#you are pulling me in two directions. one is the smart tactical path. the other is 5x SOPPING BLUSHING FACES

[fisheito]

Lost Relics keeps auto-forming this team bu...t

.Does me no good to have an all-yakumo team.... no Clone bonus ...

[starfinss]

Wingman — Akaashi Keiji

Fandom: Haikyuu!!

Summary: Bokuto heard you like Akaashi and decides to be your wingman. It goes about as well as it sounds.

Pairing: Akaashi Keiji x Reader

Rating: Fluff, humor (SFW)

Word Count: 1,779

“Do you like Akaashi?”

You choked on your rice at Bokuto’s sudden question, sending you into a violent coughing fit as you pounded on your chest in an attempt to clear your throat.

“I’m sorry, what?!” You said once you could speak, taking a large swallow of water from your bottle.

Bokuto looked blankly at you, owlishly, which was sort of his default expression. “I asked if you liked Akaashi.”

You sent a glance to Yukie, who seemed to be trying her best to look innocent.

“Who,” you said pointedly, and you watched Yukie’s facade break, just a smidge, “told you something like that?”

Bokuto inclined his head in said girl’s direction. “Her.”

You sighed, running a hand through your hair. “Yukie, I told you not to tell anyone. And you told him of all people?”

A pause, then offense flashed across Bokuto’s face. “Hey!”

Yukie made a pained noise. “I’m sorry! It kind of just… slipped out. We were talking about how Akaashi never seems to date anyone, and I remembered what you told me and I just… I couldn’t stop talking!”

“No offense, Yukie, but Bokuto isn’t the best at keeping secrets.”

“Hey hey, I can keep secrets!”

You pressed your lips into a thin line, hands flattened against your temples.

“Okay, prove it by keeping this one. I haven’t told Akaashi because I’ve never seen him ever show me any sign that he feels the same.”

Bokuto took a large bite of his sandwich. “Just tell ‘im anyway. What’s the worst that could happen?”

You sighed. “Don’t talk with your mouth full, it’s disgusting. And I dunno, he could reject me?”

Bokuto swallowed loudly, a splitting grin growing on his face.

“Well, what about this, (L/N). How about I be your wingman? Ey?”

Your mind flooded with all the ways that idea could go wrong, and the bad outweighed the good.

“No. No, Bokuto—“

“Come on, (L/N), let me help! I know Akaashi better than anyone, we’re best friends! I wanna do this for you, come on, let me!”

Bokuto was relentless on and off the court, and he was hard to argue with. He did know Akaashi the best, you’d give him that, even while you were friends with the quiet setter as well. Being team manager with Yukie really did have its perks.

And Akaashi really was too pretty for his own good.

You could benefit from Bokuto’s help, even if something would undoubtedly go terribly wrong in the process.

“Fine,” you relented, resulting in loud cheers, the sounds drawing the attention of the people eating lunch around you.

You exchanged a weary look with Yukie.

“I hate you,” you said, and she smiled.

“I know.”

Your eyes flicked back to Bokuto, who was bouncing in his seat.

“I have a plan.”

You put another bite of rice in your mouth. If this was going to be as insane as you thought it was going to be, you’d need a full stomach.

“Tell me.”

————————

Bokuto’s plan was horrible.

The first one he gave you involved you just walking up and kissing Akaashi, but your use of some choice language in response to that made Bokuto change tactics.

“Go into a closet—“

“No.”

“I could lock—“

“Bo!”

He groaned. “Let me talk!”

“Then stop giving me plans that could result in me being utterly humiliated!”

“Fine! Then try this. Just get him alone after practice and ask him to walk you home.”

You frowned. “We do that every day anyway. We live two houses apart.”

“Toss him some sets!”

Yukie made a frustrated noise. “I’m going to lock you in the club room.”

You gave her a fearful look. “Me?”

“No. Bokuto. But maybe you if we can’t come up with something.”

You closed your now empty lunch box. “So you’re in on this too, now?”

She grinned. “I’ve always been in on this.”

Anger simmered in the pit of your stomach. “Did you tell him on purpose?”

“What?” Yukie said, then paled. “No. That really was an accident. All I’m saying is I support you.”

“Well,” you sighed, “that’s something, I guess.”

“Lock you in the club room!” Bokuto cried, and the expression on his face coupled with the triumphant tone in his voice made it seem very much like he’d struck gold.

You paused. “What?”

“I was joking, Bo,” said Yukie.

“No, but it could work!”

It could. But you were pretty sure Akaashi had a key, so it would be kind of useless to put him in a situation he could easily get out of. And, to further this, you also had a key. Bokuto pouted when you relayed this to him.

“Come on, (L/N), let me be your wingman!”

You rolled your eyes. “Isn’t that what I’m doing? All you’re giving me is stuff like ‘lock yourself in a closet.’”

“It could work!”

The bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch period, and you stood up, stretching your arms above your head.

“I’ll see you guys at practice,” you said, “text me if you get any new ideas.”

————————

Practice was somewhat of a nightmare. Of course, it went as well as it usually did, the gym full of Bokuto’s victorious shouts and Akaashi and the other club member’s sarcastic quips. But that wasn’t the problem. Every time something needed to be fetched or the water needed to be refilled, either Yukie or Bokuto, usually with matching grins, suggested you go with Akaashi. Akaashi, of course, shut this down fairly quickly since he had no need to assist you with such menial tasks.

But Bokuto didn’t stop there, no. It was too much to hope a hurricane would stop in its path.

Because during a break, Akaashi approached you.

“Is there any reason why Bokuto is constantly asking me to compliment you?”  He said as he dried his face with a towel.

You furrowed your eyebrows, dread sinking into the pit of your stomach. “He’s doing what?!”

“Asking me to-“

“No, I heard you. I just can’t believe he’s doing that.”

Akaashi blinked, oblivious to the situation. “Is there a problem, (L/N)?”

You sighed. “Yeah. No, I don’t know. This is a mess.”

From what Akaashi told you, Bokuto had started showering you with random compliments, then asked Akaashi if he agreed.

“I just want to know why he’s doing that. Do you think he has a crush on you?”

You shook your head. “No. This is… It’s something else. I don’t really want to talk about it, sorry Akaashi.”

He looked worried all of a sudden. “Is there something wrong?”

Your eyes went wide. “No! I’m fine, really. I just— I can’t talk about it.”

“Why?” Bokuto said, strolling over, and you deflated, “do you not trust him?”

“Bo,” you warned, speaking between gritted teeth, “not. Now.”

“Isn’t this what winging is?”

Akaashi looked deeply confused. “Winging? What is that supposed to mean? Did you make up a word for spiking?”

Bokuto seemed affronted. “No! I’m her… Her man wing—“

“It’s called wingman, Bo,” you muttered.

He was going to give you away.

“Tell him, (L/N), he thinks you’re pretty, smart-“

Akaashi blinked. “You asked me what I thought about that, Bokuto.”

Bokuto faked shock. “So you don’t really think those things?”

“I never said I didn’t.”

Bokuto gave a squawk you could only assume was a cry of victory. “See? See, (L/N) Akaashi thinks you’re pretty! You gotta tell him, tell him now!”

You looked at Bokuto with pure murder in your eyes, and he seemed to falter.

“Tell me what?!”

“Akaashi!” You cried, “talk to me outside, would you?”

You looked sharply at Bokuto.

You buried your head in your hands once you were outside. “ I might as well just come out and say it, because we both know Bokuto isn’t about to quit. That massive meathead is trying to be my wingman because he found out I like you today.”

You sent Yukie a murderous look as she passed the open door, raising your voice a bit as you spoke. “Because someone told him.”

She looked sheepish.

You closed the door, only breaking eye contact with her when you couldn’t keep in anymore due to the new barrier between you.

“Well, that’s fine,” Akaashi said, “I like you, too.”

You worried your lip between your teeth. “I understand if— Wait what?”

Akaashi looked at you blankly. “I like you too, (L/N).”

You were at a loss for words. “You never gave me any signs that you liked me too.”

Akaashi leaned against the door. “I walk you home every night.”

You frowned. “We’re literally neighbors.”

“That’s beside the point. Why do you think I bring you breakfast to eat while we walk to school?”

You blushed. “I thought you were being nice.”

“No,” Akaashi stepped forward, letting his hands fall to your shoulders, “no, (L/N). I like you. You’re an incredible person, and I thought I was making myself clear with my advances.”

Well, you decided, you were a dumbass.

“Wanna… Go get something to eat sometime?” You asked, voice quiet, and Akaashi nodded.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

He kissed you, and you swear you forgot how to breathe, that you forgot your own name. You sighed softly, reaching up to thread your fingers into his hair. Akaashi was an intense young man, and kissing him, even if it was simple and innocent, was just as intense. You felt him wrap his arms around your waist with a heartbreaking tenderness, nose brushing yours as his lips pressed and ghosted against your own.

It was cold outside, but you didn’t care, not when his lips were so soft and gentle.

The door opened abruptly and you heard a shout that could only have belonged to Bokuto. You felt Akaashi smile against your mouth before he pulled back.

“I am the best wingman!” He cried, “Hey, hey, hey!”

You laughed. It felt good to laugh, especially when Akaashi was still holding you so close.

“You are, Bo,” you confirmed, resulting in more cheering.

“Akaashi got a girlfriend!” He shouted as he ran inside, and you couldn’t help but smile.

“Is that what you want to be?” Akaashi asked, and you nodded.

“Yes.” You were unable to hide your grin.

“Then it’s official.” Akaashi kissed your nose, then stepped back.

“I will hold your hand when we walk home.”

You blushed at his bluntness. “I’ll hold you to that.”

“Nice pun!” You heard Yukie shout, and you groaned.

“I hate both of you!”

You didn’t. But the smile that ghosted Akaashi’s lips as you said the words was worth it.

So was the burning kiss he gave you after practice, and the feeling of his hand in yours as you walked home.

Maybe having Bokuto’s help, as disastrous as it had been, wasn’t so bad after all.

[evolutionsvoid]

The arctic lands are already ruthless places, where the cold is unyielding and the wind chills you to the very core. The ice shows no mercy, and the earth offers little for shelter and food. Those who live in these frozen regions are hardened by the elements, as one must be strong to survive the brutal winters. Many beasts exemplify this harsh icy place, but the one that will always come to mind when I think of them is the Barbaratus. It is hard to not think of them, as their booming calls echo across the jagged glaciers, and the bloody remains of their kills splatter the pristine snow. They stalk within the curtains of snow, and strike with the savagery of a winter storm. The Barbaratus is a species of large flightless bird that lives in the northern regions of the world. Be it tundra, frozen forest or the icy coast, they will be there on their never-ending hunt for food. Like Cockatrices, their wings have been reduced to simple arms, having no way to lift their bulky bodies. Since they do not fly, then they are not hampered by its restrictions. Their bodies have grown large and heavy, their bones reinforced and tough. Their hind legs are packed with muscle, allowing them to charge across the land like a speeding carriage. Upon these powerful limbs are monstrous talons that can slice through skin and blubber with ease. Their beaks are massive and are strong as steel, giving them a bite that can crush bone. Plenty of feathers and thick down give them the warmth and protection they need from the brutal elements. All of this makes for an incredible predator that haunts these snowy places, one you never want to meet! While some of these beasts may travel alone, they tend to move in small flocks, with four being the max. These numbers give them an advantage over attackers, and make it easier for them to corner prey. In a land that gives no guarantee for food or shelter, they must be ready to bring down whatever they meet.   With such a hefty size and powerful weaponry, it should be obvious how these beasts hunt. They spot prey with their sharp eyes and run them down with their impressive speed. All they need is to hook their victim with their beak, and the fight is pretty much over. The beak is serrated and has a wicked point, once it sinks in it is painful to remove. This will slow prey and allow the Barbaratus to use its thick neck muscles to pull them off their feet. If the snared prey is small, the Barbaratus will grab its head in its mouth and crush their skull. If they are larger, they will reposition their beak so that it wraps around their spine. A savage bite will break their victim's neck or back and leave them paralyzed. From there, they can feast, ripping into flesh with their beaks and talons. Those that travel in flocks tend to target larger prey, as they need more to go around. Those who hunt solo will go after smaller stuff, which means animals that are smaller than human-sized. Even then, they will certainly take on anything they think they have a chance against, be it man or beast. These single birds may also switch up their tactics and try an ambush approach. If they find burrows or breathing holes, they will stand in wait. When a seal or other aquatic creature comes up for a breath, they will snap forward with their maw. The hooked beak will sink in, and the bird will fight to pull their prey out of the water. To get an idea how strong these creatures are, they can totally yank a full-grown seal out from the ice, practically slamming them to the ground. Can you do that with your mouth? Probably not. An interesting thing to note about the Barbaratus is the rumor that they use sound to help hunt their prey. This is said because the call of these birds is extremely loud. The sound of a calving glacier is almost comparable. Ice-shattering shrieks and booming caws are emitted from their powerful vocal chords. No doubt this is to help others of their kind hear each other's calls over the howling wind. Stand next to one while it lets out a deep bellow, and you may think it is trying blast you off your feet instead! While it still hasn't been settled that these beasts can do real physical damage with these calls, it is certainly believed that it can help with disorienting prey or driving them into making a mistake. As they give chase, an ear-splitting shriek can certainly throw someone off, which could be enough for the birds to overtake them. Some say that these calls can break ice and are used to blast seals out of the water. These folk are what we call "idiots," because that is certainly not true. They might be mistaking this ability for the strength of their pecks and kicks, because those are where the real walloping is at! A jab from their beak can easily cut you down to the bone, and a quick kick can disembowel you or crush your ribcage. All in all, not the kind of beast you want to fight hand-to-hand. Just ask the locals of these regions and they will tell you what devils these things can be.

  As a powerful predator that is always searching for a meal, the Barbarati are a never ending problem for those who live in this frozen worlds. Their sharp eyesight and decent sense of smell means that they are good at picking up trails that lead to food, even if they go straight into a hunting camp or settlement. Add to that the fact that these vicious creatures are quite smart, and you got a beast that will find some way to rob you of your kill or life. Hunters from these locales are trained in speedy field dressing and covering their tracks, as they want to be gone before a nearby Barbaratus is lured in by the blood. Villages and settlements must be careful when storing food and butchering their meat, as these birds will try to sneak in for a bite. Even if a freshly butchered seal isn't around, these beasts may decide to pick off an unwary wanderer or nab a tied up sled dog. Some may think that watchful eyes are all it takes to ward them off, but this isn't enough. Some are smart enough to set up traps or fake out watchers so another flock member can swoop in for the kill. I have heard of one famous Barbaratus that was known for setting up false attacks on villages, just so they could charge in and grab hold of a victim during the chaos. With this, vigilance is crucial for the folk who live here, and they are well-trained in picking up signs of nearby Barbarati. Be it out of necessity or self-defense, these birds can be killed and their bodies used. The meat is an obvious choice, but their plumage can be just as useful. Their thick down is great for coats, and the feathers serve for warmth and decoration. The talons are obviously excellent weapons, with the largest ones bring perfect daggers on their own! The terror these birds bring have caused them to be immortalized in paintings and carvings, acting as the vengeful claws of the unforgiving winters. I must admit that these creatures have certainly left an impression on me. In fact, this species defined an entire expedition! It was one of those times that I had packed up provisions for a month, bundled myself up and voluntarily had myself dumped in the middle of a wild, frozen tundra. I had locals drop me off in a place where I had access to pine forests, open tundra and an icy sea, all I had to do was walk! It was my hope to have a chance to explore each of these ecosystems for a week, and get a feel of what I wanted to focus my studies on. The possibilities were many and thrilling! It was on my fourth day when I caught sight of a pair of Barbarati, their hunched forms stalking the icy land for prey. Excited to watch them, I moved towards the perfect spot so I could study their hunting behavior. Unfortunately, these creatures had keen eyes, and their heads whipped in my direction as I fumbled with my gear. Their path quickly turned towards me, but I was not worried. As a dryad, my plant nature made me unpalatable to these carnivorous birds. My coloration did not fit in such a place, which would confuse them, and I did not give off any meaty odors that they would be looking for. Like how many dryads do, I just had to stay still and blend in with the scenery. As they continued to stalk forward, closing the far distance we once had between us, one of them started to let out a deep coughing sound. I recognized it from my readings as a sound of hunting. They would give these throaty calls as a signal to their fellow hunters and to terrorize their target into making a panicked mistake. Amazing as it was to hear it echo across the land, I was confused on why they were acting like this. I am a plant, and they don't like plants! It was in that moment that I looked down and finally registered that I was covered cap to root in animal furs. And that was when I ran. After talking about their speed and their ability to chase down fleeing prey, you would think it stupid for me to run. It certainly was, but it was still a smarter thing to do then stay in place and let them tear me to shreds. I booked it to the edge of a pine forest, as the open tundra offered no protection. It would maybe slow them down or give me a chance to lose them, if I even made it that far. The second I started running, one let out a booming scream and the two gave chase. Sometimes I can close my eyes and feel the vibrations that came from their pounding feet, shaking the ground as they launched themselves at me. It was terrifying. I had a head start, but that gave me mere seconds. Fit as I am, I am not capable of outrunning a skilled predator like them. They were gaining fast, and I knew they would catch me before I hit the tree line. There was the thought that they would lose interest in me once they found out I was made of vegetables and not meat, but this realization would only come after they crushed my head in their beak. So that was off the table. Instead, I started ripping gear and parts that hung off my pack and blindly flung them behind me. The rain of objects slowed them, either due to curiosity or fear that this was some kind of attack. It succeeded in buying me time, but it certainly wasn't enough for me to lose them in the forest. My best chance lay in a tree that stood in my path. Scraggly bark and low hanging branches gave me hope in scaling it, but I had to do it fast. That meant ditching my backpack, which was an easier action than I had suspected. As I was getting my arms out of the straps, the whole thing was ripped backwards, nearly pulling me with it! One of the Barbaratus had sunk their beak into it, which no doubt saved my life! The two thought they had a meal pinned down, and only realized it was a fleshless sac until I was halfway up the tree! I scurried to a high branch as they leaped at me. Their beaks snapped and tore at the air, but these beasts were not arboreal. They could not reach me, and I was safe. This fact did not register for me for a couple minutes, as I remained clinging to that branch in pure fear. They made some attempts to reach me, but soon realized I was no longer on the menu. Frustrated, they turned to my pack and tore that up in search of anything to eat. My jerkies and rations proved to be a substantial substitute, and they greedily devoured my provisions. After a few more thrashings of my shredded belongings, they turned away and disappeared into the wilderness. They were at last gone. I remained in that tree for two more hours, terrified of it being a ruse. At last, I convinced myself that the coast was clear and I hesitantly scrambled back down. I was so relieved to be free of that nightmare, until I looked at my destroyed pack and realized what it meant. My provisions were gone, my equipment was mangled and any extra clothing and supplies I had were torn beyond repair. Save for a tent and a few pieces of gear I left at base camp, I had nothing. It was then I knew that I hadn't fully avoided death. My pick up wasn't for weeks from now, and I had very little supplies. Starving or freezing to death was still an option, and they were quite possible. I can't tell you the range of emotions I went through when I thought of my situation. It still frightens me to this day. It was only when I remembered that a Conifer settlement was located deep in these woods that a sliver of hope appeared. It was certainly going to be a trek to reach them, and I had little left to make such a trip. I had no choice, though, and I started my long slog. Thankfully, my strength and spirits helped me make it to their camp, where I kindly begged for help. The Conifers listened to my situation and talked amongst themselves. After reaching a decision, they came to me and threw me out of their camp. I was deemed a burden, and they had no obligation to help me. Seeing that this option was a failure, I knew I had to come up with a different plan to survive. With this in mind, I instead broke down and cried. It was not a shining moment for me, but what else could I do? I just lay in the snow bank they dumped me in and bawled my eyes out. I was certain I was done for, as I had no idea how I would make do for these next few weeks. As fate would have it, this emotional moment wound up being my miraculous plan B. One of the Conifers of the settlement was watching me and took pity on my pathetic self. She strode over and pulled me from that snowy bed, much to my surprise. With me slung in her arms like a load of lumber, she went to the village elders and informed them that she was "adopting" me. With no sapling of her own, and no others to take care of, she agreed to share her portion of food and resources with me. Since all my costs would come from her pockets and not the village's, they finally agreed to let her keep me. From then on, I was glued to her side. "Adopting" me turned out to be a fitting term, as I was pretty much a sapling compared to them. I had none of the strength and hunting prowess for me to compete with them. Most of the meals I ate were shot with her bow, and the furs she gained were used to bundle me up. She even stepped in when other Conifers tried to give me guff, and she shut down any who thought to mess with me. My savior wound up turning the opinions of the whole settlement. After a week, the others seemed to warm up to me, and some even helped teach me some skills. The saplings were absolutely mystified with me and my diminutive appearance (they were mere years old and nearly my height!). When I started telling them tales of my travels and studies, I became their favorite source of entertainment. Their love of my stories actually gave me some respect from the elders, as they couldn't ignore the stranger the young ones approved of. It didn't give me full sway, but it at least cut down on the amount of glares I got when they walked by me. By the time my rendezvous arrived, I was doing alright by the Conifers. Some even seemed sad to see me go! I know the saplings were heartbroken to see their storyteller wave goodbye, even when I promised to return. When I made my trip to reach the rendezvous, I didn't do it alone. My adoptive "mother" came with me to see me off, so that she could guarantee my safety and to ensure I actually got home. It was when we stood there in the snow, waiting for the sled team to pick me up, that I finally asked her what had been on my mind the whole time. I never had the courage to ask before, especially since I was terrified she would change her mind and ditch me. Now was the last chance I had to ask (as far as I knew, at the time), so I went for it: "Why did you save me?" "We lose much to the cruel winter, but we must never abandon our compassion." That was her answer, and that is what I will always remember. I could see that these words meant a lot to her, so I made sure to give them respect. Thank you, Thuja, for all that you have given me and taught me. I am always delighted when I get a chance to see you and your village again, and I hope I can see you a hundred times more. You were the kindest mother any sapling could ask for, and I am honored you chose me. ...Oh right, the Barbaratus. Yeah, I hate those things. Chlora Myron Dryad Natural Historian     -------------------------------------------------------- I said it many times and I will say it again, I hate making birds. And I also hate how good this turned out. Curse you! Also I imagine if this thing had a scientific name it would be Barbatus glacies. I was thinking of mentioning it in the entry, but then realized if I gave one creature a scientific name, then I would have to do it for all of them. Not enough time in the world!    

[masterjedilenawrites]

The Helmeted Hunter: Chapter 3

Boba Fett x Reader

Chapter Warnings: Light swearing, a little action at the end?

AO3 Link (In case you like it better over there, it’s okay, no judgement)

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Chapter 3: A Shocking Turn of Events

You could feel heat in your cheeks as you stared at the notice over the counter. In addition to your picture - which had been taken by one of your friends almost a year ago - and what you assumed to be your name, there was also a number listed. Those symbols you did understand. One million. You weren't sure how much money that was worth out in these parts, but it sure was a lot of zeroes.

Something hit your hand. Boba Fett was trying to hand you a bag with your items. You numbly took it and followed him out of the store, careful to keep your face turned from the creature behind the counter as you passed. It hadn't so much as glanced in your direction, but you didn't want to take any chances of it recognizing you as a wanted fugitive.

Back outside, the light was starting to fade. You kept your eyes trained on the bounty hunter in front of you as you made your way back to the Slave I. Wasn't he lucky, you thought bitterly, getting a big paycheck out of you. What would he spend it on? More razors?

But of greater concern was how in the galaxy they had gotten that photo of you. And how they knew your name. Who even were they? You tried to wrap your head around it, tried to comprehend what was really going on. You were far from the planet you'd originally landed on by now. How were there already notices up for your capture out here? And why only you and none of the others that had befallen a similar fate? This was far more than some fluke cosmic accident.

You'd been caught up in your dazed thoughts and hadn't noticed the hunter had stopped walking. You pulled up abruptly, nose brushing against the jetpack sticking out on his back.

"Sorry..." Your voice faltered on the last syllable. Looking over his shoulder, just in front of the Slave I, you could clearly make out a row of stormtroopers. They had guns trained in your direction but otherwise their stance was relaxed. Still, you decided to stay behind the bounty hunter.

"Well, well, if it isn't the infamous Boba Fett," a drawling voice came from behind you. In one swift motion, Boba turned and moved to the side, keeping you behind him. He had his gun out now, which shifted between the stormtroopers on his left and the newcomer on his right.

The man was clearly some Imperial whoop-de-doo, with a sweeping white cloak and a smart-looking hat. He had two soldiers in dark armor flanking him as he languidly drew closer.

"I should have guessed you'd be the first to jump on this opportunity," he said with a smug expression. He made a show of sizing the bounty hunter up, taking note of the bags both you and Boba were carrying. "Though I must say, a shopping trip is a bit premature."

"What do you want, Krennic?" Boba replied. You could sense the same irritation in his voice from earlier.

"That's Commander Krennic to you now. Much has changed since our paths last crossed, Fett."

You'd only heard of the Empire, its influencing not quite reaching your home. A few of the neighboring planets had Imperial outposts, but they were small and poorly funded, with many of the stationed personnel integrating into the culture as friendly citizens. Your parents had explained your planet was too far out of the Empire's way to spare resources conquering it.

Now that you were face-to-face with the real Empire, you couldn't help but feel even more out of your element. Your stomach twisted at this dramatic but intimidating man as he stopped just a few feet away. The stormtroopers from the other side had moved closer as well. Was he the one posting your face around the galaxy? What did the Empire want with you?

When Boba didn't respond, the Commander drawled on.

"But we can catch up another time. The daylight is fading and I have other things to take care of. Come now, hand her over."

Instinctually, you reached out to grab the back of Boba's sleeve. You did not want to be handed over to this man.

"I don't have business with you," Boba said evenly. Thank God, you thought.

"One million credits says you do."

"I have an offer for five."

Krennic's mouth twitched as he considered this. You were surprised as well. Not only did it turn out the Empire was the group willing to pay a premium for your capture, but there was a mysterious other being willing to pay more. What in the world....

"Impossible," the Commander eventually said with a chuckle. "You're trying to raise the price. Such tactics won't work with me."

Boba reached around and took hold of your arm. "If she isn't worth it to you, then I have no business here." He started to lead you away.

"You don't have a choice," Krennic scoffed. He flicked a hand at the stormtroopers, who started closing in around you. Boba let go of your arm so he could support his gun with both hands. He carefully positioned himself in front of you defensively.

A surge of panic welled up within you, making your throat dry and your jaw clench. You didn't want to be anyone's prisoner... the Empire's, Fett's, the other buyer's.... You still had it in the back of your mind that you were capable of surviving on your own. Your thirty-nine hours of experience hiding on a strange planet was surely proof. So with a blaze of unwarranted confidence, you turned on your heel and began running.

Your feet pounded the loose dirt beneath you as you took off. You could hear shouts and blasters firing. One blast hit the ground just to the side of you, the rest you could feel blowing past your head before they made impact on the buildings in front of you.

Damn it.

You'd hoped that being so valuable would mean they wouldn't shoot at you. But apparently the price was still good even if you were injured.

Suddenly, Boba Fett was landing in front of you, having used his jetpack to catch up. He had his gun lowered but was trying to grab at your arms. You only had your bag of tampons and clothes to use as a weapon, thus you promptly swung it at him. He let it fall pathetically against the armor on his chest, snatching it up before it fell to the ground. It was enough of a distraction to buy you a second to run past him.

You could no longer hear the blasters. You stole a quick glance over your shoulder to see that while the stormtroopers weren't booking it like you were, they were still close enough to shoot. But they held their weapons down, looking back at their Commander hesitantly. The man was speed walking over to them, pointing and yelling.

You turned back around and saw their problem. Several yards in front of you was the group of kids from earlier. They had stopped their ball game and were watching in horror at the scene playing out in their town. Some adults, their parents most likely, were rushing for them, crying for their safety.

A dark, selfish thought came to you. They wouldn't hurt these kids. Surely. If you ran with one of them, just long enough to get inside a building somewhere....

Before you could talk yourself out of it, you sprinted on. There was one little boy who hadn't been snatched up by his parents yet. He was frozen to the spot, eyes wide and mouth agape. You made a beeline for him, moving your arms out in preparation.

And then suddenly, you were on the ground.

Sharp, fiery pain radiated up and down your body. Your muscles spasmed. Your throat constricted. Your ears were wringing. Something cold and wet trickled from your nose. You felt paralyzed, unable to move or cry out in pain.

You stared helplessly up a the dull orange sky until, eventually, it all faded to black.

[spaceguybob]

“A memory that remained” Housamo fanfiction Scenario - Ophion.

Tokyo After-school summoners. Fanfiction/scenario. "A memory that remained"

PREFACE - This Fanfiction is my personal love letter to the creators of the TAS game, their imagination and fantastic story telling. Especially to Ophion who is a amazing husband character and i thought his storytelling could use a bit more.

** That bizarre adventure was finally over with things seemingly back to normal. Both you and Seth laughed when you saw each other again this day, especially since you thought you may not see one another ever again. Faith has some odd twists and turns. But now, you were glad, able to finally relax. As much it was possible of course in the summer resort when you were surrounded by a gang of over-hyper friends chasing around the swimming pools, jumping into the water and causing general havoc. "Come on! If you don't get in the pool I'm going to bash you till you do!" Kengo yells impatiently from the water area but his words get blurred out by water sprays coming from Hanuman's water gun. Seth laughed in the background after seeing the scene, he and Shiro oddly found a common language together. Ganglie and Ryota snuck away to replenish the food supplies, and Toji and Moritaka were hiding in the shade debating something formally, perhaps it was sword fighting or training? Or just generally plotting revenge on Kengo for throwing both of them into the pool. Closing your eyes, sitting comfortably on the lounger you only want to drift away. The muscles still felt bruised and tired, although there is no physical sign of the experience you went through, the mind still thinks all the signs are there. Also, there are things you are still slowly processing. Especially one thing. There was a memory that kept creeping on you, almost every time you closed your eyes. It was hard to describe to be honest because memories have images and this one felt so distorted, it was a mix of colours, images, conversation and laugh, and most importantly music and a feeling. The last two things started following you in a pair, always. There is a melody you remember and a longing. Having been told multiple times that your rule has permanently cut you off from memories of your many lives past you have eventually accepted the fact that whatever the past was, it will have to stay in the past. Except for this one broken memory which felt like it was coming from a badly adjusted radio.

A sudden squirt of cold water pulled you sharply out of the depth of your mind. So sharply your whole body jerked up in surprise. “Undercover ninja attack!” Hanuman flashed his teeth from the edge of the pool waving his water gun at you. “Sleepy face gets a direct hit from the super water blaster 1000!” Kengo cheers with him jumping out of the pool heading in your direction fast.

“Sorry partner but you asked for it! I warned you” He grins rubbing his hands ready to grab your legs, but you are faster than him and swiftly turn around jumping off the lounger before he even tries, unexpectedly Kengo slips on a puddle of water created by Hanuman’s gun as he tried to outmanoeuvre you and ends up flat on the lounger waving his arms in panic. You can’t stop but laugh together with everyone else who was observing the scene. Kengo immediately tries to retaliate with a face red like a boiled lobster and chase you but he doesn’t have the stamina you have. Time and time again he tries grabbing you but with a swift zigzag, you outsmart him every time, having the rest of the gang cheer loudly with each of your successful escapes.

“Not fair partner! I’m barefoot!” Kengo huffs loudly.

“Like that stopped you before!” You shout in the air trying not to lose your path, still just to make sure you were far away, for only a split second you turned your head to see Kengo a meter behind, and he suddenly stopped with a surprised face and then – thump! Without knowing you run into something or someone solid feeling the air escapes your lungs as you sat down in shock.

Before you was Xolot standing still firm like a tree, unmoved. He looked down at you with an awkward, slightly fearful smile.

“Oh hi!” Then his expression changed as he realized what just happened. “Sorry! Sorry! It’s my fault I didn’t see you! Mistress Hakumen told me to find you and your friends I didn’t see you run. Are you ok? Sorry!” As you thought that nothing can beat the avalanche of his apologies a high pitched laugh pierced the air and immediately you closed your eyes in a grimace knowing Mistress Hakumen was incoming. Brace yourself you thought.

“Ohohoho! My darling Lucifuge why do you always assume I am up to no good? That’s so presumptuous of you! I’m but a flower pulled by the winds of never-ending emotion!”

“My dearest. You are a jelly fisher. One can have a conversation with you that seems all nice and friendly and sweet, then you suddenly feel like you've been stung with deadly poison, or end up locked in a prison, or even worse; without knowing what happened.” Lucifuge nervously giggled.

As you tried to sneak away back to your group Xolot extremely over-enthusiastically and loudly shouted: “Mistress Hakumen I have found him! You will be so happy I found him, Mistress! Yes!”

You felt as you were betrayed on the spot and couldn’t but grin covering your ears.

“Thanks for blowing my cover.”

“Oh sorry! Were you hiding? I’m so sorry! Please forgive me!” But, you couldn’t be angry at Xolot since he was always more than loyal to his mistress, even if it was in a very misguided and not very smart way. And so you braced hoping not to, again, become the object of their fights, and love arguments of these two.

“Milord! There you are! Oh!” Hakumen sang with her flirtatious voice toward you trying to hide behind Xolot, only for him to be shoved aside by her. “Move you idiot!” her songbird voice turned into a snarl. She still kept her flashy swimsuit on.

“I’m sorry! Mistress!” Xolot yelped putting down his ears.

Uhhh here we go, you think to yourself forcing a polite smile as they surround you from both sides.

“My fallen star! Don’t you just find it exhilarating here? My dearest remember, nothing succeeds like excess, well of everything! Maybe with one exception” Lucifuge glanced at Hakumen. You wondered how he wasn’t feeling hot in his flamboyant clothes where everyone else was practically half-naked.

Hakumen snarled slightly in response. “What does that supposed to mean Lucifuge, you half-jelly devil! I have not spared any excess to make this place perfect for my beloved Milord! Don’t you think my bellowed? I know it is so because you enjoyed it so far! Ah, the adventure we prepared for you! And the excitement you had! Ohohoho! There will be more!” She flutters her eyes to you.

“It’s fascinating my bellowed fallen star how Mistress Hakumen can turn any offence into a half baked compliment.”

“It wasn’t?”

“I must have said it wrong.”

“Maybe you should try it too Lucifuge. It would save us so many awkward situations when you behave like you swallowed a toad. Some aristocrat you are.”

Lucifuge looked genuinely hurt and shocked. “Mistress Hakumen, is this your new tactic now? Slander me in front of my divine lord! The beautiful star I wish to capture?! How low of you!”

You can feel like their argument and bickering is getting more intensive every second, completely ignoring your existence which oddly is a relief although you still didn’t even manage to say hello to anyone.

“I would never! Not in front of my beloved milord! For him, I’m a precious flower and I-”

She gets interrupted by the very familiar beaming voice that towers everything and everyone.

“I do hope I am interrupting something! What are you two arguing about now? Isn’t there enough scheming and plotting you caused recently?” Ophion towers above the pair, behind him Aizen marches with his ever-odd military precision and an angry look. You are sure he is judging every square inch of the summer resort and thinking of ways of purifying it from the filth.

Then Ophion saw you and skillfully moved himself in front of the arguing couple.

“My bellowed flower, my world, I heard what this vixen has done. Are you Alright? I should have known she cannot be left without a proper supervisor, as this may end up in another unplanned adventure as she calls them only to vow you into her claws.”

“That’s outrageous!” Hakumen squealed behind him but Ophion stopped her with his arm.

“Silence! Is it not another of your plans? Whenever my spouse is involved you always have a scheme ready. You twisted fox, you have schemes within schemes within schemes!”

“No need for such excessive complaints my dear! My beloved milord already knows his mistress is a genius among her peers!”. Now all three began arguing. It was fun to watch initially but it always becomes tiresome after a while. Especially with Aizen giving you murderous looks.

But the fact was, the moment Ophion showed himself you felt something change. It was that scrambled memory that keeps haunting you. Unsurely if it was the memory or yourself, or both your attitude changed towards Ophion. Yes, he was too much, but what can be expected of millennia-old god dragon that created life – or so he claims. And although it was extremely embarrassing for you to hear him proclaim his love to you every single time so loudly everyone within half a mile could hear, it was also cute. But, was it you or this memory. You couldn’t hear the music anymore, but there was something you decided to do during those nights you spent on the desert with Seth, Hanuman and Ganglie. You decided to gift that one memory to him.

Now only if you could get their attention.

“Hey everyone -!” But they were too occupied in arguing. Well, since nobody is paying attention, you though there is only one way. Next to where you were standing, on one of the loungers, there was a water gun, one of many that were left around the pool for the enjoyment of the guests. So you thought – Let’s see how they like a cold shower.

Their expression was priceless when you squired water around. The bickering stopped immediately and everyone looked just at you!

“Now since everyone is back to planet earth.”

“My dearest milord how could you!” Hakumen cried in shock.

“How undignified! I need a change of clothes!” Lucifuge complained. But Ophion didn’t say anything only piercing you with a highly amused look, you flashed his teeth to him winking innocently.

“How dare you! Have you no brain! Look what have you done to Sir Ophion’s clothes!” Aizen suddenly roared.

“Aizen, you need to stop this!” Ophion waved his hand annoyed at the man.

“Well, if the only way for You to stop arguing about nonsense was me squirting all over you then, I’ll gladly do it again!” You grin at the trio.

“Ohoho the wordplay! My darling milord, you make me blush! Ohohohoh I want to hear more! Please don’t stop!”

“Lady Hakumen, must you want him only for yourself all the time! Such lack of dignity eh!” Lucifuge complained loudly, messing about with his wet shirt. “No, no, no this will not do! I cannot be seen in such an imperfect, undignified outfit” He mumbled to himself and turned on a heel and walked away ignoring everyone.

“My darling spouse is absolutely right. How shameful of us, concentrating on tiny squabbles. Please forgive me, my beloved. “ Ophion steps in front of them closer to you, only to have Hakumen overtake his position pushing him away with her elbow.

“Hmpf! Speak for yourself lizard! There is nothing tiny about us!” She envelopes the curves of her body with her hands. “Mistress Hakumen is all about beauty and grandeur! We go big or not at all! We love or we fall! My milord must know this! He needs to know at all cost how I love him!” You could feel your face getting hot from embarrassment as Hakumen was performing her little dance around you, touching your shoulders and hips in an unwanted way.

“Ha! Pick your words and actions carefully fox-woman! You shall not touch what is not yours!” Ophion’s voice roars in the air.

“Lady Hakumen! Have you no shame! I shall not tolerate frivolous behaviour like this polluting our guests! Especially with this one!” Aizen adds after Ophion glaring at her with fire in his eyes.

With a heavy sight, you can see them start again.

“Lady Hakumen, Xolot mentioned you were looking for me?” The security therion moved his ears and grinned happily as he heard you mention his name.

“Oh, oh! Indeed my beloved milord! How could I get my mind clouded so much by this stupid debate!” Hakumen put on another singing performance. “We, wish in our grace, to invite you to an evening concerto today evening. Of course, you are welcome to bring your friends with you. Just make sure milord they like such events. We only want to make you happy! It won’t be your typical music show, however, ohohoho! Oh no, no, no! There will be a live performance and all guests will receive pillows and drinks or food for their leisure! It will be performed here in the resort and it will be marvellous!”

It sounded fantastic to you since, at least you think, you enjoyed music, saying you think only because with the lack of memories it’s hard to know if you ever heard a live concert. But always enjoyed listening to different radio stations whenever given the chance and craved the occasion to listen it live.

“I would love to!” You say eagerly without hesitation.

“You would, my beloved spouse?” Ophion jumps into the conversation.

“Yes, I never listened to the music being performed live. Or at least I don’t think I did.”

