#...and yet she only gets taken seriously when she's first introduced to somebody

[maideninorange]

OC starting with the letter E?

Yeah, don't got anyone with E at the moment.

Although I did have "Evelyn" or "Eva" as working names for Diva...Does that count? I'll just assume it does. Diva can best be described as what happens when you cross the classic elegant goth girl with one of those foul-mouthed serial killers. And then only occasionally take the end result of that mix seriously lol.

[goodnightoilcountry]

jo's carolina canes fic rec list !

fic rec masterlist: jo's nhl fic rec list !

like my selection of fic recs? have a player who's not been featured? let me know and i'll go on a deep dive for you!

ANDREI SVECHNIKOV

9PM in Vancouver by @ thewintersoldierdisaster summary: on a mini trip to vancouver to watch andrei play, you suffer the worst loss of your life. andrei is your rock throughout the ordeal word count: 7k

sunkissed pt1 + p2 + p3 by @ sydnikov summary: you’ve been in love with Andrei for as long as you can remember. when you first got hired to work in the social media department and met some of the members of the team, just one look at the hockey star’s brilliant smile and you were in deep. your heart truly broke though when he introduced his girlfriend after a game and you had to pretend you were happy for him. now you had to watch as they became happily engaged, knowing you'd never be the light in Andrei's life like he was for you. word count: 16.9k total

fleeting by @ sydnikov summary: every moment with Andrei is fleeting. word count: 17.5k

the one by @ holy-pucks summary: the reader is andrei's favorite girl, but she isn't his only. for awhile, the arrangement was comfortable. he'd show up whenever he was in town, they'd fuck, and then he'd leave. rinse and repeat. so how will andrei react when their routine comes to a screeching halt? word count: 8k

eye on you by @ behoright summary: andrei is oh so drunk, and he needs you to pick him up from the bar. word count: 4.5k

JACK DRURY

nostalgia by @ pennylanefics summary: you meet jack's parents for the first time over dinner word count: 2.3k

coffee to go by @ pennylanefics summary: while getting coffee one day, you run into your ex boyfriend after successfully avoiding him for the past few months word count: 1.1k

PYOTR KOTCHEKOV

all the pretty girls by @ unluckyhoneybee summary: where Pyotr never cared when girls preferred Andrei until it was you.

SEBASTIAN AHO

this is how it ends by @ silverstonesainz-archive summary: not every chapter ends in happily every after word count: 6.4k

i could love you with my eyes closed by @ matthewtkachuk summary: Sebastian doesn't like your boyfriend - he's forgetful, stands you up, and doesn't know a thing about you. when will you see that he's the right guy to figure you out? word count: 4k

finish line by @ silverstonesainz-archive summary: a resolution where all parties are happy. word count: 4.1k

the olympics are overrated by @ sydnikov summary: Sebastian Aho x reader where the reader is an olympic athlete and the canes are in off season but Seb is staying in raleigh this summer and not going back to finland and all he wants to do is spend time with the reader but she’s super busy with training so he gets super clingy. word count: 5.1k

SETH JARVIS

lover boy by @ sydnikov summary: hockey is a violent sport, one based on luck yet also talent, and most never escape unscathed. you learned that lesson too early, and haven't quite been the same ever since. then Seth Jarvis comes along, tearing down your hardened walls with ease, and, suddenly… You don't feel so alone anymore. word count: 9.7k

being bold by @ sydnikov summary: Seth has a crush on you. a bad one, and he makes it very obvious throughout the years he’s known you, though you’ve still never taken him seriously because of his immaturity and energetic personality. much to his chagrin, you keep denying him—until one night, scorned by thoughts of your most recent ex who never knew how to touch you right, you give in to Seth’s advances. word count: 7.4k

if they woke up, somebody better be dying by @ stormsplurge summary: inspired by the interview he just did for spittin chiclets where he talks about how he usually wont fall asleep until 3am word count: 0.7k

jacket by @ prettytoxicrevolver summary: jarvy sees you in the wags playoff jacket for the first time word count: 1.6k

our wedding by @ hockeyboistrash word count: 0.7k

traded by @ pennylanefics word count: 2k

TYSON JOST

i should've fought harder by @ butgilinsky summary: what happens when you both find out that your messy breakup was the biggest mistake of all? word count: 5.5k

[forthereaderinserts]

The Yokai Ninja

Chapter 2

[Masterlist]

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~|~

The mood was palpable as the young teens trailed after the jonin in front of them. When the group reached the roof, the gray haired boy spoke again, “So, why don’t we start off by introducing ourselves.”

Sakura was quick to pipe up again. “Introduce ourselves? Well, what should we say?” 

He rolled his visible eye, “Start with your name, and if that’s not too hard, we can move on to what you do and don’t like, any dreams for the future, your hobbies. Stuff like that.” That seemed easy enough, it was an activity that they usually made little kids do at the beginning of the school year, but did he have to be so rude about it?

“Why don’t you go first,” How was Naruto confused by this? It’s so simple. “Ya’ know, tell us about yourself so we know what to do.”

He sighed like it was some great task to interact with them, "My name is Kakashi Hatake. You don't need to know about what I like, and I don’t want you to know about my hobbies. As for my dreams for the future, I don’t really have any.” Seriously? That was so useless… And what was with the attitude?

It seemed like Sakura shared their sentiment, whispering to the group, “What a waste of time, all he told us was his name.” 

Kakashi interrupted the gossip by having Naruto go first, now that he’d answered the boy's question. “Right! I’m Naruto Uzumaki. I like instant cup ramen, and I really like the ramen at Ichiraku’s, but I hate the 3 minutes it takes to cook it! My hobbies are trying a buncha different kinds of ramen and comparing them all! And for my big dream for the future, I’m going to be the best Hokage this village has ever seen! That way people will have to start respecting me and treat me like I’m somebody; somebody important.”

Y/N paused at that last part. They expected him to go on and on about pranks and ramen, but maybe there was something else to this boy. It was Sakura’s turn next. “I’m Sakura Haruno, what I like– I mean, the person I like is… Uh, my hobby is, heh. My dream for the future…?”

She let out a shrill squeal as Kakashi-sensei tiredly urged her to continue and finish her dislikes. She barks out Naruto’s name, causing him to groan like he’d been hit. If this is what being a ninja was like, Y/N regretted every decision that led to this path. 

If Sakura’s introduction was exactly how they expected it to go, no doubt Sasuke would be a brooding mess of angst and darkness. “My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don’t particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream because I’m going to make it a reality. I’m going to restore my clan and destroy a certain someone.”

That went as well as it could’ve, Y/N supposed. It certainly made everyone uncomfortable, but they felt like the only one who caught Sasuke promising to ‘restore’ his clan. Weird, though they should probably be the one to break the silence. It was their turn after all.

“My name is Y/N Seireiko. I don’t have many hobbies outside of chores, but I like reading and listening to music, I guess. I don’t like getting involved with drama, even if it makes for the best entertainment, and I don’t like watching people get taken advantage of. My dream for the future… I guess it’s just to make a difference to at least one person; prove to myself that I’m worth more than my fears tell me.”

Kakashi stared at Y/N for a second before moving on, “Great, you’re all interesting and unique individuals. We’ll have our first mission tomorrow.” Already? 

“Already? Yes!” Naruto cheered, what’s with everyone being mind-readers today. “What kind of mission are we going on sensei?”

“Something special for the five of us, a survival exercise.”

“Survival exercise?!” “I thought we were supposed to get a real mission, we’ve done this at the academy before!” Y/N let Naruto and Sakura complain, they didn’t feel ready to take on a full-scale mission with these guys yet.

“Good thing this isn’t going to be like what you did at the academy.” Why was he laughing like that? What was going to happen during this exercise?

“Hey, that’s a normal question! Why are you laughing?” Y/N really needed to start speaking out loud, this was getting ridiculous.

Kakashi chuckled again, though it sounded more like a sneer, and directed his attention to Sakura. “If I tell you, you aren’t going to like it. Out of the 28 students who graduated, only ten will move on. The rest get sent back to the academy. In other words, this test is make-it-or-break-it; pass or fail.”

“That’s not fair! We worked hard to get here, what was all that even for then?!” Naruto’s shouting startled Y/N. They were so busy gawking at their sensei in disbelief, they had completely forgotten where they were. They had had strict teachers before, but this was insane.

Kakashi didn’t even seem fazed by the boy's anger, nor the growing unease of his new students. “That was just the first selection process to see who might become genin, in the end I get to decide who actually passes. Moving on, I expect you all at the training grounds at 5 AM, bring your ninja gear.”

The group took the lull in conversation to sink in the information they just received. If they didn't pass this next test, they would be sent right back to the academy. Given how authoritarian Kakashi-sensei was during their first meeting, Y/N had no doubt that if he felt like it, he would expel one of them for not meeting his standards. Looking at their classmates, they all seemed to be in deep thought, most likely coming to the same conclusion Y/N did. They managed to drag their eyes over to Kakashi, who, until now, was casually watching his students reel in horror. 

As if he had a sixth sense, his eyes darted to meet Y/N’s. His hardened, steel-gray eye locked onto theirs, turning lighter with mirth as he noticed the slight shake in their form. The sick bastard was enjoying this, torturing kids barely younger than himself. Then, like nothing even happened, he stood up and spun around. Turning his head to look over his shoulder, he called out one final warning before leaving, “You all can go now, but here’s a little tip, don’t eat breakfast tomorrow. You might end up puking it out.”

[sprawa-przybyszewskiej]

Multirealities in Stanisława Przybyszewska’s plays

The most common critique of Przybyszewska I encounter everywhere is that she claimed her plays were a "historical chronicle" (an actual subtitle for The Danton Case), while being very obviously biased, belletrised, prejudiced etc., all in all not exactly the impartial retelling a chronicle is supposed to be. This critique permeats all that is written about her plays to the point when while I cannot exactly complain about the lack of resources focused on her (for such a niche personality she does have a dedicated group of scholars, fanalyzing her works and bringing to life all the forgotten bits from the Poznań archives), it seems to me way too much space is focused on these harsh views, and not enough left for enjoying what I consider to be a genius piece of literature.

When I say Przybyszewska was a genius, I don't only mean it in terms of brilliant literary prowess. She was actually a modern renaissance woman, talented in many fields, and if she constantly complained about not being good enough in any of them, it was only because she held herself to unbelievably high standards. Therefore it is simply stupid to assume she actually considered what she knew to be fictional - to be a chronicle. A title is one thing, believing it's true is another and I think the very least we could do in order to understand her and her works better, is to stop treating her like a child who did not pay attention in history clasess.

A small sidenote: Sandor Marai, my favourite Hungarian writer, has a knack for writing all love stories as if they were criminal cases, and the main character was conducting an investigation of sorts. Which makes it very fitting that in one of his most famous novels he introduces us to the concept of "reality versus truth". This seems counterintuitive, but I don't think it really is, and I also think this is something which should be more often applied to Przybyszewska. Too often she is being judged on the basis of having taken "too great a liberty" of assuming somebody's intentions and explanations. People act as if the very fact she wanted to give studying history a try already makes her a writer with an aspiration to be a historical writer. Now, I haven't read Albert Mathiez yet (but it's in my plans, as I don't think anybody can seriously discuss Przybyszewska without getting acquaintanced with Mathiez as well), but I doubt she wanted to write a history book, only better, only in form of a play, after studying Mathiez, much as she liked him.

All this points me to the direction of something I will call "A Prime Theory", and it's not very revolutionary, but it seems to be absolutely crucial to put it in place, because Przybyszewska is constantly being - unfairly - judged on the accordance and compatibility with the historical events, when it should not be the case. The foundation is this: the revolution Przybyszewska described is not The Great French Revolution, but The Great French Revolution'. According to mathematics for every Point, there is Point', identical to the first one but on a flipped side of the axis, so to say. I believe she has described something more akin to a parallel reality, with the general grasp on the events more or less the same that what we know from our history, but with occasional changes and differences. Therefore she did not describe the "reality" of the Revolution but the "truth" of it.

It is possible because the way Marai understood "truth" was that it was the essence, the gist of something much more than the actual chronology or honesty of a situation. The truth is much more personal and what we believe to be true, than what is factual and provable. The first and easier example would be the way she described Robespierre in regards to his physical traits. In every historical account I've read there is some thought dedicated to his fragile health and meagre posture, and Przybyszewska wholeheartedly disagrees, sprinkling small but firm descriptions that work to the contrary; any sign of illness or weakness is in her eyes onlyt emporal, besides, it's not really a weakness if it shows he has undergone (and proved succesful in the endeavour) such a multitude of obstacles any lesser man would have already given up. So even the "negative" traits she flips around so much they become "positive" in the end. They are literally being foils of their original meaning. The gnostic inspirations I have written about in the past have a lot to do with the general idea I'm describing now. The overall duality seems to be interwoven into the text, which is why I cannot treat it as if it were a singular thing. And I haven't even mentioned all the things she outright invents, like bragging about Robespierre's luscious hair (which are hidden under a wig anyway), or comparing him to a tiger or a cat or a dancer, or describing him with the help of a language which is highly metaphorical and imaginative. She is very visibly inventing Robespierre anew - why would she be accused of distorting a portrait of a historical figure, when it is clearly not THE historical figure she put on the stage?

It would also be unfair to judge her in terms of accuracy with history, because she was, after all, not a historian. I need people to understand (it seems funny to write about it, but it's been adressed so much by so many I think I really have to) she was not a bad historical writer, but a brilliant fictional writer. That her fiction resembles our reality so much is a point which still does not warrant reading her plays as historical plays in any way, shape or form. To be honest, I think any kind of factual reading of Przybyszewska's works is not a good idea, because she was so far removed from social and political life, she had so few friends or even just people she kept in contact with, I find it hard to believe she would even know how to describe actual, interpersonal relations, or political lobbies. This is more visible in her prose, but the relationships she's describing don't feel at all natural, and that is not because she was a bad writer - after all she a was a genius writer, with a talent few can match. She was innovative to the point of being incomprehensible by others, and the falsity and lack of natural feeling in the way she saw people is completely due to her lack of expierence of living in a society. This is what I find lacking in the discourse around Przybyszewska - not enough space is dedicated to underlining the fact her life was extraordinary in every aspect. Her life experience was something most people cannot even imagine, and especially this is not something we expect of a writer of her level.

I think I know where this dychotomy in perceiving her comes from: she used mechanical, detached language to describe the misery she lived in, and it seems to be a mascarade a lot of people still buys. It's the same things with the subtitle in TDC - we believe her at face value, completely disregarding the fact she was a writer, she was inventing fictional things all the time! It's like no one (not many people I've read anyway) is able to discern between what she put on display and what was really going on in her life or in her mind. I'm yet to see a good critical paper on her arguing that her perception of the world in all aspects must have been skewed because she was addicted to hard drugs. It's like no one notices it, nor the fact that she was allegedly sexually abused by her own father? There aren't that many more messed up situations than this one to find yourself in. The way she saw the world and described it in her works was surely affected by that, too. This is another argument in favour of truthfullness of these plays: she described what she felt was true, what she believed was true, what she imagined was true. It’s not a lie, if it doesn’t claim to be all encompassing turth, in short: it’s not a lie, because she said so (it only works in ficiton, but luckily for us, this is fiction!).

When I speak about "multi-realities" in her plays (a term I'm borrowing from Leon Chwistek, a painter and a mathematician living roughly in the same time as Przybyszewska, they had friends in common but I'm yet to discover if they knew each other personally) I mean, actually, that there is a multi-faceted way to look into her works. Yes, historical knowledge is good for analyzing the plays from one angle, but one mustn't stop at that. There are realities aplenty: reality of love, for one, is something she described very well. She also - mostly through Robespierre, partially through Billaud and Saint-Just - reaches out to the hypothetical future and describes possible, future realities. Her characters are not thethered to one spot, what she wrote encompasses more than what we see on the pages.

I think taking a step back when analyzing her works would go a long way. Not many people on here has read Ninety-Three, her short play, but this works as a good counterexample - in The Danton Case and Thermidor we get so hung up on the point that it surely must be reality, because all the characters are given the correct historical names etc. etc. we forget they are made up. In Ninety-Three, however, we don't encounter the same problem - I am positive there was never any princess Maud de la Meuge - and thus we are automatically able to read it as a piece of fiction.

Now that I think of it, this is another reason why it's easier to analyze in regards to fictionality her plays as adaptations, and not as the raw text. It's because the directors do a lot of additional fictionalizing for us, adding even more realitites to the already full melting pot of them. We need this abundance to see for ourselves neither of these plays are historical and it’s easier to come to this conclusion when the characters are very obviously wearing costumes, or the anachronism of the stage situation becomes too apparent.

[parkerslatte]

Dance With Me Tonight

Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

Warnings: mentions of cheating

Word Count: 2k

Summary: While everyone is dancing at Derek and Savannah's wedding, Spencer is sat at one of the tables observing until one of Savannah's friends asks him to dance.

MASTERLIST

be added to my taglist --- HERE

***

The upbeat music with the addition of some bodies moving wildly on the dance floor was enough to put a smile on Y/N’s face. Taking a sip from her champagne, Y/N wandered around the edge of the dance floor. It wasn’t too long ago when she had been on the dance floor herself, dancing without a care in the world. She stepped off to have a bit of a breather and to get away from all the cramped bodies. 

“Hey!” Savannah said, approaching her and wrapping her in a hug.

“There’s the bride!” Y/N responded, hugging her friend back, “I can’t believe you’re married.”

Savannah chuckled, “I can’t either,” She stared at Derek, who was standing on the other side of the dance floor, with a loving smile on her face. She turned back to Y/N, “What about you? Do you have anyone in your life right now?”

“Definitely not,” Y/N responded, “I haven’t really been out on dates since my last break up - it was messy. And besides, I’m not really looking for anyone right now.”

Savannah gave her a look that said she didn’t believe her, “Y/N it’s been four years, you can surely get out there and have a bit of fun.” 

“I know but-” 

“But nothing Y/N, there are plenty of single people here, go and mingle, ask someone to dance.” Savannah said. 

Y/N sighed, “I’ll think about it.”

Savannah shook her head at her friend's hesitance. She looked over her shoulder slightly before smiling. Derek approached the two women. He greeted Savannah with a kiss on the cheek.

“What are you two ladies talking about?” He questioned.

“I’m trying to get Y/N to dance with someone,” Savannah answered, “She doesn’t want to.”

Derek scanned the crowd before his eyes landed on somebody. A small smirk fell onto his face before he turned to face Y/N, “Ask him to dance.”

Y/N turned and looked in the direction Derek was pointing. There was a man sitting on his own just watching the crowd. He looked like he had been sitting there a while. 

“Why? I don’t even know him.” Y/N stated, turning back to the happily married couple. 

“Then get to know him.” Savannah said before a slow song came on. The two bid goodbye to Y/N and headed to the dance floor. 

Y/N gave them a parting smile and swirled her glass of champagne. She wanted to get back out and start dating again but after the whole thing with her last boyfriend, she was hesitant. Y/N was afraid that any new relationship she gets into, it will only end up like her previous one. 

Looking back at the man that Derek had pointed to, Y/N noticed that he had no indication of moving. Nearly everyone who was in a relationship was dancing to the slow song that blasted out of the speakers. There were a few people who weren't dancing standing on the outskirts but they were engrossed in conversation. The only person on their own was the man.  

Y/N finished off her champagne and headed over to the man. She sat down in a chair next to him. He didn’t question anything at first until he noticed that he had no idea who she was. 

“Hi, I’m Y/N.” She introduced herself.

The man gave her a tight lipped smile, “I’m Spencer.”

“Nice to meet you.” Y/N said and internally cursed herself for how awkward she was making the situation.

“Nice to meet you too.” Spencer replied.

“I’m sorry if this is weird. I mean I don’t know you and I just randomly came over here.” Y/N spoke. 

“No it’s fine,” Spencer dismissed, “I enjoy the company.”

Y/N smiled before the two fell into a surprisingly comfortable silence. After the slow song drew to a close, another was played. There were some couples who left the dance floor to get a drink or sit down but most stayed. Y/N caught sight of Savannah. Noticing that Y/N and Spencer were sitting together, she mouthed, ‘Ask him to dance.’

Y/N cast her gaze away from Savannah and turned to Spencer. He was watching all of the couples on the dance floor. At first she hadn’t noticed but he was extremely attractive. His hair was slightly messy, his eyes shone bright and felt warm and inviting. This nearly caused Y/N to back out of asking him altogether, she felt as if the man sitting next to her was way out of her league. It wasn’t until Spencer turned to face her when she spoke up and asked him.

“Do you want to dance?” Y/N blurted, “You don’t have to if you don’t want to. I just thought that since we’re basically the only people not dancing, it’ll be fun.”

Spencer looked taken back by the question at first. It didn’t register on his face but he was surprised that Y/N had asked him. He had noticed her earlier in the night and thought that she was gorgeous. Normally Spencer would say no to dancing with someone, especially when it was someone he had just met, but his mouth was quicker than his brain.

“Sure.” Spencer said.

A wide smile stretched across Y/N’s face, she hopped up from the chair and offered her hand to Spencer. He placed his hand in hers and the two walked to the middle of the dance floor. They faced each other before Y/N slowly wrapped her arms around Spencer’s neck, locking her fingers at the back. Spencer’s arms snaked around her waist, pulling her close. Both Y/N and Spencer could feel their faces heating up due to the close contact. The two swayed gently to the music. 

“So, you’re friends with Savannah?” Spencer asked quietly, pulling her slightly closer so she could hear him over the music. 

Y/N nodded, “Yeah, we’ve been friends for a few years now. I take it you’re friends with Derek?”

“Yeah I am,” Spencer answered, “Do you work with Savannah?”

“No, I’m an interior designer, I met Savannah through another mutual friend. I’ve been close to her ever since,” Y/N answered, “How long have you known Derek?”

“Since I started working for the FBI.” Spencer stated.

Everything suddenly clicked into place for Y/N, “Wait. You’re Spencer Reid. Savannah mentioned you a couple times.” What Y/N failed to mention was that Savannah had said on numerous occasions how perfect Y/N and Spencer would be for each other. Now Y/N can see why Derek had sent her his way.

“Don’t worry, it was good stuff she mentioned.” Y/N added once she noticed Spencer’s confused expression.

Spencer smiled slightly, “Well, since you know a bit about me, can I know a little about you?”

The two fell into an easy conversation. Y/N’s arms were still wrapped around Spencer’s neck but she did find herself playing with the ends of his hair on multiple occasions and she quickly stopped herself. Spencer’s arms were still wrapped tightly around Y/N’s waist - their bodies close. The two were so wrapped up in conversation that they failed to notice that the music had changed to a more upbeat song. They still swayed slightly from side to side like no one was watching them - they were wrapped up in their own little world. 

For the rest of the night, Y/N and Spencer didn’t leave each other's side. The two had spoken all night yet they never ran out of anything to talk about. There were multiple occasions where Spencer would go off on a tangent and Y/N would watch him with admiration. Once he noticed he was doing it however, he stopped and apologised. 

“Don’t stop and don’t apologise, I’m learning things.” Y/N would reply before Spencer would give her a big smile before continuing on his tangent. 

They both sat at a table on their own. Thir chairs were so close to each other that Y/N’s leg would brush against Spencer’s continuously, not that either of them minded. Somehow the topic of Y/N’s ex-boyfriend was brought up in conversation. She didn’t mean to bring it up but she was telling Spencer about the time when she decorated her and her ex’s apartment and he made her do it all again because he hated it.

“At the time I was too in love with him to argue,” Y/N explained, “We were talking about re-decorating the apartment before so while he was on a business trip, I did it. I thought I did a good job - wait scratch that - I did an amazing job, but he made me do it all again, this time he demanded what went where. He always did things like that, demand things of me.”

“Why didn’t you leave?” Spencer questioned.

“Believe me there were several occasions where I nearly did but I just felt obligated to stay, after all it was my apartment and he wasn’t leaving any time soon,” Y/N said, “It wasn’t until I found out that he hadn’t been going on business trips at all, he had been cheating on me the whole time,” Y/N sighed, “I kicked him out after that.”

Spencer couldn’t believe that someone would cheat on Y/N, to him she was perfect, “Then he was stupid.”

“You can say that again.” Y/N said, taking a sip from her drink.

“I’m serious, Y/N. It’s stupid that he cheated on you. You are intelligent, funny, kind, beautiful - he’s an idiot for not seeing something perfect in front of him.”

Y/N’s face flushed at Spencer’s words, “You don’t mean that-”

“I mean every word of it.” Spencer said seriously. 

Y/N smiled at Spencer. No one had said something that kind to her before - especially not someone she had met only a few hours ago. Y/N didn’t know why, but it felt like she had known Spencer for ages. How easy they could have a conversation and joke around with each other - that was something that Y/N could only really do with her closest friends. There was something special about Spencer - something beautiful. 

As the night drew to a close, everyone began leaving. While saying goodbye to Savannah and Derek, they gave her a knowing smirk. Y/N quickly dismissed it, not wanting to prove them right before heading to her car. She only had a couple of drinks that night before switching to water when she started her conversations with Spencer, so she was safe to drive since she sobered up through the night. 

Before Y/N was about to climb in her car, someone called her name. Spencer rushed towards her and Y/N turned around and smiled. They had said goodbye to each other just before everyone else began leaving, Y/N gave her number to Spencer as well so they could keep in contact. 

Spencer stopped in front of Y/N, “Hey.”

Y/N smiled, throwing her bag in her car, “Hey, what’s up?”

“If you aren’t busy tomorrow, do you want to get coffee with me?” Spencer asked. 

“Of course, I’d love to!” Y/N said.

“Great.” Spencer smiled at her, giving her an awkward thumbs up. 

Y/N shook her head slightly, a smile still evident on her face before wrapping her arms around Spencer, pulling him into a hug. Spencer wrapped his arms around her waist. He wasn’t a big hugger but with Y/N it was different, it felt nice. 

Y/N pulled away after a moment, “Thank you for tonight, Spencer. It was fun,” Y/N leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Spencer’s cheek, “I’ll see you tomorrow. Text me where and when.”

Y/N climbed into her car and drove off, not before giving Spencer one parting smile. He was left standing on his own as he watched her car drive off, a dopey grin on his face.

[consumeconstantly]

A Discowing at the Wayne Gala

Summary: Getting Jason to go to the Wayne Gala each year was more difficult than putting the Joker away in Arkham; he insisted the part was full of pretentious, rich social climbers who were horribly boring. As it turned out, all he really needed to persuade him was an upset, drunk girl rambling about how much she was going to deck her highschool enemies there to convince himself that he’d be in for a great show. (AKA the extremely chaotic and nonsensical salt/crack fic)

____________________________________________________

“I, Mar--” she hiccupped, “Marinette Dupain-Cheng solemnly swear to rip Lila a new one with Discowing’s godawful costume.”

“You say it girl!” called some random person from across the bar. 

“I will--” another hiccup “--use Batman’s Batmobile to run over Kim. And slam Red Hood’s ugly ass helmet onto Adrien’s stupid face.”

“Better yet,” Marinette pounded the table, “I will use their stupid utility belts to dismantle Gabriel’s empire. Somebody give me a yeah!”

“Yeah!”

All in all, the sight wasn’t that atypical for a bar in Gotham, if it weren’t for the fact that Marinette Dupain-Cheng was barely five feet, wore pigtails, and knocked five men on their asses when they tried to approach her. 

“Take that, Hawkass,” she hissed. “Think you can pull a fast one on me when I’m drunk, do you? Well I’ve got news for you!”

Her words slurred together, and she leaned on the bar for support. “When I get my way, you’re going to be tied up into a pretzel and dumped into a volcano, then the tundra and then we’ll see how you like your stupid little jewlery touched.”

“Dupain-Cheng,” her blonde companion hissed. “Get yourself together. We don’t need another one of your breakdowns now. You know we’re going to be busy tomorrow night, and I don’t want to deal with you completely hung over all throughout the gala.”

“Aww,” Marinette squished her cheek onto Chloe’s “You know you love me.”

“Yes, yes, but I’m not going to tolerate this bullshit. If you want to make good on your plans, you need to be in tip top shape.”

“Ughhhh, why are they even invited to the stupid gala? It’s not even like they’re rich! Oh wait, I guess they are…” Marinette pressed her face to the bar, which was undoubtedly dirty. She reveled in it’s coolness, brushing her bangs out of her face. “And why do you have to be right? I guess I have to stop drinking if I want to make any of my plans work.”

“Your plans will work, hungover or not. It’s just a question of how much you’ll be able to enjoy them. I don’t want you complaining for months after the fact that you don’t remember half of what happened.”

“I guess you’re right. Revenge is a dish best served cold, and I'm feeling a little too warm to ice them out.” Staggering, Marinette got to her feet. “Call an Uber?”

“It’s already here.”

#

“What made you change your mind?” Tim frowned at Jason, doubtful that he wasn’t going to cop out at the last second. He was sure that he was only putting on his suit as some sort of deliberate ploy to get out of the Gala. Truthfully, it wasn’t required that all of them attend the Gala, but it was one of the few events that brought together most of the Wayne family.

Jason ran a hand through his hair and smirked. “Let’s just say I’m expecting quite the show.”

#

Jason kept a hawkish gaze on the entrance, waiting for the appearance of one short, pigtailed girl, and a taller blonde. They arrived almost forty five minutes into the Gala, which was good timing; not late enough to be considered rude, but most people have already arrived and have made their rounds.

Marinette looked different out of the dim lighting of the bar, and even though she definitely looks like she’s nursing a light hangover, she still managed to look stunning. With a matte-black floor length dress that attracted all light in the vicinity towards it, it’s hard not to look her way; Tim, for one, stared at the outfits that Marinette and her companion are wearing with stars in his eyes. Any moment now, he’s going to approach them. Or he would if he weren’t on Jason-sitting duty.

“I’ll play nice,” Jason promised.

“You? Nice?” Tim sounded incredulous, and it’s not like he can fault him. Whenever Jason did successfully get roped into coming to the Gala, it’s a sure thing that he gets at least one fist fight started, if not an everyone for themselves sort of situation. 

“They’re the reason I decided to come. It’s not me you have to be worried about.”

Tim groaned. “Really? They’re trouble makers? But they’re wearing MDC!”

Jason chuckled, slipping a hand into his pants pocket. Tim was weirdly obsessed with the highly secretive French designer. Nobody ever saw them in person. “Wearing your fashion icon doesn’t mean they can’t kick ass.”

Tim rocked back on his heels, looking at the two girls calculatively. “That’s right. If anything, they’re more likely to kick ass, because that’s the kind of confidence that MDC inspires in their designs. Well, if you’re not going to fight them, I’m going to introduce myself.”

“And I can’t leave my little brother alone.” Jason said, watching the blonde girl point in the direction of, if he wasn’t mistaken, Gabriel Agreste’s son and his plus one.

Who knew that doing a preliminary reading of the guests would be so informative? He could only guess what kind of beef Marinette had with Agreste Jr.--Bruce had enough problems with Gabriel; even though Wayne Enterprises only dabbled in fashion, Gabriel was a ruthless man when it came to his competitors, and tried to edge them out of the market multiple times. Foolish on his part, not taking into consideration that both Bruce and Tim were very, very stubborn people who only get more difficult to face when dealing with a challenge.

Wayne Enterprise might primarily be considered with R&D and technology companies, but underestimating the amount of influence Tim could gather when someone pissed him off was just a bad idea.

“Hi, I’m Tim--”

“--and it’s lovely to meet you, but we’re on a mission right now,” finished the blonde girl, who Jason was now 98% sure is Chloe Bourgeois, daughter of Paris’ mayor and Style Queen Audrey Bourgeois. “Dupain-Cheng, it’s your time to shine.”

“God,” Marinette muttered underneath her breath, ducking her head. “I can’t believe you’re holding me to what I said while drunk last night.”

“It’s not just what you said drunk last night, it’s the most effective way of dealing with that liar. She’ll be so embarrassed she’ll hide away forever. Maybe get some plastic surgery and change her name. Daddy will make sure she can never step foot in Paris again.” 

“Chloe,” Marinette groaned. “We all know how that panned out last time. Do you want a repeat performance?”

“By that time Hawkmoth will already be taken down. No need to worry about evil butterflies.”

“Evil butterflies?” Tim frowned. 

“We can fill you in later, Marinette has a car to steal.”

“Chloe!” 

“Oh stuff it, Dupain-Cheng, you’re no goody two shoes, even though you pretend to be one.”

Marinette whispers into Chloe’s ear, eyeing Jason and Tim. “Do you have to discuss that with other people around?”

“Well,” Chloe crossed her arms. “You boys aren’t going to rat us out, are you? They’re part of the infamous Wayne family. They’ll definitely be in.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. You know they already reached out-- I can’t risk--” Marinette kept cutting herself off. “Fine, but if you-know-what falls through, I’m putting it all on you.”

“Like they’re going to pass you up just because of what’s going to go down at this gala. If anything, they’ll be glad to know that you’re as vicious as you are creative,” Chloe checked her nails and touched her hair, making sure it was in place.

