#still love unikitty sigh

[picklenjoyer]

my son named peanut i hate him

hi unikitty fandom i still love u

[eugenerolton]

What happened during all these 7 years in Unikingdom [my AU]?

When Unikitty and Frown were able to send [almost] all the lords into the Void, many monsters/dangerous enemies began to come to Frowntown and Unikingdom to restore their own order there and of course overthrow the rulers, and some could even kill all the inhabitants and turn everything into darkness.

Unikitty, Frown and others certainly did not expect sudden enemies at all....

This continued for several years... These were fierce battles, in which Unikitty especially tried to fight. Of course, she was helped, but she did not want to endanger the others and therefore often fought alone.

As soon as the people breathed a sigh of relief, new enemies immediately came...

Sometimes Unikitty and the others did not have the strength left, but everyone fought and tried to save the Unikingdom and Frowntown.

One day, when suddenly all the enemies suspiciously quieted down for everyone, the residents of Frowntown and Unikingdom calmed down again, but at the same time they were still waiting for the next visit of dangerous enemies. Gradually, they began to rebuild their cities after the destruction and everything was really quiet and calm, the residents even celebrated it.

At this time, the adult Unikitty was already married to Frown, and Fox and Hawkodile already had a small 2-year-old son Toxin [they got married a year after the cartoon finale]. After some time, Frown and Unikitty had a son, Bubble Gum.

When Puppycorn had his first nephew, he was already crowned as the King of the planet from which he was once brought by his fellow aliens. Everyone was happy that Puppycorn found his home and became the king there!

Unfortunately for everyone, just at this time, no one expected that the enemies would appear again, as they thought that they were all finished. Puppycorn found out about this, although it was late. He started sending weapons from his planet to Unikingdom and Frowntown, which, by the way, were very powerful and strong.

Again, Unikitty and her allies were forced to defend their kingdom.

[BC]In addition to the scar on her eye and back, Unikitty also received PTSD. This is something like Flippy from HTF, but Unikitty just at every suspicious or sharp sound could quickly draw her weapon and turn to the object with a ferocious look, almost intending to attack. Her character remained almost the same, but because of the post-traumatic syndrome, she became more withdrawn and nervous.

Bubble Gum has seen a lot in his 2 years of life...

Of course, this greatly damaged his psyche and the psyche of Toxin, who was 4 years old.

So, in general, when Bubble Gum turned 3, then FINALLY the enemies stopped coming and the endless wars with them stopped.

In general, and later, Unikitty and Frown had a second son, Evistorm. Although Frown and Unikitty loved each other sincerely, they often quarreled over many small things, mostly Unikitty started quarrels because of her nerves. Bubble Gum and of course saw this, which even more suppressed him and Sometimes still suppresses him, since Unikitty and Frown can still fight like this, but their relationship is still based on their love for each other and their family.

After the appearance of 3 boys Robert in the family, Bubble Gum even before his birth began to feel constant discomfort inside himself, at this time he also struck up a friendship with Sarah. Robert made everyone in his family and not only happy and happy. Bubble Gum adored his younger brother the most.

After Robert's death from an unknown illness, Bubble Gum was already completely broken and his discomfort certainly rose even more. He guessed what was bothering him all the time and decided to tell it all to his family.

Unikitty and Frown were not sure at first, but they agreed that Bubble Gum should change his gender already at the age of majority.

So everything passed, Babble Gum safely changed his gender at the age of 18 and now SHE does not regret it in any way, her life began to improve and she herself has changed very much for the better.

Then after some time, Master Frown and Unikitty both got married on Brock [polyamorous relationship]. With the help of the DNA of Unikitty, Frown and Brock, Dr. Fox created a common child Sonya for them. Sonya is now the second princess and the third child in the family.

Puppycorn now very rarely visits his friends and sister, as he has royal duties, etc. He usually visits them all on holidays or some other important event, and then he may not come.

And by the way... about Doom lords....

As you probably guessed yourself, the only ones who survived from them are Master Fear and Master Hazard. But at the same time, they received significant injuries.

[sometimes-sleeby-octopus]

⚠️ Playing the Game (Part 3):

First Game, First Defeat

It was almost time for the first game to start and most of the people on the ship were freaking out since apparently they were all going to die. Master Doom and Master Frown were the only ones who were unconcerned.

“Dude, we’re all gonna go bye-bye! Has that not set in yet?!” Brock shouted frantically.

“Death causes misery, soooo I’m not worried about it,” Frown shrugged.

“Well, I haven’t said goodbye to my dad or confessed to my crush, and those two things were literally the only things on my bucket list, man! Besides beating all my games! The other two are the only ones that matter anyway!”

“The weird audio or whatever said not to worry about it.”

“It's literally called the Game of Facade."

"...Hate to say it, but you have a point."

“Oh god, what are we gonna do?...”

Brock didn’t have very long to panic.

“Time for your first game! The imposters have been selected! Good luck!”

Everyone randomly popped into a room with tables and screamed. Frown jumped into Brock’s arms.

“Wait a second, EVERYONE STOP!” Dr. Fox hollered.

The room went quiet and turned to look at her. She pulled up a hollo-map.

“We’re in a cafeteria. We all have maps, by the way. This is just the room we start in. There’s electrical, storage, and other ones too,” she explained.

Frown leapt back down to the ground, slightly red.

“I knew that,” he grumbled.

“So the map shows you where your tasks are, which is honestly really advanced tech! But anyways, we should probably start doing these things so we can win and not die.”

All the participants went their seperate ways. Frown begrudgingly went with Brock despite wanting to prank the prince and princess of the Unikingdom.

“These tasks are a lot easier than expected! They’re actually kinda fun!” Brock exclaimed, uploading data to his tablet.

“This is boring. I don’t even have tasks here,” Frown said, rolling his eyes.

“It’s good to stick together, man. Power in numbers. Plus I just like hangin’ with you.”

Frown blushed ever so slightly and swatted at his own face. Brock didn’t notice.

“Don’t be a sap, Brock.”

The tombstone shrugged.

“Well, I really mean it, dude.”

Frown didn't say a word after that.

================================

The two had done most of their tasks without running into anyone. They decided to check the security room to see where the others were. Unikitty and Puppycorn were playing by the reactor and Dr. Fox and Hawkodile were aimlessly wandering around. Shivers ran down the pair’s spines when they saw the bodies of Richard and Score Creeper. The Doom Lords were no where to be seen.

Neither of them talked and just looked, flipping through, not seeing anything really change. They glanced at each other now and then. At one point, Frown got bored and noticed a crumpled up piece of paper. He slowly bent down, picked it up, and threw it at Brock. As soon as the paper hit the tombstone, Frown ducked under the table, cackling to himself.

“Alan, what the heck?!” Brock yelled.

“How dare you call me Alan!” Frown gasped.

“Well, you started it!”

As they were arguing, a few shadows creeped along the walls nearby. If the pair was quiet, they would have been able to hear the faintest sound of footsteps. The figures in the hall smiled sinisterly and walked on. For the moment, anyway.

Brock briefly looked over at the security cameras only to stop and stare. His peeved expression soon turned to a horrified one as he realized that Puppycorn, Unikitty, Hawodile, and Dr. Fox had joined Richard and Score Creeper. Frown followed suite as they frantically shuffled into a corner to hide. They could hear the footsteps that had plagued the halls earlier return. They were in for a grim fate.

”Frownie, I need to tell you something before we die,” Brock confessed.

“Oh,” Frown mumbled.

“So uh...just gotta rip the bandaid off...”

“Yeah...”

The Doom Lords were in doorway and heading straight for Frown and Brock.

“UH, I’VE HAD A CRUSH ON YOU SINCE FOREVER AND I LOVE YOU, FROWN!”

“I LOVE YOU, TOO, BROCK!”

“MAN, I WOULD TOTALLY KISS YOU IF WE WEREN’T GOING TO DIE!”

“THAT WOULD BE REALLY HOT IF THESE BOZOS WEREN’T KILLING THE MOOD!”

And with that, the knife came down on both of them.

...but Richard was in the hallway? And the pair was still together?

“Uh, can you see me and Richard, dude?” Brock asked.

“Yep. We’re ghosts,” Frown replied bluntly.

“Um, are we gonna talk about what we said or-”

Frown simply sighed and phased through a wall, hiding his face in his hands.

”...I’ll take that as a no.”

[autisticbee]

What, no ring?

Master Frown twirls spaghetti around his fork, the only joy (ha.) being watching the strands break. He's known to be a complainer but this is without exaggeration the worst spaghetti he's ever had, it doesn't even slightly compare to what he and Brock can make at home.

"Dude, are you not gonna eat that?" Brock eyes his plate like it's not too much of an abomination to even call food.

Frown's brow creases even more. "Nope." Without any further words he shoves the detested plate to Brock's side of the table.

Brock shrugs. "It's not that bad, not that good either but not that bad." He shoves a fork full of the discarded meal into his mouth and Frown isn't sure what to make of the fact he keeps thinking about how that fork was in his own mouth a few minutes ago.

Stop being weird, brain. He thinks to himself.

"I dunno why we even had to come here, their food is shi-" Frown cuts himself off realising there are kids at a table nearby and then internally scolds himself for being soft and to stop letting Unikitty, or Brock for that matter, rub off on him. "-Garbage."

Brock stifles a laugh. "C'mon, eating out once in a while is cool, I don't wanna cook alllll the time."

"Well, maybe I do." Frown crosses his arms in petulance. "We don't even have the money for desert, which is the only good part about eating in a stuffy place full of too many happy-dappy people." He glares indiscriminately around the room.

Brock rolls his eyes. "Whatever man, just, stick it out for a little while longer, Okay?" He asks, pleadingly.

Frown keeps his glare for 3 seconds, before heaving a heavy sigh. "Fine. But we are getting dessert."

"What? You just said we don't have the money-"

Frown waves an arm wildly. "Gimme a second, I'll think of something." He has like 2 cents so yeah, he's broke. Could order something then not pay but then they'd get banned and maybe he'd do that on his own but Brock would be pretty peeved off because for some reason he actually likes this place sooooo-

He leaps up from the table, a slightly maniacal smile on his face. "Ha! I got it."

"Got...what?"

"The perfect plan to score free dessert."

"Oooh, fake a birthday?"

"What? No! no one falls for that anymore." Yeah he had kinda used that one to death.

"Then....? Can you kinda hurry up I need to pee."

"Wait, you're part of the plan you can't go yet." Frown reaches across the table and grabs Brock's hands in a vice grip. "Fake. Proposal." He whispers.

"Um, I don't know...how about we just go home now and I can make cookies, my treat!"

"Dude, we could get like the most expensive dessert on the menu! People love all that sappy stuff, especially people who work at restaurants." He leans back into his seat and sticks out his tongue in (faux, not that he'd admit) disgust.

Brock glances at the menu nervously. "It does sound really good. Aren't you worried something like that could get back to the doom lords though, pretty sure that'd damage your image."

"Pffft. It won't, even it did I'd just tell them the truth and we could have a good laugh about it. Look I've been really good with minimal complaining today, can't I do a little something to tip the balance to the other side?"

"Okay, but I'm not taking the blame if they figure us out, this is the only good place we're still allowed into."

"Yeah, sure." Frown loudly screeches his chair back, drawing the attention of various patrons. "Play along." He whispers to Brock before standing up on the chair. "Brock, baby," He pitches his voice a bit louder. "Will you marry me?"

Brock feels unexpected heat in his cheeks and wills it to go away. "What, no ring?"

"Uhhhhhh." Frown rubs the back of his head. "It's...taking longer than expected to get it engraved...?"

"Then maybe you should have thought about that before proposing? Kind of a let down."

"The ring isn't important!" 

"Oh wow, if that's how you feel about it I'm not sure I should say yes." 

Frown face-palms, willing Brock to remember the plan. "Can we not argue before we've even had dessert." He says pointedly.

"Oh. Oooh, yeah you know what you're right it doesn't matter, so yes, I guess."

"You guess?" This was not working out well, why the heck did Brock have to get so into it?

"I think I'm just still kinda hungry, also I still need to pee and it's making me cranky, heh that rhymed." Brock smiles to himself. "Uh-Anyway, 'course I'll marry you, who else is gonna be by my side." 

Frown tries to ignore how that almost sounded genuine, and plasters on a fake smile. "That's great, go to the bathroom and I'll order us something special."

He notices a waiter approaching as Brock gets up and practically runs to the closest toilet. "Hey can we have Ultimate Desse-....oh nooooo, I seem to be out of cash." Frown says in a dramatic tone.

The waiter rolls their eyes. "It's on the house, for the sake of your poor fiance."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" Frown sulks back into his chair.

By the time the order arrives, which makes Frown cringe at how it must have been prepared for quite a while to come so quick, Brock has come back to the table.

In theory every dessert on the menu mixed together sounds great but in actuality it's a monstrous mix of ice cream and chocolate and cheesecake and bananas and...gingerbread? And jelly and sprinkles and it just...

"Wait, you don't even like sweet stuff." Brock points out, the 'except for my cookies' is left unsaid.

Realisation hits Frown like a brick. 

Brock just looks uncomfortable. "I don't think I can eat all this, why did we want this again?"

"I don't know." Frown bangs his head against the table top.

______________

"That was pretty impressive I've got to admit." 

"I made myself eat half of it and then I threw up." Brock clutches his stomach as they enter their apartment. "All that mess..."

"Uh yeah! That's why it was so impressive, think of how much longer the person who has to clean that up will have stay after work." Frown tries his attempt at evil laughter, which in the past has earned mocking from his fellow doom lords.

Brock collapses on the sofa. "I can't think about it anymore, I just wanna sleep for like ten thousand years."

Frown fits himself in the gap at the free end of the sofa. "Does that mean I can have the TV to myself?"

"Go for it man, just not too loud." 

But Brock starts shifting about on the sofa, which Irritates Frown too much to let him watch tv. "What's wrong with you?"

"I can't get comfy, and my tummy hurts." Brock whines. 

Frown rolls his eyes. "Come here, dork."

Brock does as told and Frown motions for him to rest his head on his lap. "Hey that's no way to talk to your fiance." He giggles then regrets it as his stomach jolts.

Frown starts rubbing his stomach, it's not really something entirely out of the usual for them both but for some reason things this have started seeming more and more intense. "...You're never gonna let that go, are you."

"Nah." Brock grins lazily, the motion making him want to sleep even more. Frown's rarely soft with anyone but him and he'd be lying if he said he didn't sorta revel in it. Brock wonders for a moment what would change between them if earlier hadn't been a ploy for free food, what it'd be like if they actually got married. They basically bicker like a old married couple already and they even kiss every night.

Just not, you know, in a romantic way.

They just kiss on the lips every night in a totally platonic bro way. Yep. 

Brock leaps up, startled by a sudden revelation. 

"Hey what the heck, you need to puke again or something?" 

"No! Just decided I'mma head to bed, haha." 

"Oookay." Frown stares at him strangely. "Want me to tuck you in and-"

"Nope! I'm good!"

"Thought you couldn't sleep without your nighty-"

"I'm good! Goodnight!" Brock rushes off to his room and slams the door.

"That was weird." Frown stares at the closed door for a minute, feeling oddly disappointed, then he shrugs and turns up the TV. 

________________

"Whoa, look at that." Brock points to poster on a nearby building. "Free vacation."

Frown raises an eyebrow, and reads it closely. "Yeah, for couples. And it's a competition in the unikingdom, ew."

"Well...what if we...pretended again?"

"What?" Frown baulks. He did consider the idea himself but wouldn't have imagined Brock being the one to bring it up. "Why?"

"We could never afford something like that, plus you could always like, tell Unikitty it was fake after the holiday and that would make her pretty sad maybe?"

"...I'm listening." Frown pauses in thought. "We'd have to play it up more."

"By play it up more do you mean holding hands orrr french kissing?" 

"I don't know! just whatever it takes." The blush on Frown's cheeks could in fact ruin his reputation and he needed it stop like right now, There's no reason to blush about the idea of kissing your best friend on a more...intimate...level like a teenager with a crush. 

Because obviously he doesn't have one. "When does this thing happen anyway?"

"In about, twenty minutes." Brock squints at the poster. "How long has this been here?"

______________

"Where the heck is everyone?" Frown glances around the empty gymnasium that was supposed to be the setting for the vacation competition.

"I hear crying behind that curtain on the podium." Said crying abruptly stops.

Frown rubs a hand down his face. "Oh boy."

There's a quiet like the lull before a storm before a pink and glittery blur flies out from behind the curtain. "OHMYGOSH THERE'S ANOTHER COUPLE HERE PLEASE TELL ME YOU'RE NOT FAKE-" Unikitty cuts herself off and glances down at Frown and Brock. "Oh it's you two...Master Frown if you're here to ruin this you're too late! Everyone was a bunch of fakers." Unikitty bursts into tears.

Frown groans. "No, we're here to enter your stupid competition, buuuut since no once is here I guess we win by default." 

Unikitty's tears stop again. "Whaaa? You guys are TOGETHER? LIKE REALLY TOGETHER?! SO THAT PROPOSAL RUMOUR WAS TRUE!"

Frown scowls. "How do you know about that." Great, now they really needed to put on a ruse.

"I have my sources." Unikitty says mysteriously. "I am sO HAPPY FOR YOU GUYS OH MY GOSH PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LET ME HELP YOU WITH THE WEDDING OH! WE COULD THROW IT IN THE UNIKINGDOM MY PEOPLE LOVE A WEDDING-"

"Uh, Unikitty, the competition?" Brock prompts kindly.

"Sorry, sorry! I can't help it I just looooOve weddings, ahem, I can't just let you guys win, Hawkodile needs to make sure you're the real deal because everyone who else who came earlier were just pretending to be a couple, can you believe it! It's so sad." Unikitty pauses to suck in a deep breath. "But I'm sure you're not lying, I always knew there was a thing between you two." She winks.

"Since when-Ow!" Frown glares at Brock after getting jabbed in the ribs.

"Dude, you'll blow our cover." Brock tries to subtly whisper, despite being a bit taken back too. Sure they're close but did they really give off that vibe? Or was that just because of Unikitty's rose coloured glasses?

"Princess, do I really need to test them? They're obviously faking! I mean, it's Master Frown." Hawkodile gestures exaggeratedly at Frown.

Frown creases his brow. "When did you get here." 

"Yeah but it's also Brock! We can trust him." Unikitty looks pleadingly at Hawkodile.

Brock winces.

"Ugh, fine. But they're gonna have to pass the quiz of true love to convince me." Hawkodile crosses his arms.

"That's a ridiculous quiz name." Frown tries to ignore the fact he's started sweating.

"You're ridiculous!" Hawkodile turns his gaze to Brock and points a finger at him. "You!"

"Yeah...?" Brock tries to keep a neutral face.

"What's Master Frown's favourite colour?" 

Frown bursts out laughing. "Oh come on that's an easy one-"

"Black?" Brock speaks tentatively.

"WHAT THE HECK DUDE YOU KNOW IT'S BLUE." Frown shouts. 

"Wait it is? I just thought black would be your thing because darkness and all that sort of stuff."

"Blue is the colour of sadness and tears!" Frown pouts, aghast that that they had failed on the very first question.

"Hmmm." Hawkodile strokes his chin. "Okay, Frown you're up."

"Huh?" 

"What's Brock's favourite video game?"

"Uhhhhh, the dead one 7?" 

"Are you serious?! Don't you remember me saying how I had to wait out in the rain to get a hold of dawn-breaker 3 and that it was all worth it because it was the greatest game ever?" 

We are not getting that trip. Frown thought, as Brock looked ready to cry.

"Guess I was wrong about you two." Hawkodile speaks.

"You were? I mean, uh yeah you were." Frown fakes confidence.

"Yeah, anyone actually faking would have memorised each other's favourite things too well, like they had only just found out that day, and tried to look like the perfect couple but clearly you guys have some issues." 

"No kidding." Brock turns away from Frown with a 'Hmph.'

Unikitty, who had been unusually quiet for the last few minutes, flies around and groups up Frown and Brock into a hug. "Yaaaay, I'm so happy you guys didn't let me down, HEY! If you get married at the beginning of next year you could use this holiday as your honeymoon!!! WOULDN'T THAT BE AMAZING."

