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reno-writes · 2 years ago

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Embers

[Image by Eiichiro Oda]

Rating: +18, you have been warned. If you are a minor, leave now.

Word count: 4,385

Type: Smut

Characters: reader (AFAB), Sabo, Portgas D. Ace, Luffy, Garp, Eustass Kid (mentioned), Crocodile (mentioned), Marco (mentioned)

Trigger warnings/content: Sex, first time, some talk of gay sex, swearing, babygirl nickname

Notes: Sabo, Ace and Luffy are not actual related brothers, but they are super close friends. Garp is essentially a guardian of these three. Crocodile is an antagonist in ONE PIECE, and Marco is actually a crewmember of Ace's. Thought it would be interesting to put some familiar names in the anime into here. Eustass Kid is just another pirate in ONE PIECE. Just another detail. Sorry its so long!

The rustling of trees, the cracked open window letting in the night breeze, the young blond man climbed down finally as his toes touched the cracked pavement. His scar over his right eye couldn't cover his twinkling happy eyes. Tight black washed out skinny jeans with a hole over his right knee, with his ankle high combat boots to offset his loose white t-shirt. There was something so tantalizing at the sight of such a rebellious boy, waving outside the window. Small droplets of rain starting to fall and make his labrador hair cling to his cheeks. He was the cute one, of course, though it was a secret from one of his brothers, the other brother knew. Waving at the cute figure in the window, he knew that this worked. His charm is what he read in novels, and this was the only time he put this little show on. She waved back, which made him grin ear-to-ear, as he felt the cold drops fall on his hot cheeks. Keeping eye contact as he started to run in the rain, right where he needed to go. The sight of the female in the window disappeared behind a tree he ran past, as the sky turned a dark ash, rain pouring above from the sky. There was a slight buzz coming from his pocket; a new message most likely. Whisking out his small phone, and letting the blue light hit his eyes, he saw the simple message.

[5:48PM Come back, I miss you already.]

Zig-zagging through the nearest park to reach a huge tree that had a rope hanging off a branch, and above that, a tree house with a small emanating orange glow. That could only mean one thing, someone was already at the hideout. The blond grasped the rope, trying to get a tight grip, as someone above must have heard his footsteps approach, opening the hatch on the floor of the tree house to pull him in.

“Hey yo Sabo!” The brother with a loose tank chuckled, raising his eyebrow. Sabo crawled up and closed the hatch, placing the small rug on top of it so no one would trip over the hinges. Wrinkling his nose and leaning back against a small box, as Sabo started to peel off his shirt to wring it out the window. “Dude, so did you finally get to fuck her or something? I’ve been waiting here, ya know?” Shaking his head, the scar on his face shined a little bit brighter, as if it was doing all the talking.

“Ace, you can’t just ask something like that,” Sabo shook his head to get as much of the water droplets off his locks. “Besides, we only got to step one,” smirking from ear-to-ear, his ears turning a slight pink as it peeked out from the yellow wet strands. “I’m not like you that goes to phase, what, eight and just goes straight into fucking.” Ace merely put his hands up in the air to shrug, defeated almost by the truth.

“Hey man, sorry that I got game. Besides, I know how she is. A tender soft ember really,” Ace cocking his neck back and forth to stretch out his neck muscles. “I have no idea how to woo a lady, honestly,” reaching behind him to grab the pillow he was leaning on to nearly throw at Sabo. Sabo reached to grab a pillow near him, defending himself, only for Ace to grasp the pillow and hug it into his lithe. “So, what happened? Unless you did fuck after god knows how many months of you dating, then good-”

“We didn’t!” Throwing the pillow straight towards his slightly younger brother’s face. There was only a chuckle muffled by a pillow. Sabo didn’t want to acknowledge Ace’s game, especially with how frequent Ace goes on one-night-stands. College was over for both of them, and it was just summer time as they kind of caused mischief all around the city. “What’s it to you anyway? You aren’t interested in women.”

“You know me too well!” The freckled boy sat up straight smiling. “That’s because I fucked him, and still had enough time to come here and wait for your slow ass.” It was kind of ridiculous how many men Ace roped in though. His smile was charming, and it made anyone swoon for him. The main perk, however, was his body that even he was envious of. Sun-kissed skin from the Gods, abs that pulsed when he breathed, his shoulders and collar decorated in small galaxies of freckles, with his fine raven locks flowing behind him when he rode the waves on his surfboard. “My date went well, of course, he had to beg me to let him enter me. I am just too good bro. Can’t complain about that Crocodile.” Sabo pouted as he took off each boot and placed it beside him. There was no way that such a wild-cannon of a man was capable of getting this many dates.

“I bet you any money you paid him to have sex with you,” trying to rile up the fire child himself. Ace nearly stood up, cracking his knuckles.

“Oh you wanna bet on that scar face?” Sabo quickly grabbed his metal pipe that was leaned up against the table as he stood ready.

“Oi! What are you guys talking about?” Both their heads turn to see their youngest brother, his shit-eating grin with his little straw hat staying right near the back of his neck, as the small string kept it anchored around his neck, his red little vest hugging his small frame with his navy blue shorts soaked from the rain. “Fight? Are we fighting now?” Sabo and Ace blinked, looking at each other, then at the young boy in the window.

“Luffy?!” Both of them nearly screamed as the youngest flopped into the tree house. His sandals slipped off his feet as he laughed on the floor. “How did you even get up here?” Ace pointed, as he stood over the rug. The boy in red chuckled his typical joyous laugh and lied on the floor.

“I climbed!”

“With what?”

“My arms!” The older two brothers sigh, but it was nothing too surprising. If Sabo thought Ace was the most loose-cannon, Luffy, the youngest, was definitely the most reckless and unpredictable. Always the one getting them in trouble with their guardian, Garp, was always the way of life with Luffy.

“Of fucking course, you did, buddy,” Ace smiled then plopped right back on the floor. “How did summer school go today?” The smiles disappeared immediately, replaced with an angry frown. Sabo already knew what was coming but wanted to hear the normal lore of summer school anyway.

“Ah! Fuck school! It’s so damn boring!” Kicking his legs around to emphasize his frustration. Ace only could laugh, trying not to laugh at the youngest’s pain but it was the same issue everyday.

“Wow, that’s new. No fight-”

“But, I fought with Eustass again. Freaking picking on me and shit, whooped his damn ass that loser” pouting towards the end. There was a groan from the fireboy, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Again Luffy? You know Garp is going to beat your ass when he finds out,” his hand covering his face in secondhand embarrassment. They all knew what was going to happen if Garp were to find out how rebellious the young teens were being at this point in life. Sabo was always doing fine on his tests, and he studied well. There were just some rules that were just straight up stupid. Such as chewing gum in school, or playing cards, or heck, wearing his hat; that may or may not obscure everyone’s view of the blackboard in the front of the class. So of course he is going to draw some questionable things on each and every blackboard, something funny that the teachers don’t approve of. He was called the “Revolutionary Army” for a reason. Then there was Ace, who nearly got away with everything he did, well, nearly. Never studying, skipping class, putting his boots up on his desk as the teacher scolds him to put his feet down. Of course, he didn’t care, because even after class, he would have some other guy being bent over the same desk, letting him teach the lesson on that table. He relished in that thought, so of course it was his desk. Then there was Luffy, the one that just struggled to understand his lessons, and that school is not where you fight. Even his friends would let him know.

“Gah! Who cares! I am done with summer school. I wanna hang out with you guys before college starts for you all!” Ace smiled in approval, encouraging his little brother’s behavior of ditching. Sabo would be lying if he was going to say he didn’t approve of his sibling’s actions, but then again, he was no better. “So what are you talking about?”

“Men”

“Women”

Luffy stared at the both of them, confused. “Huh? That you wanna fight? Cause these fists are rated E for everyone!”

“No bruv, we mean for fuck-” Ace stopped short as Sabo interupted Ace from potentially furthering the rebelliousness of Luffy.

“What he means is someone you love,” Sabo glaring at Ace. Luffy was still three years younger than the two of them; Sabo only being 3 months older than Ace and always holding it above him during small banters, he still wanted Ace to at least be a pure boy. Afterall, his so-called “Strawhat Crew” already had a pervert or two…or more so they could tell him when he was ready. “But I just am not getting anywhere with this person,” the blond rolled his eyes. The process was so slow. The perfect gal in his eyes. Of course he only kissed her forehead when he snuck into her apartment and gave her his number on a small post-it note. He thought she was much more wild, as this girl was much more talkative from what it seemed at school; or maybe it's because she was with friends. Regardless, he was infatuated. She always stood up in math class to do math in a different way than what the teachers taught. Always going to the extreme end in class to prove that there are multiple ways of doing things, leaving the teachers flustered and scolding her to “do it our way, because that is what the whole lesson is asking for.”

“Ace, you have a lover?” Luffy scratched his head. “Is that why you always smell so nice every time you leave that hug from those guys you try to bring to the house.”

“You WHAT?!” Grabbing his pipe again, there was no way Ace was trying to bring his little toys here, it was a sacred ground.

“Woah woah woah, easy there. He means our house, not our small getaway up here,” Ace putting his hands up to signal he was unarmed, innocent, and definitely telling the truth. “B-besides Luffy, those are just a one-time friend that I might bring around. Maybe twice, so don’t worry bruv.” The smallest pondered and just smiled, winking at Ace and giving him a thumbs up.

“Oh! I see! So THAT is why in your room you two were hugging against the wall and you were saying his name. Close friends!” There was no freaking way, Ace left his damn door unlocked, again. The first time was when he, himself, walked in on his older tutor, Marco just ramming into Ace on the bed. Feral, moaning and groaning. All Sabo wanted to do was beat both of them up, but Ace pleaded and begged not for his brother to rat him out to Garp. Which is when Sabo confirmed Ace was not straight, despite all the small jokes that Ace would just drop randomly around him. Now, it was poor Luffy seeing god-knows-who screwing around in the forbidden love chamber.

“A.C.E-” Ace was sweating now, shaking a little as his smile trembled as he tried to talk, well, straight.

“Listen! Technically, Luffy has the key to my room so it’s not really my fault, ya know?” He was right though, if he locked his door, then of course if Luffy unlocked it to ask for something, he wouldn’t make a peep if he saw his brother preoccupied. Luffy knows firsthand that any friend that needs a small hug or bonding needs some space. “Anyway,” Ace’s freckles moved as he coughed to clear the air. “I think you should go back there tonight. I saw the look on her face when-”

“You are also stalking me now, you twink?!” There was no way in hell Ace was this insanely good. If only Sabo had the strength to beat his ass for everything that happened. “There is no way in hell, if you think I am just going to dive in and just show her what I want.” The “revolutionist” had his mind clouded like the current weather. This person was tender, soft, and allowed him to even get as close as he did.

“Why don’t you go slow and see what she does? React when she does something?” All heads turn to the highschool student who is just picking at the small carpet hairs that are loose, seeing how many he could find. “I mean, you are smart Sabo. Smarter than all of us. I think you’ll figure it out.” For once, though Luffy is not dumb by any means, he is just a little sheltered and very pure. “Why are you guys looking at me?” Ace laughed a little then nodded.

“For once I have to agree with our little brother here. You are the most level-headed, but…” his face getting closer to Sabo. His scar twitched as the tan boy got close to his ear and whispered, “I had a little bird tell me she is not as innocent minded as you think. Take it from me.” There it was. He could feel his own face feel hot, his legs still wet from his skinny jeans he refused to pluck off. It was getting dark outside, and if he didn’t leave now, he wouldn’t have the chance since he has to help out with his little click in about two or three days, going on a small trip to just cause a little chaos with the cops this time. Snatching his things, he pulls the carpet off the hatch, which nearly sends poor Luffy flying as he was still pulling the loose hairs out of the darn thing. The wood scraped against each other, the hole opened right near his toes as he gave a quick thumbs up to his brothers, signaling that he was going to move, along with the unspoken code of;

“Yeah we won’t tell Garp!”

“We will let Garp know you’ll be home late!”

Which was shortly followed by a quick slap behind the youngest’s head. Luffy was a funny one, but he was right. The rain was still coming down, but it didn’t matter, the smell of fresh rain was enticing from what he read in books. Running out of the park and back to the dark backyard. Seeing the missing spots of moss that were on the bricks where he had already climbed before, up the wall and lifting up the window in one swift movement as it closed all the way as it were. The room was lit, but with a single candle. There was but not a single sound, but just a pair of eyes that just greeted him in both awe and horror. Whoops, forgot to let her know he thought. She sat leaning against her bed frame on the floor, book in hand, gawking at the wet footsteps that were leading right up to her, where he previously walked, and now again, ending at the same finish line as he did earlier today. Though Sabo is not as buff as Ace, he was definitely not scrawny neither, better yet, he was taller than him.

“I am back at your calling,” kneeling on his exposed knee, his hand cupping her jaw. His hands were still wet, but his musk, fresh cut grass, and the smell of rain wafted in the air. She closed her eyes, he waited as her lips slightly parted, her head turning as he met his lips with hers. Pulling away to see her reaction.

“Was not expecting you so late,” her words were soft with nature’s song pitter-patter the foggy glass. Y/N’s arms wrapped around his neck, her head leaning up to kiss him again, this time eager for more. This is what she had been waiting for, for months. He didn’t realize how much she waited and waited for a simple kiss, scared that it would go too far. He did, however, know because whenever his face did get close to hers, he would always go past and whisper in her ear, or pluck off a loose strand of hair off her clothes or shoulder. Her response was always hitting him lightly on the shoulder, always playing it off as “a missed opportunity to kiss a fellow rebel of the school.” He was always good at reading body language, especially with how he could feel her heat radiating off of her and onto him. Her breathing, her pulse was rippling through him as their lips locked in place. Soft tender kisses only fueled this little ember her flames, as she started to pull away to place kisses on his jaw, to turn back to pay attention to his lips. Sabo turned his body, glancing a little to make sure he was in the correct position to lift her up bridal style and as softly as possible place her on the bed. Y/N clinging onto Sabo with trust, but not harshly. His body started to lean forward as they still kissed, clearly past the kissing mark that he only intended on doing today to further tease her. Y/N’s need was further shown as she let go, but grabbed onto his collar with one hand, nearly toppling on top of her frame, right knee in between her thighs. His eyes darted around to make sure there were no accidental touches on her body, elbow propping hims up so it was the perfect height to look at her alluring eyes. Her eyes shined his reflection back at him, he could see his own excitement within her pupils. Leaning down, his lips hovered above hers, trying to be tender to ease her excitement just a tad. Sabo knew it was slow, especially when her other hand was running through his hair and grasping it to push him deeper into the kiss. His one arm propping him up on the bed, his left hand snaked up under Y/N’s black shirt and onto her hip, rubbing small circles and giving a gentle squeeze to let his cold wet hands get warmed up by this cute little “ember” of his. Her body tensed, but his hand went up to feel the softness of her waist, gently kneading it between his palm and thumb to get a signal if she was ready. Small mewls trickled out of her lips and onto his tongue. To pull away slightly to give a little distance, but their noses touch, as his right hand crept up to place a finger over her lips, his elbow sliding up near her shoulder to hush her a little.

“This is a girl’s only dorm, right? We can’t get you kicked out of the dorm before college starts, right baby girl?” Her body rippled with a few shakes, he could tell she was excited, but it was well past the time to be loud, to be Ace loud anyway. “Good job,” his mouth went back, but this time, his tongue explored her mouth to get to know her small little world. The hand on the waist crept up onto her peak that was covered by her bra, gently squeezing it to only feel her tongue jolt from the pleasure. Sabo was finally grateful towards highschool for making them read books that are “classics”, but really they were erotica if they really thought long and hard about it. The shifting on the bed made him pause to look down, her fingers had pushed down her pajama pants and underwear past her core, but just below it to test the waters. Gently, the hand on her valley, went to her sea, wet so that his fingers could take a deep plunge. He was ready to play the long game, unlike his brother and he knew it would mean more in the end anyway. Hand cupping her waters, his fingers dipped in, her moan almost fully out but her hand covering her swollen lips. Only one finger, all the way until his knuckle was still poking out. Curling his fingers so softly, to see where that sweet treasure was underneath it all, when her knees bent together to grab at his leg. There it was, as he pulled out his finger, he inserted his middle finger, doing the same, but he could tell Y/N was on the brink of cumming. Her walls were shaking, pulsating, hugging his fingers as if calling them to go deeper and to stay.

