#weird girl swiss fic

[swiss-mrs]

#WEIRD☆GIRL

(Word Count: 4.6k)

Rating: PG-13, Adult Language and Themes, All Characters are 18+

Reader/OC Description: Reader/OC is Afro-Latina. She has long, dyed black hair that is worn straight with baby bangs and shaved brows. She is an alt baddie and would've definitely ruled MySpace. Body shape/type is not detailed. No Use of Y/N.

Playlist

Synopsis: One day, while Dave and Todd are out, they pass by a park void of screaming kids. Instead, the park is taken up by a group of what looks to be a mix of teenagers and young adults. Passing by the loud group, the boys can't help but stare, mixing Dave up with a girl more socially unacceptable than him.

Warnings(?): Adult Language, Sexual Themes (No Smut, Just Horny Boy Thoughts), Catcalling (Potentially Triggering Language)

This is written in third person but mainly narrated from Dave's view.

》》》

"I can't believe they had it!" Todd exclaims, gripping the plastic bag in his hand tight. Dave nods, gripping his backpack straps.

"Yeah, we need to start coming here more often. They have everything. We gotta bring Marty with us when he gets back."

Today marked the first day of the boys' last Spring Break. Marty was out of town on a trip to Florida with his family, so this cut down the trio to a duo, Dave and Todd. The two were currently walking along a street on the other side of town than their usual hangout. Todd found a new comic and video game store, and he and Dave figured they'd check it out.

"I can't wait to read it."

"Remember, no spoilers until I pick up my edition too." Dave replied. As they round a corner to get to their bus stop, they are greeted with the sight of a large clearing between buildings.

On the closest side to the boys was a skate park. It had a decent amount of skaters occupying it, echoes of skateboards landing against concrete traveling throughout the park. As the boys walked passed, they could hear the sound of music. The further they walk, the closer the music gets.

The current song that was playing was what Dave imagined rugged bikers with dark sunglasses and handlebar mustaches listened to. Scary and intimidating. It was muddy and grungy and punk and metal? He wasn't well versed enough to really know how to label its genre. Just as one song came to an end, another just like it followed.

He and Todd were both staring at the group surrounding the picnic table that held the speaker. Each one was different from the next, but they all had a similar dark and grungy style.

Something that immediately caught his eye was a black haired girl who took two big steps to get atop the picnic table. As the new song began to pick up, she got into a matching character. As she winded her hips and lip sang to the lyrics, Dave was completely entranced by her. "Woah..."

"Yeah…" Todd absently replies.

Her unnaturally dark hair cascaded down her shoulders and around the curve of her breasts. Her bangs reminded Dave of a toddler who decided to experiment with scissors. They were far too short to be considered "normal", but, Jesus, did she pull them off well.

She had two bows on the sides of her head, one purple and the other an off-white cream color. She wore a black, short sleeve crop top with red writing on it, something Dave couldn't really read clearly from this distance. She had knitted, fingerless gloves on each hand that nearly blended in with her skin tone. Dave's eyes continued to work their way down her legs, finding her thighs covered with light pink, sheer lace shorts that stopped mid thigh. The only thing keeping her "appropriate" were homemade, cut-off jean short shorts.

Dave couldn't help himself; he was captivated. He's never seen anyone dressed like she was, at least not in real life. It was like she stepped right out of an anime. She was incredibly unique. How was she able to pull that off so well?

Dave's eyes wandered down further to get a full view of her exposed, dancing legs. He couldn't help but wonder what it felt like to touch them.

She swiveled her hips in circles as she began to spin and whip her hair to the beat. Dave had this opportunity to move his eyes up, getting a perfect view of her butt, his body lighting up as his heart raced.

She had made a full turn, stopping in the direction of the two boys, catching their stares. Todd immediately turns his head to try and seem captivated by the clouds above, but Dave is not as quick to notice.

"Dave." Todd mumbles, eyes dodging the girl's gaze, darting back and forth from his friend, the ground, and a very (not-so) interesting brick building behind the park. "Dave." Todd repeats, elbowing Dave in the side, finally snapping him out of his hypnosis.

"Ouch!" Dave yelps in surprise, turning to Todd who is looking at him wide eyed, trying to send him a message. Dave looks away from his friend and back to the table dancer. She was staring right at him with squinted eyes. They seem to make eye contact for a solid second before she abruptly lifts a hand to her forehead. She held up her pointer and pinky fingers. The 'rock and roll' symbol she held against her head imitated horns as scrunched her nose, sticking her tongue out like a child. The action shocked Dave, but he couldn't help but find her oddly adorable.

Todd is quick to snatch the handle at the top of Dave's backpack and drag him away to their bus stop at the end of the street. The ride home was a pretty quiet one after that.

》》》

Two weeks have passed since he'd first seen the strange girl. Every spare chance he got during spring break was spent taking advantage of his vigilante skills for the wrong reasons. He had secretly visited that park numerous times, watching his girl and her friend group from afar. He knew that stalking was not how he should've gone about this, but he also didn't see walking straight up to her and introducing himself as an option either.

Something was definitely wrong with him. There is no good reason for him to know where she lives, but he convinced himself it was just to ensure she got home safe. Tonight only enforced that thought.

Usually she would walk home with at least one friend for good measure, but for some unknown reason to Dave, she walked alone.

Today, she had on an extra baggy hoodie. One that he came to know as one of her favorites. It reached the tops of her bare thighs, the hem of her mini skirt just visible below. She wore leg warmers that matched the color of her hoodie and worn combat boots. She had a small backpack that looked like wings on her back, decked out in pins of all kinds. The oversized hood was perched on top of her head.

She was always good about checking her surroundings and looking over her shoulder when walking alone, but this wasn't a matter of a sneak attack.

Dave watched as an older man stepped out in front of his strange girl. Dave couldn't hear the exact dialog due to their distance and the passing people and cars, but he for sure knew that whatever was being said was not welcomed.

"No. Thank you. I'd rather be left alone." Dave heard that loud and clear, so why did this creepy guy not take the hint and leave?

The man abruptly reached for her arm, and gripped it tight. Dave took off in a sprint.

"Get your hands off me, asshole!"

"Don't be a fucking tease-"

"Hey!" Dave cut the guy off, running up behind her. "Didn't you hear what she said, creep? Let her go!" He said firmly. Both the creepy guy and the girl's eyes look over to Dave, both of them giving him a once over. Her eyes were full of confusion, one thinly drawn brow raised. The man scoffed at the kid.

"What the fuck is this?" he shoots back. Dave squares his shoulders and raises his masked chin. "How about you mind your fucking business, princess, before you get hurt." the man follows up, making fun of Dave's costume.

"Let. Her. Go." Dave repeats sternly. The guy laughs in his face.

"Or what, leotard?" Dave follows up by removing the batons from behind his back. He points one at the man.

"Or else I'll have to beat you until you let go?" He says confidently. The girl cringes, that was not nearly as intimidating as he thought it was. The guy laughs again, flicking out a pocket knife. The two men stood there in a stare down. Their pause gave the girl a chance to yank her arm from the man's grasp, simultaneously using her other hand to whip out a pink taser decorated like a mini Gameboy. She shoves the sparked end into the side of the creep's neck, causing him to twitch and spasm. She holds it there until the man falls to the ground twitching, presumably unconscious. She takes her booted foot and jumps into a hard kick to the man's side.

"Fuck you, dipass!" Dave stands there shocked. The girl's gaze switches to face him. He lifts his hands in surrender and slowly puts his batons back. The girl takes one big step closer to Dave. He jumps back, but she is quick to grab one of his hands and begin dragging him down the route of towards her apartment.

They walk a couple blocks and round a corner in silence before she stops abruptly and turns to Dave. He stands there staring, absolutely shell shocked. "Who are you and what do you think you're doing!?" She asks, putting two hands on her hips and resting her weight on one side.

"Uh-" Dave stutters. The girl raises her brows expectantly. "I, uh- I was trying to help you." The girl's brows draw together as she squints.

"Thank you, but, to be honest, you didn't really do much, and that only answered one of my questions."

"Uh, I'm, uh- The name's KickAss." The girl stares at him in disbelief for a good five seconds, searching his eyes for any sense of a joke.

When she doesn't find anything, she lets out a "pfft" and giggles. "You're joking, right?" She raises her brows with a grin.

"Uh, no. I'm not…" Dave's eyes look everywhere but at her.

"I-," giggle, "I'm sorry." Another giggle, " I don't mean to be rude, but KickAss?" Dave smiles nervously, instinctual reaching for the back of his head. "You really need a rebranding, my guy." She says, an amused smile still playing on her lips. Her eyes didn't hold any malice or judgement, just intrigue.

"Yeah, well, I'm obviously not that creative." He laughs nervously. Dave looks back to her, finally getting a proper look at her up close. She's smiling… at him. God, he was going to faint.

"Jesus, your eyes." She says suddenly, catching Dave off guard. "They're gorgeous, my god." She huffs a short laugh, staring into his eyes. Dave can't keep eye contact for long, completely flustered. He thanked the powers that be that he had a mask on at this very moment. He was sure he was as red as ever.

"Thank you." He looks down. "You, uh, your eyes are beautiful, too." He says sheepishly. She laughs, shaking her head.

"Oh, please. They're just a normal, old brown. Nothing compared to your stunners. Wow." She throws back at him. "Well, I appreciate you stepping in, KickAss." She thanks, putting emphasis on his 'name'.

"No problem. You seem to have it handled without me." His illusion of 'stalking for protection' ruined.

"Nonsense! Thankfully, I didn't need you to start a fight this time. The fact that you even stepped in at all when you saw something means a lot, so thank you." She clasps her hands in front of her, swaying side to side.

"Can I walk you the rest of the way?" He asks. She shakes her head.

"As sweet as that is, no, thank you. I don't quite know how I feel about masked men knowing where I live." She teases. "Plus, it's not much further. I'll be okay." She smiles at him, again. Dave can't decide if he wishes she'd stop looking at him or if he wishes she'd keep her gaze on him forever. She begins walking away, "Thanks, again! See you around!" She shouts behind her, turning another corner.

》》》

Two months have passed. Shortly after their first, up close, encounter, Dave made it a point to walk her home every chance he got, always when she was alone. Well, not every time. She started to get suspicious as to how he always knew when she was walking alone. "Are you following me?" She'd ask, Dave giving an unconvincing 'pfft' and a 'no', causing her to roll her eyes. After that, he made sure to space out their walks but still following her from a distance. It's now nearing the end of June, and his graduation date is only a couple weeks out.

This night was a first. She invited Dave in. His eyes widened in shock, "Yeah, sure!" He said a little too enthusiastically, internally cringing at himself, but his awkwardness only caused her to giggle.

She nods, "Okay. My brother is home, so you'll have to sneak in. I'll go in first. Just turn the corner," she points, "and use the fire escape ladder to get to the fourth window up. My window has a collection of ninja turtle action figures on the sill." Dave opens his mouth to say something, but she continues, "Wait there until I come in. I just have to let my brother know I'm home first, then I can disappear into my room." Dave sits his mouth and nods. "Okay, I'll see you up there!" She smiles, jogging into the building.

Dave watches her jog up the stairs until he can't see her anymore. He then makes his way around the building and, as instructed, climbs up the fire escape. He gets to her window with ease. Through the parted curtains, he could see into her dark room. The light in the hallway provided little to illuminate the room from the bottom of the closed door, but thanks to the setting sun, Dave could clearly see the four little trinkets on her windowsill. It made him smile. She was a little nerdy, too.

"Ok, I'll order the pizza!" Before Dave could analyze her room any further, she bursts through the door, tossing her bag on the floor. She turns, closing and locking the door before running up to the window. She throws the curtains open and slides up the window, smiling brightly at him. "Hola."

"Buenas Noches, señorita." Dave says, again cringing at his choice of words, getting a laugh out of her.

"Vamos." She says, stepping aside. He climbs through the window, trying his best to avoid disrupting the figures. "You up for pizza?" She asks once he's fully inside.

Dave nods, looking around at her room. "Yeah, sure."

She smiles up at him, gesturing to her room, "Bienvenido a mi casa." She says dramatically. "Make yourself at home, señor KickAss."

Dave chuckles at her, shaking his head. "Gracias." His accent is still strongly American, but four years of Spanish didn't make it the worst. He goes to sit on the plush bench at the end of her bed. He figured that was a safe bet. He wasn't on her bed, but he also wasn't awkwardly sitting at her desk in the corner of the room. It was a kind of middle ground. His eyes follow her as she goes over to her old school boombox, graffitied with stickers, and turns on some music, low enough for them to hear each other, but just loud enough to disguise their voices from any eavesdropping. "Do I need to worry about your brother?" He asks playfully, deep down a little nervous.

"No, he's playing video games with our cousins online. He can't hear a thing with his-"

"AHHH! NO MAMES WEY!" a scream can be heard, as if on queue, scaring the fuck out of Dave.

She rolls her eyes, continuing, "headphones on." She sits on her bed, crawling over to rest her bare legs on the empty cushion next to Dave. She grabs her laptop that was laying on the bed and opens it up. "What kind of pizza do you like?" She asks, typing away.

"Uh, whatever." He says, unsure.

"Well, guess we can't go wrong with half pepperoni and half cheese." She says, placing the order. "My brother is pretty boring when it comes to pizza." Another scream could be heard in the background, promoting another eyeroll. Dave chuckles a little, nodding.

He twiddles his thumbs before asking, "So, why did you invite me in?" The girl shrugs her shoulders, still typing and clicking away.

"I dunno. You've walked me home nearly everyday for the passed 2 months, and I've grown to trust you. Every time we part ways, I feel the urge to keep you around. I figured it was about time we hung out for more than just a few blocks." She closes her laptop hallway and sets it to the side. His heart flutters.

Dave looks at her stunned. "You want to hang out with me?" The girl squints at him.

"Um, yeeaaah. What kind of question is that?"

"I, uh- I mean- it's just- you know-..." He stutters. She giggles at him.

"What?"

"I mean, you're just so cool, and I'm, you know-"

She looks at him amused. "You're what? A cool vigilante guy who is sweet and funny and someone who should totally should give himself more credit." She bends her legs, nudging him softly with her knee. She scoots down the bed a little to sit closer to Dave, holding her knees to her chest. She uses her oversized sweatshirt to encompass her entire body. Dave looks at her with admiration, his heart racing again, before looking away from her and down at the bench below him. "I don't hear a 'Gracias' or a 'Tienes razón, mi hermosa. Eres muy inteligente y eres la mujer más bella del mundo. Gracias por todo, mi amor.'" She goes on.

Dave laughs, "Thank you. I don't know if you're right, but you are the most beautiful girl I've ever seen." Dave says boldly but still avoiding eye contact, looking down at his hands.

The girl's eyes widen, "You speak Spanish?" She looks horrified, embarrassed by the words of praise she tried to get him to say.

"A little." He twiddles his thumbs more, "I've been taking Spanish all throughout high school. I am no expert, but I can get around." He shrugs.

"Welp, that's embarrassing." the girl reaches up to tug hard on the strings of her hoodie, hiding her face in the fabric. Dave looks up and reaches for her hands.

"Que? No 'gracias'?" He teases, trying to get a look at her face. He has no clue what is coming over him, but he is becoming a bit more comfortable. His heart is still pounding, but seeing her get flustered brought his confidence up. She peers out from inside her hoodie. Her wide eyed look nearly floored him. He was forever grateful that he was already seated or else his knees would have buckled.

"Gracias,... señor KickAss." She says playfully, trying to make up for her embarrassment by joking off. He offers her a soft smile, melting her. It was now her turn to avoid his eyes. Her eyes make their way over to the stereo. "So… you're still in high school?" She asks, looking back to him, wearily.

He nods, "Y-Yeah, but not for long." He says quickly, the realization coming quick that they don't actually know each other's ages. "I graduate in like 2 weeks." Her nonexistent brows raise as she nods. "Are you?"

She shakes her head, "No, I tested out, got my diploma early. I couldn't be bothered with high school anymore." She shrugged. Dave's brows shot up. She really was smart. "It's just me and my brother. The earlier I got out of high school, the more time I had. It allowed me to help out with bills and whatever, get us a nicer place." She gestures to the room around her. "I mean, it may not seem like much, but trust me when I say it's a million times better than where we were." She then takes the time to look around and appreciate her surroundings.

Dave's look of admiration returns. "You're amazing." He blurts out. The girl's eyes find him, holding his eye contact, again with this wide eyed stare. She was gonna kill him. Her heart stopped when she looked in his eyes and found nothing but honesty and softness. She gives him a little smile. My god, Dave was literally going to pass out.

》》》

Dave didn't seem to notice, but hours went by with them talking, eating pizza, and talking some more. It was now pitch black outside, and the only light in the room was coming from her bedside lamps and a flickering candle.

By now, both of them had made their way into the bed. Dave was laying on his back, watching the ceiling while she was laying on her stomach perched up on her elbow, watching him. They were currently both comfortably silent, the soft music still playing in the background. She guessed that her brother must have fallen asleep at his console by now, considering there weren't any more frustrating cries or exciting cheers heard from across the apartment. Dave is the first to interrupt the silence between them. "Would it be a terrible idea to take my mask off right now?"

The girl gasps dramatically, placing a hand on her chest, "and reveal your secret identity, Zorro?" She lets out a short laugh, this causes Dave to let out a tired smile.

