#so she lets her feelings marinate for a few years (bad) and yeah!!!!

[hauntingblue]

making a collection

making another collection with a threatening aura

[automatonknight]

lone star shine down on my hometown

id: a digital greyscale drawing of kurier-she’s white and has long, dark, graying hair as well as a beard. she’s visible from her head to her chest. she’s wearing a cowboy hat, a plaid, unbuttoned shirt over a white tank top and a simple, black eyepatch over her left eye. the background is solid black with a lone, white star shining right above kurier’s head, they’re looking up at it with a sad expression. end id

[eywaseclipse]

Back to the Stars

Characters: curvy human! reader, Jake, featuring; Grace Augustine, Norm, Max 

Request: "if it's possible, may i pls request fluff of 2009 Jake giving plus size reader a tour of Pandora? Maybe on his ikran too. No pressure, and thanks!" For the lovely @cumikering

Synopsis: You’re an engineer working on the Avatar program alongside the incredible Grace Augustine, and other talented scientists with the exception of Jake Sully. An impulsive young ex Marine who was lucky enough to take his twin brother’s place among the group of you. Part of you is jealous he happened upon the program under these circumstances, another part is hiding the undeniable chemistry you two harbor for one another.

Warnings: none just a little bit of self image issues, and fluff

Words: 2k

The whirring of the machines fill your ears with an array of delight. The excitement of a new day brings you the amount unbridled joy as a kid in a candy shop. “Max I’m going in 3.” Grace Augustine confidently states. “Got it.” Max confirms surely with his advanced screen casting the glow on his tanned skin. “Calibrating pod 3.” You chime in as your fingers work expertly to configure Grace’s link pod for her, as you watch Jake Sully examine his own. You can’t help but feel slightly bad for the guy; after all he lose his twin. Part of you resented his situation in a way. No preparation whatsoever, and he’s thrust into your world of science and decades worth of school and training just like that. You shake your head as the thoughts of self doubt and pity pry their little claws into your brain as you hear the machines enter position.

Several hours go by, as you and Max routinely check on Grace and Jake’s vital signs and link pod statuses. “Looking good on my end” You smile confidently; knowing damn well you’ve taken almost 6 years perfecting the mechanical engineering side of this program. Many years ago back on Earth you dreamed of a life better more well suited for you genius and gift for science. Now almost 10 years later, you’re here as one of the youngest mechanical engineers attempting to follow the footsteps of one of the most prolific scientists you’ve seen in your time; Grace Augustine.

“Someone get me a damn cigarette, wheres my god damn cigarette?” Grace groans loudly exiting the link pod. You here the scurrying of feet chasing her around the lab desperate to ease her clearly irritated nerves, chuckling to yourself as you get the link pods settled into a neutral. You watch as Jake’s pod comes out spinning open, as he groans himself. You walk up to the pod with Max in case he needs assistance. “Don’t, I got this” He waves his hand in protest. You and Max share a knowing look, “You’re not used to the link bed yet, take it easy. Grace almost fainted the first few times she came out of hers.” You laugh. Jake just mumbles incoherently, and jumps into his wheelchair pulling each leg into place. “O.K.” Jake teases you. “Ugh.” You roll your eyes in playful rebuttal as Max watches the awkward yet entertaining interaction.

“So when are you letting me take you out y/n? You know I tamed my own Ikran last week, I’m one step closer to becoming a man.” Jake wheels behind you. “A man you say?” You lightheartedly scoff. This day just like any other, goes the way it usually does; playful banter, knowing looks, sarcasm laced with clear want and yearning yet neither one of you do a damn thing about it. “Yeah a man. Even gave him a name; Bob.” He smiles with his regular shit eating grin. Both of you make your way down the long corridor towards the mess hall, hungry from the day’s work, now almost 3 months into his and Grace’s expedition to help the Omatikaya. “Well Bob seems like a very fitting name for a majestic creature on Pandora Jake, I can only imagine how Neytiri feels.” You scoff sarcastically.

“Oh come on y/n you’re telling me you’re not a little curious what it’s like to ride on an Ikran through the Hallelujah Mountains? Just, lemme take ya for a little joy ride.” He smirks. You’d be lying if you said you weren’t at least a little intrigued by the idea. To ride among the starry night sky with the wind in your hair.. and then it hit you. You’d have to be in close proximity of Jake, holding on tightly to his avatar form intimately close for him to see you outside of your work clothes that you hide under daily. Your mind now riddled with hesitation and self doubt makes your cheeks heat up with blush. “I…” You awkwardly stutter, clear as day to Jake you’re holding back on something. “Come on, please? You gonna make me beg?” He jokes as you approach the cafeteria. “Jesus Jake, fine. You know I’m breaking protocol right? I could lose my job.” You huff out.

“Yeah ‘cause they’d fire you and send your ass back in cryo all alone on a billion dollar ship for a 6 year trip for taking a little late night spin with a hot avatar?” He teases relentlessly. “You’re an asshole.” You chuckle. “Yeah heard that one before.” He snickers out. Both of you get in line to receive your less than pleasant military grade food, and sit down at the table with the other scientists with Grace, Norm, and Max. You dig into your meal, listening to one of Grace’s many stories about Jake’s stupidity, “Then all you see is this angry Thanator chasing after him.” “Hey it’s not something you can teach.” Jake rebukes with a mouthful of Mac n Cheese. The table joins in laughter including yourself, just shaking your head at the image alone.

You finish your lunches, heading back to your respective areas, when you feel Jake tug your hand lightly. “Meet me in the main wing at midnight.” He winks playfully. Fuck, he was serious. You think to yourself. “Fine…” You whisper. “Good, Norm and Max will be there too.” He smiles. “Now how the hell did you get these two in on it?” Your jaw drops in disbelief, but before you get your answer Jake simply waves his hand ignoring you with another shit eating grin on his face. 

Later that evening you find yourself staring at your figure in the full body mirror. You typically avoid that corner for reasons like this one right now. Standing in just your bra and panties you sigh heavily as you gaze at your curvaceous body. Standing tall at 5’9” You knew that for the most part you’d never be as dainty as Julene, one of the tech scientists you’ve come to befriend. Blonde, porcelain skinned, and beautiful princess like features. Entirely different from your whole existence. Where her skin illuminates in the moonlight, your warm caramel skin glistens in the sun. Your dark curls cascade over your shoulders, and your sharp cheekbones stand out as a constant reminder of your ancestors. You wear your features with pride, despite the constant ego death of comparison on a daily basis. But your insecurities lay bare when you see your body, like right now.

I can’t do this. Why am I doing this? You stare in disgust. Rummaging through your drawers you find a loose enough cotton T, and a pair of your favorite jeans. You won’t lie, they fit you like a glove. You zip up and button the jeans comfortably as you look at the material hugging your legs deliciously, maybe I’m overthinking this…. You decide last second to curl your lashes, moisturize your skin, with one final sigh. Just as you finish tying your boots, you hear a faint knock on the door. You take a deep breath and open it to see Jake. His eyes take in your body, as you immediately notice the way they scan you up and down, “damn” he smirks, feeling your ears grow hot. “Let’s go” He nods his head into the other direction. “Right” you sigh and tug on the hem of your t shirt out of habit.

“You nervous or something?” He inquires. “I guess.. I mean I just don’t want to get in trouble, that’s all” You quickly rebuke, but you know Jake’s smart enough to call bullshit on that. “Hm” He just hums. Just like he said, you see Norm and Max in the main room, quietly talking as the screens light up. “Did Jake blackmail you or something Norm?” You chuckle, alongside Jake, but before he can answer Jake pipes in, “Let’s just say Norm here owes me one.” And just like that, a small blush forms on Norm’s face, waving you and Jake away, “yeah yeah.” Your brows furrow with confusion but you make a note of remembering to ask Jake about this later. 

“Alright Jake number 2 is already for you, y/n come with me to the air lock room, you need a mask.” Max instructs. Right, yes this is happening. You follow Max to the air lock sealed part of the wing and get your gear ready, securing the mask tightly to your face and hooking the battery to your jeans clipping it in. “Alright looks good, Jake will meet you out front, his body is only a few clicks away, give him about 10 minutes, I’ll wait here with you.” Max smiles sweetly. “Thanks Max. So, why does Norm owe Jake a favor?” You inquire slyly.

“Jake caught Norm and Trudy hooking up the other day at the outpost shack while Grace was taking samples.” Max blushes. “Ah… right.” You both chuckle playfully. You talk about nefarious things while waiting for Jake when you see the tall blue figure approach the window. “Aright you ready?” Max asks, “yup” You secure your mask once more as you open the door of the air locked chamber, hearing the automated voice countdown from 10. You wave to Max on the other side as all oxygen gets sucked out, opening the seal to walk into the jungle. 

You step down a few steps to see a happy avatar Jake. “There you are.” He smiles. “Here I am.” You crank your neck up to see him. “Hop on, we’re a ways away from where I have Bob hanging out.” He crouches down for you to piggyback onto him. You smile and jump feeling your thighs get secured now walking into the thick of the Pandora forest. Jake carries you as if you’re as weightless as a feather seamlessly weaving through the branches of the large trees, feeling the significant difference in his body since the beginning of the expedition.

You can’t help the way your heart flutters feeling his bulging biceps flex under your thighs, or the way you rest your chin on his shoulder as you gaze into the jungle completely mesmerized by its bioluminescent wonder. “How you holding up back there? We’re close” Jake turns his head. “Yeah I’m good.” You wrap your arms more securely to his neck. A few minutes pass when Jake slowly comes to a stop, “Alright hop down, just wait here.” You feel him squat down for you to glide off his body, watching as he yips into a tree. A giant hiss rips through the leaves, as an Ikran emerges flapping its huge wings. You crouch down shielding yourself, in an immediate gut reaction. Jake chuckles “Hi ” Stroking Bob’s snout. “Don’t get shy on me y/n.” He turns around smirking holding his hand out to you. You slowly rise, and approach Bob, gently as the giant creature chirps loudly, and nudges his face into Jake’s hand further.

“You wanna pet him?” Jake smiles. You whip your head up and stare mindlessly, “I can’t reach.” You smack him playfully. He just rolls his eyes and scoops you up bridal style causing a squeak to escape your mouth. “Alight there, be slow with your movements, he’s nice I promise.” He speaks softly. You hesitantly bring your hand out to Bob’s beak watching his face twitch inquisitively, getting closer to his snout. The sheer size difference alone causes your stomach to fill with butterflies, as you gently stroke the snout of the Ikran. Bob’s body flutters with emotions as he nudges his face into your hand more, “I think he likes you” Jake chuckles.

You smile back, and caress the Ikran more, the rough leathery skin being a stark contrast to your soft flesh, bewilders you with child like fascination. “Alright you ready for the best damn night of your life?” Jake smiles. “Oh god… ready as I’ll ever be..” You laugh nervously. He gently puts down, to secure the saddle on Bob, tugging it lightly, and patting his neck. “Alright.” Jake scoops you up once more, hoisting himself and you up onto Bob with one arm and placing you down in front of him. “Hold onto these reigns, and I’ll take care of the rest.” He lowers his head to whisper in your ear. A slight shiver ripples through your body, as Jake makes Tsaheylu with Bob. The power of the Ikran radiates through your body feeling the vibrations of his screech. You feel a sharp lift as he ascends off the branch and into the sky. “Oh shit!” You shout in surprise, Jake just chuckles, gripping your torso firmly, as you try to get your bearings looking into the disappearing canopy. 

“Let’s go!” Jake happily shouts into the wind, causing a loud exasperated laugh to escape your lungs. The cool damp air caresses your skin invitingly, watching as the who sky lights up with a cluster of twinkling stars. Your knuckles begin to turn white from your tight grip, clenching as you feel Bob bank left in the wind, “relax for me y/n” Jake laughs. “Sorry” You chuckle sheepishly. Your eyes advert from the sky, to the approaching rocks, floating in the air causing your jaw to drop open in complete wonder. Bob seamlessly glides through them, weaving his way in and out, as you feel the spray of a waterfall hit your skin. “Hold on!” Jake shouts, as Bob sharply flies up and onto one of the floating mountains, landing with a loud thud. 

Your breath hitches, while you adapt to the cool tropical air and sudden halt feeling Jake rub small circles on your stomach. “Let me help ya get down.” He whispers. Your ears heat up, while Jake grabs your waist with his much larger hands helping you down. “How was that for your first little joy ride?” He smiles playfully. “Well I can honestly say nothing quite like it” You feel your cheeks blush profusely. “Why’d you take me here anyway?” Jake shrugs nonchalantly and rubs the back of his head, “thought it was romantic” Your eyes widen and you crank your neck up to make sure you heard that right. “Oh” Is all you manage to squeak out. “Is that a good ‘oh’ or a bad one?” Jake laughs nervously. You bite your lip, feeling suddenly more exposed than ever. “I… a good one” You answer honestly. “Alright..” Jake smiles in relief and places his large hand on your shoulder leading you to a mossy covered log. “I thought we could star gaze for a bit if that’s okay with you” He whispers awkwardly.

“I’d love that” You grin widely, walking to the mossy log, and getting seated on the lush grass. Jake’s body heat radiates closely next you, feeling the warmth of his velvety skin next to your legs. “I really took you here tonight, because I.. I uh. Well I like you y/n.” Jake stutters out. You turn you head, and crank your neck to face him, as he lowers himself down to the point where he’s eye level with you, gently tucking a piece of your hair behind your ear. “R-really?” You whisper softly. “Yeah really.” He chuckles. “I think you’re really god damn sexy really…” He smirks confidently. “Blue Jake or human Jake?” You tease him. “Both.” He responds with no hesitation. Your can feel your cheeks heat up quickly practically hearing your heart thrum loudly in your throat. You try not to make it obvious but Jake just scoots closer to you, his body practically on top of yours. “What I’m trying to say pretty girl, is will you go out with me? Go steady? Hmm?” He inquires slyly. You laugh and look up to him, “well how could I refuse?” He smiles so wide his sharp canines poke out, scrunching his nose happily, “Alright then..” He grins in victory and pulls your small body in with his large bicep, as both of you watch the night sky twinkle for you.

[ghost-runner]

Hard to Kill

Neytiri x Dreamwalker! Jake Sully’s younger brother! Male reader oneshot

Y/N is Jake’s younger brother by about 9 years who also served in the marines like his brother. Similar to Jake, Y/N was chosen to be a part of the Avatar Program and worked alongside his older brother. However, Y/N mated with Neytiri, unlike Jake did in the movie.

— Y/N POV, at the Assault of the Tree of Souls —

Quaritch: Is that all you have, soldier? I taught you better than this.

Y/N: Fuck you.

I was locked in hand to hand combat with my former commander, Miles Quaritch, while he was in an exo-suit, using it to hold me off as I fought with him. I failed to see that there was a human soldier that came up behind me a few meters away from me and started to shoot at me, sending a 7.62 caliber bullet through my arm at the forearm.

Y/N: Fucking hell!!

I turned around, jumping away from Quaritch and unslung the assault rifle that was on my back before I shot the human soldier through the left eye using my assault rifle when I was grabbed by my leg and lifted into the air by Quaritch’s exo-suit.

Quaritch: How pathetic…

I was then tossed away by the old bastard, causing me to lose my rifle after being thrown away. I felt my right arm throb in pain as I hit the ground hard after I was thrown. I painfully rolled myself over onto my back as I heard someone run up to me to help me out. I saw it was my older brother, Jake, who is older than me by about 9 years and he helped to pull me over behind cover as a few bullets few over our heads. I quickly grabbed my pistol from my holster and shot a human soldier in the head that was about to shoot Jake.

Jake: Nice shot, little bro. Even if you’re injured.

Y/N: Oh fuck off, Jake. Get the bastard for me, will ya?

Jake: You know it, baby bro.

Y/N: You never stop with the little brother shit even after I tell you to shut your trap with it.

Jake: How else am I supposed to annoy you, Y/N?

Y/N: Oh fuck off, wise guy. Just go get the bastard.

I saw Jake run off to continue fighting with Quaritch and I saw more human soldiers coming this way. I aim my pistol with my left hand and let out four rounds with each round making a new home in the four human soldiers, right in between their eyes. I bring my hand back to my body and I drop my pistol to ground before I turn my attention back to my arm that had the bullet wound in it. However, I looked up to see someone who was very special to me looking at me with worry and dismay. The individual turned out to be my mate, Neytiri. She continued to look at me worried as she say me all beaten and bloody before she ran over to me to help.

Neytiri: Ma Y/N! Are you okay?! What is wrong?!

Y/N: I’m not sure right now, Ney…it doesn’t help that I was shot through my right forearm.

Neytiri: Oh ma yawne. I need to get you out of here. (Ma yawne = my beloved) (not sure, at least I think it does…)

Y/N: I’m not leaving Jake behind to these bastards. I’m not going to lose my other sibling.

Neytiri looks at me before closing her eyes and nodding silently, understanding my thoughts and what I have to do. She then looked down to my arm before she saw how bad the wound really looked, but she steeled herself to care for me. She grabbed some leafs that were on the ground near them and began to wrap my shot arm with the leafs, creating a makeshift bandage wrap to stop the bleeding. I let out a breath of relief at the feeling of pain going away from my arm for now.

Y/N: Fuck. That’s so much better.

Neytiri: Are you sure you’re okay, ma yawne? (My beloved)

Y/N: Yeah, I’m fine. Where the hell did Jake go?

Neytiri: I’m not sure. We need to find him!

Y/N: Ney, please! Get out of here!

Neytiri shook her head in denial of my request, obviously still worried about me. I swear she is so protective over me, then again, I am two years younger than her…I then heard the voice of the last person I wanted to hear.

Quaritch: Lights out, soldier.

I looked to my right to see Quaritch crush Jake’s avatar with the exosuit’s left arm before he picked up the limp avatar body and threw it a few feet away.

Y/N: JAKE!!! Quaritch, you motherfucker!!!

