#pose is dumb and lots of stuff looking off probably and lots obviously cut off bc too much effort so looks weird and lazy but eh just vibin

[storfulsten]

´`

[skiyoosmi]

if fate permits

chapter twenty

a taste of his own medicine

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“Hey… uhm… I’m sorry. I’m not sure where to start because I’ve been the worst friend to ya for the past weeks. But I want to start with an apology, I guess… yer probably tired of hearing it, right? … it’s something I’ll never gonna be proud of, my pettiness, I mean… but yeah… I’m sorry, YN. I hope ya believe me when I say yer impo–”

Beep! You sighed, ending yet another voicemail from Atsumu. It’s been almost a week since you and your brother moved out of the apartment and ever since the day after that, your soulmate has yet to cease dropping more than three voicemails every single day.

It wasn’t that you haven’t caught sight of him at school; in fact, you see him everywhere. It’s just so happens that you couldn’t help but avoid him like a plaque. You think he knows it though and you’re actually glad that he’s trying to respect your space (except for the endless ringing of your phone which only gets sent straight to voicemail every time, much like today). Which is why right now, you only stared at his contact, contemplating whether you will entertain his ‘apology.’ He sounds like he regrets it, after all and the fact that you only have less than 10 days before your flight wasn’t helping the situation.

“You know, if you keep having a soft heart like that, I’m betting a hundred bucks you won’t get too far once you become a famous writer. A lot of people will take advantage of you, you know. And don’t even get me started with those haters that disguise themselves as critiques,” Speaking of the devil, Kiyoomi suddenly spoke up, his figure leaning against the doorway of your room, much like the pose your father had when you were leaving your previous apartment.

Hundred bucks, you begin to think, where the hell would your jobless ass get a hundred bucks? You won’t tell him that verbally, of course; you value your life too much to even risk being strangled by your brother’s own hands.

“What do you mean soft heart? Where’d you even get the idea that I’m going to talk to him, doofus!? No way, he needs to learn his lesson,” You huffed, turning to him with an eyebrow raised, as if challenging him. He scoffed, entering your room, and sitting on your bed. You were kind of surprised he did given that your room was still messy as hell; but once again, you opted to keeping your mouth shut.

“It’s written all over your face, dear sister. Plus, you’ve said that a million times already I’m actually tired of hearing it now. After all these years, you think I don’t memorize every habit you have?” He replied, hands taking some of the clothes that were still stored in a brown carton and beginning to fold them neatly before standing up and putting it into your closet. He really does take after your father, from appearances to characteristics, “Your eyes, they speak to me the loudest, telling me every bit of your feelings. In fact, I’m kind of puzzled Atsumu never found out through them. But then again, it just supports the truth that he’s as dumb as he could get.”

This boy doesn’t really miss a chance to voice out his disfavor for your soulmate, huh? You wonder what is it that made him dislike… no, wait dislike was an underestimation… rather, loath Atsumu to the core. Bad first impression? No, your brother was not that petty. Did they have a fight you never knew about? If Atsumu and him ever fought, you were sure as hell you’d be the first one to know, seeing as your best friend practically whines and complains at you at every single thing in his life… so why?

“He hurt you and not just once. It’s not supposed to be my business but technically speaking, you are my sister before you were his soulmate and that’s all I needed to dislike him,” said Kiyoomi, continuing to fold your clothes as if what he said was practically nothing. Was he a mind-reader? You don’t know but perhaps, you could try to convince him to start up a fortune-telling business with you and earn millions.

“… You’re so creepy, ‘Yoomi,” You spoke up after a few moments of silence while he sneered, obviously not pleased with your comical reply, “Forget it! God, it’s so hard to have a serious talk with you.”

You only pursed your lips before bursting out into laughter, making him glare at you before his eyes softened. He hasn’t heard that pure laughter in a long time, after all. For some odd reason, he is proud that it was him that made you happy again like that, even for just a short while. After watching you work on something he doesn’t really know what, probably for the play, (it’s a relief you still have a smile on your face while you were on it though), he stands up, stopping by the doorway again when he heard you speak, “Thanks for being there, ‘Yoomi. Can’t imagine my life without my best brother.”

Kiyoomi knows he’s far from being the best brother in the world; he wasn’t expressive, sweet nor overprotective… but hearing those words from you means he’s at least good and somehow, he’s fine with that. He remains quiet before saying, “You know, your friend Hajime, I think he’s nice.”

He doesn’t say anything more, but he knows that his words reached you; he didn’t miss the way you blushed, after all. He takes note of making you flustered more often.

Osamu grumbles under his breath in annoyance, clenching then unclenching his hands as he watched Yui cling onto his brother’s arm like there was no tomorrow. Doesn’t this girl have any decency left in her blood? They were in the public cafeteria of the university, good heavens! And they haven’t even officially became soulmates AND a couple.

The last thing he wanted on his agenda today was to become a third wheel, much less to his brother; and the fact that it’s not even with you, the true soulmate, his favorite Sakusa (he won’t let Kiyoomi know that though), and best drinking buddy, makes it more unbearable for the gray-haired lad. He could only scowl so hard at his twin, who on the other hand, remained unmoved. At least that’s what Osamu sees but unbeknownst to him, Atsumu just wishes he could go and find you as soon as possible.

He has had enough of you averting your gaze each time you catch each other’s eyes at the theater room. According to his brother, your flight is in ten days which means he only had a few more days to make your friendship right; to make it up to you and prove that you are, indeed, an important figure in his life (cue Osamu’s mocking last night when they talked: “HAH!? You sure do have a peculiar way of showing her that she’s important. You’re making me want to laugh and choke you at the same time.”)

“Oh! Iwaizumi-kun, Tooru and… Sakusa YN?” Yui trails off, making the blonde perk up at the sound of your name, turning his body quickly only to find you already looking back at them with… disappointed eyes? As quickly as it came, it disappeared and soon, you were smiling and waving at Osamu, completely ignoring your “best” friend. Atsumu can only stare at you in disbelief; never, not even once, had you disregarded his existence like that before. Even when you had small arguments, you made sure to acknowledge him with a simple nod.

In addition to your indifference, Hajime only furrowed his eyebrows in confusion at Yui’s greeting, as if he doesn’t know Yui at all, not even as an acquaintance. Hence, the three of you only proceeded to the table Makki, Mattsun and your brother saved for you.

“Eh? Iwaizumi… ignored me?” Yui frowned, obviously not used to being disregarded by the boy who used to give her a greeting every time they come across each other. As far as she could remember, they ended their bond in good terms, without anyone having to feel angry at the other so why is it that he acted that way? Did he hold a grudge after all?

Meanwhile, Atsumu gazed into nothing, your sad eyes flashing into his mind and staying there. Have you given up on him already? Did his nightmare that day actually came true? His trail of thoughts was cut off with Osamu’s voice speaking with amusement plastered on his face, “ooh, a taste of his own medicine, huh YN?”

He smirks, finding his brother’s suffering oddly satisfying. He too, like Kiyoomi, has his limits as to Atsumu’s undesired talent of hurting you (he knows the blonde was also suffering but you know, it just really gets on his nerves how blind his twin could get). So right after saying that, he stands up, picking up his tray that holds his food and beginning to walk where your table was.

“Samu! Where are you going?” The said lad looks back at his blonde twin weirdly before shrugging, “YN and Kiyoomi’s table, where else? You can’t expect me to stay on the table with you two, it’s weird.”

“So… you really can’t remember anything about your soulmate? Like who it is or something?” Oikawa asked, staring at Hajime’s hands, as if he’d be able to see anything on his pinky. Unfortunately for him, the ex-captain was not given the ability to be a Moira so he wouldn’t be able to see any changes no matter how long or hard he looks. The spiky-haired lad merely groans, feeling a headache coming due to his dear friend’s pestering, “Yes. I told you that already. I just woke up, saw my thread black and now, I can’t remember anything about who it is.”

“But you can remember us? It’s just the soulmate stuff you forgot?”

“Well, I’m talking to you right now, am I not, you dumbass?” Hajime snarled; an inch close to punching his best friend in the face. Beside him, you look down, feeling the sadness and heartbreak for him because even those feelings were lost the moment he woke up. If you let go of Atsumu, will this also happen to you? You can only give a pathetic laugh at your silly question; of course, it will. You weren’t some kind of special Moira that will be exempted from that ‘curse.’ But you wonder, how would he react? Would he be sad? Or would he just forget about you too and just throw everything you had away? It seems so easy for him to do that, after all.

Now that you witness what’s gonna happen upon cutting the thread, a part of you somehow wishes you should’ve just told him when it was still early, when you were still young and problem-free. Maybe he would’ve given you a promise like those in the movies wherein he says he would marry you once you get older. Maybe he would’ve been able to love you if you could’ve just given him a chance to do so. But it’s your fault, isn’t it? Because you were a coward; you were so greedy for true love that you can no longer have it, you think to yourself.

In the midst of your rather negative thoughts, a warm hand pulls you away from mentally beating up yourself further. Looking up, you find Hajime looking at you with soft eyes, as if assuring your heart that: “You’ll be fine. I’m here. I’ll keep you safe.”

Maybe… just maybe, the universe has given you another chance for true love.

marga's notes. I HAVE FOUND A NEW HUSBAND AND HIS NAME'S BENIMARU SHINMON

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[stackthedeck]

how do you think it would be if tasm gwen, raimi mj and mcu mj met in nwh? i am afraid of how raimi mj is nowadays ik she is probably fine but she was living a hell in spiderman 3

Ooooh this is a very interesting question!! One of my biggest critics of nwh is that it really demotes its female characters, like MJ gets damseled (which really isn't the end of the world for her character, her character arc is about learning to open up and trust people so damselling works but it being service of Andrew's Peter not so much) and Aunt May gets fridge, turning her into uncle ben really isn't the feminist power move people think it is. So bringing in the other MJ and Gwen could be a way to fix this.

so like here's the thing, most of the villains died in the other movies, so it makes total sense that Gwen could come back (And Andrew's Peter would fucking lose it when he sees her, but he can't tell her why, oh god the angst!!) and like idk I think the girls would have a good time, they could have a cute conversation about their lives like the Peters

I think that there would be some conflict and confusion at first, but MJ and Gwen Stacy are really good friends in the comics. Raimi mj has been through a lot, but I do think she and Peter could make things work and she could be the cool mom of the girls while Gwen and mcu mj are giving dumb college kid energy

Also I kinda get carried away and outlined a fic/script rewrite so that's under the cut

Okay so here's how I think it could go down. Doc Strange tells Peter that in addition to the villains, other people who pose no material threat aside from being from another universe have been pulled into their reality. Peter tasks MJ and Ned with finding them and they have a cute little b-plot of tracking down "other universe thems" (would this fuck with the pacing and tension of the movie? yes absolutely, but here's the thing I care more about MJ and Gwen than I do about Peter) There's a montage of MCU mj talking to other people that look like her, but obviously they're all dead ends. Eventually, the doctor strange little tracker device goes off and she turns the corner to see two women viciously arguing.

MJ taps them on the shoulder and asks "are either of you Michelle Jones?" They both share a look and their faces soften when they see these kids.

"Mary Jane, actually, but you can call me MJ."

"Gwen Stacy, but just Gwen is fine, no abbreviations necessary."

Ned says, "So...do you two know a Peter Parker?"

Mary Jane and Gwen do a dramatic groan in perfect sync, freeze then burst into laughter.

"I'll take that as a yes," Michelle says.

MJ and Ned explain what's going on with the multiverse.

"Oh..." Gwen says, "that was actually my second guess."

"What was your first?"

"Peter rebounded to a cougar after I left for Oxford."

MCU Mj and Ned bring Mj and Gwen back to Doctor Strange's basement and they both coo over how small this Peter is. Raimi mj says that he's what her kid will look like and Gwen gasps, "wait you're pregnant? You and Peter made it work?"

Raimi mj explains that their relationship got off to a rocky start, but once Peter was honest about Spider-Man and she gave him more space to be a hero and they talked through the events of sm3 (i.e forgiving him for making mistakes under the influence of the symbiote) they made it work. It's hard, superhero stuff complicates life, but it's worth it.

MCU mj punches her Peter on the shoulder. "Yeah dork, superhero stuff is complicated." Peter frowns and she punches him again. "But it's worth it."

The rest of the events of nwh happen but instead of MJ and Ned finding the other Peter's accidentally through the sling ring, other MJ and Gwen are tasked with finding their own Peters and bringing them to help mcu Peter. Raimi MJ and Peter get to do the upside-down kiss again but this time, MJ pulls his mask all the way off and he flips to the ground to hug her and she does a little "hey tiger"

Gwen is wandering around New York and she sees her Peter, she grabs him and pulls him into a tight alley (there's shadows that make it look like the closet scene, you know the scene I'm talking about). She's smiling at Peter until she sees his face which is just so broken. "Peter, what's wrong?" "Nothing I just haven't seen you since...you went to Oxford." "Well, I'm not at Oxford now." Honestly just let Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone improv a scene, their chemistry is off the charts.

Everything else happens exactly the same except instead of Andrew's Peter saving MCU mj, it's the other mj and Gwen grabbing her hands and pulling her back to safety. (Although Andrew's Peter can web them all to the scaffolding and tell them to be careful by the edges)

At some point, there needs to be a scene of them talking about forming a band (because that's a thing in the spider gwen universe and also a play on the other peters thinking the avengers are a band)

[jupitermelichios]

What I’d change about Rise of Skywalker

To be clear, these are changes I’d make to the existing script, not what I would have written instead. We can all agree Sheev coming back was, at best, a bit dumb, I’m also fully aware that a lot of people disliked TLJ for a variety of reasons and wanted ros to retconn more stuff, but this is not an attempt to change any of that. I’m taking the basic structure of the movie and shifting stuff around to create something I think is tonally and thematically more in line with the overall trillogy.

Also i’m aware the extended universe is sort of canon-until-proven-otherwise at the moment but as far as i’m concered there was a DC style crisis and it’s now open season on worldbuilding elements

- Starting right at the very beginning, our opening crawl is now just about immortality being one of the secret sith powers Sheev kept hinting about in the prequels

- Our very first sequence in the movie is now a (short) montage of Sheev sending psychic messages to members of the First Order, telling them to join his secret sith club. It’s not just Kylo, this is a thing he’s just generally doing, Hux, Pryde, Kylo, random Storm Trooper number 7, they’re all getting this same message.

- Kylo buggers off to go murder Sheev, because Snoke never actually let him graduate (or whatever modern sith do) so he’s not actually a sith lord, but he’s like ah, new/old sith lord is in town, I go kill him and I get to take his title by right of conquest rule of one styley, and also take out a threat to my power base. Also in the one scene we see of him interacting with the first order it’s pretty clear he actually really fucking hates being in charge, so a mission to kill Sheev is looking super win-win

- The reason Exigor is sacred to the Sith now, the reason Palpatine’s able to communicate accross planets, and the reason he’s still alive (ish) are all the same - the planet “has a heart... oF KAIIIBURRRRRR!” (yes the line should be delivered exactly like that) that amplified force powers

- Instead of just being Ian McDermott in white facepaint, Sheev’s design draws heavily on Darth Nihilus or Darth Sion, his body is dead or maybe nonexistant depending on how gross they’re prepared to go. The point is, the answer to the question ‘how the fuck did he survive?’ should be essentially ‘he didn’t’; he’s a consiousness and a fuckton of willpower and not much else

- We establish a temple/cult in this universe that worships twin gods and are generally all about balance and shit coming in twos and they think force diads are sacred. I’m thinking someone at the temple has resistance information, and when Rey and Poe visit, Poe goes to talk to the contact while Rey meditates and sees Luke’s ghost who tells her how he and Leia came here together and about their belief system and how there are different ways of connecting to the force than just being a jedi, setting up the plot point of the diad, our theme of ‘the people we love are never really gone’, and also laying the groundwork for what’s going to be a second theme of building something new rather than repeating the mistakes of the past, by establishing the sith/jedi dichotomy isn’t the only possible path to take.

- Rose and Finn are bored and stuck on base while their friends are on this mission, so when they get a distress call from a minor First Order base they go off to investigate. They find Hux, who’s been ousted in a coup in favour of the First Order just straight up following Sheev after Kylo wondered off, who promises them information. At this base, Finn also sees some young storm trooper cadets.

- Back at the rebel base they all meet up and Hux (who they’ve taken prisoner) tells them about Sheev being back, which they didn’t know about because he’s only been speaking to bad guys.

- Leia is already dying, Rey is super upset about it and during an accidental mind share, Kylo finds out and tells her Sidious knows how to heal people by transferring life energy from one person to another. The healing thing is specifically a Sith power this go around. We get a moment pretty soon after during a mission where someone gets injured, probably Finn, and she figures out how to heal them based on the hints Kylo gave her

- Also this time Leia still isn’t a jedi but not because of a prophesy, it’s because she disagrees with their philosophy, which is going to be relevant later. We get a line to the effect that ‘Luke didn’t grow up surrounded by the legacy of the Jedi’s failings, I did’

- The weird knife thing isnt anymore, it’s just a hollicron now, and the whole bit with both Lando and Rey’s parents and the bonty hunter are removed to give us breathing room elsewhere, it’s just a more tradtional fetch quest now.

- In order to get the holicron translated, Poe’s like “you’re not going to like this, but I maybe know a guy from doing undercover missions”, and takes them to Black Sun to speak to Darth Maul, that’s right, Darth Maul is here now, and he helps them because his prosthetics are breaking down and Rose fixes them and saves his life. Also he’s pretty pissed at Sheev for getting him killed so he’s totally chill with them killing the guy.

- The Hollicron tells them that the last known map to Exigor was stored in the archives of the temple of Corisant.

- They go to the ruins of the temple, a place that is both nostaligic and also has actual character significance to kylo and ties into our theme of how the jedi and the sith are both a bit shit, and even though it makes more sense for it to have been cleaned up, it’s full of little baby skeletons from Anakin’s massacre, just for the drama of it

- Rey and Kylo fight, he taunts her again with the promise of healing Leia, but this time Rey uses their bond and her knowledge of how to talk to force ghosts to basically force Kylo’s third eye wide open so he’s hearing a hundred force ghosts all at one, stabs him while he’s distracted, heals him, and then she fucks off, leaving him to talk to the force ghost of Anakin, who tells him he’s a moron who’s falling for the same bullshit Sheev used on him

- Rey joins up with the others, but at the Rebel base Hux has managed to escape and shoots Leia (it’s dramatic and she dies saving someone but it’s not actually particularly plot relevant so imagine your own death scene of choice here), and obviously Rey feels it

- At this point the gang split up, Poe and Rose go back the the Rebels because they know they’ll be needed, Finn goes off to rescue the storm trooper kids he saw earlier (yeah I’m adding a subplot what’re you going to do about it), and Rey goes off to fight Palpatine

- In the temple, Leia appears to Kylo as a force ghost while he’s doing dramatic ‘i can’t go on’ kneeling pose and gives him a little pep talk and name drops the title

- Finn goes to the first order base, finds the kids, and the little ones are on board with escaping but then they run into some teenagers who actually have guns and it cuts away on a ‘will they turn him in?” cliffhanger

- Rey arrives in Sheev’s big cave thing, tries to fight him but he’s all ‘the jedi could not defeat me before, what makes you think they can now when you’re barely more than a padawan’ and force lightnings her a bit. They’re not related in this universe, he just wants to steal her lifeforce to heal himself more because she’s powerful

- Turns out that the First Order have been tracking Hux, so they know where the Rebel base is so there’s a big space battle going on, and the First Order don’t even have any fancy secret weapon but there’s a lot of them and there’s not enough Rebel ships left after TLJ. Poe’s up in the air flying even though he’s the boss now, and Rose is on the comms trying to contact allies

"This is the Rebellion, please. In the name of Leia Organa, we're calling you. Please, if there's anyone out there. For Leia Organa, for Luke Skywalker, for Amilyn Holdo, please…" and then when there's no response, in tears, she whispers, "For Rose Tico, please!"

There's a beat of silence, and then the radio crackles to life.

"Rose Tico calls for aid, and Black Sun will answer."

A moment later another, "Leia Organa calls for aid and Cloud City will answer."

and then a moment later, “The Rebellion calls for Aid and the Free Troopers will answer” and we cut to Finn in a stolen First Order ship full of the trooper cadets of all ages.

A makeshift amada joins the fight, same as in the original version, and rose and circular briad crown girl who’s also been trying to call for back up hug in celebration and have a very brief ‘oh wait maybe i’m into you’ moment

- Back on Exigor, Kylo arrives to find Rey on the floor, dying. He takes her hand and we see them as spirits, surrounded by the flickering memories of their lives, they’re seeing one another properly for the first time, and they ackoledge one another as twins via the force (personally i’d make them explicitly siblings, by force if not blood, here to carry on the proud star wars tradition of ambiguously incestuous twins, but that might not fly with disney execs in the the 21st century), and then he gives her his life force to heal her and his last words are a title drop again, mirroring what Leia said to him, because this movie is cheesy as hell

- "The power of the Jedi could have lived in you, as the power of the sith lives in me. But instead you threw it away, for what? For that pathetic little boy? He was no more a true sith than you are a true Jedi!"

"I don't need to be a Jedi. The force is with me, and I am with the force. You have the sith. I have all that was and is and will be!"

Behind her force ghosts begin to appear, but not just jedi. There is as many of the Skywalker clan as we can get (including some reused green screen footage of Carrie Fisher), and Rose's sister, and Han, and people visually implied to be Poe and Finn’s parents, and Holdo, and behind them hundreds of others. Basically if we can afford them, they’re cameoing here, alongside a load of extras. And last of all, standing beside her is Ben.They exchange a look, and then Rey strikes. Palatine tries to force lightning her but it doesn't work, and she presses her hands to his cloak, pulls the life force out if him. Thes a terrible screaming and we see glimpses of the other sith, before they dissipate and the robe falls to the ground.

And obviously the space battle also gets definitively won at the same time, this is movieland, I’m thinking Finn and Poe have to coordinate an attack that relies on Finn using the force is that vague ‘jedi’s are all amazing pilots’ way episodes 1 and 4 both used

Oh and then at the end they’re all celebrating back on the Rebel base, and Finn starts to hit on Rose and she’s like “I’m not the one you want to say that too, also you’re not my type” and smooches circular braid-crown girl who’s been in the background of all these movies with nothing to so

Finn joins Poe and Rey and they all hug in the same ambigiously-poly way they did in the original, and then Poe’s like “I’m sorry about Kylo” kind of awkward because he still hates the guy but he knows Rey doesn’t, and Rey’s like ‘I’m not, the people we love never really leave us’

and then the final scene, Rey is carrying Kylo’s lightsabre and lays Luke’s and Leia’s on the altar of the temple of the twins, and goes to ask the priests to tell her about their religion, with the implication that she’s starting to build her own new version of the jedi

(and if I was disney this would totally be the set up for a new animated series about Rey travelling around the galaxy meeting new weird alien cultures and learning about what cool force powers they have, and the knights of Ren can be the bad guys, and sometimes she’ll come and help Finn and Poe and Rose with trying to rebuild the galaxy. And then they have to take out Black Sun in season 2 and it’s all super dramatic because they were allies sort of and had cameos, and now rey and maul are forced to have super cool spider-legs lightsabre battles instead)

[tigerkirby215]

5e Sivir, the Battle Mistress build (League of Legends)

(Artwork made for Riot Games.)

Okay I know this is completely off topic but what the hell is Sivir's pose in her base splash art? Like oh my god doesn't that hurt your back? Jesus I know proportions are hard but wow this pose is terrible lmao.

Also it has come to my attention that I unintentionally made all the Legends of Runeterra Shuriman champions. Well I mean, Rammus isn't in LoR yet. Man we do really need more Shuriman champs.

Sorry I really don't have much of a blurb beyond that. Honestly only making Sivir for "randomly Shurima month." Like who actually plays Sivir anymore.

GOALS

Better duck! - We need to be able to throw everything at incoming danger and cut it down to size.

Here's where I get my cut - When faced with a hoard it doesn't hurt to be able to shoot everyone at once!

Nice try - Of course getting hit yourself would suck, so we're going to need ways to avoid incoming damage.

RACE

You have ascendant blood in you, which gives you just a touch of godly power. To connect to the gods look to the Aasimar. As an Aasimar you’d normally increase your Charisma by 2 but we’re instead going to invoke Tasha’s for a +2 to Dexterity. But your other abilities don’t change such as your Darkvision which I only mention because Light Bearer gives you the Light cantrip to help your friends with their dumb human eyes. You also get Celestial Resistance for a Spell Shield and Healing Hands for some potions in a pinch.

Fallen Aasimar require high Charisma and Scourge Aasimar hurt themselves as they fight, so we’ll be going for Protector Aasimar. We’re still going to get a +1 to Intelligence instead of Wisdom with Tasha’s rules, and we’ll cover more of what your subrace does for you at level 3.

ABILITY SCORES

15; INTELLIGENCE - Intelligence is tied to Investigation which makes it the tomb raiding skill. (I’d probably put Dexterity higher to be honest but I dislike uneven Ability Scores.)

14; DEXTERITY - You’re an ADC and even if you’re throwing stuff (which we won’t be in this build) Dexterity is still tied to most ranged combat abilities.

13; CONSTITUTION - While you may be squishy on the Rift we simply don’t need any other abilities for this build.

12; WISDOM - Wisdom is tied to Perception which is also useful when trying to avoid traps.

10; CHARISMA - You’re rather rough around the edges. Maybe if you were more Charismatic your fellow tomb raiders wouldn’t have double-crossed you.

8; STRENGTH - Even though you’re throwing weapons (which again: we won’t be for this build) you are very nimble and Fleet of Foot. Put simply we don’t need Strength at all for this build.

BACKGROUND

There’s no “Tomb Raider” background so we’ll fall back on Sivir’s job as a Mercenary Veteran. You get proficiency in Athletics and Persuasion as well as Land Vehicles and a gaming set of your choice (pick your poison.)

When you live the Mercenary Life you can easily identify other mercenaries by their emblems and logos. (RIP Clubs.) You know bits and pieces about their work, and can go seek them out for hints on the next ancient tomb to break into. And if all else fails you can fall back on mercenary work to maintain a comfortable lifestyle.

(Artwork made for Riot Games.)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - ROGUE 1

Starting off as a Rogue because skills to raid tombs are always helpful. Skills like Acrobatics, Perception, Investigation, and... well we may as well grab Stealth as a Rogue. You also get Expertise in two skills: Investigation is the skill to find hidden loot, and Stealth is still pretty important as a Rogue.

When you live the mercenary life you know to speak in Thieves’ Cant so no wanabee treasure hunters try for your mark. Thieves’ Cant is a secret code with regular words that mean something else.

But let’s be real: what we’re really here for is Sneak Attack. When you have advantage on an attack (such as by attacking from stealth) or if your ADC is near the target you can do an additional d6 of damage.

LEVEL 2 - ROGUE 2

Second level Rogues are Fleet of Foot, and can use Cunning Action to Dash, Disengage, or Hide as a Bonus Action. Attack-Moving as an ADC is very important!

LEVEL 3 - ROGUE 3

Third level Rogues get to choose their Roguish Archetype, and you have the blood of a long-dead civilization in your veins. You revived your phantom of a great great great great (x20 more “great”s) grandfather, so Phantom Rogue will work well. Whispers of the Dead will let you choose a skill or tool to gain proficiency in after a Short or Long Rest, so you can adapt your tools to the situation at hand.

But more importantly you get Wails from the Grave. When you hit an enemy you can have your shot Ricochet to an enemy within 30 feet to deal necrotic damage equal to half the number of Sneak Attack dice for your level (round up.) You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Speaking of which your Sneak Attack die increases to 2d6. And speaking of more damage as a Protector Aasimar you get Radiant Soul. Once per long rest you can activate your Ascendant blood for 1 minute or until you end it as a bonus action. During this time you have a flying speed and deal extra Radiant damage equal to your level. Look just because we don’t see Sivir fly in-game doesn’t mean she can’t.

LEVEL 4 - ROGUE 4

4th level Rogues get an Ability Score Improvement: Dexterity controls most of what you do currently. Increase it by 2 for more damage, better skill checks, and better AC.

(Artwork made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 5 - FIGHTER 1

ADCs are meant to fight, and Fighters are good at that! You get a Fighting Style to boost your right clicks and a “Marksman” needs Archery, even if they’re technically throwing weapons. (By the way by this point I’d recommend using a Longbow, for multiple reasons other than “it’s better than a Shortbow / Light Crossbow.”)

You can also pop the Heal Summoner Spell for a Second Wind, healing yourself for a d10 plus your Fighter level as a Bonus Action.

LEVEL 6 - FIGHTER 2

Second level Fighters are On the Hunt (by themselves), and can Action Surge to take an additional action! For now this just means one more attack, but your damage output will really increase at higher levels!

LEVEL 7 - FIGHTER 3

Third level Fighters get to choose their Martial Archetype, and while it’s perhaps not the most accurate or the strongest Arcane Archer is the only way to get some of Sivir’s abilities. But firstly you get Arcane Archer Lore for the Arcana skill (or Nature but Arcana is better), as well as the Prestidigitation cantrip (or Druidcraft but Prestidigitation is better.)

But your main feature is of course the Arcane Shot. Once per turn you can use one of your Arcane Shot options. You decide to use it when the arrow hits a creature, unless the option doesn’t involve an attack roll. Piercing Arrow will serve as your “Boomerang” Blade, firing a projectile in a 30 foot line that deals damage to everyone it passes through. This ability will go through cover so you can shoot past walls too!

There aren’t really many other options that fit Sivir, but Bursting Arrow will make your shot “Ricochet” on enemies within 5 feet of your initial target. And will do more damage, obviously.

You have two Arcane Shots per Short or Long Rest, but I’d really recommend discussing the subclass with your DM. Arcane Archer is known for being weak but it becomes a lot stronger if you make the Arcane Shots scale with either Intelligence modifier or your Proficiency Bonus. I don’t normally recommend homebrew changes but Arcane Archer is honestly a fun subclass hampered by how limited your Arcane Shot options are. I really recommend discussing buffs to the class if you wish to play one. 

LEVEL 8 - FIGHTER 4

4th level Fighters get another Ability Score Improvement and while tricks are useful shooting good is still your main goal. Increase your Dexterity by 2 for the deadliest shots possible.

(Artwork by Horace "Hozure" Hsu and Alex "alexplank" Flores. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 9 - FIGHTER 5

5th level Fighters get their Beserker's Greaves, granting them enough attack speed for an Extra Attack to make two attacks in a turn! "Business is good."

LEVEL 10 - FIGHTER 6

Fighters get Ability Score Improvements instead of Class Features, but that's cool because it means we can get feats! Your Constitution has been sitting at 13 for awhile now, and while I'd normally try to grab a more fun feat Resilient will increase your Constitution by 1 and also make it easier to resist spells, which is like a spell shield!

LEVEL 11- FIGHTER 7

7th level Fighters get their Mythic! Kraken Slayer will give you Magic Arrows that do... exactly what they say on the tin! Magic damage for the sake of overcoming resistance or immunity to nonmagical damage.

Additionally if you miss you can use your Bonus Action to Ricochet your shot to another enemy. Curving Shot will let you redirect a missed hit towards a different enemy within 60 feet.

You also learn another Arcane Shot option: Enfeebling Arrow is like exhaust on an arrow. The target takes an additional 2d6 Necrotic damage and has to make a Constitution saving throw. If they fail the damage of their attacks is reduced by half until the start of your next turn.

LEVEL 12 - FIGHTER 8

More Feats are fun! While I could take Resilient in every stat or perhaps Mage Slayer I think Lucky works better to simulate Sivir's spell shield. If you make a roll on a d20 that you don't like you can roll a Lucky die to change it. You can use this not just on saving throws but also attack rolls, ability checks, and even enemy rolls! (Though of course the most flavorful thing would be to only use it on your own saving throws.) You do only have 3 of these per Long Rest, so be sure to use them wisely to block deadly spells.

(Artwork made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 13 - ROGUE 5

5th level Rogues can survive a bit of harass thanks to Uncanny Dodge, letting you reduce the damage from a weapon attack you saw coming by half with your reaction. "Nice try." Your Sneak Attack also increases to 3d6, meaning that your Wails from the Grave increase to 2d6.

LEVEL 14 - ROGUE 6

6th level Rogues get Expertise in two more skills: Perception will help you see danger coming, and Acrobatics will help you avoid that danger.

LEVEL 15 - ROGUE 7

7th level Rogues can dodge skillshot with Evasion. If you succeed on a Dexterity saving throw you take no damage. If you fail on the saving throw you only take half damage, instead of the full damage! "Step light, strike hard." Your Sneak Attack also increases to 4d6.

LEVEL 16 - ROGUE 8

Another Ability Score Improvement is in order, and this will actually be your last one! More Intelligence will boost your Arcane Shots, but the Sharpshooter feat will boost your regular shots. It’s up to you what you do really; adapt your build for more Ability Power or more Attack Damage.

LEVEL 17 - ROGUE 9

9th level Phantom Rogues can loot the dead. When a creature you see dies within 30 feet you can use your reaction to grab a Tokens of the Departed. You can have a maximum number of soul trinkets equal to your proficiency bonus, and can’t create one while at your maximum. You can use soul trinkets in the following ways:

While you have at least one soul trinket you have advantage on death saving throws and Constitution saving throws.

When you deal Sneak Attack damage you can destroy one of your soul trinkets to use Wails from the Grave without expending a use of that feature.

As an action, you can destroy one of your soul trinkets to ask the spirit associated with the trinket one question. The spirit appears to you and answers in a language it knew in life. It doesn’t have to be truthful, and it answers as concisely as possible, eager to be free. The spirit knows only what it knew in life, as determined by the DM.

And to top it off your Sneak Attack increases to 5d6, which also means your Wails from the Grave increases to 3d6! “Life’s cheap. Death pays.”

(Artwork by Jean “Curing” Go. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 18 - FIGHTER 9

9th level Rogues get another Spell Shield with Indomitable. Once per Long Rest when you fail a saving throw, you can reroll it! It’s really that simple.

LEVEL 19 - FIGHTER 10

10th level Arcane Archers get another Arcane Shot Option. What? Did you want actual class features? Too bad! Regardless take whatever option you think will be useful honestly, because we got everything we wanted from the earlier levels.

LEVEL 20 - FIGHTER 11

Now that you’re finally six-slotted you can attack three times with your Extra Attack, or 6 times with Action Surge!

FINAL BUILD

PROS

I've got values; they stack up nicely - Three attacks per turn is good in its own right, but you’ve also got Arcane Shots, a Sneak Attack that can affect two targets, and Radiant Soul to add a flat +20 to your damage every turn.

I'll fight for a cause; I won't die for one - Having around 150 HP is nothing to sneeze at, but what’s really impressive is your saving throws. Proficiency in DEX, CON, and INT saves means you won’t be failing those saves anytime soon, especially since your Soul Trinkets give you advantage on CON saves!

You've got a problem, I've got a price - You’ve got plenty of utility with Expertise in the two “searching” skills, the ability to interrogate people after death, and of course good ol’ Lucky if things go south.

CONS

Make me work for it - You need a lot of actions and reactions to operate at maximum effectiveness. Soul Trinkets are tied to spending reactions and you need your Bonus Action for Curving Shot as well as your Cunning Actions.

Don't get between me, and my gold - You’re honestly not that skillful for a Rogue, with a lot of dud skills (let’s be honest you really don’t need Athletics) instead of potentially more useful things like Insight or Survival. Sure +13 to Perception is nice but that and Investigation are probably the only two skills you’re notably good at, as your took Expertise in general Rogue abilities instead of team utility.

They say the desert is a cruel mistress - Half your saving throws are very good. The other half...? +1 Wisdom saves are quite mediocre for a common save, and -1 to Strength saves certainly has the chance to hurt. Even if you can reroll them it’s still going to be hard to make those saves.

But you’re reliable which is all that can be asked for a mercenary. Your jobs are to fight and to nab treasure, both of which you’re damn good at. Go ahead and pull this build out if the party needs a reliable marksman, and if you roleplay them well they may not even realize you’re playing a character from League of Legends. Pull a little Sneaky on them.

(Artwork by Alex “alexplank” Flores. Made for Riot Games.)

[vampirepiggyhunterdefensesquad]

dreams

It had been a fun evening, but Gaz could feel herself pleasantly getting sleepy. Her head lolled slightly, brushing against Zim's shoulder. She suppressed a smile at feeling him twitch slightly at the contact. 

"Why are you. . ." His voice trailed off as Gaz let herself snuggle closer, wrapping an arm around his lower waist and pressing her cheek into his neck, feeling him swallow. "Why are you. . . slowing down?" 

Gaz allowed her eyes to drift shut. "I'm falling asleep, Zim," she mumbled. 

His hand snaked around her shoulders and disappeared into her hair. She could feel him playing with-- studying it under his strange fingers, feeling it. Occasionally they brushed against her neck, and she shivered. 

"Ah, yes," Zim announced, "the human propensity to going into hibernation for several hours of each sun cycle." 

"Don't go all alien, 's weird." Gaz turned her face into his body and smiled against his neck. "Everybody sleeps." 

 "Irkens don't need sleep!" Zim barked, jolting her slightly and sending her careening back to consciousness. 

Gaz fought back the urge to hit him for waking her up. "Well, have you ever tried?" she snapped, pulling away and leaning on the sofa's armrest on her other side. 

Zim folded his hands in his lap uncomfortably. "Why would I try?" he managed. "Sleeping is something inferior species do to pass time and rejuvenate energy they barely spent in the first place. IRKENS have evolved past the NEED for sleep!!" 

His eyes kept flitting around the room, but his longing gaze kept snapping back to Gaz, who took no notice.

"I like sleeping." she merely said, settling down in her position and lying down sideways on the couch, careful not to brush Zim with her legs. Zim made an incredulous noise. 

"What?" 

"Come ON. You, a strong-willed and powerful human with the propensity for violence, loves to be in a state of physical vulnerability while you remain dependent on the needs of your HIDEOUS flesh to SURVIVE?? I'm sure it's a real blast." he finished snidely. 

"Well, you can't dream when you're awake." Gaz forced herself to sit up, making eye contact again. She wasn't so tired she couldn't argue, and the idea that Zim resented sleep and looked down on those who "indulged' in it left a bad taste in her mouth. "Plus, it's comfortable." 

"Dream?" Zim blinked. "I thought that was a myth." 

"You thought DREAMING was a myth??" 

"IT SOUNDS FAKE!!!" 

 "I like sleeping," Gaz repeated, more forcefully. "Just because your dumb leaders decided you shouldn't be allowed to enjoy it anymore doesn't mean it's not good. And dreaming can be some of the most pleasant experiences of your life." 

Zim turned in his seat, fully facing Gaz. She'd come to recognize this as his "I-am-giving-you-my-full-attention" pose, and repressed a sigh. 

