#pocket-buddy-extension

[iheartcake123]

rafayel x f!reader

when he gets you a cat

a/n: this was honestly so fun to write!!😭🫶

warnings: none

Masterlist

your apartment was small, sunlit, and cluttered with things rafayel liked to call “trinkets” but you knew were very important emotional support objects. you were currently curled on the couch, scrolling through an adoption site, cooing every few seconds.

“you’re doing it again” came rafayel’s voice, amused but wary.

you looked up to find him leaning against the kitchen doorway, coffee in one hand, black sweater sleeves pushed up to his elbows.

“doing what?” you asked, feigning innocence.

he raised an eyebrow “shopping for small, furry chaotic demons.”

you pointed your phone screen toward him, displaying an image of a calico kitten the size of a slipper “look at her. her name is biscuit. she likes lounging in the sun and sleeping in hoodie pockets.”

he sipped his coffee like it was a tranquilizer “i’m not even going to pretend this is a rational decision.”

“you live with me. let’s be real rationality left this apartment the minute you started alphabetizing our tea shelf”

“because order is the foundation of civilisation”

“and kittens are the foundation of joy”

he stared at you like he was calculating your emotional trajectory and determining it was a lost cause. you set your phone down and crossed your arms.

“you hate them. but they have tiny beans. fluffy bodies. little mittens and they purr, rafayel. they purr.”

“i’m aware of what cats do. i’ve studied their capabilities extensively and i don’t hate them. i just—don’t trust anything that climbs your curtains, screams at 3 a.m., and then stares at you like you’re the problem. not to mention their unpredictability”

you huffed “that’s rich, coming from a man who once spent forty-eight hours straight organizing his spice rack by emotional tone”

he pointed a finger “that was one time and cinnamon is objectively comforting.”

“raf, just want a little buddy. something to come home to when you’re out working late. something warm and soft and purry.” you pouted.

“i don’t see the need when you have me…” rafayel’s face softened for half a second and then he walked over, leaned down, and kissed your forehead “but i’ll think about it”

over the next few days you hadn’t brought it up again. you assumed his silence meant a gentle but firm “no.”

but surprisingly two weeks later, you came home from a long day at work, your eyes tired and legs aching, to find him standing awkwardly by the kitchen table, trying (and failing) to keep a very tiny gray kitten from crawling up his arm.

in an instant you froze.

he looked up and met your stunned gaze with a sigh “her name is mushroom. she likes your sweater drawer, apparently. and has an obsession with climbing”

you immediately forgot about your tiring day and rushed over, scooping the kitten up and nearly crying into her fur. she immediately started purring, nuzzling into your neck like you were already her person.

“you did this for me?” you asked, voice cracking slightly.

“she’s allegedly low-maintenance” rafayel muttered, looking like he regretted all his life choices “the shelter lady said she’s mellow and calm. which is a lie. she tried to climb the coat rack while i was signing papers”

you looked up at him, eyes wide and bright “youre amazing. i can’t believe it! you hate cats!”

he gave a helpless shrug “i don’t hate them. there’s a difference, plus you kept pouting and you wanted joy. i can’t compete with joy. so, i brought you some.”

you kissed him before you could stop yourself, grateful, a little teary and with the kitten still tucked between your arm.

you pulled back just enough to see his face. his rare, quiet smile met you halfway.

“i love her” you whispered.

“she’s tolerable.”

“and i love you” you added and then wrapped your free arm around him and he playfully rolled his eyes as he returned it.

over the next few weeks, you both got accustomed to living with the fluffy ball of happiness.

for you, it was instant but rafayel, not so much.

it started with a silent standoff.

rafayel was sat rigid on the couch, flipping through some dense psychology book with the intensity of a man refusing to acknowledge the tiny gray kitten now curled beside his thigh. mushroom kept inching closer, purring just loud enough to make her presence undeniable.

you watched from the doorway, trying not to laugh.

“she’s not going away, you know” you said aloud.

“i’m aware” he muttered without looking up “she’s been breathing directly onto my leg for twenty minutes now”

“she likes you”

“she’s plotting something” he flicked his eyes toward the kitten “don’t think I don’t see you, tiny manipulator”

mushroom yawned in response, blinking at him. and the she placed one dainty paw on his leg like it was a diplomatic gesture.

in an instant rafayel froze.

“…she’s touching me”

“she’s bonding with you”

“she’s asserting dominance. mocking me!”

you walked over, scratched mushrooms chin and then kissed the top of his head.

“you’re doing great” you whispered. he huffed and brought his book back up to continue reading.

it took a while but over the next few weeks, the cold war turned into an uneasy truce.

you caught them sharing the couch often. rafayel sitting stiffly at first, then slowly, almost imperceptibly, relaxing when mushroom curled into his side.

you never commented. you didn’t have to.

one night, you came home late, arms full of groceries, and heard rafayel talking.

“and then you pulled the curtain rod down on yourself. again”

you paused outside the living room. hisbvoice was soft and patient.

mushroom gave a chirp in response, like she was proud of the chaos.

“i told you. gravity exists, it’s not a suggestion.anyway, let’s read the rest of this book now”

you peeked in to find him on the floor, cross-legged, with mushroom nestled in his lap like she was born there. he was gently stroking her head with one hand and the other holding a book. she was purring like a motor.

he glanced up and saw you. he stuttered and looked almost embarrassed.

you only smiled in response.

“she’s converted you” you placed the groceries down.

“she tricked me” he said not looking directly at you, though his hand didn’t stop petting her “ i blinked and suddenly i care if she eats her food or not”

“you’re soft now” you teased

he huffed “don’t tell the kitten. she’ll take credit.”

“she already has” you whispered.

rafayel pouted. he knew you were right.

________________________________________________________

the storm outside rolled in suddenly with thunder cracking like the sky was tearing in half.

mushroom,who had up until then been contentedly nesting in your laundry basket, bolted. a gray blur of fur, panic, and tiny squeaks, she dove under the couch seeking refuge.

you jumped up, scanning for her “mushroom?”

from the kitchen, rafayel popped his head out, he had a cup of tea in his hand and his eyebrows knit in confusion.

another rumble shook the windows. you both then heard the low, desperate mewl from the shadows.

“she’s scared,” you said, already crouching beside the couch.

rafayel has now placed his tea down and was beside you.

“shes hiding like she owes someone money” rafayel muttered, as he kneeled down, peering under “mushroom. come out”

a pair of wide, panicked eyes stared back.

“she won’t move” you whispered, your heart hurting at how scared your baby looked “look at her, she’s trembling.”

rafayel sighed and then, without a word, laid flat on the floor and slid his long arm under the couch. there was a brief scuffle and rafayel gently murmured “i’m not going to hurt you, stop being dramatic”

and then he pulled her out.

mushroom clung to him like a baby koala, her little body shaking, claws caught in the front of his hoodie.

rafayel then stood slowly, carefully adjusting his hold. one arm cradled under her back legs, the other supporting her head and body like he’d done this a hundred times before. she didn’t squirm.

she didn’t even blink. just buried her face into the crook of his neck and purred like she’d found her safest place in the world.

you watched, heart melting, as he walked her to the couch and sat down, still cradling her.

“she holding you like a teddy bear” you whispered.

“she’s terrified” he said quietly “the noise from thunder hits a frequency that probably makes her feel like the universe is collapsing”

“that’s really empathetic of you” you blinked.

“i’m multi-dimensional” he said dryly, grabbing a blanket and adjusting it around her “tell anyone i did this and i’ll deny it”

“she looks like a literal baby in your arms”

“she is a baby. a judgmental, emotionally manipulative baby.”

mushroom let out a soft, grateful trill and nestled even deeper into him.

and then you saw it—the tiniest smile tug at the corner of rafayel’ mouth as he looked down at her.

you decided join and sat beside him, resting your head on his shoulder.

she had rafayel wrapped around her tiny paw.

and he didn’t even try to fight it.

[catiuskaa]

Game On, Game Boy.

SUMMARY: dating someone from the opposing team is banned? So what? Minho isn’t dating that cute girl with the purple headset, they clearly hate each other! …wait, what? You never said it was her? O-oh… um, well…

REQUESTED! here by my pookie dookie @15092000volcano, who OMG LOVE YOU GOT SOME IDEAS���️ and i’m 100% here for it!

WC: 3.8k

CW: extensive use of curse words, use of petnames, gaming lingo that i won’t explain (sorry), a sneaky mention of changlix and a ridiculously explicit mention of hyunin because idk broski i just felt like it

[♦️★ 🎯 ★♦️]

“Are you sure this is the section you’re supposed to be in, Lee?”

Minho’s eyes turned darker and he chuckled a cold laugh that could’ve frozen the Han river over a hundred times.

No one noticed the slight smile he let out that was quickly hidden again.

“Look who it is,” Minho beamed a newly found energy, as if a dark, bad, and rude soul had just taken control of his mean smile. “If it isn’t other than the wrongly chosen personality hire of… mhh… I don’t remember… sorry, dollface, what’s the name of your team again?”

Behind him, a blond guy stared at him, eyebrows shot up, eyes wide. He turned around and faced one of his other team players.

“Hey, hyung. Does Minho know that girl?” Felix asked in a low voice. “He… doesn’t look too happy.” That was a nice way to put it.

Changbin rolled his eyes at the encounter, throwing his arm over Felix’s shoulders.

“Her username is something like ‘soondondori25”. Minho and her met a while back, in high school. As little as he’s said, one thing’s for sure: they really don’t like each other.”

Despite it not looking too good for the team the fact that its leader wasn’t behaving with their opponents, Seo huffed, not paying any mind to the arguing pair, unlike Felix, whose eyes stayed glued to his other hyung and the new girl, still going at each other.

"I bet you’re still using the overpowered weapon. Can’t really get past Nerf Bastian, can ya?” You stated mockingly, your cheeks red as you kept arguing. “I guess you need all the help you can get."

"Says the one who relies on camping. Can't face me head-on, huh?” Minho grinned with a sense of superiority, stepping forward. “Scared, dollface?”

You bit your lip, your eyes locked on his.

"You won’t need to worry about my team’s name, sweetie. I’ll make sure you never forget it.” Your stare would’ve burnt a forest just by staring at the grass for a bit too long.

“Still can't win without relying on cheap strategies, can you?"

Minho settled his hands on his pockets, halfly staring down at you, as if mocking your height.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” You chuckled lowly. You said it with a smirk, which Minho was fast to return. “Still stuck on that low-tier character, right? It seems like you need to step up your game, buddy."

“Oh, please!” Minho passed a hand through his hair, his tone hinting mocked amusement. He bent down lightly, his face in front of yours. “You're just a sore loser who can't handle a fair fight. Go back to your corner and cry some more, dollface.”

“Keep telling yourself that. We both know you're just jealous I'm better at this game than you."

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, dollface. I still manage to win against you. Seems like you're just bitter about losing."

The battle of comebacks kept going on, both of you stepping closer to each other with each sentence, as if about to throw hands.

“Ah, fuck! They do this every year!” Someone from your team approached the both of you while cursing. You ignored him at first, but then halfly gasped, facing your teammate.

“Jisung, I swear he started.”

“Yeah, Jisung. I started.” Minho cackled mockingly. “Tell Santa so I don’t have toys this Christmas.”

Han squinted at Minho. “Sure. As if I fucking care.” He then turned to face you, handing you a red shirt. “Yours. We’re red for the first round.” He stated seriously, taking on the role of team leader.

Minho and you stared at each other deeply just as Jisung flew the scene, missing how you two were basking in the glow of shared secrets.

“I’m team red, bunny,” you snickered at him in a smug tone. “You know what that means.”

“Superstition is for the rookies, dollface,” he said, his smile confirming the nickname you gave him was well justified.

No one knew the troubles the both of you had gone through. That’s why you smiled, knowing that when the round ended and you were both done for the day, —when you won, of course—, your boyfriend would still owe you a kiss.

All this mean smack talk was purely for the benefit of the other rival teams. Minho was happy to let you prove yourself to those who couldn’t grasp the idea that a girl in sparkly, cute dresses and what some would call ‘over the top’ makeup belonged in the competition. Minho and you both knew that one of the toughest rounds would certainly be against one another. You know exactly how good of a gamer he is, and likewise, his team had already heard about how your team had broken records during trials —named team Levanter, even if your endearing opponent pretended not to know it—, but there was no real animosity here.

Not an easy thing to hide, considering that to you it was obiously noticeable how Minho’s eyes hadn’t left your lips in what seemed like ten minutes. But yeah. No animosity. Just a knack for competition. And a bet that decides who’s making dinner for the night, but right now…

Right now was about the fight.

Both team Levanter and team Thunderous were sat in places, red vs blue once again as several cameras from the streaming platform that broadcasted the event were turned on, recording each player while the ref briefly introduced them with a loud tone for the crowd.

“Levanter, ready?” He asked with a smile meant for the thousands and thousands of viewers streaming online as the camera focused on him shortly.

“Ready,” Jisung smirked, to which everyone in your team logged in the computers before you as a response.

“Thunderous, ready?”

Minho smiled in your direction, holding back a chuckle when he noticed you had already been staring, then threw a wink at him.

“Ready,” he said.

You two exchanged a glance, openly competitive, any other meanings hidden between you two and the red thread that joined your little fingers, a silent agreement breaking the rules —the same ones you broke barely half an hour ago, when his lips consumed yours, or that you’re probably going to be rehashing the whole gameplay in your shared apartment and no one will know.

(And sure, you might do other things, too.)

The sound blasted in your headset when you settled it in place. You gave one last look to Minho, and he mumbled towards you with a smile.

“See you on the other side, dollface.”

“You’re the worst.” An easy shorthand for love you.

He smiled, and there was a knowledge that made your heart smile too, because winning or losing, in the end, you were coming back to his arms.

Your hands tightened and you cracked your knuckles, settling them back in place, one over the keyboard and the other on the mouse. You were nervous, yeah, but not afraid. This was your comfort zone. This is your comfort zone.

“COUNTDOWN,” the ref shouted, the numbers showing up in the complete view in the big screen behind him. “STARTING IN 3…! 2…! 1…!”

[♦️★ 🎯 ★♦️]

The vehicle shuddered when you closed the door with a thud.

You two stayed in silence for a bit, merely listening to the rain as the droplets hit the car nonchalantly.

“Can I be smug about it?” You smiled cheekily.

“Just ‘cause I ain’t that much of a sore loser, you get two minutes.” He scoffed with fake annoyance, which wasn’t truly worrying because he didn’t put any effort on hiding his smile, too.

You snickered, turning your body to face him, teasing him even before starting.

“But you owe me something first, dollface.”

You rolled your eyes. “It ain’t even that good of a nickname, Min.”

But then his hand, always a little colder than yours, swiftly gripped you by your neck, fingers stroking your nape as you held back a shiver, easily less than an inch away from him now.

“Would you rather I call you buddy?”

You smiled, eyes wondering where to focus, in a trance between his eyes, deep and enticing, or his lips, sweet and so stupidly kissable.

“Hurt much?” You pouted mockingly. You were obviously not expecting him to bite your lower lip.

He laughed, a menace he was, but he was quickly winned over —dare I say once more— when you pulled him towards your lips by tugging at the collar of his shirt.

Minho smiled as you let him take control.

“Your two minutes are over.” He whispered over your lips, leaving a small peck on your forehead before turning to the steering wheel.

You were about to complain, but that was before his hand, a bit warmer now, was strategically placed just a bit further up your knee.

He gave you a playful side eye.

You rolled your eyes again, to which he chuckled.

“Before you start snickering and bitching about what you want for dinner, princess,” Minho started speaking with a smile, his hand not leaving your leg as he started the engine, “seeing as I didn’t go to the grocery store and neither did you, we’re doing take-out.”

“That’s so unfair!” You argued as he manoeuvred to get the car out of the parallel spot. You stayed silent until he did, faking a pout. “You made me buy groceries last time I lost.”

He cackled. “Because I drive, silly.”

You glared at him. He grinned.

“I’ll call your mom.” You threatened. “I’ll make sure she takes the cats with her the days you have free.”

He gave you a stare with wide eyes once he encountered a red light.

“But honey, those are my children too.” His fake tone of worry was too funny to not burst out in laughter, to which he happily joined in.

“Shits and giggles aside, don’t,” he smiled. “Last time you did she told my dad and he still makes jokes about it.”

You acted smugly as you fetched for the aux cord and plugged it to your phone, scrolling down through your music app.

“Of course he does,” you snorted with a toothy grin. “I’m amazing. And even if we’re doing take-out I will beat the shit out of you if you don’t make lasagna before Friday.” You threatened again with a silly smile. “You know I can.”

He snorted too, his hand playfully squeezing your leg for a second.

“I know,” he mumbled absentmindedly, tracing patterns over your knee. “But we’re getting sushi tonight.”

The idea seemed nice enough, so in a silent agreement you settled on a playlist you knew he’d sing along to. Just as Wonder Girls started to play, he giggled, his hand tickling your knee —something as ticklish as confusing, really—.

“Cheeky.” He snickered, unable to not join in to your efforts into making the korean lyrics make sense, singing for a fun time, not a long one, specially when after Tell me finished, the next songs calmed down the upbeat vibe and soothed it sweetly, your boyfriend humming only when he concentrated on the road ahead.

He shoved you one of his hoodies that he had kept in the seats in the back, because he knew you’d show up with clothing that as beatiful as you looked with it, he just clicked his tongue and tutted at you when you tried to enter the restaurant after he parked, and sneakily locked the doors. You squinted your eyes at him.

“Put that on, missy.” He snickered, eyebrows up. “As funny as the idea may seem, cold as a concept isn’t psychological.”

You chuckled at his commentary, and quickly threw it on, a silly smile on your face when you realized that it smelled like him.