I quickly grab my pistol and fire a few shots towards Quaritch, however, I missed each shot by a few inches. This caused the bastard to turn his attention to me. I then got up before I ran at Quaritch and slammed my body into the exosuit, throwing Quaritch off balance. I got on top of the mech suit and began whaling down punch after punch onto my former commander. Once I gave him a good enough beating, I got of the exo-suit and began to run away from him with Quaritch getting up before he started to chase me before I got hit in the back by him, making me fall to the ground with a thud. Quaritch grabbed me by the leg and I was then thrown for a few feet before I hit a tree with my back. I painfully flipped my avatar body over to see Quaritch grinning smugly while I quietly saw Neytiri pulling Jake’s limp avatar away to safety. She looked at me again, worried while I just nodded to her before I looked back to my former commander.

Quaritch: Just like the elder brother, the younger one falls.

Y/N: Oh fuck you, asshole.

I notice that there was a deceased human soldier a foot away from me with an undetonated flashbang grenade in his hand. I saw an opening as Quaritch turned his back to me and started heading over to the holding area that housed the pods Jake and I were in to neurally pilot our avatar bodies. I assume he wants to destroy the pods that were holding Jake’s human body and my human body. I pulled myself along the ground to where the flashbang is and grab it before I yelled to the bastard commander to get his attention.

Y/N: Oi! Fuckface!

Quaritch turned back to me and I pulled the pin on the flashbang before I threw it towards him before I turned away to keep myself from being blinded by the blast. I took the opportunity as Quaritch was now blinded by the blast to run down and jump down through the window, breaking it with some glass shards entering my avatar body. I shake of the pain from the glass and run over to Jake’s pod as Jake began to push it open to see me running to his pod. He fell to the ground as I reached him while Jake struggled to breath the Pandora air that is deadly to humans without a breathing mask. I look around for something I can use for my older brother when I saw a breathing mask on the ground so I carry Jake over to where the mask is and I put the mask onto my brother’s face. He luckily started breathing heavily before he started to breathe normally, looking me in the eye with gratitude for helping him. I was not going to lose my other sibling after we both lost Tom with me being Jake’s only other sibling and vice versa. I grabbed Jake again and set him down behind cover before I felt myself being grabbed by Quaritch’s exo suit arm and was pulled back harshly, being thrown backwards.

Jake: Y/N!!

As I was thrown a few feet back, my avatar body crashed a rock, knocking the wind out of me and caused me to start breathing rapidly to regain the breath that was knocked out of me. I then saw Quaritch looking at me from his suit as he smiled evilly at me. I then looked past him to see Neytiri pulling Jake’s human body away from where the pods were at to safety before I looked back to Quaritch.

Quaritch: Time to come back to humanity, Y/N!!

Everything then went black as Quaritch slammed the left hand of the exo suit onto me. However, I felt myself coming back to consciousness as I was now back in my human body, pushing open my control pod. I notice that I can not see out of my left eye which I immediately remember that I don’t exactly have my left eye anymore. Whenever I’m piloting my avatar, I always forget I ended up losing my left eye and had to have a glass eye put into the left eye socket in my human body after some shrapnel hit my left eye after an IED exploded when one of the heavy vehicles my squad was using drove over it while I was in said vehicle back on one of my tours in Iraq on Earth. I shrug off the feeling of not being able to see from my left eye and I immediately breathed in the deadly Pandora air that I knew I could not breathe in unless I got my own mask on. I saw a crate full of supplies a few meters away from me which I slowly made my way to. It did not help that I was already gasping for air in my human body from the moment my avatar body came into contact with that rock. I tried to keep my breathing steady, but I could not calm myself down enough, despite knowing that I can not keep myself like this much longer or I can die. I finally reached the supply crate when I managed to break it open, only to have all of my body feel weak before I fell to the ground. I let out many rapid breaths for air as I heard the alarms from the sirens around me going off and blaring loudly. I hear shouting all around me above the noise of the sirens around me before I fell unconscious to the unknown.

— 3RD PERSON POV

Neytiri finally got Jake’s human body next to Jake’s avatar at a safe spot when Neytiri saw Quaritch pick up Y/N’s limp and uncontrolled avatar body in the exo-suit’s left hand before he tossed the avatar away a few feet where it landed near a patch of foilage. Neytiri got insanely angry at this, her tail curling up in anger and her ears standing at full attention in anger. She ran towards where her mate’s avatar body was at and grabbed her bow before she shot an arrow at Quaritch, the arrow making its home in the commander’s gut. Quaritch looked down at his gut in horror that he now had an arrow there only to look up to see a another arrow plant itself firmly into his stomach. He looked up at the Na’vi woman and silently stared at her for a few seconds before he fell over in the exo-suit, dead. Neytiri ran over to where her mate’s avatar was at and stood in front of Y/N’s avatar protectively while she let out a loud hiss at the now dead commander. Neytiri turned to Y/N’s avatar and put her hand onto the unpiloted and unresponsive avatar’s cheek as she rubbed the thumb over the unresponsive avatar’s cheek.

Neytiri: Ma Y/N. Come on, come back. I can’t lose you too.

Neytiri then heard the sirens and all of the blaring going off from the holding area for the pods. She quickly made her way to the area where she saw her mate, but his human body on the ground unresponsive. She glossed her mate’s human body and only now saw what her mate really looked like. She grimaced at the large scar that went over Y/N’s left eye and also took note of how cute her mate did look with his short Y/H/C hair and stubby beard. Regardless of what Neytiri thought in the moment, Neytiri shook her head to clear her mind and she knew that he could die if she didn’t find him a mask quickly. She saw the crate that her love was next to and grabbed the remaining mask that was inside of the crate before she placed the mask over Y/N’s face. She being petting her mate’s head and caressing his cheek while she holds him tightly in her while she tries to hold back tears at the thought that Y/N might be dead.

Neytiri: Please….Ma Y/N, come back to me. I need you….please.

Matter a few minutes, Y/N had not moved, breathed, or do anything to signify that he was coming to or that he was even still alive. Neytiri began having tears roll down her cheeks as she closed her eyes while she held the younger Sully to her chest. Then, a certain voice was heard speaking, but it was strained and sounded like he was in pain.

Y/N: God-Goddammit…..My chest……

Neytiri looked down at the shorter human male to see him coughing and opening his eyes slowly as he blinked repeatedly before he looked up to see his mate.

Y/N: Neytiri? Is-Is that you?

Neytiri: Yes! Yes, it’s me, ma yawne! I’m here! I’ve got you.

Y/N tiredly raised his human right hand up to Neytiri’s face and places it on her cheek while Neytiri grab his much small hand in her larger Na’vi left hand. She gripped it tightly as she smiled down at her mate with tears in her eyes and tears of joy rolling down her face, knowing that her mate is safe.

— a few hours later —

Y/N is currently unconscious in his human body as he laid next to his avatar body, waiting to undergo the conscious transference to transfer his mind and soul from his human body to his avatar body. Jake was watching his unresponsive little brother with worry after already undergoing the same process that Y/N will now be going through. Jake was very worried about the possibility of losing the last bit of family he has left with him due to the slimmest of chances that the process might fail, but Neytiri looks at what humans would consider to be her brother-in-law before grabbing Jake’s hand and giving it a firm squeeze. Jake looks at his sister-in-law and nods to her, silently thanking her for the small reassurance. Mo’at then begins the process of transferring the mind to the avatar while Jake and Neytiri could only watch on with hope in their eyes that the process will work for Y/N. Once Mo’at finished up with the conscious transference process, everyone could only hope that it worked on the younger Sully. Everyone waited in quiet anticipation for something…anything to happen when about 10 minutes pass before Jake begins to start slowly losing hope when a soft and low groan could be heard coming from the Avatar that was previously unresponsive to anything before the conscious transference. Y/N was now in full and complete control over his avatar with his mind now. Y/N slowly got up and blinked both of his eyes before he fully opened his eyes and brought left his left hand up to his left eye.

Y/N: Man, you never realize what you miss until it’s gone. I missed being able to see out of both of my eyes.

However, the now avatar Y/N felt the scar that he had crossing the left eye of his avatar body.

Y/N: Damn, it still feels like I can’t see out of my left eye, even though I can see out of it now.

Y/N pulls himself up and has to steady himself after getting up due to being much taller than he once was in his human body compared to that of his avatar body. Y/N does a quick once over and sees Neytiri and Jake staring at him in silence and with tears in their eyes while he got himself situated to his new body. Neytiri immediately went over to the younger Sully brother and looked down at him since Y/B’s avatar body was made to be shorter than most other individuals, standing at 8’3”. He stands shorter than most Na’vi like Neytiri who stood at 8’7” and most normal sized avatar bodies like Jake’s avatar that stands at 8’11”. Y/N smiled up at his mate as Neytiri placed her left hand onto Y/N’s cheek and began caressing his cheek.

Neytiri: Ma Y/N….

Y/N: Ney……

Neytiri then kissed the younger avatar with all the passion and love she had for him before pulling away from the kiss. Neytiri then placed her forehead against Y/N’s forehead in a loving way before the two heard Jake cough. Neytiri let go of her mate and Y/N went over to his older brother who immediately pulled Y/N in for a tight hug. Jake had tears running down his face and was smiling like an idiot at seeing his youngest sibling up and okay. Jake set the younger Sully down in his feet before Neytiri grabbed Y/N’s hand and started pulling him away to a secluded spot away from everything.

Neytiri: Never worry me like that again, you idiot.

Y/N: I know, Neytiri. I know, love.

Neytiri: Come here. You and I have a lot of unfinished business to get back to…..

Y/N didn’t get a chance to say anything before Neytiri pulled him in for a very passionate kiss before the two tumbled to the ground, fumbling with each other’s clothes in an attempt to get the clothes off.

The end.

Well…..it’s been way too long since I posted something new for anybody to read. I mean, what can you do when life gets in the way. Anyways, I’m going to try to post a few more oneshots/stories like this one. I currently have an idea for one involving the Spider-Verse and Spider-Gwen. Anyways, I hope that everyone enjoyed this Avatar oneshot I wrote up.

[kit-williams]

Barn Anon. Hey Kit, so um.. about the Fluffuary thing, I know it's started by the time you see this. Butttttttt, the cuckoo bird thing? Yeah I'm making it sad. I'm going with the reason why Alpha Legion are cuckcoo birds being that they can't form bonds the way other Space Marines can. Why? Who knows! Jealousy and desperation is a scary combo though. I promise I'll send something happy to make up.

A sad mournful croon leaves his lips as he stares longingly at the happy space marine and his bonded human. Why? Why can't he have that special connection? What has he and his legion done? Or was it something their Primarchs did that resulted in this painful torment? To walk around knowing that any other space marine has the chance of finding their special human, loyalist or traitor, it didn't matter. But Alpha Legion was the exception it seems.

His legion were among the first few to find themselves in this strange ancient version of Terra. Yet... none of them has bonded.

He spares another glance at the bonded pair before slinking away in the darkness of night. That pair has been bonded for a few years, he won't be successful in trying to take the space marine's place, the human would most certainly pick up on the differences no matter what tricks or charms he pulls. No, he has to find a new pair, one that's still getting used to each other. He can slip in and maybe replace the original marine, he'll have what everyone in Alpha Legion wants, a human of his own.

As he walks away to spy on other Space Marine and humans pairs, he can't shake that voice in his head that tells him that no matter how many pairs he tries to insert himself in, he will never feel the fulfilment of having a true bond. He will never feel that overwhelming protectiveness and devotion for a human, the joy and pride that comes with a happy human. He might be able to fake a bond, but they would deteriorate with time, the human will one day realize what's going on and fear and hate him.

I see your angst and turn it into ??? (Also this horribly would make an amazing Yandere/non canon idea YES I AM BAD I KNOW)((what do you expect I write yandere/smut as my main enjoyment)

"Oh hey buddy there you are!" A voice calls out to him and he suddenly feels a human on him. They're distressed and looking at him pleadingly. He picks them up and starts to nuzzle them as she coos at him.

"Oh so you do have an Astarte." A male voice says and he can sense her distress spike.

"Yep and he's such a good boy staying in the area until I was done with my date. Aren't you?" She says looking at him and he's a smart alpha legionary to know that this human was coming to him for help. He held onto this human tighter looking down at the male as he nuzzled and played into being a good boy.

This might be his ticket! Why try to usurp a bond when one came literally running over to him? The Alpha legion didn't know why they didn't form bonds some of them were fine with it but others... like himself were jealous over the fact that they couldn't.

"Well how about we-"

"Nope I've got to go home he's been waiting for me and is quite clingy. I'll uhh call you later." She says to the male as she looks to him, "Sorry for making you wait big guy." He turns to walk away as he can see her eyes darting back to the guy as she lets out a huge relieved sigh. "Oh my God thank you so much... you might have saved my life."

He crooned softly in gothic as he just told her how he was going to be her Astartes now. He would make this bond work... he could already feel it in a sense. He was already protective over her and ready to be devoted... he would fake it till he made it! He was an Alpha Legionary after all... that was their specialty.

[rottmntsimp]

hello!! i was wondering if i could get a ROTTMNT character match up (when ur free and got the time!!)??

i go by many many online names, but usually i stick with sandra! i'm southeast asian, 5'2, and gender non conforming. i got black hair that's in a medium-length butterfly haircut and i usually dress up in a soft-grunge style (i don't have a specific style in reality, too indecisive for that rip).

i have audhd, and find it hard to open up to people. when i have an interest, it's usually really intense! marine biology, certain video game franchises, tv shows, music, the arts—i'm super passionate about all of them and find myself infodumping if i dont catch myself. i keep to myself the majority of the time, but when i open up to people that i believe i can trust, i'm usually described as energetic and very active!

dancing, singing, playing music, and drawing are my main go-to hobbies. especially music—i know how to play the piano, violin, cello, bass, and guitar! the last two are self-taught, but i got a few years under my belt :D

i'm an esfp, and i love listening to people talk about their passions and their love for whatever it is. i'm dramatic and love doing things for shits and giggles (for the plot yk), but i'm bad at recognising and understanding other people's feelings at times. i'm horrendous at comforting others and i can not read between the lines for the life of me.

so sorry for typing so much!! i wanted to make sure u had good material to work with 🤲

i hope you have a wonderful day evening or night !!!

—🌷 anon <33

Hey Sandra! As you didn't state a preference for your partner, I'm going to assume that either any is fine!

Also genuine question, should I add my taglist on these?

Don't ask how but I can see myself shipping you with April!

💚 - When it comes to dressing up, let's be honest, April could probably rock anything [much like I bet you do!]

💚 - So please for the love of god, let her borrow your clothes. She may not ask for it much, but if you're cool with it she is burrowing herself into your clothes-

💚 - Height-wise, I'd say 5'2" is pretty average, but compared to April, oh boy-

💚 - Her canonical height is 4'8", but let's give her a few inches out of pity, and make her around 5'0"...yeah no she's still short.

💚 - If it takes time for you to open up to people, don't worry! She'll be there, waiting and by your side the whole time.

💚 - As for special interests, if you happen to like a video game she has, she'll definitely let you borrow it. Hell, you guys can play together, maybe even infodump!

💚 - ^^ She'll probably sit there, head propped up in her hand, smiling at you softly.

💚 - Now, as for music, I'm sorry if this is just me projecting, but music players,,,

💚 - Would probably swoon if you ever wrote her a song, or even played for her.

💚 - Would probably ask you to teach her a few things, even if it's just the basics.

💚 - You're both extroverted so expect more outdoorsy dates! Amusement parks, bowling, arcades, whatever your heart desires, it shall get!

💚 - Now, as a fellow ✨THEATER KID✨ if you're demiromantic, aro-spec, or just more of a friends to lovers kinda person, depending on how long you've known each other, and if she can trust you to keep a secret, she might introduce you to Donnie, and maybe even the other turtles.

💚 - Pass the vibe check, please, because if her brothers friends don't like you, I'm sorry but you're gonna have to go-

💚 - Now, if you do vibe with them, especially Donnie, maybe, just maybe, you might get an invite to become an official member of the DPFL [Dorky Pals For Life] club.

💚 - Being unable to comfort April on a bad day might lead to an awkward gap between you two at times, but if you two can talk it out, you'll be just fine!

💚 - As for reading between the lines, if you're unable to read a room, or understand a joke, or just something someone said, she'd got you covered <3

I hope you liked it! <33

[thewillofdeez]

Worth the Risk: A Smoker/OC Romance - Chapter 4: Confession, Part 2

Summary: Kuzan forces Smoker into a much-needed, but not wanted, vacation. While there, Smoker runs into a pirate who's been eluding his capture for years. They decide to put their differences aside, just for a little, and as it turns out, two people don't have to be enemies just because they're a pirate and a Marine. They might even fall in love.

Chapter 4 word count: 2730

His tale now finished, Smoker and Tashigi sat in silence for a few moments.

Tashigi was amazed at the story her boss had just told. She was amazed at how incredibly happy he’d looked while telling it. And holy hell, was it the most romantic thing she’d ever heard.

“Say something,” Smoker said, his gruff tone breaking the silence as he puffed on a cigar. “Anything.”

Tashigi pushed her glasses up her nose. “I don’t know what to say. Your story…it’s really beautiful, Smoker. Pirate or not…I’m so genuinely happy for you. I mean it. I don’t care that she’s a pirate, I just care that you’re happy.”

A puff of smoke rose in the air as Smoker huffed out a laugh. “I appreciate it, Tashigi. Really. Never thought I’d be that kind of guy…but here we are.”

“I assume that’s the lamp?” Tashigi asked, nodding to the sole decoration on Smoker’s desk.

“It is,” he said. Smoker reached out a hand and placed it gently on top of the lamp, holding it there for a few seconds before removing it. Just moments later, Smoker’s lamp began to glow brightly. Tashigi could imagine Ruby, hundreds of miles away, holding her hand over the lamp the same way Smoker had.

When the initial glow faded, a message pulsed through the lamp.

.. / .-.. --- ...- . / -.-- --- ..-

Smoker smiled at the lamp as the last pulse faded, then tapped out his own reply. Tashigi didn’t understand Morse code very well, but she knew enough to guess the content of the messages.

I love you. I love you too.

“So you’re going to see her again? Take another vacation?” Tashigi asked with a smile.

Smoker nodded. “Yeah, in a few months’ time. As our schedules permit. I have so much time backlogged though, it’ll be difficult to not raise suspicion if I start going on leave every few months or so. If nothing else, Aokiji will know something’s up, especially considering the fit I threw about going away this time.”

