#this ended up being so long winded but this is basically outlining how everything kicks off LOL

[liturgusakrattorum]

runes story infodumping while i eat lunch :3 this ended up being a bit long so i’ll put this under a read more LOL

AtroCorp Biotechnologies is part medical company, part wildlife research startup. founded by Dr. Cassius Castellanos, the company's spent over 50 years finding ways to help humans by learning how animals have evolved to survive and incorporating it into their medical technology. Dr. Castellanos unfortunately passed away about a year ago, leaving his son, Corvus, to take up the reins.

during this year's international villains' convention, AtroCorp announced a partnership with Pave Nature, Inc. to build several new branches of its company. alongside that, both companies revealed a fantastic new technology AtroCorp had unearthed: Creature Power Runes. AtroCorp itself had been researching them for years beforehand, but they'd recently discovered the existence of several more beyond the few they already had.

Paisley, being this year's convention spokeswoman, introduced the Hunt — an international race among the villains to locate the remaining Runes. Whoever got their hands on one was free to use them however they wanted (they sell for incredibly high prices!). This obviously got the attention of Donita, Gourmand, and Zach, each for their own reasons.

Donita found that the Runes could be used for her new jewelry line, and the animalistic features that contact with one of them tended to create was the perfect way to accessorize her work. Gourmand believed the Runes could be refined into exquisite spices that he could sell at the next location he opens.

And Zach -- ever the robotic genius -- knew he could use the Runes to power his animal-based technology, should he find a way to tap into their full power. Plus, they were a hell of a lot easier to wrangle than live creatures.

Meanwhile, the Tortuga Crew (none the wiser to the Hunt that had been announced just a month or so before) have been doing their own research into the three Runes Aviva had found prior to putting the team together. At the time things kick off, the crew is in possession of the Arctic Wolf, Peregrine Falcon, and Cheetah Runes.

The crew gets roped into everything when Zach attempts to steal the Runes from them; Martin and Chris learn about the Hunt after stumbling upon Zach’s plans on his ship. The crew realizes. Hm! This could get ugly if the Runes end up in the wrong hands. And so they make it their goal to get their hands on whatever Runes they can before the villains do.

A majority of the story follows the crew as they travel around the world and do their thing (kinda similar to what we see in the canon show, except there’s that overarching plot of piecing together what’s happening in the background). Alongside doing their field work, Chris and Koki are working together to discover the origin of the Runes, although much of their research has turned up very little. The two of them have at least narrowed down their search to somewhere in the Western Hemisphere, but the exact location is still unknown.

Coincidentally, much of their progress comes from their run-ins with Pave Nature and AtroCorp. After discovering multiple excavation sites around the world, the crew learned that the two companies are looking for the same thing they are. (Also coincidentally, Aviva seems particularly uncomfortable every time the crew encounters AtroCorp...)

So far, Martin and Chris are the only ones who can use a Creature Power Suit. Aviva’s inventions are mostly compatible with the Runes, although there’s still a lot of malfunctions she needs to fix. The more the bros test em out, the better of an understanding she has of how Rune technology works. This actually ends up becoming the basis of the Creature Power Disks later :]

[luimagines]

Date Night with The Chain Part 2!

Masterlist

Part 1

Part two will include Four, Wild and Time!

Content under the cut!

Four

A sigh leaves your lips as you finally sit down after a long day.

There was a large stone jutting off of the side of a cliff where your group had decided to camp for the night. It had a high vantage point and the entrance was hidden by the surrounding foliage, making it a cozy secluded resting spot for ten weary travelers.

Your feet sighed with relief with the weight off of the them and you began to kick them back and forth. After some moment to yourself you pull your legs in and take off your shoes. 

You resume kicking your feet into the wind, more relieved than you were before without shame.

“Rupee for your thoughts, my darling?” You hear him come up from behind.

“No thoughts, head empty.” You snort and glance over your shoulder. “Join me?”

Four has his hands on his hips as he stands there, watching you with a calm smile and hearts in his eyes. “If you’d have me.”

“As if I could ever turn you away.” You look back out into the distance, pointedly ignoring the commotion of Legend tackling Warrior in the background.

Four doesn’t even try to hide his laughter when he sees what’s happened but comes to sit by your side regardless of what is happening with the others.

You watch him as he lowers himself down and are only marginally confused when he shifts to sit on his hip instead- oh no wait- Four leans over after shifting his body around to place his head directly into your lap.

You grin and waste no time in running your fingers through his hair, taking his hairband out and letting it all fall across your legs. “Comfortable?”

“Best spot, hands down.” Four snuggles a little close and turns his head to look beyond what the rock has to offer.

The sun has begun to set and even if your friends are busy losing their minds in the background it surprisingly easy to tune them out with Four by your side. As the sky turns from blue to orange and reds with the feint outline of purple at the top, you and Four watch the day end with gentle smiles on your faces.

On a whim you begin to braid his hair, letting them collect in number even if it’s messy and unorganized. 

“Having fun?” Four sighs and pokes your knee a little.

“Yes.”

“Good... Feels nice.”

You can’t help but grin to yourself and wait a minute before undoing it all and starting over with more purpose in mind. “I wish I had flowers or feathers or something... Maybe some ribbon... Make it look pretty and stuff.”

“And stuff?”

“And stuff.”

“Why not use my head band?”

“It’s too big and if I’m going to use ribbon it should be made out of silk or satin, only the highest quality of materials for my love.” You say and lean over to give him a kiss on his forehead.

“I don’t think it’s necessary.” Four raises an eyebrow and you can see that he’s on the cusp of falling asleep.

Everyone is tired.

“Maybe not but I say you deserve it, so it must be so.”

“I love you.” Four mumbles sleepily and you know that a this point if someone were to wake him up he’d be grumpy until the next morning.

“I love you too.” You smile and let him sleep against you.

The sun sets and it’s nice.

Wild

“Do you need any help?” You walk up to Wild as he’s beginning to take out whatever ingredients needed to get dinner started.

You stand a little ways behind him and wait for him to turn around. He pauses from arranging the vegetables and glances over his shoulder to look at you.

You smile as pleasantly as you can and laced your fingers together behind your back, trying to look at innocent as possible, trying to visually butter him up to let you help him.

Wild knows what you’re doing. You do this every time.

And every time he melts a little on the inside at your genuine joy and want to help him out. Not to mention that he thinks it’s cute and would give you his everything in a heartbeat before you could even ask.

“Of course you can help.” He grins and stands up. “I have to check the fire but do you think you can peel the potatoes and carrots for me please.”

“Sure!” You skip ahead and take his spot, picking up the peeler he left out and begin to get to work. 

“Thank you.” Wild smiles as he turns away again, picking the fire and checking the temperature. 

“You’re welcome.” 

“If you could cut them too, that would be nice.” 

“Are you asking me to?”

“If you wouldn’t mind.”

“Of course not.”

Wild smiles to himself at the exchange. The others are minding their own business, tending to their weapons or licking their wounds from the day and just simply hanging out with people who know what it’s like to be the hero more than any one in the history of Hyrule.

It’s nice.

Domestic even.

You start to hum a little tune that must be from your home because it seems like no one else can recognize it. It’s light and a little sappy if the way you’re swaying your head has anything to say about it.

Wild feels himself fall a little more in love with you, even if you’re not looking at him.

He’s been done with checking the fire for five minutes, but he doesn’t want you to stop for the sake of answering him again.

But he should probably start cooking the meat while the vegetables are being prepared.  

Wild slides over to your side and picks up the Shekah Slate from where he left it. He chances a glance at you and thinks... it’ll be a last minute change to the meal he’s prepared in his head, but maybe he’ll cook your favorite tonight instead.

You deserve it.

“Ok, what else Master Chef?” You look his way and blink, instantly going a little red in the face. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I just love you is all.” Wild leans in and kisses your forehead, snagging the cutting board from under you and spinning around to throw them into the pot.

“Hey...” You pout, trying to save face and failing. “That’s... not fair...”

“How is it not fair?” He laughs. “I didn’t do anything.”

“I... refuse to let you win.”

“Win what? What are you talking about?”

You step over and kiss his cheek. “You’re too good to me. And the carrots are going to burn.”

“Wha- Hey!” Wild spins back to attention and tries to save the carrots from the hot metal. “Ok- I- Hold up!”

“Do you want me to start cutting up the green beans too?” You smirk.

“This isn’t over.”

“Yes or no?”

“...”

“...”

“..Yes please.”

Time 

“Ok, I know you said we were going somewhere tonight but why are we sneaking out of the inn like teenagers?” You say as Time looks around the corner.

“Shh...” Time puts a finger to hip lips as he looks back at you. “Do you really think the boys wouldn’t try to follow us if they knew?”

“Is it that important for them to not come?” You tilt your head. Sure, they were a bit rambunctious at times and a bit more rowdy than you knew what to do with but they were good kids and you loved them all- so the secrecy was a little lost on you.

“Is it so wrong to want to spend an evening alone with the one I love?” Time turns to you and takes your hands in his, lifting them to kiss your knuckles. “Just for tonight?”

The thought of being alone together hadn’t even occurred to you and it’s embarrassing to have Time basically spell it out for you. A blush blooms across your face and you bite your lip with a quick glance to your toes. It has nothing to do with the kiss, you’re sure.

“Ok.” You whisper. “Ok, I’ll be quiet. Is the coast clear?”

Time smirks when he sees your reaction, more than pleased with himself before he turns around and checks around the corner one last time.

He grins and gives you his hand, holding you gently as you creep through the hallways together. After a few twists and turns and near trips from walking on your tip toes, you make it out of inn.

You ignore the weird looks from the inn keeper as you leave. They don’t understand the length the boys would go through to spy and/or ruin this for you two intentionally or otherwise.

Time looks up to the window of one of the room you’ve rented before pushing you quickly out of its line of sight.

You follow him wordlessly and look back just in time to see Warrior lean up against the window. He’s not looking out, merely resting where the people below can see him but the thrill of not being caught shoots through you and you force yourself to act natural and look away from the inn entirely.

“What the plan, beloved?” You shoot a grin his way and skip to match his pace.

“I don’t have one. I wasn’t entirely sure we’d get this far.” Time admits and lets his child like glee show on his face. 

Your heart swells when you see it. It’s not often you get to see this side of him and you’re happy to indulge him in these moments when he has them.

“We could just walk around?” You pull yourself closer to him and lean against his side. “Sight see? Shopping?”

Time lets go of your hand to instead wrap his arm around your waist and pulls you even closer so that you’re flush against him. “I’m not sure... I just wanted to spend time with you.”

“Wine tasting?” You try again, pointing to the sign outside of a small hole in the wall shop.

Time actually stops in his tracks and glances at the shop in front of you. “A brilliant idea darling. Shall we go have a look?”

“We shall.” 

Together you walk into the shop despite the later hour and see couples with the similar idea and calmly sharing drinks with one another. Time breaks off from you as you wander further into the space. You glance around the sparely decorated room and glance at the various signs and bottles to see their designs. You pick up a bottle and swirl around the liquid inside, watching it rise and fall against the green colored glass.

Time comes back in seconds, glaring at one of the other persons without your knowledge when they try to make a move closer to you. 

“Here.” He takes a calmly breath and hands you a glass. It’s halfway filled with a warm colored amber liquid and it piques your interest instantly.

“Thank you.” You take it and take a sip. It’s as warm as it looks and strangely smells like strawberries.

Time finally looks at you again when the person leaves and takes a sip from his own glass. It’s more crimson than you’d imagine possible and you have to wonder how it would taste. “Can I try?”

“Hm?” Time looks at the glass and back to you, handing it to you with out much thought.

He tries to it with your own but you’re faster than he is. You lean into his space on your tip toes and place a bold kiss on his lips.

They’re soft and laced with the tangy wine from his previous sip.

“Yum.” You wink and take another sip from your own wine.

Time stands there stunned before he smirks and takes you hand with the glass away before leaning down to kiss you properly. He takes it slow and holds you there for a moment despite the fact that you’re in a public space.

He pulls back just as slowly and finishes with a final kiss to your forehead.

“Can’t do that with the boys around.” He mutters to himself.

“Nope.“ You giggle and go back to sipping your wine. “But I’m not complaining.”

Part 3

[moxfirefly]

Going with the smut prompts because you already know I’m a thirsting bish. 10. It’s sir, understood? And I’m picking Donnie on this one. 😈👌🏻 💚 your creative filth ma’am 😘😘😘

Oh boyyyyyyy 🥴🥴🥴🥴🥴

Let’s see how this goes!

Rated Explicit (18+ only)

Deep breaths.

That’s all Donatello could do right now. Take deep breaths and get in the right mindset for this.

It wasn’t necessarily difficult, it wasn’t like he didn’t know about the subject material.

Hell, he was insanely into it.

But on paper everything’s easy, watching it is fun and entertaining. Putting it to practice is different.

The two of you had discussed experimenting with more Dominant and submissive themes when it came to your more intimate time. Interestingly enough you had brought up the subject and seeing Donnie more than enthusiastic to try some things out was even better.

This called for a more private setting, so you’d asked Donnie to drop by once he was free. Lord knows you don’t need any of his brothers overhearing or worse, walking in.

So once he had finished for the night he had done just that. Upon arriving you had asked him to give you a few minutes to set the mood and freshen up. This meant that Donnie had time to give himself a good pep talk. He knew your do’s and don’t’s by now, he had a basic open ended plan of how things could and should go, what to do if something was taken to far.

The bases were covered.

Still it was normal for the jitters and sweaty palms to set in.

You’d shot him a text to let him know you were ready. While you’d taken the time to dim the lights, turn on a few of those battery powered candles, you’d put most of the time onto your outfit.

He was gonna blow his load the moment he’d see you, that’s how confident you felt. The mesh pantyhose, the knee length stockings and the see through bralette. There was simply no way he wouldn’t lose the ability of thought.

Donnie shook out the nervous tension through his hands before opening the door. True to your hopes you saw him momentarily freeze, his jaw clenching before he closed the door behind him with the heel of his foot. You sat on the bed, legs innocently crossed and you smiled at him. Nothing about you screamed innocent, in fact you’d opted to play dirty by presenting yourself like this.

Patiently he stood in front of you. It’d proven hard to hold in a few chuckles. “You know something told me you’d be a mess if you saw me like this, I just had to-“ Whatever playful jab you were about to say was stopped by a finger to your lips. Donnie knelt down, his impressive height leaving you at eye level now. His hand slithered down your neck, fingertips feeling the materials of your chosen outfit. When both of those large hands rested on your thighs and his look remained somewhat stern, you knew this night wouldn’t be filled with teasing on your end.

“You thought this out, hm?” His voice was still that sweet Donnie voice you’ve come to love so much. You nodded at his question, a bratty arrogance in your body.

His finger poked at the hole of the mesh pantyhose, with a slight flick it tore about two or three inches. Subconsciously you spread your legs and that seemed to delight him but he didn’t say anything.

“Cat caught your tongue, Don?” You grinned.

Donnie smiled before removing his glasses, setting them on the night table next to the bed. He stood once more; god what did he have to be so tall?

Your thoughts were interrupted when you felt his hand grab a fistful of your hair from the back and gently pull. There wasn’t malice behind the grip, he’d done this quite a few times in the heat of passion but right now it did feel a little different.

More authoritative.

“Are you going to keep running your mouth, darling?” In the darken room, with him looming above you like this, you couldn’t help but feel all warm already and it thrilled you. You gave him a defiant smile laced with sarcasm. “Yes I am, Donnie” it was simple, but so very bratty of you.

He bent towards your ear, kissing the spot just behind the shell of it. “You tell me if I’m... too rough, alright?” It was whispered, very much him just checking in to make sure everything was on track. You nodded, nosing his jaw for an affirmative. Just like that you felt teeth at the lobe.

You felt his grip on your hair tighten a fraction more, a small hiss leaving you.

“If you’re going to run your mouth all night, then I suppose I could put that hole to good use” His words weren’t shouted, he’d barely gone above a gentle decible when he spoke them. His eyes though, they spoke differently and when they came to rest on your own pretty ones, this was going to be a lot different.

You felt another shot of excitement nest beneath your stomach. When he let go you already missed the nice throb, but much to your delight he pushed aside his suspenders. He stood there, arching a brow ridge at you.

“Do I have to take it out for you as well? Forgotten what we’re good at, darling?” The sarcasm that oozed from him, goodness that shouldn’t feel so good to you but his words shot straight to your cunt. Pursing your lips you undid the button to his pants and unzipped him.

“Now what?” There was more defiance in your words, but your eyes spoke of how into this you were getting.

“Drop the attitude and it’s sir, understood?” The brown of his eyes look so blackened in this light, the firmness behind each word. You were a mess already, and how utterly thrilling that he could smell that.

“Sorry... sir” Your fingers dug into the hem of his pants and pushed down. The outline of his hard cock coming into view already spoke of how deeply he was enjoying this. You pushed his underwear enough to free him and bit down on your bottom lip. Ever so slowly you let your tongue lick the underside of his cock, root to tip. The way the muscle in his thigh jumped only fueled you more. You gripped him by the base, hand slithering up and down to spread more of his natural lubricant. You took him into your mouth, barely half of it being what could fit in your warm mouth. Donnie pushed aside a few stray strands of hair from your eyes. “Want you to see how good you look with my cock in your mouth” That fact that he smirked only made your toes curl.

Oh, you could get into this.

As you sucked him slowly, mapping out the shaft with your lips before rolling back up to the flared tip. Just in the name of revenge you licked the tip to make him buckle, he was extra sensitive there after all. He dropped his head with a muffled moan, teeth bitting down on his bottom lip. Mentally you high five yourself for breaking him just a little.

Then you felt that grip return to the back of your head and his blown out pupils land on you.

“Relax your throat” He said.

Your eyes went wide as saucers.

You’d only attempted this twice in your life and both partners weren’t even close to his size. Still, morbid curiosity and the wet mess you were now egged you on. You felt him push inside just a little more, dangerously close to the back of your throat. Breathing through your nose you took a few breaths and relaxed your throat as best as you could, even as you felt more of him push into your mouth. Spit pooled at your chin, a watery burn setting at your eyes. The debauched look Donnie saw when his eyes landed on you , it could be enough to push him past the edge but that would be too dangerous for you right now. “Fff-uck, you take me so well, you’re doing so good” His hips stuttered just lightly, a moan wrapped itself around his hard cock and that was nearly his undoing.

Slowly and satisfyingly he watched the length of his cock slip out of your pretty mouth. Precum mixed with saliva at your lips and chin. You coughed slightly, watery eyes closed when you felt his lips on yours. “My good girl” He kissed the words on your lips. Once you caught your breath and blinked out most of the tears, he stayed there caressing your face and hair. You knew he was giving you a break, making sure if anything had to stop for now. You nodded, letting him know you were okay and good to continue.

