#serious looking gibby

[hearts-hunger]

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Summary: You have a surprise for Jake.

Pairings: Jake x Wife!Reader, Josh x Baby, Sam x Danny | Genre: domestic fluff, slight angst | Word Count: 3.7k | Warnings: pregnancy, morning sickness

A/N: I have to throw in a little angst, you know me. But here you go! Jake and Sparrow are having a baby! ♡

Sitting on the edge of the bathtub, you listened to the steady roll of thunder and patter of rain and tried to will yourself into feeling better. So far, it wasn't working very well; rocky and nauseous, there was little you could do but hold your head in your hands and be as still as possible. One wrong move and you'd be down for the count, just like you had been yesterday morning and the morning before that.

You know what that means, a little voice said in your head. You grimaced.

“It’s just the flu,” you said to yourself. “Some weird flu with no other symptoms that only happens in the morning.”

The power of positive thinking seemed to be a useless venture, but you kept it up anyway. You couldn't be pregnant. No way you were ready for that.

There was a knock on the bathroom door, and as you quickly straightened up and made yourself promise that you weren't going to be sick, no matter what, you were reminded of somebody else who wasn't ready for you to be pregnant either. You and Jake hadn't really talked about it — the occasional tipsy proposition to get started having a bunch of little Kiszkas wasn't exactly a serious discussion. Neither of you had pictured it this way, on the cusp of a tour and new album, and you decided to stick with your useless positive thinking for a little bit longer.

“Come in,” you said. Jake made his way in, drowsy and sleep-soft, dressed only in his black boxers and the necklaces he never took off. He looked at you in the mirror as he started to brush his teeth.

“Feel okay, sparrow?” he said around his toothbrush.

You nodded. “Fine. Just don't want to be up this early.”

He hummed in agreement and spit toothpaste into the sink. “You were the one who booked us a flight at the crack of dawn.”

You couldn't deny that. Though Josh and Baby had given you plenty of notice on the date of their son's third birthday party, and though you knew the date by heart because you’d been there the day little John Denver Kiszka was born, you’d procrastinated booking a flight until the early-morning option was the only one. To be fair, you'd had a lot on your mind.

Jake turned on the shower. “You wanna save water and jump in with me?”

You smiled. “I love it when you talk conservation to me.”

He smirked and pulled the shower curtain aside, ushering you in. You felt yourself relax in the quiet morning ritual of showering together, washing each other’s hair and gently bickering over who was getting the most water.

“Can you believe JD is three already?” you asked. His present from the two of you, a pint-sized pirate sword you'd gotten at the ren faire a few weeks ago, was neatly wrapped and packed in your suitcase. “It doesn't seem like it's been three years.”

“Seems like it was only yesterday,” Jake crooned in a teasing voice. “The first baby of the Kiszka-Wagner clan.” He shook his head. “It could be us, sparrow. Can you imagine us with a three-year-old? Holy cow.”

All the tension you’d thought had left quickly made its way back into your body. A nervous hand fluttered to your tummy, somehow worried that a pregnancy that you weren't even convinced was real would show itself. 

“It wouldn't be so terrible,” you said weakly.

He smiled and kissed your cheek, turning the shower off and grabbing you a towel. “No, it wouldn't be so terrible. But not right now. Soon, but not right now.”

You felt nauseous again as you toweled off and dressed. You didn't talk much as you both readied to leave, putting your suitcases in the back of the car and patting Gibson, your cat, goodbye. A kind, cat-loving coworker of yours was coming by to feed Gibby while you were gone, but Jake gave him snuggles and kisses like it was the last time they were ever going to see each other.

“You be good,” Jake said, stroking Gibby’s head as he purred like a car engine. “Mama and I love you very very much.”

Some weird, clawing thing stuck in your throat at him calling you “mama” even though he'd always referred to you that way to your cat. You kissed Gibby’s head and went out to the car, taking a few deep breaths as you watched the rain slide down the passenger side window.

“Five-thirty?” Jake groaned as he backed the car out of the driveway. “Sparrow, we gotta get some coffee.”

Your mood was pensive and distant through the drive, checking in at the airport, and boarding the plane. Jake got away with just one request for his picture and signature in the terminal; the girl was wearing a Mirador shirt, and Jake grinned at her promise to get his signature tattooed right where he’d signed it on her arm. 

“Never gets old,” he said, slinging his arm over yours as you stood in line to board. “Tell me you like being married to a rockstar.”

You gave him a weak smile. “I like being married to a rockstar.” You did, and you wouldn't trade the constant enjoyment of Jake’s skill and success as a musician. But the rockstar life made some things difficult, and you didn't dare think of what problems would arise if you really were pregnant.

Jake very sweetly gave you the window seat, intending and quickly managing to fall asleep against your shoulder. You looked out at the rainy tarmac and thought of Josh and Baby, two of your dearest friends, people who had not only managed to start a family in the middle of the rockstar life but become very good at it. Their son was the light of their lives, and they'd integrated domestic life into Josh’s whirlwind schedule of recording, touring, and constant limelight with every ounce of joy and patience a couple could ever hope to have. They would help you and Jake, happily, if it turned out that your positive thinking came to naught.

You tried to push the thought out of your head and rest against Jake, readying yourself for a day of summer birthday fun with your family. Your friends and your precious nephew deserved the best version of you, and by the time you pulled up to Josh and Baby’s beautiful old house in Frankenmuth, you were ready to jump right in.

The theme was toddler-friendly life on the high seas, and sweet, colorful, swashbuckling decorations adorned every inch of the house. Coming in, you heard your family in the kitchen and out on the back deck, the sliding door wide open to let dripping, bathing-suited partygoers come back and forth for snacks and popsicles before another splash in the pool.

“Ahoy, mateys!” Jake called, following you as you came into the kitchen. Baby looked up, a bright smile on her pretty face, and abandoned the cubes of watermelon she was spearing with tiny plastic swords.

“You’re here!” she said happily, throwing her arms around you. “Oh, I was worried — Josh said you might have bad weather coming out of Nashville.”

“Just some rain,” you assured her, so relieved to be here with her and the rest of your family. You hugged her back tightly. “How’s the party so far?”

She laughed and gestured to the back yard, accepting an affectionate ruffle of her hair from Jake. “Ready to get started, now that you're here. Have drink, put on your bathing suit, enjoy yourself.”

You went to say hello to your brothers, and JD graciously paused his relentless jumping into Sam’s arms in the pool to hug you and Jake. Dripping wet, his curly hair wreathed with sunshine, he looked up at you and your husband like you’d hung the moon.

“I so happy you're here!” he said gleefully. “Is’ my birthday!”

You smiled and kissed his chubby cheek. “It is! Happy birthday, honey.”

You let him get back to swimming and went to change into your bathing suit. Before long, you were happily drawn into sun-soaked hours of lounging by the pool, talking about everything and nothing with your family. Rosie, who wasn't as spry as she used to be but still patient and amenable to JD’s wet hands mussing her fur, thumped her tail as she lay under the shade of Danny’s chair.

“Sam wants another puppy,” Danny said, taking a long pull from a Corona. “He told his mom we're going to be parents, and she almost lost her shit until she figured out he meant another dog and not a baby.”

Sam planted a kiss on Danny’s forehead. “No babies until we're married, Wagner. I've told you this a hundred times.”

“He’s old fashioned,” Danny agreed, giving you a slightly wistful smile. “But he’s right. We’d have our hands full with a bunch of dogs and a whole entire person.”

“Oh, it’s not so bad,” Josh called from the pool, holding JD as the little boy paddled and splashed and giggled. “You should go for it. All of you. Me and Baby feel kinda left out being the only ones with bedtimes at seven-thirty.”

Jake laughed. “No thanks. I've still got some partying years in me.”

Your throat felt tight. “Maybe partying’s not all it’s cracked up to be.” 

“Speak for yourself,” Sam teased.

Baby seemed to notice something was off with you, and she put her hand over yours. 

“Will you come help me get some stuff from the kitchen?” she asked.

You went with her willingly, needing a break from the sun and the harmless teasing that seemed to twist like a knife in you. You took the Capri-suns and sub sliders from the fridge as she mixed a pitcher of what was appropriately labeled “Jack Sparrow’s missing rum punch”.

“You want some?” she asked.

You bit your lip. “Better not.”

She poured herself a drink and joined you at the counter where you half-heartedly put pirate-sail toothpicks in the sandwiches.

“All the decorations came out really cute,” you said, meaning it despite your quiet tone.

She smiled. “Thanks, sparrow. You know Jake’s had JD into pirates since the day he was born, and now that he's finally old enough to enjoy it, I figured it was time to pull out all the stops.”

She brushed your hair back from your face. “Sparrow... are you pregnant?”

You felt a vivid blush rise to your face. Was it pinned to your dress like a scarlet letter? But meeting her eyes, seeing sympathy and understanding there, you slowly nodded.

“I think so,” you all but whispered. “I — I haven't taken a test. I don't know for sure.”

“But your period’s late?” she asked calmly.

“And I've been having morning sickness,” you managed. “It — I mean, it could be the flu, but —”

She laughed, but it wasn't unkind.

“It’s probably not the flu, honey.” She squeezed your hand. “I have a test in the bathroom if you want to take it.”

You were surprised. “Are you pregnant?”

She shrugged. “Not at the moment. I’m not planning on it, but...” She gave you a wry smile. “Sometimes these things happen, sparrow. It’s not the end of the world. It might actually be the start of something really wonderful for you and Jake.”

You felt the sting of tears. “I haven't said anything to him. I didn't want to if I wasn't sure. I don't know if he’ll...” Tears spilled over. “If he’ll be happy.”

“Of course he’ll be happy,” she said, and it was so confident and so sure that you felt a buoying of hope. “He’ll be over the freakin’ moon, sparrow. Don't let all this nostalgia for partying get to you. Josh was happy when we found out we were having JD, and Jake will be happy if you find out you're having a baby too.”

You swallowed. “You think so?”

She smiled and brushed the tears from your face. “Yeah, I think so. Go find out if you are.”

You did as she said, finding the Clearblue test under the sink. Waiting was agonizing; you forced yourself to wait longer than you were supposed to, not sure if you could bear it, whatever the result was. You wanted a baby with Jake; nothing would give you more pleasure than to make him a father, to start a family with the man you loved. But was he ready? Were you ready?

Finally, you looked at the test. There, in little black letters: pregnant.

A gasping sort of sob escaped you. You clapped a hand over your mouth and sank to the floor, holding the test in shaking fingers, reading it over and over. Pregnant. You and Jake were having a baby.

You cried, but whether they were happy tears or just a sign of how overwhelmed you were, you couldn’t tell. Sitting on your best friends’ bathroom floor, you watched your tears blur that one little word that would change everything.

Eventually, you collected yourself enough to wash your face at the sink and tuck the test in the pocket of your sundress. You ventured out to the back porch and found your family in a safe, comforting chaos; Baby and Danny were swimming with JD, and the twins were soundly beating Sam in garbage. 

Jake looked up as you came out, a handsome smile lighting his face. “Hi, sweetheart. You wanna play the next hand?”

You looked over at Baby, and she grinned when you gave her a little smile. She nodded towards Jake, urging you to tell him.

“Um...” You twisted the fabric of your dress in nervous fingers. “Actually, can I talk to you for a second?”

“Sure. Let me just...” He laid out his cards and was met with groans from his brothers, and he smirked. “Read it and weep, fellas.”

Josh gathered up the cards to be dealt again, and Jake was careful of the empty beer bottles on the table as he stood and came inside with you. He was a little tipsy, his piratey swagger giving it away more than anything else, sun-kissed and smiley and so beautiful to you that you thought you would never get tired of just looking at him. Would your baby look like him? You hoped so, and it was the promise of another someone like Jake Kiszka in the world that made you brave enough to speak.

“I need to tell you something,” you said, your voice a little wobbly. 

He pulled you close and gave you a kiss. “Don’t tell me. You want to ravish me.”

You gave a soft laugh. “Not exactly.” You led him to the guest bedroom, though, wanting it to be just the two of you with no one walking in accidentally. 

“This is... not convincing,” he teased when you closed the door behind you. “I guess you’re feeling better than you were this morning, huh?”

You were, but the reason wasn't what he thought. Now that you knew, now that you were sure and had the confidence and encouragement of your best friend, you were feeling much better. Now you just needed Jake to tell you it would be alright.

“I think I might not be... over that,” you said cautiously. “Like, it might be a recurring thing. Every morning.”

He frowned, searching your face. “What do you mean? Is something wrong?”

You shook your head. “Nope. Nothing's wrong.” 

“What is it, then?”

You pulled the test out of your pocket and handed it to him. “Um... I think that’s what it is.”

You waited for him to speak, to do anything, but he just looked at it in silence, cradled in the palm of his hand. Then, after a moment, he looked up at you.

“Are you serious?”

You couldn’t read his tone. Shock, surprise, maybe a little fear, something you hoped was excitement — all of them bled into the color of his voice.

“I'm serious,” you said, starting to feel like you were going to cry again. “I just took it. It's... I mean, it's pretty clear.”

He closed his hand around the test. Almost like he’d taken a blow, he stepped back and sat on the edge of the bed.

Your heart dropped right to the floor when he hid behind his free hand, leaning over his knees. Tears blurred your vision.

“I know it’s not the best time,” you said, desperate for some kind of reassurance. You came close to him. “But I think if we — if —” You didn't know what to say. “I think we can do it, Jake. I think we can have this baby.”

He lifted his head and met your eyes, a big, bright smile shining through a tearful haze. 

