#this looks so anime for some reason but I’ve come to peace with it

[softbean]

Fjord Stone as one continuous line

[blackcherryvelvet0909]

Beach Body (Idia x GN!Reader)

Content Warning: Body insecurity, mild angst, self-esteem issues, self-deprecation (Idia)

A single speck of black was visible on the sandy beach. It sat alone, highlighted by wisps of fiery blue hair that peeked out from under its hood. The legs that curled up before the speck, tucked under its chin, were paler than the sand, as white as a sand dollar. The umbrella high above the speck was the only thing to shade it from the harsh, hot rays of the sun. It cowered away from them, as if it wished to disappear from the scene altogether. That assumption was correct - Idia would rather be elsewhere. 

The only reason the man was not back in the safety of his hotel room was the robot boy that played among the waves. Idia had made that waterproof body of his for the trip, so he could play with his peers like any other kid. Idia thought that would be enough; he could simply watch Ortho play from the balcony of their condo. Ortho had other plans, however. There was nothing the boy wanted more than to have his beloved brother with him out on the beach. He said it would be fun to make such memories with him. Though Idia silently disagreed, there was no way he could refuse those pleading eyes. 

So, here he was, sat alone on the beach while Ortho had fun. The boy would come check on him once in a while, try to coax him out into the sea to play with him, or to play in the sand. The only successful attempt had occurred two days ago, when the sandcastle building contest took place. To think Idia thought they actually had a chance at winning - laughable. It was bad enough that they weren't allowed to use magic; when Idia was asked to hand over his tech, and Ortho was told he couldn’t use any tricks of his own, Idia knew they were goners. They came in dead last that day. Ortho had fun, but never again would Idia expose himself to such humiliation. 

The black hoodie that covered his torso sweltered in the heat, but it was the best Idia had to cover up with. You won’t catch him frolicking about like some oblivious loser in a beach episode. That sunny spotlight was for the main characters, the hot NPCs - Idia was neither. He hated this so much…he let out a long sigh as he draped his arms over his knees and rested his chin atop them as he continued to watch Ortho. He cracked a little smile as he heard Ortho squealed in delight when Epel splashed him with water. Well, at least one thing he did was worth something. 

“Idia?” 

Idia flinched at the sudden sound of his name. He whipped his head around to look up at the person addressing him: [Y/n]. “W-What?” 

You pointed to his hoodie. “Aren’t you burning up in that thing?” 

Idia glanced to the side as he lied, “No.” 

“I can clearly see the sweat dripping off your face.” You tugged on his sleeve. “C’mon, you’ll burn up if you don’t!” 

“No!” Idia tugged the hoodie closer to his body. He glared down at the towel he sat on as he grumbled. “Geez, can’t a guy get some peace?” 

You furrowed your eyebrows at his sour attitude. “Are you still upset about the sandcastle contest?” 

“I’m not upset,” he mumbled. Another obvious lie. 

“Don’t be mad - ignore Leona and his bullshit.” You knelt down to look Idia in the eye. “He was just trying to get a rise out of you. You did a lot better than I would have.” 

Idia clicked his tongue as he scoffed. “You can make something worse than a pile of sand?” 

“It wasn’t a pile of sand,” you chuckled. “It was a cute little house! Ortho told me you came up with it; it’s the one from ‘Miko Doesn’t Talk’, right?” 

Idia’s eyebrows lifted, surprised you knew of the show. “Y-You like it?” 

“The anime? Yeah, I think it’s cute! I’ve only just started watching it though, so I can’t say much about it.” 

Idia let out a quiet giggle, “Noob - haven’t even seen a show that beginner grade.” 

It was your turn to scoff, though a smirk accompanied yours. “Well, if someone would come out of their room and talk to me more often, maybe I wouldn’t be such a noob.” 

Idia had nothing to say to that - he just rolled his eyes and looked back out at the sea. Ortho had come closer to shore, he and Deuce now looking for seashells. Baby games…but Idia thought it was cute how Ortho wanted to make them matching shell bracelets. He then saw you move out of the corner of his eye, a water bottle slowly coming into his line of sight. He looked back in your direction with a confused expression. 

“Here,” you said as you lifted the bottle closer to him. “I came to give you this. If you really have to keep on the hoodie, you need to drink more water.” 

“Water’s for normies,” he mused. 

“And heat stroke via stubbornness is for losers,” you retorted. 

Well, you had a point. Idia hated plain water, but he was thirsty. So, with an overdramatically annoyed sound, he took the plastic bottle from you. His fingers brushed against yours as he grasped the bottle; he quickly pulled away and looked down before you could see the pink of his cheeks. “Thanks…” 

“No problem.” Your smile was as bright as the sparkles that came with an SSR card pull. The swimsuit you wore made you look like the love interest in an otome game…why did Idia have to be like this? Before his thoughts could get too carried away, you broke Idia out as you spoke again. “Why are you wearing that anyway? It’s not even that windy today, and it’s not going to rain either. You don’t need it.” 

“You don’t need it,” Idia mocked in a voice that exaggerated yours. He scoffed again as he continued, “What do you want me to do, huh? Take it off and get laughed at by everyone?” He sipped his water sharply before he mumbled under his breath, “It’s not like I’m a protagonist with abs.” 

You furrowed your brow, “Epel doesn’t have abs, neither do Deuce or Ace, and they’re out without a shirt.” 

“They don’t look like a dweeb,” Idia grumbled as he took another swig of his water. 

“You do not look like a dweeb,” you said as you gently elbowed his side. 

Idia smirked again as he chuckled. “What do you have, x-ray vision? How do you know?” 

“I don’t,” you admitted, “but you’re not bad looking, Idia.” Idia glanced back your way as you finished your thought. “I’ve always thought you looked pretty cute.” 

Cute cute you called him cute aaaaahhh!!! 

‘Calm down Idia,’ Idia told himself. ‘You’re fine, you’re fine, you’re cool, you’re fine. Be cool, be…be cool.’ 

Idia managed a grin as he leaned a little closer. “C-Cute, huh?” He mentally called himself dumb for the stammer. “Like what, a puppy?” 

“No, not a puppy,” you laughed. “That’s more of Jack than anything.” Idia held back a laugh of his own as he saw Jack’s ears perk up in the distance. It nearly slipped when the beastman looked in your direction with a look between surprise and puzzled on his face. “I think…hmm…” You thought it over for a bit; honestly, Idia was afraid of what you might say. When you finally did speak, he was nowhere near prepared for what you said. 

“You remind me of the cute loner best friend the main character ends up with in a romantic comedy.”

Idia’s mind ran a mile a minute as he processed your words. Him, cute guy? Love interest in a romantic comedy? What? Good thing his hoodie hid his face when he looked down, or you’d see just how blushy he was. He barely registered the words that came out of his mouth in his flustered state. “Are you the main character?” he mumbled. 

“Huh?” you asked. “What did you say?” 

Idia quickly regained himself, though clumsily. “I, I, u-uh, nothing!” For the first time since he’d gotten to the beach, Idia scrambled up from his spot on the ground. “I-I just remembered I forgot, um…O-Ortho’s bag! Need that if he’s going to collect shells.” He was sweating more now than he ever had before. “I-I’ll see you later!” 

Never did anyone know that Idia Shroud could run that fast. Idia felt ridiculous, honestly - like some anime school girl that just got rejected by her crush. You hadn’t rejected him, but you surely would have laughed if you heard what he said. C’mon, you? With him? Laughable. You’d likely end up with one of the main guys, like Malleus, or Vil, or Leona.

It’d never be with him…never. Idia felt a lump form in his stomach as he slowed down. As his shoes clumped along the wooden walkway that led to and from the beach’s entrance, he tugged his hood further over his head. He could see his once blue hair was now a flaming bright pink. He groaned as he rolled his eyes to the sky, so very frustrated with himself. He told himself to be cool…when was he ever. 

“Get an actual beach body and maybe you could have a shot with the main character,” Idia grumbled to himself as he walked along. 

Hopefully you didn’t notice Ortho’s bag on the beach towel where he’d left it. 

[windtowee]

Ello I’d usually make a big greeting but I’ve written this request way too much with no response so ima head straight to the request, sorry if it’s rude

Fandom: Httyd

Reader: Fem or GN idm which

Platonic ( or u could make it romantic idrc )

Summary: Reader is a new dragon rider and their dragon doesn’t like the gang or their dragons and it’s just all the riders coming up w/ ways to make reader’s dragon more comfy around them and stop attacking everyone

Toodles!

~ Cloudy

A/n: Don’t worry, it’s not rude, besides I prefer straight to the point anyways Gender Neutral! Rider! Reader and the dragon is a female Tw! Animal cruelty, child abandonment, mentions of violence, This is platonic

A mother’s love

“So how exactly do we make this dragon not try to attack us?” Astrid asked as the other riders and dragons in the room except your dragon. For some strange reason your dragon didn’t like anyone except you and it didn’t like anyone near you. It might be a trust or a protective thing but it’s pretty unique, as even Toothless isn’t like that.

“I’m not sure. This dragon is quite interesting as they don’t even listen to Toothless despite him being the alpha. Y/n, do you have an idea of why it doesn’t like anyone getting near you or it?” Hiccup asked while the others looked at you for an answer.

“Well, I have a couple of ideas but I think this one is the most likely. When I was about five, I was abandoned in the woods, fortunately my dragon was there too. As you know, my dragon is older than me, old enough to be my parent and my dragon had eggs that got destroyed by hunters” You responded as the others connected the dots. They were sadden by your short story and the realization.

“So correct me if I’m wrong, your dragon sees you as their child after their eggs were crushed by hunters?” Valka asked. She personally related to your dragon due to her being taken away from Hiccup and Stock when Hiccup was a baby. She couldn’t imagine if Hiccup had died or been abandoned.

“Yes. So the protectiveness and dislike is due to motherly nature” You responded as you knew the bond between you and your dragon was deeper than most bonds between people and their dragons.

“So the dragon wants to see if we’re a threat or not? That’s pretty understandable due to how mother dragon’s are very protective of their little ones” Fishlegs said as Hiccup was deep in thought about how to get the protective dragon to not attack them.

Valka then seemed to have an idea. A mother always trusts another mother, no matter the species of the two. Valka then grabbed you hand and led you out of the meeting hall with the others following.

“Mom? What are you doing?” Hiccup asked as Snotlout mumbled something about how Valka should hold his hand.

“She’s a mother, she’ll listen to another mother” Valka responded calmly as she was still walking with her hand in yours.

Soon, you all made your way to your dragon. Your dragon was growling and was ready to attack to protect you. Valka was still holding your hand as she stopped in front of your dragon as the others stood behind her, just in case your dragon attacked.

Valka held out her hand as Hiccup did with Toothless when they first met. Valka and your dragon made eye contact and your dragon got closer while Valka didn’t move or let go of your hand.

Your dragon looked between you and Valka who still has her hand out. “Please, I know you’ve suffered. I have too.. A mother would do anything to protect her child, I know that as I would do the same for mine” Valka whispers to your dragon as your dragon widens her eyes when she finds out Valka is a mother like herself. Your dragon lets down her guard a little, it’s working and your dragon steps closer to Valka with a more peaceful look.

Your dragon looks right in Valka’s eyes as Valka does the same. Valka is seen in your dragon’s eyes as your dragon is seen in Valka’s eyes, then your dragon presses her forehead against Valka’s hand. The others looked relieved that it worked as the emotional moment was occurring between two mothers who had suffered a great deal.

It was touching, really.. Valka was right. A mother will trust another mother if it involves a child’s health, happiness, or safety.

[yourstardarling]

Capricorn: The Cold Mother

I learned officially the other day Capricorn is a feminine sign and needed some time to fully grasp this. I’ve always been confused as to how a sign associated with such a cold demeanor be feminine. Then I realized that Capricorn is the opposite of the mother sign Cancer, which means these two signs are expressions of our mothers.

Cancer symbolizes the caring devoted mother. Her water sign nature makes her emotionally attuned to the feelings of those around her. She takes care of her kids and guide their emotional development as they grow through the real world. Cancer cares for her family and can heal the emotional pain of those in need.

Capricorn on the other hand is the cold mother. She is the businesswoman who values discipline and consistency. With Capricorn being an Earth sign, emotions are often undermined. There is a suppression of them in order to build tough skin and a strong exterior. As we look at the symbol for Capricorn below, it is a sea goat which represents mastering control of emotional depths in order to climb higher ground.

This makes a lot of sense as well as Capricorns are often associated with climbing mountains. Mountains symbolizing obstacles and problems that arise in our lives. So in order to face these obstacles, Capricorn must not let her feelings get the best of her. This in turn creates a family that isn’t really emotionally nurtured by her. She will provide the physical necessities though, due to her earth sign nature. However, the rest of sustaining of her children will need to be figured out on their own.

Demeter & The Cold Mother

To undertand the nature of Capricorn more let’s look at the story of Demeter. Capricorn season begins on the Winter Solstice. In Greek Mythology, it is believed that winter has come due to Demeter grieving her daughter. Demeter is the goddess of agriculture and the provider of life force energy on earth. After Persephone has made her decent into the underworld in Autumn, Demeter stops providing sustenance to all life. The land becomes cold and barren. Animals hibernate and trees wither away. So all life stops moving and Demeter freezes the land in Persephone’s absence.

This is a simplified version of the story, but it helps us understand the nature of Capricorns. As they begin the season of winter, it symbolizes how Capricorns grow up in cold environments. These cold environments lacked life and nurturing qualities to keep them sustained. So Capricorns had to learn from a young age how to sustain themselves and survive in this cold world. They needed to learn to climb their own mountains and be more mature than their peers. Playing the role of the parent to keep themselves afloat. That’s why they are ruled by Saturn. The planet of maturity and discipline.

It is the reason why Capricorns themselves may come off as cold with their emotions. They just had to be in order to survive. Their emotions needed to be suppressed as to not upset a member in the family. They posses a lot of maturity, but being a child was taken away from them drastically.

That’s why the moon is debilitated in Capricorn. Emotions should be valued in order to have a nurturing family. Capricorn freezes their emotions in order to keep the peace in their family. Some Capricorns may feel frozen in time when it comes to expressing how they feel, but just like ice eventually these emotions will be melted away.

A quote to Describe them:

“You say I'm like the ice, I freeze” - Brooklyn Baby, Lana Del Rey

A song:

[poptimus-prime]

Here's my piece for the To Be Gentle Zine hosted by @allsparkzines! It features TFP Optimus and the human kiddos meeting a rather prickly little critter.

I did my best and that's what matters.

Title: Nature Walk

Word Count: 950

It was a warm evening in early summer, and Optimus was grateful for a wave of peace. He continued on, making sure the children were still nearby. They were scaling the hills beside him as he walked, the slope not too steep and eventually leaving them at around eye level to him. 

He smiled to himself as he watched them all chatter among themselves, and how Jack and Miko would walk slowly to allow Raf to keep up on his little legs. Something about the mundane nature on Earth spoke to his spark; it refreshed him and made him more resolute to fight for it. 

He wished it didn’t take the war to get here, but he wouldn’t trade these moments for anything.

He pauses to take a look at some flowers on a tree, slightly wilted as they prepare to become fruits. He finds himself fixated on the mottled pink petals that are now dry and wrinkled, and he wishes his hands weren't so big that it would be nearly impossible to touch them.

“Hey, Optimus, check this out.” Jack interrupted his train of thought. He looked over to see the teen pointing at a tree in the near distance, though upon further inspection it was clear that he wanted Optimus to see the bird perched on one of its strong branches. It cawed out loudly, flapping its wings to resettle.

It was a beautiful bird, Optimus thought, noting its striking burnt orange tail. He racked his memory for the name of this bird, this hawk more specifically.

“I believe this one is called a red-tailed hawk.” He responded with a small smile, watching Miko take pictures on her phone. “Though, it seems to be a bit of a misnomer, because I have never seen one with a truly red tail.

“Seems pretty red to me.” Miko hummed out her observation. 

“You’ve seen lots of them?” Raf asked Optimus with wide eyes, flapping his hand a little. 

“Of course, I frequently come out to this part of this landmass. This is where many of them live.” Optimus explained. “I haven’t seen many of them in Jasper.”

“Yeah, they don’t live out there.” Raf sighed. “Unless the zoo counts.”

“I understand.”

Optimus and the children continued on, talking about the various animals Optimus had run into—polar bears and penguins, tigers and elephants, and his favorite—the moose. 

“I hope we’ll see a moose.” Miko said to Optimus. “I heard they’re so big and kinda epic.”

“I believe we are a little too far south to see a moose.” Optimus admitted. “But we will see.”

“Why is that your favorite animal?” Jack asked, more curious than anything else.

“…I’ve never really stopped to think about that.” Optimus admitted. “Do I really need a justification for why?”

“No, not really.” The teen answered back. “People just have different reasons for how they define a favorite animal. Sometimes that’s interesting to hear about.”

“Hm…” Optimus thought hard as they walked. He remained quiet for a few minutes before speaking again. “I suppose I appreciate how protective they are of their offspring.”

“You would say something like that.” Miko snorted a little, delighted in how much of a softie this giant robot was. 

“Well, it's the truth.” Optimus insisted, pausing as he heard the rustle of the bush nearby. His audials slowly turned back, almost apprehensive. The children took note, barely peeking out from the edge of his shoulder as he stood in front of them. 

After a painful minute of rustling, interspersed with yowling, a small bobcat ran from the brush, many quills sticking out from it. Optimus almost went after it, but by the time he registered the quills, it was already gone.

“Poor thing…” He laments, guilty that he couldn't have helped the cat.

“He'll be fine later.” Jack assured Optimus, patting his plating. “He probably won't tangle with whatever got him again.”

“Was it a hedgehog? Do you think a hedgehog is nearby?” Miko asked, very pleased at the thought. “I didn't know there would be hedgehogs here!”

“Hedgehogs don't live here, Miko.” Raf informed, a little disappointed at the fact.

“Another quilled creature does, however.” Optimus turned his head to them and brought his finger to his lips. The children obeyed, quiet and still. Optimus could feel tension build in his frame as he held still, waiting.

A rather frumpy looking creature covered with the same quills that cursed the bobcat emerged from the same bush, making its way to a nearby tree. It sniffed in Optimus and the children's general direction, and then began to scale the tree.

Miko in particular was transfixed, watching as the animal shimmied up the tree, using its tail as almost a fifth limb. She had her phone out to record video, but she found herself…not doing that.

“What a rare sight.” Optimus’ voice curled lightly under his smile. “A North American porcupine. I have heard that most humans who go out of their way looking for one never find one.”

“And we got to see one without even trying.” Jack caught on to what Optimus was implying, a smile on his face.

“It's so cute!” Miko giggled. “I wanna hug it.”

“I wouldn't. Didn't you see what it did to that bobcat?” Raf cringed a tiny bit.

“Right.” She sighed. “That would hurt.”

Optimus couldn't help but allow a chuckle to bark out of the back of his throat. Of all the things he found curious about humanity, the fact that they could look at dangerous animals and want to hug them was rather amusing. 

Though, he questioned how dangerous a porcupine actually was. Perhaps he would have to do more reading later. 

[sserpente]

The Demobat Queen

A/N: Okay, hear me out. I got this idea from the app that shall not be named and then it suddenly turned into 10k words. Classic.

Synopsis: After the Demobats attack Eddie, you find him dead in the dirt. At least that is what you think he is. But when he coughs, you see a chance. A chance to be less lonely in this dark and gloomy dimension. You feed him your blood to heal him and, after some initial suspicion, he warms up to you. For the first time ever, you get to experience what it’s like to have a friend. But before you can explore your growing feelings for Eddie, the desire to be close to him, to kiss him even, he makes it his mission to return back to Hawkins, to leave you behind for good. You don’t really blame him. He doesn’t belong here. And after all, a bat’s love can never be reciprocated… right?

Words: 10669 Warnings: fluff, angst, blood and feeding, near-death experiences, violence, burns/fire, vampire/bat!Reader

“I made this world mine. I own it. I own you.”

“You don’t control me, Henry. You never did. We struck a bargain and we agreed to live in peace after that. Remember that.” Your eyes flashed red as you spoke, the veins under your eyes protruding and giving you a downright eerie look, you could see it through the dirty mirror in the house you resided in.

Henry—or what was left of him—remained unfazed. Growling, he turned away from you.

“I’ve kept my word so far. You let them come too close,” you stressed.

His flesh was singed, soot covering his half-rotten limbs from the burning petrol. Tilting your head, you narrowed your red eyes at him and dug your nails into your fists until they stung.

“Your thirst for revenge will kill you eventually and you know that.”

“You dare threaten me?”

“I have no desire to kill you, you know that. So why would I threaten you with it? The girl you’re after… she can’t be worth all of this trouble. I want a way out. I want to be up there, I want a real life.”

“You don’t belong there,” he growled.

“You are the reason they would hunt me down like a rabid animal now.” This time, his growl practically tore through the cool darkness around you. Turning on your heel, you marched away from him, feeling his burning gaze on your back as you conjured your bat-like wings, spread them, and took off without looking back.

You counted a dozen or so bats dead on the cold and uneven ground of the trailer park. Stabbed, beaten to death, or sliced open by a sharp object. Your heart bled upon seeing their lifeless bodies, yet more victims of Henry’s thirst for vengeance.

He might not have controlled you… yet even though the bats listened to you and did your bidding based on trust and likeliness, it was Henry who controlled what happened in this dimension. You took a deep breath, the metallic smell of blood filling your nostrils and igniting your hunger.

You landed, scanning the ground for the source when you spotted a young man, bloody and torn open by the bats, with three of them still feasting on his flesh. He was alone—collateral damage after a failed assassination attempt. If anyone had been with him when he died, they’d had to leave his body behind. A sigh escaped your lips as your feet touched the ground and you tucked your wings away, your head whipping in his direction when he coughed with a start, blood presumably pooling in his lungs and choking him from the inside out. Your lips parted. He’s still alive.

“Shoo! That’s enough!” The bats didn’t listen. Not until you flung them out of the way with your bare hands. “I said that’s enough! Off with you now!”

His eyes were closed, his white and ripped shirt drenched in blood and revealing the countless bite marks all over his chest. More blood was dribbling from the corners of his mouth as he coughed again. You knelt next to him, indecisiveness creeping up your spine.

You could heal him with your blood. But if you were too late, if he was too close to death already… Henry would kill you if you turned him, made him part of this world. You cursed under your breath when your fangs forced their way past your lips, causing you to hiss. Only another heartbeat passed before you brought your wrist to your lips and sunk your canines into it, drawing blood to feed him.

His eyes remained shut even when he felt your cool skin against his mouth. He gagged soon after your blood poured down his throat.