Tashigi shrugged. “If you feel pressured to say anything, just tell half of the truth. Say you met someone and you’re going to visit them. They don’t need to know she’s a pirate, or anything else for that matter. But no one would begrudge you having a girlfriend.”

“Hmm. That’s not a bad idea,” Smoker mused. “And…you will keep this between us, right?”

“You have my word. As your friend. I promise.”

Smoker nodded, satisfied and trusting his mentee to keep her word.

Tashigi rose from her seat. “Back to work tomorrow,” she said. “You should get some rest.”

“I will,” he said. “You too. I’d like that report you were going to give me in the morning.”

Tashigi nodded, then raised her hand to her face in a salute. “Yes, sir.” And with that, they had resumed their roles as leader and subordinate. “Goodnight, Captain,” Tashigi said seriously, though she couldn’t keep from letting a smile cross her face.

“Goodnight, Tashigi. And thank you.”

The next morning, Smoker awoke alone. He still wasn’t quite used to it, and it still sort of amazed him how quickly he’d grown accustomed to sharing a bed with someone else regularly. Since leaving Pufferfish Island, he’d been waking up expecting to feel Ruby in his arms, but she wasn’t there. She wouldn’t be for some time yet. It certainly hurt, but he knew he’d adjust eventually.

Smoker dressed, back in his Marine clothes for the first time in so long. Checking the mailbox outside of his office, he found a note from Kuzan.

Hope you had a good time. Come by my office when you’re done for the day. Bring the list.

-K

And so Smoker went about his day, getting back into the swing of things. After his morning workout (damn was he happy to be back in a fully-equipped gym), he spent some time with Tashigi catching up on everything he’d missed the last few weeks, then in the afternoon began to tackle the absolute mountain of paperwork that was waiting for him.

Before taking a break for dinner, Smoker decided to make his way to Kuzan’s office. The door was ajar, so he knocked, then stuck his head in.

“Smoker!” Kuzan greeted, raising his arms in welcome. “Welcome back, man! How was it?” Kuzan rose from his desk and began to pour them their usual glasses of whiskey as Smoker closed the door behind him.

“It was….good,” Smoker said hesitantly. “It was really good actually. I needed it more than I knew.” Kuzan smiled widely and handed Smoker the glass, raising his own in a toast.

“Can’t tell you how glad I am to hear that,” he replied, taking a sip of the amber liquid. “And the list? Did you do everything on it?”

“Oh yeah,” Smoker replied, reaching into his pocket and fishing out the list. He handed it to Kuzan.

“Even…?”

“Yep. That too.”

Kuzan punched Smoker softly on the shoulder. “What’d I tell ya? Look at you, you got some sun, some good food, and yes, even a pretty lady. You look more relaxed than I’ve seen you in years. I told you it’d be worth it.”

Smoker laughed and sipped his drink. “It was worth it, you’re right. I really liked it there. I’m actually thinking of going back again in a few months. Start making a dent in that PTO backlog.”

“You should,” Kuzan said, examining the list. “I’ll sign off on it myself, no questions asked. Would this desire to return happen to have anything to do with the pretty lady you met?”

Smoker almost choked on his drink. He felt like he should have known that was coming. “It…might.” Goddamn, Kuzan was too perceptive.

Kuzan chuckled. “I figured as much. Tell me about her.”

Suddenly, Smoker was finding it hard to keep his cool. He’d always been so bad at lying. “What d’you wanna know?”

“Well, who is she? What’s she do? How’d you meet?”

Smoker turned to look out the window, hoping to hide how nervous he suddenly was. “She’s…a local. She works with the community. We met at a bar.” All things that were technically true, certainly no lies there.

“Uh-huh…” Kuzan acknowledged. “Gonna be tough maintaining a relationship with a pirate, but I’m sure you can manage.”

Smoker huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, well we’re gonna—” Wait, what did he say? Smoker turned to face Kuzan who was sitting on the arm of the sofa with a knowing grin on his face. “How…Look, Kuzan, I–”

Kuzan raised a hand, laughing. “Smoker, stop. Let me show you something.”

Smoker’s heart was pounding. Kuzan knew? How the hell did he know? Did Tashigi tell him? She wouldn’t, there’s no way….

Kuzan opened one of the drawers in his desk and pulled something out. He then offered it to Smoker who suddenly wanted to down his entire drink, then the rest of the bottle in one go.

Smoker took the item from Kuzan’s hand. It was a picture frame. Displayed under the glass was an image of a smiling Kuzan and a gorgeous woman with dark hair and caramel skin, a floral tattoo decorating her shoulder. Kuzan’s arm was wrapped around her tightly. They looked happy. They looked in love.

“You know who she is, don’t you?” Kuzan asked. Smoker examined the picture. Oh yeah. He’d seen her wanted poster dozens of times. She was Hoku Tate, a pirate worth - last he checked - about 150 million. “That’s my girlfriend.”

Smoker’s head shot up to meet Kuzan’s eyes. “She’s….You’re dating a…”

“A pirate, yes,” Kuzan said with a chuckle. “And so are you. Am I wrong?”

Smoker’s head was spinning. “I don’t understand. How did you know?”

Kuzan took the picture back from Smoker, smiling at it fondly. “Hoku and Ruby are good friends, and she told me Ruby had a bit of a crush on you. I’ve met her a few times, she’s a sweet girl who does a lotta good work. Even though you’ve never said it out loud I sorta got the feeling you enjoyed your interactions with her, otherwise you woulda brought her in ages ago. Anyway, we decided to make sure the two of you would be in the same place at the same time and let fate take it from there. To be fair, we didn’t know you’d become a thing. We didn’t even know for sure that you’d cross paths. But we certainly hoped you’d at least have a good time together if you did. And I’m really glad it worked out. Hoku’s gonna be thrilled when I tell her.”

Smoker plopped himself on the couch, reeling at what he’d just been told. So not only was Kuzan - fucking Admiral Aokiji -  okay with him dating a pirate, but he was dating one himself….and the two of them had set he and Ruby up?!

What the fuck?

“This is…a lot to take in,” Smoker said after a few moments of silence.

“No worries, I know.” Kuzan replied. “I just dropped quite a few bombshells on you there.”

Smoker took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. “So you and Tate…how long have you been together?”

“Almost seven years,” Kuzan replied proudly.

“Well damn,” Smoker exclaimed. Seven years. He hadn’t even been with Ruby for three whole weeks and it already felt like another three months together would be unlikely. “How do you do it?”

“Do you mean how do we make it work or how do I justify being a Marine who’s in love with a pirate?”

Smoker shrugged. “Both, honestly.”

“Well, for the latter,” Kuzan began, topping off both of their glasses, a good bit higher than he had before. “You gotta remember that pirates are just people. Despite what Sakazuki and Sengoku think, the world isn’t black and white, and most people aren’t wholly good or evil. ‘Pirate,’ ‘Marine’...they’re just labels, man. And think about how many pirates there are in the world versus how many Marines. There’s a lot of us, but there’s a lot of them too, and more coming all the time. Tons of Marines have pirates in their families, even if they don’t talk about them much….look at Garp, for example. His kid’s the leader of the Revolutionary Army. I hear his grandson wants to be a pirate as well one day. I don’t see much of a difference in choosing to be a Marine but still loving your family who took a different path in life and choosing to love a pirate who you know is a good person, despite their role.”

Smoker pondered this and sipped on his whiskey.

“And as for the former….I’m not gonna lie to you, man,” Kuzan said, sitting down beside Smoker. “It’s not easy. Hoku and I don’t always get to see each other a lot. She’s got her own crew, I have my responsibilities to the Navy. But you will figure it out in time, I promise.”

“There’s gotta be something you can give me, something to guide me through this. I’ve never even had a real relationship before….I’ve never wanted one. Where do we even start?”

“Well, there’s a few pieces of advice I can give you,” Kuzan said. “For one, Hoku and I don’t talk about the details of our work so we can avoid accidentally compromising each other. She’s a captain in her own right so it's not like she answers to anyone, but it’s better if she doesn’t know a lot about what my job entails or where I’ve been or what I do, and same for me and hers.

“We also don’t interact at all if we happen to be on opposite sides of a battle. If I’m at sea and her crew’s in sight of a Navy vessel, I’ll either try to dissuade an attack, citing her as not worth the fight, or intentionally make bad calls so she can get away. It takes some acting chops, and it’ll be a lot harder for you and Ruby since her bounty is so much higher, and you have a history of fighting each other. You’ll both need to come up with a plan in case something like that happens.

Next, be careful of where you meet…keeping your rendezvous point to Pufferfish is probably a good idea since it’s convenient to base but so rarely visited. As far as I know, it isn’t common knowledge that it’s Ruby’s base of operations, so it should be mostly safe. But don’t let yourselves get too comfortable. Just because it’s hard to reach doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Be vigilant while you’re together ‘cause you never know who’s around.

And the last thing, I guess, is just enjoy the time you get. Acknowledge that one day you might have to decide if your loyalties are with the Navy or with her. I support whatever choice you make, but you do need to be prepared to make that call if it ever happens.”

Smoker huffed. “Don’t I know it. I know if anyone  - well, anyone who isn’t you - finds out, it could be a career-ender for me. But it’s a chance I’m willing to take.”

“Does Tashigi know?” Kuzan asked.

“She does,” Smoker said with a nod. “I told her last night. It felt like such a weight to carry…I needed to tell someone I could trust. And I’m glad I can share this secret with you too. I…I appreciate it, Kuzan. Everything. Thank you. And Hoku as well.”

Kuzan smiled and patted Smoker on the back. “It’s good to see you happy, my friend. I hope you and Ruby stay that way.”

Smoker finished his glass and handed it back to the Admiral. “I hope so too. I gotta get back to my backlog of paperwork. I’ll see you around, Kuzan.”

“‘Night, Smoker,” Kuzan replied with a smile.

Smoker grabbed some food from the mess hall and brought it back to his office. He’d be working through this paperwork for at least a few more hours that night, and probably much of the next day as well. But it had to be done.

Absentmindedly bringing food to his mouth as he read document after document, signing his name where needed, Smoker almost didn’t notice the glow coming from the lamp on his desk. When the light faded, he placed his hand on top of the lamp and held it there for three seconds. Before leaving Pufferfish Island, Smoker and Ruby had agreed that a three second hold would be their subtle way of seeing if the other person was around, and a three second response meant they were good to talk.

Smoker grabbed a pen and some paper so he could transcribe the words, something he’d also advised Ruby to do while she was still learning. A slow, choppy message made its way through the lamp.

.... --- .-- / .-- .- ... / -.-- --- ..- .-. / ..-. .. .-. ... - / -.. .- -.-- / -... .- -.-. -.- ..--.. “How was your first day back?” she asked.

Smoker smiled, imagining Ruby curled up on the couch with a Morse code book in hand, trying to carefully tap out the words. He slowly tapped out a response of his own. ..-. .. -. . / -... ..- - / -... ..- ... -.-- .-.-.- / -- .. ... ... / -- . ..--.. “Fine but busy. Miss me?” He gave her a few minutes to transcribe and then translate his words.

- . .-. .-. .. -... .-.. -.-- “Terribly,” came the response.

.-.. . .- .-. -. . -.. / ... --- -- . - .... .. -. --. / -.-. .-. .- --.. -.-- / - --- -.. .- -.-- .-.-.- “Learned something crazy today,” Smoker tapped.

--- .... ..--.. “Oh?”

-- -.-- / ..-. .-. .. . -. -.. / -.- ..- --.. .- -. / - .... . / .- -.. -- .. .-. .- .-.. “My friend Kuzan the Admiral,” he began. Smoker gave her a moment to transcribe before continuing. .. ... / -.. .- - .. -. --. / -.-- --- ..- .-. / ..-. .-. .. . -. -.. / .... --- -.- ..- “Is dating your friend Hoku.”

.-- .... .- - “WHAT” Ruby replied. Morse code wasn’t exactly great at conveying emotion, but he could only imagine the look on her face was something to behold. He chuckled at the thought.

- .... . -.-- / ... . - / ..- ... / ..- .--. .-.-.- / - .... . -.-- / .-- .- -. - . -.. / ..- ... / - --- / -- . . - .-.-.- “They set us up,” Smoker said. “They wanted us to meet.”

- .... .- - / ... -. . .- -.- -.-- / -... .. - -.-. .... “That sneaky bitch,” Ruby replied. .. / .-.. --- ...- . / .... . .-. / ... --- / -- ..- -.-. .... “I love her so much.”

Smoker laughed. --.- ..- .. - . / .- / ... .... --- -.-. -.- / .... ..- .... “Quite a shock, huh?”

...- . .-. -.-- “Very,” she responded. -.-- --- ..- / ... - .. .-.. .-.. / --- -.- .- -.-- / .-- .. - .... / - .... .. ... ..--.. / .-- .. - .... / - .... . / .-. .. ... -.- ..--..“You still okay with this? With the risk?”

Smoker smiled. He had never been a big risk taker, not unless he needed to, and even then those risks were calculated. He liked to have a good idea of the possible outcomes before he made his move. It was how he worked, and how he’d gotten this far in his career. He knew this relationship’s success was unlikely. He knew he could lose his job. But there was no doubt in his mind that it was the right thing. “Ruby,” Smoker responded. .. / .-.. --- ...- . / -.-- --- ..- .-.-.- / -.-- --- ..- / .- .-. . / .-- --- .-. - .... / - .... . / .-. .. ... -.- .-.-.- “I love you. You are worth the risk.”

Previous - Chapter 3: Decisions

Next: Epilogue (Don't read if you like the happy ending!)

[ilikecheeseandchocolatee]

Hi vent time. Please skip if you’re not in the mental space to read me venting.

I can’t really put into words why I’m in such a bad mood but I know getting it out in words will be good for me so I will give it a fucking go.

My dad thinks I’m angry. My right eye has been spewing tears continuously for I don’t know how long. Before that it was spewing water because of my dust allergy which has NOT made the past few days easy to exist in mind you. Now it’s spewing tears continuously and I can’t get it to stop. I’m not angry. I’m just feeling fucking hopeless.

I live in india and we recently moved back here and my favourite thing is always go to onto the terrace of the apartment building and talk walks there if it’s big enough and if not just stand there and appreciate life. It’s one of the most calming things. The terrace is always my go to place when I’m actually angry, and after walking it out a bit I can start thinking rationally again and it’s so efficient. No one has to get hurt by the foul words that come out of my mouth when I’m angry. Everyone wins.

This is a new apartment for us because surprise surprise my parents just can’t seem to live in one place for more than 5 years. Who cares about fucking up m early life am I right. So yeah anyway, all the stuff has just come in, the furniture and shit from the old place. Very dusty and even more so in India so I’m supposed to stay in one room all day. Which doesn’t help much when the previous tenants have broken the stupid door so it won’t lock and keeps opening and the room gets dusty anyway. My nose has been killing me all fucking day and my right eye is itching like I’ve poured salt and pepper into it and let it marinate for a few days. Nothing to do.

My sister’s throat hurts and god forbid she ever get out of her bed so I have to go get her the medicine from the medical downstairs. (Disclaimer: I don’t want to shame my sister for never getting out of bed. I know she has a lot of issues that I can’t start talking about, I’m just a bit frustrated with everything and I’m not making it sound very nice.)

As soon as I step outside wow the “fresh” hair has cleaned up my nose and I feel better than I have all day. So I’m like yeah shit what am I doing at home, and decide to go walking on the terrace for a bit to feel better.

It’s been barely 10 minutes of me walking in my favourite section, when a lady comes up and looks at me. This is south India btw, for anyone who can glean a clue as to how she might behave with me from that description. She is about 10 feet from me when she stops me by yelling HEY ARE YOU NEW TENANT and I’m like yeah and she’s like YOURE NOT SUPPOSED TO WALK HERE! GO WALK IN THE BASEMENT/PARKING AREA! ITS IN THE APARTMENT GUIDELINES! YOU CANNOT WALK HERE! GO!

And I’m like gee okay strange rule, so I make for the door that leads downstairs (other side of the building from where she spawned) and wait for a bit, then come out again to check if she’s gone and I can continue walking. The gods love playing games with me. The moment I step out the door she’s RIGHT FUCKING THERE. Looks at me. I turn right around and go straight home.

Tell my parents a woman (she’s apparently the “secretary” I forgot to mention she said that) shooed me off the terrace because apparently we are not allowed to walk on the terrace. I don’t know if non-Indians will understand how fucking weird that rule is. My dad sensed that I was upset for some reason and came upstairs with me to ask the woman if she had yelled at me (she did. I’m autistic, but I’m super fucking sure that the tone she used with me counted as yelling). Find her right there. She is — surprise surprise — walking down the terrace to her own building entrance. My dad goes up to her and asks her if she told me to not walk here. She turns super polite (my dad is slightly scary looking if not really short) and tells him “oh yeah I told her that walking on the terrace is against the guidelines of this society. I told her. I told you na??” Looking at me. I nod. Yep. She did. Then, “I told her she can also go downstairs and see the guidelines. It is downstairs. I told you na??” Looking at me again. I nod. “Yep. You did.” Then she turns to my dad and “See? That was all!” And my dad asks her “well my daughter said you were speaking kind of rudely with her-“ and she goes like “I was not talking rudely! I was talking loudly because we were far away from each other-“ (as if she can’t walk 5 feet in my direction when that was where she went next anyway. Like she literally could have walked closer if she thought distance was the issue. I went closer too.) “-I was just explaining to her the rules!”

At this point I was kinda done. I don’t know what did it. Maybe it was the fact that my dust allergy had made me miserable all day, maybe it was the fact that I could do absolutely nothing to prove her wrong, the fact that she tried manipulatively asking me to confirm it all when she said she was acting innocently. I’m not new to this country. I’m not new to this city. But maybe it’s that I’ve just moved back here from the UK and I’m not used to people being like this. I was pissed off. I’ll admit it, I got angry.

So I turned to my dad and went like “yeah that’s right, she’s telling the truth, IM the one lying. Come on let’s go.”

Bad move. I know. That’s why I don’t like talking when I’m angry. I say stupid things.

I started walking off. Understandably she got mad and accused me of being arrogant and that there’s nothing about truth or lies here. My dad probably tried to apologise to her on my behalf, I don’t know because at that point I was halfway across the terrace and heading to the basement to get a look at these so-called rules that no one had even mentioned to me yet.