"Get off." Frown struggles out of her grip, leading to a short fall to the ground. "Ugh."

"Wait, why did you say next year?" Brock asks in befuddlement. 

"Didn't you read the poster? The vacation is for next year! This competition was kindaaaa a last minute idea what with valentine's day coming up and all and it turns out that everything was already booked up for this year...sooo..." Unikitty sets Brock on the ground gently.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" Frown screams, face down on the floor. 

"It's still better than never, right?" Brock laughs nervously. "Sorry bro, I must have missed that part..."

"She did write it in really small print." Hawkodile points out.

"Shhhhhh, thanks for your help Hawkodile! But I need to discuss something with Master Frown and Brock in private please." 

Hawkodile squints, turning to leave. "Uh, okay. I'm watching you, Frown."

Frown gets up, dusting himself off. "Can we leave now." 

"Hang on." Unikitty pulls out a piece of folded up paper. "While you two were busy with Hawkodile I decided to write down some wedding planning ideas!" The folded piece of paper unfolds into a very, very long list.

"Well, I would really like to hear your ideas, Unikitty." Brock smirks at Frown.

"I should have just stayed on the floor." 

_______________

"Did you seriously have to listen to every single one of her hare-brained ideas in excruciating detail?" Frown gestures wildly, standing in front of the TV.

Brock moves his head to the side, trying to see and continue playing his game. "You really hurt my feelings, you know how important gaming is to me." Brock exits the game in frustration as Frown moves to block him even more. "I thought we had gotten better at this communication stuff since...you know..."

"And you know how important misery is to me! You couldn't even remember my favourite colour." Frown glances down at the ground. He knows he's being childish...but he's naturally defensive.

"That's not the same thing, this is a huge part of my life! One day I could be one of those gamers that wins those like huge tournaments and bringing in the big money! And then we could live in a huge awesome house and wouldn't have to worry about landlords, or the rat infestation we can't afford to deal with or-"

"Hang on, you still see us living together even if you became a big shot gamer?" 

"Duh! Look we've been faking a lot of stuff but I meant it when I said 'Who else is gonna be by my side', you're always gonna be a part of my future no matter what happens. I just wish you'd support me more..."

The guilt Frown had been pushing down for this entire conversation pushes it's way out at the sight of Brock's sad eyes. "Look...I'm sorry, okay? You're right, I just expect you to go along with my schemes and then I don't support you enough with what you wanna do, I'll...work on that." Frown rubs his arm.

"I mean, you did support with that holiday thing, and there was cheerleading thing..."

"...Maybe, you should do the cheerleading thing again sometime, you were pretty good at it and it could be a back up plan in case the gaming falls through."

A small smile appears on Brock's face. "You really thought I was good at it?"

Frown rolls his eyes. "Uh, yeah. You were awesome. Uniform suited you too-I mean, yeah, pretty good." 

Brock contemplates on if he should risk saying something, to test the waters for a whole other kind of thing I wants to ask. "I thought you looked pretty cute in the uniform too." 

Frown splutters. "I-I'm not cute! What are you even-Cool and handsome maybe, but cute? Seriously?!" 

Despite his protests, Brock notes how Frown's face is turning incredibly red. "Nah, you're definitely really cute."

"Yeah?! Well, you're really handsome, so there." Frown's head screams a chorus of WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING. 

Brock stifles a laugh. "Was that supposed to be a comeback? You think I'm handsome? Oh no I'm so hurt." This time he can't stop the laughter and doesn't even mind the pink on his own face. 

Frown scrunches his face up. "Whatever! You realise Unikitty is never gonna leave us alone now, it's my worst nightmare." He walks over to the couch and sits down next to Brock, quietly fuming.

Brock coughs to clear his throat. "I mean...there is a way we could stop that happening in the long term."

"Like what?"

"She just wants to help us plan our 'wedding' right? As soon as that's over it'll be back to the usual."

"Which is never going to happen since a wedding is not actually going to happen, how does that help." 

"What if it did?" 

"What if...what did?" 

Brock taps his hands together, focusing on them. "What if we got married, like, for real."

"...You've lost me."

"Think about it, we kiss every night-"

"That's just to get you to sleep."

"-We have baths together-"

"It saves time!"

"-We've even shared a bed before-"

"Look sometimes I just get really cold, and it saves on heating in the winter."

"What I'm saying is, it's already like we're married, and if we were actually married we could get the benefits that come with that too. It makes sense, right?"

"Like one of those platonic marriages? Between bros?" 

Brock sighs. "Is that how you feel? I just thought-Never mind."

It dawns on Frown that all the confusing thoughts and feelings he's had for a while now, proved that was in fact not how he felt at all. He'd been trying to deny it the whole time but truth is... "No. I kinda...enjoyed pretending we were together, we didn't do much but just knowing people thought that-" Thrilled him, didn't seem like the right words. "I might be...in love with you or something." He refuses to look at Brock.

"Phew, that's a relief. Pretty sure I'm in love with you too, dude."

"Oh." Still stubbornly not looking. 

"C'mon, look at me." Brock reaches out and cups Frown's face, turning him to face him. "I love you."

"Oh." Frown repeats, in a much softer tone. He's not really good with words, more so with actions, he leans in without thinking. 

They've kissed many times before, but they were always brief pecks and without overt romantic intentions. Because of that, it's still a fairly light kiss but with more passion, more feeling given into it. 

"Mmm." Frown finds himself moaning as Brock pulls away. "That was embarrassing." He mumbles.

"Nuh uh, that was great. I like kissing you."

"Stop, this is already too mushy. Hey, is that why you ask for one every night?" 

"Huh? You don't remember?" Brock asks, clearly perplexed.

"Remember what?"

"When were kids, and I had my first sleepover at your house but I couldn't sleep because Mama used to kiss me on the cheek every night, so you offered to do it-"

"Ugh, yeah. You never specified where so I kissed you on the mouth and you said I did it wrong." 

"And youuuu said you weren't my mom so 'Of course I'll kiss you different, silly'." Brock mimics the high pitch child's voice he can still hear in his mind. 

Frown groans. "Don't remind me, I was a weird kid."

Brock snorts. "Weird adult too. Also really sweet, I mean you're still willing to give me a nighty-night kiss so you're not as bad as you like to make out."

Frown gasps. "You take that back! I'm a menace!" 

"Oh yeah, sure. A real menace who gives his best friend tummy rubs when he's sick, kisses him before bed, and who just said he's in love with me."

"Yeah...but you're different, yanno? There's no one I like as much as you, I wouldn't do that stuff for just anyone." Frown recoils at his own words. "Gross, I'm being sappy again." 

"Aw, I don't know dude, I like it." 

"Can we just go back to the kissing?" Frown pouts.

"Not until you answer my question."

"What questi--Ohhhh." It's Frown's turn to look nervous. "I'm not opposed to it, as long as we have a loooong engagement period, there's no way we're actually gonna have our honeymoon early next year."

"Wait, so that's a yes? You're really okay to jump straight from a blooming relationship to engaged?"

"I'm saying, yes, I will probably marry you at some not yet set date in the future. Thought you'd be thrilled."

"I am! I totally am! Just, if you don't want to you don't have to...I know it's kinda rushing things."

"I know I don't have to, I want to. Is it that hard to believe that I wanna marry your dorky butt and grow old together or whatever." 

"We gotta do this right then, and go ring shopping."

"...I don't think you're supposed to do that together."

"I thought you were a bad boy." 

"You better believe I am, baby! In fact, maybe we should go steal rings."

"Okay, not that far. What was that you said about going back to the kissing?"

Frown grins as he draws closer. "Now that's a better idea."

[bestfrownsforever]

Frown of Doom: Chapter 2

(Cover art by me)

After hours of drug-induced sleep, Unikitty found herself drowsily waking up in the Doom Lord fortress’ dimly lit conference room.  Her eyes fluttered open and she sat up, her head aching.  The princess kept one front paw on her head and the other on the ground below her, which was made of steel.  It didn’t take long for her to find out that she was locked in a cage, and her eyes searched the room for a potential way out.  But the coffins, open closets of weapons, and maps pinned to the walls with red marker sloppily written and drawn all over them made her scream.

“Ok,” Unikitty said as she trembled, “just stay positive.  It’s really dark and scary in here, but Master Frown and Brock have to be here too.  So when they show up we can talk about all this and it’ll be fine…everything will go right back to normal…with nothing to worry about…”

She heard something from behind her and turned to face the door.  The approaching red light and the sound of someone’s familiar chuckling was getting closer and closer until Master Frown opened the doors.  The same light in his eyes surrounded Master Plague’s beak, which floated inches away from his hand as he spun it around with his mind.  He slowly walked closer to Unikitty’s cage and circled it, his wide grin and eager eyes showing how much he relished every moment she was in front of him so helplessly.

“Oh, Princess Unikitty.  I’ve waited so long for this day!  I’ve asked myself if it’d ever happen, and here you are, finally in my control!  But now that you’re here…what should I do with you?  Should I set up a fancy execution outside?  Should I go back and kidnap your friends so I can kill you all together?  Should I stuff and mount your head on the wall?  Should I mind control you too and make you my kitty servant?  Should I just stab you right now and be done with you forever?  Ah, so many choices…so little time.”

(Art by @friffinx​)

“But why!?”  Unikitty asked, “Why would you do this!?  You’ve never done anything this bad before!”  “Oh yes I have!” Master Frown bragged, “It’s just been so long since you’ve seen me, so you have no idea what I can do in a split second!  And there’s nothing you or any of your loser friends can do to stop me!”  As Master Frown laughed, Unikitty began to cross her internal border between sad and angry.

“No!  You’re dead wrong, mister!” she shouted, “If anything now that you’ve taken me away, my friends are gonna go out of their way to find me and won’t stop until they do!  We mean everything to each other so you’re the one who’d better watch out or you’re gonna get badly hurt!”  “Come on, that’s…”  Before he could finish, Master Frown stopped to think about what he was saying and the red in his eyes faded away, “…actually true.  Brock!”

“Yeah?” Brock asked as he peeked into the room.  “Stay down here and watch Unikitty,” Master Frown commanded, his eyes glowing again, “There’s a few things, or should I say, people I have to take care of.”

Brock stepped closer to the cage.  He wanted to feel more excited and relieved to finally see Unikitty again, but he knew that judging from what happened before his consciousness came back, it would be hard to reconnect with her after what she went through.  He could tell by looking into her eyes that she was more confused than anything else, and he couldn’t blame her.

“So…you just want me to talk to her?” Brock asked.  “Well duh,” Master Frown groaned, rolling his eyes, “Do anything with her for all I care, just don’t let her out of the cage!”  He took the beak out with his mind again and grinned.  “I’ll be back before you know it.”

Unikitty made sure that the Doom Lord left before grabbing the cage bars, trying to trust what looked like the Brock she always knew.

“Brock?  What happened to you and Master Frown!?  How did all this…you know…?”  “Well,” Brock nervously sighed, “Let’s just say that Master Frown’s the world’s one and only Doom Lord now…the rest are gone.”  “Oh…” Unikitty thought aloud, “When will they get back?”  “He killed them Unikitty,” Brock grimly said.

“REALLY!?” Unikitty gasped at the thought of something so unheard of to her.

“Yeah,” Brock continued, “and since then he’s been spreading sadness and misery all over Frowntown in their place but it’s like, way worse.  He’ll even mind control me sometimes if I don’t give him what he wants in enough time.”

“WHAT!?” Unikitty gasped again, almost in tears before stopping her potential breakdown, “Oooh so that’s why your eyes are red.”

“Yep,” Brock replied before continuing again, “I don’t remember anything that goes on when he mind controls me, though.  It’s like I just…go blank, and someone else takes over.  But if I wanted to know what happens when I’m not totally in there, I’d go in there.”

Brock pointed to the biggest closet in the room.  It had the signature shape of Master Doom’s head like all the other doors but also plenty of scratch marks.  The words “DO NOT OPEN EVER (THAT MEANS YOU BROCK!)” were written on it in red.

“Wow,” Unikitty wondered, “what else could he have done!?  But Poor Master Frown must’ve been pushed around so much until he finally lost it.”  “That’s what I’ve been thinking,” Brock added, “And if anything this is my fault for not helping as much as I should’ve or trying to stop him-“

“No it’s not!” Unikitty insisted, putting her hand over Brock’s mouth through the bars, “Don’t you dare think that way!  You’ve been doing your best for Master Frown, more than anyone would dare to!  So consider that enough.  But you can help me figure this out and maybe even get back to how he was before!”

(Art by @pastel-gothicorn​)

“Well I guess he kinda is as long as his eyes aren’t red,” Brock said.  Unikitty gasped, stars and lightbulbs popping from her head and glowing in her eyes.  “That’s it!  We gotta find out what makes his eyes red!  We'll just get back to the Unikingdom, find our friends, and get him right where we want him, so then we can hopefully save Master Frown from uh, himself!  And it starts with you getting me out of this cage.”

“Genius plan, Unikitty!” Brock winked and got up, “I like your way of thinking, just lemme just find the key.”  “Ok!” Unikitty called back, watching Brock walk out of the conference room with strong determination in her eyes.

                                                         : ~~~ :

Unikitty’s friends didn’t have any time to regret letting Master Frown get away; only to prepare for another fight and way to save the princess.  As Hawkodile, Richard, and Puppycorn grouped together and talked about what the best course of action would be in the lab, Dr. Fox kept checking the kingdom’s security cameras, quickly switching from one to another at a time.  But then one screen particularly caught her eye; it showed Master Frown peeking up from behind a bush and looking around carefully before running offscreen.

“GUYS,” Dr. Fox warned, “MASTER FROWN’S COMING BACK!!!  Everyone get ready!!!”

“On it!” Hawkodile said as he sprang up and away.

“Yeah, let’s get him!” Puppycorn shouted, about to sprint until Richard floated in front of and stopped him.

"No, Puppycorn," Richard said, "you're staying in the castle with me."

"What!?" Puppycorn complained, "But Rick, I can fight too! Check it!" Puppycorn made jumps and imitated action moves, accompanied by fitting grunts and shouts, to show off what he thought were impressive fighting moves. But from start to finishing pose, Richard wasn't impressed.

"No," the brick said in his ever-monotone voice, "Now come with me."

"Aww man!" Puppycorn reluctantly dashed away with him.

Hawkodile and Dr. Fox went back to the dojo, picking and putting the perfect weapons together. Both were incredibly uneasy at the thought of such a do or die moment happening again, but Hawkodile also worried that he'd have no time to tell Dr. Fox that he loved her. His heart raced as he finished packing for the battle and turned her way.

"Uh...Dr. Fox?" he found the courage to say.

"Yes Hawkodile?" she asked back.

"Well," Hawkodile stammered, "since this could...you know, be our last moment together, with uh...Master Frown getting dangerous and all, there's uh....something I've wanted to say to you. For a really long time.

"Really? " Dr. Fox asked, "What is it?"

All Hawkodile could say was "Uuuhhhhh..."

He grew redder, sweating, stuttering, playing with his hands, and looking down at the ground. Even when he feared for his life, he couldn't admit how he felt about Dr. Fox, who still looked up at him, confused.

"YOU'RE REALLY REALLY SMART AND I RESPECT THAT!" Hawkodile blurted out before dashing off.

"Umm...thank you?" Dr. Fox replied, puzzled.

Richard looked down at the kingdom from the castle balcony, the fear of an old foe being truly dangerous worrying him as much as it did his friends. All was strangely calm until Puppycorn ran up to him, not staying still for a single second.

"Hey Rick! Rick! Richard!" Puppycorn yelled, circling around the brick. "Yes, Puppycorn?" Richard gave in. "Why can't I fight Master Frown too?" Puppycorn asked, "You didn't tell me yet!"

"Hmm," Richard hesitantly wondered how to put it to innocent, young Puppycorn, "Well, Master Frown is coming back for us as a form of revenge after disappearing to take care of...Doom Lord business, and we have to stay safe or he'll horribly hurt us physically and/or emotionally. Do you understand?"

"I guess so," Puppycorn grumbled, "but can I at least help Hawkodile and Dr. Fox? Please please please?"

"No." Richard still wasn't moved.

"Awww come on!" Puppycorn angrily groaned. Not even begging worked, but he still tried if it meant getting in on some form of action. "Then I just watch, pleeeaase? I wanna see everything!"

(Art by @samthecookielord​)

“Fine,” Richard signed, “Just go back inside so Master Frown doesn’t see you.”

“Yay!” Puppycorn cheered, “I’m a spectator!”  He ran inside and and looking through the nearest window.

Hawkodile and Dr. Fox walked carefully through the streets, looking in every direction and hardly making a sound.

“WE KNOW YOU’RE OUT HERE, FROWN!” Hawkodile yelled as he pointed ahead, “COME OUT AND FIGHT!”  “YEAH!” Dr. Fox shouted, “This is what you’ll get for taking Unikitty away from us!”

There was a thud as Master Frown jumped down into the street before them, dirt kicking up into the air and slightly concealing his body before it scattered, except for the light of his eyes.

“Awww,” he chuckled, “you honestly still think you can beat me after everything I’ve done, let alone to you and your stupid princess?  How adorable.  But if you insist…”  He drew his “sword.”  “I came prepared.”

“Well so did we!” Dr. Fox tried intimidating him, taking out the Razor Revolver.  Hawkodile posed next to her, ready to charge forward and punch the villainous Doom Lord.  “Just the way I like it,” Master Frown grinned.

Dr. Fox was ready to dash in and begin the fight side by side with Hawkodile, but Hawkodile held her back and started the fight alone in an attempt to protect her.  Master Frown charged back, and the two almost crashed into each other upon impact.

(Art by @friffinx​, again)

Both fighters moved lightning fast, taking Hawkodile by surprise with how much better at fighting Master Frown became.  He would’ve wondered when or how Frown learned to fight like this, but he couldn’t even think fast enough.  All he could do was pay attention to his enemy’s movements and avoid getting stabbed, just missing the tip of the soft green beak every time.  Neither fighter was winning or losing; it was a seemingly endless game of dodging each other’s attacks.  But Master Frown took it as something working well in his favor and laughed.

“Your punches can’t stop me anymore, bird-brain!”  Master Frown bragged, immediately followed by Hawkodile punching him dozens of yards back.  “Heh,” Hawkodile smugly regained some confidence, “you sure about that?”

When Master Frown landed and started getting up, he found himself right at Dr. Fox’s feet, and the Razor Revolver was pointed right at him.  She pressed the trigger, but he moved aside before the blade could reach him.

The dodging game began again, with Master Frown working his way around every shot and swing, as Dr. Fox did the same, frightfully working her way around the green beak.  Even if it annoyed him how good she was too, Master Frown still saw his equally impressive fighting as a silver lining.

“Not sorry to break it to you,” Master Frown taunted, his beak sword clashing with one of the Razor Revolver’s, “your so-called ‘brilliant inventions’ are pretty much useless.  I mean who even puts a sword and a gun together, pick one or the other!” He cackled in her face (trying to hide his regret for not coming up with that idea first), further enraging Dr. Fox.

“Oh no,” she started, “you want to know what’s useless!?  Doing your best to work on scientific breakthroughs and having everything go wrong almost every time!  But do you see me trying kill my friends or enemies!?  NO!  I keep trying, because I know what I’m capable of, that I can improve and still use my skills to help my friends!”

Her stare grew far more menacing.  “But I’ll gladly show you how I can use my skills to destroy people like you.”

(Art by @x-master-brock-x​)

Her anger and force all came out as she pressed the Razor Revolver’s trigger and swung the unleashed sword.  But said anger turned to immense regret when she realized that the blade didn’t strike Master Frown.  The Doom Lord dodged her just in time for the sword to stab Hawkodile (who she didn’t see suddenly fly down to try and help) in the arm.  The bodyguard fell to his knees in pain.

“HAWKODILE!!!” Dr. Fox yelled, choking up fast and kneeling down at his side to help him up, “Hawkodile, I-I’m so sorry, I-“

Master Frown saw this as a perfect opportunity to strike, and went for the kill.  But even at her most vulnerable, Dr. Fox could still pull out a flamethrower and aim it right at him fast enough.  She fired it at him, and as he screamed and put out the flames that were burning him, she fled, wrapping her arms tighter around a dizzy, almost unconscious Hawkodile.  She tried her hardest not to look at him out of intense guilt, but she knew she had to if she wanted to guide him home safely.

