#Guys I’m lost in a black berry bush

[caterpillarinacave]

It'd be ridiculous to end up trapped in another world over a scrap of paper right? You hunt down a long stick to drag it over closer to the door and reel it in, when you open the paper you're glad you didn't risk it, the note reads:

"How! Neat writing! So you are from the "Earth" then? What is the weather like? LLL! Kidding! I like the story! Let me tell you of our world traveller! There is beauty and wonder here! Many ponds of water, animals of all kinds, the people have kindness they offer freely, one would be welcome stranger! The door you speak of is locked and cannot open, if it could it would lead to a cooking room in the building though, too bad, the new world you are in sounds like fun! I like the idea it leads to the Inbetween. We should raincheck some time! I will be searching for your return!"

You're intrigued that the response, while odd, is in your language, but it also seems as though the writer does not realize you are being serious and assumes you are telling a story that they are joining in on. You write a response that you'd like to meet face to face to chat, this time when you go set out the note you check the area for signs of this world creeping through, there's some sticks and leaves on the ground although you can't be sure it came from the door, you think maybe the asphalt stops the plants from growing even if they went through, so it's hard to tell. You close the door, but just as you shut it you remember you need to remind your penpal to set the response closer and open the door to pull the string in, only to find someone standing on the other side holding your letter. They startle in surprise as do you, in incredulity the new person looks at your letter and then the door, adjusting their glasses and peering inside.

"How! You were not joking? This is you correct?"

They wave the paper, once you nod they step towards the door intrigued.

"This is the Inbetween then? Very mind altering! Excuse me, it is just so boggling! I have only heard stories and none of those had ever seemed true but they must be! You speak the language I do though! You said you were from a world that is not this one nor mine? What way does this work?!"

They look at the building and then through the door again.

You show them the key and explain how the key you have opens the white side of the door but you need a different key to go back using the black side.The person nods along before promptly stepping through the door. In surprise there isn't much you can do to stop them, they wander around the door looking at the other side, apparently the black door is visibly closed on the other side, despite the white door being open in front of you.

You both chat for a long time, you tell them everything you know and they return the favor, although they don't know much, still you learn this:

There are stories of people arriving from other worlds, but it is seen as a conspiracy or a myth.

A lot of these stories sound like fairies or aliens, kidnapping and experimenting on people.

Your new friend thinks if there's any merit to these stories you can find more about them at the library.

They have no idea how you would open the black door.

At the end of your conversation the person steps through the door safely, understanding your situation, they've offered to let you crash on their couch for a little while if you need it. You feel like they seem trustworthy so far, but you never know.

Do you step through the door?

No

[teddiesworldd]

after the world ends.

ghost finds you out in the woods during a zombie outbreak and falls in love with you. (2.6K words) read part 2 here!!!

a/n: this idea has been on my mind for a while and it was so sweet i just had to write it down and share it with you <3 also, if you'd like to be added to a taglist, let me know!

pairing: simon ghost riley x female reader

tags/warnings: nsfw, mdni!!, apocalypse au, mentions of weapons, killing (zombies), survival situation, unprotected p in v sex, cute fluffy stuff in the middle of a zombie apocalypse because why not?!, soap makes an appearance

day 17 of the apocalypse, 3 weeks after the first outbreak.

you had lasted this long purely by camping out in the back of your car, driving somewhere more remote to avoid the infected and rationing whatever you'd managed to bring in from your kitchen at the beginning of it all. but as supplies got low and you were down to your last water bottle, you were forced to venture out into the nearby woodland, gathering whatever you could forage from the streams and bushes. you knew absolutely nothing about surviving out here. you couldn’t hunt and could barely light a fire. the first day of winter was in less than a month and you had no real shelter to keep you warm. you had no idea which berries were safe to eat or how to filter water. all you had was your kitchen silverware for protection and your best winter jacket for the weather.

you’d last about 2 weeks out here at best, and that’s without the fucking zombies. 

you'd been walking for about an hour since leaving your car, and to be honest, you didn’t think you could find your way back now. everything looked the same. you had found only a pocketful of what you could only guess was edible, and a protein bar from the pocket of a dead guy’s jeans. every single noise scared the hell out of you. and the bite marks on his neck raised your adrenaline tenfold. 

thud. thud. snap.

footsteps. sticks breaking underfoot. 

“who’s there?” you called out. “i’m- i’m serious, come any closer and… and… i’ll kill you!”, shouting now, cold hand gripping your rusted kitchen knife tightly.

you saw a huge figure behind the trunk of a nearby tree, and he chuckled lowly at your brave attempt to scare him away. “you don’t scare me, sweetheart”, the voice said, deep and rough, walking out from behind the tree, “thought y'were a rabbit or something - cute lil' thing, rustling in those bushes. and if i was infected, you’d be dead by now, with a mouth on you like that.”

he was an absolute giant of a man, 6 and a half foot at least and built like a brick shithouse. he was in full military gear, skull mask over his face, armed with a rifle in hand and knives strapped to his chest and belt. he approached you slowly, palms facing you like he was trying not to spook a stray cat. part of you wondered if you were hallucinating - you'd not been sleeping well from the nightmares of the infected night after night.

“no use shouting, anyway - they’ll find you straight away making all that noise.” he continued, leaves crunching under his black boots, walking closer, “what’s a girl like you doing out 'ere, all alone?”

you were frozen in place, like a deer in headlights. he was already intimidating as fuck without the massive armoury hanging round his waist, but now he was so close you could feel his breath on your face. a thought crossed your mind that if he tried to kill you now, there would be absolutely nothing you could do to stop him. it made a shiver run down your back.

his gloved hand reached out to hold your chin. you looked up at him, eyes welling up from the pure fear that ran through you.

“lost?” he said quietly, tilting his head to get a proper look at you. 

you nodded slowly.

“well, you won’t get far with that old thing, love” he smirked through the mask, eyeing the blade in your hand. “here, i’ll take you back to camp with me, make you a proper meal, yeah? when did you eat last?”

you engaged in some light small talk on the way, finding out he was called “ghost” and he used to serve in a special operations unit for a private military company. i guess it made sense that the best survivors would be the soldiers. you mentioned how you’d been living in your car for the past two weeks, which seemed to amuse him. he probably thought you were just some dumb girl who’d somehow managed to scrape through until now.

he wasn’t wrong, really.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

his camp was much nicer than the back of your car. 

it wasn't far from where he'd found you. they had lots of weapons and food and beds. and people. there must of been about 10 men in total. the infected weren’t really an issue with their impressive arsenal. there was a large fence surrounding the camp and the men took it in turns to kill anything that tried getting inside. it was pretty clear that ghost was closest to one of the other ex-military guys called "soap". they sat together when they ate and stayed up late at night talking together around the fire - matching dog tags glinting in the dim light. you often watched them through your tent door - enjoying their company but not wanting to interrupt their conversation. you listened as they talked deeply, recounting their time serving together, telling stories of bravery and bloodshed. it became your routine to fall asleep listening to them.

after about 3 or 4 weeks, following the first snowfall, you’d adjusted to life in the camp. soap had taught you a few things and often spent the mornings taking you hunting or showing you how to use the guns - a hand on your waist as he lined you up for the kill shot. he had a sweet nature and silly charm to him, telling you ridiculous jokes that only made you laugh because they were so stupid. you would never tell him that though - he thought you found him hilarious.

however, it was ghost you’d grown closest to, giving you anything and everything you needed. he was mysterious and that drew you to him. one time, he took you down to the river to wash the cookware and yourselves, and you'd caught a glimpse of him pulling off his clothes and mask, blonde hair and muscles seeing the light of day. you couldn't deny it - he was gorgeous.

he often checked on you in the evenings, making sure you’d settled in okay. he sat next to your bed, running a gloved hand over your hair, rubbing small circles into your scalp.

“you like the boys?” he’d ask, “they treating you okay?”

and you’d nod, just like you’d do every night.

“not scared, are you, doll?”

you shook your head.

“good. just making sure.”

and with that, he’d leave, heading to his own tent to rest, or out to guard the fence.

but one night, before he got up to get some sleep, you grabbed his hand. he looked back at you, dark eyes watching yours.

“stay?” you whispered.

and he did, without a word. stripping off his heavy gear and perching next to you in bed, rough camo trousers scratching against your bare shoulder. 

and he stayed, just like you asked. watching over you like a dog and keeping you safe.

sometime in the night, you’d turned to face him where he sat, resting an arm over his thigh. but he didn’t push you off. he just let you rest - your warm breath causing a dampness throughout the tent. 

it was only when the winter sunlight streamed through the tent that you realised he really did stay - all night. you opened your eyes to see he’d settled in next to you, his sleeping body alongside yours in the small camp bed, your arm still around him. 

and when you tried to pull yourself away out of embarrassment, he pulled it back, keeping it over his chest. 

“for warmth, yeah?” he said quietly, voice all deep and sleepy.

and how could you argue with that? these were trying times, after all. 

after a moment's silence, he said “you’re a pretty thing, love. always thought so, even when i first met you and you were all scared and dirty.” he continued, heavy eyes looking down at your vulnerable form. “soap thinks so too, but you’re mine, yeah? i found you - you’re mine.”

there was something about the possessive glint in his eye that showed you he really meant it - his gaze trailing down from your face to your uncovered hips that had shuffled out the sheets in your sleep.

"cm'ere" he said, taking your arm in his grasp and pulling you towards him. "i mean it, love. do you wan' to be mine?" eyes watching your face to see how you'd react to his question. your faces were close now, closer than they'd ever been. he'd looked after you so nicely, giving you everything you needed, protecting you from harm all this time. you couldn't help but agree with him. how could anyone not fall for this attractive man who cared for you so much? and the feeling of his chest under your hand made you fall for him even harder.

"yeah," you whispered against his masked face "...yours."

your small hand reached up to reveal his lips under his mask. he pulled you in, kissing you softly. it was short but there was so much behind it. you could tell he wanted more but he was holding back. he didn't want to accidentally push you away by moving too fast. he pulled back to look at you, hands cupping your soft face, which was still clouded with sleep.

"you're so beautiful, you know that?" he spoke so softly now. it was like the walls he'd put up had fell instantly. he just wanted a moment to be yours. no one else's. not the camp's cook or the guard or the hunter. just yours and nothing else.

you pulled yourself back to his face, kissing him again but soon moving your lips down to kiss his chin, and then his neck. but you didn't get far before he stopped you.

"no, no, love. let me take care of you - you deserve it." he said, turning you around so you were on your back, head resting on your plush pillow as his touch relaxed you.

it was almost as if for just a moment, you weren't in the middle of a fucking nightmare. you were at home, in your own bed. maybe you'd met him at work or out on a date - anywhere that wasn't in a forest full of zombies. and he'd taken you out for dinner a few times and you'd decided he was sweet enough to be kissing down your body, rolling his tongue over your nipples.

but here you were, in a camp full of strangers, being transported by this man who you barely knew, covered only by the walls of a thin tent. but it just felt so right to let him take you like this. you trusted him with your life. and in return he worked your body like magic. his touch was so gentle - yet his skin was so rough compared to your own.

"you want me inside you, baby?" he spoke to you so softly, having kissed down to the top of your underwear now. his eyes watched you, waiting for your permission to carry on.

"please," you replied, "i want you."

that was all he needed to hear. he pulled off his shirt and your underwear, tossing them both to the side. he admired your body shamelessly, eyes tracing the outline of your waist and your body. you couldn't help but do the same, entranced by the way his muscles practically glowed in the light that came through the tent. he was built like a rugby player, pure muscle but with a good layer of fat on top to smooth everything out. you watched as he unbuttoned his pants and pulled out his cock.

he was huge. you knew he was a big guy but you weren't expecting it to apply to all of him. it was definitely bigger than anyone you'd ever been with. his tip was an angry shade of red from how hard he was, precum running down his shaft. noticing the expression on your face, he reassured you.

"don't worry, i'll be gentle with you."

he lined himself up with your entrance, your wetness being enough to allow himself to push slowly inside. it stretched you more than you ever had been, causing you to hiss as it dipped inside you. he bent forward down to kiss you sweetly, silencing your pained noises, shushing you each time his lips left yours. he continued to move in until he bottomed out inside of you.

"you okay?" he grunted, "tell me when to move, love."

you paused for a moment, adjusting to his size before nodding to let him know he could start moving.

he didn't fuck like you expected him to. you thought a guy like him would be railing you like an animal, but no. he made love to you, his slow but deep thrusts hitting all the perfect spots in your gummy walls. it was pure bliss, and he thought so too, struggling to keep back his grunts each time he thrust into you.

"fucckkkk baby," he'd say, dog tag hanging down as he fucked you, "your pussy is so tight, gripping me so good". he hooked your legs behind his back and moved his big hands onto your hips to hold you in place. " is it good for you too, doll? you look so pretty with that fucked-out look on your face." he went on, smirking at you like he was proud of his work.

you couldn't even form words, let alone piece together a decent response. he felt amazing, pulling all the way out so only his tip was inside of you and then pushing all the way back in again, until you were an absolute drooling mess, jaw slack and whining on his cock. and just when you thought it couldn't get any better, he moved his hand between your legs and rubbed lazy circles on your clit with his thumb. almost instantly your pussy started pulsing around him - with you blubbering out incoherent swears and moans - having sent you completely over the edge in a matter of minutes. he wasn't far away either - your clenching making his hips stutter back and forth as he helped you ride through your orgasm. you could of swore you were seeing stars by the time he pulled out of you and came over your stomach with a moan, pressing his forehead to yours.

it took you both a few minutes to come back down again, giggling and kissing his lips once more. your arms found their way around his neck, holding him close to you. you were both a panting mess, clothes discarded across the tent floor and the scent of sex heavy in the air.

"my girl- you're gorgeous," he managed to huff out, catching his breath. " 'm never getting over you."

when news broke that a zombie apocalypse was spreading, you had no idea it would lead to this hunk of a man in bed with you - spoiling you and loving you like this. you weren't complaining, though. not at all. at least something good came from it.

he cleaned you up so carefully, being sure not to press too hard on your sensitive body. and when he'd made sure you were okay, he brought you something to eat and led down with you, stroking up and down on your back, drawing shapes and letters on your skin. part of you couldn't believe this was the same guy who you watched shoot a zombie in the face through the fence the other day. his hands were so gentle, always cautious not to hurt you under his touch.

and as your eyes grew heavy again, revelling in his embrace, you heard him say something into your skin.

"simon," he said quietly, face buried in your neck. "my real name's simon."

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[nicknim]

Hi Hi, this is the first chapter of the AU I made a rough idea of the other day, I will also be on AO3 under the same name enjoy :)

Chapter 1

All was going well. After the world tour ended, the troll tribes were getting along pretty well. Of course there’s always a few scuffles but that’s to be expected in general. Poppy brought up the idea of trollstopia 2 weeks ago. And while this could go wrong in many ways, it could also go as intended. Bringing the troll tribes closer to each other and it’s a safe place for everyone to be themselves.

We started construction on it this week, and while it’s going quickly, we still need materials. So I’m out getting wood, cotton, leaves, and spackle berrys right now. I was humming an old song I used to enjoy when I was little. Not like I don't now, but it just brings up bad memories. I must be getting rusty because i didn’t notice the sound of pressured gas going into the air. I stopped humming and stood still hearing the sound, when it slowly seeped in that it was hard to live my limbs. I tried to run or swing away but it just didn’t cut it, and I fell into black.

-Few hours later-

Poppy’s POV:

She was getting the cookies out of the oven, Cooper, DJ, and Biggie were in the kitchen talking about the news that Grislte and Bridget were engaged! Yay them! Poppy walked into the dining room and set the cupcakes down. Her friends thanked her as she went to look out the window. Branch was supposed to come by also, but he’s late. Last she heard he was out getting new things to build trolltopia.

‘He must of lost track of time’ She remembers when he was a hour late to a party becuase he was so focused on making his new invention and making adjustments.

“But he’s never this late..” She whispers to herself. However Cooper still heard her.

“What did you say Poppy?” He asked as he turned to look at her from across the dining room. Poppy turned her head and looked at Cooper.

“It’s just Branch was also supposed to come today, but he’s late. I though he might be super focused on something and lost track of time. But he’s never been this late before.” Poppy was a little worried for her boyfriend. He’s an accident prone troll who lives close to the woods where creatures lye.

“If you want, we can all go check on him?” Biggie suggested. Mr dinckles just let out a ‘mew’ as if agreeing with the large troll.