“You’re really pregnant?” he asked, and it was all joy.

You all but collapsed against him then, putting your arms around his neck, holding him as he tested your head against your tummy. He put his arms around you and held you close, caught somewhere between laughing and crying.

“I’m really pregnant,” you said softly. “Jake, are you happy?”

He stood and spun you around, exultant, laughing like a little boy on Christmas morning.

“Yes, I'm happy!” He stopped spinning you to kiss you, sweet and messy and so in love with you. “Are you crazy, sparrow? I've never been so happy in my whole life!”

You looked up at him with your heart in your eyes. “You don't think it's a bad time?”

He hushed you with another kiss. “No way. It's the perfect time. Forget everything I ever said about it being a bad time.” His smile was so big and beautiful. “I can't believe we're having a baby, sparrow. You're gonna be such a good mom. I love you, and I'm so proud of you. I love you so much.”

“Oh, Jake,” you said gently. “I love you too.”

He held you close and you melted against him, safe, loved, so happy you were delirious with it. You were having a baby! It sang in every part of you, and you joined in his joyful tears and watery laughter.

“Let’s go tell everybody,” he said, taking your hand. “You want to?”

You nodded, feeling that you'd never been more in love with him than you were just then.

He led you back out to the porch and tried to keep the suspense up as your family watched your giddy, excited entrance. Everyone was sitting at the table now, JD fast asleep on Josh’s lap; Jake was grinning to beat the sun, bright and shining with pride and contagious joy as the two of you stood before the people you loved.

“I don't mean to steal the little man’s thunder,” Jake said, looking with heart-rending tenderness at his brother and his baby. “This a great birthday for a great little guy. But...” He looked to you, and you gave his hand and encouraging squeeze. 

“Well, I guess we’ll be planning another birthday party soon,” Jake said, the words fairly bursting out, “because... we're having a baby!”

Your family erupted into a wonderful cacophony shocked questions and joyful hollering, chairs protesting as they were pushed back, pirate decorations toppling on the tabletop as you and Jake were surrounded with hugs and kisses and congratulations. JD woke, a little uneasy at all the happy noise, and Josh cuddled him close with a beaming smile and told him he was going to have a cousin very soon.

“Oh,” was all the little boy said, one hand tangled in Josh’s shirt as he looked on the gathering with a bleary smile.

Baby fairly tackled you, telling you how much she loved you, how happy she was for you. You stood in the circle of your family and couldn't help a few tears, but they were nothing but happy now.

After the boys reined in their joyful rowdiness and you had been hugged so many times you felt the pressure of love on you like a warm blanket, it was time for cake and presents and celebration of the first little Kiszka your family had been blessed with. JD loved all his presents, running around in his too-big pirate outfit from Sam and Danny and waving the sword you and Jake had gotten him, and the adults settled at the table to enjoy each other's company. In the light of the setting sun, sun-flushed cheeks sore from smiling and music playing and drinks flowing, you family was as beautiful to you as they had ever been.

Jake patted his lap, and you squeezed with him in the chair and welcomed his protective, loving arms around you. 

“So, what are we naming this baby?” Sam asked, dealing out a hand of cards. “Jake junior?”

“Jack Sparrow,” Josh offered.

You laughed. “Maybe. I think it’ll be a girl, though.”

Jake looked up at you. “You know already?”

You kissed him. “Not officially, honey. I didn't mean to get you all excited. But... I don't know. I can feel it.”

Baby nodded as she gathered her cards. “I could tell with JD. Sometimes you just know.”

“It should be a bird name,” Danny suggested. “Since you guys are into that sort of thing.”

Jake smiled. “Yeah, it should.” His hand rested on your tummy, and you put your hands over his. “What about Robin?”

The name washed over you with a special kind of peace. “Okay,” you said softly. “Sparrow and her Jake-bird and their little Robin.”

Your family cooed over the name as you gave Jake a gentle kiss, and you knew it was perfect for your little girl. 

Cake was eaten, drinks topped off, and music cranked up until it was well and truly a party. JD, with all the enthusiasm he could muster while falling asleep on Danny’s lap, joined in the various cheers and groans as you played cards together. You couldn't wait until you had another little Kiszka to join the party — your Robin would be around five months old at JD’s next birthday bash, and maybe there would even be another Kiszka-Wagner baby on the way. For now, though, everything was perfect, and you rested in it as you spent time with the ones you loved.

Jake pressed a kiss to your shoulder.

“I love you, sparrow,” he said gently, just for you. “And I love our little bird.”

You touched his cheek and drew him up to kiss your properly, loving the feel of his smile.

“Jakey,” you said softly. “We love you too.”

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[queen-dahlia]

𝐆𝐢𝐥𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐯𝐨𝐧 𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧

𝗠𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗥𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟴 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗣𝗢𝗩

Gil's dad is a real psycho, poor Gibby ༼;´༎ຶ ۝ ༎ຶ༽

Note: Translation is not 100% accurate. Expect grammatical errors.

// : alternate translation | ⫘⫘ : flashback

When I headed for Rhodolite, I had only the faintest of hopes of meeting the little rabbit.

I never intended to bring her back to Obsidian.

When the rose that tells the time, which is said to be used in the selection of the king, falls, the farewell will surely come.

However, for some reason, the thought that Akatsuki might make it impossible for me to see the little rabbit for the rest of my life made me act in a way that was inexplicable even to myself.

(I never thought I would bring Little Bunny to such a dirty place.)

The castle of Obsidian, the land of deceit and corruption, is painted with blood, unlike the castle of the land of roses.

In the square where we are walking now, as many people as there are stars have been executed at the sole discretion of the Emperor.

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

Gilbert: "... Al... bert…"

Gilbert: "Mother…?"

Gilbert: "Ah—..."

Gilbert: "...... AAAAAH!"

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

(... I knew this place wouldn't suit you.)

(This is not the kind of place for Little Bunny to live.)

I shake off the clinging memories and put on my usual smile.

Gilbert: "The first thing you want to do when you get to Obsidian is have an audience with the Emperor, right? You're so serious."

Emma: "… Since I'll be staying here, I thought I should say hello."

(… I wonder if Chevalier told her to go find out what's going on inside.)

Inviting the little rabbit into the bosom means that the information will eventually reach Chevalier, who is behind it.

It's a pain, but considering it's in exchange for the time I spend with the little rabbit, I'd say it's an equal price to pay.

Gilbert: "—…It's already midnight, but that's okay."

We walk around the square with the little rabbit's small hand in tow.

I just want to pull her away from this place as soon as possible, and I just can't help but quicken my steps.

Gilbert: "I'll let you meet him."

Emma: "Uh…"

Gilbert: "So, I'll let you meet the Emperor. It's the only time you'll get to meet him."

Emma: "I-Is that okay?"

(… It's no good.)

Gilbert: "It's originally not possible. The Emperor doesn't allow basic audiences day or night."

Gilbert: "But I'll give you special permission."

Gilbert: "I have the utmost respect for your bravery in wanting to meet the blood-crazed Emperor."

(You knew the emperor was in trouble when you started asking around about the Blood-Stained Rose Day.)

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

His Majesty the Emperor: "—Ah, I killed your brother and mother. What about it?"

Gilbert: "Nothing..."

Gilbert: "Don't you feel anything?"

His Majesty the Emperor: "Well... it wasn't fun; neither of them begged for their lives until the very end, and then they died quietly."

His Majesty the Emperor: "I like the sound of a death-defying scream. And yet those two... are nothing short of a disappointment."   //   "I love the sound of a dying man's death screams. But those two... are nothing short of a disappointment."

Gilbert: "——……"

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

(He was naturally a madman; the fallen beast of Rhodolite was still a cute little thing.)

(I can't believe she wants to meet such an emperor who loves killing, indulges in pleasure, and enjoys a momentary way of life...)

Gilbert: "You have a lot of questions, don't you?"

Gilbert: "Just be careful. If you say something bad, you'll be killed."

I can feel her fear through our clasped hands.

This is a normal human reaction.

(——Hehe, I'm glad I killed him then.)

The mad emperor is gone.

It is the biggest secret that Obsidian has today that neither the little rabbit nor many other people know.

(I wonder how she will react... I'm looking forward to it.)

══════════════════

The sound of shoes echoes in the space where moonlight shines through the huge windows.

There is also the jet-black chair that only the top of the evil empire, feared throughout the continent, is allowed to sit in.

It is like being built on a pile of corpses.

The history of Obsidian is spun by invasion and pillage.

It is a country that specializes in trampling on the well-being of others to feed itself.   //   It is a country that excels at trampling on the happiness of others to feed itself.

There is no way that the throne of the king can be beautiful.

I let go of the puzzled little rabbit and went alone to the throne.

Each step of the staircase reminds me of it.

(Yeah… I'm not really the kind of person who can be with the little rabbit.)

(Rhodolite was just the last dream I had…)

(Finally, we're back to reality.)

I sit down on a cold, jet-black throne.

The little rabbit that can be seen from here is too far away.

Gilbert: "Welcome to Obsidian?"

Crossing my legs and propping myself up on my elbows, I look down at the little rabbit.

Even though she's far away, I can only feel the confusion.

Emma: "The Emperor... Your Majesty…"

Gilbert: "I told you my name is Gilbert von Obsidian, didn't I?"

Gilbert: "Only one person in the country can use the name Obsidian."

Gilbert: "Only the emperor."

Emma: "But Gilbert called himself a prince..."

Gilbert: "It's not a lie, okay? Well, I'm a former prince, to be exact."

(—Did you know? Miss Bunny.)

(I was "Kloss" before I called myself Obsidian.)

(I had to call myself that if I wanted to be a prince, but I hated it to the point of nausea.)

(They are the kind of family that would flatter and laugh at the emperor even if their relatives were executed.)

Emma: "… Why…"

Emma: "… Whenever we talked about the Emperor, Gilbert always seemed to be talking about something else!"

Gilbert: "I was talking about the former emperor."

Gilbert: "I killed him."

Gilbert: "… Oh, no. That was a top national secret."

Her face, which is usually as charming as a baby rabbit, is stained with despair.

It's almost as if I've betrayed your expectations—

It may have been the decisive moment that destroyed the relationship we had built.

(I can only hurt you. And yet you—)

(You really are an idiot.)

Gilbert: "You thought I was acting according to the will of the Emperor, didn't you?"

Gilbert: "All invasions of other countries are ordered by His Majesty the Emperor—yes, that's right."

Gilbert: "My intention is Obsidian's intention."

(I'm never the kind of guy you're going to like.)

[fruity-boy-bruno]

Have u done Wayne headcanons?

I have not done a post of him yet hehehe

This took me awhile bc I have so many things..

Personally I think Wayne and Decres are two separate people (but loovvee seeing hcs where they're the same person) and I think Wayne uses he/they pronouns and is trans masc.

I could and probably will make a separate post about the Waynes as a species at some point but I'll dive into it some here. To me I think that they're kinda scorpion like, and that the tips on old Wayne's tail are the stingers! They don't start out with the stingers and grow them over time... Wayne doesn't have any yet. Wayne also has the chest legs left over from his larva stage as well as a tail, but I also think he has hoves of some kind (bc of Herdingflowers, they're also the one I got gorma ideas from!! I finally checked lol) I can't let that man have people feet that'd be wrong!! He also has boobs because I said so idc if that makes sense or not (he doesn't have nipples though) he's also fuzzy like a bug, but he's got thicker hairs in some areas :)

Biggest one is his ass is from the moon. The Waynes were a moon species and they got displaced to hylicworld after it blew up! Which is why Wayne's living with them in the second game. Why's Wayne away from the rest from them in the first game? Banished from the moon of course! Why's he banished from the moon? He's Gibby's ex-husband and a former "co-ruler" (just in title Gibby didn't let him do jack shit) Why did they get divorced? That was part of the being banished for treason! He did treason? Yes, he did, he tried to orchestrate an overthrowing but got snitched on by someone in his group!

That's why he is alone and away from other people in the first game, he's got serious trust issues and is hesitant to be close to and rely on anyone (other than his beloved horse ofc) the spell of madness being his last straw in why he decided to go and beat Gibbys ass. (I think that if you also follow Gloopdimension you can see how many of my ideas started from them lol)

Also his ass it a pot head, look at that man and tell me he's drug free? I also think he's majorly depressed (for obvious reasons) and he's inclined to kill himself and just go to the afterlife rather than deal with certain inconveniences if he isn't with other people. Just grabs his horns and twists his head like a squeezable apple sauce. Got a little bit of a cold coming on? Kills himself. Surrounded by tyros? Kills himself. You get it. And he's like "I'll literally come back it doesn't matter"

I almost absolutely sure I can come up with more but I think this is enough for one post hehehe

[go-go-devil]

🧪💌🎨🕶

🧪Do you research for your fics?

Of course! I always look as deep as I can into topics I'm not familiar with to make my stories more believable, whether it be something serious like mental disorders or minor like what kind of camera film people in the 19th century used. My hylics don't really require much "research" outside of me just refreshing myself on character dialogue or the games' mechanics.

💌 Is there a favorite trope you like to write?

I do have an extreme fondness for character studies, if that counts as a trope. Also try to squeeze in hurt/comfort whenever I can <3

🎨 If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

Personally I would LOVE to see fanart of Chaos Inverted!

As for which scene specifically... Perhaps the moment after the battle with The Sages of Sculptures, when Gibby discovers the last surviving Wayne larva as Dracula presents it to him in the now-ruined throne room. Fun fact: That scene was the oldest hylics fic scene I ever thought up, long before I wrote my first hylics fanfic even! So seeing art of that moment would be very gratifying for me ✨

🕶 What fics do you prefer on a scale of canon compliant to wildly original?