“Sure, Mr Charmer.” You shook your head sideways, smirking once he unlocked the car and you could open the door. “For the record, pretty boy, I’m just doing it cause you left money on the pocket.” You cackled and skipped inside the restaurant, with him chuckling just a bit behind you.

The restaurant was fairly empty, saving a couple of tables that were reserved for later and other customers that had barely started to eat.

You hid the twenty bucks bill you found in your phone case, and Minho pretended to forget about it when he saw you grin. You smiled at him gingerly, thinking where would it be a good place to put the it in where he could find it later.

He let you choose from the menu, trusting your taste and letting you pick the items for the both of you, doozing off slowly, distracting himself with the strange tipping device that the restaurant had on the counter top. Upon inspection, it was clearly a lucky cat figure, that when coins were placed on its hand, he’d just… eat them…?

“To go, yeah?” the young man at the counter asked with a tiny smile, wearing a small name tag that read “JEONGIN” in big letters.

You nodded, but noticed ‘Jeongin’ gave your really-interested-in-the-stupid-ass-tip-animal-robot company a look, and you stared at Minho too, scratching your cheek absentmindedly.

“Is he with you?” He asked nonchalantly, merely starting small talk.

You smiled. “Yeah. A girl needs a wallet from time to time.”

He snorted, nodding in agreement. “He’s… something.”

“Thanks. He’s rescue.”

You felt a hand slither into the pockets of your hoodie. Well. Technically his.

“Stop telling people that.” He huffed, laying his forehead on your shoulder.

Jeongin snickered at the two of you. “My boyfriend is a rescue too,” he winked. “This is his uniform, because he used mine by mistake and stained it with soja sauce.”

“Oh. So you’re not Jeongin, I guess?” You chuckled gently.

“I’m Hyunjin.” He corrected with a smile. After a bit, he handed you your order in a plastic bag. “It was nice to meet you two!”

You waved back with a sheepish smile as you two exited.

[♦️★ 🎯 ★♦️]

“WHAT?!” You screamed, the mic on your purple headset able to catch it flawlessly, as in response you started hearing laughs.

You stared at the screen, the music lowering as your character approached your house —or what used to be your house—.

“Y-yeah,” Seungmin’s voice chimed in, who tried to explain once more in between laughs, “Changbin added landscape mods o-or something,” he chuckled. “The storms can start fires.”

“B-HUH?” You frowned, trying to extinguish the fire that remained around. “Fuck that! What the fuck was Notch onto with this bullshit?”

Felix and Changbin still were unable to speak, as they continued to laugh loudly in the call. You went to Discord for a second, and muted them both. “You guys, shut up!”

They were muted, so you couldn’t possibly know if they had listened to you —most likely not—. Going back to Minecraft, you went in your house, and started looking around in your chest room if you had any wood to spare to repair the ceiling.

“Motherf- I gotta go chop wood?” You scoffed. “Brother.” You were starting to get pissed off, so you breathed in, fixing your glasses in position and your mind went back to the stream, and you started talking to the chat while getting the materials.

“Shit, I ran out of torches,” you cursed, going on your inventory to see if you had more. Oops. You didn’t. And you didn’t have much food either. Suddenly, zombie noises started to blast in your headset, several arrows hitting you.

“Fuckfuckfuck,” you used your shield, trying to find your enemies. “Where is this bitch?”

Minho went to the kitchen, that was a door away from your streaming room, able to hear loud noises coming from inside. He raised his eyebrows, wondering what could be happening in the gameplay.

“MOTHERFUCKER?! I DON’T— FUCK THIS SHIT! IT’S DISGUSTING. HEY, IT’S DISGUSTING THAT- THIS FUCKING ASSHOLE. HE’S AN IDIOT. HOPE HE CHOKES ON LENTILS, FUCK!”

You stormed out of the room, encountering Minho barely a couple steps away from the door.

He blinked, puzzled. “I’m making lasagna…?”

You struggled to calm down, just knowing you didn’t want to lash out at him.

“Time-out?” He questioned, wondering if you wanted some time on your own.

You flinched when you finally realized he was in front of you, your shoulders lowering and your body physically relaxing as you sighed and shook your head sideways.

“A storm burned down part of my roof and then a creeper blew me up when I was trying to fix it.” You sighed. “And then Changbin stole all my materials.”

“Did you turn off stream?” He wondered soothingly, his hands cupping your face and lightly scratching the back of your head.

You shook your head again. “I just turned the camera and the mic off, but it’s still on.”

“And you want to keep playing?”

“Yeah.” You smiled, one of your hands traveling to his. “Thanks, Min.”

He entered the streaming room with you, his arms over your shoulders.

“Where is she though?” Changbin questioned. “She’s not answering.”

“Dude.” Felix let out in shock.

“Lix?” Seungmin questioned.

“Guys, look at her stream.”

Minho left a peck on your head and ruffled your hair.

“Text me if you need anything, yeah?”

You smiled. “Thanks, bunny.”

You put your headphones back on, moving the mouse to turn on the screens again.

…maybe the camera hadn’t exactly been turned off.

You stared at the stream, eyes wide open as the chat started going wild.

…oops.

[♦️★ 🎯 ★♦️]

catiuskaa, may 2024 ©

~kats, who now wants to go play some minecraft.

[xiiithhazard]

The Watcher

Word Prompt 18 – Concert

@year-of-the-echidna

…

It’s Tails birthday and Sonic takes them to experience a common human custom. In the meantime, Tails learns a little more about his new brother Knuckles. (Movie Verse) – @year-of-the-echdina – Word Prompt 18: Concert

…

Don’t get caught – that was Tom’s only rule. However, Maddie’s list had been a lot more extensive and thorough. It also included words like illegal, highly flammable, morally questionable, and potentially life-threatening. Which Sonic had insisted were just other ways to say ‘extra fun’ and ‘a strong maybe’.

Tails wasn’t so sure, but he trusted his brother or wanted to anyway. Even so, he felt better knowing that Knuckles was coming along, as the echidna had no problem putting the hedgehog in his place, if he was taking something too far.

This would be their first outing together, that hadn’t involved saving the world or helping with the restoration of Green Hills. It was just the three of them and Tails was practically hopping, he was so excited.

They hadn’t exactly had a concept of ‘Birthdays’ on Mobius. But now that he knew what they were about, he was ready to put in a petition to start one. And it was just that much more exciting knowing that his first one would also be his first year with actual friends to join him. That alone made it impossible for the fox to care about what Sonic had planned for them. All that mattered to him was that it was done together.

“Ready, Buddy?” The hedgehog proclaimed, as they gathered in the yard, all three of them now donned in odd clothing that made them look like common ‘teens’ at least that’s what Maddie had called it.

Sonic had a black shirt with a skull on it, a black leather jacket, and torn black pants. Tails was given a long-sleeved dark blue sweater, black pants, and a baseball cap. While Knuckles had donned his Reno cowboy hat, a matching leather coat, with blue jeans. He looked the most out of place, once they stepped through the portal to where Sonic was taking them.

“Whoa.” Tails proclaimed, his face splitting open with a smile, as he looked around at the massive outdoor stadium, filled with people. Most of which were screaming and cheering, waiting for something to happen on the stage at the center of it all.

“What is this den of madness?” Knuckles grumped, as he came up next to him and looked down over the rim. The ring had dropped them on the roof, where no one would really be able to get a good look at them. yet they weren’t entirely out of place, as there were a few others nearby. Thankfully, they’d all been too focused on the stage to notice their portal.

“Sonic called it – a ‘concert’.” Tails answered, before looking back as Sonic finally joined them, with Tom peeking through for just a second.

“Remember, back by 5.” He ordered, pointing at Sonic in a stern manner and the hedgehog grinned, waving him away. But also winked, like they were sharing a secret. Then the portal closed, and they were left to themselves.

“Alright boys.” Sonic declared, checking his phone. “We got 10 minutes and we’re gonna need snacks.” He stuck his hand in the pocket of his jacket and fished out a wad of cash Tom had given them. “Back in a sec.” Then he was gone.

Excited, Tails followed the example of the other people some distance away and fit his legs through the safety bars, so that he could watch the stage for any activity. Only to look up when Knuckles didn’t join him and frowned.

“You okay?” He asked as his brother was holding the rim of his hat down, to cover his eyes.

“It is quite bright here.” He pointed out, which was true. For being dark outside, the insane amount of lights made it almost look like it was daytime. Just with a much more elaborate array of colors.

Tails felt his ears fall slightly, as he could imagine that Knuckles wasn’t the kind of person to enjoy such a thing. After all, Echidnas were an underground dwelling race, which had made their eyesight rather poor and sensitive to bright lights.

“Here, this should help.” The fox proclaimed, quickly taking the sunglasses off his head and handing them over. It took Knuckles a second to figure them out, as they didn’t quite fit his face, but he was soon able to look around without going blind. “Better?”

His brother turned to him and smiled, reaching over to lay his massive hand on the fox’s head. Somehow managing to seem heavy, while also gentle. “Better.” He agreed and Tails perked up again.

“So – what do you think is gonna happen?” Tails asked, shifting to look below them as far as he could manage, and kicked his feet at the crowd below.

“I do not know. Maddie said there would be music though.”

That was always nice. “Did you have music in your village?”

“We did.” Knuckles stated, calmly walking up to the railing, though he chose not to sit. “We had celebrations for many things. All of which included music. Many – were held under the stars.”

Tails looked over again, as his brother’s voice grew soft and he found the echidna watching the sky, though he appeared rather solemn. Looking up as well, the fox learned why. Once again, the bright lights had blocked his sight. Even the moon was barely visible, despite a little more than half of it being lit.

He didn’t know all that much about The Echidna’s culture, they’d been rare to come by, even before he was born. But he could easily guess that the moon was very important to them. Seeing as their natural fur coloration displayed one.

“What was your favorite?” He asked, trying to come up with a distraction that might make the experience better for Knuckles. He smiled when his brother looked down at him again, which seemed to make Knuckles smile as well.

“Lunaka’Mora.” He quoted and Tails frowned, trying to translate it. Knuckles laughed. “It is the Festival of the Moon Watcher.” He explained, looking back at the sky, despite not being able to see it. “It is the first full moon after the winter solstice. When it is at its brightest and strongest. We would use glowing minerals to mark a star path for our ancestors. Guiding them to the festival and letting them walk among us again. When the moon was at its peak, we would dance for them and play music and bring offerings. Our elders would tell stories of how the stars were born. And battles between the Great Sky Beast and the Moon Watcher, who was said to be our original guardian.”

“What’s a – Great Sky Beast?” Tails asked, leaning forward, his tails flicking with anticipation.

“A creature that was said to have swallowed the stars. When it was defeated, they had to be put back individually. But no one knew their original potions. So, the Watcher decided to form them into images.”

“The constellations.” Knuckles smiled before looking down at the fox and nodded.

“That’s right.”

“What was your favorite part of the ceremony?” His brother’s smile only grew, as he leaned over the railing to tell the story.

“At midnight, the tribe would go silent and watch the sky. It was believed that if a star fell during that time, it would be a message from our ancestors. And the first person to see that star would be the one to receive the message. It would come to them in the form of a dream. That person was therefore known as the Dream-Seer for the coming year.” He looked down so their eyes could meet for a moment. “I was once that Seer.” He whispered and Tails lit up.

“Cool. What was the message?”

Knuckles looked over the edge of the roof for a moment, before closing his eyes and recited it in a calm, quiet tone. “The river does not fear the stone, nor does the tree fear the storm. Walk where the light touches, and you will not be lost.”

Tails felt a pleasant little shiver run up his spine and giggled. “What does that mean?” He asked, but Knuckles only laughed and shook his head.

“I do not know. I was young and accustomed to our elders speaking in riddles. I never thought to ask.” “Oh – well that’s still cool.” The fox murmured and Knuckles looked down at him again, he nodded.

“Yes. It was.”

“Alright.” Sonic proclaimed, as he blurred into existence, carrying a gigantic tray of foodstuffs. Just as the lights around them dimmed and the stage became the only light source. Causing the crowd to explode with sound.

Immediately, Knuckles jumped over to cover Tail’s sensitive ears. Allowing his large, gloved hands to almost completely block out the volume, so his hearing would not be harmed. The fox laughed and beamed up at him, as he held onto his brother’s hands and watched as the stage came to life. And a couple of people dressed similarly to Sonic jumped onto instruments, while a few more took the mics.

“Hello Switzerland.” Their leader proclaimed, which shocked Tails, he hadn’t realized they’d traveled that far to see this thing. But it was worth it just to see how excited Sonic was, when the band declared itself under the name ‘Crush 40’ and started their concert. Despite the cheering crowd, even Knuckles eventually started bobbing his head to the music. And soon they were all singing along with the lyrics.

…

(7 months later)

Knuckles stopped in the hallway of the Wachowski house, raising an eyebrow at the floor, which had been decorated with glowing plastic stars. Slowly he followed the path up to the attic, where he found that everything had been covered in thick, dark sheets, completely obscuring all the light from the afternoon sun outside.

“Hey.” Tails proclaimed, his whole body practically vibrating with excitement, as he stood up from the little device he had placed in the center of the room.

“What is going on?” Knuckles asked, stepping cautiously into the room.

“I have a surprise for you. Can you get the lights.” The fox announced and though he paused for a moment in confusion, the echidna did as he was told. Thus, throwing the room into total darkness.

It didn’t last very long though, as a second later Tails’ device was turned on and the walls and ceiling were covered in a tapestry of stars. Though it was beautiful, Knuckles was still confused, until he realized that he recognized these stars.

They were not the ones from Earth, but from his own home.

“You ready?” Tails asked, almost giddy as Knuckles slowly walked over to stand with him, unable to take his eyes off the sky, until his curiosity got the better of him and he looked down at his little brother.

“Ready for what?” He whispered, almost afraid to ruin the majesty of it all. So, instead of talking, Tails just pointed to one corner of the room, and he looked around to find that a sliver of a moon could now be seen as well. Again, not the moon of Earth, but his moon. The one from his childhood.

Carefully, he walked over and raised his hand to touch the drape where it rose, allowing the light to be cast over his hand.

“It’s in real time.” Tails pointed out and he looked back at the little fox, stunned into silence. “It’s the winter solstice. From back home. It’s happening right now.” He declared, actually hopping around, he was so excited. “And I have music and offerings. We can do the Festival of the Moon Walker.”

For a couple of minutes, all Knuckles could do was stare at him, causing the fox to slowly stop moving and curl up a little, as if afraid that he’d done something wrong.

“If – if that’s okay?” He whimpered, forcing Knuckles out of his stupor, before he just smiled and looked up at the stars again, actually feeling tears in his eyes for a moment. Until he turned back to Tails and lifted the fox up onto his shoulders.

“I would like nothing more.” He said and Tails immediately lit up again, leaning down to wrap his arms around his brother’s neck, as they watched the moon rise into the sky.

…

The End

Lunaka’Mora – Derived from Luna (Moon) and a made-up tribal suffix Mora meaning “watcher” or “guardian.”

[emberdragon34]

Convex week day 6: Natural/artificial

Someone knocks on the window.

I frown, looking over from my laptop to where a rather cheerful guy is beaming at me through the glass. He adjusts his battered hat, waving with one dirt-caked hand. For a moment, I consider just continuing with the astrophysics essay I’ve been working tirelessly on, but the uniqueness of this situation, paired with just how happy this guy looks, means I can't. Instead, I cross to the window and open it.

‘Hello? Do you need help with something?’

‘Oh! Hello there! Sorry, I’m not used to people actually responding to me knocking at their windows.’

‘Do you need help?’ I repeat.

‘Oh, no, no. I’m just curious. And I could actually reach your window from my wheelchair… the floor in there’s lower down than out here. I think. Or you’ve got really short legs.’ I have to laugh at the gardener’s rambling. He gives a little giggle back. ‘So… What’s this big building you’ve got here? What are you doing?’

‘This is the university. I’m a professor of astrophysics’

‘Oh, sweet! What’s your name?’

‘Cubfan Vex. Cub.’

‘Cub. I like that! I’m Scar, a gardener, sent to help on this big garden out here. What astrophysics do you do? What are you working on now?’

‘Star formation, mostly.’ I explain. ‘Right now, I’m working on an essay explaining my findings for this big space journal.’

‘Oooh! I love space! Have you ever seen any of the Star Wars films?’

‘I’ve seen the one with the little green guy. Yoda?’

‘Empire Strikes Back?’

‘Maybe? I dunno, I don't really watch much sci fi. But I did like that one.’

‘Well you have to watch Star Wars. The original trilogy, a lot of the other stuff, some of the modern series, you don't want to watch those. Terrible things have been done to them, Cub. But the original series?’

‘Oh for goodness- you’re talking about Star Wars?!’ another gardener questions. Soon they come into sight, wiping their sandy hands off on their red sweater. ‘I’m so sorry about Scar, he’s obsessed… come on, buddy, we need to finish planting cacti.’

‘I’m on break, though!’

‘They’re not! And your break ended 5 minutes ago.’

‘Cub’s happy to talk!’

‘Come on.’

‘Fine… bye, Cub. Sorry for disturbing you.’

‘I don't mind, man. Lovely to meet you… bye!’

‘Bye!’

Scar disappears and I close the window.

‘Dude, do you ever rest?!’ questions Doc, one of my fellow professors, as we discuss my completed paper, a few days after meeting Scar. ‘You mad lad really wrote 15,000 words in 3 days?!’

‘I just really liked the project.’

‘How many breaks did you take? None of us have seen you much in a while. You’ve been on your own a lot since-’

‘I took breaks.’ I interrupt.

‘Really?’ Doc sounds sceptical. ‘How long were your breaks? What did you do on your breaks?’

