#(so glad you guys liked the previous one cause it took it's time XD)

[granlance]

"Ten Pokémon, the ancient hero's loyal retinue— though these companions now are gone, their noble duty passes on to generations new.

"The people thank the ten descendants for their gen'rous toil by lining vessels built to last with water clear and choice repast before the arenas' soil."

[crystalninjaphoenix]

What Can You Do?

Switch AU

A JSE Fanfic

After a break last week, here we are again, with a new fic. For the Switch AU, in case you couldn't tell XD The boys are still in IRIS, so there's not much to be said for the summary. Anti tries to think of ways out, while JJ and Schneep have to undergo more tests. JJ in particular is having a bad time, as IRIS tries to learn more about his magic and what it is capable of. And yeah. Read on to learn more. Hope you enjoy!

More of This AU | | First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Read on AO3 under CrystalNinjaPhoenix

“I’m not your fucking lab rat. You got that?” Anti glared up into the camera in the corner of the room. “I know you’re watching. Someone has to monitor this footage. You hear me? I’m not a lab rat.”

The camera didn’t answer, of course. Anti very much doubted there was any way for IRIS to communicate with him while he was in this room. Short of coming in themselves. And after thinking about that, he was glad they didn’t have a microphone or something in here. He was already being watched, which he hated. If some faceless voice from a speaker tried to order him around, he would... He wasn’t sure what he would do. But it would definitely involve destruction of property.

He sighed, and climbed down from the chair he’d been standing on. He dragged it over to the base of the camera so he could get right up in its stupid lens. Now, he left it there. Not worth dragging back over unless he had to. He sat down in the second chair instead. This was the one that the IRIS scientist usually sat in when they came in, and he took some satisfaction in claiming it for himself.

Now... to think some more.

He and Marvin had been used to test something. He was sure of it. His guess was that the weird stone tablet gave off some energy or something, and IRIS wanted to see how it would react with people. Why him and Marvin specifically, though? He understood why Schneep wasn’t there, he was no doubt having his own experiments done on him, and the same for JJ. But why wasn’t Jackie involved? Maybe they only had two chairs. He chuckled at the thought, then returned to seriously trying to figure it out.

Marvin’s eyes had started to bleed... like what Distorter did to people. And Anti had felt dizzy and disconnected from everything, it was also pretty similar to what Distorter could do. Did that stone tablet produce similar reactions? So... did IRIS choose him and Marvin because they were vulnerable to Distorter? But again, why not include Jackie? The guy had been kidnapped by that monster for nine fucking months. 

Or maybe it had to do with that Assessment thing. Marvin mentioned they gave it to him. Maybe something in his results meant IRIS was okay with using him as a test subject? Maybe they gave it to Jackie but he didn’t get the right results?

Anti rubbed his eyes. So much to think about. He wasn’t sure that figuring out what IRIS planned for them would help them escape. But there wasn’t much he could do in here other than wonder about that.

Alright. He knew where he, Marvin, and Jackie were being kept. Schneep and JJ would probably be on a lower floor. If he could just figure out where they were, they could make a run for it. But how could they do that?

After thinking for a while, Anti came to a conclusion. But it wasn’t one he liked. If they were going to escape, they had to wait for the right moment. He didn’t want to wait. He didn’t want to let IRIS do whatever they wanted to him, or stand by while they fucked with his friends. He wanted to punch every single one of them in their stupid faces every time he saw them. But clearly, fighting wouldn’t get them anywhere. He had to be careful about this. Save his energy for the moment it counted.

He groaned out loud. Playing nice with people like IRIS wasn’t in his nature. But who knows? Maybe if he stops causing so much trouble, they’ll lower their guard. But he shouldn’t be totally cooperative all of a sudden, that’d be suspicious. God. Just planning what to do was hard. If only he could find some way to keep in contact with Marvin and Jackie.

His eyes drifted back to the camera. That thing... it was so weird. It looked super old-fashioned, with its bulky rectangular body, but the actual lens was pretty high-quality. He should know; when he decided to start using a facecam for his YouTube channel he went super in-depth on his research, wanting to find the best camera for the cheapest price. The material of the camera body, meanwhile, was weird. It looked like it was mostly made of plastic. More than it should be. Usually, electronics might have a plastic covering for decoration, or in places where people interacted, like keyboards, but all the important parts were metal. That wasn’t the case for this IRIS camera. Except for the lens, it all seemed plastic. Even the screws, which you usually really didn’t want to be plastic, in case they snapped.

Maybe it wasn’t plastic. Maybe it was some other material. Something extremely durable. When they had that tripod in the room, the camera was able to survive his attacks in a way that plastic wouldn’t. It was also very stiff and hard to move. The camera in the corner was designed to move on a swivel—some sort of ball joint, he was guessing—but in the past, when he threw that bouncy ball at it, it wasn’t affected. Maybe there was a lock or something...

“Ah fuck, you guys didn’t let me get my bouncy ball!” Anti suddenly gasped. They made him move rooms, and the ball was left behind in the last one. ��You bastards! Giving me something to entertain myself with, then taking it away!” He slumped further into the chair. “I mean... it was really patronizing. But still.”

But back to his thoughts. Maybe... maybe there was a way to make the camera swivel. If he could fiddle around with it, maybe there was something he could do. There had to be a small gap where the body of the camera met the stick part it was hanging from. Maybe he could... jam something in there... or something...

phw.Ho yisena l te

Anti tensed. He stood up and looked around the room. “Whisper?” he breathed.

He’d almost forgotten about them. That weird voice who came to him before. They said he was special. They were familiar with IRIS and Distorter. And now... they were back.

“Wh-what do you mean?” Anti whispered.

But there was no response. Maybe they were just... passing through.

‘Help is on the way,’ they’d said. That was a relief to hear. But Anti couldn’t afford to relax. He didn’t know when that help would be coming. He didn’t know if they would succeed. He had to keep planning on his own. Always good to have a backup.

If he could jam the camera, he could create a blind spot. A blind spot to do... something.

It was a basic outline, but he would have so much time to make it better. After all, what else could he do in here?

Anti sighed. He wondered how the others were faring...

———————

JJ wasn’t sure how much time had passed. There was no way to tell in this cell. There was nothing at all. The white walls were beginning to drive him a little crazy. He remembered reading about a form of torture, during a late-night internet binge, where someone is kept in an all-white room and deprived of all other sensations in order to make them lose their personal identity. This cell was not near that level, but the longer he was here, the more he could understand it. He didn’t quite feel like a person while stuck in this bland, silent space.

They’d sent him six meals. Did that mean two days had passed? Or maybe three? Six days, even? His internal clock was messed up.

He hadn’t been stuck in the room all the time. No, he almost wished that was the case. They’d taken him out three times. They put those strange magic-muffling cuffs on him and took him down to that octagonal room, that room with the beds where they strapped him down and stared at him. Nothing much has happened the first time with the scanner. The second time occurred two meals later, and they’d done something similar. It was the strangest thing. His magic had reacted slightly, rising up without him willing it. The mufflers had immediately shocked him for the reaction, even though there was nothing he could have done to stop it. Something IRIS did had called his magic forth, and he had no control over it.

He could only lie there and try to ignore the pain and the staring eyes that watched his suffering and did nothing to stop it.

The third time was two meals after that. They took him to that room again, put him on a bed again, and tried something else. The muffling cuffs had been exchanged for a different pair, made out of a clear material instead of a white one. They did that same thing again. Clamped a cuff down on his arm and fiddled with the connected machine until his magic started to rise up in response. This time, the clear cuffs began to light up with the blue glow of his power. But they didn’t shock him right away. He was perfectly aware as he saw that blue glowing magic of his travel down a clear tube connected to the cuffs and into a small box. IRIS was... they were taking his power.

He’d panicked then, instinctively trying to cast a spell—maybe he could freeze the cuffs, maybe he could cut through the tube—! But the cuffs flowed a brighter blue as he started to draw some more magic out, and then they shocked him.

Dr. Day was there. She was there for every test. For that one, she finally spoke to him again instead of the other doctors in the room. “Please do not try summoning your anomalous abilities, subject,” she’d said. “If the energy level rises above acceptable limits, the syphons are designed to stop that, similar to the mufflers.”

He couldn’t say anything back, of course. His hands were cuffed. And he didn’t want to hurt his throat trying to talk to her. It wasn’t worth the pain for what little an effect it would have.

 So he had to stay there. Silent. Listening to them talk around him. They removed the clear cuffs after a while and took away the box they were connected to. Dr. Day mentioned a bunch of different types of tests—heat reaction test, irritation test, chemical test, all sorts of tests that JJ had never heard of—that they would do on the box of magic. Then they took him back to the cell. He felt dizzy after that, and his body was filled with a shaky kind of fatigue. They’d taken some of his magic. And these were the consequences. He’d fallen into the bed and fell asleep almost right away.

Even now, hours later, after a nap and a meal, he was still thinking about that. They took his magic. His mind kept circling around that single idea. They took his magic. They took his magic.

Why did it bother him so much? JJ really thought about it. Would he be this disturbed if they’d drawn blood? No. What if they cut his hair for a sample? Creepy, but still no. Creepier than drawing blood in his mind, which was fascinating to think about but not the point. The point was that he felt violated by what they’d done. It was like they’d opened up his mind to look at what was inside—something that they might also be able to do, who knew at this point? His magic was a key part of who he was, more so than any other physical part of his body. And they’d just taken it. Even though it would recharge, even though he knew he could get it back even though he’d already recovered from the side effects, he still felt its loss.

...what were they going to do with it? What were they going to do with him?

But soon, something happened to distract him from the hole in his chest. The door to the cell opened again. JJ looked up, slightly confused. He thought there’d been a pattern established. They came to get him every two meals. But only one meal had passed. Yet here Dr. Day and the guards were, with those muffling cuffs in hand. “Alright, subject,” she said.

Jameson stood up from the bed and held out his hands. As before, the guards snapped the cuffs on and undid the ankle cuff. He considered trying to make a run for it, but the guard was holding the cuffs’ connected box firmly—JJ was pretty sure that there was a battery in there—and he knew he wasn’t strong enough to force his way past these guards anyway. So he tamped down the urge and followed the guards quietly.

They walked down the hallway in the opposite direction they usually went. So they weren’t heading to that octagonal room. Part of JJ was relieved about that, but the relief didn’t last long. It was overpowered by the part of him that was afraid. Where were they taking him? To some other room, probably. A room meant for a different purpose. But what purpose? Was it going to happen now? Were they going to... operate on him? He almost threw up from fear just thinking about it.

They went around a corner, and then another, and walked towards a set of elevator doors at the end of the hallway. As they waited for it to arrive, JJ went over the layout in his head. So this floor was a U shape, assuming that the other doors lining the halls only led to more rooms and not more corridors. At one end of the U was the octagonal room, at the other end was the elevator. 

Then the doors opened and they went inside. Jameson glanced at the elevator buttons. A guard quickly stepped into his line of sight, blocking the buttons—but they didn’t move fast enough. JJ saw five buttons and he saw Dr. Day press the second from the bottom. A five-story building, then. Was JJ’s cell on the bottom floor? Or maybe the top floor? Which one would be more difficult to escape from?

The elevator arrived. The hallway that extended before them was entirely made of featureless metal. The guards pulled him down to a set of double-doors, which slid open as they approached. Dr. Day continued down the hallway while the guards went through the doors. There was a small room beyond, empty except for another set of doors right across.

The guards stopped in this small room. One took something off his belt—a ring of clear plastic. No, it’s another cuff. Like those syphons. JJ tensed, but there’s nowhere to run. He froze, staying completely still as one of the guards grabbed his arm and yanked it upwards. The other snapped the cuff around his wrist and removed the mufflers. Then the second set of doors in the room opened. The guards stayed still. JJ stared at them. One of them reached out and nudged him forwards. Getting the hint, JJ hurried through the doors. The guards stayed where they were, and the doors slid shut, separating him from them.

He was now in a small room, made of all metal except for a glass window. Through the window he could see Dr. Day and the other scientist types. There was also a camera in each corner of the room. He was being watched from all angles. A shiver ran down his spine. To distract himself, he looked down at the cuff on his wrist. There was a part of it  that bulged outward, and he could see a black box inside. A battery, maybe?

“Hello, subject.” Dr. Day’s voice came from one of the corners, tinny and echoey even in such a small space.

JJ frowned. This high-tech company couldn’t get better speakers? 

“Today we are testing your abilities,” Dr. Day continued. “If you would please turn to your left.”

Well that was suspicious. JJ cautiously looked to the side...

Part of the wall slid open, and out popped—was that a turret?! A red line on its side started to power up, light heading to the point—

JJ reacted instinctively, ducking downwards and conjuring up a shield around him. A large ball of something splattered against his shield. Blood?! No, blood wasn’t cherry red. This was some sort of paintball. He stared at the splatter mark on the shield in confusion. As his shield faded away, the paint fell to the metal ground, splashing on its surface.

The line on the turret started glowing again, yellow this time. JJ quickly conjured up his shield again and a yellow ball of liquid hit the crystalline blue magic. It immediately started to hiss upon contact. Acid?! JJ scrambled backwards, pressing against the opposite wall. The shield disappeared as soon as he got a couple feet away and the acid fell to the ground. It didn’t affect the metal floor at all. Maybe the floor was metal for that exact reason.

Once more, the turret lit up, this time the line glowing blue. JJ pulled up the shield preemptively, well before the turret fired its glowing blue projectile—but the shield did nothing. The ball passed right through it without breaking the shield and hit him square in the chest. JJ stumbled back—but it didn’t hurt. If anything, once he recovered from the force of it, he felt... better? More energized?

“Calibration complete,” Dr. Day’s voice said. “Now that we know the basics, proceed with the higher test.”

Higher test?!

More panels on the walls slid open and more turrets poked out. Their sides lit up with red or yellow or blue. Jameson’s head whipped around. They were all around him! He dropped into a crouch and covered his head with his arms. A glowing blue bubble shield formed around him just as all the turrets fired. The red and yellow liquid splatted against the shield, the yellow splashes hissing against his magic. The blue projectiles went right through, hitting him. But just as before, he felt better. He looked out at the shield and pushed more magic out towards it, reinforcing it with layers.

His wrist stung.

JJ winced and looked down at the cuff. There was a faint blue glow in the middle of its clear form. Reacting to how much magic he was casting, he supposed. What did Dr. Day say? It will activate if the energy levels aren’t within limits? So... he couldn’t cast strong spells.

The turrets continued to fire while he thought. Even though he’d reinforced the shield, the yellow liquid was burning through slowly, smoke rising from the point of contact. They’d burn through eventually! He didn’t want that to hit his skin! Alright, he needed a low-power spell that would hopefully disable these turrets. But they looked sturdy, could any low-power spell disable them? Well he had to try something!

He took a deep breath, and then shot to his feet suddenly, throwing his arms out. The shield flew outwards, magic smacking into the turrets. They stopped! Great! He did it!

But then he glanced through the glass wall and saw some of the scientists pressing buttons. Oh. Had they stopped the turrets manually? That did bring down his mood a bit.

JJ continued to watch the scientists through the glass wall. Dr. Day was giving orders to the others. The turrets withdrew into the wall, panels sliding shut. Instead, the whole ceiling retracted, taking the square lights that were embedded in the metal with it. The room was momentarily dim, the only light coming from the room on the other side of the glass wall. But then the new ceiling started glowing orange. JJ looked up to see swirls of glowing hot metal. Like a stovetop, but much bigger. He gasped and dropped back down to the ground, waiting for the hot metal to get closer to him—but it didn’t. It stayed where it was. And now that he was looking closer, he could see that there was another see-through ceiling in place, preventing the metal from reaching him anyway.

“Begin heating test,” Dr. Day’s voice said.

What the hell was a heating test?! JJ stood up and looked over at her warily, then looked back up to the ceiling. The metal coils were getting brighter. Jameson had been a bit chilly in this room before, stuck in this thin-cloth short-sleeve outfit. But now the room was a more comfortable temperature. And it... was getting warmer...

His head whipped towards the glass wall. Are you insane?! he signed. I’m not heatproof!

Dr. Day gave no indication that she could understand him.

Clearly they weren’t going to be of any help. After all, that was the point of testing something. To see how it reacted to something without the tester interfering. He needed to figure out some way to deal with this himself. He had some time, but not much. It was already as hot as a sunny spring day, and it was getting hotter.

Destroying the metal coils would take too much energy. He could try to mess with their power source, but he didn’t know where that was. Maybe he could use ice somehow? Ice spells came to him easily. JJ’s mind scrambled for a solution. He crouched down in the corner and touched the walls. Frost spread from the spots where his hands met the walls, ice crystals quickly growing from a small covering to inch-long spikes. It almost looked like the walls were growing fur. His breath began to puff in the air.

But the heat continued to grow. The frost could only reach halfway up the walls. Any higher and it simply melted, water trickling down until it froze at the base where the wall met the floor. JJ shivered—both with fear and the cold. He watched as the frost melted further. No! He pushed more of his magic out, shuddering. The frost was overtaken by sheets of ice. He felt that sting in his wrist again but he kept going. The pain rose but he kept going. He wasn’t going to let them cook him in this small metal room!

After a while, the metal coils in the ceiling started to fade, their glow vanishing. The ice could reach higher up the walls. JJ glanced at the glass wall. He could see the scientists pressing buttons. They were turning off the heat. But he didn’t trust them, and kept up the icy spell—though he did lower its intensity so he didn’t have to deal with the pain radiating up his arm from the cuff.

“Begin induction test,” Dr. Day’s voice said.

Induction? Was that something else related to heat? Or was Jameson thinking of conduction instead? Either way, he kept the icy spell up, just in case.

Beneath the ice, more panels slid open on the walls, cracking the thin plates and causing the frost to fall off. But this time, turrets didn’t appear. Instead, flat circles of glass popped out, set in a metal base. JJ looked at them, confused. They were slightly convex, bulging outwards like lenses. He was half-tempted to touch them but clearly that wouldn’t be a good idea.

A slight humming filled the air.

JJ dropped concentration on the icy spell. His eyes darted back and forth, waiting for something to happen. The ice remained on the walls, radiating out from the corner he was sitting in.

...and after a moment, he felt it.

Just like that time before, when he was strapped down on the bed. They managed to pull his magic out of him. It was happening again! He could feel it welling up underneath his skin, a familiar sensation happening without his control. Panic shot through him. He scrambled up and ran over to the glass wall, shaking his head. Stop doing that! he signed. Stop it stop it please! His hands blurred together, gestures falling apart.

Dr. Day stared at him with an impassive face.

Please stop it! JJ pleaded. This isn’t how things are supposed to be! Blue sparkles flew off his fingers as he spoke. The stinging from the cuff was back. How can you do this?! Why are you doing this?!

Pain raced up his arm. Jameson hissed and clamped his free hand around the cuff. He had to get this thing off! If he could get it off then this would stop! He could see a couple small seams in the plastic, so he tried digging his fingernails into there, but they barely caught on the line. He scrambled at it, scratching, trying to find a grip. More bits of light dripped from his hands as his eyes started to glow brighter and brighter.

His whole arm was shaking and he gritted his teeth against the agony that was shooting through his muscles. To hell with careful prying! He started banging his arm against the glass wall, hoping that the impact would somehow loosen the cuff that was sending acid down his nerves. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! 

Dr. Day flinched and stepped back from the wall. JJ would have felt some satisfaction in scaring her if he hadn’t been wholly focused on the pain climbing across his shoulder and onto his chest. Tears blurred his vision. His knees gave out and he fell to the floor, his whole body enveloped in a blue glow. He kept trying to grab his magic and pull it back, but it was slipping out of his grasp, like trying to hold onto jelly. Magic was starting to pool on the floor around him. Leaking out from his body like a puddle of blood. His arm twitched randomly as his muscles spasmed in response to the pain.

The hum changed slightly. The faintest shift in tone and pitch. The puddle of magic around him froze over, a crystalline sheet covering it. After that, icy spikes shot up around him, growing taller and taller, blue light glowing from within. It was that same icy spell he was casting before, now amplified. And growing more powerful still, as the ice spikes began to reach towards the ceiling. JJ tried to reel back his magic, tried to dig in his heels, but he couldn’t do anything. Whatever was doing this—was it the hum?—was just too powerful for him.

And the hum changed again. The ice spikes stopped growing. JJ could feel the magic shift direction, no longer flowing outwards, but circling through his own body. It built up inside him, pressing against his flesh, an uncomfortable feeling that only made the pain from the cuff worse. It was all over his body. He started to thrash wildly—make it stop! Make it stop! Please, anyone, make it stop!

Something began to shift within him. Bones creaking, blood boiling, skin feeling tight. He recognized this sensation. This was the start of—how were they doing this?! How were they forcing him to cast this spell? No—no! He didn’t want—A sob caught in his throat. Someone make it stop! Dear god make it stop!

But there was nothing he could do. He curled up, feeling the effects of the magic. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. The spell wasn’t supposed to take this long. It wasn’t supposed to be so uncomfortable, like his skin was turning against himself. A prickling sensation spread across his body, growing to painful levels—

And then the feeling faded. He blinked. The room was suddenly sharper somehow. He tried to push himself up, but his arms were no longer arms. They were wings. Somehow, IRIS had forced him to cast his animal transformation spell. He was no longer a human, but instead a bird of some sort. This was the form he’d been trying to achieve for a while now, so he knew what it looked like: a raven, but with some additional white feathers along the edges of the wings.

“Subject, can you still understand us?” Dr. Day said.

Jameson looked up towards the glass wall. He flapped his wings weakly. There was still pain radiating up his left wing, but the cuff was no longer there. In fact, he could see it on the ground.

Wait a second! If he was out of the cuff, he could cast spells on his own again! He just needed to concentrate enough to turn human again. He got to his feet, hopping around. Come on, come on, focus! God, that humming was really making it hard to think. He had to get away from it! Where was it coming from? Oh, right—those glass circles on the wall. Jameson turned his attention to the nearest one. He flew into the air—somehow it felt as easy as walking—and pecked at it, beak jamming against the hard surface. Surprisingly, it didn’t hurt... at first. After a while, he had to stop as the ache started to reverberate up his beak. He landed on the ground again and looked back at the glass wall. He could see the scientists pressing buttons and writing things down.

And then that uncomfortable sensation returned. The prickling all over his skin, the creaking in his bones. He felt a weight inside him, pushing against his flesh. At least he was out of the cuff now, so it didn’t hurt. But the discomfort still caused him to fall, tiny bird legs collapsing under his weight. He shifted back, agonizingly slowly. By the time he was in human form he was gasping, feeling shaky and sick.

Why? Why could they do that? Why would they want to do that to him? He lifted his head up to the glass wall, and his eyes landed on Dr. Day, who was staring at him in turn.

Rage suddenly surged through his chest. They wanted to watch him?! They wanted to see what he could do?! Well he’ll show them! He scrambled to his feet and rushed at the glass wall, magic gathering around his hands. He yelled wordlessly and slammed his hands against the wall—

CRAK.

The wall didn’t crack like normal glass would. It was more like the windshield of a car, the way it almost seemed to crumple, but still stayed together in one piece. Dr. Day shouted out—and he could actually hear that, causing him to realize for the first time that the glass must have been soundproof. Well it couldn’t be soundproof if it was broken! Jameson bared his teeth at Dr. Day and reeled back his hands again—

A sharp pain hit the back of his neck.

Jameson stopped, spinning around and reaching back. He felt something small there, and he grabbed hold of it, bringing it around so he could look at it. A dart. A thin glass dart with an inch-long needle. He looked up and noticed another turret poking out from a panel on the wall. A different type of turret, clearly one designed to fire darts instead of paint or energy balls.

Suddenly, he was hit with a wave of exhaustion, so abrupt and complete that it almost felt like a physical thing. That was fast! Way too fast, didn’t drugs usually take a while to have an effect? It shouldn’t be doing this!

But regardless of what it should or shouldn’t be doing, the drug was already dragging him downwards. JJ collapsed. He was asleep before he even hit the ground.

———————

“You all are fucking crazy!”

Schneep shouted that, then ran to the side, barely dodging the robot attacking him. This one had blades for hands! What the fuck?! This was the third one of these tests he’d been in, and it was the first time the robots had blades.

“You know if I get cut I expect you to heal that!” he yelled at the glass wall, through which he could see the handler and other doctors. They didn’t respond, but that was fine, because he had to keep dodging.

He’d taken to calling this room with tha panels in the floor and the robots the “training room.” It made sense, because they seemed to be training his abilities. The room could summon a seemingly endless amount of these bots, and create pillars and pits by raising the panels up and down. Making difficult terrain that he had to maneuver around. Right now, he jumped into one of the pits in the ground. It was about four feet deep, so he had to duck down so his head and shoulders wouldn’t poke out. The robot with the knife hands wheeled after him, stopping right at the edge of the pit. It started to lean downwards, but he was faster. His hand shot up and grabbed the bot’s ankle, sending a surge of electricity through its body. It tumbled forward into the pit and he quickly pressed himself against the corner to avoid it.

A loud thudding sound echoed through the room, causing the ground to tremble. “Scheisse!” Schneep swore. They’d brought out another new robot in this test. One that was taller than him, with thick arms and legs. He popped his head out to look for it. There! It was approaching slowly, step by step. Its head was a pyramid shape, and one point was directed right at him. That point started to glow red.

Schneep ducked into the pit again, avoiding a laser blast that went right above it. Alright, it fired, and the bots with lasers usually had a charging period of about ten seconds. He grabbed the edge of the pit and pulled himself out, leaping onto the floor in an acrobatic flipping maneuver he wouldn’t have been able to do three months ago. Using the momentum from the flip he went straight into a run, sprinting for the big robot. Its laser started to light up again and he ducked to the side, hiding behind a pillar and then continuing to run.

He quickly closed the distance. The big robot raised its arms and swung them towards him. He fell to the ground, feeling the wind from the motion whistle above his head, and dove through the robot’s legs. Now behind it, he grabbed onto its back, wrapping his arms around its torso. He couldn’t just shock this one; he’d tried that earlier, it was too resistant. But he saw a glass square on its back that might be helpful. So he pulled himself up the back until he could reach it and then locked his legs around the bot’s torso to free his arm. There were some wires behind the glass. He pulled back a fist and shattered it with a swift punch. The bot’s arms were flailing around—it was going to hit him! Schneep quickly reached into the new hole and grabbed hold of the wires, shocking it with all his might.