“Ohohohoho! Milord, you please me gratefully! Oh, so many preparations need to be made before tonight! Now my darling run along and let your friends know and leave everything in my hands!”

“My darling spouse, my beloved jewel of the skies, if you are attending so shall I! I will reserve us the best spot and the most luxurious of seating for your comfort!” Ophion shakes in excitement. “I, your husband, delight in well-played instruments!”.

“Not in a million years!” Hakumen snarls. “I won’t let you steal and hurdle him only for yourself!”

Aizen who kept quiet jumps straight into the conversation. “Ophion, sir! I beg you to rethink! This is absurd. You cannot waste your precious, glorious time on such idiotic whims!”

“Nonsense!”Ophion shrugs Aizen’s words away. “I have but all of the eternal time for whims that will please my beloved spouse!”

“Ophion… could I- Could I talk to you for a second? Please?” And so you said it loudly for the first time, unsure if it was best left alone, but you can’t just let it drill a hole in your brain.

“Absolutely not! You shall not pollute my lord's mind with your absurd ideas!” Aizen roared angrily pulling his whip. You were sure that one day the blood vessels in his eyes will rapture spectacularly.

“Silence!” Ophion snapped at Aizen that immediately shrunk within himself in fear. Then looked directly at you with an intense stare, so intense it could only rival the one you remember from when you first saw his younger incarnation that recognized the piece of the soul of his wife within you. “My dearest, my beloved, I am all yours! Please tell me what it is!”

“Uhmm..” You suddenly lost your courage having everyone, especially Ophion look directly at you. It was definitely harder than all of the scenarios you run in your mind before, and even harder when you had to ignore Lady Hakumen scowls and angry grimaces of her theatrical sobs just now. “Can we talk somewhere in private?” After saying that you did expect Aizen to come out with another snotty comment but the last reprimand hit hard on his ego.

“Ha! All these moments I have waited for such a request! Oh, everything of this world! Your Ophion shall give you as much time as you want! Let us find ourselves a quiet place and talk my love!” The golden dragon leads you to a fairly empty bungalow just a few steps away from where you stood. You don’t even want to look back at Lady Hakumen, because her theatrics are just too much. Both her and Aizen are probably burning a hole in the back of your head right now.

“Look here my beloved, shall we step in and hide from the prying ears of the world.” The inside of the bungalow is quite narrow and you are surprised Ophion manages to go inside at all for his massive posture. He is after all much higher than any human, with his wings and long tail and massive physique. But without thinking you follow and close the door.

“Ah, my beloved! I cannot contain my happiness! Please tell me what burdens your heart and mind! My flower of the skies I want to know everything.” Ophion’s voice boomed so loudly you were absolutely sure anyone outside could hear him. And you were also sure the walls had ears, so without thinking you lifted a finger to your lips. The golden dragon looked at you curiously with a smile and a playful wink.

“Are you sure this room isn’t too small for you?” You then said in a low voice. He did look a bit uncomfortable. “It would have been better if You sat on the floor I think.”

“My dearest spouse, I do not care about such trivial problems! The closer I am to you the happier I am but I shall follow your request. The roof of this place is painful for my wings.” Ophion answered and slowly sat down. It felt as he was sitting in a dolls house. “Now, my dearest, please tell me, is everything alright.” But you heard a creak just outside and were sure somebody was listening. The last thing you needed.

“I think somebody is trying to listen so I’ll have to whisper to your ear if that’s OK.” You say casually to Ophion. The dragon turns his head curiously and looks around. But as you think how you can whisper to him you realize how big his stature is. “I’m sorry but I will have to climb on top of you!” You whisper again oblivious about what you just said.

“My dearest! Those words! I can’t believe this wonderful day!”

“That’s not what I mean – ah!” You try your best to reach to his ears, especially since Ophion doesn’t seem to want to help you and without realizing you place your hands on his bare arm. And then it shocks you.

“Ah!” There is a quiet gasp that leaves your mouth

"Is everything alright my darling? My jewel! Are my scales to tough for you?"

"No... No... You are very warm." You leave your hand on his arm and then another on his shoulder for a few seconds.

"I don't think I've ever touched you but it is like I know how it feels all along."

Ophion glances at you with his dark amber red eyes with intensity for a few moments.

"And how does it feel my darling spouse. Is this body of the godly dragon wonderful? Please give me, your beloved husband an answer, my jewel." When Ophion isn't screaming to the whole world his voice is surprisingly husky.

You hesitate not knowing what to say but you don't remove your hands just looking at him.

"There is something I'd like to give you. I have... I've been remembering something and I thought you should have it. As a gift." You whisper closely to his years. " And I don't want others to know because... Because I would like to keep it between us only."

You feel Ophion's hand on your back, you think he was trying to help you keep balance but... Well, this feels really embarrassing and your heart is pounding. This is definitely too much for one encounter, especially since nothing is going as you imagined it. This is harder than fighting. Why does it have to be harder than fighting?

"My beloved, oh how adorable you look blushing like that. Oh my jewel, I'm at a loss for words. Do you have a gift of memory for me? For me? Your husband? Through the cosmos, I knew this day would come. I shall empty my whole calendar for you, my beloved spouse. Will this be a romantic encounter? I shall ask for dinner to be prepared! "

"No... No... Can it just be two of us? Nothing special, no dinner. I'll bring something with me. Will that be ok?" Gods you feel so embarrassed and it feels Ophion grew in size since you asked him. Not sure if it's because he is so proud of himself or excited or both, proud and excited, which reminded you.

"Please, don't go telling everyone."

"Ah, my beloved jewel, why do you think I would do such a thing?" Ophion protested quietly.

"Because you would want everyone to know how proud you are, and to make Lucifuge and Hakumen jealous and angry." You point out.

"My beloved, your words are so hurtful, however true. I would take great pleasure in making, especially that fox woman, jealous as you say. Her scheming is always troublesome." Ophion grimaced and then smiled towards you sticking his tongue out the way he always would. You both spend a moment in this odd silence. Your hand on his arm and shoulder leaning towards his head, Ophion's hand holding your back. You feeling his touch on your bare skin. His dark amber red eyes piercing through you with an intensity you haven't seen before.

"Sir Ophion! My lord! Please I beg you, enough of this. This is inappropriate! This situation should cease immediately!" You hear Aizen's voice coming loudly from behind the door.

You think of moving but Ophion's hand remains still holding you.

"My beloved jewel, I made a promise to shower you with my love for every day I have missed you from my lonely existence from when you have fallen into the sea forcibly. This short encounter, my beloved, has given me so much joy I struggle to express it with words. I... This young Ophion is stunned. You may think my beloved treasure, that I'm rash, and juvenile. But for one like me who lost so much and lived lonely in different worlds, I learned to treasure every moment. That's why my darling spouse, my heart's shouts so much whenever I'm with you. Please don't think any less of this godly husband of yours because of that."

You could hear a commotion outside.

"I... Think...I missed you." You say quietly embarrassed. Ophion closes his eyes with a smile and as your words were a magic spell his grip loosens letting you go.

"I will see you tonight before the concerto, yes my darling? Will that be suitable for you? And then tomorrow? Yes? My beloved?"

You nod in response. Suddenly the door bars wide open.

"My precious fallen star! Others have told me you were her-!" Lucifuge barges straight in completely oblivious he was set up probably by Lady Hakumen. He stops mid-word once he saw both you and Ophion and his face struck with panic and shocked grimace.

"Oh, gods this is so embarrassing." You back away from Ophion who pierces Lucifuge with a deadly stare and very, very quickly excuse yourself and leave both of them who just started their typical arguments.

 *

"What do you mean you don't want to come with me? Come on? Nobody?" You cry annoyed hearing all of the gang decline your request.

"Kengo?"

"I'm sorry partner but I have a training session with Moritaka. Besides, I'm very into music and all sorts. Maybe if it's a fighting club or something. And we can join in!" He clasps his hands.

"I can't believe you are even thinking of asking this meathead. He doesn't know the difference between a drum and a cello if he saw one." Shiro huffs unimpressed. "Had I known earlier, and I mean days earlier I could have made different plans but this is too late of notice."

"I understand Shiro." You say resigned. "How about you Tsathoggua?"

"No!" He yells back at you from the gaming console.

"But-!"

"Nope! I mean there will be too many people there, and Hakumen and the rest. I just want a peaceful evening, yeah?"

You roll your eyes looking around the room.

"Ryota? Come on, please!"

"I would like to, but I've made plans to see Maria earlier so I can't. What's the problem anyway? Just go and enjoy yourself."

"Certainly, it will be a good, new experience for you and you can tell us everything about it. Just make sure you are back in time, yes? Keep me noticed about everything?" Shiro reminds you with a stricter tone.

"That goes to all of you. Not just our Guild Master!" He roars across the room.

"Sure dad" Kengo grins and quickly slips out of the room before Shiro reacts.

"Right, you all have fun. I wanted to see Mr Mononobe and ask him for a favour."

"Enjoy the music" Ryota's voice follows you as you leave.

"Thanks!" You stick your head back through the door with a grin.

Mr Mononobe wasn't the easiest to find but eventually, you spotted him during his round checking classrooms.

"Hello, Mr Mononobe. I hope you are well." You start politely.

"Ahhh. Hello, young one. Are you not getting ready to enjoy the weekend? I can see you have been spending a lot of time outdoors, the sun has definitely left a mark on you."

"It's just too hot to stay indoors if you don't have to. Can I ask you a favour Mr Mononobe?"

"Sure, let's hear it. I can't promise anything though." He smiles gently looking at you with his typical fatherly look.

"Can I borrow the star projector from the astronomy classroom for a day or two? There is a... project thing... I'd like to use it for."

"Project thing you say?" He measures you up with his look for a few seconds thinking. " Well, I can't see no harm in it. We do have more than one in the inventory, so I'm happy for you to borrow it as long as you return it in the same condition you took it." Mr Mononobe says, but then seeing you smile adds "But, in return, I'd like you to help Shiro out with his duties for the next week after that, yes? Fair deal?"

It sounded more than fair to you, especially since in your mind you imagined it going much less smooth.

"Thank you so much Mr Mononobe. You are the best!" You add with a smile.

"Everything for my students." He ruffles your hair flashing his teeth for a second then walks away to finish his duties.

Realising what's the hour you run back to your dorm room, but something catches your eye. On a wall within the main building was a painting, which you never noticed before. Thinking it through you realise it must have just been hang since you are absolutely sure it wasn't here before. The painting, presented in brilliant colours and detail a scene where a huge wave of water covers what looks to be Japan. With a red torii in its right lower corner and there a medieval warrior with a golden shield and what looked like a ghost of a woman.

Struck by the beauty of the painting and how unusual it was you remain in the hallway for a few minutes only to hear a familiar voice.

"Sheesh! It's so hard finding you! Hanuman gasps wildly, he must have been running all over the place trying to find you.

"I'm sorry. I was just on my way back to my room and got sidetracked". You reply.

Hanuman just gesticulates at you silently, clutching his knees and trying to catch a breath. Then he produces three envelopes and waves them in front of your face.

"Those came for you just now..."

You take the envelopes from him, all of them came from the Roppongi guild.

"Listen, Hanuman don't you want to go with-" You start saying but when you lift your head to look at him he is already running away.

"Sorry gotta go!" You can't stop yourself from making a sour face.

It's a bit off to receive three different envelopes from them, but you have a feeling you know what they are.

The first one containing a card that's so heavily soaked with perfumes you started sneezing. It's from Lady Hakumen who praises you in a million different ways and invites you to join her in her private pavilion for the concerto.

The second envelope contained a card that's full to the brink with gold leaves and very elaborate writing. You must admit the way the words were written is quite beautiful. It's from Lucifuge who also invites you to his private pavilion and to enjoy his company.

Holding the third envelope you are absolutely sure whom it's from and you feel a small tingling sensation when you open it and take the card which says: My dear friend. Would you like to join me today evening for tea before the concerto? I'm looking forward to seeing you. Licht

You read a few times, surprised and immediately make a decision as you haven't seen or talked to the Roppongi guild master in a while and thought it would be a nice change. At the same time, you feel just a small amount of disappointment you haven't received a card from Ophion. Quickly shaking that thought off, your return to your room and change. Thinking on your feet about what to wear you decide to put on a light yukata haori with a white upper part and a black lower one, hoping it's going to be presentable for the concerto. It looks good you think and leave. Glad about your choice you head towards Roppongi. Because of how light your clothes feel the summer heat doesn't bother you much anymore, still, the air feels heavy this evening.

After a while, you reach the resort. Surprised you noticed Melusine.

"Hi, Melusine" you say approaching her.

"Good evening, young milord. I'm happy to see you." She bows slightly, so wearing a summer yukata in pastel colours.

"Did Licht send you to meet me?" You ask thinking you already know the answer.

"Indeed, Monsieur Licht asked me to show you to the pavilion and prepare tea for you." She answers and you start walking together slowly.

"That's very kind of him. We haven't spoken in a while, it will be so good to catch up. Is everything ok with you? "

Melusine seems a bit distracted and before she can answer a stranger runs up to you. She stops suddenly and immediately steps in front of you as if she is trying to protect you.

"Is it him! Is it the one everyone is talking?! Is it the one Mistress Hakumen mentioned? The one who's soul contains souls of others?!" Melusine stops him before he can even get near to you.

"I'm sorry but I won't allow such behaviour around young milord, he is a guest here and under my protection!" Her voice changes slightly, becoming less friendly, not yet threatening.

The man stops but there is an odd uncontrollable craze in the way he talks and moves.

"Melusine it's ok." You feel like you should help him if you can. "Can I do something for you?" You ask stepping forward, finally able to look in his face.

His crazy eyes search for something within your face for a few seconds and then... His whole body shrivels down, like life and all hope has left him.

"I... I... I'm sorry. I thought you may be her... I thought... I'm sorry." The man apologies in a shaking stream of words and leaves.

Melusine doesn't say a word and both of you resume your walk. When you get to the concerto venue you can see there is plenty of sitting space for everyone with a multitude of comfy pillows in from of a large stage and a few smaller ones. All this from three sides is enclosed by three private pavilions that let you hide from the public eyes but still enjoy the music and the atmosphere.

"Monsieur Licht had some guests earlier so do not be surprised by the decoration" Melusine adds softly as she opens the door for you and you stop in the doorway speechless. The pavilion it's filled to the brink with the most delicate orchid flowers in gentle pastel colours, their sweet fragrance seeping into the evening air. Like a child, you wander around with an obscene smile touching the flowers and smelling them.

"This is... This..." You start but Melusine finishes for you with a rare mysterious smile.

"This is amazing? Please have a seat-" she points at pillows and seats and a coffee table "I will bring the drink and... Monsieur Licht should be here shortly."

Before she disappears you ask.

"Melusine, that man we met, who was that?" There was something about him that felt familiar and made you sad.

She stops with a sad look on her face.

"That was Orpheus, he is one of the artists that's going to perform tonight. Beyond that, I can't say I know more." You thank her for this and Melusine leaves you alone. Yet within a few seconds you couldn't but get up to explore the room and the beautiful flowers and their shapes. You heard shushed voices thinking it must be Licht and returned to looking at the flowers. Some of them were small and looked like butterflies in dozens on a single spike, where others were easily the size of the palm of your hand with long pendulous garlands. They were just beautiful, and you struggled to find and other words to describe it. What Licht was thinking you had no idea, and what guest he had earlier but this went beyond your wildest dreams. And then you thought maybe, just maybe it was for Melusine knowing their history.

"My dearest, beloved jewel." That voice.

You turn around only to see Ophion standing in the entrance where Melusine disappeared. He was wearing a white and gold yukata that lightly enveloped his body, uncovering a lot of his imposing, muscular stature. His wings spread only slightly as he wanted to make sure you won't run away. "What do you think, my wonderful spouse? Has your husband surprised you? This is a beautiful, delicate trap I have prepared for you."

"I have walked straight into this one, haven't I" You agree defeated, it was never an option you thought about. You had to admit you felt flattered.

"Of course, my beloved, my light that fills the darkness. This young Ophion, although not as experienced in strategy or tactics as my elder self, has unprecedented knowledge of what may please your heart. And if I know, I will spend every moment to find out! Hahaha!" Ophion laughs triumphantly.

"I can't believe Licht would trick me..." You ponder amused.

"Oh, my darling flower, do not hold this against our Guild Master. I have merely asked him for a... favour, which he was happy to oblige. Because of this nobody shall interrupt us if we don't want it. My beloved, I planned this just for you, we have so very few moments together alone... " He opens his arms wide invitingly but behind him appears Melusine with a bow and quietly excusing herself.

"Ophion, sir. Please forgive me the intrusion, I have brought the requested refreshments."

Ophion only nods looking at her nonchalantly and let's her prepare the table, after that she retreats bowing slightly again and sending you a brief smile.

"I..." You start."The flowers are beautiful... I've never seen anything like this before." You add to him. You are embarrassed, especially that you let yourself get into a trap as beautiful like this. Especially when you feel really flattered and there is a lot of thoughts rampaging around your head.

Ophion laughs triumphantly "These are merely a shadow to your beauty my darling, but it warms my heart knowing you like this little trap I have made. Shall we rest?" He extends his hand to you. "Do not be afraid, we won't be interrupted by anyone. I made sure of that."

You sit down and offer to fill his glass with a cold juice which he accepts with a warm smile towards you. But you notice, not for the first time there is an odd flame in Ophion's eyes, and now it hits you, it's somehow similar to the one you saw in the man you met earlier, Orpheus.

"There was something strange that happened today." You start hesitantly. "A man approached me and Melusine, he seemed... Troubled... Very, troubled and sad. He wanted to meet me, he seemed desperate, having his hopes high up and once he did he seemed... Disappointed. Like he lost all hope."

Ophion listed in silence but you could see he wasn't too pleased yet you continued.

"Melusine said his name is Orpheus, and I was... Concerned. "

A few moments passed before the golden dragon finally responded.

"My beloved spouse, I know the man of whom you speak. He is a fool. A poor fool, but a fool nonetheless and there is nothing you can do for him. He brought his fate on him himself."

But not being too happy with such a puzzling answer you decided to push on being honest about what you realized.

"There is a look in your eyes, the Old Ophion was very similar to him." You say slowly trying to pick the gentlest of words. Ophion ponders for a moment with a stone expression and then extends his hand to you inviting to sit closer to him.

"My darling spouse, this what you speak of, is the experience of loss." You hesitantly accept the invitation and sit next to Ophion, feeling the warmth of his skin. "Let me tell you a story of Orpheus, the fool as he is."

"Orpheus was born with a talent of music he was and always will be a singer, musician and poet, carrying a magnificent lyre on his shoulder able to enchant god, man or beast with his music, he had recently proposed to Eurydice whom he loved with all of his heart and beyond, but on the day of their wedding, ‘in the very bloom of her life’, she was bitten by a viper and died of its venom. Distraught with such grief, Orpheus fell into madness and wandered the earth looking for a way to bring his wife back to life. He wondered day and night until he finally found the entrance into the underworld and descended into the fiery pits of hell itself, determined to restore her to mortality. Nothing could stop his brave loving heart. He finally pleaded with Hades the god of the dead and Persephone for his wife's return, and his courage, devotion and eloquence ‘melted the hearts of the gods and the denizens of the underworld, and all fell silent’. Even Cerberus, the fierce three-headed dog that guards the gates of Hell, lies meekly at Persephone's feet.

The gods agreed to Eurydice’s return: Persephone especially sympathetic as she recalled her own forceful abduction by Hades. The only requirement was that Orpheus would not glance back at Eurydice until she was safely ensconced in the upper world. If he broke his word, she would be lost forever into Hell and there would be no changing the god's mind this time.

Orpheus agreed with the loving lightness in his heart and both him and Eurydice depart the underworld, him in the front paving the way for them, she quietly behind him stepping softly. However, Orpheus as emotionally tormented he was through all this time, with the creeping madness slowly started doubting and struggling to look ahead soon the deities have consented to her return. Throughout the underworld, the lovers ascended a steep and misty path and, as they neared the earth’s rim, Eurydice hasn't spoken a word in fear of what the gods may make of it snd anxious Orpheus began to shake inside of his soul. "What if they lied to me and this is but a trick, a joke of the gods. What if this is not my beloved Eurydice but some monstrous wickedness." These were the thoughts in his head. His mind fought with his heart. And just as they approached the exit from the underworld, just as the morning light shone in front of them through the dark gate, the fool Orpheus looked behind thinking "We are almost here. It won't hurt and I must know. My heart must know! He looked for his bride, and as he did he saw her gentle face her loving lips and eyes filled with fear when their gaze met. Eurydice immediately fell in pain and only managed to whisper a final farewell before being taken by a deathly shadow that dragged her into to the dying place. A godly force punched Orpheus out of the underworld and the gates shut before him and disappeared. He cried, pleaded and begged but no one would listen to him and after many days and nights broken Orpheus began to wonder again the world playing his music, with a mind of madness and a heartbroken beyond repair. Somehow he found his way here to this world my beloved spouse, and he hopes, maybe, maybe his wife was reborn in a different form. " Ophion finished his story with half-closed eyes, being so engulfed in his voice you didn't even notice when the music started and it must have been playing for quite a while now. "There is something we share, your Ophion and the fool Orpheus, we both lost our beloved, forcibly taken away by the world. You have seen my elder self, who was beyond help with his heart darkened and madness in his mind. This is why my dearest, my glittering jewel, I promised to gift you my love, my passion, with my whole self every day. This Ophion has finally found you!"

He finishes with a strange note in his voice. You think you finally understand, both what Orpheus and Ophion went through, it's different yet so similar. Remembering how much it took for the elder Ophion to snap out of his destructive madness. What loneliness and sorrow must have driven him to such a state. Looking for words to say you realise that through the story Ophion was slowly using the fact you were so enthralled into his tale to get closer to you. Both his large hand and wing were wrapped around you as he was laying on his side stretched across the floor with your body naturally using him as back support. He was surprisingly gentle.

"They say we are all fools when we are in love." You say finally.

Ophion laughs delighted, his ego right now must be beaming knowing he has you where he wanted, and willing to accept his advances.

"Indeed my beloved spouse, indeed we are. But let this golden dragon tell you who knows many stories, in my millennia-long life I learned it's what you do every day about your love that matters."

You then thought to yourself well what if you are a bit of a child and a coward. Fighting is definitely easier than talking about one's feeling, even Shiro's knowledge tests are easier than... Ok just breathe. You look around the pavilion, the sun slowly setting down painted the inside in crimson and amber shades. Shades elongated everywhere and within them Ophion's burning eyes and the music in the air.

"My darling starlight, beloved spouse, you are so beautiful today, this husband of yours cannot take his eyes off you. Had I known it would be so easy to capture you in this beautiful trap of my devotion I would have done it a long time ago. "Ophion says caressing your shoulder with his arm.

"I wasn't expecting tonight to be like this, you are correct, but everything else after was because I wanted it to happen..." You say turning your head away, but Ophion's lures your gaze back at him by placing his fingers along your chin.

"Is that so, my beloved spouse? Has this husband of yours made you happy?" His voice lowers to a grumble.

"I can't confirm or deny because I'm worried you may want to tell everyone gathered here." You tease lightly.

"Bwahahahaha" Ophion laughs amused. "My beloved, always so feisty, always know how to keep your husband on your toes. How you turn my words against me my jewel in a delightful skirmish."

You close your eyes with an amused smile, having to admit this evening had turned so much better than you could have ever expected.

"Could you tell me another story? Something about heroes, or how the stars were created." You ask, Ophion seems to have a talent for telling captivating tales, or maybe it's because he tells them to you. The golden dragon smiles mysteriously sticking his tongue out.

"Ah, my beloved spouse, you want another story? But where is there a reward for your dearest husband? I have gifted you one tale of the past already. This dearest Ophion of yours should ask for something in return. All stories are of value." He says still smiling mischievously. But before he can make his loving demands you stop him.

"What about if... Umm... If I move closer." You say trying to move your body but Ophion's arm already pulls you towards him.

"Closer you say, my beloved? I'm not sure if this husband of yours can accept such a payment" He murmurs amused.

"Closer..." You reply with a laugh feeling his arm move you further.

"Perhaps... This Ophion can agree to such a delightful agreement, but I'm not..." He continues pressing on your arm, you can feel the pillow you are sitting on moving.

"Just shut up and embrace me" You laugh finally in response and with these words you can feel his huge figure move suddenly, his large strong arms find their way under your own wrapping themselves around your chest. You are glad for your light clothes because of the heat emanating from his body, feeling the stone-hard musculature touch your back.

"This Ophion has finally captured the most beautiful pray in his delightful trap." He says into your ears.

"A pray would only allow such a thing if they wanted to be caught." You answer him with a strongly beating heart, feeling that Ophion will not let you go that easily tonight.

"My beloved spouse, you... You... hahaha I have fallen in my own trap! You make this Ophion's heart so happy, I can feel my body trembling." There was a shiver that travelled across his arms as he spoke, his words rumbling in your ears. "I shall grant your request, my beloved, my jewel in the skies, let me tell you a story of a war between two cities and a woman who caused it all..."  As he spoke his voice mixed with the music in the air that evening.

 *

 You slept well this night after you returned from the event. Ophion purposely extended his story almost making you late for the school curfew. But you didn't mind at all.

This night you experience a dream, very different from the calm ones you seemed to have. Before you would see beautiful, serene scenery, hear a piece of gentle music that you taught yourself to replicate and a gentle song. What you remember most was a pair of gentle amber-red eyes following your every move.

This nights dream was different. You found yourself on a beach overlooking a vast dark ocean covered in thick clouds. A bright fiery light cut through these lights like and hit the ocean like a projectile of fire only to vanish under the waves momentarily. The clouds opened only for a second for you to see a tall mountain. Everything started to shake, the ground moving violently and suddenly the mountain top exploded ravaged by bright, angry flames sending massive pieces of rock everywhere. As you cover your eyes and duck you see a tremendous, angry wave approaches the coast growing bigger and bigger. The ground doesn't stop shaking.

 You wake up suddenly only to realize the shaking hasn't stopped and an alarm is resonating through the school. Slightly panicked you look around, furniture creaking and moving. Right now you should be making sure you were looking for cover and sticking to the disaster prevention and Safety protocol, but instead struggling to keep your balance you throw on your clothes and run out to make sure your friends are safe.

Not long after you see Kengo and Moritaka half crouched trying to hold their balance.

"Kengo! Moritaka! You are ok!" You shout running towards them

"You idiot! What are you doing here? It's dangerous!"

"Indeed my friend, you should not be exposing yourself to any dangers like that. Earthquakes are not something we can control with sacred artefacts."

"Oh? And I thought you just bashed Kengo's head hard enough the ground started shaking." Suddenly you hear Shiro, he was walking slowly toward you. "You shouldn't be looking for trouble in a situation like this!" He adds angrily.

"Same goes to you!" You respond quickly.

"It's my duty to make sure everyone is safe!" Shiro huffs unimpressed.

"I have to make sure my friends are safe. Where is Ryota? Did you see Hanuman?" You flash a challenging grin towards Shiro. His frow disappears hearing your words replaced by embarrassment.

"Ryota stayed over at the Aoyama yesterday, he called me asking for permission. "

"Hanuman was in training with us but left earlier, he said he was starving. I'm sure he will be fine..." Moritaka responded to your questions and halfway through the shaking eased down and stopped. Everyone was waiting in silence but the quake didn't return.

"Mr Jin there they are" You recognised Toji's voice.

"My students! My beloved students are you alright?! Is everyone safe".

"I'm so glad we found you!" Hanuman jumps all over the place happy as you slowly get up, lending your hand to Kengo, who is unimaginably heavy.

"You really need to cut down on chocolate." You say after he is up.

"Oi! Cut it out. It train really hard!" He protests with a fake anger outburst.

"Hey, why is everyone here," Toji asks. "Hanuman only said about Kengo and Moritaka, not you two."

"I had to make sure my friends are alright. Shiro did the same."

"I'm so glad you all are safe!" Mr Jin laughed and suddenly stopped. "What did you say?! You were ignoring the obvious dangerous situation?! "His angry roar could be heard from everywhere and it attracted the attention of Mr Mononobe who together with the other teachers was making sure everyone is ok and there is no structural damage to the school.

"Mr Jin, what is this shouting? Are the students alright?" Mr Mononobe was walking very with a serious face. He must have been incredibly worried and stressed.

"No, no, no Mr Mononobe. All of our beloved students are fine, except these two who blatantly ignored the crisis of the situation." Mr Jin talks very fast giving both you and Shiro an unpleasant, angry look.

"How do? What have they done." Mr Mononobe forces himself to be calm narrowing his eyes at both of you. Shiro's face went pale but you decided to take the blame even if there was nothing wrong about what you have done.

"Mr Jin, Mr Mononobe. We have only left the safety of our rooms to make sure our friends and anyone who may be in trouble is safe." You straighten up without letting the teacher speak. Mr Jin huff loudly surprised.

Mr Mononobe considers his words for a few seconds, his frow eases down.

"What if you helping others would put you in direct danger? Have you thought about that?" He asks you.

"It won't matter as long as we can help them." Shiro jumps in the conversation.

"That's right." You agree.

Mr Mononobe closes his eyes and nods slowly.

"It's ok Mr Jin, those kids have their heads and hearts in the right place. Now stop standing around and go help! "

Quickly the whole gang scatters around the school to help the teachers and other students. Your whole morning passes in a new busy routine, checking the news and listening to your elders to make sure everything is going to be fine. The earthquake was classified as an isolated tremor that came from the land, with no predicted aftershocks. The city didn't experience any problems or damage except some broken furniture and unfortunate accidents that were treated in the hospital right now. It seems everything was back to normal.

Having the chance to relax you pick up the projector from the inventory and send Melusine a polite message asking her for a favour explaining you would need something transported to Ophion tower, small personal items. Only if she wouldn't mind. Shortly after Melusine answers, she would be happy to help and she will meet you shortly at the school.

Gathering your thoughts you return to your room. You look at a guitar that stands hidden in the corner. So far you managed to keep it away from your friends, especially Kengo, as you were worried he would break it by just touching it with his large, clumsy hands.

When the dreams started, the memory a few weeks back you could hear a melody. Initially, it was all scrambled up, just like everything was in reverse or through a badly adjusted radio. You couldn't make sense of anything. But then you started concentrating on one thing, the melody and each time it was clearer and clearer. Then one day, on a whim perhaps you thought, this melody shouldn't be hard to replicate, and being able to play it yourself could help with understanding the memory.

Thus you found a music shop, that stored all kinds of instruments, from drum and percussion kits to electric guitars and pianos. A very slim transient feline covered with many colourful patches of fur welcomed you very enthusiastically. She introduced herself as Saraswati and proceeded to praise all of the instruments and types of music.

Her welcome filled you with warmth and confidence, so you proceeded to explain, however badly, you wanted to learn how to play a melody from your memory. Saraswati was perplexed by your explanation but it made her curious so she kept asking questions, what instrument.

"AHH... I'm sorry... It was ancient-looking. I know how it looks but I don't know the name."

"How did you learn that melody in the first place?" Saraswati asks curiously.

"Most kids come in here wanting to become the next great idol, play the cool thing. Very few come because they love music, even fewer want to learn to play the piano or a violin. Sad times are upon us. I know all instruments, maybe if you draw it for me I'll be able to guess." She gives you something to draw on.

You agree and take a pencil from her. The lines you draw are a bit shaky and in the end, you present an image of u shaped instrument that reminds you of a horseshoe with strings in the centre of it going to the crossbar connecting both arms.

Saraswati studies it for a few seconds and then presents you with a smile. "That's a lyre. It's an instrument used in ancient times. You can say it's similar to a harpe but the rules of its music are more like a modern guitar."

"A lyre? Oh, that would make sense." You think about your dreams.

"Would it? Why so?"

"I saw this instrument in a dream that I think maybe a memory. But it's only a guess."

"Well, the only problem is I don't have a Lyra in stock. So sorry. On fact, it would be hard to get one anyway. These types of instruments are done per request and are quite pricey. Then you would need to attend a special lesson... Oh, trust me you don't want that!" She chuckled softly. "But... I have an idea".

Saraswati adds seeing your disappointment and pushes you into the depts of the shop.

"As I said the modern guitar operates on a very similar principle as the lyre. If you look and listen carefully you may even find one that sounds almost identical." She winks at you mysteriously.

"None of them is secretly sacred artefacts are they?" You joke nervously.

"Ahahaha oh no! Can you imagine what problems that would cause? Oh no, I can't have that in my shop! I put too much heart into it!"

Following Saraswati advice, you slowly look through all of the guitar instruments. There are electric ones in futuristic shapes or ones that resemble those you saw musicians holding on posters, then there are large guitars called acoustic but their sound just doesn't sit ok with your ear. Lastly, you glance on smaller, simpler guitars called classical one, their soft strings produce a warm melody very similar to that from your dreams.

And then you see the prices of these and your heart sinks while the jaw levitates very close to the floor. You have some money you managed to save up recently but not nearly enough to afford even the cheapest of those instruments.

Well, this plan will have to be put on hold for now you think and then unexpectedly something draws your eyes. You just noticed a boxed display with a Sale label on it. Within it you see all sorts of instruments, some are ex-display models, some seemed slightly damaged. In this box you find a single classical guitar, there was absolutely nothing wrong with it except one string being broken. You have just enough money to buy it.

"What's wrong with this guitar?" You ask Saraswati, the feline takes the instrument from your hands to inspect it.

It's a beautiful light guitar, painted in a very dark blue colour that reminds you of the night sky with silver nylon strings.

"There is nothing wrong with it deary, except the broken string. I can thread one for you for free, it will take me just a minute."

"Why was it in the sales box?" You ask curiously.

"It's the colour you see. Very few people would buy a guitar that's not in a light colour like brown or cream. If they are lacquered then maybe but this beautiful thing is in matt."

You admit you are completely lost and ask if you could buy it.

"Of course you can. Let me put on a new string, you know what because you are my first customer today why don't I present you with a guitar case and a book how to play it, yes?"

Saraswati is so kind and nice there is no way you can refuse her. And from that day each free moment, you found you spent on learning how to play the instrument, learning how to replay the sounds from the dreams. Initially, it was hard, your fingers hurt but each time seemed a bit easier. Then the dreams slowly became clearer, and the melody guided you. With the melody came words and suddenly you saw a familiar face with burning dark amber red eyes. Then you realized it wasn't any memory or dream, it was something from Ophion's past.

"Now I know what you were doing all this time when you weren't with us! Are you planning to become a musician, Guild Master?" Shiro's voice interrupted your chain of thoughts as you were sitting on your bed plucking the strings lovingly. Your heart sank and you face immediately felt flushed. Shiro laughed hard seeing your expression. "Don't be concerned, I'm not going to tell the others unless you want me to!"

"Don't you know how to knock?!" You cry out embarrassed.

"You left the door crack open."

"Ah-! I'm... I'm sorry I have been distracted recently." You reply slowly feeling guilty.

"I have noticed that's why I came to talk to you. Your head seems in the clouds, you drift away more often than usual. Is everything alright?"

You scan Shiro's face and measure your words not to say too much and you tell him about the memory and then your last dream with the earthquake.

Shiro almost jumps excited but there is some concern I'm his voice too. "Having a memory recall like that is fantastic! It means something in you is unlocking its secrets even if just a small bit. Do you know who’s memory it is?"

"Y-yes..." You stutter.

"I'm guessing you don't want to share it ?"

You silently turn your head.

"No... Not yet at least. And then there is a matter of the last dream."

"Hmpf... I wouldn't worry too much now. I would think your dreams were merely the effect of the earthquake. Like when you hear a sound while you dream and your brain incorporates it into the dream itself. "

"How do you know things like that?"

"I pay attention in class compared to you and Kengo! That reminds me. Melusine is looking for you." Shiro replies and readies to leave only to turn around. "Remember if there is anything, you can tell us right?"

You nod with a smile.

"Thanks" and Shiro disappears behind the door. Taking a deep breath you put the guitar into a case and pack the projector into a separate box. With both of them, you direct yourself to the school entrance where Melusine is waiting patiently.

"Hi, Melusine!" You greet her from afar, as you get closer you notice her usual outfit has been decorated in many places with garlands of familiar flowers.

"Hello young Milord, I hope you are well? I must take this chance and ask for forgiveness after yesterday. I was only following Monsieur Licht's request who specifically requested not to mention at any point Sir Ophion will be joining you."

"It's ok Melusine." You interrupt her. "It turned out better than I hoped. I... I thought it was Licht's gift to you. "

"Ah-!" Melusine blushes "That would be impossible. But Sir Ophion made a great deal of effort to get everything prepared. Nobody except humble myself and Monsieur Licht knew about his plan. He must care about you very much young Milord. In fact... I don't ever remember him carrying about anything and anyone in the past as his older self. You seem to cause impossible change whenever you go." She added with a hint of a smile.

"What's with these?" You ask about the flowers.

"Oh, forgive me, Milord. Monsieur Licht said I can keep any flowers I want before they get removed so I kept a few of them."

" And you keep saying some things are impossible. They look beautiful on you. Send my kindest regards to Licht when you see him, and thank you so much for your help. Hopefully, I can repay it somehow one day. Oh, by the way, one more thing. Is there any way through the building I can take to avoid meeting literary everyone?"

Melusine takes the boxes from you and slowly explains a route that should help you pass unnoticed, then leaves with a mysterious half-smile as she was deep in thought about what you said earlier.

The weather outdoors is still sunny and pleasant giving you some hope you won’t need the projector and nature will provide the best possible scenery. Does Ophion have a balcony you think only to chase those weird questions away and return to your room to get dressed and leave.

As you leave the dormitory and leave the school building a heavy hand lands on your shoulder unexpectedly.

“Hey-ho partner! Where are you going? Don’t you want to join us for some combat training?” Kengo stops you mid-track, his hand is firmly stuck on your shoulder and you can’t wriggle out from under his tight grip. The grin you see means he is up to no good again.

“Heyy! Actually, let’s get some snacks. We feel like we didn’t have the time to talk recently and I’m curious how the concerto was. Kengo said you got back really late yesterday?” Ryota is just next to him smiling innocently holding a bag of what looks like different colourful candies and crisps.

“Did he now?! And why are you here not at your room doing your penalty studies?!” Suddenly Shiro’s voice pierces the air loudly.

Kengo’s face goes pale.

“Oh crap! Sorry partner gotta run! Catch you later yes? I want the juicy details!”

“Me too!” Ryota tries to catch up with Kengo who left a trail of dust behind him.

You raise your thumb up to Shiro and wave. You can see him smile at you and then you get a message on the App.

“Stay out of trouble, OK?”

“I will.” You reply and press send. As you arrive at the Ophion tower with plenty of time to spare and make your way to the security reception.

“Hi, I’m here to see Ophion. He… is expecting me.” You say nervously.

A completely uninterested transient measures you for a second and then lets you in. “Yes, we have been told.” With relief, you direct your steps following the route Melusine told you which is the executive walkway that is almost always empty and takes an elevator. In your mind surprise visit would be out of place, especially since Ophion is not any man and may be occupied. The corridors around are lavishly decorated and you feel slightly out of place. But finally, the elevator arrives and you step into it.