“Yeah, I haven’t seen Branch in a while so why not check. Plus it’s not like we can do this mini meeting without him.” DJ Suki said, she was as relaxed as ever and seem happy to go walking around to find her friend. Copper didn’t say anything just a ‘mhm’ and a nod of his head.

“Alright then. FIELD TRIP!!”

After walking and talking, they made it to Branch’s bunker. Poppy walks up and knocks on the hatch.

“Branchifeeer! Did you forget about the tea party?”

She waited for a response. But nothing came.

“He must still be out in the woods. Come on guys!”

The pack of trolls walk there way into the woods behind Branches home. And if poppy remembered right…

“The field should be just around.. HERE!”

Poppy is exclaims excitedly. This opening is where Branch puts what ever he collects while he grabs other things. Can’t find him at the bunker? Look here!

The group look around the field for the grey-blue troll. And all they find are piles of wood, leaves, and cotton in piles on the floor.

“Huh, that’s werid. These piles are really messy.”

Poppy looked around the area, seeing if Branch was still around. He was supposed to be getting all these things and spackle berrys.

“Hey Cooper, do you remember where the spackle berrys are?” Poppy asked as she turned to look at Cooper. Him and Branch like to tag along with the other in errands sometimes. Cooper looked around the open field, then started walking a bit towards the left to the trees.

“Yep! It’s a this way!” Cooper exclaimed. Cooper led the other trolls through a minute or so of trees. And when they got to the spackle berry bushes, they stopped in their tracks.

They saw multiple berrys on the floor, but also on the trees, like they were thrown. Poppy looked around some more and saw some crushed trees and bushes. It looked like something big had stomped on them. She started to think about what had happen here. Wait… the thrown berrys, the mess of the supplies and a missing Branch..

“DID BRANCH GET IN A FIGHT WITH A GIANT!?”

[greekstar]

Warrior cat name Ideas Prefixes - A-Z A Acorn Adder Amber Ant Apple Arch Arrow Aspen Ash Asher Alder Amber B Badger Bark Beech Bellow Birch Berry Bird Black Blizzard Brave Breeze Bright Brown Bell Bug Beetle Bluebell Blue Bounce Brindle Brush Bush Buzzard Buzz Bee Bumble Bass Basil Bubble Brine Beaver Bison (I feel like this only goes good with ‘horn’ or Bisonpelt/fur.) Bat Bone Butterfly Burdock Broken Bramble Bracken Bay Brisk Blossom Briar Boil Branch Bud C Cloud Cloudy Crystal Cold Cricket Cliff Cardinal Crying Cougar Coyote Cobweb Chick Cow Cave Cheetah Carrot Coral Cactus Claw Cedar Cherry Cinder Clover Copper Creek Crooked Crouch Crow D Dew Dewy Duck Dusty Dust Dune Down Dagger Dodge Dolphin Daisy Doe Dapple Dappled Dark Dawn Dead Dove Drift Dusk E Eagle Ebony Echo Egg Eel Ember F Fallen Fallow Fawn Feather Fennel Fern Ferret Finch Fire Flame Fleet Flint Flower Flow Fly Fox Freckle Frog Frost Furze Fuzzy Foal Falling Fall G Gale Gust Golden Gold Goose Gorse Gorge Grass Gray Green Grass Goldfish Guppy Ghost H Hail Half Hare Hawk Hay Hoot Hazel Heather Heavy Hollow Holly Honey Honeycomb Hummingbird Horse Happy Hornet Hound Heron I Ice Ivy J Jagged Jay Joy Jaguar Jackdaw Jump Juniper K Kestrel Kink Koi L Lake Larch Leaf Lark Leopard Lichen Lightning Lily Lion Little Lizard Log Long Lost Loud Low Lynx M Maggot Mallow Maple Marsh Meadow Milk Minnow Mint Mist Misty Mole Moon Morning Moss Mossy Moth Mottle Mouse Mouth Mud Mumble Mink Muddy Moonlight Mountain Mushroom Monkey N Nettle Needle Nut Newt Night Nimble O Oak Oat Odd Olive One Otter Owl Orange Ocean Orca Opal P Pale Perch Pool Pike Peak Prickle Pounce Pine Petal Petal Pebble Pear Patch Pirate(kittypet or loner) Polar Peach Panda Pond Pigeon Plum Q Quail Quick R Rabbit Rain Ragged Rat Rattle Root Raspberry Reed Red Robin Rock Rose Rowan Rubble Running Rushing Rush Russet Rust Rye Raven Raccoon Rustle Rattlesnake Ravine Rapid S Sage Short Sheep Sedge Shrew Slate Slow Snail Sneeze Sorrel Soot Spider Spruce Sun Sunny Swallow Shallow Shade Sharp Scorch Sand Sandy Sky Silver Smoke Snake Soft Snow Sparrow Speckle Splash Spotted Squirrel Stalking Stalk Stalker Starling Stone Storm Stumpy Stump Sweet Swift Shred Sloe Shell Seed Shimmer Shimmering Skunk Spirit Squid Shy Sound Summer Sapphire Spiraling Spiral Shark Saturn T Tall Talon Tooth Timber Tiger Twig Tumble Thorn Thistle Thrush Tawny Tangle Ting Trout Torn Toad Tiny V Vine Vixen Void Vole W Wasp Weasel Web Weed Wet Whisker White Whale Wild Willow Wind Wolf Winter Wisteria Whisper Whispering Water Wave Waver Whisper Watermelon Whistle Wood Y Yellow

Yew

Yarrow- suggested

You guys DONT WANNA KNOW how LONG this took. I’m crying. And I might’ve missed some so feel free to send me messages in chat to request me editing it and putting it in some (not like messaging but the. Chat in this post lol.)

@cryptidclaw I also did this for our Au to help us with renaming.

I will get to suffixes soon I promise.

[ray-ray-writings]

drabble idea: after Wilbur is killed by Phil, Fundy finds a smol arctic fox hybrid reader and cuz they're both foxes and the hybrid child looks abandoned, he adopts them. Then Ghostbur shows up and Fundy doesn't want him to have anything to do with his child. maybe some other relationships for fluff??? i'm just craving this rn -💍

So imagines won right? I sit down and go to write the imagine, and I just end up staring at a blank screen for what felt like forever. I know I said I would give you the option but I honestly couldn’t put anything in my brain for it. And because I spent so long staring at it, I lost a lot of time and so this is the only post for tonight…. I feel so bad. I’m sorry guys, I should have more stuff tomorrow. <3

TW: Parental abandonment.

This idea is so cute though. 

So we all know that Wilbur wasn’t the best father. He really messed Fundy up and gave him some of those good good daddy issues to where he has a hard time trusting people. But I think that he would be out on a walk, clearing his mind, trying to think of anything but his father. He’d be in a snowy biome when he hears footsteps. At first he thinks it’s a mob of some kind, so he draws his weapon and creeps toward the sound. He catches sight of something white and at first he thinks it’s a skeleton, but then the thing moves again and he can very clearly see it’s an ear, a white fluffy ear… That’s odd. “Hello?” he finally decides to call out. There is a small squeak and a lot of rustling. When he wasn’t attacked, he figured it safe to move forward. He carefully approached and as he pushed some of the bushes out of the way to reveal a small child. In one quick glance he could tell this was no ordinary child. It was an arctic fox hybrid, the fluffy white ears and tail a dead give away. In his glance, he could also tell this child was in rough shape. Their clothes were tattered and torn allowing him to see just how skinny they were. His heart ached for the poor child, “Hello little one,” he greets softly, “What are you doing out here?” 

You’d been on your own for a really really long time now. Your parents had brought you out here, told you to stay put, and left. You listened and so you waited for them to come back. But as the days went on, you began to understand what had happened. But nevertheless, you sat there and waited. Munching on the berries of the bushes, but it never quite fills your stomach. One day as you’re moving from bush to bush, a voice calls out. It startles you and you can’t help but let out a squeak as you fall to the ground in surprise. The bushes shuffle a bit and from over the top you find an orange headed man peering at you curiously. His eyes scan you quickly before he speaks, “Hello little one,” his voice soft and comforting as he speaks, “What are you doing out here?” You give him a little shrug and allow yourself to look him up and down. You’re heart thuds a little faster as you notice that he is also a fox hybrid with orange and black ears, an orange and white tail, and sharp canines poking out from his lips. “Where are you parents?” he tries again. Again, you give a little shrug and figuring you can trust this man, you speak, “Gone… Let me here.” His heart breaks at your sad and defeated tone. “They left you here? All by yourself? When did they leave?” Another shrug, “Two… three….. Weeks.” you mumble, looking down to the berry bushes, your fingers grazing them carefully. Fundy’s heart burns in anger as he thinks about how horrible your parents were for leaving their obviously amazing child to die in the woods. He’s about to speak when your stomach grumbles loudly causing you to flush in embarrassment. “Hungry?” Fundy asks, then mentally smacks himself. Of course you’re hungry your stomach just rumbled. But you nod sheepishly, still plucking at the leaves. “How would you like to come home with me. I can fix you up some fish. I have lots of fish at my house. You could eat as much as you’d like and you could stay as long as you want.” Not even caring if this guy was lying to you, you accept his offer, simply desperate to get out of the woods. Your head slowly rises from the bushes as you stare at Fundy who is smiling at you ever so softly with an outstretched hand. Carefully you raise your own arm and gently rest your hand in his, shivering at the warmth that spreads throughout your palm. “Let’s get going then kiddo.” 

Fundy leads you out of the forest and towards his house. As you two walk, you two talk… Well he does a lot of the talking and you give small answers here and there. You tell him your name and he tells you his. He talks about where you’re going and how it’s extremely safe there and how he thinks you’ll like it. He leads you inside his house, sits you at the table, before making up some fish for you and him. He places the plate down in front of you and before he can sit to eat his own meal, yours is finished. To say he’s shocked is an understatement, but he quickly remembers you were out in the forest all alone for two to three weeks, maybe longer with nothing but berries. You’re looking at him super embarrassed, like you want to ask for more but are too scared too. “Hey, it’s okay,” he soothes, walking back over to you, setting his own plate down in front of you, picking up the empty one, “You don’t have to feel bad. Like I said, I have plenty of fish, eat as much as you like.” And so you do. You eat until you’re so full you can barely move. Your eyes are sleepily closing and then jerking back open as you try to force yourself to stay awake. Fundy notices this and laughs quietly to himself. Your eyes close for a little while, giving Fundy enough time to put his plan into action. He quickly stands up, moves to you, picks you up, and carries you to his bed. He carefully lays you down, tucks you in, and presses a kiss to the top of your head. “Sleep well darling,” he mumbles, not thinking much of it. “Thanks dad” you mumble back, clearly out of it. But the simple word stops Fundy’s heart before a huge smile grows on his face. He decides that he wants you to be his child, if you want. He can feel a connection and a strong desire to care and love for you and he wants to be that strong father figure that he himself did not have. The next morning when you wake up, you don’t remember what you said obviously. You also plan to leave and go back to the forest. You would thank Fundy for feeding you but you already feel you've overstayed your welcome. You make your way down to the kitchen, ready to tell the man who saved you, who you don’t want to leave, goodbye. Fundy is standing over the stove and at the sound of your footsteps his head turns and he grins brightly at you, “Hey kiddo! Have a seat! Eggs are almost done! I hope you like them scrambled!” Not wanting him to feel bad, you do as you’re told and decide to tell him after breakfast. True to his word, the eggs don’t take that much longer and soon he’s served you some eggs. You two eat together, talking a bit about how you both slept and stuff. And after you’re done, you’re just about to tell him but then he begins to tell you about his plans for the day and asks if you want to tag along and you do. You really do. It is then you decide that you’ll stay until Fundy asks you to leave, and if that means you’re staying forever… So be it. 

Okay on to some more general headcanons and less plot type stuff haha

You two help each other in grooming your ears and tails all the time. I feel like they can be hard to get perfectly clean by yourself so you two do it together as a bonding activity. You would do Fundy’s first because it takes less time. Fundy does a lot of it and you just get the hard to reach spots and stuff, and makes sure there is no spot left unclean. However, when it’s your turn, Fundy takes complete control. He will make you just sit there and let him groom and take care of you. He is so careful as he does it. He cleans your ears and your tail carefully, making sure no dirt is left. And then he takes the time to carefully brush out the hair and make it very soft and very fluffy. It feels so nice. I would imagine you didn’t have the nicest parents, they literally left you in a forest to die, so you never got this special treatment or attention for your ears or tail. So the first time you two did this, you would be so confused. You didn’t understand what was happening or why you were being treated so kindly, which broke Fundy’s heart. I feel that’s also partly why he doesn’t let you help because he wants to make sure that you know that you will be loved and cared for as long as he’s in your life. 

So that being said, you two are so affectionate with each other. Like you curl up together and cuddle on the couch all the time. It has a lot to do with the fox side of both of you. It feels really nice to be pressed against family of your own ‘breed’ so to speak. A lot of the time it’s a lot of you sitting on his lap or laying on top him while he holds you tightly. Again, he wants to make sure that you feel loved and wanted. 

I feel like it wouldn’t take you long to call him dad. Like you accidentally did the first night, but you weren’t really awake for it. But I do feel like it would be a slip of the tongue on your part again. Just he does something for you and you give a quick “thanks dad” before you dead stop and stare at him. His eyes are also wide and filling with tears. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to call you that. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. It just that you have taken care of me from the moment I got here and I--” Fundy would cut you off by pulling you into a tight hug. “It’s okay Y/N. It really is. It would be an honor if you called me your father” he tells you. Your heart soars in your chest as you hug him back. “Okay… Thank you dad.” You two go to sleep that night with the biggest smiles on your faces that you’ve ever had.

…….. Speaking of dads….. Ghostbur comes back. One day there is a knock on the door. You’re both confused because no one should be coming over to your knowledge. But Fundy gets up and he opens the door and his confusion turns into anger. “What are you doing here?” He spits out. You slowly make your way to the front room, hiding behind a wall but peeking your head around the corner to see what was happening. There in front of your father stood an extremely pale man in a yellow sweater and a red beanie. “Hello Fundy!” the man greets, oblivious to Fundy’s harsh tone, “I came to visit you! I wanted to see my son!” A gasp catches in your throat, this was your dad’s dad. He hadn’t told you much about him, he just told you that he used to be close with his father but as he grew more obsessed with politics, that bond broke bit by bit until it was completely severed by his death. “Well that sucks because I don’t want to see you. Go away now” Fundy snaps back, waving him off. Ghostbur catches his harsh tone now and a frown settles on his face, “Fundy please. I want to talk. I want to mend what was broken. You’re my son and-” “And nothing. You should have thought about that before you went and blew up our nation and then got stabbed by grandpa… So goodbye now.” Fundy moves out of the doorway and goes to close the door. When he moved out of the doorway though, he accidentally gives Ghostbur a direct line of sight of you peeking around the corner. He lets out a gasp and points, “Fundy who’s that.” Fundy looks over his shoulder and pales a little but because oh fuck. This is the last thing he wanted to happen. He clears his throat and looks back to the ghost of his father. “That’s Y/N… My kid” “I have a grandchild?” “No you don’t because you are no father of mine. Now if you’ll excuse me” and before Ghostbur can respond, Fundy has slammed the door closed. You’re a little worried as to what he’s going to say to you so you speak first after you walk all the way in, “I’m sorry” you whisper. “No, no, no baby. It’s okay. It’s not your fault. Don’t worry about it.” The rest of the day, Fundy is a little off. He tries to act normal but you can tell something is off. You don’t call him out on it though, you just let him do him. 

But yeah. Fundy does everything in his power to keep you away from Ghostbur. He does not care a single bit if Ghostbur isn’t Wilbur, they were both still his father that practically abandoned him and so therefore he will not be around his child. His child will only be surrounded by those who love them unconditionally and will always love them. If you and him are out and public and Ghostbur appears, Fundy will take you back home. He doesn’t care if what he is doing is super important, he will leave and take you home. He also will not let Ghostbur in his home. Ghostbur does show up occasionally, hoping to catch another glance of you, but Fundy barely opens the door to the point where Ghostbur can hardly see him. Fundy will let Phil, Techno, and Tommy see you occasionally which hurts Ghostbur a lot, but there is nothing he can do about it. Fundy does not want his ghost father to be anywhere near his child. 