‘Dude, Doc, I’m fine. I just really got into a rhythm with writing. It’s a fascinating topic I was discussing, so I managed to write a lot about it in a short time.’

‘Did you go home and sleep? Zed told me he saw your light on at, like 4am.’

‘Why was Zedaph here at 4am?’

‘Because he’s Zedaph.’ is apparently a good enough answer for Doc. I sigh, forced to find an excuse.

‘I needed to check something through my telescope, the sky wasn’t clear until then.’

‘Don’t you have to turn the lights off for that?’

I struggle for an answer. Doc crosses his arms.

‘Come on, man. We’re all worried about you. You need to get out more. Talk to people. Find new friends. Watch films and television like a normal person,’ My gaze shifts to the window, where the gardeners are still working.

‘Mmm, yeah.’ I reply vaguely as Doc stops speaking. ‘Yeah, I will. I’m just… still processing.’

Doc places a hand on my shoulder, looking me dead in the eyes.

‘You need to move on.’

‘I’m fine,’ I repeat, perhaps a little too harsh, breaking free. I shove my hands deep into my labcoat pockets, hiding the scars. ‘Everything’s fine. I’m fine. I’m getting on with my job, making up for the time I lost,’

‘The university’s happy to give you an extension on your research. They still will be. You don’t have to overwork yourself.’

‘I’m not overworking myself.’

‘You haven’t slept in days, man!’

‘I can’t get to sleep, so I make the most of that time and work on the project I wasted half the time I was supposed to spend on. I’m distracting myself from what happened.’

‘You do realise how unhealthy that is, Cub. Aren’t your friends worried about you?’

I don’t reply. Doc realises.

‘You don’t have any friends?’

‘Of course I do. I’ve got you, and False, and Joe, and Tango always says hi when we cross paths.’

‘Outside the university, do you have any friends? Or family?’

‘Why does it matter where my friends are?’

‘Get yourself a good friend. Outside the university, someone you can go on trips with, hang out with. Disconnect from your work. Or we’re volunteering you as a research project for the psychology department. See you around.’

 Doc leaves.

Doc’s words stop me getting anything done over the next few days. Instead, I sit at the window, searching for Scar. Every second away from my research is a second I spend lost in thought about the incident. The damage to my house I’m too scared to go home and handle. The risk of it coming back. Waking up in hospital with those marks down my arm, learning what I’d done…

‘...stole part of the display just to give me a present I didn’t want?’

I blink, looking out the window at the sound of talking coming nearer.

‘You didn’t like the poppies and lilacs I gave you?’

Scar.

‘But the seeds of those poppies are really good for sleep, you said you were struggling to sleep… And lilacs, well I think I got confused between them and lavender but… Grian? Grian, where are you going? Oh man…’

I open the window, far enough to lean out and towards where Scar’s staring off after who must be Grian. After a moment, I gain the confidence to speak.

‘Scar, right?’

He gives a little scream of surprise, turning his chair sharply around. 

‘Oh- you really scared me! Hello there! Wait, you’re Cub! You’re the nice space guy I spoke to before!’

‘Are you free to chat?’

‘Well, technically no, but Grian didn’t like the flowers I gave him, so I don’t care what he thinks… what did you want to talk about?’

‘Well…’ I stare at the path outside the window. Half of me wants to mention Star Wars, and just zone out to Scar rambling about it, as he warned he could. But the other half knows Scar’s a gardener. And just heard him explain the properties of plants. And maybe he knows about other kinds of plants. That plant. ‘Well I have some plant questions.’

‘Plant questions? Go ahead! I’m no bottomist, but I know a lot.’

‘You mean botanist?’ I laugh.

‘Oh shoot I said the other thing again, didn’t I?’ Scar turns pink.

‘No worries, no worries… anyway,’ my stomach churns. I take a deep breath. ‘Do you know anything about sculk?’

Instantly, Scar recoils.

‘Sculk?’

I nod.

‘Yeah.’

‘Well… I know it’s not a real plant. It’s artificially made by some meanie people, but it still takes over your whole garden… I’ve never seen it, but apparently it also makes you act kinda weird. Apparently. I hate the stuff. Almost as much as I hate stitch, and snakes, but not quite. Why do you want to know about it? Did some get into your garden? I’m happy to deal with that, no problem.’

‘Well… not quite.’ Another deep breath. The familiar choking fear rises inside me, writhing up my arms. I start fidgeting. Consider changing the subject entirely. ‘Well about a month ago, I found sculk in my house. I tried to get rid of it. But it fought back. According to another professor, Joe, he found me covered in sculk, the house covered in sculk. But all I remember is waking up in the hospital, 3 weeks later. The doctors told me I’d nearly died.’

‘Oh my goodness,’ Scar manages to reply. ‘Oh Cub that’s awful.’

I nod, fighting tears.

‘Yeah.’

‘What can I help you with? Did they get it out your house?’

‘I don’t know. I’ve been staying at the university since. I wanted to know… I don’t really know what I wanted to know. I think I just wanted to get everything off my chest. And another professor, Doc, told me to make more friends, and you were the first person I thought of. Because you seem nice. I’m sorry, I’m rambling. You barely know me and I’m making you listen to all my troubles…’

‘It’s ok,’ Scar smiles. ‘And… well, I don’t know how to help with the sculk, I’m afraid. I don’t know how to get rid of it, but what I do know is that I’ve got lots of blankets, and space in my home, and the most amoyzing cats in the world. And all of the Star Wars movies you could ever watch, because you still need to see Star Wars. And I know that, if it would help, I’d be more than willing to have you around for as long as you wanted.’

‘You really don’t have to, man.’

‘I insist. Notch knows I’m familiar with medical emergencies. And I’ve gotta get you to watch Star Wars somehow, jeez Louise. Here, I’ll give you the address… I have a pen somewhere… and my phone number…’

‘Are you free this evening?’

‘Yeah?’

‘Can I come around then?’

‘Of course! Of course! You know the bridge over the river just over that way? I’ll meet you there at 5pm, and we’ll head off. If that works with you.’

‘Yeah. Thank you.’

‘No problem… see you there, Cub!’

I smile.

‘See you there.’

@Convexweek

This wasn't supposed to be this angsty and sculky I swear it was just supposed to be Cub and Scar befriending each other through a window.

[littleguymart]

about this blog!

welcome to @littleguymart! This is a blog of cute little guys sourced from eBay listings. I also run @littlefleamart and @littlethingsmart.

You can reblog as much as you like, and go as far back in the archives as you like. Feel free to infodump or share stories about your little guys in the tags. I also take requests, but as inspiration. This blog is for people to enjoy!

Check out people's fanart here and feel free to tag me in it!

If you're looking for help finding a specific guy, see my masterpost of search tips here.

I choose listings based on the vibe of the picture, not the price, so it’s often worth it to search for similar items and see if there’s something at a lower price if you’re looking to buy a friend. I also tag cheaper friends.

Please note that I am a part of eBay's affiliate program, which means if you click a link to eBay from this blog and make a purchase, I might get paid.

This is why my posts are tagged 'paid link'. Rates are about 1-3% of the items list price. If I do get paid, that money comes from eBay, not out of the seller's pocket.

eBay does not choose any of the listings I post and I'm not their employee. I started doing this because I enjoyed eBay-blogging for years, and this way I get some money out of it. If you want to avoid affiliate tracking, you can clear your browser's cookies, try a privacy extension, or wait 24 hours to make a purchase.

If you do happen to get a buddy, regardless of if you used the affiliate link or not, tell me and it’ll go in the adopted tag! i love it when people find a friend that makes them feel nice and especially when they show me.

As always, please don’t buy stuff on eBay if you can’t afford it or it stresses you out. Little guys are very cute, but they can look after themselves. If following is too much of a temptation, it’s okay to unfollow.

[werecat1234]

Multiverse Madness Chapter Fifty Seven

Error was just lounging on a surprisingly comfortable meteor in Outertale: Universe ID: 294, Timeline ID: 5635, looking up at the blurry and splotchy cosmos above him when he saw it in his peripherals. It was a bright blue flash, well, not blue, turquoise maybe, but it was familiar nonetheless. Irritatingly familiar. Error narrowed his eye sockets, clenching his jaw slightly as he felt his eye sockets start to itch, his strings trying to summon themselves in preparation for an attack. He was usually pretty good about not drawing them, opting to summon them from his hands due to the lack of pain when they were used, but his eye sockets were still irritated.

He couldn't see all too clearly due to his lack of glasses- he'd use contacts, but his eye sockets were sensitive enough from his strings, he didn't need pieces of plastic in there too -and all he could really see was a white and blue smudge. Error blinked, reaching into his pocket and grabbing his red glasses, putting them on. It was a very short Sans with turquoise eyelights, a blue coat with white edges, a white-rimmed pocket on each side, white cuffs, and a fluffy hood. The hood had fluffy, almost scarf-like extensions coming out of the back, and there was a diamond pin on the front of the fluffy part of the coat.

He was wearing black shorts with a white stripe down each side, and black shoes with white soles. Error glared at the skeleton, recognizing him, not only from his lack of code, but because of how much of a pest he was. They'd had an... altercation years back; back before the stupid truce with stupid Ink who was still being stupid as ever- no, he was being more idiotic than ever! Stupid was Ink's default, he was currently 'Stupid-Brainwashed-Puppet'.

Maybe 'idiotic' would be a better word, or maybe moronic? Mindless? Wait, no, he was getting off track. This wasn't about Ink, this was about this stupid, tiny fluffball, and Error didn't feel like entertaining you further by ranting on what a- an- damnit what was a good word? Nope, he wasn't going down that road again.

This wasn't about Ink, this was about Abyss. Yeah, that was what Anomaly Number Eight had taken to calling himself during his multiverse travels; Abyss. Heh, Ink's mind was practically an abyss- nope. This isn't about Ink I'm probably thinking about him more than he's capable of thinking for himself!!! Error sighed, irritated with himself, and he felt the itching in his eye sockets grow worse. 

"abyss..." Error grumbled, pushing himself to sit up, "it's been a while..."

"yeah. didn't expect to see you here, glitchy." Abyss responded, and Error glared at him.

If Abyss had code, he would be able to be viewed as a designation, like his buddy Mechatale: Universe ID: 348, Timeline ID: 4245, Character ID: Sans, but nope, no code. Which irritated Error, since he only reserved mentally calling people by their 'names' for people he didn't mind too much, and there wasn't many anomalies like that in the multiverse! Those were anomalies for anomalies!

They should be worse than regular glitches! . . . Even though he really missed his company, especially when he saw that other Underswap Sans... Error stopped himself from following that train of thought, focusing back on the stupid codeless anomaly that he had to refer to by name- unless he just insulted him this whole time. . . . That could work too.

"ugh, what the hell do you want? you looking for a rematch so i can kick your fluffy coccyx a second time?" Error questioned the munchkin cat of a Sans, and he rolled his eyelights.

"no, actually. i had come here to relax, but i didn't expect to see you here." The stupid anomaly responded, "you need to get some space from that white-void hell?"

Error scoffed, "no, i didn't. i came here to get some alone-time, which you are currently interrupting."

"oh wow, sorry. didn't mean to intrude, your highness." The fluffy germ replied sarcastically, and Error flipped him off.

"that was me telling you to leave me alone, anomaly number eight!" Error snapped.

"yeah, i got that." The Sans version of Cruella Devil said, "but i have a question for you."

"nope, no you don't." Error told him, "you're about to leave."

The hobo with a wolf-rug coat sighed, "look, i've been hearing a lot about what's been happening, alright?"

"and you're making it my problem? if you wanna rant about how the multiverse has gone to hell, i'm not the guy. see, i'm the guy who wants to rip your soul to pieces but i can't." Error informed.

"no, i don't wanna rant about it!" The glitch's hood-scarf thing fluffed up, "i wanna say i appreciate that you're trying to help."

"i'm not 'trying to help', glitch. nightmare just pissed me off, and i've got a score to settle with him and his puppets. that's all." Error scoffed, "don't get any wrong ideas."

"and the stars by your eye socket? you're a star, you know. a hero." How dare he?!

"you take that back!" Error snapped, like the word had burned him, and it had!

It'd burned his pride!

"nope. you're a hero." The stupid dandelion was seemingly enjoying pissing him off, "admit it."

"i'm not admitting to anything, since i'm not! me and dream have a common enemy, that's all there is to it." Error glared, "the stars are just to piss off nightmare."

"whatever you say." The anomaly shrugged, "at least you have the humble part of being a hero down."

". . ." Error really wanted to kill him, but noooooooo, that would just unleash a giant DNA demon thing, and Error would have to kill that, and this fluffy pest was difficult enough to kill as it was! "are you just trying to annoy me?"

"is it working?" The rabbit of a skeleton asked, and Error clenched his jaw further.

"what do you think?" Error responded.

"yes?" The blue and white pipe-cleaner replied, and Error growled.

"great, mission accomplished! now leave me alone!" Error snapped.

"why don't you go to another outertale?" The damn brat questioned.

"because i was here first! you go somewhere else!" Error demanded.

"nah, i'm good." The anomaly smirked, and Error clenched his hands into fists.

Error knew he could just go to another Outertale AU, yes, but he didn't want to, He was holding his ground here! He wasn't going to cave and leave while this toy poodle got to stay! He was the Destroyer of AUs, not a coward. 

"if you insist on staying here, will you at least shut the hell up?" Error asked.

"nope." The stupid, stubborn... . . . Damnit, Error was running out of insults. The stupid glitch was just straight up denying his request.

"why?!" Error demanded.

"because it pisses you off, and you've beaten me up multiple times in the past and it's nice annoying you." The glitch responded.

"i will beat you to a pulp." Error threatened.

"not very heroic of you." The glitch teased, and Error's patience snapped.

"oh, that's it!" Error snapped, summoning his Gaster Blasters and some glitching red bones and firing them at the anomaly.

He was expecting it, though, because he jumped back and summoned his own Gaster Blasters, firing them at Error, who teleported out of the way. The moldy blueberry's scarf morphed into wings, and he flew up into the air, summoning more Gaster Blasters and firing them at Error. Error summoned his own, firing them, and the blasts met in an explosion of turquoise and red, and Error jumped up as bones stabbed up from the meteorite he'd been on. Blue strings descended from glitching white portals, and he perched on them as he sent more bones and Gaster Blasters at the fluffball.

The anomaly dodged, much to Error's annoyance, and Error started spamming attacks, trying to catch him off guard- or maybe even make him retreat! Unfortunately, Error concentrating on where the pest was with all of his attacks meant a massive cloud of asteroid dust and reduced visibility, and that meant he couldn't tell where the brat was. He found out, though, when he felt a Gaster Blaster blast right into his back, and he grunted as he was shot into and through an asteroid.

Damnit, so that was what that felt like... . . . Error still didn't regret doing that to Ink, though. The moron deserved it for letting himself become Shattered's pet. Error pushed himself up, seeing Abyss floating there, chains similar to DNA lunging at him like his strings, and Error started traveling between meteoroids, jumping and teleporting between them to try evading the attacks, not letting himself get grabbed again. Error sent attacks at the brat, which he dodged and countered with his own, which Error evaded.

They continued this for a while, each occasionally getting in a hit, and damnit, the stupid husky puppy's bones burned at the touch; like they were electrocuting him. His eye sockets glitched and flared in error warnings with each of those damned things that managed to hit or graze him, but at least he was getting some hits in! Error was about to spam Gaster Blasters again when he saw a yellow flash between himself and the anomaly- crap! Error stopped his weapons from firing, the tiny eskimo he was fighting doing the same, and Error internally cursed.

"dream!! what are you doing here?!?!" Error questioned, a mix of confusion and frustration.

"something happened! wait, why the hell are you two fighting?" Dream asked.

"he started it!" Error and Abyss replied at the same time, pointing at each other, and Dream sighed, pinching the bridge of his nasal cavity.

"just... what happened?" Dream questioned.

"i was just relaxing, minding my own business when that brat decided to show up and piss me off! he was irritating me on purpose!" Error informed.

"yeah, but you've also kicked my coccyx more often than not, along with mecha's, and you've slaughtered countless aus, so yes, i purposely annoyed you even though you deserve much more." The fairy with husky tail wings responded, and Error grumbled, rolling his eyelights.

"yeah, well, you've deserved it." Error muttered before looking at Dream, "what happened on your end?"

"well..." Dream hesitated, "we found out that uh... well, we're going to need to be vigilant about checking codes."

Error tilted his skull a bit in confusion, asking, "someone have their strings pulled?"

"kind of..." Dream sighed, "geno got hacked by cross back in aftertale, and cross somehow figured out how to keep the physical symptoms of his code being overwritten hidden-"

"wait, what?!" Error exploded, cutting him off.

Ok, so not only was Nightmare getting glitches to be his pawns, but now he was having those glitches make him new pawns, and then he was planting those pawns among them? 

"yeah..." Dream confirmed with another sigh, "player is checking everyone else's codes, and i just came to tell you, and then found out you were fighting someone... and you both have anger towards each other."

"he tried to kill me!" The anomaly pointed at Error.

"that was years ago, grow up!" Error snapped, "well, you can't... shorty."

The glitch bristled a bit, irritated, and he glared, "i'm not that short."

"you're shorter than ink, anomaly number eight!" Error pointed out, "that's a low bar to beat!"

The blue and white fluffball summoned a Gaster Blaster, aiming it at Error, and Dream facepalmed, "error, abyss, please. the amount of negativity nightmare will get from everyone not trusting each other will be bad enough, you two fighting won't make the situation any better."

Damnit Dream, you and your stupid logic...

". . . fine..." Error sighed, "only to spite nightmare..."

"thank you..." Dream relaxed a little, "it's nice to see you again, abyss."

"you too." The white and blue Swiffer Duster replied, ". . . i still can't believe error went hero."

