#sarcastic Nix

[shelyue99]

How Webster described Nix in Parachute Infantry, I can totally hear Ron Livingston speak those lines in my head.

Nixon gave instructions for D-Day:

Maps and diagrams hung from the rear wall. Our instructor, the S-2 captain, watched us come in and look around. Yale men, his face seemed to say as he stared at us dully with a studied air of unshaven indifference, must remain poised and blasé in the presence of the unwashed. When the last man had ducked in, the guard secured the door flap and the captain started to talk.

"I have something here," he said,

"that may interest you: a sort of field problem... These are sandtables, one for the big picture and one our own size. You've seen other sandtables before at other airfields before other jumps, but these are different.”

"We're jumping behind the enemy lines on the peninsula of Normandy. Don't look blank. Surely you've heard of Normandy? It's a large peninsula on the coast of central France about a hundred miles southeast of here." He stepped to the back wall, unrolled a map of southern England and central France, and taking a pointer, indicated Normandy.

…

"There are two beaches: Utah, here, and Omaha, here. We drop behind Utah. The 4th Division is supposed to pass through us on D-Day.”

"If they take the beach.”

"The 82nd's jumping up here around St. Mere Eglise, and the British 6th Airborne Division will go in ahead of their infantry here. But let's not worry about those people. We'll have enough worries of our own."

Glancing disdainfully at his wristwatch, the captain ended his monologue and looked around the tent, dull-eyed and absolutely uninterested.

Final briefing before the jump:

D-Day was scheduled for tomorrow. It blew icy fumes of fear in our faces as we gathered in the S-2 tent for the final briefing.

"At ease, men," the captain snapped, all indifference gone from his voice and attitude. "I have something important to tell you that you may already know: We're leaving tonight. This is final.”

…

"We jump at one o'clock. As I told you before, we'll assemble in an orchard near Hébert, pronounced Ayb-are. If you're lost and run across a Frenchman, ask the way to Hébert, not Herbert, as I've heard some of you pronounce it. If you've studied your maps and listened to your officers, you'll know that Hébert isn't even a town. It's a couple of houses and a crossroads surrounded by apple orchards. The Germans have planted antiairborne poles and mines in most of the other jumpfields in our sector, but as far as we know, our fields and orchards are clear. I guess they didn't think we'd be crazy enough to jump near orchards, but they don't know how crazy we are. If we were sane, we wouldn't be here.”

[mushroompoisoning]

ahem. for my absolutely amazing and very serious hot take, i say; that i am The Most Coolest person on the internet.

coldest take known to man its like the arctic tundra in here. freezer section at the grocery store. -40 degrees celsius. it's like a public school when the heaters broken. licking metal in the winter. terrible take

[shadowsndaisies]

dogfighting 101: 04 - 'nix is sick of this shit

wc: 595

synopsis: phoenix prides herself on knowing almost everything pertinent, it's the parts she doesn't know that leaves her on edge.

main masterlist

athena-verse master post

a/n: the support with this universe has been incredible, thank you all so much, i really enjoy being able to write shorter pieces as an outlet while working on my 10k an update longer series. (ps: taglist is still open!)

“Okay. What the hell is going on?” Natasha's voice is firm.

Bob to his credit seems a little anxious from where he's stood a few feet behind her. He's obviously trying to respect your privacy, but something tells you he's also there to be a witness for whatever this confrontation was about.

“You're going to have to specify Phoenix,” you tell her flatly.

You were sat on a bench in the locker room, redoing your hair before your next run. You’d needed a moment to splash some water on your face and refocus. Bob and ‘Nix were still in their gear as well, they were next on the rotation.

“Where do I even start? You and Rooster? Him and Maverick? How about Harvard and Yale’s attitude too?” she huffs and you meet her gaze challengingly.

“Don’t worry about it,” is all you offer in response.

Natasha lets out a groan, and Bob winces. “Well it's too late for that!” she huffs, very clearly annoyed.

“Leave it alone, ‘Nix,” you tell her, tone serious.

“No! I have never heard you shout at someone like that, especially not while in the air! Honestly, I’ve never heard Rooster get that wound up either! What the fuck is going on?”

“Seriously, Nat, just drop it,” you tell her, shaking your head.

“I can't! I won’t! I’m going on this mission Athena, you know it and I know it. I don't know why Hangman only ever listens to you, or why he leaves every one else out to dry, but I do not want him leading that team. I need it to be you and Rooster. But if you and Rooster can't fucking get along we're all screwed.”

You frown at her and you understand where she's coming from, but part of you can’t help but stay closed off, especially about this. “Nat, we don't have the time, and honestly… honestly it’s none of your business,” you say voice firm.

The look in her eye turns hard, but you stand your ground. You’d always been able to give it to each other straight, calling the other out when necessary, and drawing hard lines when needed. This was one of those times.

“This isn’t like you, and it’s not like Rooster and there’s something going on that you’re both ignoring,” she decides.

There’s a lot we’re ignoring, you want to say. “Let it go, Trace. Final warning,” you say instead, you’re honestly not entirely sure what will happen if she keeps pushing, you’re not sure you want to see who would win in a battle of wills between the two of you, you know you both will get hurt in the process.

She seems to have the same realization because instead of pushing further, she lets out another groan, “This isn’t over!” she shouts as she stomps off, a bashful Bob in tow.

“I would never dream,” you mutter sarcastically after her, tucking your hair back up, and then heading back to the waiting room.

You want to say the cold water and redoing your hair helped, but you feel just as exhausted as you did after stalking off the tarmac leaving Bradley behind. You see him when you walk in, and his eyes focus on you. Your lips tug down and you turn looking for your next partner.

You spot Fritz still waiting by your gear, and you offer a tense smile as you pick up your vest and sling it back on.

“Ready?” he asks.

“Yeah, let’s hit it,” you confirm, before following him back down to the tarmac.

...

everything: @butterfly-skinnylegend

athena’s tags: @omgbrianab @smoothdogsgirl @bazellawriz @sbrewer21 @inky-sun @djs8891 @rory-cakes @geeksareunique @je6291 @kee-0-kee @fanreader75 @whoismurphyslaw @samanddeaninatrenchcoat

[lewis-winters]

Hi!

Recently, I've been rewatching bob, and in ep10 I noticed a moment between winnix. It's right after they meet Sobel: Dick turns to Lew and the expression on Lew's face is something that I can't decipher and so I wanted to ask you what do you think was going through his head? Was it some bitter nostalgia? Or just him silently laughing at Dick's attitude?

Thanks <3

Oh, you mean this?

This is just my personal interpretation, but I always thought about it as like... their double-act when it comes to handling Sobel together, ya know? If you watch Winnix closely when they're both dealing with Sobel at the same time, you'll notice that if one breaks out of attention, the other doesn't. It happens in the "It's a can of peaches, sir"; though Dick does famously smile a bit there, it's barely noticeable-- he's holding on very tightly to attention to resist breaking further, because Dick knows that if Nix is being sarcastic, then he can't afford to be. While only one of them can be in trouble at any time, both being in trouble might be too much (and they might be forced to separate). Kinda like naughty schoolboys when confronted with a strict teacher?

So, in my head, this scene in ep10 is just an extension of that. This time, it's Dick being sassy-- he gets to make a point while also getting Sobel to salute him. Lew, seeing this, clearly can't react while Sobel is still there to see him react, because it's now become a force of habit to play the complete and indifferent soldier while the other is being sassy, and he only breaks that façade and smiles when Dick looks at him-- which, by the way. Super cute.

Dick, who is famously sassy and dry humor-ed on his own, has never needed a tag-team to reassure him of his greatest hits... but he turns around to Nix anyway, as if to say "did you see that? did you see the way I ratio'd him?" and Nix just smiles because "yeah, honey, I saw" like????? can they get any more married?

edit: gif by @rebeccapearson

[coffeeandbatboys]

Gravity (Peter Quill x fem!reader)

Request: From @nix-rose-q

Quill x fem!reader friends to lovers? Reader is a guardian and the two just have a silly time dancing till it turns quieter to a slow dance? (she's just as obsessed with music as he is but she's got newer stuff. John Mayer is who i'm obsessed with atm so if it could be one of his songs, that would be great!) If i can add personality, she's an Enfp and a 7 wing 8 enneagram, translates to always keeping everything happy and not ever focusing on uncomfortable stuff, loyal, playful, competitive and sarcastic. (in a nutshell, a female version of Peter)

Warnings: This is pure fluff.

