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mimiplaysgames · 4 years ago

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Terra Week Day 6 (Free Day)

Summary: Sometimes, a ghost is a wish. | Word Count: 3,218

Read on AO3

A/N: For Terra Week 2021! You can find that account on Twitter!

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The Tenets of a Master, Ch. 6

The Master’s bedroom is exactly as he left it many years ago. Bed made, dresser (now) dusty, curtains parted to let the sunlight in, walk-in closet neatly organized with not a single article of clothing in his hamper, as the Master was a fan of washing clothes every single day. Terra never found out why.

Terra has rummaged through this drawer three times already and still he can’t find them. He’s looking for a stack of sepia-toned pictures, cradled in a small envelope, the ones on the top dated many years ago when the Master was a student, while the ones at the bottom chronicle some of his adult life when Terra and Aqua were children. He’s tried searching every drawer, every box, every cupboard, and has even looked under the mattress and in the pillow cases. He couldn’t have misremembered them, could he?

One of the things he’s surprised to find instead is a small, delicately furnished wooden box with a latch. Full of cigars. The Master never smoked, but maybe he liked to smell like them. Though Terra would never personally choose to keep a set in his dresser, smudging all his clothes.

Sighing, Terra stands by the bed, taking another gander around the room to see if there’s a spot he could have missed. Maybe behind the mirror? No, not there. He slips his hands into his pockets, and finds something else. Folded over in four, the paper is crumpled, living in his pocket for the better part of a week. Naminé’s drawing of Xemnas is messier, the strokes of crayon meshed into each other that he’s less of a childish, crude figure and more of a smear. That ring of fire surrounding him stays closed.

Terra grunts.

Here comes another headache, a tense pulse above his brow. Massaging it never helps. Suddenly, Terra is not in his Master’s old bedroom anymore. Suddenly, he’s standing high on a cliff overlooking a wasteland, talking to someone in a black cloak with the hood up.

Now he’s back in the bedroom, the sun cutting shapes through the lace curtains with the breeze passing by. In a few minutes, the headache will go away. This is how it goes every single time.

Yes, it’s been a week since they left Radiant Garden. Only Ienzo uses the Gummiphone for contact, leaving long messages that take Terra too much time to reply back to. The rest of the team would prefer correspondence through letters, which is something Terra would rather do as well. He just hasn’t done so yet, focusing his attention on cleaning the castle as they start a new life without their old Master. Once that’s done, he promises himself to do so.

It’s a shame, he knows he should make more of an effort (and promises that he would once he takes care of the Master). Xion sometimes texts him with pictures, some of them with Roxas, who still hasn’t made an effort to talk to him even though they played a good race at the beach (Terra didn’t even need to let him win—that kid is fast). That’s okay. Xion has offered to set Terra up with what she calls a Kingstagram account, and Terra supposes that’s okay, too. He just doesn’t know what that is or if it’s worth his time.

In the end, he is still really bad at connecting with others, and he’s still out of pictures, and he still doesn’t know what to do with the Xemnas drawing. Any moment now, Aqua will come looking for him. They’re finally preparing for his memorial, to say goodbye to his Keyblade—

—And Terra has to say goodbye forever without ever seeing him again. What’s the point of staying linked to these memories if they do nothing for him?

Why does looking at this drawing of Xemnas the only thing that gives him reminders?

Grunting, Terra rubs his face. Maybe it’s as good a time as any to text somebody now, distract himself so he calms down and do some good so he’s not completely isolated. He waits for his Gummiphone to turn on to the initial screen, the whirring of the machine the only noise accompanying him. How did Ven do this again? He clicks on his address book. Now he has to remember how to open a text and take a picture, particularly of the Xemnas drawing.

terra

did he ever call you an also-ran

Send.

Terra doesn’t expect Lea to answer right away. He probably will read the text, probably take the time he needs to register how he feels before painting his usual bright smile that he uses to play everyone. Maybe Terra has him all wrong. Maybe this is really offensive, and Lea would actually be upset. It’s not his intention.

The Gummiphone buzzes several times.

lea

see

i told isa the other day

the first time i saw you i thought you looked like an asshole

Terra snorts to himself quietly.

terra

is that your favorite word

lea

So it’s all good. Terra breathes a sigh of relief, a smirk that’s warm on his cheeks. He doesn’t know if texting people randomly is the right way to go about doing this whole make-new-friends thing. It’s not as easy as walking up to somebody and saying hello anymore, but starting a new life doesn’t have a manual.

As though the chains he linked through Xemnas harbor resentment, he’s hit with another spasm of pain, drilling onto the side of his skull. Stars, they get intense sometimes, some of them downright gorey. He will not think about it. He will push it away. The pain subsides but only a bit, throbbing instead.

It can’t end like this. He’s avoided going back to Naminé ever since just to keep trying and see Eraqus, one more time. One more. It’s not much to ask for, so why can’t the stars be more forgiving? He swears to them he’ll never ask for something again.

Terra groans, pain hammering over his brow. What’s coming this time is going to knock him around, so he lowers himself to his knees. Several people dressed in extravagant embroidery, from some other world, being swallowed up by darkness, their hearts floating up to the sky and a small cry of Mister, is my mommy coming back?

When it’s over, Terra sobs, keeping a heave from rupturing his chest and wiping dry tears. If Aqua comes in and sees him like this, she’ll freak—she’s already brewed so many potions and teas for him whenever he has an episode.

He tries for the closet again. The Master kept his most expensive robes wrapped in plastic, preserving a faded scent of cedar. Terra takes the fabric, smooth as silk, and breathes into it. It’s weaker than last time. He could always spray it with the Master’s leftover cologne (his favorite), but it still wouldn’t smell exactly like him, and as Terra waits seconds for another memory to come, he realizes as soon as it hurts that it wouldn’t bother with giving him what he’s looking for. All he asks for is the sound of the Master’s voice, to see that smile move one more time so he makes sure he sears it into his mind for the rest of his life.

Instead, a strong voice (Xehanort’s) talks about the Darkness making way for the Light, just like the expansive sky that is home to the stars. It was necessary to pursue it, he had said to someone.

A single tear treads all the way to Terra’s jawline. He’s tried his best. No photos, no special memory. It’s like the Master doesn’t linger here anymore.

Defeated, Terra pulls his Gummiphone out, searching for Naminé’s entry. He won’t commit to an appointment. He’s only asking questions, wondering if there are better ways to maneuver through the memories so he gets what he wants. She doesn’t answer right away.