“May I have another kiss, sir?” You asked sincerely.

Donnie tried to hide his usual smile by kissing you, and kiss you he did. Every ounce of his regular loving self into it just to remind you this was all for play.

Especially when he pushed you back onto the bed and grabbed a chunk of the mess panty hose and ripped them right at the crotch. He kicked off the clothes hanging onto him and he climbed onto the bed with you. He sat against the headboard, pillows propped against it to make it more comfortable for him. You sat up on your knees and crawled towards him.

But he held up a finger and shook it. He made a circling motion, meaning that you had to turn around.

Oh.

You did just as he expressed, the flush of your cheeks speaking on how this wasn’t something that occurred between the two of you. Donnie loved having you ride him as much as the next guy but like this? Reversed?

The second his hands connected with your rear he gripped the checks and spread them. There was an embarrassing yelp from your behalf and a snickering snort from his. You felt the pad of his thumb circle the ring. “Um... sir?” That wasn’t discussed and truthfully it would need a very long discussion.

“Don’t worry, was just thinking about how pretty this would look with a plug that maybe has a tail attached to it” You were thankful he couldn’t see your face right now, aside from how flushed your face was, your eyes must’ve been comically large. Even at this stage of the relationship it never truly stopped tickling you that Donnie could be quite the pervert when his mind gets going.

A little retaliation never killed anybody.

So you shook your rear at him, turning your head just a bit to catch him grinning like a fool. “A tail, sir? Why have that when I could have you” Oh that knocked the wind off his sails, he groaned and closed his eyes. “Don’t get too cocky” He smacked one of your cheeks and you hid your smiling face.

Then he leaned forward and bit a cheek.

Hard.

You yelped again, it had caught you off guard as much as it had hurt. He soothed it with a kiss, hands slipping down your hips. “Be a good girl and ride me” Okay that also shouldn’t sound so good but fuck did it.

Entering him from this position had nearly left you cross eyed. The way you felt all of him, every inch of him nestled and throbbing inside. You placed your hands of his legs for support, moving slowly enough to tease him which earned a nice rumbling churr from him. His hands caressed and gripped your thighs and hips. “Come on, you can give me a better show” His words were mixed into a grunt, that demanding tone slipping from the pleasure he received. You rode him faster, each thrust down onto his lap making a wet slapping sound that would surely piss the neighbors off.

The sight Donnie had was surely one he would commit into memory in its entirety. The way your rear slapped down, he hoped the edge of his plastron wasn’t hurting you too bad. Even if a possessive part of him liked the redness forming on your flesh. He gripped your waist, steadying you as you slammed down him faster. That familiar sensation was creeping up, you could feel yourself so close. In the midst of it you leaned back, feeling yourself unable to control your body. You supported your hands on his midsection, the firmness of his plastron nice to the touch.

“Oh fuck!” You shut your eyes tightly, your thighs were burning from their movements. “You feel so fucking good!” Each thrust hit the right spot making your mouth hang open in lust.

Donnie wanted to drag this on more, torture you in delicious way that would continue to make you mewl like this for him. “Say-fuckfuck-say how much you love my big cock” He thrusted it up, loving the pleasured yell that he pulled from you. “Iloveitohmygod!” You words coming out in a jumbled mess of moans. That taut knot inside broke making you scream something that could’ve resembled his name. A rumbling deep churr left him when his hips stuttered out. He slammed you down onto him, each rope of cum making you shiver.

The two of you breathed hard, your thighs trembled as you got off with his help. He didn’t miss the way his cum trickled out of you, staining your thighs and his navel. You collapsed next to him, Donnie didn’t waste time pulling you close and pushing your sweaty locks away.

“Are you okay? Do you need anything?” You smiled against his chest and shook your head. “I’m more than good, Jesus we should do this more often” You sighed already feeling worn out. He chuckled, the sound muffled a top your head. He rubbed circles on your back, making sure to pay extra attention to anything that was a little more sore than usual.

Whatever needed to be discussed could wait, right now you were too preoccupied with passing out on him.

[strangerays]

Nothing in Particular Update #1

Hello, hello!! It’s been a really long time since I’ve written an update for this story! (this is a real update btw, forget the “first” one I had) To be honest, I haven’t been able to work on this story as much as I would like, being busy with classes and... well just life in general. (what I mean by this is that Shadow and Bone was released on Netflix) But! I do have some excerpts I wanted to put out there as well as some overall changes to the story.

Before I start: here’s the actual link to the story synopsis/characters!

TAGLIST (ask to be +/-): @wannabeauthorzofija @a-completely-normal-girl @baguettethebooklover @corkytheguar @writeherewaiting​ @raenawrites

STORY CHANGES/IDEAS:

First off: I had to rewrite 30,000 words and basically turn it into 10,000. The first draft was icky, but I turned it into something I really enjoy! This is a sign that writing is always worth it!!

I added in a couple of characters! I was starting to feel like the story might not have been balanced enough. Luckily, the muse struck me and I created Mars and Theo! Mars is a lovely (and enigmatic) older woman that Ray meets at a bird sanctuary and Theo is a new friend of Lonan’s.

There wasn’t much action in the beginning of the story, so I wrote a confrontation between Jude’s friends and another person that Ray spies on. This is how she meets Jude, and I am in lovvve.

The timeline for the entire story might be a little bit longer than I intended! I went into this project thinking it might only take place over a month, but in order for Ray’s mental health journey to be realistic, I’m going to shoot for an entire school year (around six-seven months). Honestly, I’m just happy I get to write a Halloween scene. As for the word count total HAHA I have no clue what that will look like.

I think Lonan will be a bit of a back-burner character! At first, I was a little wary of this decision since he’s my favorite, but I think it would be very exciting to have Ray hype him up before he ever appears in the story. That way, the reader sort of starts to think about him in one way, yet he might be completely different when he finally shows up...??

Chapter titles are one of my favorite things about this story. Also! I am a huge fan of short chapters! They move the story right along.

I prefer to write slower and use other projects to balance out this one when I get a little tired of it. Over the last month or so, I’ve gotten really into short story writing again! This has been really helpful in working on my specificity and pretty prose. Even though the short stories don’t contribute to Nothing in Particular, I’ve been taking a lot of what I’m learning and applying it!

EXCERPTS (UNDER THE CUT)

CHAPTER ONE: THE SPY

#1

During the summer between my sophomore and junior year, Lonan Herrings packed me into his Dad’s repainted Chevrolet, left his name sharp on his mother’s tongue, and drove to New York City at six in the morning. For the first time since we’d become friends, jealousy weighed our silence. He buzzed across the highway, even though we knew his mother had no intention of finding us.

#2

“Which animal would I be,” he asked, “if I left tomorrow and lived in the forest?”

“Why would you want to do that?” I smiled even though I knew he was probably serious.

His shoulders squared and he looked out his window. Two men in the next car shouted at each other, their windows down. Something about a mortgage. “You would come with me, of course.” He turned to me. “Which animal gets along best with a doe?”

#3

I shut my eyes to snap the cold. It might have been the fact that, most times, his gentle voice pulled ragged words from his throat, as if he had just stepped out of the rain after standing in it for hours. It might have been the way he cupped the rim of a camera with humble demure. I was never afraid to tell him anything in the patience that bled from him. His eyes were milky blue and he wore an olive jacket covered in pins that kept strangers interested. Since he seemed like he felt out of place most times, I never did. We were a grade apart; our friendship bloomed late. So long as I had a friend at all, I didn’t care how we’d met.

“You would be a blue jay,” I decided. For only a second, I’d been worried that I offended him, until his mouth curved to one side and he laughed softly, as though he wasn’t sure he was allowed. His head hovered over the steering wheel. A patch of freckles absently creeped over the bridge of his nose like winter weeds.

This first chapter is a flashback to exactly a year before the second chapter takes place! After an argument with his mom, Lonan drives out of state with Ray. I plan for it to be all we see of Lonan (in the present) up until the halfway point of the story.

CHAPTER TWO: I WAS QUIET

#1

I was a firm believer that the best art was created when the artist was alone, angry, or depressed.

After Lonan secured his train ticket to New York, I was surprised to find that I became none of these things. We buried a time capsule, painted his walls cerulean, and drove two-hundred miles without a word to anyone. Some of my most colorful memories were unplanned in the beginning.

#2

Katherine Herrings’ bakery loitered over the coast of town, sheltered in pitch crags and shallow tide pools congested with cigarettes. I often ate lunch on the deck on my break. She was the only person I knew who – after everything her nephew had said – didn’t make him the first topic of our conversations.

An indie rock song that I recognized buzzed from a radio below me. I pulled my tablet screen down and pushed my chair out so the plastic legs kicked up and scratched the backs of my legs.  Slowly, I peered between my ankles, through the patio boards, and into the boat lodge below. Pumpkin-red hair plastered to my forehead in the heat that clung to the late days of September. Waves bubbled and crashed, peanut oil dripped from hot dog buns, and muffled gossip chirped like a family of cicadas. I bit my tongue at the bitter smoke that warped the wind.

#3

Jude laughed then, and her shoulders tipped, haughty. Waves hissed in her silence as the lights in the kitchen behind Katherine flickered. Her mouth opened slightly at the ring of dishes and laughter that danced with each other inside. A moment passed before she took a wide step back.

Together, her accomplices waltzed after her as she ran down the pavement, flecking sand until the night’s blue air gulped their outlines. Katherine beat a towel against the patio leg, then she slid and locked the door. Frogs jeered in the silence that pervaded the sea.

I whispered the name back to myself so I wouldn’t forget it. Jude Ahuja. I took a sip of ginger ale, and she buzzed on my lips.

The story cuts to Ray’s senior year of high school. Summer has just ended, Lonan has left for college, and her camera is broken. Jude is a bit like a character out of a film to her, and she wishes she could know more about her after witnessing a loud argument with Katherine Herrings, Lonan’s aunt.

CHAPTER THREE: PEOPLE-WATCHING

#1

Early into our friendship, I’d learned this patience. The first time he brought me to Sugarfell, he told me that all of the paths led back to the same place. As long as you played the game, you were guaranteed a prize. He didn’t speak much, but I knew he wasn’t a very good liar.

Less than an hour passed when I was met with silence. I crept up and down the same path four times. Each step sent a shock through my legs to my chest. The sun hadn’t risen to the highest point in the sky, still glimmering through tree branches in golden fractals, pulling on static darkness.

#2

“Are you crying?” he asked.

I shook my head fast. “No.” My voice barely reached a whisper. It was a lot deeper than normal.

He puckered his lips as though I had offended him. “But you were about to.”

“You said that all the paths lead back to one another.” I stood up from the jagged stump and shuffled through the leaves until the tips of our shoes were inches apart. “I knew you’d come back. And you did.”

#3

When I turned back, sore curiosity teased the emerald in Lonan’s eyes.

“Do you ever people-watch?” he asked softly.

This chapter is another really short chapter that I’m ultimately not sure I’m going to keep! I sort of included it by accident while Ray was riding her bike to the forest, but I ended up really liking it as a bridge into the next scene. Hopefully, I find I way to make it fit!!

CHAPTER FOUR: SUGAR-COATED

#1

Years with Lonan had prepared me for being alone. If you spend any long amount of time with someone, you’ll become a thief to their behaviors. Lonan observed too much. If I stared long enough, trees began to replace all of the people we’d ever seen. Oaks with roots that serpentined the ground like children splashing in the bay, pines with needles like spindly old hands, maples with hollows like watchful eyes.

#2

I did remember, but I couldn’t then. Blood gushed too close to his eyelid and dripped down his cheek like tears. There was a grace period in my life – likely when I was a newborn – when I couldn’t picture what my blood would look like on the light side of my skin.

And this is where I’ll leave off on the excerpts for now! I’ve been really focused on taking my time and setting things up before the next chapter, which is going to have lots more action in it. Things are going to start picking up again, so I’m really excited for that!

Thanks for reading if you made it this far :)

[chilling-in-the-dark]

The Golden Cage Part Four: Final

This is a yandere story; it mentions elements of obsession, possessiveness, death, murder, kidnapping, imprisonment, and mental abuse. If any of this is triggering for you, I understand, and you don’t have to read it.

I know I said the story was going to be five parts, but chapters four and five (mostly chapter four tbh) didn’t have enough meat on their bones to stand alone (this is what I get for never outlining folks, surprises, and not the good kind.) so they ended up mashed together into one chapter. Italics are pre-room, non italic sections are post-room.

After you’d first woken up after being shot with lightning, you were grateful to have Zuko by your side, but soon enough his presence began to feel suffocating, and if he couldn’t be there himself, because you know being ruling a country could keep a man busy, he’d have a healer and a guard by your side twenty-four seven. For the first couple of months it made sense, after all, there was only so much Katara’s healing could do, and you’d needed help to do even the most basic of tasks, but now that you didn’t need so much better all of the people doting on you was stifling.

Not to mention you’d spent most of your life free wandering where you please when you pleased, it wasn’t a stretch of the imagination to say that palace life with its strict routine was unbearable. So, you’d somehow managed to slip off and find a bag; over the past week, you’d been stuffing it full of essential supplies. Then one night, you’d set out, but one of the servants must have tipped Zuko off because he’d meet you in front of the servants’ door you’d planned on using to slip out without being noticed.

“Your leaving,” Zuko said, his voice catching in his throat ever so slightly. You couldn’t leave him; you were his world, didn’t you know that.

“I’m sorry, Zuko, but I can’t stay here anymore I’ve tried, but I just don’t know how to put down roots, it’s not who I am.” You chocked back the tears threatening to spill out from your eyes, you couldn’t let him see you cry, you didn’t want to break his heart more than necessary. You knew you should have said goodbye, but part of you knew that if you did, he might be able to talk you into staying. You were withering here, losing parts of yourself, because you just weren’t made for a stationary life.

“You can’t, or maybe you don’t want to try.” You were surprised by the amount of venom dripping from Zuko’s lips, you thought it was understandable after all you might as well have just ripped his heart out and stomped on it.

Zuko let you leave after that; at least that’s what you thought, but when you drank from your water skin, the water tasted strangely bitter, although you didn’t have much time to contemplate this before you fell to the ground unconscious.

The women around your rushed to help you get dressed for what they thought would be the happiest day of your life, but that really just filled you with dread. There was a point in your life where you’d dreamed of marring Zuko, but that had been back when the two of you were still traveling together on a decommissioned fire nation warship. You’d always imagined standing on its metal deck, Lieutenant Jee as acting captain he would officiate your vows, and you’d be surrounded by the members of the ship’s crew that didn’t hate you, and of course, Iroh would be there to serve tea after the wedding.

You’d always dreamed your wedding would be a happy occasion, but now you’d be forced to stand in front of thousands of strangers promising to spend the rest of your life to a man whom you hadn’t loved in years, a man who’d kept you locked away in a room for years, a man who’d burned you because he was jealous. Maybe you could weasel your way out of this, but then you couldn’t just think of yourself, the world was depending on Zuko to keep the peace, it wouldn’t take much for the Fire Nation army to take back the earth kingdom, it was still weak after fighting a losing war for a hundred years. Not to mention The Earth King was as spineless a jellyseal, the man wouldn’t fight his own battles even if he was the last man in his Kingdom.

The avatar was an option, but even if you told Aang there was no way to guarantee he’d believe you, Zuko was his friend, not yours, and because of that, he’d have no reason to believe you over Zuko. Even if you got Zuko magically removed from the throne that would still leave a nation in chaos, Azula couldn’t rule because she’d gone mad, Iroh had already renounced his claim to the throne, and Ozai was locked up in an Earth Kingdom prison somewhere.

A civil war was always going to be one assassination away, at least until Zuko had kids. That was a thought that sent a chill down your spine when you realized whether you wanted to or not; you were going to have to have children with Zuko. Why had the spirits chosen you to endure this fate, wasn’t there some Fire Nation citizen who would be happy to spend the rest of their life serving the Fire Lord and bending to his every whim?

You woke up in a small Fire Nation prison cell, wearing clothes you definitely hadn’t been when you’d left. You didn’t own any silk, let alone silk this fine. The juxtaposition between the cell and clothes threw you for a loop, why give you beautiful silk robes but leave you in a room that barely had enough space for a grown man to lay down.

It all made some sort of sick sense when you saw Zuko approaching, why hadn’t you seen it before that something was off with him. You’d seen creeps of all kinds on the road, but something about Zuko made you drop your guard, maybe it was because something about him reminded you of a kicked dog. One fact remained Zuko had drugged you and had locked you up in a prison cell, you’d be moved to the room in a few months’ time, and you’d spend years of your life trying to leave it, only to give up and accept your fate.

The women dressing you gently slid the amber necklace that you hadn’t seen in over five years, over your head. You’d given it to Zuko just before the siege at the north pole, it was your way of making him promise to come back, you’d told him he’d have to return it to you one day and that if he died an lost it out there, you’d never forgive him.

Unfortunately, he’d survived and chosen today as the day to fulfill his promise, though not for long, he’d be getting it back at the ceremony, and your family heirloom would become just another artifact of the royal family.

After you were dressed, it didn’t take long for the wedding to start, and it seemed like it went on for hours, mostly because it did, the Fire Sage wouldn’t quit droning on and on about the sanctity of marriage, and the importance of the vows you and Zuko were about to take. You didn’t know if all fire nation wedding ceremonies were this long of if royal weddings were just long-winded. The latter seemed likely, but then again, who could say.

Now after you were to the part of the ceremony where you’d give your vows, two golden ceremonial blades were brought out along with a fan and three bowls, the largest of which was empty but sat atop a small stand that would allow for a fire to be lit underneath it. The other two contained water and dark volcanic soil; with practiced precision, you and Zuko each took a blade.

The weapon in your hand was heavy and sharp, sharp enough to slit a man’s throat, especially if he wasn’t expecting it, with this fact in mind you turned to Zuko, took a deep breath, said your vows, and pricked your finger. You wanted to kill him, you wanted to kill him more than anything, but a Fire Nation civil war would end badly for the whole word. Zuko had always thought you��d make a good Queen. He didn’t know how right he was. You and Zuko turned once again to face the Fire Sage and allowed a few drops of blood to fall into the water, you’d literally just made a blood vow to spend the rest of your life with Zuko.

“Agni,” the Fire Sage called loudly, invoking the sun spirt his people worshiped. “We ask you to bless this marriage with your radiant light so that it may have the stability of earth and can endure all that comes its way.” The fire sage poured the soil into the large empty bowl.