“Hawkodile,” Dr. Fox instructed, “listen to me, we have to leave now!!”

“…I still have one good arm,” Hawkodile weakly said, lifting his uninjured arm like he was about to punch with it, “If we can-“

“NO WE CAN’T,” Dr. Fox yelled, “WE’RE NOT IN THE RIGHT CONDITION TO FIGHT ANYMORE, LET’S GO!!!”

“Ohohoh,” Master Frown shouted, “I didn’t say you get out alive!”  He finished putting out the flames (except for a very tiny one on his right horn) that distracted him from his targets.  He ran after them again, this time so fast that Dr. Fox feared he’d catch up to them.  Hawkodile wasn’t conscious enough to have much of an idea of what was happening but even he tried quickly limping along with the doctor, who came up with what she felt was her only truly bright idea the whole time.

“If I use it on myself it might not work,” Dr. Fox explained, “you’re a little too heavy for me to carry.”  “Huh?” Hawkodile faintly asked.  To him it sounded like maybe she said something that’d offend him, but he wasn’t sure.

“Just hold still,” Dr. Fox said softly.  She frantically pulled out her jetpack, strapped it onto Hawkodile, and turned it on, sending them flying back to the castle.

“Oh no you don’t!” Master Frown yelled, still close behind and trying desperately to slay his two opponents.  But he still couldn’t land a hit, and his would-be victims made their way back to the castle.  Master Frown knew he should’ve gone after them, but he was too ashamed of himself.  It was supposed to be such a simple task but he failed miserably and he couldn’t even stand himself anymore.  All he felt that he could do was storm off in a fit of rage.

Puppycorn didn’t understand why Richard didn’t want him to watch the fight after a while, and sitting in the foyer room with his caretaker for what he thought was no good reason felt like the most boring and unfair moment of his life.  He begged, barked, and even tried to distract Richard, but nothing worked.  Then the front doors opened, and both were stunned at the sight of Hawkodile with an open wound in his arm and holding onto a desperate Dr. Fox.

“PLEASE HELP US!” Dr. Fox pleaded.  Richard and Puppycorn ran to her and Hawkodile as fast as they could.

"Goodness, Hawkodile," Richard nearly shrieked, "what happened to your arm?" "Eh..it's a long story," Hawkodile weakly said as Dr. Fox let go of him to let Richard tend to his wound, "But maybe not."

Dr. Fox turned away from the scene, thinking it would save her at least a little from her guilty conscience until Puppycorn ran up to her.

"WHAT HAPPENED!?" the prince asked, "Is this why Rick told me to look away???" Dr. Fox tried to come up with a good answer that a puppy like him would understand, but then she was sweating and stammering; her normally quick-thinking mind at a loss for words until she couldn't stand listening to Hawkodile's painful moaning from behind her.

"CAN'T TALK, GOTTA GET TO THE LAB, BYE!" Dr. Fox yelled, running away. Puppycorn titled his head in confusion before turning back to Richard and Hawkodile.

"Owowowowow," Hawkodile winced as Richard bandaged his arm, "ok, I uh, no, I'll be fine...I'll be fine, I'm fine." He gave a nervous smile, trying to show confidence.

"Umm," Richard doubted, "no, you're not fine. Your arm is almost falling off for goodness sake!" "Yeah," Hawkodile said, "but Dr. Fox and I can-" He turned his head up, realizing that Dr. Fox was gone.

"Uh...Dr. Fox?"

"She just went down to the lab," Puppycorn said, "Maybe she's already working on something to help us!"

"I don't know," Richard said, "She looked like she was about to have a breakdown. I doubt she can come up with something in that mood that fast."

"But then who's gonna fix Hawkodile so he can fight Master Frown again?" Puppycorn asked.

"I can try," Richard sighed, "Hawkodile, hold still, and Puppycorn, get the first aid kit for me." "Ok!" Puppycorn obeyed, running upstairs.

"Ah, the poor little squirt." Hawkodile softly giggled. "Indeed," Richard agreed, "once he comes back we can't let him stay and watch."

"I don't know," Hawkodile wondered, "maybe he can help. Yeah he's just a kid, but-"

"No," Richard bluntly said, "we've already lost Unikitty and we can't risk losing anyone else!" "Yeah," Hawkodile understood, "but we're running out of options here. Master Frown and Brock are actually formidable opponents who know our every move now, what else can we do?"

"Just try our best, I suppose," Richard said, "At least for now. Which includes you getting the proper rest and time to heal that you need."

"Please," Hawkodile tried persuading Richard by weakly standing up and posing, "it'll take a lot more than this to stop these bad boys! And once Dr. Fox and I are good to go, Master Frown's going-OWW!!!" Punching his fists together went horribly wrong and he sat back down in pain.

"See?" Richard raised an eyebrow as his point was proven. "Yeah," Hawkodile quietly accepted defeat and sat still to heal.

Dr. Fox raced around her lab, grabbing whatever paper-filled folders and serums she could.  She was panting from all the hard, fast-paced work but took no time to rest.  The only time she stood still was when she typed on her computer’s keyboard.

(Art by @drfoxs-lab​, whose main blog I would’ve tagged if I could find it...)

“Ok ok,” she told herself, “keep it together, Dr. Fox.  It’s all gonna be great!….You’re the hero, you’re gonna save everyone, you’ve got this, you can do this, you can DO this!!…Just think, a captured friend is one thing, a broken arm is another, but both…is completely and totally IMPOSSIBLE!!!  WHAT AM I SAYING!?  THIS IS ALL MY FAULT!  I…I-I CAN’T DO THIS, I…”

Her confidence and sanity shattered as she broke down on the floor, regretting everything and losing all hope.

WOO-HOO, I finished another chapter!  :D

Thanks again SO SO much to my co-artists, whose blogs you can all find above.

Again, if you’re not a co-artist but like the art you saw and would like to be a co-artist, too, then just ask or DM me here or on Amino!  I’d be happy to let you join!

Until next time...

(Which should be soon, chapter 3 is the shortest one :P)

[aliciameade]

Baby - Ch. 13

Title: Baby Author: aliciameade Rating: *** M *** Pairing: Stephanie Smothers/Emily Nelson Summary:  That tearful kiss shared between Stephanie and Emily wasn't their first—and it certainly wasn't their last.

(Chapter 1)

Also on AO3

(You can buy me a ko-fi if you want to!)

Stephanie Smothers is a good person.

She reminds herself of this daily when she applies moisturizer at the bathroom mirror in the mornings and when she tucks her son into bed each night.

She’s made mistakes; nobody’s perfect. Some of them have been bigger than others, but that’s true for everyone. She doesn’t regret those mistakes. They’ve made her who she is today and she likes herself, for the most part. There are things she’s done that she knows if people knew about them, they’d expect her to be remorseful. Embarrassed, even.

What happened between Chris and her when they were teenagers is one of those things. She can rationalize away the judgment; they were both in mourning, they had an innate connection, there was intrigue in the way Chris looked so much like their father and Stephanie looked so much like her mother. There was a wedding photo of their shared parents on the fireplace mantle of her childhood home they’d gazed at together; it was almost spooky, the resemblances. They might have found it...kinky, in a way.

All of those things led to what transpired between them the day they met and the connection they felt was the reason it continued long enough for Stephanie to find herself knowingly pregnant by him while desperately clinging to a lie that it wasn’t his; it was her husband’s.

Her husband died angry knowing the truth.

That, she does regret. That she hadn’t been able to apologize for her dishonesty.

But she’d learned from an early age that when you loved someone, you should hold on to them. Do what you can to help them and support them and protect them. Try your best every day to make them happy even if you have to sacrifice your own happiness.

Even if that means doing something unsavory.

~ ~

~ ~

It’s business as usual for a time. Parent-teacher conferences. Miles and Nicky’s school holiday program (she sits with Emily—and Sean). Three weeks of the boys being on winter break and being a 24/7 stay-at-home mom. Sometimes she watches Nicky, too, and it’s more of an excuse for Emily and her to see one another than it is to give Sean a break from taking care of him all day.

Her Excel spreadsheet grows by the day as she plans. Phone numbers, names, addresses. Dates and times. Flight numbers. Dollar amounts.

Emily insists she hasn’t heard from Faith since Los Angeles whenever Stephanie asks. She wants to know if her sister is still demanding money, still threatening Nicky.

“I’m only trying to help,” she says when Emily gets upset.

“I know,” Emily replies with a sigh and some kind of physical contact. Stephanie’s never quite certain if it’s to indicate an apology for getting irritated or out of a need for comfort.

She decides it doesn’t really matter.

They eat leftover Thanksgiving turkey after they spend the holiday apart. They kiss under the many sprigs of mistletoe that Stephanie places throughout her home. They go to the winter carnival in the town square and Emily kisses her at the bottom of the ice slide while Nicky and Miles run up its stairs, in full view of everyone. No one seems to notice. Or if they do, the gossip never makes it back to them. Stephanie’s heart had been in her throat when Emily did that.

When the countdown on television reaches zero in Times Square, they kiss while their children sleep on the floor having failed in their valiant attempt to stay awake and ring in the new year.

They cook together. Shop together. Emily spends more and more time at Stephanie’s house and Stephanie can’t help but wonder what Sean thinks of it all. Her frequent absence must be glaringly obvious to him. She wonders if he thinks it means Emily’s just unhappy or if he might think there’s more to it than that.

She doesn’t dare ask Emily and she avoids crossing paths with Sean at all costs.

It’s the weekend after Valentine’s Day when Stephanie asks Emily to spend a Saturday night with her. It’s under the guise of having their own belated night of romance and Emily readily agrees. And while Stephanie plans to indulge in that wholeheartedly, she also has an ulterior motive.

~ ~

~ ~

“Hi, baby,” Emily says when she arrives. Her suit is a dark red, almost the color of blood, and Stephanie wonders if she chose it to acknowledge the recently passed holiday.

She leans up into Emily’s kiss, tugging on the lapels of her jacket to give herself a bit more lift.

“Mom?”

Miles’s voice cuts through their moment and she almost falls backward if not for Emily catching her by the elbow.

“Hey, buster, I thought you were picking out the toys you’re taking tonight?” she says as she tries to mask her panic. When she turns she finds Miles standing in the hall a few feet away, a Buzz Lightyear figure in one hand and an Iron Man in the other as if he had come to ask her opinion.

His face is full of uncertainty. “You’re kissing Emily?”

She hears Emily clear her throat and she doesn't know if it’s to speak, to not laugh, or out of discomfort. There’s no clarification from Emily and Stephanie has no choice but to respond.

“Just saying hello to my best friend,” she says as she hurries to him intent on ushering him back to his room to finish his part of packing to go spend the night at Emily’s house before Sean arrives. She doesn’t want Sean waiting in the house while he finishes.

“That was like when she kisses Nicky’s dad.” He seems curious more than anything as she takes both action figures and puts them into the overnight bag open on his bed.

She’s feared this for months. She knows Miles is a smart, observant child. She knows Emily and she aren’t always the most cautious when they’re together and away from other adults. They had been extremely prudent at first. They kept their distance, waited until any present children were distracted or absent before sharing words or touches that could prompt a question or a story that gets shared with a father.

It wasn’t always easy and they were growing careless as their comfort with one another grew. Their little escapade has grown into a full-blown love affair that’s lasted through autumn and into late winter. It felt so normal to pick up Nicky and Miles from school and often come home to find Emily already there and waiting, sometimes with a snack set out for the boys (sometimes it was even a healthy one) that it was difficult to not hold Emily’s hand while they stood side-by-side in the kitchen asking the boys about their day. It was difficult to not settle back into Emily’s arms the moment they sat together on the couch and the boys shared the bean bag chair. More often than not, she gave in.

It isn’t her fault that she can’t resist being close to Emily the moment Emily opens herself to her and invites her in with something as simple as a touch. It isn’t her fault that more than once she falls asleep there in Emily’s arms on the couch only to be stirred awake either by Emily or Miles when it’s time for bed.

It isn’t her fault that sometimes they forget to be as quiet as they should be when spending the night together with one or both of the boys in the house.

Stephanie is confident Miles has no idea what any such sounds mean; he’s too young to really understand sex and she doesn’t have plans to teach him about it with any kind of specificity for at least another year unless he asks a question that warrants it.

His ignorance, however, doesn’t assuage the fear boiling up inside her as he still seems to be thinking about what he witnessed. Nor does she know how much Nicky knows about sex and what he might be teaching Miles.

“Sometimes grown-ups like to kiss each other,” she says in response to his statement. She desperately wants to avoid lying to her son. Telling the truth isn’t an option; Miles is too young to be trusted to keep such a secret if she tells him she loves Emily that way. “Do you want to take anything else tonight?” Her hands refuse to be idle and she straightens his bedding needlessly.

“Nicky says you and his mom like to wrestle.” His voice is timid, as though he knows he’s sharing some type of secret information.

Her hands slow their smoothing of his comforter. That is a much more direct statement than commenting on a kiss. Much less simple to explain away than it being a greeting. “Nicky told you that?” she says, hoping her worry doesn’t come through in her voice as she stands and turns to him. “What else did Nicky tell you?”

“Just that you like to wrestle,” he says with a shrug. “Can I bring Unikitty, too?”

Stephanie sighs in relief at his continued innocence and the change of topic. She’s making her way toward the net suspended in the corner of his room that serves as the home for his many stuffed toys to retrieve it when she sees Emily in his doorway. Her entire outfit has been changed; the burgundy suit is gone and she’s wearing a worn-out tee from Barnard College that is a size too small and a pair of black yoga pants, one of which used to belong to Stephanie and both of which reside in a drawer that, at some point, became home to several items belonging to Emily.

“Who likes to wrestle?”

Stephanie’s not even finished reacting to Emily’s very, very poorly timed arrival and topic return when Miles is relaying what he’s just told Stephanie, to which Emily replies, “We sure do!” with a grin.

She rushes into the room, hands out to grab Miles and pick him up and crash them playfully onto his bed. “What about you?” she says as her tickling fingers make him squeal with laughter. “Do you like to wrestle?”

Stephanie watches it play out: Emily rough-housing with Miles in a way she never was good at, making him shriek and laugh and move on from his curiosity by letting him win. She doesn’t surrender too quickly, though, letting him have a good battle until, with his head in her stomach like a battering ram, he gets her onto her back to flop across her middle and pin her and declare himself the victor.

She doesn’t realize she’s crying until Emily brushes away a tear as she bends to kiss her cheek, Miles’s packed bag in her hand, to lead him out to wait for Sean and Nicky to pick him up.

Embarrassed, she finishes drying her eyes and follows. They end up in the living room and, to her surprise, Emily claims the bean bag chair instead of her usual spot on the couch and pulls Miles down to pile in next to her.

“Are you and Nicky going to finish your secret project?” she asks him in a stage whisper.

“What secret project?” Stephanie asks as she takes a seat on the couch. Her stomach feels floppy and her heart doesn’t seem to know where it should position itself in her chest. This is too real, too normal, too domestic.

Emily smiles at her and starts to say something but she’s cut off by Miles desperately and loudly shushing her to the point of clapping both of his hands over her mouth.

“It’s a secret!” he emphasizes, eyes wide in panic as he stares at Emily.

Stephanie has to try not to laugh (and cry) at the reaction. “You know we don’t keep secrets in this house, Smooch,” she scolds, but there’s no authority behind the statement and she knows it. She also knows she’s a big fat hypocrite.

She watches Emily twist her neck to free her mouth. “Maybe ‘surprise project’ is a better name for it. What do you think, bud?”

“Surprise project?” he says, as though he’s trying the phrase on for size. He nods. “Okay.”

“And I don’t get to know about this surprise project?”

“If you did, it wouldn’t be a surprise. Duhhhh,” Miles says with a dramatic eye roll.

Stephanie lets the “duh” slide in favor of...everything that’s happening right now. “Right, of course. When do I get to know what the surprise project is?”

Her question is met with a tight-lipped smile and a shrug from Miles; she looks to Emily for an answer only to see her copy his response.

It’s so adorable she could cry. Again. “I can’t have you two ganging up on me.”

“Oh, baby,” Emily says with a teasing pout, “don’t worry. I promise you’ll like it.”

Miles nods in agreement, still mum on the matter as though if he speaks he’ll ruin the surprise. His eyes light up a second later at the sound of a car in the driveway and he’s climbed out of the chair and is halfway to the door before Stephanie’s even made it to her feet.

“What are you guys cooking up?” Stephanie asks as she offers her hand to Emily to pull her up out of the low chair.

“You’ll see,” Emily says with a sly smile as she ducks down to touch her lips to Stephanie’s, hands still clasped.

They follow Miles who has the self-restraint to wait at the door instead of sprinting to Sean’s car in youthful excitement of a sleepover with his buddy.

Emily squeezes her hand. “I’ll walk him out.”

Stephanie looks up at her, a shared understanding between them. “Thank you,” she says before crouching and opening her arms. “Come give me a hug, Smooch!” She wraps him up in a bear hug when he does. “I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

She sits back on her heels and hears Emily say, “Ready to go, little man?” A hand ruffling his curls comes with it and it makes Miles laugh.

It also makes him look up at her and say, “Love you,” before letting himself out of the house.

“Love you, too,” Emily replies without pause as she steps away from Stephanie to follow him out the door, barefoot.

Stephanie feels dizzy like she’s in a parallel universe where she married and had a child with a woman named Emily and not a man named Davis...or Chris. It’s not as though she wasn’t aware that Emily cared for Miles. They’d grown closer over the months just as she and Emily had. It was inevitable, really, when Emily was becoming more and more a mainstay in their lives. Some weeks they spent more days together than apart. Emily was becoming a provider, a caregiver. She’d tuck him into bed, sometimes with Stephanie, sometimes by herself.

She even volunteered in his and Nicky’s classroom a few weeks ago. Stephanie was certain she’d never seen jaws drop so quickly when Darren, Stacy, and Sona walked in to pick up their children that afternoon to see Emily in semi-casual clothing cleaning up the aftermath of a fingerpainting session.

So it shouldn’t knock her off her feet this much to witness Emily taking on what can only be labeled as a parental role in Miles’s life. She knows she’s done the same with Nicky, though he spends more time with Sean than he does Stephanie unlike how much time Miles spends with Emily.

She’s still kneeling when Emily returns. She looks so light and fresh-faced Stephanie doesn’t know how she looks so happy living this double life. She doesn’t have time to ponder on it, though; her mind is too preoccupied with the shared moments between Emily and Miles to think about that right now.

Emily’s smiling as she locks the door and hits all three switches to kill the porch, foyer, and kitchen lights. “What are you doing on the floor, baby?” she says as she strides toward her and extends her hand. “Come on; it’s time to get you out of these clothes.”

~ ~

~ ~

“This isn’t what I had in mind when you said you were getting me out of my clothes.” Stephanie glances down at the tank top and shorts she’s been changed into. Emily had led her to the bedroom and Stephanie’s body had come alive at the familiar route, the only thing able to overcome her emotional response to domestic bliss.

She’d been sorely disappointed only to be handed clothes to put back on as soon as Emily had stripped her naked while sharing nothing but a soft kiss or two while she politely rebuffed Stephanie’s wandering hands.

But she can wait; the overwhelming, almost uncontrollable lust that sparked their affair has, after so many months, settled into burning embers instead of a roaring fire. Constant, quiet, yet hotter than the flames that birthed it. She can wait because she knows it will be amazing when they come back to it later.

“Come on,” Emily says before biting her bottom lip and tugging Stephanie back toward the living room. She seems so happy and relaxed all Stephanie can do is smile and follow until she’s being pulled down onto the couch.

“What exactly are you up to?” she asks as Emily puts on some romantic comedy. It’s a bit of a surprise, Emily choosing such a thing, but she’s been working on stopping herself from assuming anything whatsoever about the woman.

“I want to just sit here and make out with you.” Emily smiles as she says it and Stephanie’s being pulled into her lap before she even finishes responding to it.

It’s so easy, so natural to sink into Emily. She’s been doing it for months and, frankly, it’s never been difficult, even from Day One. Emily had kissed her and hesitated in pulling away and Stephanie had melted.