He pulls himself up at the foot of the bed, aching like an older man even though he looks twenty in the mirrors. What lies.

Where else to find mementos? Terra has already looked through the Master’s study and his favorite spots in the library. The only place left is the attic.

The attic sits atop the northeast tower. Terra is in the residential wing, in the southeast tower, so he has to travel several paces downstairs to make it over, just to climb all the way back up. Entirely built of wood, the attic has one stained-glass window that slices pastels through the floorboards. A lot of junk gets dumped up here—old knight statues from a Master that lived eight-hundred years ago or so, faded paintings that have names but aren’t recognizable anymore, couches that are stained and out of style, chests of outdated books and maps, and trinkets and gifts that litter everywhere else. Even Aqua can’t bear to let any of this go despite that none of it truly belongs to anybody. To her, it’s like rejecting their history. The Master probably had felt the same.

Before what happened, Master Eraqus was moving items up here, mostly stacks of papers. They were shoved in a leather binder, tied together with string. It’s a long shot the photos will be with them, but regardless, Terra begins the hunt.

It’s not in the chest of crystals. Not by the old (creepy) dollhouse. Not with any of the broken phonograms, nor with the folded rugs that stack from floor to ceiling.

But it’s right there, sitting neatly by a basket full of gold artifacts from worlds Terra has never been to and engraved in languages he doesn’t know, tied with a red string and stitched in handmade leather. When Terra pulls it open, he’s greeted by a handful of letters written to Eraqus about trouble in other worlds, asking for his help, and a stack of essays about the philosophy of the Keyblade, both in the common-tongue and the ancient.

It’s nothing like reliving memories or watching them like footage, but Terra imagines the Master working late into the night on his desk with a quill, writing these essays slowly so he keeps his impeccable script. He’d read books with a glass of wine every night, and keep at it in the morning with a mug of coffee, hair unbrushed as usual but that’s fine when he keeps it in a short ponytail every day. He’d disappear every week to some other world, leaving Terra and Aqua with a nanny until they were old enough to take care of themselves. Considering what these people are writing about—missing circus animals, their neighborhood mountain being possessed, and even an early report of Unversed showing up in the woods—the Master used to be a busy man.

Why did he have to die that day? Why can’t Terra keep the things that are supposed to come with home?

Terra sniffs. The smell of cedar comes up, as though the cologne was sprayed up here recently. Kicked up with a cloud of dust, as though the Master is here.

I am… well, for a short time at least.

Terra whips over his shoulder to find the Master behind him, a glow beaming through him as he checks the rust spreading on one of the oldest sets of armor. Picking up dust, Master Eraqus rubs it between his fingers.

This sorely needs urgent attention. I recommend some solvent and a spot of oil, he says, smiling at Terra as if it’s any other morning and breakfast will be announced soon. So many histories live here.

“Master?” Terra drops the papers.

Eraqus tsks his disapproval and like muscle memory, Terra immediately gathers the papers together, working on automatic mode, tucking them under his arm as if this is class and he has to be on his best behavior. When the Master approaches, he makes no noise: no thuds to his steps, no wind whooshed by his robe, gliding gracefully across the floor. Terra bows... though he cannot fight the urge to stare up. Terra has forgotten about the scar; it was on the Master’s face, every single day, but he’s never heard the story behind it. An elephant accident. A run-in with pirates. Those were the contradicting explanations he’s heard every time he asks.

The Master looks down, motioning with his hand to stand up. Look at you. Almost as tall as I am.

“You’re here.”

The Master smiles. This is the happiest Terra remembers him being; he must not feel his chronic back pains anymore. You have spent your whole week following me. He gives Terra a mischievous knowing in his eyes. I suppose it would be rude of me not to return the gesture.

“I’m sorry,” Terra gasps, mouth gaped open for all the words he prepared, but now that the moment is passing by, he doesn’t know what to say anymore. He reaches out with a hand but stops himself, scared of what it would feel like to to pass right through the image. “I missed you.”

And I have missed you all so much, Eraqus says with contentment.

“I wish it never happened,” Terra chokes. “Sometimes, I wish I could find some way—”

Shhh. The Master shakes his head lovingly. Don’t. No longer shall you venture down the path of grief. You have already experienced first-hand what such curiosities could lead to. And you already know you don’t need to.

“I know,” Terra whispers. “I know.”

When the Master smiles this time, he sighs and closes his eyes like he’s feeling the sun. I have reunited with so many of my old friends since. Such a peaceful existence. He opens them. Your friendships are something to cherish for as long as they can physically walk by your side, Terra. But who am I to lecture? You have always. Friends to love, who want to care for you. I am so proud.

So proud…

Tears, quiet and happy, fall like drops of spring, Terra hearing what he always yearned to hear since he was six years old, a comforting embrace that wants to tell him he can breathe again without feeling guilty.

But he still does. Every living breath is guilty by association.

“She’s so happy now,” Terra whispers as if to justify his actions, remembering Aqua sparring for the first time with Rainfell in years, hesitant at first, unsure of how it’s going to react with spells, but it comes fast. It comes like drinking water, natural and needed. “I don’t regret anything.”

Which was why you were the perfect candidate when I had asked you to look after them. He smirks. I couldn’t have trusted anyone better for the responsibility.

Terra swallows, searching for the courage not to ask, believing he shouldn’t. He’s weak. “I am?”

The smile falls. You are not weak.

You are willing to bare it all for your friends. Your bonds with Aqua and Ven are unbreakable, a magical, special, living Light to behold. A forge stronger than chains, weightless and free. I am sorry for seeding so much doubt within you, when you have so much to offer. If only I wasn’t—it was my duty to do better. That is my shame. He shakes his head at himself. But you’ve been so dedicated to the past, Terra, he says, concerned but not disappointed. Too much so. I worry.

Terra grimaces. “Ha, I never have any explanations for the dumb mistakes I make when I need to.”

You’ll find little answers in what lies behind you. The Master leans forward, pulling a small smile as he studies Terra’s eyes. But you are more than capable. Please do me the favor. Trace the past no longer. You have your bonds to nourish, and more to flower. Then he smiles more, an epiphany in his eyes like he wants to share a secret. Only in death did I realize what true Mastery really is. The living can be so foolish.

“You weren’t a fool, Master.”

Master… A Master is a forever student. To deny this is to be blind to your faults. Eraqus laughs, his eyes rolling. What would I have said to my younger self. You don’t see that one in the books.

“I don’t know, I… I think what I did for Aqua trumps any dream I had in becoming Master.”

