen, only writing down the really important stuff. “Anyway, it’s all fixed,” Jack continued, looking back over at the other two. “You guys can...y’know, start doing stuff again. When you want. Move out, if you feel like it.”

“Thanks,” Jackie said. He sounded oddly reluctant. Marvin didn’t even bother to answer.

Chase cleared his throat. “Speaking of moving out, Schneep, did you get your apartment back yet?”

Schneep scowled. “I am so close. The stupid building owner is still insisting on keeping it all preserved, and I say, ‘for what?!’ You are clearly not going to sell it, if everything is still how it is when I was living there. So just let me live in! The police do not care anymore, anyway, so there is no crime scene!”

He probably liked the idea of having a flat where someone who disappeared lived, JJ suggested. It lends a bit of mystery and gives the building a reputation. People might want to move in because of that.

“Well he will still have it! I will just be actually there!” Schneep folded his arms and leaned back in the chair. “Ugh. Jamie, I like you, but your guest room is tiny.”

JJ gave a huff of a laugh. Sorry, Hen. I’d never really needed one before so I didn’t hear any complaints.

“Oh, Chase, what about you? How’s the house search coming?” Jack asked.

“Fine.” Chase shrugged. “I got a few to look at. Y’know Stacy doesn’t seem to mind me staying over. I was surprised, given how she, um...wanted to move out so much a few years ago.”

“Well, things change,” Jack said cheerfully.

“Yeah. I guess that’s an upside of this, we’re, like...friends.” Chase said the word in a tone of bewildered, but welcomed, happiness. The way someone would react to hearing good news that they’d thought was no longer an option. “Again, I mean. A-and I don’t think it’s gonna go further, but...still.”

“That’s great, my friend.” Schneep patted the back of Chase’s hand.

“Yeah, that’s great!” Jackie repeated, suddenly enthusiastic. “So, like, we should order food, right?”

“Oh right.” Jack nodded. “Hang on.” He stood up, looking towards the back of the restaurant where the door to the kitchen was. A waiter was walking out at that moment, and caught sight of the group, quickly indicating he’d be right there. “Oh, nice. I was confused, really, if like this was the type of place where people would come over or if we had to go up there.” Jack sat back down and picked up the menu. “We should go all out. This is a celebration.”

I think I can get a drink, JJ signed slowly.

“Really?” Jack asked, surprised.

Yes, I think the stitches have loosened up enough for that, JJ said more confidently. A small straw or a bit of liquid. Just so long as nobody’s looking when I take off my mask.

“Awesome, man,” Chase said cheerfully. “Honestly, this place looked good on the website. We should get a lot.”

“Celebration,” Schneep repeated, then nodded. “Yes. Yes, that sounds wonderful. Celebration lunch.”

And for most of them, it was just that, wonderful. They were meeting up again, the last of their troubles were ending. Things were looking up.

But a corner of the table was a bit gloomier. Jackie and Marvin were pretty quiet all throughout the lunch. Neither of them ate that much. Marvin kept his eyes closed or looking down at his plate, and Jackie paid more attention to the salt and pepper shakers than anything else. Once the lunch was over and after everyone said their goodbyes, they followed Jack back to his apartment, where they were staying, and drifted off to separate activities. A book for Marvin, an old laptop for Jackie.

They never once said anything to each other.

— — — — — — —

Ignisa: a spell to conjure fire.

Marvin read the simple command word over and over, repeating it mentally. Ignisa. Ignisa. It was one of the simplest spells out there, and one of the first ones he learned. He could visualize the page of the book he read it in. He remembered it. Really, he did. Most of the time. For the occasions that he didn’t he’d written down the command and what it did on a spare bit of paper.

“Ignisa,” he whispered, staring down at his hands, cupped as if to hold water. He sat in the center of the floor in the spare bedroom, as far away from furniture as possible. “Ignisa. Ig-NI-sa. IG-ni-sa. Ig-ni-SA.” Yet, no matter how many times he repeated it, no matter how he pronounced it or how loud he spoke it, no matter how much he concentrated on the feeling of fire bursting forth in his hands...there wasn’t even a spark.

“Fuck.” Marvin gave up, burying his face in his hands. He squeezed his eyes to contain tears of frustration, but he still let one or two sobs slip out. Why couldn’t he do anything? No fire, no lights, no telekinesis. All the magic he remembered was useless. The only spell that sort of worked was teleportation, in fact he actually found it easier now than it used to be, but he couldn’t quite control it. If he was lucky, he’d end up close to where he wanted to be, and if he was unlucky, he teleported to the middle of the sky twenty miles away. That...hadn’t been a fun evening.

There were only a few spells that worked perfectly for him. Taking a few deep breaths, Marvin lifted his head up, and pressed his hands close together, palm to palm. Slowly, he pulled them away from each other. In the space between them were blue glowing threads of magic, which got longer the farther apart his hands got. If he wanted, he could use these strings like a weapon, grabbing things, pinning them to the wall, and maybe with practice he could use them to swing, like some sort of discount magical Spider-Man. But he didn’t want to. He didn’t want anything to do with these. Scowling, Marvin brushed his hands together, and the strings disappeared.

Someone knocked on the door, and Marvin yelped in surprise. He quickly got to his feet. “Wh-who is it?”

“It’s Jack,” a voice said. “Can I come in?”

“Um...sure.”

Jack opened the door, poking his head in through the gap. “Hey Jackie’s making noodles for dinner. Do you want any?”

Did he? Marvin wasn’t really hungry. He didn’t really feel hungry that often anymore. Or maybe he did, and just couldn’t recognize the feeling. Jackie was the same way, but that didn’t stop him from trying to eat. After a bit, Marvin decided it would probably be better safe than sorry. “...Sure.”

“Okay, I’ll tell him.” Jack hesitated. “Do you...want anything? Need anything?”

Marvin hesitated. He glanced over at Jack before looking away. Wait, why was one of Jack’s eyes a slightly different shade of blue? When had that—oh. Right. “No.”

“Alright...if you’re sure,” Jack said reluctantly. “Come out whenever you’re ready.” And with that, he left.

Just in time, too. Marvin backed up until his legs hit the edge of the bed. Immediately, he fell back onto the mattress, pressing his hands against his eyes. “Stop thinking about it,” he said to himself. “Stop thinking about it, stop it, stop.” That only seemed to make it worse. Images flashed in his head, leftover memories that weren’t his, but also were, and were also Jackie’s and someone else’s. The others called him Anti. Anti’s memories. They would pop up whenever something triggered them, and that ‘something’ was usually one of the others. Right now, the memories were about Jack, about what happened to his eye. Marvin could hear himself—no, Anti—laughing.

Shaking, Marvin slowly stood up again, staggering across the room to the door. Why was it that sometimes, his balance just didn’t work? Why was he so clumsy now? He grabbed the doorknob but didn’t open it, just pressing his forehead into the wood. These were the consequences for his actions. The memories, the problems with his magic, the lack of balance. It was all his fault. If he hadn’t gotten into his head that trying the transference spell would be fine, that not telling Jackie wouldn’t cause any problems...It hadn’t even been about helping people, like how Jackie probably wanted to, he just wanted to see if he could do it, to see if he could increase his power. And he caused everything. So this was his punishment. Served him right.

— — — — — — —

“Marvin says he wants dinner,” Jack said, leaning into the kitchen/dining room.

“Okay,” Jackie said cheerfully, grabbing another bowl from the cabinet. It was easy, since that particular cabinet was missing its door. It would probably stay that way for a while, too, since with all the other repairs the apartment required it wasn’t a high enough priority. Jackie set the bowl on the counter next to two others, then looked over at the pot of water. It wasn’t steaming or boiling. Did he forget to turn the heat on? He tapped the edge of the burner under the pot.

“Jackie!” Jack gasped.

“Oh, it’s fine, it’s not on,” Jackie assured him. “I was just checking.”

“You mean you didn’t know if it was on?!”

“It probably wasn’t.” Jackie looked up to see the dial hadn’t been turned. Oh. He probably could have looked at the dial before touching the burner. Well, whatever. He reached over and turned the dial to the 7 mark.

“Please be careful,” Jack said, looking nervous. “You could get hurt.”

“I am being careful,” Jackie said. It didn’t really matter, anyway. He was having trouble feeling pain lately. Or...most things, actually. It was weird, he was a bit numb. Not by too much, but enough to be noticeable, to know that he hadn’t been like that before. Marvin was just the opposite, nowadays he was constantly being overwhelmed with the texture and feel of things. But he was always more sensitive to sensations than the rest of them.

“Well, be even more careful,” Jack insisted. He backed out of the kitchen. “I’m gonna, uh, hang out in the living room. Tell me if you need anything.”

“Okay,” Jackie nodded. “Don’t worry about me.”

“Alright.” Jack hesitated for a second before turning away and leaving.

Everything was fine. Jack really didn’t need to worry, Jackie had everything covered. Making food was easy, really. It was something that he did all the time. The process was automatic, especially for making pasta. Just wait for a bit, occasionally stirring, then drain the water. It was all good. This was a normal thing that normal people did. Things were normal.

Of course, Jackie knew that every single thing he’d just thought to himself was a lie. But it was easier to pretend. Sometimes he pretended so hard that it felt like he was watching a movie filmed in the first-person, instead of actually existing in this body.

Oh, it was happening now, actually. Jackie watched as his hand pulled open the cutlery drawer and took out a long spoon. Then the hand started stirring the pasta in the pot. It was starting to get hot now. There was steam. How hot was it? The other hand reached forward and—

“Shit!” Jackie snapped back to reality, pulling his hand away from the side of the metal pot. “Ah. Fuck.” He looked down. The skin of his fingers was a bit red and tender. He opened and closed his fist a few times to help the leftover burning feeling fade away.

“Is everything okay?” Jack was back, apparently having heard Jackie shout. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, just brushed against the side,” Jackie explained.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Of course.”

“Well...okay, then.” Jack reluctantly backed out of view.

Everything was fine. Oh look, the pasta was suddenly done. Time had just flown past. Jackie poured the pasta into the strainer and then scooped it into the bowls. Marvin showed up, and then Jack, and they all ate in silence, after which Jack excused himself to go back to his recording room to do some editing. The moment he’d replaced all the broken computer parts, he’d gone back to making videos, though not nearly as frequently as before. That was...nice. Nice that he could do that.

Jackie wondered what he was supposed to do now. Not just for the rest of the day, but...for the rest of ever. He wanted things to be fine, to be normal, and he was pretty good at pretending they were. But they. Just. Weren’t. He couldn’t find the energy to start looking for a job, or for a new apartment, or even for new clothes. But at the same time, he didn’t want to keep borrowing from Jack. He didn’t want to just stay in place, but he couldn’t move forward.

At one point, he’d thought about going back out onto the streets. He didn’t know what happened to his old super suit, but he could make a new one. Then that train of thought had immediately crashed to a halt with a flash of memory. Not his, but also his. Anti’s. A memory with so much pain in it, and feeling glad at that pain. Somehow triumphantly vindicated to see suffering. No. Someone like that couldn’t be a hero.

So things continued. The same things. Every day.

Everything was fine.

— — — — — — —

Time passed. Autumn progressed, and it became cooler as September blended into October. Jack kept fixing up the apartment, and it was beginning to look good as new. Schneep finally convinced the building owner to let him back into his place, and so he moved out of JJ’s building. Chase was still having trouble finding a house, but he was glad to spend more time with Lily and Moira, absolutely doting on the two of them. Business at JJ’s shop started to pick up again, though he had to get used to carrying around a notepad since most customers didn’t know sign language.

Jackie and Marvin stayed where they were.

One night, a storm rolled over the city. Rain pounded the ground, thunder rumbled in the distance, and nobody went out of their houses. That night, Marvin went into the apartment’s bathroom and pressed his face against the small window to watch the storm. There wasn’t much to see. The glass was cloudy for privacy. But there was water running down the other side, droplets racing each other to the bottom.