She melts again now as she slips her arms around Emily’s neck to kiss her. It’s slow and hot and all the things that make her heart pound and toes curl and it’s only kissing, but she’s sure that kissing alone could be enough to be satisfying if it’s all they ever shared physically.

But she’s really glad they share a lot more than kisses.

“You just want to make out?” she asks with a nudge of her nose against Emily’s. “During a movie in the dark like we’re teenagers?”

Emily’s hands sweep under the edge of Stephanie’s shirt and brush over warm skin and she kisses her again before she responds. “What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing,” Stephanie mumbles against her lips. She edges her kiss a bit more aggressive and fails at hiding the shiver that follows Emily’s quiet moan.

“Maybe I’ve been thinking about kissing you all day.” Emily’s hands roam a little more but never toward intimate territory.

Stephanie sighs at the confession and tightens her arms and leans back to entice Emily to lie down with her.

She resists so Stephanie whines and Emily’s hands finally slip down to her ass and squeeze it in wordless reply to her protest.

“But I want you on top of me.” Stephanie tries again, letting most of her weight pull at Emily’s shoulders in hope that her lack of subtly will do the trick.

She gets excited when Emily begins to lean with her but then she sits back again. “I’ll be on top of you later.”

Stephanie groans at the words and tries to stand up with the intent to drag Emily to her bedroom to experience just that but Emily keeps her rooted in place on her lap. “Why are you making us wait?” She runs her hands up under Emily’s adopted college tee and palms the soft, bare flesh beneath it to try to tempt her. However, she seems unfazed.

“Oh, don’t worry, baby,” Emily says with the pouty tone that Stephanie once found mildly condescending but now only finds incredibly hot. “I’ll make it worth the wait.”

Words like that are why she finds it hot so she nods. There are no more words after that for a while save for those of the movie that is playing in the background. The desperate arousal that began to spike wanes to a simmer again and Stephanie relaxes, content (for now) to share the slow, lazy kisses that promise so much more yet to come.

It distracts her from her goal for the night. It’s not until they’re in bed, breathless and recovering and she’s saying, “I love you, too,” that she remembers it.

She takes one more beat while Emily rolls off her to lay side by side, spent from their mutual release, staring at the ceiling.

“Hey, Em?” she says after clearing her throat.

Emily hums in response.

“Can we talk?”

There’s a pause, and then, “No good conversation ever begins with those words.”

Stephanie laughs nervously. “No, no. I promise it’s not like that.” It’s not like that at all and she feels bad she might have sparked such a worry in Emily. She also relishes the fact that such a thing is even possible: make Emily worry she was going to have The Talk.

She hears Emily take a breath. “We’re talking now, aren’t we?”

“Yeah.” It’s Stephanie’s turn to take a breath. “Um, I’ve been thinking—”

“About?”

“I want to be with you. For real, I mean.”

There’s another lengthy pause and Emily doesn’t say anything, but she does find Stephanie’s hand and link their fingers.

“I’m tired of pretending we’re something that we’re not. I’m tired of worrying that someone might find out and what might happen if they do. I’m tired of-of sharing you.” She notices her heart is racing when she stops talking; she hadn’t realized what it would feel like to admit those things out loud.

“Are you asking me to get a divorce? Because I can’t. We don’t have a prenup; Sean will take half of what I’ve managed to keep him from spending.”

“I’m not asking you to do that.”

“Then what are you asking me to do?”

Stephanie takes another deep breath. “I want us to...run away together.”

There’s more silence followed by a bark of laughter. “We can’t just run away together, baby. Are you crazy?”

“I’ve been thinking a lot about it and—”

“You’ve been thinking about it?” Emily sounds amused in the darkness, but at least she doesn’t sound mad.

“Did you and Sean ever take out those life insurance policies?”

The question hangs in the air for a few extra seconds. “Yes,” Emily answers slowly. “We’re not going to kill Sean for the insurance money. Are you fucking crazy?”

“No, no, of course not!” Stephanie rushes.

“Then stop beating around the bush, Dark Side. What have you been plotting in that brain of yours?”

“Have you heard from Faith lately?” She asks the question tentatively; it’s always a sensitive topic, and for good reason.

“What? What does she have to do with any—” Emily stops mid-word.

“Is she still threatening you?” Stephanie continues. “Extorting you? Threatening Nicky?”

“Why are you bringing her up right now?”

Stephanie thinks about the one and only photograph Emily ever showed Stephanie of her and her sister as teenagers. “You’re identical, right? That means fingerprints, DNA...”

“They figured out how to tell the difference between identical twins’ DNA.”

“And you’ve been paying attention to that research because…?” Stephanie’s on thin ice with this entire conversation and while she knows it, it seems as though it might only be a shallow pond to fall into should it crack. “I know you’re going to think I’m crazy—”

“No, but I think whatever you’re about to say is probably crazy.”

“What if…” She takes a steadying breath and hopes Emily doesn’t do something like call the police. “What if you invited Faith to visit you here and...and what if Emily Nelson was found murdered in her own home?” She holds her breath and feels Emily sit up next to her, can see her looming tall in the near darkness.

“Did you just suggest killing my sister?”

“She torments you.” Stephanie tries to resist the urge to backpedal and say it’s a terrible idea but she knows it’s really not, other than the parts about murder and insurance fraud. “All she does is cause you grief. She threatens to ruin your life, to hurt Nicky. And you’re not happy here, Em, I know it. We could do it and your life insurance would help us get resettled somewhere with the boys, and—”

“If I’m dead, how do we have the insurance money? Sean’s my beneficiary.”

It takes Stephanie a second to realize Emily hasn’t thrown her out of her own house at her outlandish and highly illegal plan that involves killing her own flesh and blood. “Change it to me.”

“What?!” Emily scoffs.

“Don’t tell Sean; you don’t have to tell a beneficiary that you removed them from a policy. I’ll collect it and when Sean challenges it I’m going to explain that I know about the affair he’s been having with his T.A. I’ll say you were planning to leave him so you changed it in case he tried to hurt you once you told him because I’m your best friend and I’m the only person you could still trust to care for Nicky.

But if we do this right, I won’t have to tell him anything because as soon as your body is found, I’ll tell the police that he was cheating on you and refusing to let you out of your emotionally abusive marriage and that I knew you were planning to ask for a divorce and that he must have snapped when you told him.

We’ll need to start the paperwork to make me Nicky’s legal guardian. Sean will never sign it but if we’re halfway there when you die and he gets arrested for your murder it will be easy for me to petition the court to push it through. Sean will be in prison. Emily Nelson will be dead. I will gain custody and then Stephanie Smothers will disappear.”

“You’re going to fake your death, too?”

“I’m going to disappear on a nature walk with the boys as soon as I have the money and custody. You disappeared and changed your identity once; you can do it again and do it for all of us. New names, new social security numbers, new passports. You’ll leave the country as soon as Faith is gone and we’ll join you as soon as we can.”

There’s an excruciating length of silence and all she can hear is her own quick breath, the adrenaline of revealing her plot making her blood rush.

“All this so we can be together?” Emily finally says.

Stephanie sits up and moves close, kissing Emily’s bare shoulder. “I’d move mountains to wake up next to you every day.” Emily’s hand has remained in hers the entire conversation but it shakes loose now only to relocate to rest on Stephanie’s thigh.

“I should just divorce him.”

It’s the first real admission that Emily wants to leave Sean and the weight of that drives Stephanie to keep kissing her wherever she can reach. Not in a frantic way, but soft, warm kisses on the curve of her shoulder and the length of her upper arm. “You’ll never escape her, Em,” she says quietly. “If we’re to be together, I don’t want her haunting us. I can’t put Miles in danger.”

She feels Emily’s fingertips tickling her inner thigh in the way she does when she’s hinting at touching her with more purpose. Stephanie can’t quite believe she would be in such a mood in the middle of this conversation, even if they are having it naked and in bed. But the way her own body responds to it, how her knee tilts a bit toward Emily in a way that is inviting, makes her feel guilty for whatever judgment she was about to pass.

“You’d really kill for me?”

Stephanie reaches to touch Emily’s chin and turn her face toward her and down into a kiss. She holds it for several seconds, lips simply touching. She doesn’t know how she arrived at this place in her life to have this conversation. To even consider such a possibility. She doesn’t stop to wonder why Emily isn’t horrified by any of it.

Stephanie Smothers is a good person.

She nods and pulls Emily’s hand higher between her legs. “Anything.”

~ ~

~ ~

(Chapter 14)

[toonsforkicks22]

The Heart that Smarts (Unikitty! fic)

WARNING: Slight Lego Movie 2 spoilers in this! 

_________

CRASH!

The beaker hit the floor, covering it of glass shards and possibly radioactive slime. The one responsible for the mess didn’t even flinch, nor even noticed as a couple of robots arrived on the scene to clean it up.

Dr. Fox stared into space, her green eyes filling the specs of her glasses as it all began to dawn on her. The realization hit her like that meteor she theorized had been made of gumball. (1) However, unlike that, the vixen knew she was certainly not wrong about this.

“I’m in love with him...” she murmured to herself, failing to notice the two robots behind her trying to fight off a giant green tentacle emerging from the floor as caused by the spilled chemical contents.

“We got a situation here!” one of them cried, trying to beat the abomination away with a broom.

“Oh, man, this is so gross!” the other exclaimed, entangled by said tentacle.

Once again, Dr Fox didn’t even hear them. Her mind drifted to all the possible ways she could have figured these feelings out sooner.

Hawkodile, the embodiment of strength, kindness, and especially friendship. And she was in love with her best friend!

“How could I not have figured this out sooner?” she exclaimed, her eyes sparkling, squeezing her cheeks in an ecstatic grin while her lab was falling apart behind her.

While more robots fought and attacked the now growing tentacle monster with every weapon they had, the female fox reflected on every memory that gave her a reason for these sudden feelings.

He always put his life on the line for his friends, especially for her.

He fought a videogame platform in order to rescue her (and didn’t seem the least bit mad as Richard when it was revealed to be just a simulation for just in case they really did get attacked by actual game characters). (2)

Whenever she was tired or sick, he would always offer a warm, comforting hand on her shoulder (or her mouth in case she was on the verge of puking).

He would drop his seriousness to have fun with her and the others. And take pride in being dorky and adorable about it (or ‘adorkable’ as Dr. Fox liked to use sometimes).

He would do anything to impress his friends and make himself worthy, even if it was obviously unnecessary. She still remembered when he impersonated a robot and would have gotten himself killed by her combat machine if she hadn’t intervened. (3)

And out of any of them, Hawkodile seemed to always turn to Dr. Fox for aid. She recalled that one time when his sparkle matters were getting out of control on account of having a secret crush. (4) Or maybe she might have thrown herself into assisting him since it was all for science and saving her best friend, she wasn’t sure. But all the genius knew was that Hawkodile’s crush on whoever was over (she couldn’t remember if it had been the flower store owner FeeBee or someone else in the Unikingdom). Guess he and that person he used to crush on just didn’t work.

But she and Hawkodile, they were the perfect team! And Dr. Fox was already deliberating how they would become the perfect couple!

“I love him!” she cried, practically deaf to the ongoing explosions of the lab as the robot servants stressed an ongoing battle with the monster.

“Fire the torpedoes!” one of them shouted.

Emitting a girlish scream, Dr. Fox danced out of her lab, leaving behind a larger mess for the servants to clean up. _____

Upon realizing these newfound feelings, Dr. Fox spread her news across the kingdom. She wanted to tell everyone that she was in love with her best friend, before eventually telling Hawkodile. She wanted to prepare the entire universe for their love!

At the flower shop, FeeBee was just arranging vase of flowers she just picked. Just as they were looking perfect, the décor popped right at her face, along with Dr. Fox’s wide-eyed expression.

“I’m in love with him!” Dr. Fox cried, receiving a rather terrified smile and nod from FeeBee. ~

Craig the moose farmer (5) watched as her vegetables were on the verge of growing. She grinned from antler to antler as all her hard work was finally going to pay off.

“Almost there!” she encouraged lovingly as she saw the leaves lift, and the first patches of red were emerging. “After months of hard labor, I’ll finally grow the perfect tomatoes!”

As said vegetables began to form at her anticipation, they met an unexpected end. Craig’s smile fell instantly as “homemade ketchup” splattered all over her face, leaving behind the remains of what could have been a beautiful creation.

Face pale, she could only stare at Dr. Fox, who hardly even noticed her tiny feet had been responsible. The latter just grinned at the now distressed moose farmer.

“I’m in love with him!” the scientist cried.

As she dashed off, the farmer fell to her knees and screamed at the sky demanding why it had to happen to the tomatoes and not her.

~

Bim-bom gazed at a store that was selling delicious sandwiches, practically drooling at the sight. Just as she was about to make the choice of having all the choices, she nearly screamed as Dr. Fox slammed her face against the glass from the inside.

“I’m in love with him!” the vixen exclaimed happily, eyes sparkling as much as they did back at the lab.

“Oh, honey, that’s great!” the green garbage bag (or possibly a dumpling) congratulated. (6) “You go after your love! I should know! Because, uh...”

Her beady eyes quickly shifted left and right before they stopped in a certain direction.

“There’s the guy I’m in love with too!” Bim-bom exclaimed, pointing toward the first person she spotted.

Across the street was Toaster, who stopped the moment he noticed Bim-bom was gesturing his way. Toast immediately popped up from his brother’s head, wondering what was going on. (7)

“Wait, what?” the slice of tan bread questioned aloud.

“Uh, which one?” Dr. Fox asked in confusion.

Bim-bom’s mind wracked nervously. “Um, uh...both of them!” she exclaimed.

Toast and Toaster just stared at her.

“Wait, what is she talking abo-AAAAAHHHH!”

The Toast Bros quickly high-tailed it in the other direction as Bim-bom began to chase them.

“Don’t be embarrassed!” the desperate-for-love woman cried. “I love you both equally! We can make this work!” ~

In their apartment, Brock and Master Frown sat on the couch, watching TV. Suddenly from beneath the cushions popped out Dr. Fox, startling Master Frown, not so much Brock who merely smiled in greeting.

“I’m in love with him!” Dr. Fox exclaimed, not caring that she was admitting this to the person that strove to cause misery throughout the kingdom.

“Gross!” Master Frown scoffed in disgust.

“Oh, dude!” Brock exclaimed with genuine happiness for his friend. “Congratulations! Who’s the lucky dude?”

“Hawkodile!” the genius vixen announced, her sparkle matter increasing and littering the apartment much to Master Frown’s annoyance.

“Sweet!” the laid-back gray figure said.

“Love is a suckers’ bet for suckers!” Master Frown spat. “It ain’t gonna work!”

“Dude, not cool!” Brock scolded him.

But Dr. Fox didn’t even hear the maker of misery, her thoughts for the guy she was in love with screamed louder. _______

Returning to the castle, Dr. Fox was still as energetic as she had been throughout the kingdom. The moment she bursted through the doors, they slammed right into Richard who had been carrying dishes. Every single plate hit the floor, making more work for the floating brick. He merely sighed, adding the task of ordering new dishes on his list.

“Hello, Dr. Fox,” he spoke in his usual monotone. “You seem to be in some kind of mood, according to what the citizens have been reporting out of fear and concern for their lives.”

“Oh, it’s more than just a mood!” the vixen exclaimed as she gave a little twirl.

Unikitty and Puppycorn approached them, having heard the noise from the other room.

“What’s going on?” the dog prince asked curiously.

“Yeah, you seem even happier than you usually are, Dr. Fox,” the ruler of the Unikingdom noted. “Nearly as happy as me, and I’m always super happy!”

“Guys!” Dr. Fox expressed excitedly. “I’m in love with Hawkodile!”

Both Unikitty and Puppycorn gasped in amazement, sparkle matter sprinkling from their heads like confetti. They gazed at the kingdom’s scientist, overcome with as much surprise and joy as she had been expressing the entire time. Richard did not share in the elation like he usually did with anything in general. However, his usually sullen expression altered a bit, his brows knitting in concern.

“That’s great!” Unikitty squealed, engulfing Dr. Fox in a hug.

“When are you gonna tell him?” Puppycorn asked, bouncing excitedly.

“Right now!” the genius vixen declared.

“Dr. Fox, I don’t think that would be such a great idea right now,” the brick tried to reason gently.

“Oh, nonsense!” the scientist brushed off. “When have any of my ideas ever been not great?”

Richard gave her his usual taciturn expression, not bothering to answer that.

As she marched to find the man responsible for these lovey-dovey feelings, the royal siblings followed in pursuit, giggling and laughing along with their fox friend. Richard strayed behind, the look of uncertainty never leaving his face. ______

As they headed toward Hawkodile’s dojo, Dr. Fox chattered about all the things she and the bodyguard would do once she confessed her feelings and they became a couple.

“...and after we go to dinner and see a movie, I’ll build us a rocket that’ll send us over the moon!” she added. “It’s scientifically possible!”

“How romantic!” Unikitty said in awe, heart-shaped sparkle matter popping from her head matching the same as the one coming from her eyes.

“Dr. Fox, I really think this isn’t the best time right now,” Richard, once again, tried to reason with her.

“Of course it’s the best time!” Unikitty argued with him. “How could it not be the best time? Our friend Dr. Fox is in love with our friend Hawkodile! What’s the problem with that?”

Before Richard could respond, she pressed against him as she swooned at the thought of the event that was yet to unfold.

“Because there is no problem!” she said with a dreamy sigh. “The two were meant for each other, and most definitely nothing could stand in their way of love!”

Richard sighed. “Look, Dr. Fox, you have to understand-”

But the scientist ignored him once again. Her orange cheeks blushed like the tomatoes she stepped on earlier. Nearing the flaps of the tent-like dojo where their bodyguard friend spent most of his time, she bit her lip to contain another squeal. The others rallied behind her, Richard still looking worried.

“Go for it, Dr. Fox!” Unikitty encouraged.

“Yeah, go for it!” Puppycorn rooted.

“I really, really think this is not a good time right now...” Richard tried to convince to no avail.

Unable to contain herself any longer, Dr. Fox bursted into the dojo, her green eyes bright as the shades of the wonderful guy she was about to confess her feelings for.

“Hawkodile, I have something to tell you!” she said with euphoria.

However, the smile that once shined throughout the kingdom dropped instantly. The party behind her, who had been chanting her name beforehand, stood behind the vixen and gasped. Only Richard remained unfazed, albeit slightly guilty.

Hawkodile, having not heard his friends enter the dojo, was hunched over, arms wrapped around something that seem to clung to his ever-rippling biceps. His lips were doing quite the workout, followed by gruff moaning. Such a sound only got more heavy as he gave all his time and energy to this one moment in particular.

It wasn’t just him moaning. An equally expressive and feminine tone voiced pleasure as well, another pair of lips copying his workout.

Dr. Fox just stood there in disbelief, questioning everything in the universe right now. Behind her Unikitty and Puppycorn were unsure of what to do except just watch. Richard merely gave a defeated sigh.

Hawkodile’s wings flapped upon sensing a new presence in his dojo. He quickly adjusted his head, lips still occupied. His eyes/shades widened before quickly pulling away from whom he was having a wonderful session with.

“Oh, uh, hey!” the hybrid bodyguard greeted awkwardly, a protective arm around the person who had enjoyed what Dr. Fox had hoped would have been her moment.

She was a fair-skinned woman with wavy blonde hair, eyes a brighter green than even Dr. Fox’s. She was adorned in a pink princess-style dress complete with a matching fuchsia cape.

“Uh...” Hawkodile began shyly. “You guys remember Susan, right?”

“Hey,” the blonde woman greeted with a wave.

Before Dr. Fox could even utter a word, it was Unikitty who spoke.

“Well, of course we know Susan!” the princess exclaimed rather excitedly. “Who we thought was Queen Whatevra Wa’Nabi but actually isn’t! Who’s really nice and sweet and cute and helped us bring the Systar System and Apocalypseburg together after Armamageddon and make what is now the totally cool and totally cute place that is now Syspocalypsestar!That Susan!” (8)

Said woman gave a bashful smile as she leaned into Hawkodile, who blushed and gave a relieved chuckle. As Unikitty gushed over her, with her brother looking equally excited, no one noticed the broken expression on Dr. Fox’s face.