“S…Sabo,” her voice trembled. Dragging out his fingers, she could feel the fingers leave, almost whining at the lack of presence within her. Those skilled fingers, digging into his wallet to grab a condom that Ace had always preached would be of good use, which was a blessing and a curse. Tearing the condom and letting Y/N catch a breath, standing up just to pry off his pants to his ankles, kicking his combat boots that he never even bothered tying up again when he left the treehouse to the side with his pants off, but his boxers still on. Sabo adjusted himself, leaning again, close to Y/N’s face, whispering in her ear so quietly, that the rain almost was interrupting their lesson.

“Oh baby, just don’t be too tense for me, I don’t want it to hurt for you love,” his voice cooing in her ear made her dripping pussy shake as if it heard it all. Gently pushing his boxers down, and rolling on the condom on his throbbing cock, he rubbed it against her lower lips. His body eclipsing hers, as he slowly welcomed the warmth around him.

“Ah!” Her mouth parted, but he was too slow groaning himself. This is what Ace was all crazy about, and he understood. Back in the original position he was in, he started to kiss her lips to quiet her down, pushing his length as deep as it would go, her throat swallowing to try and stop her sinful moans.

“I’m going to move now, does it hurt?” Words like feathers tickled her ears as she shook her head, tears slowly creeping up in her eyes. Ah, so it is her first time too. “It’s okay baby girl, I’ll go slow”. His hips went slow, making sure she could adjust to a little movement, her small voice nearly being swallowed by his long kisses. Until after a few moments, they stopped making out entirely. Sabo’s hair touched the bed as his pants were breathed onto her ear, her teeth biting on his shoulder to try to muffle the pleasure, but it was too late. The sound of skin slapping each other, his balls hitting her thighs, his hands gripping the sheets around their bodies as her hands scratched little trails on his back. “Fuck, I am cumming baby,” his hips snapping in precision to hit that one sweet spot of hers. Her teeth sunk in as her legs wrapped around his body, a wave going through her body, as it calmed as he rode out her wave. Groaning deep as he released his seed in the wrapper. Both huffing and puffing as his body collapsed beside her, looking at the sheets with droplets of red beneath her body. Lifting her body up and onto her study chair, he switched out the bed sheets with new light blue sheets, lying her down on top without even trying to put the top sheet properly on the bed. Climbing bed to wrap his lean arms around her, planting a kiss on her forehead, smiling.

“Love you Sabo,” her soft voice returned to normal as she pecked Sabo’s neck. Stroking her dry locks, he pulled her close into his chest, as his eyes drifted off into sleep.

He woke up a lot earlier, because he didn’t want to get chewed out, as he saw Y/N sleeping quietly as the sheets moved up and down to her breathing patterns. Tossing the old sheets in the hamper, he put on his still damp clothes, tying his boots finally and opened the window. “Hm? Sabo?” Sabo turned his head only to see Y/N sleeping, her body curled up hugging the pillow replacing his body. A smile creeping onto his lips as if he saw something he could tease her about later, his feet dangling as he hopped out the building. The window shutting as he landed. There was no silhouette this time, but he knew he would see that figure again one day. Whipping out his phone he saw he missed seven calls and had a bunch of text messages.

[10:12PM Gah! Sorry! - Little Luffy]

[10:09PM Get your ass back here! Blame Luffy for this shit. Now I am in trouble - Hothead Ace]

Only to see one message at the very bottom saying words that prompted Sabo to maybe sleep in the treehouse that night.

[9:58PM You better get your ass back here brat!! Breaking curfew and chasing girls is NOT what you should be doing. Be back here by 10:15PM or else I’m beating your ass - Angry Carpy Garp]

Well, it was already 11:24PM, but it didn’t matter if he got caught in the tree house anyway, because he ignited a fire with himself. It was worth every beating he would get when he came back with a smile on his face.

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lookismlover · 1 year ago

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Goo Kim x Reader: The Fake Date Final

Hi everyone. Here is the final part of 'The Fake Date'. I am sad to see that it is finally finished, but I am glad with the way it ended. Thank you to everyone and anyone who has read even one sentence that I have wrote so far, I really appreciate it. If anyone would like me to write anything in particular for me to write next please let me know. But as it stands, here is the final chapters of 'The Fake Date'. I hope you enjoy!. :)

“I like Goo” You say out loud.

“I like Goo” You say out loud again, confirming your feelings.

You then look at Gun, who has a slightly faded smile on his face. You can feel the small amount of pain he feels emanating from him and then you say a quiet ‘sorry’ because you feel guilty, so so guilty about all of this.

You now know that you’ve caused all of this. Every single thing that you’ve done has caused all this pain, all this hurt and you would do anything to change it. But it’s too late now to go back in time and do that, it’s happened and you just have to find a way to fix it.

So, while Gun and yourself are still in your dad’s office, you both sit quietly. You concocting a plan to undo all of this and Gun sitting patiently, waiting and then getting ready to listen to what you have to come up with. You finally hatch an idea. One that you think will have the best outcome on everyone's part.

“Well” You say to Gun.

“Well” Gun says back to you.

“I think I have an idea”

“Hopefully it’s nothing like the last one” Gun says back in a sarcastic manner, smiling while he says it.

“Ha ha, very funny. But no it’s definitely not like the last one” You say back reassuringly.

“Thank god for that. So what is it?.” Gun questions.

“Well, firstly, given the fact that it had you and Goo in it to begin with, I don’t want that to happen again. Unless you’re okay with it” You say back to Gun, awaiting his response.

“Look, as much as last time was a complete fuck up for you, in your so called ‘plan’. I’m fine with helping you this time” Gun says.

“After all, contrary to popular belief, I do want to see you happy. And if that means being with Goo of all people, then I’ll help you” Gun finally says.

You look at Gun and smile with his words. But then what he has just said about Goo click and you start laughing. Gun then joins in and soon you are both laughing with one another.

“Thank you” You say after eventually calming yourself down. “Seriously, thank you” Gun nods at your response and you can’t help but feel like this is reminiscent of so called ‘old times’ you used to spend with him. The exception being that there is a lot more talking going on and he’s not just nodding this time around.

“So, what’s the plan?” Gun questions.

“Well, I was thinking that you could go over to his house and talk to him for a little while. Say it’s for work. Slip in a few questions about him and I…us and see how he reacts” You say back answering his question.

“Hmmm” Gun says back in retaliation to the plan.

“Why the hmmm?” You ask.

“Well won’t that be a bit suspicious?”

“Suspicious?. I mean slightly, but even then you could just say some bullshit like you always do and voila, case closed” You say back to him.

Gun just looks at you with a questioning look. “You think I can just bullshit my way through a conversation?” He finally asks.

“Yes, yes I do and you’re pretty good at it” You say back to him with a smile on your face and then again, you both burst into laughter.

“So, what comes after the plan?” Gun asks.

“Well, that part I haven’t exactly figured out yet. But I was thinking that I would give him a week or so to cool down and then talk to him. And my father, about maybe…the possibility of a serious, well, relationship with Goo” Gun looks at you and then smiles back at your answer.

“Aww, getting all sappy now are we?” Gun says back mockingly.

“No” You say firmly “But you did ask didn’t you?. And well, after everything. Mostly with you making me admit that I have feelings for Goo, I actually don’t think it would be a bad thing if we gave things a go. That is if he doesn’t hate me for everything”

Gun just smirks at what you’re saying. But you can tell he isn’t hurt, he is just genuinely happy that you and his well, rival, best friend in some weird way, whatever they are. You can tell he is just happy for you both and that makes you happy as well.

“So, when are you going to talk to your father about all of this?” Gun asks.

“Now that, I’m not sure about. I’m also not sure how he will take it or how he will take the whole, you know” You stop talking and then Gun interjects.

“Fake dating thing?” Gun says finishing your sentence for you.

“Yeah. The whole fake dating thing” You sigh at the end of it, with how much damage you have caused with this entire idea. God, how stupid you are. But you will put it right. You have to put it right in order to get Goo back.

Gun pulls you from your thoughts when he speaks and you almost jump with how startled you are by it. “Your father will be fine with everything, I mean he has to be. Wait, does he not even know that you and Goo ‘broke up’” All you can do is shake your head to his question.

“Well then, I really want to watch that conversation play out” Gun says with yet another smirk on his face. “Oh trust me, I would much rather you be there. But alas, you have a very touchy conversation with Goo to have. Well you are having that conversation on my behalf, but still” You say back, mimicking his sarcasm and adding a smirk onto your face for an extra touch.

Gun just looks at you, unimpressed. But you just look at Gun and mouth the words ‘thank you’ to him. You realize at that moment that neither of you want to breach the silence that has fallen upon the conversation. But it isn’t the type of silence that is awkward, it’s just comforting to you both at this minute. The silence that you both used to have. The silence you used to have before everything became such a mess and you’re glad it’s happening right now, because you know that with this silence again, that everything with you and Gun will be okay.

__________

It has been a couple of days since your conversation with Gun. Since then you have gotten your hair done to try to feel better and to help with your nerves, but it hasn’t worked in the slightest. But today is the day that you are going to tell your father about everything. Every. Single. Thing.

You have tried to prepare yourself for the inevitable conversation. You’ve come up with so many different outcomes. You’ve come up with how the conversation will start and end. You’ve come up with how you’re even going to lead into the topic of everything, but each time it just makes you more nervous.

You made sure a few days ago that your father would be free when you went to talk to him. But since then, you really have been trying to mentally prepare yourself, to no avail though. So as you’re walking down the hallway getting ready to enter his office, you freeze just outside the door and take one final deep breath in to attempt to calm your nerves and much like you figured it would, it has not helped.

“Hi dad” You say as you enter his office.

“Hi” He says back in his firm but yet fatherly voice.

“So what is it that you wanted?” He asks.

“Well, about that” You pause for a moment and he raises his eyebrows at you curiously.

“It’s about…well, there's a lot I want to talk to you about” You finally say and with that, you now have his full undivided attention on you.

“Go on” He says, making you more nervous.

“Okay. So you umm..well you remember that Goo and I were dating right?”

“Yes”

“Well, that wasn’t exactly true” You say to him while looking down at your hands fiddling with your fingers.

“Go on” You eventually hear back.

“You know what, it’s a long story. It can wait for another time. Sorry to bother you” You say back to him, too nervous and scared to tell him that truth. But as you go to stand up, he stands first. You remain seated until he walks around his desk, takes a chair and pulls it over to where you are sat. Instinctively, you turn your chair towards him.

Then suddenly he smiles at you and takes your hands. You always forget that the man sitting in front of you is your father, since he is always so strict and firm with everyone else. But in every other term, he is your father. So now with this, you feel a lot more at ease with telling him.

“Go on” He says to you.

“Well, the entire thing with Goo and I was fake. We never really dated, at all. It only came into fruition the night of your event actually. The truth is that I came up with this plan” You pause there, preparing yourself for what you’re about to say.

“Plan?” Your father eventually asks after a long, drawn out pause from you.

“Yes, a plan. The thing is that before that night, I had liked Gun for so many years. Too many now that I think about it. But he just intrigued me so much. So that night I asked Goo to have a conversation with me and in that conversation I told him the plan that I wanted to put into place. I told him that I wanted us to fake date in order to make Gun jealous” As you’ve just admitted all of this your father is sat in the other chair nodding and taking everything in. So given that it is going somewhat well in your eyes so far, you continue.

“So, that night Gun came into the room. Found Goo and I and because Goo is well…Goo, he decided to have a little fun and play along. So he told Gun that we had been going out for some time and then we kissed to prove it. The very next day, that is when we had our conversation. Then I went out, walked about for a little while and got trapped in the center of Seoul. Everything I said on the phone that night was true, apart from where I was staying” You inhale a deep breath but you can already tell that your father has figured out where this is going.

“You stayed at Goo’s house?” He asks. You nod in response.

“Can I ask why you lied?”

“Well, the truth is that I didn’t think it would be appropriate to show up at one of my friends' doors and ask to stay the night on such short notice, soaking wet, cold and not having anything to wear for the next day. So I guess, well I figured that since Goo was then the closest person to the area that I would walk to his apartment and hope to god that he would answer the door. And it’s also because I didn’t want to come home that night. I really just needed time to cool down and digest everything. I mean it was a small lie, a stupid plan and then you found out and reacted how you did. I just couldn’t be around it. I’m so sorry” You say.

Your father squeezes your hand in reassurance that he isn’t angry with you, not in the least. But you still feel so guilty for lying to him.

“So, what happened after?” He questions you again.

“I went, knocked on his door and he was there. He let me in. I showered and he came back with some stuff for me. I mean he was really sweet in the entire thing. After that we drank some wine, had a conversation and then went to bed”

“Is there more?” “A hell of a lot more, yes. The next day I called you, remember?” Your father nods in response. “Everything I said on the call was true. I did need some more space from you but I just lied about where I was. Then as the day went on everything was fine. But then Goo left to go do a job for you and he left a note. It had an ‘x’ at the bottom of it and he had this picture when we were at the theme park. I fell asleep that day and when he came back I woke up, we had this entire conversation about everything and it kinda ended in me kissing him and then the only thing I could say after that was ‘I’m going to bed’” You stop and try to catch your breath. It didn’t register how fast you were talking just then and with everything you just revealed to your father, you don’t want to stop there. So just as fast as you assume you stopped speaking, you start again.

“After that, the next day he called Gun to come and get me. Gun brought me back and had a few words to say to me. They both were so pissed off at me about everything. So then 3 weeks went by, no texts, no calls, no communication whatsoever with any of them. Then 3 days ago now we had that meeting and everything kind of came to a head. I had a conversation with Goo and he flipped out on me because I really hurt him. Then he left. After that I had a conversation with Gun and I found out that my plan worked. But he made me realize that by that point, it wasn’t him that I liked, it was Goo. So now we have this entire other plan of him trying to talk to Goo and slip things in about me and that I have no idea on my end what to do. But I wanted to tell you. I wanted to be honest with you because I don’t want to mess up again. I really like Goo and I just don’t want to mess up”

Now everything is out in the open. You have no clue how your father is going to react to your confession but you’re hoping he isn’t too mad at anyone involved.

“That’s quite the story. One hell of a story actually. One that I didn’t expect. But I'm glad you told me. And if you’re wondering, I'm not mad at you” You look up after he says this and all of a sudden you feel your nausea fade away. You hadn’t registered just how ill you were feeling until this very moment. But then it had faded away and you felt better.

Your father then stands up and puts the chair back in it’s place and then stands in front of you. A tell tale sign that he wants you to do the same and so you do. Suddenly, you are engulfed in a hug. And you hug him back just as tightly as he is hugging you.

“All I have to say is, thank you for telling me the truth. And if you do like Goo as much as I think you do, don’t fuck it up this time if you get another chance” With that being said and your father letting you go. You make a swift exit and go back to your room to decide on a plan of what’s to come. A plan that you’re hoping will work.

__________

A few days after the conversation with your father, you have filled Gun in on the plan that you hope will go well and today is the day it will come into play. Still sticking to the original plan, Gun will go around and talk to Goo, throwing in a few questions about yourself in the process. Then Gun will ask Goo to a dinner to discuss what your father had said previously when all 3 of you had the meeting about 5 days ago and you will show up in his place. Hopefully everything will go well and then you can discuss everything with Goo, resulting in a happy ending.

But since this morning you have been frantically pacing about your room, thinking about everything. You have called Gun about 2 times already to make sure he’s aware of what he needs to do and both times he has responded with ‘I know the plan, don’t worry’. Now you’re onto texting him. But you haven’t received a reply back and that’s worrying you.

20 minutes of pacing later you hear the signature *ding* of your phone. You run and grab it from your bed and it is a text from Gun.

*I’ve just arrived. Don’t worry, everything will be fine, it's just like we went over. I’ll let you know how it goes.*

*Okay.* is the only thing you can respond with given how anxious you are. Now with that it’s just a waiting game to see how everything plays out.

“Well” Gun says, stepping into Goo’s apartment. “How has everything been”

“Amazing” Goo replies rather nastily.

“As pleasant as always I can tell”

“Ha ha, very funny. Now just sit down so we can get this over and done with” Gun obliges to the somewhat command-like comment and sits.