"I would like to know more about these dreams.” he said, staring at her carefully. “Inform me of the sorts of dreams you have." 

"Well, sometimes I dream about flying or something. That's always fun. Sometimes I dream I'm spending time with people or characters I like. Sometimes it's just weird, like I have something to do, somewhere to be, and I spend the whole dream trying to figure out how to get there. . . sometimes it's just a jumble of stuff I saw throughout my week. Sometimes, days when I played a lot of vampire piggy hunter, I dream I'm actually in the game and taking down vampire piggies myself." 

"This sounds. . . . less than unpleasant," Zim admitted. "You have no control over what your brain decides to show you?" 

"Kind of, not really though. I don't lucid dream all that often. That's when you can control what happens and you're aware it's a dream." 

"Hm. And you can control everything that occurs?" 

"Yeah?" Zim sat bolt upright, grabbing her hands in his. Gaz had no time to react before he scooted forward, pressing his forehead into hers. "TEACH ME. NOW."  

She was wide awake now. Instinctively, Gaz's leg shot up and she kicked Zim in the stomach, pushing him forcefully away from her and landing with a thud on the floor below. 

"I can't teach you how to lucid dream," Gaz spat, a bit more venomously than was probably necessary. "You have to just go to sleep yourself and figure it out." 

"I don't want to sleep!" Zim whined, legs and arms tangled up. He didn't seem perturbed by Gaz's lashing out, instead extricating himself from the uncomfortable position he'd landed in. "I just want to dream." 

"You can't dream without sleeping, stupid." 

"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" he shouted back. "WITNESS my AWAKE-DREAMING!!!" With that, Zim jumped back onto the sofa (landing a bit closer to her than strictly necessary, but who was paying attention?) closing his eyes and going limp on the cushions. Gaz hoped he could sense the disapproval radiating from her glare despite not being able to see it. 

"What are you doing?" 

"Having a DREAM!!! obviously. Ohhhh, the dream I am. . . having. YES!!! Amazing things are happening in my amazing brain!!!" 

"You're not dreaming, you're imagining. There's a difference." Gaz rolled her eyes. The eyes popped open and Zim's face fell into a childish pout. Gaz bit her lip to keep from smiling. It wasn't cute.

"C'mere. I'm gonna go to sleep now. I don't know if you even can, but. . . I wouldn't be mad if you tried. Right now." 

"Now? Here?" His eyes bored into hers. "With you?"

"Don't. . . make it weird." Gaz coughed into her elbow, an excuse to look away. "But yeah. It's whatever." 

Zim's mouth had closed, and he seemed to be cowed, for the most part. As a reward for his shutting up finally, Gaz returned to her spot on his shoulder, curling up and leaning against him. Zim's arms gratefully went right back around her, and his slight purring returned as she closed her eyes and let the comfort of her position and thoughts carry her away. Maybe Zim would sleep and dream and maybe he wouldn't, but either way, he wasn't going anywhere. 

When the morning sun came peeking through the window, Gaz's eyes fluttered open again. A sour feeling somewhere in her chest threatened to rise up (she was always so easily woken, even by the sun, and kept the blinds in her room shut tight every night as a result) but hearing Zim's soft snore from under her cut the unpleasant feeling out from under her entirely. Gaz closed her eyes again and smiled. Judging by the mumbling from Zim's sleeping figure, Irkens could get to sleep, but they were kind of noisy. Maybe their paks kept at least a part of their brain awake during the process, in case of emergency. . .? Or maybe it was just a unique Zim thing. 

Either way, she leaned back into Zim's slumbering body, strewn out across the sofa, uncaring of how it might look to anyone who could walk in. They had shifted in their sleep apparently, as Gaz was curled up on top of Zim's stretched out body. One of his arms was still up and over her back, and occasionally a finger would twitch along with a sigh or murmur from his perpetually moving mouth.

She probably could have stayed there forever if he hadn't started sounding a little more lucid. 

As soon as Gaz's body returned to where it had been against his chest, a self-satisfied purr rose up in his chest, and his other arm went up to her hair.

",, az."

It was like her stomach had bottomed out and released everything in her body, organs included. She inhaled.

"What did you say?" she asked, in as soft a voice as she could.

"You," he chuckled slightly. 

"What about me?"

Zim didn't respond verbally to this question. He merely grunted and tightened his grip around her body, pressing his face into her neck.

It was a wonder he hadn't woken up from the heat radiating from her face and body. Gaz wanted to disentangle herself from him, but she also didn't want to move a muscle for fear she'd wake him up.

She was wide awake now. 

"What are you doing?" she asked, softly as she could without outright whispering.

He giggled. He GIGGLED at that. Gaz felt her breath catch, then cursed herself for having that reaction. 

The giggle was slightly menacing, which made sense in retrospect as Zim's claws tightened on her back. 

"Mine," he purred into her ear as they subtly slid downwards. 

Gaz panicked. She jumped to her feet, out of Zim's ever-tightening grip, and stumbled backwards a few steps, trying to regain her balance and composure. He had no right to make her stomach do flip-flops like that. He had no right to be even the least amount of smooth or competent, asleep or not. Gaz clapped a hand over her mouth to steady her breathing, then frantically began rubbing her arms up and down and told herself she did NOT miss the contact as the chill of the room hit her.

Apparently, Zim did, as his eyes slowly flickered open and leisurely made their way over to hers. 

A lazy, half-lidded, goofy smile broke out on his still sleepy face.

"Gaz. . . human." The suffix was an afterthought, savored in his mouth.

"Did. . ." Gaz swallowed. "So did you dream?"

"Dream?" Zim looked slightly confused. "Did I . . . dream?"

"Yeah, you definitely did," she answered. "I heard you sleep talking."

Zim's face went from self-satisfied to shell-shocked in heartbeat. His hands snapped together and he stared at her.

"What did-- what did I say?" 

"Nothing!!" Gaz answered, waving her arms frantically. "It was just nonsense words, just babbling. You didn't say anything out of the ordinary, nothing weird or strange or cute or terrible, I'm gonna head home now, this was weird, bye!!" 

"You're leaving??" Zim looked completely forlorn. "Already?"

Gaz flushed. "Get a grip," she said, as much to herself as to him. "It was just a dream."

He sat up slowly. "That was. . . unpleasant."

"It seemed pretty pleasant," she mumbled before she could stop herself. Zim's eyes swiveled to her again.

"But it wasn't REAL! What's the POINT????"

"The point? There's no point. It's just your brain entertaining you while you're asleep or whatever. . ."

Zim folded his arms and scowled. "I didn't like it."

"Of course not." Gaz was feeling tired again. It was barely sunrise and he was already yelling. "I'm gonna go home and go back to bed. See you later."

"There is no need!! It would be acceptable for you to, eh, continue staying in my living room."

"Thanks, but I want to go home," Gaz insisted.

He hopped to his feet and bounded over to her, sticking his arms out. "I COMMAND YOU TO STAY. We have not yet finished the levels we intended and you can't go home until we do!!! SLEEP HERE. dream HERE." 

Hitting him with an elbow and rushing out the front door was satisfying vengeance for the topsy-turvy stomach feelings she was getting bombarded with, but it didn't stop her mind from racing all the way home. And it certainly didn't help her mutinous body stop wanting his warmth when she crawled gratefully into bed at home and closed her eyes. And it didn't keep her treacherous brain from coming up with all sorts of soft, cuddly scenarios to push on her in her weakened state.

Zim was right. Dreaming was dumb.

[thattimdrakeguy]

Robin - the first miniseries - issue #2 (R.I.P Tom Lyle)

This issue is really good at letting you know the bare bones basics of what Tim’s going through in this story.

It may not go through all the details, but it gives you pretty much the main components of what you need to do.

A nice recap that’s always good for readers that didn’t pick up the first issue. It’s very easy, and simple at lowering any confusion.

Although there is probably still butt loads given how little they actually say, but it’s easy to pick up.

Robin’s getting beat up, this adult man who is obviously not Batman is helping him.

You can pick it up fast and continue from there.

They also give Tim’s narration, and I can’t help but read this in the most deadpan clinically exhausted tone reality can bring. It’s so deadpan and self-depreciating, but at the same time, it lets the reader know he has that boy scout thought process.

You get a sense that the kid’s doing his best to be a superhero, but it always does a good job of letting you know that even he’s aware he’s not doing a good job.

Not feeling like he’s good enough is a constant theme of Tim’s character.

His narration also shows us, that Tim is a freaking idiot. That probably should’ve thought this out before nearly getting himself beat to death.

Like he’s clever, good with computers and all that, but he’s still an idiot kid

People to be always over-value Tim’s intelligence, and while he obviously gets a lot smarter than this (often to the point of being out of character to be frank). Some people might make you think he’s a genius, like James Tynion IV, but honestly he’s no genius.

He doesn’t always make the best decisions.

Though even when he’s five steps away from toppling over, he still does his best to do what he thinks is the best thing he can do. He’s doing his best to be a hero, even when he isn’t cut out for the job yet. He keeps on trying.

His relationship with Clyde is also pretty sweet for as odd as it is. I mean, they did just meet after Clyde was gonna get killed, and Timmy jumped in to give the bad guys something else to hit.

But for what it is, it’s decently sweet.

It’s more nice character building for Tim that shows how he is in Robin mode interacting with other people and victims of crime. He’s sweet, and always doing his best to do the right thing.

Like the little boy scout he is.

--

It’s easy to barely care for the villains of this miniseries though, because to be honest. They’re so generic that it’s a bit painful to read them sometimes. They feel like they’re out of a dollar bin Kung Fu movie from the 80s. I have no idea why this is who they decided to make Tim’s first villain this.

The name of the villain is even KING SNAKE, that’s such a cheesy Kung Fu movie villain name.

Oh no, a serious, violent, psychopathic, gang leader.

What ever shall we do.

It’s something you can skip over honestly, because you pretty much know it’s going to be stuff you’ve seen before.

Basically, they go into operation ‘kill the pipsqueak’ (they don’t call it that, but that’s the idea), and that’s the threat they pose. Its very bare bones.

Though there’s a part of this that alarms me more than the main villain.

Because this implies that the girl isn’t Tim’s age. The way she says he’s “almost a child” implies she’s notably older older than Tim given how she words herself, but maybe not, because Tim IS babyfaced. It is a joke people constantly think he’s 12 (and that’s at age 17, Tim’s 14 here. So who knows how he looks to people). So, how old is this girl?

Is she’s Tim’s age? Because I’m alarmed by this because she was vaguely flirting with him in the last issue. Is she his age and she doesn’t know? Cuz if she was his age and she knows, it’s weird for her to word it that way. She’d just say “around my age”, like how a normal person would.

Even then, she still notes how he’s super young like she doesn’t think they’re the same age, so that’s still super creepy.

That interaction alarms me a lot, but it’s not even close to the creepiest thing in this comic, but thankfully that’s in another issue.

I’m not looking forward to talking about it, but this is a review of this miniseries. So I’m going to.

--

The next scene shows just how much of a stupid, sheltered, rich kid Tim is.

Like this kid, just throws away this man’s clothes. This man is in his underwear when he wakes up. Tim took this man’s clothes off his body and threw it away.

This scene I just never liked though, because it’s very contrived.

Tim’s always been shown to be nice and respectful unless it’s to not so nice people. So why does he straight up throw the guys clothes out?

They don’t even play Tim to be creepy, or weird, or rude for this. So this wasn’t intended to make him out to be a disturbing gremlin child.

As far as I can tell, the gag is that Tim’s a sheltered rich kid, and a bit stupid sometimes, but if I woke up in my underwear with a kid talking about crime in front of me. I’d be a lot more alarmed.

Although maybe it’s just some crime movie trope I don’t know about. Girl’s in movies often wake up naked with no real concern. Which is a really gross trope.

I remember in Back to the Future Marty McFly woke up with no pants, but that WAS played as weird, because it WAS weird. You don’t take stranger’s clothes off. So this scene is just contrived.

The intention isn’t to make Tim’s character a weirdo. This wasn’t them trying to show him as creepy, because that’s simply not how it’s portrayed. It’s just a rich kid joke. So he isn’t as far as the series and how I’m concerned, and he doesn’t do anything like this ever again. So it’s just out of place, odd, and contrived.

Maybe this one of the many reason’s why people think Tim was gay. He backs away from being flirted with women, but he’ll take a man’s clothes off without a second thought.

Another creepy scene though, and a scene that’s not even meant to be creepy at that, which almost makes it worse to me. Like I sure hope this wasn’t the way they intended to make Tim come off as gay, because it’s a freaking creepy scene even if it’s kind of clearly not what they intended. 

Although, let me say, I’m 99% sure they honestly did not intend Tim to come off as gay in any way. Just a bad scene honestly. It’s written away from normal human logic, so it’s contrived, and they don’t even fully act like what just happened happened.

However due to the power of interpretation, if you think Tim’s gay, he’s gay.

If they wanted to show Tim being a sheltered rich kid, they should’ve done a better job writing it then this. If Tim’s gonna do it a weird thing, because he doesn’t know what he’s doing, then write it that way. Don’t just act like this wasn’t weird.

--

Lady Shiva has her “come with me if you want to live” moment though, and so the action continues.

In general this issue has a lot more action.

The format of the miniseries is a lot more like a movie than how most comics try to squeeze in a lot of action every issue. There’s action in the first issue, but it’s mostly condensed down a lot. This finally goes into action movie territory.

The bad guys are so corny. Like I can’t get over how much they look like cheesy 80s Kung Fu movie villains.

Tim deserves better than these bozos.

However they keep Tim’s character strong, by reaffirming he’s got no street smarts. Tim at this point is 100% only making this far by his book smarts. He’s naive, and stupid still.

They even got nice ‘show don’t tell’ moments, where Tim’s just freaking bad at this job still. Even though he is quick thinking and sort of clever.

People say Tim has no character, but he has plenty of character. He just isn’t loud. He’s mostly soft spoken so maybe his personality isn’t obvious, but he has it plenty if anyone wanted to pay attention to him.

--

Enjoy some more dumb rich kid Tim.

Like casually renting a farm house isn’t normal, Timothy.

Up until this point, some people may still argue that Tim’s a Gary Stu, because while even though he fails, and isn’t skilled. People still like him, and he doesn’t do anything morally wrong, but that’s not true either.

Tim’s so focus on figuring stuff out that he becomes insensitive to Clyde.

Mostly cuz he’s a dumb, but smart (contradiction, but remember Tim’s book and computer smart, not socially smart or street smart. There’s a distinction. He’s still incredibly naive and unaware that what he did wasn’t right) kid that didn’t realize it, but still. He did something wrong, and it’s shown that he’s wrong for it.

So the traits of his character are able to be shown more to stronger limits.

We know his strong points and his character flaws.

He’s got a heroic spirit, he’s computer smart, good at crime solving, he’s constantly trying to do the right thing, and he doesn’t give up.

but socially and street-wise he’s an idiot, and his sheltered childhood ended up with him being relatively insensitive without him being aware of it at first, and while it’s clear he isn’t insensitive out of malice, it’s still a character flaw, as it causes problems between the characters.

--

The final scene gives us some character growth, and if you wanna smack Timmy for being so insensitive to Clyde, well, in this training scene. Clyde smacks him for ya. (Even if it’s not for being insensitive)

We even get to see how emotionally vulnerable Tim is compared to some other superheroes too.

He cries when he’s angry unlike other superheroes who often enough get to look cool, tough, and masculine when they cry.

Here Tim looks like what lots of people would call a wimp.

As someone who cried a lot when they were mad, and even got bullied for that fact. I honestly just really appreciate, on a personal level, that they had Tim cry when he was mad. 

He’s got his butt kicked this whole entire time by pretty much every person he freaking met. So that’s a lot of emotion coming out of him that he’s been probably building up and internalizing inside of him with all his self-deprecation in his narration.

I kinda gotta question the morals of teaching Tim to fight with anger though.

But it’s still a good moment because it shows were Clyde comes from. That’s were Clyde gets his motivation to fight from and do all of this. Clyde even tho this is his only appearance does get character in this. We learn about him a lot.

It makes me wish Clyde showed up again. Unless he did and I somehow didn’t realize it was him, because he’s a neat character in his own way. Could’ve got a nice noir crime drama out of him.

Along with that. They don’t even ignore the morals of fighting with anger, because that immediately gets brought up.

So differences between these three weirdos come up when they become a trio.

--

I prefer the first issue just because it’s more of a character study, and didn’t have all the corniness.

This issue, while I focus on the bad stuff, because this is a review I’m gonna talk about it. It’s still a good issue. Just a good issue with bad scenes and crooked morals when it comes to the ambiguous age gap between Linx and Timmy that could end up making that whole interaction they had really creepy.

Tim’s character gets stronger, and the story gets filled out, even if the story is still bare bones at this point as far as the villains are concerned. It’s filled out in a way that means, there’s a threat, and there’s actual action and adventure to make it exciting.

So it’s not a perfect miniseries for anyone looking for story. It’s a miniseries that’s perfect for people that love and wanna learn about Timmy.

[claws-on-spec]

Konyyl ==> Get a Vest (And don’t die.)

Chatlog under cut!

Konyyl Okimaw: this is late but hey hi Konyyl is coming to the garden XD

Polypa Goezee: Polypa's just chilling there with New Vest

Konyyl Okimaw: Konyyl will yell hello because she has no other volume. Excited Big Gal, she has had such a good few nights.

Polypa Goezee: Polypa, nearly falling out of the tree she climbed but playing at nonchalant as she jumps down

Konyyl Okimaw: Konyyl offers her a handshake and a grin.

Polypa Goezee: And Polypa takes it, if a little less you know. Big. She's a reserved girl.

Konyyl Okimaw: Shake shake. Konyyl just straight up pulls her vest off and captchalogues it in preparation

Polypa Goezee: And Polypa uncaptchalogues new vest

I imagine it's probably just. Really sturdy, deep olive denim? Polypa took the time to distress it in places and then sew in patches underneath to keep the integrity of the garment. It has pockets, and zippers. Leather pull tabs. She clearly worked non stop on this.

Konyyl Okimaw: Konyyl actually yells in excitement. Just like, "WHOAH THAT'S SO COOL" Konyyl Okimaw: all restless and wiggly in excitement, girl cannot sit still

Polypa Goezee: "I didn't put your sign on it, since if the rumors of your career are true, i imagine you wouldn't want that anywhere you can't cover. Go ahead and try it on?"

Konyyl Okimaw: "thats really THOUGHTFUL THANKS"

And she pulls it on, and keeps turning to try to admire herself. Grabbin it to feel the texture, examining the craftsmanship, she's delicate so she doesn't fuck anything up.

Polypa Goezee: And there it is, the moment Polypa falters in her original plan to kill Konyyl when her guard was down. She just. Pauses for a second before leaning against the tree and crossing her arms.

"looks like it fits * i'm glad *|"

Konyyl Okimaw: "yeah it FITS and i LOVE IT its so STURDY youre really good at SEWING"

Still examining, but now she's posing a little for Polypa. "how do i LOOK?"

Polypa Goezee: "it's what i do * i would hope i'm good at it *|"

and she takes a moment to really appraise how it fits

"you look good * the distressing was a good choice * suits you *|"

Konyyl Okimaw: "usually it takes me perigees to get it looking this GOOD" "how did you do it so FAST?"

Poor Konyyl does not understand distressing, but is very obviously pleased with how it looks.

"and how much do i OWE YOU?"

Polypa Goezee: "lots of practice *|"

and she genuinely has to think for a second, she did not anticipate konyyl being alive and willing to pay her

"oh * let's say 20 caegars? * it was a fairly simple pattern all things considered *|"

Konyyl Okimaw: "thats so LITTLE" Konyyl frowns for the first time she has since she got here.

"i see stuff like this at STORES" "and its always so much MORE"

...Time for her to dig in her sylladex for a second, and then pull out at least twice that, if not more. She doesn't count, counting is for nerds.

"HERE" "you did really GOOD"

Polypa Goezee: "i did practically ask to do it * as opposed to you coming to me *|"

Polypa does in fact count it, and measures out the asked-for amount.

"thanks * i'm pretty happy with how it turned out * and i'm glad you like it * always good to reach a new audience *|"

Konyyl Okimaw: Konyyl almost looks sad that she's being handed money back, but she does take it. Stuffs it back in her dex in no particular way.

"im really happy TOO" "next time ill ASK" "maybe 'daja will want something once he sees how COOL I LOOK"

Polypa Goezee: "maybe he will * i'd be happy to do something for him too * usually i'm in cosplay but normal clothes are always a nice change of pace *|"

She's actually smiling a little now. She's just... so genuine...

Konyyl Okimaw: A big grin again, for the other oliveblood. Konyyl reaches out and pats her on the shoulder, all friendly and shit. (If Polypa doesn't dodge her hand, that is.)

"sounds GREAT" "ill message you again LATER" "have a great LIGHT"

Polypa Goezee: "you too *|"

she's too busy being surprised at how nice konyyl is being to dodge. she's gotten patted.

Konyyl Okimaw: One more smile from the big dumb, and then a wave and she's heading out. She's still marveling at the vest as she walks, looking down at herself and messing with the pockets. Polypa Goezee: she's so cute... what the fuck....

[welllpthisishappening]

Listen. Life is stressful. The Rangers finally play hockey again tonight. All-Star weekend was basically just a never-ending stream of me having feelings about hockey players and kids and it can only be expected that I translate all those feelings into words about Matthew Jones playing his first organized hockey game. Obviously. 

He’d always had equipment.

Emma was certain there were more sticks in their apartment than the equipment room at the Garden and they went through a whole phase when he was two and a half where he resolutely refused to take Killian’s helmet off. The chin strap always fell down to his chest.

It was absurd.

She had, at least, forty-seven pictures of it on her phone. Ruby might have had fifty-seven. Because Matt had grown up wearing hockey equipment and none of it had ever particularly fit, but that was all changing and Emma couldn’t quite wrap her mind around the idea of him playing a game.

“It’s not really a game, Swan,” Killian had promised, several weeks and a mountain of paperwork earlier. “It’s…just kind of gliding around the ice while holding onto a stick. Honestly, the refs have to redirect the kids to make sure they don’t collide into the boards.”

She hadn’t entirely appreciated the use of the word collide in that sentence.

Or the idea that Matt was going to glide anywhere. His balance on the ice was already kind of offensive, all things considered. Emma really hated being the only one who ever wobbled slightly.

“Mom!”

Emma snapped her head around, eyebrows flying into her hairline and he already had gloves on. She should not have been surprised.

“Kid,” she sighed, shaking her head with something that absolutely was not frustration. “What did we say about just grabbing stuff off the walls? This is not the Garden.”

“Kris lets me!”

“I know, but this is a real-life store with real-life stuff that we really have to buy. We’re not just yanking on gloves.”

Matt scowled, a twist of lips and scrunch of his nose that was a little weird to see on his face when Emma was so used to feeling it on her face and they were behind schedule. Always. And indefinitely.

It wasn’t the season yet, technically, but there was a pre involved and that meant events and plans and games and there’d been plenty of lip twisting when Matt realized Killian wasn’t going to be the one to take him shopping for equipment.

Only a few hours removed from his first-ever hockey game. Kind of.

The refs absolutely were not going to have to direct him away from the boards.

“Nuh uh,” Emma muttered. “No faces. It’s not going to work.”

He made the face harder. Or something. Emma refused to be responsible for the lack of structure in her sentence. She was having several different moments at once – some kind of mom thing and the passage of time and a Garden of Dreams event in two days that Mulan inexplicably couldn’t photograph and her spine kind of felt like it was being twisted in two, but that probably had something to do with another kid at home who resolutely refused to sleep through the night.

Still.

They needed to find a stick.

“You know you can’t actually use a real stick,” Emma said, taking another step forward to tug the hat further down Matt’s head when it threatened to fall onto the floor.

His jaw dropped. “What?”

“It’s got to be the right size, Mattie. You knew that. Dad told you that this morning.”

She was kind of worried his face was going to get stuck like that. Legitimately, not even in an old wives, having some kind of mom moment way. “Yeah,” Matt grumbled, twisting on the balls of his feet and he did that all the time, like he was trying to dig the blades of his skates into ice that wasn’t actually there.

He always wanted to be on the ice.

“It’ll be easier to score.”

That got a slightly different twist of lips out of him – a full-blown smile that never failed to make Emma’s heart sputter and she almost forgot about the state of her ankles. “I’m going to score. Like Dad.”

“I know you are, kid.”

“Can I get two sticks?”

“What would you need two sticks for?”

Matt looked at her – straight faced and far too serious and Emma had to bite the inside of her lip to stop herself from making some kind of spectacle in a sports equipment store a few blocks away from the Garden. “I shoot hard, Mom.”

She laughed. She couldn’t help it.

“Oh, of course, of course. You planning on taking a lot of slap shots, then?”

He shrugged and the hat was a lost cause. Emma could dimly make out the shadow of a store worker lurking somewhere between the t-shirt racks next to her, probably wondering when to make his move or ask Matt to take off the gloves they were absolutely going to have to buy.

“Dad and I practiced.”

Eventually, Emma was sure, it would stop – whatever her entire soul did at the idea that her husband and her kid practiced slap shots from the blue line or wristers from the far face-off circle, but part of her was positive it wouldn’t and the other part of her hoped it never did and they were going to be cutting it very close to puck drop. They’d had skate in Tarrytown that morning.

“You’ve got to go backhand then,” Emma said, crouching down without thinking much about it and her back didn’t entirely appreciate it. Killian would have lost his mind.

Matt jumped up, arms around her neck and face buried in the crook of her shoulder. “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he chanted, shouting the words into her ear. They were definitely causing a spectacle. “Screen the goalie!”

“Exactly.”

She leaned back, doing her best to keep her balance, even when the wasn’t ice involved, and pressed a kiss to her kid’s cheek – only to have that same kid look vaguely scandalized by it. “Mom,” Matt groaned. “You can’t do that!”

“Why not?”

“‘Cuz! It’s…I’ve got to be ready!”

“For the game?”

“Yeah,” he said, an impressive impression of Killian several hours before puck drop and Emma was only a little worried how she was gong to survive the rest of the day.

“Right, right. I’m sorry, Mattie. Let’s not get distracted. You going to get those gloves?”

“And skates!”

“You have skates already.”

The store worker had found his moment. “Excuse me, were you two looking for new skates?”

Emma clicked her tongue, eyes falling shut because she’d already lost a battle she wasn’t all that intent on fighting and new skates a few hours before a game were a disaster waiting to happen. “Yeah,” Matt shouted, jumping back again. “Like my dad’s!”

“Your dad skate a lot?”

“He is now.”

The worker hummed, lower lip gusted out slightly when he nodded and Emma pinched the bridge of her nose. She hadn’t opened her eyes yet. “That so?” the guy asked, his name was probably Todd or something. “He play some kind of pick-up league?”

Matt’s eyes widened, looking as if he were preparing to drop the gloves Emma still wasn’t sure fit right. “No,” he snapped. “At practice! They’ve got a game tomorrow!”

Todd – God, Emma hoped his name wasn’t Todd – nodded again, and Matt gaped at her, seemingly stunned that every single person in the entire world was not intrinsically aware that he believed Killian Jones to be the greatest hockey player in the history of modern sports.

“Tell you what, Mattie,” she said. “We’ll get new skates, but you can’t wear ‘em today, ok? You’re going to hurt your feet. So you wear the old ones today, then you can try out the new ones when you go to practice with Dad later in the week. Deal?”

Matt considered that for a moment – like he had any real choice in the matter – nodding brusquely, another Killian-like movement that was messing with Emma’s mind. “Ok.”

“Ok.”

They got two sticks. There wasn’t really much choice in that either, and Emma didn’t have to do much convincing to get Matt to pose with all his equipment, sending texts to half a dozen different numbers and several group messages.

It took Killian less than three minutes to text back.

He’s going to wreck ‘em all, love.

That’s the parental support we’re looking for, obviously.

He get two sticks out of you?

How did you know that?

Give me some credit. Also you’re an equipment pushover and Kristoff told me he already asked him earlier this week.

It doesn’t count when you’ve got insider information.

I’m simply using my resources when available. Tell him we’re going into film now. I’ll leave early if I have to.

Don’t tell Arthur that.

Arthur can deal. I’ll be there for first shift.

And she wasn’t really surprised that there was no mom’ing before he went into the locker room – Matt making faces and holding his stick over his shoulder, a move Emma was fairly certain she’d seen Will do a few weeks before – but it still made her heart twist uncomfortably and the heels that echoed in the hallway were almost expected.

“He’s going to score twenty-two goals,” Ruby said, no trace of sarcasm in her voice.

Mary Margaret laughed softly, Leo on her hip and slight bags under her eyes. They’d made a sign. “Twenty-two seems kind of high, don’t you think?”

“Twenty,” Emma corrected. Her voice caught. That was ridiculous. She was totally going to blame the no sleeping thing. “So he could match Killian.”

“Oh, that’s super dumb,” Ruby muttered. She sniffled.

Leo appeared to have fallen asleep.

Emma nodded. “Yeah, it is. You didn’t tell him, right?”

“They’re not here yet.”

“What?”

“It’s fine, Em,” Mary Margaret promised. “A’s on some kind of warpath claiming seats and I think she and some mom from the East side were getting ready to stare at each other until one of them just turned to stone.”

“Regina’s giving lessons,” Ruby added with a smile, and she was doing an awful job of pretending she wasn’t crying too. “Also, Roland and Henry are just draping themselves across seats. It’s absurd.”

Emma scoffed, a breath of air and nerves and she wasn’t really worried about Matt playing, but this was the first time it was ever going to be official and—

“Are we late?”

She snapped her head up, another absurd sound because Killian looked genuinely terrified and both Will and Robin were very clearly out of breath behind him. Emma shook her head. “How did you get here so fast?”

“Cap, like…willed the driver her with his mind,” Will muttered, leaning against the nearest wall with his arm wrapped around his middle. “God, I think I’m dying.”

“You’re not dying,” Robin promised. “But also not lying. We were pretty positive he was going to get out and walk on the Cross Bronx at one point.”

Emma couldn’t stop blinking. “That sounds really dangerous.”

“I didn’t actually do it, Swan,” Killian muttered, fingers finding hers almost as soon as he stepped in her space. “Are there seats? Is that a sign, Lucas?”

Ruby nodded. “Yes and yes. You going to be embarrassing all game?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

“Ah, well at least your honest about it.”

Strictly speaking, they were all pretty embarrassing. There was shouting and cheering as soon as the team wobbled out onto the ice while other parents cast cautious glances their direction – Roland and Henry standing on seats at that point with their arms thrust up and Ariel got some pretty good air on her jumps as soon as she saw Dylan, standing next to Matt on the blue line.

They were on the same line.

Killian squeezed Emma’s hand. He’d never actually let go.

“He guarantee a goal?”

Emma grinned. “Just wait.”

And the reaction was almost as good as she expected it to be, in that it was ten-thousand times better than she expected it to be, Killian’s gasp audible even over all their ridiculous cheering because Matt turned, moving towards the face-off circle with a twenty plastered across his back and gloves that, finally, fit and—

“Oh, damn,” Killian breathed, a hitch in his voice that made Emma bite her lip.

Mary Margaret took a picture.

“His idea,” Emma whispered. “I think he had to challenge some other kid for it. But he told said other kid, in no uncertain terms, that’s my number and well, that was that.”

“That was that, huh?”

“That was that.”

Killian exhaled, a quick kiss pressed to Emma’s temple and it only took three shifts for Matt to score. On a pass from Dylan. Backhand.

They didn’t play a full game – they were little kids and it wasn’t really a game, no final score or stats or plus-minus, but Emma knew Matt didn’t care about any of that and she was almost prepared for the blur that sprinted out of the locker room several hours later.

“Mom! Dad! Mom! Dad! Mo-dad-mom! Mom! Mom!”

“Articulate kid,” Ruby laughed, winking at Emma as soon as Matt launched himself at Killian. He grunted, stumbling back slightly, but his arm worked around their kid and there were far too many limbs already wrapped around Killian for falling to be any kind of legitimate threat.

“Slow down, kid,” Killian muttered. “Where’s your equipment?”

“In the room. Dad, Dad, Dad, did you see!”

“The goal?” Matt nodded, a quick jerk of his head that was more dangerous than any of his limbs. “The quickest wrists I’ve ever seen.”

Matt beamed. There was no other word for it. And Emma’s heart might have exploded. God, she hoped not.

She hoped Todd from the sports equipment store worked on commission. They bought so much equipment.

They weren’t going to have to move so could Peggy could get her own room, just so they could store all of Matt’s hockey sticks.

“And,” Killian added. “Looked pretty great in that uniform. But, hey, how come you weren’t smiling in that picture Mom took?”

Matt blinked, confusion settling on his features for a second before he twisted in Killian’s hold and—“You guys always have tough faces in your pictures. I thought that’s what I had to do.”

“Oh my God,” Emma mumbled, leaning back against Ruby. She hooked her chin over her shoulder, another sniffle and more smiles and Leo had slept through the whole game.

Killian nodded, holding Matt tighter against his chest. “Yeah, kid, that’s exactly what you’re supposed to do.”

[alvarezforthegame]

25 Days of Foxmas

Day One: Tree

super psyched to be posting this story!!! i love christmas and i’ve been working on this series for a few months!

you can read it here on ao3! or you can keep reading it under the cut!

Summary:  Getting a tree is customary for Christmas, a long-standing tradition in most families, one that Neil never got. So Andrew brainstorms ideas with Bee and decides that Neil is getting a tree this year. 

So Andrew wasn’t exactly a fan of the holidays. This had more to do with the fact that Neil had gone to the Ravens than anything else, because he felt that it was obvious that a shitty childhood would come with shitty childhood memories. He had expressed this opinion to Bee with blunt sincerity, and she had just nodded and asked if he wanted a candy cane to stir his hot chocolate with. He’d accepted the candy while he told her about how much he despised the holidays and gift giving and the adamance with which department stores pushed sales. He hated everything to do with the holidays and refused to participate.

So why was Andrew standing outside of the stadium, leaning against his car with Bee, smoking a cigarette and wrapped in a winter coat? Why was he texting Neil fervently, telling him to hurry his stupid ass up? Why did he have an extra jacket in the back seat? Why had he threatened Kevin to make Neil get off the court on time?

“Are you going to do anything with Neil?” Bee asked, her tongue swiping stray hot chocolate from the corner of her mouth. She reached forward and adjusted the little Santa figurine on her desk, aligning it with the reindeer and a moose baking cookies. “He might be interested.”

Andrew felt his brow drop into a glower, thinking about his dumb boyfriend and how he had probably never had a happy Christmas, and how he had overheard Dan and Matt planning to pool their money to buy Neil an extra pair of shoes so that he could run in the woods if they ever went back to Allison’s cabin.

“He’s never had a real Christmas,” was all Andrew said to Bee.

Because Neil was a little asshole who had never celebrated anything and dammit, Andrew hated the holidays but at least he had them. Nicky bought him gifts, and he and Aaron bitterly posed by the tree that they got every year. Even Bee made him peppermint hot chocolate after Thanksgiving ended.

Neil had never had that, Andrew knew. He had been on the run for so long, and more importantly, he had never learned to not stress about his money. Blending in didn’t cost a lot, and Kevin had felt inclined to inform him that chapstick didn’t count as a present. The problem was that Neil didn’t know how to celebrate, and he didn’t want anything because he didn’t know how to want anything. He didn’t understand that he was allowed to enjoy things, and that people wanted to buy things for him.

“Allison asked me what she should buy Neil for Christmas, but I don’t know what he wants.”

“Neil doesn’t want a lot, hm?” Bee was just asking questions to ask them - obviously Neil didn’t want a lot. He was a dumb idiot and Andrew was wondering if Wymack would get mad if Neil showed up to practice in his first set of dirty clothes again. Probably.

Neil’s head emerged from the doors of the court, stopping for a moment when he saw Bee sitting on the hood of the car alongside Andrew. He jerked forward for a moment, and then began walking, and Andrew realized that Kevin had probably shoved Neil forward because he was blocking the doorway.

Andrew had threatened Kevin that he would kill him the next time he laid a hand on Neil, but he figured that he could extend his holiday spirit to Kevin too, if he had to. Even annoying strikers had to be shown some cheer every once in awhile.

“Maybe you do some Christmas stuff with Neil? Do you remember what Nicky did for you and Aaron? Or maybe Nicky can take Neil out?”

“No, I want to take Neil. I remember what Nicky did.”

He paused for a moment, thinking about Nicky bringing the tree home, decorating it while Christmas movies played on the television. He usually danced around the kitchen and would go through the cabinets looking for ingredients to bake cookies - he always left out the tray, even if Andrew and Aaron weren’t in on the Christmas spirit.

Andrew made Bee leave the hacksaw in the trunk of the car, saying that it was something to do with Neil being impulsive, but he was pretty sure that Bee knew it was because of Neil’s somewhat rocky past with blades. He watched Kevin herd Neil away from the stadium and to the parking lot.

“Andrew! And Bee?” Neil asked, jogging up to the car while Kevin rolled his eyes.

“Get him home by midnight, Andrew.”

“Not likely, Kevin. Leave me and Neil alone.” Andrew flicked his cigarette on the ground and stubbed it out before opening the driver’s side door. “Bee gets front seat, Neil,” he said before slipping into the car.

Kevin rolled his eyes again and walked away toward Fox Tower, while Neil made way for the back seat. Bee looked like she wanted to offer her place in the passenger seat to him, but Neil didn’t like being studied, and therefore didn’t want to have her behind them, watching and taking in all their little quirks and interactions.

“Where are we going?” Neil asked, watching the road stretch ahead of them. They drove past Columbia, further into rural area than he wanted to be.

Andrew kept his eyes on the road as usual, but he was dying for another cigarette. If he didn’t have to worry about Bee, he would pull over and light one. She didn’t like when he smoked, and he had to respect that.

“Go to sleep, Neil. I’ll wake you up when we get there.”

--

An hour and two phone calls to Nicky later, Andrew pulled into the dirt lot outside of a “Saint Nick’s Christmas Tree Farm” and turned the engine off. He reached back and tugged on a chunk of Neil’s stupidly long hair, trying to wake him without too much trouble. Neil grimaced, but slowly sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

“Where are we, Andrew?” His hair flopped into his line of sight, his bandana still on the seat where his head had been.

“Fix your hair, Josten,” Andrew said bluntly, reaching for his cigarettes before deciding against it. Bee wouldn’t be appreciative of it, and this seemed like a family-friendly area. Instead, he crossed to the back of the car and popped the trunk to grab the saw.

The trio walked into the fences and were met by a jaunty college student with her braids tied up into two buns and elf ears clipped in. She bounded up to them with her hands in her green canvas apron and a huge smile across her face.

“Hey! Welcome to the farm! We’ve got firs, spruces, and pines, it just depends on what you’re looking for and how big you want it to be.”

“We’ll go for the Douglas fir, thanks.”

“Nicky always got us Douglas firs. I don’t know why. He says they’re the best one to get.”