But Fundy would be an amazing father. He knows what it’s like to be/feel abandoned by a parent and to feel ignored in a world full of family. So he makes sure you never feel like that. He loves you so much and makes sure you know that. Fundy would do anything for you, give anything for you. He loves you so much. His precious baby child. 

Okay that ending sucked lololol. Again, I’m very sorry that this is the only post tonight. I got a much later start than I planned and it fucked everything. I’ll see you guys with more content tomorrow though (hopefully).

[coffeecakefanfics]

A moments glance | B.B x Fem!Reader

Requests are open!!!!!

Summary: Bucky misses the feeling of human connection, both emotional and physical, so does Y/N. After a particularly brutal mission the two can deny their want any longer 

Warnings:  Language, angst? SMUT! (probably badly written but oh well)  This fic is a lot longer than I wanted but it’s worth it I promise.

Missions are normally pretty easy.  Luckily it was the dream team that got stuck on this mission together.  Sam, Bucky, and Y/n stood around a base layout, making a plan as to how to get this mission to sail smoothly. It was a simple job, repo a plane that had been stolen and return it to the owners, aka the fucking US Military. 

“So Y/n has pilot knowledge so if we can get through the fence and to it she can fly it back here to base, easy,” Sam explained the plan to the soldiers. 

“Sam and Bucky will go with me as my second hands and eyes, be my body guards,” Y/n nodded and looked up. “This is an easy job so it shouldn’t take long, maybe a couple hours, but stay on standby in case force is needed,” the woman stood straight and tapped her fingers on the table.  The crew split into the groups, taking their places.  Sam sat in the drivers seat of the car while Y/n sat in the front and Bucky was stuck in the back. 

“We’re here, everyone ready?” Sam asked and threw the car in park.

“Are we ever ready?” Bucky snarked and stepped out.  The three were greeted by a fence with barbed wire across the top. 

“Can we break it down?” Bucky looked between the two.

“That my dear would be destruction of property, a charge none of us can afford right now,” She huffed and opened the backseat, pulling the floor mat out. 

“What the hell are you doing with that?” Sam looked at the girl as if she was crazy.

“Throwing the mat over the wire?” she furrowed her brow and tossed the mat over the fence and scaled it. 

“Coming? or am I leaving you two dummies for the birds?” she smirked. 

“Ha ha very funny,” Sam snarked back. 

“This guy,” she smiled playfully at Bucky, who in return smiled back, a small one, but a smile. 

“There she is, look at this beauty,” Y/n motioned to the plane.  The three climbed in, starting the engine. 

“Bucky once we’re in the air I want you to contact the air force and tell them their plane is on it’s way,” she spoke calmly as she started down the runway. She was setting up controls when Bucky’s voice broke their silence. 

“Uh guys? I think we got company,” a black SUV sped down the runway, stopping before two guys stepped out wielding guns. 

“Pull up!” Sam yelled the girl.

“I’m trying,” she yelled back, the plane getting closer before finally taking off. The firing followed them up into the air. 

“Looks like we’re clear,” Y/n took a breath.

“There’s probably a reason they didn’t want us taking the plane,” Bucky commented.

“If I had to guess, drugs, I mean the air force tests flights so much that nobody bats an eye, especially at fort carson,” the woman nodded. “Sam can you check all of the compartments?” she looked back at him. 

“Yeah, of course,” he tipped his head and began opening the compartments lining the walls, bags of cocaine spilled out of an overhead bin.

“Oh shit, that’s thousands of dollars worth of hard drugs right there,” she peered back at the mess.

“yeah no shit, what do we do?” 

“Get on the comms and alert them of what’s happening”

“on it” 

The blaring sound took over their voices. 

“What the hell is going on?” Bucky asked

“We’re losing altitude, buckle in for a crash landing”

“I’m sorry what?!”

“Do it!” she barked “Sam jump and get to the base, let them know what happened, go now!” she was barking orders at them.  

“I’ll hurry back” Sam called and jumped, catching wind just in time.

“So what are we just going to die?”

“No, not if I can help it. But we are going to have to drop into the mountains, so hold on to something,” she gave him a sympathetic look.  The plane crashed down into the mountain, losing the wings in the process.  The two climbed out, seemingly unharmed. 

“So what are we just going to sit here and wait?” Bucky looked at the girl.

“I’m afraid so, we can’t risk moving, they won’t find us,” she huffed and slumped against an aspen tree.

“Great,” Bucky huffed and sat across from her, against a fallen pine log.  The two sat in silence for a few minutes, the ringing in their ears taking over. 

“Have you ever been this far west?” Y/n asked. Bucky peeked up at her. Sighing he tossed a rock to his left. 

“No, at least, not that I can recall,” he looked back at the dirt. 

“It’s pretty, Pikes peak is worth the view, if you ever get to go,” she cleared her throat, awkwardness settling in. 

“You been?”

“Yeah, I uh, I grew up here, in springs, that’s why I knew about the fort carson stuff.  They always test fly and they take kids for rides sometimes.  also teach kids how to pilot when they reach a certain age,” she trailed off. 

“Military brat?” 

“Yeah” 

“I never knew that,” he looked at her, really looked at her.  He noticed how she sat with her knees up, but her shoulders slumped.  Her she chewed on the inside of her lip.

“I never really told anyone,” she shrugged,”You know we have worked on the same team for I don’t know how many years and yet I feel like I hardly know you,” she remarked. Bucky swallowed the lump in his throat. 

“I don’t really open up to people, it’s not something I do,” it was his turn to chew on his lip.

“I get it, you up walls, try and protect yourself. . .”she trailed off, a soft rustling in the brush caught her attention. She held her finger to her lips and slowly stood, Bucky following her move.  The two crouched and ducked behind some bush.

“They couldn’t have gotten far, move,” a mans voice barked. Y/n looked at Bucky with wide eyes.  Bucky scanned the are before nodding to a path, they crept their way over, carful not to make too much noise. One they had gotten far enough away they stood straight and starting sprinting.  

“The guys that hijacked the plane?” She asked.

“That’s my guess,” he shrugged. 

“Bucky I need to stop,” she panted, trying to catch her breath.

“We’re probably far enough away,” he slowed to a stop.  

“I’m sorry,” she took a ragged breath

“It’s fine, not all of us are, what do you like to say? built different,” he cracked a smile.  Y/n smiled back at him before they broke off into laughter.

“You remembered that dumb saying?”

“I try to remember them all, I’m trying to make my place in this world, and if that means learning the lingo then I guess I have to”

“Must be hard,” she stood next to him, “trying to get used to this”

“you have no ide-” a gunshot and a scream of pain cut him off. His eyes shot in the direction of the shot before landing on the girl, crumpled on the forest floor. 

“Shit” he scooped her up and started sprinting west. 

“Shit shit shit, hey doll, if you can hear me keep  your eyes open you hear,” he peeked down at her. She was clutching her stomach.

“Tell me something, tell me about, tell me about your house of a kid,” he scrambled to find anything to talk about.  

“yellow,” she breathed,” it was yellow” He caught sight of a cave and ducked into it. 

“keep going”

“It had, two floors and an attic, the uh, the upstairs had a balcony,” she took deep breaths.  Bucky pulled out a knife and cut the bottom of his shirt, putting pressure on his wound. 

“Bucky?” she looked at him as close as she could

“yeah?”

“What was your favorite part about the forties?”

He laughed. “The stupid dive bars, going dancing,” he thought for a second.

“Were you any good?” Y/n teased.

“Oh please, look at me, I was the best,” he said, jokingly cocky. The silence took over.  The only sound was a ragged breath every now and then.  Y/n Held her phone up. 

“Nothing,” she felt tears well up in her eyes.

“Bucky?” She got his attention.

“yeah Y/n? what’s up?”

“If i’m going to die today, can I at least get to know you before I go?” she asked

“Listen to me, and you listen to me good, you ain’t dying today got it?” he spoke sharply, but with concern laced and weaved in his voice. 

“In my jacket is a pack of matched, I saw some twigs and pinecones at the opening of the cave, grab them, make a fire, please, i’m freezing,” she pleaded.  Bucky didn’t say anything as he obliged.  The small fire illuminated the walls, but was small enough that they wouldn’t be spotted.  Bucky sat across from Y/n, he watched as she scanned the walls. 

“Mica,” she spoke plainly. 

“Yeah, ton of the shit too,” he kind of huffed, looking around.

“They used to make windows out of it, for cars and shit, also dry wall, but most importantly it used for stuff like spark plugs,and electronic components like compasses during world war 2 ” she stated, half heartedly. Bucky looked at the girl shocked.

“Yeah, thats- how’d you know that?”

“Grandpa fought in the war, told me all kinds of stories before he passed, also taught me about minerals and stuff before he passed too, he and dad used to take me camping, they’d teach me how to hunt, farm, fish, find and purify water, which berries and shrooms are good to eat, case I ever got lost,” she laughed and winced at the pain.  “I miss them,” she sighed.

“Those are good skills to have,” Bucky smiled at her. He went silent.  It had been a few hours, no sign of anyone.  He looked at Y/n, she didn’t look great, she was pale, she was growing tired. He didn’t want her to be miserable, or to die not knowing him. 

“My name is James Buchanan Barnes, I was born March 10th 1917, I have a younger sister named Rebecca, we called her Becca,” He spoke up.  Y/n looked at him with a smile and nodded him on to continue, “I’ve always wanted a cat, and if I could have kids i’d want a daughter, I’d name her Scarlett,” he stammers on. The young woman listens attentively.  Her breathing became slower, more strained. 

“no no no, don’t fucking die on me,” he jumped over to her, clutching her wound. “Please, I barley know you, I want to know more,” he pleaded.  She smiled at him and held her blood soaked hand to his cheek. 

“thank you,” she husked before her eyes rolled back. 

“No!” he yelled.

“Bucky?!” Sam, it was Sam, and the air force.  Bucky was pulled away as they loaded Y/n onto the chopper and raced her back to base.  Hot tears slipped down his face as the world seemed to slow down.  His connection, the one person he started to open up to was ripped from his arms, just as the walls came tumbling down. 

He sat pacing the hospital room, her body laid limp in the bed, unmoving, just as it had for the past two days.  The nurses tried to get him to go home, but after the third shift change and his protests to stay after visiting hours they gave up.  He stared out the window, looking to the mountains, they were still capped with snow.  He remembers her saying she was freezing, he recognizes that feeling now.  Cold, unmoving, dead.

“Hey champ,” a hoarse voice spoke in the room. He spun on his heels, Her eyes were opened, still droopy from the pain killer, but opened. 

“Thank god you’re okay,” he yanked a chair beside her and clutched her hand.

“I should’ve believed you,” she cracked a smile, Bucky felt his eyes well. Why? He still barely knew her. 

“My name is Y/n L/n I was born (your birthday), I have no siblings, I have always wanted a dog and if I had a kid i’d want a little boy named Matthew,” she squeezed his hand slightly.

“Good morning,” another womans voice broke the room with a knock. “I’m your nurse for this morning, my name is Sarah Good, yes like the book the crucible and i’ll take care of you till 7 tonight,” she smiled at the two brightly. “Todays agenda, always will be on the board, we want to get you to be able to be in a sitting position, and we want to start PT, or physicsl therapy if we can, We’re going to try and get you a real lunch today, and if we’re lucky you can get off those iv’s by tomorrow”

The last week was rough, But Bucky sat beside her through it all, they talked about life, about death, the world, every little thing they could think of.  When she was released it was Bucky who escorted her back across the country to home.  Sam met them at her apartment for diner and a toast to a job not so smooth for the dream team, now stronger that all three had a bond.  Sam had left about an hour ago, Bucky insisted on staying to help clean up. 

“Bucky, really this is too much to ask, it’s fine,”

“Don’t be ridiculous, it’s the least I can do”

“It���s late, do you want to stay? I mean I can take the couch and you can take my bed it-”

“I’m not taking your bed doll, I’ll take the couch if you really want me to stay but it’s not a problem for me to go home,” he smiled at her and set the last plate in the dish washer. 

“I kind of got used to you staying around,” she blushed. “We can watch a movie?” she offered.

“Sounds great”

They weren’t paying attention to the movie, well at least they pretended to,  Each watched the other out of the corner of their eyes. It was Y/n who made the first move, leaning her head on his shoulder, Bucky tucked his arm around the woman, inching her closer.  She felt her face get hot, she peered up at him to find him looking back, they ripped their eyes apart and both went flush. 

“Bucky-

Y/n I-” they spoke at the same time, letting out a laugh. 

“Go first,” he insisted. 

“No, it’s fine,” she stammered. 

“Y/n I- I really like you, I’m glad I let down my walls for you,” he swallowed the lump in his throat.  She felt her breath hitch. 

“I was going to say the same thing,” she spoke, barely above a whisper.  It hadn’t occurred to the couple just how close they were to each other.  Y/n felt Bucky’s breath dance across her face. 

“Can I. . . can I kiss you?” he breathed out.  She sim-ply nodded and met his lips, soft and delicate at first before he set his hand on the back of her neck and pulled her in.  Her  lips were intoxicating, he could get drunk on her. She let a moan slip as he pulled her into his lap gently. He felt his eyes roll at the sound. She ground into his lap, letting the feeling of his growing bulge tease her. She laced her fingers in his short hair, gently tugging where she could, causing a groan and for him to buck his hip to meet hers.  Y/n pulled back panting, trying to catch her breath before moving her lips to meet his neck.

“Y/n doll, I uh- it’s been a while,” he panted and fought the moans that threatened to leave his throat.

“It’s okay, let me take care of you?” she caught his eyes.  Her face was pure, innocent, but her words were laced with lust. He nodded and let his hands grip her hips.  She tugged his shirt off of his body, decorating his chest with kisses, working and inching her way to his hips.  She looked up at him, he was a mess, head laid back, breathing ragged.  She carefully undid his pants and slid them down his legs.  catching the skin above his hip bones she left a small purple mark on either side, claiming him as hers.  He had looked down at her now, catching her eyes.  She licked her lips before taking him into her mouth, The moan he let rip from vocal cords was ungodly. 

“Fuck, doll I -” he let his eyes meet hers, still laced with innocence, before groaning and throwing his head back.  He let his air out in puffs as she worked him over.  Her touch was delicate and sweet, he forgot how nice it felt, to be taken care of, to be treated with kindness. She let her fingers slip to cup his balls, gently playing with them as she let her pretty mouth suck his cock. The sight was straight out of a wet dream, 

“I’m gonna cum if you don’t stop,” he pleaded, grabbing her hair with his flesh hand, clutching the couch with the metal one.  The small breaths he let out only encouraged him further, she picked up her pace, daring him to cum down her throat.  A string of fucks and his hips tensing, and slowly relaxing followed soon after.  She caught his eyes, swallowing what he gave her and grinning at him.

“Holy-”

“Yeah,” she smiled. 

“Let me return the favor baby,” he pulled her back into his lap.

[peterpan-ouat-imagines]

Request!!!

Hey you guys! Some of y’all have sent in requests which I am really flattered that you enjoy my writing and I am honestly SO excited to do these!  here is the first one that someone gave me and I really hope you enjoy it!!!  Also if you sent one and I haven’t responded, know that I have seen it, it just will not allow me to message you privately about it just publicly.  Anyway here is the first for @welcome-to-americanawritings​ !  I crossed some of it out so there wouldn’t be any spoilers for those who don’t know what it is about.

I love you, I hate you- Part 1

“Babe wake up,” I feel my sexy boyfriend nudge me speaking in his smooth English voice, “It’s time to start the day,”

My eyes slowly open and I yawn tired, “uhhh it’s 9am can’t we sleep in a little longer?” I groan.

“Get up y/n, the lost boys have already begun getting breakfast together I let you sleep in an extra hour,” he tells me a bit more serious.

“Come ere,” I tell him and he sits close to me as I start sitting up. I roll on top of him and start kissing him.

“Y/n, stop it we have to get going,” he tells me but I continue.

“Come on it doesn’t have to be long, you know you want it,” I tell him as I continue.

I feel his body start giving into it and move my hand down to his cock and begin stroking it slowly, “Okay just 10 minutes though,” he tells me.

He starts kissing me back as his dick hardens in my hand and he rolls on top me as our skin tangles.  He starts taking his pants off and I lift up my night gown and take my panties off.  I feel his hand on my pussy as he rubs it and I can tell we want each other.  Our physical chemistry is always the best.  I feel him put his large hard dick inside me and he begins kissing my neck as I lay my cheek on the pillow.  He thrusts harder each time and I can tell we are both starting to get close.  After a thrust he cums in me and I do it with him both of us moaning.