I calmed down once I got downstairs, I promise. There were so many eye witnesses, i was civil with everyone. The kids playing and the adults supervising the kids or whatever they were doing. I found the board with the “guidelines”. Read them all. Found the part I wanted to find.

“The terrace shall not be used by any resident for storing personal items and also walking purposes.”

Okay. What if I just wanna stand there. What if I wanna appreciate the sky or whatever shit. Can I do that.

It also said, and I realize this is a huge security risk that’s just going unacknowledged for some reason, but it also said that the security guard will always be at the entrance from 8AM to 8PM and from 8PM to 8AM. Looked around for 15 minutes. Waited. There was no security guard at the entrance. Literally not even in the vicinity, I looked. I had plenty of time to look. He was NOT there. Well that’s violation of the “Guidelines” number one.

Number two. Today is not the first time I’m going to the terrace to walk it out. I’ve gone at least twice before and both times there were people walking. PEOPLE. WALKING. NOT WITH ANY OTHER PURPOSE, I CHECKED BECAUSE I WOULD HAVE BEEN SUPER CONSCIOUS THE FIRST TIME IF EVERYONE ELSE WAS DOING IMPORTANT THINGS AND I WAS JUST WALKING. It wasn’t even just one person it was like either 2 or 3 I can’t remember right now. Besides me. Apparently other residents have also broken the “guideline”.

But okay fine I won’t fucking walk on the terrace if it’s against the oh-so-strict guidelines that I will completely be criminalised for if I break. But I’m allowed to stand there? Right? Nothing against that in the guidelines.

I go home. I tell my parents I would apologise to the lady, secretary whatever, and then I would go up there and simply STAND.

Yeah, my parents didn’t like that. And I won’t go into all the details of why because it was pretty fucking depressing and dystopian. Let’s just say at the end of it I wasn’t angry like my dad thought, I was just desolate and hopeless.

My parents have now known for almost a year now that I’ve had suicidal tendencies since a long long time. I hide it well around them (not willingly) so they don’t notice me. The conversation I had with my dad only made me get more urges. I don’t want to live in a world that lets capitalism thrive. I don’t want to live in a world where people who commit crimes walk free and so innocent people have to stay home just to be safe. I don’t want to live in a world where I could question authority and get massively fucked over for it, with the people in charge making it look like an accident. I don’t fucking want to live in a world where I’m not allowed to question things like “rules” if I think they’re wrong. All I would do is walk on the terrace. Why is that so unallowed. What am I doing wrong. And why is everyone else allowed to do it then. Is it because even though I’m 18 I look like I’m 12. Is it because my face looks like that of a mischief-maker’s. Why is it that if I try and find a loophole in the Sacred Guidelines, the homeowners in this place could do shit to us and get away with it, just for spite. Slash our car and blame it on the kids? Easy, what with the lack of security cameras here. Cut off our water or electricity or internet or whatever and say it was a pipe problem or cable problem or some shit? Easily done. I would have absolutely no power if I ended up pissing someone off here. They could tell us to vacate and move somewhere else in 2 months and we’d have to do it apparently.

Yeah, I don’t want to live in a world this unjust. My dad vents to me saying we really can’t afford to move again, we’re not very well off right now and it would be nice if I didn’t piss anyone off in this apartment. Yeah right father I wonder why we can’t fucking afford to move again. I wonder why you have enough money to buy the latest iPhones for yourself and your witch mother but not enough to support me as a student that keeps having to fucking move around from institution to institution.

My future is in shambles. I don’t know where I’m going to be in the next 6 months. My autism report has made a lot of things make sense and i no longer hate myself for the things that are now explained. I have to deal with my own issues myself because my mom and sister have it hard enough and i have to help my dad help them because he has no idea how to help. If I wasn’t here this family would be a stinking rotting mess. And i have my own sensory issues to deal with, i have other issues not related to my autism to deal with. I have my future to think about because clearly my parents are too busy to help me with that. I have to plan out my future and i have to do it in every chance i get because most of the time I can’t concentrate enough to fucking read a chapter from a textbook much less plan out my future.

And now i can’t walk on the terrace. Or even stand there it seems.

Yeah, I’m in a bad mood. I don’t know when I’ll be in a good mood next. I’m tired. I want to rest. I want to rest in a situation where I know I’m safe and comfortable. Apparently I’m not allowed to do that. Everything is a minefield and I’m trying to make it out without a map, just my senses. I’m exhausted. I want to live alone so I don’t have to take care of 3 other people besides myself. But What’s financial stability Lmao. The millennials are suffering enough, i hate to think about how life will be when I finally finish uni and try to live independently and shit.

I’m just tired and i want a comfortable rest. That’s all I want. Maybe I’ll even be productive if I get that much. I want to wake up and feel rested. I want to go to sleep knowing I’m safe. Why is that so much to ask for. Why do people expect me to live in this world, get 3 A*s, be an academic genius, know exactly how to deal with my mom and sister, and also not get angry at authority, all the while living in this world. Why do people expect me to live.

For anyone who might read this and get concerned, I’m not gonna kill myself, I’m just frustrated. And tired. Enough people have made sure that I’d die of guilt before I could die by my own hand. It just helps to get out my feelings sometimes. I feel better now.

[pjo-rewrite]

The Lightning Thief

Chapter One

I ACCIDENTALLY VAPORIZE MY PRE-ALGEBRA TEACHER

If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.

Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.

If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened.

But if you recognize yourself in these pages-if you feel something stirring inside-stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they'll come for you.

Don't say I didn't warn you. My name is Percy Jackson.

I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy with my sister, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York.

Are we a troubled kids? Yeah. You could say that.

I could start at any point in our short miserable lifes to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan- twenty-nine mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.

I know it sounds like torture. Most Yancy field trips were.

But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes.

Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep.

I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once Atalanta or I wouldn't get in trouble. Boy, was I wrong.

See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway. And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind- the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim. And the time before that... Well, you get the idea.

This trip, I was determined to be good and keep Atalanta under check.

Atalanta Jackson, my younger sister, has horrible anger issues. Just look at her wrong, and she’ll punch you; straight up. She’s technically supposed to be in fifth grade but Yancy Academy had realised that she actually listens to me; Sometimes. Which was better than none I guess, so they put her in most of the same classes as me. She has dark brown hair that she normally had in two nicely plaited braids, murky green eyes— maybe teal-ish if you looked close enough. Anyways, I didn’t really want to be put in charge of her, which didn't help my mood.

All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich.

Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled. He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.

Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threatened me with death by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.

"I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.

Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter."

He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch. But it fell on my sister.

"That's it." Atalanta started to get up, but Grover pulled her back to her seat.

"You're both already on probation," he reminded us. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens."

Looking back on it, I wish Atalanta had decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there. In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess we were about to get ourselves into.

***

Mr. Brunner led the museum tour.

He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery.

It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.

He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone col-umn with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye.

Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.

From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn. She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month. It was a good thing Atalanta couldn't take that class.

One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."

Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art.

Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, "Will you shut up?"

Atalanta nuged me. It had came out louder than I meant it to.

The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.

"Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"

My face was totally red. I said, "No, sir."

Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"

I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"

"Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because ..." "Well..." I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and-" "God?" Mr. Brunner asked.

"Titan," Atalanta called out. "He didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So Kronos ate them. But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-"

"Eeew!" said one of the girls behind us.

"-and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," Atalanta continued, "and the gods won."

Some snickers from the group. It would probably help you to know by now that Atalanta has a slight accent. French/New York combo accent to be more specific. So, I had to admit, she sounded funny when she talked.

Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"

"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"

"Busted," Grover muttered.

"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.

At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.

I thought about his question, looked to Atalanta for help but she was just looking at Mr. Brunner with a glare. I gave up and shrugged. "I don't know, sir."

"I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Jacksons. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"

The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doo-fuses.

Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."

I knew that was coming.

I told Grover and Atalanta to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?"

Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go- intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything.

"You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me. "About the Titans?"

"About real life. And how your studies apply to it."

"Oh."

"What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson."

I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard.

I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!'" and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped. But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C- in my life. No-he didn't expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly.

This was probably why Atalanta didn't like him, it was bad enough that she only started to understand how to speak English, fully, three years ago, but reading it was a whole different thing.

I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral.

He told me to go outside and eat my lunch.

***

The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.

Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.

Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing.

I saw Grover and Atalanta sitting on the edge of the fountain— away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school-the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere— having a heated conversation; they never seemed to get along, well Atalanta that is. Didn't know what her problem was. I went and sat on the edge of the fountain in between them and they stopped their bickering.

"Detention?" Grover asked.

"Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean-I'm not a genius."

No one said anything for a while. Then, when I thought that Grover was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"

I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.

I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to take Atalanta, jump in a taxi and head home. She'd hug us and be glad to see us, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send us right back to Yancy, remind me that we had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me. I had to be a good example for Atalanta.

Why be a good example for Atalanta? Two reasons:

1) Atalanta had stumbled into my mom's work and brought her home with her that night. Atalanta had been six, knew no English, and dirty. Really dirty. So my mom took her in after translating French to English about how she had ran away form "A bad place." And 2) I’m her older brother.

Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe table.

I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends-I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists-and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.

"Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray- painted her face with liquid Cheetos.

I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper." But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.

I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!" "Severes you right!" Atalanta yelled back at her.

Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.

Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see-" "-the water-" "-like it grabbed her-"

I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again.

As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a tri-umphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. "Now, honey-"

"I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks." That wasn't the right thing to say.

"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said.

"Wait!" Atalanta and Grover yelled at the same time. "It was me. I pushed her." Atalanta finished.

I stared at her, stunned. I couldn't believe she was trying to cover for me. She almost never covered for me.

She glared at her so hard she trembled. "Fine, come along Jacksons." Ms. Dodds said.

"Wait-" Grover called out.

"It's okay, man," I told him.

"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at us. "Now."

Nancy Bobofit smirked.

Atalanta gave Nancy her deluxe 'I'll-kill-you-later' stare. Then we turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on.

How'd she get there so fast?

I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things. Atalanta had it too; supposedly.

I wasn't so sure.

We went after Mrs. Dodds.

Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between us and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.

I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall.

Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop. But apparently that wasn't the plan.

We followed her deeper into the museum. When we finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section.

Except for us, the gallery was empty.

Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling.

Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds, even if Atalanta was right next to me. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it...

"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said.

I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am."

She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?" The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil.

She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me.

I said, "I'll-I'll try harder, ma'am." Thunder shook the building.

"We are not fools, Percy and Atalanta, Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."

I didn't know what she was talking about. I looked to Atalanta. Her eyes were blown wide and she looked frozen in fear, her hand over her charm on her necklace. She seemed to be mumbling something that I couldn't understand.

All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room. Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.

"Well?" she demanded. "Ma'am, I don't..."

"Your time is up," she hissed.

Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.

Atalanta pulled on her necklace and then she had a sword?!

"Come on bird brain! He doesn't know about anything! Come at me!" Atalanta yelled at Ms. Dodds.

Then things got even stranger.

Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.

"What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air. Mrs. Dodds lunged at me.

With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword-Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day.

Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes.

My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.

She snarled, "Die, honey!"

And she flew straight at me.

Absolute terror ran through my body and I heard a cry from where Atalanta was. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.

The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. Hisss!

Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.

I was alone.

Atalanta was no where to be seen. There was a ballpoint pen in my hand.

Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me.

My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or some-thing.

Had I imagined the whole thing? I went back outside.

It had started to rain.

Grover and Atalanta were sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over their heads. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."

I said, "Who?"

"Our teacher. Duh!"

I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about. She just rolled her eyes and turned away.

I asked Atalanta why she’d left, and when she’d said “What are you talking about?” I instead turned to asking them where Mrs. Dodds was.

They said, "Who?"

But they paused first, and neither of them would look at me, so I thought they were messing with me.

"Not funny, guys," I told them. "This is serious."

Thunder boomed overhead.

I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved.

I went over to him.

He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson."

I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it. "Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?"

He stared at me blankly. "Who?"

"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher."

He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?"

[ravagedarkness]

Spider-Man: Home Rebuilt, Chapter 48: Ravencroft

Friday rolled around. It was a totally different vibe from yesterday. At work, Jonah was extra grouchy. He was still heated that Cyclops crashed his show. It probably didn’t help that the X-Men were still trending on Twitter and the opinions of the team was still extremely divided. No matter how much Jonah and other likeminded news reporters and personalities tried, they couldn’t shine enough bad light on us to make the majority of the public see us as the bad guys in the situation. I did wonder, however, if that was because they sympathized with us, or if they hated Hammer that much.

While the optimistic side of me hoped it was the former, I wouldn’t have been upset if it was the latter.

After that, I went home, got ready for class, and went to school. The lesson was rather light. It was as if Scott knew I was rather anxious about this upcoming weekend. He didn’t even assign homework. Well, he did, but it was optional and for extra credit. After class, Scott kept me behind as the other students left. Once it was just the two of us, Scott walked up to the door before he closed it and locked it. He then let loose a breath before he turned and looked at me.

“How’d it go with MJ last night?” he asked as he walked back to his desk and sat on top of it. I was sitting at one of the classroom’s desk, the one closest to his. I smiled slightly.

“It was awesome,” I answered. “We… we spent time on the rooftop of Midtown High School, eating Big E Style Chopped Cheeses, talking and other stuff…” I averted my gaze as my face heated.

“Did you two…?”

I quickly brought my head forward and shook it emphatically. “No, sir. I just meant that MJ and I made out… rather intensely.”

Scott was quiet for a few moments. “Am I… am I off base for assuming that you already got ‘The Talk’?”

“No, sir.” I chuckled awkwardly. “Aunt May… she gave me that talk during my last year in middle school.” I cleared my throat. “I may or may not have been caught watching something I should not have been watching.” Scott nodded. There was no expression of judgment on his face. “But… yeah. Making out was all MJ and I did last night and it’s all we’ve ever done to this point.”

“Okay.” Scott paused for a moment. “Look, I know I’m not your father, uncle, brother, or even cousin… at least, not as far as I know.” He tilted his head briefly. “My family tree is a mess, to say the least. But… the point is… even though I’m not any of those things to you, I do still feel responsible for you. So, just know I’m just looking out for you.”

“I understand, and I appreciate it,” I assured him. I paused for a moment. “Um… since we’re on the subject of romance and the like… do you like Joanna?”

Scott was given pause. I was surprised, however, that he didn’t glare at me.

“I don’t know yet,” Scott admitted. “…My ex-wife… Jean… She’s a telepath. And she was one of the most powerful telepaths on Earth until she left the planet. So, with her… I didn’t have to try hard to explain or be open with my feelings. She could easily read me, for better or for worse. And there was a comfort with that. Even with that aside, Jean was the only woman who I had romantic feelings for. She’s the end all, be all of my romantic experience. So, now there’s Joanna. To be honest, she intrigues me. She’s forward, she’s flirty, about as crass as you’d expect from the average Marine, and yet there’s this kindness and softness underneath it all. So… I guess I’m just treading carefully.” Scott paused again. “…Thank you.”

I tilted my head. “For what?”

“For not giving me any advice.”

At that, I scoffed. “Scott, I’m the last person to give anyone relationship advice,” I pointed out. At that, Scott chuckled.

“Well, I didn’t keep you behind to talk romance.” He paused for a moment. “How are you feeling about Sunday?”

I shifted in my seat a bit. “I would’ve marked it in my calendar if I wasn’t paranoid about that possibly exposing us.” I shook my head. “I…” I took in a breath. “…In my whole entire life, I’ve only really hated a few people – the one who killed my Uncle Ben, Mysterio, and Green Goblin. Other than that, I’m not one to hold hatred in my heart for people. I didn’t even hate Toomes. While what he did was wrong and could have led to a lot of people hurt or worse, I can understand going the extra mile for the people you love… Sympathize, even. But…” I balled my right fist up. My heart rate rose. I took a moment to take a deep breath. “I just want this to be over, even if it’s just temporarily.”

“I get that,” Scott replied with a nod. “But remember, it’s just that – temporary. As we continue our lives as heroes – and as X-Men – we’re going to have adversaries that are going to continue to be a thorn in our side, even from beyond the grave.” He paused for a moment. “That’s something you should already know, of course. So, expect Justin Hammer and Scorpion to be a long term problem. But, this weekend, we’ll make sure they’re sent on their way for the short term. Got it?” I nodded. “Good. Now go about the rest of your day. I believe you, Craig, and Kitty have a busy night ahead of you.”

After class, I stopped at home and changed into my quick change outfit before I made my way over to Peter Pan. Craig and Kitty were going to meet me there. I met MJ there, as usual. As semi-usual, Ned was there as well. What was unusual, however, was MJ taking her break after she got me a cup of coffee and a peanut butter cup donut. She sat with me and Ned, with her to my left and Ned to my right at the counter.

“How are you holding up?” MJ asked.

“Just a bit antsy for this Sunday,” I told her reassuringly. “Other than that, I’m good.”

“I’m looking forward to this Sunday, too,” Ned spoke up. “Take care of business on that day, and then we can focus on other things – like the Valentine’s Day dance.”

I couldn’t help but scoff as I shook my head. “You know, pre-You-Know-What, the fact that I didn’t get a suit yet would have had me freaking out. But now, I’m just… annoyed. A little more than mildly annoyed, but just annoyed nonetheless.” I picked up my donut and took a bite out of it.

“If it makes you feel any better, I haven’t found a dress yet,” MJ sympathized. “Between making sure that I’m still on track for college and worrying about you and your coworkers, the dance has been far from my biggest concern.” She shrugged. “To be honest, you and rest of the American Idiots are the only reason I’m excited for going.”

“Honestly?” Ned replied. “Ditto.” He sighed. “The only downside is that we might have to deal with Flash.”

“Always the highlight of any day,” I deadpanned. During this, Kitty and Craig walked in. They were dressed in their quick change outfits, with the former’s mask probably tucked away in her jacket and the latter having his hood down.

“What’s good, people?” Craig greeted as he took a seat next to Ned. Kitty sat to the left of MJ.

“Just talking about the Valentine’s Day dance,” Ned explained. “How was your day?”

Craig shrugged. “It was meh. I had a meeting with an IRS agent.”