“Drink… drink it,” you whispered. Henry could not hear you—he had long stopped keeping tabs on you. There was nothing you could do, after all. But you could tell the boy was scared. He was young, on the verge of proper manhood, twenty-two at most. As you drew away, you wondered just how he had winded up in this fruitless conquest to kill a monster who controlled an entire dimension.

“Help me carry him home,” was all you said when he lost consciousness again. The bats hissed before obeying you, digging their claws into his clothes to carry him off. You followed suit.

Your so-called home must have been a lively house up in the light dimension, as you liked to call it. Inhabited by a happy family, perhaps. Here, it was but a depressing and empty place to retreat to, a mere illusion of civilisation. This dimension was a lonely one, after all.

You flinched when the young man who now recovered on your bed finally gasped for air a few hours later and sat up straight as if awoken by a nightmare. You hurried over to his side, gently forcing him back on the mattress. It had taken him long enough.

“Easy… easy! Take it slow.”

“W-wha…” He coughed, eyes widening when he noticed you properly. Your smile was hesitant, timid.

“Welcome back. I was worried you wouldn’t make it. You lost a lot of blood.”

“W-hat the hell… happened?”

“Well, you almost died. And you took down quite a few of my bats with you.” In an instant, his expression grew harder. Coldly, he scanned your form, hostility radiating from him. Granted, you probably looked quite intimidating, dressed all in leather and a long coat made of the same material. He sat up again.

“You need to rest.” When he simply stared at you, you pushed him back into a lying position. “I said rest. I healed you with my blood,” you continued. “I don’t just do that lightly, it’s incredibly risky. You need to rest for it to circulate through your body properly. It will take a while. Be patient.”

“You… fed me your blood,” he stated then. To be honest, it sounded more like a question. You nodded matter-of-factly.

“Who are you?”

“I haven’t used my name in so long that I think I can’t remember it anymore. Why don’t you give me one?” It was true. Your real name was buried along with those you had taken to the grave. Creatures, humanoids with a thirst for blood like you before they’d cast you out of what little of a society this dimension possessed. Your name was there, of course. You hadn’t literally forgotten it. But it sounded so foreign and strange to you that it felt wrong to still use it. Especially after making a deal with who could only be compared to the devil.

“Then what are you?” he asked instead. He swallowed thickly, noticing only now that you had cleared his face of all the blood. You had taken his bandana off to clean him up while he was still unconscious. It was currently in a pile with the rest of the bloody shreds of fabric you had used.

“I believe you can answer that question for yourself. But I don’t have powers like Henry does.”

“Henry? You mean Vecna? You’re with him?” he bellowed.

“Vecna? Is that what you call him up there? I’m not with him. I struck a deal with him out of necessity. I wanted to survive when he showed up, much like you now,” you snapped.

“What the hell does that mean then, am I turning into a vampire?”

“More like a humanoid bat but… no… it’s more complicated than that. You would have to die with my blood still in your system. You didn’t. Give it a few days and you’ll be fine, Eddie.”

The young man blinked at you. “How do you know my name?”

“What, Eddie? Is that really your name? I was making a joke. It’s a reference. Eddie Van Halen, you know? You look a little like him.”

Eddie stared at you for a moment, unable to return the smile you offered him. “Was there… was there anyone else there? When you found me?”

You shook your head. “No. You were alone.”

Eddie nodded, realising it was probably for the best that whoever had left him behind had done so for their own good.

“You must be famished. We need to find you some food. Can I trust you’ll stay here and won’t wander off? I can’t guarantee my bats will leave you alone when I’m not near.”

“You gotta get those fuckers under control then…” he mumbled, sitting up for the third time. You raised your eyebrows.

“If you are referring to the lake, you intruded on their territory. They were just defending it. Besides, I don’t control them. They just… choose to do as I say.”

“They almost killed Steve!”

“Whoever Steve is, I’m sure he won’t make the same mistake again then. Nor will you. Stay put until I’m back. If I had wanted to hurt you, I would have already. Besides, I can’t risk Henry finding you here.”

It sounded absurd but the restaurants in the light dimension… threw perfectly consumable food out, more than you could count. Eventually, it would appear here as well and if you were fast enough, you would be able to take it with you for Eddie to eat and regain his strength before it went rotten. You flew off outside your house, praying that the metalhead would listen to reason and do as he was told.

About twenty minutes or so later—time was relative down here, after all—you returned with two pizza boxes containing leftovers that were still warm when they appeared in between some black plastic bags.

The air had cooled it all down only a moment after but it would do. For just a brief moment, as you dug your hands into the bins behind the restaurant, you wondered why you bothered helping him in the first place. But the answer was obvious, was it not? You were lonely down here. Henry was not one for company and he was not one for chit-chat. Decades in solitude were gruesome, besides… you were not him. You might have been what Eddie referred to as a vampire but that did not make you a ruthless killer. You were a survivor.

“Eddie?”

“Still here…”

Relieved, you walked up the stairs and back into the room you had chosen for your bedroom, pizza boxes in hand.

“You are indeed.”

“There’s not exactly… lots of places for me to go, so…”

You smirked. “Fair point. And a wise choice. It’s not safe out there if you don’t know your way around.” You placed the cardboard boxes in front of him. “It’s not much but… it’ll do.” Eddie stared at them for a second. Next thing you knew, he opened them both, brown eyes widening. He dug in as if he hadn’t eaten in ages. Well, he probably hadn’t. You didn’t stop him. He needed all the sustenance he could get until your blood was out of his system.

“So, uh… you’re Vecna’s right hand then?” he said almost casually with his mouth full.

“I happen to exist in the same dimension. He doesn’t control me, we came to a more or less peaceful agreement. I mean you no harm, Eddie. I have no desire in destroying Hawkins, not like him.”

He swallowed. “Do you… consume blood?”

“I do. Occasionally. I need it to survive but I can go without it for a long time. It gives me… strength. And if I don’t feed for a while, I do get fatigued and burned out but other than that… I’m just like you. Well… minus the wings. I’m sure you don’t have those,” you added, winking at him.

“Who… or what… do you feed on?” he asked suspiciously in return.

“Creatures from this dimension… until, um…”

“What, like Demogorgons and shit?”

“What?”

“Those huge things with fangs for a face that looks like a flower? I’ve never seen one myself luckily but I’ve been told they’re quite terrifying.”

“I… if that’s what you want to call them. But I… I did try human blood when a few poor unfortunate souls ended up here against their will. I have no desire to make that a habit though just in case you’re still worried I am fattening you for slaughter.”

Eddie gave you a silent look before he continued eating. You watched him quietly with your arms crossed after sitting down at the small vanity in the room. The bats outside your house screeched, making you sigh.

“I’ll be right back…”

They knew he was in there, hungry for his blood and eager to feast, assuming he was as good as dead and that his body shouldn’t go to waste.

“Shut it! He’s off limits, do you hear me?” The bats flew around you in circles, following your every movement. One of them landed on your shoulder, screeching loudly as if to complain.

“No. He’s alive and well. Besides, he has my blood in his system at the moment. Stay away from him.” The bats flew a few more circles around you, following your hand as you pointed at the dark and gloomy sky.

“Kas…” Eddie suddenly said. You spun around, not having realised that he had followed you outside, hiding behind a garden rock. No wonder the bats were almost going insane.

You frowned. “Kas?”

Eddie slowly emerged once the last bat was out of sight. “You said you don’t have a name. That’s what I’m gonna call you. I figured… that fits?”

“Kas…” you repeated the name as if tasting a piece of candy. “Okay… I like it.”

“Is this because we are in a darker version of where you come from or is your room really this chaotic?” Grinning, you followed after him. Eddie’s room was plastered with metal band posters and a huge hand-drawn flag reading “Corroded Coffin”. Clothes and other bits and bobs lay scattered all over the place, along with the odd guitar pick, questionable décor, and… condoms on the nightstand. You blushed.

“Come on, it’s not that chaotic.”

Eddie had insisted on returning here and, after having him practically beg you for two days straight, you had agreed to accompany him. Even though the bats had kept their promise and did not lurk around for him anymore, it was still way too dangerous to let him roam freely around here. You liked the goofy metalhead, truly. Eddie was a deeply misunderstand young man with a knack for theatrics and for making people laugh. You shook your head, clearly disagreeing with him here. The room was an utter mess.

“So… you’re saying they blamed you for the murders in Hawkins? Because of a game you play?”

“Yepp… they needed a villain to hunt down and I guess I was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he mused, kicking a stool out of the way to reach for a guitar. It wasn’t the one he’d used on top of his trailer—you had heard him play, provoke the bats and their sensitive ears to distract Henry.

“They’re gullible…”

“Yeah, they think I’m a satanic cult leader and worship the devil.” He strummed the guitar once. It sounded horribly off, so he sat down to tune it.

“And do you?” you joked.

“Only on Sundays,” he replied, making you laugh while exploring the room some more.

“Do you live here alone?”

“Oh no, with my uncle. He works nights so I’m alone a lot.”

“Your uncle… and you’re still at school?” The schoolbooks on one of the shelves gave it away.

“I was supposed to graduate almost three years ago but…”—he drew the word out—“I guess we can’t all be Albert Einsteins.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-one. Even though this room is three years younger than that. That’s a pity. The new Metallica record would have made this place a lot better,” he added looking around.

“What is that supposed to mean?” you asked, tilting your head with your arms crossed.

“Oh, Metallica is only one of the best metal bands in existence.”

“No, not that part, I know who Metallica is, believe it or not.” In fact, you knew a lot of bands. That restaurant you got your pizza from for Eddie had an old jukebox with dozens of records on it. It didn’t work down here but at least, it gave you some sort of idea of pop culture and music trends. “What do you mean by ‘this room is three years younger than you’?”

“You didn’t know that?” Eddie looked up from his guitar. It didn’t sound like a question. You still shook your head.

“No, I didn’t…”

“This place is quite literally three years behind. I mean, it’s a parallel world, right? Everything that happens up there in the real world, happens here as well. Only three years later.”

You raised your eyebrows. “Right. So then that means the food you ate earlier was three years old. Sorry about that.”

Eddie chuckled. “I’ve eaten worse stuff. Wayne and I are horrible cooks.”

“Your uncle?”

“Yes.”

“What about your parents? Where are they?”

“Well…” Avoiding your gaze as if he was ashamed all of a sudden, his fingers played around with the tuning pegs. “My mum left when I was just a kid… I don’t really remember her and my old man… is currently in prison.”

“Oh.” You weren’t going to ask why. By the looks of it and Eddie’s darkening expression, it couldn’t be too good.

Eddie strummed the guitar again, satisfied with the sound this time. The chords he played to follow up sounded beautiful—so melodic and calming compared to the screeching of your bat friends and the hungry growls of the other creatures residing around here. Not to mention the sounds Henry made every now and then, thinking he was scary. Well, not to you. To those kids, to Eddie… definitely. You shuddered.

“How… how long have you been here?” he suddenly asked.

“It’s hard to say… now that I know that I’ve been living in the past but… I’ve… just… always been here. My whole life. It’s always been… I’ve always been… like this.” You gave him a dramatic half-bow, pushing away the thought of the few like you that remained and that would kill you on sight.

“Shit, how old are you?”

You shrugged. “Judging by the calendars you humans started to make… I would say a couple of hundred years.”

Eddie nodded, processing your words all but flabbergasted. “And you never thought of leaving?”

“I didn’t know I could. Not until the veil between our dimensions cracked and opened up gates for the first time. But not all of them are the same, not since Henry started killing.”

“I need to get out of here,” he said. Another strum, as if to emphasise his statement. Your heart almost skipped a beat. He wanted to leave. But of course he did. There was nothing here for him. In fact, as a human, the atmosphere would sooner or later kill him. He didn’t even know you that well, he had no reason to stay, and even if he did… some depraved and delusional part of you had imagined that for the first time in over a decade, you’d have a friend by your side. You swallowed. Perhaps even more. The way his fingers played that guitar, a stark contrast against the black colour of the instrument and the handmade writing on it… That simple action hit you square in the face like a blow. Eddie was bloody handsome.

“You… want to go back,” you finally choked out just to say anything at all.

“Yeah…?”

“No, of course you do. You couldn’t possibly stay here.”

He nodded, slowly. “They all think I’m dead, that should give me an advantage for a while. I’m still… wanted for murder, after all.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

Another thoughtful nod. This young man was carrying a burden far too heavy for his age. He paused when you said nothing else. “You said there were cracks… now… between the dimensions?”

“There are. But they would literally tear you in half if you attempted to walk through them. Even… what did you call them the other day? Demogorgons? Even they couldn’t make it through. Henry can. He is the only one who can. You need a smaller gate. I know where to find one.”

Eddie looked up. “There used to be one here. And at the lake and… and the forest. There’s different ones now? More?”

You nodded.

“Can you take me there?”

“I can but not yet.”

“Not yet?”

“Eddie, we need to wait for my blood to be out of your system entirely. If something happens to you when you’re back… if you die… you’ll turn into a vampire just like me.”

“Right… How long do we need to wait then?” The suspicion in his voice was clearly audible, eliciting a defeated sigh from you.

“Just a couple more days to be sure, please. Then I will take you to a gate, I promise.”

Eddie nodded once more, strumming another chord.

“We should head back soon. The bats get hungry around this time. I don’t want to draw any attention to you.”

“Why can’t we just stay here?” he asked. The innocence in his voice nearly had you melt… and the canines hidden away in your gums pressing to the surface eagerly.

“Here? Are you sure?”

“Yeah… unless you, uh… sleep in a coffin?”

“Oh, ouch, wow, that is an awful stereotype.” You grinned. “I don’t sleep in a coffin. I do sleep upside down sometimes though.”

“Wait, really?” Eddie’s eyes widened, eliciting a chuckle from you.

“No! Don’t you have sarcasm up there?”

Eddie put his guitar away and made himself comfortable on his unmade bed. “You’re uh… welcome to join me then. Bed’s big enough.”

Tilting your head, you took a hesitant step forward. “Aren’t you afraid I’m gonna bite you in your sleep?”

“I’d be as good as dead down here without your help, so uh… you might as well.” His bitter smile broke your heart but then again, what did you expect? That he’d fall to his knees before you in gratitude? You might have saved him but he had no reason to believe you had not done so for your own selfish gain, to keep him as a living blood bag. While a dark and malicious part of you buried deep in your heart rejoiced at the thought of that, the butterflies in your stomach stopped the dangerous thoughts from crawling to the surface.

“Alright then… only for a few hours. Then you grab what you need and we head back. It’s not too safe in this area.”

“Neither here nor in the real world…” he muttered. Eddie closed his eyes, his body relaxing almost fast enough for you to be taken aback by it. He’s still exhausted. Of course he was still exhausted. He almost fucking died and was now regenerating with your blood. You’d truly taken a risk with him—and you could only hope that Eddie wasn’t going to take any damage from your emergency medicine.

By the time you finally laid down next to him, the cute metalhead was sound asleep.

You knew you were in trouble when the butterflies in your belly fed on Eddie’s presence as if he was a drug, sweeter than any blood you had ever tasted. Over the next few days, long talks, and more three-year-old pizza, Eddie quickly became the closest to what you would call a partner in crime. You’d never had one—you wouldn’t know what it was truly like but if there was one thing you were certain about it was the fact that you were not supposed to desire a friend the way you did. To want to be close to him, listen to his heartbeat, feel that lively vein pulse beneath the sensitive skin of his neck, and find out if his lips were as soft as they looked…

“… so each class has different attributes and skills and weaknesses.” For the past hour, Eddie had been attempting to explain Dungeons and Dragons to you. You only understood half of what he was rambling but his passion for the fantasy game was reflected in every single word he spoke. He was sprawled out on the bed with an old D&D handbook he had found under his bed, one he had lost around two years ago, so he’d told you.

Very soon now, you’d venture out to the gate you had promised to bring him to. You’d wanted to wait until the equivalent of daytime just in case your bats decided to disobey you after all.

You’d miss him. As if he’d been in your life for years, you could already feel your heart tearing, leaving a void that would never heal. Were you being dramatic? Yes. But that changed nothing about the fact you were slowly realising that you, in the shortest time possible, had fallen in love with him.

“Eddie? Why don’t you tell me about those warlocks on the way to the gate?” you interrupted him gently. If you ripped him out of your life like a plaster, quick and easy, perhaps it’d hurt less. The sooner he was gone, the sooner you could learn to forget him.

Keep him with you. Feed him more of your blood. Make him stay. Your primal instincts mixed with your growing feelings, making your canines press against your gums almost painfully. Stop. It’s time to say goodbye.

Eddie paused, glancing out of the window. Daylight was barely distinguishable from the night down here but the look of relief and excitement that washed over his face felt like a dagger lodging itself deep into your gut.

“Okay. Let me, uh… grab my things.” You did, watching each and every single one of his movements with curiosity and fascination. If you asked if you could come with him, what would he say? Would he laugh at you? Look at you incredulously? Both?

“You think I could just take that D&D book with me?”

You chuckled. “I don’t see why not. No one will miss it here.”

“Then, um… I’m all set.”

“Good.” You smiled sadly. “Then let’s go.”

Perhaps you’d just stay in Eddie’s room, make it your new home. No one else was going to claim it once he was gone and that way… that way you could keep him in your memory. Your link to the outside world, the one friend you’d ever had down here in this lonely hellhole. You were like a lovesick puppy, detached from reality and what could and could not be, weren’t you? You were pathetic.

You shook your head to chase away the thoughts as Eddie followed you through the gloomy dimension you’d learned they called the Upside Down towards one of the more hidden gates in the forest you had discovered on the same day you had found him after hunting.

And by the time you reached it… he might as well take your heart with him too.

“Here. You’ll have to crawl through. I… I’m not sure what you should expect on the other side but… good luck. You’re innocent, Eddie, I refuse to believe you won’t be able to clear things up.”

“Yeah… maybe. I hope. Uh…” He stared at the hole in the tree stump as if it’d disappear if he took his brown eyes off of it.

“Thanks. For uh… everything. You saved my life.”

“My pleasure. Oh… you might want this back before you leave.”

Your hands were shaking as you pulled his bandana out of your back pocket. You’d tried to clean the blood off of it but you assumed that up in the real world, they’d have functioning washing machines.

Eddie reached for it with a smile. “Thought I lost it.”

“Well, you didn’t.” You stood on your tiptoes then, gently placing your palms on his chest to press a gentle kiss on his cheek.

Ask me to come with you. Ask me to stay with you. Please… tell me you don’t want me to stay here all on my own…

“Are you gonna be okay?” he asked, tilting his head when I pulled away again, reluctantly removing my hands from him.

“I’ll… be fine. I’ve always been here, remember? Good luck, Eddie.”

“B-bye,” he said, waving awkwardly before getting to the gooey ground.

And with every inch he crawled forward, your heart broke a little more until eventually… he was gone.

Fuck, were those tears? Your eyes were burning, your vision was all blurry. You blinked, frantically, to scare them away. It was for the best. Eddie didn’t belong here. Sooner or later, he would have faced the consequences of staying down here. The atmosphere was toxic to humans, you reminded yourself, the lack of sunlight and vitamin D a constant threat to his well-being, not to mention his poor nutrition if he had kept eating leftovers from literal trash cans.

And yet… yet a part of you had hoped that, even after such a short time, Eddie would want to stay with you. He was an outcast in Hawkins, feared and hated by the majority of its people but here… here, he had someone who cared. Was that selfish? Probably. If only… if only you had bothered to find out if his lips were as soft as they looked. If only you had been able to capture the moment of sleeping in his arms forever. But the memory would fade, just like your real name. Kas. You smiled to yourself. That was who you were now. You would use his name for you with pride.

When you shoved your hands into the pockets of your leather coat, something hard and cold brushed against your knuckles. Frowning, you blinked once more, pulling out a tiny silver object. Your lips parted when you realised that it was one of Eddie’s rings. A silver cross surrounded by four skulls. Don’t forget me. He must have slipped it in your pocket when you’d kissed him goodbye. A sad smile tugged on the corners of your mouth before you slid it on.

Then your heart sank. You felt his presence before you glanced behind you. You didn’t turn around to face him.

“What do you want, Henry?”

“You hid a boy here. Nursed him back to health. What for?”

“Leave him out of it. He was just collateral damage to you anyway. And it doesn’t matter anymore. He’s gone now. He’s back in Hawkins.”

“Then he will die regardless. They will all die. Remember what you promised me.”

“I did my part, Henry. The bats did what you asked them to, they protected your precious home and they will wreak havoc once the cracks are safe enough to… travel through. There’s nothing more I can do to help you.”

Henry growled and you spun around, fuming. “Thanks to you, I’ll never be able to have a life up there. That was the one thing you promised me. That I would be able to leave this place.”

“You will, bat. No need to remind me.” Bat. Not Kas. Not what Eddie had named you.

“Yes. I will return to a pile of ashes and decay.” To a place where, even if Hawkins’ people mysteriously survived, you could never be with Eddie simply because of what you were. “They’ll start another attempt, you know,” you insisted when he turned to leave. “They will not stop until you’re dead. If I have learned anything about Hawkins, it’s that they will fight back until their very last breath.”

“Then their very last breath it shall be,” Henry responded. You flinched when he made the gate disappear with but a flick of his wrist—long, gooey vines annihilating the only way up that you knew currently existed. Your only way up should you ever decide to take the risk and leave, hoping the humans would not hunt you down simply because you came from the Upside Down. Not if, you realised. When.

You hissed at Henry, baring your fangs before he vanished, and twisting the silver ring on your finger. You had to warn Eddie. You owed him that.

Before the goofy metalhead came into your life, you hadn’t known your heart to be capable of so many emotions at once. You longed for him, missed him with every fibre of your being, and yet, with every step you ventured out further away from his trailer in search of another gate to reunite with him, the more your heart bled for your bats.

Leaving them behind and to their fate after what you had asked them to do… it felt wrong to leave them in the lurch but what other choice did you have? Hundreds, if not thousands of people would have to let their life up in the real world where, according to Eddie’s stories, there were oceans and actual sunlight. You had needed a push, something to finally pick up the courage and get away from this bleak existence. But you’d never considered paying a price this high.

The fire hit you out of nowhere. Hot and scourging, it singed your skin, blinding you and throwing you to the ground. You covered your face with a shriek, the burning and unbearable sensation having you thrash on the dirty ground in pain.

Your lungs filled with hot hair, the crackling and windy sounds drowning out even your own screaming. But then you suddenly heard his voice.

“Harrington! Stop! Stop it! Steve, please, stop!”

Were you hallucinating? Perhaps you were dying. Perhaps you were already dead. Perhaps Henry had killed you and your mind attempted, frantically, to make the traumatic experience more endurable.

Eventually, the fire ceased in a way it almost appeared like your attacker was being shoved away, with only the sizzling of your burned skin remaining. Angry red marks and blisters formed wherever the flames had tasted you and licked across you, including your cheeks and palms.