“Do we have to go out?  We could just do more of that all day” I smirk hugging him.

“Y/n, everyone has to do there part and that includes you,” he tells me.

“I’m your girlfriend, that should give me some ability to not follow everything that is supposed to happen? Besides the obvious that comes with being yours in physical and romantic ways of course,” I ask and bat my eyes.

“You get special treatment all the time,” he tells me and I sigh knowing he is right.

I get up and change into gray leggings and a green tank top and boots and go out to where all the lost boys are.

They all have already helped themselves but it’s fine because at least they aren’t rude about me not preparing it all. I get a plate and help myself to what I want. I sit next to Lee who was one of the newest lost boys here on the island that lots of the guys have been avoiding so I’ve been trying to make him feel more welcome. I smile and ask him how he is with adjusting and everything.

After we are done eating I help clean up. It’s the least I can do since I didn’t help in the morning.

Afterwards Pan announces that we will be doing target practice.  What this is is practice shooting arrows which is pretty straight forward.  If we want to take it up a notch we can put apples on our heads and have someone shoot it.  We all grab our apple and dip the tip of our arrows in dream shade which is this deadly black liquid that’s found inside thorns of these bushes.  It is insane how quick it can take a life.  

I start shooting and hit the apple each time.  A couple times I’m a little off but nothing too bad.  I get bored working alone and start asking others if we can do it the “funner way” as I call it.  Shooting it off the others head.  I know it shouldn’t be more fun but something about risking a life like that is so exhilarating. It’s an extremely adrenaline rush.

A couple people agree who I trust and know are skilled because it would be horrible if someone went just an inch or two lower.  Lee comes over and asks if he can join but we tell him it is too advance for him which is true.  He literally came here knowing nothing about survival instincts.  He never has gone camping or fishing or hunting we are teaching him it all.  Mostly me because none of the other guys are willing to help out.  I feel like I’m mothering him in the ways of Neverland.

I peek over and see him not being able to hit a single apple.  I go over, “You’re gripping the bow too tight,” I critique as I examine his form, “Also you can’t stand like that,” I tell him with his legs pressed together, “You need more of a stance, put your dominant foot in front and non dominant foot a step back.  That’s what I do at least,” I share and watch him readjust himself.

“Th-thanks y/n, it might help more if you show me,” he tells me.  I nod and come up behind him and grab his tight fist and tell him to relax his hand and then I slowly squeeze his to the point he needs and move his feet around kicking them with my foot.  I step back and he tries again and succeeds.

“There you go,” I tell him.  

“Thanks y/n, you’re really helpful,” he blushes.

“Anytime,” I smile softly and walk away.

We finish up target practice and as most days we just hang out doing whatever we want. I choose to go to mermaid lagoon to hang out with my friends there. As gentle and sweet as the name sounds it really isn’t. The water is a dark blue and there’s a lot of large dark mossy rocks and not a whole lot of light shines through. I’ve swam in it before and When I tried going to the bottom it lit up this bright glimmery light blue which freaked me out with how much it contrasted the above and I never went in again since. The merpeople are great but the place gives me the creeps a little.

“Y/n!” This mermaid Selena exclaims and swims over to me. She’s always so enthusiastic I love her energy.

Soon a lot of the mermaids swim over to me greeting me, “Hey you guys!” I say.

We start chatting talking about the latest gossip and I tell them about what’s new on my side, “Yeah there’s this new guy who came here last week, Lee. Poor thing he doesn’t know the slightest thing. He’s been needing my help teaching him everything,” I share, “He’s too afraid to ask the others for instruction. I tell them about this morning.

They all start to give me smirks as if there’s something that’s not being said, “Oh honey don’t you see? He likes you!” Alice says.

“Lee? Like me? You’re lying. Anyway I’m happily in a relationship,” I tell them.

“Does Lee know that?” Gwen asks.

“I mean… he should. I haven’t said anything about it to him but that doesn’t mean someone else hasn’t said it. I mean who would want to have Pan so infuriated by hitting or making a move on me?” I comment. They all nod agreeing with me.

“Just watch for the signs,” Selena tells me.

We talk for a while longer and then I head my own way.

I go back to camp where most people are hanging out and I join in. I go and hangout with all the other guys fucking around and doing stupid shit. It gets later and darker and I haven’t seen Pan at all since the morning.

“Has anyone seen Pan today?” I ask. Everyone says no, “I’m gonna go look for him,” I look around. I go in his cave and in his tent he does business in. He isn’t in either of the places. I go in the woods with a flashlight and head to his thinking tree, he goes there when he has to be alone but of course I would never step foot close. No one would. “Pan? Are you out here?” I shout. It’s deadly quiet. I know it means nothing but still I’m really freaked out. I head on back fearing something will come get me for no reason. I know he’s a big boy and can take care of himself though. He would tell me if he were going somewhere so I’m not worried.

I head on back to camp and hang with everyone again drinking and they start playing games with all the alcohol but I know if I have too much I regret it because of stuff that I’ll do or say that is not intentional. Of course no one here knows that because I have been drunk around them yet. I always drink to the point I feel it and then stop.

I watch as everyone else gets wasted making fools of themselves and I wobble off to bed making a somewhat discreet exit as usual. Pan still isn’t there and I start to get worried.

The next day I wake up on time putting on some clothes and yawn exhausted as I stand next to each of the other boys on the end. I hadn’t seen Pan since last morning which is really weird and starting to worry me. Felix comes around and stands in front of us to give orders.

“Where’s Pan?” Someone asks before Felix can open his mouth.

“He has business to attend to. He left last morning and will be back today sometime,” he tells all of us in his flat voice. I swear Felix tries to say as little as possible about everything, he’s so ominous it’s annoying, “Now are we going to talk about Pan or let me say what to do to prepare for breakfast,” half of us roll our eyes.

He sets us off in groups, “Lee, y/n, you two are picking berries,” he tells us plainly as he gives us orders. I get a bit uncomfortable after the mermaids told me about what there thoughts on it all was.

I go over to Felix as everyone disperses, “Is there anyway I could not work with Lee? He’s cool and all it’s just I could use a break from the new guy,” I explain avoiding the real reasoning for how I don’t want to seem like I’m leading him on.

He stares at me with expressionless eyes, “Y/n you have been the only one willing to deal with him. He is not good at anything which is why he has the easiest task there is. No one has patience like you for these sort of things,” he gets stern with me.

“Lee come on let’s go,” I tell him wanting nothing more than to see Pan and hug him. I need to see someone I love right now. I just don’t get why he didn’t tell me he was going on a trip.

He follows me into the woods and I show him where the berries are and which ones are good to eat and which are not. He stays really close the whole time and the awkwardness is kicking in. I watch him do it himself and we head back.

“Hey y/n. Can I ask you something?” He asks me not making anymore distance between us as I inch away some.

“Go ahead what is it?” I answer.

“Why do none of the other lost boys want to be around me? Is it because I’m new or something?” He asks and I don’t know what to say. If I were to be honest and say how he doesn’t know shit about survival instincts that would hurt his feelings terribly. And I’m too nice for that.

“It’s not that they don’t want to be around you. It just takes a while to find your place when you first get to this island. I was the same way but I impressed everyone by-“

“Y/n! Watch out!” Lee pulls me hard to the side by my waist as an arrow shoots through the trees.

I feel weird having his hands there noticing another sign as I was told to lookout for as he doesn’t move them, “Do you mind moving your hands?” I ask. Once they are lowered the awkwardness still lingers on my end but I try to look past it. I lean out and see two guys squatting in a tree with bows, “Really you guys?! You almost killed us!” I yell angry.

“Your bleeding!” One of them shouts and then they duck and head out.

I look and feel a pain in my upper arm and see it got nicked. Luckily they forgot to dip it in dreamshade.

“Ugh! This is a WONDERFUL start to the day!” I exclaim irritated.

“You really should soak that. There’s a river right where the berry bush was,” Lee tells me.

I roll my eyes, “I’m fine I can wrap a bandage just fine when we get back,” I huff and storm back to camp pissed off not paying attention to if Lee is keeping up with me or not.

When I get back I go to the medical hut where there really isn’t much besides bandages. I force my chin down on one half of my forearm as I get the wrap started. I wrap it tighter than I should that my skin squeezes out more than it probably should.

I come out and see that everything is getting started. Knowing Pan comes back today is the only thing that is getting me through. It’s just the annoying anticipation of when he will be here.

Everything gets gathered together and we eat. I hangout with Felix.

“It must be hard, Pan being gone,” he tells me.

“It’s only been a night Felix, I can survive without him, I did all those years leading up to now. I just wish he would have told me why,” I say sighing after the last part.

“I might know why,” he says quietly,“Im not sure why he’s there during the daytime but for the evening I know he’s been wanting to see this girl from London, her name is Wendy,”

[thearcana-junkie]

Hi there! May I request a headcanon for main 6 dating MC that is covered with scars? They have scars everywhere! Legs, arms, cheats, stomach, head, face and even b-! Funniest part is that they got them by purest accidents! (Crashed into the tree? Scar! Fell from the stairs? Scar! Cut themselves thinking about something while cuttings carrot? Scar!)

You most certainly can my friend!! I can sufficiently say I’ve exspirenced this first hand (Except instead of scars its bruises.) I shall also put my own spin on it by adding Clumsiness and a high pain tolerance to the list.A-Also OOPS muriels turned into a small fluff Drabble.

SLIGHT NSFW!!!

MC Who Gets Scars Easy

—Nadia—

Granted at first Nadia didn’t notice it much. After all you both hadn’t been dating long so she had no reason to look over your body that much.

However, when she and you DO eventually get to the part in the relationship where your doing the naked tango, its only when she’s worshipping your body that she takes note of where ever scar is as well as any other marks you may have. She intends to map out you whole body for her to remember.

Gradually she starts noticing more and more scars showing up when she’s worshipping your body like a lustful goddess she is.

At first she just figured she missed a few the first few times around. Maybe the new position let her see more of them on your arms or legs or what have you.

But she puts her foot down when she notices a big bruise on your thighs, she broke down and asked you. (Purely because she refused to let you keep seeing ANYONE who gave such a dark bruise.)

Of course the way you got it was pure accident. You were restocking shelves behind the counter while standing on a chair so you could reach the top shelf. You lost your balence for a moment and bumped your thigh in an awkward way on the counter.

Nadia didn’t believe you thought.

Not until she witnessed it happen before her.

That morning you and her got a little frisky before heading out for the day. That evening at dinner she saw you bump your hip into the corner of the table and even later that evening while she was making up for he teasing that morning she noticed the dark bruise on your hip.

Not gonna lie she thought of putting baby protector guards on the corners of things. She didn’t though in fear you’d be embarrassed.

Now when she whorships you and she finds a new scar or bruise she asks for a quick story, teasingly chastises you for being clumsy, and kisses the marks affectionately.

—Julian—

Julain’s.... Well he’s Julian. He’s a big lanky, all legs, rowdy man.

It goes without saying that he’s probably pretty clumsy as well, he just either doesn’t know it happened or doesn’t care. (Pretty sure he gets turned on when he accidentally gets hurt so it works.)

SO! What happens when you put two clumsy babies together? You have one falling over and the other one clumsily trying to catch them before falling on top of them.

The man likes to pick you up and carry you around as a dramatic show of affection (Or to carry you to the bedroom) all of which has gotten your head smacked into doorways before.

Bruises and scars is just something that happens in your relationship with him. Granted at first he’d go all mother hen if he accidentally dropped you and he’d feel horrible if you got a bruise or scar from it. But as time goes on with you two being together you’ve both learned to roll with it and make up stupid stories to tell the other about how you got certain bruises or scars knowing they probably already know how you got it.

He still mother hens over you and will apoligize profusely if he bangs your head on the headboard of the bed when he tries to be sexy and toss you, but you’ll both laugh it off.

Body. Worship. Is. Key! He will gently smother ever mark on your body with kisses.

—Asra—

Asra is the opposite of clumsy, in fact you’ve hardly ever seen him fall or get hurt by accident.

He usually tries to steer you away from something if he see’s you about to get hurt.

Already knows about you getting scars easily, in fact you did before you were resurrected.

He likes to sit down and have you tell him how you stupidly got the newest bruise or scar.

“Your just a magnet for accidents sweetheart... I guess I’ll have to be your doctor~”

Totally gets off on the fact he can play doctor for you. He’ll hype it of by saying you need imminent medical attention to a certain scar and just start kissing his way over your body.

He does try to make it so you don’t bump into TOO many things in the shop by cleaning the place and not having to much furniture in one place.

—Muriel—

Muriel didn’t notice at first, not until you came by with a new dark bruise on your arm with a scar in the middle of it. He didn’t say anything about it figuring maybe you just did something dangerous and got hurt— but you were here and fine so clearly you could handle yourself.

Then the next time you came over, the bruise-scar was almost healed but now you had scars all over your legs and knees. He had to admit that now he was getting worried. His mind quickly went to the worst. Someone was clearly hurting you.

You noticed that Muriel had been acting odd all day, to be honest you’d forgotten about the mark’s you’d gotten from falling off the horse while riding with Nadia. But something really stuck out when he kept making up reason for you to stay and help him, normally you didn’t stay all day with him.

“...Inanna needs a bath, do you wanna help?” “...Black berries are in season, do you wanna stay to pick some for Asra and your friends?” “....Do you want to stay for dinner...?”

You took a chance and Drew the line we he mumbled something about you being able to stay the night since it wa so late. Sure it could have been Muriel gradually having you stay for dinner to sneakily have you stay for the night by having you do chores with him all day, but that just didn’t seem like him. You asked him what was up.

“....The marks on your legs.... And the bruise on your arm... Are you okay?” Muriel cracked easily and told you what he was worried about, not before blabbering out quickly how he knew you were safe with Asra and that he wasn’t suspicious of that, he just wanted to make sure you were safe from everybody else.

The thought warmed your heart.

—Portia—

Portias like a cat. She may be short and stout but because she’s closer to the ground she doesn’t ever fall (Or so she says)

Portias probably the cause of 99% of your marks, not on purpose of course. She gets you both into impossiable situations.

“Hey lets go sledding!” Face first into a tree. “Let’s play ball with some of these kids!” Scraped knees. “I found this amazing romantic place through these bushes!” Thorn cuts all over.

Portia also gets small cuts and scrapes easily but she just calls it life and moves on.

“If by the end of the day you don’t have sticks in your hair, dirt on your face, and scrapes on your knees. Are you really living?”

At the end of the day she does of course bandage you up with kids bandaids and peroxide giving herself the title “Your little Nurse”

—Lucio—

Lucio likes you. Your personality, your goals, your quirks, and good, your bads, and obviously your body. He thinks your the most perfect thing in the whole world, its everything he can do not to touch you at the beginning of your relationship.

So of course Lucio noticed right off the bat that you got bruises and scars easily, it just made you look that much tougher.

He never mentioned it because in fact he himself has a very big scar he’s self conscious about.

Once you guys get into the make out part of your relationship, he’s deffinately more tentative as to where he puts his hands but you just take it for him being gentle. He is! He’s gentle because he wants to show you all the affection in the world but also because when he has you pressed into a closet and holding your leg up by your thigh so he can lean in closer to you he’s also trying to make sure he doesn’t touch the dark bruise on your thigh that he KNOWS must be sore.

When it does eventually escalate one evening in his bedroom you can deffinately tell somethings up with him. He’s his normal tentative self but every time he grips onto your thigh with his flesh hand so hard his nails leave little crescents he quietly curses himself for being to rough.

He also REFUSES to touch you with his metal clawed hand making it that much more awkward and hard for him to get positioned right.

It’s not until you say this one specific phrase that he knows you can see through him like glass and it causes him to just M E L T and give up on trying to keep from leaving any more marks.

“Lucio, Darling. I’m not glass.”

[wild-ditto-appeared]

Duelist Kingdom but with Ditto

What would Yu-Gi-Oh! (OG) be like if Ditto was there from the beginning? How would Ditto have gotten there? Why would Ditto be there?

Here are some Sylvia braindumps from my most recent pacing session:

Ditto arrives on Duelist Kingdom Island, helpless and afraid and very VERY confused. There are no animals on this island, no trees bearing fruit or bushes with berries or, frankly, most food of ANY kind except the fish that swim down the streams--and Ditto is very much an herbivore, thank you very much.

So Ditto quite frankly, nearly starves to death on that damn island. Then it's startled by the sound of fireworks.