“The fluidity of water, so that the couple may grow and change together.” Again, the water and the blood it contained were added to the bowl.

“The warmth of fire, so they will never have to endure the cold alone.” This time it wasn’t the Fire Sage that added the element but Zuko. He created a whisper of flame and used it to light a fire beneath the bowl, as was traditional when a Firebender was getting married.

“Lastly, we ask that you may always grant this union fresh air so that it may never grow stale.” The Fire Sage picked up the fan and used it to stoke the fire. The end result of all of that was a boiling mixture of mud that the fire sages would use to grow a fire lily; it was said that if the plant died, then the marriage would end in tragedy. Rumor had it the one representing Zuko’s parents had withered within a day.

Now you were at the end of the traditional Fire Nation wedding, but there was still one more thing left that Zuko had insisted upon. The two of you turned to face each other you gently slid your heirloom necklace over your head. “I give you this as is tradition in my family, it is a symbol of love freely given.” Or it used to be at least, now it had become a symbol of Zuko’s obsession. “From a wife to her husband, and one day a father to his daughter.” You forced a smile and slid it over Zuko’s head. If you cried any tears, it would seem the world mistook them for Joy.

Tags:

Everything

@yanderepeterparker @idkmanicantenglish @prettyafghan

@zoned-out-till-further-notice

Zuko

@phoenixambers​ @svveet-peas​

[allykakamatsu]

FE SS X DRV3 General plot

Once again, I’m back on my bulls**t. Got the basics for the AU sorted now so let’s take a look, as well as what most of the characters are doing

Plot Outline:

As I mentioned in the first post https://allykakamatsu.tumblr.com/post/649470604067717120/fe-ss-x-drv3 the reason the class is in Magvel in the first place is because Monokuma decided that trapping them in the game was gonna be the motive, where you either have to end the war/beat the game or kill someone from the real world in order to get out. The characters got sent to various points in the timeline, and as you can imagine, this changed quite a lot.

Shuichi Saihara:

•The last one to wake up, aka got sent to when the game starts rather than some time before like the others.

•Ends up unintentionally becoming Eirika’s bodyguard as they run into each other while the Princess is trying to get to Frelia and Seth has gone missing dun dun dun

•Sticks around as Eirika knows where Kaede is and because he doesn’t want to leave her on her own.

•Can use magic, but still needs to work on his aim. Aka, never let him fight an enemy that’s near a tree.

•Still better than when he uses a Lance, he just stabs wildly and hope it works

•Because he doesn’t get the pre-war time everyone else had to get ready, he does get the advantage of remembering other things, though they’re things he’d rather not remember.

Kaede Akamatsu:

•Was sent to Renais and ended up getting adopted by the royals, so she’s the Twin’s step-sister.

•Despite her accidental new status, doesn’t change too much, and enjoys her time with her new family even if she’s always scarred about when the war will start

•As such, she’s also very overprotective and always goes with Ephriam to his dumb stunts, under the guise of being all for it.

•Very over dramatic organ player.

•Like Eirika she’s good with swords, but tends to specialise in staffs.

•Is part of Ephriams four (well now five) man army trying to take Grado down.

Maki Harukawa:

•Woke up in Jehana but didn’t stick around for long due to not liking the heat.

•Ended up travelling with Tenko for a while as travelling mercenaries, but when Maki’s work started leaning on the assassin side again she left so the Aikido Master wouldn’t get involved.

•After that becomes an assassin for hire, and she works for people all over the continent, including with Rausten which (unfortunately) led to her seeing Kokichi again

•”If it wasn’t for the fact your Princess hired me I’d kill you”

•Eventually after several jobs making her infamous, she was hired by Kirumi to help protect Eirika.

•Agreed, and was extra motivated due to Shuichi being dragged into this.

Himiko Yumeno:

•One of only two who was over the moon to be sent to Magvel, because now she has real MAGIC

•Winds up in Lute and Arthur’s village, where she joins their friend group to become master Mages.

•Constantly getting on Lute’s nerves for napping during practice.

•More energetic than usual, but that just means when she’s out she’s out for the count.

•Specialises in thunder magic, but that’s mostly not to steal Lute’s thunder, well, fire in this case.

•Goes with Arthur to get help when the village is attacked by monsters to “make sure they don’t claw him to death”

Angie Yonaga:

•Ends up becoming a priestess in Grado.

•Doesn’t really like spreading the word of non-Atua figures, but sticks around because Atua said so.

•Also leads to her becoming friends with Natasha and also ‘friends’ with Cormag

•Was already growing weary of the Empire when she heard about the war, but when Natasha was branded a traitor she knew something was up and went after her.

•Still always smiling, which depending on the person is a relief to see someone keeping their hopes up, or disturbing cause “does she ever not smile?”

•Mostly a light magic user, but can heal and not afraid to staff bonk.

Kirumi Tojo:

•Was sent to Frelia and became a servant at the castle very fast.

•Joined the staff only a few days before ‘The Frelian Tragedy’ where the crown Prince was kidnapped and presumed dead.

•Because of this and the King being so busy, Kirumi ended up being the one to console the young Princess Tana.

•Ended up becoming a mother/big sister figure and was offered a change of position as the nanny. Ended up taking it and staying on maid duty, and eventually rose to head maid.

•More open with her emotions, but still quite reserved.

•Can use all weapons well, but prefers spears and staffs.

Kokichi Oma:

•Not known where or when he first arrived, but after 3 years ended up in Rausten.

•Wound up as part of L’Arachel’s entourage due to his battle skills and her liking his attitude.

•Dream tam for each other, nightmare for everyone else.

•Was rumoured to be part of the Frelian Tragedy, but no one can prove it or knows how.

•With L’Arachel for most of the war, but ran off for a bit to drag Renac back

•A full blown trickster class, so swords and staffs for him.

Kiibo:

•Since Robots don’t exist, he’s a dragon now.

•Excited that he’s living and breathing, but scarred because “How did I change species?!”

•Eventually finds Myrrh and she thankfully sets things straight.

•Proud of his new species, but does miss his old life.

•When Selena steals her dragon stone, he tries to get it back, only to get caught in some trees while in dragon form.

•After that accompanies her on Ephriam and Kaede’s path to get the stone back.

Rantaro Amami:

•A former wyvern rider turned pegasus knight

•Yes, somehow he got a pegasus to trust him enough to let him ride, to the confusion of everyone else.

•Was with Grado for a while, but jumped ship to Jehana about three years before the war.

•When he learned that the Queen’s son had run away, his big brother instincts kicked in and he volunteered to find him.

•His search eventually led to Carcino where he found Joshua alone with the rest of Eirika’s party.

•Agreed to tag along so he could keep an eye on the gambling Prince and so he could help out Shuichi.

•Good with lances, but way better with flying.

Miu Iruma:

•A wyvern rider from Grado, though an unconventional one (I mean, it’s Miu)

•She and Rantaro were part of the same squad, but she stayed unlike him.

•Good at making all her allies lives a living hell with her antics (RIP Cormag) but she’s kept around due to her skill

•Saw Valter kill Glenn, but while trying to tell Cormag, got sidetracked by seeing Selena try to take Kiibo’s dragonstone, which made her go “F**k it”, swear the Flurspar out, and switched sides to team Ephriam.

•The only wyvern who uses an axe. Everyone calls her crazy for it but hey, whatever works.

Tenko Chabishira:

•Was in Renais at first, but after being ditched by Maki she went to Jehana due to her unsurprisingly wanting to be in the nation lead by a queen rather than a king like the rest.

•Ends up bumping into Marisa on a job, and once it’s over she convinces Tenko to join the Mercenaries.

•Loves Tethys and Marisa, so she stays no matter what, but she does eventually get some respect for Gherik.

•Doesn’t stop her from thinking somethings up with Kiyo and the new recruit who won’t take his mask off.

•Would’ve joined up with team Eirika either way since everyone else agreed, Himiko being there just made her a lot more aggressive with it.

•Axes all the way baby!

Korekiyo Shinguji:

•Wound up in Caer Pelyn, which royally confused everyone, but they kinda just rolled with it.

•Stayed due to his interest in the village, but when he was about to leave Ewan stopped by, and after a misunderstanding about why he wanted to leave Kiyo gets dragged into the mercenaries.

•At first only stayed due to wanting to send his sister more ‘friends’, but after seeing Tethys and Ewan act like how siblings are supposed to act, he realised how badly he screwed up, so he ends up sticking around to find out what real siblings are meant to do.

•Gladly joins up with team Eirika once they show up not only to stay with his allies, but also to get some more ‘sibling role models’

•Good with dark magic and staffs, but is in the summoner class..... be very afraid.

Kaito Momota:

•Woke up in Carcino, but after realising the guys in charge were assholes, he left and started travelling all over as a mercenary.

•After seeing Ephriam and Kaede storm a castle with 5 people total and win, he got the bright idea to become a masked hero busting innocents Grado captured out of jail and just generally be a thorn in their side.

•Formed a bit of a partnership with Kokichi because of this cause hey, where else in Magvel are you going to get smoke bombs.

•Eventually met Lyon, and after they explained what was going on to him, Kaito decided to risk it all on them as he let himself get caught to help bust Knoll out of jail, which worked, albeit with a lot of extra help from team Ephriam.

•All and all, more or less the same, just in WAY over his head.

•Of course he’s in the Hero class, so that means swords and axes.

Tsumugi Shirogane:

•The only one who’s played the game before, and easily the most excited, especially as she ended up in Grado and to be more specific as Lyon’s adopted sister.

•Thought she could get everything she wanted due to this being a game, but ended up having a bit of an existential crisis when the world turns out to be harder to manipulate and more real then she thought.

•Not wanting to accept that fiction can be real to, decided to take the demon kings power that wasn’t in Lyon (this was before the stone was shattered so that means most of it) to try get control back.

•This, of course, backfires, as while her already wanting to cause chaos/drama meant she kept her sense of self for longer, her lie eventually crashed in as once Shuichi got her to accept that fiction can be real she got completely possessed.

•Has the same class as Lyon, though she’s less tanky in exchange for being faster, worth it when you’re dealing with dark tomes.

Well, that’s everything for now. Hope you enjoy!

[capricornus-rex]

The Longing For A Familiar Feeling

Cal Kestis x Reader

Summary: Cal sustains a grave injury while going against a Jotaz in the chambers of the tomb. You obliged to tend to his wounds and nurse him back to health.

A/N: This basically counts as a backlog because I eventually ended up getting requests on the fly. The outline has been in my notes since April lmao so here I am fulfilling my compulsiveness to have everything ticked off the list.

Though, I hope you guys will enjoy this fic as you enjoy my other stuff! Your support has been an awesome impact ever since I came back here just to write a single oneshot last January ;;w;; I’m emotional again, I should stop now. Please enjoy the fic! ^w^

Also posted in AO3

Other reference: This one

Tags: Soft! Cal Kestis, Affection Starved! Cal Kestis, Intimate! Cal Kestis

Masterlist

The Tomb of Miktrull was unexpectedly more crowded than either of you expected.

Not only did the Tomb Guardian preoccupied you and Cal, but so did the Stormtroopers, Purge Troopers, and Probe Droids!

This day just can’t get any worse, can it? You thought, imagining yourself saying it out loud through clenched teeth.

The now-malfunctioning probe droid closed in on you and you timed the exact second before it self-destructs and Force-pushed it towards that trio of scout troopers coming at you. They instantly die in the explosion.

Cal rushed to back you up after defeating the Guardian. The Purge Trooper may be dead, but there were still two more scout troopers remaining. The odds are even—which may not be so bad, at least for you.

“I hit her! W-Why did I do that?!” the scout seemed to have regretted his action for pommeling you in the stomach.

You sent a clean streak of lunges at the scout trooper, your strikes were strong enough to break his defenses—after all, what good’s an electro-baton if your enemy’s a Jedi?

Cal easily took down the scout commander, he winced when he tried to stand up straight but he hid his pain from you when he gestured on taking on the lead.

“Look, there’s the gate,” he pointed out, Force-pulling the rope and then latching it onto the mechanism.

“Be careful, there’s that Jotaz,”

“It seems to be too busy with the Stormtroopers,”

“There’s the Jedi!” a Stormtrooper pointed out and signaled some of his men to fire at you.

“Not anymore!” you blurted, immediately deflecting the blaster fire and sending it back to their direction, leading some of the projectiles to the Jotaz—however, the mindless animal thought that it was still those soldiers who were still hurting it.

All that’s left was you and Cal against the Jotaz. The fat creature roared and lumbered towards the both of you, springing itself with its feet positioned for a flatfooted kick at either of you. Luckily, the two of you were quick and then dodged in opposite directions. Cal attacked it from behind while you drew its attention in the front, dodging its backhanded swipes by sliding against the flooded floor and searing its fleshy legs in the process.

While hunched and still coming at you, Cal took the opportunity to run up on its back and pith his lightsaber into its skull. Just when the moment seemed right, the Jotaz suddenly retaliated, feeling for Cal’s next movement and smacked him hard with its claws when the creature spun to face him.

The boy was sent flying across the other side of the chamber, lying flat on his back and partially submerged in the water. You were taken aback about how suddenly this animal became perceptive—at least, just this particular one—and had to up your game. While the Jotaz asserted its dominance against Cal, you afforded that moment to finish it off; it was close to dying and so you had to do the deed, sending a flurry of attacks, denying it as chance to attack you, and a succeeding Force-push made it stagger—finally allowing you to use your finishing move against it.

“Cal!” you ran up to him, kneeling down and ignoring the water seeping onto the legs of your pants. “Cal, open your eyes!”

A metallic smell wafted in the water, even though the chamber was quite dim, there was a noticeable red tint swirling over the back of your hand underwater. The source was from Cal’s body, but you searched for the actual wound—the Jotaz had cut Cal’s back and he’s bleeding out fast.

Promptly, BD-1 popped a stim for you, you caught the green syringe and injected it into the flesh of Cal’s bicep. His eyelids shot open when the viscous green substance packed a punch in his bloodstreams. You helped him sit up and searched for something—anything—in your person to press against the wound to clot the bleeding.

Lying right next to you is the corpse of a Stormtrooper, underneath the armor plates the dead soldier wore a black, cotton undershirt; you scrambled towards the body, tore the arm plates off until the entire sleeve showed—you gave it a good, harsh tug for the seams to pop until you’ve torn a considerable length of cloth for a compress. You dipped it in the water before putting it on Cal’s wound.

“Here, just keep pressuring on this, okay?”

The ancient elevator was there at your disposal, you supported Cal on your shoulders, hobbling towards the large cylinder and used your joint weight to trigger the pressure plate. The tube rumbled and felt it rising back up to the surface.

“[y/n], I can… I can walk,”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

There wasn’t any harshness in his tone, but the firmness of his voice made his point clear. The two of you managed to get out of the Imperial base and made it to the part of the cliffside where there’s a pack of Stormtroopers waiting.

Cal pushed himself, still being able to fight but only utilizing half of his power; due to his growing weakness, the most he can do in combat in banking the shots, barely engaging in melee, and he couldn’t even use much of his Force abilities even if he wanted to.

“Bleeding’s stopped,” Cal mumbled under his breath.

“Keep it wrapped then,”

The healing stim could only do so much for the wounded Jedi. Cal’s pace was slow, traversing the obstacles suddenly became strenuous for him, but he pulled himself together until both of you came out of the mouth of the cave and caught sight of the abandoned village from the top of the slope. His body felt heavy and every muscle around his wound felt like tearing, he still thinks he’s doing a good job putting up a brave face.

“Come on,” he led on, walking ahead of you.

The trooper standing by the edge was startled by Cal’s entrance, barely having a second to stance himself, the soldier was easily subdued by the boy. The trooper’s companion eventually appeared and defeated him in less than a minute.

“This way, the path’s shorter,”

The two of you circled that house and climbed up the metal bridge where two more scouts are waiting on the other side. The commander was evidently more powerful and stronger than his subordinate, but that didn’t faze either of the Jedi, another Stormtrooper heard the din of the skirmish and pulled the trigger—to which Cal had skillfully deflected and sent back to the soldier.

Cal’s deflection became a window of opportunity for the scout commander and made an underhand swipe of his baton against the redhead’s torso—submitting the boy to his knees—and when the commander was about to finish him off with an overhead swing, the Stormtrooper’s body jerked at the impact of a lightsaber lobbed his way and fell limp to the soil.

“You okay?” you extended your hand in front of Cal, he gladly takes it and you pull him up carefully.

“Yeah, I’m good,”

The sluggishness in his body was apparent, his legs dragged to the direction he wanted them to go but it’s obvious that he cannot carry himself anymore. He stumbled back on his knees again seconds after he planted his feet on the ground.

It’s not plausible, you thought. What stood between you and the Mantis is a hangar that’s probably guarded by Stormtroopers and their KX droid or Haxion Brood hunters waiting to jump on you. The only solution you can find around you is take shelter in one of the houses. You became Cal’s crutch as you led him into the bigger house in this section of the village, BD-1 spliced the door controls and the door hissed open.

The little droid spotted the fusebox and overcharged it so all of the lights in the cottage flickered to life, revealing that the house is only one, large furnished space; you settled Cal on the couch to let him relax and catch his breath, while you searched for medical supplies. For ever cabinet you rummaged, you muttered an apology—supposedly for the absent residents in the home—you’re only apologizing to the wind. You came back to the common room, dropping all the supplies you’ve collected on the table.

“It’s not much but I think it’ll be enough to get you patched up,”

Cal proceeded to undo the top of his jumpsuit, color flushed in his cheeks when he saw your eyes counting the cuts and bruises on his body. Droplets plopped back into the bowl as you wrung the towel tight, he winced occasionally whenever you carefully dabbed the towel on and around the wound.

At first, you dismissed the occasional spasms of his body as pain reactions whenever the water from the towel seeped into the wound.

“I’m gonna have to put some Bacta gel on everything, okay?”

He nodded and you proceeded to scoop a pea-sized dollop of the healing gel for each injury you see. The translucent mint green gel partially obscured the redness of the cuts and the bruises—both old and fresh. Cal flinches whenever your finger presses onto his skin, rubbing the cool substance in circling motions on his injuries, but his muscles gradually soften a few seconds later.

Her hands are so gentle… He cooed in his mind. Secretly, he wanted you to find more of the wounds just so he can continue feeling your touch.

“I’m sorry, I…” Cal stammered.

You blinked, taken aback by the apology, “What are you sorry for?”

His head hung low, his eyes jumping from one bruise to the next, his lips parted to say something.

“I’m too much trouble to bring with,” he murmured.