Eraqus’s eyes glisten. Do you not see one when you look at yourself in the mirror?

Terra bows his head, squeezing his eyes shut.

He feels a hand on his shoulder, warm and real. Terra could hug him. But he doesn’t, not when Eraqus slips something flat in his hand.

Do take care of them. He holds Terra’s jaw. Chin up, son.

Footsteps climb up the stairs leading into the attic, and Terra is alone with a smooth piece of paper in one hand, the other wiping tears from his cheeks.

“Terra? You okay? I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Aqua is carrying a finished wreath with purple flowers. She stops when she gasps, looking around the attic. “That smells like the Master’s cologne,” she whispers.

When Terra smiles, he cries more. “Look at this.”

A sepia-toned picture of Eraqus as a young boy, sitting on a window seat with a chess board laid out in front of him, all teeth from ear to ear, sincere and hopeful. He looks at the camera like it’s his best friend.

Aqua’s eyes light up as she takes it, a tear for each eye. “Look at him. It’s so strange, but he was adorable.”

“Have you ever seen that one?”

“Never. It wasn’t with the others.”

“The others?”

She strokes the photo with her thumb. “Hm. I moved them into my room. I wanted to frame them.” She holds it to her chest. “Can I take this one?”

“For your room?”

“I’ve got one ready for yours. It’s that nice portrait that used to embarrass him.”

The one where he looked serious enough to judge someone to death. The Master had called it unsightly when it was presented to him.

“That one’s perfect.”

Aqua exhales deeply, shivering as tries to keep herself tall. “I’m so sad he’s gone, and... I don’t know. Sometimes I wish I had given him a Wayfinder. He feels so far away.”

He holds her chin softly, keeping it up as her heavy tears fall. “We could give him ours.”

She stops sobbing and stares through Terra when the realization hits her. She nods. “That’s a wonderful idea,” she says, nuzzling the wreath closer to her, her own little hug for the Master.

Terra’s Gummiphone buzzes in his pocket. That has to be Naminé.

“The wreath is beautiful,” he tells Aqua, and that grounds her back to reality. “You’ve done a marvelous job.”

“Thank you.” She strokes some of the leaves to keep them in place. “I’ll see you back at the front door?”

“Definitely.”

He’ll let her go downstairs first, pulling out the Gummiphone to read his new text. He’s going to tell Naminé that he’s changed his mind. He’s ready for an appointment.

#kh terra #terra #kingdom hearts fanfiction #kh fanfic #AHHHHHHHHHHHH #this one is def not as good #so is the last one #i just ran out of time i'm sorry #my fic

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naruwitch · 4 years ago

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Code Geass: Paladins of Voltron: Chapter 33: Island of the Gods

The sound of seagulls cawing and cold water lapping against her legs was what roused Nonette into consciousness. Blinking as the sun hit her eyes, she saw about a dozen of the birds circling above her.

With a gasp, she sat up. Looking around, she saw that she was alone, but there was no sign of Britannian troops or Knightmares anywhere. It was clear she was still on one of the islands if the sandy beach and glistening ocean was any clue, but it didn't seem to be Shikine Island. Otherwise, she was sure that she would have been picked up by now.

"How did I get here?" she muttered. All she remembered was fighting Zero in the Black Lion and then…

"It's no use," she growled, "I can't remember anything!"

Nonette knew that without any Knightmares, it was unlikely that she could call for help or request a rescue party. The best she could do would be to get to higher ground. She was sure that her unit was looking for her, and if what she remembered was correct and her other colleagues were here...

Prince Schneizel had some explaining to do.

Until then, though, she would have to simply survive, and the first thing to do in that case was to find some freshwater.

Hiking up along the mountain trail, the faint sound of rushing water caught her ear. Likely a waterfall. At least she knew there was a good water source here.

Turning around a bend, Nonette nearly leaped out of her skin as she came face to face with a large green lion head.

Under normal circumstances, she would have at least drawn her gun to defend herself, but the only weapon she had was her sword. She instinctively gripped the handle but not drawing it just yet, merely staring the lion down.

After about a minute of tense silence, Nonette slowly moved, realizing the lion wasn't moving. That likely meant whoever was piloting the lion wasn't inside.

That meant whoever was piloting it was somewhere in the area too.

Now on her guard, Nonette cautiously snuck towards the sound of the waterfall. She had no way of knowing if the pilot was armed or not. However, even if she didn't have a gun, all of the Knights of the Round were proficient with swords, or knives in Bradley's case. She would just have to make sure that she got in close to fight properly.

Sneaking as silently as she could through the foliage, she finally found the source of the sound, and as she expected, it was a waterfall.

What she wasn't expecting, though, was to see someone already occupying the pool beneath it, and she couldn't help but gasp.

It was a young man with platinum blonde hair. His bareback was towards her, so she didn't see his face, but what she could see was… horrifying.

Whip-lashes, bullet wounds, other crisscrossing scars (likely from knives) covered the teen's back. There were also fainter, more straight lines. Surgical cuts. She could barely make out any clear, smooth skin. But most horrifying of all was right in the middle of his spine.

A brand. The symbol wasn't anything she recognized. If she had to pick a word to describe it, though, it looked like some sort of mutated, three-pointed claw.

This man had been tortured. Brutally. As well as experimented on and labeled as property. Of all of the cruel things she'd heard the Empire doing to the Numbers, she was at least glad that branding had been outlawed. Wounds and injuries could heal, but brands, they weren't easy to get rid of. Most were impossible to remove, and from where that one was located, it was unlikely it could be done safely for him.

She must have made more noise than she thought, as a moment later, the teen turned from where he had been bathing. His eyes widened when he saw her.

Her eyes widened in shock too when she saw his face.

"Prince Zephyr?!"

The Knight of the Round was in too much shock that she overlooked the blond reach for something behind him and fired it at her. Next thing she knew, she felt a cord wrap tightly around her, causing her to lose balance and fall to the ground. Moments later, she cried out in pain as electricity ran through her body.

Then she blacked out.

On another area of the island, with a bit more of a rocky shore, Zero stood by, calmly observing the new location that he and Zen had somehow ended up. When he had come to, he had been unable to rouse his Lion. He knew she'd wake up on her own eventually, but what concerned him was that he was unable to contact the castle or the other Paladins. Something on this island was jamming the signal. The best thing to do for now would be to wait until Zen woke up to leave and regroup with the rest of the team manually.

"As I thought," he muttered, "This is another island… though the vegetation and climate are the same as Shikine Island. We can't be that far from it. I can't contact the castle right now. And with my face all over the news, I can't pass myself off as an ordinary person asking for help either. This is annoying."