You moved side to side to the upbeat tempo of Southern Nights, Peter stepping around you and trying to convince you to dance.

"Quill, I'm not exactly a dancer." You giggled.

He smirked. "So dance with me. I promise you won't regret it."

You eventually agreed, but shook your head.

"We have to change the music. I can't dance to this."

"C'mon, the song's almost over. Let it play out and then you can pick something." One of his hands lowered to your waist as you danced, while the other clasped around yours.

You nearly stumbled and blushed. He gave you a smug smile.

Oh, the bastard knew exactly what he was doing...

You had harbored a crush on Peter ever since you joined the Guardians, and eventually your friendship had evolved into constant flirting. Rocket was always annoyed with it, but both you and Peter had fun. The two of you worked as a good team, both similar in personalities.

They say opposites attract, but not in this case.

You scrolled until you found the song you were looking for, Gravity, pressing play when the current one had ended.

Returning to your dance partner, He took you in his arms once again and began to sway.

Being this close to him felt...different, and not in a bad way, but it definitely was not casual.

When you looked up, his eyes were trained somewhere on your face. Your heart skipped one, two, three beats, and just about stopped when you both began to lean in.

His lips met yours softly, but desperately as if they had been waiting forever.

“Can we do that again?” you asked shakily, blinking to make sure it wasn't a dream.

He smiled in relief and nodded, leaning in again, placing several smaller kisses to your lips.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting to do that." He breathed, pulling you closer.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for you to." you teased.

He dipped his head slightly. "So, will you go out with me?"

"On a date? Heck yeah." You cheered.

He pulled you in for another kiss that lasted a few seconds.

"I...love you," he whispered.

You giggled. "I love you too, Star Lord."

[brynnterpretations]

If they had all survived that summer, what would their lives look like 27 years later?

THE BOWERS GANG IN 27 YEARS ☻

Belch Huggins

Twenty-seven years for Belch leads to a comfortable job at Derry Auto. His mother wanted him to go to college, but ultimately, it wasn't affordable — his father had ended up gambling half of the Huggins' savings — so he attended a trade school in Bangor and began working as a mechanic. He lives in his childhood home, taking care of his mother, who unfortunately began succumbing to dementia in 2015. While not yet married due to, quite frankly, not having the time, Belch is enamored with a kind waitress with a sarcastic streak down the road, and is hoping to have a ring for her one day. Overall, it's bittersweet, but he has a lot of hope for the future. He keeps in touch with Henry and Victor, but hasn't spoken to the off-the-grid Patrick since 2001 after he'd crashed at Belch's house when he was running from an ex-fling (probably that Sherry chick from twelfth grade, but he didn't ask any questions, nor did Patrick ever say thank you).

Henry Bowers

If we nix the murder charges and subsequent institutionalization, twenty-seven years for Henry leads to a life on the margins of Derry. Upon his eighteenth birthday, Henry was kicked to the curb by his father, leading to him crashing at Belch's, which was a surprisingly decent dynamic. Still, he struggled with no longer being the top dog of Derry High School, and instead. Like Belch, Henry attended trade school, and became a truck-driver for Sysco. The long hours and lack of sleep led him to become a fervent drinker, and whenever he returned to Derry for the few days he had before his next venture, he'd drink like a fish and end up in jail for the night, covered in his own vomit — by age twenty-five, Henry had eight counts of aggravated assault and ten counts of public intoxication to his name. In 2016, Henry is coping with the complicated feelings of his father's accidental death while drinking on the job by drinking on his job, living in the same apartment complex that Beverly Marsh lived in back in '89. He keeps in contact with Belch and Victor; the last time he'd heard from Patrick was in '92, when Patrick had been on a drug escapade somewhere next to a payphone.

Patrick Hockstetter

Twenty-seven years for Patrick leads to a well-endowed rap sheet. Bored of Derry, nineteen-year-old Patrick stole three-hundred dollars from the Hockstetters' safe and hitched it to Augusta in the car his parents bought for him the year prior. This, of course, led to him becoming a public menace, as would any sociopathic teenager with a fake ID, and he ended up having a criminal record so severe that he was left no choice but to couch-surf around Maine, considering no apartments wanted him as a liability. In the years coming, he never really stayed in one place, bouncing between Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. In 2016, he's started his own commune in rural Rhode Island (long story), which is very quickly falling apart due to his waning interest in anyone or anything. He doesn't keep in touch with any of the Bowers Gang besides a time in 2001 where he ended up crashing in Belch's to hide from an arson investigation in Van Buren. Belch, the poor son of a bitch, still thinks it was because he was running from a "crazy motherfucking ex". He took a bit of offense to that — he doesn't touch the crazy, he is the crazy.

Victor Criss

In twenty-seven years, Victor has a wife, a cat, and a more-than-cozy job as editor-in-chief for The Portland Press Herald. The only of the Bowers Gang to get into college, Victor spent five years at the University of Southern Maine for a degree in journalism — admittedly, he might've spent too much time hitting the penjamin — and met his future wife there, who he ended up marrying four years later. Though Victor is mostly content with his life, he still is haunted by the things he did in his youth, which has led him to a borderline abuse of sleeping medications to combat the insomnia-inducing memories of what he did as a member of the Bowers Gang. He keeps in contact with Belch and Henry — mostly out of loyalty — having not known what the fuck Patrick has been doing since '92 (outside of running from an ex-lover in 2001?).

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

OC interview

Thanks to @elsie-writes here, @sleepywriter00 here!

Rules: answer questions in the POV of an OC!

I'm feeling Maddie today!

Are you named after anyone?

“I don't think so. Unless my parents knew someone named Madison.”

When was the last time you cried?

“Hm. I dunno. I hate crying. I don't do it often.”

Do you have kids?

“.... No...? I'm an adolescent.”

Do you use sarcasm a lot?

“Hm. I don't think so. Sometimes I tell a joke and someone thinks I'm being sarcastic.”

What’s the first thing you notice about people?

“Hm. Age?”

What’s your eye color?

“Blue.”

Scary movies or happy endings?

“Hm.... Don't think those are opposites, but okay. [Long deliberation.] Scary movies. I like the adrenaline.”

Any special talents?

“Hm. I'm in the robotics club. I also like taking pens apart; I'm good at putting them back together. I'm good at my shapeshifting. And researching animals. Oh, yeah, I think I'm funny. Not sure if that's a talent.”

Where were you born?

“I think here in Texas.”

Do you have any pets?

“No. Unless you count me. I'd shapeshift into a dog but I don't want to ruin my clothes.”

What sort of sports do you play?

“Our garage has a tennis ball on a string that Lexi and I hit with rackets sometimes.”

How tall are you?

“I'm 4'7. But that's, like, normal for kids my age. For Alii, I could be adult-height.”

What was your favourite subject in school?

“Science. If they made math more hands-on it would be that. Worksheets are boring.”

What is your dream job?

“Hm. I dunno. Never thought of it. Engineer or mechanic seems fun.”

Other Maddie: OC in three, OC in fifteen, Picrew, two truths and a lie, questionnaire, filled-in Bingo, bag

Other interviews: Wade, Jazlyn, Gwen, Lexi, Carla, Carmen

Tagging @honeybewrites @writeouswriter @eccaiia @aalinaaaaaa @i-can-even-burn-salad

@avrablake @winterandwords @whatwewrotepodcast @bread-roses-and-chrome @ahordeofwasps

@rickie-the-storyteller @mysticstarlightduck @leahnardo-da-veggie @finickyfelix @talesofsorrowandofruin

+ ANYONE ELSE

TSP intro

TSP tag list (ask to be +/-): @thepeculiarbird @illarian-rambling @televisionjester @finchwrites

@nebula--nix @literarynecromancy

Blanks below the cut!

Are you named after anyone? When was the last time you cried? Do you have kids? Do you use sarcasm a lot? What’s the first thing you notice about people? What’s your eye colour? Scary movies or happy endings? Any special talents? Where were you born? Do you have any pets? What sort of sports do you play? How tall are you? What was your favourite subject in school? What is your dream job?

[aziraphales-library]

Hi there, hope you are doing well!

I was wondering if you knew of any fics, preferably explicit but not necessarily, that feature Crowley in drag? I’ve found a lot of she/her or otherwise fem!Crowley fics, but very few that broach the subject of cross-dressing/drag as a male-identifying entity.