A somber smile curled along the line of your lips, Cal’s shoulders jolted when he felt the center of your palm press against his jaw, the muscles of his face twitched when you ran your thumb across his cheek.

“No, you’re not,” you cooed lovingly. “Besides, I like taking care of you.”

Your words somehow made all the tension in his muscles disappear, his eyebrows furrowed, and he released a big sigh as he placed his forehead against your shoulder. Initially, he hesitated but he still gave it a try—his arms snaked around your waist, locking his hold on you by clutching his wrist with his free hand, and allowing himself to savor this feeling. He buried his face on the crook of your neck and his eyelids fell when your fingernails massaged and raked his hair—this prompted him to pull you in closer to him until your thighs sat over his lap.

It was a pleasant feeling for the young redhead. All of a sudden, his courageous Jedi demeanor morphed into that of an innocent child. This was something he lacked for a long time and he was glad to find it in you—the person who cares so much about him, the same way he does for you.

[project-ohagi]

Rumi Usagiyama ღ Miruko x Reader

Buy me a coffee!! <3

Trigger Warning: PTSD.

----

What had enticed you so, that you deemed it necessary to abandon the security and warmth of your home?

Simple: food.

Your rations had depleted rather swiftly, despite you having a meagre appetite. It shouldn't have ever been such a bleak existence. This wasn't right, wasn't fair...but the normalcy was startling. It was a recent development, since you now couldn't fathom an idea as elementary as walking through the door. Shopping, bearing witness to the cruel humanity awaiting you just beyond that gut-wrenching wooden frame...

...You wouldn't ever do it again! You promised yourself. You promised yourself! But...how else were you supposed to reap the rewards of the harvest? Gods, you sounded so old-timey. It was unavoidable, really, considering your previous employment and family situation. You strained, but failed to remember a single instance in your childhood, or early adulthood, of you owning any kind of electronic. Everything you had access to was basic. Riches were never within your grasp, and both of your parents had insisted that you shadow them in their field. It had soon become an inescapable cycle of hoarding, rationing and pleading over the phone for someone to re-stock your supplies. You couldn't leave the confides of your home. You just couldn't!

Surely, they understood this, being war veterans themselves. Alas, their collective trauma was light - far lighter than yours. They could sleep soundly at night, without the relentless tears, without the thrashing and the screaming. They weren't plagued by insomnia, nor were they forced to consume ungodly amounts of coffee, in an effort to counter the hellish drowsiness. The night-terrors were agony and fright beyond human comprehension. You refused to submit to them ever again.

Your parents indulged the anxious thoughts swirling around your brain...for a while.

Now, there was no acknowledgement, only a blood-stained knife, stabbing at that horrendous, throbbing organ encased within your chest. Sometimes, you really loathed this life. Your parents complained - their burden of raising a child had long since passed. They wanted to converse with a responsible young woman, not a needy, whining baby.

So, it had come time to face the world.

Only...the world was just as disgusting as you recalled. Villains roaming the streets, with quirks allowing them to rival, if not surpass, the deadliest military personnel and weapons. You couldn't have possibly predicted this - you yourself weren't blessed with a special ability, and you had been in the field for so long, you managed to forget they even existed.

Except that one...the diabolical one, the one you were never supposed to encounter. To maintain a level ground, slaves to the army were chosen amongst the quirkless population. It was rare, but some families pledged their entire lineage to the higher-ups. This had been your case - none of your kin had ever developed powers. They were the unlucky few. It was of no actual consequence to your parents, but you were different. As such, you couldn't place your faith in the hands of heroes - or anyone! Your sense of trust had dwindled down to nothingness, especially following the abandonment by those who should have jumped to help you. It wasn't attention you wanted. You didn't need any of that!

You desired isolation, above everything, but you understood the importance of removing yourself from the depressive thoughts and views lingering in your mind...and in your heart. They displayed their aggression like a pack of wild animals, constantly trying to tear you apart. And, well...it was working. You let them succeed, for the effort required to banish them was far too great. You always hoped they would disappear, clear the path for some guiding light, some blinding illumination of hope...of courage. But that never happened. How could it? The rabbit-hole of distress and despondency was never-ending, and your heart fell ahead of your body. How could you find solace, when your entire being seemed to reject it so vehemently?

Was the question truly: Do saviours exist?

Or was it: Do I really deserve to be saved?

In spite of these overbearing thoughts, in spite of your spiking pulse and the beads of sweat ghosting down your forehead, you remained alert. You couldn't turn victim to another sneak attack. You couldn't be caught off-guard - not a second time. You avoided contact with everyone, even those with no direction. The terror mounted, slowly chipping away at your tear ducts, but there was only one more block. Your shopping list was concise. It was certain to be a short trip. Could your illness permit a moment's respite?

But time was of the essence.

The hourglass-sand was draining.

And then came the villain attack.

Even in your state of hyper-awareness, you failed to notice the warning signs. You didn't have foresight. This wasn't supposed to happen. History - your nauseating history - was repeating. It was repeating, and once again, you were rendered helpless, powerless, utterly useless. You couldn't save anyone, not your closest companions...not even yourself. Were you seeing static, or was it just the violent tremors manipulating your vision? By taking the initiative, by leaving your house...had you willing walked into a death trap? Were you going to die here?...Would you join those who perished in the field? What if they rejected you? You couldn't save them, and their blood had painted your skin...would they implore you to leave? The villain was nothing more than a blurred outline, but when you saw his quirk, your blood ran cold.

It was Reanimation. It was the same...the same...It was a curse, placed upon your friends all those moons ago. It was inescapable. It was a cage. You gripped your neck, an extreme feeling of suffocation making you keel over. This couldn't be happening. Not again! Not again! Not again! The villain was stabbing and slashing civilians left and right, then turning the corpses against the rest. People were dying. In a few seconds, you too would succumb to those glinting blades - the villain was heading toward you. But your muscles were frozen. Your breathing was laboured.

Perhaps death would release you from this dreadful panic? You didn't truly wish to find out. You wanted to live, and you wanted normalcy. You just...wanted a chance. A chance to prove your worth, to prove your benevolence.

But...the blood...

...it was clawing desperately at your shirt. It felt far too familiar. To whom did it belong? With all the chaos, you just couldn't tell. You could hear nothing over the incessant ringing and ragged breaths. You could see nothing beyond the crimson spots in your vision. You waited for death, for your early appointment with the Reaper. It never came. A sudden gust of wind rocked you, and a blurry figure ran past, kicking into the crowd. You couldn't see the flames of delight glossing over her eyes. You couldn't really tell that it was a woman - a hero. You were too busy panicking. The curtain closed on the corpse party rather soon, but you kept crying, kept shaking. This was your normal, your reaction. It was inescapable. It was hellish.

The hero beamed, showing off her victorious grin.

"And that's how you beat death!"

You weren't listening - you couldn't.

It seemed as though she planned to hop away. But her gaze travelled to you. It was a little confusing, since after an ordeal like this, regular civilians tended to thank her, ask for an autograph and then walk away. Sure, it could have been traumatising...but to such an extent? Something more was afoot. She wasn't really the comforting type, but there was no-one else around to help. The police would arrive shortly, though she doubted they would possess the expertise to deal with you, in this condition. Well, she was a pro for a reason, right? She could totally deal with this herself!

No biggie!

Crouching down beside you, she tried to rein in her loud, possibly brash voice. "Hey, what's up? Did that villain hurt ya?"

Your only response was more heavy breathing. A quick scan of your body revealed no injuries, just blood spatter. She was relieved, but you looked stressed and stricken with fear - enough to pass out. Now she wished a jacket was part of her costume, so she could wrap it around you, and hopefully provide some semblance of safety. Her strong hands found purchase on your back and arm, rubbing over the clothing, in an effort to calm you down. You felt her touch...her warmth. It was oddly soothing, and managed to slow your breaths. You wanted to speak. Well, to be honest, you wanted to scream. This woman...you sensed her strength, almost like it radiated off her. It was reassuring, but that couldn't compensate for everything you had just witnessed...everything you had heard and felt.

"So what triggered you? Was it the blood, or-" A whimper-yell slashed through her questions.

Okay, so blood wasn't to be mentioned.

Her grin didn't falter. "Good thing I was here! I beat the crap outta that villain, so now you should be fine, right? I'm Miruko!"

Pride rushed to her face.

You despised words of such hollow comfort, but she seemed to be genuinely trying. You supposed it was admirable. Your attacks were difficult not only for yourself, but also those nearby, after all. People usually took their leave pretty quickly. Not this one. As your panic-induced haze cleared, and the trembling slowed, your eyes met the most breath-taking woman imaginable. You had always considered yourself open to same-sex dating, but nobody had ever sparked your fancy. This woman didn't cause such a fleeting pang in your heart. No - she ignited your very soul. You clung to every echo of her voice, but you just couldn't agree with her. She was under the impression that heroes were essential, that they rescued and relieved. That child-like train of thought niggled the back of your mind.

"I get to kick so many villains' butts! It's a real adrenaline rush!" You understood that she was trying to push the incident from your mind.

Heroes were slaves to the system, to the government...exactly like soldiers. Screwing your eyes shut, you started to speak, praying that you wouldn't be interrupted by further, miserable cries or screams of agony.

"On the war-front, there are no heroes. Only pawns, manipulated into throwing their lives away for people who would save their own skins at any chance they got."

Were you whispering? Maybe yelling? It wasn't important, but the woman appeared stunned to silence. Despite your ears having been liberated from the harsh ringing of funeral bells, you could scarcely hear yourself. Were you purposefully blocking out these words? Was it because of their truth? You didn't know.

"Damn, someone did do a number on you, huh? You said 'war-front' - were you a soldier?"

You didn't notice your unrelenting grip, the nails that dug into her skin, begging for her attention. Maybe the past should remain buried? Her curiosity could be unsatiated. You would probably require some degree of medical assistance, but would your hold ever loosen? She likely neglected a number of villain attacks, while waiting with you, but...

...to her, it was worth every second.

[Word Count: 1867]

[master-of-fluff]

How many AUs do you have? (And can you tell what they all are?😅😁)

I have 10 Au's so far so here they are with a bit of info in no particular order

1. kidnapped kai au

ok so in this au kai unlocks his elemental powers before he met Wu causing garmadon to take an interest in him and so kai was the one who was kidnapped instead of nya and nya has to get kai back -she also joins the ninja team from the start and is told about her parents and their powers

I have fanfictuon out about this -just search the kidnapped kai au tag but im taking a break from updating so that I can plan it out more and have an outline

2. is my bnha crossover au

so this morro, garmadon and harumi get reincarnated into the bnha verse

morro becomes the adopted older brother of the main character midoriya

harumi becomes the twin of this crazy rich inventory girl

and garmadon becomes a theripist

they all basically help the main character achieve his end goal of becoming the no.1 hero without a superpower -idk if you watch bnha but basically 80% of the people there have a power called a quirk and the main character is a part of the 20% that don't)

Im also making an outline for this one so I might write it out sometime next Yearo making an outline for this one so I might write it out sometime next Year

3. hybrid smith siblings au

basically ray is a demon and maya is an angel they fell in love and were kicked out of their homes and hurled to earth -they use magic to keep their appearance hidden and nonbody knows

-until kai starts growing wings and horns

-nya grows them too but it starts at a certain age so at the start the focus is mostly on kai

I don't have much for this au besides its polyninja lol

I just think that jay would help with sensory overloads since Kai's senses inhance and also his wings are very sensitive

and zane would help kai with feeling different

and Cole is just the rock that knows what to say to ground him

thats literally all I have for this au

4. polyninja fam au

ok so in this au the ninja -who are all dating- get tired of saving ninja go and quit and run away -taking lloyd with them and adopting him ofc

-they also steal some yesterday's tea and turn lloyd back Into a kid so he can have the life head supposed to

-so first they live in the old lighthouse zanes dad was trapped in since its self sustaining -which is where they find echo who they also adopt

then slowly they each get jobs

-cole becomes a comic book artist/author

-kai and lloyd make video games (they also have cole make comics for said video games

-zane becomes a chef (who donates half his profits to orphanages)

-and jay works for cyrus borg

we also have polyponytail:

-nya and pixal help skylor out at the noodle shop

-they mostly help by making invitations to help with everything

-but if it's real busy they help in the restaurant

dareth and ronin are also dating and pretty much lloyd and echos uncles

-ronin uses them as a distraction to steal stuff though

-dareth is good at making up weird games

-they are good babysitters

-sorta

also brad and gene become good friends with lloyd and echo

5. highschool au -this is also polyninja-

this was made with @/stranger mask @/lloyd-garma-gun and @/superstar-rockin-abs

basically the ninja are in highschool but

pastel goth zane

jock jay

nerd kai

vintage cole

polyponytail met in chess club

polyamory with lloyd gene and brad and they are all cheer leaders

halfway checkpoint

6. nindroid jay au

jay is one of the older prototypes that dr.Julian made and dumped

years later Ed and edna find him and repair him

since his parents are inventors he basically adds a bunch of things to himself -like retractable wings and stuff

Zane and him feel a weird connection but neither of them remember their creator until tick-tock -this is all I have for this au

7. paranormal YouTubers au

this is an au im making for @/wojira and if u want more details u should probably ask her -I'll also tag u in the og post about this au if you ask

basically the ninja are collage sstudents who started a YouTube channel where they invest haunted places as a joke but they become super popular -again more details in the original post if you ask-

8. manipulative morro au

me and @/thebluelittlewitch2-thesequel made this but @/superstar-rockin-abs and @/grembeak gave hs the idea i think

basically lloyd didn't get hit by tomorrows tea so instead of possessing lloyd morro manipulates him into doing things for him by saying that lloyd gone crazy and the only way for 'the voicemail' -aka morro- to go away is for him to do certain things

harumi later teams up with morro for a second try on revenge andalso becomes more of a mother figure to lloyd then a lover -lloyd is a bit younger then her in this au

she uses her powers to start an orphanage but really its a place for her to train and raise a cult of parentless children that they are orphans because of lloyd and that if they follow her they can all have revenge

her code name is changed respectively to 'mother lullaby' and morro's is 'toxic wind'

9. evil ed and edna au

basically Ed and edna are evil assasins/ inventors who become obsessed with making the ultimate weapon

they basically turn jay into a hydra experiment -training him and experimenting on him over and over and over-

but eventually they decide that he is a failed experiment and abandon him -at this point he looks far from human

but kai and nya find him and take him in -he is a year older then nya so nya is ten hes eleven and kai is 13-

at first jay thinks he was kiddnaped but there is no way these kids could have so then he thinks that him being there is another test and he has to figure out what it is but eventually he figures out he was abandoned

he helps the smith siblings by inviting things that help them around the house -and also making toys for nya and kai-

they become a small family

10. thiccjago

just look at the @lord-garmabooty-official blog...that's all you need to know

whew that took way too long but here ya go!!!h

[hopeless-nostalgiac]

with all appliances and means to boot: ncis/tiva fic

for this challenge, @loudlooks​ requested Tiva + "I didn't know you could do that." thank you for the inspiration!! *hugs*

set summer between S3-4 w/ team dynamics & tiva (a LOT of tiva—they took over the fic, basically, and I’m not sorry about it) 

also, this turned out like eight times longer than I expected & was the most fun and freeing thing I’ve worked on in years, so

enjoy:) 

FFN

“I didn’t know you could do that!” 

McGee’s voice filtered over news-chattering televisions, incessantly ringing phones, and chicken-clacking keyboards to reach Tony at his desk. 

“There was no reason to mention it earlier. It is not exactly a useful skill, my friend.” Ziva’s full-throated chuckles were wind chimes amidst the office drudgery.

Tony shook off the eruption of gooseflesh on his arms. It was way too early for that. And McGee was babbling again.

“I’ve just never met someone in real life who could do it.”

“Really?!”

A boom of shared laughter enveloped them.

Glancing at the digital read-out on his monitor, Tony silently cheered. 9:07. Totally busted. Then he pretended to be busy with paperwork, so his attention was occupied ahead of time. 

The agents’ conversation lowered until it faded completely, coinciding with their entrance into the squadroom.

Tony had that effect on them now. The tables, as the saying went, had turned. They were the class troublemakers to his super-strict teacher. They, the unruly cadets, and he, the veteran drill sergeant. They were Agents; he was Boss. 

“Agent McGee. Officer David. You’re late.” 

McGee froze while swinging around his desk. Ziva froze after dropping her gear. Tony continued to stare yet not see the file in front of him, but he didn’t need visual confirmation to know the teammates were exchanging glances, coordinating their plan of counterattack. 

“Well, technically we were in the building on time.” The opening lob courtesy of McGee. 

“Technically, that’s not good enough, McTardy.”

“It was when you were wearing our shoes.” 

Tony fought an eye roll. “You can’t throw me off the scent with a well-timed idiom blunder, Officer David.” 

“Can’t I, Tony?” Ziva’s voice was louder, closer to him. 

Out of his peripheral vision, he spied her leaning on the divider between their workspaces. So close now, he caught a whiff of her lavender mint shampoo as she flicked at a cascade of curls that had fallen over her shoulder. If this was their strategy, well, it wasn’t the worst angle. 

But Tony DiNozzo was better. 

“No, you can’t,” he reiterated, finally gracing each of them in turn with his steady gaze. Calm, yet intense. Everything rumbling beneath the surface. “And it’s Agent DiNozzo. Or Boss.” 

Ziva stared back, golden-brown eyes matching his intensity, but not the calm. She rattled off a string of heated Hebrew, ending with a sharp snap of her teeth before spinning around on her heel and dropping heavily into her desk chair.  

Crazy chick.

“So, anyway. Just to be clear: If you’re here after me, you’re late. Period.” Tony slapped a case folder closed, causing his desk to tremble; he could emphasize his words, too. “For today, you can make amends by telling me whatever it is McGee didn’t know Ziva could do. I’m thinking it involves lots of stretching, but if there’s a video game reference, leave it out. Go!” 

And like that, authority forfeited for curiosity. 

McGee did roll his eyes and muttered something that suspiciously sounded like waste of time under his breath. Ziva scoffed, typing noisily at her computer and decidedly not looking in Tony’s direction. 

“That’s an order.” Even he didn’t buy the command. 

9:10. The day was shot. 

. . . 

If someone asked Tony how his first weeks as leader of MCRT were going, he’d say, “Good, considering the circumstances,” with a flash of white teeth. He didn’t like to lose face, sure, but he was pretty confident it was the truth, too.

Because when your boss quit and ran off to Mexico, leaving you in charge of a team that for years affectionately regarded you as The Class Clown, the circumstances weren’t on your side and ‘good’ was the most you could hope for.

. . . 

“What did you do?” 