Trembling, you curled up on the ground, still too blinded to make out the person who knelt down beside you and cradled you in their arms. Those hands, however, adorned with cool silver rings… Eddie.

“Shit, shit, shit… Kas, are you okay? Look at me. Hey… hey! Are you okay? Open your eyes, Kas, please open your eyes!” His panicked voice made you want to calm him down, providing you with just enough energy to do as he asked.

“Oh, thank god… are you okay? I’m so sorry, I’m sorry…”

“Y-you’re back,” you choked out, taken hostage by a coughing fit only a fraction of a second later.

“Yeah… yeah, I’m back.” You felt his palm against the side of your cheek that was not burned, calloused fingers stroking over your cheekbone.

“W-what can I do? Are you gonna be okay?”

“…n-need… -ood…” Talking was exhausting. Keeping your eyes open was exhausting. Fighting against the pain was so tiring it would have been so easy to give in to cool darkness and slip into blissful unconsciousness.

“What? What do you need? Speak up, sweetheart.”

Sweetheart. You didn’t care you probably had an audience. You could sense them. More humans besides your attacker, at least two.

“Bl-…ood… I need blood.”

Eddie’s eyes widened. “Could you… I mean, could you drink from me? Would… would that work?”

You nodded—barely visible to the naked eye, your chin moved up and down once. Eddie caught it nonetheless. Without any hesitation whatsoever, he leaned down to you until your warm and shaking lips brushed against the sensitive skin of his neck, his long hair acting like a curtain and shielding you from the eyes of his friends.

This time, as soon as your instincts took over, you let them. Your fangs appeared within a second, your eyes turning blood-red. Your mouth watered in joyful anticipation when you opened it, sinking your pair of sharp teeth straight into his neck, breaking the skin, and… fuck, he tasted divine. So good and sweet and rich and…

Eddie flinched when you bit him but, albeit carefully, held you even tighter, mutely urging you on.

“Shit, what the fuck is happening here? Eddie? Eddie!”

“No, Steve, stop! It’s fine.” The metalhead did not elaborate, not for now and not until you had enough of your strength back to dig your fingers into his shoulders, feeling the cool leather of his jacket under your fingertips.

You promised to yourself that you would take five more sips—one, two, three, four… five… Reluctantly, you pulled away and licked your lips. You’d left a bite mark on him—one he quickly covered with his hair.

“A-are you good? Do you need more?” You shook your head in response, feeling your fangs retreat and your eyes, hopefully, returning to their usual colour.

The one with the fire—Steve Harrington—glared at you suspiciously, holding a lighter in one, and a can of hairspray in the other hand. The other two were young women—strong, intimidating almost. One more so than the other.

“Everyone… this is Kas.”

“Kas?” one of the girls repeated. “She’s the one who saved your life?”

Eddie nodded. “This is Robin,” he said, nodding towards the girl who’d spoken up. “And this is Nancy, and this… is Steve.”

“Sorry about that. I thought you were…”

“It’s fine… Eddie told me you guys are generally suspicious of everything down here.”

“Can’t blame us. Last time we were everything tried to kill us.”

You blinked at him before turning your attention back to Eddie. “Why did you come back?”

“That’s a long story but…”

“One we don’t have time for right now,” Nancy interrupted. You felt the urge to snap at her and you probably would have if you didn’t still feel weak. Your wounds were regenerating but it would take your body some time to fully recover from the attack.

Fire… the one lethal thing that could kill you instantly. If Eddie hadn’t stopped him…

“Henry closed the gate you escaped through. He’s gonna make his move. Soon. I tried to come and warn you, find another one.”

“We need to get you out of here then, sweetheart.” There it was again—that adorable nickname that you liked even better than Kas. You nodded once more, too weak for your mind to toss around all those thoughts you’d surely have if you hadn’t just escaped death by a smidge.

“I’ll uh… I’ll take her back.”

“Back? You want to bring her to Hawkins? What if she—“

“She won’t, Steve,” Eddie snapped at him. But when he turned to you again, scooping you up like a bride, his voice instantly became softer again. “Can you walk?”

“… don’t know…”

“It’s okay… I’ll carry you.”

His kind offer was the last thing you heard before you finally succumbed to the welcoming darkness.

“Kas? Like the vampire Kas? She’s Kas? Dude, I thought you were talking about some eerie humanoid bat person, not… not a girl!”

“Yeah no. No, that’s who I meant. I know how fucked up this is, man…” Eddie’s voice became muffled for a moment, almost as if he was hiding his face in his hands.

“So… she’s not… is she linked to Vecna? Because if she is and we kill him, wouldn’t that mean that she dies too?”

“No,” you croaked out before Eddie could respond to the other person. Two heads whipped in your direction instantly, one of which you did not recognise. You shifted uncomfortably. You were lying softly, covered with a blanket that smelled like Eddie and cigarette smoke. Someone had removed your leather coat too.

“W-where am I?”

“You’re in my bed… again.” Eddie’s cheeky grin warmed you from the inside out, even more so because he blushed. “Welcome to Hawkins, sweetheart. You’re in the real world. The Up… if you will.”

“You said… you said you wouldn’t die if we kill Vecna?” the boy with the curly hair and a hat that read Thinking Cap asked.

“That’s Dustin,” Eddie explained. “He’s a friend.”

You nodded. “No. I’ve been in the Upside Down for much longer than Henry. He’s… made this world his master but not me. I just happened to be in it when he arrived.”

“You were… born there?”

“Yes.”

“So there are others? Like you?”

You shot Eddie a hesitant glance. You hadn’t told him about that—you hadn’t wanted to freak him out even more. “There are. But not in the upside-down version of Hawkins. I was the only one there.”

“So… so you don’t have to go back eventually to not… drop dead if the gates close?” Dustin probed.

“No.” At least, that’s what you hoped. You had no solid proof that you wouldn’t turn to dust once the first ever sunbeams you had ever seen with your own eyes hit your skin either. You already had a feeling you would have to remain in the shadows as best as you could but unlike Eddie in the Upside Down… you were pretty certain you could survive in this dimension. You were not human, after all. It was in your very nature to adapt. The question was… would the humans tolerate you after all the evil that Henry had brought upon Hawkins through the gates?

“The others,” you started then, “Nancy, Robin, and Steve… are they still down there?”

“Yeah. They should be back anytime now. We uh, found another gate—by chance, really. They went back to the Creel house. Vecna’s house, trying to find… something. Anything that could help us stop him. We don’t have a lot of options left at the moment.”

You nodded once more. “What happened here in the meantime? Were you able to clear your name?”

“Not… really. Yet. I’m still in hiding, technically but uh… Hopper’s working on it.”

“Hopper?”

“He’s the Sheriff of Hawkins. Or he used to be,” Dustin intervened.

A third nod. Quite frankly, you were overwhelmed with being in a different dimension altogether—you finally understood how Eddie must have felt, especially after almost dying. You almost laughed out loud. The exact same thing had happened to you now. The irony was truly hilarious.

The noise that came from outside the trailer was audible to you first. With your enhanced hearing, you instantly made out the voices of Steve, Nancy and Robin. Moments later, the front door opened. Dustin sped out of the room, closing the door to Eddie’s room in the process.

“How are you feeling now?” Eddie asked.

“Better but… still weak.”

“Do you need more blood?”

Guilt washed over your entire body as you bit your lower lip. You were hesitant to nod for a fourth time. Eddie caught the hint nonetheless. But just when you were about to ask him to bring you an animal or a blood bag from the hospitals in this dimension, he spoke up again.

“Drink from me again.”

“Eddie…”

“Just do it, sweetheart. I’ll be fine. You need your strength back.”

Finally, the metalhead sat down on the bed with you. Your heart sped up when he pulled you onto his lap and your legs hugged his hips, his calloused fingers exploring your back.

Biting back a moan, you brushed his lovely hair out of the way—and as soon as his scent hit you, it was game over, and sunk your fangs into him and drank.

Eddie’s grip around you tightened, almost as if he was unwilling to let go of you anytime soon. Almost as if… almost as if he was enjoying it. But that was impossible, right? You were hurting him. You were sucking the very essence that kept him alive out of his body…

In your hungry haze, you noticed the door opening again only a few seconds too late. Dustin walked back in, followed by Robin, Nancy and Steve. You looked up with your teeth still lodged deep inside Eddie’s neck, noticing their horrified expressions.

I must look like a monster to them. Red eyes, dark purple veins under them, sharp fangs, and a murderous, famished expression…

You forced yourself to pull away, bloody fangs and lips surely glistening in the artificial light in Eddie’s room. You covered your mouth quickly and licked yourself clean, turning away so you wouldn’t have to face them again for a brief moment.

You could tell that Eddie was about to ask if you’d had enough or if you needed more when he too realised that you had an audience.

“Did you find anything?” Eddie asked.

“Nothing.” Steve didn’t take his eyes off of you. You leaned back again, covering yourself with Eddie’s blanket so you’d have something to do with your hands, making it clear you didn’t want any attention, especially after what they’d just witnessed.

Steve nodded towards you nonetheless. “Are you sure we can trust her, Munson? I don’t care if she’s like one of your D&D characters.”

“Wait… what? You named me after a D&D character?”

Eddie blushed. “Uh… yeah… a vampire who works for Vecna but eventually betrays and kills him.”

“Oh. Well, that sounds about right.”

“So you’re on our side.”

“Of course I’m on your side. Steve, is it, right?”

“You said you wanted to come to warn me. Us. Vecna’s gonna make his play soon?”

“I… yes. The bats will be first. Henry’s planning on opening more gates to let them all through. To let them loose in Hawkins.”

“But I thought he doesn’t control them. You do?”

“That’s… I… I wanted to tell you but…”

“You told them to attack Hawkins,” he concluded.

“No! I mean, I… I told them to invade the town once he opens the gates.”

“What! Are you crazy?” Steve bellowed. You flinched, the loud noise hurting your ears a little.

“That’s what your deal was about? You didn’t tell me that. You said the bats were harmless if they’re not provoked.”

“Eddie, I’m sorry… I couldn’t… that’s why I was about to come here. I wanted to give you a headstart, all of you. I wanted to make things right because…” Because I’m falling in love with you. You stopped yourself before you could end the sentence and embarrass yourself even further.

“So when they make it through… can you stop them?” Robin intervened. In the meantime, Nancy and Dustin only glared at you all but speechless.

“I can try.”

Eddie reached for your hand. “You said they listen to you.”

“They do but… they are simple-minded creatures. Once they’re up there, there will be more prey for them than they’ve ever known to exist. They might not aim to kill but they will attack when they get hungry. Not out of malice—simply because it’s in their nature. They want to survive. And the more food they have available to them, the more strength they can build.”

“Well that’s just great,” Steve remarked with sarcasm dripping from his voice.

“Okay, you know what… let’s call it a night. Nothing good will still come out of us arguing with her. Let’s meet again tomorrow and plan our next steps then,” Nancy said.

“Yeah… it’s a little awkward all of you standing around in my room like that.” You chuckled to yourself when Eddie grinned at them. Seeing him smile was not only a relief, it was a revelation.

“Okay, I don’t mean to freak anyone out but do we still have until tomorrow?” Robin argued.

“I can sense the bats. I’ll know. We’re safe, for now.”

“Good to know. You’re right. Not you, Munson, Nancy. We’ll catch up tomorrow. Are you sure you’re gonna be fine here… all alone… with… with Kas?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll behave,” you added, daring a little smirk.

Steve and Robin blinked at you as if you’d just admitted to killing a puppy.

“Okay… good night, Eddie. We’ll call tomorrow.” Dustin was the only one who waved before they all staggered out of the room one by one and Eddie shifted on the bed so he could lie down next to you. You still waited until the door fell shut to scoot closer and place your head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. Even after only such a short time… you had missed the sound of it.

“I’m… I’m really happy to see you.”

Eddie smirked. “I’m really happy to see you too. You kept my ring,” he remarked, nodding at your hand which was tracing the print on the band shirt he was wearing.

“I found it in my pocket after you’d left.”

“Nah, yeah I thought I’d leave you a little something so you wouldn’t forget me.”

“I don’t think it’s physically possible to forget someone like you, Eddie. At first… at first, I thought I’d never see you again. That’s stupid, right? We met only a couple of weeks ago.” Just say it. I like you. Three little words, so easy. Fuck… you were no silly teenager with a fear of rejection. You were a goddamn vampire, for Heaven’s sake! You could deal with a human boy not reciprocating your feelings. Feelings that seemed to consume every fibre of your being and…

Your heart stopped when his lips landed on yours. Suddenly. Out of nowhere. The kiss was almost too brief, with no tongues attempting a battle for dominance.

When he pulled away, he instantly panicked. “Sorry… was that too much? Or too soon? I… fuck, I thought I lost you there when Steve didn’t put that fucking hairspray away.”

“I guess we’re even now then. I want you… no, I need you to kiss me again.” That made him grin, mischievously so. “I wanted to stay with you. But I also wanted to go back home, you know?”

“Eddie… staying would have killed you.”

“I wanted to ask you to come with me.” Slash. Like a dagger twisting in your heart.

“Why didn’t you?”

“Because… I don’t know, isn’t it like… a big thing to ask someone to leave their dimension to live in another?” His breath was warm against your lips. You let your fingertips trail over the two bite marks you had given him.

“I had been hoping to get out. Ever since that first gate opened a few years ago. I just… didn’t have the guts to do it yet. Because of Henry… Vecna… what do you think will happen when they find out what I am, Eddie? Your friends clearly don’t trust me, in fact, I’m absolutely sure they hate me.”

“They don’t hate you. They’re… suspicious? I mean, so was I… you can be pretty mean and scary.”

You gave him a weak smile. “What about the other humans? They’ll hunt me down and shoot me dead, or lock me up in a lab to experiment on once they realise where I came from.”

“I won’t let that happen to you.”

“Promise?” you breathed out.

“Promise…” And with that, his lips were back on yours, more eager this time to drink you in like you were his last meal. Eddie’s left hand came around the back of your neck, pulling you even closer to him all the while you hooked one of your legs over his lower body, your right hand grabbing a fistful of his t-shirt.

His mouth tasted almost as divine as his blood. You could make out cigarettes, a faint hint of weed and… some sort of honeyed cornflakes and pizza. Fuck, you wanted to devour him whole.

Getting a little braver, you crawled on top of him so you could straddle him, your hands exploring his clothed chest all the while your tongue teased his soft lips, asking for entrance. Eddie’s mouth opened wider and you sought out his tongue, starting a passionate fight.

By the time he pulled away out of breath, his hands still stroking your back, you were almost too far gone to remember the threat that was lurking in the Upside Down.

“You still hungry?” he murmured.

You raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m starting to think you like me drinking from you.”

“Yeah, well, uh… it’s pretty hot… to be honest. Very metal. I… kinda enjoy it.”

Hearing those words from his mouth… fuck, you wanted to pounce on him, feed on him and fuck him all at the same time. Tilting your head with your eyes turning red, you trailed your fingertips over the side of his face, making him shiver. His brown orbs widened as soon as he noticed the colour change in yours.

“I need you to rest. I can’t take so much at once. Let your body recover first. I… could be persuaded to have another sip tomorrow.”

“But are you gonna be alright?”

You nodded. “The wounds have healed well. Perks of not being human. I’ll be back to normal by tomorrow.”

“You sure, sweetheart?” There it was again. Sweetheart. You suppressed a sigh.

“I’m sure. Let’s… let’s get some sleep.”

Eddie stole another kiss from you before he obeyed, draping the blanket over the both of you. You fell asleep in his arms, listening to his breath slowly evening out as he too wandered off to dreamland.

Steve kept his promise. The next morning, it had barely struck eight am before Eddie’s phone rang, ripping you both from your slumber. The metalhead almost fell out of bed when he went to answer it, quickly barking a few words into the little construction before leaning his forehead against the wall, still half-asleep.

By the time he finally brought himself to crawl back into bed, you too managed to open your eyes, wrapping your arms around him to stay warm. You never thought you’d enjoy body heat so much. You were used to the cold, used to sleeping alone—and even though you knew that there was only so much heat that you could take, cuddling with Eddie made your heart pound and put your mind at ease. You felt safe, protected…

“Hey…”

“Hey…”

“You hungry?” You giggled like a little girl, burying your face in his neck. His excitement was tangible—in fact, you were certain you would be able to taste it if you bit him right now.

“How about you have some breakfast first? I don’t want you to faint on me.”

“Yeah, coffee and a cigarette actually do sound like a great idea.”

“A cigarette? For breakfast? I mean real food, Eddie. No wonder humans have such short lives.”

He grinned and you followed him into the kitchen. The fridge didn’t have much to offer. There was some open yoghurt in there that, according to the smell, had expired already, a half-empty egg carton, some milk, and some leftover pizza on a plate with some cling foil on top of it. Unceremoniously, Eddie took it out and chucked it in the microwave. You scrunched up your nose. In the meantime, he made sure to make himself some coffee and finally, lit himself a cigarette.

“I’m pretty sure the food I got you in the Upside Down tasted better than what you’re consuming right now.”

The metalhead shrugged. “Wayne’s gonna bring some groceries home when he gets back from his shift. Since I still can’t just… you know… stroll into a supermarket and stuff.”

“How… how did he react when he learned you’re still alive?”

“He was… relieved. Hugged me. Even cried. The old man treats me better than my own father. He’s more of a dad to me than he’ll ever be.”

“I’m glad you were in good hands then when you left.” Me. The last word you almost choked on. The microwave started beeping just when he finished his cigarette and extinguished its butt in the ashtray on the kitchen table.

Growing a little more confident about your surroundings now, you hoisted yourself up on the counter all the while Eddie dug into his left-over pizza.

By the time he only had one piece left on his plate, there was a barely visible film of fat around his lips which he quickly wiped away with the back of his hand. You smirked. So he always ate like he was starving.

Raising an eyebrow, you slid off the counter, walked over to him, and sat down on the table next to his plate. His eyes widened and his smirk… downright mischievous, even more so when you reached for his wrist and held it with both your hands. You bared your fangs and sank them into his flesh.

You certainly did not imagine the moan that escaped his lips when you broke the skin, his own food and coffee quickly forgotten. When you released him, the look on his gorgeous face was so aroused, you could have pounced on him. Maybe you could. Maybe you should.

Licking the last droplets of his blood from your lips, you pushed yourself forward so you came to sit on Eddie’s lap. Your mouth was on his before he realised what was happening, your hands grabbing fistfuls of his long hair that was still completely dishevelled from sleeping.

And once again, you became so caught up in each other that you did not hear the knock soon enough—nor the door opening and Eddie’s friends spreading inside the kitchen and living room area as if they’d seen a ghost. The only one who was missing was the kid with the hat. Dustin. You liked him.

Eddie held you tightly when you attempted to move off of him. When none of them dared say the first word, you took the initiative, braver than yesterday now that you were feeling better again too.

“You all look surprised Eddie is still alive after spending the night with me.”

“Yeah… you can’t… really… blame us,” Steve choked out. Robin nodded with an apologetic expression on her face. Nancy was the only one whose poker face was so impenetrable you were starting to wonder whether she had slept at all last night.

“This is Jonathan,” she finally said, introducing you to the stranger they had brought with them. You tilted your head. Jonathan looked like social awkwardness personified. He nodded at you with half a smile.

They’re still scared of me, you thought, biting your lower lip.

Eddie cleared his throat so they would stop staring at you. “So? Any news?”

“Uh, yeah. Joyce is on her way with El and Will.”

“What about Hopper?”

“Says he’s currently busy with filing that police report on Jason Carver to prove you didn’t kill him.”

“Right.”

“In the meantime, we need to get back to the War Zone. We need more weapons. Like, now. Are you coming with us, Munson?”

“I want to stay with Eddie,” you instantly blurted out.

The metalhead reached for your hand and squeezed it.

“No offence… but I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to roam freely around Hawkins… yet,” Steve said. He almost sounded a little like he was sorry. Perhaps he didn’t loathe you after all—even if he’d almost killed you last night.

“None taken. I don’t exactly feel ready to either. But I’m not staying here alone.”

“I’ll stay,” Eddie reassured you. “I’ll stay with you.”

“Um, Kas… we need you to tell us how we can get rid of your bats. I mean… I’m assuming you don’t want us to kill them,” Steve offered.

“Absolutely not.”

“That’s what we thought, so… is there a way to weaken them?”

You took a deep breath, contemplating whether you could trust them. If the bats got hurt, that would be on you—your fault.

“They don’t like warmth. They’ll steer away from it, just like me. If you found a way to keep Hawkins hot enough, they would retreat and hide in the woods. That’s the best advice I can offer you. I don’t want you to harm them.”

“Are they like… your children?” Jonathan asked carefully.

“No, they’re… we’re just very alike.” You didn’t elaborate and you were sure you didn’t have to, not really.

“So that’s nothing new then. Our next step should be to get in touch with Hopper, there’s gotta be a way to heat the city up so the bats will stay clear from everyone.” Nancy sounded determined, earning her an obedient nod from Jonathan.

“Just don’t… don’t make any loud noises, not like you did in the Upside Down. You’d want to get rid of what’s causing you pain too,” you added when they both turned to leave. They acknowledged it with a quick wave, leaving only Steve and Robin behind.

“That means Robin and I will head to the War Zone until El and Will get here. Take this.” Steve handed Eddie what looked like a portable phone. You realised quickly it must have been a walkie-talkie. And then, with a brief goodbye, they too were out of the door again.

For a few heartbeats, it remained silent. It was a comfortable and yet tense silence both at the same time. Eventually, you leaned your forehead against Eddie’s. You noticed only now that his wrist was still bleeding a little and he’d grabbed an old and probably used napkin on the table to cover it up.

“Who are they? El and Will?”

“El has superpowers, literally. Like… like Vecna.”

You gasped. “She must be the girl he’s coming after Hawkins for then.”

Eddie nodded, his hands caressing your waist. “And Will is the boy who went missing a few years back. Got possessed by the Mind Flayer and I think he can still… feel Vecna? I don’t know, it’s all so fucked up.”

“I’ve heard of him. I never saw him but there was this red-haired girl…” Guilt washed over you as you bit your lower lip. That girl had been one of those victims you had fed on—she’d been too far gone to stay alive for much longer and still…

“A… a red-haired girl? Was she… was she wearing a cheerleading uniform… by any chance?”

“I… no, she wore glasses and high-waisted trousers.”

“Oh…”

“Who is… was the other girl?”

“Chrissy. She… uh… she died right here in our… in our living room.” Eddie’s brown eyes trailed over to where Vecna must have taken her life, creating a gate and spreading fear and horror. Your lips parted the more distant Eddie became and you quickly realised why.

“You have survivor’s guilt…”

“What?”