“Sorry, what? I’m a little bit lost.”

“Keep up, Drake. I’m beginning to doubt your title as child-genius.You have the unique opportunity to watch history in the making.”

#

“Wait,” Tim’s jaw almost dropped at the display in front of him. “How did you even--”

“Trade secret. Marinette doesn’t kiss and tell.”

“But that’s the Batmobile.”

“Yeah, and?”

Jason laughed. He stole the hubcaps off the Batmobile, Marinette stole the whole thing. What a sight.

#

Here’s how the rest of the night went: Chloe plied Marinette with copious amounts of water, trying to get rid of her headache. Marinette hopped into the driver’s seat of the Batmobile (to which Chloe cackled, “And she doesn’t even have a driver’s license yet,” and Tim paled to the shade of freshly fired ceramic plate.) They ran over Kim, who, somehow managed to get into the event as a server of sorts, at which point Tim swore that the background checks would have to be upped again. Marinette landed the Batmobile in the middle of the gala, barely managing to avoid several innocents who were in her path. She reached into the convenient storage compartment that Jason was previously unaware of and pulled out the Discowing outfit and his helmet-- seriously, how did she get those?-- and slammed the car door.

Security, of course, was waiting for them. How couldn’t they, with that big of a disturbance? Half of the guests were up in a tizzy-- mostly the ones who were experiencing their first Wayne Gala-- and the other half were looking on, amused. Tim waved the guards off as Marinette made her way to Lila and Adrien, like a vengeful Valkyrie.

“You,” Marinette grimaced. “Chloe, say the words, I forgot them.”

“We decided that words were useless, remember?”

“Oh, that’s right,” Marinette said, before promptly slamming Red Hood’s helmet onto Adrien’s head hard enough for him to fall to the ground, likely concussed. Lila, who started screeching and running away made for a surprisingly difficult target. Well, difficult in the fact that she was using other people as shields, but once she came across a group of Experienced Wayne Gala Goers, she got pushed out of her comfort zone.

In eight inch heels and with her hair down, Marinette stalked towards her prey. 

“Lila Rossi,” Marinette intoned. “Your sins will be judged.”

“What are you going to do, Marinette? You have no power here. We’re in America now. No Ladybug to back you up. No public opinion in your favor.”

Marinette shuddered. “Ugh, your voice makes me want to vomit. In any case, I sentence you to life in Discowing’s costume.”

“You can’t make me wear anything!”

Famous last words, Lila.

#

“I’m still so confused. What just happened?”

“Don’t worry,” Chloe gave Tim a pat on the back. “You’ll get used to this kind of thing if you end up hanging around Marinette more often.”

“I think I’m in love,” said Jason.

“Get in the back of the line. The only thing Marinette has time for now are her plans to take down Hawkmoth.”

“I’m not opposed to joining you. I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.” Jason paused. “By the way, has she already stolen the utility belts to take down Gabriel or does she need more? I’ve got contacts.”

 "Fair warning, everything in Paris is at least twenty times crazier than what you’ve seen here today.” Chloe swiped through a few notifications on her phone. “And please, do you think someone who hotwired the Batmobile needs your help getting her hands on a couple utility belts? If she really put her mind to it, she could get the Lasso of Truth from Wonder Woman.”

“Yeah, Jason, I’m definitely not going to join you on that trip.” Tim turned his attention towards Marinette, who was currently passed out on the hotel couch. “Anyways, You two are wearing MDC, right? I have a meeting with them tomorrow!”

Chloe looked at the poor boy with pity. “Good luck. You’re going to need it.”

@jasonette-july-2k20

________________________________________________

i’m really churning out these jasonette prompts like butter (god butter is so freaking good you ever eat butter straight? i do. heart attack city & the next paula dean) even tho i only thought about joining in right when july was ending but here we are 

[fanficimagery]

Wildest Dreams.

Imagine it's a couple days before your wedding and your friends start coming in for your last days of freedom. Only you start having second thoughts, old feelings crop up, and you end up having a breakdown.

Words: 5.1K Warnings: This happens to be an AU with no children and Liz is alive. If a character isn't mentioned, I'm sorry. I had too many characters already.

The Mikaelsons, plus a couple of significant others, are sitting around a fire pit in the backyard of their mansion down in New Orleans after a surprisingly calm family dinner. The only one missing is Rebekah who'd gotten up to answer the door when one of Klaus' minions was dropping off some things inside. But mere seconds later she's returning, a smile gracing her lips as she reads from what appears to be an invitation in her hands.

"You have been cordially invited to witness the celebration of love between Landon Wesley and Y/N Y/L/N," she says as she retakes her seat next to Marcel. "Aw. Our little Y/N grew up so fast."

Elijah, who'd been staring into the fire, suddenly frowns. He sits up a little straighter in his seat. "Y/N is getting married?"

Skimming through the invitation, Rebekah doesn't see her brother's expression. But Klaus, Marcel, Freya, and Keelin do. "Mhm. In two weeks, but she wants me down there a couple days before for a girls thing. She said I could bring whoever I wanted, so Freya and Keelin are coming with."

"Oh. Okay," Keelin huffs. "So I guess we don't get a say in this?"

"Nope. Not at all."

Keelin rolls her eyes, but she's smiling all the while. Freya pats her wife on the back of the hand, chuckling, just as Elijah clears his throat and stands up. "Well if you excuse me, I think I'm going to call it a night."

As Elijah makes his exit, Rebekah finally lifts her head from the invitation. Klaus hides his smirk behind the glass tumbler he's sipping from as everyone else watches Elijah go with their interest piqued.

"Am I the only one who found that weird?" Keelin asks, gesturing towards where Elijah disappeared off to.

Marcel chuckles, shaking his head. "Not at all. Someone please tell me what the deal is there?"

Rebekah sighs. "Y/N holds a special place inside Elijah's heart."

"Dear Y/N is cousin to one Caroline Forbes of Mystic Falls, part of the scooby gang we once loathed." Klaus smirks. "But we never loathed Y/N."

"Not at all." Rebekah now starts to smile. "Y/N was kind, even when her family and friends plotted our deaths. She was the only one whose word we could trust and the only other person who purposely engaged 'lijah in conversation."

"We obviously thought our dear brother had a thing going on with Y/N, but he denied it every time," Klaus says. "It was because she was only seventeen at the time, but it's been years now."

"Y/N is definitely all grown up." Rebekah slowly smirks. "And definitely still asks after Elijah."

Klaus chuckles. "And it appears Elijah still harbors something for our favorite Mystic Falls resident."

"Well damn," Marcel mumbles. "We're so going to this wedding. We haven't had normal people drama in a while."

Keelin raises her glass in salute to Marcel's words. This was definitely going to be an interesting trip.

The Salvatore brothers have given up the Boarding House for the night so you could meet with your girls. Caroline took care of getting food and drinks, and Bonnie and Elena knew it was best to just stay out of Caroline's way. Because as Maid of Honor, Caroline took her duties a little too seriously.

"Can we eat yet?" Bonnie asks, already munching on a breadstick. "What are we even waiting for?"

"I'm expecting a few more friends," you say. "They're about five minutes out."

"And which friends are these?" Caroline wonders.

"Rebekah." Caroline immediately groans whereas Bonnie and Elena look uncomfortable. "Don't even give me that look," you tell your cousin. "I made Rebekah promise to be on her best behavior and she did so long as none of you made snide comments towards her. And the other two are Freya and Freya's wife Keelin."

"Freya and Keelin? How come we've never heard of them before?" Elena asks.

"Because Freya is a Mikaelson and her story was really sad," you say. "I didn't think I should tell you when I had first found out." All three girls look at you and you sigh, locking your phone and shoving it into your back pocket. "So long story short, Freya is the eldest Mikaelson. She was taken hostage by her aunt, forced to live for one year and then magically sleep for a hundred." Bonnie's eyes widen in shock. "She escaped and sought out her siblings who helped her kill their aunt so she'd finally be free. It took them a while to trust one another, but they eventually did and then Freya met Keelin. I've only spoken to them a handful of times, but they seem like great people. Just give them a chance."

The girls are quiet after learning that, but then Elena can't help but ask, "So is Freya human or..?"

"She's a witch and her wife is a werewolf." The girls all blink in surprise and you sigh. "Please. Just please give me this night and the day of my wedding. I don't need any drama."

Your pleading expression is enough to have the three of them agree and just in time as well. Elena and Caroline alert you and Bonnie that a car is pulling up, and it's not long until Rebekah, Freya, and Keelin and walking right on in.

The tension is obvious when Rebekah says hello to everyone, but the genuine smiles come out when you greet Freya and Keelin for the first time face to face, and then introduce them to Caroline, Bonnie, and Elena. Caroline, having put her best hostess persona, then leads everyone into the dining room.

Caroline and Bonnie are the only two to remain standing as everyone takes their seat, Caroline then dishing out either spaghetti or chicken alfredo while Bonnie serves up the wine. Conversation is a bit stilted, but the moment Bonnie asks Freya a question about magic it's like the flood gates open. You're surprised Freya gives up more of her story so freely and it's like a weight is lifted off your shoulders when Rebekah cracks a joke about how deranged her family is that has everyone laughing.

The food is devoured between the seven of you and by the end of dinner you've finished two bottles of wine. The third wine bottle follows you all into the lounge where more comfortable armchairs are carried in so everyone has a seat of their own after Freya and Keelin take over the loveseat.

"So," Caroline chirps as soon as she's comfortable, "are there any other Mikaelsons we should be expecting?"

Rebekah grins. "Is this your subtle way in trying to figure out if Nik is coming?"

Bonnie and Elena giggle as Caroline scoffs, but everyone sees right through her. Even Freya and Keelin who have no idea of the history between the two blonde vamps. But suddenly Freya stops giggling and leans forward in her seat, looking quite pensive. "Wait. Are you the Caroline that my brother couldn't help but compare every female to? You're that Caroline?"

"Yes. Yes she is," you say and take another sip of your wine.

"Huh. Now I get it." Freya chuckles. "You're cute and feisty, and can apparently keep up with Klaus. I approve." Keelin can't help but nod along as everyone laughs at Caroline's surprised expression.

The surprised expression quickly morphs into smugness, but then Caroline is quick to shake it off. "We're not here to talk about me. We're all here for Y/N. I was just wondering because you know how Damon and Stefan are with Klaus."

You sigh. "Which is why I've talked to them too," you say. "I know everyone has issues with each other, but it's my goddamn wedding and there will be no death threats or neck snapping or so help me I will stake somebody." Your friends and guests are stunned into silence before Keelin snorts, everyone then giving into their laughter quickly after. You too, eventually, and then you groan as you attempt to hide your face in the palms of your hands. "I just- I don't want any issues. I'm already freaking out as it is."

The laughter fades off, sympathetic expressions taking over, and it's Keelin who then leans forward in her seat, reaching for your hand and gripping it in comfort. "It's going to be fine. You have nothing to worry about. If you love- er, uh what's his name?"

"Landon."

"Landon! Yes, Landon," she chuckles. "If you love Landon, you'll be fine." Your smile falters and you don't have to be an onlooker to know that the light in your eyes dims just a little. Your pretty sure everyone's noticed it if the sudden intake of breath is anything to go by. "You do- you do love him, don't you?"

"Yes!" You blurt a little too fast. Your response is a little cringeworthy and you sigh, retaking your hand and slumping in your seat. "I mean we've been together for three years. I love him. I do, but.."

"But he's not 'lijah."

"Rebekah!" Freya is quick to scold.

"What?" The blonde Original shrugs. "You haven't seen them together. You don't understand."

"I'm not one to ever agree with your sister, but she has a point," Elena says. "Y/N and Elijah-"

"But there is no me and Elijah." The girls fall silent at the tone in your voice. "There never was." You retake your glass of wine, chugging the rest of its contents before setting your glass back down. "Now if you guys will excuse me, I need some air."

No one tries to stop you as you go and you end up on the back patio, hopping up onto the brick railing and then leaning your back against the brick pillar. The cold air outside cools your flushed face and you try not to let your mood tumble down the rabbit hole.

You knew inviting the Mikaelsons was bound to bring up the past, but you didn't think it'd affect you quite like it is now. Elijah was, for obvious reasons, a touchy subject with you and your friends knew not to bring him up. But then Rebekah broke the ice and Elena, of all people, just had to agree with her.

"Here. Put this on." You're surprised to see Freya offering you a jacket, but you take it nonetheless and offer her a small smile in thanks. She grins, placing a smoking bowl down on the railing next to her. "Sage," she explains. "It keeps the vampires from hearing."

"God I love magic."

Freya chuckles and then after a moment passes, she says, "I'm sorry about what my sister said in there. They shouldn't bring any of that up so close to your wedding."

You shrug. "It is what it is. And if I'm being honest, she's not totally wrong."

"No?"

You shake your head. "I almost didn't invite Elijah because I knew my stupid crush on him would resurface, but then I thought I'd look like an asshole if I sent out personal invites to everyone else and he saw he didn't receive one." Freya chuckles quietly and you sigh longingly. "And the closer it comes to my wedding, the more I find myself longing for those talks with your brother rather than what Landon has to offer. I miss our talks about history and just life in general," you say. "And the more I listen to Landon talk about the latest Xbox game or the stupid jokes he's heard from his coworkers, it feels like I die a little more every day on the inside."

Freya frowns a little. "I apologize if I'm overstepping, Y/N, but do you honestly love Landon? If you continue to compare him to my brother, you're just setting yourself and Landon up for heartbreak down the line."

"I know. And I love Landon. I do, but I don't think I'm as in love with him as I once thought."

"Y/N.."

The first tear falls and you huff a laugh as you wipe it away. Quietly, you rhetorically ask, "Why couldn't your brother just love me? It'd have made things so much more easier." You're so caught up in your feelings that you don't see Freya tense or her eyes widen in surprise. "I don't even know what I'm saying," you then mumble. "I'm getting married in two days. Maybe I should just lay off the wine until then."

"Uhh, yeah. Maybe." Freya agrees.

You snap out of your spiral then, eyes widening. "Oh my god. I'm so sorry for laying that on you."

"No. Don't be," she laughs. "You needed to vent and I'm glad it was me, an unbiased ear."

"Really?"

"Really. You're fine," Freya assures you. "Now come on. Let's get you inside before we freeze."

As you hop off the railing, heart aching and mind going a mile a minute, you can only hope that your mind clears in time for you to say I do to Landon. It would really be terrible to enter a marriage while longing for someone else.

The morning of your wedding dawns bright and early, and you immediately know you're in no shape to be getting married. Since Rebekah, Freya, and Keelin have come into Mystic Falls you've put on a brave face for everyone, but now there's no hiding exactly what you're feeling. Because the moment aunt Liz, Caroline, Elena, and Bonnie wake you for your big day with party horns and confetti, you burst into tears.

Immediately the cheerful atmosphere vanishes and the girls are stunned into silence. "I can't do this," you cry. "I can't do this to myself or to Landon. It's not fair to him."

"Oh sweetie." Liz takes a seat next to you on the bed, putting a comforting arm around your shoulders. "What's going on in that pretty head of yours?"

"I'm so sorry, aunt Liz, but I can't- I just can't get married today."

Elena shifts uncomfortably next to the bed. "Y/N, if this is about us bringing up Elijah the other night I'm so sorry."

"No. No, you don't have to be sorry." Sniffling, you wipe at your eyes and look at those in the room. "I will admit to being nervous about seeing Elijah again after only talking about him brought back this stupid crush on him, but the more I thought about it," you trail off, shaking your head. "Can I really marry a human?"

Bonnie frowns. "Y/N, you are a human."

"I know that, Bon, but after everything we've been through.. knowing all that I know, can I actually settle down behind a white picket fence and pray every night that Landon doesn't ever find out about the supernatural? Whether you guys want to admit it or not, Liz and I will always be in danger because of our ties to you guys." Seeing their frowns makes your heart break just a little bit more.

"I don't mean to offend you," you say. "I love you guys alot. But I've put Landon in danger for years now and I can't risk it anymore. Because what happens when he asks for kids? I won't bring a family into our already messy lives."

"Y/N," Caroline murmurs. "The wedding is in nine hours. What are we supposed to do?"

"Compel them to forget or to be okay with the wedding being called off. I don't care. Just please do something."

"What are you going to tell Landon?" Bonnie wonders.

"I'm not sure. If I have to, I'll call in a favor from Klaus. He likes me enough to compel the groom away."

"And the caterers?"

The bedroom door suddenly swings open and Rebekah sighs as she leans against the door jamb. "Don't worry. Us Mikaelsons have a bit of money to throw around. All caterers will be told the wedding is off and to not to mention the money they've already been paid, and Landon's family will find that they're not missing a penny from their bank accounts."

It feels like a weight has been lifted off your chest. "Thank you, Bex. Thank you so much."

"Don't even worry about it," she assures you with a smile. Then pushing off the door jamb, she pastes on a smile and claps her hands once. "Okay. All vampires and witches with me. We've got a wedding to cancel."

Caroline and Bonnie are quick to rush out of the room, but Elena lingers by the bed. When you meet her gaze, she says, "If you need some time, my family's lake house is empty. You're more than welcome to take a week or two for yourself there. We'll give you some space."

"Thank you, 'Lena. Some space and time actually sounds pretty good."

"Well then it's settled," Liz says. "You go freshen up in the bathroom and I'll pack you a bag. We'll grab some groceries while everyone cancels your wedding, and then I'll drive you down to the lake house. Does that sound like a good plan?"

You offer her a faint grin. "Yeah. It does."

The moment Elena leaves the room, it seems like everything is in a fast forward motion. Liz ushers you to the bathroom where you have a good cry in the shower and then as you're getting dressed you have numerous text messages from your friends coming in to tell you how all the compulsion is going. Damon even offers to compel Landon for you, admitting that he never quite liked the human blood bag and he was glad you had come to your senses before you took the guy's last name. That had earned your first chuckle of the morning and even Liz chuckled when you had read her Damon's text.

Liz helps you put the groceries away at the lake house and then makes you promise to call her should you need anything, no matter the time. And only after you've agreed does she finally leave you all alone.

You send off one last text to your group of friends that your phone is going to be off for the time being and then promptly fall asleep in the master bedroom.

When you wake up again, it's only a little past one in the afternoon and you decide to make yourself something to eat. You eat and then settle on the couch for a little tv, only to end up outside on the dock and staring out into the water.

The time your wedding was to take place comes and goes, and you can't help but turn your phone on to see if you have any notifications. The only messages you have are from Caroline who assures you that everything's been taken care of and that she thinks you made the right decision. Hearing confirmation from your cousin eases some of your worries and you don't feel as bad about what you did.

By the time night falls, you're snuggled up on the couch and watching the best horror has to offer in order to keep your mind off any romance for the time being. You're in the middle of watching The Conjuring when there's a knock on the front door, startling a yelp out of you. Cursing your overbearing friends and their need to make sure you're really okay, you pause the movie and get up to see who it is.

Only when you open the front door you're more than a little stunned to find Elijah standing there by the top of the porch steps as he turns to face you. There's a moment where you both drink each other in and then your eyes narrow into a glare whereas Elijah's lips stretch into a smile as he steps closer to you.

"Elijah."

"Hello, Y/N."

The butterflies take flight and your heart beats double. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?"

He huffs a quiet laugh. "Someone near and dear to me had to make possibly one of the most difficult decisions in their life this morning. Did you really think I wouldn't come to check up on you?"

You do your best not to swoon, smiling softly at him as you shake your head in amusement and open the door wider as an invite. "You're lucky you've already been invited in otherwise we'd be stuck out on the porch. Come on. Let's go take a seat."

Elijah follows you into the living room after shutting the door behind him and you turn off the movie so you can place all your focus on him. There's a fire going in the fireplace, but you still turn on a few lamps so you can see him properly. And when you turn back around it's to see that Elijah already made himself comfortable smack dab in the middle of the couch.

Grinning, you drop in the spot next to him with one leg curled beneath you and the other hanging off the front of the couch so your foot is planted on the floor. "Hi," you muse.

"Is it too soon to ask you what happened?"

Straight to the point as usual, his question makes you faintly cringe. But before he can take the question back, you decide to tell him. "I'm too involved with the supernatural world, Elijah. What kind of person would I be if I had dragged Landon into the mess that is our lives? He deserves to have a normal and happy life."

"And what about you? Don't you deserve to be normal and happy?"

As he speaks, you notice how his gaze drops to your mouth before quickly darting up and looking elsewhere. You try to play it off but you know your damn heart gives you away immediately when he fights off a smile. "Normal and happy is so overrated," you then manage to say. "After all that I've seen and been through, a normal life would be boring."

Elijah finally allows himself to smile. "Is that the only reason why you wouldn't marry him?"

You tense at his knowing gaze, heart beat tripling as it's your turn to avert your gaze. You'd never been good at confronting your feelings head on, especially with the person said feelings are for. So as the seconds tick on by, you can feel your face flushing. You quietly groan. "Do I really have to say it out loud? It's embarrassing."

"Y/N."

"Elijah," you retort. You manage to hold his gaze for three seconds before you break eye contact and sigh. "It was obvious I had a crush on you back when I was seventeen and apparently it's still obvious now."

"I think it's adorable."

"Of course you do." Against your better judgement you reach out to swat at his arm and your breath hitches as he catches your hand and then maneuvers it so he can press a kiss to the back of your hand. You smile sadly. "It's been you since I was seventeen and I don't think anyone can ever compare to the Elijah Mi-mmph."

Elijah stuns you by pulling you into his lap and quickly maneuvering you so your knees are on either side of his lap, his mouth slotting against yours with such ease. There's a moment where you don't know what exactly to do with your hands, but the second his hands tug on the hem of your shirt, your hands find purchase on his shoulders before sliding up the side of his neck.

It's you who breaks the kiss for some much needed air, but you don't go far because Elijah keeps you close. His hand cups the side of your jaw, but his thumb runs gently under your bottom lip. You nip at his thumb, he grins, and then you groan when your predicament finally settles in. Elijah chuckles as you drop your head to his shoulder, your hands clutching at his sides under his suit jacket.

"What are we even doing?"

"I believe you're finally going after what you truly wanted."

"And you? What about you?" You ask, shifting nervously in his lap as you sit back.

"I am making my move," he says as he tucks a loose strand of hair behind your ear, "before someone else comes in to ask for your hand in marriage." You roll your eyes and he chuckles softly. "Since I made you admit something earlier, I will admit that I too have compared everyone to you. My family knew I held you above all else and they were quick to rub it in my face that you were to wed this evening. And earlier when I got Rebekah's call, I knew this was our chance."

"You're a big 'ol softy, Elijah Mikaelson."

"Only when it comes to you, Y/N Y/L/N."

You can't help but smile at his words, leaning in for a quick kiss. But it's not so quick as Elijah pulls you back in, peppering a few kisses across your mouth and cheeks. You giggle, but then that giggle turns into a groan. "The girls are going to be unbearable."

"Niklaus too, but I'm willing to put up with it as long as I have you by my side." You make a noise and facial expression as if you have to think about it, and Elijah gently squeezes your waist in retaliation which makes your jerk in his hold. "If you're that worried about their reactions, we can go away for a bit until everyone has had enough time to get used to our new situation."

You huff a laugh, but upon seeing Elijah's expression your amusement fades away. "You're serious."

"I am. New Orleans is a bit crowded at the moment and if I remember correctly you've always wanted to see Ireland. So what do you say to a spontaneous vacation with me?"

You blink owlishly at Elijah before your lips stretch into a smile. "Yes!" Your excitement makes him chuckle, but then you're quick to to come down. "My friends won't go for it. They'll continuously ask if I know what I'm doing and want daily updates and everything."

"They won't. And if they do, they'll have Sheriff Forbes to answer to." Your brow furrows in confusion and Elijah smirks. "How do you think I found you all the way out here? I stopped by the Forbes residence and Elizabeth was kind enough to point me in the right direction. It seems we already have one person in our corner."

"Jesus Christ," you huff. "Are we really doing this?"

"Only if you're sure you want to."

You take a moment to think things through, but before that moment can stretch on too long, you say, "Yeah. Let's do this. When do we leave?"

"Whenever you want," he tells you.

"As much as I wanna leave right now, I kind of just want to take you up to bed and get reacquainted with you."

Elijah slowly smiles. "I quite like the way you think, Miss Y/L/N."

"Then what are you waiting for, old man? Take me to bed already."

SIX MONTHS LATER

Freya and Keelin have just gotten home, a stack of mail on the hall table catching Freya's attention. Her siblings are out as usual, wrecking havoc no doubt, so on her way to the kitchen she grabs up the stack to sort through it.

As Keelin goes about grabbing the wine from the fridge and two glasses, Freya starts to filter out the trash from the stack of mail. Only halfway through the stack, one particular envelope catches her eye.

Freya starts to smile. "It seems like Elijah finally broke his silence."

"Oohh," Keelin coos. "What does he have to say? How is Y/N doing? Because last I heard not even the girls in Mystic Falls know."

Freya opens up the envelope, pulling out a picture and a letter. She smiles brightly upon seeing her brother and Y/N smiling under the Northern Lights- which is utterly adorable, in her opinion- and then goes on to read the letter to herself. Her smile slowly falters as her eyes widen in surprise. "No. They didn't," she breathes in awe. She quickly scans the picture again, her eyes lighting up as she laughs joyously. "They did!"

Keelin startles. "What? What did they do?"

Freya drops the letter and quickly flips around the picture for her wife to see. "They got married!"

"WHAT!?" Keelin practically shouts. "Let me see," she says as she hurries around the kitchen island.

Freya openly laughs now. "They got married under the Northern Lights last month. They'll finally be coming home in a couple of weeks."

Keelin grabs the photo so she can study it itself, her smile blossoming. "Oh my god. They really did get married."

"In the letter, Elijah said only Caroline and her mother know. They're going to come here first so they can figure out living arrangements and then they'll go see everyone else."

"Rebekah is going to be so pissed," Keelin muses.

"I can see it now, she's going to force a small ceremony on them when they're settled in."

"As long as I get to see Elijah smile in person as he is in his wedding photo, I'm all for it. Jesus looks at how adorable they look together."

"I know," Freya says. "I don't think my brother could have found anyone better for himself. We had only met Y/N and I immediately knew they'd be perfect for each other."

"Right?" Keelin then huffs. She looks at the picture one last time before setting the picture down. "We need to blow that up and hang it on the wall. Getting married under the Northern Lights was such a neat idea."

"Mhm. So much better than that Christmas themed wedding she originally had planned."

Keelin chuckles. "I thought I was the only one who thought the Christmas theme was tacky."

"Oh no. Rebekah secretly hated it too, but she didn't want to upset Y/N. She will, however, be upset she missed the Northern Lights wedding."

"I mean I'm pretty bummed, but I'm also excited for them to get home so we can pick their brains and get to the bottom of whatever the hell they were thinking. I'm super stoked for them, but I also want to know who proposed to who and everything!"

"Same here." Freya turns towards her wife, wrapping her arms around her waist while Keelin settles her arms around Freya's neck. "But until then we got family to inform of the couple's new status. Not it!"

"Not i- dammit!" Keelin pouts, she now having to be the one to inform Klaus and Rebekah. "I hate it when you do that."

Freya laughs. "Better luck next time. Now let's go. I can't wait to see their reactions."

[evarcana]

Get Your Act Together

Ev changes her plans for the evening and goes to the theatre.

words: ~3,2k

warnings: mentions strangling but it is not what you think it is.

notes: I don’t want to commit to calling it Chapter II but this fic takes place not long after these events, and really is just silly.

“No, seriously, at first I thought it was just people talking but the idiot really never parts with his wine glass,” says Ev and reclines in the chair, exhausted by her own dramatic tone. She throws her head backwards, the dark hair, colour of burned bronze, falling down in soft glistering waves followed by the drapes of her silk jacket, and drags both hands across the face with a sigh, trying to wipe away the apparent annoyance, but the creases between her brows are too stubborn and she decides to hide it instead, burying her face under the shadows of her palms. “Ignorant alcoholic,” she hisses through her fingers.

Ev is sitting in the sun outside of the wine merchant at the narrow cobbled street conveniently tucked away between the hustle and bustle of the Main Square and the glamour of the Heart District. Back in the Prakran capital the street so central would be full of people running errands and the neighbours talking in front of the doors despite the afternoon heat and humidity but here the only signs of life at four o'clock are languid piano exercises played somewhere behind the closed shatters and the faint but energetic drumbeat of the carriage passing in the distance.

“So what happened?” A young woman with eyes which are lighter than the sky sets a jug of rosemary lemonade and a glass on Ev’s table and looks down at her, pressing the tray against the black apron decorated with the embroidered grapevines.

Ev lifts her hands an inch and peeks at the woman from the shadows, her eyes narrowed and gleaming with anger. “He kicked me out,” she states flatly.

“Why?”, the woman in black apron asks somewhat wearly and turns to the shop’s entrance where a small jar of paint and a brush are waiting on the tea towel covering the stone step below the door. The paint on the brush is the same deep burgundy as the woman’s shirt.

Ev considers meeting Anais to be her only luck in Vesuvia. Not only does she run the excellent wine shop which also functions as a small bar but she is living in the flat above it and seems to be permanently bored and ready to entertain Ev with some gossip and tips about the city, which makes her a perfect neighbour for somebody who has just moved to the new place completely alone.

Ev’s nose wrinkles at the sharp smell of paint as she watches Anais dipping her brush in the jar. “I made one of those little dolls which they use for cursing people up North and brought it to the palace,” she says. It had a little braid made from silk and wool threads and Ev painted its face with the thinnest makeup brush she could find in her vanity table. Ev smiles to herself thinking that it was the most crafty thing she has done since she was thirteen but notices Anais staring at her with the expression of the person questioning somebody’s sanity, and quickly raises her hands defensively, palms up. “Listen, I am not proud of that.”

Anais rolls her eyes good-humouredly and for a few minutes they both watch the brush moving rhythmically tracing precise lines on the wooden door frame in silence, before Anais turns to Ev again. “Didn’t it happen on Tuesday too?”

“Kicking out?”, Ev responds without lifting her eyes from the jug of lemonade, “it did”. She is busy poking slices of orange with a rosemary stem.

Anais watches Ev’s face, clearly expecting her to continue. But she does not. The silence between them is interrupted only by clicking of the ice cubes against the glass. Anais tilts her head to the side and says in a careful tone, “But you seem to be more angry today.”

Ev stabs the slice of blood orange she fished out to the liquid’s surface and it splatters the sour juice and bitter oils which make her eyes stink. She blinks a few times and gives the orrange a disapproving frown. “He called the guards,” she says. Her juvenile prank got out of hand. She definitely is not proud.

“What?” Anais’s voice raises in surprise and her paintbrush makes an uneven stroke which she rushes to cover.

“Yeah, I know.”

“But I don’t understand. Aren’t you a diplomat? They can’t really - “, she pauses thinking of the right word, “- stop you, can they?”

“No, but I can’t necessarily stop him neither”

Anais goes quiet, weighing Ev’s words in her head, while she paints. “So why do you keep on... talking to him?”, she asks finally and waves her brush in the air, “you don’t have to.”

Ev gives her a pointed look and then drops her eyes down, frowning once again. That is a very good question. Why does she keep on talking to him?

For the last few weeks Ev has stuck to the same routine: she comes to the palace daily, enquires a servant politely about the consul’s schedule for the day, finds Valerius, tosses a pile of paper in front of him, takes a seat opposite him and proceeds to picturing herself strangling him. Bare hands. The skin on his neck gets hot and damp with sweat underneath her fingers, his body is struggling against hers while she presses her knee against his chest holding him in place. She squeezes, and squeezes. Sometimes however she would get lost in her own imagination and her hands would slide up, fingers getting buried in the hair, her thumbs tracing delicate lines behind his earlobes. She doesn't know what happens after that, because she guillotines the thought. Those are moments of weakness and are luckily rare. It would be easier if he was ugly, and stupid. But he is pretty much the opposite. Yet another proof that she had no good luck in Vesuvia. After the weakness comes the inevitable irritation, which Valerius seems to sense like a sniffer dog, and before she knows they are engaged in one of their already signature yelling competitions which the servants undoubtedly gossip about in the corridors and kitchens. Ev would be surprised if the whole Vesuvia is not calling her a madwoman by now. Her only hope being that they think even worse things of their consul.

Hating someone is exhausting. Every interaction makes Ev’s blood boil, and her heart beat heavy and bright. Her mind does strange things and she honestly does not remember the last time she thought about something other than making Valerius do what she wants for longer than an hour. She wastes precious minutes of her life on someone who genuinely despises her.

She wishes he did not despise her though. She wishes that there was more to him than being prickish, judgemental asshole, then perhaps this whole thing could be just about bearable. That is why she keeps on talking to him. But Ev cannot tell Anais that because it is the same as admitting that she has lost and that he has won, so she huffs irritably and says “Because it is my job, why else” instead.