Then there was a flash, and a fork of lightning split the window in half. A second later came the thunder. Marvin heard someone gasp, and jumped, spinning around to see Jackie standing in the open bathroom doorway. “Oh. Sorry,” Jackie muttered. “I just saw the lights on in here and—nevermind.”

Marvin just looked at him for a bit, then turned back to the window. Jackie stood there for a moment, then started to turn away.

“Jackie?”

He stopped at the sound of Marvin’s quiet voice. “Yeah?”

“Are we...bad people?”

Jackie didn’t answer, and that was an answer on its own.

“Should we...be here?”

“What do you mean?” Jackie asked.

Marvin started pulling at his fingers. “Just...what if something...happens?”

Jackie paled. “I-it’ll be okay. It’s all okay.”

“Okay.”

Neither of them moved. Then, quietly, Jackie admitted something. “I don’t want to be here.”

“You don’t?” Marvin finally turned around.

“I don’t think I should,” Jackie whispered. “Just...everyone is nice to us. But we...hurt them. Or, kind of us. I mean, he was still us, right?”

Marvin nodded. “I remember doing it.”

“Me too.”

“He can’t come back, though. Right?”

“I mean...no,” Jackie said slowly. “But what if we...what if something happens?” He echoed Marvin’s own words back at him.

Marvin was silent for a moment. “I don’t want to be here, either.”

“Should we leave?”

“What would we do?”

“I don’t know.” Jackie glanced down the hall, towards Jack’s bedroom. “But they’re...good people. And we’re.... We don’t...” He trailed off.

Another crack of thunder.

“Should we leave a note?” Marvin asked.

“No. They can figure it out. Should we stay together?”

“Maybe at first.”

“Okay.”

A few minutes later, the power in the apartment building went out. Jack left his bedroom, holding a flashlight. “Hey guys? The storm knocked the lights out. You okay?”

No answer. Not surprising, Jackie and Marvin could be pretty quiet. So Jack went to look for them.

But...they weren’t there. Not in the spare bedroom, not in the bathroom, not in the kitchen, not in the living room. “Guys?” he called, voice rising in worry. “Guys?!”

Still no answer. Swearing under his breath, Jack went back to his bedroom and picked up his phone from where he’d left it. He opened up the group chat and sent a message.

Jackie and Marvin are gone. I think they’ve left.

— — — — — — —

It was still storming when they got off the bus to look around. With the rain pouring down, it was hard to make out details of anything. There were the vague, tall shapes of buildings, the long stretches of clear roads and sidewalks...but everything else was a bit cloudy. “We should’ve brought an umbrella,” Marvin said, trying to shield himself from the rain by covering his head with his arms. It didn’t work.

“I didn’t think he had one,” Jackie said, peering through the falling water. “Do you want my jacket?”

“No, I’m fine.” Marvin shivered.

“I...okay, if you’re sure you’re alright,” Jackie said reluctantly. “Here, there’s a street sign over on that corner.” He walked up to the sign, Marvin trailing after him. “Uh...Everwood Lane. I...I don’t remember where that is. Do you?”

“No,” Marvin admitted. They hadn’t really had much of a plan, had they? Just up and left, trusting they’d figure it out in the moment. Saw a bus stopping at a nearby station, and hopped aboard, pretending to swipe bus passes so the driver, who wasn’t really paying any attention, wouldn’t notice. Then they’d gotten off at random, once they realized they’d been sitting in the bus for a while and they had to be far away by then. Why had they thought any of that would be a good idea? Why had he just gone along with it?

“Well, uh. Let’s get inside.” Jackie pressed on, now walking up to the entrance of the nearest building. “Maybe we can ask someone in there, and it’ll be dry.” See? This would work out.

Luckily, that building turned out to be open, and they stepped into a front hall. It looked nice, but was completely empty. The only things of note were the pair of elevators, the door labelled ‘Stairwell,’ another unlabelled door, and a directory on a sign attached to the wall.

“No one’s here,” Marvin muttered.

“Someone has to be here, everything’s on.” Jackie scanned the directory. The building was nine floors tall, plus the ground floor, and every floor was listed as belonging to some business, each with operating hours attached. “Uh...what time is it?”

“...I don’t remember,” Marvin said. “And there’s no clock here. And we don’t have phones.”

“It’s fine, we’ll—we’ll just check around,” Jackie said optimistically. He walked over to the unmarked door and grabbed the handle, starting to push it open. Only to stop short when the door wouldn’t budge. Locked. Okay. That was fine. There were more options. Jackie turned around. “C’mon, we’ll take the lifts.”

“Mm-hmm.” Marvin nodded, following him to the elevators.

The elevator arrived, doors sliding open, and the two of them stepped in. “Right, we’ll just start with the first floor,” Jackie said, pressing the button. He waited for a few seconds, but the elevator wasn’t moving. The button hadn’t lit up. “Um...” He pressed it again. Then a couple more times. Then he tried the other buttons, pushing them hard.

“There’s a card reader attached,” Marvin pointed out, nodding towards a black box mounted on the elevator’s panel. “I don’t think it’ll work without the right card.”

“Oh.” Jackie was momentarily at a loss, but then he recovered. They just had to keep moving. That’s all. “I guess we’ll take the stairs, then.”

The stairwell was tall, white, and empty, metal stairs spiralling upwards with only a railing keeping the people walking up and down from falling off. Jackie led the way, climbing up the stairs quickly with Marvin a bit behind. But there was no luck. All the doors that led into the floors were blocked by the same card readers as in the elevators. Just in case, Jackie still tried to open them, both pushing and pulling, but to no avail. So they just kept climbing, stopping at every story so Jackie could try the doors with increasing desperation, while Marvin watched him with increasing annoyance.

Until finally, they reached the last door, this one labelled ‘Roof Access.’ Surprisingly, this one didn’t have a card reader. Jackie hesitated, then pushed it open, letting in a spray of rain from the storm outside.

“Okay, this was useless,” Marvin said. “Let’s—”

“Well, maybe there’s someone outside,” Jackie suggested.

“In the rain?”

But Jackie was already heading out, pulling on his hood as he stepped into the storm.

Of course there wasn’t anyone there. Disregarding the misery of the weather, it was hard to see anything, including the railing that marked the edge of the roof. It would be dangerous to be up there. But Jackie still walked forward, looking around, until he eventually found that railing along the edge, grabbing the rain-slicked metal to orient himself.

“No one’s here!” Marvin shouted over a clap of thunder. He’d followed Jackie out onto the roof and was now standing about an arm’s length behind him, looking extremely unhappy about the whole situation. “Let’s go!”

“Right.” Jackie nodded. “We’ll just—just try another building, and ask where we are.”

“Then what?”

“Then we’ll—we’ll get a hotel.”

“How will we pay for it?”

“Uh...okay, not a hotel. We’ll...find our way to someone’s house, o-or something, and ask if we can stay.”

“What if no one lets us in?”

“We’ll—we’ll find an empty building.” Jackie grasped desperately at a way to salvage this situation, a way that wouldn’t involve them going back. He wasn’t even sure he could find his way back; he’d forgotten Jack’s address somewhere on the way. “Yeah. And then we’ll go to sleep, and in the morning, figure out a better plan. Yeah! It’s fine. Everything will be fi—”

“Everything will not be fucking fine, Jackie!” Marvin suddenly burst out. “This was a terrible idea! Why did we think to do this?! Why did I go along with it?! It’s raining, there’s lightning, we’re lost, my clothes are wet which I hate more than murder, and you’re being delusional!”

“I—I am being optimistic!” Jackie spluttered, letting go of the railing so he could face Marvin head-on. “I am trying to make the best of a difficult situation—”

“We shouldn’t even be out here!” Marvin interrupted. Another crack of thunder rang throughout the sky, even louder than before. “You suggested this! Why’d you suggest it?”

“Well, why did you ask if we should’ve been staying with the others if you weren’t prepared to leave?” Jackie countered. “You didn’t have to come with me! You didn’t have to go out at all!”

“Oh yeah, what was I going to do, tell Jack and the others, ‘sorry, I don’t know where they went, they said they were leaving and I thought that was alright’? No!”

“You could’ve convinced me to stay!” Jackie shouted. “You could’ve shot it down when I said it! But you went along, so you must have wanted to leave, too!”

“I—yeah, but it was more of a vague thing!” Marvin protested. “A what-if! I didn’t expect us to go right then!”

Jackie grabbed Marvin by the shirt. “Then why did you leave?! Why did we leave?! Why did we want to leave?!”

The sky lit up a brilliant white, electricity crashing. A bolt of lightning had hit a lightning rod attached to the building’s roof, only a room’s width away from the two of them. Sparks flew. Marvin screamed. Jackie instinctively covered him, hugging him tight to his chest and bending over. The sound was deafening, thunder right next to their heads, and even after it faded their ears echoed with the remains of it.

“Holy shit!” Jackie gasped, blinking the brilliant light from his eyes. His eyes...which were now glowing. The left was bright green, the right an equally bright red. Marvin’s were also glowing, though his right eye was the green one, and the other one was blue. “That was—oh my god. Marvin, are you okay?”

Marvin didn’t answer for a moment. He just stared at the lightning rod, still faintly glowing from being struck. And then...he let out a quiet sob.

“M...Marvin?” Jackie took a closer look at him, and realized his face wasn’t just wet from the rain. “Hey, it’s okay.”

“No, it’s fucking not,” Marvin cried. “All I could think about while we were walking up those stairs—all I could think about were the memories, the—you know the ones, the—I wasn’t even there, I was somewhere else. I hate this. I hate this! I hate what’s happened to me! I hate that it’s my fault!”

“Your fault?!” Jackie repeated.

“My stupid fucking selfish spell,” Marvin sobbed. “It’s all because of that! Everything happened because of that! Of course I should’ve realized, if the things I did after the spell were—were like that, then of course! Of course I’m a horrible fucking person that wouldn’t care about what that spell might do!”

“Marvin—”

“And you’re just going around acting like everything is alright!” Marvin said, jabbing a finger into Jackie’s chest. “You just like—like nothing happened, you keep saying everything is fine, it might be for you, but it’s not for me! No it’s fine, it doesn’t matter!”

“I just want everything to move on, Marvin!” Jackie said, grasping Marvin’s upper arms and pulling him close. “Everything has to be fine, but it’s not, so I have to pretend it is! Because if I stop pretending, all I can think about is what I’ve done. Every time I look at the others, I remember how I hurt them! Every time I look at you, I remember how I killed you!”

Silence, and the sound of rain.

“I didn’t...didn’t know you felt that way,” Marvin said, barely audible.

“I didn’t know you did, either,” Jackie whispered.

“That’s ironic, isn’t it?” Marvin commented dully. “Aren’t we connected now? Aren’t our souls all...mixed up with each other?”

“Yeah...” Jackie nodded. “Yeah.”

The two of them stared at each other. Eyes wide, hearts pounding, breathing heavy. Letting themselves be rained on. Until—

The door to the rooftop burst open, and a couple flashlight beams fell onto the two of them.

“Marv!”

“Jackie!”

“My friends!”

It was the others. All of them. Chase was in front with Jack close behind, then Schneep in the back holding onto Jameson’s arm for extra support. “Are you two okay?!” Chase asked.

“What happened?!” Jack added.

Is everything alright? JJ signed.

“Why did you go?” Schneep said.

Jackie took a step backwards, letting go of Marvin, who was too in shock to even notice. “You guys...h-how’d you find us?”

“JJ did,” Chase explained.

Luckily the tracking spell still works, JJ said. How did you two even get here? It’s the other side of town!

“I...we took the bus,” Jackie said numbly. “How—why are you here?”

“We came to find you, of course!” Schneep said, as if it was obvious.

