#(which my mom gave up on by like age 8 in favor of new age spiritualism and witchcraft)

[noknowshame]

hello- on your jesus birthday post you said The Child Is The Price. What does that mean?

Okay THIS one I will answer. this is a reference to Roberte Icke's adaptation of Aeschylus' tragic play(s), The Oresteia. simplifying as much as possible, the story begins by following Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek army during the Trojan War. the winds he needs to sail his army to Troy have not been blowing, and Agamemnon receives a prophecy/instruction on what is needed in order to return the winds. the prophecy states "The Child is the Price". this phrase is repeated throughout the play, and what it is asking him to do is make a human sacrifice of his young daughter, Iphigenia. eventually, he goes through with it, and the winds do indeed return.

In the original plays by Aeschylus, the actual death of Iphigenia has already happened and is referenced as something the audience should already know all about. Icke chooses to add an act to the play that allows us to linger on that decision much longer. As a whole, the play deals heavily with themes of the nature of sacrifice, narrative inevitability, and cycles of guilt and violence.

When I was drafting my... infamous christmas post, I was trying to think of the story of the birth of jesus like a greek tragedy, involving very similar themes. factually, in a textual sense, jesus is the sacrifice. his death is the price paid for - according to christianity - absolution. and what I was attempting to point out is that we spend so much time celebrating jesus' birth as this wondrous arrival of the savior that we don't stop to meditate on exactly how bloodily that saving is going to play out. it's the exact same thing: The Child is the Price.

As a last note, many many many people have told me in the tags that me saying "Mary did you know? that your womb was also a grave?" is stupid because "all babies are born to die, Jesus isn't special" ...but there is a Very important difference I'd like to point. yes, all babies will die eventually. but NOT all babies are born to die. Jesus was. it was God's plan from the start for him to horrifically die on the cross, and it was inevitable as soon as Mary agreed to give birth to him. I feel that is an important part of the story. The Child is the Price.

(...anyway go read Robert Icke Oresteia and also watch Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) while you're at it)

[pupkinpumpkin]

Seeing your latest Dragon age post I GOTTA ask about your inquisitor now! What are they like??👀👀👀

Oh my god you wanna ask about my Inky? That's so crazy, gosh I don't know if I-

(pulls out massive essay and powerpoint)

Aight so, first things first, even after playing DAI multiple times, I still don't have a conclusive name for her. I used my name the first time bc it was my first Dragon Age game, and it kinda stuck but also it's weird reading my name on things, so I'm just thinking of re-arranging my name or adding some letters, so we're just gonna call her Lavellan for now.

Also we're just gonna stick to small facts here because I tried making a full explanation on this but it got way too long way too quick

- Lavellan's dad was a city elf who converted and joined her mom's clan, eventually having kids w her (this is an excuse as to why Lav's name may not sound like it's Elven enough, blame it on her city elf dad)

- Lavellan does not and never had believed in the Elven gods or The Maker. The idea of gods just does not make sense to her, it's not logical to her, so therefore it doesn't exist. This has always made her feel guilty and like something was wrong with her

- Lavellan hides this lack of belief by learning a lot about the different myths and stories involving the Dalish gods, eventually becoming quite a good storyteller

- her parents are like hyper religious

- She really really loved making inventions and stuff, and would've absolutely been an artificer in another life if it wasn't for her being a mage, and therefore destined to be The First and then The Keeper

- she found out she was a mage at 8, and, being the only mage in the clan besides the keeper, a lot of pressure was put on her to live up to everyone's expectations at a very young age

- So, being a mage and having her hopes of inventing crushed at a young age in favor of protecting the clan and being it's advisor when she doesn't even believe in the Elven gods constantly makes her stressed

- She is bi and had a secret relationship w the apprentice, and then official Hallakeeper, Lindiranae as they grew up. Her clan is very homophobic, which is why this is secret

- Her clan is also very open to trading w humans and are very good friends w a merchant who used to be a slave in Tevinter named Corran. Corran is basically Lav's second dad and was one of the only people to just let her be a kid when she was growing up

- Lavellan can sketch and draw very well in a realistic style. This first stemmed from drawing contraptions and gadgets, but then became drawing her clanmates

- When she was around 19-20, a bunch of rogue Templars, being massive dicks, were being very racist and threatening to put her in the Circle, so eventually things got out of hand, they tried to attack Lav, Lindiranae protected her, but a rogue templar lit some hay on fire to spook the Halla, and pushed Lindiranae into the fire, killing her, and killing some other clan members in the process

- This gave Lav massive pyrophobia and even the smell of burnt hair will possibly make her throw up. For some reason she's fine with magic fire, but regular fire freaks her out. She works on that through Inquisition. It never goes away, but she deals with it a lot better

- After Lindiranae dies, Lav slowly starts forgetting her face, which freaks her out, so she starts drawing her and the others who died constantly

- This essentially develops into a system where Lav, the more she likes a person, the more she sketches them, but never finishes the sketches. She does this in case they die so she can make one final finished sketch and never forget their face like she forgot Lindiranae's

- Lav has a journal Corran gave her and in the very first few pages of the journal are finished drawings of all the people she's lost. Once she fills up her journal, she takes out the old pages and replaces them with new ones, but never replaces the ones with the faces of all her dead loved ones on it.

- Corran has a mabari named Brute who only understands Tevene

- Lav learns some Tevene as she grows so she can better play with Brute and talk with Corran

- Lav's older sister also never believed in the Elven gods, running away at 14 and not being seen again for many years.

- When she comes back, Lav finds out she became Andrastian, married a city elf, and is generally living a happy life

- Lav's parents basically disowned her sister after she ran away, so whenever the clan visits the town Lav's sister now lives at, Lav and her older brother sneak out to visit their sister and her husband

- Lavellan constantly puts other people before herself because she knows as a Keeper, she will have to one day lead her clan and take care of them, but this leads to her not communicating well and always pretending to be fine so she doesn't have to burden anyone and will often help others to not deal with her problems

- She's actually underweight because of this (which is how I explain why she's so skinny in the game) and gains more weight after Inquisition because she learns to better take care of herself with a good support system

- her dad died when she was around 13 and her mom became even more religious out of grief which really stressed Lavellan out

- When she just realized she was a mage, Lavellan still tried to keep making inventions and stuff, but ended up slicing her left ear open while working on one, so The Keeper forbade her from making them again. The ear never closed, which is why in my drawing of her, her ear is like that

- Corran taught her to play chess and handmade a chess set for her which got destroyed during the conclave. Luckily her journal made it out tho

- She loves heights and feels most comfortable in the forest because it reminds her of all the times her and Lindiranae would sneak off to be together

- Lav is complete and utter shit at cooking

- Lavellan loves to read and, when reading a book she really likes, often tunes out the world and it can be kinda hard to pull her back into reality. Like a deep sleeper except with books

- She can sew really well

- Lavellan is fantastic at diplomacy and would be great at The Game, but the whole thing stresses her out so much constantly that she would never choose to do it willingly

- Lavellan's ears move in accordance to her emotions, but she got a handle on that when she was young so she could fake being fine, but her ears twitch a lot when annoyed or upset and turn pink when she blushes

Literally all of this is before Inquisition even happens, it's literally all just her backstory and stuff.

Honestly, Imma probably make another one of these about her in the Inquisition because damn do I have a lot of things to talk about with her

I suppose with DAI being my first Dragon Age game, I have the most to talk about with my Lavellan

Anyway, thanks for asking 🩷

[enmy-writes]

Baby Avenger

Summary: (Y/N) is one of the youngest avenger members and some government officials repeatedly let her know of “her position.” So, she lets them know exactly what her position is.

Word Count: 2100

Fandom: MCU Avengers

Pairing: Avengers x Reader

Genre: Fluff, soft, slight angst and sadness, & family love.

Rated: 18+

Content Warnings: profanity, death, abandonment, bullying, this is my first ever post of any fanfiction ever so it’s probably bad

**** This is my first ever imagine that I have ever finished and published. Please give me feedback and let me know what else I should write! I’m very excited and nervous so please let me know if you enjoyed this :) I’m thinking of making this Y/N character into a little “Baby Avenger” one-shot series, so let me know your thoughts ****

 _____________________________________________________________

Baby Avenger.

Baby Avenger.

Baby. Avenger.

 In her head, her stomping can be heard throughout the whole Compound and all of its residents and guests can hear her anger. They know she’s going right to the meeting room; not the team meeting room, but the meeting room they use when they have special guests in for a meeting.

The new government officials who are now “in charge” of the Avengers since The Snap Part 2 were in for the day to go over the general plans that the Avengers have been coming up with. They’re nicer than those in charge of the group from the Accords, but in no way were they nice to majority of the group as a whole.

(Y/N) (L/N) happens to be the second to youngest member on the team coming in at an age of 18, second only to her best friend Peter Parker

(Y/N) is an orphan, the typical origin story of any superhero. Her parents spent their last minutes pushing her out of their burning house in rural Pennsylvania. Actually, it was her father who got her out of the flames and by their fishpond 100 meters from the house. Her mother was inside, trapped under a steal beam in the basement.

(Y/N)’s mother was a scientist who worked in secret in a little band of scientists who tried to accomplish their own small victories in testing the alterations and limits of humans. The goal of these scientists is to stay out of sight of the CIA, FBI, S.H.I.E.L.D., and other government agencies. Most of them are left alone and those who get found are either immediately sent to a high security prison or recruited to continue their experiments for a certain country/agency.

(Y/N)’s mother decided to give herself her treatment she was working on instead of potentially kidnapping someone in the everyone-knows-everything kind of town that they had been living in. Her experiment and life studies were all in trying to find a way to unlock the rest of the human brain so that more than that small percentage is being used at a time. It has been hypothesized that humans could do a lot if their brains just used itself more.

The only problem is when she gave the treatment to herself, she was unknowingly pregnant, and the treatment attached onto that small lifeform instead of her own. She created a super baby.

No one knew the exact answer to what is on the other side of that tunnel of science. No one knew what opening the mind could do, there were only theories to support ideas. Plenty of scientific evidence, but it meant nothing with no legit proof.

Well, turns out that those on the team of “you will gain the ability to read minds and shit unlike any human” were the correct guessers.

(Y/N) can read others’ minds, move things with her mind, slow down time in her mind to be able to successfully breakdown a situation and perform the best possible reaction to anything that comes her way. Oh, and the color spectrum is broader for her, allowing her to see a significantly more amount of colors than a normal human (including seeing the aura’s and heat that people give off. Very useful in the few missions she goes on.).

But her parents are dead.

After setting small (Y/N) down, her father ran back in to save the love of his life. Or, well, that’s what the towns’ people say to romanticize the situation. A brave man trying to save his family.

In the end, her father had shaken his head, laughing at the moment like a mad man with tears running down his face. He pulled (Y/N) in for the tightest hug that he had ever given the girl—which is tight considering how close the two really were. They were just like two peas in a pod, the light of each other’s lives, basically soulmates.

But love makes you do crazy things.

“You listen to me, (Y/N).” He gripped her face in a painful grip, cheeks sure to be bruised later. “I will always love you. Don’t doubt that, baby girl, okay? I love you so so so so much” By this time, tears are pouring off his face, the neon flames coming from the house reflecting off his wet face. “Mommy… mommy just needs me now, baby. I need mommy, too. We love you so much.”

It had confused her, his words. Nothing could prepare her to watch her father run back into the house, leaving her by the pond with nothing but a small bag of little family things like pictures, little stupid gifts, and a notebook she had stolen from her mom’s bookshelf one day.

Her mother’s grandfather had been friends with Howard Stark, both science men having been in the same circle of famous inventors since before WWII. While neither her mother nor father personally knew his son, Tony, he was still listed as the godfather to the child. With no close friends allowed in their secret circle, old bonds and pacts that her grandfather had with the older Stark led to a blind trust in the man.

Tony Stark had agreed to be the godfather during a one-week bender in his 30s, and when he was yelled at about it, he chose to just keep it there because “the chances of this happening is very slim.”

But here we are, Baby Avenger.

The officials who are here now actually were the same people that used to do check-ins and such with them pre-Accords, so they knew the team better than any government official save for the rare union that the team members may have with government officials. (Y/N) randomly has one with the Queen of England (she did a favor for Her Majesty once, and now they have tea every third Thursday of every month).

They knew that Tony suffered from panic attacks, and they knew Steve was going through a never ending loop of an existential crisis, and that Bucky will most likely always be having an identity crisis, and that Sam cries to sleep a lot around a certain time of year that renders him almost useless in his sleep deprived state he puts himself into. They know EVERYTHING vulnerable about the team.

So, that means they know how when she first got to the team and to Tony that she wouldn’t speak to anyone unless absolutely necessary. It took her almost a year to be able to speak more than a sentence to every person she was around. No one was too upset, though, Tony was trying to figure out how to save himself and rebrand his whole legacy and the Avengers weren’t really a family family yet like they are now. (Y/N)’s shyness made it much easier on the adults to figure out their stressful situations.

The officials, though, never got why she wouldn’t speak to them. They actually pushed her progress back more and more with taunts and comments such as “Oh, the baby can’t speak?” or a “Get your phone out! She’s about to say her first words!” every time she did go to say something.

Tony soon got fed up with it and filed a lawsuit against them which threatened their agency enough to pull them out and let a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent be a liaison for them. After their presence was rid of, (Y/N) grew exponentially with her new family. She was still home schooled, but now she had Peter Parker as a friend and world geniuses as her teachers. She was an only child, but now she’s a big sister to Morgan and has plenty of people on the team that are dubbed her siblings (since they don’t act their age majority of the time to be considered aunts and uncles).

While she’s trained to fight, (Y/N) doesn’t go out on the field much unless they need her brain or her extended vision. She likes to remain behind the computer screen and help that way. She’s invented a way to make prosthetics like Bucky’s become more available to the general public and has started a school/home that’s three miles from the Compound for orphaned kids, mutants, super kids, and those who aren’t accepted where they come from.

In conclusion, (Y/N) is 18 and not useless in any way, shape, or form.

So why, why, do these absolute short dick idiots decide that they can come into here, her home, and push her around like she hasn’t contributed more to the Earth and society in the short 18 years than their middle-aged asses?

Eyes narrowed and seeing red, she stomps her way down the last hall, shoving herself into the door of the meeting room and throwing it open.

The team stays unfazed, knowing she’d show up pissed at some point. The officials, though, jump in their seat and turn to look at her.

It wasn’t the biggest meeting, the original Avengers plus Bucky, Sam, and Wanda sit around the table. Though, Rocket and Groot are here sitting along the back wall, looking bored as hell. Thor must have drug them along.

Fists clenched, (Y/N) narrows her eyes more. She’s been here since the first attack. Sure, she didn’t fight since she was like, 8 or so, but she was in charge of her man-behind-the-computer work. She’s been a part of the team since the beginning, and these assholes are too big of pricks to acknowledge that.

That’s what’s pissing the girl off. This could have been a meeting for every one of the fighters of the team, which she wouldn’t go to because that’s not her role. This meeting, though, was scheduled as “Originals plus the newly appointed leaders only.” She’s an original.

SHE IS AN ORIGINAL.

SHE. IS. AN. OG.

AND YET, they remained in telling her she wasn’t invited because “The Baby Avenger doesn’t need to join big kid conversation.”

She locked eyes with her adopted father and her best friend, aka Peter Parker, aka the only reason she knew this meeting was still being held.

Poor, lovely Peter. He grew confused when his best friend wasn’t sitting in between Mr. Stark and him for the meeting, especially when the officials referred to the meeting as they did. He was just there to take notes for Mr. Stark, not that the man wouldn’t remember it all. Pepper thought it’d be a good idea if Tony had written evidence to anything said in these meetings so that he wouldn’t be pouring statements out of his ass without proof, and poor, lovely Peter got elected to take such notes.

When he noticed you weren’t there, he had sent you a text asking where you were and that your drink that he brought you was right next to him.

“(Y/N)! It is so great to see you, my wonderful flower.” Thick arms wrapped around her as a golden man squeezed her tight to him. Thor and (Y/N) had a special relationship. They’re always close and do the most innocent of tasks together like flower crowns, step-by-step painting classes, and making those Tik Tok crocheted blankets made with that big yarn. He even had taken her to Asgard (back when it was a planet) for a royal ball where she was the guest of honor. They’re just soft together.

Though, rage blocked that softness that normally occurs between the two. Pushing off of him, she points her finger at the men in the front. The officials look like they’ve seen the devil and all of Hell and (Y/N) can see the fear pouring off of them.

“Let’s get this clear,” she says as she slowly stalks her way up to them. “I am an Avenger. I am an original Avenger. I know about 3,000 ways to kill you in this room at this very moment with anything. I drink tea with the fucking Queen on Thursdays, and I’ve created a better orphanage/school system in 2 years than this country has in the 250 years it’s been around. Don’t you EVER call me a fucking baby again, you fucking hear me?”

By this point, she’s right up in their faces, her glare unwavering and them sweating. The silence in the room was great and seemed to go on forever. The team held their breaths, some trying not to laugh and some scared of backlash that might be trust upon the girl.

With one last eye narrow (you could blindfold her with toothpicks at this point), she whips around and walks back to Thor, placing herself sideways on his lap and relaxing into his hold. Peter passes her (Drink Order) down the table, and (Y/N) takes it.

Clint, Bucky, and Sam try and hide their laughter when the meeting starts again as they look at their long-time teammate cradled and curled up in Thor’s arms, head on his shoulder and under his chin as she sips her drink with an angry look in her eyes and a pout on her face.

All wrapped up like a baby.

[acousticcheeze]

Here's my 100 questions for my OC thing!

My OC is Laureli, a 6'2 Altmer trying to make his way in Skyrim

1. What do they smell like?

Whatever alchemy ingredient he’s been working with, really. Lavender is what he smells like most often, though.

2. What is their voice like?

A smooth-ish medium pitch Altmer voice that has elements of calm and irritation.

3. What is their biggest motivator?

Helping others through his alchemy. He wants to improve medicine for Skyrim, as well as all of Tamriel.

4. What is their most embarrassing memory?

He had a whole scientific presentation one year that ended up being completely wrong. He got humiliated in front of everyone.

5. How do they deal with/react to pain?

Winces at it, curses, and then gets to treating the problem.

6. What do they like to wear?

Functional clothes that keep him warm and allow him to carry alchemy ingredients in his pockets.

7. Which of their relationships have impacted them most positively?

The relationships with some of the people he’s helped over the years. It gave him a sense of purpose and fulfillment knowing that he could help people, save people.

8. What’s the weirdest thing they’ve ever eaten?

He’s an alchemist...in Skyrim...I’m pretty sure there are a few contenders… (giants toe, large/small antlers, ectoplasm, the list goes on)

9. Describe the way that they sleep.

Normal side sleeper. Prefers to sleep on his left side.

10. What is their favorite food/kind of food?

Horker stew. It’s actually way better than he thought it would be.

11. What do they feel most insecure about?

If what he’s doing is good enough. He has big problems with perfectionism that still persist with him even after leaving Summerset.

12. How do they like to dress?

Robes with an alchemy enchantment and a hood.

13. How do they react to feelings of guilt?

He tries to shake them off, but has panic attacks and whatnot sometimes as a result of them.

14. How do they react to/deal with betrayal?

Is completely shattered by it. He’s dealt with this so many times before, though, so he keeps his cards close to his chest.

15. What is their greatest achievement?

Creating potions that help much more than the average cure disease potion would, as well as all sorts of other concoctions. Also, he’s created a sort of disinfectant and is working on a hand sanitizer.

16. What are they like when they’ve gotten too little sleep?

Cranky, cranky, cranky.

17. What are they like when they’re drunk?

Drunk? Oh no no no no Laureli does not drink (and even if he did he’d be out real quick)

18. What kind of music do they enjoy?

He isn’t really into music, but he enjoys the songs the bard plays at the Bannered Mare.

19. Are they right or left handed?

Right, but is practicing with his left hand too in case something happens to his right.

20. Fears?

Death and failure, mostly.

21. Favorite kind of weather?

As the sun rises and there’s dew all over the grass, the light reflecting through each drop.

22. Favorite color?

The color of eyes. Or, more specifically, the hundreds of little pinpricks of different colors inside of eyes, It’s really quite fascinating.

23. Do they collect anything?

OH YEAH. So many different alchemy ingredients and random stuff to be used in his next works-

24. Do they prefer either hot or cold weather more?

Cold, which is good since he lives in Skyrim.

25. What is their eye color?

Chartreuse (like most Altmer)

26. What is their race/ethnicity?

Altmer

27. Hair color?

White

28. Are they happy where they are currently?

Yup. Breezehome is small, but manageable, and Whiterun is a decent hold to live in.

29. Are they a morning person?

Yes. He gets tired around 9 and can’t stay up past 12.

30. Sunrise or sunset?

Sunrise.

31. Are they more messy or more organized?

Very organized. Again, he’s a perfectionist.

32. Pet peeves?

People touching his things as well as people inserting themselves into his business.

33. Do they own any objects of significant personal importance?

An amulet of Talos a Nord gave him. He hadn’t gotten the chance to learn much about Talos at home, and he found it very interesting talking to the local Nords about their beliefs. That amulet reminds him of his first day in Skyrim, the first day of his new life.

34. Least favorite food?

Taffy treats, or anything with that sort of texture and stickiness that can get stuck to his teeth very easily.

35. Least favorite color?

Very pale green. It looks gross.

36. Least favorite smell?

Death. (Yes, death has a smell)

37. When was the last time they cried?

Recently.

38. Were they with anybody the last time they cried?

No. Oh Auri-el, no no no no. He cries alone and he makes sure of it.

39. Tell us about one of the times they got injured?

Was in a fire when he was younger, he has a burn going up the inner leg on his right leg.

40. Do they have any scars?

Only mental ones. (and the burn scar on his leg)

41. Do they struggle with any mental health issues?

Perfectionism, past abuse, self hate, among others.

42. Do they have any bad habits?

Picking at his nails. He knows it makes them hurt and get bloody, but sometimes he just can’t help it.

43. Why might someone dislike them?

He can be very rude if he’s working, but to be fair, it is really annoying to be bothered in the middle of your work.

44. Why might someone love them?

Who wouldn’t love an overworked science boye? But in all seriousness, if he loves someone, he will be very caring towards them and is also just great listener. Tries not to care any more though because of personal trauma.

45. Do they believe in ghosts?

Yup. He’s heard of people’s encounters with them. Honestly, you’d be stupid to not believe in them.

46. Is there anyone they would trust with their lives?

At this point? No. Farkas later down the line? Yes.

47. Are they romantically interested in anyone?

Farkas, but we ain’t talking about that yet~

48. Are they dating/married to anyone?

No

49. Do they like surprises?

No. Please do not surprise this poor man he will stagger back and crash into everything.

50. When is their birthday?

9th of Hearthfire (September 9th)

51. How do they usually celebrate their birthday?

He takes a few seconds to acknowledge it and then gets on with his work.

52. Do they have any family?

Yup! A Mom, a Dad, a younger sister, and a male cousin that lives nearby (he’s in the Thalmor and the whole family has very Pro-Thalmor views)

53. Are they close to their family?

HAH- no~

54. What is their MBTI type?

INTJ (Damn this list for making me look up stereotypes for this. Honestly I hate the MBTI system so much-)

55. What is their zodiac sign?

Virgo

56. What Hogwarts House would they be in?

Ravenclaw

57. What D&D alignment are they?

If lawful chaotic good was a thing then yes

58. Do they ever have nightmares? If so, what about?

Yes, but they are often so tangled up that it’s hard to get any real meaning from them.

59. What are their views on death?

“It’s fine, it’s fine, I’ll be fine-” Hopes that he’ll be fine but is really scared about it.

60. What is something that they’re sure to laugh at?

Bad science puns. He will stifle a chuckle before telling you how bad your joke was.

61. When bored, how do they pass time?

This man does not get bored. He will always find something alchemy related to study or look into.

62. Do they enjoy being outside?

Yes. Laureli loves the Skyrim weather (for the most part. Places like Dawnstar and Winterhold suck)

63. Do they have an accent?

Yes. He has the typical Altmer accent.

64. Upon seeing a slice of chocolate cake, what is their first reaction?

“Why is this here? This isn’t mine.”

65. If they knew they were going to die, what would they do/say

He would probably take too long deciding and die before he could do/say anything.

66. How do they feel about sex?

Sex repulsed asexual.

67. What is their sexuality?

GAY

68. Do they become squeamish at the sight of blood?

Nope.

69. Is there anything that they find really gross?

He’s seen so much it would take a lot to surprise him here.

70. Which TV Trope(s) best describes them?

Grumpy scientist with no people skills.

71. Do they enjoy helping people?

Yes, definitely

72. Are they allergic to anything?

Not really. (Lucky)

73. Do they have a pet?

No

74. Are they quick to anger? What are they like when they loose their temper?

Nope, unless you press his buttons. His anger is pretty much “What in the name of Auri-el is wrong with you?! Don’t touch my equipment!!”

75. How patient are they?

Very...until you hit his limit. Then he gets passive aggressive.

76. Are they good at cooking?

Not really. He can be good at it, he just chose not to learn in favor of working on his projects. Can make enough to live on, though.

77. Favorite insult? Do they insult people often?

He doesn't have a favorite insult (he rarely insults people).

78. How do they act when they’re particularly happy?

Talking fast, pacing, flappy hands.

79. What do they do when they learn about other people’s fears?

Try to avoid bringing those fears up around them and avoiding making fun of them. If their fear is nearby, he will either tell them or take care of it. (which is good because Farkas is scared of spiders)

80. Are they trustworthy?

Yes, but you have to be a very certain kind of person to work with him.

81. Do they try to hide their emotions? Are they good at it?

Sometimes, especially romantic feelings. Romantic attraction? Nope, not possible- (It totally is; he’s in denial)

82. Do they exercise regularly?

With all of the walking he does around various holds, yes.

83. Are they comfortable with the way they look?

Yes. He’s a perfectionist with many things, but has learned to let go a bit more when it comes to his appearance. He still will take ages to get ready, though.

84. What are some physical features that they find attractive on people?

Tattoos, braids, basically everything you’d see on a typical Nord. It’s so different from his home and he’s completely enamored.

85. What kind of personalities do they find attractive?

Himbo nord men. Sweet morons basically.

86. Do they like sweet foods?

Not really. Sweet foods do have their place, but he isn’t wanting to get any cavities, so he tries to limit his sugar. (Especially since Altmer live 200-300 years aprox)

87. What is their age?

52 (~20s for an Altmer)

88. Are they tall or short or somewhere in between?

Tall, but about average for an Altmer

89. Do they wear glasses or contacts?

No, but if he did he would have half-moon spectacles.

90. Do they consider themselves attractive?

Not really. He doesn’t really think anyone is attractive. (Well, except for Nord himbos, but he doesn’t know that until he meets Farkas)

91. What is their sense of humor like?

Practically nonexistent, but when there is humor it’s mostly dry and sardonic.

92. What mood are they most often in?

That sort of focused work mode you get in when you’re really concentrating, as well as somewhat-sociable-but-still-kind-of-tired-and-grumpy

93. What kinds of things anger them?

People messing up his equipment. Oh sweet Auri-el, if you touch his things he will explode. Also, he hates the racism that the Thalmor promote. (He hates racism in general, but he hates the Thalmor’s views the most).

94. Outlook on life?

“It sucks, but I do find quite a bit fascinating and I’ll help where I can.”

95. What kind of things make them sad/depressed?

His perfectionism, how lonely he knows he is, and more.

96. What is their greatest weakness?

Again, his perfectionism, as well as having his work dictate more in his life than he should.

97. What is the greatest strength?

His brain. He remembers small details extremely well, and is practically an encyclopedia when it comes to alchemy.

98. Something that they regret?

How awful he used to be to everyone back home. He got a lot of pushback on his dreams and who he was, so he lashed out. Even though there wasn’t much he could do there, he still regrets hiring his family and wants to try at a relationship again with them (lol good luck).

99. Biggest accomplishment?

How is this different from “Greatest Achievement”?

100. Create your own! (Why is his alchemy so different from the norm?)

Because he’s trying to do something much more along the lines of modern medicine as opposed to just potions.

101. (Bonus!) Why is he in Skyrim?

Because it’s rather lacking in the medicine department compared to the other provinces, so he decided his talents would be best used there. Obviously, his family protested, but he went anyways.

[project-rosewood-476]

Chapter 2 part 1 Of Every Rose Has Its Thorns is out now! the AU and some of the ideas and characters belong to @creepypasta-shtick and Maplehood Creek, Rosewood, and Tabby Anderson belong to me.

TW: character death, mentions of blood and gore

Tabby was always an early bird due to her stepdad getting her up at 5 in the morning. Also with Rosewood starting at 7:45 am. But she slept through until 7-8 in the morning. Tabby woke up and stretched and winced at her bruises. She slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes confused. This wasn't her house. This wasn't her room...then last nights events came rushing back to her

"So it wasn't a dream after all... and I'm alive...I survived my first night in this strange new world. One day down and another one to go" she said in thought. she grinned as the new reality set in.

"I'm free...of my stepdad, Rosewood, and Horacio!" She said in thought also she let out a quiet giggle to herself.

She got out of the bed and put her knives on the nightstand for now. She took a good look at herself in the mirror. Her red-brown hair turned into a messy low ponytail with a couple of wavy strands that were out. That was due to the tossing and turning in her sleep. She still had dark circles under her eyes and they still appeared to be sunken back slightly. But they had that spark of life back in them again. But you can never catch up on lost sleep. She fell asleep in her clothes from yesterday but she'll change today. She really had no use for PJs she only used them on occasion. Her older bruises were almost completely faded away and her new ones started the healing process. Pretty soon all there would be was the scars from her old life and new bruises and cuts from training and missions and stuff. Hopefully less than what she has now.

She quickly got dressed in a long-sleeved white shirt and blue jeans to cover up the scars and bruises. She was more clear-minded than she was last night. No one else needed to see her bruises and scars and think that she's weak and sickly. She put on her shoes and went out of her bedroom and into the kitchen.

Toby has done a lot for her in one night. It was only fair to return the favor. The least she could do is cook him breakfast. She looked in the fridge and saw some eggs. She took out the carton and put it on the counter. She saw some bread laying about too and saw a toaster.

"Perfect!" She thought to herself.

She looked around for a frying pan, plates, and utensils. It took her a while to find the stuff in the kitchen but she made her way around and made very little noise as possible. And was humming a song that she knew to herself. She put the two pieces of bread in the toaster and started making the eggs for herself first.

Toby was still kind of groggy but he pulled himself up and yawned. It took him a little while to get used to being awake so he waited for a bit before turning off his radio. He went up to go to the bathroom. He had several wounds he needed to make sure stayed clean after all. After cleaning himself up, he figured he should go out and get the newspaper or something. He knew that after a couple of weeks he would have a huge mission that would involve putting on a fake identity and infiltrating a school, which he was not looking forward to. He was incredibly anxious about it. From the bathroom, he could hear a knock on the front door. Oh right. He had locked it. It was probably Jane and she had probably finished Tabby's mask that night.

Tabby put her eggs and toast on a plate and went to answer the front door. She unlocked it and opened the door a little bit. warily and cautiously.

Jane had left the box on the front door. It was a nice-looking box. It could be easily opened. She had stayed up all night doing the mask.

Tabby opened the door wider and cautiously picked up the box. She eyed it suspiciously. She decided to leave it on the table and decided to wait for Toby to come out so she wouldn't be alone while opening it just in case it could be a trap.

Tabby began to eat her breakfast. She kept eyeing the box in a mixture of suspicion and curiosity. She wanted to open it badly but decided that she knew better than to open it by herself as Jane's words echoed through her head from last night.

'Don't trust gifts that are given to you even if they're given by people you know, there are a lot of backstabbers here'.

She continued to wait patiently.

Toby came outside the bathroom and headed towards the kitchen. He saw Tabby and the box.

"Oh. That looks like the box Jane uses to deliver masks." He stared plainly.

He went to the fridge and began rifling through it. Jane's boxes always looked distinct to show that they carried masks that she had made her own.

"Oh you don't have to rummage through the fridge," she said in between bites "I was going to make you some eggs as a sort of a thank you. But then I realized that I don't know how you like your eggs...or even if you like eggs...I also didn't know if you were like me in needing to watch your food being made to make sure it's not poisoned. So I waited before I did anything."

"But if you do like eggs how do you like them? I could make you some..." she said a little shyly as she looked down and went to open the box.

She opened the box slowly and warily. She took out the mask and inspected it. It was a pretty teal with golden spirals branching out from one another and at some angles, the gold glittered in the light. She checked the inside of the mask and smiled to herself when she saw the names of the people she lost engraved inside. She put it on and looked at Toby.

"Oh, it's okay. I'm the type of person who likes taking care of myself." Toby explained.

He had needed to make his own breakfast since he was 8, and a change from routine would just feel somewhat alien. He thanked her for her offer though. He turned when he felt the air somewhat shift and saw that she had put on her mask.

"Oh, that looks great. Does it feel okay? Natural?" He asked. He got out some leftover breakfast from the day before and went to heat it up.

"Fair enough," she said.

She understood not wanting to rely on others since she has been neglected since she was 4 so she had to learn how to do the basics of taking care of herself.

"It feels weird at first but I'll get used to it" she put the mask in her box and went to pick up the eggs and put them back in the fridge.

She finished up the last bit of her egg sandwich that she made and went to do up her little bit of dishes. She unwrapped her left hand so the bandages can stay clean and dry. You could see the surgical incisions that were made to get the glass out. The scars were in that in-between stage of old and fresh. Her hand was healed but you can tell that the doctors didn't set it right as it looked out of place.

Toby nodded.

"It will feel weird at first but soon you'll freak out seeing yourself without it."

He wanted to make the transition into this new life as painless as possible. He remembered being incredibly freaked out at the beginning. He noticed her hand. Oh, man. EJ would lose his shit 'seeing' the work done on that hand. Toby thanked her for doing her dishes.

"By the way, you said you wanted to go to the library today?" Toby said. "While we're out, I could sort of show you around if you want. A lot of your first missions will be fetch and deliver, so it's nice to know where to go." He was finishing up his breakfast.

"Yeah I did say that and it would be nice to know my way around. I mean I'm going to be on my own at some point so yeah"

She dried off her hands and notice that he was looking at her damaged hand.

"Yeah I know it's not a pretty picture. Reason number 1025 of why I hate and don't trust doctors. They can't do their damn jobs right" she gave him a bitter smile.

"So your mission was fairly riskless huh?" She raised an eyebrow as she nodded towards his injuries "I do hope you took care of them properly" she gently re-wrapped her hand in the bandages.

Toby nodded.

"Yeah, you will be. Once you finish training, the boss will give you a new place." He said. "I'll show you around, introduce you to a few people." He said.

"I understand the sentiment about doctors though, but for me it's therapists. My therapist knew I was abused and, as a mandated reporter, didn't call CPS for me." He said.

He knew there were competent doctors and therapists, but that didn't change his experiences.

At her comment, he nodded. "They're just small cuts and bruises. Come from running through the woods." He said.

"Same. I hated therapists too. I've been through 7 psychiatrists. My parents believed that I was delusional and paranoid because they didn't believe me about my horror stories at Rosewood. My therapists didn't believe anything I said about Rosewood or about how my stepdad abused me but left the rest of my family out of it" she gave him the finger guns and another bitter smile but she looked like she just wanted to die.

Toby nodded. "I got a therapist after my sister died. I still remember her. She was this older woman, about the same age as my mom and she always had this fake, vacant smile. It used to piss me off." He said.

He understood.

"They used my mental illness to totally discredit what I saw and what I said happened to me. She tried to have me involuntarily committed."

Toby shrugged a bit while clearing his dishes.

"I've thought about killing her, honestly, but I figured it wasn't really worth it." He said, starting the water

"But they did manage to diagnose me correctly on OCD, Anxiety, PTSD, and Paranoia which all had to do with Rosewood and my stepdad but not for the reasons that they thought. We're probably missing a few others since they can't diagnose me fully correctly", stated Tabby.

"I understand," Toby said.

He finished cleaning up his dishes. He already was dressed for the day and was still wearing his mouth guard and goggles. He put on his gloves.

"You ready to go in a bit?" He asked.

"Honestly they're just doing it to get paid and not caring how they do it" "I've thought about killing my stepdad and I would have if it was just my mom and not...someone else involved...", she trailed off and looked away.

"Well, I killed my dad," Toby said with a shrug.

"And I let my mom find the body." He put his dishes away.

"I feel like my life would be so much different if I had actually had a decent therapist. I know they're out there and I'm just so pissed that I got a shitty one. If I had one that actually cared, I probably would still be human."

"Lucky you. I would have done the same but I never had the luxury to be selfish. This is the first time I actually put myself first"

She knew that wasn't entirely true either. She would have gladly let masky and hoodie kill her. She wouldn't even have had to put up a fight. But toby was the one who spared her life and he did it for a reason. She promised herself that she would stay alive for him so his efforts wouldn't go in vain. It wouldn't be fair to him if she died. On top of her promises to kill Horacio and avenge her friends. But he doesn't need to know that.

"Yeah I'll be ready to go in a few minutes I just need to brush my hair and teeth real quick." She said not ignoring his previous statement.

Tabby went to her room to get her things and went into the bathroom to do her thing. She came out with a neater-looking ponytail. She grabbed the box and headed back to her room to put her things away. She then came back out wearing her thick red plaid jacket that she always wore with her gray hood up and put her new mask on.

"I'm ready to go"

Toby nodded. "Alright. Let's go." He said. He was in his usual attire. It was worn, but clean.

"Do you want to go to the library first, or would you like me to show you around first?"

"I would like to go to the library first please if that's okay. Afterward, it will give us time for you to show me around and meet a few people", said Tabby.

"Okay, that works. There are some things that you'll want to know about the library through." Toby explained.

Tabby paused for a minute "Which are?" She trailed off.

"Well, the librarians are all disgraced proxies and monsters as well as retired proxies," Toby said.

"And usually you're not supposed to talk to the librarians unless it's for something strictly about the library. However, the librarians are very smart and have very large comprehensive knowledge over things."

Tabby nodded slowly in understanding "okay I got it. I don't usually talk to anyone in general"

"If you get on their good side, they'll defend you though," Toby said. "A lot of stuff can go down at the library."

She snorted "doesn't surprise me"

She had a mini flashback to the library at Rosewood. She was a bookworm and the library was the least sinister place in the school. Even though it too carried its own dark secrets of Rosewood. Libraries were considered sacred and neutral ground at Rosewood.

Toby knew of a proxy who had gotten beaten to death in the library. The library was usually quiet but sometimes could get very messy. He held the door for her. It was good practice to say goodbye to the desk lady before they left.

"Is that all?" She asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. Would you like me to stay there with you?", he asked.

"Yes, please. Two is better than one right?"

She mentally cursed herself for saying yes. She had to prove to him at some point that she could take care of herself and hold her own. But she didn't want to be left in this strange new world that was day 2 for her. Especially around strangers who wouldn't hesitate to kill her if given the chance. If she had someone with her the chances of that happening would be slim to none. And she was taught from a young age that you never go anywhere alone. Especially in Maplehood unless you had to.

"Survival reasons", she told him to justify herself, "I'm fresh meat as it is and curiosity about the new girl is inevitable. I'm crippled and small and I would be alone which means it would be easy for someone to kill me without a second thought. I'm young, not stupid so it's better to go with someone and only go alone if I absolutely have to".

She babbled on her reasoning to him and she was getting defensive about it because she didn't want him to think that she was a little bitch that can't take care of herself.

Toby understood. She didn't need to justify herself to him, he understood.

"Hey, it really is okay. I'll just sit nearby and maybe chat to a few people." Toby was decently popular.

"Okay… can we go now?" She asked.

"Yeah," Toby said. He moved to let her out of the apartment.

[jjoutermaybanks]

With You In My Head || Rafe Cameron x Reader

part one part two part three part four part five part six part seven part eight

summary: it’s going to be a long summer. living in the Outer Banks with your trailer park mom and fancy mansion dad, you know it’s going to be a tough three months. things only get harder when your best friend’s brother, the notorious Rafe Cameron, begins to complicate your life even more. but will the island’s biggest wildcard successfully steal your heart, or leave you more broken than before?

word count: 3.3k

warnings: references sex, angst

*not my gif, credit to owner*

PART FOUR

You had never run home faster in your life.  By the time you shut the door and collapsed against it, you were out of breath and aching from your miles of sprinting.  But the fear and adrenaline was what gave you the energy to make it, and now that you were home the real anxiety could set in.