“Good to know that you are both as stubborn as mules.” Anais grew up at her parents’ vineyard in the rural part of Venterre and except the times when she talks about wine all her comparisons are based on farm animals and other attributes of country life.

Ev folds her arms. “I don’t think you know me well enough to say that.” Despite whatever is happening in her imagination in the moments of weakness, the idea of having something in common with Valerius, not only an asshole but the surliest man alive, makes her feel irrationally violent.

Anais only hums something to herself. “Anyway, no more of this talk, what are your plans for tonight?” she asks Ev with the trained cheerfulness of a person chatting to customers daily, “You know we are not opening tonight”, she adds, now sounding more concerned than cheerful.

“Because you are going on your adventure date with Theresa and your brother has not come back yet.” Ev waves her hand, “I remember.” She thinks of all the unopened letters on her desk at home and some notes she managed to scoop in her bag from Valerius’s desk in the palace, the risky act which would probably earn her another look from Anais, and adds, “just working”

“Why don’t you go to the theatre? The Goldgrave is doing their first performance since the plague. I think you should still be able to get the ticket at the door.” Anais wipes her forehead with the back of her hand, still holding the brush. “Actually, the guy who runs the show is Theresa’s neighbour, I will have a word with him. I am sure he will let you in for free if you promise to write a review.”

“Why would he want my review?”

“Oh come on! One of the Prakran dignitaries attends their humble performance, that’s like the most international exposure they have ever had!”

“Fine,” Ev says sceptically.

***

The man at the entrance didn’t lie about all the tickets being sold out, the small theatre is full and buzzes with anticipation. Ev had to endure a small torture of exchanging pleasantries with the overexcited theatre director and at least a dozen of guests, who all seems to know Anais and each other, after she introduced herself. But it all paid off and she is now sitting in the three-seat box closest to the stage, probably the most expensive seats in the whole of the theatre.

Ev eyes an empty seat to the far left. The seat next to her is taken by the old lady wearing simple but tasteful clothes and wrapped in the wooly shawl. She smells of the lily-of-the-valley perfume and apple pie. “Excuse me, are you expecting someone? I think the lights are about to go down”, Ev asks, giving the old lady a soft smile.

“Oh no, darling, I am here to watch my husband perform on stage.” She sounds proud. Ev tries to recall the last time somebody called her darling.

“That is really sweet, he must be thrilled to have you here,” she says, and the kindness in her voice is genuine. Ev finds her new neighbour positively charming, in a way only the older generation can be.

“And what is such a lovely young lady doing in the theatre alone?”

Ev shrugs her shoulders playfully. “I am here to keep you company. You have to tell me when your husband comes on stage,” Ev says, returning the smile.

The old lady covers her mouth and her laugh sounds youthful and bright. She is delighted at their little exchange.

That’s it, most people do like me.

The lights dim and just before the performance is about to begin, the curtain behind Ev’s seat moves letting the beam of light in the box and a dark figure walks in. A man, Ev thinks, who appears to be nicely proportioned. She watches temper and agitation in his movement, as he takes his seat silently. Ev thinks about her peculiar company for tonight, as the boxes are usually reserved by the group of guests. Is he here to watch his loved one too? Could he be from the newspaper?

The old lady nudges Ev’s elbow excitedly.

***

Ev has seen this play before. It is a story of the marriage proposal, full of humorous fights between the groom-to-be and his bride. The sweet old lady’s husband plays the father. He is a tall man with fluffy moustache (although those might be fake, you never know in the theatre) and genuine comedic talent. She wonders whether there is an apple pie waiting for him at home. Even through the dark Ev can see the lady looking lovingly at her husband.

Something makes Ev feel strangely out of place here. She bites the tip of her thumb lightly and replays the events of the day, remembering the old lady’s question from before and Anais asking about her plans. Her mind continues wondering and Ev catches herself thinking about what Valerius is doing tonight. The thought makes her stomach twist. Crying himself to sleep, hopefully.

She leans forwards to take a discreet look to her left, hoping to get a better view of the stranger’s face. He is hidden by shadows but the outline of his profile certainly makes her want to see more - high cheekbones, slightly convex nose and angular jaw, query full lips. He looks familiar.

Ev is now leaning so far forward her elbows are pressed on her knees, squinting and trying to recall where she might have seen this profile. She hears the old lady clearing her throat politely, and retreats, reminded of the theatre etiquette. Maybe it is nothing and he is just her type. She has been so busy recently, making plans only to watch them being discarded, thorn to shreds and thrown away, and so consumed by her anger, she did not really pay attention to the other people around. This feels nice and refreshing.

The curtain closes and the audience stands up to applaud. Ev shoots another look at the stranger. Beautiful posture, gloved hands, oh, mysterious. Maybe it would be nice to have plans with somebody like him. Before she can build up excitement about the lights coming up, the mysterious stranger turns around abruptly and disappears behind the curtain. All Ev sees is the flash of white light before her eyes, as empty and boring as her cold sheets back at home. She gets off her seat and runs after him. Maybe she is a madwoman after all. She does not have any plan, frankly, she doesn't even know why she is doing this, so she decides to go for the most obvious thing - she reaches the man’s shoulder from behind and places her hand as softly as she can considering her rush. “Ah excuse me -”, she says slightly breathy, “have we met before?”

The man turns and the disappointment that Ev experiences the very second she sees his face can only be compared to one of a child who unwraps the present only to find out that it is the older sibling’s jumper, in the child’s least favourite colour, the very same jumper the sibling was wearing the day they broke the child’s toy, most definitely on purpose. Ev is sure that she has seen other men in this city but apparently she is that unlucky.

“You,” says Valerius, baring his teeth. His eyes are slits of hatred, like he is contemplating ripping the skin off her. Ev can relate. She wants to punch him in the face. Ev clenches her jaw thinking about all the insults that he is about to throw her way.

“Consul,” she says in her best theatrical tone.

Valerius glances over his shoulder immediately, eyes wide. He does not respond, frantically scoping the corridor, which is starting to fill in with guests. Ev watches his expression and to her surprise there is no usual arrogance in it. This is unlike him. The moment draws her attention to what the consul is wearing - dark navy fitted coat, with discreet design, his long hair tucked in its high collar, cravat, high boots, gloved hands. Very unlike him. Ev studies him more carefully. There is no wine glass. This is getting disturbing.

“Are you incognito or something?”, she asks, snorting with amusement.

“None of your business”, Valerius spits. He reddens a little straight away and throws more nervous glances to his surroundings.

Oh. Tension. This is awkward, and juicy. Ev’s curiosity is officially piqued. The sight of Valerius’s discomfort is revitalising. She can feel blood pumping through her body and there is sparkle in her eyes. She smirks at him, even though he studiously avoids her gaze. Sensing the tiny hint of vulnerability just at the edges of his expression, she locks her arms around his and with the push of her hip turns them both away from the building crowd of chatting guests. “So you are incognito.” Ev really can't hide her excitement.

Both his eyebrows ratchet up, and Valerius opens his mouth as his eyes go wild, but he does not seem to be able to say a word. This is wonderful. A sensation of pure elation floods Ev. She has been dreaming about this day. She presses her body closer to Valerius and sinks her nails into his arm, like a cat toying with prey. She is thinking about this new power she has got.

Valerius looks down at Ev. “Your face looks… filthy”, he says and tries to shake her off. “Let me go. Now”

“No way. You can try screaming for help if you want.” This is the first time Ev has got the upper hand, and however little, she is not letting this opportunity slip.

“You are insane.” Valerius pulls his arm closer to his body, protectively.

Ev ignores him, right now she is busy thinking. “I know!”

“That you are insane?”

“You are stingy,” Ev says with the look of triumph in her eyes.

“What?!”

“Look, there is only one explanation. You came to the theatre once, they asked you for donations because everybody knows you are filthy rich but you refused, again and again, and now you are hiding. ”

“It is not the case.” Valerius makes another attempt to shake her off, but the sight of the theatre director walking their way through the crowd makes him stop. He turns away.

“So explain yourself then, dear consul”, Ev whispers in his ear, her voice full of venom. The group of guests walks right past them without giving them any attention. They must look like a couple, Ev realises, and eases her grip on his arm.

“No,” Valerius says sternly.

Ev stares at him for a moment, considering her options. “Fine, but you owe me”, she says simply.

“I owe you nothing”, he barks back.

“You know I am going to make a scene, maybe even mention you in the review which I kindly agreed to write for the local newspaper”

Valerius’s mouth twitches once and Ev can almost hear him gritting his teeth. At least, the man knows how the gossip works. “What do you want? How much?” The look he gives Ev is both smug and irritated.

“You are not the only one with the money here”, she makes her voice sound bored. It’s not the first Ev’s negotiation.

“I won’t ask you again, witch.” His voice is rough with anger but he bites it quicker than she expected.

“We can discuss tomorrow. I promise, it is just a small favour.”

Valerius does not say anything. He rubs the bridge of his nose and turns towards the exit, forgetting that Ev is still hanging on his arm.

“So, you like theatre?” she asks curiously as they leave together.

[thebookwormfairy]

Maribat Winx Club AU Part 1

It was a beautiful day on the planet of Miracul

The planet Miracul was a beautiful planet full of magic and energy

The planet was home to the most powerful magical artifacts in all of magix (the magic dimension)

These artifacts were call the miraculous each held the ability to call powerful spirits to help the one who possess their artifact

The miraculous were guarded by the royal family generation after generation, it was their duty to make sure that the miraculous never fell into the wrong hands

It was to this family that Princess Marinette was born into with King Roland, Queen Clarisse, and the 5 year old Prince Jason

All loved the newest member of the family especially the young prince Jason

Jason: Is she going to be a fairy like you are mommy?

Clarisse: Yes dear, she most likely will. She'll be the fairy of energy like me

Roland: And if she's not a fairy you and I will teach her everything we know about fighting, right son?

Jason: Right dad! But until then I promise I'll protect her! Together we're going to be the best guardians of the miraculous yet! Right Marinette?

Marinette let out a giggle in response which Jason took as a yes

In the next months Jason was practically glued to his sister if not in lessons

He could always get her to stop crying and was always able to calm her down

The people also loved their prince and princess they knew that the future of Miracul was in good hands with those two

The kingdom was at peace for 6 months after Marinette was born, but then the Dark Ones attacked

The Dark Ones was a group of evil witches and wizards who want to take the powers of the miraculous for themselves and use that power to take over the magix dimension

Roland and Clarisse fought bravely with their allies, friends, and people of Miracul, but it was not enough

So with a heavy heart they sent their two children away

The hallway of the castle was in chaos as Queen Clarisse lead her son through the castle trying to get him to the magic portal

The palace shook as another attack hit their home

They were almost to the portal when Clarisse heard screams from down the hall

She knew what that meant. It meant that the Dark Ones had gotten into the palace and that she needed to protect her children at all cost

Queen Clarisse bent down so she was eye level with her son

Clarisse: Jason I need you to take Marinette to the portal room. You two need to go through the portal to somewhere safe. Do you understand?

Jason: Yes mommy

Clarisse: Good, take your sister and keep her safe

Clarisse hand Marinette, wrapped in her baby blanket that had her name stitched on it, over the Jason

Clarisse: I love you my children, I will always love you

Jason: I love you too mommy

The mother and son took off in opposite directions, Clarisse going to defend her home and Jason going to save his sister

As Jason made it to the portal room he ran to the portal

Jason *whispering*: Please send us somewhere safe

As Jason was about to step into the portal one of the Dark Ones blasted their way into the room. The shock wave sent Jason flying to the side of the room

Dark One: Well well lucky me I can take care of both royal brats with one blow

Jason shakily stood up: I will never let you hurt my sister

Dark One: We'll see about that

The Dark one shot a blast at the twin children but Jason dodge desperate to get back to the portal and get his sister to safety

Jason was just about the jump through the portal when he felt something wrap around his waist. Jason looked down to see and energy rop wrapped around him

At that moment Jason knew what he had to do

Jason looking down at Marinette: I love you Marinette

With that Jason gently put Marinette into the portal

Dark One: NO!! WHERE IS SHE?!? WHERE DID YOU SEND HER?!?

Jason turning around: Some where you'll never find her!

The Dark One let out a scream in frustration letting the energy rope disperse and sent a energy blast at Jason that hit him in the head and sent him flying through the portal

Dark One: NO!!!

It was then that the damage to the castle was too much and the portal was crushed by the falling ceiling making it so the Dark Ones would not be able to follow the young siblings

That day the kingdom of Miracul fell its people and royal family seemed to disappear in a single day

Only a small group of the King and Queen closest allies were able to escape, but none were able to say how

The kingdom of Miracul and the Miraculous themselves were lost, but the Dark Ones were also destroyed in the attack

It was a rainy day in Gotham, one of the biggest cities in the Magix dimension and a major hub of travel with all the major schools located around or near the city when Bruce Wayne, a teacher for Red Fountain a school for hero's, and his 8 year old adopted son Dick Grayson, found Jason in and ally way with a new white streak in his hair

Jason was taken into the family after an extensive search for his family

Made harder because Jason couldn't remember anything except for his own name

The Wayne's could only find out one thing about Jason that he was from the planet Miracul and as far as anyone knew the only survivor from that dark day

On a planet far from the others of the magix dimension named Earth in the city of Paris Marinette was found on a pile of flour sacks by a pair of bakers named Tom and Sabine Dupen-Cheng

The two bakers fell instantly in love with the young baby girl and her big blue eyes

They did everything they could to find the girl's family but it seemed they just didn't exist

So they took in Marinette, keeping her name the same

As Marinette grew older she developed a love for fashion and design

Marinette was always so energetic and whenever her parents' machines would die all Marinette had to do was touch them and it was like a new life would be put in them

Everything seemed perfectly normal until one night when Marinette was 16 she found a dark skinned girl fight what could only be described as a ogre and a group of nasty looking bugs in the park across from her home

Marinette could tell that the girl was in trouble so she grabbed a near by branch and ran into the battle

Marinette: How about you pick on somebody your own size

Marinette ran up to the ogre and smashed the branch over his head

The branch broke in two on impact

Ogre turning to face Marinette: Hey that hurt!

The girl: Well this is going to hurt a lot more

The girl shot what looked to be a orange energy beam at the ogre

The big bug like creatures started to surround Marinette

Marinette: Hey get away from me!

Suddenly a pink, electricity like, energy shot from Marinette hands zapping the monsters away

Ogre: Oh no not another fairy I got to get out of here!

The ogre opened what looked like a portal and he and the remaining bug like creatures ran through it

The girl: Wow girl you have some major winx

Marinette: What are you talking about what were those things

The girl introduced herself as Alya daughter to a noble family on a planet called Zenith

Marinette invited the girl to stay with her family so she could rest up a bit

Marinette explains to her parents that her friend just needed a place to stay for the night

Of course they agreed not having the heart to turn away the girl

Alya told Marinette everything she new about magic and the magix dimension

She even told Marinette about the school she was going to called Alfea, one of the best schools for fairies

As the girl's talked Alya convinced Marinette to come with her and train her powers

Marinette felt like she was in a dream

But there was only one problem

How was they going to convince her parents to let her attend a school on another planet, or at least the magic actually exists

It took a lot of effort but once Alya actually took them to Alfea they had no choice but to believe the girls

They didn't want to hold their daughter back from her full potential

They tried to go in to talk to the headmistress, Ms. Faragonda, to get Marinette registered but because they were not magical beings they couldn't enter the campus

Marinette promise her parents she would talk to the headmistress and be out as soon as possible with her

Ms. Faragonda did not know what to think of this small girl who claim to be from Earth and a fairy

There hadn't been fairies on Earth for hundreds of years, so how could Marinette be one

Faragonda could sense the magic radiating off Marinette

She hadn't felt this much energy since Clar-

No it was better not to go there, even the thought was impossible

But Faragonda couldn't get the thought out of her head especially after meeting Marinette's "birth parents" and sensing absolutely no magical energy in either of them

But either way Marinette was accepted into the school with all the other first year fairies

Marinette was in the same dorm room as Alya along with three other girls

Alix a Fairy of the Wind, Rose a Fairy of Nature, and Julika a Fairy of Music

The girls soon became close friends

Marinette made another close friend with one of the teacher's, Ms. Graham de Vanily, nephews Adrien

Adrien was studying at Red Fountain, but really wanted to be a sorcerer, but his father would never let him transfer to a different school

Marinette believed that people should be able to follow their dreams so she offer to teach him everything she learned about magic

Adrien agreed immediately and soon the two became closer than ever

Alya and Rose loved to tease Marinette that her and Adrien would end up together but Marinette didn't have those types of feeling for Adrien

Marinette took her studies very seriously

She was determined to show everybody that she belonged at the school

One the hardest tasks was getting her wings

It like it came second nature to her friends

Alya would transform into an orange and white crop top and skirt combo with oval shaped white wings

Alix would transform into a blue and white romper with sharp looking blue wings

Julika transformed into a lavender dress with darker shade of purple wings that were cresent shape

And Rose would transform into a pink dress with white capti leggings with a lighter shade of pink wings that were shaped like leaves

Marinette wasn't able to transform until she and Adrien ran into a pushy witch who wouldn't leave Adrien alone until Marinette stepped in

That seemed to anger the witch who turned all her negative attention onto Marinette

With the incentive of staying alive and Marinette was able to transform into red dress with little black sparkles with pale blue wings

A couple of good energy blast from Marinette scared the witch away in no time

Marinette did meet somebody she was very much interested in when Adrien introduced her and her friends to his friends at Red Fountain

They were all able to meet up on a school holiday called Founders Day

Adrien waving his arms to get the girls' attention: Hey over here you guys

Marinette seeing Adrien: Look guys there's Adrien

Marinette ran over to Adrien wrapping him up in a hug

Adrien: I'm glad I can finally introduce you girls to my friends.

Alya: And we can't wait to meet your friends

Adrien: Guys I would like to introduce Nino, my best friend besides Marinette, Jon, and Damian they are go to Red Fountain with

Rose: It's very nice to meet you guys!

Marinette: Adrien has told me so much about you all

Jon jumping in to shake Marinette's hand: And Adrien has told us so much about you!

Damian stepping in: Jon leave the poor girl alone. Hello I'm Damian Wayne it's a pleasure to meet you

Damian grabbed Marinette's hand and place a kiss on her knuckles

Marinette could fell heat rush to her cheeks

Marinette could hear Rose squeal about how romantic the gesture was

Alya: So are y'all going to be participating in the big race

Nino: Jon and Damian are I'm actually going to be the DJ of the event

Alya: Oh really? Can I interview for my blog? I'm doing a big piece about the event

Nino: Sure dudette! How about you come with me while I set up, you can ask all the questions you want and still be able to watch the race

Alya: Sounds great! I'll see y'all later!

Adrien: So are any of you going to be participating in the race?

Marinette: Alix is, she's on the practice track right now

Jon: Oh really should we be worried

Rose: Well she is a Fairy of the Wind so I'd say yes

Julika: Speed is literally part of her powers

Rose spotting some flowers: Oh look at this flowers! Let's go check it out Julika!

Rose grabbed Julika's arm and dragged her away

Marinette laughing: Rose in a nature fairy so she is very into plants

Adrien: I hope she doesn't get too distracted Alix would hate if they missed the race

Marinette: Julika wouldn't let her miss it! We all know how much this means to Alix

Damian with a faux look of hurt on his face: Oh does that mean you won't be cheering for us

Jason popping up beside Damian: and why would she cheer for you Demon Spawn when she could be cheering me on

Damian: Oh no

Marinette giggling: Demon Spawn?

Damain: That is my idiot brothers' awful attempt at as a joke

Dick popping up on the other side of Damian: Aww that hurts Baby Bird

Damian: Will you stop with the nicknames

Tim popping up behind Marinette and putting his hands on her shoulders: Yeah guys your embarrassing him in front of this lovely lady.

Damian: Don't you have a wall to crash into or something

Jason: Well that's not very nice. How about you introduce us to your lovely lady friend

Damian just glared at his intruding brothers

Adrien stepping in: Actually this is Marinette, she's the fairy that's been teaching me magic

Adrien: Marinette, these are the Wayne boys they're all adopted by are hand to hand combat teacher, Bruce Wayne, well all except Damian. He's Bruce's birth son. That's Dick Grayson he's the oldest and right now he's a student teacher at Red Fountain. Jason Todd and Tim Drake, they're both juniors.

Jason: The best Juniors!

A horn was blown over the speaker system

Jon: That's the signal for the racers to get ready we better go

Jason grabbing Damian in a headlock: Come on Demon Spawn let's go

Damian: Release me Todd!!!

Jon blushing: I guess I better be going

Adrien also blushing: I'll be rooting for you Jon

As the boys walked away Marinette looked and Adrien with a smug smile on her face

Marinette: So does the little sorcerer in training have a crush on a hero?

Adrien: Oh shut up! Don't think I didn't see you blushing at Damian back there

The race was one of the most exciting things Marinette had ever seen

Alix won the race which she promptly rubbed into the Wayne boys' faces

They took it in good stride and demanded a rematch

After the race there was a dance

Damain and Marinette spent the whole dance together, dancing and talking about anything and everything

As the school year went on the girls got closer to the Red Fountain boys

Soon they were spending every weekend in Gotham hanging out together as one big group

Marinette never missed and opportunity to tease Adrien about Jon

And Adrien made sure to return the favor by teasing Marinette about Damian

It was nearing the end of the school year and that meant finals were coming up

The Red Fountain boys had to do an obstacle course with different teams depending on which grade the boys were in

The girls were able to watch the boys finales and they all did very well

Damian was determined to impress Marinette with his skills

He wanted to make a lasting impression on her and maybe ask her out when he and the rest of their friends go to Earth to visit

Sadly Alfea did not allow the boys to watch their friends' finals

For the girls they had to enter a virtual reality chamber and bring and a "dead" planet back to life

The planet was chosen randomly by the chamber itself

Marinette was the last one to go and much to Faragonda's surprise planet chosen for Marinette was Miracul

Miracul was never chosen by the chamber before

Marinette didn't know what to think of the planet that was chosen for her

It was cold and dark frozen waste land

Marinette started by spreading seeds around that only needed magic to grow

With the plants growing Marinette started to try and warm the planet by parting the clouds and letting sunshine in

It was a lot of work, but Marinette was able to do it

She was almost complete when she started to hear a voice calling her name

The Voice: Marinette, Marinette. Come to me Marinette!

Marinette followed the strange voice as it beckoned her into a cave

The Voice: Marinette come fulfill your duty. Protect the Miraculous

Marinette: What's a Miraculous?

The Voice: Come Marinette

As Marinette drew closer to the voice she found was a black ring with a green paw on it.

The Voice: Take this and keep it safe. Don't let anybody know you have this.

Marinette couldn't explain it but she followed the voice's comands

She hid the ring in her pocket and complete her exam

Which she passed with flying colors

As Marinette said goodbye to her friends the ring still sat in her pocket safe from any prying eyes

As Marinette stepped through the portal back to Earth she couldn't help but feel like something big was about to begin

In a dark cave somewhere in the Magix universe the spirits of the Dark Ones gathered

Dark One: Do you feel that?

Dark One: It's a Miraculous!

Dark One: the Miraculous were lost along with Miracul!

Dark One: They must have only been hidden!

Dark Ones: Only somebody from Miracul's royal line could bring a Miraculous out of hiding!

Dark One: We must find this person and get them to bring us all the Miraculous!

Dark One: And we'll do that with some help from our coven

As the Dark One said that a light is shined silhouetting the still alive members of the Dark Ones coven

Lila: Dont worry ancient ones we'll get the Miraculous and destroy whoever the remaining member of the Miracul royal line is!

Please don't hate me for the cliff Hanger but it was the Perfect place to end part 1. I hope you like it!

[something-very-special]

Call Her Back

Probably already a post with this title from the Let’s Play but it’s appropriate.

Thoughts on Replicant up to Ending A (and change):

This game is pretty. I guess it didn’t really hit me because I’ve always thought that the original NIER was pretty, but this game can be very pretty.

This in particular just kind of struck me as I was going across the Northern Plains. It had been dominantly gray, overcast skies up to that point because Part II of the game is meant to be. You know. Bleak. But I walked out onto a bright, sunny day with an expanse of blues skies, the mountains in the backgrounds, the ivy a burst of green growing up the rusted sides of the train tracks and it just kind of hit me that the game can be very pretty.

(Then I got punched out by a Shade.)

It’s definitely not a matter of massive graphical overhaul. The models look much better (getting a good look at the Twins during the finale, they really are beautiful) and I’m sure the environmental poly count is much higher and just overall smoother, and there are little touches here and there and just the capacity for better atmospheric lighting... I mean it all helps. But NIER is a game that’s always had fantastic art direction, making the most out of its budget through atmospheric tuning. There’s something uniquely beautiful about its muted palette and the way it uses its spaces that elevates it beyond the its actual technical limitations. It doesn’t look like an end-of-generation PS4 game, but that’s not an insult; it looks very much like itself from ten years ago, with its solid art direction, but touched up where it matters.

Does the sidequest grind seem... better...? I haven’t really dug into the BEST part of the game (spending 30 hours grinding out weapon upgrades) but I mentioned before my theory about how the sidequest grind is supposed to be carried out across multiple playthroughs and that’s why it sucks. To my surprise I finished Ending A missing only one sidequest (your friend and mine, Life in the Sands), with all of the other ones being more or less... pretty natural? The only thing I really needed to go out of my way for was Memory Alloy but all the other components didn’t really give me the kind of grief I remember from my playthroughs of the original. ‘Grief’ of course being relative to getting the platinum trophy, but my first time through the game I gave up finishing a few outstanding sidequests (specifically, fixing the lighthouse broke me-- I could not find 10 Mysterious Switches!)

Maybe I just got lucky, especially with the Machine Oils. Maybe some weird muscle memory kicked in. I feel like there were a few purchasing options that weren’t open originally, too, to ameliorate some of the grind, but it might also be a case of those options being cost-prohibitive so I just didn’t really acknowledge them... whatever the case the sidequest grind felt overall pretty painless. I dunno!

I really need to know how to manipulate events. For literally seven playthroughs straight of the latter half of the game I always did the keystone quest as Junk Heap (start) - Forest of Myth - Junk Heap (end) - Facade - Aerie. It wasn’t until I did a run with my college roommates and Popola gave me the Aerie letter before the Facade in invite that I realized the Aerie wasn’t actually programmed to be the last event.

Absolutely blew my mind, and ever since I became aware of it, it feels like the game goes out of its way to make sure the Aerie always comes before Facade. When I did my Let’s Play of NIER I kept a save file from the start of the kystone collection so I could re-do the events in case they went ‘out of order’ (according to my headcanon)... which they did. I replayed the latter half of the game again in order to get things the way I wanted them to be, same order, and fortunately it cooperated the second time, but I still don’t understand what the trigger is, if there’s a way to manipulate it, or when the determination is even made.

And then they throw the Little Mermaid into the mix, which I wasn’t expecting (that is, I knew it was added, but I’ve been mostly avoiding spoilers -- and happily, the changes have largely been a delight, I’m so excited for the subsequent playthroughs -- but the way it was posted about made it seem like it would happen after and apart from the keystone quest. Not so, my friends).

The reason for this is just the emotional escalation of each factor of the quest. The Forest of Myth is weird and little else (at this juncture, of course). The Junk Heap is a personal tragedy, but the actual tragedy has already occurred and you’re just experiencing the fallout. Facade is a powerful and personal tragedy that deserves to be experienced later on. The Aerie is a terrible place and nobody misses it it’s an enormous loss and profoundly traumatic for the party, and it feels like the appropriate apex to basically force them to go to the Castle and finish the fight, having already lost far too much.

Also it’s just super weird to me that they see that devastation, they literally wipe an entire settlement off the map, and then the next day everybody’s super excited to go to a wedding.

It also becomes even weirder that you go to Popola post-Aerie and nobody mentions ‘yeah that didn’t go so well’ but coming out of Seafront they have a legitimate conversation about the loss of the ferryman and the people they’re never getting back. I guess that guy had a personality but I still think maybe somebody should mention the smoking crater where people used to be.

Then again it’s legitimately funny to me how basically everybody is just agreed the world is better off without it.

This might also just be an issue of familiarity. Maybe if I’d always ended on Facade, or actually known that they could be swapped out as they are, it wouldn’t feel so weird. I definitely got used to the pacing with the Aerie at the end and I feel like I got into a debate with somebody about how it’s more appropriate for Facade to come last so this might just be a personal thing. But it’s still a personal thing and I’m still vaguely irritated I can’t figure out how it works.

Anyway I blew up the Aerie So that’s that problem taken care of.

I feel like the ambiance surrounding Wendy was a little creepier this time. I swear I heard that good stock creepy child laughter in the background.

Then the ferryman left This was a nice bit of foreshadowing; following the Aerie events I wanted to hop over to Seafront to take care of an extant sidequest only to find the ferry dock in the Northern Plains empty. I thought that maybe this was just a weird way of railroading you to make sure you went through the Village first, even though there were no scenes that would trigger just by being in the Village.

Alas.

Not gonna lie, when the couple was first introduced I thought for SURE it was going to be the wife who wound up dead. I guess it’s because the guy had a purpose as an NPC so yeah, I was tricked. Good design decision; the ferryman is talkative and bright and definitely difficult to forget and even though he was kinda obnoxious there’s a definite void where his dialogue was. It’s clever too that you’re forced to use the ferry at least once so you can’t escape the dialogue that you’re presented with, meaning that even if you don’t really make use of the ferry you’ll always have that contrast between him at the start of Part II and the other guy (his brother, maybe?) taking over the job and just not really talking to you afterward.

Episode Mermaid First of all, to be clear, I’ve not done the Route B playthrough yet. All I know about the Little Mermaid is what’s presented on the surface, what can be gleaned from there, what I remember reading in the Grimoire NieR short story. This is very much just an impression and reaction to the first encounter and it’s pretty cool.

I like that they managed to go into yet another genre style aping a point-and-click adventure.

I like the atmosphere of the wrecked ship. It really brought me back to the ‘ghost ship’ level archetype with its little hints of spookiness.

I appreciate that it ties subtly in to the Haunted Manor (technically the Part I Seafront dungeon) with Weiss’ utterly irrational fear of ghosts.

I love every excuse they find to get Kaine and Emil (and especially Kaine) out of a situation. It’s almost a running gag that Kaine keeps getting knocked out of dungeons and boss fights. None of them are quite as great as her getting Rules Lawyer’d in the Barren Temple, but there’s something delightful about “Let’s get you some fresh air, we’ll be right outside, be careful!” and then bookending it with Kaine and Emil just chilling at the end like “Well yeah there are a lot of holes in the hull we just popped in.”

(I forgot to go backward to see what happens if you try to take them into Seafront proper, gotta remember that next time.)

Interesting thing when you find some of the dropped apples is that Nier and Weiss talk about the dinner they had with the couple. This was actually a really sweet and oddly emotional conclusion to the added sidequest between the bickering couple-- entirely missable. I would assume the dialogue just doesn’t trigger if you didn’t do the quest but it was a nice touch.

I appreciate the use of dead bodies in the hold.

(That’s a sentence.)

But for the game’s focus on violence and excess of blood it’s very selective in how it uses actual corpses. Any time you see a dead body it really emphasizes the seriousness of the situation. The corpses in the hold and the blood spatter -- especially compared to how bright and clean Seafront as a whole is -- was surprisingly effective. Again, just good atmospheric buildup.

Bit of an anticlimax as a boss, though. It is a really cool boss, between the environmental buildup to the fight and then actually unveiling her, but for how big and scary she is the fight itself went by fairly quick, and the actual finale (the postman whacking her hand telling her to go away she’s groooooss) felt a bit weird in comparison to the way the boss fights in the rest of the game usually play out. Of course, I don’t have context of her dialogue (I can take my guesses, her holding out her hand to Hans as he freaks out and attacks her is already a palpable tragedy) and by the way the scene was framed I suspect the Route B reveal is where the most important part of the scenario lies.

And the seals came back! It’s the little things.

“I wish I was Fyra.” So in the original Replicant the conversation between Emil and Nier before Sech’s wedding was apparently an implication that Emil had a crush on Nier and wanted to marry him. It was ambiguous enough that people had to ask for clarification and some players interpreted it as a weird, childish expression of looking up to and respecting Brother Nier. It was clarified in the Grimoire NieR that Emil is gay and crushing hard on Brother Nier, and this line of dialogue here seems to have been... not made explicit, but changed even between RepliCant and ver. 1.22 to make the implication a little clearer, at least insofar as he isn’t interested in girls. (It winds up missing the implication that he’s into Nier specifically, though.)

...which is funny, because it colors his introduction to the King of Facade somewhat differently. These two meeting is honestly really sweet on a few levels (Sechs recognizing him from Nier’s descriptions, which implies that Nier’s been visiting Sechs regularly and so proud of his interactions with Emil he told the king of another nation all about him, and the King is legit excited to meet him) but then a couple of minutes later Emil is all ‘I’m so jealous of Fyra’. He isn’t crushing on Nier, but he is totally crushing on Sechs.