“Why?” Marvin asked quietly.

“What?! Because you’re our friends!” Chase said, gaping. “If you leave to go out with no note, no anything, in the middle of a thunderstorm—” Thunder rumbled in the distance as if to prove his point. “—and without any way for anyone to contact you, anything could have happened! We were so fucking worried!”

“...why?” Marvin repeated.

“You’re our friends,” Jack reiterated. “We care about you. What if you got hurt? That would be—fuck. I-I don’t even want to think about it.”

Jackie felt tears in his eyes, and he let them slip out, hidden by the rain. “But—but it was going to be better this way.”

“Better? Better?!” Schneep repeated incredulously. “No no no no no no, we went through so much to see you again. You cannot just disappear! And less expect us to be fine with it!”

“But...w-we—I—I hurt you!” Jackie blurted out. “So much! I mean, look at yourselves! You still have the scars!”

“That wasn’t you,” Chase said gently, slowly approaching. “That was Anti.”

“Well, Anti was us.”

“Anti was two parts you guys and, like, seventeen parts black magic,” Chase said. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“It feels like it,” Marvin muttered. “You’d say the same if you remembered doing it.”

“What if something happens?” Jackie said, his voice hushed. “What if we...while we’re around you guys, what if we...hurt you? Th-there’s a possibility, right? As long as we’re around.”

Jack’s next question was soft, almost unheard through the rain. “You don’t want to hurt anyone, right?”

“No!” Jackie said, aghast. Marvin shook his head furiously.

“Then you won’t,” Jack said firmly. “I mean, sure, there will be accidents. But you can’t run from everyone because you’re afraid you might hurt them. A life like that would be so lonely. We trust you. Both of you. And you trust us. That’s what friendship’s built on, isn’t it? Trust.”

Jackie fell silent. The four of them stood firm, agreeing with Jack’s sentiment. Did they...really want them to stay?

“We don’t—” Marvin stammered. “I-I-I don’t—we’re—I’m—not...the type of person...who should have friends.”

“What?” Jack asked, shocked.

“You’re all so nice, a-and good,” Marvin said. “We...I don’t...deserve you.”

“That is ridiculous,” Schneep said. “Marvin, and Jackie, you are both some of the best friends I ever had, and the same goes for everyone else.”

“We’re not...good people,” Marvin said desperately. “If we were Anti, we can’t have been. Good people wouldn’t become...that. A-and you’re all just saying it ‘cause you’re friends.”

Can I say something? JJ, who’d been waiting on the sidelines, finally spoke up. Look, I barely know either of you. I’m new to all this. But I can tell that neither of you are bad people. Flawed, yes, but so is everyone. Chase said that Anti was mostly black magic, and he’s right. You can’t be blamed for what that entity did; its perception was warped and broken. You two are nice, you seem smart, you’re friendly to others. You are not bad people.

“Look, I know, it’s hard to accept that you deserve nice things,” Chase jumped in. “But you do. You want to step away from friends and good things because you think you’re not worthy. It’s gonna be hard to accept that you are. But that’s why we’re here, okay? To help you accept that.”

“And to point out when you need something,” Schneep added. “Something that you think is above you. I swear, I will fight every single bad thought you have, anything that tells you that you do not deserve all the care and love that you do.”

Jack laughed a bit. “Yeah. We all will.”

Both of them were crying, and despite the falling rain, it was quite obvious. Marvin reached over and grabbed Jackie’s hand, pulling him close. “I...I’m sorry,” he choked out.

Jackie nodded. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, voice rasping. “I...we should...I’m going to go back. Are you going to?”

“Yeah. I’m going back, too.”

Jackie nodded again, then let go of Marvin’s hand. He took a deep breath, and walked over to join the others.

Marvin shivered. The rain was starting to feel even colder than it had before. But as he carefully stepped towards the group, it felt a bit warmer.

The moment the two were close, the remaining four huddled around them. Hands were held and tears were shed, slowly joining together in a tight group hug. Everyone kept saying how proud they were of them, how happy they were to have them back, how much they loved them. And more tears leaked out, though of a different sort of emotion altogether. They were so caught up in the moment that they didn’t even notice the rain until they headed back down the stairs.

And as the six headed home, the storm started to lessen.

— — — — — — —

“Can’t believe it’s actually snowing,” Jack muttered, brushing white flakes off his coat. “It never snows here.”

“I like it.” Jackie looked around, taking in the white blanket covering the park, then up at the sky. “Everything looks all clean. I like how the snow is all smooth.”

“Mm. Won’t be for long.” Jack pointed. The two of them were content to sit at a picnic table, sheltered from the snowfall by a nearby tree. But some ways away, two girls were running through the snow, pelting their dad with snowballs. Chase was laughing. It was good to see. Lily tripped over something in the snow, and he bent over to help her up. “There’s gonna be so many footprints when they’re done with it.”

“Aw.” Jackie frowned, pulling his coat closer. He didn’t really feel the cold, but it still affected him, so he had to make sure to dress appropriately for any weather. “Hey...when will the others be here? Do you think they forgot we were going to meet up?”

“I don’t—wait.” Jack paused. “Nope, there they are.”

A car pulled into the nearby lot, and three people stepped out. JJ recently got his license, so he and Chase had become the chauffeurs of the group. He looked around, then waved at the others, turning back to point them out to Marvin and Schneep. The three headed over, and Jack and Jackie made room for them at the table.

“It is so cold!” Schneep immediately started complaining. “There is going to be so much ice later, it is awful!”

“Oh shush, you like having cold weather so you can have warm drinks and stuff,” Marvin said.

“Okay, yes, but that is inside, where I cannot risk the chance of slipping,” Schneep griped.

JJ laughed. Speaking of warm drinks. He pulled his backpack off and rifled through it, taking out a couple thermoses. I thought if we were going to be meeting up out here, we should keep hot.

“Oh nice!” Jack grabbed one with his name written on the side in sharpie. “What’s this?”

Tea and coffee. And hot chocolate for the kids, JJ explained.

“Sweet,” Jackie said, leaning over to grab one as well.

“So, uh...” Jack cleared his throat, and turned to Marvin. “How’d it go?”

Marvin leaned back, rocking slightly on the picnic bench. “Good, I think. I mean, it’s just the first session, but...it was a good sign, I guess.”

“Hey, uh, Marv?” Jackie said. “I...forgot the address.”

“Oh. Right. It’s uh...Hang on a moment.” Marvin pulled out his phone, opening up the notes. “547 Norwich, on the east side. You can’t miss it, there’s a big sign with ‘Riverwood Counseling” on the front. You’re, uh...going soon?”

“Next week.” Jackie copied the address into his own phone. “‘M a bit nervous,” he mumbled.

“Nothing to be afraid of,” Schneep said encouragingly. “They are very good, very reputable. And if things are not working, they will transfer you to someone new without any charge.”

Jackie smiled a bit. “Well, I guess if you guys trust them.”

At that moment, Chase and the girls got tired of their snowball fight and came over to the table. “Hi!” Lily said brightly. “Ooooh, what’s that?”

“It’s a thermos,” Moira explained to her sister. “They’re for hot things like soup. And hot chocolate.”

“Well, would you look at that? There are two with your names on them,” Chase said brightly. “Here you go. JJ, you brought them, right?”

JJ nodded. Cocoa for them. And this one has some tea for you.

“Oh sweet! Thanks, Jays.”

It had been a few months, and the group had decided to meet up for some casual catching up. Chase had finally gotten a new house, just a rental but he hoped to find one for himself eventually. Schneep had started taking online classes. Since he couldn’t exactly continue his surgeon profession he decided to go back and find something else to do. He was particularly interested in physics, and he was convinced that it could explain how his new magic worked. Jack’s apartment was almost entirely repaired, and the Internet had finally settled down about his disappearance. JJ’s shop was picking up business again.

And Marvin and Jackie? Well, they’d found themselves a new place. A small townhouse, just big enough for both of them, part of a row of houses with connected walls. At first, they’d debated whether or not to continue living together or to live separately, but eventually decided on the former. After all, they still had problems, with memory and movement, and more, and decided it would be easier to live with someone who could help out. They were still working on finding new jobs. Jackie wanted something active, and Marvin wanted something quiet. The search was slow going, but they were making do. Jackie had been particularly bored at night, but didn’t want to go out and try being a vigilante again. Maybe eventually. Marvin was still relearning how to use his magic, and was teaching Jackie how to, as well, given Jackie’s new abilities.

The group had been talking for about half an hour when suddenly Moira tugged on the edge of Chase’s coat. “Dad? Who’s that? She’s been staring at us.”

Chase looked over towards where Moira was pointing, and his eyes widened. “Guys. Look who it is,” he said quietly.

The others all glanced in the same direction. “Shi—oh no,” Jack muttered. “It’s that—that magician. Delyth.”

JJ sighed. Well, I suppose it was only a matter of time.

“Who?” Marvin asked.

“She’s with the, uh, the magic police,” Jack explained.

“Oh fu—” Marvin quickly ducked his head, deliberately not looking over to where Delyth was standing, casually leaning against a tree.

“Should we talk to her?” Chase asked.

“I think so,” Schneep said. He paused, then stood up. “I will.”

“Wait, no, she’s coming over here!” Jackie gasped.

There was a sudden flurry of activity as the group tried to act casually, pretending they hadn’t seen her and weren’t keeping an eye on her as she walked over. Until eventually, they couldn’t pretend any longer.

Delyth stopped next to the table. “So...it is you,” she said slowly. “You know, you gave us one hell of a scare when you disappeared.”

“Hey, language,” Chase said, indicating the two small girls sitting next to him.

“Oh. Sorry.” Delyth paused. “We were looking for you, but it was like you all just...disappeared. Correct me if I’m wrong, but was a certain other magician helping with that?” Nobody answered. They weren’t about to throw Yvonne under the bus. Delyth shook her head. “Never should’ve given her access to ABIM systems,” she muttered.

“Did you want something?” Schneep asked.

“Hmm...well, no, not really.” Delyth looked them over, making eye contact with each. “You know, the ABIM is pretty busy. If a case hasn’t been active for two months, it’s deemed low priority, provided there’s no significant danger. If four months pass, we have to permanently shelve it, until there’s evidence for it becoming active again. Marked as unsolved, and people tend to forget about it.” She looked down at her watch. “Well, I have to go. It’s been nice seeing you all again. It’s been, what, five months?” After a moment, she nodded towards Jackie and Marvin. “Glad to see it all worked out. Goodbye.”

The group remained mostly silent as she left, though Jack muttered a quiet “goodbye” and JJ waved as Delyth disappeared into a car in the parking lot and drove away. Then, once she was gone, Chase turned to the others. “What was that about?”

I think that was her saying the magicians won’t bother us, JJ signed, a bit in awe.

“Oh thank god,” Marvin breathed. “I don’t want to be on their bad side anymore. No more magic police, thank you very much.”

“She could have been a bit more direct with it, though,” Jackie added.

Jack just laughed. “Wow. So, I guess that’s the last we’ll see of her, then?”

“Provided nothing else strange happens to us,” Schneep pointed out.

“Well, I hope it doesn’t. I’ve had enough strangeness for my entire life.”

So...is it over, then? JJ asked slowly.

“Dad, what was that about?” Lily asked. “Who was that? What did she mean?” Moira nodded, agreeing with all the questions.

“Oh, it’s a bit complicated.” Chase pulled his daughter close and gave her a quick hug. “But it’s nothing to worry about anymore. I’ll explain when you’re older.”

“I guess it’s over,” Jackie repeated.

“Yeah...guess so,” Jack agreed.

Time went on, as it always does. The group ended their get-together shortly after, parting ways for a short while. After a few more months, the strange disappearances faded into local legend, with people speculating what happened but nobody getting close to the truth that was only known to a small group of six friends. Magic remained, side effects lingered, but they settled back into their place, becoming the new normal.