Tonight was way too close.  One second later and Sarah could’ve found you in quite a compromising position with her brother.  You knew the tumultuous relationship between the two of them, and because you were Sarah’s best friend you obviously had to be on her side.  You knew that if she found out what you did tonight--and what you had wanted to do before you were interrupted--that Sarah might stay mad at you forever.

Blowing out a sigh, you anxiously pushed a hand through your hair and tried to forget about how good tonight felt.  In between flashes of Rafe’s hands on your body, you forced yourself to remember your anger at him, your frustration at being stranded at the party.  But the feeling of his lips on your skin and his voice in your ear was too much to ignore--he was everywhere, all over you, despite the distance you’d forced between you.  You craved his touch again, and only wished you could’ve returned the favor.

Shut up, you scolded yourself.  It was a stupid thing to do, and it’s over now.  You don’t have to see him again.  You changed out of your clothes from the party, throwing them into the corner of your room as you tugged on a big sweatshirt.  You hoped the warm fabric would drown out the lingering fire left by Rafe’s fingers.  As you climbed into bed, you focused your brain on anything but the boy you left behind.

But despite your better judgment, the smallest yearning to see his bright blue eyes stuck with you, no matter how hard you tried to move on.  This yearning stuck around through the next day, which you spent determinedly at home.  When Sarah texted you asking to hang out, you faked a stomach bug so you could lay around moping.  Your mother didn’t ask any questions, but you knew you couldn’t stay cooped up forever.

Sarah finally convinced you to go out the next day.  She and the rest of the Pogues were making the rounds delivering groceries, and you figured spending time with them would help get your mind off of Rafe.  

“Enjoying yourself?” JJ asked as he settled beside you.  You were laying atop the deck of the HMS Pogue, head tilted to the sun so you could soak up the rays.  JJ handed you a beer, which you happily accepted and clinked against his own bottle.

“You guys have the greatest lives, I swear,” you told him, swigging some of the beer.  You didn’t mind the taste and knew it would take more than one bottle to get you even remotely tipsy.

JJ chuckled.  “Great is one word to describe it.  Reckless, dangerous, chaotic; those work too.”

Grinning, you leaned back on your elbows and watched Sarah nuzzle into John B’s neck as he steered the boat.  They were beyond cute, and for a brief instant you remembered the way someone else had kissed your neck.

Shuddering, you took another big sip.  JJ noticed your odd reaction.  “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” you answered quickly.  “Just jealous of Sarah, that’s all.”  You hoped your deflection method worked, and judging by JJ’s eye roll you succeeded.

“Tell me about it.  Those two really know how to make a guy feel lonely.”

Your smile faltered slightly.  JJ was such a nice, charming guy.  Why couldn’t you like him instead of intense, unpredictable Rafe?  Not that you liked Rafe, but JJ wasn’t exactly the one occupying your thoughts.  You wished the blonde boy was the one you were daydreaming about, but sadly he barely crossed your mind.

The next few days were spent exactly like that one; adventuring with the Pogues, avoiding Figure 8 and all thoughts of Rafe.  One advantage of staying away from that side of the island was that you didn’t have to see your dad.  Occasionally your mother would try to press you into visiting, but she could tell your last visit had gone horribly and you didn’t feel like trying again so soon.

The Pogues didn’t just take your mind off of Rafe; they actively turned you against him.  The way they talked about the Kooks shined a light on Topper and Kelce and all the other people Rafe hung around.  They sounded like total snobs, and over time you found yourself embarrassed that you wasted time thinking about Rafe.  Instead, you embraced the Pogue life and journeyed all around The Cut until you rarely ever thought about your little slip-up.

One morning though, after jolting awake from a particularly hot and heavy dream, all of your hard work went right out the window.  Even in slumber you still thought of Rafe, more specifically Rafe’s hands.  They were all over you, drifting across your body and igniting sparks on your skin.  The dream left you tingling and frustrated when you finally woke up, and the only thing you wanted was the release he had given you that night on the beach.

Later that day you met up with the Pogues at the dock.  JJ saw your irritated scowl and quirked up an eyebrow.

“Wake up on the wrong side of the bed?” he asked, and you huffed.

“You could say that,” you grumbled, arms crossed in annoyance.  “I can’t wait to get on that boat and sail away from here.”  Really, you wanted to sail away from your thoughts.

JJ nodded.  “I get what you mean.  Unfortunately though, we can’t exactly leave for good.”

Kiara and Pope were busy preparing packed lunches at The Wreck, and John B. and Sarah joined you moments later.  As you waited, three frustratingly familiar figures were striding across the docks in your direction.

“Topper,” John B. called out in a clipped tone.  Topper’s smirk was twisted, and Kelce scowled beside him.  You forced yourself not to look at Rafe.  Even out of your peripheral vision you knew he looked good.  His button down shirt was open and billowing in the breeze, his board shorts low on his hips and accentuating his abdomen.  The sunglasses perched on his nose prevented you from figuring out if he was watching you.  You couldn’t decide if you wanted him to or not.

“Come to get another ass-kicking?” JJ demanded, squaring up so you were blocked by his shoulder.  He was doing this to protect you, and you noticed the tightness in Rafe’s jaw as he regarded JJ with a frown.

“Relax, scrappy,” Topper retaliated.  “We’re picking up food before we hit the water.  I’ve got myself a fancy new boat that would ride circles around your crappy tin can.”

John B. took a step towards him.  “I bet a long scratch would look real nice on the side, don’t you think?”  As Topper was about to reply, Sarah stepped forward and sighed loudly.

“Cool it with the testosterone,” she said, rolling her eyes and pushing John B. back gently.  “These sleaze-bags aren’t worth it, let’s just get our food and go.”

John B. and JJ listened to her as she led them towards The Wreck, and Topper and Kelce quickly followed behind, muttering in their wake.  You were about to go join your friends when a hand closed around your elbow.

“Y/N,” Rafe hissed, keeping his voice low and glancing around.  You wrenched your elbow away, huffing in annoyance and scowling his way.  Rafe took off his sunglasses and tucked them into his pocket, revealing his blazing blue eyes that immediately caught you off guard.

“What do you want?”  You tried to sound authoritative, folding your arms defensively.  But Rafe’s intense gaze was making your stomach flutter, and it was hard to stay angry at him.

“Since when do you hang out with them?” he asked pointedly, spitting the word them like it was sour.  You scowled.

“You mean my friends?” you fired back.  “Why wouldn’t I hang out with them?”

“Do you know the kind of shit they get themselves into?”  He ran a hand through his gelled hair, messing it up and leaving it ruffled in a way that made your knees weak.  “They’re dangerous, Y/N.  You’re gonna get in trouble if you keep hanging around them.”

“Oh, and you’re so innocent?  Your friends throw under-aged keggers and go around beating people up.  Why should I want to be with you?”  You winced; you hadn’t meant to phrase it that way.  You shouldn’t have implied Rafe wanted you to be with him, and his surprised reaction told you it caught him off guard as well.

He recovered quickly though, the intensity never waning in his eyes.  “I thought we were getting close,” he admitted, his voice soft.  The sudden vulnerability threw you off, but you kept your composure and cleared your throat.

“We talked once on the beach, Rafe.  You tricked me into going to a stupid party where I was miserable the whole time.”  You purposely left off the part of that night that had been haunting you for days.

Rafe wasn’t going to let this slide, though.  “What about after the party?” he challenged, stepping closer to you.  You were grateful the others weren’t around to see how flustered you were getting just by Rafe’s presence.

“W-what about it?” you stuttered dumbly, falling right into his trap.

“When we were on the chair together.  You can’t honestly say you didn’t enjoy yourself.”  Your throat had gone dry, words failing you as Rafe slowly dragged his hand up your arm.  Goosebumps rose on your skin and you inhaled sharply as his fingers danced across your collarbone.

Gritting your teeth, you shook your head.  “It meant nothing to me.  I want nothing to do with you, Rafe.”

His hand stilled where it rested on your waist, only a thin tank top between you and his sinful touch.  “Oh, really?  Because as I recall, you were more than happy to suck my dick.”

The sudden dirty words made you gasp, stepping away from Rafe’s intoxicating aura.  He followed close behind though, keeping your chests close and faces inches away.

“No I wasn’t,” you argued.  “You’re delusional.”

Rafe scoffed.  “I’m delusional?  Because I have a crystal clear image of you reaching into my pants--”

“It’s done, Rafe.  Get over yourself.  What happened was a one time lapse in judgment, and I can assure you it won’t be happening again.”  You felt your voice waver ever so slightly, cursing yourself silently as Rafe picked up on this and smirked wider.

“Admit it, Y/N.  It’s all you’ve been thinking about.”  

Exhaling softly, you felt his hands burn up your side as they drifted across your body.  His tantalizing voice continued whispering in your ear.  “It’s all I’ve been thinking about, too.  Your fingers, your lips, your tongue.”  A shiver raced its way down your spine, his mouth dangerously close to touching your skin.  “I can’t stop thinking about how good you feel.”

Finally snapping back into your senses, you forcibly stepped back and put some much-needed distance between him.  “Well, you’re just gonna have to keep thinking about it, because it’s never going to happen.”

With that, you turned on your heel and rushed into The Wreck, desperate to find your friends and make the blush in your cheeks fade away.

You joined the others as they finished packing up lunch, grateful to be away from Rafe’s scrutiny.  You all climbed onto the HMS Pogue, JJ giving you a steady to hand to hold as you found your footing.  Pope pulled out of the dock, beginning to head towards a secluded part of the marsh.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t very secluded today.  You spotted Topper at the helm of a brand-spanking new boat, his glare visible even from a distance.  He steered right towards you until you were side by side, bobbing a few meters apart in the calm waters.

“Do you need something?” John B. asked, feigning pleasantries.

“Nope, nothing at all.  Just thought this was a good spot.”  Topper motioned for Rafe to hand him a beer, and you bit your lip as you watched him toss a can.  Rafe cracked one open himself, taking a long swig with his gaze clearly locked on you.

Turning deliberately away, you accepted the beer bottle JJ handed you and sighed.  

“What’s his problem?” JJ wondered, clearly seeing the way Rafe stared at you across the water.  

You sipped the beer, almost challenging Rafe to say something.  “I have no idea,” you answered JJ absently.  

From then on it was a clear competition between which boat was having more fun.  The Pogues all laughed louder than usual, but this was only met with the other boat’s booming laughter as well.  JJ dealt out a game of cards and you all gathered on the deck, eating lunch as you played.  For a split-second you forgot about Rafe on the other boat, until the sound of his voice drifted into your ears and made your skin crawl.

Topper’s engine roared to life, and you all turned to watch him speed down the water.  JJ cursed them out as they departed, clearly agitated by their arrogant display.

“They think they’re so cool because they have a newer boat,” he grumbled.  “We ought to show them what this little puppy can do.”  He slapped the side of the HMS Pogue, shooting Pope a pointed look.

“We can definitely keep up with them,” Pope responded.  “This baby hasn’t failed us yet.”

You watched helplessly as the guys fired up the engine, determined to speed after Topper.  You were just fine putting as much distance between you and Rafe as possible, but with the competitive natures kicked into overdrive you knew you would be seeing him again shortly.

The HMS Pogue sped down the waters, spraying you with droplets as you pulled off your shirt and shorts to avoid getting them wet.  You lounged with Kiara and Sarah on the deck as the boys whooped and hollered, and soon you had caught up to the Kooks.

“Fancy seeing you here,” JJ called out.  Topper’s glare was deadly, and Rafe just took another long sip of beer.  You sat up on your elbows a little, hoping your bikini-clad body was visible enough to throw him off.  Behind Rafe’s sunglasses, you had no idea what affect this had on him.

“You guys really don’t want to try and race me,” Topper warned.  “This thing is the fastest model yet, and I’d hate to leave in you a mountain of dust.”

JJ gripped the wheel.  “Bring it on, Kook.”

Both engines roared to life, the noise deafening as it boomed through the marsh.  You clutched the side of the boat for dear life as JJ pushed the throttle all the way, sending the boat whizzing across the water.  Topper was neck and neck with you though, concentrating hard as he steered dangerously close to you.

Every now and then the two boats would thunk against one another, jostling you where you sat.  Kiara gripped the side rail, sending JJ a glare.

“I thought boat racing was a non-contact sport,” she commented sharply.

“Yeah, there’s no point in wrecking the boat just to win a race,” Pope advised, but JJ merely waved them off and continued his aggressive antics.

Standing up shakily, you attempted to move across the deck but were quickly thrown off balance by another collision with Topper.  Stumbling backwards, you nearly fell off the side before Sarah lunged out to grab you.

“Jesus, JJ!” she hollered, pulling you back to your feet.  The breath had been knocked out of you from your near-fall, and when you glanced over at Rafe you couldn’t decipher whether he had a look of concern or triumph on his face.

“I officially no longer care who wins this stupid race,” Kiara declared, attempting to wrestle the wheel away from the blonde boy.  But JJ, stubborn as ever, resisted her and stayed firmly planted where he stood.

“I can feel her really revving up now,” he insisted, giving the wheel a loving pat.  “A few more seconds and we’ll smoke them.”

You braced yourself for another crash, eyes connecting with Rafe’s across the water.  He’d removed his sunglasses, and was leaning behind Topper’s shoulder and directing him as he drove the boat.  You scowled his way, refusing to back down from his stone-hard stare.

Soon enough, just as JJ had said, the HMS Pogue began to edge out the Kooks.  Topper frantically tried to speed up, shouting in irritation.  Rafe and Kelce tried to tell him what to do, but it was to no avail.  The HMS Pogue was now three feet ahead of them, then five feet, then ten feet, and eventually the country club boys were left in the dust.

With whoops and shouts of glee, the Pogues all burst into celebration.  You, Sarah, and Kiara hugged excitedly, grins stretching across your lips.  JJ pulled the boat to a gentle stop so Topper could catch up, and when he did Sarah flipped him off.

“You said that was a ‘fancy new boat’, right?” John B. mocked, arm slung protectively around Sarah’s waist.  “It’s a shame you wasted your money on such a piece of crap.”

Topper looked about ready to blow a gasket, and Kelce was kicking the beer cooler angrily.  Rafe was cool as ice, however, never once betraying his frustration.  He had you locked in his gaze, and your lips parted as the intensity made chills roll down your spine.

You were sick and tired of how small and helpless he made you feel.  Rafe didn’t deserve to have that much power over your emotions.  In two long strides you made your way over to JJ, grinning up at the blonde boy who was basking in his victory.

“Nice sailing,” you complimented, before looping your arms around his neck and pulling his face down to yours.  Your lips connected in a kiss, tongue swiping out to deepen it.  Startled at first, JJ quickly recovered and smoothed his hands up your bare back, landing just where your bikini was tied.  You leaned into him, hand pressed to his chest as he returned the kiss with equal fervor.

After a minute you tore yourself away, eyes alight with adrenaline as you smiled up at him.  Turning your smirk to the other boat, you tilted your head at Rafe with a confident how’s that? expression.  

His blue eyes were dark, brows low on his forehead.  His frown made your heart clench, and when he finally looked away you felt yourself missing the heat of his stare.  

But he didn’t look at you again; he didn’t even acknowledge your existence once you all returned to the docks.  You made a point to walk beside him up the path, hoping he’d say something, anything.

Rafe was silent, eyes glued to the ground in front of him.  You watched as he left with Topper and Kelce, not even throwing a glance back your way.  His figure disappeared into the distance, until you weren’t sure if you’d ever see it again.  

Guilt and disappointment raged inside of you, battling with your feelings of victory at making Rafe angry.  You should've been thrilled you pushed all his buttons, because after all he’d been doing the same to you.  But what should’ve felt amazing felt like a rock in your stomach, and you almost wished you’d fallen into Rafe’s trap instead of setting up one yourself.

~ ~ ~

taglist

@prejudic3​ @afterglows7b-tch13​ @beeeee06​ @dysaneworld​ @we-are-all-lovely​ @luckypurpleunicorn @poguequeen​ @solko​ @freebiscuitdragonbear @sunflowerkxsses​ @tembo-ndoto​ @justcallmesams​ @theworldofimagines​ @rafescameron​ @jjs-housekeeping​ 

[vtmb2s]

Past 1, 3, 6, 8 for Jason my beloved and Present 5-8 for Jenny annnd Future 2, 5, 7 for Helena! 😏

─ JASON

1. Briefly describe the way their parents grew up, and how it affected the way they raised them.

Both his parents were two regular middle class new yorkers, Frank (his dad) grew up in New York's suburbs and had a very conventional upbringing, he was the middle child of three siblings and thus kind of ignored so he usually just minded his own business... that very much carried over into adulthood, he was very reclusive and didn't really bother spending much time with his family -_-

Jason's mom, Gina, was a 2nd generation italian-american who grew up in a huge family with a billion siblings and cousins who are all very different from her husband. She liked it in the beginning but she became more and more unhappy and kind of underwhelmed. She really projected all her dreams of ever becoming someone on her kids that failed with her because she was stuck in a boring marriage with the most unambitious and boring man ever 😑

3. Describe their family. Who raised them, and who had the most impact on them? Did they have any siblings? Who were they closest to? What were the family dynamics like?

This ties in with the previous question but Frank was a bit of a loser, not particularly attractive and more timid & shy.. he was a very unambitious guy who worked a boring office job all his life without any intention of climbing the ladder. He really spent most of his time off work with his boring little loser hobbies :/

Gina was a much more spirited and lively person than her husband, Jason takes a lot more after her than his dad. She wasn't a great mother by all means due to the fact that she was unhappy in her marriage and with her life and kind of took that out on her kids, in a way where she placed certain expectations on them which Jason never really met. They weren't particularly close due to Jason's more.. rebellious nature he had as a kid, which in turn made him cause more trouble because that was the only way his parents gave him any attention at all :/ He also has an older brother, Richard, who their mother very obviously favored. Frank didn't really give a fuck about either of his sons -_-

He had a very close relationship with his mother's family though, particularly with one of her brothers. Carlo (said uncle) was a lot like him and never had any kids on his own so he became somewhat of a father figure to Jason :-)

6. Did the location they grew up in affect them significantly? Do they still go there?

He grew up in some little house in New York's suburb, not the prettiest house there because they didn't make enough for one of the nicer looking ones. He's not that fond of the boring suburbs (even in Boston), he spent more time in the city with his relatives and preferred that over his actual home. Other than that it didn't affect him much 🤷‍♀️

8. What was their childhood/teenage bedroom like?

A small little room with an ugly sports wallpaper that his parents never bothered to replace as he got older. It always looked a little messy and had a few mismatching mid-century decorations and furniture in there. As he grew older he started to cover the walls with random posters he had, to hide the ugly baseball wallpaper.

─ JENNY

5. What kind of people do they usually interact with? Who are their friends, the people they look up to/trust, and who are their “associates”?

She interacts with all sorts of people in New Bordeaux' criminal underworld - if you do anything illegal chances are you'll know Jenny. As for her actual friends, she's friends with the 3 other criminal 20 year olds in town, Danny, Lincoln, Ellis, unfortunately Giorgi (frenemies would be more fitting) and Lena. Her closest and best friends would definitely be Gavin (of @dannyburke fame)and Juliet (of @jennystahl fame) though, they're also pretty much the only ones who would fall into the "people she trusts" category... they're the only ones she'll have long weed induced therapy sessions at 1 am while the monkees are on tv.

6. What is their current relationship with their family?

Complicated... the love is there and all that, it's more of a business relationship though rather than a parent-child thing, especially with her dad. It's nothing that she ever questions (until aforementioned therapy sessions with her friends), she grew up in an environment where affection isn't really something she sees often and almost all her friends have messed up relationships with their parents too so while there is some resentment she never really questions that the way they raised her might not be ideal :c

The relationship with her siblings is complicated as well, especially because they're both a LOT younger than her. She was an only-child until the age of 13 and moved out of her childhood home when they were eight and six years old so there's this weird disconnect but there's a relationship nonetheless, which is weird. Eldest daughter AND only child disease 😓Not to mention that her parents are looking to make her little brother head of the family because he's a boy or whatever.. drama!

7. Do they have a partner? How did they meet, and what’s their relationship like now?

Yes.. she and Ellis met on some random job in the Hollow in 1963 that her dad was taking her along with (he and Sammy did random deals together and were also good friends 😌) and Jenny was like wow how boring. What if I just talk to this this guy's sons instead.... she thought he was some annoying teenage guy and only really talked to him whenever necessary (when her dad's business trips to Sammy's got REALLY boring). She forced herself to hang out with him more after Lincoln went to Vietnam and realized he's not so bad so they became friends :)

In actual game canon nothing really happens because he dies, Jenny just becomes sad that her friends were killed (him, Danny, Sammy and maybe Michael too because of Juliet connection.. she doesn't give a fuck abt Giorgi anymore that little rat can die) and wonders if she liked that goofy little guy with the ugly shirts, but in any case it's too late now.

We're doing au's here though (also this is as of '68) so in the good timeline they get together in 1968.. sort of. It's not a friends with benefits thing, more that sort of relationship that you know will end sooner or later for various reasons, so you're kind of living in the moment and have fun while it lasts. It IS genuine and not just about hooking up from time to time of course, it's just not the kind of thing that was built to last because it's based off of a dumb 20 year olds friendship and one of them (Jenny) doesn't really plan on sticking around in New Bordeaux. But well, who knows what will happen 😏

8. What hobby or pastime of theirs do they consider most important to them and why?

Well, she's big on making music, she plays the guitar and sings (she has a pretty nice voice c: ), she grew up in a pretty fucked up environment so that was her sort of escape in her youth, to be a normal kid who's playing the guitar very very badly. She doesn't play it badly as a 23 year old anymore of course and it's a little thing she shares with her best friends so that means a lot to her 😳

─ HELENA

2. Are they content with their future situation? Is there anything they would change?

Well, she's certainly not happy with the whole vampire situation - her dreams of becoming famous for acting were pretty much ruined, now she's legally dead and nothing more than a photo on true crime blogs and conspiracy theory websites... Famous but for the wrong reasons, in a way she's more bitter about "dying" before she had the chance to become famous than about the whole vampirism thing herself. There would have been something incredibly poetic about a beautiful young actress dying at the height of her career, now she's just some random nobody :/

It could be worse though. She's known among L.A. vampires for her lack of loyalty to any of the factions (despite her working for the Camarilla earlier) and her just helping whoever she feels like which is fine to her, most of them will just leave her alone. In any case, she's not in Los Angeles anymore after the events of Bloodlines!!

5. Did they get married or have a family? Why? If otherwise, why not?

See she would like to get married eventually, making a promise to love someone and be with them for eternity (literally... because... vampires) is incredibly romantic and she would love that (THIS is her wedding... not really because she's not that cringe but also.. yeah), so who knows what might happen.

Family though, no!! Starting one isn't possible, at least not with biological children since she's a vampire. It doesn't bother her that much, she always did envision herself with one child in the future but she's not desperate to be a mother anyway so she doesn't beat herself up about it. She does wonder what it might be like to have children and laments it from time to time (she's a little overdramatic) but overall she doesn't mind that much.

7. Are their friends still a part of their life? Are there people they are no longer in touch with, or newly important people?

Yes, sort of! As I mentioned before she's not in L.A. anymore post-bloodlines and she never had many friends there to begin with so she keeps in touch with the few she has there. She miiight make a few new (or old) connections once shes out of Los Angeles too, who knows!

[quickspinner]

Beautiful Dreams - Ch 5 Reality Check

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | AO3

I’m sorry this chapter took so long but I assure you it was necessary. For updates on my in-progress stories, check my WIP Report tag. It will probably be a while before the next update to this story because I’m going to try to get the last few chapters closer to completion before I start posting again, so that we will only hopefully have one more significant delay and then the remaining chapters will come quickly.

I hope you enjoy this chapter in the meantime!

He couldn’t have asked for a better beginning. Even the fifty-three texts from Rose he had to answer when he got home couldn’t dim the smile on his face. 

Luka spent the next few days in a glow of quiet contentment, polishing his new song and texting occasionally with Marinette. She was incredibly busy during work hours, but they spoke a little bit each evening. 

Happy as he was, though, he still felt...heavy. It made him think about what Juleka had said and he began to wonder if there was more to what he was feeling than grief over his mother.

Luka could have texted but he called just for the comfort of hearing her voice and the everyday sounds of her life in the background. “Hey, Jules,” Luka said, smiling at the sound of Angie’s distant coos and Rose’s baby talk. “Can you text me Dr. Thorpe’s number? I think the one I have is out of date.”

“Yeah, sure,” Juleka replied, surprised. “Is...is everything okay? I thought...your date went okay, right? You told Rose it was good.”

She would have mocked him mercilessly if she could see the grin that broke over his face. “It went amazing,” he told her. “It’s just...I was thinking about what you said, about how I’ve been lately, and maybe there’s...maybe there’s more to how I’ve been feeling than just losing Mom, you know? You know the medication never worked for me like it did for you, but it’s been a few years. I thought maybe I could just check in with the doc and see if there’s anything new I could try. Obviously just the meditation and exercise isn’t cutting it anymore, so…can’t hurt to ask, right?” 

“Yeah...yeah, I get it. I think that’s a good call.” He heard her sigh of relief and winced slightly. “You’re still going to the support group?”

“Not as regularly, lately, but yeah, I go when I need to,” Luka told her, tapping one finger on his leg restlessly. “Hey...thanks for everything. I know I’ve made things really hard for you when they were already difficult, so...thanks for being there.” 

“Just returning the favor,” Juleka mumbled. 

“That’s not one I ever wanted paid back,” he sighed. 

“Well…” Juleka fell silent for a moment, and Luka waited for her to put her thoughts together. “Well. It’s not over yet, but you’re working on it so...it’s okay. I’m okay. I can handle it.”

“It’d be okay if you couldn’t,” Luka reminded her. “I don’t ever want to be—”

“Shut up,” Juleka bit out harshly. “Just shut up, Luka. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” She sighed heavily. 

"Okay,” Luka said gently. “Okay, Jules. That’s all I needed anyway. I love you, okay?” 

“Sap,” she muttered, and then, “So the date went well?”

Luka let his head fall back and grinned at the ceiling. “The date went great. Amazing. We’re supposed to go out again soon.” He hesitated. “I was thinking,” he said slowly, “About maybe taking her to The Highlander.” 

“The Highlander? You haven’t been there in months,” Juleka said, and Luka could hear she was frowning. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Especially for a second date.”

“No,” Luka admitted, tapping his fingers on the arm of the chair. “You think it’s too soon?”

“I think maybe you should go by yourself—wait, not by yourself. I think you and I should go first. See how you handle it. It didn’t go so well last time, Luka. And you haven’t been there in ages, you know people are going to stop to talk and they’re going to want to know how you are and...it just might be hard.”

Luka pressed his lips together and sighed through his nose. “Yeah. You’re right. Maybe a little bit later.” 

“I just don’t want you to take on more than you can handle,” Juleka said, and he could hear Rose’s worried voice asking indistinct questions in the background. “Or rushing things too much and getting hurt. It might be just a quirky little Scottish pub to her but that doesn’t change what it is to us. It’s not fair to take her there like it’s just another theme bar.”

“Right,” Luka sighed. “Okay, I’m convinced. I’ll think of something else. You know I kind of hate movie dates.”

“That’s because you’re intense and nosy,” Juleka told him bluntly. “Movie dates are good, they give you something to talk about besides prying out her darkest secrets or spilling all of yours.” 

Luka rolled his eyes. “Tell me how you really feel.”

“I always do,” Juleka snorted. “Someone has to keep you from getting all up in your head and being an idiot.”

“Yeah, thanks so much for that,” he grumbled, but he was smiling. 

“Luka…”

“Yeah?”

There came another gusty sigh. “I love you too.” 

Then she hung up on him. Luka rolled his eyes, but smiled a moment later when his phone dinged as her text with the number came through.

***

Luka’s good mood lasted through the week, right until the moment he opened his door to a slightly pale Louis and a stone-faced Adrien. Luka pursed his lips for a moment. Adrien didn’t say anything until Luka sent Louis into the studio with instructions to start his warmups. The room was mostly soundproof with the door closed. Luka made sure it was shut and then went back to the hall where Adrien was still standing, his expression still stiff but murder in his eyes.

“Enjoy your date?” Adrien growled. 

Luka folded his arms and leaned one shoulder against the wall. “I did. I’m hoping to take her out again sometime soon.” 

Adrien’s face twisted. “Did you fuck my wife, Couffaine?” 

Luka sighed through his nose, lips tight. “I did not sleep with your ex-wife, no,” he said slowly, looking Adrien in the eye. “I took her out, I did my best to charm the hell out of her, and I kissed her.” He straightened up off the wall and faced Adrien. “Not that it’s actually any of your business what we do together.” 

“If it gets out—”

“I don’t give a shit, Adrien,” Luka said sharply, leveling a glare at his old friend. “I don’t care about your reputation, I never have. Isn’t that why your father told you to stay away from me in the first place?”

Adrien reared back a little. “That—”

“Forget it,” Luka cut him off, holding up a hand. “Listen, I don’t hold your father against you. Not the things he said and did, and not the things he made you do. I know that none of that was your fault. But what you do and say here and now, Adrien, that’s on you, so don’t talk to me about making Marinette dance to your tune to save your reputation, or this conversation is gonna go downhill real fast. She’s single. She’s her own woman. She can date who she wants. If that’s me—” Luka shrugged. “I couldn’t care less what your investors think about it.”

“You absolute bastard.” Adrien scowled when Luka didn’t react. “How the hell can you stand there and act so calm?”

“Because I know your feelings don’t actually have anything to do with me,” Luka said softly. “You feel angry and hurt and betrayed, just like you have for the last, what, year and a half? Almost two, now, right? But deep down I don’t think you’re petty enough to want Marinette to be miserable, or to resent me for making her happy. If that’s even something she wants, by the way, which is by no means certain. It was only one date.” 

“I can’t believe you,” Adrien burst out, his hands making an abortive gesture at his sides. “You knew her for what, five minutes?”

“Don’t give me that,” Luka snapped, his arms unfolding as he gave Adrien a hard look. “I know exactly how long it took for you to find somebody else after the divorce was final, the whole world does.”

Adrien winced. “That was a mistake,” he muttered. “I was hurt, I was angry, she was the one person I thought would never leave and I just wanted—” he broke off and took a shuddering breath. 

Luka softened a little, reminding himself that this was his friend. “Look,” he sighed. “I know you’ve gone through a lot and we do stupid things when it comes to the people we love. I get it. I know that the divorce wasn’t what you wanted, I get that too. But you don’t get to decide when she’s allowed to move on. Or to whom.” He waited for a moment but Adrien said nothing, and he went on. “Look. For what it’s worth, I give you my word, I will treat her right. I’ll be careful with her and I’ll be careful with Louis. I’m trying to be as careful as I can with you, I really am.” 

“I know,” Adrien ground out. “I think it just makes it worse. I really want to hate you.”

“I know. If you don’t want to talk to me for a few weeks—or longer—I totally get it. I can start doing written reports over email for Louis. You can just drop him off and pick him up and leave without saying a word to me if you want. I mean, you can pull him out if you want to, but I don’t think either of us really wants that. He’s doing really well so far.” Luka hesitated. “I don’t want to cause him problems though so if he’s no longer comfortable with me, I’d understand.” 

Adrien took a deep breath. “We’ll see,” he said grudgingly. “I just don’t know right now. I’m not sure he’d tell us if he was uncomfortable, to be honest, and I don’t...well. Like I said, we’ll see. You’ll probably see it before either of us if he’s got a problem with you. For now, just go on, he’s waiting for you, and I really need to get out of here. I’m still mad as hell.”

Luka nodded. “Later, Adrien.”

“Asshole,” Adrien muttered as he left.

When he entered the studio, Luka wasn’t surprised to see Louis sitting tense on the piano bench, not playing. He went over and leaned against the piano instead of sitting next to him as he normally would. “Hey,” Luka smiled. “Your mom talk to you?”

“Yeah,” Louis said, staring at the keys. 

“You want to talk about it, or are you not ready yet?”

Louis glanced up at him in surprise, then seemed to think about it. “I don’t think I want to,” he said after a moment. 

“Okay. Can I sit?” Louis hesitated, and Luka added, “Or do you just want to play your feelings for a minute?” It had become part of their routine, whenever Louis seemed to need it. He still fumbled a lot, not quite comfortable with improvising, but the emotions were there and came across and that was what mattered. 

Louis nodded slowly. “Yeah. Yeah, I think I need that.” 

“Can I stay, or would you rather I let you get it out on your own?” 

Louis seemed to think again, and Luka was glad. At least the boy wasn’t just rejecting him outright. “You can...you can stay, I think. Maybe it’ll be easier than talking.” 

“Okay. Thanks for that. If you change your mind, let me know and I’ll go. I know this is all—” Luka sighed. “Confusing, and frustrating and maybe even hurtful. It’s okay. You just...feel what you need to feel, and play what you need to play, okay? We don’t have to talk until you’re ready, and if that’s not today, that’s okay too. There’s no rush. We can set our own pace with this.”

Louis nodded, and raised his hands over the keys. “Okay,” he said, more to himself than Luka. “Okay.”

Luka leaned back against the piano, folded his arms, and closed his eyes, tuning into the music and the boy who made it. It was all the things he’d expected. Confused, angry, hurt, sad. Luka kept his expression neutral and resisted the urge to sigh. He reminded himself that he’d known it wouldn’t be easy. There wasn’t anything he could say to make this better. 

He just had to be patient. This might have been easier if they hadn’t known each other already; he could have dated Marinette for a while until they were sure they had something serious and then met Louis. At least Luka hadn’t had to deal with every person his mother dated; she only asked him to meet the ones that mattered (though in the end, it turned out none of them had mattered that much). 

But Louis was a smart kid, he already knew something was up, and when in doubt Luka tended to err on the side of openness. In Luka’s experience, secrets almost always hurt worse. 

As he listened to Louis’ song, he was reminded of his conversation with Nicoline and the recorded performance he’d listened to when he got home. Luka had talked to Louis about performing in the recital and hadn’t gotten much more than weary acceptance. Apparently Louis was accustomed to being expected to perform whether he wanted to or not, which told Luka that, much like the younger Adrien, Louis had never performed a piece he was emotionally invested in. Luka hated that, and he didn’t want to ask Louis to perform another soulless piece, even if Louis technically picked it himself.

An idea was forming in his mind, but Luka was going to have to think carefully about it, about whether it was in Louis’ best interests or whether he was letting his own feelings, both old and new, color his judgement. He took a slow, thoughtful breath, tapping his fingers against his arm as he considered.

“Luka?” 

Luka jumped slightly, and realized Louis had stopped playing and was looking at him. “Hey, sorry, man, I had a thought and I zoned out there for a second. I got the gist, though.” He motioned towards the piano bench. “Can I sit now?”

Louis slid over immediately, but Luka didn’t move until he said, quietly. “Yes. Go ahead.” 

“Listen,” he said, “I said we don’t have to talk about anything until you’re ready and I mean that. I just want you to know that nothing that happens in this room changes. Here, it’s about the music and about helping you get to a good place with it. I know maybe it looked like I was off in my own world a bit for a second there, but it’s not because I wasn’t paying attention to you. What I was thinking about just now, that was about the music too. I just need to think about it a little more before we can talk about it, but I promise we will, okay?”

Louis nodded slowly. 

“Do you want to talk about this thing with me and your mom?” Luka asked, stroking his own fingers along the keys for a moment, and then beginning to play absently as he spoke. “Or do you want to wait a little longer? Or maybe do it somewhere that’s not here?”

“I don’t know what to say,” Louis mumbled. “It’s not like it matters what I think.” 

“Of course it does,” Luka said, pausing for a moment to look at him. “What you think always matters, Louis, and you deserve to be heard. So if you have something to say, you tell me so. I can’t say how much it’ll change anything, but I will always hear you and consider what you have to say, okay?”

“Yes,” Louis said after a moment. “That’s what Maman said, too.”

Luka put his hands back on the keys and began to play the turbulent waves of his own emotions, though it didn’t come as naturally to him on the piano as the guitar. “I can’t say I know exactly how you feel, because we’re two different people in different circumstances. But my parents split up when I was little, a few years younger than you, and I know how it felt when other guys started coming around my mom. So I’m not totally clueless here.” He glanced at Louis, and then went on. “I like your mom a lot, and she seems to like me pretty well so far, and it’s going to take a while to find out exactly what that means for all of us. Your mom and I, we have a lot to figure out and we’re going to take our time doing that. That’s what dating is for, you know? Getting to know each other and figuring out whether you can be good together and you want the same things out of life and relationships and whatever, and that takes time. So not a lot’s going to change overnight, okay?”

Louis nodded slowly. “That’s what she told me.” 

“Good,” Luka smiled slightly. “So that part’s between me and her and that’s stuff nobody can figure out but us. You and your mom are a package deal, though, so that means, you and I have stuff that nobody else can figure out either. That’s the good news, though, that you and I get to decide what that means, no one else. I mean, your mom and dad, they’re still your mom and dad and they’re going to make the rules for a while, and you and I, we get to just hang out and get to know each other. And if it turns out we can’t stand each other, well, obviously that’s a problem that we’re all going to have to deal with. But, so far, I think you’re a pretty cool kid, Louis.”

Louis looked up at him sharply, eyebrows soaring, breaking that polite mask into a look of incredulous doubt. “You think I’m cool,” he said in a deadpan voice. 

Luka laughed, actually pleased to see a normal kid expression on Louis’ face. “Why is that a surprise?”

“Nobody thinks I’m cool,” Louis drawled, like Luka was completely dense. “Not sure how you didn’t notice, but I’m a nerd, Luka.” 

Luka was struggling not to completely lose it. “Nerds can be cool,” he managed to say through the suppressed laughter threatening to strangle him. “So what if you’re a nerd? What’s wrong with being passionate about knowledge?” 

“But I’m—” Louis looked down at himself, at his clothes, Luka realized, and made a face. 

“Sophisticated?” Luka grinned. 

Louis gave him an exasperated look. “I look like I tripped and fell off a catalogue page.”

Luka tried not to laugh. “So what?” 

“So I am not cool,” Louis pouted, folding his arms. “I’ll never be cool.” 

“Louis,” Luka chuckled, taking his hands off the keys and turning slightly to face the boy. “The kind of cool I’m talking about isn’t about how you dress or what your hobbies are or what instrument you play.” He nodded at the piano. “It’s about being interesting and fun to be around and putting out good energy to the people around you, and you’ve got all of that. You want me to pick another word, I will, but what you call it isn’t going to change anything.” Luka cocked his head. “Do you want to be different from the way you are?”

“Well…” Louis looked thoughtful, his hand going up to rub the back of his neck in a gesture that Luka immediately recognized. “No? Or maybe...maybe sometimes. Maybe some things. I like most of it, fencing and music and...and school—” He darted a quick look at Luka.

“Nothing wrong with being good at and enjoying all those things,” Luka nodded. “But there’s other things you’d like to try?” Luka suggested. “Including maybe changing up your look?” 

Louis nodded.

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Luka said, again having trouble keeping a straight face. “Trying out things is part of growing up. And if you don’t like these supposedly cool things, that doesn’t make you uncool. Uncool is going with things you don’t really like just because you’re trying to fit some image people made up.” He paused for a second, suddenly feeling both an intense sense of deja vu and like he was on dangerous ground, because this time he wasn’t a kid talking to his friend, he was an adult, an authority, talking to a child who wasn’t his own. The last thing he wanted was to upset either of Louis’ parents by encouraging him in the little kid version of a Couffaine-style rebellion, even if he felt like the kid deserved to be a kid a bit more. “If there’s something like that you want to do or try, just tell your parents so,” he said. “Or your therapist, if you don’t feel comfortable going to them right away, and she’ll help you figure out how to ask. It’s her job to help you work through hard stuff like that, right?”

Louis wrinkled his nose slightly. “I can’t tell my mom I want to change the way I dress, she’d be so upset. All the clothes I wear are her clothes.”

“You think so?” Luka asked, slightly surprised, his eyebrows raising. “You think your mom would rather you wear clothes you don’t like and don’t feel good in just to make her comfortable, instead of being honest with her and letting her help you find something you like better?” 

Louis opened his mouth and then shut it again. 