“So, what did you want to go over?” Goo says with a still rather hateful tone in his voice and Gun can’t distinguish whether it’s from his presence or because of you.

“Firstly, why the dick attitude of yours?. I mean you’re always a dick, but amazingly enough, this is a whole other level” Gun asks curiously.

“Oh fuck off, this is how I normally am. Can’t you tell?” Goo replies back, now even more aggravated.

“Mhm. So this little attitude of yours wouldn’t have anything to do with you know who?” Goo just scoffs.

“No it doesn’t have anything to do with her if you must know”

“Right. So no bitter feeling, no pining for her, nothing of that sort going on right now?” Gun asks, attempting to make Goo more annoyed because he knows this is the best way to get answers out of him.

“Again. NO” Goo shouts the last part.

“Wow, touchy. But even in saying no, it’s a yes. Got it”

“You know what, fuck off if you’re going to be like that”

“Be like what?” Gun replies, acting oblivious.

“Oh I don’t know. Curious, nosey, intrusive or just sticking your nose somewhere it doesn’t belong” Goo retorts back.

“Right. So you are upset then. God I couldn’t tell”

“Oh fuck off. I mean seriously, you would be too”

“Trust me, given what I’ve heard from her and the entire little plan that she concocted, yeah I’m pissed. But seriously the thing she did to you, that’s just laughable” Gun says tauntingly.

“Right and you’ve hear everything”

“That’s right” Gun replies back calmly. Goo turns around at this and raises his eyebrows, not needing to ask the question ‘seriously?’ for Gun to understand what he was going to say. So Gun just nods.

“Well then. Looks like you guys are happy again”

“Were friends again if that’s what you mean”

“Right…friends” Goo replies back, now getting agitated.

“You seem bothered. Want to tell me why?” Gun says, provoking Goo even more.

Then after a few seconds, Gun sees a glass flying towards his head and after that Goo goes in for a punch. They have a small scuffle on the floor for a good few minutes, both landing punches on one another until Goo finally stops and stands. Gun does the same and they both wipe themselves down before sitting on the sofa.

“This is bullshit” Goo says. “All of this is fucking bullshit”

“Clarification?” Gun asks curiously.

“Her and me. Me and her. God, it’s bullshit. Bullshit. Bullshit. Bullshit”

“Aww so you are upset” Gun mocks. Goo just looks at him for a moment before taking in his surroundings and Gun assumes he doesn’t want to break his expensive furniture.

“Look just fuck off, I’m not in the mood” Goo says back.

“Listen. I don’t really care all that much. But, for what it’s worth. She is sorry” Gun says as he stands up to leave.

But as he walks towards the door and reaches for the handle Goo suddenly asks something.

“Really?”

“Yeah”

“Also what happened to talking about the meeting?” Goo questions.

“We can go over it another time. Clearly, you’re not in the right headspace” And with that Gun leaves Goo’s apartment.

Another *ding* on your phone makes you jump as you have just sat down to think about everything for the millionth time. It’s from Gun again. Much like last time you open it at lightning speed.

*Half the plan worked. Very well actually. The other half, not so much*

*What do you mean by half?. What half.* You reply back.

*Dinner didn’t work out. I didn’t even ask. But he is pissed about you and everything you have done. Like seriously, a little provoking and we were having a small fight on the floor.*

*What?.*

*Seriously. He is pissed*

*Also, if you ask me again to go back over there, my answer is no. I am NOT putting up with him again. At least not until it’s necessary.*

*Got it. Thank you for doing half of the plan though. But what should I do now?.* You ask.

*Talk to him.*

And with that you are left bewildered. Goo doesn’t want to talk to you and from what Gun has just texted you he’s so pissed off that he’s willing to throw punches.

A few hours of deliberating later and you still have no idea what to do. Clearly he’s annoyed and hurt and you're pretty sure you’re the last person he wants to see or even hear from right now. So you decide to leave it. Wait for everything to settle down and then you will try to talk to him.

__________

Another few weeks have passed. Now this marks almost a month of not speaking to Goo. Even now you’re still not sure what to do. Since the day that everything came to a head, you’ve seen him a handful of times. Always leaving your father’s office after a meeting and once in the kitchen making a coffee. You didn’t even attempt to talk to him and you’re sure he hadn’t even acknowledged your presence.

Much like when you tried to put the plan into place with Gun, you continue to berate him about what you should do. It always ends with him saying ‘talk to him’. But you can’t bring yourself to do that.

Now after a few days since the last meeting and talking to your father about everything else that has happened. Your father has told you that Goo will be over in a few hours since he needs to speak to him again, this time on his own. You just replied with an ‘okay’ and told him that you’ll stay out their way. Mostly meaning Goo.

After the few hours are over with, you assume that everything is said and done and that Goo has left. So you go downstairs to find your father.

“DAD” You scream, waiting to hear a response back so you can go to it. But, nothing.

“DAD” You scream again, this time trying to be as loud as possible. But still, nothing. You’re about to scream a third time before you hear a voice shout from the kitchen.

“He’s not here”

It’s Goo. Wait, what is Goo doing here, he should be gone by now. You question to yourself. But nonetheless you go to the kitchen because you have a few questions. Such as ‘Where is my dad?’.

As you enter the kitchen. Sure enough, sat on a stool, you see Goo. You furrow your eyebrows questioningly and then walk towards him.

“So, why are you here? I thought you left” You ask Goo, not expecting a reply.

“Your father. Said he was going away for a few hours. Gun’s out on a job and your father wanted someone to watch you” Goo replies, answering all your questions in one go.

“Great” You reply back coldly. Then with that, the room falls silent again. So you go and make yourself a coffee while you're here. You grab the kettle, fill it up, place it back down and click it so it starts to boil. Then you turn around, fold your arms across your chest and lean against the counter, just staring at Goo.

Suddenly, Goo looks up and straight at you. Making you freeze for a moment. But then he climbs off his stool and starts walking over to you. All of a sudden your eyes grow wide and you feel your heartbeat quicken in pace.

Then in a swift flash, Goo is stood in front of you. He then reaches towards you and instinctively you close your eyes. Then suddenly you hear a cupboard door open and some sort of plate being taken out. You open your eyes again and Goo is leaning over you with a bowl in hand. Suddenly he looks down at you and speaks.

“Can you move, I need a spoon”

You blink for a moment before moving and now you’re trying to hold your tongue. But you can’t for much longer after he grabs a spoon and heads back.

“Seriously, are you still this pissed off?” You ask him annoyed.

“Annoyed?. Annoyed about what?.” Goo asks unbothered.

“Seriously?” You question.

“Yes, seriously”

“You really are such a dick, you know that right?”

“Oh, so I’m a dick now?” Goo replies back angrily.

“Yes. I mean seriously. I let you cool down, I didn’t talk to you given the circumstances and the only words that you say to me is first why my dad left and then you say ‘can you move, I need a spoon’. I mean what the fuck, really?” You say back, now getting angry yourself.

“Oh I’m every so very sorry princess” Goo says back tauntingly.

“You know how much I hate that nickname, so stop fucking using it”

By this point you don’t notice that Goo has put down the bowl and spoon. You also don’t conceive the fact that you have slowly been moving closer to Goo, who is just standing round at the opposite side of the counter. And within a few seconds you are face to face screaming at one another.

This goes on for a few minutes before you eventually just scream out something that halts Goo in his tracks.

“At least I wasn't fighting with Gun because I couldn’t handle how hurt or even jealous I was” All of a sudden, silence. You both look at each other and then you step back and look down. You feel bad that you’ve just admitted to knowing about what Gun and Goo had talked about. But you also just crossed a line by assuming things.

“How do you know about that?” Goo asks.

“Who do you think, Gun told me. I kinda asked him to tell me what you talked about if I came up in conversation” There’s a long pause before either of you speak again, but just as you do there’s a click. It’s the front door.

“Anyone here?” It’s Gun who’s just arrived.

“In here” Goo shouts back.

Once Gun walks into the kitchen and sees both you and Goo almost face to face he smirks and then asks rather snarkily “Lovers quarrel?” with a smirk on his face. With that you look at both of them, completely ignoring the fact that you wanted coffee and head back up to your room. You then hear the door slam and an engine start. You can tell it’s Goo’s car and then it fades away as it grows silent again.

About 10 minutes later footsteps come up the stairs and then there is a knock at your door. Begrudgingly you answer it and it’s Gun.

“What do you want?” You ask annoyed.

“Sorry” Gun says. You sigh at this and let him in, he just goes and sits on the bed.

“It’s fine, I just overreacted a little”

“I mean yes, you did. But what was that, with you and Goo?”

“We had an argument”

“Oh. So you’re talking now”

“No. Definitely not talking”

“Okay, sure. Anyways, I'm not staying here” “But what about my dad?” You ask.

“Just tell him that Goo left a couple of minutes before he got back” Gun retorts.

“Sure thing”

Then with that Gun leaves and you hear a click from the front door locking and another car engine starts and you hear it slowly fade. Then you’re alone. You think about everything that has just happened and how much it has hurt you. *Ding*. You pick up your phone assuming that it is Gun who is texting you until you read the name. *Piss head*. It’s Goo. You open the text quickly and read it.

*Sorry for the argument. Can you come to my apartment tomorrow, we need to talk*

Now your head is really spinning.

*Sure*

Is your reply and then you prepare yourself for tomorrow.

__________

You could barely sleep last night because you were thinking about the text from Goo. Your anxiety crept up on you when you were about to go to sleep then suddenly all you thought about was Goo. What does he want?. Is it a good thing or a bad thing?. God, even now you’re a nervous wreck thinking about it. But you leave at 2pm and your Gun will drive you.

You told your dad about everything when he got in and he nodded along as you were telling him. But when he walked into his office you saw a smile set across his face. Clearly he’s happy for you but doesn’t want to admit it.

You check the time quickly to see how long you have until you get picked up by Gun. Suddenly you realize you overslept and it’s 1pm. Where did the time go and why didn’t you hear your alarms is all you ask yourself before you’re rushing to find an outfit and shower.

After showering and doing all the necessary things like brushing your teeth and hair, putting on your clothes. You check the time again and suddenly you hear a car horn. 1:49pm. That will be Gun. You got ready just in time you think and now you’re off to go and see Goo.

You walk outside and get in Gun’s car. Clipping in your seatbelt as soon as you sit down, then the anxiety wears away and the nausea hits. You really wish you had taken some sort of pain meds before you left. Maybe they would have dulled down the ill feeling in your stomach.

“You good?” Gun asks.

“I feel like I’m going to throw up” You say back to him. He leans over, opens the glove compartment and then there is some medication. You look at him, smile and then reach for the medication. Popping out 2 pills while Gun hands you his half drunk bottle of water, but you don’t care. You just want to take these and hope everything goes well.

“So, nervous I take it”

“How could you tell?” You ask back sarcastically.

“Oh you know, this and that”

“Ha ha” You respond back. Then there's a jolt and suddenly you recognize that Gun has started driving.

“Do you by any chance know what he wants?” You ask Gun, hoping for a best case scenario where he knows everything.

“Not a single idea”

“God. Why couldn’t you know something” You almost whine this out.

“Just have to go in blind”

“You know I hate not having even a slight inkling into what’s about to occur. So frankly, this is my worst nightmare playing out”

“Such a shame. I would pity you if it wasn’t slightly funny” Gun says back now stifling back laughter.

“Such an ass” You retort back and that makes Gun laugh.

The drive isn’t long but it is silent after you almost threw up after going over a speed bump. Then you arrive at Goo’s apartment. You let out a deep sight before looking over at Gun and giving him a not then getting out. Closing the door behind you, you look up and feel the irony in the situation.

You wait for Gun to leave and then walk towards the entrance. Once you’re in the lobby you make your way to the elevator and step inside. You remember the floor number this time, press it and wait as it slowly climbs up the floors. It’s so slow that it’s almost painful as it climbs up. Then it stops and the doors open.

You let out another sigh before exiting the elevator and walking to Goo’s door. You wait for a minute before you ask yourself again why you’re here or what are you doing. But you can’t be bothered to fight it anymore and give in. Recognising you’re already here, you know you can’t turn back and so you knock on Goo’s door and wait for an answer.

Suddenly the door opens and Goo appears in front. He moves out the way and motion with his hand to come in and sure enough you walk in.

“Sorry” He says.

“About what?” You ask.

“About yesterday”

“Just about yesterday?” You ask him.

“No, not just about yesterday” You just nod as he talks.

“Well at least you’re speaking to me now”

“I could say the same thing about you” Goo says back.

“Well, I thought you wouldn’t want to talk to me”

“And why is that?” Goo questions.

“I mean, given everything, I think you understand why” Goo nods as you say this but then you see a smile come across his face.

“I you really want to know, I’m glad we’re talking again”

“Me too”

You both sit for an hour or two talking about this and that, but you know sooner or later that you will have to have a serious talk about what really happened between you both. But before that Goo gets up and asks if you want a pizza and you nod vigorously and say yes.

It’s about 6pm by the time the pizza gets there and you both stop talking to eat. You get the plates and Goo brings out wine again. Then you start to reminisce on the night that Goo said ‘what if i’ve never hated you’ and then you look at him for a moment, happy and content, pouring out wine for you both with an ordered in pizza sat in front of you both.

You place the plates down. Take your seat and then Goo hands you the wine. You think before taking a sip and then place it down, thinking about the conversations to come and you want to be sober for it. You both eat and drink and then after it’s finished, you take the plate and clean them while Goo dries the dishes. You aren’t saying a word to one another, you aren’t even looking at each other, but yet you can tell that both of you feel so content.

And so once everything is done and before you sit back down on the sofa you tell Goo that you have to make a call or 2. The first person you call is your father, telling him that you won’t be back tonight and that you’re planning on staying over at Goo’s talking. He doesn’t like the idea, but he’s not going to stop you, after being so truthful to him this past week. Then you call Gun, explaining the situation and trying to be questioned so much by him. But even through the phone you can feel the ever growing smirk on his face and then you hang up and everything is dealt with.

Then again, you start to reminisce on how similar this is to how you first got to talking. The phone calls you made, staying overnight, having wine and then having conversations that turned into something so deep that not even you, yourself imagined it would. At least not with Goo. But here you are again, you think to yourself. Back in the same position, just without the storm and wet clothes.

You go over and sit back down beside Goo. Letting out another sigh before you have to face the music and the conversations that will happen. But first you feel like you should let him know that you may or may not have told both your father and Gun that you will more than likely stay over tonight without mentioning it to the apartment's owner.

“ Goo” You say.

“What’s up”

“Do you mind if I stay tonight?”

“Why?”

“Well, I kind of canceled my ride and told my dad I would be staying over here because we do have a lot to talk about” You answer back.

“That is true. So, are we going to get started on the talks or are we just going to keep tiptoeing around it?” Goo asks suddenly.

“Well, let’s start” You say back to him.

“Great” He says.

“So. Why the shouting match yesterday and how did you get Gun to tell you about the conversation and fight that he and I had?”

“The shouting match was because you were a dick. A month of no conversation and then tell me to move because you need a spoon. I mean seriously Goo a SPOON?” You say rather annoyedly.

“But as for how I found out about the conversation, I may have set up another plan with Gun this time to try and get you to talk to me again..”

“You did what?” Goo asks surprised.

“Yeah..I asked him if he would come over here and talk about the meeting we had a few weeks back. Then I asked him if maybe, just maybe he could slip in a few questions about me and see how that goes. But I swear all he told me was that you were annoyed and jealous and all you went on about was me, then there was a fight and overall from what I gathered, it was a mess” “Well you’re right about that. It was a complete mess”

“Yeah. I figured as much” You say, laughing slightly.

“But as for everything else. It’s also true what he said. I mean I was so pissed off about everything, but mainly about you that even when he came in here I had an attitude on me” Goo says.

“Well. That’s slightly comforting to know. But still I absolutely hate myself for what happened between us. Well between all 3 of us. But mainly you and I” You say suddenly. Goo then looks at you for a moment before seeing that you are telling the truth.

“Really?” He asks, almost unsure what to think.

“Yes really. I regret that entire plan of making Gun jealous. I regret how I put you two against one another and I regret hurting you in the process of my own selfish actions”

“Good to hear. But what about what you said in the kitchen that day that we talked, the day of the meeting?” Goo asks.