His train of thought was cut off when he heard a noise to his right. Looking over, the person he spotted made him gasp.

'Euphie!'

The princess herself, soaking wet, also gasped as she came face to face with the mysterious masked revolutionary.

Nonette groaned as she regained consciousness for the second time that day. As she tried to move her hands, she realized that they were bound in what felt like hand-cuffs.

"Have a nice nap?"

Nonette gasped and looked up in surprise, the sun blinding her vision partially as her captor stood in front of her, now fully dressed in a black bodysuit and white and green armor. She noticed that they were by the Green Lion again, and the teen was perched on top of its nose.

Getting a better look at the teen now, there was no mistaking it.

"Prince Zephyr, is that really you?" she gasped hopefully.

The teen frowned and narrowed his eyes and pushed off the Lion's muzzle, landing on the ground.

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about, lady," he said severely, "My name's Rai."

"What? No, that's not…" she protested before pausing, "Don't you recognize me?!"

"Yeah, your name's Nonette Enneagram, Knight of Nine. A member of that bastard Emperor's personal watchdogs. It's hard not to figure it out considering how famous you are," he said, eyes still narrowed.

"That's not what I…" Nonette cut herself off and seemed to think for a moment, before looking at Rai again, "I see. If you don't remember… amnesia, maybe?"

Rai stared at the woman critically. It was evident that she knew him, but he had no recollection of her. Not from before or during his Galra captivity. She did call him Zephyr, though, which is what the other alien prisoners called him as well. That couldn't be a coincidence.

"Zephyr… what happened to you…?" Nonette whispered. Rai was surprised to see tears falling from her eyes. "Those scars… who did that to you?"

Rai gasped, his hand instinctively reaching around to the small of his back where the cursed brand rested. So she'd seen all of that? He hadn't even shown it to the other Paladins. The only person on the castle that had seen it was Coran, which he only saw due to performing a mandatory physical on each of them shortly after they arrived.

The Altean had been horrified, but not surprised that Rai had gone through such treatment. At the time, Rai had asked if Coran recognized the writing branded underneath the symbol. When the Altean confirmed he did, he asked to know what it said. Coran had hesitated at first, but Rai insisted.

According to the Altean, the script roughly translated to: 'Property of the Galra Empire.'

The Green Paladin begged the older Altean not to tell the others, and Coran agreed, knowing that these things were personal and sensitive to prisoners of war.

Now knowing that someone other than Coran knew about the brand made Rai unusually uncomfortable. Like he was exposed. Naked even.

As the Green Paladin's mind raced, all Nonette could do was bow her head as tears of joy and sorrow flowed down her cheeks. She'd found her prince, but what was the cost of it?

Zero's hand gripped the knife he had attached to his side as Euphemia continued to stare at him. He seemed to be her sole focus.

His mask hid the conflicted look upon his face. What on Earth was he supposed to say to her? Besides the hotel-jacking, this was the first time he was seeing his sister face to face. He remembered before their exile how he, Nunnally, and Euphie used to be. She was the first girl he had ever truly loved, besides his mother and sister. But now what did he do? He could use his Geass on her to make her forget she'd seen him, but that thought didn't seem too appealing right now.

"Lelouch," she addressed, taking him by surprise, "Lelouch, it's you, isn't it? I haven't told anyone about you, I swear! Please… let me see your face."

There was about a minute of silence before the Black Paladin moved. It wasn't to attack, though. Slowly and calmly, he let go of the knife and reached up to remove his helmet and mask, allowing the princess to see her half-brother's face.

Tears gathered in Euphemia's eyes as she cried tears of joy. Not wasting any more time, the princess ran forward and embraced her sibling.

Lelouch stood frozen for a moment, too stunned to move. Soon, his own emotions overpowered him, and two sank to the sandy ground, hugging each other close.

"I've missed you so much!" Euphemia gasped between tears.

"I've missed you too, Euphie," Lelouch whispered back.

Ocean and sand. That was all Kallen could see with her Geass as her vision swept around the area.

The second the Hadron cannon's attack had ceased, the rest of Team Voltron was shocked to see that not only Lelouch but Rai and both of their Lions had vanished! So had Nonette Enneagram and Princess Euphemia. And Kallen was getting increasingly irritated the longer her Geass couldn't locate them.

From what she could gather, the Britannian forces looked just as agitated. Several soldiers were scanning the area, likely looking for the princess and the knight.

She and the rest of the team still couldn't believe that someone would throw away and endanger their own men like that. True, in war it was inevitable that people would die, but it was a completely different story when soldiers were willing sacrificed like that! And the fact that the attack wasn't stopped by Princess Euphemia's interference!

"I can't find them!" she reported into the comm, "Not even my Geass is picking anything up!"

"Keep looking!" Suzaku practically barked, "They've got to be somewhere!"

"Hey, first of all, don't use that tone with me, Suzaku!" Kallen snapped back, "Second, I doubt looking in the exact same place for the fourth time, and yes, I counted, will bring different results! It's a little something called insanity, you know!"

"Plus, it's kind of hard to do a bigger search with all of the troops down there," Milly pointed out, "They were clearly after the Lions, so they could try and ambush us again if we aren't careful!"

"Allura, has the castle picked up the Lions' location yet?" Shirley asked.

"No, nothing!" Allura replied, "Wherever the Lions landed, the castle isn't picking up their signal!"

"Maybe they both got knocked out?" Rivalz suggested.

"No, the castle would still be able to find the Lions if that were the case," Coran answered this time, "Wherever they are, they're in an area that is completely blocking out their signal, in or out!"

"If it helps at all, I do sense that Lelouch and Rai are both alive. It's most likely that Zerith and Zen are with them wherever they went," C.C. spoke up, "Come back to the castle for now. It won't help anyone if you exhaust yourselves searching like this. The Knights of Round could still be in the area."

Kallen growled before spitting out, "Fine!"

With that declaration, the five remaining Lions turned tail and flew straight back to the castle.

Meanwhile, back on Shikine Island, the Le Fay continued to float over the beach, overseeing the cleanup and search party down below. The Gawain had been recovered, but unfortunately, both the Black and Green Lions appeared to have vanished, much to everyone's bewilderment.

Inside the ship's main hanger, Cecile was busy typing on a laptop by the recovered Gawain. Next to it was also the Tristian, Mordred, and Galahad. She was going over the data the Gawain managed to obtain during the fight, but she still felt shaken over what had happened.