“It’s okay to want things and it’s okay to ask for the things you want,” Luka told him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “You might not always get them but your parents love you and I know they’ll at least talk about them with you. I might not know your mom as well as you do, but I feel pretty confident she wouldn’t want you to stay silent about something that’s bothering you just to keep from upsetting her. I might be way off base but I bet helping you figure out a look you actually like would be a fun challenge for her.” He shrugged. “Ask her and see. The worst she can say is no, right?” 

“Yeah...maybe…” Louis looked away, reaching for the keys again. He played a simple exercise, his thoughts clearly elsewhere.

“Hey,” Luka said, squeezing his shoulder gently. “Are we cool? For now, at least?”

Louis took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Yeah. For now.” 

“Fair enough,” Luka smiled, letting his hand fall away. “So, we still have a little time left before your dad comes back, let’s get back to the music, shall we? And from now on, anytime you want to talk to me about any of that other stuff, you can call or text. We won’t talk about it again during lessons. I meant what I said. This time is for you and the music and everything else stays outside the door, okay?” 

“Okay,” Louis gave a little smile. 

Luka felt a little encouraged by the talk, and a little relieved that once it was out of the way, they’d been able to fall back into their usual routine for lessons. Guilt descended on him though when Adrien returned to pick Louis up. Both men were nothing less than cordial in front of Louis, but the easy familiarity they’d always had was gone, and Luka was sure Louis sensed the tension between them no matter how the two adults tried to hide it. 

Luka sank back on his couch when they were gone, letting his head fall back against the back. He wasn’t sure how long he sat there just staring at the ceiling, but the sun was down when he finally got up.

***

If he’d had any second thoughts over the next few days, his second date with Marinette renewed his resolve. He took Juleka’s advice and they went to a movie, something not too intense that they could laugh and poke fun at afterwards. Marinette seemed a little more relaxed, and he teased her about her choice of snack foods and she teased him for the way he kept humming the soundtrack over and over.  

If the kisses they shared were softer and maybe a little shyer than before, they were just as sweet, and Luka couldn’t find it in him to be disappointed. They had maybe gone a bit fast for a first date, anyway. If she wanted to slow down a bit, that was fair. He came home smiling again, a little lightness in his heart that couldn’t be crowded out by all his other worries. 

Luka was humming to himself the next day as he let himself into the small cafe and waved to the owner before throwing himself down at a table by the windows and waiting for the company he expected, but who was, as usual, late.

Nicoline Sardou was a tall, angular woman with a commanding presence almost as powerful as her voice. It served her well on stage and in crowds, but she didn’t seem to know how to turn it off (or she chose not to), and being in a small space with her tended to feel overwhelming. She walked into the small cafe like the diva she was, complete with oversized sunglasses and giant, flashing chandelier earrings, and scanned the tables for him. 

Luka waved to get her attention. He saw her chin jerk when she spotted him and chuckled as he watched people practically leap out of her way as she approached. Luka had grown up with Anarka Couffaine, who’d had a different energy but just as much force behind it, and Juleka, who’d had a runway walk so fierce it made everyone in the front rows lean back every time she was on the catwalk, so he wasn’t phased by the aura of mystique she projected, and he always found it mildly entertaining to see other people react to her. 

Besides, he’d known Nicoline since university and it was hard to be intimidated by a woman he’d taken to the emergency room for a fractured coxis when she’d landed on her ass after a botched kegstand. 

“Good to see you, Nic,” he said, standing to greet her. They exchanged a bise and Nicoline squeezed his arm briefly before they sat back down.

“It’s been ages since I saw you last,” she said as they waited for the food they’d ordered. “You’ve barely even been answering my texts.”

Luka sighed and tried to smile. “I’m really sorry about that. I’m trying to be better.”

“You look better,” Nicoline said, tilting her head slightly. “Not so...sleepy. Are you resting better?”

“Sometimes,” Luka shrugged, but he didn’t really want to talk about it just then, even with someone he’d known as long as Nic. “So, Spring Recital,” he said, sitting back in his chair. “I know I haven’t been as engaged as I should and I’m sorry. Can you bring me up to speed on where we’re at?”

“Right,” Nicoline said, reaching into her bag and pulling out a folder, setting things out on the table between them. “I’ve reserved our usual venue and my students have chosen their pieces. Here’s the ones I need backup for.” She slid a list across the table, and then tapped one painted nail on a name. “This is the one I wanted to talk to you about. She’s really good, Luka, probably one of my favorite students I’ve ever taught. I want her to do the showcase piece, but if you don’t have any students who can match up to her, I’d rather use canned music.” 

Luka gave a thoughtful hum, looking at the name and the piece listed next to it. “Do you have—” Nicoline was pushing a CD across the table to him before he even finished speaking. Luka quirked an eyebrow at the choice of medium but picked it up and set it next to him on the table. 

“She’s track six,” Nicoline told him. “You’ll know her when you hear her. I was thinking maybe piano and guitar? Maybe drums if you can keep them from being too heavy.

Luka nodded. “I’ll listen to her and see who I’ve got that matches her style. I’m not going to pressure anyone into it though, Nicoline, you know I don’t believe in that.”

Nicoline waved that away; it was an old argument. Their teaching styles were as different as their personalities, and when they’d first gotten the idea to have Nicoline’s vocal students pair with Luka’s instrumentalists and collaborate on a few recital pieces, it had seemed almost crazy. Luka had always managed to match up groups that worked, though, and he was of the opinion that the students worked a little harder when someone else was counting on them. 

“Just let me know once you’ve got an arrangement put together,” Nic said, “And we can work out a rehearsal schedule.” 

“Who else is on board for the recital?” Luka asked, and they spent the rest of the lunch gossiping about their colleagues. Luka was sadly out of date on the news and he cringed a little as Nicoline related the latest drama to him. He should definitely touch base with some people.

“You want to come home with me?” Nicoline asked as she stirred her drink. “You look better but still like you could stand to lose a little tension.” She offered him a little smile. “And I missed you.” 

Luka shook his head and he could feel his mouth twitching as he tried not to smile too broadly. “I’m actually seeing somebody at the moment.”

“Oooh,” Nicoline raised her eyebrows, a sly grin of her own spreading over her face. “Is it serious?”

“It’s new,” Luka said, avoiding her gaze as he poked at his food, still smiling. “But yeah, it’s pretty serious. For me, anyway. It’s...things are...well—” He bit his lip to stop the fumbling, and shrugged just slightly. “She’s got baggage. And it’s not like I’m exactly rock steady myself right now. So...I think it’s gonna go slow....” He caught Nicoline’s look and grinned sheepishly. “Slow-ish,” he amended. “But…” That smile was trying to break through again. “But I think it’ll be worth it.” 

“Worth it, like, the one worth it?”

Luka made a noncommittal noise but he still couldn’t look her in the face.

“There’s something you’re not telling me,” Nicoline said, eyes narrowed, and he felt all the force of her personality on him in that moment. “Spill.” 

“Her son is one of my students,” Luka admitted, leaning his chin on his fist.

It was almost comical, how fast Nic’s eyes flew open. She leaned forward slightly. “You’re dating a client?”

“Technically, no,” Luka mumbled. “Technically, her ex-husband is my client.” 

Nicoline didn’t answer for a moment and he flicked his eyes up at her.

“Luka,” Nicoline sighed, shaking her head. “You never do things the simple way.” 

“Never,” he agreed, sitting up straight. “It’s a Couffaine thing.”

Nicoline checked the time on her phone. “I’ve got five minutes. Spill.”

Luka snorted, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket. “No.” He grinned to himself as he counted out the money, watching Nicoline’s mouth drop open in surprise and outrage, and then he stood up and dropped his cash on the table. “See you later, Nic. I’ll be in touch about the group.” He waved the CD at her and turned away, chuckling to himself as he left the cafe.

***

A week later, Luka was looking forward to his third date with Marinette with the same excitement and anticipation fizzing in his veins, but he knew something was wrong as soon as they met up. Marinette was tense, and she couldn’t seem to look at him for very long—but she couldn’t seem to stop looking at him, either. She kept shooting him quick, darting glances that skittered away before he could meet them. He reached for her hand and she let him take it, but her grip in return was weak and he thought maybe she was shaking. 

“Is everything okay?” he asked, when there was a lull in the sidewalk traffic that gave them a quiet moment.

“Yeah,” Marinette smiled up at him, and her hold on his hand got a little tighter. “It’s good.” 

Luka raised his eyebrows slightly as her gaze shifted away again. “Marinette,” he said, letting go of her hand to put his on her shoulder. “Please.” 

“It’s nothing, really, just something I wanted to talk about, but it can wait until we’re settled somewhere. It’s not, um...nothing earth shattering, I promise. I think.”

That was less reassuring than she had probably intended, but Luka did his best to cover his concern until they got to the restaurant they had agreed on. 

They ordered food and tried to chat, but Marinette was distracted and Luka was worried, and they couldn’t seem to keep a topic going. 

“Marinette,” Luka sighed finally, pushing his plate aside to take her hand. “Please just tell me what’s on your mind? Let’s just...deal with whatever it is, okay?” 

“I’m sorry,” Marinette said quickly, her fingers curling tight around his. “I didn’t want to ruin everything, and now I am and—”

“Marinette,” Luka interrupted, “Please. Just tell me.” 

She winced a little at his tone, and he regretted it, but the flightier she acted the more he began to fear the worst. “I just,” she hesitated, and Luka’s worry increased. “I guess I just wanted to know if we’re, um, exclusive? Or are we...not allowed but...I mean are we…” 

Okay, he told himself, that...wasn’t as bad as it could have been. “Do you want to be?” Luka asked, trying to keep his tone neutral. 

“Well I—” Marinette began, and then she looked down, fiddling with her napkin. “It’s just, someone else asked me out, and I realized I didn’t know, um, where you stood on us dating other people besides each other.” She glanced up at him and away, and Luka picked up his drink to give himself something to do while he tried to gather the wits her simple question had just scattered to the wind.

“Well,” he said slowly as he set his glass down. “We’ve only seen each other a few times. I think things are going really well and I hope that will continue, but if you want to see other people too, I wouldn’t feel right telling you not to.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Honestly, it pains me to say this, you probably should, Marinette, if you want to even a little bit. It might be good for you. I don’t want you to have any doubts or regrets.”

“I just can’t help but think...I never really dated anyone but Adrien before, and…” 

“Of course,” Luka nodded, and took her hand. “That makes total sense. So if you want to try going out with some other people, then I’m not going to stand in the way of that. I won’t say I really like it, but I understand.” He gave her a lopsided smile that he hoped didn’t betray him too badly and gave her a quick wink. “I’ll just have to step up my game, that’s all.” 

She squeaked and reached quickly for her water glass, and Luka chuckled in spite of himself. 

He tried to act as normal as he could for the rest of the date, but he knew he was quieter than he had been. He clung to her hand a little tighter, but kept his distance more than he had before, suddenly unsure of himself in a way he wasn’t really accustomed to. Luka couldn’t help feeling like he’d been misreading something, getting more invested than was justified, and all he could do was hold it together as best he could until he could get home and think. 

Their kiss goodnight was soft and sweet and he lingered over it longer than he probably should have, but it was reserved, too, in a way it hadn’t been before now, at least on his part. 

“Luka, is...are you really, okay with what we talked about?” Marinette asked him, her eyes tight.

Luka sighed. Clearly he hadn’t fooled her at all. “In my head, yeah,” he said, looking down at their fingers tangled together. “I know this is the right thing to do and I genuinely want you to be with me because you want to, and not because you just felt like you couldn’t explore other options. At the same time, I’m really into you and my heart and my gut might be having a harder time with it, that’s all. I’ll deal with it.” 

Marinette’s brow creased slightly and she frowned. “If you’re not really okay with this...I really like you too, Luka, and I don’t want to—” 

Luka smiled faintly. “I want you to be happy, Marinette. When you are ready for something more serious, I don’t want you to have any doubts. Figure out what you need, and do it, okay? Thank you for being honest with me about it.” He lifted her hand and stroked his thumb along the ladybug tattoo. “Just...keep me posted? On where we stand.” He hesitated. “Do you still want to go out again next week?”

“Yes,” Marinette said firmly, squeezing his hand. “Definitely.” She tugged him forward a little, and he stepped closer. “Luka, this doesn’t change anything about how I feel about you. I like this, I like what we have. I like you. A lot. And this is definitely not me liking you less as time goes on.” She blushed, dropping her eyes for just a moment before she looked back up at him. “It’s just, it’s like you said. I don’t want to have any doubts. I had such tunnel vision, with...before, and look how it turned out.” Marinette sighed, her brow creasing slightly. “I feel like that could happen again really easily...with you, so…” She bit her lip, eyes searching his face. “But now I’m scared of ruining what we have. Maybe I shouldn’t—what are you doing?” 

Luka drew her close, hands sliding from her waist to the small of her back as he dipped his head towards her. 

“If I’m going to have some competition, I want to make sure I leave an impression,” he breathed, lips brushing hers. “Is that okay?” 

He felt her lips move but no sound came out. “Marinette?” 

She managed to make a noise of assent and nod slightly, and Luka kissed her softly, once, twice, and then more firmly, tasting her with light brushes of his tongue as he coaxed her lips open. Luka kissed her as thoroughly as he knew how, focused on her reactions, intending to do exactly as he said, but also to fill himself with the taste, the feel of her, the sound of her soft noises in his ears, to burn it into his mind against the day when he might have to give it up. Marinette’s fingers curled into his coat and she whimpered softly. He let her turn her head away to gasp for air but pressed his lips into her jaw, and then her neck, and when she gasped his name it was shaky and breathless in a way that made him shiver, but it also held a note of warning that he couldn’t ignore. Luka nuzzled her neck one more time, breathing her in, and pulled back, placing one more soft kiss on her lips before he straightened.  

“Too much?” he asked quietly. “I’m sorry.” 

Marinette shook her head, her cheeks bright pink. “It was a lot, but...not too much. Not from you.” 

That brought the most genuine smile he’d had all evening to his face. “I should go. I’ll text you about next week?” 

Marinette nodded, and rose up on her toes to kiss his cheek. “Goodnight, Luka.”

“Goodnight, Marinette.”

Luka rode the subway home in a haze of confused, upset feelings. When he got home he kicked off his shoes and tossed away his jacket, pulling off his shirt on the way to his bedroom. He fell face down onto the bed, his phone gripped tightly in one hand, the edges of it digging into his palm. 

He raised it up and turned his head enough to peek at the time, and then he buried his face in the mattress again. It was late. Juleka would answer, even if she was sleeping, but he couldn’t do that to her. He took a deep breath and rolled over. He unlocked his phone, thumb hovering over Juleka’s number, and then Nicoline’s. She would be awake, but...he didn’t think Nicoline’s brand of support was what he needed right then. He switched to his music app and turned it on, dialing the volume up as high as it would go before setting the phone in the charging dock on his nightstand. He shimmied out of his pants and under the covers, and then curled up, counting the beats of the music and praying for sleep. 

***

It took Luka a few days to get his head together again after the bomb Marinette had dropped on him. He felt stupid, and frustrated, and disappointed (and irrationally angry at Juleka for being right), but he was determined not to let it bring him back down. He wasn’t sure if Marinette had talked to Louis about her intention to date other people. Louis didn’t bring it up at his lesson, so Luka let it lie, figuring it wasn’t his business to mention it if Louis didn’t. 

He felt a little bit better when Marinette called and asked him to go to a concert with her. The musician was a client and had given Marinette tickets, and she thought of him, so if he wasn’t busy, although it wasn’t really his style of music and maybe he wouldn’t be interested, but if he was, she really would rather go with him than anyone else, and— 

Luka was laughing by the time she paused long enough for him to accept her offer, and teased her about implying he was a music snob, and eventually she recovered from her spluttering to tease him back, and by the time Luka hung up the phone he was smiling. She thought of him, she invited him, and that was enough to help him find his resolve, and determine to put truth to what he’d said to her about stepping up his game. 

He focused his mind back on his work, and work found him sitting in a boring little bar in a neighborhood full of high rise office complexes. 

Luka had taken his time with this decision—almost too much time, if he wanted the kids to be ready in time, but he still tapped his fingers nervously on the table while he waited. It wasn’t a particularly ritzy bar, but Luka felt very out of place in this crowd. It wasn’t his normal hour to be out and the place was full of businessmen getting off work for the day.

Luka didn’t actually have to be here. Technically, he could have had this conversation over the phone, or even over email, but he wanted to do it in person. Luka wasn’t sure if he was in for an argument or not but he’d get a better read of the situation face to face. 

He was expecting it to be...awkward, though, after their last conversation. 

“So much for  you don’t have to talk to me for a while,” Adrien grumbled, dropping into the chair across from Luka.

It had been several weeks, but Luka could understand that it probably didn’t seem like long enough to Adrien. “I’ll be quick,” Luka said, leaning his elbows on the table. “Drink? On me.”

“God yes.” Adrien flagged down a server and ordered a drink that made Luka raise his eyebrows slightly. “It’s the end of the work day and I’m not driving,” Adrien defended himself, and Luka shrugged.

“Just not the kind of thing you usually drink,” he commented, voice carefully neutral. 

“Yeah, well, it’s been a while since we got a drink together,” Adrien snorted as the server returned and tapped the glass down in front of him. Luka was mildly amused at the prompt service; Adrien’s rich guy vibe was palpable, apparently. Or maybe he was a regular here, since it was near the office. “Now what do you want?” Adrien demanded, picking up his drink.

“I wanted to ask,” Luka said, curling his fingers in as he realized they were still drumming on the table, “If you’re still on that whole ‘Agrestes are soloists,’ thing your dad was so dead set on.” 

Adrien’s expression didn’t change other than the slight raise of his eyebrows. “Why?”

“Because an opportunity has come up for Louis—”

“No,” Adrien interrupted, putting his glass down. “No way. Marinette and I agreed before he was born, no opportunities until—”

“Let me finish,” Luka broke in, raising his hands slightly, and Adrien pressed his lips together. “Sorry,” Luka continued. “I forgot that might be a loaded word for you. Not that kind of opportunity, not a money-making type thing. Just, a chance to play as part of a group in the Spring Concert. I have a colleague looking for a group to back one of her singers. I’ve got a few students in mind and I think Louis would be a good fit for them. But before I even brought it up to him, I wanted to run it by you. I don’t want to get him excited about something you might not approve of.”

“As if you ever cared about anyone’s approval,” Adrien snorted, and Luka shrugged.

“It’s different when you’re working with kids,” Luka pointed out. “I don’t make decisions about what’s right for other people’s children. I’m just his teacher. You're his father.” At Adrien’s sharp look, he added, “That won’t change no matter what happens between me and Marinette. You’ll always be his father.” 

“I know that,” Adrien growled, picking up his drink and hiding behind it. Luka fought the urge to roll his eyes. After a minute, Adrien put the glass down with a little more force than necessary. “I’m not my father,” he said bitterly. 

Luka raised his eyebrows. “I know that,” he echoed.

“Do you?” Adrien sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “Does anybody?” 

“Do you?” Luka asked, before he could think better of it, and stiffened slightly when Adrien’s eyes narrowed at him. “Sorry. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. Look, Adrien, I—” 

“Don’t,” Adrien snapped. “Just don’t, Luka. I know you lost your mom unexpectedly too and all, but don’t try to tell me you understand.” He turned his face away, blinking rapidly as he took a large swallow of his drink. 

“Okay,” Luka said softly, looking at the table and turning his glass absently. “I won’t. I don’t.” He closed his lips on whatever else he wanted to say. At least you got to bury a body, he thought bitterly, but he knew that was unfair. Luka had always had very black and white feelings about Adrien’s relationship with his father, and he was beginning to suspect Marinette did also, but Adrien had never been able to see it that way and had ignored or resented any suggestion that he really didn’t owe his father the kind of loyalty he’d been trained to show. Adrien had spent his whole life waiting for...something. Some kind of catharsis. Some acknowledgement from his father. Some kind of confrontation that would end with a hug and an apology and the snooty rich person equivalent of “you did good son.” 

It was never going to happen, even while Gabriel was alive, but there wasn’t even the remotest hope of it now that he was gone. And now it was all tangled into some vague wish of following the path his father would have wanted like the good son that he was. The good son Gabriel had never acknowledged him to be. 

It was sad. It was also, Luka couldn’t help feeling, raised to independence and free will as he had been, a little pathetic.

It was maybe a little easy for Luka to say, though, just like it was easy for Adrien to feel like Luka’s pain was less because Luka had been close to his mother and always knew where he stood with her. 

Luka shoved aside uncharitable thoughts about how little difference there was in Gabriel’s presence in Adrien’s life whether he was dead or alive, and how much one could possibly miss someone who had never bothered to be there in the first place, and wrenched his mind back to the issue at hand. 

“Look,” he sighed, “If you’re not completely opposed to the idea, just think about it and call me before Louis’ next lesson. I think it would be good for him to play with other kids, to have a chance to interpret a piece of music into something he’s excited about playing and performing, start seeing music as a way to connect with people, but like I said, I’m not even going to bring it up if it’s not something you’re going to be on board with.” 

Adrien looked at him with an expression Luka couldn’t quite parse. “Did you ask Marinette?” 

Luka shook his head. Adrien might not believe it but Luka had no desire to cause problems between the two of them. He wasn’t sure how Adrien would react to the proposition, but he had a pretty good idea how Marinette would react if she found out Adrien had kept Louis from doing something because Gabriel Agreste wouldn’t have liked it. Luka had no interest in provoking that fight—at least not right now. 

Adrien looked away and said nothing for a long moment. “I heard,” he said finally, still not looking at Luka, “I heard Marinette’s going out with one of the accounting consultants this weekend.” He glanced at Luka. “Office gossip, you know. And Nino let slip that she was seeing someone else last week.” 

Luka just looked back at him, careful to show no reaction. Whoever else she was seeing, Marinette was still making time to go out with him pretty consistently, but that wasn’t really Adrien’s business. Just like it was none of Luka’s business, for the moment, who she was seeing besides him. He half expected Adrien to make some kind of crack at his expense, but Adrien just shook his head, getting up from the table. 

“If Louis wants to do it that’s fine with me,” he muttered, grabbing his jacket off the back of his chair. “I’m not my father, and Louis isn’t me. And…” He hesitated, pulling some money out of his wallet and dropping it on the table. “I brought him to you for a reason,” he said finally. “If you think it would be good for him then I trust your judgement. He’ll have plenty of chances for solos in the future, I’m sure,” he added, almost to himself.

Luka rolled his eyes, though he had no doubt Adrien was right. He kept his mouth shut, though, as Adrien made his way out of the bar. Luka paid the tab and left, leaving Adrien’s money on the table. 

When he got home, he sat down at his table and took out his phone. He stared at it for a moment, and then dialed Marinette’s number. He half expected voicemail, but just before it would have clicked over, the call went active, and there was a sudden thud and crash and “Oh shit!”

Luka was laughing when Marinette finally came on the line with a breathless, “Hi Luka!” that made his heart flutter.

“Hi Marinette,” he chuckled. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” she said, still panting. “Just, um, I almost didn’t hear it, and then I tripped, and when I went to grab it I knocked it off my work table, and—um, anyway you called so…” 

“I did,” Luka smiled, “And I would have called back. You didn’t have to half kill yourself to get to the phone.” 

“Well, I...it might have been important!” He could almost imagine the way she blushed and pouted as she said it. 

“Is this an okay time?” he asked, running his fingers through his hair and trying to collect his thoughts. “I just wanted to run something by you about Louis.” 

“Oh,” Marinette said, and Luka might have imagined it but he thought she sounded disappointed. “Okay. Y-yeah, now’s fine. What’s going on?”

Luka explained, unsurprised when Marinette asked quite a few more questions than Adrien. 

“Well, it sounds fine to me,” Marinette said at last. “I’m not a musician and you’re his teacher, so if you think he’s up to it and that it will help him, I’m happy for him to play with the group.” She hesitated. “I’m not sure how Adrien will feel about it though.” 

“I already talked to Adrien,” Luka admitted. “I know that was kind of a thing with his dad—it’s why he pulled him out of the band, or so he said at the time, so I wanted to get a read on where Adrien stood. He said he was okay with it as long as Louis wanted to do it.” 

“Oh,” Marinette sighed. “That’s a relief. I mean, he loves Louis and he always has Louis’ best wishes at heart, but—” She cut off and sighed. 

“But he was brainwashed for twenty-five years by his asshole father and sometimes his sense of reality is warped by his incomprehensible loyalty to the man’s memory?” Luka suggested sardonically. 

“At least someone can say it,” Marinette laughed, sounding a little guilty as she did. “But...yeah, basically. I’m glad to hear he didn’t put up a fuss. Thanks for, um...thanks for talking to him about it. I could have, but—”

“Don’t worry about it,” Luka shrugged. “It’s my job. Okay, if both of you are on board then I’ll talk to Louis about it at our next lesson.”

“Okay, sounds good,” Marinette agreed, and a slightly awkward pause ensued. Luka was opening his mouth to tell her goodbye when she suddenly said in a rush, “So, um...how was your day?” 

Luka blinked, and then smiled, tracing the pattern of the wood grain on his table with his finger. “It wasn’t bad. I have a kid that’s been struggling with a piece and she really made a breakthrough today, and that’s always nice. How was yours? Or should I say, how is yours, are you still at work?”

“Yes and no,” Marinette replied, and there was some noise on the other end of the line, like she was moving things around. “I’m not at work, but I’m working in my home office. Louis is with Adrien tonight, you know, so I thought I’d get some work done, because I’m a little behind after all the chaos earlier.”

“Rough day up until now, huh?” 

“Crazy,” Marinette groaned. “You wouldn’t believe what I had to deal with this morning…” 

Luka smiled, settling back in his chair as Marinette began to rant in extremely entertaining terms about some mix up that had happened on the production floor that day. It reminded him of something that had happened on the boat years ago, and they chatted back and forth until Marinette yawned and Luka suddenly realized he was starving. 

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” Marinette gasped. “I didn’t mean to keep you so long—I didn’t realize it was so late.” 

“Me neither,” Luka chuckled. “But I don’t mind.” 

“You’re so easy to talk to,” Marinette sighed. “I wish…”

“You wish what?” Luka asked, when she didn’t continue, his pulse picking up a little.

“Nothing,” she said quickly, and Luka suspected from the tone of her voice that she was blushing. “Never mind.”

“Hey, do you maybe want to grab coffee tomorrow?” Luka asked on impulse. “I’ve got students in the afternoon, but in the morning—” 

“I can’t,” Marinette nearly whined, and Luka bit down on a smile that wanted to become a laugh. “I’d really love to, but I can’t. I have um—plans already. For brunch.” She sighed like she was genuinely disappointed.  

“Okay,” he said, smile fading slightly. “Some other time then.”

“Yeah,” Marinette said unhappily. “Some other time. Soon.” 

“Soon, for sure,” Luka said quickly, the smile coming back a bit. “Goodnight, Marinette.” 

“Goodnight, Luka,” Marinette sighed, and though he preferred hearing her happy, it gave him a little flutter that she seemed so reluctant to say it. 

***

“Hey, man,” Luka grinned, crouching down to get a better look at Louis. “Spiderman, I like it.” He indicated the shirt under Louis’ button-down. Instead of his usual green Gabriel brand t-shirt, he sported black t-shirt with a red spiderman emblem on his chest. Louis grinned broadly and shrugged, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. 

“Really?” he asked shyly. 

“Yeah,” Luka nodded. “That’s from the new movie, right? The animated one?”

“Yeah,” Louis lit up. “It’s sooooo good!” He paused. “It’s not exactly new, though. It’s been out on Blu-Ray for a while already.” 

“Man, I’m so out of touch,” Luka sighed with a lopsided smile. “The soundtrack is killer, I just never made the time to actually watch the movie. I didn’t realize it had been so long.” He leaned forward a little. “Your mom didn’t give you too much grief right? Do I need to talk to her?” He glanced up over Louis’ shoulder and winked at Marinette.

“Nah, my mom’s the best,” Louis beamed, looking back at her. Marinette blushed, and Luka coughed to cover a laugh. 

“All right, go on back,” Luka told Louis, squeezing his shoulder as he stood up. “Warm up while we wait, the others should be here soon.” 

“Okay!” Louis went around him, heading for the music room. 

Luka looked back at Marinette, who was shaking her head at him. 

“Charmer,” she accused, and Luka grinned, spreading his hands. 

“I’m only charming because I’m honest.” 

“And cute,” Marinette wrinkled her nose at him. 

“Guilty,” Luka winked. “But don’t tempt me while I’m on the clock. I’m still a professional here.”

“Right,” Marinette said, reaching up to smooth her hair as she blushed. “Sorry.” She shuffled back a step, but didn’t turn to go. For a moment they just looked at each other, neither sure what to say. Piano music floated down the hallway; Louis hadn’t shut the studio door, and Luka laughed to himself as he recognized the tune of What’s Up Danger. “Wonder where he found piano music for that,” he murmured to himself, and Marinette giggled. 

“The internet, probably. He’s pretty resourceful when he wants to be. Or maybe Adrien helped him find it.” She shook her head. “I should be mad at you,” she said, poking him lightly. “You could have warned me. About the whole ‘new look’ thing.”

“Ah, I probably should have,” Luka sighed, dropping his head back. “Sorry. I forgot. I don’t know, though, maybe it’s better this way. That he talked to you about it himself. Sorry if he blindsided you, though.” 

Marinette shrugged. “It was a surprise, but it shouldn’t have been. He’s getting old enough to have opinions of his own on that kind of thing. I’m just happy he’s still willing to work with me on it. I don’t mind designing something more to his taste but I’d be pretty depressed if he refused to wear anything I made.” 

“Why would he do that?” Luka grinned. “His mom’s the best.”

Marinette blushed again and put a hand over her face. “Stoooop,” she whined, and Luka chuckled. 

“Yeah, I better.”

A familiar pattern knocked on the door before Marinette could answer, and Marinette stepped aside so Luka could open it. 

“JP,” Luka grinned, greeting the boy standing there with a complicated high-five hand-shake fist bump. He raised a hand and waved to JP’s aunt, who waved back out of the car window before driving off, swerving around the town car still waiting for Marinette at the curb. 

“I should—I should go,” Marinette said, squeezing past him and backing down the walk. “I’ll be back to pick up Louis later. Obviously.” Luka caught her arm and she blinked up at him.

“Step,” he reminded her with a lopsided smile, and she flushed as she took the small step down before pulling her arm away. “See you later,” he said, and she turned and waved awkwardly. Luka lingered on the doorstep, watching her get back in the car. 

A cough by his elbow wiped the goofy smile off his face. Luka looked down and saw JP looking back at him with raised eyebrows. “Inside, punk, come on,” Luka muttered, shoving at the kids shoulder, and JP snickered as he went past him. 

“Louis,” Luka called as they neared the studio, and the piano music stopped. “This is Jean-Paul Locke.”

“Louis Agreste,” Louis said formally, getting up from the piano bench and holding his hand out. JP gave Luka a look that asked, ‘Is this guy for real?’ but at Luka’s nod, he reached forward and shook Louis’ hand.

“Call me JP,” he said—mumbled, really, keeping his head down. Then he glanced up and smiled a little. “I like your shirt.”  

“Thanks,” Louis grinned. “I like your shoes.” 

JP grinned back, shuffling his graffitied kicks. “Thanks.”

“Get plugged in and tune up, JP,” Luka said, and JP let the guitar case he was carrying slide off his back. “I want you guys to listen to something.” 

He got out the CD Nicoline had given him and put it in the player, watching the boys out of the corner of his eye. JP was a couple of years older than Louis, and while Luka had a complicated relationship with the word ‘prodigy,’ it fit more than it didn’t. Luka tried not to have favorite students, but JP was...a kindred spirit. He might struggle more than Louis with the technical part of making music, but Luka had never heard him play anything that didn’t come from his heart. He made everything he played his own, and Luka felt Louis had the same potential. He was hoping JP’s example would help Louis connect with his own music. 

When JP looked up from his guitar, Luka started the music. 

Nicoline hadn’t been lying about how good her student was. Her voice was clear and powerful, though still not quite mature, but she had that something that just hit you in the gut. Luka agreed with Nic, she was the real deal, and when he looked at the boys, he had to smile. Louis’ eyes were round, and JP looked impressed. 

“Shit,” commented JP, when the music ended. Louis’ mouth dropped open and he turned to stare at the older boy. Luka sighed and smacked the back of JP’s head on his way to shut off the player. 

“Come on, man, don’t make me be the swear police,” Luka admonished, and JP hunched slightly. 

“Sorry. Just. Pretty nice pipes, that’s all.” 

Luka hummed agreement, hooking a rolling stool with his foot and pulling it underneath him so he could sit and face the boys. “So, that’s the assignment. I want you guys to back Dez in the Spring Concert, if you’re up for it.” 

“Dez?” JP snickered, and Luka rolled his eyes.

“Yes, Jean-Paul,” Luka said, with a pointed look and JP made a face. “So,” he continued. “Let’s see what you guys can do together.”

Louis and JP looked at each other, and back at Luka, and he just grinned. “What are you waiting for?” he asked, leaning back on his stool and waving towards the piano. “Play.” He made a shooing motion with his hands. “Whatever you want. Just jam together for a bit.” 

“But…” Louis began, looking between Luka and JP. 

“Talk about it,” Luka encouraged. “Work it out. Or, you know, one of you can just start playing and the other one can join in. Go for it.” 

The boys just stood there, and finally JP rubbed a hand through his spiked hair. “You, um. You know Fallout Boy?” 

Louis perked up. “Like, Big Hero 6?” He went to the piano and played a section of Immortals. Luka brought up a hand to rub his chin, covering his smile. 

“Wow, you’re kind of a nerd, huh?” JP chuckled, but he went and perched on the piano bench, kicking his amp cord out of the way. “Sweet. Keep going, but pick up the tempo a bit.” He began tapping a rhythm out on the floor with his foot, and Louis increased his pace to match it. “Yeah, yeah,” JP muttered, bobbing his head, and his fingers began to move on the guitar. Louis looked at him, mouth dropping open slightly, and missed a note. Flushing at the mistake, he turned quickly back to his own playing. 

Luka let the boys have fun for a little while, and then gave them the music they would actually be using for the spring concert, explaining that he wanted the boys to learn it as written first, and then they could talk about any changes or creative flairs they wanted to try. 

JP’s aunt was there on the dot to pick him up, and he said goodbye to Louis with an easy grin, swatting Louis’ offered handshake away in favor of a fist bump. Louis was still at the piano when Marinette arrived a few minutes later. He jumped up from the bench, ran two steps, then remembered himself and did sort of an awkward power-walk to the door. “Come on, Maman, I gotta go home and practice some more!” he said, the written music held tightly in his hand. He remembered Luka and paused just long enough to say goodbye before opening the door himself and speeding towards the car.

“He looks really excited,” Marinette giggled, following him out of the door a few steps. 

“Yeah, it’s pretty exciting, the first time you play with somebody you really vibe with,” Luka chuckled, leaning on the door frame. “Good, that’s what we want to see. Now I just gotta find them a drummer.” His thoughts wandered for a moment as he considered the possibilities, and when he focused on Marinette again she was smiling at him with a soft look in her eyes that made him swallow. “Can I call you later?” he asked impulsively, and she blinked back to reality, cheeks tinting pink when she realized what he’d said. 

“Yeah, I’d like that,” she replied, and looked like she might have said more, but Louis was suddenly hanging out of the car window, yelling for her to hurry up. Marinette’s lips pursed in a frustrated (but cute) pout. “Rude,” she called back to Louis, who rolled his eyes and popped back in the window. It was more like a kid than Luka had ever seen him act and he couldn’t help laughing, which caused Marinette to turn that pout on him. 

Luka entertained a brief fantasy of completely grossing Louis out by kissing her stupid right there on the step, but instead he said quickly. “You better go. I’ll call you later. Bye, Marinette.” 

He stepped back inside, barely managing to wait for her soft, “Bye, Luka,” and for her to walk back to the car before he shut the door and scrubbed his hands over his face with a sigh. They were supposed to go out again the following week, and he really wasn’t sure he could wait that long. 

***

A few nights later, he was about to go to bed when someone knocked, loudly, on his front door. Frowning, Luka went to open it, thinking perhaps a neighbor had gotten locked out or something. 

He had the barest instant to take in Marinette standing on his doorstep, styled and made up and wearing a distractingly well-fitting black dress and a distressed expression, before she burst out, “I don’t want to see anybody else.” She stood there, shifting from foot to foot and breathing fast, and for a moment Luka could only stare, blinking stupidly, and Marinette opened her mouth to speak again, but he held up a hand and stopped her, stepping back and motioning her inside.

Marinette swallowed whatever she’d been about to say and stepped inside. Luka closed the door behind her and took her hands, drawing her further inside so they weren’t standing in the echoing hallway. “Okay,” he said, squeezing her hands. “What’s going on?” 

“I just, um...I had a date tonight and…” 

“Did he hurt you?” Luka demanded, face darkening. 

Marinette’s eyes widened and she shook her head vehemently. “No! No, no, of course that’d be the first thing you asked with me showing up like this and—No, I promise it was nothing like that, it was fine, actually, it was all fine—good, even, but...I just…” Marinette shrugged helplessly. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Luka said, putting his hands on her shoulders and rubbing lightly. 

To his surprise she took a step forward and slipped her arms around him and squeezed tight, pressing her face into his shoulder. “Yeah,” she whispered. “It is now.” 

Luka was still extremely confused, but he put his arms around her and held her until she squirmed to get free, pulling away from him. He let her go and she took a step back and a deep, shuddering breath, and then put her hands out to him. Luka wrapped his own around them, rubbing the backs lightly with his thumbs, and waited. 

“This was maybe the...fourth guy I’ve gone out with?” Marinette frowned in thought. “Something like that. And...they’ve all been fine. It’s like you said, you know, it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. I had fun, mostly, but…” She flushed suddenly and bit her lip, looking away. Luka squeezed her hands gently. 

“I kept thinking how much more fun I’d be having if I was with you,” she said finally, quietly. “Even tonight, this guy, it was our third date, and he was nice enough, just...he wasn’t you, and when he tried to kiss me, I just...I didn’t want to. And then I got in the cab to go home and instead I came here.” She took a deep breath and looked up into his face. “I know you said I should date other people—” 

“Only if that was what you wanted,” Luka broke in, squeezing her hands a little tighter, trying not to show how his own heart had begun racing, the fluttery feeling in his belly.

“It’s not. I don’t want to, Luka. I just...I just want to b-be with you,” she stammered a bit, turning red again. “I, um, oh, shit, ” she hissed, stamping her foot and looking away from him, and Luka had to bite his lip to contain the laughter that wanted to burst from him. 

“Take your time,” he said, not entirely without chuckling. 

“I don’t want to date anybody else,” Marinette said, looking up to his face and suddenly looking very calm. “I just want to see where this takes us. I don’t want to have plans when you ask me to get coffee. Well, what I mean is, I don’t want to waste time I could be spending with you with someone else.” She paused, and then added in a rush, “And I really want you to be the one kissing me.” 

Luka nodded slowly, a smile growing on his face. “I’m cool with all of that,” he said, and then added, “More than cool. I’m really happy, Marinette.” 

“So, we can, um, be a couple?” she dropped her gaze, but he could see her smile. “Um, exclusively?” 

“We can be whatever you want,” he said, letting go of her hand to brush his thumb along her cheek. She looked up again and his thumb brushed her lower lip, sending a jolt through him. “I’m good with whatever label you want to put on us,” he continued, a little roughly, and he had to clear his throat. “I didn’t want to say it at the time because—well, I’ve been told I can get a little intense and I didn’t want to freak you out, but I was never planning on dating anybody else. I’m in this to the end, whatever that turns out to be. I want to be the one kissing you, for as long as you’ll let me.” He took a breath. “Was that too much?” 

“No,” Marinette murmured, her free hand coming up to curl around his wrist. “You are intense, that’s true, but...I like it. I like it a lot, Luka. I always appreciate how patient and careful you are with me but I think there’s something you need to understand about me.” She took a step forward and leaned gently into him. “I overthink things a lot, and sometimes I get nervous and run off at the mouth, and I definitely have some issues around relationships and intimacy, but...I’m not fragile. I can handle you. If it gets too much, I’ll tell you, but...I’m not really worried. Not about that, at least.” She sighed and slid her arms around his neck, toying with the hair at the nape of his neck. “Now I left the taxi waiting, so can you walk me to the door and then I can get my goodnight kiss from the man I really wanted it from? From...my boyfriend?” She wrinkled her nose slightly. “That sounds so...high school.” 

“I like it,” Luka said roughly, pressing his forehead to hers. “I like it a lot.” 