"I DID NOT SHUT UP ABOUT THAT!!!" Error snapped, and Dream laughed a little.

"yeah, he didn't... he's just working with me for personal reasons." Dream said.

"and the stars piss off nightmare." Error smirked.

"and you might change your mind about the aus-" Dream started.

"nope." Error denied, and Dream sighed.

"it was worth a shot..." Dream mumbled.

"he'll realize it eventually." The anomaly was wrong.

"nope, i'm not a 'good guy'. nightmare just has me pissed off." Error crossed his arms, "and you're working your way up on that list, anomaly."

"i thought i would've been higher up considering i evaded you all those times you tried to kill me. nightmare pissed you off more than that did?" The... damnit, Error was getting tired of thinking of insults, but he didn't want to stick with just one thing. Damnit.

"yup." Error confirmed.

"damn... dream, have you been handling everything ok? i mean i've seen the states of some of the aus, not to mention heard what was going on from other monsters after attacks. i could help you?" The brat offered, "i don't have a code that could get corrupted, and i want to help put a stop to nightmare."

"and shattered." Error added, "shattered sucks too."

"i've heard.... some stuff about him. i was in an outertale a while ago, and there was a bunch of underfell monsters there too. the outertale monsters mentioned something about a goopy version of dream, and they said someone was with him. some said it was ink, others didn't believe it." The glitch mentioned.

"yeah, that was ink." Error sighed, "shattered turned him into a damn sociopathic weapon. he's easier to beat, but that's because i'm me! not many others stand much of a chance."

"oh my god..." The fluffball mumbled, "that... definitely isn't good..."

"no, and i'm afraid he just keeps getting worse... we have his vials, we just need to get them to him." Dream said.

"he doesn't want them back?" The anomaly's scarf puffed up.

"no, i've tried... it still hurts to see him like this..." Dream frowned, looking down.

The ball of cotton candy walked over to him, and he put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "hey, don't worry. you'll get him back soon, i know you will. you just have to stay determined, ok? you can get him back, and you can stop nightmare. i'll help you guys out with that, gladly. i should've started helping sooner."

"thank you, abyss, really... it's not your fight-" Dream began.

"yeah, but nightmare isn't fighting fair either, and neither is that shattered guy. they're making armies, you can't take them all on by yourself, and that's why it's important for you to have others you can count on too." The glitch told him, and Dream nodded.

"this is real sweet and all, but shouldn't we go back to the omega timeline and let everyone know we've got a chihuahua working with us now?" Error questioned, interrupting the moment and making the tiny Sans bristle, visibly angry.

"yeah, but i'm trying not to die inside right now." Dream responded, and Error became confused.

"what do you mean?" Error asked.

"well, i found out that murder and knife kissed, and i have no idea how to handle it." Dream informed, and Error froze.

Those two what?!?!?

Error messages filled up Error's vision, and he crashed before he even realized what was happening.

Sheath was walking to Ccino's, in need of some form of a distraction from what just happened. He woke up a bit ago, discovering how Geno's code had been altered and how he'd been used against them, which sent shivers up his spine just to think about. He knew how it felt to have your code altered; to have the culmination of your being corrupted and twisted into something it wasn't. He was aware he was thinking differently, but he couldn't snap out of it.

All he could do was witness his own actions, aware that he would never do this, but he couldn't stop himself. It just kept getting worse, and then, that Reset where he met them at the beginning of the Ruins, laying on that bed of flowers feeling the excruciating pain in his soul, everything fading to black.... and then Knife was born, right then, right there. Everything he'd hated and feared; everything he'd fought against, all brought to life and personified into him.

'oh come on, sheath~ you know i'm not that bad....' Knife audibly smirked in Sheath's mind, and he sighed.

'you know that isn't true, knife. and i'm still mad at you!' Sheath responded.

'oh come on! what did i do?! murder's the one that kissed me!' Knife replied, glaring at Sheath through his reflection as he walked past something reflective- a series of windows from a large building.

Knife started walking next to him in his reflection, and Sheath narrowed his eye sockets a bit, 'you know what you're doing, knife. you do this every time! you wait for me to sleep before you do something you know you shouldn't, so then i can't tell color or anyone since i don't know about it! i'm not stupid, knife.'

'i never said you were.' Knife told him, the reflection crossing it's arms.

'then why do you keep acting innocent?! we both know that while murder thinks it's just a game of messing with everyone, so unless your remark on finding murder hot was some sort of way to mess with me-!' Sheath began.

'oh my god, there you go! finally!' Knife exclaimed, and Sheath passed the building before pausing, backing up to look at his reflection again.

'wait, so...' Sheath started, pausing before continuing, 'that was just to mess with me?'

'duh! what'd you think, that i was getting murder to go along with it because i was interested in him and was trying to get him to like me? i find murder amusing and entertaining, not attractive- i mean he's good looking, don't get me wrong! we have the same faces for the most part! i just find him fun to mess with and i like seeing him get pissed off. getting him to work with me on a prank that not only messed with you, but with everyone reading this- it's the best!' Knife grinned, snickering.

'quit breaking the fourth wall, knife!' Sheath snapped.

'no!' Knife refused, 'if i'm gonna be part of this story, i wanna mess with them. i wanna have fun watching the ones who are watching us get put through these games; these battles and plots- i wanna watch them start shipping something, only for it to downfall, and murder does too! he knows there's otherworldly presences observing this, and he wanted to mess with them too. neither of us are stupid.'

'but you're both certifiably insane.' Sheath mentioned.

'and aware of it! so, not stupid!' Knife smirked.

Sheath sighed, and he kept walking, Knife's eye sockets appearing in his shadow, the black voids on the darkened ground staring up at him, a smile forming next. Sheath gave it an exasperated look, and watched the mouth grow as Knife started laughing, 'you really have to choose now to mess with me? really?'

'yep!' Knife snickered, and Sheath saw Ccino's cat cafe come into view, and he quickened his steps, 'you trying to outrun me?'

'no, i know that can't happen, but i can hurry to ccino's, you can get distracted by the cats, and then you'll leave me alone!' Sheath replied.

'and you call me manipulative..." Knife chuckled.

Sheath got to Ccino's, accidentally using too much strength and throwing the door open, and a skeleton that had been sitting in one of the corner couches yelped, jumping out of his seat, and the cats scattered. Crap, he hadn't meant to do that! He recognized the skeleton, who looked like a regular Sans, just with a dark gray jacket with a fluffy white hood, and his bones were rattling.

"اللعنة..." Sheath mumbled before gently closing the door, his skull dark gray with embarrassment, and he approached the skeleton, "sorry, anxiety..."

"i-it ok!" Anxiety replied, still trembling.

Sheath fidgeted a bit with his hands, nervous, and Knife replaced his reflection in a window, 'me and murder don't have chemistry, but you two on the other hand~'

'knife, i will knock you unconscious this time.' Sheath threatened.

"can i sit down by you?" Sheath asked, and Anxiety nodded, so Sheath sat down on another part of the couch, "are you ok? sorry i scared you."

"no, don't worry! it's ok!" Anxiety reassured, sweating nervously, "i'm ok! . . . is knife giving you problems again?"

Sheath sighed, slumping down as cats started approaching them again, "you don't know the half of it."

"so yes... super.." Anxiety sighed, flinching as a cat jumped up onto his lap, put it's front paws on his chest, and headbutted him.

Anxiety blinked for a bit before petting the cat- an Underswap Sans, so that made sense why the feline was so friendly, and as if the multiverse was trying to spite him, and Dusttale Sans cat jumped up by Sheath and curled up on his lap. Sheath started petting the cat, ignoring Knife's laughter in his mind.

"how've you been otherwise?" Sheath questioned.

"g-good, mostly! just umm... just... just worried. with everything going on... is the omega timeline gonna be attacked?" Anxiety asked.

"no, of course not!" Sheath reassured, not wanting Anxiety to have a panic attack, because then he would have a panic attack trying to calm him down, "they can't get in here, so we're safe!"

"you're sure?" Anxiety double-checked.

"positive! they're not that strong, anyways!" Sheath lied.

'you smell pants burning? no? just me?' Knife questioned, and Sheath held back from sighing.

"and error being here??..." Anxiety asked, looking much more panicked.

"he won't do anything; he can't." Sheath told him, "the only way he's here is because he's helping dream and the rest of us fight nightmare and his team, and he made a deal to not hurt anyone here."

Sheath had... avoided telling Anxiety about what happened to Ink, along with Shattered's existence. Ink being... . . . it wasn't common knowledge in the Omega Timeline. As far as everyone outside of the Stars knew, Ink was just missing or doing his own thing, they didn't know what he'd been turned into. Sheath hadn't even encountered Shattered before, but from what he'd heard, he reminded him of them. Not a fun bit of knowledge.

'nope.' Knife agreed.

"oh... w-well that's good!" Anxiety smiled nervously, eyelights still shrunken from his panic, and he looked down at the cat currently trying to comfort him.

"yeah." Sheath nodded, and he heard footsteps approaching, and he looked at the source of the sound to see Ccino, "hey, ccino!"

"hey, sheath." Ccino smiled, "do either of you want anything to eat?"

"umm... can i have coffee?" Anxiety requested.

"anx, you have to eat something." Ccino sighed, "and you need sleep."

'story of our life, huh sheath?~' Knife snickered.

 "i-i'll be ok, really!" Anxiety insisted.

". . . french toast, eggs, and coffee it is! sheath, what would you like?" Ccino asked.

"uh... coffee?" Sheath answered.

". . ." Ccino went quiet again, "ok, i'm getting you some eggs, bacon, and pancakes."

"i don't think either of us are hungry, though..." Sheath mentioned.

"i think so." Ccino replied, and he went back into the kitchen of the cafe.

Anxiety sighed quietly, fidgeting with his hands, but he wasn't refusing the food.

'you could always not eat it?' Knife mentioned.

'no, that's rude, knife. anxiety will try to eat it for ccino.' Sheath informed.

'of course...' Knife sighed.

'. . . i still can't believe you got murder to pull that with you.' Sheath thought to him, 'and he's still going along with it.'

'yeah, i wanna step it up a notch, but he doesn't wanna traumatize dream more than he already did.' Knife sighed, 'such a shame...'

'i can't believe you sometimes...' Sheath sighed mentally.

'only sometimes?~' Knife questioned with a snicker, and Sheath rolled his eyelights. 

'most of the time.' Sheath amended.

'not all the time?~' Knife asked, and Sheath clenched his jaw.

'knife!!' Sheath snapped, and Knife started laughing.

Knife was such a pain in the coccyx.

'at least i'm not a pain in murder's~' Knife chuckled, and Sheath really wished he could punch him.

Ccino brought their plates and cups of coffee over, neither of them really wanting to eat right now but eating regardless. Anxiety wouldn't turn down food since he was too nervous to, and Sheath didn't want to be rude to his friend.

"thanks, ccino." Sheath thanked him, looking at the coffee and seeing Knife looking back at him.

"anytime." Ccino replied, going over to the desk, writing something down, and then taping it to the front of the desk.

"uh... anx? what does that say?" Sheath asked, looking at the paper.

Anxiety looked over at it, and he read, "uh.... 'no coffee without eating something first'..."

". . . well damn..." Sheath sighed, "i feel like that was aimed towards us..."

'probably.' Knife agreed, and the two of them started eating.

Sheath would never admit that he had actually been hungry, and he scarfed down the food he'd been brought surprisingly quickly. Anxiety was slower and nibbled on it, but he still ate, and Sheath didn't miss Ccino's pleased smile as they ate. Typically Sheath wouldn't trust food, not after all the times Chara poisoned him or messed with his food, but Sheath felt like he could at least trust Ccino enough to not poison him.

'besides, if ccino tried poisoning us, i would kill him and then take over the cafe!' Knife piped up.

'yeah- wait, no!!!'

Discord server: https://discord.gg/wQfvxyEuvj

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[hellostarposts]

Episode 29 - Cheating Death

Oh we have a crisis episode

Oh no he’s illiterate!

Battle of Bunker Hill

Is this our first immortal?

Of all the symptoms that you’re describing, why did blood loss not get named?

Roughly half way through the episode. Gambling your life with death is more boring than I anticipated. (Had to sleep sorry)

Okay i don’t feel like this is another pocket dimension even though the description matches previous ones. Why, because I strongly believe that death has time manipulation abilities. Or buddy is delirious from blood loss.

OH I get it now, by not dying you become death.

It’s very funny that the guy who went into the game knowing that he would cheat was basically tricked into winning. I love it so much.

Other than it being weird why are we taking note that the rest of the page is covered in blood? Is our statement guy one of these death things? I don't really want to call them a reaper but I guess that is the most accurate description.

Demonstration???????? What the fuck happened? He said pharaoh so i guess they played the game and death guy won.

Okay so the two are the same, I should’ve predicted that.

Wait, now i”m wondering. This guy has a fatal chest wound, if he loses a game does the wound not come back? 

Scratch that, I did not make the connection that he would’ve already “won” a game for him to be giving the statement. So the wound does not come back and i was right last night that we have our first immortal (who is depressed but still)

Craving for human flesh? Blood?

44 years?? 

Mans cut off his fingers during the statement.

Token is 100% cursed. And by extension, so is Jon now.

I really really liked this one. The whole concept was so engaging for me because it was new. Maybe it’s because I had to split up my two listening sessions but I didn’t guess where it was going to go. I want more like this and less about bugs. Wishful thinking, I know.

[smidgen-of-hotboy]

I'm not the person who asked but 👁👁 may I inquire as to the spoilery season 5 problems

Understand that everything I'm about the say Under the Cut, comes from a place of bias. Bias that truly does love the Juno Steel storyline, bias that absolutely hates the plot direction Kabert took with the last two seasons

Slip Jackson. He is the plothole they wrote, the corner Kabert backed themselves into and had to write themselves out of. The one NO ONE ASKED FOR but they wrote in anyways to explain "this is what happened After Nureyev saved NK and killed Mag". I cannot stress enough how pissed off and annoyed Slappery Junkyard makes me from a plot standpoint.

Too many plot devices disguised as characters. Every other episode the listener and Juno is introduced to someone new. And every other episode they are forgotten about and we move on to the next. This is the equivalent I feel to early TMA and early WTNV monster of the week and even early TPP where Juno is solving one case after the next-

Only this time Juno's chasing after Nureyev across the fucking galaxy. I love Juno with all my heart, but it still is super annoying that all of season 5 is spent of him chasing after Nureyev, getting tripped up, chasing after Nureyev, getting tripped up, wash rinse repeat. Especially more annoying and upsetting when you factor in that Nureyev blatantly does not want to be followed (but me and every other listener is a fucking sucker for a hopeful fool and dramatic love story. If this happened to someone you actually knew, you wouldn't encourage or condone Juno's behavior, but because the Lady isn't real and it's all a work of fiction and Juno is the Hero, ofc we're all cheering him on)

Grandpappy's recipe. We're given a hint of worldbuilding to the rest of the galaxy, and Juno shows some appreciation towards Rita, but it is not her storyline. It is not Rita-centric. And the depiction of Nureyev in these couple of episodes (i don't know how anyone else felt) came so far out of left field for me, that I almost didn't believe what Juno and Rita were saying about him. Something along the lines of Nureyev is a con, and he sweet talks and seduces all of his targets into falling for him, before ultimately turning on them and stealing from their pockets. The Homme Fatale thing gets really pushed, and it's like everything discussed in Man in Glass never happened.

The amazing moment in Heart of it All when he reminds Buddy "a legend is a dead thing" (and by extension the discussion he had with her in Man in Glass) might as well never fucking happened. Peter goes the entirety of season 5 with his head so far up his own ass, he can't see past his own bullshit, until it's literally 10 minutes too late.

Nureyev is deliberately rude towards Juno (who did cross a boundary MULTIPLE TIMES) but is also extremely fucking dismissive of the Ruby7 being anything but a car (it's not, it's an alien from outside of this galaxy and Nureyev cannot accept that for some reason, but he can totally get behind reviving his long lost first love???)

OH AND RITA!!! POOR POOR FUCKING RITA OMG- Juno is a massive fuckin dick to her in Season 1, he promises to do better for her at end of Season 2, and she is the first Aurinko he rescues in Season 4 because he knows without her he won't be of much use. Rita is supposed to be Juno's backbone, but she's more like the brace he wears when he needs it. The Rita episode in Season 3 is framed as a good thing for her character and meant to be a confidence boost, but it's really not. And Season 4 I don't remember, but literally in Season 5 Rita is sidelined and put over on the bench because she "makes too many mistakes" on missions. Juno dresses it up as "You're our ace in the hole" but cmon. Come the fuck on.

[luminous-writes]

Weak

Simon Ghost Riley x oc (Clarissa), gore, angst, character death (au), mention of infected, MW2, zombies (au)

A mission involving a hostage is set into panic after an unforeseen visitor makes its intentions known.

word count: 1654 approx

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Siren had been alone with Task Force 141's hostage for 12 hours on the dot. She listened constantly on her comm for new orders, only checking in every hour to allow them some peace of mind. Other than that, Clarissa had received no new intel, learning bits and pieces of how their current mission was going from Price, who she was reporting to.

Their hostage had just fallen asleep and Siren took this advantage by eating for the first time in many days. She also took this moment to miss her battle buddies… and Simon… she had been away on missions for longer and the sniper only imagined that he felt the same way about her being gone with no news. 

Swallowing, Clarissa threw her trash in an old garbage bin and threw some old trash over it. Old habit. 

Doing a perimeter check and finding nothing but old bootprints from her force, Siren returned to the old wooden house and sat down to clean her guns. She didn't usually do something like this on a mission but her anxiety was making its way up her spine like frostbitten vines, determined for her to return to the inner depths of her brain. 