"I'm being serious." There's a pause.

"Well…" the girl starts, "you know, once you do so, there's no going back. I'm not so much of a bitch that I'd ever expose you, but you know… it's a big step."

"Is it in the right direction?" he asks, turning his head to look over at her. They stare deeply into each other's eyes.

She sighs, "I'm sorry, babe, but that's a decision you'll have to make on your own." The pet name catches Dave off guard. He nods and sits up, causing the girl next to him to follow suit, twisting her body so she's cross crossed and facing him. Dave takes a deep breath and reaches for the back of his mask. Just as his gloved hands meet the fabric, he felt a smaller hand touch his. "Are you sure?... Absolutely positive?"

He doesn't move, "Positive." He replies. She lefts go of his hand and he pulls the mask forward and off his head. He kept his head down for a second, taking in a deep breath. He could feel her eyes staring at the side of his head.

He looks up and turns to her. They make eye contact for a good 3 second before her sleeve covered hands come flying up to her face, covering her eyes. "Oh my god!"

"Oh my god, what?!" Dave panics.

"You're hot!" She exclaims. Wow, did she really know how to throw Dave off. He watches her, shocked. "This feels wrong, oh my god!" She says, muffled by her sleeves. "I should not be seeing this right now." Dave smiles a little. How does she do this? She's just too cute.

He reaches up for her hands, "Well, like you said, there's no going back, babe." He says, pulling her hands down. Her eyes were squeezed shut, scrunching up her face in what Dave thought was the most adorable way. "Oh, don't be a baby. Open your eyes." He says. She squeezes them even harder just before opening them up, like ripping off a bandaid.

She lets out a sigh as her eyes roam over every feature. She takes a moment to just admire his face before giggling when her eyes make their way to his hair. "What?" Dave asked, this time not panicked, but amused.

She giggles some more, smiling wide. "Your hair is a mess." She says finally, biting her smile.

He rolls his eyes, "Yeah, I don't really do face reveals, so I didn't bother thinking of a way to properly tie my hair up under the mask."

She smiles at him softly, her eyes relaxed. She reaches up to touch his cheek. It's warm and a little sweaty from being stuck under a mask for the last several hours. They get lost in each other's eyes. Dave's jaw was slack, lips parted slightly. Her features still held her soft smile.

"I think I love you." Dave says abruptly, taking her aback.

"What?-"

"I just always feel so safe and comfortable around you, and I love how you're so unapologetically yourself, and you are always so kind and beautiful, and I can't help but find myself always thinking about you, and I'm always wondering if you're thinking about me to, which I hope you do, because I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I wasn't on your mind the way you're on mine, and ever since I saw you dancing on that picnic table when Todd and I were walking to the bus stop and you made that weird adorable little devil horn face thing, I knew I just had to know you, like I was drawn to you, and-"

"Wait, that was you?"

Dave ignores get question and continues rambling, "and I know we're just kids, but I can't think of a better way to live life than with you, and I want us to be together. I want to go to see your favorite scary movies with you, even though it confuses me as to why you still go to them when you say they always scar you, and I want to hold your hand and be there for you when you're scared. I want to go see those bands you always talk about in concert with you. I want to learn every lyric to every one of your favorite songs just to impress you when they come on. I want to hold you at night when you've had a bad day and don't know what to do with yourself. I want to keep you safe and always make sure you're happy. I want to be the reason you smile. I want to walk with you forever, stay by your side. I want to fall asleep beside you every night and wake up to you every morning, and I want nothing more than to hear you say you love me and tell me you love me the same way I love you, and I-"

"Dave, shut up!" She says with a smile, her eyes glistening. "Breathe." They both take a deep breath together. "If you keep going, you'll turn blue." They share a small laugh. "Can I kiss you?" She asks.

Without responding, Dave dives forward and kisses her full force. They deepen the kiss, her other hand reaching up to caress his other cheek, his hands resting on the bed, one on each side of her knees.

Without breaking the kiss, Dave moves to readjust. He pulls her closer, moving her to sit in his lap. She follows his lead, getting up to straddle him. Dave wraps his arms around her waist, hugging her closer to him. She arches her back, "accidentally" grinding against him. Dave is first to break the kiss with a gasp, his hands immediately making their way to her hips. She opens her eyes to find Dave's squeezed shut with his eyebrows narrowed together. His blue eyes open to meet hers after a second, both of them breathing heavily, Dave's eyes wide and innocent, looking up at her.

"Sorry." He says, embarrassed that she was able to affect him so easily. She grins, shaking her head.

"Don't be sorry. It's good to know I have such an effect on you." She leans down to rest her forehead on his. She squishes his check together, pushing him down to the bed, his hands finding themselves caressing her now exposed butt from under the mini skirt she still wore. He felt all the blood drain from his head downward. "Should we keep going?" She asks. Dave nods furiously, no longer able to form words.

She leans in slowly to plant a soft kiss on his lips. "I love you, too."

》》》

Moodboard (exposing "y/n") on my page under #weird girl swiss fic

[iamthecomet]

Here's a thought, pillow princess mountain having sex in a garden surrounded by flowers~ ;)

Surrounded by the prettiest most beautiful flowers of them all UwU

Just like him and his lover.

basking in a beautiful experience.

day or night, either way what bliss~

This is basically a full fic at this point.

I'm not sorry.

Some weird ghoul magic/full moon nonsense below the cut

and also smut, duh.

It's rare that a full moon falls on the Solstice. Rare enough that it catches Mountain off guard. The moon always does weird things to the ghouls. Rain usually is the most affected. Pulled from his bed by some unknown force and out to the lake, or into someone else's bed. Drawn by the pull of the moon like a tide. Mountain's spent enough full moon nights with Rain to know that it's an all-night affair, exhausting, exhilarating. They can all feel it coming. Dew withdraws, disappears for days at a time, locked in his room. Moodier than usual, sullen, withdrawn. The girls get restless. Sunshine accidentally lights Papa's blinds on fire. Cumulus and Cirrus take to the orchards and don't come back for hours. Swiss gets snappy. His usually easy temper turned short. Aether is the only one of them not affected. Like whatever magic that lives inside of him is above and apart from the moon. Mountain envies it. Because right now it feels like his body is trying to tear itself apart from the inside. It's not painful. But something low in his gut is trying to tell him something. It's never strong like this. On full moons he usually spends his time with his plants, tending to them, listening to them. It quells the need in his muscles enough to get by.

But he's been in the greenhouse all day and the only thing that's happened is he's gotten more restless. The plants are good, blooming, flourishing under the new summer sun. The moon is high in the sky when Mountain really realizes how bad it is. He brushes dirt from his hands and intends to go to bed and finds the idea makes his body scream.

When he takes stock of his own body he finds himself rock hard in his sweatpants. Aching. No stimulation needed. Now that he isn't distracting himself with magic and plants his need is acute. It's not a heat or a rut. His are on impenetrable schedules. He's got another month. And it doesn't feel the same, there's nothing primal tugging at his brain stem begging for blood and a chase.

He just wants-- He catches movement out of the corner of his eye, through the greenhouse walls. It's Rain, long legs carrying him towards the lake. His pale skin glowing under the moonlight. Mountain doesn't think, all logical thought fled the second he became aware of his own body again. He throws open the door and calls for Rain. Stepping out of the greenhouse and into the garden that surrounds it as he does. It's cool out. Spring still clinging to its last breath. Rain turns to look at him. Then without hesitation jogs over to him. He runs an unsteady hand through his curls when he gets close. "Mount? What are you still doing out here?" "Lost track of time. And something...somethings weird with the moon, I feel--"

"Solstice."

"What?"

"The solstice makes it extra weird. Stronger. I don't know. It sucks. Swiss almost bit Sunshine's finger off. Dew hasn't spoken a word to anyone all day and I--" Rain cuts himself off. There's enough moonlight cast over his face that Mountain can see him blush. "You what?" Rain looks away. "You know what. All day. Nothing helps. It's like--" "Being in heat, except not?" Rain's eyes snap to his. And then Rain is on him, curling his long arms around Mountain's neck and kissing him with full force. Tongue licking into Mountain's mouth, hands digging into his hair. Rain pushes him back, off of the path towards a softer patch of grass amidst freshly bloomed irises. Rain catches him off guard, and before Mountain knows it he's on his back on the ground with a lap full of needy water ghoul. Rain's mouth never leaves his, tongue plundering. Rain tastes like fresh water, cool, refreshing. Mountain feels like he's been without water for days, parched. He curls his fingers around the back of Rain's neck and drags him closer. Rain's hips roll over his, he grinds down and Mountain can't think about anything except getting Rain out of his pants and sinking into him. He wants it now, he wants it five minutes ago. He fumbles with Rain's sweatpants, pulling until Rain laughs into his mouth and pulls away. Rain's steady when he shifts up to pull his pants off, then he gets to work on Mountain's. His hands move with ease. Mountain's body is shaking.

"How are you so calm?" Mountain pants. Rain looks up at him, head tipped to the side, fingers pausing on the button of Mountain's jeans. "I'm used to it." It's simple, easy. Rain doesn't elaborate, just finishes undoing Mountain's pants and slides them down to his thighs, not even bothering to pull them all the way off. Mountain sits up. He can't just lay back and take it right? that's bad etiquette, but Rain pushes him back to the ground with a hand on his sternum. "Relax, Mount. I've got you."

Rain makes quick work of stretching himself. Mountain can see the slick on his fingers as he scissors them in and out of himself. Mountain feels impossibly warm despite the cool air. His cock jumps against his stomach as he watches Rain work himself over. Fangs worrying his plush bottom lip. Mountain isn't used to letting someone else make all of these decisions. But Rain isn't allowing him any forward motion. He's pinned to the ground by Rain's gaze. By his insistence that he will help Mountain through whatever this is. He's helpless to it. Rain curls his wet fingers around Mountain's cock and strokes him, once, twice, Mountains' head thumps back against the grass hard. Pleasure rolling through him, already too much. It's only a hand, how's he going to handle it when-- He misses the moment Rain straddles him, rocketing back up the second he feels the press of his cock against Rain's hole. Rain sinks down, only an inch or two and Mountain has to touch him. He reaches out, putting a hand on each hip, digging blunt nails into his skin. He tries to keep calm, keep steady. His body screams at him to thrust up, to rock into Rain's tight body, and take what he needs. He grits his teeth. He waits. Rain sinks down the rest of the way, a broken sigh leaving his mouth as he does. He barely gives either of them time to adjust before he's rocking his hips, rolling Mountain's cock against his prostate and whining. He clenches hard around Mountain and Mountain swears his vision fails for a second. It has never been like this. Never felt like this.

Rain tips his head back up towards the sky. Moonlight washes over his skin. His precum glitters as it drips onto Mountain's stomach. Mountain uses a slow push and pull of his fingers to guide Rain how he wants him. But mostly Rain does all the work. Bouncing with slow, leisurely, strokes. All Mountain can do is watch Rain, take in the undulations of his body as he gives Mountain everything he has. Mountain drags his fingers over Rain's side, across his ribs, to rest up between his pecs. "Pretty," Mountain pants." Rain looks down at him, flushed and breathless. He laughs. "What about you, Sunflower?" Rain reaches down, he cards his hand over Mountain's hair, between his horns, and Mountain is suddenly hit with the smell of flowers. Hyacinth, lilac, roses. He smells summer. Rain comes back with a flower between his fingers, plucked from somewhere behind Mountains' horns no doubt, a deep purple violet. "You're a bouquet," Rain murmurs. Mountain feels his face flush. Rain laughs again, he reaches up to touch what must be more fresh flowers. "C'mon Rain," Mountain pouts, rocking his hips up to get his point across. Rain can play with the flowers in his hair later. Right now he wants to cum. Needs it. Rain rolls his eyes but there's no malice in it. Instead, he sets a pace that makes the breath rush from Mountain's lungs. It's not long before Mountain's toes are digging into the grass, and Rain is whining with each downward stroke. Mountain reaches for him, wraps a hand around his slick cock, and strokes him in time with Rain's thrusts. It's only a few more moments before Rain is bowing in on himself and clenching down hard on Mountain. Spilling hot and thick over Mountain's stomach. Mountain follows right on his heels, roaring with his release. Rain collapses, his head pressed against Mountain's chest as they both gasp for breath. Rain looks up at him and starts to laugh softly. "What?" "You're more flowers than hair." Mountain scowls, changing the subject before he allows himself to be embarrassed about it. "Do you feel better?"

Rain pulls off of Mountain's softening cock and stretches his lanky body, curling it against Mountain's like a cat. "Yes. Do you?"

Mountain nods. He does. The ache in his gut is gone, the pull and drag. The moon casts ethereal light on them. Rain reaches up to pluck another flower from Mountain's head, this time a bunch of lilacs. Rain brings them to his nose and inhales deep, sighing. "If I knew that was going to happen I'd do this more often." "Don't make fun of me," Mountain says quietly, eyeing the lilacs in Rains' fingers. Rain spins them, he turns his too blue eyes to Mountain's his face twisted in confusion. "I'm not," Rain says softly. "I love it. You're always calling the rest of us pretty, but look at you. Beautiful." Mountain bites the inside of his cheek, then pulls Rain up into a soft kiss, pulling Rain down so their foreheads rest together.

"Next full moon, right here." Mountain promises. Rain grins. "It's a date."

[amara-among-the-stars]

HERE IT IS. THE CRACK FIC. PART ONE. I got the idea of the hot buffalo sauce from nyx

Mountain heard a crash followed by a loud screeching noise. Sighing he hefted himself away from the tree that was in his room. It was winter and all he wanted to do was become one with his tree was that SOOOO MUCH TO ASK FOR!?

APPARENTLY IT WAS MY FRIENDS.

“What the shit is happenin here?”

Mountain asked. Dew and Ifrit were on the floor of the kitchen.

“IFRIT WAS FUCKING MY THROAT AND WHEN HE CAME IT TASTED LIKE HOT BUFFALO SAUCE!!” Dewdrop screamed. Mountain sighed.

“I'm going back to my tree. Bye bitches.” He said and skipped away.

Dew pouted and Ifrit just grinned, handing him a glass of milk.

“The fire ghoul cant handle my spiceyness.” Ifrit quipped.

“Oh my satan shut the fuck up.” Dew growled.

Ifrit shrugged and walked away.

Later on Swiss walked into the living room but walking on his hands.

“Why are you walking like that Swass?” Rain asked.

“Papa said my legs were too hot (hot damn) so im walking on my hands.” Swiss replied.

“Did.. did you just whisper the words hot damn?” Rain asked.

“No. (Yes)” swiss whispered.

“Omg thats so hot of you.” Rain replied, fanning himself. Swiss laughed and flopped onto the floor. His hands hurt. It was time to listen to sad emo music about it.

“Hey Alexa play Oops by Yung Gravy.” Swiss asked.

Rain and Swiss sang along and was very emo about it. Aeon yelled at them for it and then changed it to Blood Orange by Berried Alive.

“Omg this music video is like sooooo weird.” Rain complained.

“Omg like. Shut up Rainey. Its emo fruit time.” Aeon teased.

Out of NOWHERE Sunshine popped up.

“ALEXA PLAY BARBIE GIRL BY AQUA.” She yelled, doing a front walkover. Rain jumped and started crying because he was so startled by Sunny RUINING emo time.

“Im leaving you fuckets to go swim in the lake. You ruined Emo Time!” Rain huffed and got up and walked away with his emo saunter, sashaying away.

Swiss and Sunny and Aeon rolled their eyes.

“Hey what if we had a handstand off.” Swiss suggested.

“Id win. Because I'm so cool.” Aeon said and did the emo hair flip and looked sultry at his pack mates.

“You look like you just ate a lemon.” Sunny commented.

“Or something narsty.” Swiss quipped.

“Shut up you’re just jealous Im so cool.” Aeon replied, going into a handstand.

Swiss and Sunny joined him when Aether and Omega came into the room.

“What the hell is this.” Aether asked.

“We're seeing who can do a handstand the longest. And because I'm so cool IM going to win.” Aeon stated.

“Oh okay. Omega and I are betting on Sunny. She’s the coolest.” Aether replied.

Aeon pouted, he was totally the coolest.

In the end Swiss one. He decided to not be emo about it and they celebrated with shots of patron while twerking on the couches.

END OF CHAPTER ONE. JOIN US NEXT WEEK IN CHAPTER TWO: THE DEWNING.

A/N oh em geeee gaiz I hope you like.. enjoyed my lil fic and totally hit the like and subscribe button and if you do then you'll like, get my love and devotion :3 RAWR XD XD XD UWU

[belle--ofthebrawl]

Most holiest of holies, the first pick Aeon threw in the beginning of the Ritual (three or four songs in). It bounced right off my palm but my friend found it and gave it to me. I blew him so many kisses and he caught them and blew some back. Swoon.

Does anyone else who caught one have the urge to just. Hold the pick in their mouth. I don't know what's wrong with me. I've never felt this way before. I have to eat it but I can't. Maybe....maybe just a lick?

Everything I can remember about last night under the cut. (No pictures, head too empty) I could not be any happier with my experience and it was worth everything for the memories alone. I can not stress how much this community means to me. You are all wonderful people.

Enough sentimentality! Ghoul shenanigans ahoy!

-Cirrus, respectfully, is caked up so much more in person. God damn. As a feminist I don't want to objectify women. However, as an average horny Ghost fan,

-Rain staring at Aeon doing the flamingo leg and Aeon missing it completely :( (This gave me a fic idea...)