No, the Duelist Kingdom Tournament hasn't begun yet--won't begin for quite some time, actually--Pegasus just wanted a private show of fireworks that day.

Ditto Transforms and makes its way to the direction from which the fireworks came from--and when it gets close enough, it spots the giant castle (thanks to Ditto's small size, it's a lot harder to spot the castle when surrounded by tall-ass trees, so it needs to be much closer to be able to spot it on its own).

For story-telling reasons, Ditto never considered Transforming into a Flying-type Pokemon and just. Surveying the land. Like a sensible Pokemon. It was too young and never had to really do that before, so it wasted a lot of energy out there.

When it finally trudges all the way to the castle, sometimes Transforming and sometimes not because at this point Ditto is really really tired, Ditto stumbles onto the brick steps of the castle--not the front ones, mind you, but one of the rear entrances/exits meant for guards. And it can't get into the castle, so after considering giving up, it scales the wall as an Aipom, flips over onto the wall's walkway, and de-Transforms, using up the last of its energy before it falls asleep. This is where Ditto is found by some of Pegasus' guards.

They... don't know what to do with Ditto at first. So they grab it and lock it in a dark black box with only a little hole to breathe out of, then go on their way to lock it in the dungeons, never to be seen again when Pegasus finds them and asks what's in the box.

The guards tell him they found something suspicious on the balcony and they would throw it in the dungeons for trespassing. Pegasus analyzes the interior of the box with his Millennium Eye and ultimately decides Ditto is harmless, asking that the box is handed over to him. The guards, knowing better than to question him, oblige and go back to their respective duties.

Pegasus frees Ditto from its little prison, but Ditto is asleep still, clearly hurt and worn. At a loss for what to do, Pegasus panics slightly, ordering all sorts of food from his chefs. The whole castle is in panic. "Is Pegasus ordering a feast of some kind? Who is coming over that's so important? Why wasn't anyone notified?" Really, Pegasus just wants to know what Ditto will eat and he has nothing to offer of his own except wine and cheese.

Although lots of food is made, Ditto only eats the fruits and vegetables, and even then it's mostly the fruits and berries whose plates are wiped clean when Ditto finishes eating. So... all of that meat and fish and other such things are... sort of wasted.

Pegasus doesn't seem to really care, though. Ditto is sleeping with a full belly now, and he allows it to stay the night. Then another. Then another.

Fully befriended, Pegasus and Ditto become close enough friends that he even refers to Ditto as "his pet," which it doesn't seem to mind. Even after Ditto has shown off its transformative abilities--which in fact makes it appeal to Pegasus even more--Ditto is accepted wholeheartedly into the castle and treated with almost the same amount of respect by his guards as Master Pegasus himself.

Then the Duelist Kingdom happens and something changes in Pegasus. He's suddenly a lot moodier, a lot more serious, a lot less jovial than Ditto is used to him being. He seems to carry the weight of guilt and distress on him at all times. Ditto tries to relieve it, but Pegasus brushes off its attempts. Eventually, four duelists make it to the castle--plus one Seto Kaiba. For the duration of the duel, Pegasus orders the guards to keep a close eye on Ditto to make sure it doesn't leave its little box, so that Ditto doesn't have to see what happens to Kaiba when he loses.

After Kaiba has lost his soul, Pegasus allows the guards to release Ditto--and Ditto had obediently listened to Pegasus because it trusted him, thinking that he would not make me do this if it wasn't important. When it was allowed outside of its box, Ditto went straight to Pegasus to cuddle, because it had been scared something serious was happening. Pegasus tried to reassure it, but his voice was still heavy.

Ditto was present, however, for the finals. For Mai against Yugi and Joey against the "In America" guy because I don't feel like looking up his name right this second. Ditto sensed when Yugi's Millennium Puzzle activated and when he switched into Yami. Ditto then realized--wait, why does that somewhat feel familiar? A little different, but still familiar in a way.

And then it realizes that other similar feeling had been coming from Pegasus this whole time: the Millennium Eye.

But Pegasus was nice, and although the power Yami wielded was frightening to Ditto, he didn't seem to be doing anything bad with it... well, yet. So Ditto gave Yami the benefit of the doubt.

Then the final duel, Yami versus Pegasus. At first, it was fine. But when they reached the second phase of the duel, which took place in the Shadow Realm, Ditto felt BAD VIBES. LOTS OF BAD VIBES.

But not from the Puzzle. No, they were coming from Pegasus. From the Eye.

And for the first time, Ditto grew afraid of its friend. It grew afraid of its caretaker and followed Tea and the others when they ran to Yugi's side of the duel to try and reach him. Ditto tried headbutting the bubble headfirst as a Dreepy, as if being missile-shaped and going as fast as possible would break the barrier. It didn't, and Ditto nearly fell before Tea managed to catch it.

And it started to cry, because that was scary. Where did Fancy Man and Spiky Man go? Why was Fancy Friend fighting? Why did it feel so WRONG and BAD?

When the duel was over and Pegasus lost, Ditto flew straight to him as a bird, ignoring Yugi's friends' protests. It snuggled with Pegasus, buried itself in his hair, nuzzled his face, everything it possibly could to ask if he was okay, if the bad stuff was over.

Pegasus barely responded to Ditto, merely plucking it from his shoulders and carefully setting it down on his dueling field. With a sad smile, Pegasus spoke--half to Ditto, because his eye was trained on it and half to Yugi, who won the duel.

"Very well, Yugi. You win. I am a man of my word. I will release everyone I have captured."

Ditto was in shock, hearing this. Its feathers fluffed up, it stared at him incredulously, its eyes trained on him and almost shaking, as if to ask, "You... you had people captured?" And suddenly Ditto realized what the duel was about.

Yugi, Tea, and the others saw Ditto's reaction--didn't miss it for the world, despite having been taken aback when they first learned of Pegasus' transforming little pet--and felt sad for the little fella. Ditto truly cared about Pegasus, truly loved him, and now, like many others, Pegasus had managed to hurt Ditto too.

Pegasus told Ditto that he knew it would most likely not forgive him for what he'd done, that he wouldn't blame it if it wanted to leave, then left Ditto with that decision while he went to release the souls he'd captured.

Pegasus didn't come back.

Ditto witnessed the guards giving Yugi his prize money and title, and when they demanded to know that everyone whose soul Pegasus stole was okay, the guards simply said that Pegasus was handling it. Ditto was still confused, still lost.

What... what now?

When Yugi and the others went to check on him to make sure he did, in fact, keep his word, Ditto went with them. It wanted to know what happened to its caretaker, its friend.

Pegasus wasn't there. In fact, he was missing from the entire castle.

When Ditto found out about this, it cried. With Yugi and friends as witnesses, Ditto sobbed and grieved for Pegasus because he was gone. He was gone and Ditto hadn't even been given the opportunity to answer with its decision.

Ditto was there when it heard the reason why Pegasus had done all of this. Ditto was there when Yugi and friends met Kaiba and escorted Mokuba back to him safely and soundly. Ditto was there when they moved to leave, but Yugi hesitated.

Yugi turned to Ditto, pitying or sympathetic or empathetic or whatever, but he was clearly concerned for Ditto when he bent down and extended a hand in offer.

"I know Pegasus is gone now, and... and we'll never be him, but... maybe you can find companionship in us until Pegasus comes back," he offered Ditto.

And Ditto, with nowhere left to go and no other friends to turn to, nodded and accepted Yugi's offer, burying itself in his shirt to grieve. Then, they take the ship home.

Let me know if you wanna know how Battle City should go with Ditto, too. Just something I thought of earlier today. I'm gonna be real, it probably doesn't sound that great, but I don't think it sounds like trash either, sooo... //shrug// maybe it works? What do you all think?

[magmagpie]

Poachers are Jackasses, Change my Mind - Wild Kratts Fanfiction

(Martin has an unfortunate run in with some poachers.) (Mentions of blood and injury, this has been your warning.) (Also, I drew an illustration at the bottom, if you wanna see that.) 

"Martin!" Chris yelled into the forest. "Martin, where are you?"

"You sure it's this way?" Aviva asked the younger brother.

"Sure I'm sure," Chris grinned. "Martin sent me his coordinates. He said that was where the bear cubs were. And besides, no harm in going the wrong way a couple of times."

Aviva rolled her eyes before continuing their search for the den. They both called out for the blue-clad brother, though neither really expected a response. When Martin had his mind set on a baby animal, there was no grabbing his attention back.

But as they ventured deeper into the forest, an unsettling pit formed in their stomachs. The more they called, the louder the silence that settled afterward sounded. There was another reason they weren't getting a response.

"I have a bad feeling about this, Chris," Aviva spoke what they had both been thinking for many minutes.

"Me, too," Chris agreed. "Martin! Martin, please answer me! This isn't funny, anymore, dude!"

"Chris..." a weak voice rasped.

"Did you hear that?" Aviva halted, grabbing the brunette's green sweater.

"Yeah," Chris pulled his arm away to keep walking. "Martin!? Was that you!? Martin!"

"Chris..." the voice came again. "Over here..!"

"Martin, keep talking!" Chris broke into a run, hoping to come across his brother sooner.

"Chris.." he was so close.

Chris looked ahead, catching sight of something blue on the ground. Adrenaline shot through him like a bullet as he ran up to it.

It was none other than his older brother. Chris dropped to his knees, grabbing his brother's shoulder and flipping him over. He had a wound in the right side of his head, and a puddle of blood seeping out from under his jacket.

Chris unzipped the blue coat, pulling back the side. There was a large, bloody rip in his originally white t-shirt. Underneath that was a deep wound, bleeding profusely.

"Martin," Chris looked at his brother's face. "What happened!?"

"Poachers..." the word krept out of Martin's mouth like a snake out of its hole.

"Where are the cubs?" Aviva came up beside Chris.

"Over there..." Martin raised his hand a little, pointing at a cave in a bound of rocks. There was also a large puddle of blood that he didn't dare look directly at.

"Call Koki and Jimmy," Aviva ordered, rushing to the den. She poked her head in, olive green eyes landing on two shivering bundles of black fur. "I've got the cubs."

Chris pulled out his Creature Pod, dialing for the Tortuga. He informed Koki and Jimmy on the situation when their faces appeared on the small screen. He told them their coordinates, and hung up, putting the Creature Pod back in his pocket.

"Martin," Chris shook his brother's shoulder a little. Martin opened his eyes a crack to look up at him. "What happened to you?"

"..." Martin breathed heavily in preparation for the explanation. "They got their mother..."

Martin laughed as he played with the bear cubs. Normally, he wouldn't even think about going near a bear cub, but, for whatever reason, this mother bear really didn't seem to mind. She just kept watch, like he was simply someone her kids invited over to play.

"You two really like those berries, huh?" Martin raised an amused eyebrow. The two bear cubs were snacking on little red berries on a nearby bush.

He picked a few of the berries, drawing the cubs' attention. He held his hand out to them, watching them try shoving each other out of the way to get the tiny fruits.

"I'll need to come up with special names for you two," Martin smiled.

One cub decided at that moment that he wanted a dirt bath. He rolled around in the dirt, his black fur instantly being coated in a light brown. Martin laughed.

"Okay," He reached over, petting the dirty cub on the head. "You're Dusty."

But before he could come up with another name, a loud boom rang through the surrounding area. Martin flinched, immediately standing up.

The mother bear growled under her breath. Martin scrambled the cubs into the den to keep them out of trouble.

The gunshot rang again and a pained roar echoed in Martin's ears. Mama Bear stumbled a little as she hobbled off the top of the den. There was a wound in her side, where the bullet had hit her.

"Oh no," Martin gaped at her. He would have gone up to her and try to help her, but he knew she would only snap at him.

More gunshots sounded, making Martin flinch. He whipped around in search for whoever was shooting at them. But there was no one else anywhere.

When he looked back at Mama Bear, she was laying on her side in a puddle of blood. Martin gagged involuntarily. He shook his head, trying to calm his racing mind.

"Stop shooting!" He demanded to whoever would listen. "There are cubs she has to take care of!"

There were murmurs of a discussion coming from somewhere he couldn't place. He stood his ground, anyway, though kept his eyes off the bloody mass that was the mother bear.

There was rustling from the bushes and out walked a man, not much shorter than him. He had black hair and a scruffy beard and mustache. He also had a light machine gun held at his side in both hands. Martin didn't say anything to him, simply standing tall with a stern glare.

"Isn't this cute," The man commented. "You from here, boy?"

"None of your business," Martin spat. "What are you going to do with her?"

"Classified," The man gave a grave stare.

"You have no right to hunt the bears in this area," Martin informed him. "This is off hunting grounds."

"You know a lot about the area," The gruff gentlemen contemplated. "What did you say your name was, kid?"

"Kratt," Martin saw no wrong in telling him his name, not to mention who had the gun in this situation. "Martin Kratt. And you are?"

"You're one of those Kratt monkeys, are you?" the bearded man huffed. "The name's Rider. I'm your enemy, as far as Kratts and hunters are concerned."

"..." Martin glared at him as a response.

"What's wrong?" Rider teased. "Wild cat gotcha tongue?"

"Leave the bear alone," Martin ignored the joke. "She has a special role to play in the forest."

"Not, gonna, happen," Rider refused slowly.

Martin felt a surge of rage and soon found himself tussling with Rider for his gun. He knew it was a bad idea, but the flashes of sudden anger was overwhelming and he couldn't help himself. He had to help the bears at whatever cost. And if he was lucky, he could get it out of his hands and call his team for back up.

Rider, to combat his incredible strength, twisted the gun around and bashed the shoulder end into the side of the blonde's head. Martin, at the same time as this, felt an excruciating pain in his rib cage. He crumpled to the ground, unable to hold himself up on his wobbly legs.

He looked to the side to see who had shot him. Standing in the bushes was another man. He looked younger than Rider, and he had orange hair and a pistol.

"Grab the beast," Rider ordered.

Both poachers walked passed the painful blonde to the still heavily bleeding mother bear. Martin watched them take one end each and start carrying her away.

"I hope you realize, Kratt," Rider stopped to looked down at him. "You've lost this round." Martin heaved as the men continued walking.

"Sorry," He strained. "I didn't catch that..I don't speak bullshit.."

Rider immediately dropped his end of the bear and whipped around, booting him hard in his bullet wound. Martin grunted as he collapsed the rest of the way to the ground.

"You said that?" Chris asked in disbelief.

Yes, Martin had no problem whipping out a curse when he was mad enough, but in a situation where the opposing person could easily make sure it would be the last curse he said, he was usually more careful about it. This was a poor example of that care.

"Yes," you could hear the anger in his voice through the strain of speaking. "And I don't regret it..I meant it.."

"I'm just shocked they didn't take the cubs," Aviva commented from her spot sitting on the other side of him. She had both bear cubs to either side of her.

"Poachers like those guys don't typically take baby animals," Martin informed. "They have no use for them..so they take the parents, and leave the babies to die.."

"These two are still lucky to be alive," Chris added. "A lot of the time, poachers will wound animals they don't take, even the babies. Maybe they didn't because Martin was there."

"That's what I'll call her," Martin smiled at the unnamed bear cub. "Lucky...Dusty and Lucky..the bear cubs.."

"Where are Koki and Jimmy?" Chris wondered anxiously. "We have to get Martin to the Tortuga. The bleeding's getting worse." Martin's eyes drifted down in the direction of his chest wound. "No." Chris put his hand between his eyes and the tons of blood. "Don't look. You'd be out before Jimmy could finish a slice of pizza."

Martin gave an airy chuckle. His moment of humor was interrupted by his bullet wound deciding laughter was too much and flared up all at once. His brain started feeling a little loopy from the loss of blood. So, naturally, he winced.

"..." Chris gave him a worried look.

"We have to go after them," Aviva told the brothers. "You said they took their mom."

"Aviva," Martin looked at her sadly. His voice was quiet, whether it was because he was upset or because he was getting tired was beyond the group of creature adventurers. "Mama Bear is dead...there's no way she survived so many gunshots..."

"He must have hit you harder in the head than we thought," Aviva spat at him. "The Martin I know would never give up on a captured animal. We don't know for sure they killed her."

"No," Chris shook his head. "He's right. Poachers don't usually leave the hunt unless what they've hunted is dead. Sometimes they'll kill it later if they have no other choice."

"But there was no threat to what they were after," Martin added. "After they took me out, nothing stood between them and their target..."