Still, none of them forgot what happened to them for those three years. It would be hard not to. They had scars to prove it, and some memories would never fade. But the past was the past. And together, they moved on, looking forward to the future.

#jacksepticeye #jacksepticeye fanfiction #jacksepticegos #septic egos #septic egos au #jacksepticeye au #jameson jackson #dr schneeplestein #chase brody #jackieboy man #marvin the magnificent #brigid writes fanfiction #the stitched septics #stitchedstories

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vanosslirious · 3 years ago

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BBS Dialogue Prompts #167

BBS Dialogue & Sentence starter Prompts: [7]

VANOSSGAMING

Wait, the cops are coming?

Oh shit, you’re right.

Let’s just not talk about this.

I actually can’t move.

Get the fuck out of the way, clown.

Someone hit me!

You go from zero-to-ten real quick.

Sorry, I thought I had nothing to lose.

Where the fuck did you guys go?

I’m following you like you’re my girlfriend and we’re in Sephora.

Do you have any supplies I can use?

Did she throw that pan at you?

Come on, just pick us up.

You got outplayed.

Might be a bit of a mess, but she makes up for it in skill.

Anybody got a med kit?

Don’t tell me you went down again.

Maybe this game just fucking sucks.

I saw the same fire extinguisher, and I got excited again.

I died, she stabbed me.

WILDCAT

This game is ready to go, boys.

Yeah, I kinda went on a murder spree.

He killed you and died.

Read some books, bitch.

Who the fuck makes fun of people for glasses anymore?

Everybody knew.

In what universe do I ever lose this fucking fight?

I don’t know how I lived.

What a complicated joke to think of though.

I jumped from four stories up.

TERRORISER

I don’t give a shit...now I do.

He’s having a good time.

I’m going to bed.

It recharges.

We have to go downstairs and get a bowl.

Why do I have to save the day here?

This guy two hours ago told us he’s going to be here in five minutes.

Can you stop talking for a second?

That’s morse code, you dumb fuck!

No, he's delaying the footage.

NOGLA

This is going to be easy, right?

Someone had to try.

It’s alright, we’re only fourteen minutes in, we got another hour to go.

I was looking to get hit.

This has gone so bad.

The mood is ruined.

He doubled hit me, bro, while I was in the air, that was fucking beautiful, I’m not even mad.

This is what we’ve been waiting for.

And all the fangirls cried.

It’s pretty fucked though.

BASICALLYIDOWRK

That was uncalled for, come on.

I don’t know, that’s fucking sketchy as fuck, bro!

This coffee is running through me.

One landed down low, he has guns.

He’s still on the bus.

They’re not going to get off that roof.

There’s a guy above us.

They boobytrapped it?

I’m doing it, fuck it.

Are you saying they planned it?

FOURZER0SEVEN

I’m about to be dead, so then don’t have to worry about it.

What am I watching?

What are we doing here?

Okay, fuck off.

There’s no way in hell that killed me.

How did that not hit you?

This is fucking stupid.

That’s such bullshit, dude!

Well, they’re lying, I don’t know.

I’ll take credit for that, don’t you worry about that.

SMII7Y

Why me, what did I do?

We got to do something here, guys.

Kiss him on the mouth!

Everything just faded out, and I was just staring into his soul.

He don't bite, trust me.

He ate his neck, bro.

I honestly don't think I have ever been this excited to wash a car.

I'm trying my best to get everything.

People get paid for this?

Don't stand on the car, you just cleaned it.

#banana bus squad #bbs #banana bus squad dialogue prompts #bbs prompts #vanossgaming #i am wildcat #the terroriser #daithi de nogla #basicallyidowrk #fouzer0seven #smii7y #rpf prompts #tw swearing #text #words

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troop-scoop · 5 years ago

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Mistakes & Regrets XXI

Summary: When a trip to your Dad’s hometown of Hawkins goes wrong, you end up in the year 1983, and have to learn how to cope with being stuck in the past.

Pairing: Steve Harrington / Future!Reader (like, a really slow burn)

Warnings: Swearing, violence

A/N: Definetaly not my favorite chapter, but we need to keep moving and i was having writer’s block :/

• • •

Your dad and pa always said to stay yourself.

There was always something about the exact words they used. About never changing who you were for others that always stayed in your head, repeating itself occasionally. But you hadn’t thought about them in a long time.

You changed for a lot of people since you got here. You’d gone from the very loud outspoken girl in all of your classes who cracked jokes and got in trouble frequently to a quiet and reserved shy girl now. Except for around Steve. You weren’t afraid to be annoying around him. And others picked up on it.

So then came the question, was everyone else like the kids you went to school with most of your life except for Steve, or was there something else more there?

Well, you’d cried in front of Joyce, and Jonathan, and even Nancy in the past year. Yet, you kept your composure around Steve. He made you feel stronger than you really were. Like he boosted your confidence or something.

Hearing the kitchen door open, you were up on your feet and heading to the kitchen table, where everyone else was already beginning to gather.

Hopper had a pen and a ripped piece of paper.

You were looking over Lucas and Dustin’s shoulders. “I think he’s talking, just not with words.” He began to draw small circles and a long line. Morse code. You only knew it because for some reason your dad had wall art in the house, showing it for each letter. And while you never memorized it, you knew what it looked like.

“What is that?” Steve asked from beside you.

The boys and you all answered.

“H-E-R-E”

“Here.” You repeated it as a word, everyone else doing the same. Everyone knowing the simple four letters.

“Will’s still in there. He’s talking to us.” Hopper came to the conclusion.

Soon enough they were back in there, leaving Steve, Nancy, you and all of the kids but Mike in the house.

Hopper had his walkie in the shed, repeating back the code that Will was tapping on the side of his chair, letting the kids figure it out, while Nancy wrote it. You had a terrible feeling, and kpt exchanging looks with Steve every few seconds.

“Close gate.” You finished as Nancy wrote the last letter. “He wants us to close the gate.”

It was an obvious fix. But to do so, you probably needed Eleven. And if done so, you’d never see home again. You’d never graduate in the year you were supposed to. But you’d only resigned yourself to that fact. So while it still hurt, you knew it needed to be done.

The kids and nancy all looked at you, Lucas and Nancy by far having the saddest looks on their faces, but Steve looked at everyone, seeing their gaze was fixed on you, and he too, saw how your arms were crossed and how you looked at nothing in particular.

But the phone rang.

“Shit!” You turned on the ball of your foot, rushing to the phone. It was loud. And you knew that if you couldn’t fall asleep because the one in your apartment was too loud to drown out even with three pillows pushed against your ears, that they could hear it from the shed.

Dustin passed you, grabbing the phone from the receiver and putting it back on.

You stopped next to the phone, looking back and seeing everyone staring with wide eyes, Nancy still holding the notepad and red crayon.

The very beginning of the next ring, you grabbed the receiver, tearing it off the wall and holding it to your chest like you would with an infant you were trying to shush.

“Do you think he heard that?” Max inquired.

“It’s just a phone. It could be anywhere. Right?”

Shrugging, you looked down at the blue phone. “How many phones is that now? Four?” You questioned, looking at Nancy. Who only shrugged and shook her head, a silent ‘why does it matter?’

But you heard that noise. It was in the distance but you still heard it. “Fuck.” You murmured. You tossed the phone to the ground watching as everyone from the shed ran back, Jonathan carrying Will and running to one of the bedrooms to set him down.

“What happened?”

“He heard the ringing.” He explained as the kids looked out the window.

“Hey! Away from the windows!” Hopper bellowed. Walking into the living room. He looked at Jonathan, holding up a hunting rifle. “You know how to use this?”

Without a word, Steve grabbed your hand, taking you a few steps further into the living room with him, letting you go while Hopper tossed the rifle to Nancy instead.

Pulling the pistol from your jeans, you turned the safety off, already knowing you’d reloaded it when you got to the house.

The kids stayed behind most of you, and Hopper had a rifle. The kind police or military would use. An automatic, you were pretty sure.

“Stay behind me.” Steve told you, swinging the bat around in a brief circle.

Nodding, you took a step back, holding your gun up and aiming towards the door as the screeching from the creatures outside got louder.

You heard another one come from the other side of the house, and in a split second, you all turned to it, still holding your weapons. You couldn’t hear anything now except for your own heartbeat and drowned out thoughts.

You all turned back to the front of the house again, you did it because you were following their every move, but something kept you from being completely alert, like you weren’t completely in danger. Like you were somehow safe. “Don’t be scared.” It was Anne’s voice in your head.

You took her word, and felt your ears toon back into what was being heard by everyone else from outside. Those things screeching, but what also sounded like crashing. As if they were being thrown into things. And one completely stopped. Before the window shattered, and it seemed to be thrown in.

Grabbing onto Steve’s arm, but ending up with a firm grip on his shirt, you aimed the gun over his shoulder, looking at the creature that was laying on the hardwood, limb and unmoving. You knew that everyone was on edge, and scared, but just by looking at it, you knew it was dead.

“Holy shit.” Dustin mumbled.

“Is it dead?” Hopper pushed it’s head back with his foot, and nothing happened but the creaking of the front door, which had everyone turning back to the front.

You lowered your gun when the bolt turned, even though everyone else who had weapons, brought them back up. The door’s chain latch was undone as well, and slowly it opened, and in came a very familiar face, in very unfamiliar clothing and makeup.

“Jesus christ, El.” You murmured to yourself.

You watched with a small smile on your face as Mike and Eleven hugged each other, after almost a year of being apart, after a year of Mike thinking she was dead.

“Is that the girl-”

“Yeah,” You interrupted Steve, in a hushed whisper. Turning the safety back on of the pistol and putting it back, looking down at the crayon drawings under your feet.

You were happy, and a little envious. But you knew that they hadn’t made their peace with being apart. You’d made yours with being apart from your family.

“That you were okay?” Looking back up to the scene in front of you, you saw Hopper take a step forward.

“Because we wouldn’t let her.” Hopper gave you a quick glance, before turning back to Mike who turned to him at that point. It was true that you were partly responsible for telling he she shouldn’t contact Mike at any point.

“El, where have you been?” You questioned, walking over, not caring if any one of the kids were mad at you. You only really socialized with them when you took Will to the arcade or one of these events happened.

She allowed you to embrace her for a split second before she looked at Hopper. “Where has he been?” Her voice was laced with venom, but the only thing you could really think was that her hair smelled of heavy duty hair gel. The kind girls used in ROTC.

But she still allowed Hopper to pull her out your arms and into his.

“You two have been hiding her.” Mike sounded angry, and because you weren’t the one facing away he came over and shoved you.

“What the fuck, Mike? Wanna fucking go?” Before you could approach the 13 year old, Steve had come over, and Hopper’s attention was taken away from El. Steve was facing you and had an arm against your torso, hand on your side, keeping you from getting closer to Mike.

“Y/n, you’re not going to fight-”

“I will throw fucking hands, Steven, I will beat this scrawny little asshole to a fucking pulp!” You were exhausted, and already agitated and overthinking about everything, and Mike shoving you? Everything felt like coming to a breaking point.

Hopper grabbed Mike, and took him away, while Steve took you further from the two, closer to the door than anything else. “Stop picking fights with people.” He told you, his hand still on your side, thumb against your ribcage from over the t-shirt you’d worn.

“What?”

He gave a look, eyebrows raised and head tilted. “You’ve gotten into fights with a few teachers, me, one other student last year, Kieth earlier this week, and now you’re trying to fight a kid-”

“Who told you about my fights with Mrs. Jensen and Mr. Larn?”

The look only got worse. “Stop trying to pick fights.” He said again, still fully knowing that he deserved the punch the year before, and the tiny little scar on the side of his nostril from it. “I get we’re all a little on edge, You’re tired, I can tell. Just… don’t fight literal children.”

“They’re only two years younger than me, Steve.”