Andrew had finished his hot chocolate, and staring at the slush of the candy cane that was left over. He could taste the film that the drink left in his mouth.

“Do you think that you can bring a real tree into the Fox Tower?”

Andrew could practically see Bee thinking about all the needles across the floor.

“Why would I bring a tree into Fox Tower if Neil and I are spending the break at the house in Columbia?”

Bee nodded, taking her final drink of her hot chocolate. She’d always been slower at drinking hers than Andrew had been. She looked at the clock, and Andrew knew that it was time for their session to end.

“I’ll see you next week, Andrew. Thank you for talking to me about the holidays. I think you and Neil will have a lovely time.”

Andrew stood and made his way to the door, pushing open part way, before turning back to.

“Bee?”

She stopped putting her notebooks away and looked at Andrew. “Yes?”

“Can you come get a tree with us?”

The girl pointed them in the direction of the Douglas firs and turned her attention to the next group of people who had entered the farm’s gates. Andrew walked forward without question, and Neil and Bee followed. It took them ten minutes to reach the section with the trees, whereupon Bee decided that she needed to use the restroom, and disappeared off in search of the building.

Andrew turned his attention to Neil, who was glaring at a Douglas fir for no apparent reason.

“Did the tree say something about exy?” Andrew asked, walking up to Neil’s side. “Or do you just look like that all the time?”

Neil turned his grimace to Andrew, who had done nothing to deserve it, much like the tree.

“It’s cold, Andrew.”

“No shit, Josten. Do you like this one?” Andrew motioned to the tree that Neil had been making faces at.

Neil shrugged. “How do you know how to pick them?”

Andrew rolled his eyes. “You check to see if the needles are brown, and if the trunk is healthy,” he said, inspecting the tree. He found a bunch of dried parts and shook his head. “This one isn’t good. We can find a better one.”

“I want to be closer to Neil,” Andrew said softly. He stared into his lap and  twisted his thumbs. He could hear Bee sit up straighter while her pen ran against her paper, before she finished and tapped it three times.

“Is there any reason why?”

“I don’t know.”

Andrew chewed on the inside of his cheek and looked up at Bee. She was giving him a sympathetic look, which Andrew didn’t usually appreciate. She folded her hands together.

“Do you want to brainstorm ideas?”

“I don’t know.”

Bee thought for a moment longer, and then smiled again.

“Why don’t you wait for a moment? I trust that you’ll be able to figure out a good one.”

He turned on his heel and began to wander through the trees, trying to find one that looked like one that Nicky would have picked. At one point, Neil was dawdling in front of one tree that was still too brown for Andrew’s liking, and Andrew found his moment. He took a deep breath and reached for Neil’s hand.

Neil stood up as if ice water had been poured down his back. He looked down to their interlocked hands, then slowly looked to Andrew.

“Yes or no?”

Neil nodded jerkily. “Yes.”

“Then let’s find a tree.”

Bee found them twenty minutes later and helped them carry the tree to the front. The workers at the gates helped them trim the trunk down to the house’s dimensions and tie it to the car.

Andrew paid at the kiosk, Neil standing closer to him than they had started out.

[lordsunriot]

two heroes review (dub) (minor spoilers obv)

the movie was super funny n really good. like there were a lot of twists i didn’t expect and it was all so moving and i had a rly good time. i’ll put a list of reactions and whatnot under the cut. i won’t give away any huge spoilers, it’s mostly me talking about how much i love them all.

the entire plot lies around david shield being super fucking gay for all might like not even exaggerating. jit stands around in empty rooms looking at a photo of all might as a pastime. calls him toshi. it’s incredible.

all might and david would just STARE at each other A LOT it was CRAZY.

there’s also a flashback of when they first met. all might’s shirt fell off.

I LOVE MELISSA SO MUCH!!! SHE CALLS ALL MIGHT UNCLE MIGHT!!! she is so good i love her so much. she’s so smart and brave and i love her. she and deku get along sooo well and it’s really sweet and they work together fantastically!

all the girls were so lovely in this movie. of 1-a, ochako, momo, and jirou were in the story. tsuyu, tooru, and mina were at the hotel and there’s a few scenes with them.

speaking of, sato and sero were hanging out together as well. and shouji and tokoyami were hanging together too!

kirishima n bakugo were gay, obviously. the shit you’ve seen in spoilers is basically it but it was great. when it cuts to them wandering around “””lost””” when kiri “”””left”””” his phone, it just’s a close up of bakugo going, monotone, “moron. you absolute idiot” and that was funny to me.

bakugo screaming kirishima’s name after he saved him.... oof... then kiri blushing when bakugo thanked him... lol..... gay

jirou and momo were very touchy. they were both so great and confident in this, especially momo! so so good. i love them

momo is very confident and smart!!! i love her! she uses all of her strength to help her classmates, and figures out solutions to a lot of their predicaments. they would b so lost without her i stg

jirou very good. properly Punishes mineta and kami for being dumb. she’s beautiful and shy but badass

honestly mineta and kaminari were being Them but kaminari had some great moments and when mineta wasnt being gross his scenes were actually kinda funny. i mean they were still both lowkey useless lmao

iida was hilarious. he’s such a good boy. there were like 2 times where he’d Run towards the screen talking and it was so funny. his hand movements were also the best. really badass too kickin shit everywhere. at one point his pants ripped to reveal his thick ass calves

before taking off iida dabbed for like a split second

also when kirishima was stuck in the wall after the 80th floor fight he was t-posing.

there were some really good deku & ochako and deku & melissa moments. it was rly nice.

also?? surprisingly?? todoroki and bakugo moments? like i think(?) kiri called them a good team and there were parts where todoroki just like.. smiled at bakugo or whatever. they were both smiling cuz of whatever but todoroki was lookin At bakugo like a fool.

todoroki would literally just go “midoriya...” unprompted with NO follow up like BOY LMAO

midoriya would also be like “todoroki! and everyone else!” that forreal happened. hon....

bakugo was screaming mostly as usual but he was great. super badass as you’d expect smh. he saved ochako at one point.

ok but there was one part where his arm like cramped up or something but then he says (to all might(?)) something along the lines of “you idiot, losing to some villain like this” or whatever (i think the word weak was in there somewhere and probably a curse but i forgot) and i thought he was talking to himself at first and i was like BRO WHERED THAT COME FROM. but i was mistaken. anyways.

the fight scenes were really well done!! very smooth and dynamic and overall not too hard to follow, either. and so exciting omg. ESPECIALLY with deku omg. obviously he has the best scenes and it’s . very good.

there’s a few plot twists and it’s insane. like you don’t... really expect it at all. 

once things start heating up it kinda has overhaul arc vibes cuz of the villain’s quirk and also he just straight up pulls out a gun on people.

deku and all might have the BEST fight scenes and it’s unlike anything we’ve seen in the show and it was just. rly impactful tbh. it was so cool.

i’d die for melissa. i love her so much.

the movie was overall really funny? just like in expressions and things happening and idk man but it was great, everyone in the theater was laughing a lot.

music was fantastic. love the young all might theme.

during the credits there were some stills of them eating bbq! koda’s there! kirishima goes to a brooding bakugo with two kabobs! tsuyu and ochako are like, feeding each other kabobs?! idk but it was gay.

i might be forgetting stuff but im rly tired so!!! im hoping to see the sub version on monday so ill post another one of these then maybe ?!

[hannahberrie]

Everybody Talks | Chapter 13: Into the Woods

Fandom: Stranger Things Pairings: Mileven, Lumax  Rating: K WC: 13,562 😵 Summary: When Will invites the group on a weekend camping trip, everyone gets a lot more surprises than they bargained for.

[AO3] Chapter Selection: [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]-13-[14][15][Epilogue] 

El is crowded with her friends in the A.V. Club room when Will brings up the idea.

“Are you guys busy this weekend?” He begins, glancing at everyone curiously.

Mike is crouched in front of the TV, trying to get it to turn on. Dustin is hovering beside him, snacking on a 3 Musketeers bar, and trying his best to instruct Mike on what to do, even though Mike claims he already knows what to do. Max and Lucas are seated in two of the desks, with Max’s legs draped across Lucas’ lap.

It’s Monday after school, and they’re all in here to see the boys’ final cut of their Homecoming video. El is seated on top of the third desk, near the back of the group. She finds herself torn between eyeing Mike (because he looks really cute whenever he’s focused), or eyeing Max and Lucas (because she can’t help but wonder: are they dating now? It’s kinda unclear. El’s pretty sure that Max would tell her if they were, so they’re probably not, but first it was holding hands during movie night, and now Max is totally acting even weirder than usual around him).

Despite all the clamor, when Will poses his question, everyone stops what they’re doing to turn and look at him.

“I dunno,” Dustin shrugs, “I mean, whatever we do, we’re probably going to be together anyway.”

“Why?” El asks Will, intrigued.

Will, seated in the fourth desk, hesitates before continuing. “Well, I was just wondering if you guys wanted to go camping?”

“Camping?” Lucas frowns, confused.

“That’s kinda random, Byers,” Max nods, eyeing him.

“I know,” Will blushingly admits, “It’s just…I don’t know, it’s kinda dumb.”

“No, what is it?” Mike asks concernedly, “You can tell us.”

Will gives Mike a grateful smile before turning to look back at the rest of the group. “Well,” he begins, “Jonathan and I kind of have this tradition. On the last weekend of October, we take a camping trip to the woods, you know the big forest out by the Quarry? And we like, set up sleeping bags and build a campfire and roast marshmallows and…I dunno, it’s just always a lot of fun.”

“And you want us to do that with you?” Mike offers.

Will nods.

“Let me get this straight,” Max cuts in, removing her legs from Lucas’ lap and sitting up straighter, “You want us, a group of teenagers, to go spend a night in the forest, alone?”

“Yes?” Will hesitates.

“You realize that that’s like, the set-up for every slasher movie ever?” Max points out, “Friday the 13th? Madman? Sleepaway Camp? You’re basically asking to get murdered.”

“Those are just movies,” El frowns.

“I dunno, Max has a point,” Dustin shrugs, “It sounds kinda risky; we’d basically be tempting the horror fates.”

“I know,” Will patiently replies, “But…I mean, we’ve been doing it every October since our dad left, and this is the first year that Jonathan’s not going to be here since he’s at NYU now.”

Everyone falls silent at that, looking a little guilty.

“I dunno, it was a dumb idea,” Will hastily continues, slumping back in his desk, “Just forget I said anything.”

“No!” Mike frowns, “Let’s do it!”

“Really?” Will asks hopefully.

“Yeah,” Max nods, looking a little embarrassed, “It could be fun, I guess. And if a serial killer does come after us, we could always use Dustin as bait.”

“Why me!?” Dustin protests, looking offended.

“My dad has a lot of old camping stuff,” El offers, ignoring Dustin and Max’s bickering, “If we need anything.”

“Okay!” Will replies, starting to look more excited. “I mean, if you guys really want to.”

“We really do,” Mike assures Will before turning back to fiddle with the TV.

“But wait,” Lucas suddenly pipes up, looking concerned, “Isn’t the homecoming dance this weekend?”

“No, that’s the football game, you dweeb,” Max huffs with an eye roll, “The game is this weekend, the dance is next weekend.”

“Why do you know that?” Dustin snorts.

“Why don’t you?” Max snaps back defensively, “You’re the ones who made a whole video for it!”

“But do we care about going to the football game?” Will points out, looking puzzled.

“No,” Dustin snorts again.

“Speaking of,” Mike segues, “I finally got the TV to turn on, so we can watch our video.”

“Finally,” Max sighs, “Let’s see this thing.”

“Full disclaimer,” Dustin prefaces, “It’s kinda super boring, because it’s about football, but in our defense, we did the best we could.”

“It’s not boring,” Lucas counters, “I mean...it kind of is, but it could be worse.”

“I think it’s fine!” Mike insists, “Let’s just watch it and see.”

“Have you guys not watched it or something?” Max asks skeptically.

“This is our first time watching the final cut,” Will explains, “We just finished it today.”

“It’ll be good,” El assures them, “I know it. You guys are all really talented.”

Mike glances over his shoulder to smile at El thankfully, and El feels her heart flutter in response. It’s not fair how he manages to look insanely cute even when his face is still a little bruised and he’s wearing the most basic of hoodies.

El watches Mike as he inserts the tape into the VHS player under the TV, hurries to the back of the room, and turns off the lights. As the tape clicks into place and begins to whirr inside the player, Mike comes to sit beside El on the top of the desk.

This, of course, causes El to blush like mad. It’s a pretty small desktop as is, so having Mike squeeze in beside her means that they’re seated rather close to each other. It’s not like she minds this, or anything, but she’s still adjusting to being this up close and personal with Mike on a regular basis.

Ever since they spent Saturday afternoon eating waffles and watching cheesy soap operas at her house, things have felt a little different. El’s not quite sure what it is, but something has definitely changed. They’re more comfortable around each other (for the most part), and El notices that Mike’s been casually gazing at her more often, like before school, during lunch, during Biology, right now...

“Aren’t you supposed to be watching the video?” El whispers, giving him a teasing smile.

Mike flinches and nods, looking flustered. “Uh, yeah,” he admits, turning to look back at the TV.

El has to bite down on her lower lip to stop herself from giggling. As she turns to look toward the screen, she does her best to pay attention to the video, and not the fact that Mike currently smells like Ivory soap (a fact that, while albeit slightly strange to point out, is nevertheless pretty distracting).

El doesn’t know too much about sports, but from what she can tell, the video is constructed well. There’s plenty of footage from the games, the transitions are nice, and she can tell that the boys must have worked really hard on it.

When the video ends, Mike leaves El’s side, turns on the lights, and goes to retrieve the tape from the VHS player. “And that’s pretty much it,” he summarizes, glancing at all the members of the group as he stands before them.

“So, what do you think?” Dustin asks, turning to look at Max and El, “Did that not just like, blow your mind?”

“Oh, it did,” Max nods, “But not in the way you probably wanted.”

“What do you mean?” Lucas frowns.

“Isn’t this supposed to be a video supporting our school?” Max asks incredulously.

“Obviously,” Dustin scoffs.

“Then why did you dweebs put in so many shots of the other teams scoring on us?”

The boys pale and turn to look at each other worriedly.

“We did!?” Mike exclaims, looking panicked.

“But the crowd was cheering!” Will pouts, “Doesn’t that mean we scored?”

“That means that the other team’s crowd was cheering,” Max replies, “Not ours.”

The guys exchange collective groans of defeat.

“It’s a small mistake!” El offers encouragingly, “I didn’t notice!”

“Still,” Mike sighs, “We’re gonna have to fix it.”

“But Mr. Coleman wants it turned in by Wednesday!” Lucas laments. “That gives us less than two days!”

“I’ll help you geeks fix it,” Max huffs.

Dustin eyes her. “You know about video editing?”

“No,” Max admits, “But I know how to tell the difference between winning or losing, which you guys obviously don’t.”

The guys nod reluctantly, all unwilling to argue with that.

“Let’s meet after school and work on it tomorrow,” Mike instructs, “It’s already getting late. We’ll work on it tomorrow, finish it up on Wednesday, and then we can start planning for the camping trip.”

Everyone else nods in agreement before rising out of their seats.

“I can’t believe I’m gonna have to help you nerds,” Max gripes as she grabs her backpack and skateboard.

“If you’re helping them make the video,” El nonchalantly responds, “Does that mean you’re in the A.V. Club now?”

Max pauses to crinkle her nose in disdain. “Please, no,” she groans.

“Too late!” Lucas smirks, giving her a light nudge, “You’re one of us now, Mad Max.”

Dustin bursts out laughing at this, which only causes Max to look more annoyed (though, to be fair, El is certain that Max’s annoyance falls under the “pretending like she hates something even though she secretly likes it” category).

Max exits the classroom while bickering with Lucas and Dustin on whether or not she’s a nerd like them (according to Dustin, since she has the highest scores at the arcade and she’s seen 2/3 Star Wars movies she is; according to Max, Dustin can shut up).

Will grabs his backpack and moves to follow them, but first stops to look at Mike and El.

“Thanks for agreeing to go on the camping trip with me,” he says, smiling shyly, “I know it sounds dumb, but...it really means a lot.”

“It’s not dumb,” El assures him.

“El’s right!” Mike nods, “If it’s something important to you, then it’s important to all of us.”

“Still,” Will insists, “I just wanted to say ‘thanks’.”

El and Mike both give Will reassuring smiles before he continues to head out the door.

“See you tomorrow!” Will cheerily calls back over his shoulder.

“‘Bye, Will!” Mike calls back.

And just like that, they’re alone.

There’s an awkward beat of silence as Mike and El exchange nervous smiles. Even though they’ve been more comfortable with each other since Saturday, this current newfound privacy came quickly and by surprise.

Thankfully, Mike, as usual, has something to talk about.

“Did you see that Troy was back in school today?” He asks. He moves closer, sits on top of the desk that Max was previously seated in, and positions himself so that he’s facing El.

“Yes,” El nods, “We have Biology with him.”

“Right!” Mike blushes, looking embarrassed.

It was true, Troy had returned to school that day. He was sporting an arm cast and a surly glare, but other than that, he’d kept to himself. El caught him looking her way during Biology class, but all it’d taken was one cold glare from her to get him to snap back in the other direction.

“I don’t think he’s going to bother us,” El remarks.

“Yeah, all thanks to you!” Mike beams.

“And you,” El reminds him.

“I guess,” Mike shrugs, “But it was mostly you.”

El doesn’t feel like turning this into a debate (mostly because she knows that Mike would never give it up), so she chooses to give him a soft smile instead.

“Speaking of all that,” Mike continues, “I kind of have an idea.”

“An idea?” El frowns.

Even though they’re completely alone, Mike still glances around the A.V. Club room before leaning in a little closer. “I think the camping trip might be a good time to tell everyone,” he says, voice low, “About your...you know.”

Her powers.

El glances down at her hands before looking back up at Mike. “Why?”

“Well, just think about it,” Mike explains, “We’re gonna be completely alone in the woods, so you don’t have to worry about anyone overhearing you. Plus, both Max and I will be there to help you explain everything.”

“That’s a good point,” El nods, though with slight reluctance.

While they watched soap operas and ate waffles on Saturday, they’d also discussed ways that El could reveal her powers to the rest of their friends. It had to be just right, Mike pointed out, so that their reaction wouldn’t be like his reaction. But after finishing off two boxes of Eggos and learning that Jessica’s sister, who was thought to be dead, is really alive and having an affair with Robert, her long-lost half-brother, Mike and El still hadn’t come up with any plan. The subject was eventually dropped in favor of discussing how “totally insane” soap operas were (Mike’s words, not hers).

El knew that she was going to have to tell her friends, she just didn’t think it was going to be as soon as this weekend.

“Do you think you’re ready?” Mike asks concernedly.

El sighs and shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t know, but...I think I should get it over with.”

“Yeah,” Mike nods, “I think so too.”

“You’ll help me?” El asks, glancing up at him.

“Yeah, totally!” Mike assures her, “I promised you! I’ll make sure that they don’t freak out like I did.”

El gives him a small, relieved smile as she feels herself relax. “Thank you,” she murmurs.

Mike smiles back, nods, and leans forward in his seat to give her a quick little hug.

Before he can move away, El grasps him tighter and holds the hug longer, not wanting to leave his arms. She nuzzles her face into his shoulder, taking in both the scent of his Ivory soap and of the fabric softener that lingers on his hoodie.

Safe.

On Tuesday, everyone stays late after school to finish the video. The time is mostly comprised of Max teasing the guys, Dustin getting offended, Lucas not-so-subtly drooling over Max, and Will and Mike trying to keep them all on task. Even though El doesn’t know much about film editing, she still hangs around to give moral support (and to pass out lots of caffeine-filled sodas for stamina). They finish the video around 8 pm, and when they’re done, they’re all pleased with the final product.

“If this doesn’t get on the news,” Max says after they drop off the finished tape at the main office, “I’m gonna torch Mr. Coleman’s car again.”

“Because that’s a reasonable reaction,” Dustin replies dryly.

Since they finish editing the video early, they get to spend Wednesday solely focused on planning their upcoming camping trip. Though El’s excited, she can’t help but worry. While everyone else already got their parents’ permission to go on the trip, El has yet to ask Hopper for his, mainly because she’s almost 100% certain that he’s going to say no. He’d just met Mike, and while Hopper had admittedly treated him well, El can’t help but feel like she’s asking for too much too soon.

When she confides these concerns to Max after school, Max offers to help El ask Hopper, a proposition that El readily accepts.

Since Hopper is still on duty, the girls decide to visit him at the police station. While El doesn’t spend a lot of time there, the secretary, Flo, is always super nice, and Max always gets a kick out of messing around with the handcuffs, badges, and other police equipment that Hopper now says are ‘Off Limits.’

As the two girls walk down the sidewalk with their skateboards under their arms, El shares the details of her planned confession.

“So, you’re going to tell all of them?” Max summarizes.

El nods.

“And this is all Wheeler’s idea?”

“Sort of,” El frowns, “But...I want to do it. I don’t want to lie to my friends.”

Max nods. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

They walk in silence for a moment before Max speaks up again. “Well, I got your back, okay?” She assures El.

“Thank you,” El smiles gratefully, before reluctantly adding, “But it won’t matter if I don’t get my Dad’s permission.”

“Why wouldn’t he give it to you?”

El gives Max a wary look. “He made me keep the door open when Mike was in my room. I know he won’t be happy about us going to the woods, alone.”

“But you won’t be alone,” Max points out, “The rest of us will all be there.”

“That’s true,” El admits.

“Plus, if your Dad wants, I’ll make sure that you and Mike are never alone together. I’ll be your personal third wheel.”

“But then Lucas will be lonely,” El teases.

The late-afternoon air is rather chilly, so when Max gives off an exaggerated, indignant huff, her breath fogs into a wispy mist. “What?!”

El holds back a smirk, instead keeping her expression innocently inquisitive. “I thought you liked him?”

“No!” Max fervently exclaims.

“You were holding his hand during the movie. You sat by him on Monday.”

“So?! That doesn’t mean anything.”

El can’t hold back her smile any longer. Max likes Lucas so much, it’s completely obvious. She can try to deny it all she likes, but El sees right through it.

“Are you dating him?” El asks, studying Max’s reaction closely.

“No,” Max answers, rolling her eyes dismissively.

“Do you want to?” El smiles, giving her a light nudge.

In a rather out-of-character reaction, Max actually blushes and seems a little flustered. “Maybe,” she mutters.

El opens her mouth to gasp excitedly, but Max quickly moves in and clamps her hand over it.

“Don’t!” Max hisses, “You can’t tell him, or anyone!”

El nods, still smiling elatedly.

Max likes Lucas and Lucas likes Max and they’re probably going to date and everything is perfect!

She’s about to voice these elated thoughts to Max, but then she realizes they’ve finally arrived at the station. Her thought process shifts to the main task at hand: convincing her Dad that allowing her to spend a night in the woods with her friends is a good idea.

Flo greets the girls when they enter and cheerily guides them back to Hopper’s office.

“Hey, Hop!” Flo calls out as she knocks on the closed door, “Your 3 o’clock is here.”

“I don’t have anyone at 3 o’clock,” Hopper grumpily replies from inside.

El and Max have to bite down on their bottom lips to keep from giggling out loud.

“Well, I got two people here who really need to talk to you,” Flo continues, smiling at the girls.

“Send them in,” Hopper sighs.

Flo gives the girls a wink before walking off. El and Max give her appreciative waves before El moves forward, turns the doorknob, and steps inside.

Hopper is seated behind his desk, surrounded by empty white mugs, miscellaneous documents, and a couple untouched apples (El doesn’t know why Flo insists on giving Hopper apples every morning — he never eats them and El just winds up throwing them away after they start to rot). When Hopper sees the two girls walk in, he’s surprised at first, but his expression quickly relaxes into a warm smile.

“Hey, kids,” he greets, putting his feet up on his desk.

“Hi, Dad!” El smiles, trying to stay calm. Her dad is so much more intimidating when he’s in full uniform, and as she and Max sit in the two chairs in front of his desk, she can’t help but feel like one of the suspects in his cases.

“What are you two doing here?” Hopper asks, glancing at them, “Is something wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Max shrugs. She slumps back in her chair and puts her feet up on the desk, mimicking Hopper’s pose.

“Really?” Hopper asks flatly.

El forces herself to smile, though she feels like crumbling. What if she’s the only one who can’t go on the trip? Would they go without her?

“I…uh…have to ask you something,” El states, trying to sound as confident as possible.

“Okay,” Hopper replies, eyeing her cautiously.

“I want...I want to go camping.”

“Camping?!”

“...With my friends.”

Hopper blinks at her, confused.

El takes a deep breath and without further hesitation, proceeds to spill out the entire plan, from where she’d be going (the woods near the quarry), how she’d get there (she would skate to Will’s house Saturday morning, or Hopper could drive her, if he really wanted), how long she’d be gone (they’d hike Saturday afternoon, camp in the evening, come back Sunday morning), and who would be coming with her (Max, Mike — yes, that Mike — Dustin, Lucas, and Will).

When she finally finishes, she’s slightly breathless from talking so much. As she stops to catch her breath, she crosses her fingers under her seat, hoping that her dad will be understanding.

There’s a minute of silence has Hopper processes all this information. As it starts to settle in, he takes his feet off his desk and furrows his brow.

“Let me get this straight,” Hopper finally says, leaning forward, “You want to spend a night in the woods, alone, with a bunch of teenage boys?”

“Not just teenage boys,” Max pipes up, “I’m gonna be there.”

Hopper eyes Max, most likely dwelling on the fact that that’s not the most comforting news.

“It’s for Will!” El pleadingly continues.

“Byers?”

“Yes. He used to take the trip with his brother, but now he left for college.”

Hopper nods. “Yeah, I know. I know the Byers. I…I went to high school with their mother. We were pretty close.”

Max snorts. “What, did you like her?”

Hopper and El both turn to look at Max indignantly, Hopper especially.

“Max!” El hisses, hoping that her chances of getting her dad’s approval weren’t about to be thrown away like one of Flo’s daily apples.

“I did not like her,” Hopper huffs, though he looks slightly flustered, “I’m just saying I know her, so I know her boys. Will’s a good kid.”

“He’s Mike’s best friend,” El adds quickly, “Well, one of them.”

“Is that so?” Hopper remarks. He keeps studying El, but El can’t read his expression.

“If it makes you feel better, I can be your eyes and ears the entire time, Chief,” Max offers, “I’ll make sure that El doesn’t get into any Mike-related shenanigans.”

El, cheeks burning, throws Max a dirty look. She’s not sure if that statement is going to help or hurt her chances of getting permission, and with the stoic look on Hopper’s face, there’s no way for her to tell.

It seems to work though, if the way Hopper proceeds to smile is any indication.

“I’m not that worried about Mike,” Hopper admits.

“Why not?” El frowns, not liking his tone.

Hopper hesitates. “Well, you know, he just seems kinda...”

“Like, the biggest nerd ever?” Max finishes.

Hopper hesitates again, but then nods and shrugs. “Yeah.”

Even though this is pretty much true, El can’t help but feel offended on behalf of Mike. “He is not!” She insists.

Hopper and Max only exchange knowing looks.

“He’s not!” El huffs, slumping back in her chair.

“He seems like a nice kid,” Hopper amends, sounding like he’s trying not to laugh.

“He is,” El grumbles.

Hopper gives her a small smile before stopping to think.

He’s deciding.

Another minute passes, though it feels more like an hour. El keeps her fingers crossed as her heart pounds in her chest.

Please, please, please, please!

Finally, Hopper gives a sigh and replies, grudgingly saying, “I guess you can go.”

“Really?” El replies, breath hitching.

“Only,” Hopper warms, holding up a finger, “If you promise to behave.”

He turns his finger to point it at Max. “You’ll keep an eye on Wheeler?”

“Totally!” Max nods.

“Okay.”

El leaps out of her chair and leans across the desk to give him a hug. “Thank you!” She beams, heart soaring.

Hopper returns the hug, patting El on the back. “Don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

“I won’t, I promise.”

Hopper nods and relinquishes the hug. “Alright, kid,” he replies, “You better get going, I got a lot of work to catch up with.”

“Okay!” El nods.

She and Max both prepare to exit the room, but just as El reaches the doorway, she remembers that she almost forgot one of the most important parts.

“Dad?” She asks nervously, turning to face the desk again.

Hopper glances up at her. “Yeah?”

El swallows. She’s probably asking for too much at once, but if she doesn’t do it now, she’ll miss her chance.

And so, tone mild and hesitant, she voices her next request.

“Can I have $5?”

It’s Thursday afternoon and El is standing in the parking lot of Bradley’s Big Buy with the rest of her friends.

“Alright, did everyone get the five dollars?” Mike asks, standing in front of the group.

Everyone nods, digs into their pockets, and retrieves a bill to show him.

As El shows off the $5 she was able to get from Hopper, she can’t help but smile. Now that she’s been given the all-clear from her dad, she feels as if she can finally allow herself to be excited.

While they were planning the trip on Wednesday, Dustin pointed out that they were going to need food for their travels. Will wholeheartedly agreed, mentioning that he and Jonathan always had a great time making s’mores. Lucas worried that they wouldn’t have enough money to afford food, so Mike proposed that they all ask their parents for just $5, that way when they all put their money together, they’d have a lot.

Mike’s so smart like that, El dreamily muses, smiling at Mike as he continues to say something. What he’s saying — she’s not sure, but he looks really cute saying it. He’s wearing a blue collared sweater under his windbreaker, and El is probably enjoying the sight more than she should. As she continues to gaze at him, she takes note that his wounds from the fight have finally started to heal. While he still has scars and a few bruises, he doesn’t have to wear the band-aids anymore, and his face looks less discolored overall.

She snaps out of her lovesick daze when she realizes that Mike is now yelling at someone. She flinches, startled, and glances over her shoulder to see that Dustin and Lucas have climbed inside a shopping cart, and Max is pushing said shopping cart in figure-8’s around the parking lot.

“Holy shit!” Dustin and Lucas gleefully exclaim as Max zooms around.

“Stop! We’re gonna get kicked out!” Mike exclaims, irritated. “What are you guys even doing?!”

“We wanted to see how fast I could push them!” Max calls back as Lucas and Dustin cheer her on.

Mike sighs and frowns, but El and Will both give him comforting smiles.

“I’m sorry,” El smiles sheepishly, even though she knows that she really has nothing to do with their friends’ antics.

“It’s not your fault,” Mike grumbles.

“Don’t worry,” Will reassures them, “I know what will get them over here.” He turns and cups his hands around his mouth, but even when he proceeds to call out to the others, his voice still isn’t very loud. “If you guys don’t stop, we’re gonna get sugar-free marshmallows and whole-grain graham crackers!”

The shopping cart comes to a screeching halt.

“What?!” Dustin and Max snap, sounding disgusted.

Sure enough, that does the trick.

Five minutes later, they’re hurrying down the aisles of the grocery store together. Will pushes the cart, reading off a shopping list that he composed, while the rest of the group darts around, listening to his instructions.

They get a little bit of everything: cereal, juice boxes, water bottles, hot dogs, trail mix, potato chips, cookies, and, perhaps most importantly, plenty of supplies to make s’mores.

When the time comes to check out, they all step up towards the register and place their $5 bill into the hand of the slightly confused-looking cashier.

The money they have left over, while not much, is given to Mike. The group, despite Mike’s humble protests, insists that he should keep it so that he can start saving up for a new bike.

“Thanks, guys,” Mike blushes as everyone grabs a shopping bag and heads out the door.

“This is gonna be the best trip ever!” Dustin exclaims.

“You know, I’ve actually never been camping,” Max admits.

“How?!” Lucas gapes.

Max shrugs. “I dunno. It’s just not really something my family does.”

“Well, I’ll have to teach you then,” Lucas states, gently nudging his arm against hers.

“Fine, whatever,” Max replies with an eye roll.

El has to clamp her mouth shut in order to not giggle out loud. They like each other and it’s so obvious and—

“Are they like, dating?” Someone mumbles into her ear.

El is startled, but when she looks over her shoulder, she sees that it’s just Mike.

“Not yet,” El whispers back, eyes shining with mischief.

Mike smirks back with a small shake of his head, as if he can’t believe they aren’t together yet.

As El smiles at him, heart fluttering, she can’t help but feel the same.

El and Max both decide in advance to dress down for the camping trip. They agree to ditch the eyeshadow, hairspray, and leather jackets in exchange for softer, more comfortable attire.

When Saturday morning comes, El borrows one of her dad’s flannel jackets, which is more than enough to keep her warm, even if it is really large on her. She also decides to keep her hair natural. While she’s slightly worried about getting teased by the other guys, the whole point of this trip, at least from her standpoint, is revealing her true self to them.

Plus, it had felt amazing when Mike ran his fingers through her curly hair, so maybe, he’d like, do that again.

Hopper offers to drive her to the Byers’, which is a little surprising, since El knows he has a lot of tough case files that he’s supposed to be working on. Nevertheless, she accepts the offer gratefully. Skateboarding while also lugging a sleeping bag and heavy backpack was not a feat that she was looking forward to.

When they pull up at Will’s house, everyone else is waiting outside in the front yard. There’s an older, pretty woman with mussed brown hair talking to Will, her hands on his shoulders. She’s short, Mike’s taller than her, but she still stands out amongst the clamor of jabbering teenagers.

“Is that Will’s Mom?” El asks, turning to glance at Hopper as he pulls the car to a stop.

El’s never seen her dad look anything close to shy, but that’s the only word she can think of to describe the way he’s glancing over at Ms. Byers.

“Yeah, that’s Joyce,” he nods, hastily averting his gaze back towards El.

El eyes him. He’s acting so weird. “Do you want to talk to her?”

Hopper gives a gruff, indifferent sort of huff.

El rolls her eyes. “C’mon,” she says, stepping out of the car.

Hopper composes himself and follows El. As they approach the group, her friends turn to greet them excitedly.

“You’re here!” Mike beams.

“Finally!” Max grins.

“HOLY SHIT! Your hair!” Dustin squawks. “What happened?!”

“Dude!” Lucas snaps, punching Dustin in the arm, “Shut up!”

“I think it looks nice,” Will states, giving Dustin a disapproving frown.

El feels her cheeks start to burn as she shyly tucks a curl behind her ear. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, it does,” Dustin quickly adds, rubbing his arm, “You look great!”

Joyce steps forward to give El a warm hug. “You must be Eleanor,” she says, pulling back to examine El’s face.

El nods shyly. “Yes.”

“Will’s told me so much about you,” she continues, “More than your dad has, anyway.”

Hopper, who’s been hovering on the sidelines this whole time, flushes pink at this. “‘Hello’ to you too,” he grumbles.

Joyce gently pulls away from El and moves to stand in front of Hopper. Her smallness compared to Hopper’s largeness makes for an interesting contrast, to say the least. Will’s Mom has to crane her neck way back to even make eye contact with Hopper.

“Hopp,” she smiles.

“Joyce,” Hopper smiles back.

Will’s Mom steps forward to give Hopper a hug, though her face only meets his upper torso.

El frowns, still a little confused as to how weird they’re acting. She turns to glance at Will, hoping for an explanation, but he looks just as puzzled as she does.

As Hopper and Joyce begin exchanging pleasantries, El steps closer to her friends. Everyone’s sporting bulging backpacks, bundled in warm coats, and carrying a sleeping bag under their arm.

Max is wearing a beanie with a large pom-pom on the top. The pom-pom bounces around as Max tilts her head to the side, and El has to force herself to not laugh at how funny it looks. “I’m pretty sure your dad likes Will’s mom,” she comments, eyeing Hopper and Joyce.

Will’s brow furrows in confusion, but he shakes it off, instead turning his attention back to El. “Is that a camera?” He asks, motioning to El’s torso.

El glances down where indeed, she has her Polaroid camera hanging around her neck. It’s kind of a bulky thing, but she loves using it to take photos of her and Max whenever they hang out. “Yes,” she nods, smiling at Will, “I wanted to take pictures.”

“Me too!” Will enthuses, pointing to the camera hanging around his own neck.

El’s eyes widen curiously as she leans in to look at Will’s camera. It’s different from hers; it has a bigger lens and more buttons to work with.

“It’s a 35 millimeter Pentax MX,” Will says proudly, “It’s Jonathan’s old camera; he let me have it when he got a newer one.”

“Where does the picture come out?” El frowns.

“It doesn’t, you have to develop it,” Will explains, “I can show you sometime, we have a dark room in the school for it!”

“We should get a picture of all of us,” Mike smiles, “Before we leave.”  

“El could use an updated one,” Max mutters wryly.

El gives her a warning look, but thankfully, no one else seems to have noticed her comment.

“Good idea!” Will nods. He walks over to his mom, gently tugs on her arm, and asks her to take their picture.

As Will walks her through how to use the camera, El and the others drop their things and huddle together. El and Max stand in the middle with Mike and Lucas at their sides, respectively. Dustin crouches in front of them, and as soon as Will hands the camera to Joyce, he runs over to crouch beside Dustin.

As Mike wraps his arm around El’s back, she shivers, and not just because the morning is a little cold.

“Alright,” Joyce announces happily, peering into the viewfinder as she aims the camera at the group, “Smile!”

Everyone smiles, leans closer together, and the camera flashes. The flare leaves El’s vision dotted with colorful splotches for a moment, and she has to blink several times to get them to go away.

“You all look so cute!” Joyce gushes, causing Will to blush.

“Mom!” He bashfully whines. As he runs over to get his camera back, everyone else picks up their backpacks and sleeping bags again.  

“We should probably get going,” Lucas reminds them, glancing at his watch, “It’s already after 11 o’clock.”

“Yeah, and I wanna eat the snacks,” Dustin chimes in.

“You already did!” Max snaps.

“Uh, no!?”

“Uh, yeah? Someone opened the box of Fruit Loops!”

“Oh, yeah,” Mike hesitates, “That was me.”

“What?!” Max exclaims.

“I got hungry!” Mike defends.

“El,” Max gripes, “Tell your boyfriend to stop digging into all our food like a weirdo.”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” El insists at the same time that Mike stammers, “I-I’m not her boyfriend!”

Max, Lucas, and Dustin all exchange doubtful stares just as Will rejoins the group.

“What’d I miss?” Will asks, glancing at everyone.

“Nothing new,” Dustin snickers, “We’re just ready to go.”

Hopper and Joyce step forward to wish the kids goodbye. As Joyce fretfully lists off a series of reminders for Will (all of to which Will replies, “Yeah, I know Mom”), El moves in to hug her dad goodbye.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Hopper mumbles, patting the back of her head.

“Tomorrow,” El agrees.

They pull away, Hopper gives her one last smile, and El waves goodbye.

“Let’s go!” Lucas says eagerly.

“Hopefully we won’t get murdered,” Max jokes.