The robot immediately slumped, falling forwards. Schneep held tight to it as it impacted the ground with a teeth-rattling THUMP. Then, panting, he stood up, looking over at the glass wall.

“Thank you, 1-019,” the handler said. “That will be all for today. Head for the doors.”

Schneep scowled. “Fine, fine.” He turned around and walked for the doors. It was like this the last two times, too. As he approached the doors, they slid open, and inside the little airlock-type room there were four guards waiting for him. He walked into the room, the doors closed, and they stood there for a moment until the other doors opened up, with the handler now on the other side. Schneep was tempted to make a run for it, but he really didn’t want to experience that disabling signal ever again. Maybe one day he’ll run. But he had to be sure there was a chance. Not just for him, but for his friends, too.

They started walking down the hallway—but then, something happened that hadn't happened the last two times. Another set of double-doors opened up. Two guards stepped out—and one was holding someone in his arms.

“Jameson!” Schneep gasped. He rushed forward, but one of the guards grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back. “Let me go! Let me go, motherfucker! Jameson!”

JJ didn’t answer. He was unconscious or sleeping or something. He looked so pale. So tired. So weak.

“What have you done to him?!” Schneep demanded, trying to pull free. Another guard grabbed his other arm, but he continued to struggle. “What have you fucking done?!”

Another door slid open nearby, and a woman with short black hair, wearing a white coat, left, along with several others. She saw Schneep, then the guards, and then the handler. “Markus,” she said.

“Pauline,” the handler said. “I wasn’t aware you had the EC chamber booked.”

“I wasn’t aware you had the RT chamber booked.”

“It’s booked this time every day for the foreseeable future. It’s on the schedule.”

Schneep didn’t care at all about this conversation. He just wanted to see Jameson! “What did you do to him?!” he shouted at the woman. “What did you do to my friend?!”

The woman looked at him, surprised. Then looked back at the handler. “I thought the EX subjects were going to have their vocal cords—”

“That was scrapped after 1-003,” the handler said hurriedly. “Logistical issues. Communication is essential.”

Schneep suppressed his shiver of horror. “Don’t ignore me! Wh-what did you do to Jameson! Why is he asleep?!”

“Because he was causing trouble,” the woman said bluntly. “Markus, you can use the lift first. I see this will be difficult.”

“We can handle it,” the handler said. “I won’t make you wait.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed. She glared at Schneep, and he forced himself to stop struggling. If he caused too much trouble, they’d take separate elevators. And he needed them to be in the same one. So he could check on JJ, but also—so he could see where he went afterwards. “...ffffine,” the woman said slowly. “You lead the way.”

The handler nodded and gestured to the guards. They started dragging Schneep down the hallway. He growled, but kept pace with them. The woman and the other two guards followed, and Schneep kept glancing over his shoulder, checking that they were still there. That Jameson was still there.

The elevator was a bit of a squeeze with all of them inside. By that stroke of luck, Schneep was standing right by the guard carrying JJ. He stared at him intently, wishing that he could reach out to him, to maybe shake him awake. But the guards were still holding his arms, not trusting him. So he could only stare at JJ. He could tell he was breathing fine. Slow and steady, not labored or heavy like he was afraid it would be. His skin and hair looked a bit sweaty, though. No doubt they’d put him through some vigorous tests, if what they were doing to him was any indication.

They arrived at the floor with all the cells, and both groups left at once. So JJ was being kept here, too! That was good to know! And as the handler and guards came to a stop by Schneep’s cell, he saw the woman and the two guards take Jameson further down the hallway. Schneep dug his heels in as they tried to push him into the cell, craning his neck after the other group. They went around the corner! That’s where JJ—

“Stop being difficult, 1-019,” the handler said, and the guard gave Schneep a shove. He stumbled forward into the cell, and the other guards followed him in. They dragged him over to the bed and sat him down, cuffing his ankle once again.

Schneep glared at the handler still standing in the doorway. “You IRIS people are making a big mistake,” he growled.

The handler raised an eyebrow. “Get some rest, 1-019,” he said. The guards walked back over, leaving the room, and the handler shut the door.

Schneep continued to glare at the now-closed door. Then he sighed and laid back down on the bed. He was tired. So tired after three of these testing sessions. And there would be more, he knew.

But he wasn’t making empty threats. IRIS really was making a big mistake. He knew where Jameson was being held now. They were in the same location. Keeping them so close would end up shooting IRIS in the foot, he was sure. Together, they could fight their way out. They just... needed to be not so tired.

“You’ll see,” Schneep whispered. “You will see.”

Then he closed his eyes to rest.

[hongjoongtrasher]

Goodbye baby goodbye

Genre: Angst (because we all like to hurt ourself), smut, fluff

Pairing: office worker!seonghwa x female reader, ceo!hongjoong x female reader, established relationship, lovers to ennemies.

Other: little brother!jongho, best friend!yunho, colleague!yeosang, roommate!san, office worker!mingi, manager!wooyoung.

Warning: cheating, betrayal, manipulations, protected sex (be safe kiddos).

Notes: Purely for entertainment and this is the first time I’m writing about ATEEZ, please have some mercy on me xD. No idea about the words count. Triggering themes will be add along chapters.

Summary: It all began when your now 4 year-old boyfriend Seonghwa had an invitation to his entreprise’s party. Surprised to hear you could tag along, you met Kim Hongjoong, the CEO and close friend of Seonghwa. Rumored to be a playboy, the rich boss of your boyfriend is determined to add you to his conquests.

Masterlist

« My boss told me you were also invited » claimed your boyfriend while picking a piece of cake with his fork. 

This made you drop yours as your eyes widened from the surprise. Park Seonghwa has been your boyfriend for four years now, and he was working at a powerful enterprise, headed by a young CEO. It was hard to say you knew this enigmatic CEO since you never met him, but Seonghwa was close to him, that’s all what you knew. 

« Me ? » you asked, unsure about the matter. 

Your boyfriend nodded, confirming his previous statement. Every year, KQ Enterprise was holding a party with their employees to congratulate them whom worked hard and contributed to make it a great place to work. You were definitely proud of your boyfriend’s hard work since he was respected and loved by his colleagues, which brought him to be a manager of a whole department there. 

« Yeah. We can bring one person, so…I thought my girlfriend would have liked to tag along. » he chuckled lightly, taking your hand in his on the table. « Y/N, you’ve been by my side for a while, and you know better than anyone how much I worked hard there. That’s why I want you to come. » he explained, making you nod softly.

That’s how you were invited to the reception. Unlike your boyfriend, you weren’t working in a famous enterprise. You were still studying at university and also working part-time at a local restaurant, that’s why you couldn’t do much for him except listening to his complains when he had some, or just being a supportive girlfriend. You two met at your last year of high school. Seonghwa was quite popular back then, but you never really grew interested in him until he helped you one day at the library. From the top of your toes, unable to reach the damn book you wanted, a large hand reached it to slowly takes the book out. It was probably cliché, but probably because you were yourself, he had begun to slowly reach out for you, being first a friend and after a boyfriend. 

« Are you sure though ? » you asked, lacking of confidence about it. « I’ve never attended such an event before- what if I do something wrong ? »

« Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll be fine. Because you’re my girlfriend » he reassured you before taking your hand to his lips. 

« If you say so… » you answered back with a sweet smile. 

This day, you were enjoying a date at a coffee shop. You were glad Seonghwa’s taking time for you both, making sure to go out or just even spending time together. But this time would be different. It was a matter of work for him and you were just required to stay with him. But somehow, you were worried. Not worried about him, but about you. As you said, you feared that something would happen because of you. 

Suddenly, your phone rang. You looked at it as the name « Lil’ bro » appeared on your screen. You mumbled a « sorry » and stood up while taking the call. 

« Hey Jongho, what’s up ? » you exclaimed, going away not to bother anyone around here.

« Hey noona, are you in town ? » answered the other male. 

Jongho was your little brother. Literally your blood brother. Somehow, he was the youngest from the family, but surely the manliest, wisest and sweetest boy you knew. He was doing his military service at the moment but took time to call you wherever he could which made you thankful toward the youngest. 

« Yeah, I’m on a date with Seonghwa at the moment. But it’s alright. What’s up ? » you answered with a cheerful tone. 

« Oh, sorry I didn’t know…but I’m going to be discharged soon you know ? » 

« Of course, how can I forget it ? » 

« As expected » he chuckled for a moment before pausing some seconds. « I…was wondering if you could help me ? Cause I’ve found a job right after, but I don’t want to bother mom and dad so, if I could …like live with you for a while… »

« Mhhh, well it’s not that I don’t want to, but I gotta ask San, since I’m not living alone. »

You weren’t living all by yourself. Living with your parents wasn’t convenient for your studies as they were living quite far from the university, so you searched for an apartment to rent but the prices were incredibly high. And then you found San, another student. He was also in need for a place to stay since he couldn’t rent a whole place for himself. At first, you weren’t sure about living with a boy, but your roommate reassured you by saying « Don’t worry, nothing will happen between us if it’s what scaring you. I like boys you see ? » Such an extravagant guy, but yet so loving and sweet. That’s how you began to live with San. And until now, every thing was alright. 

« Sure, let me know about it okay ? » 

« Yes sir ! I’m sure you’re killing it out there, but don’t overdo it alright ? »

« Well, I’m not the baddest dude here, but I may be out of the top ten ? » he laughed, a bit shy to say it himself.

« Ooooh, as expected from my little brother. » 

« I will call mom and dad, so I gotta go. Love you noona. »

« Love you too. »

The « beep beep » at the other line indicated the call ended. And it’s with some relief that you came back at your boyfriend. Jongho and Seonghwa knew each other, and your little brother liked him. So you didn’t hesitate to share some news from the youngest. 

« It was Jongho. »

« How is he doing ? » asked Seonghwa, with a genuine interest.

« Great ! Actually he’ll be soon discharged, and he asked me if he could temporary live with us as he found a job after his mandatory service. »

« Already ? Wow, he doesn’t waste any time. » said Seonghwa with an impressed tone. 

« I know right ? But he’s always been this way, I’m glad he knows what he wants. »

You discussed a bit more about your brother and finished your cake and coffees. Hands in hands you headed outside, the sky becoming grey with menacing dark clouds. Rushing to the subway, you both got inside. 

« So I will pick you up Friday night. For the party. » he began, going back to the event.

« Alright…Wait, is there any dress code ? » you asked suddenly panicking because your student ass was probably not the best in clothing category. 

« Erm I’m not sure ? So far I never really paid attention to this since I’m always in suit. »

You sighed and prayed God to have mercy on you. You were practically sure of yourself: you hadn’t anything which would made you elegant in your wardrobe at the moment. 

« Y/N, don’t panic. I will find a solution okay ? » he said while taking your shoulders to make you face him.

You looked into Seonghwa’s eyes and nodded, slightly defeated by this idea of letting your boyfriend help you for an outfit. 

In front of your building, your boyfriend pressed a gentle kiss on your forehead and smiled at you.

« I’ll text you later. »

« Thanks for today Seonghwa. »

« My pleasure » he smiled more before leaning to finally kiss your lips, which made you answer to the kiss. 

As you walked into your shared apartment, you could hear San’s laugh emanating from the living room.

« I’m home ! » you said carefully, taking your shoes off.

« Welcome back Y/N » San’s voice answered, discovering the pink haired boy playing his console with snacks around him. 

« You haven’t moved since I left ? » you asked in an astonishment. 

San paused his game and turned around to give you a sneaky smirk. 

« I did, I went to the toilet, I went to the kitchen to- »

« That’s not what I meant » you paused him with an amused voice.

« Come on’ Y/N, I studied like a monster these days ! I had to play to relax. »

« Yeah yeah, be careful not to play too much »

« Yes mom…But anyway, how as your date with your charming prince ? » 

You sat down on the couch with your roommate, watching him play while you talked about the famous party Seonghwa asked you to attend. As you were telling him about the thing, his eyes widened and he paused his game again. 

« Wait, you’re talking about KQ Enterprise’s party ? »

« Yeah…How do you know ? » you arched a brow.

« My boyfriend works there too and he told me about it, but I refused to go. » he answered as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

« Wait a minute ! I thought your boyfriend was working in a bar ? »

« Y/N, it was the previous one. »

You rolled your eyes to the ceiling. You gave up about San’s love life as he was changing often.

« Okay, but since when have you been dating this guy huh ? And why you didn’t tell me ? You know Seonghwa’s working there as well »

« I forgot ! Anyway, he asked me to come too but nope, not my thing. »

« Please San, go with him ! I don’t want to go alone ! » you begged your friend.

« You won’t be alone, there’s charming prince with you »

« It’s different ! » you claimed « He’s working there ! I will feel like a stranger there, and gosh, imagine if I do something wrong ? Ugh »

« Alright alright, I will talk about it with Wooyoung » he sighed, defeated. 

« I love you San ! » you laughed, feeling victorious. « And, the name’s Wooyoung ? »

« Yeah, he’s the manager of I don’t remember which team »

The world was so small you thought for a while before you thought of Jongho.

« By the way, my brother will soon be discharged and he asked me if he could live with us for a while before taking his own place ? »

« Your brother ? Jongho ? Ooh he’s going to be soon discharged already ? Of course he can, I don’t mind. »

« Nice, I’ll let him know »

You were really glad you were going along with San and so he was with your own acquaintances. You thanked him again and went to your room. Some days passed by, and Seonghwa texted you but never talked about the famous party which made you frustrated because you were literally searching for something elegant but not expensive, which was impossible. Until one day when you came back home after your classes. 

« Y/N ! You received a package » said San while passing by to his room.

« Me ? But I haven’t ordered any thing ? » you mumbled, intrigued.

San shrugged and joined you to the living room where the so called package was here on the table.

It was quite big, nicely wrapped in a white paper and black silk ribbon. 

« Open it » suggested San, curious. 

« Hey, wait, don’t you think it’s weird ? Are you sure it was for me ? »

« Are you Y/F/N ? » asked San, ironically. « Cause that’s what the delivery man asked, so I said you lived here and he left after shoving me the package. »

After a moment of hesitation, you unwrapped the package to discover a black box. You opened it to discover a pink beige dress and honestly it looked so expensive that your poor salary of part timer couldn’t even pay a quarter of it. San’s eyes widened so as yours. 

« Wait- Who is it from ?! » a bit panicking on the spot.

« I don’t know ! The guy hasn’t told me ! »

You picked up the dress to look at it closer, and gasped when you saw the brand inside.

« San- I think I’m going to faint…Yves Saint-Laurent. Can you see ?! »

« Y/N, I don’t wanna make you panic more, but look there is a card inside. »

He pointed a silky white enveloppe you took quickly to open it. 

« Dear Y/N,

I heard you were worried about the dress code of the party. Here’s a present for you. In hope to see you soon. 

CEO Kim Hongjoong. »

There was a big silence in this room, your roommate and yourself looking at each other in disbelief before San opened his mouth and closed it, probably too shocked to say something. And so you were. Why did your boyfriend’s boss sent you this dress ? And how did he know ?!

[sweetescapeartist]

DBS COLORING BOOK CHAPTER 74 REVIEW

*spoilers* I liked this chapter in isolation.

*spoilery spoilers* I dislike this chapter when comparing it to other chapters.

Here's the battle Vegeta fans have been waiting for...! (Glad I lowered my greatly expectations)

First, let's talk about use of panels real quick. When there is action, Toyo has done better and uses about 6 panels max to convey the fight. But when there is dialogue, he uses too many panels. Like 7 to 9 panels on one page. That is too much for dialogue. And he has pointless reaction shots often.

It begins with the axolotl inspired Sugarians leaving their fishbowl homes through cleaning-tube roadways. I like their aquarium-like city and their buildings.

And here we are on page 2 with the Toyotaro dialogue. 😒 How can I tell? Compare it to Dragon Ball and you can easily tell the difference between Toriyama's dialogue & Toyotaro's dialogue. (Toriyama has been more focused with working on the DBS movies. I highly doubt he contributes as much to the manga as some fans believe.)

Vegeta sounds like Mr. Satan when calling fusion and cloning "tricks" lol. And no, I doubt Vegeta's Forced Spirit Fission would work on Granolah. Granolah split himself in 2 with a technique. It is still all Granolah & he hasn't absorbed anyone. Forced Spirit Fission is useless here.

Granolah sure is chatty again after he kept saying how he really really wants to kill these Saiyans. Vegeta tells him he parted ways with Freeza and he is an enemy now, as to which Granolah laughs. Granolah thinks Vegeta is betraying Freeza to spare his own life. This just let's us know what kind of person Granolah is...

Granolah is a nonsensical idiot who doesn't know how to reason well & doesn't listen to truth because he assumes he is already right. I don't like ppl like him who refuse to grow mentally. I went from liking Granolah, to not caring about his bland personality, to disliking him. 😑

Oatmeel's input is pointless because he doesn't sway Granolah into believing the Saiyans may not be lying. He quickly gives up and becomes quiet. Vegeta informs Granolah that he was a child when Planet Cereal's ppl were killed and wasn't part of the attack. But he doesn't care and Paragus wants revenge against the royal family... I mean, Baby wants revenge on all Saiya... Granolah wants to kill all Saiyans.

Then we get Vegeta saying he will kill Granolah after barely talking to the guy who was willing to talk. I guess Vegeta just wants to fight and test his power instead of trying to redeem himself like earlier chapters implied and fans theorized. Throw that out the window.

He turns SSB Evolution & Hakai's large rocks around Granolah. But Granolah appears behind him and shows Vegeta true hakai. He elevates a big chunk of the ground & blows it up then the force pushes Vegeta to him and Granolah strikes him. Cool way to use the environment in battle.

Also, Granolah knows Hakai. He shows it off by using his own more powerful Hakai & suggests Vegeta's training with Beerus is lacking.

There is some cool looking art. Their fight moves from forest to river to lake. Interesting environment s for DB. Reminds me of the Cooler movie and the fights on Namek a bit.

This entire time, Vegeta is on the defensive and has to run. But, I find pages 16-21 silly.

Why is Vegeta swimming when he can fly through the water?! Swimming is slower & Granolah is firing fast ki blasts at him!

YOU: "But, Vegeta is swimming so Granolah can't detect his ki."

Granolah can see him! His right eye is supposed to see blood flow and stuff. He nearly hits him multiple times. And lets not forget he was sniping them long distance and his Goku in the neck and almost took him out. Why does Granolah need aim assist now? I'll tell ya why. To make Vegeta look more impressive than Goku by making Goku look like a poor fighter. And this was a Goku who was using Ultra Instinct and still got messed up by Granolah while Vegeta is just using SSB Evolution. Character sabotage... 😒

Back to my complaints about Vegeta swimming. The swimmin' would work in OG Dragon Ball but not here. It would work on Namek with Freeza who can't sense ki, but not here with Granolah who can sense ki (& maybe even god ki) & his eye can percieve all kinds of movements of the body.

And why does Vegeta momentarily pop up out the water then go hide back into it? Don't say its 'cause he needs to catch his breath. He aparently did training holding his breath while on the Heeter's ship, so he should be fine holding his breath. It was for a short period of time anyways. It just doesn't fit and is unnecessary in multiple ways.

Vegeta Hakai's Granolah's big blast to escape it and it blows him out of the water. Interesting kinda... Until you realize that Vegeta's training that we were shown was lame. He just Hakai'd logs & rocks! It should've shown him trying to Hakai ki blasts from Beerus. Make his training look cool darn it!

Chapter 70 Established that Hakai has changed. It no longer is just erasing things from existence in different ways. It has to have a *boom* explosion to it. So when Beerus Hakai'd Zamasu in chapter 19, there should've been an explosion instead of turning him into sand? So, now whenever the Hakai is used, there will always be an explosion...? I don't like how Toyo is quick to change what he set up just for his convenience...

Granolah brags about himself then Vegeta brags about himself-...! That's why I dislike Granolah! He's just like Vegeta! Maybe if I stop thinking of Granolah as a "good guy" then he will be cooler? I did like evil Vegeta as an evil character. We were supposed to hate him. So, if I imagine Granolah as an evil Vegeta... It worked! Granolah's unappealing attitude works perfectly if you view him as an evil enemy! (Still kinda preachy tho)

VEGETA: "But I'm still going to win."

Vegeta fans rejoice! Your prayers have been answered by the great Zalama! Vegeta announced victory...! Wait... I've seen this before... Yo... Vegeta fans, prepare for Vegeta to be defeated just in case. He has a record of announcing victory then ultimately losing. Don't get your hopes up too high.

Lol Granolah disses Vegeta's ego 👌. But Granolah is unknowingly talking about himself too XD. Dummies. Vegeta mocks him by calling him "Mr. Strongest" & Granolah has nothing to day. Granolah can dish it out but can't take it.

Goku wakes up and sees Vegeta fighting Granolah. Who cares? How are you gonna be caught off gaurd in a form that reacts on its own? Go back to sleep. I'm not mad at you, Goku. I'm just disappointed.

Vegeta fires a barrage of ki at Granolah and Granolah Hakai's them. Then Vegeta fools Ganolah into destroying an ancient city of the Cerelians.

VEGETA: "I can tell, you know... That you only recently acquired this absurd strength."

GRANOLAH: "How? How can you tell?"

VEGETA: "Thank you for confirming."

There's the Granolah we know. Quick to give out valuable info. Also, this is to make Vegeta appear "smarter" & a "better fighter" than Goku. Realistically, a master martial artist like Goku would be first to notice that Granolah recently acquired this kind of power. But, Goku is being dumbed down for Vegeta's sake.

VEGETA: "Need I repeat myself...? You may be stronger but... there's no gaurantee that I'll lose to you!" *attempts to break Granolah's leg*

So says the guy who always loses unless the opponent is weaker than him. But, he even lost to weaker opponents on Earth before, so....

Vegeta fans calm down, calm down. This is basic Vegeta dribble. Let's be real. When has Vegeta ever defeated an opponent that was stronger than himself? Never. When has Vegeta become stronger than his opponent and defeat them because they're weaker than him now? Always. Does Vegeta ever win when he is too cocky? Nope. This is to hype y'all up. Don't be mad if he loses. Y'all know this routine. The arc ain't even over so the chances of him winning are low.

Now let's examine Vegeta's fight in comparison to Goku's fight.

Goku goes through all his forms & uses Ultra Instinct in base, SSJ, SSG, SSB, & then goes silver haired UI when fighting Granolah. Then, he loses in every form. Vegeta goes straight to Blue Evolution and only seriously gets hurt once.

Goku keeps getting hit despite having a technique that is all about evasion. Vegeta gets hit far less & doesn't have Ultra Instinct.

Goku was struggling to fight a clone that was half the power of Granolah. Vegeta fights Granolah at his full power and struggles less.

Goku complains about his training and how he is struggling using his technique. Vegeta who had less time with Hakai training isn't complaining about struggling with Hakai.

Goku far surpassed Vegeta in the Moro arc, yet they are crippling Goku to let Vegeta catch up & make him look better. Vegeta has literally gotten a handout that he didnt have to work hard for in order to catch up with Goku... This chapter is fine when isolated and you aren't thinking about any other previous chapter. But, it is a convoluted mess when you look back at the previous chapters, the piss poor storytelling, & Vegeta's poor Hakai training that leads up to this chapter.

Where'd that "heroic" Vegeta and that "redemption" stuff go? Its as if Toyotaro decided he should stop tying to make Vegeta the hero & main character instead of Goku being the main. (Thank God.)

But... Vegeta says that he loves fights that are unpredictable?? That I disagree completely with. Vegeta wants fights to go in his favor through all of DBZ and will throw a fit when it doesn't.

In RoF: it was going in his favor so he loved it.

Destroyer Tournament arc: he didn't like that things didn't go his way in the end.

Future Trunks arc: he was upset when losing to Black, but loved it when he thought he was going to win.

ToP: angry when everyone else surpassed him, happy when he gained an upperhand, upset when he lost the upperhand.

Moro arc: Vegeta is upset that Moro is stronger but even more upset that Goku is stronger than him. When he is stronger than Moro he is loving it. Then when he loses the advantage, he is upset.

Vegeta doesn't love unpredictable fights, Goku does! Vegeta loves predictable fights in his favor.

Granolah asks how many lives were sacrificed for Vegeta's carnage. Vegeta doesn't answer. Why? Because its best to ignore the fact that he has killed billions of ppl so that Vegeta fans can ignore his bad actions (Yet many say that Vegeta has developed so much without acknowledging his terrible past). Can't have Vegeta looking like a bad guy in this chapter, right?

Oh boy! Page 37 is more "Vegeta hype!" He doesn't care about strongest or second strongest ('cause he has never been 1st place) & he basically explains Dragon Ball to us.

Roshi already taught Goku & Krillin that there will always be somebody stronger, so they need to keep reaching higher and higher.

If Vegeta is stronger than he was a few minutes ago, would that mean the same for Goku when he was fighting? Why did he perform so poorly? I wonder... 🤔

Granolah jabs Vegeta in the stomach, but Vegeta manages to slow it down (how come Goku using Ultra Instinct couldn't do that?). And cool. Blood. Anime has better writing and cool character development/moments. The manga has blood... Well, I guess blood is cooler to some ppl.

Vegeta is looking like Goku in the ToP before he attained UI. He has his head down & all. Vegeta just isn't talking about hownl much he sucks. Why does Goku keep insulting himself? N-nevermind. This is about Vegeta who keeps complimenting himself.

Why did Granolah become scared of Vegeta suddenly? Wouldn't he just see him as a mad dog and use his amazing power to put Vegeta down before he can do anything? He hates them so much, but keeps letting them live.

Uh oh... Vegeta doesn't like protecting and saving? BuT I tHoUgHt hE wAs a hErO! Where is his development going?? Ya mean the real development he had in the anime or the pseudo development in the manga?