I tilted my head as I looked at him. “How come?”

“I had to do my taxes. That, unfortunately, took a lot of time since a certain job doesn’t come with a W-2.”

“Wait, you have to pay taxes on that money?” Ned asked.

“As a matter of fact, you do,” Kitty confirmed. “That’s how Al Capone was taken down.”

“But aren’t you afraid that could...?” MJ began before she trailed off. It took me a moment to realize what she trying to ask.

“The agent I work with?” Craig started to explain in a whisper. “We have an arrangement. I do some favors for her – favors that aligns extremely well with my expertise – and she makes sure I don’t end up getting flagged for anything.” He raised his eyebrows briefly. “Being a vigilante can be quite the perk when you have some anti-Accords folks in the right places.” He chuckled. “Anyway, we’ll chill here until you’re finished, Pete. And then we’ll dip.”

After I did finish my food, Craig, Kitty, and I said our byes to Ned and MJ, with me doing my special handshake with the former and kissing the latter. We left in Craig’s Scion xB before we started to drive around. With Craig driving, I took shotgun while Kitty sat in the backseat. She had a tablet in her hands.

“So, we got quite a few locations from Joanna,” Kitty stated. “Some of them I already looked at and decided they weren’t worth checking out.”

“How come?” I asked.

“Well, for one, some of those locations are a little too close to civilian population for our comfort,” Craig said. “Secondly, some of them are seaside.”

“Is that really an issue?”

“Look, man. I ain’t putting a dang thing past Hammer when it comes what he’ll throw at us. The last thing we want is to give that man a chance to do something crazy like roll up on us with a warship or attack submarine or something.”

Had we been talking about anyone else, I might’ve called Craig overly paranoid. But since this was Hammer we’re talking about, one could make a case that he wasn’t being paranoid enough. So, I nodded in concession.

“So what are the other places?”

“Well, there are a couple of places,” Kitty informed. “Each one has their own pros and cons. First up, we have the former Hand Compound. On one hand, most of the buildings are still intact and its’ pretty far from general population. On the other hand, it’s also one of the locations that Scott has scouted for future use as a new headquarters for The X-Men once we expand. Second, there’s Kingsbridge Armory. It’s pretty intact as well, but it’s rather wide open on the inside. Then there’s the third option.”

I heard the sound of bones cracking. I turned my head to see Craig’s hand tightly holding the steering wheel. Something told me I wasn’t going to like it.

“What’s the third option?”

Craig sighed. “There’s an abandoned sanatorium in Westchester County,” he said reluctantly.

“How abandoned?”

“It literally hasn’t been touched in decades,” Kitty responded. “The thing is… the place is said to be cursed. People avoid it like the plague. Not even squatters and urban explorers want anything to do with it.”

“Do you believe it’s cursed?”

Kitty scoffed. “Sweetie, after all the stuff we’ve seen and went up against in our lives, we’d have to be rather dense to not, at the very least, acknowledge the possibility.” I hummed in acknowledgment as I nodded – she had a huge point. “But, creepy as the hospital is, it’s out the way of civilian population and we could possibly find an area in the building where’s only one way in or out. We could also lay some traps down along the way. So, which one do you guys want to check out?”

Craig and I looked at each other. We then sighed in resignation.

“The sanatorium,” we both replied in reluctance.

“Okay, well, if we’re going to head to Westchester, then we need to grab food along the way,” Kitty declared. “I’ll even pay. Are you guys up for Five Guys?”

After we went to Five Guys and grabbed food, we made our way over to Westchester County. The drive wasn’t too long. It was only about an hour. It wasn’t exactly a short trip, but I’ve been on longer drives. Once we arrived in Westchester, we used the GPS in Craig’s phone to track down the sanatorium. It took us about twenty minutes. And that was mostly because Craig was driving a little slower than usual. I didn’t know if it was because he was being extra cautious due to not really knowing the area that well, of if he was really reluctant to go to this sanatorium.

After some time, we found the road that led to our destination. To say the road was in bad shape was a huge understatement. Chunks of the pavement were missing, either the results of pieces being broken off or it being worn down by the elements. There were of grasses growing with the cracks. There was even a point where was an abandoned vehicle on the road that was blocking the path. Craig and I handled it – between his power to control friction and my super strength, moving the vehicle out of the way was easy. Still, the approach was rather slow – while a Scion xB is sort of shaped like an SUV, they were far from that and they never meant for rough terrain. Making things a little worse was the fact that the sky, in an occurrence that couldn’t be more clichéd, became rather overcast.

“Man, even the weather is telling us to turn back around,” Craig grumbled.

“You and Peter agreed to check this place out first,” Kitty pointed out.

“Yeah, and I’m starting to think I’m stupid for doing so.”

Eventually, we did reach the sanatorium. After we pulled up to the gates, Craig put the car in park. We stepped out of the vehicle. I stared at the gates, taking note of the words that adorned them – Ravencroft Institute. I looked past the gates and at the buildings that took up the grounds. From what I could see, there was a small church, buildings that looked like dormitories. And I was pretty sure there was a graveyard out in the distance. However, what really got my attention was the main building. It looked Victorian, and was seemingly built with red brick and mortar. It was about four stories tall and had multiple towers that looked like it housed bells.

“This is the place,” Kitty stated. “Codenames from here on out. Let’s scope it out.”

I nodded as I masked up before I stepped up to the gate. There was a steel chain with a lock holding the gates closed. I was about to just rip it off before Frictor stepped forward and pulled out a lock pick. He grabbed the lock and used the pick to unlock it.

“I could have ripped it off,” I pointed out.

“I can’t let you do all the work,” Frictor replied. “Besides, we need the chain intact.” With moments, the lock was picked open. He pulled unraveled the chain before he left it hanging on the gate. He pushed the gate open wide. “I’m going to pull the car in.” Kitty and I stepped onto the property as Frictor hopped inside of the Scion before he drove it past the gates. He then hopped out, walked up to the gates, pushed them closed, relocked it. After that, he stepped back into the car and beckoned us to hop back in. Once Shadowcat and I were inside, Frictor drove the rest of the way up the driveway before he pulled up to the front door and put the car in park.

Once again, we stepped out of the vehicle. Frictor walked around the Scion and unlocked the hatch before lifting it up. He pulled out a black Jansport backpack before he closed the hatch. After he pressed a button on a small remote on his keychain, locking the vehicle, the three of us made our way to the front door. Once more, Frictor took the initiative to pick the lock. Once he had it open, he pulled open the door and held it open for me and Shadowcat to enter.

After Frictor stepped inside, we all looked forward. Frictor unzipped his backpack and pulled out three flashlights. He handed two of the flashlights to Shadowcat and I before taking the third one for himself. After we clicked our flashlights on, we looked forward at the scene in front of us. As expected from a defunct medical facility, there was a front desk and remnants of a computer. The walls were stained with mold and what I hoped was rust. The floor was rather grimy. And the smell reeked of something awful.

“Prime real estate,” Shadowcat deadpanned. She turned her flashlight and aimed it towards the back. She illuminated the steel doors of a pair of elevators. “There. The stairs should be nearby.” She walked forward, and Frictor and I followed suit. The three of us walked up to the elevators before we looked around for a stairwell. Finding a door with a sign indicating it led to the stairs, I beckoned towards the others to follow me. We walked up the door. I twisted the nob and pushed the door. It opened with a rather loud creak, and a rat suddenly ran out, causing the three of us suddenly step back in surprise.

“Man, screw this place,” Frictor grumbled. Still, we entered the stairwell. We ascended slowly. Fortunately, the stairs were rather sturdy, having been made from concrete.

“So far, so good,” Shadowcat whispered. We passed the second floor landing as we continued our ascent. But when we got to the third floor landing, we found our way blocked by a load of debris – there were pieces of concrete, metal, and wood. “…Great, I pulled a Ned.” I chuckled as I shook my head.

“…Looks like we’re checking the second floor for another stairwell,” Frictor said. We made our way back down to the second floor landing before we stepped through the door. As we lit up the hallway with our flashlights, we saw that it was a hallway full of glass windows. Frictor took in a breath before he walked forward. Shadowcat and I looked at each other before we followed him. As we passed by the window, I glanced inside, seeing that they were examination rooms. Some of them had medical equipment. Others had gurneys and chairs with harnesses. Frictor suddenly came to a stop and looked at one of the rooms. Shadowcat and I came to a stop next to him and looked through the window. Looking back at us was rows and rows of mannequins in various states of disrepair.

“…Are we in Westchester, or are we in Silent Hill?” I commented dryly. From the corner of my eye, I saw Frictor shake his head.

“I hate every bit of this,” Frictor muttered out.

“Let’s just keep going,” Shadowcat urged.

We did just that, making our way down to the other side of the hall. We found another stairwell. We entered it. We moved up the stairs before he made our way to the top floor. We stepped onto the floor. This floor seemed to be for administrators. As we walked down the hall, we passed by doors with nameplates too damaged to read. There was only one name that was somewhat legible. All I could make out was “el Ess”. We continued down the hall until we found the headmaster’s office. Shadowcat moved forward and grabbed the knob. She twisted it. The knob creaked, but twisted nonetheless. She opened the door. We stepped inside. It was a pretty large office – about as big as my apartment. Bookshelves were knocked over. A large desk was on its side. Broken glass was on the floor along with other pieces of garbage.

“…I think we got something here,” Shadowcat stated.

“Yeah, we got a potential for a Tetanus outbreak,” Frictor snarked, prompting Shadowcat to halfheartedly slap his chest with the back of her left hand.

“No, seriously, think about it. Obviously, the elevators are out. The electrical systems of this place are probably too worn to even be powered. With one of the stairwells blocked…”

“There’s only one way in and one way out,” I finished for her.

Shadowcat looked at me and smiled. “Exactly. We can set traps along the way to cull their forces – non-lethally, of course – and make things a lot easier for us.” Her smile became wider. “We can even use the mannequins we saw. We can dress them up in mock ups of our suits and place them in different areas as distractions or lures.”

“…You’re right,” Frictor conceded. “…Okay, let’s get the heck out of here and we’ll tell Scott about it when we get home.”

We did just that, making sure to lock the gates back up before we drove away.

We drove straight back to the bunker before we hopped in Craig’s SUV and drove to the X-Men’s apartment. Once we arrived and went inside, we found Carmilla and Scott sitting on the sofa, watching TV. They looked up at us as Kitty closed the door.

“Hey guys,” Craig greeted. All of us removed our shoes before we joined them. I took the couch with Kitty while Craig took a seat next to Carmilla. After Craig shared a brief kiss with Carmilla, he looked at the screen. “Oh, Smackdown is on?”

“Yeah, it’s the last fifteen minutes of it,” Scott replied.

“I don’t know who this Roman Reigns is, but I don’t like him,” Carmilla stated with a pout.

“Is it because he’s a heel?” I asked.

“No. His hair is prettier than mine.”

“I beg to differ,” Craig replied as he wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her close. “Handsome dude, he is, but I’d take you over him any day of the week.” Carmilla blushed a bit as she smiled.

“So, how did the scouting go?” Scott asked.

“Well, good news,” Kitty replied with a smile. “We found a place in Westchester County. It’s the Ravencroft Institute. It’s creepy as hell, but in the main building, there’s only one way to the Headmaster’s Office. The office is pretty big, too, so we can fortify it. Other than that, there are other buildings on site we can worth with.

“Good, good.” Scott nodded. “We can go over there tomorrow. We can go at night and – ”

“Can we do the morning or at least early afternoon?” Craig cut in. “Because, seriously, the place is creepy enough as is. I don’t want to go there at night.”

“AAAAAW, is my All-American scared?” Carmilla mocked, teasingly poking her finger into Craig’s cheek.

Craig turned his head towards her and gave her a solemn look. “Yes, actually! That whole place was on some Silent Hill type stuff. There was even a cell full of creepy mannequins!”

“It was pretty creepy,” I said in agreement. “The whole place just gave me a bad vibe.”

“It would be a bit safer to go during the daytime,” Scott mused. After some moments, he nodded. “Okay, we’ll go in the afternoon. We’ll stop at the bunker and gather any supplies we need.”

“Do I still have weapons there?” Carmilla asked.

Scott nodded. “You do.” He then looked at me. “I’ll also contact Pepper to see if there’s any way we can borrow a fabricator for us to use.” I nodded. After that, he addressed all of us. “We’re going to be working hard tomorrow. So, I suggest you take the morning to relax and eat up. I’ll make sure we have food with us while we work. We’ll do everything we can to be prepared for Sunday so we can take down Scorpion and whoever else Hammer is throwing at us.”

“We’ll send them packing, Scott,” Kitty assured. “And then after that, we can spend time worrying about more mundane stuff, like the Valentine’s Day dance… and college.”

I looked at her. “You’re thinking about going?”

“We all do, Peter. Craig, Carmilla, and I talked about it for a while.”

“I even got my GED and everything,” Carmilla added. “…I don’t really care about getting a degree in and of itself. Don’t get me wrong, if I’m going to college, I’m going it to graduate. But… I just want to have some semblance of normalcy.” She then smiled. “Also, I have a thing for theatre.”

“The only thing is… I’m not sure I want to leave New York,” Craig spoke up. “And at the same time… I’ve grown attached to everyone as well.”

“MJ did say that it’s a conversation that all of us American Idiots should have,” I stated. “We’ll talk about it afterwards.”

I spent an hour or so more at the X-Men’s apartment before I made my way home. Once I got home, I took a quick shower before I went to bed. I was about to close my eyes before an idea hit me. I pulled out my phone and called up MJ. I waited patiently before she picked up.

“Hello, Loser,” she greeted.

“Hey Em,” I greeted back. “Um… are you doing anything tomorrow morning?”

“Unfortunately, I am.” I could hear the exasperation in her voice. “I’m picking up a morning shift at Peter Pan. So I have to be there around nine in the morning.”

“I see.” I sighed. “I was… I was just going to ask if you’re up for going out for breakfast. I… I wanted to spend some more time with you before I head out to Westchester in the afternoon.”

There was a pause on MJ’s end. She then spoke up. “…We don’t have to eat out,” she said slowly.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“We can eat at your place. I’ll come by super early and we can cook and eat together.”

I smiled widely. I thought it was a great idea. But of course I did. Spending time with MJ would always be a great idea to me, no matter what we spend that time doing. “I would love that. Just… do me a favor. Would you kindly bring some rooibos tea?”

She chuckled, and that brought a warm feeling in my chest. “Of course. I’ll see you in the morning. I love you, Tiger.”

“I love you, too, Em.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

I hung up the phone. I then hooked it up to the charger before I lay down and went to sleep.

[paxesoterica]

Review of Anime I Watched This Year

(Vague as Possible Spoilers for Sailor Moon, Revue Starlight, and Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury)

Didn’t watch a whole lot this year, for a lot of reasons, but the ones I did were pretty cool.

3. Sailor Moon (1992; watch ongoing)

I’m not sure if I can say anything particularly insightful about Sailor Moon, given that it’s one of the most influential anime of all time, and that it’s been around for, oh, *30 years*, and that I haven’t actually finished Season 1 yet, but here goes: 

I did not grow up watching Sailor Moon as a child, though I’ve been aware of it for some time (for obvious reasons); my first direct exposure was watching a showing of the first 4 episodes at a convention, and attending a limited release theater showing of the R Movie (one of the only times I’ve gone to a movie theater by myself, and I even received a small bit of paper memorabilia about it; also, great movie, highly recommended), and I liked what I say, but I also knew it was a very long show, and my brain is pretty crummy at time management, so it didn’t *feel* like I’d have enough time to watch (even though that’s not true).

Fortunately, this year my niece asked me to watch it with her, and that was just the motivation I needed (sadly, our watch has stalled somewhere in the 30s due to conflicting schedules, but I’m hoping to resume soon with her).

The show’s first opening is striking and reminds me of animation from the 70s & 80s, in a good way (not something I expected at all the first time I saw it), and the pastel color palette for the show in general is gorgeous, and I’m not surprised at all to see how it’s influenced a whole bunch of artists since.

Pacing for the first season is a little uneven at the start, and takes a bit of time to get to the actual plot (I can only imagine how many folks would complain about that if this show were released today), but I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing; I mentioned in a Revue Starlight review I wrote earlier this year that I thought one of the biggest obstacles to modern anime achieving the same sort of cultural standing that some earlier anime have is not having enough episodes to properly showcase their cast, and even filler episodes that aren’t necessarily great are still screentime that lets you flesh out your characters and let them marinate a bit in the audience’s brains, which I suspect is a major factor (along with the easy to remember planetary naming) in why it’s pretty easy for most folks to remember, and even ennumerate the differences between, the main Sailor Scouts, even though there’s like, 10 of them.

I like the show’s use of actual magic transformations and powers coupled with funky bits of sci-fi stuff (the tech that Luna and Ami use being one of the first things to come to mind). It’s also got some horror-lite elements here and there (typically the monsters) that were a bit surprising, but make for an interesting contrast with the show’s colorful palette. It’s also nice that Usagi’s parents aren’t dead and/or evil (though they could stand to be a little more encouraging to her, yeah, I know she’s a bit of a brat at first, but that’s just teenagers in general, so). Also also, @joseinextdoor was absolutely right about Rhett Butler being an amazing one-shot character (especially since I just found out that his name is apparently a reference to a character from Gone With the Wind, go figure).

So, yeah, Sailor Moon, still holds up even if you’re an adult watching it in the 2020s rather than a kid in the 1990s, if you have the time, go check out it if you haven’t already (or at the very least, watch the R movie).

2. Revue Starlight & Revue Starlight The Movie (2018 & 2021; watch completed)

I’ve done a few reviews of this show previously, and even posted this photograph I took as fan art (and I’m flattered that a few folks seemed to really like it), but that was before I saw the movie.

For those that don’t know much about Revue Starlight, it’s a series of stage musicals (that I haven’t seen) that got adapted into an anime (which is what I’ll be talking about) and also apparently a mobile gacha game (which I haven’t played).

The anime itself uses a lot of metaphor and symbolism in a style reminiscient of Kunihiko Ikuhara’s work from Revolutionary Girl Utena and on (which makes sense since the director, Tomohiro Furukawa, assisted Ikuhara with directing Penguindrum and Yurikuma Arashi), with some differences being that it’s more dynamic in staging compared to what Ikuhara usually does, and that it’s more explicitly theatrical, since its cast (except for Kirin) consists entirely of actresses and the show offers a deconstruction of both theatrical tragedies and the Takarazuka system of competition.