Except for Richard.

“Told you it wasn’t the best time,” he said, any form of smugnesshidden under his usual sullen personality. _______

NOTE: Those numbers in parenthesis you’ve seen throughout the story are citation-like thingies. Down below are explanations to those who might wonder about certain things and characters mentioned, just in case some people haven’t seen all the episodes or know any characters besides the main cast. :)

(1)From episode “Lab Cat”

(2)From episode “The Zone”

(3)From episode “Brawl Bot”

(4)From episode “Crushing Defeat”; FeeBee made a good appearance in that

(5)Craig the farmer is best recognized from the episode “Kaiju Kitty” (and yes, Craig’s a female)

(6)Bim-bom’s personality and given description is best shown in the episode “Unikitty News”

(7)Toaster and Toast can best be seen in the episode “Little Prince Puppycorn”

(8)Susan was inThe Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

[perispinel]

I lost the name of the person who suggested this, but I was given a Unikitty X Master Frown story idea that I wanted to write, so here it goes! I wrote it so that you can very easily imagine it as a humanization :D 

---

It was finally his birthday- Master Frown, the self-declared master of misery, has aged another year. He wanted to celebrate it the same way he celebrated everything: by putting other people down. So, he put out signs on his house saying “I’m older and better than you,” “Birthday for your superior,” and other similar slogans to make people feel like they were less than him. Then, he had one sign above the door that read “Enter the party that will make your party look like steaming hot garbage!” He figured that it would do him well to hype it up a bit before they even enter.

The reality of it, though, was that the party was not that good. That was because, despite all of his preparations, no one was there. Well, his roommate was there, but he was always there so it wasn’t that special. 

“Why aren’t people coming? I thought I sent invitations!” he exclaimed in exasperation. passing the time as he waited for people to show up by pouring a drink for himself.

In response, Brock admitted, “I think maybe people just assumed it was a trap or something.”

“T-that’s completely unfair! Just because I do mean things constantly doesn’t mean I’m doing something mean right now! And it’s my birthday!” 

He didn’t get a response to that, leaving him to brew in his bitterness while drinking a tall glass of soda. Slowly, he began to wonder if he deserved this- he’s constantly trying to ruin people’s day, why should he enjoy a party even on something so special? 

Suddenly, a knock at the door made him jump out of his dreary thoughts, and he waited to see if it was one of those “ding-dong-ditch” pranks. When the knocking consisted, he sighed and walked over to see who was there. Perhaps everyone who he invited all came as a group!

“Greetings guests, thanks for showing up fashionably...” he began to exclaim as he opened the door, only to see someone unexpected standing there: Unikitty, who he always treated as his number one enemy. Seeing her nearly made him fall backwards in shock.

With a friendly smile, Unikitty greeted, “Hey Master Frown, I got your invitation and decided to come over! Happy birthday!”

Before he could say anything, she gave him a big, enthusiastic hug, and he had no idea what to do in response to this. Soon, he couldn’t do anything in response, as she was already coming inside. Quickly, he looked out the door, wondering if anyone was behind her. However, he was disappointed by the fact that she had really been the only person to show up.

“W-why did you decide to come to my party?” Master Frown asked as he began to slice some cake, a piece for her and a piece for him.

As she took her slice and went to enjoy it at the table, she responded, “Well, I love parties, and it’s always fun to celebrate birthdays! The two combined are sure to be super special!”

“Y-yeah, I get that, fun fun fun and all but... seriously, why would you want to hang around me??” He asked in complete disbelief, while simultaneously pouring her a glass of soda and handing it to her.

While taking a fork to eat with, she answered happily, “Well everyone deserves a guest on their birthday, and when I saw that no one else wanted to come, I knew it was important that I did!”

Master Frown wasn’t sure if he should try and mock her for being so nice to someone who consistently tried to ruin her day, or if he should be appreciative that she wanted to make him happy- or the third option, remain utterly confused that she could forgive him for the things he’s done to try and make people in the Unikingdom sad.

“U-um... well... thanks,” he simply muttered, a light blush spreading on his face as he began to eat.

She was about to start eating too when she noticed he was looking red. “Are you okay Master Frown?”

“J-Just call me Frown, and yeah, I’m fine,” he assured her, although having her call attention to it just made him get redder.

With a teasing smile, Unikitty remarked, “I think you’re blushing- why is that~?”

“S-shut up, I’m not blushing, you need to get your eyes checked! I didn’t invite you to this party to tease me!” he told her, feeling his face heating up, meaning his blushing was not even close to stopping- he hoped that acting angry would make her cut it out so he didn’t have to think about why he was feeling such weird things.

She politely replied, “I’m sorry for teasing you, Frown, but you can tell me about your feelings if you want- I’m a good listener!”

He knew she wasn’t trying to imply anything with how she said it, but it didn’t help with his growing embarrassment in the slightest. He began to think long and hard about this- she always forgave him and tried to befriend him at any opportunity, no matter how rude he acted, she was the only one to show up to his birthday, and she gave him the biggest hug (and possibly the only hug) he’s ever gotten on the way in. Was it possible he was wrong to look at her as a rival?

“You haven’t finished your cake,” She commented, pointing to his slice with a fork- he only took four bites.

“O-oh, well, I’m kind of distracted- I want to thank you for being nice enough to come to my party, even though I don’t really deserve one,” he admitted, looking down.

She quickly assured him with a smile, “Don’t be silly, everyone deserves to have fun! And I know deep down you don’t really want to be mean, you just need a friend to show you that!”

There was a still a part of him wondering if she was right to say any of this, but that was small compared to the part of him that was happy to know someone so willing to try and make his day better. 

“Y-You can have the rest of the cake, I’m not very hungry,” Master Frown muttered, eating the rest of his slice in one gulp before turning to head to bed in order to avoid confronting his emotions.

Before he could leave her sight, though, she came up behind him and gave him another hug- this one was less of a bear hug like before, though, and more loving and comforting.

As she hugged him, Unikitty giggled, “Thank you so much for inviting me! You put so much effort into this party, it’s too bad no one else came, or else they would’ve had so much fun!”

Following his instructions, she decided to take the rest of the cake home- but on the way out, she blew him a kiss that landed right on his forehead. The force of it and his shock made him fall over, but he made sure to wave her goodbye. 

“Eheheh... what a good party.”

[fuck-lampposts]

The Birth of a Hero

Chapter 2

Doris was now exiting her job to instead go to her masterbuilder training. Right before she went around the corner she bumped into something or someone.

“Hi again.” A male voice said. She looked up, it was that guy she’d helped with an order earlier that day. He gave her a warm smile and tilted his head a little bit to which she returned. She backed away from him so that they stood at reasonable length from each other, not too close not too far.

“It’s funny.” He said.

“What?” She gave him an questioning look and squinted her eyes.

“How we’re probably going to bump into each other from now.” He giggled.

“Ahaa…” she mumbled and walked around him. Just to avoid conversation. His eyes followed her every move.

“Your name was Doris, right?” He raised his head and ended his question with a smile. She stopped in her tracks and froze. Brows furrowed and her mouth hung open. All she could muster out was a small.

“Yeah…”

She started to feel kind of...uncomfortable. Who was this guy? And what does he want from her? She didn’t even remember his name even though he had told her earlier that day.

“Well in case you don’t remember my name was Jac-“ He started but she paused him before he could finish his sentence.

“Jackson. Your name is Jackson. I know.” He nodded happily with a crooked grin on his face. His face was just as red a tomato and it almost seemed to be boiling.

“Ok...heh eh, weeeellll I really got to go now. Masterbuilder training.” Doris said.

“Masterbuilder training? You’re a masterbuilder?” His eyes grew in awe. The redness on his face sunk down to his cheeks.

“I-I really have to go now.” Doris stuttered.

“Oh, yeah ok. You go.” Jackson shook his head and gave her a wave as she turned around and walked off. Man this guy is weird!

She walked her way up to the Dog. She pushed herself past a lot of passing masterbuilders.

“Oh hi Doris!” A voice from the crowd called. Doris turned around to see the huge, pink feline that was her friend.

“Hi Unikitty. How have your day been?” Doris sighed as Unikitty joined her on her way to the Dog.

My day have been perfect as usual! Y’know just keeping the frowns away! Speaking about frowns, you seem down. What’s up? Unikitty Unikitty stated as they walked.

”Nothing.” Doris mumbled.

”C’mon I can clearly that there’s something.” The feline urged.

“Okay okay! There’s this guy that I bumped into not one but two times today.” Doris made a face as realization sat in for Unikitty. She then gave Doris a devilish smirk as she rolled her eyes.

“Sooo…” she started. “This guy is he...cute?” Unikitty looked at her with big eyes as she waited for her to answer. Doris face went straight and a pale color of red colored her cheeks. Unikitty suppressed a giggle from escaping as Doris opened her mouth to answer.

“No.” Doris said bluntly and gave Unikitty an angry look which caused Unikitty to burst out in laughter.

“Shut up!” Doris growled as she elbowed her in the side in an attempt to make her shut up. But Unikitty continued to laugh with small pauses in between to say things like “you like him don’t you” or “at least he seem to like you” whenever she said no.

The dog was barely filled with people when they got there. Cleopatra and Shakespeare to name a few of them. But even their closest friends, Pennie, Brandon, Mark, Metalbeard and Rod.

Pennie and Mark were about ten years older than Doris and the others well except for Unikitty. They were both astronauts and had been married for 7 years. They also had three kids named Ken, Len and Ben. But every they’re around they’re just called Kenny, Lenny and Benny.

Doris loved to play around with the young boys but she never had the thought of having kids herself.

Pennie always said that “One day you will find the right guy for ya, and when that day comes you sure will have a set of kids afterwards.” To which of course Doris disapproved.

Brandon was this laidback guy that never really did anything in general. But of course he was still a member of their small team just because he was Marks younger brother.

Metalbeard. Yeah you probably already know who he is.

And Rod. Doris best guy friend and masterbuilder partner. Rod was the richest kid in the group but he sure didn’t act like it. Rod loved to work with mechanics and dreamed about making machines that could make people's lives better.

He was kind of an outsider but whenever Doris told him to come and join them he bounced happily over to her.

Enough character descriptions now, let’s continue.

Doris sat down beside Rod. She glanced over at him as he fiddled with a small mechanic in his hands.

“What’s that B?” She said and pointed at that small thing. Rod or B as he was called by her just because, you guessed it, his last name was Business lifted his head to look at her as he started to stutter.

“It’s a...it’s aaa… thingy thing I haven’t given a name yet…” He stuttered slowly. It seemed like he had a hard time talking with people she guessed.

“Aha! What does it do then? If it does something special we can figure out a name together!” She exclaimed and took it in her hands and studied it.

Rod stared at her as she gave it a closer look. His cheeks started to redden and she gave it back.

“It looks like some kind of sprayer. Something-elizer since we don’t know what it will spray yet. Or what do you think?” Her green eyes barred into his soul as he tried to muster out an answer.

“I-It sounds nice!” He almost shouted out his answer and she smiled.

“Well then something-elizer it is then!”

[monkey-network]

Good Stuff - Unikitty!

WARNING: M&Ms and Honey Nut Cheerios in yogurt is the best thing you could do for breakfast. Thank you, take care out there, and enjoy.

Sunshine! Sunshine! Ladybugs awake! Positive vibes in an accurate state!

Hmm, a spicy series dedicated to a character from an amazing movie; said character is a magical unicorn kitten that is chipper, quirky, and boundlessly optimistic yet prone to short bursts of unbridled rage that rules over a vivid, colorful domain with her unicorn/puppy brother, her fox friend that is the kingdom’s staple wild scientist, her bodyguard whom is a hawk and crocodile hybrid, and her pragmatic and stoic royal adviser that is a literal grey blockhead? My god, is this not a valiant Sunday afternoon with a blessed trip to Eden full of color and style, kinks and dinks, curves and wiggles, pricks and spindly dead ends, with every flower dancing with elegance to the endearing melody of positivity under the eyes of human life’s chilling stare?

It’s an active victory road of surreal, easy-going entertainment! BUT...

I’m getting ahead of myself; I should at least present the possible cons this show could wring in the future. First, it’s upbeat, nonsensical nature can be a major turn off for those who are wanting more “serious” endeavors (esp. those who considered something like The Last Airbender on and want nothing more than for lightning to strike twice) and can find this obnoxious and loud. As a followup con, people might find Unikitty herself, a supporting, pretty minor, character from the popular Lego Movie, to be obnoxious with her generally manic demeanor; in addition to the track record of spin-off cartoon shows based on secondary characters nnnnggggnnnot being a pretty one. Now I will say, standard rule: this show won’t be for everyone, I’ll agree to that. And I have a bias towards liking gung-ho characters, won’t deny, but I can see that they’re not trying to have our main character steal the show all the time and have her in your face at all time; giving the others a spotlight. I can safely say this is better than other spin-off shows I’ve regrettably seen like [shudders] Planet Sheen, Adult Party Cartoon, or Shag and Scoobs: Get A Clue.

Like zoinks, Skooks. Where were you in 2006?

One last thing, and this has been bothering me a bit, people keep wanting to bring the Lego Movie and Teen Titans Go in when thinking about this because it’s made by people that made the Lego Movie and Teen Titans Go........[sigh] Y’know? This might be late, but I’m gonna speak small on this last part for a sec, if you mind? [deep inhale]

[exhale] A show from an existing property can provide continuity from said previous work; that is doable. However, and this might sound stupid, I see that Unikitty! takes place in its own realm, it’s own universe, so can we not judge it on its own unique merits until it actually brings ties from the Lego Movie into its show in some.......coherent way? Can we let it.....be its own thing? Furthermore, even when we’ve all had our thoughts on Teen Titans Go, is there nothing else we can compare it with to give it a....glass half full approach towards looking forward to it, since TTG is not the end all, be all for Cartoon Network? I mean, CN may have boosted TTG like the black plague, but has the show or the channel’s actions really plagued our minds with a level of pessimism that hype for new shows are met with a bleak to meh outlook? Now I will say this could be just Teen Titans Go with Unikitty slapped on it, or it could be a more child-friendly version mixtape between...

One of my favorite online cartoons

and one of the most perfected adult cartoons imaginable.

Dick Figures and Superjail! are what I love about cartoons. I can harp and sound intellectual about the best cartoons having a strong narrative, what the writers do with arcs and such, and so on; those are important elements. But honestly, if it’s competent and entertains me, I will be hooked. And if I can tell the creators are having fun with their work, I’m there with them and these two shows are prime examples. I could argue for hours on why Superjail worked so well. The episodes may not have added to any thought provoking lesson or idea, but they didn’t need to. They were simple, hedonistic adventures that had the art and animation to compliment it.

And the color to give ‘em their uniqueness

That is what I believe is channeling Unikitty! With those behind Dick Figures and the Lego Movie working on this, a serious surprise to me, I see they’re wanting to make our unicorn feline more than just a one note character while still giving her the characteristics of her movie appearance. Like the Warden from Superjail, they’re juggling an upbeat narcissist, a reckless yet capable leader, and a quick tempered yet sensible character all around. It’s not gonna be perfect, but then again...never expect perfection. The animation’s top notch, the coloring is not a sore to the eyes, they’re making the most of the character’s simplistic designs, the lego clicking sounds from characters is a clever detail but not a annoyance to the ears, and all technicalities aside, the sunny side attitude is just a plus for me, especially when I’m in a bad mood. The new year speaks for a positive stance of change, and I say Unikitty’s the character to boost a spirit or two. That’s what she’s all about and that’s why I say, benefit of the doubt, the show’s in good hands. Fun-filled effort put into a fun fulfilling show. Do give it a shot, support it and the other CN shows if you can/wish, and remember to stay positive.

Boops For The New Year

[m0onbean]

Movie Dates with ASTRO

this is a long thread!

MJ

would probably choose a comedy movie

would buy the largest size of popcorn and accidentally spill some on the way to your seats

you actually die of embarrassment around him

he would laugh at the serious moments in the movie

i kid you not this grown man would very quietly not so quietly murmur "that's what she said" 

you wanted to die but it was amusing

would embarrass you by turning around to the kids sitting behind you

"this is my girlfriend (Y/N)"

"MJ what are you doi-"

"isn't she pretty?"

the kids would nod their heads and MJ would smile not before growing serious and suddenly snapping

"she's mine though, understood?!"

poor children would widen their eyes and you would give MJ a >:( look

MJ would give you a ;) look

whenever something remotely funny happened he would look at your face to see your reaction

turns out you kept a straight face the whole movie

bc

the movie wasn't funny

after the movie ended MJ would act clingy and cute

"did you like the movie?"

"hmm it was okay"

he would whine

"you're not satisfied?"

"no if you had fun then i'm satisfied"

"let's movie hop to whatever movie you would like"

"isn't that illegal"

"it's not illegal as long as you don't get caught"

MJ would make sure you had fun by randomly snickering comments in your ear which made you two burst in laughter

throw popcorn at eachother and look away pretending as if nothing happened

annoy the employees by constantly refilling popcorn

end up watching every movie in the theater

you two are probably banned tbh

in the end it doesn’t matter

the funnest time you’ve ever had at the movies

Jinjin

lets you make all the decisions

doesn't care what movie it is

just wants to spend time with you

ends up watching a movie about dogs

jinjin would subconsciously coo "aww" under his breath whenever a dog showed up

so like

during the whole movie

you learned that jinjin loves dogs

he would mutter in your ear

"let's get a dog"

seveRAL times

"how about that breed?"

"what do you think? small or big dog?"

you would just scoff but squeeze his cheeks

"you're so cute"

would hold your hand during the entire film

would randomly tap on your shoulder

"what do you want?"

"can you hold this?"

he would stick his hand in his jacket

his hands pops back up with a finger heart

would look at you proudly

"i'm such a cute boyfriend"

you would roll your eyes but return the heart

"jinjin look here"

you would pretend to look for something in your pockets

"did you forget your wallet? it's ok i paid" he would worriedly ask

"found it!" you would exclaim

sticks your hand back up

BAM! finger heart

he would uncontrollably smile

by the time you two are out of the theaters

guess what

a dog died at the end

jinjin is literally sobbing

you hug him and soothe him

"it's ok jinjin... he's in a better place now"

he cries harder and grips onto you tightly

"snowball didn't deserve that..."

"i understand"

he would be sniffing continuously on the drive home

"babe..." 

he takes out his phone and starts typing passionately

"what are you doing?"

"i'm writing a five star review on the movie"

Eunwoo

chose whatever movie you wanted

paid for your ticket although you insisted it was fine

"(Y/N) i'm supposed to be paying you'll make me look bad"

"fine but i'm paying next time"

loves how stubborn you are about it

constantly asking if you want anything

"want some popcorn? or anything else? ice cream? mozzerella sticks? nachos?"

in the theater he would laugh inside at you

because you were like

about to fall asleep

your eyelids were giving up on you

your head kept falling

you tried your best to stay awake but

the 

movie

was 

boring 

he would notice how tired you were

wouldn't say anything but would lift the seat divider up

tucks you inside his humongous winter coat

you would snuggle inside since it was warm

wraps his arms around you 

kisses your forehead when he notices you fall asleep

lowkey grateful the date turned out like this

he was never interested in the movie in the first place

your eyebrows would scrunch up suddenly

he would be alarmed

it would look like you're in pain

he would rub your back soothingly

gives you multiple kisses

your expression would wash off your face upon feeling his touch

now you're smiling in your sleep

his heart is aching

he's trying not to fanboy right then and there

he loves you so much

when the movie ends he would nudge your shoulder

"(Y/N) wake up sleeping beast"

when you fully regain conscious you would be embarrased

"u-uh sorry if I ruined the date"

he would laugh

because

you made the date better than he would even imagine

"let's do this more" 

he would say and wink

you die out of humiliation

Moonbin

moonbin would buy the whole food shop

like

actually

"hi can i get two large sodas, large buttered popcorn, an ice cream bar, oh do you guys have chicken nuggets? yeah? i'll take that 2 lmfaO. no wtf im not done. some mozzarella sticks, chicken tenders- what do you mean the bill is over $50? scuse me im an idol"

s m h

during the movies you two would just be talking the whole time

honestly what was the point of going if you two were just gonna have  nice conversation

everybody looking at u 2 because

on moonbin's lap are the chicken tenders, mozzarella sticks, and drinks

on your lap would be the chicken nuggets, and whatever tf he ordered

a F E A S T

everyone lowkey hates u guys

bc 

the chicken nuggets smelled good

and u two were conversing so casually

a kid actually kicked your guys' seat

"can u shut up i can't hear"

"scuse me i'm an idol"

"u dont look like one"

you had to restrain this GROWN man from fighting some 10 year old

don't worry about leftovers

legend says that moonbin inhales the food

you two would be having a pick up line war

"hey baby. tie your shoelaces i dont want u falling for anybody else"

"are you a laptop? bc you can make my lap warm."