(This emoji's closer to the 😎 so I'll answer it as that)

I generally prefer canon compliant stories, since the reason I read fanfic is because I want more out of the media I love! Sometimes I'll read "wildly original" fic though, usually if it's a crack fic I find funny or if it's a roadtrip au fic. Don't know why but I have a strong fondness for roadtrip stories (which I blame on watching National Lampoon's Vacation and Little Miss Sunshine so much as a kid lol)

[paperrretro]

so !! i may have freaked out a little when bombay brought out The Box.

here are the og ducks jerseys that each don’t bothers member wore for the ducks vs ducks match (+ parallels between each member):

evan morrow | 96 | charlie conway:

the leaders and hearts of their teams. both are the only child of a single mom. close (👀) with 99.

sofi hudson-batra | 99 | adam banks:

the teams’ star players that were formerly part of the rival team. both push themselves a little too hard and get relatively serious injuries that prevent them from playing.

nick ganz | 04 | lester averman:

the comic reliefs. have a way with words and look like they’re good at math but are actually just okay at it.

lauren gibby | 18 | connie moreau:

can and will cut a man if necessary. protective of their respective team members.

adib “sam” samitar | 56 | russ tyler:

the daredevils (though sam is one with actions and russ is one with words). not afraid of anything even though their shenanigans have gotten them into a pickle on multiple occasions.

jaden “koob” koobler | 33 | greg goldberg:

the goalies. tend toward the dramatics when something bad happens to them.

logan larue | 16 | ken wu:

honestly, this choice was probably more for irony, since ken was the best skater on the ducks. (dwayne’s number would’ve been a better parallel but hey, i love a good bit of irony lol)

maya kasper | 06 | julie “the cat” gaffney:

practical and goal-oriented. capable of giving the most judgmental side-eyes known to man.

tibor capek | 44 | fulton reed:

they’re both quite tall?

havel capek | 00 | guy germaine:

give off ‘this is cool :)’ vibes

[noveltyreads]

Flash Fire (The Extraordinaries #2) By TJ Klune Book Review

ARC kindly provided by the Publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review *breathes* Oh my gosh!! Oh. My. GOSH!! Okay, okay I need to actually write a review for this that's actually comprehensible and not just brain mush. But it's not my fault this book gave me all the feels and that I am hopelessly and shamelessly obsessed with Seth, Nick, Gibby and Jazz. It also is definitely not my fault that The Extraordinaries is my favourite book (and potentially series) ever and that I would do ANYTHING for the third (and I refuse, REFUSE to believe) the last book. And so, I find myself in a pickle trying to describe this book and all of my feels associated with it.

So for starters, the book follows off a few weeks or maybe months from the first book (which, if you couldn't tell, KILLED me) and from page one I already was dying with laughter and I knew I was falling in love already. The book really explored the next phase of Nick's and Seth's relationship post-The Extraordinaries and where they wanted their relationship to go. Along the way they come across multiple new discoveries and face the reality of life after school and their futures. While the pacing felt quite slow, I found myself really enjoying myself. In my opinion, I usually don't like sequels and while I still prefer The Extraordinaries more than Flash Fire, I still thought this was a pretty solid book. For starters, Flash Fire is more character focused. If you loved the cast of the previous novel, you'll get to see another side of them that you never seen before. I loved how we got glimpses into Gibby and Jazz more as well as the things that are affecting their personal lives. The whole story isn't centred on Nick as much but looks into Seth, Nick's dad and their backstories a whole lot more. If you're a reader that's into character development and layers then this really is the sequel for you.

Going on with the characters here, even the side characters were iconic. Seriously, Burrito Jerry... can we please get a spin off book about him? I would absolutely read it! And the Clerk?? Oh my gosh he was legendary. Story wise, Flash Fire answered a lot of my questions (and trust me I had a lot) after that cruel cliffhanger at the end of The Extraordinaries however, it also left enough to be desired. TJ Klune really attacked my heart again with Flash Fire's cliffhanger ending. I actually squealed at the end and I think my whole neighbourhood could hear me scream "I– What?! How dare this book end this way!!" And the worst part is I now have to wait even longer for book three (which, as said before, I refuse to accept as the last book). Can I please become an Extraordinary that can manipulate time just so a copy of book three can land in my arms right now? A girl can only wish.

This book also looked at a lot of serious issues such as racism and police brutality. The author didn't beat around the bush about these issues but I liked how they were written and incorporated in the main storyline. I thought that was clever especially since it all connected in a satisfying climax and ending. I also liked how we had new characters too and I won't get into that too much but I feel like I can see where the story is heading and I'm totally here for it. I can't wait and you know I'll be reading book three when it comes out in July 2022 (and don't worry, you're not the only one that wishes it could come sooner). Criticisms wise, it was just the pacing that I have to comment on and I guess in a way, I kinda wanted more action but the climax totally made up for it. Oh and Nick's dialogue. I felt like his dialogue one-up-ed in this book because he made me crack up laughing on every page and that was matched only with the other characters' reactions. I never had so much fun reading in such a long time. ACTUAL RATING: 4.7 STARS

[scorchxr]

@voltaage [ RESCUE ] for one muse to just narrowly get saved by the other.

They were in Olympus. It was close to endgame now, with five squads left, including their own. And they’d been scattered apart from each other from a barrage by Gibby. Even though Delia had sustained a portion of the blast, she couldn’t outdo all of the damage, and had sustained a nasty hit. Forced to drop low ground with no idea where Wattson had been pushed to, Delia scurried to a corner outside Hammond Labs, just out of sight of the remaining squads. She was on her last leg, with no heals, in serious pain, and knew that if she compromise before she could reunite with her teammate, Natalie would be at a disadvantage--

What was that?

She heard the distinct sound of a pin pulled from a Frag grenade, and felt her stomach drop to her feet. Thudding footsteps were rushing her from around the bend on her right...

It felt like she watched it happen in slow motion, from out of her peripheral the grenade arced towards her, to land in her vicinity --

A thud from her left, and even from under her own helmet she felt static electricity raising the hair from the back of her neck. An arc of blue lightning struck out and absorbed the grenade, and Delia felt herself begin to replenish a little. She looked and saw a sniper peer from behind the Pylon, and a heavy shot strike their assailants. Gunshots echoed from behind that team, indicating they were engaged on and giving Delia and Natalie a moment.

Scorcher had never felt so damn relieved in her life.

“Nat--” Delia breathed, guiding her into the bushes. “Fuck-- Thank Christ you’re here. I really thought we were done for. This was the only cover I could find.”

[round1addict01]

My experience on Apex Legends Mains:

This is just my experience, I can't speak for everyone since people have different experiences and opinions towards certain mains. This is for laughs and fun. Nothing serious and just stupid thoughts. Will go by alphabetical order!

Bangalore:

Really aggressive and quick to run in. Pretty good aim and for some reason the first one to be shot at. I hear her voice saying she's been hit at multiple times before anyone else. Sometimes can't wait for the team to catch up and end up being downed fairly quickly. Uses smokes for the rez but they do it at the wrong place. Forget that they are in the open when rezzing. Pretty slippery to kill due to their passive. Uses their Ultimate anywhere... even when the enemy team can easily go indoors... Overall, they're pretty solid teammates.

Bloodhound:

These feral people I swear to god-. A wild card when teamed up with. Unpredictable and most of the time exceed expectations. Will use Beast of the Hunt when the fight starts but the fight lasts 20s. *HEAVY BREATHING*. Uses scan on places that are empty just in case but then alerts people nearby. Wants to land in densely populated areas. I enjoy their company and they're pretty good at what they work with.

Caustic:

The one teammate who will block entrances with their gas traps. Hell breaks loose when there's 2 in a fight. Teammates are annoyed at them when in an enclosed space. Second most often to rage quit. Will stick traps onto the trident as the one driving will have to cross their fingers that no one shoots them. Will miss their ultimate, no where close to the enemies. Satisfying to play as and a piece of shit to play against. Ironically the most serious legend has the most hilarious moments.

Crypto:

This bad boy... is covered in traps or punched by teammates to a new location for laughs. Underrated. Super helpful but no one notices him. Teammates flock around him and t-bag until he gets back. Will most likely be around Mirage mains for the banter. Will hide behind a rock instead of being inside a building. Hearing the "wrrrrr" of his drone induces anxiety. They know this and try to mess with you. Shooting the drone and failing always gives them the ">:3". Please give these mains the attention they deserve.

Gibraltar:

I love them. They can slam my back and I'd thank them. That being said... they need to be more aware of their surroundings. They have really awful timing when it comes to rezzing. Sometimes forget that his shield is not as invincible and can be passed through. Dies while rezzing. The most protective and supportive teammate. Also really friendly. Praise them because they will die for you. *small smooch to the cheek for gibby mains*

Horizon:

"We can all use a pick me up" heard 99.999% of the match. Love to be on the high ground. Really pleasant to listen to her voice. Seen most often in teams now. Experimenting new strategies. People are still getting used to her so not much to say at the moment. Sweet people with the will to help teammates.

Lifeline:

Tries their best to be helpful but their kit is used poorly. Uses the shield from D.O.C. to fight instead of finding cover to help rez. Speaking of rez, the one being rezzed will be downed again and again until the enemy finally puts down their misery. Will lose the fight when the rez isn't finished and the person gets killed. Most likely to get pissed when another teammate rezzes downed players. Healing during a fight will result in being found and getting blasted with bullets. Will complain when they don't get the loot. Asks for the loot you have so they can later die with it.

Loba:

Queen of getting away. Bracelet is loud enough to attract enemies and they're not aware of this sometimes. Once the black market open you gotta look all areas just in case an enemy team sees or hears the outline. Will open black market 90% of the match no matter where they are. Never deactivates their black market. I have never ever seen it happen. Revenant and Bangalore mains will most likely be teamed up with her. Really helpful teammates and generous when it comes to loot.

Mirage:

These people absolutely adore his humor and banter with everyone. Will use the riding skydive emote the most. Bamboozles actually trick you and you realize how dumb you can be. Makes people waste their bullets and revel in this fact. Rezzing is very nice.... until you hear footsteps then it's extreme anxiety. Has meme potential in anything. Will try to use their ultimate to escape but will eventually be shot at. Half of the fakes run into walls or objects which will have the enemy team look directly at the real one. Goofy and fun to be around but anxiety goes straight up when they're trying to rez.

Octane:

Speedy bois. Hella hard to hit and never stop running. Try their hardest to get teammate banners. Cheer on these devil babies, they do so much. Slurps and throw up loot all in one go. *90's racing music in the background*. Unfortunately abandons their team behind when 1 person is downed. Can't stay indoors for long and keeps moving destinations. Cannot drive the titan for their life and crash land near edges of maps. Makes me grip the mouse and keyboard when they're driving.

Pathfinder:

Will use their grappling hook and either fly over their initial stop or be stuck under the building. I'm the one stuck under the buildings. Hella good at snipers and aerial shots. Is that one main who'd swing into action all cool but will crash face first into a building. Zip lines to fights and gets downed first. Gets impatient when groups don't show up and quit. 2nd most salty people in voice chat. Pretty good for rezzing and retreats. It's over when they have high ground.

Rampart:

Ballistic players who don't know how to chill. Gets the most attention with Shiela but also has their shields at all angles when a fight happens. Prepared for a gun fight at all times. Pair up with trap mains and create so much chaos. Will likely get pissed if teammates don't stay behind shield and get downed. Also underrated af. Shield get left all over the map and turns the fight around if the enemy uses it. Honestly need more Rampart in my life.

Revenant:

Guilty of playing him for his voice. I'm calling myself out here but I'll be damned if I don't drag the rest of the fandom down with me. Will keep climbing up to impossible heights until they get in the perfect spot. Crawly bois, sneaky af. Will forget to use their totem before a fight. This also is the case with their tactical. Throws themselves in the most populated areas as jump master. Pings loot for teammates. Ironic that the character is awful to other people but the mains are really nice people. Love to annoy Lobas and piss off everyone else if their teammates are trash.

Wattson:

Do not be fooled by their cute personalities and awesome skins. They are the most devilish mains. Will do the 90's anime laugh in your face as you get electrocuted. Anger them and the last thing you'll see is a finisher. Will put their Tesla in an open field and get it destroyed in seconds. FENCES EVERYWHERE. You'll try to protect them until you see that they've already won a 1v2-3 fight. Will kill in cold blood if you destroy a fence. Disposes your body by finishing you. Actually scary. The personification of ":)".

Wraith:

2 opposite spectrums. Either a noob or a 1000+ veteran. 1000+ veterans think they are privileged to own the best loot. Will voice chat just to complain and diss on your playstyle. Barely a team player and go off on their own just to die and get angry that "you're trash at the game". Very rarely will be cooperative to win a game. Noobs will have no clue and will follow you around like a lost child. T-bag moments. Will have you be the initiator of everything because the other teammate will just follow along too. Average Wraith players are the most chill players and don't say much but do a lot with their actions.

If I fucked up anyone's expectations then I'm sorry. This list is pretty stupid but if anyone else related to this or has anything else to add then put it in tags or messages!

Thanks for reading my opinions and please stay hydrated, unclench your jaw, don't send hate comments, and get some rest!