Pondering why there is always a piece of weird music whenever you go to the office buildings a slight shake resonates around you. Unsure if it was just your imagination or something else you squeeze yourself into the corner. Another floor beeped before your eyes, and as you were counting down, only three more to go, everything starts shaking around you. Whatever is happening knocks you off your feet and you land painfully on the floor. At the same time, the elevator slows down and stops. The lights around you suddenly go out and you hear and electricity creek followed by a metal one. Suddenly there is an empty feeling in your stomach and you painfully drop on the floor again. Panicking you somehow roll to the corner. The elevator must have dropped down but the safety break kicked in just in time. For what feels like an eternity you are in total darkness, unable to understand what’s going on, absolutely scared. And then blue safety lights turn on. Still scared you slowly climb up and try to use the help alarm button on the console and call for help. But there is no reply from anyone. So you try and press every floor button hoping you will be able to get out this way. And then the shaking starts again and instantly you cover in the corner hearing the elevator creek dangerously. It’s a situation your powers won’t do you any good and it feels like you stopped between floors too. You try the help button again. Nothing. You try again. The elevator creeks dangerously again and you start praying to anyone and anything for it to hold and the shaking to stop. Not sure but you think you hear an alarm and screams in the background. With what feels like the worst shake so far everything feels like liquid around you. Suddenly you hear a metal creek just a meter above you and the light blind you. For a moment you flicker your eyes looking at a huge silhouette before you. In the elevator door using all of his might is no other than Ophion covered in dust and grime.

“My beloved give me your hand!” He extends it to you and you gladly take it. Ophion who is extremely strong being an eternal dragon god lifts you out the elevator without any problem. Once you are out and on your own legs you embrace him as hard as you can. That was a horrible and scary experience. “I’m here, I’m here my beloved flower, and nothing is going to hurt you anymore.” He is completely surprised by your reaction and accepts the embrace without hesitation.

“I’m… I’m ok, thanks to you. What happened?” You ask.

“My beloved, we experienced consecutive shock waves. Much, much stronger than these before. Alarms are going through the whole city of Tokyo as we speak. You should thank Aizen here as he was the one who heard plead for help through the elevator device.”

Surprised you thank Aizen, who for once doesn’t look angry. He remains quiet and nods in response. Then you look back at Ophion.

“Are you ok?” You suddenly notice a scrape on his arm. There is no blood but still.

“Oh, my beloved you worry about me? My heart is touched beyond imagination.” He says still embracing you. “I am fine, it was just a few ceiling panels that fell on me. Nothing that can hurt this godly dragon. “

“Ophion, sir! Are you sure you are unhurt? Maybe we should finish this little scene and get into safety!” And the old Aizen is back, however his expression remained unchanged. Once he said that a group of security mobs appeared running toward them.

“Sir! We found you! It’s good you are unharmed sir! We have news!”

Ophion reluctantly lets you go, but won’t let you move away from the reach of his hands or wings.

“Report! What’s the situation? Are you evacuating the civilians? Are there any injuries? Where are the other tycoons?”

“Sir we have been informed by the security forces this was no ordinary shock, but it was caused by the world collision.” One of the mobsters has pointed at the windows. To your surprise, the Tokyo border wall from the harbour was gone stretching to an open sea covered with angry clouds. It wasn’t destroyed in the quake no, it just vanished due to the collision event.

“Where was the source of the earthquake located?” You open your mouth asking loudly. Your mind went straight into the geography lessons and then something else entirely.

“What?” The mobster asked stupidly.

“What the earthquake on land or at sea?” You repeat.

“My beloved, what are you thinking?” Ophion asked.

“If this world collision has temporarily exposed us to an open sea and there was an earthquake which happened at sea everyone in Tokyo is in grave danger. “

Aizen was the first one to get what you were saying.

“Tsunami! The god wave! If the harbour wall is gone the wave will flood the whole city, bottling up because of the border wall!” He turned pale as paper.

“We need to send a message to everyone who has the app! Tell them to go to higher ground!”

Suddenly Tsathoggua appeared from nowhere holding Melusine, breathing heavily.

“Oh, you are ok! Melusine said you were in the building. I was right to think…” He had to stop to breathe. ”I’m not getting any better at this.. huff.. huff.. I was right to think you will be where Ophion is.”

“I'm extremely sorry if my guidance has caused you any trouble young milord.”

“It’s Ok Melusine, you couldn’t have known something like this would happen.”

“Shut up everyone!” Aizen roared. “We need to warn everyone”

“What about the non-app users?” You ask immediately. “We can’t just hope they will be alright. We need to do something.”

“How much time do we have?” Tsathoggua asks still breathing heavily. You look at the long line of windows and with a shiver see a dark shadow on the horizon.

“We don’t have much. Look.” You say pointing at what you saw unconsciously squeezing your sword. Your sword. Then something hits you. A shiver travelled from the top of your head down to your toes. Something you saw earlier, something somebody told you earlier, something you have heard before. The music you have been hearing, It had words and until now you couldn’t understand them. These words were “In the day’s to come my darling, I shall love you, my child, I shall protect you with the power of my ethereal shield of light.” Feeling a warmth come from your sword you now understand those weren’t just idle lyrics. It was the words of a rule of a secret artefact. One of the 24 pieces of what was embedded in your sword. And the scene from your dreams was almost identical, but there is no falling star and an exploding mountain. But the wave remains. And it’s coming fast.

“Are you ok young friend?” Tsotsung pulls your sleeve, it seems everyone is looking at you. “You switched off suddenly.”

“My beloved, we need to get into the shelter.” Ophion insists.

“No.”

“No?” He is troubled and confused. “But my jewel-“ You interrupt him.

“I need to get to the harbour. I think I can stop the wave... I’m not sure how yet but if this is a collision event and it’s somehow connected with an error within the app once this is over everything should go back to normal, yes? I had dreams and in one for them, this was exactly what I saw.”

“Those are just wild speculations! Where are those idiotic ideas coming from?! There are innocent lives at stake and you are trying to play a stupid hero! How incredibly childish of you, I couldn’t expect anything else.” Aizen snarled at your words.

“Aizen leave now!” Ophion almost hit the man in anger.

“Tell us what do you want to do.” Melusine insisted, together her and Tsathoggua expressed will to help.

“Since I know you, your plans and crazy ideas never failed. I trust you friend. I will take you to the harbour.” Tsotsunga said putting on a brave face.

“No! My beloved, my jewel, my darling spouse. I want to help you. I will take you to the harbour, but you must tell me about your plan. We don’t have much time. The wave is almost upon the city!” Ophion stepped in front of you showing all of his protective nature, almost as if hearing others offer help before he instigated a change of mind. Maybe he felt less worthy.

“My sword contains the shard of another sacred relic which was the Etheral Shield of Light its rule was Protection against all. Or so I think… ” Ophion’s eyes grew wider as he listened to your words astounded. “I have a memory that’s been following me for weeks now. That’s why I wanted to talk to you. It’s like something within me knew such an event may happen!”

“My flower! My love!” Ophion was trembling. “You must tell me everything once this is over. Let us haste to the harbour. I will be with you and be behind you at every step.”

You nod silently.

“Let everyone know to find shelter above ground. Tsathoggua please try and reach Mr Triton and others who have any degree of command over water if they can help.”

“On it” Tsathoggua vanished within a split second. At the same moment, you felt a strong arm wrap around you tightly and suddenly you were in the air. Ophion flew out of the terrace next to where you were, taking you with him.

“My beloved, why have you not told me sooner? Why keep this as a secret! My heart is trembling knowing there is even a minute piece of you that feels what I feel toward you!”

“Ophion, We are flying-!” you gasp shocked by the sensation.

“Don’t you like it, my love? There was no other way to get us to the harbour fast enough.”

“If it wasn’t for the circumstances I probably would enjoy it, but I wasn’t ready! Next time ask!”

“I'm sorry my darling, my fiery flower, my spouse. But you haven’t answered my question. Whatever happens, I want to know.”

You fall silent for a moment trying to gather words for an answer.

“I... I wanted to know if it was really me or just the memory. And then when the accident in the TSA happened and Seth’s shadow transported us to a real desert where we spent days wandering, each night I would look at the sky looking for the Dragon constellation… and think about the melody. And each night I would think that although I barely know you, I would miss you even if I never met you.”

“Ooh... Ooh...!” Ophion the Golden Dragon was trembling so much you could feel the hands holding you shaking. “This trembling feeling within my soul is equal to Heaven and Earth's creation itself. Those words! It filled the loneliness in this weary heart that has grown for millennia within seconds! My beloved! You cannot imagine how happy I am right now. But first, let’s save this diamond of a city from disaster. “ Your journey through the skies didn’t last long and you set foot in the harbour, that was already full of people and transients. Each one of them in a line trying to control the incoming wall of water.

“Thank gods you are safe!” You hear Shiro’s voice, behind him is Kengo and Ryota. All running towards you.

“What are you all doing here?! It's dangerous!” You shout at them as you set your feet at the ground.

“Well partner that’s not how you should be welcoming your friends!” Kengo measures Ophion with a cold look. “Looks like you had an interesting way of getting here!”

“Ophion sir! Thank you for helping our friend and bringing him here!” Shiro slurs out to Ophion.

“How did you get here? Where is Tsatsunga? Is he OK?”

Ryota gesticulates at a tall building nearby. “He collapsed exhausted after transporting dozens here. Moritaka is with him right now. Shiro used his powers to get us and Mr. Triton here the minute we got the message.”

“Shiro! Are you ok after that?” You ask your friend who seems paler than usual.

“Yes, yes I am fine. I had a minor nose bleed but it stopped now.” He answers avoiding your stare. “I’m not sure what can we accomplish. A Tsunami is a force of nature, us app users and other Transient don’t seem to have any chance to stop it. This is going to be a massacre!” He keeps trying to rationalize.

“My sword contains a shard of another sacred relic, the Etheral Shield of Light its rule was Protection against all. I know it is going to work.”

“How do you know what? Is it something to do with that memory you said you kept having?” Shiro asked looking at you and then at the approaching wall of water. It was getting nearer and nearer and it didn’t look like the united forces of water relics were doing anything beyond slowing It down.

“Come on kids! Put your back into it! We have a whole city counting on us!” Mr Triton was shouting louder and louder.

You turn around to Ophion. “Can you protect the civilians and anyone who may get into the harm's way?”

“My darling love, Of course! Whatever your plan you need to be ready. I will help as much as I can. I shall call upon my children to be ready to lift anyone into the skies to protect them from the flood wave.” And he has done as he said lifting his sacred relic into the skies, and with a blast of light, dozens of wyverns filled the skies ready.

The tsunami wave was incoming faster now, filling the whole horizon, the sky darkened angrily. This must-have happened somewhere you think, at some time in the history. You think about that picture you saw.

“Shiro, I saw a painting of a tsunami wave, and there were a man and a ghost of a woman that was trying to stop it. What is the story of that painting.” You ask bracing yourself.

Shiro is quite stunned after you tell him this.

“You are talking about The Great Wave off Kanagawa, but there is no man or woman in that painting.”

“Great, so either I’m hallucinating or something else is happening.”

“What if the collision of the worlds started happening much earlier than we thought, and what you saw had something to do with it.”

“I’m thinking my resurfacing memory has something to do with the tsunami.”

Shiro nodded eagerly.

“Don’t you remember? It happened before that you remembered a forgotten part of your powers before during different events.”

“But this is different, this started happening weeks ago.” You say to him.

“Whatever happens Partner, we are here to help you. We will always have your back.” Kengo adds. “Let’s see what my fists can do against a wall of water.”

“I will be with you my friends, even if you take me to the scariest places in all of the 23 worlds.” Ryota yelps quietly. He is scared and shaking yet still with you.

“Oh, gods it’s coming!” Somebody shouted! Screams started getting louder, some transients panicked and run and Mr Triton started having issues controlling the speed of the incoming wave. You could feel an unearthly rumble as the wall of water was before you.

You felt ready. You were ready, you had to be.

”Role of Wanderer, Rule of Rending! Engrave mine name onto thee Come out, Boundless Tail!!”

But nothing happened. Nothing at all. Your swords shone its normal light, but there was nothing your power could affect.

“No, no! This is not right! I know I can do something!”

Ophion lay his hand on your shoulder. “We must go now, my love!”

“No! I know I can help! I just… The song! The words were: In the day’s to come my darling, I shall love you, my child, I shall protect you with the power of my ethereal shield of light.” You panic seeing the wave almost upon on you, glancing over everyone.

Ophion gives away an odd laugh that seems so out of place right now.

“My dearest, you are calling upon the wrong artefact! You must call upon the rule of protection! With the memory this strong it means it has a power of its own over your sacred artefact.”

You turn back to the wave in fear.

“Role of the guardian, Rule of protection! Engrave my name unto thee! Come forth Ethereal shield of light!” But still, nothing happens.

But you don’t give up concentrating even more with your eyes closed. “ Rule of protection! Engrave my name unto thee! Come forth Ethereal shield of light!” There is still nothing.

Feeling the water droplets on your hair and screams around you shout again one last time. “ Role of the guardian, Rule of protection! Engrave my name unto thee! Come forth Ethereal shield of light!” Suddenly a force so powerful hits your body as something has torn the flesh out of your bones. The wall of light emanating out of your swords is so bright you can’t even physically keep your eyes open as and the vibration of the blade is almost breaking the bones in your hand. But you hold it tight as a wall extends in every direction. You know it’s the shield of light, the same one the goddess Euronome used to protect her children during the war of gods, the same she used on Olympos to protect those innocent around her dragged into the war of Titans. You feel your body strength failing and drop on one knee feeling tremendous pain. But there is a dozen of hands suddenly holding your back keeping you from falling. You hear so many voices, calling upon so many rules. You hear Mr Triton calling his rule, you hear Ophion shouting out commands to the Wyverns at the ready to help in an evacuation, You hear Ryota providing healing to others and yourself.

“You can do it, my child. Hold on just a little longer!” Somebody, a woman whispers to your ear. You will try as much as you can, but there is blood going down your nose. The force you are against may just kill you. But you don’t care hearing the words of Mr Mononobe in your head over and over intertwined with the song. “Prove yourself that you are not just a hero in the App. Prove you can defend those innocent from forces far greater than any battle.” With your hands in so much pain, you don’t know if you will be ever able to move your fingers again, with no sounds coming to you because you think your eardrums exploded and the blood is dripping down your neck the strength of your body finally fails you and collapse into darkness.

 *

 In your dreams, you hear and see many things, and the beautiful watercolour world around you dances gently and suddenly a slender figure emerges from the kaleidoscope of colours.

“Well done my child, you have done it. I’m so proud of you.” The woman speaks to you, her voice feels like it is coming from far away.

“Are you-?” You ask without words spoken.

“I am. Or I may be, or I may be just the figment of your imagination. After all, you exhausted your frail body greatly.” She responds with a crystal laugh.

“I thought you would be…” You start but she stops you.

“A dragon? Like my husband? Ahahaha… We were born beyond such boundaries, unconcerned by shape.”

“You are strong for one who has such a great burden on them. I only hope you are strong enough for all the challenges awaiting you. “ She continues. “ As for what is perplexing you, it’s not the memory of me that’s keeping your mind confused, it never was.”

“Am I falling for a god then?” You ask, although unsure if you did but the words resonate anyway. Realizing you won’t have any secrets here.

“Haha-!” The woman laughs warm. “And what if yes? What burdens does it bring to you?”

“Ophion is a bit much. He is a god, a godly dragon… and…”

“And what of it my child? Give yourself and him a chance. Remember he is the father of all in our world, and his golden heart is pure, and his love eternal. Yes, he has spent millennia without a force to restrain his fatherly ego, and in loneliness. Such things would poison any mind. What you witnessed, in your last dream was the moment of my fall… and the moment his heart broke… “ She added sadly. “I am sorry this somehow has influenced your world.”

“It’s time for you to wake up my child. Beware thou, the Rule of the Guardian is not one to be taken lightly as it is a burden that will exhaust your body beyond the boundaries of this peculiar prison everyone is tied to.”

“Can I ask you-!” You suddenly try to find where the voice is coming as the woman seems to have disappeared. Only to approach you from behind and whisper to your ear “Wake up”.

 *

You were in a hospital room, your head still dizzy and the sounds coming to you weren’t completely normal. “So everything truly happened.” You lift a hurting hand trying to reach to your ear but it is still painful. So that’s how physical pain feels like compared to a memory of it from the app. Then you notice Ophion on a large chair next to you. How odd it looks having him here, his large frame bigger than any human, sleeping so peacefully. He must have taken a nap while being here. And then he gave out a gentle snore making you laugh quietly to yourself. It didn’t take him long to wake up and yawn revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth.  

“Hey, sleepyhead.” You greet him with a smile.

“My beloved! Forgive me, with so much going on I didn’t have the time to sleep at all.” He looked at you with his dark ember red eyes.

“How long has it been?”

“You slept for almost three days my jewel. How are you feeling? The healers here said your body needs rest. It was hard to explain to them what exactly ailed you since the App injuries seem to be beyond the comprehension of your medicine.”

“My head is still tired, and my body aches but I’m better. So… we have done it. The city is safe?” You ask with a weary voice.

Ophion shifts on his chair leaning towards you.

“Yes my darling spouse, everything is back to normal. It seems your conclusion was correct, my beloved, and after the wave of water was stopped the glitch in the app caused by the world collision cleared itself out. With one exception. World collisions don’t function as app battles, and some physical damage caused by the quake remained, but nobody was hurt.”

“I'm so happy everyone is ok.” You let out the words with relief.

“Yes, yes, my wonderful flower. My children scouted the city to help while you were resting. Your friends will be here shortly I assume. But before that, I need to tell you, my love, no, I need to ask you to promise me not to do anything like that ever again! It was brave but foolish! I, your husband will sacrifice my body for you If I have to! You should never endanger yourself! Not in this frail form! I could not bear losing you again! My beloved, you must promise me! If you won’t I will have to come up with a plan to perhaps enslave you temporarily whenever danger is near to stop you from running toward it.” Ophion is back being himself, with his voice booming across the room.

“You want to enslave me to stop me from getting hurt?”

“In the most comfortable of ways my love!” He adds quickly.

“You know you snore? I’m going to tell everyone if you even think about locking me up somewhere!” You tease him.

“My darling spouse you wouldn’t-!”

And you just thought you have a secret weapon flashing a cheeky smile at him.

 *

 You found yourself staring at the elevator door at the Ophion Tower waiting for it to arrive. It’s been a few days now since the event and you are back on your feet. Of course, this goes without saying you got into trouble at school which Mr Mononobe was willing to turn a blind eye as long as you attend a few extracurricular lessons with him to make sure you caught up with all of the lessons you missed. But this Friday evening you were only thinking to yourself “I just hope I'm not going to embarrass myself”. The weather outside has taken a dramatic turn with a heavy downpour forcing you to rethink your plans. The elevator doors finally open, still with a bit of a fright after the last time you enter and purposely press the floor just below your destination. Closing your eyes for a few seconds you await the familiar sound and yes, you are here. As the door opens you exit with relief with. It was Melusine who told you to skip a floor, claiming you may walk into Aizen. She was right, as you approached the staircase you hear a loud marching noise and a very annoyed monologue.

“I can’t believe my beloved sir Ophion send me away! Me! His loyal servant! To meet this stupid brat! I will find a way! I will! The embarrassment! How dare he!”

“Oh dear,” You think to yourself waiting for the man to disappear and then you walk up the staircase. With each step, it feels harder to walk as if somebody would be adding sand to your burden. But you made a promise, and as nerve-wracking this is you knocked on the door. And there he was. Ophion opened, with his huge silhouette filling the door frame. You just realized they probably had to enlarge all entryways just for him. Unlike his usual clothes, he was wearing a black shirt that was fully pinned up which somehow felt odd.

“My beloved! Please enter. Welcome to my private chambers, that not many have the right to enter! You look unearthly today.” He says trying to sway you as always.

“Hi… You… look different?” You hesitate. “It’s a good different, but I never saw you buttoned up.”

Ophion laughs loudly.

“My darling, I, your husband still need to run a business. But if it pleases you I can change in something more attractive to your eyes? Yes, my love?” You can feel your ears burning.

“You are impossible.” You reply.

“Ah my beloved, of course, I am impossible, I am the godly dragon beloved by all,” Ophion responds with his typical smile and a wink. You are sure he didn’t understand what you meant.

“My flower, my love, I wasn’t sure if you were hungry or thirsty so I asked some refreshments to be brought up. And yes, my spouse, the items you asked to be delivered here were left untouched. You think I wouldn’t notice?” He teases you.

With a pounding heart you think to yourself “Well, this is a moment of truth”. And you approach the boxes that have the projector and your guitar case.

“I’m not hungry right now. And…” Ophion stares at you intensively. “Can we spread some pillows on the floor to sit down?” You ask hesitating.

“Anything you want my love.” As odd it feels you and him take some pillows of the elegant sofas that are within the living area of the apartment and move the furniture away to make more sitting space. You ask Ophion to sit and make himself comfortable, and with amusement you watch the dragon take his time to awkwardly sit on the floor, he smiles like a giddy child to you all the time.  You take out the projector and place it on the floor and then uncase your guitar. Finally, you kneel in front of Ophion who is with great anticipation is observing your every move. There is something in his dark amber eyes you can’t quite place or name.

“Right… I feel nervous and embarrassed.” You say out loud.

“My beloved, why would you be? There is nobody here beyond us.”

“I’m nervous because you are here.” You repeat.

“My darling spouse, I’m confused.” He reaches out and grabs your hand with his. It’s very warm on your skin.

“So… I wanted to see you because I have something for you. A gift let’s call it. It’s the memory I’ve been having, and I wanted to reconstruct it for you somehow.”

“Oh, oh-! My beloved, my heart is shaking. Did you go to so much trouble… for me? Your Ophion?” He smiles openly.

“Can we dim down the lights?” You ask.

“But my dearest jewel, are you sure the floor will be comfortable enough, what about the bedroom-!”

“Ophion!” You protest loudly before he can finish.

“I apologize, my beloved! But you made it so easy…” He sticks out his tongue and does as you request diming down the lights in the living area, not completely dark but enough to what you wanted to do.

“Because mother-nature has been fickle today and I can’t do what I wanted I thought I will present you with something.” You say like a magician preparing the audience for a magic trick.

“Oh my starling jewel, I cannot contain my excitement, I-!” He starts but you interrupt him.

“I give you the stars on a night’s sky.” You say and turn on the start projector. The device lights up the entire room with hundreds of constellations, and stars from all over our galaxy, gently moving to simulate the motion of a night sky above us. With that you pick up your guitar, and gently settle yourself in front of Ophion, with your back towards him, almost touching his chest feeling the heat of his body, but far enough not to touch him while playing.

“In this memory, I would sit like this and play an instrument very much like this and you were listening.” You say lowering your voice as you start gently pulling the nylon strings. Although in his memory the melody was played on an ancient lyre, you were able to easily reproduce it on a classical guitar with almost identical quality. The first few notes came out a bit harsh but once the nerves went away the melody flew gently and pleasantly in the night air with the stars above you. It felt magical and you didn’t want it to stop. Surprisingly you felt Ophion reach-out to you and slowly wrap his large, solid arms around you and place his head on your shoulder. It didn’t stop you from playing at all, it just made your heart beat faster and harder. The melody wasn’t long at all and it was easy to repeat in an infinite loop, perhaps even it was created that way.

“I know it’s not much but I wanted this to be a gift to you.” You say softly still playing.

“Oh my world, you need not say anything, this is the mo1st beautiful of gifts you have ever given me and I wish it wouldn’t stop. Among these riches that surround us, this is the only thing worth cherishing” Ophion says smiling with his head still on your shoulder.

“I’m happy you think so.” You add and after a moment of thinking you turn your head and kiss his cheek, feeling the gentle giant tremble as you do it.

END 

[theolddarkmachine]

Imaginary - Chapter Seventeen

Midoriya Izuku’s life was turned upside by fate.

Eri’s life was turned upside down by circumstance.

And Bakugou Katsuki is about to learn that even imaginary friends need to grow up.

Chapter 17 of 19

Also on AO3

A/N: It’s another kinda shorter one but FAO;IJSELDFJ DOST MINE EYES SPOT THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL? After this, only one chapter and an epilogue left! also, fun fact, tsuru was my grandma’s maiden name!

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

The sun is bright and warm, heating Katsuki’s skin as he lets his feet carry him along the sidewalk. He’s distantly aware of the continuous chatter beside him as his latest assignment goes over the tactics of their most recent game of capture the flag with the other neighborhood kids at the park.

Tsuru Yuji, age 6.

Target of schoolyard bullies.

Colorful personality trapped behind a stoic, quiet demeanor.

In the beginning, Katsuki had thought that he’d be a bit of a tougher case, one that would keep his mind from tracking back to the house just two streets over with the girl with the happy smile, and the man with the all too bright eyes.

But things never went the way he wanted them to, apparently, since it had only taken a matter of days to break Yuji from his shell, and just a couple of weeks for the change to completely turn his school life around. Now Yuji had friends, and the inability to stop talking.

“Mr. Bakugou?” His name shattered his reverie, pulling his attention down to the kid at his side. The sunlight glinted off of Yuji’s too big glasses, blinding him momentarily.

“How many times do I have to tell you to drop the ‘mister,’ kid?” Katsuki gruffs without any heat as he returns his gaze back to the pavement stretched before them.

Yuji’s reply comes in the form of a high pitched giggle before he continues on about how next time, they should make the top of the slide their home base.

“Then, we could just slide down if we need to get away fast!” He exclaims, hands shooting upward as if the revelation is groundbreaking. And maybe it is.

Who was Katsuki to say for sure?

“You’re too damn smart, kid,” he replies with a halfhearted laugh of his own as he keeps his eyes trained forward.

The first time they’d taken this route back to Yuji’s house, he had told himself it was a mere accident. His feet had grown so used to this street that they’d automatically made their way here before he could even acknowledge the direction they had gone.

Not that it had mattered, as he had told himself, as he’d stolen a quick glance at the Midoriya household just days after he’d left it for the final time. While a bit out of the way, this path still technically did lead to Yuji’s house.

The second time they’d taken it, Katsuki had told himself a bit more walking was good for them both. Nothing wrong with a bit more exercise and all that.

Now, a month later, he had run out of excuses to tell himself.

It had broken just about every big rule in the imaginary friend handbook, but he couldn’t stop himself from trying to catch just one more glimpse of the pair that had worked their way so far under his skin.

When he had left the Midoriya household for the final time, he had left a bit of himself behind. The gaping open maw of his chest had been exposed and raw, leaving him filled with a painful ache unlike anything he had ever felt. Katuski had felt loss in the past, but this had been wholly different, and in those first few days, he had wondered if he might never be whole again.

It was a dramatic thought, of course. One he had to swallow down like a bitter pill as he’d taken on his next assignment.

The ache remained, it had just numbed enough for him to be able to finally breathe again.

But that didn’t stop him from walking by their home whenever the opportunity presented itself.

Just to be sure things were still okay.

At least, that’s what he told himself.

Gaze still ahead, and Yuji��s droning voice filling his ear, Katsuki feels his heart stutter at the sight of movement in the Midoriya’s yard.

The honey colored sunlight twists in Eri’s hair, making it shine bright as she cheers happily at something Izuku says. She looks absolutely elated as she crawls her way up into the car and waits for her dad to get her buckled in. When Izuku closes the door, and turns to walk around the back, Katsuki can see the wide smile that’s still stretched across his lips.

They look so happy, he thinks, and something about that knowledge fills his lungs with acid.

Katsuki watches as Izuku makes his way around the vehicle, his wide frame pausing at the driver’s side as he looked out toward the street.

For just one fleeting moment, Katsuki feels his breath stall in his chest as that familiar green stare passes over him. It’s gone almost as quickly as it has come, but it still leaves his heart racing as he watches Izuku climb into the car.

“Mr. Bakugou!” Yuji’s voice is indignant as he calls his attention back to him. Snapping his gaze away from the car as it backs out of the driveway, Katsuki hums.

“Yeah, yeah, kid,” he says, trying to ignore the strain that leaves him sounding breathless. “I’m listening.”

***

Katsuki was fucking angry.

And tired.

So goddamn tired.

Tired of the pitying looks his friends shot him when they thought he wasn’t looking. Tired of feeling like hole had been punched through his fucking chest. Tired of the emerald colored dreams that haunted him.

And especially tired of being summoned to the fucking Administrator’s office.

He’d woken that morning to the text that had the audacity to proclaim a meeting time for just an hour from then, and he already knew what it meant. Time to move on. Because it was always fucking time to move on.

Katuski would never be able to stay in one place for long, never allowed to be something permanent.

And that pissed him off.

His angry steps punctuated the otherwise quiet of the lobby, making the poor sap manning the front desk jump as they looked up from their coffee towards him.

“Mr. Bak—” they start to say, eyes going wide as he growls.

“Don’t call me that,” Katsuki hisses before he throws open the doors. The loud crack of the wood against the walls cut through the air in a dramatic way that would normally fill him with some sort of thrill. Now, it just settles somewhere in the vast expanse that sits at the center of his chest, lost to the empty feeling that’s slowly expanding.

“Lively as ever this morning, young Bakugou,” the Administrator says, not bothering to look up from the folder he’s holding open before him.

The sight of the unassuming tan of the file only serves to push the burning fury through him faster as he lets the doors fall shut behind him with another loud crash. It feels as if the air in the room is sucked out by the bone shaking sound as Katsuki fixes his fiery stare on Toshinori.

“Cut to the chase, old man,” he snarls, mouth twisting into a sneer that’s full of teeth and sharp rage.

A soft sigh brushes through the space as he watches the Administrator close the folder before gently pushing it toward the edge of the desk.

“Please take a seat,” Toshinori offers, keeping his attention forward.

“I’d rather just get this over with,” Katsuki bites out in return.

There’s another weighted pause before Toshinori sits back, his gaze finally finding Katsuki’s as it flashes with the steely silence of a command. For all the kindness and fun loving nature that encapsulated the Administrator, he had almost forgotten that he was the leader of the Imaginary Friends fo a reason.

Swallowing the sharp taste of his pride, Katsuki walks to the bean bag chair, falling into it with a muted thud.

“Talk,” Katsuki snaps, whittling the single word down to a barely there syllable as he keeps his gaze trained on Toshinori’s. His stubborn defiance is the only reason he catches the shift in the Administrator’s stare as it sweeps over him. Softening into something fond, and almost sad, it cools the inferno tearing through his veins, if only for just a moment.

“Have I ever told you about my predecessor?” He asks, solemn and far off, as if lost to the track of time.

“You brought me here for a fucking history lesson?” Katsuki growls, hands curling into tight fists where they sit on his knees. Toshinori’s eyebrow raises in silent admonishment. It forces a low string of grumbles from his mouth as he folds his arms across his chest and slips lower into the bean bag.

“His name was Banjo Daigoro, and he was a great Administrator,” he sighs at the memory. “But I was never his first choice for successor.”

A spark of interest lights the cavern of his insides as he cocks his head to the side.

“Originally, he had chosen one of my closest friends,” the Administrator continues before taking a steadying breath.

“Shimura Nana.”

The name rocks through Katsuki, sending a chill rocketing down his spine as his mind spins around the words that had encapsulate Shimura Nana’s terminated friendship.

“She was in training to take over the position, but was still going out into the field. Loved working with kids, you know?” He says, a small chuckle weaving between his words as his gaze goes distant at the memory.

“Banjo had assigned her a final case before she was going to be officially promoted. But then, she was seen.”

Shimura Nana reports child caretaker made verbal acknowledgement of her presence.

Katsuki remembered. She had only been with her charge for a week before it had happened.

And then—

Friendship terminated.

“Torino Sorahiko,” Toshinori rattles off, voice void of inflection as he recites what was written in the file word for word, as if it laid there before him.

“Lost both his parents. Was showing aggression towards his uncle, who had taken him in. He was a good kid, Nana was adamant about that. Then one day, his uncle saw her, and spoke to her.”

The blue of his eyes goes perfectly clear, settling into a cutting blue as his gaze returns to the present. Finding Katsuki once more, they whittle away at him until he’s flayed open, raw and exposed beneath the Administrator’s stare.

The feeling of being seen clings to him like a premonition. It’s equal parts awe and terror as it works its way through him.

Swallowing thickly, Katsuki speaks.

“What happened?”

But he knows. Has known for far too long.

Friendship terminated.

“We aren’t exactly supposed to be seen by anyone other than our charge, especially not by their parents or caretakers, as you know,” Toshinori says, pausing long enough to arch a brow at him before continuing.

“And Nana knew that too. Probably better than most, given the position she was going to take.”

He pauses again as his lips quirk sharply upward with bygone amusement and his voice falls into a hush, carried by the weight of his memory’s past.

“Funny thing is, that didn’t change anything. Even knowing hadn’t been enough.”

Katsuki’s breath catches deep in his throat and threatening to choke him as Toshinori speaks.

“Officially, they terminated the friendship. If you found Torino’s file right now, it would say as much. But Nana had returned after that, and they could still see her.”

Silence settles between them as Katsuki notices the way Toshinori’s eyes shine wetly.

“So, she made a choice,” he finally concludes with a shrug, as if what he had just said was nothing. As if he had just been talking about the weather. Katsuki might have even found it funny, how mundane he had made it, if it wasn’t for the fact that every single one of the Administrator’s words had been shrapnel that had torn him apart.

“What did she choose?” He hears himself ask, voice twisted into something even he doesn’t recognize. It hurts, the way it scrapes itself through his throat, and he could swear he tastes blood at the back of his tongue.

And yet for all the ways Katsuki ached, Toshinori just looks him over before fixing him with an all knowing smile.

Slowly, he reaches across the desk and pushes the folder closer towards him.

“It’s time to move on, young Bakugou,” he says by way of answer. The statement rings with a finality, one that doesn’t allow for argument or further discussion.

Sighing loudly, Katsuki grabs the folder, defeat hanging heavy across his shoulders in a way that makes him think he might find himself crushed into the ground with it.

Maybe that would be better, anyway, he thinks as he flips it open. With his eyes fixed down at the file, Katsuki feels his heart rate spike as it ratchets inside the cage of his chest.

“What is this?” He asks, not looking up. His pulse is deafening as it beats its soaring rhythm in his ears as his eyes trace back and forth across the folder, as if he’s missing something.

Except he knows he isn’t.

What could he possibly miss when the file itself is empty?

Katsuki’s tongue sticks to the roof of his mouth as he finally shifts his attention upward. His confusion is met with another smile.

“Even imaginary friends need to grow up,” the Administrator says. The words circle around him, overlaid with the memory from months ago, when he’d been in this same spot, only the folder before him then had held information about a little girl and her dad.

Then, he hadn’t known his life was about to change.

Now, he feels the sudden click of a realization deep in his chest as his gaze falls back down on the empty folder in his lap.

A rush works through him, filling the chasm at the center of his chest as his lips slowly turn up into a smile.

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

[pahrak-the-sinnoh-slizer]

Super Fighting Roll (2-3)

(Roll tracks down the last remaining Energy Element, but soon discovers that things are far from over.)

Roll spun around, buster armed, as the transport completed.  The only things that greeted her were another transporter unit and an endless expanse of dusty red plains.

“Mars?  I guess I should just be glad they didn’t go even farther out.  Dr. Light, can you read me?”

Static came in reply.  Giving a short hum, Roll set out, Rush on her heels, keeping her eyes open for any sign of movement.

“Never thought we’d get to see another planet up-close, huh boy?”

Rush barked.

“Hehe...though, a lot of things have taken an unexpected turn lately.”

She thought back to what Break Man had said. At first she had simply wanted to dismiss it as a misunderstanding—being weaponized had been her choice, and it was bizarre that he thought otherwise.  The more she thought on it, however, she became curious as to why he was so sure Dr. Light would do such a thing on his own.

The way he talked about Dr. Light…it almost made it sound like he knows him personally.  And now that I think about it, that would explain why Dr. Light wasn’t expecting Break Man to just talk things through.  But, if they do have some kind of history, why wouldn’t Dr. Light have said so?  No, more importantly…I’m positive Break Man is a Robot Master.  I was sure that Tempo, Rock, and I were the first, so when could he have met Dr. Light without us knowing?  Unless…

Glancing back, Roll suddenly realized that Rush had stopped following her.  She turned to look at the dog, standing a few paces away with ears perked up, and prepared to call him.  Before she could, he pounced on something.

“What’ve you got, boy?”

Rush pulled a small mechanical snake from the dirt. Roll tilted her head as she examined it, and then froze, spotting the dirt behind Rush shifting.  She fired a shot, blasting out another robot snake.

“What are these things?”

“Oh, you’re no fun…”

Whirling, Roll spotted a figure emerging from the surrounding dust cloud: a Robot Master with mostly green armor, his helmet styled to look like a large snake with its jaws around his head and tail hanging down his back.  Keeping her eyes peeled for more snakes, Roll said, “I just want the Energy Element.”

“So impatient.  May I at least introduce myself?”

“I’m going to guess ‘Snake Man’?”

The robot frowned.  “No fun at all...regardless.  If you are here, then I take it our comrades left on the moon have met their end?”

Roll didn’t answer.

“Ah, what a shame.  If you’re capable of defeating them, then the rest of us certainly don’t stand a chance.”  He began to walk back into the dust cloud.  “Yes, I think it’d be best to just hand the Element over.  Come, this way…”

Roll turned to Rush.  The dog looked up from gnawing on the snake he had caught, giving a low-pitched whine.

“Yeah, I’m not convinced either...but, we need that Element.”

The two of them proceeded with extreme caution, scanning the ground for signs of any more snakes while also keeping Snake Man’s silhouette in sight.  After a few minutes of walking, the dust began to thicken; wanting to keep the other robot in sight, Roll ran forward a few steps, and at that moment a pinpoint of light appeared.  Roll dove aside, the incoming laser beam grazing her shoulder.  Large metal spikes then began to rain down, so she stayed low, carefully crawling forward in search of her enemies.

I knew it wasn’t going to be that easy.

A gust of wind finally thinned the dust cloud. Roll found herself staring up at a small, two-story structure made of metal stained red by the planet’s dust, Snake Man standing in the doorway grinning at her.  “What ever is the matter, Roll?  The Element is right in here.  Come over and take it.”

He ducked aside to avoid a Hard Knuckle. From the upper floor, Needle Man fired a hail of spikes; Roll slid behind a boulder just in time, spotting another laser a second later.  “They’ve really got the advantage here...I’ll have to be smart about this.”

She peeked out and took aim at Needle Man. He ducked back inside immediately. A battalion of snakes were set in motion before she could switch targets, so she instead began clearing them out.  A figure appeared behind Snake Man then, shooting yet another laser, though it was aimed away from Roll for some reason.  She refocused on destroying the snakes.  The laser hit another rock, bouncing off of it at a new angle, and went straight for Roll, knocking her out of her hiding spot.

“Uh-oh!”

Needle Man was back.  Roll had no time to dodge, opting to blast the incoming spike out of the sky instead.  Several of the snakes were upon her now, biting into her armor all at once--leaping to her feet, she shook them off with Top Spin, ducked back behind cover, and prepared some new tactics.  She instructed Rush to shift the dirt on one side of the rock, hopefully making her enemies think she was about to emerge from there, and then darted in the opposite direction towards another adequately-sized boulder.  As she passed, she shot Snake Man with Spark Shock to prevent him from adding to the army of snakes.  Once safe, she unloaded a series of Magnet Missiles, the projectiles curving around her cover in search of proper targets.

“Admirable effort, Roll!” Snake Man called.  “But aren’t you forgetting something?”

Snakes began to crawl over the rock.  Roll leapt back and fired a Hard Knuckle, shattering the stone and disrupting the movement of the machines.  She tried to head back to her first hiding spot, but Needle Man was too quick: a barrage of spikes kept Roll in place, allowing the snakes to regroup and resume their march.  A bark caught Roll’s attention.  Rush, in his jet form, rocketed towards her; she grabbed the edge of the platform and was carried out of harm’s way, quickly pulling herself up to get better footing.

“Thanks, boy,” Roll said.

They turned hard to avoid a laser.  Circling around, Roll got a better idea of the landscape, seeing that the building was protected from the rear and sides by natural barriers.

“That still leaves one other way!”