Clarissa Cole had just recovered from her first, and hopefully last, self-destructive mindset and everyday it lurked, just outside of the shadows, with its cold fangs and piercing green eyes to rip her down again. 

Funny how even when you're actively trying to avoid it how it is still the only thing you think about; like a former addict to the thoughts of a high. 

Her ears pricked at a sound. A growl. An animal, maybe? No armed force would growl to get her attention, right? Siren waited, still as stone as she strained for another noise, something that could either confirm or deny that their hostage and her were in danger. 

None came. 

Continuing to tear apart her guns, they lay scattered in front of her as she went through the motions. Take them apart, put them together….

"Your guns are an extension of yourself." A memory of Shepherd's visit at her boot camp echoed in her ears. "Remember every groove, every sound. Keep every piece close, know without thinking where each part goes. Danger is everywhere and imminent."

Another growl, louder this time, made Clarissa stop in her tracks. Fear gripped the back of her eyes as the woman slowly looked up at the window, which was clouded over and cracked. Her fear turned to terror as she saw the silhouette of a man just disappearing out of sight. She struggled to get a gun put together, Siren was never good at close combat and if this person was a danger, she would be easily outmatched. 

Fitting the last part on her pistol, Clarissa barely had time to take the clip out of her pocket before the door almost flew off the hinges. Terror was not the word she would've used, it was something far worse, like her soul itself recoiled in her skin but Clarissa's body made no movement. 

The thing that stood in the doorway was not human. It's eyes veined with blue, skin an ashen color, teeth yellowed and bloody were bared like an animal, clothes ragged and torn, the growl it was emitting was dry and cracked, white foam bubbled at the corners of it's mouth. 

Siren quickly gained her bearings, spinning on the ball of her foot and trying to dart to the hostage's room. Before she could reach the hallway, the thing rammed into her side with a shriek, jaws snapping. 

Clarissa kicked at it, her pistol clip bounced across the old linoleum, leaving the woman to fend for herself. A roar rumbled in her throat but it was encased in horror as Clarissa realized nothing she was doing was deterring it. 

Finally peeling it off her, Clarissa did a mix between a crawl and a run to the hostage room, fear in her seaglass green eyes as she heard the snarl behind her, met with its fingers scratching at her throat from behind. Speeding to her knife, Siren spun, simultaneously causing the thing's nails to scratch her neck deeply and stabbing it in the shoulder before using a kick to distance the two of them. 

By now, the hostage was screaming. Blood gushed from the side of her throat as she used anything and everything in the room to block the door. 

"Be quiet!" She growled at him before falling to the ground, adding pressure to her wound. Catching her breath in large gasps that dried her throat, Clarissa turned on her comms to everyone, not just Price this time, "I am requesting backup, something's wrong. I am injured. Again, I am requesting backup. S.O.S." She repeated herself three times before shutting her comms off. She couldn't bear to hear any of her men, her fiancé, her best friend.

Blood soaked through her fingers and she tore her jacket off and replaced it with that. The door was being pounded on, it had already been broken in places, the thing's eyes darted into the room and lingered on her… then it picked up the pace. 

Facing death was a part of the job. Clarissa had been faced with it countless times but none had been like this. She ordered the hostage into the old closet and told him to keep quiet.

As the door splintered and caved, the woman remembered Soap's jokes, Wasp's friendship, Price's mentoring nature, Gaz's stories, but her thoughts lingered on Ghost, her Simon, whom she loved more than her heart allowed; the man helped right her, helped teach her that a man's touch could be good, helped teach her to love; the night before the mission, the two had spent it in each other's arms, loving as if it was their last.

The creature was almost through the door. Narrowing her eyes and picking herself up from the floor, Clarissa Cole was not going to die here. 

···

Ghost's blood ran cold when Siren's S.O.S came across the comms. They had just dealt with a horde of infected people, the area was clear and they were due for extraction, he had even felt a twinge of excitement thinking about getting back to Clarissa. 

He met eyes with Wasp, who was already looking at him with terror. She was alone. The team simultaneously began replying to her comms, begging for more information. The sound of the helicopter filled Ghost's ears as they climbed in and made an immediate u-turn to Siren. 

Her silence made Ghost sick. He felt as if millions of ants were crawling over his skin, anxiety making his jaw clench. Soap put his hand on his shoulder and Ghost couldn't even look at the lad.

They could see from a distance that the door was open and Ghost felt bile climb his throat as the heli dropped them off, turning the engine off. Price pushed himself to the front of the group.

Everyone was silent as they stepped into the quiet house. Ghost swallowed thickly as he saw the scattered parts of her rifle on the table and floor, the clip in the kitchen. The hallway where the hostage was being kept was in front of him off to the right. A pit in his stomach grew bigger as Wasp stepped around him, paler than a sheet as he aimed his gun into the dark hallway. 

Ghost finally found his bearings and followed close behind him. He almost dropped his gun when he realized the walls and floor were covered in blood, drops and finger trails. 

When they got to the door, Ghost was holding his breath as Wasp reluctantly swung the destroyed door open and a loud shuffle gave him a flash of relief. As Wasp swung his flashlight around, Ghost saw that the room was bloodied, a body lay across the room in the corner, it was unfamiliar… unfamiliar and dead. That was a good sign. 

"Siren?" Ghost's voice was the one she needed to hear so she would feel safe enough to let her guard down. 

A low groan from by the closet alerted the team as they rushed in. Ghost quickly went to advance to his partner but a swift fist to the chest stopped him and he barked out. "What?" Simon's voice died in his throat as he saw her. The love of his life was unrecognizable; white skin, blue veined eyes, jaws dripping with gore as she looked up from the body of their hostage. 

"Oh," Ghost's voice cracked as his knees buckled under him, "Oh, no." 

He hit the ground the moment one of their guns went off, putting Clarissa to rest. He crawled to her and reached her with a shaky arm as Simon felt his vision blur with tears, her skin was cold as if it had been in the freezer, closing her eyes and wiping the blood from her mouth with his hand, Ghost weeped for the woman he loved. 

The team around him was in shambles as they came to terms with the death. Price had to leave the room to request pickup for her body, Soap stared at Ghost and Siren shell shocked before leaving the room himself, Wasp was unmoving from the corner.

Ghost couldn't give two shits what they did right now. This was the woman he was going to propose to, he wanted a life with her, have stupid kids and live a domesticated life with… her S.O.S message played on loop in his head, the last traces of her voice.  Feeling anger of the situation deep within his core, Ghost carried her outside to the heli, eyes teary but narrowed and angry… so angry at the events that unfolded here and before that. Simon Riley was not going to let her death be in vain.

[tofics]

The Pact - Part 2

Masterlist

Pairing: Elijah Mikaelson x fem!Reader

Summary: It's always been you and your dad. A tough duo, tackling life's challenges together. Not even an outbreak can change that. It's you and your dad against the world, doing whatever it takes to survive. But one day, tragedy strikes. You get separated from your father on a supplies run. By now it's been months, and you're losing hope. That is, until a strange man appears, looking weirdly put together for someone who's years into an apocalypse. There's something off about him. The weirdest part though? He seems to know your father...

Word count: 2781 words

Warnings: Cursing, losing a loved one

Previously: "My name is Elijah Mikaelson. Are you Y/N L/N?" If anything, you should have shot him right then and there. It would have been the smart thing to do. But instincts and smart-things-to-do don't always go hand in hand. Instead of shooting him, you lowered your rifle as you stared at him in bewilderment. "Now how the fuck do you know my name?"

If it had been anyone else, Elijah wouldn't have tolerated Y/N's behavior. Not this stand-off, and certainly not the language. But this was Y/N. Steve's daughter. He had made a promise, and Elijah was a man of his word. He owed it to Steve. And, by extension, to you. Even up until a couple of minutes ago, your paths had never crossed before.

Elijah sensed the fragility of the situation. This could go either way: your surprise would either lower your defense, or send you over the edge. He was hoping that it wouldn't be the latter. It would make things a lot more... complicated.

"Your father sent me. Steve." He watched his words sink in. The brief flicker of hope in your eyes, your bodily response of your heart skipping a beat and then beating even faster. The seconds it took for you digest his words and the struggle to find your own.

"I - how do I know you're not lying?" To anyone else, the wavering in your voice might have gone undetected. Elijah's supernatural hearing had no trouble picking it up though. He knew this was his win-or-lose moment.

"I'm going to reach into my pocket, if I may." You started to object - "Hey, hey!" - but before you could do anything, Elijah reached into his front pocket where he kept the picture neatly tucked behind his handkerchief. He deliberately made his movement a little too fast for you to react, but not too fast that you'd grow suspicious. He was here to win your trust, after all, not to scare you.

He held the picture up so you could see. He was still too far away from you for it to be recognizable at this distance though and he saw you trying to peek at it through the scope. A creased line appeared on your forehead when you were unsuccessful.

"Walk that up here. Real slow. No shenanigans, I dare you." You pointed the rifle at the ground between you two and then focused it back on him. Elijah nodded and slowly closed the three fourths of distance between you and him until you interrupted him again. "Ah ah ah, enough. Put it down and then back it up, buddy. Right back over there."

Klaus would have had a field day if he saw how she was ordering him around, he thought. "A puppet, are you now, brother?" He could almost hear his younger brother mocking him in his mind. But it didn't matter. He had a duty to fulfil. Elijah walked backwards to where he'd exited the woods. Once he was at a certain distance, you left your position on the porch. You matched his speed while you kept the barrel steadily pointed at him. When you reached the photo on the ground, you squatted down without taking your eyes off of him.

'She's well-trained', Elijah thought to himself. He wondered how much of it had been Steve's training and how much of it you'd had to learn on your own out of necessity. How much had you had to endure on your own? The thought was upsetting to him.

He watched you carefully retreat to the porch and then unfold the picture. One glance, and a whole array of emotions played out on your face. A small sob escaped your throat and with it, any hostility you'd previously exuded.

"How... how do you have this?" Your eyes found his over the distance and Elijah could read the silent plea in them. You were begging him to have answers about your father, answers that you hadn't found so far. He saw the build up of hope and worry that had accumulated over the last months behind your eyes. And it broke his heart.

"May I?" He gestured at the cabin. He was reasonably certain that he'd earned enough of your trust to let him approach, and he was right.

You gave a single nod of approval before you slumped down in your rocking chair. You couldn't believe it. There, in your shaking hand, was the picture your father had always carried with him. It showed you and him when you were still little enough to be carried on his arms, the both of you cheesing at the camera, smiles glistening in your eyes. It was his favorite picture of the two of you and it was one of the few things he'd kept on him when you had to leave your home. As far as you knew, it was the only picture of the two of you that still existed. You know your district went up in flames just hours after you made it out. You and your dad had watched the flames from afar, holding on to each other.

The past months had been the longest you'd ever been without your dad. Seeing his face again on the picture felt like drowning and coming up for air at the same time. You knew you were supposed to be paying more attention to the stranger that was coming up to the porch, but you couldn't help it. Your eyes were glued to the photograph in your hand.

"Your father and I met a couple of months ago. We decided to travel together for a while, but he... we got separated." The man spoke quietly, but even so, his words barely registered with you, coming to you in muffled sounds like being pressed through cotton candy. Moments passed before their meaning sunk in and with it, your heart. Separated.

You had just begun to try and accept the idea that you'd never see your dad again. It was the most painful thing you'd ever had to deal with and trying to come to terms with it seemed even more impossible than the idea of your dad no longer being alive, but the more time had passed, the less plausible it seemed that he could still be out there. You didn't want to ask, you didn't want to know for sure, but you had to. If it meant you could see your dad again, you had to know. Even if the answer might kill you. To know for sure that he's gone. It took a deep breath to find the courage to ask what you had to ask.

Elijah had stopped in front of the porch, just a little off to the side of its steps. It was for both of your sake's; a gesture of respect for your personal space that he didn't want to intrude on as someone you didn't know, and as a favor for himself. He hadn't fed in some time. Not out of choice, but because of a lack of opportunities. Blood banks had long since gone out of business, and people were not as easy to come by anymore. It was also a matter of simple calculation: the rotten ones seemed to outnumber the living by a large amount. If he mindlessly gorged on whoever he came across, he'd be an active contributor to the dwindling numbers of living humans on this planet, thereby slowly cutting off his own food supply. No, he'd had to resort to a 'vegetarian' lifestyle for quite some time now. His diet largely consisted of a variation of animals he came across, but even so, he did not feed on every feathery of furry creature that crossed his path. It was for the same reason he could not feed on just any human he came upon. So, it had been a minute since he'd had a proper chance to fill his hunger. He hadn't meant to meet you on an empty stomach, but there was no changing that now. When he realized he was coming up on you, he'd paused and dipped fingertip under his nose, applying no more than a drop of perfume beneath each nostril. It wouldn't be noticeable to you, but a great help for him in keeping his hunger in check.

He watched you drink in the picture he'd carried with him for so long with a hunger that seemed to almost match his own. It didn't take long though for the sadness to reach your eyes. It snuffed out every spark that had lit up when you first laid eyes on the photograph. A few moments passed before you took a big breath.

"So he's still alive? When did you last see him? When did you get separated?"

'She's going to ask about me. Be evasive. Just gain her trust. That's the most important thing. Make sure she trusts you. She might never forgive me for hiding the truth from her, but it doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that she'll be safe. Promise me that you'll keep her safe. Promise me!' Your fathers words rang in Elijah's ears as he contemplated how to answer you.

He could see the battle within you, it was visible in your eyes. Hope was almost winning, but the despair that had grown within you over the last months was trying to keep grounded, to shield you from the pain that a confirmation of death would ultimately bring.

Elijah was not a stranger to lying. Many of the battles him and his siblings had fought over the centuries had been won through deception and deceit. Despite that, he prided himself on being a man of his word. Over the long, long course of his life, he had perfected the art of 'omitting the truth', as he preferred to call it. Words were binding and constricting. There was so much more freedom in what wasn't said.

"I believe it has been a little over a month since I last spoke to your father." He waited, giving you a chance to process. You slowly nodded and softly ran your thumb over his face on the picture. When you looked back up at him, the look in your eyes asked him to continue. "We formed an... alliance, if you will. He was on his own, I was on my own. It seemed only sensible to travel together. I agreed to aide him in his search for you."

This much was true. He could only hope she would not repeat the one question he promised he wouldn't give an answer to. Not yet, anyway.

"Why?"

Elijah shifted on his feet. "Pardon me?"

"Why did you agree to help him? What do you get out of it?"

Omit the truth. It's not yet time.

"I know what it's like to try and find a lost family member."

That seemed to strike a cord with you. In what appeared to be a flash-wave of shame, your cheeks lit up as the blood rushed to your head. It became apparent to Elijah that you had jumped to the conclusion that he had lost someone in the same way you had. It wasn't an uneducated guess, grief over a lost one had become a common denominator.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize... I apologize." It left him feeling sickly. Unlike you, he had very little reason to believe that his siblings had suffered the same fate as Steve. To impose shame on you, when he was feeding you lies. Alas, in the grand scheme of things, he had done worse. And he was doing this for a greater cause after all.

"I gotta ask." You sat your dinner down in front of you: a can of cold beans, served with a side of stale crackers, both of which were way beyond their expiration date but still edible. In front of you, the man who'd introduced himself as Elijah was nibbling on some beans himself, his pack of crackers still untouched. You'd literally needed to talk him into eating. It was one of the many strange things about him. Who in their right mind turned their nose at food that was freely offered? You'd have thought he'd be grateful, considering he'd arrived without so much as a water bottle on him.

Come to think of it though, he didn't appear malnourished in the least. If anything, he looked a bit sickly in the face, but that could've just been the heat. He'd finally taken off his jacket when they sat down for dinner - how he could walk around in a suit in this weather was beyond you, never mind the questionable fashion choice in general - and it became very clear that Elijah had not missed a meal in quite some time. Moreover, he was not only well-fed, he was clearly well-trained too. It was hard to miss how his biceps stretched the fabric of his shirt tightly whenever he lifted the spoon to his mouth.

It was hard to miss, but you'd still looked twice. Quick glances, ones you hoped he wouldn't notice. You also hadn't failed to notice that his trained body came with a rather handsome face. Quite handsome, in fact. If you added the suit into the equation, it was almost ridiculous just how handsome he looked. Still, as much as the suit did for him, it also weirded you out.

"What's up with the fit?" You gestured at him from top to bottom with a raised eyebrow. It could have been just the way the candle-light danced over his face, but you thought you saw a small smile flutter across his lips.

"Old habits are hard to shake, I suppose."

"Huh. I guess." You mused over it for a moment. "Must be kinda hard to keep clean though, no?"

Elijah put his can of beans down and leaned back on his chair. There was a look in his eyes you simply couldn't put a name to - cold? Calculating? Yet you didn't feel threatened. On the opposite. You could feel the heat rising to your cheeks as his gaze wandered from the top of your head down over your body to your feet. It was as if he was seizing you up, but it was more than that - judging you? You tried to keep as clean as possible, but hey, tap water was a luxury you could no longer count on, much less a shower head. Still, you did fairly well. Compared to him, however, looking like a damn model in his pristine clothes - it was like day and night.

His gaze wandered back up and met you at eye-level. You tried to meet his eyes with defiance. However he had achieved to look the way he did, clearly, you hadn't been granted the same miracle. 'Bite me,' your face was saying, your attitude a lot cooler than the heat that was burning in your cheeks. Still, you couldn't shake the feeling like there was more that you were just not catching up to yet.

"I try my best," Elijah finally replied, a small smile playing around his lips. He held your gaze for just a moment longer before he redirected it to the tin can hin his hands. As his eyes went down, so did the tension you had felt from his ever-lasting gaze.