“Dude-”

“Okay!” You said in a defensive tone, finally relenting.

You looked behind Steve, and saw how Eleven and the two other boys reunited as well. But quickly your gaze shifted to Jonathan and Nancy who were staring at both of you. But not at either one of you in particular. Which was when you realize that while this position with STeve didn’t feel unusual, or weird, or anything other than friendly to you, it wasn’t to others.

He still had his hand on your side, which is also when you noticed that while over your shirt, as it should be, it was under the jacket he’d lent to you. And you had a hand on his arm, more specifically right under his elbow.

In a split second it became very overwhelming and very obvious to you how close he was, just like when you were in the apartment. And even though the smell of detergent on his clothes was still faint, it was mostly gone. Instead he smelled like deodorant and dirt.

Maybe Jonathan was onto something.

“What’s wrong?”

You were snapped out of your thoughts, and your eyes focused on Steve’s face. His brows were furrowed and the question hung shallowly in the air around you.

“Nothing.” You lied.

Jonathan was onto something. And it terrified you.

• • •

It was bittersweet in a sense. Knowing how this would turn out. Knowing that everyone in the long run would be fine, but also knowing everyone would be traumatized, even just a little.

You could barely cope with what happened over a year ago when you were in the Upside Down, and you couldn’t even remember most of it. Just bits and pieces. Feelings.

“Y/n.”

Looking at Eleven you watched as she took a step away from Mike, and toward you, reaching into her jacket and pulling a small box out, handing it to you.

“What is this?” You asked, hearing Jonathan and Nancy get into the car, while Hopper opened the driver’s door to his own car.

“Someone told me to give it to you.” It didn’t clear anything up, even as she walked away to Hopper’s car getting into the passenger side.

The box looked like a ring box you’d see in jewelry stores, but it was far lighter. And you could hear a rattling of the expensive cardboard.

The two vehicles drove off. Leaving you and Steve with the kids. All except for Will and Eleven.

You put the box in the jacket pocket, not wanting to open it right then and there. “We should head back in.” You reached out to Mike, grabbing his shoulder, and to your surprise, he stepped back into your arm, letting you rest it on his shoulders.

Even though you’d threatened to beat him into a pulp.

And while you didn’t quite know how, with in ten minutes of getting back into the house, you were advocating for interdimensional arson.

“Y/n,” Mike tried, while you stood next to Steve, hands on your hips and eyes trains on the point where the tunnels all met. “What do you think?”

“Y/n, we promised to keep them safe-”

“I’ve always wanted to set something on fire.” You shrugged. “Besides this thing?” Turning to Steve you pointed at the meeting point. “Kinda deserves it!”

“What?”

“She was in the Upside Down.” Dustin clarified. Your eyes snapped over to Dustin. You hadn’t shared that with Steve for very specific reasons

“Wait, what?”

“Yeah, why do you think I was always being picked up by the chief from school, dude? We were going to the lab with Mrs. Byers and Will.”

“You never mentioned it before-”

“It was never brought up before. I’m all for setting this bitch on fire.” You quickly defended.

“No! We’re not doing this! We’re waiting for the starting team to do their job-”

“This isn’t a stupid sports game-” Mike interrupted.

“We’re not doing this! Does everybody understand that?”

No one could answer before the sound of an engine revving and coming towards the house was heard. Max left the hall, going towards to window and looking through it, with Lucas going right up next to her. “It’s my brother.” The way she said it made you feel cold. Like he wasn’t a good person. “He can’t know I’m here. He’ll kill me. He’ll kill us.”

“Steve. . .”

“I’ll handle it, you guys stay here.” He told you, heading for the door. He was out of the house within seconds, but something about the situation made you feel wrong. You’d never even heard your aunt Maxine ever talk about a brother.

“Guys, get away from the window.” You told the group of kids, who had gathered after Steve left. But the second you said that, the kids all jumped away.

“Shit! Did he see us?”

“Guys! Get over here!” You told them, gesturing towards yourself. They all came over like ducklings and stood behind you, which only made you more nervous, especially from how Max stood right behind you, almost as if you were a great hiding spot.

The door slammed open, and an older boy walked through, his hair permed and cut into a mullet. He looked like the kind of person who would have made fun of you in school. His red button down almost all the way undone and tucked into his jeans.

“Well, well, well.” Behind him, you could barely see Steve on the ground, clutching his stomach before the door was slammed shut.

You understood why Max was so afraid the moment you laid eyes on him. He smelled like beer, cologne, and cigarettes.

Lucas got behind you as well, and almost instinctively you had an arm to the side covering him.

“Lucas Sinclair. What a surprise.” He took long yet slow strides toward you, not giving you much space, and towering over you. He looked over your shoulder. “I thought I told you to stay away from him, Max.”

It wasn’t hard to put together that this was the new guy every girl at school was swooning over. And you couldn’t understand why. He was terrifying.

“Back off, prick.” You told him.

It seemed as if he only registered your presence then. He eyed you for a second before turning his attention back to his sister. “You disobeyed me. And you know what happens when you disobey me.”

“Billy. . .” Max’s voice was afraid and cautious.

“I break things.”

You didn’t have time to process anything before Billy shoved you away and grabbed Lucas by the collar of his jacket. Shoving him into the kitchen and slamming his body against a shelf.

Max, Mike, and Dustin all started yelling and you moved after them in a heartbeat. Trying to grab onto Billy’s arm to get him to let go of Lucas.

“Get off of me!” Lucas shouted.

“Since Maxine won’t listen to me, maybe you will-”

You tried to pull him off, but he shoved you into the kitchen table, your hip slamming up against it, and surprisingly the table was far heavier than you imagined, and far more sturdier as well, because you landed against it harshly, and the pain shot through your hip.

“Stay away from her. Stay away from her! You hear me?” It wasn’t hard to tell that Billy’s motive wasn’t to protect Max. You’d seen protective siblings, you’d been one for Daniel, this was racially motivated. And from how he’d completely ignored Mike and Dustin gave it away.

“I said get off of me!” Lucas brought his knee up and against Billy’s groin, stunning Billy and making him let go of him. Billy took a few steps back before looking back up at Lucas. “You’re so dead, Sinclair! You’re dead!”

You saw the familiar figure coming in from the living room and you grabbed Lucas’ arm, pulling him towards you.

Steve grabbed Billy by the shoulder while you took Lucas over to his friends, with you once again acting as a shield in case Billy got the upper hand and tried to get any of them again.

You could hear the punch before you even turned around, but when you did, you saw how amused Billy was and when he started laughing was when you were confused. He looked insane.

“Looks like you got some fire in you after all, huh? I’ve been waiting to meet this King Steve everybody’s been telling me so much about.” He had a drop of blood on his upperlip from his nose as he spoke.

And Steve wasn’t into the games he wanted to play. “Get out.”

Billy swung and Steve dodged. “Steve!”

“Kick his ass, Steve!” Dustin encouraged.

“Get him!”

Both Mike and Dustin were acting as hype men while Steve got Billy further into your grandmother’s kitchen, eventually with Billy landing against the sink,

“Steve!” Was all you could get out when the plate shattered over his head, the shards of ceramic on the floor

Steve was trying to find his balance, backing up and needing a moment, You back the kids against a wall as Billy continued to follow him.

Billy grabbed him by the shirt. “No one tells me what to do!” You’d never actually seen someone head butt someone else in a fight, this was a first. And Steve was now on the ground by the couch, with Billy still going after him. Just by how enraged Billy was and how out of it your best friend was, you knew Billy wouldn’t stop until he was dead.

“Stop it!” You yelled, going over to the two teenage boys, trying to grab Billy and get him off of Steve, but to no avail. All he did was push you off of him again.

You were on the ground now as well, but against the a wall, you could see the blood coming from both Steve’s mouth and nose. Small cuts around his face from where the plate shattered and cut him.

You jumped a little when Max stabbed her brother in the neck. But when she stepped back, you could see the syringe sticking out.

That was enough to stop him, and have him off of Steve, and the second he was on his feet and facing her, you made your move over to Steve.

It was all becoming very real within a matter of seconds. His eyes were closed and he was completely limb on the ground.

“Steve.” You mumbled to him, grabbing his cheeks and making him look at you. At least his body wasn’t stiff.

Tears were welling up in your eyes as you looked down at him. Sure, you’d seen him with blood on his face before, but it was never this bad. The last time he deserved it.for being an asshole. All he’d done this time was try to protect everyone. He was always doing that, wasn’t he?

“Steve, Steven- wake up.” Your voice cracked, and you didn’t even flinch when Billy collapsed only a few feet away.

But you did flinch at the sound of metal digging into the hardwood. Looking over you saw Max with the nail bat, between Billy’s legs. “Say you understand! Say it! Say it!” She screamed at him.

He mumbled it under his breath. “What?” Maxine demanded.

“I understand.”

• • •

@disneyprincessbuffyannesummers @nxncywheeler @yllwtaxi @songofcosplay @potatopooper05 @cheesecakeisapie @robinsdolan @yall-wildin-like-siriusly @bisexualpears @ilovebucketbarnes @random-thoughts-003 @mochminnie @abbyg217 @stevexscoops @cashmereandtears @iris-suoh @supred12 @ohmyitsfaith @beyond-the-gone

#steve harrington #steve x reader #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #Steve Harrington slow burn

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margoshansons · 6 years ago

Text

Desperate Measures: 4/?

Bellamy Blake x Reader

Summary: After the death of one of her best friends, Y/N’s feud with Murphy gets out of hand and Charlotte betrays her.

Warnings: death, violence, gore, swearing, hanging, suicidal thoughts, suicide

Notes: buckle in, because this is a rough chapter, my dudes. Based on 1x04 “Murphy’s Law”

Wells was dead.

She had done nothing but ignore him since they landed on the ground, and now he was dead. Gone. Forever.

She would never get to see him again.

Never get to play chess with him again.

She couldn’t even remember the last thing she had said to him.

She couldn’t even feel the grief that ran through her body. She was numb, sprinkling dirt on the mound that represented his burial site.

The mound that represented all seventeen years of his life.

“May we meet again.” Y/N whispered, a small tear streaking down her grimy face. She stood up, turning around to see Bellamy standing there, arms crossed, his gaze soft.

“I’m sorry” He murmured, trying to reach out to her.

Y/N swallowed, gulping down her grief into her gut, pushing past the soldier and heading for the dropship, a head of blonde hair collapsing into her shoulder before she could enter. She wrapped her arms around Clarke’s mourning figure, the two girls silent as their emotions transferred over to each other, relishing in the comfort they gave each other.

“It wasn’t him” She whispered, pulling away and wiping the tears from her face. “Wells didn’t turn us in. My mom did.”

Her heart continued to rip, the numbness spreading further as Y/N offered her sympathies, “Clarke, I’m so sorry.”

The girl bit her lip, her voice thick with anger, “My own mother killed my father. How does someone do that?”

Y/N knew exactly how. “They see no other choice.”

“There’s always another choice.” Clarke’s anger radiated from her, mixing with grief over losing her best friend. She held her head high as she walked away, encouraging the others to continue building the wall. Y/N threw a look around, watching as the camp began to devolve into chaos. Octavia mostly sat with her thoughts, sharpening the makeshift weapons, while Murphy continued his tyrannical reign, abusing Connor as he struggled to lift a log.

Y/N exhaled, resigning to her circumstances as she joined Monty in the dropship, helping create a form of interspacial morse code.

She picked apart Octavia’s fried wristband, examining for any components that could help the two of them.

“Y/N” Monty called, stretching his way across the workbench, “Can you hand me those tacks?”

“Yeah” she responded, leaving her tools at her work station as she went to meet Monty’s demand, handing him the small bolts leftover from the crash. “How are you doing?” She asked, hovering as she watched him push the small tack through the hole he had created, trying to forget about the events of the morning.