After verifying that they were out of their enemies’ sight, Rush flew as low as he could without the roar of his jets giving them away, and Roll jumped onto the nearby rock wall.  She steadily climbed down and onto the roof of the building, then looked back to Rush and held up ten fingers.  Roll gripped the hatch on the roof, took a deep breath, and then ripped it off and jumped inside.  The inner walls looked identical to the outer walls, and the room was empty save for a few rusty crates and a very surprised Needle Man.

“Wha--where’d you come from?!” he shouted, hurrying to lift his cannon.

Roll threw a Shadow Blade before he could fire, knocking his arm aside.  She followed with a Spark Shock to stun Needle Man, and then blasted him into the wall with a Magnet Missile.  Snake Man leapt up to the window as quickly as he could, only to be met by a Hard Knuckle that sent him falling back to the ground.

“Gemini Man, get up here!” Needle Man shouted.

Roll ran at him, hoping to not give him enough space to use his cannon.  Suddenly, Needle Man bent forward, and the spikes atop his head extended out, stopping Roll short.  As she stumbled back, she saw one of the lasers from before shoot out of the stairwell: it ricocheted off the ceiling, floor, and walls, fencing her in. However, Needle Man did not attack.

“Jerk...at least get an idea of what you’re aiming at!”

Ten seconds had passed.  Rush came charging in through the opening in the roof, getting hit by the unexpected beam.  Roll stunned Needle Man again as she made sure he was alright.  Before she could follow up, snakes emerged from the stairwell and advanced towards her.

“Darn it!”  Needle Man stomped his foot and took aim with both cannons.  “Prepare to look like swiss cheese!”

He fired wildly, leaving no opening for Roll to counterattack.  The projectiles zipped past her, most of them burying themselves in the oncoming wall of snakes--they were easily pinned to the floor, and those in the rear were slowed by the need to crawl over their companions.  His assault only lessened when another Gemini Laser entered the room. Between the three incoming attacks, Roll was forced closer and closer to Needle Man, soon coming into range of his headbutt attack; as he moved to use it, Roll ducked and slid forward, colliding with Needle Man’s ankle and tripping him into the Gemini Laser.  The impact sent Needle Man rolling into the wall, where he sat dazed for a moment.

“Ugh...just great…”

Roll pointed her buster at him.  “Just give up.  I don’t want to have to hurt you.”

Needle Man stared at her.  “...Huh.  You really aren’t what the boss prepared us for.”

“...What?”

“Here we were expecting a terrifyingly powerful Robot Master ready to kill at a moment’s notice.  You’re tough for sure, but it doesn’t really seem like your heart’s in it.”

Roll clenched her teeth.  “Of course not!  Why would I want to kill any of you?  I’m only fighting because you’re forcing me to!”  She turned to blast some of the snakes before immediately putting her eyes back on Needle Man.

“Heh heh...guess someone’ll have to let the boss know he’s wrong.  I would love to see that.”

“I already tried, but Break Man won’t talk to me.”

Needle Man shook his head.  “I don’t mean him.  I mean--”

Another Gemini Laser shot into the room, reflecting off the wall once before striking Needle Man directly in the chest.  In his weakened state, that was more than enough to pierce his armor, searing a hole clean through his internal components.  Roll jumped back in shock.  A few seconds later, a scowl clouded her face; she grabbed Needle Man just long enough to copy his weapon, and then shot spikes through the floor in a circle.  When she stomped on the center of the circle, the floor broke away, giving her a path to leap directly down to the lower level.

“Ah, there she is,” Snake Man said.  On either side of him stood Gemini Man and his duplicate, though which was which was anyone’s guess.  “You’re quite determined to swoop down on us from above, aren’t you? Are we so beneath you?”

Ignoring him, Roll stared at one of the Gemini Men. “Why would you do that to Needle Man?”

Both Gemini shrugged in response, one saying, “Who knows?”

Roll opened fire.  “Is it really so easy for you to kill someone?  What’s wrong with you?!”

Her foes scattered.  Roll tracked one of the Gemini while the other and Snake Man flanked her.  Rush dropped on top of Snake Man just as he prepared to attack, and the closer Gemini charged at Roll, prompting her to turn her assault his way.  The spikes passed right through the projection, and the real Gemini Man used the opportunity to set a Gemini Laser bouncing around the room.

“What a peculiar thing to say!” he remarked as Roll focused on tracking the laser.  “Of course it’s easy.  As if it could be difficult for a technical marvel such as myself!”

Rush scurried back out of the laser’s path. Bounding back, Snake Man began calling up his army; Roll turned her fire upon them, impaling the troops before they could advance more than a few inches, and managed to land a direct hit on Snake Man’s shoulder.  He cried out, clutching the wound as he slumped against the wall.  Switching her focus again, Roll ducked just beneath the Gemini Laser and equipped Magnet Missile, hoping the homing projectile would be able to track Gemini Man.  The laser shot down her first attempt before she could find out.

“I can’t believe anyone would program robots to be so cruel,” Roll said.

“Are you saying all we know is wrong?” Snake Man asked, baring his fangs in a pained smirk.  “It isn’t our fault we are who we were programmed to be.  There’s no need to act all high and mighty.”

Gemini Man and his doppelganger charged before Roll could respond.  She leapt back, the laser striking her in the side and knocking her flat.  Snake Man capitalized on the situation with a small squadron of snakes, with the tiny machines charging straight through one of the Gemini.  Switching to Shadow Blade, Roll attacked the other, stopping his charge, before tumbling out of the snakes’ way.  Rush pounced on the real Gemini Man to keep him pinned, while Roll dealt with the snakes and turned to their master.

Raising his arms, Snake Man said, “My, this is unfortunate…”

“Where’s the Energy Element?”

“Right over there.”  He gestured slowly to a crate in the corner.  “By all means, help yourself.”

Keeping her eyes on Snake Man and her buster ready, Roll made her way over to the indicated crate.  She grabbed the lid, paused, and lifted it, spotting the Element at the bottom on a bed of something she guessed was packing material.  The instant she reached for it, Snake Man darted in Rush’s direction.  Roll was ready: she shot him with the Needle Cannon, the spike piercing straight through his chest, and with a drawn out cry Snake Man fell to the floor, his sparking body soon growing still.  This still distracted Rush, however, and Gemini Man was able to set another laser loose into the room.

“Get back boy!” Roll shouted as she ran forward, sliding just under the beam’s path.

Rush complied, and Gemini Man sprang to his feet. He leapt back, shimmered, and then jumped to one side, his doppelganger jumping in the opposite direction.  Roll hit Snake Man’s body as she passed, armor turning green and white.  Three Search Snakes leapt from her buster, zipping along the ground too low for the Gemini Laser to intercept them, all converging upon the real Gemini Man and bringing him down as they sank their fangs into his ankle.  Roll launched a Magnet Missile to cancel out the Gemini Laser, and then glared at Gemini Man.

“You...you just got lucky!” Gemini Man said.  “If it weren’t for the others holding me back, there’s no way you could have outperformed me!”

Roll shook her head.  “What’s the point of this?  Why--”

She stopped short as Gemini Man raised his hand to fire a laser.  Quickly, she fired a Hard Knuckle in return; the beam reflected off the rocket-propelled fist back into Gemini Man, finishing him off before Roll’s attack even landed.  With a harsh sigh, Roll knelt and copied his data, and then transferred the Element to Rush’s storage compartment.

“Let’s hurry home, boy,” she said.  “I’m worried about Dr. Light and the others.”

Rush transformed into his jet mode and carried her in the direction of the transporter.  Roll tapped her fingers against her leg, thoughts lingering on what Needle Man had said.

There’s someone other than Break Man behind all this.  I just hope it’s not who I think it is...

***

Light typed away at his console, eyes repeatedly flicking to the comm window in the corner to see if the connection had reestablished.  Wily set a hand on his shoulder, saying, “Thomas, I can handle this if you need some time.  I’ll let you know right away when Roll comes back into range.”

“Thank you Albert,” Light said, “but I think it’s best I stay busy.”

“If you insist.  The Energy Element is installed, so we’re ready to test as soon as you are.”

“I’m finished here as well.  Running test in 3...2...1…”

Light hit one final key and held his breath. Behind him, Gamma roared to life, light shining from the eyes on its half-completed skull.  Wily grinned.  “Excellent! Let me take a look at those readings!”

Not far away, Rock applauded alongside the construction crew, though he slowed to a halt when he spotted Elec Man in the crowd. He hesitated, but then approached, asking, “Elec Man?  Are you okay?”

The other robot shuffled away slightly. “Fine.”

“Okay...it’s just, you’ve been really quiet since the other Energy Elements were stolen.  Are you worried?”

He shifted his shoulders.  “It’s nothing, Rock.”

“...I don’t want to butt in, but...if you need anything, even if it’s just to talk, I’d be happy to help.  I mean, I’m your big brother after all!  Technically.”

Elec Man finally turned to look at him, expression blank at first.  Rock saw him crack a small smile as he turned away again.  Giving a sigh, Elec Man quietly said, “I guess I’m worrying you, aren’t I?”  He paused. “I’d never quite realized how powerful my abilities were.  I had some idea, of course, but now I have a much deeper understanding.  After seeing just what I was capable of under Wily’s reprogramming...I suppose I’m afraid.  If I were to lose control, even briefly, I could end up destroying someone else, maybe beyond all repair this time.  When I destroyed that Robot Master’s projection, I thought I had done just that.  That’s why I’m still shaken.”

“Oh.  I see…”

Elec Man shook his head.  “There isn’t really anything to be done about it.  I’ll just have to be as careful as I can.”

Rock waited a moment.  “...Have you talked about this with Roll?”

“Roll?  No, why?”

“It isn’t exactly the same, but...well, I shouldn’t say too much.  But, she’s been struggling a little after having to fight all of you, so she might have some advice that could help you out.”

Elec Man looked up, considering this silently.

Back at his console, Light nodded at the data he was seeing, and prepared to shut Gamma back down.  Something caught his eye, stopping him, but before he could look into the matter, the sound of the lift descending reached his ears.  He turned, expecting to see LaLinde or Tempo coming to join them.  His heart stopped when he laid eyes on Break Man.

“...Blues…?”

Wily noticed him as well.  Throwing his hands up, he shouted, “Agh!  Break Man!  Oh no, this is terrible!”

The worker robots scattered in a panic.  As Break Man stepped off the lift, Guts Man came forward to meet him, saying, “Well well well!  Looks like you finally decided to stop hiding behind your minions and come face us head-on like a real robot!  Good--I was hoping I’d get the chance to deal with you personally!”

Break Man ignored him completely, gaze fixed solely upon Dr. Light.  Trembling, the scientist muttered, “Blues...it’s really you...you’re still alive…”

“Hey, tough guy!” Guts Man said.  “I’m talking to you.”

Break Man finally faced him.

“Yeah, y--”

Suddenly, Break Man’s armor changed color, becoming purple and white.  An instant later, he was behind Guts Man, slowly walking towards Gamma.

“Wh--hey!  Get back here!”

Guts Man lunged after Break Man, the other robot’s armor now turning green and white.  Four large leaves whipped around Break Man, deflecting Guts Man’s attack before flying out at him, slicing through the small gaps in his armor. Break Man then lifted his buster and activated its beam, knocking Guts Man flat on his back.

“Hold, villain!” Fire Man declared as he bounded forward.  “Whatever purpose brought you here, I will not allow you to succeed!”

Break Man’s armor turned white and gray.  He and Fire Man both attacked at the same time, Fire Man’s flaming shots soaring high while Break Man generated several bubbles which travelled along the ground.  Break Man pulled his shield around just in time, but Fire Man was taken by surprise, the water-based attack shocking him still.  Guts Man pushed himself to his feet, but now Break Man’s armor was brown and yellow--he generated a circular saw blade in each hand, and then hurled them straight into the chests of both his opponents, dropping them instantly.  After pausing to glare at Light once again, Break Man continued towards Gamma. Activating his laser, he swept it through the scaffolding, setting the gargantuan robot free with a thunderous rain of rubble.

“Is he trying to take Gamma?” Rock said.  “We have to stop him!”

Elec Man held him back, saying, “How exactly are you going to do that?  You’ll only get yourself killed!”

“But…”

Break Man took a few steps towards the two doctors. Wily cowered, but Light just kept staring at him, tears beginning to form in his eyes.

“I thought you were lost forever,” Light said. “Blues...you’re still alive...I’m so glad…”

At this, Break Man froze.  Wily said, “Thomas, it’s Break Man!  He’s attacking!  What are we going to do?”

A smile came to Light’s face.  “Blues...I’m so happy you’re alright…”

Wily looked up at him.  With a sigh, he said, “Hrm...hardly the reaction I was hoping for.” Now perfectly calm, Wily came forward. “Nonetheless, excellent work, Break Man! Not that I expected anything less.”

Break Man nodded.  Rock said, “Wait...what?  Didn’t you say you were the one working for Break Man?”

“Neh heh heh, foolish little robot.  That was nothing but a genius ruse to gain Light’s trust!  I’m the true mastermind here!  Nehahahahaha!”

Finally emerging from his trance, Light furrowed his brow as he turned to face Wily.  “What?  Albert, is--”

He whirled in a fury.  “That’s Wily! You will refer to me with respect, Light--never again with familiarity!  It’s been agonizing playing along all this time!  I thought my skin would crawl right off my bones!”  Wily grunted, but then his mouth curled into a smirk.  “It was worth it, however.  Using your designs, your resources, your labor, I was able to construct this unstoppable war machine in record time!  My brilliant plan was a success!  And once I unleash Gamma upon the world, not even your precious little lab assistant will be able to stop me!  If she even survived her trip to Mars, that is!  Nehahahaha!”

“I’m just fine, Wily!”

He winced as Roll’s garbled voice sprang from Light’s terminal.  “Rrgh, of course.  I knew I should’ve sent the other batch…”

“Dr. Light, are you okay?” Roll asked.  “I made it back to the moon and I’m closing in on the transport coordinates!  I’ll be there in just a minute!”

“I think not!  I took the liberty of encrypting Light’s transporter program--it’ll take him quite a while to get things working again!”

“What’s wrong with you, Wily?!  We trusted you!”

Wily waved his hand, turning his back on the console.  “Bah, I don’t have to indulge this prattle!  All I need to know before I leave is whether or not you retrieved those Energy Elements for me, Roll.”

“There’s no way I’m turning them over to you!”

Wily’s smirk spread into a grin.  “Yes, I thought you might say that.  Break Man!”

Break Man was suddenly right in front of Rock. He grabbed the robot by the arm and yanked him in Wily’s direction, but then paused.  Turning his head, he saw Elec Man standing next to him, two electrified fingers pointed straight at him.

“...Let Rock go,” Elec Man said.  “I won’t ask again.”

Break Man let go.  Then he was behind Elec Man, stabbing a curved metal boomerang into his back.  Rock cried out as Elec Man dropped to his knees.  Fighting to stay online, Elec Man fired a bolt of electricity at his foe, only to have it blocked by another set of leaves.  Break Man’s armor then turned orange and white.  When he aimed his buster at Elec Man, it fired a projectile with a blinking orb on one end and a sharp point on the other, which buried itself in Elec Man’s back.  Break Man then kicked him aside, grabbed Rock once again, and dragged him over towards Wily.

“No...I won’t…!”  Elec Man struggled to lift his arm, preparing one more attack.  The item stuck to his back then detonated.

“Elec Man!” Rock shouted.  “No!  Let go of me, you…!”

“What’s happening?” Roll asked.  “What are you doing?”

“I was thinking a trade might appeal to your sense of fairness,” Wily said.  “You give me the Energy Elements, and I’ll return your brother Rock to you!”

“Roll, don’t worry about me!” Rock said.  Break Man clamped a hand over his mouth before he could say anything else.

“Oh, you really should.  If I don’t get my hands on those Elements, I’ll reduce him to scrap metal!”

“Wily,” Roll said, “you--”

“Wily!”

The entire room went dead silent at Light’s sudden shout.  He leveled a stern gaze at Wily--the look that may not have been harsh in its own right, but out of place as it was on Light’s kind face, the jarring, eerie feeling it generated multiplied its weight exponentially.

“I won’t forgive you if you harm my children.”

“Ah, so that’s what it takes to get you mad,” Wily said.  “How interesting!  Don’t you think, Break Man?”

The red Robot Master said nothing, only tightening his grip on Rock.

“Blues,” Light said, “I--”

“Save it, Light!” Wily interrupted.  “You have my demands.  I’ll be waiting for my Elements!”

Wily pulled a small device from his pocket. At the press of a button, he, Break Man, Rock, and Gamma all disappeared into thin air.  Light’s fierce expression vanished as well, replaced by a look of absolute terror.

[thewatermelloncat]

Concrete Can Break Like Porcelain

Summary: Here is what could happen if Arthur follows Tommy out into the field in the final scene.

Author’s Note: I just finished Season 5 today and spurted this out in a couple of hours to ease my mind. I’m open to continuing this, so if anyone has any suggestions of where this could go, let me know. Either comment ideas down below or flick me a message, I’d love to hear from you.

Warnings: SPOILERS – if you don’t want spoilers, don’t continue past this point. More warnings to come after the keep reading sign.

Warnings Continued: ATTEMPTED SUICIDE - if this could be in any way problematic for you, please don’t read this.

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

Arthur was deaf to Tommy’s roar of anguish in the open field. With his brother holding a gun to his own head, Arthur didn’t have the state of mind to register the sound projecting across the field. Or have the time to be thankful that he had had enough common sense to follow him.

Tommy had been acting strange for months only for it to accelerate a few days ago when his plan had failed. It had scared Arthur enough to follow him for his own selfish reasons – that he didn’t want to drink alone after Aberama’s funeral and that he wanted to know for himself what was going through Tommy’s head.

Without a thought to whether the gun would fire Arthur pushes it away from his brother’s temple, his arms immediately wrapping over Tommy’s shoulders so that he can’t reposition the weapon. And perhaps Arthur just wants to hold onto him.

“Tommy?” his voice shakes into his brother’s shoulder. Out of breath from running across the field through the thickly veiled fog.

The gun drops onto the grass and Tommy makes to pick it back up.

“No!” Arthur grunts as he leans himself backward, hauling Tommy to stand straight. Hastily he turns him around to face him before wrapping his arms around him again. “Don’t leave me, Tommy�� he begs with his voice breaking.

Within a few moments Tommy’s frame relaxes and he leans further into his brother. And when his mind strays far enough to convince itself not to pick up the gun again, he starts to ramble.

For the most part Arthur can’t understand what he says and what words he can understand he can’t make sense of. Though he lets him talk, quietly whispering his own encouragements as he leads him back to the house.

The whole way Tommy stumbles his feet, his mind elsewhere and body heavy with emotion. It’s an easy decision for Arthur to take him to the back of the house – their family doesn’t need to see him like this when hearts are already fragile.

“Almost there” Arthur tells him as they step off the gravel path and up the few stairs to the door of the lower levels.

After shouldering it open, they startle Mary who is making her way toward the kitchen.

“Mr Shelby” fear creeps into her voice as she stumbles back, surprised to see his state leaning against his brother. “Sir?”

“Find something to sedate him and bring it to his room. Do nothing else” Arthur is quick to instruct, continuing on past her. “Ya hear me?!”

“Y-yes, sir” Mary stutters putting her head down and rushing off to complete the instruction.

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

Out of all Arthur’s smart decisions he thought that leading Tommy through the lesser-known staircases would be a clever tactic. Little did he know Ada would be standing on one of the balconies looking out the small window.

“What’s wrong with him?” she asks, hurrying towards Tommy’s other side to support him while he walks. Her face pinched in worry.

For a brief moment Arthur considers lying but disregards it entirely knowing that Ada would find out the truth eventually – she always did. “Put a gun to his head.”

Ada gasps and the group lurches forward as her step falters. Then her composure is restored and her face sets with a determined look as they continue to climb the stairs.

“What’s he saying?” she changes topic if just to take her mind off of what she has newly heard.

“Dunno” Arthur admits. He hasn’t had time to unpack and decipher it. “He’s repeating himself now.”

Neither of them says another word over Tommy’s mumbled rambling until they open the door of his room.

“I’ll get Polly” Ada offers as they sit their brother down on the bed.

“No, Ada” Arthur shakes his head. “She’s still up in her head over Aberama.”

“She needs to know Arthur” Ada warns him. “She’ll have our necks if we don’t tell her.”

“All right” Arthur says gruffly. “But no one else” he warns before Ada hurries off downstairs.

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

As soon as Ada left the room her breath started to hitch in her throat. Struggling to hold back tears she presses a hand to each eye as she navigates her way down the stairs. She’s careful to slow her pace as she nears the living room which the rest of the family occupy.

Pausing outside the door she takes a step breath to steady herself, knowing that it is crucial for her to appear as if everything is normal. The first breath doesn’t work and so she takes another until it does.

“Polly” she calls gently as she enters the room, spotting her aunt in a chair over by the window. “Tommy had a new painting commissioned of the horse; he thinks you’d like to see it” she lies.

Thankfully her words work well enough to have her aunt move from the chair and over to her.

Even in her grieving state, as Polly nears her niece, she can see something unsettling lying behind her eyes, and her small smile seems fraudulent. “What is it?” she whispers as she and Ada step into the foyer.

The way across the room Ada doesn’t say anything. It isn’t until the two of them reach the base of the staircase that Ada swallows deeply and turns to her with a tear falling down her cheek. “It’s Tommy…”

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

The door to the main bedroom crashes open, hitting the wall as Polly bursts through with Ada trailing behind her. Arthur only spares them a glance quick enough to deduce that Ada is now crying, while the rest of his attention is focused on helping Mary administer a sedative to his brother as he struggles under their grip.

When the sedative is forced down at last, the housekeeper steps back. “It won’t take full effect immediately, but it should calm him down” Mary informs, placing the empty vile on the cabinet.

Arthur nods to her and feels Tommy’s grip begin to loosen on his arm.

“Should I call for a doctor?” she offers.

“No” Arthur is quick to deny and Mary knows better than to protest.

“I may take up that offer in the morning” Polly tells her, before she turns to Ada. “Go back down stairs, this is no place for you to be” she tells her gently, knowing the environment can’t be good for the baby inside of her.

“I can’t leave Polly” Ada sobs, one hand brushing tears from her eyes and the other subconsciously resting over her stomach. “If I go down, I’ll give everything away.”

“Come with me, Mrs Thorne” Mary speaks kindly. “We’ll go down to the kitchens and I’ll make you a nice cup of tea.”

Polly doesn’t wait for Ada to voice a protest before she directs her towards the housekeeper who places a guiding hand on her back as she leads her out of the room. Whispering reassurances about how her brother will be asleep soon.

With the two other women out of the room, Polly sighs deeply as she pulls a chair over to the bed. By the time she has sat down, Arthur has wrestled Tommy’s boots off and is working on laying him down on the bed.

“What’s he been saying?” Polly asks as she reaches forward to help settle him down. Having heard but paid no particular mind to his jumbled words.

“Barely anything I could understand” Arthur sighs as he sits on the bed next to Tommy. “Caught bits about France, Mosely, Barney… Grace. It’s mostly Grace.”

As Polly had listened to Arthur some of Tommy’s words were becoming clearer to her and she tries at gently shushing him. Hoping that he’ll settle down to rest.

“Started rambling as soon as the gun fell to the ground” Arthur adds as he looks down at his younger brother sadly.

Polly looks up at Arthur worriedly. “If you can’t be here, I can handle him on my own” she offers, given his own history.

Arthur shakes his head but says nothing for a while.

“I’ll stay” he says eventually. “He always does for me.”

[headoverhiddles]

Matrimony - Pope x Reader (Let Me Make You A Martyr) [Part II]

Synopsis: Tensions rise with Pope, but you both have a common goal. Or, you believe it to be common. 

Notes: Second part of three! Enjoy loves. 

Tagging: (ask to be added) @peachynun​ @elrosew​ @livelifewondering​

PART I 

PART III

You wake to the sound of your alarm. 5:30 am.

You get out of bed, and pull on your jogging clothes. A run should clear your head. On the way down, you sneak one more look into Pope's bedroom. You can't see much through the dark, but the bed looks empty. He must be downstairs skulking around somewhere, unless he enjoys a nice refreshing jog before the sun comes up... which you doubt. 

Out on the path, the sun starts to rise through the pine trees. You jog along the road that you arrived on, smart enough not to jog in the direction of Pierce's cabin alone. Slipping your earbuds in, you listen to Marilyn Manson's Odds of Even, the thunk of the beat in time with your steps.  

You’re not thinking about Pope that way. You’re just interested in him. Interested in the idea of him. He’s an interesting man! Who... you’re interested in. 

So, you've got feelings for Pope.

Not feelings, per say, but... an intrigue. And there's definitely a physical attraction there, though you can't tell if he returns it. Probably not. Sex and romance probably weren't even blips on his radar. All he probably thinks about is killing people, disposing of their corpses swiftly and without hassle, and jacking off when and if he feels lonely.

You bite your lip. Damn, that's hot to imagine. Why do you always fall for people who either hate you, want to kill you, or just plain aren't nice? 

If you even mess up a little on this hit though, he'll kill you. Literally. He will not hesitate to take you out as well if you fuck up. But you're not going to fuck up. You may not be a hitman, but you deal with creeps like Daegland Pierce all the time in your job. You know how they think, and that's an advantage Pope doesn't have.

You return to the cabin, breathing heavily. A thin sheen of sweat covers you, and you look around. Isn't there a river somewhere near here?

You approach the rushing brook, grateful for the already cool mist rising from it. You peel off your top and bra, and do the same for your shorts and panties. There's no one out here in the brush, so you don't have to worry about that.

You toss your stuff on a nearby log, and get into the stream. Oh yeah. Yeah. That's nice. You float for a moment, staring up at the sky and listening to the birds. Then you hear another noise. A much closer noise.

You get your ears out of the water, and listen... then you nearly drown in fear as you hear a loud thwack right behind you. Whipping around, you turn to see--

"Holy shit!" you scream.

"Morning," Pope says. He brings an axe down on another piece of wood.

"I'm...! Oh my god, you didn't say anything, you--"

"Well," he pushes up his glasses, "I figured I wouldn't bother you in your morning activities, and you won't bother me in mine." He gestures to you with the handle of his axe. "You do have some pretty tits, though."

"Jesus fuck," you whisper, covering your chest. "Don't... look!" Pope shrugs, and goes back to splitting wood. "Why are you even out here?!" you demand, trying to swim back to the shore inconspicuously. 

"I'm sorry, is this restricted land? Do I require a fuckin’ permit?"

"You-- just, what are you doing?!"

"It's cold at night here," he mutters, "And any sensible person would seek warmth during the dark hours."

"Excuse me?!"

"You're excused, you know I don't mean whoring around with you."

"Right. If I came into your bedroom at night, opened up my bra and sat on the edge of your bed, you'd tell me to fuck off?"

Pope smirks. "Aww. Princess doesn't like the thought of that, does she?" You gasp, crossing your arms. You stop crossing your arms when it's apparent that just makes your boobs look even better. "Look, kid. Unlike you, I didn't come out here to screw around. I came here to kill a motherfucker, and get paid. That's what I do, that's what I intend to do."

It's futile arguing with him, and any headway you made tolerating each other last night at dinner (however small) had now been wiped clean. You'd show your worth on your own-- and you've got nothing to prove. Not much, anyway. There is zero part of you that wants any validation from Pope at all. Or praise. Or a... a "good girl." A "good... good little girl... yeah, babygirl, just like that..."

Shit.

---

"Do not make one wrong step. He can't know we're here."

You follow closely behind Pope, trying to get his attention.

"Hey. Hey! Why are we doing this now? Why don't we wait until--?"

"You have to get to know everything about a person's environment before you kill them. You need to know any possible traps they've set up, any kind of security or backup they've hid up their ass."

"B--"

"Stop speaking, no speaking. Shh. For once, shhh." He holds up a hand, then when he's sure the coast is clear, he beckons. "Follow me."

You do. He points to the other side of the house, but you're already ahead of him, back to the painted wooden panels. It's a better looking cabin than yours, obviously furnished and newly renovated with millions of dollars in dope cash that should've gone to home growers like the business you work for.

You snake around the back of the house, and check the window. It's cracked open an inch. Looking around, you push it open a bit farther, and carefully, ever so silently, you climb in. Pope is already in the house, in the living room. He's got his back pressed to the wall, and his head tilted to look up the stairs.

You're about to turn to check the kitchen, when you feel something in your back. You turn slowly, preparing to meet the barrel of a gun and your untimely demise, but you just find the end of a dirty wooden spoon in a soapy pot.

"Oh," you breathe, putting a hand on your chest. You hear a gun cock at the back of your head.

"What the fuck you doing in my house?" You look behind you, and maneuver around. It's him. It's Daeg. And he's in his bathrobe.

"Hi!" you suddenly say, the first thing popping into your head the option you're going with. "You must be the neighbor!"

"What?" Pierce growls.

You wave to Pope, who's staring at you with some mix of contempt and confusion. "Honey, come here!"

"What the...?" Pierce mutters, and points the gun at Pope as he reluctantly walks over to join you. "Who are you people?!" 

"We just moved into the cabin next to yours! We're Mr. and Mrs... Warner!" You pick a name off the top of your head. You grab Pope's hand, and the death grip you get back tells you he's not in support of this tactic. But, there's no going back now.

"Yeah," he grumbles, "This is my wife. Ain’t she a sweet little piece of ass?"

You give a giggle for good measure, tightening your grip on his hand in warning, and this guy looks so utterly dumbfounded, it's hard not to laugh.

"I'm gonna ask you this again, you stupid shits. What the FUCK are you doing in my HOUSE?!"

"Looking for sugar," you say.

Pope falls into his role. "Yeah. My wife here was... baking."

"I tried to tell him he gets enough sugar at home, but he wouldn't listen, the scoundrel!" You slap him lightly on the arm.

"Well. Just can't get enough of the girl. But that river flows both ways, don't it?"

You shudder slightly, but keep your smile up. Then it hits you. Ingredients... baking! You know just how you can get put of here without an ass full of this guy’s buckshot!

"Now, the reason we found your place, was..." you move in a little closer to Pierce, "I was looking for a certain kind of ingredient. If you know what I mean."

The man's demeanor changes. He looks around, tucks his gun. "How do y'all know about that?"

You wink. "I know lots of things."

"Now, sweetheart." Pope tugs you back, a little too roughly. "Remember to be modest. At least for my sake." His hand travels down to your ass, and you bite your lip.

"Of course, honey. Of course."

Is he getting a little too into his role?

---

You both can't believe you were able to make nice with Pierce long enough to get out of his house. It was a life-saving idea, but it also posed a problem. The two of you had been invited back for dinner the next night, to supposedly buy some of his ‘stock’.

"It's perfect! That's when we kill him!" you hiss, as Pope walks ahead of you through the bramble.

"The tone of this whole thing is fucked up. It’s not right. This isn't how things work."

"What, not used to having a fake wife along for the hit? A little imagination can save your life."

"Don't talk to me about life," he mutters, "I'm ready to end yours."

"Yeah. Fine. Threaten to kill me."

"Oh, I'm not just threatening."

"At least we didn't get shot to bits by the most notorious drug dealer in the American midwest."

"I do things my way," he replies calmly, "I don't need a little brat like you telling me how it's gonna be." You ball your fists and beat against a tree. He's infuriating!

"Will you at least show me how to cut the wood you were chopping this morning? You're right, we should stock up." He looks back at you, that same indifferent expression back on his face.

"You chose to come out here and bother me. Make yourself scarce, or I swear to God or whatever the fuck, I'll drive you out to the middle of the woods and leave you for the wolves."

With that, he walks inside, screen door banging.

You sit down on a log by the car. After a minute, you get up, start the car with the keys on the seat, and turn the radio up.

More honkey tonk wailing. Whatever. Maybe country was good for the soul, and all that.

You lay down on the log, and watch the forest flora sway around you as Hank Williams croons through the open air.

 ---

You open your eyes. It's dark out.

The car radio is still going, and you're not sure quite what time it is.

You hear footsteps behind you, and look up to see Pope walking over to the car. You sigh, rubbing your eyes and waiting for his complaints. "Sorry," you murmur, "I should've turned it off before I--"

"It's fine," he cuts you off curtly, and you give up trying to explain yourself, waiting for him to disappear again. This was such a mistake. Coming out here with him, wanting to be a part of this. You wanted to see the job done, sure, but maybe you are out of your depth. Christ, the guy is an expert sharpshooter, with the lack of mercy of a navy seal and the personality of a hermit. It's time to give up.

You look up again when you don't hear the door close. He pauses, walks over to you, and sits down. He takes his cigarettes out of his shirt pocket, puts one in his mouth, and lights it. He tilts his head up to look at the stars, and takes his glasses off, setting them down beside him.

"C'mere," he whispers. You sit up, frowning, and follow his line of sight. You inch closer to him in confusion, and settle in next to him to watch the sky too. He takes another drag of his cigarette, the embers glowing in the low light. You find the scent of him, along with his presence out here, comforting.

The night bugs grow in volume around you, and soon, you begin to hear coyotes in the distance.

"They're beautiful," you murmur. He hums.

"They’re dangerous."

"Like someone else I know," you whisper. If he hears you, he doesn't let on. He just exhales smoke toward the sky, and listens to the noises of the night. His voice, low and gravelly, rises above the sounds.

"You ever heard of a Wendigo, kid?"

"No," you tell him.

"It's an old legend my grandfather told me. He says there are skinwalkers out here in the forest. They can shapeshift, take the form of whatever they want. Animals, people. Strangely odd. Just a little too odd to be considered human."

"You think those coyotes are skinwalkers?" you ask softly. 

"Nah. The only things here pretending to be something they're not are you, and me."  

---

You wake up in bed, not quite certain how you got there. It's still nighttime... you don't know exactly what time it is, but you don't want to reach for your phone. You stare out the window for a minute, and frown. The scenery outside doesn't look quite right, like it’s too foggy to see. 

There's a slight creak in one of the floorboards, and you see a shadow eclipse the dim lantern light from the hallway.

You roll over in bed, and see Pope standing by the door. He hasn't got his glasses on, and his hair looks a little messed up, as if he's been sleeping.

"What is it?" you mumble, trying to sit up, "Something with Pierce? Did he... is everything okay?" Confusion fills you as he walks toward you, but it's replaced by desire with every step closer he takes. He looks like he's been kept awake by something. "Pope?"

"Shh." He sits down, making an indent in the comforter. "I want you, sweetheart."

You breathe out, and after a second, you lean forward slowly. He meets you halfway, reinforcing the kiss, and you moan softly against his lips. His hand comes up to cup your cheek, and he lays you down, resuming the kissing once he's got you against the pillows. "Couldn't get you outta my mind," he whispers, "Couldn't get this... outta my head."

"This feels strange," you murmur, "You hate me."

He doesn't respond, just moves a hand down beneath the covers to stroke between your legs. An exhaled prayer of his name falls from your lips, and he presses a kiss to your chest, tongue swiping out every so slightly. You look down at him again, and reach out, starting to unbutton his shirt, all the way down. With each button, more tattoos are revealed, even though they appear blurry to you, as if your mind is trying to fill them in for you. Must be the dark.

"You're so fucking sexy," he whispers, and pushes your panties aside.

"Please," you beg.

"Let me give you what you need, baby girl. That's it." He looks into your eyes with his own dark orbs. "Trust me now?"

Your chest rises and falls quicker as he adds another finger, rolling your clit with his thumb as he pumps in and out. He's making soft noises as he does, grinding his erection into your thigh on the bed. You start to gasp as you feel your orgasm coming on.

"I'm... P... Pope, oh god, I'm... c-c--"

He strokes you just right with those rough fingers, and just as you come undone, your eyes open.

Pope is gone. You're alone, in bed. You stare at the headboard, realizing you're on your stomach. Shit, you've been grinding into the mattress. You regain a little more consciousness, the events of your dream all fresh in your mind.

 Giving a disoriented moan, you flip over, lying on your back. Your hips wiggle, and you tug down your panties, dipping your own fingers into your soaking wet heat. You didn't think he had this kind of effect on you.

You moan to yourself softly as you quickly curl your fingers in a hurried motion, hips arching slightly. Yeah... yeah, like that. You gasp, and finally cum hard thinking of Pope on top of you like that, kissing you, touching your body, sending you over the edge.

You come down to earth, head spinning in the cold, dark bedroom. You can hear soft snores from the other room. He must have brought you upstairs and put you in your bed before turning in. If any of that outside was real. What if that was part of the dream?

No. You can still smell the faint scent of Pope's lingering cigarette smoke on your jacket, which is still on. You shake your head, taking it off and tossing it on a chair across the room. All you need is a good night's rest.

[kissmyafropuff]

Shooting Star (3)

Hello Beloveds!

Now, before anyone else calls me out, I’ll admit it myself that I’ve been slacking. It’s been way too fucking long since I posted chapters 1 & 2– my bad. 😬 Just love me, okay? A bitch is out here living a whole ass life.

If you don’t want to be tagged, let me know. If you do want to be tagged, let me know. 

Here it is y’all, Chapter 3.

Author’s Note: I am very new to this, so be kind to me.

Warnings: Idk what goes here? Swearing? Use of the n word is inevitable.

Words: ~ 1.8K

Enjoy my loves xo 🖤✨

Chapter 2

The air was thick. Almost opaque with the fear and anger; frustration and impotence rolling off of Erik and all around those nearest him. Why had her eyes zeroed in on his daughter, and why had the trio taken a collective glance at each other? Erik tried to shift Aurora away from the thieves' sightline, but they’d locked in. They had seen her necklace, and it was apparent to all around them that this was what they were really after.

Zora attempted to break their laser-like focus on the child, “Look. The alarm has an auto trip function. Anything or anyone so much as cracks that glass above and it alerts the local police and SWAT. You’ve got 3 more minutes tops before--”

“You shut her up, or I will.” Tatania never took her eyes off of Aurora’s necklace, but calmly and swiftly silenced Zora with a delicate yet deadly looking blade which just seemed to appear in her hand. She twirled it-- gracefully, almost majestically, but no less menacingly.

Puck went to Zora quickly and shook his head at her, revealing some of the short and gruesome cuts all over his neck and upper torso, just below his collar bones, trying to do for her what no one seemed to have done for him: shut her before things got worse. The sight of Titania wielding that knife seemed to have relieved him of his incessant chatter.

Nothing in Erik’s life could prepare him for this moment. No amount of time in the SEALs, nor number of deployments to Afghanistan could have prepared him with the tools to quell the fear which had taken root in his belly. The almost palpable tension in the air had him in a cold sweat; perspiration covering his whole body in a matter of moments, causing his black v-neck t-shirt to cling to his torso, his palms slick with the ever growing reality that he is outnumbered and outgunned while this psycho bitch has her focus zeroed in on his babygirl.

“My, my, my. What a beautiful little flower you are, ma petite” Titania practically purred as she made her way across the bank’s lobby. She pulled up just short of the Stevens family.

“Errrrrriiiiiiiiiiik!”

He didn’t need to see Portia’s face to know she was upset with something. He also didn’t need either degree from MIT to know that if he didn’t hurry his narrow ass up those stairs to help her, it would only get worse. He sped up.

“Yea, bae. What’s up?”

“This is all your fault! I hate you for talking me into this, and I swear I’ll never forgive you.”

The morning sickness had been almost non-stop since her first trimester.

“Can I get you some Saltines? Tea? A ginger ale? Anything? Fuck, lemme get you a cool cloth.”

“No, no, I’m fine. I’m just being bratty,” Portia said, head still in the bowl, ready to offer up yet another sacrifice to the porcelain gods. She knew that being miserable for the last 7 and a half months wasn’t Erik’s intent when he first brought up trying for a kid. He’d grown up longing for a family for so long, and from what little she’d shared about her own, he knew that her’s wans’t close. Building a family, just the two of them, had been his dream for the first two years of their marriage. When they decided to start trying, Portia didn’t expect them to be so...good… at it. Within the first month of trying, it seemed to have taken, because within the first 6 weeks, she was puking every day.