[pelideswhore]

@call-me-gibby this is what an actual threat looks like:

Tell me about you OCs or I’ll release the geese

*clears throat*

i’m just gonna be talking about my OCs from the greek mythology book cus that’s the most relevant, if you wanna know about other OCs lemme know.

and yeah, there’ll only be three for this book cus all other characters are a spoiler towards @anonymousgeekhere

Denny —

Denny is 17 y/o, black and bisexual. She is in a relationship with Ace, who’ll come up in a second, and she has a younger half-brother called Lucas — he’s 5. Her actual name is Denise but she goes by Denny cus she doesn’t like it. She wants to study classics because she loves greek mythology. Her mother is a nurse and she doesn’t know who her biological father is. However her mum has a boyfriend, Clay (Lucas’ father), who lives with them.

Khan —

Khan is 19 years old and an immigrant from Syria, where his dad is from. His mother is Indian. He came to London aged 13 and has been best friends with Denny ever since. He’s confused about his sexuality, but knows he’s not straight (I know he’s asexual). He likes music and hates Ace, amongst other things. He tends to be serious and brutally honest, sometimes to the extent to rudeness. He’s generally always a good person to ask for an opinion if you really want to know the truth.

Ace —

Ace is 18 y/o and white. He’s good at football, supports Chelsea (basic lol) and wants to be a professional footballer. He likes rap and dislikes Khan, mostly because he’s jealous of how much time Denny spends with him. Also he’s lowkey racist and just doesn’t know it yet and hates it when Khan calls him out cus he thinks he’s woke for having a black girlfriend. and did i say sunny wants me to kill him

[aka-irish]

Apex Legends: The Top Predator Part 5. Predators to Prey

A blue portal opens up in the center of King’s Canyon. *Thwapew* and in a flash of blue light the Legends all appear lined up, hands on their guns as they await this new foe. The electronic banners in the canyon flicker as the Doctor Traxler’s face appears once more. “Bravo, Legends. I’m glad you made the right choice. I wouldn’t have wanted to set those bombs off, anyway, but I needed an insurance policy. With that said, I wanted to test our new toy. Please...accept my boy as you have any other legend. He does have a bit of a temper” The doctor snidely remarks, a huge grin on his face. The months of laboring research and creation finally coming to fruition for him. “We will stop you” yells Wraith, a finger pointing up at the monitor. “Oh, I doubt that” replies the doctor. “And even if you do, you won’t stop us, for as the wheels turn, we do our part. Now. “The doctor turns to off screen. “Release Darwin!” commands Traxler. “Sir!” says a soldier before hitting a button. A whirring from a door can be heard and the glass tank is released through a hatch in the floor as it launches down from a ship. The Legends look up and in a few moments a large metallic container can be seen descending from the sky. As it approaches the ground below rockets kick in to slow the fall. Upon landing it begins smoking as the air pressure begins releasing, and upon opening, the glass tank can be seen with Darwin in it. The tank drains and opens and the large body falls out onto his knees inside the metal hatch. “Hrr..hrrrr.hrrrr” a mix of deep breathing and seething can be heard coming him, as his powerful lungs expand and inhale for the first time on their own. The muscles twitch and flex as he begins to stand up, his massive frame almost too overshadowing the tank behind, making one wonder how he could have fit inside it. He stands up and eyes the legends. Steel grey eyes locked on the band of warriors as his teeth grit. “HrrRRWAAHHHHHH” roars the abomination of man. “Play nice, Legends.HAAHHA” the doctor laughs before his signal cuts out and the monitors display the fight. Darwin steps forth. 

“Hmph” Crypto quickly breathes as he throws out Hack “I’ll keep Hack open to provide any data scans in case things go south.” states the Korean hacker. “Good” replies Bangalore. “Oh my God, enough talking. Let’s bake this freak. RAPIDO!” bursts out Octane as he injects himself with a stim and charges the creature solo. “SILVA, NO!’ cries out Lifeline as the daredevil runs full speed at Darwin. “Catch me if you can, pendejo! Octane aims his mastiff shotgun at the beast of a man and he begins to unload a buckshot. The spray from the powerful gun land directly at the chest of the 6′6 bald, monster. *Tink* a small shield absorbs most of the shots. “Shielded up, eh? No matter. I’ll whittle you down, you can’t catch me” says Oct as he stims up again, the brash stuntman remarks happily, loving the thrill of the challenge. Darwin lashes a monstrous arm out, swinging at the speedster but he misses. “Oooo..gonna have to do better than that. yehehehahahah!” he laughs. Darwin swings again, misses, but becomes a bit closer. Octane fires another shot, the bullets once again absorbed by the energy shield. Darwin leaps at him and Octane slides under him. “Those muscles make ya slow, haha!” He jumps up and throws a kick at his face. The robotic legs kick off Darwin’s face, not even staggering him. “GRAHHHHHH!” he roars in annoyance as he lashes out once more. BA-THOOM BATHOOM BATHOOM, one of Darwin’s massive hearts begins to thunder and accelerate...BATHOOMBATHOOMBATHOOM, the second heart begins to beat faster and harder. As the two other hearts begin to catch up and speed up, Darwin begins moving even faster. He throws a wild punch as it grazes Octane’s mask. “The hell?” he wonders, the sudden surge in speed surprising him as a second fist connects to his stomach. “GAH!” he cries out in pain, never having been hit with such force in his life. He gets sent flying back as he coughs up blood in his mask. “HKHKHKHK!” he can’t breathe in the mask as he chokes on the blood. Darwin accelerates towards him, the added hearts pumping so fast in a way that his body is able utilize more oxygen to speed up his muscles to match even Octane. A blue portal opens up instantly between Octane and Darwin as a blue energy shield pops out to absorb the force. “Tch..you’re a strong one, huh” Gibraltr pops out of Wraith’s portal with his shield up. Wraith, having led the portal, grabs Octane and jumps back through, leaving the human fortress to fight the behemoth of Pinnacle. Gibraltr smiles as he his shield up and Maori club in his free hand. The shield absorbing the angry blows of Darwin and he counters with a massive club strike the face in an opening. The energy shield again absorbing the blow but the mighty Makoa, even being able to chop trees in a single stroke, merely knocks the monster’s head back slightly. BATHOOMBATHOOMBATHOOM, the powerful connection of hearts begin to surge again as Darwin throws his blows faster, as he starts to overwhelm Gibby. “Damn..I’ve never faced anyone like you before” Gibby says with a smile on his face as his wild side starts to show. “GRAAHHHH!” Darwin screams. The massive fists colliding with the shield as it shatters. Makoa reaches behind and pulls out his favored Eva-8 automatic shotgun, he points it point blank at Darwin’s stomach and begins pumping in all 8 rounds. Each explosive shot manages to push Darwin back for some space, but the shield reduces the damage once again.

 Meanwhile, Wraith having appeared back with the group puts Octane down by Lifeline. “He’s hurt bad. Whatever that thing is can throw a punch” points out the Voidwalker. “I got him. Go help, Makoa” says Lifeline as she hooks DOC to him to help heal him. Wraith nods before heading back to the portal and jumps in. She ports back out just as Gibraltr gained some space with his EVA. “I don’t know what kinda shield this thing has, but my gun ain’t cutting it Wraith” Gibby remarks as he loads a new drum into his shotgun. Wraith just nods as she finally confronts the nightmare from the base. She pulls out her alternator and leaps in, flipping over the charging monster, firing rapid shots as the bullets just burn through in the shield, Gibby combining with her his Eva. Darwin staggers around, clearly feeling some pain but showing little to no effect of slowing down. “AYE! GET BACK, MATES! FIRIN’ ME KNUCKLECLUSTER!” yells Fuse as he rushes in, firing his signature grenades. “HRUUUUUUUUU!!” Darwin yells in pain at the explosions. “Let’s see how you deal with Salvo’s finest!” smiles the Bonecage Brawler. His 30-30 repeater locked right onto Darwin. The charged shots clinking against the energy armor. “Bloody hell, what’s this?” he questions as Gibby and Wraith both fire. “We don’t know. It’s not an Evo shield I’ve ever seen. “Well..just keep firin then” Fuse’s face turns serious from the fun loving fighting expression that he is known for. The Legends seemingly having the monster on the ropes for the moment. “Why can’t we go in? Lemme at the brute!” blurts out Rampart. “Because, we don’t know what he can do and look what happened when one of us charged in. Silva is out of commission in almost one hit. Guns don’t seem to be working all too well either. As Wraith, Gibby and Fuse continue their advancement, Darwin swings wildly once again. BATHOOMBATHOOMBATHOOMBATHOOM, his hearts accelerating even faster, he charges forward and lands a massive fist to the face of Gibraltr between reloads, ignoring the shots from the other two. “AGH!” Gibby screams out in pain as he flies back, blood spraying immediately from his nose. Lands on the ground with a hard thud. ‘AGHRAARUUUU!’ roars Darwin again, as he swings around and turns his attention to Wraith and Fuse. Gibby staggers himself, the normally proud and happy disposition on his face is turned to, for the first time in a long time, doubt. “Damn” he whispers under his breath and he charges again. *click click click* Wraith’s gun clicks. “Oh no..I;m out” she thinks to herself. She pulls her kunai. “I’m going to phase guys!” she teleports as she ports around and jumps up to climb his distracted shoulders as she goes for a stab to his neck with her kunai. The blade bouncing off the shield...”oh no..” she stutters as Darwin reaches up and powerbombs her into the ground so hard it almost cracks. “Ghuhh!” Wraith bounces against stone and sand as the air immediately leaves her lungs, her body wracked with pain. 

Aboard the Pinnacle ship, Traxler looks on in intent amazement at his creation. The metallic doors open as Colonel Braxton makes his presence known. “You’ve done outstanding work, Doctor” remarks Braxton, his hands held behind as back as he watches the carnage of Pinnacle’s creation. “It really is incredible, isn’t it, Colonel?” questions the sociopath. “We have really done it, we have created the perfect soldier. We have played God here and are winning” he follows up, putting a hand on the Colonel’s shoulder. “And none of it would be possible without your leadership, sir. I hope we may continue to do business with each other.” “And I as well”, replies Braxton as both return to their gaze to the battle below. “Wraith is down! Horizon, retrieve her as quick as possible. Gibs! How is it hanging in there?” questions Bangalore amidst the chaos and commands. Gibraltr throws his dome shield over Wraith as he knocks the even bigger man back out of it. “Not good, Anita. This thing is tough and I don’t know how much more we can hold off” he admits through gritted teeth. A gravity disk is thrown by Wraith and sucks her up to her the Scottish scientist that is Horizon. “No dyin today, deary. We can take a wee nap later” she caringly mutters to the downed Wraith. “And up” Horizon launches another disk and floats back up to the group, landing softly and laying her down by Octane. “Horizon...Wattson...Valkyrie...Caustic, we need to hit him with everything we have, but it’s going to take and timing and work. Ajay, you continue providing care to Oct and Wraith. Loba, Mirage, I need you to go help Gibraltr and get Fuse back up here, we need his Motherlode. We only have one shot at this, guys” Bangalore sternly states before turning to look at Rampart. “P, can you set Sheila up and provide some suppressive fire?”she asks the modded machine gunner. “Can do, girl” Rampart whips around her massive minigun before slapping it a couple times. “Alright, girl, we got a big, mutant skull to crack.” she jollily chortles before running off to set up. “Mirage to the rescue. Dupes deployed” yells Mirage as he charges after the creature, his dupes appearing and running at it. Loba tosses her ring and lands in behind the creature as it continues to throw massive fists with Gibraltr. “Take this you sonofabitch” Loba roars through her teeth as she pulls out the R-99 and begins unloading the rapid clip at Darwin. “GAAAHGRRUUUUHHH” it yells as it now has dupes, Gibraltr, Mirage and Loba fighting. Loba flips between fists and kicks as dupes disappear from being hit while Mirage sets back, unloading his signature Wingman. The high caliber rounds knocking back the beast as it staggers but still seems unaffected due to the modded energy shield. “Bullets don’t see to be working, guys” Mirage remarks as he sends another dupe, Loba continuing to leap and unload clip after clip  with Gibby jumping in with his shotgun. “Fuse, return back” commands Bangalore over the earpiece. “Right” he returns and starts running back, catching the gaze of Darwin. “RAAGHH” he roars as he charges after him. As he does, a hailstorm of bullets comes from atop a cliff as Rampart rains down SHEILA at him. “Take this ya bloody bastard HAHAHA” she laughs manically in delight at the fight. As the barrage of high-caliber bullets hit him, the shield seems to almost crack. 

“Good, P. Keep it going” compliments “Rest of you, GO!” screams the former IMC soldier as the remaining legends rush down the hill. “Gibs, Mirage, and Loba. Get back!” they hear Bangalore bark. Mirage dupes, and Loba jump drives away. Bangalore launches a smokebomb at Darwin, it explodes confusing the almost frozen monster with Rampart shooting him. Rampart stops as Valkyrie flies by, dropping her missiles to stun him for a few moments. “Deploying fences” excitedly states Wattson as she slides down, putting up a square of super charged fences around the monster. “RAGHHHH” Darwin can be heard screaming inside the smoke cloud, lashing out but cringing back in pain due to the electric posts of the genius Ms. Paquette. “Singularity deployed” yells Horizon as she throws NEWT at him. The device opening and unleashing the gravitational pull, keeping Darwin centered. “Droppin the motherlode” as it’s Fuse’s turn to pull out his cannon as he launches the flaming ring over Darwin, the shield absorbing more and more damage, but despite that, Darwin can feel the heat and charge, yelling out in pain. “Gas grenade” calmly states Caustic as he throws his gas grenade. It explodes on contact, releasing the venomous mist inside. The powerful lungs of Darwin inhale the spray and begins choking, his lungs and extra hearts working overtime to metabolize and compensate for the poison. “Bangalore up top pops up a can of her rolling thunder before launching it. “Everyone, get in Gibby’s shield. We end this now” she yells. Gibraltr throws up his dome shield as the signal flare calling for the missiles to drop and line the ground around Darwin. “RUUUUUUAAAAHH!” he screams in the searing agony of the combined ultimates of the Legends. The missiles detonate leaving Darwin to get caught in the explosions, his energy shield reaching maximum capacity and finally cracking, as dust and sand, and gunpowder fills the air, engulfing him. Gibby’s shield finally fading. “Did we win?” asks Mirage, the other legends staring sternly at the dust cloud. 