“Well truth be told I still stand by exactly what I said. I’m glad everything happened like that between us, but at the time I wasn’t entirely sure why until I had a conversation with Gun after you left”

“And what conversation would that be?” Goo asks curiously.

“Well I told him about everything. The fake dating plan. Me wanting to go out with him, blah, blah, blah. You know the deal by now. But what really got me was when I said I liked Gun and Gun pointed that out. Going on to say a little monologue about how he did see me as a potential partner, this and that and then he said that I don’t feel the same way anymore because he was a complete dick” At this Goo tilts his head curious as to what you mean.

“What I mean is that he pointed out that I didn’t like him and I hadn’t liked him since coming back from this apartment. Your apartment” You say to Goo. He goes silent for a moment and then the pieces click in his head.

“Hold on. Let me get this straight. You mean to say that you liked Gun for years and once you actually got him jealous and he started becoming a dick, you didn’t like him anymore” Goo asks almost as a confirmation.

“Yes” You say.

“Then once I called Gun to pick you up and drag you back, even after everything that happened. You didn’t like him anymore?”

“Yes” You say again.

“And what’s more is that you and Gun had a conversation where you said you liked him and he pointed it out and then what?. You realized that it was..” Goo stops before continuing, not wanting to be wrong in what he is assuming.

“Yes. At that moment when I said that to Gun and he pointed it out saying a few certain things, it clicked. It clicked to me why I said that I was going to bed instead of kissing you again and again or even staying up and talking until the sun came up. It’s because I like you Goo and don’t ask me why because I don’t know. I have absolutely no clue. But yes. I like you” You finally say. Confirming everything that Goo was thinking. Or at least you're hoping so.

Goo stops for what feels like a few hours and then he just looks at you, until he breaks his eye contact. Then he looks at the glass of wine and drinks it all down in one. You’re trying not to smile at this because it’s so funny it's almost comedic. But then after only a minute he speaks.

“I’m so sorry i’ve been such a fucking dick. You were right. This entire time I have been a dick and what’s more I hate myself for it. But Gun was also right in saying that I was jealous when he came here that day. That’s why I started a fight with him because I thought that he would win you over and I just didn’t want to see that happen. But at the same time I didn’t want to talk to you because I was pissed. So fucking pissed. But now…” Goo just stops speaking and looks at you. Smiling from ear to ear like an idiot. All you can do though is do the exact same thing back and then the laughter happens.

You both laugh for 15 minutes. You’re crying from it and Goo is doubled over holding his stomach from it cramping up from laughing so hard and then you eventually stop and wait for Goo to do the same. After he does stop laughing, you both just look at each other and then Goo stands up. You do the same, except you move towards him and once you’re close enough to him, you wrap your arms around him, hugging him.

He hugs you back and you stay like that for a good few minutes. Neither of you wanting to be the first to let go. But then Goo is the first one to break the connection, but in the best way possible. He cups your cheeks and kisses you and you kiss him back. You pull away and kiss each other again and again. Eventually you get slightly tired and so by that point you break away from him and say.

“I’m tired right now. So I’m going to go to bed” With that being said you both burst into laughter at how stupid you both are. All these plans and misunderstanding and yet with a simple conversation, everything was solved.

Goo runs up to his bedroom and brings down a shirt and sweatpants for you to wear and you go and get changed. When you come out of the bathroom he is lying on the sofa the exact same way he was when you first slept over that one fateful night. And so you crawl into his arms and he throws the blanket over you. Kissing you on the back of the neck goodnight.

You wake up the next morning happy as can be. Then before you know it one night turns into two, two turns into three and three turns into a week. Until four months later you have a few boxes left to move that Gun is helping you with. Then you will officially have moved into Goo’s apartment.

“Well looks like you’re moving in” Goo says sarcastically.

“Wasn’t that always the plan?” You say sarcastically back to Goo, with a smile on your face.

“I guess it might have been” Goo says, moving over to you and hugging you as you put the last box down. You smile up at Goo and then see that he is dangling something in his hand.

“Your house keys princess” Go says with a smirk on his face. Meanwhile you know you look unimpressed with that nickname. But it has grown on you over these past few months.

“Great” You say. “I’ll be taking those '' As you take the keys out of Goo’s hand. You look up at him after taking them and smile again. Goo then leans down and kisses you and you kiss him back.

“I love you” Goo says to you.

“I love you too” You say back to Goo.

#lookism #lookism headcanons #lookism hc #lookism x reader #goo kim x reader #goo lookism #lookism goo #kim joongoo x reader #kim joongoo #goo kim #lookism fic #gun park #lookism webtoon #webtoon #manhwa #lookism manhwa #park jonggun #lookism fanfic

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aita-blorbos · 1 year ago

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AITA for tricking a kid and stealing their wish?

Yeah, so I (??M) got bored. Like, super bored. And hungry. And the people on this planet don’t like it when I do what I want sometimes, so I decided to find a way to do what I want and maybe do a little trickery in the process. I got the sun and the moon to fight. Crazy, I know, but our sun and moon are Very Much Sentient and prone to fighting this kid (???NB, I know they’re a kid though, we’ll call them K) for some reason, so I thought “well let’s get them to fight each other!” and let that be the reason K goes on this interplanetary adventure to get these important star things to summon this cool sentient wish granting thing called a Clockwork Star (??????NB, I’ll call them G) to stop the sun and moon from fighting.

Honestly, the kid is super naive, and how they didn’t think “well I fought them before I could just fight them again and get them to stop” is confusing but I mean it worked so I didn’t complain. Anyway, they collected the star things and summoned G, and right before K made their wish, I dropped in and used K’s wish to control the planet so I could do whatever I wanted! The look on their face was hilarious! They were so confused and angry!

Anyway, to make a long story short, K defeated me and blew up G in the process. Technically I should be dead but I’m not, I’ve been barely conscious for a few days, I’m still floating around in space and I can barely move and honestly this is so boring. And I’m hungry >:(

AITA?

Edit: Some dude (??M, I’ll call him M) found me and brought me into his spaceship thing. After he healed me, I figured out he had (kinda) similar goals to me, so I told him about K and how naive they are! He hatched out a whole plan and everything. I didn’t catch anything because he was muttering the whole time but I think I heard the word “dragon” so I think it’s pretty cool. Anyway, I’m gonna have to start sneaking around tomorrow so K doesn’t spot me when M does his plan.

Edit 2: For some reason M decided to indirectly tell K that I was still alive?? And K was happy for some reason?? Anyway, the final part of M’s plan happens tomorrow so I’m gonna wish him luck.

Edit 3: WHICH ONE OF YOU TOLD K ABOUT THIS POST. THEY FOUND ME…

#aita #am i the asshole #unreality

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valsnonsense · 10 months ago

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The HollyVal Family

I redid this one like five times kkjhsakjdhakjhsdk

Also changed Holly’s lower half to match her upper body color more, instead of the blue. Still not drawing the Country Trolls with pants, I’m sorry I just can’t do it lskdfjsdkl

Okay story time. As anyone who’s watched Trollstopia, we know the relationship between Holly and Val is a close one. The two, alongside Poppy, become best friends over their time in Trollstopia.

Well, eventually, this friendship begins to turn into something more, at least on Val's side. Val begins to slowly fall for Holly, loving how caring, sweet, and attentive she was to everyone she knew. Especially with her and Poppy. At first, Val keeps these feelings locked deep down inside her, because despite how much she had grown to be honest with herself and her feelings, talking about crushes was NOT something she was willing to disclose with ANYONE!

Until Poppy found out.

Poppy didn't even need to ask her or have Val tell her. She figured it out on her own. When Val asks how the hell she did it, her only answer was, "I'm Poppy! I thought we established this?"

Well, Val caved and asked Poppy to help her ask out Holly, which the Pop Queen was MORE than happy to do so. The two began concocting elaborate scheme after elaborate scheme, each one more grandiose than the next. Val thought Holly was one of the most amazing Trolls she knew, she only deserved the best!

And when the moment came for Val to finally confess to Holly, the entire thing blew up in her face. Something about setting up an elaborate song performance with bright lights and giant speakers out in wild attracts wild animals or something. Making them destroy said equipment.

After putting out several fires and calming down a series of wild animals, Holly asks Val what she was trying to convey with all the lights and speakers. Val ends up nearly sobbing, saying how she wanted Holly to know her feelings, how she deserved only the best and biggest things in the world, and that any other method wouldn't be NEAR enough for a Troll like Holly! She needed to tell her how much she loved her and how she meant more to her than any other Troll in the world!

And before Val can start apologizing for the mess, Holly shuts her up by pulling her in for a kiss. That's you had to say, silly!

Holly and Val begin dating, and only a year or so after that, the two tied the knot.

The two moved to the main city of Trollstopia together and settled down, while still performing their duties as Councilors for Country Corral and Rock Hollow. Several years passed, and two decided they wanted to try for a family, after seeing all their friends start raising kits of their own.

Imagine their surprise when Val went to the doctor and found out she was carrying a whopping FOUR eggs.

Val and Holly were overjoyed at the news, and began preparing for their new babies. Since Val had four eggs, she lost a lot of energy to them, and was bed bound most of the incubation. Having so many eggs was considerably dangerous, and since both Rock and Country Troll eggs are naturally tougher to endure harsher environments, they took up a lot more energy then Val was exoecting. The incubation was a bit frightening since Val became very weak towards the end. But after a few months, their four little kits successfully hatched.

In present day, Holly and Val continue to raise their babies. With two having successful music careers, one pursuing a floral career, and their little free spirit, the two couldn't be prouder of their little herd. Knowing that their kits will be adults in a few years makes the both of them emotional, they're not ready for their babies to grow up yet!!

And that's the HollyVal fam!! Since none of their kids are adults and moved out, there's not much to describe about their present day lives xD

Also I added a little headcanon in there that depending on the environment, a Troll egg might take more energy to develop. Since Rock Trolls live in a fuckin volcano, Rock Trolls eggs have super thick shells, almost like rocks, to endure the intense heat. And since Country Trolls live in the desert/flat lands, their eggs are tougher to endure harash winds and heat. So put that together, and you've got eggs hard as steel that suck up a LOT of energy.

Will be starting the Lownote/Dante kids tomorrow (if I don't forget lol)

#dreamworks trolls #trolls #trolls oc #myart #trolls the depths au #trolls world tour #trollstopia #trolls holly darlin #trolls val thundershock #hollyval #trolls hollyval #trolls raine #trolls marina #trolls amber #trolls crystal #man this piece took me so long #sketching digitally is a NIGHTMARE #i might stick to traditional sketching while coloring digitally

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cockypark · 2 years ago

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a short trans kyle fic for @kylematthewbroflovski! @spinthetags

word count: 806

Wendy drapes a towel over Kyle’s shoulders. There are hand towels on both sides of the bathroom counter, one with scissors and an electric razor, the other with a standard hairbrush and comb and a spray bottle. Looking at it spread out feels sort of medical to Kyle. Technical. Sterile. Nervousness builds. He wipes his palms on his jeans. “Should we put a towel on the floor?”

Wendy whips around. “No. We’ll just vacuum. My mom has the Dyson.” She was in the midst of her cleanfreak phase, so any stray hair was a threat. Despite that, she was extremely supportive of this decision.

Supportive and ambitious, it turned out. The day after they hatched the plan, Bebe asked Kyle if he was comfortable with her cutting his hair. “Wendy just doesn’t know anything about curly hair. Don’t you want the big chop to be good?” She was very convincing. Her hair was always in beautiful ringlets. Kyle struggled to tuck as much of his hair into his hat as possible. He did want this haircut to be good.

Wendy safety pins the two ends of the towel together. She looks at Kyle and his massive halo of red hair. A part of her is sad to see it go. It will never be this long again. Wow. “Sit up straight.”

Bebe and Wendy squeal when they see each other, and Bebe squeals when she sees Kyle’s hair. She is not hesitant to stick her hands right in. “I’ve always wanted to see it down!” He supposes it’s objectively nice hair. His mom was always after him to do something with it. He didn’t like to think about it as a part of him. Soon, it wouldn’t be.

Bebe eyes the equipment Wendy laid out. She goes into her own bag that Wendy is outraged she even brought and comes out with a wide toothed comb and a special brush. Bebe is outraged to find out Kyle isn’t familiar with any of it. “Maybe it’s best that you’re getting rid of it,” she muses. He couldn’t agree more.

It starts easily enough. Bebe gathers all his hair in one bushy ponytail and uses the razor to cut through it all. Kyle keeps his eyes shut tight. When it’s over, she holds the ponytail out. He can’t believe it came from him. It doesn’t look like his hair. Before he can get emotional about it, Wendy and Bebe start cheering. They’re shaking his shoulders and giggling. He laughs, too. He feels lighter.

It takes most of the afternoon. Bebe is dedicated to her craft. She blames it on Kyle’s hair. “So much detangling. Do you even condition?” Fine, it was both of their faults. It could have taken all night and he would have been happy it happened at all.

Assuringly, Bebe says several times, “I’m so good at this.” She wants to be a beautician for a living. Kyle thinks it must be nice to see that far into the future. He’s still trying to figure out who he is. At the final reveal, he thinks if she makes people feel this good, she should pursue it.

“So? What do you think?”

Kyle touches the perfect curl front and center. Then the full top. Then the sides. His hair has never been this short. He has never felt more like himself. “I love it. Thank you, Bebe.”

Bebe wraps her arms around his shoulders tightly. They don’t know each other that well, but it feels full of love. “I’m so happy. You look so good.”

“Very handsome,” Wendy adds. She hugs him, too, once he’s free of hair clippings.

“Nice Jewish boy,” Bebe sings from the bathroom. She was left with the mess. “Very handsome Jewish boy, going to impress Stan on Monday.”

Kyle rubs his neck sheepishly. The lack of hair is thrilling. “I don’t know, I-”

“Have my blessing,” Wendy interrupts. “You guys are better friends than we ever were, and are going to make a hell of a better couple.”

It’s not the first time she’s said that. Kyle can’t help feeling bad. He was friends with Wendy first, then made best friends with her boyfriend, and now he had a crush on him. It was not good friend behavior.

“It’s all girl code, anyway. You’re free.”

Then again, Bebe had her own share of bad friend behavior, and there were no hard feelings. Wendy is going after Tolkein, anyway.

“Free” is exactly how Kyle feels. He goes home feeling the best he ever has. He can’t take his hands off of it. He doesn’t even care what his mom is going to say. She had consented to the haircut. It didn’t matter if it’s what she had in mind or not, it’s what Kyle wanted. Besides, she couldn’t make it grow back.

if you like this please consider checking out my ao3! and if you're really interested, i am opening commissions :)

#sp olympics #south park #kyle broflovski #wendy testaburger #bebe stevens

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astrronomemes · 2 years ago

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CAMP CAMP : SEASON TWO STARTERS (PART II)

a collection of quotes, phrases, and sayings from the second season of the Camp Camp webseries by Rooster Teeth. change & alter as needed.

“[Name], that is none of your business! And also a federal offense!”

“You’ve got that insidious look in your eye.”

“Yeah, make his ass take you to CostCo.”

“How am I supposed to make edgy art without an authority figure to rebel against?”

“We can’t kill them! We’ve been over this!”

“Your lips say no, but your eyes say they’re gonna kill me.”

“Nice try, [name], but I won’t fall for that a third time!”

“I could never be upset with you for chasing your dreams.”

“If I have to hear them say ‘[name], get down from there!’ or ‘[name], don’t eat that bug!’ or [name], that’s an endangered species!’ one more time...”

“It’s just nice to have a break from all the weird hijinks and wacky adventures.”

“Guys, don’t mess with it. It’s probably something that will trigger a series of events that will, on the whole, be an interesting and comedic adventure, but ultimately waste our Saturday.”

“Don’t tell us we’re taking care of the eggs until they hatch!”

“God, I hate this generation.”

“That’s strange. I suddenly feel... less rich.”

“As you can see, I’m the only one who hasn’t lost my mind over this.”

“Jesus, [name], what the fuck happened to you?”

“Oh, god, I’m a horrible parent!”

“Infant creatures are only good at one thing, and that’s finding the fastest way to kill themselves the moment you let them out of your sight.”

“Well, I’m sure this is some kind of poignant metaphor.”

“I don’t know what’s right, I don’t know what’s wrong... I just know that I’m scared, and I don’t know what to do!”