“That girl… an innocent girl died and there was nothing you could have done to save her. Eddie, it’s not your fault. This is Vecna.”

“Yeah… yeah…” Clearing his throat, he tore his gaze away from the invisible spot in the living room. “I just wish I didn’t run away, you know.”

“Eddie… I saw you in the Upside Down. You’re brave. And… you’ve got a vampire sitting on your lap right now.”

He laughed. “Yeah, I guess… that’s true.”

“When does your uncle get home again?”

“Should be another hour or so.”

“Good. Then how about we continue where we left off?”

Eddie swallowed. As if you’d flipped a switch on him, his brown eyes glistened with unfulfilled desire yet again. “Are you sure?”

You let your eyes turn red. Eddie grinned when you bared your fangs at him and winked. “I’m sure. Are you?”

He nodded and you watched him frown when you gently pushed the wrist he offered you away to focus on his neck instead. His scent was intoxicating when your nose brushed against his sensitive skin.

Perhaps it would take a while longer for Eddie’s friends to accept you the way he had. Perhaps you too, much like Eddie, would have to live in hiding for a few months. But once Vecna was gone… once your bats were back in the Upside Down safely and all threats to his life, to all of their lives, were eliminated… then maybe you’d both get your happy end. You both deserved it.

A/N: I am more than inclined to write more vampire!Reader x Eddie. Perhaps one where RC turns Eddie after all? Or a Part 2 to this one? Hot vampire sex? Ohhh, the possibilities are endless! 😈

[acefaun]

Please post the story as soon as you can ❣🥺

Love you ❄

Legolas~ Imaginary Friend

Synopsis: Legolas has a lonesome childhood and wishes on a star for a friend… He doesn’t expect an invisible friend to come out of his innocent wish.

🍃Masterlist🍃 Gender-Neutral MC!

A/n: A short and sweet fic I thought of after a few Legolas fics I’ve read shortly after my first time watching Lord of the Rings. Does it make sense? Probably not. But cute things don’t need to make sense. 😚 I wuv you guys tooooooo!! 💖✨

–Word Count: 1,781–

The stars glimmered beyond the canopy of branches and leaves, blessing the lands below with their ethereal light. It should have been too late at night for many to be up and about, but he was. Sitting upon those branches… was a young elven boy named Legolas. 

Legolas had been lonely since his mother’s passing. It had been some time since then, and he found companionship with the trees and the billions of stars that illuminated his world. His lifestyle was unique, with his royal status and his time being occupied by studies and training, he didn’t have many friends to soothe his loneliness. So, he had nothing else to do besides perfect his craft and… gaze at the stars above, wishing for someone to take away the empty feeling that had been amassing in his chest. 

“I wish… someone could be my real friend…” He sighed, laying back against the branch he was on. Shutting his eyes, he couldn’t help but lament the surrounding silence. 

He inhaled the cool, twilight air. He was going to regret not sleeping while he was supposed to. Well, at the very least, the rustling of the leaves and the feeling of the wind brushing across his skin was comforting.

Well… he thought so until his peaceful moment was interrupted by an aggressive rustle of branches. Quickly, sitting up, a figure landed on the branch in front of him, making him flinch back with a startled yelp. “Wha- Who… Who are you?!” His eyes were wide as he scanned the figure. Last he checked, humans couldn’t fly, so they most certainly couldn’t randomly fall out of the sky like a wingless bird.

You only seemed to gaze at him with the utmost curiosity before a grin crossed your face. As if it were supposed to be obvious, you asked, “You don’t know me? My name is (Name). I heard when you wished on my star and I’m here to be your friend!”

The entire situation was too ironic, the timing was too well-placed for you to be serious. Besides… you looked like a human. Still… you did just fall out of the sky like a shooting star would… Humming, he uncertainly asked, “So you’re… a star?”

“Hah,” You laughed, though it wasn’t a mean laugh. You were just amused that he confused you for the star you ruled. “No, silly,” you corrected. “I’m a friend.”

He was wary of you at first, but it was clear that you were being honest. After all, you were a phenomenon in his life. You came down to Middle-Earth with the sole intention of being his best friend. The only peculiarity that came with this particular friendship… was that you were invisible to everyone besides Legolas. However, you were very real in the sense that Legolas still had to make sure you were properly fed and watered like an actual living being.

You being invisible didn’t help him when he got caught so many times stealing food for you. And while his father was suspicious of his behavior, his accusations were misplaced when he would approach his son. “Were you feeding the animals again? Legolas, I told you not to do that.”

Of course, Legolas wasn’t about to correct him, getting away with his little crime time and time again as his reasoning was always the same, “It’s not for the animals. It’s for (Name), my friend.” This ‘game,’ as the other elves called it, only lasted until you were both older and there were easier methods of getting food for you. After all, Legolas could only claim you as his best friend for so long. Having an ‘invisible friend’ was unbefitting of a crowned prince of Mirkwood.

Living in Middle-Earth was quite the experience for an invisible being from the stars such as yourself. You thought it was especially strange how you couldn’t attain the same physical attributes as the beautiful elves around you. You were supposed to be a wish granting entity… though… maybe this was what Legolas inwardly wished for. It wasn’t like he wasn’t always assuring you that your appearance was perfect and that you didn’t need to look like the other elves. 

You were there to be Legolas’ best friend, but truth be told, you were growing attached to the young elf yourself. Spending centuries with only one person who could see you would clearly give you enough time to develop vigorous feelings of loyalty. 

As the loyal best friend that you were, you understood that Legolas couldn’t always spend time with you. There were times when he needed time to himself so he could focus on his studies and royal duties. The other elves knew what Legolas needed much more than you did, after all. You were only there as an emotional support star-spirit and you would fulfill your role as you were intended to. 

However, that didn’t mean a mystical being couldn’t grow bored as well. While Legolas was busy, you tended to wander about Mirkwood, having nothing better to do than serve your curiosity and admire the Kingdom’s beauty. Despite having been with Legolas for thousands of years now, Middle Earth never lessened in beauty, especially the forest. 

Things ran a constant schedule with Legolas and you fell into your own personal schedule. Well… such a schedule could easily be disrupted… when a non-elven being like yourself wasn’t invisible. 

“Hey, human! Stop right there!”

Startled out of your mind, you nearly failed to respond in time, defending yourself at the last minute with the announcement that you just so happened to be Legolas’ best friend! How unfortunate for you that everyone knew the young prince didn’t have any such friends—sans his imaginary one that he stopped claiming he had many centuries ago. 

Now, as you ran, doing your best to escape the intimidating elves, you regretted listening to Legolas’ praise that you were a perfect little non-elf. While it was unexpected for you to suddenly be visible, he should have known better than to think a human was a good choice of species for an elven prince to hang around with. 

Despite your desperate attempts at evading capture and even finding a few excellent hiding places—in your opinion—you were finally caught and forcibly dragged before their even more intimidating King, Thranduil. You’d seen him in person many many times, but he’d never laid his intimidating eyes on you like this. “What… is a human… doing in Mirkwood?”

“You misunderstand…” You tried to explain yourself once again, with an unconvincingly confident grin. “Legolas brought me here. I’m his best friend; if I could just see him-”

“That would be Prince Legolas to human scum as low as you,” he hissed, waving his hand for them to take you directly to the dungeon. “I have little time to deal with this inconvenience right now.” He clearly didn’t want to hear anymore nonsense from you or anyone else. 

At the very least, in the dungeon you wouldn’t be glared at like a disgusting bug they found at the bottom of their boot. Non-elves were really degraded around here… 

As depressed as being discarded made you feel, you had no choice but to sulk in the dark cell until someone came to save you. They were all elves with long lifespans, but did they know that even if they left you in there for a hundred years… you were still going to be there? You wondered… but you knew Legolas would eventually find you, even if no one else returned for you.

***

“(Name)!” His voice rang out like the angelic savior he was. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Your eyes widened in surprise, however, that he was making light of the situation. He waltzed up to the door of the cell, peering in on you with amused eyes. “How did you manage to get yourself locked in there?”

It was clear no one had mentioned the situation of a human claiming to be his friend. “Legolas…” you paused, trying to explain it slowly, “Your father put me in here. They can see me now, and… they don’t like that I look like a human.”

Legolas’ eyes widened, matching the way your expression was when he first found you. But, after a silent moment, he tried to brush it off with a light laugh. “You’re joking. You’re just making an excuse so it doesn’t look like you accidentally locked yourself in a cell, silly little star-spirit.”

As much of a saving grace as that would be, you’d have rather accidentally locked yourself in the cell than be in this scary position. Life was easier when you were invisible, if you were being honest. Quietly, you argued, “But I’m not…”

“Prince Legolas, the King wishes to see you at once.”

The guard that suddenly called for Legolas, looked between you and the elven prince, which made Legolas understand you were being fully honest with your words. You really were locked in the dungeon under his father’s orders. Offended that such a thing happened to his best friend, he snapped, “What is this? Let them out.”

“My prince,” the guard stuttered, “The King does not allow-”

Legolas interrupted the guard’s argument, snatching the keys from his belt. The elf guard stood frozen, unable to argue or fight against Legolas. After all, it wasn’t like the King wouldn’t address this sooner or later. 

Freeing you from your prison, Legolas no later shoved the key’s back into the flabbergasted guard’s hands. Taking your hand, Legolas offered you the most beautiful smile you think you’ve ever seen on him. “Come, (Name). I think it’s time to introduce you properly.” Oh… Now you understood. Before… others couldn’t see you because Legolas wished it. He wanted you unseen… because if others could not see you then you couldn’t be taken away from him, could you? But now… he wasn’t afraid of you leaving him. More importantly… he wanted others to know that you were there, and that you were with him. Not for the first time, your cheeks flushed with heat as you smiled at your elven prince, proud to be at his side as, not a human, but as his star-spirit.

[crazyinluvfix]

1:1 WOLF MOON ( pt. 1 )

FATAL ATTRACTION - a stiles stilinski story

summary: after a late night trip to the woods, scott obtains a strange animal bite that heals within a day. sera struggles with the fact that her best friend might be a werewolf, while simultaneously trying to keep them from finding out her own secret.

WARNINGS: none

series masterlist

4.6k words

┌──────── ⋆⋅☆⋅�� ────────┐

January 2nd, 2011

It was the night before the first day back at school after winter break, which had been incredibly slow.

Considering what I heard about what was going on back home, I did not want to risk a trip to see my brothers - lord knows what I would be roped into. I was enjoying my unproblematic, stress-free, normal life. Nothing could take that from me.

And at least I had Stiles.

Yes, Scott was my best friend too, but Stiles was like a brother to me. And his dad was the closest thing I’ve ever had to a father, even when mine was alive.

So naturally, I spent a lot of time at their place. Including Christmas, which was just the three of us - we ate, played games, watched movies. Nothing too special, yet it was nice, peaceful.

But I lived alone.

For legal reasons, everyone (including Stiles and Scott) was under the assumption that I lived with my older brother, Damon, and that my twin brother Stefan was off at some camp. But in reality, it was just me and my apartment. But I didn’t mind that much, I liked my own company.

Tonight was one of those nights. I sat on my bed, alone, reading some book I didn’t care all that much about while sipping on a glass of bourbon Damon had gifted me. That’s when my phone lit up with an urgent flurry of texts.

Stiles

SERA

COME OVER ASAP

BIG NEWS

I put down my book with a huff and picked up my cell, scanning over his words before typing back.

Sera

why?

what’s up?

‘Big news’ to Stiles could mean anything. And right now, I wasn’t exactly sure that whatever he was getting at was worth interrupting my simple night.

Stiles

I'll tell you when you’re here

Now come and we’ll go get Scott

I turned off my phone and rubbed my face before shooting up and straightening myself out, throwing back the last sip of golden liquid in my glass and sighing as the warmth travelled down my throat.

As I made my way downstairs I remembered to take my time, since it would only take me a minute to run there and neither Stiles nor Scott knew I was a vampire. I had to make it look believable, so I took the time to fix my hair and waltz about before leaving the house.

About ten minutes after Stiles had texted I appeared outside his window, a spot I frequented so much you could almost see the wear on the roof tiles from where I so often waited for him to respond to my knows on the glass.

Soon enough, he did.

I watched him shoot up from his desk and shuffle over to the window where I was curled up with my hood over my head, shielding myself from the harsh winter winds.

“Wait there, I’m coming out,” he held out a finger to stop me from coming inside, going back across to the other side of his room, bending down to find his shoes.

The way I rolled my eyes was almost audible as I crossed my arms over my chest, “Stiles,” I complained as he took his sweet time. “Hurry up, it’s cold.”

My gaze followed him as he hurried to tie his laces, subsequently tripping over and just about catching himself as he hopped over to the window and looked me in the eyes before stepping outside.

“Did you just run here?” he observed, looking me up and down, noticing my shortness of breath and the fact that he could see no car or bike.

In fact, I was just playing into the role of ‘human girl having run half a mile,’ but I was glad my efforts were convincing. Stiles knew I didn’t drive, and I usually did just get everywhere on foot. But even when he dropped me home or picked me up I made sure he let me out just a bit down the road so he didn’t see that my house had no car at all, let alone having no one else in it.

“Yeah,” I shrugged before quickly changing the subject.

“So what’s going on? Is this actually serious or is it just another one of your little adventures you’re dragging me and Scott along for,” I teased with a slight laugh.

Stiles was notorious for his little late-night escapades, but even though I usually put up a bit of a fuss, I did typically enjoy them. If for nothing else but being there to make sure he or Scott didn’t actually die.

He scrambled out of the window, pumped up on too much Adderall to focus on not falling off the roof, leading me to grab him by the sleeve of his flannel as if second nature and pull him back to safety.

He stared at me with those wide brown eyes and spoke again, “I promise you I have a good reason this time.” Too sincere to be a joke, but he still seemed thoroughly excited.

~

Soon, we arrived at Scott’s house. We hopped out of Stiles’ prized Jeep and he started to dramatically tiptoe over to the side of the house like an old silent film, deciding to climb up the tree to get on the roof.

Meanwhile, I just stood there in the middle of the driveway, hands on my hips with my head cocked to the side, a breathy chuckle escaping my lips as I watched him clamber up the branches.

“Stiles?”

“Mhm,” he replied plainly, not taking his eyes off the tree.

“You know Scott’s mom is out, right? She’s on the night shift?” my smile grew as I laughed at him, who had now made his way atop the house, finally glancing back to face me.

He failed his arms in annoyance upon seeing I didn’t follow him, “Yeah, but it’s more fun this way.”

I shook my head, walking up to the side of the house, alongside him just a few feet down.

That’s when I heard footsteps coming from inside the house. My ears perked and I listened closer; they were coming from Scott’s room, then down the stairs, then to the front door…

Instinctively I hid behind a bush to watch this play out, looking on in amusement as I had a view of both scenes. Scott was treading cautiously, holding a baseball bat as a defence - which was funny in itself considering we were in Beacon Hills, practically the safest, most uneventful place on Earth. Meanwhile, Stiles was crawling carefully on the roof, trying to be as quiet as possible before hooking his legs on the tiles and flinging himself down so his body appeared right in front of Scott like Spiderman.

Upon both of them seeing the other they started to scream back and forth, causing me to stumble out from behind the bushes and onto my knees, clutching my stomach - I’d never seen a funnier sight.

Scott looked at me, then back at Stiles, lowering the bat. “Stiles! Sera! What the hell are you two doing here?” he exclaimed angrily as I scrambled up to shush him.

“Shut up! You’re gonna wake the whole neighbourhood!” I ran up to Stiles’ side, my head next to his upside-down one.

“Yeah!” Stiles agreed, all of us now speaking in exclamatory whispers. “And why do you have a bat?”

Scott stuttered, still shaken from the sudden rush, “I thought you were a predator!”

I giggled to myself as I watched them interact, Stiles proceeding to ramble on and move his arms in an expression of utter confusion, “A predator? Wh- What!”

“You weren’t answering your phone!” he continued as if that made the situation miraculously make sense.

“Okay, Stiles. Now that we’re with Scott could you please tell me what we are doing!” I joined in, flinging my hands up in the air before landing them back on my hips as I waited for his response.

Stiles turned his body to face mine, then turned back to Scott before explaining at his usual fast speed. “I saw my dad leave 20 minutes ago. Dispatch called and they're bringing in every officer from the Beacon department and even state police.”

“For what?” I interrupted his excited rambles. It was clear to anyone with any of the 5 senses that Stiles worshipped his dad and his job as Sheriff, so this sort of thing really got him ticking.

“Two joggers found a body in the woods.”

Before we could ask any more questions he dropped down from his position to stand upright on the ground next to me.

Scott’s eyes widened, “A dead body?” he asked hesitantly.

Stiles scoffed and jumped up and over the fence onto the porch to be face-to-face with Scott, nudging me to do the same.

“No, a body of water,” Stiles rolled his eyes sarcastically - a trait that not even an event like this could shake from him - “Yes, dumbass! A dead body.”

“You mean like- murdered?” Scott inquired further while I was in pure disbelief.

Stiles rested his hands on his hips and shook his head, “Nobody knows yet.”

The words sent a chill down my spine.

“Just that it was a girl, probably in her twenties.” he recited whatever he overheard from his dad.

I finally spoke, confused about the logistics. “But… if they already found the body then what are they looking for?”

“That’s the best part,” Stiles pointed to me before practically jumping for joy - a strange reaction considering the topic at hand. “They only found half.” His voice shifted to a significantly higher pitch and I noticed Scott’s face twist in curiosity, raising his eyebrows.

I chuckled dryly, clearly taken aback at how casually he had stated it. It’s not like I was a stranger to death, not by any means, but here? That was something I had never expected. “How is that the ‘best part’?” I retorted, but Stiles didn’t respond, just looked at us both and nodded his head determinedly.

“We’re going.”

~

“I’m still not sure about this, guys,” I expressed my concern as we trudged through this secluded, dark part of the woods Stiles had driven us to, with one torch and nothing else.

“Oh, don’t be a sourpuss,” Stiles teased as he hung back to walk next to me, “you’re the one always bitching about how nothing ever happens in this town.” He nudged me in my side as he briefly put a hand on the small of my back so that we’d continue moving.

‘Bitching’ was admittedly somewhat accurate. But even though a part of me missed the eventfulness of my old lives, it didn’t mean we weren’t all better off without it!

“Yeah, man,” Scott agreed with me, “I was tryna get a good night's sleep before practice tomorrow.”

“‘Cause sitting on the bench is such a grueling effort,” I teased before going back on myself. “I’m sorry, stress really does make me a bitch.”

I drained out the sound of their lacrosse talk as they went ahead, distracted by the ever-so-faint smell of blood in the distance. Tuning back in instantly when I heard Scott bring up something else of importance.

“Just out of curiosity, which half of the body are we looking for?”

“Huh,” Stiles shrugged, “Didn’t think about that.”

The smell of blood hit me stronger and I unconsciously stopped in my tracks.

“Sera? You good?” Scot turned back around.

“Hm?” my eyes darted between them, I then snapped out of it and caught up, “Oh yeah. I’m good.”

A subject change was all I needed to distract from my weird behaviour, playing off Scott’s question. “And what if whoever killed the girl is still out here?”

Stiles chose ignorance. “Also something I didn’t think about.”

We approached a hill and Stiles started to scale it, leading me to throw my arms up in exasperation and whine, “Ew, I don’t wanna get all muddy!”

“Well you’re gonna have to, princess,” he teased, making it to the top, as I now followed, easily overtaking Scott who was leaning up against a tree, desperately sucking on his inhaler.

“Maybe the severe asthmatic should be the one holding the flashlight,” I heard him say, although it seemed to go ignored as we all made it to flat ground.

But then all of a sudden Stiles dropped to the ground, and when I didn't immediately do the same he reached up to grab me by the wrist, pulling me down with him, Scott copying on the other side of me.

“Stiles-” my grievance was abruptly stopped by him putting a hand over my mouth.

“Shh,” he hissed and pointed his torch to the lights in the distance. Police cars.

I must’ve missed them while trying to rid myself of dirt, only to now be covered by even more. They were talking about the investigation, repeating everything Stiles had told us earlier.

“That’s my dad,” Stiles whispered.

Indeed it was, I recognised his voice.

But then he did the unexpected - which, when it came to Stiles Stilinski was rather expected - and legged it towards them, beckoning me and Scott to follow which we reluctantly did.

We must have been too caught up in following Stiles’ crazy idea to notice what was right in front of him. Sheriff Stilinski.

“Stiles-” I choked out his name, only to be yanked behind a tree while Scott stood behind another.

Stiles turned around to shout at me for speaking, but when he turned back after not seeing me the police dog barked loudly, flashing his fangs and sending Stiles falling to the ground, scrambling to get back, looking straight up at his dad.

Me and Scott both held our breath - it was Stiles’ idea, we didn’t need to be punished.

“Hang on, hang on,” the Sheriff stopped the other officers approaching. “This little delinquent belongs to me.” His tone was disappointed, not a rarity since Stiles did do stuff like this an awful lot.

My eyes closed as I listened to them talk, knowing it was only a matter of time before we were discovered too.

“Where are your usual partners in crime, huh?”

There it was.

His tone was still gruff and I could practically sense the nervousness radiating 0ff Stiles as he contemplated whether to rat us out.

But he didn’t, he never did.

“What? Sera and Scott? Pft-” he stuttered, trying to catch his breath after the scare. “They’re home. Probably fasttt asleep,” he goes on to tell probably the least convincing lie ever told, as if dragging out his syllables would make his statement more believable.

Bringing my hand up to my forehead I glanced over to Scott and shared a look, it was difficult for me not to laugh, however, Scott appeared genuinely worried as he was sabotaging his opportunity to make first-line tomorrow.

“It’s just me…” Stiles carried on rambling, not helping our case at all, “In the woods… alone.”

“For fucks sake,” I sighed, raking my hand down my face.

I practically jumped out of my skin when I heard the Sheriff’s booming voice once again.

“Sera! Scott! You out there?” His flashlight caught the hood of my jacket poking out from behind the tree. He took a step closer, tone even firmer, “Sera!”

I went to walk out, but Scott eyeballed me in a way to tell me not to, but I knew that if I showed myself he wouldn’t catch Scott. So I rounded the tree with my hands up in surrender, skipping over to Stiles’ side.

The Sheriff sighed. He walked up to us without a word, parting a gap between me and his son, and stood between us.

A hand reached up to the back of Stiles’ neck, grabbing it forcefully, “I am going to walk you back to your car and we are going to have a serious conversation about invasion of privacy,” he scolded.

I almost sighed in relief, but my hopes were in vain as he did the same to me - albeit a tad lighter, but still firmly. “And you, young lady,” he exhaled loudly, “what are we gonna do with you.”