But even after saying all that... I prefer manga Vegeta to be like this instead of a wannabe hero. Wannabe hero doesn't fit. This feels like Vegeta is in character again. I like this. I was just criticizing how Vegeta was written in past chapters in comparison to this one. A more chill Vegeta who loves battles? This is what I've wanted from DBS manga Vegeta for a long time!

Oh snap! Vegeta's transforming? I wonder what it will look like (thanks for the warning from the leaks 👍). Oil... Why are you even in this chapter? We don't care about you right now & you're boring without Maki. Goku says it ain't "any old god ki."

I wonder how Goku never knew about this new form if he and Vegeta trained on Beerus Planet together. Ya think he would've sensed and saw it & even wanted to fight against it.

So is this new form a spur of the moment thing? So Vegeta has a new form that he never trained... And he asks if Granolah has been training his new power on page 34... Sounds hypocritical of Vegeta, or he is being thrown a bone to make him look capable. Is Vegeta gonna pull a Golden Freeza by not training this new form? Or maybe a UI Goku at the ToP and lose the form?

Page 43, Granolah shoots tiny ki blasts at Vegeta's tower of flaming ki and he is surprised it did nothing. Why not try again but this time use that one big blast instead. No? Gonna let the guy of the race you hate finish transforming? Just gonna be scared and shocked to make Vegeta look impressive? Ok.

Pages 41, 44, & 45

Oh! Here it is! The new form...! Aaaand I still don't like it. Also, he healed up like Goku did last chapter too. Odd. Why does transforming heal them now? Didn't before.

No build up to make the form more cool, it's just

"Here, Vegeta. Goku has one more form than you do & he has mastered UI, so we can't let you fall too far behind. So I just pulled this crap transformation fresh outa my butt and gave it to you."

Another undeserved handout. Can you please make Vegeta earn a new form in the manga? PLEASE?!

Vegeta looks like he is in his own UI Omen form (like how Vegeta fans begged for Vegeta to get for the longest time). Dark hair with sone lighter coloured higlights, light coloured pupils, new aura. But this is what I see...

SSJ3ROSÉ of DESTRUCTION INSTINCT OMEN (or just "SSJ-ChexMix" for short)

Looks like in the end, Vegeta needed to resort to his own Ultra Instinct equivalent!

Oh no... I criticized Vegeta's bad writing too much! I bet some Vegeta fans are gonna automatically assume that I hate him because I want him to be written better without plotholes! 😱

IN CONCLUSION:

This chapter is good when isolated on its own. But, this chapter is filled with inconsistencies when you look back at previous chapters. Overall, it's... a mixed bag that I barely like. It's just so retarded that Goku had to be dragged through the mud just for Vegeta to look better. That is insulting to Vegeta and it either shows how much he sucks or or how weak the writing for Vegeta is. But we got what we got...

Wanna know how to make Vegeta look good without making Goku look pathetic? Goku never uses MUI! Goku defeats Granolah's clone with SSB. Then, Granolah merges back with his clone & catches SSB Goku by surprise and knocks him out.

Then, the reason why Vegeta seems to be doing better is because Vegeta is using SSBE, unlike SSB Goku who was caught off guard. Why make the MUI form & Goku both look like trash just to give Vegeta his own Ultra (Destructive) Intinct? Is Vegeta really that trash?! 😓😴

I don't wanna see the Heeters anymore. My hype for them died, but maybe a later chapter can make me like them more. Idk.

Where is my homie, Moniato?! 🐌 (BEST CHARACTER OF THE ARC SO FAR!)

Oh yeah...I was supposed to complain about not seeing Freeza again like I do every chapter... Who cares at this point? If Granolah is stronger than Goku & Vegeta, what can Freeza do? Hide for 3 yrs and let Granolah die?

What are my predictions for next chapter? More Vegeta wanking of course. More gloating & looking down on Granolah too. A battle of overinflated egos. Bad dialogue and decent to good art. I'll probably find it mostly boring but I may be surprised (that could be a good or bad thing). Vegeta will appear to be winning before...

Vegeta gets defeated & certain Vegeta fans will rage & be annoying. Those ones will complain about how Vegeta always gets the short end of the deal (that's what he gets for being shorter than Bulma & 12 cm taller than Krillin). This one should happen imo based off of Goku's performance.

Vegeta's fight will get interrupted before the battle ends so that Vegeta fans don't get angry. Make Vegeta fans feel that Vegeta could've won and keep them grasping on to hope. (How manipulative.) This one is most likely to happen to "satisfy" all fans.

Vegeta will win and Vegeta fans will rejoice & some will be very annoying. Despite the fact that he had terrible training, was handed a new form just to stay relevant, and Goku had to underperform & UI had to be nerfed just to make Vegeta look good. This one may happen just to appease Vegeta fans. (That is the worst outcome imo.) If Vegeta gets "a win/a W" against a main villain, make sure his training looks impressive and he has some sort of connection to the main bad guy. That way the victory feels well deserved.

If the final enemy is Freeza, then Vegeta defeating Granolah isn't "a win" against a major villain. Granolah will just be a bump in the road. He's already set up to not be a "bad guy." In the end, the main bad guy will be either Freeza, Gas, 7-3, or someone. Vegeta fans shouldn't care if Vegeta wins or loses against Granolah. He isn't the "final boss."

[mobagehelllocal]

“do you even lift bro?” ver ii - dire, divus, ashton

The previous ask you did for me was so hilarious! If you're up for it then can i request the same for Divus, Ashton and Crowley this time? The reader doesn't necessarily have to be their student she can be their co-worker. Thanks anyway:) -- from @blackstrawberrynightmare

A/N: Ah! Hello again! We should all thank @blackstrawberrynightmare who actually prompted the creation of this “do you even lift bro?” series! I’m genuinely surprised how popular my version of the “bridal carry” is! I just... tried to be funny. I don’t think I am funny though?? xD  

For this one, I originally wanted to push for a very neutral reader so you couldn’t tell if it was a student or a teacher... but then I found it really funny how a teacher would react to being thrown into Twisted Wonderland... Also slight nsfw because Divus. (I was thirsty, I have no excuse.) ALSO! This one doesn’t have images because the teachers don’t appear in the manga... smh...

other versions: ver i (dorm leaders), ver ii (this), ver iii (leech twins, jamil, epel, rook, lilia)

--

When you first came to Twisted Wonderland--you were, at first, some glorified errand girl.

Which, to be fair, as someone who didn’t possess magic, totally made sense.

Then Grim got into an argument with Ace. They burnt a statue, Dire punished them (including you, at which point you felt like you had gone back to high school). Then Deuce happened, the chandelier got ruined, you were about to all get expelled (but you weren’t enrolled anyways? You would’ve refused that?). So you all high tail it to that magical cave, found a magic crystal and--

“Absolutely not.” you put your foot down. “I am an adult woman, and I refuse to go back to high school... or whatever this is. I don’t mind being an errand girl, but I refuse to be a student again.” 

“But--” Grim protested, but your sharp glare made him flinch--and so did the ADeuce combo. They had seen you get furious before, and it was a lecture they wouldn’t want to repeat.

At that, Dire Crowley sighed in response.

“Well, what do you propose you do?” 

You paused, you hadn’t expected the guy to listen to you. After all, he hadn’t let you get a word in since you got here anyways. 

“Maybe... a teacher’s assistant job?” 

--

“Or a secretary.” you offered. 

He didn’t look convinced, so you decided to pull out your secret weapon.

"Imagine this Dire,” you had said, purposely using his name to get a point across--that you aren’t a child. “I can handle paperwork as long as magic isn’t involved.”

“Then you’re hired.” he immediately decided, to the gasps of the students in the office with you. You only smirked triumphantly.

So it seemed that hate for paperwork persisted across universes.

“Then what about me?” Dire peered at Grim through his mask. 

“Well then, I suppose you can still sit in lectures provided, that you do your work well.” 

So here you were, months later, as you followed him around like the dutiful secretary you were.

Dire was... a little air headed at times, but he mostly meant well. ‘Mostly’ because he often got you to take care of everything he couldn’t (didn’t want to) do. He did his best to be interactive and friendly with his students--which you could say was far better than most academic institutions back in your world. He was a person who was willing to listen, as long as you managed to keep him calm and tell him to pay attention.

But other than that--

‘He’s really like a bird’ you thought, as he fluttered about and inspected the mirrors. 

“We’re done here.” He finally said, then turned to you. 

His yellow eyes always felt as if they were staring deep into your soul, and you barely controlled a shudder at the way they glowed--before you looked down at the schedule in your hands.

“We’re going to double check the maintenance on going at the stadium,” you reported, he sighed a little.

“Oh how generous I am, to look into all these details so carefully...” he mourned, “yet there is no rest for someone as generous as I--”

“Sir, it’s your job.” 

He proceeded to ignore you while he whined to himself. You could feel your sweat drop in response.

“You do have a break after this.” 

He instantly cheered up on that.

“No, it’s not long enough to suntan in the Southern Islands.” you said, used to his moods. “but if we don’t carry on right now, you will never get a break.” 

“Oh very well,” he sniffed, “I shall attend to this matter... because I am ever so generous.”

You rolled your eyes.

Once you had gotten to the stadium, Dire easily handled and fielded all the questions that were directed to him by the maintenance staff. As he finished speaking to the staff, he turned to you with a pointed look, and wide gold eyes.

“Oh, alright--” you had barely gotten the word out when you heard a snap from somewhere above, and a yell. You only got a brief glimpse, before you grabbed Dire (at which he let out a very undignified yelp) and darted out of the way as fast as you could. A long, metal beam fell in the spot you were originally in, and set up dust in the air. This makes both you and Dire cough, but you’re glad that you had managed to dodge it in time.

“Dire, are you okay?”

“I am fine,” he wheezed, a hand over his chest before he turned to you. You pulled your head back just in time to make sure his mask doesn’t poke your eyes out. “I--what--how are you carrying me?” he said, his voice shrill. 

“It’s always been something I can do.” you shrugged, he was actually a pretty light guy--mask, coat and top hat included. 

“I could’ve used magic.” 

“Adrenaline rush?” you offered. “I just knew I had to move us as fast as possible.”

Dire stared at you with those unflinching yellow eyes, and you began to twitch nervously. You hated how it almost always feels like he never blinks... or something.

“Does this mean you could carry me to places this whole time--” 

“--! You’re seriously going with that?” you complained, as you fell onto your knees, the adrenaline rush having left you. He squeaked in surprise at the sudden drop, but he does look at you with concern.

“Are you alright?” there was a worried tone in his voice and you nodded.

“Give me a moment.” He nodded slowly, and he reached a hand to rub at your back, which helped steady your breathing. You tried not to look at him, as you knew you’d be faced with that unnerving stare of his. 

It always felt like it was trying to figure you out--understand you--as if you’re some great mystery, when you feel like an open book.

“Why don’t you take a time off today?” Dire suddenly said.

“What?” You looked up to shoot him a look. “You’ll use it to slack!”

“Absolutely not.” he sounded offended. “I take my job very seriously.” 

“Then I’ll take my job seriously.” 

“You do not seem fine.” Dire insisted, yellow eyes fixed upon your own. “Since you graciously saved me, I shall graciously allow you to have some time off, dear secretary--because I am super duper gracious after all.” 

You rolled your eyes, but you laced your fingers together to stop your shaking.

Dire was...

kind. Actually pretty empathetic and sensitive--but he just sometimes chose not to intervene. If he pushed you for a break then he must be pretty serious.

“Alright.”At your response, his eyes became two curved lines.

‘Sometimes I really don’t understand you.’ you think, baffled.

“Excellent! I want my amazing secretary all healthy and well by tomorrow, alright?” 

“Sure.” you eyed him. 

‘One day, I’ll truly understand you.’ you vowed to yourself, quiet but determined.  

--

When Dire had left you in the care of Divus, you couldn’t help but want to both thank and curse the man. 

You were thankful you had gotten Divus because he was a pretty respectful person--the use of a teacher’s baton with a collar hanging off it notwithstanding--and he was certainly more aware of what you needed as a woman. It was easier to communicate to him your basic needs, and he barely blinked as he helped you shopped.

In fact, the man had been more than willing to help you chose out clothes that he insisted would suit you better.

However...

However, you also wanted to curse Dire because he had left you in the hands of the most attractive faculty member. It didn’t help that it felt like he was out to seduce you--no, calling you ‘good girl’ or ‘pet’ instantly made the blood rush to your cheeks. 

You were pretty certain it was one-sided, after all, he used that type of endearment with everyone. It was probably like how some older people would refer to younger people as ‘sweetie’ or ‘dear.’ 

“So, I need you to watch over that side, am I clear, pet?” 

“No problem Divus.” you nodded your head, and just as you moved to the other side of the room, he took the time to give your hair a gentle pat, that smoothly transitioned to tucking a stray lock of hair behind your ear.

“What a good girl.” he said, with that same smirk that would make your panties drop if you were a lesser person. ‘I swear to god he knows that he’s doing to me,’ you thought to yourself, as you tried to distract yourself with thoughts of the alchemic table of elements. 

Your job as Divus’s teaching aide was to look over people’s work. Unlike other courses in Night Raven College, Divus’s class was one where your worth as a magician wasn’t actually... relevant. Alchemy was based on the magician’s ability to stay attentive and patient. Divus started you off with learning the important ingredients, how to use them, and during class he would also tell you what you needed to see from someone’s potion to know that they were doing it right. 

It wasn’t so difficult.

 As you walked around the cauldrons of the students, and peered into the huge pots, you nodded in approval when you saw that they were mostly the right shade for this stage of the potion. You offered some quick suggestions or two to some of the pairs, when you heard a loud sound. 

You turned quickly to see that someone’s potion was acting up, and it caused the cauldron to shake. 

“Move, puppies!” Divus ordered them to move away from the cauldron as it swung toward him. You see him trip backward in his haste, and as adrenaline pounded in your ears, you immediately rushed over.

As he slipped, Divus hissed, and raised his teacher’s pointer--that is until he felt someone jerk him out of the way. The sudden pull, with his already unsteady stance, made him fall straight into your arms.

After rescuing Divus, you quickly scampered away from the acidic content that spilled onto the ground. 

“What now Divus?” you looked down, only to realize that he was frozen, as he stared at you with a stunned expression on his handsome face. (Actually, the whole class was staring at you in surprise, but you’re a little too taken with Divus’s startled expression to really notice.)

“Uh... Is something wrong?”  

“I... I didn’t realize you were so strong... pet.” He said, his eyes wide. As much as you wanted to savor the expression--he was nearly unflappable--you had greater concerns. 

“I can explain later?” you offered, then your eyes darted back to the concoction on the ground. “but the acid...” 

“Ah, right.” he snapped back into attention, and moved to leave your arms. While you do let him go, never let it be said that you weren’t mournful. He was an attractive coworker, and the way you had held him in your arms made you realize that one--his fur coat wasn’t very thick, and that two--you got a good grip on his well toned body.

You looked up to notice him scold the students as he waved his teacher’s baton around. You raised a hand to massage your temples when a thick, sophisticated (dare you say ‘sexy’) scent wafted up to your face from your hands. It was Divus’s perfume. You let out a shaky inhale in surprise, only to be overwhelmed by the scent. You felt blood rush to your cheeks, and you go a little dizzy at that. 

‘My god this man isn’t good for my heart.’ You thought, as you reached up a hand to rub at the scent. 

“Are you alright, pet?” Your head snapped up in surprise, only to realize that Divus’s face was very close to your own. You let out a squeak, and you slipped backward only for him to catch you by wrapping his arm around your waist. This of course meant--

Your faces are even closer than before.

“It seems like I saved you this time.” He let out a soft chuckle, and his face was so close to your own, that whatever red in your cheeks you’ve lost--probably came back tenfold. 

It also doesn’t help that this close, you could smell his perfume. 

“Yeah--um, thanks.” You took a proper step back except this time he followed. 

“Now now, pet.” He tilted his head. “You were going to tell me about earlier.” 

“The strength thing?” You asked. “I’ve always been strong... It was my talent so... I learnt how to use it.” your eyes flickered around, only to notice he’d likely dismissed the students already. That’s when you feel something press against your chin, which made you meet the taller man’s gaze. Unable to look at the item pressed against your jaw, you had to rely on your sense of touch—with the cool metal making you realize that it was his baton pressed against your chin. You feel the heat rise up to your ears in response to the realization.

He looked back at you with heavily lidded eyes. From this close you couldn’t help notice the glitter over his eyelids mixed in with his eyeshadow, and that hint of something in his eyes that made you shiver. 

“Aren’t you a fascinating one, pet?” he hummed. “You never cease to capture my attention.” (He thought back on the way you looked when you had easily carried him in your arms--his heart had skipped a beat. He had always thought you were cute--but at that moment? Something about the fierceness and strength in your expression was beautiful and undeniably--)  

He cocked his head as he sees that spark in your eyes again.

‘--alluring.’ He decided.

“Is that a good thing?” you asked as you bit your lip and his smirk only widened.

“Why don’t you tell me?” he asked, before he leant in to press his lips roughly against your lips, that made your heart flip--and when he slid his clothed leg in between your thighs--

‘This man is really not good for my heart.’

--

It took a little bit more convincing, but Crowley finally agreed to let you be a teacher’s assistant--to Ashton.

Ashton was--alright. He was energetic, and generally very cheerful. He was pretty easy to get along with. Though you had some issues with his bias to the more physically capable students--you saw it as your job to help out the less physically capable students when you could. When all else failed, you saw to it that the students would get tips from each other. It was the most you could--especially since physical education was different in this world.

You cupped your face in your hands as you watched the students quietly play Magical Shift. Beside you, Ashton yelled in good cheer--he wasn’t particularly biased to one side--he gave good advice to all players of the field. You could only watch attentively because you thought you barely knew enough about Magical Shift to be a proper commentator. 

That is until you notice that the disk was suddenly launched your way. 

You acted on pure adrenaline as you pulled Ashton out of the way and hoped away from the spot as the disk embedded itself deeply into the bleacher seats that you were originally on. 

You let out a sigh of relief at the successful dodge--that thing was heavy, no surprise there--you had to lug it around without magic. But you just knew getting hit by that thing--at the speed it was going, would definitely bruise someone. 

“Ashton are you okay?” You looked down briefly, only to see Ashton’s expression.

Ashton stared at you in awe. His eyes were wide, his mouth agape. He had his hands pulled to his chest and laced together.

He looked...very much like a damsel in distress, and you could already feel the laughter bubbling in your chest.

Ashton really did give some of the greatest expressions to everything--you can feel your heart soften. 

He was someone you grew incredibly fond of--because of how genuine he was about everything, especially with the things he liked.

“[Name].” 

“Yeah?” you arched your brow.

“You’re carrying me.” You looked down at him--and well, his position in your arms.

“...Yeah?” you tilted your head. “I mean, you’re in my arms right now, right?” 

“How are you doing this?” he said, his awe so apparent you can’t help but regard him with amusement. 

“I’ve always been strong.” you paused, “and well... it was that one thing I had so... I honed it.” 

“That...” he said so quietly you grew concerned--he wasn’t the quiet type. Far from it. “IS! SO! AWESOME!” you flinched when he suddenly bellowed.

“Quick! Tell me what’s your max weight!” he asked, and confused, you tell him. His eyes only sparkled further in response--and you kid not, when Ashton’s eyes glittered--they glittered and shone like bright stars. 

“You must join me for training!” he said eagerly, “I’m so excited! I don’t have much people to train with, but it will be fun to do it with you! That I’m sure of.” 

“Wait... you’re not... weirded out by it?” Most of the time, when guys twice your size find out you could carry them with no sweat, they often just... bailed. You had long gotten used to it, and refused to care because you wouldn’t let them have what you were proud of. While Ashton didn’t strike you as that type of person, doesn’t mean you didn’t brace for the possibility that he might respond that way. 

“What?” his brows furrowed. “No! I think it’s amazing!” 

Your heart fluttered at that, and you watched him in surprise as he rose from your arms.

“We should train together, okay?” Then he turned away to begin instructing the players again.

You looked down to your hands and they feel warm. You felt your cheeks warm and a thought pervades--

‘Do I--?’

--

[fencer-x]

Fencer’s Big Eva Review

Just got done watching the Eva finale, so it’s time to get out thoughts while they’re fresh! Caveat: Eva is difficult to understand for native speakers, and I’m definitely not a native speaker XD I feel like I got maybe half, and got the rough gist of like 10% of the rest, and the remaining was just no friggin’ clue. Would’ve gone better if there’d at least been JP subs, but you’ll have to deal with what I’ve got for now!

It should be obvious, but there’ll be HELLA MAJOR SPOILERS for the final Evangelion movie. Ready? Let’s go.

The movie very helpfully starts off with a ~2 min recap of the movies thus far. This was great because I didn’t have time to rewatch the previous three before going, and while I’ve seen them a few times, it took me a second the recall what had happened at the very end of Q, so I was glad to get a very brief recap.

The actual movie itself opens on...Paris! Or Paris post-Near-Third-Impact (Third Impact?), which is a red and black wasteland. It seems that Wille has been developing these things that look like Entry Plugs that they shove into the ground and restore everything to pre-all-impacts (so like, blue water and everything); couldn’t get HOW it managed that, but they had them and were attempting to restore Paris.

Would have been a walk in the park except for weird Eva-Angel-Machine hybrids that were trying to prevent them from activating the plugs. Lots of fighting happens, with Mari piloting her Eva to give them cover while the Wille staff set everything up. Eventually they manage it, and Euro Nerv is restored.

Then we switch over to right where Q left off: Asuka, Clone!Rei, and a catatonic Shinji wandering around trying to go who knows where. They eventually get picked up by...Touji! Yes, an older Touji now who lives in a commune of survivors, scraping out a semblance of a life in one of the areas protected by the aforementioned plugs (they had another name but I couldn’t get it).

In this community, Touji is the local doctor--and he’s married with a kid! He married Hikari, and they have an infant daughter named Tsubame. 

Now, let’s check in how our main three do when introduced to this relatively normal life they get to enjoy for a few weeks:

Asuka: Still in ‘fight mode’, ready to go at a moment’s notice. How she thinks she’s gonna fight when she has no Eva idk, but for this entire little bit, she’s either naked or in her plugsuit. She stays with Aida Kensuke, who’s kind of the handyman, and is generally just rude af.

Shinji: For 90% of this bit, he’s totally shut off. He’s incredibly fucked up from having JUST watched Kaworu die, essentially because of him, and Asuka has on a DSS choker, and every time he sees it, he collapses and begins vomiting violently. He stays with the Suzuharas at first but is quickly sent to stay with Asuka and Kensuke because they don’t really know how to deal with him. Kensuke manages to get him to open up a little bit, but eventually it’s Rei who gets him started on the path back to being himself. At one point he runs away and ‘lives’ alone for a while in what I think was either the building where he first met Kaworu playing the piano or one that looked a lot like it. He goes out to do odd jobs with Kensuke a lot, and on one occasion he’s taken to an ‘outdoor lab’ where some workers are experimenting with new gardening techniques. It’s here he’s meets...Kaji Ryouji. No, not that Kaji Ryouji. That Kaji DIED. This is the son he had with Misato (named after him).

Rei: Now, let me say I’ve never been super interested in Rei. I didn’t dislike her, like I did Asuka, but I wasn’t really interested in her either. She was just there. Guys.....I LOVED REI IN THIS MOVIE. I would have watched 2.5 hours of the Rei Learns To Be A Human show and been happy for the $20 I paid. Rei spends her time in the commune learning to be an individual. She stays with the Suzuharas and learns what different words mean, like “Good morning” and “Good night” and “Thank you” and “Goodbye”, she gets super close with a bunch of old ladies who essentially adopt her and teach her how to plant turnips and what a bath is, and she becomes her own person. When she first arrives, the Suzuharas think she’s “Ayanami Rei”, but she explains that she isn’t, so they call her “Sokkuri-san” instead (”Miss Spitting Image” essentially), and the old ladies find it amusing at first but then encourage her to choose her own name, and when she can’t think of one, they tell her to have someone choose one for her, so she asks the Uber-Depressed Shinji to choose one. These interactions are what eventually pull him back to himself, but ultimately he’s unable to come up with one, because “Ayanami is Ayanami”. She thanks him for trying anyway, returns his SD player to him..............................and then dissolves into a pile of LCL fluid, as apparently all clones eventually return to LCL. Fantastic, because Shinji didn’t need EVEN MORE TRAUMA.

Somehow, the above doesn’t break Shinji, and he resolves to go back to Wille and face his father I guess?? I’m not entirely clear on why (gotta go read some reports of my own I guess lol). Back on the ship with Misato et al., Shinji isn’t forced to wear a choker but he’s put in a cell with like explosives in it I guess. He starts having visions of Kaworu helping him accept things.

At this point it’s getting close to the climax, and Wille are going after Nerv/Gendo once and for all. During the final fight, Asuka tried to take out Unit 13′s core, and then she’s not managing it, she rips off her eyepatch, and we see that the patch was keeping the 9th angel bound within her eye, so she decides to throw away her humanity and let it take over to destroy Unit 13. Unfortunately, she’s killed in the end--how? She’s approached by a vision of her ‘original���. Yup, Asuka was a clone herself, like Rei, and she turns back into LCL and she and unit 02 are absorbed by Unit 13.

Eventually the fight comes down to Shinji vs. Gendo, who has thrown away his own humanity and bonded with Unit 13 in the hopes of completing the Human Instrumentality Project. He and Shinji go head to head as Shinji summons (???) Unit 01 from inside Unit 13, and there’s a really REALLY WEIRD final fight between the two that involves some weird animation choices. Lots of storyboards and overly CGI’d CGI, and some bits that seem to take them through the different incarnations of the Eva series.

We also get Gendo backstory by the boatload as he and Shinji have an actual goddamn conversation for once. Mari features prominently in Gendo’s flashbacks so she was definitely one of his classmates it seems, who introduced him to Fuyutsuki. I’m still not entirely clear on who she is/was.

However, through this conversation, Shinji gives the people he’s interacted with most closely/been closest with closure I guess? Gendo, Asuka...Kaworu.