As they enter the forest that surrounds Will’s house, their feet crunch against the fallen leaves and their backpacks brush against protruding tree branches. Even though the morning is cold, the sky is a clear, vibrant blue.

“We won’t get murdered; there’s no serial killers out here,” Will sighs as he takes the lead.

“Other than Mike,” Dustin snorts, “He totally killed all those Fruit Loops.”

Everyone but Mike gets a good laugh out of that, Max especially.

“Wheeler’s a cereal killer!” Max cackles, shaking from how hard she’s laughing.

“Yeah, I got that,” Mike replies flatly.

The camping site isn’t too far from Will’s house — it only takes a little over an hour until they’re there. Will leads them to a small, secluded clearing. Trees stretch on for miles, their branches curving over the clearing, almost protecting the stop. Sunlight filters through the branches, causing the ground of the clearing to look like a mosaic of light and leaves. In the distance, El can make out the rocky bluffs of the Quarry’s edge. The air is tinged with the faint scent of clean, crisp freshwater, musky oak trees, and sticky sap.

“Well, here we are!” Will announces, motioning around the clearing, “This is the spot Jonathan and I always come to. It’s right by the Quarry, and there’s plenty of firewood, and—“

“Isn’t this place right by the kissing rock?” Max interrupts, looking around the forest skeptically.

Will pauses and frowns. “The what?”

“I think she’s right,” Dustin nods, “I mean, I’ve never been there, but I heard it’s in the woods right next to the Quarry.”

“It is!” Max nods, “I’m pretty sure it’s like…a 5-minute walk from here.”

“What’s a kissing rock?” El asks, brow furrowing in confusion.

“It’s this big boulder by the edge of the quarry where all the kids at school go to like…kiss,” Lucas explains, blushing.

“Where all the lame kids go,” Max corrects.

“I mean, I guess we’re by it then?” Will pouts, “I dunno.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Mike huffs, setting down his things, “It’s not like any of us are gonna—“

His voice trails off, and El suddenly realizes that he’s glancing at her. When El sees that he’s doing this, and Mike sees that El sees that he’s doing this, they both look away from each other quickly, cheeks crimson.

“Whatever,” Max sighs, shrugging the entire conversation off, “Let’s just unpack.”

Everyone else nods and proceeds to do so.

It takes the entire first half of the afternoon to set up camp. Will designates that they leave the center of the clearing for building the fire, so everyone else sets up their sleeping bags in a radial formation around it (first Lucas, then Max, then El, then Mike, then Will, and finally Dustin). After the sleeping bags are rolled out, the group proceeds to hike into the woods in search of sticks and stones for the fire pit.

The forest floor is covered with a thick layer of dead leaves, and El has to kick them all out of the way to find the stray twigs and sticks hidden beneath. As she bundles sticks into her arms, she tries to formulate a way to reveal her powers. She wants to tell them at just the right time and place, but there doesn’t seem to be any organic way to work it into the conversation.

By the time they finish gathering enough supplies to make the fire, it’s already late afternoon, and El’s mind is still as blank as ever.

“Okay,” Will says as soon as they return to the clearing, “We should probably get the fire going.”

“Already?” Lucas questions.

Will nods. “It’ll keep us warm, and it’s kind of hard to start one once it’s really dark out.”

El’s pretty sure that they’re all eager for a heat source right now, so Will doesn’t need to tell them twice to help him build a fire pit. They follow his instructions eagerly, setting up a circle of stones in the middle of their clearing and placing a pile of sticks and dead leaves inside.

“Great, so, how do we get it started?” Mike asks once they’re done.  

“We’ll just use some matches,” Will shrugs. He gets up, goes to kneel beside his backpack, and starts digging through it.

“Can we make s’mores?” Dustin asks, “I’m really hungry.”

“Those are for after dinner!” Lucas disputes.

“Says who?”

“Says…I don’t know! Rational people!”

“We could have s’mores for lunch,” El points out, “And then again after dinner.”

“Yes!” Dustin beams at El, “That sounds like the best idea ever.”

“You guys are gonna get a stomach ache,” Mike smiles wryly.

“It’d be worth it,” Dustin insists, “I wanna eat nothing but s’mores for the rest of my life.”

“What about baloney sandwiches?” Max counters dryly.

“Those too.”

“Hey, guys?” Will calls out, still rummaging through his backpack, “Did you guys take the matches?”

“No,” Mike frowns, “Why?”

“I can’t find them!” Will says worriedly, turning to look back at the group.

“Are you serious?” Lucas groans.

“I’m sorry!” Will frets, starting to shake a little. “I think I forgot them!”

“Hey, it’s okay!” Mike insists. He rushes over to Will’s side and gently places his hand on Will’s shoulder. “It was an accident!”

“An accident that’s gonna leave us cold and hungry,” Lucas mutters under his breath.

“What should we do?” El asks, trying to remain calm.

“We could try to start one without matches!” Dustin offers, “You just gotta rub two sticks together! I saw someone do it on TV once!”

“If we wait for that to happen, we’ll all freeze to death,” Max snorts.

“Well, do you have a better idea?” Dustin snaps crossly.

“Uh, yeah? It’s going back to Will’s house and getting the matches!”

“But that’s like, an hour long walk!” Mike points out, “Plus another hour back! That’s two hours!”

“I know,” Max huffs, “I’ll do it.” She walks over to where she’d set her things down, picks up her backpack, and slings it over her shoulders.

“But it’s dangerous to go alone!” Lucas hesitates.

“Then come with me,” Max shrugs.

“Me?”

“Didn’t you go to karate camp?”

“Karate camp?” Lucas echoes, confused.

“Remember?” Max raises an eyebrow. “Jennifer’s party? Dustin told me you spent all of last summer at karate camp.”

Dustin and Lucas exchange quick glances. “Right!” They both exclaim, nodding quickly.

El doesn’t remember any of this, but she’s pretty sure the boys are lying. Either way, the whole situation is pretty amusing, and she can’t help but snort into her palm.

“Then let’s go,” Max orders, already starting to walk off, “I wanna get back before it gets dark.”

“Okay!” Lucas nods, grabbing his backpack before hurrying after her.

“You better not die!” Dustin calls out after them, “If this really is a horror movie, one of you probably isn’t going to make it back!”

“Dustin!” Mike scolds.  

“What!? I’m just stating the facts!”

“You’re being dramatic.”

“I’m sorry,” Will mumbles woefully, “This is all my fault.”

“You make a mistake,” El reassures him, “It’s not that bad.”

Will only pouts in response, still seeming pretty resentful of both the situation and himself.

Mike turns to glance at El, looking pretty helpless.

El racks her mind, trying to think of a way to cheer Will up. “Why don’t we take some pictures?” She offers, motioning to both of their cameras.

“Of what?” Will asks curiously.  

El shrugs as she glances around their surroundings. “Everything.”

Will hesitates, seemingly unsure, but then El raises her camera. “Like you!” She smiles, snapping a picture of Will and Mike.

“El!” Mike exclaims, looking frantic, “I wasn’t even ready!”

El catches the polaroid as it slowly prints out of her camera. “I know,” she smiles teasingly, slipping the photo into her pocket.

Will smiles back, looking more excited. “Okay!” He nods, rising to his feet.

Time passes by quickly as Will and El explore the clearing together, snapping pictures of everything. The weirdly-shaped knot on a tree trunk, the dandelion peeking out amongst the dead leaves, the squirrel sitting on a tree branch. Mike and Dustin follow them around as they work, pointing out all the potential subjects of interest (including themselves).

Before long, the two hours has nearly passed. The sun is a little lower in the sky and the air has grown colder, but they’re having too much fun to notice.

At least, they are until they’re abruptly interrupted by the sound of a high-pitched, terrified scream. It echoes through the trees, causing some birds to fly off with a frightened squawk.

“Shit!” Dustin hisses, eyes wide, “What the hell was that?”

“Someone screamed,” Mike replies, balling his fists.

“Was that Max?” Will asks worriedly.

“I’m not sure,” El frowns, “It didn’t sound like her.”

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! We’re gonna die!” Dustin exclaims, clutching the sides of his head, “I knew this would happen! I told you, we’re tempting the horror fates and now we’re all gonna get picked off one by one and—“

Dustin’s interrupted by the sound of twigs snapping.

There’s a collective gasp as they all jolt in both surprise and fear.

Someone’s coming closer.

El takes a deep breath and prepares to raise her hand. This isn’t how she planned on revealing her powers, but she’s more than willing to do so if it means keeping her friends safe.

As it turns out, her determined gallantry is for naught. Moments later, Lucas marches into the clearing and everyone breathes a sigh of relief.

“Son of a bitch, Lucas, you scared the shit out of us,” Dustin says, slumping his shoulders.

Lucas doesn’t reply. Instead he looks annoyed. Really annoyed. He drops his backpack onto the ground with a grumpy huff, not really making eye contact with anyone.

“Did you get the matches?” Will asks hesitantly.

“Yes!” Lucas snaps, sounding just as irritated as he looks.

El doesn’t know why Lucas is so upset, but moments later she gets her answer when Max rushes into the clearing. She’s holding a box of matches in one hand and a metallic, sharp-looking object in the other.

“C’mon, Lucas!” Max laughs, “Are you still pissed off at me?”

“Yes!” Lucas scowls, crossing his arms.

“Wait, what happened?” Mike questions, glancing at both of them.

“When we were walking back, Max thought it’d be funny to hide behind some bushes and jump out at me!” Lucas snaps bitterly. “She snuck off, and I thought she was hurt or something, but no! She just wanted to scare me! With a knife!”

“It was funny!” Max counters, “You screamed like a girl!”

“You had a knife?” El frowns.

“It’s not even a real knife!” Max defends, “It’s from my old Michael Myers costume.”

“Why did you bring it?”

“Just in case,” Max shrugs.

“It doesn’t matter!” Lucas replies brusquely, “It wasn’t funny!”

“I thought it was!”

“Well, you thought wrong!” Lucas dismisses.

With that, he storms off again, disappearing amongst the countless trees that surround the clearing. He leaves both a tangibly awkward silence and a worried-looking Max in his wake.

“Here,” Max mutters surly, tossing the box of matches to the guys.

Mike, Dustin, and Will exchange uncomfortable glances, but ultimately decide to turn their attention back to the main task at hand: starting the fire.

El, on the other hand, walks over to Max, not wanting to leave her feeling upset. “Are you okay?” She asks gently.

“Not really,” Max grumbles.

“It’s ok,” El murmurs, placing a comforting hand on Max’s shoulder. “It was just a prank.”

“I didn’t think he’d get so mad,” Max mutters, not looking directly at El.

El pauses. Even though she doesn’t want to hurt Max’s feelings, she ultimately decides that it’d be best to tell her the truth.

“You pretend to not like things, even though you do,” El states, making sure to keep her voice low.

“That’s not true!” Max protests.

“It is,” El nods, not bothering to waste time further arguing this fact, “I know it. But Lucas doesn’t. He doesn’t know that you teasing him so much is good. You tease him because you like him, but I think…he might think you’re doing it to be mean to him.”

Max’s head droops as she silently considers this.

“I think you should be honest with him,” El advises.

“Be honest?”

“Tell him how you feel.”

“Like…that I like him?” Max gulps, looking terrified.

“That you don’t hate him.”

“Oh.”

El watches as Max shuffles in place, contemplating what to do.

“I guess you’re right,” Max finally admits. She drops her backpack, tosses her prop knife onto her sleeping bag, and turns to smile gratefully at El. “I’ll go talk to him.”

“Good luck,” El smiles back, giving Max a reassuring hug.

Max nods before darting off, running off in the same direction that Lucas had.

El’s smile falters as an uneasy feeling starts to churn in her gut. As she turns to rejoin the others, she can’t help but feel incredibly guilty. Here she is, telling Max that she needs to be honest with Lucas, and yet, she still hasn’t managed to tell her friends about her powers. She’s a giant hypocrite.

Will has the beginnings of a small fire going. There’s a faint trail of smoke streaming from the fire pit, and the sound of crackling leaves fills the air.

“Wouldn’t it be awesome if we didn’t even need matches?” Dustin comments as Will gently blows into the glowing embers.

“What do you mean?” Mike frowns, eyeing Dustin.

“Like, if I had superpowers,” Dustin elaborates, “Like Pyro.”

“Pyro?” El blanches, wondering if that’s some kind of codename. Does Dustin know? How did he figure it out? Did Mike or Max tell him? No, they wouldn’t, not without telling her that they’d told him—

“From the X-Men comics?” Dustin offers.

“Oh,” El flushes. Even though she feels slightly dumb for rushing to judgment, she’s still left rattled. She just doesn’t know how to tell them. It has to be as normal as possible, with seems highly improbable. She almost wishes that it was a serial killer that’d walked out of the trees, and not Lucas. At least then she wouldn’t have to use any words.

Even though El’s trying to remain outwardly calm, Mike seems to notice how anxious she looks, because he suddenly gets up and walks over to her.

“Do you wanna talk?” He whispers.

El meets his eye and nods gratefully. “Please.”

“Okay,” Mike murmurs before turning back to Will and Dustin to announce, “We’re gonna be right back!”

“Sure you are,” Dustin snorts.

Mike rolls his eyes indifferent and doesn’t reply, instead grasping El’s hand and leading her off down a forest trail.

El blushes as their fingers intertwine, but she accepts the comforting gesture gratefully. “I’m sorry,” she mumbles as soon as Dustin and Will are out of earshot.

“For what?” Mike asks concernedly.

“For being so nervous,” El answers, “I just..I don’t know how to tell them. I don’t want to just blurt it out.”

“You don’t have to be sorry for being nervous,” Mike reminds her, “I would be nervous, too.”

El nods, grasping Mike’s hand a little tighter. She remembers how shocked Dustin had been upon seeing her hair this morning. If curly hair had been enough to make him shout HOLY SHIT, she could only imagine how learning she had powers would make him react.

“Well, there’s no pressure to do it right now,” Mike points out, “We can wait until the night, that way you’ll have more time to think about what you want to say.”

El glances upwards, towards the sky. The blue sky is already beginning to fade. The days feel so much shorter as November draws closer. Waiting until the night still doesn’t give her much time.

“It’ll be okay, I promise,” Mike assures her, giving her hand a squeeze.

“Okay,” El murmurs.

It’s not until El pauses and looks around that she realizes they’ve walked a pretty good distance away from the camp. They’ve exited the wooded area and are now standing on the rocky terrain that surrounds the top of the quarry. There are large boulders scattered about, and El realizes that one of them is probably the kissing rock.

Oh.

El feels herself flush pink as she cautiously turns to glance at Mike. He seems to be thinking the same thing, if the way he’s flushing bright red is any indignation.

El bites her lip shyly, and Mike turns to meet her gaze. “Maybe we should—“ He begins.

“Yes?” El asks hopefully.

Mike swallows, still blushing like crazy, but then his gaze moves to something just beyond El’s shoulder. “Holy shit!” He whispers, eyes widening.

El pales. “What?”

“Look!” Mike says, still whispering. He uses the hand that’s not intertwined with hers to point behind her, and El cautiously turns around to look.

She spots two figures sitting on a large rock about 20 or so feet away. At first she can’t tell who it is, but then she spots that silly pom-pom hat and the long, vibrant red hair tucked underneath it.

Max. Talking to…Lucas. Their heads are ducked low together, deep in conversation. Since they’re so far away, El can’t make out what they’re saying.

“What are they doing?” Mike murmurs.

“She was going to say sorry,” El murmurs back, “For scaring him.”

“Oh.”

El hesitates, unsure of whether or not she and Mike should leave. She can’t help but feel like they’ve walked in on something, even if Max and Lucas are just talking.

She’s just about to voice this concern to Mike when suddenly, without any hesitation, Max shakes her head, cups Lucas’ cheeks in her hands, pulls him towards her, and presses her lips to his in a firm kiss.

El hears a gasp, and she’s not quite sure if it’s from her or Mike. Maybe both of them. Either way, her brain seems to have stopped working, because she’s instantly overwhelmed with surprise, happiness, and excitement all at the same time.

“She kissed him!” El whispers gleefully, turning to beam at Mike.

“I can see that,” Mike replies bashfully, averting his eyes away from the still lip-locked couple.

El bounces in place excitedly, squeezing Mike’s hand in order to keep herself steady. “On the kissing rock!”

“Where all the ‘lame’ kids go,” Mike jokes, pitching his voice higher in what is apparently his best Max impression.

El giggles as she gives Mike a gentle, chiding nudge.

A beat of silence passes as they both turn to steal one more glance at Max and Lucas.

“We should probably go,” Mike whispers, motioning his head in their direction.

“Yes,” El nods, still beaming.

Mike, still clutching her hand, pulls her back into the woods. As they hurry back to camp, El just can’t stop giggling. She’s just so happy for her best friend that there aren’t even enough words to express it.

By the time she and Mike reach the clearing, the sky is a rich ochre and a few crickets have begun to chirp. Dustin and Will have successfully gotten a fire going, and the flickering flames cast dancing shadows against the surrounding trees.

El and Mike release each other’s hands and come to sit beside the fire, both grinning from ear-to-ear.

“What’s so funny?” Will asks, eyeing them suspiciously.

“Nothing!” El smiles.

“Ugh, ew, I don’t even wanna know what you guys just did,” Dustin frowns, wrinkling his nose. “It’s probably going to ruin my s’mores appetite.”

“It’s not like that,” Mike insists, throwing Dustin a look.

“Uh, huh. Whatever you say, Mike.”

Thankfully, neither Dustin or Will presses them for any further information, and instead focus on setting up the fire for hot dog roasting.

15 minutes later, Max and Lucas rejoin the group. As they step into the clearing, El studies them carefully. If she hadn’t seen them kissing with her own eyes, she never would have guessed that they had. Their expressions are neutral and they’re not holding hands or anything. Lucas’ cheeks look a little more flushed than usual, but that’s about it.

“What took you guys so long?” Dustin asks as Max and Lucas come to sit with everyone else.

“We just talked for awhile,” Max shrugs, grabbing a roasting stick and a hot dog. She comes to sit beside El, face completely unreadable.

“How did your talk go?” El quietly asks, making sure to keep her tone nonchalant.

“Fine,” Max breezily murmurs back. “He’s not mad anymore.”

“That’s not surprising,” El mutters under her breath.

“What?” Max asks, sounding confused.

“Nothing!” El quickly amends, “I’m glad you talked.”

Max eyes her warily but ultimately turns her attention back to the fire pit. “Me too,” she says, and even though El knows Max’s trying to hide it, there’s no missing the faint smile pulling at the corners of her lips.

“—And with that, the creature gave off a final screech, dragging his last victim into the night,” Dustin concludes dramatically.

“How the hell is that a scary story?” Max snaps.

“Because the dog turned into a giant, killer lizard!” Dustin defends.

It’s long after nightfall. The forest is pitch black and the only light comes from the crackling fire.

After the hot dog roast and the seemingly endless, completely delicious s’mores feast, Max suggested that they all tell scary stories. They all gathered around the campfire, seated atop their sleeping bags, faces illuminated by the glow of the warm flames. Max had kicked things off with a story about a deranged killer with a hook for a hand that stalked the forests of Hawkins. After that, any story would have really paled in comparison, but Dustin’s tale of a boy adopting a dog that secretly turned out to be a lizard seemed especially weak.

“Lizards aren’t scary,” Max snorts.

“They can be!” Dustin insists. He turns to glance at the rest of the group for validation. “Right?”

“Not really,” Will yawns, looking a little sleepy.

“Well, it was a killer lizard,” Dustin reminds them.

El is trying to focus on the stories, she really is, but her mind is still elsewhere. She feels like she’s not actively engaging with her friends, but rather, waiting on the sidelines, praying for a way to work her confession into the conversation.

“Killer lizards are still just lizards,” Lucas says, shaking his head, “They’re not scary.”

“What about Godzilla?” Dustin points out.

“You didn’t say it turned into Godzilla,” Lucas counters.

“What do you think, Mike?” Dustin asks.

“Honestly?” Mike shrugs, “When you said killer lizard, all I could picture is that newt Mr. Clarke had in the terrarium back in 8th grade. With like…little fangs.”

The conversation is going nowhere. Nowhere near telekinesis, at least. El realizes that she probably gave up her perfect chance when Dustin had mentioned the X-men, and instantly hates herself for it. She had her opportunity practically handed to her, but she’d freaked out and given it up. She could be such a knucklehead…

“El?” Dustin pleads, turning to her, “Please tell me that you think my story was scary. You’re my only hope!”

“Now you’re quoting Star Wars?” Max smirks.

“Now you’re recognizing Star Wars?” Dustin smirks back.

“I am not!” Max insists.

“You literally just did!”

“Are you even gonna let El answer?” Mike huffs.

They’re all growing a little louder, and little more heated, and all the commotion is making El’s head hurt.

“Does El need to answer?” Max snorts, “Literally nobody thought that story was scary.”

“And your hook-hand story was?” Dustin glowers.

“Uh, yeah!”

“Uh, no! Having a hook for a hand isn’t scary!”

“Yes, it is!”

“Captain Hook has a hook for a hand!” Dustin points out, “And he’s from a kids’ movie!”

“Can you guys please stop fighting?” Will pleads, “It’s getting kind of late.”

“Dustin is the one who keeps on arguing!” Max insists.

“Am not!” Dustin argues, “It’s not my fault her opinions are wrong!”

“Your opinions aren’t facts, Dustin!” Lucas retorts.

El doesn’t know what comes over her. She just wants everyone to stop arguing over their dumb stories, and her head hurts, and she’s just so frustrated and tired of trying to wait for the perfect moment that’s probably never going to come. And so, before she can’t stop to second-guess herself, she just blurts it out.

“I’m a telekinetic!” She bursts.

That shuts everyone up quickly.

Mike and Max’s heads snap over to El, looking startled. Will sits up a little straighter, suddenly looking less tired. Lucas and Dustin both freeze, eyes wide.

“Wait, what’d you say?” Dustin asks, cautiously.

“El?!” Mike hisses, sounding confused. Since his sleeping bag is located next to hers, he’s able to reach out and grab her arm in a protective manner.

El gently shrugs him off with a shake of her head. Even though she’d initially pleaded for Mike’s help, she now knows that she needs to do this on her own. She needs to come to term with her abilities once and for all, no more hiding, no more secrets.

“I’m a telekinetic,” she repeats, keeping her gaze locked on her friends, “I have superpowers.”

Lucas, Will, and Dustin exchange confused glances. They look at Max and Mike for some sort of explanation, but Mike and Max only have eyes for El. They both give her encouraging nods, silently showing their support.

“Wait, are you being serious?” Lucas questions, looking hesitant.  

El nods solemnly.

“A telekinetic?” Will asks slowly, “Like…you can move stuff with your mind?”

El hesitates. The easiest way to get them to understand is going to be by showing them. Taking a deep breath, she raises her hand, points it at the fire pit, and uses her powers to raise one of the burning sticks into the air. As it hovers before their eyes, spinning slowly, flickering embers crackle off the stick and drift off into the cold night air, extinguishing with a faint whisper.

After several seconds, she relinquishes her hold on the stick and allows it to fall back into the flames.

“Holy shit,” Lucas breathes, looking floored.

“That’s so cool,” Will whispers, eyes wide with wonder.

Dustin, shockingly, still hasn’t talked. He seems to be responding in the same way that Mike did: stupefied, unadulterated shock. His jaw is hanging open, his eyes are nearly bugging out of his head, and for a moment El worries that she might have broken him.

“H-how?” He finally manages to stammer.

El proceeds to give them an abridged version of her history, starting from growing up in the lab, escaping with Hopper, becoming his legal daughter, and finally joining their class in the 6th grade. She explains how her powers work, how she was the one who saved them at Jennifer’s party, how she broke Troy’s arm. By the time she’s finished, she’s left emotionally exhausted and slightly out-of-breath, but satisfied all the same.

“Oh my god,” Dustin whispers, still frozen in place.

“That’s so COOL!” Lucas exclaims, “Like, holy shit!”

“Right!?” Mike beams, “El’s amazing!”

“Wait, you knew?” Will asks, looking surprised.

“She told me last week,” Mike nods.

“And you didn’t tell us?” Lucas exclaims, sounding a little offended.

“I told him not to,” El cuts in.

“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?” Will asks curiously.

“Because,” El mumbles, suddenly feeling a little sheepish, “I…I didn’t like being different. I wanted to be normal, like you guys.”

“Us? Normal?” Lucas jokes.

“You know what I mean,” El smiles wryly, “I didn’t want to be a freak.”

“Well, you’re definitely not a freak,” Dustin beams. It appears that his mouth has finally started working again, as he proceeds to ramble quickly and excitedly. “You’re so awesome! Like, the coolest person ever! You’re like a wizard, or a superhero, or Yoda!”

“Or a mage,” Mike adds affectionately, giving El a playful nudge.

“Yeah!” Dustin gushes, before pausing and adding, “Oh my god, I’m so sorry I that ever called you our enemy, and a murderer, and a Drow!”

“What?” El frowns.

“Nothing!” Dustin hastily backtracks. “I just…uh..I’m really happy you’re our friend.”

“Me too,” Will nods, “And not just because of your powers. You were always nice to us, even when we judged you at first.”

El flushes pink, unsure of how to react to the unexpected slew of compliments. “I’m happy we’re friends too,” she murmurs, ducking her head shyly.

“Just so you guys know, we can’t tell anyone else about El’s powers,” Mike pipes up, “We have to keep it a secret, just between all of us.”

“Of course!” Will nods.

“I’ll never tell anyone!” Lucas agrees.

“Never!” Dustin insists.

El feels her heart swell with happiness. The feeling of finally feeling accepted not only by her friends, but by herself, radiates within her, leaving her warm and bubbly inside.

She reaches out to grasp Max’s hand. Max smiles and blushingly grabs Lucas’ hand. Then Lucas grabs Dustin’s, Dustin grabs Will’s, Will grabs Mike’s, and Mike finally closes the circle by grasping El’s free hand.

As they all grasp each other’s hands tightly, huddled around the warm light of the fire, no further words need to be said. They’re friends, but their bond isn’t like everyone else’s. Their friendship isn’t the kind that’ll just dissipate after high school or over a silly argument. It’s the kind that’ll keep them all connected for years to come, through good times and bad times, through whatever toils they’ll have to face.

El isn’t sure how she knows all this, since she can’t see into the future, or anything, but as she smiles at each of them, she knows that it’s true. She can hear it in her heart like a whisper, like a promise, reminding her that this moment is one she’ll remember.

It’s the start of the rest of her life.

The night is calm and the forest is still. Off in the distance, the reverberating hoot of an owl echoes through the trees.

El’s not sure what time it is, but she knows it’s late. Everyone else is nestled inside their sleeping bags and the fire has died down to its last glowing coals. Consequently, it’s cold. Very cold. Despite her sleeping bag, flannel jacket, and thick sweater, El feels the chill settle into every pore. It makes it hard to sleep, and while El definitely doesn’t regret coming on this camping trip, she’d be lying if she said she didn’t miss her warm bed and soft quilt.

She flips onto her side, hoping that maybe if she moves around a little, she’ll be able to keep warm.

It doesn’t work.

El sighs and flips onto her other side. She’s now facing Mike, who’s bundled up inside his sleeping bag less than a foot away from her. Since he’s situated so close to her, she’s able to make out his features in the faded silvery light of the moon. As she shuffles around, she sees his eyes flutter open.

“Mike? Are you awake?” El whispers, even though it’s pretty obvious that he is.

“Yeah,” Mike whispers back, locking eyes with her.

“What time is it?”

Mike shuffles a bit around before he manages to pull his arm out of his sleeping bag. “Like, 3 am?” He whispers, eyeing his watch.

“Oh.”

“Can’t sleep?”

El shakes her head.

“Me neither.”

“It’s just...it’s pretty cold,” El murmurs, shivering slightly.

“Yeah,” Mike agrees with a quirked smile, “I guess that’s what happens when you go camping in the fall.”

El nods and wraps her sleeping bag more tightly around herself. Even though she doesn’t want to look like a dopey weakling in front of Mike, she can’t stop her teeth from chattering.

“You look really cold,” Mike murmurs concernedly.

“I’m o-okay,” El lies, “I j-just need to f-fall asleep.”

Mike looks her over for a moment before his cheeks start to flush red. “Maybe,” he begins, voice cracking a little, “You could, like...uh...”

“W-what?” El shivers.

Mike smiles nervously. “Like...come over here?”

Now El’s the one blushing bright red. “N-next to you?”

“There’s room,” Mike explains, looking flustered, “And you’d be warmer.”

That’s definitely true. El’s not even next to him yet, and already she feels incredibly warm (mostly from blushing so much, though).

“Okay,” El whispers with a small shrug.

“Really?” Mike whispers back, sounding like he’s trying (and failing) to not seem too hopeful.

El nods.

With shaking hands, Mike moves his hands down to unzip the side of his sleeping bag. El quietly wriggles out of her own, crawls over to Mike, and snuggles up against him.

As Mike zips the sleeping bag closed again, El instantly feels enveloped in warmth.

Mike slides over so that El can rest her head on the pillow with him. As she wriggles upwards to do so, she can’t help but feel flustered, being pressed this close to him.

She rests her head on the pillow, shyly meeting Mike’s soft gaze. Their faces are only inches apart. As El studies his face, she can feel his warm breaths as they faintly brush against her skin.

“Hi,” she whispers teasingly.

“Hi,” Mike whispers back with a smile.

El falls silent, content with just enjoying the sight of him beside her. As she gazes at him, Mike wraps an arm around her back and starts playing with her hair. He runs his hands through it idly, almost mindlessly, and it takes everything within El to not melt on the spot. She’d give up anything to just spend the rest of eternity in this moment, snuggled beside Mike, his fingers nestled in her curls.

She gives off a contented sigh before she’s able to stop herself. As she relishes in this moment, her vision starts to seem a little hazy. Nevertheless, she does her best to take in every last one of his features: his warm, chocolate-brown eyes, his ruffled dark hair, his pink, though still faintly bruised lips, and of course, his freckles.

The sky above them is glittering tapestry of stars, way more stars than what El’s used to seeing in town. As she examines Mike’s face more closely, she realizes that the freckles on his cheeks remind her of constellations.

She’s definitely losing her mind.

“What are you thinking?” Mike murmurs, twisting a strand of her hair around his pointer finger.

“Your freckles are like stars,” El mumbles, not caring how insane she must sound.

Mike doesn’t say anything, he only nods, but it seems like he gets what she means. Either that or he’s just too nice to call her out on how weird she is.

The longer El gazes at him, the more she feels drawn to him. She wonders if it’s possible for people to be made up of magic, even if they don’t have superpowers. Mike has to be. The way he makes her feel is unlike anything she’s ever experienced before. Surely, if his cheeks are dotted with constellations, then his insides must radiate with stardust.

She’s getting pulled closer into his embrace, deeper into his orbit, and El realizes that she’s tired of wasting time. Her eyes close as she carefully leans in and presses her lips to his cheek.

It almost feels like the first kiss she gave him, only this one is far better. The first time, he’d just laid in bed, lifeless and cold. Now, while still a little cold, El can hear his breath hitch in awed wonder and feel his eyelashes flutter against hers.

It’s an intoxicating feeling, and El, feeling emboldened by his awestruck reaction, moves her lips down to press them against the corner of his mouth.

It’s not a kiss, not quite — her lips land more against his jaw than anywhere else — but it’s close. Very close. Close enough to make Mike’s breath hitch in another faint gasp.

Maybe the gasps aren’t a good thing though.

El pulls back to examine his face, suddenly worried that she might have overstepped her bounds. “I’m sorry,” she murmurs, looking a little embarrassed.

“Don’t be,” Mike murmurs back, shaking his head ever-so-slightly. His eyes seem almost glazed over, like he’s somewhere in between waking and dreaming. His fingers curl more tightly in her hair, slowly pulling her closer to him.

El feels light-headed, but in the best of ways, like she’s floating. Like the only sense of gravity she possesses is the force that’s pulling her closer to Mike, slowly narrowing the gap between their parted lips. Just a couple centimeters closer, and—

“Oh my god,” Dustin’s voice grouses, “Are you guys making out?”

Mike and El jump apart as quickly and jerkily as is they’d both been hit with an electric shock. Since they’re both still stuck inside the sleeping bag, they don’t manage to get that far apart, and only wind up accidentally elbowing each other instead.

“DUSTIN?” Mike yelps, “You’re awake?”

“No, Mike, I’m clearly asleep right now,” Dustin replies dryly.

Oh, god. Dustin’s awake and he’s heard everything, including that El thinks Mike’s freckles look like stars. She instantly wants nothing more than to jump off the edge of the Quarry.

“We weren’t making out!” El blushingly insists. She’s thankful it’s dark out — at least Dustin can’t see how humiliated she looks right now.

“You better not be,” Max suddenly pipes up, “Because the first teenagers to get it on in a horror movie always die first.”

“W-what!?” El stammers.

“MAX!?” Mike again yelps.

“Mike,” Max mimics in a whiny voice, “I couldn’t sleep over the sound of your mush-fest.”

“How many people are awake?!” Mike demands, sounding mortified.

“Like, all of us,” Lucas admits.

“Yup,” Will concludes.

“You’ve all been listening this entire time!?” Mike exclaims, “And you didn’t say anything?!”

The rest of their friends all shuffle inside their sleeping bags as they make an indifferent sort of mumble.

“Oh my god,” Mike mutters.

Oh no, no, no. This is officially the most embarrassing thing ever.

“Great,” El mumbles, turning to bury her face in the pillow.

“You guys are pretty cute,” Lucas snickers.

“And you guys are pretty much hypocrites!” Mike grumbles.

“How?!” Lucas counters.

“If this was a horror movie, El and I wouldn’t be the first people to get killed off, it’d be you and Max!” Mike explains bitterly, “‘Cause you guys totally made out on the kissing rock!”

As everyone falls silent, the sound of chirping crickets fills the air.

“Wait...you guys kissed?” Will asks.

“Um,” Lucas hesitates.

“Fine!” Max snaps, “We did! It wasn’t a big deal!”

“It wasn’t?” Lucas asks worriedly.

“I mean,” Max pauses, sounding flustered, “I guess it was.”

“Oh my god,” Dustin groans, “I mean, I’m like happy for all of you, but you guys seriously need to get a room, like, right now.”

“A room? In the forest?” Will questions.

“Lucas and I aren’t the ones being all weird! At least we understand the concept of privacy!” Max gripes, “Instead of trying to get to second base in front of literally everyone.”

“We thought you were asleep!” El insists.

“We weren’t trying to get to second base!” Mike adds.

“Because you were already there!” Max counters.

At this point, El knows that she wouldn’t need to cuddle Mike for warmth, her entire body feels like it’s been engulfed in flames. “Let’s just go to sleep,” she pleads, “Please.”

“It’s pretty late,” Will agrees with a yawn, “We should try to get some rest.”

“Fine by me,” Max sighs, settling back down into her sleeping bag.

A beat of silence passes as everyone tries to settle down. Unsurprisingly, the silence doesn’t last long.

“Wait, so are you and Lucas dating now?” Dustin asks Max.

“Dustin!” Everyone snaps.

“Jesus!” Dustin exclaims, “Sorry! I’ll go to sleep!”

“Thank you!” Lucas sighs.

As everyone finally falls silent, El wonders if she should go back to her own sleeping bag. Maybe Mike is too embarrassed to do this anymore.

But to her surprise, Mike doesn’t push her away. Instead, he draws her closer to him, gently tucking her head under his chin and wrapping his arms around her protectively.

Her ear is pressed against his chest, and as she cuddles Mike back, she listens closely to the steady, pounding rhythm of his heartbeat.

As embarrassing as that entire interaction with her friends was, a small part of El is relieved that they’re not afraid to tease her. Even though they know that she still has powers, they’re not treating her like some strange oddity, or someone to handle with rubber gloves.

To them, she’s still just El, and as El drifts off to sleep in Mike’s embrace, she realizes that that’s the most comforting feeling of all.

Tag List: 

@pixie813, @lovecolesprouse, @miss-sad-marshmallow, @wrongirish, @lonewolfhard, @bbc-radio-phan, @ontariokid, @catalystofhighhopes, @iliketheinternet, @e1vn , @the-proud-princess, @bugheadqueen , @mother-harrington , @finnywolfyy, @ethoctransierit, @elevenhawkins, @kathpride18, @sherlock-salvadale, @creepyfangirlwhosucksatedits, @barbara----holland, @puzzlingsnark, @milevenbeauty , @gemel-dreamer, @itssciencefitz

[afterspark-podcast]

G1 Episode 41: Transcript

[This can also be found on AO3!]

[Stinger]

S: What's his face- the one that you said Rodimus would make out with-?

O: I like that! 

[Intro music]

O: Hello, and welcome to the Afterspark Podcast, an episode by episode recap of the Generation 1 Transformers cartoon! I'm Owls!

S: And I'm Specs.

O: And today we're going to be talking about episode number 41: Making Tracks. Let's talk about giant robots today, shall we?

S: Sure, let's do it. Once upon a time in New York City, something, something, cars being pretty-

O: So we open up with two punks in the background on a rather beat up pink car.

S: In the foreground we see a blue corvette stingray with a large winged Autobot logo on its hood.

O: ‘Cause it's a Tracks episode y'all! 

S: One of the punks says, “Those wheels are rude!”

O: Wait, wait is that- was that actual 80’s slang? I feel like I've never actually heard that used by, you know, a person.

S: Neither have I and I don't know- neither of us existed then, which I guess dates us rather.

O: We were but a twinkle in our fathers’ eyes. 

S: Apparently, Tracks is just what they've always wanted as the two punks pick his door locks and hop on in. 

O: One gets into the driver's seat and the other spots an expensive looking red boom box in the back seat.

S: They jam to some tunes on our buddy Blaster.

O: I'm really confused, why do they not just use Track’s stereo? 

S: Maybe they're listening to whatever cassette Blaster has got in his player.

O: Ah, yes, the soothing sounds of Eject. Please note: Eject does not actually appear in this episode.

S: Yep, he is Sir-not-appearing-in-this-film today.

O: Because Soundwave is allowed to have buddies but Blaster does not get any for a while, I swear.

S: They're on break. They're always on break.

O: They're always on break.

S: The two punks drive the new joy ride to a shady warehouse and meet an even shadier man.

O: Apparently Tracks is only worth $800.00, which is still too little- even adjusted for inflation at $2526.99. 

S: Oh, that's so accurate.

O: Thank you, inflation calculator. 

S: I would think that he'd be worth, you know, closer to $8000.00 in current, uh, US dollars but this is probably a chop shop and they're definitely not getting paid market value if we're here- for anything here.

O: I’d say they're getting ripped off, even.

S: Yeah.

O: So Tracks says nothing about this clear insult but transforms into robot mode, scattering all the humans.

S: One of the punks is still carrying Blaster, who transforms and picks up both the punks like two naughty little kittens. 

O: The shady chop shop guy makes it just outside the door before running headlong into Optimus and then he pulls a gun on Optimus and shoots at him.