Endgame At this point in the game the distinction between Brother and Father has become mostly lost and the final charge is pretty much the same as

wait what’s up with the music in the Lost Shrine? This is Snow in Summer.

Or an arrangement thereof. That particular track level from Snow in Summer winds up getting used in a few new places and it has this kind of weird, vague sense of dread that makes it work pretty well. Utterly threw me off in the Lost Shrine, though (I think it’s appropriate given its connection to the Shadowlord/Gestalt Nier so slowly re-introducing it in the climb is pretty cool). It also builds insanely as you climb, which is a very cool effect but, um, I’m just here to pick up some sidequest items right now this feels like a little much.

There isn’t much to say regarding any impact or differences in the large part of this area of the game. It’s a good final dungeon, it carries good momentum, it works as well as it ever did (that is to say, rather well). The emotional beats are great and translate equally well between the protagonists, although I have to give the nod to Papa Nier during a lot of this just for the imagery of such a big, powerful man becoming so broken the further he goes in (and Kaine being strong enough to toss him around like a rag doll anyway).

The final flashback with Nier and Yonah also feels better with Papa Nier. I always read it as, of course, Papa Nier having his moment with Yonah, giving her the flower, and as he lays back down Yonah does the same big sigh like she’s trying to emulate her dad and it’s really sweet. This is another one of those moments where it’s not something that feels wrong in Replicant, but just having that comparison in the back of my head is something that I just can’t help.

Is Papa Nier still Best Neir? Yes.

But there’s room in my heart for Brother. I’m glad the bizarre marketing decision happened and both of these characters can exist.

...and then we reload the save. Okay, okay, so-- so here’s the thing-- I figured that’s a good place to conclude a session, right? Get to the ending, prepare for the next run. But I also know that Route B starts with Kaine’s unskippable novel segments. I’ve read them, of course, so I figure I’ll just reload into Route B so I can make a save after the novel sections, really get into the meat of Route B when I’m fresh.

So skim through those--

Beat up the Knave--

Skim through the rest--

Educated Warrior... didn’t pop...?--

Wait what’s this camera angle--

Why am I outs--

oh my god

oh my god

KAINE AND EMIL HAVING GIGGLY GIRL TALK AROUND THE CAMPFIRE OH MY GOD WHAT IS HAPPENING

THERE’S MORE.

THERE’S. MORE.

I legit short-circuited. Going in I knew they added the Little Mermaid. I knew they added Ending E. Those were things I suspected would be added and went out to specifically confirm; beyond that I’ve been keeping myself completely spoiler free.

I had no idea there was more. I had no idea this was happening.

I’m so excited.

And a goofy thought for the road

“I polished you with a special cloth, I poured warm water on you--”

“Wait, you poured water on me?”

/imagines Emil running blindfolded eight hours across the Southern Plains with an 8oz plastic water cup, getting to the library, splashing it on Kaine, waiting expectantly

/nothing happens

/walks dejectedly eight hours all the way back to the Manor

[queen-of-my-goofball-army]

Now This Story Has Some More You'll Hear It All At The Candy Store Fic

Hi everyone! So I finally have some writing for everyone, I know that it's been nearly a month since I've last posted something that I wrote. I love writing but if I get depressed then I can't write anymore. But now that I started taking more time for me the ideas that I've been having are actually being finished for once! This idea came to me last weekend when I decided that I wanted to get caught up on Owl House. The moment that I met Hunter I was a goner. I knew that I was screwed when I heard his "BYE" in the first episode. So I welcome you to my newest poly ship between my OC, Edric, and Hunter!

“So before you go in there Ken, there’s something you should know.” Luz mentioned right as we were passing the woods to get to the Owl House.

“What’s that? Did King leave another disaster that we have to clean up before we can actually start the club meeting?” The girl laughed a little bit rubbing the back of her neck. I could tell that this was something that she had put off telling me about.

“Not exactly as far as I know anyways. It’s that Eda’s adopted another kid, he was the golden guard.” My eyes widened and I instantly looked around to make sure that it was just the two of us here.

“Are you sure that he’s… that?” She nodded her head a little bit nervously. I sighed a little bit, wondering what kind of scheme was clearly going on inside the other teens head and if he would cause harm to the human girl.

“He’s a good person though. I can tell, he’s basically kinda become like my brother. I was an only child back home so I never got to really have any siblings. I was lonely a lot of the time since everyone I knew had somebody to talk to. But me, I had nobody.” My heart broke for the human girl that had fallen into basically my younger sister’s lap.

“I understand I think. I always had Kendra and Kelvin. When I wasn’t with them I had Ed and Em. I always had somebody around to keep me company. I’m sorry that I was so judgmental. It’s just that I’m worried. This is the nephew of the Emperor’s Coven. I hope Eda knows what she’s doing.” Luz just smiled softly at me.

“Trust me I can just tell that he isn’t a threat. He wants to have a better life a real family. The Emperor surprising to no one is a really shit dad.” I laughed at Luz loosening my hold on my satchel that was around my waist.

“Does Amity know about this?” She nodded her head with a small laugh thinking about her girlfriend and the brother that had come into her life.

“She does that’s why she isn’t walking with us. She got a free period this afternoon and wanted to go to the house before we did. How did your big illusion presentation go today?” I opened my cloak to show her the being that I created using my magic to show her a purple dragon baby with a pink belly and orange horns, wings, spikes and talons on his feet.

“That’s amazing!! You’re really, really talented at what you do Ken!!” She encouraged me and I felt a bright pink flush come over my cheeks.

“Anyone could have done it if they just put their mind to it. Edric and Emira just mainly use magic to goof off but I’ve always taken it way too seriously. I love my boyfriend but… damn he’s an idiot.” Luz just laughed at me lightly nudging my shoulder.

“I’m sure that Amity has the same thoughts about me sometimes. That awkward moment when you realize you have a soft spot for goofball idiots that can’t not create chaos. That’s another reason why I think you’re really going to like Hunter.” For some reason the idea of meeting Luz’s brother now made me really nervous. The same nervous that I used to get when I had to be around Edric for any length of time when I was pining after him.

“Well I’m sure that I will too…” I saw the house in front of me and when Luz opened the door I was instantly caught in a hug attack from King.

“Kenny!!” I hugged the demon pup close to me with a small laugh as I saw magenta eyes out of the corner of mine.

“Sorry! He got away from me, I was watching him with Amity but as soon as he heard your voice he started running for the door at notch twelve.” Oh hex. This is not going to end well for me. A boy with fair skin, a gap between his teeth, scars on his ear and his cheeks, dark circles under his eyes due to a serious lack of sleep, and ash blonde hair in an undercut. Tell me that this isn’t Hunter Luz, tell me he’s just some rando that was here to get help from Eda.

“Hunter? Did King find Kenny?” I saw Amity standing in the doorway with a small smile on her face as she saw my current predicament.

“It would appear to be that way, I’m Hunter. I’m.. staying here for a while.” He rubbed the back of his neck a little bit awkwardly and I looked at him with a small understanding smile.

“I’m Kenneth, I go to the same school as Luz and Amity.” I introduced myself to him and I saw his small smile.

“You make illusions? Can I see one?” I nodded my head with a small smile summoning Figment again and bringing the dragon back.

"I made him myself! He got me an A on my assignment from earlier. Ed and Em pulled another prank on the teacher and got in trouble for that. When my boyfriend starts taking magic seriously give me a call. It would be really helpful.” I whined a little bit and Amity just laughed at me giving me a hand while King was continuing to cling to my side.

“He’s been having one of his more touchy days he was curled up between us while I was painting his nails.” I heard King mutter something optimal cuddles that made my heart melt. I looked down and saw the painted nails of the boy across from me.

“That’s fine, I get it I can deal with it. It’s like having one of my younger siblings not wanting to leave me alone so I can bake or get something done.” I shrugged it off like it was nothing pressing a gentle kiss to the forehead of my best friend.

“How long have you known your boyfriend?” Hunter asked and I turned to focus on him with a small smile on my face pushing a lock of hair behind my ear.

“My boyfriend is Edric! I’ve known him since I was five years old and he’s one of the best things that ever happened to me. He’s one of the goofiest yet at the same time most exhausting people I’ve ever met. I say that with the utmost love.” Luz put her backpack down and saw her brother’s face fall a little bit when she nudged his shoulder.

“You good bro?” He nodded his head with a weak smile that reminded me so much of Edric when he was trying to pretend that he was okay when in reality he was the exact opposite.

“Don’t worry about me Luz the Goose. I’ll just be in my room I guess. Have fun at your meeting.” He turned and went up the stairs to his bedroom and I looked down at King.

“Did I say something wrong?” I asked Luz and she just sighed a little bit running a hand through her brown hair.

“I don’t think so. He is still adjusting and sometimes he’s just needing quiet time to himself. He doesn’t have any magic. It just… never came. So maybe either seeing you make Figment or you talking about how you met Edric at such a young age got to him.” So it was my fault. I put King onto the floor lightly getting down on his level.

“Can you tell me which your brother’s room is?” I asked the small puppy and he nodded his head scampering up the stairs.

“At first when he got here I was hesitant. Mostly because I was always the only boy around here. But I rather like Hunter. He’s a good kid really smart. I know that he cares about Luz and Eda even though he’s still calling her Miss Owl Lady. He’s been through a lot that much is clear. He goes to therapy twice a week for PTSD at Eda’s encouragement. He’s only been here for a little over a month. It’s why Luz hasn’t wanted to hold the book club meetings here.” My heart broke for the boy that was clearly just trying to keep his head above the water. I saw the door with his name on it and I sat next to it. “I’m not going to come in if you don’t want me to. I know that you’ve been through a lot and you don’t have to tell some stranger about it. I wouldn’t ask that of you anyway. I’m sorry that you were born without magic. I can’t even imagine what that life must be like for you. In a world where magic is everything to not have it that’s got to be the worst feeling in the entire world. I just wanted to apologize because it felt like I said something that was wrong.” I apologized to the boy that was inside of his room and I heard him sit down next to the front door to his bedroom.

“It wasn’t your fault. I never really had friends or knew people my own age. I guess hearing you talk about knowing your boyfriend for so long made me think about how lonely my life has been so far.” I sighed a little bit hitting myself in the forehead.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid, I’m an idiot. Look I’m really, really sorry Hunter. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad about your childhood. That wasn’t your fault because the Emperor is a coldhearted dick. You have a family now right? You like being at the Owl House?” I heard a soft but watery laugh that made me tear up with a sad smile.

“I do. It’s just that sometimes I wonder when I’ll get thrown out of here too. I’ve already been thrown out of one home it’s only a matter of time before it happens again.” The sound that left me was somewhere between a broken sob and a cry of utter sorrow.

“I’m so sorry that happened to you. I can’t even imagine what that was like for you. I’m sorry that I brought up my relationship with my boyfriend. If it makes you feel any better I won’t talk about it around you.” The door opened behind me unexpectedly and I fell backwards hitting my head on the hard floor that was behind me.

“Ow! I’m fine, I’m good nobody needs to panic.” I rubbed the back of my neck with a small smile on my face as Hunter looked at me.

“I am so sorry! I didn’t know that you were sitting literally right there!” He apologized frantically and I just laughed a little bit.

“I’m fine, you’d be surprised by how often that happens to me. I’m really klutzy. Let’s start over yeah? I’m Kenneth Krantz, it’s nice to meet you Hunter.” I introduced myself to my new friend that was kneeling across from me.

“I’m Hunter Clawhorn still getting a bit used to the last name. This is my paladin.” I looked at the bird that was on his shoulder that chirped and nuzzled against his master’s cheek.

“That’s adorable! I love that so much. My paladin is probably Figment my dragon that I can make but I haven’t officially decided on that yet. It was just an idea that I had. That was my presentation today I had to summon my own paladin. I thought what better than a fictional dragon who’s idea is to make the world a more creative and imaginative place.” I explained a little bit about what my thoughts were about creating my own paladin.

“I think that would be really cool! I’d love to see if you could actually do it!” He exclaimed and my heart leaped at his enthusiasm towards magic and spontaneously broke because he couldn’t do it himself.

“If you two could stop the flirting we do have a book club meeting to run.” Amity told us from the hallway and I flushed a bright pink.

“We weren’t! I wasn’t! Don’t tell Ed…” I put my cloak hood over my ears tapping my feet against the floor.

“Hey, my brother will understand okay? Hunter, go downstairs I’d like to talk with them for a minute alone.” The boy smiled meekly at me before he picked up King and went down the stairs. Amity sat down on the floor next to me.

“You know that there are some people out there who can love more than one person right? Luz tells me that they’re called polyamorous relationships. Most of the time they are sexual in nature which I know is not your thing but if anybody needs platonic physical affection it’s him. I knew that this would happen if you two ever met. Admit it Ken your type is idiotic goofballs that are super dorky.” I buried my head in my hands feeling the humiliation come over me.

“I always said that Ed would be the only person that I’d ever love. So I don’t know what’s wrong with me right now or why this boy with a gap between his teeth decided to show up and ruin everything that I had going for me…” Amity squeezed my hand with a small smile on her face. She just leaned against my side her lavender hair clashing with my cloak.

“Kenny you’ve always said that because you thought that you’d never meet anybody else. You can still love Edric and Hunter at the same time.” She made the mind blown mime with her brain and I felt tears escape my eyes.

“Or I could just sit back and do absolutely nothing. I’m going with stand back and do nothing and hopefully these feelings can go away.” She sighed a little bit pushing a lock of hair into my ponytail. I untied my hair retying it again.

“Kenny you spent five years not doing anything but pine for my brother. I love you, you’re one of the best things that have ever happened to me other than Luz. You change people for the better. I can’t sit back and watch you torture yourself for no reason. Just talk with my brother.” She entwined our hands lightly thumbing over my hand.

“He’ll hate me for sure though if I tell him and he’ll never trust me again…” Amity just sighed a little bit running a hand through her hair.

“I can’t talk to you when you’re like this. I love you both and you make my brother incredibly happy. He’s going to understand and do you know why? Because he flirts with literally everyone. He’s going to find him just as quirky and adorable as you do.” I tapped my feet against the floor knowing the younger girl that was next to me.

“Come downstairs when you feel better.” She kissed my cheek with a sympathetic smile on her face before she left me alone. My phone buzzed with an impending message. The username alone made me groan.

My idiot: I miss you already gorgeous!! I know how much these book meetings mean to you though. I sighed a little bit wondering if this was a weird thing to discuss over text.

Me: Can I ask you something? It would be a lot less awkward for me if I did this over text and I instantly got a response.

My idiot: Of course you can ask me anything!! What’s going on Kenny? I bit my lower lip hard enough to leave an indent as I messaged him back. Me:Luzhasanadoptedbrothernowandhe’ssocuteIcan’tfunctionIstillloveyouIswear I sent the text without even thinking about it and before I could regret anything.

My idiot: Whoa!! Slow down, I didn’t understand any of that it’s going to take me a minute, all I got was Luz and adopted brother. I sighed heavily running a hand through my bright pink hair with a nervous smile on my face.

Me: Luz has a new adopted brother, his name is Hunter, he’s really, really, really cute. I can’t help it he’s just the cutest thing that I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I smiled nervously as my boyfriend sent me a series of question marks.

My idiot: Send me an image!! I summoned what Hunter looked like to my idiot and got a message back in all caps.

My idiot: HOLY HEX THAT IS A 10/10 CUTIE!! Kenny, if don’t flirt with him what are you doing?! I give you full permission if this ends you two kissing. We’ll talk later come by the house once you’re done!! I blinked owlishly at the boy that stole my heart.

Me: So wait a minute, you’re not going to hate me? Break up with me because I can’t keep a normal relationship? I looked down at the living room when I heard a soft laugh that literally lit me up inside. It was the cutest sound that I’d ever heard in my entire life.

My idiot: Babe, this is a “normal” relationship. Every relationship is different. If your relationship entails adding a cute ex-cop to our dynamic who I can totes learn to love than what’s the harm? As long as we’re happy why should anybody else give a rats behind? I couldn’t help the light laugh that left me in sheer disbelief.

Me: You’re right baby. I’m sorry for freaking out on you I was just so scare that you might break up with me over something like this. I love you so much it’s just that this boy… he has me thrown all off my guard. I don’t know what to do around him other than just comfort him. He’s never had friends before. The Emperor kept him from literally everything. I say that we talk about this between us after the meeting. I’ll come over to the mansion. I should really get down there and join everyone. I kinda had an emotional breakdown. I smiled softly. Ed understood and was willing to talk about what this meant for our relationship. I knew that I’d always love my childhood friend but this new arrival I couldn’t help but be drawn into his orbit. I wanted to get to know him, to be his friend. To eventually learn for him to trust me… and then we’d figure everything out from there. I went downstairs with a contented smile on my face seeing the found family curled around the couch.

“Sorry about all of that everyone. I just kinda feel like I was hit by a thunderbolt.” I sat down on the rug that was in front of couch even though there was a spot but it was between Luz and Hunter. I didn’t want to take any chances of doing something that I’d regret later on.

“You don’t want to sit on the couch Kenny?” Eda asked me a small smirk on her face and I looked at the witch that changed everyone’s lives that she came into contact with.

“It would be kinda cramped. I don’t want to cause any problems.” I murmured and she just smiled softly at me ruffling my hair.

“It will be a little bit tight but I don’t mind.” Hunter argued and I felt my heart pick up speed. It wasn’t a feeling that I was used to having with anybody other than Edric.

“Yeah Ken!! There’s plenty of room!!” Luz encouraged taking my arm and nearly shoving me into the seat next to her brother. I flushed a bright pink turning away and looked down at my cloak wishing that I could vanish into it.

“Luz Goose what the hex was that for? Are you okay?” Hunter asked me inspecting for injuries while I could hear the light cackle of laughter. Oh she absolutely did that on purpose. I was not nearly as bad with her and Amity when they were just friends. I’ll get my revenge somehow one of these days.

“I’m fine thank you for checking hun.” The pet name accidentally slipped and I covered my mouth a bright pink flush covering my mouth.

“What is my problem?” I muttered to myself pulling at the ends of my hair with a huff of breath curling my arms around my waist.

“Sweetheart, there is nothing wrong with you and you have no problems.” Eda’s voice brought me out of my head and I looked over at the woman that helped me out with finding my confidence.

“Does anybody want snacks?” I quickly changed the subject opening my satchel with a small apprehensive smile on my face.

“Did you bring cookies?!” Luz asked me excitedly and I handed her the individual bag of cookies that had her name on them.

“Everyone has individual favorite flavors but I didn’t know yours. Do you like chocolate chip?” I asked the boy next to me and he nodded his head tentatively.

“I actually have no idea I’ve never tried cookies before…” My heart broke for the boy breaking one of mine in half so that he could try it. Watching his eyes bulge and the sound of surprise leave him made my heart warm and grow three sizes.

“I’m still trying to get him to learn what it means to be a normal teenager. There’s a lot of things that I haven’t gotten around to having him try yet. I love having him around though. He’s picking up glphys a lot faster than I did.” Eda ruffled her son’s hair with a loving smile on her face as Hunter reached into my bag and took his own individual cookie.

“These are the best things that I’ve ever tasted… you’re really amazing Kennth.” My heart started to skip beats and I shook my head animatedly.

“It’s nothing really all that special. It’s just baking and following a recipe. My parents run a human bakery where they sell all sorts of things that they have in the human realm. I work there part time when I don’t have club meetings.” I got out the book from my satchel well worn after many years of use. I had read this book so many times when I was growing up.

“Can I share yours? I still need to get my hands on a copy. Luz lended me some of her’s but I want to collect them all. I’m a bit of a nerd about magic.” He rubbed the back of his neck and I nodded my head opening my book while he leaned over my shoulder. If he leaned a little bit closer he’d be pressing against my cheek. If I could have another gay panic that wasn’t slow dancing with Ed I would have another one right here.

“How are you doing over there Kenny?” I glared half heartedly at Amity mouthing that she was dead to me.

“I’m fine.” I lied lightly trying to just get through this two hour meeting so that I could talk with my boyfriend about how this would all go. I didn’t know I’d get through this without knowing if it was okay for me to flirt with the magenta eyed boy.

“You look about as fine as I did when I was pinning for Luz.” I kicked her foot harshly hoping that she would drop the subject.

“Not another word Amity, not one more word or I swear I won’t talk to you for a day.” I threatened lightly and heard Hunter’s light chuckle.

“That sounds like my threats to Luz when I can’t think of anything else.” My heart positively melted when I heard his light chuckle. I fell in love with Edric when I first heard him laugh once I got old enough. Hearing somebody laugh was how I knew where they would fit into my life. Actually being able to hear Hunter’s was how I knew that I was positively screwed. There was no getting out of this situation.

“I know I’ve had a day cut me some slack. If I had a better day then I’d be more threatening. And here I thought that I was the smooth talker of the three of us only to turn into a flustered awkward mess…” I muttered picking at a thread on my uniform even though my mom always lectured me when she saw me doing it because I could tear a hole in it.

“Smooth talker?” He asked curiously and Amity put her legs across her girlfriend’s lap with a relaxed smile.

“That’s their role with my siblings. Since they often get into trouble they needed to be the one who got them out of trouble. That was their job. They learned to get over their social awkwardness and became stronger because of it.” My heart warmed as Amity bragged about how usually smooth I was until you put me next to a cute boy by force just about.

“How were you able to get over something like that?” Hunter questioned curiosity burning in his magenta eyes and I couldn’t not answer him.

“It wasn’t easy I can tell you that much. Basically what happened was I finally learned to stand up for myself for one thing. I’ve always been good at telling a story and once I found my sexuality and my gender identity I became a lot more confident in my abilities. I used my intelligence to get us out of quick situations.” My new friend finally settled against me with a small smile on his face. Luz lightly nudged my arm and mouthed touch starved.

“Shut it Goose you’re the one who introduced me to platonic touch. Are you okay with this?” I nodded my head with a small smile on my face my blush finally going away.

“I’m fine with it. Thank you for asking though.” I thanked him before finally clearing my throat and flipping to the page where we left off our last meeting.

“Have you read this one?” I asked the boy that was now settled against me and looking over my shoulder at the book.

“It was the last one that I just finished. It’s where she has to fight the sultan snake right?” I nodded my head. This had been one of my favorite books, Azura and The Magic Lamp. Ever since I was a kid it brought me right into the action and the adventure.

“That’s right! But that isn’t until the very end so spoilers geez!” I lightly teased and he just laughed at me. It was the first time that I heard his actual laugh and not his quiet little chuckle. I also couldn’t help but find his gentle teasing nickname of calling his sister a Goose one of the cutest things ever.

“Oh I’m so sorry that I’ve spoiled a book that knowing the three of you, you’ve read twenty times already.” Ohh cutie adorable has an attitude problem… not going to lie that makes me even more attached to him.

“This part is good.” He mentioned off handedly and I cleared my throat before I started reading the fairy tale that I had grown up reading.

“As Azura rubbed the lamp that laid in her hands after feeling her most betrayed and left for dead at the bottom of the cave a sudden puff of pink smoke erupted from the lamp…” Reading aloud had always been one of my favorite things. Seeing Hunter finally relax against my shoulder and all the tension left him and just left him with a soft smile as I read the pages aloud.

“And that’s the chapter for today.” I closed my book and Hunter whined plaintively that I had stopped reading my book.

“One more?” He begged and I couldn’t help but feel my heart warm a little bit at the look on his face. He was just so innocent and pure. How anybody could hurt a face that looked at them like that and decide that they want to stab them in the back amazed me. I will protect him. I have the ability to protect others and I’m going fight to keep him safe. Not that I think he needs my help or anything he can take care of himself. He did for many years. It’s just that he wasn’t alone anymore he had friends and a family now. No matter what happened between us even if he didn’t ever want to be anything more than friends with me.

“Sorry Hunter we only do one chapter per meeting. It’s what we’ve always done because most of the time Luz gets distracted.” The human in question whined and kicked her legs back and forth against the couch.

“It’s not my fault blame my stupid ADHD.” Her brother just laughed a little bit at her getting off my shoulder. I instantly missed the warmth of his weight there and just wanted to pull him back to where he had been originally sitting.

“Do you have any mental health problems Kenneth?” I shrugged my shoulders toying with a lock of pink hair that was on my head.

“I probably do. I’ve honestly never really thought that much about it. I don’t need help or anything like that. I mean maybe I have aspergers but I’ve always been able to make friends since I came out of my own shell. I probably had it a lot worse when I was younger. What about you?” I asked him carefully and he just sighed a little bit.

“Other than PTSD from having to deal with you know the Emperor being my father figure and all that fun stuff I’m pretty much normal.” Luz squeezed his hand reaching over my lap to hold her brother’s hand with a small smile on her face.

“You’re getting better though Hunty. Your nightmares are still prevalent but they’re probably going to stay that way for a while.” My heart broke at the idea of this poor thing waking up screaming from a nightmare.

“I’m sorry for asking…” I apologized and the boy just shook his head. I could see all the pain from years of isolation from the rest of society written all over his face.

“It’s not your fault you were just curious if there was anything else. Besides King probably already told you so it’s not some big surprise. I love him but he’s a blabber mouth.” I laughed a little bit at the idea of the demon puppy being a blabber mouth because it was true. I looked over at the television seeing a copy of Mulan over the top of it.

“Mulan is one of my favorite Disney movies. I have a soft spot for Sleeping Beauty. I know it’s trash and not the best out there but it’s the one that I grew up watching the most. I love the atmosphere and the artistry the most. It’s so pretty.” I talked about my favorite animated film from the company on Luz’s world that tried their best to bring the world of magic into their world.

“I haven’t seen that one yet. I’m still trying to get through the popular ones. I just watched that one last night it was really amazing. It was probably my favorite that I’ve seen so far. Do you watch a lot of them?” I shook my head with a small laugh at the thought of my movie night’s with Ed and Em. It was mostly just with Ed now because Emira couldn’t be around us for too long without fake gagging. “I love both cheesy horror movies and the real psychological ones. Most of the time that’s what I pick to watch when I have movie nights with my boyfriend.” I looked to my left only to find that Luz and Amity had dipped.

“We didn’t want to listen to you two flirt!!” I blushed a bright pink looking down at my periwinkle uniform that I was wearing.

“Like you two are any better you’re almost nauseating to be around!” Hunter shot back at his younger sister and I couldn’t help but laugh at the two of them.

“It must have been a big change for you. Going from not having anyone to having Luz basically being like you’re my brother now deal with it mentality.” He laughed a little bit and I put that into my recorder so that I could replay it later on.

“It was a lot for a while. I’m still working on feeling comfortable around here because it’s just so loud. It was all but silent in the castle. That’s probably why I became so loud. I wanted to stand out in that environment so I adopted the persona of Golden Guard. This fake aura of confidence like my whole life was fine when in reality it was hell. He tried to make me get rid of my paladin. That’s when I finally left because I wanted to learn wild magic. I was always fascinated by it. Funny the kid with no magic fascinated with the wildest kind of magic that’s out there in the world.” I listened to my new friend rant about his childhood. He was so kind that it hurt my heart how people had treated him.

“Well you can come to the bakery whenever you want if you want a break from all of this. I can’t promise that it’ll be quieter and my younger siblings might ask you a lot of questions. I have fraternal twin younger siblings, Kendra and Kelvin. All of us have K names I don’t know why specifically that letter won my parents over but it’s what did.” I offered him the out to come to where I worked part time not even thinking about how embarrassing my parents would be. I would have to sit them down and explain to them everything that I talked with Ed. Hopefully they understood what I was talking about and would still accept me. It would be my third time coming out about something to them. It was almost becoming a running joke. It had been three years since the last time that I came out to them and six years since the first time we talked about the fact that I was probably gay.

“I’d really enjoy that. Plus if there are more sweets like those delicious cookies that you brought with you then I might have a new favorite place to study when I want some quiet. Sorry that you only got one of them.” He apologized gesturing to the bag of cookies that I had brought for me. I couldn’t help but laugh and shake my head at him.

“It’s no big deal Hunter, I didn’t know that you were here. Luz told me right before we reached the Owl House. I love her I really do but she needs to work on her bringing about bad news. After she told me I was a little bit worried. I mean, the Golden Guard. But you’re nothing like what I had expected you to be.” I mentioned to him and he just looked at me his eyes big with a small nervous smile on his face, like he would get shut down at any moment.

“Really?” I nodded my head. I sat up on the couch putting my book into my satchel. The sooner I went to talk to my boyfriend the better so we could set up some ground rules as to how this all would go.

“Really. I want to spend more time with you believe me I do but I want to talk to Ed about something kind of important. Did Eda give you a cell phone?” He nodded his head writing down his phone number on a corner of notebook paper. I looked at the number seeing adorably dorky little hearts on it.

“I hope that you come by the bakery sometime. Just ignore anything that my parents tell you. They can be really, really embarrassing.” I rubbed the back of my head a little bit putting the note into my pocket and putting the cell number into my phone next to a golden heart.

“I think that’s most parents that raised their kids. They know everything about them so that’s why they can be so humiliating. Eda is already definitely becoming the embarrassing parent the more she learns about me.” I couldn’t help but laugh a little bit at Eda’s I heard that you little punk from the kitchen. I finally got off the comfortable couch.

“It was great meeting you Hunter. I’ll text you for sure.” My new friend smiled softly nodding his head a soft glimmer of hope in his magenta eyes.

“I look forward to it.” I smiled softly before turning around and with a heavy heart leaving the boy on the couch. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw Amity and Luz holding hands and going over homework together.

“I’m going back to your place Amity. Want me to cover for you?” I asked the teen and she just nodded her head with a faint glimmer of a smile.

“You got it! Consider yourself covered. I’ll se you both at school tomorrow. Bye Eda! Thank you for having me again.” I thanked the Owl Lady before I left the house waving to Hooty and ignoring the calls that he yelled at me. The walk from the Owl House to the Blight mansion wasn’t actually that long but I saw the car that was sitting in the driveway.

“Guess we’re going the back way today.” I twirled the key that was around my neck as I crept quietly behind the house so as to not draw the attention of Odalia Blight.

“Kenny!!” Em whisper yelled from her bedroom and I looked up at my best friend waving to her. I walked carefully over to her bedroom.

“What’s up? Why are the parentals home?” I whispered back to her and she just sighed heavily running a hand through sea green hair.

“They found out that Ed and I got sent to the principals office again today. So we’re under strict surveillance right now. Did you want to talk to him about something? There’s an abomination at the back door so I’ll help you get in if you want to talk to him about something if it’s critical.” I nodded my head climbing the tree next to my best friend’s window and she offered me a hand inside.

“There we go, good job Kenny!!” She whispered encouragingly and I saw the divider that led to her brother’s side of the room.

“Gorgeous!!” He accidentally said a little bit too loudly before he pulled me into his arms while Emira stood guard at the front door of their bedroom.

“How did book club go?” Ed asked me leading me around his piles of filth and dirty dishes that were in his bedroom.

“It went fine. Luz did something really embarrassing I think that the teens are definitely onto something. Especially Amity I think after five years of watching me pine for you she knows what my expression of smitten looks like. Luz shoved me next to Hunter.” As I told him the story about what had happened earlier that afternoon at the club meeting he just laughed at me.

“I’m sorry that happened to you Kenny but hey it all worked out alright? Did he seem interested in you? Did you tell him about me? More important what did you tell him about me?” He started asking me rapid-fire question a million miles an hour and I couldn’t help but overwhelmed.

“Ed hex don’t overcrowd them, they’ve obviously had a rough meeting if they had to deal with a cute boy. You know how they get when they’re around a cute boy.” I wanted to ask her what she was insinuating with that sentence but I knew what she meant. All my natural smooth talking went right out the window whenever I encountered a cute boy.

“He did seem a little bit interested I think? He’s going to need some time though and you’re going to have to give it to him Ed. I just want to be his friend for right now. He needs a friend. The Emperor in all his assholery kept him isolated from the rest of society so he’s never had any real friends before. He doodled hearts next to his phone number on the notebook paper.” I smiled softly pulling out the notebook paper that the boy had drawn on. Edric picked up the piece of paper and plugged it into his phone.

“Hey don’t you dare Ed, listen to me don’t you dare okay? We have to give him time to adjust to this sort of thing. I don’t even know what this is so I don’t want you talking to him. Not until I’ve figured out for myself what I want. It might have just been a fluke as to what I felt for him today.” Ed gave me a look of outright suspicion.

“Did you save his laugh so that you can replay it in the future?” I blushed a bright pink burying my face into his shoulder with a small whimper.

“Maybe? Is that creepy?” I asked him curiously and my boyfriend just laughed at me a little bit. He thumbed over the sides of my cloak.

“I don’t think so since mimicking voices and faces is a huge part of your magic. You need to have it as part of your arsenal but I’d like to hear it anyways.” I summoned the laugh that had lit me up from the inside that I had heard earlier.

“Why won’t you let me text him?” He whined a little bit and I toyed with the ends of his sea foam green hair.