So about Kaworu. Their conversation was VERY VERY WEIRD; it’s made clear that Shinji is also now aware of all the different iterations of their meeting. When they talk, it’s set at the beach where they first met in the TV series, and Shinji says he remembers all the times they’ve met before. Shinji mentions that Kaworu reminds him a lot of his father, and then there are some very strange flashbacks (????) of Kaworu’s that I feel like imply he’s to Gendo as Rei is to Yui. At one point, he’s seen talking to Fuyutsuki, trying to decide on a name for himself and settling on ‘Nagisa’ as it means ‘beach’, where the ocean meets the land. Fuyutsuki later addresses Kaworu, who’s sitting in Gendo’s desk, as “Commander Nagisa”. Kaworu reflects to Shinji that he failed so many times to make Shinji happy, but he’s realized now that that’s because he doesn’t know what would make Shinji happy and it was arrogant to think he knew better. He was looking for his own happiness all along.

In the end, after all these goodbyes, Shinji is left with the decision of what to do with, well, reality. He decides, in a conversation with Rei, that he’ll reset everything--create a ‘neon genesis’--to a world without Eva or Angels.

Our last shot is an older Shinji meeting his (presumed??) girlfriend Mari on a train platform. On the opposite platform waiting for their own train are Kaworu, Asuka, and Rei. Shinji and Mari hold hands and run, laughing, from the train station.

NEON GENESIS EVANGELION GOT A HAPPY ENDING. 2021 REALLY BE OUT HERE WILDING.

My final thoughts:

Okay I’ll say it: the fuck with Shinji/Mari endgame? Believe me, it was completely out of left field even in this movie. They just happened to be the only final survivors. Mari flirted a hell of a lot more with ASUKA and was distraught at her death than she did with Shinji. They were a kind of cute couple in the end, but very ????? 

I’m disappointed Shinji wasn’t the one to give Kaworu his happiness in the end, after Kaworu spent so long and so many lives and realities trying to make him happy and failing. I’m choosing to believe, since these multiple realities/resets are canon now, that he did it in one of them. They all deserve the happiness of their choosing, not just Shinji’s, and Kaworu showed us time and time again that his happiness definitively involves being with Shinji.

I’m sure I missed a lot, because yanno, Eva, and it was long enough as is, but gosh I wish I could’ve understood more of everything that was going on, cause there was SO MUCH WEIRD SHIT.

If I watch this movie again, I will 500% just be watching those “Rei learns to be human with the help of a bunch of old cackling biddies” bits :> Those were THE BEST PARTS OF THE MOVIE.

[that-otome-potato]

One Good Ride

I AM A THIRSTY POTATO! I have no regrets for that which you have chosen to click on and read.

Pairing: Kokuyou x Reader

Rating: Explicit/NSFW

Word Count: ~3700

Notes: THIS IS SMUT.  No real story, just me quenching my thirst

Summary:  When you have a boyfriend like Kokuyou and he invites you on a bike ride with him, who would say no? Especially when the ride turns spicy before you even make it to your destination!

Thank you @lancermylove for the inspiration and help with lore and such XD

‘Ding!’

The sound of an incoming message drew your tired eyes from your computer screen to your phone next to your keyboard.  The sender read: ‘Kokuyou♡’. You immediately felt a rush of energy fill you and an excited smile to form on your lips.

When you leaned away from the keyboard and opened the text message, what you saw made your smile grow.

‘Grab your gear.  Five minutes.’

You stretched and rubbed your eyes before closing down the Starless project you had managed to convince Unei to let you help with, and rushed to your closet. Inside, you changed out of your pajamas and into a pair of cute cut off shorts, a short sleeved t-shirt and running shoes. Looking at yourself in the mirror inside your bathroom and applying some light makeup, you grabbed your personalized helmet and jacket that Kokuyou had given to you the previous Christmas, and hurried out the door, locking it behind you.

When you reached the front door of your building, you skid to a stop when you caught sight of Kokuyou. He was a sight to see, leaning against his bike with his legs and one arm crossed while his other elbow rested on the bent limb, holding a lit cigarette near his lips with a fingerless-gloved hand.  He took a drag from it as he watched other people pass by, eyeing them surreptitiously, ever cautious. You admired the way the smoke curled and undulated through the air as he exhaled before being taken by the light breeze that tousled his blood-red hair. It was an image that only a lucky few could see outside the covers of a high-end magazine.

Your eyes trailed from his short, flowing hair, down his leather clad arms, admiring the peek of pectoral muscles from where his black shirt was v-cut low.  His silver belt-buckle caught a ray of sunlight that fell on him from above, dappled by the trees that lined the sidewalk. The buckle was definitely his style - you knew for a fact that if the need arose, he could use the piece as a weapon to defend himself. Dark blue ripped jeans encased his long legs, with black biker boots to finish off the look.

Unconsciously, you licked your lips at the delicious sight before you. “Hey, you,” you call to him as you exit through the glass front door of your building.  This drew his attention and you felt his carnelian gaze on you like a flame licking your flesh as he looked you over from head to foot as you had just finished doing to him. When you stop right in front of him, you can see his pupils flare in appreciation, even as he smirks down at you and keeps up his tough guy façade. “Like what you see, tough guy?  I certainly do.”

“Alright, you.  Let’s get going already.” Kokuyou stepped to the side and motioned for you to get on first. Without further prompting, you hopped onto the back, yanked your helmet onto your head and threaded your arms through the sleeves of your protective jacket and faced him. This earned you a deep sounding chuckle from Kokuyou as he reached towards you to check the straps on your jacket and helmet to make sure you would be safe.

Once completed to his satisfaction, he gave you one of his rare looks filled with tenderness.  “Beautiful.” 

He continued looking at you on his bike for a few moments before he put his own helmet on and turned to lift his leg up and over to straddle his prized Aprilia, causing a flash of heat to move from the top of your head to your lower belly. 

It wasn’t just him mounting his bike that caused this feeling in you - it happened all the time now.  From watching him perform on stage to watching him as he worked around the tables in the shop. What was it about his movements that you found so attractive?  You didn’t know, but it affected you greatly - and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

You were glad that your helmet was securely in place, lest your lover saw your blush and teased you for it.

Several minutes later, you were speeding out of the quiet part of town that you lived in, arms wrapped securely around Kokuyou’s muscular torso, his warmth seeping into you through your fingertips, his muscles under his shirt flexing as he drove expertly through traffic from one town to another, taking scenic routes and side streets that allowed slow, arching turns.  You could even feel the rapid beat of his heart as it raced with the adrenaline and joy riding brought him.

There had always been something about moments like this that you enjoyed, that had affected you physically. So much so that it had been after a winding ride with Kokuyou that you had succumbed to the desire you felt for each other and had slept together in a room at a small hotel at the end of your trip before returning to Starless.

That felt like such a long time ago now, and yet the memories of that trip and others since then were as fresh as the day they happened.

You groaned, the sound muffled by the helmet you wore. The memories were proving to be so vivid that, between clinging to Kokuyou and the feeling of the revving engine between your legs, your arousal was settling hard and low in your belly.  When Kokuyou stopped at a stoplight, you could help but pull closer to him and roll your hips a little, just for some friction to relieve some of the tension building up in your body.

“You ok back there?” You nearly jumped at the sound of Kokuyou’s voice, low and raspy in your ear. 

‘Shit.  I forgot that there was a Bluetooth mic in my helmet.’ You chuckled slightly at getting caught.  “I’ve been better.”

You felt, more than saw, Kokuyou shift to turn his head to look at you from the corner of his eye through the visor. But you had other things on your mind.  Like how you would be more than willing to rip everything off of his body and fuck him senseless when you reached wherever he was taking you, if not sooner. 

When he started driving after stopping at yet another red light, the revving of his Aprilia to accelerate with traffic, you nearly whimpered when the fire in you flared, your arms constricting around him again to press yourself harder against him. 

You had enough.

“Kokuyou, we need to stop.”

“Why? We’re almost there.”

“This can’t wait.”

“What, do you need to piss or somethin’?”

A frown formed on your face at the sound of a smirk on his voice.  ‘The bastard knows…’

“Just find somewhere private.”

Your short conversation had only been a few sentences long, but the sound of his deep, whispered voice sent directly into your ear made it all the more intimate and erotic.  As if he was whispering directly into your ear again, saying all the things he had planned to do to your body to give pleasure as he thrust into your giving heat.

Kokuyou turned back to look at you from the side again, his eyes meeting yours through the visor, peering deep into your own as if he was confirming his suspicions.  You refused to be the one to break eye contact, trusting his driving and knowing he wouldn’t let anything happen to his motorcycle or you.  You watched his carmine eyes widened slightly, surely seeing the desire shining in your own. Your heart gave a hearty thump at the sight of the red of his eyes getting eaten by the black of his dilated pupils and the sight of his Adam's apple bobbing under the edge of his helmet as he attempted to swallow.

Your lover quickly turned back to face the direction of the road and quickly found a deserted alley, driving as deep into it as he could before stopping and extending the kickstand with a flick of his booted heel.

You, on the other hand, had already pulled his shirt from his pants and snuck your hands up under it to caress the taught muscles of his stomach and upper torso, pinching one of his small nipples at the same time you rolled your pelvis against his ass. This caused a shiver that racked his entire body and a growl escaped his soft lips - you felt your body respond in kind.

The reaction you always felt to that sound had never happened with anyone but him. Whenever Kokuyou released one of his growls, especially when one or both of you were aroused, there was just something in the animalistic sound of it that created a need to copulate deep within you that you always answered.

With slight difficulty - you could, and had, spent hours exploring his large broad body and it was always difficult - you removed your hands from under his shirt and climbed off of his bike.  Without delay, you took off your helmet, then his, before he even had a chance to bring one leg over the bike to face you.

Once he had moved one of his powerful legs over, you gripped the sides of his face and crushed your lips against his, drinking from him over and over like a woman without drink for far too long.

Kokuyou’s large, scarred hands came up to rest on your hips and brought you closer between his legs, his thumbs rubbing gentle circles on your flushed skin under the hem of your shirt. You could feel the hard ridge of his arousal every time you rubbed up against him. When you groaned, enjoying the taste of his lips, he pulled you even closer and you wrapped your arms around his neck, dragging your fingers lightly along the scar on the left side of his neck he received when he was younger. This rewarded you with another shiver and a growl from him.

Suddenly, Kokuyou’s strong grip grew more so as he lifted you up by your hips and you instinctively wrapped your legs around his waist and sat in his lap.  A giggle escaped you before he took over the kiss, making you gasp and giving him the perfect opportunity to thrust his tongue past your plump lips.

Kissing Kokuyou was like having sex - not just emotionally, but by the way he thrust his talented tongue past the barrier of your lips over and over, to toy with your own and touching every part of your mouth.  When he got in the mood, he would take your mouth and ravash you without even removing any clothing, leaving you hot and bothered if it was all he had time for in between performances or while on break from working in the shop.

But he always made up for any discomfort you felt from your shared desires later, sometimes multiple times and over the course of an entire night.

When you two finally parted, panting for breath you’d both denied each other, you ran your lips along his left jaw, leaving behind slow, sensual kisses along the way - his scar as your destination.

“What brought this on then?” His question came out raspy with the desire for you that you could feel growing even more. 

“Does there… need to be...one… when your body calls to mine… on an inexplicable...level?” You ask in between kisses and nips, taking the flesh there between your lips and leaving small red marks behind.  When you finally reached the sensitive mark, you dragged your tongue along the length of the old wound before taking the end closest to his ear between your lips and sucked on it.  Hard.

 “Fucking hell!” He growled at the same time he lifted one hand gripping your hips and brought it down smartly on your ass as light punishment. 

You might have believed it almost even hurt, due to his angry tone, if not for the way his hips pressed against your own rolled up against your heat at the same time.  The ridge in his pants definitely told you that he was enjoying your treatment of him very much.  As it had before, when you heard the rumble escape him and vibrate through his chest, you could feel it ratchet up your lust for him even higher than before, nearly burning you alive from the inside out.

You were so close to climax, so close to feeling such bliss as you had never felt from another person in your life. “Kokuyou -” his name came out on a breath when the hardest part of him rubbed perfectly against your clit through your shorts and panties. Just...a...little bit...more…

He dug his fingers into your skin to hold your rocking hips still. “You still haven’t told me what all this was about, rubbin’ yourself against my back like a bitch in heat.  How are you planning on fixing this?” He emphasised what ‘this’ was by pulling you back against him with increased strength and pressing his covered shaft against where you needed him most.

“You’ll see…” You gasped. Kokuyou was too good at making you feel sexy and desired.  He knew all your weaknesses, where to touch you, where to kiss and nibble. You knew he enjoyed exploiting all of them, taking joy in seeing all of your reactions, claiming them as his own.  

Kokuyou used his grip on you to lift you up into his lap, placing both knees on either side of his hips.  This made it easier for you to teasingly move your hand down his hard torso, feeling every one of his muscles he’d worked hard for over the years. Your journey halted when you reached the ridge in his pants his cock had created. Using deft fingers you had gained from as long as you had been with Kokuyou, you unbuckled his belt even with the zipper of his pants being wedged against it by the crown of his manhood. 

Finally, you released his cock from his pants and you smirked up at him when it sprang free of its confines.  “No boxers, huh?  Were we hopeful?”

He answered your smirk with one of his own. “Not so much as hopeful, but knowing.”

You just growled as you wrapped your hand around his hard shaft and began pumping it, using your other hand around his neck to bring his head towards you into a passionate kiss. Somewhat distantly, you could feel one of his hands move from your ass along the side and under the hem of your shorts to probe at the entrance to your womanhood past the edge of your panties. With one quick movement, he sheathed one finger, then two, inside your body and moved them easily with your arousal.

Your back bent away from him out of reaction at the feeling of his long, thick fingers moving inside you, the callouses on the tips of them creating a delicious friction along your inner walls. This gave him the perfect opportunity to latch onto your pebbled nipples trying to poke through your thin shirt and bra. It took everything in you to keep your hand around his cock as he thrust his fingers in you, scissoring them back and forth to get you ready for him while running his tongue around one nipple.  He bit down on it slightly and tugged before releasing it and going to the other to give it the same treatment. 

Pleasure was making your body absolutely sing at the slight sting he left behind, to the point you could feel your orgasm right in front of you. With one more thrust of his two fingers inside your body, you felt your release wash over you.  You nearly screamed from how it came over you, but Kokuyou nuzzled your chin up and took your lips to keep quiet. When you finally settled, you looked at him, puzzled.

“Public, remember?”

A furious blush bloomed high on your cheek bones as you buried your head in his shoulder in embarrassment while panting for breath.  How could you have forgotten?!  “Oh my god.” 

Kokuyou chuckled again and kissed your temple. “You good?”  

His deep voice rumbled into your ear and awoke your arousal once more, helped along by his fingers still sheathed in your body and his hard shaft still in your hand. 

“Yeah, I’m good.”

“Then let’s finish what you started.  It’s because of you after all.” He removed his fingers from your heat and brought them up to his mouth to begin licking them clean of your arousal, not once breaking eye contact. “Mmm, delicious. Never been with another girl that tasted as good as you do.”

“...Bastard.” That same vibration from the top of your head to the tips of your toes returned at the sight of him enjoying your essence.  He gave you a chuckle as a reward, but you abruptly cut it off when you lifted yourself up on your knees against the seat of the bike. Gripping his shaft with renewed strength, you steadied yourself with your other hand and, using his cock, moved your shorts and panties out of the way so that you could impale yourself on him in one swift downwards motion until you were sitting flush with his lap.

Both of you needed a moment once your bodies were joined, yours so that the burn of your walls to accommodate could abate, his so that he wouldn’t finish right then and there. After a few moments, you began rolling your hips back and forth slowly, the feeling of him moving inside you exquisite with your steady rhythm.

When you started fucking yourself on his shaft, he spread his feet wider to give support so as to avoid toppling the bike. Everytime you lifted yourself up, his grip on your hips brought you back down harder and harder, the crowned tip of him running across the spot along your walls that always caused you to melt as no other man had gotten you to.

Was it because he was longer and thicker than anyone else you’d been with, in every way?  Or because it was Kokuyou and everything about him was stimulating in some way.

Soon, though, all those thoughts and any others turned to white noise as you started moving against each other faster, guided by his hands.

“Fuck, you’re tight.  But so wet.”

Heavy, panted breaths escaped as you instead of the moans you felt in your throat.  You used your legs to move on him, controlling the pace of your pleasure, trying to keep in mind where you were currently copulating.

Right as you started feeling your body toeing the line between pleasure and the bliss of climax once more, your walls constricting around him as he moved inside you, Kokuyou used his superior strength to bring your movements to a stop with his hands on your ass.

A whimper escaped you unbidden. “Kokuyou!  Why did you stop me?”

“You were too close and I was a little too generous of your playtime.  Now it’s my turn.”

Kokuyou stood with his hands under your rear, his cock still inside you, and turned to go around his motorcycle to press you against the building he’d parked next to.  You gasp at the contact of the cold brick wall against your back.  Using that same wall, Kokuyou moved his hands to your thighs and hooked his hands under your knees to bring them up, revealing where you were connected to the world, if it weren’t for his large body blocking anyone’s view. He looked down and you could feel him twitch inside you before he began moving again, watching his shaft slide in and out of you easily with your juices coating his cock.

Your new position also gave him the opportunity to hit you deeper and from a slightly different angle, the head of his manhood rubbing you perfectly along the ribbed flesh of your g-spot, knowing it would bring you to climax faster. You wrapped your arms tightly around his neck, bringing him as close as possible and he placed his forehead on your shoulder as if to concentrate as his pistoning hips moved harder and faster, becoming more erratic as he chased his own orgasm. You could feel the knot in your lower belly tightening again more and more the more times he filled you and retreated.

“Koku… I…” Kokuyou’s attention was drawn up to your face, to take your lips in a passionate kiss. As he devoured your lips and played with your tongue with his own, he brought your legs back down to wrap around his waist. Once you were securely wrapped around him, he placed one hand on the wall next to your head and the other hand under your rear to make sure you stayed right where he wanted you.

“Touch yourself.  I can feel how close you are.  Your sweet body has my cock in a vise grip and it’s taking a lot of strength just to fuck you, you’re so tight.  Why don’t you go ahead and come for me again, _____.” You find a way to nod and he gives you a hungry smile. “Then do it. Come.”

You bring your hand down between your legs and begin rubbing your clit in time with his thrusts and it didn’t take long before your second climax came over you, rocking your body, your throat feeling raw from trying to keep from screaming out loud.

“That’s my girl,” Kokuyou whispered right into your ear before sinking his teeth into the tendon of your shoulder and groan, feeling his cock twitch inside you with his own release.

For several moments, your shared panting filled the alley.  When Kokuyou lifted his head from your shoulder, red eyes met yours and they held such tenderness as he looked at you through slightly damp bangs.  You looked down at him, a rush of love for the Team W leader filling your heart.  You carded a hand through his hair to push it from his eyes and Kokuyou sighed at your touch.

“Feel better?”

“Much.”

“What was that all about?  You don’t usually come on to me that strongly in public.”

You just chuckle and place your forehead on his.  “What can I say?  You’re hot, it’s hard to keep my hands to myself sometimes.”

[occasionally-writing]

Patching Up Forth...Again

A/N: Heeeyy...again XD It’s honestly been a while since I wrote anything for these two and the idea I had for this fic just seemed to fit them! Just fair warning, there is mentions of being ambushed and blood! If that doesn’t bother you, you’re free to read <3 Anyways, this fic is just a little something but nonetheless, I hope you guys like it <3

Summary: Forth gets ambushed by some rival engineering students and Beam is left cleaning up the mess that is his boyfriend. 

Word Count: 1489

“Fuck…” Hissing as his body protested his attempt to get back to his feet, Forth took a shaky breath in and pushed himself harder, finally getting to his feet as he leaned against the brick wall of the club his friends and him usually occupied on Saturday nights. Forth knew that there were some rival engineering students out for revenge but he didn’t think they would’ve come to Forth’s stomping grounds, expecting him to be there. Spitting out some blood he could taste in his mouth, Forth carefully patted around his pockets and sighed in relief when he felt his phone, glad to know they didn’t break it. Sliding down the wall again as his legs gave out, Forth winced as he landed bad, tearing at his wounds. “Beam is going to kill me…”

Biting his lip as he thought about what to do, Forth brushed a trembling hand through his hair and decided quickly, knowing that calling his boyfriend would be the only right thing to do in this situation. Hearing Beam pick up, Forth muttered what happened and twitched when he heard the disappointed sigh, not having to wait long for Beam to tell him to sit still and he would be there in a few minutes, the line going dead as Beam hung up. 

Letting his arm fall back down to his thigh, Forth held his phone in a loose grip and blew out a breath, closing his eyes as he wiped his thumb against his split lip, prickles of blood coloring his thumb red. Listening to the somewhat muted music coming from the club, Forth wasn’t sure how much time had passed until he heard a car door close and someone coming towards him. Tensing up briefly at the possibility the engineering students were back for another round, Forth relaxed when he felt a familiar touch to his cheek as Beam knelt down, taking his boyfriend’s wounded body in closely. 

“Forth...what exactly happened...wait, now's not the time for questions...can you get up?” Clenching his eyes shut at the disappointed yet still concerned voice Beam gave him, Forth nodded softly and shakily stood up, quietly thanking Beam when he reached out to help. Getting on his feet again, Forth bit back a gasp of pain as he took a step forward, his body trembling as Beam wrapped a careful arm around his waist, helping him towards the car. Slowly getting into the backseat, Forth leaned back against the seat as Beam shut the door, jogging to get to the driver’s seat. “We’re going home. After I clean you up, you better tell me what this fight was about this time.”

Choosing not to say a word, obviously not wanting to make Beam even more irritated than he already was, Forth just closed his eyes and dozed off, the car ride quiet. Finally returning to his condo, Beam took a deep breath in and turned in his seat, pausing when he noticed his boyfriend had fallen asleep. Letting the breath out through his nose, Beam let his eyes trail up and down Forth’s injured form, not liking the way his breath was labored in pain even though he was asleep. Scratching the back of his neck, Beam just huffed and slipped out of the car, making his way around to Forth’s side, knocking his knuckles against the window to wake Forth up.

“Easy, come on. We’re here,” Beam instructed, keeping his voice low as he opened the car door, carefully helping Forth out. Leaning into his boyfriend once he was free from the confines of the car, Forth tried to stay as upright as he could while they walked into the building, Beam giving him mercy with taking the elevator instead of the stairs. Finally getting to his room, Beam held onto Forth with one arm while he unlocked the door with the other, pulling his boyfriend into the room. “Go sit on the bed. I’m going to get the med-kit.”

“Okay…” Forth agreed, his voice void of any emotion. Frowning when he noticed this, Beam watched as he limped towards the bed like he was told and bit his lip, not quite knowing what to say. Deciding against saying anything, Beam got back to his previous task with getting the med-kit, pulling it out of its place under the bathroom cabinet. Stepping back into the room to see Forth trying to take off his shirt, his body shuddering with how much pain he was truly in, Beam swiftly walked over to him and placed the kit beside him. Gazing into Forth’s eyes, Beam arched his brows before he gently helped, getting the blooded shirt off only to gasp when he noticed the condition his boyfriend was in. “Is...is it bad?”

Taking in the ugly purple bruises that blotted across Forth’s chest and midriff, Beam swallowed the urge to growl, wanting to know even more about what caused his boyfriend to come to him in this condition. Taking a deep and calming breath through his nose to relax, Beam helped Forth scoot back against the bed more so that he could kneel on the floor in front of him. Drifting his hands softly against the bruises, Beam apologized in advance as he pressed against his ribs, checking for anything broken. Clenching the fabric of Beam’s shirt from where his hands were on his shoulders, Forth gritted his teeth as his jaw clenched, trying not to make any noise of pain. Relieved when he didn’t feel anything broken or cracked, Beam reached up and took one of Forth’s hands in his, rubbed his thumb across the cracked skin of his knuckles. 

“Okay...nothing’s broken, you’re lucky. Now, let me clean the wounds and wrap you up...it might hurt a little, okay?” Beam asked, his voice softer than how it was before when he first addressed Forth. Keeping his eyes on their intertwined hands, Forth nodded silently and stayed as still as he could as Beam got to work, cleaning the bloody gashes on his torso, wrapping him up afterwards with fresh gauze. Turning his attention to Forth’s face, Beam cupped his jaw and moved his head around, looking for any bruises and cuts on the skin. Seeing nothing but a split lip, Beam carefully cleaned that as well before he sat back, satisfied enough to stop and give Forth a break. “I’m done. Wait there, I’m going to put this back.”

“Okay…” Forth muttered, his eyes never leaving the floor even when Beam stood up, closing the med-kit and leaving to put it back in its place. Playing with a loose thread on his jeans, Forth twitched when soft footsteps came back and Beam sat down next to him, taking his hand in his again. Intertwining their fingers, Beam squeezed his hand and shyly pulled it up, pressing a small kiss to his skin. Letting his eyes raise finally, Forth stared into Beam’s eyes, seeing nothing but concern and love in them. He knew that Beam was still disappointed, but that didn’t matter when his boyfriend was looking at him like that. “I’m guessing you still want to know what happened?”

Letting out a sigh as Beam nodded, Forth realized that he wasn’t going to get out of not talking about it and groaned, slowly moving back until he was laying on his back and Beam was pulled against him, his head laying on Forth’s shoulder as his arm laid carefully over his waist. Explaining the situation and how the rival group started it and ambushed him, Forth remained completely truthful, telling Beam the absolute truth as they cuddled. Frowning when he was told that Forth was ambushed, Beam shyly wiggled closer, holding Forth a bit firmer but not enough to jostle his wounds. Nuzzling his face into Beam’s hair, Forth sighed as his body fully relaxed, the warmth of Beam’s body helping with the tenseness he felt earlier in the night. 