“I should be asking you that question.” Monty responded, “But I’m doing okay, would be better if I could find some way to keep the bracelets alive for longer than five seconds.”

Y/N chuckled, the first smile that day. “I’ll keep checking my book and Octavia’s bracelet for anything we need. I’d love it if we could find some kind of solar transmitter.”

“On the ground where the biggest technology is spears?” Monty brought up, twiddling with Clarke’s freshly removed wristband, “Not likely.”

Another chuckle escaped her, turning around as she heard boots clang against the metal floor, meeting Bellamy’s cold gaze. The stoic leader was back. “How’s the radio coming?” He asked, hands on his hips.

“It’s coming.” Y/N responded coldly, crossing her arms. She really wasn’t in the mood to deal with him right now. “What did you need?”

“You” He spoke, catching her off guard. She stumbled backward at the news. “Jasper and Octavia found something, they wanna brief us in Clarke’s tent.”

Y/N nodded, grasping her jacket and slipping her arms through it as she passed Bellamy.

“Franco, wait--” He called, running after her so they were walking side by side.

“What do you want Blake?” She returned the favor, since he refused to call her by her first name. At this point, she’d honestly prefer the nickname, but he hadn’t used that since their fiasco in the cave.

“I wanted to say sorry” That stopped her in her tracks, his big brown eyes softening as he gazed down at her, fiddling with his thumbs. “For the cave, for Wells. For everything really.”

Warmth stirred in her chest, the gesture meaning more than she expected it to. Her stomach flopped, the hairs on the back of her neck stirring.

“Thanks” She choked out before heading into Clarke’s tent where Octavia and Jasper stood holding a knife.

Clarke’s eyes flickered as Y/N entered the room, grief still present in both girls as she examined the silver and yellow weapon.

“This knife..” Clarke realized, her blue eyes widening. “It was made of material from the dropship.”

“And that means?”

Y/N inhaled, insides threatening to collapse. “Someone in the camp killed Wells.” There was a traitor among them. A killer.

They had been sent down with a murderer unafraid of the consequences.

“We need to keep this quiet,” Bellamy responded.

“Why?” anger laced Y/N’s voice, something dark swirling in her chest at the thought of Wells’ killer going unpunished.

“So we’re just going to let a killer walk among us? Without punishment?” Clarke echoed Y/N’s sentiment, desiring the same thing she was.

Bellamy stared at the two women, eyes growing wide in fear as he caught the madness stirring behind both of their eyes. “That’s not what I’m saying Clarke,” He defended, “Believe it or not, letting the others think the grounders killed Wells is good for us. The fear of grounders is building that wall. It’s keeping us safe.” He let out a sigh, “besides there’s no way we can even tell who did it.”

“I can” Clarke bragged, holding the knife at an angle so the initials carved into them shone in the natural light.

JM. John Murphy.

“The people have a right to know.”

Clarke pushed past Bellamy’s protests, straight toward Murphy, brandishing his knife, accusing him of killing Wells. Y/N shot a look at Bellamy before following after her, desperate to gain some kind of closure for her friend.

“I didn’t kill Wells, the grounders did.” Murphy protested, trademark sneer written all across his face.

“Liar” Y/N called, unable to stop the visceral reaction pouring out of her. “You’ve hated him since he first stepped foot in this camp.”

“Yeah, a lot of people did Franco,” Murphy continued, defiance written across his face.

Octavia spoke up in her defense, “He tried to kill Jasper too!”

“What?” the younger kid traded a stare with Y/N, who shrugged before Jasper gulped down his nerves and faced his almost killer.

Murphy scoffed. “I don’t have to answer to any of you.” He spun to face the rest of the group, “I don’t have to answer to anyone!”

“Come again?” Bellamy asked, crossing his arms. Murphy met his gaze and a fearful look crossed his face. The first time any of them had seen Murphy so anxious since walking into this camp.

“Bellamy, please, you have to believe that I didn’t do this.”

Y/N watched as Bellamy refused to submit, uncertainty flashing in his eyes as he let out an exhale.

“Do you all want to live in a society with no rules?” Clarke asked, pleading to the people’s ethos, “Where people can kill without consequences? Where the guilty can go unpunished?”

“I say we float him!” Connor called, murder in his eyes.

Y/N moved forward, “We are not the Ark.” She reminded him. Even if Murphy did kill Wells that didn’t mean they had the right to choose who lived and who died.

“It’s justice!” he called, rallying the crowd behind him.

“It's not justice it’s vengeance!” Clarke announced.

By the time she voiced her protest, the crowd was already atop Murphy and Y/N became a bystander, breath hitching, chest heaving as they dragged his body through the mud, his face unrecognizable.

The numbness persisted, only replaced by anger as she imagined Murphy’s hands on Wells’ throat, the blood pouring over his hands while he sneered, Wells taking his last breath with Murphy’s victorious face looming over him. Suddenly, she couldn’t find a shred of sympathy remaining in her.

Her eyes met Murphy’s helpless ones, darkness spreading through her as the noose tightened.

“Bellamy should do it!” Connor called, ushering the leader forward, the crowd chanting his name, Clarke trying to appeal to the softer part of him. His gaze locked with Y/N’s. He was waiting for her approval.

She nodded, the same thought existing in their mind.

Attachment is death.

He turned around to face the accused, rushing forward and pushing the crate from underneath his feet. No hesitation. No attachment.

They would survive.

“What the hell are you doing?” Finn called from the treeline, moving forward to cut the rope, stopped by the mob underneath them. The madness continued, camp devolving until there was nothing but anarchy left in its wake.

He deserved this, she told herself.

He killed Wells.

He tried to kill Jasper.

He wanted to kill her.

“Stop it!” A small voice called, pulling her from her thoughts. A voice she recognized. “Murphy didn’t kill Wells!”

The crowd went silent.

“I did” Charlotte’s confession hung in the air, the pointed edge of the emotional dagger slipping deeper into Y/N’s heart as she struggled to look at this girl--this killer, with the same eyes she did only days before.

Bellamy brought her into the tent, asking the question on everyone’s mind. “Charlotte, how could you do this?”

“I was just slaying my demons, like you told me.” She defended.

Y/N spun to face Bellamy. What had he told her? What had happened in that cave while she was asleep? What could he have said to make her a murderer?

“She misunderstood” Bellamy explained, breath quickening. “Charlotte that is not what I meant.”

The girl shook where she stood. “Please don’t let them kill me.”

“We won’t,” Clarke promised, underlying anger lacing her voice, “But you need to understand. You killed someone Charlotte! Ended his life!” Charlotte met Y/N’s gaze, pleading with the woman she had grown so close to. “Please.”

“I told you to talk to someone!” Y/N scolded, disbelief coursing through her, “I told you Wells was there for you and instead you killed him!” She shook her head, stepping away from the younger girl, “This is your mistake Charlotte. You have to deal with the consequences.”

“Charlotte!” Murphy’s voice rang out, “Come on out here! I just wanna talk.”

Bullshit, Y/N rolled her eyes, storming out with Bellamy to face the tyrant, their presence comforting each other as a smirk drew itself on Murphy’s face.

Even if Charlotte had killed Wells, did that mean she deserved to die? Murphy did, she knew. But Charlotte was twelve, a child. Couldn’t they offer her mercy?

“Looks like the king and queen have decided to grace us with their presence,” Murphy quipped sarcastically, “I hope you’re not expecting me to bow down.”

“Go float yourself, Murphy” Y/N shot back, anger fading to the familiar emptiness she had been feeling all day.

“You already did that, remember?” His sneer was gone, replaced by the darkness Y/N had seen earlier. “Who’s gonna hang me this time?”

“I was just giving the people what they want” Bellamy justified, his own words tasting like ash in his mouth.

Murphy chuckled darkly. “Right, let’s see what the people want then.” He turned around, facing the group as he yelled out, “Who wants to see the real Murderer Hang?!”

Silence.

He chuckled again, “I see, so all of you are ready to string up me for nothing? But when this bitch confesses, you want to let her free?”

The fight that broke out hit Y/N by surprise. She brandished her knife, swiping at the people who approached her, her hand reaching around before lodging the blade deep into one of Murphy’s cronies, pulling the weapon from his thigh as he screamed, collapsing to the ground.

Her foot slammed into his face, knocking him out cold.

“Bellamy?” She asked worried, shaking the leader until he woke, promising her that they were going after Charlotte. His eyes fluttered open and Octavia helped pull him to his feet and Bellamy turned toward Y/N’s worrying figure.

“We’ll go after her,” He told her, “I promise.”

She nodded and the two grasped their pack, following Murphy’s tracks deep into the forest.

The trees offered no comfort this time, knowing Murphy was using it as cover from the others, and Charlotte was trapped with Clarke and Finn somewhere they couldn’t find her.

She had done this.

She had blown up at the girl.

She had hanged Murphy.

“Hey,” Bellamy grasped her arm bringing Y/N back to reality, “We’ll find her. She’ll be okay.”

She nodded, her response cut off by a scream.

They sprinted.

By the time they found Charlotte again, the girl was feeling self-sacrificial and Murphy had found them.

“MURPHY!” Charlotte yelled over Bellamy’s shoulder, “I’m here!”

Y/N gave an apprehensive look back, “He’s gaining” She warned, picking up the pace.

They broke through the tree line, the threesome skidding to a stop before the edge of a cliff, the ravine stretching into the depths below. Her chest heaved up and down and she twirled her knife in her hand, spinning around as Murphy broke into the clearing.

“Give me the girl Bellamy,” Murphy ordered, a sick smile across his face.

Y/N stepped forward, placing herself between the two men, ready to protect Bellamy and Charlotte from his wrath. “She’s a child.”

Murphy's eyes flashed red, “So was I.”

In a flash his arm was around her neck, the sharp blade of the knife held against her throat. The trees rustled, Clarke and Finn breaking through, horror widening their eyes as they gazed upon the scene in front of them.

“Hand over the girl, or Sparky here dies.” He gestured toward her, the knife digging further.

“No!” Charlotte called, sobs awakening, “Please don’t hurt her.”

Bellamy scanned the situation before him, grip still tight on Charlotte’s arm. Clarke stepped forward.

“Murphy, come on, we can talk this through” She pleaded, not wanting to lose another one of her friends.

“I’m done hearing you talk.” He tightened his grip, knife breaking through the layer of skin, “Ten seconds.”

“Bellamy don’t!” Y/N called desperately, clawing at her throat.

“Ten” Murphy threatened.

Bellamy’s pulse quickened, breathing shallow as he began to loosen his grip. He couldn’t lose her too. Not now.

“Nine.”

“I’m not worth it.” Y/N choked out, her windpipe close to getting crushed.

“Eight.”

“Please don’t!” Charlotte pleaded, voice hoarse. “I’m sorry, please I’ll come with you just let her go!”

“No!” Y/N urged, “Charlotte don’t. It’ll be okay, I promise. I’ll be okay.”

The little girl shook her head, tears streaming down her face as Murphy continued the countdown.

“Seven.”

Charlotte paused, “I can’t let anyone else get hurt because of me.”

“Six”

A breath.

“Five”

A beat.

“Four”

Charlotte ripped herself from Bellamy’s arms, throwing herself off the edge of the cliff, body plummeting into the ravine below. Murphy released Y/N in surprise.

“NO!” Bellamy called down as Y/N fell beside him, staring down into the abyss.

“Charlotte!” Y/N called down, grief shooting her through the chest, cutting through her endless numbness and setting her body aflame.

Her mom. Atom. Wells. Charlotte.

She was a bomb, lying in wait until someone came too close and then...boom.

Clarke sobbed beside her, Bellamy staring down in shock.

Her mouth grew slack, eyes unable to tear themselves away from the ravine until Bellamy stood, the sound of skin against skin pulling her upward. The soldier was atop Murphy, his fists pummeling into the delinquent's face, his screams ringing through the air.

