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aspenwritesstuff · 2 years ago

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Part One: I’m Not Ready

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Typically, a single soul would never have gotten this much attention from him. He’d have forgotten every bit of them, down to their name. There was just something surreal about the way you made his heart feel…alive again, that he couldn’t quite let go of.

warnings: death, snakes, grieving

w/c: 2247

a/n: I’m so excited to bring this work to you. It’s been an idea of mine for a few months now, I’ve just been struggling to figure out how to start this. The motivation came out of nowhere for me, luckily, so I’m happy to be able to share this now 🖤 Feedback is very appreciated, and genuinely fuels my motivation to write. This is more of an introductory chapter to the series, most future parts will likely be a longer wc.

There were exactly ninety seconds before you were destined to die.

Death watched from afar as you gently plucked sprigs of lavender from your beloved garden. Instead of minding the countdown and focusing on his duty, his watchful eye instead followed your skillful hands. Though tinged with green stains and dirt, they were soft. The obvious work you’d put into the cultivation of your harvest had yet to harden the tips of your fingertips with a single callous.

In seventy-five seconds, you would die with soft, earth stained hands.

Despite your ever encroaching demise, Death found himself captivated by the melody you’d been humming under your breath. It blended naturally with the birdsong and insect chorus of the surrounding forest, remarkably peaceful for what only he knew was coming. Although he hadn’t once heard it before, Death had already decided that this song was, indeed, his favorite.

In sixty seconds, you would die with that very melody on your lips.

His chest ached where a heart should typically reside as he witnessed the bloom of a smile cross your features, rounding the wind-chapped apples of your cheeks with the most innocent of joys. It seemed a shame to have to extinguish such a bright, shining light - though it had been several centuries since Death had found himself experiencing guilt.

In forty-five seconds, you would die wearing that cluelessly happy smile - and Death would feel remorse.

His molten amber gaze followed the curve of your arm, dainty stems of chamomile joining the bundles of lavender you’d placed in a hand-woven basket to bring back to the village you and your coven had long called home.

In thirty seconds you’d spill the bundles of flowers around your lifeless body, a preemptive floral arrangement for the fate you’d been so cruelly dealt.

His lips pulled into a deep frown as he watched you happily tend the flowers, resisting the urge to warn you of the looming danger, physically pained by his inability to call out to you.

In fifteen seconds you would collapse, able to hear his voice mere seconds too late as you took your last breaths - and Death himself would mourn you.

Your eyes widened then as you finally spotted the source of peril in your otherwise unassuming garden, the eyes of a viper glistening in the light filtering through petals and stems. You froze then - melody stuttering to a halt, face paling as every hint of the smile you’d worn shifted into an expression of pure panic.

He watched helplessly as the viper hissed, fangs bared menacingly before lunging for your arm - clamping it’s jaw shut and holding on, injecting the venom into your veins. Death couldn’t blame the animal, likely feeling threatened by something exponentially larger than itself trampling around its home.

His unnecessary breath fluttered as he watched you collapse, gripping your arm as though you could stop the end yourself. Tears welled in your eyes as you fell to your knees, staining the white skirt of your dress with the soil beneath.

He reached a hand to his own chest, clutching the black silk of his shirt as his long-dormant heart dropped. Your grandmother’s voice could be heard from afar, shouting your name as her old legs tried to carry her quickly to your side.

“Y/N!” She shouted, though the paralysis had set in and you couldn’t respond had you even heard her. You’d fallen to the ground, surrounded by plants supposed to bring peace, with glazed over eyes and a single tear still stuck to your colorless cheek.

“Y/N, my darling,” your grandmother pled, holding your cold hand in hers as she stared down in horror at the two distinct holes in your arm.

You could watch now, too. Your spirit stood behind your grandmother, attempting to comfort her with a gentle hand to her back - despite your own shock at what had befallen you.

Death had never seen one so concerned for another so soon after passing.

“I’m sorry, gran…” you whispered through tears, watching as she unsteadily brushed hair from your face, pleading through sobs that you not leave her all alone.

“My darling girl, you don’t deserve this!” she choked, pressing her forehead to your body’s, “This isn’t right!”

He’d approached your body then, preparing himself for the foreign difficulty he had with taking a soul - your soul - with a deep sigh.

Death had heard similar pleas before, but had never felt so inclined to agree before now. This wasn’t right. Your vibrant soul standing behind the woman looked so tragic, eyes filled with an undeniable sorrow as you watched the woman who raised you son over your corpse.

You looked remorseful, though there was no fault of your own. You continued to rub the old woman’s back as she began mashing different plants together - creating an antidote less than a minute too late. Your voice soothing her through your own choked-back tears felt like fire in Death’s ears. You looked so nurturing. So delicate.

So beautiful.

“Please…” you finally whispered, looking up to the sky as though to plead with God. Death didn’t find it in himself to be offended, only pained as he listened to you beg, “I’m not ready.”

As you’d been looking up, Death had knelt next to your body - mouth hesitating less than an inch from your barely-warm lips as he heard you cry.

“That’s right,” he admitted, alerting you to his presence for the first time since you’d stopped breathing. Your watery eyes met his, lips parted in shock as you took in the man - if you could call him that - before you.

His dark hair was swept back from his face, putting his chiseled features on full display. His jaw was tense - as though he were arguing against an unseen force. Angular eyes burned with an unexplained resolve as he held your gaze - the slightest furrow between his strong brows showing that he was, indeed, listening.

You knew instantly who - what - he was.

He was the reaper, and he was here for you.

You should’ve been scared. You should’ve screamed. Most people meeting Death face-to-face would be horrified.

But you wanted to ask his name.

You should’ve cried. You should’ve cowered.

“Please…” you asked him instead, a single word in a last ditch effort to be allowed to stay. Not that his intimidating presence would allow much else to leave your lips.

He said nothing, opting instead to raise his head away from your body, giving you a moment of hope - never once looking away from your gaze.

“Don’t leave my gran all alone,” you begged, courage finding you despite the dread you felt. It seemed like an eternity as he stared into your eyes, almost as though searching for something, “You can take me after she’s gone, but don’t leave her all alone!”

You could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he contemplated your offer, head tilting to the side with no change in expression.

“Please…” you asked again, voice softer than it had ever been. You were past begging, recalling the legend of death having been a mortal once before, too. You were simply reaching for any hidden shred of humanity he might have had hidden inside.

And you had found it, despite Death having believed it gone.

As your grandmother held the salve to your arm, praying through her tears, the warmth that had hit him before grew exponentially - filling his being with a profound, alien sensation. He assumed that he must have felt it before, in his previous life, but that didn’t stop him from reeling at his sudden shift in mentality.

He remembered absolutely nothing of his mortal life, all memories having begun after his ascension into godhood. He was certain, at least in this life, that he’d never wanted to protect anything - or anyone - as much as he did you, in that moment.

He wanted to tell you that you’d brought these newfound thoughts and, daresay, feelings into his existence. He wanted to tell you he’d keep you safe, no matter the cost. He wanted to tell you that he wouldn’t want to take you, even if your gran had passed.

Instead, all he said was, “As you wish,” with a wistful look on his face.

As quickly as he’d appeared in your field of vision, he vanished. The breeze held a chill despite the warmth of the day, and with a whispered, “Thank you,” you found yourself back in your body, gasping for air.

Gran’s cries shifted from pain to joy, a smile blossoming on her cheeks as she looked away from the salve to your ever-brightening complexion. She pulled you into her lap gingerly, stroking your hair as you coughed - lungs reacclimating to filling with air.

“My dearest,” she whispered, “I thought I’d lost you…”

“I thought you had, too,” you croaked, bursting into another fit of coughing as she shushed you gently.

Death was always spoken of as a horrible, frightening thing. Everyone thought of it as an irreversible tragedy.

But, you knew - at least for now. You knew differently. Death was a man with gentle eyes who listened to your pleas and let you stay.

Death spent the next few hours searching within himself for what had come over him. He had always been very by-the-book; a soul is due to move on, they get taken. It was the way of the world, the correct cycle of life.

He had never had an issue before. He’d never found himself stalling, stopped in his tracks by anyone or anything. He wasn’t cold, no. He just knew his duty, and hadn’t ever had a problem following through.

Until you.

Was it your genuine, selfless care for your grandmother? Asking to be spared not for yourself, but to not abandon another? Was it the contagious peacefulness of the song you’d hummed before, bringing the reaper a sense of calm that he’d not experienced since his rebirth?

Perhaps it was the way you tenderly plucked the stems from your garden, experienced hands leaving enough as to allow for regrowth. Or maybe it was the tender smile on your face as you’d inhaled the aroma of the blossoms you’d gathered.

He pondered even further, now. Was it your eyes and the light they held? Was it your lips and the way they curved up without a thought? Was it your gentle voice? It could even have been your graceful demeanor.

He couldn’t come to a conclusion as to why he was so drawn to you, which left only one answer.

It was everything.

What cemented the strange new sensations as what they were was much less complicated than it may have seemed.

Death himself had no regrets on sparing you, despite the scolding he was sure to receive from the fates. In fact, his only regrets were being unable to kiss your lips and knowing you would have to forget him.

You woke up in a fog from a much-needed rest, Gran snoozing peacefully in her rocking chair across the room. Your head throbbed as you sat up, reaching for the water grab must’ve left out for you with a grateful sigh.

The squeak of the bed roused the sweet woman from her slumber, a soft voice instantly soothing some of the pain.

“Hello, dearest,” she rose from the chair to sit on the foot of the bed. She placed a gentle hand on your forehead, checking for fever, before patting your shoulder affectionately.

“Hi, Gran,” your voice cracked, still residually rough from your lack of oxygen.

“How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” you murmured. And you were, on such a deep level that you wondered if you’d simply imagined sleeping at all.

“I’d be worried if you weren’t,” Gran scooted closer to you to place a kiss on your forehead, “You’ve been through an ordeal.”

“Yeah…” you trailed off, realizing you had no recollection between the viper bite and waking up. This could easily have been attributed to the trauma - which you truly believed was the case - yet there was still an itch in the recesses of your mind that you just couldn’t seem to scratch.

Something had to have happened but like a word on the tip of your tongue, you couldn’t for the life of you recall what it was. It was then that you caught a glimpse of yourself in the reflection of Gran’s glasses - a gasp escaping you as you barely exhaled your words.

“My hair.”

Gran delicately pulled the strand of interest up from behind your ear, running the pad of her thumb over it with mystery swirling in her eyes. Unlike the remainder of your head, this patch was stark white, shimmering in the light from the fireplace.

“It’s…changed,” Gran nodded, allowing you to adjust to the change and find your words. “Do you…know why?”

You figured she’d have an answer for you, being among the few elders in your small township community. She held more knowledge of the strange happenings than others. She said nothing for a while, however, opting instead to continue rubbing the pearly tresses.

“Yes, my dear,” Gran finally answered, “You’ve been touched by death, after all, darling.”

#lee know x reader #lee know fanfiction #lee minho fanfic #lee know romance #skz fanfic #lee know smut #lee minho x reader #stray kids fan fiction #skz fanfiction #beneath the cypress trees

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hunted-moth · 2 years ago

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Forest Of Dreams PT3: Deja Vu

Wordcount // 6k

Summary // Y/n goes on her first expedition but when she and Jake mess around it causes an angry animal to detect them, which causes an even angrier and deadlier animal to find and chase them. Jake and Y/n get separated, and while lost she gets surrounded by viper wolves a mysterious girl saves her and takes her to her home

Warning // language, animal violence (all in self-defense), violence, getting lost, use of weapons, minor mention of a school shooting (they visit graces old school), reader panics a bit, Jake gets super sad in this chapter

A/N // Ahhh I'm so excited about this chapter!!! Been waiting to write it but also I haven't jumped it as soon as I was done cus I was kinda scared but whatever I'm writing it now :D

Speaking Na’vi

‘Thoughts’

*whispering*

*mini time skip, like a small location change

As you got up you did your morning routine and put on some comfy clothes since you'd be in your avatar most of today doing your first field mission.

You walked out of your room and headed to the mess hall to eat with the other science people. You saw Norm there already, same with Jake, they were talking a little bit. You were glad because you got the impression that Jake didn't like Norm a lot.