"wtf was that dirty"

"no omg i swear i didnt mean it like that"

"lets break up"

a forceful kick to moonbin's chair

"SHUT THE F-"

you 2 were kicked out

what gives

the food wasnt that gr8 anyways

"its the theater's fault. shouldve put more interesting movies so we wouldnt chatter so much"

"yeah" you groaned "long movies are boring anyways"

"you know what else is lon-"

legend says that moonbin still flinches whenever you slightly raise your foot

Rocky

tHIS BOI

very quiet around people

but around you??

hohohohoho

WHO BROUGHT A MONKEY IN THIS THEATER

he's actually jumping around on his toes

"omg i'm so excite!!"

"minhyuk can u calm down"

"but the new lego movie came out and i'm really excited bc my fav character was the unicorn cat girl bc she's really nice and stuff but when shes angry shes ready to fite and i think that represents me bc u kno how im all fluffy and stuff when we first meet but like if somebody messes with me or you or anybody i am friends with they get beat up even tho im smol"

"...we're not even watching the new lego movie."

THIS KID WOULD JUST WALK UP TO THE MANAGER AND ASK FOR AN EXCHANGE OF TICKETS

"I THOUGHT WE WERE WATCHING THE NEW LEGO MOVIE WTF (Y/N)"

"YOU SAID I COULD CHOOSE"

"BUT WE'RE A TELEPATHIC COUPLE. I SENT U A MESSAGE TO CHOOSE THE NEW LEGO MOVIE."

you would massage your temples in frustration

angry -> happy when the manager lets him exchange it

in the theaters he'd be so happy

"u can be the wyldstyle to my emmet"

"mkay."

he would pout

"babe i put a lot of thinking into that pickup line so i really dont appreciate it when you start doing this to me because like i put so much in this relationshi-"

u would stuff popcorn in his mouth so he can shut up

his eyes would intently follow the movie

hes so into it!!

would laugh a little too loudly at the jokes

scrunches up face when the bad guy does something bad

widen eyes at intense scenes

when unikitty popped up on the screen

tHIS BOI

"OMG UNIKITTY!" he would scream

rips open his jacket and reveals a unikitty shirt

whole theater glaring at him

you are actually hiding in your sweater

"pls kill me"

after the movie

"minhyuk this relationship isnt working"

"wdym lol"

"you're a disgrace to me"

"huh"

"uR LIKE IN COLLEGE AND YOU'RE WEARING A UNIKITTY SHIRT TO THE MOVIES."

"i only wear my idol's merch <3"

u would sigh

he would put his jacket back on and hug u

"sry babe next time ill get a shirt with YOUR face on it"

"wow thanks"

"mhm np"

Sanha

"w-why'd u choose a horror movie"

you had to drag this tall baby in the theaters

"i don't want to..." he would whine

"please sanha"

you would perform your aegyo on him

shooting him finger hearts and comfort

"sanha u r a man u can do this"

upon hearing he's a man he'd be like

"oK i can do this i'm a man"

clinging onto your arm during the whole movie

would close his eyes and bury his face in your arm

"tell me when its over"

you would pet his floof hair

"its ok sanha, you're my brave knight arent you?"

he immediately recomposes himself and sits up straight

"yes. your majesty i will save u"

few minutes in and he gave up

is actually hugging you full on

not even watching the movie

"sanha... the movie's done now"

after u two are out the theaters

"THAT WAS AN EASY MOVIE I CAN WATCH ANYTHING NOW"

proud of himself

it was cute but

"really? wanna watch the sequel?"

sanha would loudly gulp

"um."

when he would drop you off at your house

he would be stalling time

"sanha you can go now"

"u-uh..."

"r u scared lol"

"lolololol hahahah wdym"

ends up staying the night at your place

cuddling with you the entire night

he would sort of flinch in his sleep

or his body would jump suddenly

nightmare??

u would kiss his forehead and wake him up

"are you ok?"

he would stare at you

and

HE WOULD PERFORM THE "I DREAMED OF A GHOST" AEGYO

"pls go back to sleep and never wake up"

[i-am-stuck-inside-myself]

Never Again (part 3)

 Pairings: Dean x sister!winchester, Sam x sister!winchester

 Warnings: arguing, being drunk, ANGST

 Summary~ With Sam having just left the family business to go to college, the Winchester family is a bit shaken. Dean, Y/N, and John deal with this difficult situation the best they can, but can the family business really go on without one of the esteemed members, Sam Winchester?

You couldn’t believe it. Sam Winchester, your big brother, was standing in front of you; he was right there! You almost started laughing.

“Y/N?” Sam asked in disbelief.

You sunk further into the couch. “Sam! I didn’t know you liked bars,” you were noticeably slurring your words, and Sam started to worry. Why were you in California, and why were you absolutely wasted?

“Hey Sam,” joy glinted in your Y/E/C eyes, “Did you know that cucumbers are fruit?”

“Uh, no, I didn’t- Y/N, What are you doing here?” he asked, a tinge of annoyance entering his stance.

Your bubbly drunk persona melted away. “No offence, Sam, but it’s not really your problem. I came here to get away from family, not to find another branch of it. Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to my car,” you stumbled away from Sam and almost immediately fell flat on your face. “Urgh...”

“Y/N, you can’t drive in this state!” Sam instantly ran to your side, helping you up.

“Supposedly, I can’t do anything at all, because I’m too young and weak!” you cried.

Sam helped you to your feet. “What? Y/N, what are you talking about?”

You snorted. “Nothing bad.” The argument you’d had with Dean suddenly dropped all it’s weight onto your shoulders, and your features twisted in sadness immediately. “Well, nothing life-threatening.”

And of course Sam, being your ex-best friend/brother, understood instantly. “Oh. You had another fight with Dean, huh?”

“Yeah,” you mumbled, averting your gaze.

“Alright,” Sam announced, standing to his full, intimidating height, “Come on, bug. I’ll take you to my apartment, and I’ll call De-”

“No!” you stood suddenly, panic rushing through your veins. “You can’t- Don’t call Dean.”

Sam raised his eyebrows and folded his arms. “So, you still shy away from any conflict like it’s a disease, huh?”

“That’s not true,” you murmured and fell back into your seat on the comfy couch, “I just... I don’t want to talk to Dean.”

“Uh, huh.” Sam clicked his tongue. “Well, I was gonna let you come crash at my apartment until morning anyway, how does that sound?”

“Yeah, alright.” you stared at Sam, noticing something strange. You couldn’t quite put your finger on it. Your head tilted and your eyebrows furrowed as you fell deeper into thought.

“What is it? Y/N?”

Your face shifted from confusion to mischievousness comically fast. “I forgot how tall you were, Sammy,” you began to giggle, “You’re like a giant moose! Moo!”

Sam sighed. “Yeah, I forgot how difficult you got when you were drunk,” he picked you up, “Come on, bug. Let’s go.”

As soon as Sam held you, your eyes started to droop with drowsiness. Sam secured you as you rested your heavy head on his chest. He stepped outside into the cold. Sam thought about how complicated his entire life was, and how much pain it caused him and his family just so he could leave. He knew that he had most likely ruined his relationships with Y/N and Dean- He wasn’t too worried about dad- John was never much of a father, anyway. He walked towards his car, then placed you in the passenger seat. “Just wait here a second, Y/N, I have to go lock up, okay?”

You yawned, sleep’s gentle arms pulling you into dreamland. “Okay, Sammy.”

You saw him smile bitterly as he closed the car door, and then you were out cold.

Eventually, you came to, but not in a room you recognised. The bed was not yours, and it smelt nothing like Dean or the crappy motel rooms you spent eternities in. Why couldn’t you remember anything from last night? Oh God, you didn’t get kidnapped, did you? A bright light filtered through the blinds, burning your eyes. You looked around the bedroom to find pictures of Sam with people you didn’t recognise. Was this Sam’s room? Were you... in Stanford? Your memories began to return to you, like a trickling stream finding it’s way back to the ocean.

So you’d slept through the entire night, since Sam had found you in the bar. A digital clock on a bed stand was brought to your attention, informing you that it was almost 5pm, and you’d slept the entire day away. You groaned lowly as a throbbing sensation grew stronger, emanating from your skull. You brought your fingers to your temples, trying to massage away the pounding above your ears.

“Regretting last night’s decisions already?” Sam appeared in the doorway, with a mug in his hands.

“Don’t make me hit you, Sam,” you muttered.

He chuckled, a sound that made you feel happy and whole, as if nothing was wrong. As if he’d never left.

“Here, take this,” Sam handed you a few pills and a steaming hot coffee. He set the tray down on the bed stand and pushed a few of your stray hairs behind your ear. You smiled at him in thanks and drank your mixture of medicine and caffeine.

“So, what’s going on? Why did you run away?” concern flooded into Sam’s features.

“Dean was being a pig.” you stated.

“Like always, then?” Sam raised an eyebrow.

“More than usual, big brother,” you took a sip of your coffee. “I really missed you, Sammy. Things have been... tough without you.”

Sam looked away. “I’m sure you’ve all been dealing fine. After all, I was always the weakest link. Dad was probably glad I left so easily.”

You shot Sam a dirty look. “You know that’s not true, Sam. You’ve been gone a year, but it feels like a hundred. We need you back, Sammy. Helping people.”

Sam shook his head. “It’s not what I want to do,”

“It’s what you’re meant to do, Sam,” you murmured.

“This is exactly why I stopped talking to you all. You’ll just try and drag me back into the life! Well, guess what, I don’t want to hunt anymore. Get that through your thick skull,” he growled.

Anger started to bubble in your stomach. “So, what, you just wanna live some white fence, 2 and a half kids, apple pie life? You want to abandon your family? You want to leave innocent people to monsters? That’s not you, Sam.”

“You don’t know anything about me.” Sam snarled.

“Right. It’s not like I lived with you for 17 years!” you shrieked. Tears clawed their way down your face, leaving permanent stains on your soul. “You shouldn’t have brought me here.”

Sam’s shoulders tensed. “I’ll go call Dean.” He walked away.

You just couldn’t do anything right. First, you pushed away your eldest brother, who’d always looked after you. Now, you pushed away your second brother, simply because you held onto your past memories too tightly. The only thing you could do properly was hunting and hurting others. You stood from the bed, wiped your tears away, and collected all your things. Sam and Dean were only going to make you feel worse. 

Staying with Dean was a bad idea; you couldn’t stay with Sam unless you were drunk, and dad would already be angry enough. The only option was to be alone. You wrote a quick note to ensure Sam and Dean would leave you alone. Quietly, you sneaked out of Sam’s room to his living room, where you heard his muffled voice from a different room. You shot out of his apartment, running out to the car park. Just as you got into a car, Sam appeared at the front entrance, looking around frantically for you. With fear fuelling you, you started to hot-wire the car. Finally, it started up, and that was when Sam noticed you.

“Y/N! Wait, please!” he yelled after you.

You accelerated. That was what you did best, after all. Run. You looked in your mirror, Sam’s lonely figure standing there. And suddenly you knew that you’d made a terrible mistake by ever leaving.

Dad, Sam, and Dean were some of the best hunters in America. How were you going to outrun these talented trackers? How were you going to outrun your family?

How were you going to outrun your past?

Part 2 

Part 4

(ever growing) Tag List:

@simsguruforever2580 @jackjackljaqui @blackjacksdonuts @i-am-enough-always @katflintstone12 @extreme-supernatural-lover @a-girl-who-loves-disney @xagateophobiax @jared-jensen-misha-are-lovelyy @super100012 @unikitty-03​ @1-more-internet-kid @adeanmon

[mrbananny]

Breakdown

Crie s I'm done with this aaaa. I think this might be the longest fic ive ever wrote omfg. I'm actually pretty proud of myself, because i usually never finish things this long. But thanks a lot to both @uf0-toast and @cartoons-behind-blogging for listening to me scream about this for two days ;v; a cookie for whoever can guess the three songs I referenced !

Summary: GCBC gets invited to a party.

TW: anxiety, possible ptsd, minor blood

Rating: T

It was at a party. Well, not exactly a ‘party’, more of a festive get-together as Bad Cop called them, considering the fact that he didn’t want to be there in the first place. Especially not at Cloud Cuckooland. The lights were too bright, music too loud, and even voices were gosh-darn annoying. The only reason he had been there was because of a certain someone wanting to go.

  ‘Hey, buddy, why don’t you go n’ dance? Make some new friends!’ Good Cop had spoken up, speech still a bit slurred.   The cop gave a sigh. “If you wan’ a dance n’ make friends so bad, why don’t you come out n’ do it yourself?“ He mumbled back.  ‘You know ’m scared t’ come out like this. B'sides, you need t’ work on your social skills, Bad’ Good Cop held back a laugh at mentioning this.   Ever since the events of TAKOS Tuesday, Bad Cop’s other half hadn’t exactly… been himself, in more ways than one. It’s been about a week since then.