Passing through the automatic doors, Tony came up short—as much due to the always assaulting antiseptic stench as the accusation. “Why do you assume I did something wrong? Can’t I come see my favorite Autopsy Gremlin with no ulterior motive?” 

“Sure you can,” Palmer called from the freezer section, where he was sliding a corpse home. “But I already talked to Abby, who talked to McGee.” 

Fantastic.

“So before, with the ‘what did you do?’...that was kind of redundant, huh?”

“Guess so.” A dorky chortle escaped the assistant. “I mean, seriously, they were only late by a couple minutes, Tony. Sorry, Agent DiNozzo.” Another hiccup of laughter. 

Great. Just great. 

“Gee, I was hoping I could escape some of the ridicule down here....” Tony pressed his palms against the cold steel of an autopsy table, shoulders hunched, depositing weight into the defeated stance. All his course-correcting tactics, including buying his team lunch, had done little to reverse the morning’s death blow. McGee and Ziva were ignoring him aside for a lone campfire, and then their interactions were clipped—aggressively so where the ex-assassin was concerned. Now the damage was spreading to the sub-basement, it seemed. 

“Look on the bright side, you’re the team leader. It’s what you’ve always wanted, right?” Palmer mirrored Tony on the other end of the table, adjusting his glasses before adding, “This is a bump in the road, but no one ever achieved greatness without first overcoming resistance.” 

“That’s wise, Palmer. For a man who talks to the dead. You wouldn’t happen to know—”

“What McGee didn’t know Ziva could do?” 

Tony blinked. Maybe they’d been underestimating the Autopsy Gremlin all along. “Yeah. Know anything about it?” 

“It’s not a big deal. We were at the bar last night and first the waitress got Abby’s drink order mixed up, but it was super busy, so I suggested that—”

“Sometime today, Palmer.” 

“Well, it turns out Ziva can knot a cherry stem with her tongue, and then...” 

Oh, it was more wondrous than he’d guessed (and that list was long).

Palmer’s rambling dissolved to the background of Tony’s thoughts. He couldn’t get to the audacity of everyone going out for drinks without him because the dexterity of Ziva’s tongue was front and center. As he was recently familiarized with that very tongue and the talented mouth it resided in, it was all too easy to lose himself in a sexy daydream of the alleged feat.

Until he remembered how pissed she was at him. Bubble, burst. 

. . .

If someone asked Tony how his first weeks sleeping with Ziva, his former partner and current subordinate, were going, he’d say, “What? I’m not—we’re not—how dare—what?!” 

Because when your boss quit and ran off to Mexico, some of his rules haunted you. 

. . . 

“Rough day?”

Tony looked up right away. It was best not to play games with the director, who emerged stealthily in the dim, empty squadroom. He’d dismissed McGee and Ziva at regular quitting time, unable to make eye contact with either of them—for different reasons—but stayed behind to catch up on last week’s case reports. Him, voluntarily completing paperwork. 

Rough was an understatement.  

“I see my shortcomings are making the rounds.” 

Jenny’s smile was beautifitic, the one she wore during news interviews. “Don’t worry. I wasn’t seeking it out. I was speaking to Ducky on a separate matter, and he happened to mention talking with Mr. Palmer, who—”

“Got the scoop from Abby because McGee blabbed to her,” Tony finished, barely restrained. “Yeah, I’m well acquainted with the watercooler daisy chain.” 

It didn’t slip his notice that Ziva was the missing link. The text he’d started writing to her the second she disappeared through the elevator doors was unfinished and unsent on his phone. 

“Did you also hear they went for drinks after work without inviting me?” It came out as a whine.

Jenny didn’t mask her amusement. “Did you always invite Gibbs for drinks? No, because he was your boss and you were probably venting about him.”

Touché.

“I’m trying, ma’am.” This he intoned with every fiber of professionalism and sincerity he could summon in the moment. The problem was that this wasn’t his first mistake since taking over—wouldn’t be the last—but he was trying. He wanted that noted. Also, there was an insane learning curve, and yes, big shoes to fill. Could he be blamed for that?

The redhead stepped forward, switching her smile for an expression of...not quite pity. Understanding? “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown, Agent DiNozzo.”

“Robin Hood: Men in Tights?” 

“Shakespeare.” Jenny chuckled, her fair eyes sparkling in the light of his desk lamp. Tony could see why Gibbs was once head-over-heels for her, back when they were partners. He knew something of those complicated emotions, of which the text draft on his phone contained damning evidence. 

“It’s the nature of being in charge,” she continued. “You’re going to have crappy days and plenty of nights when you can’t sleep. My advice, from experience? When you screw up, apologize and do better next time.”  

“Isn’t that a sign of weakness?” It was a reflex, after so many years. 

Jenny caught his eye and held it. “No. It’s a sign of respect.” 

. . .

He was sober when he showed up on her doorstep. Stopping off for some liquid courage briefly flitted through his brain, but flitted out just as quickly. McGee, he could buy a NutterButter, eat some humble pie himself. All would be cool again. Ziva was a different story. 

Namely, a story with a lot of sex in it, and it’d barely been a month yet. That he spent a large portion of the day envisioning her tongue doing erotic dances with a red cherry stem wasn’t helping. It also further convinced him of a brutal truth: Things were changing. Things had already changed. 

Ziva, outlined by the glow from inside the apartment, crossed her arms over a baggy workout t-shirt. Curls piled in a messy bun. It was Tuesday, kickboxing night. “If you are here for a booty call, you will be sorely disappointed.” Each word was wrapped in her delicious Israeli accent, momentarily distracting him from their sum meaning.

He’d expected as much.

“See, when you want to get them right…” Tony’s attempted humor and roguish smile failed to earn him leniency. 

“Goodnight, Boss.”

The door hurtled toward him, closing on his chance to repent—and more than that, his chance with her. His left hand flew up, catching the wood with a few inches to spare. 

“Hey, whoa. Wait. I’m here to apologize, all right?” Breath whooshed in and out of him; sweat beaded instantly on his forehead.  

Okay, so it wasn’t just about the sex. He was enamored with her, and it hadn’t been a full month yet.

Ziva yanked the door back, though the arrangement of her features maintained dubious feelings. She raised her eyebrows in a way that said, Yes, and?

“I was an idiot, Ziva.”

A corner of her delicate mouth pulsed. “Good start.”

The heaviness in his chest released. He dared another smile, softer-gentler this time, and the door stayed open. “I was too hard on you and McGee.”

“You will apologize to him as well, yes?”

“Yes. McSweetTooth will wet himself with glee, I’m sure of it.” Tony shuffled his feet, bringing him onto her brown doormat, never dropping her gaze. “But seriously, Ziva, I know I messed up, especially, you know...I mean, you should be able to call the guy you’re sleeping with by his first name, even if he’s your boss. That is,” he sheepishly tagged on, “if I’m still the guy you’re sleeping with, after today.”

For a bloated handful of seconds, Ziva froze, as she had that morning in the squadroom. Eyes like lasers, drilling through him. It lasted long enough for doubts to creep in. Then—

“Are you?”

So simple, but coupled with her head tilted to expose honeyed neck, her popped knee, and the slight part of her plumped lips, the challenge was clearly set for him. 

This would be fun. 

Tony launched over the doorway, literally sweeping Ziva off her feet as he plowed into the apartment. An honest-to-goodness squeal filled his ears, then that wind-chime laugh took over and his knees wobbled in their sockets—nevermind her 100-something pounds hanging on his torso. 

It was the first time he’d carried her this way—any way—but her arms and legs wrapped around his body with an ease he would have analyzed if not for the supple give of her breasts against his chest, or her frizzy hair tickling his chin. Her mouth alternated between whispering the dirtiest promises in his ear and nibbling on his neck. Thoughts would have to wait. 

How they shut the front door, how they maneuvered the hallway to her bedroom, how they undressed and (eventually) found the bed was a haze of details that didn’t matter. The shudder that coursed through her at his every touch, mattered. The inverted bridge her back made when his lips and tongue met her center, mattered. His name on a gasp, woven into a sigh, lifted to a shout...

In this area, Tony DiNozzo excelled. He was damn well going to prove it. 

. . . 

It took two rounds to sate her. The first go was part of the apology; the second was because he had a young, hot lover who could run eight miles at the crack of dawn, kickbox for an hour after work, and still have energetic sex with him—twice. Who wouldn’t take advantage of that? 

“Guess I got that booty call after all.” He love-tapped her ass, which was bare to the air. He braced for retaliation. 

None came.

Hair mussed and cheeks flushed, Ziva glanced over, fixing him in her line of sight. A smirk hiked up the side of her mouth not buried in the pillow. “As did I, Agent DiNozzo.”

“Never going to live that down, am I?”

“Give it a few months.” Her smirk widened as her eyelids drooped, each blink taking longer and longer to pull back up. 

. . .

They dozed together in the dark of her bedroom. They weren’t cuddlers, per se. Their connections left them too sensitive, sticky and unspooled. They stayed close, though. Touching random pieces of her to him, him to her. His head resting on her bicep curled closest to the mattress. Her ankle molded to the arch of his foot. Sometimes as conventional as their hands laid one atop the other, fingers loose. 

. . . 

He began talking while they ate cereal in the kitchen at quarter to eleven. He was talking as she cleaned and put away their dishes and led him to the front room, his body going where she steered and nudged. What he voiced was nothing new to either of them. All the same issues that overwhelmed him on a cool May night, that propelled him to Ziva’s door in what would become a habit. He was drowning; she was refuge. 

For that, and so many other reasons, he trusted her without question. 

Ziva allowed him to talk now because that was how he worked out problems. They both knew that, too. 

“I think it comes down to the fact that...I don’t know how to be a team leader that isn’t Gibbs.” The admission floated and settled on the sofa cushion between them. It wasn’t often they said his name anymore. The memory was sore to the touch. 

“We have been over this, yes?” Ziva tossed a leg across his lap, the other tucked beneath her. He immediately claimed the tanned skin of her thigh, rolling it under his hands. “This is a chance to be your type of leader, make your own rules.” 

“Every time I do that, it blows up in my face.”

“Not every time,” she corrected, her eyes darting to his lips and lingering. 

His heart rate ticked up. Very true. They might not have happened if Gibbs hadn’t left. But… “We’re one thing, Ziva. The team is another.”   

She turned his chin with her hand, locking his gaze with her steady and fervent stare. An imposing combination. “Tony, you either keep trying or you quit, just like Gibbs. What will it be?” 

It was Tony’s turn to sneak a not-so-subtle glance at her lips. When she put it like that, the answer was undebatable. What he’d told Jenny wasn’t a lie. And giving up wasn’t an option. 

Didn’t mean he’d hand her the win that easily. 

“How about we make a deal?” While his eyebrows waggled, his hands roamed farther than her thigh. “I persevere with the team leader thing. In exchange, you show off your fancy cherry stem tying prowess for me.” 

Her mouth gaped, eyes narrowing. “Who told you?”

“Palmer. The guy’s actually not a bad sounding board.” He’d have to remember that for future thorny cases. 

Ziva deflected, “I do not have any cherries in the fridge.”

Tony returned, “That wouldn’t stop a true parlor trick magician like yourself.”

Her face reformed in an expression that always intrigued him. A cat devising the perfect trap for her prey. It didn’t surprise him when she stretched her leg out, straddling his lap properly. He circled her low back, drawing her hips over him and generating a spark of friction. There was extra verve in her fingers burrowing the short hairs at his nape, tipping his head upwards. 

“You must really want me to—”

Ziva covered his lips with hers, swallowing his words as they melted to moans. Instead of continuing hot and heavy, everything slowed. Each kiss long and needy, a continuous caress. Her heady spice invaded his senses. The tip of her tongue slipped by his teeth, running the roof of his mouth before pushing in further.

Tony’s spine straightened at the sensation of tongue against tongue, the rough texture, the strokes and flicks. He gripped whatever part of her was in his reach, would likely leave marks. She didn’t flinch. She was all around him, practically tying him in a knot. 

It was exactly how he imagined it, but also superior.

He was smiling when they broke apart, breath imperative for them both. “Your ingenuity is an inspiration, Ms. David.” 

Ziva winked, leaning forward to kiss him again, a casual closed-lipped peck in the wake of such an intimate encounter. And he knew, no matter what came of leading the team, he wanted this—them—to survive. 

“Now you must honor your part of the deal, Tony.” 

“Whatever you say,” he agreed, flipping her onto the cushion and following her down for round three.

. . .

The next day, Tony waited at his car in the parking lot for his team to arrive. He walked into the building with them, and didn’t check the clock in the mornings ever again. 

He apologized to McGee, which just freaked out the newly-appointed Senior Field Agent. As Tony predicted, the Nutter Butter made all the difference. 

By the end of the week, he brought Special Agent Lee onto the team because there was symmetry in four and they needed a probie to act as a buffer. Plus, she was good at meeting case report deadlines and Tony wasn’t.

He doubled-up on campfires and went to Jenny for advice more often. Palmer, too. 

The team went out for drinks, occasionally inviting him to join. Occasionally not. 

A month later, he and Ziva started keeping their love in each other’s hearts along with spare clothes in one another’s dressers. Soon, there would be no sense hiding them anymore. 

And when someone asked Tony how leading his own team was going, he said, “Our results speak for themselves,” and meant it. 

Because when your boss quit and ran off to Mexico, leaving you in charge, you wore the crown and made it your own. 

fin

[themurphyzone]

PatB Oneshot: A Whole New World

AN: Well I did have an angst story in mind which I do have a basic outline for but I feel like I gotta balance some of the more despair-driven stories with some fluff.

I decided to use a HC I posted a few days ago: That Pinky would serenade Brain with A Whole New World. Just with a small modification to help the story flow better. Cause it’s cute and adorable and just let them be happy please.

FFN

Pinky loved endings. Happy endings, teary endings, pencil endings. They were just fun to chew on even if they left a rubbery taste in his mouth!

And when Aladdin and Jasmine kissed on a starlit night filled with fireworks and flew off on their magic carpet, it was so magicafantastical! Or was the right word beauwondersicle? And then the moon turned out to be the Genie the entire time! He never would’ve guessed!

The moon outside was just as big and beautiful as the one in the movie, except it was made of cheese instead of genies. And there was a funny face in the cheese too. Maybe a moon mouse carved it so earth mice would have something to laugh at and brighten up their nights!

That was really kind of them to help cheer Brain up. And hard work deserved a reward! What kind of cheeses and scented soaps did moon mice like?

Making a gift basket would have to be number lollipop on his to-do list though. For now, there was a lovely reprise of A Whole New World. It was such a romantic song, and it didn’t take long before Pinky was swaying and humming along to Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle’s vocals.

The counter was a magic carpet, and the walls twinkled with countless stars. Pinky let his movements flow like a gentle breeze, making sure to keep his limbs tucked inside the magic carpet at all times.

A body cuddling close, warm compared to the cool night air. The warmth spread through his chest, making him tingly and melty and a thousand other things at once, like the time he’d tried plugging a broken cord from one of Brain’s whatchamajigs into an outlet and gotten shocked. Only this was a good tingly and not a painful one.

“Pinky, put me down at once!” a hand clamped around Pinky’s snout and yanked insistently.

Pinky stood on his tiptoes as the song went into the next verse, and the next tug made him slip and tumble. Pinky laughed as his face smooshed against the countertop.

There was an ‘oof’ from underneath him, which was a strange sound for his tummy to make. It usually made more of a ‘gurgurgur’ noise.

“Zort! Tummy, you’ve got it all wrong!” Pinky scolded. “You’re supposed to growl and grumble like something that’s good at being growly and grumbly!”

Pinky had eaten his dinner during the movie, but his tummy growled anyway.

“That’s a good one, tummy! You sound almost exactly like Brain!” Pinky giggled. He arched his back, bending his head so he could get a good look at his tummy, but sneezed when his nose brushed against the fur on Brain’s chubby head.

Brain scowled, fixing Pinky with his best warning glare. “Pinky, if you don’t let me up in the next five seconds, I shall have to hurt you after I finish hurting you for pulling me into your ridiculous dance.”

Pinky stepped aside and helped Brain up, giggling at how Brain’s face resembled a tomato. Brain could turn his entire face red, and Pinky wondered how he could make his own face turn different colors. Maybe a nice indigo? That was his favorite crayon after all.

And so were aquamarine and periwinkle and scarlet and maroon and…well, picking a favorite crayon was harder than he thought. They were all fun colors!

And a sharp pain to his head let him see even more colors. Olive green, smiley face yellow, and there was even a pretty chartreuse!

“Narf…” Pinky murmured, transfixed by all the swirling hues.

Pinky stumbled, landing flat on his face again. After a few seconds, his head stopped swirling and he could see Brain setting his pen down and trying to rub the red out of his face.

“Zort! I saw so many colors! You should try it sometime!” Pinky exclaimed.

Brain shoved his hands into his pockets, and Pinky remembered that he kept meaning to ask Brain about that because he wasn’t wearing pants.

“I’ll have to decline your offer, Pinky,” Brain replied, his fur back to its usual white. “I’m still debating if I should be more concerned about the objects you put into your mouth.”

“Don’t worry, it was just food pellets. We’re all out of moldy cheese and lint balls, remember?” Pinky said.

“Thank you for proving my point,” Brain muttered as he hit the off button on the remote. The cheery music from a car commercial faded away.  

“You’re welcome, Brain!”

Brain grabbed Pinky by the arm and half-dragged, half-led him across the counter to where a notepad was propped up by a stack of books for supersmart mice. Great pictures, but how did x get lost from the rest of the letters and wind up in Numberland anyway? It was a mystery that Pinky still hadn’t solved.

“It’s time to focus on tonight’s plan,” Brain declared, lightly tracing a series of music notes with a pencil. “We’ll broadcast our hypnotic emotional song across the airwaves. This song contains lyrics with double meanings designed to pull at a human’s natural curiosity. They’ll have to listen many times in order to understand what I desire to accomplish, and with each repetition, the suggestion will continue to grow until every human on earth comes to the lab on bended knee and a willingness to make me their ruler.”

“Egad, Brain! Brilliant!” Pinky clapped his hands in delight, grinning when he caught a small lopsided ‘I know I’m smart’ smile on Brain’s face. “Oh wait, didn’t we already try this with Spinatra?”

Brain waved his hand dismissively. “Already accounted for. I was too concerned with vocals in that plan. The background instrumentals will have a much more important role this time. I’m even including a swelling crescendo and key change towards the end.”

Pinky gasped. “That poor croissant! It needs cream to help with that swelling!”

“I need cream for the headache you’re inevitably going to cause,” Brain sighed.