“I’m sorry for getting into another fight…” Forth whispered, hoping that Beam wasn’t still disappointed in him. He could handle when Beam was mad, but for some reason, it hurt more when his boyfriend was disappointed in him. Shaking his head softly as he dismissed the apology, Beam moved his head up from where it was laying on Forth’s shoulder, their eyes meeting as he leaned forward, pressing their lips together softly. Taking in a sudden inhale through his nose, Forth let his eyes flutter shut as he let out the breath slowly, deepening the kiss until Beam pulled away, leaving their foreheads pressed together as they breathed in each other’s air. “If getting ambushed and beat to a pulp gets me kisses, I wouldn’t mind getting into more fights.”

Forth knew that slap he got for saying that was truly deserved, his chest shaking in laughter as Beam complained, burying his face in Forth’s shoulder as he was hugged harder.

[927roses-and-stuff]

Miracles in Gotham Chapter 5: Tales of the Misguided Serpent

I really am sorry it's taking more than five chapters for them to actually get to Gotham, by the way. I know most fics will usually have them there by the first chapter. I just like having a lot of build up for the plot and future subplots, so please bear with me!TW: Explicit minor character death and violence in war. Mentions of PTSD, depression, anxiety, and self-harm. 

Hey guys! Thank you so much for reading this story and (hopefully) enjoying it so far! I realize I don’t say it enough, but I truly appreciate everyone who took the time to read this fic, and knowing that there are people who enjoy it are part of my inspiration to write more. As always, an extra thank you to @ozmav for the AU, and @mystery-5-5 for helping me through the writing process (and dealing with my rants).

There will be mentions and allusions to real life events and locations associated with World War II. I don’t mean any disrespect, and any character mentioned and associated within the story is purely fictional. This is not meant to be an accurate depiction of WWII or war in general, nor is it meant to be a mockery of what actually happened. There will also be brief mentions of PTSD, depression, and anxiety symptoms and self-harm. These are all based on research from sources that my therapist has given me (i.e. Centre for Clinical Interventions) and my own personal experiences. 

Lastly, Alfred is in his mid-teens here (because he would fake his age to get into the army) and he isn’t the all wise and knowing Alfred Pennyworth we know and love just yet. And we all know how Master Fu loves giving Miraculous to unqualified, unprepared owners XD. 

P.S. Not me making Sass oblivious to human stuff because I don’t know a lot of war stuff. 

If you want to see more, follow: #miraclesingotham or ask to be added to the tag list.

Tag list: : @northernbluetongue @zerotosiki @spicybelladonna @my-name-is-michell @legendaryneckjudgestudent @lokiifriggasonn

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“Tell me everything you know about this Alfred Pennyworth and your time with him, Sass. I need to know if he can help before considering everything.” 

The snake kwami merely nodded. “Of course, my Guardian.”

“Alfred Pennyworth was one of the best snakelets I have ever known, even if in the end, he did not believe so. If given the time, perhaps, he could have mastered the Snake Miraculous in all of its power, despite his young age. I think he would’ve been only a year or two older than yourself...” 

August 1943, Northwest Europe

“Alfred Pennyworth, I am Sass, kwami of the Snake Miraculous, of Intuition. I will grant you the powers of Second Chance, so long as you promise to use your powers for good.” 

The snake kwami held out his hands gracefully as he finished introducing himself to his new owner. The current Guardian had told him of his duties before he was handed to the young man in front of  him. In times of war, a little intuition could go a long way. 

As Alfred continued to remain unresponsive, Sass began to worry. Alfred Pennyworth was a young man with sharp eyebrows and dark, piercing eyes dressed in a camouflage dark-green military uniform complete with the green beret covering his scalp . Sass noticed the tiny tremors of his shoulders and his tightly pressed lips,  although it would be unnoticeable to the untrained eye. They were in a dimly lit room, although it was strangely quiet for times of war, as the Guardian had relayed to him. 

It had been perhaps the strangest experience that Sass had encountered with a human, although he didn’t have that many to rely on. The young man continued to stare at Sass, and in all his infinite patience, Sass floated in place, and entered a meditative pose above the box he had just come out of.  From the little he knew of humans, they were often slow, narrow-minded creatures who needed more patience than most kwamis were willing to give. 

However, despite the strangeness of it all, Sass felt a warm kinship with the still man in front of him. 

Sass was unsure of how long it had taken for Alfred to be shaken out of his stupor, but he soon closed the box carefully and addressed him. 

“Hello. You’re the friend Mr. Fu told me of?” He asked hesitantly. 

“Yesss,” Sass nodded. “Master Fu is the current Guardian of the Miraculous. You must be someone special for him to entrust you with me, and me with you.” 

Alfred nodded slightly. “Yes, he mentioned that you would help me in my times of need.” 

“That is correct.” 

Sass watched as the young man bit his lip in thought and lightly traced over the marks on the box. “Sass, was it?” 

“Yesss.” 

“...I am Alfred Pennyworth.” 

“I am aware.” 

He looked up from the box and lightly cupped Sass in his hands. Alfred’s eyes squinted at him, his eyes roaming over his tiny form suspiciously. Sass stayed still for him, not feeling uncomfortable at the human’s scrutiny. Humans were suspicious of the unknown, Sass decided. They were wary even when there was evidence to say otherwise. 

When Alfred seemed satisfied, he spoke again. “Why would Mr. Fu give me a tiny snake?” 

Sass frowned. “I may be tiny, human, but I am powerful. With the bracelet you hold in that box, you will be able to turn back time for an unlimited amount of times within an allotted 5 minutes after the first reset. With my help, you are able to directly change events around you as they happen, for as much as you wish.” 

The young man’s eyes widened and gulped; Sass was unable to determine if it was out of terror or fascination. 

“Why would he entrust me with such a power?” 

“The Guardian’s mind works in mysterious ways. Perhaps, he wanted to give you a chance to see in yourself, what he saw in you.” 

His breath hitched, and he gulped again. “And what if I don’t like what I see?” 

Sass floated upwards to meet Alfred’s eyes. Yellow eyes met dark brown as he spoke. “That will all depend on you.” 

For the next few months, Sass watched as Alfred Pennyworth trained with his fellow soldiers as part of the Achnacarry in Scotland and eventually recruited to the No. 47 (Royal Marine) Commando based in Dorchester once the new year came. It had been the longest that Sass had interacted with any of his holders. He took to hiding in the pockets of Alfred’s uniform, although he often wished he had another place to hide when Alfred and the other humans were training with ringing, deafening gunshots,  the thundering footsteps of a hundred men caused tremors within the soil, and the hoarse shouts and screams of soldiers in a stimulated battlefield. When the soldiers were off-duty, Sass liked the chatter as Alfred and the others conversed with one another, their different tones whether morose or jovial, since it helped him drift off to sleep in Alfred’s warm pocket. 

In what little downtime that they had, Alfred liked to ask Sass questions about the Miraculous, what they did, their purpose in the world, the limits of his own Miraculous, and always, why he was chosen to bear such a great responsibility. Sass always told him what he could (although being inactive for so long left him little knowledge of other holders), and always repeated what he had told Alfred the first day they met. Sass liked being with Alfred. He was intelligent, curious, logical, and sensitive to information. Despite the grim circumstances that surrounded their partnership, he was glad that Master Fu had chosen Alfred Pennyworth.

It had been nearly a year since Sass and Alfred met when the No. 47 Commando received their first operation on June 6, 1944. Alfred often told him stories at night of his family, his home, and his surroundings. The night before as they were preparing for battle, Alfred had shared his worries with his fellow soldiers and Sass. It would be the first time they would be in a real battle, outside of Achnacarry or Dorchester. As the Commando arrived at the battlefield the day after, all the soldiers were crammed onto a ship. It had only taken a few hours to arrive at the outskirts of where they needed to be. Only a few miles from the shore, and already the sounds of battle rang throughout the ships, and the soldiers prepared to join in. Some would join as soon as the ship hit shore while others would stay behind to make sure that their ship didn’t sink and attack the opposing army from the water. Alfred was one of the soldiers that would be fighting the moment they hit shore, so he made sure to find an empty space to transform. Sass found himself and Alfred cramped near the ship’s engine, where Alfred was already fiddling with the Snake Miraculous. 

“I won’t look like a circus act when I transform, will I, Sass?” 

Sass shook his head. “No. Make sure to imagine yourself as you are, and the Miraculous will conform to your desires. You might find that your clothes will feel scaly as a side effect. Either way, your clothes will protect you from most impacts, although I’m not sure about bullets.” 

Alfred smiled. “I see. Will I be able to talk to you when I’m transformed?” 

“No.”  Alfred’s eyes widened. “Fear not. I will still be with you, as a part of you, but we will not be able to interact as we are now nor will I be conscious when you are transformed.”

Alfred took a shaky breath. “Alright. Thank you, Sass. Anything else I need to know?” 

“Use it wisely. Seeing that many possibilities will take a toll on you. You will most likely witness one moment in time in different ways. Others may not remember the other timelines, but you will. Do not forget that.” 

Alfred gave a curt nod. “This is it, then?” 

“Yessss, I wish you luck, Alfred.” 

“As do I,” he chuckled. “Sass, scales slither.” 

As Alfred called out the last words, Sass faded into unconsciousness. He had faith in Alfred, and hoped he would work well with the Snake. 

______________________________________________________________________________

When Alfred de-transformed, Sass noticed the light in his eyes and the way he clutched tightly onto two soldiers a few years older than him. The battle was over for now, Sass mused, so Alfred must be relieved that he was safe and alive. Later in the safety of his barrack, Alfred recounted the battle in hushed whispers, how many times he went back to save just one more life (“To think, who might’ve remained dead if you were not with me,” he said, rubbing Sass’ head affectionately with his finger), or to take one more shot he missed the first time. Sass asked him the precise number of times that he went back in time during those allotted 5 minutes that he had used “Second Chance.” Sass asked him who he had saved, how, and whose lives were lost in return. Alfred answers both questions enthusiastically with a significant amount of detail, that Sass allowed himself to feel content. Alfred had saved lives, had done his part for his country.

Sass was proud of his snakelet. 

As time went on, battles were waged and the war raged on all over Europe. Sass didn’t understand human battles, but he made sure to stay by Alfred’s side for all of it. 

It was about half a year in that Sass noticed the changes that Alfred is going through. Like every soldier, he is marred with scars, had a more gaunt, more sickly frame that came from eating smaller rations and sleeping less, and dark circles under his eyes that emphasized how haunted he was. Yet, Sass noticed that Alfred was overextending himself. In every offense, Alfred volunteered to be in the frontlines. In every battle, he took the time to transform, which meant Sass was also often exhausted after every battle and struggled to eat the already miniscule portions Alfred spared from his rations. After every battle, Alfred was jumpy, going from soldier to soldier and striking up conversation whenever he could, visiting the infirmary and muttering apologies to the wounded soldiers. It took Sass a while to realize that the former had been people he had saved, and the latter were the people that he couldn’t or those that he almost hadn’t.

Nights were always the worst. In the daytime with the rush and hustle of war battles, there was not a lot of time for Alfred to do anything but act and fight, especially when he transformed with Sass. But at night, when there was a semblance of silence in his own corner of the barracks, Sass comforted Alfred through the tears, the nightmares, the bloodshed, and other horrors he witnessed. When Sass couldn’t comfort him, Alfred retreated to the arms of Leo Dupain, a soldier a few years older who knew of Alfred’s real age, and the person who Alfred recounted saving the most during his resets. He had sandy brown hair, olive green eyes, a square-like jaw with a hooked nose that looked like it had been broken at least once. Sass listened to their hushed promises of returning to the motherland and settling down somewhere in the countryside far away from the influences of war and its politics. Sass watched as both Alfred and Leo drifted to sleep, holding each other like they were each other’s only anchor to the physical realm. Sass watched as Alfred woke a half hour before the crack of dawn to visit the infirmary before beginning his training, never looking back. Each time, Sass noticed that Leo searched for warmth that had previously been there.

Sass knew that witnessing all of Time’s possibilities was a heavy burden for anyone, much less a child. Alfred related to him about comrades who had died from gunshots, from being trampled on, or thrown overboard. If not them, it was the patients in the infirmary, the ones who had fallen trap to insanity or those who had lost a part of their physical bodies forever. Alfred was inconsolable. By December of 1944, Alfred had anxiety, insomnia, and an unhealthy attachment to the Snake Miraculous.

During that time, Sass tried to teach Alfred how to be more responsible with the Snake’s power, how to use each return more efficiently, and especially, how Alfred didn’t need to use the Miraculous for every injury that his comrades endured. Sass had relayed stories of other Miraculous heros: Heracles, Hippolyta, Joan of Arc, others unrecorded in history who had struggled to learn the same lesson: that Alfred was not a god and he couldn’t save everyone. 

But war was brutal and without mercy, especially to those with kind hearts.

Everything came to a head when Alfred failed to save Leo Dupain before he could reset. Sass was thrown onto the ground as the transformation wore off, gunshots blazing in the background as Alfred’s screams pierced his tiny ears. Sass slowly shuffled to Alfred’s side, and climbed into a nearby pocket.

“Leo, Leo!” Alfred cried, grabbing the heavy body of Leo Dupain, whose leg had been blown off by a nearby explosive. Blood spilled forth from the wound, and Leo breathed in shallow gasps, as his body became limp. Alfred was soon covered in his blood and from the dust and dirt around them. Frantically, he tried to find spare cloth but was futile in his efforts. Sass could feel the tremors from Alfred’s body as he held onto Leo Dupain like a lifeline. Other soldiers had heard his cries and clambered to them, grabbing Alfred forcefully out of Leo’s arms and into safety,

“He needs me! Stop! I need to save him!”

“Leg’s been blasted off, can’t do much for ‘im now but fight,” a soldier- Gabriel Ackles- muttered. He had been one of the soldiers Alfred saved a week earlier from a headshot.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” Alfred ranted hysterically. “I was supposed to save him; he wasn’t supposed to get hurt. He’s going to die…”

SLAP

Alfred stood stunned as Gabriel stood before him, red-faced and fuming.

“We are in battle, soldier! Get it together! You wanna help Dupain, Pennyworth?!” Gabriel didn’t wait for an answer before shoving a long gun of sorts into Alred’s hands. “You go out there and drag every Nazi motherfucker to hell or die trying! You got it, soldier?!” 

Sass watched as Alfred’s eyes dimmed into a stormy grey and stared at the gun in his hands. A second passed and with trembling hands, Alfred was marching back onto the battlefield, gun ablaze. Sass tried hard as he could to use whatever remaining energy he had to protect Alfred, but the amount of resets during Alfred’s transformation had exhausted him and he fell unconscious to the sounds of war.

When Sass regained consciousness, it was to Master Fu’s face. A chill ran down his spine as he fluttered around frantically searching for Alfred. They were in an empty room that only had a few books, two futons and the Miracle Box. There were two double doors that separated their room from the outside world and another, smaller door that led to the rest of the building. 

Where were they? Why was he here? More importantly, where was Alfred?

“Do not bother, Sass,” Master Fu said in a tone more morose than he had ever heard. “Mr. Pennyworth has returned you to me. It has been several months since you were inactive.”

Sass deflated and floated down to the ground beneath him. “Where is he now, Master?”

“I am unsure.” Master Fu looked out of the large double doors. “I am afraid that I have placed too many expectations on young Alfred. When he helped us escape London, I had given you to him as a token of gratitude and friendship.”

“Master?”

Master Fu sighed and turned back to look at Sass with teary eyes. “I could not have foreseen that I had cursed more than blessed him, Sass. He had refused to give you back at first, and it was only yesterday, a month since I last saw him, that you had returned to us.”

Sass couldn’t speak. He had really liked Alfred Pennyworth. He was a good man- one of the best. But, even he couldn’t deny the madness he had endured during his time as one of his snakelets. If kwami had hearts, Sass knew it would be obliterated by the news.

“I see, Master,” was all Sass said before Master Fu renounced him and his Miraculous.

Present day

“And that was the last I heard of Alfred Pennyworth. The next time I appeared in this realm, it was to Luka Couffaine.”

Marinette wiped away a few tears that had sprung up during Sass’ story.

“Do you think he would have anything to do with the Miraculous after all he’d been through, Sass?”

Sass bowed his head and closed his eyes. “Perhaps. He had many questions I could not answer. I am not sure if his trauma overrode his curiosity. I know he had been planning on studying the Miraculous more before Leo Dupain had died.”

Marinette played with her hands as she mulled over Sass’ response. Something about his story caught her attention.

“Leo Dupain? As in my granduncle, Leo Dupain?” 

Sass blinked, yellow eyes trained on her. “Perhaps.” 

“If they're the same person, then he’s still around,” Marinette mused, thinking of the one-legged elder from her early childhood that made her laugh with his silly jokes and warm cuddles. “I never really kept up with him since my grandfather kept us away from Papa’s side of the family. He was funny, though.”

Marinette entered a silent trance, going over all the new information she had received so far, while the kwamis waited with bated breaths. Alfred Pennyworth had deeper ties with her than she had previously thought. In another world, he would’ve been another distant granduncle. However, would she risk going to him in this world when the Miraculous had already scarred him so deeply? But what if he didn’t know about her granduncle? What if he spurned her away despite that? What if he didn’t? What had Master Fu seen in Alfred Pennyworth that he had practically given away one of the Miraculous to his care? How would she explain everything that had happened since their last argument?

What other choices did Marinette really have?

“Marinette?” Tikki asked, the only kwami comfortable enough to break her train of thought.

She sighed, not liking her decision one bit, but she was desperate, and in some ways, this would be beneficial for both Alfred Pennyworth and her.

“Looks like we’re going to Gotham City.”

______________________________________________________________

I really am sorry it's taking more than five chapters for them to actually get to Gotham, by the way. I know most fics will usually have them there by the first chapter. I just like having a lot of build up for the plot and future subplots, so please bear with me!

[aetm-malereaderimagines]

Hey! How about a male reader scenario where the reader has an intense crush on Sawamura Daichi and finally confesses to him ( after a LOT of struggling) only to find out Daichi was also about to confess to him on the same day. Also i love your effort to make male reader scenarios. It really makes it easy for queer males to also have the same experience as straight female fans. Keep it up!!

Firstof all, thank you for your request! Second of all, duh XD I’m a gayguy myself so ofc I write gay fanfiction! Mymain reason to start this blog was actually my frustration caused bybeing unable to find decent HQ!! reader inserts where the reader islegitimately gender-neutral. Yes, even gender-neutral. There are some nicemale reader inserts out there but they’re few and far between.So I usually end up looking for gender-neutral insterts, headcanons, and scenarios but… Some of them areblatantly meant for female readers. Some of them claim to be gender-neutral but you can clearly see they’re actually not or just employ male and female gender stereotypes I’m definitely not comfortable with. And some ofthem are female reader inserts that are tagged as x male reader… SoI decided to say “fuck it” and create some content myself that myfellow queer readers can actually enjoy! LGBT people are alreadydenied the same experience regarding love and sexuality that straight people get so if I can somehow contribute to making this world ofours a little less fucked up for my fellow queer folks, that’s all I could ever wish for!

Okay, but enough of myinconsistent rambling and let’s get into the actual scenario!Although I probably have a crush on every and each HQ!! character(well, maybe except some of the older guys lol), Daichi is actuallyone of those I’d probably consider the best boyfriend material soI’m really glad you requested a scenario for him! Justfyi, I made the readerKarasuno’s 2ndyear manager so that Ihave something to start from, hopefully you don’t mind. Ireally hope you’ll like it! enjoy!

Also let me apologize that it took me so long to write this but for some reason, I’ve been feeling utterly uninspired lately :/ It took the first episode of S4 and a volleyball match I watched yesterday for me to finally get some inspiration to finish this scenario XD

Pairing: Sawamura Daichi x Male Reader

Word count: 1659

告り告られ — A Double Confession

“Oh come on, just confess tohim!”

“You know I can’t!”

“You can and you will!”Yachi’s eyes bored into you and you turned your gaze away, feelingas though those two goldenorbs were penetrating your very soul. “Why do you have to make itharder than it actually is? You like him, you confess, you gettogether. Simple!”

“Like hell it would go thatsmoothly,” you scoffed. “I don’t even know if he’s gay.”

“Oh come on, have you not seenhow close he is with Sugawara-san?”

“But that’s precisely theproblem!” You looked Yachi in the eye confrontingly. “If he’snot gay, I don’t even have a chance, and even if he is, I stilldon’t have a chance since he’s probably already inlove with Suga-san.”

“…you will confess to himeventually anyways,” Yachi cut the conversation, pouting.

You looked away. You knew she wasright. You were going to confess to him eventually. It’s just… Itwas so fucking hard to work up the courage. You’dhad a crush on Daichi since your first year, since a while afteryou’djoined the volleyball club.

Atfirst, it was all fun and games. Youjoined the club simply because you liked volleyball but getting towatch pretty boys get all worked up and sweaty while playing was anice bonus for you. Once you realized you liked Daichi, it got evenmore fun… for a while. Howmany people could say they get to see their crash shirtless on adaily basis?

But the longer you watched, thecloser you got to him, the more painful it got. Daichicould look scary at first, especially during practice sessions whenhe had to rein in first and second years, but asalways, appearances couldbe deceptive. Youmanaged to befriend him, also getting closer with Suga and Asahi inthe process, but soon yourealized that being just friends was hardly enough for you. Youstill couldn’t forget that one time when Daichi said you were “likea younger brother to him” and how much it hurt.

“All right!”

What snapped you out of yourcontemplation was Daichi’s voice. Whileyou were bickering with Yachi standing on the side of the court, theboys were actually training. Shimizu was in charge of taking notestoday so you and Yachi didn’t have much to do at the moment.

You turnedyour eyes in the direction Daichi’svoice had come from. Andthere he was, looking asgood as always, with that damn smile of his he always had on his faceafter a good receive, just a few feet away from you.

So close yet so far.

It was the day. It was the dayyou were going to confess to Daichi.

It had been a month since yourargument with Yachi. Over the last 30 daysand even more late-night phone calls with Yachi, you decided toconfess your feelings to Daichi. Even if he didn’t like you back,you wanted him to know what you feel. The days were growing longerand Spring High wasgetting closer and closer. Regardless of whether you won or lost, thethird-years were going to quit the club once the tournament was over.And once that happened,you were bound to grow more distant with Daichi, let alone having achance to confess to him. If you were going to do it, you had to doit now.

The morning sun was shininggently upon you as you walked through the schoolyard withyour heart pounding in your chest andyou still had like half a day to go before the actual confession. Youreally hoped your teachers wouldn’t quiz you today. You’dprobably fail it miserably since you couldn’t focus on anythingelse but the dreadful perspective of what was going to happen thisevening.

Yourplan was simple. You were going to take alittle longer cleaningup after practice so that you end up staying alone in the storageroom. Then, Yachi was going to “notice” that you’re missing andask Daichi to go and look for you because she had “somethingimportant to talk to you about.” If everything went smoothly, youwere going to end up alone with Daichi in the storage room. That wasgoing to be your chance.

When you were going overthe plan in your head walking down the hallway, your phone rang. Youpulled your phone out of your bag to find out you had a new text fromYachi.

“I’m sorry m(_ _)m”

You tilted your head. That wasall she wrote.

“What do you mean?” youtexted back as you entered your classroom.

You spent the first periodstressing over Yachi’s message. Whatever she was sorry about, itwas bound to be nothing good.

Turnedout Yachiwas sick.

Accordingto Yachi herself, he had suddenly felt really unwell last night whichhadturned out to beonly the beginning of a long, feverish night. Whenher mom had taken her to the doctor this morning, she’d beendiagnosed with a bad case of influenza. Shewould probably be staying at home for at least a week.

Yourplan was ruined, which of course made you very upset… but somewheredeep in your heart, you also felt kind of relieved that the momentyou were going to confess to Daichi was put off by at least a week,and you hated yourself for it.

Youlet out a deep sigh as you leaned against a mop you held in yourhands. Youended up being the last one left in the gym anyways, no matter yourplan. You’dlied to Shimizu and the guys about needing to clean up the storageroom—you needed some time foryourself.

“Needsome help?”

Youturned your face up to find the source of the voice only to be facesby Daichi leaning against the door frame, looking at you.

You gulped.

You didn’t even need your planto be left alone with Daichi.

If this wasn’t the heavenstelling you it was high time you’d confessed then what was.

“Yeah,actually, I’m really glad you’re here,” you said, lookingstraight at Daichi. “There’s something I need to tell you.” Yougulped. “I like you.”

Youfinally said it.

Daichi stood in front of yousilently, as though processing what you had just said, and you justwaited. You weren’t going anywhere until you got an answer,especially given that Daichi was standing in the doorway, blockingyour way. You had quite a spectacle to watch anyways.

Thefirst few seconds, Daichi’s face just… froze, as he stared at youunblinkingly. Then came a slight blush which gradually turned moreand more red eventually taking on the color of an especially ripebeet. Hecovered hismouth with both of his hands, as though he was in an utter shock.Which he probably was. It took him like half a minute to calm down.Once his blush subsided a little bit, he lowered his hands andfinally let himself blink.

“I… I like you, too,” hesaid quietly, turning his eyes away from you.

“No, I don’t mean it likethat.” You smiled sadly. “I mean it, like, in a romantic way.”

“That’s what I mean, too.”

This time it was you that foundyourself shook to the bone.

“What…wait, what?!”

“I actually came here toconfess to you,” Daichi explained, his blush growing brighteragain. “Shimizu told me you’d said you’d stay in the gym alittle longer and everyone else has already left so I thought it wasmy chance…”

You stared at each otherwordlessly for a few seconds. You were the one to start laughing.

“Whatthe hell is this?! Whathave I even been worried about this past year?!”

“Iknow, right?” Daichi giggled as well. “Wait,you’ve had a crush on me fora yearalready?!”

“Over a year, I’d say,” youresponded. “You?”

“You beat me on that one.”Daichi’s smile was really the most beautiful thing you’d everseen. “I’d say since the previous Spring High? You remember howyou cheered me up after we lost? That’s when I realized.”

“Isee.” You couldn’t stop grinning. “So I guess we’reboyfriends now?”

“I guess so.” Daichi grabbedyour hand and pulled you toward the door. “Let’s go hometogether.

“That’s so amazing!!!!!!I’m so happy for you two!!!!!!!!! And I’m so so sorry I couldn’thelp you today T_T”

You smiled at your phone. Yachiwas really the sweetest.