-Rain "ptueying' his balaclava out multiple times. Stop wearing it so tight.

-Rain staring off into space touching his lips like he was just kissed. This actually made me go insane. He could have also been covering his mouth in an extremely delicate gasp but there was no reason to just keep. Tracing over his bottom lip like that.

-I blew him kisses as well and he blew some back, but in a slow way like he was copying me without knowing what it meant? Creature 🩵. (Also nearly got a pick from him but it didn't work out. Next time!)

-Rain cutting off Dew's solo whine bit and Dew listening??? Without throwing a fit??? Just standing there with his arms up while Rain presumably bitches about the noise hurting his head.

-Dew visibly smacking his lips together after papa insulted him, slow head turn in Papa's direction doing a "pahpahpah" under his balaclava. May have mouthed wow. I don't think he was saying Papa, it was too slow and I've done the exact same gesture a few times when someone says something dumb to me but I don't have the words to explain it!!!

- Aurora is JUST as horny as the boys and I need more cameras on her please. I beg. Cumulus was my first love but Aurora is a menace and I adore her.

-THE LIGHTS HITTING JUST RIGHT SO I COULD SEE AEON'S EYES THROUGH HIS MASK??? UNNERVING???? HE WINKED??? Nut. (Cannot emphasize it enough how fucked up it was to see his eyes. I could not stop staring, everything else didn't exist, it was love at first sight except really really weird.) (My hand is going to file a restraining order but can you blame me.)

-Swiss was vile. Arched his back real good when he laid down and kept rubbing the tip of his shaker. Tickling it, polishing it, whatever you want to call it. He full on groped himself at one point and did a nice slow couple pumps right at crotch level. When he collapsed on his stage, the people around me thought he was hurt. I knew better. I. KNEW. BETTER. Whore.

-Catching Mountain's drumstick (USED, SLIGHTLY SWEATY) but looking down and realizing the little girl (14) next to me had caught the bottom half with her dad. It was her first Ritual and I couldn't be so cruel. Aeon's pic was more than enough. (Besides, her dad looked like he could snap me in half.) (👀)

-Dew flashing the YouSuck sticker at us so we made blowjob motions. He turned around and skedaddled so fast I don't know if he actually saw it but the timing was hilarious.

-made heart hands and "raise the roof" motions for Cirrus which she copied. ALMOST caught a paper airplane setlist from her but it went right over my fingertips. She made heart hands and patted her chest like she was sorry. (Next time!!)

-Both Papa and Dew checking on a little boy (~8 if I had to guess) at barricade, making little "You good? You okay? Yeah? Having fun? Thumbs up?" Gestures at him.

Dew having a little sitty-sit off the end of the left..podium? Swinging his legs and throwing mummy dust. The spotlight was right in my eyes so I nearly went blind staring at him. (Worth it.)

-Papa Ciriceing in our general direction and scolding us for too many kisses being blown

-befriending someone with a dead phone and no way to contact her ride outside the venue. I ran to my car to grab my portable charger and we passed time yelling about Swiss. She made it back safe as well 🩵

-Everytime Aeon so much as twitched in my direction.

[ellohcee]

@jaspvid-week​ day 7: free day - I decided to go with The One Where They’re Both Selkies, later down the line with their daughter and living their best lives bc they deserve it! And context for the fic: David used to be human in this one, but he chose to be turned selkie through magic~

Thanks so much for hosting another Jaspvid Week!

Extra doodle and a bit of the fic under the cut:

“Daddy!”

David looks up with a bright smile as the little girl runs along the shore with arms open, water splashing beneath her feet as she barrels towards him. He crouches down just in time to meet her, lifting Riley up into the air and catching her in his arms once more. 

“Woah, there’s my little pup! Did you have a good time with Dad?” he asks, settling the giggling child against his hip as Jasper finally catches up to them at a much more languid pace, an amused grin on his face as he walks through the damp sand where waves lap at his feet.

“Yeah! We saw the big seals in the kelp!” Riley says excitedly as Jasper wraps arms around David, meeting him in a kiss.

“Oooh, did you get to play?” David asks once they part.

“Yeah, we played chase and hide and seek!” the child exclaims, raking the wild mess of hair away from her eyes where it hangs in wet tangles. “Daddy, will you come with us next time?”

“Of course sweetheart,” David insists, giving her a kiss on the forehead, her eyes clenching shut as her face scrunches a little from her smile. “I was just tired today, I needed a little extra rest.”

“Do you feel better?” Jasper asks softly, rubbing his back, his stormy blue eyes regarding him warmly like they have so many times before, but also with that concern that will never fully be eased.

“Yes, I’m feeling okay now,” David smiles, leaning into his embrace thankfully.

Jasper hums softly, kissing him on the cheek. “Good, I’m glad we could give you some quiet time.”

“Thanks for watching her.”

“Course baby,” Jasper insists. “Are you hungry? Want me to go catch you something?”

“I’m fine for now, when I get hungry I think I’ll be ready to go for a swim anyway,” David assures him.

“May we escort you when you go out?” Jasper asks gallantly.

“Oh I would be honored,” David replies with a posh flair, leaning in to receive another kiss from Jasper as their daughter’s attention suddenly shifts to the next topic.

“Daddy I found you some pretty shells!”

“Did you sweetpea?” David smiles, watching as she digs around in a little pouch she’d once found washed up on the beach. The ocean held an endless supply of shells and rocks and pretty things that grab her interest, and she loves to keep her little treasure hoard close.

“Yeah, I got a shiny one like yours, I got a spiky one, I got a blue one, I got-”

David chuckles softly as she sorts through her finds, walking alongside Jasper as his love keeps an arm around his waist. They walk without a destination in mind, just walking to scope out their beach and maybe find a nice rock to enjoy the sun as it starts to set beyond the ocean.

“Squirt, show Daddy the weird thing you found,” Jasper suggests with a grin.

“Oooh the weird thingy-” Riley murmurs as she shuffles through shells and rocks. “Here!”

David clicks his tongue in interest as she holds up a battered object. “Now that is a weird thing indeed,” he says, even though he recognizes it in an instant, worn and torn as it may be.

“What is it??” Riley asks, her eyes shining in wonder and waiting for David to magically know because her Daddy always seems to know what these weird objects are. Things that aren’t shells or rocks or seaweed, things that don’t come from the earth or the ocean but from the human world, he always just knows.

“That is called a swiss army knife,” David says, smiling as his daughter looks back down at the object in wonder. The red is long since faded in the sun, further washed away by the salt and waves, the vague outline of a white symbol just barely visible.

“What’s it do?” Riley follows up.

“Well, let’s see,” David says as he slows, carefully passing their daughter to Jasper before taking the newest find from her. “This is a tool that humans use, or I should say many tools in one,” he explains, hooking his nail into one of the indents and carefully folding the knife out. He then unfolds a screwdriver, a bottle opener, a tiny saw that can’t be good for much more than a twig, a cork screw…

He smiles to himself. He’d owned a swiss knife once, or a different brand of one, carried it with him most everywhere, yet the only parts he could ever remember using were the knife and the screwdriver, and even then wishing it was a flathead instead of a phillips…

“Wow,” Riley says in wonder from where she sits in Jasper’s arms, eyes shining, reaching a hand out to touch it-

“Careful sweetpea,” David says softly, making her pause. “A lot of parts of this are sharp, and I don’t want you to hurt yourself,” he says, carefully folding all the pieces back in. “But this is your treasure you found, can I hold onto it for you, just for a little bit? And when you’re a little older, it will come back to you.”

Riley stares at the tool for a long moment, pouting a little, but she relents. She so badly wants to see what other little funny tools will unfold from the knife, but she knows that her father knows about these strange things. “Okay. You can have it.”

“Thanks pup,” David smiles, leaning in to kiss her head. “I’ll keep it safe for you.”

“How do you know about all these weird things?” the little girl follows up suddenly.

“Well my dear, I am a human historian,” David says playfully, earning an ‘oooooh’ from her even though he’s sure she doesn’t know the meaning of the word, catching an amused smirk from Jasper over their daughter’s head.

“But how??” Riley presses, tugging the sleeve of his pelt a little, incessant, unable to contain her curiosity.

“I lived among humans in secret for some time, under cover,” he says very seriously, earning a gasp of amazement while Jasper just barely stifles a snort of a laugh. “I learned a lot about them and their tools and culture. That’s why your Dad and I wear their clothes, in case we ever need to blend in,” he adds with a wink.

“Can I come too?? I wanna know about humans!”

“Maybe some day,” David soothes.

“Why some day? How far away is that?” the girl pouts as they keep walking.

“Blending in with humans takes a lot of training and learning about them, and of course we have to find you a disguise,” David says playfully, making her eyes light up again at the prospect of a game so fun. “You need a good disguise to go undercover, the human world is not always safe,” he warns.

“Especially for a little shrimp like you,” Jasper says affectionately, jostling her gently in his arms and earning a laugh as they keep walking, David stowing the knife into the pocket of his shorts.

He smiles fondly as Jasper and Riley banter back and forth, taking a deep breath and letting it out in a quiet sigh. He listens to the sound of his family, the soft cry of the gulls adrift on the breeze overhead, the gentle roar of the ocean waves breaking against rocks and rushing up the shore to wash away the footprints they leave behind.

Even as Riley suddenly squeals, squirming until Jasper sets her on the sand to run down into the waves to investigate a possible new treasure, he’s never felt more at peace. His hand finds Jasper’s as they pause to wait out Riley’s scavenging, meeting his love’s gaze with a warm smile as the other man leans closer to kiss him. He hums into the kiss, gently pressing his forehead against Jasper’s once their lips part as his eyes close, letting out a sigh.

“Love you,” Jasper whispers playfully, giving his hand a squeeze.

“Love you too,” David whispers back, enjoying this little moment between them.

“Daddy look what I found!”

They look up in amusement, waiting to see what their pup has found this time.

[muuurder]

Finally, someone who doesn’t baby Brahms all the time! I literally got giggly with your headcanons bc I think the same for him as well. A lot of people keep watering down his character as the “man baby who can’t cook, clean himself, or do this or that” and it’s kinda frustrating to see others not understanding his character more when writing about him, especially since there’s evidence he’s capable of a lot of things. I actually find it quite funny when people draw Brahms that way however when it comes to writing him… Anyways, I would love to hear more of your headcanons! It fills my hyperfixation on him (as there’s literally only 1-2 posts each day for Brahms).

Also if you don’t mind, you can skip this part if you want, what do you think about the theory of Brahms parents starting the fire in order to cover up what Brahms did? I’m staying on neutral ground for this but I do think it’s an interesting theory.

It’s funny you mention that theory 👀

So for me personally I don’t exactly think it was to cover it up, but I do think they started it. Personally, I retcon everything that is the boy 2 (though I loved the main character child who was mute. He did amazing but I think it was shit writing and a cop out because the actor who played brahms pulled out and for good reason too.) so without acknowledging the second movie here’s my personal take. I am currently a psych student (and while I am very much not an expert like I can’t stress it enough I’ve got Swiss cheese brain,) and from what little I’ve learned usually children who were at brahms age (8 years old) aren’t exactly capable of processing death. Obviously it varies case to case but on an overall scale, he’s not able to comprehend it. I personally think Emily cripps death was an accident. Maybe they went to play in the woods rough houses and she fell cracking her skull open. Or maybe she was picking at him (cause honestly emily looks older than brahms. Grant it girls tend to grow taller first compared to boys, but overall she looks like she’s 10.) and I personally think brahms has autism and/or bpd (I touched on it In another ask I did you might have to sift through my blog. Sorry it’s a chaotic enigma of everything I love lol.) but I think he might have been forced to hang around her for family ties and potential future relations (arranged marriages etc etc.) this was inspired a bit by a fic I read though I forget the name of it. If I find it I’ll post it. But I think he might not have enjoyed being around her as much as Everyone believed. His father describes him even at a young age as “odd” which to me feels like they had a son late in life and he wasn’t neurotypical. He is less sociable, doesn’t fit into their rich lavish life and fit the perfect image they have. So I think there was already resentment a little? So imagine their reaction if Emily was playing and picking at him, maybe he pushed her and she fell. After all her head was cracked open. If she fell and rolled off the rocks she hit it could look the same. A lot of Emily’s death is rumor and gossip in the town. Imagine brahms nudging her thinking she just fell asleep but she’s not moving. He gets freaked and runs back fussing she won’t wake up and she’s being mean. Alarm bells are going off for his parents. I think they didn’t like their son because they clearly hated it he deviated. They were strict, had a specific image and didn’t make much room for change that was clear as hell in how they treated greta and brahms if I’m honest. And I think it’s fucking weird his parents deadass didn’t tell anyone and participated and hosted a search party for a girl they likely knew was dead. I think they were more worried about how this would look and instead of getting their son help even if it was intentional (though again that’s still on them because they fucked up somewhere in parenting, though again I believe it was purely accidental) and with this new situation coupled with previous resentment over their son not being normal (aka I Headcanon his parents are ableist) they had their son wait somewhere. Locked him in, and didn’t realize he knew the walls because he explored in his free time. And they set it on fire before the police could show up to question the young boy. (Because btw he wouldn’t have been tried as an adult. He’s too young and again can’t even conceptualize death let alone fucking fake it like ???? That was his parents.) and I think they had no fucking clue he was alive until they heard him calling from in the walls now with burns. And even the. They didn’t get him medical attention they stuffed him in the walls and pretended he wasn’t there as he grew. They gave themselves a do over because they felt they fucked up and that’s why their son was how he was. Their love was and has always been fucking conditional. That’s my personal take of a theory.

As far as a Headcanon, I’m reaching a text limit so have this one: he about cried the first time he had a fresh meal out of the walls. Potatoes just aren’t the same after their frozen and he simply can’t go back. He loves hot home cooking (pair that with southern cooking he’s inlove lol)

[knives-and-lint]

first lines meme!

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line. Then tag 10 of your favorite authors

I was tagged by @bohemicns, (who is brilliant btw) and I’m going to do ten over twenty, because that feels like A LOT. 😋 But I will skirt the rules a bit and include chapters, if that’s okay..? (And perhaps more than a single line for context, because starting a fic with just one clipped sentence is seriously a habit with me...)

-

1. Orange Rhyming Dictionary, Nancy Drew, Ace/Nancy College AU

Of course the elevator is out of order.

The sign stating such is scribbled on in permanent marker, with 'always' written before out, and 'fucking' before order. 

-

2. Whispers in the Dark, Nancy Drew, Ace/Nancy, S2 speculation 

The sound is something you learn to take for granted.

Waves breaking on the coast. Whether it be rocks at the bottom of a cliff, or the endless miles of sand lined beaches, the crash and hiss echo across town just the same. An infinite supply of white noise your ears happen to catch among the bustle of any other day. Nancy hears a growl in it now. The low rumble of a sea creature calling for their heads. Pay the debt you owe, it seethes. Blood for blood. Bones for bones.

-

3. Smart Girl Detective, Nancy Drew, Ace/Nancy, High School AU

Ace isn't used to seeing other kids his age inside the police station.

But there she sits, on the wooden bench next to the chief's office, with an outfit that radiates she was found in a place no one was supposed to be. Strawberry blonde locks spill from underneath a solid black beanie, as gloved hands toss a flashlight back and forth between them, while the girl's eyes stare blankly at the shoes on her feet.

-

4. South of Heaven, CAOS, Sabrina/Weird Sisters, Damnation Part 3

Chapter 1: It's mildly disconcerting. To be surrounded by light. Enveloped in it. Swallowed by it.

Chapter 2: Sabrina learns the hard way, that while discovering she is fully capable of flight, the preexisting knowledge of how to land does not come with it.

Chapter 3: When Sabrina opens her eyes, it's not the wooden ceiling of their church she sees, rather the plain white of the Academy's infirmary.

-

5. 27, The Magicians, Quentin/Julia, Alice/Margo, Timeline AU, basically mini fics packaged as a whole fic 

Chapter 1: “I'm telling you,” Margo insists, hands on her hips, and staring up at the TADA sign on the opposite wall. “There's something there.”

Chapter 2:  Their eyes keep meeting from across the room.

Chapter 3:  “I was a goose!”

Chapter 4:  Julia is beginning to wonder, if a former student put a glamour on her favorite spot in the living room, because every time she sits there no one ever seems to see her. Lucky break, when Margo and Alice come rumbling down the stairs, clearly in the middle of an argument.

-

6. something to remind me, Supergirl, Red Daughter/Lena Luthor, Kara/Lena

This isn't the kind of thing she does regularly.

Drinking. Namely drinking alone, is very much something done regularly, but always within the confines of her office. Sitting by herself on a stool at the end of a high class hotel bar, however, is the exception to the rule. Something about the stress of the last few weeks, has left her feeling very much the caged bird, and a little voice inside began to cry for her to be let out.

-

7. Living in Sin, CAOS, Sabrina/Weird Sisters, Damnation Part 2

Chapter 1: Sabrina rolls onto her side, hand reaching across the mattress, and coming into contact with something that wasn't there when she fell asleep. 

Chapter 2:  Agatha is perched at the head of her bed, when Sabrina enters the room, book resting in her lap as she moves to flip a page.