I mentioned in earlier reviews that I felt one of the show’s few weaknesses was that it didn’t have quite enough ‘bite’ (if that makes sense), and the film pretty much tosses that critique out the window; if Revue Starlight is a deconstruction of tragedy and Takarazuka, then arguably Revue Starlight the Movie is a deconstruction of Revue Starlight, and takes an already good show, and retroactively makes it better. If you enjoyed the Adolescence of Utena movie, then you will also enjoy Revue Starlight the Movie, but like Utena, you really show watch the anime before watching the movie.

1. Mobile Suite Gundam: The Witch from Mercury (2022; watch ongoing)

Oh hey, the show that gave me brainrot and has been *so* good that I actually started regularly watching anime again because of it. Yeah, I like it a normal amount *cough*.

If you’d told me earlier this year that, in October, I would hyperfixate on a Gundam show (which I’d previously only been aware of as ‘that franchise about giant robots in space that’s really popular in Japan’), I probably would have given you a rather skeptical look; but then I read that the first episode was a major homage to Revolutionary Girl Utena, and well, my fate was sealed.

If you’re wondering if you’d enjoy this show, let me ask you a few questions:

1) Are you a fan of Mobile Suit Gundam, Revolutionary Girl Utena, William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Lycoris Recoil, RWBY, The Owl House and/or Bocchi the Rock!?

2) Do you like the idea of a genre mash-up where, someone who feels like she *should* be the protagonist of shoujo high school magical girl slice-of-life anime, is instead the lead in a military/corporate sci-fi character drama (with some high school slice-of-life elements, but more as aesthetic than actual substance)?

3) Do you like canon (yes canon) LGBT protagonists?

4) Do you like stories set in futuristic hypercapitalist dystopias, and all the corporate intrigue, backstabbing, and workers’ rights/resistance that entails?

5) Do you like stories about characters trying to break free from the toxic influence and manipulations of their parents, and follow a new, better path?

6) Do you like a well-written slow burn romance that is great at pacing and actually feels like it’s going somewhere?

7) Do you like the idea of a more grounded version of Revolutionary Girl Utena (despite being set in an asteroid school in space where you can major in piloting giant robots), which goes beyond merely referencing and engages parts of its text, characters, and themes in a new setting and genre while adding a few ‘what-if’ takes (like what-if Utena struggled with social anxiety instead of toxic ideals about princehood)?

8) Do you like storytelling that is *really* good at showing before telling, and has enough density and layers to be worth rewatching and analyzing?

9) Do you like giant robots in space?

If you answered yes to any of these, then please take a gander at The Witch from Mercury, you just might find something you like.

Honorable Mentions

Mobile Suit Gundam (1979; previewed 1st episode)

Yes, I’m *that* much into Witch from Mercury that I decided to check out the OG material (it also doesn’t hurt that it was recommended by a fellow Revolutionary Girl Utena fan who also happens to be into Gundam).

Dramatic opening that still holds up today, and a really stark portrayal of how brutal and ugly war can be, plus Amuro is already proving interesting to compare and contrast with Suletta, so I’ll be continuing with it in 2023.

Bocchi the Rock! (2022; previewed 1st episode)

Kept hearing that Hitori and Suletta are soul sisters in growing up friendless and having anxiety (and having godlike skill in their chosen specialization), absolutely true (they would probably be good friends, assuming they didn’t have an misunderstanding and believe the other secretly hated her).

Also Bocchi is supposed to get very experimental with its animation techniques, and already shows signs of that in its first episode, so I’ll be looking forward to that as well.

[ikwhatyouaremikewheeler]

Cecily Smith: Eddie Munson/ Steve Harrington

Warning: major death,angst, funerals, doctor and hospital mentions, one mentions of guns and cigarettes

The lyrics don't fully match the story but yeah, enjoy!!

Song: 'The war was over I was living with my folks, I yelled upstairs "hey Ma I'm off to grab some smokes" but my father called "why'd you need to smoke so late?" I had lied, I had a date'

Eddie had been going out with Steve in secret for several months, and they were the best days of his life. They had decided to meet up at the corner of Steve's street; so they could 'sneak off to go see some shitty concert' ; at least in Eddie's words. But of course, if his boyfriend was happy with it, he wouldn't judge it (Outwardly). Especially when he had been pleading sounding so excited that he might actually explode. They had been in the hallway when it happened, Steve's eyes wide and practically sparkling, much to Eddie's Dismay. Which is why they were here tonight.. those damn eyes.

Song: 'How she stuck out her hand and said " My name is Cecily Smith and I hope you like music 'cause I got Two tickets for La Traviata" that's when I said "I hate opera" '

Once they had gotten inside, Eddie had been grumbling about how crowded it was, and how it looked boring. "Do we really have to watch this? I mean it can't be that bad but I might die of boredom." Steve rolled his eyes, tugging at Eddie's arm to pull him over to their seats, while I clueless Eddie followed. Hell if Steve asked Nicely he would probably follow him to the ends of the earth. No not probably, he would, no doubt. Steve now sitting down next to him and placing his hands in his lap.

Song: 'we take a seat her hands are folded in her lap, if not a kiss I can at least get a nap'

Steve sat next to Eddie, who looked like he might already fall asleep. Usually when he fell asleep, the other would stare in awe and amazement, wondering how he got to date someone so pretty.

Slowly reaching his hand over to intertwine with Eddie's; who jolted up right after the music had started, his face (thankfully) hidden by the dimmed lights. Looking over to Steve, who was focused on the stage as they sat.

Song: 'Then I hear violins, and the hair on my neck starts rising, a feeling new and surprising, but it wasn't the sound that made my heart pound. No! It was because I found that her hand was in mine'

After a few hours of Torture for Eddie, and absolutely terrible music. They had finally left, walking aimlessly to Steve's car, who asked the simple question of "Sooo.. how boring was it?" Looking over to him as he looked around, before intertwining their hands once again. Quite honestly, with Steve by his side, to Eddie, everything was perfect, even old people music he didn't like. "it wasn't as bad as I thought, but it was long as hell." He groaned, now clinging onto his arm as they got to the car. Not like he'd ever admit that was one of his favorite dates yet.

Song: 'years through by like a bullet from a gun, a week, some years and then a marriage and a 'son'. ' (might make the 'son' Dustin)

Of course Eddie never actually got to marry Steve, by now, it was the very early 90's. But Steve had still said yes, when asked if he'd marry him. They shared vows in private, not letting anyone know. Eddie's vows basically being "you're the love of my life, and even if we aren't ' legally' binded together, I'll love you all the same" which had caused Steve to burst into tears, the love he felt for this man was undescribable, and he could barely make it through his own vows before more tears fell from his eyes. Carefully running over his freckles, catching on his dimples for a moment. They were happy tears, he wouldn't trade this for anything. Another memory they had was when there was a record playing in the background, Steve and Eddie laying with each other and humming along.

Song: 'i let the music guide me, and Cecily sits beside me. A girl of 19 and a nervous marine. Feel her head begin to lean as the melody soars.'

Steve had gotten sick sometime after, at first it was a Normal cold, but it progressed into something worse; until Eddie had forced his husband to go to a doctor. Office after office, appointment after the other, no one knew what was wrong with him. He had gotten paler, weaker, skinnier, his cheeks sunken in, Steve was always tired. His dimples. His beautiful dimples, had disappeared, his face to small for them to show. His freckles now standing out even more against his basically paper white skin.

Song: 'And though it was real, it doesn't feel like it could be, that night you said to me 'i got two tickets to La Traviata' .'

Steve died that spring. His heart had finally given up. The funeral was quiet, too quiet for how many people had showed up. But no one spoke, not to each other, and certainly not to Eddie. Who stood there, staring inside the coffin with a blank expression. That wasn't Steve— well it was, but not HIS Steve. This was the sick one, who's face was dull, who looked like he was in pain. His Steve, the one who's smile could light up a room, who would sing Cheesy love songs with Eddie.. his Steve, the one he married. This wasn't his husband, it was some sick man, who's freckles, usually vibrant compared to a beautiful blushing face, now dull, no matter how much they stuck out. No more dimples to cheer Eddie up after a bad day. It was gone.. all gone, the memories they had, the rest of his life with Steve. The thought of Steve being healthy was out the window. He had never imagined life without him, but now he had to. Finally letting his blank facade break, his face contorting, tears falling down his face, soaking into his shirt Collar. He missed Steve, his wonderful husband who did so much for him. Who did so much with him. Sobs wracked through his chest, as if his ribs would break if he didn't let them out, body trembling. Echoing through the empty room, not actually empty, everyone was there to watch this. But in Eddie's mind, no one was there but him and Steve. healthy and happy Steve, who stole his shirts, and his heart, who wore his wedding band on a necklace. "I miss you so much.. but I'll love you all the same, no matter what.." he choked back another sob, the last line of his wedding vows, choking him like a vice, words he could never say. Right before he had passed, Steve had become clingier with him, spent the days reassuring Eddie he'd be fine, only to be met with Silence as he connected his freckles and Moles into patterns, for the last few times.

Song: 'Its sad but it's true, how much I miss you, I miss you Cecily Smith.'

END

A/N; not as detailed as usual I think but yeah, sorry for this, more coming soon 🤩, also I am so sorry for this,I will make it up to y'all I promise!!

[lovetheworld-harrypottergirl]

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Theif

Chapter 1 - I ACCIDENTALLY VAPORIZE MY PRE-ALGEBRA TEACHER

Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood. 

If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now. 

Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life. 

Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways. 

If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened. 

But if you recognize yourself in these pages — if you feel something stirring inside — stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they'll come for you. 

Don't say I didn't warn you. 

My name is Percy Jackson. 

I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York. 

Am I a troubled kid? 

Yeah. You could say that. 

I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan — twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff. 

I know — it sounds like torture. Most Yancy field trips were. 

But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes. 

Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep. 

I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble. 

Boy, was I wrong. 

See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway. And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim. And the time before that . . . Well, you get the idea. 

This trip, I was determined to be good. 

All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich. 

Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled. He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria. 

Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threatened me with death by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip. 

"I'm going to kill her," I mumbled. 

Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter." 

He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch. 

"That's it." I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat. 

"You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens." 

Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there. In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into. 

Mr. Brunner led the museum tour. 

He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery. 

It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years. 

He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye. 

Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had ome to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown. 

From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn. She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after- school detention for a month. 

One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right." 

Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art. 

Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, "Will you shut up?" 

It came out louder than I meant it to. 

The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story. 

"Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?" 

My face was totally red. I said, "No, sir." 

Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?" 

I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?" 

"Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because..." 

"Well..." I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and — " 

"God?" Mr. Brunner asked. 

"Titan," I corrected myself. "And... he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad Kronos into barfing up his brothers and sisters — " 

"Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me. 

" — and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the gods won." 

Some snickers from the group. 

Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'" 

"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?" 

"Busted," Grover muttered. 

"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair. 

At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears. 

I thought about his question, and shrugged. "I don't know, sir." 

"I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?" 

The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses. 

Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson." 

I knew that was coming. 

I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?" 

Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go — intense brown eyes that could 've been a thousand years old and had seen everything. 

"You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me. 

"About the Titans?" 

"About real life. And how your studies apply to it." 

"Oh." 

"What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson." 

I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard. 

I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!" and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped. 

But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C- in my life. No — he didn't expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly. 

I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral. 

He told me to go outside and eat my lunch. 

The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue. 

Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in. Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. 

Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing. 

Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school — the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere. 

"Detention?" Grover asked. 

"Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean — I'm not a genius." 

Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?" 

I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it. 

I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me. 

Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe table. 

I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends — I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists — and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap. 

"Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos. 

I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper." But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears. 

I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!" 

Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us. 

Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see — " 

"—the water—" 

" — like it grabbed her — " 

I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again. 

As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. "Now, honey — " 

"I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks." 

That wasn't the right thing to say. 

"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said. 

"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her." 

I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death. 

She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled. 

"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said. 

"But—" 

"You— will— stay— here." 

Grover looked at me desperately. 

"It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying." 

"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now. " 

Nancy Bobofit smirked. I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare. Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on. 

How'd she get there so fast? 

I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things. 

I wasn't so sure. 

I went after Mrs. Dodds. 

Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel. 

I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall. 

Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop. 

But apparently that wasn't the plan. 

I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section. 

Except for us, the gallery was empty. 

Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling. 

Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it... 

"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said. 

I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am." 

She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?" 

The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil. 

She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me. 

I said, "I'll— I'll try harder, ma'am." 

Thunder shook the building. 

"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain." 

I didn't know what she was talking about. 

All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room. Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book. 

"Well?" she demanded. 

"Ma'am, I don't..." 

"Your time is up," she hissed. 

Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons. 

Then things got even stranger. 

Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand. 

"What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air. 

Mrs. Dodds lunged at me. 

With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword— Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day. 

Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes. 

My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword. 

She snarled, "Die, honey!" 

And she flew straight at me. 

Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword. 

The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. 

Hisss! 

Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me. 

I was alone. 

There was a ballpoint pen in my hand. 

Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me. 

My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something. 

Had I imagined the whole thing? 

I went back outside. 

It had started to rain. 

Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt." 

I said, "Who?" 

"Our teacher. Duh!" 

I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about. 

She just rolled her eyes and turned away. 

I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was. 

He said, "Who?" 

But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me. 

"Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious." 

Thunder boomed overhead. 

I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved. 

I went over to him. 

He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson." 

I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it. 

"Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?" 

He stared at me blankly. "Who?" 

"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher." 

He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. 

As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?" 

[navalcriminalimagines]

Match

Fic inspired by this scene (S17xE15) and @specialagentastra ❤️(gif and pic are mine)

Tags: @hotch-meeeeeuppppp @madamsnape921 @specialagentastra @ncisfan

Get Started.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs isn't sure what got into him. How did Phil Brooks manage to get him to do it? He hates everything about online dating, about smartphones, about technology. Why did he press the button? Sure, he still can change his mind, erase his profile (if he ever find how) and forget all about it.

But the truth is...he's lonely. For many years, he lied about it to everyone, saying that he wasn't if someone asked. But he is. Very much so.

Plus, online dating doesn't involve into anything, right? He's just going to see women's profiles and that's it. "Swipe left if you don't like her. Swipe right if you do." Phil told him. God, how he hates smartphones.

But Gibbs is smart. He hates those things and never got interested in them, but as Phil and Tobias show him how to use his new phone, he starts to get it. He just doesn't know more than what they show him.

Changing his picture profile was one of those things. "If you don't like the one I choose for you, here's how you can change it."

It's not that Gibbs doesn't like the picture, but he thinks that the less we see of him, the better. So, instead of the one Phil took, he puts one that was taking by Tobias while they were fishing. He can be seen from afar, holding the fish he just caught. That seems right to him.

Gibbs doesn't spend much time on the app. Sometimes at night, he hears the phone buzzing and he checks. Women swiped him to the right. He swiped to the left.

Maybe he's being picky. Or maybe he just doesn't how he supposed to value someone through a picture or two and not many more information about them. It feels so impersonal to Gibbs. He hates it.

"Have you match with someone?" Phil asks one night.

"No."

"Gibbs, come on!" His friend spots the phone on the coffee table and grabs it. "Let me do it for you." And he does.

For what feels like an eternity for Gibbs, Phil swipes either left or right, while the Agent is annoyingly looking at the western movie on his old tv.

"Crap, look at her!" Phil holds the phone right under Gibbs's nose. He doesn't have his glasses on, so the screen appears blurry to him. With a smile, Phil offers him the glasses with his free hand.

Still very annoyed, Gibbs grabs them. "Too young." He says when he sees the age.

"But pretty as hell!"

"Too. Young."

"Too. Late." he uses the same tone as Gibbs's. "I swiped right!"

"I hate you."

"You'll thank me when you'll have a date with--" Phil checks the name. "Y/N."

* * * * *

Online dating has never been good to you. You've been on it for about year, after a bad breakup, and until now, you've only matched with weirdos. None of those match led to an actual meeting and you were getting tired of it.

You barely pay attention when a new notification from the app comes through. You focus on your book, forgetting about it until your curiosity gets the best of you.

"Leroy Jethro Gibbs," you read out loud. "Dude, you seem good looking but a fish holding picture? Seriously?" yes, you're talking to your phone.

There's nothing much to this Leroy's profile. And the picture definitely doesn't get your interest, it's quite the opposite actually. You put your phone aside without locking it and return to your book.

A few minutes later, another notification comes through.

Leroy: Hey :)

How? How did he manage to send you a text? You didn't swipe. Or at least, you thought you didn't, but after checking, you realized that you did swipe... to the right. Damn.

You're too nice, you don't want to leave him on read - you know how terrible that is - so it's better you answer and eventually tells him the truth, or something close to it.

You: Hello.

Leroy: How are you?

You: I'm fine, thank you. You?

Leroy: Better now that you swiped right.

You: Smooth.

Leroy: I'm not really used to this. Are you?

You: More or less.

Leroy: I'd prefer to meet someone face to face.

You: Why are you on a dating app, then?

Leroy: Didn't you read my bio?

You: I did. But that friend didn't put a knife on your throat, did they?

Leroy: Nope. But if he did, I know how to fight anyway.

You: Right, former Marine?

Leroy: Gunnery Sergeant.

You could have stopped the conversation as soon as it's started, but somehow, you went on and on, all night long.

* * * * *

"What the hell are you still doing on that phone?" Gibbs asks his friend.

"Still talking with Y/N. I think she likes you."

Gibbs disappeared in his basement hours ago, leaving Phil is the living room. He knew that Phil sent you a text as soon as you matched with him, but he didn't except for it to keep going for that long.

"That's not me talking to her. It's you."

"I know you well enough to know what you'd say."

"You don't know me well enough to not do things like that to me."

"Stop complaining and get ready for a date this weekend."

* * * * *

Gibbs is still not sure how he got into this. But somehow, he finds himself at the diner on a Saturday night, waiting for a young and beautiful woman to meet him.

Is he nervous? No.

Maybe a little.

Okay, he is.