“Then it’ll do,” she whispered, and then slid her hands to his shoulders. “Now walk me to the door because if I kiss you here I’ll never make it home.”

“That’s a problem?” Luka only half joked as she took his hands again and tugged him along. “Hey, who’s walking who here?” 

“You weren’t moving,” she giggled. 

“Why would I want you to leave?” he teased. 

“Mm, so I can go brag to everybody about my hot new boyfriend?” Marinette leaned back against the door, pulling him closer with a double handful of his t-shirt. 

“Now that really does sound like high school,” Luka laughed, bracing one hand against the door as he leaned over her. Marinette tipped her head up, and he kissed those red lips, reveling in the way she sighed and pressed into him, in her lush, full lips, the smooth softness of her cheek and neck under his rough fingers as his thumb traced the elegant line of her jaw. Then her lips parted under his and she reached up and laced her fingers behind his neck, pulling him down into her, and she shifted her weight off the door until she was pressed against him. Luka slipped his hand from her face to wrap around her waist and pull her even closer, his hand still on the door steadying them both and grounding him, giving him the strength to finally pull back when he really would just as soon have suffocated if it meant kissing her a little longer. It took more than a moment for them to both catch their breath, both taking in each other’s disheveled appearances. Luka in his significantly more rumpled pajamas, the faintest trace of her expensive lipstick staining his mouth, his eyes hooded and his hair a wreck, and Marinette’s gorgeous blue eyes gone glassy and dark, her delectable mouth kiss-bruised, and—okay she really, really needed to go right now. Apparently she reached the same conclusion at that moment, because she reached back and fumbled for the door handle. Luka got there first and opened it for her. 

“Text me, let me know you got home safe?” he managed to get out, aware that he was grinning like a fool. 

“I will,” she flashed a bright smile at him that made his racing heart skip several beats, and he watched her until she was in the taxi before closing the door with a sigh. 

No way he was sleeping now. Luka went straight for his guitar.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | AO3

[spartanguard]

(love will see us through these) Dark Days [CSRT; 3/7]

Summary: A century ago, the United Realms of Pomem had been a land of peace, prosperity, and magic. Until war tore the land apart, leaving behind cruel leaders and even crueler laws regarding the use of magic. And each year, the youth of each realm are subjected to a fight to the death, both for entertainment and to weed out anyone capable of wielding magic. In the 99th Magic Games, past victors Emma Nolan and Killian Jones find themselves serving as mentors, while Alice Gothel and Robyn West end up representing their realm. Everyone has secrets; everyone has something to lose. Who will win? Who will die? Just don’t forget: all magic comes with a price.

rated M | 5k words | part 1 | part 2 | AO3

A/N: Continuing onto the third chapter of my story for the CS Rewrite-A-Thon (@captainswanbigbang​)!! Thank you to everyone who’s commented on the first couple parts and doesn’t completely hate me yet ;) [though they might after what I do to Killian in this chapter’s flashback...] and always, eternal thanks to @optomisticgirl​ for being an incredible beta. Chapter title comes from “Just A Game” by Birdy.

part 3: we're all just pieces in their games

Robyn was running. Toward what, she had no idea; but she knew she was running away from the worst of the carnage, leaving broken branches and crushed leaves in her wake.

She’d had to resist the temptation of entering the usual bloodbath that took place around the Apple Tree at the start of the games—especially when she saw a bow and a quiver hanging off one of the lower branches, amid all the other supplies and weapons—but she also didn’t have a death wish, so it was safer to get out of there.

She just hoped Alice had, too. That was the strategy they’d decided. But she only had a glimpse of the other girl across the clearing before the cannons went off, announcing the start of the games.

Chaos broke out immediately as she made a running dive for a backpack that sat just a few feet from her platform. Somehow, no one noticed her in their mad dash to the center. She grabbed the pack, slung it over her shoulder, and made for the trees.

Once she was a bit hidden, she took a glance at the battlefield. She knew the games were dangerous, but she wasn’t prepared for the scene in front of her: at least two tributes had knives in their necks, and the corresponding cannon booms she’d just heard indicated their demise. Farther over, two guys were engaged in hand-to-hand combat over a pack, until the larger of the two got his hands on the other’s neck and gave a strong, sickening twist. Boom.

Alice was nowhere to be seen, thankfully; she probably ran the other direction. Which honestly, Robyn kind of preferred. But she didn’t have time to dwell on that right now.

Once she started running again, she hadn’t stopped—though she’d definitely slowed. She had no idea how long she’d been going, but the burning in her lungs and legs told her it had been a few hours. She’d need to find water, maybe some food, and, judging by the waning light, some shelter, which wouldn’t be too hard to come by in the thick forest of the Arena. Neverland was naturally a jungle, but the Gamemakers had found a way to exert mechanical influence over the magical land, and always altered it to some other landscape for the games; now, it looked like the forest that sat on the border of Sherwood and Misthaven. Robyn had only seen it once, but it’s dense trees and thick canopy were enough to leave an impression.

It had been a while since she’d either seen another person or heard any cannon thunder, so she finally let herself pause to get her bearings. Water was flowing up ahead, she could hear, and headed toward the sound. 

The trees broke to reveal a clear stream that Robyn prayed wasn’t poisonous (it had happened before). Digging in her bag, she found a canteen, a blanket, a length of rope, and a utility knife; all stuff that would come in handy.

She filled the canteen, took a sip, splashed her face with the cool water, and then glanced around for somewhere to rest. The forest floor seemed like a terrible idea—but the trees all had good branches for climbing; maybe she should head up?

It didn’t take long for her to get a good ways off the ground, and the rope in her bag was perfect for securing her to the tree. She’d be able to sleep up there—assuming nothing crazy happened, of course. She wouldn’t be able to fully let her guard down, she knew, but maybe she’d at least be able to get some rest.

That’s what her mom would tell her to do, at least. Growing up in a single parent home hadn’t always been the easiest, especially with how much her mom worked, but it meant she knew how to fend for herself—and that she had a shot at winning this thing. A long shot, but better than some. (Her score of 8 out of 10 from the training evaluations helped, too.)

Her stomach grumbled, but she drowned it with her canteen; she could worry about food when she could actually see. The sky was almost full dark by the time she got settled in, and she had a mostly clear view of the sky from her perch. The stars she saw weren’t the actual sky, she knew—there was a forcefield surrounding the Arena that doubled as a screen, but no one knew just how much the Gamemakers controlled it: whether it was just there for them to project notices on, or whether the entire image was a simulation.

As she stared, the national anthem started to play from unseen loudspeakers. Against the sky, images were shown of the tributes who had died that day; she took a mental tally as she watched.

They came alphabetically: one from Agrabah, one from Arendelle, one from Dun Broch, both from Oz, and both from Stormhold. Seven down; thirteen left. For Day One, that was pretty average.

And, she realized, Alice was still alive. She let out a breath she didn’t notice she’d been holding. It was good news, for sure, but...god, she was a terrible person, too.

The only way Robyn was going to survive the games was if someone (or something) else killed Alice. Because she’d never be able to live with herself—or face Eloise (hell, or Killian)—if she was the one to do that. Especially when the narrative was already in favor of Alice, as had been made very clear during their interviews.

Sidney Glass had been all over her as soon as she took the seat. Robyn had never understood the need for the interviews in the first place—why get to know someone you were just going to watch die?—but she couldn’t deny that Alice had been anything but charming and personable; when you were from the poorest of the realms, you needed all the help you could get to attract sponsor attention.

Alice managed to dodge any questions about her other parent, and faced all the requisite ones about why she volunteered; but then Sidney asked the one that had managed to throw off Robyn the most, even though she wasn’t on stage yet: “So, got anyone special waiting for you back in Sherwood?”

Robyn had had to snort at that; Alice was something of a loner in their part of the realm—a typical small town with its cliques and busybodies. Whether it was because of jealousy that she grew up in Victor’s Village, or just the fact that she seemed to go with her own flow, she wasn’t extremely close with anyone her age.

“No, no,” Alice answered, covering up her nerves with a giggle.

“Oh, there has to be someone who’s caught your eye—isn’t there?”

“Um, well, there is,” Alice stammered, “but I don’t think it’d work out.”

“No? Why not?”

Because the odds of us getting out of this alive are 20-to-1, Robyn thought derisively as she watched from backstage.

“Because, uh…” Alice scanned the audience, then looked past Sidney to where Robyn was waiting in the wings. “Because she came here with me.”

And then Robyn’s heart skipped a beat.

See, there had been one thing she’d been keeping hidden...well, definitely ever since Alice stepped forward at the Reaping, but longer than that even. She may have been one of the popular girls in school, but Alice had always intrigued her.

And that had only grown in the last few days.

So to say the feeling was mutual was putting it simply. She’d tried to play it cool, like she was so used to doing, when Sidney subsequently asked her about it a few minutes later, but she highly doubted she had—she’d definitely been blushing when she admitted she returned Alice’s feelings.

Thus: her present conflict.

Crickets were chirping all around her, but adrenaline was still keeping her awake, and her fingers drifted to her lips.

Before they’d entered the Arena, after dressing in the Olympus-provided clothing they now wore, they had a brief moment alone. It was slightly awkward, and things had been ever since the interviews the day before. 

Robyn had tried a casual, “So, uh, good luck.”

Alice stared at her for a long moment, worried her bottom lip with her teeth (adorably), then muttered “screw it” and surged forward.

She grabbed Robyn by the lapel of her windbreaker and crashed her lips against hers; Robyn was shocked at first, but wasted no time in reciprocating (and was so thankful for the bit of lip gloss Tiger Lily had slapped on her). Her hands quickly found their way to Alice’s trim waist as she tilted her head to get a better angle. If this was the last kiss she’d ever get, then she was going to make it worthwhile, dammit.

All too soon, there was a heavy knock on the door, making them jump apart.

“You really do like me, huh?” Alice had said softly.

“Yeah,” was Robyn’s breathless reply.

“Then I guess I’ll see you in there.”

“O-okay.” 

Alice grinned at her, then turned to open the door and head out into whatever lay ahead of them. Robyn took a deep breath and followed. And here they were.

She didn’t want to lie to Alice about seeing her again. But she knew she couldn’t make any impossible choices. So, the farther away she stayed, the better. 

But no matter what, she at least had the memory of Alice’s sweet, persistent kiss.

She eventually drifted off, the faint taste of the other girl on her lips.

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The first day of the Games was finally over, but Killian knew they still had so much to do. Not only were both of his tributes still alive, so were both from Misthaven—and, most importantly, Alice. 

He could see Eloise on the other side of the game center chatting with a sponsor; there were several of them still milling about, as they tended to on the first day, but after that, mentors had to go to them. 

He’d managed to sweet talk some rations from a wealthy grocer, and those were on their way to Ursula and William. (William very nearly didn’t make it, but he discovered a lake while being chased by the Phrygian tributes; what he lacked in running ability, the boy made up for in swimming.) 

Killian easily slipped into the suave, rakish role he’d created for the games; it was what let him keep his tributes alive as long as he did. He knew he’d developed a reputation for using his body and his looks to get what he wanted. Some complained that it wasn’t fair, but none of this was, really, so why not use the gifts he’d been given to take advantage of it?

(That, and it had been made clear to him very early on that if he didn’t, other people—people with much more power than he had—would.)

After making promises to visit a few more sponsors, and passing off the respective gifts to Ariel for later distribution, he finally let himself take a respite, falling against one of the couches with a huff. He’d be better off going back to his quarters to get some sleep, or grabbing one of the revival drinks from the well-stocked buffet, but he needed the mental break as much as the physical one right now.

“Well, we’re off to a good start,” Graham said as he too collapsed on the sofa. 

“As best as can be,” Killian answered. “I think this part is always the most stressful, though.”

“Aye, I’d agree there. I told Emma to take a rest for a moment, but she refused.”

Graham nodded to another part of the room, where Emma was talking to a sponsor—and not having much luck, it looked like. The conversation ended and she shuffled over to where they sat, before flopping down dejectedly. 

“This sucks,” she moaned. “How am I supposed to get anything if these sponsors won’t even give me the time of day?”

“Please don’t take this the wrong way, darling,” Graham started, in what was sure to be an ill-advised statement, “but you do have a tendency to come off...well, prickly.” 

The glare she leveled at him somehow even managed to make Killian feel ashamed. He cleared his throat before saying anything, lest she outright murder him.

“You just need to charm them; show them how much you appreciate it and make them feel special.”

“I think we all know just how you make them feel special,” Emma threw back.

How was it that she knew all his buttons to push? A brief rage flared inside, but he was able to tamp it down quickly. “Be glad you don’t have to, Nolan,” he said quietly. Were it not for her son, he knew Emma would likely be in a situation similar to his. “And that’s not what I’m saying. People in Olympus are vain; play to that.”

She huffed again, but seemed a bit more subdued. “The only reason I’m here is because I was good at strategy and with a sword; not because I’m charming. That’s my dad.”

Graham snorted at that; it was true that David Nolan was nicknamed “Prince Charming” in these parts, but something told him the other man wouldn’t be laughing at his father-in-law’s expense back home. (Was David officially Graham’s in-law? Were he and Emma even actually married? Killian was the first to know that wasn’t a requirement to having a child—but they were together, right? He only wondered because...they didn’t always act like it.)

“Then surely, he passed on some tips to you before now,” Killian continued.

She sighed and nodded. “Yeah, he did. It’s just...harder.”

“Harder than what?”

“Than what I expected.”

He scoffed. “I think you just described the games in a nutshell.”

“I know, I know; it’s just...you’d think these people would want the promotion.”

“They do. You just have to convince them that your tribute is the best to do that. Tamara already has a kill; that's an excellent starting point.”

An awkward silence followed, likely as they all wondered just what the hell their lives were.

Thankfully, Graham broke the silence. “I’ll take first shift; get some rest, and come back fresh in the morning.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah; tonight won’t be too eventful. Go on.” 

“I should probably head out myself,” Killian added; his night was far from over, though. “Might I escort the lady back to her quarters?”

Emma rolled her eyes, but smiled. “Sure.”

“Alright; just let me check in with Ariel.” They were a fairly well-oiled machine by this point, though, so she just waved him off and kept chatting with Jasmine.

He made a stop at the buffet to grab an energy drink and a bite to eat, and took that opportunity to figure out how Alice was doing; it was hard to tell what exactly he was seeing on her screen, but it looked like she’d found a secluded space to sleep in. He’d have to hope that was enough; at least, he knew, she could sleep just about anywhere.

When Killian returned, Emma was giving Graham a hug farewell, but seemed oddly stiff when he kissed her on the cheek. Killian didn’t know why he was so weirdly invested in their relationship; it wasn’t like he’d had much success in those himself, so he was the last person to be judging. But the more he was around them, the harder it was for him to see how they fit together. Oh, well—opposites attract, or whatever.

“Shall we?” he interrupted, rather than continue to creep on them.

“I’ll see you,” Emma said to Graham, then joined Killian; no other affectations were exchanged. Huh. Whatever.

He led them from the room into the corridor, where an elevator was already waiting. Hopefully, this trip would be less awkward than the last one they shared.

“I’m sorry,” she said; he definitely wasn’t expecting that.

“For what?”

“For what I said earlier, about sponsorships; I didn’t realize—I had no idea—”

“That I have to whore myself out?” he finished, albeit crudely.

“Y-yeah.” Her eyes were glued to the tiled floor. “I guess I’m farther removed from Olympus than I thought; I didn’t realize that was even a thing.”

“It’s...not so bad,” he half lied. “It was this, or be completely under Gold’s thumb and power. At least this way, I have control of who I...see.” He didn’t know why this was so hard to talk about—why he felt the need for propriety. Instead of being Gold’s hooker (pardon the pun), he was one for his realm instead; that was all this was. “But as I’m sure you know, having control is a rare commodity in our lives.”

“Yeah, it definitely is.” She was even more withdrawn now; he could see the worry and shame flickering across her face. He wanted to ease her concerns, but then the elevator chimed, indicating they’d reached her floor. She left quickly once the doors opened, but he followed her to the entrance to her quarters.

“You didn’t have to follow me,” she said, in a tone that suggested she was trying to tease but fell short. “Are you some sort of gentleman now?”

“I’m always a gentleman,” he crooned back, hoping to lift the weight off the moment. 

She rolled her eyes again, but started to smile a little. “I’ll see you tomorrow?” It was definitely a question.

“Of course; what, are you tired of me already?”

“Just a little.”

“That might be a personal record.”

“What, fastest a woman has found you annoying?”

“Few would classify me as such.”

“Well, maybe some more should. Unless big heads are attractive here.”

“This one is.”

She laughed, and he couldn't help but grin at the sound. “Well, I better crash, and you probably should, too.”

“I would, but, ah…”

“Oh, right. Um. Have fun?” she offered instead, looking adorably unsure.

“I’ll try. Good night, Emma.”

“Good night, Jones.”

She disappeared into her quarters and he returned to the elevator, heading to the ground floor. On the way down, he guzzled down the revival drink, feeling its effects almost immediately. The science of this realm was sometimes astonishing—until he remembered that it was at the cost of the magic that created this world in the first place, and the taste turned sour on his tongue.

He wondered what Emma would say about that. Then he wondered why he was even wondering that. And what was that by her door? Had he actually been flirting with a married woman? (Or, if not married, then committed or whatever.) Outside of sponsors, he hadn’t genuinely done that in ages; not since...no, he couldn’t think about her—not with what he had to do tonight.

He slipped on his jacket as he went out into the night. Technically, everyone in the building had a curfew and it was supposed to be on lockdown at this hour, but he almost always had an override to allow him to make his late-night appointments. And honestly, after being cooped up inside all day, this tiny bit of fresh air was worth everything else he had to deal with.

It was only a couple blocks to his first visit, and the city was still bustling with life. When the realms first merged, Olympus had been little more than a small fishing village that had suddenly found itself without a coast. But it quickly grew to the busy metropolis it was now, full of sleek skyscrapers and digital screens everywhere, the sound of advertisements and hovercars echoing off steel and glass.

Despite the late hour, Olympus citizens were still out and about; the games always seemed to wake up the city, compared to the few other times he’d been there. A few people recognized him as he made his way, but his reputation preceded him: no one bothered him. Good.

As he approached his destination, he quickly unbuttoned his shirt a bit more. Undoing them was easy enough one-handed; he had to assume some of his novelty was in his patrons being able to help him get redressed. (There was a reason he stuck to basic shirts and sweaters at home.) 

He gave himself one last glance in the reflection of the highly polished door, ran his hand through his hair to mess it up the right amount, then put on his signature smoldering grin before knocking. 

The door swung open, revealing an older, moderately attractive woman—the grocer. “Hello there, darling,” he murmured.

She grinned back. “I’ve been waiting.”

“Me too,” he lied—but she didn’t notice.

No one ever did. They ate up his falsehoods because it was what they wanted to hear. And in return, Killian got to forget about what was going on in the arena each night.

But this night, two things kept drifting in: Alice, obviously...and Emma, somehow. That was terribly inconvenient. 

Sex was one thing; feelings, though? He didn’t want those. Those had given him enough grief for one lifetime.

◇─◇──◇────◇────◇────◇────◇────◇─────◇──◇─◇

Seventeen years ago

It was raining. Of course it was; this entire game had been wet, ever since the first cannon fire. Good thing Killian was from a wet realm; the odds had been in his favor from the start.

But now it was the end, and the grip he had on his sword was tenuous at best. He had to focus everything on not letting it slip from his grasp, especially as he brushed the water and hair from his face. The only other tribute left, Claude from Phrygia, was feet away, also brandishing a sword—and a sinister grin.

His opponent’s blade was already covered in blood—mostly others’, some of it Killian’s. But if he spent too much time thinking about the throbbing pain at the end of his left arm, he wouldn’t be ready to parry Claude’s moves.

The other boy was just as exhausted, but had a size advantage. So when he finally lunged at Killian, it wasn’t hard to deflect the blow, but it pushed both of them to the ground. Killian was pinned against the sand by Claude’s weight and the jolt forced the air from his lungs.

Worse, though, was that he’d let go of his sword.

Claude quickly regained his bearings and pushed himself up to sitting on his haunches, pinning Killian’s legs to the ground. He still had his weapon, which he twirled menacingly, before flipping it in his grip, tip pointed down.

“Any last words, Jones?” he taunted, leaning over, ready to strike.

“I should be asking you the same,” Killian spat back, slowly reaching for his belt with his right hand.

“Pretty sure I’ve got the advantage here.” To emphasize his viewpoint, he reached out with his sword arm to punch the bloody mess that was Killian’s left hand. He’d as good as chopped it off earlier when he sliced through the base of it; this added trauma drew a yelp of pain that burned through Killian’s body, making him gasp for air and see stars.

But it was Claude’s fatal mistake. Even though he was in agony, he managed to grasp the oversized fish hook he’d been gifted a few days ago. It hadn’t been terribly useful in catching any food from the sea they now sat beside, but it was still sharp.

As quick as he could manage, while Claude was still distracted in his revelry, Killian slipped the hook from his belt loop and struck upwards, embedding the steel in Claude’s neck.

He watched the other boy’s eyes grow wide in surprise, then yanked.

Killian felt more than saw the resulting spray of blood as Claude fell backwards. He laid there, letting the rain wash over him until he heard what would be the final cannon.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Sidney Glass exclaimed overhead. “May I present the winner of the 82nd Annual Magic Games!” 

His tone was a far cry from what Killian felt. He let out a long, long exhale, and finally let everything wash over him. Watching the death of his fellow tribute, Wendy; the way the life faded out of the tribute from Oz after he stabbed her; the other two tributes he’d killed, not even sure where they were from; and this last one. Add in the constant terror of staying alive in an arena that was bound and determined to kill you, from those haunting poisonous plants that took Liam to the dearth of edible fauna, and Killian was spent.

(He hated to think about it, but an awful idea came to him: What if another reason Liam had stepped up all those years ago was because Killian wasn’t ready to win the games then, but he had been now? He was still living, after all. But gods, what had the cost been?)

He lost track of where the rain ended and his tears started as he lay sobbing on the beach, in anguish, relief, and pain. But eventually, the hovercraft came for him, to bring him back to Olympus, to a victor’s celebration.

Had he really won anything, though?

He was still crying when he was pulled aboard, and easily fell into the comforting embrace of his mentor.

“It’s all over,” Milah had crooned. “You’re done.” He knew her words were empty platitudes, but at that point, it was the best news he’d ever heard. 

How he wished she’d been right.

The next few days were a blur. He spent an indeterminate amount of time in the hospital in a fog of painkillers while there after they amputated what was left of his hand; he was still adjusting to it when they put him in a suit and paraded him before the country in the victor’s celebration. It was a welcome distraction from the ache where his hand should be and the demons clawing at the back of his brain; he might have leaned into the celebrations a bit too much, but he doubted anyone would comment.

He was adrift, no doubt, but he found an unexpected anchor: Milah. True, he had Nemo, who understood the experience he’d just been through, but Milah was fresher to the experience—less jaded. On the train ride home, she’d taken him into her arms—and her heart.

She’d been the victor of the hardest games to date: the 75th, the Third Quarter Quell. Instead of the usual 20 tributes, it was a field of 40. She was the fiercest, the strongest, and the smartest of them all. Using her net-making skills gained as the daughter of a fisherman, she was able to set traps for the other tributes and take them out from there. Since then, the gamemakers had taken care to keep anything long and stringy out of the arenas.

Living with Nemo, she wasn’t a total stranger to Killian prior to being his mentor. He’d definitely harbored a small crush on her, but never dared do anything about it. But once they found themselves on the other side of the games—and on more even footing, despite their age gap—he was pleasantly surprised to find the feeling was mutual. 

When he returned to Atlantica, he took the home in Victor’s Village next to Milah’s, rather than by Nemo’s, though he found himself at her place more often than not. She was the one to convince him to adopt the hook as his new appendage, a move the citizens of Olympus would—and did—eat up. At night, when memories from the arena gave him nightmares, she helped calm him. They attempted to keep their relationship under wraps, but came to find that neither cared what anyone else thought, least of all Olympus. 

They had found happiness in each other, but he was foolish to have ever believed it could last. 

While he loved Milah, she had other admirers, particularly President Gold. Gold was known for making some of the more attractive victors available to the wealthier citizens of Olympus—a situation Killian was well aware of—and Milah was beautiful by any definition of the word. Gold had taken quite a liking to her, and intended on keeping her to himself; when he discovered Killian and Milah’s relationship during Killian’s Victory Tour six months later, jealousy boiled over to rage. 

After they arrived home from the tour, a basket of apples was waiting. Killian was initially wary, not only about how they got there, but having heard rumors around Olympus that Gold was known for poisoning apples (among other means) to take out political enemies. Milah, however, shrugged it off and assured Killian they were just tall tales. 

She’d barely taken two bites of a particularly bright red apple when she collapsed and began convulsing. Without a cure, all Killian could do was hold her as the poison raced through her body, killing her within minutes. It was like watching his brother die all over again, only worse; he’d had to watch Liam from afar, but Milah was right there, in his arms, and he could do nothing.

He buried her in the ocean, where they had spent many hours alone on his boat (a purchase made with his victory money), to which he retreated for several weeks following her death with little more company than copious amounts of rum. The only thing to pull him from his grief was finding something else to live for: his daughter.

He vowed revenge on Olympus for what they did to Milah, to him; but he knew any form of subversion would result in his immediate demise, and he couldn’t do that to Alice. So he adopted an air of complete indifference and put on the cocky, pretty-boy facade for which he became known—it was much easier to hide the pain and ignore the anger that way.

Besides, the only person he had any room in his broken heart for was Alice; why bother trying to find anyone else?

◇─◇──◇────◇────◇────◇────◇────◇─────◇──◇─◇

thanks for reading! Hope I haven’t scared you away yet! tagging some peeps:  @kat2609 @thesschesthair @xpumpkindumplingx @shipsxahoy @amortentia-on-the-rocks @mryddinwilt @cocohook38 @annytecture @wingedlioness @word-bug @distant-rose @wellhellotragic @welllpthisishappening @let-it-raines @pirateherokillian @its-imperator-furiosa @killianmesmalls @sherlockianwhovian @ineffablecolors​ @laschatzi​ @ive-always-been-a-pirate @nfbagelperson​ @stubblesandwich​ @killian-whump​ @phiralovesloki​ @athenascarlet​ @ilovemesomekillianjones​ @whimsicallyenchantedrose​ @snowbellewells​ @idristardis​ @scientificapricot​ @searchingwardrobes​

[fuwafuwamedb]

A Cursed G Pt 31 (Hakuno, Gilgamesh, Enkidu, Siduri)

Previous Part: 1 - HakuPOV / GilPOV, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30

___

“How long have they been gone now?”

Gilgamesh leaned back, staring towards the windows of the ziggurat. The morning meal had been long, but compared to the lunch hour, it may as well have been the blink of an eye. He hadn’t expected to spend hours without Hakuno around for him and Enkidu to entertain themselves with. The servants had pushed them away several times while preparing her to go visit his mother. He’d seen Siduri looking through some of her tablets, no doubt debating on whether or not to allow Hakuno to do much work at all.

She’d never manage to keep them away from Hakuno, but it had been amusing for a moment to watch.

Then the day had progressed. The audience chamber was as long-winded as he remembered. The lions curled up around his throne, beginning naps as a few nobles offered their daughters to him.

He didn’t want them. Never had.

What he had wanted was someone much like Enkidu: a challenge. He wanted wit and humor. He wanted steel nerves and unrelenting backbone. Someone who would bend at the mere breath he gave was useless in comparison.

The advisors today had not met Hakuno yet, but they knew that he had brought a woman into the palace. Their hands were wringing, their eyes were darting to him and the clay being nearby.

He had ordered his wedding to be arranged.

However, they did not know the woman or her lineage for this affair.

The result was simple: They doubted him.

“My king,” the latest presenter announced. “This is my daughter, from the clutches of Ishtar’s temple, I’ve retrieved her for becoming a wife to you. She’s wise, wise enough to know how to please a man and keep your bed warm. The wedding could be right before the one you are holding soon for that outsider.”

“How boring.”

Gilgamesh glanced over to Enkidu, earning a small nod.

“Take the woman back to her temple before the gods get angered. This is a waste of my time. I have no desire to waste my time on a woman that can barely show any sign of allure let alone-“

The doors were opening.

“Ah, Hakuno’s finally back,” Enkidu murmured somewhere near his seat.

The woman had quite the entrance.

The robes that she’d been adorned in were of the same colors as his own. Her necklaces shifted here and there, falling into the valley of her chest as she strolled forward. The kohl to protect her eyes seemed to do nothing more than make her features more obviously foreign.

Siduri walked at her side, holding a few tablets in hand and grinning whilst she talked to the woman quietly. Whatever distaste she had held for Hakuno was gone, replaced with a slight flush to the woman’s face and a glowing expression that would have had him questioning her had Hakuno not already become his in body.

Yet, neither Siduri nor Hakuno’s appearance were what drew a hundred eyes to stare at her in shock.

It was Hakuno’s audacity.

Hakuno marched right passed those speaking, mounting the steps before his throne and up to where he stood. She leaned up, her arms wrapping around his shoulders and pulling him in.

Lips pressed to his own.

He wasn’t sure what had brought this about, but…

She’s nothing if not entertaining.

Gilgamesh pulled her flush against himself, feeling the warmth of her person against him. She made a small sound, probably missed by most, before clinging to him further.

“Leave us,” Gilgamesh managed to get out.

The chamber was emptying. Siduri was ushering those out who had no business here now. The suitor was going, alongside her father. He could sense the advisors hesitating, their robes in his peripheral vision.

“Gentlemen,” Siduri greeted. “May I present Hakuno to you all? She is the woman that our king has chosen for his queen consort and the woman whom Ninsun herself has claimed as her daughter.”

He had to pull back, finding his mother’s talisman amongst the jewelry around Hakuno’s neck.

So she had liked her huh…

“Ninsun told me to call her mom,” Hakuno murmured to him.

That… was surprising.

His mother was not one to take to people. He’d expected complaints. He’d half expected to find Hakuno mounting the steps in outrage and declaring that she would win Ninsun over somehow. She wouldn’t take no for an answer. If anything, his mother would have solidified weeks of entertaining attempts to win her over.

Instead, the woman had placed a protection necklace around her and had told her to call her mom.

Perhaps his mother was aging.

Doubtful, but he could think of no other reason his mother would be so desperate to protect Hakuno that she would place such an amulet around Hakuno’s neck.

He’d need to speak to his mother later.

“She has been claimed by Ninsun?!”

The group of elders stared at her in astonishment, earning a look from Hakuno.

Once again, she was being unpredictable.

“My mother-in-law was kind enough to give me her blessing and tell me to remain close to the palace. Is there something wrong with that?”

Upfront.

It was a good way to show backbone and a good way to make those against her fall silent. However, he noted a couple holding their hands carefully. Devoted to Ishtar, they had no doubt been told to find him someone close to her.

“If she has accepted you, then that is that,” one told them simply.

The others nodded, chiming in their agreements.

“Excellent,” Hakuno smiled at them. “Then-“

At her pause, Gil glanced to her.

“Sorry, I felt a little off again.” She shook her head, her confident mask back up in full force. “Since that’s done, I’ll be working with Siduri in the offices. I’ll look forward to working with you all.”

He found himself kissed again, the woman holding his necklaces before she walked herself straight back to the doors.

…How boring.

Enkidu was hurrying after her, leaving him with Siduri now. The advisors were dispersing, no doubt to speak of what had occurred. The great king had found a woman with enough spine to temper him. It was news that no corner of Uruk would be lacking the knowledge of by nightfall.

“She heard, didn’t she?”

“She was a bit upset at hearing them call her an outsider and offer their daughter as a better choice,” Siduri confirmed. “She took one look at the guards averting their gaze from her and decided to act.”

“And what did she mean by off again?”

Siduri shook her head. “I’m not sure, but Ninsun’s priests told me that under no circumstances is she to leave the palace again. I was told to inform you to boost the defenses.”

That had been in process already, but why would his mother wish for such a thing?

She was not one for protecting loved ones. She knew better than to worry herself about others’ health. When he had been risking his life, she simply threatened Enkidu to do better. When his father had gone to war, she had waved him off with a hand and told him to come back to give her more children.

Giving Hakuno an amulet that showed her favor of her was strange.

The whole situation was strange. She wasn’t gaining anything from helping Hakuno. Why would she be…

The lions were migrating towards the doors now, their low murmurs of hunger and wishing to play in the gardens ringing in his ears.

Kitten needs to hurry up.

“Siduri,” Gilgamesh rubbed at his head. “Which one of the damn lionesses is pregnant?”

“Hmm?”

“They’re grumbling,” he complained.

“The apsu that looked at them the other week said none of them were.” Siduri glanced over to them. “I suppose I could call one again, but I don’t think they’re being any louder than usual, my king.”

Wait.

“Siduri, take Hakuno to my chambers to work.”

“What?”

He was already heading for the door, moving towards the front of the palace. “Do not, under any circumstances, allow Hakuno to leave the palace, do you understand?”

He headed down the stairs as fast as he could, his mind revolving around what this could mean. If true, then he had more beef with Ishtar. If true, he truly needed to stop the woman before she did anything further.

There was one thing his mother would defend to the death: heirs.

It was why she threatened Enkidu often. It was why she had stopped caring as much about his father’s life after he had been born. His kingdom was secure with a person to ascend to the throne. Had Ishtar not been the patron goddess, he had no doubt in his mind that his mother would have been the patron goddess.

“MOTHER!”

He threw the doors open to her temple, finding the priests falling back in surprise.

The woman adorned in blue looked up, her feet currently propped on a small pillow for a good rubbing.

“Gilgamesh, what brings you here?”

“She’s pregnant, isn’t she?”

The small smile on her face was barely hidden by her hand. Ninsun waved her priests away, pressing her feet lightly to the floor before she stood up.

“Mo-“

“She’s very different from the women that I have seen come here to pray to be yours,” his mother replied. “She has a mind, one that has much broader knowledge than I had expected.”

“Is she?”

His mother moved forth, stepping before him and lifting his face to look up at hers. The woman was unnaturally tall, unerringly attractive. It was little wonder his father had picked her, but all he could see was just another pretty face when he looked to her.

“Mother,” he tried again.

“I used a bit of power to see into her open mind,” she told him. “Morning sickness, a heavier chest, a more pronounced hunger; I saw her morning and understood the meaning. You’ve done well, far better than the gods had told me you would manage.”

He felt his knees give way, his eyes staring up into those so much like his own.

“You were such a pretty thing. Do you know how deep that love of hers goes?” His mother laughed, kneeling down to keep that close contact. “I felt it, like a golden chain around my heart. If anyone hurt you, she would go wild. If anyone took you, her heart would break into pieces. You’re so deep into her spirit now that forgetting you would mean forgetting all of herself. She would be no more than an empty vessel.”

Such nonsense. There was no such thing as an adoration that deep.

“Do you not believe me? How would she react if those advisors of yours brought another woman for you?”

They already had.

Gilgamesh stared at the woman, his mind blanking at the memory.

“You are so simple,” his mother cooed, brushing at his hair. “So very simple. This will be so entertaining. I want the barrier around the palace increased. Do not let her leave the palace. Marriage ceremonies can be on the palace steps. In fact, it may help to let all see her.”

What did he even do with heirs?

There would be noise and crying and-

What was he supposed to do with an heir?!

“You should make an offering for Ishtar,” his mother murmured.

“No…”

“Take it to her temple and give it to the priests.”

He couldn’t do that.

Ishtar had tried to put Hakuno in her deathbed. She had left the woman lying uselessly in a public toilet and had assumed that she herself could still claim him.

When he had rejected her, she’d turned him into a beast and thrown him into another world.

“She is still the patron goddess,” his mother reminded him. “Fortify your defenses and make an offering. If not for you, then for her.”

He wouldn’t.

The gods did not dictate who would do what and when. They held no control, considering that he had brought Hakuno back and he had helped to aid her healing with his own strength and that of Enkidu’s. He wasn’t going to let Ishtar know that his child was coming.

“Gilgamesh-“

“I need to return to Hakuno.”

His mother earned her hug, her kisses for being of his own blood. He laughed with her for a moment as she recommended names, but he pulled himself from her temple.

His feet felt numb.

He, himself, felt numb. The world around him was alive and bustling. His people were waving and he had to force himself to give waves here and there as he went, but he didn’t stop.

For once, he ascended back into the ziggurat and followed the path he had taken a good few hundred women back to his chambers. He opened the door to his room, finding Hakuno cuddled on the bed with a half dozen of his lions.

Kitten.

Kitten.

“Gil!” Enkidu grinned as they motioned over to Hakuno. “I think the lions have found a new favorite. They’ve been cuddling Hakuno.”

“Enkidu, leave us for a moment.”

Hakuno looked up, frowning.

“Enkidu-“

“I’m going,” the being pat his shoulder. “I need to take some of these tablets to Siduri anyway. Hakuno can’t read all of them yet and was needing my help to translate them to her language, but it may be faster to just let Siduri handle them for now.”

“She’ll learn in the next few months.”

Enkidu nodded, heading from the room.

“What’s wrong?” Hakuno asked.

He moved forward, watching that frown growing. The woman’s eyes were searching his face, her body sitting up a little more.

“Gil-“

“Did you know?”

“Know?”

“About this?” He motioned at her, earning a heavy sigh and a hand running through her hair.

“I didn’t know that the lions would like me at all, but I’ve never necessarily been bad with animals. I tend to just leave them be, but your lions are the cuddliest cats- other than you.”

“I’m not talking about the lions.”

“You just pointed at them.”

“I was not pointing at the lions.”

Hakuno glanced down before she shook her head. “Then I don’t know what you’re talking about, Gil. What’s going on-“

“The baby.”

“Baby?”

“Yes, the one you have growing in you.”

Hakuno stared at him. Those brown eyes were wide and that scowl was stronger than ever.

She hadn’t known.

The woman had no idea that she had been- which meant he was the first out of the two of them to figure it out.

“There’s no way I’m pregnant. There would be obvious signs. I’d be missing cycles…” She paused, shaking her head after a second. “plus the whole time jump would mess up my counting so I’m sure I’m not-“

“The lions cuddle you and say kitten.”

“The lions are overly friendly.”

“They ate a man the day before I disappeared.”

Hakuno glanced at the lions a moment before looking to him skeptically.

“Shall we go down to the city to see? I’m sure there’s a criminal deserving down there.”

“Gil, I’m not pregnant. I’d be gaining a stomach.”

“It’s early. These things take months to fully develop.”

“Who told you that I was?”

“My mother did.”

Hakuno groaned, pulling one of the lions closer. “She may just be wishful thinking-“

“She’s a goddess, Hakuno.”

“Gilgamesh, we slept together only a couple times. I haven’t-“

He yanked her to him, tired of this.

The woman would figure it out sooner or later. She would understand the meaning of her morning illness and she would realize what she had done. She had to take responsibility now. Claiming him so forthright, allowing herself to welcome so much of him into her life and then daring to spawn another generation.

“Gil-“

He pulled back to breathe a moment before he was climbing onto the bed, kissing her again.

She didn’t resist. No, she held him just as tight as ever, her legs seeming to part just for him. The lions were grumbling, moving from the bed, leaving him to have her for himself. He could hear the mutterings, but right now he wanted to entertain himself.

“You fool,” he growled, laughing softly. “You fell in love with me.”

“You know this already,” she complained.

He did, but he wanted to hear it again. The way his mother had described it had been all too great. Would she really lose all of herself at the loss of him? Was she truly that smitten?

“Gil, am I pregnant or are you just trying to make it so?”

His laugh grew louder, his forehead pressing to hers.

She was clinging to him, with him not holding her at all.

“I have only seen children in the kingdom. I don’t know about rearing them. I’ve helped my lions give birth, but my knowledge of people doing so…”

“What about Ishtar?”

“I’ll deal with her.”

“Gil-“

He stole her lips away, watching her wane. His mother had been right. It was foolish to argue when she always was. And that, combined with his good fortune, led him to this.

Hakuno was already looking at him with darkened eyes. Her arms were pulling him in further. The plain fool, claiming a king in this manner.

She was lucky she was so entertaining.

She was lucky that she could pull such interesting expressions when she looked to him.

She was lucky that she could manage to stir such strong responses from him when she touched and held him in her arms.

She was so incredibly lucky, he thought as he pulled those robes down her body and bore her naked person to his eyes. He all but purred as she shivered beneath him. His tongue ran right up from her navel, sending his name escaping her lips once again.