Apologies for the weirdly specific request. Thank you so much for all y’all do by the way, this blog is an absolute gem!

Hello. I can't find loads, unfortunately. But here are a couple with Crowley in drag and a couple with Aziraphale in drag...

from tonight, I know that you're the only one by wowgaypeople (T)

Aziraphale, new to SoHo, goes to the wrong door of a gay club. Crowley is on the other side of that door. Antics ensue.

The Stylings of Madam Glena by altsernative (T)

It's 1977, eight years after Aziraphale said "You got too fast for me," and Crowley hasn't seen him since. In Aziraphale's absence, Crowley helps set up the Sundown Club, a gay bar in Soho. He tells himself--and downstairs--that it's building a space for "workers of inequity," although he finds comfort in the community. He's settled into a quiet routine of drinking at the bar every week until a beautiful drag queen captures his attention. Crowley feels unexpected things. It's weird. And where is Aziraphale?

Angel, Please by GhostOfCallisto (M)

Crowley and Aziraphale are both regular old humans who met under human circumstances. Crowley is a part of a struggling band called Hellish Rebuke with the demon crew, Aziraphale is a former drag queen named Angel Fell attempting to be a professional dancer. Maggie and Nina are best friends with Crowley and big fans of his band.

Love in a Family Dose by Fledglinger, thewalrus_said (G)

Crowley thumped his head against the door and thought a quick, sarcastic prayer at a God who had never, not once, had his back. “Aziraphale,” he said, trying for patience. “Open this door.” “Go away!” his husband shrieked. “You can’t see me like this!” “I’ve seen you every way imaginable,” Crowley said, trying the knob again. “Whatever state you’re in can’t be much worse. Newt! Get this door open!” “Sorry, Miss Azi,” he heard their housekeeper mumble, and then something heavy was moved away from the door and it swung open to reveal Newt, pale face flushed and pale hair disheveled. Crowley pushed past him into the room as Aziraphale shrieked again and disappeared behind his dressing screen.

Dust Shalt Thou Eat by ARealPip, Nix Laurel (E)

After the world doesn't end, Crowley and Aziraphale get a room at the Ritz and start working out what it means for them to be together. They can swap bodies and touch each other's souls, but their bodies interact with the world very differently from each other. Crowley's body is cursed by God, and he can't taste food. And Aziraphale, like all angels, doesn't experience sexual arousal. Now that they are together, they can expand each other's horizons. But relationships, even magical ones, are delicate and complicated, and being able to hear your partner's thoughts doesn't mean that you will agree on everything. Two magical lovers find ways to heal each other, to escape their past, and to protect Earth from all those bastards in Heaven and Hell.

Saving Eden by Aspiring_Eccentric (E)

Crowley had left Eden fully expecting death in one form or another. But what if he didn’t have to die? What would happen if he made it out of this? Trials and paperwork and news articles. His life would be ripped apart and exposed, ugly and raw to the world. But maybe it needed to happen if he wanted any chance at building a future. He’d tried running before, first burying what he was, and then who. And each time it had only led to worse things, to this. This fucking, suffocating mess that left him at the mercy of a merciless man.... Both Anthony Crowley and Ezra Fell feel stuck. Their lives have fallen into patterns they feel they have little control over, Crowley’s is controlled by a manipulative boss, and Ezra’s by his passive acceptance that he should be grateful for what he has. When the two lives cross, there are instant sparks. But will Crowley’s secrecy about his past, and his current situation, push Ezra away? A meet-cute that changed into a midlife crisis. A midlife crisis that changed into a lifelong devotion. Sometimes, persisting to exist is its own act of revolution.

- Mod D

[elvenbeard]

Paranoia

Cyberpunk 2077 Fanfic

Summary: Something is off with V's medication, but there are many leads and the clock is ticking. What is Mr. Blue-Eyes planning and who is the rat that sold V out? With little expectations, Kerry begins an investigation on his own. (Post-Sun-Ending, mostly canon-compliant, Chapter 11/?, 6999 words, Kerry Eurodyne/V - notes at the end) >> Previous Chapter >> Read from the Beginning

“Vik told you to take it easy, Vince,” Kerry urged, placing his hands on V’s shoulders from behind. He had been lingering on his desk ever since they’d come home instead of finally joining Kerry on the couch downstairs. Watch a show, or just listen to music, just… exist and forget about all the existential dread at least for an hour or so, but no...

V’s half-empty martini glass stood close by the left edge of the table. Gently massaging V’s tense muscles, Kerry leaned down to give him a quick kiss on his flushed cheeks. He hadn’t made his drink that strong, as requested, but V just really didn’t react well to alcohol. In a way it was adorable. This seasoned merc, Night City’s bad boy number one, couldn’t hold his liquor.

“One sec,” V said, a little absentminded, eyes glued to the screen displaying a timelapse of various views of security cam footage of their penthouse. Kerry suppressed a sigh, and he opted now to loosely wrap his arms around V’s shoulders, trying to get his attention away from the computer like this. When he would not budge still, he rested his chin on V’s head and then reluctantly looked at the screen as well.

Selected in the security system’s overview was one of the cameras in the garage, the one in the elevator, one in the armory. Three more that overlooked the exterior of the house, including the entrance. Kerry knew of a couple more that V wasn’t monitoring at the moment. The timestamp in the corner of the footage was racing backwards, as was the video itself, and V had reached mid-August, briefly after they’d moved in here. The recordings eventually stopped at various still frames of him testing the setup on the day he’d had it installed.

“I wish I had footage of my old apartment,” V murmured, more to himself than to Kerry, “Was still spending a lot of time there when I got the first batch of pills from Vik.”

“Nothin’ suspicious here?” Kerry asked.

“No… at least, nothin’ apparent, as in…,” he gestured vaguely, “Masked intruders with blue glowing eyes.”

Kerry chuckled at his sarcastic undertone.

“That would be too easy.”

“I guess…” V shrugged, finally leaning back into Kerry’s embrace now, although with the backrest of his chair between them it was kinda awkward. Kerry shuffled and shifted slightly to better see V’s expression.

“How’s your head?” he almost didn’t dare to ask.

“Alright,” V said, eyes unfocused, but then he paused, “No actually it… was better earlier. Think Vik’s stuff’s startin’ to wear off. But I’ll manage.”

Kerry lowered his head and briefly closed his eyes. The heat of his own drink long worn off he basked in the warmth V was radiating. His warmth, his glow… how many more – or how few – setbacks would it take until it would all fade away forever?

“I gotta cross-reference this with my schedule,” V changed the topic back to the footage, “What date I got which batch of pills, and then see if there’s any weirdness here around those timeframes… Second prescription was around the time we moved in, but there were so many people in and out all the time… And if they got here before the security system was up and running the next best thing is the building’s surveillance outside, but that’s shitty quality and bad angles…”

V rubbed his face with his right hand and took a deep, heavy breath, as if an immense weight lay on his chest. Kerry clutched him a little tighter.

“Ooor, “he suggested in an attempt to ease the tension, “You could just chill until Nix does his job. ’Cause if this AJ chick lied to ya, you’re wastin’ a lot of energy on somethin’ pointless right now.”

“Don’t think she was lying…” V shook his head and finally moved to get up, Kerry letting him, “If she did, she should apply at some corp’s CI department. Better suited there instead of a dingy drug lab.”

He slipped out of his chair and picked up his leftover martini in one fluid motion, bringing the glass to his lips with some reluctance though.

“Y’know, I’ll happily finish it for ya,” Kerry offered with a wink, his forearms resting on the chair’s backrest now, fingers loosely interlocked as he played with one of his rings. V’s eyes met with his, a challenging glimmer in them, a cheeky smirk on his lips. He emptied the rest of his drink in one go. Letting out a long, deep breath V set the glass down and leaned back against the desk, healthy hand holding on to the edge for support.

“I’m so gonna regret this, but…” he still smiled at Kerry, “Not gonna lie, that was pretty good.”

“Despite the olive?” Kerry teased, then slowly pushed the chair aside, and stepped in front of him.

“Even that wasn’t so bad,” he said as Kerry’s hands trailed down V’s sides, then slipped under his t-shirt. Kerry grinned when goosebumps rose under his fingertips as they wandered around V’s waist, down to the small of his back.

“Picked a good one,” he said, trying to keep his mind from wandering as well, too fast, too far.