S: And it's a laser gun, no less. How did this man get a laser gun?

O: Though the power of 80’s cartoons and they're not allowed to use real bullets.

S: Oh maybe this should have been our first, uh, hint about who our true enemies are on this episode. 

O: Perhaps, maybe.

S: The Autobots head on back to Sparkplug’s garage after, you know, finishing busting up that chop shop

O: Is this a new thing that Sparkplug’s acquired since getting chummy with the Autobots or has he had this this entire time?

S: He's the most interesting man in the world, I mean it could be either.

O: It really could, but to make this more confusing when they arrive back at the garage it really does look like an Autobot construction of some sort, not a man-made one.

S: It's even Autobot orange, how about that?

O: Hey, you know, do you- do you think they went shopping for just the right Earth paint color to match? Like they can- or did they have paint on the Ark? I-I have concerns, I have questions.

S: Someone probably went and got, you know, color swatches and compared them to the Ark.

O: They made Sunstreaker do it.

S: Oh, Sunstreaker, Tracks, and they went and, you know, got Carly because she had better color vision than Spike.

O: Obviously. So Tracks talks about how he likes New York and he could stay here forever.

S: His teammates poke fun at Tracks cosmopolitan preferences, even saying he'd rather hang out with humans than them.

O: Okay, so apparently Tracks is so attracted to humans even before meeting Raoul that the other Autobots regularly kink shame him about it.

S: Oh, he just cares about the culture. He's a man of culture-

O: [Laughter] Uh-huh, uh-huh. 

S: If you will.

O: Sure. 

S: Our current New York roster includes not only Optimus, Blaster, and Tracks, but also Powerglide, Cosmos, Seaspray, and Hoist and Huffer.

O: Yay, Cosmos!

S: It's gonna be a weird, weird day for New York.

O: Yeah, they must be used to it by now. Optimus sends these various Autobots out to patrol the area but Tracks walks off in a huff to go take a drive.

S: And apparently the state of New York City is so bad in the 80’s that immediately after getting on the road three dudes run out into the street and try to rob whomever they think is driving Tracks.

O: Those windows are either tented or these are the dumbest robbers in existence who are trying to rob an empty car.

S: They're opportunists. Dumb opportunists, because they are in fact the dumbest robbers in the world as they eventually realize that there is definitely no one in that damn car.

O: And they also have laser guns and shoot at Tracks.

S: One of the shots hits his tire and he goes careening into a convenient lamp post.

O: Obviously, Tracks is devastated by the cosmetic damage. 

S: He has discovered that New York is not all bright lights and fancy shit.

O: It's also men with laser guns. 

S: Tracks tries to transform but apparently getting dinged up like that was just too much damage.

O: A young man sees Tracks and is basically like, “Oh well, it's damaged but still a sports car. I'm going to take it home with me.”

S: What he actually says is: “Well, apparently nobody wants you so that makes you mine,” like, that is not how that works Raoul!

O: Haven’t you read fanfic? Of course that's how that works!

S: Well, considering some of the random accidental baby acquisition things that I've read-

O: What!? [laughter] Baby acquisition was the thing that got said to me today! I had to hear it now so do you, dear listeners.

S: Let's put it this way sometimes fanfic is very weird.

O: Indeed.

S: Accidental acquisition- accidental baby acquisition. ...Yeah, no, that is not how any of that stuff works. Tracks is currently unable to drive and the man enlists some people to help push him into an abandoned lot of some sort.

O: Of course, this young man, as we alluded to earlier, is Raoul and he, again, comments on whoever owned Tracks before, he owns him now.

S: Tracks replies, “Nobody owned me, I'm mine.” 

O: Raoul did not expect his new car to talk to him tonight.

S: Well, I think if I was Raoul i would have, uh, maybe taken a step back to-

O: Rethink my life choices?

S: Yeah, but so- yeah, Tracks asks Raoul to repair him and we find out that Raoul intends to sell him, presumably because he has promised a car to two dangerous characters named the Geddis brothers by midnight.

O: Raoul says, “The first time I try to steal a car and I get one with a big mouth.”

S: Track is being somewhat snooty about however Raoul got car parts at this time of night but Raoul's not in the mood to get, you know, a lecture from a car.

O: He pops open Tracks’s hood and comments on “What the hell is all this machinery?” only, you know, without the hell because we are talking about an 80’s cartoon, before snipping an innocent looking wire.

S: Cutting said innocent, delicate, little wire completely incapacitates Tracks.

O: Because, apparently, that's the main cable to his computer and that seems like quite a design flaw. I hope that doesn't become important in any way, shape, or form later in this episode!

S: [Laughter] Hint.

O: Hmmmmmm..

S: Sea spray is patrolling the river and is cranky about humans being litter bugs. 

O: While Powerglide and Cosmos report to Prime that they have not seen any Decepticons or Tracks.

S: Hoist complains about being stuck in traffic due to a car accident and hops out of Huffer to help.

O: Which is hilarious because Huffer is shorter than him in robot mode but Hoist apparently has no problem riding in him.

S: And when we say riding in him, we mean riding in his cab, not in his back seat or you know-

O: Whatever you want to take that as an innuendo for.

S: Well, that wasn't what I was thinking- I was just- he's not riding in like a pickup truck bed or something.

O: Oh, yeah, okay I get ya. Huffer laments that they can't all just fly like Tracks before we cut back to Tracks and Raoul.

S: Tracks is looking much better as this front end has been hammered out and, you know, fixed up and Raoul is in the process of polishing him.

O: Which I'm sure Tracks is appreciating. 

S: Mm-hm. Two large, adult men have apparently stopped by to shake this teenage boy down.

O: These are the Geddis brothers and they want their car and even call Raoul a bad little boy.

S: Yeah, that's, um, well I mean that's incredibly creepy, by which I mean it's the creepiest thing they could have possibly said.

O: In this exact scenario, yes. Raoul’s in immediate danger! Cut to commercial.

S: Or Shockwave modeling, you know, striking a pose. 

O: And after we're done with that, uh, we're back and, uh, these guys insinuate they're going to give Raoull his own set of cement shoes.

S: Well I guess they're part of the mafia or something?

O: I don't know what they are but yeah they're like, “Uh, can't give us a car? Murder.”

S: Yeah, and then Tracks comes to the- well, comes to the rescue by driving up and transforming and putting the intimidation on and because, you know, and the guy's grand plan to get away from the giant metal man is to chuck Raoul at him.

O: Who is, obviously, caught gently in Tracks’s hands and is totally fine.

S: Tracks is a very careful fellow.

O: Yes, I would hope so.

S: So the two Geddis brothers hop in their car and speed off. 

O: Cue a not so high-speed car chase as Tracks transforms and chases after them with Raoul in tow.

S: Passing by such renowned New York locations as the Casablanca Abba Cafe.

O: Don't forget about the Appliance Store and Bar or, quite possibly, the Store and Bra. We can't tell. 

S: It's unclear. Also the Fashion Forker.

O: Because I don't know what was going on with these names but, boy, are they a joy to read. Raoul thinks that they have lost the Geddis brothers but Tracks says, “Hardly,” and takes to the air.

S: And it is at this point that, uh, rap- Tracks finally introduces himself to Raoul.

O: Yeah, Raoul's basically just been calling him ‘car’ this entire time, I think.

S: I'd rather suspect Tracks has been pouting over that. 

O: Probably. Uh, Raoul and Tracks do lose sight of the guys near the docks and head back to the empty lot from before.

S: Tracks has reached the conclusion that the Geddis brothers are working with the Decepticons.

O: Which, you'd think, if you were working closely with either the Autobots or the Decepticons, you'd take the time to learn their damn badge colors so you don't accidentally ruin your entire plans by mouthing off to the wrong bot, because I don't remember what the Geddis brother said to Tracks but they were, like, “Wait? What are you doing here?” or something, I think, to Tracks.

S: Yeah, something like that and, I mean, it's an 80’s cartoon. Nobody's getting points for intelligence here, except maybe Perceptor.

O: Because Percy always gets intelligence points. Tracks asks Raoul to take him to where the brothers are storing the stolen cars and Tracks says he's going undercover... as a stolen car.

S: Again!

O: You know, because that's what you just spent all night doing.

S: He knows what he is. He knows he wants- he knows he has to be the damsel in distress here. They arrive down at the docks and see a parade of cars on a bridge crossing the Hudson into Jersey.

O: I regret to inform you that at this time we are legally obligated to make a New Jersey joke. A-hem! Of course the Decepticons are in [New] Jersey! 

S: Ah, the Geddis brothers crossed the bridge and Tracks and Raoul will follow.

O: Back with Powerglide, he reports spotting Starscream to Optimus. 

S: Starscream realizes pretty quickly that he's being followed and tries to lose Powerglide but is shot at by Cosmos who wishes him a terrible day.

O: You know, considering the last time they met, I can hardly blame Cosmos for not liking him.

S: Neither can I because, yeah.

O: That whole idol thing? It just didn't go over super well, you know. 

S: Yeah. Starscream lands and transforms, running into a shopping mall that somehow- somehow scale to fit them. Roughly.

O: And somehow still open. Like Tracks, earlier, kind of insinuated it was rather late at night, but whatever! Cosmos and Powerglide follow him in but Starscream opens fire on both of them and the smattering of humans in this huge- again- very empty mall.

S: Yep. Powerglide and Cosmos repeatedly lose sight of Starscream, who really should still be in their line of sight.

O: Because he's like one floor up from them! That's how this is going, essentially and so I'm just like, “Do you two need your optics checked?” 

S: Maybe!

O: Ratchet, it's time for an eye exam!

S: Yeah, time to check out their sensors. Starscream gets the drop on them again and knocks them off a higher level of the mall before escaping via smashing through the ceiling.

O: Because nobody can use a fucking door.

S: Yeah, no one can really use a door here. Powerglide and Cosmos report into Optimus who, based on Starstream's escape direction, concludes the Decepticons are in New Jersey and most likely the Pine Barrens.

O: Pine Barrens!? I am now massively disappointed by the lack of Jersey Devil in this episode.

S: I don't think they have the budget for the Jersey Devil.

O: I mean, if you've seen the Jersey Devil- I- Honestly, I am devastated, devastated! I did not get to see great Transformers’ animation for this demonic beast, because I want it so bad.

S: Maybe the Jersey Devil will appear in some other iteration of Transformers at some point. 

O: But will he be-

S: Just imagine it.

O: But will it be bad 80’s animation, Specs? 

S: Well, someone could do, um, Transformers versus American cryptids and potentially do it with bad 80’s animation.

O: That sounds like a delight.  However, speaking of the Pine Barrens, the Geddis brothers drop off all the cars and then they send all the drivers back to the city on a bus.

S: Of course, the camera pans over to the right and we see Megatron who was apparently in, uh, plain sight this entire time or showed up extremely stealthily in the last five seconds.

O: The Geddis brothers having delivered the shit ton of cars, asked Megatron where their million dollars is. Megatron being Megatron just aims his fusion cannon at them and says, “Right here.”

S: They shoot at Megatron with their teeny little peashooter laser guns which is just as ineffective against him as they've been against all the other giant robots that have been shot at in this episode.

O: The two humans manage to dodge the fusion cannon blast and presumably run off into the woods.

S: Tracks and Raoul are in the trees nearby and Tracks only just now attempts to contact Optimus but is unable to due to a broken radio.

O: Soundwave and Rumble are loading cars into a giant conveyor belt as Tracks gets closer to investigate.

S: Tracks is really pulling a Daphne this episode, it feels like.

O: [Laughter] It really is. 

S: As the cars are pulled into the building Scrapper is waiting just inside with a giant sword- I keep wanting to say laser sword but I don't remember- and he hits them with the sword. Tracks is not happy about possibly becoming robot sushi and the wire repair from earlier conveniently chooses that moment to fall to pieces.

O: Raoul used electrical tape, or at least it certainly looks like electrical tape, and speaking from experience- electrical tape does not just fall apart like that!

S: It's plot. 

O: [Laughter] I know it's plot but they should have used, I don't know, like masking tape or something that doesn't stick very well.

S: It’s plot. 

O: [Laughter] Oh, right, right, right, right- switching my brain to off.

S: Raoul notices that Tracks isn't moving and whisper-shouts at him to get out of there. 

O: Tracks is immortal danger, time for a commercial break.

S: Raoul runs out and yells at the nearby Cons that they'd better not touch his car.

O: Megatron gives him a look that can only be described as “Where the fuck did this one come from? We had gotten rid of the humans.”

S: Unfortunately, humans are a bit of an infestation, Megatron. 

O: Raoul-

S: They will turn up wherever.

O: They truly will, and then Raoul lies and says he had a bomb in his car.

S: Raoul goes big. 

O: Megatron then threatens him with his fusion cannon for a bit, uh, because he wants him to remove the non-existent bomb.

S: Starscream and Soundwave are just, you know, chilling nearby.

O: Rumble was just here. Is he on coffee break? 

S: Probably.

O: [Laughter] See, the Decepticons have legally mandated breaks is what I'm getting from this.

S: They stop at the conveyor belt and Raoul fixes Tracks, who quickly transforms and opens fire.

O: And then the two of them basically run away. 

S: Yep, and Ravage and Rumble follow on foot. 

O: So much for that coffee break, but now Tracks is running low on energy because he's kind of been all over the place tonight. 

S: He feels faint.

O: And he plans to make his last stand in robot mode.

S: Hey, you do what you got to do, I suppose. But Raoul runs off, trying to draw the cassettes away.

O: And Ravage nearly gets him before being tackled out of nowhere by Sideswipe.

S: Bee and Jazz arrive as well and the three of them chase off the Cassettes. 

O: Tracks and Raoul are brought back to the Autobot base or Sparkplugs’ garage anyway, and shortly after the missing cars which were modified by the Decepticons begin to enter the city. 

S: Optimus, Ratchet, and Blaster attempt to stop as many as possible on a bridge. I mean, good idea: natural choke point.

O: Right but then all the cars transform into robots and fire on the group of Autobots. 

S: Meanwhile Bee, Sideswipe, Inferno, and Tracks take on the cars that have already entered the city. 

O: Thankfully the cars are terrible shots and miss the Autobots. Unfortunately, they end up hitting a nearby skyscraper and it gets on fire now.

S: Inferno goes to play King Kong and climbs up to put it out and then Ironhide, Huffer, and Windcharger engage another group of cars.

O: I love that when these Decepticon cars transform all of their robot modes are the exact same red and yellow color scheme despite their vehicle modes all being different colors.

S: Um, the- the Decepticons got all of that, uh, got all that paint on discount or something.

O: [Laughter] Obviously.

S: On the bridge, Ratchet examines one of the downed cars and realizes they're being, you know, they're remote controlled.

O: So they broadcast a jamming signal and all the nearby cars, at least, stop.

S: The Autobots then head to the Pine Barrens to destroy the Decepticon base of the week that Tracks and Raoul found before.

O: Optimus yells, “We're putting your company into bankruptcy, Megatron!” Did Cybertron have bankruptcies?

S: Either that or the Autobots have been very well educated on Earth's financial systems which I would not put past, you know, Prowl insisting that they know.

O: Right my brain just went- obviously, Spike told them about this. Then they were educated about Earth financial institutions by a 14 year old boy mostly just because it's funnier. 

S: Oh and probably, uh, Sparkplug coming in and having to-

O: Correct him?

S: Re-educate them. 

O: [Laughter] Anyway bankruptcies aside, another firefight ensues.

S: Raoul has the power of a crowbar and God on his side and runs into the building to destroy the control panel but is quickly snatched up by Megatron.

O: So, wait, you're telling me that not only did Raoul just march off into that building, by himself, to wreck shit but also that Megatron was prescient enough to go inside and stop him despite being outside three seconds ago?

S: Yep.

O: Alright then.

S: Megatron walks back outside with Raoul and tells the Autobots they’d better stop firing.

O: Raoul, to his credit, is attempting to get out of Megatron's hand this entire time.

S: Tracks is threatening to turn Megatron into scrap metal, himself, if he harms Raoul.

O: Again, they've known each other for, like, a couple of hours, tops. They're, like, ride or die, it's great. 

S:Mm-hm. Unable to get out of Megatron's grasp, Raoul reaches into his coat and pulls out a can of spray paint, mashes a button on Megatron's torso, opens a panel and then sprays paint into it. 

O:This is apparently enough to completely incapacitate Megatron, who falls onto the ground. 

S: Soundwave and Rumble grab Megatron and fly off to the main Decepticon HQ.

O: And they're never seen again. Obviously not. But, uh, a well-placed shot from Tracks causes the entire building to go up in flames.

S: Well, that was, uh, incredibly badly built.

O: Are you insinuating that the Constructicons have shoddy workmanship?

S: Well, they may not have been the ones called in to do that this week.

O: I mean, fair. He has so many. Even the Constructicons need a break.

S: Back in New York all the Decepticon cars are parked in and around Sparkplug’s garage.

O: They plan to fix them all and return them to their actual owners but Sparkplug’s not sure if Ratchet and him can handle it, even with Wheeljack helping out. 

S: Raoul takes this as his cue to leave but Tracks walks over and picks him up and drops him next to a nearby car, apparently volunteering his labor. 

O: The two bicker good-naturedly as the episode ends. So they are a couple now, right? Right?

S: Mm-hmm.

O: Yes!!

S: Or at least ride or die buddies, who may eventually evolve into a couple.

O: For clarification they're not actually in a romantic relationship because this was the 80’s but there is some fanfic which we have for recommendations in a moment but join us next time for: The Autobot Run. In which the Autobots will do no running... because they will not have legs.

B: [Laughter]

S: Oh yeah. It's a race, dudes. So, Owls has, uh, our fanfic recommendations for today. If you would like to take it away? 

O: Uh, if you're not aware from my jokes during this episode, I actually really like Tracks and Raoul as a pairing so I just actually had these all ready, uh, which doesn't happen that often. Um, so our two picks for today are: “Danger, Sudden Swerve” by Chibibee or, uh, Rebecky_Mo in parentheses. It is G1 Cartoon, it is PG-13, it's slash, our pairing is Tracks and Raoul. Our characters are Tracks and Raoul, and in summary, “All it takes is one wrong turn to find yourself somewhere new and amazing.” Uh obviously this is based on this episode having Tracks in it and it is a collection of shorts.

O: And then our second fic for today is: “Following the Tracks” by LittleMissSweetgrass. Continuity is actually Transformers Prime for a change. It is rated T, it is slash again, characters and pairings are Tracks and Raoul although I do want to point out that there's actually a lot of characters from a lot of different continuities that get pulled into this one which makes it a lot of fun. So a lot of the human characters from IDW show up, um, as well as some Autobots that basically got humanized as human characters within the context of they were in relationships with some of the other human characters but, uh, it's really neat- it's nice to see some of these characters that have basically not popped up in anything for years like, uh, is it Asteria or Astoria? Uh, the one that's in love with Powerglide.

S: Yeah.

O: She pops up- 

S: I don’t actually remember her- I don't remember her name, I'm afraid. 

O: I bet- but her, the rich chick, uh, pops up. So does Chip. It's really nice, definitely recommend, uh, it is unfortunately ongoing so has not completed yet, so I'm, like, it's- it's very good and I read every single update, uh, but in summary, “At the start of Transformers Prime they mentioned that it's been three years since the last Decepticon attack but what if it was also the last time they lost a team member? Tracks was attacked and abandoned in New York City with no way to contact his fellow Autobots. It just so happens that he meets a young man that will help him survive amongst the humans until he can make it back to his team. But what if they can't make it back to them before they leave Earth?” And again it's a Tracks/Raoul  recommendation.

S: I know I need to read that one.

O: It's just- it's okay I have had the worst time keeping up with fics this year because 2020 is the gift that keeps on giving. I realize this will get posted in 2021 but we are recording it at the end of 2020.

S: Yeah, it's been a bad year, folks but I think you already know that.

O: Most people do anyway. So our, uh, [art] recommendation for today is Lantana, uh, they have a Tumblr and a Pixiv and their thing is chibis basically, uh, kind of, uh, that's a bit of an oversimplification but their colors are lovely and they have some very super-super-super-duper cute chibi robots. They're soft, they're colorful, I love them, and I want to give them all hugs. So, uh, some of the ones we're recommending: one of them is, uh, it's basically at least an IDW-esque Megatron but done up as a medic. That makes a lot more sense if you've read the comics, I'm sure, um, and then there's one where, uh, they decide- where his Decepticons decide to get him a birthday present. That birthday present is basically a, you know, a captured and tied up Optimus Prime in a giant present box.

S: Tied up with a big pink ribbon.

O: Of course. And then our other one is a Soundwave with a bunch of itty-bitty kitties and him feeding them. It is super cute.

S: Like, initially, I thought that this was a weird Polly Pocket situation where Soundwave had a Polly Pocket house for cats in his chest- it does not but-

O: That would be funny. They've also got a lot more stuff they've posted since I added them to our recommendation list, that is also gorgeous including some Shattered Glass stuff which, because, I love Shattered Glass and there's not a ton of stuff of it, so, uh, yeah, check out their work. It's lovely.

S: Yeah, it's really pretty. I really like the Soundwave and cats.

O: It's- it's just- it's so cute.

S: It is very cute and that about wraps it up for us today.  Remember to check us out on Tumblr or Pillowfort as Afterspark-Podcast for any additional information, show notes, or links we may have mentioned.  You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter at AftersparkPod (all one word) and various other locations by searching for Afterspark Podcast such as AO3, iTunes, Spotify, and Youtube, just to name a few.  And feel free to send us questions on Tumblr, Youtube, or AO3!  Till next time, I'm Specs.

O: I’m Owls.

S: Toodles.

[Outro Music]

[quadcorenewkids]

Touching the Void - Chapter 1

I’m posting this because, although I like a lot of parts about this, it feels too dragged out for a first chapter... too slow. Idk, I just have some mixed feelings, and since it’s the first chapter, I don’t mind posting it because... it’s not technically spoilers? 8D

Man, I hate how different things look from the word program to the actual post, no matter where it is. It never looks quite right :/

An evening in the McCormick household where one didn't need to fight to have dibs on the TV was a rare fucking evening indeed. In fact, Kenny's parents weren't even home... or so he assumed. If there wasn't yelling and bitching coming from somewhere within earshot, they must've been out and about. Didn't surprise him in the slightest. Kevin - pretty quiet as per usual - probably locked himself in his room so he could drink all night, and Karen - sweet, naive Karen - was already in bed at this hour, having had her dinner and going straight to bed. Hard to believe she was in Fourth Grade already. Felt like yesterday when he was back at the wonderful age of 10.             He remembered playing their games, the boys and him... being afraid of the Sixth Graders, and everything. Yet now they were he Sixth Graders... that still hadn't settled with him, even if it didn't really feel like they'd grown up at all. And having Middle School looming around the corner come next year? Yuck. He had a similar reaction when flipping the channel to the next fuzzy one. Fucking figures, the one night he didn't have to wrestle his drunk-ass brother or parents for the remote, and there was nothing good on. No sports aside from re-runs. Not even much late-night adult content to be found either. Just the fucking shopping channel - god, he hated that with an immense passion - and some boring documentaries and talk shows. He flipped over to one idly and stared blankly at the screen while the voice continued to narrate. The content on the screen wasn't memorable to him in the slightest.           "-and it begs to offer this yet unsolved question that we ask ourselves constantly: 'What were we put on this Earth to do? What is our purpose?' A-and there's just no rightful way of answering that, try as we may. It's a solution that we, as individuals must come to understand and learn for ourselves. All we can do to aid the process along, is by pushing ourselves in the general direction of self-discovery."             He had his finger on the button to switch the channel, before - at the last second - the guy on the TV added, "Which brings me to ask you... why do some people long to die?"             That caught Kenny's attention for an extra moment, "W-When you have the potential of a great, grand purpose in our lives as a result of what we were put on this Earth to do, why would you want to knowingly take your own life away? Why do most of us fear Death so greatly... but others don't? What in the world makes us so unique from one another in such a queer manner? What drives these people to do these things?"

The other man on the TV laughed at him, "Sounds more like we've got a 'Q&Q' show than a 'Q&A' now, Abe."

"These are trying topics. You try to come up with an answer. A real answer. It ain't so easy, is it?"             "Well, if you had to ask me, I'd say some people are obviously just more miserable than others. The quality of life and the gap and all that mumbo-jumbo. If you're down in the dumps long enough, it might seem like that's what you were put on the Earth to be - a metaphorical punching bag."             "Is that what you view yourself to be? You know, some experts say that our words and actions reflect how we feel about ourselves more than they affect others."             "Pfffff. You think I'm a punching bag? I'm living the dream, Abe. Or what feels like the dream... that's good enough for me."           The 'Abe' guy opened his mouth to talk again, but Kenny flipped the TV off before he could utter another word. God this night fucking sucked so far. He got up to get a drink - not a drink drink. Seeing what that shit does to other people sure has its way of souring you on even touching the stuff. Shoving the dozens of beer bottles and cans aside in the dirty old fridge, he pulled out a soda he'd stashed in the very back. It'd been opened before, so it was completely flat by now... but he honestly didn't give much of a shit. Flat or fizzy, it was still a nice treat to have, now and again.             While he sat and chugged back what was left of his week-old cola, his mind wandered back to that dumb-ass talk show again. 'What were we put on this Earth to do? What is our purpose?'

Did it really matter what the purpose was? You make something of yourself, or you don't. Either way, everyone has access to titties on the internet, and that was enough of a reason alone for some people to work and pay the bills. Can't even get a good magazine nowadays without having to pay like twenty dollars plus shipping... they don't even ship it in discreet packaging anymore! What a fucking time to be alive, when your neighbour can walk by and see the latest issue of Playboy sitting on your front step in broad daylight because some asshole couldn't be bothered to stuff it in the mailbox.

Not that he really cared... wasn't his name plastered all over it. He'd used his brother's name when ordering the subscriptions, and he didn't think anything of it when he'd answered the door the first time to pick them up. He'd probably just assumed his drunk-ass couldn't remember ordering it. He'd never complain about free titty magazines though, that would be fucking blasphemy. Kenny just had to make sure he got up early enough on mail days to be able to snag them first when he saw them... he wasn't the biggest fan of second-hand merchandise. Who could blame him?             He crunched the can up with one hand and tossed it in the general direction of the trash can. It hadn't been emptied in weeks, so it just kind of harmlessly bounced off the heaping pile of other cans and rolled on the floor. He'd have to do something about that at some point soon.

He once caught Karen trying to clean up the disaster that was the kitchen. Poor girl almost cut herself on a bottle that'd been broken at some point. After that, Kenny told her that she shouldn't clean up broken bottles and cans - at the very least, not without using a towel or something to protect her hands with. He'd insisted that he'd try to tidy up a bit in her place... but he'd gotten lazy. It gets to a point where if you're the only one in the whole fuckin' house making an effort to clean up, you just don't feel like it's even worth trying. But he'd do it eventually. For Karen's sake, at the very least.             With a sigh, he sauntered over to his room and shut the door quietly behind him. He always made a note to try and do that. No reason to slam doors around and, on the off-chance, wake up his sister. His parents did that enough, that quiet days like this were just... unheard of. This whole evening had been a fucking weird one. He flopped down on his bed and stared at the ceiling for a moment.           "Some people are obviously just more miserable than others. The quality of life and the gap and all that mumbo-jumbo. If you're down in the dumps long enough, it might seem like that's what you were put on the Earth to be - a metaphorical punching bag."             He snatched his pillow and buried his face into it, heaving another sigh. Maybe he shouldn't of even bothered trying to watch TV, if all he can think about is a stupid fucking talk show... but when he thought about it, Kenny kind of felt like a punching bag. Some days, more literally than others. No matter what people threw at him though, he would bounce back from anything. Always coming back, to no one ever remembering. No one remembers the punching bag. He rolled over and glared at the wall. It was going to be one of these nights again, huh? He hadn't gone on such a downward spiral since... since Fourth Grade. Everything had fuckin flown by the past couple years. The usual weird shit would happen every once in a while, but he felt like he was getting involved in it less and less. Stan, Kyle, and Cartman would go off and do shit on their own after school somedays, and it was like they never thought to ask him to join. On one hand, Kenny wasn't complaining – fuck no. That meant he'd been through less shit that could end up with him dead again.           On the other hand... he sort of missed it. He hadn't even worn the Mysterion outfit in what felt like fucking forever... when had he last gone out in it? He got up and went over to the dresser to take a look. It was exactly where he'd left it last time - placed in the bottom drawer. Forgotten. He picked it up and held it out to get a good look at it. It was so small, to him. Had it really been that long? He slowly took his parka off and put the cape on overtop of his shirt. It didn't drag on the floor like it used to, that was for sure. The first few times he'd worn it, he remembered being a dumbass and tripping over it on a few occasions. He'd twisted his ankle once or twice, and one instance actually involved him falling off a roof. That had been agony.             Yet he hadn't cut it any shorter or anything. He'd instead persevered and got used to knowing where it was and how to not trip on it. He casually grabbed an edge of the cape and brought it close to his face in what was meant to be a dramatic pose. At least it was long enough to do that, anyway. The hood was a bit small though... and he didn't even dare try on that light purple one-piece. He took a look in the drawer again to find the half-mask sitting at the bottom. He slipped it on over his head, but it was so tight on his eyes. With a scoff, he'd pulled the ensemble off and shoved it back in the drawer. Maybe there was a fucking reason he'd stopped wearing that thing. All it did now was bring back memories of that fucking cult.             But it had good memories associated with it too. He'd protected his little sister against bullies in Greely as Mysterion... he'd even become a 'Guardian Angel' to her. That, was what made it worth it. That was why he'd kept wearing it up until last year. He wanted to protect people that couldn't do it alone. He wanted to be this stupid little mountain town's 'guardian angel'... to keep it safe from fucking monsters. He scowled at the open drawer now, at the outfit thrown into a ball and wrinkled to hell. Cartman had been one of those monsters... he'd been fucking insane to drag an Elder God into his schemes. He certainly didn't miss hanging out with him. "Friend" or not.           Kenny didn't bother to close the drawer before stumbling back to his bed and throwing himself upon it again - this time sans parka. Maybe he'd bring back the persona... maybe he wouldn't. He honestly didn't want to think about it anymore... he just wanted the night to be over so he could just go back to school tomorrow - words he never thought would pass his mind. But all that kept coming back to mind was that... Fucking... Talk show.             "'What were we put on this Earth to do? What is our purpose?'... It's a solution that we, as individuals must come to understand and learn for ourselves. All we can do to aid the process along, is... push... ourselves in the general direction of self-discovery."           He'd tried that once. It didn't end up all that great.

People don't really realize when they drift off to sleep. It's just a quiet cloak of darkness that overtakes the mind... it's nigh undetectable.         He wasn't any different, at first. He didn't know he was dreaming. It felt... too real.             This place felt familiar... but for the life of him, he couldn't fucking remember where he was, exactly. It was like it kept changing... shifting... the lighting bounced around the ground like water at the bottom of a pool. The sand was red... no, not sand. Dirt. Or... stone? Kenny couldn't focus on it at all, like he'd pulled an all-nighter and hit the point where he just couldn't *mentally* stay awake anymore. The area around him was hazy, and alien. Strange plants - if you could even call them 'plants' - and formations were all around him... nothing familiar besides that feeling deep down that he'd been here once before.             The only thing that knocked him out of his stupor was a voice from behind him, but it sounded like he'd missed part of the conversation before it... "...maybe we should just find a place to hide and wait for help!"           That sounded like... someone he knew... Another voice reverberated, this time right next to him, "What help, dude? Nobody in the real world even knows we're here."           Kenny finally looked towards the source of the voices. They were like mirages... blurry... but he recognized them. He recognized the words. Clyde and Kyle. Mentioning the real world? But that meant... This was R'Lyeh. It came to him like a slap in the face, waking him from the hazy phase he'd just been in. The weird lighting, the even weirder tentacle plants and shit... the other boys in costumes... and then he saw himself walk from where he stood, like he'd waltzed right out of his own body, donned as Mysterion. He felt a distant pain in his gut, as he watched himself take charge and insist he'd find help. He knew what was coming all too well.             Quite frankly, he didn't want to fucking relive it a second time. He closed his eyes to block it out as he heard Clyde call his name. He'd forgotten to block the sound out... and it was a horrid sound. And the pain! The pain hit him like a fucking truck, like he'd actually gone and done it again! Seething agony for what felt like an eternity... and then darkness overcame him again.

He woke up in a cold sweat, grasping at his chest for the spikes he'd known were there when he'd purposefully plunged himself upon them. He laid there, catching his breath and trying to cement himself back in reality for a good long moment, before glancing over at the clock. Four in the morning. It didn't feel that long had passed, but who the fuck knew, when you were asleep, right? Time flew by like nobody's damn business... he'd wished for it earlier in the night. Now, he regretted it. That's not what he fucking meant by it at all.

He glanced at his hands, then passed them through his hair, cringing when he realized it had slicked back somewhat from the sweat on his brow.             Fuck this night sucked.

[elliotthezubat]

DEATH CITY DAYS CHAPTER 86

in which we learn a story from twain’s childhood, fire brigade training, a new base for a certain group, and hibana giving tamaki a pep talk