Loudly. Painfully. Incessantly.

“It’s not bratty behavior when there’s actually something upsetting you.”

“Mon chou, I’m not upset. Your child is just tossing and turning in there, and I’m riding that wave of sea sickness. I’ll be fine. Besides, I’ve only got literal days at this point. This little butter bean will be here before we know it,” Portia finished weakly, lifting her head and trying to reassure him with a grimace she hoped looked more like a smile.

“Uh, bae. I love you, but you gone stop calling my daughter a fuckin bean.”

“Well, since someone can’t agree with his wife on a name or even agree to find out the sex, it looks like I’m sticking to veggies and fruits. Maybe I’ll just call him Mommy’s Little Kiwi.”

“Aye--”, Erik responded with a deadly look in his eye, “ No daughter of mine is gone be some dumbass Kiwi. If ANYTHING, she’s a pomegranate. She regal as fuck.”

Portia erupted into laughter. It was just the right kind of laugh to help her get out of wallowing from her morning technicolor yawn. Erik helped her to her feet, and she washed her face and brushed her teeth.

“Okay, well, if we can’t agree on a fruit or vegetable, should we move from edibles to something else? We have to call him something.”

“HER name will come to us as soon as we lay eyes on her. How am I supposed to name my daughter before I ever see her?”

Portia tried a different tactic. “Well, it would help us if we just knew what sex we should be expecting, then we could be compiling a list of names to choose from. That way when he, or she -- she interjected quickly-- makes an appearance, we have a short list. Can we at least agree to a short list? We won’t even have to make a decision, we’ll just have a jumping off point today.”

“Fine,” Erik acquiesced. “Let’s start with the boys, it don’t really matter no way,” he said sucking his teeth.

“Excuse me,” Portia questioned, incredulously.

“I’m just sayin, ma. I know you carrying my little Princess. I just know it!”

Portia looked up into her favorite eyes in the world. Their depths fathomless when he was this full of love, and their color reminded her of the vanilla beans her grandmother used when making fresh ice cream when Portia was a young girl. She couldn’t deny him anything when he looked at her like this. If she had the power to snap her fingers and move heaven and earth to give him a daughter in that moment, she’d do it.

“Okay, well just humor me.” Portia asked they dressed to head out of the house.

They came up with a list of three names for a boy: Oscar, Maurice, and Bryan

For the girls, Erik wanted to stick to more of a theme. While he may have fought at the beginning to not even go down this path, now that he was here, he was determined not to walk away from this conversation without landing on his daughter’s name.

“Okay, how about this: she can have one name from each of us.” It was a little hard to hear Portia’s words, coming through muffled since she was presently stuck trying to slip one of Erik’s hoodies over her puffy hair and swollen midsection.

Smart enough to not comment on his wife’s dilemma, Erik just set out to help her finish pulling it down over her belly, and without a word on her current predicament, went to the closet to grab her slides.

“I like it,” Erik agreed. “But which names? I don’t have any family names I want to pull from. The only woman in my life growing up was my moms, and she was gone so soon, I wouldn’t even want to lay all of that on a little one,” Erik quietly confessed to his wife.

“Let’s see. She could have a name from the Xhosa language for her heritage and family on your side. I don’t know what to do for mine.” Portia was almost ready to go, just looking for her favorite hair wrap to tie up her mane.

Erik was quiet for a moment. Heart still grieving a mother and relationship long gone, while still overflowing with love for this swollen, smart mouthed woman that he knew his mom would’ve adored.

“Anathi,” he said before he realized it. “It means ‘they are with us’. Seems pretty fitting, huh?”

Portia’s eyes caught his in the mirror as she tucked the last end of fabric in her wrap. Both sets were bright with tears.

“I love it,” she whispered, words barely audible. “But what are we going to do about a first name?”

“Well, I like that thing your family has going on. All of y’all are named after women in literature, but they also are the names of constellations, right? How about, Juliet?”

“Nigga! I am not naming my daughter after some little precocious child who thought she was in love and wound up offing herself over some knucklehead boy before they even turned 16. Try again.”

“Astrid,” Erik risked, only to be rewarded with a sharp sniff coming from Portia’s direction as she gathered her keys and wallet.

“Aurora!” He exclaimed.

“Pretty sure I’ve never read that name as a leading lady in any story,” Portia countered, her haughty ass attitude slowly slipping away. These mood swings were getting out of hand.

“Fuck. I just couldn’t deal with you gettin any snippier, so I just thought of the most beautiful sight I could think of that made me think of the stars,” he answered, bashfully, putting on his finishing touches, and grabbing his phone, wallet, and keys.

“It’s perfectly, imperfect. Not quite what we set out for, and somehow precisely what we needed.  Aurora Anathi Stevens. I love it, mon chou.”

His dimples took over his whole face. “Really? I just wanted her to have a little of both of us in her name. She gets your family’s bougie ass legacy with names, and one of mine as a reminder of all the ancestors who’ve come before us.”

Portia was practically bouncing in place she was so happy. “I love it. Really, really.” She took a heavy, negro spiritual sigh. “I have to call my family and tell them we’ve landed on a name. We don’t talk much, but they at least need to know.”

“How bout this: you call them while I drive. I think we’ve earned a very nice breakfast of your choosing. Naming my daughter is kind of a big fuckin deal and all; let’s celebrate.”

“Oooh! I know just what I want.”

Erik rolled his eyes and mouthed along, “Strawberry pancakes.” It was the same thing Portia had been craving this whole pregnancy. One short stack order of strawberry pancakes with blueberry syrup.

“Aiight now, but don’t be tryna pick off my plate. I’m getting chocolate chip pancakes, and I ain’t sharin’ shit.”

They climbed into his car just as Portia’s family answered her call.

“Hello, Erik.”

That cadence. The subtle lilt of an accent she’s tried through years of practice to discard. Fuck.

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[kayteewritessteve]

Love and War - 2/16

Description: In a harsh medieval world, you set out on a perilous quest that will lead you onto a forbidden land. A land ruled and controlled by a ruthless Warlord King, one who does not look favourably upon trespassers of any kind, and punishes all with an iron fist. You may not know exactly where this quest will end, but what you do know is you will forever be altered by it. And that knowledge alone is what truly terrifies you the most.

Catch up HERE.

Word Count: 3,580 ish.

Pairing: Medieval!Steve Rogers x Reader.

Rating: PG for now. May become 18+ later.

Warnings: Violence. Curse words. Mentions of fears and potentially brutal medieval tactics. Most likely more to come down the road. Please don’t let these warnings scare you too much, give the story a try before you judge it.

A/N: I sadly don’t own any of these characters. And no beta reader, so I do proudly own all the errors and this story, so there’s that.

“Well, well, well,” the larger of the two starts, “and what do we have here?”

You want to scream, you want to run, but you know both urges are pointless in this moment. You can’t outrun these guards, this is their homeland, and you can only assume they are chosen for the Royal Guard based on their knowledge of the land and their skill sets. And then they are most likely meticulously trained to endure more than the average human. Probably trained to outrun, out strength, and outsmart their opponents, every single time.

So no, running away screaming won’t save you now. You’d be smarter to just listen to their commands and pray they show you mercy. Pray they take your submission and obedience as a form of respect and then maybe, just maybe, they won’t kill you. Maybe they will let you free with a promise to never return. To never enter the King’s land again.

But you’re not an idiot, you know that anyone who has ever entered the King’s land has never returned to tell the tale. And even if your mind is trying desperately to tell you that those lost townsfolk are still alive and just living out their days happily in the King’s city. You know that’s not possible, or true. They are all dead. Just as you will be soon.

“Well, what do you wenches have to say for yourselves?” The smaller guard, with long black hair, snaps.

“We—ah—we’re just—“ you try to form a coherent sentence but your mind is just not cooperating at all. Your heart is pounding in your ears so loudly that you can barely even hear your own voice over it.

“Just what?” The larger guard, with long blonde hair, prompts gently, though he still manages to sound rather irritated.

Wanda raises her hands in an attempt to calm them, “we were just trying to find our way home, we didn’t mean to bother you.”

Thank Gods she is here, you’d have never been able to get that sentence out on your own, let alone even come up with a lie that quickly.

“A likely story,” the smaller guard scoffs, “you are 5 leagues into the King’s land, and you want us to believe you were just lost on your way home?”

“It’s the truth,” Wanda snaps, you can tell she is getting ready to do something stupid, and you pray it doesn’t result in you both being killed on the spot. You quickly grab hold of her hand to help ground her, and she snaps her eyes over to yours for a moment. The physical connection visibly calms her and you plead with your eyes for her to control herself.

After a second she nods her understanding and you turn to the guards, taking a deep breath in, and pulling yourself together you finally find your voice. “We apologize for the intrusion, we are both not very good with wayfinding, as you can tell. If either of you could just point us in the direction of Triskelion we will happily vacate the King’s land immediately.”

The smiles that appear on both guards faces do not help your nerves at all, they make them worse actually. “Unfortunately, that will not be possible as you have trespassed, and the King doesn’t take too kindly to that. You will both have to come with us,” the larger guard says as they both move towards you, menacingly.

“Now just you wait one moment,” Wanda says as you both step back, attempting to keep some distance between yourselves and the intimidatingly large Royal Guardsman. “We didn’t mean to trespass, we are just silly women who can’t tell our North from our South. Surely that isn’t grounds to detain us.”

“It is when you trespass on Royal land,” the smaller guard says as he glances at the larger one, sharing an odd look with him for a moment before they turn back to you both. “You’ll need to come with us, don’t make this any more difficult than it need be.”

You sigh and then hold out your wrists to the guards, there is no point in fighting this, you’ll just end up in deeper water. Wanda glares at you for a moment, but you just glare right back, begging her to stop causing a scene as that will surely only result in you both getting beat for it. She shakes her head defeatedly, then sighs and sticks her hands out as well.

“Good decision ladies,” the larger guard says, patronizingly, as he moves towards you, pulling shackles from his belt as he does. “No need to make things any worse by doing something foolhardy.”

Both guards shackle your wrists, and attach you both to a length of rope, as the larger one then proceeds to basically drag you deeper into the Kings territory. You reluctantly follow, as you aren’t really given much choice in the matter.

But as you continue to journey forward, the guards become further and further ahead. Allowing about 5 yards of space between them and you, basically just enough that you can’t really make out their whispered words. Nor could they potentially make out yours, you note.

You obediently follow behind, stumbling over rocks and fallen trees as they continue to drag you along. Praying they are bringing you to a path or trail of some sort, so your aching legs don’t get anymore beat up by the rigorous pace they have set. But before your pleads can be answered you are forcefully yanked over a rather large tree trunk. Falling to the ground with a yelp, ending up in a heap on the other side, and sadly taking Wanda down with you.

Pain instantly radiates through your left leg, and you grip it, writhing on the ground as you yell out, “Gods dammit!”

Wanda quickly collects herself and attempts to check your leg, but you push her hands away for fear she will only agitate the injury more. “Y/N, let me see it,” she says as she tries again to reach for your leg.

In the background to can hear the guards chuckling to themselves, clearly enjoying your hardship. “Get up foolish little woman, we have a long journey left ahead,” the larger guard says through his chuckles.

“Give us a moment, we aren’t all built for this terrain,” Wanda snaps at him, receiving more snide laughter from the boorish guards. She looks back down at you, her voice softening “are you alright, Y/N?”

You grimace and clench your teeth, but nod as you release your leg and Wanda helps you stand, “will you be able to walk on it?”

You hesitantly place your weight on the leg, and though it does hurt, you know you will be able to handle the pain. You look to her and nod again, “yes, it seems to just be bruised.”

“Here, let me check it,” she says, but you shake your head like a petulant child. She sighs deeply, “Y/N, let me see, I promise I won’t touch it.”

You finally give in and nod, “okay, fine.”

She smiles triumphantly then turns you so your back is facing the guards, kneeling down in front of you and lifting your skirts just slightly, just enough that she can look at the injured leg. “You have a nasty scrape, but that’s all. It could have been much worse,” she says as she stands back up.

“Today, wenches,” the smaller guard yells, their chuckles can no longer be heard, so clearly they are becoming fed up and frustrated with how long you both are taking.

“We’re coming,” you snap this time, becoming increasingly frustrated with them as well. You both start to walk towards the guards as they turn and continue onwards.

After a while of walking—limping in your case—you glance over at Wanda. “How are we going to get out of this?” You whisper to her, making sure to keep your voice low so only she hears you.

“I’ll figure something out,” she whispers back, “we just need to play along for now, and wait for an opportunity to arise.”

“What if they lock us away in their dungeons?”

“Then I’ll break us out,” she whispers confidently.

You furrow your brows, and mumble, “we are both going to die.”

She giggles quietly, “you are such a zoilist.”

You gasp, in feigned outrage and shock at her calling you a zoilist; an overly-critical and judgemental nitpicker. “I am not!” But you can’t stop the laugh that bubbles up at her ridiculous insult. “You are the zoilist!”

You both laugh even harder but then the rope is yanked forward roughly once again, “keep it down back there!”

You glare at the back of the guards heads, wishing you could decapitate them both using just your eyes. But sadly, just as everything else, you weren’t gifted with that skill either. Though... “can’t you just kill them both?” You mumble to Wanda.

“I wish,” she sighs, “but I’m not that strong, nor that fast. If I tried to take one of them out, the other would be on me before I could finish the job. You know my magic is more natural than that. I can grow plants instantly, fix injured animals, but the dark magic that is needed to take a man's life,” she shakes her head, “that I am not versed in.”

You sigh, you did know that. But wishful thinking got the better of you. “You’re right. It wouldn’t be worth the risks.”

“Don’t worry, Y/N, we’ll figure something out. We just have to be smart about it,” she whispers and you nod. Then you both fall into a silence as you follow along, finally coming out of the dense wood and on to a wide path. Clearly one that is heavily used, judging by all the prints and marks in the gravel.

You thank the Gods for it though, as now you can walk a little easier and your leg is no longer being agitated by the uneven and fallen tree littered, forest floor.

A while later, as the sun is just starting to set in the horizon, you look up to see the top of a massive castle up ahead, just over the trees. And your stomach drops with every step closer to the intimidating structure, or more so, your Fate that will be decided within it.

As you slowly make your way closer you feel your throat dry up, and your heart begins to pound rapidly in your chest. Your hands become clammy and your face flushes. These are all reactions you aren’t used to. Yes, you’ve been nervous before, and yes, you’ve had each of these reactions before. But never together. Never all at the same time.

And even though you are terrified of the castle, petrified by what will happen to you inside it. Something in you, something deep, deep down wants you to continue on. Wants you to enter that fortress, and fast. You can’t explain it. You just feel like you were destined to be here, Fated to find this place. To enter it.

Maybe your subconscious knows this is where you die. Where you take your final breath. Yet, that doesn’t seem right. Something in you is trying to tell you that you won’t be dying here today, or any day. No, something very different is going to occur here, in this place. But you just aren’t yet sure exactly what that will be.

The guards pull you away from the entrance to the city, leading you off to the right along the outlying wall. The wall acting as a final line of defence for the buildings, structures and inhabitants of the King’s city. A wall you’d have assumed would’ve been taller, but then again, everyone knew not to enter the King’s land. Everyone except you, clearly.

The wall was short enough that you could see the roofs of the buildings that lay within, and if you squint really hard, you could just see that at the very back of the city, the side furthest from where you currently are, is the castle. Large and imposing as it loomed menacingly, yet protectively over the city. Giving the impression that so long as the castle stood, the city would as well.

Your nerves had dissipated now, being replaced by shear awe, mainly for the fact that you got to lay eyes on this place. You got to see the Warlord King’s home up close, a thing no one outside of his people got to do. Yet here you were, walking around the outside of it. You hoped that you’d get the chance to see inside the walls. Get a chance to explore the city. But you knew that would never happen, you’d just be lucky to make it to tomorrow in one piece.

The guards halted in front of a large set of iron doors, set into the wall. Two guards standing on either side, with swords on their hips and spears in their hands. You glanced over at Wanda, who looked both exhausted and forlorn. She didn’t look at you though, she was too busy watching the guards interact. You shifted your eyes back to them and noticed that not one had spoken so much as a single word. They were all just staring at each other, as if having a non-verbal conversation. Which was odd, for sure.

“Why aren’t they saying anything?” You whisper to her.

She shakes her head, “I don’t know.”

Then, the two guards who had been at the doors when you’d arrived, moved and pushed them open, the large iron doors creaking as they did. Once they were fully open the two guards who had brought you here begin to walk, once again pulling you along with them.

You are dragged down a long, dark and musky stone tunnel. One that clearly isn’t used to welcome castle guests. Not that you assume the King ever has any guests to begin with, what with his sheer hatred for anyone not born in his territory. And even then, you aren’t sure if he even likes the people who are born here.

You continue down the dark, damp tunnel, every 10 feet a torch is attached to the wall, giving just enough light to vaguely see where you’re going. But not enough to be able to make out much else.

After a while you reach a large wood door, with a metal plate in the middle near the top. The larger guard knocks 3 times and a moment later the metal plate falls in, away from you and a set of eyes appears in its place. But once again, not a single word is exchanged. Though you see the head, attached to the mysterious eyes nod, and then the metal plate is flipped back into place, right before the sound of locks echoes off the tunnel walls. And then the door slowly squeaks open, revealing another ridiculously large man behind it. He is smaller than the Guardsmen who brought you here, but still much larger than yourself.

The guards drag you both through the door, and before you know it you are unshackled and then tossed into a cell. And seconds later the cell door is slammed shut, leaving both Wanda and yourself unshackled but locked in a small dark windowless room—if you can even call it that, it’s more like a cellar.

You glance around, your eyes having adjusted to the low lighting during your walk in the tunnel. But even with that said, it is so very dark in here. Your eyes can just barely make out a pile of hay, off in a corner, most likely a makeshift bed, and then there is a bucket in the opposite corner. However, you don’t need to question what the bucket is for, just the smell coming off of it is enough to answer that for you.

You hear the tunnel door slam shut and then you know it’s just Wanda, you and the giant door guard left in here. Well, that and whoever else is currently locked in the cells near you.

Wanda quickly makes her way to the cell door, checking the edges for any faults or weak points. But after a moment of that you hear her heavily sigh and can just barely make out her head slumping forward in defeat. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to break us out of here,” she whispers dejectedly.

You make your way over to her, placing your hand on her shoulder, “don’t say that Wands, if anyone can get us out, it’s you. Have some faith in yourself.”

“You don’t get it,” she shrugs your hand off and turns to face you, not that either of you can make out the others features in the darkness. “I can get us out of this cell, but I won’t be able to take on that guard.”

“Then you work on getting us out of the cell and leave the guard to me,” you say resolutely.

She giggles, “and what are you planning to do, exactly?”

“I haven’t figured that out just yet,” you laugh, “but I’ll think of something.”

She shakes her head, and you can just barely make out the smirk on her lips, “we are so going to die.”

“Now who’s the zoilist?” you chuckle out, earning a scoff in return.

“I just don’t see how you plan to take on that ridiculously large man, let alone best him while you’re at it.”

“O ye of little faith,” you pat her back, “trust me Wands, we are getting out of here. Mark my words.”

“Wanda?” You hear someone yell from the cell beside yours, “Y/N?”

And instantly you know that voice. “Pietro?!” You and Wanda yell at the same time. “Is it really you?!” Wanda begs hopefully.

“What are you two doing here!?”

“We came to find you,” you say back.

“You shouldn’t have done that! What were you both thinking!?” He scolds from his cell.

“And you shouldn’t have entered the King’s land in the first place, Piet,” Wanda scolds right back. She never put up with any of his shit. Ever.

“Gods Wanda, I told you not to come after me if I didn’t return, now we are all going to die here.”

“Hey!” A new voice yells, clearly the guard, “no talking!”

You both huddle into the corner closest to Pietro’s voice, trying to not draw any more unwanted attention to yourselves, as you talk to him.

“Piet, we are going to break out of here,” Wanda starts, “do you think you’d be able to take on the guard?”

“Have you seen the guy!?” Piet scoffs, “he is like 3 of me! I don’t know what they put in the water here, but every person I have seen is insanely large.”

“You saw inside the city?” You quickly ask, curious if he got a glimpse of it or not.

“I did, but I didn’t make it far before they captured me. I sort of stood out like a sore thumb, what with everyone having at least 2 feet on me.”

“Really? They are all that large?” You question.

“Yeah, unhumanly large.”

“That will make escaping much more difficult,” Wanda sighs, “considering we clearly won’t be able to just blend in once we get out of here.”

“No, we wouldn’t,” Piet agrees, “and even if we get passed this guard, there are two others by the iron doors.”

“Gods! I forgot about them!” Wanda shakes her head again, “I don’t think we’ll be able to pull this off.”

“We have to at least try, we don’t have any other choice,” you start then realize something. “Piet, when is your sentencing?”

“At dawn.”

“That doesn’t exactly give us much time to plan,” Wanda murmurs, clearly losing hope.

“No, but I may have an idea,” you say as you lean in towards her, “okay, here’s what I’m thinking.”

Somewhere near, yet far.

“Have you found her yet?” the large man asks from his spot, hiding amongst the shadows of a deep, dark cave.

“No Sir,” a smaller man replies, “but we are still looking.”

“Of course you are still looking!” The larger man bellows, “because I told you not to stop until you found her, didn’t I?”

“You did, Sir,” the smaller man nods quickly.

“Well, then why are you here talking to me right now, instead of out there searching?”

“I only came to inform you that we have found a lead, Sir. She has been spotted in the town of Triskelion.”

“That’s wonderful news,” the larger man nods. “Now stop wasting my time and go find her. She belongs to me, and I won’t have anyone else taking her away from me again.”

“Of course, Sir,” the smaller man nods again, “right away, Sir.” He goes to quickly leave the cave, but just before he does the larger one halts him.

“Oh, and Charan—“ the larger man pauses to clear his throat, “Brock?”

He turns around, “yes, Sir?”

“You remember the price for failing me, yes?”

Brock nods quickly, “I do.”

“You do, what?” He growls.

Brock clears his throat, “I do, Sir.”

“Good. Now be gone before I take my anger out on you,” he threatens coolly as he waves a dismissive hand around.

Brock nods once more then hastily retreats out of the cave. Leaving the larger man alone once again, standing in the darkness, with only his thoughts of her, and his desperate need to have her within his grasp once more. She is his, and she always will be.

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

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[noprodigalson]

@tzdkh​ gets a drabble

there’s a slight tint of yellow to the sky as the sun begins to pull itself up along the horizon, just begging to reach up against the edges of the mountains that surrounded this quaint montanan town. dean can understand why deacon remains here. there may be no room for growth, there may be that feeling of laziness that hung in the air like a blanket of low hanging clouds that refused to budge, but dean found himself embracing that particular attitude the more he lingered in the area. people were content here, happy with their life and how they lived.

how long had it been since dean had felt that way ?

with his breath getting heavier with each mile he pushed, the hunter kept his gaze towards the morning light. a thought crossed his mind. what would happen if he just remained on this path ?  allowed his feet to stray from the pavement he was running on and took off over that distantly glowing line. no more aimlessly heading where his life decided to take him, instead taking control of the direction he wished to choose ?  such an idea was almost terrifying with the unknowns it contained, but even with all those variables there’d be one constant. a direction, a goal. a pathway for the hunter to finally forge as his own.

slowing down as the yellow and white lines began to stray to the left, dean took the chance to catch his breath as he stared at the edges of the valley this county resided in. shoes toed the line of pavement and dirt while dean’s sweat slicked chest rose and fell with every gulp of air. how difficult would the journey be ?  what trails would the winchester have to face for just the smallest feeling of control for once in the convulsed mess of a life he had.

he waited as the beginnings of light began to make themselves noticeable above the ridges of the mountains, dean having to shield his eyes as it became more difficult for him to watch the sunrise. eyes blinked as he tried to get rid of the flare of brightness from his sight, turning to see just how far he had gone on this particular journey. a small glint captured dean’s attention, traveling along the same road dean had just jogged. with his gaze turned away from the east, he watched the approaching glimmer that was clearly some kind of vehicle. it wasn’t clear who was following dean’s path until the car began to slow, windows rolled down to reveal a familiar face.

“ here to throw me in the back or do i get to ride upfront this time ?  ” dean says, finding time to speak between his heavy breaths. the hand he had used to shield his eyes from the sun wipes away the sweat collecting on his brow as dean steps away from the curve in the road, feet returning to fully place themselves on the weathered asphalt.

there’s a smile on deacon’s face as they hear dean’s words, soft and forgiving. dean can’t help but to mimic the gesture. he promises that he was on his best behavior unless the notion of handcuffs is involved.

dean stares at the lines on deacon’s face while sitting beside him, remembering how their weathered skin felt against his fingertips. the touch had been soft despite the intensity of the thoughts bouncing around in that brain of his. time had passed without the trading of words, eyes wandering across each other’s faces as they watched the minute expressions that betrayed their thoughts. they spoke wordlessly in tandem —-  to what lengths would i go for this man ? just what am i doing here ? does he know that i would die for him ?

as dean watches the deputy drive, he knows that the direction he chose doesn’t lay in the wilderness and mountains of hope county. there was no need to become a trailblazer, racing towards the unobtainable finish line he had longed for earlier this morning. there was already a path for dean to follow. while it may not be paved or be direct, it was laid out in-front of the hunter; just like the lines of deacon’s face dean had traced earlier, all roads he now travels end at the same destination.

a decision had been made, even if dean struggled to realize it. no longer was he letting the wind take him wherever it wished. the anemoi may wish to have their way with whisking the hunter away without any clear purpose, the moirai may try their best to dictate the winchester’s purpose without care, but dean had finally taken the matter of his life into his own hands for once. he had taken control finally, only realizing it in the exchange of silence.

he had already reached the horizon line —-  now he just required the assiduity to remain.

there was a laugh from mary may as the body spun with a drunken flourish, only for another to safely catch them from falling over while the two continued to dance. their joy was refreshing, having seen this particular bar just a few weeks before wrought with tension. the air had been heavy, bearing down on people’s shoulders as they hunched over their drinks, unsure of what was to come in the following days. not even all the liquor provided by the spread eagle was able to wash away all the stress the people had carried. they had been a grim sight in what used to be refuge for those beaten and lost, but not even fall’s end’s popular watering hole was safe from the threat of the project.

and they were right to harbor that feeling of fear. it hadn’t even been a week when the project had decided to move against the town. the bar had received a few new scars during its occupation, like many of the residents, but time had helped heal those wounds.

fingers rapped against the counter in tempo to the music, an attempt to play the drums along with bob burns. dean knew he was probably butchering the part, but spirits where high and he had just enough drink to not worry about what others thought. eyes continued to watched the couple dance as the song began to end and they took a clumsy bow at the sound hands clapping. he quickly finished his drink, only a few drops left, before looking disappointedly at the empty glass. however help was on its way, as he found the gaze of the blonde behind the counter.

“ where’s your deputy ?  ” the question was asked with a knowing smile on her face, even as dean’s eyebrows rose. his deputy ?  he hadn’t been aware others had been talking like that. mary may seemed almost amused at his expression, filling his glass back to full with dean’s drink of choice. he voiced the question he asked in his head —-  it still lingered there, rattling around as he still couldn’t quite process those words. his deputy. the only answer he receives is a pointed look to his head, her own brow raising in a way that told him she was questioning just how smart the hunter was. a hand reaches up to touch the brim of the hat he wore, allowing it to bring a smile to his face. the memory of how he had first liberated this hat played through his head. that day was the same day dean first set his sights on deacon saint. a too good deputy just trying his best during difficult times, who had his hands full the instant they tried to hold onto to dean winchester.

he presses a finger to his lips, playing coy about how he once more seemed to have come into possession of deacon’s hat. it was apparently no secret that the two of them were having their own kind of dance, a regular game of cops and robbers. there’s a roll of eyes in response, but her own smile doesn’t drop. “ you’re a troublemaker, but i’ll keep filling that glass of yours as long as you keep outta fights today. ”

dean rises to the bait as she begins to step away, turning to her other patrons that needed their own refills. “ just today ?  think you can pencil me in tomorrow ?  hey, wait ! how about thursday ?  ” he calls out, only to receive two fingers pointer at her eyes before having them turned his way. a laugh escapes dean’s lips, picking up his refilled glass to take a sip. his deputy, dean muses to himself, feeling the burn of whiskey lingering in the back of his throat.

dean stays true to his word and is back in the following days. however there’s a distinct lack of applause and grins thanks to the news coming from the whitetail mountains. the militia was barely holding out, with every step forwards, the project forcing them another two back. while dean attempted to maintain a neutral position in the conflict —-  he’s had enough of doomsday prophecies and people thinking they could use him to win wars ;  if angels and demons could try and fail in their attempts to make the winchester their pawn, dean would rather die before some jumped up humans on hallucinogenic drugs toyed with his fate —-  he knows deacon is doing his best in helping the citizens of hope county. dean will help the innocent, prevent those who want no part of this war from getting involved, but his loyalty lies with a single person.

both factions would be razed to the ground if anything happened to his deputy, no matter if that wasn’t what deacon would have wanted. dean could handle disappointment, he was used to being on the receiving end of that particular emotion, and he would sacrifice everything that made him happy to make sure nobody would even think about laying a hand on deacon saint.

even if that meant losing him.

the conversation is soft, making dean strain his ears to hear what’s being said. he doesn’t bother to look at them, the neon bar signs providing little light and with night already fallen, the dimness hardly allows for too many details to be seen. so dean focuses on how his fingers grasp the glass in hand and listens. there’s not much that dean doesn’t already know, having poked around the files the police force has.

there are flaws in their movements that are easily seen by the trained eye. growing up as a hunter, with his dad’s background in the marines, tactics come second nature for dean. he’s used to working in groups, moving people around that best suits their talents. while many in this county have some sort of military background, they’ve never had to deal with opponents that were consistently stronger and more prepared than they were. dean didn’t have much room to judge, but in most of their cases, they never really had the intelligence to be placed in a leadership position as well. they were sloppy, overestimating their own abilities while not giving the project the respect they deserved. another issue, dean had learned, was that they relied too heavily on the select few who did have talent while not providing the support they deserved —-  and when things went wrong . . .  well, the blame was easily thrown around.

“ maybe he’s just making things worse. ”

a simple comment, one that didn’t really hold any heat, but still introduced as a possibility.

the hunter’s eyes drift away from his drink and towards the group of men talking among themselves. mary may moves closer to dean, as if sensing the anger rising within him. he’s unsure what her goal is, but he dismisses the presence easily. listening a bit more intensely, there’s a few murmurs of assent, unsure if they agree with what’s being said, but allowing their idea to gain traction in their closed circuit of thoughts. if any of the other patrons heard what was being said, nobody speaks out and that only makes the matter worse.

“ what, you think your bitch ass could do any better ?  didn’t know having a fuckin’ beer gut made you threatening. ”

words flow easily out of dean’s mouth, as glasses are cleared from the bar in preparation. the winchester name may not hold much sway as a hunter in this particular community, but those who frequent the spread eagle know dean and stay clear of him for different reasons. the trio that dean turned his attention to clearly hadn’t gotten the memo of why most people give dean a healthy radius. they rise to the bait with the idea they outnumber the blond. dean knows exactly what they’re thinking :  he’s too pretty to be a threat, lacking muscle definition and weight —-  an easy target to let some of their frustrations out on. the stooges don’t notice the glances they receive are of worry, that people are slowly dissipating around them, not willing to get caught in the cross fire. they don’t hear the phone call from behind the bar asking for an ambulance for three.

what they do hear is the call for them to take their spat outside, dean agreeing as he continues to trade barbs, riling the group up more. He takes notice of their gait, watching how they move with a slight stagger —-  one in particular had a shuffle to their step, giving away an old wound that never healed correctly ( dean files that away, knowing that limo was only going to be worse after this particular scuffle ) .

the night air is refreshing after being in a stuffy bar. dean takes his coat off along with the deputy’s hat, partially because he didn’t want to get them damaged, but also using it as a guise to remover the gun he keeps resting against the small of his back. there’s tension in the cool mountain air as the others wait for the hunter to square up. they laugh at his posture, refusing to raise his fists just yet and read it as a sign of weakness. dean knows the rattle against the window are those who placed bets, peaking between the blinds to see just who was going to win. he’s unsure who makes the last remark, but it’s the final straw. the slur they used against him is easily brushed off, but the fact they also choose to drag deacon into the insult ?  dean may not fight for himself much, but he’d never allow others to think they could get away with believing that of his deputy.

muscle memory takes over for most of the fight, dean lost in a haze of anger as he barely registers fists connecting to jaws, elbows coming down on arms just to hear the bone shatter against the hunter’s weight. a boot comes down against the leg he had spotted from earlier, hearing a cry of pain. he doesn’t come out completely unscathed, a given considering the odds. bruises were gonna appear along his torso where ribs were cracked, skin split along his cheekbone after a knee finds its home there. his mouth is filled with blood, knuckles raw from every hit landed. but one by one the three stooges fall, sirens wailing in the distance.

red lights flash against the side of the bar and dean knows everything was drawing to an end. the anger hadn’t subsided yet, even as blood drips down against his eye from a cut on his brow, that thick bitter liquid sliding into his mouth from where his lip had split open. if anything, the fact that the paramedics were here makes him even angrier. news of this fight was going to get around town, not to mention it’d be documented by the meager police force that tried to maintain a sense of normalcy ;  and if they filed a report, that meant it was going to fall into a particular deputy’s hands. and that ?  made dean burn with a self-flagellating rage. already the soft sigh of defeat could be heard, that weary look that rested heavily on the deputy’s face was playing through dean’s mind. he couldn’t help the display of emotion as hunter yelled into the night, frustrated at the turn of events. one of the bodies on the floor before dean twitched in fear, gaining dean’s focus. fingers grasp their oily hair as dean throws all his irritation into one last movement. there’s a resounding crack as the man’s face hits the side of the bar, nose breaking against the impact as the noise drowns out dean’s heavy breathing. teeth clench as dean wishes he gave the other’s more of a chance to get a few more hits in. the pain would have been welcomed compared to the crushing dismay that began to settle along his shoulders. dean falls to the ground, the concrete jarring his backside as dean looses the strength to continue standing under this new weight. was deacon one of those who had shown up ?  was he able to see the destruction that dean was responsible for ?  was he watching still, or had he finally decided to walk away ?

did it even matter at this point ? 

he can hear mary may in the background, but doesn’t look up from the hands holding up his face. it’s not until he feels her hand on his shoulder that he pays attention. “ got your hat kid. c’mon, i got a room in the bar for ya. ”

the effort is appreciated, but there’s still the feeling of being lost. displaced. dean had been so sure about what he had, but one slip of someone’s tongue had that certainty falling through his grasp. accepting the help to stand up, he moves along back towards the bar.

“ wasn’t pretty, but we all had your back. they deserved everything you gave them for talking shit like that. ”

dean stayed silent for the most part. mary may’s approval was nice, but it wasn’t what he was looking for. before he passes out in the bed being loaned out to him, he waits until he hears her leave, closing the door and walking back down to the main floor of the bar.

“ guess i’ll be getting what i deserve too. ” 

[naerryn]

Tainted Love

01 - The Prelude

Warning! This part of the series contains smut!

The soft sigh of pleasure felt from my lips when the plump lips of the the muscular man on top of me touched the delicate skin of my throat. With a shiver running down my spine, I closed my eyes and my hands landed on his bare back.

“моя любовь.”, he whispered in a husky voice against my ear, his lips ghosted down my jawline before he caught my lips for a hungry kiss. My love, I repeated his words in my mind as I got lost in our kiss. His scent clouded my trail of thoughts and I felt one of his hands traveling along my side, before it cupped one of my breast and gave it a firm squeeze.

“Sergei.”, I moaned his name in a whisper, our kiss broke when the need for air grew much too big to be ignored any longer. A hand of mine buried itself in his dark hair and I stared into his hazel eyes, clouded with desire.

A single piece of paper would have barely fit between our lips, a hard knock echoed through the thick air. Sergei hovered above me, eyes still locked with mine before another knock at the door reached our ears.

Groaning in annoyance, Sergei lifted himself off of me and grabbed the shirt on the floor and slid into it as he crossed the master bedroom. He glanced over his shoulder, waving his hand hasty while I snuggled myself up i the blanket, barely covered myself before the door flew open.

“что случилось?”, he snapped harshly at the person on the other side of the door, his tall frame partially obscured the sight of the hallway. It was at least one of his men, hissing words to his boss which I couldn’t clearly understand. I bit my bottom lip, carefully lifting the blanket as I searched for my dress.

“I need to leave.”, Sergei spoke with a thick accent as he leaned the wooden door against the frame, his hazel eyes fixed on every of my motions as I walked naked through the room.

“Why?”, I got into a huff, bending forwards to reach for my dress while I made sure that Sergei got a good look on my rear side. I could practically feel his eyes burning against my skin.

“My men caught an intruder.”

“Another?”, I exhaled in disbelief and turned around on the spot with the dress in hands, meeting his rage filled look with a worried one. He was mad with anger, every of his muscles tensed up and hands clenched into fists.

Two days ago his men already caught an intruder, a woman, who tried to sneak herself into Sergei's study, dressed like a housekeeper. To bad that he changed the colors of the staffs uniforms three days ago, or else she would have been successful.

They brought her into the west wing of the estate, the only part of the house I was forbidden to enter without him. Back when he told me this rule, I jokingly asked Sergei if he hid a magical rose their, earning one of his rare laughs and a shook of his head.

I made quick work of getting back into the dress, rushing over to Sergei when he was about to leave the room and placed a hand on his right shoulder. His body came to a halt before he turned around to face me, which gave me the opportunity to rest my hands at the back of his neck as I stepped closer to him.

“Don’t leave me alone.”

“мое сокровище.”, he breathed out in a low tone of voice, his arms wrapped themselves around my waist and he pulled me tight against his chest. “I can’t.”, he continued to whisper against my lips. I looked at him with half-lidded eyes, biting my bottom lip teasingly.

“Please. I love watching you. All that anger.”, I purred softly, lips sealing mine as one of his hands grabbed a handful of my hair.

“ты сводишь меня с ума.”, Sergei whispered after breaking the kiss, I tilted the head to the side and looked at him with curious eyes. “You drive me crazy.”, he explained, his hand leaving my hair before he got a firm hold on one of my wrists.

“You will stay in the back.”, Sergei said, and with bare feet, I entered the long hallway outside the master bedroom.

I was coyly greeted by two of his men, Andrei and Victor, two of his security forces who had trained under him for several years. They were smart and ruthless, a dangerous combination for anyone messing with Sergei Kravinoff. Not that the man himself isn’t deadly enough.

The two guards led the way down the hallway and the air filled with Russian. I looked around the walls, admiring the pictures and decoration as I quietly listened into their conversation.

It was a man. They picked him up in the kitchen when he tried to enter the estate. He killed four of Sergei’s men before they could overpower him and put him in chains. Victor showed his boss a bow, the only notable possession of the intruder.

‘Those idiots.’, I thought to myself, forcing myself to look away from the bow as I felt my stomach twist into a tight knot. Unknowingly, I squeezed Sergei’s hand, causing him to look at me from the corner of his eyes before his attention was back on his security forces.

With a heavy heart hammering against my chest, we entered the west wing of the estate and I could already hear grunts and groans mixed with Russian curses reaching my ears.

‘Clint.’, I spoke his name in a silent prayer, glancing at Sergei as the noises grew louder. We were getting closer, and once Sergei would face the murderer of his men, he would be merciless.

“Darling.”, I spoke in a low tone of voice, his stone cold expression made my blood freeze for a split second before I found my voice again. I had to sooth his mind, or else my dear friend would face his executioner. Sergei didn’t look at me, the voices of his minions drowning my words.