“Yeah, I did,” V smiled, and Kerry paused for a moment, noticing the slight tilt of V’s head, how he pursed his lips, amber eyes looking up at him through long dark eyelashes. Yeah… he wasn’t talking about the olive anymore.

“Gonk,” he muttered, but then he leaned in, no longer able to resist to kiss V’s cheeks and neck and chest, tongue and lips guided by the dark pink flushes speckled all across pale skin.

“What was that about takin’ it easy?” V whispered hoarsely, grabbing on to Kerry’s waist, leaning into his touch.

“Yeah… you lean back and relax,” Kerry breathed against his neck, “And lemme do what I’m good at…”

V giggled as Kerry slowly guided him over to their bed, accompanied by more kisses, little gasps, and fleeting touches.

Drunk sex usually guaranteed that V would be out cold (blissfully, of course) for at least a couple of hours afterwards. It had been one rollercoaster of a day and night… of a week, really, with both of them getting too little restful sleep. So, Kerry hoped this impromptu afternoon nap would do V good, or at the very least give him a little rest from everything. He seemed at peace at least, lips slightly parted, breathing slowly and deeply, huddled into their lightweight silk blanket the same way he’d been this morning. Kerry stayed by his side for a little while longer, just watching… but Lee and Vicki and a few other studio assholes kept messaging him, interrupting their domestic bliss once again.

They had been trying to get in touch all day, reminding him of deadlines, work that needed to be done, promo events, concerts, collabs… And Kerry had been patiently ignoring them while out and about with V. All he wanted was to stay in bed with him now, help him get the help he needed, force him to take it easy when he just wouldn’t listen to his doctors telling him to.

He lightly brushed his fingers over V’s cheek, the hint of patchy dark stubble along his jawline, eyes lingering on his pulse point for a moment. Kerry had sucked an almost purple bruise into his flesh, right where skin and cyberware met, as V had been flinching and whimpering under him…

Blip beep. Another message from Lee forced the steamy mental image out of Kerry’s head. He huffed and quickly checked his phone, with no intention to respond.

“The situation in regard to the video is somewhat under control now,” it read, and Kerry shuddered, “But N54 News’ showbiz representative sent in another exclusive interview request. They agreed to scratch the questions that had been bothering you in their previous e-mail, but in return they want a statement on the video and your relationship status. Same conditions as before. I think this is as great chance to clear things up and gain you some sympathy – also in light of already circulating rumors. I wrote up some possible responses (attached below) if you want to read them in advance! Maybe we can meet up some time later today, or tomorrow or… whenever fits best. To talk things through, discuss the next steps for the album and everything else. Please just quickly let me know if you’ve read this so I know you’re okay and onboard!”

Kerry suppressed an annoyed groan to not wake V. After a few more minutes of failing to doze off as well, he decided to get up. Drink some more maybe, have a smoke. Smash his phone with a hammer. In fact, what he really wanted was to get high out of his mind, knock himself out with vodka and pills, and sleep for 72 hours straight. Had he been alone, just lil’ old Kerry back at his villa in North Oak… he probably would’ve, and without hesitation.

Instead, now, he slipped into his bathrobe hanging over the gallery’s rail, and as he passed by V’s desk to get to the kitchen, his eyes got caught by the screens once more. A quick glance over his shoulder confirmed that V was still asleep. He had been so sure to find something suspicious on the security footage… but he’d also been high on Vik’s drug cocktail, dizzy from drinking Kerry’s actual cocktail, and pre-occupied with too much else. No surprise he hadn’t succeeded. If there even was anything to find at all.

Then again, Kerry barely knew what he was doing when it came to their house’s security system either. He had left these types of things to his management team for decades, and so far, that had worked out just fine. Mostly, at least. V had said himself, back when they had this installed here, that there simply was no system that was one hundred percent safe and impenetrable. There were always loopholes, exploits to use, and all that other fancy tech terminology Kerry only half understood but loved to hear V talk about.

“You can never fully rule out human error, either,” was what he liked to say.

Hence why Kerry felt a little silly when he pulled out the desk chair after standing, staring, and pondering it all for too long. All camera views were still selected in the review tool, V was visible in one of them, the 180 degrees view into the armory. He was looking up at the lens, at Kerry, pensive and serious. The timestamp read “August 3rd 2077 – 11.46 a.m.“. Just a little over a month ago, but he looked so much less tired than he did most days now. But also, at this point, he must’ve already been working for Blue-Eyes behind the scenes. Kerry realized that maybe that was exactly why he had been so keen on upgrading the security system before they’d even properly settled in.

Kerry sighed, leaned back in the chair, and then pulled up his own schedule. They’d just talked about it, the day Viktor had delivered more bad news to V regarding his initial treatment plan was the same day Kerry finally got out of the contract with Kovachek. The same day Blue-Eyes got in touch with his convenient help offer. He had to scroll past walls of texts and messages, but he finally found the invitation for the meeting with the studio bosses. July 22nd. Yeah, no footage for that. They had been talking about moving in together for a while at that time already though… early, really, given how they first met back in May only. But V had spent most of his nights at Kerry’s villa anyway, and Kerry sought refuge at V’s apartment all other days. Finding a place for them both together had simply felt like the right next logical step. It still did, more than ever. And with how little time they seemed to have left at the moment, there was no “too soon” for nothing, really…

Kerry held the thought and continued to scroll further up through his appointments on his planner’s interface. The scheduled meeting during which Lee had signed him on, a few days after the final conversation with Kovachek. The appointment with the realtor to view the penthouse. Moving in day, various important events at the recording studio, and with medias. A handful of parties, occasions, dinner dates with V sprinkled in-between, an invitation from River to come over some time… He hesitated for a moment at August 20th. It had been surprisingly hard again this year, but V made it easier, like so many other things...

After a few more studio-related appointments Kerry had reached present time.

He looked back at the computer screen in front of him, had to search for a play button. Then the recordings started moving again, at a quite high speed.

“Ah fuck…” Kerry hissed and looked for a way to slow the footage down, clicking some random buttons, but without success. Before accidentally deleting something, Kerry decided to just keep his eyes peeled for anything out of the usual as best as he managed, but there was nothing too obvious… Them both or either of them leaving and coming back home every day around similar times, AVs or delivery drones landing outside. There was quite the commotion with the moving company in the beginning, lots of strangers all at once, but Kerry didn’t recall any of them behaving weirdly, or even getting near where V stored his pills at the time.

Since there was only about a month of footage sped up dramatically, Kerry opted to just restart it a handful of times whenever he reached the end. Lee showed up in person at the entrance quite often in the beginning, but rarely made it all the way into the penthouse… Kerry hadn’t been aware just how often he did it though, seeing it happen again and again now on loop. He assumed that during some occasions neither he nor V were home to let him in. Kerry in fact remembered only one time Lee had been here in the early days, and how pissed he’d gotten at him for showing up unannounced over something completely trivial. He’d told him to meet up at the studio for these types of convos in the future and he had assumed that was the end of the story of unannounced visits.

Apparently not. Because right now he saw Lee coming back day after day… then not anymore for a few weeks. Then again on two days in a row at the end of August, the 24th and 25th. Kerry was not there to invite him in for any of those visits either…

He paused the preview at Lee just getting out of the penthouse and into the elevator on August 25th. His heart was racing faster than the footage had been, raking his brains… Had V let him in? He doubted that…

He pulled up his holo screen again to read back through the endless wall of text messages Lee had sent him since. Finally, the 25th, on which there had been a little bit of back and forth between them actually, and Kerry’s tension dropped slightly.

“Lee, I’m fucking busy tonight. Shard with demos is still at my new place. If you really need it that desperately, you gotta go get it yourself,” had been Kerry’s final message that night, and it fit the timeframe Lee was at the penthouse.

 So, he’d let him in remotely to pick up that shard, just how he did the other day to feed the cat. Temporary access token, no big deal, right…

Kerry scrolled further back through his messages, but there was nothing in his texts, nor his e-mails, nor his appointments that would explain Lee’s visit on the day before though. Only a reminder to himself about “date night with V <;3”, the reason for his pre-occupation on the 25th and neither of them being at the penthouse.

He dismissed his schedule and stared back at the screen. At Lee with his ridiculous pompadour, bleach-blond still at the time, in his over-priced suit, stumbling into the elevator, frozen in time. Going by the timestamps, he’d been in the penthouse for 15 minutes to pick up the shard which seemed… long for a task that simple. Unless it wasn’t the only thing he’d done there while Kerry and V were out on a fancy date.