"So Nonette really just vanished?" the voice of Gino Weinberg, the Knight of Three, echoed through the hangar, and Cecile looked up in surprise.

"Without a trace," Anya Alstreim stated plainly, staring at her personal electronic diary.

"And the two lions that were in the area are gone too. The Prince won't be pleased with this," the Knight of One, Bismarck Waldstein addressed gravely, "Are you positive you've looked through all the data?"

"No, Lord Bismark," Cecile addressed, "it's all just static in the Gawain's systems. No trace of what happened to Lady Enneagram or Princess Euphemia either."

"Hey, Mark, no offense," Gino suddenly said, eyeing the Knight of One suspiciously, "You didn't tell us that sacrificing Nonette like that was part of the plan!"

"Are you questioning the intentions of the Second Prince and Viceroy?" Bismarck challenged with a deadly gaze.

"But you also didn't intervene when you saw Princess Euphemia was there either!" Cecile couldn't help but point out in a rare burst of anger.

"If it wasn't clear for you to see, Miss Croomy, the three of us were also occupied with the other lions!" Bismark snapped. Cecile cringed back in fear of the Knight of One's wrath.

Before she could apologize, another voice entered the conversation.

"In all situations, priorities must not be forgotten either," Prince Schneizel acknowledged, walking into the room.

Cecile gasped, "Prince Schneizel! Y-You're here!"

"You impudent little…! How dare you look down upon the Second Prince of the Empire!" General Bartley exclaimed as he appeared as well.

"General Bartley…?!" Cecile lost her footing and slid down the stairs to land on her rear on the ground.

"Nice one," he commented.

"You're not hurt, are you?" Schneizel asked gently as he helped Cecile to her feet.

"Uh, thank you," she gasped as the prince helped her to her feet.

"Gah…! She's unworthy!" Bartley growled.

"You're quite the devoted subject, aren't you, General?" Lloyd observed.

"Primarily because the prince is the one who commuted my sentence and saved me from being chained up deep beneath Temple Tower!" General Bartley barked.

"I wish you'd stop thinking of me so formally," Schneizel told the General matter-of-factly, "You've been a great help to me in this current matter, as you were to my brother, Clovis. It is I who am grateful to you."

"M-my Lord!" Bartley gasped.

"Please, Bartley. Now my Lady Cecile, if you'll excuse me. Bismarck, Alstreim, Weinberg, please follow me. We'll discuss the events that transpired. In the meantime, Lord Asplund, you and Lady Cecile will use the Le Fay to locate Euphemia," the prince ordered before turning to leave the hanger.

"As you wish, Your Highness," Bismarck bowed curtly before he and his colleagues turned to follow the prince out.

Right as Lloyd turned to follow as well, Cecile spoke up, "Please wait! Were those orders yesterday issued by the prince?!"

"Silence! You don't want to be in contempt of royalty, do you?!" Bartley exclaimed.

"To be honest, I've been wondering about that too," Gino admitted awkwardly.

Despite the accusations, Schneizel responded anyway, "Those orders were mine, yes. I also fired the Hadron. Even in a situation like that, priorities mustn't be forgotten. The Empire is facing what is likely its most dangerous adversary. I saw an opportunity to eliminate the leadership, and I took it. I certainly didn't expect Euphie to rush out like that, but if something anomalous happened, we would have still been able to rescue both her and Lady Enneagram. That's what I gambled on."

"Okay… if you say so," Gino shrugged, but he still looked reasonably uncertain

"Yes, My Lord," Cecile nodded as well, "I understand now, and I sorely regret my rudeness. I accept any punishment you decree."

"Nonsense," Schneizel dismissed, "It's my fault for not protecting my subordinates. Can you ever forgive me?"

These were the last words Schneizel said as he left the hanger, but the Second Prince's mind was extremely troubled. While it was true that he ordered to have the experimental weapon inserted into the Gawain in an attempt to capture the Black Lion, somehow the machine had vanished, along with Zero, the Green Lion and its pilot, and Lady Enneagram. The Gawain didn't disappear, so it was a mystery as to why the two Lions vanished.

Something else was at play, and he hoped that he could somehow still talk the matter out with his brother before the situation became too dire to be reversed.

"How did you figure it out? Did Suzaku tell you?" Lelouch asked as he leaned back against a large stone. Euphemia was sitting on the other side, Lelouch's cape draped over her bare body as she had stripped out of her dress so that it could dry off.

"No. Well," Euphie stopped to think about her words, "he never specified you were Zero. He did say you were with Voltron, though. But I figured it out during the hotel-jacking."

She didn't see, but her brother nodded, "At the time, I said too much without thinking."

"Of course, I was never one hundred percent certain until now," Euphemia added.

"I see… I'm naive, as well. Even so, why didn't you discuss your suspicions with Cornelia or Schneizel?" he asked.

"I didn't because my sister never listened to me. And it never felt right to talk about it with Schneizel. Besides that… I think things are depressing enough as they are… Oh, Nunnally — how is she? Is she really all right? Suzaku said so."

"Yes," Lelouch answered, "She's better than she's been in a while, actually."

"I see… Can I assume that she knows everything? About Zero… and Voltron?"

"Yes," Lelouch nodded, "She knows everything, and why I'm doing what I'm doing."

"Lelouch I… I'm so sorry…" Euphemia stuttered, her voice cracking slightly.

"For what?" he asked, glancing back in confusion.

"For… for everything!" she gasped, holding back tears, "The hatred you must feel for us. The hatred towards the Emperor… towards us."

"No…" Lelouch answered, cutting Euphemia off, "Euphie, even after we were exiled, I never hated you. Of course, when I saw what Clovis and Cornelia became, I was scared at first that you changed too. But when I spoke with you at the hotel, I was relieved to see that I was wrong. You're still the same girl that would play with Nunnally and me at Aries Villa. You're still our sister."

"Lelouch…" Euphie murmured.

"I know you and Cornelia had nothing to do with my mother's murder. From what she told me, she investigated it extensively," he added as an afterthought.

Euphemia nodded, though, on the inside, she was relieved to hear that Lelouch and Cornelia talked. That meant her sister was still alive after all.

"Cornelia did think a lot of Lady Marianne and looked up to her," Euphemia said, "It frustrated her that she couldn't find who did it."

"Yes, I know…" Lelouch nodded again.

Suddenly, Euphemia's stomach gave a slight groan, and the princess looked down with a blush, "I believe feeling relieved has made me hungry."