“Your ‘final frontier’ is gonna be flipping burgers at the drive-through.”

“We’re going to have to fake a moon landing.”

“That sounds like the kind of stuff we do around here.”

“[Name], ‘astronaut’ is spelled with one S, and you know it!”

“You see, [name], when your heart is in the right place, it’s okay if you a fib a little! It all works out! ...Is that a good moral?”

“As long as I’m cute and beautiful, people should give me what I want.”

“You can’t survive in this world on good looks alone.”

“Oh, sweetheart, you know I can’t keep up with all your silly little adventures!”

“Please accept my apology, and don’t sue us.”

“Why couldn’t you be passionate about something more manly? Like guns! Or football!”

“Aw, come on, son! I’m just trying to learn about your interests!”

“I don’t want to see my dad naked!”

“Okay, that might sound incriminating... but...”

“You have every right to be angry. But you deserve to be happy.”

“If you’re wrong about this, you’re only gonna make my trust issues worse.”

“This place doesn’t look that spooky.”

“Man, you have... no idea what you’re talking about.”

“We’re not here to talk about Harry Twilight!”

“Nice to see all this hasn’t gone to your head, [name].”

“Take it from me — you stretch a scam too thin, and people start poking holes in it.”

#rp meme #roleplay meme #rp starters #roleplay starters #dialogue prompts #rp prompts #roleplay prompts #rp memes #roleplay memes #sentence memes #sentence prompts #sentence starters

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realm-sweet-realm · 2 years ago

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A Road Further, chapter one: New Journeys

The protagonist of Scarlet/Violet moves away, and the lives of the Paldea trio go on.

Nemona is ecstatic when Geeta decides to take her under her wing and groom her to be the next head champion of Paldea, and doubly so when it means competing against champions of other regions in a worldwide tounament. With Geeta’s very rigid ideas of how a champion should act, Nemona will have to find a balance between respecting authority and forging her own path.

Penny’s crimes begin to catch up with her as her parents send her to live with her uncle Looker in hopes that he’ll set her straight. But as Penny’s skills turn out to be quite useful for crime-solving, she might find out that her weird uncle Looker isn’t so lame after all.

Between the loss of his dad and his three friends moving away, Arven is crushed. When Clavell tries to cheer him up by introducing him to two Alolan exchange students including the tech-savvy Sophocles, Arven hatches a desperate and ill-advised plan to bring back his father.

I hope you all enjoy this.

---

The sky was grey and heavy as Arven walked Miraidon to what would be its new home in the Lighthouse Laboratory. Penny and Nemona followed behind, carrying supplies for the creature. Arven shifted the bags of Pokémon food he’d been carrying into one arm and stroked the creature with the other, trying to quiet its whining.

“I know,” he whispered. “I miss him, too.”

Not long after the annual treasure hunt, Florian’s mother had been transferred to a new location for work and they’d had to move away. They’d been forced to leave Miraidon behind, and Arven to try to find one of his father’s old lab techs to look after it. He wasn’t looking after it himself longer than he had to. It was just too much of a reminder.

There wasn’t much to be done at the Lighthouse Laboratory. The three students put down a giant pet bed for Miraidon, scattered its toys, fed and watered it, and they were done. Arven had called Penny and Nemona out for emotional support more than anything.

“Thanks for being here,” he said to the girls, sitting down on one of the old tables in the laboratory. “You know, I played it cool in front of Clavell, but losing my dad is... well, it’s a lot to process. I mean, apparently he did love me, but now I’ll never get to actually spend time with him. It kind of hurts knowing what could have been. But hey, at least now I have you two.” He gave them a smile. “Between that and all the schoolwork I have to catch up on, I won’t even have time to think about it!”

The two girls exchanged an awkward look.

Penny was the first to speak. “Actually, my parents are sending me away to live with my weird uncle Looker in Kalos. Probably for a whole year. They found out about the whole Team Star and stealing millions in LP thing and want to scare me straight.”

Arven got up, fists curled and teeth gritted. “Seriously?! But Geeta and Clavell let you off with community service for all of that! And you have a job lined up after graduation. How many 14-year-olds can say that?”

“Yeah, but they said that ‘it’s still a felony,’ and ‘I need to learn to respect the rules before I run into someone who won’t let me break them.’ It sucks.”

Nemona spoke up next. “...And Geeta wants to train me up to be the new head champion. Which means I’m leaving the Uva Academy, too. I’m really sorry, Arven.”

“Oh. Well, at least I’ll be able to reach you by flying taxi since you’ll be in Paldea.”

Nemona shared a pained look with Penny. “…She’s starting by taking me to a world championship event in Hoenn. It’ll only be for a few weeks!”

Arven felt like the lifeline he’d caught was disintegrating. He’d be all alone at school again, at the time he most needed not to be. It took him a second to blink back tears and figure out the right response. “Oh. Well, that’s amazing! I’m so happy for you. Are you excited?”

Finally released from the expectation to act sympathetic, Nemona’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “So excited! You have no idea. I’m going to get to battle some of the strongest trainers in the whole world! Up until a while ago, even meeting them would have been a dream come true!”

“Great. You’ll finally have some people who can keep up to you. I’ll watch all your matches.”

“If you can find time while digging yourself out of the homework pit,” Penny quipped. “But yeah. We’ll be watching. ...Assuming uncle Looker lets me. Or I can find a way around his rules. Which I will.”

“You heard it. We’ll keep in touch,” Arven agreed, crossing his arms. “Assuming Penny can go a couple weeks without doing something stupid and getting her phone privileges revoked.”

Penny jabbed his arm. Arven jabbed her back.

Nemona smiled. “You guys are the best! Yeah, let’s keep in touch!”

---

Nemona squinted into the sunrise as she tried to make out whether the flying taxi on the horizon was La Primera’s or if she still had a while to wait. She’d shown up twenty minutes early. Some might call that overkill, but one couldn’t take this too seriously, and Nemona had read that Geeta liked to be early.

As the flying taxi neared, Nemona could see that it was Geeta. She stood up and ran to it, getting in before it even touched down.

“I’m glad to see that you’ve kept your passion for battling,” Geeta said. Even in the early morning, her image- the suit, the elaborate hair, her gentle smile- was just as flawless as she’d been every time Nemona had seen her. It almost hadn’t sunk in yet that she’d be working for her. She’d be spending the next few weeks learning to be just like her.

“Oh yeah! I’m not gonna let you down.” Nemona replied. “Oh my gosh. Do you think Cynthia does autographs? Do you think I could get a picture with Blue’s blastoise? Or maybe...” Nemona caught something vaguely disapproving in Geeta’s eyes. “Uh, sorry, I’ll calm down.”

“No, go ahead,” Geeta assured her. “It will be best for you to get your excitement out now. Once we’re at the airport and especially once we’re there, you’ll need to keep that excitement under wraps. You’re representing Paldea, after all. You have to act like you belong with the other champions, because you do.” Those last three words were a jolt of energy to Nemona’s heart. “No autographs. Pictures are fine so long as they look professional.”

“You got it!.”

As it turned out, they had plenty to talk about on the flying taxi ride and then the flight to Hoenn. Nemona already knew a good deal about the champions and the teams and strategies they used, and Geeta helped fill in the gaps of her information. After getting settled at the hotel, it was late and Nemona was tired, but her energy came right back when she told Nemona that some of the champions were already competing.

“I thought that the tounament didn’t start until tomorrow?”

“The brackets will be announced tomorrow,” Geeta explained, “but for now some of the champions are doing some unofficial one-on-one matches to warm up the audience. Would you like to watch them?”

“Watch them? I want to join them! Let’s get down there,” Nemona replied, already running for the door to their hotel room.

“No,” Geeta said gently, making Nemona stop dead. “I’d like us to watch them from here, where we can discuss what they’re doing. It will be an important lesson for you.”

“Okay.” Nemona sat back down on the bench next to Geeta.

The television displayed the tournament arena. On one side of it, Diantha strode in alongside her gardevoir, mega-evolving it to the audible delight of the crowd. On the other, Cynthia glided down from the bleachers on the back of her garchomp, sliding off of her at the last moment and landing nimbly on her feet as the dragon took her position in the ring.

“Begin!” shouted the referee.

“Garchomp, Poison jab!” Cynthia ordered. Her garchomp lunged, her claws coating themselves in purple fluid.

“Ice punch,” Diantha returned. Gardevoir’s fists covered themselves in ice, and she countered the first jab. Garchomp was darting in and out of Gardevoir’s range as Gardevoir stayed stationary, blocking only as many quick but relatively weak jabs as it took and clearly taking more damage than it was dealing.

“Wait, why's she doing that?” Nemona asked. Gardevoir didn’t have the attack or speed for this, but with her special attack, a good dazzling gleam would have-

“Because,” Geeta explained calmly, “This is what everyone came here to see.”

“Ah,” Nemona said as she watched the garchomp’s speed and footwork.

“Dazzling gleam!” Diantha ordered. Gardevoir gathered energy and blasted a powerful beam of pink energy from her outstretched hands.

“Dig,” Cynthia retunred. Garchomp quickly dug into the ground, only its tail getting grazed. Earthquake would have been more powerful and maneuverable, but this was more of a sight to see.

“Send it into the earth, Gardevoir,” Diantha ordered. The gardevoir ran over to the hole and sent dazzling gleam down into it, filling the hole completely and leaving pink light overflowing from its edges. A roar of pain emanated from it. And yet, Cynthia seemed unworried. She closed her eyes and smiled as the ground behind gardevoir opened up, releasing pink energy and a battered-but-still-fighting garchomp, her claws coated in poison. Gardevoir barely had time to look back before a powerful hit took her out.

“Cynthia and Garchomp are the winner!” the referee announced, pointing his flag to Cynthia. The TV screen showed a close-up of her smile before cutting out to sports commentators.

“Wow!” Nemona beamed, clasping her hands together in excitement. “Man, it’s like they’re coordinating with each other in real time to give everyone the best show possible! Like, to show everything their Pokémon are capable of, while also trying to win as a second goal. That must be even more challenging than just winning!” Nemona gripped the pokéball at her belt, her body yelling at her to go and try out this new challenge.

“Yes, exactly,” Geeta stated. “You are a great trainer, Nemona. You will have no trouble at all upholding the Pokémon league standards, I’m sure. But I’ve brought you to this tournament so that we can work on your image and showmanship. Part of a champion’s job is representing their region, after all. There is much to attend to- we’ll need to design you a perfect outfit and figure out your trademark mannerisms and a team including a trademark Pokémon.”

“Oh, man, a trademark Pokémon!” The mere thought that one of her Pokémon could be as iconic as Cynthia’s garchomp or Diantha’s gardevoir... or Leon’s charizard or Steven’s metagross or... Nemona couldn’t help it. She let out some little squealing noises.

Nemona smiled. “Yes. I suggest you make a list of candidates for that role. We’ll go over them tomorrow morning and find just the right one.”

---

The heavy door that separated the prison from the outside world slammed shut, nearly making Penny jump. Looker walked in front of her and gestured for her to follow.

“This is what happens to people who break the rules,” Looker explained, stone-faced as they passed by cell after cell, each one containing two miserable, dead-eyed prisoners, two cots with thin mattresses and thin blankets, a metal toilet, and little else.

“People won’t keep giving you free passes forever! And there won’t be a warning for when they won’t. Every rule you break could be the one that puts you in here! Yes, even now. Stealing as much currency as you did could have given you more than two years, and once you’re sixteen, you would have been transferred to a place just like this! We don’t want that.”

Only if you get caught, Penny thought as she followed behind him, but she thought better of saying it. She settled for nodding along instead, with a face that she hoped said “I’m taking this seriously,” but might have been more along the lines of “how much longer until you shut up?”

“I love you, Penny! And that’s why I have to do this. You’re going to work here after school for the next semester. Maybe the next year if it’s necessary. I promised it to your parents, so to make sure it’s all the time you’ll spend there!”

The two ran into a gruff-looking security guard, who Looker handed Penny off to for a tour of the facility and explanation of her duties.

It was late by the time Penny was off work, done with dinner, and could escape to the room that Looker had her set up in. It matched the rest of the house in containing a functional amount of furniture- in this case, a bed, a desk and chair, a bedside table, and a closet with hangers- but nothing else. When one worked for the international police, one moved too frequently to make a house a home.

Penny sat down at the desk and pulled out her rotom phone, only to realize that its usual rotom had been replaced with a sharp-eyed parental control one. When exactly Looker had managed that was beyond her. Penny sighed. It was a good thing she’d prepared for just this situation. She opened the window and then dug into her eevee backpack and pulled out a plastic baggie of dead batteries interspersed with red and green loose wires.

“Want a snack?” she asked the rotom, firmly holding her phone in one hand and dangling the bag in the other.

The rotom nodded vigorously. Penny could feel it trying to get loose and float over, but she held the phone firmly. The rotom pulled until it popped out of the phone. Penny threw the baggie out the window, and the rotom chased it out. She closed the window, got up, and laid down on her bed, ignoring the creature as it tapped the glass. This should give her a few hours at least.

The phone’s screen was filled with new texts from Arven, Nemona, and the ex-members of Team Star. She could respond to them later. For now, she brought up the internet and typed “how to get fired from a prison job without getting killed.”

If Looker was going to give her a hard time, she’d give him a hard time right back.

—-

Late morning light filtered through the curtains as Arven laid in bed, phone in hand and Mabosstif curled up on top of him. He was missing second period and had missed his classes yesterday as well, but who cared? Clavell wouldn’t suspend him while he had nowhere else to go, and he was almost beyond caring if he took an extra year to graduate. He was scrolling through a some long-winded excited ramblings from Nemona when he heard a knock at the dorm room door.

“Arven?” came Clavell’s voice. Arven scrambled out of bed, almost kicking Mabosstif in the process. Thankfully he’d gone to bed in his clothes the night before, so he could pass as having been up for a while. He’d say he had to catch up on some important school project and had thought it was more important than a couple missed classes. Hopefully that would make Clavell go away.

Clavell opened the door and stood awkwardly in the doorway, looking like we wasn’t sure what to say. After pausing for a moment, he crossed the room, sat on Arven’s bed, and gestured for Arven to sit next to him. Arven obeyed. “How... how have you been handling the professor’s death, really?” Clavell asked.

“I’m fine,” Arven replied.

“...And your three friends being away?”

Arven closed his eyes and looked away from Clavell. “I’m fine, alright? I’m used to not having anyone around. It’s fine! Just punish me if you’re going to and go.”

Clavell took a deep breath. “I’m not going to punish you, I just thought...” Clavell shook his head as though reconsidering something. “Actually, very well. There is something you can do for me as punishment for the missed classes. Two exchange students are arriving today from Alola. If you could give them a tour and get them settled into their dorms, that would be wonderful.”

“Okay,” Aven replied. He had a strong sense that this was to get him moving or to cheer him up somehow. He would have thanked Clavell if it weren’t being framed as a punishment.

“Excellent. Stop by my office and I’ll give you the details. And let me know if you need anything.”

Hours later, the flying taxi touched down in front of the academy, containing a green-haired girl in her early twenties, a little boy playing on a gaming device, and their luggage.

“Hey,” Arven said to them. “Welcome to the Uva Academy. My name’s Arven. I’m going to be the one to show you around.”

“Mallow,” the green-haired woman replied, “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too. first thing’s first, let’s get you guys set up in your dorms. I’ll lead the way.”

Arven navigated the crowded halls, checking every so often to make sure that Mallow was still following.

“So, what brought you to the academy?” Arven asked.

“Well, I aged out of being a trial captain- that’s like our equivalent to gym leaders, and only people under twenty can be one- so I thought I’d try to figure out what I want to do next. I’m probably going to be a cook, though. Alola is just so good for growing ingredients. Berries are the obvious ones, but you wouldn’t believe how many medicinal plants grow there. Maybe I could be some kind of healer!”

Okay, Clavell had definitely put him up to this to cheer him up. “Wow, you’re into cooking, huh? Me, too. And as for medicinal plants, trust me, I know more about those than I ever wanted to. But at least the little collection I got out of it can make anything taste great.” Arven stopped in front of their dorm room doors and turned to Mallow. “The teachers let me use the home ec lab so long as I’m out and it’s clean by the time it’s needed. Want to show me what you’ve got?”