No, not him though. The thought alone was fucking insane. That man’s spine was a slinky toy. He almost shat his pants whenever he had to call or speak to Kerry. If all that was an act and he was secretly one of Blue-Eyes’ agents, he deserved a fucking Oscar. Kerry shook his head at his own paranoia, took a few moments to rationalize, think it through. Lee was notorious for his bad timing and inability to just leave him the fuck alone. There were a million possible explanations that made more sense than any deeper, darker purpose behind these numerous, persistent visits and incompetence of fulfilling easy tasks in a timely manner…

He scrolled back through the footage to the several days in a row Lee was there at the start of August, shortly after they moved in. Kerry had his messages to him from that timeframe at the ready.

The one time he actually remembered Lee coming to the penthouse to talk was a Sunday. He didn’t even have a proper reason, apart from “getting to know each other a bit better” and discussing future plans and whatnot. Nothing they couldn’t have done over the holo. Hence why Kerry had been so pissed off, apart from Lee invading his living room unannounced. V hadn’t been there, thankfully.

The day after this incident Lee was on the footage again… No messages in Kerry’s inbox, but a calendar appointment for booking a recording booth. Kerry wasn’t home, and going by the footage, Lee didn’t get into the house either. He lingered in front of the intercom by the entrance a long while though, and Kerry noticed that he was talking – to V maybe, home that day, but telling him that Kerry was at the studio? Lee left the entrance area of the building with reluctance. Then he came back the next day, and again, Kerry couldn’t make a connection to his visit with any of the entries in his schedule or his messages. And then, August 11th…

“Lee… got a problem, forgot to fill the cat feeder this morning. I’ll be at the studio for a while still. Sending you a temporary access token. Cat food in the shelf next to the fridge.”

“You can never fully rule out human error…” shot through Kerry’s mind again. But yes, of course he’d give him access to their house, repeatedly, for stupid little tasks like that. Why wouldn’t he? Lee was a fucking pathetic little loser. He could never harm them in any way apart from maybe, psychological damage, right?

Kerry continued to stare at the screen, the timestamps. Lee arrived on the 11th and then spent almost 45 minutes feeding the cat. Kerry jumped forward to near the end of the collection of recordings, to a couple of days ago. The day he’d been at the med center and instructed Lee to feed the cat as well. Lee arrived at the penthouse quickly and sent his photo of Nibbles eating 5 minutes later. He was out the front door again after just over ten minutes. What had he done for the more than 30 extra minutes during the first “feed the cat” visit? Even his incompetence wasn’t great enough to need that long to locate the cat food and put it in the feeder.

Kerry’s ears were ringing as he watched himself in front of the computer from above. He hadn’t had such an intense out-of-body experience in a while. Trying to come up with a more logical explanation than “he probably searched for and swapped the pills during that time”, he was unable to even lift a finger. The thought ate itself into his brain like acid.

“Lee swapped the pills…” he wasn’t even sure if he said it out loud, so insane the mere idea. For money, for power, for chrome? What could a Mr. Blue-Eyes offer a small light like Lee… Well, everything he wanted, probably, and more. And Lee was dumb enough to believe him, too, if even V could be lured in by someone like that with promises big and times desperate enough.

 When Kerry arrived back in his own body eventually, his paralysis was slowly but surely replaced by rage.

“I’m gonna fuckin’ kill that bastard…” he muttered to himself, got up from the chair, and instead of drinking more, maybe having a smoke, he went to grab his clothes from the wardrobe and then his gun from the armory. V was still fast asleep and none the wiser by the time the Aerondight left the garage.

Of course, Kerry wouldn’t kill Lee. Not really. Probably. But at the very least he wanted to scare the shit out of him and make him talk. Even if he had nothing to do with all of this in the way Kerry assumed, something was up with him, and Kerry needed to give him a piece of his mind before he imploded for good.

He arrived in front of the MSM recording studio in Charter Hill much faster than anticipated… so much so that his impromptu plan to get Lee to talk was still somewhat fuzzy around the edges. He was in the mood to storm in, guns blazing, but there was no guarantee Lee was even there. Maybe he should’ve checked that before coming here. Kerry cursed between his teeth, slightly clammy hands gripping the steering wheel tightly as he parked straight across from the building’s main entrance. Reluctantly he decided to simply call his manager, something he usually never did. It rang a handful of times, longer than he would’ve expected.

“Kerry?” asked the shaky voice on the other end of the line.

“Certainly not Lizzy Wizzy,” Kerry replied deadpan, “Where are ya?”

His heart was beating in his throat.

“I’m at the studio! I’ve been waiting to hear from you, been worried that –…”

“I’m outside the front door,” Kerry interrupted him, “Come down, let’s talk.”

He tried not to let his nerves show, and he was thankful for his AudioVox evening out the slight tremor in his words.

“Uh… why don’t you come upstairs to my office?” Lee evaded, “Vicki just dropped by with two new demos you can listen to, I think – …”

“No,” Kerry said sternly, but he was grasping at straws for a reason as to why they had to meet outside that wouldn’t leave Lee even more suspicious.

“Bring the demos with ya, we’ll listen to ‘em on the road,” was the best thing he could bullshit this quickly, “Been too stagnant lately, gotta move around a bit, get the creative juices flowing.”

Empty phrases he’d flung around a million times before, but they usually worked with types like Lee.

“Oh… okay?” Lee said, then there was silence for a couple of seconds, “Okay, I’ll be right there but… I need to be back at the studio at the latest in an hour, got an important appointment...”

Kerry didn’t reply and simply hung up. No promises.

Lee appeared at the building’s main entrance around ten endless minutes later. Maybe he was truly just very bad at fulfilling simple tasks quickly. Kerry’s doubts were loud in his head as his right leg bounced in a shaky rhythm, the gun in his jacket’s pocket, heavy as a brick, bruising his thigh. Lee jogged across the street, black and blue designer coat fluttering in the wind. When he approached the passenger side of the car, he tried to put on a smile, but it was slanted and forced. Kerry opened the door for him.

“Get in,” he ordered, demanded almost, and Lee slightly flinched, fumbling in his pockets and pulling out a handful of shard cases.

“Got everything with me, I thought maybe we could start with the song demos? But just in case I also brought the interview questions I mentioned, and some other things you can decide on for the upcoming promo events.”

“Wow, great. Now get in,” Kerry repeated himself with zero enthusiasm and finally Lee slipped into the seat. The same seat V had fucked Kerry in so gloriously yesterday… and now Lee desecrated the space with his presence.

Kerry closed the door again and sped off before Lee could say another word, headed towards the highway that would lead them out of the city.

Lee kept babbling without pause, played the demos for Kerry and recounted the producers’ notes on what needed to be changed still and what was good, as well as the opinions of the studio bosses Kerry didn’t give a fuck about. But he had to just nod and smile, because in the end they were the ones that determined his success to an essential degree.

About twenty minutes into their drive, with buildings left and right becoming scarce and nothing but the near-deserted Badlands ahead of them, Lee grew quieter. He stared blankly ahead at the CrystalDome screens.

“Uh, Kerry, at the latest at five I need to be back in Charter Hill,” he reminded him.

Kerry did not respond, only half heard him really, his thoughts racing, eyes scanning for a secluded place he could pull into, wary to not be tailed by gangers, or worse, paparazzi. His GPS navigation pointed out a little dead-end road not far ahead, leading to an old racing track. He remembered the place, knew where he was now. He’d been here with V, very early on in their relationship, blowing off steam after something V couldn’t talk about at the time. That was before Blue-Eyes even, Johnny was still around… In hindsight Kerry was sure it had had something to do with that whole Dogtown mess.

His Aerondight squealed and rumbled across the uneven dirt road, he physically couldn’t go much further than a couple of hundred yards away from the highway, so he pulled over to the side of the road behind a large rock and turned off the engine.

“Uh, Kerry, we still have a long drive back ahead of us, and I gotta – ,“ Lee wanted to protest and Kerry slipped his fingers around the grip of his gun. He tried to breathe away his shaking, but it was no use. They were here now, he had to seize the opportunity, because who knew when – or if – Lee would ever get into the same car with him again.

He pulled his gun and pointed it at Lee, who let out a brief but surprisingly controlled scream and immediately raised his hands.