“Because you’ll just openly flirt with him and it’ll scare him away. I don’t want to say that he’s fragile because he isn’t. It’s more like you can be super intense with your feelings and you tend to throw all caution to the wind and just do whatever you’re feeling anyways. I know that you want to help me with this recent development but you are just going to have to trust me. I’ve loved you since I was ten. I thought that I would only ever love you. Only to find out that I was totally wrong.” I rested my head against my long time love’s chest and he just lifted my chin making me look into his golden eyes.

“You know that’s okay right? To love more than one person at one time? That there isn’t ethically wrong with it? It’s just society thinks that it’s wrong because people are only supposed to have one according to their skewed logic.” My boyfriend reasoned and I felt tears come to my eyes when he kissed my forehead, cheeks, nose and then me gently.

“Thank you for understanding Ed. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. I know that I want to spend more time getting to know him. He’s a good person I can just tell.” Ed just sighed a little bit running his hands through my hair.

“I know that you have an excellent judge of character sweetheart and I know that you can do whatever you need to. Do you think that he’d like me?” I cradled the cheeks of my idiot for a boyfriend laughing a little bit.

“He’d have to be stupid to say no sweetheart. Trust me I know that he’s going to agree to date us I just want to be there for him as a friend until either he comes to me or I decide what exactly this is.” He just huffed a little bit crossing his arms over his chest. I melted into the affection until I heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

“Hex, Kenny you’ve got to go!! If mom finds you here I don’t know what will happen but it won’t be pretty.” I kissed my boyfriend one more time squeezing his hand softly. I got out of his bed and he just waved to me when I went down the side of the mansion.

“I love you gorgeous.” I smiled softly at him blowing him a kiss as I ran off of their property. I picked up my headphones that Luz had given to me for tuning out the rest of the world. I had fallen in love with the sound of older music, especially Elvis and Johnny Cash.

“Kenneth!” My mom called out to me from inside of the bakery and I put my headphones around my neck with a small smile on my face.

“You’re just in time! I was starting to get worried, did you stop somewhere else on the way home from the Owl House?” I nodded my head taking off my cloak and putting on my apron and my work clothes. I heard the familiar sounds of Ballad Of A Teenage Queen coming from the speakers of our small establishment.

“I stopped at Ed’s sorry mom I had to talk to him about something really important.” I tied my apron into a bow around my back and she just smiled softly at me.

“Was it really or did you just want to sneak away to make out with your boyfriend?” My face turned a bright pink and I got out the big bowl that I usually used to make my treats.

“Mom…” I groaned and she just laughed at me openly without shame that I was feeling. She was whipping frosting for my double chocolate cupcakes.

“What? Did I say something wrong?” She joked lightly and I just sighed heavily looking deep into the bowl in front of me.

“Mom… did you ever think that you could have feelings for somebody other than dad but still love dad?” She cocked her head confused at me and what I was insinuating. It suddenly dawned on her and she put her hand on my shoulder.

“When I was around your age I thought that I was in love with your aunt Miri.” My eyes widened, of all the times that I had come out this was the first time that I had heard anything about my mom being anything less than a straight edge.

“We dated for a little while actually the three of us. But then we decided that we were better off just friends. She found out that she was more gay than straight and that she was mostly with me and Jared because she wanted to be with me. Shortly after that she met your aunt Claude and things went happily ever after for her. So yes there was a point in time where I dated your father as well as somebody else. Almost a year of the three of us dating. I wanted for it to work out so badly but some people just aren’t meant for a poly relationship. Did something happen when you were at the Owl House today?” I nodded my head thinking about the former Golden Guard with the dorky laugh and obsession with magic.

“Eda adopted another kid, a boy this time around. The former Golden Guard after he found a paladin that he didn’t want to get rid of. His name is Hunter. He’s this kind of dorky magic obsessed all sorts of adorable boy.” I summoned an image of him to show my mom and I watched as her heart melted in front of me.

“Oh sweetheart he’s adorable. I’m sure that you three will be very, very happy together. What’s his paladin’s name?” I laughed a little bit getting out the ingredients that I would need to make my double chocolate cupcakes.

“I didn’t ask him actually. I’ll make sure to ask him the next time that I see him. I told him that he should come here sometime if that’s alright with you mom.” She just kissed my forehead with a small understanding smile on his face.

“My project today actually got me an A! They are letting me use something that isn’t from this world. I think that the magic world is quickly growing become more accepting of people that are different. I think that we have Luz to thank for that.” I summoned my purple dragon and gave him a strawberry that my mom was working with.

“That’s amazing sweetheart! I’m so proud of you baby you’ve been doing so well in school. I for one can’t wait to meet your new friend that you made today. I don’t know how your siblings will handle it. They’re still so young and there’s a lot that they don’t understand about the world around them. I’ll talk to them before he comes here. Remind me to do it tonight.” I nodded my head and saw my dad peak his head into the kitchen where we were.

“Hi Ken!! How was your school day? How did your project go?” I nodded my head with a small smile on my face.

“I got an A on it! I worked really hard to make it as realistic as possible so everyone was impressed when I told them that I carved it myself using my illusions.” I bragged a little bit since I got my magic from my dad. He was always really good at using his illusions to tell stories for the younger twins.

“That’s great, I knew that you could do it!! You worked your tail off on that assignment once you found out that you could do your own fictional creatures for the illusions track. Let met guess, your boyfriend and Em used it as an excuse to pull some big elaborate prank.” I sighed a little bit with a small laugh mixing the wet ingredients together.

“However did you figure that out dad? They got sent to Principal Bump’s office and I wasn’t able to talk him out of it this time. They got suspended for a few days and their parents, mostly their mom, is super mad at them.” My dad just sighed a little bit ruffling my hair with an understanding grimace at the horror of Odalia Blight.

“You know that she doesn’t really hate you love. It’s just that well she’s a wicked person and doesn’t have the speckle of love that most people do. It’s not your fault. You can’t make her love you.” My dad reasoned already knowing that’s what I was upset about.

“Dad that sounded like a she hates me but she also hates everyone mentality. It didn’t really help me.” He just laughed at me lightly cradling my cheek in his palm.

“I know that you want to do what’s best for your boyfriend. But if you keep doing what’s best for him you’ll stop doing what’s best for you. I get that you worry about Ed but he’s alright. He’s still his same goofy self always getting into trouble the whole nine yards. I’d say that at his point you have a right to be selfish just like everybody else does in the world.” He reminded me and I just sighed heavily knowing that he was right. The something that would make me selfish though is really selfish. Why should I want to have another partner when I’m perfectly happy with Edric? Why does Hunter strike me as so unique yet so familiar at the same time?

“Darling if you keep thinking so hard you’re going to pop a blood vessel in your head.” My mom joked lightly hitting my hand with her wooden spoon.

“Sorry mom…” She just turned off her hand mixer and turned so that she could face me. She took my hands in her’s.

“There is nothing for you to be sorry about. I know that it must have been a lot for you to deal with in one day. Going from thinking that you could never love anybody but Edric to finding out that there’s a boy out there that you want to love as well. I don’t think any less of you though sweetheart. It’s not selfish to chase the things you want if Hunter wants them too. That could never be selfish. Love is pure and innocent. It’s the one thing that everyone in the whole world wants collectively and dreams of finding.” I felt tears escape my eyes and she just lightly thumbed over my cheeks with her hand.

“It’s okay to want to be selfish. That’s something that everyone wants in the world. We don’t get to do it a whole lot at least not until we find the person or rather in your case, the people that we want to be with. That can never be wrong not ever. I’m so proud of you Kenneth. My sweet darling child. You’ve come so far just in the last year able to admit your feelings and why you’re feeling them.” The bell rang overhead and I saw Edric slip into the back kitchen.

“How did you escape?” I asked him with a small laugh as he slid into his spot next to my work station where he’d usually keep me company.

“Warden let me off for good behavior.” I rolled my eyes knowing that hadn’t been the case in the slightest and that he’d pulled a trick on her.

“You snuck out of the window didn’t you?” I saw the scratch on his uniform that proved me right and I sighed a little bit.

“I’ll have to mend that now. Why did you sneak out the window Edric?” My boyfriend lightly took my hand kissing it gently.

“Because our time was cut short due to her ranting and raving like a madwoman about how we’re making the wrong choices in life. I don’t care about what she thinks of me. I care about what my partner thinks and what they want to do.” I smiled softly at my boyfriend lightly kissing his mole underneath his eye. I finished the cupcake batter adding it to the individual tins.

“I want to ask Hunter out on a date. Just me though, we work our way up to you. If that’s okay with you anyways.” Ed just sighed dramatically but I could tell that he would say yes after he acted like a drama queen for a few minutes.

“I suppose that I can let my gorgeous partner go on a few dates with a cute guy that isn’t their devilishly handsome boyfriend.” I shook my head at his stereotypical dramatics huffing a breath before putting my cupcakes into the oven.

“You’re devilishly something alright. Maybe devilishly annoying.” He gasped at me loudly shaking my shoulders with his overly enthused nature.

“Am I annoying to you?!” I put my hands on top of his to make him stop shaking me mainly. I squeezed them softly and understandingly.

“Baby no way you are the exact opposite of annoying. I was just messing with you seriously. I love you, you know that right? I would do anything for you. It’s different with Hunter. I want a different relationship with him than I have with you. It’s complicated and I know that it isn’t selfish now.” He shook his head at me resting his forehead against mine.

“Even if you never want me to meet Hunter I know that you’ll still love me. The only reason that I’m not freaking out right now is because it’s you and I trust you. I know you’d never leave me but that fear is still there. That I’ll be all alone one day.” I sighed a little bit putting my arms around him despite me being covered with flour due to work.

“I promise if anything changes I’ll talk to you okay? For right now this is what I want to do. It might change in the future and it might not. I might have two husbands one day and I might have just the one. I don’t know what the future holds for either of us. I know that you both make me happy though. Happier than I’ve ever been with anybody else.” I reminded Ed with an understanding smile and I saw that little bit of doubt melt away.

“Whatever the future holds as long as there’s a spot for me there we’ll be alright. You’re my best friend Ken. I don’t know what I’d do without you. I’d probably be stuck with my head inside of a hole at this point. I love you so much Ken.” He reminded me lightly and I nuzzled his nose against my own. Having Ed in my life taught me so much about myself. He taught me about taking risks and what things were worth the danger.

“I love you too Eddie. I know that you’re just doing your best and I’m so proud of you. Even if I have to often talk you out of trouble it seems. Is Em overing for you back at home?” My mom just smiled at the two of us and went out to help my dad at the front of the shop since more kids were coming in after they had finished school for the day.

“She is, I owe her a big favor though. She hasn’t exactly figured out what that favor is going to be yet but I just know that she’s going to make me pay for it. What about you? What are you going to do the next time that you see Hunter?” He asked me and I sighed a little bit leaning my head against his shoulder running a hand through my pink hair.

“Probably just try and not look like the most flustered dumbass to ever flustered dumbass.” Ed just laughed openly at me and I stuck my tongue out at him.

“What if he doesn’t mind the flustered dumbass side of you?” I sighed wistfully at the idea of maybe the cute boy actually liking me despite what a mess I was currently.

“I should hope so. Because as you well know I’m like this around cute boys that flirt way too often. I hate it.” I huffed turning away from my boyfriend and he just lightly cradled my jaw in his hands looking into my violet eyes.

“I wouldn’t change a thing about you Kenny. Even when you are a flustered awkward mess of adorable. That’s simply another part of who you are. You’re the smartest person that I’ve ever met able to run academic laps around me and Em. How you’ve stayed best friends with the two of us nimrods never fails to surprise me. I think that Hunter would be lucky to have you whether that be as a friend or as a boyfriend that’s all up to you. Does that mean that I can finally flirt with other people too?” He winked jokingly at me and I averted my gaze.

“It’s not like I’ve ever stopped you anyways. You’re one of the most flirty people that I’ve ever met in my entire life. I know that you’d not listen to me even if I made that rule. One of these days I’ll introduce you and Hunter. Just let me get comfortable with him first. Then we’ll figure things out from there.” The oven dinged and I saw the cupcakes had risen. I tested them with a toothpick and found that they had perfectly cooked.

“It’s rare that people catch your attention like that right off the bat. I’ve tried to get you interested in other men over the years and you’ve never looked at any of them twice. So what’s so different about him?” My boyfriend went back to his seat his long legs dangling over the edge as I cut the sour belt that I would use around the top of the cupcake.

“I don’t know what’s so different about him okay? Just that something about him intrigues me and makes me interested in him. He’s cute and adorably snarky once you get through his walls. He’s clingy with physical affection because he can’t get enough of it. He grew up without it so when he snuggled against my side after asking if that was okay how could I possibly ever say no? Not when he looked at me with his big magenta eyes that are just the right shade of beautiful. I don’t know how to function around his style of beauty. I really don’t. Like who decided to make him so cute and awkward?” I asked my boyfriend animatedly starting to mend the sour belts to form mermaids tails for our under the sea cupcakes.

“Apparently somebody figured out that you have a soft spot for cute and lovable dorks like me. How long do you think you’re going to be able to last?” I half heartedly glared at my boyfriend. He knew how impatient I was when it came to something that I wanted to get my hands on. And I never wanted to get my hands on something nearly as much as I did with Hunter. You might think that during my pining years for Edric that I would be comfortable in this spot of pining but this was an entirely different beast.

“I haven’t the slightest idea. I’m just trying to stop myself from texting him and asking him on a date right now.” My phone buzzed and my boyfriend typed in his password, the date that we met in preschool.

“It’s from him!!” He showed me my phone and my pink eyebrows scrunched together as I read the message that was written there.

Hunter <3: Is the bakery busy today? I know that we just met today but I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind me passing by? I wanted to talk with you more than I was actually able to without Luz the Goose or Calamity sitting around. I laughed lightly at his nicknames for her sister and basically my younger sister at this point.

“If I wasn’t calling her Mittens already I’d be calling her Calamity. That’s actually really smart.” I smiled softly at the thought of how well the two boys in my life would get along. I shook the thought right out of my head.

“Oh god he wants to come here, where I work? I’m not even remotely ready. When I offered him I thought that he’d come in like a week or something not the same day?! Edddddd help me…” I pleaded my boyfriend and he just lightly thumbed over my cheek.

“Hey, you’re going to do just fine sweetheart. I know that you will and I’ll tell you why. Because you’re a gorgeous, intelligent, amazing, kindhearted, naturally gifted wizard that is going to make this Golden Guard their new beau.” Edric encouraged me blustering up my confidence with an understanding smile on his face.

“Alright I can do this, it’s just the cutest boy on the entire planet that I’ve ever met. Other than you but you’re more handsome than cute. This guy is just cute.” He laughed at me settling back into his chair as I typed out a text with my right hand finishing the tails on my sour ropes.

Me: Wow! I didn’t think that you’d come you know today or anything. You can come whenever you’d like! I’ve already done what was one my list for the day. I have this deal with my parents where I’m only allowed to make one of my recipes per day and my mom helped me out on this one. You can taste test them! I hope you like sour belts. They’re super sour we make them in house. They’re delicious though! We sell them in the candy store that we also own next door to the bakery. They came as a package deal. I smiled softly at the idea that my new boy of interest was actually coming to the store today.

“I can’t compete with cute looks wise. I know that you’ve always had a soft spot for the cute ones. Which is why I was surprised when you told me that you felt the same way that I did about you. I didn’t think that you’d ever reciprocate my feelings.” I squeezed my boyfriend’s hand understandingly picking up one of the cupcakes and started to swirl the icing around it.

“He texted back!! He said that he’s never tried sour candy but that you’ve intrigued him. He also said that he can come at another time if you’re busy. Want me to write a response back of my own creation or be you as best I can?” I sighed muttering be the best me that you can while I’m doing this. I just hope that he wouldn’t say anything embarrassing. I swirled the top of the cupcake adding the shimmery dust to the cupcake and finally the crown on the cupcake’s head along with the tail that I made.

“Princess mermaid cupcake number one complete! Only fifty more to go. We can do this, we can do this, we can do this.” I hyped myself up and my best friend cheered for me from his spot as I started getting down to business not letting myself be distracted by the idea that Hunter was on his way from the Owl House.

“Hey gorgeous, can I ask you something?” I nodded my head listening to my boyfriend’s question that he had for me.

“Do you think that Hunter would like me? I mean you’ve known me for most of your life. I just think that I’m catching the feels already and I’m kind of panicking about that right now.” I smeared a little bit of my icing on his nose with my magic.

“Hey!! Actually, hey that’s really good frosting.” I laughed at him as he did the same to me cuing a frosting fight using magic.

“Oh my Titan, he’s on his way oh no I look AWFUL Edric!” I shouted at him and he just rubbed the back of his neck a little bit.

“The frosting is a really pretty color that matches your skin tone really well?” He offered as compensation and I sighed a little bit heavily.

“Why do I let you talk me into doing stupid things like this all of the time? I don’t even know why I listen to half of your ideas. You wasted a good amount of frosting. Now guess who gets to help me with the rest of these. That’s right it’s you.” He helped me ice the rest of them and decorate them as I heard the bell ring in the shop seeing Hunter with his plasmin looking around the shop.

“Oh crap, cute boy alert that’s my cue to go bye good luck, love you gorgeous!!” He encouraged me and I put on an illusion that my face wasn’t covered in flour and frosting from my food fight with my boyfriend. I carried both of the trays outside of the kitchen leaving two of them on plates and cutting up an apple tart for the bird.

“Kenny, there’s a cute boy asking for you out front, goes by the name of Hunter. What does he want?” My dad asked me helping me carry everything out since I was struggling to balance both of them and the plates with everything.

“He’s Luz’s new adopted brother and the newest member of the Bad Girl Coven that Eda started. He just wanted a quiet place to read and study and I recommended the bakery. I didn’t think that he’d come here so soon but I have really no idea what he wants.” I watched as Hunter looked around at all the treats in sheer awe. It was really, really cute.

“Hi! I’ll be right with you I just have to get these all set up. I just finished baking all of these. I have to put them out for display and then I can talk with you.” I explained and I saw my younger sister peak her head into the shop.

“It’s okay Kendra, he’s a friend. You and your brother can come out. This is Hunter, he’s Luz’s new adopted brother. Eda adopted him and now they’re siblings.” I explained to her and she tentatively came out of the side room where she and Kelvin usually played.

“It’s nice to meet you both. I’m Hunter and this little guy is Rascal he’s my paladin.” He introduced himself and my sister looked at the bird that was perched on his shoulder.

“I’m Kelvin! The shy one is my older sister Kendra she doesn’t talk a whole lot to people that she isn’t comfortable with.” My new friend got down to my younger sister’s level with an understanding smile on his face.

“That’s okay. I hope that you know that you don’t have to be like everyone else in order to fit in. You just have to be yourself and somebody will want to be your friend.” He reminded her lightly pushing a lock of hair into her braid.

“That’s what I’ve been telling as well. She’s always been different and loves reading books unlike her brother. Kelvin is the one that we have to keep an eye on since he has the terrific tendency of getting into trouble.” My younger brother just looked a little bit sheepish down at his shoes that he was wearing where they weren’t tied.

“Come here, I’ll show you my trick…” I got down onto my brother’s level with a small smile on my face concentrating on tying his shoes for him.

“You make a loop de loop and pull…” I showed him so that he could do the other one which he did making me smile.

“Good job kiddo!” I supported him and Hunter looked at his shoes with an understanding smile. I got up from the floor balancing the three treats.

“Does Rascal eat food usually?” I offered him and the bird slowly crawled down his arm smelling the apple tart before nibbling at it.

“He likes apples, which I guess makes sense. Now what exactly am I looking at here?” I laughed a little bit showing him my cupcake.

“That is a double chocolate cupcake. It’s basically like two times the chocolate they are the cookies that I make for Amity usually. They’re chocolate cookies with chocolate chips inside of them. The frosting is tye die buttercream that has blue, green, and purple inside of it. Then I top that with a fondant crown, and a sour belt tail around it. We call it the Princess Mermaid cupcake.” I explained all the technicalities of the cupcake that was in front of him. He tentatively unwrapped the cupcake before trying it.

“That’s really good! I actually like the sour flavors a lot. It’s not as god as the cookies that you had with you earlier today but it’s still good.” He encouraged my love of making treats and I felt my heart seize up when he found a smidge of the frosting that landed on his thumb. People should not ever, ever be this cute. It’s hazardous to my health.

“So your paladin, I’ve been meaning to ask, where did you find a baby dragon? They’re really rare at least that’s what I’ve read.” I blushed a bright pink giving my dragon the crown and flew around in small circles.

“Well I made him myself using my magic. I wanted to make something myself that I had full creative freedom over. That our bond could be unique and special because nobody had ever done that before. They had only found ones that were already in existence. I asked Principal Bump and my teacher if that was allowed and they both agreed that they would love to see what I came up with. I named mine Figment. I wanted to do something using my imagination to bring something to life just like I do with my illusions. Except he isn’t an illusion he’s actually tangible. That’s what makes him so special. It took me a lot of trial and error but eventually I was able to give him his own personality and his own special interests.” I explained about my new friend that I had made to the boy across from me who looked at me in awe.

“That is so cool! Oh my titan so you made yours completely out of your own head? Nobody helped you?” I shook my head shrugging my shoulders with a small smile. To me it wasn’t anything nearly that special it was just something that I was passionate about.

“I’ve always been a really creative type of person especially about the things that I know a lot about. I know a lot about my magic, my hobbies mostly baking and sewing, and I’m super into animation. I’ve always been fascinated how you can create something like that and bring it to life. I found my first Disney movie in the trashcan here. It was Sleeping Beauty. Ever since then that’s been one of my favorite movies. Now that I’m a bit older I love watching cheesy horror movies and non cheesy ones.” I reasoned why part of me would always be interest in the way that magic worked.

“I’ve only seen a couple with Luz because she’s still trying to introduce me to the genre of animation. She wants to show me something called anime next. I have no idea what that means for me but I just hope that it isn’t a bad thing.” I laughed at the boy that was planning to spend some quality time with his sister as I settled into the cushy soft booth behind me.

“So I’ve been wondering, how exactly did that happen? How did you meet Luz and Eda?” A small smile appeared on Hunter’s face as he talked about his adopted sister and mom.

“I had found them on an island when they were trying to track down some mythical creature to make big money. I was just out there doing my job. My uncle… he wanted me to set them back a few paces and that’s what I tried to do. It didn’t go as I originally planned. But that’s how I met my family and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It was like I instantly knew that there was something special about them. Especially Luz. I always wanted a sibling that I could share my interests with. It just so happens that I got lucky and my sister is also a huge nerd. ” I laughed openly at his description of Luz since that was really accurate to how I saw her as well.

“Can I ask you something though? I don’t want to come off as rude or anything but what pronouns do you go by? What’s your sexuality?” I blushed a light pink knowing that this was coming thumbing over the end of my frilly blue apron.

“I have they/them pronouns. I started off male, I was just your average gay cis male. But once I started taking potions classes and I learned about cosmetics I got really into the idea of makeup. Shortly after that came well me wanting to wear skirts and dresses. I thought that there was something wrong with me at first. I came across a book in the library about gender. I looked at the book and saw that it talked about a gender identity called gender fluid. It’s basically where you feel male some days and female somedays. It all depends on the mood that you wake up in that day.” I explained my sexuality and gender to the boy across from me and he just nodded his head understandingly.

“That made perfect sense to me. I think that it suits you really well because you have a very feminine sense of self. But you still have masculine characteristics as well.” My younger sister looked up at me and I patted the seat next to me.

“You can sit up her too witchling hold on one second. I’ve got to help her up.” I picked her up and lightly sat her down when my mom came over to our table.

“Do you want anything else Hunter? A hot chocolate maybe?” She offered and I watched my friend’s head tilt to the side.

“Hot-what now?” I laughed at him nodding my head since I had wanted one as well and my younger sister probably did as well.

“It’s a chocolate beverage that’s warmed milk with chocolate. But we make ours fresh in house you’ll love it I just know it. It’s so good.” I bragged and my mom just threw me a wink and a thumbs up from behind her as she got us some cocoa to drink while we talked.

“Do you go to school yet Kendra?” Hunter asked my younger sister who nodded her head hesitantly. She kicked her legs back and forth squeezing her stuffed animal with a small smile on his face.

“I do. I don’t really like it though. The kids are mean and bully me because I don’t have any friends yet.” I squeezed her hand with a small smile of understanding. She had been through so much of what I had to deal with when I was her age and the empathy that I had felt for her was unreal.

“I’m sorry to hear about that. I wasn’t able to make friends until recently either. It takes time to figure out the good ones the ones that aren’t going to hurt you like others have. That hurt doesn’t go away either you have to learn to live with it. Thankfully you’re still young and you have plenty of time to make friends with your classmates and people around your age.” He reasoned with my younger sister who’s eyes welled up with thankfulness and emotion.

“How did you get that scar?” She asked him pointing to his face and I lightly looked at my younger sister sighing.

“You don’t have to tell her that. Princess we’ve talked about this, you can’t just ask people things like that. You have to remember what thoughts aren’t seen as polite and that you should keep to yourself. I know that it isn’t your fault that you’ve struggled with that sort of thing for a long time. I did too. It’s alright though sweetheart I understand what you’ve been through. I was the same when I was your age.” He shook his head with a small understanding smile on his face. He squeezed my sister’s hand as he looked at her his magenta eyes filled with emotional turmoil.

“It’s a battle scar that I got that made me stronger despite the person that gave it to me. I got from somebody that I thought that I could trust but he stabbed me in the back.” My sister gasped and her eyes filled with tears.

“I’m sorry mister I didn’t mean to bring you back unpleasant memories…” She apologized genuinely and Hunter just waved his hand with a small smile.

“Don’t worry about Kendra it’s okay. You didn’t know any better and you’re just a kid you shouldn’t know what that experience is like.” Hunter reminded her lightly and his words were genuine despite not knowing my sister very well.

“Are you happier staying with miss Eda and Luz?” He nodded his head with a small laugh as he rubbed the cheek of Rascal.

“It’s definitely a lot more entertaining than I’m used to. The whole house is chaotic so I’m just trying to adjust and keep my head above the water at the moment. I love having them around now they’re good people especially Eda. She didn’t need to take me in but she still did. I don’t think even she knows what that meant to me. It’s the fist time that I’ve had a real family. All my life I haven’t had anybody around me but myself. It was a lonely childhood but I think that things are finally starting to look up to a not so lonely teenage years and adult years.” He reasoned and I smiled softly at him as my mom came delivering our drinks to us winking at me.

“I like the Owl Lady she’s funny. Sometimes she comes here and gets sweets for Luz and King. King is my favorite he’s cute like a little demonic puppy.” My younger mentioned with a small laugh kicking her legs back and forth as she colored in her coloring book that she had with her.

“You’re very good at coloring in the lines Kendra, do you like coloring?” She nodded her head a little bit nervously about the mention of her passion.

“I love coloring it’s one of the few things that gives me complete control over what I can and can’t do. Creating things has always been one of my favorite passions. Mom says that it’s going to get me into potions magic when I get older. What kind of magic do you have?” I felt the little bit of anxiety for my friend come creeping back up my spine.

“Kendra love, he doesn’t have magic. He can’t use it at all. He uses glyphs the same way that Luz does. Has she been teaching you?” I asked him and he nodded his head tentatively. He smiled watery at me thankful that he didn’t have to answer that.

“I’ve been getting better at them the more that I practice like anything else in the world. You work hard at something and you practice even harder to get what you want.” Kendra looked at him in this state of awe and wonder for the boy that taught himself to do magic.

“I’m still too young to have any magical talent at all. I hope that I get it soon. Then I can use that magic to help people.” Hunter looked over at what she was coloring and I saw a curious expression on his face. She had the coloring book that I made for her with my designs since her favorite movie from the human realm wasn’t common.

“What are you drawing?” He asked her curiosity peaked as she stuck her tongue out and colored in the fairy’s green eyes.

“So her favorite thing right now is this Irish trilogy of movies from the human realm The Secret Of Kells, Song Of The Sea, and Wolf Walkers. Even more than Disney that’s what she’s really interested in. I’ve always been a decent enough artist and for her birthday I made her coloring books for all three films. That’s her Secret Of Kells book. What she’s coloring is her favorite character Aisling. She’s a fairy that can transform into a wolf. Maybe Luz knows about she at least knows about Wolf Walkers because she showed that one to her.” I explained the background of what my sister happened to be coloring in as Hunter looked at the page in surprise.

“That’s amazing that you actually made that all by yourself Kenneth. It’s clear that you love your sister otherwise you wouldn’t have gone through all that effort in order to make something that she’d enjoy. What about your brother? What does he like doing?” I smiled softly at my younger brother that was on the floor building something with his LEGOS.

“He loves superheroes at the moment that’s stuck around for a really long time. He has a lot of fun with those because you can pretty much do anything with that. My sister takes more after me with her interests when I was younger. I loved movies, I loved imagining things, and I loved coloring. That was how I got my creative energy out when I was younger was I colored. Now that I’m a lot older I feel more creative freedom as to what I can’t and can do.” My younger sister finished coloring in the green eyes of her character and moved onto her gray dress.

“You’ll have to show me those movies sometime Kendra. I love finding new forms of art.” My sister looked up in surprise that my friend wanted anything to do with her interest that she found to be so carbon copy.

“Are you sure?” He nodded his head in affirmation with a small smile gracing his features. My sister packed up her things and went scampering up the stairs.

“She’s probably going to go and find the first one right now. You should tell Eda not to expect you back for some time. I think you just walked into a landmine. I’ll try to get her to only show you one but I make you no promises that she’ll follow through with it.” I teased and my new friend just laughed at what he had gotten himself into.

“Well I’d rather spend more time with you if I’m being really honest. I want to know you better Kenneth. Something about you is fascinating to me.” My cheeks flushed a bright pink for the first time since I put up my illusion.

“Umm you have frosting everywhere.” I blushed an even brighter pink wishing that this chair would just do me a favor and swallow me whole.

“I got into a frosting fight with my boyfriend before you got here. You flustered me and my defensive illusion fell. I’m sorry I look like such a mess right now.” I apologized and my friend just shook his head at me scooting over to my area.

“It’s alright you don’t look like a mess in the slightest. Here, it’s actually not that bad.” He looked at me face and managed to get rid of the frosting.

“There it really wasn’t all that bad Kenny. Sorry! I heard Amity calling you that earlier.” I nodded my head with a small smile.

“I found that when I transitioned it was easier for me to shorten my name to nicknames. I don’t mind my full name it’s just that I like it to be shortened. I didn’t want to say anything because it’s just kind of awkward to talk about.” He shook his head at me and I old see the varying emotions in his magenta eyes glancing at me sympathetically.

“It doesn’t have to be awkward not if you’re happy with yourself. If you’re happy then who else cares?” The way that was worded reminded me so much of how Edric reasoned with my anxiety of not being perfect.

“The way that you worded that reminded me so much of my boyfriend. It’s kind of adorable. Sometimes I need to be comforted about the silliest of things.” I rubbed the back of my neck my tying my hair into a better ponytail to keep it out of my face.

“Did you grow up watching the older Disney movies? What was your favorite other than Sleeping Beauty?” I laughed a little bit getting the book off of the shelf that was next to me showing it to him.

“Alice In Wonderland was my childhood favorite. It was the one that I watched the most because my parents prefer classic Disney. My sister is still the biggest Frozen fan so I’ve had to watch that movie way too many times over the last decade. It’s my curse.” I joked and he just laughed openly at the idea that I would always be there for my younger sister.

“Just because you’re a good older sibling doesn’t mean that you’re cursed to have to watch the same girly movie over and over again. I think that the message is really good. I still need to see a lot of the classic ones. Could you show them to me?” I nodded my head with a bright smile on my face at the idea of introducing him to the things that I had grown up with.

“The original animated film is the best keep the live action one’s away from me. I hate them. They tried to make them too serious and that’s not what this is. It’s chaotic and unique I get to pick the next book to read to my siblings and this is the one that I want to read to them.” I felt Hunter slowly start to shift a little bit closer to me.

“There’s something that I should tell you…” He looked down a little bit nervously and I blinked in confusion.

“You can tell me anything that you need to. As long as it doesn’t make you uncomfortable hun.” I encouraged him letting the pet name slip this time without fighting it back down again.

“I think I really like you. More than I should like a friend and I don’t know how to approach the topic because you’re clearly in love with your boyfriend.” I hugged my new friend with a small smile on my face.

“Oh hun I get that. That’s why I bailed so quickly on you earlier today. I had to talk to Edric about how far this all could go. I care about you too more than I should probably considering that before today I thought that I had only room in my heart for one idiot. Only to find that there was another one out there that surprised me. I want to be there for you in any capacity that you’ll allow for me to be. Whether that be as your friend while you get your bearings or something more once you get more comfortable with whatever you want me to be. I know that I don’t want you to meet Ed until you know what you want. He’s tried to get me to give him your phone number but I don’t want him to scare you off. He can be… a lot on a person and he’s just got a lot of chaotic energy and forgive me if I just want to be selfish and keep you to myself for as long as I can.” I felt new friend hug me as he leaned his head against my shoulder with a small smile.