“Yeah! Oh boy, I knew I didn’t bring those dehydrated rawst berries for nothing!”

“You brought dehydrated rawst berries? Oh my God, we need to put those in a stew, right now! I swear, they’re like the only thing that’s better dehydrated. Or un-dehydrated, as they’ll be once we’re done with them.”

“Sounds good! But only if you show me which of those healing herbs we can add to it!”

“Oh, you bet.”

“Can I help?” the little boy asked. Arven realized that he hadn’t spoken until now. He didn’t look older than eight or nine, maybe ten, and between the short, round physique, the bad haircut, the quietness and the resting grouch face, Arven predicted that he’d be spending most of his free periods at the academy alone, and that was if he was lucky enough to fly under the radar of bullies.

“Of course you can join us, little buddy!” Arven replied, giving him a big smile.

Mallow smiled down at the younger boy. “This is Sophocles. He’s also a trial captain. He invented a machine that can summon totem Pokémon, and he’s made a lot of other really cool stuff, too! His parents wanted him to come here so he could expand his horizons and hopefully make some friends.”

“Oh. He’s good with tech, is he?” Arven’s brain had practically shut off once he’d heard that, and it was currently screaming at him not to do what he was about to do. “Do you like robots, little buddy? Have you worked on them? Ever programmed anything?” he asked, crouching to get down to Sophocles’ level. Hopefully his voice sounded less suspicious to Sophocles than it did to his own ears.

“Yeah,” Sophocles replied nervously.

Arven’s heart was beating hard, the way it did when one was about to do something that could get them in immense trouble. “Oh, well, in that case the academy might just have a special field trip for you. I’ll be leading you on it, alright?”

“Okay.”

Arven stood up straight again. “Pack for a couple nights. I’ll meet you right outside Mesagoza at eight tonight.” Arven started for his room to pack. Going back to Area Zero would be risky, even with a gym leader-strength trainer coming with him. And who knew what the distant future would be like once they got to it using the time machine. But maybe, just maybe, Sophocles would be able to reprogram his dad, get him to come home and act like a parent to him.

Arven looked back to Sophocles and Mallow, the latter of which had definitely realized something wasn’t right. “Uh, your room numbers are 309 and 310. See you guys for your tour later,” he called out before running off.

#Looker's speech patterns are so weird lol! I hope I did an okay job at copying them.#pokemon #arven #nemona #penny #chairwoman geeta #looker #director clavell #trial captain sophocles #trial captain mallow #my fanfiction

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flutteringfable · 2 years ago

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finally found the time to watch generation loss and oh??? my gosh!????? i love ranboo’s stuff and i already had high expectations from hearing all the buzz about it but this totally blew me out of the park in a way i didn’t expect at all.

go watch it, even if you aren’t into ranboo it’s a great thing on its own. it starts a little slow but that’s on purpose!! just trust the process, as they say <3 (i’m using that in the wrong context i know but shhhhh)

anyway time to scream about it in an essay long post because i’m so incredibly normal about this series and not being a horror/arg nerd about it at all nope no way why would you think that ahaha.

[spoilers ahead! there’s only three episodes, all up on their vod channel and about an hour each! it’s so worth a watch!!]

okay, so, episode one was nothing like what i was expecting right off the bat.

i’ve seen the stuff on the actual genloss channel, and i figured it would all be sort of that vibe. imagine my surprise upon seeing ranboo sneeg and charlie being a little bit silly in a cabin in the woods (and also christian hell? for some reason?). i stuck through it, though, no matter how taken aback i was. it was so worth it in the end, but i’ll get to that later teehee <3

the cyoa aspect was cool! i wish i had been there to see it live, because i’m the biggest sucker for choice based stories and arg-style games.

not much more to say abt ep1, to be honest. just know that it’s definitely a completely different vibe than what you’ll probably expect (ranboo said this was on purpose!!). oh also i love squiggles he is everything to me. a little guy. a blorbo even. even if he uh, did turn out to be evil like i originally suspected.

ep 2! this one was almost equally silly in nature, but you can see the “cracks” begin to show a lot more in this one. (“why is cracks in quotes?” you may ask. well, iykyk, and if you don’t, watch episode three.)

the puzzler was great, i think it was hilarious that the mask was basically just how he looked anyway. the beginning was a good hook, i genuinely thought we were getting into the juicy stuff when ranboo was locked in the chair.

when he found charlie, i’m ashamed to admit that i didn’t expect charlie’s guts to be slime. that’s his thing. he’s a goopy gushy guy. i should’ve known. anyway. the part where the “illusion” starts to break and the slime turns to blood for a moment?? DELICIOUS. SO GOOD. MWAH.

NIKKI’S SUDDEN SWITCH IN HER INTRO ON THE CAROUSEL????? so good. everyone’s acting was incredible tbh especially in ep 3, i’m so happy. the silly death dialogue from ethan was great (until it wasn’t. iykyk, i’ll get to it), too. THE HAT BIT??? WHERE THEY REPROGRAMMED SNEEG??? AAA?????? so in love with this episode, it was the perfect transition to the hell that is ep 3.

okay so. ep 3. where do i start omg. i guess at the beginning, that makes sense.

i was really excited to finally have a name for hatch! honestly, even though my villain-senses were sounding off all sorts of alarms in my head, i was fooled for a short while as he was guiding ranboo. learning about the drones was interesting, too. lots of good lore built around the company and those guys! very cool ^^

WHEN RANBOO WENT AGAINST THE AUDIENCE AND CHOSE THE YELLOW CODE. IM RUNNING OUT OF WAYS TO EXPRESS MY EXCITEMENT AND AWE,,,,, UHHHH YIPPEEE???? I GUESS????? that was the thing that really set me off about hatch being maybe not so great. good stuff!!!!

ranboo finding the streamers pretty much locked in those mall restaurants!! AND CHARLIE DOING AN ACTUAL STREAM DURING IT!!!!!! gah, this series is so cool!!!!!! them constantly on the run from the drones and security (TERRIFYING monster, btw, i love when evil dystopian corporations have monsters as security <3) was so wild to watch. i don’t think i’ve been that anxious for the main characters of a series for quite some time.

them seeing the cabin set. ohhhhh my gosh. and then charlie dying (? presumably) at the hands of security before ranboo hits the button to stop everything. graaagh i ate that UP. again i’m running out of ways to express my love for this series lmaoo.

the “ending.” oh my goodness the fakeout “ending.” i was so thrilled, so happy for ranboo i let my guard down and was like “yes!!!! evil bad guys stopped woohoo!!! get this guy some rest and therapy!!!”

and then they bowed.

when i tell you i GASPED. like it was my fault for not checking the time on the video and having my guard down but i GASPED.

hatch letting the audience choose if ranboo lived or died. hearing ranboo scream and beg to be set free, and then beg to die…. i genuinely teared up. despite the rather grim choice to have them die, i think it was for the best. though i do wonder what would have happened if the votes stayed 50/50….. if anyone knows if ranboo has talked about that anywhere, do let me know! if not, i’ll shoot them an ask about it, because i’m sure it would’ve been interesting.

anyway, this series was so much cooler than i ever could’ve imagined. i was already invested in the stuff on the genloss channel, like i mentioned, but seeing the project for myself and getting to watch this incredible series was breathtaking. i’m a huge nerd for dystopias and horror, and ranboo somehow nailed combining them both with great comedy and a great story.

and i’ve heard it’s been nominated for an emmy? or something???? that’s literally so cool!!!! i wish ranboo the best of luck in future projects, genloss was a fantastic watch and i can’t recommend it enough <3

#fable talks 💫#generation loss #genloss #genloss spoilers #ranboo #ranboolive

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late-to-the-magnus-archives · 1 year ago

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Iteration - a Malevolent fic, chapter four

John has been poisoned. Who did it? Unknown. How can he be saved? If not for Arthur, he wouldn't.

The ripples from this event hit far distant shores, and no one will come out of it unchanged.

Part 100 of the Surrogate series.

AO3 - chapter four

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The antidote worked, and John was finally out of danger. He still wasn’t awake, but he was no longer dying, and Hastur reworked his opinion of Dagon, who had, as it turned out, a far more keen mind than he’d realized.

Hastur’s plan (newly hatched) moved to the next step: taking Arthur home and admitting to the world his own had been poisoned.

No one needed to know it had taken more than a week to stabilize John—a week of pacing, stressing, Arthur crying. As far as the world knew, this all happened in one night—and they would be holding their breath to see what Hastur did next.

What he would do next was address the only new additions to his court, even though it was obvious none of them had anything to do with what happened. Still; it had to be done.

Hastur sent out his Dancers.

Parker woke feeling pretty damn good.

A lot of his fears were assuaged. Not all of them, but his gut was always right, and he knew the Arthur he’d seen last night was the real deal.

The guy was messed up. Maybe more messed up than when he’d needed rescue in Jack’s Bar years ago—but he was still in there, and the fact that he and Sunny had marginally gotten along made Parker feel like the moon was made of gold.

John… he didn’t know about John. Couldn’t get a finger on him. Sunny, he knew; Hastur, he was beginning to know. John was so different from them both (and yet not at all?) that he couldn’t yet figure him out.

Good morning, partner, said Sunny, also sounding pretty okay.

Parker stretched and started his basic morning routine—pushups, some jumping jacks, just stuff. “Morning, Sunshine. I can still taste those brownies.”

They were good. The way Sunny said that meant a lot more than just the brownies. Maybe…

Parker let him work it out, doing some pull-ups on his favorite sconce. He liked this one; positioned across from the balcony, it let him look over the lake every time he got his chin to the bar.

Maybe we… can do that again, Sunny suggested.

“I appreciate it, bud. I know it’s a challenge. I really appreciate you going to lengths like that for me.”

Very, very quietly, Sunny said, It’s… it’s for me, too. I’ve… I’ve decided.

“Decided?” Parker dropped lightly to the floor.

Yes. I’ve decided I want… Sunny took a deep breath. I don’t want to be afraid anymore.

“Oh, buddy,” whispered Parker, stroking his jaw gently.

Last night was… It was nice, and when I wasn’t thinking about how afraid I was of that man… It’s not just that it made you happy, Parker, but I was happy alongside you. And so I want to fix this… weakness of mine. Conquer it. I’ve decided I’m going to address it the way you do.

Parker blinked. “The way I do?”

You just face things, Pahkah, said Sunny like Parker’s name was a prayer. You… you run when it’s smart, but you don’t let anybody hold your head underwater.

“Sounds like you been watching closely,” said Parker softly.

I have. I… I would rather watch you than anyone in the world, Sunny said.

Parker just lightly touched his lips—calloused fingers, not at all soft hands, but his touch was a whisper, a wish, a yearning unspoken, because what he wanted to do was kiss this idiot Sunny silly, but this was as close as they would ever—

The door opened and three Dancers slid in, moving quickly, and Parker immediately knew something was up.

They were sharper than usual. He couldn’t exactly pinpoint how, but these Dancers were not in a safe mood. They were ready to do harm.

He stiffened.

Come with us, said the first.

You are summoned by the King, said the second.

Please do not delay, said the third.

Sunny froze; Parker could feel it.

Parker licked his lips. Nobody was grabbing. They hadn’t come armed (assuming they needed to be). “Okay,” he said. “Can I get dressed first?”

Hurry, said the first.

Parker’s gut said this wasn’t actually about them. “Sure thing,” he said, and pulled on yesterday’s clothes.

The palace was not calm.

Dignitaries were non-existent. Doors were closed. Dancers were fucking everywhere, just everywhere, and every room they passed held whispers.

What’s happening? Sunny murmured.

“Haven’t figured it out yet,” Parker murmured back, and was surprised to find himself led into the heart of the palace.

Arthur’s music room, in contrast to the rest, was wide-open, and Dancers were swarming it as if searching for something.

Parker’s heart fell into his stomach. “Oh, fuck me, what the fuck?”

Parker? Sunny said, afraid.

“Shh. Hold on. We’re gonna weather this, whatever it is,” said Parker, and turned the corner, and ran smack into the group of Dancers herding Larson in the same direction.

Parker froze.

Larson froze.

Sunny, very quietly, so quietly it probably couldn’t be heard outside Parker’s head, dared a growl.

“Well,” Larson drawled, eyeing them up and down as if they were covered in garbage. “Didn’t expect to see you this mornin’, Saint.”

“Can’t say I’m thrilled, either, asshole,” said Parker.

The half-dozen Dancers did not wait. Hurry, hurry, hurry, they all whispered, one after another.

Parker sighed. “Right. Let’s go.”

“Gotta say, I’m disappointed,” Larson drawled, keeping two Dancers’ distance between them as he sauntered at speed. “Thought this was somethin’ good, but if you’re summoned, too, it can’t be.”

“You thought this was a good summons?” said Parker with such shade that Larson’s jaw tightened.

Learn to read the room, Sunny barely murmured.

Parker chortled.

“What?” Larson snapped.

“Nothing.” Because Larson didn’t deserve to hear it.

Hastur was in the throne room. The walls were lined with Dancers, unnervingly still, extremities sharpened.

Hastur was not on his throne. He stood before it, and he was…

Resplendent was absolutely the wrong word. Oh, he glowed, brighter even than the morning sunlight, but this wasn’t beauty. This was rage.

Fear—unavoidable, instinctive—sped Parker’s heart. He stopped.

Larson did not stop, but swept forward with a bow. “Oh, Great One! I am here as requested, at your service, ready to give anything you ask of me down to my own flesh and soul!”

“Did you know?” said Hastur.

So that was the bad kind of question. That was the shit hit the fan and did you throw it kind of question, and Parker inhaled carefully.

Larson frowned. “Know what, great one?”

Silence. A very bad silence.

“Arthur,” said Hastur.

Parker’s eyes went wide. “What about him?”

“Did you know?” repeated Hastur, so evenly, so calmly, like Arthur Lester hadn’t banged into their lives and left him-shaped dents in all of them.

“What happened to Arthur?” said Parker, sharp. “Is he okay?”

“Watch your tone!” Larson hissed at him.

“Fuck off. Where’s Arthur?” Parker snarled.

“Arthur nearly died last night,” said Hastur, calmly, so calmly, so absolutely damningly. “It seems his dinner was poisoned.”

Parker’s mouth hung open.

Sunny made one low, choked sound.

Larson looked… well, it was hard to put a name to that expression, because it wasn’t precisely the sorrowful look one might expect. It was surprised; but then in spite of his obvious attempts, eagerness leaked through, a weird and gleaming hope, a need to know more. “What happened?”

Too still, Parker realized; Hastur was too still, and that was why he was so frightening. “That,” said Hastur, “is what I intend to learn. Fortunately for you, I believe you innocent. Return to your room. Do not leave until I tell you you may.”

“Yes, my lord!” said Larson eagerly.

“Wait a fucking second!” said Parker.

Not now, whispered Sunny.

The Dancers were already moving in, before Parker could protest further, and swept everyone back where they came from like some golden, pointed tide.

Day one passed in a tense, miserable blur, too fast and too slow, all at once. By day two, Parker was ready to climb the walls.

Food came. They were not neglected—but the door was locked, and Parker had already kicked it twice to no effect, just because.

Clearly, the guilty party had not been caught.

Parker was going crazy. That’s what this was. He was going crazy. He paced. He mussed his hair. He did jumping jacks until he was breathless (and it took what felt like hours to get there).

And he paced, and paced, and paced.

Sunny had been quiet. Sunny had asked Parker if he was okay, and commented on food, and… that was it. Until the second morning. Parker?

“Hm?” Parker was shaking out his hands; he’d been punching the mattress.

Is… is this my fault?

“What?” Parker was startled enough to step back from the bed. “How in hell would it be your fault?”

Maybe I should have—I should have been able to sense something, Sunny moaned, low and fearful. I didn’t pay full attention to what he was adding, maybe—

“Hey,” Parker soothed, pressing his hand to their cheek. “I know for a fact it wasn’t us. I saw everything we added, too, and we ate the damn things, as well. Besides, he said it was dinner.” A dinner (a lovely stuffed salmon with a barley pilaf and roasted vegetables) they hadn’t attended (like usual) and instead enjoyed in their rooms after their evening run.

But… why would…

“Fucking assholes,” said Parker, as if that explained it all, and continued pacing.