“K-Kerry I mean… Let’s talk this through, I’m sure you don’t wanna –…”

“Shut your fucking second asshole, Lee, ‘cause there’s only shit comin’ from it anyway,” Kerry ordered sternly, somewhat surprised at his own bravado, “Turn off your phone and put it in the glovebox, and then get out. No tricks, no messing around.”

“Okay, okay!” Lee whimpered, pulled out his phone with a feverish expression and squashed it in the glovebox between condoms, unpaid parking tickets, and one or two satchels of colorful pills.

“Get out, hands on your head,” Kerry repeated, “And slowly start walkin’.”

“Okay!” Lee squealed, eyes big and teary, then Kerry unlocked and opened the door for him before getting out of the car himself.

He looked over his shoulder, listened into the distance, but the desert was quiet. No roaring engines, no gunshots, no yelling. Yet.

With his gun he gestured Lee towards the old racing track, and whimpering Lee obeyed and marched on, white syn-leather boots soon turned orange from the dust. They quietly walked on until Kerry felt there was enough of a distance to the road, and they were at least partially obscured by the tall coarse rock formations and sparse vegetation framing the location.

“That’s far enough. Turn around,” he ordered, gun still pointing at Lee, he gripped it tightly with both hands to keep it steady. His manager slowly did as he was told, turning on the spot, slightly hunched over and squinting against the sun and the barrel of the gun. Kerry just stared back at him, tried to make sense of it still… and wondered if he had maybe lost it for good now. In the end, he had only a vague suspicion, no proof, no nothing. The uncertainty began to gnaw on his to-begin-with shaky confidence in all of this.

“Kerry listen,” Lee then pleaded, “I’m sure this has got to be a misunderstanding of some sort! Let’s just… talk, okay? Without the gun, maybe?”

“Shut it,” Kerry ordered, “I’m makin’ the rules here.”

“Okay, okay,” Lee lowered his head slightly, whispering something under his breath Kerry didn’t quite catch. He never took Lee for a religious person, but a little prayer probably couldn’t hurt in a moment like this.

Kerry still didn’t have a plan of action in his mind on how to move forward. In a movie the hero would probably hold a dramatic speech now, confronting the villain about his crimes and all, but truthfully, Kerry wasn’t the hero here. Holding a whimpering mess like Lee at gunpoint at least had nothing heroic about it. So, he decided to just cut straight to the point.

“Did you swap V’s pills?” he asked, voice not nearly as firm as the grip around his gun. He didn’t even have his finger on the trigger, but the visual alone was intimidating enough, he hoped.

He expected confusion, more bargaining, or just downright denial from Lee. Not for his eyes to grow wide, the remaining color to fade from his face. And for once in his life, Lee was dead silent, stared at Kerry open-mouthed. He’d hit the nail on the head.

“You fuckin’ asshole!” Kerry hissed and took a step towards Lee, pointing his gun straight between the fucker’s eyes, near-blinded by anger at Lee’s reaction. Lee screamed and flinched back, stumbling almost. Now the bargaining began.

“Please, please, I had no choice, they threatened to ruin me!”

“Well, tough shit, guess I’ll do it for ‘em now!” Kerry barked, his chest tight and face hot, and Lee kept screaming, pleading.

“No, no, no! Please!”

“You fuckin’ son of a bitch! To save your own sorry ass you, you – …”

Suddenly Lee’s persistent fear of Kerry and V made even more sense. If he’d been behind this from the start, he’d probably been scared they’d figure it out somehow, sooner or later. Every time they were alone together the bastard was a shaking mess not because he was so bad at his job, but scared for his life. Well, a little bit of both maybe.

“Who told you to do this?” Kerry then asked, “And you better spit it out quickly and as detailed as possible, or I’ll leave your sorry ass to rot out here.”

Lee whimpered and now sank to his knees, hands still on his head, facing the ground and actually sobbing.

“I don’t know them, I swear!” he sputtered, “Never saw their faces, never spoke to anyone in person. It all went over the holo. Directed me to pick up spots and gave me a certain timeframe to do… to do the swap. And if I hadn’t, they’d’ve ruined my life. Oh god… they’re not gonna just ruin my life, they’re really gonna kill me now that you know!”

He tumbled over forward, face-first into the sand and his sobbing intensified. Kerry couldn’t help but feel sorry for him now, a pathetic little loser in way over his head. And his story sadly sounded plausible with the little Kerry and V knew about Blue-Eyes and his associates.

“Fucking hell…” Kerry muttered and lowered his gun, then he closed the remaining distance between himself and Lee. He bent down and firmly grasped him by the back of his collar to pull him back up. Lee neither resisted nor made the feat easy for Kerry.

“Get it together, man,” Kerry hissed through gritted teeth and Lee fell backwards on his ass and just sat in the sand now, a picture of misery. His face and hair were encrusted with dirt, wet streaks running down his cheeks, his hands rested in his lap in resignation.

Kerry knelt down on one knee in front of him, gun still at the ready just in case, and tried to catch Lee’s gaze.

“Hope they at least fuckin’ paid you well,” Kerry said, trying his best to remain calm, scared that Lee would actually pass out if he intimidated him even more. Lee shook his head and Kerry frowned.

“They blackmailed me,” he explained sniffling, “I don’t know how but… They have so much information on me that I was sure no one knew about. How I never went to a prestigious school, the shit my parents did, how many of my credentials are… polished at best, how I… I never would’ve made it this far up at MSM if I hadn’t… improved my background here and there. I’m gonna lose everything if that information reaches the wrong kinda people...”

Kerry sighed deeply.

“Why am I not surprised,” he muttered, but knowing that Lee acted for purely selfish reasons made this somehow so much worse than if he’d just done it for a huge chunk of money. Not that it surprised him though, that was Night City in a nutshell. He got up again and started pacing in front of Lee.

“Lemme guess, you also didn’t know what you were even swapping there, right?” he asked, anger creeping back in, “Cause, surprise, you didn’t exchange some ibuprofen with sugar pills!”

He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a few deep breaths. They still didn’t even know exactly what these pills had been doing to V, but whatever it was, if they came from Mr. B, it couldn’t be good. Some kind of preparation to put V in that artificial body at best, mind control that was killing him even faster than his own body at worst. Everything in-between and beyond seemed possible and plausible, too.

“They said it was none of my concern and the less I knew, the better,” Lee admitted quietly, and Kerry couldn’t help but laugh out loud in frustration.

“You… pathetic shitstain!” he now yelled, so close to losing his temper again, “You’re the worst kind of scumbag, aren’t you? Messin’ with someone else’s life and health without asking any questions, just to save your own sorry ass. Believe me, you fit in just fuckin’ right with MSM and that whole fucking’ shitshow of a corporation. Such a brave obedient little corpo soldier, aren’t ya? Fuck!”

He kicked a small rock into the distance, swirling up orange dust, and its impact against one of the larger rock formations echoed across the desert. The sun was beginning to set over the city far behind them, and Kerry paced back and forth, back and forth, failing to find a solution. Lee held his head low and said nothing either, too shaken and guilty still, probably packing his bags in his mind already. Or shoveling his grave.

V would know what to do now, or at least be able to improvise something, but Kerry was at a loss. He eventually stopped in his tracks, still clutching his gun tightly, but despite his seething anger at Lee he still had no intentions of killing him. The guy had killed himself long ago already by weaseling his way into MSM through crooked schemes. Blue-Eyes was only serving him the bill for it now.

As if he could sense Kerry staring at him, Lee looked up and their eyes met.

“What now?” he asked shakily.

“Dunno, whaddaya suggest?” Kerry shrugged, “Wanna have me put ya outta your misery right away?”

“No no no!” Lee stammered and raised his hands again, hunching over in fear, “Please I… I know I fucked up, big time!”

“That’s the understatement of the century…”

After a moment of hesitation Lee looked back up at him again, carefully.

“I… if there is anything I can do to make up for this…”

Kerry couldn’t help himself but laugh.

“Well now I’m curious what in the fuck you’re gonna offer.”

“I… dunno…” Lee’s brief moment of confidence was blown out like a candle in a storm.

Kerry didn’t know either because, as usual, Lee was useless. Or at the very least he didn’t see a solution that could actually help them either. He needed to tell V about this. As soon as possible.

“Get back in the car,” Kerry then ordered, waving with his gun, “Takin’ ya to your stupid appointment.”

Lee’s eyes grew wider.