twain: are we theeere yeeeeet? Hemingway: "Twain, how many days has it been?" twain:...three i think? its hard to keep track, hehe. Hemingway: "Then the answer 'yes.' We are here." twain: FOR REAL?! emily: *chop* bad hemingway. we arent there yet. twain: mean. =3= ..... i ever tell you about the summer i spent on a raft? *They're passing a sign that says '150 miles to Chicago'* Hemingway: *rubbing his head* "Nah..." twain: well, i got this raft and decided to take a trip down the mississippi river. and i saw all kinds of crazy things. like a feud between two rival families, an almost murder, but the craziest part is when my raft got taken over by these two conmen, called themselves 'the duke' and 'the king'. emily: oh wow. twain: isnt that scary? picture it. 11-year-old me, on a raft with two guys who could kill me at any time probably. luckily i did manage to escape and get them arrested during one of their schemes. and later, who do i run into by my ol friend sunny davis and her dad. they were down in alabama visiting her grandparents and mr davis gave me a ride back home, and oh man, did aunt polly give me the scolding of a lifetime. Hemingway: "That's an adventure. Ever look up what happened to Duke and King?" twain: *shrug* not sure really. probably in jail for all i know. plus i dont know what their actual names were. 737; Hemingway: "Huh...How did you even build a raft?" twain: hard work and determination. Hemingway: "I mean...you just don't seem like the determined type." twain: hey, cut me some slack! i can be very determined when i put my mind to it! >3< i might not be the best at school smarts, but im not dumb. Hemingway: "Ever go hunting?" twain: i think so. i've gone trapping. my bro and i caught rabbits, squirrels, stuff like that. aunt polly made us release them though. Hemingway: "Hmm...We are low on food. I say we pull over and--" emily: here's a place. Hemingway: "??? That's just a pit stop. I meant a place to go hunting, like a park, or a zoo--" emily: ERNEST NO. Hemingway: "...I'm buying all the beef jerky they got." *pouts* -elsewhere- Kid: *his hair is still blown back* -_____-# stocking: *head pets* Kid: "It took me by such surprise..." stocking: i can imagine. Kid: *sighs* *holds her hand* "I'll miss you." stocking: i'll be back before you know it. *kiss* Kid: ^\\\^ "I'm counting on it." -elsewhere- Damon: *eating pasta* soul: tastes delicious, right? Damon: "..." ^w^ becky: =u= *nom* Damon: "Can I have more of the sauce?" soul: sure thing, kiddo. ^^ Damon: "...Thank you, um..." soul: ?? Damon: "...N-Nothing..." soul:....take your time. *weak smile* -elsewhere- Hyde: *shakes a jar of cinnamon onto a bag of popcorn* romina: aw yeah, movie night! julian: *monotone* yaaay. Hyde: "What we got to watch?" -elsewhere- Fitzgerald: "You two comfortable?" erina: i-i think so... Jordan: ^w^ "Thank you for hosting, sir!" Fitzgerald: "...Is that a Daffy Duck tie, Jordan?" Jordan: "...It's all I got..." erina:...it's fine. Fitzgerald: "..." *looks at Louisa* louisa: ^^; Daisy: "So, you work security?" erina: at the mall, yes. Daisy: "Busting up punk kids loitering and shoplifting?" erina: yeah. Daisy: "You take their pot?" erina: ._. louisa: miss fay! Daisy: "Just making conversation." Jordan: ^^;;; "Heh...Daisy...What a kidder..." Fitzgerald: "You were previously at the prison?" erina:.....................................yes..... Jordan: "...You don't have to talk about it." erina:...... Jordan: "...Hey, I like your hair." erina:...thanks. Jordan: ^w^ "We got a lot of food options. What you hungry for?" -elsewhere- Tanizaki: *snore* sylvia: ..... Kyoka: *puts a blanket over Tanizaki* "You find a pillow?" sylvia: *clings to hers* Kyoka: "??? What's wrong?" sylvia: n-nothing.... Kyoka: "..." *hug* sylvia: !!!! Kyoka: "It's okay...If you're afraid, we're here for you." sylvia: *shakes* p-please....dont touch me..m-my a-ability.... Kyoka: "..." *pulls back* "Sorry. But...you wouldn't try to hurt me anyway." sylvia: n-not at all, miss kyouka, i-i dont want to hurt anyone! b-but what if i fall and get hurt while- Kyoka: "Then we'll make sure you don't fall. Or, you know, that it's just, like, tripping on the rug or something, not like falling off a rooftop." sylvia: .~.;;;; Tanizaki: *turns over on the couch--and falls off it* sylvia: EEP! >A< Tanizaki: "..." *yawns* *looks up at the ceiling* "...What time is it?" Kyoka: "About 8:30. At night." Tanizaki: "..." *grunts* "I better text Naomi..." sylvia: ....it must be nice....having a sibling.... Tanizaki: "..." *smiles* "Yeah. Naomi means the world to me." sylvia: ....do you...have parents? Tanizaki: "..." *awkward smile* "Who doesn't?" ^^; sylvia:............. Q________Q Kyoka: *hard glare* Tanizaki: ._____.;;;; "...S-Sorry." -morning- Bon: *asleep in the tent* *snoring* Rin: =____= "It went all night." konekomaru: ^^; Yukio: "Perhaps you should have packed earplugs." Rin: -_-# *kicks Bon* Bon: "UMPH!" *sits up, looks around* "...Wait, what happened?" konekomaru: well, we better get started. i heard there was a spot with a great view of a waterfall. Bon: =___= "I barely slept thanks to cold feet kicking me all night." Rin: -3- Yukio: "Konekomaru, got the map laid out to the waterfalls?" konekomaru *nod* Yukio: "Well, get your shoes on, and let's go." Bon: *already tying his* Rin: -_- "I'm coming, I'm coming..." -elsewhere- shiemi: *yaaawn* morning. seiya: good morning, miss moriyama. Shura: =_= *scratches, burps* seiya: -.-; Izumo: *looking outside* "Wow..." shiemi: *also looks out the window* it's a nice little village. stocking: yeah. Izumo: "Quiet...Peaceful." Shura: *stretching* "Where's breakfast?" seiya: it should be downstairs. *puts on robe* Izumo: "What will they have?" *grabs a robe* -elsewhere- Kid: *looking into his cup of tea* liz: hey, it's only for a few days, cheer up. *smile* Kid: "..." *nods* "I just...miss her." liz: *pap pap* lord death: she'll be alright. and she'll be home before you know it! -elsewhere- kirako: *checking the mail*.... oh! Kyoka: "???" kirako: mr fukuzawa, you have a letter! Fukuzawa: *examines it* "...Amazing." naomi: what is it? Fukuzawa: "...We are being honored." atsushi: for real? Fukuzawa: *nods* "For our contributions in the capture of Dostoyevsky." ranpo: ... aya: AWESOMESAUCE! yosano: even though it was the government and manhasset that caught him? Fukuzawa: "If not for the work of many of our members, we could not have pursued the culprits to their location--and rescue others who had been captured." yosano: right... atsushi:... Fukuzawa: "And I think we know who should accept the award--" Dazai: *shiny eyes* kenji: *looks at kunikida* Kunikida: "...Sir...I did nothing. I must decline." Fukuzawa: "..." kirako: then why dont you do it sir? Dazai: *puppy dog eyes* Fukuzawa: "...Very well." atsushi:...*pats dazai on the back* Dazai: Q_Q Fukuzawa: "It makes sense, I suppose, to accept it on behalf of all of us." -applause- atsushi: maybe next time, dazai. Dazai: "I'll make my own trophy from money I make on the horses..." atsushi: ._.; Kunikida: "You spend it on your child." yosano: *nod* Dazai: "...I mean, obviously..." >_> kirako: ^^; Kyoka: "Will you get to pose for a photo, sir?" Fukuzawa: "...I suppose?" -elsewhere- Kafka: *still in bed* "Zzz..." wilhelm: *sneak sneak sneak sneak* Jakob: -w- *follows* Kafka: *muttering* <Stop...Not my fault...> wilhelm: *has shaving cream out* Jakob: *holds a feather...* Kafka: *his arm hangs over the bed* wilhelm: *sprays the shaving cream* hehehe Kafka: *small grunt...calms down* "...Zzz..." Jakob: *takes the feather...tickles Kafka's nose* Kafka: *scrunches his face...he hasn't swung his arm yet* wilhelm: >w< Jakob: *one more tickle* Kafka: <No, stop--> *swing--* *SPLAT* wilhelm: XD Kafka: "Wh-What?!" *bolts up out of bed--landing on his face* wilhelm: *laughs* Jakob: "Heeheehee!" Kafka: "..." *shriek* wilhelm: *runs* Jakob: *follows* Kafka: *scurrying, practically on all fours, looking like a rabid dog* wilhelm: *laughs* george: ._.;;; Kafka: "I'LL RIP YOU BRATS LIMB FROM LIMB--" george: .____.;;; Kafka: *leaps* *loud angry noise as he tries to grab the twins* -YOINK- hans: -_-; Kafka: *hissing noises, hanging off the floor* "LET ME AT 'EM!" hans: kafka, breathe. Kafka: *inhales* "...I WAS TRYING TO SLEEP WHEN THEY DID THIS TO ME!!!" hans: *looks at the twins* Jakob: *practically has an angel's halo over his head* wilhelm: *puppy eyes* hans:......well, at least you didnt do something like murder him. Kafka: "THAT'S IT?!" hans: kafka...*sigh* do you need to take a walk? Kafka: "..." T~T "It's too early..." hans: it'll do you some good. Kafka: *sniff* "F-Fine..." *muttering* hans:...*sigh* Jakob: ^w^ "Better wash off first..." -elsewhere- Justin: *praying* -knock- Justin: "..." *opens his eyes, stands, checks the door* "Yes?" marie: hello~ ^^ christa: hi hi. Justin: "Marie! Christa! Hello...Come in, come in...How are you?" marie: doing good, thought we'd check on in. oriko: *small wave* marie: ^u^ christa: *tiny wave* Justin: *smiles* "Very well. But how are you after...after that?" marie: getting better. Justin: *nods* "Shall I get us some tea and something for Christa?" marie: sure. -elsewhere- Rin: *shiny eyes* "So cool!" konekomaru: talk about a view, huh? Yukio: "It is impressive..." Bon: "..." Rin: "How far does it go down?" konekomaru: please do not go jumping off the waterfall. Rin: "Oh, come on! It'll be a great bonding experience! You all want to try it, right?" Yukio: "No." Bon: "Hell no." -elsewhere- Akitaru: "It'll be at the Fifth. Enjoy the luxury." shinra: *gulp* Relan: "Has Hibana hosted one of these before?" shinra: cant recall... tamaki: it's been a while. Arthur: "The Princess will lead us to glorious victory." maki: here we are. takeru:... oh, the 8th's here now. tao: OuO vivian: about time. ryuuko: that just leaves the 3rd and 1st. ???: "--and then I found a $20 bill!" tamaki: ?? *look* ???: *looks at them* "Oh, hey--new people!" ???: oh, greeeat.... ryuuko: you must be the new recruits with the 3rd and 1st, correct? ???: "Yep!" *hugs Ryuuko* ryuuko: um... mikami: ^^; ???: "I'm Yotsuba--it is so super to meet you!" ^w^ ryuuko: likewise. now could you let go of me? Yotsuba: "??? Sure." *lets go* tamaki: so you're in the 1st, huh? Yotsuba: "Yep! I'm from the 1st--and I'm so lucky to have gotten in!" tamaki: oh im so sure of that. what can you even do? maki: tamaki! my apologies, she used to be in the 1st. tamaki: -_-; Relan: *looks at the one from the 3rd* ???:... the hell're _you_ looking at? Relan: "!!!!" *steps back* "N-Nothing..." >_>; shinra: *glares at the 3rd member* hey, what's your problem? ???: everything. Yotsuba: "Oh, you know, a little bit of this, a little of that. I guess since I'm at the 1st now and you left, I'm kind of the new you there." ^w^ Relan: "..." Q_Q tamaki: *rolls eyes* shinra: *protective hug of relan* Relan: *pat pat* gabriella: ok, line up everyone. Yotsuba: "I've heard so much about you! Is it true you trained in nun stuff? And now you're at the 8th? Is that guy there yelling at the horse statue your boyfriend?" Arthur: *screaming* "YOU ARE AN EMBARRASSMENT TO STEEDS EVERYWHERE!" tamaki: .....when did the 5th get a horse statue? Relan: "Hibana probably saw 'Caligula' too many times--" Hibana: *suddenly behind Relan* "What was that~?" ^^# tamaki: OxO shinra: .x.;;;; Relan: "..." Q_______Q tao: hi princess iron-fan! ^^ Hibana: "Hello, new person~" *pats Relan's shoulder--a bit too hard* ???: *siiigh* can we get this over with? Hibana: "...Okay, Relan and Captain Sunshine over there get to do 100 push-ups while Gabriella states your training objectives." Relan: D8> ???: *siiigh* fantastic. Kishiri: "LOL." vivian: hehehehe~ Hibana: "And 200 for Kishiri." Kishiri: Q_Q shinra: *smirk* Hibana: *studies the newbies while Gabriella begins--* gabriella: alright, we'll start by two against two combat practice. Yotsuba: ^w^ Arthur: *nods* tamaki: .... (something about this girl....really ticks me the eff off....) Hibana: "Let's see...Tamaki against the new girl--" tamaki: D8< Yotsuba: "Yotsuba, ma'am! Huge fan! I've been following your designs since the Milan show." Hibana: "..." *looks at Gabiella* "Mark her as a favorite." tamaki: D 8 < Yotsuba: *stands in the battle ring...just standing, not even in a fighting pose* ^w^ tamaki: heh, ok madame sparkles, lets do this. *assumes stance* Yotsuba: "Wonderful! I'm thrilled to get to learn from this engagement with you!" tamaki: *charges* Yotsuba: *still standing there* ^w^ tamaki: *jumps up* Yotsuba: *not moving* ^w^ tamaki: (hmm?) *catwheel cartwheel* Yotsuba: *still not moving--until the last second, when she quick steps out of the path* tamaki: O_O *CRASH* Yotsuba: "Ouchie! I almost felt that..." tamaki: >~< Hibana: "Point Yotsuba! Tamaki, get back in there." tamaki: *glares back at yotsuba* Yotsuba: ^w^ "I thought that looked pretty good. But maybe next time gauge the distance better--" tamaki: you totally moved out of the way! DX< Yotsuba: "I know--it was impressive, right? I'm so lucky I had great teachers at the 1st to help me improve my innate talents, like Commander Burns--" tamaki: -_-# Yotsuba: "And everyone is just so invested in helping me! Like, watch this--" *she seems to disappear immediately* tamaki: ??? *Something lands lightly on Tamaki's head* tamaki: ?! *It's a flower crown* Yotsuba: ^w^ Hibana: *shiny eyes* tamaki:..... (she's really getting on my nerves...) shinra:..well tamaki seems to be making friends. Arthur: "...What even is her ability? Super-speed? Pre-cognition? Witchcraft? Witch. Must be a witch." Relan: *panting, struggling with pushups* Kishiri: *muttering* ???: how annoying. Yotsuba: "But I guess I should wrap this up, so--" *grabs Tamaki by her index finger* tamaki: ?? Yotsuba: *flips Tamaki over, gracefully, and out of the ring--* tamaki: X-X she cant be human...there's no way she's even human.... Yotsuba: *spins, does a peace sign pose* "I'm just lucky!" Hibana: OwO "Can we adopt her?" tamaki: oh i'll show YOU LUCKY- *trip* oh no.... *faceplant with her ass in the air* Yotsuba: OwO; "Oooo~" Arthur: ._. shinra: talk about making an ass of yourself. *sweatdrop* tamaki: TT_TT# (i will murder all of you in your sleep) -elsewhere- Q: T_T higuchi: you ok? Q: "I'm lonely..." higuchi: you have us, dont you? Q: "Yeah...But I miss Aya." higuchi:....*pap pap* Q: *sniffs, rubs his eyes* "We're stuck here..." higuchi: im sure it'll blow over soon. *smiles* Q: Q___Q "Really?" higuchi: yeah. Q: "O-Okay..." -elsewhere- Kafka: *walking, grumbling* -looks like it's about to rain soon- Kafka: "Shoot...I didn't bring my umbrella..." *looks around* -there is an awning nearby at a shop- Kafka: "..." *stands underneath* -there is a fancy pair of shoes in the window- Kafka: "???" -they seem pretty fancy- Kafka: "..." -in his thoughts- {Kafka: "Here you are."} {etta: aww, how sweet! *cheek smooch*} {Kafka: ^\\\\^ "Only the best...for you."} {etta: hehe~<3 } {Kafka: "I want to give you the world...because you deserve that happiness."} {etta: aw, franzy...} {Kafka: "..." *leans in--*} Kafka: -3- girl: is that guy kissing a window? girl 2: weirdo. Kafka: O\\\\O "..." T\\\\T -later- Kafka: *reaches the door--soaking wet* -___- george: ... ._.; Kafka: *grumbling* "First those brats prank me, then I get kicked out to a walk, can't even buy shoes--then I don't have my umbrella--" george: rough day? Kafka: *snipes* "Who asked you?" george: OxO; Kafka: "..." *marches to his room, leaving wet shoe-prints down the hall* george:....whats eating him? Walter: *pops up* "That's just the kind of guy Kafka is." george: hm... Kafka: *locks himself in his room* "..." Walter: "Come to think of it, I haven't heard Kafka call any family..." george: ..... Walter: "...Hey, George? You like pudding?" george: yeah, why? Walter: "Let's make pudding treats!" george: oh, ok. Walter: ^w^ "Kafka will love them..." -elsewhere- lydia: ......*staring at her drink* *Everything is quiet in the building* lydia:.....*sigh* ......*walks back to her room* Gogol: *humming* lydia: ....<kolya.> Gogol: <Yo yo yo!> lydia: *rubs her eyes* pleasant evening, i take? Gogol: <As good as it can be. You?> lydia: <could have been better. just thinking a lot.> Gogol: <??? About...?> lydia: <what im going to do after finding the book...> Gogol: <Ah...Maybe go home?> lydia: .....<you do know why i joined the rats, right?> Gogol: <Do I? Likely. But tell me anyway.> lydia: <there's someone important to me i want to save.> Gogol: <All this for a loved one?> lydia: *nod* <she means the world to me.> Gogol: <...Hmm. And Dossy knows this?> lydia:....*she nods* i was by her side in the hospital when he contacted me... Gogol: "...He does that sort of thing." lydia: he offered to save her if i joined him. though i have been considering a second wish for the book..... Gogol: "Oh?" lydia: the first would be to save her from her coma......the second....i might use to erase her memories of me. Gogol: "...Why..." lydia: *removing her mask* it's my fault that she's in this coma to begin with. because she got close, she got hurt. I’ve done so many terrible things for her sake, my hands are too stained with blood. If she knew what I had done, she’d undoubtedly hate me. I don’t want to be a burden to her. Maybe it would be for the best if she forgot about me, even if it hurts so much. I want her to live a life without suffering. Gogol: "..." *sighs* lydia: ... Gogol: "Before doing something so drastic, perhaps actually say goodbye to her first." lydia: *sad chuckle* that's just the thing. i'm scared to face her again. that sounds pretty pathetic, right? perhaps im just doing this to punish myself. im not sure. but as long as i can know she's alright, then i'd be glad, even if it meant erasing my own worthless existence... Gogol: "...Is that what you want?" lydia: ....im only considering her wellbeing...i dont want for her to get hurt again because of my actions. Gogol: "Hmm...Too bad you can't wish to just change your past." lydia: ...i have no desire to change what has happened to me. Gogol: "...All for her, then?" lydia: *she nods* Gogol: "...Admirable." lydia: ...*wipes her eyes* Gogol: "...Well, sleep will help figure this out." lydia:....right.... -elsewhere- Takehisa: "Let's hope they learn something during this exercise." miwa: *nods* Takehisa: "That gives time to handle some other tasks around here." *opens a closet* "I have repairs to finish." miwa: need any help from us? Takehisa: "Since Vulcan is busy, yes, I could. I'm going to check the furnace. Could you check which lighting fixtures are broken?" miwa: sure thing. serina: need us to do anything? sayu: ^u^ Takehisa: "Hmm...We have paperwork that hasn't been signed. Could you check the mail in that pile, and anything that needs the commander's signature, set it aside?" serina: *nods* nayumi: i'll help iris with cleaning out the chapel area. Takehisa: *nods* "Thank you." -elsewhere- Rin: "Ow..." konekomaru: *patching him up* Bon: "It's like training a dog..." konekomaru: ^^; Rin: "I thought it was a good idea at the time...How was I supposed to know the speed?!" Yukio: -_-# "You could have died, if not for your abilities--and hard head..." *takes off his glasses...looks in the water* "..." konekomaru: .....?? Yukio: "..." *sighs, splashes water on his face* Rin: "??? Yo, bro..." Yukio: "Hmm?" Rin: "..." *shove* Yukio: O_o "?!" *SPLASH* konekomaru: rin, come on! *chuckle* Bon: ._. "..." *snort* Yukio: *soaking wet* -_____- "At least my glasses weren't tossed in...However--" Rin: "???" Yukio: *grabs Rin's arm--and flips him into the water* Rin: O______O "WAIT! I HATE GETTING--" *SPLASH* konekomaru: ^^; stocking: *whistling* Izumo: "???" seiya: ?? is something wrong, izumo? Izumo: "Just...thinking. It would be nice to have...to have spent this time with my..." seiya:....*pat pat* it'd be best not to dwell on the past. she's safe, isnt she? Izumo: "...I hope..." seiya:... *pap pap* Izumo: "Th-Thanks..." stocking: hey, we're here for you, ok? shiemi: *nod* Izumo: "..." *sniff* "I-I know that!" T\\\T *looks away* shiemi:...*hug* Izumo: T~T *hug* -elsewhere- Relan: *groans* T~T Arthur: *bandaging his arm* mikami: everyone alright? tamaki: *in full cast, grumbling* Kishiri: *holding tissue to his nose* "Is it broken?" Q_Q Yotsuba: ^w^ "So much fun! I can't wait for tomorrow for more training!" vivian: *in a medic's uniform, patching him up* it's just fine, torry~<3 tamaki: *glaring daggers at yotsuba* Kishiri: =\\\\= "Thank you..." vivian: hehehe~<3 Yotsuba: *holds up cups of hot cocoa* "I made cocoa! With my own special recipe..." tao: yay! tamaki: (i swear, she's doing this on purpose! DID BURNS HIRE HER JUST TO SPITE ME?!) Yotsuba: "Here you go, Tamaki~" ^w^ tamaki: *muffled annoyance* Yotsuba: "I could give you a straw..." tamaki: *GLAAAARE* shinra: it's like she's the anti-tamaki... tamaki: <SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS, KUSAKABE!> Yotsuba: OwO;;; "Um...Did I do something to offend her, Shinra?" shinra: dont worry, she's like this all the time (more so than usual today...) Yotsuba: "D'aw...I'm sure tomorrow will be even better! I look forward to making friendships with all of you! We can even share treats, play video games on my new Switch, I can have my private driver pick us up--" vivian: you have a chauffeur too?? OvO Yotsuba: "I won one in a lottery." ^w^ mikami: they do that in lotteries now? tamaki: <OH OF COURSE SHE DID!> Yotsuba: "Lucky, I guess~" Relan: "...Shinra. What is even happening?" shinra: some weird gag most likely. tao: ~? shinra: best not to think about it too much. ???: ugh, how annoying. can you guys just shut up, i want to sleep already. and maybe die. that'd be great. Arthur: "??? ...Do you know Mr. Aizawa?" ???: who? Arthur: "...Nevermind." *polishes his hilt* ryuuko: for now, lets all get some rest, we're gonna need it..... -elsewhere- Kid: *baking a cake* "..." -elsewhere- twain: hey steinbeck? owo Steinbeck: "What?" twain: did you ever have any childhood crushes? owo Steinbeck: "...I guess." twain: liiiiiike? Steinbeck: "I-I don't know...There were cute people in my neighborhood when I was younger..." twain: oooooh. 7u7 Steinbeck: "..." {Steinbeck: "..." *small noise* } {girl: ?? what's with him?} {rosasharn: john? are you alright?} {ma steinbeck: ??} {Steinbeck: "N-Nothing!" >\\\\< } twain: bet you want to know who my childhood crush was, right? 7u7 Steinbeck: *serious face, crying* "I could not care less." twain: well, when i was like, 8 or something, i had the huuuugest crush on the town judge's daughter, becky thatcher. she was like, the prettiest girl i'd seen like, ever. and i was certain we were gonna get married and stuff like that. not sure where she is now. probably in university for all i know. Steinbeck: "...I'm not one to advocate creepy online stalking, but why not search online for her? She may be an ace student, or a famous journalist, or a mass murderer--" twain: eh, kinda keeping my options open, y'know? Steinbeck: "...Yeah. Wide open." twain: 'sides, those 'find old classmates online' ads are almost always scams. Steinbeck: "...I guess." *looks out the window* twain:...thinkin' bout someone? Steinbeck: "Just...thinking. That's all. ...All." twain: sure, steinbeck. -morning- Rin: *huddled under blankets* -3- "And they still aren't dried, even overnight..." konekomaru: *asleep* Bon: *packing* konekomaru: *yawn* are we heading home soon? Bon: "At least to the next stop along the way home..." Yukio: *buttoning his shirt* konekomaru: *nod* -elsewhere- Chuuya: *grumbling, shaking in bed* -chuuya....- Chuuya: "N-No..." -it hurts so much. i cant breathe...- Chuuya: "H-Hang on...I'll help..." -she's bleeding all over and screaming- Chuuya: *reaches out his hand* "NO!!" *sits up in bed with a lurch--covered in sweat* "..." *pants* -silence- -the space next to him is empty as it always is- Chuuya: "..." *covers his face* “…” *whimpers, whines* -the door creaks open a slight bit- sonia: papa? mito: *mew* Chuuya: "..." *lowers his hands, smiles* "Yes, Sonia?" sonia: are you ok? Chuuya: "...Just a bad dream." sonia:....do you want a hug? Chuuya: "...That'd be kind." sonia: *hug* mito: *nuzzle* Chuuya: *hug, pat pat* sonia: i love you a lot, papa. Chuuya: "I know...I love you, too." sonia: ....aunt higuchi's making breakfast... Chuuya: *smiles* "Then that should be delicious, right?" sonia: *nod* Chuuya: "Give me a minute, okay?" sonia: ok... Chuuya: *watches her exit...hugs a pillow* "..." -...- Chuuya: "...I'm doing my best..." -...- Chuuya: "..." *sighs...* *sets the pillow back* -elsewhere- Hibana: "Good morning~!" tamaki: -_____- shinra: you look like a bit of a mess. tao: is it cause of miss sparkles? shinra: *chuckle* Relan: *small smile* *humming is heard from the kitchen* tamaki: laugh it up, you guys.... mikami: she's already awake.... ryuuko:...im beginning to lose certainty of her humanity. *sweatdrop* Hibana: "And she's making all of us breakfast! And it looks divine..." gabriella: ^^; Yotsuba: *humming, making fresh whipped cream* "The muffins are all ready!" *the muffins are...sparkling* Relan: "..." *LOUD STOMACH GROWL* shinra: good god they multiplied overnight! tamaki: *ELBOWS HIM* shinra: ow. Yotsuba: "They have different fruit fillings, too!" *pours hot chocolate, adds whipped cream* "Tamaki, I even made some of those little fish-shaped pastries that Mr. Fulham told me you like~" tamaki: ^^# why. thank. you. Yotsuba: ^w^ *sits next to Hibana* Hibana: ^w^ "Okay, troops, eat well, because today--" *evil face* "YOU MAY DIE." Relan: *half-way into a muffin* "..." Q____Q ???: good. hanako: D8> mama, she's in my seat! Hibana: "Yes, Yotsuba..." *DEATH GLARE* "MOVE." Yotsuba: OwO;;;;; "..." *quickly gets up, sits behind Tamaki* tamaki:....*smirk* Kishiri: "...Boss Lady, when you say 'die'--" takeru: *shaking...causing a mini earthquake in the room* Hibana: "Death. Demise. Expire. Six feet under. Dead as a door nail. Deader than disco-- ...Holy crap, is he causing that?" Relan: "C-Calm down, T-Takeru..." shinra: takeru. inhale. takeru: *INHAAALEEEE....*breathes out* i-im ok.... Relan: ^^;;; *pat pat* -elsewhere- Magaki: *sipping tea* otogiri: how is it? Magaki: "..." *small smile* "Good." himawari: *smiles* thank you. Magaki: "Was it from the garden?" himawari: *she nods* i've been learning how to make new blends. Magaki: "That's impressive." himawari: *smiles* Magaki: "Do you use these in other meals?" -elsewhere- Izumo: "..." *looks outside* shiemi: *packing* seiya: this was an enjoyable trip. *smiles* Izumo: "...I suppose so..." Shura: *passed out* *snore* stocking:....*nudge nudge* shura? Shura: *grumble* "Booz..." stocking: -___-; *sigh* -elsewhere- Fukuzawa: "...Is this really necessary?" yosano: it's a formal occasion. kirako: plus a suit is quite becoming on you. ^^ Fukuzawa: "Hmph. Very well." naomi: ^^ -outside, atsushi and aya are training with kunikida- Kunikida: "You know what to do? Then come at me." atsushi: *charges* Kunikida: "..." *shifts his weight* aya: *jumps in from behind* Kunikida: *turns* atsushi: *TACKLE* Kunikida: *knocked down, lies back* "..." atsush: yes! aya: woot! -they do a little victory dance- *Then something knocks them both in the head* aya + atsushi: X-X Kunikida: *holding a handful of acorns* "What did I say about keeping an eye on downed opponents?" aya: Q3Q atsushi: TT,TT; Kunikida: *sighs* "At least you got me down." atsushi: *smile* Kunikida: "Now, what did you get wrong?" aya: keep an eye on a downed opponent? Kunikida: *nods* "What else? For example, Aya, notice your watch is missing--" aya: but i dont even have a watch- Kunikida: "..." *looks at the watch in his hand* "...Then whose--" atsushi: *points* Kafka: *collapsed on the ground nearby* X____X *he's missing a watch...and a shoe* Kunikida: "... ... ..." *stares at Atsushi* "Get a shovel." atsushi: D8> -elsewhere- Jakob: "??? Where's everyone?" george: they said they were out doing errands. Jakob: -3- "Boring...Need a game to play." george:.....alright, how about 'two truths and a lie'? Jakob: "Ooooooh! Sure!" wilhelm: im first! i own a slingshot, im the older brother, and im a student. george: im guessing the older brother thing is the lie? Jakob: >w< "He got you!" wilhelm: =3= that was too easy. george: alright. i lived in england, i've been inside a submarine, and im a girl. Jakob: "Hmm..." *looks at Wilhelm* "The submarine thing. No one uses submarines nowadays." wilhelm: you sure? george:...you guessed it. wilhelm:....so wait, you're a girl?....huh. george: ^^; Jakob: "Why the secret?" george: *shrug* i guess i just decided to take on a new identity after leaving home. even if i dont consider myself being a guy, i do enjoy the facade. wilhelm: understandable. jakob's disguised himself as a girl lots of times. Jakob: >\\\\\< george: huh.....well, there's pudding from last night in the kitchen. you two hungry? wilhelm: yes please! Leroux: ^w^ etta: *shivers* c-cold down here TT3TT hans: its not that far now... Leroux: "You saw some of them before?" hans: i think. i do recall a rather tall woman, a shorter woman, and a strange man with a bowlcut... *BOOM* hans: !!! etta: EEK! >A< hans: *peeks past the wall* *Someone walks through the blast* ???: "MY BOWL CUT IS NOT STRANGE!" hans: ??? etta: OxO *Motojiro emerges* Leroux: "...Are those...lemons?" etta: what even is this place? hans: hello? we're the group the agency told you about? Motojiro: "..." *looks back* "How can we confirm they're who they claim to be?" hans: *hands him a document* hirotsu:...hmm....seems to check out. etta: w-we even made ID cards. OvO;;; *shows hers* Leroux: "Hmm...Some of Walter's glitter got on mine..." katya: whatchu guys even want from us? hans: we're here to talk to you about our alliance- hirotsu: so we've heard. Leroux: ^w^ "Have you decided?" hirotsu: what do you have to offer us? hans: we have a large accommodation to your numbers. and you will be kept protected within our residence. and food and showers and such will be provided. hirotsu: hmmm...and what is it you want from us? Leroux: "Well, you do have an awful lot of people..." hirotsu:.... hans: think of it this way, do you really want to stay hidden in a smelly old tunnel? Leroux: "And can be some assistance in the combat side..." hirotsu:......very well. we just have one request. a certain member has to be kept under strict lock and key at all times due to...rather complicated circumstances. hans: that can be arranged. Leroux: ^w^ "Yay! Neighbors!" hirotsu: *shakes hans' hand* it will be a pleasure working with you, ma'am. everyone. pack up and roll out. Leroux: OwO "...Old people say 'roll out'?" hirotsu:... 7///7; naoya said i had to 'get with it'. Leroux: ^w^ "Understood, sir!" -elsewhere- Lily: *sleeps* "Zzz..." misono: *taking notes* Kuro: *poke* "Give me your notes..." misono: -,-; dont you have your own? Kuro: "Just comparing to make sure I got all of it..." *his notes only have his name on it* misono: ... -elsewhere- hyakuya: *stares at her paper* ..... {hyakuya: *trembling*} {yuuichiro: AKANE RUN!} {hyakuya: ah-} {yuuichiro: JUST RUN DAMMIT!} {hyakuya: *tears in her eyes, taking off into a sprint down into the tunnels*} hyakuya: ......*sniff* *rubs her eyes* ???: "Here." *holds a tissue* hyakuya: i-im fine! TnT Yoichi: "Just...trying to help." ^^; hyakuya:.................................YOICHI!!! *HUGS*.... 7///7; g-glad you're here. i'll be sure to let shinoa and mitsuba kno- mitsuba: already on it. shinoa: the gang's all back together again, fufu ^^ Yoichi: "Y-Yeah." ^^;;;; "Little tight..." hyakuya: *lets go* wait, all? mitsuba: kimizuki's here too. hyakuya: ... =-=# faaaantastic. just what i freaking needed. Yoichi: "Just...hang in there..." hyakuya: 7,7 -elsewhere- Kafka: *walking down the street, missing a shoe* T~T *spots the HQ* "...This is going to be embarrassing..." -elsewhere- Hibana: *blows a whistle* "Faster! Lift those legs!" tamaki: *jogging* tao: *sprint jumping* takeru: *pant pant* >~< Yotsuba: *practically skipping* ^w^ Relan: *catching up from behind* Arthur: *galloping like a Monty Python horse* ???: *still at the start line* Yotsuba: "..." *doesn't turn around, looks forward--and side-steps* ???: *KO'D* fuck... Yotsuba: "Ouchie." ^w^ Relan: Q_Q "Scary..." Kishiri: *panting* "Ugh..." Hibana: "Move it, move it! You'll get your reward later--so move!" -elsewhere- Yohei: "Kepuri, hold Toru for a bit--" Kepuri: "?! Wait, what--" Yohei: *ties his shoelaces* Kepuri: -_-# toru: *staaare* Kepuri: "...What are you staring at?" toru: babwa! ^u^ Kepuri: "...'Babwa'? What is 'babwa'?" toru: *baby babble* chie: i can take him from here. ^^; Kepuri: -\\\\- "Thank goodness..." *hands Toru to Chie* chie: hey sweetie~ were you good for aunt kepuri? toru: babwa! chie: *giggles and pokes his nose* ^^ toru: *laughs* Kepuri: "..." >\\\\> Yohei: "He's a happy boy..." nea:....kepuriiiin, are you considering children? Kepuri: "I am nowhere ready to deal with babies, messes, the cost--the pain of child birth...How even parent?" nea:.... 737; Kepuri: "What about you?" nea: *whistling* Shinoda: .////. -elsewhere- Giriko: "Yo, Priest! Yo...Um..." oriko: ~? justin: good afternoon, giriko. ^^ anna: chitty pweest! Justin: O_O Giriko: ^^; oriko: ?? anna: ^o^ chitty pweest! chitty pweest! Giriko: "Kids say the darndest things..." Justin: ^-^;;;;;;;;;; oriko: ~?? Justin: ^^; "Giriko...Why is she talking like that?" Giriko: "Blame Kirika." kirika: *laughing too hard* Justin: *sweatdrop* -elsewhere- Karim: "Raise it a bit higher..." pearl: *doing so* Karim: "Okay...Now, what do you feel right now?" pearl: alright for the most part. Karim: "Do you notice any stress when you raise it?" pearl: a bit of tension on my hand, but that's about it. Karim: "Hmmm...How about emotionally?" pearl: fine, i think. Karim: "...What powers up your flame?" pearl: what do you mean? Karim: "Well, some people increase their flame when they feel happy, or sad, or angry..." pearl: i never really thought about it. Karim: "Well...Maybe think about something that makes you happy and see what happens?" pearl: ...... *FEWM* .-.; Karim: "...Okay, so happy thoughts help. Interesting...Guess keep thinking about them for a bit." pearl: .////. r-right... -elsewhere- Anya: *flipping through an old yearbook* rowena: ?? Anya: "...Rowena, what do you know about previous students?" rowena: i havent really looked into it. Anya: "...Tsugumi is still researching, based on research from a...departed student. But I think it's hitting a wall, so I'm seeing whether there were other halberds or their meisters. ' rowena: hmm. -elsewhere- elizaveta: ... *There's the sound of metal hitting metal, like someone stacking...plates? Cans?* elizaveta: *peeeek* Gogol: *quickly shoves something into his coat* *hums* elizaveta: OvO~? Gogol: <Ah, there you are.> *smiles* <What are you up to?> elizaveta: <iii dunnoooo. stuff?> Gogol: <Hey, me too!> *closes his cloak* <I have to finish something, so can you give me five minutes?> elizaveta: ok. *waves leila's hand and walks out* ~^^ Gogol: *waves...when she is out of view, he frowns...* "..." ("Just keep to the plan...") -elsewhere- Akutagawa: "..." Gin: "Is this a good idea?" naoya: well, it's really our best option right now, all things considered. Gin: "I understand. Yet we know little about these people--and it feels like moving from...this 'prison' to another one." naoya: hey, on the bright side, they have food and showers. Gin: "...Good. Some people here have smelled awful." Tachihara: "FUCK YOU!" Akutagawa: *picks up Tachihara by the ankle* katya: so what do we know about this goat guy? Tachihara: Q_Q "...He's an animal-human hybrid?" Gin: *smack* "Stop listening to stupid people." katya: WANNA FIGHT?! leo: i believe she meant goethe. katya: what lev said. Motojiro: "Oh! The one with those people in Germany! He killed a child abuser." higuchi:....wow. katya: why does he want to form this alliance anyway? Motojiro: "He is an ability user..." katya: so? higuchi: he wants to form this alliance to stop dostoyevsky. katya: im in. pushkin: that was a fast answer. Motojiro: OwO; "That easy?" katya: im down for anything if it means taking that backstabbing sack of feces down several hundred pegs. Akutagawa: "...Sounds good." higuchi:...you still arent over that, are you? katya: NOPE. Motojiro: ^w^ "I'll start packing!" Tachihara: *blood all flowing to his head* =~= -elsewhere- Kafka: "...How? How are we even going to fit that many people in here?" goethe: we have a lot of rooms. like, loads. Kafka: "Since when?! I have looked at the floor plans--" Walter: *flips a page--spreading out a much larger blueprint of the building* Kafka: "... ... ...SHUT UP!" Walter: "I said nothing!" -elsewhere- Hibana: ^w^ "There! Now wasn't that a successful training day?" Yotsuba: *sparkling and smiling* "Oh, yes, Commander! Thank you for today's lessons!" Relan: *collapsed, face-down* X___X tamaki: Q_Q Arthur: *clothes torn* "...I think one of the Angels bit me." shinra: *faceplant'd* Kishiri: *mindlessly chewing on gum...shivering* "N-Never again..." Hibana: *claps her hands* "Well, time for your reward~" vivian: OvO Hibana: "We ladies will enjoy some time in the baths and spa this evening." Kishiri: *at attention* "HOT." tamaki: *about to punch him* Hibana: *holds up buckets and toothbrushes* "While you boys continue your training by scrubbing the toilets~" tamaki: oh. Kishiri: D8> Relan: *sad angry quiet scream* shinra: that seems a bit rude, ma'am, with all due respect Hibana: "I'm kidding! Mostly. You can go use the boys' baths down the hall." Yotsuba: *claps* "Yay! Tamaki, we can bond and discuss training, the First, how to improve your jumps--" tamaki: (i'd rather be scrubbing toilets.) -elsewhere- Haumea: "...So, he's a masochist, right?" kagu-tsuchi: ?? whom do you refer to? Haumea: "Charon. He just keeps having everyone punching him. One big beefy man after another big beefy man punching him..." kagu-tsuchi: ..... guruna: *yaaaawn* pass thanks. Haumea: "In any case, the noise is getting in the way of me listening to radio waves, so..." *presses a hand against the wall--plasma shoots through into Charon's training room and--* Man 1: "AAAAH!" *clutching his head, falls* Men 2, 3, 4, etc: *also all fall* Haumea: "..." =w= "Ah, silence." guruna: ._. kagu-tsuchi: .... -elsewhere- Lucy: "Jeez, he messed you up good." atsushi: T~T; Lucy: "..." *small smirk* "At least you're alive, aren't you? Regeneration is a heck of an ability." atsushi: yeah......*looks at lucy* ..... .///. Lucy: "??? What's wrong?" atsushi: you're just really cute. >///< Lucy: O\\\\\O "WHERE ON PRINCE EDWARD'S ISLAND DID THAT COME FROM?!" atsushi: .////. its true though. Lucy: >\\\\< "Well, yes, but...but...You're cute, too!" *pouts* atsushi:... ^////^ Lucy: "..." *hug, cuddle* atsushi: *huuug*....... .////. Lucy: "..." .\\\\\. "...You..." atsushi: >///< *leans in* Lucy: "..." *closes her eyes...brushes her lips against his* -kiss- atsushi: *shivers, tail twitching* =/////////////= Lucy: "Mmm..." *her arms wrap around his lower back* -elsewhere- Benimaru: "...That is too adorable." kirei: ^^ hinata: we're gonna be flower girls! hikage: flower girls! Benimaru: "And I'm sure you will do great." *head pats* hinata + hikage: ^^ -elsewhere- Izumo: *nodding off* "Mmm..." seiya: well, here's your place stocking. stocking: thanks. *takes her luggage* i had fun. ^^ *enters* kid im ho- Kid: *tackle-hug* >w< "Stocking!" stocking: ^^ *head pats* im home, sweetie. Kid: *purrs* =w= "Was it a good trip?" stocking: it was nice. *kiss* Kid: *smooch* "Good...How were the others?" *cuddles* -elsewhere- Hyde: *holding up his hands* "...Dude. This is a mistake. I can't open the freaking cash register without the manager being here--" licht: -_-; Robber: "Shut up! Crack open the register if you have to!" Hyde: -____-# *glances at Licht* "Thieves aren't getting any smarter, are they?" licht:...*proceeds to wreck the thief's shit* Hyde: *smiles, leans back, gets back to sipping his soda* "Just don't knock into the can display. Took me forever to get it to look like Mega Man." licht: i have become the savior of this establishment *poses* because i am an archangel sent from the heavens above. Hyde: "..." *taps button on his phone for applause to start playing* -elsewhere- Poe: *sets flowers around the room* =w= karl: *resting on his shoulder* Poe: *inhales* "It's like a garden in our home~" lana: *smiles* ghost: it sure brightens the place up a bit. so nostalgic~ Poe: "Yes, it does." *smiles at the ghost* "You had flowers here before?" ghost: in life, yes. *sad smile* Poe: "..." *nods* "Is there anything to do to help make our home more suitable to you?" -elsewhere- Relan: *practically passed out in the bath* =\\\\\\= "I could stay here forever..." shinra: *snuggle* =////= takeru: .-. Relan: =w= Arthur: *scrubbing his hair* Kishiri: "...Okay. I got to ask. Are you two happy?" shinra: *smiles* yeah. Relan: *nods* Kishiri: "..." *sighs* "What the heck? I didn't see myself in a relationship. Didn't see any of us in relationships...How did we luck out?” takeru: .~. shinra: *shrug* life's unpredictable like that i guess. Arthur: *washes his hair, steps into the bath* "Yes. Before, I was pursued by that loud blonde crazy girl--and now she's dating Juggernaut. How is she, by the way?" takeru: she's doing well i-i think. Arthur: "...That's good. It keeps her away from me." -_-; tae-hyun: 7_7 Relan: ^^; "She seems nice. You have any anniversary coming up?" -elsewhere- Hibana: =w= "Nothing better than reclining with numerous beautiful ladies~" Yotsuba: *blows bubble bath* "Yay!" *it's sparkling* gabriella: this is nice. tao: *swimming* vivian: uvu tamaki: =_= Hibana: "Yes--minus the glitter bomb--" Yotsuba: "What glitter bomb?" Hibana: "..." *turns to Vivian* "How's your commander doing?" vivian: commander huang's been doing well. Hibana: "...She still a hard-nosed pain in the butt?" Yotsuba: *swims over and sits close to Tamaki* ^w^ tamaki: -____- -elsewhere- Rin: "We're home!" kyouko: welcome back! madoka: ^^ momo sakura: hey guys! Rin: "Hee hee..." *picks up Momo* momo sakura: ^u^ -elsewhere- Chuuya: "Okay, suitcase is opened. Put all in there." sonia: *packing things up* Chuuya: "May need the cat carrier--" mito: *mew* Chuuya: *strokes her* "It'll be okay..." mito: *purrrr* Chuuya: *opens his suitcase...* "..." *There's a ring box...* Chuuya: "..." *holds the box* sonia: *watches* Chuuya: "..." *holds it close* sonia: ..... Chuuya: "..." *small choke* sonia: *hug* Chuuya: "..." *pat pat* "Thank you." -elsewhere- elizaveta: *sitting in a chair, swinging her legs* Ivan: "???" <What are you doing?> elizaveta: <waiting.> Ivan: <For what?> elizaveta: <kolya said he was gonna show me something cool> Ivan: <Oh!> *looks down the hall* ???: *humming* elizaveta: *peeeek* Gogol: ^w^ elizaveta: oooh, cool! Gogol: <Glad you like it!> elizaveta: *HUG* ^w^ *It's a doll in a dress that looks similar to Gogol's usual outfit* Gogol: <You're gonna take good care of her, yes?> elizaveta: *nod nod* look leila, you have a friend! Leila: "..." Gogol: "What will you name your new friend?" elizaveta: hmmmm... i'll think of something. Gogol: ^w^ elizaveta: how about nina? Gogol: "Lovely!" lydia:... *faint smile* Gogol: "I have to finish some tasks--want to play in an hour?" elizaveta: ok! ^u^ Gogol: ^w^ -elsewhere- Hibana: "Good night, sweetie." *forehead smooch* hanako: zzzz Hibana: "..." *strokes her head* -morning- Kid: =w= "Zzz..." stocking: *snuggle* mmm kid... Kid: *hug* *yawns* "Morning..." stocking: *kiss* Kid: "Mmm~" *smooch* -elsewhere- zoey: ....*stares at the calendar. its her birthday*..... *It sounds like noise in the kitchen* zoey:.....*looks over* Gogol: *stirring batter* ^w^ <Cupcakes, cupcakes...> elizaveta: ^^ zoey: ....... Gogol: <Got any candles?> elizaveta: yessir! Gogol: *opens the oven, slides the batter-in-cupcake shells inside* *turns* "...Oh, hey." *waves at Zoey* "Ready?" zoey: *stare* elizaveta: ^u^ Gogol: "...Well, Zoey, you sitting or what? They'll be ready in a minute." zoey:... *takes a seat* *He serves the cupcakes with candles in them* zoey: *stare* lydia: happy birthday. yana: *blows a party blower* *Ivan is locked in a room with some reading materials* Ivan: "..." *turns the book around* "???" Gogol: ^w^ "Surprised?" zoey:....*sad nom* Gogol: "...How's the baby?" zoey:...*rubs her stomach* Gogol: "That well, huh?" zoey: .....*nod* Gogol: "Need anything? Medicine? Kidnapping?" zoey: i want master here..... Gogol: "...Yeah. I think a lot of us do." *looks at Yana* yana: ...... Gogol: "I'm sure he'll be out soon enough..." lydia:....*looks at the door ivan is behind* Ivan: <I can't make any sense of this...Reads like a child put it together.> lydia: <vanya?> Ivan: "??? Huh? Yes?" lydia: are you alright? Ivan: "Yes--just looking at these odd books Gogol lent me." *looks* "What's going on out there?" lydia: serving birthday treats, mostly. Ivan: "Oh! Whose birthday?" lydia:.....the medic's. Gogol: ^w^ *offers Elizaveta another cupcake* "Just be sure to blow out the candle first before--* *BOOM* Gogol: O_O; elizaveta: owo zoey: ..... Ivan: *LOUD SCREAMING* elizaveta: *covers ears* lydia: *holding him back* Ivan: *loud growls* zoey: ..... yana: oh boy. Gogol: "I left him books to keep him occupied! Why did you open the dragon's jail?!" lydia: ivan, please calm down. -_-; Ivan: <WHY DOES SHE STILL HAVE BIRTHDAYS?! DON'T YOU JUST GET OLD AND DIE?!> lydia: she's 25. *sweatdrop* Ivan: <SHE'S LIVED LONG ENOUGH!> Gogol: *reaches into the oven, takes out a cupcake--and shoves it into Ivan's mouth* Ivan: "?!! What flavor is--" *The cupcake sprays knockout gas in Ivan's face* Ivan: "..." *collapses* =w= elizaveta: knocked out! Gogol: "You may ask why I have a knockout grenade shaped like a cupcake. The real question is, why don't you?" lydia: ....*sweatdrop* -elsewhere- Izumo: *walking to class* konekomaru: morning izumo. Izumo: "Oh, good morning, Konekomaru. How are you?" konekomaru: doing well. Izumo: "You're here without your other half?" konekomaru: bon's in class already. Izumo: "...Well, that's punctual." konekomaru: well, we better get going in now. Izumo: "...I-I guess..." Bon: "??? The heck's with you?" Izumo: "Shut up!" Bon: "Don't get all pissy at me!" Izumo: "Don't be an asshole!" Rin: "..." *whispers to Konekomaru* "Is this a mating ritual or something?")) konekomaru: *shrug* -elsewhere- Gopher: "Going to need a new shirt for the spring..." eibon: *nod* Gopher: "Maybe new shoes..." *looks to his sister* "How about you?" -elsewhere- sonia: *looking around* Q: OwO; "...Biiiiiiiiiiiig..." sonia: *following chuuya closely* george:....so those are the new kids, huh? Chuuya: "..." *staring at the walls* ("Odd art...") Jakob: "...That kid looks colorful." wilhelm: are they even real? Jakob: "Not sure...Why is that one kid wearing a hat?" Chuuya: "...?!" -_-# sonia: ??? george: im pretty sure he's a teenager. Chuuya: T_T# Jakob: "Get out...What about the little kid with the sour puss--" katya: *russian profanities* pushkin: *holding her back* ._.;;; Jakob: OwO;;;; <What even are those noises...> leo:....she's 27 years old. wilhelm: 0_0 Jakob: "...Is she cursed?" katya: YOU WANNA GO? leo: <katya, dont fight children.> katya: =n=# pushkin: do you want something to eat, kati? katya: *grunt* pushkin: ok. ^^ *drags her to get some lunch* katya: =.= Jakob: *hiding behind Wilhelm* O~O "What was Goethe thinking..." Q: *spots Jakob, Wilhelm, and George* "..." sonia: *staaaare* george:...hi. Q: *waves* "Hello." Jakob: "...The Mafia has kids?" sonia: *she nods* im sonia, and this is Q. Jakob: "...I'm Jakob. This is my brother Wilhelm. And this is George." george: hey. *wave* leo: well, the children are getting along well. hans: seems so. Motojiro: "What is their schooling?" hans: well, i am their instructor here. Motojiro: "Oh! I've been Q and Sonia's teacher! They're so great--we just finished a science fair, and their project was great!" {*the classroom is full of soap suds--and on fire*} {Motojiro: *crying in the middle of the fire* "I'm so proud..."} higuchi: *sweatdrop* Gin: "..." *stares at Etta* etta: ~? Gin: "...Nice dress." etta: why thank you~ higuchi: is it custom? Walter: *talking off Akutagawa's ear* "--and then we can play games and trade stories and marathon this super cool new anime that came out--" Akutagawa: -__________- Kafka: -__________- Leroux: "Etta has excellent fashion~" goethe:....*smiles* -elsewhere- Arthur: "...Feeling bad still?" tamaki: im just ready to head home... Arthur: "Well, it'll be over soon. And your reaction time is faster." tamaki: thanks... Arthur: *smiles* Hibana: "Okay, troops, line up! We're starting with a sprint. Winner gets a gift certificate to my famous spa. Loser gets this..." *puts a bazooka over her shoulder, aims* "Now run!" -elsewhere- Damon: *opens lunch bag* "...???" *pulls out a note* note: 'have fun at school today ~dad' Damon: "..." Q_Q -elsewhere- Yohei: "..." {Yohei: "Line up!"} {mono: *at attention, shiny eyes*} {Yohei: "I know you know the mission--so now we go through the logistics." *projects a floorplan* "The target can be anywhere in this building--but they can't get out. We have every entrance and exit blocked. We even have our counter-measures..." *nods to a soldier* "Bring them in."} Yohei: "..." *staring at a headline from years ago on his tablet: "Almost 100 dead in police raid"* "..." *opens his drawer--and removes cigarettes and a lighter* saki: *ahem* ^^# Yohei: "...Sorry. I'm just stressed." saki: *holds out hand for the pack* Yohei: *looks pissed, hands it to her* saki: *disposes of it* *pap pap* good yohei. Yohei: *grumbles...shakes* saki: *hands him chewing gum* Yohei: "..." *takes it* "Thanks." -elsewhere- Steinbeck: *pulls over* emily: here we are. Hemingway: "...Did we just end up in a haunted forest? Does that tree have a face?" emily: seems the rest of the way we have to take a carriage in. twain: rustic. nice. baum: QuQ;;;;; Steinbeck: "...Lock the doors on your way out." -and so- dorothy: .... twain: sooo, whats town like? Coachperson: "Oh, quite nice. A bit old-fashioned, if I do say so myself. Isn't that right, Geoffrey?" Geoffrey the Horse: *horse noise* twain: yeah i get ya, i lived in an old fashioned styled town myself. Coachperson: "Where's that? Yonkers?" twain: st petersburg, missouri. emily: i thought you were from louisiana? Coachperson: "Your voice does have a bit of both in it. Isn't that right, Geoffrey?" Geoffrey: *more horse noises* twain: to be fair, my bro and i were _born_ in Louisiana, but we moved in with our aunt polly after our parents died. Steinbeck: "Well traveled..." *There seems to be some...Spanish architecture?* emily:....hmm. Hemingway: "Huh--18th-century Spanish architecture?" baum: quite charming, right dorothy~? dorothy: its something. Steinbeck: "It stands out..." Coachperson: "The city planner took many suggestions from a notable leader of the community on architectural choices." emily: is that so? Coachperson: "Hm-mm! You out-of-towners should get a thrill from our town. Just don't...lose your heads." Geoffrey: *loud noise, kicks up their feet* Coachperson: "Wow! Easy, Geoffrey..." baum: EEP! >~< dorothy: =A=; Steinbeck: "...Twain, let go of me." twain: *lets go* ^-^; Hemingway: "Hey, that one carriage in front of us is moving slow. Can you get ahead of it--" Geoffrey: *kicks up again* emily: ah! Steinbeck: "!!!" Coachperson: "Easy, Geoffrey! Don't get upset." emily: *looks out the window* *looks like someone is napping under a tree* emily: .... Steinbeck: "Any recommended spots to stay?" Coachperson: "How about the King George? ...Or is it the Washington? I can't keep it straight." ^^; emily: i think our reservations are at the king george. Coachperson: "Right, King George Washington." Steinbeck: "..." *whispers* "I think they have a screw loose..." emily: *sweatdrop* Coachperson: "The hotel is up ahead...Oh!" *waves at passerbys* -a few wave back- Hemingway: "..." *wave* "Seem friendly." -elsewhere- Kid: "Care for anything?" stocking: some pudding would be nice. Kid: "With a little whipped cream?" *opens the fridge door* stocking: yes please~ Kid: *scoops out whipped cream, drops a dollop into her pudding cup* "Enjoy~" stocking: *nom* mmmmm~<3 Kid: "May I have a spoonful?" stocking: *offers one* open wide~ Kid: "Aaaaaah--" *nom* stocking: tasty~? Kid: "Very..." *leans in* stocking: *licks his lips* hehe~ Kid: O\\\\O "Mmmm~" -elsewhere- Walter: *carrying groceries* ^w^ "New people...So much fun!" Leroux: *following* "Yep!" hans: lets just keep this on the downlow, alright? Walter: "Right! ... ..." *checks his social media* -elsewhere- Jacqueline: *grumbles* kim: you ok? Jacqueline: "...Sorry. Just been feeling..." *shudders* "...kind of cooped up." kim: hmm...maybe we could request a mission? Jacqueline: "That'd be greeeeeeat..." *stretches* "Just something other than books for a few days." kim: awesome! Jacqueline: *smiles* "You can take off time from work?" kim: im sure i can arrange something. -elsewhere- Karim: "Now we try focusing without distraction." pearl: *she nods* Karim: *puts on music* pearl: *inhale* Karim: "Right...Just focus on the breathing, ignore the rest..." *turns up the bass* pearl: .... Karim: "..." *taps his foot...and blasts a note on his trumpet* pearl: *JUMPS UP* o-o s-sorry! Karim: "...Hmm. It's to be expected. But in the field, you're going to be distracted, so you have to learn how to focus despite the distractions." pearl: r-right. Karim: "Is the music too loud?" -elsewhere- Chuuya: "How's this room?" sonia: it's nice. *sits on the bed* Chuuya: "...I guess we can unpack. And set up a decent kitty litter bin now..." sonia: *nod* Chuuya: "What do you think of the kids?" sonia: they seem alright. that girl george seems the most mature. Chuuya: "Well, it's good that someone here is--Wait, 'girl'?" sonia: yeah. Chuuya: "...Huh." ("...After all those dresses I wore as a kid...") -knock- Chuuya: "...Yes?" naoya: lunch time! Chuuya: "Oh, good! What are we having?" -elsewhere- Damon: "Why don't you have any pets?" soul: never found the time. but maybe aunt blair counts? she's actually a cat you know. becky: *raises a brow* Damon: "...Is that a nickname for her?" soul: ..... *paralyzed* saaaay why dont we play some video games together? ^^;;;; Damon: -_____- "Fine..." becky: *sweatdrop* -elsewhere- Izuku: "It's a super rare retro game featuring superheroes of the time! But...it's hard to find and expensive..." eijiro: ooh, neat. jirou: i think there's a place near grissom street that sells old games and stuff. Izuku: "Oh! That would be great to check out!" -elsewhere- Master: "Welcome back." liz: *wave* tsugumi: ^^ Meme: "Howdy! How are the employees?" Patty: *grabbing straws* miranda: pretty good so far. Anya: *sits down* "How is business?" miranda: doing good -elsewhere- Walter: "--and we can have pillow fights and anime marathons and hot chocolate and--" ayako: HECK YEAH!! >8D Akutagawa: "..." *looks at Hans* "Why is he so chipper?" hans: he tends to look at the bright side of things. it's pretty admirable. Akutagawa: "...Hmm. I suppose. Have you been here long?' hans: only recently. Akutagawa: "And in this organization?" hans: well, most of us have been here a long time. i think i've been here the longest. Akutagawa: "Hmm. And you recruited those children?" hans: *nods* they were abandoned and had nowhere else to go... Akutagawa: "..." *shudders* hans:...heh, i guess thats something a lot of us have in common....or had in common... Akutagawa: "I suppose...Do any of you have friends outside of this organization?" hans: just a few acquaintances back at the school. Walter: "I got Tumblr buddies!" sonia: .....*looks at christine* Leroux: "..." *waves Christine's hand* "Hello~" sonia: is she a doll? Leroux: "... ... ..." QwQ sonia: the people underground turned mommy's corpse into a doll too. -awkward silence- Chuuya: ^^;;;; *pats Sonia's back* "Maybe not the best conversation starter--" Leroux: *inhale* "PROTECT THIS CHILD." sonia: … Chuuya: "I...have that handled." Leroux: *seizes Chuuya by his cheeks* sonia:...*hugs chuuya's leg* Chuuya: )O~O( Leroux: "PROTECT..." hans: leroux, i think you made your point. Chuuya: *muffled* "It's okay, Sonia--nothing to worry about..." Leroux: Q__Q hans: *pap pap* etta: its ok roro. ^^ Leroux: *whimpers* hans: *whispers* his girlfriend died some years ago...it's a sensitive topic for him, but he's making a little bit more progress now in healing... Chuuya: "..." *tears falling* hans: sir- Chuuya: "I-I'm fine..." hans: .... -elsewhere- Hibana: *wearing punching mitts* "Okay, aim for the mitt, Tamaki." tamaki: *PUNCH PUNCH KICK* Hibana: "Good...Watch on your right...Benimaru teach you this?" tamaki: *focusing* Hibana: *moves the mitt up* "Not bad...but you seem pissed." tamaki: oh jee, do i? i wonder why the _fuck_ that is? maybe its because _some_ people are making a fool out of me? maybe its because when most time i actually acomplish something, do people care? OF FREAKING COURSE NOT! WHO _CARES_ WHAT SHE CAN DO LETS JUST OGGLE HER BOOBS AND BUTT CAUSE THATS APPERANTLY ALL IM GOOD FOR! LIKE THEY EVEN CARE THAT I HAVE FEELINGS AND THAT IM TRYING MY BEST TO PROVE MYSELF! Hibana: "..." *takes off the mitts* "Sit down." tamaki: *plops down, tears in her eyes, even though she's still got an angry face* Hibana: "...So, if it was not apparent already, I'm hot." tamaki:...*rubs eyes* *SNIFF* Hibana: "And...when you're like us--when you're a woman--you get looked down upon. Treated as just a body." tamaki: thats total bullshit and it should be illegal. Hibana: "Agreed. And no one cares. No matter how great you are, how qualified you are...Do you know how many times I had to knock on that fucking brigade door to get the Fifth going? You think for a second gender maybe didn't have something to do with it taking this long for me and Huang to lead groups? ...What you go through? That's not just some bad luck." tamaki:....*sniff* why do people have to be assholes? Hibana: "..." *sighs* "World's not fair. All you can do is survive it..." *pat pat* tamaki: .... Hibana: "Wouldn't it be great to be such a success--that you can rub it in every one of their dumb faces?" gabriella: true, the world can be harsh, but with a bit of effort, things can get better. tamaki: i-i guess. Hibana: "..." *smiles* "Give it time, practice--and a good right hook." tamaki:..*chuckle* thanks, commander. Hibana: "...If you need something, stop by the Fifth. Door's open." tamaki:... *nods* right. -elsewhere- Kid: *hug* stocking: u///u ~<3 Kid: "You are the most...amazing..." stocking: you too. *kiss* Kid: "..." *sniff, wipes his eyes* "You make me so happy..." stocking: *snuggles* kid… *kiss* i love you so much, you know? Kid: *nods* "Which is why...I'm so happy. And I love you, always and forever, so much." stocking: hehe ^////^ Kid: *cuddle* "You perfect person..." -elsewhere- Shamrock: *knitting* lavender: *streeeeetch* Shamrock: "So, how are things?" lavender: same as usual....we should take a vacation somewhere. Shamrock: "...That would be pleasant..." otogiri: it would be nice to get out of the house for a while...preferably without C3 hounding us... Shamrock: "How? Disguises?" otogiri: possibly... Shamrock: "Well, we'd need someone who knows disguises--" Belkia: "DISGUISE KIT!" otogiri: that would be appreciated. Belkia: *opens up a box, takes out make-up* Shamrock: "Now hold on just one--" Belkia: *starts painting Sham's face* ^w^ lavender: ah, let him have his fun, sham. ^^ Belkia: "La la la~" Shamrock: X_-# "I feel like a clown..." belkia: rude =3= -elsewhere- Yumi: "We have mission requests." marie: sweet! homura: oh? Yumi: "More investigations, this time overseas." homura: i see. Yumi: "Do you have any preferred teammates you want to request?" homura: i'll put the request up and see who answers. perhaps it can be field training for some of the students. Yumi: "I trust your judgment. Keep me informed whom you choose." homura: understood. -elsewhere- Vulcan: *playing with Buttons* buttons: *squeek* yu: ^^ lisa: he seems happy. yu: vulcan or buttons? lisa: yes. Vulcan: ^\\\^; "In any case, glad someone like Relan knows how to take care of their pet..." -elsewhere- Relan: "I'm glad you got to the Fifth...but is the Commander usually this...um...hardcore?" mikami: well....she seems more fired up than she usually is. shinra: tamaki too....best not to question it. Relan: "....Good point." Random Angel: "You all. Follow me." shinra: ._.;;; (my instincts tell me this wont end well for any of us.) Relan: ._____.;;;; *The Angel leads them to a dark room* shinra: Q-Q;;;; *A match is struck* shinra: Q___Q;;; *gulps* Hibana: *lights a candle, revealing pillow cushions* "Sit." shinra: *takes a seat* Q_Q mikami: ?? ryuuko: ... Relan: "..." *sniff* "Th-They smell nice..." Hibana: "We've trained your bodies. Now we work on the minds and your feels." shinra: *passes out* Relan: D: "SHINRA!" Hibana: "??? I-I was just going to try meditating with you all..." ryuuko: i think his nerves got to him... Hibana: "..." *pours some tea* "Well, good thing I brought this." *hands the tea to Ryuuko* "Maybe dump it on him." mikami: .....hold on, im going to try something... *kneels with shinras head on her lap* ....*inhales, focusing* ryuuko:....hmm.... -...- shinra:...am i dead? mikami: i dont think so. shinra:....huh, we're in that adora place again.... mikami: you passed out from nerves. shinra: =3=;;;......hm? mikami: ?? shinra: is that...a person? *There's a figure, floating in the air...They seem to be making a sound--* ???: *snore* "Zzz..." shinra: ...??? um....hello?? mikami:...i think they're sleeping.... -4 more figures are in the distance, but they seem too far away to interact with...- *a low rhythmic sound is heard...* shinra: ?? *it's...laughter* ???: "Ha ha ha..." shinra: !!!! GAH! *wakes up with a start* mikami: *comes to* ah- ryuuko: mikami! are you alright? mikami: i-i think so... Relan: "Shinra...?" shinra: i..im ok.....may i have some water? Hibana: *hands it* shinra: thank you.... Hibana: *sighs* "Let's skip it...Just sit and rest." shinra: yes ma'am... *exits* -elsewhere- Motojiro: "This! This is the nursery! This is perfect!" leo: *she smiles* Motojiro: "We just need items...Do you have any baby items here?" hans: what all do you need? Motojiro: "Some furniture to start..." hans: im sure that wont be too hard. Walter: "Need books? I got reading material..." *holds up manga* -elsewhere- hanako: ?? shinra: ....? tamaki: whats up squirt? hanako:........*HUG* its ok. tamaki + shinra: ....... Q~Q *HUG* (TOO PRECIOUS FOR HER OWN GOOD) Hibana: *looking around the corner at it* Q_Q "...Oh, God, we're good parents." gabriella: TTuTT Hibana: *hugs, keeps watching* -elsewhere- Harvar: "What mission?" ox: looks like we're doing some security checks in shinjuku. Harvar: *groans* ox: there a problem? Harvar: "The travel...Just seems like work." ox: well, its our job. Harvar: *grumbles* "Fine...I'm bringing games." -elsewhere- george: so, this agency... Kafka: "It is full of weirdos." george: i...see....*sweatdrop* (not unlike sturm and the mafia...) Kafka: "Yet one of our former members is in their care, so they aren't all bad...Don't go near the suicidal one." george: ._. um.... .__.;;;; Kafka: *rings the doorbell* george: wait, arent sturm members bound by a contract? Kafka: *shakes his head* "Sylvia was born with an ability." naomi: yes? oh..... owo;...hello mr....um....roachman. george: *looks at kafka* Kafka: -_-# "It's Kafka. Franz Kafka. Jeez..." naomi: right...do you have an appointment with the agency? Kafka: "No. This is an update on something important. May I speak with your leader or your second-in-command?" naomi: right this way......say...you're not still mad about the whole decapitation thing, are you? ^^;;; george: O-o (DECAPITATION?!?!) Kafka: "FURIOUS." naomi: oookay then. ^-^;;;;;; Kafka: *sits down on the couch* "...Well? We're your guests. Have you no tea and treats?!" kirako: right away, sir. ^^; naomi: to be fair, we werent expecting you. ^^; Kafka: "Too be fair, you owe me! ..." *sits back, crosses his arms* "...How is Sylvia?' naomi: she's doing well. atsushi: ??.. !! Kafka: -n- "Oh. You're here, too." atsushi: yes i am. i do work here after all. Kafka: "...D-Don't sass me, you furry...furball!" >n< *crosses his arms* atsushi: *sweatdrop* naomi: mr fukuzawa will be with you in a moment, sir. *exits* Kafka: *crosses his arms* "..." *sniffs* "...What is that smell?" atsushi: *looks in the kitchenette* smells good... Kafka: "...Oh! Maybe they are baking cookies!" *stands, approaches--* "... ... ..." Dazai: *has his head towards the oven* "..." Kafka: "..." Dazai: "..." Kafka: "...WHAT THE FUCK?!" sylvia: .~.;;; Dazai: "Obviously testing the heat of this oven--what are you doing, Mr. Roach?" Kafka: "KAFKA!" Dazai: "Kafka-roach?" Kafka: -n-# sylvia: Q~Q;;;; m-m-mr dazai, please dont put your head in the oven! QAQ;;; Kafka: "Yes, get away from that, you fool! There are cookies to be had!" Dazai: *sighs* "Just testing for the sake of childproofing, you bunch of weirdos..." -and so- fukuzawa: so what is it you wanted to speak about? Kafka: "..." *ahem* "We have successfully transferred the Mafia members to our estate. _All_ of them." fukuzawa:...i see. atsushi: must be a big house *sweatdrop* Kafka: "Incredibly big. Has to for all the desires of our members: Hans's library, Walter's gaming room, Etta's dance floor--" Dazai: o\\\w\\\o;;;;;; atsushi:.... >->;;;;;;;; george:... ? Kafka: "...What is with that face? Do you have some insult against Etta? Do you? DO YOU?!" atsushi: i wasnt about to say anything!! Dazai: "I-I don't know any Etta!" Kafka: "Yes, you do. The ballet dancer?" Dazai: "I NEVER TOUCHED HER!" fukuzawa: ... atsushi: ... Kafka: "... ... ..." *hard glare* george: ._.; Dazai: "...It was just a small touch." Kafka: "..." fukuzawa + atsushi: ....... Dazai: "She's quite buxom--" Kafka: *flips the table* fukuzawa: -____-; george: mr kafka! please calm down! Kafka: "HOW DARE YOU DEFILE THAT PERFECT ANGEL!" Dazai: "I didn't defile anyone! It was an accident!" Kafka: "YOU SHOULDN'T TOUCH HER! YOU AREN'T WORTHY OF HER!" george: *literally holding kafka back from murdering someone* fukuzawa: (what even went down in berlin...? do i even want to know?) Dazai: "..." *light bulb* "Oh! You're concerned because you like her!" Kafka: O\\\\\O *stops struggling* atsushi: eh? Dazai: "You wish to defend her honor because she gives you the light that has so long evaded your dark life, the sweetness to your sour..." Kafka: .\\\\. george: that's.....oddly poetic, um…w-who did you say you were again? Dazai: ^w^ "Thank you, small person. I am Dazai. And you are?" Kafka: *frozen in embarrassment* george: it's george. george eliot. sylvia: m-mr kafka? are you alright? Kafka: Q\\\\\Q "..." *whimpers* Kunikida: "Oh, Kafka. Hello. I--" *spots them all* "...Dazai screwed up, didn't he?" george: to be honest, i have no idea whats even going on... Kunikida: "Oh, hello, ma'am." george: OwO;;;;; *points to sylvia* d-doesnt she work with you, though??? ^^;;;; Kunikida: "...Oh. Sorry. I didn't..." *clears his throat* george: ^^;;;;;;  (just play it cool, george. play it. fucking. cool.) Kafka: *high-pitched whine* "I'm mortified...Just cut my head off all over again, Furball." atsushi: no thank you.... fukuzawa: *aHEM* if we could get back to the matter at hand? Kafka: *sniffs* "We-We locked up Mori..." fukuzawa:....i see.... Kafka: "The other members of the Mafia are accounted for...I did have some notes from them to some of your Agency members." fukuzawa: i see. i'll round them up now. -and so- Kafka: "Which one of you is 'Aya'?" aya: *raises her hand* (oh boy...) Kafka: "From the small one named...Um...R? Was it R? Or P?" aya: Q? Kafka: "That's the one." *hands the letter* aya: *inhales and opens it* *The handwriting looks like Q had to re-write it repeatedly--a little messy* aya: *squints*....kunikida can i-..._may_ i borrow your glasses? Kunikida: "...Okay. Don't break them." aya: *puts them on and begins reading* Q’s note: [Hello, Aya! How are you? I miss you.] aya:...*sigh* Q’s note: [Can I marry you?!] aya:... -_-; this poor kid, i swear. Kafka: "Furball, from the Skunk." *hands a letter to Atsushi* atsushi:....*INHALES* oh boy.... Akutagawa’s note: [Dear Atsushi--We have settled into the new facilities. All seems well, and my sister and I are safe. How are you? I hope you are well--and that news of my move calms your mind, as well as the fact I still have not killed.] atsushi: *sweatdrop and continues* Akutagawa’s note: [And I will not kill up to our agreement--at which point I expect you to honor our agreement.] atsushi: ........ Dazai: "And this one's for me!" *opens it...and the color fades from his face* .______. naomi: *peeeeks*..... *It's a drawing of Chuuya giving the middle finger and certain words not suitable for children written down by Gin and others* naomi:..... kenji:...naomi? naomi: huehuehuehuehue~ Tanizaki: -_-; atsushi: was that everything, then? Kafka: "..." *hands one to Fukuzawa* fukuzawa:...*opens it* *It's Mori's handwriting* fukuzawa:........*reads* Mori’s note: [--they treat me well. But I am alone and locked away.] fukuzawa:.... Mori’s note: I want her to return. fukuzawa:...*sigh* Kunikida: "Sir?" fukuzawa: *puts the letter away* it's alright... Kunikida: "..." *nods* Kafka: "We will keep you updated to their condition--and I expect you will share information that can help us against the Rats." fukuzawa: of course. atsushi: we'll keep an eye out. fukuzawa: have you made contact with manhasset? Kafka: "Yes...What do you think of this Fitzgerald?" atsushi:....welllllll... >->;;;;; its a long story.... Kafka: "He seems...Well, I don't think his reactions to my colleagues were very cordial." *clenches his fists* "Especially how he welcomed Etta--" Dazai: OwO Kafka: "QUIET, YOU!" atsushi: ...^^; Kafka: "...*ahem* Keep an eye on Fitzgerald. I don't trust him." atsushi: already on that too... Kafka: "...Oh. ...Well, I guess you're all so organized, then." atsushi: i suppose. Kafka: -n- "Hmph. We're organized, too. Were able to give you all a run for your money..." -elsewhere- Steinbeck: "Does everything in this town feel...off?" twain: what do you mean? emily: other than constant fog? Hemingway: "Seems really old-fashioned--like it's stuck in time." emily: a few small towns are like that. Hemingway: "...True..." *takes a harpoon* "I'm going for a walk." emily: ._.; Steinbeck: "He'll be fine--I told him not to stab anyone." emily: *sweatdrop* sir..... baum: in any case, we better begin our investigation... Steinbeck: "Right..." *takes out the souvenir map of Sleepy Hollow* "Let's divide this up..." emily: i'll investigate the community college. Steinbeck: "I can try some of the bars..." twain: im gonna check the park! baum: dorothy and i will stay here as home base. Steinbeck: *nods* "Very well." -elsewhere- Kafka: -n- "I expected a decent apology from you..." Dazai: ^w^ "I expected you to kill me." Kafka: -_______-# ranpo:..... Kafka: "..." ("Is he a child?") ranpo:....oi. mr kafka-roach. Kafka: "IT'S KAFKA! JUST KAFKA!" >n< ranpo: right, anyway i have a favor to ask of you out in the hall... Kafka: "..." *walks with him* ("Why the secret?") ranpo:...some time before the agency encountered sturm, my friend gave me a warning. 'soon, the agency will receive a mission that could destroy it'. i dont know if he's dead or alive now, but i want to ask you something. if something does happen, get the agency to safety. Kafka: "...We have an agreement with your Agency. I am sure my boss can honor your request." ranpo: please do... Kafka: "..." *nods* -elsewhere- -a light rain is falling- yuuji: *walking* Izuku: *holding a shopping bag* ^w^ "Took forever, but I found it--" yuuji:...oh, hey midoriya. Izuku: "Oh! Hello! How are you?" ^^ yuuji: just taking a walk, enjoying the weather. Izuku: "Yeah, spring is great...Should be fun!" yuuji: heard you're going to be having an exam next month. Izuku: "Yeah--kind of nervous after how the tournament went..." yuuji: understandable... Izuku: "Has Aizawa asked you to monitor?" yuuji: havent gotten around to it yet. Izuku: "Well, hope he does..." -elsewhere- Damon: "...So...He said you're a cat." blair: why yes indeed~ *poof* ta-dah~! becky:...oh. Damon: "Eep!" *hides behind Becky* blair: its ok, im not going to hurt you, honest. *puts up a paw* Damon: *peek* "..." *holds out a hand* "Promise?" blair: *puts other paw over her heart* scouts honor~ ^^ Damon: "...Do you mind being pet?" blair: not at all, hun~ ^^ becky:..*pat pat* blair: =w= Damon: "..." *pat* -elsewhere- shinra: *looking at photo albums* Akitaru: *walks by* "???" shinra: hope you dont mind me looking, sir. ^^; Akitaru: "Hey, no biggie...but, um, why?" shinra: just curious i gue-.... ._. huh... Akitaru: "...Oh. That." shinra: wow. Akitaru: ^^;;;;; "I...had a bit of a punk phase." shinra: ah... Akitaru: "Used to go to the best concerts, mosh like nobody's business--" *does the devil horn signs* "ROCK ON!" shinra: *mimics him* YEAH! >u< Akitaru: ^^ "RAWR!" shinra: *laughs* Akitaru: "I still have some of the old stuff on vinyl." shinra: cool. *smiles* Akitaru: "I'll put one on..." *opens a drawer, pulls out a cardboard box* "The fashion was wild back then! All those spikes--hair took forever..." shinra: i could imagine. Akitaru: "Let's try this one--Dead Jeffersons!" -elsewhere- Kafka: *walking back to the HQ* etta: welcome back~! Kafka: "..." .\\\\\. "...I WILL DEFEND YOU!" etta:....eh? OvO Kafka: "..." o\\\\\\o "...I ran into undesirables at the Agency. I did my best. It wasn't enough...I suck." hans: well, what all happened? Kafka: "..." *ahem* *stands professionally now* "I distributed the letters. The Agency has protected Sylvia." hans: thats good to know. *smile* Kafka: "I received a request from the Agency. One of them expects a problem in the future." hans: ?? Kafka: "We are expected to move the Agency to safety, if something happens. It sounds like...the chibi Sherlock Holmes person did not want to let the others know of his request." Walter: *pops up from the couch* " 'Chibi'?" hans:... ^^; Kafka: "I would address the question to Goethe--but I think you are more likely to give a straight answer." hans: *she nods* come along. Kafka: *follows* -elsewhere- Hibana: "It's quieter now..." gabriella: yeah. Hibana: "...You think they learned anything?" gabriella: i think so... Hibana: "...I hope." *rests a head on her shoulder* gabriella: u///u Hibana: "And our little girl...Wow." gabriella: im so proud of her TT~TT Hibana: "I know." T~T *hugs* -elsewhere- Black Star: "They want a vacation?" tsubaki: just up to vegas.....i sent someone to watch after them. Black Star: "Really? Who?" -and so- Belkia: "LOOK AT THE LIGHTS!" lavender: WOOOT! otogiri: -_-; ayami: oh wow... Sakuya: "A little too bright..." lilac: >~< naho: *pats their back* misono: how did we get dragged into this? lavender: say, you're not still mad about the whole christmas incident...are you? OvO;;; Lily: "Misono, look--an entire club for taking off clothes!" misono: LILY. FOCUS. Sakuya: "...I'm gonna guess they are. Better not get too close to them..." Lily: ^^; "Now, what was your question? Oh, yes..." *deathly serious smiling face* "..." lavender: OvO;;;;;;; Belkia: "I thiiiiiiiiiink you opened up an old wound--" Lily: "You have no idea~" ^^# lavender: *SWEATS* otogiri:....let me be the first to give a formal apology. (even if there was a reason...) Lily: "Thank you, ma'am." lavender: ^^;;;;;;;;; Lily: *stares at Lavender* lavender: OvO;;;; sorry~ ^^;;;;; Lily: ^^ "Thank you." -elsewhere- goethe: so that's what you have to report...? Kafka: *nods* "As far as I can tell, Chibi Holmes was sincere." goethe: hmm... Kafka: "Would you actually bring in their members? And what awful thing is he anticipating?" goethe: they are our allies, it only makes sense to do so...as for what he anticipates.....im not exactly a psychic. =3= Kafka: -___-# "I'm just making conversation in hopes that discussion could lead us to anticipate what could--" goethe: too long winded! get to the point before i die of boredom =3= Kafka: -_-# "...Just brainstorming." -elsewhere- Chuuya: "It's good to have clean laundry again..." higuchi: yeah anyway. Chuuya: "What's up?" higuchi: just getting somewhat back to normalcy... Chuuya: "...Yeah. No more dumpster diving--I hope." higuchi: ^^; Walter: *pops up* "Don't knock it--the freegan movement is vital." higuchi:....why were you in- Walter: *pulls out a bag of bread* "See this? Free bread! Only two days past 'best by' date, and I found it in the dumpster!" higuchi: ... -elsewhere- Takehisa: "How was training, Tamaki?" tamaki: -_- too many people at the 1st piss me off so much. Takehisa: "...I'm sorry. That kind of happens there. But did you make friends?" tamaki:...... -____________________- Takehisa: "...Did you learn new techniques?" -elsewhere- Belkia: "Gather all, for the illusive illusions of the great, the powerful, the not-half-bad...BELKIA!" -applause- lavender: ^^ Belkia: "My lovely assistant, Lavender--open the box!" lavender: *doing so* Belkia: "You can see this box is lined with multiple blades. I call it 'The Box of Murder'!" ayami: *claps* lilac: ._.;;; Belkia: "Lavender, if you'll be so kind..." *steps inside* "Close the box, count to five slowly, then open the box!" -later- Belkia: "Thank you, thank you!" *holds out his hat for cash* -elsewhere- Haumea: *whistling* kagu-tsuchi:....charon? are you in? Charon: *grumbles* kagu-tsuchi: ...is something bothering you? Charon: "Got to get stronger..." kagu-tsuchi: did you remember to eat today? Charon: =_= "I don't need--" *STOMACH GROWL* kagu-tsuchi: ...come on. *opens the door and drags him out* Charon: *grumbles* "Don't treat me like some child..." kagu-tsuchi: *sweatdrop* Charon: "...We got pizza bagels?" kagu-tsuchi: i'll check...........lady haumea, do we have pizza bagels? Haumea: "Jonah ate them all!" kagu-tsuchi: -_-# Charon: -_____-# "I'm gonna rip him in two..." -elsewhere- Dazai: *hums* atsushi: *wave* Dazai: "Hey, what up?" atsushi: the usual.......can i ask you something personal? Dazai: "Sure!" atsushi: where were you before joining the agency? after leaving the....y'now... Dazai: "...Well, I had to lie low for a bit..." atsushi: understandable.... Dazai: "You know Masuji?" atsushi: ?? i think so? the name sounds familiar… Dazai: "Publisher." atsushi: hmmm....i see. Dazai: "Yep...Then I came here." atsushi: ... Dazai: "...So, now you know that." ^^; atsushi: yeah... Dazai: "...Something else you wanted to know about it?" atsushi: any other stories? Dazai: "Like about hanging out with Masuji? Or the time Chuuya and I put on dresses?" atsushi: oh? Dazai: "There was the time we were kids, the time we were undercover, the time we got smashed--" sylvia: um...m-mr dazai? Dazai: "Hmm? What's up, Sylvia?" sylvia: um.... .~.;;; Dazai: OwO; "...Yeah?" sylvia: Q~Q i forgot.... Dazai: ^w^ "Happens to the best of us." -elsewhere- emily: *looking around the building* Twain: "So many doors..." emily: *notices the study hall* maybe someone here knows something. *enters* -there are a few people there, including a young woman, sitting at one of the chairs and reading* Twain: "..." *approaches the young woman* girl:.... can i help you? Twain: "Howdy! We're new to town--you know an Irving?" girl: no. sorry... Twain: "Aw, nuts. Hey, what you reading?" girl: .... -seems to be a text book- Twain: "What'cha studying?" girl:....*glances behind him* Twain: OwO; ???: "Something wrong here?" emily: ._. girl: just some weird guy bothering me, babe. ???: "How 'bout you come with me, buddy..." *grips Twain by the shoulder* Twain: OwO;;;;;;;;; emily: excuse me, he was just asking her a question. does the name 'irving' ring any bells, sir? ^^;;; ???: "Nah. Ask Mr. Crane." emily: right. where is he? ???: "Office hours, I think. Room 310." emily: thank you. *drags twain off* Twain: Q____Q emily: *searching* *There's a door with some gothic art taped to it* emily *examines* Twain: Q_Q "That's some weird art..." emily: (seems like something poe would have framed in his room...) *There's a rattling heard inside the room* emily: ?? *listening* *A small laugh is heard...* emily: ._.; Twain: "What on earth is he--" *The door slams open--crushing Twain* emily: D8 Twain: *smushed voice* "I'm fine..." ???: "I got it! I can't wait to share my findings--" *spots Emily* "...Oh. Um, my office hours are finished. Please email to make an appointment--" emily: um....hello? ???: "Yes, hello. I was in the middle of heading to inform someone--Wait...You're not one of my students. Who are you?" emily: we'll explain momentarily. but for now, we're searching for a man named 'Washington irving'. do you know where we might find him? ???: "...Yeeeeeeeees?" emily: that's great! we're researching local legends in the area. Crane: *shiny eyes* "Then you found the right person!" ^w^ -elsewhere- Damon: "Who are some of your other friends?" soul: well we got uncle kilik, aunt sayaka, kim and jackie, uncle ox, harvar's kind of a butt, uncle hyde, etc. becky: oh. Damon: "..." *laughs* "Harvar butt...Did you go to school with them?" soul: yeah, they were school mates of mine. actually aunt sayaka is still technically a student. ^^; Damon: "...Did you like school?" soul:....*sad smile* it was nice. Damon: "...Must have been nice..." soul:...still having trouble? Damon: "..." *nods* "This is all new..." soul: it can be a bit scary at first, but it will be ok... becky:... soul: *hugs them both* Damon: "...Thanks..." -elsewhere- Relan: "You were a good boy, Buttons?" buttons: ^o^ Relan: ^w^ *pet pet* *holds out cheese* button: *NOM* Relan: "Hee hee...So cute." -elsewhere- Black Star: [how is it going? everyone out of jail?] otogiri: [no one was arrested, thankfully.] Black Star: [good. having fun?] otogiri: [for the most part, yes] -elsewhere- Steinbeck: *walking by bars* -quiet, save for some music coming from inside- Steinbeck: *approaches the music* -seems lively in there- Steinbeck: "..." *walks to the bar* bartender: new in town? Steinbeck: "Yep. Visiting. What you recommend?" bartender: we make a damn good bloody mary here. or did you want something on draft? Steinbeck: "Just draft. And any appetizer?" guy: i'm telling you, somethin's out in the woods! Steinbeck: *glances back, listening in* Guy #2: "Yeah, wind." guy: im being serious! i was out there earlier this week with my dogs, and one of them took off. when i found her, she was cowering like she'd seen the damn devil 'imself. Guy #2: "So, they saw your sister?" guy: screw off. Guy #2: "Screw your sister--" Steinbeck: "Excuse me. Sorry to interrupt..." guy: yeah? what? Steinbeck: "Whereabout did your dog go?" guy: she was near an old salt mine in the woods. she's fine now. Steinbeck: "Ah. I think I know where that is..." guy: you do? Steinbeck: "I've asked around town...The one north of here?" guy: yeah, that's the one. just before the waterfall... Steinbeck: "On it...Thanks." guy: just be careful.... -morning- Allison: "Wakey-wakey..." erina: nnnh..... Allison: "...I made waffles!" erina: thanks.... Allison: "You're welcome! Sleep alright?" erina: yeah...*yaaaawn* Allison: "Long work shift?" erina: yeah... Allison: "Anything planned after that?" -elsewhere- Yumi: "Okay, let's get back to the garden work..." liz: ^^ Patty: *holding a potted sapling* "All set! Even got the trimming shears." ellen: do you need anything else? Yumi: "Two more trowels?" Patty: "Fertilizer!" -elsewhere- michelle: ..... Neuhaus: *sets down tea* michelle:...thank you.........can we have katsudon? Neuhaus: "Of course...I just hope I can do it right..." michelle: thank you... *faint smile* -elsewhere- Steinbeck: *knocked out cold* "Zzz..." emily: *asleep on the chair* Steinbeck: *groans* "Damn headache..." *turns over--and falls off the couch* emily: *startled awake* Steinbeck: *face-down on bear rug* "..." *muffled* "Ow." emily: are you alright? Steinbeck: "Beer...is evil." emily:... ^-^; Steinbeck: "How'd I get back?" emily: ernest found you passed out near the woods. Steinbeck: "...Woods? Why the heck was I there?” emily: you were saying something about a salt mine? Steinbeck: "...Oh! Right. Ghosts!" emily: ghosts? Steinbeck: "Or something scaring dogs and people out in the forest." emily: hmm... twain: ooooooh.... OwO Steinbeck: "..." *sighs* "What, Twain?" twain: we got ourselfs a classic 'town with a dark secret' situation here! emily:....wonder how lovecraft is doing? Steinbeck: ^w^ "Fine, I'm sure... ... ..." =\\\~\\\= "I need to throw up..." emily: *pat pat* -elsewhere- oscar: howard, ever think of settling down and having kids of your own? lovecraft:? why should i settle down when i can just make one now? *detaches a tentacle, that mutates into a young girl*.....oh.... oscar: OvO *SCARRED FOR LIFE* -elsewhere- Damon: *walking to class* "..." teacher: good morning. *nods* momo sakura: *wave* Damon: "Morning..." ._.; *sits* momo sakura: ?? Damon: "..." *takes out his book* "Um...Which page?" momo sakura: page 94. Damon: "Thanks...Um...What was your name?" momo sakura: momo. Damon: "Momo. Right." -elsewhere- Poe: *brings out more books* "Here you are, Miss Harudori." tsugumi: thank you, sir! ^^ Poe: "How is the research?" tsugumi: doing well. Poe: "That's good. Anything interesting you found?" tsugumi: well, i suppose i have. just more information on grigori souls... Poe: "The ones that create wings?" tsugumi: *she nods* Poe: "Any luck on yours?" tsugumi: sadly no... =3=; Poe: "Oh, dear...I'm sure with more time and reading..." tsugumi: y-yeah.... -elsewhere- Kyoka: "So she was some preternaturally good-luck annoying sugar princess?" tamaki: =~= yes. it was hell... Kyoka: *pat pat* "All horrors create some end. At least you're away from her." tamaki: i guess... -elsewhere- Asako: "How was training?" vivian: it was quite an experience~ tao: it was fun! ^^ Asako: "Oh, good! Learned a lot from Commander Hibana?" tao: yep! princess iron fan taught us a whole lot of stuff! Asako: ^^; "I'm sure our commander looks forward to seeing you apply it." -elsewhere- Asura: *swinging his scarf like a jump rope* heibito: *jumping* ^u^ Asura: "Yay..." *small smile* mikan: ^^ Asura: "You're up to 20 jumps now..." heibito: hehehe! luka: ....its surreal. Nirvana worker: "What? Just a son and dad playing..." luka:...i suppose...*sips her coffee* they're the furthest thing from being human, and yet... Nirvana worker: "Think these are habits that go beyond humans?" luka:....cant say for sure...but they behave more human than most people do.... Nirvana worker: "Like Becky after one too many mojitos..." luka: *siiiigh* fuckin' hammond.... Nirvana Worker: *nods* "So, what else you notice about those kishin?" luka:....*shrug* Nirvana Worker: "What about what they drink while they eat souls?" -elsewhere- Hemingway: "Hungover? On what you drank? Ha! When I was your age, I drank an entire pickup truck of moonshine, and I'm fine." *looks around* "...Did my vision go again?" emily: *sweatdrop* baum: ... dorothy: ...? Twain: *still looking worse for wear* "Baum, have you done anything this trip?" baum: dorothy and i did some local reading. seems to be a lot of urban legends and ghost sightings here. Twain: "Well, we knew that talking to Professor Crane-game." baum: 737 Steinbeck: "And you got your butt kicked by a jealous boyfriend." Twain: Q_Q emily: ^^; *pap pap* baum: so whats today's gameplan? Steinbeck: "It's still daytime, so I propose exploring near the suspected site." baum: dorothy and i will accompany you. Steinbeck: "Good. Emily, can you gather more research?" emily: *she nods* Twain: "I'll go with you--for protection." emily: thanks. ^^; Hemingway: "I'm going to go hunting." emily: just be careful. Hemingway: "Righ. I'll make dinner tonight with what I catch. Hope you like fish and squirrel." -elsewhere- Kyoka: *folds paper* "Then you can count numbers to learn your fortune..." sylvia: ... Kyoka: *holds up the destiny paper toy* "Okay. Ready?" sylvia: *nod* o-ok. Kyoka: "I'll choose 5. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5..." *opens* "..." *reads* "..." sylvia: w-what does it say? Kyoka: " 'Don't take candy from strangers.' ...Why did I write that?" sylvia: hmmm.... Hyde: *pops up* "Want candy, folks?!" Kyoka: *PUNCH* sylvia: QAQ licht: *KICKS HIM* -_- Kyoka: "Scaring other people." *kicks him* "How dare you." Hyde: X____X ("Ophelia...Am I dead?") (soul: hyde? hyyyde? you up?) soul: yo, hyde. becky: ?? Damon: "Uncle Hyde?" Hyde: XuX "Hi, kids. I'm up..." *sits up--and falls over again* -elsewhere- Kafka: -n- "What errand is it that you want?" george: looks like we're investigating a small area in the slums... Kafka: "...That sounds dirty." george: im sure it wont be too bad. i've seen worse. Kafka: "...I'm sure. Where exactly did you live again?" george: it was around here...there it is! Kafka: "???" ("What am I seeing?") -it seems to be an old shed with a few orphaned kids playing nearby- Kafka: "..." *small frown, looks away* "So, you'll talk with them?" george:....oooi! kiddos! boy: ?? hey, george is back. girl: we thought you died or somethin' Kafka: *watches* ("What is George, their caretaker?") george: sorry guys, some things happened. but i do have some good news, i got us a place to stay! Kafka: "..." *walks up* Child 3: "Really?! Where?" george: this guy can take us there. well, we better gather up our stuff, ok? Stephan: ^^ "Yay!" *looks at Kafka* "... ... Can we trust him?" Kafka: "?!" george: cross my heart. tom: is he gonna be our dad now? Stephan: "...Ooooookay." *goes inside* Kafka: OnO "I most certainly will not!" george: there's lots of people at the new place, even a few other kids! Bessy: "A-Are they mean or anything?" george: wilhelm and jakob are a bit mischievous, but mostly harmless. (really its a few of the grown ups you should be worried about...) Stephan: *dropping items into an empty cardboard box* *looks out the window* Kafka: -n- " 'Mischievous'? They once shaved my eyebrows off in my sleep..." maggie: *giggle* Kafka: "It's not funny...Walter drew new ones on me--with glittery ink!" maggie + tom: *laughing* george:...*smile* *footsteps are heard* george: !!!! kids, hide. now. Bessy: Q_Q "Wh-Why?" Kafka: "???" *turns* ???: haaaa, so boooooring... ???: "D'aw, but look--cute babies!" Kafka: "..." ("Who on earth...?") george: *standing on the defensive* Bessy: Q_Q *stepping back slowly* ???: "Look! That one's trying to get away..." 'greed oni': probably wont have much on them but scrap. totally lame. the tall guy though... george: !!!! Kafka: *narrows his eyes* "I have nothing for you. Now scoot." 'greed oni': lets see how lucky that one is... *rolls a die....causing an explosion* george: !!! get inside! now! Kafka: *consumed by the explosion* "GAH!" Bessy: Q_Q Stephan: *hiding under the window* "Wh-What are they doing?!" maggie: *picks bessy up and gets her inside* george: i dont know, but for now, we need to hurry. *hands them two knapsacks* Bessy: *clutches hers* Mantis: >_< "You blew up the tall one!" 'greed oni': boo, how bor-....hn? *all that is left are burnt clothes* Mantis: "Um...I'm no physist-ist-ic, but don't people usually just get burnt? Not just leaving clothes behind..." 'greed oni':...that's weird..... *chittering is heard* Mantis: "???" *splat* 'greed oni': ?! *glances up*....aw fuck. Mantis: "..." *there is some ooze on his shoulder* ??? *looks up* "!!!?!!" *There's a drooling, very pissed up roach on the alley wall...* 'greed oni': *nervous smirk* mother fucker. Roach: *roars, leaps down* 'greed oni': *jumps back* Roach: *rushes at Greed, slamming into dumpsters along the way* Mantis: *tosses blades, missing* "Damn it!" 'greed oni': shit! *rolls die* give me something good here! Roach: *shows off a ferocious set of teeth* "yOU THinK I WAS JUST, whAT, GOING tO GIVe up MY WALLET?!" 'greed oni': the fuck even are you? Roach: *crashes into Greed* "YOUR NIGHTMARE: a greEDY LITtle ROAch!" 'greed oni': mantis! do something, you idiot! -inside- Bessy: *unable to move* Stephan: "WHAT IS THAT?!" george: .....ok, maggie, if things get hairy, take the others and run to the outskirts of town, there's a van with some anime girls on it and they'll get you to the safe place, ok? maggie: how do we know which one? george: *hands her a picture* it's that one. maggie:...o-ok.. Bessy: "W-We can't leave you--" george: it'll be ok, i promise. *smiles* tom: ok, that's everything now. Bessy: *whimpering* Stephan: "Just avoid the weird roach thing outside..." george: .....i'll explain later about that. maggie: come on! lets go! Stephan: "On it!" *follows Maggie* {Dazai: "--Roachman--" Goethe: "--roach--" Ranpo: "Roachman."} george: ... -BOOOM- *the house rocks* george: AH! *her leg got stabbed with debris* c-crap... RUN! maggie: *takes philips hand and runs with one sack* Bessy: "GEORGE!" *trying to reach back* george: *trying to stand, limping* o-ow... -a pipe was busted, leaking water inside- 'greed oni': that all you got, you big ugly? Roach: *growls* "I AM NOT ABOUT TO GIVE UP ANYTHING FOR SOME WORTHLESS HOODLUMS, YOU STUPID FIERY BEASTS! IT IS MY MONEY! AND I AM SICK OF LOSING ALL TO YOU SUCH STUPID, STUPID PEOPLE!" {*Goethe looks...smirks*} Roach: *roars, rushes--and passes the building, everything looking like slow-motion, as he spots George* "...?!" george: *limping, trying to carry bessy away* Bessy: *crying* Roach: "..." ("Oh, God--") *SLICE* Roach: *SCREAMS* *one of his limbs is flopping on the ground* Mantis: *pants* "Look at that...He's easy to slice..." 'greed oni': why dont we just raid this bitch?.....oh?....oops~ *drops die* -BOOOM- -the house is beginning to burn up- george: !!!! *grabs bessy and limps over to the puddle of water* (please let this work!) Mantis: *face lit up by the flames* "I used to love pinning down bugs...rip off their wings and limbs..." *stabs blades into the Roach's back* Roach: *roars, panting...* "I'll kill you..." 'greed oni': oh~? Bessy: *panicking, unable to breathe, clutching George* Roach: "That's...a promise--" *SLICE* Roach: *screams, an antenna cut off* Mantis: "Empty words, monster." george: *jumps into the water......popping up in a tub back at the sturm base* *GASP* bessy! are you ok? hans: !!!! leroux, get them to medical! Leroux: "!!! R-Right..." *picks up Bessy* Bessy: *sobbing* -in Walter's van- maggie: there it is! Walter: *listening to music* "--shining finger!" Stephan: "...What the heck is this guy?" maggie: well, if george trusts them....*bangs on the door* HEY!!! Walter: *checks his phone* "...?! How did George get all the way there before--" *looks out the window* "...Oh. Hello." maggie: let us in! philip: th-there's a roach monster and fire! Walter: "What?!" *unlocks the door* "Ah, poop..." *looks out the window* "..." *lifts the sun visor* "Buckle up, kids..." *buckles himself* -the kids do so- -back in the alley- Mantis: *flipping through a wallet* " 'Franz'? What, your parents hated you?" *flips to photos* "Huh. That girl's cute..." *It's a photo of Franz's sister* Roach: *pinned, numerous blades in his shoulder* *panting* "Giv-Give it...back..." 'greed oni': we coooould....or we just burn the useless stuff and take the money. Roach: "?!!! P-Please...don't..." Mantis: "...Wow. I've seen a lot of things--but a bug crying? That's just sad..." 'greed oni': really sad...it makes me want to puke. can i just-.....hn? Mantis: "Yeah..." *pockets the cash, tosses the wallet down next to the Roach* Roach: "..." Mantis: *aims a kunai* "Let's just kill it and--" *CRASH* 'greed oni': !!!! *Mantis is knocked off his feet and into the dumpster* Walter: Q_Q "...Crap. I think I killed that person..." Roach: "Walt-Walter...You stupid..." Walter: "Kakfa! You're still..." *gets out, pulling the blades out* "Yeah, call me stupid...Just keep talking..." 'greed oni':...tch-...*grabs mantis and flees* Roach: "The wallet..." Walter: "..." *grabs it, pulling the roach into the back of the van* "Jeez, you're heavy..." maggie: wait....that's the guy with george?! Roach: *groans...* "The kids...George..." philip:...bruh. Walter: "They got back...Just sleep..." *The Roach reverts into Kafka* maggie: *covers her eyes* Walter: "...?!" *puts a blanket over Kafka* "AT LEAST WEAR PANTS!" *It's a pretty girl anime blanket* Stephan: "What even is all of this, Mister?" philip:....are we gonna die? maggie: ._.; Walter: "...Typical day, I guess? And no, you're not going to die..." maggie: HOW IS THIS _TYPICAL_?! Walter: "One time Kafka lost his head. Literally." kids:............................ philip: *passes out* Kafka: “…..” -elsewhere- kan: got the notes! *puts them onto a desk of one of the publishing company employees* Employee: "...Um...What?" kan: the note paper you asked me for? ^^; Employee: "Oh, right..." *flips through* sakutaro: kikuchi. the boss has assigned another task for you. *hands them a photo* it's a new member of the company. you and miyoshi are to meet them at the airport today. kan: yes sir! miyoshi: .~.; sakutaro: and try not to screw up. miyoshi: Q~Q o-kaaaaaayyyyy... kan: miss tatsuji, remember your breathing. miyoshi: *INHAAAAALES* i-im good... ???: "Waaaiiii....Ooooo...KAH!" *making poses* kan: ooooi, eiji! were heading out now! Eiji: *stops posing* "Okay!" *bows to his samurai action figure* "BRB." *follows* miyoshi: mr yoshikawa if i end up passing out, you take the wheel. Eiji: " 'Ight! But try to keep under the speed limit..." -elsewhere- ???: "What a mess you two made--over, what, $40 and a...cicada?" Mantis: "Roach." 'greed oni': they guy hit mantis with a fucking van- Mantis: "HOW AM I NOT DEAD?!" ???: "Stubbornness." Mantis: >n< 'lust oni': it's quite amazing actually~, right isadora honey~? 'greed oni': ugh, i told you, it's 'izzy'! Mantis: "Jeez, get a room." izzy: mantis, you know that's how they are to everyone...fitting for the oni of lust. 'lust oni: guilty as charged~<3 Mantis: "My point stands--get a room, even if it's by yourself." hyouga: regardless, lets just get back to the meeting. Mantis: "Hmph." *counts money* ???: "Look at me, Mantis." Mantis: "I'm looking, Pride..." Pride: "...Very well. What are we here to discuss?" taoka:.....*glances at another person*....you havent spoken a word since the meeting started. Envy: "...How come PRIDE gets to start us off?!" Mantis: -_- *eyeroll* izzy: cuuuz the boss put him in charge? Envy: "I COULD DO IT, TOO!" Pride: "Yes, but poorly." Envy: *incoherent scream* lust oni: oh my, there they go again~ ^^ taoka: so unprofessional... hyouga: now come on you two, you're grown ass adults, start acting like it.