Not for the first time Sunny found himself resenting John for having one of Arthur’s hands. The energy in their bedroom was suffocating, waiting for answers that seemed keen not to arrive, and Sunny wished he could pace alongside Parker, to hold him, to find some way to fix this.

If they’d just let you at it, Sunny growled, pure frustration, we’d have found the fucker by now.

Parker slowed to a stop in front of the balcony. “Fuck. Fuck. Yeah! You think the King’ll come if I yell for him?”

Sunny did not know exactly how Hastur would react, but he could make a damn good prediction. I think… I think it can’t hurt to try.

And suddenly Sunny let out a noise, a sharp wordless keen that seemed to echo in Parker’s brain, but somehow Parker could tell it wasn’t a bad noise—it was asking, questioning, yearning made manifest. “Uh… You good?” Parker asked.

Just calling for him, Sunny said. He’s coming. Do you feel it?

He sure as fuck did.

Hastur appeared in the room like a light turning on, a billowing so fast and powerful that Parker had to take a step back, even though Hastur wasn’t doing anything in particular.

The movement was there now. Hastur was no longer stock-still, but agitated, undulating the fine tips of his thinner tentacles like whips as he hovered, not even bothering to touch the ground. “Well,” he said, and his voice rumbled in the floor. “You are considerably less beset than I expected.”

I tried to use the one that didn’t scream ‘I’m in danger, please help me,’ Sunny sighed. I must have forgotten.

“I heard you.” Oh, the way he said those three words… they were powerful, as if touching on some contract he and Sunny had that Parker couldn’t read. “Speak.”

Parker is the best private investigator in all of Massachusetts, and possibly Earth, Sunny said gravely. And his talents are no good to you spent cooped up in a room. We wish to assist in the hunt for the attempted assassin.

Hastur paused. Parker got the impression this was a new idea. “That’s right,” Hastur said as if to himself. “Arthur learned his deductive skills… from you.”

“Damn straight,” Parker said, privately pleased to know Arthur had detected something. “Sunny and I are good at laying low. Let us go around, talk to people. Find you some additional leads, at least. With more of us working together, we can sniff out the bastard.”

It was a precipitous silence. Unbalanced, displeasing, tense. “Do you choose to put yourselves at risk for Arthur’s sake so easily?”

Parker frowned. “You think we wouldn’t?”

The tentacles twisted. “Clearly, my protections were not adequate,” (Oh, shit, he’s not just upset, he’s ASHAMED, Parker thought). “I cannot guarantee your safety. Do you still choose to take that risk?”

“Sunny?” said Parker, evenly. “If you say no, it’s no. Don’t even think about it.” But he knew Sunny could feel just how tight his throat had gotten.

I don’t believe anyone knows our involvement, Sunny said quietly. We will only take what risks we deem necessary, Great One. I will keep Parker safe to the best of my ability.

Parker let out a very soft, relieved breath.

Hastur sighed. “Very well. Remain within my domain. Call me at once if in danger. Do not risk yourselves. Alert me to anything you find. Agreed?” He floated closer.

Yes, Great One.

Instinctually, Parker stuck his hand out to shake.

Hastur paused. Then one of his human-like hands—absurdly large—slid out from his tentacles and enveloped Parker’s hand.

It wasn’t slimy. Go figure.

“Best of luck,” said Hastur, and disappeared the way he’d come.

(Parker would not think about that skin texture and Sunny. Not now.)

“Right. Where you wanna start?”

Sunny was quiet for a moment, mulling. Like the cases we did on the road, he said. At the beginning. Assuming the cooks haven’t all been executed, they likely would have the best chance at seeing the culprit. A pause. Unless… you’d like to try and talk to Arthur, if he’s able. Even if he isn’t helpful as a witness, it may… you can make sure he’s alright. Sunny’s voice was low, gentle.

“Yeah. I mean, he’s the one who got sick. Maybe he knows something, even if he doesn’t know he knows it.” And he had to say it: “Did I hear the King right? In his domain?”

You did. Sunny’s pause was… not nervous, but certainly telling. We are to remain in his domain.

And Parker did something Sunny had never heard him do before. From anyone else, it might have been an evil laugh. “Sunny… we just got permission to leave the damn palace.”

I don’t quite think that’s the spirit of what he said, Sunny said… But his voice dropped, conspiratorial. But Hastur is very busy. I’d hate to bother him for a correction. And we’re going to be very safe, and… Just for the case. Right?

“Yeah. Or at least… until we’re told not to. Come on. Let’s be smart. We’re gonna start at ground zero—in the kitchen.”

The cooks were scared.

And… the cooks were angry.

They were muttering like a distant storm when Parker made his way to the kitchen, gathered in a knot, surrounded by Dancers. The kitchen was wrecked. Every cabinet open, every box dumped out, and judging by the frustration in everyone’s faces, absolutely nothing had been found.

But oh, they lit up when they saw Parker.

“Parker! Sunny!” said the one whose name Parker simply could not pronounce, and the whole flock of them zeroed in like hungry geese.

“We did not do this,” said one. “You must tell his majesty.”

“I believe you,” Parker said, voice warm.

We’re glad that all of you are alright, said Sunny, which nearly renewed all of the cooks fussing over him. Do you happen to know what part of the dish was poisoned, specifically?

“No,” one growled, the word distorted by the curl of their lip over sharp teeth. “No. Plates were cleared and washed hours before. In the kitchens, there remains no trace of the poison.”

“We did not do this,” repeated one of the others.

You’d never sully your work like this, Sunny soothed. We know.

“Anyone new come into the kitchen yesterday?” Parker said, putting his hands in his pockets as he surveyed the wrecked kitchen. “Deliveries, cleaning?”

“A delivery of meats was made zat morning,” said the head chef. “zey were inspected for tampering before zeir addition to the larder.”

“What kinds?”

“Cuts of meats, red and white and violet. Fish, fresh caught from Lake Hali.”

Anything in their stomachs?

“No. We gut zem here, to ensure zeir purity.” The head cook crossed their arms.

“Shit,” said Parker, low. It was turning into a locked room case, and that meant…

“Ze challenge,” said the head cook, low, “iz zat all of us have been here. Zere are no new people. No new servants, no new cooks. We… however zis goes… it will be a betrayal of us all.”

The grief seemed shared by everyone; Parker had the awful feeling that even the guilty party felt it, because they were a sort of family here, had worked closely for many years, and no matter how this shook out, the consequences would hurt.

Parker sighed. Evenly, he said, “There’s reasons for doing things. I get that. I been on the other side of the law more than once, but… whoever did this did it to someone who didn’t deserve it. You get that? So it won’t matter why they did this. They’re gonna have to face justice.”

It was curious, how that speech affected them. With groups of humans (to whom he’d had to deliver this more than once), the reactions were always emotional—sometimes violent, angry, offended, terrified.

This was resigned. They already knew. All of them.

Parker sighed. “If it’s a good why, I’ll at least make sure the reason’s known. All right?”

“Zis is not your battle,” said the head chef.

“Yeah, it is,” said Parker. “Arthur’s my friend.”

It seemed none of them had picked up on that. Which only made sense; Parker had not spent time with Arthur beyond brief moments of chat on balconies and one evening of baking. Well; now, they knew.

“Good luck,” said Parker, and headed off to check out whoever handled deliveries. He’d be coming back here, but not while they were all prepared, staring at him.

Are we done with the cooks? said Sunny.

“No, but see, there’s gotta be a technique here,” said Parker, taking his time, watching and listening to the busyness in the docking area “They already know me. Me suddenly smashin’ things and threatening would be hard to take serious, and if they did take it that way, we’d ruin our relationship with them going forward. Never mind that I probably couldn’t do a damn thing to any of ‘em, anyway. Human.”

I think you’d do damage, said Sunny with a vicious sweetness.

Parker smirked. “Thanks, bud. Well. In this case, we gotta do a workaround. Come at it from the side.” There were so many Dancers swarming the place that he couldn’t learn much. With a sigh, he headed back inside. “Back on Earth, people at least got that I could hurt ‘em; here, they don’t have that fear of me. It’s okay. We get to do some old-fashioned research. My favorite kind.”

Should… Sunny had noticed where they were walking. We’re going to see Arthur now, maybe?

“Yeah, if you’re okay with that.”

Yes. I’m ready.

Arthur wasn’t in his own room, but in the medical wing. Parker stopped outside the door where Arthur was—a gimmie guess, since it was the one being guarded. We have permission to see him, Sunny said to the Dancers.

They must have known. They stepped aside.

Parker swallowed once—their throat tight—and knocked.

(chapter five)

#malevolent #malevolent pod #malevolent fanfic #surrogate series #arthur lester #john malevolent #kiy malevolent #faroe malevolent #kayne malevolent

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ashcroft-writes · 1 year ago

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The Rower is one of those characters that snuck up on me. When I began writing this story, there was just a hungry little boy looking for a better life, freedom from his dying world. There was a horizon before him, and on it, there was a boat. He was a boy relentlessly passing through death, and as a man, these qualities would come to define him—the Rower was meant to take him from the river, from the dying life and to the new one, and that was all.

But every time I turned around in a new chapter, there the Rower was again, guiding pole in hand, frown on his face, doggedly pressing forward too. Death walked beside him, and it simply wasn’t his time to be buried. He had lessons yet to teach.

Eventually, he came to define that balance between life and death all on his own, as the world died and someone needed to put it to rest. He fished a former little boy one last time from a river and give him one more chance.

The Rower, to this day... I couldn’t explain my thought process in creating him. He simply was, and the story grew organically around him.

And this is in part why I’m so inspired by how he inspired others. I’ve been looking at this art every day for days now, flailing ridiculously, and I can finally get all my words out about it. This is such a beautiful piece! You’ve deftly crammed in SO MUCH symbolism and detail and if I could have this on my wall I WOULD. The little fish! The little CREATURES!! The mold, fungi, parasites, ALL of that—IT WOULD HAVE BEEN 100% IN LINE WITH THE SPIRIT OF THE ROWERS. Theirs was a blunt, stoic worldview of different forms of life and death being free of moral question; these things are simply fundamental truths. It is a balance, light and dark, colors and black/white/grays, as you’ve labored SO hard to show. One gave rise to the other, a circle without end.

Truly, I was so excited when you considered the Rower was a figure with religious importance! This was something I only got to hint at, but it was spot on! Though I might never get the chance to dig fully into what they were in my mind, back in the Old Kingdoms of Duro... well, I imagined the rowers perhaps simply started as a needed profession. People die, and someone has to see to the bodies! But over time, the cultures that sprung up on this riverbound region wove them up into a more profound spiritual significance—a sacred duty, for if one saw death every day, perhaps one came to truly understand the mysteries around it. While the rowers never were quite a priest or shaman class, they were adjacent. The most respected rowers would be those that conducted the dead with the most respect in turn, and these were often those deeply embedded in their communities, those that cared about and got to know those around them in life. This is where the tradition of offering bread for passage once came from, long ago—to offer food was to offer community. The rowers would take the bread and break it together with those that gave it, offering passage on their little ships as they made their way across the region downstream, happy to chat for a time and and keep track of everyone’s life, goals, and family. Many people would have seen it as good fortune also to invite a rower to the ceremonies for announcing their newly hatched young to the community, perhaps even having them hold the child and helping with the rituals before returning the kid to the happy parents and to their life. And yes, the rower would one day take all those lifted as babies on down the river on their final journey too. Death walked beside in the figure of the rower, a reminder in all of life’s little touchstones, but that was the way of things: death should be respected, invited to dinner, and in the end, allowed to kindly take one on the journey to join all that came before, and to watch over those beloved and left behind.

But the old ways are fading, and though some of the trappings of ritual and superstition remained, as with all things on Duro, there later came to be far fewer rowers than there once was. As the polluted world grew worse, and a lot of forms of life vanished, perhaps reminders of death began to be feared more. Either way, with fewer people remaining, fewer rowers were needed, and the tradition was on the verge of, ironically, dying out, as those most enthusiastic about keeping to the old ways weren’t moving on from the planet.

...Though perhaps that may change in some ways now.

Anyway, anyway, see, I didn’t even say all that in the story, but you picked up on my vibes so cleanly and perfectly that I AM VERY EXCITED! This piece absolutely makes sense as an interpretation of the rower from all those years ago, in the heyday of the old ways. I could see this hanging up during a festival, or even a graven design meant to teach in a religious place. I love the moon-sun circle. You are SO right about how the Duros are very much creatures of the celestial spheres in this; in the story, those that went beyond the home sector still often release the ashes of those who pass into the stars, a tradition that might have been being established when this piece might have been made. ;) The little fashion flairs you added work amazingly well too; it sort of fits in my mind as both a symbolic representation of this important social function, and perhaps as a more literal symbol, as rowers taking part in certain important ceremonies like I mentioned might make use of finery of this nature for the special occasion!

I know you noted a few parts of this that you felt were imperfect, but ah, imperfections are life! I for one find it incredible. I love all the balance, all the color and life, all the reminder of death, and I’m so deeply honored that you created this and shared it with me—all of us here. THANK YOU!!!

Hi there @ashcroft-writes :3

Now that Summer's End is here, I can finally post this thing that I've been sitting in for like months haha.

As usual my brain got snagged on one of your background characters even though this one is not a particular character and more of an archetypical figure. Ngl, I'm a bit nervous about posting this because my mind ran away from me completely and I'm not sure if it works for you but so figured you'd probably like to see it regardless^^

So I've been thinking about the Rower as a figure with religious importance and took inspiration from Egyptian boat processions (what little I know at least) and just in general older religious practices.

The artwork is something I imagined as an in-world artistic rendition of the Rower but /way/ before the events of your story (read: at least a century or something).

I got the impression from your story that the Rower exists very much in the context of the life-death circle, being a sort of intermediary between these states of being. I wanted the artwork to be pretty balanced between life and death, not valueing one over the other. So there are both life-colours and death-blacks present in the Rowers clothing.

From the bottom up, there is life in the water (->River!), that the Rower's boat glides over and the rowing stick reaches into.

The four columns hold life on land and in the air. They also represent the four fundamental parts of the circle. From right to left: Flourishing life, nurturing and protecting children, struggle for survival/mating rights etc, and decay/death. I don't believe there are morally right or wrong ways to live which is why I specifically included not-pleasant creatures like parasites, spiders, mould and funghi.

Over this section, there is smoke connecting the earth and the sky. Smoke as a part of religious rituals is pretty cool so I had to put it in.

The highest non-letters part of the picture is the moon in its phases. I knew I had to bring the galaxy-yearning into the picture and the moon-sun circle is the OG religious thing so I put both of them in there.

If you've noticed the clothes are wildly unpractical. Since this is an artistic Interpretation and not a realistic portrayal, I thought it would be really cool to take all of the aspects/tools/clothing parts and idealise them. The hat, bread, rowing sticks and general robes were your ideas obviously. The gloves I added because I thought they might actually be a pretty good thing to have for hygienic reasons. Because they come in contact with the dead, they also have death-colours. The veil-thing I added because I thought it looked cool and because they just felt right in the artistic rendition. (I promise there is linework but my camera did /not/ pick them up with the dark purple colour ":))

The saying you've surely recognised as well ;) I had to modify it slightly for graphic design reasons and tbh I'm not entirely happy with how awkwardly it reads. The idea was to have the entire left side of the picture be about the death-part of the circle while the right side is about the life-side. It didn't work out as well as I wanted but eh.

Anyway, just wanted you to know that your fic lives in my head rent free at all times and that I'm really excited to see where you take it from here <3

#gunslinger's paean #homeworld elegy #star wars oc #star wars fanfiction #duros #worldbuilding #fanart

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himbo-charles-calvin · 4 years ago

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Steven Universe Copperright fusion!

Ahh yes, the ultimate homosexual

#ask #the henry stickmin collection #thsc #the henry art gallery #reginald copperbottom #right hand man #thsc rhm #fusions #I’m not too happy with this design cuz it looks too much like Reggie #But I’m just happy to have finally figured out hatching

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platinumrosetail · 2 years ago

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Can I request yandere Monkey King six ears macaque mk and red son x shiny mom Gardevoir Reader separate scenario

Like the they find the reader who a Gardevoir running with her egg and is scard and they help her .

fall in love with her and how they help her take care of her egg and how they react to her fighting by they side and become a dad to the egg as well .