When you sat down you heard what they were talking about “So these na’vi people, are they that dangerous?” Jake asked with a bit of uncertainty in his voice, “well I mean if a bunch of aliens came to earth you bet your sweet ass we’d protect it or at least a few hundred years ago we would” you answered for Norm, beating him for once “yeah, there actually

very friendly people and only defend their land” Norm added.

You all finished your food and went to the link pods, you went to the same one as yesterday and went in, and when you opened your eyes again, you woke up in the lodge where the other avatars slept.

You rolled to your left and grabbed some clothes you'd wear on the expedition. A green RDA jacket and a black shirt underneath and some shorts. You also had some knee pads on since you knew you'd be in the mud and dirt a lot with rock around. Then walking over to Grace you waited for Norm and Jake, when they finally came over you all went over to the tarmac where all the Sampsons were.

There you saw the same women from yesterday, the same with the soldier who you and Jake met. She introduced herself as Trudy Chacon and the soldier as Lyle Wainfleet.

And with the introduction out of the way, you all boarded the Sampson with you and Jake on one side, Grace and Wainfleet on the other, and Norm in the cab of the Sampson

[LOCATION- PANDORAN FOREST]

The Sampson flew over the water with flying animals around it, they were purple with yellow arms under them, as one screeched at the Sampson you looked at it with amazement. As Trudy kept flying, you'd pass giant trees that no doubt had been there for centuries, housing different animals and supplying food to the fauna around. Flying into the canopy to start getting closer to the ground, Trudy spotted a Stermbeest herd on the right

“Got it thanks,” Norm switched from his position with you and Jake to where Grace was to see the herd “Looks like a bull, a dozen cows, and some juveniles,” Grace informed Norm as she pointed at them. One let out a mighty roar as you passed by. The Sampson then flew over a waterfall, to which you and Jake cheered like the two of you were at a theme park.

After a time the Sampson landed on the ground, and you saw a few deer-looking animals run away. You swung your feet over the ledge preparing to jump off after Jake. He and Wainfleet surveyed the area to make sure that there were no threats around, once they deemed it ok they lowered their weapons. Grace went over to Trudy, telling her to turn the Sampson off, as you all would be staying a bit. She walked over to Jake and noticed that Norm didn't have his pack and sent him back to get it, she also noticed that Wainfllet was heading with them

“stay with the ship! One idiot with a gun is enough” She was referring to your brother, you wanted to be a little mad but it was kind of funny, you also had a gun, just a small one though nothing like the big one Jake had. “You're the man, doc” was all you heard as you four trekked into the thick forest.

As you were making your hike to get supplies you heard something loud in the trees, Jake looked up pointing his gun at the noise. It was an animal, they were blue with yellow stripes on its body. It had two upper arms and four forearms.

“Prolemuris, their non-aggressive,” she said trying to calm Jake down, eventually she walked in front of him and pushed his gun down, getting impatient with him “Relax marine, you're making me nervous” and continued walking to the storage house

As you walked closer, you could see the house in sight, it looked rundown like something attacked it and then left it to rot.

"So uhh, how do we know the Navi aren't here?" Norm asked, nervous about running into one on his first day out here "Oh, I'm sure they're watching us right now,” when Grace said that Norm stopped to look around

“Oh so their good hiders huh? Bet they’re wicked good at hide n seek” you joked, “oh yeah, once I thought I lost a kid till she popped out from the rafters like a sting bat” she laughed at the memory

As you walked into the building, Grace informed you all that this was the school, but now it was just storage

“The kids were so bright and eager to learn” She picked up a book and dusted it off “They picked up English faster than I could teach it,” she finished as she put the book back.

You looked around a bit, looking at the desks with little arts and crafts on them, you went over to collect some stuff you'd need like a rock hammer, pick ax, probing rod, and a hand lens. You went over to Norm and Grace and filled your pack with other important stuff.

When you got over there you saw Norm pick up a very old book called the ‘Lorax’, it was a book about saving trees, warning people about deforestation, ‘So much for that,’ you thought

“Oh yeah, they loved this one, the sting bats keep knocking them down'' you looked up to see some on the rafters then you saw Jake messing with some stuff when he also noticed them, he was startled and you laughed walking back over to him.

“I keep hoping someone will come in and read them,” she said with such sorrow “Why don't they come back?” Norm asked as he asked, You pulled Jake out of the gaze of the stingbats, Graced sighed “The Omatikaya” she paused and learned as much as they needed about us”.

You and Jake noticed something weird about the blackboard, it had bullet holes in it, and looked like it came from the doorway too “What happened here.” Jake asked seriously, you were curious as well, who would shoot at a school?

Grace looked up at you two near the blackboard, she looked annoyed and even a bit angry “Are you gonna help us with the gear or just stand there? We've got a lot to do”

The two of you looked at each other, sharing knowing glances, then walked over to help them

As the expedition officially began, the four of you went off deeper into the forest. Norm would often just stand there looking around, probably looking for na’vi people, and Jake would tell him to keep moving, you would giggle at this whenever it happened.

“And here I go” Grace had put a rod into a root “Scanning” Grace and Norm finally found what THEY were looking for, while you had to wait a bit, you wanted to find rocks by the river to see how the water affects the erosion time. So in the meantime, you just stuck next to Jake.

Grace and Norm were studying some roots from a tree, looking at how the signal transduction worked with the surrounding roots. Jake sighed as he was already bored, he turned around and went to walk off, so you did too. The two of you began to walk away, Jake must have found something interesting because he tilted his head, and walked faster.

The two of you came across a clearing of a spiral plant. You walked deeper into the clearing and Jake touched one and it shrunk, the two of you stepped back and looked at the other two, to see they didn't notice.

He walked to the other one to touch it and it shrunk the two you giggled, and he looked over to you, silently asking if you knew what it was “Umm I think it's a Helicoradian” He nods at the information and goes to touch one more, but suddenly they all go down in a chain reaction, revealing a startled Titanothere it roars at you two, prompting Jake to raise his gun up, you only opened the holster to yours ready to grab it if need be.

It charged at you two causing you two to step back, then Grace comes on the throat coms

“Don't shoot, don't shoot you’ll piss em off” Graced instructed Jake, the animal roared again this time taking a few trees down with it, “it already pissed off,” Jake said to Grace “Jake, its armor too thick, trust me” Grace reasoned with Jake, he listens and pulled his gun away.

The beast smashes a few trees in its way “It's a territorial threat display, do NOT run or he’ll charge” You look at Grace with a ‘hell we supposed to do then’ face cause you knew you couldn't win.

“So what do I do? Dance with it” “Yeah, the hell do we do” you both shot back at her which she replied “Just, stand your ground” Norm looked scared out of his mind, more scared than you two, his tail going haywire, while Grace was calm no doubt for you three.

Then the Titanothere finally charged at you two, Jake went at it yelling so you did too. The two of you screaming seemed to scare it off, you and Jake laughed, even taunting it a bit

“Yeah come on whatchu got” “that's right, who's in charge here bitch!,” you turn around to find the real reason it backed off, your eyes go wide and you stood frozen,

“Yeah why don't you go back to your mommy, you punk ass bitch” and with that, it finally turned around back to its heard, Jake kept taunting it till you pulled on his sleeve when he turned his head he saw you frozen in fear, he looked up to see a snarling Thanator

The beast roared and jumped over you guys, putting itself in between the Titanothere and you. It roared at the other animals and then faced you, it seemed to lock in on you in particular

“So what about this one, run don't run, what!” Jake looked at Grace as you slowly backed away, an uneasy feeling rising in your stomach, “RUN, DEFINITELY RUN” and with that, the two of you booked it the other way.

You jumped over a branch and weaved through some bamboo-looking plant, it would get stuck a few times but it would quickly find another way through to you. All you could hear behind was the beast snarling at you and the breaking of wood.

You and Jake eventually found a tree with an exposed root that you two could hide under. As you two leaped in the animal leaped after you clawing at you both, you crawled deeper in trying to avoid its claws, but it just kept following you. When you had enough room you pulled out your gun, both you and Jake firing at it, but it only seemed to piss it off.

It stuck its head in the hole and ripped Jake's gun out of his hands and threw it down somewhere, then it borrowed its way in, you and Jake crawled out and ran past different plants.

You were in front of Jake when the Thanator jumped out and grabbed his pack. He unlatched and fell to the ground hard, knocking him out when he noticed him and started towards him.

You noticed this, and you began to shoot at it unloading the remaining bullets and trying to get it away from your brother, cause you sure as hell weren't losing him too.

“OVER HERE YOU ASSHOLE, OVER HERE!!!” your yelling and shooting seemed to alert it and it chased you now “shit” You turned around and dropped the empty gun and unloaded everything on you, only leaving the 2-pound hammer you could use later.

You kept running till you got to a waterfall, and you jumped off just in time, cause if you had hesitated you surely would have been dead due to the beast.

As you were falling you prepared yourself to dive. When you went underwater you were swept away by the strong current, hitting rocks on your way down the streambed, but you managed to swim up to the surface, though you were still struggling a bit to stay afloat.

You could still hear the animal screaming after you as you grabbed onto a root sticking out, you looked over at it, seeing if it could just jump in and get you, but when it saw it couldn't it just screamed at you. You just stuck your middle finger up in retaliation.

You dragged yourself to the riverbed and just plopped down and rolled over on your back to catch your breath but it was difficult when something wanted to poke at you. You sat up and grabbed whatever was poking you to see it was a river stone, the thing you came here for, to study. Oh the irony

You laughed a bit, from exhaustion and annoyance of the shitty day

[LOCATION- LINK BAY WHEN JAKE GOT KNOCKED OUT]

Jake's link pod opened as he awoke from being knocked out in his avatar body. When he realized where he was he demanded to talk with Grace, or hell at least Norm, someone who was down there.

When he got in contact with Grace he yelled into the com “Y/N IS STILL OUT THERE! WHERE ARE YOU RIGHT NOW!” “WHERE ARE YOU!” Grace yelled back “I'm at the lab right now, the animal picked me up by my pack, and I dropped down to the ground and I woke up here” “ok do you know where your avatar is? If we can find yours we might be able to find Y/n” grace explained to the panicked Jake

When he was finished explaining where they could find his avatar, he sat at your link pod, praying you’d come up, so that he could comfort you if you were scared, but you never did.

He'd look at your vitals to see your heart rate was high meaning you were on edge out there, all alone. ‘Damn it, why couldn't it have been me, why her god’ he yelled at himself in his head, he felt so guilty. Cause if your avatar died while you were still connected it could cause major trauma to your psyche.

He had heard about a former avatar driver, he killed himself while connected and was basically a zombie after. He didn't want that for his baby sister, he’d never forgive himself.

“JAKE, Jake are you there” Grace's voice comes through the walkie talkie “Yeah I'm here, did you find her!” panic and hope laced his voice “no, but we found your avatar. Listen Jake Trudy says she has to fly back, meaning we have turned back, well look for her in the morning”

“But what if she doesn't make it through the night” Jake pleaded he couldn't understand “I'm sorry Jake we’ll have to look tomorrow” and with that grace signed off. Grace hated that she had to give up the search, Trudy tried to comfort her but it didn't help much.

Jake laid his head in his hands, praying that this was all just some bad dream and he'd wake up to you poking him in his bed, saying he had to get ready for the mission.

[LOCATION- DEEP IN THE PANDORIAN FOREST]

You got up from the bank and trekked deeper into the forest to try and find your way back. But you realized something, you were alone, in the forest, and had nothing to defend yourself.

With that realization in mind, you grabbed a stick and hid under some big leaves. You sharpened it with your knife. Looking up at every little sound your ears picked up. Your heartbeat was so loud, it felt like it was beating directly in your ears.

When you got the spear you continue your way to find safety. Alone you looked around whenever an animal squawked too loudly for your comfort. It felt like something was watching you, waiting to strike, you thought the Thanator had come back with how on edge you were.

Your insects were right however, something was watching you, well more like someone. In the treetops, there was a girl, she laid down on a branch to not be seen by you as you passed under it.

When she could see you again, she raised her body slowly before hopping up without making a sound. Drawing an arrow, aiming for your head, she had a look of both disgust and hatred for you.

She was about to release it when she noticed a wood sprite. It floated down onto her arrow as if it was urging her to not release it. As it floated away she drew it back to watch it float away, she looked at you for a brief second before running off.