He read all the texts you exchanged with Phil - thinking that it was actually him - to make sure he wouldn't miss something. But it doesn't feel right anyway. It feels like he's lying to you before he even met you. That's not how a relationship can start and work.

Although, the chance of this turning into a relationship are close to none. "You know, you could just take her home, spend the night with her and the next morning--bye-bye." Divorce really changed Phil.

Gibbs is facing the entry, and checks everyone who’s coming in. He’s on his second coffee when he finally sees you.

Phil was right, you’re pretty as hell. But still very young, Gibbs doesn’t understand how you can even get interested in an old man like him.

But he doesn’t have to overthink it as you softly introduce yourself to him. He stands up and shakes your hand. You sit across the table and for a moment, none of you talk. You both feel awkward. “I don’t really know how to—“ he starts saying.

“Me neither.” You chuckle. “You’re actually the first match I’m meeting.”

“Really?” He looks at you, extremely surprised.

“Well, yeah. You know those weirdos I talked with…”

Gibbs vaguely remembers that part of the texts. But to avoid saying the wrong thing, he asks you what you want to drink. “Coffee’s fine.”

He calls for the waitress and orders your coffee. “People usually doesn’t understand how I can drink coffee at night.”

“Same. But with or without it, I don’t sleep much anyway.”

That’s how it started. Once you were talking, everything went smoothly between you two. You’re very interested by him, just like he’s by you. “You’re very nice, Leroy. There’s something I need to tell you.”

“I’m listening?”

“I didn’t mean to swipe right. It was mistake—but I’m really happy I did. You’re not a creep,” you warmly smile at Gibbs, he feels his heart melting inside his chest.

“I appreciate your honesty. I guess I should do the same.” You raise an eyebrow at him. “I wasn’t the person you talked with. My friend did it for me.”

Well, what you did was a honest mistake. What he did was... weird. You looked at him, confused and a bit disappointed. "I just ruined it, didn't I?" he asks for the look on your face.

"I talked with a man and met another one... that's--strange, Leroy."

"Look, this whole online dating-- that's really not my thing. And Phil, my friend, just wanted to help." he explains. "What do you say we start all over?"

Despite the other people talking around you and Gibbs, there's a long silence between you two. Gibbs just stares at you, unsure of what you're going to do.

You're thinking for a moment, before finishing your coffee. You stand up and to the man's surprise, you smile at him. "I'm gonna sit at the counter. Come talk to me like none of this happened."

He deserves the benefit of the doubt.

[holykillercake]

FRIED EGGS

KOBY x Pirate!Reader

word count: 2k

summary: Being infiltrated as a Marine and keeping your feelings under control was easy until you were assigned to work with Marine Captain Koby. How you wished he was a jerk.

highlight: ¨I am kissing you... but I am angry, Y/N-san...¨

warnings: read under the risk of developing diabetes.

notes: Hey, guys! This was a lovely request from @pure-kirarin! <3 I had to stop other projects to make this one because Koby threw me out of my comfort zone hahaha I really hope you like!! ALSO 1) Happy Birthday Sabo-kun! ALSO 2) In order to add more dept to the story, the main character is part of a Yonkos´crew, but I wrote in a way that all fit, so choose your favorite! ALSO 3) ART ALERT!

Leave comments, hearts and love!

¨You have been doing a remarkable job in such little time, Commander L/N. We all have great expectations regarding your transference to our Marine Headquarters.¨ 

The words of the Rear Admiral barely scratched your mind as you discreetly observed the pink-haired boy´s reflection on the crystal clear window. 

He maintained a similar posture to yours: chin up, chest out, shoulders back, and stomach in. However, while your fingers remained paralleled to your trousers, you took a glimpse of his clenched fist, thumb fidgeting the side of his index finger. 

¨Vice Admiral Tsuru was reluctant to sign your transfer. She said you remind her of herself in the past, which is always an excellent compliment to hear.¨ you nodded, acknowledging his words  ¨We´re glad we convinced her.¨

Your heart warmed with his words, and you almost felt bad because you knew the disappointing outcome O-Tsuru-san would have at the end of this. She trained you with the iron face of a merciless soldier, and the elegance that resembled the animal of her name.

It has been three years since you received the green card from your captain to part ways in a long-term solo mission. A journey to excavate the putrid secrets of the so-called defenders of the law. You learned after a short time that justice is not so black and white.

Not that you planned to reveal the dirt, no. That intel your captain could sell to the Revolutionary Army and keep the capital running. You were interested in the arms race, the corrupt diplomacy, and more importantly, the dark pipes where traitors flowed.

Someone from inside the Yonkos was feeding the Marines with crucial information about the Emperors´ activities. And in such a close fight, you could not take those risks.

All other Emperors must have their own undercover agents within the Marines, but even that was a dispute. You could point some names to your boss, who confirmed what was suspected. Those would usually be the best of the best, extravagant and loud.

But not you. You didn't have to make that much noise. You slid between the floors of New Marineford like a snake swimming with the current. Earning the respect of your superiors and being promoted without ringing any bells. You accepted each medal with a firm salutation and relentless performance. 

¨The trip must have been displeasing. Submerging ten thousand meters underwater and rising to these fiendish waters require a good rest. Our Marine Captain Koby will escort you to your quarters, Commander Y/N. The remaining instructions shall be presented tomorrow.¨

You saluted the Rear Admiral in front of you and turned to the exit, passing by Koby, who waited for you to leave first.  When your paths crossed, the pace of your heartbeats quickened, pumping more blood through your body and leaving a burning sensation on your cheeks. 

The involuntary response was instantly interpreted as alertness to danger, which needed to be handled with caution. 

Can´t let my guard down around this one, you thought.

In fact, you planned to keep as much distance as you could from him. An officer let slip that he has been gaining incredible control over his Observation Haki since the Paramount War. 

But the wind seemed to change direction, and you began to swim against the current. When the morning came, you were assigned to be his partner for an undetermined time, and he would act as your superior. The idea of being bossed around by a younger marine got your temper sparked. 

Only he was not like the others, treating you in a patronizing and condescending way. He spoke to you with the same cordiality and politeness he addressed everybody else. 

Slowly, your concrete cold expression began to soothe. You would still remind yourself how annoying his good manners were, though. So annoying, seriously!

¨Good morning, Y/N-san!¨ he greeted as you joined him for breakfast. 

¨Good morning, Koby.¨ 

¨Our Border Force correspondent sent his report early in the morning with information about possible Yonkos´ alliances in the Wano Country. We are arranging a meeting as soon as possible.¨ 

You didn´t like to handle work so early, but this subject, in particular, raised your spirits. ¨Good. It was about time.¨

You noticed that he wore a different headband. ¨What happened?¨ 

¨Hm?¨ he brought the soup bowl close to his mouth. 

¨The bandana. Green, with the fried eggs.¨ he choked on the miso soup, coughing like he had swallowed poison. 

You reached for a paper tissue and handed it to him. ¨K-Koby, are you ok?¨

¨Y-Y/N... Y/N-san...¨ he coughed some more ¨They´re not... fried eggs...¨

¨Oh...¨ your brows raised slightly ¨What are they?¨

A depressive aura grew around him ¨They are flowers, YN-san...¨

The edge of your lips contorted as you tried to hide a smile. You haven´t felt like smiling genuinely for years. Annoying boy!

From that moment on, ignoring him became more difficult. He started to ask you to train with him or invite you to spend some time with him and Helmeppo whenever you had free time. Eventually, he began to ask you how he looked before an important meeting. 

Most of the time, you would reply something like ¨ok¨. But sometimes, the mouth was quicker than the brain, and you would let an ¨impeccable¨ slip out, followed by an awkward throat clearing and blushed cheeks. 

From both sides.

•

¨Oh my-¨ you stopped yourself from finishing the sentence. 

You were chosen to complete this mission due to your excellent skills in hiding emotions and acting calm under stressful situations. No one could break you. 

Within the Marines, no joke could make you crack a smile, and no torture could make you spill secrets. 

Why did you want to ask if he was ok?

Koby had entered his office with bumps and bloody bruises over his face. His always neat uniform was blotchy, and he carried a first aid kit. 

¨Garp-san paid a visit.¨ He sat on the couch and opened the white box, throwing everything on the coffee table. ¨I bet it wasn't like this with Tsuru-san.¨ he chuckled. 

¨No. She would beat me up, wash me and hang me up to dry.¨ 

You shot from the chair, moving towards the clumsy pinkette, who struggled to attend to his injuries. He tried to hold the mirror with one hand and suture his gash with the other. 

¨Thank yo-¨

¨Shh. Don´t move.¨

You leaned closer to have a better look, giving Koby the same chance. Your delicate perfume smelled like it was tailor-made for you. Your breathing was slightly irregular, and your lip twitched with every given stitch. Your fingers felt like feathers on his skin, so much that he didn´t even feel a sting. 

The job was fast and efficient, making Koby wish Garp had put more effort into his Love Fist. Grabbing a piece of wet cotton, you cleaned the dried blood.  

¨Alright...¨ you whispered.

¨Alright...¨ he whispered back.

You were inches apart from his face, your eyes traveling across the scar on his forehead, the pink locks, and kind features. Your mind traced back all the way to the Paramount War. You had very little knowledge about him, but the words he spoke that day have always made your heart pound like cannonballs. 

You will make an excellent Admiral one day, Koby. 

I hope you don´t hate me. 

¨Y-Y/N-san...¨

¨Hm?¨

¨Your smile is beautiful.¨

¨What?¨ The stupid scene of yours was interrupted like a DJ stopping the record player. 

With cheeks getting pinker than his hair, you shot up and marched back to the chair and your newspaper. ¨You clean this up.¨ 

He left a low chuckle out and began gathering the mess. 

Oh, no, Y/N. You have got to be kidding me. 

He is a freaking marine. Breathe. 

There were a vast number of reasons why you couldn´t like him: from him being a Marine Captain and you being a pirate to the fact that your mission was coming to a conclusion.

Meaning that your journey as his partner would be very soon reaching its end. The meeting with this mysterious correspondent regarding the Yonkos´ operations in the New World would be the last move in this chess game. You would be going home. Mission completed. Everything perfect, right? 

Right, perfect. Impeccable! Ugh!

•

¨... confirm secure line.¨

¨This is Border Officer code 404890. Secure line confirmed.¨ you spoke with a low but clear voice through the nail transponder. 

¨What´s the status on our birdie?¨

¨Positive. The birdie is located at 03:24:01.¨ you gave your boss a coordinate to the name of the Marine informant. The answer you took three years to find out remained on file number one, third page, suspect number twenty-four. 

An amused laugh echoed on your end, and you buried the speaker on your jacket to muffled the sound. 

¨At least he is not one of ours.¨ a chuckle ¨Great job, Y/N.¨

¨Thank you, boss.¨

¨I know this mustn't have been easy, but you were impeccable as always.¨

Yeah, impeccable. 

¨You know the protocol now. We´ll see each other in a few days. You´ll have a party waiting for you, kid.¨

¨Aye, aye, boss. But I want the good booze.¨  Both of you laughed. 

You finished the call, and the smile on your lips died as the image of a pink-haired boy invaded your mind. You wished he was a jerk like everybody else. 

It would have been so easy. 

¨Who were you talking to?¨ your chest contracted, pushing the air out of your lungs and sending extra blood supply to your muscles. 

You hid the transponder into your jacket and turned, facing your Marine Captain. 

¨Eavesdropping, Koby?¨

What should I do?

¨Y/N-san, who were you talking to?¨ he repeated himself, offering the benefit of the doubt. You sighed.

¨My captain.¨ 

Why the need to be honest with him?

¨Y/N-san, please don´t tell me-¨

¨I´m sorry, Koby. I wish I didn´t have to do this.¨ you couldn´t bring yourself to face him.

¨A-Are you a pirate? Why?¨

You chuckled ¨Why am I a pirate?¨

¨Why did you do this?¨ his face was pale, making your guts twitch in guilt.

¨I´m on a mission. But I´ll leave soon.¨

¨You are like... Vergo-san.¨ he sounded disappointed.

¨I am nothing like Vergo. You know this.¨ or at least you hoped he did. 

He closed the door slowly, eyes fixed on your figure. The bright light from the window made him look like an ethereal painting.

While you tried to predict his next move, whether he was going to interrogate you or kick your ass, Koby acted calm and collected, not hesitating. He trusted his Observation Haki to guide his next move. Or maybe his heart.

You saw a pink blur closing distance like a missile, and before you could dodge, his hands pulled you by the waist, connecting your bodies and lips. 

He forced your back to meet the thick window with a gasp that was muffled by the kiss. His touch was rough upon the fabric of your uniform, but his mouth felt soft against yours.

Your hands moved to his hair, removing the round pair of glasses and the green bandana so you could get lost in his locks. His grip was harsh under the fabric of your uniform, but his hair felt soft on your fingertips. 

A moan escaped your lips when he parted the kiss with a loud snap and struck the glass with both hands, keeping you trapped in the middle. You let go of his hair and grabbed him by the collar, not letting him go away.

¨I am kissing you... but I am angry, Y/N-san...¨ his breath was heavy and carried with a myriad of emotions. 

¨I know... I am sorry.¨

¨Why?¨

¨Because I like you, Koby. A lot.¨ he paused for a second, fighting the urge to admit the same.

¨What was your mission?¨

This is the last lie, I promise, Koby. ¨The Marines possessed vital information about something my boss wants. I needed to get it.¨

¨Now that I know that you´re a pirate and that you stole Marine´s assets, I´m gonna have to hunt you down.¨

¨I´ll be waiting for you.¨ 

You stared him in the eyes, and he kissed you to stop himself from saying what he really wanted. 

I love you, Y/N-san.

Diary of Koby-Meppo: The Fried Egg Life Crisis.

💕 @vemuabhi

[floraltypes]

Owe Me a Coffee

who - gibbs x reader 

tw - mentions of sex, fires, blood, beatings, death

an - I took french for two years, but I’m not fluent and had to use a translating app so I hope it isn’t too bad ! Request something as well, I finally got them working :)

uneditied :/

“Damn you DiNozzo,” You cursed, staring at the man and moving your hand to smack him up besides the head.

You couldn’t help but think back to this morning, getting stuck with the annoying, cocky, flirty, obnoxious, co-worker. Doing a undercover mission with him definitely wasn’t your first choice, you’d rather do paperwork at this point.

“Huh?” You looked at Gibbs like he had just said a alien had landed down at the NCIS building asking for you. “You want me with Tony?”

“Yeah, did I say it in some other language? You and DiNozzo are going undercover, found a marine’s wife dead, along with her killers. Abby was able to access their computers and found out they were doing hit man work, and the director wants us to locate their boss. But since the two are dead now, we need some people to go undercover, you two,” He reminded you, reading the case the five of you were all taking on now.

“Oh, ho, ho!” Tony laughed, grabbing your hand and pulling you towards him. “Looks like little Y/n finally gets a chance with the Tony master.”

“Tony master? Is that another cocky Tony name to make him feel better about himself?” Ziva wondered.

“It’s what my last babe called me, the master, so why not add Tony in front of it?” He smiled, getting smacked in the back of the head by Gibbs.

“You’ll be undercover, not as yourselves. So, refrain from the names DiNozzo.”

“Got it boss!” He exclaimed, shooting you a wink before you turned back to your computer.

“L/n, Elevator, now.” Gibbs commanded, and you quickly stood up to follow after him.

“Do you ever wonder who Gibbs is getting it with?” David asked, standing beside DiNozzo and McGee as they watched you and Gibbs enter the elevator.

“It’s ‘getting it on with’ and yes, I think we all do.” Tony corrected her. “But I doubt he is, because if he was, he might be happier.”

“Well, just because you go to school, it doesn’t make you smart. A perfect example is you, Tony,” David turned towards the man with a smile and pinched his cheek, Tony slapping the hand away.

“I actually get some, doubt Probie has ever had any.”

“Well, I actually-“

“If you have to say ‘actually’ while talking about sex it’s probably a lie. So, probie, just dream out your fantasies without getting them mixed up with real life,” DiNozzo smirked, smacking his back while moving to his own computer.

You were on the elevator, looking at your boss who clicked the ‘Emergency Stop’ button, causing the transportation to pause its route.

“Yeah, Gibbs?” You leaned onto the back of the elevator, a small smile playing out on your lips as you smiled at the man.

“I’m putting you on because I need someone convincing. So, put on your acting skills and make it work,” He mentioned, taking a sip of his coffee.

“Yeah, yeah. I took drama for two years in high school just for this moment,” You joked. “You’re going to owe me a nice, creamed, coffee because of this.”

“And if I don’t? Right now, I’m your boss, I can’t be your boyfriend.”

“Good to know, boss.” You moved in front of him and unlocked the button. “I’ll keep that in mind for my acting, I just hope you don’t mind, boss,” The doors soon opened and you exited, walking into Abby’s area.

“Ah Gibbs! L/n! What do I owe this pleasure?” Abby greeted, taking a large sip of her drink.

“Are you running the prints on the gun found by the female hit man?” Gibbs asked as you took a seat on one of Abby’s chairs.

“Of course!” Abby hopped up and moved over to her machine, pointing to it, showcasing that it was running. “Working on it right now. But, I don’t think you’ll find much luck with it considering it was the same gun used to kill the commanders wife.”

“Well, we don’t know that for sure, so work on that. L/n,”

“But I want to chat with my dear friend before moving on,” You whined, while he shot you a stern look in return. “I’m going,” You quickly stood up, following the man out.

“I want you to go upstairs and get ready with DiNozzo,” He demanded and you just nodded.

“Right. On my way!” You yelled, running to the elevator. “I’m thrilled for this, but even more thrilled to finish this mission and go on a date,”

“Have fun with that.”

“I will! Hopefully Palmer will as well,” The elevator doors shut and Gibbs continued to make his way down to the Autopsy room to speak with Ducky. Now, not to thrilled at the mans assistant.

You arrived back upstairs, looking at the agent who had his feet on his desk and talking on the phone.

“Who is he chatting with? Gibbs wants us ready,” You commented, moving by Ziva and McGee who were watching him.

“Some girl, someone named Louis,” McGee answered.

“That sounds like a older woman’s name,” Ziva added.