Chapter 3:  Sabrina bursts into the dorm room, pulling the bag from her shoulder and slinging it on the bed, as Prudence spins around ready to defend herself from this unforeseen irruption in activity.

-

8. Play with Fire, CAOS, Sabrina/Weird Sisters, Damnation Part 1 

Chapter 1:  Sabrina adjusts the strap on her shoulder, bag bouncing against her hip as she walks through the woods, taking deep lung fulls of crisp autumn air.

Chapter 2: “So how does it work exactly?” Sabrina asks. They're standing among the headstones in the yard, eyes casting back to her body slumped along the bench back on the porch. 

Chapter 3:  “It's good to see you!” exclaims Roz, pulling Sabrina into a hug.

-

9. Rites of Spring, CAOS, Sabrina/Weird Sisters

The moon is a sliver above their heads, gouging itself into the night sky, shining just enough light to illuminate the trail. Pinkies all linked together, as is their custom, they walk along with faces forward anticipating the events to come. 

-

10.  Cherries in Brandy, CAOS, Sabrina/Weird Sisters 

When it happens, the moment itself is rather insignificant.

Sabrina and the Weird Sisters, loitering about after choir practice, singing random passages from the songbook for lack of something more interesting to do. Prudence has the most well rounded voice, but Agatha can carry a note for longer than all of them, and Dorcas can match a harmony as easily as snapping her fingers.

-

Well, like I said, my biggest pattern (habit) is using a single clipped sentence quite often. I guess I just imagine that I’m about to tell a friend a story, and try to say something brief but interesting enough to grab their attention. 

As far as a favorite, maybe the one for Whispers in the Dark. When you live near a large body of water, the sound of it is something you take for granted after awhile, and hearing a monster growl beneath the depths would definitely pique my interest if I come across it. (at least i hope it did) 

Cheers, Lucy! Am flattered I was included in your tags. As far as tagging others, I guess whoever sees this and wants to? I honestly don’t remember who follows me on here that writes, and that’s my swiss cheese memory for you. Apologies. 

[drawbauchery]

Search, Rescue, Pizza

fic by cartoons-tothemoon 

It wasn’t like Private was incompetent. He was a genuinely good agent, and as capable as anyone really expected a “new” recruit to be. There were even times where he was able to get the best of everybody else just because of his own understanding of their expectations of him and the skill he had when it came to reading his compatriots.

However, skill, experience, expectations didn’t determine how far removed from danger anyone could really be. If Skipper could be captured, even if it was during some off days, what does that say about the safety of everyone else?

Not the best of things to say the least.

———

Skipper didn’t know when Private was taken, but it had to be some time between walking home from a mission that left them overall in high spirits, and arriving at home only to realize something was off. Skipper generally lead the charge anyhow, and had been planning a movie night to celebrate the successful mission, but as he jammed his needlessly large bag of miscellaneous tools into the closet, he watched as Kowalski followed him to go to his lab for a quick five minute touch-up, and Rico walking as casually as he could so he didn’t look so whipped to Julien despite everyone knowing otherwise, but no Private.

Skipper peered through the doorway and glanced around their hall. Nothing. Nobody.

Maybe he got stuck talking to Marlene in the lobby? He was the one who delivered rent to her every month, he might just be getting a stern talking to right now, but it was nowhere near the end of the month just yet, and it’s not as if any noise complaints were reasonable at this point given that they practically had the floor to themselves.

“Hey, Rico. Private was behind you, right?” He asked, trying to sound casual, catching Rico seconds away from bolting to Julien’s room.

He shrugged. “Sh-should’ve been.”

“Should’ve been? Was he?”

“I d-don’t know, I w-wasn’t real-really thinking about it.” Rico sounded slightly a bit more terse at this, but he could tell that there was something about Skipper that seemed just a little off. Skipper wasn’t an inherently anxious person, but he was rather paranoid, and those two aspects tended to be a thin line to walk across. His bravado and confidence usually lead to him being perceived as more paranoid than anything else, but the tightrope he walked seemed to sway in the anxiety direction just then as Skipper began to tug at his lip, a nervous habit he must’ve picked up from SOMEONE, but Rico didn’t know who, though it did explain why Skipper seemed to be always sporting a split and bloody lip from a “recent scuffle,” something that seemed to make Private dote on him more than usual.

“L-Look,” Rico sighed. “He pr-probably got s-sidetrack-ked on the walk ho-home. He p-probably s-saw one of those dre-dresses or horse d-dolls that he l-liked and stop-stopped by a sh-shop. Sim-simple as that. Wouldn’t be the f-first time” On some level, Rico thought that statement was a lie, a reasonable lie, but still a lie nonetheless. However, the statement calmed Skipper down somewhat, worrying or speculating about where Private was, wherever he may be, didn’t find him. If he calmed down and remained rational, or at least, rational for him, he’d be able to plan from there, and find where he might be.

The question at this point was more to see if Skipper would take the bait for it and understand the hidden meaning. It’s not like Skipper looked to Rico for emotional guidance, and communicating with him was always far more difficult than someone as direct and open as Julien.

It seemed as if he did, at least, as he blinked once or twice and pulled his hand away from his mouth, opening and closing his fist a few times before digging through his pockets muttering, “he better have charged his phone this time around…”

Rico watched as Skipper nervously navigated his phone to contact Private, the only reason he did so was due to the fact he wasn’t sure if he was dismissed yet, and the last thing he really wanted to do was leave Skipper unstable like this as well as alone at a time like this.

Skipper pressed a button to put the phone on speaker, and listened as it rang.

RING….RING….RING…

Skipper felt his hand shake with minor violent tremors as he waited in anticipation. On some level, he knew it was stupid to be this worried. Rico was probably right. Hell, maybe Private even stopped by the theatre for some popcorn, you know, the authentic stuff for their movie night, and they were all going to have a good laugh about this as Skipper worried over nothing, before he’d make them run wind sprints and-

“Hello, you have reached the mailbox of the cutest cadet in your little cavalry. I’m afraid he can’t answer the phone at the moment, as he’s a little tied up at the moment, but please feel free to give me your message at the beep. I’m sure he would LOVE hearing it…

…BEEP.”

———

Savio was a unique sort of force to be dealing with in the first place, rather distant from the field that the task force played in, as well as being a threat they acquired as a team, rather than somebody’s illustrious past coming back to haunt them.

Which, being honest, was a breath of fresh air for Skipper.

However, it meant a new level of Hell for Private. Maybe it was because of how kind and innocent and unassuming he was back before they knew of Savio’s true cannibalistic, drug dealing, hitmen hiring nature, but he seemed to take a liking to him, and that’s quite honestly the last thing most people would want in the first place. The fact that he’d send him love letters and dead rats made the process all the more creepy, and Skipper knew this.

“D-Did he r-really r-record a v-voicem-mail mes-message in 2020?” Rico murmured. “The excess.” It was a withdrawn way of making light of the situation that they seemed to be stuck in, not in a mean, disrespectful way, just as a way to bring Skipper down from the state that he seemed to be in now, which rendered him as an irritable wreck, the littlest thing could set him off.

Skipper’s knuckles clutched his phone in his hands hard until they turned white, and Skipper eyed Rico. Rico didn’t know what he was looking for, advice? Consultation? Something? Anything? He was the wrong person for all these things and both of them knew it. So he gave him something he could work with. That’s all he could do, really.

“Y-you’ll be f-faster alone.”

That seemed to relax Skipper immensely. His grip loosened, he let out the breath he was holding, and he resolved to grab his coat and headed out the door. He gave a solemn nod to Rico, which was his way of saying, “hey, thanks for that back there,” and Rico returned it with a finger gun that said “no problem.”

It wasn’t very communicative, and it reeked of a weird machismo that didn’t permeate the group dynamic of anyone else in the group, but it was theirs, and it worked.

Skipper slammed the door and could be heard running down the hall, and Rico, a little shaken at the events that had occurred, simply watched the closed door with a blank expression on his face.

Skipper seemed off as of late. More secretive or less, he couldn’t even be certain of that. But, regardless, it wasn’t his place, and he was sure Private could handle it anyhow, so why try?

If Skipper really wanted to talk to him, he would. Not that Rico thought he was one of those people people talked to about things anyhow.

Rico pondered such a thing for a time, but shrugged it off to go see his lovely boyfriend.  There was only so much he could really do anyhow, so why stress? Was he worried if Skipper could handle it on his own? Maybe slightly, but it was also Skipper he was talking about. If he was the group’s Swiss army knife, Skipper was something else entirely. Not only capable of wielding the multi-tool, but so many other trades and tricks and hats that Rico was certain he didn’t know them all. That’s fine, he had some skills he hadn’t demonstrated to Skipper either. It’s not like he needed to know anyhow, that applied to him and Skipper. And besides, getting back to the matter at hand, If Julien was taken from him, he’d want to handle matters on his own, too. Nothing wrong with that.

Nothing wrong with keeping it in the family, so to speak.

———

If there was one sort of unsavory character Private loathed outside of your general garden variety thug and the occasional badger, it had to be Savio. If Skipper and Hans gave off the vibes of feuding ex-lovers, Private was sure he and Savio gave off the vibe of a drunk guy flirting with a girl at the bar who’s clearly uninterested. That’s because that’s basically what those two relationships were, especially since Savio had cracked open the wine coolers.

Unlike most of their “visits,” Savio wasn’t so much as present. Private figured he had to be somewhere, but, as far as he knew, three random rough-looking guys had pulled him down an alley, put a bag over his head, tied him up, and were dangling him over a dangerous pit that Private figured was filled with the usual dangerous pit things - spikes, alligators, just being really deep and dark in general - but such items couldn’t be seen in the darkness of the warehouse.

Private figured it was Savio the minute the bag was removed from his head. Savio always picked seedy warehouses for kidnapping, considering he usually owned the companies that held the wares in the first place, so he didn’t have to resort to abandoned factories and the ilk like every other kingpin in the criminal underworld did, but, it’s not like knowing this really helped him. If anything, it reminded him of the dire straits he was in.

Savio was fond of him. It was a creepy sort of fondness that never brought him any sort of comfort, but, that just meant that the warehouse men had no predilections about roughing him up before dangling over the pit, and boy, could he really feel it. Especially in his head, if he wasn’t so aware of the dangers of concussions, he’d be trying less hard to stay awake in the hopes that sleep would dull the pain on its own.

He didn’t know what Savio was looking for, or even if these guys were working for Savio at all. But he wish he did. Ransom, victim, damsel…If he knew his role, it’d be all the better for him to understand what was going on, and his fate.

If only he hadn’t dawdled so much, maybe he wouldn’t be in this situation. Maybe if he wasn’t just regarded as slow and silly and cute, he wouldn’t have been captured at all. It wasn’t like Skipper or Rico were kidnapped. They were regarded as too dangerous to risk such a thing. Even Kowalski was considered far more capable than he was worth.

And that just left Private.

Poor, sweet, innocent, naive, helpless Private.

If he loosened the ropes around his wrists, he’d fall into the pit. If he fell into the pit, he has no idea what was lurking for him down there, or if the fall would be enough to kill him alone. And it’s not like he could swing to avoid the pit entirely given that the idiot henchmen never removed the bag from his head, honestly, how unprofessional…

Though, given his lack of sight, he was able to focus more on what he could feel, and at the moment, he could feel the tension on the rope getting more taught as something seemed to put a weight on the rope. It made his heart stutter in his chest from the fear of the whole ordeal, but there was no point in making a sound outside of the startled gasp that was muffled by the canvas bag over his head.

He felt whoever was climbing down the rope climb down to his level, based on how they hung on the rope. They wrapped their legs around them, and seemed to have one hand on the rope, and the other…sawing away at the rope that held his tied-up wrists. Private felt the rope becoming looser with each methodical swing of the blade, but it didn’t make him any more certain that he’d be safe. He could still fall, and he had no idea who this really was either. He supposed he HAD to trust them, if only because of what the alternative would mean for him.

He felt the rope loosen at last, and even though he tried to swallow it, he couldn’t help but give out a short scream before the figure had caught his wrist, which alerted the henchmen based on their muttering.

“Well, well, well, looks like we got some unfinished business to tend to.”

“Skipper?”

The figure, now better known as Skipper, swung on the rope with Private in one hand and the rope in the other, landing on the other side on his feet, even if Private didn’t do the same, and seemed to charge forward to fight the henchmen. That’s how Private was able to recall the events anyhow, given that he was only able to get the bag off after Skipper had already had the one of the other henchman in a sleeper choke, and the other was down, leaving only one to go. As soon as the henchman fell to the ground, Skipper was able to avoid a swing from a pipe by moving in close, landing a kick to the stomach, a knee to the groin, and an uppercut to the chin to take the guy out for good.

Skipper shook his knuckles distastefully as he breathed a sigh of relief.

“That’s always a good way to blow off some steam,” he muttered, and turned around to be met with Private running into his arms for a hug, almost knocking him off his feet. There seemed to be something very poetic about the idea that he was able to take down men twice his size in practically an instant, but Private could knock him out, and he’d fall apart. Of course, Skipper wasn’t really a poet, so such a concept kind of eluded him.

After a few moments of holding him close, Skipper pulled back. Private’s injuries were luckily, rather mild. A split lip here, a large bruise on his forehead there, and some tears in his eye. All things rather easily fixed, though, despite this, Private avoided eye contact.

“Let’s get out of here.”

———

On their way home, they got sidetracked. The whole atmosphere seemed to be off since they left the place, with Private refusing to even look at Skipper, though holding on to his shirt with a wrought-iron grip and Skipper feeling the need to fidget in a way that didn’t register as suspicious. Private wasn’t a fan of when Kowalski began picking at his nails as a nervous tic, and worked hard to break him of the habit. He was sure that Private wouldn’t be a fan of something that actually caused him to bleed.

They stopped by a pizzeria. To clean their wounds, to decompress, and to grab a bite, considering that they were both rather certain that Kowalski, Rico, and Julien were probably all asleep on the couch right now, even if they didn’t mention it to the other. Private sat down at a booth and after Skipper ordered two slices of pizza for the two of them and a lemonade for Private, he returned to the table with a small first aid kit to care for their wounds.

Private seemed tired. He seemed distant. This seemed very unlike him. He usually bounced back from kidnappings and similar incidents no problem, but tonight…felt different. Hurt differently. Skipper dabbed at Private’s forehead with more hesitance than he had before. Private sipped his drink.

“Are you alright?” Skipper asked, pulling back.

Private looked at him for the first time that night and nodded slightly.

“Are you sure?” He asked with more hesitance. These were very hard questions for him to ask in the first place, but the last thing he wanted was to neglect Private at a time like this, even if he considered this whole thing to be outside of his wheelhouse.

Private hesitated, but nodded again.

Skipper took a stab at the issues. “Kidnapping gotcha’ down?”

Private mumbled something before slumping onto the table.

“What was that?”

“I’m not worth this!” He said, a little louder than necessary before returning to his position at the table and crying. Skipper jumped at the loud response, but felt his heart go out to Private when he realized what was going on.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not worth ki-kidnapping…I’m not WORTH rescuing…This all happened because I was slow and distracted and, and-“

Skipper carefully lifted his face off the table, in a compassionate move that surprised even him.

“You should be worrying about yourself! Not me!” Private accused. “You look like you got totaled in that fight, your knuckles are bruised, your lip is split, your face is scratched, and it’s all my fault!” Private leaned back and continued to sob into his hands. Skipper brought his finger to his lip in a self-soothing motion. He didn’t know what to say, he didn’t know what to do…What would Private do if this was him? Would he ever be in a scenario where this would be him? Would he even be able to face him like that…

Skipper sighed, quietly. He got up from his side of the booth, and moved to Private’s side, where he had himself pressed up against the wall. Skipper bumped his shoulder against Private’s to make his presence known, but that didn’t stop the crying. What could he say to comfort him? That if he wasn’t taken a civilian would be? That would be comparing him to a civilian instead of a fully trained soldier in his own right…he wouldn’t dream of demeaning him like that…he pondered more.

“I saved you because I wanted to,” was what he settled on after an agonizing set of minutes. He stared straight ahead as he said it, not trusting himself to look at Private. This got Private to lower his hands and sniffle, not cry.

Skipper continued on. “If I really thought you weren’t worth it, I wouldn’t have rescued you the first time that this happened. But you are worth it, so I-we do.”

Private wiped his eyes.

“You’re valuable to the team in ways we don’t often acknowledge. You’re people smart, you know what people are thinking when I myself…can be a tad insensitive. You think outside of the box, I can’t think of how many missions were saved because you think so differently from us. You’re artistic. You’re sensitive. You’re compassionate.”

Skipper turned to Private then, seeing him staring at him with big blue eyes so filled with…something for him. “Quite frankly, why wouldn’t I want to save you?”

Private blinked a few times, and Skipper was nervous that he was going to cry again, but he simply rested his head on Skipper’s shoulder and closed his eyes.

“Thank you.”

Skipper himself, once he realized the situation he was in, contemplated things. He grabbed a sip of the lemonade, wincing when he remembered the cuts on his lips. He was going to have to get used to that. Private didn’t seem to respond in the slightest to the stinging sensation. He must’ve been tired.

Skipper sighed. What a night. What a town. What a place for them to be.

A few minutes later, some greasy teen who was clearly giving Skipper a look that read something Skipper didn’t understand, or didn’t trust, dropped off two paper plates with some greasy pizza on them, and walked back to the counter.