He walked us back to his car like this, letting go of us to get in our usual spots to drive us back to the Jeep. The journey was incredibly silent. When Stiles got home he was surely in for the lecture of his life - I was just glad that this time it wouldn’t include me.

Sheriff Stilinski saw me as a daughter the same way I saw him as a father, meaning he usually was not afraid to shout at me too, but he always saw me through a faint lens of pity around the holiday seasons - in ways, my solitude worked in my favour.

Soon, we had made it back to Stiles’ car and he was tasked with driving me home, straight home with no detours. Tension radiated off him the whole way back, partly due to the anticipation of being told off, and partly because we still hadn’t found the body.

“I guess Scott’s gonna have to find his own way back,” I chuckled, slumping down in the passenger seat.

“He’s a big boy, he’ll make it,” Stiles assured before interrupting with one of his little quips, “that’s if the killer doesn’t catch him first,” he put on a scary voice and looked over to meet my unamused expression.

The only reason I agreed to this was to know I’d be there to kill the thing out there before it killed us. But I guess we’d just have to find out what happened in the morning.

What a pleasant start to the term.

~

Waking up the next day was a panic.

Memories flashed back like freezeframes from last night and I worried for Scott since he hadn’t answered his phone since.

My nerves were only settled once I arrived at school, seeing my two best friends on the sidewalk, looking as alive as the last we saw him.

I skipped over to them and turned Scott around, my hands on his shoulders, “Thank god you’re alright,” I breathed a sigh of relief until he gave me a look that said otherwise, piquing Stiles’ interest now too.

“Well… about that…” He lifted up his shirt slightly to reveal a massive bandage on his torso, blood that had seeped through the white cotton staining the outside. “I got bit by something.” His comment was all too vague.

Stiles reached forward to touch it and Scott jumped back, “Woah,” he laughed at his enthusiasm.

“It was too dark to see, but I’m pretty sure it was a wolf.”

‘A wolf?’ No, surely not, it can’t be. I had done thorough research before moving here to be sure that nothing like this would happen. During my research, I found that not only have there been no werewolves here for decades, but no wolves of any sort.

“No, it wasn’t,” I butted in abruptly as we walked to class.

Scott scoffed at my quick rebuttal, “I heard a wolf howling.”

After mimicking his noise, I spoke again, “No, you didn’t.”

“Oh yeah?” he questioned, looking back at me, “How do you know what I heard?”

“I don’t. But I do know that there hasn’t been wolves in California for like 60 years,” I elaborated, watching his eyebrow quirk in confusion.

Stiles interjected, running forward to walk backwards in front of us. “And how do you know that?” he challenged, almost tripping over a pebble.

I thought fast. “School project.”

We didn’t all have the same classes, so it wasn’t questioned. Luckily, Scott was quick to change the topic anyway.

“Well, if you don’t believe me about the wolf then you guys are definitely not gonna believe me when I tell you I found the body.”

It’s as if he had just told Stiles he had won the lottery because his eyes lit up so bright and he jumped so high that birds thought he was one of their own, “Are you kidding me? That is freaking awesome!”

“I wish. I’m gonna have nightmares for a month,” Scott chuckled.

I was too stunned to reply, so Stiles happily filled the silence.

“I mean- this is like the best thing to ever happen to this town since…” That's when his attention was drawn elsewhere, it was when he practically started drooling that me and Scott knew it was the work of Lydia Martin.

“Since Lydia Martin,” he eyed her like a moth to a flame as she passed, “Hey Lydia,” he greeted her with a slightly awkward wave, turning over his shoulder when she didn’t give him so much as a glance. “You look… like you’re gonna ignore me.” He admitted defeat, turning back to us.

His schoolboy crush always amused me and Scott.

I reached over, putting a hand on his shoulder, “You’ll get her next time, tiger.”

“Ya think?” We continued walking and he didn’t wait for a reply. “It’s your fault, you know?” he spun around and pointed at Scott. “Dragging me down to your nerd depths. I’m a nerd by association!”

“That doesn’t make sense. Because Sera’s cool and we’re both friends with Sera,” Scott pointed out, simultaneously disproving Stiles and admitting his own nerdiness.

I saw his words click with Stiles, making him ponder why he was perceived as nerdy rather than cool considering his social circumstances, I just laughed and went to take my seat.

Class was a bore, but then again, I had done this all before so it wasn’t that mandatory for me to pay attention. Instead, my focus was drawn to the girl outside, sitting on the bench. I always felt a little guilty to eavesdrop, but it’s not like I could help it.

“Mom, three calls on my first day is a little overdoing it.”

“Great. I’ve got everything except a pen.”

Poor girl. Today was exactly one year since I started here too, I knew the feeling.

My eyes followed the the man from the office who collected her and coincidentally her first period was with us.

“Class, this is our new student, Allison Argent. Please do your best to make her feel welcome,” the man said, gesturing for her to take a seat.

There was a free seat next to me, behind Scott, so I gave a friendly smile to tell her to come take it. But the second she sat down, Scott turned around with a pen in hand and passed it back to her.

At first, I thought nothing of it, but then it clicked. ‘How did he know she needed a pen?’

I chose not to dwell on it.

~

After class, I decided to befriend the new girl, I knew the new school stress well, so I waited by the lockers.

She came out of the classroom after speaking briefly to the teacher about catching up on reading material.

“Hi,” I called her attention, “Allison, right?” I held out a hand.

She accepted, seeming a little nervous, but she responded with a friendly nod.

“Sera,” I stated with a smile.

“That jacket is absolutely killer,” outfit talk was always a good ice breaker. “Where’d you get it?”

“Oh! My mom was a buyer for a boutique back in San Fransisco,” her smile widened too.

My jaw dropped in typical teenage girl fashion, “You are my new best friend.”

Lydia was summoned to us like a beacon. “I heard boutique,” she skipped over and pouted, “I’m Lydia,” instantly being swept up by her boyfriend. “Hey Jackson,” she lilted before he gave her a kiss.

While they were distracted I turned to Allison and jokingly rolled my eyes at their PDA and she bit back a laugh.

“Somebody tell me how it was so easy for Sera to make friends with the new girl?” Scott sighed, slumping against his locker.

Stiles scoffed as if it was obvious. “‘Cause they’re both hot?” His eyes flicked between Allison, Lydia who had joined them, and his best friend. Like Scott, he too was a tad jealous of her social skills.

“Beautiful people herd together,” he sighed, quickly tearing his eyes away to continue pestering Scott with everything he could about the body.

But he wasn’t listening. Well, he was, but not to him. Somehow he was able to hear the new girl and Jackson’s conversation as if he were standing right next to them.

Lacrosse talk bored me. And I could tell it bored Allison too, but she was trying to be polite. Just as I was about to save us with an excuse I noticed a very pensive Scott, his eyes directed at us. But the moment he saw me notice he turned away, as if he had been caught doing something he shouldn’t. Strange.

Either way, the life-draining sports talk was cut short when Lydia hauled us to next period.

~

After school, Stiles dragged me to watch lacrosse practice. This was how I spent most of my Tuesday afternoons, but this time I had company.

Lydia was almost always there to cheer for Jackson - which got very incessant very quickly. But Allison had asked me earlier ‘Who is that friend of yours?’ (the friend being Scott), and it was now my mission to play matchmaker - maybe it would help distract from the wolf problem handing over my head.

Scott and Stiles waved me down when they got onto the field. I knew better than to question why so I put down my book, leaving my stuff with Allison as I trotted down the bleachers.

“What’s up?” I noticed Scott’s brimming smile, directly contrasting Stiles’ snarl.

Scott was practically buzzing, “I’m playing first line!”

I gasped, bringing my hands to my mouth, “Really?” I was frankly quite surprised.

“Sound a little more shocked will you,” he rolled his eyes sarcastically.

“That’s not what I mean,” I laughed.

Okay, I did mean it a little, but good for him. “But that’s great! Congrats!”

“Yeah. So great,” Stiles added bitterly with folded arms.

“Aw, is someone jealous?” I mocked, pouting.

“No,” he answered quickly. “It’s just that, if Scott’s on the field, who am I going to talk to on the bench!”

Me and Scott both laughed, Scott reaching over to pat him on the shoulder.

Then, before I left, I stepped over to Scott to whisper, “Hey, I think someone’s here to see you,” my smirk directed his attention to the girl on the bleachers who gave him a soft smile and his face lit up considerably.

Gross.

When Coach blew the whistle I went back to my seat, taking the opportunity to tease Allison for the pinkness of her cheeks after relaying Scott’s excitement.

While she was engaged in conversation with Lydia I turned back to my hardback - the novelty of lacrosse had worn off long ago. But my gaze was quickly snapped up to Scott where he stood - or rather sat - in the goal after being knocked over, wincing in sympathy.

Not the best start.

I was practically peeking through my fingers to watch the next player shoot. But to my surprise, and everyone else's, his defense was flawless.

And he did it again.

And again.

And again.

Cheers of awe erupted at his sudden talent. He kept it up for so long it almost felt too good… Considering he hadn’t particularly been great at the game before, it was incredibly unusual, so much so that my jaw hung slack in the stands.

ੈ✩‧₊˚

a/n: hiya ! this chapters only a 2-parter because it’s the first episode so there’s a lot of stuff to introduce, future chapters will most likely be condensed into one part x

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[meenawrites]

Humanized Spider: Pt 3

So I've made my peace that I'm not getting work done until I get this all out of my system. 

SO

Ronal's leading Spider's physical therapy, he goes on patrol walks with Tonowari through the village. 

The Metkayina seeing both their leaders doting on this kid just kind of accept it, like they trust them and their judgment and I mean the kid's smile is infectious, people kind of wait for him to smile and are like awwwww (because I said so, he should be loved damnit)

Neytiri still isn't allowed anywhere near him or even within his line of sight. She's definitely calmed down since her altercation with Ronal and has been using this time to reflect on herself, especially with Neteyam's clear protectiveness of the boy and Kiri honestly not really talking to her. Hearing what he's been through and what state he was in really put things in perspective for her and she spends a lot of time communing with Eywa in the cove of ancestors and just thinking over her past with Spider. I'd like to think she realizes how her trauma has allowed her to mistreat a child, but yeah. 

Jake doesn't have as many prohibitions on him of seeing the boy, but he avoids him a lot tbh. Guilt is eating away at him and he can't bear to look at Spider, nor his kids tbh cause they're all so angry with both parents, except Tuk (cause she doesn't really get it).

Aonung also starts kind of taking Spider around with him (I haven't forgotten about him). He was pretty reluctant at first about the human but when his mom of all people went all mama bear over him he was like, well there's no reason for me to be reticent then. His big bro senses are tingling every time he sees Spider now and he's just like must protect, he's so SMOL.

Kiri and Spider spend a lot of alone time together, which doesn't go unnoticed by Ronal and Tonowari (and Neteyam, he knows what's up). They're always holding each other in some way or Spider just kind of shoves his head into her shoulder when he wants attention. She takes him out to the reef and shows him everything she's wanted to show him since the moment she got here. Sometimes they just do activities in silence, basking in the other's presence, other times they'll just talk back and forth nonstop for hours. Kiri makes sure to kiss his growing hair every night and run her fingers through it or pulling at his curls and watching them bounce back up so he knows she loves them. 

Eventually, Kiri does confess to him. I'd like to imagine it's during a night where she's snatched Spider away from Neteyam's protective grasp and takes him out on her ikran for a night flight. Spider's has always loved Pandora's night sky and the stars so she gives it to him. He leans back into her and reaches his hands into the sky as if he could touch them and he looks more carefree than she's seen him since he came back. They land atop one of the few trees near Awa'atlu and settle back against its branches. She tells him she wants to talk to him about something and the seriousness of her expression sobers him up quickly. She says it kind of haltingly, and talks in a bit of a circle before she gets frustrated with herself and just kind of yells, "I LOVE YOU!" then immediately slaps her hands to her mouth, peering at him through her lashes. Spider is just completely slack-jawed and speechless. Like he legit can't believe this is real and actually slaps himself across the face, which serves only to jostle his mask painfully and Kiri hurries to grab his face like what the hell are you doing. And then Spider just starts laughing, his hands coming to cover her own. He can't stop laughing but he's also crying (happy tears yall) and knocks his masked forehead against her own and it comes out of him like an animal that's finally been released from its cage, "I love you, Kiri, so much, since I met you" and BAM adorable beans. I'm trying really hard not to slip into writing a fic rn so moving on. 

Spider's pretty much fully recovered by this point and Ronal and Tonowari finally take him aside and seriously ask him if they can adopt him. Well, Ronal kind of just declares they're adopting him and Tonowari has to correct her and is like, "only if you would permit it. We'd like to officially take you in as family." At this point Spider's cried more than he thinks he has in his entire life during his time with the Metkayina clan but he's still surprised when he tears up again and is just like, "are you serious? Really? Like adopt me like you're my parents?" He obviously can't believe it. And Tonowari's like, "yes, we'd like to be your spirit parents." Spider looks to Ronal for confirmation and wildly wonders if this is some sick joke but she looks just about as serious as he's ever seen her. And he just full on cries. Ronal can't hold back anymore and just pulls him to her side and lets him cry while Tonowari lays a hand on the back of his neck. 

But before officially being adopted, Spider thinks it's time to get some closure with the Sully's. So he has Neteyam ask Neytiri and Jake if they'd be willing to meet with him. It's Neytiri who says yes first, surprising all of them. Neteyam is quick to give a lecture to his parents, the first ever and it feels good tbh, about how they've treated Spider, how Neteyam feels about it, and that he cannot stand by and watch as they mistreat him any longer. He's been obedient for a lot of things, but he's choosing to take a stand against this officially. Obviously all the kids side with him. Tuk doesn't really understand what's going on but she adds in her two cents of, "I love Spider I don't want to see him hurt, please don't hurt him."

They go to meet Spider who has Ronal and Tonowari at his back at their insistence. Ronal is fuming and is dying to say something but she respects her new son's wishes. Tonowari is also angry obviously but he's just happy the kid has agreed and he can try to make up for how he has been treated. Spider flinches when he sees Neytiri but he forces himself to stay sitting. Jake can barely look at him but Neytiri actually looks him head on, and for the first time, he doesn't see a trace of dislike in her gaze, just an eerie calm and an edge of softness that's never been directed at him before. 

Spider takes the lead first. He's spent a lot of time thinking about his past and his relationship with the Sully's (or lack thereof) and a lot of Kiri, Neteyam, Tonowari, Ronal, and even Lo'ak (in a clumsy but endearing way) constantly telling him that he had deserved to be treated better, that who his parents were and had done wasn't his fault, that he was worthy, that it was wrong of them to leave him with the RDA. He couldn't really accept it at first, even vehemently denied it saying he understood. And while his understanding of their actions being motivated by trauma and stuff remained the same, he'd finally come to accept that he had deserved better. And he says as much to the two of them. It's nerve-wracking as hell, but it feels amazing to say, to finally express to them how hurt he felt by Neytiri's dislike for him, how awful it had been to have Jake be kind to him but pull away when it began to feel like anything. I lowkey think Jake starts crying tbh while Neytiri just listens calmly and takes everything in.

When he's done, Neytiri speaks first and wholeheartedly apologizes to him, not averting her gaze or anything. She says that he's right, that her experiences clouded her judgment and hardened her heart against him unfairly. It had drawn a thick veil over her eyes and she'd never tried to see him for who he was and not his blood. She makes no excuses for the way she treated him and says she doesn't dare ask for his forgiveness because she doesn't deserve it. She ignored one of the Great Mother's most important teachings and that will weigh on her always. She doesn't apologize for cutting him on the ship because she did what she felt needed to be done to save her daughter. And frankly Spider agrees which has Ronal about to go off in protest, but Spider smiles at her and she backs down reluctantly. Neytiri apologizes for everything else though and swears to Eywa that she will never do or say anything to consciously hurt Spider again, which seriously shocks him. An oath to Eywa is a big deal after all. He almost chokes up because of it. And then actually does when she says, "I see you" and he can feel she really does. 

Jake frankly has no words but tries his best to blubber through an apology about keeping him at arms length, not making sure he as cared for better, for leaving him behind and never attempting to rescue him. I'm not super invested in his apology as I'm writing this rn so I'm gonna skip past it but yeah. 

Spider steals himself then because he's about to admit something big to them. He's already told his new parents and they've coached him on how best to broach the subject. So he tells them that he knows they don't want to hear about Quarritch but it goes hand in hand with their treatment of his and his overall lack of adult care in his life. He explains with some difficulty what was done to him by the RDA, that Quarritch pulled him out of the torture, gave him more care than he'd ever received before and had been the first adult to genuinely care for his life despite how messed up that was. And then he admits to having saved Quarritch, that he made that split second decision because he couldn't just sit and let the only person who'd ever really cared about him drown. Neytiri is shocked to her core. She wants to run and scream but she sees Spider now, truly, and made an oath to Eywa, so she can't help but face up to the fact that this development was her fault. In her fear of how Spider would turn out like his father, she'd inadvertently contributed to this decision. In not going back for him and just taking Kiri with her and leaving, she had created this situation. So she doesn't get mad, doesn't feel like she's allowed to and apologizes to him again, but makes sure he knows that if she ever sees Quarritch again, she will kill him with no hesitation. 

AND THAT'S THAT YALL! For now anyway, I'd accept any asks about this AU (would love to receive some) because I've had a lot of fun writing this even if it hurts me. Spider is adopted by Tonowari and Ronal, recovers, finds his place in the village. Kiri and him go public and Kiri's ready to beat up anyone who says anything about it. Lo'ak is shook and Neteyam's just like FINALLY. Spider and Neteyam are closer than they've ever been. Obviously shit's gonna happen since the RDA is gone but Spider finally feels like he's rooted somewhere, like he's okay and doesn't only have to rely on himself to take care of himself. He's got a family now who fusses over him obsessively. He's about to become a big brother. The love of his life LOVES HIM BACK! And he starts wearing his hair mostly curly and finds his own sense of identity, no longer trying to copy Jake or try so hard to fit in. 

I'd like to say he's eventually blessed by Eywa and can breathe their air BECAUSE HE DESERVES IT! But yeah that's enough for now. I HOPE YOU ENJOYED!

PS Ronal and Tonowari begin making him a new songcord.

[rainbowwing251]

The Other Chris (Wild Kratts Tickle Fic)

A/N: I can’t. Believe. I’m doing this.

Seriously, I can’t believe I’m doing this. I should not be doing this, but I’m doing it anyway.

So uh… yeah, this is… a thing! It’s a tickle fic for the PBS Kids series Wild Kratts!

I know I said I didn’t want to make tickle content for the show, but truth be told… I really wanted to for… almost as long as I’ve been into the show. The only reason why I decided against it was because I was afraid. Afraid of how the Wild Kratts fandom would see me for making this kind of content. Afraid that the tickling community wouldn’t care about tickle content for this show. Afraid that somehow, someway, the Kratt Brothers themselves would find my content.

But recently, two out of my three fears have been proven false. It turns out that there IS a tickling community for Wild Kratts and that the tickling community as a whole does enjoy the limited amount of tickle content there is for it. I’m still concerned about whether or not the brothers themselves will find it, but I guess I shouldn’t worry about that for now…

This is a long author’s note, and I apologize for that, but before I get onto this fic, I would like to mention that this fic is a collab! This is a collab between myself and @kittyfluffies on Tumblr, whom I may have accidentally dragged into the Wild Kratts fandom with me… oops.

Well, let’s see how this goes! Real quick, this fic takes place shortly after the events of the episode “The Other Martins”!

P.S. Interpret this as Krattcest and I’ll get the sniper rifle. That shit is DISGUSTING.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today was a horrible day to be Chris Kratt.

Everything that could go wrong today did go wrong, except for the appearance of one or more of the villains. But would that have been any worse than falling into a pile of rotten apples, nearly being dive bombed by a Purple Martin (multiple times in fact), finding an American Pine Marten, having an American Red Squirrel steal your Creature Power Suit, getting tickled by said squirrel and your brother at the same time, and falling into a body of water, in that order, all on the same day? All while your brother teases you relentlessly the whole time? Chris would argue that this is worse than anything the villains could throw at him and the rest of the Tortuga crew.

He tried to combat his bad luck by calling it a day early to try and think of animals that shared his name, but there was one problem with this plan: he can’t think of a single animal that has “Chris” in its name. Not a single one.

“Come on, there’s gotta be one animal out there with the name Chris that isn’t me…! There has to be…!” he thought as he laid in a bed in the basement of the Tortuga. He had intended to lie in one of the hammocks that was in the central room of the ship, but remembered that none of those were his. They belonged, from top to bottom, to Aviva, Koki, and Jimmy Z, and as much as he would have liked to be in a hammock right now, he didn’t want to risk being scolded for taking a hammock that wasn’t his. That, and he was already feeling irritated by the events of the day and didn’t want to be angered any further, so he chose to isolate himself to try and calm down.

This worked for some time, but eventually, the peace was disturbed by the appearance of someone else.

The moment he heard those footsteps, he knew who it was. And he groaned.

“Oh no…” He should have known that there was no way he would be able to go the rest of the day without seeing the one who was responsible for half of the troubles he faced today, and yet somehow, he thought he would be left alone.

The door to the basement opened, and in came the reason he was even lying here in the first place: his older, mischievous, and sometimes annoying brother, Martin Kratt.

“Hey bro!” he greeted before noticing the look on Chris’s face. He’s seen him direct that face at the villains and sometimes him a couple of times, but something about that expression in this moment seemed… off.

“What? Aren’t you happy to see me?”

“After everything you put me through today? No, absolutely not.”

That upsetted Martin a little bit, but he did understand why he’d feel that way. It didn’t stop him from teasing him a little bit more, however.

“Awww, come on, Chris! You got to see animals that share a name with your bro! Does that not make you happy? Not even a little bit?” he teased, putting his hand on his shoulder and leaning towards his face.

Chris rolled his eyes at his brother’s actions, “Remember when I said that purple martins didn’t annoy me anymore, but this one-” Chris put a finger on Martin’s chest, “-not so much? I meant it.”

“Awww, you’re no fun, bro. I was just messing with you! I wanted you to enjoy The Day of the Martins!”

“Your teasing didn’t help me get my Creature Power Suit back from that red squirrel.”

“But I still got it back!”

Chris sighed and poked his brother again, “You don’t get it, do you?” He was about to lecture his older brother before he heard what sounded like a mix of a giggle and a squeak, “You’re still laughing at my luck, aren’t you?”

“N-no, just watch where you’re poking me!” Martin explained, grabbing Chris’s wrist and pulling it away from him. Chris looked down to see where he had poked him, thinking he had poked him in the chest again, only to realize that he had accidentally poked his brother in the stomach.

Suddenly, he got an idea. An idea on how he could get back at his brother for his merciless teasing.

If he couldn’t think of any animals with Chris in their name, then he’ll have to invent one. One that can give him the power to take revenge on his brother.