“If you hadn’t supportedme this whole time, I wouldn’t have confessed to him in the firstplace!”

“Sorry you had to wait.”

You put your phone back into yourpocket as you turned your eyes to Daichi. He had to grab hiss stufffrom the club room and you’d been waiting for him downstairs.

“No problem,” you responded,readjusting the strap of your bag on your shoulder. “Shall we gothen?”

“Let’s.”

You walked down the streetleading up to the school. You were talking and laughing, enjoyingeach other’s presence. It was late and there was nobody around.Daichi grabbed your hand and you squeezed it back.

“Hey,” Daichi started, hisvoice sounding a little anxious. “Don’t you wanna come over? Myparents are at home but I’m sure my mom will be happy to have youover for dinner. We could watch some movies or something.”

“Sure thing,” you respondedwith a smile. “I’d love that.”

Daichi smiled at you again andyou couldn’t hold yourself back any longer. You leaned in placing agentle kiss on his lips.

A clap of distant thunder rumbled throughthe skies. You couldn’t know that yet but it was just the beginningof a thunderstorm that was going to force you to stay the night atDaichi’s house.

Not that you minded.

[pufflyhallows]

Butterbeer

Gif not mine

Pairing: Oliver Wood x reader

Summary: Oliver is feeling down with the result of the last game, so the Hogsmeade trip doesn’t seem too exciting until his friend takes him to an interesting shop.

a/n: I realized I had never written anything with a Hufflepuff reader, which is absurd! XD

Warnings: language

Word count: 2,412

********

Oliver was not happy. 

Harry Potter had been unconscious in the hospital wing for the recent Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw match, in which Gryffindor suffered their worst defeat in three hundred years.

Of course Oliver worried about his friend’s health and he was glad that Harry was perfectly fine now, but the weight of the defeat upon his shoulders was too much. He was the captain, after all. He knew he was the first one to blame and he knew everyone in Hogwarts was talking about it, especially the Slytherins.

For that reason, he wasn’t too excited about the last Hogsmeade trip of the year, unlike his friends, who couldn’t stop talking about it in the common room as they got ready to go out.

“I’m gonna buy as many boxes of Chocolate Frogs as possible,” Noah said as he counted his money, “I don’t wanna wait the entire summer to eat those again.”

“Sometimes I forget you’re a muggleborn,” Riley thought out loud.

“I can send you more if you run out,” Leo patted Noah on the shoulder.

“Thanks, mate.”

“Can we go now?” Oliver asked impatiently.

Noah and Leo looked at each other finding strange their friend’s behavior, but Riley understood very well why Oliver wasn’t quite happy that day.

“Yes, we can,” she replied, standing up and motioning for the boys to go with her. And they did.

Hogsmeade looked just the same as it did on their previous visit. Nothing had really changed, except maybe for the weather. It was slightly hotter now.

“There he goes,” Leo pointed discretely at Percy, who had just entered Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop with his girlfriend Penelope.

Noah smirked, shaking his head. “That’s why he was in such a hurry.”

“Let the boy live,” Riley chuckled, “Where do you guys wanna go first?”

“Honeydukes! I need my Chocolate Frogs,” Noah patted on his pocket, where his money was.

Riley thought Oliver would protest, but the boy didn’t seem to be on the same planet as them. She knew where his mind was and she felt bad for him, hoping the crowded shop would cheer him up somehow.

But it didn’t.

“Where do we go now?” Noah asked with a full mouth as the four friends left Honeydukes.

“Zonko’s?” Leo proposed.

“Sure.”

“Oh, I actually want to go to Tomes and Scrolls,” Riley said, pointing at the bookstore across the street.

“I can go with you,” Oliver offered, finally saying something since they got there and making Riley a little bit more optimistic.

“He can go with you,” Leo repeated, “Noah and I will meet you there later. It might take a while, though.”

“It’s okay. See you later then,” the girl waved and the two boys left towards the joke shop, leaving her alone with Oliver. “Let’s go?”

He nodded, following her to the store he had never paid attention to before. 

As they got in, Oliver realized it was way bigger than what it looked like from outside. The shop was completely filled with books of all kinds, shapes and colors. Of course his eyes landed on Quidditch Through The Ages, exposed on a shelf by the door. He inevitably sighed, looking away from it and going further into the store. He did not need a reminder of his failure at that moment.

Riley wasn’t searching for anything specific, she said. She liked to just go there and walk around until something caught her attention, so Oliver decided to do the same. 

They parted ways, each of them heading to a different side of the store, and the boy started reading the books’ titles as he walked through the tall shelves, hoping something interesting would come into sight.

He could understand why he had never paid attention to that store before or why it wasn’t as full as Honeydukes. Unfortunately, despite having a nice variety of books, that shop looked abandoned and slightly dirty. But he could also understand why Riley liked it so much. It strangely felt like home.

A bell rang from the entrance, announcing that someone had just come in. Oliver looked at the door curiously, feeling instantly glad he had done so. Standing by the first shelves, two girls talked to each other quietly as one of them pointed at a book with a yellow cover. Oliver’s eyes could not drift away from the girl on the left, wearing a navy blue coat and nodding at whatever her friend was saying about the yellow book. Her beauty illuminated the dusty, sad environment, bringing back the life Oliver knew it once had. 

He gulped, his heart growing a warm feeling. The girl was holding a small package in her hands, which he could bet was a chocolate bar from Honeydukes, and he suddenly felt the urge to know what she liked to do in her free time, what was her favorite Quidditch team (if she even liked the sport at all), favorite book genre, favorite drink, her favorite song, her name... Who was that girl?

When the two new visitors started walking further into the shop, consequently closer to where he was, Oliver grabbed the first book he saw and opened it at a random page, pretending to be highly interested in the words written there.

The navy blue coat girl waved at someone behind him, a shy smile on her face that made Oliver’s cheeks heat up. He turned around slowly and a mixture of euphoria with total shock took over him as he saw Riley waving back. 

He did not waste a second before walking up to her. 

“Who is that girl?” he asked urgently, not caring if he sounded too demanding.

“She’s a Hufflepuff, a year below us. Why?” Riley frowned at her friend’s urgency.

“How do you know her?”

“She helped me in the bathroom once if you know what I mean. Kindest person I’ve ever met, to be honest.”

“What’s her name?”

“I’m not sure, but I think it’s Y/N.”

“You’re not sure?!”

“It was a long time ago, Oliver. Why are you asking me all these questions?” she raised an eyebrow at him.

“How have I never seen her before?” 

“I don’t know,” Riley shrugged, “But you didn’t answer me.”

“She’s...” Oliver looked at the other side of the store, where Y/N was. “She’s so beautiful.”

“Ohh...” Riley smirked, “I see.”

Oliver kept staring at the girl with a dreamy look on his face, making Riley laugh. That was completely adorable. And new! She had never seen him like that before.

“Let’s go talk to her,” she proposed.

“What?!” he looked at his friend, “No way.”

“Why not?!”

“What am I going to say?”

“’Hi, my name is Oliver, nice to meet you?’” 

“Then what?”

“I’ll help you, c’mon.”

“Riley...”

“Come on.”

Riley pulled her friend gently by the arm towards the two girls on the other side of the store. Oliver felt his heart race increase instantly and his stomach get cold. He hoped his face wasn’t red, but it probably was.

“Hey, Y/N,” Riley risked, praying she had gotten the name right. The navy blue coat girl turned around and smiled.

“Hey, Riley! It’s been a while, how are you?”

“I’m good! I’ve heard about your dad’s promotion on the Ministry. Congrats!”

“Thank you! We’re really happy,” Y/N blushed slightly. “Oh, this is my friend Jade.”

The other girl held out her hand with a polite smile, “Nice to meet you, Riley.”

“Nice to meet you too, Jade,” Riley shook her hand, “This is Oliver.” 

“Hi,” he said, shaking Jade’s hand as well.

“Oh, we know Oliver,” Y/N said, making his heart stop completely as he and Riley shared a surprised look. “You’re the Gryffindor captain, right? We watched the game last week.”

Oh no. Riley bit her lower lip nervously.

“Yes, I am,” he nodded, “And I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“Well, you guys made history,” Jade said. 

“Jade,” Y/N elbowed her friend discretely.

“It’s okay,” Oliver reassured Y/N, “She’s right, we did.”

“Miss Allen?” the owner of the shop called from behind the counter. 

“That’s me,” Jade explained, “Excuse me.”

As the girl left towards the man who had called her, Riley saw the opportunity to give Oliver a little push. 

“Oh, I didn’t know Mr. Bennett was here today. I’ll be right back.”

And she headed to the counter as well, leaving Oliver completely alone with Y/N.

“So...” he said, clearing his throat, “You come here often?”

Fucking hell, man. She was probably going to think that was a pick-up line.

...would it be so bad, though?

“I do, actually,” she held the small package against her chest and looked around, “This is my favorite shop in Hogsmeade. It might sound strange, but-”

“It feels like home.”

She looked at him, slightly stunned.

“Exactly,” the girl nodded.

“I get it, even though this is my first time here. It’s a pity I took this long to notice it.”

“Well, it does have a discrete facade,” she smiled kindly at the thought of Mr. Bennett decorating it.

“Yeah,” was all Oliver managed to say. He felt completely lost in her smile and didn’t seem to be able to form any more words.

Y/N noticed the small pause, but the cause of it was unknown to her. 

“So, how’s Harry Potter?” she asked to break the silence, “Is he still in the hospital wing?”

“Um... Yes. But he’s okay now, he’s awake. He’ll stay there for just a few more days.”

“I’m glad to hear that. The news scared us all, but I can only imagine what it was like for you and all of his friends. It’s very understandable what happened on the match. You guys were probably still shaken with his situation.”

“Y-Yes. We were,” Oliver agreed, surprised to find sympathy after a week of disapproval. “He was still unconscious when we played.”

“And yet, you guys gave your best. That’s admirable.”

“Thank you. Not many people seem to take that into account.”

“Well, I can’t speak for the entire school, but I can assure you that the Hufflepuffs do. Cedric even had a speech about it,” she chuckled, “Some boys were being... you know.”

“Thank you. Really,” Oliver sighed, feeling like a giant burden had been lifted from his shoulders. It was very good to know that not everyone blamed him. “You have no idea of how much I needed to hear this.”

“I do,” she put a hand on his upper arm and squeezed it gently, “But it’ll be alright. You’ll see.”

If he hadn’t been able to speak when she smiled, he wasn’t able to even breathe now that she had touched him. The feeling of it was so surreal, he couldn’t believe she existed.

“Oh, and Cedric has said countless times that the Gryffindor team is the second best in Hogwarts,” Y/N added, “After Hufflepuff, of course.”

“Of course,” Oliver chuckled, being followed by Y/N. Usually, he would disagree, but this time he let it pass. The sound of her laugh was too sweet to be interrupted.

“What I mean is that this last game won’t change the fact that you guys are really talented,” she explained, “Don’t listen to the Slytherins, you know that’s an old house rivalry.”

“Yeah...” he looked down, “I know.” 

“Can you believe they had a delay and it’s going to take another week?” Jade complained as she approached her friend.

“Oh no. And how are you going to pick it up?” Y/N asked.

“Mr. Bennett wanted to send it to me for free, but I said no. I’ll pay for the delivery, it’s not his fault,” Jade sighed, “But I wanted it now! That was the whole point of ordering it here, instead of buying it at Flourish and Blotts.”

“Yeah, that’s a shame.”

“So, let’s go?” 

“Sure,” Y/N nodded, “It was nice meeting you, Oliver. See you around?”

“Um... Actually, are you busy right now?” the boy inevitably held his breath as he took his shot.

“I’m afraid so...” Y/N looked hesitantly at Jade, who seemed like she was trying to hide a smirk. “We had planned to go to The Magic Neep now and then to Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop.”

“I can go to Scrivenshaft’s by myself, Y/N,” Jade tilted her head slightly, “You’ll be totally free after The Magic Neep.”

Oliver didn’t say anything as he waited for the two friends to come to an agreement. Y/N took a while before replying. 

“You’re right,” and she turned to face Oliver, “I’ll be free after I visit the greengrocer down the street. Why?”

“Well,” he cleared his throat, “I was thinking that maybe we could go to The Three Broomsticks to have a butterbeer and... talk. What do you think?”

Y/N gave her friend a glance, but the girl smiled encouragingly. Oliver couldn’t help but notice the light pink color that Y/N’s cheeks had suddenly acquired.

“That sounds nice,” she answered shyly, “I’d love to.”

“Great! So, see you in...?”

“Half an hour.”

“I’ll be there,” the boy smiled.

“Now, we should get going,” Jade said, “See you around, Oliver.”

“Bye,” Y/N waved at him and followed her friend outside the bookstore.

“Bye,” he whispered as he watched them leave. 

He could not describe what he was feeling at that moment. How could a girl turn a boring day into the best one he had had in a week?

“So?!” 

He jumped on the spot with the sudden voice behind him. He turned around to meet the eyes of a very excited and curious Riley.

“How was it?!”

“I have a date,” he smiled.

********

[wolf-555-writer]

Target On My Back Part 3

Hope you guys still like where this is going xd. And thanks for all the comments, likes and reblogs, I’m so glad you like it, it really means a lot! Thanks! :) 

PART 1 | PART 2 

Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow x Reader

Summary: You desperately need answers about your connection between Natalia and you. Will you find them? And will you like what you’ll find?

Word Count: 2,712

Charming, sparkling green eyes, piercing right through you. With an intense longing gaze and a mesmerizing grin. Drawing you closer, leaning in, she’s got a hold of you. Absolutely enchanted by her, and her impressive skills, her amazing figure and total fearlessness for everything. Her beautiful red hair tickles on your skin as she presses her soft, red lips on your neck. Melting away at her delicate touch. The fact that she shot you in the leg, minor detail, you’re already over it. Still alive and kicking, right? Her hand moves from your waist to your hips smoothly, and ends up on your back while she pulls you closer. Her body pressed against yours, she has complete control over you. “Stay…”, you beg her, exhaling a bit shaky since you struggle to breathe correctly. Giving in and closing your eyes in satisfaction as your heart flutters. With a soft voice she whispers in your ear, sensing her warm breath on your skin:  

“Agent (Y/L/N)? Are you hearing this?”, Coulson presses, snapping his fingers displeased, probably in response to your silence and absent-minded stare. “Yes, loud and clear sir”, you answer with a straight face, seated in a small, cramped space on an uncomfortable chair. No windows and barely any fresh air judging by the fusty smell hanging around. “Well then, can you repeat the question for me?”. “...Um-”. Debriefing. That's what they call it. After the second time it started to feel more like an interrogation. “I thought so. I asked if you can walk me through that moment just before Agent Hill arrived. One more time please”, Coulson insists, now leaning on the metal table while assuming an intimidating stature. You’d rather go back to that daydream…. Despite the several ‘interrogation’ attempts by Coulson and Hill, you haven’t told them what exactly happened between Natalia and you, both times. All these questions, asked in a particular, distrusting way. He’s really pushing it. Why even believe some deadly assassin over a government organization anyway? You have mixed feelings about it, about Natalia, about SHIELD and about yourself. Can’t pinpoint the exact reason where it’s coming from, but you have to figure it out. If you had known her before, you would know right? ‘Cause seriously, you don’t forget someone like her that easy. “So, are we done here?”, you urge, suppressing the rage, trying your best not to let it all out. “Yes, all clear Agent (Y/L/N). You’re dismissed”, Coulson states, closing the file in front of him, not written down a single word because you told the exact same story, just like all the previous times. Not cleared for field work yet as you’ve been recovering from the gunshot wound in your leg. Taking it easy and slow, which you undeniably hate. Although, it has given you enough time to think. Not too powerful, you slam both hands on the table in a passive-aggressive way and stand up, hearing the screeching of the metal chair on the floor as you push it back. Without saying another word you exit the room and march off. With a slight limp though, so it’s not as overpowering as intended to, but he got the point.

“Hi Maria!”, you greet, walking through the hallway at SHIELD headquarters, seeing her approach with a fast pace and a dead serious look. “It's Agent H-”. “Agent Hill, I know, I know. I was wondering if you have an assignment for me. It’s okay if it's a routine mission or anything, just give me something to do”, you ask in despair, being bored as hell around here. “I can't. I'm sorry. You haven't gotten the clearance from Coulson yet”, she answers while still moving. “From Coulson?”. Wait, so the doctor already cleared you for duty, yet Coulson didn't? Agent Hill clearly has other matters to attend to, no time to stop or respond as she continued her course with haste. Well… Coulson’s credibility really hit a low point at the moment. Loyal to SHIELD. Trust the system. Words you don't believe in anymore. Okay, it’s true, SHIELD always keeps secrets. But you need answers. Right now. Obviously asking for the information is by far the worst option, no doubt they would lie or cover it up anyway. A group of Agents pass you. They’re gazing at you just a bit too long with their judgy eyes. The story of your failures has been going around, or whatever you might call them. Missing and failing to apprehend the target. Losing the package. You're being watched, your every move, like you’re a traitor, a criminal. Especially Coulson is giving you that feeling. So you have to be careful. Probably the reason why you haven't considered the more obvious choice, which is tracking down Natalia. You have to do this, before talking yourself out of it, it’s now or never.

You chuckle, it’s kinda ironic, the skills taught by SHIELD now used to break-in into their own compound. It sure comes in handy, knowing the routines, codes and how to bypass the security system. Standing in a dark corner with your back against the wall, looking at your watch while counting down the seconds. A couple of guards will pass by any moment now. And… go. Setting the timer. You’ve got 8 minutes, should be enough. Looking over your shoulder one more time while you type in the passcode and covertly slip past the door, into the records room. You’re in. The blue screen lights up your face, and with a hypnotic stare you search for the info, now scrolling through the data of previous SHIELD operations like a maniac. Maybe you encountered her on a mission before, or you were part of a secret SHIELD program, forced to wipe your memory. Can’t find a connection between Black Widow and you. There has to be one, right? Because it feels like there is one. There’s a strange familiarity about her. You have to dig deeper. Accessing your personnel file, maybe that will shed some light on it. 4 minutes and 30 seconds left. A lot of stuff about your past is redacted, the file is filled with secrets. Why? Then you stumble upon a medical report.   

“(Y/N)! Can you hear me?!”, Coulson shouts using both his hands to focus the sound while slowly progressing through the thick layer of snow beneath him. The desperation in his voice is all too clear. “Are you sure it’s here?”, Agent Barton asks with a loud voice, also searching, several meters away from Coulson. “Yes, it’s here. It has to be...”. A low, almost inaudible groan has caught Coulson’s attention as he jolts his head and immediately struggles towards it. “Quick Barton, HERE!”. He kneels while pushing some of the ice-cold snow out of the way. “Don’t you think we’re too late Coulson?”. “No. I won’t believe that. I can't”, he utters in concern. No optimism left, until his expression suddenly changes. “I still feel a pulse. It’s very weak, but it’s there. Let's go!”.  

Perhaps those recurring nightmares were telling you something… Heavily beaten up, a couple of broken bones, and in your chest, close to your heart, a gunshot wound. Covered in snow mixed with blood and a whole lot of other injuries you were brought into the infirmary of a remote, classified SHIELD location by Coulson and Barton. How did I even survive this? You think, reading the file in disbelief. If that bullet had pierced you a couple of centimeters lower, you would have been dead, no doubt. And the cold temperature apparently saved your life too. There’s more information, it’s of a meeting between Coulson and you. Were you an informant? With Coulson being your handler? But you were told that you’ve been a SHIELD Agent your entire life, and a well trained one too. You believed them, didn’t question them. You even have your own academy records to prove it. “Was it all a lie? Was I a target? A criminal?”, realizing you are one of them. The people that you despise, and hunt for a living, the ‘bad guys’. Turns out you and Natalia are not so different after all. “No, NO. this is- this can’t be true”. There’s an audio file. You’re about to open it when you hear a noise.

“Hey, there’s somebody inside!”. “Fuck”. You still had 2 minutes left!? “Good evening fellas. This doesn’t have to go the hard way”, you advise in a nonchalant fashion, carefully shifting towards them with your hands up, trying to close the distance. “You’re not authorised to be here!”, one of the guards barks at you as two of the four enter. “Okay, suit yourself. Hard way it is then”, you decide while sprinting forward and forcing the door shut with your foot, locking two of them out. The other two inside promptly react and one swings his baton at you. You slip by ducking down. Making a spin while moving up, you hit him with the backside of your right elbow, followed by a left hook just below the eye. The other one moves towards you, swinging his baton. But you grip it tight, along with his other arm, preventing a blow to your head. Perceiving a crackling electricity sound right beside you. Okay... so these are also tasers, how convenient. You toss the guard to the side and taunt with a wide grin: “I can keep this up all day, guys”. Turning your head to the door as it opens again. The short distraction caused you to be forcefully thrown against the just unlocked entrance, with the guards arm crushing your throat. Gasping for air while you're being choked. However, the other two guards luckily can’t get in as you feel them banging on the door. Powerfully kicking him between the legs - always effective - now able to shove the guard back with your arms, to end with a kick in his stomach. You hunch over, hands resting on your knees, and cough due to the lack of oxygen intake. The other guard took this opportunity and has tased you around the waist area with his charged weapon. A painful shock radiates through your torso and you let out a painful cry. Quickly kicking the baton out of his hand and pivoting your whole body, loading up for another one. With the heel of your boot you strike him on the temple. Knocking him out before he crashes to the floor.

“Stop Agent (Y/L/N)!”, a familiar voice orders. It’s Coulson. “Stand down!”. A stinging pain in your neck makes you stop and you reach for it. He shot you with something. Displaying your left hand to see what it is, holding a type of dart in your palm. “This is for your own safety”. “What the h-”. Mid-sentence you collapse on the ground. Your body feels heavy, fading away as it gets dark before your eyes.   

“Hello, this is Agent Coulson”. “Sir, the prisoner has finally woken up”, a doctor informs on the phone. “Good. It’s been weeks. I'll be there as soon as possible”. Coulson enters the room inside the remote infirmary facility, however the bed is empty and the cuffs are opened. “What? How-”. He gets grabbed from behind. Trapped in a strong headlock and an IV needle firmly pressed on the skin near his carotid artery. “Easy, easy. So ...I see you’re feeling better (Y/N)”, Coulson carefully speaks as he puts his hands up to show that he's surrendering. “How do you know my name and who the hell are you?! Why was I chained to the bed!? Talk!”. “Do you want answers or not? Then you have to let me go first. Okay (Y/N)?”. “This is Fury”. “Director, it's Coulson. Sir, I'm back in Eastern Europe again and I have an interesting case here. My informant is awake, but has no memory”. “No memory?”. “Yes, sir. No idea about their past whatsoever”. “I see... We could use an Agent with that specific skill set here at SHIELD. They could be a valuable asset”. “My thoughts exactly sir”. “It’s best if no one knows the details about this”. “Nobody will know sir”. “Okay. I trust you Coulson. Agent (Y/L/N) is your responsibility now”.

“I thought I would find you here, sooner or later”. Perceiving Coulson’s voice as you slowly open your eyelids, feeling a little fuzzy. Wanting to move your arms and legs, however you can’t. “What the hell did you do to me?!”, you yell, tied to the chair with your wrist and ankles secured. He definitely injected you with a paralyzing agent earlier. “I should have never assigned you that mission. But I thought you would be the only one that could match up to Black Widow”, Coulson reveals, avoiding eye contact with you. Why would he say that? What is he playing at? Still trying to free yourself by moving around as you feel two hands grasping your shoulders. You shrug them off, but it only causes you to be pushed down with even more force. Detained by the two guards that you fought, having a hateful expression on their face. Can’t blame them though. “You need to fix this Coulson”, you protest, never having felt so enraged and betrayed before. “I can't. It can't be fixed anymore. And trust me, you don't want it to be fixed either”. “Trust you? Not a chance”, you scoff. “You kept this from me, lied to me”. He clearly doesn't want you to know about your past. “You have proven yourself over the years, being an excellent Agent here at SHIELD. Do you want to destroy all that?”. “Cut the crap Phil. What did SHIELD do to me?! I want answers, now”, you demand, not actually in a position to make these at the moment, being tied up and all. “Well, you may not like what you’ll find”, Coulson comments as he’s pacing back and forth. “I don’t care. I had your back. And you took advantage of me, used me for your own means”. Sick of all the secrets, cause it’s driving you crazy. “I just need to know who I am and where I’m from”. Coulson stares at you with a conflicted expression. “You can't know. That is why we lied to you in the first place. The secrets are there for a reason”. “I will never stop looking for answers Coulson”. “I know you won’t”. He looks away and sighs while shaking his head in an upset manner. You hoped this trip to the archives would trigger a memory, yet it didn’t. You’re desperate, not knowing who you are anymore. After some minutes you break the cutting silence. “Did I know her? Did I know Natalia? Come on Coulson, I need to know”. Coulson takes a strong breath in and ponders, hearing the gears turning in his head. “Guards, can you give us the room please?”, he instructs, sending the guards away, leaving you and him alone. He finally decided to give in. Now standing right in front of you, he tells with a deep sigh: “Okay, but you might want to sit down for this”. “...Really Coulson”. Considering the position you’re in, you give him a look, raising your eyebrows. “Well you know what I mean”.

Sitting outside, watching the sunset, Natalia has a picture in her hand. One of the edges is torn off and it’s wrinkled, probably due to the fact that she always carries it with her. The slight discoloration suggests it's an older picture. It's the last and only one she has, possibly the only personal belonging too. On it are two people wearing a uniform, standing side by side. One of them is a red-headed woman, winking at the camera, matched with a subtle grin. The other person close next to her is staring at her with a longing gaze and smiling. Left arm wrapped around her shoulder, being completely enchanted by her. By her laugh, her fiery green eyes and fearlessness. It’s you. You and her in this old picture. Together. Holding it close, Natalia gently caresses the image of you with her thumb and softly whispers:

“I hope one day you’ll remember me...”