As night fell over Pandora, new creatures in the night awoke, suddenly taking interest in you. As it was getting dark you took off your jacket and wrapped it around the other end of the makeshift spear. Then dipped it in some flammable sap to try and make a torch.

Then you heard something, in the bushes you heard animals yip around you, you tried to calm down thinking it was just a random animal passing by like other noises you heard throughout the day.

Then it happened again when you squatted down to light the spear on fire, this time it sounded like it was circling you. The noises were happening more frequently now, it just confirmed in your mind that you were dinner tonight if you didn't get out of there.

You struggled to light the match, striking it over and over, only getting sparks till it finally lit, quickly you lit the jacket and it soared with light as you got up. You swung it behind you to see dozens of dog-like creatures surrounding you. ‘Goddammit’ you thought. Thinking you could scare them off you tried waving the torch in front of you, but they just kept moving forward.

Trying to get away, you walked backward but they just kept following, some even went into the trees without you noticing.

You just ran. They eventually have you surrounded on all sides, and your attempts at just scaring them with the fire aren't working as they got bolder. The noises they made almost sounded taunting like they were laughing at you.

Instead of just waving it at them, you swung it at them, trying to get them away from you. As you looked around, you saw them clearly now, they were viper wolves. They had black shiny skin with a red stripe down its side, and six legs with white paws, their mouths were dripping with saliva, waiting to get a taste of meat.

Growing impatient you yelled at them “Just add to my shitty day already, COME ON '' You challenged them, one hissed from behind you, It lept at you as you swung at it, knocking it to the ground.

Another came at you from the trees, you just pointed your spear at it impaling it, stabbing it through the chest. When both of you fell, you lost hold of the spear and before you grabbed it

another one came at you, grabbing your hammer instead, you wrestled it before whacking it at it knocking it out.

Running to the spear a Wolf grabs your foot, tripping you. You pulled yourself up in time to kick one away. But as soon as you got up another one jumped on you, this time near your face. As it snapped at your face you could feel another one biting your exposed legs.

As you yelped in pain, the girl from before came back and shot at the viper wolf on top of you killing it, then you kicked the one that was biting your leg. You sat up , grabbing your knife when you noticed the arrow.

You looked around to see a na’vi girl jump over you, shooting at one coming for you.

When she landed she started to wack at them, beating them away with her bow. She hisses at one when it jumps up and tackles her to the ground. They rolled on the ground till she was on top, she grabbed her knife and killed the animal. She grabbed her bow again and swats at a few more till they all fled as she gave a final hiss.

She stood there for a second, listening for them, making sure none came back. You just sat there amazed she dealt with them all on her own. You knew how to fight, the fights you won in high school told you that much. But these viper wolves, damn near killed you if it wasn't for her.

When she turned around she groaned from how bright the fire was and moved towards it mumbling something under her breath. She picked it up and threw it into the water. You tried to stop her, but your pleas went unheard “Wow, wonderful” you grumbled and went to grab it from the water.

The na’vi woman ran to a yelping viper wolf, as it lay dying she grabbed her knife and put her knee on its neck, she stabbed its neck putting it out of its misery then saying a prayer.

You walked into the water and grabbed the piece of wood then headed back to the land. When you got back you saw how the plants lit up, then you remembered something from your training, the plant life was bioluminescent, meaning everything glowed.

You just stood there admiring the forest around you, everything glowed with blues, teals, or purples, it was beautiful, hell even you glowed, the white dots on your body showed you that. The woman came into your view, as she knelt down next to the dead animal, and she put her hands on its corpses

“Uhh, you probably don't understand me but-” she ignored you and started her prayer “That was kinda cool, where you learn to fight like that-” she cuts you off again saying her prayer louder then stopped to get up, she grabbed her bow and left.

you, not noticing you continued “I would be dead right now if it weren't-” you looked up to see she was leaving. So you got up to follow her “he-HEY where ya going, wait a sec” You chased after her.

“Hey wait up, I'm trying to talk to you” She tried to ignore you, but found herself rolling her “I wanted to say thanks for killing those things-” You tried to grab her wrist but she turned around to smack you with her bow, knocking you down

“AHH, what the fuck” You held your cheek while you looked up at her, but you saw her walking to you with her bow pointed down “dont thank, you dont thank for this, this is sad. VERY sad only,” she said it like she lecturing a child

“ok, alright I'm sorry” you try to apologize, but she just looked more annoyed and she raised her hand “all of this is your fault, they did not need to die” her face looks disgusted and her tail swishes behind her.

You only laughed and justified your actions “My-my fault, they attacked me first, I was just defending myself” You looked up at her “How am I the bad guy-” she pointed her bow at you again this time more aggressively

“Your fault” *woah, easy there* “your fault” she continued “your like a baby, making noise, don't know what to do” you tried to move the bow away but she whipped it away from your hands, you flinched a bit *woah*

You finally got up “ok fine, alright fine” you rose to her eye level holding your hands up “If you like your little friends back there, why don't you just let them eat me, hmm?” you looked at her for a bit then rose to your full height,

“What's the logic behind that huh,” you said so softly, she was kind of taken aback “why save you?” she asked “yeah why, I’m clearing not worth it in your eyes” she looked down to think for a moment, she looked conflicted before saying

“You have a strong heart, no fear” You were taken aback for a second, as she walked towards you “But stupid, ignorant like a child” And with that, she walked off leaving you behind, you chuckled and bent down for your spear and chased after her

“well if I'm a child, why don't you uhh teach me or something” chased after her, she was ahead of you by a lot “The sky people can not learn what they can not see” was her justification for not teaching you

“Well teach me to see then” she ran on to a long branch “No one can teach you to see”

When you got on the branch yourself, stopped for a second, amazed by the forest. You looked for her again to see she was a good distance away once more

“Ahh hey wait up, can we talk or something, like uhh where did you learn English? Did you go to grace school or something? I know her, she kinda my-” your spear got caught on a vine, it flung you backward, you almost fell but she caught you “You're like a baby” She then said some na’vi under her breath, it was too quick and quiet for you understand

“Look, I need some help,” you tried to reason with her “You should not be here” she flicked her hands in your face “I got separated from my brother, he's probably worried sick about where I am” You tried to reason with her

“So can you just help me, take me with you-” you thought she would understand but “NO, go back” “no i-” “no” she pushed you back “go back,” she said behind gritted teeth, clearly getting impatient.

But something caught her attention as she looked up, you looked up to see white jellyfish-looking things floating down towards you two. Some of them were close, you held out your hand, but she took a hold of it, thinking you were gonna smack it away.

Being a little petty, you went to touch another one, just to piss her off. She grabbed your other arm before you could get it, and she shouted NO at you, she gripped your arm tighter “Atokirina” You slowly held out your arm, for a few when they came towards you.

She looked at them with wonderment as they landed on you. The ‘Atokirina’ as she called them, tickled your skin, and they were cold to the touch. It made you flinch as they landed.

You held out your arms when you realized many more were coming, “wha-what are they exactly?” “seeds of the sacred tree, very pure spirits” “neat” More were landing on you, they were practically covering your body.

While you were silent freaking out thinking dead people were landing on you, she looked on with amazement. When the final one landed, they all floated back up into the air to find something new.

“What was that all about?” you looked to her for an answer, but she looked at you “Come” You just looked at her “Come” This time she grabbed your wrist, and off the two of you went.

“Hey, where are we going-” You hit a plant that glowed from the impact, getting sidetracked you hit a few more, even drumming on one. She waited for you to catch up. “Come” With that, you were reminded of that fact you were supposed to follow her to who knows where.

You noticed how the earth under you reacted to your steps, now that you weren't side-tracked by animals trying to kill you and trying to talk to the girl who saved you, you could finally experience the wonders of the forest.

You jumped from branch to branch with her

“hey what's your name-” you were cut off by something hitting your feet “shit.” you tried to grab onto the branch but you quickly slid off, you landed on your stomach and groaned.

‘Well ain’t this the cherry on my shitty day’ you thought to yourself as you sat up.

You took the rope that tripped you off when you saw what you think are Direhorse coming towards you with riders on top. You quickly got up and drew your knife and retreated back, trying to find safety, when you were met with something not safe, arrows in your face.

They surrounded you on all sides. You put your hands up trying to come off as non-threatening. And a nervous laugh came out of you which only put them on edge more.

You dropped the knife when the girl came down “Calm down people, calm down” she looked at them all. Then she stopped to look at one guy, he dismounted from his horse and stalked toward her

“What are you doing tsu’tey” she asked him angrily “These demons are forbidden here!” he retorted “There has been a sign, this is a matter for tsahik” whatever she said had seemed to stop him, making him think.

he looked at you and then the girl before turning around “Bring her” With that, he walked away “Hey what's going on” You felt someone put their hands on you “Wait- AHH” They dragged you away harshly, you feel one put a knife under you queue “Hey what's happening” as you said that, the riders sped off as the rest of you had to catch up.

[LOCATION- HOME TREE]

When the rest of you caught up you saw where they were taking you, their home tree. It was huge, easily dwarfing the Renaissance Center in Detroit. There were people at the entrance trying to see what sudden commotion was.

The closer you got to the tree, the tighter the grip on your bride was, as they held the knife under your queue. The crowd of people parted making way for you all.

They all hissed at you, identifying you as one of the ‘sky people’ as she called you earlier. They tried to grab at you but they would be pulled away or blocked by the people leading you.

You looked forward to seeing a spiral in the center of the tree, and you saw other people at the base of it, mainly the guy and a man, the two were talking to one another. The man wore more flamboyant clothes.

Girls noticed them and went to grab your bicep to lead you further to them.

“Father, I see you” she greeted him, it was a simple phrase, but you were too distracted, looking around instead. He walked towards you, and the closer he got the more nervous you were. You smiled from the nerves but quickly dropped it to nod your head to him.

“This creature, why do you bring her here?” he asked her “I was going to kill him but, there was a sign from Eywa”

“I have said no dream walker will come here” he addressed the people, you were having a hard time catching up, he way spoke too fast for you,

Yes, you studied it, but one: it wasn't your strongest subject, and two: you've never been put in a situation where you actually had to practice what you learned. “Her alien scent fills my nose” What he said apparently was very funny as the other people laughed, especially the guy from earlier

“Hey what's going on” you for a final time “My father is deciding whether to kill you” Your eyes widened a bit at the mention of ‘father’ “That's your father?” she nodded,

you panicked a bit, and went into ‘oh shit, met the GFs dad by mistake’ mode “uhh nice to meet you sir” you went to shake his hand when a crowd of people stopped you, even Neytiri told you to stop.

“Releases this creature! Step back” All heads swiveled to the source of the sound, and an older lady, also dressed in flamboyant clothes, came down the spiral “I will look at this alien” As she stepped closer you could hear Neytiri say “That is Mother, she is tsakhik, the one who interprets the will of Eywa” “oh that's nice” you said nervously, honestly she sacred you more

you watched as the lady circled you, inspecting you. She grabbed your braid, then your tail twisting it around.

“What are you called,” she asked sternly, her accent coming through “Y/n Sully” She looked at you then pulled a knife out of her headpiece and stabbed your shoulder, as you yelped in pain, she licked the blood off.

“Why did you come to us” looking into eyes, well more like a soul with how deep she looked. “I came to learn” You weren't lying, you came to learn and study the rocks but they didn't need to know that. “We have tried to teach other Sky People, it is hard to fill a cup that is already full.”

she looked you in the eyes, challenging you “Well mines not full yet” you said back to her “I mean just ask my brother-” she interrupted “what are you?” you don't know how to answer her “well I'm a scientist, but a uhh…I was a former warrior from the umm jarhead…clan” You wanted to cringe into yourself

“A warrior, ha I could kill her easily” the guy from before interrupted “No, this is the first warrior dream Walker we have seen. We need to learn more about her” the man known as the girl's father spoke, the people talked amongst themselves about what he said.

“My daughter, you will teach her our ways-” the girl gasped at the news “To speak and walk as we do” The girl looked upset from what you could tell, “Why me? That's not fair-”

she was interrupted as her mother walked to you “It is decided, my daughter, will teach you our ways, learn well Y/n Suil, then we can see if your insanity can be cured” You bowed your head “Thank you, ma’am”

The girl roughly took your arm and led you to a tent, she pushed you in and closed the flap. You looked around, there were racks that held different items on them. She walked over to it and picked some clothes out.