“Bellamy stop!” Y/N called, reaching out.

Finn reached him first, pulling the older boy off of Murphy, “You’ll kill him.”

“He deserves to die!” Bellamy raged, anger ablaze in his eyes, face alight with an untapped rage that Y/N had never seen.

“No!” Clarke reprimanded, “We don’t decide who lives and dies. Not down here!”

“I swear to god if you say the people--”

“No” Clarke shook her head, “I was wrong. But we need rules! We can’t just live by whatever the hell we want.”

Bellamy snarled, “Oh yeah, and who makes those rules? You?” He threw a pointed look their way.

“From now on we will.” Y/N offered, calmly stepping forward. “All three of us.”

“So what?” Bellamy asked, still seething, “We just let him back into camp? After everything he’s done?”

“No--”

“Then what?!”

Y/N stared at Murphy, bloodied and covered in mud, barely able to stand. “We banish him.” She replied, catching the arguing leaders by surprise.

“And if he refuses to leave?” Bellamy’s pessimistic attitude was really starting to get to her again.

“Then we kill him.” Clarke offered, sending a cold look toward Murphy. Bellamy sniffed, his eyes latching onto the fresh cut on Y/N’s neck, the newly drawn blood sending him flying toward Murphy, dragging him by the collar to the edge of the ravine.

“I see you anywhere near here, and you’re dead.” He snarled, pressing his knife deep into his neck before throwing him headfirst into the ground, storming away.

Y/N shot a pitiful look his way, throwing her blunt knife to the ground, giving him more than one weapon.

His hoarse voice called after her, “You’re not like us. I saw your blood, you can’t hide your secret forever.”

She leaned down, hand squeezing a clump of his hair as she responded darkly, “I’ve kept this safe for eighteen years. If I get any ideas about you even thinking about breaking that streak, then I’ll hang you myself.”

She pushed his face deep into the mud, striding back to camp.

***

“You wanna do the honors?” Monty asked the newly recovered Jasper, a smile on both of their faces. The radio was finished. The would soon be able to contact the Ark. Some good had come out of this day after all. Y/N watched eagerly as Jasper plugged the cord into the port.

The device sparked, drawing electricity as the wristband fell dark.

A jolt of pain distracted her and she watched as her wristband clanged against the metal of the dropship.

Dark.

She leaned down, hands gingerly clenching the silver device, blocking out all sound as she retreated into her tent, the wind howling outside. What was she going to do now? Her family was up there. Her friends were up there. How many of them would follow down if they thought she was dead?

Her hand ran itself through her hair, a visceral scream exiting her mouth as she threw the useless piece of metal against the ground, hanging her head in her hands. It didn’t matter anymore. Her survival didn’t matter anymore.

She should’ve let Murphy kill her back there. What else did she have to live for?

Saltwater burned her skin as the tears fell.

The dam was broken. Her wall was being torn apart piece by piece.

“Hey Franco, Miller’s--” Bellamy stopped when he saw the state she was in, “--looking for you.”

Y/N turned away, trying to wipe away the tears as they came. “Go away Bellamy” She requested, not wanting to see anyone at all.

He didn’t move, hesitating instead. “You don’t have to be strong all the time.” He advised, settling in next to her. “No one expects you to.”

She laughed mirthlessly, “Everyone expects me to.” She breathed, voice hoarse, “It’s why I wanted Murphy to kill me back by the cliff.”

Whoops, there it was. Her secret was out.

“I’m a ticking time bomb ready to go off at any minute” She explained, the numbness returning as she stared ahead. “People would be better off if I just...disappeared.”

Bellamy gulped, “That’s not true. You had the option to float yourself and you didn’t” He reminded her, catching the engineer by surprise, “You chose Earth. Something in you wants to live Franco, and it’s time you listened to it.”

She smiled at the encouraging speech, the newfound warmth pushing back the emptiness as she watched Bellamy stand, his hand lingering on her shoulder before making his exit.

Her wall crumbled.

We getting some quality time! The pairing is coming together my people.

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packsbeforesnacks · 5 years ago

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Homecoming || Noah & Winn

TIMING: Friday, May 29th, 2020, before Ariana howls. LOCATION: Noah’s Townhouse PARTIES: @noah-kalani & @packsbeforesnacks SUMMARY: After the long drive up from Philly, Winn just wants to see his friend. Noah, meanwhile, would rather see almost anybody else. Making a scene in your yard after midnight isn’t an HOA violation, right? WARNINGS: None.

Why was Haukea barking? was the first thought that crossed Noah’s mind as he was dragged back into consciousness. It was midnight on a Friday and, like many lazy ass twenty-somethings that had no actual lives, he’d fallen asleep with his Xbox controller in his hand. But that wasn’t the real issue here. No, no. The real issue was that Haukea never barked. Stumbling upright, Noah followed the sound of his puppy out of his room and down the stairs, trying to get his sleep drunk mind to wake the fuck up. Because something wasn’t right, and it was evident by the tension in Haukea’s body and the pounding sound coming from the door. “Shhh baby, it’s okay,” Noah cooed, running a hand down her back to try to calm her, and subsequently himself. But nothing could have prepared Noah for what he was going to see upon opening the door. Because standing there was one Winn Woods in the flesh.

Winn had left Denny in the car with his dad, but he could hear the excited panting as his dog caught sight and scent of Haukea. How had they not let their dogs meet again? Winn hadn’t seen Noah in person since the pack meeting, and he’d knocked on the door with a soft smile, eager to see his friend despite the lateness of the hour and the circumstances surrounding his return. That smile disappeared upon seeing the man. Noah looked like he’d seen a ghost. A coil of dread built in his gut, that something had happened while he’d been away, and Winn started talking, fast, “What’s wrong? Is it Luke? Layla? Ariana?” Those seemed the most likely candidates for tragedy. “I— I know I wasn’t back as soon as I said I’d be, but…” Oh no. What if… He didn’t want to think about it, but he had to say it. “Did something happen to Blanche? I didn’t— I thought she was fine. What the fuck happened, Noah?” He put a gentle hand on Noah’s shoulder, not willing to go for a hug after the other man had requested space a few weeks ago.

Standing there, staring at the man they had been trying to find all this time, Noah cycled through a multitude of emotions. First, there was the relief at knowing Winn wasn’t dead in a ditch somewhere. Then, came the hurt of knowing that Winn had planned this, he’d planned to leave them. He knew what he was doing. He wasn’t coerced in any way. And finally came the anger as Winn touched him, as if nothing had happened. Noah couldn’t help but to see red, his wolfy mind already running through how he was going to rip that motherfucker’s hand clean off his wrist. “Don’t. Fucking Touch. Me.” Noah stated slowly, batting the offending appendage away from his shoulder. “You forfeited that right the. second. you. left.” Every word was punctuated with a shove, every fiber in Noah’s body wanting Winn away from his door, away from his safe spot, away from him.

Well, that was… unexpected. “I— What?” Winn looked at Noah, the way the other man was coiled in anger. Noah’s right hand was in a brace, and Winn’s mind raced with possibilities. Had there been a fight? Had— Had something happened? As he was unceremoniously shoved out of Noah’s doorway, Winn held up his hands, surrendering to… whatever was making the other man angry. “What the fuck do you mean left, Noah? I told Blanche I was coming back. I left a note. My phone was out-of-commission, I know, but that’s why I let her know.” He was probably going to regret this, but Winn slowly approached Noah again, wary. “Noah, what happened? Talk to me. Please.”

Noah almost couldn’t believe the bullshit coming out of Winn’s mouth. A note? He ran away and left a note? What was he, twelve? Not to mention his flimsy ‘my phone was out-of-commission’ excuse. Bullshit. Borrow a phone from someone. Hell, go to a fucking library for Christ’s sake. “And do you want to know how Ari found Blanche, Winn?” Noah asked, his body instinctively pushing Winn backward again. “Passed out in her car. Passed. Out. In. Her. Car.” His good hand jabbed against Winn’s chest again to emphasize his point. “Why? Because you LEFT HER LIKE THAT!” Yes, Noah was yelling, and yes, he was making a scene on the front lawn in front of the whole neighborhood, but at this point he had bigger fish to fry. “Also, fuck your fucking note, because we never fucking found a note. And even if we had, that would not excuse the fact that you are a fucking ADULT, who could have found a phone, or a computer, anything really to check in. But no. You ran away and deactivated all your shit like a fucking coward.”

Winn could hear Denny barking from the car, unused to hearing Noah yell. His dad was… confused, probably. Hell, Winn was confused. “I— Yeah, Noah, I know that B was passed out. She passes out when she uses her, uh, powers, sometimes? Her hatch was open and she didn’t have a blanket when I found her. So, guess what I did, man? I woke her up and told her I was sorry, and that I loved her, and that I was going to be back in a few days? I covered her up and closed the hatch, and, again, left a note? Did you— So, like, I’m getting that she didn’t remember that?” Winn frowned, trying to keep his cool, talking slow and soft, but urgently. “Dude, am I not allowed to not check an account for a couple’a days? And I didn’t de— Wait, is my shit deactivated? You’re fucking kidding, right? When the shit did that happen?” There was a slow and steady dread building in Winn’s gut, and they were lucky none of the neighbors had turned on their lights yet. “Noah, please, can we just go inside and talk? I didn’t run away. I was only supposed to be gone for, like, two days. I mean, I fucked up with fighting B, but, like, we were gonna talk about it when we got back? I thought. I need you to listen and not go fucking nuclear for a second because this is a stupid fucking misunderstanding.” And, okay, he may have pushed back. But Noah needed to cool the fuck off.

It was becoming harder and harder for Noah’s head to stay clear, the wolf inside of him wanting, no, craving the violence that seemed to be brewing between the two men. He hadn’t felt this type of anger in literal years, but the feeling came back to him the instant Winn pushed back. And the next thing he knew, they were both on the ground, Noah’s broken knuckles finding the solidness of Winn jawline. But the funny thing about punching someone with a broken fist was that it hurt. Feeling the pain start to radiate up his arm, Noah just looked at Winn, looked at where they were sprawled on the grass, and knew this wasn’t the answer. Luke had said that Winn needed understanding. But maybe, it was actually Noah who needed to be understood. Sitting there, still straddling Winn, Noah took a beat to breathe like Simon taught him, willing the emotions that were raging inside to calm. “I thought you were dead, Winn,” he whispered. “No call, no texts, not even some fucking morse code shit in the dirt.” Noah shook his head. He didn’t know exactly what he was trying to say. But he knew he had to say something, especially as the anger started slowly turning into a certain familiar sadness. “So, I’m sorry that I don't want to go inside and talk. I’m sorry that I’m angry. I’m sorry that I simply cannot fathom the choice that you made and the worry you put everyone through.” He shook his head again, good hand pressing on Winn’s chest, almost willing the other man to stay down. Because Winn needed to hear this. Or at least, Noah needed Winn to hear this. “And don’t tell me that you didn’t have a choice. Because you did, you and I both know that. You had a choice and you chose to leave.”

One second, Winn was pushing back on Noah, trying to get him to calm down. And the next, Winn was being knocked the fuck to the ground. His jaw throbbed as Noah pinned him, but Winn thought, maybe, that Noah’s hand hurt more. Because Winn had slugged someone with a broken hand before, and it was never a good idea. The last time he’d been under Noah had been, admittedly, less… intense. Equally weird, equally confusing. But less… raw. All Winn felt now was the force of Noah, telling Winn exactly how Winn had made him feel. And Winn wanted to push back, wanted to explain himself, wanted to let him know that this was a stupid misunderstanding. But, as he felt a hand push on his chest, he knew that wasn’t the right choice, not right now. And maybe this wouldn’t be the right choice either, but Winn had to try something. So, he leaned up, gently, pushing aside Noah’s good hand, and pulled the younger man down against him.