“Yeah. Hey, McGee,” The man looked up from where he was watching DiNozzo and turned to face you. “Remember when you gave me food poisoning, and felt so bad you promised you give me a favor. Well, I want to turn that in now,” You smiled at him, writing down a note on a piece of paper and handing it to him.

“What are you up to?” Ziva asked as McGee left the two of you, heading to his own computer.

“Having some fun with a certain co worker who is going to ruin my night,” You got up from Ziva and moved over to DiNozzo. “Who are you chatting with?”

“A babe,” He mouthed, smiling as you could hear the little rambles on the phone.

“Gibbs wants you ready to go in twenty. And I know it takes you thirty to just do your hair, so, maybe you should cut the phone call.”

He put his hand to cover the speaker on the phone, taking his legs off the desk, and leaving in closer to you. “And you need forty to suck in that gut,”

You laughed, reaching over to grab the phone and putting it to you ear. “Tony! I got you your superhero costume, sweetie! We can now go and dress up together, but not in those tighty whities,” You voiced into the phone, slamming it down and looking at his stunned face. “Never comment on a woman’s weight, now, get ready for tonight because I’m not easy to please.”

The man mocked you for a moment and then left his desk, you turning to look back at Ziva.

“Impressive,” She complimented, walking by you and patting your shoulder.

“Thanks, I’m just starting,” You smiled at the girl, grabbing your gun and sticking your knife into the pocket inside your custom made boots.

You soon got yourself ready in a nice short, red dress that fit your body well enough that you were comfortable, and able to hide a knife around your thigh area.

“Ready yet Y/n?” DiNozzo knocked on the door, fixing his tie and suit.

“Wow Tony, you do know how to clean up,” Ziva commented, coming up behind him, in front of the restroom door, with McGee.

“Thank you, Ziva,”

“Well, besides the tag sticking out in the back. Are you really that cheap? I thought you took, uh, pride in your choice of clothing,”

“I don’t see the point on wearing something very expensive to a undercover date,” He told her back.

“You also missed a spot when shaving,” McGee pointed out, pointing to the far right side of Tony’s face.

“Shut it Probie. At least I didn’t need mommy to help me shave in highschool,”

“Abby told you about that?”

“Well, now she did,”

You opened the door and flattened your dress, then fixing a ring on your pointer finger and smiled at the three other special agents.

“Tony, didn’t you need your mom to help you do your laundry in highschool? Not one to speak,”

“You look well. Didn’t know you were even able to-” You whipped out your knife from underneath your dress and pointed it at the man. “You look stunning, great, nice.”

“Looks like you’re on a thin glacier, Tony,” Ziva laughed.

“I think it’s thin ice,” McGee corrected.

“Same thing!” Ziva threw her hands in the air. “Y/n, I didn’t know you had those moves,”

“Yeah, not a lot of people do. I like to hold some secrets with the team, and my past career is one of them,” You smiled.

“Let’s go,” Tony gripped your hand and intertwined it with his. “My love,” He gritted through his teeth.

“Not too convincing DiNozzo,” Gibbs walked over, smacking the back of his head. “You don’t treat a lady like that. Grip the hand like this,” He smoothly let his hand move its way to yours and he gently connected it with yours. “Even McGee knows this,” He smiled at you and let your hand go.

“I-I know how to do it, boss. Just- nevermind,” He grumbled, loosening his grip.

“I’m starving, care to escort me to the car, Armon?” You got yourself ready to take on your character, smiling at the man besides you with one as if you were really happy with the situation you were in.

“Anything for you, Belle,” The two of you made your way out of the building. Your fellow co-workers watched as the two of you walked away, yet, you were both still messing with each other and hitting while walking out.

“My last wife tend to do that,” Gibbs commented, soon making his way after you two to get into his own undercover van.

“Is that a normal thing for American couples?” Ziva asked McGee.

“Well, I’m not sure. But I have seen plenty of married couples do that, so they’ll fit right in,” He answered, the two then leaving as well.

Once arriving to the hotel, you waited for DiNozzo to open your door and grab your hand to lead you out of the car and into the new building. While clutching your purse and waiting behind a few other guests who were trying to get in, you turned to fix Tony’s glasses and clicked the ‘on’ button.

“Looking swell, honey,” You smiled at him as he placed a arm over your shoulder.

“Thank you. I’m thrilled we were able to get these reservations, dinner should be delicious tonight. You’ll be getting the salad, like normal, correct?” He looked down at you and you stepped on his foot as the line moved forward.

“Oh my! I’m so sorry! I always have the most trouble in heels like these, oh the line, hurry up now!” You voiced, walking into the hotel and following everyone else into the dining area.

“We should look for our names now,” He told you, sneaking up from behind as the two of you searched the tables for little cards with your last names on it. “Bingo! Right next to the Lezarres,”

“Oh and the Garndels are here as well. I’ve heard some things about them,” You added, letting Tony pull out a chair as you took a seat.

The both of you introduced yourself to the other couples and went through the night engaging in some small talk about politics and the food. You and DiNozzo had done a swell job at it and you retreated to the rest room at the end of dinner to hear any new news.

“So, what’s the update?” You asked into the little microphone hidden in your bracelet.

“There’s a hotel room in your name, bought out by your boss and, uh, boss wants you two to stay in there,” McGee told you into the ear piece which was located in your right ear.

“Great, more time with that stupid bastard. He couldn’t shut up about himself at dinner, like always, I’m really contemplating divorce,” You muttered, fixing your lipstick as another woman walked out, moving to wash her hands.

“I know just how you feel, best of luck,” She mentioned before walking out.

“Thanks,” You spoke back to her before turning your attention back to the mirror. “Do we think this boss of mine is going to go after the commander of that wife?”

“Yeah, Gibbs want you to stop him before he does. We have no clue who the boss is but he will be visiting the both of you tonight,”

“Got it,”

“Y/n!” Gibbs spoke now into the earpiece on the other end.

“Yeah?”

“If he got the hotel room, expect it to be bugged. So, you better act,”

“No worries. I’ve had to act in the bedroom before, and past boyfriends sure believed it,” You walked out of the bathroom and stood next to Tony. “Hun, my feet are killing me. I think it’s time we head to the hotel room and rest,” Tony nodded and stood up from his seat. The both of you said a goodbye to the couple and got your key from the front desk, soon getting into the elevator.

“So, a hotel room? Really want to sleep with me tonight, huh?” Tony laughed to himself as you positioned yourself in front of him and kissed his cheek, soon moving your lips closer to his ear.

“Room could be bugged, even the elevator, time to act,” You whispered, pulling back and placing a small kiss on his lips.

“Oh dear, if you really want me no need to ask,” He moved a arm around your waist, pulling you into his side a bit.

“The bags should already be in the room,” You smirked at him, and were soon at your level, the both of you getting off the elevator.

Once getting into your room you took off your heels and placed your bracelet on the table.

“I’m going to take a shower, care to join?” You commented, moving to the bathroom and starting the shower.

“It would be my pleasure,” He walked into the bathroom and started to unzip his pants.

“Babe, be patient,” You slapped his shoulder. “Turn around now, you know how self conscious I am,”

“That’s why I warned you not to eat that cake at dinner, my piece too,” He grumbled, turning around and lifting up his shirt as you took off your clothes and stepped into the shower.

“It was just so good! Being the loving, husband you are, I knew you wouldn’t mind,”

“Yeah, anything for you,” He stepped into the shower while your arms were trying to cover your breasts and vaginal area.

“Don’t look, just act,” You quietly scolded. “And try to cover your, uh,” You subtly moved a finger to point in the downwards direction and he quickly moved his hands there.

“Need another hand to help cover yours?” He joked, moving a little closer.

“I’ll kill you,” You mumbled. “Oh! Armon!” You moaned, Tony sending a sly smile and grunting. “You look like you’re enjoying this,”

“Might want to cover up that breast a little better,” He removed one hand to point at your left one.

“Damn it,” You did just that and reached for a towel which was on the toilet lid. “Ah, soap in the eye,” You voiced louder, just in case the man was listening and skeptical about it. You turned around from Tony and wrapped it around your chest area, then moving both hands to block your other.

“You really think they’re listening to us in here?”

“A good boss would. Especially if he is in this type of business.”

“I hate to know about some of your previous bosses,”

“Oh! Right there! Right there!” You yelled. “Yeah, you would. Most of them are dead though, so you won’t have to worry about that,”

“Old age, huh? What’s with old men being bosses anyways?”

“One was, but that’s not how he died. Man was a perve, had it coming,” You shrugged.

“You killed him?!”

“No, no. Not for that reason,” Tony’s mouth dropped. “Ah!” You yelled loudly, then making your breaths sound loud. “Gosh you are one messy man, good thing we did this in the water,” You smirked at DiNozzo who just mocked you.

“And you still are the easiest to ge-”

“I’m getting out now, you should too,” You removed the towel and let it drop to the floor of the shower, covering your breasts and looking for a robe, soon wrapping it around you.

While leaving the bathroom to grab your shirt and pants you heard the phone in the room start to ring and quickly rushed to it.

“Hello, Belle,” The man on the other line spoke into the phone. You could just imagine what he looked like, some rich guy with a cigar in his hand wanting some job done.

“Bonjour Monsieur,” You spoke, grateful that your mother had taught you french when you were young. “C’est qui je pense?”

(Hello, sir. Is this who I think it is?)

“Oui. Retrouvez-moi dans le salon. À neuf heures,”

(Yes. Meet me down in the lounge area. At nine o’clock.)

“D’accord. Au revoir,”

(Okay. Goodbye)

You placed the phone down, and grabbed your clothes, quickly changing into them as Tony emerged from the bathroom with his wet hair clinging to his forehead and a new, comfortable outfit on.

“Who was that, dear?” He asked, sneaking over by you.

“Un ami,” You smiled at him, tapping his nose.

“Uh, yeah,” He nodded, clearly not understanding and you just tried to stifle a laugh. “You know, grandpa, uh, Gibbs, he wants us to figure out when we should have dinner with him,”

“Ah. How about we go over for a breakfast at nine. He just got his living room refinished not too long ago, correct?”

“Sounds good. And never call me a grandpa again, DiNozzo,” Gibbs spoke into both of your earpieces.

“It’s almost nine already. I should go and ask for a extra pillow, sweetie. Get the bed ready for us, can you?” You grabbed your hotel key and put on your special boots. “No need to dress so fancy for getting something so simple,”

“DiNozzo, go with her,” Gibbs commanded. “David and McGee are heading to the lounge area now,”

“You sure you don’t want me to come with?” DiNozzo asked you.

“I’ll be fine. It’s a silly little pillow, nothing too much,” You kissed his cheek and quickly left the room. While walking down the hallway to the elevator, you took a quick look around to make sure you weren’t being followed.

Once waiting for the elevator, you fixed your boots a bit and entered when the doors opened. There was no one inside, so you pressed the ‘1st level’ button. When getting near the ‘2nd level’ the elevator stopped, indicating someone was going to get on.

It was a staff member in their normal uniform. He smiled at you with blankets in his hand and entered.

“Puis-je vous aider avec quoi que ce soit, mademoiselle?” He questioned, pulling out a gun from his side and opened the elevator door once again for two new men to appear.

(Can I help you with anything, miss?)

“Oui. En me alissa the vivre,” You told him, one of the man entering the elevator and pulling you out, the man in the staff uniform having his gun pointed at you.

(Yes. By letting me live.)

“Tsk. Ne peut faire. Vous souvenez-vous de moi?”

(No can do. Do you remember me?)

“Vous n’avez pas l’air familier,” You spoke, getting dragged down the hallway as someone reached into your ear and broke the earpiece.

(You don’t look familiar.)

“Enough of this french,” The man who was dragging you sneered. “I want to hear this bitch speak,”

“Fine,” The one in the staff uniform sighed. “I don’t think you’re the person we’re looking for. It’s a shame you think we were that stupid to not know what our employees look like,”

“You’re just so intelligent,” You commented, getting kicked in the back of the leg.

“I was speaking. You really played it off, the whole sex thing. But it’s a shame you won’t have anymore time with him, he won’t get his little pillow. At least I won’t have to worry about the real couple anymore, they knew too much and I couldn’t let that get out. All I have to do is deal with you,”

“That will be harder than you think,” You told him, the grip on your arm tightening.

“I’m always a fan of having some fun,”

“They’re going to find the bullet your men used to kill the couple. You knew we were here since the beginning,”

“Correct,” One of the men opened the door and you were led in. “With you posing as the couple, you were able to gain a connection with the couples you were seated with. That way, we could then swoop in and learn more about them, giving us the opportunity to hack into their phone and get the passwords needed,”

“You’re stupid to tell me this. I could’ve figured it out on my own, my team probably already has,” One man then put you in a chair and started to tie you up, the one in the staff uniform kicking you in the gut so you fell backwards.

“Lift her up again. I want to have my fun before she must go, I hope you don’t mind the heat,” The second man lifted your chair up and a few more punches were landed on your body.

“Tu es une racaille,” You mumbled, trying to move your arm in the tight ropes.

(You’re scum.)

“Let’s go,” The head man told the other two. One of them grabbed a gas can nearby and started to pour it on the bedsheets. The head man grabbed a match from his pocket and lit it, throwing it on the bed for the flames to begin. “Au revoir,”

They left the room and you struggled to try and move one arm.

Meanwhile DiNozzo was in the elevator with his gun in pocket, going down to the lounge area.

“Y/n can’t hear us anymore,” DiNozzo voiced into his microphone. “Did she make it to the lounge?”

“No. Damn it DiNozzo, I told you to stay with her,” Gibbs spoke, looking at DiNozzo once the elevator door opened. “David, Mcgee, take the back entrance me and DiNozzo will take the front and head up,” He demanded.

Everyone split up. Ziva and McGee ran to the back to catch two men rushing out. They quickly aimed their guns at them and announced their presence, only to receive some shots at them.

Ziva was able to shoot down on of the men and the other surrendered, McGee cuffing the one and letting a police who arrived take care of them.

“We didn’t call for backup,” McGee muttered to Ziva.

“Yeah, uh, someone called into 911 about a fire,” The police pointed to a window on the hotel building. “People should be evacuating the building now, firefighters are on their way,”

McGee’s mouth dropped as he stared at Ziva.

“How odd it happened tonight,” Ziva mumbled.

“It’s obviously intentional!” McGee exclaimed.

“I know that. I hope those guys don’t die,”

DiNozzo and Gibbs started to rush up the stairs, they could feel a bit of the heat from the room and were able to catch the man in the staff uniform in the stairway.

“Sir, are you alright?” DiNozzo stopped, grabbing onto his shoulders softly. “NCIS,”

“I’m fine, just startled, I need to get out of here,” He waved his hands and tried to slip away from DiNozzo’s grip.

“DiNozzo, that’s him,” Gibbs quickly told the agent who soon put the mans hands behind his back. “Where’s our agent?”

“She won’t make it, a fire like that, no one would,” He smiled and DiNozzo led him down the stairs.

Gibbs continued to rush up them, into the hallway that was catching more and more on fire.

“L/n! L/n!” He yelled, looking around to try and find your figure.

He saw you emerge into the hallway, bloodied and bruised, some of your shirt on fire, and a knife in your hand. He rushed to your side, letting you lean on him.

“Y/n, can you hear me?” He asked and you shook your head a little, letting him fully help you down the stairs and out of the building.

He guided you to the ambulance who tended to most of your wounds, but you refused to be transferred to a hospital.

“You need to go,” McGee tried to convince you, standing by your side.

“It would probably be for the best,” David chimed in.

“Hopefully, they can fix your hair too,” Tony laughed, looking you up and down.

“Damn you, DiNozzo,” You stood and smacked the back of his head, while he just laughed.

“Go home you three, I’ll make sure Y/n gets home alright,” Gibbs came over, waving the three agents off who spared a small goodbye or hand wave. “You ready to go, idiot.”

“I almost died, and you’re calling me a idiot,” You chuckled a little. “Help me to your car?” You asked and he let you lean on him once again.

Once the both of you were in the car it was a very quiet ride. You didn’t talk to each other, just letting silence from the long day overtake each other. He truly was nervous for your safety, thought the two of you hadn’t been dating long he felt a lot of compassion regarding you and wanted to continue your relationship smoothly. 

“I really was worried. I told you not to go alone, you should’ve let DiNozzo go with you,” He finally spoke, once you were both in his driveway, sitting in the car, in the dark.

“I’m alive. Just got kicked around a bit, I’m super grateful I always carry that knife in my boot,” You softly told him. “Don’t worry about me too much, I may be younger than you, but I have experience.”

“I know that, just don’t be so stupid last time and take the help.”

“Fine,” Gibbs got out of his seat and moved around to your door, grabbing your hand and helping you out of the car. He smiled at the factor of how easily you trusted him to care for you. “I didn’t doubt you would get me for a minute.”

“Good, you should know that.”

“Only because you still owe me a date, and I did say I would let you pick this one out,” You looked up at him with a goofy grin. It amazed him that even with being beaten up a bit, and almost dying in a fire, you could make jokes with him. 

“I say we have the little date here,” He leaned down a bit to place a gentle kiss upon your lips, smirking into it a little bit, and then moving the way you were leaning on him so he would be able to pick you up. 

“Someone’s excited.”

“Let’s watch a nice movie on the couch. I bought some creamer, so, I can make that creamed coffee you wanted because now I’m your boyfriend but still pissed you made a stupid and life threatening decision in there,”

“Good enough. Palmer will have to wait. Poor kid,” You commented as Gibbs lead you to the couch and helped you rest on it, soon moving to his kitchen to start brewing a pot of coffee. 

“That idiot will be fine.”

“Yeah, luckily for him, though I won’t be able to atend, I do have a friend that will,” You smiled to yourself, imagining how that would be going right now. 

While you lied on the couch with your boyfriend who was, secretly, doting on you, giving you his undivided attention. DiNozzo was at a bar, chatting with someone while looking around for them. 

“She said she would be at this booth,” DiNozzo whispered to himself, wallking to the booth in the corner for where they shall meet. “God, she looked so good in her profile picture, I’m so- Palmer?!”

“Tony?” He looked up from his seat. “You’re Y/n’s friend? I guess I didn’t specify the gender, and she didn’t say a specific name.”

“Y/n? She’s not that good at compute- Damn, probie.”