Turning around to you she said “Take off the sky demon clothes, now!” she demanded with some clothes in her hands “Uhh what” you asked a bit flustered “Take your clothes off!” getting impatient, you could see her tail swish behind her

“umm no, I'd rather keep these on” you chuckled, currently all you had on were your shoes, shorts, and your shirt that looked like it was barely holding on.

“If you are going to learn the ways of the people, you will change” That was her final demand before she walked over to you “Woah Woah!! calm down ok! i'll take my damn clothes off” She handed you the clothes, it was a simple loin cloth and top.

“Can I at least get some privacy?” she looked at you confused “What do you mean, the entranced is blocked” she pointed towards the flap “True, but you're in here hehe” She just stared at you, sighing you turned around and started to take your shirt off by grabbing the end of your shirt and lifted it above your head.

You could feel her staring at you “Take a picture it’ll last longer” you joked, you went to face her but she looked away embarrassed, you went back to change into the new clothes “there done, happy now” you to towards her with you hands on you hips, ti felt weird to be so exposed like this.

You looked at the girl, she tried to keep her gaze on your face but you saw your eyes dart to your legs, no doubt surveying the bite mark. You also saw how her cheeks darkened a bit. She finally replied while raising her head in a confident action.

“Yes, you look a little normal now” she then turned around waiting for you to follow her

“ouch, that hurt” you joked at her little dig at you and followed her out of the tent. “Come, I will take you to my mother, she will help your leg” and with that you both sent out to the Tsahik of the Omitakya.

Next // PT 4 New Kid In Town

Previous // PT 2 New Life, New Dreams

// Masterlist //

A/N // 14. Pages. On. Google Docs o m g. In the last section, I typed so much that my hands hurt I finished it at midnight after writing this chapter all day, i had to stop for myself really cause this would’ve been waaaaay longer lol

But umm yeah I hope you enjoyed part three of my little series, cruelty working on part four, and hopefully I won't forget to tag this one lol

#neytiri x avatar reader #neytiri te tskaha mo'at'ite #y/n sully #neytiri x sully reader #Jake and reader are siblings #jake sully #norm spellman #grace augustine #neytiri x y/n #wlw fanfic #space lesbians #holy shit this is long #avatar 2009 #james cameron avatar #avatar x reader #x reader #x reader fanfiction #pt 3 #Cnake Garden Writes :)

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desperatemeasures-if · 2 years ago

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Desperate Measures ROs

The infamous heiress of the Grant Family-- with an inheritance worth billions and a penchant to stay by herself, she has garnered quite a bit of interest. Nothing is truly known about her, barring her love for the more creative aspects of life-- her skill in the creative arts is a well-known facet of the reclusive heiress. And, of course, her dislike for the Vipers, which isn't something you've ever gotten a conclusive answer on how it started. You're not even sure if she'd even help you-- being a Viper-- but you've found that there is a way to get anyone to help out. The trick is discovering what makes them tick and going from there.

Appearance: Heather stands at around 5'5" without her trusty Louboutins-- 5'9" with them. Ivory skin causes her auburn locks, that fall to the small of her back in a mixture of loose curls and soft waves, to stand out even more, the deep hue of her eyes, an icy shade of blue, not revealing anything. Her slenderly elegant body is that of a dancer, the grace with which she moves proving that fact. Her full lips are usually painted a shade of red and pulled into some version of a smirk-- even if it never truly reaches her eyes.

Detective Frost has a keen eye for observation and a knack for handling even the most unruly of people. Of course, that hasn't truly helped him get any sort of recognition within the RPD, but that hasn't dissuaded him the slightest. In fact, if anything, it's made him even more passionate about pursuing his goals and proving himself to everyone that has doubted him. He won't give up, especially not now that he's been given such a big case, and nothing will stop him from finding the answers he's searching for.

Appearance: Damien stands at around 5'7". Dark brown skin causes the warmth of his whiskey brown eyes to stand out-- onyx black curls falling over his forehead in a boyishly charming fashion. He has a lithe, slightly muscular build, that showcases he can take care of himself; although he tries to find a peaceful solution in most instances.

A Viper through and through, Stevie is loyal to a fault and wouldn't leave your side no matter what. They've stuck by you since they had been chosen to be your instructor when you had first been initiated within the Vipers-- something that has become an inside joke between you both. With them being your Obi-Wan and you being their Anakin; just without the betrayal. Always carrying some form of weapon on their person at all times, to not only protect themself but you as well, they'll defend you with their very life if it comes down to it. Hopefully, it never has to.

Appearance: Stevie stands at around 6'4". Tanned skin brings out the forest green of their gaze, ash brown hair complementing the golden undertone of it. An athletically muscular body, from all their years of training, can be extremely violent but gentle at the same time. Their right arm has a full sleeve. (Stephen's hair falls to just above his ears and Stephanie's to just underneath her shoulders.)

The resident flirt of the Vipers and the one that probably is on the majority of people's blacklist. Gabby isn't one to take life too seriously-- they're going to be dead one day, might as well enjoy life as much as they can until that point. They don't hesitate in making sly remarks, or quippy innuendos, and a flirtatious smile is never far from their lips, but, for all of that, they'd step in front of a bullet for you in a heartbeat.

Appearance: Gabby stands at around 5'11". Olive-toned skin brings out the mischievous glint within their slate-gray gaze. Golden brown hair, which has more gold than brown, is always perfectly tousled. They have a lean body type that's made for endurance. (Gabriel's hair is cut semi-short, think of a side part, and Gabriella's falls to slighlty below her shoulder blades.)

The leader of the Vipers main rival-- the Southside Dragons. With a penchant for sarcasm and a stoic mask that could make a champion poker player fold in a heartbeat, it's not unsurprising that they're as feared as they are. Of course, you're aware of the golden heart that lies underneath, have witnessed the hardass boss nurture an injured bird back to health, and have seen the softness within their gaze after they hugged you. It's part of the reason it's so painful to see them again-- to see they have completely closed you off. It's not surprising, you did abandon them, but that doesn't make it hurt any less.

Appearance: They stand at around 6'6". Warm beige skin allows the sapphire blue of their gaze to stand out, bringing out the keen intelligence that lurks within. Platinum blonde hair accentuates their elegant face perfectly. Their athletic body, that's perfectly toned, is hidden behind their leather jacket. (Leon has his hair to just above his jawline and Lena has hers to her shoulder blades.)

#desperate measures #heather grant #damien frost #stephen matthews #stephanie matthews #gabriel deluca #gabriella deluca #leon prince #lena prince

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genocidalfetus · 1 year ago

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WIP Wednesday already?

Have had two 3AM shifts at work in a row, so forgot what day of the week it was...lol. Anyways, here's more of the chapter where Vilem and Kerry meet for the first time in "The Black Viper And The Concrete Labyrinth". This is what happens after Vilem wakes up on the couch, after an accidental flashing from Kerry. lol

tagging @elvenbeard @butchsquatch @kharonion @jaymber @dreams-in-green-forests and anyone else who sees this.

#cyberpunk 2077 #wip wednesday #writing wip #fic wip #vilem davydkin #kerry eurodyne

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mangoisms · 2 years ago

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like the part of the song where it falls ━ miyuki kazuya

━ part four: mostly, i want to be kind / read part three

━ wc: 7k

━ warnings: none

━ masterpost

“How’d your appointment go?”

“Three months. Three months and I’m cleared for rollercoasters!”

“I thought that was a joke.”

“Whaaaat? No! January twenty-fifth —” you clap a hand on Miyuki’s shoulder, grinning; he shakes his head, pulling into the parking lot of Birch Aquarium. “That’s our day.”

“Our? No way.”

“Yes way.”

He groans melodramatically and makes a perfect right swing into a parking spot. “So, what? Disneyland? Universal Studios?”

“What? Screw those guys! I’m talkin’ about Six Flags, baby! It’s Batman time!”

“How are you even cleared for that?”

“Well, I’m not yet. I’ll schedule an appointment for the week before and if my doctor clears it, we’re good to go. Speaking of, we should settle on a date.”

“A date for our date?”

He’s doing that more often. Mostly because the press has gotten a lot of pictures of you two hanging around the city and the more sensationalist tabloids are saying you’re dating. Framing your whole meeting as one big meet-ugly that leads to a love story for the ages. You’ve both denied the rumors but mostly, you try not to think about it.

You flush. “No jokes or I’ll drag you onto Viper.”

“And what’s that one like?”

“Terrifying enough to have you coming off appreciating life and loving your neighbor.”

He snickers.

Realistically speaking, you probably won’t be able to ride that one. Too much G-force. You’d either grey out or just straight up blackout.

Hector would kill you. If the coaster didn’t do the job, anyway.

“You’re all healed, then?” he asks as you approach the entrance.

“Brain bruises are gone and so is the fracture.”

“Good. That’s good.” He hands the tickets to the attendant. You watch him.

You’ve been thinking about what Jerry told you for the past few days. About the incident with that little girl in Georgia. You aren’t sure if you should say something. Anything. It was already a few years ago. Truthfully now, you’re just…

Well, you’re wondering if he is doing this stuff because he feels guilty. You don’t want him to feel guilty. You want him here because he wants to be here. You want —

Nothing.

You shove the thoughts away and follow him. You’d both come early because you wanted to see the penguin feeding at one.

And plus, there aren’t as many people around. Kind of a bonus. A Tuesday at noon. The second week of December. Empty. Or, well, mostly empty.

Inside, the air is cool, smelling faintly fishy. It is dark, with the light coming from the tanks, shining blue on your faces. You’ve come prepared with your camera, taking pictures of whatever catches your eye. You two walk through the Hall of Fishes, showcasing the diverse marine life of the pacific. The Giant Kelp Forest, with kelp swaying in cool blue water, Leopard Sharks, Moray Eels, and Giant Black Sea Bass gliding through them. Then the Sea-dragons and Seahorses display, with the aforementioned marine life as well as pipefish and other unique species.

“Seahorses mate for life, you know.”

“Don’t the males also get pregnant?”

“They’ve got it all figured out,” you sigh wistfully; half of you wants to climb in that tank. “I mean, seriously, that’s some soulmate shit.”

“Isn’t it kind of… not?”

“For me, soulmates are created, not found.”

“What’s the criteria?”

The question shocks you. You look at him.

He’s already looking at you.

Your chest warms and you look back at the tank, where a light green seahorse speckled with black dots swims through the water.

“Why are you asking?” you ask, a little teasing, though your heart is suddenly beating out of your chest.

Quiet for a moment. Then… “I’m curious.”

The thing is, he doesn’t sound like he’s joking or even teasing you. No, he sounds… well. Curious.

“I don’t know,” you say, deciding screw it and looking at him. Your hands grow clammy around your camera. You let it fall, hanging from your neck.

You tug distractedly at your shirt. It’s a comfortable day, so you’re in an outfit similar to the day you and he had Rico’s, with your Docs, your over-the-knee black socks, denim shorts and black cherry lip lacquer. Except it’s not your Wonder Woman shirt, but the Padres jersey you’d been generously gifted by the team. A rusty brown kind of color, with golden trims and San Diego written across the front. Nothing else on the back. You wear it unbuttoned, though, with a black lace trim cami underneath; the jersey is a tad oversized at your request, so the ends fall down a little bit past your hips. Your nails are painted black again.

When Miyuki saw you after picking you up from your apartment, he said if you were going to be friends, you had to have his jersey, too, so he was getting you one immediately. You said that wouldn’t help your dating rumors at all. He said Do you really care what they think, tomcat?

“I don’t know,” you say again. Unsure if it’s to his question about criteria or your own thoughts.

(But you know — your answer to whether you care what others think, you mean. Not the press, not the media, not the fans who think you’re trying to steal his money — and they can die mad about it, too, because nine out of ten times, he’s insisting on paying and since you only make enough to pay rent, feed yourself and your pets, and sustain a Spotify subscription, well, why the hell are you going to say no? You don’t care about them, not really. You just care about him. About this. Whatever this is. Real friendship or just his guilt.

But god, you really hope it isn’t that.)