"..." Aviva couldn't combat their arguments, no matter how much she wanted to. She could see it on their faces; they didn't want it to be true, either. They'd just come to accept the truth for what it was, even if it was possibly the hardest thing they'd ever had to do.

A few minutes of silence passed. Martin had closed his eyes, which seemed like the only escape from the unbearable( ;} ) pain of his wounds. Just when his brain started feeling light, almost like he was about to fall asleep, he was roused by his brother's voice.

"Martin?" Chris asked. "You still awake?"

Instead of a verbal response, Martin cracked his eyes open. Only, as soon as he did, his vision was overrun by swelling black dots and he could have sworn he was transported to space, judging from the stars he was seeing. His head started pounding harder than a professional drummer on concert night and his chest felt tighter than a track-runner's shoelaces. A horrid experience, wouldn't you say?

"C-Chris..." he wheezed out. "I-I can't...breathe..!"

"He's lost too much blood," Aviva concluded, pulling out her Creature Pod and calling the Tortuga. "Koki, Jimmy, what's taking so long? This is an emergency, we need you here now."

"Sorry," Koki spoke from her own Creature Pod. She was in the garage, loading the Createrra with things they would need. "We had to put more gas in the Createrra, and the tire was flat so we had to replace it. We're on our way, hold tight."

Aviva sighed as the device shut off. She looked back up at the brothers. Martin was desperately trying to take a breath, but only managed fruitless heaves and wheezes. Chris was panicking, scared tears running down his cheeks.

She hoped they'd get there soon.

After about ten minutes of pure chaos among the three, they heard the beep of their only car. Aviva and Chris looked up from the nearly suffocated Kratt brother to see the Createrra drive up and park a few feet away.

Koki and Jimmy rushed out, going to the back to retrieve the stretcher. They brought it to their injured teammate, lifting him up onto it. He was looking extremely pale, due to the loss of blood.

Speaking of blood, his bleeding was beginning to slow. You may think that would be a good thing. But you'd be wrong. Martin was running out of blood to bleed. It was a miracle he was even awake right now. A miracle no one asked for.

--

When they got Martin back to the Tortuga, the girls did all they could to make sure he wouldn't die on them. He had lost too much blood, and needed a transfer. Good thing they kept packets of O- blood, just for situations like this. They expected to have run ins with poachers.

Unluckily for the oldest Kratt brother, he couldn't be asleep for any of it. His head injury made it dangerous for him to fall asleep until it was taken care of. And because his chest wound was more severe and life threatening, that had to be cared for first. The sight of the blood made every alarm in his head go nuts and his stomach decided to take up gymnastics.

But through all of it, Chris never left his side. He stood there the entire two hours, holding his hand. He kept his attention off the blood the best he could, but there wasn't much he could do while his head was being treated.

"Okay," Aviva wiped the back of her hand over her forehead. "I think we're finally done. You can rest, now."

Martin let out a shuddering sigh of relief. He was so happy that was over. All the pain he'd felt before in the forest had been multiplied by ten while they were working, and now was nothing more than a dull ache. But his brain was fuzzy, and his eyelids felt like they had elephants pulling them closed.

"You'll have to stay in the infirmary for a few days," Koki told him. "You're on bed rest until we say otherwise. So no adventures, no risk-taking, and no Creature Power Suit."

"I don't think he has the energy for a Creature Power Suit, Koki," Chris smiled at her. He looked down at his brother. He had fallen asleep, way too tired from the day to stay awake any longer.

[caterpillarinacave]

You're not ready and there's certainly no need to rush, you inspect the door a little more instead of wandering in blindly. You pick up a rock and toss it through, but nothing happens, you tie a stick to a string and toss it through, it hits the ground and you pull it back with ease, you wonder if it might be possible to communicate with others on the other side by tossing in messages and pulling in the response. Before you can make a mess digging through your stuff, looking for something to write a message to toss in, you are reminded in a strike of inspiration of the funnel you inspected earlier, you pull it out and listen as close to the door as you dare. You hear...city noises? Conversations held in crowds, vehicles driving by, random sounds of life in a heavily populated area. While you ponder this new information, something rat like runs by at the base of the wall across the door, in its mouth a slice of what looks to be pizza, it darts away. You can tell by looking that the spot this door has opened is not likely to gain the attention of anyone who can communicate with you as, aside from the rat, it is devoid of life. Do you want to write a message and wait on a response?

Yes

[gigilalaka]

The Deage Troll Au. Update and Chapter 1

So, this was supposed to tell you all that want to read my still in progress deage au, that chapter 1 was out on my ao3 account. Well its not. I can’t get access to it on my pc and I’ve tried a couple of other methods as well. Now I’m just waiting for they guys and girls that run ao3 to find whats wrong. However I want people to at least read the first chapter so here it is. We will see what happends in the coming days but for now enjoy!

*for thought

‘for speak

Chapter 1 “ Good days gone bad”

Poppy looks out of one of her windows that she got installed barely 3 weeks ago, its soft rain that gos pit patter on them tonight and normaly she would hum to the soft sound but she can’t find the strengt nor heart to do it. Her mind is filled with worry and guilt over the small body thats currently sleeping in a small borrowed bed that Smidge had been so kind to give her. * What am I do to now?* the words keeps runing around her head as she hears a small whimper coming from the bed. She truns around to look at them and walks over with soft steps and just stops at bedside, the little thing looks like they are not haveing the best of dreams. She could not blame them, she bet shes haveing them tonight as well once she finally finds sleep herself.

She slowly stroke the little things face, tears silent runing out of both closed eyes. One out of lost another out worry the next out of fear. A small boyish voice filled with sadness and longing asking for the one person thats never going to be able to anwser back ‘ grandma, where are you?’ It breaks her heart just hearing it.

‘Oh Branch, I’m so so sorry. I should’t have brought that stupid flower to the bunker, we should’t have.’ she says as she looks at her boyfriend, now in a body of a 6 year old, his skin grey as dark ash, hair black as coal and a fearfull frown onpond his little sleeping face. It still amazed her how bad everything had gotten just within 5 days, and it all started when he asked her a favor of just getting some stuff from the deep forest. How she just wish she’d could stop her past self from taking that damn flower or just give it to the herbalist before she and Hickory went to visit him. Maybe then neither of them wouldn’t feel so bad like they do now.

‘I’m so so sorry, sweetie. I’m so sorry’ she keeps saying, tears anew starts run out her eyes again, while her mind drifts back 5 days ago, where it all started.

‘So let me see if I get this right?’ Hickory begins while he helps his brother over a giant fallen log with a rope around him and Dickory, while said brother is cursing up and down and to the high heavens for gifting him with this damn body and how he wish he’d have moveing hair like the pops have. It would sure make this a lot faster! Poppy stops to look at the bounty hunter, the half open basked strapped on her and one on each bounty hunters backs moveing a little showing herbs, barks, flowers and berries, a small smile froming on her face when Hickory nearly let loose the rope thats currently the only thing thats keeping his brother from falling several feet down, again. The small yodleller looking at the other one with a glare. Dareing his little brother loose his grip again on the rope, or else theres going to be hell to pay.

‘Branch is missing or gone out of several herbs and a type of moss thats used for a variety of diffrent meds and skin tonics? And he ask you to get them for him while he fixses something down in the bunker thats gone badly out of whack?’ For the past 4 months, Hickory and Dickory has been residents of said bunker while they are here helping the pop trolls build up their villiage again. Its part of the deal they have with Delta on the amount of charity works they need to get done with the country trolls and for what they did Poppy and Branch. First they had to help fixing some the homes and buildings back in Lonesome Flats, before they were sent to what remaind of the Pop villiage to help fix things there as well. Though to be honest, untill more of the trees and plants recover some more, theres little they can fix. Many a troll are still living in the undergrund bunker the resident grump live and build up, till some of their home trees are ready to take them in again. Though said grump was getting a little antsy with all the other trolls hyper-go-lucky energy. And endless will to party hard and as loud as possible.

Both he and Dickory had been very supriesed and shocked on how one troll had build something this lagre by the age of 15, get it so well stocked and maintain all alone for well over a decade. It was not for nothing that the other pop trolls called him the most prepared troll of the Pop villiage. *Though to be honest, we should have figured that out with how he was so prepared for just about everything on the journey* Hickory thought while putting the rope in his basket, Dickory finally on safe ground. He’s very sure that if they meet another log like that again, his big bro is just gonna swallow his pride and ask the queen for a ride over instead. It was getting very tiring getting past these forsaken logs for the both of them.

‘Yep’ the queen say, the ‘p’ poping as she said it.’ The Ruby moss is the most improtent one along with the Silver Drop Rose. They are used for some very serious bruns tonics and blood loss meds that I think even the funk trolls have never seen. Branch said that even if we only get a few of each of them, it still be enough to treat several dozen patients, but it would really help him and the doctors to have a bundle or two of each instead. They only bloom for the brief period between these 2 weeks. The rainstrom season is coming soon and they are going to be washed away soon when the first storm hits. Oooh look some more Dede berries! Miss Flourens going to be so happy that we gotten some of them, they hard to find this time of the year. Now she wont have to worry so much about the flu season’ The berries looks nice where they are hanging from their bush, a rich maroon colour with what looks like a golden stripe going around the oval shaped fruit. Poppy takes out a few small clay jars to store them in from her basket. She notes that she’s running out of room to store things. She take out a book from the basket she’d taken with her in her hair, incase she found any other herbs she’s not sure about. One of the many useful gifts Branch have given her the past 2 years.

‘So why did you take us with you girly? You know how that boy of yours don’t like us very much’ Dickory asked, it was a bit of a understatment, Branch had been rageing mad at them when he found out the their lie. Had it not been for the fact that Poppy's other friends was holding him down, Dickory is very sure he and his bro would not be walking at all. Its a bit better now, but non of the yodeller brothers wants to overstep themself the frail peace they have right now. Though he still wounders what the less colour full troll meant with ‘ this is just like what happened almost 2 years ago!’. He did not like the sound of it, not at all.

‘Mostly to give you guys some breathing room really.’ Dickory gets back, the queen is still getting some of the last berries in the jar. Then give them to him for storage in his basket. ‘Also, I know for a fact that since your both bounty hunters you guys was the better choice to take on this little trip when it comes to protection. Which I know mister grumpy is not going argue against, beside I’d rather take you guy over the other one thats avaialble.’ * The less said about Creek the better off I am* Poppy thinks, not wanting to take that guru on this trip today, lately the purple troll was trying to get them alone very often and that scared her.

The three continue their journey, stoping every now and then for a breather or a brief lunch, when they come to a area that has the herbs they are looking for. Its not easy to get to them though. The roses blooms on a small cliff thats very close to a river that has some very sharp stones jutting out and the moss prefer to be on the ceilings in a cave that is home some nasty creeps and crawls that no sane troll would want crawling in their pants. However, when they took a break near a tree, they a get a glimps of a snow white petals that seems to shimer in the light behinde another tree and some bushes a little father ahead of them. Hickory and Dickory is not sure if it is safe to go there, but Poppy is insistent that they at least check it out.

They come onpond a small clearing with a pond near the middle of it, a single flower blooming from the north side of the pond. Its white as snow that shimer in the sun light, with what looks like golden, amethyst and royal coalbolt blue bands around the base of the pastals forming a lovely small pattern of rings together. Its shaped like a tulip, if a tulip had slightly longer pastals and curly torns that is. They can smell a faint hint of sweet yet lightly bitter smell coming for it.

‘Now what in blues hell is this? Poppy do you know what this flower is?’ Hickory ask as he looks at the plant. Its very nice to look at and would make a wounderfull gift to a loved one, but dose not go near it. Neither he nor Dickory knew if it was safe to go anywere near it. No doubt that something had to be wrong if only the flower was the only thing to bloom in that pond. He dose not get a anwser for a while, the queen busy with her herb book to see what they have stumblot onpond.

‘Thats very strange. Its not in the book.’ the pink troll say with a mumble. She looks at the two and ask ‘ are there any sticks or stones near bye that we can throw? We need to check that its not a pond lucker. Those things are rightout nasty to deal with and I rather like to keep my arms or legs intact.’ A shiver gos down her spine when she think what happened to the last party group that went out to gather stuff from the deepest part of the forest. From a 35 group to only 14 coming back, almost half of them missing limbs thanks only to dose things. Was it not for that 2 of them had realy good aim, more would have been lost.

‘I think a saw some over there by the river. Gimme a min’ Dickory say as he runs there to get some. When he comes back the three of them each choice a spot to hit, but noting happens. They to it a few more times, just to be sure but is just a normal pond. Relief settels in a bit, but they move slowly near the flower. Once they are near enough, Poppy takes a few minutes to look at it, than take out a pair of gloves, a sturdy looking glass jar and a small spade.

‘Don’t tell me your gonna take that flower with you?!’ Dickory almost shouts. ‘It can’t be safe if it is the only thing that living in this damn pond!’

‘I have to. This area is the closest to the villiage when it comes to get these types of herbs. The others can take weeks to go to and fro. Finding a plant that we know nothing about so close here, I have to take this to our herbalists to find out what it is. For all we know it might do more harm than good to this area’ Poppy anwser back, most of her focus on the plant, not knowing how true her words would become.

Once she got it in the jar, she looks at them and says ‘Its best we go now. We don’t need to be here any longer’ the hunters agree with both of them tur-

‘WAAAAAA’ a scream comes out of Branch traped yet again in another nightmare that he can’t wake up from, sending Poppy out of her thoughts and chair like a rocket crash and running to him. She hugs him while the trolling continue to scream his heart out, his fear clear as day, small fists hitting her chest every now and then. His not stoping and his sob aren’t getting better either.

*My poor poor Branch. Why do you have to suffer more of this?* rings in her head, well aware that her boyfriend haven’t had this kind of nightmare in a long time. It seems fate still wanted to give the troll some more grief. All she can do now is hold him tight, whisper sweet nothings and patt his back.

Slowly but surely Branch began to calm down, and slowly Poppy sings whatever her tried mind can come up with right now not careing if they fit with the song whats so ever.

Sweet baby mine don’t cry

The moons here to sing you a lullaby

And am here to sing with stars

Sweet baby mine don’t cry

We are all here to make you smile

She continues to sing as Branch slowly starts falling to a peacefull slumber, but Poppy know its not over yet. She lays him back to bed makeing sure not to wake him. Once she sure his going to sleep a bit more she drags herself to her own bed try to get some rest before Branch wakes with another scream.

[oriorchids]

Ouma Month Day 9 - Crossover AU

In which Ouma Kokichi meets a little black fox.

  Ouma Kokichi never expected to be out this late. Maybe he accidentally got lost when walking home from an outing with DICE, and maybe walking home alone when he recently moved into Nimbasa City was a bad idea. He had no idea where he currently was, but surely he could find the right path sooner or later...right?

  Perhaps he should’ve asked someone for directions before he landed himself into this mess. However, it wouldn’t really be very becoming of a leader of a secret organization to ask for directions, so now Ouma had to get out of this mess himself.

  He turned around to walk out of the forest-hey wait, was that tree always there? Nah, he’s probably just imagining things-oh wait, did that rock move? Maybe it would be best to collect his thoughts for a bit before moving on.

  Ouma sat down on the wet grass of the forest floor. He really wasn’t sure how he got here. Somehow, his sense of direction failed him. The sound of a bush rustling put himself on guard. “Hello?” He said. “Is someone there?”

  When he didn’t hear any more rustling noises he frowned. “If this is a sick joke then cut it out. It’s not funny.” More silence. “I could make a better joke right now.”

  At the sound of a slight rustling, Ouma continued. “Knock knock. Who’s there? A mirror. I am lonely.”

  A few seconds passed before snickering could be heard from a nearby bush. A small black-and-blue fox walked out of the bushes with a smile on its face. The black fox stared up at Ouma for a few seconds before he heard a voice in his head. “Hi! I’m Zorua! Who are you?”

  “ACK! You can talk?!” Ouma said. He went through his knowledge on Pokemon for a few seconds “What are you doing here? Aren’t Zorua rare?”

  “My Momma lives here, so I live here.” The Zorua looked to the side before barking. Ouma heard more barks from the woods before the trees around him seemed to vanish. A young woman appeared before him before transforming into a tall black-and-red creature. It looked similar to the small fox at Ouma’s feet, but the colouring was different.

  Ouma heard a deeper voice in his head this time. “Who are you?” he heard. “Why are you in this forest?”