“What? Am I… I’m just supposed to continue as normal?”

Kerry frowned.

“What did you expect, that I’m gonna help you escape into a cozy exile somewhere nice and sunny while we clean up your mess and deal with the consequences?”

Lee just stared in response, but Kerry wouldn’t have let him answer anyway.

“You stay put and behave exactly how you always do, play the manager. And you sure as hell will not tell anyone anything about what we just talked about,” he ordered, “If your creep friends call you and ask you to run another errand, you will do exactly that, and don’t let show in any way that would suggest V and I caught on.”

“I… what?” Lee stammered.

“I’m not done yet,” Kerry interrupted him sternly, “Not done with you, either. You will make up for this shit you caused. And I promise you, if I get as much as a whiff of you tryin’ to rat us out or bail or whatnot… V knows people that will track you down to the dark side of the moon to blow your lights out, if necessary.”

The last one was a bluff, although he was sure, with some persuasive words and favors exchanged here and there, even that would be possible, should the need arise.

“Okay, okay!” Lee whimpered, “Understood. I… This meeting never happened?”

“Damn straight. Now back into the car, asshole.”

Kerry was elsewhere with his thoughts for the entirety of the ride back into the city. It wasn’t much, but if Lee managed to keep his mouth shut and not draw Blue-Eyes’ attention, they now actually were a step ahead. Kerry just didn’t know how to use this tiny edge yet, if they could use it at all… and all of course under the assumption that Blue-Eyes wasn’t listening in or watching them 24/7 through some fucked up means already anyway.

“Don’t forget your phone,” Kerry said when he stopped in front of the studio to let Lee get out. They were back early enough so he still had some time to clean himself up, get himself back together before his appointment.

“Yeah, right, thank you,” Lee stammered and stumbled out of the car and slowly started walking towards the building without further words.

The passenger door slid shut and the warm interior lights of the Aerondight engulfed him, but still, it was far from enough to soothe his nerves. Kerry rested his forehead on the steering wheel and let out a deep breath. Something in his guts told him that the studio would call him tomorrow morning to inform him of Lee’s mysterious disappearance or death, and that they already had the next replaceable guy lined up to take over…

“Fuck…” he muttered, smacked the steering wheel, and unlocked his own door. He jumped onto the street, a car passing by honking at him, but he ignored it. He turned to the main entrance of the studio building where Lee was just about to walk through the door.

“Lee!” he called, and Lee flinched and turned around with wide eyes, like a deer in headlights.

“Get back here,” Kerry waved, and hesitantly his manager returned to the side of the car.

“Yes?” he asked shakily, clutching his phone still. Sand was still dripping from his hair and the dirt on his face had dried.

“Get back in,” Kerry decided, and Lee gulped audibly, “Don’t think it’s a good idea to leave you alone right now. These guys that made you do this stuff…”

He didn’t have to say anything else, Lee nodded in strong agreement.

Edge or not, it was so small, so insignificant almost… And no matter how much he hated Lee’s guts sometimes, if Blue-Eyes snuffed him in his sleep tonight… Lee could know more than he let on, maybe even subconsciously. Him already being involved in this whole mess against his will also made him a better ally than any new manager that could be one of Blue-Eyes spies for real this time.

Lee got back in the passenger seat, and Kerry behind the wheel, turning on the engine. How the hell he was gonna break this to V he didn’t know yet. Right as he wanted to drive off, back home, he noted a dark van parked across the street, in good view of them. Kerry hesitated. This was nothing, probably, delivery guys, technicians. Although, no markings, names, or logos on the car.

Maybe this shit was getting to him more than he realized, seeing enemies where there were none. But it had ended with a black van with the Peralezes as well…

He tried to write the thought off as paranoia once again, but just in case, Kerry made extra sure they weren’t being followed before even getting into view of Watson.

*****************

>> Next Chapter

*****************

Notes:

It's been a hot minute, so much has happened since my last update, and I'm so happy I can finally share this ;__; I really had a lot of fun writing Kerry on his own little adventure for this chapter, and I think a few of you will be happy to see Lee back as well XD I've grown quite fond of him and had really been looking forward to this little reveal ever since I first introduced him xD I hope it came as a surprise but not entirely unexpected that he's involved in this mess a bit more deeply than he let on so far.

I hope the next chapter update won't take me as long as this one did, as with black vans showing up unannounced and Mr. B's schemes slowly becoming unravelled I can't wait to continue telling this story! :3

I put a little nod at Dogtown in this chapter, but to anyone who hasn't played Phantom Liberty and wants to continue reading: fret not! Since I started writing this story before the expansion and planned it out without any ties to it, the events of PL will not be majorly referenced here, not beyond what I did in this chapter.

Hope you enjoyed reading this, as always, and are looking forward to how it's all gonna continue (hopefully soon). I would say, we're about to reach the midway point of the story!

Requested Fic Update Tags:

@humberg @r3d-f0xs-blog @thatinternetwanderer @localtranspigeon @taiyo-yokai  @kharonion @genocidalfetus @seeker-of-truth @readalotbook @losttr3asur3💜

If you’d also like to get tagged when I post a new chapter for this fic, leave a reply on [this post] or send me a DM!

If you do not want to receive further notifications, shoot me a quick DM and I’ll take you off the list again!

[shelyue99]

I love impatient and sarcastic Dick. In Ep 8 after Nix told him Sink was bragging about the patrol Dick was so mad he didn't even want to talk to Sink, so Nix basically answered Sink for Dick. Maybe because Nix just told Dick about the bragging so he was worried what would come out of Dick's mouth? or he just sensed Dick was in no mood. The eye contact they exchanged basically is Dick rolling his eyes and Nix silently acknowledged yeah I know, they are so in sync oh my.

I also like in Ep10, Dick was being impatient and Nix was sarcastic, usually he was sweet to Dick, but this time he was tired of Dick's whining I guess, and maybe Harry was thinking, daddy and mommy are fighting again--they are so married.

[sparklingdemon]

Stupid burning question about the monochrome.exe au. Since this rom hack was designed to poke fun at Sonic.EXE I am curious if it addressed one of Sonic.EXE's fatal flaws, the level design. So many .EXE fan games only have the level design be in a straight line, I'm curious on if Nicky poked fun at this at all or if they fell into that same trapping of not having good level design.

i feel like hacker!cody and nicky aren't the same character, despite their similar role in the narrative. i think that nicky's hack wasn't to make fun of sonic.exe in the same way cody's hack was a sarcastic mockery of pokemon and pokepastas, i think nicky's hack was a genuine reimagining of sonic.exe.

i feel like i enjoy nix's world better if it DOES actually have the vanilla green hill level design (minus all of the badniks) even if that's not accurate to the original creepypasta, because it gives nix more opportunities to die. the whole point of nix as a character is illustrating how horrible and graphic sonic's deaths would be if they happened in-universe (spikes, drowning, lava, lasers, etc.) sonic.exe removes those hazards to make the focus entirely on him and how he's dangerous to the other characters. if the characters just fell in a pit of spikes and died, it wouldn't be as impactful when EXE kills them, so the story removed the risk of the player dying in any other way except at EXE's hands.

i think monochrome.exe subverts that by having tails/knuckles/eggman be the reason nix falls into those environmental traps. tails trying to fly them over spikes or lava but accidentally dropping them. knuckles breaking a platform nix is standing on, plunging them into water they can't swim out of. eggman converting his ruined base into a messed up saw trap that nix has to navigate.

so yeah i don't think that monochrome.exe's level design is a straight line, i think it does still have the canon sonic game level design!

[devastator1775]

So Nix, what is she like?

In a way, she's a pretty good mix between Uzi and N, while still being her own person. In a lot of situations, she'll show more of N's side than Uzi. She's intelligent, kind, curious and a dry, somewhat sarcastic sense of humor.

Unlike her mother, she's more mellow, not easy to anger but when she does, the person that wronged her better run the other way. Even harder if that anger is directed at someone who has wronger her friends. She's fiercely loyal to her family and those she considers family.

Still, she's a teenager, thus she gets annoyed very easily. Digital hormones, eh? Even so, she's very close with her parents and loves spending time with them - even if she can get a bit annoyed when her parents start flirting with each other.

Nix is well-liked among her classmates, but tends to keep a rather small circle of friends, which includes her honorary cousin Avery Casio-Sharp, the daughter of V and Lizzy. Avery has their own backstory, so feel to ask as well.