  The day prior to the festive get-together was one of the Cop’s first days back from working under Business’ strict rule. After leaving the Super Secret Police that Business had them working in, they had instantly gone back to working as a normal cop. They knew they should take time off after what had happened in those last 3 short days, but they couldn't just laze around their home all day. For them, normal patrol work was a vacation, compared to the work Business had them doing. It was a good break, Bad Cop returned to the normal car chases he loved, and Good Cop went back to crossaint and donut breaks, which he oh-so loved as well.   "PULL OV'R N' COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!" The cop had shouted into the megaphone, head halfway through the window. The criminal was persistent, and it took hours upon hours to finally catch him. And after that was Good Cop's croissant break.   Bad Cop had to order the croissants and coffee, of course. The other still had a bit of a doubt of how people would react to his new face. Bad paid and thanked Larry before rushing out the coffee shop door.   The cops had made their way back to the police cruiser before meeting a familar furry face.   "HIIII, BAD COP!!" Unikitty had shouted in her high pitched, hurting-Bad-Cop's-ears voice. The cop gave a shout, being startled by her sudden appearance, nearly dropping the hot coffee in his lap. "GAH! DON'T SNEAK UP ONE SOMEONE LIKE THAT!" After attempts of trying to calm his heart rate, he continued, putting his hand on his forehead. "What d' you want? I thought the Master Builder's wouldn't want anything t' do with me." Unikitty's excited grin faltered a bit at that question. "Yeah, that's what I thought, too. Buuut! I am throwing a party tomorrow night to celebrate the defeat of the Kragle," that word had caused Bad Cop to flinch a bit, "and Emmet, Wyldstyle, Benny, Metalbeard, and myself thought it would be great for you to come stop by and join us!" The cop opened his mouth to say something-   "There'll be CAKE, and ICE CREAM! Oh, and MUSIC," He had been interuptted as she continued to list off things she had planned, "and GAMES, because who doesn't love party games?! Of course, we're still doing reconstruction on CCC, or C3 for shorter, but we were able to make one party room for tomorrow-"   "Unikitty."   "And it should be good until we get the other 23 up and running-"   "Unikitty?"   "But we REEEALLLY think it would be great for you two to meet new peop-"   "I can't."   Well, that just made her stop dead in her tracks. "W-Why not?" Bad Cop picked up his keys, as a way to hint at her that he wanted to escape from this conversation. "I jus'... think that it might be better if I wasn't there. After all, I was th' one t' ruin... C3," Man Upstairs, he didn't want to call it that. "Look, I appreciate the offer but I just can't."   Unikitty looked defeated. Her ears folded back and she looked toward the sidewalk. "Alrighty. Well, if you change your mind you can always come anyway! Bye, Bad Cop!" And with that, she was off, sparkles and glitter and every other bright shiny thing you can think of trailing her.   'I think it would be fun.' Good Cop had spoken up after a short period of silence.   Bad Cop had ignored what he said. "Do you want your croissant 'r not?" He heard a mental sigh come from his other half as their head spun and suddenly his scribbled face was in control. He picked up his croissant and hesitated.   'You're okay.'   Ever since the... 'incident' with Good Cop and Business, several things have been harder for Good Cop to do with his new face, replaced by scribbled features. Eating, for one, was an issue, considerjng his mouth was nothing but a cross between smooth and jagged edges. Sight, another. Without his glasses, Good couldn't see very far, and adding that to his new eyes, several problems could erupt, which is usually why Bad does all the driving. And of course, speech. He didn't sound like he used to, which is something he could ignore, but his speech pattern had become slurred, which led to some misunderstandings. "I know, I jus'- Maybe we should go?"   'No one would want us there n' you know it.'   "We don' know that. We won' if we don' go."   He took a bite from his snack. "I think it'd be good fer you."   Bad Cop had been so busy thinking back to the day before that he hadn't even noticed the unicorn/cat hybrid and a familiar blue spaceman walk (or rather, float, in Benny's case) up to the punchbowl where the cop had been hiding out since he arrived. "Hey! Bad Cop! Wassup! It's me, Benny, remember?!" Ben had shouted at the top of his lungs, over the loud music playing, snapping Bad out of his thoughts. He jumped back a bit, startled by the new set of loud noises. "Uhm...?" He started, making an attempt to actually remember who Benny was. Good Cop spoke up.   'Remember when we were stuck at th' tower? 'N all the Master Builders escaped, buddy?' Bad Cop thought back. He did remember a blue-clad astronaut among the other Builder's. "Vaguely." He mumbled to Good, just enough to where the music drowned it out. Benny tilted his head a bit when he noticed that he had said something. "Hmm? You gotta speak up, dude, it's LOUD IN HERE!" Bad Cop shook his head in annoyance and opened his mouth to repeat himself, but next thing he knew Benny was already off on another tangent. "Hey! I just wanted to thank you for letting me build a spaceship last week! It really meant a lot!" The confused cop made sure to speak up this time. Benny was right, it WAS loud in here. "'m not th' one you should be thankin'! Good was the one who-"   "OH, YEAH!" Benny had interrupted, "Unikitty and I wanted to know how Good Cop was doing!" Bad flinched. "He's f-fine." He mumbled, forgetting that the music automatically drowned it out.   "WHAT?!"   "I said he's FINE, Ben!" He just about screamed that.   "OH-KAY!"   Unikitty felt as though it was her turn to speak, just trying to keep Benny from being in the hospital due to possible death by chair. "I'm so glad you could join everyone, Bad Cop! I was kinda worried you'd miss the party!" The only response she got was a quiet grumble from the cop standing in front of her. "C'mon Mr. Grumpy Pants! Lighten up a little and come dance!"   Man Upstairs, why does everyone want him to dance so bad?! "No, thank you. Not happenin'."   Unikitty raised one eyebrow and put on a fake innocent smile. "I bet Good Cop would come out and dance!" This caused her to receive a glare from Bad Cop, which was hidden behind his aviators. So Unikitty's expression didn't falter in the slightest. "He doesn't wan' t' come out right now."   Unikitty's smile disappeared, and was soon replaced by an expression of 'the opppsite of happiness'. "Okay... I won't pressure you anymore, sorry!" Bad Cop sighed in relief. As the two Master Builders went to the other end of the snack table, where all the cookies and cake and cookie cakes where. Something told Bad that the last thing those two needed was more sugar.   'B-Buddy?'   "Hmm?" Bad Cop had responded, quietly.   Good Cop had been silent for a few short moments. He did a mental inhale before saying,   'I want t' come out."   Bad Cop froze for a few short seconds.   'Bad?'   "I heard you." He looked out across the sea of dancing Master Builders and 'Party Animals' as Unikitty called them You really wan' t' come out?"   'Yeah. I haven't... been out... much.'   Bad Cop sighed. "I know." He looked back over at Unikitty and Benny before calling for them.   They were in a smaller, separate room. A dress up room. With a mirror and a large closet stuffed with party costumes.   "You wanted t' know how Good was doing?" The cat and spaceman nodded. "You look a little nervous, Bad Cop, is everything alright?" Benny was the first to ask. Bad Cop had been gripping at his shirt with his right hand, left on his cheek. "'M fine. It's jus' that he hasn't been out in public much since..." He stopped himself there.   'Bad, I'll be okay... breathe.'   "Bad Cop you don't have to do this if you don't want to. Not if it makes you uncomfortable." Unikitty reassured. Gosh darn it, why were these two being so nice to him? It's a question he hadn't even thought of asking, he's been so distracted with literally everything else.   A new song had started up and could be heard from through the walls.     Even if it makes me blind     I just want to see the light     Breath in, leave it all behind     I just want to see the light   Unikitty's expression changed from concern to excitement in a matter of milliseconds. She squealed with delight. "Ah! This is my favorite song! C'mon Benny!" And with that she ran out the door, the spaceman following. Ben turned back around to face the nervous Cop. "Hey, just chill, dude! You'll be okay. If not, just give us a shout!" And he left.   A shout. Right.   He turned to look at the mirror, taking his hand off his cheek, other hand still gripping at his shirt. It was a good thing that he had been wearing a normal button up shirt rather than his leather police uniform, or those wrinkles he was creating would've been there forever.   "You sure you wan' t' go through with this?"   Good Cop's only reply was a simple word.   'Yes.'   Next thing Good Cop saw was his scribbled face in the mirror. He was starting to have second thoughts.   'You don' have t' do this if you don' want t', you know this, right?'   Good noted Bad's repetition of Unikitty's words. He shook his head.   "I need t' work on my social skills jus' like you do." He laughed a bit, making a light-hearted joke to ease the anxiety between the two. Good Cop stopped laughing and took deep breaths before walking out of the room and into the main party hall. He felt his heart skip a beat as he took one step foward, then another. Some partygoers had started to notice him, and the room went quiet, save for the loud music and chatting of people who were clueless to what was happening. Good Cop's heart started to race, which Bad Cop took note of.   'Good, calm down.'   He could hear comments about his face, and more and more comments about his presence overall.   'Stay calm.'      'Ew, what happened to his face?' 'Wasn't he the one that destroyed Cloud Cuckooland in the first place?' 'He's probably just here to spy on us, so we can just do this whole shebang all over again.' 'Business better not have followed him here.'   That name. Business. Good Cop started to focus on that name.   'Good, breathe in n' out. You're not breathing, Good! Snap out of it!'   He was right. He couldn't breathe. He was frozen to the spot like a deer in headlights. Why couldn't he move? He could've moved if he wanted to but-   Emmet was walking over. Wyldstyle, Metalbeard. Why were they walking over? He tried to hide his face, arms merely twitching. Emmet walked up to him. "Heh, hey, uh Good Cop? Everything all right there, pal?" He placed a hand on the cop's shoulder, which caused him to step back. He opened his mouth to say something, but couldn't find a lie to tell him. Bad Cop was so much easier at lying to people's faces, gosh, why couldn't he?     He closed his eyes and held his head, blocking out any noises around him. Man Upstairs, if he could just move he could run back into the room. Why couldn't he move?!   He opened his eyes. Presi- No. It was Lord Business. He was wearing his Power Suit and everything. His helmet, his cape, his boots. Where did he get them?! He had told everyone he had gotten rid of it. Good Cop's eyes went wide as he started spitting out apologizes left and right, hoping he wouldn't punish them again.   He didn't mean to let the Special get away, it was that darned Master Builder's fault. Business said something, which Good Cop couldn't seem to make out. Robots came over. He felt hands grab his shoulders, cold and firm, and he desperately thrashed about to get away, eyes glued shut. Through much struggle he pulled his arm free and clocked whoever he could reach. The hands leg go. After several short moments, he opened his eyes to where Business had been standing, ready to apologize once more for punching one of his robots. Although, when he opened them...   He was still at the party. Metalbeard- goshdarn his size- was standing in place of where Business was, Benny to his left, holding his nose, blood dripping from it and down his chin, under where his space helmet had cracked, Wyldstyle and Emmet at his side. Oh.   Oh no. Oh no, no, no.   He could hear Bad Cop shouting at him.   'SNAP OUT OF IT! IT'S NOT REAL, GOOD!!'   Good Cop shook his head. His mind cleared. The whole room had gone into shock, only the music left playing. The cop just stared with wide eyes. He didn't want this to happen. Why did this happen?! All he wanted was to be more outgoing than he had been. All of this was just a mistake. Mistake. Suddenly, he could breathe easily again, though he felt as though the room had been getting smaller. Metalbeard leaned over to him and said, as quiet as he could, which isn't very, "Ye be alright, laddy?"   And there they were.   Tears. Tears had started to fall down Good's face, mixed with the ink of his eyes and mouth, staining the shirt he had been wearing. Everyone stopped short and took a step back, allowing him some room. Darn it all, first he clocks Ben in the face, causes a scene, then cries in front literally every Master Builder? Bad Cop would have his head, if they didn't share the same one, for showing all this vuberability of the two. Biggest mistake of Good Cop's life, considering he felt awful bad for everything that had happened in the span of 5 minutes. Benny looked up, ignoring his now broken face (he could worry about that later), and floated over to Good Cop, who was doing his best to hold in sobs.   "Hey, man? Are you okay?"   That was all Benny had to say before Good let it all out. These people really cared about him and he just didn't understand why. His legs gave out and was soon on the floor, crying inky tears into his white (now gray) shirt and onto the floor. Unikitty must have noticed because the music had been shut off. Everyone stood still looking in the direction of where Good Cop had been sobbing. The room was absolutely silent now, save for the few hiccuping sobs coming from the cop.   Good had made an attempt to reach out to Bad, considering he needed him now more than ever. But he received no response from his other half.   Everyone had been staring. Good Cop expected them to laugh, to use these weaknesses against him and Bad. But they just stood there, concern across everyone's faces. Emmet exchanged glances with Benny. No one knew what they should be doing. They had never seen the two like this. Emmet had walked over to him on the floor and sat down. He said nothing and put his hand on the cop's back, starting to rub it. He looked back at the crowd with an expression of 'This doesn't leave this building', then back to Good Cop with sad eyes. He had gone quiet, save for the occasional hiccups. Emmet didn't know how long he sat there, Benny didn't realize how much blood had gotten on his suit, and Good Cop didn't realize how many were staring.   Bad Cop had finally spoke up through the silence of their mind.   ''m sorry.'   Good Cop wanted to say something back, but his throat had felt like it'd closed up.   He couldn't say anything. He didn't know what to say anyway, so it wouldn't make a difference.   ''m sorry.' Bad Cop repeated.   'I knew you were too nervous t' go out there. I shoulda stopped you.'   Good Cop took in a breath. "I-I'm okay." He said with a shaky breath, both to Bad Cop and the crowd around him. Bad just about screamed.   'Good, you're NOT OKAY. YOU'RE ON TH' FLOOR, STAININ' YOUR SHIRT. I THINK THAT'S A WEE BIT FAR FROM 'OKAY'.'   He tried to stand up. He needed to escape. To leave. To forget this ever happened. He was embarrassing himself. Emmet and Unikitty helped him onto his feet, his gaze locked to the floor, finding the little bit of space between each brick in the makeup more exciting then what had been currently happening. Once he had gotten to his feet, he crowd began to mumble things under their breaths. Good Cop refused to look away from the floor, hands covering his face. "Good Cop? You feeling better?" Benny had asked him. Through his hands, he responded with, "'m f-fine." He lied. "I- I jus' wanna leave."   "Okay. Unikitty and I'll see you out, i-if that's o-okay?" The cop nodded and started out the door. The spaceman looked back at Emmet, Wyldstyle and Metalbeard, as a way to say, 'Everything's okay,' and allow them to resume the music.   Good Cop had already been in the car he drove to the party, which is actually the opposite of what you would expect him to drive. It wasn't a police cruiser, more of a normal everyday car, one much like what Emmet would drive. Benny had floated over with Unikitty and found the cop sitting in the passenger seat. Although, it had been Bad Cop who had taken over, mumbling quietly to himself. The vehicle had been dead silent, but the two still couldn't make out what he had been saying.   Benny opened the driver door. Before he could open his mouth to say something- "Get in. Both 'f you." Bad Cop had demanded. Although the Master Builders were confused, they got in anyway, Benny, in the driver's seat, Unikitty in the back seats. "What are w-"   "You're drivin', Ben." Bad Cop informed him, looking away. Benny said nothing, gripped onto the steering wheel and started the car.   The cops had lived a long ways away, and the ride had been silent, save for occasional mumbling and grumbling from Bad Cop, the spaceman barely able to make out what he had been saying. Apologies, how much he hated how bright C3 was, the sort. Benny looked at Unikitty in the rear mirror. She had been looking out the windows, a bit of a bored, yet regretful expression on her face. The blue astronaut put his eyes back on the road, remembering that he needed to be more careful with this car and not cause a crash. After all, there were two things it wasn't: his, and a spaceship.   He took a look at the car radio. He hadn't noticed how quiet this ride was until he took a glance at the buttons and bells and whistles to his right.   "'m sorry all this happened, Good." Bad Cop whispered under his breath.   ''s okay.'   "No, it's not okay. We shoulda given you more time t' recover. All this is my fault 'n 'm sorry."   'It's not your fault.'   The two stayed quiet after that. Benny spoke up, breaking the two from their conversation. "Bad Cop?"   He grumbled.   "Look, I-I'm really sorry that happened to you, dude." He meant more than just the party incident. "But, if you ever need to talk to someone about this, we're your buddies, man, we'll listen to anything you gotta say."   Buddies. Right.   "Emmet, Wyldstyle, Uni and I, even Batman-" Unikitty shook her head. "Okay, maybe not Batman," he still had that whole tax evasion thing going on, "but everyone else, we'll be here for you okay?"   Bad Cop said nothing. It was a few more minutes of silence before Unikitty whispered something to the astronaut, just enough to where the cops couldn't hear. It would've made a difference anyway, he hadn't been listening to anything but the sounds of the engine running.   "Could I play some music? I think it could get your mind off things for the night." Ben asked.   Bad Cop shrugged. "Sure, but we're almos' there anyway. It's jus' about fifteen minutes."   Benny rolled his eyes. "C'mon, dude I'm trying to help you out here. Look, I'll try to see if I can find, like, an 80's music station or something."   After about a minute, Bad Cop heard a song playing. "Oh, my gosh! I love this song!" Benny shouted. A few seconds in, Unikitty perked up from the back and agreed. Bad Cop listened to the lyrics as Benny and Unikitty sang, quite bad, if you wanna put it politely.     I stopped an old man along the way   Hoping to find some long forgotten words or ancient melodies   He turned to me as if to say, "Hurry boy, it's waiting there for you"   Bad Cop recognized this song. It had been a song he and Good always started road trips off with. It was never an official trip without it. The chorus came along.   It's gonna take a lot to take me away from you   There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do   Benny and Unikitty had been singing at almost the top of their lungs (not enough to bother Bad Cop), that they almost didn't notice the quiet, slightly slurred voice that had joined in.   Keyword: 'Almost'.   I bless the rains down in Africa   Gonna take some time to do the things we never had   Benny and Unikitty shut up before he was finished singing the second half of the chorus. Good Cop noticed that it had been unusually silent from them, despite the song still playing. He looked over, revealing his still-runny-inked face, which didn't seem to phase either of the Master Builders. Benny had a huge grin on his face, almost literally stretching from ear to ear and Unikitty's eyes were sparkling like they've never sparkled before. "See? I told you you'd feel better with some music! Just some singing and you're back in the groove of things!" The cop made an attempt to pretend that he didn't know what he was talking about. Of course, Benny wasn't believing it.   "You should sing more often!" Unikitty cheered. Good Cop's face flushed at the compliment, which was very crontrasting to the ink smears that made it up. Bad Cop quickly switched in, their head spinning around. "Th-Thanks, but we jus' wanna get home n' forget that tonight ever happened." After that, he quickly fell silent again, Benny and Unikitty still grinning.   The song ended and another began.   Darling you got to let me know   Should I stay or should I go? They had soon arrived at the cops' apartment complex in Bricksburg. Bad Cop jerked a bit in his seat and looked up out the front window. He groaned and put his face in his hands. "Ugh, 'm sorry, I didn't even consider th' fact that you both need a ride back." Unikitty got out of the car through... the window. "Pssh, it's okay Bad Cop!" Benny undid his seatbelt and turned off the car, opened the door and soon floated right out like a balloon. "Yeah! I have a spaceship hangar close by, dude! I have them all over the universe just in case!" Bad gave him a look through his hands before promptly placing them in his lap. "It's only been a week. How've you had time t' build so many spaceships in seven days?" Benny looked nervous.   "W-Well, I never said that..." He waved his hands. "ENOUGH ABOUT THAT. Look, dude, Unikitty and I'll find a spaceship to take back to Cuckooland. And again, remember, that the rest of the Master Builders and us are here if you need to talk to anyone about anything okay?" He handed the cop a phone number. In messy handwriting, it read:      The DOG          270-4730   Bad Cop nodded. "G'night, Ben. Unikitty."   "Good night, Bad Cop. Tell Good Cop 'night for us too!" Unikitty responded.   Their apartment. That old, messy apartment. The one Business had reserved for them while under his rule. After TAKOS Tuesday, it had become more and more filthy and dirty. Bad Cop didn't mind, he had a place for everything, but Good Cop hated it.   He walked into the bathroom. The mirror, which desperately needed a cleaning (Man Upstairs, give him a day off to clean this place), showed his face, his tired, tired face. It then switched to a scribbly face, ink stains running down the cheeks and chin.   'D' we need to fix it?'   "... yeah."   ''m still sorry about what had happened back at 'Kitty's place.'   "'S not your fault."   'I know.'   It had been about a month later. Bad Cop had been sitting in his police office and Business payed him a visit, another attempt to apologize for Good Cop. Gosh, he wanted to punch him. However, by a cruel miracle, he was still the president, and the cops knew all too well that if you threaten the President, you threaten your life. No matter if he's 'reformed or not' (extra claw quotations around reformed). After the president had left, Bad Cop grabbed the nearest, replacable object he could, and gripped it as hard as possible. It broke. It was a ceramic dog, much like one that you would buy for $2 at an arts and crafts store and paint it yourself. A gift from Emmet. The ears, paws, and tail were blue and pink, while the rest was orange. The colors contrasted a bit, but Bad Cop didn't mind. He felt awful for what he did to it though, but then again, you shouldn't give anything breakable like that to Bad Cop.   He cleaned off his hand, pieces from the dog making his hand white from the powdery material, and rainbow colored from the paint.   He sat there a moment, recollecting his thoughts before looking over at a strip of paper taped to his computer monitor. He contemplated something for a few quick moments.   He picked up his phone and dialed the number.   It rang a few times before a cheery voice picked up on the other end.   "Hello?"   "Hello, Ben. Sorry t' bother... but I need t' vent." 

[ruffoverthinksthings]

Do you think Jay and Evie are possible

Anything is possible WHEN YOUBELIEVE!

I’m sorry, it’s late and I need to be going to sleep soon. Anyway:

Speaking from a purely meta perspective, there is no ship that isnot allowed. You don’t need to have any existing chemistry withinthe show, you don’t need to have any “proof” that they couldwork out, and you definitely do not need to prove this to otherpeople with evidence, powerpoints, and independent peer reviews fromother shippers who do not have any potentially biased views, and/orconflicts of interest with you.

Shipping is not scientific research, it's a fun past time. Andthis is coming from a shipper that has, for reasons of having fun, shipped aLatina scientist with several other female characters across thelines of show, age, timeline, and even species, because they wantedto have a lot of fun making one particular character suffer.

(Honey Lemon with Elsa, Unikitty, Athena, Fluttershy, and GoGo, from Big Hero 6, Frozen, The LEGO Movie, Borderlands, and My Little Pony, for my fic “It’s Not Her Fault She Makes Girls Realize They’re Lesbians.)

From an in universe perspective: yes, it is also possible, and actually my first choice for Evie’s relationship choice if she and Doug don’t work out. (The latter of which is most likely, but I already gave my reasons way back when.)

If you, like me, ignore the book series for the most part, I headcanon that given the inherently small population and lack of choice on the Isle, most every VK has dated each other, or has dated someone else’s current beau and can offer them advice. With Evie in particular, though she was constantly setting her sights at whoever had the most physical goods and luxury (relative to the Isle) she could help herself to, she frequently cheated on them or had a very casual relationship with Jay whenever she wanted someone exciting, manly, and with very agile fingers.

I mean those both literally and as a sexual euphemism: Jay is a master of stealing alcohol, semi-decent food, and candles for romantic dinners, along with what follows if he can eat like a regular human being for about half-an-hour.

Post-Isle of the Lost and the vastly expanded opportunities in Auradon both for dating and just improving their lot in life, I imagine that the two of them will spend a lot of time being happily single, figuring out who they are and what they want in life independent of the influence of other people trying to shape them with their whims and desires, and just generally maturing.

For the purposes of this ship, I’d say Evie will find herself in the fashion world as an “Avante Garde” designer known for her incredibly striking, controversial, and many times risque pieces; or as a scientist for any field--it doesn’t really matter which, the point of it being that she works in a constant high stress environment where money, time, timing, public opinion, and sweet talking is constantly a concern, and she’s likely to butt heads with people who are very determined, very opinionated, and very, very, very unpleasant if you happen to prove that they’re wrong in an objective manner.

Jay, as always, will probably find himself as either a professional Tourney player or as part of the Royal Guard, now relevant once more as the VK population grows and the crime rate steadily ticks up from absolute zero. Basically, a job that is high octane, high stakes, with lots of physical activity, and it’s a question of “when” you are going to get injured on the job not “if.”

The two of them I’d imagine dating within their professional circles (it’s where most people meet their partners and dates, after all) in between rising up in their respective career ladders, but as they begin to carve out their niches, get their private offices, and the managers frothing at the mouth trying to get him to sign onto their teams or the high ranking titles, they start to realize something:

They REALLY don’t want ALL of their lives to just be their jobs, and the ways that their colleagues relax aren’t doing it for them. Evie finds the going out to bars, restaurants, and visiting art galleries just carries more of the schmoozing, gossiping, subtle backstabbing, and politeness that her regular job entails; and as Jay grows older, more mature, and starts to think about his life at large, he starts to realize that it’s NOT so fun to blow off steam by partying, drinking, and having one night stand after one night stand.

Things come to a head in a Romantic Comedy coincidence: someone just happens to make the wrong snide comment at Evie on the Day When Nothing Went Right, and in the process of trying to save a rival athlete/fellow partygoer from his own morning hangover stupidity, Jay gets hit by a car.

Evie has a very public blow-up that has her temporarily excommunicated from the high fashion community/the research facilities and laboratories for fear of scandal/”disruptive and toxic attitude affecting morale”, Jay comes out of the incident with just a mild limp, but is hospitalized and will be confined for the next couple of weeks by order of his boss/manager.

It just so happens that the Rotten Four and most of their AK friends are coming to Jay’s hospital room because they’re worried for him, but because they’re all also high-profile professionals at this point/King of the entire country/freelancers who need more commissions to keep paying for their really nice studio apartment, Evie is the only person left sitting next to him.

“Don’t you have important work that’s ‘going to revolutionize Auradon’ or something?” Jay asks.

“Normally, I would! But, since I just had a major meltdown in front of pretty much everyone who pays me to do it: no, no I don’t,” Evie replies as she’s sunk into the easy chair nearby.

Jay nods sympathetically. “Bad day?”

Evie cringes. “More like a whole string of bad days, bad nights, and bad things all piling up till a REALLY Bad Day lit the fuse.”

“Jesus--E, when was the last time you cut loose and let yourself relax?”

Evie sighs wistfully. “Too long ago. Definitely not last night like you did, though. I really hope that party was worth it.”

Jay cringes. “It wasn’t.”

Evie looks at him in surprise. “You? Not enjoying yourself at a party? How?”