  “Nishishi! I was trying to find a place for my evil organization to meet up!” Ouma said, looking the creature in the eye. (It wasn’t too hard, he was about the same height as the foxlike Pokemon.)

  The creature blinked before snarling. “The truth, human?” she said. “I can tell you’re lying.”

  Ouma’s eyes shined. “I’m a serial killer who killed everyone in Nimbasa City. The people in Driftveil City are next.”

  “You’re going the wrong way. Next?”

  “I ran away from home to search for the legendary dragons of the Unova region.”

  The creature looked unimpressed. “That’s impossible without a Pokemon of your own.” 

  “I’ll make the impossible possible.” That sounded like something an idiot would say, so Ouma said it.

  The creature glared at him. “The real truth, human? I don’t have all day.”

  I guess I should admit it. “I...might have gotten lost,” Ouma said, frowning. “You know the way out of the forest or..?”

  “Yes, I do,” The creature said. “But what makes you think I’ll let you leave?”

  “Huh? What do you mean?”

  “We’ve been hiding from humans all our lives.” she said. “We can’t trust you to keep us a secret.”

  “Really?” The Zorua spoke again. “I trust this guy, Momma!”

  “You do?”

  “Yeah! I do! He’s funny!”

  “Hey, human.” The creature looked Ouma in the eyes. “What’s your name?”

  “Ouma Kokichi. Why?”

  “Could you take care of my son for me?”

  “What?” Ouma blinked, skeptical. “Why me?”

  “I want my son to experience the world.” she said. “He won’t be able to travel when he’s hiding from everyone.”

  Ouma twirled his hair. “I guess I’ll help.”

  “Good, because if you refused I would’ve just left you here.”

  “...what?”

  “Zorua, do you want to travel with this human?”

  The small fox’s eyes sparkled. “Is it alright if I go?”

  “It is.”

  “But..will I be able to see you again?” Zorua’s ears drooped. “I’ll miss you.”

  “I’ll stay here, so you can come visit me anytime.” The creature smiled, and Zorua barked. “Ouma, here’s a Pokeball. Catch Zorua for me, alright?”

  Leaning down, Ouma held the Pokeball out. Zorua touched the button with his nose and in a flash of red light, Zorua was caught.

  “Hey, could I ask you a question?” Ouma asked. “Who are you?”

  “I am Zoroark.” she said. “Though once I was known as Zinnia.”

--

  When Ouma got home, he took Zorua out of his Pokeball. “So...this is my house. Mom and Dad aren’t around, so you’re free to explore as much as you want.”

  “Can I visit Momma soon?” Zorua asked.

  “Sure. Hey, I heard that Zorua can turn into people with illusions! Can you do that?”

  “I don’t know,” Zorua said. “I haven’t tried yet.”

  Ouma took some noodles out of the cupboard and started boiling water. From what he knew, his parents wouldn’t be back for a week, so he was free to do whatever with the house. After the water started boiling, he placed the noodles inside the water. He turned to walk towards the fridge and grabbed a few Tamato Berries. Looking back at Zorua, he saw a peculiar sight. That is, he saw an almost-identical copy of himself, the only difference being a small black tail. “Hey, hey! I did it!” Zorua said, the illusion’s mouth not moving. “I did it!”

  “Oh my gosh.” Ouma almost dropped the berries. “You know what this means?”

  Zorua tilted his-er Ouma’s head. “What?”

  “We can pull SO MANY pranks!” After he noticed a look of confusion on the doppelganger’s face, Ouma continued. “Basically we can play little tricks on people. It’ll be fun!”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah!” After Ouma noticed a bit of steam rising from the pasta. “Oh, right. I need to get back to cooking.”

  Ouma finished cooking, and the two of them ate dinner. “Hey, Zorua?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Is it alright if I call you Zorro?”

  “Okay!”

[daybreak-academy-fanfic]

Daybreak Academy: Chapter 73

I Still Trust You

Summary: In which Brain and Anora are rescued. Word Count: 1,541 First | Previous | Next ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆

Brain very seldom found himself truly scared about certain things. His deduction that no one realized the two of them were not on the bus must have been true. Which didn't seem likely, with Ephemer being the possessive type that he was, but they had all come on three different buses. The probability of not knowing if a student was missing increased by at least two. Exactly two, with full irony aside.

Staying in the same place was honestly their best bet. They were lucky that the moon was so close to full that night. It made it a bit hard to sleep, but it was infinitely better than being stranded in pitch black darkness. Anora was possibly the only one of the two that truly got rest. Brain was constantly on the look out for help, or -Ub Iwerks forbid- dangerous wildlife. He didn't entirely relax until the sun started to rise- even then, it still made him nervous.

Someone must have noticed they were missing by now, right? If only Anora hadn't hurt her ankle. They could have tried to go back on the established trail now. Brain let out an annoyed huff as he looked over to Anora. She was still asleep with her head resting against a tree. How dare she look so peaceful while she slept there. Did she know that, until her foot was better, they were practically at the mercy of the elements?

Brain worked himself up and started to look around the area for something to eat. This nature preserve boasted on its arrangement of wild fruit trees and berry bushes, so it better hold up to that claim. When he came back, Anora had woken up and was lazily looking around the area. It was a very… distinct expression; something that Brain had to laugh at.

“Is that the face you give Ephemer after a fun night? No wonder you've got him eating out of the palm of your hand.”

“We don't...”

Brain didn't let her finish- instead letting out a snort of amusement. “Right.” he even bemused. “With the way that headmasters' pet walks? If you two weren't doing it, then I'll eat my hat.”

Anora looked at him before her eyes trailed upward at his fedora. It didn't look any worse for wear, considering. She wondered how much damage it could take before actually showing any tears.

“How long have you had it?”

“Awhile.” he informed her with a roll of his shoulder. “I think it was a Christmas present from my uncle. Liked it so much, I decided to wear it whenever I could.”

“I bet it would be a good source of fiber.”

Brain raised an eyebrow at her. “So you have jokes in that sleepy brain of yours? How delightful.” Giving a smirk, he handed her one of the two apples he found. Anora didn't think twice on why or how he got it, and quickly bit into it without another guess. The two munched away in silence for awhile.

Despite seeming to be very hungry, Anora had only taken three bites of her apple before simply staring at it.

“I know I don't belong at Daybreak.” she quietly said. Brain almost didn't hear her through his own apple crunching. “I didn't even know it existed until the acceptance letter came.”

The older of the two looked at the young woman. He gave his apple one last bite before tossing the core over his shoulder. Smacking his lips, he questioned, “Then why were you accepted?”

Anora slowly shook her head. “Dunno.” she admitted. “My aunt and cousin looked just as surprised.”

“But that's impossible.” Brain scoffed with a shake of his head. “Everyone in Departure County's heard of...” But the young man trailed off in remembering something Anora mentioned earlier. 'It was always too cold' to go camping, but Departure Country had a pretty moderate climate. Even now, on the last day of September, the air had a faint warmth to it. The sudden revelation hit Brain harder than it should have.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait.” Brain said instead, “So you're telling me you're not even from Departure County? Or… Or anywhere around here?”

Anora shook her head. Brain raised his eyebrows as he absently placed a hand on the back brim of his fedora, making it tilt up a bit more.

“You really do get more mysterious the longer we know you.” he marveled. “How fascinating...”

Anora didn't reply. Instead, she took another nibble or two at the apple before finally tossing it.

“Hey Brain?” she softly mused “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For everything.” she thoughtfully decided. “I'm happy with Ephemer. And even if the circumstances surrounding it were weird and confusing, I'm still glad they happened.”

“Yeah...” Brain found himself agreeing. He slumped his body against a tree, and folded his arms in thought. “Ephemer seems pretty happy to be with you too. It's just… obnoxious that he lets it cloud what's immediately important. Like with our meetings or his homework. Not that it really affects us, but just watching him dance on tiptoes like he's been high off his rocker for a week… That moron doesn't know anything about love yet. And one day, it's gonna hit him hard that the real world isn't a fairy tale.”

A deep sigh escaped Brain's lips. He looked down at Anora, who was picking at some blades of grass with mild disinterest. Some amount of his sympathy went out to her. As soon as it came, he immediately became disgusted with himself.

“I'm not jealous.” Brain said, automatically, as if he were speaking a thought.

“Never said you were.” came the just as quick answer.

The young man tried to say something, but didn't allow himself to finish. What was with this girl? Just a day ago she was ready to murder him. Now she was thanking him? Maybe that stumble she had scrambled her brain a bit more than anticipated. When Brain opened his mouth to tell her something, he was now interrupted with the sound of leaves rustling near them. Anora jolted in surprise and Brain immediately went onto the defensive.

To their relief, it was their cavalry.

The park ranger for the nature preserve look almost bewildered to see the two of them there. At the same time, they were also relieved. “I assume you're the kids from DBA?” they asked, letting off a sheepish chuckle. “Sorry it took so long to find you guys, the cell towers have been jammed since last night. A tree limb was in the way.”

After that, everything seemed to happen in a blur. Brain and Anora were taken to the ranger station and were given clean clothes, a shower, and a proper meal. After one of the rangers called the school, the duo were given a ride back to campus. Ira was the one who met them at the school entrance. But it was only to make sure they made it back safely, and to give them a good lecture on going off the path. Neither said anything about who got them off course, but at this point it didn't seem to matter either. Trusting the two wouldn't get lost going to their dorms, Ira left, leaving Brain and Anora alone once more.

“Well, I guess you should be heading off to your boyfriend now.” the oldest decided, tipping his fedora to her before starting to leave.

“Brain...” the young woman said, taking one of his hands into her own. She hesitated for a moment, looking from their hands then into his eyes. She took a small breath in before finally admitting, “I still trust you.”

Anora could feel Brain's muscles clench underneath her fingertips. Slowly, carefully, Brain started to move his hand from her grip. He placed a finger under her chin so they could look eye to eye. He moved a few steps closer to Anora, moving his lips to her ear.

“You really shouldn't.” he whispered in a low tone.

Anora's eyes fluttered closed, expecting something else, but Brain moved away from her. The young man looked her over, sighed, then started to make his leave. Confused for a moment, Anora opened her eyes again and almost didn't realize that he left. What an odd moment to have after all of this. It almost felt like…

The young woman shook her head. Nah, she was being ridiculous. Brain had a reputation for getting girls, right? There was no way he truly liked her like that. Not after the things he said during the field trip. She had enough evidence to assume he was jealous of her and Ephemer, if for no other reason than because he could. And that was fine. It wouldn't even effect her either, really. Satisfied with this answer to herself, Anora gave a small nod before heading to her dorm. It didn't surprise her in the slightest to know that Ephemer was waiting for her there.

She didn't give him time to speak; the first kiss she gave him was to prevent him from talking. The second kiss was to guide him -through numerous stumbles- into her bed. After the third kiss, the rest of the world didn't matter anymore.

[cryptid0]

The Lost Prince

CHAPTER 1 : Archive of our own page

Jude walked through a forest path strewn with golden leaves, amongst trees hanging with ripe, tempting looking fruit. She knows this path well even though she’s never been here before. Her feet are bare and covered in muck, but the white hem of the dress she wears is pristine even though it grazes her ankles. If this wasn’t a dream, she would have found that detail quite odd. The material felt like air against her skin. No, it felt as light as a thought.

She heard snatches of laughter from just beyond the trees. She smiled without understanding why she felt so buoyant. A twig snapped under her feet, and she looked down to see that her foot was bleeding, but she didn’t feel any pain, and anyway, she was near to the end of it now.

She could see the two people waiting for her now. It seemed like she came here to visit every night these days, even though she hadn’t seen her mother in years, not since the disease had taken her years ago. But her mother was healthy and whole now, smiling down at her with the same yellow cat-slit eyes as Jude’s sister, Viviene.

The man next to her was smiling at her, too. His teeth were pointed, and the fingers on the hand he held out to her ended in sharp, black claws. She reached for it, anyway, knowing that this was how it was meant to be. There was no laughter in the distance anymore. There was nothing but this smiling man with sharp teeth, her dead mother, and a dark pressure that seemed to squeeze her heart. It felt like fear.

I wake with a start, exactly ten seconds before my alarm is about to go off. I grab for my phone and quickly turn it off before it can wake my twin sister, Taryn, who is still sound asleep on the other side of the room. I’ve been having the same dream every night for months now, and it wakes me with my heart pounding and an inexplicable fear filling the very marrow of my bones like clockwork at the darkest moment before dawn breaks.

I try to control my breathing, but they still come out in shuddering gasps. I pull my blanket around me tighter and hug my knees to my chest as if curling in on myself will protect me from the baseless terror that seems to plague me every night. I don’t understand what this is or why it bothers me so. Vivi believes it’s some kind of repressed trauma from losing mom all those years ago that I never quite got over, but it doesn’t feel like this is a fear of the past. This feels like the dread of something terrible to come.

The more I try to think about it, the more difficult it is to hold on to any semblance of sense. The details, already vague and dreamlike, slip out between my fingers like sand in an hourglass. The sun rises outside, and the rays of light creep into the room I share with my sister through the half-drawn curtains.

My sister shifts in her sleep as the sunrise touches her face, and she opens her eyes groggily to the morning. She is soft and warm in all the ways I am not, and moments like these make me feel like I am gazing into a mirror. We are identical but flipped. We are mirror images of each other. She notices me looking at her and grins.

“You’re still wearing that silly thing.”

I look down at the strand of rowan berries peeking out of my haphazardly buttoned pajama shirt. When we were young, mom used to make us necklaces from the rowan berry bushes that grew in our yard, and after she passed it turned into a sort of tradition in the family. We wear them for luck on days when we have a recital, or important exams, or a driving test. I’ve taken to wearing them on a daily basis since the nightmares have begun to haunt me. Maybe I am dealing with some kind of repressed trauma.

“You can never have too much good luck,” I tell her.

“Ain’t that the truth.” Our older sister, Viviene, stomps into our room, already fully dressed and throws open our curtains all the way. I squint at the sudden light hitting me in the face and grumble something incoherently, but Vivi ignores me and flops on to the edge of my bed.

“You guys are going to come to the gig tonight, right?”

Vivi is in a rock band that recently signed with a major label. She was always different, but the kind of different that made her alternative rather than an outcast. She gets to play music at music festivals, now. She also has a talent for charming you into doing mischief with her.

I shared a look with Taryn. She chews on her lip, but I’m the one to speak up. “You know we want to, Viv. But dad is going to ground us for a decade if he finds out overnight. He isn’t happy about it with you, but at least you’ve graduated. He thinks of you as an adult.”

She waves a hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about dad, I’ll handle it. Besides, it’s not like I’m dragging you guys to a different state. We’re practically going to be camping out in our own backyard. If you want, you can probably just trek back home after the show is over.”

She grins mischievously before adding, ”But then you’ll miss out on the real fun of the festival.”

It’s difficult to resist Vivi, so we don’t. “We’ll be there.” Taryn answers for us both, and Vivi springs off my bed with a whoop and charges out of the room like a storm.

[krumbine]

Videorama: Revenge of the Nooooo!

The year is 2005.

George W. Bush is just starting his second term in the White House.

The hottest game in cell phone technology is the Motorola Razr V3 and the PalmOne Treo 650.

The iPhone is still a few years away.

The Rise of Skywalker isn’t even a twinkle in Disney’s eye––an eye that’s currently preoccupied with an overly optimistic Narnia Franchise Wet Dream.

In fact, Disney wouldn’t even buy Star Wars for another seven years.

It’s summer in 2005 and millions of marketing dollars can still pull the wool over the eyes of a naive movie-going public, dictating box office success regardless of audience consensus or even general quality of filmmaking.

All hail the grand illusion of capitalism.

It’s a warm evening in the summer of 2005 and video rental stores are still a thing.

One particular, independently-run store––freestanding, double glass doors on the left side of the brick facade, small parking lot––was just turning its sign on as dusk settled.

Videorama was open for business.

*

Tobey blinked incredulously at the three teenagers standing on the other side of the counter. His brain hurt as he attempted to summon the endurance needed to fathom the sheer stupidity of their question.

To buy himself some time, Tobey blinked again.

“… well?” asked the one with the long greasy hair. “Do you have it?”

There was no way these kids were serious.

Tobey shook his head in disbelief. “You’re not serious.”

The one with a bad case of acne threw his hands up in exasperation. “Dude, for fuck’s sake!”

Tobey looked over at the other man behind the video store counter, feet up, sketch pad in lap. “I think these guys are serious.”