“Sir, Darwin’s shield has been cracked!” a soldier at a monitor reports out. “And how is Darwin?” calmly asks the doctor. “He appears to have sustained minimal damage, but damage nonetheless” he reads back. “To be expected” states the doctor. “These are the legends after all, but I think it’s time we end this. Activate Darwin’s Cardiac Connection ultimate and drop the Devotions kit” he orders. The soldier nods as he pulls open a switch and hits the read button over Darwin’s screen. Another soldier pulls a lever as a container is launched from the drop ship, plummeting towards the arena. BATHOOM...BATHOOM...BATHOOM, Darwin’s three extra hearts begin beating in different rhythms. *Thoom-thoomp..thoom-thoomp...thoom.thoomp..THOOMthumpthump...thoomthom* Loba winces immediately yelling out in pain as she drops to her knees, hands clutching at her breast. Darwin’s 2nd heart *thoomp-thmp--thoomp-thmp..thmmpp..thmppthmp..BUMP* Mirage drops to his knees, clutching his chest, seething in agony. *BMPBMPBMP..bmp-bmpbummppthump* Rampart falls from SHEILA, hand almost ripping at her shirt. Darwin’s hearts beat rapidly and flail while the hearts of the three legends match them. “What’s going on!?” yells a confused Bangalore. Valkyrie puts an ear down on the convulsing Loba’s breast “THOMMP...thoompthumpthump...thmph......thmph” it’s like shes having a heart attack!” she cries out. “What the hell!? Is this thing still alive or did they cheat us again!?” Bangalore looks as the dust finally settles, and there is Darwin still standing, clutching an arm, cuts across his face, and body, blood dripping down an arm.” RAAAAAHHGHH” he roars, angrier than ever. The previous drop package from Pinnacle lands down in front of him. It opens and out pop two, fully kitted devotions. “Heheh..eheh” breathes out Darwin..almost as if he’s laughing. He reaches in and grabs the guns and aims them at the still standing Legends. Darwin pulls the trigger as the devotions fire their super heavy and powerful spray of energy rounds. The bullets shredding the shields of the Legends and knocking them. “GAH! aGH!” they can all be heard screaming except for one. The whole team, tired and exhausted from their almost fruitless efforts. Lifeline and Crypto, having been support run down, charging the monster as he shoots them down almost as quickly as they came to attack. Bangalore stands atop from her position...eyes wide and stunned at the events that transpired. The heroes...the Legends..the comrades and fighting family before her, all taken out by one person..one thing. She walks down the hill towards Darwin, the devotions hanging at his sides still smoldering before dropping them. She stands toe to toe with him, staring up at his cold, souless yet vicious, steel eyes. “Bastard” she mutters before aiming her G7 Scout at his face, he swats an arm at her, the massive fist connecting with the side of her head. She gets sent several feet away from the impact. 

The drop ship lands and a hatch opens before extending a walkway. Doctor Traxler and a few soldiers, armed with guns up, follow him out as they head towards Darwin, a sick smile spread across his face as he looks at the fallen bodies of the Legends that lay at his feet. “I’d say our experiment was a success, Colonel” cockily states the Doctor. “Good. Bring him” responds the Colonel. “Very well” says Traxler as he directs his attention to the soldiers. “Begin the retrieval process” he barks out as the soldiers head towards Darwin, wrangling him towards the ship. Traxler looks down at the nearly unconscious Bangalore. Anita looks up, and through foggy eyes, she sees that smile before he heads back to the ship. All she can hear, aside from the ringing in her ears, the ship engines firing up and the slow thudding of her own heart beating as she finally slips into unconsciousness. 

[juliepop]

New Years Resolutions

New Years Resolutions

[Miragehound Fic] AO3 Link: here

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences (

A/N): Wow, who doesnt post for a year and comes back just to drop some fluff? Me. Hi, I've had a really shitty year and I needed to write something to make myself feel better. This is dedicated to I. They're the person who pulled me out of a really dark spot and encouraged me to take time for myself and write a little.

Summary: Elliott was taking this New Years Resolution List making seriously, or he would be if Renee wasn't insistent on ruining everything. A new addition on his little list was becoming increasingly hard to ignore. 

"You're really funny, hysterical even," Elliott grumbled, snatching his list of Renee's hands before she could deface it anymore. She frowned at him as he crumpled it a little before curiosity got the better of him, he had to know what was written. Glancing down, Elliott almost choked at her little addition before he made sure this time to make a paper ball and hurled it at her head.

Renee caught it, of course. Pesky voices not even letting him get away with his dignity as she tossed it back, and it bounced off his chest when he wasn't fast enough to catch it. That was totally cheating.

"Elliott Witt, you are a baby."

"You're a baby," Elliott mocked, snatching his paper off the floor because he just cleaned that, and there was no way he would live down someone finding that as he tucked it in his back pocket for safekeeping.

Renee, to her credit, only bared her teeth at him, the little gremlin pointing a finger at him as if she could tell he was calling her names in his head before she pulled the concerned mom face. Shit. "What are you so afraid of? Out of everyone else I've seen Bloodhound interact with, you're the only person I've seen who they let pet their bird. The worst thing they can say is no."

"Uh, are you forgetting who we're talking about? This is the person we watched take five knives out of nowhere once, five. I'm pretty sure they had more, but it only took five of them before the security gave up and just let them pass."

That was a pleasant memory; Elliott could vividly recall how the devs had demanded all the legends stop sneaking weapons onto the dropship and set up a metal detector. Bloodhound set it off every single time they walked through, and for every attempt, they pulled out yet another wickedly long hunting knife from their coat until finally, the security guard gave up. It was a little funny at the time, maybe even a tiny bit sexy, but Elliott wouldn't ever admit to that. Probably. "What if my conf-confec-ugh. What if I say my feelings and they get offended? I'm too pretty to die."

"Pretty annoying, yeah," Renee muttered; Elliott made an offended noise before she reached out to set a hand on his arm. "Elliott, they're not going to stab you for having feelings. I mean, if they don't already know. You're kind of obvious."

"Me? I am so subtle!"

Renee stared at him for a moment, her gaze going from the top of his perfectly styled curls, the sleek yellow silk shirt that sparkled under the lights with every movement, the black leather pants and his designer ankle boots before staring him in the face.

"...okay, I meant I'm subtle about my feelings."

"You shot yourself in the foot the last time you teamed up with them because they complimented your wingman shot; you cracked your shield, Elliott. That isn't subtle."

He had done that.

Elliott winced at the memory, having taken down Bang's team with a few well-placed shots, and the next thing he knew, Bloodhound was clapping him on the shoulder. Murmuring how he'd done a powerful slatra of the enemy, and Elliott had tried to play it off, spinning his wingman around his finger to holster except the safety wasn't on. He'd struck his foot, the loud crack of his shield startling everyone there, and he wanted to die a little when they'd sweetly offered him a battery,

"Renee, you promised you wouldn't bring that up."

"It was on national television, Elliott. You were viral for a long time."

Over two million hits in one day, it was impressive and mortifying all at once.

"Listen, my main concern for the night is having this party go well. We can talk about that after. It's not like they're going to be here anyway, you know Bloodhound doesn't do parties."

"If they show, you have to tell them." Renee bartered, Elliott trying not to grin in victory because he was right. They never did parties, they were forced into one party a year for the anniversary of the games, and that was all.

"Deal."

Elliott Witt was wrong and stupid.

Bloodhound did come, they showed up precisely on time, and Elliott had nearly cried right then and there because they even greeted him softly at the door.

"Hallo, Mirage."

"Heh-ha-heeeeey, Hound! How's it hanging?" Smooth Elliott, really smooth.

They only offered a nod, mysterious and masked like always, and they smelt faintly of firewood, gunmetal and pine. Which is to say, Elliott was sniffing them, stepping close to offer a hand to shake as they wrapped leather-covered fingers around his and squeezed. "You want a tour?"

"Nei, I think I will find myself a place. Thank you, though, Mirage."

"Hey, we're outta the ring. You can call me Elliott."

"You look...nice." They muttered, the words so faint they're almost lost amidst the chattering of legends and music, but Elliott was focused solely on them. Just hearing the compliment made something in his stomach flutter, Elliott unable to stop himself from laughing softly in surprise and rubbing a hand over his beard, pretending he could rub the colour flooding his cheeks.

Elliott had heard compliments all night, some of them about the party decor, the food, or even his outfit, but this was the one that really made him feel something. He was a little bashful, fingers lingering against theirs as he slid his hand away reluctantly before offering a delighted grin. "I think you look really nice too."

"Takk," Bloodhound murmured, the moment interrupted as Octane yelled something about beer pong, and Elliott turned his head to make sure the idiot wasn't breaking anything when Bloodhound took that moment to leave.

When he faced forward again, they were gone, having found the armchair he'd tucked off to the side of the room to make space for the dancefloor and settling in. Elliott hadn't actually intended that chair to be a spot, it was blocked off by tall potted ferns lining the dance floor, but if that's where they felt most comfortable, that was okay.

He was just really pleased they even came.

Then less pleased when he heard Lifeline scream Octane's name before Elliott heard a deafening crash. Seriously ??

Two broken tables, a broken chair, and a cracked window later and Elliott was exhausted. Offering an open bar to a bunch of people who liked chasing each other and murdering their friends was dicey, it seemed alcohol brought out the crazy. Octane wanted to jump off things, Bangalore was drunk as a skunk and offering to fistfight people, and at one point, Rev had scuttled along the ceiling, and someone had screamed.

Okay, Elliott had screamed. Who the fuck does that? What the fuck does that? It must have been illegal somewhere.

Thankfully there were some ordinary people though, Gibby had brought along a special friend who seemed like an average person who didn’t want to break things. The dude was even kinda funny, and he had a knack for making the big guy laugh loudly, I mean, he totally wasn't as amusing as Elliott, but he was alright.

Even Crypto, the bitter old man had shown up, shamed into silence by sweet angel Nat when he tried to pick a fight with Elliott. A battle Ellie would have totally won, hands down. Stupid Crypie.

Midnight was coming up fast, though, and everyone seemed to be split off into their little groups, which was kinda nice. Octane was playing DJ and entertaining Ajay, Anita, Ramp, Loba, and Path. Crypto had struck up a conversation with Nat and Renee in a corner, the three of them looking real serious about something. Even Doctor Somers was there, she was talking to Caustic of all people, but those two seemed to be hitting it off and Elliott was only a little envious. Rev was nowhere to be seen thankfully or not thankfully. Elliott cast a glance up in fear, a little relieved when he didn't see the murder bot hanging there like a spider.

Then there was Elliott; he was taking his host duties really seriously and restocking the cute little finger food trays when he felt a hand land on his shoulder, Renee was reaching to steal an appetizer. She leaned against the table, expression a lot more relaxed than Elliott had ever seen her, and there was the faintest drunken flush across her cheeks as she cast a glance to Nat and Crypto. "So, I took your advice, and Natalie said she'd love to be my new year's kiss."

"Wait, my advice worked? You took it??" Elliott tried to very subtly show his approval for his friend, laughing and dragging Renee into a hug that she slapped out of with an annoyed noise.

He knew she secretly loved it though, her mouth quirking up at the corners while she tried to hide the almost smile. "I mean of course it worked. I am not just pretty; I'm clever."

"I guess sometimes you have good ideas. Maybe you should take my advice too then, ten minutes left until the new year and I know you haven't told them."

"Awh c'mon, Renee. You know I can't just march over there and do that, I have finger foods to resto—"

'Fuck the host duties, Elliott." Renee growled; Elliott was a little surprised to hear the gremlin swear before she forcibly took the tray from his hands and he was left staring in shock at his drunk friend. Well, he was staring down in shock. She was the size of a pissed off toddler. "Go talk to them. Now. You have five minutes before I march over there and bring them to you."

"You wouldn't--" Elliott started, stopping when he saw the look in her eyes and yeah, he thought she just might. Peeking over to see if anyone was listening, Elliott froze when he noticed Bloodhound's mask was pointed in his direction before he blinked and shook it off.

Of course they weren't looking at him, he was just in the middle of the room, and that's how they were sitting. Inhaling sharply through his nose, Elliott turned back and looked at Renee, who started picking at the food on the tray and stuffing her face. "I'm scared."

"I promise I'll watch over you two, make sure they don't pull out a knife."

"Haha, really funny. You're hilarious; you know that, right?"

"You're stalling. Four minutes now." Renee murmured, Elliott swallowing hard as he realized that there is a limited amount of time left, and he cleared his throat before asking real quietly if he looked okay. Renee's gaze softened, reaching up to smooth his collar for a second before she smiled crookedly. "You're a knockout, Elliott. Now go."

So he went.