He was perceived. He was perceived and he was known. He didn’t know what he was perceived or known as, but he was nonetheless. It didn’t matter what they were or who or their situation or anything because this teen clearly had their own their own ideas. Surely, they must. And yet, the world didn’t stop.

The world didn’t end. Sure, the world seemed to be holding its breath, but that was purely because it was dawn. What about the world didn’t seem to be at a standstill at dawn?

Well, if the teen had their own ideas about who they were and who they must be, then was it so wrong for Skipper to allow himself to follow such roles? To conform to the ideals of a single member of the masses just once?

Of course, that was the justification he gave himself in order to allow himself to stroke Private’s head in a soothing, comforting sort of way, after he had long since fallen asleep.

The city that never slept seemed to be allowing them to have their moment, just this once. Skipper never felt more tired, and yet more awake at the same time, as he made a silent vow to make sure that Private never felt that he wasn’t worth saving ever again.

(Gosh, I’m so sorry this took so long! This was supposed to be for Valentine’s day believe it or not. I’m glad I got to show Rico and Skipper being buds, in which their dynamic is like they���re straight dudebros, but also gay which makes them more aware that they’re doing this machismo thing on some level? Like they clearly care, but they also don’t want it to look like they care due to some baggage they have surrounding masculinity or something? I don’t know how to describe it, I think that might be a fun dynamic to play with.  Also it’s MY fanfic and I get to project the nervous tics! As well as applying stuff from my Tae Kwon Do class! Also this was supposed to be way less…sad? I dunno. I don’t know much at all.)

(Also! Apparently I’ve written 15,000 words of pining penguins? Wow…So this is my life now, huh? Could be worse.)

[thesurielships]

the perp

@acotarauweek, day 7: free au.

This is a police au that I hope will grow into a multichapter fic. But as I seem to suck at writing those, there will be no promises.

Ps: there is so much dialogue I legit had to look up “synonyms for say” hahaha

Word count: 1.7k

Part 2 | Masterlist

“So, ladies. How tall was this man?”

“I’d say… 6 feet?” Dora answered.

“He had to be at least 6’3”,” the woman at her right –Stella, Feyre read on her badge– corrected.

“He was just the right height for the perfect hug: his chin on the top of your head, your nose nuzzling the crook of his neck.”

Feyre gave Clover a weird look. It wasn’t every day that the victim swooned over the criminal. “How about his physique? Was he of average build? Lean? Overweight?”

“He looked like the kind of guy who could fuck you standing up with nothing but those muscled arms holding you,” Stella smirked.

Feyre choked on air. “So he was well built?”

“He looked like he worked out,” answered Dora, her primly folded hands in her lap a stark contrast to the glazed look in her employee’s eyes.

“Oh yes, he definitely does,” Stella sighed dreamily. “He probably has the stamina of a stallion.”

This time, Feyre chose to ignore the comment. “What color was his skin?”

“Brown,” “Olive,” “Caramel,” the three ladies answered at once, then started laughing at their different replies.

“I wouldn’t call his skin tone brown,” Clover said in a soft voice. “It makes it sound dull. His skin was shiny and seemed well moisturized. It was olive.”

“Caramel, I say,” Stella contradicted. “Exactly like The Morrigan’s skin. You know, the famous singer?”

Clover leaned forward to look at Stella. “The one who sang Girls like Girls like Boys?”

“The one who interrupted her conservative father mid-speech in his presidential campaign to come out of the closet?” asked Dora.

“Yes,” Stella nodded. “It was dope.”

“The song or the coming out?” Clover inquired.

“Both, of – ”

“Ladies,” Feyre interrupted, ignoring Stella’s glare. “Let’s focus on our perp, shall we?”

“Of course, officer,” Dora replied, her hands still firmly folded in her lap.

“So, our perp was tall, well built, with brown skin,” Feyre summarised, her pointed look warning the women against any frivolous interruption.

They nodded.

“What color was his hair?”

“Black,” Dora replied immedialtely.

“It gleamed blue in the sunlight,” Clover put in.

“I thought the perp broke into your shop at night?”

“Well, yes,” she conceded, her face flushing. “But it looked like it would glow blue in the sun.”

“I agree,” nodded Dora. “It had a blue tint that I would kill for,” she added in her monotone voice.

“Yas, girl,” interjected Stella. “I was so jealous. I would’ve given him all my money in exchange for his hair. And did you see his brows?”

“They were on fleek,” replied Clover.

“No way he doesn’t wax them,” affirmed Stella.

“I’d say he threads them,” said Dora.

Feyre jotted down groomed brows under tall man, muscles, brown (caramel) skin and black (gleams blue??? lol) hair.

“What about his eyes?”

The three women all seemed to zone out at the question.

“Ladies?”

“His eyes were like the night sky on the winter solstice, seen from my grandmother’s cottage in the countryside,” Clover said with a sigh.

“They were blue,” Dora clarified.

“Blue? More like deep violet, the color of my favorite vibrator,” Stella said in a sleazy voice, winking at Feyre.

Feyre frowned. She was honestly starting to feel a little sorry for this guy.

“Any other characteristic features? A special scar? A tattoo, maybe?”

“Yes! He did have a tattoo,” Dora replied.

“It peeked out the top of his shirt,” Stella said.

Clover nodded. “Black whorls that spanned the top of his chest. They looked like marks of an ancient language.”

“Okay. That will be all for the physical description. Now tell me about the break in.”

“We already told detective Tamlin all about it.”

Feyre shot Stella a sweet smile. “So you did. But I am the primary officer on this case, and detective Rosetool is on another case of his own, so I’m going to need you to answer some of my questions.”

“No problem, detective,” Dora said quickly, subtly pinching Stella’s side. It was not at all subtle as Stella almost jumped off her seat with a loud yelp.

Feyre and Dora paid her no heed.

“It happened yesterday. On Saturday, December 11th, to be precise. Correct?”

“Yes. We closed the shop at 9pm, like we always do, and stayed inside to clean up. At about 9:30, I heard a loud noise.”

“Something crashed in Dora’s office,” confirmed Clover.

“We immediately thought it was a thief who wanted to steal money from the safe. I keep weapons here – ”

Feyre lifted a brow.

“Nothing too lethal,” Dora reassured her, though Feyre didn’t miss the faint smirk pulling at the edge of her lips. “A few baseball bats, Tasers, pepper spray…”

“And a gun in Dora’s office,” added Clover, avoiding her employer’s glare.

“Anyway,” Dora went on. “We each grabbed a baseball bat, Stella took the Taser and Clover got the pepper spray –”

“You only had a baseball bat?”

“Of course not. I always have a knife strapped on my thigh at all times.”

Feyre suppressed a smile. “Naturally.”

She could just see her co-worker Amren nodding with approval. “What kind of woman doesn’t have an axe?” she had once asked her, and if that wasn’t Amren in a sentence, she didn’t know what was.

Dora’s chin rose slightly in defiance. Her hands were still folded in her lap. The woman’s stillness was unnerving.

“We ran into the office, screaming, hoping to scare the thief into a heart attack.”

This time, Feyre couldn’t stop her smile. “I suppose that tactic didn’t work for you?”

“Not one bit,” nodded Dora. “But he did drop my purse.”

“He was holding your purse?”

“Yes. Would you believe it? The safe was right there, wide open –”

Feyre was incredulous. “Why was the safe open?”

“Why would I close it? It’s in my office, and I always lock the door.”

“Of course,” the detective murmured, flabbergasted.

“He completely ignored the safe, and was instead looking through my purse.”

“Was there something valuable in it?”

“Aside from my mostly empty wallet, my chap stick, my car keys, my home keys, my safe keys, my dog house’s keys, my ex’s spare car keys –”

“Aside from the keys,” Feyre interrupted Dora’s monologue.

“my daughter’s bedroom keys,” Dora went on, “and my Swiss knife, nothing worth stealing.”

Feyre nodded, quickly scribbling all of the information down in her notebook. “What did he do when you caught him?”

“He said hello –”

“He didn’t say it, he purred it,” rectified Stella.

“He purred hello,” Dora amended, “and apologised for inconveniencing us. Then he jumped out the window.”

“And disappeared into the night, swallowed by the shadows,” Clover finished in a dramatic undertone.

“What did he take from your purse?”

“Nothing. I searched all of my office and nothing was missing.”

Feyre’s gut was starting to hum with anticipation, excitement buzzing through her at the prospect of an intriguing case. “Interesting. You gave your purse to forensics, right?”

“Yes, but you won’t find any fingerprints on it because he was wearing gloves.”

“Leather gloves,” Clover put in.

“Do you have any surveillance cameras in the shop?”

“Yes, but they were off.”

Feyre wanted to scream. “Why?”

“I’m camera shy,” mumbled Clover.

“They always get my bad side, for some reason,” Stella added.

“And I trust my customers and my employees,” finished Dora.

“Great,” Feyre said, standing up. “Thank you for your assistance, ladies.”

They nodded in response.

She looked at Dora. “Madam, I’ll keep you updated about the details of the case.”

“Thank you, detective,” she replied as she shook her hand.

***

Half an hour later found Feyre back in the precinct. She was practically giddy with excitement. Rare were the cases that required her to sketch a perp, but when it happened, it was always her favorite part of the investigation. Imagining the details of someone’s face based on multiple opinions was fun, because it wasn’t so much guessing as calculating the correct features to make a harmonious face. It was also very based on instinct and trial and error, as it could take her hours and multiple attempts to come up with a drawing that felt right. This perp, with his allegedly blue hair and violet eyes, would be a great challenge to tackle.

She got off the elevator, humming a crooked tune. She found Tamlin standing at her desk, hands planted on his hips, his expression stern. “Feyre, you’re late.”

Her mood soured. “It’s Detective Archeron to you, Rosetool.”

“Feyre, that’s enough. How much longer is this phase going to last? I already bought a house and it’s ready to welcome you as its mistress.”

“Tamlin,” her voice was quiet but full of venom as she had to repeat what she’d already told him multiple times since their break up three months earlier, “being in charge of a household does not interest me, especially not yours. And stop ambushing me in the precinct. I do not answer to you.”

He rolled his eyes. “Quit the charade, sweetheart. What else are you gonna do with your life? Be a cop?” he snorted dismissively.

Feyre’s anger flared. “I am a cop,” she said as she twisted his arm behind his back and slammed him against the wall near her desk. She pressed her gun at the base of his spine and whispered in his ear, “You would do well to remember that.”

She kept him there for a few delicious seconds; savoring how his pulse quickened against the fingertips she dug into his forearm.

When she let him go, he collapsed on the floor, hand on his heart as he struggled to catch his breath. His glare was a hot brand on her back as she sat at her desk and grabbed her sketchbook.

She didn’t spare him a glance as she said in a level voice, “Piss off, Rosetool. There is some police work I need to do. And next time, stay off my cases.”

How long it took him to leave, she would never know. She had already started drawing the mysterious man and she watched, enraptured, as stroke after stroke tendrils of darkness swirled around his feet and wings grew out of the shadows behind his back.

Tag list:   @joyceortiz13 @bailey-4244 @quakeriders @standbislytherin @mariamuses @ignite14 @1800-fight-me @velarian-trash @rhysands-highlady @queenblueoffire @rowaelinforeverworld @feeoly @buckybvrnes @dayanna-hatter @shadowstar2313 @goldfishh20 @sleeping-and-books @crackedship @your-high-lady @thesirenwashere

[swiss-mrs]

#WEIRD☆GIRL

[summylise]

His Secret Santa

Hi @ceryneiian !!! I was your (horribly untimely) Secret Santa!! I am SOOO sorry that this is late and thank you so much for understanding. This is part 1 of a 2 part one-shot (two-shot? but not really?) that I wanted to get out so I wouldn’t be COMPLETELY disappointing you. Anyway, here ya go!! (and @chatnoirinette​ I have NOT forgotten about your present. Once I finish this fic I will immediately binge your fic I legit can’t WAIT).

Summary: Adrien hadn’t had a real Christmas in years and his friends know it. Luckily, the trio has a plan for this. But will they be able to keep the secret from him?

Rating: K+ - T (they don’t swear but I usually do this just in case)

@mlsecretsanta​

            It had been about five years and his father had yet to acknowledge the existence of Christmas. He understood why, of course; it had been his mother’s favorite holiday, one that she wasn’t afraid to go all out for. But that didn’t lessen the sting he felt every time the season rolled around.

         Adrien Agreste stood leaning against his wall of windows staring out at the various Parisian houses littered with lights and decorations and laughter. And while a part of him longed for that sense of joy they felt, another ached at the memory of his mother standing on her tiptoes trying to hang one last ornament on their way too extravagant tree. He wished he could go outside and play in the powdery snow that blanketed the streets and his back garden but knew that the second he’d step outside; his father would scold him and degrade him for being so childish and dirtying himself.

         Going to school the following day just made it all the harder for him. He’d had to hear all about how Alix’s dad was taking their family to Egypt to see how they celebrated the holiday and how Chloe’s family was going on their first vacation into the Swiss Alps. He’d been happy for them, ecstatic even; Chloe hadn’t had a proper Christmas with her mom in years and they’d finally be a family again. But the thought of her huddling around a fire with hot chocolates and warm blankets while snow quietly fell outside made his gut sink. He’d been waiting for five years for his mother to come back, to finally celebrate Christmas like they used to. And the more days that passed in her absence, the less likely it was that he’d ever get that again.

His thoughts were interrupted by a buzz in his pocket.

Nino’s eyes widened at the message. With shaking fingers, he opened up a different conversation.

“Nino? Alya? Adrien?” piped up Madame Bustier from the head of the class. “Please put your phones away until the end of class. You may want to pay attention unless you plan on failing the final tomorrow.”

The trio almost slammed their phones on the table in unison with a force that had Marinette squeaking awake.

“And Marinette makes four. Perfect!” she added with a clap of her hands and a sweet smile on her lips. She turned her attention back to the chalkboard. “Now. Back to Shakespeare…”

                                                           ~~~

The second the bell rang, Adrien snatched his bag and turned to Nino. Or rather the spot where Nino was two seconds early. He tilted his head to see Alya missing as well, the ends of her hair slipping out the door leaving a stunned, and still slightly groggy, Marinette staring after her. 

“What’s up with them?” he said still staring at the door.

When he didn’t hear a response, he glanced back at the girl. And instantly regretted it.

His eyes caught on the way her long lashes flashed across her sky blue eyes. Despite being rimmed with red, the deep blue shimmered in the early afternoon beams. The way those beams caught on her dark locks made them look almost like the color of midnight that poured past her shoulders. He’d noticed that in the last few years, she’d decided to lose her signature pigtails instead choosing to let her hair fall freely. When questioned, she’d pouted in a way that had his heart lurching and said that she’d preferred coming to school on time as opposed to spending time on her appearance. 

Honestly, she could have fooled him. As each day passed, she’d seemed to shine just a little bit brighter and his heart was there for each and every second of that shimmer.

Except for the second she’d turned her attention onto him. Like she did now. Wait…

“I’m sorry what?” he said realizing she’d been talking to him for a little while.

Marinette sighed with a smile and repeated herself.

“It’s nothing. Just said that I didn’t know. That’s all,” she said with a shrug. He must have paused for a bit too long or had a weird look on his face because her eyes widened and she piped up again.

“Ohmygod that sounded so rude. I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it like that-”

“No! No you didn’t you’re fine,” he said shaking his hands, a deep flush rising in his cheeks. “I didn’t take it like that at all no you’re fine. I’m...sorry if I gave you that um impression-”

“Oh! No, you, uh you didn’t I just didn’t want you to- I mean sound rude or—” Marinette shoved a  strand of hair behind her ear and snatched her bookbag. “Um nevermind I’ve got a study to test — I mean test to library—um I mean—”

“Yeah yeah me too,” Adrien added with a cough, grabbing his own bookbag. The room had suddenly gotten really hot. “The exam phys—I mean physics exam...thing…”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah...so um...I’ll see you tomor-” Marinette hit smacked into the corner of his desk with a wince. “I mean later? In class? For the um—”

“Exam.”

“Yeah! That guy...I better—”

“Yeah um me too.” He turned and smacked his head on the doorframe causing Marinette to let out a small snort.

“So..bye—” she let out, slipping through the doorway before she could finish.

“Y-yeah um bye...”

Adrien stared at the door for a second longer before finally breathing. 

And promptly facepalmed before racing to the men’s locker room. Study to test? Really, Adrien? 

Adrien smacked the back of his head against a locker and slid down to its base. Just a couple more days and you’ll be on break. A break you should be spending with your friends and not your father. 

He slid his phone out of his pocket.

Adrien let out a breath, Nino’s words rolling around his head. He was right; it was basically impossible for Marinette to think badly about one of her friends, let alone think they were weird. He knew Nino was right but that still didn’t make him feel much better. Knowing him, he’d say something stupid, mess up his words, and look like an idiot in front of her. It hadn’t been hard before; he’d been normal around her for years but for some reason, lately, he’d been unable to finish the simplest of sentences instead finding her mere presence distracting. 

The ringing of the class bell shook him from his thoughts.

Crap the exam!

                                                            ~~~

Marinette was already shaking by the time Adrien made it to her. Normally, she’d be fine talking with him...around other people. When it came to one-on-one? She’d rather take on Papillion, Mayura, and about twenty akumatized baddies all at once than face Adrien alone. 