A couple of hours later, you were sprawled out on your makeshift cot, tossing and turning. Although the sun had set hours ago, there hadn't been a significant drop in temperatures. It wasn't just the unbearable heat that was keeping you up though. You'd decided to trust Elijah - more out of necessity than choice - but he was still, by all means, a stranger, capable of anything, as far as you knew.

You had insisted on keeping watch for the first few hours. Strange as he was, appearance-wise and unpreparedness in terms of supplies or weapons, he was still your only lead in months in finding your father. Whether he was just reckless enough to wander through this version of the world unprepared, you didn't know, but you would make sure to do your part in keeping your only lead alive and well. And that meant sleep. For him, not for you. Until he rose just two hours after you'd ushered him to bed and insisted he'd take over watch.

So here you were, plagued by the heat and the uncertainty of the stranger keeping watch outside of the hut. 'If he wanted to kill me, he'd have already tried,' a voice in your head insisted. It was hard to argue with, but still. And there was another thing on your mind too. You kept going over it in your head until it suddenly dawned on you.

He hadn't been judging you for your poor hygiene. He had been checking you out.

You couldn't help but snort about the ridiculousness of it all. What a strange day you'd had.

[box-architecture]

How did blob Sam and Blob Dream and Blob Punz come to exist? I’ve seen them referenced a couple of times and I am Curious.

Do they get the Zoomies?

oh!!!!! I zoom around you. Dream can make blob versions of his friends as part of his admin magic, little helper guys<3. The blobs are mostly just extensions of the people they were made after, connected to their thoughts/preferences.

(all blob art by @corvesfelinesart, who is one of the best people in all the world)

Dream made Punz a little blob of them first, and Punz absolutely loves it. A little guy with bee wings who can hide easily, spy on people, and existence lets Dream know that Punz is okay whenever they're out doing things.

After Sam sees Blob Punz for the first time, he asks Dream, curious, if he can make one of Sam.

This was very interesting and cool for about thirty seconds until Blob Sam starts nuzzling Dream's cheek and loafing on his shoulder. That is Sam's shoulder and Sam's Dream and this false Sam is a Threat.

Of course, this only leads to Blob Sam becoming jealous over Dream, as a reflection of Sam. It doesn't matter that Sam perfectly well knows that Blob Sam is just him, he is Glaring at the evil awful little guy skittering around and chirping and receiving kisses that are meant for Sam.

Sam has managed to pick a fight with himself. Blob Sam is purposefully causing issues to get attention and also trying to trip big Sam and Sam is furious but he can do Nothing because Dream clearly loves that blob.

Dream: I love him because he's you :)

Sam: But I Am Also The Better One, Right, You Love Me More?

It's ok though he gets kisses and told he's a good boy and he's Dreams favorite Sam.

Dream teases him (1) one time that blob Sam is a little easier to carry around (when Sam is slumped on top of him) and Sam breaks down into tears. Dream has to pat him and reassure him that he's still his favorite Sam even if he's hard to carry, it's fine because it means Sam can just carry him instead. Blob Sam can't do that, can he? (Sam is carrying Dream and sticking his tongue out at blob Sam because he Won)

Also!! Originally, Blob Sam isn't jealous over blob partners, because Sam isn't jealous over blob partners.

Until Sam starts bonding with Blob Dream who enjoys hanging out with him while he does redstone, because there's lots of fun noises and he can be put in a front pocket to see everything.

and so Sam starts getting jealous over Blob Dream,

so blob Sam starts getting jealous over Blob Dream.

Blob Sam is now loafing on Blob Dream.

Sam can't bully Blob Sam within either of their sight because Dream will think he's being silly, and Blob Dream will get upset because he loves Blob Sam :(

Also very important Blob Sam info. He has Toe Beans. Little Paws. Dream pokes his little toes and blob Sam chews on his finger. It is a Good Chew, A Loving Chew. Big Sam is furious because he doesn't bite Dream so Blob Sam shouldn't either.

Sam: Punz, he's breaking the rules, Punz!!!

Dream defends his little Blob Sam, because he doesn't even have teeth!!! So it can't be biting!!! He's mouthing!!! (Sam also starts mouthing Dream to display dominance.)

Meanwhile Blob Dream is wiggling to try to also get Blob Sam in the pocket because he wants to show him the redstone.

Dream ends up dropping Blob Sam into Big Sam's pocket and telling them they need to go have a get-along day. Sam is fuming the entire time, but then he gets into working on his redstone, and Blob Sam also enjoys redstone! And he can even help! He can get in all the little spots and adjust things. They are the best Redstone team, They Get All The Things Done. Sam begrudgingly begins to befriend his blob because it is actually nice to have a lil buddy for redstoning. Blob Sam gets head skritches and pocket time and zoomies and he is delighted.

When he returns and gets to cuddle with Dream again, Sam is a little less grumbly about it (but still grumbly until he gets his own cuddles.)

Sam and Dream napping in a cuddle pile while Blob Sam is tucked close to Dreams chest. Blob Dream is 100% off stealing things from the kitchen.

Maybe he just wants cheese, did anyone ever think about his needs. (He's not even eating anything, just stealing things for his hoard) (the hoard will be ruined by rats in about a week and he will Cry)

Sam helps him make a safer little box hoard that the rats can't get in, and he also makes him little food replicas rather than actual perishable foods. Blob Dream is delighted, and both Punz and Sam take some notes to make sure that Dream has a safe space for hoarding

(They get So Many Zoomies. They are filled with Love and Joy and Silliness, Your Honor.)

[sonkitty]

Bookend Buddies - Crowley and Muriel

Introduction

Alright, I'm going to talk about Crowley and Muriel.

My starting theory was that these two knew each other as at least acquaintances, not necessarily friends, in the first draft of the story. This first draft would have resolved the matter of the cardboard box Gabriel brought much sooner. Then a second draft, or even more drafts, act as the cover for whatever happened the first time around.

After looking over Crowley and Muriel scenes, something like that could indeed be true, but certain other messages from the story emerged that seem to make that idea secondary when looking at the pair specifically together.

Trust

For one, a far understated thing about their relationship is that these two trust each other, even if they don't seem to know each other very well. It hits really hard once you get the level of trust Crowley has to have in Muriel for their assistance in the Triple of The Bigger Thresholds Trick. Their part together is for the Heaven elevator, and pockets are involved.

Pocket usage combined with threshold usage in Good Omens 2 amounts to a nightmarish puzzle that I will never truly solve. I have solved just enough to know what to look for, and I see it all over their entry into Heaven. Pockets require precise framing, and they both have it.

This trust level would put their relationship as much more likely to be actual friends despite Crowley's intense claim to the contrary in episode 5 when he tells Gabriel that Aziraphale is the only friend he has.

Bookends

The other weird message was something I found in looking for a small pattern I noticed. That pattern was that Crowley scenes tend to bookend Muriel scenes. I started to log and verify that pattern. It's not on both ends every time, and I could find only one Muriel scene where there's no bookend of a scene with him on either side.

When they both get back from Heaven in episode 6, this pattern goes into hyper-drive. It becomes a game in and of itself to see how Crowley can bookend or share Muriel scenes all the way up to the end of the episode and overall season.

Along the way, Muriel likely assists Crowley in the Single of The Pocket Trick. Muriel then ends up having bookend scenes to all 6 of Crowley's own Threshold Tricks.

Memory

I don't know how both their memories were edited or altered, but I'm left to guess that it happened and was partly voluntary with making sure they remembered just enough to maintain their trust in each other or have a way for that trust to quietly activate, as if it has a switch.

Boxes

Boxes are a theme with these two, so I'm going to discuss the boxes among the other stuff below.

...

Episode 1: The Arrival

There are 3 Matchbox Muriel scenes. Two of them happen in episode 1.

Before Muriel is shown on screen, there is a cut of Gabriel with the fly that's implied to be an extension of the scene where Aziraphale called Crowley to invite Crowley to the coffee shop.

Then Muriel finds the matchbox. I'm not going to get too much into the quote and stuff, but one could easily link it to Crowley if what I've read of its relation to "leviathan" is true since leviathans can be associated with snakes. There's also the fire-breathing Crowley pretending to be Aziraphale in season 1. Then of course that hopping and shouting with the lightning forcing the power outage on the coffee shop that comes later. The matchbox itself might be evil or borderline evil.

Muriel's hand is just as deliberate as Crowley's can be when it comes to managing the touch because part of a thumb is shown with the thumb tip itself hidden and the thumb obscured specifically by the end of the touch.

After this scene, the immediate next scene is Crowley's arrival at the coffee shop, which is also The Perfect Entrance Trick.

So, that's one Muriel scene book-ended with Crowley scenes. One could find the first part debatable, and indeed, that will happen again. Still, almost every time, there will be a Crowley scene at least before or after a Muriel scene.

That's also the first scene for Muriel to bookend one of the Threshold Tricks.

Take note.

These things add up.

We're going to take a quick break from Muriel because of the cardboard box.

In episode 1, there is an extremely important sequence of at least one Likely Fake Crowley, possibly two, storming out of the bookshop. In that sequence, the fake who looks most likely to be Aziraphale passes by a prominently displayed cardboard box and does not touch it.

Actual Crowley is a top tier player in Earthly Objects who is incredibly deliberate in what he touches, especially with his hands. He's also someone who tends to ask questions.

Remember the cardboard box and that the fake did not touch that box and did not question it. Both Crowley and Muriel are going to follow this pattern with the exception of Crowley retrieving the box during episode 6 of course.

Let's get back to Muriel.

The next debatable front bookend Crowley scene to a Muriel scene is that after Crowley shoots out lightning, his torso is shown and does not include his head. The scene cuts to Nina and Maggie realizing they are locked in. For some reason, a blurry red-headed figure wearing black is ensured to be shown in the background as if it could be Crowley. This figure is a possible fake because we later find out that Crowley lost so much of his red in his hair. Plus, there's some general confusion about the car being parked in front of the coffee shop. The car itself seems more bluish. He doesn't enter or leave and is shown to be with the car later on a different street. This possible fake allows for a stronger bookend connection to the incoming Muriel scene nonetheless.

The next cut is of Michael and Uriel for a bit before Muriel enters, but it is the same scene. Now we are at Matchbox Muriel Scene #2.

When the matchbox is set down, it does not make the sound that an empty matchbox makes. In fact, it sounds like a disguised magical book. The music gives more of a mystery vibe than a stronger intensity and possibly evil vibe it will give later in episode 5.

We learn the name of the game, Earthly Objects, and are shown an extensive touching sequence. I don't know if it's a tutorial. If it is, I can't tell you what it teaches. I can mainly tell you it makes sure to show most of Michael's digits during the sequence. Thumbs are shown, but the thumbs don't actually touch the matchbox itself. Thumbs are a big deal in Earthly Objects. A thumb tip can even set certain things into Door Mode. If that matchbox is an evil book hiding in disguise, a thumb tip could be like a password that would have accessed it. Muriel avoided doing that or avoided it in just the right way.

As this Muriel scene wraps up, Uriel says, "I think he's gone to Earth."

We're supposed to guess and assume they mean Gabriel, yet the story cuts to Crowley entering his car before he is summoned to Hell. So, this Muriel scene is given a clear back bookend Crowley scene.

Muriel does not show up again in episode 1.

But...let's get back to the cardboard box.

When Crowley returns to the bookshop, the prominently displayed cardboard box is no longer prominently displayed where it was. In fact, for a good long while, I thought it had disappeared as much as the plate of Eccles cakes, but no, it was just moved out of the way in a less obvious spot.

Now, here's something I found interesting while drafting this post. My own question to myself was, "Was the box moved out of Crowley's line of sight?" for the scene.

I was quite surprised to find out that in almost the entire scene, the box is not in his line of sight. There is only one tiny part of the scene where it is.

The box is in Crowley's line of sight briefly during the apology dance.

So, the dance might have been a clue to Crowley to know where the box was but still not visibly touch it or question it. Remember, later in episode 6, it's going to be weird when he acts like he knows about the cardboard box he never acknowledged in the whole story up to that point.

...

Episode 2: The Clue

Not that it's hard being one of the two main characters of the story, but Crowley has another front bookend scene before a Muriel scene in the minisode that starts off the episode. He is at least prevented from having a back bookend scene this time.

The episode opens with the scene of the big giant scroll and pretending to kill off the goats while actually turning them into crows instead, as Crawley.

Muriel is later shown reading a big giant scroll. I don't know if it's the exact same scroll, but it's at least supposed to be about the same thing.

Muriel does not appear again for the rest of the episode.

...

Episode 3: I Know Where I'm Going

At long last, Muriel arrives on Earth. They have a scene without Crowley scenes book-ending either side of it.

The front bookend is Gabriel drinking hot chocolate. Soon after, Muriel is the subject being seen through the window for Mrs. Sandwich. Then they start their scene with Aziraphale. One could probably estimate this scene's end as Aziraphale closing the door. So, finally, no Crowley though Crowley himself will be part of the scene immediately after.

It's possible that Muriel has had a memory wipe though how recent is hard to guess. My own guess would be that it's actually relatively recent because as stated, I think they and Crowley knew each other in the first draft of the story.

Aziraphale seems to have a moment of quiet recognition, that could be either from the recent Job minisode or if he knew Muriel in the first draft as well. I would guess that he did, but this bookend thing Crowley and Muriel have is not quite the same as what can be found between Aziraphale and Muriel. Aziraphale moves the story along without any further acknowledgment.

After Muriel enters, the cardboard box is given more focus from its designated place than usual with a blurred Muriel in the foreground. The camera work forces a shift such that Muriel receives focus, and the cardboard box is blurred. While I'm sure many people have picked up on this thing happening, I'm going to add that that particular type of blur was used in the first shared complex window scene Maggie and Nina had looking at Crowley through a window in episode 1. The blur type share was also done with Crowley and Gabriel in episode 1 when Crowley finds out Gabriel is in the bookshop. So, Muriel is given a notable share with a cardboard box instead of an actual full other character in the story. It's also a box that keeps having no touching or questioning from Crowley. Muriel doesn't touch it or question it either.

When Crowley arrives, he does sound grumpy as he complains about Aziraphale not taking the train. He soon stops, realizes Muriel is there, and says, "Who's this now?"

Take note of the "now" because this story is both deceptive and deliberate in its methods. These are the types of little clues it scatters around compared to the bigger ones. The "now" hints he knows of a "who" Muriel was from some other time.

Just as Muriel glows, Crowley is actually more cast in shadow than he already often is upon stopping to find them there. His body makes sure to stop with the shadow covering much of his upper body area in a diagonal manner.

Crowley has short sideburns despite Muriel being an angel because the bookshop literally took their claim as human. Interestingly, Crowley is also lacking his more saturated streak of red hair that is often found over the center of his left eye during the present day story.

Crowley himself quickly warms up to Muriel in a more friendly manner.

Muriel's body blocks the cardboard box from our line of sight for a good amount of the scene but not the entire time. In turn, Crowley is bound to have it in his own line of sight much more easily than in episode 1 when he returned to the bookshop. So, by now, Crowley probably knows it's there and is still just generally ignoring it while being near its presence.

There's some kind of light near Muriel that keeps flickering. While neither Crowley nor Muriel use pockets here, they both do at other times. Pockets use lighting as clues. So, I'm not going to log every single line and every single flicker, but I did notice the flicker when Muriel said "200 years". That number could mean something like when these two actually met or became friends.

Another noteworthy thing about this scene involving both characters is that it is one of the few times the story shows a person reflected in Crowley's sunglasses before The Window Trick at the end of episode 6. Muriel's reflection can actually be found, quite likely because they were intentionally showing off their cup of tea.

Crowley exits first, allowing for a scene between Muriel and Aziraphale. After Aziraphale leaves, Muriel is left alone momentarily. While they do not get the same blurred share from earlier, they are still shown specifically with the cardboard box while not touching it or questioning it.

Later, Muriel intrudes on Crowley and Aziraphale. I've actually written about the scene in my "Rule Following" section for Earthly Objects.

So, I'll mainly say that this scene does not really have a hint of them having known each other. Instead, it has Crowley manipulating the scene and Muriel to do what he wants so he can give Aziraphale a proper pass of the car keys. The toss is incredibly precise because he waits until Muriel's eyes move to the notepad, not just for them to get out their notepad. The only possible hint is if Muriel actually looked at Crowley before their notepad intentionally as a cue for when he should be ready for the toss. Then the toss isn't as impressive, so my bias prefers to think that was not the case. Head canon as you please.

Even though the two had an actual scene together, the story makes that scene a front bookend Crowley scene of yet another Muriel scene with Muriel's stop at the coffee shop.

Muriel is not seen again for the rest of the episode.

...

Episode 4 does not have Muriel. It does have Crowley touching the cardboard box of the plants. Sorry, I couldn't help notice that cardboard boxes are a thing because of the matchbox and the mainly featured cardboard box, so we may as well take note since Muriel was given that shared blur with such an important cardboard box.

...

Episode 5: The Ball

During episode 5, there are two important scenes shared between Crowley and Gabriel. The first scene is where Crowley ultimately tells Gabriel to jump out a window, then stops Gabriel from doing so. He offers to make hot chocolate. This scene is a front bookend of the last Matchbox Muriel scene. It also includes mention of an actual matchbox.

Finally, we are back to our ominous borderline evil matchbox itself with Matchbox Muriel Scene #3. This scene further manages to act as a back bookend to a touch of The Sunglasses Trick. In this matchbox scene, the subtitles say "intense music" and it is intense. The matchbox is given immediate focus to introduce the scene.

The intensity settles. Muriel is giving their report to Michael and Uriel with no Saraqael around.

In this report, Muriel says Crowley's name, including calling him, "Mr. Crowley," and describes Crowley as Aziraphale's "grumpy friend." Well, Crowley was grumpy when Muriel first saw him yes, but most of the time we saw them together, he was not grumpy. In fact, he was rather friendly. Muriel is also shown to be unaware that Crowley is a demon. When they say Aziraphale's "Mr. Fell" name, Uriel gives Muriel a look that makes Muriel definitely not say Crowley's name—not even partially.