PART 4

[sassyshoulderangel319]

Concert Date

This one is ALMOST 3,000 words. It’s 2,997. So close. But I didn’t want to add three more words XD

Previous MLQC writings: 1, 2, 3, 4

I stood in the VIP seating section of Kiro’s concert with a small smile on my face as he bounded onto the stage. “How’s everyone doing tonight?” he asked brightly.

Shrieks of excited fans immediately filled the concert hall. Kiro chuckled.

“Glad to hear it. It’s so good to see everyone. Thank you all so much for coming to this performance—”

“I LOVE YOU KIRO!” a fan shouted.

Kiro beamed. “I love you too. I love all of you. I can’t put into words how much it means to me to have support from fans like mine. You’re all always so excited and enthusiastic. For a guy like me, nothing could be better. I’m so thankful to each and every one of you.” He cleared his throat. “Tonight, I’d like to dedicate this performance to my best friend. Without her, I wouldn’t have been able to finish half the songs on the new album. Mostly because she has the most terrifying glare I have ever seen.”

He glanced over at me while the crowd laughed. I glared at him for calling me out. He smiled slightly and winked.

“Alright! Now that that’s out of the way, who’s ready to get—this—started?!”

The amount of noise that filled the venue made me break out my earplugs before the music even started. I jammed them into my ears and covered them with my hair. I could still hear everything, but it was just muffled enough that my ears weren’t aching in protest.

He started to sing. Most of the venue sang along with him. Including me.

Before we met in that convenience store, I’d always been aware of his music, just never been a huge fan. Sure I heard his songs on the radio all the dang time, but I’d never sought it out. Kiki owned basically all of his albums, and she liked to play them during quiet moments in the office too. I knew his songs but I’d never known much about him besides superstar.

Then we ran into each other and I was instantly charmed by him. That was when I started to really be a fan.

Savin was sitting next to me, pretending he wasn’t Kiro’s manager and agent. I liked to pretend I didn’t realize he flirted with me a lot because it would often get an embarrassed rise out of Kiro, but I knew Savin thought I was attractive.

Victor always thought I was an idiot because he talked about stuff I didn’t know a whole lot about. But if he ever bothered to ask me about subjects I was more knowledgable in, he wouldn’t be so quick to deal out insults to my intelligence. I wasn’t terribly business-savvy was all. But I wasn’t so stupid that I couldn’t tell when Savin was flirting with me. It wasn’t like he was subtle about it. Kiro wasn’t subtle about his flirting either.

And Kiro knew, deep down, that no matter how much his agent flirted with me I only had eyes for Kiro. He pouted when Savin flirted but never threw a fit.

As the concert continued, I glanced at Savin out of the corner of my eye. I wondered if he knew about Kiro’s Evol. Kiro hadn’t directly told me about it yet, but after Victor froze time in the middle of the studio and Kiro wasn’t frozen with it, I knew he had some sort of power.

I suspected it had something to do with his success as an idol. The charm that made everyone fall in love with him. It wasn’t as flashy as Gavin’s power over the wind or as incredibly powerful as Victor’s ability to stop time, but it still made him influential.

And it was lucky that someone as caring as Kiro got a power like that. If someone with the wrong hands could charm anyone into doing anything, that could be catastrophic. Kiro just used it to convince his fans he loved them all and make sure they knew he was genuine when he said it.

Savin probably had no idea.

I went back to watching Kiro.

The stage lights were causing him to sweat. His gold bangs clung to his forehead in places. He’d removed the jacket he’d jumped onto stage wearing, throwing it over the back of the piano to reveal the pale yellow tank top underneath it.

I leaned over to Savin. “Does he wear all that jewelry by choice or because his stylist says so?” I called over the blasting music.

Savin regarded Kiro thoughtfully. “A mixture of both,” he said. “The earrings and ring are all him. Most of his necklaces are his stylist’s idea. Same with the bracelets and every other ring besides the one on his right pointer finger.”

“Cool. Just wondering.”

We went back to watching the concert.

At intermission, we got up and slipped backstage as subtly as we could.

“Miss Chips!” Kiro exclaimed, wiping his sweat off on a towel that he quickly handed to a staff member before rushing to me and throwing his arms around me. “You came!”

“Ew—Kiro you’re all sweaty!” I protested—with a laugh so he knew I wasn’t actually cross with him. He let me go with a pout. I whacked him lightly in the arm with the back of my hand. “And of course I came, silly! I wasn’t going to miss this for the world!”

He laughed and ruffled my hair. “Thanks. I’m really glad you’re here.”

“Well, I’m happy to be here.” I smiled and gave him another hug so he knew I was being genuine.

“Kiro, go change!” Another staff member shouted.

“Oh right!” Kiro said, eyes going wide. He grabbed my hand. “I gotta get out of these sweaty clothes for Act Two but I’ll be right back!”

I smiled. “Of course,” I said. “I’ll be right here.”

He rushed off, fingers clinging to mine for as long as he could before losing contact and breaking into a run. I chuckled and leaned against the wall. Savin had his arms folded.

“I never see him as happy as he is with you,” Savin said.

“Well… sometimes we just need one friend who doesn’t judge us for everything we do. Kiro’s been lucky to not fall out of public favor yet because he’s so charming and kind, but he knows he can be himself with me. If he gets mad, I won’t destroy his career. If he has a breakdown from stress, I’m not going to report it for all the world to see. He can be his private self with me instead of his public performance. So I think it relieves him to be around me.”

Savin hummed in thought. “I’m grateful you two are such good friends.”

“He’s easy to be around.” I shrugged.

“How did you two even meet anyway?”

“Luck,” I said, completely dodging the question. Kiro hadn’t told him about the convenience store? Alright then. I wouldn’t either. “I mean, I’m a producer. I bump into people of various levels of fame for work a lot.”

That was acceptable, right?

Kiro came bounding back to us in a new outfit, this one just a tank top and jeans, completely foregoing a jacket to cover his arms and shoulders. He had a makeup case in his hand and was hastily smearing it over his face to try and stop his skin from being shiny before he started sweating under stage lights again.

“Told you I’d be right back!”

“Yes, you’re very punctual,” I said playfully. “Here. Let me get your forehead. You completely missed a patch.”

“I did?” He complained.

“Yup!”

“That’s what happens when you don’t use a mirror,” Savin remarked. I took the makeup and sponge applicator from his hands and started filling in the spots Kiro missed.

“Hold still—you’re like a squirmy puppy!” I chided. He froze under my fingers, eyes wide. “Thank you!”

He gave me a sheepish smile. I smiled back. Gosh this man was adorable.

I made quick work of his makeup and then we were being pulled in different directions. Savin was pulling me back to our seats and the other staff was pulling Kiro back toward the stage. Someone handed him an energy drink.

“Oh that’s not gonna be good,” I muttered as a door swung shut, cutting off my field of vision.

We retook our seats just in time for Kiro to jump back onstage with all the energy of a sunlit tornado. “Aaand we’re back!” he called.

Fans screamed. Savin and I chuckled.

“Hey Savin.”

“Yeah?”

“I bet you a bottle of soda that Kiro has a massive sugar crash right after the show.”

Savin chuckled. “You’re on. We’ll go visit after the show and see how he is.”

I laughed.

Kiro stopped entertaining the crowd with his sense of humor and went back to his songs. He started it with one of his most popular love songs from his first-ever album. The crowd sang along enthusiastically. Out of the corner of my eye, Savin scrunched his eyebrows and looked down at his phone.

“What is it?” I asked.

“This wasn’t on the original setlist,” he said.

At that moment, Kiro looked over at me. His smile grew wider—but I had no idea how he could even see me past the stage lights—and he shot me a wink. The image of his wink on the two jumbotrons flanking the stage made the fans scream.

No one but me knew who he was looking at.

I sang along for the whole rest of the concert with the all of the other fans and then followed Savin backstage once again when it was over. We were told once it was over, Kiro went right to the dressing room and hadn’t emerged yet. He’d done two encores in order to finish the setlist after inserting his old love song and I didn’t blame him for being exhausted.

I followed a staff member to his dressing room—that had a big star on the door.

Knocking gently, I called, “Kiro? You in there?”

Rustling preceded Kiro opening the door. “Miss Chips,” he greeted softly. His hair was a sweaty mess and his eyelids were drooping. “C’mere.” He pulled me into his arms and planted his nose in my hair. “‘M tired.”

“I know. But you did so well. I’m so proud of you.”

“Can I go to sleep now?”

“Yeah. We’ll load you up in the car and then you can sleep all you want,” I replied.

Savin nodded to me.

“C’n you… stay?” Kiro mumbled.

“Of course. I’ll stay with you as long as you want.”

He smiled into my hair. I felt it rather than saw it. He leaned heavily on me as I followed Savin to the back of the venue and into the car. Kiro draped himself over my lap and almost immediately passed out.

Savin got in the driver’s seat.

“He’s out,” I said.

“Just tell me what kind of soda you want,” he joked, starting the car.

I played with Kiro’s hair on the drive back to his villa, twisting it around my fingers, eyelids drooping myself. It was late and concerts were draining.

When we got back to his place, we roused Kiro, but I doubted he was actually awake. He walked back to his room while still relying on me for guidance and support, but he didn’t speak. I imagined it was like when I got my wisdom teeth out—at some point I’d walked from the surgery table to the recovery room table, but I don’t remember it at all due to the anesthetic. I figured Kiro’s post-concert exhaustion was similar.

Once I got Kiro all tucked in, I returned to the front of the house. Savin was waiting for me.

“C’mon. I’ll drive you home,” he said.

“Thanks,” I said.

“Shall we pick up a soda on the way?”

“Nah. I just wanna go home and get some sleep. We’ll take a rain check. Next time we see each other you can grab me a soda.”

“Deal.”

We went and got back in the car. Savin started it and then paused while he pulled his seatbelt on.

I glanced at him. “Something wrong?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No. Nothing,” he replied. Clicking his seatbelt into place, we started to drive off. I supplied the address of my apartment building and then settled into silence, perfectly content to let the classical music radio station fill the time between Kiro’s house and my building.

Savin, apparently, was not.

“You and Kiro seem close.”

“Well, I don't imagine he has many other friends.” I shrugged. “He’s always touring or writing new songs or being swamped by fans. It’s sad but natural that he should cling to the one friendship he has that really isn’t work-related.”

Savin opened his mouth to say something, but didn’t get the chance because I cut him off.

“Humans are aggressively social creatures by nature—it’s how we survive. Taking care of each other, forming bonds. I mean—humans bond with Roombas for goodness’ sake! We want to care for the people around us. Kiro doesn’t get that chance as often as a non-celebrity would. And then I come along and I’m kind and relatively calm and offering unconditional friendship. Of course he’d grab that like a life-preserver ring and hang on as tight as he could.”

Savin sighed. “I suppose you’re right. Do you think there’s something I can do about—”

“No and I don’t think you should try,” I interrupted vehemently. “You may be his manager but you don’t have to manage every single aspect of his life. You could loosen up a bit and give him leave to make more friends but you absolutely should not try to force anything.”

“Alright. You’re right.”

“Thanks.” Sometimes it was nice to hear that I was right when I spent half of my professional life listening to Victor tell me I was always wrong. I glanced out the window and watched the landscape pass.

“You really love him, don’t you?” Savin asked.

“Who, Kiro?” Given my mind had drifted to Victor for a moment I had to make sure I hadn’t mentioned any of it out loud and changed the subject of the conversation.

“Yeah.”

I felt my ears burn and knew I must have been going red—thank goodness we were driving in the dark of late-night.

“Well, I, uh…”

“It’s okay. You can tell me.”

“I, uh, I do love him—I know that much. But I don’t know if I love him… romantically. We’ve kinda been dancing around that for a while and… we haven’t really had many chances to explore the nature of our relationship in that regard. I’d do anything for him that I could within my power and I really just want to see him happy more than anything.”

Savin cleared his throat. “… Right,” he said, clearly unsure of how to respond to that.

I sighed and went back to watching the landscape fly by out the window. “He may act a lot like a boy but he’s a good man,” I added thoughtfully.

———

“Yeah that first problem when all the other hackers were in the room was too easy,” Kiro remarked while we were hanging out at his house. I was writing a show proposal to report to Victor and Kiro was doing… something. He had a laptop open too but he typed a lot faster than I did and I couldn’t see his screen. He could have been hacking—he could have been writing a new song. I had no idea. I felt like songwriting was more of a spiral-bound notebook thing.

“You call that ‘easy’?” I asked, looking up from my screen in confusion. “Really?”

He snickered. “Oh yeah. I’ve broken codes waaay harder than that over breakfast.

“Kiro!”

“What? It’s true.” He smiled at me—that bright, pleasant smile that made everyone’s problems feel like they were melting away.

“So. You said your mentor gave you the name Kiro. Was this the same mentor who passed the mantle of Key onto you? Or did you have a superstar mentor and a hacker mentor?”

That made him laugh. “It was the same mentor. He gave me Kiro. To be honest I don’t really remember what my name was before that. It’s been so long and, really, it doesn’t matter anymore. I am who I am and Kiro is a big part of that,” he said thoughtfully. It was one of those moments of profound maturity where the playful Kiro took a backseat to show off that he really was an incredibly wise, intelligent guy.

———

We’d had that conversation not long after the summit, hanging out at his place. It really solidified for me that he was an extremely complex person and a good one on top of that.

Savin dropped me off at my apartment building and waved as I ducked inside. By the time I got up to my unit, he’d driven off.

Exhausted—since concerts lasted forever and getting out of one was a whole time commitment in itself due to traffic—I took a shower, put on my pajamas, and fell right to sleep.

I don’t remember any of the dreams I had. To me, my sleep felt dreamless. A long expanse of healing blackness that ended with a loud vibration of my phone against the mug on my bedside table. Grumbling to myself, I cursed last-night-me for setting my phone so it was pressed against the ceramic mug.

I smacked around on my bedside until I found my phone. The buzzing wasn’t an alarm. It was my day off.

It was a text.

Kiro: Thanks for everything last night, Miss Chips. You really are the best <3

I smiled.

Me: You’re welcome, Kiro. It’s my pleasure :-)

[raflovestuffs]

That is who you are: Chapter 10

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Hi guys!!

Woah! I’m so glad to come back with a new chapter! The end is near! Only two more chapters to go! They’ll be post very soon cause as I’m going to Annecy, I’m translating the chapters whith @megtoons to give my strory translated to Dean DeBlois! 

So that’s good for you guys, cause you’ll finally how I decided to ended this story so many years ago (hopefully before the trailers comes xD)...

I want to send a big thank you to @wolfie-dragon-rider and @chiefhiccstrid who corrected it! Thank you a lot guys!

Also, here the illustration of this chapter made by my dear illustrator <3

Now, I hope this chapter will please you!

“And if all goes well, Hiccup will be saved,” I said, confident.

I’d told them my plan; it was up to them now to decide to follow me or not.

“Your plan sounds good, Astrid, but I have a question: how do you plan on getting the plans for the Night Fury tail?” Gobber asked.

“I’ll manage,” I said icily.

I knew it would take some time, but I would get there, I would find it, for Hiccup. The twins—as per usual—looked visibly confused about the plan, especially Tuffnut.

“What is it?” I asked him.

“So there’s one thing I don’t get about your plan!” he said. “The thing about the tailfin, so that Toothless can fly on his own and go find Hiccup and all that, okay… but why send Toothless, when he’s the only dragon that can’t fly on his own? That sounds… kinda dumb.”

I stepped toward him, glaring at him all the while, and didn’t speak until I drew level with him.

“Toothless is the only one capable of bringing him back,” I said dryly.

Tuffnut threw his hands in the air, admitting defeat.

“Okay, great—who’s with me?”

Everyone raised their fists proudly, signalling their agreement.

“That’s more like it.”

...

It had been a month now since Hiccup was captured by Drago, a month since I’d heard any word from him, a month that we’d been apart, a month of missing him—a month I’d been searching for the plans for the automatic tailfin for his dragon. And still, nothing. I couldn’t believe how much time had passed without him.

I found myself in the forge, leaning my head on Hiccup’s desk. I had looked everywhere—in absolutely every nook and cranny I could find, and I’d still come up empty-handed. So I stayed there, mulling over all of this, alone in Hiccup’s old refuge—right up until I heard a knock on the door. I lifted my head—it was Gobber.

“Astrid,” he said, shaking his head.

“Hmm?”

“It’s late…you should go get some rest, you’ve spent all day searching again today. Come on.”

He offered me his hand, and I took it. How could I explain that this place was the only link with Hiccup I still had? This was the only place that brought me any comfort. At home, I had nightmares, terrible nightmares. Every night since Hiccup’s capture I awoke in a cold sweat, panicked, and the nightmares would start right up again—but how could I say that to Gobber? I couldn’t. He was worried enough about me as it was.

He walked me home, and I gave him a grateful hug goodbye.

“Thanks, Gobber,” I whispered.

I pushed open the heavy door to our hut and stepped inside, without making a sound. Valka came back in her old house since I was alone. She was sleeping in our room—formerly Stoick’s—while I had decided to spend my nights in Hiccup’s old bedroom, where I could feel his unique presence. Erik was lodging in Valka’s small hut. I headed upstairs, being careful not to wake her, and I threw myself across the bed. And then, I cried. Days’ worth of accumulated pressure came out of me like this every night now, followed by my nightmares. I wasn’t used to crying, but Hiccup’s absence had changed everything.

“No!” I screamed.

I was panting—all lost. Overwhelmed, I swept my gaze around the room—Hiccup’s room. I ended up calming myself and gently replaced my head on the pillow. I drew the blanket close to me in order to smell it—Hiccup’s scent still emanated from the fabric. I curled up, tightening the thick blankets against me, and went back to sleep.

When I opened my eyes, the sun was all there, so the morning was well underway… I scolded myself for waking up so late. I jumped out of bed and dressed quickly, then I left the hut without having breakfast. Toothless and Stormfly were waiting for me outside to do their morning flight. So I climbed Toothless’ back and placed my foot on the pedal to handle his tail fin. Hiccup had shown it to me so many times that now I knew exactly how to make it work. We took off—followed by Stormfly—and we went for a flight.

Flying without Hiccup, it wasn’t the same… Before, whenever we went for a flight, we always had new adventures, we always tried things we’d never tried before—we both liked that.But he wasn’t there and days were monotonous. It was like I was reliving the same day all over again and I couldn’t break free from this vicious circle. Without Hiccup, my life had no sense, my world revolved around him and him only.

We’d been flying for almost a quarter of an hour—it was time to get back, especially since it was getting cloudy. I made Toothless lean to the left to head towards Berk, and we got back to the village. We landed and I barely had the time to put a foot on the ground before the night fury was already on his way to Valka’s hut—where Erik was now—and Lifa too. I followed him in a hurry to greet Erik and his dragon—closely followed by Stormfly. But when we reached the hut, Lifa was nowhere to be found. Erik was standing before the doorstep, a smile in the corner of his lips.

“What is going on? Where’s Lifa?” I asked.

“She left with her eggs in the isle’s heights, it’s time…”

“What do you mean? She’s about to have her babies? Right now?” I said, more and more surprised.

“Night furies are very special, you know,” Erik said. “Unlike other dragons, their eggs don’t explode. They lay the eggs right after mating, and the babies lay dormant until there’s a powerful enough storm… like today. They must be struck by lightning to hatch.”

“Really? Lightning?! I guess that...makes sense… Well, I think I’ll have to ride Toothless up there then! See you later!”

Glad these eggs don’t explode… it’s one less problem to solve! So I took off with Toothless—looking for Lifa—beneath the storm. With the rain coming down in torrents like this, I could barely see anything. Even Stormfly had chosen to not come.

Toothless finally used his plasma wave to locate Lifa’s presence, and we set off at full speed towards one of Berk’s peaks. We landed near the female night fury and I let Toothless join her. His protective side—that he’d shown toward Hiccup for so long—was coming out now, in all its glory, with his family that was just about to be formed. Rain and wind were blustering all around me, I was soaking wet, but this scene made me so happy that I didn’t care.

Suddenly, the thunder rolled just overhead, and a few seconds later lightning struck the three eggs at once. It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. Three small night furies came out of the eggs and their parents licked them clean. They were adorable, and I couldn’t believe I had the chance to be a part of this. Toothless seemed so happy… He raised his head towards me and I smiled at him, seized with emotion. It was at this very moment he realized he missed his master terribly, because he wasn’t there—next to me.

...

Two months had passed since Hiccup had gone. The night fury babies had all grown up, they were flying with their parents now. As for me, I still had hope, I had found one of Toothless’ auto-tail plans—it was a good start. So I was in the forge, trying to decipher Hiccup’s plan to know what I needed to built the tail.

“Twenty tons of steel… Uh… no, twenty kilos! Twenty kilos of steel!” I exclaimed. “I’m not gonna make it…” I sighed, head in hands, my arms leaning on a table.

I went back to my difficult deciphering when I suddenly heard voices raising from the centre of the village. I jumped out of my chair and rushed towards the sound of Berkians cheering. A young woman with braided ebony hair climbed down from her razorwhip to greet me.

“Astrid!” she cried, running into my arms.

“Heather? What are you doing here?” I asked, disconcerted.

“Well, I came to see you and the gang!” she exclaimed.

“You’re not in conflict with someone at the moment?” I asked.

“And no, my last conflicts came to an end weeks ago already! So I’m on sort of vacation, I guess? That’s why I came—to say hello!”

“You always have a home here, Heather. You can stay as long as you want.”

“Thank you Astrid, that’s very kind of you. Anyway, everything’s going great on Berk, I assume? I didn’t see the gang running up to meet me… Where did they all go?” she asked, jokingly, but with a worried look in her eyes nevertheless.

“Uh… Follow me to the forge, would you? I’ve got one or two things to tell you…”

So she followed me to the forge. I invited her to grab a chair and sat down next to her by my working table. I took her hand.

“Heather, what I’m going to say is hard to hear so—”

“Astrid, what is it? You’re scaring me…”

I took a deep breath.

“Hiccup is being held hostage by Drago Bludvist.”

Her face crumbled and she put her hand over her mouth.

“What? But how?” she said, shocked.

“We both got captured, but Drago wanted Hiccup for himself and Hiccup refused to go with him so Drago said if he disobeyed him, he’d come after me…”

“So Hiccup stayed to protect you… It’s so him… But what are you waiting for to go find him?”

“We can’t, Gobber and Valka made a deal to save me from Drago’s men. And anyway, we wouldn’t stand a chance, we aren’t enough to defeat them… Drago’s fleet is huge and Göteborg is a merchant town—too few people there even know that dragons exist...”

“Drago is in Göteborg? But what is he doing down there?”

“I don’t know but the fact he needs Hiccup’s help in his plan doesn’t bode well…”

“I know you Astrid, you’re not the type to give up so easily—so what are you going to do about it?”

“The deal was we never come back to Göteborg but… he never mentioned the dragons. I’m going to send Toothless to find Hiccup.”

“The only dragon who can’t fly alone? Hiccup has really rubbed off on you, you’ve lost me with your ‘element of surprise’ tactic!”

“Only Toothless can find him—plus he’s also really discreet, unlike the other dragons. And don’t worry about his solo flight—look.”

I showed her the sketches on the table. She stared at them, perplexed, then she raised her eyes and looked questioningly towards me.

“Hmm… What is this?”

“Hiccup made Toothless a tail so he could fly all alone, but Toothless didn’t want it. However, there are still some sketches and plans in his workshop that I’m trying to find in order to build this tail again so he can save Hiccup.”

“Good plan. And where are you at exactly?”

“Well, I only found the material checklist I’ll need to do it. I was deciphering it before you got here.”

“And what are the others doing?”

“They’re in charge of information. Valka and Gobber are trying to rally the other tribes to our cause. Meanwhile, the rest of the gang is keeping an eye on what’s going on in Göteborg.”

“Astrid,” she said with a smile, “I’m going to do everything I can to help you find Hiccup, I give you my word.”

She held me tight and I cracked. It was too much. She just got back and she was already offering her help. I tried to hold back my tears but I didn’t manage to do it.

“I miss him…” I whispered.

She caressed my hair, trying to console me, but I was inconsolable.

“Oh… Astrid… It’s gonna be okay… You’re strong… We will save him, together,” she stuttered.

I was strong, yes, but right now I just couldn’t be.

Spent the whole day in the forge together, deciphering the checklist of things we’d need to make Toothless’ tail. We successfully deciphered the checklist in its totality and we even started to understand the schematic of the tailfin on the list a little. Heather had promised she’d help me, and I knew she meant it.

The gang finally arrived, and were surprised to see Heather by my side. Snotlout ran into her direction and took her in his arms.

“Heather! It’s been a while!” he exclaimed.

She quickly extricated herself from his grip, but it was twins’ turn to lunge at her.

“So, Heather, what brings you to Berk?” Tuffnut asked..

“Is there a particular reason for your presence here?” Ruffnut raised.

Fishlegs approached Heather timidly in order to greet her in his turn and calm the situation.

“Hey Heather, how’s it been going since the last time we saw you?”

“Really well, thank you Fishlegs,” she answered with a fruity little voice.

“The village is throwing a party to celebrate your arrival Heather, let’s go to the Great Hall,” I announced.

“Fishlegs, will you come with me?” Heather asked.

“Who? Me?”

“Who else?” she smiled.

“Uh yeah, sure…”

So they headed together, hand in hand, for the Great Hall, I was starting to follow them when I heard Snotlout’s lamentations behind me.

“How could she prefer that to this?!” he said, gesturing to himself.

“And he still wonders why I’m not interested in him?” Ruffnut sighed to her brother.

We finally entered the imposing building. The party was in full swing inside—everybody appreciated Heather a lot on Berk and it was different from the usual atmosphere that prevailed in the village lately. We sat at a table all together and we started to talk about everything and nothing, it has been a while. I didn’t spend time with all my friends much anymore, and I missed it.

“You know Heather, you can sleep in my hut tonight if you’ve got nowhere to go? Of course, it would only be temporary, well I mean—” offered Fishlegs clumsily to Heather.

“I’d be happy to stay with you, Fishlegs,” Heather answered gently, smiling while looking at him amorously.

She was becoming incredibly dumb when it came to Fishlegs, I should tell her someday… I now had a true friend ready to help me and who supported me. Heather was my friend and I was happy she was there, by my side.