Lelouch couldn't help but chuckle a little as he stood up, "Well, we're in luck. Somehow Zen was transferred here along with me. We should be able to find some provisions with her."

"Zen?" Euphie asked, confused as Lelouch went to gather her clothes.

"You'll see," was all he said with a light smile.

"Gotcha!" Rai shouted as he snatched another fish from the stream. Of course, it wasn't necessary to go hunting for food since Zerith had several packs of food goo stored inside her, but Rai wasn't going to let this opportunity slide. It had been ages since he'd had some decent Earth food.

"You know I can help you with that!" Nonette said. She was sitting by the shore, her hands still bound behind her, but she hadn't made any moves to get free. Rai's outer Paladin armor lay in a neat row beside her.

"Not a chance!" Rai couldn't help but snap a little back. He didn't care if the Knight of Nine claimed to know him; he wasn't going to take any chances while he was temporarily unarmed.

"Sheesh, were you always this stubborn before?" Nonette grumbled a little, but there was no malice in her tone. Instead, there was fondness and admiration as well.

"Oh my!" a now fully clothed Euphemia gasped as the two approached the still powered-down Black Lion in the forest.

"This is Zenobia," Lelouch introduced, "But I call her Zen for short."

"Well, hello, Zen," Euphemia greeted with a small smile.

Lelouch couldn't help but chuckle a little. He had yet to explain to Euphie how the Lions were sort of alive in a way, but he figured it would be easier to explain when Zen regained consciousness.

"I'll get inside and gather some provisions…" Lelouch trailed off, frowning a little. Sure the food goo would keep them alive for a while, but it wasn't exactly the best-tasting thing in the universe. But he wasn't in the mood to try and set any complicated traps right now. His physique may have improved over the last few months, but it was best to conserve as much energy as possible too, just in case he had to fight.

So he turned back to his sister, "Euphie, why don't you look around and see if you can find some berries or something? They would help improve flavor at the very least."

Euphemia blinked in surprise, "Does it really taste that bad?"

"No…" Lelouch shook his head, "It's just an acquired taste, let's just say that."

After a few seconds, Euphie shrugged, "All right, if you say so. I'll be right back."

"Be careful!" Lelouch shouted after her as she hurried off. As he lost sight of her, he sighed, looked at the head of his downed Lion, and then up at the sky.

"I just hope we're found soon…"

The atmosphere on the Castle of Lions was tense. For most of the night prior, the Alteans and Black Knights alike had been working non-stop to try and locate the Lions from above while the Paladins continued to scan on Earth's surface. Eventually, Coran made an executive order for the Black Knights and the princess to turn in for the evening, and they all did so reluctantly. They wouldn't be able to help Zero and Rai at all if everyone on the ship was acting like a gang of bumbling, sleep-deprived karjekals (whatever those were) by the time they were located Coran had said.

Now that the five remaining Paladins had come back, Coran had ordered them immediately to bed themselves, even if it was technically still mid-day down below. They protested, of course, which forced the older Altean to amend his statement and ordered at least a nap, which he promised to wake them from within a few varga.

Ohgi sighed as he picked at the food goo on his plate. He reminded himself that they wouldn't have to live off of this alone for much longer, as several of the seeds now in the new greenhouse had at last started to sprout.

He didn't want to offend the Alteans for their ways with food, but would it kill them to add at least a little seasoning to this from time to time?

He and almost everyone else in the dining hall looked up as Coran himself walked in.

"Still no sign of them?" Ohgi asked anxiously.

"Unfortunately no," Coran informed them, shaking his head, "The princess is continuously scanning the island and the area around it, but she still has yet to locate either the Green or Black Lions, which is deeply concerning."

"And you still don't know what happened to them?" Tohdoh asked who was seated next to Ohgi.

"No, it's like they vanished into thin space," Coran said solemnly.

"Um, you mean 'thin air' right?" Minami corrected.

"Ah-yes that!" the Altean corrected sheepishly.

"And it's isn't the result of a special ability on the Lions' part?" Tohdoh pressed further.

"Well… I wouldn't say one of the Lions doesn't have an ability like that, but it's highly unlikely that they used it given the situation."

"Do you think they could have wound up on one of the islands nearby?" Inoue suggested.

"We haven't picked up any signals from the surrounding islands yet. But once the Paladins are rested enough, I'm sure they'll start searching the other islands next."

"I beg your pardon Coran, but would that be wise?" Tohdoh asked. This statement drew the attention everyone in earshot, "Britannia will likely start to do the same, and the Green Lion is the only one equipped with stealth capabilities. Should the remaining Lions be too reckless and get spotted by enemy forces again, considering that several Knights of the Round are now present..."

"Colonel?" a small voice gasped from the entrance. Looking towards the door, Nunnally sat in her hoverchair, her eyes wide, "You're not suggesting that we stop looking for Lelouch, are you?"

Tohdoh blinked, and his gaze softened, "Of course not, Nunnally. I'm simply stating that we must exercise caution doing so. We can't afford to lose any more men, especially not another Paladin."

"Quite right," Coran nodded, "Rest assured, Nunnally, until we get solid confirmation that Rai and Lelouch have either been capture or, dare I say this, killed, we will not cease our search."

"Hell yeah!" Tamaki exclaimed, "There's no way those two kicked the bucket that easily!"

Biting her lip, Nunnally nodded, her heart hammering in her chest. She had just got her brother back not too long ago. If she were to lose him again so soon…

The princess's thoughts were cut off by a small hand on her shoulder. Looking up at the source, C.C. came strolling in.

"Well, for once you're correct about one thing, Tamaki," C.C. said, "those two are very much still alive. I can sense that they are."

"Thanks to that Geass thing they have, right?" Asahina asked.

"Yes," C.C. nodded, "So if the two are still alive, we can assume that the two Lions are fine as well. If Britannia had managed to capture either one of them, they likely would have made a statement by now."

"Even so, the fact that neither are responding on the comms is concerning nonetheless," Allura's regal voice said, calling everyone's attention to her as she walked in herself. Despite getting some rest herself, the princess looked a bit worse for wear with slight bags under her eyes. Her skin looked a little paler as well. "Coran, if memory serves correct, some of the shuttle pods are still equipped with the prototype stealth systems. If Lelouch nor Rai don't respond with the next twenty-four Earth hours, I suggest we use those to take to Earth and look for them ourselves."

"Very well, Princess. Does anyone object to this course of action?" the advisor asked the group as a whole.

No one spoke up, so Coran nodded, "Now Princess, please do sit down, you look like you're about to pass out!"