Jay shrugs. “When I started being the combination chaperone/designated driver, I guess.”

The two of them pause.

“EVILNESS, I HATE my job SO MUCH right now!” Evie gripes. “And it’s fucked up, because I LOVE my work, but I have all these people I respect and admire professionally, but then they open their mouths and I have to resist the urge to tell them to just shut the fuck up...!”

“Oh man, I’m like that with the new guys all the time--all these fresh grads who think that just because they’re half my age they’re automatically better than me!”

“You’re not alone. I swear, there’s this one intern who is eying me like a hawk; I can see her imagining herself behind my desk, it’s creepy and annoying!”

“Kinda reminds me of Kingsley--might want to slow down on the ‘friendly suggestions’ there, bud.”

“Hah, at least he’s polite about it,” Evie spits.

The two of them spend another few moments in silence, feeling even worse than before.

“What happened to us, Jay?” Evie whispers quietly. “What the fuck happened to us?”

“We grew up. Life happened.”

“But it shouldn’t THIS bad! I shouldn’t be getting up in the morning excited to go to work then having second thoughts when I remember who I’ll be saying hi to on the way to my desk--”

“Get out,” Jay mumbles.

Evie stops. “Excuse me...?”

“We need to get out of here. This hospital, this city--”

“We need a vacation, stat.” Evie finishes.

Jay hums. “Damn right.” He gets up off his bed.

Evie sits up in her chair. “Woah, Jay, you sure you should be getting up?”

“I’m fine,” Jay says. “Everyone’s being keeping me in the hospital longer and longer since I turned 25, something about ‘being sure’ or some other paranoid bullcrap.”

“And they’re just going to let you walk out like this?”

“Hell no!” Jay replies as he walks over to his regular clothes in the corner. “Which is why I’m breaking out,” he says casually, grinning as he takes off the papergown.

Evie has seen worse several times over, so she’s unfazed. “And how are you going to do that? You didn’t break anything, sure, but you’re still not 100%.”

“Evie, Evie, Evie,” Jay says as he puts his pants back on, “What haven’t I been able to do if I had the perfect accomplice with me?”

Evie stands up from the chair, smiling and feeling genuinely excited for the first time in months. “Just tell me what I have to do...”

So the two of them engineer a hospital break, take off in Evie’s car, and go on a crosscountry roadtrip with the intent of enjoying a full 3 days at the bordertowns in Faraway, raising hell, rediscovering what’s important in their lives, running and hiding away from their bosses who now coincidentally, desperately need them back on the job, and spending a LOT of time learning about all the many ways they’ve changed for the better, and reacquainting themselves with Jay’s very agile fingers...

... Again, literally and as a sexual euphemism.

[thisspaceintentionallyleftblank]

Try, Try Again (pt. 8)

(Cpt 1) | (Cpt 2) | (Cpt 3) | (Cpt 4) | (Cpt 5) | (Cpt 6) | (Cpt 7) ||  (AO3) Thanks to everyone that left such lovely comments on the last chapter! You guys made my whole week :D

Also, I forgot to mention this last time, but Bonus Points to anyone that can guess why the ship is named the Gemini.... Chapter 8 (3314 words)

ABOUT THREE YEARS AGO

Bianca opened the door with one hand, carefully balancing her newest spaceship in the other. Finn would like this one, she was super sure.

Dad had helped her with the really tricky bits, since some Legos were still too small and finicky for a seven year-old to use, but she had built most of it herself. Plus, she had done all the stickers and decorating as well. 

Looking down the stairs, she couldn’t see any sign of her brother. Tentatively, she set the Gemini aside, placing it on top of one of the many shelves lining the side of the staircase. 

“Finn?” She called out his name as she flounced downstairs, running a careful hand along the banister. The basement was silent in response, aside from the low rumble of the dryer. 

In her brother’s absence, Bianca’s attention turned to the large table where his Legos were set out. The city of Bricksburg looked pretty much the same as when she’d last seen it, which was to say that it looked pretty rough. The last time that they’d “played” together, they had ended up arguing over a particularly cool minifigure and Bianca had accidentally smashed her elbow into one of the taller skyscrapers, totally destroying it. And then, when Finn tried to swoop in and catch the top of the building, he had only succeeded in toppling its neighbor as well. 

Bianca frowned at the memory. She hadn’t meant to break the tower, and she hadn’t meant to make Finn so grumpy either. It seemed like everything she did made him mad though, and he never wanted to play the same games as her either. 

She looked over towards where Finn kept his favorite minifigures. He almost always played with the same ones, and he never let her play with any of them, even though he had so many. 

Bianca reached over, plucking Batman’s figure from where he’d been positioned behind some kind of turret gun. 

Batman was the coolest of all Finn’s superheros, Bianca thought. Her brother had given her some other ones, like Wonder Woman and the green guy, a while back so that she’d stop bothering him about it. And then, he hid Batman for a while. She didn’t know how long, but it seemed like approximately the amount of time it takes to produce a feature length animated film... or something. 

Regardless, he was back now. 

Bianca liked Batman because he seemed lonely, like he needed a friend to give him hugs or throw him a party. Sometimes she felt lonely like that, but she had her mom and dad, and from what she’d heard, Batman didn’t. 

Holding him in her hand, Bianca wondered if Batman missed his superhero friends. They were all up in her room, maybe she ought to take-

The door to the stairs opened with a bang.

“Bianca?” Finn called out as he raced down the stairs. “You better not have broken anything. That new tank took me hours to build.”

He pulled up next to her, inspecting the area for damage. 

“I didn’t break your dumb tank.” Bianca stuck her tongue out at his back. “I just came down here to show you something.” She turned to go retrieve the Gemini when Finn suddenly whipped around. 

“Where’s Batman?” He exclaimed. “He’s supposed to be piloting the whole thing.”

“He’s right here!” Bianca extended her arm, the plastic figure still clenched in her hand. 

“Give him back!” Finn grabbed her wrist with one hand and began to pull at Batman with the other.

“Hey!” Bianca yelped. “Let go!”

Finn released her arm and pressed the fist holding Batman against his chest, as if to shield it from her. “You’ve got to stop taking my guys, Bianca,” he muttered darkly.

“I wasn’t taking him,” Bianca bristled. “I was just looking!”

“Uh huh,” Finn scowled. “The same way you were ‘just looking’ at the Justice League?”

“You gave me those guys!”

“Did not!” Finn rebutted. “And I want them back.”

“You can’t do that,” Bianca wailed.

“Can so.”

“Argh!” Bianca tugged at her hair and screamed just a little bit. “You’re the worst!”

Angrily, she stomped up the stairs as loudly as she could, and slammed the door behind her.

Finn’s expression sagged. Quietly, he turned back to his worktable and placed Batman into his seat. As he did so, his attention fell on the little vehicle nearly obscured by Batman’s tank. Gently, he picked the little car up, opened the door, and removed Emmet’s figurine. 

Holding the construction worker tenderly in his palm, Finn couldn’t help but remember all the cool adventures he had made up for his little buddy. About a month ago, when they were shopping for new school supplies, his mom had bought him a big notebook just for writing down some of his stories. He had already filled out a good handful of the pages and had even let Bianca draw in some illustrations. 

He had taken the notebook with him when he went to middle school orientation last week. When the teacher had made his small group go around and share, he had told them that his name was Finn and he liked to play with his Legos and write stories. 

Afterwards, a couple of the kids had asked to see his notebook, and he’d nervously complied. They read through the first few pages, and then most of them seemed to get kind of bored. One kid flipped through the whole book really fast, stopping abruptly on a picture of Unikitty that sprawled messily across both pages. 

The kid laughed, and Finn felt his stomach churn. He suddenly felt like the whole world was ending and the only thing that would stop it would be to snatch his notebook back and hide it somewhere far away. But, the other kids were still holding it and so he’d probably just rip it if he tried. 

“Um, actually,” he stammered, “that one is my sister’s character. Mine, uh, mine has huge fangs and huge claws and uh, can shoot missiles.”

The kids tittered appreciatively at the thought of missiles and cool explosions, but it didn’t make Finn feel as good as he thought it would have. 

Looking down at Emmet, all Finn could see now were the things he couldn’t do. He couldn’t shoot missiles, or do backflips, or take out bad guys, or impress anyone. He wasn’t cool or tough or important or interesting or special. He was embarrassing. 

The sharp plastic edges of the figurine started to jab into Finn’s clammy fingers uncomfortably, causing him to realize how tight his grip had become. Dimly, Finn knew that he wasn’t really upset at Emmet, that it was silly to be upset at a toy. But given that he was a ten year-old boy, the idea of disliking a thinly veiled self-insert was a much more palatable concept than the alternative. 

Setting Emmet back down, Finn turned away, walking up the stairs and out of the basement. As he did so, he failed to notice the newest addition to the downstairs’ collection, and so the Gemini was left to collect dust. 

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

“Wow, Nova,” Emmet grinned. “That was a really great story. And so well told, too. I’m really glad I heard it and not like, some kind of fourth-wall breaking, real world analog instead.”

“Pssh,” Nova scoffed, an embarrassed flush rising on her ears. “It was whatever.”

Suddenly, her comm blipped loudly. Nova reached down, pressing a button on her belt to accept the call, and Catastrophe’s voice blasted out. 

“HELLO? NOBLE?” 

She sighed. “Literally who else would it be, Major?”

“GOOD POINT.” Catastrophe coughed awkwardly, causing a jolt of feedback. “ANYWAYS, I HAVE RETRIEVED THE REST OF GROMMET’S CREW AND WE’RE WAITING FOR YOU DOWN BY THE MAIN ENGINE.”

 “Oh!” Nova’s expression brightened. “Alright, we’ll be down in a minute.”

“ALSO PLEASE BRING SOME BAND-AIDS.”

Nova said something in response, but Emmet didn’t hear it. 

The main engine, he thought. That’s what I’m supposed to destroy. Nova’s story still echoed in his mind however, and he couldn’t help but feel ashamed for thinking about destroying a lost and unarmed ship. 

His guide turned toward him, oblivious to his current thoughts. “Come on, dude,” she smiled gently. “You’re gonna love this.”

Quietly, Emmet followed.

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

The engine was big. 

Logically, Emmet had known this. He’d seen it on the map earlier, and he remembered thinking to himself wow, that’s pretty big. 

However, seeing it in person, he was utterly struck with the realization that the engine was BIG. 

It was at least two, if not three, stories tall, and it seemed to stretch back infinitely into the ship. The fact that it was constructed out of millions of intricate interlocking pieces only added to the illusion, giving it complexity and depth. 

Even though it was completely off, the way that his eyes couldn’t help but trace the convoluted gears and tracks and tubing of the machine gave it the illusion of movement.

Beside him, Nova nudged his shoulder. “It’s pretty, isn’t it.”

Still bewildered, Emmet couldn’t do much more than nod in mute agreement.

“When it’s on,” she pointed up towards an array of delicate shapes and figures littering the engine, “those all dance and twirl and spin around.” Half turned towards her, Emmet could see how her amber eyes seemed to glow with raw adoration. She was smiling, really smiling, and in the light of the engine room, he suddenly noticed that she had a spattering of light freckles that sprawled across her dimpled cheeks like constellations. 

“ATTENTION EVERYBODY.” Catastrophe addressed him and the five raptors that were standing morosely in the corner of the room. 

“I UNFORTUNATELY CANNOT TURN ON THE ENGINE FOR YOUR DELIGHT AND AMUSEMENT. AS SUCH, I WOULD LIKE TO ASK YOU TO PLEASE IMAGINE THAT IT IS WHOOSHING AROUND AND BEING REALLY SUPER COOL.”

They gave a stiff bow. “THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION.”

For a few minutes, they all stood quietly in front of the engine. Emmet tried his hardest to imagine it in motion, like the Major had requested, and frankly it did seem super cool. Eventually though, Catastrophe spoke up again.

“ATTENTION AGAIN, PLEASE.” They rasped. “IT IS NOW BEDTIME. NOEL, PLEASE ACCOMPANY THE BITEY ONES BACK TO THEIR ROOMS, AND I WILL ESCORT EMILY-”

“Emmet.”

“YES, OF COURSE. I WILL ESCORT HELMET BACK TO HIS ROOM.”  

“Ugh,” Nova grumbled. “Yeah, yeah, alright.” She grabbed the first aid satchel back from the Major and started to herd the raptors out of the room.

“SO,” the Major took Emmet by the elbow and started to lead him down the opposite corridor. “WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE ENGINE?” 

“It’s awesome,” Emmet beamed. “I kinda wish I could see it in action.”

Catastrophe stared at him for a moment, just long enough to make it awkward. “I SEE,” they eventually wheezed before leading him towards his bedroom in relative silence.

When they reached the room, the door hissed open automatically. Emmet stepped into the doorway and couldn’t stop himself from gasping. It was like a luxury hotel room, spacious and well-furnished. He turned back to ask the Major if they’d gotten the right room, but they were gone.   

Alone now, Emmet wandered over to sit on the bed. It was absurdly soft and he couldn’t resist the urge to lie down, pausing only to brush off a few of the decorative pillows and stuffed animals that were taking up the majority of the bed’s surface. In a flash, all his exhaustion caught up to him, and he realized that he probably wasn’t going to get back up until morning.

Absent-mindedly, he picked up one of the stuffed toys that was digging into his side. It was a blue bear, like the one he’d had as a child, long before the world had ended twice-over. 

He frowned. Everything had been so simple this morning, when the Gemini was just a vague threat and there was a straightforward plan to follow. But now, he couldn’t be sure what to do. If he didn’t destroy the engine, then he would fail the seminar and let all his friends down. But if he did destroy it, then Nova and Catastrophe could be stuck here forever. 

Laying on his back, Emmet let his worried thoughts roll through his mind again and again until he slipped into a vague sort of sleep. 

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

Apocalypseburg was crumbling. The buildings, the vehicles, even the ground itself was fracturing into a thousand tiny shards. The world was ripping itself apart, accompanied by a symphony of distorted screaming voic-

Lucy fell to the ground, hard. A yelp escaped her lips before she could help it. She looked up, her face twisted in pain, a trace of blood trickling past her brow. There was fear in her ey-

The Rexcelsior streaked through space, its engines gleaming, clearly working at full power. Suddenly, something unseen struck its side, exploding against the hull in a brilliant blast of light. The ship shuddered, rocked by the force of the explosion, sending small sections of ship careening into the void. Its attacker swerved around, avoiding the debris, their guns shimmering as they prepared another volley.

It was the Gemini.

Fully operational.

Its rear engines were spinning, smearing a shimmering golden trail against the backdrop of spa-

Emmet jerked awake. His heart was pounding in his chest, threatening to leap past his ribs altogether. 

It was just a dream, he thought. A- a nightmare maybe. Either way, it wasn’t real. 

But… it had felt real. 

Suddenly, Emmet realized that he was incredibly uncomfortable. His bed was too warm, despite the thinness of the blanket. He needed to get out.

He stood up, feeling the chill of the night air in the sweat on his back. For a moment, he considered calling Rex, telling him about the dream. It usually helped to talk about these things, but… Emmet couldn’t impose. 

It hadn’t been that bad of a dream, he told himself. He could deal with it himself. He’d just go for a quick walk, just to get his mind off things. That was all. 

He stepped out into the hall. The overhead lights were off, but a thin strip of LEDs near the floor emitted a faint blue glow that allowed him to see well enough. He tried to walk gently, so as not to disturb anyone that might still be sleeping. As he was pacing past the bridge, he stopped to look out the vast window. 

It was so quiet and still. Outside the window, glastroids floated by, slowly spinning past one another. The stars in the distance glimmered, and Emmet felt a little better just watching them. He leaned against the dashboard, cupping his cheek in one hand as he stared dreamily out of the window. 

Suddenly, a light on the dash illuminated. Startled, Emmet pulled back, looking frantically to see what he had accidently touched. But, as he searched, he couldn’t see anything that had been disturbed. 

The light blinked again. Beneath it was a label reading “Engine Status”, and beneath that was a readout displaying the word “ACTIVE”.

Emmet stared at the light in confusion. The cold sensation of dread percolated in the back of his mind. Abruptly, he turned on his heel, stalking out of the door and down the corridor towards the engine room. 

As he approached, he crept quieter and quieter, sticking as low to the ground as he could. He could tell he was getting closer, as the ambient light and noise was steadily increasing. Stopping at the entrance, Emmet peered carefully around the doorway.    

Inside the room, he could see Major Catastrophe pacing in front of the vast engine, which had begun to slowly but steadily turn in an intricate motion. Behind them, Nova was bent over, kneeling in front of the machine, performing some kind of maintenance on it. 

As Emmet watched, she grunted and stood up. The engine started to accelerate, and the metallic hum filling the air increased in both frequency and volume. She walked over to the Major’s side, and Emmet suddenly recognized the piece she had been working on - the fuelcell of the Rexplorer. 

“FINALLY,” Catastrophe rubbed their hands together. “WE WILL MAKE IT TO APOC-LICKS-BURG. FINALLY WE CAN SHOW THEM WHAT WE’RE CAPABLE OF!” 

They begin to laugh, a maniacal and distorted sound. 

“Yeah,” Nova agreed, excitement clear in her voice, “I can’t wait!”

The engine twirled faster now, and the activation lights started blinking from red to green. For a long moment, all three characters simply watched the lightshow.

“Do you think,” Nova asked hesitantly. “That Emmet will be upset?”

“MAYBE.” Catastrophe’s mask was illuminated starkly by the glow of the engine, which continued to grow brighter. “BUT HE WON’T BE FOR VERY LONG.”

In his hiding place, Emmet felt utterly betrayed. He turned away from the upsetting scene, pressing his face into his hands. He had trusted them. He had trusted them, and they had stolen his crew and his fuelcell, and they really were planning on attacking his friends just like he’d seen in his dream.

He pressed his palms into his eyelids, trying in vain to stop the tears that were welling up behind them. 

The things that he’d seen… Apocalypseburg being destroyed, Lucy being hurt… he had to stop it. He had to stop the Gemini. 

With a burst of determination, Emmet wiped his face and rose to his feet. Glancing over his shoulder, he could see that Nova and the Major were still preoccupied with restarting the engine. He would show them that he wasn’t as naive as they thought. 

Setting his expression into something hard, Emmet strode into the engine room.

“You stole our fuelcell?” His voice rang out over the drone of the engine, clear and accusatory.

“Emmet?” Both aliens turned to face him, their shock clear on their faces. 

“EVAN,” Catastrophe started, “YOU DON’T UNDERST-” 

“No!” Emmet shouted, ignoring the heat of tears that had somehow snuck past his anger. “No, I understand PERFECTLY. You thought you could trick me, because I’m… because I’m not tough.”

His voice caught in his throat. “B- But, you’re wrong! I am tough. And I’ll prove it to you!”

Buoyed by his rage, Emmet ran towards the engine, easily slipping past the others. 

WHAT MAKES YOU MAD, EMMET?

Trinity’s voice rang in his ears, louder than the engine, louder than his pounding heart.

WHAT MAKES YOU MAD?

That people doubt me, Emmet thought. That people don’t accept me. That people pity me.

W H A T   M A K E S   Y O U   M A D ?

That people don’t think I’m worth anything.

His fist hit the center of the engine. Under his knuckles, the metal screeched. Instantly, the lights flickered, growing to a blinding intensity before dying completely in the blink of an eye. The clockwork pieces and elaborate decorations that had only begun to move seemed to leap from their perches to the unforgiving floor below. There was the sound of things shattering and breaking, the sound of the huge machine grinding to a halt, the sound of its gears chewing themselves to death. 

And then there was silence.  

Panting, Emmet rose to his feet, brushing dust and debris off his suit. Without looking at the others, he moved towards the fuelcell, pulling it effortlessly out of the wreckage. 

“We’ll be leaving now,” he said, his voice cold and flat.

“You… ” Nova fell to her knees, her eyes wide with disbelief. “It can’t be gone.”

Beside her, the Major turned to stare at him with pleading eyes. “BUT,” they wheezed. “WHY?”

Emmet walked past them, trying to remember where they’d placed his crewmates. He looked back, just for a second, at the wreckage. 

“You shouldn’t have taken my stuff.”