She knew she should be used to the feeling she got around him by now seeing as it had been about five years since they first met. But there was just something about him that made her heart skip every time their eyes met. Maybe it was the way that puberty hit him like a freight train. Maybe it was the way that he’d gotten closer to her throughout the years. Or maybe, just maybe, it was the way she swore she’d noticed he’d gotten just a bit more clumsy, a bit more red-faced around her.

Now she stood at the front door of her high school, wishing she were anywhere but right in front of the man who’d had her heart.

“Hey, Mari,” he said with a casual wave of his hand. Her face broke into a smile at the nickname and waved back a greeting. “How’s it hang-going? How’s it uh going?”

Marinette slid her eyes to the floor and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. She shrugged.

“I mean it’s uh it’s going,” she said with a nod at nothing in particular. “How’re you going? I mean how are you doing?”

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck. Deep breath, Adrien. You’re fine. “It’s, I mean it’s exam season so uh going as good-er-well as it can haha…” he trailed off.

They both stared at the patches of snow at their feet for a beat. 

What did he want to say to her? Was he going to ask her out? Nah, not likely. She’d been pining after him for years, what was one more day going to make? But he’s been acting weird for the past few months and now he wants to talk to her alone? It had to be about classes or exams or something.

What was he supposed to say?  How would he start it off? ‘So you doing anything over break and want to hang out’? No that sounded too much like a one-on-one date type thing. Did he want it to be a date thing? No? Yes?

Luckily, Marinette was the first to talk.

“So…” she trailed off after a moment. “How’d your exam go?”

Might as well start it off casual and try and at least pretend like she had herself together. 

“I’m not great-I mean I’m g-great but the exam...wasn’t really…” he trailed off. Marinette giggled, his own nerves putting hers at ease. Adrien’s heart skipped, forcing him to take a breath and finish his thought. “Wasn’t exactly expecting those elasticity questions so we’re just going to cross our fingers and hope for the best.”

“Yep same here. I thought I’d studied enough, but I guess I should have stayed up a bit later going over particle motion.”

“True but think of it this way,” Adrien said with a point of his finger. “If you’d stayed up late, you might have slept through that review session.”

Marinette guffawed. “Yeah like those review sessions really mattered. I swear she didn’t put any of those questions on the exam. I’m pretty sure she just did that to make us think we had a chance. Looks  like I’ll have to retake the class next year.”

Adrien chuckled, the sound spreading Marinette’s grin wider.

“Nah,” he said. “I think you’ll be fine. You’re a lot smarter than you think.”

Marinette’s grin dropped, instead parting into a soft O. She lifted her eyes to his and the look she gave him like she was looking for the joke, a lie, a hint of sarcasm. But he’d meant it and he hoped she could tell.

Oh god was that too forward?

“Th-thank you,” she said faintly. “Adrien.”

And the way she said his name gave him chills. Like it was the sweetest word she’d ever had on her tongue. Adrien blinked.

“Yeah, no uh no problem,” he said, heat rising in his cheeks. 

Another beat of staring at snow-covered boots and gently falling snow.

Now or never Adrien.

He took a breath.

“Hey, are you—”

“So I was thinking—”

They both froze. Stared at each other. Then burst into giggles.

“You first,” he said with an edge of laughter.

“No, you.”

Adrien stopped mid-laugh, his smile dropping. Here goes…

“Were you doing anything over break? Like do you have any...um...free time? Or something?”

Marinette’s laugh died out.

Did she hear that right? Was Adrien Agreste asking her if she was free? To hang out with him? Was it like just them? 

“What?” she asked.

Crap.

“Oh uh, I was just uh curious because Alya and Nino won’t be in town and my dad has me scheduled for the whole week or at least a majority of the week, and it’s break and Christmas and, I don’t know, I guess I just wanted to hang out with.” He paused, meeting her gaze before forcing out the final word. “A friend.”

There was the catch. A friend. Just as a friend. Her heart snagged. She knew she’d been looking too far into it. She shouldn’t have let herself overthink it or had Tikki convince her of what she’d thought was going on. She swallowed and forced a smile to her face.

“Y-yeah um...I-I mean I’m pretty busy the whole week too with the whole bakery and Christmas season and everything so…”

Even if he didn’t return her feelings, she still couldn’t stand that look he was trying so hard to hide. 

“But, I think we’re closed on Christmas Eve? Or we close early or something? My parents are trying to wrap up early so they can relax before Christmas morning,” she said. “W-would you like to come then maybe? I don’t think my family will mind, especially if it’s y-I mean a friend.”

His eyes lit up at the suggestion and her heart couldn’t help but do painful somersaults. She bit the inside of her cheek. Just a friend, Marinette.

A friend. The word hit him like a ton of bricks. His gut had told him this was the case, but he didn’t want it to actually be real. He knew what Plagg had been saying was too good to be true. 

He took a breath.

He could practically hear Plagg right now. ‘It’s better to at least enjoy the smell of sweet cheese than to not be around it at all.’

“Yeah! I’d love to. That sounds...nice,” he said through the same faked smile he’d perfected over the years. 

Even if he was only considered a friend, he’d still be hanging out with someone he cared about not only over break but for the holiday as well. Despite the bittersweet taste left in his mouth, he left that day a small shade brighter. His mother had always emphasized the need to surround yourself with loved ones this time of year. If he wasn’t allowed the tree or presents, at least he’d have that.

[amara-among-the-stars]

Here it is, the greatest crack fic ever (lie)

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT THIS IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE COHERENT OR MAKE ANY FUCKING SENSE. Its a crack fic. Its supposed to be fucking horrible. Anyways. Have some laughs damn it.

Mountain heard a crash followed by a loud screeching noise. Sighing he hefted himself away from the tree that was in his room. It was winter and all he wanted to do was become one with his tree.

“What the shit is happenin here?”

Mountain asked. Dew and Ifrit were on the floor of the kitchen.

“IFRIT PUT ICE DOWN MY SHIRT AND IT WAS TOO FUCKING COLD!!!1111” Dewdrop screamed. Mountain sighed.

“I'm going back to my tree. Bye bitches.” He said and skipped away.

Dew pouted and Ifrit just grinned, handing him a glass of milk.

“The fire ghoul cant handle my spiceyness.” Ifrit quipped.

“Oh my satan shut the fuck up.” Dew growled. Ifrit shrugged and walked away.Later on Swiss walked into the living room but walking on his hands.

“Why are you walking like that Swass?” Rain asked.

“Papa said my legs were too hot (hot damn) so im walking on my hands.” Swiss replied.

“Did.. did you just whisper the words hot damn?” Rain asked.

“No. (Yes)” swiss whispered.

“Omg thats so hot of you.” Rain replied, fanning himself. Swiss laughed and flopped onto the floor. His hands hurt. It was time to listen to sad emo music about it.

“Hey Alexa play Oops by Yung Gravy.” Swiss asked.

Rain and Swiss sang along and was very emo about it. Aeon yelled at them for it and then changed it to Blood Orange by Berried Alive.

“Omg this music video is like sooooo weird.” Rain complained.

“Omg like. Shut up Rainey. Its emo fruit time.” Aeon teased.

Out of NOWHERE Sunshine popped up.

“ALEXA PLAY BARBIE GIRL BY AQUA.” She yelled, doing a front walkover. Rain jumped and started crying because he was so startled by Sunny RUINING emo time.

“Im leaving you fuckets to go swim in the lake. You ruined Emo Time!” Rain huffed and got up and walked away with his emo saunter, sashaying away.

Swiss and Sunny and Aeon rolled their eyes.

“Hey what if we had a handstand off.” Swiss suggested.

“Id win. Because I'm so cool.” Aeon said and did the emo hair flip and looked sultry at his pack mates.

“You look like you just ate a lemon.” Sunny commented.

“Or something narsty.” Swiss quipped.

“Shut up you’re just jealous Im so cool.” Aeon replied, going into a handstand.

Swiss and Sunny joined him when Aether and Omega came into the room.

“What the hell is this.” Aether asked.

“We're seeing who can do a handstand the longest. And because I'm so cool IM going to win.” Aeon stated.

“Oh okay. Omega and I are betting on Sunny. She’s the coolest.” Aether replied.

Aeon pouted, he was totally the coolest.

In the end Swiss one. He decided to not be emo about it and they celebrated with shots of patron while twerking on the couches.

END OF CHAPTER ONE. JOIN US NEXT WEEK IN CHAPTER TWO: THE DEWNING.

A/N oh em geeee gaiz I hope you like.. enjoyed my lil fic and totally hit the like and subscribe button and if you do then you'll like, get my love and devotion :3 RAWR XD XD XD UWU

[tagsecretsanta]

Belated gift from @gumnut Logic to Emma on Facebook

Thank you Nutty for filling in last minute with this wonderful piece, both I and Emma truly appreciate it! 

As always, Secret Santa does not own this piece, full credit goes to the author mentioned above!

Title: Happy New Year

A TAG Secret Santa fic

Author: Gumnut

27 - 30 Dec 2018

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: Not the average new year’s eve.

Word count: 3439

Spoilers & warnings:

Timeline: Standalone

My prompt was: How the Tracy family celebrate Christmas and new year

Author’s note: Okay, this fic is a little weird and I’m not sure it answers the prompt, but it is what happened when I started typing. I hope you enjoy it anyway. And I hope you all have a fantastic new year :D

Disclaimer: Mine? You’ve got to be kidding. Money? Don’t have any, don’t bother.

-o-o-o-

Ten...the match caught and flickered in the breeze. She caught it, wrapping it with her hands, nursing it to the candle, and letting out a breath as flared into life.

Module Four hit the surface of the North Pacific Ocean and immediately started rolling in the swell. Thunderbird Two’s heavy-duty spotlights tracked it as it was tossed about.

“Gordon, you okay?”

“Riding it out. Though I have to say, I’m glad I didn’t over indulge at dinner.” Virgil watched as all the module indicators flicked to green. “We are go for module deployment.”

“Make it fast. That swell is unpredictable.” He would have preferred to have lowered TB4 using the grapples, but the wind gusts were more problematic than the swell. As if to reassure him of his decision, TB2 was suddenly swiped sideways. He compensated hurriedly, bringing her back to stability, her lights once again training on the module. It was the better of two poor choices.

The undersea habitat didn’t have a choice, so here they were, in the pitch dark of the last hour of the year, attempting to fish more scientists out of the deep.

The weather was not cooperating.

Gordon lowered the ramp, and with a speed he would not usually deploy, shot off into the cold and turbulent water.

Virgil grunted as the wind caught his girl again.

Module retrieval was going to be a bitch.

-o-o-o-

Nine...she took the first candle from its holder and gently tilted it towards its brother. The two wicks touched and flickered. The two became one.

Space is silent, but it isn’t. There is always some kind of machinery functioning to keep life alive. Whether it be Thunderbird Three herself, or his own helmet, Alan was always accompanied by sound.

At this very moment, it was his own swearing.

“Goddamnit, move!”

But the airlock refused to obey. Likely fused shut by the explosion that had set the ship adrift, it was between him and the three remaining life signs. He had to get it open, their life support was failing.

“John, what are the chances of me cutting through this?”

“Not great. It is reinforced. Have you tried the Claw?”

The Claw, complete with a capital C, was a piece of equipment designed by Virgil based on his exo-suit. Virgil rarely made it out into space, but there was occasionally the need for heavy lifting out in the void. It used a grip attached to a thruster pack and could be deployed to create force in any direction.

“It was next on my list.”

“You’ve got nine minutes left.”

“Working on it.” He pulled in his equipment pack, tethered to his sled, and grabbed the Claw. Fastening the grip onto the airlock wheel, he deployed the thruster pack to give the correct directional push.

And the wheel refused to budge.

-o-o-o-

Eight...the first candle flickered haphazardly, once again teased by the breeze as she moved it to the second of its brethren. She smiled just slightly as it, too, caught and flared.

“How do they expect me to catch something I can’t see?!”

It was muttered at his instruments and he didn’t expect an answer. All his scanning equipment was trained ahead attempting to locate the hidden exhaust of an experimental plane deployed by the GDF. It would have been an interesting experiment, if the pilot wasn’t currently trapped inside. It was codenamed Nighthawk because the plane was designed to work best at night - apparently testing it during the day would have made Scott’s rescue attempt a little too easy. So here he was after dark, on New Year’s Eve of all nights, flying over the back end of New South Wales attempting to find an invisible plane.

Yet again, International Rescue was the only organisation with the mechanical guts to fix the GDF’s problems.

It pissed him off big time.

His sensors flickered, his arms moved, and Thunderbird One darted to starboard. For just a moment he had the craft clear as day in his sights.

Then it was gone again.

It was only a matter of time before it crashed. He could communicate with the pilot, but the signals were scrambled and misdirected and no use for locating anything. When the GDF screwed up, they screwed up big time.

“C’mon, c’mon!” He brought TB1 to a hover, every sensor combing the darkness around him.

A flicker.

Another.

Nothing.

A godawful metallic screech as something impacted his ‘bird’s hull on the port side. She swung around, spun on her axis, and suddenly Scott was in free fall.

-o-o-o-

Seven...the third candle wouldn’t catch. She bit her lip, and prayed just a little. The breeze threatened.

John Tracy wished he had more hands. Two were not enough when he had four brothers - one in space, one underwater, and two in the air.

“Scott! You need altitude! Impact in twenty seconds.”

His brother grunted as his hologram grimaced, fighting the controls of his ‘bird.

John didn’t need a damage report, TB5 provided him with all too much detail. Damage to Thunderbird One’s port side VTOL and flight stabiliser had her in a spin.

“She’s not responding.”

“You’ve got additional weight on your port side.” John’s fingers flew across the hologram, attempting to ascertain exactly what the readings were trying to tell him. Damn. “You have a mass embedded in her superstructure, despite the fact we can’t see it.” Calculations. “You’re going to have to attempt to land vertically. Use your rear thrusters to support the imbalance.”

It wasn’t going to be easy. Thunderbird One wasn’t designed to be anywhere vertical but on her gantry, but there was no way Scott would be able to sustain a horizontal landing.

“FAB, Thunderbird Five.” It was said through gritted teeth.

He couldn’t help but think that if Thunderbird Two had been sharing the same airspace as her sister, she could have pulled her out of her dive.

But she wasn’t.

And John was left to watch.

-o-o-o-

Six...the third wick absolutely refused to light and her heart clenched. Let it rest a moment. She moved onto the fourth candle and touched the flame to the waxed cotton.

Night rescues weren’t really out of the ordinary, but they could be eerie. As he left the reach of Thunderbird Two’s powerful spots, he had to rely on the illumination his own Thunderbird could emit. And Thunderbird Four could shine a considerable wattage.

Underwater nightlife was a whole different ocean full of fish in comparison to that under daylight. Despite being in the middle of open ocean, this particular spot was above the very top of a great undersea mountain, just high enough to support the beginnings of a temperate reef system. No doubt one of the reasons the mobile observatory was in the area.

“Undersea Habitat Victor-Two-Zero-Romeo, this is Thunderbird Four, do you read me?”

The line crackled a moment, but a female voice gasped and answered. “Oh, thank god. We are down to our last module. Please hurry.”

“FAB, ma’am. I’m on approach. Can you give me any further detail on the cause of the problem?”

“It won’t go away and keeps attacking.”

Gordon frowned. “What won’t go away?”

“The whale.”

“A whale?!” And his spots lit up the damaged habitat. It looked as if it had been pummelled with a giant baseball bat. Of the five interconnected modules, only one had any sign of life. “Why would a whale attack you?”

But he didn’t get a chance to listen to her answer as his spots lit up a giant mass of flesh, an eyeball, and suddenly Thunderbird Four was rolling.

-o-o-o-

Five...when the fourth candle refused to light, she took firmer measures and turned to the iron fire pot and touched the first candle to paper. It burst into flame.

“Alan, you’ve got incoming debris!”

“What?!”

But John didn’t need to repeat himself as the first of the projectiles tore through the space in front of his helmet and ricocheted off the hull of the space freighter, narrowly missing his arm.

“Shit!”

“Take cover. Freighter’s starboard side. Now.”

Alan grabbed the Claw and flipped himself vertically to thrust in the right direction and tore around the engine compartment of the ship and hid in a crevice directly opposite the incoming stream. “Where the hell did that come from?”

“Apologies, Alan, I didn’t catch it early enough.”

Alan sighed. He knew his brother was stretched thin at the moment. Apparently dangerously thin. He should have been paying more attention himself.

“We’re down to five minutes.”

“I know.” Silent impacts thundered around him. “Is there any other way in that doesn’t require me to be swiss cheesed?”

“Only the maintenance hatch you dismissed earlier.”

“We may not have a choice.” Alan sighed. “I’ll see what I can do, but it is going to be tight. It wasn’t meant for ship access.” But he would make it work.

Grabbing the Claw and his laser cutter, Alan darted out from his crevice and along the length of the ship, hiding in its shadow. A snap of a carabiner and he was secured once again.

“Okay, you hunk of junk, I’m going to kick your ass.”

-o-o-o-

Four...The breeze was stronger and the first candle flickered out, leaving just the one burning, flickering sporadically. She added fuel to the fire pot.

The flash was blinding and Virgil swore.

Lightning wasn’t a problem, but the storm was. “Gordon, you need to make this quick, the weather is deteriorating faster than we anticipated. He swore again as a nasty downdraft attempted to shove the cargo plane into the turbulent ocean.