“The tablets,” Hakuno tried to remind him. “There’s work-“

“No one will expect them today.” Gilgamesh pulled his robes from his person, tossing them off the bed as he looked down at the woman beneath him. “I’ll make you loud enough that it will be obvious where the rest of my day will be spent.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

Her shouts were louder than ever in his chambers. He held her hips and sent her over the edge so much that the flush to her cheeks would probably be permanent. Those lips rained down upon him, fighting desire with desire.

No one came for them.

It was very clear why.

[the-ship-maker-2]

Chapter 2 Of Every Rose Has Its Thorns is out now! the AU and some of the ideas and characters belong to @creepypasta-shtick and Maplehood Creek, Rosewood and Tabby Anderson belongs to me.

TW: character death, mentions of blood and gore

Chapter 2

Tabby was always an early bird due to her step dad getting her up at 5 in the morning. Also with Rosewood starting at 7:45 am. But she slept through until 7-8 in the morning. Tabby woke up and stretched and winced at her bruises. She slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes confused. This wasn't her house. This wasn't her room...then last nights events came rushing back to her.

"So it wasn't a dream after all... and I'm alive...I survived my first night in this strange new world. One day down and another one to go" she said in thought. she grinned as the new reality set in. "I'm free...of my step dad, Rosewood and Horacio!" She said in thought also she let out a quiet giggle to herself.

She got out of the bed and put her knives on the night stand for now. She took a good look at herself in the mirror. Her red brown hair turned into a messy low ponytail with a couple of wavy strands that were out. That was due to the tossing and turning in her sleep. She still had dark circles under her eyes and they still appeared to be sunken back slightly. But they had that spark of life back in them again. But you can never catch up on lost sleep. She fell asleep in her clothes from yesterday but she'll change today. She really had no use for pjs she only used them on occasion. Her older bruises were almost completely faded away and her new ones started the healing process. Pretty soon all there would be was the scars from her old life and new bruises and cuts from training and missions and stuff. Hopefully less than what she has now.

She quickly got dressed in a long sleeved white shirt and blue jeans to cover up the scars and bruises. She was more clear minded than she was last night. No one else needed to see her bruises and scars and think that she's weak and sickly. She put on her shoes and went out of her bedroom and into the kitchen.

Toby has done a lot for her in one night. It was only fair to return the favor. The least she could do is cook him breakfast. She looked in the fridge and saw some eggs. She took out the carton and put it on the counter. She saw some bread laying about too and saw a toaster.

"Perfect!" She thought to herself.

She looked around for a frying pan, plates, and utensils. It took her a while to find the stuff in the kitchen but she made her way around and made very little noise as possible. And was humming a song that she knew to herself.

She put the two pieces of bread in the toaster and started making the eggs for herself first.

Toby was still kind of groggy but he pulled himself up and yawned. It took him a little while to get used to being awake so he waited for a bit before turning off his radio. He went up to go to the bathroom. He had several wounds he needed to make sure stayed clean after all. After cleaning himself up, he figured he should go out and get the newspaper or something. He knew that after a couple of weeks he would have a huge mission that would involve putting on a fake identity and infiltrating a school, which he was not looking forward to. He was incredibly anxious about it. From the bathroom, he could hear a knock on the front door. Oh right. He had locked it. It was probably Jane and she had probably finished Tabby's mask that night. Tabby put her eggs and toast on a plate and went to answer the front door. She unlocked it and opened the door a little bit. warily and cautiously.

Jane had left the box on the front door. It was a nice looking box. It could be easily opened. She had stayed up all night doing the mask

Tabby opened the door wider and cautiously picked up the box. She eyed it suspiciously. She decided to leave it on the table and decided to wait for Toby to come out so she wouldn't be alone while opening it just in case it could be a trap.

Tabby began to eat her breakfast. She kept eyeing the box in a mixture of suspicion and curiosity. She wanted to open it badly but decided that she knew better than to open it by herself as Jane's words echoed through her head from last night.

'Don't trust gifts that are given to you even if they're given by people you know, there are a lot of backstabbers here'.

She continued to wait patiently.

Toby came outside the bathroom and headed towards the kitchen. He saw Tabby and the box.

"Oh. That looks like the box Jane uses to deliver masks." He stared plainly.

He went to the fridge and began rifling through it. Jane's boxes always looked distinct to show that they carried masks that she had made her own.

"Oh you don't have to rummage through the fridge" she said in between bites "I was going to make you some eggs as a sort of a thank you. But then I realized that I don't know how you like your eggs...or even if you like eggs...I also didn't know if you were like me in needing to watch your food being made to make sure it's not poisoned. So I waited before I did anything."

"But if you do like eggs how do you like them? I could make you some..." she said a little shyly as she looked down and went to open the box.

She opened the box slowly and warily. She took out the mask and inspected it. It was a pretty teal with golden spirals branching out from one another and at some angles the gold glittered in the light. She checked the inside of the mask and smiled to herself when she saw the names of the people she lost engraved inside. She put it on and looked at Toby.

"Oh, it's okay. I'm the type of person who likes taking care of myself." Toby explained.

He had needed to make his own breakfast since he was 8, and a change from routine would just feel somewhat alien. He thanked her for her offer though. He turned when he felt the air somewhat shift and saw that she had put on her mask. "Oh, that looks great. Does it feel okay? Natural?" He asked. He got out some leftover breakfast from the day before and went to heat it up.

"Fair enough" she said.

She understood not wanting to rely on others since she has been neglected since she was 4 so she had to learn how to do the basics of taking care of herself.

"It feels weird at first but I'll get used to it" she put the mask in her box and went to pick up the eggs and put them back in the fridge.

She finished up the last bit of her egg sandwich that she made and went to do up her little bit of dishes. She unwrapped her left hand so the bandages can stay clean and dry. You could see the surgical incisions that was made to get the glass out. The scars were in that in between stage of old and fresh. Her hand was healed but you can tell that the doctors didn't set it right as it looked out of place.

Toby nodded.

"It will feel weird at first but soon you'll freak out seeing yourself without it."

He wanted to make the transition into this new life as painless as possible. He remembered being incredibly freaked out at the beginning. He noticed her hand. Oh man. EJ would lose his shit 'seeing' the work done on that hand. Toby thanked her for doing her dishes.

"By the way, you said you wanted to go to the library today?" Toby said. "While we're out, I could sort of show you around if you want. A lot of your first missions will be fetch and deliver, so it's nice to know where to go." He was finishing up his breakfast.

"Yeah I did say that and it would be nice to know my way around. I mean I'm going to be on my own at some point so yeah"

She dried off her hands and notice that he was looking at her damaged hand.

"Yeah I know it's not a pretty picture. Reason number 1025 of why I hate and don't trust doctors. They can't do their damn jobs right" she gave him a bitter smile.

"So your mission was fairly riskless huh?" She raised an eyebrow as she nodded towards his injuries "I do hope you took care of them properly" she gently re wrapped her hand in the bandages.

Toby nodded.

"Yeah, you will be. Once you finish training, the boss will give you a new place." He said. "I'll show you around, introduce you to a few people." He said.

"I understand the sentiment about doctors though, but for me it's therapists. My therapist knew I was abused and, as a mandated reporter, didn't call CPS for me." He said.

He knew there were competent doctors and therapists, but that didn't change his experiences.

At her comment, he nodded. "They're just small cuts and bruises. Come from running through the woods." He said.

"Same. I hated therapists too. I've been through 7 psychiatrists. My parents believed that I was delusional and paranoid because they didn't believe me about my horror stories at Rosewood. My therapists didn't believe anything I said about Rosewood or about how my step dad abused me but left the rest of my family out of it" she gave him the finger guns and another bitter smile but she looked like she just wanted to die.

Toby nodded. "I got a therapist after my sister died. I still remember her. She was this older woman, about the same age as my mom and she always had this fake, vacant smile. It used to piss me off." He said.

He understood.

"They used my mental illness to totally discredit what I saw and what I said happened to me. She tried to have me involuntarily committed."

Toby shrugged a bit while clearing his dishes.

"I've thought about killing her, honestly, but I figured it wasn't really worth it." He said, starting the water

"But they did manage to diagnose me correctly on OCD, Anxiety, PTSD and Paranoia which all had to do with Rosewood and my step dad but not for the reasons that they thought. We're probably missing a few others since they can't diagnose me fully correctly", stated Tabby.

"I understand." Toby said.

He finished cleaning up his dishes. He already was dressed for the day and was still wearing his mouth guard and goggles. He put on his gloves.

"You ready to go in a bit?" He asked.

"Honestly they're just doing it to get paid and not caring how they do it" "I've thought about killing my step dad and I would have if it was just my mom and not...someone else involved...", she trailed off and looked away.

"Well, I killed my dad." Toby said with a shrug.

"And I let my mom find the body." He put his dishes away.

"I feel like my life would be so much different if I had actually had a decent therapist. I know they're out there and I'm just so pissed that I got a shitty one. If I had one that actually cared, I probably would still be human."

"Lucky you. I would have done the same but I never had the luxury to be selfish. This is the first time I actually put myself first"

She knew that wasn't entirely true either. She would have gladly let masky and hoodie kill her. She wouldn't even have had to put up a fight. But toby was the one who spared her life and he did it for a reason. She promised herself that she would stay alive for him so his efforts wouldn't go in vain. It wouldn't be fair to him if she died. On top of her promises to kill Horacio and avenge her friends. But he doesn't need to know that.

"Yeah I'll be ready to go in a few minutes I just need to brush my hair and teeth real quick." She said not ignoring his previous statement.

Tabby went to her room to get her things and went into the bathroom to do her thing. She came out with a neater looking ponytail. She grabbed the box and headed back to her room to put her things away. She then came back out wearing her thick red plaid jacket that she always wore with her gray hood up and put her new mask on.

"I'm ready to go"

Toby nodded. "Alright. Let's go." He said. He was in his usual attire. It was worn, but clean.

"Do you want to go to the library first, or would you like me to show you around first?"

"I would like to go the library first please if that's okay. Afterwards it will give us time for you to show me around and meet a few people", said Tabby.

"Okay, that works. There are some things that you'll want to know about the library through." Toby explained.

Tabby paused for a minute "which are?" She trailed off.

"Well, the librarians are all disgraced proxies and monsters as well as retired proxies." Toby said.

"And usually you're not supposed to talk to the librarians unless it's for something strictly about the library. However, the librarians are very smart and have very large comprehensive knowledge over things."

Tabby nodded slowly in understanding "okay I got it. I don't usually talk to anyone in general"

"If you get on their good side, they'll defend you though." Toby said. "A lot of stuff can go down at the library."

She snorted "doesn't surprise me"

She had a mini flashback to the library at Rosewood. She was a bookworm and the library was the least sinister place in the school. Even though it too carried it's own dark secrets of Rosewood. Libraries were considered sacred and neutral ground at Rosewood.

Toby knew of a proxy who had gotten beaten to death in the library. The library was usually quiet but sometimes could get very messy. He held the door for her. It was good practice to say goodbye to the desk lady before they left.

"Is that all?" She asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. Would you like me to stay there with you?", he asked.

"Yes please. Two is better than one right?"

She mentally cursed herself for saying yes. She had to prove to him at some point that she could take care of herself and hold her own. But she didn't want to be left in this strange new world that was day 2 for her. Especially around strangers who wouldn't hesitate to kill her if given the chance. If she had someone with her the chances of that happening would be slim to none. And she was taught from a young age that you never go anywhere alone. Especially in Maplehood unless you had too.

"Survival reasons", she told him to justify herself, "I'm fresh meat as it is and curiosity about the new girl is inevitable. I'm crippled and small and I would be alone which means it would be easy for someone to kill me without second thought. I'm young not stupid so it's better to go with someone and only go alone if I absolutely have too".

She babbled on her reasoning to him and she was getting defensive about it because she didn't want him to think that she was a little bitch that can't take care of herself.

Toby understood. She didn't need to justify herself to him, he understood.

"Hey, it really is okay. I'll just sit nearby and maybe chat to a few people." Toby was decently popular.

"Okay… can we go now?" She asked.

"Yeah." Toby said. He moved to let her out of the apartment.

She walked out the front door and waited for Toby. Toby followed her out and led her out of the building. Tabby followed him out of the building and she kept her head down low and her hands in her pockets. She didn't dare make any eye contact for too long and she was quiet. There were already a lot of people outside. Toby heard something.

"Go after that human!"

Toby looked around and saw a small figure darting through the crowd as more and more monsters gathered to watch.

"KILL IT!" Another monster shrieked.

Toby saw the figure dart into an ally and watched a harassed looking proxy going after the human. Ah. A runt being made to chase the human down. Hm.

Tabby snapped her head up and her eyes were wide alert. Toby was facing her so she turned around and got into a fighting stance to attempt to protect him and herself. She was about ready to grab her knives that she had on her. But once she realized that it wasn't for her she let out a quiet sigh in relief. And dropped her defensive posture. But she was still alert just in case.

Toby watched the young proxy attempt to capture the human, then the crowd blocked his view. He shrugged.

"We might as well just go." He said to Tabby. "The library is a couple blocks away from here." He said. He had no interest in trying to watch.

She nodded not saying anything. It was none of her business and curiosity does indeed kill the cat from Tabby's life experiences so far. She went back to keeping her head down and putting her hands in her pockets. She quickly walked away to keep up with Toby and to get away from the scene.

Toby heard whoops in the distance, then groans. Seems like that will take awhile. He sighed.

"Humans sometimes accidentally find portals down here." He explained.

"Makes sense", she said quietly, still not looking up.

That just added on to her anxieties. What if her little brother were to accidentally show up? He was only 7. He would never survive this place nor would she want him to know what she and the others do here for a living.

Toby nodded. They soon arrived at a very tall, somewhat circular building. The door seemed somewhat disproportionate to the size of the building. Toby began to climb up the stairs. This was the library.

Tabby let out a quiet "oh" in awe. She quickly climbed up the stairs.

Toby opened the door for her. The inside of the library was cold, and it was somewhat dark.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

She scurried inside and felt a little more relaxed once the cool air hit her. She took in a deep breath and smelled the familiar smell of a library. She let out a sigh of nostalgia as her eyes got used to the darkness. She saw circular shelves of books one outside another. And they were so high that there was a ladder for those that can't reach the top. Toby followed behind her. The library was blissfully quiet. He saw a few people scattered around but none of them were bothering anyone. Secretly she was fangirling inside as this is what her dream library would be basically. She began to look around for the plant books. Looking up and around at everything practically almost breaking her neck in doing so. Toby let her look around. He saw an old friend of his so he went to go chat with him. A librarian was nearby, quietly hovering by a bookshelf. Tabby grabbed a couple of each. She grabbed two books on edible and poisonous plants. That would be good if she had missions that left her stranded in the woods somewhere. And a couple of books on the plants here and their medical uses which would be good for her since she doesn't trust doctors and would have to take care of her own serious wounds if she got injured. Then she explored a little more avoiding the people like they are the plague. There were a couple of human authors here that she liked and there were other books that she made a mental note of that she might like that she didn't know of. But she wasn't sure how many books she could take out at once. So she just stuck with the books that she planned to take out.

Toby sat next to his friend. EJ glanced up, sensing him here.

"Oh, good morning, Toby."

"Hey Jack. Whatcha up to?"

"Oh, I'm just taking a break from my work. I got Kate to cover my wing of the medbay today so I could spend some time in here."

"How are you reading the books with no eyes?" Toby asked curiously.

"I can just...feel the letters." EJ said.

Toby shook his head with a smile.

"You were always kind of weird."

"Why thank you." EJ said with a laugh.

The two continued to chat. EJ was telling him about another malus that he knew that was opening up a restaurant nearby.

Once Tabby was done looking around she went to what she assumed to be a check out counter and waited patiently. She quickly looked up to make sure that Toby didn't leave her. She saw him near by and saw that he was talking to a guy in a blue mask that appeared to have no eyes. She quickly looked down. Toby and EJ continued to chat. Toby had fond memories of EJ. EJ had been doing what he did since childhood. As a malus, he was raised in this world. EJ had taken a bit of care with Toby when Toby was new. He had shown Toby the ropes and taught him different ways to stalk people and how to get around in the pitch black effectively. He was a good dude. A tall librarian passed them, heading towards Tabby. Tabby stood up straight and shifted her weight uncomfortably. She looked up but not for too long. The librarian stopped in front of her, and pointed her to the self checkout line. You didn't need a card here. You could use your fingerprint or leave something as collateral. Tabby let out a silent 'oh'. She nodded her head and said a quiet 'thank you' to the librarian and went to try to figure out this process. She mentally cringed at herself at how godawful awkward she was being in front of Toby and his friend. It didn't matter if this was her first time it was still cringey and awkward. She figured out the process and used her fingerprint as she was now registered in the library. She held her books close to her chest and continued to look down and walked over towards Toby. Toby didn't care. He knew that it was awkward learning how to do things here. He knew other would've made fun of her but he saw no point in it. As for EJ, he was totally blind. He had no idea. Toby saw her approaching and smiled.

"Oh, hi Tabby. This is Eyeless Jack. EJ for short."

"Just Jack also works." EJ said.

"Hello. It's nice to meet you" she said politely.

She turned to Toby. "I got the books I needed"

EJ nodded and turned back to feeling the book with his fingers.

Toby smiled. "Awesome." He said.

He got up. "You probably want to leave now?"

"You can still do whatever you're doing I can wait" she said looking down.

She was referring to letting Toby finish up his conversation with EJ.

Toby thanked her, and sat back down to continue chatting with EJ.

Tabby sat down a couple of benches over not wanting to be rude and eavesdrop on the conversation. She began to read one of her books. Toby learned that EJ was about to he sent out on a largely lucrative mission. He would be set for awhile. It sounded very tempting too. It was going to be a group thing. Tabby lost herself in the book. She's always been book smart because she loved to learn everything and anything that she could that wouldn't get herself killed. Toby noted that she was pretty engrossed so he just let her read. EJ let slip that the boss was looking for a group of proxies to do it with him, since part of it was infiltrating a school and he obviously couldn't do that. Tabby continued reading. She was in her favorite reading position. Back against the corner, leaning against the wall and having her legs curled up. Toby eventually finished up his conversation and headed over to Tabby to ask if she still wanted to be shown around. Tabby nodded and closed her book and got up. Toby grinned.

"Awesome." He said.

He was honestly a little excited to show her around.

Tabby was smiling stupidly at Toby being excited but thank god he couldn't see under her mask. She followed behind him and said goodbye to the desk person and walked out the door. Toby led her out towardsTabby was honestly excited. This was the first time she's had total freedom before. Sure she was still suspicious and wary of everyone and everything around her. And she was still concerned with surviving another day in this new world. But with Toby leading her and she herself looking around her surroundings. She realized that she was having some sort of fun. And it brought a sense of peace for now. It's been a while since she's had either. The street. Just ahead of them on the other side was what seemed to be some sort of marketplace. Toby knew that she would probably be okay as she had a mask on. No one really messed with proxies, at least, not in this public of a setting. He led her across the street and to the market place.

"This is sort of like what humans would call a farmer's market." Toby explained to Tabby.

One old, squat green woman was next to a cart of strange, berry-like orbs that pulsated and glowed. A tall creature with hulking claws and sharp teeth was next to a booth where Toby could hear meowing and barking. A proxy woman with a pale blue mask was standing next to a cart with jewelry displayed. Toby knew that woman was a member of the WPA and that that jewelry probably wasn't all that it seemed. A man with pointy ears and a long tail was obviously some type of snack vendor. There were even more booths and carts than Toby could see.

She looked at Toby. Although he did spare her life and was so nice to her. She wanted to start trusting him little by little and maybe just maybe have him considered as...a friend. She looked away and shook her head. There's no way that she could possibly move on. Not when she still has to avenge her friends and moving on equates to forgetting to her. And she promised herself that she wouldn't forget. Besides he was a killer he really shouldn't be trusted. He could easily kill her at anytime. She looked at him as he was explaining the supermarket to her. Perhaps under different circumstances and in another place in time. They would have been the best of friends. Definitely would have tied for first place with Autumn.

She nodded her head eagerly in understanding.

"it's definitely livelier than the human ones. Sometimes my mom would take me to them in the summer and falls. Since that's when they're open. She liked to look around and attempts to cook with fresh foods. I accidentally got free food from there once", Tabby explained a little excitedly.

Toby nodded and smiled. He had never been to a farmer's market as a human but Hoodie had told him what it was like. Toby continued to lead her through the stalls, pointing out things he knew. He pointed at the squat woman with the orbs. "She's selling Tethered, which are kind of pets? I think they're more similar to familiars but I'm not sure. They're really good for neutralizing anxiety and also some will kill people who threaten you. Jeff has one named Smile”.

He pointed at another creature.

"He sells pets. Mainly just cats and dogs but I think he has a few birds. Mostly pigeons though."

They passed by the woman with the jewelry, where another sign said 'CONCEALED WEAPONRY. ASK FOR DETALS'. The snack vendor was selling some odd looking food. Toby grimaced. The monster was probably a cannibal. They passed someone selling dried plants and herbs. They passed Bloody Painter selling his art. There were tricks and laughter and even some games being played. One booth sold cursed items. Another sold weapons, but not just standard knives. One woman was selling psychic services. There were so many things to do. Toby was a little overwhelmed with it all but he did his best not to show it.

"There's clothes too I think."

Tabby looked around her anxiety was picking up. She occasionally fidgeted with her shirt before catching herself and smoothening it out before picking back up on the habit again. There was just too many people there for both of their tastes. She could tell he was getting a little anxious too since she is the queen of anxiety. There was somethings she would have liked to try and buy but she didn't want to bother Toby so she stayed silent for awhile

"There's a lot of things to do here...I can't wait until I get my own money".

She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw a water color painting by the bloody painter. It started out as a campfire then the embers turned into birds and then the birds turned into stars in the galaxy looking sky. Transitional paintings as Autumn would call them. What made her stopped dead in her tracks was that it was Autumns favorite medium to work with and that was exactly the tattoo she described that she wanted when she turned 18. She died before then. Tabbys eyes showed a mixture of sadness, pain and nostalgia.

Toby turned to check on her and could see that she was hurt. He decided to not push it as it was probably personal. He decided to try to just talk to her about something else.

"Jack was telling me about a long mission that he was going to go on, and that he needed proxies to go with him." He said with a shrug. "I was thinking of volunteering. Would you like to go too? It would be field training, very good pay, and a way to get to know other proxies you may work with in the future."

Tabby shook her head to get rid of the memories. She looked at Toby with a confused expression for a moment before processing what he just said. She looked at him unsurely.

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea...but training has to start somewhere I guess...I won't get anywhere if I do nothing..."

"What's the mission exactly?" She looked at him suspiciously.

"It's an infiltration mission." Toby explained.

"Infiltrating a school." He said.

"It would be for about a half a year or so? But we would be given an allowance and a house to stay in while we're there. Since you and I look young, we would be the infiltrators. If we go, Masky and Hoodie probably would too. I think they might pretend to be married and our parents." Toby smiled. That would be fun.

Tabby gave him a funny weird look.

"That would make siblings...for the mission I mean" she giggled.

"I never had a decent older brother before...you'd be much better than my other one" she stopped abruptly and mentally cursed herself again that she gave out too much information. She wouldn't drag her family into this, especially her little brother Adam. She had a more serious look to her. Wait which school?..." she hoped that it wasn't what she thought it was.

Toby smiled at her.

"I'll do my best to be a decent brother." He joked.

He thought for a bit and realized he didn't necessarily know which school it was, only that there was a target within the school.

She laughed.

"I'll think about it" she said thoughtfully.

"If the school was Rosewood or the Maplehood Creek school system. I really can't go back there as I've been missing for two days now so people are probably looking. Courtesy from the police. And that would put the team at risk and I'm not having that. However I can tell you the best ways to sneak in and out. And pointers on what to do and who you should stay away from. Even though he's a measly human compare to you I don't want to take any chances he has a way of getting into your head", she said and became more quiet after mentioning Horacio.

She really wouldn't mind if Horacio was the target. Finally the bastard has what's coming to him. All she would ask for is let her do the kill. However what if it's not? What if it's a child? Specifically her little brother. That thought spiked her anxiety as she picked back up the habit of fidgeting with her shirt again "Hey I got a few questions".

"Well, if it is in that school district, then I'm sure we could find a way to disguise you. We have our ways." Toby smiled.

"Monsters who don't want to work with proxies have these pills that allows them to change their appearance." Toby explained.

"Though it really only works on non-mali monsters, so EJ can't use em." Toby knew EJ sold those pills however. Toby continued to walk.

"Hm?" He would answer any question to the best of his ability.

"Would it be possible to set up a bank account in the human world? Anonymously of course. Since we're getting paid for these missions. I promised myself that I would get this person out of Maplehood when they're old enough. But I'm here now so idk how that would work out and I don't want to be in trouble or drag them into my own mess. Also, would we get in trouble for killing someone on a mission when we're not ordered too? Because if it is Rosewood I know exactly who I need to go for”.

Toby looked a little confused.

"We have no real need for human money here. We earn our own currency here." He said.

"If we did, then this world would be flooded by international currencies and business is so much harder to do." He said.

"There are ways to get human money, but usually we trade in for it at our bank or we just steal cash from victims." He said.

"And no, we wouldn't get in trouble for killing if not ordered to. He said. "A lot of us go out killing for fun. It shouldn't be a problem."

"Ohh.." she said a little sadly at the first part. Then she'll just have to rely on Adam making the right choices then. "Good" she said at the second part.

"But in all actual seriousness if it is Rosewood. Stay away from Horacio at all costs if you can. Don't take anything from him, don't give anything to him, don't talk to him, and don't believe a word he says either. I don't care if he's human it's best to not take any chances. Rosewood isn't exactly a great place to be. It's a place to break your spirit and to become more broken than what a person is now." She spoke frantically but she stopped herself and took a couple of deep breaths to calm down.

Her tone became more cold and harsh "if he is the target all I ask is to leave him to me. I'll take care of him" there was like a cold anger, vicious, darker feel around her. "However on a different note" her tone gradually left the coldness and harsher bite to it "and these are all ifs. I could show you which backroads to use to sneak around town and which spots are excellent hideouts" she added.

Toby nodded. He knew better than to fall for any sort of human nonsense. But then again. They had no idea if that school would even be Rosewood. He hoped it wouldn't be, though he assumed the school would be in a similar area. He was somewhat excited. He let EJ know over phone to contact Masky and see if they should do this mission. He never really experienced high school and would honestly love to. Tabby stayed quiet for some time. Just having time to mull over her thoughts. She took the time to observe Toby. It made her smile to see him excited about something even if it was subtle. She thought about it from his perspective. He told her that he's been homeschooled so for someone who's never been in a social school setting before she could understand why it would be exciting to him. Autumn would have loved having him around. He would have made a great addition to the dysfunctional family she used to have.

She finally spoke up "but whatever school it is. We'll figure out together as a team right?"

She sounded much more confident than she ever did or felt. And her tone had a hint of hope and optimism in it.

"Since Jane told me that proxies work in groups and it's normally with people that they work well with or semi trust" she added quickly and looked down and went back to being quiet.

"I just don't want to see you hurt and broken more than what you are...especially if it's Rosewood" she mumbled that was barely audible.

Toby nodded, eyes shining.

"Yeah! As a team." He said with a bright smile.

He liked that idea. He also figured the boss would put Tabby with their group anyways. He hadn't heard what she had mumbled. He saw a group of monster children playing on some sort of metal spiderweb. Toby suddenly felt a little anxious. Oh god. Going back to school. Would be be made fun of again? Would he be bullied again? His mind began to travel further and further down that path until he felt a sense of incredible calm wash over him. He saw, holding onto his wrist, a warm golden rope. Thread. Whatever. Seeing that he calmed down, the tendril loosened and pulled away. Toby looked around and saw The Puppeteer nearby. Ah. That was probably it.

Tabby laughed at his childishness. For a moment she had a mini flashback to when she and autumn were alone. Whether it was after school before she had to go home or when they would sneak out at night together. Tabby would go on her rants of stupidly hopeful optimistic childishness stuff. Autumn would smile and listened to her. Only with her and Toby the roles were in reverse. Tabby was playing the part of Autumn and Toby was playing the part of a younger and more hopeful version of Tabby.

She won't admit it to anyone ever especially to Toby. But her entire past and heart just melted away when he said 'yeah like a team'. The only team that she had was her friend group. She hasn't had that in a long time. Strangely enough she felt at peace with him and she had a glimmer of a future. Perhaps one with him in it?. She made another promise to herself that she would stay alive long enough to protect Toby from getting bullied at school for the mission. At whatever cost. For a moment and she made sure no one was looking she looked at him like he was the best thing in this world.

She looked over to where he was looking and saw a ghostly figure with golden strings. She then put two and two together "so that's the puppeteer" she said in thought in realization "maybe I'll go talk to him and see what's he about" she also said in thought

She spoke up after coming back from being lost in her thoughts "who was that guy with the golden strings?"

Toby smiled.

"That is The Puppeteer." He said.

The Puppeteer was pretty decent to know. Since he was a ghost, he didn't really have a home and he stayed with people, took away their negative feelings, and he was usually welcome. Toby would often see him around Bria- Hoodie. But at the moment, he was hanging around a short girl with a pale, crusty-looking mask. Oh. Kate. Kate wasn't wearing her med mask so she wasn't working. They seemed to be chatting with each other. Toby told Tabby about Kate.

"That's Kate, or the Chaser. She is a really good medic." He said. Kate was a brilliant proxy and a brilliant medic. She is one of the more prominent medics, specially trained by EJ. She keeps secrets well." He had great respect for Kate. She helped a friend of his out with a very...awkward situation.

"Interesting..." she mused to herself

"Although the idea is tempting I think I just have too much emotional baggage too the point where he can't take away all of it" she looked at Toby then at Kate distrustfully

"But I don't like doctors"

"Oh you'd be surprised how much he could take." Toby said with a laugh.

"And I know, I know. Kate doesn't treat people unless they ask or need it." Kate would refuse service too if people were assholes about it.

She gave a bitter chuckle "you don't know the half of what I've been through"

She gave a thoughtful look over to Kate "well that's good I guess"

Toby sighed.

"Pretty much everyone here who used to be human has been through some sort of hell here." He assured her.

Toby remembered a time when some monster was ranting to Kate, in her own medbay, about how useless she was. Kate had just stood up, and told him to get the hell out. Kate was very no-nonsense.

Tabby sighed and continued walking with him. The market place was getting busier and she didn't want to be left behind so she sped up her pace to catch up with him. Toby led her past carts with clothes and other things. Toby wondered if he should get some things, maybe a new coat or something. There were some things that he could use. Tabby saw and liked a lot of things but she didn't want to bother him and waste his own money. There were also free samples of food being given out. Tabby wanted to try some due to her curiosity but between her anxiety, paranoia and not knowing if the food was poisonous or not. She decided against it. Toby would have purchased her things if she would have asked. He was a good proxy after all; he wasn't broke or anything. He saw a juice sample being offered for free and thought it looked interesting so he got a free sample of it and sipped it. It was pretty good.

"Can I have a sample?", She asked shyly,  "if it's not poisoned that is"

"Sure." Toby said.

He went and got her a sample as well.

"Poisons aren't really all that popular here but you can get something to test food for poison." He said.

"You can never be too safe", she said as she took the juice she sniffed it just to be sure.

"Smells good" she said in thought.

She took a sip "mmmm" she had a big smile on her face. It tasted like apples and berries.

"What is this exactly? And where can I get the food tester thing?".

Toby smiled.

"I think Nat makes the juice." He stated, finishing his sample.

"This is just juice. Non-alcoholic." He said.

"You can get the food testers at stores and some restaurants have single use ones." He said.

"This is good" she finished up the last of the juice.

"Let's go" she said excitedly ready to continue this adventure.

Toby smiled.

"Okay! Do you want to stay here or go somewhere else?" He asked.

"Let's try somewhere else", she said.

"Okay!" Toby continued to lead her along.

He was going to show her around a downtown area. Tabby stayed close to him so she wouldn't get lost. There was still enough personal space between them but with the occasional arm brushing up against the other's arm. Toby understood. It was whatever. The downtown area was much less crowded. It was very nice. There were shops, restaurants, and other places. They passed a pet shop. Tabby stopped dead in her tracks as she saw a black, white and orange kitten with a little tear in its ear. She immediately were up to the glass like she was drawn to it. The kitten was play fighting with the other kittens and then it came to playfully attack Tabby through the window but it bounced off and tumbled backwards a little. Tabby giggled. Toby smiled and let her stay and watch the cat. It was pretty cute. He knew this place treated the pets well. This place also was a vet place. He got Nugget's shots there.

She turned to him.

"I used to have an orange cat back where I used to live. Well he wasn't really mine he was a stray but he did follow me home a couple of times. But my apartment didn't allow pets. So after school I would spend time with him if my friends were too busy. His name is Mac which is short for mac and cheese."

For just a moment her eyes were full of child like wonder instead of there usual haunted, knowing, and troubled look that they usually had. For a moment she looked young and hopeful instead of her usual mature tough girl look.

Toby smiled.

"You want to go in and see the rest of the cats?" He offered.

They might as well. He knew Masky picked up shifts there when he wasn't busy. It was a nice place with decent staff and of course, lots of cute animals.

Tabby nodded excitedly "yeah!"

"That kitten in there is a rough and tumble troublemaker" she grinned.

Toby grinned, and led her inside. The place was loud, with the sounds of cats, dogs, birds, and other animals occupying the space. Tabby played and petted the puppies in their cages and talking to them before the said kitten jumped out of the display cage and padded over towards Tabby and headbutted her from behind to get her attention. She turned around "why hello there again troublemaker" she cooed at the kitten and picked it up and pet it with one hand and the puppies with the other. She was sitting down and was frantically trying to give each animal equal love and affection. Toby let her do so. He smiled. It was very nice to see her happy. He went to go check in the back where he found the old monster who ran this shop. He was a wrinkled grey creature with stringy silver hair. He had a cage with him and was examining a cat on the table. The old monster had specially made glasses for all six of his eyes. The lenses were thick. The cat was sleek and black, and seemed to be very chubby. The monster, who people just called Ed, was muttering to himself in a nasally voice as he looked over the cat. But in the end she had all of the cats on her as she was being smothered in kitty affection. She sighed in defeat.

Toby came over to check on her just as Ed brought out the new cat to put in a separate enclosure. Tabby was laying in defeat on the floors the herd of kittens were all over her. She looked up at Toby.

"I was ambushed".

Toby laughed.

"You were overwhelmed. There were too many of them."

"There's no such thing as too many. The problem here is that I don't have enough limbs"

She gently shook the kittens to get them off of her. She gently put them back in their display cage by the window.

"We could change that." Toby joked.

Ed was totally ignoring the two of them.

"You know, you could always work here between missions." He said. "For a little side cash, you know."

Tabby laughed.

"It would make multitasking easier" she joked back.

She tilted her head to the side, "I think I would like that".

Toby laughed.

"We can cut off some random human's arms and have EJ attach em to you." He joked some more. "The only time I'll let any doctors near me" she joked back.

Toby laughed.

"Fair enough." He said.

"Where are we going now?", she asked.

"Hm. We could finish the downtown tour. I could take you to Nat's- sorry I mean Clockwork's- bar.".

"I'm old enough here to drink?" She tilted her head to the left as she often did when she was confused

"Then again I've been sneaking alcohol and playing bartender to the people I lived with since I was 12. I know how to mix drinks quite well".

Toby looked at her and laughed.

"This is literally a haven of killers, and you think there's a drinking age here?" He said.

"If you're under ten you can drink if your parents are with you, but that's the only restriction I've seen."

Tabby laughed and looked down.

"Fair enough" she shrugged her shoulders as she walked with Toby.

Toby led her down the street. It was pretty hot out. Tabby looked around at her surroundings. Although it was pretty hot out she didn't complain. Toby knew the bar was a couple of blocks down. He began to lead the way. Tabby stuck close to Toby. She kept her head down to avoid the other people. Toby understood. They passed by an alley and Toby heard the unmistakable sounds of someone getting beat up. Tabby heard the sounds too. She sucked in a breath as she physically cringed deeper into her jacket as she remembered her own beatings by her step dad and her fist fights with Horacio and others at Rosewood. Her entire body jerked as she felt the phantom pains of her past beatings. She walked quicker. Toby ignored it. This happened if you got too cocky. That was why it was good to have friends here. Masky told him to make sure everyone liked him so they wouldn't beat him. That's what Masky did and it worked. It took a couple of minutes before the phantom pain died down and a couple of more minutes for her to uncoil from her jacket and then pretended like nothing happened.

Toby soon saw the lights of the bar. Thank god. He made a beeline for the place. It was crowded but never uncomfortably so. Tabby followed him. She saw the lights and how crowded it is. She gulped as her social anxiety kicked in. It was pretty tame at the moment. Nat was tending to the bar. Others sat and talked amongst themselves. Tabby quietly looked around at her surroundings. There was still a lot of people but not as much as Tabby was expecting so her anxiety died down a little. The situation around her was pretty mellow so she didn't have to worry about either one of them getting into some sort of trouble. She relaxed a little. Toby asked her if she wanted to get a non-alcoholic drink. He figured that since it was so early, drinking alcohol wouldn't feel good. Sure some people day drank, but he didn't peg Tabby as the type to really want to. Quite a few of the patrons at the bar were drinking non-alcoholic drinks, or drinks with just a small amount.

"I'll have an alcoholic drink thank you very much", said Tabby.

Toby shrugged. Alrighty. That was fine with him. Tabby ordered some coconut rum mixed with coca-cola. Toby just got a soda. He didn't feel like drinking and never really drank a lot. Because Tabby is short her legs dangled off the ground as she was sitting on her bar stool. She looked around at the other people but was careful not to look for too long. Some looked normal, and others looked absolutely freakish. Their drinks were set in front of them. Toby sipped his soda. Tabby casually sipped her drink as she felt the familiar warmth rushing to her cheeks and ears. She hummed quietly as she felt somewhat content with having her a drink that reminded her of home somewhat. Toby did his best to limit his consumption of alcohol. He didn't want to end up like his dad. Nat was cleaning glasses behind the bar.

"So what do you normally do when you're not on missions and showing the new person around?", asked Tabby.

She cringed at herself internally at how awkward she was at conversation starters.

"Uh...well, I train, honestly. You really never stop learning. But when I have time for myself I do a lot of social stuff. Like come here.", said Toby awkwardly.

She tilted her head "makes sense. I like to learn a lot too. A wise person once told me that the more you know the less you have something to be afraid of. After all you can't be afraid of something if you know what that thing is" she said thoughtfully.

Toby smiled.

"Yeah, that's a good way of thinking about it." He said.

He took another sip of his drink right when his phone buzzed. Proxies had really crappy phones, usually burners, but Toby could receive texts. It was from Masky, saying that the Slenderman confirmed they could go on this mission and that they would leave in a couple of days. It would be good practice for Tabby. Tabby looked at his phone in a mixture of confusion and curiosity. Toby explained that they had been confirmed on the mission.

"So we're going then?" She asked.

She looked at herself weird "it's been awhile since I've used 'we' and 'us' terms. It's a nice change"

"Yeah, we are!" Toby said. "And I'm guessing that since you're coming, the boss wants us in a group together." Toby seemed pretty excited at the concept.

Tabby genuinely smiled which gave a lopsided grin and gave her dimples and crinkles underneath her eyes.

"Better now than never I guess!" She was done with her drink.

Toby finished his up. He smiled. He then told her the name of the school.

"The school is called Greengrove High. It's near Rosewood, but it's not in either school district. It's a public school but has a small attendance rate."

She sighed in relief.

"Thank thy fucking lord. I know where that is, it's in Maplehood still. I'm told it's a lot like Rosewood but it's not a prestigious school. So no rich folks only problematic and semi intelligent people".

She was still thinking, "I can still show you the best ways to sneak around town and I can still get my revenge hopefully" she looked more visibly relaxed now that she thought she didn't have to protect him from Horacio.

However she still planned to keep her silent promise to protect him from bullies since she knew there were bound to be some.

She realized something.

"Hey! I don't have to wear school uniforms anymore... jesus it's been 8 years since I've been in a public school"

"Yeah! You know a lot more about the towns than we do- well I think Hoodie is pretty familiar with the town actually. I think his brother lives there. Anyways, we can meet up with them and EJ later. I think preparations are being made for us to live in a building close to the school." He said.