Elliott tried to quiet his racing heart down as he walked, talking himself up in his head as he kept his gaze glued to his boots. He looked great, and Bloodhound was a...they were a friend. Everything would be okay, he would go over there, chat them up a little, and he could inform Renee he tried to tell them but it didn't work out. Easy.

His palms were sweating as Elliott walked up, aware he'd reached the point of no return as he saw the bottom edge of the ferns before he jerked his head up and caught sight of them again.

Bloodhound had tucked their chair even further behind the potted plants, hidden by their little jungle but he could see they were comfortable. They'd taken off their hunting coat, the jacket casually laid over the back of the armchair, and that left them in an oversized sweatshirt that did nothing to hide how broad their shoulders were as Bloodhound cocked their head at him.

They were wearing some kind of layered outfit, a turtle neck that covered their neck completely and a baggier layer over it that mostly obscured their body from view with matching pants and thick sole boots.

Overhead, Elliott had strung up fairy lights for the room's lighting, rows and rows of soft white lights glinting off their goggles and the metal parts of their mask as Bloodhound watched him draw closer. His mouth was bone dry, tongue trying to smooth over his lips, but Elliott felt like that didn't help as he took a shallow breath before clearing his throat.

Be cool.

"H-hh-hi Bloodhound!"

"Hello, Mirage," Bloodhound answered; Elliott was telling himself they did not intentionally sound soft just for him. He only ever heard them talk in the ring; Bloodhound tended to murmur commands there, and discussed creative ways to kill their fellow legends instead of small talk. The rare moments he saw them not in a tense situation were few and far between, not for his lack of trying though. Bloodhound wasn’t a big talker, they kinda tended to offer up two-word answers and stared a lot. It was cute.

Elliott liked how their accent sounded like this, though, casual and soft. Like they were having an intimate conversation, instead of Elliott stuttering over basic words and bothering them like was currently happening.

"Are you uh, do you like the party?"

"It has been an experience." They answer after a moment, the faintest hint of something lurking in their tone as they nod toward the gathering legends with their gazes glued to the holoscreen with a large timer counting down. Shit, two minutes. "I do not attend most events, but I wished to accept your invitation for this."

"Oh, I'm glad you came," Elliott says, hoping his sincerity rings through as he glances at the dwindling amount of time until the new year before he looks back. "I know parties aren't your thing, but it makes me happy you're here."

Their blank mask doesn't change, there's no discernible way Elliott can even tell what's going on behind it, but he swears he feels them smile at him for a moment. It's kind of like being trapped in a cold dark room for years and stepping outside for the first time, feeling the warmth of the sun against your face and letting it soak into your frigid core.

His mouth curved upward, returning what he hoped was a smile from them and not Elliott developing a sudden fever or something when Octane broke the moment with a shout.

"One more minute, amigos!"

"What? That went by so fast!" Elliott sputtered, caught off guard by everything as everyone behind readies themselves.

"So it did. Do you wish to go join them for the countdown?" Bloodhound asked, nodding toward the gathering crowd of legends standing near the holoscreen and readying up their party poppers and chattering. Elliott glanced over, seeing everyone seemed to be paired up already, smiling faces turned toward the timer slowly ticking down. He almost jumped when he turned back, realizing Bloodhound was standing with their coat back on magically and looked like they were ready to go.

"Are you leaving?" Elliott blurted out, unable to stop himself from sounding disappointed as he hears everyone behind counting down from twenty.

"I do not wish to keep you longer."

"Ten, nine, eight… "

"Keep me? I'd love if you kept me."

“Mirage…”

"...Four, three, two, one! Happy New Year! "

Behind everyone breaks out in cheers, the sound of fireworks going off muffled behind the thick glass panes of the windows to the side, but they still make colours dance across the room as the legends all set off their party poppers.

Bloodhound and Elliott both watch everyone breaking off in couples, Elliott laughing when he saw Octane drag Ajay into a kiss only to get slapped a few moments later, the medic calling him a grabby jackass. He sighed wistfully, surprised when Bloodhound put a hand on his shoulder.

"Is something wrong?"

"Usually, my New Years' kiss is my mom; it sucks being so far away from home."

"A kiss is a..tradition?" They ask slowly, head tilting in that distractingly cute way, and Elliott laughs a little at how lost they sound.

"Yeah, it's about str-stren-ugh, making ties with people stronger and stuff. That or not being lonely all year." Elliott answered, gesturing to the other legends, who were either kissing or hugging one another.

The fireworks outside were still going off, shooting various colours into the sky, but that was all hard to keep track of when Bloodhound used their hand on his shoulder to pull him behind the ferns. "Uh, Hound?"

Bloodhound's hand moved from his shoulder to the back of his neck, Elliott inhaling sharply as they yanked their respirator down, and his brain kind of shut down when their lips pressed against his. They tasted like orange juice, he realized, Bloodhound already drawing away and Elliott kind of flounders at the idea that his only kiss with Bloodhound was going to be a peck, before he wound his arms around their neck and he pulled them closer.

They gasp, fingers squeezing the back of his neck in surprise, and Elliott closes his eyes and kisses them for all he's worth. Bloodhound is stiff at first, and that's the moment he wondered if they were gonna stab him for pushing a boundary when they slowly softened and hesitantly moved their mouth under his. It felt like they were trying to copy his movements, Elliott sparing a second to wonder if maybe they didn't have a lot of experience before he thinks fuck it and licks against the closed seam of their lips.

Bloodhound shudders in his arms, lips parting on a shaky sigh, and Elliott takes advantage to lick past their teeth, and it's extra confirmed they were drinking juice all night when he gets an actual taste. It's endearing and hot, and all the positive things he can't think of at the moment because he was currently kissing Bloodhound like his life depended on it. Honestly, it just might if this pissed them off.

They gradually relaxed further though, the hands that were gripping his neck and now balled in his shirt as Elliott rocks up on his toes to press against them fully. They were a little taller than him, something he was secretly thrilled about as his hands slid from their neck and down their arms for a moment when Bloodhound pulled away with a soft gasp.

They were breathing hard, Elliott cursing the fact they were tucked away in such a dark corner because he could only see part of their face and the parts he almost made out were gorgeous. Kiss swollen lips, faint spiderwebs of scars laced along their cheeks and jaw, and—

"Hound?" Elliott asked concerned when they sounded like they were choking between pants, a hand lifting as if to ward him off for a moment as they lifted their respirator back in place to take a measured breath with a soft hiss. It's then that it connects that they might need the thing, Elliott parting his lips on an apology when they use the hand they were holding in front of him to cup his cheek instead. Leather rubs over his cheekbone softly, Bloodhound breathing deeper breaths from their respirator and he settles down.

"Do not worry, vinur. I was surprised; you had taken my breath."

Now Elliott knew they meant literally, but he couldn't help the soft smile curling his lips at the idea of Bloodhound calling him breathtaking as he leans into their palm for a second. He was still worried, but already they seemed to be back to normal as he could see the deep and even breaths they were taking. "You took my breath too, but in a good way. I uhm, I don't know if you meant the kiss to be romantic, but I--"

"It was meant to convey romantic feelings, yes." They interrupt, their tone brooking no argument, and Elliott gapes at them like a big dumb fish for a second before they rub a gloved thumb over his bottom lip, and he snaps his mouth closed with a flush. "I apologize for using your tradition for such a thing, but I could not let the opportune moment pass."

"I u-uh, y-yha- uh." God, he was choking so hard. Elliott felt his face heat more, cursing his stutter as he blabbered more broken consonants before taking a sharp breath and recalling something. Reaching into his back pocket Elliott takes out the crumpled paper, holding it out to Bloodhound, who glances at it before delicately accepting and smoothing it out. When they get to the last line, he can see fingers tightening on the paper before they raise their head to look at him.

"I like you; please date me." Elliott manages to get out, almost impressed by how smooth that came out, considering he was blubbering random noises a second ago. Bloodhound doesn't answer right away, well, verbally anyway.

A hand settles back on his face, Bloodhound already pulling their respirator down again, and this time Elliott is very ready for the kiss they plant on him. Unknown to either of them, Renee is watching, holding out a twenty-dollar bill, which Natalie takes gleefully.

"For someone who can see the future, you are quite bad at bets."

"I blame Elliott; he's too slow."

"The hand on Bloodhound's butt says otherwise," Crypto mutters, gagging into his drink and Renee can't help but smirk a little. Yeah, she was definitely going to tell Elliott about that later. Maybe after he finished making out with his new date-mate, the trio tilting their heads as they watched Elliott shove Bloodhound against the wall, and Renee swiftly put a hand over Natalie's eyes when it gets a lot more R-rated.

Maybe she would hold off telling him until tomorrow. They looked like they would be busy for a while.

Renee’s mouth ticks up into a smile.

Finally.

[lif3y-stuf1]

So i came up with more interactions between mila and other legends for my legend concept , wanted to share them and maybe get some thoughts about them , the basic idea is that mila is a person that doesn't takes stuff as serious as others and likes to joke about the other legends , not all of them tho

Btw i know that most of them probably aren't good and most likely cringe

For bloodhound some comments about his look and artur (their raven) 

Like " what's with the bird?" And something like " that outfit isn't really fashionable" 

For gibby she doesn't say anything really bad since gibby is to kind for this and doesn't deserve it 

But stuff like " you are pretty heavy " when reviving him or " i don't know if your full of kindness or strength, but it sure as hell is a lot " 

For lifeline something like 

"Makes you kinda useless " when pinging a medkit or " that drone is kinda cute" when pinging her health drone

For pathfinder nothing to bad since pathfinder is to pure but some comments about how he is too kind 

Like " you are disgustingly nice " or " did they forget to put anything else than kindness into you " 

For wraith stuff about her being paranoid like crypto 

For example when wraith says she's being targeted by another player 

You know this " i think someone is aiming at me" 

A nice little quirp like 

" you remind me of my brother" or " my brother would like you" would be nice since crypto is all paranoid and shit 

For bangalore there's a easy thing to go for , the whole military additude ,  stuff like " you ever chill out? " , " are you always so serious?" Or " did you ever spend time outside of the shooting range?"

For mirage lots of comments about his selflove but also jokes about how his clones look better than him 

Like when he deploys a decoy she says      " wow it looks actually better than you " 

Or when he says how awesome his decoy looks she says " you ever actually looked in a mirror?" 

For caustic just some quips about his gasmask 

Like " did i miss when gasmasks became popular?" 

For wattson not anything to bad but maybe one little joke when pinging enemy fences like " carefull you don't want to refresh those scars " 

For octane stuff like 

" is that stuff really good for you ?" Or " can you get there without blowing your legs off ?" When pinging somewhere far away

For crypto lots of stuff to annoy him , jokes about him being paranoid (like mirage already does) and some casual stuff like "remeber back at that chinese resteraunt ? Would love to go there again " 

Or " when this is over we have to visit mystik " 

For revenant she isn't afraid like some other legends (mirage) but rather makes jokes like 

" i bet you looked better when you were still human " or " did they model that creepy face after your old one?" 

And for loba stuff like " your heels really aren't the best choice here " or " carefull , in that shoes you might trip " 

And altough her dead parents would be a possible chance for jokes i Think mila wouldn't be that mean 

And btw if anyone thinks like she couldn't know some things , yeah she might but shes also a hacker and while crypto may has respect for other legendy privacy she doesn't really care and looked for everything she could find 

Note: i don't know if crypto already knows much about the other legends

[love-ama]

lifetane part 2✌

hiiii and sorry for the long wait ahah, i hope the quality of this update compensates for the long wait oml anyways i'm gonna stop talking ty

characters: lifeline | ajay, octane | octavio, gibraltar | makoa

Lifeline hadn’t been in his squad for a good few games, and he knew the bun-wearing combat medic still participated in the Apex Games. The absence of Ajay by his side made Octavio a little jittery. If she was participating right now, he hoped he wouldn't bump into her any time sooner. Hopefully she was watching him on TV in the comfort of her own home. Safe and away from the bloody event that has become a sport for the Outlands.

His gaze extended through the cluster of trees, sight cut off by the darkness of the forest stretched out around them. It was only him and Makoa, with the shielded fortress rotating a couple of fish over a dimly-lit campfire. They had set up camp for the night, not a word being said about the new teammate they lost to a random triad a few hours back. Any death was just as serious, whether it occurred in the games or not, yet the remaining members of the squad couldn’t do much but loot and move on. 

A silence lingered in between the two, Octavio taking a light jog around the campsite a few times, trying to clear his mind a little. “So, what seems to be on your mind, brother?”

“Ah, no! Nothing at all, amigo.” Octavio bluffed, clearing his throat. He almost tripped over a stone being caught off guard. Octane stumbled to a stop, digging his heels in the ground before snapping his gaze back out into the darkness. “Yeah, I’m all good.”

“As someone who tried to avoid his own feelings, I’m pre-tty good at detecting others.” A hearty laugh escaped Makoa’s lips. “So. What’s the matter with you, son?” A comforting smile stretched over his mouth, the wrinkles of his face carved into his features. The welcoming expression left a warmth lingering in Octavio’s chest, and he felt obliged to confide in the armoured giant. His legs moved on their own, and soon he found himself sitting a good few feet from the small fire.

“I just had a falling out with a friend,” Octavio rested his elbows on his lap, eyeing the dancing flames. He was still struggling to piece his words together, not sure how he was going to project his issue onto his squadmate. Makoa is great for emotional support, and Octavio wanted to reach out to him. “Ajay. I guess I said some stuff that worried her too much, and she hasn’t talked to me in a few months. I mean, stuff like this has happened before, but we’d be talking after I left her to cool off for a couple of days. She’s my hermana, and has been there for me through everything. I guess I was a bit too careless with what I said this time.”