“...Chris?” Martin’s concerned voice pulled him out of his thoughts, “You alright?”

A malicious grin formed on Chris’s face, “Chris isn’t here right now.”

Martin raised a brow at his younger brother’s statement, “Huh? What are you talking about, bro? You’re right here! What do you mean you aren’t-”

“Chris. Isn’t. Here. Right now.” The green brother grabbed Martin by his wrists and swiftly pinned him down onto the bed. “Only his alter-ego~”

Upon hearing that teasy tone in his voice, Martin immediately knew what was about to happen. “C-Chris? Can we talk about this…?!”

Chris let out a sinister-sounding chuckle, “I already told you, Chris isn’t here~ Only…” he brought his hands into Martin’s vision and wiggled his fingers.

“W-wait, nohoho! Don’t-!”

“The TICKLE MONSTER!” The younger brother drilled a finger into the other’s armpits, “But right now, you can call me the ‘Other Chris’~”

To Chris’s slight shock, Martin had already burst into a fit of giggles with a few laughs mixed in for good measure.

“Nohohohoho, Chrihihihihs! W-We can tahahahalk about thihihis!”

“Laughing already? And from a single finger in the armpits, no less~? This will be easy~”

The blue brother was already squirming under the ticklish touch, trying and failing to throw Chris off of him.

“Trying to throw me off, are we~? I think that warrants a punishment, wouldn’t you agree~?” Chris ignored the unintentional rhyme and snuck a second wiggling finger into Martin’s armpits, causing his giggles to rise in volume and his squirming to become a little more violent.

“C-Chrihihis nohohohoho! That t-tihihihihihickles!” Martin cried out, his arms coming down in an attempt to protect his armpits, but unfortunately for him, that only served to trap his brother’s fingers in there.

“I told you, I’m not Chris! I am the Other Chris!” The “Other Chris” protested as he broke through the blue Kratt’s defenses to slip a third finger under his arms.

“Chrihihihihis, I knohohohow you’re in thehehehehre!”

“Nope, Chris is nowhere to be found right now, but I promise, he’ll come back once I give him what he wants~”

“Whahahahahahat? What d-dohohohoes he wahahahant?”

Chris gave him the most evil smirk he could muster. “Revenge~” With that, he skipped the fourth step and slipped the last two fingers under Martin’s arms. With all ten fingers tickling him, Martin went from squirming to thrashing uncontrollably, nearly throwing Chris off of him a few times. He’d also started kicking his legs, desperately trying to distract himself from the tingly sensation under his arms.

“NOHOHOHOHO, BROHOHOHOHOHO! C-CUT IT OHOHOHOHOUT!” Martin seemed to nearly scream out as he kept kicking and thrashing for a few more seconds, only stopping when he felt a hand on his ankle.

“Are you trying to kick me~? How rude~!” Chris teased. He was about to stick a hand back under his brother’s arm before he was hit with another idea. Martin, who had squeezed his eyes shut during his laughing fit, opened them and giggled in anticipation. “C-Chrihihihihs?”

The evil grin his brother had on his face nearly made him burst into laughter again.

“You know, Martin… I’m pretty sure it’s not a good idea to kick another person, and yet you tried to kick me anyway. I think it’s time for me to switch spots and teach you another lesson~” 

“Whahahahat?” Martin questioned through his giggles before he felt his shoelaces coming undone. “Whahahaha- hehehehehey! Don’t remove my shoes, plehehehehehese! Chrihihihihis!”

“It’s too late to beg for mercy now, Martin~” Chris slowly pulled both shoes off before slipping a finger into the blue brother’s socks.

“Nononononono dohohohohohon’t! Dohohohon’t do ihihihihit!”

“Do what~?” Chris asked him, pulling one sock off of his foot, “Take your shoes and socks off? Well too bad, I will not stop until you apologize to me… and to Chris~”

“But yohohohou are Chrihihih- NOHOHOHOHOHOHO!” Martin burst into laughter upon feeling a hand on his bare left foot.

“Laughing already~? This will be easy~” With that, Chris dug in, scribbling his fingers all over the other’s feet. Martin absolutely lost it in response.

“NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO, CHRIHIHIHIHIHIHIS! S-STAHAHAHAHAHP!”

“Begging for mercy again are we~? I don’t remember you giving Chris mercy when he told you to stop, so why should I~?” Chris ribbed, leaning in closer to Martin’s face in an attempt to make the teasing worse for his older brother. Needless to say, it worked like a charm.

“PLEAHAHAHAHAHAHASE STAHAHAHAHAHAP TEHEHEHEASING MEHEHEHE!”

“And why should I do that~?” the younger brother asked, focusing the tickling on Martin’s arches, a spot he knew was unbearably sensitive to any kind of touch, “Does it tickle more when I tease you~? Does it make you lose all of your strength so you can’t fight back~? Tell me, Martin, does teasing make you weak to tickles~? Even more so than you already are~?” 

Martin’s only response was to throw his head back in uncontrollable laughter before immediately rushing to cover his face with a pillow to muffle himself.

“That was not a response, but I’ll take it anyway~” Chris reacted with a giggle, far too amused by how much his brother was laughing.  “Besides, now that you’re covering your face, you won’t be able to see what I’m doing~”

To prove his point, the younger Kratt suddenly switched from scribbling Martin’s arches to scratching under his toes. Just as he predicted, Martin’s laughter increased in both pitch and volume, though it was muffled a little by the pillow.

“CRIHIHIHIHS NOHOHO-MMMPH!” The older Kratt had lifted the pillow a little to plead for Chris to have mercy on him, but he had to cut himself off by pulling the pillow back over his face because he was afraid his laughter would alert someone upstairs.

“You brought this on yourself, Martin~ All you had to do was get Chris’s vest back without tickling him, but nope, you couldn’t resist~”

Chris looked down to return his focus to Martin’s feet when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a bright green disc in one of Martin’s shoes. For the third time that day, he was hit with an evil idea. He slowed the tickling under Martin’s toes to a stop and waited for him to catch his breath.

“Hey Martin~”

“A-are you fihihihinally going to have mercy on mehehehe…?” Martin let out his after-giggles and slowly lifted the pillow off of his face. Chris grinned a little at seeing the bright pink blush on his brother’s face, a clear indication that this was a job well done so far. He nearly laughed when he saw his eyes widen in horror.

“T-that’s…!”

Chris let out the most malicious laugh he could muster. “The Pine Marten Power Disc~” He then leaned in towards Martin again. “I think you know what I’m going to do with this, but first, I need to find a pine marten~”

The other Martin tried to snatch the Power Disc out of his brother’s hands, but Chris just dodged each attempt effortlessly.

“Now… how am I going to keep you from escaping…?” Chris pondered, realizing that he had not considered the possibility of using an animal’s Creature Powers to tickle Martin. At that moment, both brothers heard the door to the basement open.

“What’s going on down here? I thought I heard someone laughing…” Aviva walked into the room and spotted the brothers. Martin’s blush deepened into a dark shade of red while Chris’s face turned a bright pink, just like his brother’s face was a few seconds ago. The blush quickly faded from the green brother’s face when he realized that the answer to his question had just caught them in the act.

“Aviva, keep him pinned down for me, will you?”

“Huh…?” Aviva was very confused, but upon seeing the tears of mirth in the corners of Martin’s eyes combined with the blush and residual giggles, she quickly caught on to what was going on, “Ohhh, I see~ Sure thing, Chris~”

“I’m not Chris, I’m the Other Chris!”

Aviva couldn’t help but roll her eyes at that, “Whatever you say, ‘Other Chris’~”

Chris elected to ignore the sudden embarrassment that welled up within him upon hearing Aviva’s teasing words and walked out of the basement to go find his “partner” in crime. As soon as he left, Aviva turned to face the flustered mess of a Kratt brother on the bed.

“Hehehehey Avivahahaha…!”

She couldn’t help but giggle at him, “Chris got you good, didn’t he~?”

“Yeahahaha, and he’s not even dohohohne yet!” Martin answered as the remaining after giggles slowly subsided. “You’ll get me out of here, rihihight…?”

“Hmm…” The inventor pretended to ponder his question before she pinned him down, just as Chris asked her to, “Nope~ Don’t want to get on Chris’s- sorry, ‘Other Chris’s’- bad side~”

Martin’s giggles quickly returned as he realized there was no hope of escape, “Nohohohoho! I mehehehehehean, I geheheht it, but nohohohoho!”

“No what, Martin~? Do you want me to get on your brother’s bad side~? On ‘Other Chris’s’ bad side~? After everything he did to you~?” Aviva smirked at the blue Kratt’s sudden laughing fit, “No way~! If you can’t handle his tickle skills, how do you expect me to handle them~?”

Before Martin could respond (if he would’ve been able to answer at all given how hard he was laughing), both he and Aviva heard the sound of a Creature Power Suit being activated upstairs, followed by the sound of quiet footsteps approaching the door to the basement.

Aviva couldn’t help but let out an evil chuckle as she saw her pinned victim’s eyes widen in horror, “Looks like your time is running out, Martin~”

“NOHOHOHOHO!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The whole time Aviva was teasing his brother, Chris had entered the main room of the Tortuga to find a pine marten. As soon as the door opened and he stepped inside, he finally allowed himself to break character.

“Phew… keeping up a fake persona is tiring… but oh is it worth it~” Chris thought to himself, “Let’s see… is there a pine marten in here…?”

Chris looked around the room and noticed that two certain crew members were nowhere to be found. “Koki and Jimmy aren’t here…? That’s a little odd…”

Before he could further question their whereabouts, his eyes landed on a pine marten that was sitting in Aviva’s desk chair. Chris grinned, “But right now, I need the help of my ‘partner’ in crime~”

He made sure to carefully approach the pine marten so as not to scare it away before he put on his Creature Power Suit and took Martin’s Pine Marten Power Disc out of his left pocket.

“Hey there! Li’l Marty, was it?” Chris asked the little creature as it turned to look at him, “Well I’ll need your help to get revenge on Big Marty~”

He put his gloves on. He was finally ready to enact the last part of his plan.

“Insert Pine Marten Power Disc!”

He put one gloved finger on the pine marten.

“Touch pine marten!”

He pressed the central button on his vest, and…

“Activate pine marten powers!"

The suit activated, and within seconds, he had become a pine marten.

“Haha, I finally got the chance to use pine marten powers! But I’ll have to test out the pine marten’s hunting tricks some other time. I have a more important prey to devour downstairs~”

Chris ran out the door and down the steps to the basement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He made it to the bottom of the stairs, but waited a moment before entering the basement to listen to the pure terror that found its way into Martin’s laughter.

“Did he hear me activate my Creature Power Suit?” Chris wondered before smirking, “Good.”

He finally entered the room to see Aviva holding down a hysterical Martin, but while they did hear the sound of the door opening and looked to see if he was there, they failed to look down towards the floor, where he actually was.

“Look down here~”

Aviva looked down and giggled upon both seeing him and hearing Martin shriek out a “AVIHIHIHIVA, LET ME GOHOHOHOHO!” She just ignored him and greeted Chris.

“There you are Ch- Other Chris!” she corrected herself.

“You see what my plan is now, Aviva~?”

“Sure do~ Want me to stay here, or do you want me to leave you to it?”

Chris tried to think about his response, but couldn’t hear his own thoughts over the sound of his brother’s uncontrollable laughter. Out of playful spite, he decided, “Leave him to me~”

Aviva nodded, “Okay then~ Sorry Martin, but it looks like you’ll be stuck with him for a bit longer~ See you later… if you’re still alive that is~” She released said Kratt from her grasp before walking out of the door and heading back upstairs. The whole time she was walking away, Martin was pleading for her to reconsider and help him escape, but it was futile. She and Chris had already made their decisions.

Martin’s laughter had subsided a little after the inventor left, but he still had a hard time controlling himself, especially when he looked at his younger brother sitting on the floor. Watching. Waiting there. Menacingly.

“C-Chrihihihihihs? Hellohohohoho?”

Chris leered at him, “Are you ready for the grand finale, Martin~?”

“Nohohohohoho, nohohot at ahahahahahahall!”

“Well too bad~”

The green pine marten ran over to one of the legs near the foot of the bed, climbed up it, and ran across Martin’s body to get to his neck. The whole time he ran across his brother’s torso and ribs, he dragged his tail behind him, intentionally tickling him and sending him into another fit of laughter.

“H-hehehehehehey, wahahahahahatch the taihihihihihil!”

“What do you mean? I was watching my tail!” Chris snuck up to Martin’s ear before he spoke again, “I was watching it tickle you~”

He could feel Martin shiver as he brought his now-free hands up to his ears to cover them up. Unfortunately for him, the ears were the last spot his brother had in mind.

While his hands were up and covering his ears, Chris made his way to his neck and stood dangerously close to the collar of his shirt.

He could practically feel the heat radiating off his brother’s skin as he took note of the blush that had managed to spread from Martin’s face to his neck. He saw the tips of his ears through his fingers and noticed that they even had a tinge of red on them. He didn’t know his older brother could get this flustered!

“You ready~?” He asked teasingly, knowing full well what Martin’s answer was going to be.

“N-nohohohoho! Chrihihihis, d-dohohohon’t do ihihit!”

Chris couldn’t help the smug grin that made its way onto his face, though he didn’t turn to show it to his brother, “Too bad~ Here we go~!”

He stuck his head into the collar of Martin’s shirt, slowly inching his way in. He was only a few inches in when he suddenly pulled himself out and began sniffing at the blue Kratt’s neck. Martin was in no way prepared for this sudden change and nearly let out a squeal as he desperately tried to move his head from side to side to get his brother’s face away from his neck.

“H-hehehehehehey, don’t sniff my nehehehehck!” I-I dohohohon’t smehehehell!”

“That’s not what I’m going for, Martin~ I’m just here to make you laugh, and unless you apologize for what you did to Chris today…” Chris moved down to where Martin’s blush ended on his neck and went right back to sniffing, “You better prepare yourself~”

“I-I cahahahahahahn’t!”

“You can’t apologize? And here I thought you knew basic manners~”

The green pine marten stayed at Martin’s neck for a few more seconds before the sniffing came to an end. However, while his brother had his guard down, Chris quickly zipped into his shirt and ran across his stomach over and over again.

Martin’s only response to the sneak attack was a squeal so loud that it nearly stunned Chris. While he knew that the walls of the Tortuga are rather thick, he highly doubted that Aviva, Koki, and Jimmy were unable to hear that squeal, even if they were outside of the ship.

“CHRIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIS, NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO! I-I CAN’T- AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

“Huh? What was that, Martin~? I can’t understand you, you’re laughing too hard~” Chris taunted as he kept up the pace and continued to race around on his brother’s torso. He dragged his tail behind him once again, swishing it back and forth to make it tickle even more, and even stopped running a few times to pretend to use it like a paintbrush on Martin’s navel, which nearly resulted in him getting pushed out of his shirt by his hands. It didn’t take long for Chris to notice that Martin’s squirming and pushing was gradually fading, a tell-tale sign that he was nearly at his limit.

“Ready to say sorry yet~?”

“Y-YEHEHEHEHES! YEHEHEHEHEEHS! I’M SOHOHOHOHOHORY! CHRIHIHIHIHIS, PLEAHAHAHAHAHAHASE!”

The moment Martin said sorry, Chris brought the tickles to a halt and carefully climbed out of his sibling’s shirt, doing his best to not make any of his steps tickle him any further.

“Now that wasn’t so hard, was it~?” Chris teased him one last time before he hopped off of him and onto the floor, waiting for his giggly mess of a brother to catch his breath and calm down.

“T-thahahahaht… that wahahahahs evihihihihil…!”

“Good~ That’s what I was going for~ So next time, when you try to bully your brother for an entire day, remember… I will be here to tickle you until you apologize to him for your behavior~” With that, Chris stood up, said, “Deactivate!” and reverted back to his normal appearance and personality.

“You okay, bro?” he asked and held out his hand, worried that he might have taken his tickly punishment a bit too far.

“Y-yeah…” Martin breathed out, taking his younger brother’s hand and letting himself be pulled up into a sitting position. “Just give me a few more seconds to breathe…”

After two deep breaths, he got up off of the bed and stood next to his brother, “Do you think the crew heard me squeal…?”

“Only one way to find out! Come on, let’s see if they’re upstairs!”

A light pink blush returned to Martin’s face, but nonetheless, he went upstairs with Chris into the main room of the Tortuga. When the door opened, they were greeted with the sight of Aviva waiting in front of the big computer, while Koki and Jimmy were at their desks, having turned to face the brothers.

“So…” Aviva started with a smirk, “Who’s going to explain that loud squeal we heard downstairs~?”

Martin’s blush turned a dark red, while Chris just stood there, trying to look as though he had no idea what she was talking about.

“I’m not an expert on human noises, but I don’t think that squeal belonged to any of us.”

“Certainly didn’t come from me! I’d know my own squeals anywhere!” Jimmy responded to Koki’s comment, completely unaware of the engineer creeping up behind him until he heard a, “Boo!”

“AAAAAAH!” Jimmy didn’t squeal, but he did indeed scream and bolted behind Koki and her chair. Everyone couldn’t help but laugh at his panicked reaction.

“Hehehe, I think that’s enough to prove that it wasn’t him~” She then turned her attention back to the brothers, “Sooooooo~?”

The light pink blush Martin had the entire time turned a dark red again as his embarrassment grew, and even Chris couldn’t fight the faint pink blush on his cheeks as he tried his best to play it cool and pretend that he didn’t understand her.

No one said anything for a few seconds, then the blue Kratt finally spoke up, “I-It was me… and I’ve got to admit, Chris is a surprisingly good tickler if he got me to squeal that loud!” Martin quickly regained his usual energy and peered at his brother, who just looked at him with a confused expression.

“Huh? What are you talking about, bro? I didn’t tickle you!”

Martin gave him a “you’re really doing this?” look and decided to play along, “No, that was totally you, Chris, I swear!”

“No way! I’m not as good at tickling people as you are!”

“I think I remember hearing your voice teasing me into oblivion! I’d know your voice anywhere, bro!”

“I’m not good at teasing, either! Martin, I swear, you’re confusing me with someone else!”

For a moment, Koki and Jimmy thought that they were having a genuine argument over a supposed tickle attack, but when Aviva gave them a knowing grin, they immediately caught on to what was really happening.

“Nope, that was totally you! And you know what~?” Martin’s voice turned teasy out of nowhere as he brought his hands up into Chris’s view, wiggling his fingers, “I was lying when I said I was sorry~”

“Huh? Wha-” The younger brother was initially confused before spotting the wiggly fingers that were slowing approaching him, “W-wait, Martin noooOOOOHOHOHOHO DOHHOHOHOHON’T!” He immediately cracked when he felt his older brother’s fingers on his sides, ribs, and belly. It didn’t take for him to try to fall to the floor to escape the ticklish hell that was unleashed upon him, but unfortunately, Martin had followed him down, never stopping his assault.

“Haha, revenge sure is sweet!” Martin cheered, “Okay, I was sort of lying when I said I wasn’t sorry, I did feel bad for you, but right now, I care more about getting my revenge~”

Chris could only laugh and try to curl up as he felt Martin’s hand close in on the center of his stomach, but he managed to trap his hands there instead, sealing his tickly fate.

Aviva, Koki, and Jimmy couldn’t help but laugh along as they watched the chaos unfold in front of them.

“Hehe, these boys will never change, will they~?”

[darisu-chan]

I was using my personal Twitter (or I guess X now) account that has nothing about B//leach on it, and I still saw tweets calling us IRs toxic and the worst part of the fandom, and I just remembered the terrible messages I got for years just for liking IR

The reason why I saw it was someone else saying that they still didn’t animate R//enji in that scene where R//ukia thinks about other people but him, which I found it weird back then myself how she never really gave all that much thought to him, and seemed annoyed by him. I know many IRs hate him, but as someone who was back then a huge R//enji fan I still found it weird how one sided a lot of that relationship seemed. That’s why I stopped shipping them. I shipped R//enruki before I even shipped IR, but I have no proof bc I wasn’t in B//leach spaces when I first read the manga, if anyone wonders.

It’s still weird to me how I just can’t enjoy my ship in peace without seeing something online about the fans/my ship outside of Tumblr or even my fan account on Twitter (which I no longer use for this reason)

Like I just see all these amazing people I’ve met in my years in the fandom painted as the bad guy, even when they were there for me during some of my worst moments or even recently to just say “I’m so sorry for your loss” after a post I made, and I just feel powerless. And I know now in anime history we’re gonna be remembered as shitty people and not as some of the most creative people I know, and honestly we put more thought in our analysis than K//ubo himself probably did, all because of a ship.

I rue the day when the ships became canon instead of simply, everyone just staying friends and not having time skips that added nothing to the story except some weird analogy with the first chapter, that made 0 sense as an allusion bc the kids don’t even look that much like the parent they’re supposedly alluding too, and then the story never continued

I tried to be happy for finally seeing Kia’s bankai animated but I’m just sad that I can’t escape the hellhole that is B//leach

I adored most of the characters and the story and it got me through tough times as a teen/young adult, but after everything, yeah, I’m not ashamed to say I care for about 4 or 5 characters and their interactions and I don’t want to even watch the anime ever again or have got to do anything with other work by K//ubo. The fandom just makes me sad. Not even mad. Just sad. Like I wasted 8 years of my life liking something I can now only relate to the people who hurt rewriting history and coming of as victims

Idk if some of you have seen those tweets and I’m gonna assume tiktoks, but if you guys are just as tired as I am, I’m here for you

[dbgdbw]

530.Party In Progress (3)

파티 중 (3)

‘Aigo, I’m dying….’

As soon as I entered the break room, I collapsed face-first onto the sofa. Approaching me, Gyeolie and Peace asked me if I was okay. Of course, in Peace’s case, it was him going ‘ki-yang.’ Responding with an affirmative, I dragged over a cushion to wedge under my head, and settled into a comfortable laying-down position. 

‘...definitely took some of the wind out of my sails.’

Though I’d done what I could to try and prep in advance, there was very little that I could actually get involved in. While the lawyers on our side had made a conscientious effort to explain things to me in simple terms during our discussion, that side had, obviously, extended no such courtesy. And on top of that, the corresponding paperwork had only been generated in English, as though it were de facto procedure. Though I had been provided with a translation, when they had zero qualms about barrelling right ahead in English, I’d repeatedly been left scrambling in the dust while looking for the relevant text, having missed my window of opportunity. 

On the other hand, their lawyers were capable of reading Korean without any difficulties. So why couldn’t we just use Korean then! Of course, they would hardly entertain the prospect of giving up an advantage, but.

- Appa, are you very tired?

- 끼앙.

“No, it’s just that… It really is a whole ‘nother ball game when it comes to expertise on a subject matter, huh.”