He laughed about the uniforms comment. "Yeah! And I won't have to wear a mask. And I can go to classes...and meet people my age..."

"But he's a doctor....I don't like doctors why are we going to see him?" she said slowly.

Some would notice and some would not but once Toby said 'meet people my age' there was a flash of jealousy on her face that quickly dissipated.

"Because he's the one who got the mission first." Toby said.

"If you tell him to back off, he will." He assured her. Toby didn't notice. He was too caught up in his excitement. Real people! His age! And he maybe won't even have to kill them!

Tabby sighed "fair enough"

She then became more relaxed once again and spoke more softly.

"I'll be back in familiar territory again. I'll be up against people my own age who are give or take in intelligence and strength. So maybe my anxiety won't skyrocket and maybe I won't have to fight to survive another day as much"

Toby nodded.

"I don't think it will be so bad!" He sounded very optimistic about the whole situation. He couldn't wait.

Tabby gave him the same genuine lopsided grin. She absolutely adored his optimism.

Toby was excited for the whole thing.

"Plus this mission will pay super well. You would be able to afford almost anything. And...I bet the boss would pay in human cash if you wanted...".

Tabby nodded thoughtfully.

"That would definitely help me fulfill one of my promises that I made".

Toby nodded and smiled. He decided to just get a water. The soda he had gotten was already a big deviation from his regular diet. Tabby didn't order anything else one drink was enough for the day. She just quietly observed everything around her and tried to discreetly look at Toby more without making herself look more like a creep and blatantly staring. Toby finished his water. He paid for their drinks.

"So! Should we continue the tour?" He asked with a happy smile. His stomach had settled from the soda. He usually didn't drink that.

Tabby nodded her head eagerly with a smile "I'd like that very much" she slid off her bar stool to go follow him.

Toby waved bye to other people at the bar, avoiding looking at Clockwork as he led Tabby out. Tabby noticed that he avoided talking or looking at clockwork like the plague. But she quickly decided that it wasn't her place to ask questions and be privy to other people's personal information. But she made a mental note of it. She followed Toby out of the bar and into the streets. Toby led her past a couple of buildings and told her what they were.

"Oh, that's Bloody Painter's art studio. The one next to it is a medbay. The building past that is monster's only, so don't even worry about it. Next to that is BEN's 'office' area. A few shops. There's the Eastern Main Mission Center. Thankfully we're proxies so we don't use that that much. Oh, there's a training gym. You might want to head there later. It does more than train you how to fight. It's pretty cool."

She listened thoughtfully. She looked at the bloody painter's art studio. She sucked in a breath as the nostalgia of Autumn kicked in hard. Autumn would have gotten on well with the bloody painter since they were both artistic. She shook her head to clear her head.

"That's good to know. I can gain more skills and take down Horacio once and for all. The more I know and able to do the better off I am".

Toby nodded.

"Yeah! They teach you some pretty cool stuff there." He said.

"Like I learned some neat tracking tricks there."

He looked around the area. A few monsters mulled around but there were barely any proxies. Toby knew that they were close to monster territory but knew better than to take Tabby there. She tilted her head to the right as she often did when she was being thoughtful

"That could be useful"

           She noticed that there were less of...them and more of the monsters.

           "I see there's less of us as we keep walking" "Yeah, we're close to some monsters only territory." Toby said, continuing to walk and starting to speed up.

           Tabby sped up with him. She kept her head down and she started to fidget with the bottom of her shirt again. She prayed that they wouldn't get into any kind of trouble. You could visibly see that she was uneasy.

"You'll be fine." Toby had noticed her unease.

"They usually don't go for proxies unless you actually step into the monsters only area. Oh look, there's Masky."

Masky was standing off to the side, chatting and laughing with some monster that Toby didn't know.  

She eyed Toby suspiciously. She didn't really trust him for her own protection but she decided that her chances of survival would be better if she still stuck with him. She stood up straight and carried an emotionless expression and straightened out her shirt as she narrowed her eyes at Masky.

"Ah, the man who was about to kill me last night".

"Uh, yeah. And your new team leader." Toby said awkwardly.

They really shouldn't have any problems here as long as Tabby kept her mouth shut, which she was probably going to do until they were in a safer area. She probably knew that there wasn't much he could do if she decided to pick a fight. It would make them both seem cowardly if he intervened on her behalf again.

"Are you serious?" She said in disbelief but she kept her voice low.

She paused for a minute to asses the situation that was about to come up. Tabby was taught at a young age to know her place and keep her mouth shut. She really couldn't fight Masky since he was older and more experienced plus he had another person with him so she would be out numbered. She didn't want to drag Toby into her fights. As she specifically told him not to fight her battles for her. So she'll take the shit that Masky gives her. Tabby looked pissed but she gave Toby a look that was full of resignation and that she'll back off.

Toby nodded.

"Yeah, really." He said.

He knew that she'd be surprised when she actually talked to him later. When Masky isn't trying to kill someone, he's a really pleasant dude. He's so pleasant that sometimes Toby forgets that he's a bloodthirsty proxy.

"He'll be part of training you." Toby told her.

"And I'm sure Hoodie will help as well." He smiled awkwardly under his mouthguard.

Tabby huffed but she kept her mouth shut and crossed her arms in a defensive manner. If anything she's more passive to people that she hates that she can't beat.

"I'll learn what I can and I'll work with them but outside of that I want nothing to do with them".

"Yeah, good luck with that." Toby said with a laugh. He continued on.

"It's not funny! I'm serious!" She hissed as she ran after him to catch up.

Toby raised his eyebrows.

"It is. Just a little bit." He said good-naturedly. He slowed down a bit.

She playfully hit his arm and caught up with him. She was just fake mad at him. Toby laughed. He knew she was just teasing, and it didn't hurt anyways. Tabby was in a slightly better mood after that. So she could deal with Maskys shit a little bit easier. Toby laughed. They passed the monster's only area and were in a much safer place now. Tabby's defensiveness died down somewhat and she was semi relaxed.Toby smiled. They passed by a weird warehouse looking place.  Tabby looked at the warehouse with curiosity. She realized that they have been walking for a long time now. But she didn't mind it since she was always on her feet for hours on end. Which is why she can't feel a thing the heels of her feet.

"Oh, that's where a bunch of...um...stuff goes down. You don't need to worry about it. I wouldn't advise going in there though." Toby said.

He didn't even go in there. He knew proxies who went in there and never came out.

Tabby nodded

"Well I don't plan on going in there anytime soon...or ever..." she went disturbingly quiet after that.

Toby nodded. They passed what looked like a daycare. Toby smiled a bit. He could see out in the yard. Little monster kids playing on a playground. Tabby stopped for a moment she gave a soft smile. It reminded her of when she and Adam used to go to daycare. But because Tabby was one of the older kids she would help out with the younger kids. And at the end of the day she would push Adam in his stroller on their way home if their mom was still working and if her step dad was too lazy to get them. But she didn't mind it though she enjoys taking care of Adam. Because it proves to herself that she's not a bad person contrary to what her step dad tells her. Her eyes were once again filled with a sense of nostalgia and I daresay a little bit of homesickness. Despite it not really being a good place. Toby smiled. He remembered when he first came here. He was surprised that people like them could have families here. He was under the impression that most, if not all of them, were created by their bosses. But then he learned more and learned that most proxies were born here and raised here and trained here. It was...weirdly sweet. Tabby realized that she missed her little brother and she hoped that he wouldn't be dragged into her new fucked up lifestyle. She also hoped that he would be okay without her. Well he was going to have to be whether he liked it or not. In order to take care of him she needed to take care of herself. She deemed it as a form of tough love.

"Hey Toby I have another question", she piped up.

"Yeah, what's up?" Toby asked as they passed by the daycare.

They passed a few places that looked like houses and a park-like area. He glanced around. Basically no one was outside. That was great.

"I know that relationships with other humans is ....prohibited...but would it be okay if every now and then if I were to go up to the human world and just periodically check up on...this person...just stalking in a distance no interactions whatsoever?", she asked.

Toby seemed to stare off into the distance for a bit. He looked...sad.

"Yeah...I suppose it's okay, but only if you don't tell anyone. Especially your boss."

Toby seemed to be lost in thought. In reality he was thinking about his mother.

Tabby nodded.

"Well I don't plan on telling anyone else...so yeah"

She realized that Toby was deep in thought because she does the exact same thing he does when she is deep in thought.

"Hey, are you okay?" She said slowly.

"Huh?" Toby seemed to snap out of it.

"Oh yeah, yeah I'm fine." He said. He tried to give her a reassuring smile as he checked his watch.

"Oh, damn. It's a lot later than I thought it was."

She gave him a look that said 'I don't believe you' but she let it go. She learned that in order to keep a friend you don't push shit.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No." Toby said. He furrowed his brows.

"We probably should eat something. But only if you're hungry. If you're not, we could try some training or something."

"I'm not hungry yet. We could try some training. It's either now or never" she said eagerly.

Toby looked sort of excited.

"Okay. To preface this I can't teach you everything. There's some stuff I don't know how to do. You'll have to get either Masky or Hoodie to teach you those things, okay?"

He turned and began making his way back to the gym. They could train there. Unless Tabby wanted to stay outside where it was hot enough to fry an egg on the pavement.

"Fair enough" she followed Toby to the gym.

Toby was quick, so he got there a little before Tabby did. He was kind of excited. Tabby ran to meet him there. She was actually very fast and wasn't out of breath when she caught up to him at the gym entrance. Toby opened the door for her. Air conditioning blasted through the door way. The gym smelled like a combination of heavy air freshener, sweat, and blood.

"This smells like the gym at Rosewood" said Tabby out of nowhere.

Toby laughed. "Well I mean I figure all gyms smell the same."

Tabby tilted her head to the right

"Well the gym at Maplehood elementary school smelled like fresh lemons and dirty gym socks".

"Gross." Toby wrinkled his nose but smiled.

He led her past the check in desk. That was only for if they wanted the higher tech training things or if they wanted to sign up for a class. He led her into the main room. There were quite a few people, all of whom were training. There was a small arena off to the side where two men were fighting each other rather aggressively with knives. There was a station near the middle with what seemed like flashcards and little trays of things. There was a rope course up on the ceiling, with the only access point being a climbing rope. There were weights, training dummies, and human-shaped cutouts that served as targets, all in various states of disrepair. Toby knew the better training gym was about two hours from this location, but it was still decent. If they wanted the better stuff, they had to sign in.

"So where do you want to start?" She said as she took off her jacket and set on a near by bench and tightened up her ponytail.

"Hm. Well, I'm not too good at long distance stuff. You'll have to ask Hoodie for that." Toby mused. He glanced at the rock wall, but figured that with her messed up hand, that wouldn't be too nice. A female proxy was working at the station near the middle.

"Oh, you said you wanted to learn plant stuff, right?"

Tabby nodded her head eagerly "yeah I did why?"

Toby led her to the middle station. In the little containers were different kinds of plants from the human world and from the monster world. It was a type of memory game. Tabby is awful at memory but she did recognize all of the plants from the human world due to books and growing up in the woods. She recognized a few plants from here from the book that she was currently reading. But in time she learned what the majority of plants were and their uses. After 5-6 tries. Tabby was getting quicker and better at the memory game after an hour. Toby was happy about that. He wasn't all too good with this sort of plant stuff. Tabby was satisfied when she got the hang of it and went back over to Toby.

Toby smiled.

"Cool! Er, you can choose what you want to learn next, okay?" He was new to the whole training thing.

"Well...I'm pretty good close range fighting...Although I don't really have any grace...my skills are pretty unorthodox....I'm good with weapons but they're harder to control than fists...", she was self analyzing herself.

"Well, we can work on that!" Toby said happily.

"I think I will be able to help you clean up your moves and whatnot." Toby seemed pretty excited.

"Also one of the trainers here is missing an arm. He could show you some cool stuff that I probably couldn't."

"Use every body part if you can in a fight or any blunt object you can get your hands on if it turned into that" she said with a shrug.

"Yeah, that's pretty good advice." Toby said. He had no idea where to start.

"Well at Rosewood I was a known fighter and straight A student. Other kids always tried to pick fights with me once they knew I could make Horacio turn tail. Often times it started out as fist fights, then weapons and then just dirty unfair fighting. So I learned quickly to be well rounded"

She nodded her head and turned to look at Toby.

"I know how to break someone's arm in 3 different places with one move. I could show it to you if you want" she said excitedly. Toby laughed. "Maybe later. And not on me, please. Just because I can't feel any pain doesn't mean that I can't be messed up." He grinned. He glanced over at a knife throwing station. He saw an older proxy there, a tall, very buff woman with lots of tattoos. He watched. She nailed each target with deadly accuracy. Her curly light brown, almost blonde hair was in a tight ponytail.

Tabby quickly "oh no no I'm not actually going to break your arm but I can walk you through the motions"

She looked confused when he said he couldn't feel pain

"How and why?"

"It's fine! Maybe later." Toby had responded. He didn't really feel like explaining CIPA at the moment so he just said that that was what he had and he couldn't feel pain because of it,

Tabby nodded slowly and gave him an unsure look "alrighty then" she decided to change the subject "So who's that lady over there?" She pointed to the one throwing knives.

"That's Laura." Toby said.

"She's one of the older proxies. She's sort of like a cool aunt. She is also incredibly deadly so I wouldn't mess with her. She's pretty chill though."

"She's sounds cool" said Tabby tilted her head in thought.

"I have pretty good precision when it comes to throwing things Although my accuracy is a hit or miss more times than not"

"Nice. Laura does a lot of work with people regarding accuracy with knives and guns. She was the one that trained Hoodie on it."

She nodded and paused for a minute "would it be okay if I asked her to help me practice better?" She looked warily at the stranger.

"Yeah, it would!" Toby knew Laura was pretty decent. She had a good reputation of only beating up people who deserved it.

She gave Toby a look that said "I don't really trust you with this" she looked at the stranger with the same look. But if she wanted to learn which she did then she was going to have to push away her social anxiety and seek out the help herself. She gave Toby a curt nod and recompose herself. She stood up straight and kept her neutral expression which was a bored, slightly put upon expression. She walked up to Laura. She cleared her throat.

"Excuse me?" She said in a polite tone but still assertive enough to catch her attention. She held her breath and prayed that she wouldn't hit her or attack her in any way.

Laura turned, and glanced at her. She had the same level of suspicion, but then noticed the certain look Tabby had. A new proxy. She could tell just by looking at her and the way she stood. Her distrustful posture eased away and she offered her a smile.

"Oh. Hey. You need something?" It was instinctual. She couldn't help it.

Tabby shifted uncomfortably but still stood her ground. Her suspicion and defensive posture dropped a little as Laura's suspicion dropped too. She gave a small polite smile in return.

"Hello. My name is Tabby, I saw that you were good at throwing knives with good precision and and accuracy. I'm pretty good myself my precision is good but my accuracy is a hit or miss more often than not. I was wondering if you could give me some pointers" she looked down waiting for the rejection of 'get lost kid you're not worth my time'. She still proceeded with wary and caution during the interaction.

"Sure thing, kid." Laura said with an indulging look in her eyes.

She stepped back.

"First, let me see you throw." She said. Her voice was rough but not aggressive. Her tattoos seemed to ripple and move even when she stood perfectly still. She wasn't the type to tell people to get lost. If they were respectful, she would teach them. She handed Tabby some throwing knives.

Tabby took the knife into her right hand. She held it in the correct way to throw. She turned her head a little to get better aim. She adjusted her arm and threw the knife with a flick of her wrist. It it the bullseye due to the centripetal force from the flick of her wrist. Her voice reminded her of her mom with her gruff exterior. For a moment she had a flash of homesickness. She looked at Laura expectantly waiting for some crtitque. Tabby threw a few more using the same motions and her wide stance for foundation. One landed way outside of the bullseye and the other landed a couple of rings over to the left of the bullseye. She looked back a Laura apologetically.

Laura nodded slowly. She saw her problems.

"The wide stance only works if you're facing your target head on. That's why you missed the ones off to the side."

Laura then got into her own stance.

"Try this one. It's more versatile and it also allows you to react quicker to threats not coming after you head on." Laura was smiling softly.

Tabby reminded her of- no. There could be someone who could read her thoughts here. She mustn't think about that.

"Oh so you're saying if I shortened my stance a little it would work better? Like this?" She shortened her stance and threw one of the knives with a flick of her wrist. And it hit the bullseye straight on. She copied Laura's stance.

"Mhm." Laura nodded.

"It also makes it easier to do something like this-"

She pulled out a throwing knife and whipped around. The knife stabbed someone's apple, shot it out of their hands and impaled it into the wall. Laura grinned. That was a teammate of hers and they always messed around like that. He laughed, then flipped Laura off, which Laura returned before turning back to Tabby.

Tabby grinned and laughed "I'm good but I don't think I have enough coordination for that".

"You can get there. Coordination is mostly training anyways, only a bit of it is natural ability." Laura smiled at Tabby.

"Anything else?"

"Good to know" she smiled and thought about it "I think I'm good for right now. But if I think of anything else I'll let you know"

Laura nodded. She understood. She gave the girl a smile and turned back to the targets. She was glad to help. Tabby walked back over to Toby with a satisfied grin.

Toby smiled.

"Well, that went well." He said.

Tabby nodded excitedly "yeah who knew that it was all in the stance".

"Yeah! A lot of it is. Laura is also really good at showing people how to do it because she's trained a lot of people."

"Well that's good".

"I think I had enough training for now and I'm kinda hungry".

"Okay! We can go get something to eat." Toby said

Tabby nodded and began to walk out of the gym with Toby. Toby was feeling a bit peckish as well. He figured there were a few restaurants nearby. Tabby was looking around at her surroundings more being lost in thought. Toby thought he noticed someone in the shadows but ignored it. Tabby had the felt like she was being watched from someone or something in the shadows. She wasn't sure if it was her paranoia, being delusional from lack of sleep, or just the darkness of Rosewood following her. She chalked it up a mixture of all 3. However Tabby was a little more on edge as her Intuition was screaming at her to watch out. Toby felt out, feeling with his mind, trying to sense if it was another proxy as the shadow was humanoid. Proxies, for the most part, knew when other proxies were in the area. They were all connected in a sort of hivemind. When a proxy was in danger, everyone tuning in knew about it. Most experienced proxies were able to tune it out, but Toby still wasn't able to. The presence didn't feel like a proxy. Tabby quickened her pace.

"Maybe if I ignore it and out speed it. It would go away" she said in thought.

She had her arms to carry her books and her hands in opposite pockets. She had both knives in the correct position in her hands just in case.

Despite the figure keeping close to the shadows, Toby noticed that it was trying to keep out of sight. It was scared. It seemed to be shuffling, like it was hurt. But the figure wasnt heading anywhere towards a medbay. Toby remembered the scene from earlier with the human who had gotten down into this place. What if…

Tabby's paranoia was skyrocketing. She was a little bit tense and jumpy. Even though her eyes were on the ground they were darting all over the place. She didn't say anything and kept up the fast pace.

"Whoever it is is just as scared as you." Toby mumbled to Tabby.

Jane passed them on the other side of the street, an arm filled with groceries. She too looked into the alleyway, and quickly went in.

Toby sighed. "She's got it."

She snapped her head up to the point where you heard her neck crack and it probably sounded painful. She winced for a moment before narrowing her eyes at him and sounding defensive

"I'm not scared. I'm cautious there's a difference".

Toby raised his eyebrows and said nothing.

"Come on. Let's go." He said, just leading her along. There was no point in lingering.

She looked back down and continued walking. Toby knew he would ask Jane about it later. She made it a point to stay closer to him just in case. But not enough to be obnoxious about it.

"We could go back to Clockwork's bar for something or maybe go somewhere else to eat”.

"We can go somewhere else. I mean it's not like we have anything better to do" she shrugged.

Toby nodded. "I have a strict diet I need to stick to though."

"Fair enough"

Toby thought for a bit about places they could go to. Meanwhile tabby was lost in her own thoughts. On top of processing what tf happened last night, figuring out what her next move would me, surviving today, planning Horacio's death, missing her friends, mom, and little brother. She was thinking about something that she never thought that she could have. A future. Tabby was good at thinking long term for her choices. But not when it comes to herself. But looking around and seeing other establishments and older people. It made her realize that maybe she can live long enough to maybe perhaps open up her own restaurant per say. Food has always been her passion and she has experience and joy in working in a kitchen. Or maybe to just live out the rest of her life. If she lived long enough. That thought put a little seed of hope in her head and gave her a tiny bit of her will to live back.Tabby looked like she was zoned out which means that she was in deep thought. Toby found a restaurant nearby and led Tabby in. It was some random hole in the wall ran by a couple monsters.  Tabby looked around at her surroundings she had a warm smile on her face from nostalgia. It reminded her of the restuarant she used to work at. Even though she was in the back of the kitchen. She always enjoyed the praise of customers when they like the food that she made. It was nice to be back in a familiar surrounding. The place smelled nice, and it was warm. The tables were somewhat crowded together and in a bit of a disarray. You would seat yourself here. Toby found a small table near the corner where they could sit. Tabby sat in the corner with her back facing the wall. That way there was no chance of anyone attacking her from behind and she can see what everyone else is doing.

"This is nice. It reminds me of where I used to work".

"Oh, cool!" Toby said with a smile. He had gotten them both menus.

Tabby nodded and looked on the menu to figure out what she wanted. Toby would probably get a salad and a water. He didn't trust much of the meat here. Especially since there was a cannibal section. Tabby would get a salad too since she really didn't trust food being made by other people unless she was watching them or if she was making it herself. But she figured that nothing can really go wrong with a salad. The place was crowded so Toby highly doubted the food would be poisoned. He also got a water and had one of the single use poison detectors with him to use just in case. He had picked one up as he got a menu. Tabby got a water too and she was quite happy to see the single use poison detectors.  Toby glanced around. No one was paying much attention to them except for a little monster boy in a highchair. He was a chubby little thing with a round face and tiny nubby horns. Tabby smiled softly at the monster baby. It reminded her of her little brother who was a chubby little thing when he was born. Now he has more of a stocky build but he still has a little baby fat left. The little monster baby was babbling to what appeared to be his mother. He had a toy giraffe in his hand, or what used to look like a giraffe. It had been chewed so much. Tabby giggled and looked away. She didn't want to cause too much trouble. She was looking out the window now.

A waiter soon came to take their order. It was a ghost. Which made sense. A lot of ghosts wanted to spend eternity not being bored so a lot of em got jobs. Tabby ordered a chicken salad and a water. Toby ordered what he had planned on ordering. Tabby realized that it was a ghost as she's always been able to see the whole range of paranormal shit. She then looked sad and in thought. She knew ghosts were real. And she knew damn well that the majority of her friends didn't pass over yet since they all died a brutal death. So how come none of them tried to make contact with her to let her know that at least some of them were okay. Especially Autumn. She was sure that she would find a way to contact her. Anyway at all. But it's been a month and nothing. Tabby had her legs crossed and had her hands neatly in her lap as her leg was casually bouncing from being anxious and she was looking out the window. Toby was deep in thought. He looked out the window. He saw Jane hurriedly leading someone along. They had a placeholder mask on, which was weird because Toby could sense that they weren't a proxy.

Tabby said quietly, "isn't that the guy who was following us?".

"I think so”.

She tilted her head to the right thinking "they must be just as nerve racked as I was yesterday when I came here".

"But then again I'm always nerve racked".

Toby nodded. He had suspicions and he voiced them to Tabby. "I think whoever it is might be a human who got in here."

"What makes you say that? And why are they still here then? Can't Jane and them get into trouble?"

"Because I can't sense them. And yes, they could. They both could be killed, which is why we gotta shut up and ask them in private."

            Tabby immediately closed her mouth and nodded. She looked down at her lap.

Toby nodded. "We can ask her later."

"Okay" she said quietly.

Soon their food arrived at their table. Toby tested his food and water. No poison. Awesome. Tabby waited for her turn. She eyed her food and water suspiciously. She smelled it first just in case if she could tell if something was off with the food.

Toby handed her a testing stick. "Oh-here”.

It took Tabby a couple of tries and inspecting the thing weirdly and letting out a few quiet 'oh...oh that's how it works' when her eyes light up with realization as she was figuring out how it works. Her food wasn't poisoned thank god so she was happily munching down on the salad. Toby ate his pretty quickly. He was pretty hungry honestly. As he sipped his water, he looked around. He saw the family with the little monster baby. He saw what was obviously a group of proxies about to start a mission. He saw an awkward first date. Tabby saw the same thing. Tabby scarfed down her food like she wouldn't see food ever again like a ravenous animal. Tabby realized that this is something that people would do on a first date like what she would read about and see on tv. They would go out to eat and make small talk. Which means that would make Toby her first date. She stopped functioning for a minute as she blushed a little at the thought. She held her cheek in her hand with her elbow propped onto the table as she looked out the window to hide the blush that was spreading to her ears. Tabby was done with her salad and was drinking the water in an attempt to stop her blush. Toby didn't notice. He honestly hadn't thought of it that way. He didn't watch that much TV, or even movies. He simply finished his water. Her blush died down a lot. She finished her water.

"Are you done with your food. Because I am".

"Oh yeah, I am. I just need to pay and we can leave." Toby said.

"Okay" she said quietly as she picked everything up and put it in a neat, organized pile so that way it would be easier for the servers to pick up.

Toby got up to go to the front to pay. A server came by and picked up all the plates. Tabby thanked them and walked with Toby out the door. Toby felt a lot better after eating. He was still a little curious about what had been going on earlier. He wanted to ask Jane. Tabby kept to herself and walked quietly with him. She really didn't see the point in talking unless she was spoken too or if she was really interested in something. She looked over at Toby trying to be discreet about it taking in all of his features. Toby was deep in thought. It was hard to see his face as he was wearing his mouthguard and goggles. If Jane had saved a human's life, she would be risking her own. Tabby was spacing out. Her head was empty for once. Which meant some peace and quiet for her for a little while at least. Finally. Toby had found his way back to the apartment. He was just about to open the door for them both when he noticed he had a message waiting for him. Tabby walked in and looked at the note curiously but didn't pry too much. Toby read it. It was from Masky, setting a time for when they would meet up the next day.

Tabby raised an eyebrow "does it say anything important?".

"It's just when and where we're meeting up with the rest of the group tomorrow." Toby said.

"The group being Masky, Hoodie, you, EJ, and anyone else put on this mission with us."

Tabby nodded and sighed and groaned when she heard Maskys name "ugh...him? I hate him...." She went to her room to put away her books and came back out.

Toby laughed a bit. "You might want to give him a second chance. He's actually kind of decent. A bit of a dork, actually, but don't tell him I said that."

She gave him a small smile "don't worry I ain't a snitch. Your secret is safe with me"

Toby laughed a bit. Then sighed. It was nice to be in the air conditioning.

"So now what?" She asked as she rubbed her arm awkwardly.

"Well, we could go out again and find something to do, we could go do something in the human world, or we could just chill here."

"I don't really care it's up to you".

"I got what I wanted out of today so I'm good".

"Okay, fair enough. Well if you don't care, I'm going to go talk to Jane about what we saw earlier. You can come if you want but if you don't, that's chill."

"I'll go I'm curious as well"

"Okay, awesome." Toby said.

Tabby re tightened her ponytail. "Let's go”

Toby made his way to the door. Tabby followed suit. Toby opened the door. Tabby walked out and waited for him since she really didn't know where she was going. Toby led her to the door right next to theirs and knocked. He heard footsteps and the sound of someone moving so they could peak through the eye hole. Then the door opened a crack.

"Hi guys-"

Tabby gave a small wave with her left hand. Jane opened the door and let them in with a furtive look. Tabby entered cautiously. Taking in her surroundings. Jane's apartment looked pretty nice, though it was filled with masks. Something was cooking slowly in a crockpot, which smelled amazing. Jane offered them a weak smile. Tabby took note of the look and smile. She knows Jane is hiding something because she gives the same look that Tabby gives her step dad when he confronts her on the stuff she's being sneaky about. The smell of something cooking in the crockpot made her stomach growl loudly. She crossed her arms over her stomach with a look of embarrassment.

"So! What brings you here-" Jane started to ask.

Toby put a hand up.

"You're hiding something."

Jane looked taken aback.

"Hiding something? What would I be hiding-?"

"It's okay, Jane. Neither of us will tell anyone. We promise. We both saw you with that person. We both know they're not a proxy, but they're wearing a mask. Please...you can tell us."

"it's okay" Tabby gave a smile of reassurance.

She held her arms behind her back. Jane nodded slowly, then took a shuddering breath.

"I'll hold you both to this, you know. If anyone finds out, you can expect me to not react kindly." She got up, and went to a closed door. She opened it. Toby could just make out "Kayla, you can come out. They won't hurt you."

Toby watched as Jane led a human out of the room. The human was a girl, short with dark, heavy eyes, a dark complexion, and long cornrows. She dressed very nicely, in a cream-colored sundress that was now covered with dirt and blood. She had various injuries of varying degrees of severity, each of which were treated, but not professionally. "She accidentally found her way down here with her friends...".

Tabby felt a pang of sympathy for her. She looked just like her when the boys found her in the woods. She noted her injuries.

"I'm Tabby"

She looked over at Jane

"Isn't there any way to return her back?"

"I'm going to take her. Tonight. But I need to see if I can find any of her friends." Jane said. Kayla looked shaky and terrified. She avoided looking at them.

"Hey...Kayla listen...I know what it's like being terrified....but we are the few good people...we'll be able to help you....where did you see your other friends last? Did you all fall together?" She looked over at Toby with an expression that says 'i know us being good people isn't true but please just go with it'

Kayla shook her head.

"We went different ways after we landed, trying to find a way out. I don't know how we got in-" She was shaky and looked like she wanted fo cry.

"I don't know where they are-"

Jane patted her shoulder gently. Kayla winced. Jane retracted her hand quickly.

"Who all is with you?"

"Me and my four friends...Kyle, Nico, Angelina, and Erica..." Kayla buried her face in her hands. Her voice was shaky. "I don't know if they're-if they're still-"

Tabby took a deep breath.

"If they're still alive?" She sighed "honestly that could be a 50/50" "but we'll try to help in any way we can".

Toby nodded. "In return for us returning you to safety with your friends, you may not tell anyone about this place or what's in it. Understand? If you do, we can't help you."

Kayla nodded. "Okay, just please-"

"Where would your friends most likely go? Based on what they like. Normally people have preferred hiding places or places that they would go to hide or get away from everything in the human world. Maybe they would be in similar places here or close to it", asked Tabby.

"Erica is fast...she wouldn't hide. She would keep moving and never be in one place. Angelina would hide as far away from others as she could, so somewhere out in the woods. Nico...god, Nico would try to blend in. He would hide in plain sight if he could. He would listen in and figure out what was going on and mask himself. Kyle...Kyle would hide in a large building if he could. A large place with a lot of hidey holes.", said Kayla.

"Alrighty well... Erica and Nico would be a challenge....but I'm sure we can find Angelina and Kyle..." she said thinking out loud.

She turned to Toby "are there any most likely places that match those descriptions?"

Toby nodded. "Yeah. I can try to find Erica and Nico. I can sense them. You try to find Angelina and Kyle. Check the library and big buildings like that. Jane will help you."

"Alrighty then let's go. I just hope we don't get caught", said Tabby.

"Isn't there anything to like mask her as a proxy just temporarily?"

Jane thought for a bit.

"Well, the mask usually does the trick. Most people dont use their sensing abilities when they see the mask." Jane said.

"Toby's just extra sensitive to that sort of stuff. I could get some charms and wards and whatnot to mask her even further but a malus would easily be able to smell her."

"Well I'd rather take extra precautions. Better to be safe than sorry. In order to increase her chances of survival and to increase our chances of not getting caught"

Tabby has good interpersonal leadership skills when she's not being shy and anti social.Shes always been known as the unofficial ringleader of her group when they were alive unknowingly. And she unknowingly did what she does best. Taking the reigns of any situation.

"I actually don't think it would be safe for her to go out at all." Jane mused.

"She would still be a target because no one would recognize her." Toby had a bad feeling about helping her but knew that it was the right thing to do. This stuff happened a lot. Just usually the humans would die within the hour of them getting here.

"Well then why doesn't someone stay here with her while we look for her friends...or what's left of them.....and like meet up at a secret place or something like that?"

Tabby shifted uncomfortably. Her intuition was screaming at her to be extremely careful about this.

"Our resources would he stretched too thin if we left someone here. We have to scour an entire city without help." Toby said. Kayla was staring at her hands.

"Well do you have any ideas?" She asked the both of them.

"We could leave her here. As long as the door is locked and she doesn't leave, she'll be okay." "Okay...so are we still going to look for her friends?"

"Absolutely."

"Okay then. Let's go"

Jane led Kayla back to the room.

"Whatever you do, don't open the door if someone knocks. I have my own key. The doors to the bedroom and bathroom lock as well. The windows have bars on them. No one can get in through there. If you smell sulphur, hide."

Tabby was fidgeting with the bottom of her shirt again. It wasn't getting into trouble that bothered her. She knew how to take severe punishments. It was just the fear of getting caught that bothered her. She just got this crazy second chance at life and she was already committing high treason. She wasn't sure what the punishments would entail coming from the Slenderman but she knew it wasn't going to be a pretty picture. Death at best. However her intuition and conscience were telling her to help. She always believed in giving others what she couldn't have if she can help it. In Kayla's case it was a chance at going back to a normal life and to have her friends back. She didn't like to having to make difficult decisions but she was also taught to do what she thought was right no matter the cost. And that will out weigh everything always. Toby knew this was wrong. He knew that no human deserved to live. He had been taught that humans were worthless ever since he joined this life. He should be wanting to kill this girl and her friends. But...he didn't. There was no point in it. He was having a bit of a crisis. Why didn't he want to kill her? Why did he want her to get to live as well as her friends? He was taught never to disobey the Slenderman, that his word was law and there was nothing he could do about it. Oh...well, as long as he didn't get caught. Right? Tabby's anxiety was growing. She couldn't disobey a direct order. Her step dad taught her that from a young age or else she got beaten. Same thing goes for the Slenderman only if she disobeyed she was pretty sure she would get a fate a lot worse than a beating and death. Her step dad also taught her that you have to be manipulative, cruel, mean, and selfish. No one else's life matters except your own. And if you have to use people for your own survival including death then so be it. But yet that's not her. Sure she was mean and harsh and lacks a conscious but that's just more of a coping mechanism. But her intuition said otherwise. She knew deep down that it was the right thing to do. And she was good at being sneaky so she shouldn't get caught. She cleared her throat and pushed away her step dad's teachings and stood up straight smoothening out her shirt with her hands shakily at her sides. "So are we going or not?"

Jane nodded. She helped Kayla back to the room. She figured that Kayla should sleep now. Once Kayla was in the bed and dozing off, Jane went to her closet and began to load up on some weapons and some placeholder masks. She doubted these people were alive. But maybe with luck they would find at least one. Tabby tried to neutralize her anxiety by taking a couple of shallow deep breaths but it just made her more nauseous and she had a hard time swallowing. She still showed no emotion though. Jane was also nervous. The chances of finding her friends alive was very small, and the chances of getting them all out alive were even smaller. Tabby waited for everyone else. Her left eye twitched a little due to anxiety. Jane and Toby were ready to go. Jane had made sure Kayla was comfortable. Tabby followed them out the door. Toby said his goodbyes and immediately set off to try to find them. She said goodbye to Toby not really wanting to be left without him. She looked over at Jane.

"Now it's just the two of us"

Toby waved as he left. Jane nodded.

"Hopefully we can find them...alive I mean.".

Tabby gave him a small wave back. She turned to Jane faking the confidence to get rid of her anxiety.

"I hope so too...hopefully none of us get caught...let's go" she lead the way heading towards the library first.

Tabby gave him a small wave back. She turned to Jane faking the confidence to get rid of her anxiety. "I hope so too...hopefully none of us get caught...let's go" she lead the way heading towards the library first.

"Hopefully" she agreed.

They needed to find Angelina and Kyle. She looked for landmarks that she saw earlier when Toby was showing her around since she was awful at street names. She kept her hands in her pockets and kept her head down to avoid any attention drawn to them. Jane continued to walk, a little uneasy. Tabby was a lot less safe with her than she was with Toby, mainly because people disliked Jane. Tabby was pretty confident that she could hold her own for a good 20 minutes in a given fightand even protect Jane if she had to. If she died then she dies and that's that. Although she was pretty sure that Jane could hold her own as well for the most part. She walked with a mixture of confidence and lack of self confidence all at the same time. Jane was a very capable person. She was good at what she did. She could easily protect them both but it would get her into trouble. She was disgraced, so her attempting to defend herself from other highly ranked proxies was a no go. Kayla had given them a picture to work off of. Kyle was a sandy blonde with a nice smile. Angelina was a very pretty Korean girl with twinkly eyes, a playful smile, and a large tattoo of a devil on her thigh. Erica was a girl of middle eastern descent, with black hair pulled into a pony tail and a slim physique. Nico was a tall kid with wavy dark hair and a dark complexion. He had a cheeky smile and looked like a very friendly person. They got to the library. Tabby was wringing out her shirt since her anxiety was sky high again. She marched right up the library steps and headed inside and waited for Jane. Jane followed her inside. The cool air sent goosebumps up her arms. She saw the librarians on edge. Tabby took note of the librarians uneasyness to the back of the library. She assumed that not a lot of people go to the way back and she assumed that there would be plenty of hidden places for others to hide in there. If they looked hard enough.  

Jane turned and saw one of the librarians right behind her.

"Are you here for the special package?" The librarian asked.

"I beg your pardon?" Jane was a little confused.

"The special package." The librarian stated, pointing at one of Jane's pockets. The pocket the photo was in.

"...I might be. Is..." She whispered the last part. "Is he here?"

The librarian nodded slowly.

Tabby breath a visible sigh of relief and gave a small smile to Jane.

"We got one alive so far. So far so good" she whispered.

Jane wasn't too sure. She wouldn't call him alive until she saw him. The librarian led them to a room further in the back. It was much colder back there.

"He is sedated." The librarian said.

"We are not allowed to kill. That is for you to do."

Jane, thinking quickly, replied, "We won't do it in the library. It will be done in private. You don't have to clean up our mess."

The librarian nodded. Tabby nodded too going along with the situation.

"We'll take it from here" Tabby said faking the confidence that was in her voice.

The librarian led them to a locked room. They unlocked it. Kyle was huddled in the corner, tied up and gagged but seemingly unharmed.

Tabby nodded at the librarian "thank you very much we got our jobs from here on out".

The librarian nodded and slunk out of the room. Kyle looked up at them with fear in his wide eyes. His face was bruised. He looked like he had been through a lot.

Tabby bent down to his level.

"Hey we're not going to hurt you in fact we're going to get you out of here with your friends and try to send you guys back home tonight. Do you understand?" She whispered.

She looked over at Jane.

"Where are we bringing him exactly?" She whispered.

"We take him home. Or I can while you search for the others. Maybe Toby's there with one of the others." Jane whispered back to her.

Kyle was still trembling, but looked hopeful.

"I'll go with you. I mean two is better than one" she helped Kyle up.

In reality she didn't want to be left alone when it's only day 2 in this new life for her. She didn't trust that she would be safe enough by herself. And she certainly didn't want to have the chance of getting caught by herself or worse for Jane to be by herself if they got caught. Jane nodded. She was a little worried that something would happen if either one of them were alone. She waited for a bit before untying his ropes. Tabby helped. She was a master at tying and untying things since she has tiny hands so she can undo any knot and she went through a phase when she was 4 when she would tie her stuffed animals up like they were being captured and then untie them. Soon Kyle was freed up. Jane found something on the floor.

Kyle pointed to it, and said "That's my hearing aid."

Jane handed it to him quickly, looking around. Kyle spoke very loudly. After he had put them back in, he spoke in a whisper.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome" she whispered back. "Now let's get you out of here. We have kayla she's safe. And we're trying to find the others"

"Oh god..." Kyle seemed incredibly stressed out. "At least you have Kayla-I think Erica might have her phone on her. I could try to call her but I don't want to put her into any trouble-"

"I wouldn't recommend that" Tabby whispered quickly "technically we're not supposed to be doing this. We could get caught and be in serious trouble. It would be easier if you just let us look for them okay?".

Kyle nodded. He understood but was so frustrated that he couldn't help.

Jane handed him a mask.

"Put that on. When we walk, act like you belong here."

"Also keep you head down low,keep your hands in your pockets and don't make too much eye contact".