Aside from Aziraphale, Shax, and any character involved in the 1941 minisode, the story itself seems to have some rather strict rules on who can say Crowley's name and when. If I remember right, Muriel never says Crowley's name again.

We, the audience, were never shown anyone giving Muriel Crowley's name before that point either. In addition to that, mysterious music plays while the angels stop in confusion as they grasp at the assistant bookseller they can't quite remember. The matchbox is not easily seen during all of this time, but we know we saw it first with the intense music.

We never saw Muriel see or speak to an assistant bookseller, Gabriel going by Jim, in the scenes given. Muriel's memory and the story's memory do not match with what we have been told is happening. And some possibly evil matchbox is making that happen...maybe. That thing gives off "trying to get back to its master" evil ring vibes towards Crowley. It's creepy. No, I'm not venturing too far down that road. I'm admitting it's just vibes.

The back bookend scene here is Crowley actually giving Gabriel hot chocolate.

After this point, Crowley's sideburns stay a medium-to-long length until right before the credits at the end. Part of my sideburns scheme theory is that Aziraphale and Crowley borrowed each other's homes to form a special connection that affected an invisible supernatural border that existed between the car and the bookshop. They then made their preparations for the ball through the invitations, and Crowley had his scenes with Gabriel to force this sideburn status into place.

That means a lot of pieces were moved around so that the next time Crowley encountered Muriel, his sideburns were longer despite Muriel's earlier claim of being "human" and the bookshop's reading from that.

Let's skip ahead to that Crowley and Muriel encounter.

Crowley finds Muriel near the pub. In fact, he finds Muriel at, I believe, where he parked the car in episode 2. That's quite the coincidence.

After he convinces Muriel to "arrest" him, for some reason, Crowley makes sure to enter the elevator first. Ever since I realized Crowley's sideburns respond to thresholds, I have taken note of Crowley's deliberate decisions in so much of what he does, especially in season 2. He is rather strategic overall. Him entering first sets off alarms in my head. That is not the typical way he does things. He goes alone or Aziraphale leads. In the Edinburgh minisode, Elspeth entered first, followed by Crowley, then Aziraphale. Not long before this Muriel encounter and probably not a coincidence, Crowley left with Mrs. Sandwich first. They went together. He still did not go first as only himself.

But for some reason, at this particular threshold, it is a priority that he be first. I wish I knew why instead of just constantly sensing it.

This entry into Heaven is the first part of the Triple in The Bigger Thresholds Trick. It is also the only one that expands over two episodes.

When looking at Crowley and Muriel together, here are some things I think are worth noting.

First of all, Muriel was convinced to begin with. Why would they trust him? He's a demon, and they were even given a specific look of not even saying his name. Yet still, they find Crowley convincing enough to do this arrest. Crowley told Shax in episode 2 that he was a "former demon," but when it comes to Muriel, he actually drops the "former" part of his own self-description.

Now, I do have this theory that when it comes to the longer sideburns, they are like a mark of rank on Crowley when he is around angels. I usually associate that theory more with their longest length and specifically when in the bookshop. If that theory has any merit even outside the bookshop, then latent memory in Muriel could actually be recognizing Crowley's rank from before his fall and why they ultimately abide. If I'm wrong, then Muriel still finds a way to put their trust in him, such as a latent memory of whatever they did together in the first draft of the story or past friendship they had. If there is no latent memory, Muriel just trusts him anyway.

Crowley himself is having to trust Muriel here. It is no small amount of trust either. This segment is incredibly important to performing the Trick. He trusted Aziraphale for the other two, and with Aziraphale not here, Muriel is the one he turns to for help.

Unfortunately, I do not have a desired simplified explanation of how this threshold is being tricked, but I can at least tell you I know what to look for and the deliberate methods both characters use for entering. The more simplified ways are that Crowley manages to not touch the buttons and not touch the pub doors before going up. Muriel is the one who both summons the elevator and closes the pub doors for him. When he is later seen going down, he maintains touch with his back at where the edges of the elevator doors meet.

Well, that's the easier stuff. There is something far more complicated happening with shadows, lighting, and pockets. I don't know what it is. I'm just going to tell you I see it, and I know it when I see it because I at least know what to look for. With pockets involved, that also means framing.

I won't bore you with too many of the details. It was hard to write in my initial draft. Muriel is deliberate in how they get themselves framed alongside Crowley. Probably about the most noteworthy things of such framing are a look down as if to check they are positioning themself properly and getting their right arm so close to being over the middle edge of where the elevator doors meet and still not doing that. That part might have to do with whatever was necessary a to align with a reflection in a window pane, and that reflection being over a lock.

Speaking of windows, they are both deliberately framed through the window panes. I'm not going to describe it. If you're interested and can see, I advise you just go take a look. It is assuredly intentional. Their heads and upper bodies are in a grid or something. "Gridlock" might be the simplified word I'm looking for, but I'm not fully convinced and couldn't explain it to anyone.

Here, I have at least made a GIF because the glance down helps show it's intentional:

Pockets of light were involved. Muriel used a pocket. Crowley made touches on his clothing suspiciously like when he uses pockets. His tied hands might have been tied. His belt head might have activated. It's ridiculous. I can't believe this Earthly Objects game.

Before Muriel entered, they looked at Crowley and asked, "You aren't trying to trick me, are you?"

Now a lot of people would see that question and be, like, yes, of course he is.

It definitely looks that way.

But...these two are actually tricking a threshold together. It is likely a clue to the audience to look for the Threshold Trick that's happening right in front of their eyes instead of Crowley tricking Muriel.

Even though we saw Muriel close the doors, we did not see any miracle touch to activate a button. We just see the elevator go up.

...

Episode 6: Every Day

As the two arrive in Heaven, Crowley makes sure to exit the elevator first. His foot decidedly makes sure to not touch the lower threshold of where the doors slid open. His shadow can be seen to his left side. When Muriel follows, they don't have a shadow to their left side at all.

Now on they go where probably a million important things happen since pockets were involved on the way up, but let's focus on three things.

Crowley quickly refers to Muriel's rank when asking about records. We've already seen Muriel know Crowley's name without us knowing how they got it. Now we see Crowley know Muriel's rank without us knowing how he got it. We're even going to see both of them receive each of these pieces of information later on this trip in Heaven.

Not long after the rank reference, one of the lines Crowley says is, "You're forgetting about the bees."

Crowley, how many times has Muriel helped you break into Heaven by this point?

I hope it's not more than one, but it's going to be awhile to get such an answer.

Muriel's "forgetting" are they? Does he know that Muriel knew about the bees before? Did they talk about it? Did they work together?

As the conversation continues, it leads to Crowley changing his appearance. Of note in this appearance, his newly manifested gold tie is...pocketed into his newly manifested gray jacket. If his "tied hands" activated at the entry, he's putting those hands in a pocket here and now. And he's doing that because Muriel led him to that decision.

Neither one seems to truly remember the other, but both are guiding each other to certain ends.

At some point, Crowley asks Muriel a question about if they knew why Gabriel would not want another Armageddon. They shake their head and answer "not yet". We were never actually shown Muriel's assignment for why they were on Earth. We were just led to believe it was to confirm the miracle that Aziraphale performed since all actions shown by the characters said so. Muriel has no problem admitting this "yet" part of their answer to Crowley.

Saraqael arrives and shows us one way Muriel could have gotten Crowley's name by addressing Crowley by name.

Later on is when Muriel actually gives the rank. Crowley gives them a friendly fist bump to the shoulder. They smile. Both of them are shown to be on friendly terms in what might be an earlier draft of the story. Even if it's not an earlier draft, I'm glad to see Crowley be on friendly terms with an angel who is not Aziraphale. He reached somewhat friendly terms with Gabriel, but the story made sure that Crowley and Gabriel had zero direct interaction on Gabriel's side once Gabriel recovered his memories. The same could be said of Muriel, now that I think about it.

There's footage of the cardboard box they both watch. Muriel's memory of the matchbox is shown in focus as an assumption it was whatever Gabriel really dropped.

On the exit to Heaven, I've long theorized that Crowley is invisible and Muriel looks scared and amazed by such a thing at the same time. I haven't really changed my mind. If Muriel is doing something to help because Muriel is in the middle on one side, and Crowley is in the middle on the other, I don't know what it is. I can just tell you that a pattern is indeed found between the two if one looks for such a thing.

I can also bring back the pockets.

When the light goes up and Crowley's appearance changes, something about his re-manifested clothes is decidedly different than usual. His tie strands are pocketed into his vest, which then means his thumbs and thumb joints are hidden. I don't know exactly what that means, but it's deliberate on the story's part. Thumbs do things to doors, and these thumbs are hiding themselves while Crowley has his back to a door. That's somehow doing whatever needs to be done for this Threshold Trick and Muriel convincing Crowley to change his appearance earlier contributed.

Also, there was a rainbow when the light went up.

We missed whatever led to Michael and Uriel joining Muriel, Saraqael, and Crowley in the elevator.

When Crowley and the angels arrive at the bookshop, Muriel quietly closes the doors without anyone asking. I'm left with the impression that those doors being opened when they were and while Crowley was in Heaven is supposed to be important. So, the timing of this closure and who is doing it is also important.

Muriel stays out of the way and on their own quite a bit throughout their time in the bookshop as they turn their attention to a book.

In turn, that means their attention is not on the cardboard box when it is retrieved to help Gabriel recover his memories.

When Gabriel recovers his memories, something strange happens. If Crowley is where the story told us he was—next to Aziraphale, Gabriel is acting like Crowley isn't there. Aziraphale glances where we were told Crowley was. Gabriel briefly follows this gaze, then changes course. In the next cut, he blinks as he passes over where Crowley would be. He names more characters, including Michael and Uriel. While he doesn't remember Saraqael's name, they are given an interaction. With Muriel on their own further back—just like Crowley—they, too, are ignored during this sequence. They are at least shown on screen. Eventually, Gabriel reacts to seeing Beelzebub, and we are informed that Crowley is still there by Aziraphale. Of course, with the scene cut the way it is, maybe he wasn't there, and all of these drafts are blending together but still telling us Crowley was ignored, possibly invisible, cloaked, or forgotten.

Even with Crowley visibly on screen as Beelzebub refers to Aziraphale by name, neither Gabriel nor Beelzebub acknowledge Crowley as having played any part in helping to look after Gabriel—or anything else for that matter.

Again, the cardboard box was notably ignored by Muriel. They were given a specific shared blur with the box. Why give the focus if nothing of fruition was to come from such a thing? That was a shared blur that Earthly Objects uses in its game, and that box went untouched.

Things move on with Crowley escorting Maggie and Nina out.

Now it really gets hard to track how Crowley is book-ending Muriel in the scenes at the end, but he is. I think he is doing it every time. He is shown to approach a window and look inside while several angels and demons are arguing. Aziraphale rings his bell, which is enough to grab Muriel's attention as well. Soon after, Crowley is shown looking through the window again and smiles.

Then they actually have a scene together where neither one of them talks. It is the Single in The Pocket Trick. The Pocket Trick is a difficult, confusing collection of puzzles that uses word play. Because Muriel wears all white and The Pocket Trick has a Rainbow Connection mechanic that uses non-rainbow shades, there is a very strong chance Muriel is helping Crowley with yet another Threshold Trick. Whatever it is, it probably has to do with the alignment of Crowley's sleeve and jacket through a window frame since that's when Muriel's white can be seen and then when Crowley's sunglasses appear in one of the window panes at a certain point since that's the exact frame where all-white-wearing Muriel is no longer on screen. Muriel's white probably held onto something the Trick needed during that part.

Muriel ends up bookend-ing both sides of the Single of the The Pocket Trick while also being in it. That means Muriel is pocketed into the last touch of The Pocket Trick.

From this point, I consider them both part of a much bigger scene between several characters that ends with the demons leaving. I also consider it the back bookend to that Pocket Trick Single.

The story cuts away to the Metatron and then back to another scene that Crowley and Muriel share with other characters. By the way, the angels and Crowley seem to have generally changed positions overall.

Eventually, everyone leaves, giving Crowley and Muriel a chance to have their own scene together.

Now Crowley is more grumpy. Even so, near the end of their scene, he throws a book at Muriel and says, "Go for it. Here, you'll like this one." How does Crowley know Muriel would like the book? Has he known that book to be liked by a past version of Muriel? Does he just generally know Muriel because they are either friends or decently acquainted even before this scene ever took place? Even if both answers are no, he is probably guiding Muriel to read that book. I have never read that book, The Crow Road, but I have read what other people analyzing Good Omens 2 have had to say about it. That book has characters who communicate in non-verbal code with each other.

That's something both Crowley and Aziraphale do frequently during Good Omens 2. Crowley is actually giving away how he and Aziraphale communicate to Muriel by choosing that book. That could be dangerous with someone he doesn't trust...but he trusts Muriel. He trusts Muriel so much he is trying to tell them something about himself without saying it out loud—or is reminding them.

The story moves on.

In the next Muriel scene, at first glance, it looks like Crowley does not get a front bookend scene with it. Instead, that's given to a mix of the Metatron and Aziraphale as Aziraphale walks away and enters the bookshop. Blended with that scene, Maggie and Nina leave the bookshop with Nina shown to be passing by the Metatron. If one goes back and looks very closely—and I definitely would have missed this part were it not for a Tumblr post I'm happening to remember, a small bit of Crowley can be found in the background when Maggie and Nina were leaving the bookshop.

Muriel has their scene with the Metatron about reading a book. This part allows Muriel's scene to be a front bookend to the last two touches of The Sunglasses Trick, which take place while Crowley and Aziraphale have their argument.

At the same time, Crowley's scene of those touches becomes the back bookend of another Muriel scene. This stuff is happening on purpose as a game from the story.

Crowley leaves. Sometime after, Muriel can be seen looking through the window with a big question of how much they saw of the argument. They saw enough to look sad—like someone who cares about Crowley as a friend would.

Muriel is barely part of the scene with the Metatron and Aziraphale yet still gets book-ended between Crowley scenes.

After that scene, Crowley is shown standing alone as he starts The Door Trick. So, again, we have Muriel acting as a front bookend to a Threshold Trick, and Crowley acting as a back bookend to a Muriel scene.

Muriel is not on screen during the entirety of The Door Trick, The Door Catch, and The Window Trick. They manage to stay out of the way during these important moments in the story even though, as best we can tell, they are somewhere nearby.

In Muriel's last scene, they still get book-ended by Crowley scenes. The Window Trick finishes. Muriel opens the door and enters the bookshop. That makes their scene a back bookend to the last Threshold Trick. Crowley's car is seen driving away. Before the credits start, Crowley is shown driving with short sideburns as the last scene of the season before the credits truly start to roll.

If I understand yet another pattern from this little game, starting from when I said this bookend thing went into hyper-drive, Crowley's supposed to be a front-and-back bookend to Muriel scenes whereas Muriel doesn't do that for as many of Crowley's scenes. They have a special pocket version for The Pocket Trick and a front-and-back bookend to the argument, which was the conclusion of The Sunglasses Trick. One could find Aziraphale's moment alone before the Metatron arrives as debatably its own scene, then Crowley just doesn't front-and-back bookend Muriel at that point. Otherwise, Muriel's supposed to bookend one side or the other of Crowley's scenes but not both.

I wasn't even looking for yet another game, but I found one.

Anyway, I think they're friends—good friends even. It's hard to say how long the friendship existed before season 2. This trust they share would also explain Muriel's last scene with Crowley trusting them to look after the bookshop as he leaves.

...

More here:

Bookend Buddies Part 2 - Crowley and Muriel

[rivalsforlife]

Angsty idea that popped into my head and wanted to share:

Kay learning a variation of Logic Chess (as an interrogation technique/gameplay mechanic) from Edgeworth. And she’s studying to either be an investigator or a lawyer. She has Little Thief, but she needs was to get into out of witnesses and suspects to input the simulation, so she develops her own way of getting it.

(She calls it Crow Snatching or Brain Pit-Pocketing or something fun. There’s like anime ninja sword slashes and crow caws as sound effects only she can see instead of “Chess Dimension” lol)

anyway! Kay is a smart, emotionally intelligent girl, but that can also get a bit carried away right? So she’s now becoming buddies with “that Man”, and Nick of course has a massive soft spot for “weird little girls” so while even when he’s in his Hobo Nick era, he’s still willing to be a bit more open and indulgent with her, even as his own life spirals and his relationship with Edgeworth gets more and more tense and fraught again

And of course, Kay catches this. She’s like hmmm, but she’s content to learn about Nick and by extension him&Edgeworth the “normal” way. Just spending time together, playing with Trucy, working some European cases, hanging out and all that.

but!

There’s a trigger moment where Nick starts to get REALLY weird around Miles. Maybe a case they are all working with involves a missing person. Maybe him and Miles are arguing about if this person (be it potential victim or culprit or witness) and they are divided on if this person left voluntarily, or killed themselves.

And the usual back and forth court style argument keeps escalating and getting more tense and just…stops. Both Nick and Miles are like…we should keep investigating.

And Kay is like hmmm? What is that all about? And so at some point she’s like, asking Edgeworth and he brushes her off, and she tries to dig but nope, he’s the one that taught her about prying information out of people that don’t want to talk so he knows all her current tricks since she’s still learning.