The module below was being thrown about like a cork. Virgil made the decision. “Thunderbird Four, I am submerging the module. You will need to dock underwater.” His fingers darted across controls as Thunderbird Two shuddered through another nasty downdraft. Below, the mechanics of Module Four started pumping water and it slipped beneath the waves to hover at a depth that would protect it from the turbulence.

“FAB, Virgil - Shit!”

“Gordon?”

“We have a pissed off whale down here!”

Virgil watched as his readouts tracked Thunderbird Four. She was darting, rolling and suddenly shoved sideways by massive lifesign. He grit his teeth, unable to do anything to help.

-o-o-o-

Three…she built up the fire pot until it was a massive towering flame.

Scott yanked the lever backwards and let off a prayer to the god of pilots.

Thunderbird One attempted to respond, and he grit his teeth. “C’mon.” Without her port thruster, getting her vertical was a challenge. “C’mon, damnit.” The extra weight dragged and she refused to stabilise.

The air was dark around him, but his instruments were screaming altitude loss and collision warnings, his cockpit lit up like a Christmas tree.

“Goddamnit, fly!”

-

Gordon swooped around the mass of angry whale. What the hell was his problem. And it was definitely a ‘he’, a full-on bull sperm whale, a very unhappy one.

He ran through whale behaviours in his head as he swooped and dove towards the habitat. A hand darted across his instruments, searching...

-

Alan hit the hatch with his fist in frustration. Grip, for crying out loud!

He was down to three minutes to get these guys out and he still hadn’t made it into the damn ship yet.

There was no sound in space, other than the scream in his own helmet as suddenly the entire side of the ship was torn away, a chunk of rock tearing through its hull.

The Claw spun off into space.

-

John bit through his lip, his concentration total on all four brothers. One hand played his holographic controls like Virgil played his piano, data shunted off to where it was desperately needed at the flick of a finger. The other spun between views, scans and acquired information at the full speed his highly advanced Thunderbird could manage.

“Virgil! Waterspout!” And the information was shunted directly to TB2.

-

“Waterspout?! What the hell!” Thunderbird Two groaned as he forced her sideways out of the path of the anomaly. The crosswinds were shit, and she dipped noseward. Damnit!

He kicked in her rear thrusters, killed the VTOL and tore across the ocean in an arc, circling around to return for pickup. She bucked like a rebellious mare.

-o-o-o-

Two...she grabbed all five doused candles in one fist.

Gordon swore again as the whale clipped him on one side. “Okay, I’ve had enough of this. Undersea Habitat Victor-Two-Zero-Romeo, I want you to kill all transmissions. All kinds. I want you silent as the grave.”

“What?”

He spun TB4 on her axis. “Now. If I think what is happening is happening this is your own fault, do what I say!”

He sighed as all transmission bands went silent. He scanned the full spectrum. No....no...ah, damn there it was. “I said all of them!” And it finally disappeared.

Another dodge of a whale fluke and Gordon peeled off in a curve.

-

Alan tasted blood. He had bitten clean through his cheek. He spun slowly in space, the ship in front of him sporting a jagged hole in its side.

Just big enough for an astronaut to crawl through.

Two minutes and counting...

-

Thunderbird One bucked like a mule, but he finally managed to get her vertical enough to fire her rear thrusters. Their plummet slowed.

The holographic ground was still coming up fast.

-

Virgil homed in on the module’s signal, finding once again his place in space. Lightning flashed in warning.

-

John held his breath. Seconds ticked by...

-o-o-o-

One...with determination she thrust all five wicks into the roaring flame of the fire pot. Burn damn you.

Scott yelled as his thrusters made contact with solid ground.

Gordon flicked a control and Thunderbird Four sung into the darkness.

Alan dove into the ship, calling out in desperation.

Virgil swore yet again as Thunderbird Two bucked.

John wished he could close his eyes.

-o-o-o-

All five candles burst into vibrant flame, the five merging into one, defying the breeze, taking on the energy of the fire pot and burning strongly.

Just as midnight passed over Tracy Island, Sally Tracy separated out the five candles and placed each of them in their holders. She smiled just slightly as each eagerly leapt up brightly, dancing.

“Grandma? Have you heard anything from John?” Kayo walked across the comms room towards the balcony where Sally had set up the fire pot. The breeze tousled her hair as it lay loose around her shoulders.

“Not in the last ten minutes.”

Kayo came up close and hugged her. “Happy New Year, Grandma.”

She kissed her granddaughter on her cheek. “Happy New Year, honey.”

-o-o-o-

Epilogue

As dawn lit up the sky on Tracy Island, the sun was witness to five very tired brothers flying home. Thunderbird Two had Thunderbird One grasped under her undercarriage, the severely damaged craft sporting a massive dent in her port side. Her pilot sat very unhappily beside Virgil in the cockpit of TB2. Gordon was asleep in the seat behind them.

The sky roared as the great red rocket of Thunderbird Three tore out of re-entry and spun in for landing.

She was followed by the ever-silent drop of the elevator from Thunderbird Five.

Virgil lowered his brother’s ‘bird to the side of TB2’s runway. He and Brains, and no doubt Scott, would be out later to assess the damage and plan repairs. As fast as possible. Scott was intolerable when his ‘bird was down.

He rolled his shoulders as he brought his own ‘bird into land. There would be no shortage of checks to be done on Thunderbird Two, either. Gordon was already complaining about the work to be done on both TB4 and Module Four, and he wasn’t even fully awake.

Thunderbird Two spun in her hanger and he powered her down.

All three brothers sighed.

“Debrief in ten?”

Scott muttered an affirmative and while Virgil ran through post flight, his brothers crawled out of their seats and headed up to the villa.

In the distance, Thunderbird Three roared as she docked in her hanger.

-o-o-o-

“The idiots were emitting random noise on a frequency that could have been designed to piss off a sperm whale. Once I had them kill it off, I dug up something that would interest, but keep that same whale calm, and I led him off. When he was gone, it was easy to grab the three idiots. We docked with the module, surfaced, and then had wonder pilot over here do his retrieval magic. I have to say, Virgil, that was some damn fine manoeuvring.”

Virgil blinked at the unexpected praise. Gordon must be seriously tired. “Thank you. I admit it wasn’t easy, but we made it in one piece. Brains, I will need to do some thorough checks on the grapple launchers and the module connectors, they were put under some serious strain.”

The engineer nodded.

Scott blinked as if he was having trouble keeping his eyes open. “Good job, Gordon, Virgil.” He turned to their youngest brother and frowned. Virgil followed his gaze and found Alan asleep in the corner of the couch.

“I can report for Alan.” John looked as tired as Virgil felt. “All the crew of the freighter were saved. In spite of the unexpected debris storm Alan encountered. Virgil, he will need a new Claw. He might have some modification requests on that front as well. “John yawned. “Sorry, full report will be available as soon as I’ve had enough sleep.”

“Scott, your turn.” And despite himself, Virgil yawned as well.

“I’ll keep it short. Stop doing that.” And Virgil grinned as Scott caught the yawn bug. “The GDF night camouflage is pretty damn good. I had a lot of trouble locating their craft. That problem was solved by said ship colliding with Thunderbird One’s port side. You’ve seen the damage. She’s down for repairs. We’ll know for how long as soon as Brains has a chance to assess it. Pilot was a lucky bastard and survived with only minor injuries. Apparently, the camouflage works both ways and navigation from inside the ship is extremely difficult. It’s back to the drawing board for the GDF.” And he spat the acronym. “Brains, you might want to check out One’s logs on what she could detect. All I can say is that Thunderbird Shadow walks all over them.” There was no shortage of smugness in that statement either.

Accompanied by another yawn.

“Well done everyone.”

They all muttered something congratulatory, punctuated by another round of yawns.

“Oh, and Happy New Year.”

A couple of grunts followed that.

“Get some sleep and we’ll look at throwing some belated fireworks.”

More grunting.

“Dismissed.”

Virgil stood up with creaking bones and stumbled towards the stairs.

And almost collided with his grandmother.

“Oh, so sorry, Grandma.” He steadied her with one hand, suddenly aware of four brothers lining up behind him. In the corner of his eye, Alan was wobbling with Gordon holding one of his arms to keep him steady.

Grandma grabbed him in a hug. “Happy New Year, Virgil.”

He startled and immediately returned the embrace, dropping his chin onto her head and holding her tight. “Happy New Year, Grandma.” He kissed her hair. His eyes darted to his brothers, all four frozen to the spot.

She let him go, but looked up at him and smiled, before darting to Scott and repeating the process.

Virgil frowned, staring just a little as she moved from one brother to another, wishing each of them a Happy New Year and hugging intensely.

His attention was suddenly drawn away, however, as, silent as always, Kayo appeared and wrapped her arms around him. “Happy New Year, Virgil.”

His eyes widened, but he hugged her and wished her the same. She smiled up at him and then, just like Grandma, moved onto Scott and, hugging him, wished him a Happy New Year.

Virgil simply stared.

Once all the brother hugging had been completed, both women stood back and Grandma started ushering them up the stairs. “Well, off to bed with you. We can celebrate later tonight.” She smiled at all of them.

Kayo’s smile was a little smaller, but just as genuine.

Virgil decided he was too tired to work out what the hell was going on. He turned and began to tackle the stairs. He would think after he had slept.

-o-o-o-

Sally watched her boys climb the stairs wearily.

They were home safe. Tired, but safe.

So far it had been a good year.

-o-o-o-

FIN.

[runaway-fiction]

Glad I’m Here With You (Raj x Michelle)

A/N: This was written in response to yet another inspired rare pair request from @boneandfur using my Promptlist. Here was her request:

“Book:2. Pairing: Raj x Michelle (yes I am aware I like weird rare pairs) Settings: 14 or Celestial Poolside Situations:8,9,13 Emotions: 8,9 Style/Genre: 5, Angst/Romance smut Misc: 9 Dialogue: 11″

It’s not something I would have immediately thought of, but I loved writing this. If you’d like to make a request of your own, please check out my Promptlist (linked for your convenience) and then send me an ask or a message! This fic is rated R for drug use and sexual content. NSFW after the cut. Enjoy and thank you!

It was the last night before the Watchers attacked. The mood was unbearably tense. Aleister and Grace talked in tight, hushed voices, Quinn sat curled up like a cat on a couch in the lobby, Jake fiddled with his Swiss Army knife until it became a silver blur. None of them wanted to speak, but not one wanted to be alone either, not tonight, not when their fate hung in the balance and the weight of all the uncertainties they had faced up until this point weighed on their collective consciousness. Raj looked outside, through a mere crack in the barricade that they had covered the windows with and saw fire across the resort. He started to call out, but then stopped as he heard celebratory whoops from the Watchers’ camp.

They’re…celebrating?, thought Raj, and his eyes widened.

“Genius!” he yelled, and Quinn nearly fell off her chair in surprise.

“Bro, what. The. Hell,” said Craig, “You scared the shit out of us.”

“That’s the whole point!” Raj said earnestly. “Look!” he gestured to the curls of smoke and the rising cheers of the Watchers. “They’re…tailgating!”

“Tail-gating? Isn’t that like a dumb sports thing?” asked Zahra.

“Well, yeah, but…they’re letting off steam before the big showdown. It’s a classic move!”

“Raj c’mon, look around you. No one is the mood to tail-gate,” said Michelle.

“But maybe we need to be! They’re gonna wipe the floor with us if we’re all just here waiting to die.”

The silence in the room became taut.

Quinn hung her head while Grace looked even more frightened than before.

“Ah, I’m sorry guys…”

Michelle grabbed his arm.

“C’mon Raj, let’s go.”

Raj started to say something, but looking at the downturned faces of his friends, he surrendered to Michelle’s iron grip as she led him outside toward the Celestial’s outdoor pool. The night sky glimmered with a million stars.

It’s a beautiful night, thought Raj, what a waste.

Michelle sat down near the pool’s edge, taking off her shoes and dipping her feet into the cool water. The undisturbed surface rippled with the slight motion. He sat down on one of the poolside chairs with a sigh.

“Well that was a bust,” he said forlornly, but Michelle laughed.

“You were right.” He looked around at her.

“I was what?”

“You were right. We should totally tail gate.”

“Fucking right I was! Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because they’re not like us Raj. Most of these kids were strangers before they got here. You know how Sean gets before a big game—he isolates. I have no idea what Jake’s deal is other than he’s an asshole. And the rest? They’re just scared.”

“But you and me?” he asked her, as he watched her flip her hair over her shoulder to look at him. Her face glowed in the pool’s night lights.

“You and me? We understand each other. You’ve always been there for me.”

He shrugged. “You’re a great girl Michelle. I think most people see you as this kinda mean, really intimidating person. You don’t trust a lot of people. But I know you’re good.”

She looked back at him.

“Thanks Raj. That means a lot.” She laid down onto the poolside, her hair just brushing Raj’s feet.

“So…”

“So?”

“You wanna smoke?”

Michelle laughed.

“Fuck yeah. I’m not dying sober.”

Raj took out his canister of weed, breaking off a bud and putting it into his grinder.

“Oh wait, sativa or indica?”

“Sativa. We better stay alert just in case anyways and we’ll pass out right now if we smoke some OG Kush or something.”

“Jack Herer it is.”

As he was grinding it up, he saw Michelle sigh.

“You okay Michelle?”

“No. Let’s just say this is not what I was hoping to happen my senior year. I had things I needed to do. But then the thing with my so-called sorority sisters and Sean happened, and then we got stuck here, it’s crazy.”

“Yeah, it’s definitely bad. But I don’t think we’re completely fucked.” She looked at him.

“Why not?”

“We’ve got you.”

For the first time in all of knowing her Raj saw Michelle blush.

“Aw Raj, you mean that?”

“’Course I do. We’d be fucked without you. Honestly, I know you left behind a life and a future out there and yes this situation is shitty, but for what it’s worth, I’m glad I’m here with you.”

Raj turned away to hide his expression under the guise of lighting the blunt. Michelle was silent.

“Me too…” said Michelle with a smile. “I’m glad I’m here with you too.”

Raj laughed. “Shit, things must be bad if you’re glad smoking weed out here with me.” Michelle shook her head as he passed her the joint.

“I’m out here because I want to be, Raj.”

There was something about the way Michelle was looking at him…

But no, he told himself firmly. She is way out of your league. She always has been. And she was. Raj looked at her petite, fit body, her long hair, her pretty face (and she was really fuckin’ pretty in this moonlight, he thought) and he shook his head. No way, he thought, no way.

A few puffs later and they were sufficiently high. They were laughing.

“Oh God, I forgot that Craig did that!”

“I know, I can’t believe he actually streaked asshat naked through the quad black out drunk. ‘I’m cold, I’m cold,’ he was yelling!”

“But you were chasing after him with a blanket!”

They both collapsed into a fit of giggles. Suddenly, Michelle’s laughter ceased.

“What?”

“I like this,” she said, “being here with you.” She rested her head on Raj’s knee, and Raj could swear the electricity emanating from that point of contact was real.

“Uhh yeah…” he mumbled, “Yeah me too.”

He hesitated for a moment, and then placed his hand on her head, running his fingers through sweet-smelling hair.

“Mmm…” she murmured. She looked up at him. Her brown eyes watched him with something he had never seen before, at least never seen directed at him.

“Come swim with me,” she whispered with a smile. She jumped up and took off her top. Raj gulped as her perfect body glistened in the pool lights.

“I don’t know, Michelle…”

“Why not?” she asked, as she pulled off her shorts to reveal her swimsuit bottoms. Raj found it hard to breathe.

“I…uhh…” he stammered.

“Oh, Raj, don’t be shy. I have a thing for big guys anyways.” She winked at him and jumped into the pool with a splash.

After another moment of hesitation, Raj took of his shirt, grinning as Michelle whooped and whistled.

“Come on! The water is perfect.”

“Oh, I’m coming,” he called, and with a running start Raj jumped into the pool.

“CANNONBALL!” he bellowed as Michelle screamed in delight, the wave from his leap billowing around the pool. They splashed and yelled, interchanging their wet hands for ones dried on Raj’s big shirt so that they could finish their joint.

Mid-laugh, Michelle looked at him and Raj looked right back at her.

“Kiss me,” she said.

“What?” asked Raj, still laughing.

She swam closer to him. Her face grew softer.

“Kiss me.”

“You sure?” Raj looked at her with uncertainty. They were only inches apart.

“Yes. I’m always sure.”

Before he could lose his nerve, Raj leaned in. Her lips were soft and full.

He pulled away. Michelle looked up at him.

Suddenly nervous, Raj asked, “Was that…?” but before he could finish his question, Michelle threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back fiercely. He could hardly believe it when her mouth parted to allow his tongue slide against hers. They made out in the middle of the pool, underneath the stars, Raj holding her close. It was a while before they parted.

When they did, Raj couldn’t help but say, “That was awesome,” but Michelle laughed too.

“That was awesome,” she agreed. “Let’s go up to my room.”

Raj’s eyes widened. “Yeah?”

“Definitely,” she whispered and pulled him towards the pool’s edge.

“Wait…Michelle.”

“Hmm?” she asked, turning back to him.

“You know I’m a virgin, right?” He looked at her sheepishly. She nodded.

“Do you still want to?”

“Only if you do.”

“I do.”