Pride: "I am nothing if not mature." Envy: "I CAN BE MORE GROWN UP THAN THE LOT OF YOU! So, what's the next tasks after 'failed alley robbery #487?" Mantis: -n- "It was 'Successful Alley Robbery...#7." taoka: 'retrieving wrath'? Pride: "...Oy." Mantis: "We have to?" -elsewhere- juria: *chewing gum, leaning against the wall* Carin: "...Yo." juria: *pop*....*pop*...... Carin: "Hey. You had tasks to do." *offers a broom* juria:...so? Carin: "So get to work and drop the attitude, you bum." juria: heres some food for thought. if you want the work done so badly, why dont _you_ do it? Carin: "Because it's assigned to _you_, I have other tasks to finish--and because I said so!" juria: three things. 1, i. 2, dont, and 3, care. Carin: "...Look, your royal highness, do I need the commander to have you scrubbing toilets with a toothbrush?" juria: how would _you_ like to be swallowing your own teeth? Carin: "Try it--I'm sure someone would love to have you dead where you stand." juria: *flame gauntlet* bring it. ogun: come on guys, knock it off. gwen: .... Carin: *grumbles* "Fine..." *turns his back* "Dumb gum-chewing demon..." juria: you two want in on the pain train too?! WELL COME ON THEN! *DEAFENING WHISTLE* juria: >-o gwen: >^< Pan: "..." *lowers the whistle* "You all done?" Carin: *covering his ears* Q_Q -elsewhere- hans: *patching up george* Leroux: Q_Q "Oh, dear..." Goethe: "..." *sighs* george: c-could have been worse....but on a lighter note, i think i know how my ability works.... Goethe: "...Well, that's right on time. It's going to let you travel, then?" george: yeah, but just as long as theres water nearby... Goethe: "That's a pain, Aqualad...Carry a water bottle with you." george:....*sweatdrop* (what kind of nickname is that...) etta:....the van's back! george: the others- hans: you stay right there young man! walter: we're back. and we got another patient... *The back door of the van opens, revealing the kids--and Kafka, covered with a blanket* Kafka: "..." *barely conscious* maggie: george! *hug* Leroux: *covers his mouth* george: !!! mr kafka! etta: !!!!! *shocked* Goethe: "Jeez..." Kafka: *shivers, pulls the blanket over himself, ashamed* hans: what the hell even happened to him? *there's blood in the back of the van* walter: things got bad...there were these goons that showed up.... Kafka: "F-Fire..." hans:...... Goethe: "Get him to the infirmary, too. And get him a hospital smock or something..." -and so- hans:....christ, kafka, what were you thinking?! Kafka: "...I just...got wrapped up..." Goethe: "You acted stupidly, you pest." walter: ...... Kafka: "..." george:....still.....he did buy time for us.... Kafka: "..." Goethe: "And if he had paid attention and done what he was supposed to, you wouldn't have needed to get more time..." Leroux: *pulls back the blanket--and all color fades from his face* "..." hans:...leroux?...what-.....!!!!! walter:.....*his stomach drops in shock* Kafka: "...What are you all looking at?" *Carved into back: "ROACH"* george:....y-your back..... Kafka: "...What did they do..." walter:..... *holds up two mirrors so that he could see it...* im sorry..... Kafka: "...Everybody...get out." hans: but- Kafka: "GET OUT! ALL OF YOU, GET OUT! I HATE YOU! I HATE EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU! NOW GET OUT RIGHT NOW!" hans:...... george:...... walter:....... Goethe: "...Come on. Let the roach ruminate..." Kafka: *furious roar--without turning into a roach* hans: ........*puts george into a wheelchair and exits* *All head to the exit...but Walter* george: *looks back, sympathetically...* ..... walter:........... Kafka: *looking at the wall* "...I said leave." walter: .....*he shakes his head* why do you keep doing this? Kafka: "Doing what?" walter: you keep pushing people away, even when they're only trying to help you... Kafka: " 'Help'? Oh, yes, real helpful. George was a big help with my back. Goethe was so helpful with that insult. You, Walter, were sooooooo helpful getting there late! What, had a show to go binge watch?!" walter: *grabs kafka by the collar* HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THINGS WOULD GO TO SHIT? HUH?! Kafka: "?! Unhand me! Haven't I suffered enough for everything?!" walter: do you think i _wanted_ you to be put through this?! newsflash, we're only human! we make mistakes like this! Kafka: "I'M NOT! I am supposed to get it right! I should be perfect! And now, I'm just...some insect!" walter: ..... Kafka: "I hate all of this! I hate all of you! And I’m miserable! And now I’m stuck in here because of this insane Faustian bargain!” walter: then why havent you left then? what's keeping you here!? Kafka: “...Because I have nowhere to go.” walter:....... etta: *listening from outside, tears falling* ..... Kafka: "...What, go home to a family that I can't show myself to? What friends?" walter: ..... Kafka: "...I can't even die...Not normally." walter:...........*hug* Kafka: "..." *too exhausted to push him away, he cries silently* walter: we arent going to give up on you that easily, ok? Kafka: "...You should..." walter: well we're not. so get used to it, buddy. Kafka: "..." *sobbing* "Idiot..." etta: ..... -elsewhere-