The baseline itself was a different animal altogether. Though team lead Kim-nim had mentioned at the beginning that this was why you have a lawyer on retainer, to handle these types of things, and that there’s no need for Director Han-nim to be overly concerned about the proceedings. Well, they were the experts for a reason. Even those experts would probably feel out of their depths like I was, if it was outside of their respective wheelhouses.

Even so, I wondered if it would be better for me to pick up English. On second thought, relying on Myungwoo and the Newcomer was probably the more efficient route……. Why didn’t people just speak a universal language. In this era of globalization, we should be able to dialogue together. In Korean.

- Feels like a fever, maybe.

The fairy dragon said, pressing a tiny hand against my forehead.

“Probably ‘cause I’ve been preoccupied by a few things. It’s alright.”

How many hours on end had I been trapped there, anyway. It had started in the morning, and it was nearly dinnertime, now. Nor had matters been squared away; it really was ludicrous. This was why it was called ‘an endurance contest’, I supposed. Once lunch had ticked over and things had bled over into the afternoon, the accumulated fatigue had meant that my brain couldn’t even function properly anymore. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have opted to send me away earlier. ‘We’ll finish up for now, then, and resume tomorrow’… Though, it probably had been about time to wrap things up.

Honestly, wasn’t it insane. How many pages upon pages of red tape were they planning on generating, when the source material itself could be summed up so briefly. It seemed that they were hell-bent on producing a several-thousand word count book from what amounted to a single sheet of paperwork. Scary, lawyers were really scary. A type of scary that even a fear-resistance attribute couldn’t work against.

Gyeolie, who had been looking me over, picked up a phone that had been laying on the table. Seeing him appearing to covet the phone that belonged to Peace, I’d prepared a phone for Gyeolie, too. It was a flip phone, to make it easy to use even in his fairy dragon form. With the phone half-opened to support itself on top of the table, he began fiddling with it with a surprising ease.

- That bad guy is supposed to be released today, I saw.

“I’d mentioned no internet-surfing allowed, hadn’t I.”

- I only saw it because it was a headline, appa.

Even if I’d given him the phone, should I have blocked off the internet access on it first. Since, unlike Peace, Gyeolie could read Korean. Fishing out my phone, too, I skimmed over the files I’d received, that I had sorted away for later. There was heavy discourse regarding the matter of compensation, as well as the numerous added conditions. 

‘Direct requests of sacrifice from participants will not be permitted.’

This, too, was a new motion that had been introduced. It had been either Sung Hyunjae or Noah-ssi who had brought up the topic. It meant that, for example, the creation of a scenario where being unable to proceed unless one of the participants was dead would be prohibited. It was a measure designed to protect the physically weaker party members who would be at a disadvantage in such a situation, e.g. an F-rank–namely, myself. And there was another thing.

‘Participants may not be conferred disadvantages based on majority vote.’

Another addendum that had been introduced for my benefit. Though I may have had a few allies in the other contestants, when it came to the potential of an audience vote, well. Just imagining it was enough to make my eyes water.

‘It was a good decision to let them handle it instead, after all.’

With the slightest misstep, we might’ve ended up reduced to tatters before the first half was even concluded. And despite having labored as industriously as we had to expose and counter these hostile conditions, we couldn’t afford to let our guards down yet, still. Savvy individuals who possessed a deft hand at exploiting the loopholes in regulations kept popping up, and being on the offensive was infinitely easier than being the one rebuffing those attempts. 

Just then, the door opened, and Sung Hyunjae stepped inside. His hair neatly slicked back, wearing glasses, and dressed in a far more sedate suit than his typical garbs–rather than a guild leader, he resembled someone who worked in the legal field. Specializing in corporate law, particularly. Setting the right tone was important, when it came to something like this, was what he’d said, or something. Of course, it would have been far more convenient to simply force them to cave via the pressure exerted by an S-rank’s aura, but that method was obviously a no-go. 

“Looks totally like a, whatd’you call it.”

- A total dweeb.

Gyeolie sneered, sniggering. And just where had you picked up a word like that, huh.

“Your coloring has yet to recover, I see.”

As Sung Hyunjae began to approach, Gyeolie snapped his phone shut and flung himself in Sung Hyunjae’s path, as though to protect me. Peace, who had been lying at the foot of the sofa, lifted his head as well.

- Peace-yah, bite him!

- 그르릉.

Peace regarded Sung Hyunjae with a look of displeasure, but made no move to bite him.

“As things presently stand, it will likely prove beneficial for you to partake in this.”

Saying so, Sung Hyunjae held out the box he’d been carrying towards me. He wouldn’t have been able to leave and come back in that short span of time, so had he ordered some underling to pick it up for him, then. Placating Gyeolie as he pitched a fit, I opened up the box. An assortment of macarons in various colors had been delicately stacked inside.

“Here, Gyeol-ah.”

- Gyeolie can’t be won over by this kind of cheap ploy. Though I’ll eat it still, ‘cause it’s from appa.

Responding tartly, Gyeolie took the mint colored macaron handed to him. Sweets work a treat to take the edge off of fatigue, no, Sung Hyunjae said, taking a seat while pulling off his glasses. Like Noah-ssi, rather than being an indicator of poor eyesight, the glasses he wore were a preventative measure for their advanced sight. Since his vision wasn’t as sharp as Noah-ssi’s, he typically forgoed their use; but because today, we’d be spending all day pouring over an endless flow of words, well.

Owing to that, not only Noah-ssi and Sung Hyunjae, but Section Chief Song-nim and Hyuna-ssi had all ended up modeling glasses. Even if they weren’t a necessary measure, it was still more comfortable than going without, or something. Yoohyunie seemed to own a pair as well, and it occurred to me that I should probably pick out a set for Yerimie, too. Once she hit her third year of high school(1), wouldn’t Yerimie become deeply entrenched in her studies. Though there was a chance she’d decide to opt out, I supposed.

“I had hoped to petition for indirect sacrifices to be barred as well, in addition to the direct demands for sacrifice, in truth.”

“It stands to reason that it would broaden the parameters beyond an acceptable threshold in that case though, sir. Then, even in a situation as innocuous as presenting two biscuits to two individuals, it could be argued that they had been coerced into a situation where one of them had been indirectly forced to make a sacrifice by proxy–something like that.” 

“As, ordinarily, both persons would simply take one each to resolve the matter, but you–Han Yoojin, lad–would not.”

“I do plan to make use of them as well, sir.”

“And if the biscuit in question were capable of raising one’s stats, and it so happened that either the young master or the little lady were by your side?”

“That’s, well… One of them eating it instead would result in better long-term returns, objectively speaking.”

That was the truth, wasn’t it. Rather than a shortsight attempt at raising my own measly stats to E-rank or D-rank, it would be far more constructive to be able to boost Yoohyunie or Yerimie to SS-rank instead. Sung Hyunjae looked at me with a ‘see, what did I say’ sort of expression. The fuck, it really was the most logical route of action, though.

“Particularly with that sort of mark branding your throat, mind.”

Reflexively, I touched my neck. I’d left the vibrant bruising there in full view, as though openly inviting Chatterbox’s delegates to drink in their fill. Since it was evidence of the damage I’d suffered, as a result of Chatterbox’s actions.

“...I’ve already gotten an earful from the others on the matter, sir, thank you very much.”

“But even then, lad–you’ll simply repeat the same pattern when confronted with the same scenario, I imagine.”

“Truth be told, though, it really was a golden opportunity–isn’t that right, sir. And it was nothing dangerous, at that.”

- …appa, don’t force me to side with that thing.

Gyeolie groused, face screwed up in a petulant look; and, skin-crawlingly enough, Sung Hyunjae gave a most benevolent smile. 

“Sung-Han–”

- AAAAAAAAAHH! ACK! ACK! ACK!

Gyeolie flung the remaining half of the macaron at Sung Hyunjae at full force. Easily catching the offending macaron, Sung Hyunjae simply held it back out to Gyeolie in a seemingly kindly way. Squawking angrily, the fairy dragon made a beeline towards the far side of my shoulder, away from Sung Hyunjae.

“I believe I’d asked that you refrain from antagonizing him, sir.”

“Simply a display of my charitability, wouldn’t you say. In fact–I’ve acquiesced to accept but a measly return on its inclusion, no. As part of my team.”

I could hear the faint sound of Gyeolie’s pained whinging. Good grief.

“I’ve yet to give my assent to it as his guardian, sir. Gyeolie doesn’t have to be involved, alright?”

Though Chatterbox wasn’t part of the Benign King’s faction, you never knew. He might end up becoming more curious about the fairy dragon’s unique existence. And on top of that, Gyeolie’d had a hand in the Benign King’s death as well… Had it been up to me, I absolutely would’ve ordered him to stay away from this, but Gyeolie could be stubborn as anything. He’d mentioned that me being forced to go by myself, was even more reason for him to follow along.

At first, he’d insisted that he could pretend to be a pet dragon, rather than a party member, in order to be allowed to accompany me. Though it wouldn’t have been possible anyway, on account of the invitation counting each dragonkin as an ‘individual’ as well.

“Director Han-nim, you doing alright?”

As the door swung open again, Moon Hyuna, then Song Taewon stepped into the break room as well.

“And Noah-ssi, ma’am?”

“He’s seeing Chatterbox’s envoys off. Volunteered for the role, saying it’d be better off to have him do it, than making Section Chief Song-nim.”

During the proceedings, Noah-ssi had displayed a diplomatic side that was leaps and bounds beyond my expectations, all considered. The French Hunter world displayed similarities to the Anglo-American one, after all; and in his capacity as the Vice Guild Leader to Liette, he’d been exposed to a vast amount of literature regarding legal proceedings, apparently. Practically speaking, he probably stood on par with Sung Hyunjae when it came to Korean(2) Hunters who could parley on even ground with the Hunters from that side. 

Liette, well… Likely hadn’t seen a point in resolving matters with litigation, probably. Which meant that Noah-ssi was likely to have been burdened all the more, as a result.

“And what’s Sung Hyunjae gone and said now, to get our little dragon all puffed up like this.”

“I was in the midst of proposing to Director Han Yoojin-nim, you see.”

“Hyung-nim, someone who sees fit to pursue a person not even in the ballpark of their own zodiac cycle, is low-life scum.”(3)

Wearing a smile, Moon Hyuna took a seat next to me. 

“He's barking mad, clearly. Though I am thirty, that matter aside.”

“That so? What d’you think about a younger partner, in that case?”

What was with the abrupt–, …then, my eyes locked with Hyuna-ssi’s. A smile still playing on her lips, her eyes slowly scanned down my person. ‘A younger partner’–that was to say–since I’d just mentioned being thirty, what she meant was……. Suddenly, it felt like the back of my neck had been set ablaze.

“Ah, c’mon, sir–I’ve said that you shouldn’t tease me like this, haven’t I.”

“Don’t like it, then?”

“I’m not opposed, but… At any rate. Ah, honestly.”

I got that it was just joking around, but it was still bad for my heart. When Hyuna-ssi was looking at me with that face, wearing that sort of expression, and talking about younger partners……..

“That’s right–Section Chief Song-nim seemed incredibly adept at navigating foreign Hunter laws as well. I was slightly taken aback.”

“...there had been a precedent set that necessitated familiarity with the subject matter.”

Song Taewon spoke, a sigh mingling with his words. Ah, so it had been because of Sung Hyunjae. As Sung Hyunjae made a quip about Section Chief Song-nim certainly being particularly adroit, playing the ‘I’m completely oblivious’ card, Moon Hyuna guffawed.

“Section Chief Song-nim definitely ended up taking the brunt of it, when Sung Hyunjae first began stirring up trouble overseas. There was even an instance when I gave them a lift on my private plane, in fact.”

“You had, Hyuna-ssi?”

“I’d needed to tend to a matter, and our paths happened to coincide along the way, y’see. And in the face of an incident caused by Sung Hyunjae, what could a poor government worker or Hunter Association staff member possibly hope to do to mitigate things, especially if they’re not an S-rank. So it all fell to Section Chief Song-nim, when it was all said and done. He used to be real adorable, back then. It might’ve only been for a brief period, but there was a time where even he used to wear the dazed expression of a lost child, too, would you believe?”

My apologies to Section Chief Song-nim, but I kind of wanted to be an audience to it, too. The first time Section Chief Song-nim had had to venture overseas on account of Sung Hyunjae–it must’ve been an incredibly disorienting time, being forced to meander like that.

“Hyuna-ssi, your English skills seemed to be outstanding as well.”

As Yoohyunie had ended up having to go on a Dungeon raid he’d been putting off, Yerimie had been projected to accompany me, alongside Noah-ssi. But saying unnie, I’ll conduct the Dungeon raid for you instead!, she had requested Hyuna-ssi look after me as a proxy.

“Despite the current state of my affairs, I’d received a lot of love calls from overseas too, y’know. Pre-Awakening, I mean.”

“...should I be applying myself as well, then, after all.”

“There’s no downside to it, really. And it’s fine to leave it to others for now, but you really should consider university still.”

Moon Hyuna spoke solemnly. 

“Things being what they are, it’s a good idea for you to enroll. Feel free to push it off a while longer if the Party doesn’t pan out well, but barring that–unless you’ll face pushback for going, you should absolutely start attending.”

Saying that I should at least make an effort to begin preparations in spite of the year having nearly drawn to a close, she slung an arm around my shoulders.

“People may not be capable of achieving perfection, but it’s still a good idea to minimize the number of flaws one possesses. If you can whittle ‘em down, then you should reduce ‘em.”

“There’ll be talks of preferential treatment, most likely.”

“That’s all temporary. And besides, Hyung-nim is plenty deserving of preferential treatment, I reckon.”

Well, that’s. Should I actually be considering enrolling for real then, after all. Though there was still a bit of time left before the new year rolled over, it already felt anxiety-inducing. When was the cutoff for university applications, again. The testing season was over, so would it be around the time deposits were due, right now? They said that a lot of places had an open enrollment ongoing, nowadays. Because Yoohyunie had Awakened before hitting his third year of high school, I was murky on the details.

In the meanwhile, Noah-ssi had slipped into the break room as well.

“Noah-ssi, you’ve been working very hard.”

“Ah, it’s no trouble at all. And Yoojin-ssi, you’ve been exerting yourself a fair bit as well.”

Noah-ssi, too, had cleaned up nicely in a business suit. It fit him like a glove, honestly. To be frank, the term ‘nobility’ seemed to apply perfectly in this instance. And even then, he’d been as cutthroat as anything in the midst of actual negotiations. Once again, I felt immensely grateful for Noah-ssi’s involvement with the rearing facility.

But backtracking a bit–if I did come to enroll in university, did that mean Noah-ssi and I would end up becoming year-mates(4)?

“As it has been announced that the parameters for the Party are set to be released in three days’ time, please make certain to have concluded your preparations by then.”

Song Taewon informed all of us. 

“The event location will be announced shortly, tomorrow.” 

We’d received word ahead of time, through a representative. The place where Chatterbox’s party was set to take place was none other than the United States. I’d entertained the possibility, on account of all the threads leading back to that place, but to think it really would be held in the U.S.. 

“Hunter Sung Hyunjae–has Hunter Liette’s participation in this matter been confirmed?”

“Just so. Seeing as an SS-rank bow hangs in the balance, I imagine.”

“Section Chief Song-nim, would you be granted leave for this, sir? The U.S. is quite far, after all.”

“In light of Hunter YoonYoon’s presence, I believe it will be permitted.”

“Ah, that’s true.”

Since, even if it was taking place in the U.S., he could make it back to Korea in the blink of an eye. Then, it seemed YoonYoon would be making an excursion out to the United States, too. He probably hadn’t gone to the U.S. before, right? And it would be my first time there too, of course.

A brief discussion regarding the situation at hand stretched on for a bit longer, before it was decided that we should turn in early for the negotiations that would continue the following day.

And then, three days later, the details of Chatterbox’s Party were finally released.

- - - - -

(1) this would be senior year of hs (~entrance exam period) for her, bc of the way korea’s educational system is laid out: 

(2) yoojin makes it a point to identify noah, kang soyoung, and sung hyunjae as ‘korean Hunters’ re: their legal statuses/citizenship ambiguity (respectively), which is why he deliberately categorizes them as ‘domestic’ Hunters instead of ‘foreign’ whenever the subject comes up

(3) mha once again calling shj out on his questionable conduct, even if he’s being facetious in this instance, by framing it with the zodiac mention to put things in perspective: 

because it mirrors situations frequently created by korean men in positions of power irl:

remember how both moon hyuna and yoojin pointed out shj’s ‘people collector’ hobby as being a distasteful facet of his personality? and shj himself mentioning how his attention wandered towards yoojin in the first place because of a prior interest in yoohyunie, until yh didn’t give him the reaction he wanted–which then evolved into inserting himself with yj for leverage instead, after finding out his connection to yh/yj’s potential usefulness. shj’s intervention turns out to be benevolent for narrative purposes, yes, but it’s a deliberate subversion of expectations because of how contrary it is:

the point i’m making–the author is repeatedly identifying shj’s one-sided ‘forced affection’ towards yoojin to be a negative trait in-verse, as that’s how it’s intended to be perceived by the audience, because a good amount their interactions are largely a portrayal of how power+age differentials get abused in korea’s confucian society, particularly when people (including readers) dismiss yoojin’s genuine discomfort in various scenes. ‘it’s the implication,’ as background social commentary for the intended audience. that's why mha also segues into talking about the importance of yj continuing his education, too.

similar situations come up frequently enough in korea, after all:

+ more on ‘sponsorships’ in footnotes for ch197

(4) footnote on 동기 in ch203

[azulsluver]

Twisted Tales In The Dark

One Who Screams Wolf         Halloween event!

tw. yandere, graphic violence, gore in general, slightly numb reader, guns, reader loses a leg, obsessive behavior, vomit mention.

❥ featuring the two werewolves, Kalim, Jamil.

How much more can you take?

Body slumped over a window, your forehead cold from leaning. Little huffs of breath as your eyes flutter open, the sky illuminating that the sun has begun to set.

Your mind is foggy but quickly clears, groaning during the moment. Drowsy, you sit upwards and hold a hand over your head. Looking at the floor as the bus comes to a stop. Your body moves accordingly on its own, standing up and walking towards the exit.

The bus driver doesn’t glance at you, closing the doors and driving away. Blinking at the sight of a trail down the woods.

Birds land on tree branches and little critters wander in their natural habitat. Your skin feels warm in a good way, take a deep breath and exhale. You stare at the sign hammered down to the ground, a deep red paint written in words.

Hunting Season.

Humming, you continue to walk down the trail. The place is unfamiliar yet heard of, the remembrance of the book becoming clear. The book was all you needed. You want the book.

Let's see what you can remember.

These woods were the homes of many organisms, from big to small. The woods were usually used for hiking but never camping or private properties. A legend had been told that werewolves walked among the very ground, nature’s protectors. Those who disturbed the peace were never seen again, footing into the territory of nature was like walking on eggshells. The story felt justified to you, hunters have entered the area and terrorized the animals. And to be specific, they were after the legends.

You nearly forgot one piece of information!

 Deep in the woods lay an abandoned shop, covered in rugs and natural street lights. It has been said the man who owned the place befriended the werewolves, cleaning day and night to make his shop presentable for visitors. But he disappeared one day. Leaving the shop. Never to be heard again.

Your feet come to a stop by a gunshot ringing in the air. Birds scurry away with their little wings as you stand to look up at the sky. It won’t be long until they meet their demise. As much as you didn’t want to interfere, you’re here for one thing.

The air smells of gunpowder. Covering your nose from the smell, you find yourself near the edge of a lake. Preserving a clear view of the sun. You can see the smoke arising, evaporating so soon. You walk close to the sound of chattering and loud music, moving patches of grass out of your way. Nose scrunched up by the scent of cigarettes and alcohol.

People these days were unruly, and to top it, these men were the exact definition of it. Liters of bottles and empty bullets lay on the ground. Blotches of blood mingle with the ground, causing the soil to blacken.

The men looked up from their conversation at the sight of you, preying their eyes on you like meat. You place a hand over your hips, clearing your throat.

“I saw the sign. The word goes by fast, so I know why you folks are here. I lost my father in these woods, so I came here to warn you all of the stories if you hadn’t heard.” You side-eye a couple of men, their grins and whispers making your skin boil.

A fuzzy man comes up to you, throwing his cigar before stomping it. The fire sizzled out in a wisp.

“How thoughtful of you. Sorry to hear about pops.” A fit of giggles comes from behind him. “But there’s gotta be a reason why a pretty thing like you is really here.” He closes in on you, his breath a few inches from you.

You hold yourself from gagging.

“I’ve been researching these wolves, sir. I have every right to be here just like you. However, I could be of some use if anyone decides to be brash. The woods are dangerous if you haven’t noticed. Surely no one here knows how to get any medical attention?” A silence.

Applause for you coming up with a story in five minutes. You need the advantage to get a key, couldn’t care less for what's in store for them. Luckily for you, they paid no mind to the shimmering sets.

The fuzzy man looks back and forth at his men, their loud arguments ceasing to silence when he lifted his hand.

His eyes meet yours with a glare. Sticking out his hand to you.

You slap your hand on his, a firm shake.

“Deal.”

.

.

.

.

The sun has finally disappeared from view, leaving you to stare solemnly at the campfire. No one has chosen to approach you, rather leer and look. You refused to eat, stomach-churning at the glimpse of dead rabbits. Gutted and skinned, roasted on a stick.

You don’t know the names of these men, too many to count. Your eyes would wander over the fuzzy man, familiar to the mind. You close your eyes, listening to the fire crackle and crickets sing. Peace was almost uncontainable.

“We shouldn’t stay here for very long.” They light up some lanterns, taking out the fire in the process.

You’re offered a single lantern. The heat tickles your skin. You stay with a group of five, each taking a separate route. If you’re correct, they will die one by one. But it will take some time since the story didn’t include them splitting apart. The key is unknown to the best of your ability, wishing it will be easier to find.

You dare not speak, rather, remain behind the group. Scanning the area to see if the night has begun. A scream erupts from the distance, a slight nervousness on their faces. Your eyes squint in the darkness which your lantern couldn’t reach. A low growl comes from behind you.

Whipping your head around, a gunshot shoots past you. A loud whimpering noise and scatter of footsteps fell on deaf ears, clutching your ears from further damage. You're pushed away as the men run after the beast, yelling and leaving you behind.

“I hope they all die.” Grunting, you pick yourself up. Grabbing The half lighten lantern in your hand and dashing towards their direction.

You’re heavily guessing the key must be somewhere deep in the forest, feet pounding as you follow the sound up ahead. More gunshots fire, paralyzing your courage to continue running, in fear you’d get shot. As you were running you felt a ball of fur hit your foot, causing you to fall.