“I want to be something more than friends with you I know that much. But I also want to wait until we’re better friends if that makes any sense at all. Is that okay with you?” I nodded my head knowing that it would be difficult for me to not just simply bundle him up in a blanket and keep him protected from the rest of the world.

“That’s perfectly alright with me. I won’t lie and say that it won’t be a challenge for me. I’ve always been the type to just go with the first emotion that I feel which usually isn’t good.” Hunter just laughed softly against my shoulder.

“I appreciate it. I’m still adjusting to having a normal life and it would be nice to have some sort of normal before I decide that I want to make a big life decision and start dating the most amazing person that I’ve ever met in my entire life.” My cheeks flushed a bright pink. Keep it together Kenny you can do this who cares if he’s the cutest boy that you’ve ever seen?

“I knew that I’d probably have to wait until you were more comfortable which is also why I’m trying to keep you away from Ed. See with my magic is I can replicate images of people and also save people’s voices to little places with my powers. Usually I save little things. Want to hear Edric’s genuine laugh?” He nodded his head excitedly and I used my summoning to summon the sound that I loved so much when I got to hear it.

“Oh my Titan that is the cutest thing that I’ve ever heard in my entire life…” I couldn’t help but smile softly at the fondness of that sound lighting me up inside.

“He’s a snorter when he laughs and it’s always adorable whenever I hear it. He rarely does it genuinely unless he’s really tickled by something because his parents had to go and make him feel self conscious of it.” I sighed a little bit thinking about Ed’s relationship with his mom. Hunter pulled back from the hug and I instantly wanted to wrap him up again.

“He’s been through a lot too?” I nodded my head playing with the tablecloth beneath my fingers taking a sip from my now cooling cocoa.

“This is the best thing that I’ve ever tasted… I used to just live off of black coffee.” I gagged feeling my reflex coming on really strong.

“You’ve got to add things to coffee Hunter. You can’t just drink it straight up because that’s disgusting. Haven’t you ever tried a mocha? You add hot chocolate mix to your coffee.” I asked him and he shook his head animatedly.

“That sounds amazing. I’ll have to take your idea and try it the next time that Eda gets coffee for Luz and I. She has to get decaf because Luz on caffeine.” He shuddered at the horror story and I laughed openly at the idea.

“I can imagine that’s a story that I would love. I love crazy Luz stories. That sounds like Ed and Em on a sugar high which is an absolute nightmare to manage. They get into even more trouble with sugar in their system. It’s why I can’t give them more than one treat whenever they come in. If it’s big they have to share it and give a majority of it to Amity. You’ll hear him call her Mittens quite a bit. That’s the family nickname for her. I call her it sometimes as well to mess with her.” I hummed the song that was playing over the radio today. It was one of my favorite older country songs by Johnny Cash, Ballad Of A Teenage Queen.

“Are you good at singing?” I nodded my head with a small smile on my face. Everyone that I’ve ever come into contact with told me that I was a good singer and I sang a lot to help Kendra and Kelvin get to sleep at night.

“I love singing I always have it’s one of my favorite things to do. Singing my siblings to sleep has always been something that I’ve done. I do it every night they curl up and listen to me sing. They still share a bedroom but we’ve been talking about them moving into separate bedrooms for the future. They’re almost six now so they should have their own spaces to be happy.” Hunter leaned against my side listening to my rambling about my siblings.

“I’m painting their bedrooms as well. I haven’t decided what to do for Kendra’s maybe something garden related? She really loves the outdoors.” He entwined his fingers with mine and I couldn’t help but melt into the touch.

“I’m sure that whatever you design for her that she’ll love it either way because her older sibling is the one that put forth all the hard work and effort to make her happy.” He reminded me lightly and I sighed a little bit into the touch of his caring nature.

“Is this okay?” I nodded my head with a small smile on my face. Affection was something that I always soaked up like water to a sponge. I could never get enough of it.

“It’s perfect thank you for being so supportive. Is there a particular reason that you came to the shop so quickly?” I asked him out of sheer curiosity and he just blushed a light pink looking down at his shoes a little bit.

“Well it’s because I just really wanted to see you and spend more time with you. You interested me in a way that nobody ever really has before. You intrigued me and I wanted to know more about you, about your family and what they did. I thought that if I did I’d find out what it was about you that fascinated me so much. Only to find out that your whole family is just full of this unique energy to them. You all understand each other and the needs of everyone in the family.” I laughed a little bit because my family was crazy and he just didn’t know that.

“You might think that now but my parents are kinda goofy I’m just giving you the heads up. You probably think that I’m just joking or whatever but no I’m being totally serious. They make up their own songs the whole nine yards. I just hope that are never around when they do that.” I warned him about the sheer insanity that happens in our kitchen from time to time. My entire family was just full of this concentrated quirkiness that we had to get out someway but never really knew how to do so.

“I actually really want to see that mostly to see if you do the same thing.” I flushed a bright pink nodding my head tentatively. Sometimes my mom would start singing her own made up song and I’d take it from there.

“I probably shouldn’t have told you that. When Ed found out he basically never let me live that down. It’s so embarrassing but he gets entertainment out of it. I’ll have to put you a chair in the kitchen so that maybe you could keep me company while I work. Ed has his own and I should make one for you.” I played with my index fingers a little bit and I saw his small smile.

“I’d really like that. I can distract you with my own rambling according to Luz I can be quite the bookworm.” I laughed a little bit at the idea of Hunter getting engrossed into something because the thought just seemed so adorable and cute. I could picture him rambling about whatever he was reading about magic related and my heart warmed at the thought of it.

“I’m a rambler too so I get that feeling. It’s hard when you’re the only one that does it because you eventually worry that people tune you out. Thankfully Luz is a rambler too so you can do it together.” I encouraged him and he just laughed at me a soft but at the same time open sound.

“Yeah that’s the plus side to it, does your sister do it?” I nodded my head with a small smile thinking about my younger sister who was probably debating which of the movies to show Hunter first.

“She does but she’s still kind of learning what words mean what so her rambling is really cute. She’s a lot like me when I was that age so I’m a bit closer to her than I am to Kelvin. Sometimes I don’t know how to relate to him or how to be a good older sibling to him.” I heard Kendra’s call from upstairs that she had the movie ready.

“It looks as though we’re being summoned. Come on you can take your drink with you. I’ll carry it the stairs can be quite treacherous.” I referenced one of my favorite movies to watch around Halloween and when I heard his laugh. Not the quiet one but one that I heard earlier the open one where his shoulders shook with humor.

“Luz showed me that movie it was one of her favorite’s that she would always watch with her mom. It was really, really funny. I was going to ask if you had ever seen it since it is your style of movie. That kind of cheesy horror movie that you mentioned earlier.” Rascal flew behind him and I couldn’t help but smile softly at the two of them.

“Do you know how Rascal got his scar?” He nodded his head and I looked at him curiously as I carried our drinks up the stairs.

“He had an abusive master before me. He never told who but I guess we had that in common and that’s why he picked me.” He shrugged it off like it was nothing but my heart went out to him and all the sorrow that he had seen.

“I’m sorry for all that you’ve both been through.” His smile even though it was soft it was still something that made my heart light.

“It’s okay. I’m getting through it just like everybody else does that struggles with the same pain that I did. I’m not alone anymore. I have Luz, I have Eda, and I have you now.” He grinned boyishly at me as we walked up the stairs together. My cheeks flushed a bright pink but I just led him up to the couch where Kendra had her mug on the tray in front of her. I put ours next to hers and made sure that everyone knew who’s was who’s. Hunter leaned against the back of the couch as his eyes widened at what he saw on the screen. I hoped privately that it wouldn’t be the last time that I’d get to see him with stars in his eyes.

[blackcloverdatabase]

English Translation of Novel 3: Chapter 2 – The Man Known as Julius (Part 2 of 2)

Here’s the second half of the last untranslated chapter from Book of Yuno! More Julius, Yuno, Jack, and Charlotte goodness, plus Mereoleona and Marx!

With this, Book of Yuno is now fully translated!

--- The Man Known as Julius (Part 2) ---

And so, in days that followed, they ran into no troubles at all. The days passed by rather smoothly…… Well, that may depend on your definition of “smooth”. As Yuno predicted, Jack and Charlotte frequently dropped by the lake, Graham still didn’t get along with Julius, and each time that happened, Bell would say something insensitive, so Yuno’s training kept getting interrupted. Though their troubles didn’t grow, his worries did.

Nevertheless, Graham’s wounds healed well, and the amount of time he spent near his parents’ tombstone steadily decreased. It would be a little lonely once they do, but, at this rate, they will be able to return Graham to the wild in a few days.

‘I have to find a safe place for him away from humans as soon as possible……’ Yuno thought as he and Bell were shopping in the village of Tonan. It was still early afternoon.

“Oh, aren’t you Yuno-kun?”

Yuno heard a voice call back from behind him as he was walking. When he turned around, he saw a man with his blue hair cut like a mushroom, standing there with a smile.

“Yes. Umm, if I recall, you use communication magic…...”

“Ah, sorry. I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m Marx Francois. I’m the Wizard King’s aide.”

He said with a gentle smile on his face as he approached Yuno, seemingly wanting to chat with him.

“I sure do meet a lot of Magic Knights when I’m in an area where patrols are emphasized. Why, just yesterday, I met Captain Jack. A ha ha, it’s surprising to see him buying vegetables like any other normal human being!”

‘I’m still surprised he bought them for Graham……,’ of course, Yuno didn’t say this out loud, instead opting to match Marx’s tone of surprise.

“I’m surprised. I guess that means he must cook, too.”

A more suitable reply. He then tilted his head and said,

“So, what are you doing here, Marx-san?”

“Surveying the field and intelligence gathering. I wanted to see the state of affairs of all areas that have been targeted by those bandits, and I was going to convey my findings to the Wizard King, but…… ah, no, sorry. The chain of command a transmission is supposed to go through got messed up.”

Marx paused for a bit as if to reorient himself.

“For various reasons, the notification that was supposed to go out to each squad was delayed, but half a day ago, we successfully quashed the bandits.”

“……Huh?”

Yuno couldn’t help but stutter. It’s true that a few days have passed since the Magic Knights were deployed to suppress the bandits, so it was only a matter of time before they would completely quash them, but……

“That’s rather sudden. Incredibly so.”

“Yeah. Since it was possible that the Original Sin was involved in this case, we were searching more cautiously than usual, but…...”

Marx’s face stiffened.

“……Captain Mereoleona said “How many days does it take you to capture a few petty thieves!” and kicked the knights who were investigating into high-gear. I was also participating in the search, and it wasn’t long before those bandits were completely annihilated. A few bandits may have escaped, but it’s just about over now.”

‘I feel sorry for those bandits……,’ Yuno thought to himself as he quietly put his hands together in prayer for them.

“However, when we confiscated their belongings, we didn’t find any copies of the Original Sin. Maybe those rumors about them having one was fake, but it’s possible that one of the bandits who escaped ran away with it…… there are still many things we are uncertain about, so I came here in the hopes of finding some clues, but I’ve found nothing so far.”

“……I see. Thank you for all your hard work.”

Yuno thanked Marx while he internally let out a sigh of relief. Now that those bandits have been caught, this area should be safer now. Since a few bandits escaped, the patrols will probably continue for a little while longer, but the frequency of those patrols should decrease. That means it will be easier to take care of Graham. Yuno continued to feel more and more relaxed, even faintly considering taking a stroll through town, but then Marx called his attention as he put his hand in his breast pocket.

“Ah, wait a second! I’m sorry to ask you this so suddenly, but do you know anything about this magic tool?”

“………!!”

Yuno’s and Bell’s eyes widened. They couldn’t believe what Marx was showing them. What he held in his hand was a red jewel, the very one which wards evil away.

“……Marx-san, where….did you……?”

Marx felt a little uneasy about how strongly the two reacted, but he answered their question.

“Huh……? Captain Jack gave this to me yesterday. He said he felt ill when this tool was active. He thought it might be dangerous, so he wanted me to investigate it.”

“…….Did he say where he found it?”

“Ummm……. I didn’t ask for the details, but if I recall, it was in some cabin up in the mountains.”

Yuno had a bad feeling about this.

“I’m going to take this to the Magic Tool Research Institute, but you go on a lot of special missions, so I thought you might know something about this…… w-wait!? Where are you going!?”

Yuno ignored Marx’s pleas as he used his wind magic to fly to the lake. Jack found the jewel yesterday. The bandits were captured half a day ago. Yesterday, he was only with Graham in the morning, and Julius said he was only with Graham briefly in the early afternoon. It was probably after that when Jack found the jewel. After that, it was possible that runaways from the bandits’ hideout may have passed by the lake…… If they did, Graham had nothing to protect him. They might have eaten him. They might have taken him so that they could sell him. There were all sorts of things they could have done to him.

Maybe it was too early to start worrying, but that was the place where Graham and his parents were attacked before. It was possible that those bandits have used that cabin as a rest stop before. If the remaining stragglers go there to rest……

Yuno felt his agitation increase as he sped to Graham’s location without care for anything else.

“……Graham!!”

Yuno shouted once he arrived at the lake. Usually, Graham would have emerged from the cabin, squealing cheerfully, but……

“……No way …….There’s no way this is happening! You can’t be serious!!”  

Bell screamed as she trembled in anger. A portion of the fence they built was broken, and the cabin was partly destroyed. Worse yet, the corpses of Graham’s parents were dug up, with about half of their hides skinned off their bodies. In this cruel picture, Graham was nowhere to be found.

……Their worst fears had come to fruition.

“W-what should we do, Yuno!? What happened to Graham!? What do we do!?”

Bell begged Yuno for an answer with tears in her eyes. However, like her, the sight left Yuno in a state of confusion. This was almost certainly the work of the remaining bandits, so the most practical option would be to team up with the Magic Knights that were hunting them. However, it would be difficult to find the others in a forest as wide as this, and there probably weren’t many knights pursuing them in the first place. Finding them would take too much time. There simply wasn’t enough people or time. He couldn’t contact Julius, either. He wasn’t sure what to do……

“………”

After thinking things through, Yuno closed his eyes and took a deep breath. After calming himself down, he reminded himself of why he was here. After a few more seconds, he opened his eyes and said as he calmly observed his surroundings,

“I don’t see any blood, so I think it’s safe to say that Graham hasn’t been killed. Not here, at least. They must have kidnapped him, probably with the goal of eating him later. While it’s true that they might have killed him en route or seriously wounded him to render him immobile, we can’t let negative thoughts like that get to us.”

If you find yourself unable to move because of all your negative thoughts, it’s sometimes necessary to just try doing what you want before thinking about what you should do…….

This was, without a doubt, one of those times……

“First of all, let’s join up with the knights in pursuit of the remaining bandits and find out where they are in their search. After that, we’ll borrow one of their communication devices and contact the Wizard King.”

They were going to do all they can, believing in the possibility that Graham was still alive.

“Let’s go, Bell……. Full power.”

“Y….. yeah…… sniff!”

Upon Yuno’s words, Bell wiped the tears from her face as she looked him in the eyes. Yuno nodded in response with a small smile on his face. He was about to fly off using his wind magic, but……

“Phew, I finally caught up to you…… Why did you do that of a sudden!?”

For the second time that day, he heard a voice call out to him from behind. When he turned around, he saw Marx approaching him with a broom in his hand and sweat on his forehead.

“Marx-san…… You followed me?”

“Well, if you see somebody’s expression change as drastically as yours and then dash off, of course you have to follow…… wait, what is all this!? What happened!?”

He looked around the lakeshore in a panic. Julius had said that Marx was the last person he’d want to find out what he’s been doing, but this situation was different. Even if this was only by chance, Yuno was glad he was here. With Marx here, he’ll be able to contact Julius right away.

“I’ll explain later. For now, I need you to contact the Wizard King for……”

……He realized it mid-sentence. At present, there wasn’t enough people nor enough time. Even if, for argument’s sake, Julius took advantage of his position of authority to send a large number of knights after the bandits, it would take some time to get that many knights together. There was a faster way to get a lot of knights here, and it would leave him with many more knights, too.

“Huh!? That mischievous magic maniac is…… I mean, the Wizard King is involved in this, too!?”

He was a little intrigued when he heard Marx say something rather disrespectful toward Julius, but, anyway, he quickly conveyed his strategy to Marx, who put it into practice.

 ----- Several minutes later, in a forest on the southwest side of Tonan -----

About ten rough-looking men flew through the forest on their brooms.  

“Hurry it up, you idiots! They’re gonna catch up to us at this rate!”

A bald man named Garo lead the group, spitting harsh words toward his minions behind him, which slowed him down even further. They were the remaining bandits. They slipped past the Magic Knights, and they were currently on their way to their second base, which was in the Forsaken Realm. Moreover, he had a hemp bag tied to the end of his broom. Wriggling violently inside that bag was……

“SQUEA- SQUEAL! SQUEAL!!”

A baby boar they caught by the lakeshore.

“Shut up, ya damned pig! We’re gonna eat ya the second we get to the base, so sit quiet until then!”

As if to let off some steam, Garo yelled his threats at Graham. Then, one of his followers asked him,

“Come to think of it, boss. Why’d ya take that little flame boar? Even if we sold its hide, we wouldn’t get a lotta money. If we just took its collar, then…… Eek!”

His follower shrunk back in fear.

“……Because…... the base…... was DESTROYED!”

Garo said with a roar as he turned his bloodshot eyes toward his follower.

“All our money and food were taken from us! You realize that, right!? Even if it doesn’t give us a lot of money, I’m gonna steal what I can steal! We’re in this mess in the first place because you’re all slackers!”

“I-I’m sorry! I’m so sor-GAH!”

As the others watched from behind as their boss seized their teammate by the collar and shook him, they looked at each other anxiously.

“……H-hey. He’s been…… kind of…… off lately, hasn’t he?”

“Y-yeah…… it’s like he’s gotten more brutal, or maybe more greedy……”

“Hey! You all sayin’ something!?”

Garo looked back and threatened them as he tried to find the people who spoke so insolently……. And then, by chance, he realized it. There was one too many shadows projected on the ground. When he noticed, he looked up toward the sky. At that moment,

“Slash Magic: Death Scythe!”

Large blades of magic swung down from the sky.

“UWOAAAAAAAAAAAH!!”

The blades of green obstructed the bandits from going forward as they flew before Garo’s eyes with a thunderous roar. The trees around them rumbled loudly as the ground beneath them was cut so deeply that one couldn’t see the bottom. What would’ve become of those bandits if such a thing hit them head-on…..?

“……Kah Kah. Jeez, I told you to live and grow up to be strong, didn’t I?”

Above their heads, the bandits heard a voice filled with a malice and intent to kill that made them shiver. Standing above them on his broom was a tall, thin man with ridiculously large blades extending from his forearms.

“You certainly got yourself kidnapped by a group that doesn’t look all that fun to cut up, eh, brat?”

His mouth upturned into a grotesque smile as he licked his lips and stretched his arms before him.

“Well, whatever. I’ll cut down 80 percent of them, so watch and learn.”

“D…….Disperse! Everyone disperse!!”

To escape the onslaught of attacks that were fired at them, the bandit group broke away from each other like baby spiders escaping their nest. Garo veered to the left with two of his underlings in tow.

“B-boss! That guy, he’s…… the Captain of the Green Mantis! Why is a big wig like him coming after stragglers like us!?”

“Hell if I know!! Just shut up and focus on getting outta……. Huh?”

Before he could finish talking, he noticed another ominous sight. Before his eyes was a woman of peerless beauty clad in armor, standing around as if she was waiting for them. Under normal circumstances, this fact would have made him ecstatic. However, Garo’s face grew grim. Just like with Jack, Garo didn’t know her first-hand, but he has heard terrible rumors. That face, and the way she held herself…… there was little doubt in his mind that this woman was the Captain of the Blue Roses, Charlotte.

“Briar Magic: Corpse-Hunting Briar Tree”

As if to substantiate Garo’s suspicions, thorny briars grew from the ground with unnatural speed to the left and right of him, piling into cone-like structures until they projected into the air like a tower.

“UGAAAAAAAAAH!”

Unable to avoid them, Garo’s two underlings fell victim to her thorns. However, Garo slipped through and escaped. No, he had the feeling that the thorns never aimed for him from the beginning……

“…… Relax. I will not strike you. Graham…… no, a wild boar is in that bag, correct?”

He felt a strange feeling from this beautiful woman who spoke with such a clear, concise voice. Even after only seeing her gorgeous face from a distance, he could tell – this woman was furious.

“Hand that boar over right now. If you do, I’ll have mercy on you and tear your corpse to pieces!!”

“EEEEEEEK!”

His soul practically leapt from his body as he shrieked, trying to get away from her. However, in the direction of his escape stood…...

“Wind Magic: Crescent Kamaitachi”

“Woah!”

Four crescent-shaped blades flew through the air with a howl as they cleanly sliced through the trees around Garo. Past the sounds of one tree after another falling to the ground, he heard voices, both male and female, talking above his head.

“With this, nothing is blocking our view…… we can see this scoundrel’s face more clearly.”

“Not that I wanted to! He’s ugly, dirty, and he has a small-fry kind of vibe! That’s three strikes!”

The two voices he heard came from a handsome black-haired boy and a girl about the size of a doll, who was flying around him.

‘What kind of magic tool is that?’ Garo thought.

Moreover, this became evident once his surroundings were cleared, but…...

“……Hey…… What the hell? …….Why the hell are there so many of you!?”

There was a dozen…… no, there were several dozens of Magic Knights, and they had Garo’s group completely surrounded as they stood by on their broomsticks.

“W-we’re just the remnants of a ruined group of bandits…… why, why are you…..!?”

“……Good question. I wonder about that.”

As Garo groaned, the boy swooped down in front of him with a blank expression and said quietly,

“Maybe you took someone’s kid, or their little brother, or their henchman…… perhaps?”

 Truthfully, even Yuno didn’t expect this many people to come. After all, Yuno only said one thing. He had Marx use his magic to report the situation to Julius, and after that, he had Marx contact the headquarters of the Green Mantis and the Blue Roses. Upon getting in contact with them, the only thing he told them was,

“The remaining bandits have kidnapped a baby boar I was keeping at the lake shore and are now on the run.”

That’s all he said before joining up with the rest of the knights in pursuit of the bandits. While they were searching, an astonishing number of Green Mantis knights and Blue Roses knights had gathered. When he asked why they were all here, they said their Captains ordered them to join the hunt. Even the Captains themselves joined the hunt, and they both looked like they were searching for blood.

Thus, their little hunting team became a large and fierce group, and with no hesitation, they utilized their mobility and self-discipline to find and hunt down the remaining bandits in a flash.

“Kah Kah. You damned brat. You used us. You have guts, I’ll give you that.”

As Yuno approached Garo, Jack poked at Yuno’s shoulder with the tip of his blade.

“I didn’t use you guys, I just couldn’t think of another- Ow. That hurts. It’s bleeding.”

“……W-well, it doesn’t matter to me what happens to some wild boar. There have been reports that the remaining bandits carried the Original Sin, so I came here because I thought we should arrest them as soon as possible.”

Charlotte said with a slightly red face as she approached the two of them.

“I just fed that wild boar on a whim……. Huh?”

Charlotte shuddered as if she just realized something very serious. She then grasped the hilt of her sword tightly, summoning briars from her sword that wrapped around Yuno’s neck.

“…….You bastard, don’t tell me…… y-you saw me…… bringing food to that boar?”

“What are you talking about? I saw you two leaving from the lake shore, so I just thought you might’ve met Graha-Ow. That hurts. Um, this really doesn’t suit my character, so……”

“Shit……. Shit! Just a little further…… and yet I get stopped by this group of idiots…… Shit!!”

As he watched those three talk back and forth, Garo cursed in a low voice.

“Ah, I forgot. You’re here, too.”

Bell said, before continuing in her usual loud voice,

“You’re the idiot here! Now, hurry up and return Graham to us!”

“……Wait, Bell. He’s acting stange.”

Yuno stopped Bell, who looked like she could bite Garo at any moment, and studied Garo. His breathing was rough, his eyes were bloodshot, and he was clenching his teeth so hard that a thin trail of blood oozed from his mouth.

‘This is just like that time with Zable……!’

“Shit……. Shit! SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIIIIT!!”

Garo screamed as if he had gone insane. Then, a pure white grimoire emerged from his chest, and from his back spread countless invisible tentacles, which bent and wriggled about. The Original Sin had started going berserk.

“SQUE-SQUEAL! SQUEAL!!”

At that moment, Graham’s voice could be heard from the bag at Garo’s feet. Just being exposed to this much magic must be painful for him. It must be scary.

“Graham!”

Without a moment’s delay, Yuno and Bell activated their mana skin and ran toward Graham.

“H-hey! Don’t be reckless!”

Charlotte called out in an attempt to stop him, but Jack yelled over her.

“No, he has the right idea…… Hey, you all! Stop that bandit’s attacks and support that kid with all you’ve got! Don’t let that bandit lay a single finger on that kid, or the bag at his feet!!”

Under Jack’s command, a massive simultaneous attack from all nearby knights began.

“Shit……Shit, Shit, SHIT!”

Garo’s tentacles repelled every attack that was fired at him as he wreaked havoc on his surroundings. However, each tentacle that tried to reach Yuno and Bell was slashed apart, torn apart by briars, or stopped by some other magic spell. One after another, they vanished before reaching Yuno. Yuno himself used his wind magic to repel any tentacle that made its way toward Graham, but there were too many.

“Graham!!”

Just as he was only a few steps away from Graham, a single tentacle weaved its way through his attacks and swung down toward Graham. At that moment……

“Time Restraining Magic: Chrono Stasis!”

“…… Huh?”

……. Time stopped.

Garo stopped. The tentacles stopped. Yuno and Bell stopped. All the magic knights around them stopped. They were all wrapped in an absurdly large sphere of magic, where all movement ceased. Before Yuno could begin to process what happened, the sphere of magic slowly converged until it surrounded only Garo. The tentacles had stopped moving, but, before long, they lost their power and vanished into the air.  Yuno was released from Julius’s time prison, causing him to fall on his backside, where he continued to stay as he watched.

“……I see. The tentacles disappear if its owner is rendered powerless…… For caution’s sake, I stopped time over a large area, but it looks like that wasn’t necessary.”

The person who created this situation, Julius, said this smoothly as he descended slowly in front of Yuno.

“Sorry I’m late, Yuno-kun, Bell-kun. You did a great job…...”

He said in an incredibly casual tone of voice. With his tranquil smile, Yuno was…… no, surely everyone was overwhelmed by his presence.

As soon as he got here, he cast such powerful magic over such a wide area and, with surgeon-like precision, imprisoned only Garo. Most of all, he did all this in an instant, with no prep work required. Everyone here knew that he was absurdly powerful. However, they didn’t realize what that meant until they saw his power in action before their eyes. He was the Clover Kingdom’s most powerful Magic Knight – The Wizard King. As Yuno thought, the wall he and Asta had to surmount was absurdly high.

……. However,

“Are you hurt?”

Julius turned toward Yuno and held out his hand. By reflex, Yuno almost took his hand, but,

“……….”

He reconsidered, lowering his hand and suppressing the light trembling in his legs as he forced his weight upon them,

“……I’m fine. Thank you for your help.”

And stoop up firmly with his own power on his own two feet.

‘Someday, I’ll climb over that wall.’

He held such thoughts in his heart as he stood with his own strength.

“Ha ha. I guess…… you didn’t need my help, huh…….?”

‘I could have sworn I’ve had a conversation just like this with someone else before…...’

Realizing that this wasn’t the time nor place to think about that, he dropped the idea and started thinking to himself warmly,

‘The next generation after me……. Yami, William, and the others are already actively performing great service as Captains. The generation after them have a strong will, and they are growing steadily but surely.’

Through them – through the power of those who have inherited his will – the Order of Magic Knights, and this country, is gradually being reborn into the form Julius has always wished for. Rather than a few decades, after ten years…… no, less than that. In a few years, the future that Julius has wished for could very well come true.

Faced with such youthful power, these thoughts were renewed within Julius.

“……Well, I don’t plan on giving this seat to anyone just yet~”

“……Huh, what was that?”

“Nothing at all…... This isn’t the time for us to get lost in sentimentality. We have to help Graham.”

Julius said as if to end the subject, grabbing the hemp bag and opening it swiftly. Upon doing so, Graham leaped out in an instant, jumping into Julius’s chest with a happy squeal.

“Graham, are you okay!? Are you hurt!?”

“It looks like…… you’re okay. Thank goodness……”

Once Bell and Yuno came closer, Graham squealed cheerfully once more. It was good that Graham wasn’t hurt physically, but they were also happy that the ordeal didn’t appear to wound him emotionally, too.

……Instead, considering all the aftermath they’ll have to deal with, the reports that will need to be written, and the incoming lecture from Marx, perhaps they’re the ones who are going to come out of this ordeal traumatized……. Well, those are minor problems.

“Graham…… I’m sorry. You must have been so scared. You did a great job getting through this.”

Julius pet Graham’s head with a few tears in his eyes.

“You’re safe now, so let’s go home with Papa and-

“Squeal, squeal!”

CRUNCH

With full force, Graham chomped down on Julius’s fingers.

 “……Jeez, I’ve just about had it with you! So you were raising an unusual pet, huh……? That the kind of thing an extravagant bachelor with too much time and money on his hands would do! Stop playing around and get back to work!”

“……Yes…… Yes……. Yes……. I’m sorry…….”

The others dealt with the aftermath smoothly while Marx continued to lecture Julius. That said, there wasn’t much for Yuno to do. Transporting the bandits they captured, listening to magic tool researchers, he finished all that a while ago, so right now he was chatting with Jack and Charlotte right next to Julius as he was getting lectured.

Specifically…….

“……We plan to release Graham into the wild soon.”

He felt that he should tell them what they were planning to do. As he looked at Yuno holding Graham when he said this, Jack scratched his head and replied,

“I don’t really care, but…… Well, that makes sense. From the start, he’s a wild animal, so he shouldn’t be closed up with humans. Plus, he could get rolled up in some bad news like what just happened today. Once he’s healed up, you should let him go.”

“B-but…….. is there a place where a young boar can live safely without their parents protecting them?”

Charlotte looked a little upset as she said this. Incidentally, a few moments ago, she took Graham away while Yuno wasn’t looking and told him,

“I’m sorry for all the mean things I said earlier. I didn’t mean it when I said I didn’t care about you. I love you!”

Bell happened to see this and reported it to Yuno, but……. Back to the main subject. At that moment, Marx finally took a breath in the middle of his lecture, allowing Julius a chance to join the conversation.

“……We both searched extensively, but we couldn’t find a good place for him. Do either of you know of anywhere good?”

Jack and Charlotte glanced at each other before replying simultaneously,

“Well, if that’s what you’re going to ask, there’s someone more suited to answering your question than we are.”

“Moreover, it’s highly likely that she’ll be joining us any moment now……”

“……Huh?”

Just as Julius tilted his head in confusion, he heard a preposterously loud voice resound through the air.

“Wizard King! I thank you for catching the bandits that escaped!”

The one who descended from the sky with such a loud voice was none other than Mereoleona Vermillion. She was a gallant woman who was serving as a substitute Captain of the Crimson Lions for Fuegoleon. However, before she assumed the role of Captain, she……

“……I see! If I recall, she spends over 300 days a year living her life in the forests and fields of the wild. She probably knows a lot about what we’re looking for.”

“Yes. Then, I wonder if you should give Graham to her.”

As Julius and Charlotte spoke to each other, Mereoleona walked toward them as she laughed heartily,

“And you even managed to capture a copy of the Original Sin without destroying it! As I would expect from our Wizard King! With this, we’ll be able to analyze it easily, and…… hm?”

As she was speaking, her eyes sharpened with a piercing gaze when she spotted Graham. She then licked her lips and said,

“Ho hoh, you captured quite the tasty-looking boar. Once we get back, let’s cook him right away!”

…...For now, at least, they all decided that there was no way they were leaving Graham with her.

 After that, Graham was deathly afraid of Mereoleona, so Yuno and Bell picked Graham up and carried him a little further away to put distance between them while Julius explained their circumstances to her.

“I see! If that’s how it is, then there’s plenty of great places I can show you!”  

Mereoleona struck her chest with her fist as she said this.

On a side note, earlier, Jack and Charlotte guided Marx and the other knights home. Before Jack left, he stared at Graham with a profound gaze. At that moment, Bell dubbed over his thoughts with a whisper,

“Well then, boy. Make sure you don’t lose to those humans.”

Back to the present, Mereoleona continued talking as loudly as ever.

“In the natural realm, there are places that are considered “child-rearing spots”! They are considered as such because they have plenty of food and little territorial conflict. I know of several such places!”