This is interesting request! I don’t usually get crossover requests so this makes me happy! 🤩😁😆😍🥰 anyway I’ll see what I can do!

Also I might get the scenario mixed up with something else so sorry about that if I did 😅😂

Waring: noob author, crossover, female!reader, yandere, milf!reader, murder, dark themes, Stockholm syndrome, and others.

Chapracters: monkey king, macaque, mk, and red son.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mk:

You and mk met each other when dbk was attacking the city again, you were running away from the bull clones as they had just killed your mate in a previous attack so you were left all alone with your egg that you had just conceived before you came to this world.

(You can pick if you want your deceased mate to be a male gardevoir or a gallade, also it’s sad that there’s no female gallade y’know.)

He and the group had found you trying to get away from the bull clones, all of them noticing that you’re holding something that has a blanket covering it; they quickly figured that you’re with a baby and quickly came to your rescue.

(Also since that world have demons and such I’m going to keep you as a Pokémon and so you can pick your own design if you want to be a gijinka since all gijinka designs are different from one another plus with you being a shiny gardevoir.)

You and the others got along well but they noticed how infatuated mk is with you and knew he had a crush on you.

Though you didn’t notice as you had just became a widow with a child about to hatch so you weren’t that interested in any relationship at the moment as you have to be strong for your child and mourn for your mate.

It took a whole 11 months to finally recover from your mate’s death and when that ended you had finally noticed his attraction to you, you’re flattered but you still love your mate but you also remember his words to you as he died in your arms.

He said to find love again and and not live alone if not for him but for their child who would very much need a father figure wether it was platonic or romantic.

So you started going out on 1 date to see how that would go. The date went great but you didn’t feel that attraction to the person that much anyway considering it’s a first date and love can take time, though when the second date was being planned and you had went to where they had said to meet up with you but they never showed like they had promised.

You went back to pigsy’s in a sad mood as you were stood up by that person, mk comforted you and said that it was them who was making a mistake on not seeing the greatness in you and that you’re the best person he ever meet.

That what made him more attractive than he already was before, you actually had felt more attraction to him than the one who stood you up.

Though what you didn’t know was the reason why they stood you up, it was because mk had murdered them and put them out in the woods to be eaten by meat eating animals.

When your baby was born it was on the 9th month of your mourning and seeing as how hospitable the group is you let them named the child but they declined and said that they would let mk name them as the group notice his love for you as soon as they all met you.

He named them (c/n).

And after that you and Mk started dating.

When you protected him it was when mei was training with redson and a possessed monkey king came in.

You used a combo of double team and draining kiss, that move there got mk jealous but he knows not to attack monkey king and also you later explained the properties of that move.

He fell more in love with after that as you also explained a lot of other things about your species.

Sun wukong:

You didn’t really meet him more like him stalking you and your mate, both for a different reason. For you it’s because he fell in love with you and for your mate is so he can kill him and soon take his place as mate to you and father to your child.

Seeing as how you cared to much about your egg he decided on not to destroy but he would have you birth his kids.

(As weird as it sounds I feel like he would have a breeding kink and would love to have kids of his own, y’know.)

How he killed your mate was when he was going to get some food but ended up dead by sun wukong, and how you found out was a mystery to the monkey.

You and sun meet when you yourself came to look for food, and seeing as you’re living in the wild you can’t really rely on anybody yet you had to bring your egg along with you.

Sun seeing you in that vulnerable state almost made him feel sorry for killing your mate but it was part of the plan to have you fall in love with him.

And like I said you have a vulnerable state and so you feel in love with him (with a little Stockholm syndrome) after your child was born which was 5 months.

When you protected him it was when he went up against lbk, he had almost been possessed if it weren’t for you saving him.

You used the combo of hypnosis and dream eater to get rid of lbd away from the little girl she possessed and to elevate lbd for good, you also used heal pulse on both they little girl and sun.

He also was worried on where the egg is so you pointed to mk who was holding the ralts child and making funny faces to entertain them.

The little one had hatched when you and the group went to where the samadhi fire ritual was held in the past.

He named them (c/n)

Macaque:

You met him when he saved you from the yin and Jin, twins demons.

You had just appeared to this world not to long after you birth the egg of you and your mate who sadly had passed away long before the egg was out ready to hatch.

He honestly reminds you of a few of your dark type friends back home, and since you know so much about them you pretty much understand macaque much more than probably anyone else that he met.

That’s what he thinks and that’s also why he wants to keep you to himself plus he would love to be the father of your child as he knew if he did anything to the egg and that would make you hate him, and he already got so many insecurities so he doesn’t need this one.

When you protected him it was when everyone was fighting lbd and saving the possessed girl.

And thankfully that’s over since not to long after, the egg hatched. The girl you two saved and adopted was so happy to see they little ralts and since she been through so much you and macaque let her name the ralts which was (c/n).

Redson:

You were captured by a group of bull clones, he was shocked to see you as he never seen any being like you before.

Of course you were obviously angered at being captured by him and at yourself getting yourself captured.

You tried everything to escape until you decided to wait for the perfect time as you still have a egg to protect and to love.

You had been given a nice room shocking enough plus amazing food that was made by mrs. pif as well, so you decided it was ok for now as your mate would be here to save both you and your child.

Though you do wonder where he is and what’s taking him so long to save you.

Though that will never happen since as soon as red son found out about your mate he sent his bull clones after him and killed him.

It was on the news when you found out your mate has passed away, all mangled and hardly any identification of who he is anymore, just his red crest on his chest.

You have cried for months, specially 8, but for you it seemed like a day when it happened, though you weren’t alone as you had the comfort of your baby still in the egg and the comfort of the bull family.

You finally started eating and drinking regularly as pif reminded you to be strong for you baby, that made you not realize the strange taste to the food as all you can think about is your child safety, though if you did notice you’d probably just think it’s because of the new food being on your taste buds.

It wasn’t because of the fact about the new taste in your system (though that does help conceal what is about to be mentioned.), no, it was because of the drug red son had put in it beforehand; the drug messes with one’s mind and make their memories scrabbled and messed up, like amnesia. It was his own concoction that he had made when he found out about you and your mate.

He was going to experiment on the egg with his dna so the child would be a part of you and him and not the little mistake he taken care off, but you had your child around you all the time so he couldn’t do that but it didn’t matter anymore as the egg hatched.

And with your memories all scrambled and missing you really thought that redson was the father of your child and they just mostly took after you which he decided to go with it at least now that he has you and the two of you can always have another child.

(A/n: I honestly liked how this turned out! Anyway thank you for requesting I had fun with this In fact and it lets me practice my yandere, anyway I hope y’all like it and have a wonderful day/evening/night.)

#crossover #anime #anime crossover #various x reader #anime x reader #lego monkie kid x reader #lego monkie kid #x reader stories #jttw #lmk macaque #pokemon crossover #pokémon #lego monkie king #monkie kid mk #monkie kid #monkey king #red son

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thebluewritingbench · 4 years ago

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if you’re still taking prompts, can you do happiness #1?

Before we launch into 6b next week, here's a small fantasy of a scene that I wish the cw would give us. Happiness #1 from this prompt list again.

“I’ve loved you since the day we met.”

“Alex calls it The Honesty Policy.”

Lena takes the mug of hot chocolate Kara offers, cradling it between her hands. “The Honesty Policy?” she asks, as Kara sits down on the couch beside her.

“I imagine Kelly probably fed it to her,” Kara says. “But she was helping me try to figure out how we could get ourselves… well, back to normal, after everything, and she was really insistent that this one was worth a try.”

“What is it?”

“Exactly what it sounds like. No more secrets,” Kara says, tapping her own collarbone, then fixing her gaze pointedly on Lena. “No more lying. We tell each other things. We’re honest. We trust each other with our secrets.”

Lena nods, looking down into her mug of hot chocolate. The dim lights of Kara’s loft glow orange across her cheekbones, and in the silence, the sounds of late-night passing cars rumble up from the street below. It’s the first time they’ve really spent time truly alone together since… well everything.

There’s still a lot of awkwardness between them; turns out secrets and betrayal and double-crossing—and the fact that forgiveness was barely hatching between them when Kara was banished to the phantom zone—will do that to a friendship. There was the initial hug, of course, after Kara was rescued, when Lena wrapped her arms around Kara and buried her face in Kara’s neck and held her so tightly that Kara was certain she’d never let go, her breath coming in ragged gasps and her whole body quivering. It was somewhat surreal, the warm shock of having Lena in her arms after so many months, her hair against Kara’s cheek, the muted scent of her shampoo. They’d sank to the floor, still holding each as the ship creaked around them, and stayed there for god knows how long in each other arms.

But since then, since that initial wordless embrace that felt as much like coming home as anything, they haven’t known what to say to each other. They work together easily enough, the animosity between Supergirl and Lena finally gone, but it’s more difficult when they’re just Kara and Lena. They’ve forgiven each other, Kara thinks. Or at least agreed to forgive each other, even if there’s still work to be done. But it’s weird. It’s not like they can snap straight back into how things were before.

Hence The Honesty Policy.

“Okay,” Lena says finally. “Yes. No more secrets. A clean start.”

A clean start. It’s what they need, after an entire friendship where one or the other of them has been hiding things. For the first time, everything between them will be out in the open. Nothing left to hide.

It’s oddly freeing.

Kara takes a sip of her hot chocolate. “So, where do we start?”

“Start?”

“I think we should have just an honest conversation. I don’t want this to be awkward anymore, I want to be able to talk to you like we used to. So, in the interest of honesty, tell me something you’ve never told me before. It doesn’t have to be big—” she adds hurriedly, when Lena’s eyes widen in alarm. “Something small. Something tiny you’ve never had reason to tell me.”

Lena nods slowly, thinking. “In the interest of honesty…” she starts. “In the interest of honesty, I… I really think that those bangs were a mistake.”

Kara makes a noise of offended disbelief in the back of her throat. “I—Rude!”

“You said to be honest!” Lena says, biting her lip like she’s holding back a laugh. “They’re growing out now, anyways. It looks much better.”

Kara gives her bangs a self-conscious pat. They’re still at a slightly awkward length, but they’re long enough to blend in semi-decently with the rest of her hair now. “If we’re being honest, then,” she says. “I think that blouse is really ugly.”

Lena looks down at herself. She sounds slightly hurt when she says, “What’s wrong with it?”

“Everything! It’s—the pattern! The sleeves! The collar! It looks like it’s made of cheap polyester.”

“It’s designer!” Lena pouts.

“Who designed it?”

“Well, I thought that blazer you wore last week was kind of hideous. I didn’t say anything at the time, but in the interest of honesty…”

Kara laughs, and Lena’s irritated expression melts away at her laughter, something in her eyes softening. It’s an expression Kara’s been seeing on her more often, in moments she catches Lena watching her when she thinks Kara isn’t paying attention.

She’s always paying attention to Lena.

“Maybe we should just agree to say that we both have questionable fashion taste sometimes and call it a day,” she says, downing the rest of her hot chocolate and placing the mug on the table.

Lena takes a dainty sip of her own still mostly filled mug. “Fine.”

There’s a long pause, and Kara taps her fingers on her pant leg and tries to think of a new conversation starter. She finally settles on. “In the interest of honesty… how are you holding up?”

Lena shrugs. “I’m okay, I suppose. I’m anxious about Lex—I know it’s only a matter of time before he’s back on our heels. Mostly, I’m just glad to have you back.” She looks over her mug at Kara. “I think that’s more a question I should be asking you, though.”

The look of intense concern in Lena’s eyes makes her feel hot, and Kara squirms slightly, pulling her collar away from her neck with a finger. She wants to say I’m fine, but honesty is the whole point of this exercise. “I’m… still not great. Being back there it… brought up a lot. Brought back a lot. I’m still having a really hard time with it all. It’s—it’s hard to talk about.”

“We don’t have to talk about it right now.”

“I want to talk about with you at some point. I just… don’t want it to ruin every conversation I have, you know? I want some things to be normal, still. I want to pretend things can be normal.”

“That makes sense,” Lena nods. She looks small when she says, “In the—in the interest of honesty, are you still mad?”

“At you?” Lena nods again, and Kara sighs, looking away. “It’s complicated, I guess. A little, maybe? I meant it when I said I forgave you, but there’s still part of me that’s a little angry. You did a lot of things that were… really bad, Lena.”

“I know.”

“Are you still mad at me?” Kara asks, and Lena’s shaking her head before she even finishes the question.

“No. No, I’m done being mad at you. I get it. I get why you hid your identity, and I wish you’d told me sooner, but I’m not angry anymore. I don’t have enough energy to be angry anymore. I’m happier if I don’t hate you.”

“Well, I’m glad for that.”

“I would have done anything to get you back, you know,” Lena says in a rush, words spilling out like she can’t stop them. “You say I did bad things before, but I would have watched the world burn if it meant I could have brought you back.” She looks down at her lap. “Who knows what I would have done if Alex hadn’t been there to stop me.”

“Lena.” Kara reaches over to take her hand. “You know I can’t possibly be mad at you for that.”

“No?”

“Of course not.”

“Okay,” Lena whispers. Kara watches her swirl around the dregs of her hot chocolate and takes a deep breath.

There’s still one more secret between them. One more secret that has the potential to ruin their friendship. Kara thinks they’re both aware of it, on some level. Aware of the way the weight of it shifts their every interaction. The others are aware of it too, have maybe known longer than Kara has. Alex certainly has. It was she who looked Kara in the eye when they were discussing this whole honestly policy and said, “You have to tell her this. You know you do.”

She can’t risk another secret in their relationship.

“Um, in the interest of honesty,” she starts, and finds she can’t quite meet Lena’s eyes. “I have to tell you—in all honesty, I would probably just keep it a secret, if I could, but I don’t think we should do secrets anymore, so I just need to tell you that I, um, have feelings for you.”

Lena straightens. “Feelings?” she says, her voice cautious.

Kara closes her eyes. Takes a breath. Steadies herself. Opens them again. “I’m in love with you,” she says. “Um, nothing has to change if you don’t want it to, but I need… I need you to know.”

“Oh,” breathes Lena. She opens her mouth, and it seem to take several moments for the words to catch up with her. “Well, in—in the interest of honesty, Kara, I’ve—I’ve been in love with you for years.” She gives a wry little half smile. “If we’re being honest.”

“What? You have?”

“Darling,” says Lena. “I’ve loved you since the day we met.”

“The day we met?”

“Why do you think it hurt me so badly when I found out who you were? Why do you think I was so deep in denial about it that I never figured it out myself? Do you really think you were that good at hiding it?”

“I mean, I thought—”

“The disguise. The hair. The glasses.” She puts down her mug, then reaches over and gently tugs the glasses from Kara’s face, folding the arms in and placing them on the table. She brushes a strand of hair behind Kara’s ear. “You mentioned Supergirl far too much as Kara and Kara far too much as Supergirl and one time you told me you flew to my office on a bus.”

“That’s—yeah, that’s fair, actually.”

“You’re in love with me? Honestly?” whispers Lena.

“I am. I really, truly am. Why do you think I refused to give up on you when everyone else was ready to?”

“I thought that just how you are. You don’t give up on anyone.”

“I try not to. But you, I could never bear to, even when it seemed like the only logical option to everyone else. Why do you think I waited so long to tell you in the first place? I was so scared to ruin things between us.”

“Why do you think I bought you an entire media empire?” Lena murmurs, and she’s so close, hand fisted in the collar of Kara’s shirt.

Kara giggles. “Why do you think I flew all over Europe to get you lunch?”

Lena laughs, and it’s such a relief to hear her laughter again, to let the conversation flow between them. There’s a bud of hope for the future that’s been sitting in Kara’s chest for years now, and under Lena’s adoring gaze, it starts to open.

“In all honesty,” Kara says, “I’d really like to kiss you right now.”

Lena slips a hand into her hair, runs her thumb over Kara’s cheekbone. “In all honesty?” She leans in, pressing their foreheads together. “I’d like that.”

#supergirl #supercorp #supercorp fic #kara danvers #lena luthor #supergirl fanfic #featuring me making fun of the supergirl costume department and also the bangs #and justifying all the sc bullshit i can #and making our girls have an hONEST CONVERSATIOn #is this therapy?#anyways I wrote this as a palate cleanser in between chapters of my WIP so enjoy :D #asks #anon #prompts #bluewritingbench writes #bluewritingbench ficlets

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