“Does this mean you’re singing again? Can you sing it right now?” Pinky asked. “Cause I love it when you sing, Brain!”

Brain squirmed, the redness creeping into his face again. He was funny about singing, acting like he didn’t enjoy it. If the world ruler thing didn’t pan out, then singing would be a great back-up career. Pinky could just picture it!

Brain Maine, the blond international singing sensation whose stage name was a US state for some reason who dealt with normal people things like being a genetically altered lab mouse in his private life!

“We’ll broadcast the song over the radio,” Brain said, avoiding Pinky’s eyes while he busied himself by adding several squiggly lines into the margins around his lyrics. “Yes, this plan requires me to sing. As for your other question…”

He trailed off, mumbling something Pinky couldn’t make out.

Pinky raised a hand to his ear, wondering if he needed to clean it again. He could never find the Q-tips though. “Sorry, Brain. Didn’t quite catch that. Did you say they’re making Goodnight Moon into a Jelly Belly flavor? Because I don’t think paper and jelly beans go well together, poit.”

“No, Pinky,” Brain scowled. “I’m at an impasse. My lyrics are thought-provoking and profound. My notations are highly technical and intricate, logically designed to invoke a strong emotional reaction in listeners based on precedents set by great composers and music theorists in the past. But for all this excellence, I haven’t been able to organize my lyrics into a configuration that will appeal to the auditory pathways.”

Pinky blinked. He knew Brain liked to hide behind big words. That was just how he played hide-and-seek, like how Pinky enjoyed hiding in a paper towel roll. “That’s a lotta big words, Brain. I just want a teensy tiny sneak peek of the song. Unless you still need time on that part. That’s okay, I’ll just run on my wheel while I wait.”

Brain sighed as he crossed out several music notes. “Precisely, Pinky. I’m well-versed in being objective. However, objectivity falls short when a plan hinges on people’s…feelings. The final product needs to be emotional, but I can’t induce a reaction until I know what sounds will produce a maximum effect!”

He threw down the pencil and kicked it away.

Pinky tilted his head, taking in the numerous edits spread over the page. Brain really poured his heart out for these pretty-looking words. Like his heart just tipped out of his chest and he was trying to cover it up again while scolding it for being visible in the first place. And being upset because he couldn’t find the tune for his heart’s song.

Wait…

A heartsong!

“Just like the penguins who saved the South Pole with the power of tap dancing and singing and Robin Williams!” Pinky exclaimed, grabbing Brain by the shoulders. Brain tried to shrug him off, but Pinky clung on. “Brain, that’s what you need! A tune for your heartsong!”

“Pinky, now you’re just babbling,” Brain said, crossing his arms and leaning back as far as he could without falling over. “And don’t describe my hard work as a ‘heartsong’. You’re making it sound like sentimental sap.”

“Sounds delicious!” Pinky replied. “But all you need is just a little inspiration, Brain! Let me help you find a tune so you can feel everything and help the world feel your song too! Please with a maraca cherry on top?”

“Maraschino cherries, as much as it pains me to acknowledge such a childish form of pleading,” Brain corrected. “I assume you’re not letting this, or by extension, me…go until I indulge you.”

“Nope!” Pinky said.

“Very well. I resign myself to whatever you have in your unconventional mind, Pinky.”

                                                  O – O – O – O – O

In the end, the setup was just a stereo and a Disney CD with their most popular movie songs. Pinky had decided against wearing his fedora, since Brain didn’t seem to care for his Donald O’Connor impression very much.

Since the CD case had a coffee stain on it that prevented him from finding the song number, Pinky took a moment to listen to the first few notes of each song before pressing the next button. As much as Pinky loved Hakuna Matata, it just wasn’t what Brain needed right now. He’d save that one in case they ever got dropped into the jungle again. It took about nine, or maybe twelveteen tries before Pinky found what he was looking for.

Satsified, Pinky paused the song and turned back to Brain, who was drawing several neat lines on a yellow sticky note.

“What’s that, Brain?” Pinky asked, leaning over Brain’s head for balance so he could get a closer look.

Brain tilted his head to the right and Pinky slipped off, laughing when he landed on his elbow. “I’m setting up my notes, Pinky.”

“We only need music notes, Brain. Not notes-notes or sticky notes,” Pinky said. Sometimes Brain could be a little confused. Why would he need notes for his heartsong?

“Oh yes, Pinky. How silly of me. The notes will just magically write themselves after all.”

Well, of course they would write themselves. But Brain still wouldn’t budge from his sticky note and pencil.

So Pinky decided to resort to drastic measures.

“Chase me!” Pinky shouted, snatching the sticky note and pencil from Brain and dashing around to the back of the stereo as fast as he could while his paws were full. There was an angry growl from behind him, but Pinky had a good head start on Brain. Normally, Pinky slowed his running speed to give Brain a fair chance at catching him, because it just wasn’t fun if the chaser couldn’t catch up to the chasee.

But this time around, Brain would need to listen closely to his feelings, whatever they were. And he couldn’t do that with notes that weren’t music notes.

“Give those back, Pinky!” Brain yelled, rounding the corner just as Pinky stuck one side of the sticky note into his mouth and grabbed a knobby thing from the back of the stereo, hauling himself up with one paw clutched firmly around the pencil.

“Not ‘til after the song!” Pinky meant to say, but it came out more like ‘nafthang’ because of the sticky note. Brain’s paw clamped around the middle of his tail and threatened to pull him down when he was halfway to the top. Pinky clung to his handhold tightly, keeping his legs spread for balance.

The tip of Pinky’s tail flicked against Brain’s nose, and Brain’s grip loosened. Encouraged by this, Pinky let his tail go wild, brushing it against Brain’s eyes, nose, and fur. Pinky glanced down just as his tail lightly danced around the outside of Brain’s ear, watching Brain let go to bat the rest of the offending appendage away.  

Brain really did resemble a white and red tomato with ears now that Pinky had a top view. Pinky couldn’t enjoy it for long though. Quickly pulling himself to the top, Pinky laid the note down, taking a few seconds to spit the sticky stuff out of his mouth. Then he braced the pencil against the handle, making sure it wouldn’t roll away.

“I hope you’re happy,” Brain muttered, crossing his arms as Pinky hopped down. “I wouldn’t be so tolerant of your antics if I didn’t need this for research purposes.”

“Oh, I’m plenty happy,” Pinky chirped. “Are you ready for the song now?”

“We’re delayed by ninety minutes,” Brain said. “I suppose I have no choice if this plan is to be implemented in time for morning rush hour.”

“Okey-dokey then! You’ll dance with me?” Pinky said, rushing back to the front of the stereo. His hand hovered over the start button, glancing at Brain for the go-ahead.

Brain opened his mouth to reply, but then it suddenly snapped shut again. He did this several more times, and Pinky realized he probably didn’t know what to say next.

Brain wasn’t familiar with non-smarty mouse stuff, though Pinky knew he could hand Brain a bunch of numbers and letters and squiggles and Brain would find an answer faster than Pinky could blink.

Pinky decided to borrow a page out of Aladdin’s book, making a mental note to return the page later, because what if Aladdin was reading it and the page was important to the story? Pretending he was Aladdin inviting Princess Jasmine onto his magic carpet, Pinky held his hand out to Brain.

“Do you trust me?” Pinky asked, giving Brain his best reassuring smile.

Brain just stared down at Pinky’s hand like it was covered in really icky goo.  

“Do you trust me, Brain?” Pinky repeated.

“With certain things more than others,” Brain admitted after a long moment, slipping his hand into Pinky’s. “Remember, this is strictly for research purposes only.”

Pinky hit the play button, and a gentle piano melody flowed out of the speakers.

The lab quickly melted away and they were dancing on a magic carpet, a starry sky above and a bustling city below. Romantic music flew by, supported by a gentle breeze.

“I can show you the world-“

Brain jerked slightly, eyes wide as the wind sweetly sang about the world beyond the lab and domination. Pinky carefully reeled him in, helping him balance until he could find his footing again.

The world was bathed in silvery moonlight, and the shadows weren’t so scary when they flew by on their magic carpet. Pinky’s fur brushed against Brain, sending millions of tingly little sparks through his body as they weaved around brick and stone and steel, not wanting even a single building to interrupt their dance.

And they were going up, so high that Pinky could reach out and touch the clouds. He’d always wanted to dance on fluffy, cottony clouds. The ground was a million miles below, but Pinky wasn’t afraid. Brain and the magic carpet wouldn’t let him fall.

Then Pinky was tugged in a completely different direction from where he’d been trying to go, only for the step to be hastily corrected at the last second. Brain’s eyes flicked down when Pinky looked at him, so Pinky gave his hands a squeeze to let him know it was alright if he wanted to lead now.

Brain liked control, and Pinky wanted to return his efforts in kind.

With newfound confidence, Brain swept Pinky into a wide arc. Every step precise, every turn sharp. The world blurred around them, Pinky’s heart beating rapidly as he kept up with Brain’s commands.

Forests, oceans, deserts, and mountains disappeared into the distance just as fast as they came by. Pinky saw the sprawling Great Wall of China, the huge Empire State Building, the wavy Sydney Opera House, and numerous other landmarks he couldn’t remember the names of. All part of this world, and they would belong to Brain someday.

Brain’s breathing grew heavier, coming out in little puffs of air, and Pinky’s throat felt tight. Tight like he’d just run so fast, so far, without stopping to catch his breath.

The lab came back into view, the last of the stars fading into the dark walls.

The stereo played the first line of I’ll Make a Man Out of You, so Pinky turned it off. They weren’t ready for a fast-paced training montage.

They headed back to their cage for a much-needed drink of water, and Brain guzzled down nearly half the bottle before letting Pinky have his turn. While Pinky drank his fill, Brain’s attention returned to his notebook, filling in the pages with renewed vigor.

“Did you find your heartsong, Brain?” Pinky called, rushing over to find a bunch of music notes and squiggly lines that hadn’t been there before. “Zort! That’s a lot of circles!”

Brain drew several more lines, filling the spaces with even more music notes. “Whole notes, Pinky. I’m including several long ones to help enhance the emotional quality of my work. However, there’s one significant change I’d like…no, need to make before we broadcast it over the radio.”

Pinky waited, noticing that Brain swallowed a very huge gulp down his throat. “Um, Brain? I think something’s stuck in your throat. Are you okay?”  

“Iwanttomakeitaduet,” Brain mumbled.  

Pinky blinked. “Is that another big word?”

“I said I want to make it a duet, Pinky!” Brain shouted. Then he took a moment to rub his big head, sighing heavily. “Apologies.”

“Gesundheit,” Pinky grinned.

Brain paced around, murmuring to himself. “Hydrogen bonding. A hydrogen and oxygen atom forming a bond…no, it’s more covalent than hydrogen. Hydrogen bonds are weak unless there’s millions to create surface tension. Covalent bonds are much stronger. And a duet is chemistry in lyrical form, showcasing the singers’ covalent bond-“

“I can’t wait to duet with you, Brain,” Pinky declared, pouring every ounce of feeling into his words as he could. “What am I singing?”

“-like carbon with hydrogen, or even just two of the same element. And you’ll need to know your part. Of course.”

Brain copied the song onto a separate sheet of paper, then grabbed a pink highlighter from a drawer and drew it across two verses and the refrain. Pinky’s parts in pink for easy remembering! This was gonna be a fun plan!

“Pinky?”

Pinky looked up from his paper. Brain was half-turned to his notebook, half-turned to Pinky.

“If you want to know how I felt earlier, the best description I can think of is…weightless.”

He felt happy feelings when Brain’s eyes gleamed in triumph at an idea. Scared feelings when he was trapped in a maze without Brain to guide him. Sad feelings when Brain yelled and grumped and cried because he thought Pinky didn’t want to be with him anymore.

And weightless feelings?

Pinky thought of dancing in the sky and the rush of happiness he felt when Brain took the lead. Cuddling together if the lab grew too cold, listening to big words, imagining what they would do when Brain took over the world.

“That’s a good feeling to have, Brain.”

“Yes, Pinky. It is.”

AN: I think I’ve listened to way too many 90s love songs. I tried watching the Pinky POV to help me get into Pinky’s mindset, and wow that episode is weirder than I remember it. I’m sorry, but Pinky was visualizing a thong on Brain I don’t know what to say that XDXDXD

So, references. I’m not very good when it comes to pop culture outside of animation, musicals, and animated musicals but yeah. Robin Williams voiced Lovelace in Happy Feet and of course Genie in Aladdin (we don’t talk about the live action one here). Pinky would totally love the concept of the heartsong.

Honestly, the Brain Maine thing came about because I was thinking, ‘hey, Maine rhymes with Brain’. That’s it. My mind just be like that.  

Donald O’Connor sang Make Em’ Laugh in Singin’ in the Rain, which the segment Just Say Narf parodies.

And of course, Aladdin, but that doesn’t bear repeating here I think.

I need to find a new song now. I lost track of how many times I listened to A Whole New World in the past few days.

[rubixfox-fanblog]

Body problems, part 1: Realizing the problem.

/Part 2/

Summary: Geralt and Jaskier being on the wrong place at the wrong time. Thanks to a rare encounter with a fleeing sorceress, they both ended up in the wrong bodies. 

Warnings: utter stupidness because of Jaskier, swearing.

Words: 2073

A/N: Well i tried, haha. No, it’s so much fun. My Geralt is basically a fusion of all three universe, so less salty, more fun but still an asshole. I do hope everyone’s enjoying it and if it gets enough attention i’ll eventual start with part 2. If someone else wanted to be tagged in the second part, just give me a yell and i’ll add you to the tag list.

----------------

‘‘What the fuck..... where the fuck are we?"

It was a beautiful morning, the sun almost reached its highest point of the day. The wind brought the seed from the dandelions to their new destination in a meadow full of high grass that could tickle your ankles. Buttercups and violets sprouting from the ground.

In the middle of the meadow you could notice two bodies, laying quite uncomfortable next to a campfire. The fire still flickering in the broad daylight.

"My head fucking hurts. Jaskier? Jaskier!" Geralt shouted as he tried to sit up, without realizing what actually was going on.

"What do you want, Geralt?  Just let me sleep for five minutes more, I beg you. I was lost in the middle of a wonderful dream." Jaskier grunted and rolled from his back, his current position, on his side facing away from the campfire.

"Why do I feel so weird." He didn't even noticed the change of his V voice, but neither did Jaskier.

"Don't ask me, Geralt. Go back to sleep, maybe that's why you're feeling weird. Give your body more rest, maybe it will appreciate you more." Jaskier mumbled waving his hand up.

Geralt rolled his eyes.

"Maybe you're right..." he mumbled and looked down, at his hands. He suddenly realized that he wasn't wearing his gloves. But that's wasn't the only thing he realized, his hands clean.... no scars and a ring around both of his ring fingers. Something wasn't right.

"Jaskier."

"Geralt." Jaskier answered annoyed.

"Where did you get that golden ring? The one with the silver outline?" Geralt asked calmly, yet with a hint of panic in his voice.

"That's a long story, not worth talking about. Why do you ask now?"

"Cause it's around my finger and I have not seen it earlier."

Suddenly Jaskier sat up.

"What do you mean?"

"Dammit, Jaskier. You know exactly what I mean! What exactly happen to us yesterday? I can't recall anything, but this actually means that we are in trouble. Big time!" Geralt looked at Jaskier, well actually he looked at himself. Jaskier apparently seem to be frozen, not moving as he stared at Geralt.

"You gotta be kidding me." Geralt sighed.

The answer Geralt was aiming for, had a simple solution. Both him and Jaskier encountered a powerful sorceress on their way to Novigrad. The sorceress seemed to be chased by witch hunters and she thought that the witcher was there to stop her from running and without thinking she casts a spell on the witcher and the bard to swap bodies. After the swap succeeded, she created a portal and pushed them both inside. 

And that's how they ended up in the middle of nowhere.

"So this is how it actually feels to feel nothing at all." Jaskier said, kinda surprised after Geralt slapped him back into existence. "How do you deal with it." 

"It's not that I don't feel anything, Jaskier. My emotions are tuned down, it helps me with making non rational decis.... What the hell are you doing, Jaskier?" Geralt raised a brow as Jaskier pulled out the hair tie, that held only a partial of Geralt's hair together, and used it to make a ponytail  of his white long hair.

"Your hair is annoying. It's the only way to make sure nothing of it ends up in my mouth. Besides, I'm sure you will cut off my hand if I touch your hair with a scissor."

"I definitely will and Jaskier."

"Yes, Geralt?"

"Monsters behind you." Geralt pointed at a few Ghouls that started to appear behind him.

"So what? You're the monster hunter." 

"You are in possession of my swords and my mutations at this very moment. I probably can't even lift a sword with your puny body, so if you don't do anything we are both going to die and this isn't exactly how I imagined to die!" Geralt growled. 

"But...." 

"No fucking buts, Jaskier! They're are Ghouls so just grab my silver sword, the one on the right of your shoulder and just start hitting them, just don't let them grab you, they won't let go." 

"I'm so not made for this kind of lifestyle." Jaskier mumbled and grabbed the sword which geralt told him to grab. The ghouls started running towards him and Jaskier started trembling, almost dropping the sword on the ground. 

"Geralt, a little help please? I can't possibly do this on my own." Jaskier whined. 

"Fine, As long you do what I say. Just whatever you do, don't drop your sword! You're a Witcher now, the most important thing is to keep moving. Be concentrated and don't let the fear take you. Also, keep them away from your bo... I mean me. All I can do is basically roll away and I expect that won't even be that easy as I think."

And so Geralt guided the bard, in his body, through the fight. There were just three Ghouls, normally no problem from the Witcher, but for Jaskier three too many. It's  not like Jaskier was doing terrible, he hits the  monster like he was  slapping the dust off a carpet but at least he tried. 

Jaskier couldn't defeat all the Ghouls at once, so Geralt used Jaskier's  lute to distract a few, by slapping them on their head. 

"Be  careful with that!" Jaskier commented, using the silver sword to cut down on one of the Ghouls neck. The sword tears the muscles and bones apart from the body. Finally killing the first one after 10 minutes of literally petting the Ghouls instead of fighting them.

"It's nice for you to worry about your most precious item you own but instead of focusing on that, you can also focus on the fact that I'm stuck with limited energy." Geralt said, using the lute to protect his face from a ghoul that tackled him and now tried to bite and claw his face. 

 ‘’Oh, right!’’ Jaskier said, jumping over the lifeless body from the headless Ghoul and rushed over to Geralt, without noticing the third Ghoul standing behind him. Slowly, the monster stalked it’s prey, almost without any sound except from the flowers being crushed underneath its feet. 