“Hey, hey,” Winn said, soft, soothingly, into Noah’s ear as they laid there in the grass. “I’m here now. I’m sorry. I’m an idiot.” He could’ve waited. He should’ve waited. But he’d felt so strongly, so intensely, about needing to fix his mistakes, find his dad and explain. And all of that had happened, and Winn felt good now. But Winn felt awful, too. Because, even as Winn had been telling his dad about how much Noah and all the rest had meant to him, they’d thought he’d run away. They’d thought he had almost hurt Blanche and was disappearing to escape from his mistakes. And that hurt, that burned in his lungs, but it wasn’t important right now. He wasn’t important right now. No. Noah had to be the center of Winn’s concern right now. Winn ran his hand down Noah’s back, grip tight, unwilling to let the other man go. “I won’t leave,” Winn swallowed roughly, and, fuck, he was about to cry for a third time this week, “I won’t leave you, Noah. I promise, okay? I promise, I promise, I promise. I’ll never leave you. So long as you’ll have me, so long as you want me here, I’ll stay. I should’ve known better. I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” He brought one hand up to Noah’s hair, ran it through, held him tighter. Because Winn was scared, too. Scared to lose Noah. And he hadn’t thought that was even a possibility, but the thought petrified him. Winn inhaled, a shaky breath, and noticed something new, something that stuck in his throat and made him clench his eyes to stop the tears. Noah smelled like pack.

Noah could feel the last bits of anger that were still slowly burning in his belly fade completely as he let Winn pull him forward and into his arms. And yeah, it was weird and awkward to be full force straddle-hugging your bro (???) out in the open of your front lawn after midnight, but Noah was past the point of caring. Resting his face in the crook of the other’s neck as he talked, Noah just let the familiar scent waft over him. Winn was fine. Winn was here. And Winn was promising that he wasn’t going to leave him alone again. Sitting there, listening to the way the other man swallowed around all of these heavy words, Noah waited for the happiness to fill him. This was what he had been searching for right? Someone who would make it a point to stay. But it was at that moment that Noah realized this confession was not what he actually wanted. “Winn.” His voice was soft as he sat up, wanting the other to see the seriousness in his eyes. “I don’t want you to promise not to leave. Because you can leave. You are allowed to leave and go and do whatever you need to do. Just like I’m allowed to hate the everloving shit out of it.” He wasn’t going to guilt anyone into staying just because their staying made him feel better. That wasn’t what a healthy relationship/friendship/anyship was about. No, a healthy relationship was about knowing when it was time to put your past aside and grow up. Because even though it would hurt if/when Winn left, Noah would get through it. He already had. “Just please, just promise me you’ll say goodbye next time.” Noah whispered as he wiped at the one slow tear falling down his own cheek.

When Noah pushed out of his grip to lean up, Winn was worried that he had done something wrong. But the anger that Noah had was seemingly drained out of the other man, his voice calm, but serious. Noah’s eyes, in the soft light of the quarter Moon, felt like they saw something in Winn, but Winn couldn’t tell what. And then Noah was talking, and Winn’s heart, already something so open and soft, broke a little. Winn remembered their first encounter, the one Noah didn’t remember, remembered Noah’s voice as he’d talked about his brother, about his whole family, in the corner of the Arena. He’d kept that from Noah, wanted Noah to know he’d revealed something so personal to a stranger. But, now, Winn thought maybe he’d been wrong. Because, for all of the dumb misunderstanding that this situation was, if Winn had just realized how deep Noah’s hurt was, he knew that he would have told Noah, wouldn’t have let even the possibility of a misunderstanding happen.

“Noah,” Winn said, leaning forward to knock his head gently against Noah’s, his hands coming up to wipe at the streaks running down Noah’s face. His own eyes were soft, he knew, tender with all of the genuine remorse he contained. “That was a promise I made because I wanted to. I know I can go wherever I want, but that’s… not what I meant. I meant that, well… You’re stuck with me, now. I want you in my life, and I want you to come with me, if I have to go away. I don’t want to,” Winn swallowed, trying to figure out the words to give voice to the soft thrum beneath his skin, the certainty he felt, “This is gonna sound crazy, Noah, but I— My wolf called out to yours, and I know, I know you’re not a full wolf yet. But that doesn’t mean you ain’t pack. Doesn’t mean you aren’t… with me, now. Before the others, more than the others.” He took Noah’s good hand, brought it up to his heart, so Noah could feel it, steady and true. “It’s not guilt, it’s not me feelin’ like you’re holding me in. It’s what I feel, Noh. And what I feel is… I’m not gonna want to say goodbye to you. Not ever. Not if I can help it. But I promise. I promise to tell you, and that promise is simple, because… because it ain’t gonna happen.” He pulled Noah into another hug, the other man in his lap, and squeezed tight, the wolf inside of him together with Winn. And he was sure, even if he didn’t know quite what he was sure of.

Noah thought he was done with crying this week. He thought he was done with his emotions crashing down on him in waves. But with the feeling of Winn’s calloused fingertips on his cheek, Noah knew he was a goner, the tears flowing in earnest when Winn repositioned his hand to his heart. He’d never really been a cryer before Winn. But then again, he hadn't had many people come into his life that he hadn’t been prepared to lose somehow. At least not since the accident. Letting himself be hugged and held by Winn, Noah just breathed into the scent of him, wolf trying to memorize this feeling. He didn’t know what the word pack meant for him, hell, he didn’t even know the word wolf meant for him. But if it meant he’d get even just a sliver of this, maybe that was something he wanted. Noah wasn’t sure how long they sat there, or how long he would have let Winn sit there with him. But he knew eventually he’d have to end it. “Fu-ck,” Noah breathed out, wiping off the aftermath of his emotions with the back of his hand. “The neighbors are deffffffinitely gonna talk tomorrow,” he continued with a slight grin, sliding off of Winn’s lap and onto the grass next to him. “You’re okay, though, right? Like, no injuries or anything?” Running his good hand over Winn’s chest, Noah poked and prodded assessing Winn for any signs of damage.

“Only injury I have is from where you just punched me, buddy,” Winn said, cheekily. “And I think you might be the worse for wear there.” He wanted to pull Noah back into his lap, could feel himself blushing when Noah was poking at him, and was suddenly glad for the lateness of the hour. As it stood, he slung an arm around Noah, leaning into jokes, as usual, “And let the neighbors talk. I’d break a thousand community guidelines to make sure you were alright.” He turned his head to look at Noah, and felt the air punched out of him. The moon had come out from behind a cloud again, and it bathed Noah in soft white light. The late spring breeze blew through Noah’s hair, his eyes still a little shiny from where he’d been crying. Winn’s arm felt too warm, against Noah’s back, Noah’s hand too hot against Winn’s chest. No, Winn thought. I can’t.

But, whether it was the emotional intimacy, the raw moment they’d shared together, or a feeling Winn had been brushing off before, it was staring Winn in the face now. Winn could near feel his tail wagging, knew that both parts of him were at one in this moment, safe and relaxed and happy. His nose twitched, and Winn caught Noah’s scent again, woodsy and fresh and, was it weird to say he smelled green? Intermingled was, as Winn’s nose had told him earlier, the scents he associated with pack, but changed, just a little. The pine had a hint of the sea, the charcoal warmed him, like the fire was bigger somehow, and there were scents he didn’t have words for, yet. And Winn refused to sniff Noah again, but it all came crashing in at once. Winn moved his arm into the air, faking a yawn, needing to not touch Noah. “My, uh,” oh God, “my dad’s in the car?” His voice rose at the end, a mild panic setting in, sure that his dad could see him being a disaster — and would know what that meant. Winn hadn’t meant to, had known that liking a straight boy was doomed from the start. But there Noah was, in Winn’s heart, stubbornly taking up a corner for himself, as if to say You won’t be able to avoid this.

“Good.” Noah huffed, poking Winn’s (muscular) pectoral with a bit more force. He didn’t really regret punching Winn, but at the same time he still didn’t exactly want to exacerbate an existing injury or cause him too much bodily harm. He just wanted to cause the normal ‘you get on my last nerve bro’ amount, you know. “But yeah, probably not the smartest idea to punch with a half-healed hand.” His grin was a bit sheepish as he flexed his fingers a bit under the brace. His slow, janky werewolf healing had only done so much, but luckily for the both of them Noah’s bones were pretty much fused back together by this point. It was just residual pain and soreness he was feeling now. Or at least that’s what he hoped. Sitting there, Noah just looked at Winn waiting for the other to say something. But when Winn finally spoke he almost wished he hadn’t. “Wait, your dad? Your dad is in that car?” Noah’s eyes widened with what could only be described as sheer terror. Shit. Fuck. Winn’s father just saw him deck the living shit out of his son. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Scrambling to his feet, Noah pulled Winn up surprisingly quickly (and surprisingly forcefully for a dude with a broken hand) brushing off all the grass she could see in the moment. Because he did not just punch Winn in the face and then cry on top of him, no sir. He was civilized, okay? He was a good… friend, okay?

“Want me to kiss it better, bro?” Winn said before he could really stop himself. Thankfully, Winn was pretty sure Noah had only heard the bit about his dad. “Uhhh,” he said, being yanked up and stumbling for a moment. He felt Noah’s hands brushing him off, which, like, okay, down boy. But the stumble was going to turn into a fall if he didn’t steady himself. He threw one hand out, landing on Noah’s shoulder. The other grasped at his hip. And, oh, come on. He could hear his father laughing, even through the glass, and Winn whipped his head around to mouth ‘SLEEP’ as well as he could. The street was well lit, so hopefully his dad had seen him. He wanted to spare Noah some of the embarrassment. “Um, it’s, uh.” Winn hastily removed his hands from Noah’s body, shoving them in his pockets like a teenager. “He’s asleep, man. He’d sleep through a bomb.” And if Winn was talking louder than usual, well, hopefully Noah wouldn’t notice, and they could pretend his dad hadn’t seen that, and when Winn introduced Noah to his dad — uh, not like that — both of them could get away unscathed. “So, um, we prolly need to… talk, right? I mean, like, really talk? I can, um. I can stay, now? I’ll wake up Dad, get him to drive him and Den back to the house, and I’ll grab an Uber or somethin’ when we’re done?”

But, as if on cue, Winn’s head whipped around as he heard a howl, deep and mournful. It wasn’t a Full Moon. It didn’t sound like Luke. Shit, shit, shit. A number of terrible scenarios ran through Winn’s head, and he swung his head back around to look at Noah. “I— I don’t want to leave,” you, “but you— you heard that, right? That sounds…” He grabbed Noah’s good hand tightly between both of his, “I swear, I’ll be back tonight. And we can talk. Or we can talk tomorrow. Or any time. I just. I don’t want you to think this is me tryin’ to get out of talkin’, I’m just worried ‘bout whoever that was.” Winn’s frown deepened. Was. He sure hoped that wasn’t about to be literal.

Noah would have taken note of all the extra hand placements made by one Winn Woods, if he wasn’t straining to see inside of the car, his mind worrying about Winn’s dad more than Winn. He could deal with the later later, after all. Focusing back on Winn, Noah tried to get himself to calm down a little bit more, but that's when he heard it. It was faint, but it was there, his ears ringing with howling. Looking over to Winn, Noah saw his body language change, all this happy hopeful energy dissipating in and instant. Howling meant bad. Good. “Go.” Noah nodded, after Winn spoke, pushing the other man towards the car. His heart was beating loudly in his chest, but he held firm in his convictions. Someone else definitely needed Winn more than he did right now. “You don’t have to come back, just text me when you figure out what's up, okay?” Noah patted Winn’s shoulder gently, not really wanting to turn around and go back into the house but knowing he had to. So he did, slowly and deliberately, only stopping to look back at Winn and his dad once before he closed the door and bolted the lock.

#wickedswriting #para #Noah #Homecoming

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