“I don’t think there’s a specific criteria for what classifies a soulmate. That’s the beauty of it. I think Jerry is my soulmate but I think Batman and Robin are my soulmates, too. My pets, I mean, not the actual characters.”

He smiles. Your heart does that funny thing again.

“But you know how I am. I love love. I love humanity. I love the strangers I see on the streets being kind to one another, the baby who smiles at me on the bus. It’s just… it’s not hard. It’s easy.”

“Aren’t you afraid of getting hurt?”

“What’s life without a little heartbreak? Yeah, I’ll get hurt and I’ll lose a little part of my heart but at the end of the day, I’ve got people to help me fill it back up. I don’t think you can go through life and get a fulfilling experience if you try to protect yourself constantly, never be willing to let someone else handle it.”

You pause, a question on the tip of your tongue, unsure if you can go ahead with it.

“Ask,” he says quietly. “We’re friends. Friends ask each other questions.”

You smile at him repeating your words from last week.

“Well… do you have people like that?”

He looks ahead, pensive. Quiet long enough that you know you won’t get an answer. Not now, anyhow. And that’s okay.

He’s spoken of his old friends from high school. Told you plenty of amusing stories from that time. Told you about how they lost Nationals in his first and second year, then won it in his third. Told you about Kuramochi Youichi, who ‘is sharper than he looks and surprisingly reliable, too,’ and Sawamura Eijun, who is ‘obnoxiously loud and passionate and won’t ever leave you alone, but he’s one hell of a guy.’

Miyuki bared a lot to you. But there’s still more to him. You think that’s how it will always be, you peeling the layers back one by one, discovering who he is. Then perhaps one day, you might get the privilege of holding his heart in your hands.

You continue to explore the aquarium for a little while longer.

Outside, they have tide pools, with sea stars, sea anemones, hermit crabs, sea cucumbers, lobsters, and other little creatures swim around. You can even dip your hand inside and feel them.

Miyuki refuses (“My hands are my life!”) but you get him to join you, only by guiding his arm under yours, your hand pressed over the back of his. He squirms at the feeling of the creatures brushing up against his palm and you beam.

Afterward, you check out their penguin exhibit, where they have a feeding show as well. Then you start to feel hungry.

“They have a cafe here, don’t they?” Probably exorbitantly priced but you know the aquarium is owned by UC San Diego and they’re doing lots of conservation efforts so you don’t mind. Even if the tickets were twenty-five bucks a pop.

“Not necessary,” Miyuki says.

You chuckle at his matter-of-fact tone. “Why not?”

“I brought food.” He opens the messenger bag he’s had over his shoulder, showing you two bentos. You’d been curious about it but didn’t ask. Now you know.

“Are you allowed to bring that in?” you ask curiously.

He shrugs. “They didn’t say anything to me about it.”

Well. You can never say no to his cooking.

The two of you find a picnic bench near the cafe. Not many people are outside but you still sit with your backs to everything else, anyway.

He made thick club sandwiches with mayo, ketchup, cooked ham, bacon, cheese, an over medium egg, lettuce, and tomato. It is paired with spam musubi, made of mixed grain rice with furikake, spam, egg, and nori, then wrapped with seaweed. It’s delicious, as usual.

You eat in a companionable silence. You feel a little sleepy, too, since you slept intermittently while running the show last night. It runs on weekdays but not weekends, but since yesterday was Monday, you had no choice but to stay up late, then get back to your apartment at four where you slept until eleven.

Overhead, the sun is out, shining down warmly on you, mitigating the effects of the cool breeze that rustles your hair occasionally.

This is nice.

It’s always nice but…

You find yourself increasingly appreciative of these stolen moments of peace.

You finish your food. Miyuki wordlessly offers you his water bottle, which you gladly accept, washing down your food with still-cold water. You pass it back afterward unthinkingly. You don’t quite realize what you did until you see him looking at something in the corner of your eye and you turn to see, too. Only to wince when you realize he is staring at the rim of the bottle, where a dark imprint of your lips lingers behind.

“Shit, sorry —”

“It’s fine,” he says, shaking his head a little, then swiping a thumb over it. But the attempt to clean it doesn’t work. It smears over the white of the water bottle and on the pad of his thumb instead. He blinks and stares at his thumb, the stain darker than the light brown of his skin.

“It’s… long lasting,” you stammer, embarrassed as you turn to rifle through your tote bag, pulling out a small pack of makeup wipes.

You pull one out, then lean over to clean the rim of the bottle, black cherry staining the wipe. He doesn’t let go, so you just move into his space to do it, embarrassed for the most part.

Once the bottle is clean, you turn to his hand, cleaning the lacquer from his thumb.

“Sorry,” you mutter, lifting your eyes to him.

You freeze as you realize how close you two are. You’re in his space. Your legs pressed against each other, your hand on his. The heat of him bleeds through his jeans, warding off any chills from the cool breeze. And he’s looking at you.

He’s looking at you.

This close, you can see how thick his lashes are, amber brown eyes flecked with gold, burning through you, and you can see the faint tan lines on his face, from his glasses or from his catcher’s mask, who knows, but it’s a decidedly endearing tidbit of information that you tuck away behind your ribcage.

Your heart pounds fast. Heat rises within you, ballooning in your chest. You don’t know what to do — you should pull away but…

You don’t want to.

The realization is enough to make you feel dizzy. Or it could be that you’re so close, you can smell his shampoo, something spicy and warm.

“You asked me earlier,” he begins quietly, surprising you, making you pull back a fraction and your hand jerk (the two of you are in public and granted he has a cap on but still; if the press caught this, they’d have a field day). But he doesn’t let you go, plucking the wipe from your hand with his left hand, while his right, the one that had the stain, closes around yours.

“About whether I have anyone,” he goes on. “The truth is, I’m not sure I do.”

You soften. “Why not?”

“It’s only me over here. Well… there’s Chris but he’s in Toronto with the Blue Jays. He’s… got his own life to handle. My friends from school… they’re all back in Japan and truthfully, I’m not as great a friend as I should be to them. They’re good, they’ve always been, but me…”

He finally looks away from you, sighing. You’re pressed to his side since he has your right hand clasped in his right, your arms and legs pressed together. It’s a bit of an awkward angle but you ignore that, happy to be this close. Happy to have him opening up even if it makes you sad.

“I’m the variable in the equation. And the fact that I’m here and not there… after everything… next to impossible.”

The new information you’d learned from Jerry about his second season with the Braves springs to the forefront of your mind.

“After everything?” you ask hesitantly. You don’t want to assume.

He looks at you. “You know.”

Guilt curls in your chest. “I only found out recently. I didn’t… Before that, I had no idea that had happened.”

He looks away again, fingers tugging the bill of his cap.

“Her name is Mia. She was six when it happened. She just turned ten a few weeks ago.” He digs out his phone. Shows you a picture of a little girl with a gap-toothed smile, dressed in a baseball uniform, with a glove on her hand. “She still wants to play baseball. Be the first girl to join the Majors. After everything, the least I can do is make sure she has every chance to.”

“That’s… really nice of you, you know.”

He doesn’t respond to that, putting his phone. “I assume you know how that season turned out, then.”

The worst slump of his career.

You don’t say that. You don’t say anything. You just look at him, heart aching on his behalf.

He leans back, looking up at the sky. “They tried. They did. But up until then… accidents like that didn’t happen for me.”

You stay quiet. A slow breeze flutters his hair.

“When I was a kid… I was smaller than most of the kids on my team. Much smaller than them. I said things — the truth, it was only ever the truth, to make us better — and they didn’t like that. I saw no use in fighting back. I’d show them on the field. But what that taught me… violence has no place in baseball. Not that kind of violence. Say what you want on the field, in your plays, but… you ruin the game by doing anything else.”

Your heart aches; it feels like each beat it takes is harder than the last. “Miyuki…”

“I know,” he sighs. “I didn’t try to hit her. I didn’t. But indirectly… it was my fault, my actions. More than that… why didn’t they have netting there? Why were there no precautions in place? Why’d it take so long for someone to get to them?”

Tension bubbles in the air. Everything about him sharpens in that moment, anger taking over; a dormant anger, the kind you hold onto, brutal and unforgiving. Not something new.

He looks at you. Sunlight turns his eyes honey brown but they’re hard, burning.

“Do you know what they told me? The park, MLB? They just said, that’s just how things are here. Fans didn’t want netting there. This is America. But that’s too easy. They just don’t want to lose the money in the initial stages. But people would come. They always will. But how could they make that expense? Of course not.” He lets out a slow exhale, some tension unwinding from his shoulders. “I didn’t let it go. They threatened suspension.”

“What?”

“Her mom told me to let it go. The park would put up netting, but it would just be them. No one else would follow suit. Not until one of their fans almost died from a foul ball or a broken bat flying into the stands.”

“That’s…”

“I’m biding my time,” he says, speaking with a kind of ruthless finality that raises the hair on the back of your neck. “A few more years before my age catches up with me and they start putting me on the back-burner. I’ll do it then.”

He is prepared to scorch the earth and salt it behind him, too, for this. You can’t say you disagree with him.

“Anyway,” he sighs, thumb idly rubbing over your hand; you suppress a shiver at the feeling, catcher’s callouses ticklish against your skin. “All of that happened that year, that summer. My friends, they tried, but… nothing could be done. Things got… better when I moved out here. But the damage had been done. I couldn’t try turning up pretending everything was fine. A younger me would’ve but I can’t do things like that anymore. We made some progress but… like I said. They’re there and I’m here. The variable in the equation.”

“I’m sure they wouldn’t mind a call from you. Anything, really. I don’t get the sense they’ll abandon you.”

“Maybe.”

“Everyone has their issues, Miyuki,” you say softly. “No one is perfect. But you’re trying, aren’t you? Right now, you’re trying. You don’t have to. You could’ve just told me to go to hell and that… well. That would’ve been fine. But you’re trying.”

He looks back at you. The look in his eyes makes your stomach flip-flop and your heart pound.

“You remind me of them, you know. Both of them.”

“Naive?”

“You and I both know you aren’t naive. No… you’re hopeful.”

Warmth spools like cotton candy in your chest. Your face warms and you smile, leaning your head on your shoulder.

“And a little annoying. Admit it. It’s okay. Everyone should be a little annoying and off-putting every now and then.”

He chuckles, a small smile tugging at his mouth as he looks down at you. “A little annoying sometimes, yes. But it’s fine. Think I need to be annoyed every now and then. Probably payback for all the people I’ve annoyed when I was a kid.”

“You were just a kid. Let yourself off the hook. Though, I do agree that you should be annoyed every now and then. You certainly are annoying now. Well. A bit more than every now and then.”

“Don’t lie to me. I rarely annoy you. You’re just so… impossible to get worked up.”

“I let it go. I know you’re just like that. No reason in getting bothered about it.” You elbow him gently. “But there are limits, alright? You’re a grown man. Act accordingly.”

He laughs hard, for a reason you don’t understand, but you don’t care. You like the way his eyes crinkle.

“You aren’t wrong!” he says when he finishes, grinning down at you. “Starting to think I should. Like maybe talking to my friends more. Maybe… give them a call like you say.”

You smile. “That sounds like a good start.”

“And I think… I think I should be a little more appreciative of the friend I have here with me right now.”

“Oh, yeah?” you ask, beyond pleased.

“So… you should start calling me Kazuya.”

“Wait — what —” you jerk and he quickly lets go of your hand to sling an arm around your shoulder and pull you low against his chest. It’s not particularly romantic because he kind of has you hunched over against his stomach.

“Miyuki, what — hey, this isn’t comfortable…”

“I’m sorry, who are you talking to? That bird over there?”

“That’s a squirrel.”

“Question still stands. He doesn’t look like a Miyuki to me. He looks like a… Nori.”

“Miyuki.”

He doesn’t acknowledge you.

Your face burns. You groan. You should be happy — you are happy. You know how big this kind of thing is. But you’re also embarrassed. Why are you embarrassed?

Being given the privilege of his name doesn’t mean anything other than you two are friends. And he said it himself.

You’re friends. This is just what friends do.

(Yeah, you know this sounds like you’re trying to convince yourself.

You are.)

“Kazuya.”

“Now we’re talking about me. Very nice.”

He lets go. You glare a little at him as you come back up. He just smiles. It’s far too bewitching for you to really be annoyed with him.