...

One month had passed since Heather’s arrival on Berk. We successfully found all Toothless’ tail plans despite the excellent hiding place Hiccup had chosen for them. Thanks to Heather, I managed to decrypt them all and we had started building the prototype with Gobber’s help. We were missing some elements for the processing, but we were on track to finish it soon enough to save Hiccup. Heather gave me back hope, a hope that was growing each day. I even resumed patrols—I was in great shape. I was—by the way—in the middle of a raid accompanied by Heather, Fishlegs and Snotlout. We were moving towards Göteborg in order to learn more about Drago’s intentions and projects. So we were going to check on the ships’ traffic in and out of the town. For the first time since Hiccup was gone, I was confident and I felt helpful. We had barely arrived but Snotlout had already spotted a boat.

“There’s something suspicious about this ship…” he said.

“I have a bad feeling about it too,” Fishlegs agreed. “Let’s go take a closer look!”

So we followed the boys to approach the ship to get a better look and see what was going on inside. We were concealed behind rocks to hide our presence and we observed the ship.

“Hey! Look! There are dragons in cages on deck!” Snotlout exclaimed.

“Oh my Thor! Oh my Thor! Oh my Thor!” Fishlegs repeated, panicked.

“These dragons are armoured!” I noticed.

“And those cages, those chains… They look like the ones Dagur used!” Heather noted.

We looked at each other simultaneously.

“Drago!” we shouted.

Snotlout and Fishlegs stared at us, perplexed.

“Since the beginning, it was Drago! He started his revenge much sooner than we could imagine… He’s the one who sold the dragon-proof ships to Dagur in the first place!” Heather exclaimed.

“And now, these armed dragons! He’s preparing a war by all the gods!”

“Well—girls, not that I want to interrupt you but—I think we got spotted!” Snotlout quipped.

“Let’s get out of here!” Heather shouted.

We moved away from the ship as fast as we could but men had already taken aim to shoot us down.

“Come on, speed it up girl!” Fishlegs moaned.

“What are you doing, Astrid? We have to go right now!” Heather yelled to me.

Suddenly, I didn’t feel right; everything started to go woozy on me… It must be about all these revelations—we were in even more danger now! I would have to undertake a multitude of procedures and I… I felt myself fall; I was falling from my dragon. In the distance, I heard Heather’s voice shouting my name and moving towards me into a dive to catch me, then nothing.

When I opened my eyes, Heather was standing over me, she seemed different, and she was smiling—she must have had a nasty fright. I scanned the room while passing a hand on my face, I was laying on a bed, obviously at Gothi’s. I turned my head towards Heather.

“What happened?”

“You fainted. You fell off your dragon and I caught you, barely...”

“Oh no… Did the men spot you because of me?!”

Heather burst out laughing—why wasn’t she taking me seriously?

“Astrid, everything is fine… In fact, I’ve got something to tell you…”

She was still standing there with this radiant smile on her lips—I didn’t understand.

“What? What is it? Why are you staring at me like that?” I asked, disconcerted.

She smiled again, then she took a deep breath.

“Astrid… you’re pregnant!” she exclaimed.

“What? But how?” I started choking.

“That’s why you’ve been acting so crazy lately!”

“And I don’t see anything…” I whispered.

I was surrounded by so many emotions at the same time… but fear dominated. I was afraid at the idea of losing the baby once again… I couldn't handle that a second time, especially without Hiccup.

“What is it? Are you okay?” Heather asked, worried.

“Yeah… It’s just— Heather, the last time I got pregnant… I— lost the baby…” I sobbed.

“I’m sorry.”

“You couldn’t have known,” I added.

“But it’s still good news, right? I mean, you’re pregnant! You’re gonna have a baby, isn’t it wonderful?” she exclaimed.

I smiled, on the verge of tears.

“Yes!” I acquiesced, emotional.

She put her arms around me and held me very tight against her. I was full of joy and at the same time also full of fear, but I was so happy to be pregnant again that it was all I could think about.

“I’m so happy for you two…” she whispered in my ear.

Hiccup. His comeback to Berk was vital now.

“Here, enjoy…” the man said ironically.

He came to feed me in my cell daily so that I would stay alive. He threw my bread through the bars and also dragged a bowl of soup between them, then he left. I ate my bread slowly in order to stretch out this moment that had become so precious these last four months.

I dipped my bread in the soup to restore some flavor but it was still flat and stale. However, this simple action of eating was keeping me alive, so I remained hopeful. I knew that I’d get out of here eventually. I didn’t receive any other whipping as violent as the one I had at my first day here. I got hit several times but nothing more. They used me for something else, for training their armoured dragons. Drago had visibly abused them and now, they were uncontrollable.

These dragons had become completely crazy and didn’t listen to anything, so I had spent hours with them, helping them relearn everything. I had to make them trust and listen to me, but it was extremely difficult. When I wasn’t with them, Drago invited me in his quarters and he told me about his evil projects. He was convinced I’d die before the war began and that nobody would come to save me.

I had to discuss and debate major issues with him. He was listening carefully to my remarks, but his arguments made him right—according to him, he was never wrong. Through our interactions, I learned what kind of man Drago was; a ruthless man, full of himself, believing he was above everyone else and sure to be the chief that all Viking folk had been waiting for.

Clearly, Drago was mentally ill. He was a man traumatized from seeing his family kidnapped by dragons and who wanted to get his revenge on something no longer relevant. Despite all that, at least now I knew important details of his military tactics that could help me to prepare Berk, if this war actually took place.

After a while, some men came to bring me to the training arena of the castle. I arrived in the arena and found one of the armoured dragons that I named Raspar. Drago was against naming dragons, but I had explained him the importance of a name in the climate of trust between the dragons and I and he didn’t argue. It was the only domain in which I was impressing him.

I approached Raspar, with whom I’d established a steady understanding, more or less—on account of his recent arrival at Göteborg—and I caressed his head gently. So I began the training session by showing him a few exercises. Everything was going great until he categorically refused to be saddled. I was trying to quietly calm him when Drago intervened, ordering me to hit the dragon if he didn’t listen.

“No! This dragon has been abused long enough,” I replied.

Drago flew into a rage.

“How dare you disobey my orders?! Guards! Bring him to me right away!” he ordered.

I didn’t have time to think before two of his men seized me by the arms and brought me in front of Drago. He took out a knife and asked his men to remove my shirt.

“Turn him over! You'll see what we do with guys who don’t respect the orders like you!”

He stuck his knife in my flesh, and I screamed.

“It hurts, doesn’t it?” he said.

He continued to carve my flesh with his knife, and with each new line he spoke to me.

“So do you think you’re gonna do it again?”

“No…” I answered with an inaudible voice.

“I didn’t hear, ‘no’ who?”

“No, Master,” I struggled to say.

He ripped my skin once again, letting thick drops of blood pour down my back. The pain was becoming more and more unbearable.

“Who’s giving the orders, Hiccup?” he finally asked.

“You are, Drago.”

I couldn’t believe it. After five hard months, we finally did it: Toothless’ auto-tail was done! I was in the forge with Gobber and Heather, holding them tight between my arms.

“You can’t imagine how grateful I am, I couldn’t have done anything without you!” I exclaimed. “Thank you.”

“Aw, c’mon, it’s the least we could do to save the chief!” Gobber retorted, laughing.

“Astrid, what are you waiting for? Go find him!” Heather added.

I smiled to them and slipped away outside, the gear under my arms, looking for Toothless. He wasn’t hard to find.  I approached him, but he moved away from me when he recognized the object I was holding.

“Wait! You know, we talked about this... I know you didn’t want to use it anymore, but this time, it’s for Hiccup. I want you to save him, Bud,” I smiled, eyes full of hope.

He finally approached me and rubbed his head against me, I caressed his head affectionately, then I held him tight in my arms.

“Thank you, Bud,” I whispered.

I removed his old tail and attached the new one instead.

“Come on, try it!”

He flew over me and tried several maneuvers in order to check the tail’s functionality, then he came down to see me.

“Well, everything seems to be working perfectly…”

I put a reassuring hand on the top of his head while looking straight in his eyes.

“I rely on you, Bud, everyone does and I believe in you. Please, bring me back Hiccup, Toothless.”

He licked me over my whole face—a sign of agreement with him—and he flew away to Göteborg.

I couldn’t hold on much longer in here. I had lost a lot of weight, and I couldn’t get out of my cell as much as I used to since refusing to obey Drago. I spent my entire days locked in my jail, waiting and withering. I was in rougher shape than I’d ever been—plus, Drago’s men were hitting me again and their instrument of choice was the whip. I couldn’t sleep anymore; it was like living an endless torture, both mental and physical. The only thing that kept me alive now was Astrid. The image of her smile. She was waiting for me.

Against all odds, men came to find me in my cell.

“Drago wants to see you, in the arena,” one of them announced.

I could barely stand on my feet. I finally managed to stand up, and followed the men through the narrow corridors of the castle’s tunnels. Once we arrived at Drago’s side, he told me that he wanted to see me for a special reason.

Suddenly, he was interrupted by a loud thud—and a cry I would have known anywhere. A plasma blast followed the recognizable cry of a night fury. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

“Toothless!”

In the smoke generated by the firing, he caught me in his talons and took me away from the arena—soon, we were flying across the castle. In the distance I heard the angry shouting of Drago’s men, but I didn’t care anymore. I was once again a free man. Toothless slowed a moment to allow me to climb on his back, then took off immediately, flying at full speed, without any help. I leant on him and surrounded his neck with my arms.

“Thank you Bud…” I whispered. “You saved me…”

I gently tapped his head before collapsing into nothing, I need to get some rest, and since he was able to fly alone—somehow—I let myself pass out from exhaustion.

When I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, we had not yet arrived on Berk. It took a few minutes before I could see the village’s imposing statues, situated not far from the isle’s entrance. I was finally able to make out the shape of the village, and started to hear villagers’ voices… announcing my arrival? We were very close.

I saw all these happy, relieved people but I was only looking for one person in the middle of this crowd. And I finally found her. Toothless slowed rapidly in the middle of the square. I dismounted and I ran as fast as I could to join her.

“Astrid!” I shouted.

“Oh my gods, Hiccup!” she exclaimed.

We fell roughly into each other’s arms, and I clasped her to me with all my might. I was clinging to her as if my life depended on it. I tightened my grip to feel her closer to me, I needed to feel her presence, to know she was really here, with me.

“I’m… so sorry… for not being here,” I murmured between two sobs. “I love you Astrid, I love you so much!”

“Shh… you’re here now,” she said, caressing my hair with a trembling hand.

Then, she took my head between her hands.

“And I love you…” she added, tears in her eyes.

[sansfangirl4life-blog]

Souls of Glass Chapter 2

And here’s chapter two :3 I have up to 17 chapters already typed up for this story so if you’re impatient you can go to my DeviantArt page and read it all there XD 

Lost is my bb

Undervirus belongs to @jeyawue

Previous Chapter!   https://sansfangirl4life.tumblr.com/post/176426451983/souls-of-glass-chapter-1

Chapter 2

Lost stared at the young child's face in front of him. Frisk....it...it's....

"I think yer creepin' her out there, buddy." Xans patted his back and snapped him out of his daze. He sneered at the albino as Xans walked over. "How was yer day at school?"

"It was great! But uh....whos' this? A friend of yours?" Frisk took a few good looks before her eyes widened a bi. "Oh wait, is this our new guest?"

"Oh, Lost here?" Xans threw his arm over Lost's shoulder, ignoring the angry look he was receiving. "Certainly! In fact ya could say we're best~ buds!"

"Get.......off of me!" Lost spun around and punched him in the chest, sending him flying onto the floor. "Ugh..."

"Uhm, Lost right?"  Lost turned his eyes to Frisk and she could tell even at a glance how haunted he appeared. "Where are you from? Valphys gave me a small rundown but...is it true? That you're not from the 'game'?"

"Yes." Lost couldn't bring himself to look at the child in front of him, even as she walked closer. "I'm sorry for, ah, appearing like this."

"It's not your fault!" Frisk smiled. "From what it sounds like, you just...ended up here. Do you know how?" Lost frowned and crossed his arms.

Do....do I? He closed his eyes, trying to recall exactly what had happened. "I...think I was teleporting to my brother's house.....when something...happened." He tried to focus and he felt himself shiver slightly. "Something....dragged me into the Void." Lost shook his head and opened his eyes. "I can't remember the rest...I just woke up here."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Frisk chuckled. "I apologize if Xans made you uncomfortable at all. He's just....rough around the edges."

That's the mildest thing I would use to describe him. Lost thought. Wait...no. I wouldn't use that at all.

"But he means well deep down."

"....Very deep down it seems." Frisk giggled and Lost couldn't stop the small smile gracing his lips. "Heh."

"Hee hee, so you can smile." Lost looked away and scratched as his cheek, embarrassed. "Well, feel free to make yourself at home, Lost! I think we have an extra bed in the closet."

"Thank you Frisk." The girl smiled and took Lost's hand, but he flinched when she touched his oddly warm skin. "S-Sorry, I-"

"No, it's ok!" Frisk said with an easy smile. "Umm...Valphys told me about your, uhh...past." Lost flinched and looked at the floor. "I'm sorry. For what happened to your...sister." Lost adjusted the sweater around his neck, moving it to cover his mouth.

"....She would like you." He said softly. Frisk took his hand again, and this time he didn't flinch away.

"Umm, I don't want to seem rude, but people may get the wrong idea if a teenager is walking around town with a little girl's sweater wrapped around them like that." Lost shrugged and Frisk huffed. "I'll make you a scarf with the same pattern! Does that help?" Lost looked at her and nodded softly. "Alright then! Why not walk around a little outside? I'll call for you when supper's ready, ok?"

"Alright. Thank you Frisk." She smiled and walked over to Xans, who was still laying on the floor. Lost went outside and Xans opened one eye.

"You're fine Xans." she chuckled. "He really hit you good though."

"He hits hard for a rather scrawny looking guy." Xans mumbled, crossing his arms and chewing on his cheek. "Aww c'mon Frisk. No hugs?" Frisk laughed and plopped on top of Xans, hugging him. "Glad ya had a good day kiddo. I'm gonna take a shower." Xans sat up and moved Frisk over, then headed towards the bathroom.

Things are gonna be more fun around here for sure now! I'd better get cooking! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lost sat outside, looking up at the evening sky. Nice to see some views never change... He thought as wind blew gently through his hair. He looked around at the flowers blooming nearby and walked over to them, touching the soft petals. So colorful...Hope would have a field day with these. He chuckled. He felt a chill suddenly and turned around, holding his scythe out. "I know you're there.....what do you want?"

"Heh....nothing seems to escape you." A small doll floated in front of him and he growled. "It seems you recognize me too, hmm?"

"Chara...."

"That's right. Luckily for you, I'm not your Chara."

"Doesn't mean I can't sense the LV you have."

"Same for you....or do you think everyone is blind to it?" Lost looked away and put his scythe away. "LV 25...ouch. Not even I can get that high. How many did you kill to rack up that?"

"Shut up..." Lost's fist clenched, blood dripping onto the soft, green grass below. "You know nothing..."

"Tsk, face it. You're just a murderer-"

"Same as you then." He looked at the doll and his red eye glowed gently. "How many times have you killed, hmm? How many times have you drawn a knife against others?"

"Why you-"

"We're not different in that we have killed...but why did you kill?" Lost sighed and turned back to the house. He felt something sharp against his neck and looked down, seeing a knife.

"I'm warning you now....if you touch Frisk in any way...hurt her even by accident...." He felt it move closer and he scowled. "I will make you regret being alive."

".....I already do." Lost whispered and he felt the knife move away a little. "You're too late for that Chara." He pushed the knife away as Frisk poked her head out the door.

"Supper time! I hope you're hungry Lost!"

"Famished." He smiled and walked inside, taking his slippers off at the door. "It smells really good."

"It's meat and potato stew!" Frisk beamed. "Everyone else is at the table, except Xans."

"I'm going to wash my hands and I'll be right there." Lost began to walk towards the bathroom and Frisk ran after him.

"W-Wait a moment! That's the one-" Lost opened the door and stood completely straight, eyes wide. Xans stood before him, looking into a mirror as the water warmed up. Lost's red and blue eyes grew as he realized that all he was seeing was pure, alabaster white skin. Xans turned his way and winked at him, moving his hips slightly.

"Like what ya see?" Xans smirked. "I don't mind the company ya know~...." Lost stood still as a statue as Frisk covered her eyes. "Heh, speechless then? I get that a lo-"

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Lost's sudden shout had Xans flinching as a towel was suddenly thrown in his face by magic. "COVER YOURSELF! OH MY FUCKING GOD!!!"

"Yer the one that didn't kn-ow! Hey!" A bar of soap hit his chest and he fumbled back a bit. "Quit throwing shit!"

"COVER YOURSELF!"

"SHUT THE DOOR!"

"YOU'RE SO...SO....GAAAHHHH!!!!!" Lost slammed the door hard as Xans cackled behind it. Frisk peeked at Lost, who's face had turned as red as a cherry.

"I...I tried to...warn you...." Lost simply buried his face behind his scarf and walked to the kitchen.

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

"You don't have to help me clean up you know Lost. Sans and Vapyrus said they would." Frisk loaded the sink as Lost cleaned the dishes. His sleeves had been rolled up, revealing long, strong pale arms with a few dark marks here and there.

"It's alright. I suppose I just....need something to do." He continued to clean as Frisk walked over with a dry towel, drying off the dishes. "And...thank you."

"For what?"

"For letting me stay." Frisk laughed and Lost raised a pale brow at the little girl.

"Of course you're allowed to stay." Frisk smiled. "I know everyone may be a little anxious, considering how you appeared, but...to me...you're family now." Lost smiled at her.

"You remind me of another little girl." He said and winked at her. "You two would get along really well."

"Really? What she like?" Frisk pulled a chair up and sat down as she listened to Lost talk, drying the dishes as they came along. Xans watched the two chat for awhile, arms crossed.

I dunno why...but there's just something...not right here. He thought. He watched as Lost smiled and ruffled Frisk's hair, causing her to bat his hands away. Ugh....whatever. He began to heads towards the door when he felt eyes on him.

"Where are you going? It's late." Lost called out as him and Frisk dried their hands.

"Out."

"Out wh-"

"Out." Xans repeated and left. Frisk sighed and looked at the door.

"Does he....always do that?" Lost asked.

"He has been lately." Frisk frowned. "I don't know what he does at night but....I worry about him. He's human now so he can get hurt easily." Lost nodded and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, ignoring the burning feeling on his back as Chara glared at him.  "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." He reassured her with a warm smile and she hopped off the chair took his hand and led him to the living room. A large bed lay in the center covered haphazardly in sheets. "Uhh..."

"I told Vundyne and Vapyrus to make the bed up for you but...looks like they got into another tug of war." Lost chuckled and he fixed the sheets and pillow up slightly. "I'm sorry you have to sleep on this, but Xans claimed the couch." Lost shrugged and took his hoodie off, hanging it on a coat rack and curling up under the covers.

"It's alright Frisk. It isn't bad." He assured her.

"Ok...umm, good night!" Lost watched as she shut the light off and headed to her room. He sighed and shook his head.

If this is a dream, I know I'm not waking anytime soon. He thought. It's been a long day... He felt his eyes close and he let out a long sigh. A really.....long day....

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Xans stood under a lonely street light, glancing up and down the dark sidewalk. No one around this time a night, hmm? He thought and shrugged. Ah, well-

"Now where's a rather handsome stranger like you headed off to, hmm?" He turned and grinned as a woman with dyed, black hair with purple streaks walked up to him. She was thin, her chest and butt large and Xans licked his lips a bit. "You look rather hungry too...I can't just leave you like that."

"Heh, then why not treat me, eh?" The woman handed her hand out and he smirked. "Nah....I'll pay ya after."

"Hmm, then you may need to keep a tab." Xans laughed as he gripped the woman's hand as she led him down the dark sidewalk.

"Countin' on it...."

[laurenpandora]

Funeralia

I really liked this Rowena-Centric episode. I really like her character and I was interested to know what was going to happen after she unlocked her full power so this was definitely an episode I was invested in.

So she starts off receiving a phone call from the Winchesters, they're hoping for her help. She kind of hits on Castiel (because who wouldn't) but she's too busy with her own project to help them. This, as Dean mentions, is ominous. Red flags everywhere.

"You know she's right. You never go to parties." I lost it XD Really Cas? That's the thing you took away from that conversation? I love him.

Rowena hands a woman her bag, which definitely means she's about to die. Never take anything from Rowena, you can guarantee it's got a hex bag in it. And as expected, the woman goes up in flames. Looks like Rowena has taken the evil route?

Back at the bunker they're trying to work out how to locate Gabriel. Dean offers Cas a beer, Cas says no, but Dean gives him one anyway. A Beer. He gives him a beer. Minds out of the gutter guys. Castiel thinks the angels can possibly help and he's going to ask them for help as 'something of a hail mary'. "it's a sports term. Like slam dunk, or uh.. ball handler." I'm dying. Dean's just like 'I should say something here about the ball handler comment but.. nope.' Dean and Cas start arguing, Dean doesn’t want Cas to go to the angels for help, but Sam interrupts with information, about Rowena. He and Dean have a mini argument too. Dean tells Cas to go with the angel thing, but not to 'get dead again', which is what we're all thinking.

Cas goes and basically meets a drunk angel who's given up. He doesn't even care if Castiel kills him. This kinda shows how bad things have gotten in heaven but I don't think Cas is prepared for how bad it really is.

He tells the angels that Gabriel is alive, and explains the AU situation awkwardly. Then the power on the lights seems to fade out suggesting there's something wrong with Heaven itself.

Sam and Dean go to search for Rowena when suddenly a woman appears in the back of the car. She's the Reaper, Jessica, from a previous episode. Turns out she's been stalking them? I wonder how much she's seen. Dean's very concerned about exactly what she's seen. Turns out he should be, she even makes jokes about what she's seen around their rooms. Dean keeps tentacle porn under his bed. Since the episode 'The Thing', I'm almost not surprised. It's super creepy that she's spying on them all the time, I'd be scared to go to the bathroom.

Rowena reckons she's 'capable of anything now' which is seriously concerning.

Sam finds out that the people Rowena has killed were essentially 'bad guys'. The boys also figure out that not only have people been killed, but reapers too. They decide to talk to Jessica. Turns out Rowena is messing with fate somehow. She talks about the effect of death and time which we kind of explored years ago in the episode where Dean had to be Death and couldn't kill the child. This seems pretty big though, the effect goes on until they need to 'wipe the board clean' which is a problem. They also learn that Rowena's fate is that she's always killed by Sam Winchester.

Castiel being bored waiting in Heaven is amusing, but it also says a lot about how his character has changed over the seasons. Season 4 or 5 Castiel wouldn't get bored and restless like this. He was happy to stand and wait for Dean to finish sleeping in Season 5. But here he is in Heaven, walking about, tapping on the chair, lying on the sofa, drumming his fingers. He's incredibly bored. I wonder if it's down to his diminished powers, his disconnection with Heaven, or his increased interactions with humanity that has caused this. He's also really sassy when Duma apologises for keeping him waiting. He's so different now than he was back then.

Then Naomi appears. I hate her. What she did to castiel. We quickly relive it through flashbacks, which I assume is what Cas is going through here. She looks different but she's not dead, like we thought she was. Yet another character return for Season 13. Not as happy about this one to be honest.

Rowena is mid-killing someone already, and a reaper shows up. She kills the man and the reaper in a burst of flames. Sam and Dean were too late to save them. Rowena calls them, she wants them to leave her alone. She agrees to meet with them, which obviously is a trap and everyone knows it, including them.

Castiel tells Naomi he was relieved to hear she was dead, which can't be great to hear, but as far as I'm concerned she deserves it. As Castiel points out, she stole his memories, she made him kill fake Deans, she murdered. She's not even sorry. She doesn't even care. I hate her. She asks Cas if he knows what powers heaven and I'm pretty sure he says 'yaaaas' here? But we learn that angels power Heaven. And the reason they can't spare any to help, and the power is failing, is there are literally 9 angels in heaven. 9. That's nothing. This is shocking news for everyone. The angels can't leave because Heaven will shut down. She conveniently leaves out what happened with Lucifer though, can't think why.

So Rowena meets up with Sam and Dean and she looks so tiny in that chair. She tries to say that she's doing this for justice, or something, but she's actually trying to get Deaths attention. Because Death has something she wants. Crowley. I think my heart broke.

They end up telling her that Sam is fated to kill her. Awkward. But it turns out she's not really there, she's just projecting herself. They chase the real Rowena and Dean gets in a fight with her.. assistant? Bodyguard? Sam stops her outside and she says he'll have to shoot her. So he does. She stops the bullet, but wow. Sam. He was really going to kill her and she's just as surprised. She's upset and she knocks him out. Jessica is watching Dean fight the body guard and just making comments, she's getting quite annoying to be honest.

Rowena has Sam trapped and she's going to kill him to get Death's attention. The logic makes sense, if Sam is meant to kill her, and she kills him, that's messing with fate big time. She says she's sorry as she casts the spell, and you can see on her face that she is. But Billie(Death) turns up just in time.

Billie doesn't accept Rowena's threats, but she does make her think about it. Rowena tries to attack Billie and fails, obviously. Billie talks to Rowena, she gives her a speech. It makes Rowena look like a lost child, and Billie almost like a mother figure. Billie tells Dean she'll see him again 'soon', which is worrying.

Castiel promises Naomi that they will fix Heaven, but she ominously tells him 'everything ends' and he repeats it. Is this some kind or foreshadowing? Cas looks like he's going to cry. As an aside, he’s also looking really good this episode.

We go back to Sam, Dean and Rowena, and they're all drinking together on the floor. She's full of regret, and they reassure her. She didn't kill Sam, Crowley made his own choices, everyone makes bad choices. They need her help. This is her redemption. They believe in her, and they even suggest maybe Sam wont kill her. It's emotional and I love it.

Really enjoyed Rowena's character development in this episode. I'm glad she's gonna be helping them out.