They climbed out of the pool, Raj’s wrapped Michelle up in his big shirt and then gathered their things. Outside her room, Michelle pressed him against the wall to kiss him. He held her tightly, enfolding her in his arms.

“Tell me to stop,” she whispered against his mouth.

“I won’t,” he said, and they were in her room.

Before he knew it, she was on top of him, both of them moaning, his hands gripping her tiny waist.

“Raj,” she said, “Raj! Yes!”

After they were done, he held her as she laid her head on his chest.

“You okay?” she asked, looking up at him.

“Better than okay.” He kissed her. “If this is our last night on earth, there’s no one I’d rather be with.”

“Me too.”

And he wrapped her, his dream girl, one of his best friends, in his arms, as they drifted off to sleep. 

Please see my Masterlist for more Choices fanfiction. :)

[fuhrmana]

ducks, coyotes, KINGS, devils and canucks?

anaheim ducks: favorite hockey memory?

I mean, I would say the time we saw the Preds beat the Ducks in the playoffs with Etra? But you were THERE for that, so it kind of feels like a cop-out? I think I’m going to pick my favorite memory of something I don’t think I ever told you about (which means all the preds games, and Josi pucks are Out). 

So, the time I took my coworkers to an AHL game, and none of them had ever attended a hockey game before, and they all were willing to get into it because they liked me. It was a decisive Barracuda win, I got to throw foam pucks on the ice, we snuck into better seats, pounded on the glass AND I yelled so loud that I got a free tshirt. 

Then, on the drive home, one of my coworkers took the wheel in terms of music selection with one of the finest trap playlists I’ve ever heard? It was the largest group of people I’d ever gone to a game with and it was really special. 

arizona coyotes: when/why did you start watching hockey?

@perfectlytense (who seems to have deleted or changed their tumblr name so) was the catalyst for my hockey watching. She was this cool person whom I wanted to like me, and she rec’d a fic to me that involved hockey, and me, being a hyper-fixator was like “well, if this STORY is good, I bet the GAME is great” and little things (looking up hockey nicknames, watching hockey fights) totally spiraled (crying over playoff games) and then, unemployed miserable me pony’d up 50 bucks to go to my first hockey game (To see Jaromir Jagr, then of the Florida Panthers), and like. 

Next thing you know I’m taking trips to LA/Anahiem/Nashville/Denver to see hockey things. 

When did I start watching? Honestly, I’d say the last playoff round the hawks won, so three years ago. 

los angeles kings: if you could pick 5 players to go to dinner with, who would they be?

This is SO HARD. Like, I don’t want Josi to meet me because I want to remain “That weird swiss german girl” forever, ideally. Also because the last time I got within touching distance of him I forgot how to walk, and also how to speak?? you can’t disappoint a picture. Or like, someone who is working and on the other side of an inch of glass. I’m also keeping this to Active NHL players, otherwise I can’t keep it to five. 

I’m thinking:

Alex Ovechkin: you know you’d take you to the nicest place! You know he’d know someone’s cousin’s roommate’s boss’ boyfriend and get you into someplace crazy good, and you might end up eating Too Many Beets, but he’d be marvelous and entertaining. 

PK Subban: I want to know what he’d wear! I want to know if I could talk to him without chewing my own tongue off! I want to just THANK HIM for being SO GREAT

Nico Hischier: I want to meet his eyebrows! I want to talk to him about growing up speaking Valais/Waliser German, and I want to learn more about airboats, and how I can get on one. ALSO I want to learn at least nine phrases in Valais German, and use them All Of The Time. #goals

Colton Parayko: I could watch him eat. And like, use his hands? My thirst for that man is Unreasonable. 

Pekka Rinne: He owes me dinner for all the times he’s gone goalie adventuring and I have had heart palpitations. Also, his voice? I could listen to him read the phone book and I’d be Deeply Satisfied. 

Jaromir Jagr: He’s Jaromir Jagr! I just want to have spoken to him before he’s abducted by aliens or something. 

new jersey devils: if you could go to any game, anywhere, between any two teams, what one would you go to?

Ummmmm. I’d go to Philly, and I’d see them play the penguins. I want to see someone get literally murdered.

Or like, if I could timetravel, I want to see the preds shutout the blackhawks twice in the playoffs. 

vancouver canucks: favorite hockey tradition?

Most of them?? This is really hard?? Like, obviously any of the ones where players ruin their faces with fugly beards, or badly bleach their hair, I can Do Without, but I love throwing catfish, and I love throwing hats, and I love throwing things on the ice, so any tradition that I can THROW THINGS, I like that one.

Also, the CBJ canon. 

[freezing-kaiju]

A Party To Die For: Part 1

A Fire Emblem Fates horror AU fic

Rating: Possibly Mature? (Violence that will happen later)

Ships: Charlotte/Peri, Beruka/Camilla, Mozu/Nyx, Leo/Niles

written with help from @pupmon1

Greetings, my honored guests. My name is Xander Sumrak. I’m a billionaire by trade. I’ve decided to organize a party. The location? A supposedly haunted manor owned by myself. The guests? My family, of course, and a few others. Only a few of note: An assassin...a detective...and a mistress of the occult. Now...let’s see what fun these can get into.

Nine cars pulled into the driveway of a palatial but somewhat deserted-looking estate. It looked like it had been once impressive in its grandeur, but now, fallen into disrepair and especially in a night as dark as this, it was impressive in a more sinister sense. It looked almost like...well, a haunted house.

The ten guests exited their vehicles and lingered outside, waiting to be escorted inside. The private detective was the first one to open conversation.

“Well, I suppose we should all get acquainted with each other while we wait for the drinks- I mean the host. I’m Niles Edgeworth, P.I. Not sure why I was invited but I’m not complaining.”

A tall, square-jawed man stuck out his hand and shook Niles’s. “Pleased to meet you! I’m Inspector Arthur Pentagast. I’m...not entirely sure why I was invited, either.”

“You’re here because Xander invited you,” a woman with purple hair spoke up, a teal haired woman shadowing behind her.

“Ah! Miss Camilla.” Arthur smiled and saluted with a tip of his had. “So this arrangement was set by your brother?”

Camilla nodded and smiled, though was interrupted by a question by another. “Do you know what he wants?”

Behind Camilla and her bodyguard stood a blonde haired woman in a revealing dress. “No, Charlotte. I don’t know why he’s asked us all here...least of all you.”

Charlotte scoffed. “Well of course we’re both here. I’m a talented actress...and you’re, well, his sister. But that’s not a surprise...that’s what’s gotten you everywhere, isn’t it?”

Camilla growled and her bodyguard stepped forward. “Watch your tongue,” she said simply, staring at Charlotte.

“Beruka. How pleasant to see you here too,” Charlotte said with a smirk, backing away all the same. “Why exactly are you here? A date, perhaps?”

Beruka tensed. “I-I am just her bodyguard.”

Charlotte smirked. “Are you sure? I saw something last month...you were looking pretty comfortable between that redhead and C-” She was silenced by Beruka clamping her hand over her mouth. Charlotte growled and glared at the tealette.

A somewhat childish-looking woman with multichromatic hair entered the fray, smiling, and said, “Ooo, is there a fight happening? Can I join?”

Before a proper fight could truly break out, the doors to the mansion flew open with a bang, a silver haired man in a suit standing in the doorway. A silence fell over the guests as he walked down the steps and bowed towards them.

“Welcome to our manor! Lord Xander awaits you all inside,” he said with a grin.

A young blonde woman with her hair in drills laughed and smiled. “Hey there Jacob. Did Xander tell you to do that?”

Jacob chuckled and stood up straight. “Indeed, lady Elise, he did.” He nodded to Leo and Camilla, then walked over to the door and held it open. Everyone filed in.

“...we shouldn’t be here…” a small dark haired woman muttered as she entered the door, accompanied by a chubby, shy-looking brunette. “There are spirits here...angry ones…”

Leo paused and glanced back at the woman, sneering a little. “Oh...you must be the ...specialist Xander mentioned. I assure you there are no spirits here. Spirits don’t exist.”

Nyx gritted her teeth. “...that’s what everyone says...but oh, you’ll believe...”

Leo chuckled condescendingly. “Oh, I look forward to it.”

A few minutes later, the party arrived at a spacious dining room, with several dishes set out, an open bar, and a large set of ornate double doors in the back of the room. Jakob and two maids, one with pink hair and the other with blue, directed every guest to their assigned seats but warned everyone not to start eating until the host arrived. Outside, a thunderstorm had begun to gather as the sky darkened.

Three, five, ten minutes passed of absolutely nothing. One of the maids, Flora, appeared to be counting the flashes of lightning.

Suddenly, as a huge thunderclap sounded and Nyx jumped like a scared cat, the double doors crashed open, and Xander strode dramatically into the room. He had a well-kept handlebar moustache and a very finely-tailored black suit, with gold and burgundy around the linings.

“Greetings, my honored guests!” Xander announced with a deep bow. “I am your humble host, Xander Sumrak. And this..well, it isn’t my humble abode, but I do own this place. Make yourselves comfortable...but be cautious. For there are other, more permanent residents of this manor...which I have invited Nyx and her friend to explain.” He inclined his head towards her, and Nyx stood up on her chair, giving herself the appropriate dramatic height.

“I advise that everybody either leave immediately or try your hardest to maintain a pleasant aura,” she began. “There are several spirits here...and they’re dangerous. If we get angry, they will pick up on that...and you do not under any circumstances want to make the spirits angry.”

An uncomfortable silence fell over the dining room, broken slightly by Leo scoffing under his breath.

Then Xander clapped his hands together. “An excellent warning. I suggest you all heed it if you want to earn your money.”

“Money?” Charlotte interjected. “There’s money in this?”

“But of course. Ten thousand dollars, for each of you...if you stay in the house until 8 o'clock AM. If any of you should die, their take will be split amongst the rest. If I should die, the money will be paid by my estate. So try to survive.” He chuckled. “Now, i’m sure we’re all hungry, so let’s have dinner before we get ghost-hunting.”

Quite soon, the dishes were out and the liquor was flowing. Charlotte, leaning on the bar and finishing up her fourth Manhattan, felt ready for some conversation and began surveying the room.

On the far end of the table, Arthur and Niles were discussing prior cases of theirs. Dangerous subject, best to avoid it. Camilla was busy persuading her “bodyguard” to have a drink or two; Charlotte had never seen her drunk, this could be very fun.  Leo and Nyx were arguing about the possibility of ghosts, as expected from a man of science and a woman of superstition. Nyx was being backed up by the small woman that shyly introduced herself as Mozu, a friend of Nyx’s. They had just gotten onto the subject of whether ectoplasm was a legitimate thing or a hoax. An interesting topic, but Charlotte wasn’t here to make enemies, so she moved on. Elise and Xander were just exchanging random small talk, nothing interesting.

Then she noticed that girl with the weird multicolored hair...Peri, her name was Peri. She had a kinda lonely look in her eyes...and she was playing with a knife. No, not playing with it, not really, more...practicing. She was making subtle cuts in midair, and Charlotte could almost see the locations. Artery on the right arm. Wrist tendon. Small of the back. This girl had some experience...and excellent muscle memory.

She sat down in the chair next to Peri, making sure to lean away from the whirling knife.

“‘scuse meh?”

Peri turned and paused her practice. “Huh?”

“Yer very good wit’ dat knife.”

Peri grinned. “Aw, thanks! I use it a lot. It’s pretty good for stabbing people.”

Charlotte usually would pretend to be horrified by such a statement, but in her inebriated state she was merely intrigued. “Ah yeah, I don’t re’ly use knives meh’self. Guns ’re cleaner n’ axes ’re mer fun, but I keep un’ ‘round. ‘S a swiss army knife, good fer breakin’ inta...inta... s’uff.”

“Ooo, I like axes too! One big slice and WHAM!” She giggled. “So much blood...it’s wonderful!”

“Yeah...s’good. Ya do guns? Er mer o’ a melee ‘irl?”

“Oh, I hate guns. Never enough blood.”

“Yeah, I getcha on dat un’...kinda pai’ fer na’ a loda blood doh, too bad. Ya get pai’ fer it er da ya just kill fer fun?”

“For fun, silly! If it was my job, I’d have to follow rules, and that’s no fun! Plus, I’ve got enough money already.”

“Ya rish?’

Peri shrugged. “I guess so.”

“Das cool...’splains why yer here...I dunno why i’m here, prob’ly jus’ this rish fuck picked some names outta th’ phone book...”

“Dunno. My daddy said he’s a family friend so I gotta come. I’ve got better things to do but I guess this is fun!”

“Yeah...” Charlotte looked at Peri’s glass and frowned. “How come yer not drinkin’ anythin’? Das jus’...soda?”

“Yup. I don’t drink. It tastes weird.”

“Suit yerself,” Charlotte said, sipping another Manhattan. She was vaguely aware of several of the other partygoers giving her and Peri weird looks and backing away a bit, but she didn’t really give a shit. However, she noticed a certain set of prying eyes missing...

“...where da fuck is Xander?”

The conversation in the room all stopped. Everyone looked to the head of the table. The ornate chair that the host occupied was...empty.

“Lord Xander? Sir? Where are you?”

“Big brother! Where’d you go?”

Jakob and Xander’s siblings were instantly on high alert. They all stood up and started looking around.

“It’s possible he just went to the bathroom or out to get some fresh air...” Leo pointed out.

Camilla chuckled weakly. “Xander? Not without telling us. He’d announce it to the room if he so much as got up to use the bathroom.”

Jakob picked up a candelabra. “It is my duty to ensure his safety. This mansion is a maze, even if he just wandered off he could get lost, or worse. Anyone willing to assist me?”

The siblings immediately stood up, Beruka doing the same, although she was swaying slightly and clinging to Camilla. “He’s family,” Leo said simply.

Niles got to his feet as well. “A case, eh? Might be fun...not doing this pro bono but hey, i suppose that 10k could count as my fee...”

Arthur jumped to his feet as well and boomed, “As a duly appointed officer of the law, it is my sworn duty to protect and serve...so of course I’ll help!”

“...none of you can help him...” Nyx hissed softly. “...they have him now...and soon they’ll have you...”

“Thanks, Morticia...” Charlotte mumbled.

About an hour later, everyone was gathered in the foyer after searching the house. Jakob, the siblings, and Beruka were somewhat out of breath, though Niles and Arthur seemed to still have plenty of energy. Charlotte, Peri, and Mozu were just sort of chatting and lounging, and Nyx appeared to be preparing some sort of ritual, muttering under her breath.

“Well, we couldn’t find sir anywhere.” Jakob announced, hanging his head. “I don’t know where he possibly could have gone...”

Everyone stood around, contemplating the situation.Then Elise had an idea. Jumping up and down with excitement, she exclaimed, “Oh! Oh! I know! What if this spooky place has secret passages? Y’know, like on those Scooby-Doo cartoons we used to watch when we were kids?”

Leo dismissed this with a wave of his hand. “Couldn’t work. That’s a cartoon, Elise. This is real life. Real people don’t build secret passageways unless they’re smuggling narcotics.”

“Aww...” Elise said, dejected.

“The ghosts took him...” Nyx muttered, turning away from the candles she was setting up and toppling one over.

“Yeah, yeah,” Leo responded, “Believe whatever crazy shit you want...”

“It’s real though...the ghosts...I can feel them...like a swarm of wasps...and that’s what I’m trying to do. Placate them before one of us pushes the hive too hard and they all come swarming out...” Nyx gestured to the candles and incenses she was arranging.

“Tch...whatever, I’m going to the library,” Leo said simply before stepping into the next room.

Nyx shook her head and grabbed a circular rug from a corner, carefully straightening it out. “This will do for a marker. Mozu.” Mozu looked up when Nyx pointed at her. “Come help me. Place these four candles at the tip of the cardinal directions, starting at north and moving clockwise.”

Mozu grabbed two of the candles and blinked in confusion. “Ah...what direction are those?”

Nyx sighed and pointed in front of her. “That’s north. Move from there.”

Mozu carefully nodded and put the candles down, making sure everything was straight as Nyx lightly sets the incense alight. She then crossed her legs and started chanting. She started rocking back and forth as she chanted...and the lights even started flickering as she chanted. Charlotte was amazed by what was going on...maybe there was something to what Nyx was saying...or maybe not. Nyx shifted positions, the rug moved from under her...and the couch caught on fire when one of the candles was knocked over.

Mozu and Arthur rushed forward to put out the flames, and Nyx sunk to the ground, expression miserable and hopeless.

“It didn’t work...” she groaned. “Something went wrong...we’re all going to die in here.”

“Now that’s just nonsense,” Niles scoffed, “Right, doc?” He expected Leo to agree and launch into some diatribe about science and chemistry...but there was no reply. He turned around. “Doc? Leo?”

“I saw him go inta th’ library,” Mozu pointed out as she helped Nyx to her feet. To Nyx, she whispered, “It’s okay. Y’all did yer best, right? C’mon. Nobody’s gon’ die here.”

Niles got up and strode over to the library door, Camilla and Elise following him.

The library was a grand, if somewhat gloomy room. The high ceiling let many tall bookshelves be stored here, packed with undoubtedly interesting tomes. But there was one key element missing. Leo. He was nowhere to be seen. And there was no other way out of the great library.

“Doc? Are you in here? ...Leo? LEOOOO!” Niles called out as he searched the library...fruitlessly. Leo, like Xander, had simply...vanished.

“I...think Nyx might be correct.”