“Have any more room?”

“For?”

He rifles around the bag next to him, pulling out an orange.

You melt like butter in a pan.

“Sure, yeah.”

Kazuya (gah, that’s weird… but not in a bad way) proceeds to peel it expertly by hand, dropping orange peels into the now-empty bento box. Citrusy orange tickles your nose pleasantly.

He splits off a few wedges for you. You take it, pulling one free. He pulls one free for himself. You sit side by side eating the orange together wedge by wedge.

Yeah. You’re thinking about it.

You know — the poem.

You know the one.

“What are you smiling about?”

“Do I need a reason to smile?”

He eyes you and the look on his face is both amused and fond but mostly fond. “I guess not.”

[Night Owl Transcript — 20:31 — 12/15/2022]

Tee: I just… I love poetry. I think poetry is great. Mouser’s rolling his eyes but that’s just ‘cause he likes nonfiction better, which is fine. I like both. Oh, someone on Twitter is asking what brought this on. Um. Nothing in particular at all. [Laughs]

[DNCE’s “Unsweet” starts playing in the background]

Tee: But if you guys have any favorites, send them my way. I’m always happy to get new material.

[“Unsweet” starts playing] I want you unsweet You satisfy me That brutal honesty Won't you pour your heart out on me?

[Off-air recording starts] Mouser: What are you smiling about? Tee: I just think… the universe is great. Mouser: Right. Sure. Tee: Soooo. Mouser: [Laughing] What? Tee: I’ve come to a realization. Mouser: And that is? Tee: I like Kazuya. Mouser: Jesus Christ. Tee: I mean, look at this queue. It wasn’t intentional but… Angel Baby. Attention. I’ll Be Waiting. It’s so… Mouser: [Laughing] You’re in love with this guy! Tee, Mouser: [Laughter] Tee: Ohhh. That is so… It’s fine. It’s cool. It’s chill. We’re chill. Mouser: Hehe, wait, are you, like, just realizing this? Like actually? Tee: Yeah. Tee, Mouser: [Laughter] Mouser: [Laughing] And you’re spending the holidays with him! Tee, Mouser: [Laughter] Tee: I know! I know… but it was just convenient. When the plans were made, I mean, ‘cause my sister and Hector are going out of the country and I could spend it with the family but… then he’d be alone. Mouser: What do the kids call that? Down bad. You are down bad. Tee: [Laughing] I know! It’s just… you don’t even realize it, the way he gets to you. It sneaks up on you. And then one day — today — you’re just like… Huh. He tries to seem so aloof, like he doesn’t care, but he does. A lot. I think that’s partially why he is the way he is. Mouser: He’s also nice to look at it. Tee: Really nice.

[Lolo Zouaï’s “Blur” plays next] Last night was a blur I stayed till the morning Let you call me your girl That don’t mean I’m falling (But I think I might) You’re every single thing that I deserve Maybe that’s too boring

Tee: Hey, you know I love you, right? Mouser: I know. I love you, too. Tee: Good. I don’t want you to think… I mean, I know you don’t but, like, let me just reassure you… just ‘cause I like Kazuya like that won’t change anything between us. You’re my Mouser. My guy in the chair. The Donna Troy to my Dick Grayson. Mouser: You geek. You’re the Chewie to my Han. Tee: I think I’m more Han than you but since we’re having a nice moment, I’ll let it go. Mouser: Andddd the moment is over.

You have no idea if Kazuya listens to the show.

You don’t really know how to feel about it if he does.

Mostly because, around him, you’re already feeling a whirlwind of emotions. More so because you’ve planted your white flag and given in. Given in to the fact that you do like him. That you like when he smiles, those rarities that make you appreciate them all the more, that you like the way his eyes crinkle when he laughs that stupid laugh of his.

That you like his thoughtfulness, that he goes the full nine yards even when you tell him he doesn’t have to. He stopped buying shellfish for himself, even though you’d adamantly told him he didn’t have to do that, that all you asked if he hung out with you when he had it was wash his hands and if you were eating at his place, avoid cross-contamination. No. He just got rid of it completely. Not like I’m cutting out fish entirely, he told you. I still have my seafood.

You like how he pays attention to you, he remembers things, like when you mentioned, a month ago, that you were trying to complete your collection of the Batman: No Man’s Land omnibuses by getting the second book and you also wanted to get the Batman: Road to No Man’s Land omnibus, too. They’re just ridiculously expensive — Volume 2 of NML is $150 and RTNML is $125. He surprises you with them a few days after your realization, says he was just passing a comic book store and braved the geeks to get it for you and that it looked mildly intriguing, so you have to let him read Volume 1, it’s only fair.

It’s so surprising, so unexpected and emotionally overwhelming for you that you throw your arms around with him without thinking it through.

“And what will the press think?” he teases, but he still wraps his arms around you and there, in his embrace, everything feels right, like a puzzle piece sliding into place.

You would know. You’re, like, the leading authority on puzzles.

“Screw the press,” you mumble into his hoodie.

You don’t want to say something like, Well, this is just a platonic hug between friends. It aches too much. Like you can pretend you don’t want to stay here forever. Like you can pretend the urges to touch him freely aren’t growing stronger every day, minute by minute.

But that won’t happen. You know it won’t. You’re a hypocrite for doing this, really, but the truth is, you’re selfish enough to want to keep him as a friend, if anything else. No use in ruining things by inserting feelings into the equation. You don’t want to lose him. You really, truly don’t.

You’ll just wait for it to abate, for it to go away. It will. It’s the third week of December. The new year is creeping closer and closer. On February fifteenth, he is due to report in Peoria, Arizona for spring training; pitchers and catchers report on that day, before the rest of the team. From there, he won’t be back in San Diego until late March. Opening Day is April first. And from there… well. One-hundred-and-sixty-two games in the MLB’s regular season, from April to September.

That’s only two months away. The thought is… sobering. Makes something inside you stiffen up but you tell yourself it’s fine. The distance might help. It will.

You surely won’t compromise your relationship with him to get rid of these feelings, no way, they’ll just… be there. And if you get help in moving on from them with his busy season, well. That’s just how the cards fall.

You let go before you get carried away, leaning down to deposit your gift in the car. A cool breeze flutters through your hair; you shiver a little. The breeze is cool but the day is pleasant enough with the sun is out. Still, you find yourself dressing a little more conservatively today, in a pair of mom jeans and a brand-new eggplant purple Night Owl crewneck.

Yes, you’re wearing your own merch. But this is more of a test-run, to see that it actually is comfortable before you release it.

The ocean sprawls out ahead of you, gravel leading to soft white sand, overgrown grass and weeds sprouting from the fence that separates the parking lot from the beach.

While you carefully put away the bag, behind you, Kazuya types on his phone.

He called them — Kuramochi, Sawamura — a few weeks ago, finally taking that leap. Things are on the mend for them, you think. The thing is, they text a lot.

“Texting your friends?”

He hums absently. You turn away from the passenger side and creep up next to him, deftly stealing his phone.

“Wh — oi!” He sounds vaguely panicked for a reason you aren’t sure of but he has nothing to worry about.

“Relax, dude. I can’t read any of this.”

He snorts, looking relieved, then he switches gears, trying to look sternly at you. “Give me back my phone, brat.”

“Just for that?”

Despite everything being in Japanese, you know the symbol for the camera anywhere. You click it, opening the front camera, snapping a quick selfie of you, your wine-purple lips (you gotta match, man!) spread in a grin, peace sign thrown up, while he tries to grab you in the background.

You send it just as he steals his phone back, laughing and pushing you gently.

“Bothersome.”

“I get it from you.”

He rolls his eyes, still grinning, types a few things, then puts his phone away. You two go back to the car, where he uses you to balance himself as he rolls up his jeans and pulls off his socks and shoes.

As he straightens, his eyes find your crewneck. He blinks, head tilting. He puts his shoes away.

“So, you guys aren’t being shut down, then.”

You plant a hand on his offered arm and bend down to do the same with your shoes. Since you’d agreed to stop by the beach, you’d chosen a pair of sneakers rather than your Docs. Your camera hangs around your neck.

Things are going well. Whether Night Owl is doing well because you’re constantly photographed hanging out with Kazuya (and constantly being accused of dating) or because the people who listened to you out of curiosity or word of mouth decided to stay because they liked the content and the music, you have no idea.

But you don’t care. Both work just fine in your opinion. Either way, KCSD isn’t going to shut you down. No way. Not with the kind of traffic you get.

Questions about merch increased, which pleased the company beyond end, but you had to go in there and negotiate. They didn’t get to take all the money. No. You think, after you and Jerry manning this show for several years, that you two deserve a pay raise. And updated equipment. You could probably ask for a bigger studio but you like it the way it is, honestly. Cozy.

They’d agreed, of course. The reason they’re getting money is because of you and Jerry. You two are in positions to negotiate like that.

So, you and Jerry have been creating all kinds of designs and ideas over the last few weeks. You’d settled on shirts, crewnecks, hoodies, and stickers. It’s eggplant purple, with a cartoonish owl and one of those old-world microphones, the silver ones.

(You couldn’t do a Tom and Jerry thing, since, you know. Copyright issues. Thankfully everyone is aware of that and also don’t want you guys to be slapped with a cease and desist.)

“No,” you say, bare feet sinking into the sand; it’s not warm but it’s not cold, either. Somewhere in the middle. “They aren’t shutting us down. Things are going well.”

“Had me thinking otherwise since you’re wearing your own merch.”

You laugh. “Just testing it out. Making sure it’s fit to be released to the listeners. Can’t give them shoddy work.”

“Does your fan base have a name? Since you’re releasing merch…”

The two of you start walking.

“There’s actually this organization in the comics called the Court of Owls. There’s no real name for the members themselves but they do employ these superhuman beings called Talons.”

“Naturally.”

“But we nixed that one. They’re kind of… evil. Organized crime type situation.”

“Probably for the best.”

“The best we’ve come up with is Owlers.”

He snickers. You laugh.

“Yeah, I know. Not great. Night Owl’s name itself is pretty self-explanatory. There isn’t a lot to pull from it.”

“Well, this —” he tugs at your crewneck “— probably makes up for it. Where’s mine, by the way?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize —”

“You should’ve realized. I don’t accept your apology.”

You laugh loudly, your eyes taking in the tan sand and the blue waves stretching out into oblivion. Foamy tides lap at the shoreline. One part of you wants to dip your toes into it but you know you’ll be disappointed. The water is too cold to enjoy.

A salty breeze kisses your face. You’ve missed the beach. You haven’t been in a while. This one is fairly empty, with only a few people around. At Scripps Pier, a quarter of a mile from Torrey Pine, that’s where you two are. It’s the same area as Black’s Beach, which is clothing optional but you know that if you continue south of the lifeguard tower, almost no one is around. So, no accidental eyefuls of naked people.

He grins at you, looking all kinds of dashing with the breeze ruffling his hair, his dark blue crewneck pretty against his skin, the sun shining down on him.

“So, then,” he starts casually in a way that has you raising an eyebrow, “you won’t be taking that offer.”

You cock your head, confused, before he nods at the camera in your hands.

“Oh. Oh. God, I completely forgot about that. God. That was weird.” You raise the viewfinder to your eye, capturing the swaths of empty beach ahead of you.

“Why?”

“It just is.”

Click. You let your camera fall back to your neck.

“Well, if you take it, you’ll definitely be spending more time around me and since you want to be best friends forever —”

You grin, face warming. “You can just say you want me to take it. That’s fine.”

“Hm.” He tilts his face up thoughtfully. “I do want you to take it. I mean, I think it’d be nice. But I also know you’re happy with Night Owl, which is admittedly cooler.”

“Hey, don’t disrespect your photographers like that.”

He shoves you gently, rolling his eyes. “I’m trying to compliment you and this is what I get.”

You grin, falling back a few steps and raising the viewfinder to your eye again, moving until he’s in your frame.

“See?” he says, lips quirked, hands tucked in his pocket. “Aren’t you having a great time taking pictures of me?”

Click.

“Well, if I want to take pictures of you, all we have to do is this.”

He laughs and it sounds genuine. Click. “Touché, tomcat. Touché.”

Warmth unspools in your chest, ballooning there until you feel like you might float up. His eyes twinkle with something warm as he looks at you. The urge to feel his arms around you swells with vicious intensity, until you’re choking on it.