So she tries approaching Nick, who has never actually been Logic Chessed by Edgeworth, (idk if he even knows about THAT yet lol) and starts poking. Kay convinces herself she’s being a good investigator, but also deep down she’s being nosy and hungry for information on both Mr. Edgeworth AND Nick, Edgeworth being such an important person in her life that rarely opens up about his past in any specifics, and Nick is clearly a big part of that past, she’s so hungry for this information and so new young and impulsive she doesn’t even stop to consider the ethics of what she’s doing and…

Anyway, she gets the information as to WHY Nick is so, um, worked up over the idea of someone disappearing voluntarily and leaving behind everything and everyone. And why Mr. Edgeworth is also a bit, uh, invested in the subject as well. She then has to grapple with the consequences and gets a lesson on privacy and letting things go (I love Kay but girly is a wee bit problematic on boundaries lol. Especially in fanon where she’s breaking into her friend’s houses all the time which is very in character for her imo)

She and Nick make up of course, Nick can’t exactly be TO mad about pushing boundaries with things people are hiding, he’s got a lie detector in his pocket and all that, and Kay also has to kinda incorporate this new information about Mr. Edgeworth into her full image of him. A very “parents are flawed humans” moment for her I think. I don’t know WHAT exactly she’s think of what he did with the Note™ and the disappearance and if that worries the part of her that fears of her losing parental figures, but yeah.

(also, turns out the missing person was murdered or was a murderer because AA gotta have murder cases)

This is fun!! I really enjoy thinking about Kay learning more about what Edgeworth was up to in the trilogy, especially since she thinks of him as a hero and Edgeworth seems to be unwilling to tell her about his past (like that one part in AAI2-2 where Eddie/Ray started talking about Gregory and Edgeworth interrupted him because it didn't concern Kay). I also love her adapting Logic Chess for her own purposes too, that's really cute.

And of course the missing person has to be related to a murder. everything in ace attorney is murder and if it's not murder yet it's going to be murder soon!

[badmojodoe]

Small Drabble About my HL2VRAI HC

first time posting fanfic hope this goes well ... also yes i am well aware that hl2vrai isn't even out yet i'm just matpat theorizing brah

RATING: E for Everyone

TRIGGER WARNINGS: None

SUMMARY: Uncle Benrey helps Joshua change their file name to something they like better

:𓂂 • :★,:𓂂 • :☆:𓂂 • :★,:𓂂 • :☆:𓂂 • :★,:𓂂 • :☆:𓂂 • :★,:𓂂 • :☆:𓂂 • :★,:𓂂 • :☆

“Uncle Ben?” Joshua called, walking into the dark room. The only source of light was the large stack of monitors against one wall, all displaying different things. One showed cameras placed up around rebellion safe points, another being vital Combine technology information, a third being a YouTube ASMR video. The other monitors were things more similar to that third monitor than anything else. Benrey, which had been shortened to Ben by most in the past decade or so, was sitting in a musty office chair hauled straight from Black Mesa. It was apparently his favorite back and the day and he, “Couldn’t just leave it there.”

The chair turned around, revealing the man who Joshua had come looking for. Their hair, once dyed black, had returned to its natural dark brown color. Their eyes glowed an unnatural cyan hue, similar to their brother’s yellow colored eyes. A swirling pattern made it hard to look anywhere but into them. Ben had a natural smile resting on their face, their posture extremely slumped. Like usual, they donned their civilian uniform.

“Hey, Joshie!” She sat up a bit straighter. “What’s up? Ya’ need something from ol’ uncle Benny?” She rested her chin on her hand. Joshua anxiously played with the hem of their hoodie. Ben raised an eyebrow at the display in front of her. “Hey, no need to look so anxious. You know I’ll never be mad or judge you, buddy.”

“Grandpa C said you called me ugly the first time you saw my baby photo.” Joshua chuckled, rolling their eyes. Ben put his hands up, shrugging.

“Guilty as charged, but hey, I haven’t judged you since. At least not without good reason to.” They chuckled. “Now what’s up, you look like you’re about to upchuck on my nice floor.” Ben gestured towards the dusty, dirty floor. Joshua uh’d, shoving their hands in their pockets.

“I was wondering if you could change my file name..?” Joshua asked quietly. Ben’s eyes widened for a second, but not for long. She nodded, turning back to her extensive monitor collection.

“Of course, buddy. Come here.” Joshua walked over, standing over Ben’s shoulder. “Okay, what do you want to change it to?” He asked, opening up Joshua’s folder on his computer. Why everyone trusted him with their files, no one knew.

“Alyx, with a y.” Alyx replied, hands clenched tightly in their pockets. Ben rolled their eyes.

“With a y.” She repeated, chuckling. “Kids these days.” She deleted the ‘Joshua Freeman’ from Alyx’s file name and began typing a new one.

> ai_joshuafreeman |

> ai_ PLEASE INPUT FILE NAME |

> ai_alyxfreeman |

“How’s that look, buddy?” He asked, looking back at Alyx. Alyx nodded, smiling widely. Tears welled in their eyes. Ben turned towards them, wrapping his arms around them in a tight hug. “Aww, don’t cry bro.”

“Thank you, Uncle B.” Alyx hugged them back, happy with their name for the first time in a while.

“‘Course. If you ever wanna change it again, you know who to come to.” She pulled away from the hug, giving Alyx a thumbs up.

[a-vamp-and-a-half]

With much laughter, chatter and excited roars, Bing, Neora and Evan manage to coral the group together for the trick or treat run

“Alright time to split off” Evan says to Neora, moving to grab onto a window ledge while holding a hand out for her

“Huh? Are you leaving?”

He looks up with a chuckle as Odette immediately notices the change in the group, staring dead on at Neora and Evan while the rest were still chattering and walking

He waves xem over, crouching down as Odette jogs over “Yeah, we got a very important mission to do”

"Aww. But I thought we were all getting candy together” xe pouts, fiddling with xeir fingers as Evan chuckles

“I know, I know, but you got the coolest of us all going with you, all four tmnt and an actual dragon” he gestures with a chuckle at Bing and the Google bros “They’ll give you the best adventure, and we won’t be that far, right Neo?”

“Yeah we’ll be a glance at the sky away” she chuckles with a gesture up “We’ll scout out the best spots from up above”

Odette still looks down, fiddling with xeir fingers “Okay” xey sigh, nodding and turning to return to the group, a metal piece glinting on xeir snail backpack-

“Oh I forgot, hey Odes wait a moment” Evan says, jogging over while digging in his pocket “I forgot your accessory”

“You got me bling?” Xe asks, making him laugh as he nods “Lemme see!”

“Hold on hold on- here” he grins, pulling out a snail keychain “A snail, like mine” he grins, showing off his own on his bag he’d quickly put on before xe could see

“Cause we’re snail buddies, no matter where we go. Lick a snail, snail buddy for life” he grins, attaching it xer bag as xe looks wide eyed at his bag

“,,do you have more?” xe says, glancing behind xer at Mikey, turning to a laughing Evan rubbing his hands together

“I might have a few” he says, pulling his hands apart to reveal a whole chain of them in different paint designs, laughing more as Odette stims

“That’s so many! You’re being silly!” Xe says, making him laugh again

“Sure, sure, here. Go find more snail buddies” he grins, pouring the pile in xer belt bag and waving xer off, chuckling with his hands on his hips as he glances at Neora

“Alright lets go”

“After you snail boy” she teases, laughing as he offers her a hand up onto the roof

A ritual setup, a trick-or-treating army, a magic Internet install- it's a packed day, but it's been planned extensively.

Of course, not everything can go perfectly to plan, especially on a day when magic thrums through the very air and the fabric of reality is thinned.

Which is maybe why Evan and Neora, about half an hour in, run across a young woman sitting on a rooftop, casually poking at a bleeding bullet wound in her side while her non-moving arm while half of her face is missing and it's pure skull and she's laughing.

[marilostfieldblog]

[Video transcript begin.]

[The transcript starts inside what appears to be a hospital room, the camera in someone's jacket pocket as multiple people stand around in a room. Multiple beeps ring through the room before someone finally speaks.]

?: Do you think… Y'know. He'll wake up?

[Voice identified: Sarah.]

?: Maybe? I hope so.

[Voice identified: Ness Kylie Hoffson.]

S: Yeah same… Still do owe him an apology for the whole. Going missing thing.

?: Not really. Almost all of us kinda did that when you think about it.

[Voice identified: Mari.]

?: Yeah, I… he doesn’t exactly know that I’m… alive. So if– when. When he wakes up, that’ll be an awkward conversation that will have to be held pretty much immediately. I’m still mentally preparing myself for that.

[Voice identified: Edgar Elliot Pression.]

M: On the bright… Kinda bright side. We all kinda have to have awkward conversations with Henry. With my face looking like a cat scratch pad, Sarah being… Alive in general. Rose making peace with Eden I guess?

Ne: Excuse me. What?

E: Rose making what with who?

M: Yeah. She forgave Eden for what happened to her. Something about ‘moving on’ I'll show you the transcript later if you want.

E: [A long sigh.] Yeah, sure. Must’ve missed that one.

Ne: Hi yes. Um. ROSE. DID FUCKING WHAT!

M: Made peace with Eden.

Ne: THE WOMAN WHO HELPED DO THIS TO HENRY?

M: Dude I don't fuckin’ know. Talk to Rose about it.

E: PR is… weird. Any interaction with them is weird. You likely didn’t see the transcript where Cassius and I argued about hot dog buns for like, 15 minutes and then kissed as a diversion.

Ne: WHAT HUH?

S: Ness. Don't you kinda work for PR part time now?

[Ness slowly looks over to Edgar. Scared.]

E: Neat, you can ask him about it when you see him again. [A short pause.] What? What’s with that look?

Ne: You aren't mad?

E: [With a small smile.] I’ve learned that sometimes things like this are better when you just accept them.

Ne: Oh. Uh ok…

M: We also have to probably tell him about the AI living in Rose's computer. So his little techy heart doesn't blow up.

E: I’m just hoping he doesn’t have a heart attack when he sees me.

M: Or… Any of us besides Ness.

[Edgar laughs quietly, glancing around the room.]

E: Yeah.

[The heart monitor in the room continues beeping, Ness looking at the head of the person in the hospital bed as the figure's arm moves slightly.]

M: Did his arm just move?

E: Huh? If it did, I’ll… take a step back. He’s your friend, you guys should be in front.

Ne: You’re also his friend y’know?

E: You guys have known each other for years! I’ve known him for a total of like, 3 months. You guys should get to talk to him first.

Ne: Bruh.

[The person's head slightly moves to the side, before one of the figure's legs stretches out and the person yawns a bit.]

Ne: Henry? Buddy you awake?

M: OI! You up dude?

[The person can barely be seen opening their eyes slowly, before looking at Ness.]

?: [Slowly.] N- Ness..?

[Voice identified: Henry.]

Ne: Yeah! Yeah it's me! I'm here!

[Henry slowly looks around the room, before stopping on Sarah. Sitting in a chair on the other side of the room.]

H: [Still slow.] Y- You…

S: Hey. Been a while huh?

H: Y- You're… alive..?

S: Yep. So are they.

[Sarah points at the camera and by extension Mari, who Henry slowly looks towards before turning almost as pale as a ghost.]

H: F- Face..!

M: Yea. It's a little fucked up, but I'm still alive!

S: [Quietly.] Barely.

H: Y- You all… You all here..?

Ne: Except Rose. Cuz she's still in the hospital somewhere.

H: T- The small ones?

Ne: Also here in the hospital.

H: T- That's goo-

[Henry looks towards where Edgar is standing, stopping everything. Before slowly looking back at Ness.]

H: Ness. P- Please call… D- Doctor.

Ne: Why?

H: I'm s- seeing. G- ghost.

E: [Softly.] Oh.

Ne: Edgar. Cover your ears if this is still something that upsets you?

E: I’ll be fine.

H: W- What?

Ne: So you know the show right?

H: O- one with… Jenby?

Ne: Yeah. Edgar didn't actually get… Shot. He got locked in a fucking closet with no way to talk to us or for us to talk to him.

H: O- Oh… S- So n- not a ghost..?

Ne: Nope! As human as the rest of us right Edgar?

E: Last time I checked, yep. Hey, man. Um… sorry.

H: D- don't… a- apologize.

E: … Alright. Welcome back, Henry.

H: H- Hi…

M: So how are you feeling?

H: Eepy.

M: Makes sense. Uh… Should we fully update you or just the semi to fully important stuff?

H: P- Please.

M: First. Edgar kissed Cassius.

H: D- Damn.

[Henry looks jokingly upset at Edgar.]

E: Why that first!?

M: Because it's funny.

E: God, fine. I guess it was a little funny.

S: He also apparently had gay sex twice?

H: D- Damn.

E: GUYS. WHAT THE HELL.

M: HE NEEDS TO BE TOLD THE SILLY SHIT FIRST! IT'S PADDING BEFORE HE FINDS OUT THE SAD STUFF!

E: Ugh, I guess. I should probably throw in my stuff, too. I got home alone’d twice by a little blond kid named Kevin. Covered in feathers and glitter and whatnot.

H: W- What?

[Henry begins laughing, looking at Edgar.]

E: I know! It was fucking ridiculous!

H: A- anything else s- silly happen?

M: Adam taught Sparrow arson.

H: What.

E: There’s not much to it. He skittered over to Sparrow and taught them how to light shit on fire. I’m going to have to hide the lighters.

H: P- probably…

M: Oh! Cassidy is here. She got unmasked all that stuff.

H: N- Nice…

S: Is that all the… Stuff that won't piss him off or make him sad?

E: Does Nicholas dying count as silly.

H: Ha! B- Bitch. I- Is Eden… A- Also dead?

E: [Cringing.] Ooooh… right…

Ne: Nope but that… Crosses over into the other stuff. OH! You remember trickster?

H: T- The thing… P- Put into S- Sparrow? M- Made them… M- Mean?

Ne: Yeah. Sparrow made them chill out. Their name is Peony now and they live on Rose's computer.

[Henry's eyes light up with joy, looking at Ness.]

Ne: Yeah… So. Who wants to start the bad part of the reunion?

E: I could. Just need to figure out where to begin.

H: W- Will? W- Where's… W- will.

Ne: oh. Oh uh god. Alive. At the apartment. Blind. Long story.

H: J- Jesus…

E: Are we working backwards? If so, I’ll wait to share the closet stuff.

Ne: Going in random order.

E: So… should I?

Ne: Go ahead.

E: Well, uh… I’m hoping that showing you this [Edgar holds his left arm out, sleeve rolled up to reveal the many bite marks on it.] will be enough to fill you in on that.

H: F- Fuck… I- Christ.

E: Did what I had to. You… just barely missed the day I got out. A lot of other shit happened, but I’ll wait for the others to recap before I talk about that.

Ne: My kill count is officially 4.

H: …

E: I… forgot about that.

Ne: Yeah.

H: I- Innocent?

Ne: No… It was in self defense.

M: Rose made peace with Eden.

[Henry sits up, clenching his head.]

H: W- WHAT?

M: Yeah.

H: I… Ugh…

S: Mari lied to Showfall about killing me.

E: … Which I have now realized accidentally paralleled what happened with me.

M: OH. My bad. Sorry.

E: Don’t worry about it, how could you have known?

M: Yeah true.

S: The escape went… As well as it could have. I'll let Edgar fill you in on what he did.

E: [Grinning.] I set 7 parts of the mall on fire with molotovs. [The grin fades.] And… brought my kill count up to a number I’m very not proud of. Also, I’m down another rib.

H: I s- see…

E: It was… a very not fun day. Or… hm. Well…? Okay, never mind. Sorry.

M: Rose had a gun pointed at her head for 9 hours. While you did… Whatever so.

E: Fun and not fun. I finally got a small amount of revenge.

M: Yeah but you also missed Ruby fucking ragdolling Emi.

E: Aw, right… I forgot about that. Damn.

H: E- emi dead?

M: Yep. And the only person upset is… Rose for some… reason.

E: They were related. And… hm. I don’t know why else she’s upset, but I kinda get it.

H: Oh…

M: Anything else?

Ne: Henry knows I'm helping PR so nothing on my end.

E: … Speaking of PR, though… That shit with Nicholas. And the… [Edgar vaguely gestures to his back.]

M: Oh yeah… Nicholas remasked and branded Edgar.

H: W- WHAT THE FUC-

[Henry begins coughing, having to lay back down.]

E: Don’t worry, I’m… okay-ish now. Just… a bit uncomfortable to feel on my skin.

M: We could cut it off.

E: NO.

M: IT WOULD WORK!

Ne: MARI WE HAVE BEEN OVER THIS. YOU CAN'T ANSWER EVERYTHING WITH A KNIFE OR FIRE.

E: Please refrain from cutting my skin off. Please and motherfucking thank you.

S: Hey guys, won't a bunch of doctor's be here soon?

E: … will they?

H: P- probably.

E: Shit, I’ve gotta skedaddle. Can’t be trapped in the damn hospital again.

Ne: Are we sure Rose isn't your birth daughter because fucking hell you two act alike.

E: I’m pretty sure she got it from me.

Ne: Yeah.

E: Bye!

[Edgar does a small salute to the group, and walks out the door of the room, turning a corner and immediately bumping into someone audibly.]

E: [Muffled.] Shit, sorry! I’ll be on my way, uh–

?: [Muffled.] SIR??? Oh my god, I’m going to need you to follow me!

E: [Muffled.] Wh– hey! No! Let go!

[His protests fade as he’s dragged off.]

Ne: Damn.

M: You give him the rope?

Ne: NO! It's still at Marina's old house. I was lying through my teeth for real.

M: Damn. Why?

Ne: HE NEEDS A DOCTOR!

M: Yeah that's fair.

H: Hm… C- Can I come back… T- To apartment with y'all?

Ne: Yeah probably. After some doctors clear you.

S: Speaking of leaving. Mari you really need to start leaving your phone at home.

M: Is it recording?

S: Yep.

M: GOD FUCKING DAMNI-

[End transcript.]