At that moment she suddenly went up to Julius’s face, and lowered her voice as she asked,

“By the way, Wizard King. What kind of trick were you trying to pull this time?”

Julius smiled the same as ever as he replied,

“……..Now, what ever could you be talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb with me…… with the amount of personal connections you have, you could have easily asked plenty of other people to take care of that boar. And yet, you chose that boy.”

Mereoleona glanced at Yuno before giving Julius a smile filled with hidden meaning,

“You created a situation where you would raise that boar with that kid, the genius chosen by one of the great spirits, so that you could see with your own eyes how he trains and what kind of growth he has achieved……. Am I wrong?”

“……You’re half-right, but you’re also half-wrong. It really was a coincidence that I was found by Yuno-kun.”

Julius had a small smile on his face as he gave up on the idea of keeping it a secret. She, too, is probably just asking because of her own personal interest, and he didn’t want to be that secretive, so he figured it was fine to tell her.

“However, to design counter-measures against the Eye of the Midnight Sun……. I wanted to thoroughly understand how he fights with Sylph, Sylph’s own personality, and how friendly she is toward other humans. Since we would be raising Graham together, I just figured I’d use the opportunity to observe him.”

In truth, he would be able to see how Yuno fights at the Royal Knights Selection Exam, and he can create as many opportunities as he likes to talk with Bell. However, that would just be for “work”. Frankly speaking, the quickest way to learn about someone is to do a task together that requires one to rely on the other. It was a little unscrupulous of him to do this, but he took advantage of that accident so that they could work together. Moreover, keeping the fact he was raising a flame boar a secret was never all that important to him in the first place.  His goal was to get closer to Yuno by sharing a secret together. As a result, he was able to watch Yuno train on several different occasions, and he has a better understanding of Bell’s magic and temperament.

Most of all, he thinks that they are on friendlier terms now. Even though this all happened by chance, he gained so much from it.

“So, no tricks from me. I just nudged things in the right direction, just a little bit. I truly did want somebody to help me take care of Graham.

“……I see. Then, what about Jack and Charlotte?”

Mereoleona happily continued hounding Julius for more. It’s not that she wanted to find his weakness or anything, she just wanted to satisfy her intellectual curiosity. After all, she was a woman who put all her energy into everything she did, no matter what it was.

“You said that they just happened to find out, but…… someone of your caliber wouldn’t make a blunder as foolish as letting your magical power get sensed by someone else. Well, even though Jack having an evil soul and taking away your magic tool was a miscalculation on your part, you got them involved on purpose so that you would have personnel who could take action in the event of an emergency like today’s right?”

“……..I wonder about that?”

“Fu fu……….WAH HAHA HAH! You truly are one crafty fellow!”

She slapped Julius’s back and laughed heartily once more…… At that moment.

“Squeal!! Squeal!”

Graham rushed forward with all his strength and tackled Mereoleona’s feet. Over and over. Though he was terrified by her just a short while ago, he continued to crash his tiny body against her.

“W-what’s wrong, Graham? You’re so riled up……”

Julius picked Graham up, but Graham continued trying to threaten Mereoleona.

“I know she’s often called a boorish woman, and I often wonder why I have to be so on guard around one of my own subordinates, but she’s not an enemy.”

“I’m not sure what you’re trying to say about me, but…… most likely, when he saw me hitting your back, he thought I was bullying you.”

“What……?”

He said as he looked at Graham, who pressed his face into his chest.

“Squea-squeal……”

“………..”

It was the sound flame boars make when they want their parent’s attention. The fact he was crying out to Julius in this way meant……

“Ha, ha ha…… that can’t be right. Graham, even now, you keep biting me so hard, and yet……”

He turned his face away from Mereoleona, as well as from Yuno and Bell, who were rushing toward them, as he said this. Mereoleona looked a little surprised before saying,

“Oh? If he was biting you, then that means he really loved you…… Biting is one of the attachment behaviors of young flame boars. The fact he was biting you is proof that he thought of you as his parent.”

Everyone was shocked silent when they heard this. Bell represented everyone when she said,

“Huh? Then…… Graham though of the Wizard King as his father from the start?”

“Graham……”

As if in response to Julius calling out his name, Graham made the same cries as before, as if he wanted his parent to dote on him more.

He recalled all the days he has spent with Graham. He recalled watching Graham enjoy his baths, Graham’s sweet face as he slept, Graham devouring his food with delight, Graham energetically rushing up to his feet. Fond memories came rushing forth, one after another…….

‘I want to be with this child forever,’ Julius thought.

……But, even so……

“……We can’t. If a wild animal stays with humans for too long, they’ll remember their time with humans far too well, and they won’t be able to return to the wild……We shouldn’t stay together any longer than we already have.”

Hearing those words, Yuno couldn’t help but clench his fists, and Bell looked down with tears in her eyes. They only started raising Graham halfway through, yet it hurt this much to say goodbye to him. Surely, the pain Julius is feeling right now must be even worse……

“……But, you know, Graham.”

Even so, Julius only wiped his eyes a single time before smiling at Graham the way he always did.

“I’ll never forget the time I spent with you. And, I truly did think of you like my own child…… Even if we are apart, that will never change.”

He hugged Graham tightly but gently, and told him quietly,

“I love you, Graham. Thank you……. For thinking of me as your father.”

“Squea-squeal…...”

“Now then, shall we go!?”

As if to destroy the moving atmosphere between them, Mereoleona declared this as she smashed her fists together. Seeing her behave so warlike, Yuno had a bad feeling about what she was going to say when he asked,

“Go……? Go where? It’s not like we’re planning to release Graham into the wild this very second.”

“You fool! There are several different child-rearing spots! We’re all going to preview each spot together to find out which environment suits him the best!”

She said as she looked at him with cold eyes. Then, her mouth upturned into a ferocious grin,

“All these child-rearing spots lie past strong magic zones and dungeons. Doesn’t that sound fun!? Wah hah hah! Isn’t this splendid!? You can utilize the results of your training while we visit each power spot!”

“Sorry. I just remembered some urgent business I need to attend to, so I need to go home.”

Yuno and Bell ran away with subsonic speed, but it was futile. Mereoleona instantly created fire magic in the shape of two lion’s paws from her head and caught them.

“S-someone save us! We’re being kidnapped! A spirit and human are getting kidnapped by a wild animal!”

“Please say something, your highness! There’s no way this is legal!”

Bell cried out in tears while Yuno, in an act that was very out of character for him, begged Julius to do something. He was the only one in this situation with the power to stop her, but…….

“………Umm, sorry, you two…….”

Julius said with an incredibly awkward expression on his face as he held Graham lovingly.

“I-I think that being suddenly thrust into a strange area would make him anxious, so…… could you come with us?”

“……..Huuuuuuuuuh?”

The Wizard King – Julius Novachrono.

He's the hero of Clover Kingdom, a source of inspiration for all Magic Knights and all the Kingdom’s citizens……

“Hey Graham~ You want everyone to be with you, too, right?”

“Squea-Squeal~”  

…….He’s a huge softie, overindulgent, and he can be a bit of a bother. He had an ordinary side to him that you could find in any ordinary middle-aged man, but……

That's just the sort of person Julius is.

--- The Man Known as Julius: The End ---

W-what am I supposed to say at the end of this chapter? I’m just too sad that they have to say goodbye to Graham ;A;

I’m also sad that this was the last untranslated Book of Yuno chapter. I’m glad to have finished it, because it’s such a good book, but I…… I want more.

[shalebridge-cradle]

Historical References in What Are You Going to Do With Your Life - Chapters 10-12

Chapter 10

Boleyn mumbles something about a priest. W. S. Pakenham-Walsh (1868 - 1960), Vicar of Sulgrave, Northhamptonshire, had a strong interest in Anne Boleyn. He claimed to have a series of spiritual experiences after praying at Boleyn’s burial site, and contacted clairvoyants to channel her spirit in the hopes she might become his guardian angel. He also claimed in his diary that he had contact with Henry VIII and other notable members of the Tudor court.

While witchcraft was often punished via the death penalty, Henry VIII made the law explicit in 1542 (though it was later repealed no later than 1547, under Edward VI). Several witchcraft laws were made in the UK over the years, in 1563, 1604, 1649 and 1735. These were all repealed and replaced with more general consumer protection laws, and the last person to be indicted for witchcraft (under the 1735 act) was imprisoned in 1944.

Tarot was a regular set of cards for most of its history, used in various, but similar, trick-taking card card games. It became associated with ancient wisdom in 1781, when Antoine Court de Gébelin wrote an essay claiming (with no evidence) that ancient Egyptian priests had distilled the mystical Book of Thoth into the cards.

“Psychic is Greek, and clairvoyant is French. One is about thinking, and the other is about seeing.” Psychic comes from the Greek word psychikos (‘of the mind’) and clairvoyance is a combination of two French words (‘clear’ and ‘vision’). Catherine of Aragon was known to speak both French and Greek, as well as Latin, her native Spanish, and English.

Cunning man (or woman) was another word for folk healers.

In 1532, Catherine Parr’s brother-in-law from her second marriage, William Neville, was accused of treason for allegedly predicting the king’s death and his own ascension as Earl of Warwick (a title made extinct during the Wars of the Roses, but would be recreated in 1547 and twice after that). He went to at least three magicians to confirm this prediction, all of which agreed that it was meant to be true (it wasn’t). One of these magicians was Richard Jones of Oxford, who was imprisoned and questioned on the matter. He did his best to exonerate himself of responsibility. I have found five references confirming his existence – but many of them claim he had a sceptre he used to ‘summon the four king devils’, which he used for divination purposes.

Chapter 11

Jones of Oxford was taken in for questioning as part of the Neville affair, and he did his best in his confession to exonerate himself. Neville’s claims of a prophetic dream showing himself as Earl of Warwick were now a “fair castle” which Neville assumed must be the castle of Warwick, and a shield with “sundry arms I could not rehearse”. He did admit to writing “a foolish letter or two according to [Neville’s] foolish desire, to make pastime to laugh at”. No treason, just jokes, please don’t execute me Thomas Cromwell. Jones claimed to take his alchemy seriously, however, and wrote that “To make the philosopher’s stone I will jeopard my life, so to do it,” if the king so wished. He would require twelve months “upon silver” and twelve and a half “upon gold”, and was willing to be imprisoned while he worked. Jones made a similar offer to Cromwell, but there is no evidence either man accepted. Jones was released in exchange for revealing incriminating evidence against another figure of interest. The other magicians caught up in this incident, William Wade and a man known only as ‘Nashe’, had perfected their disappearing act and were not sent to the Tower.

There is a story that Elizabeth I attributed the destruction of the Spanish armada in 1588 to John Dee’s wizardry. Given that, as mentioned, Dee was out of favour with Elizabeth at the time, this is likely untrue.

Elizabeth I’s death was in March of 1603, after she became sick and remained in a “settled and unmovable melancholy”, sitting on a cushion and staring at nothing. The death of a close friend in February of that year came as a particular blow – that of her second cousin and First Lady of the Bedchamber, Catherine Howard.

James I (or James VI, depending on where you’re from)… James I of England was also James VI of Scotland. His mother was Mary Queen of Scots, who was executed by Elizabeth I, and his great-grandmother was Margaret Tudor, Henry VIII’s sister.

“Anna, born Duchess of Jülich, Cleves and Berg.” This was how Anna signed hers’ and Henry’s marriage treaty, known as the ‘Beer Pot Documents’, because someone drew a stein at the bottom.

Bowling, as a game, can trace its origins back to ancient Egypt, and has been quite popular the world over throughout history. Henry VIII was an avid bowler himself (when Hampton Court was remodelled, bowling alleys were included with tennis courts and tiltyards), but banned the sport for the lower classes. The law against workers bowling (unless it was Christmas and in their master’s presence) was repealed in 1845.

We return to the ground, because from it we were taken. Paraphrasing of Genesis 3:19.

The (possible) first appearance of the word ‘alligator’ in the English language is from Romeo and Juliet. The description of The Apothecary’s shop mentions “a tortoise hung, an alligator stuff’d, and other skins of ill-shaped fishes”. Traditionally, medieval apothecaries and astrologers kept skeletons, fossils, and/or taxidermied pieces on display to demonstrate their worldliness.

The anger over calling the alligator ‘William’ could come from Parr, or from Anna. Her brother’s name, Wilhelm, is often anglicised as William.

Midsomer county does not exist and never has. It’s the setting for the long-running mystery TV show Midsomer Murders. Incidentally, Catherine Parr’s native county of Westmorland existed at one point, but no longer does (the area is now in the county of Cumbria). She is not the only English-born queen who this applies to; Jane Seymour’s Wiltshire and Anne Boleyn’s Norfolk still exist (and have since antiquity), but Katherine Howard was most likely born in Lambeth, which would have been in the county of Middlesex at the time. The area is now under the ceremonial county of Greater London.

“Honestly? Margaret Pole’s was worse.” Margaret Pole, Countess of Sailsbury and the last of the House of York, was kept in the Tower of London for two and a half years for her supposed support of Catholicism’s attempts to overthrow the king, before being informed of her death ‘within the hour’ on the 27th of May, 1541. She answered that she did not know the crime of which she was accused (and had carved a poem into the wall of her cell to that effect), but went to the block anyway. It allegedly took eleven blows from the inexperienced axeman to separate her head from her body. There is another story that she tried to run from the executioner and was killed in the attempt, but this is likely a fabrication. Regardless, pretty much everyone thought this was not only a bad idea on Henry’s part (killing Margaret removed any leverage the king had on her rebellious son, Cardinal Reginald Pole), it was also pointlessly cruel and a painfully undignified end.

(She was also Catherine of Aragon’s lady-in-waiting, and governess to Mary at several points.)

That everyone around her, bar a few visitors, would actively benefit from her death… Yet another quote of Elizabeth Tyrwhitt’s testimony: Parr, on her deathbed, claimed she was “not well-handled” by those around her; “for those that be about me careth not for me, but standeth laughing at my grief, and the more good I will to them, the less good they will to me”.

Chapter 12

According to a lady-in-waiting, Anne Boleyn claimed she would rather see Catherine of Aragon hanged “than have to confess that she was her queen and mistress”. This incident is probably the origin of the lyric “somebody hang you!” from Don’t Lose Ur Head.

Catalina uses a few Spanish phrases in this chapter, which don’t get directly translated. The first, No se hizo la miel para la boca del asno, directly translates to ‘Honey is not made for the donkey’s mouth’, and essentially means ‘Good things shouldn’t be wasted on those who won’t appreciate them’. Lavar cerdos con jabón es perder tiempo y jabón is ‘Washing pigs with soap is a waste of time and soap’, and is meant to indicate some things aren’t worth the energy.

…like that dream she has where she is cut up by a servant… An autopsy was done on Catherine of Aragon as part of the embalming process, which revealed the growth on her heart. This was done by the castle chandler (a dealer or trader) as part of his official duties.

Jane Seymour got rid of most of the hallmarks of Anne Boleyn’s tenure during her own queenship. The extravagance and lavish entertainments were banned, along with the French fashions Boleyn had introduced – including French hoods, which Boleyn is wearing in the portrait we have of her. Jane, as mentioned, wore a gable hood in her portraits.

“I don’t know why I’m so surprised that people care about what I say.” In the words of nineteenth century proto-feminist Agnes Strickland, Jane “passed eighteen months of regal life without uttering a sentence significant enough to warrant preservation”, which is kind of a mean thing to say. Seymour certainly said things during this time, we know this from reports, but there aren’t any direct quotes from her during her time as queen.

Here’s the painting mentioned, from 1545, during Catherine Parr’s tenure. Jane is on Henry’s left.

It was only after her death that Henry ‘loved’ her, but she is certain that he mourned for only for his own loss. There are reports that, during Jane’s labour, doctors advised Henry he might lose either Jane or Edward. Henry is claimed to have replied, “If you cannot save both, at least let the child live, for other wives are easily found.”

Countdown is a British television game show that revolves around word and number puzzles. It has been going for almost forty years, and is one of the longest-running game shows in the world, with over 7000 episodes.

“I saw a ghost bear kill someone, once.” Anne isn’t making this up. Supposedly, the incident occurred in 1816, when a Yeoman Warder saw a ghostly bear somewhere in the Tower of London. Terrified, he tried to stab it with his bayonet, only for the weapon to go through the image and strike the door behind it. The guard died of shock later on. A similar event happened in 1864, where two guards witnessed “a whitish, female figure” gliding towards one of the soldiers. The soldier in question charged this figure, only to go straight through it, upon which he fainted.

Elizabeth was imprisoned in the Tower of London for a little over two months in 1554, as a result of Wyatt’s Rebellion against Queen Mary. The rebellion was also the likely reason for the execution of Lady Jane Grey – both she and Elizabeth were Protestants in line for the throne, and therefore ‘more suitable’ as ruler. Both Elizabeth and Jane Grey denied any involvement, but the latter’s father and brother (also executed) were direct contributors.

“… you did die, Elizabeth was really upset about it…” Elizabeth took the news of Parr’s death badly. She refused to leave her bed, and was unable to go a mile from her residence, for five months following Parr’s passing.

Not because she liked that bearded potato man, God no… I found this deeply cursed engraving (first produced in 1544) in one of my books on the six wives, and now I want you all to suffer with me.

Anne of Cleves reacted poorly to being told her marriage would be annulled – some accounts say she fainted, others says she cried and screamed. Both could be true. The reasons given were threefold – One, the marriage was unconsummated (From testimony given by two servants, Anne thought a kiss goodnight counted as consummation – likely untrue, but this is the only reason that actually has merit). Two, Anne was precontracted to Francis of Lorraine (Untrue – the betrothal would only take effect if Anne’s father paid the dowry, and he didn’t). Three, Anne was not a virgin as claimed, based on the description of her ‘breasts and belly’, a Tudor way of saying Anne had previously given birth (untrue, and conflicts with the testimony for reason one). The annulment went through without Anne’s involvement, but (probably looking at the examples of her three predecessors) she accepted the ruling and kept herself from being banished, beheaded or otherwise.

(Other fact that has no bearing on reality – while researching Anne of Cleves, one of the pages that came up was The Simpsons Wiki. Apparently she’s the only wife who can claim the honour of having been in two episodes. :/)

Dogs don’t need to answer for their sins, they don’t have any. Katherine Howard was reportedly fond of animals in general, but had a particular soft spot for dogs.

She did the right thing. She told the truth. She died for it. Katherine Howard insisted, to the end, that she had no pre-contract of marriage to Francis Dereham. Would she have survived if she said she did?

[willowknee]

Changes- George Imagine

Title: Changes People: George X reader, ImAllexx Word count: 1790 Warnings: Swearing Songs to listen to: N/A Prompt/request: “I think I’m in love with you, and that scares the crap out of me” A/N: This is the second Angst one-shot for George, one with a happier ending than the last 

Being best friends with Alex and George definitely came with its perks, for one, you were never lonely and you never had to worry about being judged for the stuff you watch or the games you like to play, you always had someone to go out for meals with, and you had your own personal councillors who only charged in snacks. On the other hand, it definitely had its disadvantages too, for example, the fact that you were desperately in love with one of them.

One George Andrew. 

For the most part, you were fine, you got on like you would any other time, and if you ever got shy, you would always find a way to play it off and pretend that you were acting shy when he made certain comments or jokes. But there were times where your Grammy worthy acting fails you, and that’s when you became jealous.

You would say you were close to George, really close, you confided in him about your past and all your worries and he confided in you too. That’s why it came as such a shock when out of nowhere George got a girlfriend. Just to clarify, it wasn’t you. You were taken aback, it seemed so out of nowhere, he had never mentioned talking to anybody or even having any interest in anyone.

You were hurt, to say the least, were you more invested in this friendship than he was? You hated being jealous, it was the one thing you hated the most about yourself, how easily you became jealous and how harsh you became, you hated it and you tried to avoid it as much as possible, to the point you refused to develop feelings for people in fear of getting hurt, but with George, it happened so fast and so hard there was literally no way you could have stopped it. You fell head over heels for him and for once, you didn’t mind.

When you looked at George you feel your breath literally catch in your throat and when he smiles at you, you can’t help but smile back, even if you had been sobbing your eyes out mere seconds before. The playful banter between you both is something you will always cherish, the times at 4 am when you were both still awake sat at the kitchen counter eating Alex’s cereal straight out of the box even after being told off multiple times by Alex himself for doing so, fights over what you would be playing, FIFA (George’s choice) or the new Modern Warfare (your choice). 

Every moment with George felt like a treasured memory, but after he started dating his girlfriend he became cold, distant, once instant replies now took days to come through, and even then they were short and somewhat evasive. He no longer had time to meet up and spend time, even if you were at Alex’s and George’s apartment, he was either out or in his room with her doing god knows what. 

When George first introduced you and Alex to her, you felt yourself distancing mentally, something you had done since a young age to help deal with stress, a coping mechanism as such, it was weird, really, you could handle stress. Art GCSE coursework? Fine, understaffed at work? No problem, but when it comes to emotional stress that’s where you seriously struggle. 

She seemed… nice. You weren’t exactly sure what to make of her, she seemed to love Alex, was joking around with him freely but when it came to you, she seemed to have a problem. You weren’t sure if it was your brain just making up the evil glares and dirty side-looks but you knew you felt off about her, she clearly didn’t like you. You knew that would cause a problem, how could you and George continue to be friends if his girlfriend had a problem with you? 

And you were right, of course. It did put a massive strain on your friendship with George, which ended up in a massive fight. 

“We’ve been best friends for so fucking long, George! You’re seriously going to throw that away because of your new girlfriend who has a problem with me- for no apparent reason?!” You scream, finally catching him alone in his front room, his girlfriend nowhere to be seen and Alex had just popped to the shops.

“She is my girlfriend, for fuck’s sake, Y/N, grow up! I’m not a kid! I like this girl and I want to make this work, I’m not throwing anything away!” He shouts back, feeling just as frustrated. 

“You fucking are! You’re so distant now, we don’t get to spend time together, it’s all about her, I get that you want to be with her, it’s a new relationship and it’s exciting- I get that! But you’re pushing me away, isolating me and it’s not fair,” You tried to get him to understand, but he ended up letting out a cry of rage, scaring you.

You hated confrontation and yet here you were, fighting. You were fighting for the attention of someone you couldn’t have. He clearly liked this girl if he was going as far as cutting you out of his life, you were being spiteful and you knew it, you hated that you were jealous when you had no right to be, George wasn’t yours, he was hers, it’s not you that he’s fighting for, it’s her. You knew that, but you still couldn’t help the tears that pricked your eyes as you watch the man you love, stand in front of you, slowly back away, as if he was disgusted at what he saw.

“Maybe if you fucked off and spent time with people other than me and Alex you could get yourself a relationship and you’ll be able to put yourself in my shoes,” 

His words were like a slap to the face. If you thought him getting a girlfriend hurt, watching him turn into somebody you knew he wasn’t hurt twice as much. 

“Maybe if you spent time with anyone other than your girlfriend you’ll realise you’re not you anymore, you’re not the loving, caring George we all know, you’re a dick.” You whisper the last part before walking towards the front door of their flat, needed to get out of there as soon as possible. 

It felt suffocating, your breathing was out of sync and you couldn’t see as the tears stream down your face, why does it feel like you had broken up when George wasn’t even yours to begin with? You barely register walking past Alex who had heard everything and you didn’t hear him as he shouted after you, desperate cries for you to come back. 

Alex turned to George who had come to the hallway to watch you walk away from him, he shook his head at the younger. 

“Why don’t you just tell her the truth, mate? You’re both hurting yourselves for no reason.” Alex sighs, shutting the door, texting Gee asking for her to check up on you.

“I can’t… wait, what do you mean both of us?” George asks, whipping his head to face Alex.

“What do you think I mean, you idiot? How can you be so goddamn oblivious to her feelings for you? She fuckin loves you mate, has for a long time,”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It wasn’t for me to say, but as good as she thinks her acting is, it was bloody obvious George, she loves the fuck out of you and you just fucked her off for some random ass girl whom you’ve never spoken about,” 

George shakes his head, visibly at war with himself before he grabs his keys and races off, shouting a goodbye and thank you to Alex who just shakes his head in response, hoping that you two stopped being so childish and just accept the truth. 

Half an hour later he finds himself outside your door. He gently knocks on the door, before knocking with a bit more force just in case you didn’t hear. You open the door and glare, still not over the hurtful things he had said, maybe it was true, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less. 

“Hi,” George says, quietly. 

“Hey,” You reply, your words blunt and your tone flat.

“Uh, can I come in?”

You contemplate it but ultimately decided that if you were to argue, it would be best to do it inside than in the hallway where anybody could listen in. You step aside and open the door wide enough for him to walk in. He kicks off his shoes and puts them on the shoe rack, you didn’t like people wearing shoes in your house, especially on the light coloured carpet. 

“Why are you here, George?” you ask, returning to your spot on the sofa, buried under your blankets.

“I’m here to apologise, I let things get out of hand, I turned into somebody I know I’m not and it only resulted in me hurting you, that’s not what I wanted,”

“What did you want then? It doesn’t make sense, George,”

He sighs heavily. “I wanted to forget you,”

Ouch. Talk about adding insult to injury. 

“You’re not doing a very good job stood here then are you?” You snarl, wondering what was the point of him driving twenty minutes to your house just to say more hurtful things. 

“No- look, Y/N. I wanted to forget you, things were changing and I panicked and thought the only way I could get some stability was to push you away and get a girlfriend, a distraction,” 

“What the fuck, George? If you had a problem with me you should have just straight up told me to fuck off, not toy with me and drag someone else into this!” You yell.

“For fucks sakes! You don’t get it, do you? I think I’m in love with you, and that scares the crap out of me! I’m in love with my best friend and that never normally works out well, does it?”

You stare at George as if he had magically grew a second head. Did he just say what you think he said? 

“You what?”

“Just forget about-”

He never got to finish his sentence, you leap from your position on the sofa and run to him, barely giving him time to catch you in the process, you place your lips to his own in a very unceremonious manner, the kiss was rough and abrupt but it was perfect for you both, it was your first kiss and the first step into new territory which is both scary and exhilarating. 

“I love you too, dummy,”

[greekgeek21]

Percy Jackson & The Avengers: Convergence - woah! shy guy is a bear now!

Oyasuminasai! Or Ohayoo! Or Konnichiwa! And if you were wondering, yes, I am taking Japanese as my language. So if I ever find a way to incorporate Japanese into this, I KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!!! Sorry, sore subject.

Anywho! I'm sorry for taking too long to update. I was lazy and didn't feel like it. It's as simple as that. I also found some REALLY good fanfics to read recently, and they are super long and have sequels so yeah you know how that is, right?

Now on with the story! Stay safe and happy reading!

- your author

Ω ♆ Ω

"Well, this makes our job a whole lot easier," Percy said.

Percy looked around and saw all of the avengers besides "Thor." Magnus had told them what the real Thor looked like, and from what they saw on the news, this version of the guy was not the real one. Annabeth had theorized that they were aliens who had taken to calling themselves gods when Percy had asked about it. Whether they were real or not, Percy still immediately disliked gods in any form.

"What are you doing here, Mr. Jackson?" Director Fury asked, leaning onto the table.

"Yeah! What are you doing in my tower?" Tony asked, finally tuning into the conversation.

Percy smirked, and Annabeth knew what he was about to say would be offensive to somebody, but he spoke before she could stop him, "We're here to do your job."

Tony scowled, "Listen here, kid. We deal with serious threats, and we don't have time to help you. Plus, we're the Avengers, and you're kids."

Annabeth narrowed her eyes, a small blow to her pride being felt, "Unless you want to die, you need our help. We deal with this stuff on a daily basis."

Okay, so they don't really deal with it on a DAILY basis, but close enough. Besides, the guy's ego needed to be knocked down a peg. Annabeth was even thinking about showcasing their skills to prove their worth.

"I think we got it handled, kids," Steve said, holding out a placating hand.

Piper thought it was the perfect time for her to butt-in, "Oh really? So you know where the green fire comes from? And how to put it out?"

At their silence, Piper gave a smug nod, "Thought so."

Fury saw this getting out of hand, so he brought it back on-topic, "Mr. Jackson! I asked you a question. Does your answer mean you are offering your help in this case? And does that mean this is a part of your world?"

Annabeth and Percy seemed to be having a silent debate with each other, and it seemed that Annabeth was winning. And when Percy answered Fury, it was obviously not what he wanted to say.

"We are here to help however we can. This is equally a part of our world and yours," he said, voice monotone like he was reading from a script.

Annabeth seemed satisfied with his answer, but she also wanted to add her own part, "We would also prefer that we keep our involvement as inconspicuous as possible. The gods know you guys have trouble with that."

"Hey! I take offense! And did you say 'gods'?!" Tony exclaimed.

Everyone ignored him, and only paid attention to what Steve said: "Are we really going to be bringing kids into this, Fury? I don't like this."

Fury sighed, and answered on his way out for the second time, "Yes, we're doing this. Get acquainted with each other, no fights, same expectations. And I don't care if you like it or not, Rogers, we're doing this. Jackson! Can I speak with you outside?"

Percy nodded and followed him out the door.

"What do you know that we don't? Are you telling them what you are? Are the other kids in there like you?" Fury rounded on him as soon as the door was closed, speaking in a whisper.

Fury didn't know what could be considered an insult to these new gods. He was treading in unknown territory here.

"We don't know much more than you, probably. And no, we're keeping what we are a secret. We're all the same, though," he answered, choosing his words very carefully.

Percy suspected that Tony Stark had eyes and ears everywhere, and would no-doubt try to figure out their secret on the first night. His job was to make sure that didn't happen.

"Be careful, Jackson. These people don't like secrets," Fury warned, walking away without another word.

Percy tried not to take the man's words too seriously. Doing that would just distract him from the quest. They needed to deal with these bombings quickly, and then go their seperate ways from the Avengers. Telling them their secret was NOT a part of the plan.

With a deep, preparing breath, Percy reentered the meeting room. Inside, he found both groups glaring at each other in silence. It was clear that nobody trusted each other, and that needed to change. If they were going to fight together, they needed to have some semblance of trust. Without that, they weren't going to last that long.

"Hey, guys! Why don't we start with introductions! I'm Percy," he said, clapping his hands together.

It was clear that nobody was buying his cheery mood, but at least Hazel was willing to try.

She said, "I'm Hazel."

"I'm Piper, and that idiot over there is Leo. We've forbidden him from speaking, so he's not able to introduce himself," she stuck her thumb in Leo's direction, who was literally bouncing on the balls of his feet.

It was a miracle that he hadn't caught on fire yet, honestly. Usually, at least his nose will start smoking when he gets too excited.

"Jason," Jason introduced.

"Hi. I'm Frank," Frank said, nervously twiddling his thumbs.

Annabeth's glare intensified when she said, "Annabeth. Not Annie, or Beth. Annabeth."

Percy smiled, slinging an arm over his girlfriend's shoulders in hopes of calming her down. She was way too high strung in the moment when they all needed to be relaxed and open.

The demigods looked at the Avengers, waiting for their introductions. Some of them didn't really need it, but it was nice to be formal.

"I'm Captain Steve Rogers. It's a pleasure to meet you all," Steve nodded his head in greeting and pointed to each Avengers respectively, "This is Dr. Bruce Banner, Clint, Natasha, and I'm sure you know Tony Stark."

"Of course they do, Capsicle. Why wouldn't they?" Tony gloated.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, but Leo couldn't hold his tongue any longer, "Oh my gods! There are so many things I need to ask you about! Why did you keep the name Iron Man when the suit is obviously made of a nickel-titanium alloy? Why don't you protect the arc reactor more? With the amount of power that thing holds, you'd think you would take bet–"

"Leo! Shut up!" Piper yelled, charmspeak weaving through her words.

His mouth immediately shut and was physically withheld from opening again. Piper seemed satisfied with her work when Leo attempted to speak again, but his lips weren't moving.

"Gods, I love charmspeak," Frank murmured under his breath.

"I know, right? But sometimes it can get a little annoying. Like when she doesn't realize she's using it, and then you do exactly what she wants, no matter what? I mean, that's a little..." Percy trailed off, realizing he had let his ADHD get out of hand, "Sorry."

Annabeth fondly smiled up at him.

"Can we get back on track, please? How are you kids going to be able to help us?" Clint asked, speaking up for the first time.

"Can we address what this Leo guy just said?!" Tony exclaimed.

"We have...special abilities that make us fit to deal with these kinds of things. Usually, we'd deal with this on our own, but...this is the first time it's been done like this. Our people don't usually work with your type of people," Annabeth ignored Tony, hating to admit that they were different from the mortals.

"What kind of abilities?" Natasha asked, scepticism lacing her words.

The demigods shared looks with each other, all evidently asking Percy and Annabeth what they should do. Their decision was to show them.

"They're hard to explain, but we can show you. It might be easier to be somewhere with more room, though," Percy answered, looking around at the small space they were all standing in.

"We can do this in the living room. I need a drink, anyways," Tony said, exiting without waiting for a consensus.