“Hey. Let me see that.”

You let him tug the camera from your neck, resisting a shiver when his fingers brush the skin there.

“You need merchandise shots, don’t you?” he asks, backing up, eyes on the screen. He knows his way around it. For the most part. You taught him that.

“I think I need merchandise shots of you. You’ve been great for business.” You still toss your tote bag to the side.

He barks out a laugh. “As soon as I get my own patented Night Owl merch. Then I’m yours.”

Your heart leaps in your chest. Like it wants to go to him.

If only.

He raises the viewfinder to his eye.

You smile, holding out your hands. “What am I supposed to do?”

Click.

“Aren’t you the one into photography? Shouldn’t you know?”

You laugh. Click. “Aren’t you the one whose face is plastered all over GQ, Sports Illustrated, and TIME right now?”

“So, you’re the person who bought all my copies at that one Whole Foods?”

“Look, you look good, but there are enough pictures of you primped and preened out there. The fact is, those guys would kill for the ones I have. You know. Candids. The natural state of being. You stuffing your face with black bean noodles from that one restaurant —”

“Those were good noodles! And I looked great!”

“The professional guy in the magazines is great, don’t get me wrong. But I like this version of you, too. You know. Just… you,” you say, smiling as a breeze ruffles through your hair. Click. That one surprises you.

It’s maybe too honest on your part. But that’s fine. You think he needs to know that. You like the oh-so-professional Miyuki Kazuya on the field and you like him off the field, too, behind closed doors, teasing you constantly with rare, unexpected bouts of sensitivity, recipe testing in his kitchen, his competitiveness coming out when you try to complete thousand piece puzzles, and binge-watching episodes of House (because of course he likes that show).

Despite what he likes to think, he is… good. Truly.

Click. He adjusts something.

“You should get your bag,” he says instead of responding to that. You don’t mind but —

“What?”

“I said, you should get your bag. A seagull is digging through it.”

“Wha — HEY! Get out of there!”

The seagull flies off. You snatch up your bag. Kazuya laughs so hard, you think he might bust a lung. You can’t help it, either. It only takes a second for you to start laughing, too.

“Did you get that?!”

Still laughing, he nods, holding out the camera. You hurry to his side, uncontrollable giggles spilling out of you.

Sure enough, in perfect clarity, he documented the entire thing.

A few days later, Night Owl’s merchandise goes up, on a brand new website for the segment. The pictures before tragedy struck you on the beach go up, along with some of Jerry, and then one of Kazuya. Theirs get taken at the same beach. The Padres’ socials post them, too.

And yours, documenting ‘Seagullgate,’ go up on Twitter as a bloopers thing. It becomes your most liked Tweet. (Especially when people find out who was behind the camera.)

[Night Owl Transcript — 20:48 — 12/21/2022]

Tee: Thank you guys for your continued support with the merch stuff. None of you are obligated to buy anything and honestly if you listen, that’s pretty much all we need but still. Thank you.

[Pale Waves’ “My Obsession” plays] You're such a mess but you're always beautiful to me Run your fingers across my mouth I'm not prepared to stay here without you

[Off-air recording starts] Mouser: Hm. Tee: What? Mouser: Today’s queue… Tee: Let me live, Jer. I’m pining. Mouser: Well, don’t just admit it! Tee: Hey, we’re not live, right? Mouser: No. Tee: Thank god. Could you imagine? Mouser: I would laugh. Tee: What? My best friend… my Mouser… my Donna Troy… how could you betray me like that? Mouser: Admit it. It’d be hilarious. Tee: In hindsight maybe. If it didn’t blow up in my face. Like the kind of thing you laugh about when you’re eighty. Mouser: Oh, come on. That guy likes you. Why else would he agree to taking pictures for us? Tee: Um. We’re friends? Duh. Mouser: Sure, but he also looks at you like you hung the moon in the sky. Tee: Hmm. Mouser: Why do I even try? Tee: Hey, if this is being recorded, where does it go? Mouser: I… actually have no idea. Tee: We should find out. We’ve talked a lot of shit about the supervisors on here. Mouser: [Laughing]

[Seulgi’s “Anywhere But Home” plays next] Baby 그런적없니넌? 아무런계획없이떠나고싶은밤

Please take me anywhere but home Take me anywhere Please take me anywhere Gotta take me anywhere Take me anywhere but home

Slowly

the dogfish tore open the soft basins of water.

You don’t want to hear the story of my life, and anyway I don’t want to tell it, I want to listen

to the enormous waterfalls of the sun.

And anyway it’s the same old story-- a few people just trying, one way or another, to survive.

Mostly, I want to be kind. And nobody, of course, is kind, or mean, for a simple reason.

And nobody gets out of it, having to swim through the fires to stay in this world.

#daiya no ace #daiya no ace x reader #ace of diamond #ace of diamond x reader #miyuki kazuya #miyuki kazuya x reader #moss writes

20 notes · View notes

heavenlyhoundoom · 9 months ago

Text

Sun and Friends show favorites.

1.Color

Sun: Yellow.

Moon: Dark blue.

Earth: Forest green.

Eclipse: Orange.

Lunar: Sky blue.

Ruin: No preference.

Hunter: Red.

Scythe: Red and blue.

Trashcan Man: Light blue.

Roxy: Red.

Freddy: Beige.

Monty: Neon green.

Chica: Pink.

Stitchwraith: Black.

Orville: Purple.

Nedd Bear: Red.

Happyfrog: Yellow.

Pigpatch: Brown.

Mr.Hippo: Teal.

2.Animal

Sun: Hedgehogs.

Moon: Cats.

Earth: Axolotls.

Eclipse: Bearded dragons.

Lunar: Rabbits.

Ruin: Opossums.

Hunter: Honey badgers.

Scythe: Vampire bats.

Trashcan Man: Rats.

Roxy: Cheetahs.

Freddy: Owls.

Monty: Rhinos.

Chica: Red pandas.

Stitchwraith: Vipers.

Orville: Ravens.

Nedd Bear: Llamas.

Happyfrog: Chinchillas.

Pigpatch: Donkeys.

Mr.Hippo: Toucans.

3.Food

Sun: Fruit salad.

Moon: Bagel sandwich.

Earth: Froot loops cereal.

Eclipse: Hot pockets.

Lunar: Sugar cookies.

Ruin: Pasta salad.

Hunter: Rare steak.

Scythe: Smoked salmon.

Trashcan Man: Vegetable soup.

Roxy: Sushi.

Freddy: Pepperoni pizza.

Monty: Nachos.

Chica: Pinapple pizza.

Stitchwraith: Spicy ramen.

Orville: Lasagna.

Nedd Bear: Cheeseburger.

Happyfrog: Strawberry cheesecake.

Pigpatch: Beef brisket.

Mr.Hippo: Fish and chips.

4.Drinks

Sun: Lemonade.

Moon: Lavender tea.

Earth: Water.

Eclipse: Iced coffee.

Lunar: Ramune.(marble soda)

Ruin: Fruit mocktails.

Hunter: Vodka.

Scythe: Black coffee.

Roxy: Rockstar energy.

Freddy: Latte.

Monty: Gatorade.

Chica: Strawberry milkshake.

Stitchwraith: Bloody Mary Cocktails.

Orville: Red wine.

Nedd Bear: Hot cocoa.

Happyfrog: Matcha bubble tea.

Pigpatch: Bourbon.

Mr.Hippo: Pinapple juice.

#fnaf #glamrock freddy #glamrock chica #montgomery gator #roxanne wolf #sundrop #moondrop #mediocre melodies #sun and moon show #sams lunar #sams eclipse #sams earth #sams bloodmoon #sams ruin #fnaf stitchwraith #trashcan man #alternate universe

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monochromefilms · 2 years ago

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TWST ORIGINAL FAIRYTALES AU Character list

The original fairytale also contains the more twisted versions of a fairytale that I can find.

Each counterpart person is sorted by the dorms.

Names that are crossed out do not have a counter part. Or do not have a counterpart just yet. I will add more.

The cards named represents horoscopes. For Heartsylbul they also represent their assigned cards.

Heartsylbul

These students will also contain in their cards what they align with.

Riddle Rosehearts : Quenby Court Age: 17 Dorm: Rose Maze Status Socially: Head Butler, Vice housewarden. Status Familial sense: Family is Unknown. Younger twin. Cards: 2 of hearts, King of hearts, 5 of hearts. The Magician.

a 5ft 8in tall man with neatly combed white hair.

Quenby is the right hand man of Lady Rosetta. He acts as the king to his lady's Queen of hearts.

He is passive, poise, and calm. He is very passive. He simply acts loyal to his Lady Rosetta simply because he has too. It's also because he used to be a lowly servant until his twin and him were brought to her level. He doesn't want to go back any lower so he tries to stay as long as he can. He can be seen as the head butler or Vice housewarden. He has quite a short temper.

Trey Clover : Apricot-Sage (No last name) Age: 18 Dorm: Rose Maze Status Socially: Angel faced, Musically gifted Status Familial sense: Oldest son of three siblings. Cards: 2 of clubs, 3 of clubs. Wheel of Fortune.

A 6ft 2in feminine looking man with flowing locks of matcha and forest green tied with a white silk ribbon, his bangs decorated with a multitude of black bobby pins.

He is known to have terrible luck in any relationship deemed romantic in any sense or term even when the relationship isn't even romantic. His pathways in his life is to be blocked or stopped momentarily. With every good thing to come for him, another blocks him. He works under Lady Rosetta as a servant, he can be seen playing a harp or lyre in the Rose Maze dormitory's garden during unbirthday parties.

Cater Diamond

Ace Trappola

Deuce Spades

The students after this dorm with playing cards represent their horoscopes.

Savanaclaw

Leona Kingscholar

Ruggie Bucchi

Jack Howl

Octavanille

Azul Ashengrotto : Ainsley Amphit Age: 17 Dorm : Coral View Status socially: Nurse assistant, Doctor, House warden of Coral View. Status Familial sense: Oldest born son out of two siblings. Cards: King of Swords, 4 of Clubs.

The 6ft 1in multi-tasker, doctor, and housewarden of Coral view.

His slicked back silvery-lilac roots with brown locks, sharp silver eyes, with his multitude of freckles. Under his surgical mask most hides his sneer.

He hates germs and mostly cares for another student, (Arielle based character). He is commonly seen alone in the infirmary. He has a cold demeanor and a slightly intimidating aura but he will help you for a price. Nobody knows what the price is, all they know is that it's a big price.

He is known to hide his face when he feels strong emotions or to run and hide.

Jade Leech

Floyd Leech

Pomefiore

Vil Schoenheit : Narcissus Wunderbar Age: 18 Dorm: Aphrodite's blessing Status Socially: Head of Wunderbar company of Arts, Housewarden. Status Familial sense: First born son of his father's side, Oldest of two siblings and sons. Cards: 5 of hearts, The chariot.

The young head of The Wunderbar Company. He stands at 6ft 2in. with red-black hair and silver eyes. His hair reaches a bit bellow his shoulders in the latest styles. He dresses in the most fashionable outfits and has a face that can reach most standards of beauty.

When he talks, it always seems cold and unwelcoming. I swear he isn't, its just that he is paranoid of who to trust.

Rook Hunt : Marita Jaegar

Epel Felmier

Diasomnia

Malleus Draconia

Lilia Vanrouge

Silver

Sebek Zigvolt

Ignihyde

Idia Shroud

Ortho Shroud

Scarabia

Kalim Al-Sim

Jamil Viper

Staff

Dire Crowley : Unnamed

Divus Crewel

Mozus Trein : Unnamed

Ashton Vargas

Sam

Other Characters

Yuu : Vi

Grim

Neige LeBlanc

Che'nya Pinker

Rollo Flamm

Lady Rosetta

Marie Amphite

Zephyr Atrite

Elio Giorno

Marcello Giorno

Aidean Grimm

Elliot Tran

Aster Lidell

Ann-Marie Lidell

#twst au #yuu au #twisted wonder land au #twst x reader #twst x yuu

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twistyprefect · 2 years ago

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MMM: (G) Care of Magical Creatures

"I think I have Care of Magical Creatures." They said, showing the timetable with the abbreviation to the table. Ace and Deuce grinned, with Jack nodding happily.