The third teenager was pale and wore a lot of heavy black eyeliner. He spoke in a flat monotone: “Catwoman. Do you have it or not?”

Tobey broke into a lopsided grin. “Oh, I get it. This is like a prank, right? Where’s the hidden camera?” Tobey propped his elbows on the counter and leaned forward. “Am I gonna be on the internet?!”

Long Hair was reaching his limit. “C’mon, man, we just wanna rent the movie.”

Tobey’s grin dropped. “No joke?”

“Dude.”

“Catwoman?”

They were practically pleading. “Do you have it or not?”

Tobey stood back, somber. This was worse than he thought. “Holy fucking shit.” He turned again to the other guy behind the counter. “Kurt, these guys are actually serious.”

Kurt didn’t look up from his sketch pad. “Hm.”

Zits backhanded Long Hair’s chest. “This is ridiculous, man.  Let’s get outta here.”

Almost through this, Tobe.

Eyeliner started for the exit. “Fuck these asswipes.”

Fuck me.

“Alright, you fucking hormone-addled, gene-pool rejects. Listen.” Tobey leaned forward. “I can appreciate the fact that the three of you otherwise fine young gentlemen are undoubtedly blinded by your adolescent throes of puberty––to saying nothing of the ungodly amount of jizz sprayed in your eyes from the nonstop circle jerk that is your formative years––so it stands to reason that the mere notion of Halle Berry sporting a whip and a leather catsuit is enough to make you pop your collective nut––which, again, I do understand. Halle Berry is a fine specimen of the female gender and I myself have spent many a lonely night pondering Ms. Berry’s lithe and supple … skills.”

Tobey lost himself for a moment and the three teenagers stared at him in confusion. Tobey nodded absently and then returned to the conversation.

“Fellas,” he implored. “All that being said, you cannot tell me that simple, unabashed horniness is just cause for what will amount to the severe rapage of your individual minds––a tragic and unavoidable fate that you will all most assuredly fall victim to should you proceed to rent the motion picture that is Catwoman.”

To buy themselves a moment to process Tobey’s rant, the three teenagers blinked at him.

“… yes?” Zits said, lacking any sense of surety of himself.

Tobey sighed. Definitely worse than he thought. With a sad shake of his head: “Look, let me make a suggestion. Go with Monster’s Ball instead. It’s got our girl in it, bare titties and all. Lots of sex plus it’s a flick that won’t rot your brain. It’s a goddamned win-win for everybody. Especially you.”

Tobey pointed at Eyeliner before changing his mind. “Well, maybe not everybody.”

Eyeliner’s face was as a neutral as his voice. “Isn’t she fucking Billy Bob Thornton in that one?”

“So?”

Zits scowled. “Dude, that is so fucking nasty! He’s all old and wrinkly and shit.”

Tobey wanted to ram an ice pick in his own ear. “What the actual fuck, my man? We've already established that you're watching the flick for Halle Berry's tits, not Billy Bob's ball sack! What the fuck do you care what he looks like?!”

“We don’t!” Long Hair cried. “We just care about Catwoman!”

Tobey threw his hands in the air. There was no reasoning with these kids. “Okay, fine. I see how it is. Get out.”

Incredulous offense from Zits. “What?!”

Ineffable deadpan from Eyeliner. “You’re throwing us out?”

“No. Right now I’m asking you to leave in a gentle yet firm manner, as to assert a polite yet authoritative dominance over this conversation,” Tobey said. “In about twenty seconds I’ll be throwing you out.”

“We just want to rent a movie!” Zits said through gritted teeth and mounting frustration.

“Incorrect,” Tobey responded, raising an index finger. “You want to rent shit. There is a difference, although I can see that the lack of immediate release has caused the cum to bubble up and disorient your brain cells, inhibiting logical cognition. Regardless, I don’t even carry Catwoman since I have a very strict policy on stocking crappy movies.”

Long Hair tilted his head, waiting. “What’s your policy on stocking crappy movies?”

Eyeliner with the deadpan punchline: “He doesn’t.”

“––I don’t,” Tobey said at the same time. He shot Eyeliner an exasperated glare. “C’mon, dude!”

Eyeliner shrugged a shoulder.

Tobey leaned forward. “Now why don’t you three numb-nuts find yourselves a tittie mag, have a circle jerk, and just be done with it already, okay?”

Eyeliner scoffed indifferently. “This is bullshit. Let’s bounce, boys.”

Tobey nodded. “That’s right. But be sure to use plenty of lube. Too much bouncing chafes the shaft.”

Zits lunged across the counter but Long Hair pulled him back. “Fuck you, asshole.”

Tobey glanced down and flipped a page in his Indie Film magazine. “Mm. Clever.”

Zits straightened. He had one card left to play and he was entirely too confident in the move. “Hey. I wanna speak to the manager. Dick.”

Tobey looked up from his magazine. “I am the manager, you dipshit. Now get the hell out of my store before I call the fucking cops and have them throw you out.”

The three teenagers exchanged looks before stumbling to the exit, muttering various expletives under their breaths as they went.

“Yeah, I heard all of that!” Tobey called after them as the bell on the door jingled.

“You handled that well,” Kurt said from behind Tobey.

“You could have jumped in at any time there, buddy.”

“Seemed like you had it handled,” Kurt shrugged.

A young woman stepped up to the counter. Straight blonde hair to her shoulders and curves that Tobey drank in an instant glance, imperceptible the casual observer.

She perceived it. She always did.

“He didn’t have it handled,” the young woman said flatly, placing three DVDs and a member card on the counter.

“I had it handled,” Tobey insisted while he scanned her card. “Sure, I could have used some backup from behind the counter but that’s not to dismiss the overall nature of the situation behind, generally, handled.”

Kurt set his sketch pad aside and fiddled with a television set on the counter. A low-quality video continued playing––it looked like someone had used a cheap video camera to record a movie theater screen.

The girl’s eyebrow went up. “Is that Star Wars?”

Tobey didn’t look. He didn’t have to since they’d been watching the bootleg on a loop for three days. “Yep.”

“The new one?”

“Uh-huh.”

“That just came out in theaters?”

Tobey looked up from scanning the DVDs. “Wow. You’re a regular Veronica Mars. Can’t slip anything past you.”

She all but rolled her eyes and he decided to dial back the sarcasm.

“Yes, Kurt downloaded it a few days ago,” Tobey explained. “I mean, yeah, I paid to see the first two prequels but there was no way in hell I was gonna be stupid enough to let George Fucking Lucas screw me out of another eight bucks for yet another pile of shit he so fondly refers to as epic Star Wars lore.”

“Isn’t that illegal?”

“It fucking should be.”

“I meant the downloading.”

Tobey held up the three DVDs. “I’m sorry, did you want to rent these movies—” he glanced at the computer screen, “––Alyssa Tanner of 9000 East Westmore Drive, apartment 263? Or is harassing me over my moral obligation to protest the misguided artistic values of a corrupt media empire entertainment enough for you?”

Kurt shot a sideways glance and muttered: “Misguided artistic values?!”

Alyssa shrugged indifferently. “I just thought that in light of your current career path, you might have a better appreciation for the damage caused by downloading movies illegally.”

Kurt put his feet back up on the counter as he turned his attention back to the sketch pad. “Here we go …”

“The damage I cause?!” The mock in Tobey’s outrage was mild at best. “What about the damage George Lucas caused with these blatant cash grabs? Have you seen all the advertisements for this one? He’s spending millions of dollars convincing the world that it’s the greatest film ever!”

“And you’re saying it’s not?”

“If it’s possible, this one is even worse than the last two combined,” Tobey said gravely.

“Dude,” Kurt said, pointing at the television. “It’s the Vader scene.”

Tobey’s hands went up. “Perfect!” To Alyssa: “This is what I’m talking about. This shit is fucking hilarious.”

Alyssa looked at the television as the bootleg copy of Revenge of the Sith played. Darth Vader found out that he killed his girlfriend, clomped around like Frankenstein and then cried out, ‘Nooooo!’

Tobey clicked the television off.

“The only good thing about this movie is that it’s so bad it’s funny,” he said. “We’ve been watching it for days and that Vader scene just keeps getting funnier.”

“You don’t think Lucas deserves a little credit for closing the loop on A New Hope?”

“Does Adolf Hitler deserve credit for closing the loop on World War II?”

“First of all, Hitler lost—”

“Which effectively closed the loop—”

“—and secondly, you’re comparing a movie to a war that literally killed tens of millions of people?!” Alyssa balked.

“I’m comparing three movies to a war that killed tens of millions––”

“Dude!” Kurt cut in.

Tobey sighed. “Fine. Okay. Maybe the prequels aren’t, like, genocide bad––”

“The fuck is wrong with you?”

“But they’re still pretty bad.”

At one point, not so long ago, Alyssa had been amused and slightly intrigued by Tobey’s acerbic banter.

That moment had passed.

An awkward silence clung to the air inside the video store. Alyssa glanced at the exit. Kurt’s pencil scratched at his sketch pad.

Tobey held up Alyssa’s rentals. “… you want your movies?”

She took them from Tobey. “Yeah. Thanks.”

She turned for the door and then stopped. “Um …”

“Three day rentals. Due back on Thursday.”

Alyssa turned back to the counter. She grimaced. “Actually, uh, that bootleg—”

Tobey held up a hand. “Wait. Are you saying—”

Alyssa shrugged half-heartedly.

“You wanna borrow my illegally downloaded copy of Revenge of the Sith?”

“I mean, if it’s so bad, you wouldn’t mind letting go of it for a few days,” Alyssa suggested. “Right?”

Tobey studied her grey eyes. There was something about this girl. He chewed his lip, thinking.

“Well?”

Tobey nodded slowly. “Okay, uh, lemme think of a creative way of saying this …” Tobey rubbed his chin and then raised an index finger to the sky. “Oh, I know!”

Tobey threw his hands in the air. “Nooooo!”

*

A VHS rewinder ground on old tape and Kurt cursed as he mashed the eject button, popping the machine open.

“Goddammit,” Kurt seethed. “Why the hell are we still stocking VHS?”

“Same reason we don’t open until four in the afternoon,” Tobey replied as he gathered an armful of DVDs to re-shelve.

“Because you’re too lazy to wake up in the morning?”

“No, because despite appearances, we’re here to serve our customers, Kurt,” Tobey said, strolling the aisles. “Working class Americans. The nine-to-fivers. People rent videos on their way home from work.” Tobey placed a DVD on the shelf. “Or in the middle of the night. There’s been studies. Or something.”

Kurt finished untangling the botched tape and tossed it into the trash. “So what you’re saying is that you’ve got a firm grasp on psychological makeup of our clientele.”

“I’m a savante that way.”

“An idiot savante, sure,” Kurt said with an eye roll.

Tobey placed another DVD. “People mock what they don’t understand.”

“So what about that girl, Alyssa?”

“Pretty sure nobody mocks her,” Tobey replied, scanning a shelf. “Fear her, maybe. Beauty is intimidating. Intelligence doubly so. Beauty and intelligence—”

“I meant her psychological makeup.”

Tobey shrugged absently. “If it’s anything like her physical makeup—”

Kurt sighed. “I mean: why does she come in so often? She was just here yesterday.”

Tobey glanced over at his long-time friend. “She had a two-day rental, Kurt,” he said flatly.

“And that explains why she was here for the past five days in a row, how exactly?” Kurt asked patiently.

Tobey pondered this half-heartedly. “She likes movies?”

Kurt went back to his sketch pad. “You’re an idiot.”

“I’m an idiot with a stalker, according to you,” Tobey said, shelving the last DVD and returning to his spot behind the counter.

“She’s not a stalker. She’s a nice girl.”

Naughty thoughts ran through Tobey’s head and his eyes went wide. “I bet she is.”

Kurt put his pencil down. “You know, people might actually like you if you weren’t so sarcastic all the time.”

“What are you talking about? People like me. You’re the one who pointed out that I have a stalker,” Tobey said. “Plus, you’re a person, too. You like me.”

Kurt tilted his hand back and forth. “Eh.”

Tobey shrugged indifferently. “Friends come and go. Porn is forever.”

“That sixty-inch TV in your bedroom working out well for you?”

Tobey turned and leaned against the counter, facing Kurt. “I watch it as I fall asleep so that I have pleasant dreams. Of vaginas.” Tobey spread his hands an arms-length apart. “Ten feet wide.”

“So what you’re saying is that the addition of the big-screen pornocopia has obviated any pressing need to actually be liked by the fairer sex?”

“Who needs to be liked when you have a stalker? Plus, there’s always Horatio.”

Kurt blinked. “Who the hell is Horatio?”

Tobey held up his left hand. “We have a very intimate relationship. He knows how to please me in ways that most women just don’t understand. And yes, the big screen pornocopia helps.”

The bell on the door jangled.

“A vagina ten feet wide?” Kurt asked.

“Ten feet wide.”

“You call your hand Horatio?”

“You spend all day drawing superheroes with their dongs out,” Tobey said.

Kurt nodded. “Point.”

“Good to see you’re being as professional as ever.” The voice came from the other side of the counter. It sounded tired and annoyed.

Tobey frowned and didn’t bother to turn around. He grabbed his film magazine. “You know what? Fuck off, my dude. I don’t have time for your shit right now.”

The man on the other side of the counter glanced around the empty video store. “I can see that,” he said. “These late hours of yours really keep the place hopping.”

Tobey sighed and deliberately turned around to face his older brother. “Fuck you very much, Walt.”

Tobey’s brother was two years older and looked about as tired as he sounded. A dark suit with a loosened tie, coifed hair grown limp, distinct bags under his eyes.

Walt help up his hands in a show of  surrender, car keys dangling from his right fingers. “Just here to drop the car off. I’ve got a guy coming first thing in the morning to detail it. Karen’s picking me up in a few minutes.”

Walt tossed the keys to Tobey. They hit him on the chest and bounced on the counter. They stared at each other for an awkward moment.

Kurt focused intently on giving She-Hulk a very large, very veiny cock.

“Uh, last I checked, I’m not your fucking valet, Walt,” Tobey said.

Walt sighed wearily. “I’m not asking you to be—”

“Cause you just up and threw those keys like––”

“Tobey, we need to talk.”

“I really can’t see why.”

“Can we just––”

“Get the fuck out of my store, Walter,” Tobey growled from across the counter.

Walt ran a hand through his hair. “… it’s gonna be five years next month.”

Kurt glanced up and could see Tobey visibly tense, clenching his fists. He promptly looked back down.

“Yeah, so?”

“So …” Walt said slowly as he nodded. “… I want you to come visit them with me.”

Walt tried to meet Tobey’s eyes but the anger shooting across from his brother was brutal.

“… I think it’ll be good for you, Tobe,” Walt said softly.

“No.”

“Tobey––”

“I haven’t gone yet,” Tobey spat out the words. “I’m not going to go and I’m certainly not ever going to go with you.”

“Tobe––”

Tobey cut him off. “Just get the fuck out, Walt. You can wait for Karen outside.”

“I want to talk about the store.”

Tobey’s hands went up. “There it is! Jesus fucking Christ. You lasted all of two minutes that time, Walter. When are you gonna give that one up? They left it to me, cut and dry.”

Kurt decided that She-Hulk’s cock wasn’t big enough and needed to be more throbby.

Tobey shot lasers at his brother. “… you don’t have anything to do with Videorama.”

“Yeah. Okay. You’re right,” Walt conceded. “I haven’t had anything to do with the store for a long time. But that’s not how I want it to be.”

“Well boo-fucking-hoo,” Tobey spat. “It’s not like you have a lot of options since, again, they left it to me, cut and dry.”

Walt straightened his shoulders and looked up, meeting his younger brother’s icy gaze. “Tobey,” he said, “I want to buy the store.”

Tobey’s anger kept his mouth moving before the words registered. “Don’t even fucking––wait––no––what?”

Walt swallowed. “I want to buy Videorama from you.”

For once, Tobey had absolutely nothing to say.

In the silence, Kurt’s pencil slipped through his fingers and clattered to the floor.

“Oh, nooooo,” Kurt said through a quiet grimace.

###

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jordan Krumbine is a professional video editor, digital artist, and creative wizard currently quarantined in Kissimmee, Florida. When not producing content for the likes of Visit Orlando, Orlando Sentinel, or AAA National, Jordan is probably yelling at a stubbornly defective Macbook keyboard, tracking creative projects in Trello, and animating quirky videos with LEGO and other various toys.

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http://www.krumbco.com