She's a bit of a dreamer and often fantasises about flying and exploring space. She longs to venture out on her own and discover who she will be in their vast universe.

Bit of trivia: while not directly stated in the story she first appears in, Nix has recently started figuring out her sexuality (she's lesbian), but hasn't told her family yet. Not that she's afraid of how they'll react, she's figuring out how she's gonna tell them. Uzi and N already kinda know, though - she's an open book to them - , but they're waiting for her to come out on her own time.

[midnightfire830]

Hello, my dear friend, midnight! Hope you are having a wonderful day/night! I've got a few questions about your lovely character, Nix.

My first question is, how can he see with the cloth covering his eyes? Does he use his ears to listen to his surroundings, like listening to vibration? Is he blind? Is he hiding his eyes on purpose? If so, what for and why?

My last question is, is he skittish? From the art you've posted of him, he seems like a skittish fella. If he is skittish, what happened to him to make him skittish?

(LOL, I sound like Holly asking all these questions.)

Ohoho!!! We’ve got some good questions over here

😏

Three reasons.

1. To hide his identity so no one recognizes him easily.

2. On the contrary he can see TOO well. The blindfold helps him limit his sight. Makes things a bit easier to bear

3. Predator birds rely on their sense of sight so the act of covering their line of sight helps them stay calm. That’s why in falconry training they sometimes put hoods on their birds.

(This varies when it comes to AUs. For example in Poppy playtime he is legitimately blind but for BATIM it’s a bit different) ^^

And he’s kind of skittish and shy. More so when around strangers or people he doesn’t trust, in intense/dangerous situations, and in arguments. He hates confrontation, that comes from dealing with his family. If he’s around his friends like Bob who is @ireallylovepuppies101 ‘s OC (sorry for the ping) he’s a lot more comfortable and becomes a more confident guy with a sarcastic sense of humor.

Thanks for the asks Fox!!! You’ve got some real interesting ones!!!

[hiccupbutpurple]

Okay random OC lore drop lol (thank you @evilwriter37 for giving me an excuse lol) - imma just talk a bit about them abstractly as an intro lol!

TW: Implied but unspecified mental health issues, family issues, referenced abuse and mention of death

- So my main character is Nix. They started as Nicky from when I was a kid watching Nicky, Ricky, Dicky and Dawn but then kinda became the personification of my intrusive, random thoughts and personal experience, and deviated so far from canon I now consider them to be an OC.

- Nix is pretty sarcastic and acts as the braincell when Aspen isn’t available, they’re definitely a trouble maker and will manipulate their way into anything but is still very caring of the people they love. They tend to lash out and can forget consequences exist sometimes (leading to a lot of different trouble). They have 3 siblings (taken from Nrdd) and overall a pretty good family but also feels overlooked or outcast from that family. They especially have a lot of conflicts with their sister.

- Robin completely lacks any social inhibitions and impulse control and she’s often the driving force for plot. Her adopted family is great but she went through a lot as a young child and lost her younger sister. I want to focus a lot of her development around the concept of family and trust. Romance is also a big part of it as she has crushes on Nix and Aspen but their feelings towards her are more complicated.

- Mischa is an absolute himbo and also a thief. He also comes from a bad home and often goes overboard trying to impress the others and their families to compensate. He also lacks an impulse control but isn’t as wild as Robin (unless talked into it) and just goes along with things, so a lot of his development is about gaining his own sense of self and learning to take control of his life and decisions.

- Aspen is a loner and doesn’t particularly care about others (not in a mean way just in a, genuinely doesn’t care what’s happening way). She moreso gets dragged into things involuntary or just because she doesn’t have anything else to do. I want to focus a fair amount on her and her mothers relationship, her mother is very sweet but is definitely hurt by her child’s lack on interest in everybody and as a result can become more overbearing on the whole group.

- It’s basically just a found family, queer coming of age story with them dealing with their traumas and challenges from mental health and being queer as a short summary

[lewis-winters]

what i love so much about the 'going my way' scene is dick knows what he's doing so he's being coy and short like he always does, and even before dick is done saying 'so don't tell me' lew is jumping out of his seat to blab immediately. he found out the plans and was like, welp time to find my boy best friend and just come out with it. lew is kind of guarded with other people, even if it is charming, and with dick he just like...can't help but to show his cards every time

oh, don't get me started on the "going my way" because I have a whole rant about that.

first of all: yes, you are correct. lewis cannot seem to control himself around dick. i've said it all before (i'm a broken record now), but it's almost like loving someone as earnest and honest as dick has the effect of pulling truth from nix, whether he wants to or not. it works on dick, too, because we never really see dick as vulnerable as he is with anybody else but nix. they both recognize each other, and because they both recognize each other, the truth just comes pouring out of them like water through a broken glass. i mean. god. it shows, even in the VERY FIRST SCENE WITH THEM, as I've talked about before. they are INCAPABLE of lying or hiding from each other!!!!

second: i will never shut up about this, but the fact that there were only two instances wherein "going my way" was uttered (the second in an echo of the first) when it would make much more sense if there were three instead? well. i am happy to report that THERE WAS AN ORIGINAL THIRD "GOING MY WAY?"!!!!!!! this was from the original script with a scene from D-day eve:

(pic c/o @lupoteodoro)

notice how just before nix is introduced into the scene, the camera flashes over a picture of dick and de-etta, a girl who is, essentially, dick's girlfriend at the time.

THE FUCKING SUBTEXT OF THAT????? oh, here is a photo of a girl i am sweet on (well I mean in real life dick never referred to her as his girlfriend but as a girl he was talking to but like. cmon now, boy. that is your girlfriend), unceremoniously shoved into my bag JUST AS my boy best friend (with whom i share everything, from the sarcastic side i never let anyone else see, to my most vulnerable moments) is introduced into frame???? asking me, in that same flirtatious manner, "going my way?" my answer to it being????? a fucking smile?????

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BE NORMAL ABOUT THAT????

[wellthebardsdead]

Some Fun facts about Wyrm

Hes terrified of dogs. One of his earliest memories is being attacked by someone’s pet Nix hound who wanted his food. Since then anything vaguely dog or nix shaped scares him half to death. Meeting barbas did in fact make him faint from both fear and shock.

He’s neuro spicy coded. No particular diagnosis but leaning towards autistic. He’s both very empathetic but often struggles reading people and taking context from passive comments, so he tends to take things quite literally but is also quite witty and sarcastic himself.

He really wants a pet Scrib but Urag is terrified of them. So you can imagine the scream the old orc made when he returned home with two Elytra nymphs in tow.

Before meeting team dragonborn, Brelyna Maryon, Onmund & J’zargo are his only friends in his mental age group that aren’t made of machinery, and they are also the very first students in his whole life in the collage who befriended him rather than finding him odd or annoying.

He has a bad habit of falling asleep in odd places while reading or working. Urag has found him on top of a bookshelf before more than once.

He heavily dislikes Savos Aren being the arch mage and is the only person in the college who knows he sacrificed his classmates to escape the dragon priest.

He sometimes offers sugar cookies to the magicka fountains around the collage so the auger knows someone’s thinking of him.

He loves insects but is partial to moths.

He’s terrible at self regulating and due to ash exposure at a young age he breathes deeper than he needs to when crying and thus ends up giving himself the hiccups each and every time.

Outside of the tribunal nightmares he’s been suffering from recently, he’s only ever dreamt of the stories Urag would read to him, or a night sky with a single moon and star, and what sounds like bells ringing softly in the distance.

He is ridiculously clumsy.

His favourite joke is to pull his Pearl eye out, rub it on his shirt and put it back in when seeing something ridiculous or unbelievable.

His three favourite professors are Tolfdir, Mirabelle, and Faralda with Miss Colette coming in fourth purely because her lessons are too early in the morning and he misses out on precious sleep in time.

Enthir is very much a (sometimes annoying) big brother figure to him despite being shorter lol.

His favourite snack is any type of jerky, but he’s partial to scrib jerky when he can get it.

Tried drinking alcohol once and regretted it immediately. Prefers tea instead.

He frequently gets tangled up in his floor length hair in his sleep but still forgets to braid it every time. Urag has found him inching his way across the floor like a worm (pun intended) more than once after cocooning himself in it from tossing and turning.

He hates boiled cream treats and any type of jelly, the texture is a huge no for him. Mushrooms are an even bigger no.