Kyle nodded again. He wished he could go out looking for his friends but understood that by protesting, he would be endangering their lives. Tabby nodded and turned to Jane

"So where are we going from here?"

"Let's take him back to the apartment. Unless you want to risk taking him with us."

"Apartment is better. Less risky”

"You're right." Jane said.

Kyle looked a little unhappy at the idea of not being able to see the action and try to help, so Jane said.

"Kayla needs someone right now. She would be delighted to know that you were okay."

Kyle's face softened, and he nodded.

"Yeah she seemed really worried about you and the rest of your friends", said Tabby,

"Kayla's like that." Kyle said with a small smile.

Jane smiled at him.

"Alright let's go" she whispered with a mischievous smile.

Jane nodded and led them out. Kyle did his best to look cool and confident as they walked through the library and out the door. On the inside, he was looking around, praying to see one of his friends. God...what would Nico do? He was good at this stuff...

Tabby kept sauntering forward and kept her head low and her hands in her pockets. Jane essentially powerwalked them home. They didn't get any weird glances. Tabby kept checking behind her to make sure that Kyle was still with them and to make sure that no one else was following them. She kept her mind blank too so that no one could read her mind as someone could walk by. Jane kept them clear of areas where there were a lot of mali, or even monsters that had a strong sense of smell. They managed to get to the home without a hitch.

She breath a sigh of relief.

"That wasn't so bad. We actually make a great team".

Jane smiled slightly.

"I suppose we do."

She got to the apartment and unlocked it. Toby wasn't back yet but that didn't mean anything.

"Okay. Kayla is in Jane's room sleeping just stay here and hide and we'll be back with Angelina hopefully. That's the goal here", said Tabby.

Kyle nodded.

"What about Erica and Nico?" He asked quietly.

"Our other....teammate is working on it. Since Erica is on the run always it would be hard to pin point her down for where she is. As for Nico since he likes to try to hide in plain sight it would be hard for us to pick him out. Our other....teammate is good at tracking and picking out people like that" Tabby explained.

She hesitated on what to call Toby since he was Jane's friend but she didn't consider him a friend just yet. He needed to earn her trust more for to be considered that. She just considered him as an acquaintance that she feels like she owes. Kyle nodded. He remained hopeful that his friends were alive. He sat down on the couch right when there was a knock on the door. Kyle almost jumped out of his skin. Jane quickly ushered him into the bathroom and closed the door behind him before going to the door and peeking outside. Tabby felt the familiar adrenaline coursing through her full blast in overtime and felt the familiar dread in her stomach. She tensed up and stood in a defensive potential fighting stance ready to grab her knives out if needed. Her anxiety spiked up again. Jane gave her a look to tell her to put the knives away. She opened the door a crack. An unfamiliar proxy was at the door. He was tall and muscular, and honestly rather good looking, with neatly groomed red hair and grey eyes.

"I'm here for my teammate's mask." He snapped at Jane.

Jane nodded and forced a smile. "Of course. For Styx, yes?"

The man nodded, looking past Jane into the apartment. Tabby quickly put them away and gave a sheepish apologetic look. She looked at him with a hint of nostalgia and sadness. He looked like a male version of her best friend Autumn. With her Auburn hair and her stormy gray eyes. Jane went to go get the mask. The unfamiliar man came inside the apartment and sat down on one of the couches while he waited. He glanced at Tabby. She gave a shy smile and a small wave with her bandaged left hand. The man gave her a small, somewhat approving nod.

"You new?" He asked in his somewhat stern voice.

It wasn't like he tried to sound that way. He just did.

"Yeah my life turned into this last night", She said awkwardly as she rubbed the back of her neck. "Ah, I see." The man said.

He was the leader of his own group of five, and he had been a proxy for about 20 years. He had been turned at just 12 years old, so this was the only life he knew. He understood that Tabby was probably stressing about it. Usually he didn't care; she would learn. But he was training a new proxy in his own group so he was feeling much more sympathetic than usual. She fidgeted with her shirt slightly looking down. She wasn't good at keeping conversation with strangers.

The man looked away for a bit.

"My name's R." He told her plainly.

"Are you waiting here for a mask, or has Jane not told you what she is?".

She looked up quickly "my name is Tabby. No I already have my own mask. She's just keeping me company until my mentor for lack of better words to come back" which was sort of true. The only form of lying she can do is lying by omission. She looked down.

"Ah, I see. That's kind of her." R said, looking away from Tabby. Jane soon came out of another room with the mask in a box.

Tabby nodded still not looking up. Jane handed R the box. He thanked her and stood up to leave. Tabby said a quick goodbye. R nodded at her and left. Jane closed the door behind him with a big sigh of relief. Tabby also gave a big sigh of relief too as well now that her anxiety died down. She let kyle out of the bathroom. Kyle was physically shaking from nerves. He sunk onto the couch, holding his shaking hands.

"You're okay now" she understood.

When anxiety is sky high it makes her too wound up to the point of attacking every little thing that moves sometimes. Other days it's really bad to the point of where she throws up or dry heaves. Jane got Kyle some water to settle him down. She checked in on Kayla. She was out like a light, snuggled into the blankets. Jane checked to make sure she was still breathing and whatnot due to how peaceful she looked. Kyle looked so relieved to see his friend okay. Jane glanced at Tabby.

"We should probably go..."

Tabby nodded "You're right" she looked over at Kyle "you sure you're going to be okay here by yourself?"

Kyle nodded. "Yeah-I will be." He said, sipping his water.

"Alright...." she said a little unsure she looked like she didn't believe him but left it alone. She looked over at Jane "Let's go".

Jane nodded.

"If you see a man with goggles and a mouthguard at the door, let him in. If it's anyone else, pretend that no one's home. If you smell sulphur, hide. If worst comes to worst, every door in this house locks."

Tabby nodded and waited for Jane. Jane left and closed the door behind her. She could have sworn she heard footsteps. Tabby followed her still keeping her head down and keeping her hands in her pockets as to not draw attention to herself. Just as they were about to leave, Toby came straggling up the stairs, holding someone in his arms. Both Toby and the figure were covered in blood. Jane could tell that the figure was a girl, and assumed it was Erica. Toby looked very pale. Neither he nor Jane knew anything more than basic first aid and it was clear the girl needed more than that. Tabby was frantic when she saw the sight of Toby.

"What happened? are you okay?" She saw the the state of the girl.

Tabby knew what to do somewhat she knew slightly more than basic first aid since her mom used to work at a hospital as a CNA before she got fired. So she taught Tabby what she knew when she had the time. The rest was research and figuring it out to patch herself and her friends up after fights. She become more calm and took charge of the situation.

"Alright lay her down. I'm going to need some sort of cloth, water to put pressure on the wounds to stop the bleeding and clean up the blood so we can see just how much damage there is. Possibly some bandages too please".

Toby didnt feel any pain but that didn't mean he wasn't injured. He had come across a malus just about to take a bite of the girl after overpowering her. The girl had multiple deep lacerations on her head and body, multiple deep bite marks, claw marks, a couple stab wounds, and probably even more that Toby couldn't see. Jane opened the door to her apartment and ordered Kyle to go wait with Kayla. Toby laid the girl on the couch and went to go get some water and cloth. Jane took one look at the girl, and left the apartment to go get someone with actual medical training. She knew Tabby would be able to help a lot, but she also knew a medic could ensure the girl's survival. She knew Kate would do it and keep her mouth shut about it. Tabby knelled by the girl's side. She gulped as the sight made her have flashbacks to when her friends jumped and the state of their bodies after. So much blood, and cracked skulls and contortions that wasn't normal for a body to make. Ones that told you that they were most certainly dead. This girl looked worse than them. Her stomach was doing flip flops and she felt like she was going to throw up. her tan skin looked pale and clammy. Toby began wiping some of the blood off. He noticed Erica's breathing was shallow. Cleaning the wounds revealed how deep they were, but thankfully the head wounds were only sort of surface level. Head wounds just tended to bleed a lot. Jane soon came back with Kate, who glanced at both Tabby and Toby, and sort of gestured for them to move so she could get to Erica. She had her medical bag with her. Tabby was helping too getting some of the blood on her hands and clothes. They actually managed to clean up half of the blood. There wasn't so much blood as she started out with. When Kate and Jane got there she moved out of the way along with Toby. She turned to Toby, "Sit down and try not to move too much. I'm going to clean you up. And don't say that you can do it yourself. just because you can't feel pain doesn't stop the damage from happening" She said it in a way that said that it wouldn't be wise to argue with her.

Kate immediately got to work helping Erica. Thankfully, it looked like she would be okay. Nothing was deep enough to get to any organs and no arteries or veins were cut. All of her wounds looked like self defense wounds. Toby didn't protest. He didn't know if he was wounded or not. He had killed the malus that had attacked Erica, mainly so there were no witnesses. Hopefully no one would find the body until his scent was gone from the scene. Jane was helping both Tabby and Kate. Kate was silent for awhile, before speaking.

"Why are you trying to save the human?" She asked plainly. Just because Kate didn't agree didn't mean that she was doing a bad job on Erica.

Tabby was gentle with cleaning Toby. Her bandaged hand was dirty and bloodied and her hands were rough and calloused in general. But that's from fights and working in a kitchen. She and Jane cleaned up most of the blood. He only had a few deep lacerations but nothing fatal. If he could feel pain he would just be sore for a couple of days. She answered Kate while helping Jane Bandaged Toby up. Taking the blame for the both of them.

"It was my idea to begin with. She could potentially have what I couldn't have which was a real family and friends. I recently lost the only people I considered family in one fell swoop. I-I don't know. I guess it was an attempt to make sure that no one else has to go through what I went through the best I can in the circumstances that I'm given" she said quietly.

Which was true that's why she wanted to help Jane in the first place. Not only because it was what she thought was the right thing to do but she saw it as a chance to make sure that they could have what she can't have. Their friends all together, alive and in one piece. Doesn't help that she has has a weird form of a hero complex that she got from her step dad. so she also saw it as a chance to attempt to be some form of a hero in a small sense.

Kate gave her a little nod. She was quiet as she stitched up the girl's wounds, being very neat and tidy with her work. After she finished, she began to apply bandages. As she did, she spoke.

"I understand why you did this, but just know that you can never do this for a human again, alright? " Erica was still barely conscious.

Jane gulped a bit.

"You won't tell anyone, will you?"

"No, of course not. But I won't lie for you either.", said Kate.

Kate finished patching up Erica.

"Jane, do you have any room you can put her in? A bed of some sort?" "I can put her in my own room. The guest room is being used." Jane said, looking down at Erica with a curious look in her eyes.

Toby massaged his bandaged arm, also glancing at Erica, then at Tabby. Tabby looked down and look everywhere but at the people. some of the color came back to her she was less pale now but she still looked like she was about ready to throw up. She massaged her left hand making sure that there wasn't anymore damage to it. She winced as she felt the phantom cramping pain in her hand. Jane and Kate moved Erica to Jane's room. It would be comfortable in there. They came back out. Jane's living area was covered in blood, but they could clean it later. Toby looked a little uneasy, but at the same time unbothered. Tabby was fidgeting with her left hand and shifting uncomfortably. Kate left soon after. Toby sighed.

"I would have come back with Nico but...but he's dead." He said quietly. "He was the human that was murdered earlier. The one we overheard."

Tabby had that look of dawning realization like an "ohh" moment.

She nodded.

"Well no one said life had to fight fair. At least we got 3 out of 4, That ain't bad" She sounded harsh, tired and indifferent all at the same time.

"Three out of the five. We still need to find Angelina. Alive or dead." Toby reminded them.

"Right sorry" she looked at them with tired eyes and a small apologetic smile.

"Kayla said that Angelina would hide out in the woods somewhere. The logical places to hide there are in the shrubs or in the trees"

Toby got up to start towards the door, but Jane pulled him down.

"You need to stay here and rest. Look after the apartment for me?".

"She's right. You're in rough shape. I'll go with her" Tabby gave him a soft reassuring small smile.

Toby sighed.

"Alright, fine."

He seemed a little dejected about being left out of the action, almost like a little kid. Jane hid her grin behind her mask, but her eyes twinkled.

"You being here will be beneficial, I think. You can start asking these kids where they live and whatnot. So we can figure out how to get them home”.

Tabby hid her giggle in the guise of a cough. She couldn't help but squeal internally in her head at how adorable Toby was being. Thank god there was no one here that could read her mind. She shook her head to focus. She wouldn not and could not afford to get attached or care. She promised herself that she wouldn't forget her friends and moving on means forgetting. She cleared her throat and became more serious

"we should get going".

Jane nodded.

"Of course." She hoped the girl was alive, but wasn't too hopeful. They had been much too lucky lately. Toby went to go let Kyle out of the bathroom.

She gave one last look at Toby before disappearing out the door with Jane.

Jane sighed.

"You ready to do this again?" She asked.

Jane looked very tired. She checked to make sure Tabby had her mask on.

Tabby had her mask on. Tabby also sounded tired but resigned at the same time

"I'm going to have to be. I've made my choice to help and I'm sticking by it regardless of what the consequences might be".

I mean the poor kid has never made a good decision in her life why start now?

Jane nodded.

"As long as we're not caught, it's fine." She assured Tabby with a smile.

They walked out of the apartment building. Tabby nodded and had her usual walking position and began to humming the prologue song from into the woods since that's where they were heading anyways. Jane didn't know the reference. She didn't ask, however. They soon ducked into the large expanse of woods and began to walk. Tabby relaxed a little since the woods were like her natural habitat. but not by much. Her town was surrounded by woods and at Rosewood in the way back like behind the boarding section of Rosewood there was a semi hidden clearing in the woods where she and Autumn would spend time together ranging from 10 minutes to 2 hours after school together on most days. It was a place where they could be themselves and speak their minds and just relax for a short time. Jane was much more on edge. The woods were where the non-humanoid monsters lived. Large and small, and all aggressive. She knew The Rake lived close by here. She hoped and prayed that Angelina was still alive but her hope slowly dwindled as they got deeper into the woods. Tabby was on high alert at her surroundings. She was looking everywhere. Up at the trees, down and around. Not only looking for Angelina but also keeping an eye out for other dangers that could be sneaking up on them. Jane heard a low groan, and creaking among the trees. She heard the rustling of leaves and the crunching of grass. The forest loved to play tricks on them. Tabby jumped a little and was ready to jump in front of Jane in a fighting stance to protect her. She just continued walking ignoring the forest tricks. Jane heard whispering and crying from deeper in the forest. She ignored it, knowing how the forest worked. It was easy to get lost. By chance, she looked at the ground, and saw footprints.

"Should we follow them?", asked Tabby.

"Well, we have no other leads.", said Jane.

Tabby slowly and cautiously followed to where the footprints lead to. Jane did as well, humming tonelessly under her breath. The footprints led deep into the woods. Honestly with the way the shadows were in the forest. They covered Tabby really well she actually blended in with the forest. Jane soon smelled smoke, which she found was odd. The aura of the part of the forest they were in now was very eerie. Something was seriously wrong in these parts. The trees were twisted and groaned with every breeze. The grass was a sick, almost peach color. The trees' bark was light in patches, suggesting some sort of corruption. Tabby was familiar with the dark aura considering she had one from the darkness of Rosewood following her around. On top of her own raw personal darkness that's just barely beneath the surface. But this....this was different....it was close to the dark, powerful, suffocating aura that the entity who gave her more knowledge on the supernatural had 13 years ago. But not quite it since she could tell it was something else beyond that. She was fighting to keep that flashback from happening. She was more on edge and uneasy. The footsteps seemed to disappear little by little until they became scarce.

"Are you sure we should keep going this way? I mean the footsteps seems to stop right around this area anyways...." , trailed off Tabby.

Jane pointed to the distance. She could smell smoke. And in the distance she could have sworn she saw a small figure, wrapped in a coat, sitting next to the fire. It really did look like Angelina from a distance.

"Should we approach it?".

"I don't see why not..."

Tabby took a deep breath and walked forward. Jane joined her. One of them stepped on a twig and it made a loud crack. The figure turned and looked at them. She didn't flee. Tabby froze and gave a small wave. Jane slowly approached closer. Tabby continued to walk closer. Jane soon saw a girl who looked a lot like Angelina. But something was...wrong with her. Tabby noticed something was wrong too. She stopped walking. Her intuition was screaming at her that to stop and run. But she didn't raise herself to be a coward and it was beaten into her not to be one. So she just froze. She gave Jane a look that said "are you sure that we should continue?". Jane frowned softly. She decided to call out to the girl. "Angelina?" The girl looked up at them. She had some weird markings on her hands that were definitely not on the photo that Kayla had shown them, but otherwise she was a dead ringer.

"Are you Angelina? Because we can get you out of here and somewhere safe" Jane finally said.

Angelina nodded. She turned away a bit and coughed into her elbow before offering them a small smile.

"Let's get you out of here" Tabby offered her right hand to help her up and to show her that they weren't going to hurt her.

Angelina took her hand. Her hands felt very cold. Jane noted the marks and felt a little uneasy. Tabby helped her up and eyed her to see if she had injuries. She began to walk with her. Angelina didn't look injured. Just a bit off. She walked with Jane and Angelina. Making sure that she was still with them. Jane looked at Angelina's hands.

"How long has that been going on, hon?" She asked politely.

"About two days." Angelina responded.

Tabby listened intently. Jane was just chatting to Angelina to calm her down, and get her to open up. Tabby paid attention to her surroundings to make sure that they weren't going to be attacked. Jane learned that Angelina had never met her father, that her mother was a principal at a high school, and that she had a little sister named Amanda. Tabby was making comparisons from Angelina's life and her old life in her head. Tabby had two brothers. One older and one younger she is the middle child. Mother worked a lot so she never really saw her. Real dad died and her step dad was an abusive stay at home dad. Jane could tell by the way Angelina talked and spoke about her life and the events within them that she was a hybrid. There was no question about it. She would be a lot safer there than any of her other friends. Tabby continued to say nothing as she listened and kept walking. They soon got to the entrance of the woods, almost like the forest was trying to spit them out.

"Ah finally it's good to be out".

Jane nodded. Angelina looked at the ground and avoided Tabby's face. Tabby looked at Angelina curiously. Wondering why she was avoiding her gaze. But she assumed it was just a nervous thing. After all she did the same thing with Toby at first. She didn't say anything on it so she dropped it. ane felt a weird aura coming off of Angelina.

"Are my friends okay?" She asked Jane quietly.

Jane nodded.

"Well most of them are....Nico is well....dead" Tabby put it bluntly and she shifted uncomfortably and looked down.

Jane expected Angelina to break down in tears. To cry. But she didn't. She just kept her eyes on the ground. "It's my fault." She whispered softly.

"Hey listen it wasn't your fault. You didn't know. From what Kayla told us you kinda all went separate ways after you all landed. How could you have anything to do with his death. He's the one who got himself killed. Not you", Tabby said softly.

"No, you don't understand." Angelina said quietly. "It was my fault-" She stopped talking and looked at the ground.

Tabby nodded.

"You can tell us later once we get somewhere semi safer. Let's keep going".

Jane nodded. They would be much safer with Angelina if she was correct in her assumption that she was a hybrid. Tabby sighed and rubbed her face. Her insomnia was wearing off and it wasn't until now how she realized how tired she was. She kept walking forward. Jane saw the apartment building in the distance. Tabby continued walking, making sure that Jane and Angelina were right behind her. Jane caught up with Tabby.

"Do you see the marks on her hands?" She whispered to Tabby.

Tabby nodded and whispered "yeah but I didn't say anything about it".

"It looks a lot like the corruption of the woods now that I think about it."

"Why would the woods be corrupted by that though?".

“No, that's not it. I think the woods are starting to corrupt her."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't think she's telling us the full truth.".

"Well once we get into your apartment we'll ask her again since we're not going to be out in the open"

Jane nodded. They soon got to the apartment building entry. Jane pulled the doors open. A couple of proxies were hanging by the front desk. Tabby stood up straight and kept an emotionless expression and just stared straight ahead not giving any of the proxies any attention. Jane did the same, and Angelina followed suit awkwardly, also ignoring the group. They were picking on a younger proxy. Tabby gave a quick pitiful look at the younger proxy who was being picked on but quickly looked away deciding not to do anything as she had bigger fish to fry with Jane and Angelina. Jane sighed and just quickly ushered them along. Angelina kept her head down. Jane noticed how tired she was, and how frayed she must have been for the whole day. Tabby sighed in relief as it was good to be back somewhere familiar. Jane opened the door to the apartment. Toby was talking to Kyle softly. It looked like Kyle had been crying. Erica had gotten out of bed and was settled on the couch with Kayla, who had also been crying. Tabby sighed and sounded tired.

"What happened?"

Toby sighed.

"I told them the news about Nico. Kid was really popular." He muttered to Tabby.

Tabby rolled her eyes. Which made her look insensitive. Death happens all the time. To her they were acting really sensitive. They should just get over it. In fact they should be goddamn lucky that they only lost one friend and not all of them like she did. Then she gave a guilty apologetic look because she knew better. She understands what it's like to lose a friend. She cleared her throat.

"We've found Angelina. Have you found out where they all live yet?" She said quietly after awhile.

Erica was really the only one who noticed Tabby's eye roll. The rest were too busy in their own grief. Erica drew further into herself, eyebrows furrowed. Angelina didn't go to talk to her friends. She just lingered by the door.

"I have." Toby said. "They live pretty close to Rosewood actually.".

Tabby palled at the mention of her old school.

"Well that's convenient. I know where that is. How do we get them back?".

Toby sighed.

"I'll take them. Don't worry about it."

He wanted this over and done with.

"You sure?" She leaned against the door.

If she took one more step then she would collapse onto the floor and her body would shut down to get the sleep that she desperately needed.

Toby nodded.

"Yeah. You should rest." He said.

He was tired too, but Jane and Tabby had done a lot of heavy lifting that day.

"I'm not tired" but that was a bullshit lie.

Toby saw straight through it.

"Uh huh." He said. "Just stay here until I get back."

"Fine" she said like an annoyed child reluctantly giving in at being told what to do.

Toby sighed, and smiled at Tabby. Jane looked exhausted as well. She wished Toby luck.

"Hey try not to die, okay?", said Tabby,

"I can't make any promises." Toby joked a bit.

"That's why the key word here is 'try'" she said with a slightly annoyed tone but it was more playful and she managed to give him a small smile.

Toby laughed. "I will."

He looked at Erica.

"Can you walk?" He asked her.

She nodded.

"The rest of you good?"

He got nods. Angelina stood near a corner, away from her friends. Tabby looked at all of them and wish them luck. Kayla thanked her softly. Kyle nodded to her. Erica was remembering her eyeroll, it seemed, and just glanced at her with a slight nod. Angelina thanked her quietly but didn't look at her. Tabby gave them all a slight nod back. Toby led the group of teens out.

Tabby was going about Jane's apartment helping to clean up the blood. She felt like she was going to drop from exhaustion and go into a coma for a week like she normally does when her insomnia wears off. She willed herself to stay awake but it was clear that she was struggling. Jane had gotten most of it. The apartment was soon pretty clean. Jane was exhausted. Her feet and body were sore from the long day. It was hot, so she turned on the ac and took off her wig to put it away. Since Tabby was here she would keep her mask on, but when she left she'd take it off. Tabby finished the last bit of it. She stood back up. She swayed back and forth a little. The adrenaline wore off and her anxiety was gone now that it was done and they wouldn't get caught. Tabby felt herself collapsing on the floor. Her breathing was shallow and her mind retreated further into the dark dreamless void that she called sleep. She was out. ane sighed. Poor girl. She gently picked her up and brought her to the guest room. Toby could bring her back to her actual room when he got back. She tucked Tabby into the comfortable blankets and kept the lights soothingly dim but not all the way off. Jane was tired, but she would wait for Toby to get back. Satisfied that Tabby was alright, she went back out to the living area and took her mask off. Tabby was in her natural sleeping position. Her knees were brought up to her stomach, her arms were crisscrossed across her chest with her hands covering the back of her neck, and her back against a corner of the wall and bed so no one could even have the chance of getting to her vital areas while she slept. Because once she actually gets to sleep she's dead weight she can't hear or feel a thing. Which is dangerous to her in the state that she's in. Jane relaxed in the living room for about an hour. Toby still wasnt back yet. She knew the portal closest to those kid's houses was a while away but she was still a little worried for Toby. Toby had only been doing this for at the most two years. He was still, by their society's standards, new. Tabby was still dead asleep she was slightly more relaxed and let a little slack in her sleeping position. She was still curled up in her protective position but she wasn't as tense about it. If you really paid attention you can hear her snoring quietly. About three hours later, Toby came back. He looked absolutely exhausted. He was unharmed thankfully. Jane hurriedly put her mask on and led him inside the apartment. Tabby wasn't aware of anything that was going on. Tabby was still unconscious. Toby looked tired and annoyed with everything. He sat and talked with Jane for awhile about what had gone on, and then offered to take Tabby back to the room. Tabby was still out. She's going to hate herself in the morning more than what she already does. She hates the vulnerability that she showed and was about to show Toby. She's going to have to explain how her sleeping process works when her body finally gives out. In the meantime she was unsuspecting of anything. Jane offered to help Toby take Tabby back to the room, but Toby could do this alone. Tabby was still curled up and she was dead weight when she was dead asleep. But she's generally light for the most part so it should be easier for him to carry her. Toby picked her up quickly to help her to her room. Tabby rested her cheek against his chest and hung on to him him for dear life. It was a weird form of cuddling almost that she was unaware of. You could hear her snoring gently.

Toby smiled to himself. She reminded him a little bit of a little kid at the moment. He set her down in her bed and tucked her in. Tabby still clung onto his hoody, practically pulling him into her bed. "Stay...please....Autumn....don't....don't leave me again..." she whimpered in her sleep.

It would be cute if it wasn't so sad. She sounded like a hurt lost puppy. Toby let out a surprised squeak, now very confused. But he could tell Tabby wasn't doing okay. He let her hold onto his hoodie as he slowly moved to slip out of it. As soon as Toby was out of his hoodie. Tabby shifted her sleeping position to where she wrapped herself around his body. Or vice versa? But she was cuddling with it and had her cheek to his hood semi breathing in his scent. She actually calmed down a little and her breathing went back to taking rythemetic shallow breaths. Toby decided to let her hold onto the hoodie while she slept. There was no harm in it. The real harm would be if they were caught in a compromising situation. Proxies could have relationships, sure, but they had to be approved. Tabby continued to sleep and was more relaxed after her nightmare had passed. Toby went to go to sleep himself. Tabby would stay asleep for awhile. Normally when her body eventually gives out it's a solid 3 day coma before it's just regular sleeping as much as she can for that week and maybe possibly get into a sleep routine until another bout of insomnia comes up. Toby would check on her in the morning. He figured she was exhausted. He understood that. When he first came here, he rarely slept. If anything needed to be done tomorrow then Toby would have to wake her up himself. If not then its comatose for a week with her to catch up on sleep. Toby would wake her up the next day for the meeting then let her sleep more if she needed to. Tabby was nuzzling Toby's hoody and holding onto it. Almost like a security blanket. Toby let her do so. He was pretty tired himself. He went to his own room and flopped on the bed. The moment Tabby collapsed on the floor of Jane's apartment is the moment that she blacked out. So there's going to be a lot of explaining to do on both parts. Her head and body is going to hurt tomorrow morning from how hard she hit the floor but she'll deal with that tomorrow. Toby hadn't known she'd fallen, but wanted to leave her to sleep. He began to doze off into sleep. He felt...vaguely rewarded helping them. While Tabby was still knocked tf out. For the first time in forever she felt at peace with herself for doing what she thought was right. At least she could give those kids what she couldn't have. The majority of their friends/family back and in one peice. In a sense it made her feel like the hero she once was and not a god awful person that just about everyone else including herself thought of her as. And in a little vague sense she was making it up to Autumn just a fraction. Toby eventually was about to fall fast asleep. But then he heard a knock on the door. Swearing a little, he got up to go answer the door, rubbing his eyes. It was Hoodie. Tabby was not aware of anything that was going on. Hoodie looked Toby up and down.

"You look like a mess. Can I come in?".

Toby wordlessly moved so Hoodie could enter the apartment.

Tabby was vaguely awake. She knew something was going on but didn't care enough about it. She quickly fell back to sleep. She shifted so she could hide Toby's hoody under neath the covers more. So they wouldn't get into trouble..

Hoodie looked at Toby.

"We have a little mission to do before we do the long mission with EJ."

Tabby was still asleep but everything was entering her head subconsciously. Hoodie explained that there was a family that needed executing in the human realm. Tabby hoped that it wasn't hers. Or Horacio's for that matter. She needed to kill him herself. Although she would be grateful to whomever killed him she would be pissed because that was the whole point for her taking this second chance at life. If someone else did it then it wouldn't be her fulfilling her promises that she made. But it would be someone else doing it for her. It wasn't hers. It was a random family. They had specific instructions. The family was five people. A father, aged 36. A mother, 34. A boy aged 12, a girl aged 9, and a newborn. The father and mother were to be killed. The boy would be trained as a proxy. The older girl would be given a trial period to see if she could be a proxy as well, and if not, she would be taken to The Valence Institution. The two men knew what was meant by that so they didn't go into details. The baby was to be taken to the boss himself. At least she didn't have to die. They would be doing it tomorrow before leaving on their other mission. The plus side is it would give them a bit of cash. Tabby hoped that she wouldn't be involved. With the first mission.

Toby looked at Hoodie.

"Anything else?"

"The boss wants Tabby to carry out the killings."

Toby shook his head.

"No. It's too early. I'll do it." Tabby slept on not knowing about the horrendous things they planned for her to do. Hoodie and Toby argued for awhile, but eventually Toby was just too tired to argue anymore. Hoodie was on the verge of hitting the boy. He may not be new...but he was still young and stupid for a proxy.

"We leave to go in 12 hours. Be ready by then.".

Oh. Poor Tabby. The many more hard choices that she'll have to make come tomorrow.

[stormstorysblog]

17 years ago there was an island a relatively small Islands in the middle of the Caribbean call Isla caja de muerto or an English Dead Man's coffin and in the island there was a little cottage in the back of the island where to couples declared it their home it was uninhabited scarce from civilization but the couple wouldn't mind besides one of the couple is a farmer named yoshihiro konoshi he was really really good at agriculture raising livestock even knowing how to filter Rainwater. And oh let's not forget his building skills he's a master Craftsman he's the one who built the little cottage but the one who was ruling the inside is a little cottage it's a beautiful Hispanic woman her name was Anais Rivera a very strong-willed woman what a great intuition her and yoshihiro we're on Unstoppable team on the island I mean they went ahead made a place that was so desolate they would make it like it's crowded but it was just them two then two years have and one October night life is given to a boy a little baby boy name Emilio Konoshi Rivera

Anais holds the infant close to her and seed "look how handsome my little boy is" she puts his forehead on hers and say" Dios te bendiga " which mean God bless this boy yoshihiro didn't know how to react to his son he wanted to cry tears of happiness for his little boy has finally come the mother of the boy extends the boy out with his father so the father can hold him the father quickly hold him looked at him with an unbreakable smile and then said" as soon as you grow up I'll show you many many things for I know you will be a great man when you grow up" kisses his forehead and hold them tight then looks at his wife and start walking to her and lays down next to get while holding Emilio they both look outside and they noted it's going to be Daybreak soon yoshihiro look back at his son and said "I have to go little one"kisses his forehead look at his wife and kisses her then seed " I have to water all the crops and filter all the vegetables that went bad he seed to her she just Smiles nudes

Fast forward 8 years later Emilio was 8 years old full of spunk and energy he was his father's best helper and his mother's best helper he would give a hand no matter what not even danger would scare him off because of that his father gave him a nickname senshi"which is Japanese for warrior but his mother had another nickname for him jagua which is Taino for animal the reason she calls them this is because from a a very young age he's in close to Nature knows all type of plants and the ones he doesn't know he learned from reading a book that his father gave him fast forward a year later around may a really bad storm was coming down they have faced storms before because that's the cost of living in the Caribbean but sometimes that price could be high

The howling of the wind the crashing of the thunder and lightning outside The House of the begin the shake some of the animals and the crops started flying away horrified the little family went ahead and try to flee but by the time they got to the other Islands their boat crash to The Rocks the boat broke into a million pieces the little family almost drowned luckily they set ashore on a remote part of the neighboring Islands they where cold anais and yoshihiro exhausted on the brink of passing out on the shore the one who had the most energy was little Amelia now 9 years old he quickly runs into the rain forest to seek for help the only comeback 3 hours later who is Mother and Father passed away from the hypothermia and exhaustion his father and mother left them a note before they pass away that fateful day "Emilio our son our beloved Son we're so sorry we left you alone two-faced this all by self we sincerely apologize infinite amount of times for abandoning in you we're so sorry" Emilio had nothing else but to cry has he read the letter that was all wet and the ink was running then he keeps reading the letter with tears falling down his face " me and your mother decided to send you off to my home country Japan where your grandma and grandpa will take care of you reach into are pockets your mother has the money for the plane and I have the address on my old drivers licens before he collapsed to cry he soul out his mom and dad last berth opened there eyes 1 more time be for they passed and both pass there hand to his face and bothe smiled he just hugs both of them then looks at the sky and let out all the emotion he was feeling. the authorities of the Island came out as fasting and quickly as they could they all spoke just Spanish luckily Emilio new Spanish from his mom and told them what happens one of the officers put a towl over him and escorted him to the cruiser and a ambulance was picking up his parents, Emilio just cried of for now the only thing in his mind was his parents were gone

A few days the authorities managed to call the boys grandparents on behalf of his father the authorities will having a hard time trying to communicate because they didn't speak Japanese but Emilio did the boy asked for the phone in Spanish "por favor déjame hablar con mis abuelos" which meant let me speak to my grandparents the authorities pass the phone as soon as he put the phone in his ear tfrrs greets them and and tell them what has happened "

こんにちはおじいちゃんとおばあちゃん私はあなたに会ったことはありませんあなたは私に会ったことはありませんがあなたの太陽の太陽です" Emilio just heard a loud gasp then moaning and crying from both of them as soon as Emilio heard them cry he started the car as well for the pain is too much to bear as soon as everyone started calming down his grandparents said they were going down there to pick him up Amelia Just Smiles a bit for his grandparents remind him of his father.

Part2 coming soon

[lady-olive-oil]

Chris and Roxie kissing for the first time tho!!! I might cry!

I got you nonnie! So with this i broke it up into 3 parts, the phases of which Chris x Roxie went through from the very first time they kissed. Hope you guys like it!!!

Word Count: 1,889

Warnings: none, maybe a minuscule. just gotta squint

SN: if you’d like to be included in Choxie stuff, let me know and ill add ya to my list, i opened it back up!

____________________________

My First, My Always

As Kids:

It all started when they were younger, about 8 and 9, they were inseparable. What began as a long and beautiful friendship expanded into a tight bond, a bond that can never be broken. What made Roxie kiss Chris first in the 3rd grade was that he shared his box of crayons with her. The big Crayola 64 count box, with the built in sharpener, she was over the moon “in love” with him and no one could tell her otherwise.

She made sure everyone knew that Chris was her “boyfriend” and no one else could have him. It was sharing time and Roxie didn’t have any crayons because, everyone took the boxes and paired off which made her sad. 

“Uh Roxanne, you can share with me if you want?” Chris’ tiny but mighty voice helped ease her pain of not being able to color, in her Jungle Book coloring book. With a sweet smile, she nodded and say next to him.

“Thank you, Christopher. You can call me Roxie.”

“Ok, Roxie it is. You can call me Chris.”

A gleam in her eye sparkled as she came up with an idea. “Ok! Oh can I give you something since you’ve been so nice to me?”

“Uh yeah sure.” Chris looked up from his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles coloring book, and was shocked when Roxie gave him a quick kiss. His cheeks were flushed in embarrassment, the whole class oohed and awed at the action and it made Roxie giggle.

“I like you Chris.”

“I like you too Roxie.” 

After all that happened, their teacher called both their parents in for a conference to discuss what happened during coloring time. It was a surprise to Mrs. Farwinkle, that both Lisa and Monica were also childhood best friends and vowed to stick together no matter what. Even when it came to their kids and marriage as well. 

“Thank you for your concern Mrs. Farwinkle but, it was a sweet gesture from my daughter.” Monica, Roxie’s mom, reassured the middle aged woman that it was ok and kinda cute actually. The pair was getting ready I head home and finally relax.

“See? No harm done, it was just an innocent kiss amongst new friends.” Lisa smiled and nodded in agreement, as she walked with her son towards the door to head home.

“Well, since you both have an understanding about it. I guess it’s no issue then. Thank you ladies for coming in.” Bidding the two moms a fond farewell, Lisa and Monica chuckled gently as they headed towards their cars.

“So dinner tomorrow night right? Andre is making pasta salad and I have the red velvet cake.” Monica asked after strapping Roxie in her car seat. 

Lisa nodded enthusiastically. “Yes ma’am. Gorton and I will be there tonight. Why don’t we have the kids get together?”

“That could work. Getting them all together at whatnot and bonding. Just like we did growing up.”

“Sounds good. See you tonight.”

As the mothers drove to their perspective homes, the kids were fast asleep due to the soothing feeling for the car. Little did they know that this was just the beginning.

As Teenagers:

“Roxie! What are you doing? We gotta go to Lauren’s party.”

“But what about the chemistry exam we have in a few days?”

The bond never broke at all, and these two stuck like superglue by any means necessary.

“Oh come on, live a little. You’ve been studying all weekend, let’s go have fun. You’ve earned it.”

“Ugh fine.”

Growing up together, made them both appreciate the power of their friendship and how strong it was to keep it. Despite the fact that they both have had small crushes on other people here and there, they managed always come back together.

At the party Roxie felt like an outcast given that Chris was the life of every event; football game, social club and gathering. Yet Chris made sure Roxie was always good. So during a game of truth or dare, Chris was on the lookout for any dirty business happening to her.

“Ok so Evans, truth or dare?” One of the boys, Tye, had outed him during the 5th turn around. 

Eyeing him up and down he sucked his teeth, he got that from Roxie. “Dare.”

A smirk on Tye’s face was was pure evil, making Roxie shudder. “I dare you to go into the closet with Roxanne and kiss her for 10 min.”

Within the group of kids oohed in unison, that is until Tye plucked a nerve with Chris. “What’s the matter Evans? You chicken? Too scared to kiss your best friend in a linen closet?”

The look on his face was pure adrenaline and determination, mixed with annoyance. “Tye, you and I both know I’m anything but chicken.”

“Then do it. Kiss your best friend in the closet.”

Roxie was caught off guard, when Chris pulled her up from the couch and into the closet which locked from the inside.

“Remember, 10 min!” Tye yelled from the other side of the door.

“Chris, we don’t have to do this.” Roxie’s voice was small, but enough for him to hear.

“Roxie. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while now but I couldn’t think of a way to do so. Ever since you gave me my first kiss, at a very young age, I knew I had to make it right.” He rested his head on hers, taking in the moment.

“Even if it meant in a closet at a party?” Roxie asked curiously.

Chris chuckled gently. “Even if it’s at a party.” Running his thumb against her cheek, he kissed her gently and the memory came flooding back. Holding her against him, he didn’t want to let go.

Locking her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss a bit, Roxie felt her face heat up. It was as if her nerve endings were electrified and brought to life. It was as if the world stood still and no one else mattered to her, just like the day she kissed him first.

“10 mins! You can come out now love birds!” Tye’s voice broke the heated moment, causing the tension to rise and fall between the pair.

Slowly coming out of the closet, the two felt awkward and yet closer together, while sitting back on the couch. 

“This doesn’t change how I feel about you, ok? If you ever need me I’ll always be there for you.” Chris reassures her with a gentle smile, and a tender hug.

What did he mean by ‘this won’t change how he feels about me?’ She thought to herself as she hugged him back. “And I will be there for you too Chris. Through thick and thin.”

Only time will tell how long that pact will last. And yet it did but blossom into something more promising and worth while. They were each other’s first time, as well and it set the tone for how they’d still be friends. They had other moments with other people, and yet their friendship was still intact. Maybe it wouldn’t change after all. 

Current Time Frame, As Adults:

And boy were they both wrong. The older they got, the feelings grew and the thoughts kept shifting, especially for Roxie. She held it in on how much she liked her best friend, more than just a friend. The fact of the matter is when Chris met Delilah, she knew she had competition.