"I'm fine, Coran. Just… stressed," Allura protested.

"Well… aren't we all?" Coran sighed, several murmurs of agreement rippling through the group.

While this was going on, Nunnally couldn't help but bite her lip nervously. She was positive her brother was all right; she was sure she would feel it if he wasn't, but that didn't stop her mind from wandering to the worst-case scenarios.

'Lelouch… where did you go?'

"Lelouch… what exactly is this?" Euphemia asked as she eyed the green goo curiously. It looked like mashed potatoes drenched in green food coloring, but she had a feeling that it wasn't anything like that. She managed to find a decent amount of edible fruit on the island, much to Lelouch's relief. Hopefully, this can help with the taste.

"This is… uh…" Lelouch hesitated. Come to think of it, Allura and Coran never mentioned what the goo was officially called, did they? Everyone on the ship simply called it 'food goo.' The name probably just stuck. "We eat this a lot when we're on the Castleship. It was our only food source for a while. Now that we're back on Earth, we've managed to sneak some trips to markets and grocery stores, and Coran has been working with Milly and Rivalz to set up a greenhouse too."

"I see," Euphie nodded, "That's quite resourceful."

"Thanks. In a pinch, though, this stuff will at least keep us alive. It's not five-star quality by a long shot, but it'll sustain us until help arrives. Fruit only lasts so long, and hunting can be unpredictable without the right tools, which we, unfortunately, don't have."

Euphie nodded as Lelouch handed her a plate with a small amount of the goo on it, along with a spork. The fruit was situated between the two in easy reaching distance, and after pouring his own portion of the goo, the Black Paladin dug in. He was more than used to the texture and taste of the strange space food that he could eat it without too much incident, but he was fairly curious about how Euphemia would respond to it.

According to Kallen, Cornelia had refused to even touch the goo the first few times it was brought down to her in her cell. She only starting begrudgingly choking it down when she couldn't take the hunger anymore. Euphemia wasn't necessarily a picky eater, so he really didn't know what to expect from his sister.

Euphie tentatively scooped up a small amount onto the spork, eying it cautiously. She slowly brought it to her mouth and almost immediately gagged. She brought a hand to her mouth to keep from spitting it out and forced herself to swallow.

"It's... delicious," she tried to say politely.

Lelouch chuckled in sympathy, seeing right through her, "It IS still pretty bad, though. I think Alteans focus more on the nutrition value rather than taste most of the time."

"I see."

"This is what they make you eat?!" Nonette asked in shock and disgust after speed shoveling the food goo into her mouth. At least the faster she ate it, the less she tasted it. The fish had been tasty, though.

Just like Lelouch, Rai raided Zerith's emergency supplies, which included several bags of pre-packed food goo. He managed to catch a fair amount of fish, but he also wanted to preserve the supply as much as possible.

Biting into the first fish he could grab from the fire when he finished, he forgot how delicious Earth food was. That greenhouse and possible… oh, maybe they could give aquaculture a try too.

The Green Paladin shrugged, unbothered as he took another bite, "Everyone eats it, even the Alteans. Most of the time, this is all there is."

...Okay, that last part was a bit of a lie, but C.C. guarded her pizza stash like a dragon guarded treasure. After Tamaki tried to sneak one out of her hiding spot his first week on the ship, the immortal nearly sent him to the cryopods in a fit of rage.

Rai chuckled at the memory. He would never have thought the cocky, loud-mouthed rebel would have such a squeally scream.

After that, no one dared touch, much less question where the stash was hidden.

"It's honestly not that bad once you get used to it," Rai continued, "There's way weirder food out there in space. One of the other Paladins had a space bug stew one time."

Nonette rose an eyebrow but shook her head, deciding not to think about it.

Rai then jumped when the Knight of the Round let out a large belch.

"...Did you just burp?" he gasped.

"What? It's a normal bodily function. A Knight of the Round can't do that?" Nonette jabbed with a smirked.

"Well, besides the family itself, you guys are practically royalty, making yourselves look good," Rai commented before frowning, "All the while hiding just how rotten you are underneath."

Nonette's smile faded. "You really hate Britannia? Can't say I blame you given what happened…"

"It's kinda hard not to hate Britannia considering it's mostly filled with narcissistic warmongers who'll do anything for victory!" Rai began. 'You're just like the Galra' went unsaid at the last moment.

Nonette sighed, "I'll admit, some of the Empire's actions have been anything but honorable."

Rai scoffed, "If you're so hung up about honor, then why do you still do it?"

"It's not my choice, not my call," Nonette quickly explained, "The Emperor's orders…"

"Of course!" Rai threw his arms out in exasperation. "It's always 'the Emperor this' or 'the Emperor that'! I swear if I ever see that bastard, I'm gonna kill him myself if Zero doesn't get the chance to!"

Nonette looked toward Rai in minor surprise, "You… you really don't remember, do you?"

This snapped Rai out of his rant, "Earlier, you called me a different name. What was it?" the Green Paladin asked.

"Yes, Zephyr. That's your name," Nonette answered.

Rai flinched back. So he wasn't mistaken. The same name that associated him as Champion…

"My name is Rai," he denied.

"No!" Nonette exclaimed, sounding almost desperate, "Your name, your real name, is Zephyr zar Britannia."

At this declaration, Rai stumbled back in shock. No… this couldn't be true! But if that was his name…

"Then, that means…"

Nonette nodded, "Your father… is Charles zi Britannia.

"The stars haven't changed, have they?" Euphemia said softly as she layed down on Lelouch's cape on the sand, gazing up into the sky with her brother, "They were the same back then. We all used to gaze up at the stars together. Remember that? Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could live like that again? I'd be so happy then!"

The princess turned over to look at her brother better, "What are the stars like up there? Are they still like this from above?"

It took a few moments for Lelouch to answer, but he smiled slightly when he did, "Yes. If anything, I think they're even more beautiful. You feel closer to them."

Euphemia smiled in wonder, "What else have you seen? Will you tell me?"

"I can try," Lelouch answered with an amused smile, "But you know I wasn't much of a storyteller. I'm still not."

Euphemia giggled as she listened silently to the story of Voltron.

Rai felt his hands shaking as he fully processed the words that came out of Nonette's mouth. ""No… that-that's not true…" Rai stuttered, "I can't… you're lying… you're lying!"

"I'm not!" Nonette exclaimed before her face became somber, "I'm sorry, but that's the truth."

Rai couldn't take it as he fell to his knees. The world seemed to be closing in around him as he clutched his head, a loud ringing in his ears.