Hissing in pain, you held up your lantern to see the problem. A bunny, stuck in a bear trap. It’s breathing quickly, hiding its face between its paws as it refuses to move from pain; its leg is stuck in the trap. You’d feel awful, so with no other choice, you bend down to hold onto the trap. With all your strength, you pull apart the trap, letting the rabbit have time to do little hops out.

You weren’t quick enough to pull your hands away, the tips of your fingers getting caught. Biting your lip, you pull as your flesh peels from your fingers. Enough force to pull you back, slumped on the floor as your fingers twitch. A small lick awakens you from your hysteria of pain, the rabbit sniffing your cheek.

“Your…welcome.” Huffing for breath, you didn’t notice the golden key in its mouth. Nudging it to your palm as it limps away in the dark.

Just your luck. With shaking hands, you clutch the keys in your palms. Afraid you might lose it. You get up from your spot, pick up your lantern, and look for a route to the shop. How thoughtful of the woods to leave a little map board for hikers, your next destination was the abandoned shop.

Now with more determination, you run down trails and ragged trees. The moon is full and luxuries in the night, ceasing your mind from spiraling to insanity. The dim light of a street lamp hovers over the shop covered in carpets. As old as it looks it’s well-kept.

Someone else made it there before you. The fuzzy man has a shotgun in hand, his neck half bitten. Cold sweat clings to your body, a sense of deja vu hitting you. You’ve been running for a while, the night is fresh for blood.

“Come out you coward!” His booming voice made you flinch, snapping your eyes at a pair of red eyes stalking his figure.

You move back as it swiftly pasts you, its teeth latching onto the gun; the two struggle for power as his claws gripping to his sides. Your eyes twitch at the scene, standing back and watching the downfall. He wasn’t as strong as a wolf. A wolf with superhuman strength to be exact. His claws dig deep into his side, fingers latching onto his ribcage as the man screams in agony. His eyes would meet yours, pupils were blown wide while stumbling to the ground. The wolfman assaults his neck to further damage his vocal cords, his cry for help comes to an end.

Wincing, you cover your mouth from the stench. Your eyes go back to the body and shop, trying to decide whether or not it would be a good idea to invite yourself. The werewolf looked more human than the wolf, with ears and a tail attached to the body. His body is adored in jewelry, fooling your thoughts about where he could have gotten them.

You weren’t sure if you should be afraid, his attention was now solely on you. His figure looming in curiosity, stalking his bloodied arms to groom your hair. You let out a noise of fear, his claws tickling your scalp as he sniffs the air around you. Holding in a scowl from his hands dirtying your hair. He was kind of cute up close, minus the bits of flesh trickling down his mouth.

“I saw you.” You make a confused noise, ducking down to pry away his touch. He laughs at your reaction.

“At the entrance of the woods, you looked so tired. Your heart is kind, the rabbit you saved earlier appreciated it. Unlike those rude men, I wouldn’t mind if you visited here again!” His tail wags excitedly behind him, he cups your hands in his affectionately.

You let out a couple of “um” and “uh’s”, unsure of how to react. His behavior reminded you of something or someone in particular. He begins to sniff again, now staring down at the keys dangling on your waist. He holds you in a hug, expecting it closer. A sad expression washes over his features.

“Where are you planning on leaving? But where would you go? You can get hurt, and oh my look at those keys! You’ve been through so much, stay here and we can protect you from bad guys!” His grip becomes intense, the desperation in his voice wary.

You struggle under his grip, slammed up against a tree. He looks concerned at your defiance, and a look of hurt flashes across his face. You gasp when you feel him tugging at your waist, his fingers holding the ring holder. That’s where you start to cause harm.

Your knees come in contact with his stomach, he lets out a yelp and drops to the floor. You run towards the shop while looking back. A mistake on yours. You’re stopped by a figure in place, bumping into him and recoiling back at the force.

“Kalim. You let your guard down again.” His voice is smooth and alluring.

You rub your head, looking up to see a handsome face illuminating in the night. His eyes are a shade of black, observing your face intensely. You hear a groan from behind you, Kalim standing up and shaking his head. His ears are planted down as he tries to come up to you.

Afraid, you stand back up but are quickly grabbed by the other. His fangs bear at you as he shakes you like a doll.

“Don’t hurt them, Jamil!” Kalim pleads, tackling the both of you to the ground.

This had to be the dumbest situation you’ve ever been in. You shake your head back and forth, flailing your feet wildly. Kalim buries his face into your stomach, little droplets of tears falling from his eyes as he reasons with you why you should stay with them. Jamil lays there for a bit, looking up at the sky in embarrassment.

A crunch had alerted the two, their heads snapping up at the noise. Jamil quickly pushes the both of you off, with the weight he was unsuccessful in protecting his ally. Another loud shot booms through the sky, hitting Kalim’s eye and sending him back; clutching his eye as you tried to scurry away.

You fell on your knees as Kalim grips your ankle. His one good eye wide in distress, using both hands to keep your ankle close. Jamil was busy fighting off the intruder, leaving you with a hopeless wolf. You still have the key in hand, and you were so close to where you wanted to be. Glancing up at the shop, taunting you. 

So you pull. Flesh digging into the dirt as you pull your body away from his. Letting out a cry when his claws clamp down on your calf, feeling the skin break. But you kept going, ignoring the gurgling screams as more people arrive in the area. Your eyes ache from the widening stare at the shop. You can feel the way your fingers burn, the flesh turning a dark red with all the dirt in the way.

Kalim refused to look at you, hugging your leg instead. The crack and tear of wet muscles coming apart, your eyes flash a sense of white. Pain searing all over your body when you finally lose touch with the weight. Looking behind to see half of your leg missing. Your head spins rapidly, vomit making its way up your throat as you continue to crawl.

Don’t look back. You can’t look back. It hurts so much. The loose pieces of muscle and bone handing out. Your leg bleeds uncontrollably. Yet your hand comes in contact with wood.

A man is tossed next to you, the door bursting open. You don’t look at his half-missing face, rather, creep inside the shop. Drool and tears wet your face, you couldn’t control the reaction of your body, and you feel like breaking

You thank whatever god there was that kept Kalim and Jamil busy, the slaughtering and screams all behind you. Your body finally comes to a stop. You clutch the key in your palm. Blurry eyes stared at the large mirror, a swirl of red. With a final nudge, your fingers touch.

[tastybluesprite]

Firsts (Classroom of the Elite)

I really love this anime so much. I needed some lee!Ayanokoji and since I couldn’t find any I wrote this myself lol. Btw if you haven’t seen classroom of the elite then please check it out it’s really good!!!

Warnings: This is a tickle fic so if that makes you uncomfortable please keep scrolling

Summery: Sakura is worried about the fact that Ayanokoji never laughs or smiles. He’ll allow her to settle those worries however…

Ayanokoji was just organizing things around his dorm room one night when he got a knock at his door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me, Sakura.” Airi Sakura called nervously from the other side.

Ayanokoji went to open the door for her. “What are you doing here?” He asked with curiosity.

The pink haired girl looked at him nervously. “Well… I just wanted to see how you were doing. I mean you usually seem pretty expressionless anyway, but for some reason I noticed your face being more intense looking today. I couldn’t help but wonder if something had happened.”

“No. Nothings wrong. You were probably just overthinking it. Although, part of me does get the feeling you have ulterior motives here.” Ayanokoji deadpanned.

Sakura flinched. “Ah, you got me…” She seemed very embarrassed at being found out.

Ayanokoji inspected her for a second longer and then gestured for her to come in. She entered and hesitantly sat on his bed. He joined her.

She took a deep breath “The truth is… well, I never see you smile. Not even once. Not ever. I was just a bit worried.” She looked down at her feet, her face burning as she spoke.

“This is how my face normally looks.” Ayanokoji told her. “So please don’t worry about that.”

“Haha, I suppose. Well… I really do want to know, have you ever even laughed before?” Sakura asked the brunette.

Ayanokoji thought about that. “Well, no, I don’t think I can remember ever having laughed.”

Sakura took that in for a moment. “Can I… um… try making you laugh?” She asked tentatively, her face still looking embarrassed.

Ayanokoji looked elsewhere, and then back at her. “Why would you want to do that?”

“It will give me peace of mind. Just to see it for myself.”

“Hm… ok, if that’s what you really want.”

“Really?” She asked, a bit surprised.

“Well, I don’t see why not. It doesn’t bother me nor affect me negatively if you wanted to try that. I would warn you now though, that it would likely not work.”

“Hmm…” Sakura thought about that. “Maybe… I could try telling you a joke?”

“I’ve heard most of them already. None of which I’ve found funny at all, or funny enough to laugh at.”

Sakura tried thinking. What was a foolproof way to get this stoic guy to laugh. Suddenly she had an idea.

She hesitated, not wanting to overstep any boundaries, but slowly reached to squeeze his side. No response.

“What was that for?” He asked her, completely unfazed.

Sakura looked down sheepishly. “I thought maybe I could… try… t-tickling you…” her face was so red by now she was surprised Ayanokoji hadn’t made a comment on it.

“Sorry. I’m not ticklish.” He told her.

“Ah, seriously?” She asked.

“Well, I don’t remember ever being tickled before. But I don’t really think I’m that sensitive.”

“How can you be sure?” She asked.

Ayanokoji shrugged, “I just know. It’s one of those things I can already understand about myself.”

“Maybe you have a weak spot that you don’t know about? Humans are generally… well, ticklish, and even though there are some who might not be, even they usually have a spot or two that gets them.

“Hm… maybe you’re right. You can see that for yourself if you want.”

“What? Really?” Sakura asked, getting really flustered. “Y-you’re really going to let me try tickling you?”

“Yeah, I mean, I don’t see what’s the big deal. And I’ll admit I’m a bit curious also. Maybe I do have a weak spot. Also, I do want to help you get peace of mind with this if it bothers you so much.”

He raised his arms only slightly above his head, leaving his body completely unguarded. Sakura hesitated for a moment. She couldn’t believe he was actually letting him do this.

She went for his ribs, scratching and massaging. No response. She next went for his belly. Still no response. Even going for his armpits or thighs didn’t do anything.

“Sorry to disappoint.” He told her.

Sakura smiled “No don’t worry about it, it’s really ok.”

Suddenly she realized something. “Wait, what about your feet?”

“What about them?”

Sakura blushed. “Well, I mean, we didn’t try there yet.”

Ayanokoji looked down at his socked feet and then, moving back to make room, brought them up, resting them on the bed right next to her.

Sakura hesitated. She didn’t expect anything, but nonetheless dragging a nail down his sole.

To her great surprise, Ayanokoji suddenly jerked his foot away at the contact.

She looked up at him to see, for once since meeting him, a bit of surprise in his eyes.

“Ayanokoji, I think your feet are ticklish…” she told him, trying to hold back a giggle.

“You think so?”

“Yeah! You totally jerked your foot away when I touched it.”

He slowly brought his foot back to its original position.

Sakura then wiggled her fingers against the bottom of his foot instead. This time, Ayanokoji let out a noise that he didn’t think he would ever make. A squeak. Once again resulting in jerking his foot away.

Sakura looked at him with slight shock. She then grabbed his ankle, trapping it in an armlock, and now started to actually tickle his foot.

Ayanokoji flinched and started struggling with his leg.

“H-hey! Wait!” He told her. He felt laughter bubbling in his chest.

When she got to the pad of his foot, just before his toes, that’s when he finally cracked for the first time ever.

“Ah- ehehehehehehehehe…” soft, breathy giggles filled the room as he fell back.

He had never felt this feeling before. It was like a bunch of fluffy clouds were surrounding him. His chest and shoulders felt as if they were releasing pressure that was building up for a very long time.

It felt good. Really good.

Even if he knew it wasn’t smart to let his guard down like this, he allowed himself to laugh and feel. It was refreshing. Like drinking a cold glass of water during a really hot day.

The bottem of his feet lit up with electric shocks as Sakura scratched along them. Soon he tapped her back as a way to call for mercy.

Sakura let his legs go and Ayanokoji sat upright again. “So… what did you think?” He asked her. “Satisfied?”

“Well…” Sakura needed a moment because she was still a bit dazed from shock. “You have a really nice laugh Ayanokoji. I wish you would do it more often.”

For the first time he felt heat rise to his cheeks. “Ok well, in that case I wish you good night.”

“Y-yeah! G-good night Ayano…” Sakura got up hastily and left his dorm room.

Ayanokoji sighed and lay back on his bed.

Maybe he should’ve asked Sakura not to tell anyone about this.

[revserrayyu]

2.1 Penacony thoughts [part2]

**Spoiler warning** Covering up until we switch to Acheron’s POV alongside Welt (not their first conversation but actually playing as her, hence the cover photo), so be kind to yourself and look away if you haven’t reached that point yet. Brace yourself once more; I’m going to ramble.

First things first, this whole shrinking down scene where we traverse through a model of Penacony was so odd. Poor Ratio had to be rolling his eyes so hard just watching a tiny Aventurine run around like that.

I feel like we didn’t learn much about Sunday last patch, but hearing him speak about how orderly and presentable we should be at all times really fits his personality. The pretty boy certainly knows how to look good and leads me like him even more..

But only for a moment as he then uses some Harmony trickery against Aventurine so he’s forced to answer his several questions truthfully, or at least that’s the feeling I got from watching this interrogation. Seeing this was quite interesting to me because there’s this anime call No Guns Life where a character by the name Tetsuro has an ability called “harmonie” which allows him to control other extends (robots basically) and they way the anime shows it looked very familiar with all the color.

Moving on, Sasuke Uchiha vibes are coming in strong with our gambler being a potential sole clan survivor, not to mention Aventurine admitting his love toward his family is something he values more than himself. Also, I don’t like this bird.. sitting there, keeping an eye on everything, even during Aventurine’s chat with Sparkle later on. I know the Family has a big Nightingale theme going on but still. Big Brother (or in this case the Family) always watching hm?

NOPE. Any small hope I had for Sunday being someone we could safely trust has flown straight out the window with this sinister smirk of his, no matter how handsomely good it makes him look here.

I love that no matter what is going on or who he’s talking to, Ratio always manages to mildly insult others without a care in the world.

So stuff about the Cornerstones gets revealed, how all Ten Stonehearts have one of their own and how very important said stones are to them, so what on earth was Aventurine doing with both his and Potaz Pazto Topaz’s? Also found it interesting how closely hers resembles Qlipoth’s body when she isn’t a Preservation unit like Aventurine is.

Sunday then gives Aventurine only 17 system hours to live and he has to spend it solving Robin’s case with little to no outside help or hints on where to begin. Talk about immense pressure. Let my man gamble in peace!

And if all that wasn’t enough to make me start feeling bad for our fancy man, we get a sad backstory featuring his sister and even learning how both their parents died! Because OF COURSE they’re setting me up to get upset about him for some reason later on in the story and now I’m so terrified because if I learned anything from anime it’s that these kinds of flashback are major red death flags.

The feeling of joy came back to me though upon seeing Topaz show up. Despite Aventurine being around and all the mentions of the IPC, I honestly wasn’t expecting her to visit Penacony at all, but I’m very pleased to see her again! She definitely grew on me after that one quest in Belobog and even though she doesn’t have access to most places on Penacony like her coworker currently does, it’s nice she’s willing to lend a helping hand to us.

It doesn’t settle well with me that none of the Bloodhounds know who Gallagher is. Ain’t he supposed to be top dog around here and in charge?

Oh red text, why must you haunt me so easily? Imagine how different all of Penacony would feel if we had the option to completely turn off subtitles. People would definitely have various opinions regarding Acheron if they knew of her ominous words or not.

I wanna chalk this up as a HI3 reference, but I can’t be sure as I’ve never played. If so, I love how they can toss in hints about Welt’s past like this.

And hers.. I imagine bits and pieces would line up with her past one way or another too.

A little while after that, we cut back to Black Swan and y’all, we FINALLY get some sort of Boothill interaction in the story! Only audio for now but I’ll take it!

Hearing about bullets, him getting annoyed about Acheron being a “galaxy ranger” and the Hunt path are wonderful ways to confirm who it is and I can’t wait to eventually see him in game.

Seems like he isn’t too thrilled with Acheron though and of course, he too knows of her Emenator status. There goes my brief hopes of them being in friendly terms and seeing them work together I suppose.

This item that Ratio gives Aventurine before he suddenly disappears (again) and how it features one of his voicelines.. hilarious. It’s like it was spoken specifically for Aventurine and no one else.

I may be a little stupid.. do we know who the other mute is? The one dead is clearly Robin, but surely the other can’t be Sunday right? He spoke perfectly fine. I’m thinking back to all the Penacony characters we’ve met and they all sound fine, aside from Sam but he’s robotic so naturally he would sound a bit different yea? Maybe we haven’t met this other mute yet, I dunno. The “again” part of Sparkle’s line makes me feel like we have met them at least once.

Sweetie, how the fuck did you manage to sneak such a dangerous device into Penacony?? Even Aventurine is concerned about how the Family doesn’t know of it.

Okay.. so the whole flashback with Aventurine being bought as a slave and used to gamble for his master is tough. I know many people speculated what the mark on his neck said, and majority did think “slave” was written, but man, the hint didin’t make this story any easier to hear. Being blessed with luck ain’t always a good thing hm? Hearing the guy say “all or nothing” and learning from Topaz about how that phrase is now Aventurine’s mantra.. oh boy.

Siobhan is gorgeous and if she was playable I’d definitely pull for her.

SERVAL MENTION HUZZAH! I’m aware they mentioned my girl during the livestream and how they’re both the rebellious ones in their respective families, but Siobhan actually wanting to meet her? Oohhh~

Okay but the fact we’re encountered so many deaths, during the many story and side quests, in a short amount of time shouldn’t be normal. The way he seems so indifferent about it too.. “so what?” like sir, people are dying.

Oh, we did indeed receive one as well. That was the invitation, wasn’t it? I thought the music box Acheron stole from Duke was something different and special for different reasons. Nevermind.

I seriously need to check back into the creepy dream we experienced last time after Sparkle knocked us out, where we encountered that memory zone meme and listen to all the shouting we heard of this Mikhail guy. I figured he had to be someone important, but the Watchmaker and betrayer of the Family? Oh dear.

I bet you anything it’s Misha. Working behind the scenes in the hotel this entire time would definitely be an effective strategy, and his technique outside battle literally stops time and that seems like the perfect kind of ability for someone named “Watchmaker.”

Gallagher wondering if this certain person is real or not is another reason I think it’s Misha because apparently no one notices his presence at all. During that one scene with us, Firefly, Acheron, Misha & Clockie last past, the girlies didn’t acknowledge Misha at all. Only us and Clockie spoke to the boy. In return, Clockie is only seen by us and Misha as well. So that’s just strange.

For a moment I wonder if Misha is actually like.. a ghost of sorts and we’re just going insane seeing visions of people and cartoon characters everywhere. But that’s all stuff I shall find out later. Hopefully. If the story decides to answer my many concerns.

(originally written on 3/28)

[dailycass-cain]

Have I gotten over Batgirls ending? No, I haven't.   But there are a few things that give me peace when it comes to Cass still remaining as Batgirl for the future.

This does feel different than say 2006, 2009, and 2011. I feel okay here and not this overwhelming fear of dread or concern like in either of those years. The reasons being--

#1 Spirit World has her in it and as Batgirl. Six months (so far) of Cass as Batgirl in it. I'm square with that. Do I want the series to last longer than six issues? YES! I love Alyssa Wong writing Cass and gimme more of Haining drawn-Cass, please!

Also, it looks like we're getting Dustin Nguyen variants for each issue. Took DC long enough to do more of this and if you aren't getting this series for all of the above-mentioned which is mystical antics with Cass teaming with Xanthe and Constantine-- then COME ON?!

#2 DC and more importantly WB is pushing the character.  We have a variation of Cass coming next week with Batman: The Doom that Came to Gotham and of course Bat Wheels has her too!

While neither is embracing the comic version, I'm actually okay with both interpretations.  Um...  cute my spoilerish thoughts on that.

I really want a sequel short with an older Ka Li Cain suiting up as a Bat to combat a new mystical threat that ends up with BATman helping her. There are so many seeds throughout that showcase Kai Li is just as resourceful like Bruce was in the animated movie.

GIMME THAT FAN ART PLEASE ARTISTS!!

Then there's the James Gunn factor. The tease a month ago with him saying four characters Bleeding Cool listed should be in his universe. Cass does have good odds and the comic market might be agreeing.

Literally, searching now for Cass on eBay, the market is speccing HARD that she'll be showing up. They do get some things wrong, but my gut says this might happen. We have Cass in various things above and if is next-gen it makes sense for her to be Batgirl in Brave & the Bold.

Really my one fear is the latest teaser had Babs as Batgirl (no Cass or Steph). Literally, this was my third clue something bad was happening to Batgirls...

It also feels so wrong that each hero has a generational link save well Babs in this teaser (save to Bruce). Literally, you could've easily put Cass in there and it ease some more minds.

But that leads me to one thing. I feel like Stephanie Brown is getting the short straw. I love the character, and I feel like if someone is getting shorted it's her sadly.

Cass has so much going still, but Steph? *cricket chirps* Literally, she should be involved in a comic too and I guess all we have is her helping Jason in the Joker ongoing.

Again, I feel like DC Comics fumbled the ball with Batgirls, particularly with Babs in those early issues, and because of that it never caught on until the later ones.

I don't mind Babs in Nightwing as Batgirl or Oracle. I've more at peace of her balancing BOTH identities. Just that when she becomes Batgirl it SHOULD be a "business has about to have picked up" moment.

Babs as Batgirl shouldn't job (and if she is it's something she shouldn't have a chance against aka what Batman vs. Robin did last month. I can’t believe I’m saying something positive on this comic).

It should be treated as a MOMENT. Really #13 gave us just that. A moment where Bruce/Babs/Zee helped out Cass/Steph. Also the tease in this week's issue is also good (more on that another day).

The biggest problem Batgirls had in those early issues was Babs stealing the spotlight from Cass/Steph and Seer in #5-8).  If you had Cass/Steph beating the Saints, Tutor, and Spellbinder. Add depth to Seer in #7-8?

We might have talked differently about this comic. But I'm not gonna fault the writers. They were given things beyond their control and did the best they could.

Clearly, #9 to now shows they can deliver some good stuff.  The problem is... a good chunk bailed prior. I just wish DC gave Batgirls a better chance.  I think all three characters are OWED that. After all the shenanigans done to them in the last TWENTY YEARS.

But the stuff I said earlier does make me feel at least comfortable that Cass can boomerang back. Because as I said numerous times over.

I'll cherish these next issues more so now. If this truly is the end of this comic. Because this comic for all its faults was a GIFT. May not have been a flawless one it still was a gift. I'll keep treasuring it. #Batgirls4life.