I have seen him talking to intruders a handful of time, how his adamant fists repeatedly collided with the beautiful face of that red haired woman, even through she tried her best to charm him with her words and looks. He laughed at her, pointing at me and telling her that he already found his goddess, all in perfect Russian as I stood silently in a corner, acting like I didn’t understand a single word. Blood covered his knuckles, the woman spat the thick red liquid out of her mouth and an open cut adorned her left eyebrow.

She was alive when Sergei and I left the room, but only he knew what fate waited for her. Something sparked his curiosity, and he was eager to get to know who send her after him.

All the other times, the intruders weren’t so lucky. When they showed a little bit of fight left in them, Sergei would offer them a fight against him. If they would be able to knock him out, they could leave, if not, they’re dead man. None of them was able to even land a single punch. Instead, their head landed on the sharp end of a spear. Bullets pierced their limbs as they became unable to move, a last loud shot echoed through the air and live left their body. If not, he allowed them to leave, only to get one of his rifles out and chase them down through the gardens and into the nightly forest.

Sergei was cruel, merciless and deadly. That’s why S.H.I.E.L.D. sent me. Nick Fury wanted to know if his abilities could be used for a better cause. If he showed potential as an agent, or if he was to dangerous, to raw, to be of any use. That was almost a year ago, and the last four month, when I moved into the Kravinoff estate and started living with Sergei, he made it impossible for me to get in touch with my contacts. Fury must have grown impatient. Damnit.

I came to a sudden halt, not letting go of Sergei’s hand as he turned around to face me with a warning look in his hazel eyes.

“My love, what’s going on?”, I asked him innocently, closing the gap between us and leaned into his warmth as a loud scream filled the air.

“That man’s a killer. My men are preparing him for me.”, Sergei’s voice was cold, not the warm, sometimes husky tone he usually spoke to me. I moved on thin ice and I knew I had to be careful to not get caught in a crossfire.

“I am scared.”, I whispered, slowly feeling his muscles loosen up underneath my touch, his hot breath against my skin while he placed a hand under my skin, lifting my gaze to meet his eyes.

“Don’t be scared, мое сердце. I will protect you.”

This conversation was going into the wrong direction, I didn’t came around to notice. Another scream, I pressed myself even further against him and Sergei tilted his head until his forehead touched mine. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Andrei and Victor with their backs turned to us.

“Let us go back to bed, please. I need you.”, I purred lowly, catching his bottom lip between my teeth. A low growl vibrated in his throat, a hint that my new tactic was more successful.

I took a hold on one of his wrists, guiding it past the slit of my dress until his calloused fingertips brushed against my bare core, wet and slick for him. Sergei cursed under his breath and his lips caught mine hungrily.

After a successful hunt, his path led directly to me and he crushed my body under his weight, the air quickly filled with moans and the sound of skin meeting skin as a merciless pace. And we were in the middle of getting tangled into one another and turned to a messed knot of sweat covered limbs.

“Can’t this wait?”, I nodded towards the direction from where the noises came, my other hand cupped the growing bulge in his pants and gave it a firm squeeze.

“Please.”, I begged again, earning another growl until his arms flew around and within a heartbeat, I was lifted up in the air and effortlessly carried bridal style by Sergei. He told his men to not get carried away with the intruder, he would take care of him later in Russian before starting to talk in the direction of the east wing.

Barton owns me, I thought to myself as my eyes landed on the bow in Victors hands and I nudged my forehead against the crook of his neck. Before the sun rise, I had to come up with a plan to get him out of here alive.

Without a single word being said, Sergei carried me back to the master bedroom and kicked the door back into its frame. Long, striding steps brought us to the other side of the room and Sergei dropped me at the edge of the bed.

“Undress.”, he ordered sharply, while pulling off his shirt as he tugged the material over his head. His eyes barely left my sight, my hands getting the zipper on my back open and I felt the dress loosening around my skin.

A soft bang rang through the air once my dress hit the wooden floor, I found myself standing naked in front of Sergei again as he got rid of his belt with an inpatient look written across his face.

We’ve been in bed for over an hour earlier, teasing and enjoying each others company after we arrived back at the estate from a dinner in town. Now, only seconds in the bed room, Sergei’s hard cock sprung free once his trousers along with his briefs followed my dress.

I started moving back onto the bed, backed off until I reached vaguely the center of the furniture. The muscles underneath his olive brown skin moved almost sensually when Sergei climbed onto the bed, hovering his large figure over me and butterfly like kisses were placed on my skin when he was over me.

“I wanted you ever since I saw you in that dress.”, he said with a husky voice, his lips crashing down on mine and while I forced my tongue into his mouth, my mind raced with ideas on how to get Barton out of the estate.

I can’t allow Sergei to leave the room, I came to realize and one hand landed on his shoulders when I pushed him gently to the side and onto his back. Climbing on top of him, I bathed his broad chest with kisses, the average amount of hair covering it tickled lightly against my skin.

My swollen, sensitive clit rubbed delicately against his thick cock, creating enough friction to keep both of us entertained while not being to eager. This was a marathon, and I had to make sure that Sergei would pass out soon after he’s finished.

Kissing down his stomach and along his hips, the fingers of one of my hands wrapped themselves around his length, starting to rub it at a slow, steady pace. He moaned under my touch, my tongue flicked over the head of his cock. I tasted a salty drop of precum, humming softly.

Sergei cursed under his breath again, one of his strong hands landing on the back of my head and he with a fistful of my hair, he forced my mouth down onto his cock. I choked lightly as he the head of his length hit the back of my mouth, a faint curtain of tears covered my view while Sergei began to rock his hips back and forth. His hand in my hair made sure that I won’t flinch away.

Fingernails of one hand dug into the delicate skin of his thighs, the other one firmly pressed on the mattress for balance while my eyes searched for his, but his attention was fully on his cock buried in my mouth.

Once he’s asleep, I have to take care of the guards. Thinned vodka, with a little extra. Sleeping medication? No, a laxative would be funnier.

I gasped for air once Sergei let go of me, I sat between his legs as I felt hot tears running down my cheeks. He watched me recover my breath before he reached out a hand to me, I placed one of mine into it and was laying on top of him within a blink of the eye.

He kissed me rough, his teeth hit mine as he forced his tongue past my lips and into my mouth, deepening the kiss. Sergei could be a soft, caring lover. Focused on my pleasure before getting his own release. But the constant teasing during the car ride to the restaurant, at the restaurant and on our way home drove him to the edge of madness. Now, with his men being murdered, it felt like I poked an already angry tiger with a stick.

The kiss was broken when I started to twist underneath him, fighting for air. Sergei didn’t waist any time, shoved me onto the mattress and raised to his knees, moving his muscular body to kneel behind me.

Hands landed on my hips, he forced me up on my knees and I felt the tip of his cock pressing against my slick core. Maybe I was wrong about this being a marathon. It was a boxing match, and I made to watch out to myself to not lay on the ground before the last round was over.

I cried out in pleasure when Sergei pushed his thick member inside me, his balls against my clit when he filled me out completely. Even after all those month it didn’t feel like he wore me out, the walls of my vagina still fitting like a tight clove around his cock.

Hips began moving at a rapid pace, Sergei literally hammered my body into the mattress and from time to time, one of his hands would raise and fall down painfully on my ass.

His minions would definitely shit their brains out tonight, I would make sure of that, I swore myself as I moaned underneath Sergei’s touch. His voice reached my ear, cursing under his breath and praising me in Russian. If he would only know that I understood every single word. The effect his words had on me.

Sergei grabbed me by the hair again, I could already feel the back of my head hurting from all the pulling, but at this moment, it only added to the raw pleasure we shared.

My back was forced against his sweat chest. Sergei‘s breath was hot against my skin when he bit my earlobe, the new angle causing me to moan on a constant repeat and when I felt his free hand against my clit, while the other one let go of my hair and wrapped itself around my waist, it was too much to take at once.

A strong orgasm waved over me, the walls of my vagina clenching tightly around his cock, milking his oversensitive flesh for his own release. I could feel him twitch inside me, grunting and panting heavily behind me as his movement started to become sloppy.

He held me in place and I was unable to move when he released his seed deep inside me, and I silently thanked modern medicine for birth control. His cum ran out of my heat and started to flow down against the inside of my thighs while I headed to the bathroom attached to the master bedroom.

After I was done using the toilet and cleaned myself, I came back into the bedroom. Sergei’s chest was raising and falling at a slow, steady pace and his eyelids were half-closed. I climbed back onto the mattress, snuggling against his side as I kissed his cheek softy.

“Did I hurt you?”, he asked me, his deep voice a mixture of worry and sleepiness. I shook my head to say no, my eyes never leaving his as he drifted into sleep.

I stayed for another half hour, making sure Sergei was fast when I left the bed and put back on my dress. It would only caught more attention then necessary if the guards see me walking towards the kitchen and I couldn’t afford any throwbacks.

The thinned vodka ran down the few guards throat like it was nothing more then ordinary water, and while I started getting my hopes up as I hurried to the west wing.

Circling around the corner, I almost screamed in surprise when I hit against someone, but a soft hand cupped my mouth and muffled any sounds. It’s the red haired woman. One of her eyes were barely visible, swollen and in a deep shade of purple. The cuts on her face had closed and someone washed the blood off of it.

“Scream and I will slit your throat open.”, she hissed dangerously, waiting for me to nod before she removed her hand from me. Her blue eyes took me in from head to toe, balancing her options silently.

“Listen”

“You’ll stay quiet. Only talk when I ask you.”

“No, you’ll have to listen. I don’t know how much time we have. They have a friend of mine here, I can get the two of you out of here.”, I told her firmly as I took a quick glance around the corner before I walked down the corridor. The red haired woman right by my side, watching me in wonder.

“It this some sick love game for the two of you? You’re getting my hopes up while he’s still picking his weapon.”, her voice was cold, but I understood that she was searching for any kind of explanation for my current behavior. Last time she saw me, I watched her getting beaten up by my supposed boyfriend who left the room covered in blood and engaged in a fiery kiss with me.

“No, I am an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and”

“You sneaky little bastards. When will you break his rotten heart? Let me watch?”, she interrupted me, both of us stopping in front of the door where I suspected Agent Barton behind. I ignored her question, using the doorknob to open the door. Of course, it would be locked.

The redhead and I shared a quick glance before we both stepped back and kicked against the hard wood at the same time. The door cracked out of the frame and stood half open, I pushed it further to the side and scanned the room for my coworker.

Agent Clint Barton, code name Hawkeye, was bound at a chair and I noticed the swollen cheekbone and the tried blood on his face. He looked up at the two of us like a deer hit by the headlight before relaxing within a heartbeat.

“What took you so damn long? I had planned an epic escape scenario once I got caught. Both of us kicking ass while looking fabulous. Oh, hey Tasha.”, Barton babbled like a waterfall while I walked over to him, taking the knife which I attached with tape to my left thigh in one hand and started cutting through the rope.

“You know her?”

“Budapest.”

“No way! That’s her!”, I said a little bit to loud, causing the red haired woman to turn to as she stood between the door frame on guard. She had a surprised look on her face for a split second before falling back into her cold behavior, her back facing us again.

Clint told me everything. I wished I would have been there to see it in the first place, but ever since then he made it his personal mission to recruit the Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff.

“She’s that amazing femme fatale?”, I whispered against Clints ear, ropes falling to the ground and he slowly started raising himself off the chair. The way he moved told me that he was beaten up badly.

“I felt like fighting against an evil version of you.”, he whispered in respond, slowly crossing the room to stop next to the female master assassin. “Sorry that I stole your style. Thought I can wear it better.”, pointing at his face, I rolled my eyes as I groaned quietly. I haven’t missed his smart ass comments for a single second.

“Follow me.”, I said harshly, hearing faint noised from the end of the hallway where I came from and the three of us went for a jog in the opposite direction.

“Why are you here in the first place?”, I glanced behind my back, watching Barton shrug but his face twisted from pain this motion caused.

“Hill started going on Fury’s nerves. She missed you. Hell, I think even the old man missed you. I missed you. So, we came up with a rescue plan.”

“Rescue plan?”, Natasha almost bursted into laughter when she heard that, shaking her head in amusement as I opened the door which led to the underground garage.

“I didn’t said it was a good one.”, the blond haired said to his defense, entering the staircase first before Natasha took a firm grip around my wrist and pushed me inside, jumping at me when a loud bang filled the air.

I noticed a hole in the frame of the door before the door felt back from the repulsion.

“Sergei.”, I breathed out, trying to not let the panic get the best of me as we ran downstairs. “The keys are always in the car.”, I called out to Clint, who was a couple steps ahead of us and I could feel dirt sticking underneath my bare feet.

“Any bulletproof?”, he yelled in a hast as he pushed the door to the car park open.

“All of them.”, I replied and my head snapped to the side as I felt Natasha taking the knife out of my hand, a serious expression on her face. “Play along.”, she mouthed silently, the blade of the knife against the skin of my throat and the two of us started walking backwards while Clint was doing god knows what.

The door flew open and revealed a rage filled Sergei Kravinoff striding straight in our direction. He was dressed in his pants and a shirt from earlier, his strong hands tightly wrapped around the barrel of a rifle. Knuckles turned white.

Natasha yelled, matching his wrath, that he’s a fool along with a couple curses in Russian even I haven’t heard of until this day, the blade of the knife lightly pressing against my throat.

She threatened to kill me if he won’t throw his rifle on the ground, and my attention was so fixed on the two of them that I almost missed the sound of a starting car engine somewhere close behind us.

“Do it and I will torture you so long that you will beg me to kill you.”, Sergei hissed back at her in Russian, raising the gun at Natasha and myself and he could tell he was ready to shot.

Tilting her head behind me, I heard a low voice telling me to get ready, squeaking wheels on the slippery ground echoed against the wall and I was pushed inside the driving car with Natasha falling on top of me.

Quickly, she moved around to close the still open door of the car and I raised my upper body to look back window. Sergei was chasing after the car, I saw him screaming his lungs out but it only reached my ears as a muffled sound.

Clint put his foot down on the gas, the car driving faster and faster as we left the underground garage behind and soon after that, with a warning that Natasha and I should hold on tight, he drove the car through the closed driveway and onto the nightly street.

Sergei was nothing more then a little point in the back before I turned around to rest my back against the seat, exhaling the air I had held until now.

(4405 Words)

Note: I am starting a series based on the “Visiting Eddie Brock in San Fransisco” imagine. Female Reader.

I picked Edgar Ramirez as Sergei Kravinoff (Kraven the Hunter), because in my humble opinion, he would be the perfect cast.

[jcmorrigan]

Shattered and Mended

The F/O? XR from Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. The S/I? Rachel Sparks - fifth ranger of Team Lightyear with a big heart for justice (and no glasses in this ‘verse because I suppose Nebula would surgically augment my eyes to make sure Zurg couldn’t rip the glasses off and stomp on them, which is a Zurg tactic). The writings I did for XR are actually from a rather structured AU that runs alongside the whole show, and tell versions of episodes that are impacted by my s/i’s existence. This one goes with the ep “Eye of the Storm,” though it takes off after that ep’s timeline ends and does a whole other act that’s just basically a sickfic. This is actually probably the longest selfship piece I’ve written, but I love it because of the shenanigans.

Also, if you can guess what three works of fiction I appropriated for the bingewatch show, cookies for you.

***

It was a typical week for Team Lightyear. Answer a distress call, discover it was made by the daughter of a mad scientist (former Star Command researcher Spiro Lepton, in fact, though he now preferred to go by “von Madman,” apparently) in order to lure Team Lightyear into said mad scientist’s clutches, beat mad scientist after literally everyone on the team made him stronger by consecutively using energy-based attacks on him despite seeing the previous efforts fail, send mad scientist to jail, learn that mad scientist’s daughter isn’t so bad after all, learn that mad scientist’s daughter has a crush on your team leader, go out for group lunch at Cosmo’s.

           Cosmo knew by this point that he was best served getting Booster’s order off the oven first, meaning Rachel had to try and keep the saliva of hunger from escaping her lips as she watched him devour an entire plate of squirming curly fries in one go. Hot, crispy, lightly-spiced curly fries. Maybe she should’ve ordered that, she wondered, instead of the spurfion rings. At least this time, XR hadn’t forgotten he couldn’t eat curly fries and tried to put one in his mouth.

           Booster remarked that it was the perfect way to top off the day after defeating evil, and that seemed to be the cue for the reply: “Daddy wasn’t always evil. He used to be a good man.”

           Rachel wondered how exactly Bonnie had tracked them all down. It was a little creepy. In the grand scheme, however, that hardly mattered, as Rachel could read the dismay on Bonnie’s face. It couldn’t have been easy, living with the burden of having a man who literally renamed himself “madman” as your parent.

           Bonnie concluded her statement with “Just like Buzz” and turned to place her hands on Buzz’s shoulder and forearm.

           Rachel could sense Buzz’s discomfort immediately; he’d tensed up so hard, she could feel it from across the table. They’d all been briefed on Buzz’s history with Bonnie, and Rachel could hardly blame him. Erasing the memories he had of her as a child couldn’t be easy. Rachel pictured it for a minute – looking at Bonnie’s sultry expression and overlaying a grade-schooler’s gap-toothed visage over top. This prompted a shudder. Creepy.

           It got worse; as Buzz tried to convince Bonnie that her father had gone off the deep end (his black-and-white morals would be the death of him, but wasn’t that what made him lovable?), Bonnie begged him for attention, climbing into the booth, crawling toward him, attempting to pin him down. Rachel suddenly lost all sympathy for Bonnie Lepton. She now seemed almost predatory, physically positioning herself to fence Buzz against the window, making it clear what she wanted. Rachel wondered if she should step in, but found herself frozen, unsure exactly what move to make.

           Mira, as usual, decided to go the direct route, pulling Buzz toward her by the collar and hissing, “Can’t you see she has a huge crush on you?”

           Upon affirming this, Buzz returned to Bonnie; “It’s perfectly natural for you to have feelings for me. But they’re meaningless! It’s the classic damsel-in-distress syndrome. I rescue you, you go all moony!”

           That wasn’t how Rachel would’ve described Bonnie’s demeanor.

           Mira had nothing to say to this but a facepalm.

           It got worse when Buzz said he’d seen this dozens of times, to which Bonnie told him “I thought I was special,” and Rachel didn’t know where she could’ve gotten that idea at all, seeing how Buzz had done nothing but brush her off and turn her down and was she physically unable to take a hint?

           “Sorry, kiddo,” Buzz told her. “Just doin’ my job.”

           At least Buzz had been able to stand up for himself. Rachel felt quite protective of him in that moment; Bonnie certainly wasn’t the sort who would give up the chase easily. Could she not see how uncomfortable she was making him? Did she not get the concept of how their history was complicated? Did she not –

           But as Bonnie was pulling away from the table, XR tried to intercept her. “Hey, I think you’re special!” he said, pouring on the charm far too thickly as he clasped one of her hands in both of his own. “Aaaand, since you’re new to civilization and all, I should tell you – “ He whipped about to produce two mirrors from his inventory. “I am considered quite the looker!”

           Now Rachel had something to be even more upset about.

           Mira hissed “XR!” at him, not without a quick, pointed glance toward Rachel that informed her of the pure rage surging through the blonde.

           “That’s all right,” Bonnie said, flirtily planting a kiss on XR’s helmet –

           It’s that easy? Rachel thought. What makes you think you can just do that?

           “At least he’s treating me like a GROWN WOMAN,” Bonnie asserted.

           No, Rachel thought, he’s treating you like a piece of meat, and this should be why I’m glad we’re just friends, why I’m glad he doesn’t do this shit to me, but that still doesn’t explain why I’m the only woman in the entire galaxy he hasn’t even looked at –

           “Unlike a certain STUFFED-SPACESUIT JARHEAD ROCKET JOCKEY I KNOW,” Bonnie fired off as XR whooped his joy at having been kissed.

           There was nothing about this Rachel didn’t hate.

           “What?” Buzz asked when Bonnie had left. “What’d I say wrong?”

           “I don’t even KNOW where to begin,” Mira grunted.

           “Oh, no, Buzz was fine,” Rachel growled. She leaned out over the table to point accusingly at XR; “But can YOU stop being a perv for literally TEN SECONDS? Or is that a standard function of your programming, to be a complete and total creep toward every woman you cross paths with?”

           “If I can remind you, SHE was the one who kissed ME,” XR boasted proudly.

           “That was a pity kiss,” Rachel snarled. “You’re lucky you didn’t get your entire head smacked right off, which is what I would’ve done if I were her and didn’t know you.”

           “You’re just jealous that I’m a babe magnet,” XR teased. “You WISH you could get the attention I do.”

           Of course, he didn’t know exactly how hard that hit. That didn’t make a lick of difference.

           Rachel made a loud, wordless scream of frustration before forcing herself to be calm long enough to say “Mira…Booster…please let me out so I can storm away in a rage.”

           Seeing Rachel’s temper flaring as hard as it was, Mira and Booster wasted no time evacuating the booth so Rachel could stomp angrily toward the women’s restroom.

           Buzz watched her in confusion. “Is she…ah…is she gonna be okay?”

           “I just want it on record that I did NOTHING wrong here,” XR stated, arms folded.

           Mira buried her face in both hands. “Booster, you, me, and Rachel are the only three smart people left at this table.”

           “But Rachel’s not at the table,” Booster pointed out. “Maybe you should go after her, since…you know…you’re the only other woman here…”

           “No,” Mira sighed as she raised her face, “she needs to be alone right now – “

           Buzz was already making way toward the restrooms.

           “I SAID SHE NEEDS TO BE ALONE RIGHT NOW!” Mira yelled, to no avail.

           “SOME people just don’t know when they’ve crossed the line,” XR commented, earning him angry glares from Mira and Booster.

           Rachel paced back and forth across the women’s room for a bit, reminding herself not to examine the floor too long for fear of seeing the level of grime that was actually there and touching her boots. How dare he? No, he couldn’t know, but the fact that he was accusing her of being jealous of his ability to attract attention (which he didn’t even have; Bonnie was just as much of a shameless flirt as he and he had the luck to cross her path) when in fact, she did want to be able to attract attention, but only of one person, the worst person, the person who should have just proven she shouldn’t want to be anything more than friends with, and he was lucky to even be that –

           Frustratedly, she began to sing in hopes of getting rid of some excess negative energy, hardly thinking about the song itself.

           Why did she even still like him? He’s terrible, she told herself. But she couldn’t believe that anymore. Not after he’d engineered that entire scheme to get her un-fired from Team Lightyear. Not after their conversations regarding how messed up they both were in the head. Not after their deal, trading janitorial work for office work. No, they were at the very least friends now, and Rachel had to live with that, and the very act of being friends with XR kept reminding her of what was good about him, and what made her admire him, which clashed so horribly with when he did things like this – said things like that –

           The sound of a flushing toilet. A woman exited the stall and fixed a rather disgruntled look upon Rachel, who was silenced sheepishly as the woman began to wash her four hands. Perhaps, Rachel realized, it would’ve been a good idea to check the restroom for occupants before pacing around it singing lyrics like “IS IT LOVE? IS IT LOVE? OR JUST THE DRUGS PULSING IN MY VEINS?”

           The singing had worked a little bit, anyway. There was no reason for Rachel to be that angry. Her friend was a womanizer-wannabe, he’d managed to find someone his charms temporarily worked on by the sheer scope of trying them on everyone, they’d had a moment, she wanted someone else all along. No big deal. This was just Rachel’s problem. Pining made a person overreact.

           Jealous of getting the attention he did, indeed.

           There were things you just didn’t say, even if it turned out you were right about them.

           Shortly after the other woman left the restroom, Rachel did the same, practically colliding with Buzz Lightyear as she did so. After both gave a “Whoa!” and backed off, Rachel was reminded of the other problem.

           “I, uh…” Buzz began, “I just wanted to make sure, you know, that you were okay.”

           “I’m fine,” Rachel said with a forced smile. “Who doesn’t get fed up with their teammates every once in a while?”

           “Even I know that feeling,” Buzz admitted with a smile, “though don’t tell them that.”

           “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything,” Rachel blurted. “When Bonnie was doing…the stuff she was doing.”

           “What do you have to be sorry for?” Buzz asked. “Like I said: the damsel-in-distress syndrome. Besides, the more I think about it, the more I wonder if taking her up on the whole date thing wouldn’t actually be that bad of an idea.”

           Rachel flinched. “Buzz, do you even LIKE her?”

           “What’s not to like about Bonnie Lepton?” Buzz asked. “She’s a confident woman who sees the good in people. Everyone should like her!”

           “No. I’m asking if you LIKE her. YOU KNOW HOW I MEAN.”

           “Well, uh…” Buzz met Rachel’s piercing gaze with a rather hollow look. “Not right now, but you never know. Things can happen.”

           “Are you thinking about asking her out because she PESTERED you?”

           “She wasn’t pestering!” Buzz argued. “She happens to have a mild crush on me – “

           “A MILD crush.”

           “ – and there’s a chance we’re compatible, and this will make her happy!” Buzz insisted.

           “Yeah, but…she makes you REALLY uncomfortable,” Rachel argued. “Don’t tell me I’m wrong. I SAW you two.”

           “It wasn’t that bad!” Buzz argued.

           “I’m just afraid that if you give in because she bothered you into it,” Rachel told him, “then you’re gonna end up even more uncomfortable. Or just hurt.”

           “Listen, Rachel,” Buzz said patiently, “I’m a grown man. I can take care of myself. It’s gonna take more than a bad date to hurt me. It doesn’t even take EVIL EMPEROR ZURG to hurt me!”

           “I’m just trying to look out for you, okay?” Rachel insisted. “I know you can take care of yourself, but…I get worried. It’s what I do. She shouldn’t have put that kind of pressure on you. It isn’t RIGHT. Even I…”

           And here’s why it really wasn’t that easy. She’d known it since the Petra incident.

           “…I had this guy I liked, once,” she said meekly. “A lot. But I knew he wasn’t interested in me at all. And I NEVER wanted to put him through what Bonnie’s putting you through. Even if it was hard having to see him and keep it all bottled up. I just…I can’t – couldn’t do that to him. Even if he was an asshole who deserved a little punishment sometimes.” She sighed. “If you wanna go out with Bonnie, that’s fine. I just don’t want this to go wrong for you.”

           “I’ll be fine,” Buzz assured her. “I appreciate the concern, though. You’ve got a good heart.”

           “Yeah, yeah.” Rachel made to head back to the table. “Let’s go get our food. They probably brought my spurfion rings, and I’m starving.”

           “Rachel.”

           She paused, her back turned to Buzz. Her head swiveled to get a good look at him.

           Candidly, Buzz stated, “Any guy who wouldn’t see how amazing you are is a MORON.”

           She said the only thing she could say: “That’s exactly the problem.”

           He didn’t ask, so she didn’t elaborate. They returned to the booth, where their orders were in fact waiting, and it seemed that already, Rachel had missed the time-honored ritual where XR had attempted to casually steal a spurfion ring off her plate only to remember the hard way, yet again, that he wasn’t able to consume food. She gave this the barest acknowledgement, re-taking her seat by the window and making a point of not looking directly at XR for the rest of the meal.

           Buzz began to spell out his ideas for the date he was planning with Bonnie: “So I was thinking I’d take her to good old Cosmic Crunchies – “

           “Buzz,” XR sighed, “I thought the point was that you were treating her like a grown-up. That COMPLETELY defeats the purpose. Also, Cosmic Crunchies? Really? How old are YOU, again?”

           Rachel just barely managed to disguise her inappropriately-placed laugh as a cough. Curse him. (Though now was obviously a bad time to say that she herself wouldn’t be opposed to Cosmic Crunchies, so she kept that one secret.)

           Buzz laid out the rest of his plans, and Rachel couldn’t help but think that this was about to go terribly, horribly wrong.

***

           Things had gone about as badly as Rachel could have predicted if not worse. Lepton (or “von Madman,” as he preferred, apparently) had somehow enlarged himself to monumental proportions, solidified his crystal shell, and carried Bonnie off into the city. By the time the majority of the squad arrived on scene, it seemed all that was left of Buzz was a Buzz-shaped imprint in the ground.

           “Poor Buzz,” Booster whimpered, looking at the site of the damage, “he’s gone!”

           “Life will be so empty without him,” XR moaned.

           “I can’t believe – “ Rachel attempted.

           “By the way,” XR interrupted, “who gets his car?”

           “Wow,” Rachel huffed. “Mr. Sensitivity, aren’t you?”

           Thankfully, Buzz hadn’t actually been crushed, crawling up out of where he’d been punched into the floor. Booster excitedly plucked him from the indent, crying, “YOU’RE ALIVE!”

           Rachel let out a sigh of absolute relief.

           Buzz wrenched himself from one of Booster’s bone-crushing hugs, barreling toward the edge of the rooftop where they had all gathered to try to intercept Lepton (or “von Madman”…apparently) as he barked, “No time for mushy stuff, rangers! Madman is loose!”

           “Hey, yeah, about that?” Rachel called after Buzz as he barreled to the edge of the rooftop. “Just thought maybe we should discuss how this is related to what we talked about earlier regarding – “

           “No time for that either!” Buzz called back as he made a flying leap off the building.

           Rachel all but deflated as the rest of the team followed. Eventually, she mustered up the willpower to give chase. If he’d just listened to her, none of this would be happening, she thought.

           A direct attack on Lepton (“von Madman,” apparently) failed thrice in a row, and the blasts of pure energy he emitted to attempt to eliminate Team Lightyear en masse ended up causing collateral damage when they missed. Buzz’s argument that he and Bonnie were on a date rolled off Lepton (“von Madman,” apparently)’s back like water off a duck.

           “Seriously,” Rachel groaned, “this can NOT get any – “

           “DON’T,” XR warned, “SAY IT.”

           That was when Lepton (“von Madman,” apparently) commandeered the city’s main generator and erupted into titanic size.

           “That had NOTHING to do with what I just said!” Rachel barked as the group landed on another nearby rooftop to assess.

           “Oh, really?” XR countered. “Haven’t I warned you about what happens EVERY TIME ANYONE SAYS THOSE WORDS?”

           “It’s a coincidence,” Rachel grunted.

           “This and every other time?”            “It has not happened every single time.”

           “NINETY TIMES out of the past NINETY-FIVE that someone has said ‘this can’t get any worse,’” XR pointed out, “it has GOTTEN WORSE.”

           “You kept TRA – “ Rachel shook her head. “Of course you kept track.”

           “Plan?” Mira asked. “Anybody got a plan? Because we could REALLY use a plan right now.”

           Buzz surveyed the generator before making his decision: “It’s up to you, XR. You’ve gotta reach the cutoff valve. We’ll stall him.”

           “I’m sorry,” Rachel broke in, “XR does what?”            “I agree,” XR repeated; “XR does what? One false move, and someone could be blown to bits! Maybe me!”

           “That’s why it’s up to you,” Buzz insisted, giving the robot a gentle push toward the edge of the roof.

           “Ummm…I don’t like this plan,” Rachel argued. “I REALLY don’t like this plan.”

           “But if anything happens to XR,” Booster reminded her, “he can just be rebuilt.”

           “I thought you were mad at him anyway about the Bonnie thing,” Mira whispered in Rachel’s ear.

           “I am,” Rachel hissed back. “That doesn’t mean I have to like the plan where he’s required to make the suicide move.”

           “Then which one of us SHOULD make that move?”

           “Uh…” Rachel had no answer for that.

           “It’s not ideal,” Mira reminded her, “but it’s our only play.”

           “Fine,” Rachel huffed. “But I want to remind EVERYONE LISTENING HERE that we would have to go through NONE OF THIS if Buzz had just NOT CAVED TO BEING PESTERED BY A WOMAN HE DIDN’T LIKE!”

           “We would have to go through none of this,” Buzz countered, “if Lepton – “

           “Von Madman, apparently,” Rachel broke in.

           “If Lepton hadn’t pushed the limits of his research too far,” Buzz concluded. “Now let’s MOVE!”

           Four blasted off; Buzz, Mira, and Booster made a beeline for Lepton (“von Madman,” apparently)’s line of vision while XR made a break for the assigned valve. Rachel stared after them all in exasperation for a solid thirty seconds before yelling, “WHEN DID THE I-TOLD-YOU-SO SQUAD BECOME THE I-TOLD-YOU-SO RACHEL?”

           Then, knowing full well what she had to do, she blasted off to join the diversion effort.

           Buzz tried to appeal to Lepton’s humanity. Mira argued that Bonnie needed a normal life. Rachel knew she had to chip in her two cents, to be as loud as ever in order to draw attention, but her eyes kept darting over to the valve, where XR was suctioning his way up the generator. He’ll be fine, she told herself. If he gets smashed, we just piece him back together again. And after hitting on Bonnie, he deserves to be smashed anyway. Multiple times, in fact.

           She turned back to Lepton. “BONNIE’S DOING JUST FINE!” she argued. “THERE ARE WAY WORSE GUYS SHE COULD’VE PICKED THAN BUZZ LIGHTYEAR! AND SHE LOVES YOU! WHY WON’T – “

           A faint, metallic scream. Rachel was cut off midsentence. She whipped to look; XR had somehow gotten one arm wrapped up in the valve, then had that arm accidentally extended so he was dangling off the tower. Not that this is my problem, Rachel insisted to herself. Typical of him, anyway.

           “DR. LEPTON!” Booster added. “YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO – “

           The glow of the crystals dimmed. Perhaps, Rachel thought, Lepton (“von Madman,” apparently) had decided to take their words to heart, to give up his power grab –

           Or perhaps XR falling halfway down the tower and screaming had alerted him to what the team was trying to do.

           Yes. Definitely that second one.

           A low growl formed in the scientist’s throat. He balled up one enormous hand into a boulder-esque fist.

           I am absolutely not getting involved, Rachel told herself. This is not my problem.

           The minute she finished that thought, she blasted off.

           She intercepted XR before Lepton (“von Madman,” apparently) could shatter him. Seeing as Rachel hadn’t really planned this, acting more upon instinct than anything else, she didn’t exactly focus on keeping airborne, and the sudden added weight of an entire robot in her arms drove her path in a decidedly downward direction. She did, however, have the presence of mind to roll over in midair as the pavement loomed. After all, she hadn’t risked her life to stop Lepton (“von Madman,” apparently) from shattering XR only for him to get dashed on the road.

           Rachel landed on her back, slamming into the pavement hard, and the subsequent shooting pain in her right shoulder informed her that this had been a very bad idea. Unbidden, a shriek escaped from her lips. As XR positioned himself to standing, she sat up agonizingly, still whimpering from the shooting pain running through her shoulder.

           “Whoa, nice save!” XR told her. “If you hadn’t done that, I would NOT have come out of that in one piece aaaaaaaaand you didn’t come out of that in one piece, did you?”

           So he’d finally noticed that her eyes were misting up with tears. “No SHIT, XR,” she snapped.

           “Oh,” he replied, “wow. Yeah, okay, that…that doesn’t look good. You should DEFINITELY get that checked out.”

           “Oh, God,” she moaned, “don’t tell me it’s broken. Is it out of place?”

           “Well, it’s hard to say at this point, but – what EXACTLY are you worried is broken?”

           “MY FUCKING SHOULDER,” Rachel growled, immediately regretting her harsh tone the moment it had come out – though, in her defense, the fact that her shoulder might have, in fact, been broken wasn’t doing her temperament any favors. “What did you THINK?”

           “How would you expect ME to know?” XR replied. “All I know is the look on your face is NOT the look of a person who doesn’t need medical attention.”

           Rachel’s gaze was diverted upward; Buzz, Mira, and Booster had tried and failed to engage Lepton (“von Madman,” apparently) in direct hand-to-hand combat, and now the crystalline villain had leapt off the generator, stalking Buzz down.

           “We can’t stay here,” Rachel grunted as she used her left hand to pivot into a standing position less than gracefully.

           “You’re telling me!” XR cried, seizing Rachel’s hand and making a break for it –

           Her right hand.

           He let go after she shrieked even more piercingly. “THAT WAS THE SHOULDER,” she yelled.

           “Again,” he retorted, “HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT?”

           “Just RUN, dumbass!”

           They bolted, Rachel’s shoulder feeling no better as time elapsed. Once they’d reached what seemed to be a safe distance, they observed the grand finale playing out.

           The entire generator was destroyed in the melee, but it was Bonnie herself who struck the final blow, dealing a hit to Lepton (“von Madman,” apparently)’s weak spot on his chest and bringing him back down to humanity. Rachel would’ve fist-pumped in Bonnie’s honor if she weren’t still distracted by the burning in her shoulder.

           “You think it’s safe?” she asked after Lepton (no longer “von Madman,” apparently), Bonnie, Buzz, Mira, and Booster had been conversing for some time.

           “You can NEVER be too careful,” XR told her. “Luckily, I can assess the situation by reading their lips from this distance.” After a moment of observation, he muttered, “Pretty sure he just said ‘Donut candelabra’ – “

           “Okay, no, that’s not gonna work.” Rachel made her way to the others, every curse she knew firing off in her brain as a result of the shoulder. Fuck Lepton, she thought, for making me have to do that. Fuck Buzz for not listening to me. And fuck XR in particular for being the exact reason my shoulder is probably wrecked.

           “How do we know we can trust you?” Buzz was asking Lepton as Rachel approached.

           “I promise,” Lepton replied.

           That seemed to be where it ended, prompting Rachel to say, “Oh, that’s IT? We’re going to trust him just like THAT?”

           “It really wasn’t his fault,” Bonnie asserted. “The crystals were affecting his brain.”

           Rachel wasn’t sure how far that explanation would fly. After all, substance abuse could make people act severely out of character, but she was under the impression Lepton had at least some control over his actions. Then again, she wasn’t the judge or the jury here. That honor fell to Buzz, so she looked at him.

           “Well, uh, okay,” Buzz stated. “After the LGMs CLEAR him.”

           Rachel could accept that. Whatever misgivings she had, Buzz had yet to be wrong when it came to judging character.

           “And if you’ll, uh…let us finish our…y’know, ahhh…” he sputtered.

           “Dinner date?” Bonnie finished.

           So that was still on, Rachel thought to herself.

           “Right,” Buzz confirmed. “What she said.”

           Rachel might as well accept this. Maybe Buzz actually did have feelings for Bonnie that went beyond pitying her pestering. Maybe this would actually go somewhere. After all, it wasn’t like things could get –

           No. She was not about to become statistic ninety-six. Not even mentally.

           “YAY!” Booster cried, doing a small jump for joy. “Everything worked out PERFECT! Great job, everyone!” He gave Mira’s left shoulder and Rachel’s right shoulder a simultaneous, hearty clap.

           Which got Rachel to scream again, putting all eyes on her. That jolt had hit hard, and now she was crying again, which she really resented.

           “Are you okay?” Mira asked in concern.

           “No,” Rachel answered softly, at least feeling a little better that Mira’s response was so caring. “I think I broke my fucking shoulder.”

           “Uh, yeahhhhh,” XR confirmed (when had he gotten here? Rachel bristled at his presence). “I hate to break up the happy family reunion, but we have a ranger that needs a trip to the ER, stat.”

           “And whose fault is that?” Rachel growled.

           “Ranger,” Buzz reminded her, “I specifically assigned XR to that valve because he could take the risk of damage without any lasting effects.”

           That, Rachel couldn’t argue with. Maybe the person she should be angry with was herself. Her eyes flicked downward to the pavement.

           “Still, that was an admirable display of loyalty for your fellow ranger,” Buzz told her. “I can’t get too mad at you for wanting to protect your teammate and friend. Even if he is infinitely more durable than you are.” He took three steps to get right in front of Rachel. “We’re going to get you back to base for an examination of that shoulder.” Pivoting, he said, “Sorry, Bonnie, but – “

           “No,” Rachel said quickly. “Don’t. I don’t need the whole squad to go with me. You’re on a date. Go enjoy it.”