Silence filled the air for a good few moments. Octavio used this time to reflect on the conversation between him and Ajay.

“You have a lot of apologising to do,” he spoke with a humorous tone, “you have to tell her how much she means to you. Judging from what I hear, you don’t do enough of it. Ajay is one of the most realest friends you’ll ever come across, so it’s important to keep her close to you. She helped you through things that may have costed her something else.”

Gesturing to Octane’s legs, Makoa continued. “And as tough as she may seem, she might need a bit of a reminder from you to reassure her of the friendship between you.”

Octavio mulled over his piece of advice. He never really came across a time where he properly appreciated Ajay’s efforts being there for him. Sure, he threw a few “you’re a great friend”’s here and there, but they were lighthearted and usually exchanged when he was saved after pulling off a dumb stunt that the medic told him to not do. He really loved Ajay like a sister, and he started to coin the possibility that maybe he hasn’t been the best friend Ajay has had beside her.

“Oh, and try not to be too careless with the things you say to her. Stick to what you promise her, and try not to pull yourself into too much trouble now.”

The rest of the night was filled with conversations about various things over the cooked fish Makoa prepared for the two. They took shifts to guard the campsite during the night before waking up in the morning to pack up their belongings. Octavio felt refreshed and optimistic. He had just gained a new friend over the course of one night. The two exchanged smiles before continuing their journey to the zone.

Upon their trek, Gibraltar held a hand up to signal for Octavio to stop. The two listened silently to catch the quiet sounds of gunfire coming from the north-east direction in Containment.

“Maybe we should rush in, take ‘em by surprise!” Octavio gesticulated some extreme scenarios to support his suggestion. Makoa took a moment to respond in an attempt to reason with Octane’s suggestion.

But before Makoa could even open his mouth, Octavio was already sprinting in the direction of the firefight, determined to go along with his unsolicited plan. The large man could barely keep up with Octane, the gear on his outfit slowing him down as he kept a steady pace after the daredevil. "Hey-- wait!"

Bang! Bang!

Octane turned around just in time to see Gibraltar's torso ripped open from a barrage of bullets flying through his form. The shielded fortress stumbled forward before falling onto his knees, tugging at his weakly holstered weapon before another shot was fired to his head, tearing into the back of his skull and leaving him to lie in a pool of his own blood.

Octane froze, but only until his eyes met the murderer of his newfound friend. They raised their weapon towards the junkie, and that's when his feet started to move on their own again.

He darted behind a boulder, unholstering his r-99 before standing up to rest his elbows on the coarse surface of the rock. Two enemies were in sight, yet he took his aim at the more animated one, squeezing the trigger as if trying to rid himself of anguish from the loss of his friend.

He's not really dead.

Octavio pressed his eyes shut as a scream escaped his lips.

But I lost him too.

In the darkness behind his eyelids, the loud, repetitive sounds of bullets dulled. Once he realised he emptied his magazine, he opened his eyes to throw the empty weapon at the other enemy, pulling out a peacekeeper before squeezing the trigger out of haste. The shells were forced into their skull and they dropped limp to the ground.

Octavio heaved above the two bodies. His eyes were growing hot and his vision started to become blurry. The daredevil clenched his teeth as his hand grasped tightly around the barrel of the peacekeeper. He elicited a short, frustrated scream as he sent a forceful kick into the side of his most recent victim. Tears started to fall and stain his cheeks as he collapsed to his knees, quiet sobs barely audible to hear from all the thoughts racing in his mind.

The crumbling of earth accompanied by rustling sounded from behind Octavio, and he made the prompt to stand and twirl around, raising the peacekeeper up to the face of his attacker. But once he caught the familiar face of his intruder, his muscles froze and he found himself unable to move.

Brown eyes stared back at him, wide with shock and curiosity as Ajay too found herself frozen in place. Her gun was lowered, yet she looked as if she was searching for something. Judging by her solo appearance, Octavio could guess that it was her teammates he must've taken out.

He lowered the shotgun. The atmosphere between them was awkward and filled with a thick silence. His breathing was even as he tried to make himself as still as he could, but only because he was too afraid to make the wrong move in case he would scare her enough to bust a cap in his head.

Just tell her you're sorry.

Shock dominated her features, then it was anger - but then? Worry, concern, regret. She held herself back from saying anything, trying to read the expression behind Octavio's mask. A few seconds of silence felt like hours before the medic slowly back away from Octavio, weapon raised towards him until she was far enough to turn around and sprint out of his sight.

Octavio only watched her until she was gone from his view. By then, he started to follow her footsteps, increasing his speed by a little the more he followed her. He wasn't sure why he was following her, but something was pulling him towards Ajay. A mixture of feelings were brewing in the pit of his stomach and running after her seemed to be the only way to control the emotional jumble.

"Wait, Ajay." He desperately called, "Aja-"

Bang!

as u can tell I suck at action and can't write it for poop - most of the scenes for this fic with be taken out of apex games for this reason :""") rip gibby the thickie even tho he isn't really dead but writing a scene that kills him off made me sad:"""0 i'll never do that to u again bb i promise

might upload this to ao3 if u guys want buuut i haven't decided yet ajsjfbs hope u guys enjoyed the read!

[hereyougo-flamingsword]

iCarly Good Omens AU, the possession scene

So, I was actually Serious about that icarly Good Omens AU, where Freddie is the angel, Sam is the demon, Carly is the fake antichrist, and Spencer is the real antichrist.

Gibby’s just a regular human, but he definitely has a part to play in this story as well, which is what you will find below.  Enjoy.

-

“Moooom, I’m trying to commune with the DEAD!” Gibby yelled, “The souls? On the other side of the veil, know of em?! Don’t BOTHER me right now, or I’m gonna lose my FOCUS!”

Gibby slammed the door.

“Sorry about that, ladies,” he smiled, turning the charm back on for his guests, “Where were we?”

His three friends from school shifted uncomfortably.

“We were gonna talk to ghosts,” said Tammy impatiently, “You SAID you knew how.”

“Ah, yes,” Gibby said, pulling an Ouija board out from under his bed, “Let us begin.”

“Isn’t that just a board game?” asked Julia, “I think I saw it at Target the other day.”

“Just a BOARD GAME?!” gasped Gibby in outrage, “This is no ordinary BOARD game…it’s glow in the DARK!”

He shook the cardboard box at them, the contents rattling. “Therefore, more connected to spirits!”

He began the setup, unfolding the board onto the floor, and flicking the light switch off.

“Okay. The instructions said that we ALL have to put our hands on this little thingy together,” Gibby said, motioning for the others to copy him, “and then the spirits will move it along the letterboard to give us a message. Everybody ready?”

The girls looked at each other, and then reached their hands out to the plastic triangle, glowing ominously in the dark.

“Spirits, spirits, I call upon your presence,” Gibby said, closing his eyes shut tightly, “If you are with us, please give us a sign!”

Nothing happened.

Gibby cracked an eye open after an uncomfortably long period of time, and saw nothing out of the ordinary.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” said Julia.

“Shut up, Julia, give him a minute! I wanna talk to ghosts!” snapped Tammy.

“Ghosts aren’t even REAL, Tammy, I don’t know why we’re here-“

“They are too! My uncle said-“

“Shut up about your uncle, Sarah-“

“Would you quiet down! It’s disturbing the spirits!” scolded Gibby.

The three of them fell silent, and put their hands slowly back onto the triangle.

And waited.

And waited.

“I’m getting bored, when are the spirits going to come?!” asked Sarah impatiently.

“In just a moment, I’m sure of it! As the spirit medium, I need to make sure I am a…” Gibby took a deep breath, and wiggled his body, “Completely receptive vessel.”

He closed his eyes and took another deep breath.

“Empty your mind, Gibby…” he muttered in self-encouragement.

Even Tammy raised an eyebrow at that.

“This isn’t working, Gibby,” insisted Julia, pulling her hands back, “I’m going home.”

At that exact moment, Gibby’s eyes flew wide open.

“Wait! I-I-I think, something’s happe-AGH!”

Gibby thrashed, sending the board flying and his friends scrambling to the other side of his bed, screaming all the way.

They watched in horror as he continued to flounder around, and let out a truly upsetting number of sounds.

But even in the midst of his distress, Gibby was laughing.

“Guys! I’m being-agh-possessed! I TOLD you-agh! Ow! Eee! I TOLD you that the spirits were coming!! Yess! I was right!!! Ooooooooo-AAAAAAAAAAA-“

Suddenly Gibby went very still, and fell backwards onto the ground.

The girls crawled across the bed and peeked down at his motionless form.

“Is he dead?” asked Tammy.

“I don’t know,” said Sarah.

Gibby suddenly sat up, ramrod straight, and observed his surroundings.

“Well, this is weird,” came a deeper, smoother voice out of Gibby’s mouth. “Where AM I…”

“Let there be light!” Gibby said, snapping his fingers, and the light switch moved on its own to brighten up the room.

Gibby looked down at his hands, patted his belly, his chest, his head-

“Wait. Am I…GIBBY?!” he exclaimed in disgust.

“Hey!” came Gibby’s regular voice from his throat, crossing his arms, “What’s wrong with being-wait, Freddie?”

Gibby tapped his own forehead. “Is that YOU in there?”

Freddie rolled Gibby’s eyes. “Yeah, it’s me, Gib.”

“Is that…Freddie from iCarly?” asked Julia in a timid voice.

Both entities occupying Gibby’s body seemed to realize that they weren’t alone at the same time.

“Okay! Session over, time for you all to go,” said Freddie’s voice, opening the door and ushering the three girls out.

“So sorry to rush you, my mom will show you out BYE!” called Gibby as Freddie used his hand to close the door on them.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Gibby turned around.

“Freddie, why are you possessing me? Does this mean you’re dead?”

Gibby gasped, and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Did Sam finally kill you?”

“Wha-NO!!” Freddie bristled.

“No judgement, brother,” Gibby said, clapping himself sympathetically on the shoulder, “We all knew it was coming.”

“No, Gibby, I’m an ANGEL.”

“Ah, yes. Only the good die young,” said Gibby, nodding slowly.

“Gibby I was never human!” Freddie blurted, “I’m a real angel, the kind from Heaven, I’m six THOUSAND years old, and I’m trying to stop the end of the WORLD!”

Gibby blinked, and sat on his bed heavily.

“An angel?” he said in disbelief, “I’m being possessed…by an angel right now?”

“Um, technically? Yeah.”

“Wow…this is the coolest thing that has ever happened to me!” Gibby exclaimed, a grin spreading wide over his face.

Freddie rolled Gibby’s eyes. “That’s great, Gibby. But can we please get a move on? The antichrist has come into his power already, which means we REALLY don’t have the time to sit around.”

“The antichrist? Who’s the ANTIchrist?” asked Gibby.

“It’s uh…it’s actually Spencer, if you can believe it.”

Gibby’s mouth dropped.

“What are we sitting around for?! He’s probably destroyed half the CITY by now, Freddie!!” Gibby said, standing up too quickly and falling on his face.

“Glad we’re on the same page,” Freddie said, muffled into the carpet.

“By the way, my real name is Benthiel,” said Freddie, as they both struggled to stand again, “But you can still call me Freddie if you want.”

“Wow. Well my real name is Orenthal,” said Gibby, “But you can still call me Gibby if you want.”

Freddie shuddered a little. “I think I will.”

They pulled the door open and started down the hallway as a joint effort.

“Oh, and by the way? Sam’s a demon.”

“KNEW it!” Gibby pumped his fist in the air, then picked up the pace a little more.

[aerascreamer]

Only if I’m with you

A Miragehound fic

Fandom: Apex Legends 

Genre: Slice of life (?)

Word count: 1343

Warnings:  A little bit of angst but mostly cuteness and comfort!

Additional note: My first fanfic for the Apex Fandom !! I hope you’ll like and maybe consider checking my ao3 and wattpad (@ aerascreamer) (I didn’t post this fic on these accounts but if you want, I’ll be glad to do it!)

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The dropship landed on the small spaceport next to the Legends' dormitory.

Octane burst out of the exit without waiting, followed a few meters behind by Gibraltar and Wraith.

Everyone joined the building by groups of three or four, Crypto being the usual exception.

When he finally got out, Mirage stretched his arm to greet the bright sun and the clear azure sky.

"Oh, sweet home! Good to see you again! Talos's not bad but-"

He didn't even finish his sentence that Artur smashed on his face.

"What the- HOUND!!!"

A powerful whistle echoed in the air, forcing the crow to perch on Bloodhound's forearm, cawing.

"He's glad to see you, they translated with a serious tone

-How can you deal with him so easily? The trickster asked as he rubbed his scratched nose.

-Artur likes nobody except me, the hunter chuckled. And he can be very territorial.

-More like jealous of my perfect face!" he joked.

Bloodhound approached him and gently took Mirage's chin to examine the tiny cuts.

"It's nothing, your wounds already started to heal, they declared.

-So... Can a kiss speed up the process?" the trickster begged with puppy eyes.

The tracker let go of an amused growl and stepped towards the dormitory.

"Only if you catch me inside mo mhuirnín, they teased as they sprang.