[subasekabang]

The Reluctant Hand - Chapter 2

Rating: G Word Count: 7719 (Total), 2251 (Chapter) Pairings: Platonic JoshNeku Characters: Neku, Joshua, Kariya Warnings: None Summary: Neku’s waited for what felt like an eternity for Joshua to appear in front of him, only to be greeted with bad news. Joshua laments his struggles of fighting the Higher Plane on Neku’s behalf for the last six months, and finally relays the verdict; Neku will only be allowed to continue his normal life in the RG if he also steps up and assumes his rightfully earned title of Conductor, along with all the responsibilities that come with it. Even though the news should be shocking, Neku isn’t surprised at all. It’s okay, really. He’s heard Shibuya calling him to his post, and though he knows it will be a difficult job, there’s no doubt in his mind that he should answer. After all, he can’t let someone like Joshua rule all by himself, now can he?

————- After they had finished the drinks Joshua made, Neku was led up to the second floor of the café by a set of stairs he had somehow never noticed before. It felt a little like trespassing, even though Joshua kept reassuring him that it was fine. “There are two rooms up here; one is Sanae’s, and the other will be yours,” Joshua explained, leading him down a narrow hallway. “There’s also a bathroom and a small kitchen over there,” he added, pointing vaguely at a door on the right side of the hall. “Why would I need a room here?” Neku questioned. Joshua paused in front of a door at the end of the hall on the left. “We need somewhere to meet, of course.” “Why can’t we just meet at Hachiko?” “We need a private space for… certain things. You’ll see.” Neku tried to push away the thoughts of what exactly he might be implying and the sudden anxiety of being alone with Joshua in room of unknown purpose, focusing instead on the door as Joshua slowly swung it open and flipped the light on. It was a fairly small room, but it looked comfortable enough. There was a futon folded up on a top of a short dresser in the corner, and a drafting table set up in the opposite corner, but not much else. A small window adorned the wall to the far right. “It’s a bit sparse at the moment, as I’m still sourcing furniture for you, but it should suit your needs as Conductor just fine for now. If you have any requests, please let me know.” “What is the room for though?” He stepped inside, walking over to examine the drafting table. “Am I going to need to draw something?” “Yes, you might. I feel it will help you,” Joshua said. “But at any rate, this room will be for meetings in general, as well as a place where you can hide out and work if needed. Most of the higher level Reapers have multiple rooms throughout the city. It’s a job that demands mobility, and you especially will need some hiding places since you can’t escape into the UG so easily.” “Don’t you think my parents are going to worry if I just don’t come home?” “Of course. I have a plan, Neku; I always do! Don’t worry about it for now.” Neku raised an eyebrow but decided it wasn’t worth arguing about just yet. “Anyway, feel free to decorate however you like.” “Do you think I have money to waste on decorating a whole new room?” “You’ll receive a paycheck, of course. Did you think we all work for free? Even the Players get paid here and there.” “I… I guess that’s true. How much do I get paid?” Neku asked, squinting. “Enough to live comfortably on your own, at the very least. However, since you are still alive and also still a teenager, it would be suspicious for you to have so much money appearing out of nowhere, so I’ve taken the liberty of opening up a special account for you. You’ll only have access to it while in the UG—and I expect you to use it only for necessary purchases—but a percentage of each paycheck will be given to you to use in the RG as well for whatever you want, since you obviously won’t have time to hold a job.” “…just how much of this have you planned out?” “All of it, really. What do you think I spent the last six months doing, exactly?” Joshua asked. “But if you don’t have a normal bank account yet, you’d better open one so you can get paid. Also, I plan to return the money that you and your friends all earned as Players, so tell them to get bank accounts too. They can send along their info and they’ll wake up to a nice surprise,” Joshua giggled. Neku tried to remember exactly how much money in pins he had had at the end of the game—he couldn’t recall the exact number, but he knew it was somewhere in the hundreds of thousands of yen… It had been quite hard to cut back his spending once he’d returned after getting used to spending money left and right with no concern at all for three weeks, and he knew it had been hard on his friends too. Now, they’d all have money to buy the things they’d said they wanted recently—skateboards, games, new fabrics and clothes—and he himself would probably never have to worry about money again. He felt his head spinning a bit. “Don’t get too excited, Neku,” Joshua giggled again. “Stop reading my thoughts,” Neku shot back. “I can’t help it when you’re broadcasting them so loudly. Money truly is an amazing thing, isn’t it?” He rifled through one of his pockets, producing a key. “Here you go; with this you can get in here whenever you need. It’s your home too now, and Sanae comes and goes, so don’t worry too much about disturbing him.” Neku suddenly realized he’d be sharing living space with CAT, and he momentarily forgot about taking the key from Joshua until he finally took his hand and pressed it into his palm. “Thank you,” Neku mumbled. “We’d better get going. There’s still a lot to do today.” “Where are we going now?” “Down into the sewers!” Joshua said cheerfully. “Oh, joy,” Neku said, allowing Joshua to pull him out of the room. ————- The walk across the city seemed longer than it did in the UG, and Neku could only assume it was because he wasn’t frantically running for his life this time. They finally arrived at the dark underpass, and Neku wrinkled his nose as they made their way into the secret passages of the sewer. “There isn’t anybody around today but how am I supposed to sneak in here without being seen all the time?” Neku asked. “I’ll show you once we get inside,” Joshua replied. They trudged along in silence until they finally reached the door to the Dead God’s Pad, still as intimidating as ever. Neku wondered how it stayed so pristine down in the sewers. “Where are all the fish?” Neku asked as he stepped inside, looking down at the suspiciously still water. “You can’t see them, since you’re in the RG.” “Are the fish… Noise?” “Of course, Neku! You don’t think real fish would want to be stamped on all the time, do you?” “I guess not but… they didn’t look like Noise?” “It’s just a trick of the glass. It nullifies the negative effects of the Noise, and also makes them look more lifelike.” “You sure have a lot of useless magic stuff, don’t you?” Neku asked. “All for the sake of design, Neku,” Joshua replied. “And it’s not magic, it’s science. Now, lay down on that couch.” Neku glanced dubiously at the couch to his left. It was so white he was worried he’d get it dirty just by looking at it, but Joshua didn’t seem to be willing to take no for an answer, so he sat gingerly down on it and pulled off his shoes, lying down on the surprisingly soft cushions. He never did like lying down in front of people; it just felt way too vulnerable, especially with Joshua leaning over him like that— “So, which do you prefer—the traditional ‘arms over the chest’ pose, or the more modern ‘holding flowers’ pose?” Neku stared up at his face, shadowed under the ceiling lights but glowing just enough from the tank lights to be ominous. “What the hell are you talking about?” “Corpses, you know? The traditional way is with the arms over the chest, but most people now hold flowers when they die, so it’s more over the stomach… though maybe it would just be better to have your arms at your sides… It’s up to you!” “I’ll just… leave them at my sides, thanks…” Neku said, resting his arms on the couch. He really did not like where this was going. “Hmm… suit yourself. Now, close your eyes.” “Tell me what you’re doing first.” “Come on, Neku. There’s no need to play dumb.” “Tell me.” Joshua sighed. “I’m going to remove your Soul from your body.” Neku had been expecting that, but a chill ran down his spine all the same, as though his body was planning to protest even if he did not. “I don’t know exactly how well it’s going to go, but I have some ideas in case it doesn’t work on the first try.” “I don’t want to find out what those ideas are,” Neku said, finally closing his eyes. “So you’d better make it work on the first try.” He heard Joshua giggle. “It’s all up to you, Neku. Don’t be so stubborn or it definitely won’t.” Neku flinched when he felt cold fingers slide over his left eye and temple, Joshua’s other hand resting over his heart. “This may hurt a little.” Neku opened his mouth to protest, but quickly clamped it shut as Joshua began whatever process he was attempting. There was a terrible pressure in his head suddenly, like his brain was slowly being crushed in a vice, and it felt like there was lightning coursing through his ribs. Every muscle in his body was screaming to move, but with a rushing feeling of panic, he found he was almost completely paralyzed. “Josh—” He gasped. The pressure finally stopped, and Neku’s whole body jolted violently awake. He opened his eyes, seeing Joshua hastily withdrawing his hands, and he took several deep breaths to try and crush the sharp stabs of anxiety. “Is it too much? Did it hurt?” At least he sounded genuine. “It didn’t hurt, but…” He struggled to find the words to explain. “Hm. I figured your Soul might be a little bit attached to your body after all you went through… I suppose we’ll have to try something else.” Neku swallowed. “What’s… what’s the least horrible idea you have?” Joshua lightly touched his chin. “How opposed are you to wearing a kimono?” Neku stared at him. “Do you actually think that would work?” Joshua shrugged. “The trick is likely to be fooling your body into thinking it’s died. Dressing you up in a white kimono—or a suit maybe?—might help.” “Wouldn’t something like, I don’t know, knocking me out work better?” “Do you want me to try that?” Joshua asked, a menacing smile stretching across his face. “N-no, that’s fine, I take it back,” Neku quickly corrected. “That’s what I thought.” Joshua smiled again. “Well, if it’s not clothing, perhaps a name?” “What do you mean?” “Well, most funerals are performed with Buddhist rites, which usually include giving a posthumous name to the deceased so that when their original name is called by those in mourning, they won’t be summoned back.” “So… you want to give me a new name?” Joshua shrugged. “It might work. That would give us something to start with from now on too. I’m sure you don’t want to have to deal with some kind of painful soul-ripping every time you need to come into the UG.” “N-no, I really don’t,” Neku said. “Alright then, it’s decided!” Joshua smiled. “I’ll think of a name for you.” “Can’t I just think of one?” “The dead don’t get to pick their own names. It has to be chosen for you, and who better to choose than me?” Neku groaned. “Hm…” Joshua tapped his chin. “Ah! I’ve got it.” Neku braced himself. “‘Conductor of the Reluctant Hand.’” “That’s not a name!” “You’re right, it’s a title.” “It also sounds kind of insulting,” Neku complained. “Do you think so? I don’t,” Joshua said. “Your reluctance in our final game was a weakness, yes, but it is also what saved Shibuya. Maybe it would have survived if you hadn’t hesitated, but it certainly would not have been what Sanae called the ‘optimal parallel world,’ now would it?” Neku really hated that he couldn’t argue. “Fine. Try it.” He closed his eyes stubbornly. He soon felt Joshua’s hands move back into place, and he braced himself. “Conductor of the Reluctant Hand, follow my voice and join me.” The pressure began to build in Neku’s head, electricity zapping through his chest, and slowly, the room started to spin around him. He couldn’t speak anymore, couldn’t try to tell Joshua to stop. It was over quickly enough. The sensation of dizziness rapidly subsided, and he felt himself sit up—lighter than air, but still with the feeling of Joshua’s hands on him, now cradling his head and pulling on his hand. When he finally opened his eyes, he was sitting up properly on the couch, and Joshua was kneeling in front of him, grasping both of his hands still. He turned his head to the side. There was his body, lying almost deathly still next to him on the couch. It was disturbing and unsettling and just wrong, the way he could see his own chest shaking with his heartbeats. “Neku?” He couldn’t tear his eyes away from his body. “Neku!” Before he knew what was happening, Joshua had hoisted him off the couch by his arms. “You shouldn’t look at it too much yet, it will be too much of a shock.” Neku still looked anyway as Joshua pulled him away and into the Room of Reckoning.