           “You, uhhhh…” Buzz regarded Rachel with confusion. “You WANT me to be on a date with Bonnie?”

           “If that’s what your heart wants,” she replied, “then – no. Forget it. Just – you’re an adult too. This is your decision.”

           “All right,” Buzz told her. Then: “Mira! Booster! XR! Take Rachel back to the Star Command med bay, and watch that shoulder.”

           “Right!” Mira responded.

           “Righty-o, Buzz!” Booster agreed.

           “Consider her shoulder WATCHED,” XR concluded.

           Rachel didn’t want to see him. She didn’t want to be anywhere near him. Logically, she was aware that this was completely her fault, but she wanted to pin the blame on XR for making her care, for not caring back, and for unwittingly orchestrating this entire situation without a clue.

           Though, that was the thing: unwittingly. He had no way of knowing how angry it made her to see him so casually trying to pick up Bonnie. He had no way of knowing anything. It was all on her. On her, on her, on her –

           “So, uh, Rach?”

           They’d all begun walking back to cruiser 42, and there he was, right on cue. Rachel looked down to meet XR’s eyes, dealing him a very sour look.

           “I reaaaaaaaally owe you one for this,” he told her.

           She flinched, surprised. Touched, even. It was only one sentence, and she had no idea if he’d even follow up, but it went miles toward making things better.

 ***

           “You did WHAT?”

           Rachel sat on an examination bed, the LGMs crawling about to observe every part of her body they could assess. She was now clad in a loose-fitting tunic and pants rather than her suit; getting them on around her shoulder was more hassle than she’d have liked. The hurting hadn’t subsided; she’d just gotten used to it. Somewhat.

           Mira, Booster, and XR were hanging back against the wall, watching the examination go down with concern plastered on all of their faces. Nebula was overseeing, and it was he who was less than happy with Rachel.

           “I said,” Rachel sighed, “I hurt my shoulder in a rescue attempt.”

           “WHOSE RESCUE ATTEMPT?”

           “…XR’s,” she admitted. “I was trying to stop XR from getting shattered by von Madman.” It sounded even worse when she said it out loud.

           “Ranger!” Nebula cried – yes, he was angered, but Rachel could still tell from his tone that it stemmed from a place of worry – “XR is literally built to be destroyed and reconstructed! His name stands for ‘Expendable Ranger’!”

           “Experimental,” Rachel said without thinking. “It’s ‘Experimental Ranger.’”

           She heard a mutter from the wall of “You know you’re in trouble when Dad uses your FULL name…”

           “If XR gets blown to bits,” Nebula continued, “we can just build him again from the ground up! We CAN’T do that with YOU! You aren’t replaceable! What if you’d been killed pulling off that maneuver?”

           “I know,” Rachel said softly. “I was being a dumbass.”

           “LANGUAGE, ranger!”

           “Sorry.”

           Nebula sighed. “This could’ve been a lot worse. I just don’t wanna see you get hurt permanently from making any more reckless decisions!”

           “I’ll play it safer,” Rachel said sheepishly. “I promise.”

           “You better. I don’t wanna lose you from the ranks!”

           That statement probably should’ve made Rachel feel better, warmer and fuzzier, but it ultimately didn’t do anything to reduce the size of the swirling pit in her stomach. Now she was here having to dance around the fact that she’d nearly gotten herself killed over an unrequited crush, and she was saying this to the head honcho himself. How could she possibly convey to him that she just couldn’t stand seeing XR put in what for an organic would be mortal danger – especially when Nebula was incredibly right and she’d just injured herself needlessly?

           “Finished assessment!” one of the LGMs announced.

           “What’s the prognosis?” Nebula asked.

           “Not broken!” the LGM declared. “Sprain!”  

           Rachel let out a sigh of relief at that.

           “Well, that could’ve been worse,” Nebula remarked. “That can be patched up with a simple enough operation. After that, you’ll have to stay off duty for two weeks.”            “TWO WEEKS?” Rachel shrieked. “No. NO. I can’t be off duty for two weeks. Zurg will attack, Torque will run another prison break, NOS-4-A2 will go on a murder spree, this will probably ALL HAPPEN WITHIN THE SAME DAY, and I HAVE TO BE THERE!”

           “Two weeks, ranger,” Nebula barked, “and that’s an order!”

           All considered, two weeks probably wasn’t bad. Rachel thought she’d heard once that in the old days, before medical technology had advanced to this point, a sprain could have a person out for a month or two. That was unthinkable.

           “Get her under,” Nebula demanded. “I want her patched on the double. The sooner she can start the recuperation period, the sooner she can finish.”

           “On the double!” several of the LGMs chorused.

           She was whisked away before anyone could say anything more. Though she did catch the fading sound of Booster saying, “Gosh, two whole weeks? That’s gonna be tough!” and Mira responding, “Yeah. Poor Rachel. I just can’t – “

           They were out of earshot before Rachel could hear whether the one most closely tied to this little debacle had anything to say.

           Maybe that was for the best.

 ***

           Since Team Lightyear was on active duty, the four who didn’t have Grade II shoulder sprains remained at base. Rachel, however, was confined to bed in her and Mira’s shared apartment.

           “You gonna be okay?” Mira had asked before leaving.

           “Yeah,” Rachel sighed.

           “You don’t sound convinced,” Mira pointed out.

           “Mira,” Rachel reminded her, “I just sprained my fucking shoulder saving an invincible person from a non-fatal experience because of a misguided and one-sided crush. I am as fine as I’m gonna get.”

           “Well…” Mira shrugged. “At least your heart was in the right place?”

           “I just…hate seeing him get hurt,” Rachel replied. “But don’t tell him that. I am REALLY mad at him now.”

           “Lips are zipped!” Mira promised. “Okay. I really do have to get going. Anything I can get you before I leave?”

           “Nah,” Rachel replied. “I can at least get to the kitchen and back. That’s all I’m gonna need.”

           “’Kay,” Mira said. “I’m heading out.”

           “Have fun!” Rachel told Mira, mustering up a small show of happiness.

           “As much fun as I can on Tanker Alley duty,” Mira said with a wink. “Be GLAD you’re missing this one.”

           Then Rachel’s roommate was gone, and Rachel was left alone to stew. Which she did in silence for about half an hour. Then, realizing she needed to take proactive steps toward not spending two weeks in a swamp of self-pity, she picked up the remote on the bedside table, flicking on the television and opening up the streaming selection.

           Her heart skipped a beat when she realized that Bulletproof Hearts: Despair Days had updated by two episodes without her even noticing. That would kill some time and put her mind on something more positive. Would today be the day that Spice Skomaru would finally figure out the mastermind behind the evil horde? Would her premonition of the future finally be given context?

           Before Rachel could click the episode into playing, there was a ring at the doorbell.

           Solicitors, she thought, or door-to-door religious converters asking her if she’d heard of the gospel of Narflak. So she ignored it.

           Only for the doorbell to ring again. And again. And again and again and again and again –

           “God dammit,” Rachel muttered as she slid out of bed. At least her pajamas were conservative; if she had to answer the door to sign for a package or anything, she wouldn’t have to worry about the delivery person seeing more than they should. Almost to the door, she had the presence of mind to test the waters by calling out, “WHO’S THERE?”

           “ROOM SERVICE!”

           She knew that voice. She would be able to pick that voice out of a crowd of one thousand. And there was absolutely no reason for the owner of that voice to be here, now.

           In utter disbelief, Rachel opened the door –

           And XR breezed into the apartment, nearly knocking her over. “Worry not!” he proclaimed. “Nurse XR is here to tend to your every need!”

           Rachel could only stare at him dumbfoundedly.

           He shifted from a chipper demeanor to staring her down (insofar as a person could do from a two foot height difference), hands on where hips would have been on a person. “Shouldn’t you be in bed, missy?”

           She regained her ability to counter. “If I was in bed, I wouldn’t have been able to open the door, dumbass.”

           “I don’t wanna hear aaaaaany more excuses! Back to bed! Go on! Scoot!”

           Wondering if she was actually asleep and having a fever dream, Rachel obeyed, walking back into the bedroom and climbing back into the bed – ever more thankful that her pajamas didn’t show much off.

           XR followed her into the bedroom, pausing just before the bed to pop his drawer and rummage about in it. “Let’s see here,” he muttered, “I brought one fleece blanket – don’t ask where I got it – one very fluffy pillow – don’t ask where I got it – one Jo-Adian-sized ice pack – don’t ask where I got it – and several extra-strength painkillers not on your prescription; DEFINITELY don’t ask where I got those.”

           “I, uh…” Rachel realized she had to give in to the nonsense and stop trying to figure out what in the galaxy was happening. “I could use all of those things except the illegal narcotics.”

           “You see, I THOUGHT you might feel that way,” XR remarked, “so I’m just gonna leave them in the drawer in case you want them later – “

           “PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE ILLEGAL NARCOTICS IN MY APARTMENT WHERE THEY COULD BE FOUND ON A SWEEP,” Rachel said fiercely.

           “Fine,” XR said haughtily, replacing the bag of variously sized and multicolored pills in his drawer. “I’ll keep them with ME unless you change your mind. But if you want them while I’m on mission tomorrow, that’s just too bad for you.”

           It took Rachel a moment to stop thinking about how she was already on thin ice for the antidepressants hidden at the bottom of the panty drawer and realize what he’d just said. “On mission…tomorrow? Don’t you have one TODAY? Tanker Alley?”

           “About that,” XR replied. “I put in a word with Commander Nebula and I just so happened to mention that I am VERY behind on my paperwork. I have literally MOUNTAINS of reports to file. So I got a free pass for the day in order to get a head start on those hours and hours’ worth of reports that need filing.”

           That didn’t exactly clear things up. “So…why are you – “

           “Hours and hours’ worth of reports,” XR clarified, “that I’m NOT GOING TO DO.”

           “Oh,” Rachel realized. “Wait. So you lied to get a whole day off to – “

           “Stop you from going insane having no one to talk to, yes.”

           “You say that like talking to you doesn’t inherently make me more insane.”

           “Har-dee-har.”

           “Did Booster and Mira guilt you into this?” Rachel asked.

           “Guilt?” XR repeated. “No! No-ho-hooooo! Not one bit! True, they MIGHT have mentioned on separate occasions that because you got that sprain trying to protect me, that means I’m INDIRECTLY responsible for your injury, in the TECHNICAL sense, but there is no GUILT here. All sincerity, this wasn’t their idea anyway. It was mine.”

           “Why?” Rachel asked, dumbfounded.

           “Because, like I said,” he reminded her, “I owe you one. One VERY BIG one. And I’m paying you back right now. Now hang on juuuuuuust a minute – “

           He breezed around the room, throwing the blanket on top of Rachel and suddenly getting on the bed on her left side to tip her forward and settle the pillow and the absolutely enormous ice pack, and she barely had time to register how erratic her heartbeat became for that moment. Then he was back on the floor, and Rachel had to admit she was much more comfortable.

           “You don’t have to do this,” she told him. “I mean, yeah, you do owe me one, but I’m fine. I’m not gonna go stir-crazy. There are new eps of Despair Days, and – “

           XR shot a glance at the television. “Bulletproof Hearts?” he realized. “Now THERE’S a nostalgia trip. Are we gathering research for more fanfictions?”

           “Let it die.”

           “The files may be deleted, but the memories remain, Rach. Distinct memories of Vexyrian, Romyx, and oatmeal.”

           “I DON’T EVEN SHIP THEM ANYMORE!” Rachel cried, a bit too loudly.

           “What was this even about, anyway?” XR asked.

           “Despair Days?” Rachel answered. “It’s a spinoff, actually. It focuses on Spice Skomaru, who’s Red’s half-sister. See, Spice has the ability to predict the future, and that put a bunch of hitmen on her. So when Nort figured out about her powers, he captured her and put her in isolation on an ice planet filled with robots who seem to be brainwashed to try and kill her, but she escaped, and now she’s trying to make her way through the frozen wasteland with – “ She realized she’d been infodumping. “It’s basically the same kind of drama as the main series.”

           “That summary doesn’t actually help me,” XR replied. “See, when I asked, I meant what the WHOLE THING was about.”

           Rachel gave him an utterly dumbfounded look. “You…don’t know what Bulletproof Hearts is about.”

           “Not a clue.”

           “We went through that whole incident of you trying to turn my old fanfictions into erotic fiction, and YOU DIDN’T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE SHOW WAS ABOUT.”

           “I was aiming to make transformative work! Did I NEED to know what the show was about?”

           “Oh my God,” Rachel sighed. “Bulletproof Hearts is – it’s simultaneously the best and worst piece of fiction of our generation. It’s my LIFE. It’s my OBSESSION. And you DON’T KNOW WHAT IT’S ABOUT.”

           “Well, forgive me if the summaries of episodes of a television drama aren’t logged in Star Command’s database!”

           Another heavy sigh from Rachel before she launched into another infodump: “So Bulletproof Hearts is about these kids who go to an academy to train for fighting evil. Like our academy – well, the academy Buzz, Mira, and Booster went to – but the fantasy version for younger teens who have weirder weapons. They’re divided into four teams that do assignments together, but all sixteen are best friends. The problem is the evil Nort and his flunkies want to challenge the gods and bring the light of hope and the darkness of despair into a clash that will remake the world, so they have to travel around to different planets, get wrapped up in the adventures of the locals, and put together the pieces of how to stop Nort. The problem is that Nort’s right-hand general, Monokrome, tempts them on every planet with a reason to kill each other off, and every so often, she succeeds and one of the kids ends up killing another, and they all have to work together to figure out who the murderer is. The main character, Red Kazora, is seriously my favorite. Like, he’s perfect. He’s this geeky mechanic type who starts out with major trust issues but then kinda falls in platonic love with everybody and makes friends at first sight. His best friend, Snow Hajiku, is more of the deadpan snarky type who seems cold at first, but their dynamic is just SO perfect, and they’re SO in love. Though, actually, Red’s canon love interest is Victory Chiakairi, who has a really troubled past because she – well, that’s a spoiler. But the thing is, she came from – no, that’s also a spoiler. But the whole fan treatment of Victory is complicated because – fuck. Spoiler. Wait. Why am I dancing around spoilers? You are NEVER going to watch this fucking show.”

           “I wouldn’t say NEVER!” XR argued. “Now I want to know what my best-seller was going to be based on! Also, you made it sound kind of interesting just now.” He looked back to the television. “You’ve got it streaming?”

           “It’s all on demand,” Rachel confirmed. “What, you want to binge it with me?”

           Had she seriously just invited him to do that? In her defense, he had all but suggested it himself!

           “Well, we have a whole day together, don’t we?” XR reminded her. “Fire it up.”

           “XR, this show has a LOT of lore. It’s SUPER fucking complicated. There is a RUNNING FANDOM JOKE about how the plot is overcomplicated and doesn’t make sense to anyone except hardcore fans.”

           “Are you saying I can’t keep up with a TV show plot?”

           “That is exactly what I’m saying,” Rachel stated.

           “Well,” XR replied, “CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.”

           In one movement, he had hoisted himself onto the bed next to Rachel’s left side, and the ice pack was overclocking keeping her body temperature down from the proximity. He reclined back on the pillow on that side, hands tucked behind his helmet.

           “Okay,” Rachel said, “but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

           The problem about showing your special-interest fandom to the guy you liked, who really didn’t seem all that interested in fantasy fiction in the first place, was that if he didn’t end up liking it, you either had to doubt the integrity of your feelings for the fiction or your feelings for the guy. Both of which really deserved to be questioned, in her case, Rachel realized. This may very well have been the worst decision of her life.

           Second worst, come to think of it, after getting her shoulder sprained trying to save an immortal robot from getting smashed.

           If being attracted to XR was at all her decision, of course, that would be a solid first worst.

           Still, she cued up the pilot episode, tense in anticipation of XR’s reaction. “Oh, by the way,” she mentioned, “I’ve seen this, like, a hundred times, so if I start saying the lines out loud along with the characters, smack me on the back of the head.”

           “Duly noted. No takesies-backsies on that.”

           A click of the remote and they were off.

           Two hours in, there was a bowl on Rachel’s lap from which she casually ate popcorn while answering the early-season questions every Bulletproof Hearts rookie had:

           “So…Noir hates Snow because…”

           “Spoiler.”

           “Am I picking up that Amarillo is hiding something?”            “Yes.”

           “What’s Snow’s specialty again?”            “It was never said because you’re not supposed to know.”

           “I don’t trust Castella.”

           “WAIT FOR IT.”

           It occurred to Rachel eventually that XR was not only miraculously following the plot of Bulletproof Hearts, but getting invested in it. That was a load off. This wasn’t going to be so bad after all.

 ***

           “I’m starting to see what you mean about Red and Snow. Seriously, just KISS already.”

           “THANK YOU.”

           “Though Red and Victory aren’t bad either.”

           “Just so long as you don’t ship Red with Castella Komisa.”

           “People do that?”            “People do that. And it is the literal worst. Besides, Reynard is right there! Why WOULDN’T you put Castella with Reynard?”

           “Not seeing THAT chemistry.”

           “Right. That’s not until episode seven. Just hang in there.”

 ***

           “So THAT’S your boy toy.”

           “ROMYX IS NOT MY BOY TOY.”

           “You’re into mullets and eyeliner?”

           “No I’m – are you going to make fun of me and Romyx or are you going to watch how actually good of a villain Romyx is?”

           “I’m a robot. I’m built to multitask.”

***

           “Geez, they wasted no time killing off Romyx, did they?”

           “Yeah. He’s kind of an intro villain.”

           “Does he come back?”

           “No.”

           “That’s ALL HE DOES?”

           “Yes.”

           “Why do you like HIM so much? He barely did anything!”

           “BUT HE DID IT WITH SWAG. NOW SHUT UP.”

 ***

           “Well, well, THERE’S a familiar name. …Wait, are you telling me Romyx and Vexyrian never meet?”            “Not onscreen, but they both worked for Nort, so obviously – “

           “And you wrote such PASSIONATE romance between them.”

           “Is this Relive Rachel’s Most Embarrassing Hits hour? No. No it’s not.”

           “Now, you see, THIS guy, I can get into as a villain. THIS guy has the chops. And unlike Romyx, he’s actually gonna stick around.”

           “Uh…yeah.”

 ***

           “Rach.”

           “Yeah.”

           “All the villains you love die.”

           “I know.”

           “Everything you touch dies.”

           “Yes it does.”

           “I mean, I guess this is something Romyx and Vexyrian actually have in common: they both die WAY too quickly.”

           “AHA! SO NOW YOU ADMIT ROMYX WAS GONE TOO SOON!”

           “GONE TOO SOON TO ACTUALLY BE A CHARACTER!”

 ***

           The popcorn bowl was refilled.

 ***

           “Well, here’s news for you,” Rachel muttered under her breath along with the villain of the hour. “You’re crying over Noir dying, but she isn’t dead. Because you can’t kill anything that never existed – HEY!”

           She had received the lightest, most playful cuff on the back of the head from a metal hand.

           “You told me to do that,” XR told her as he faced the screen, deliberately avoiding her look of playful scorn. “And you agreed to no takesies-backsies.”

 ***

           “Sooooo…is now the wrong time to tell you that I actually do think Red is best off with Castella?”

           “THAT’S IT. OUT. OUT OF MY APARTMENT NOW. RIGHT NOW. LEAVE THE ICE PACK.”

 ***

           Sniffle. “Rach…when you tell this story later…you don’t tell anyone I cried over Victory.”

           “Secret’s safe with me. I cried the first time I saw it, too.”

           “She was – she had so much potential! She was so innocent!”

           “I know. And it was just the most BULLSHIT death, too.”

           “What kind of a HEARTLESS MONSTER is writing this stuff?”

           “I might actually invite you onto my BH forum after this.”

           “…You’re on a forum?”

           “…Maybe.”            “Do you still write – “

           “NO! Also, you’re disinvited from the forum.”

           “Well, THAT’S telling. Looks like I have another pen name to go looking for.”

           “NO YOU DO NOT.”

 ***

           “…WHAT?”

           “Yes. YEEEEEES.”

           “You’re telling me…this whole time…Braigel was…”

           “YES! HE WAS! OH MY GOD, I HAVE NEVER ACTUALLY SEEN ANYONE GET BLINDSIDED BY THAT REVEAL IN REAL LIFE! DO YOU KNOW HOW SATISFYING THIS IS?”

           “This…explains a few things and yet raises SO many more questions than it answers.”

           “WELCOME TO BULLETPROOF HEARTS.”

 ***

           “I never said thank you, did I?”

           Rachel didn’t realize, at first, that this wasn’t a comment on the show. “I’M not the one who froze Ashe to death.”

           “Not convinced she’s dead, but that’s not what I meant.”

           “How could she have survived that?” Rachel said in an attempt to disguise the very obvious plot twist being set up. “And what ARE you talking about?”

           “Just this whole business saving me from getting crushed by the crystal creep.”

           Rachel froze, not having expected that to come back up. She took a chance to glance over at XR, and sure enough, he was looking at her, not the screen, and her eyes met his softly-glowing yellow lights. She wasn’t sure how to respond at first, but honesty got the better of her: “I just don’t like seeing you get hurt.”

           “And let me tell you, does it SMART,” XR confirmed. “Sure, all it takes is a few screws tightened back in place, but it is a MAJOR inconvenience. Admittedly less of an inconvenience than a Grade II shoulder sprain. Which brings me back to my point: I never said thank you.”

           She could’ve passed off some kind of reassurance and pretended it didn’t matter, or that she hadn’t noticed. But despite him having said he owed her, and owning up in a roundabout way to the fact that her injury was related to him, he hadn’t once said the specific words “thank you.” He knew that. She knew that. He knew she knew that, she knew he knew she knew that, and ad infinitum. “No,” she said. “You didn’t.”

           “Well, I’m saying it now, and you can put this on the record,” XR told her. “Thank you.”

           She almost said “you’re welcome” out of habit, but that would imply that he didn’t actually owe her anything for the save, and if he thought he didn’t owe her anything for the save, they wouldn’t be having as much fun as they were right now. What she ended up with was “Don’t make me do it again, dumbass.”

           “If Buzz didn’t always assign me the life-threatening half of the job or insist on using me as bait, maybe I wouldn’t HAVE to.”

           “Like I keep trying to argue him not to have you do?” She immediately regretted saying that; eventually he would have to figure out that she attempted to look out for him far more than anyone else on the team, and what exactly that meant.

           Yet it seemed to have sailed right over XR’s head. “Next time,” he insisted, “I get the cushy job distracting the villain. HE can shut off the volatile circuit.”

           “He does actually care, you know,” Rachel said quickly, worrying this would get out of hand; she didn’t want to breed a schism in the team by accident. “He just has to make tough decisions. Being team leader does that. I know I couldn’t handle it.”

           “Funny: I KNOW I could handle it. Buuuuuuut I’m not going to gun for the title out of respect.” Which Rachel knew was code for a heavy trust in Buzz’s decision-making and a value of him as a friend.

           “The day you become team leader,” Rachel said with a smirk, “is the day I quit.”

           “The day you quit,” XR replied, “is the day I get your seat on 42. I’ve always wanted the window view.”

           “If you’re at the window, who’s going to run analytics?”

           “Like we NEED analytics. Whatever happened to winging it? Improvising? Making it up as we go?”

           “You’re forgetting one crucial thing, XR.”

           “What? Are you going to try and tell me my analytical skills are irreplaceable and we’d be nowhere without me working in that corner?”

           Yes, Rachel thought. That is true. And I’m incredibly jealous of and impressed by how you’re able to crunch the numbers you do. “No,” she replied mischievously. “In this situation, I quit because you’re the captain, so why are you sitting in MY seat when Buzz’s is yours by default?”

           “Wh – that wasn’t – “

           “Don’t answer: it’s because you’re a dumbass.”

           “Oh, you think you’re so smart,” XR huffed.

           “I don’t think I’m smart,” Rachel replied. “I KNOW I’m smart.”

           “Yeah, well,” XR replied, swiveling his head back to the television, “I’ve got news for you, sister – WHEN DID POSEIDON GET POSSESSED?”

           “Shit,” Rachel hissed. “We’re gonna have to rewind a few scenes.”

           Spitting vitriol at each other felt strangely comfortable. The insults, insincere at this point. All Rachel had really heard was “I never said thank you.” And all XR had really heard was “I just don’t like seeing you get hurt.”

 ***

           It wasn’t until Rachel started waking up that she realized she’d fallen asleep. When had that happened? Without opening her eyes, she took stock of what had happened, trying to recall exactly when she’d wrapped up last night’s binge and kicked out her irritating if charming houseguest.

           Observations: there was a constant stream of noise in the background – the sound of people talking. That was odd. Rachel’s position: propped up rather than laying down, though not as uncomfortable as one would expect, given that her back was against a very soft surface – several pillows, presumably. She’d slumped to the left a stitch, and was leaning on something quite solid.

           That was when it hit. She hadn’t wrapped up the Bulletproof Hearts binge. She’d fallen asleep watching it. That was the noise: an episode still playing. Nor had she sent XR packing. He was still there, and she’d fallen asleep leaning against him.

           Like the crack of a whip, adrenaline surged through Rachel’s body. Her eyes snapped open; she let out an instinct-driven, blood-curdling scream.

           XR had apparently entered sleep mode around the same time she’d dozed off; the sound of the scream jolted his AI out of idling and brought him to consciousness. And when he realized, first of all, that he was being screamed at, and second of all, where he was, his immediate reaction was to let off an almost equally blood-curdling scream.

           The symbiotic scream feedback continued for about a minute before both parties involved finally fell silent, staring at each other in panic.

           Rachel scrambled for the words that were appropriate for this situation. True, it was completely chaste and innocent, but she’d just spent an entire night (how many hours? When, in fact, had she lost consciousness? Now the memories were becoming clearer; they’d both gone way past midnight, their commentary on the show getting increasingly more boisterous until they’d started getting tired) sleeping in the same bed as the man she had a hopeless and ridiculous crush on, and if there was a single part of her epidermis that wasn’t bright pink with a blush right now, she’d have been very surprised. The ice pack was finally spent, so that didn’t help. Her heart seemed about ready to beat itself to death and pop right out through her sternum, thundering in her veins.

           As usual, however, XR had words where others would be speechless. “All right, all right,” he said in a tone that might have sounded breathless if he actually needed to breathe, “just calm down. Yes, apparently we fell asleep like that. But what matters here is that neither of us did, said, or meant anything that would make this at all what it looks like from the outside.” And he was adamant about that.

           Did? Of course not. Said? Nope. Meant? Depended on your definition and whether or not you were referring to something sexual or something simply stirring to the heart. Rachel shoved that aside. “And…nobody saw,” she added. “We’re alone. It’s fine. It’s fine! This isn’t weird!” Her voice cracked, slipping into falsetto. “IT’S NOT WEIRD!” Trying to drown out that accursed heartbeat.

           “No,” XR told her, now perfectly calm and cocky as per usual. “It is most certainly NOT, so you can dial it down a notch.”

           She paused. Bit her lip. Said the next words in a low, semi-chilled tone: “You’re the worst pillow in existence.”

           “Well, if I’d have known I was going to have an organic try and use me as one, I MIGHT have been generous enough to activate an airbag.”

           “I did not TRY – “ Rachel grit her teeth. “Did I go out first or did you?”

           “I don’t remember!” XR protested. “All I know is we ran out of commentary, I’m reading an episode title card, next thing you know, I’m off to dreamland with the electric sheep.”

           Rachel leaned her head back against the wall. “This never happened.”

           “The only thing anyone needs to think I fell asleep on is that mountain of paperwork that’s still sitting on my desk.”

           Rachel flinched. “There’s actual paperwork you’re behind on, isn’t there?”

           “Well, gee, I happen to be DOWN ONE COPY EDITOR, so yes, there is.”

           “I forgot you’d actually have to try and write at at least a third-grade reading level for two weeks.”

           “Excuse you; I’m up to a fourth-grade level at LEAST.”

           Arguing pettily put them back on their usual level. The awkwardness was subsiding, at least on Rachel’s part. On XR’s? She couldn’t read him. He didn’t seem fazed, but was that really a surprise? The bigger surprise was that he hadn’t tried to make some kind of lewd comment out of this. That, once again, brought Rachel to the eternal conundrum of being glad he didn’t obviously ogle her and yet frustrated that she was the only woman he didn’t.

           She glanced over to the clock. “You have to get moving, don’t you?”

           “Well, not for another hour and a half,” he admitted. “If you wanted to yell at one more episode for a palate cleanser. I’m just saying.”

           A cleansed palate was exactly what Rachel needed right now. “I’m down,” she stated. “Where’d you leave off?”

           “Where’d YOU leave off?”            “It literally does not matter,” she reminded him. “I’ve seen this show a hundred times, remember?” She took the remote in hand, barely able to hold it steady with the shaking. How had it gotten this bad again? Less than twenty-four hours ago, they were just lounging with each other on the bed like normal friends, and Rachel had felt less jittery and far more comfortable with XR than she could’ve hoped for at this point. Now that had just been erased like a chalkboard swiped with a soaking sponge. She managed to pause the running television: no mean feat.

           “The last thing I saw was the title card for Funhouse of Horrors,” XR related.

           So she’d gone out first, Rachel realized, but only by a few minutes. Maybe fifteen. Then the topic she should’ve been concerned with immediately sprang to her lips: “Wait. Funhouse of Horrors? THAT episode? Oh, that is NOT an episode you just watch and LEAVE.”

           “I feel like you’re implying I can’t handle it.”

           “IT’S A TERRIBLE CLIFFHANGER.”

           “Please. I eat cliffhangers for breakfast.”

           “That…literally makes no sense, XR.” She flicked through the menu. “But it’s your funeral.”

 ***

           The ending of the episode, as Rachel had predicted, left XR staring slack-jawed (or the equivalent when one’s jaw was hinged) at the screen. She stopped the credits roll, letting him gape in silence for a moment as her smirk grew ever smugger.

           At last, he managed, “Okay. Who did it?”            “Spoilers,” Rachel said mischievously.

           “I mean it,” XR urged. “Who killed Oregano?”

           “SPOI…LERS.”

           “Now you and I both know this is the time when I have to take my leave, as much as I know you’ll miss me.” (You have no idea, Rachel thought.) “Just give me the name of the murderer and I’ll be on my merry way.”

           “I’m not telling you,” Rachel replied. “If you wanna know, you’re gonna have to watch it yourself. You’re IN now, so I’m not going to ruin it.”

           “Okaaaay, new angle. Obviously, you’re not going to tell me who KILLED Oregano, so at least tell me how he DIED.”

           “Nnnnope,” Rachel held out.

           “Come on, you can at least confirm if it was the same person who unleashed the genetically modified ghost army.”

           “No I can’t.” Rachel was enjoying this far too much.

           “Look,” XR practically snapped, “you and I both know that without Oregano’s expertise, none of the rest of them are going to be able to get through that casino-themed torture chamber. Not to mention while they’re all starving to death. And even if they do, Ashe is waiting on the other side with Larxeo, which I have to admit was a REALLY poetic touch, giving her Romyx’s leather jacket like that, REALLY made you feel for the villains for once, but if you’re GOING to leave me on that note, at least tell me WHO…KILLED…OREGANO.”

           Rachel made a motion of zipping her mouth shut and locking it with a padlock.

           “You’re heartless,” XR accused.

           Rachel nodded in affirmation.

           “I’m going to be thinking about this all day,” XR continued as he shifted off the bed, treads hitting the floor. “And if this throws me off my game, it’s gonna be your fault.”

           She dealt him the most wicked grin she could muster.

           “Well, I’m on patrol,” he relented. “What are you gonna do?”

           “Probably catch up on those last two eps of Despair Days,” Rachel answered, “then slip back into a coma for another twelve hours. …A NON-NARCOTIC-INDUCED COMA.”

           “Well, good luck with that,” XR told her. “My work here is done.”

           All she could say at first was “Um, yeah.”

           “And with that,” XR declared jovially, “your doting caretaker bids you adieu.” A playful bow.

           “Wait,” Rachel said before he could leave.

           “Yeeees?”

           This was one of those times when it was hard to drop the banter and just be honest with him. Yet it was crucial. “Thanks for visiting. I had a lot of fun.”

           “The pleasure was mine,” XR replied with a wink. “You know, we should really hang out more often.”

           “For the record, you don’t actually drive me insane to talk to.”

           “I knew that, Rach. And, full disclosure, you’re a real pal, got that?”

           That was almost more meaningful than an I-love-you. “I got it. Now get out of here before I come to my senses and stop being honest.”

           “Consider me gone.”

           And then he was. She heard the apartment door open, then click shut, and Rachel was alone, half wondering if she’d hallucinated the past day.

           Letting herself smile because he really did like her, after all, even if it wasn’t exactly the way she could’ve asked for, and they had just spent hours upon hours together, she went back to the final two episodes she’d been meaning to watch from the beginning.

           The cutoff point ended with exactly as many dangling plot threads as the rest of the show, and that gave Rachel’s mind plenty to grind on as she settled back down into the bed, ready to fall asleep in a more comfortable position and kill as much time as she could that way, now that she had no one to talk to.

           A familiar scent twitched at her nostrils, and it suddenly occurred to her that she hadn’t drawn the conclusion of its presence two hours ago. It very faintly smelled like the pillow next to her was smoldering. Of course. XR had been laying on it for hours; his burned-marshmallow scent had transferred right over to it.

           Rachel’s left hand grabbed at the pillow, drawing it up to her face. Up close, it definitely smelled like it had a lit match dropped onto it at some point, though the fabric was undamaged, yet again suggesting, bafflingly, that the scent was not the sign of some malfunction. Now Rachel had two choices. She could go full tsuntsun and chuck that pillow to the far end of the room, to be forgotten about until laundry day. Or she could fall asleep hugging it like some kind of perverted stalker. (A taste of his own medicine, hm?) Just putting it back in place was not an option.

           Throw it, she told herself. Increase the denial.

           What won was the argument was that it wasn’t that creepy, really, not when she didn’t have actual predatory intentions – just to have a sensory input that reminded her of someone she liked being around.

           Sleep took her over as she cradled that pillow close, breathing in what could have been the odor of the aftermath of an arson scene.

 ***

           Rachel was awoken by the sound of the doorbell. After the first ring, she waited a moment to see if another barrage of ringing would follow.

           Instead, when she didn’t answer, it was a sharp knocking that came at the door. A slight disappointment.

           She crept out of bed, calling out tentatively, once more, “WHO IS IT?”. What time was it, anyway? A glance at the clock told her it was ten at night.

           “DELIVERY FOR RACHEL SPARKS!” That actually was the voice of the regular deliveryman. All hope was doused. Then again, receiving a package was a pretty rare event. Rachel couldn’t imagine what the delivery was. As covert as she’d tried to make her antidepressant acquisition, she hadn’t scheduled anything for this time.

           Prying open the door, she saw the deliveryman smiling his biggest at her; did this guy seriously mean it every time he smiled like that, or was it a façade to hide an ennui with his job? She hoped it was the former. “What’s up?” she asked.

           “Rachel!” the deliveryman greeted. “Special delivery just for you! It was just sent out this evening!” He extended a clipboard.

           “I, uh…” Rachel gave him a sheepish look. “Can’t really use my right hand right now. Can we just do the retinal scan and call it good?”

           “Sure thing!” He acquiesced; a mild laser made Rachel’s eye twitch but confirmed her identity enough for the package to be handed over. It was stuffed into a bubble-wrap-lined manila envelope, barely small enough to be contained by its manila skin. Rachel had a strong guess that it was a tape based on that. Goodness knew she’d tried to mail tapes that way before. Who hadn’t?

           She told the deliveryman thank you, and he gave her a jovial “Haaaave a nice day!” before gallivanting off into the night, hopefully not to stay out too late making other deliveries.

           Rachel shut and locked the door, bringing the envelope back to the bed to open it up as best she could with one hand (which turned out to be a bit of an ordeal; her teeth got involved). As she’d thought, it was a tape: unlabeled. That could mean anything from an anonymous death threat to a video will informing her she’d inherited two million unibucks from a great-uncle she’d never heard of.

           She inserted it into the player, tuning the television to the proper reception signal and clicking the tape into play.

           It began with a countdown of a “3…2…” on a spinning gray circle that had obviously been added in post-production. The next thing Rachel knew, she was looking at a view of Buzz Lightyear, Mira Nova, and Booster Munchapper on a desert plain, all three of them smiling in her direction.

           “AAAAAAND WE ARE ROLLING!” XR’s voice declared; Rachel realized he was the one filming, probably right through his eyes. “Spotlight’s on you, people! Let’s hear it with FEELING!”

           “Hi, Rachel!” Mira began, waving.

           “How’re ya doing?” Booster asked before realizing, “Wait…you can’t answer. Sorry.”

           “It’s just not the same without you, ranger,” Buzz added. “But thanks to XR here, today, you get to sit back, relax, and keep healing while we do the dirty work.”

           “And you get a front-row seat to all the action!” Booster agreed. “And boy, is this a big one today.”

           “Way, WAY bigger than Tanker Alley,” Mira added. “Sorry you have to miss it, but, then again, this also means you don’t have to have your life threatened today, so…silver lining?”

           “It’s life-threatening indeed,” Buzz stated somberly. “We’re on a mission to stop Zurg from engineering a duplicate of the Motzrothian senator and using his guise to order lax labor laws – “

           “Come on!” XR urged. “Can’t you make this all a little more DRAMATIC? The EVIL EMPEROR ZURG has accessed superior cyborg cloning technology that, in the wrong hands, could bring the entire galaxy to ruination, AND IT HAPPENS TO BE IN THE WRONG HANDS! Only the bravest team in all of Star Command has any hope whatsoever of stopping him! And the key to Zurg’s destruction lies with one man in particular: the bravest, most intelligent, and most ATTRACTIVE robot to ever cross his path – “

           “Okay, we’re stopping there,” Mira interrupted.

           That was when a hover platform bearing Zurg floated down from the sky behind the team, and the evil emperor himself pointed accusingly: “LIGHTYEAR! So you and your team of has-beens decided to show up after all! It’s about time! I was expecting you thirty minutes ago! Does punctuality mean NOTHING to you hero types? Oh, well, no matter. There’s still PLENTY of time for you to hear about how I’ve factored your demise into my newest fiendish plan!”

           “Yeah, why don’t you tell us what you’re planning to do?” Mira asked innocently.

           “Gladly,” Zurg told her. “For, you see, I want you to have a chance to DREAD the excruciating pain I have in store for you.”

           In a low whisper that Rachel knew only she could hear, XR narrated, “A classic gambit. Our heroes trick the overly egotistical villain into bragging about exactly what he plans to do to them…” He’d begun rolling, moving gingerly away from Zurg. “…giving their secret weapon, i.e. me, a chance to find the evil device he’s planted on this planet, disable it before he notices, and then – “

           “OH, NO, YOU ABSOLUTELY DON’T!” Zurg suddenly bellowed mid-monologue. The camera whirled; Zurg was pointing directly at XR. “You think you can get your ROBOT to slip away while I’m instilling dread!” Suddenly he’d zoomed right up before XR, filling the screen. “Just for that, I’m upgrading your torture to the DELUXE package. Intense pain, simultaneous psychological torment, and I get a smoothie. You’ll WISH you were going through your friends’ basic torture package.”

           “Speaking of my friends,” XR said cockily, leaving it at that.

           “Wait – “ Zurg spun a 180, and XR peeked around him to capture on film that while Zurg was distracted threatening XR, the other three had scattered. “WHHHHHAT?”

           “Man, is this guy a moron,” XR commented.

           “WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?” Zurg screamed, turning back to XR.

           “To put it in context,” XR explained, “I’m filming this for a friend, hence the narration.”