-Come on !"

~~~

The night fell quickly and spread its darkness on the landscape.

Despite the late hour, some rooms still shined through the windows, with silhouette moving behind.

Scrolling down on his phone Elliott read some "juicy" pieces of information (as the journalists claimed) about the competitors, with ninety percent being speculations and false rumors.

Like on this page, some people said about Bloodhound that they are "fabulously wealthy" " a bloodthirsty murderer", "a Goliath whisperer", "a former slave", "half-bat"... Seriously? Half bat? Why not half-dog or half-Leviathan? Wait did that guy misgender them? And Hound never killed someone, just animals.

The trickster looks down to see his partner sleeping peacefully on his lap, inoffensive as a cat. No, the definition he would give to "bloodthirsty murderer".

He couldn't believe he was in a relationship again, especially after how the last one ended.

Even more incredible, he dated a competitor from the Apex Game while playing in this game where you basically shoot freely at each other throat.

And that competitor is none other than BLOODHOUND. Or the one who became Champion FOUR times and killed a Goliath with ONE KNIFE. HOLY F***** BALLS

But the hunter always listened to him, spend time in his company and took care of him so gently, with such patience while being the most humble person he ever met.

Elliot would often ask himself if he deserved someone like them as well as wondering how to give back the generosity Bloodhound offered to him.

But that kiss... The first one... The one where they took off their mask and pressed their soft lips on his...it brushed away all his doubts and strengthen even more his love.

"Hey birdie, wake up! I have to go now."

Bloodhound slowly sat on the couch, half-asleep, and curled back in when Elliott stepped away.

"You don't want to go to your room? he asked.

-I'm good here."

The trickster chuckled as he couldn't help but compare again his love one to a cat.

~~~

Silence.

An absolute silence ruled on the room.

And the temperature fell to the ground.

Only disturbed by the few little lights on the holo-tech devices, the darkness filled the narrow space in each of its corners.

Elliott couldn't sleep, lying on his bed eyes wide open.

Folding between his hands a corner of the blanket, his thoughts pushed each other in his mind without giving him any rest.

He sat on the edge of his bed.

A weight and a hole growing in his chest.

The world felt cold without the consent chatting of the Legends or all these sounds everyone is so used to that they fade into the background...

The TV, the people's walk, the glasses on the table, the clicks of a phone keyboard, the floor cracks, the seat movements, the kitchen growls...

Elliot felt the need to see someone... Not necessarily to talk to. Just having another person in the same room as him would be enough.

But everyone is sleeping and seemed so far from here... as if they were in another reality.

Maybe calling Mom? No, she's asleep too. Knock at Hound's door? They need to rest from the previous match... Same for Gibby, Bang, Ajay, Nat... Everyone!

H*ck, he would have spent the whole night awake with Pathy if this one didn't turn off to charge his batteries or the kid if he wasn't such a d*ck when woken up in the middle of the night.

Hesitant hits brought him back to earth.

He walked to the door, unlocked it and found Bloodhound in front of him.

Without their mask, Elliot could see the panicked expression painted on their pale face, their messy hair covering their right eye.

They nervously rubbed their finger, the short sleeves of the shirt letting their irregular scars on their arm exposed to everyone's view.

"You... You alright?" He stammered, shocked to his partner losing their composure.

They opened their mouth but couldn't say anything.

"Come in, everything is OK birdie."

Legs shaking, Bloodhound entered the bedroom, climbed on the bed and hide their face in their arm crossed over their knees.

Their chest moved up and down quickly.

"Can you breathe? Do you need your mask?" Elliott asked with worries.

One day, the hunter nearly blacked out in the middle of a gunfight because their breathing device shut down all of a sudden... He felt horrible at this moment, totally useless, only able to see his love one suffering.

Bloodhound shook their head, tightening their grip on their pant's fabric.

Elliot sat next to them, a hand on their shoulder, waiting for them (and him) to calm down.

Their breathing went back to normal slowly, the trickster's company reassuring them.

And when Bloodhound finally looked at him, he whipped out a tear holding on their eyelid.

"Feeling better?

-I guess..." Their low voice cracked "Thank you, Elli.

-No prob! I'm always here for you."

A weak smile appeared on their lips...

a smile so rare and so precious that Elliott always felt his heart melting when they appear.

This one making no exception, he wrapped his arms around their chest and pulled them closer.

Bloodhound closed their eyes and started counting the strong beats of Elliott's heart while this one brushed their silky smooth hair.

Comforted in each other's warm, the two back went back to sleep.

~~~

Elliott woke up next to Bloodhound nested against his chest.

It took him some time to first remember the event of the previous night and then calm down after seeing his partner's lovely face under the morning sunlight.

"How did I end up with someone so beautiful they seem to have been literally sent by the Gods?" he thought while rubbing their cheek.

Eyes half-closed, the hunter grabbed the trickster's wrist and intertwined their fingers.

Both remained silent and simply listened to the other breath while the outside birds began their songs.

Then Bloodhound noticed the worries that tinted their partner's eye.

"You seem troubled, they whispered.

-Well... I'm just concerned about what happened last night, he answered.

And especially what made you so upset...

But if you don't want to talk about it that's totally fine I understand!

-It was a very bad nightmare." Their eyes darkened.

"So confusing to explain... And to even remember in detail. I... I just want to forget it."

The hunter shook their head as if a bug landed on top of it, feeling again tension in their belly.

Elliott approached them and kissed his partner on the forehead.

Bloodhound purred with relief and pressed their lips against his.

"Maybe a walk around the woods would help you?

-Only if I'm with you."

[cryptid-bloodhound]

can i just have some fluffy gibby and octane??? that's all i need in my life tbh

IM LATE BUT I GOTCHU FAM!

Thoughts Like Thorns

Ao3

Octavio was bored again. When he was bored, bad things tended to happen. He didn’t mean to cause so much havoc, honest! Well, most of the time he didn’t mean it. All that destruction and chaos was simply a byproduct of his endless hunt for his next adrenaline rush. He really couldn’t help it. That desire to do something - anything - was almost pervasive. It was a gnawing, clawing need that guided his day-to-day life. When he sat idle for just a moment too long, that feeling would well up inside of him again, like nails down his spine. If he didn’t know any better, he’d compare the uncomfortable sensation to anxiousness. It was like something inside of him telling him to ‘ go go go!’ and not doing that was something really quite awful.

Those quiet moments between drops when there was nowhere for him to run and video games just weren’t cutting it was horrible. He’d bounce in place, jump around, and use his fellow Legends as makeshift springboards. Anything to alleviate that need. For the most part, the others tolerated his constant frenetic energy. Sometimes, if the mood was bright enough, they’d join in on his reckless little games. It usually wasn’t a problem for the adrenaline junkie. Hell, he loved the rush so chasing these little highs was awesome! But, there were moments when it was all a little too much. When his attention felt like it was being ripped in every direction and his mind buzzed like a nest of angry hornets. When nothing could satisfy that need of his. It seemed like today was one of those unlucky days.

He was pacing back and forth in the complex, muttering under his breath rapidly as if he could chase away this feeling through cursing alone. His hands flexed, clenched, and beat an uneven tempo against his thighs as he moved on an endless loop. Sometimes he felt like clawing at himself because surely that would feel better than whatever this sensation was crawling under his skin, but he refrained. The last time he did, Ajay scolded him and gave him that ‘I’m-unhappy-but-also-worried’ look he’s so familiar with. He tried playing games but nothing would hold his attention or quell that buzzing. He tried hanging out with the others but found himself too...raw to handle them right now. This uneasy restlessness was killing him.

“Ughh, estoy a punto de enloquecer!”

Octavio was so engrossed in his own static-filled mind that he didn’t notice the rather large figure walking through the door. Really, it should be a feat all on its own to have Makoa Gibraltar of all people sneak up on you. The giant of a man wasn’t the type to sneak around. So, when a heavy hand landed on his shoulder, the borderline shriek that left his lips was all the more embarrassing. Gibraltar looked torn between amused and mildly worried. That expression made Octavio want to shrug the hand off of his shoulder and bolt for the door.

“You alright there, bruddah?”

It was a simple question. It should have been easy to answer. Should . But the nonstop racing thoughts and aching in his nerves told him otherwise.

“Yes. No. Yes! ...Maybe. UGH, I don’t know!”

His hands went from tapping his thighs to gripping at his hair as he fought himself for a moment of respite. After seeing the almost volatile reaction to his touch earlier, Makoa resisted the urge to lay a reassuring hand on the younger Legend. It wasn’t often that Octavio had a bad day like this but it happened just enough for Makoa to recognize the signs. After a moment of thought, Gibraltar shifted his presence, expression dropping from openly worried to casual friendliness. That same sort of warmth colored over the darker tones of his voice. He didn’t want Octavio focusing on the bad - especially if it was thanks to the way he was acting.

“Hey, I seen you’re pretty good at art, yeah?”

The question was so unexpected and lax that it actually threw Octavio for a bit of a loop. His grip loosened and he squinted in slight confusion at Makoa. When he spoke, his answer was drawn out and pitched as if it was a question.

“...Yes?”

That seemed to brighten up Makoa’s disposition immediately. He gave one of his famous thousand-watt grins and threw open his arms in a grand gesture.

“Perfect! I got a cake here that needs some serious decoratin’ and you’re just the guy for the job!”

There wasn’t a singular part of this shift in conversation that didn’t confuse Octavio. Granted there were a great many things that did confuse him. In his defense, however, he rarely bothered enough to pay attention to, well, anything really. So, he just let his arms drop back to his sides as bewilderment overtook his features. Seeing the shift, Makoa kept on going. Anything to keep him distracted was good in his books. As he spoke, he subtly herded Octavio toward the kitchen area where a tasty but objectively plain cake sat. Next to it was a slew of decoration tools and what looked like a rough image of what Gibraltar wanted on it. It was pretty, certainly something he could imagine giving to a significant other if he were feeling romantic. But his way of drawing was a bit more, ah, stylized than what was pictured. As he started imagining what it’d look like in his own design, Makoa continued on.

“It’s my anniversary soon and I wanted to do somethin’ nice. I made a cake but I don’t have an artistic bone in my body. Figured I’d ask ya for help, shortstack. We can work on it togetha ‘n you could tell me what’s botherin’ ya.”

At the reminded of his earlier unending nerves, Octavio frowned. Without meaning to he started bouncing back and forth on his feet as that prickling sensation started taking over his attention once more. Without wasting a second, Makoa barreled on as if nothing changed.

“Or, I could tell ya about that time I stole my dad’s motorcycle to go on a joyride with my boyfriend.”

Again, the switch up blindsided the younger Legend. The mental image of The Gibraltar doing something so reckless and immature as stealing his dad’s motorcycle absolutely floored Octavio. His jaw dropped and that jittery discomfort was replaced with a sort of giddiness. That sounded like something he would do and not the unofficial Team Dad.  

“No. Way.”

“Way.”

There was a smug sort of smile pulling wide at Gibraltar’s lips as Octavio stared at him with wide eyes. He figured if there was a story to draw him out of a bad spot, it’d be a crazy one he could relate to. The air was filled with the rapid little ‘tinks’ of his feet as he danced in place with all that pent up energy he was so well-known for. He wanted to hear more about this crazy tale. It was drawing his mind away from all those sharp, intangible edges he could never figure out.

“Let’s do it!”

And so they did. They set up their impromptu cake station as Makoa spoke about the shenanigans he managed to get himself into in his wilder days. Of course, he left out the darker parts. No need to drag the kid back down. It warmed something in his heart to see Octavio calming down. His mind was distracted by the story and attention needed to detail the cake while his hands were busy drawing out lines of frosting. It was engaging enough to keep him entertained without being self-destructive (or any kind of destructive, which was a step up). So, when that story ended, Makoa conjured another, and then another, and another. However many it took until that frantic tension melted away from Octavio.

“So, when ya gonna pop the question amigo? Time ain’t waitin’ for any of us! We won’t stay this young and good lookin’ forever. Well, you won’t. I’ll always be this gorgeous. ”

It was Makoa’s turn to be surprised at the unexpected words. Maybe it was the shock, maybe it was the cocky, over-the-top attitude, or maybe it was just the irony that the usually oblivious one here hit the nail on the head. Whatever the case, Makoa let out a deep belly laugh and clapped Octavio on the shoulder. The force behind the gesture was still enough to cause the much smaller man to jolt forward.

“Ha! Keep it up, shortstack. I’ll remember that next time we’re on a team and the enemies are lookin’ for a punchin’ bag.”

Rather than respond verbally, Octavio just stuck his tongue out and gave a rather colorful hand gesture. Though the way his lips turned up at the corners in a grin spoke volumes of his current bright mood. After a moment, Makoa sighed in a way that Octavio could have sworn would be considered ‘dreamily’. He did very little to hide the amused snort at the action. ‘What a big softy.’

“To tell ya the truth, I been thinkin’ ‘bout it. I wanna do it soon. Hey, how’d you like to come ‘n help me pick out a ring, huh?”

The invitation was a surprise. Seems like today was full of those - mostly good, at least. It made Octavio smile wider than he has in a long time. Again, he couldn’t help but do an excited little jig in place, prompting Makoa to laugh at his antics once more.

“Hells yeah!”

His brain was already rushing ten thousand miles a minute picturing all sorts of expensive and fantastical bands. That led to him also picturing crazy wedding ideas and - ‘Oh! Wonder if I’ll get to be a groomsman!’ His colorful and exciting daydreams were interrupted by Makoa as he peered over his shoulder at the cake and spoke up.

“This looks great, Octavio, but uh...you spelled his name wrong.”

Sure enough, when he looked at the wonderfully decorated (in his humble opinion) cake, he had forgotten a letter in Makoa’s boyfriend’s name. With a groan, he slapped a hand to his forehead and accidentally smeared icing on his face.

“Mierda.”