The rest of the group followed him, albeit a little reluctantly in some cases. Percy made sure to pull Annabeth to the back so they could talk. He was worried about his control. His powers did not like to be used in small areas. The ocean did not like to be restrained to precise movements. That's what he was worried about, and he told Annabeth that.

"I'm not sure about this, Wise Girl. I still haven't really had enough practice since 'that place,'" he whispered.

Annabeth pecked him on the cheek, "You'll be fine. I trust you, but you need to trust yourself. I know you have control over your powers. Just look at what happened at the Brooklyn Bridge!"

He was still tense, but her words did have some effect. He was at least willing to try now, even if he refused to do anything big. He would only do something basic enough to prove he was capable, but nothing dangerous. Percy wasn't Leo; he wasn't in this to show off.

"Now let's catch up. You know we can't leave Leo alone for long," she cracked a grin, trying to defuse even more of his tension.

Percy forced his troublemaker smirk back onto his face before lacing his hand with Annabeth's, and walking in the direction the others had gone. They found them in a large room with a very open-floor plan. Off to the side, they could see Tony fixing himself a drink at the bar. Everyone else was sitting on the unnaturally-long couches, the Avengers on one and the demigods on the other.

Everyone seemed to be waiting for the two to join them to start. That or none of them had the guts to go first. But with Leo there, it was most likely the first option.

"Who wants to go first?" Annabeth asked as she and Percy sat down.

Leo seemed to be pleading with his eyes, and Annabeth, for some reason, decided to pity him and let him go first. With a simple nod of confirmation, Leo shot up from his seat and went to the side, where there was more room.

"Keep it low-key, Leo," Jason warned, knowing full-well nothing his friend did was low-key.

"Of course, Lightning Boy! I get it!" Leo reassured.

He positioned himself in a square stance before lighting his whole body on fire. If it was possible, Leo defied expectations of how not low-key he could get.

"Oh! Somebody put it out!" Bruce exclaimed, rushing over to Leo.

Before anyone could start dousing him in water, Leo turned it off, revealing himself free of burns. Luckily, he had been wearing one of Calypso's fireproof outfits, so his clothes had stayed intact. His skin was covered in a thin layer of soot, and his hair was letting off some smoke, though.

"Tada!" he proudly said.

Tony's interest seemed to be piqued, "That was awesome! How are you still okay? Is it some sort of mutation?"

"Something like that," Annabeth answered for him, fearing that Leo would let something slip on the first day.

She knew there was a high chance that their secret would be revealed at some point, but she wanted to prolong the mystery as long as possible. That meant constantly watching what the others said, especially Leo and Percy.

"Frank! You're up next, bud!" Leo pointed at the chinese teen.

Frank seemed to shrink in on himself slightly before convincing himself to stand confidently and walk over to replace Leo on the scorched floorspace.

"I'm not really sure what to do, so...I'll just do this," he said, before turning into a guinea pig and back quickly.

Percy shuddered, bad memories flooding in. He would never look at celery the same way again...

Tony did not seem impressed, "So...you can change into a rodent? How's that gonna help us?"

Frank straightened up again before staring right at Tony as he turned into a grizzly bear, raising on all fours and letting out a growl. Tony seemed to be in a state between fear and curiosity, but before he could speak again, Frank turned back and walked back to his spot on the couch between Jason and Hazel.

"I stand corrected," Tony muttered before going and taking a seat himself, a brown drink in hand.

"I guess I'll go next. You guys have kinda already seen what I can do, but I guess I'll showcase it again," Piper said, standing up but not moving to where Frank and Leo had.

She looked around the room and its occupants before choosing her targets, "Tony, pour your drink in your lap."

Tony got a dazed look in his eyes before he robotically moved his glass over his lap, tipping it to the side and letting all of the liquid drop onto his legs. When it was all gone, he snapped out of his fatigue and jumped up.

"What the hell happened? Who did this?!" he explained, looking down at his pants.

Natasha actually SMILED, "I like her. We need more girls around here, especially ones who can do that."

Tony turned to glare at Piper, "You did this!"

Piper only smirked smugly in response, "Yep. I did. Now, sit back down."

Tony complied immediately, causing his team to break out in laughter.

"We call it charmspeak. Only Piper can do it," Annabeth informed the Avengers, "Jason? Why don't you go next?"

"Alright. I can't do anything too major, since we're inside, but I think I have an idea," he said, moving to the same open area.

He glanced around before zeroing his gaze on a power outlet in the floor. He reached out a hand in its direction, and slowly, a string of electricity snaked its way out of the outlet. It built in his hands until it was in the shape of a ball, and then he stopped gathering it. He tossed the ball between a couple times before throwing it at Tony's chest, causing his arc reactor to glow brighter.

Jason smiled and went to sit back down again, "That's what I can do."

"Cool," Clint commented, "What about Hazel?"

"I can do this," Hazel stated simply, breaking a chunk of concrete off the floor before placing it back in place.

She didn't even move from her spot, the only part of her moving was her arm. She made it seem effortless, but if more attention was paid, someone could see that a beat of sweat had formed on her brow. Unnatural minerals, like concrete, were harder to control.

"Impressive," Steve sat forward, "What about you, Annabeth? What can you do?"

Before she could explain that she didn't have any powers, Percy answered for her, "She's a genius. Plus, she can fight, like, really well."

"Very eloquent, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth teased, but her smile was thankful.

He knew she was self-conscious about being the only one in the Seven without a demigod power. But he also knew that she didn't need it. She was the best at everything else already.

"I'll be testing that later," Tony said, clearly telling the truth.

Annabeth sat up straight and looked him right in the eye, "Looking forward to it."

"The only one left is you, Percy. What can you do?" Natasha inquired.

The superspy had noticed that the boy had tried to sink into the background. He was uncomfortable with answering the question, and that meant that it was worth pressing for. She wasn't afraid to do it, either. Natasha didn't like that Fury had kept something from her, and she was determined to find out the full story.

"Um...well, I can control water, basically," he answered, squirming under all of their gazes.

"Can you show us?" Steve asked, tone gentler than Natasha's was.

"I guess. It'll be something really small, though," Percy responded.

He saw that there was a vase full of flowers and water in the corner, and he chose that as his example. He held out a slightly-shaking hand in its direction and called the water to him. The familiar tug in his gut was almost indecipherable when the water trickled out and into the air. It did the same thing as Jason's electricity when it formed a line to his hands before forming into a ball. Percy held it above him, eyes narrowed in concentration, and willed it to become the shape of a small spear. He focused his attention on a spot between Clint's open legs and through the water-spear at that area. It hit its mark and dissolved on impact.

After it was over, Percy let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. That had been far too easy to do, and it worried him. His powers were growing, but he didn't want them to. He had to concentrate on only that small amount of water so that he didn't accidentally burst the pipes running all throughout the walls. When he wasn't using his powers, Percy could contain his reach and not make anything explode, but when he let the water in, it was like a sensory overload. You would be surprised how much water runs through a skyscraper.

"Yeah. That's what I do," Percy shrugged, sitting back down and choosing to ignore the awed stares he was getting from most of the Avengers.

"He's just being modest! He can do so much more awesome stuff! Like when he and Jason created–" Leo began.

"Leo! Stop talking!" Piper yelled, noticing Percy's discomfort.

Leo would have been grumbling if he could open his mouth, but he couldn't.

"Those are some basic abilities we have. We are all trained in combat and in various weaponry. I'm best with a dagger, but I can use just about anything you give me," Annabeth steered the conversation away from Percy.

Her boyfriend sent her a grateful look.

"Can you show us a little something?" Natasha asked.

"Sure," Annabeth answered, pulling a celestial bronze dagger (not the one Luke gave her, of course) from her thigh-strap.

She aimed it at the small space under Tony's arm, and quicker than anyone but a demigod could notice, she threw it with perfect accuracy. It lodged itself in the couch in that small space, not even nicking Tony one bit.

"Hey!" Tony exclaimed, eyes widening.

"You're fine," Clint rolled his eyes.

"So...yeah. That's us. You'll learn more about our fighting styles as we fight together, but that should be enough for now. Well, you should know one more thing: Percy can't use a bow. At all. Don't even let him NEAR one. Got it? Good," Annabeth said.

"I love you, too, Wise Girl," Percy remarked.

"Uh-huh," Annabeth mumbled teasingly, leaning into his side.

Ω ♆ Ω

I hope you like this chapter! I'll try to be better at updating, but we both know that's a lie. This would not be possible without my beta reader, nightskywithrainbows, so show them some love by reading their stuff on Ao3. Remember to comment, follow me, and like! Stay safe and happy reading!

- your author

other chapters :)

[bigskydreaming]

thehollowprince said: And I also stand by the opinion that they could have just done a solo run of the O5 X-Men starting a new timeline with the information they got from the future.

thehollowprince said: Its not like Marvel doesn’t constantly do AUs and retcons

OMG Josh you have no idea how bad I wanted this. They could’ve done SO MUCH with that concept. Letting the 05 keep their foreknowledge and the world they could have created with that?

They could’ve averted the initial Krakoan mission and saved Darwin, Gabe, Petra and Sway in the first place. They could have all been X-Men from their Day One, Scott and Alex would have actually gotten to KNOW their brother and Gabe quite possibly would never have gone full Dark Side despite the writers apparently now seeming obsessed with the idea there’s just something innately bad within Gabe that’s always destined to bear fruit at some point, ugh, whatever, like who do you think you are, Kant?

They could’ve recruited the Giant Size X-Men lineup earlier, and saved John Proudstar, who side by side with his brother Jamie, are a force to be reckoned with. 

They could have convinced Pietro and Wanda to join them instead of the Avengers and been like no but seriously that way lies nothing but shitty storylines and bad decisions that will be blamed on you by your teammates despite the fact that any and all of the bad decisions that were ACTUALLY yours could have been averted if any of your teammates were capable of functioning as an actual support system. Come join us. We have actual support systems, except for the times when we don’t, but we recruited Deadpool to break the fourth wall and he and Logan are currently cutting through the ranks of every writer who would write as hating and fighting each other instead of being a loving fucking family goddammit.

Jean could have faced the Phoenix head-on when the time for that came, using her knowledge of the future not to fear an inevitable death, but rather to know she had nothing TO fear, that the power to not control this force, but just be ONE with it, with no NEED to control it or be controlled by it, a symbiotic union, two beings in harmony deciding on courses of action together. The Phoenix’s innate powers and prerogative of rebirth and destruction tempered by Jean’s mercy, aimed and focused by Jean’s reason, the double-edged sword that is fire capable of warming homes or destroying them completely combined with Jean’s conscience guiding it to use its power for the former rather than the latter.

They could have stopped the Legacy Virus from getting out and killing millions as well as spared us from migraines induced by an AIDS metaphor so shitty at being a metaphor most people forget it was literally written to be an AIDS metaphor.

The body swap would never have happened and Kwannon could have joined the X-Men as a full member from the time she was introduced, rather than dragged along in the wake of Betsy’s tangled storylines for a couple decades.

They could have stopped Fitzroy from killing the Hellions. Hell, if they train Illyana early enough and have her mentored by Wanda who is perfectly fucking competent when left to her own devices, then like, maybe they can even take a jaunt to the future to save Fitzroy from dying in the first place and being resurrected with no soul. Not gonna lie, ever since then I’ve kinda been seriously interested in what the hell would a hero version of Trevor freaking Fitzroy even BE like, y’know? Call it morbid fascination, but like. I kinda want it, guys. LOL.

Add to that note, they could have taken another jaunt to the future and rescued Rachel from being made into a Hound by Ahab. Through the power of some convoluted plot tangle I just made up for convenience, Scott still ends up in a relationship with Maddy briefly, in one of those self-fulfilling prophecy type things where he went into it with the full intention of just averting the future and saving Maddy from her fate as the Goblyn Queen, but somehow ended up in a love triangle with a very alive Jean and Maddy who is fully informed of Sinister’s shenanigans and quite displeased with that asshole, and look, I don’t know how all of this goes exactly, but let’s cut to the chase, my only real endgame with this is making sure that Nate’s born properly, saved from Apocalypse and the techno-virus by the combined efforts of Scott, Maddy and Jean as well as Uncles Warren, Bobby and Hank, and Jean calls up the Phoenix through some psychic bond or whatever and is like hey girl, can I hit you up for a loan real quick? Got some losers that need toasting. 

And in this AU the Phoenix totally has her back, and one brief cosmic power-up and gratuitous Sailor Moon transformation later, Jean glows and intones some epic one-liners with appropriate gravitas, and then just punts both Apocalypse and Sinister to the far side of the universe, never to be seen or heard from again. They like, hit a black hole on the way there I guess. It was very sad. Violin strings may commence with the requiem. Okay that’s enough, they can stop now.

So then through the plot contrivances of fuck you, I said so, Scott and Maddy ultimately part amicably and Scott and Jean get back together and the three of them civilly co-parent both baby Nate and Rachel, as Maddy keeps the healing powers she gained as Anodine and stays with the X-Men for her own reasons.

The telepaths are all better trained by the expertise Jean gained in her powers while in the future, so the next time the Shadow King comes bumming around looking to cause chaos, Betsy, Emma and Jean just look at each other and laugh and say nuh-uh before psychically squishing him into a marble.

Warren never becomes Archangel. Onslaught isn’t a thing. They make nice with Magneto and say okay you may have a couple points, let’s discuss. Bishop arrives in the past for reasons totally unrelated to his original story, has no traitor to seek out among the X-Men, and thus he and Gambit end up besties in complete defiance of that stupid fucking story and because I just think they’re neat together. Yes I said neat. Gambit and Bishop are just neat. Deal with it. 

Bishop still hates that Fitzroy guy though, he’s like, I don’t even know what it is about that guy, he just rubs me the wrong way, even though Fitzroy is not evil here and has always done good with his powers, which are channeled through a device Forge made him that lets him just absorb life force from a wide range around him, spread out and diluted enough that its like, the grass feels weird for a second, like whoa what even was that, and then its over. Actually, y’know what, scratch that. Fitzroy’s powers are stupid and unnecessary the way they are now anyway, so fuck it, this Fitzroy doesn’t need life force or whatever, he’s just a dude who makes time portals. He’s like Illyana with green hair and that ugly goatee. Hey I said this Fitzroy was non-evil, not that he was perfect.

Bobby’s out and proud since he was sixteen, and with actual competence and proficiency with his powers, which make him a Literal Unkillable Gay Icon, he’s an inspiration to LGBTQ+ teens everywhere and inspires other gay, bi and trans heroes to come out. He’s a big brother figure to all the baby gays that later join the X-Men, like, Rictor comes to him for advice back during the time equivalent to early X-Factor, when Rictor’s a trying-too-hard sixteen year old who thought college age Bobby was like the coolest, which is valid, because X-Factor Bobby was like A+ Bobby characterization and deserves more reads. 

So Rictor comes out earlier as well, and by the time they even meet Shatterstar, instead of a slow burn friends to roommates to lovers scenario, Rictor takes one look at the love of his life and wastes no time coming out swinging with an absolutely terrible pick up line. Look, I said his big brother figure Bobby was out and proud in this AU, not that he magically had a better sense of humor. Some things just don’t change, y’know? Luckily, Shatterstar is a weirdo, and thus he finds terrible pick-up lines charming. At least when its Rictor saying them. They walk off for a first date, already practically hand in hand, voices fading into the distance as Rictor asks “By the way, have you met Dazzler yet? According to Bobby, apparently she’s your mom. That Longshot dude with the mullet over there is your dad I guess. We should go say hi.”

Hank gets an assistant hand-picked by the rest of the original X-Men, and who has one job and one job only. To follow him around and observe all his experiments, and he has veto power over experiments that People With IQs As High As Yours Should Know Better But I Guess You’ve Got Reed Richards Syndrome.

Hank’s like, “Hmm, if I built a time machine I could go back to the Jurassic Period and observe whether my theory of - “

Hank’s assistant: “Veto.”

“Damn. Okay I was also thinking of making a deep space communicator that can reach into the farthest reaches of space beyond any known civilization and just say hi, y’know? See if anyone’s out there.”

“Veto.”

“If I combine these genetically modified antibodies here with this strain of of DNA from - “

“Veto.”

“Well Forge built this device that does this to mutant powers but I think I can make it do - “

“Veto.”

“These nanobots I - “

“VETO,”

“Honestly, at this point I think you’re just saying that just because you like saying it.”

“Dr. McCoy, I promise you, I’m really, really not.”

Logan finds out about his future clan of stabby children, and seeks them out. He rescues Daken from Romulus, somebody stabs that loser with the immortal-killing sword, I don’t even care who, and after a few tense months of Logan trying too hard, he and Daken eventually bond over how hockey just isn’t violent enough. If you’re going to make a sport all about hitting each other, just really go for it or don’t even bother, y’know? Logan claps him on the shoulder and sniffs. That’s my boy. Then they find and rescue Laura and Gabby and take a road trip to Earth 1610 to pick up Jimmy. They have a house on campus, and new students walking by it are used to hearing loud growling and even howls. They were assured during orientation that that’s nothing to worry about, it just means the House of Snikt are watching a game and are rooting for opposing sides. 

Emma’s recruited practically the day they get back. She’s only just started at the Hellfire Club and has only done a tiny bit of Evil when Warren schedules an appointment with her, and then he, Scott and Jean make a better pitch than Shaw and his ilk could ever match. They’ve been to the future. Come join with us and we’ll give you an all access pass to memories detailing exactly what’s going to happen in these particular areas and many more. All you have to do is ask. Oh and also please don’t seduce any married teammates. Its bad form. To be honest, I don’t think it’ll be an issue because Deadpool assures us Morrison has been taken care of, and don’t worry if that makes no sense to you, its a head-scratcher for us to. Just roll with it. 

Nate ages normally here so its not like he ends up besties with forty year old Wade, but the latter having his own plot-contrived knowledge of the future because He’s Just Like That, decides that he won’t be denied at least SOME kind of bond with The Bestie That Wasn’t. He becomes Nate’s official babysitter. Well, not official, seeing as how Scott, Jean and Maddy don’t hire him and are very clear that their son is not to be left alone with this man at any time, he is a terrible influence and he keeps giving our kid guns. But then Wade just shows up anytime they’re out because he just has a sixth sense for Making Trouble, and he terrifies away whatever babysitter’s there and greets the returning and exasperated parents with a cheery wave. 

“I know what you’re going to say, but don’t worry, we didn’t do anything dangerous or against the law. All we did today was I taught him to make bombs, but we were very careful, we wore safety goggles and really, they were very little bombs. Not even anything atomic. I honestly don’t think any of them could have even blown up this whole house, and I’ve been meaning to say, I’m not impressed with the structural integrity of this place. Couldn’t you have picked something with a sturdier foundation? Its like you don’t even expect random space mercenaries to attack your place out of the blue every other month. Have any of you even read a single issue of your own comics?”

Scott’s jaw twitches Ominously. Wade starts gathering up his things. Jean rubs her forehead wearily.

“Wade, what do you even think ‘dangerous’ means?”

Wade pauses and cocks his head. Gives it a solid twenty seconds of thought. Then he shrugs. 

“I don’t know actually. Don’t think I’ve ever really thought about it. I always figured it was just one of those things people just say. Like, ‘oh, it looks like rain today,’ even if they’re not a forecaster and have no real meteorological credentials to speak of. ‘Oh, this mission will be dangerous,’ and I don’t even have to use up all my ammo and I only get shot twice. Y’know?”

“Leave,” Scott says. More like intones. House shakes a little bit but that might just be Wade’s imagination. Its very active.

“Leaving!” He says hastily. He jumps through the closed window and then teleports away amid the falling shower of broken glass. Why didn’t he do that while he was still inside the room? No one knows. Not even Wade knows. Why did the chicken cross the road? Who the fuck cares, now is it Original Recipe or Crispy?

Scott, Jean and Maddy search the house while Nate angelically claims they won’t find anything, Wade doesn’t even bring him cool stuff anymore cuz he knows you’ll just take it.

Maddy finds a high-tech laser space gun under a floorboard in the closet. She holds it up with one eyebrow raised pointedly. Scott and Jean flank her and their own eyebrows raise in solidarity. Well Jean’s does. Scott’s probably does but its hard to tell sometimes. Depends on what glasses or visor he’s wearing.

“That was already there,” Nate tries. Most powerful telepath and telekinetic in the world, but the kid can’t lie for shit. There’s not much point in trying when one of your moms is the freaking Phoenix, and that’s a skill that takes practice he just doesn’t have. 

The three sets of parental eyebrows make a V, judgingly.

“One month of no video games or TV?” Okay, so terrible liar but quick on his feet. At least he knows when he’s beat and jumps straight to trying to shape his own punishment proactively.

“Two months. And no flying lessons either,” Jean says. “And don’t pout at me, young man. You know the rules. No weapons inside the house unless your grandpa Corsair is visitng and we’re too tired to fight him on keeping knives under his pillow. This is a Do As We Say, Not As We Do house. Deal with it. Now, this is going with the others and you can have it back when you’re eighteen.”

It would have been three months, but Jean and Maddy caught a telepathic sniff from Scott. He’s just so proud of his kid thinking so tactically. He’s growing up so fast. Both women mentally roll their eyes. Why is he like this.

“I don’t see what the big deal is anyway,” Nate sulks. “Its just a stupid laser gun. I mean, Uncle Gabe blew up our last house with his brain.” 

“Yes and it was an accident and he feels absolutely terrible about that which is why we’re not going to bring it up when he and Armando come visit this weekend, right?”

“You can have my full compliance for two weeks off my sentence.”

“Or we can have your full compliance or two weeks will be added to your sentence,” Maddy says.

“You guys suck,” declares the ten year old vessel of near unlimited psychic might. He goes to his room, stomping all the way up the stairs so his grievances can be heard even by the House of Snikt next door. Course, they’ve already been listening to the whole thing with their enhanced hearing. There was nothing good on TV. Jimmy made popcorn and chewed with his mouth open just to piss off Daken. 

‘The second Father leaves the room, I am going to stab you in such a slow healing place you’ll still be bleeding at bed time.’ Daken mouths at his little brother from another universe. Jimmy scrunches his face in confusion. 

‘What?’ He mouths back. He’s terrible at reading lips. Or anything that isn’t skateboarding, really. And yet Father’s so happy that ‘at least one of my kids is content with stupid normal stuff and doesn’t go around drawing cover fire just because a mission is going so well its boring and they haven’t even gotten to pop their claws out yet.’

“That’s only because you’ve coddled him. He’s barely ever even been shot at. Just the one time on vacation in Majipoor and he wasn’t even the target, the assassin was aiming for me. If you would just let me take him on a proper outing to gain some real experience - “

“Not gonna happen.” Logan shuts that down real quick.

“Really Father, just look at him. He has zero situational awareness. I’ve been glaring a hole in the back of his head for a full minute now and he has no idea. That could just as easily be an actual laser scope, you know. He’s a disgrace to the whole family.”

“Daken, we’ve been over this,” Logan says firmly. “You have your sisters to bond with over gratuitous violence. Leave your brother alone. I don’t want anyone traumatizing him until trauma finds him all on its own. It’ll happen sooner or later, he’s as much a part of this family as anyone and that means its as good as done already, so there’s no need to hurry it along. If later on he decides he’s got a taste for it, you can take him on all the outings to get shot at that you want. But he’s gotta figure it out for himself first, and he doesn’t need his big brother being the one who introduces him to all that. He idolizes you, you know.”

Daken scoffs. He can’t even get the brat to chew with his mouth closed.

“He cut his hair from that style he liked so much, just because you hated it so much,” Logan says obliviously. Daken nods like he’s conceding the argument and hastens from the room while he can still keep his mouth shut. It won’t benefit anyone at this point to tell their father that Jimmy really only cut his hair because Daken told him he would set it on fire if he didn’t. 

Ugh, families are the worst. Don’t even get him started on Laura stealing some of his clothes to wear without asking. And then has the gall to yell back at him when he yells “Silk! Its the finest cut of silk! Does that mean nothing to you?” at her.

“Oh get over it. Its not like I asked for killer robots to interrupt my date.”

“Of course they were going to interrupt your date with that Julian boy. I keep telling you, he’s a magnet for trouble. I can tell. I’m one too, remember?”

“Fine, whatever, you’re right and I should just expect every date with Julian from now until the end of time to end with fire and disaster.”

“Well now you’re being melodramatic. There’s no way that boy makes it past twenty five. He doesn’t even have a healing factor.”

“Why do you hate him so much anyway? If you’d just give him a chance - “

“What are you talking about? I give him a chance every single time he’s here and I don’t kill him.”

“Ugh, I can’t even talk to you when you’re like this. You always do this, you just decide on something and then you commit to that like the fate of the world depends on you standing firm on what’s usually a completely arbitrary decision in the first place!”

Daken sniffs. “I can assure you, there’s absolutely nothing arbitrary about my disdain for the Keller boy.”

“His name is Julian,” Laura enunciates with a glare.

“I don’t care,” Daken enunciates with an expression of lofty superiority.

“You two are so dumb,” Gabby says from the end of the hallway. They both turn identical glares on her. They’d noticed her arrive several minutes ago but they weren’t about to be distracted from their battle of wills. “Laura, you know Daken isn’t actually going to kill Julian. He doesn’t do that anymore except for really bad people sometimes and he just talks about stabbing people or killing them cuz he thinks he’s funny and then he gets all pissy because nobody ever gets that he doesn’t really mean it. He doesn’t even hate Julian and he used to be fine with him before he started dating you, its just he doesn’t think he’s good enough for you.”

Daken frowns at the petite would-be peacemaker. Meddlesome toddler. “What are you even babbling about? None of that is remotely true.”

Gabby rolls her eyes up at her brother from her much lower height. She taps the side of her nose with emphasis. “You do know we all have the same abilities to smell and analyze scents as you do, right? And you know everything you can tell from peoples’ scent, right? Of course I’m right, I can smell it as clear as anything and so can Jimmy and Dad and we actually all know this and talk about it all the time, and its why Dad never actually gets mad at you for talking about killing people because he can smell you’re saying it just cuz you’re used to saying it but really you’re too marshmallowy on the inside now to do half the stuff you claim you’re gonna do. Hate to break it to you bro, but you’re a closet softie and you’ve been made. The nose doesn’t lie. Only reason Laura doesn’t know it is because you piss her off like its your favorite hobby and its probably impossible for her to smell anything beyond her own scent of Royally Pissed Off.”

Ugh. Meddlesome insightful toddler. Who asked for her intervention anyway? Daken crosses his arms in a way that’s decidedly aloof and not at all sulking.

Laura’s staring at their sister assessingly. “That’s really what you think is going on? And Jimmy and Dad think so too? You’re not just saying all that?”

Gabby bats her eyes up at them. “Would I lie to you?”

“Yes,” Laura says without missing a beat.

“Without a shadow of a doubt,” Daken says dryly, right on her heels.

“For the sake of a candy bar,” Laura adds, because that really did happen.

“Or just boredom, because god forbid you pick up another hobby that isn’t just Chaos.”

“This from the guy who only has fun when there’s blood and bullets flying about,” Gabby fires back from a position of petite petulance.

Daken smirks down at her. “Didn’t you just say I don’t really mean it when I say all of that?”

Gabby narrows her eyes. “Touché. My own words thrown back at me. I am undone.”

“Yes, well - “

Daken’s cut off as Jimmy chooses that moment to walk past them down the hallway to the bathroom. He’s laughing and shaking his head.

“You guys are both so dumb. She plays you like this all the time, and you never see it.”

“Silence, mortal!” Gabby thunders at their brother menacingly. The effect is somewhat diminished by the fact that she can’t hit a baritone note to save her life.

“No, I’m interested in hearing what he has to say,” Daken says coolly. “For once. This is a moment without precedent and one unlikely to occur again, so let’s explore it a bit.”

Jimmy sighs and shakes his head without ever losing that amused smirk. “Had to tack on that last part, didn’t you. Just couldn’t help yourself.”

“I am a faithful student of the Truth,” Daken says, matching his brother smirk for smirk.

“The point, Jimmy?” Laura prods aggressively before that can erupt into a wholly separate thing she wants no part of.

“Oh, right.” He shrugs nonchalantly. “Its kinda her thing with you two when you get like this. You pick a fight with Laura, Laura gets pissed off and succumbs to the family curse of Tunnel Vision at the Worst Possible Time, and you both go back and forth endlessly and like you have all the time in the world for your stupid tete a tete, because on account of you both being practically unkillable and immortal, you kinda do and you know it. And then whenever she gets bored of listening to you two, Gabby swoops in and draws both of your attention until you’re both so focused on being annoyed with her you don’t even realize you’re actually side by side agreeing with each other, and she keeps it up just long enough til she’s sure she can just say she’s bored now and just leave the room, leaving you both annoyed and frustrated by a fight you can’t even claim to have won because she really just kinda...left, in the middle of it, and you’re so focused on that, you’ve totally forgotten to be pissed at each other. And by the time you do remember, like, the moment has passed and peace has been returned to the kingdom. Or at least as peaceful as this place ever gets.”

Daken stares at his mistake of a brother in the hopes that if he stalled long enough, his senses would arrive at a different conclusion. But nope. Scents don’t lie, unlike baby sis, apparently. He’s telling the truth. And Daken really does not....care for that conclusion.

Gabby stamps her foot and glares up at their brother.

“You are such a tattletale. I am providing a service, by keeping this family free of these two constantly at each others throats, and how is that service repaid? With betrayal! I hate you, you’re dead to me. Never speak to me again or at least not until I’ve stopped being mad at you, but that could be like ten years or something, I don’t even know right now.”

She draws up to her full height and squares her shoulders as she thunders this Mighty Mouse style at the still laughing Jimmy. Then, seeing she’d yet to make a dent in his armor of amusement and he was failing to take her pronouncement seriously, she punctuated her declaration by spitting on their brother’s shoe. Daken’s eyebrows shoot up again, this time in amusement of his own. Gabby then spins around on her heel and stalks off down the hallway, muttering more dire threats under her breath as she goes, the sound of them nonetheless carrying clearly to three siblings with enhanced hearing of their own. And apparently, little sis could be quite creative. Who knew she’d been hiding such talent?

Jimmy barely even notices; he’s still staring down at his shoe.

“Dude, you spit on me! That’s so not cool.”

“Some things need to be expressed so strongly, mere words will not suffice,” Daken says loftily, savoring a slightly renewed sense of superiority.

One quickly dashed, of course, because apparently he just can’t have anything.

“Bold words from the seventy year old who needed the sixteen year old to clue him in he’s being regularly manipulated by the twelve year old,” Jimmy fires back. As a return volley, its obnoxiously effective, and Daken’s still grinding his teeth and searching for an adequate rejoinder as Jimmy just grins even wider and then strolls off down the hallway as well. Whistling either an absolutely hideous song or else proof that he’s absolutely hideous at whistling. Tough call. With him it could be either.

Daken and Laura both stare after him in silence as he rounds the corner and disappears, leaving only the lingering scent of smugness in his wake. Daken hates the scent of smugness. It has a particularly....cloying feel to it. Well not his of course. But everyone else’s, especially little brothers? Acrid is the only word adequate for that.

“Sometimes I really do want to stab him. Just a little bit. And I’m not even lying,” Daken says. Laura just nods, her own nose scrunched up in distaste as well.

“Honestly? Me too.”

Brother and sister enjoy the rare moment of solidarity.

“You know what’s really bugging me?” Laura says suddenly, still staring off down the hallway. Daken turns an inquiring eye on her, prompting elucidation. She frowns.

“Where the hell did he learn a phrase like tete a tete? I mean. Its Jimmy.”

Daken does know what she means, and frowns as the nagging awareness of that leaps from his sister to himself like memetic chain lightning.

“And he used it correctly. That’s....unexpected.”

“Sometimes I wonder if maybe he’s not as completely airheaded as he pretends, and the fact that he’s got everyone so convinced of that actually means he’s running circles around the rest of us,” Laura says. She shrugs. “Of course, then I have to question everything and who has that kind of time and also the very idea of genius mastermind Jimmy disturbs me on a deeply visceral level. So then I just. Stop doing that.”

Daken nods and sighs. “Sometimes, that’s all you can do.”

“Okay, this is annoying. I kinda still want to fight, but now fighting with you feels kinda anticlimactic. Ugh, siblings are the worst,” Laura declares with a glower. “They ruin everything.”

“On that, we can agree. With allowances for temporary occasions of some of them being bearable,” Daken says. “Some.”

“That’s the nicest thing you’ve never said to me, big brother,” Laura says lightly. Daken swiftly scowls but she holds up a hand to forestall any rebuttal. “Sorry, don’t mean to ruin the moment. I’m thinking about how else we can put all that frustrated energy to good use. Wanna go pick a fight with the Summers’ kids?”

A slow smile spreads across Daken’s face. “Well now. Finally, a family outing I can get behind. I believe that’s precisely what we need right now. Care to lead the way?”

He still hates her boyfriend, of course, but he supposes he can let that be. 

For now, at least.