Over the years when he was involved with Delilah, they butted heads constantly. That is until she met Carter, who looked like he could do no wrong but his face said otherwise. The more she got to know Carter, the more Chris got annoyed with him. The more Chris got involved with Delilah, the more Roxie got annoyed. It was a never ending struggle until Roxie broke it off with Carter for good.

The days got better when Delilah was reminded of the unbreakable bond between the two best friends, when she would pop up unannounced. Not even the premiere day for Endgame could rally in her favor, seeing as though it was tradition for the Chris and Roxie to spend the night with each other the day before any premiere of theirs.

That fateful weekend was all a blur, but grand. The night before changed something between the pair and it was magical. When Chris heard Roxie moan, he thought he was in a trace let alone a dream of sorts.

When he finally kissed Roxie for the first time in years, it was like the gates of heaven opened up and the angels sung in harmony. 

It was as if he got his wish and was willing to do anything and everything to keep her by his side. So in the middle of the night after the kiss of the century and a snuggle, around midnight, he woke her back up to just talk to her. He felt around the bed but didn’t feel her there.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Her voice rang through the darkness. But only the moon shined through windows. She slid back into bed next to him snuggled back into his side. 

“Well yes, but I wanted to ask you something important.”

Looking at him with curiosity, she sat up a bit against the headboard. “Ok what’s up? Something wrong?”

“Not really. I’m just curious about something: do you really want to pursue this with me? We’ve been friends for years and I don’t want to mess this up.” Sitting up next to her, he took her hands in his and looked into her eyes.

“Chris, we were each other’s first kiss; we were each other’s first time and so many other milestones that I don’t regret. You mean more to me than anything else in the world. We’ve done things “just friends” don’t do, and I wouldn’t mind taking it a step further.” She slid back onto his lap under the covers, draping it back around her hips, scooting closer on him and held his face in her cocoa butter infused hands.

“I’m ready for the leap if you are.”

He rubbed her hips gently and held her right against his chest. “You know I am Roro. I just needed to hear you say it before I did this again.”

He shut her up immediately with a heat searing kiss, Earth shattering to her very core. He had to hold her hips still to not rock against him so much because he wouldn’t control himself if the situation arose, to something else that neither of them were ready for just yet.

She tugged in his hair graciously, edging him on to kiss her deeper and not let go. A moan shattered the back of his throat, skating his fingers up her back in an effort for her to know how he was feeling.

“I’m not gonna let you go. I let you go before and I don’t plan on doing so now.” He whispered against her lips softly.

She whispered back to him. “I don’t plan on seeing you leave me either.”

The pair spent the rest of the night cuddled on top of one another, drifting back to sleep with lazy kisses. With hopes of an amazing premiere day, these two were thicker than ever.

_________

@maddiestundentwritergaines | @honeychicana | @dc41896 | @themyscxiras | @fumbling-fanfics | @crushed-pink-petals | @swirlevans | @4ftwonder | @bugngiz | @mangos4u | @titty-teetee

[the-magic-lava-lamp]

Soul Siblings

Summary:  This one-shot belongs to the ‘Caught Up In You’ universe which is my high school AU in which most characters are seniors (apart from the likes of Loki, Wanda, Pietro etc. who are Sophomores) ! 

However, this story takes place before the beginning of ‘Caught Up In You’, during Loki & Wanda’s freshmen year.

*Loki & Wanda Friendship* 

Word Count: 3,872

“You two almost ready up there?” 

Wanda nearly jumped at the sudden sound of her mother’s voice from below the carpeted bedroom floor. But thankfully, she remained perfectly still and was able to sweep the eyeliner brush across her lid in just the way she wanted & had practiced. 

Scooting her chair back from the large deep red vanity, Wanda checked herself out for a final full-look and tried to keep her pleased smile from taking over her face. 

“They’re not gonna let you out of the house like that.” 

Holding back the smile was no real effort now. Wanda pushed her hair so it could fall over her shoulders. A distant memory of Pietro falling down the stairs and knocking his front teeth out when they were around seven or eight came up in her mind while she fidgeted. “Just go downstairs and tell her we’re ready.” her voice was husky with annoyance. She hadn’t made fun of his silly front-toothless grin then but Pietro had no problem making fun of the way she had shrieked as if it were the end of the world and not just an early tooth fairy visit. 

Her brother flashed her an amused grin before thumping down the stairs with loud booming footsteps. Wanda allowed herself a minute to admire her work again before following after him. 

But it was the middle step, around stair five which was the one just above their cute little height markers drawn in pencil on the wall were, where she heard her mother gasp. “Wanda....” 

She popped her leg out and slapped her hand down to curl it against the railing. The traces of red glitter from the eye-shadow she’d used were shining against her skin. 

“It’s not that I don’t want you to express yourself-” 

Her mother climbed a few steps, trying to meet her daughter. Wanda only gave her a look that suggested a ‘But....?’ 

“This is a family dinner and you-”

“Look like you’re wearing a Halloween costume.” Pietro gave her a large smirk to which she rewarded him with a roll of her eyes. 

Their mother waved Pietro off and turned back to Wanda. “Why don’t you just take the makeup off and come have a nice dinner with us?” 

“Why should I? You guys never make a big deal out of Pietro going out in the same ugly track suit!” She shoved her hand out to point at him and her brother stepped forward to argue. “It’s just makeup.” 

“If it’s just makeup then can’t you do your mother this favor and wipe it off?” She pleaded and Wanda gripped the railing harder. 

“It’s ok to express myself as long as it’s not embarrassing for you. Got it.” She gave a passive-aggressive false smile and a thumbs up. 

“Wanda, you are fourteen years old and have black and red smudged all over your face like some kind of...” She waved her arm around but never did finish that sentence. “Just get cleaned up and we’ll go to that place you like so much, ok?” 

Wanda pursed her lips. “No! This is what I want to look like! I don’t understand why you’re being so controlling about it.” She growled. 

“Listen to your mother, Wanda.” Their father came in from the kitchen and stood at the front door but she was far too mad to really care. “Take off the makeup or you’re staying home.”

She gave them all a heated glare and crossed her arms. “I’m staying home, then.” and with that, she huffed dramatically and pounded her way back up the stairs. 

“Make sure to slam the door and stamp your feet some more while you’re pitching a fit like a child!” Her dad called out after her. 

“Ughhhhh, just leave!” 

She slammed the door and waited until she heard her family leave without her before hopping onto her bed. 

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

Soul sibling. That’s how they referred to each other since about the 3rd grade. Loki and Wanda had been introduced when the twins were new in town and were in desperate need of friends. Thus, their parents decided on making play-dates with some of the neighborhood kids. 

It was not an event that ever went smoothly. Mr. & Mrs. Maximoff quickly learned that though little Pietro was astoundingly social, he’d been very protective over his twin. And Wanda just never seemed to click with any play-mate the parents set them up with. Their little girl was quiet and mostly kept to herself. Though she’d open up about certain things...

it was just that none of the kids really wanted to talk about how she was a ‘witch’ or how she could ‘predict the weather’. And it was always a ruined play-date when Wanda pulled out her thick binder of Bella Sara cards. 

Most of the neighborhood kids just didn’t click with Wanda and so Pietro hadn’t made much of an effort either. The Maximoff’s had been worried their children just wouldn’t make friends at all. 

But then they set up a play-date with two brothers who lived close by. The younger, Loki, was the twins age of 8 and his brother,Thor, was three years older. 

Thor was a polite and energetic little kid that Pietro got along well enough with but the real magic was that Wanda finally seemed to have found a friend she could bond with. Finally. The Maximoff’s felt extremely comforted by the fact that their daughter wasn’t alone. 

The Odinson’s told them all about Loki. He too was a bit of an off-beat child that didn’t play well with others, even his brother on the occasion. He was a tad bit mischievous, absolutely refused to cut his long shaggy black hair, and sometimes wore his mothers large rings, insisting he could do magic. He spent most of his time isolated (though Thor was always willing to spend time with him). The Odinson’s had been a little nervous about the making friends aspect of school as Loki grew. 

Both sets of parents couldn’t believe their relief when Wanda started her speech about being a witch and Loki only listened with interested ears. They let go of the breath they’d been holding when he offered her some of the rings on his fingers. 

They couldn’t believe their lucky. At the moment, it didn’t even matter if the other two kids got along. That had been the most comforting sense of relief that a parent could have.

And so from then on, Loki & Wanda had been best friends. And Pietro was feeling less like he had to watch over her so much. Wanda had a friend. They passed around a journal at school, wore gaudy friendship mood-rings, begged to be driven to the mall, and made potions in the kitchen at 3 a.m. during sleepovers. 

They’d spent many nights over at each other’s houses, talking about things they couldn’t talk about with anyone else. 

So when the call came, Loki didn’t hesitate before picking up the same over-night bag and walking the short distance to Wanda’s house. They lived just about a block away from each other and her home was tucked into the middle of a quiet street. 

“They just don’t get it! No one understands.” Wanda wined as she padded up and down her carpet, bare-feet sinking in slightly. Loki followed her movement with his eyes but remained silent because it was best not to interrupt her. He only gave her a look. 

“Except you!” she added with a small smile before leaning back on her vanity. “It’s just that...” She fiddled with her fingers.

“I’m listening.” Loki hummed and she threw him a light smile. 

“It’s annoying when I can’t be myself, y’know?” She stepped away and came towards the edge of the bed where Loki was perched, legs crossed with his hands folded together. 

“Oh, I know.” He huffed, eyes rolling in that flawless way of his. “At least you don’t have my dad. He thinks he’s subtle about...” his voice trailed off “Not liking my personality, to be blunt, but he’s not.” His shoulders shrugged and Wanda put on a deep frown. 

“At least you have your mom and Thor.” She reminded him gently and he made an amused expression. “Pietro doesn’t even seem to like me anymore. He’s always got something to mean say about the way I dress or my makeup.” 

Loki glanced up to take another good look at her makeup. “Well, You’re still not very good at it.” He pursed his lips but was rewarded with a punch in the arm and Wanda punched hard. She wasn’t weak but she wasn’t really aware of that yet. “Ow! I’m sorry. You’re getting better, truly.” he put his arms up in mock surrender. 

Loki learned early on in their friendship that he couldn’t be quite as snide as he usually was with Wanda. She was a sensitive girl but it was the first time he ever valued a friendship, so Loki made the effort. “Your brother’s just in that phase where he’s got to tease you. It’s like...a rite of passage.” He gently patted her hand. 

“Thor doesn’t tease you that much.” 

“That’s because I tease him.” Loki grinned, wide and mischievous. “Anyway, not that listening to your misery isn’t fun-because it is...” He pinched her hand and she smacked his arm. “But can we move on to something else? A movie maybe?” 

Wanda grinned. “Movie, huh?” 

“Oh-no.” He sighed, rubbing his hand down his face. “Wanda, we’re not watching that.” He crawled over to fetch her laptop which was sitting atop her nightstand and started typing. 

“Please?” 

“Pick something else! You always pick that one!” Loki rolled his eyes but he knew this was a losing battle for Wanda was already setting it up her way. She got her DVD and shoved it into the player before hopping down next to him, again not gently. Loki nearly shot up from the force of her jump but was weighed down by Wanda resting her chin on his shoulder. 

As ‘Scooby-Doo & The Witch’s Ghost’ flashed on screen, Wanda burrowed her arm into Loki’s and watched him browse her computer. 

He opened her Facebook messages and sighed. “He never answered you, huh?” Loki tried to look down at her but his vision was clouded with her hair. 

“Nope!” Wanda lifted her head and slammed her back against the wall but she wasn’t even close to upset. In fact, she was more amused. She kept their arms interlocked but was now leaning on her light red wall and kicking her feet. 

“Remind me why you like Steve right now?” Loki raised his brow and tilted his head slightly as he flicked through her recent messages. Wanda hummed. 

“He’s really...” She blinked, in long thought and Loki held back a laugh. “Sweet.” 

His laugh came out then and she smacked him but not quite so hard. “I’m serious. He was really nice to me when he was at your house with Thor.” She picked at the nail polish on her fingers. “We’re gonna be in Student Council together when it starts up!” She grinned and shuffled to tuck her legs under herself. Loki rolled his eyes. “Why don’t you like him?” 

“For starters, he’s very boring.” He happily replied and even took the time to glance at her before returning to his 'work’ which Wanda had 100% stopped paying attention to. “And so...painfully...plain. Nothing special about him.” 

His friend whistled to his right and watched the TV screen as she spoke. “I should’ve known he’s not your type. That’s why you’re into Tony.” She giggled, tossing the remote and catching it flawlessly no matter how she twirled it. “He’s so eccentric. Like you.” She crinkled her nose and turned up the volume. 

The television fuzzed a little in focus before it fixed itself and Loki chuckled. “Yeah but he’s eccentric in a...party boy nerd way. And I’m eccentric in a...” Loki paused, trying to find his words. 

“Moody, emo, drama kid kind of way?” Wanda poked his arm.

Loki poked his elbow into her side. “Yeah...” He nodded. “That’s why I’m much too good for him. But I’ll give it a pass if he ever shows interest.” He winked a Wanda whistled loudly. 

Loki and Wanda had major crushes as often as people ate. At least every week there’d be a new guy on their radar. 

Wanda reached over the laptop and grabbed a scrunchie from her nightstand. “Guess I’m gonna wash this makeup off if we’re gonna get comfortable.” She sighed, dissapointed but not surprised that it never got to see the light of day, just the light of her flickering lamp. 

“If it helps, I like it.” Loki flashed her a grin and hoped it didn’t come of as sarcastic. He’d been told countless times that his joy could sound that way. But Wanda nodded with genuine understanding. “You’re just not so great at the girl stuff, huh?” He teased her some more and gently smacked the back of his hand against her arm. 

“I’m really not.” She giggled and scampered off to the bathroom that joined to her room, which was a blessing. But left the door cracked a little so she could listen to the television. “Remember when I tried to curl your hair and burned all my fingers and your neck?” Her laughter was loud and bubbly which countered the girls dark personality. It was very contagious. 

Loki put on an annoyed tone. “How could I forget? That was a fun thing to explain to my parents when they saw the mark.” 

Her laughter was getting to the point where she must’ve been shaking in silent giggles behind the door. 

As the sink began to run, Loki glanced up and fondly rolled his eyes at the movie because ‘How many times could Wanda watch this and not get sick of it?’. He heard the familiar creaks of her home from behind the fuzzy TV and felt comfort wash over him. Which, he wouldn’t admit to needing but he really did. 

They’d just started their Freshman year and he would be lying if he didn’t say he was nervous. But that was fine. He liked to lie. So he could mask that feeling well. Though it wasn’t just that. 

As he entered High School, Thor was starting his second half. a Junior. And although he put on a front, Loki was actually very close to his brother. Not many people but Wanda were aware of that. 

Loki mercilessly teased Thor but who else was he gonna record doing stupid things? Who else would understand him in the same way that his brother did? He didn’t like to admit it but Thor was his best friend in a different way then Wanda was.  

Having a brother meant having someone you can have a knock-down-drag-out fight with but still get ice cream with a 3 a.m.

And soon enough, that could be coming to an end. 

He glanced up at the bathroom door, hearing Wanda stumble through a mumbled version of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Gypsy’ as she splashed her face with water. “You know, my dad thinks we’re dating.” 

“Gross. Why?” She spoke from behind the door as she opened and closed multiple drawers. 

Loki had to agree with her immediate reaction. “Well, the curling iron incident probably didn’t help...plus, remember when he came to wake us up and we were sleeping in the same bed?” 

Wanda snorted. “That was because you made me watch those scary videos-!” 

“They’re not scary! You’re just too easily scared.” 

“I am not and you know it!” Wanda stuck her head out of the door, ponytail flopping downwards. “People need to respect ghosts and NOT try to antagonize them.” She scoffed and he shrugged. 

“Anyway, he’s been calling you my little girlfriend for ages.” Loki’s voice was small and a little insecure which did not happen often. “I don’t mind it so much because I’m not sure how he’d react to me being gay, y’know?” Loki frowned and Wanda gripped the side of the door. 

She was about to speak some genuine words and he knew that just by her expression. But it was too much for him at the moment so he decided to change the subject.

“Speaking of parents...” He flicked his tongue. “When are yours due back and are they gonna be upset with my being here?” He asked as she moved back to the bathroom. 

“I don’t know. They’re only getting dinner. So probably soon.” There were a few more shuffling sounds. “And they gotta be used to you showing up by now.” 

The room went silent for a few minutes besides Wanda running the sink a few more times. So Loki glanced back at the screen. 

“You’re about to miss the whole reason you love this movie.” 

The girl shoved the door open and darted over to the bed once more and hopped next to him. This time she dangled her legs over the side and he set aside her laptop. 

‘I'm gonna cast a spell on you You're gonna do what I want you to Mix it up here in my little bowl Say a few words and you lose control...’

“I'm a Hex Girl and I'm gonna put a spell on you. I'm gonna put a spell on you!” Wanda playfully pushed Loki as she sung along. This part of the girl was hardly ever seen by anyone but him. She was so quiet in school. 

Wanda sank back into the bed, the palms of her hands buried in the blankets. “Besides her whole Vampire thing-I never had a vampire phase, I always knew I was a witch girl-she’s my style icon.” Wanda pointed out the same girl she did every-time they watched this movie. “I wanna dye my hair that red color.” 

Her lips pursed sadly and Loki had about enough of that kinda mood for one night. “Why don’t you dye it then?” 

She scoffed. “Sure.” 

But Loki picked up his phone and started texting before even looking at her again. She paused the movie and tried to peek over his shoulder. “What are you doing?” 

The man didn’t answer until he got a satisfying reply bell back and proceeded to leap off the bed. “Thor’s picking us up to take us to a CVS or something.” And with that, he twirled out of the room and picked up his night-bag on the way out.

“Text your parents and tell them your staying over at my house! Things could get messy and you’re bathroom’s way too nice to destroy!” 

Wanda widened her eyes and stood still for a moment or two before doing just as Loki told her and rushing down the steps after him. Her bedroom door hung open.

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

The turning blinker was beating in their ears and the glare of the red light was almost painful. Loki leaned back on the fabric seats of Thor’s car which had been a gift from their parents and sighed. Rain splattered against the window and provided a nice background noise to their record silence. 

“You know, one of you could sit up here with me for once. It’s pretty lonely.” Thor teased, though he was kinda serious, as he tapped his fingers against the wheel to the blinker’s beat. 

There was about two different ways for Loki to respond, Wanda learned. The boy was either going to be a little smart mouthed kid and make a comment back to him. Or, Loki was-

‘-Oh, looks like he went for the second option.’ 

Wanda laughed as Loki reached over to smack the back of Thor’s head. The two brothers smacked each other around so often and it never seemed to bother either of them where their location was. 

This was far from the first time she’d seen them attempt to fist-fight while Thor was driving. Wanda let them do their little skit and took some time to zone-out as water pitter-pattered against the window. 

:

:

:

:

CVS was playing a far off version of ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ when the three idiots in their Pajamas stared at box-dyes in the hair-care aisle. 

Thor, the largest, was curled up criss-cross style on the rough carpet. He was digging deep into the bottom shelf and pulling out whatever colors he thought the others might enjoy. 

Loki was completely off-topic and not all there with his eyes targeting the last half of the aisle. Which was made up of useless home-ware and a half-broken into Lava lamp box because suburban drug stores never made any fucking sense. 

And Wanda was hovering between them with her pinky finger resting unconsciously on her bottom lip. 

They were frozen in their positions for a good solid five minutes which actually clocked in around ten minutes in small-town shopping time. 

Somebody in the store checked out with a loud beep, the double-doors slid open, and with no warning the fuzzy song above them made an abrupt change in genres to ‘Somebody's Watching Me’. 

Wanda popped out her leg and knelt down next to Thor, who at that very second held up a ruby red shade that was just what she wanted. 

The electric doors came open again and momentarily allowed the sound of rain to take over the music before it was muffled all over again. 

“-All I want is to be left alone, in my average home But why do I always feel Like I'm in the Twilight Zone?”

From two aisles over, somebody sneezed over another person’s question of the time. 

“You’re paying, right?” Loki smirked at Thor but the gentle giant only nodded and ruined the annoying little brother game.

Loki paid and they escaped back out into the rain. 

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

“She is like a cat in the dark and then She is the darkness She rules her life like a fine skylark and when The sky is starless-”

Wanda sang into the tiny brush before once more running it down a chunk of her hair. Performing effortlessly in the Odinson bathroom while drowning in an old sweatshirt of Thor’s which he’d offered kindly so as not to ruin her outfit. 

Loki, who’d been watching from the edge of the tub, took the opportunity to swipe the brush from her fist and go about the back of her hair. Wanda would surely miss a large space if he didn’t do it for her. As much as she wanted ruby red hair, she was still a teenager with loads of other junk on her mind. 

:

: : :

:

During the thirty minutes of waiting, Thor made them popcorn and humored Wanda in her questions about Steve. He genuinely loved hanging out with his little brother and his friend even when Loki shoved him out of the room. 

But Loki asked him back for the hair reveal. 

Thor’s little brother playfully rubbed the towel against Wanda’s head a couple times before finally sliding it off. 

The shining ruby hair flopped from the cloth and water-falled off the smiling girl’s shoulders. 

Clearly, the day had turned out much better than she expected. Her smile was the dead giveaway of her joy. 

[woildismyerster]

Can you write anything with davey? I love how you characterize him!

Y/N:  i need a favor

Davey:  Sure, what’s up?

Y/N:  you just agreed.  no backing out now

Davey:  Y/N.

Y/N:  meet me behind the school

Y/N:  bring a box

“Davey is my best friend,” you cooed into your arms.  “If you like me, you’ll like him by proxy.  Probably.  Hopefully.”

To say that liking you was the same as liking Davey was a stretch, but Davey was winsome.  He would be fine as long as he didn’t do anything stupid.

“And there he is,” you said, grinning at him while he approached.  His eyes were already on what you were holding.  “The life of the party.  The VIP.  The man of the—”

“That’s a cat,” Davey said, voice going up at the end as though it was a question.

“Well spotted.”

“It looks dead,” he said, nothing questioning about it.

“It isn’t.”

It did look it, though.  The kitten was small, patchy, and buzzing with flies.  If it hadn’t been walking when you found it, you probably would have assumed the same thing.  It had settled into your arms without too much of a fuss, which was probably a universal sign that this was supposed to be the Salem to your Sabrina Spellman.

Davey looked at you, then at the box.  “You can’t seriously want to keep that thing.”

You balked.  “Somebody has to take care of it.  Why not me?”

“Because your parents don’t want ‘anymore living things’ in their house,” he pointed out.  “Because you have nowhere to hide a cat, especially if it needs special care.”

“You already agreed to help,” you said with a grin.  “No take-backs.”

“You’re the devil.”

“Irrelevant.”

He groaned.  “My parents will kill me.”

“Suitable.  A life for a life.”  You held the cat out to him, hoping that maybe there was a scrap of empathy in him somewhere.  “C’mon, Davey.  The cat needs help.  I’ll do all the work; I just need a place for him to stay.”

“You can’t do all the work,” Davey said, “when it’s at my house.”

“I’ll come over all the time,” you said eagerly.  “So much you’ll get tired of me.”

“That’s ridiculous,” he said, a strange look on his face.  Maybe it was suspicion.  Maybe he was just thinking it through, imagining how he’d have to change his schedule to fit this in.  “I could never get tired of you.”

“Please?”

“I don’t even like cats,” he said, defeated.  He held out the box so you could settle the kitten in.

“You don’t have to like cats—just the one,” you said, scooping up the box and setting off toward Davey’s apartment.

Davey:  If I touch him, I’ll probably get a horrible disease and die.

Y/N:  dont touch him then

Davey:  This is all on you.

“I feel like a mom,” you crooned.

“The mom of a gremlin, maybe,” Davey said.  He’d locked the cat in a cage, both for his own sake and the cat’s.  He’d read online that the cat needed a chance to get used to it’s surroundings, so he’d been trying to help it chill out in private.  “Or like the queen that gave birth to the Minotaur.”

“Don’t talk about your son that way.”

He snorted.  “Believe me, I’d remember fathering this beast.”

You winked at him, and he went a little pink.

“Not like that, you cretin.”  He sat on the floor with you in front of the cage, crossing his legs.  “We could always give him to a shelter, you know.  To people who know what they’re doing.”

“We’ll take him to the vet tomorrow, and we’ll know what we’re doing after that.”

He sighed.  “You want to keep him.”

“Of course I do.  He’s perfect.”

“He has fleas.”

“He has feelings too, Dave, so watch your mouth.”  You bumped your shoulder against his to soften the words, and he bumped back.  “I want him.  There’s no good reason; I just do.  Please help.”

“Sure, sure.  You know I will,” he sighed.

You grinned, laying your head against his shoulder.  “Isn’t our son beautiful?”

“If you say so, dear,” he said.  After a second, he laid his cheek against your head.  Even through your hair, you could feel how warm his skin was.  Maybe it was just warm in the room.

You weren’t sure there had ever been so many people in Davey’s room before, but cats were a siren call that no rational human could ignore.  None of your friends were rational—aside from Davey, perhaps, but even he had succumbed.

“We took him to the vet,” he told anybody within earshot.  “They gave us a food plan, and he has roundworm—”

“You’re killing the magic, Dave,” Jack said.  “Don’t.”

It had taken a few days for the kitten to get comfortable in his new home, and even longer to reach a point where he didn’t lose his mind around new people.  Your squad had been hankering to see him for ages, but Davey had been adamant about keeping the stressors to a minimum.

“I dunno, guys,” Elmer said.  “I just watched The Haunting of Hill House, and you saw what happened to the kittens they took in—”

“We aren’t kids,” you said.  “Between Davey and I, we can keep one cat alive.  The vet mapped it all out.”

“There are probably other scary movies with bad cats,” Race said.  He grinned, running his fingers along the length of the cat’s head.  “Look out, Davey, the end of days is near.”

“The Black Cat, by Edgar Allan Poe,” Romeo said.

“Lucifer,” Albert said.  “‘Cinderella’ didn’t play around.”

“Mrs. Norris,” Crutchie said.  He hadn’t stopped smiling since he first saw the cat, and the cat seemed to like Crutchie just as much.  No surprise there.

“Or,” you cut in, shooting a sidelong glance at an exhausted Davey, “this cat is gonna be like Crookshanks.  That’d be pretty cool.”

“Not gonna lie, Y/N,” Davey whispered later.  “This is harder than I expected.”

You grimaced.  You’d trust Davey with a cat before anybody else, but you’d never intended to inconvenience him.  “I can ask somebody else to hang onto him, if you want.”

“No,” Davey said hurriedly.  “No, it’s fine, I’ve got it.  I just hadn’t realized how much that would take, before.”

“I could come over more,” you offered.  “Bribe you with snacks.”

He smiled, shooting a look at the shoelace the kitten was chewing.  “That would be nice.”

You grinned back, warming up to the idea.  It was always nice coming to Davey’s house.  There was always good food, and anyplace with Davey obviously had good company.  “You really will get tired of me, now.”

“Impossible,” he said.

Cat NAME POLL RESULTS:

Muffin Man - 2 votes

Name him Davey so we can replace Davey Jacobs with a better model - 8 votes

Jean Ralphio - 4 votes

Dat Ho - 7 votes

Wilson (Jesus, guys, a normal name) - 1 votes

Tom Hanks - 2 votes

“We aren’t naming the cat ‘Davey,’” Davey the Human said.

“That attitude is exactly why we wanted to get rid of you in the first place,” Race said.

“Use the second place name.”

You grinned.  “You know, I thought that ‘Dat Ho’ had a nice ring to it.”

Davey’s glare was withering.  “I should stop hanging out with you guys.  How hard could it possibly be to pick a nice name?  I’m even willing to use a pun at this point.”

Davey the Cat walked across Race’s backpack, claws scritching against the fabric.  He slipped, hit the floor, and proceeded to act as though nothing had happened.

“He even looks a little like you,” you said.  “Fitting to share a name, isn’t it?”

Race threw an arm over Davey’s shoulders.  “It’s a compliment.  Bask in it.”

Les sometimes sent you pictures of Davey with the cat.  They would read together, or Davey would stay up two hours later than usual because he didn’t dare wake the cat up by standing.

You took a screenshot every single time.  After a while, you started setting them as lockscreens on your phone.  You had no good explanation when people asked about it.

“Y/N?”  Davey rubbed his thumb over his lip while he looked at the chess board.  “Are you going to the fridge?”

“Yeah.”

“If you get some cheese, you can give a little to the cat.”

You grinned.  “You give him cheese?”

“Davey the Cat loves cheese,” he said, shrugging.  “Might as well let him treat himself.”

“You’ve gone soft,” you said.  The cat was sitting on the table, looking at that game board with as much interest as Davey was.  Seeing it made you feel a little soft, too.

“I still don’t like cats,” he said.

“Just the one, huh?”

Davey said nothing.  He rubbed the cat’s head, and the cat leaned into the touch.

You showed Jack and Race a picture of Davey with the cat, waiting for their faces to light up.  They smiled, but didn’t seem as taken with it as you were.

“I was surprised when Davey took the cat,” Jack commented on the way to class.  “He’s so whipped.”

“What do you mean?”

“Whipped,” Race said, dragging out the word.  “You know, when somebody does absolutely anything their lover says.  Davey’d jump off a cliff if you smiled at him while you asked him to.  Actually, letting the cat in his house is probably crazier than that.”

“Davey isn’t whipped,” you said.  “He’s just nice.”

“So’s Crutchie, and he would have at least asked his parents before saying yes.”

“Jack, Davey is your best friend.  You know that he doesn’t do anything if he doesn’t think it’s a good idea,” you said.

“Of course it seemed like a good idea.  You told him you’d hang out with him more if he did what you asked.”

You cringed.  “I didn’t say it like that.  He wanted the cat.”

“Davey didn’t want the cat,” Jack snorted.

“He literally told you that he doesn’t like cats,” Race said.  “You need to listen better.”

You scowled at them.  “Davey wouldn’t have taken Davey the Cat in if he didn’t sort of want him, a little bit.”

“He didn’t want the cat,” Jack said, as though you would only understand him if he spoke slowly.  “He just wanted to make you happy.”

“I call BS.”

Jack put his hands on your shoulders.  “Listen to me.  Davey thinks you’re great, and wants to make all of your dreams come true, yada yada yada.  You needed help with the cat.  He could help with the cat.  That’s all there is to it.”

“Please,” you said.  “This is Davey we’re talking about.”

“Exactly.  Why would Davey do something if he didn’t want to?  Because what you wanted mattered more than what he wanted.  It isn’t rocket science.”

It sure felt like rocket science.  Actually, rocket science would probably have made more sense.

So, maybe had taken in a cat because you asked him to.  That wasn’t so crazy, right?

It was a little crazy.

The real problem, the big thing that plagued your mind for days, was the guilt.  You should never have asked him in the first place.  When he hadn’t seemed interested, you should have backed off.  Here he was, stuck with a cat, because he maybe sort of probably would have done anything to make you happy.

You called Jack one night, hoping that talking about it without seeing him might make it easier to ask questions.

“Has he ever told you that he liked me?”

“No,” Jack said immediately.  “Davey’s not really like that, you know.  He’s not really chatty, and he really doesn’t tell people things if he doesn’t want everybody knowing them.”

You knew that, of course.  “What makes you think that he did this because he’s whipped, then?”

“Y/N, don’t be an idiot.  You have eyes.  You know how he is.  If he didn’t want the cat, it was for you.  If he had you come over to help, it was because he wanted you over.  He can take care of a cat on his own.  He likes you.”

You hugged your pillow.  “Okay.”

Jack yawned.  “Is that it?  Can I go to bed?”

“One more question.  Why did I ask Davey to take the cat in the first place?  I knew that Davey didn’t really like cats.”

“Don’t get mad at me for saying so,” Jack said, “but we all assumed that it was because you like Davey back.”

“Oh.”

“Looks, it’s just—it’s always the two of you.  It always has been.  I’m not saying that you guys can’t be regular friends, but I’m not sure that either of you would be good at that.  Not with each other.”

“Davey,” you said.

“Y/N.”  He carefully peeled his string cheese to each strip was around the same size.  

“You don’t have to keep Davey the Cat anymore,” you said.  “Crutchie offered to take him on.”

Davey blinked at you, surprised.  His hands dropped a little, his snack forgotten.  “Oh.”

“You didn’t want him,” you said.

“I know.”

“Now things can go back to normal.”  You didn’t want Davey to be unhappy because he thought it was better for you.  You weren’t sure what to think of Davey liking you—or the possibility (certainty) that you liked him back—but you could try to make life easier for him, at the very least.  “You can have evenings to yourself again, now that I won’t be coming around.”

“Oh,” Davey repeated.  There was no emotion on his face at all.

You grinned, a little too large to be real.  “You were probably getting tired of me, after all.”

“I wasn’t,” he croaked.  The emotion was there now, and you wished you’d talked to him before talking to Crutchie.  “I really wasn’t.”

“You’ll be happier once everything is back the way it was,” you tried.

“I’m not sure that’s true.”

You winced.  “Look, I know that this was all for me.  You don’t have to do this anymore.”

He went a little pink.  “That’s ridiculous.”

“I talked to Jack—”

“Never listen to Jack.  He’s had too much paint water to drink to be sane”

You half smiled.  “Maybe, but he knows you pretty well.”

“No,” Davey said.

“Yes.”

“Maybe.”

“So,” you continued, “I’m going to make this right.”

“I want the cat,” Davey said forcefully.

“What?”

“I want the cat.  I like the way my life is, now.  I like Davey the Cat.  I like having you over.  I like that I’m your lockscreen, and I like coparenting, and I like—”

You kissed him, and everything else was far away.  Sure, you were conscious of everything happening around you.  You heard his food hit the floor.  You heard cars honking outside, and the light tapping of rain against the window.  You were aware of many things, but none of them mattered as much as Davey’s hands going to your waist, or the sharp inhale right before he started kissing you back.

“I, ah, really like coparenting with you,” you said after pulling back.

Davey smiled, baffled.  “Okay.”

“I’ll tell Crutchie that you’ve changed your mind about the cat.”

“Okay,” he said again.  His hands were still on your sides.  “What—why’d you—”

“I’m just not tired of you yet,” you said.

Davey was grinning, still confused but incredibly happy.  “I’m so confused right now.”

You kissed him again.  That would illuminate some things.

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[dibs4ever]

The Next Generations view

My name is Nathan Wayne Grayson

My name has a meaning for it in all 3 pieces. Nathan after my maternal great grandfather, Wayne for my Adoptive Paternal grandfather and Grayson my dad's last name. I am the next generation of the legendary ”Flying Grayson’s”

The nickname the press has given me since I was an infant is ”The Prince Of Gotham” I despise my nickname, I don't want to be looked at like that. I just want to be looked at as a regular 14-year-old boy. I suppose the nickname spans from who my parents are Dick and Barbara Grayson-formally Gordon. The adoptive son of Bruce Wayne and the police commissioner daughter. As much as I’d like to be normal my life is anything but normal. Ignoring the fact of WHO my family is it’s WHAT we are that makes us abnormal. I am the protege to the Dark Night, the legendary Robin. I followed in my father’s and Uncles footsteps. I started my training at age 10 and officially became Robin at age 11. My abilities include acrobatics and extraneous computer skills plus all the other skills it takes to be accepted as a Bat.

Want a rundown of what makes up my family? Here it is,  

Dick Grayson, my father AKA Nightwing. I don’t always patrol with Batman, I’ll occasionally patrol my hometown of Bludhaven with him. I love him and look up to him but people often compare me to him because of our resemblance and sometimes that makes for a lot of pressure. But I can't be all that much like him, from what I've been told my dad was quite the ladies man. I can't flirt worth anything, the only girls I can talk to I'm either rated to or are my friend. Otherwise, I turn into a klutzy, stuttering mess My dad is super overbearing though, he coddles my sister and me to no end. Mom says when my sister was a baby she arrived back from patrol one night to find him rocking her and singing ”I’ll be watching you” which isn't creepy at all (note the sarcasm). And he will randomly just hug me and kiss my cheeks, even when we’re being Robin and Nightwing.....I’m almost 15 that's gotta stop.

Barbara Grayson- My mother, we’re really close. I will secretly admit that I’m a “mamas boy” but I can’t help that we have a really great bond. Maybe it spans from the fact that for the first 8 weeks of my life it was just her and I. Long story short they thought my dad was dead but he was actually undercover and had no clue my mom was even pregnant. She thinks I’m innocent and her “precious baby boy” like I said, I’m almost 15 my parents gotta accept that I’m growing up. My mom used to be Batgirl then when I was 4 she was shot by the Joker and became paralyzed from the waist down which transitioned her to Oracle. When I was 10 she had a chip inserted on her spine that made her regain the use of her legs. She now alternates between going out as Batgirl and Oracle stuff but mainly does Oracle now.

Leah Grayson: My 10-year-old younger sister. She looks like my mom, red hair and all. She wants to become a vigilante but Dad’s against it. My mom seems to be on the fence though and if she decides it’s okay she’ll convince my dad to let her. She’s -spunky for lack of a better word. My dad says she reminds him of my Uncle Jason when he was young which might be why he doesn’t want her to be a vigilante. It also explains why she’s Uncle Jay’s favorite

Tim Drake, My Uncle Tim is the vigilante known as Red Robin, he’s cool and understands my love for tech, he's kinda over obsessed with everything. He likes to research everything to the max and is always prepared for the situation ahead of everyone else ,whatever it may be.

Stephanie Drake, AKA Spoiler. My sister is my Uncle Jason’s favorite and I’m my Aunt Steph’s favorite. For as long as I can remember she’s loved me. We have a good bond and she spoils me (no pun intended)

Juliet Drake- My baby cousin, she’s 1 and is my little princess. She has me wrapped around her little finger. She has dirty blonde hair and big blue eyes, I love spending time with her and can’t wait to see what she becomes.

Jason Todd AKA Red Hood, my Uncle Jason and I have a -I guess you would call it a normal relationship. We aren’t close but we aren’t .....not close. I know he’d kill someone if they ever messed with me in other words. He sure doe’s spoil my sister though, in his eyes she can do no wrong.

Cassandra Cain AKA Black Bat, Aunt Cass is cool cause she helps me sneak behind my parent's backs and get away with stuff. I should’ve mentioned my Uncle Jay does too occassionally.

Damian Wayne, AKA NightGoul Uncle Dami is....interesting. We’re only 13 years apart so he hates it when I call him “Uncle” even though he only refers to me as “Nephew” seriously I think he’s only ever called me by name a handful of times. I like to call him Uncle Damian just yo annoy him.  Dad says he’s calmed down a lot since when he first met him. I can’t imagine how emotionless he used to be cause he’s pretty emotionless now. But he’s also one of the main ones who trained me to be Robin so I owe him that

Helena Wayne: AKA the new Huntress shes technically my aunt but  she’s only 2 years older then me and I have never called her “aunt” she’s more of the older sibling I’ll never have but she’s fun and I’m sure as I get older we’ll have some good times.

Selina Kyle-Wayne, Aka Catwoman I called her Grandma once when I was 5 and she gave me a death glare that gave me nightmares for a week so I never did it again. We kinda do our own thing. She has started to socialize with me more now that I’m older.

Bruce Wayne, Aka Batman Everyone thinks he’s so tough but he’s not. Supposedly he’s completely different with me then he was with my dad and uncles. We’re close, how can we not be? He’s Batman and I’m Robin. He literally buys me anything I want so when I turn 16 it’s going to be epic.

Mark and Melanie West- They aren't family but they are my best friends. They’re twins and we’re the same age. We’re in 9th grade at Gotham Academy. Our dads (mainly my dad) like to call us the ‘Big 3’. Mark is an Archer he’s the protege to the Green Arrow. He’s my best friend and basically the brother I’ll never have, we literally share everything with each other and keep no secrets. Melanie inherited her fathers abilities and is a speedster she is the protege to The Flash. She’s one of my best friends too. We actually kissed a few months back. It wasn’t anything romantic, she did it more as a favor for me, it’s a long story and we swore never to speak of it-I kinda want to talk about it though.

So there you have it, a little run down of my crazy family from my perspective. I also have a load of ”honorary” Aunts and Uncles. Like Wally, Artemis, and Roy who has a daughter named Lian that is like an older cousin to me. There's also my dad's childhood friend Donna, my moms best friend Dinah my grandpa's ”frenemie” Uncle Clark. His son Jon  is my Uncle Dami’s really good companion they go on alot of missions together. I could go on and on. It's probably not what most would consider a normal family buts its mine and I wouldn't have it any other way.