"Us too! Cool." Deuce said, grinning and giving the prefect a thumbs up. They smiled and gave him a thumbs up back before turning back to their breakfast. The other Gryffindors kept eating and chatting, preparing for the upcoming class. Jack seemed the most excited for it, though it was a bit hard to tell. They glanced at Epel, who had mentioned his Divination class which earned some teasing from Ace. The prefect smiled at their newfound friends, hopeful for their future in the house of the lions.

The group headed down to the forest edge, where Professor Serephim was waiting for them. She smiled and introduced herself, telling the students to sit in groups and wait for the rest of their class. The prefect smiled as they say with their fellow Gryffindors, joined shortly by Sebek as some Hufflepuffs reached the groups. Another Hufflepuff joined the group, grinning predatorily at the younger students.

"Ruggie! Didn't see you all summer!" Ace said, tossing an extra quill at the newcomer. The Hufflepuff, Ruggie, rolles his eyes and snatched up the quill.

"None of your business." He said, grinning at the ginger. Before Ace could retort, another student plopped down nearby. Ace paled and scooted away from the shorter student with bright red hair, who was glaring at the Gryffindor.

"You better be behaving. I won't hesitate to take off points." the Ravenclaw said. Ace groaned and rolled his eyes, sticking his tongue out.

"Calm down Rosehearts, we're just having fun. That's not against the rules, as much as you wish it was." He retorted, causing the Gryffindor prefect to snort in laughter a bit. The Ravenclaw glanced at them and then back to Ace.

"Whatever." He mummbled before straightening his back, his eyes glancing at three new students nearing the slightly large group. All three were wearing the trademark green and silver uniform of Slytherin. One was freakily tall, with teal hair and a single black streak through it. He looked weirdly similar to Floyd, reminding the prefect that Floyd had mentioned a twin. The second student was a bit shorter, but still seemed kind of tall, his long black hair half braided and pulled back behind his head, his sharp eyes calculating. The student in between them was grinning and looking around excitedly, their two-toned ponytail bobbing as they waved to the professor. They definitely didn't fit in with the other two Slytherins, but it didn't seem to matter to them, or to the students the prefect was sitting with. Jack and Ruggie seemed to be more alert, glancing at the trio of vipers as they approached.

"Room for three more?" The middle student asked, grinning. Ace nodded and grinned back, immediately launching into an inquisition about their summer. The two students chatted eagerly, other members of the group eventually joining in. The prefect glancing around at the new students they hadn't met yet, unable to catch anyone's names yet. The professor clapped to call everyone to attention, splitting everyone into groups to meet some of the creatures they'd be working with that semester. Everyone eagerly gathered into groups, cooing over and petting the animals.

"So, now that you've all met the creatures, I have a surprise for you all! I am giving you a month long project. It will be with a partner, and you will be writing a report on your chosen creature! Multiple groups can do the same creature, but you will still be in pairs." She explained, lining the creatures up. The prefect smiled and looked over all the creatures, trying to decide which to pick.

"I think I'm gonna work with the Diriclaw!" The odd Slytherin (who had eventually introduced themself as December Rubio) said. The tall Slytherin, Jade, nodded in agreement, looking at the bird-like creature again. Jamil, the other Slytherin, expressed his interest in the Knarl, a small hedgehog-like creature. Riddle agreed with him, smacking Ace's head with parchment when the ginger teased him. Ace and Deuce both wanted to work with the Fire Crab, while Jack and Ruggie seemed to be vying for the Hippogriff. Sebek seemed interested in the Glow Bug. The prefect was surprised to see so few students looking at the Bowtrickle, only one small Hufflepuff student with wild blue hair seemed to be interested in it. The prefect considered their options for a moment before deciding on their creature and partner, heading to...

[what creature and which student do you want to work with?]

...the Diriclaw with Jade.

...the Knarl with Jamil.

...the Knarl with Riddle.

...the Fire Crab with Ace.

...the Fire Crab with Deuce.

...the Hippogriff with Jack.

...the Hippogriff with Ruggie.

...the Glow Bug with Sebek.

...the Bowtrickle with the Hufflepuff.

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zyrineasworld · 2 years ago

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CHAPTER 1: THE LORDS

The first ray of sunlight light up inside the forest, green leaves of trees comes to view - swaying and with wind. There's nothing to hear, no birds singing in chorus, just leaves and branch falling off from the tree. Viper, wanders, having no idea where to go but have the courage to wanders alone with only sword. She regret not bringing some protection but she never look back and grab some of it.

She's determine to find that castle and kill that vampire. No matter what it takes, she'll kill her, slice her body into pieces and let her blood drip down until that vampire run out of it. Whatever it takes, she'll kill her and even if she's not the vampire she's looking for, Viper will still slaughter her.

"Going somewhere pretty lady?" Facing her back, Viper wield her sword - ready to kill and protect herself. "Woah... That's a pretty dangerous sword." Said the stranger, he look like he's in his mid 50's, a cigarette in between his lips, a big and hammer on his hand resting on his shoulder, wearing a green long coat that almost touch the ground and his hair was as long as hers - shoulder length black hair.

"Who are you!!" She asked, more like commanding the stranger to say his name. "Ohh.. I see... You're a feisty one..." He said follow by a sinister laugh that send shiver down to the woman's spine, her heart began to beat loud and hard. As the stranger take a step forward, Viper remain on her position, never and didn't even think to move on her spot. "I said who are you!" Now yelling her words like a queen giving command to her soldiers, the strange man halted and smirk.

"Don't fret, pretty lady, I am Karl Heisenberg." He said, raising both of his hand in the air as if he's surrendering himself to the cops. "What do you want from me?" Viper ask once again. "Oh darling, one question at the time, okay?" He said more like seductively, he began to approach Viper, slowly walking forward. "I said. What do you want from me!!" Viper wield her sword in attempt to threaten the man but before her sword met the skin of the so called Karl, he wield his giant hammer and dodge her attack.

"Not so fast, tiger... I'm not gonna hurt you... Well... Not yet." He said as he sway his hammer hard on Viper's sword that caused the woman to accidentally let go of it. The sword fly off her hand and sank on the land as if someone stab the soil. Viper saw it, her heart stop beating for a moment knowing she have no weapon to use for fight. However, it didn't scares her, she position herself and get herself ready to attack the man with her fist.

"A fighter? You surprise me thrice today, lady." He said, still moving forward until he's a meter away from Viper. Not in a mood to talk and have a conversation with a stranger like him, Viper throw her fist attempting to punch Karl but failed as her fist was caught by his hand.

A wide smirk appears on his face as he twisted the woman's arm. Viper groan in pain and try to do the same thing but failed for the second time. Karl twist both of her arms that caused Viper to fall on her knees and groan in pain.

"Well... You shouldn't mess with strangers." He said and back away a little with a sinister laugh. He shove his index finger and thumb on his mouth and starts to whistle, a seconds later a pack of lycans comes to Viper's view. Her breath hitch on her throat as it began to surrounds him.

"Get her... I bet Miranda will be delighted if we bring this mortal to her and... Let's not unfasten and turn a blind eye to at the fact that she looks like him... And act like him." He said, staring directly into Viper's soul, inhaling his cigarette and blowing the smoke.

As the lycans began to touch Viper, the girl tried to fight back still fail, she even passed out after a lycans bump its head hard on her nape. The sinister laugh Karl was making began to lower down, he watch as the lycans carry Viper like a sack of rice.

"Let's go"

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

" ~ She's nothing but a child, mother. The mortal is of no real use to anyone else, she's just a weak thin and small woman. She may resemble him but I can assure you she is nothing. Nevertheless, to make a thing or person sure If you entrust the mortal to House Dimitrescu, my daughter and I shall deliver you the finest cup of her filthy blood."

Waking up with heavy headache, Viper found herself tied up in a chair, hand behind her back, feet and stomach tied up too tight. As her eyes open, a dim light dazzle her and a maniac giggle startle her. The sight of six different kind of weird faces make Viper hold her breath. "What the fuck~" she mumbled by the sight. Monsters everywhere, lycans and different kind of unknown monster. The first one she see is a little creepy doll wearing a wedding dress and it is alive, walking and laughing.

The second one is a creepy walking creature wearing a black coat, it had a creepy claws and its look almost make Viper peed on her pants. The third one is the man he saw and captured her earlier. The fourth one is a person hiding on a black coat, base on its body Viper thought its a woman. She doesn't seems scary than the others, the fifth one is a fine woman who looked like she's in her mid 30's, she's may look like an angel but her vibe didn't passed like an angel.

The last one... The last one made Viper's eyes to widen. The last one is a woman, a very tall woman with a pretty body curve, cigarette on her hand, wearing a beautiful plain white gown and a black large cap. "Ohh great... She's awake~" the doll says with a maniac laugh, hands clapping like a kid. "She's awake~ she's awake~ she's awake~" she sang like a kid.

"Shut the fuck up!!" The only man in the room, Karl, yelled in annoyance. "Oh come on. She is mine and supposed to be mine. What you mean is you will screw her around like what you always do with every mortal you have. Give her to me, Miranda, and I'll put her on a show everyone could enjoy." He argued, finger pointing onto Viper. Her head aches but she understands what they're talking about.

"Oh, so gauche. What do we care for bread and circuses? The mortal's suffering is assured, regardless." The tall woman with an elegant look spoke up. "Yack, yack. The mortal's heart will be ripped off to Castle - blah blah blah!-"

"Shut up!!"

"You shut up!!"

"Both of you. Shut up!!" The looking angel woman yelled earning a flinch from everyone in that room, even Viper flinch. The woman they called, "Miranda" took a deep breath and calm herself down before speaking. "I've heard all your arguments. Some of you are less persuasive than others but I've made my decision... Heisenberg, the mortal's life is in your hand. She will be on your care... At least until my final decision for her fate is finalized."

"What the-" Viper muttered but was shut up when the tall elegant woman stood up and speak up. "Mother Miranda, I must protest! Heisenberg is but a child, and his devotion to you is questionable." She said, now approaching Viper. She lay her index finger on Viper's face and stroke it down until she reach her chest. Viper, on the other hand close her eyes and turn her face on the side, afraid of what she'll do to her.

"Give the mortal to me, and I will ensure she will be good and ready until you are." She added, in attempt to sound more polite. "Shut your damn hole and don't be a cry baby. Go find food somewhere else!!" Karl countered, slapping the tall woman's hand away from Viper. "Quiet now, child! Adults are talking." She said with an insulting tone, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "A child? You are the one who's arguing with Miranda's decision~"

"Ohh~ fight! Fight! Fight!" Everything becomes unclear on Viper's ear as one of the creepy monster lean towards her and cover her ears. Viper open her eyes slowly after that, her eyes then widen seeing the person covered with black coat so close from her. As if the world stops for a minute as her breath hitch on her throat. Now, Viper hear nothing other than her heart beating so loud and fast.

"Who are you?" She manage to mumble under her breath. "Donna." The person under the coat whisper, their voice sounds like a voice of a pretty woman and for some reason, it ease her hammering heart. Viper and Donna stays like that for a minute or two before the woman with the coat take her hands off of Viper's ear and some lycans began to untie her. Viper was puzzled for a second but she understands it faster than she thought when she saw the smirk on the man's face and the annoyance on the tall woman's face.

That same woman groan and stomp away from the room like a kid who does not get her cotton candy after begging for hours. "What's happening? What will you do to me?" She asked, voice cracked. "Nothing fun, unfortunately. You'll just stay on my care..." Heisenberg said, inject a sryinge full of unknown liquid on her neck that makes Viper felt weak before the lycans lift her off and carry her out of the room. Viper wants to fight back but to weak to do that, she was puzzled, scared and frustrated yet she can do nothing but to let those monster carry her.

As they walk passed the tall woman, Viper met those honey eyes of her and made Viper flinch. "Later, super sized bitch" Heisenberg tease the tall woman as he walked past her and follow all his lycans. "Ohh... What a sight to behold... You see that face? That face is what he and I love to stare..." He said, now looking at Viper. "What?" She muttered, confused about his words.

"Nothing..." He said and laugh.

#alcina dimitrescu #alcina dimitrescu x oc #alcina x reader #gxg fluff #lady dimitrescu #resident evil alcina #intothedarkness #viper_ash

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