           “Wait a minute,” Zurg realized. “Is it the blonde ranger? The one whose name I can never remember? Because I NOTICED she wasn’t here today, but I wasn’t about to SAY anything. I was rather hoping she’d perished when I wasn’t looking, though. But maybe it’s better this way. I mean, now I do get the pleasure of killing her myself. Eventually. Whenever she shows – NO. ENOUGH STALLING!”

           He knocked XR into the sand before taking off to pursue the others.

           Rachel watched the entire mission play out, from Zurg thinking he had the upper hand to his eventual foiling and his rocketing away, crying, “CURSE YOU, BUZZ LIGHTYEEEEAAAR!”. Rachel did in fact wish she were there to live out the magic herself, but really, this was the next best thing.

           “All right, team,” Buzz directed, looking to the wreckage of Zurg’s cyborg cloning device (which admittedly did make Rachel curious as to how exactly it worked). “Time to get this evidence wrapped up and confiscated before some other miscreant comes along and – “

           “Oh, you think you’re gonna pack this all up and ship it off, do ya?” a deep voice broke in. XR’s camera swiveled immediately to observe a familiar figure holding up the device’s energy core in one hand and hovering the other over his chest plate. “I got a better idea. I sell this back to Zurg for the big bucks, and whichever ones of ya I don’t finish off here, he gets to later.”

           “TORQUE!” Buzz, Mira, and Booster chorused.

           “Now, how’s THAT for a plot twist?” XR cried triumphantly.

           Team Lightyear was soon engaged in a battle against the Torque Armada, which was at least seven strong – Rachel kept losing track of exactly how many duplicates were on the field. At one point, one of the Torques was advancing upon XR, declaring, “Now, you, baby, you’re some high-tech stuff. I could use your components.”

           “Hold on,” XR replied, which halted Torque in his tracks. “Could you say that again, but a little louder, with more clarity? And try to sound a little more threatening. You’re the villain here, after all.”

           “Huh?” Torque regarded XR with confusion. “Hey, wait…you filmin’ this?”

           “You may have noticed we’re one short today,” XR informed him. “I’m sending this back to her so she can be here without being here, if you catch my drift.”

           “Oh, this is for Blondie, ain’t it?” Torque realized. “We-he-hell…” He drew himself upright, puffed out his chest, and stood at an angle. “Be sure to get my good side.”

           “Any well-wishes for our out-of-commission teammate?” XR asked.

           “Yeah, I got one,” Torque affirmed. “Hey you, Blondie, you keep on keepin’ on, ya hear? Even when the chips are down and it seems hopeless, ya gotta keep fightin’ the good fight. For instance, you’re probably gonna feel real down after I STRIP YOUR LITTLE ROBOT CAMERAMAN FOR PARTS.”

           That prompted XR to whirl about and head in the opposite direction as quickly as he could, crying out, “THAAAAAT’S ENOUGH OF TORQUE’S CLOSE-UP!”

           Rachel couldn’t help but giggle. After all, she knew he (and the entire team, for that matter) had come out of this okay, or the tape wouldn’t have gotten edited and sent back to her.

           After Torque was subdued, the camera suddenly cut to a view from atop a high plateau; down below, in the desert, four figures were battling. Rachel recognized them as Buzz, Mira, Booster, and someone she really should’ve expected at this point.

           “So, it turns out that our viewing audience was one hundred percent correct,” XR narrated. “Zurg, Torque, and NOS-4-A2 did in fact all strike on the same day. Now, since NOSy is a particularly tough enemy with a sordid history with Star Command, I thought the epic showdown was best filmed from more of a wide angle bordering on bird’s-eye. After all, I don’t want to get cl – YOU don’t want to miss a second of this action! As usual, of course, our heroes are getting the upper hand, and – where’d he go? No, seriously, where is he?”

           NOS-4-A2 had disappeared from the battlefield, and Rachel could see that Buzz, Mira, and Booster were all exchanging shrugs and searching for him in a panic.

           All of a sudden, NOS-4-A2’s face filled the camera, a sly grin plastered across his face. “Playing a little game of hide-and-seek, are we, little one? Hm?” he chuckled. “I do so enjoy the thrill of the chase.”

           The last thing Rachel heard before the visuals cut out was XR yelping “OKAYYOUFOUNDMEYOUWONNOWLEAVEMEALONE – “

           The immediate next scene was of NOS-4-A2, powered down and clamped into iron bands that bound his limbs and prevented him from spreading his wings. “I never doubted for a minute we’d get him,” XR proclaimed. “Of course, it was my idea to play the sitting duck and draw him in so the others could make their move. YOU’RE WELCOME!”

           “I thought it was us who saved you,” Booster said in legitimate confusion. “You were REALLY scared – “

           “WAS NOT,” XR argued.

           Mira chuckled. “I think we’ll leave Rachel to make that call. She probably knows EXACTLY what happened on that subject.”

           Rachel did know exactly what had happened. He was a fraidy-cat moron. He was her personal favorite fraidy-cat moron.

           One more shot of the team grouped up, smiling and waving. “Sorry again you had to miss that, Rachel!” Booster cried.

           “I hope you’re feeling better!” Mira added. “And I hope you had fun watching XR get chased around by all the bad guys!”

           “That is an INCREDIBLE oversimplification of what happened,” XR argued.

           “Lookin’ forward to when you can join us on the adventure again,” Buzz concluded. “Now you get some rest, Rachel.”

           “And so concludes another epic episode of The Adventures of Team Ligh – no, wait,” XR mused, “there has to be a better title for this. Star Command’s Ranger Lightyear? Buzz Lightyear and the Rangers. No, wait, BUZZ LIGHTYEAR OF ST – actually, scrap that: THE ADVENTURES OF XR, ROBOT RANGER.”

           The giggle that came out of Rachel’s throat was riding on a snort.

           “Aaaaand SCENE!” With that final declaration, the tape ended.

           Rachel made a childishly high squeal. He’d really thought to tape the mission for her so she wouldn’t miss out. She could hardly have been happier at that point.

           Way past midnight, again. Time to get back to sleep. Cuddling that burned-marshmallow-smell pillow even tighter; who was around to judge?

 ***

           The doorbell rang.

           Rachel had lost all sense of time. There was sleep, there was the state of waking, and there was the doorbell to facilitate the transition from one to the other.

           The doorbell again. And again. And again –

           Perhaps she was a little too eager to leap out of bed. Her shoulder twinged, reminding her that she had to take it slow. Without even asking who was there, she opened the door.

           XR sped right past her once again, parking in the midst of the living room and swiveling to face her. “How’s the patient?” he asked, his seemingly chipper smile betraying a hint of hidden frustration. “Feeling better? Resting up? Getting her strength back? On the mend? WHO KILLED OREGANO?”

           “So THAT’S what this is about,” Rachel laughed. “And you did SUCH a good job of not letting it show that cliffhanger was bothering you in the tape.”

           “There’s a time for business and a time to resolve cliffhangers,” XR explained. “So are we going to or not?”

           “I am SO looking forward to seeing your face when you see this revelation,” Rachel said with a grin.

           “Ten minutes for popcorn and I’m there,” XR told her. Rachel was at first flattered again that he was concerned with supplying her with food until she remembered that he continually, bafflingly forgot that he couldn’t eat food. It always was rather humorous to watch him try.

           They settled on the bed in their previous configuration. Rachel had discreetly put the pillow back where it had been, feeling almost sneaky in hiding how she’d cradled it in her good arm for the past two nights. XR had at least had the presence of mind to tote a second ice pack – or, perhaps, at this stage, it was a little more than “at least.” Rachel shoveled a fistful of the popcorn that XR was seconds away from remembering the hard way that he couldn’t eat into her own mouth, clicking the next episode of Bulletproof Hearts into play.

           When the mystery was solved (“AN ELEVATOR? Also, I was SURE Castella was behind this one!”) and the action had died down a bit, Rachel asked, “What was your excuse this time?”

           “Well, without you to manage the spreadsheets,” XR explained, “we have a huge backlog of spreadsheets that need to be organized. Which I took it upon myself to do. And that’s what you’re going to tell Nebula if he calls and asks where I am.”

           Why would he call here to ask where you are? Rachel wondered. It’s not like anyone outside the team would draw a connection between me and you. Then, suddenly stricken with dread: “XR, these are fake spreadsheets you made up to get a day off, right? They don’t actually exist, right? WE DON’T ACTUALLY HAVE A BACKLOG OF SPREADSHEETS I’M GONNA NEED TO DO WHEN I GET BACK ON DUTY, RIGHT?”

           XR was dead silent, staring ahead at the screen.

           “XR. DO…THESE…SPREADSHEETS…EXIST?”

           His head swiveled to face her, his eyes appearing half-lidded with emerald light (really, Rachel couldn’t be the only person in the world who noticed how many colors his eye-lights could be, could she?), and he said in the least reassuring tone possible, “SPOILERS.”

 ***

           For the next two weeks, some days, he was there, and it was a neverending stream of snark at the television. Bulletproof Hearts was finished –

           “Am I supposed to feel satisfied or disappointed about that finale? Because both of those are gunning for it.”

           “I dunno what the crew intended, but that’s EVERY fan’s reaction.”

           Despair Days knocked out –

           “So does Spice ever, you know, join the actual main plot?”

           “Not yet. But there ARE rumors of an official next season of BH in production. Nothing confirmed, of course, but – “

           “And you just HAD to get me to the point where that would actually affect me, didn’t you?”

           And after that, just whatever they could find that either was relatively interested in watching, or, more appropriately, interested in yelling and/or laughing at in between synchronized slurps of diet orange soda and 0W SAE J300.

           Some days, he wasn’t there, but at the end of the day, there was always, always a tape chronicling whatever expedition Rachel had missed that day, complete with requests of well-wishes from whoever XR crossed paths with. So far, he’d managed to accumulate:

·      A sullen “Don’t die” from Dr. Furbanna.

·      A tirade from Eon about how fragile primitive lifeforms were, and how he couldn’t imagine living in a body where stressing out a single shoulder could put you out for more than an hour.

·      A “Gargantia wishes its hero well!” from Ambassador Major.

·      A “GARGANTIA SPITS ON YOUR NAME!” from Monumentus.

·      A gruff “You better be staying in bed, ranger. Oh, and get well soon.” from Commander Nebula, with a chorus of chirps from the LGMs in the background.

·      An “Isn’t that the blonde one? Okay, yeah, feel better!” from Petra.

·      A “GOOD. I mean, oh, yes, of course, I have no reason to NOT want you pursuing me!” from Rentwhistle Swack.

·      An “XL is destroying everything, and you want me to say WHAT?” from Savy SL-4.

·      An “I’m trying to destroy everything, and you want me to say WHAT?” from XL.

·      An “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” from Warp Darkmatter while Evan Aries discreetly made a heart shape with his hands in the background, aiming it at Rachel with a sheepish expression.

           The more the days progressed, Rachel thought, she really ought to lighten up on calling XR a dumbass. He’d more than made up for being the reason for her sprain in the first place. This while chastely cuddling her pillow that now smelled like it had been tossed on a barbecue grill.

 ***

           Finally, she regained the mobility in her shoulder, with only a light tenderness to remind her of the damage, and that would fade soon. Medical cleared her for duty, and she reunited with the rest of Team Lightyear in the mess hall.

           “Good to have you back, Rachel!” Buzz just about gave her a hearty clap on the right shoulder – then remembered and repositioned himself to deal the affectionate blow to her left instead. “It just isn’t the same without all five of us on the team. It’ll be good to have XR back, too.” He shot a glance toward XR. “Not that I don’t approve of you taking time off to spend with Rachel, since…you know…”

           “It WAS his fault she got hurt,” Mira said coldly.

           “Hey now!” XR protested. “We talked about this!”

           “I was going to say because he’s a good friend,” Buzz finished. “And that’s what good friends do. Not that we’re not ALL good friends, but we couldn’t have taken the entire team off the field, and XR was the one who volunteered – “

           “I getcha,” Rachel said with a nod. “Don’t worry. I’m not gonna hold up your analyst anymore. Provided he doesn’t sprain anything else on me.”

           “I make no promises,” XR replied, “but I will try my DARNEDEST. Yes, I said DARNEDEST, so you know I’m serious.”

           “How’d chilling out without us go, by the way?” Mira asked, and Rachel could see the question she was really asking written on her face.

           “Yeah!” Booster echoed, obviously picking up the same thread. “Did anything SPECIAL happen while you two were hanging out?”

           As Rachel, positioned behind XR, frantically made “please no” gestures at the gossipy pair, slicing her hands through the air, XR replied, “As a matter of fact, yes.”

           Even Rachel froze, wondering what he was referring to and hoping against hope -            “Rachel ruined my life by getting me addicted to her stupid show and now I can’t actually not care about what’s going to happen next season.”

           Rachel’s heart restarted beating.

           XR swiveled to look up to her; “You’re SURE we don’t have an airdate on that, by the way?”

           “Not until they finish Despair Days,” Rachel asserted.

           “Yes,” XR snarked, “because we need to focus on this side plot that has NOTHING to do with the remnants of Nort’s plan, has NO connection to Ashe and Braigel picking up the pieces with the relics, and won’t even ADDRESS the fact that Spice and Red are related and whether that means Spice has the golden eyes. I HATE that you made me actually know what I’m talking about.”

           “BUT…IF SPICE AND VERTHANDI BECOME CANON …”

           “Then a thousand fanfictions will be written,” XR said with a smirk, “and it will be that much easier to find your new pen name.”

           God forbid. That would lead him to GEAvillain and a whole can of worms that needed to stay shut. “You’ll never find me,” she said cheekily, covering up the panic associated with the hypothetical that he might, in fact, figure out the identity of JCMotzroth. Changing the subject by force, she looked Buzz in the eye. “Sooooo. How are things with Bonnie?”

           “We, uh…” Buzz rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “We kinda…sorta…didn’t work out.”

           “Oh,” Rachel replied. She’d seen that one coming a mile off, but that didn’t lessen the pain for him, and she knew it. “I’m sorry.”

           “No, no,” Buzz explained, “I was the one who called it off. There was just no spark there. Pun not intended. Anyway, you were right. I shouldn’t have said yes. Only reason I did was because I didn’t wanna let her down, but it just…well, it didn’t feel right after our history! I should’ve just listened to you – “

           Rachel’s stomach began to stir. Being right wasn’t the victory she’d hoped it would be. First of all, it still couldn’t have been easy on Buzz to figure out the relationship was going nowhere. Second, she’d almost put stock in him and Bonnie changing her mind. If Bonnie could turn Buzz’s interest her way, certainly that meant there wasn’t any harm in Rachel putting the subject on the table regarding a certain someone else.

           A certain someone else who chose that moment to say “And WHEN are you going to learn that Rachel and I are always, always, ALWAYS right?”

           That broke the spell. “HEY!” Rachel yelled down at XR. “You weren’t with me on that one at ALL!”

           “Yes, I was,” XR argued. “I definitely didn’t want those two to date. I believe I made that PERFECTLY clear.”

           “Yeah, because you wanted Bonnie for YOURSELF,” Rachel argued. “Not because you thought she was making Buzz uncomfortable!”

           “I knew she was making him uncomfortable, which is why I so GRACIOUSLY stepped in to divert her attention – “

           “Bull SHIT.”

           “It’s all back to normal around here, all right,” Mira said teasingly.

           Heading out of the mess hall, XR told Rachel, “You know, now that you’ve made a diehard Bulletproof Hearts addict out of me, I have to pay you back.”

           “What do YOU have that you could POSSIBLY get me into?” Rachel asked.

           “I bet I could make a gambler out of you,” XR teased, knowing full well that had a snowball’s chance in the sun’s core of happening.

           “Yeah, no,” Rachel told him. “Keep dreaming.”

           “Wanna bet? Ten unibucks says you get into it.”

           “I’ll take tha – OHHHH. I SEE WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO DO. AND IT IS NOT GOING TO WORK. NO BET.”

           They glared at each other, as was customary, before their expressions softened, allowing each other a smile.

           Far be it from Rachel to sacrifice a good friendship over feelings she had no business even having. All the same, it felt sour within to know that she could never tell him. She wasn’t about to become his Bonnie Lepton. And she wasn’t about to be his mistake.

[tarasstorybook]

One More With Magic

For it being the middle of summer, the weather was pretty decent as Amy, Gav and Tarq walked down the path. There were hardly any clouds out but a nice cool breeze every now and then made up for it. If they kept moving, the three of them hardly noticed the heat, and if they got tired there were plenty of trees to sit under for a break. So far, their trip to go see their cousins was going well, they couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day to be on the road.

“Weather is playing nicely today.” Amy comments, she decides to stop and sit under a tree.

“Yeah, doesn’t seem to be that bad today.” Gav agrees with her, following her lead he sits down next to her.

“It’s a nice change from what we were experiencing these last few days.” Tarq nods, he couldn’t complain much, he liked how the temperature dropped quite a bit.

“I will admit though.” Amy says. “Kinda wish the occasional cloud would come by.”

“Me too.” Gaviel and Tarq say at the same time.

“You think we freak people out when we do that?”

“Don’t know.” Gav shrugs.

“Probably not.” Tarq muses the idea a little.

“It was just a thought.” Amy shrugs. “You guys ready to get going?”

“Yeah we probably should.” Gav rises to his feet, offering a hand to his sister.

“We are making pretty decent timing with getting to town.” Tarq pulls their map out from his bag, Gaviel and Amabiel looking over his shoulder.

“It looks like we have just a few miles left, we’ll probably be there by early evening without stopping.” Gav guesses.

“Or without running into trouble.” Amy adds on.

“Please don’t jinx it.” Tarq puts the map away. “Something bad almost always happens when you say that.”

“I don’t mean for it to happen.” Amy does her best to defend her statement. “Trouble just seems to find me wherever I go.”

“We know Amy.” Gav wraps an arm around her shoulders. “We’re just giving you a hard time.”

“You guys are jerks.” Amy teases, elbowing him in the side.

“Yeah but you love us.” Gaviel teases back.

“Fortunately for you.” Amy smiles.

The rest of the journey goes by with no events, Amy was talking about what she was going to do when they got to town. Tarq was making a list of things he needed to get when they got to town meanwhile Gav kept to himself and was relatively quiet during their trip. Gaviel usually spent their trips keeping quiet, he probably listened more to their surroundings than Tarq and Amy did. That was how they usually avoided any confrontation.

However it didn’t completely work in their favor when it came to surprise attacks. To say they were used to it was an understatement, they practically expected it now. The fights never lasted very long, not anymore anyway. During the fight, what happens to Gaviel next though was a bit of a blur. He was fighting one on one with a bandit, his dagger was knocked out of his hand and he was trying to put some distance between himself and the other person. The bandit swings his sword to land a hit on him, Gav brings both hands up to try and attempt to protect himself. Gav was expecting to be seriously hurt, what he wasn’t expecting was to hear the sound of a sword hitting something and embedding itself in the bandit.

“Holy shit.” Amy says.

“What?” Gav starts to question, looking up he sees the dark blue shield in front of him. “That’s yours right Tarq?”

“No.” Tarq shakes his head, flexing his own magic to emphasize his point.

“I think that’s all you Gav.” Amy says.

“No that can’t be, Tarq’s the one with magic not me.”  Gav starts to panic, the shield he had faltered and broke.

“I think the gods believe differently.” Amy muses. “Now that makes two out of the three of us that has magic.”

“But I don’t want it.” Gaviel protests, his magic flares at his protests. “Any time for it to show up why now? Why not when we were younger?”

“I don’t know but Gaviel you need to calm down.” Tarq does his best to calm his brother. “New magic or not, you haven’t used it before so it’s all emotion based. You need to calm down.”

“Calm down? How do you expect me to do that? Apparently I have magic that I didn’t know about until now!”

“Shhhh!” Tarq puts a hand over his brother’s mouth. “Say it louder for anyone else to hear why don’t you?” Tarq all but scolds him. “You know how dangerous that is.”

The most Gaviel can do is level Tarq with a glare, and letting out a sound that resembled like an annoyed huff.

“Just take a deep breath and calm yourself.” Tarq uses a little of his magic to help his brother relax, he knew Gaviel wasn’t going to do anything to calm himself down. “We’re almost to town, once we’re there you can ask the gods for guidance and why your magic is just now making itself known, okay?”

“Okay.” Gaviel nods once his brother pulls his hand from his face.

“Good.” Tarq nods to himself. “Let’s get going then, try to keep calm. Remember, because you’ve never used it all of your magic is emotion based. You have to watch your temper and how easily you get upset.”

“Emotion based.” Gav repeats. “Right, shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Just carry on like you normally do.” Amy suggests. “Like before you found out you had magic.”

“Not helpful.” Gav comments, but he supposed they were both right. He saw his magic flare when he was upset earlier, there was no sense in working himself up like that again. Gav supposed he wasn’t upset that he had it, he was just frustrated that there weren’t any signs pointing to it and he was going to have to learn how to control it now instead of when he was younger.

The rest of their walk is spent in quiet, Gav keeping to himself more than he was before. Amy and Tarq did most of the talking when they got to town, asking for directions to an inn. Tarq was the one to talk to the innkeeper and get the three of them a room. Gaviel sits down at the desk when they get to their room, Tarq and Amy taking their time to settle in.

“Okay I’ll be the one to ask.” Amy says when the quiet drags on. “Gav why are you so quiet and pissy?”

“Amabiel.” Tarq warns, subtly wasn’t exactly her forte.

“I’m just asking, I can feel his sour mood from all the way over here.” Amy puts both hands up in defense.

“Because the gods made a mistake with me.” Gaviel sighs, he wasn’t meant to have magic. He looks up to the ceiling as he continues on. “I just don’t understand why they felt like I should have it to, I’m not meant for it.”

“Careful.” A new voice joins their conversation. “Someone might come and smack you young man.”

“Vega.” The three of them said at the same time, none of them were expecting to see the goddess.

Vega smiles and laughs a little. “Not expecting me I see. Well, two of you weren’t.” Her gaze shifts over to Gaviel who visibly shifts in his seat.

“I didn’t think it would be so soon.”

“I answer as soon as I can.” She walks over to Gaviel. “You have doubts about the gift I gave you.”

“You gave it to me? But there wasn’t any signs that it was there, it just showed up.”

“Yes I did, and yes there was. When you were feeling sick all those years ago and your mother couldn’t cure what was ailing you. Not all signs are the same Gaviel, some get sick, some just come naturally like Tarq’s.”

“Why is it showing up now though?” Gav looks at her confused.

“Because until now it’s laid dormant waiting for you to need it. Your brother was meant to become a healer, yours is specifically for self defense and more if you train it right.”

“If you don’t mind me saying Vega.” Tarq puts in. “But Gaviel has been in extreme danger before but it’s never flared before, not like it did today.”

“Oh yes it has, it wasn’t just adrenaline running through his veins that made him faster, stronger and more coordinated when he needed to be. It only flared like it did because it was life or death, his life was threatened and so it reacted in turn.” Vega explains. “All the other times it wasn’t as noticeable so your response was to write it off as being stressed and scared.”

“With all do respect Vega.” Gaviel stands up. “But you chose the wrong person to give this to.”

“Did I?” Vega raises an eyebrow. “Just because you do not know how to control it doesn’t mean I’ve made a mistake. Gaviel Gardel you were born with more potential than you give yourself credit for. You’re smart, tactical, and charismatic. You’re more willing to do what those are not, I did not make a mistake when giving you magic. You have the potential to learn, you have to be willing to work with it and your magic will work with you.”

“You are braver than anybody I’ve ever known.” Amy comments. “You’re willing to follow me into some crazy shit.”

“And that takes bravery.” Tarq laughs a little. “Gaviel I am not opposed to showing you how to control it.”

“But I-”

“Don’t want it, yes I know dear but let me ask you something. Before today have you ever been a little envious of Tarq and his magic?”

“Some times, but I was also okay with the way I thought I was.” Gaviel answers her honestly.

“Give it a chance, and if you absolutely hate it I’ll take it back.”

“The gods can do that?” Tarq questions.

“Yes, well I can with my followers. You may be a household of Keenar but I’ve known Gaviel to worship and pray to me when he needed to.” Vega smiles.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Tarq mumbles to himself.

“So what do you say Gav, deal?” Vega turns her attention back to him.

“You promise to take it back if I don’t want it anymore?”

“Yes, but I will be honest with you it will be unpleasant if I do. You won’t be able to do much for a while and Tarq and Amy will have to look after you until you feel better again. You will get sick like you did when you were young, but it will be slightly worse.”

Gaviel trades worried looks with his brother and sister, they all remembered how sick he was when he was little. It was almost a week if he remembered correctly, how long would it last this time around if Vega took it back? Perhaps that was an answer he didn’t want to know.

“I’ll give it a chance.” Gav eventually says. “And you take it back if I can’t stand it.”

“I’m a goddess of my word, I will take it back if you can’t take it. But do give it a chance Gaviel, you’ve seen how brother’s helps you and your sister. Gods don’t give magic to just anyone.” She smiles before leaving.

Gaviel thinks about what she said to him for the rest of the day, he had finally come to terms that he was born with magic just like Tarq, it just showed up a little later in life than they thought. At least that’s what they thought, they knew that he had always had it after Vega explained everything to them. Now having the knowledge that she would take it away if Gav didn’t want it anymore, it was actually kind of a scary possibility. What scared the three of them the most was being told that Gav would get very sick for who knows how long. It was a lot that weighed on his mind, but he had decided that he would follow Vega’s advice and give it a chance, have his brother show him what to do. It wasn’t going to be too hard right?

[curupiracue]

The Final Fight (1)

Where could they be…? Just were…?

Here? Here? Maybe here? Or there? Or…!?

This… This feeling… like passively drowning in a swamp, like floating in ephemeral clouds of ashes… This must be Novalue!

“Aah… Aah… Calm down… If I start panicking, they will find me… Though. This sure makes it wors-”

They’re there! And what’s more, they’re still! So, in other words, they have not gone to the Mental World… They must be either setting a trap or running away. If they haven’t noticed me yet, this is my one and only chance!

“The Arm! Manifest yourself from behind me! And then I’ll observe, umblikingly, the knife you’ll throw at the- W-What?!”

They’re suddenly gone?

D-Damnit! I dropped the knife on my hand, making it easier to defend myself if need be.

But… Where could they be?

“That Arm might seem pretty good at defense, since you can summon it close by… But it will flounder at many easily reached circumstances. In other words… You can’t reach me if I attack from behind.”

(The prism spins, and senseless light is reflected with a different sense)

Since it requires looking at things, and things that obscure your view, angle, direction and naturally obstacles need to be considered when battling Ienorb.

Unless he looks over his shoulders, he cannot summon the arm behind. He can summon it from behind him, but that’s different. The only way he can quickly block attacks from that direction is if someone else is looking at him from behind. Thanks to the most brilliant tactic of closing our eyes, we’re not looking at him. His only method of attack would be to pick some other spot and throw a knife at us from there, but that would be too far away, given we’re at point blank melee range.

And as such, we can attack with free reign.

“Nim, you can go first.”

“Gotcha’! It’s Showtim- Wait… There’s something wro- ! Novalue!”

Instinctively, I opened my eyes. And I saw…

A knife flying on my direction.

Nim jumped over me.

The knife hitting Nim instead.

And Ienorb, close to both of us, his back still turned, but his neck slowly moving so that he could look at us. Ienorb, in that helpless position, covered by the fog of his mask… and behind that fog, he had three arms and an aura of darkness.

“Closing your eyes actually worked on my favor, see. Though, I admit that was not part of the plan… It still worked perfectly towards it. I was so very afraid… that you’d notice the me here is not actually me at all… HEheehehehee. ...Everything I grab with my real arm manifests in the illusory one. I’ve learned my lesson about you types: if I just go running towards the fight, I lose, if I attack from a distance, I lose. One way or the other, you get me. So I decided, you wouldn’t get me! And would, instead get this decoy! HAH! And doing it was as simple as finding a vertical wall and a grabbing my own torso! An arm for a decoy, and another one in a blind spot to finish you off by throwing a knife while you’re distracted! All while I, Ienorb Yenruoj, stand away in safety!”

“GUH!”

“Nim!” I took a step forward, preparing myself to catch him. He… Seems alright. In the sense, that he won’t die when the damage is resolved. But still… He’s badly hurt…

! No time for feeling worried. Seems like there’s more knifes coming. In fact, many knives, in rapid sequence.

“Oh, and about these knives… Turns out, since The Arm’s state reflects the real one’s, so long as I keep my knife in hand, it will always reappear in it’s hand! That, coupled with it’s speed, means that I can machine gun fire KNIVES, baby!”

“Damn… (deep breath...) Unreality.”

All of a sudden, we’re in a void.

“Nim?”

“...I’m here.”

“...Are you ok…?”

“...I’m better than you would be, were you hit with that thing.”

“...Didn’t really mean it like that.”

“Yes. It’s obvious.”

“So?”

“...” Wait for it… “...I’m pretty angry. You could probably guess that too. We can talk about this later. But, I’m not angry at you.”

“...Yeah. I guessed that too. No, rather… I just knew.”

“Can you hear me from over here?” Suddenly, Ienorb’s voice came out, with a bit of hesitance and unease that made me feel pride in my construction.

“Sure can.”

“Oh, so we can communicate. How friendly.”

“...You sure pulled out something smart there.” Nim interrupted.

“Oh? My, my… Thank you very much for the compliment, however begrudgingly it might have been given.”

“Mind if I ask you a question?”

“Ah? Go right ahead. I don’t quite figure I can, uhh, do much when you’re in that… that… that.”

“Who are you?”

“? Haven’t I told you? I’m Ien-”

“No, I didn’t mean that! You’re giving me your name! That would be what you are. I want to know who you are, what fills your mind.”

“Now hold on there! You’ve mixed it up. Indeed, you even said it yourself, “what fills your mind”, in other words, you should have asked what I am. That way, I could’ve talked about my characteristics, my memories, and such. But these are not necessarily my identity! They change with time, after all.”

“Huh?! Ugh… Now is not really the time to defy my judgement. Look. It’s simple. A name is a mere designation. It’s a thing attached to you. And it can also change, so no way is that an argument! Who I am is my identity, and that is the characteristics that make me me! Pfff… Meme… Ahem! Moving on, they might be called things in of themselves, “whats”. But they compose a who. Well, you could argue that a who is a what as well, unless, or maybe even without some sort of essential essence such as a soul. but for practical purposes, this is what it is!”

“Ah! Blasphemy! You can’t comprehend! If we’re talking about practical purposes, then naturally it’s better to just use the default system of giving your name when asked who you are.”

“Yeah, but I couldn’t care about that, see? It’s a thing of identity, of mind, of what’s inside the Mental World, not just some cheap label!”

“That label encompasses your entire existence, all those characteristics. Just like calling a sofa a sofa can immediately allow people to picture a sofa.”

“Yeah, but I’m trying to tell you, that people won’t know about you just from the label. It’s different, the sofa example is the example of a group name. It’s like saying: “I’m a human!”. This will allow people to know you’re not a manifestation. But they won’t know about you as a person, and giving your name won’t allow them to.”

“Ugh! But it’s not about allowing to them to know about it, I’m talking about what’s most appropriate!”

“Oh, don’t come with cheap terms!”

“...Shut up you two.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. It’s just difficult to do so. I tend to get worked up a lot when it comes to how things should be. Hah, funny that it’d be worded like that.”

“? Whaddya mean?”

“It’s just that I believe there’s never an appropriate what, but rather, an appropriate “how”.”

“That can mean a bunch of shtuff.”

“Well… I’m a man who likes things to follow a proper order, see. Because ultimately, nearly everything has an algorithm, a path that is ”perfection”, or tends towards it. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t do, mind you. Hence, why I insist that it’s the how, rather than the what that bothers me. You can date people of all genders, classes and ethnics, but you must date well. Though, it’s a tad complicated getting into the specifics of a good romance, so maybe a more down to earth example… You could eat omelettes or make some toast for breakfast… But  say you’re going to make the omelettes… Then the right way to go about it, which I always use, is to break two eggs, in separate containers, and then, after mixing them, put half of one of the containers away.”

“Two containers…? And you divide one…?!”

“Yes, quite. So that I end up with one egg and a half, which is the right amount. I store the leftovers for future use, of course, said use belonging to a very close future so as to avoid having them spoil. After I’m done with that,” he continued, now gesturing with his hands the actions described “I’ll put them in a frying pan, with oil already boiling. The right way to proceed then, with my cooking devices at least, would be to wait for a moment of around one minute, maximum margin of error being 15 seconds (not 16, never 16) and then flip it. Wait for exactly ¾ of the time you waited originally, turn off the fire, put it in a plate and eat it. Then, when you’re done, you clean everything up, and only then you may go about doing something else. It is the proper way to do things, and it is the how I do it, all the time.”

“Amazing… What about the salt though?”

“SALT?! Are you MAD?!”

“...I see. You’re obsessed, in other words.”

“Hm? Yes, quite. Though these are merely idiosyncrasies. My true obsession is, as you know, in my attempts to find true art.”

“Hah. Finding true art, huh… We’re not that different. So lemme’ tell you something good: it’s precisely because of that obsession that you will never find the truth.”

“What do you mean? Isn’t this… contradictory? I’m obsessed with pursuing the truth… and thus I won’t find it?”

“Yes, quite. People can’t see the truth because they don’t want to. And they don’t want to because they want to see something else. Emotions, beliefs, attachments… in other words, desires. These are what cripple truth-seeking. However, without any desire, there can’t be any seeking in the first place. That’s why it’s so difficult being a philosopher. It’s a oxymoron. A borderline paradox. Without understanding that, you may get far, but you will never reach the truth.”

“Hah! This is quite ridiculous, I must say. Enough talk. It seems apparent you can’t attack me from there. So? If you won’t come out, then I might as well steal a car and drive as fast as I can.” Proof of his sheer ignorance: pretends to steal a car rather than a hundred.

“We WILL come out, Mr. Ienorb.” I said, sticking my head out. “And I rather believe that this difficult situation is a perfect match for my own weapon...” And then my hand comes out of Unreality, holding… “It’s A Gun.” I said, and shot it (BLAM) as a “demonstration”.

“...A gun? A gun?! Are you mad?! This can’t be. A gun… A GUN! Of all things, a gun! Surely, common sense dictates that an arm possess greater force than a gun!”

“Is that right? Well then, let’s test that.”

(The prism spins, and senseless light is reflected with a different sense)

BLAM!

Hmm… He shot it.

That bullet… Is making an arc?

“And now for the second one.”

BLAM!

Hmm… No… That arc is directed towards me. If it keeps going like this, the first bullet will hit me. Novalue managed to use this to pinpoint my location, and, as such, the second one is aimed straight at me. If so, they might impact at the same time… Or he might intend to make me worry more about the first one while the second one makes a beeline towards me and catches me off-guard.

…!? No, wait, this is…!

“THE ARM!”

Pum.

“Hah, hahaahaah… Well… That was sneaky. Thought I wouldn’t be able to catch it in time. Novalue, you tried to distract me with figuring out the details of your homing bullets, as well as the mind games of the “first” and “second” bullets… So much so, that I forgot about the actual first one. The first time you shot… Since you weren’t aiming anywhere, I just passed it off as a demonstration, as you showing off… By the time I learned that you didn’t need to aim anywhere to hit me, I was no longer focused on it. But still, these bullets are weak! The Arm can easily catch them, so long as I see them coming! They’re fast for you, but I’m on a whole other level!”

“Tsk...”

“Oh hoh! I see the third bullet coming! It’s going on a straight line towards me! This will be even easier! The Arm!”

I can see it clearly! I’ll easily block this… Since they’re constructions of similar symbolism, The Arm can even absorb these! I’ll just…

...Is Novalue smiling at the distance?

Why is he…? …!

The bullet! Made a sharp turn?!

“You’ve got everything wrong. The first one was a fake sneak attack. In reality, I just wanted to find out where you were. You should have focused more on the second bullet. By the time I shot it, I knew your location, so I could make my gambit. I shot it off in a perpendicular angle to the straight line towards you. That way, it would be off to the sides, and you wouldn’t see it that well… And it’s better off like that. Because it wasn’t aimed at you at all.”

“?!” Suddenly, I see, from the corner of my eye, a book flying away from behind me, almost disintegrated… and a bullet on it’s cover.

“See, it was aimed at that book over there. And that’s not all. The third bullet, too, was aimed at that book. Since you were in the middle of the line between the book and the pistol… you probably thought that it was aimed at you. But that would be a mistake. And now that the second bullet has arrived right on schedule and knocked that book away...”

“The bullet has made a sharp turn right outside of your reach…! And don’t worry… I’ve calculated it well. It won’t go so far off as to miss you entirely. So Ienorb?”

“Ghh… I-I’ll block this bullet nonetheless! There’s time... ! With my superior speed! THE ARM!”

Vwooosh!

POM!

“Block the bullet? I don’t quite believe you can block it by ramming your chest towards it… but nice try at the impossible nonetheless. Impossible, since your speed too had been well calculated. See, though Nim may be powerful, he is far too impulsive. When I move, it’s because I’m already certain that victory is mine.”

(The prism spins, and senseless light is reflected with a different sense)

Ienorb, whose position was now more clear and visible to us, flew backwards with great force and crushed the bookshelf, which then fell on top of him.

“Ouch.” That in itself couldn’t cause any actual damage to him, but still…

It’s like getting your arm hugged with intense force, while someone rubs their cheek on your shoulder…

Wait, what?

“OH MY GOD THAT WAS SO COOL!” Yes, Nim, part of that reason being that you were quiet the whole time. Thank you for that. “Way to show him who rocks, Novalue! Esfregaesfregaesfregaesfrega…!”

“Uhh, thanks...” I looked down at him, and he looked back at me with shining eyes.

“...It’s too bad you’re short though. I hate having to kneel to do this.”

“...Well, if my shortness is such a concern…”

BRAM!

“...!? Seems like he’s up again.”

“Oh, so you’re useless after all.” Nim said, pouting “He already blew up the bookcase.”

Ienorb got up, and scratched the small crack in his chest. It was very subtle, but that part was off colour: rather than white like the rest of the suit, rainbow tones flew from it in small doses. Thanks to it being a small wound, noticing that was quite the herculean feat, however.

“Well, well. You did outsmart me, fair and square. However, Novalue… That construction of yours, is not strong at all. Were you to fill me with bullets, like a pincushion with needles, I would still fare reasonably well.”

“True, I suppose. But Ienorb, we already know your position. What now? I can gift you some more bullets for you to block with your body, if you wish.”

“Hah. That trick won’t work twice. Next time I defend myself from a bullet, I won’t try to grab it, and will instead block it with two arms, as well as making sure there’s plenty of coverage in my small shield. Oh, idea! I will just use something as a shield. I could even use myself again. Heh, I, Ienorb, am truly an evolutionary creature, a “magikarp” as they say.”

“You gonna keep chatting, or ya gonna’ summon that knife behind our backs? ...From behind our backs. Literally.”

“Just so that you can hide away in nothingness? No thanks. In fact… Difficult as it was, I’ve made my decision.” Ienorb jumped, and summoned the arm to hold his torso “The Arm! allow me to FLY!”

“Wait, you can’t mean...”

“Yes I can! Though it’s immensely regretful… well, this was the place I was born… I’ll still risk it all and run away! It’s evident you two are much too strong, and I’m working with a time limit, I believe.”

“Nim!”

“Yeah, I got it! Hang on tight!”

(The prism spins, and senseless light is reflected with a different sense)

Suddenly, Novalue is enveloped by water forming tendrils. These tendrils, being used as a rope, were, in turn, connected to my arm.

“Water Rope. Time to see who’s faster, Ienorb~”

Then suddenly, countless more of these came from me, and latched on to multiple objects, before pulling.

...And then Novalue and I went flying.