Geralt even noticed it, without his superhuman hearing. ‘’Jaskier! Behind you!’’ Geralt yelled and Jaskier turned around abruptly. The ghoul roars, unshedding his hideous mouth filled with sharp teeth and suddenly charged again towards the bard in the Witchers body.

Suddenly Jaskier needed to choose. Geralt first? Or the ghoul charging towards him. But why does he need to choose? He’s a Witcher for god's sake. So he turned back towards Geralt and kicked the Ghoul away from. than he turned back to the other ghoul but it was faster than Jaskier and leaped towards the bard, biting down in his arm. Jaskier yelped in pain and dropped his sword in surprise.

With Geralt being finally freed from the ghoul, he rushed towards Jaskier and tried to pick up the silver sword. It was a way too heavy for him but adrenaline rushed through his veins and with the last of his remaining energy, he lifted the sword above his head and cuts the Ghoul’s body in two. After that he dropped the sword in the ground, but he himself also dropped on the ground. 

‘’Are you okay, Geralt?’’ Jaskier asked and tried to shake the ghoul off his arm. 

‘’I’m fine…’’ He huffed. ‘’Just… turn around, close… your eyes and think of casting fire… point your right hand towards it…. The rest will follow, don’t stop until it stops… moving.’’ Geralt Said while breathing heavily.

Jaskier nodded and turned back to the last Ghoul. That one wasn’t moving and just staring at them both. ‘’How does that work…’’ Jaskier mumbled an looked at his right hand while thinking about the fire. His hand started sparkling and looked at the ghoul, the Ghoul yelped and started running away. 

‘’Ha!’’ Jaskier said excited but didn’t noticed that a flame appeared on his hand and because of the excitement, the flame grew bigger, almost setting his own hair and face, on fire. 

‘’I prefer not to walk around with hair that’s been burn off.’’ Geralt said, he regained a bit of his energy by laying down for a few minutes. ‘’You’re, with no doubt, the worse Witcher, well not the worst, Lambert is the worst, I have seen in my entire life.’’ 

‘’I don’t know if that’s supposed to be compliment or not. And how’s life now you’re a normal human, without the mutations and all.’’ Jaskier replied and reached out towards Geralt with his hand so he could grab it.

‘’I took everything back about being a Witcher. It’s terrible to be a normal human with normal appetite and normal need of sleep. Or is it just you?’’ Geralt jests and a grimm appeared across his face.  

"Wow that's harsh, Geralt....." Jaskier said, slightly offended  but changed the subject faster than a hare could say 'Boo'. "... I never felt so great before. I did all that and I don't even feel tired, in fact, I don't even feel anything. But I'm happy, but I don't feel happy. How does that even work?" Jaskier said.

"Don't ask me, I'm barely 100 years old and I don't even understand it." Geralt grabs the hand Jaskier offers him and Jaskier easily pulled him back on his feet.

"By the way, you owe me money if you damaged my lute." Jaskier suddenly said but Geralt didn't respond to that, in fact, he's being distracted by his surroundings.

"Ever seen a landscape like this before?"

"Not around Novigrad or Velen." Jaskier looked down. "Most of these flowers are found in Toussaint." 

Geralt sighed.

"We're in even more trouble than before. Toussaint is the last place you want to be, especially when you're inside the body of a Witcher. We need to find either Yennefer or Triss. But as far as I know, Yennefer is in Novigrad, Our original destination. As for Tiss... I have no clue."

"Wait, are we really in Toussaint? That's like... a few days ride away from Novigrad." Jaskier looked around. The mountain like terrain around them was full of flowers. "And why exactly did Ghouls attack us here? We don't smell like death people, maybe I, and with me i mean you, do.." Jaskier asked.

"Use your nose." Geralt pointed behind him. "Does that satisfy your answer?"

There was a  cemetery down the hill,  several fresh bodies been digged up by a few other Ghouls, that smell, death and rotten flesh, attracted the other three Ghouls.

"Okay, ew. No. That's disgusting." Jaskier quickly covers his nose. "That does indeed."

"We need to try avoid travelling by night. Vampires are mostly active at night and I really don't want to fight on in this state, that will be both our dead" Geralt said and started walking to the highest point of the hill.. "I'm not used having limited stamina, so that will be a thing as well.."

"Don't you think we should get a horse? Roach ain't here so..  I know something, let's go to the city and ask if we can stay at a room for a night at a brothel or something. Maybe we can take a drink there or something." Jaskier said, grabbing the silver sword from the ground. 

"If we want to survive this entire joke, I need to learn you some tricks. Something not too hard. I'll get a light sword from the blacksmith, than I'll show you some simple moves. I don't think you can handle the more difficult moves. " 

"Well at least you didn't lose your sense of humor when we swapped minds." Jaskier grumbled, trying to shove the silver sword back where it belongs. Geralt didn’t try to laugh when he noticed that Jaskier struggled with a simple thing like that.. 

‘’The city, Beauclair,  isn’t far. Let’s go, i do hope we won’t cross anymore monster because that fight was a disaster.’’ 

‘’Well, it wasn’t too bad.’’

‘’Jaskier, no, it was terrible.’’ Geralt corrected him. 

‘’Even with emotions you’re still as heartless as ever.’’ Jaskier replied, but he didn’t mind. he’s used to it and he knows that deeply inside, the Witcher truly cares about the bard. 

Geralt decided not to say anything and started walking, Jaskier followed him. Towards the Beauclair, where surely the journey didn’t end but it just barely started. 

______________________

People who wanted me to tag them: 

@j-mysticalien @jarvisismycopilot @raposinhachan @jord-el @ro-morningstar @dat-carovieh @shiphappen-s

[feel199x]

             TO PROTECT OUR DISTRICT - THE EVER WATCHING EYE

I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X   m.list

♘ ceo!hwang hyunjin, mafia!au, mafia boss!hwang hyunjin

♘ warnings; fighting scene, hospital setting, swearing, murder/kill mention

♘ summary: reader has to go save yet another person for her conspiracy

♘ a/n: *rubbing my evil little writer hands* hehe enjoy (also this chapter is short but i wanted to post i...sorry

You woke up, thrashing against yourself, even before you realized where you were. And when you finally did, the white of the walls infuriated you. You screamed and hissed to people who weren’t even there. You were giving god a show. It couldn’t have been more than a few minutes, but you could’ve sworn all you knew was white, the color white, like in your eyes and your vision. The cool metal of the handcuffs burned its form into your skin, and as your arms were planted on either side of you, there was no way to break your own thumb to escape them. The door opened almost imperceptibly, and in came the small form a boy. 

 Felix.

 In his hands were two cups of coffee, and he settled himself at the side of your bed. “____.” his voice was low and scraped you like sandpaper, “I’m going to uncuff this hand. Don’t do anything stupid, yeah?”

 “Fuck you.”

 “Always the charmer, can’t imagine why Hyunjin left you.”

   He fished a key out of his pocket and you stared, grinding down on your teeth. His face was blank, even as he met your eyes. You waited as he placed the coffee in your hands, and you sat it between your legs. “I suppose you know what I’m here to do. Again,” he paused, taking your chin into his thumb and his index, “No funny business, yeah?”

 He sat comfortably in his chair, taking a long sip of coffee. “Please,” you murmured.

 “Please?”

 “Please uncuff my other hand. It hurts, please. Please just give me this. I have to be stuck in here, let me move.” You were crying. “Uncuff me. Please. Please. I won’t do anything. It hurts, Felix. It hurts.”

 He watched you carefully, “I’ll think about it, now,” He adjusted himself in the chair to face you, “I have in mind to get a few answers from you.”

 “You went off grounds without permission, we know that much,” he paused to look at you, watching for any trace of a reaction, “And there was a robbery at the diner you went to. We’re aware you know we sent them.”

 You watched him watch you. Your eyes leveled on him, “So what?”

 “So,” he folded his hands on top of his lap, “We want you to kill one of them. One who crossed us.”

 Your breath caught in your throat, trapped and expanding. “Okay.” you said, “But uncuff me.” He thought about it for a moment, his hand pressed upon the outline of the small key in his pocket. He pulled it out, finally, and made you wait as he turned the key slowly. Your hands sat limp in your lamp as you stared at the red marks on your wrists. Without thinking, you grabbed the cup of coffee and threw it at him, spilling the warm coffee all over his white button-up. He got up, his chair spilling onto the white floor and he got up after you. You felt him behind you as you exited, and turned your torso as you kicked at him. He caught your leg, but you lifted yourself up, twisting and using your other foot to kick at him and make him fall.

 You pressed your knee onto his chest as you panted, barely noticing your audience. Another figure started to make his way towards you, and you punched and scratched, feeling feral and unravel. 

 “Do not fucking touch me,” you looked at boy before you, “Don’t you fucking touch me, Hyunjin.” You pushed him off you, not feeling an ounce of guilt for the light red scratches on his arm. “I’m not an animal,” you screamed, “I am not a fucking animal, so don’t you treat me like one.” You stood there, in the middle of the observation room, your silk pajama shirt torn and off your shoulder. “Fuck you guys.” 

 It was only after you left the observation room that you realized how your legs wanted to give way. No one came after you, but you were sure they could see you anyway. You hadn’t realized that you had no actual idea where you were, only hearing about this place in the Hwang Estate through conversations that your dad whispered to shadows at the front door. You found a corner to slip by and let yourself slide down the wall for your breath to even out. The place was a labyrinth, and no doubt it was meant to be this way. The dam of your heart broke and your tears flooded. You sat there, sniffing and heaving, mourning what was lost and could not be found. You gasped for air in between fits of crying, letting go of the voyeur of the eye. In the shadowed corner, in the light, you just were. 

 You curled up, against the white tiles, tear-stained and pathetic. And they found you, they always would. Humiliated and sacrificed, what lame lamb you were.

 You don’t know how long it was, but all that mattered is that you were back to your parent’s shell of a home. You sat at the table and stared at the empty chairs by your side. On the table was the file, the file of the one who had crossed them. Kim Yugyeom was at your mercy.

 The plan was simple, slip in and slip out. No cameras, countryside hospitals can’t afford it. Cops? All bought. 

 Except you weren’t going to kill him. He needed your help, and you needed his.

 Mr. Hwang had given you a train ticket, and you eyed it carefully. You knew that he’d rather someone bring you, and you knew you had to bring something to proof of the kill. It was a trap, simply. You left as the world slept, and the shadows crept up from the abyss to play. Watching, always watching. How could you exist, how could you breathe knowing you were being analyzed. So you watched back, looking for anything and everything. And you found nothing, nothing in the dark, but it did not comfort you. The train ride, however, was as close as comfort as the blanket of stars could warm you in their dying heat. The sun cracked the sky, and bled its light and color into the day over the green tongues of the earth and brilliant life of the flowers. The caterpillar train crawled along the track and peace found it’s fleeting moments in the calm transition of the day. The train halted to your stop, and you stood, holding the pole as your feet seemed to sink into the floor. 

 You walked down the road, and at the very end, facing the greenery in all its glory, there stood a simple hospital. You walked in casually, the receptionist paying you no mind, and the emergency room empty with a sports game narration filling the air. You walked down to his room, and he laid there, the plain white blanket pulled up to his chest. You felt your heart weaken at the sight of all the white, and your eyes go blind. 

 You stood at the edge of the bed, “Yugyeom?”

 He opened his eyes and looked up at you, “I’ve been waiting for you.”

 “Waiting for what?”

 “For you to kill me.”

 You stared at him, and he did it right back. He grabbed your hand, holding it tightly, and raised it to his chest. “Can you hurry up?”

 “Awfully excited for your death, aren’t you? Get up.”

 “You’re gonna shoot me execution style?”

 “You’re making me want to.”

 He smiled, and you found yourself mirroring him. You noticed the bow of his lips, and the slope and button end of his nose. “You’re gonna have to help me out, you shot me in the foot remember?”

“But…” your voice trailed off took and you took out your scissors, and he gave you a look.

 “What’s that for?”

 “I need proof that I’ve killed you.” 

 He grimaced, running his fingers through his hair, “Okay, but not too much.”

 You bit your lip, holding in a laugh, “What a shame it would be if I..”

 He grabbed your hand, giving you a superficial dark look, “Don’t even think about it.” 

 You laughed a bit, cutting only a bit off and tucked the lock of hair in your pocket.

 He moved carefully off the bed, “It’d be nice to know the name of my knight in shining armor.”

 “______.”

 “______,” he echoed, “Pretty name.” He turned to face you, “Prettier face, though.”

 He smiled at you, and you avoided his gaze, walking to his door. You watched outside his door, sat him in a wheelchair, and quickly wheeled him out. “If you’d like to know,” he said as you wheeled him into the train station, “the gunshot was mostly superficial. Looks like you’re a bad shot.” He got up, slightly limping but stood smugly and licked his lips. 

 You crossed your arms, and tapped your fingers against your upper arm, “At least I got a shot in. Besides, I could’ve killed you if I wanted. Twice, actually.” 

 He walked closer, pushing your hair behind your ears, “Just teasing.”

 “Are you always this flirty with people who can kill you?”

 He laughed, “Sorry,” he grabbed your shoulders, “it’s just too easy.”

 He rocked on his heels absentmindedly and then winced when he remembered his ailment. He shook his hair out of his face. Both of you waited in silence, a ways apart, mulling over your own thoughts. You watched the wind blow the hair out of his face, and his earring dangle a bit more. 

 “You’re staying at my house. I checked for bugs, I couldn’t find any, so we’re probably fine.”

 He stared out the window and nodded. “Well, my gang’s basically out to hunt me so, glad you found me and not them.”

 He looked at you then, his eyes glassy and drooping. “Thank you.”

 You looked at him for a long time, and finally said, “You deserve to live.”

 For a long time, both of you just looked at each other, silent and ambiguous. “You look tired,” he patted his shoulder, “Let me be your peace.”

 “Ain’t no rest for the wicked,” you murmured, letting your head fall on his shoulder. You listened as the conductor called out the name of each stop. 

 You led him through a trail you and Hyunjin had marked behind your house when you were kids, you led Yugyeom through it, hissing at him to be careful and quiet. You had scouted it before, looking for anything that would make you have to look for an alternative route, but there was nothing. Finally, you got to the backdoor. 

 You opened the door, and who was sitting there, but Hyunjin himself.

 You were thankful you had made Yugyeom sit in a bush as you checked your house, but a fire arose from the pit of your stomach. “What are you here for?”

Hyunjin stood up and fixed his shirt, “I wanted to check up on you.”

“Cut the shit.”

His eyebrows furrowed, “You’re a part of the team. Just wanted to see if you’re able to perform as expected.”

 “Well, thanks. I’m at optimal performance, fuck off. I don’t report to you.”

His face grew darker, “Oh, but you do. I run this shit, don’t you forget it, _____.”

 “Yeah, when you had me to cover and protect your ass.”

 He sucked his teeth, smirking at you, and walked towards you. You stood your ground, looking him dead in the eye. He lifted your chin with thumb and index fingers, “Heartbreak hurts, darling. Get well soon. Good luck on the mission.”

 You hated him, god you hated him. 

 But you wanted him, more than anything.

 You waited until the door closed, and even then you watched him from the window to ensure he’d left. You met Yugyeom out back, and led him to your room, where he flopped down and rolled. “Isn’t your boyfriend going to be jealous that I’ll be staying here?”

 “He’s not my boyfriend.”

 Salt in the wound, huh.

 “Damn shame. He must be real stupid.”

 You shrugged, pulling off your jacket and throwing it onto the floor. “You have to tell me what you did.” 

 “I told the cops,” he said bluntly, “Just, the wrong ones.” He continued, looking up at the ceiling, “Man, I knew the Hwangs had an empire, but not like this.” 

 “You have no idea.” You laid on the bed, by his side, “Tomorrow, you need to keep a low profile. I can’t take you to work, so I can’t protect you.”

 “I can take care of it, you know. I’m not completely helpless.”

 You turned your head, to find him already looking at you.

 “But, who’s gonna protect you?”

[goldeneyedgirl]

2019 Fic Meme

My end of year fic meme, compiled from some old Livejournal fic memes that I do when I write stuff. I do this for fun, because I like looking back at what I have and haven’t written, and what keeps popping up again.

It’s meant to be silly fun, and if anyone else wants to do it, PLEASE DO. I don’t want to tag anyone and put pressure on you in case you don’t want to/don’t think you have enough fic/hate memes. 

Twilight

12 Days of Fic-Mas (Twilight, WIP) Day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, bonus.  Twelve days of fic extracts, previews, and drabbles focusing on Alice Cullen. Encompasses Folie A Deux, The Only Girl in the World, JessaminexAlice, Omens, Asylum, The Long Way Around, The Dark and the Unknown, Hybrid, Runaway, All These Broken Things, & The Unexpected Second Life of Mary Alice Brandon 

Shadow to Light  (WIP) (Alice/Jasper, AU Angst, PG) In 1918, Jasper lures the newborn known as Mary-Alice back to Monterrey. He is lost to her before it even begins.

Total number of completed stories: Lol.

Total word count: 33,304 words were posted. 

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d predicted?  Look, I just... 2019 was a wash in so many ways. I played a lot of Fortnite really badly. I would have loved to be able to say Shadow to Light was finished, or that I was posting Hybrid regularly or something, but I can’t. I wish, wish, wish I had posted more but alas. 

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January? Outside of Twilight, I dabbled with some reader/Ben in the Umbrella Academy, and I was messing around with some Janet/Wanda in my personal MCU canon. As for Twilight, I think my stuff got a lot darker? Like, we’re down the rabbit hole here, and somehow Alice ended up being the most feared vampire in the Americas? Yeah. 

And there’s the Avengers/Twilight fic that is simultaneously three fics and one fic because I cannot make Executive Decisions and I can’t decide if I like 1. Alice knowing Bucky from Before Jasper; 2. Alice knowing Hawkeye from when he was a kid in the circus and being how Natasha and Clint got out of Budapest, or 3. the Volturi hooking up with Hydra and ... yeah, I think this one is legit the most second-most one of the most embarrassing things I’ve ever written. (I’ve been filing today, and boy howdy have I written some actual shit.)

What’s your own favourite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest? That’s like making me pick a favourite child. I’m always so, so proud of Shadow to Light, and I love The Dark and the Unknown ‘verse, and Hybrid is just hanging out there, chilling and ugh. My babies <3 

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?  TwilightFicMas was a huge risk! I wasn’t sure anyone cared unless I was posting more Shadow to Light, and people were SO nice and enthusiastic. So I guess the lesson is shut up and share more fic? Get out of your own head and spend time in the community because fandom isn’t meant to be lonely?

Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year?  I’m starting a graphic design business AND my masters in design in 2020, so I figure fic is going to be my downtime next year. Ideally, I would love to get STL finished, Memento Vivere’s sequel going, and have a few of my shorter pieces posted. I would really love to get some of my original stuff ready for publication, but I’d be happy studying, running my business, and doing the fic thing for 2020.  

My best story of this year: That’s up to the readers, I guess. Everyone seemed obscenely enthusiastic about The Unexpected Second Life of Mary Alice Brandon, though, and I was not expecting that at all - I was actually upset that I left the ‘dud’ fic for the last day of FicMas. 

My most popular story: Shadow to Light. Everyone is so nice and enthusiastic and polite about that one. I’m not used to it! Fandom for me is usually me sitting in a corner, doin’ my obscure thing, and maybe one or two people will read what I’m working on.

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:  I think everyone was super enthusiastic and nice about everything I posted this year. Maybe Folie A Deux? But like, that reflects more on me and the excerpts that I chose to post rather than the fic or the audience itself. 

Most fun story to write:  The Unexpected Second Life of Mary Alice Brandon because that Alice is so happy; I have this playlist for it that is super upbeat and funky. 

Hybrid is fun because that Alice likes to torment Jasper. He understands Edward on a molecular level once Alice arrives. 

Most Sexy Story: The Dark and the Unknown is the front-runner for that, because most of the sexy goings-on in Shadow to Light is very much focused on the psychological and emotional aspects rather than the physical.

Story with the single sexiest moment:  The Dark and the Unknown. I am still deeply uncomfortable writing sex scenes, so this may be the only one I ever do. The implication of a blow job in Shadow to Light nearly kill me tbh.

The forest behind the school is silent; just her breathing, and the slight wind. No birds or wildlife, none of the hum of the traffic or of the school.

They don’t undress more than necessary, her skirt slid to her hips, and he takes her roughly against a tree, flakes of bark falling into the dirt. She is hot and slick, and silent as he fucks her, his fingers digging into her hips, a growl rising in his chest. She is every bit his fantasy; the smell of damp flowers, the sweetness of her flesh, her willing supplication. His fingers tear through the lace of her tights as he grips her thighs, and the heels of her shoes must be bending, she’s digging them into the backs of his legs so hard.

Most “holy crap, that’s wrong, even for you” story:  The Long Way Around makes Jasper and Alice’s relationship pretty fucked up, and tbh I look back at it and really struggle with how dark it is and how dark Jasper’s character becomes. There’s a reason that Shadow to Light is the ‘official’ version - it’s a better balance, and I actually think Maria is a lot more interesting in Shadow to Light as a villain with complex relationships with both Jasper and Alice to the point where none of them really want to have to kill each other, but there is a lot of hate on both sides. 

Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:  That’s a hard question. Shadow to Light definitely did that because I had to consider what happened when you took Alice out of the picture, and how that changed what happened, and considered the inter-family relationships. So much of canon relies on Alice’s visions that things can’t just happen the same way. 

Hardest story to write: Shadow to Light isn’t easy because I have such a specific idea of how it plays out, how it ‘looks’ in my head, and because Alice is so fundamentally different to canon. More innocent when it comes to normal interactions, and so controlled because it meant life or death - but she’s still got to be Alice in a way that people can recognize. It also has to sound right? If I can’t get the right turn of phrase for one scene, it has to be put aside until I can work it out. 

 All These Broken Things is hard because I started it back in, like, 2014ish and my writing and understanding of the characters and canon has changed so much - plus there are a few sections that came to me quite early in the writing, and now sound really out of place, but are such a strong linchpin for the story that I have to rework them in. It’s a good kind of hard, though, because I’ve improved so much, my ideas and goals are more refined. 

Most disappointing:  Omens is a little bitch, honestly. I started it for a fic contest and kept going to explore Alice’s human life, and it doesn’t quite feel like my writing? It needs reworking, and be a little less obvious because I think the ‘four horsemen of the apocalypse’ is a good theme for a Human!Alice fic. 

Easiest story to write: Depends on my mood; Hybrid is great when I’m in kind of a ‘girls kicking ass’ mood and boot up my action girls playlist.

Biggest surprise:  Hybrid started as a love story that was basically ‘yeah, let’s make this shit super dramatic and overwrought’, and turned into this actual story with a huge focus on family and relationships. I can’t remember why I decided Alice’s father had a husband except that I was thinking about small town ‘otherness’, and LGBT+ people can and are still considered ‘other’ in these spaces. 

Then you add in Alice and Cynthia who are basically in the same boat but have been separated for their entire lives. Alice has knowledge in her corner, whilst having to fight through foster care, abuse, and hospital; whilst Cynthia has lived a very normal but privileged life as the daughter of a mixed-race same-sex couple in a very small town. I went full-hog with this, and added in an extended family, because I really hated how canon went balls-to-the-wall to isolate Bella from everyone, including Charlie. 

Like, this thing is a monster, and whilst I plan to sit down and rewrite the outline (which dates back to 2016, and I hate the ending of), I stopped outlining at 65 freaking chapters. 

Most unintentionally telling story:  I think this question that still confuses me finally gets a decent answer in The Dark and the Unknown - Jasper is seeing most of it from his perspective, and there isn’t a ton of dialogue. I’ve tried to avoid an info-dump, but it’s meant to be quite supernatural in tone, and focusing on vampire senses and gifts enhances that. 

Story I’d like to revise:  All These Broken Things wins that one. Due to the age of the piece, there are some pacing and tone issues in later chapters that are the reason I haven’t formally posted it. 

Story I didn’t write but will at some point, I swear: Oh man, I really want to finish A Thousand Years of Solitude, which is a Tanya fic. I’m really happy with what I’ve got so far, but it sounds smarter and more layered than it really is, so I’m kind of stuck. 

Mad World because Romani!Alice is super sassy and taking 0% of Swan or Cullen bullshit - I think 90% of my fic is just me going, “yeah, that’s not how normal people react.” And I’m a sucker for gothic horror. 

What else? Aww, Against A Wall which is AU Human Jasper coming from the shittiest home, and Alice finding him. It’s meant to be short, and another one I have a really clear idea of how it needs to work. 

And the one where Alice’s gift is a sentient power that pushes her to follow it; that Bad Things happen if she doesn’t; that Renesmee was always Endgame for Something, and Alice was a key piece to get that result. Or the one where Aro takes Alice as a ‘guest’ for a period because of Edward and Bella, and Alice’s gift is basically broken. 

Good times. I have like 5 years of fic on this computer, we could be here for awhile. 

[dontcallmecarrie]

I come bearing ENDGAME SPOILERS with my shatterpoints! So, in Endgame the Avengers have to time travel to get the Infinity Stones (cause current Thanos destroyed them). With that, they basically create new time lines in the years 2012 and '14. One shatterpoint idea is through some accident(?) with the machine they also land in 1 or both of TWIFFON or NV 'verses. They (the travelers) try to complete the mission within the 'verses with more problems than expected. JARVIS anyone? *evil laugh* p/1.

p/2 TWIFFON and/or NV Tony go to Canon Tony’s ‘verse potentially with backup (Legion or not) either just after Thanos snaps his fingers with Inf. Stones (Inf. War), before everyone does the time travel (and meets little Morgan, Canon Tony’s daughter via Pepper) or as 2014 Thanos travels forward in time to present and now everyone is confused but everyone destroys Thanos and Tony does not have to sacrifice himself and die to save the universe. Fun times after.

p/3 Kinda goes of the previous part. Tony & Legion or NV Maria w/ Tony come through and decimate Thanos and army hilariously easily or just in really weird ways. This is supposed to be a crack story. Afterwards the Tonys both trade stories about all the necessary and not necessary stuff. There is no death except for Thanos and flunkies. The End.

…welp, suddenly I’m very glad I’ve been lowkey noping out of canon because what. Aren’t Infinity Stones supposed to be these super powerful things that alter the fabric of reality? How the heck does Thanos— 

You know what? Never mind, guess I’ll find out later. But wow, am I so glad I’m throwing canon out the window for TWiFFON after Siberia because what even.

As for the latter part of your ask, and the potential AU it’d spawn: even if I have yet to see the movie [and won’t until after I graduate at this rate, probably], I think I have an idea of how something like this would go down. [Though, sidenote for nomenclature— for me, shatterpoints are ‘this is where I turned right at this point in the story, this is how it would’ve looked like if I had turned left’ things.]

under the cut, because I get rambly.

Here’s the thing: remember how I outlined TWiFFON a long while back, and am not planning on changing the big things anytime soon? Yeah, that’s going to be a factor. Because my take on Thanos had me imagining him as this faceless, terrifying shadowy Destroyer of Worlds with a never-ending legion of Chitauri at his disposal, and courted Death with the ashes of the planets he decimated.

So this is the Thanos that TWiFFON!Tony remembers dealing with.

[and it’s also why there’s rumors of a ‘Terran Empire’ already making rounds so soon afterwards, because the rest of the galaxy is just kinda collectively going ‘WTF what do you mean this backwater dirtball took down the goddamn Mad Titan’— but that’s an story for another day]

What I’m saying is, if anyone from canon shows up, there would be just a metric buttload of miscommunication going on, especially at first. Even more so if anyone from Team Cap shows up.

Granted, by now, everyone in TWiFFON’s just kinda kicking back and relaxing [except for Tony, who’s never, ever going to live this down]. Plus, with everything else they’ve dealt with, it’d take a lot to faze them.

So when portals start showing up, they take it in stride.

And when the shattered remnants of the team that was supposed to defend the world tumble through, Tony’s more than happy to help compare notes— and that’s when the whole ‘huh, looks like your Infinity Stones don’t work the way ours do, ours are six cosmic singularities that’ve been around since like the Big Bang and will probably be still kicking when the heat death of the universe rolls around’ thing comes out.

There’d be metric amounts of shade being thrown around, too. Intentional or not, because while the team in TWiFFON’s still kinda ticked off at Team Cap, they wouldn’t rub anything in to these guys— but there’s always things that slip out. Like, ‘what, you never looked into that tech as an option?’ and ‘so that’s what would’ve happened if I had just done this’ and seeing the could-have-beens would…not be particularly pleasant to the canon crew, I think. 

Even more so, when they get wind of who the TWiFFON team had to fight. And Tony in particular would be in a very specific sort of hell, hearing JARVIS and finding out just how important his AI were to saving the day […sure, apparently they also had latent Skynet and HAL tendencies, but still]. 

[also, this is also definitely the AU where JARVIS would stealthily upload a copy of himself to canon!Tony somehow, because obviously, nobody’s been taking good care of his creator and clearly this was a situation that needed remedying—but that’s a headache for another time]

Wait, no— Tony’s not the only one who’s in hell. Everyone who ever gave Tony a hard time about Ultron is also seeing this, and it’s a bizarre mix of vindication and the worst sort of agony to find out that Tony’s plan would have worked. 

That’s only if the canon crew showed up after the Final Battle arc, though. If there’s time travel mixed into this, things either wouldn’t be very different [again, canon only really going out the window after Siberia— anything before AoU would be fair game].

As for how anything would look like in LTTR…

First things first, yep, it’s now definitely a cracky AU. It was supposed to be an angsty character backstory thing, I’m still not quite sure where the plot came from. Maria Stark nee Carbonell and her son are both terrifying, terrifying people, and [kinda spoilery, but] Thanos is going to kinda get oneshotted/ ‘taken care of’ by the Woman From Italy or some other faceless Elder God from Night Vale’s inky depths. 

[again, bear in mind the mental image I have of Thanos, prior to watching Infinity War/Endgame/etc]

…but you know what could very possibly happen, in one timeline? 

After recovering from the car accident, Maria Stark has been just traveling through time and space, trying to find her home dimension with Bucky in tow. 

…it’s a work in progress. But Maria refuses to give up until they’re back home, and Bucky’s tagging along because why not. Also because she saved him and she’s helping him get a handle on some of the powers he may or may not have ended up getting from the ‘forced to be the embodiment of Desert Bluffs’ thing, there’s that, too.

They’re two powerful and rather chaotic entities, and typically don’t try to meddle too much because, again, they just want to go home, but.

When they tumble out of a portal to see the Avengers desperately trying to fight Thanos, they would most definitely step in, and that’s the story of how a budding eldritch abomination just kinda shows up to oneshot their Big Bad, wave at Iron Man, and leave, with only a dead body as proof that they were ever there.

Dr. Strange would get a migraine, and, upon further investigation, look at Tony very oddly for several months afterwards. But hey, happily ever after, since Thanos doesn’t have the chance to even think about snapping his fingers.

Oh—there’s another thing about Maria Stark: she’s very, very big on family, and will raise hell in their defense. [gee I wonder who Tony takes after more] 

also, if it helps any for the mental image on how she is about family: picture How it Should Have Ended’s Darth Vader whenever there’s so much as a hint that he could be a father. Just change the gender, and you’ve pretty much got Maria.

What this also means, however, is that her reactions can go a bit…overboard, at times. 

Such as the discovery that apparently, in one timeline, she has a granddaughter? 

Well. 

Let’s just say it does not go well for Thanos, in that particular reality.

.

again, have yet to see Infinity War, or Endgame. I probably botched something, but this is how a crossover would probably go down in my AUs.

[xxprincessjewelsxx]

COMING THIS SUMMER TO A TUMBLR PAGE NEAR YOU

BLACK HEART

A story about of love, scandal, and the dark secret that brings two people together.

“Y/N...Y/N can you hear me?” A voice said calling me out of the haze.

Opening my eyes they blurred as they tried to focus taking a minute to finally view a man with deep brown eyes wearing a medical mask.

“Do you know where you are?” He asked as I tried to reply to him, letting out a small groan.

“A hospital?” I questioned.

He let out a small chuckle, his eyes crinkling in the corners as he smiled. “Close enough...your surgery went well…”

His voice faded off as he told me how my surgery went. I didn't need to know the details...I had a new heart that wasn't meant for me. I didn't even know where it came from. Did my father? Did anyone care where it came from? No, as much as my father wanted to deny it...I didn’t have a legally obtained heart…

I had a black market heart.

ONE WEEK EARLIER

“Father please...I'm at the top of the list...we just need to wait for a heart,” I said as I watched my father pace around the living room.

He continued to pace, his hearing tuned out to any ounce of  continuing to watched me fade away, I could almost see his sanity slip away from him; always muttering to himself about “what he could do” and “how he couldn’t let me die”.

I tried to tell him that everything would be okay, tried to ease his mind the best I could but after losing my mom in a car crash when I was 2 years-old (details that he still won’t fully give me), I don’t think that he could handle losing me as well.

Me on the other hand...I was born with a genetic defect of the heart. It was never anything that really slowed me down that much, but I was told that I had to be careful and that as I got older it could get worse as I get older. How much older? The doctors didn’t know...but having a cushy lifestyle and a father that could afford the best dietary chefs and doctors there was never really any question in my father’s mind that he would be able to keep me healthy for as long as possible.

Which is what made it possible for me to go to a private school instead of being homeschooled, competitively swim and do gymnastics, and generally be a normally kid.

That is...until a day that’s supposed to be one of the most exciting days of my life. My college graduation...oh how I was swimming in the joys of standing with my friends as we took a group photo, diplomas in hand, ready to take on the world with our new found skills. And yes, even with all the work my President-of-his-own-company father had to do, he was there. Of all the things he had missed when I was growing up, he promised he would make it and he sat through the whole ceremony, camera in hand, cheering the loudest as I crossed the stage, and now standing waiting with flowers as he waited for me to finish with my friends. After I was done, I went to go to him and it was almost like and exaggerated scene in a movie…

A sharp pain ripped through my chest knocking the wind out of me causing me to fall to the ground, tightness building in my chest. A scream from one of my friends, my dad yelling my name, people frantically saying to call 911.

“I...I think I’m having a heart attack,” I said, watching the world begin to spin.

And I did have one...lucky me. At 23 on my graduation day I had a heart attack and then after 2 days of blood work and all sorts of tests in the hospital…

“You’re going to need a heart transplant…” the doctor said calmly as she sat next to my hospital bed, “The genetic condition that you have has gotten worse, and I’ve talked to the transplant committee and they’ve put you on the list. You’re not right at the top-.”

“WHAT?!” my father bellowed causing both me and the doctor to jump slightly, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE’S NOT AT THE TOP OF THE LIST?!”

“Mr. Y/L/N...as a cardiologist and a lead heart transplant surgeon, I would love it if hearts grew on trees...but unfortunately they do not, and as much as I push the committee they decided that under the circumstances and Y/N’s good health besides her heart, she would be able to hold out longer than some of the other patients,” the doctor said as calmly as possible, “I can try talking to them again, but I’m sure they won’t change their mind.”

“Where is she on the list?” he questioned.

“8th,” she replied before getting up and leaving the room.

Which leads me to spending four years in and out of the hospital, my bedroom at home basically turned into a clean room, and the days I should have been spending finding and building a career...I spent at home, waiting for someone to unfortunately end up in a case where they could give their heart to someone about me on the list so I could be closer to the top. So far...I was now in third...but I was dying. I could feel it, and as much as I tried to hide it from him...my father knew.

CURRENT DAY

Which is probably how one this particular night I was woken by the sound of shuffling in my room. Opening my eyes I looked and saw my father grabbing a duffle bag from my closet and throwing clothes in it, while a couple of other men whom I had never seen before began to get my IV bag and medications together.

“Father….what’s going on, it’s….2 in the morning,” I said.

“There’s...there’s a heart for you,” he said in almost a pained tone, “We’re going for your transplant.”

“But I’m…”

“Don’t ask questions!” he snapped, “You’re getting a heart.”

I looked at the men who were getting a wheelchair ready for me and I could see the outline of a gun as one of them leaned over. “What have you done?”

“I said not to ask questions,” my father said again.

I didn’t have time to say anything else as one of the men picked me up out of bed and set me in the chair. “Keep your blanket, it’s chilly out.”

I wanted to thank him for warning me about the cold, but how could I thank one of the people that was taking me to get a heart from who knows where and who knows how. The van that the wheelchair was pushed and secured into traveled for some time, almost to the edge of the city to a very quaint but large house.

“I’m not having surgery here am I?” I questioned.

“It’s very different on the inside,” the man who was pushing my wheelchair said.

And it was….what looked like a house on the outside was more of a doctor’s office on the inside and the further you got, the more sterile and hospital like it got. As we got to the back a nurse immediately came and pushing me into a room and prepping me for surgery. I didn’t even get to see my doctor before the anesthetic began to kick in.

‘This is all happening so fast,’ I remember thinking as the anestesia took over and everything went dark.