"Zeph!" he barely heard Nonette shout along with a shuffling. Was she trying to get out of her bounds? And do what?

All further panic was lost as a loud roar echoed through the trees. The ground shook beneath Rai's form as a large shadow draped over him.

"What the hell?!" he heard Nonette scream as the Green Lion stood protectively over her Paladin, his distress calling her into action.

Another weight fell on top of the Green Paladin, but unlike before, where it felt suffocating, this one felt warm. The feeling of safe, safe, safe sang like musical notes in his mind, harmonizing with a gentle but powerful purr.

It took several minutes before Rai finally calmed down. Zerith didn't move that entire time, pressed her quintessence gently but firmly against his, almost like when Arthur rubbed his head against their knee.

"Thanks, Zerith," he whispered, getting to his feet.

The Green Lion chuffed before slowing sitting down on her haunches like she did in her hangar in the castle. The second he was out of her shadow, her particle barrier shot up, shielding the Lion from any other outside threats.

Nonette stared up in shock. She was positive that no one else was inside that Knightmare. So how did it…?

"Surprised?" Rai asked, cutting her thoughts off, "Though it's probably obvious by now, the Lions aren't any ordinary machines."

The loud roar made Euphie and Lelouch jump and looked towards where it seemed to come from. Lelouch recognized it as one of the Lions and frantically looked up at the sky. Had they been found? It certainly hadn't been Zen roaring; he would have felt her waking up.

"What was that?" he heard Euphemia ask.

"...It'll be dangerous to investigate in the dark. We'll check it out in the morning. If I'm correct on what it was, we may have found our way off the island," Lelouch answered before glancing at Zen. Whatever had been in that Gawain Knightmare must have really injured her for her to still be out of it. He only hoped she woke up soon, or the castle had some way of getting her back on board as well.

Rai took a few more minutes to calm down. Now that Zerith was back online, her presence certainly helped slow his heart rate.

Nonette still stared at the Lion, looking ready to bolt if she had to.

Rai sighed, "Calm down, she won't attack you unless she thinks I'm in trouble… but you already saw that, so…"

Nonette visibly swallowed, honestly not sure what the best course of action would be. She wouldn't do anything to hurt her prince, but it would be suicide to fight the Lion, especially not without a Knightmare.

"Hold on…" Rai muttered, before glaring at the knight again, "Something doesn't add up. If it's true that I'm supposedly a Britannian prince, how come there aren't any records of a 'Zephyr zar Britannia' in the royal archives?"

Along with Lelouch's own knowledge, Rai had been using as much spare time as he could to research the Royal Family, trying to see how many of them could become potential allies to the Coalition. So far, Euphemia was the best option, but other possibilities included Odysseus eu Britannia (official crown prince of the Empire) and Marrybell mel Britannia (current Viceroy of Area 24, formerly Spain). Of course, now that they had Cornelia in their custody, there was always the chance for her to have a change of heart and join their side. According to Nunnally, she was willing to fight with them, but several Black Knights were still doubtful.

But like he said, throughout his sweep of the family, not once was there any mention of anyone named 'zar Britannia.'

"That's because there officially isn't one," Nonette revealed, "The Emperor wanted to keep your existence a secret, along with your sister-Oh right, Sophie! If you're alive, then is she?"

Rai grimaced, but still answered, "I don't know. The last time I saw her, she was supposed to be sent off to a work camp. I haven't seen her since."

"Work camp? Where?!" Nonette growled, looking infuriated.

Rai scoffed, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. And I honestly don't know myself. Like I said, that's the last time I heard about her. Her current status is unknown to me too."

Nonette deflated at that, but Rai could still see the fiery anger in her eyes. It was clear that Nonette did seem to know him and his family. She knew Sophronia's name, and he never mentioned it in front of her. Was it possible that she really was telling the truth? He wished his Geass functioned the same way Lelouch's did; that way, he could know for sure.

"...I can't believe I'm doing this," he muttered to himself as he sat back down. Nonette looked up at him as he leveled her with a stare, "Look, I honestly have no clue if you're telling the truth or not, but… I need some answers, and an untrustworthy source is better than no source at all."

"I would never lie to you, Zephyr," Nonette insisted.

Rai didn't completely believe her, but he took a deep breath. He decided to start with something else he already knew, "What's my mom's name?"

Nonette answered immediately, "Erina Kurugui."

The world seemed to stop for the millionth time that day as he processed this information.

"K-Kururugi?" he stuttered.

"Yes," Nonette nodded, "Your mother was a member of the Kururugi family. The younger sister of the late Genbu Kururugi, in fact."

"What?!" he gasped, "Wait… so that means that Suzaku and I… are cousins?"

Nonette paused for a moment, then chuckled a little, "Huh, that thought never crossed my mind, but yeah, I guess you are."

Rai to take a breath as he processed this new information. So, in the span of less than an hour, he learned that not only was he Lelouch and Nunnally's half-sibling through that disgusting man, Charles zi Britannia, but now he and Suzaku were cousins.

He wondered if Suzaku knew about this or not.

He quickly wiped that suspicion from his mind. Sure, maybe Suzaku knew about his aunt, but he never mentioned having a cousin named Zephyr. And he was sure Suzaku would have said something if he had. Unless… he had been sworn to secrecy. He had proven that he was good at keeping secrets, at least.

Rai groaned. He felt like his head was about to explode, but he had to keep going.

"So, let me make sure I've got this right so far. The Emperor of the Britannia is not only my father but he, a man who actively encourages racism and war, married a Japanese woman?"

"No," Nonette shook her head, "They never got married. Erina and His Majesty had an affair that was kept secret from both families."

"Okay… why?" Rai had to ask. It made no sense. If it were for political purposes he'd understand, but this sounded more like a one-night-stand sort of thing. Were they drunk or high when this happened?

"I don't know," Nonette honestly shrugged, "As far as I know, I'm the only one who knew about this."

"Okay, so why did you get to know about us?" he asked suspiciously.

"I was assigned by the Emperor to be your knight to protect you," she answered simply.

So that explained a few things too. Why she was so protective of him and so desperate to rescue him from Zero and how furious she became when he told her about where Sophie may be.

"Okay, so where did we live? Before we disappeared anyway?"

"It was on an island known as Fiji," Nonette explained, "It's in the Pacific, east of Australia."

"Fiji?" Rai asked, "I don't remember that island being part of the Empire."

"It isn't," Nonette shook her head, "Officially it's considered an independent nation even now. The fact that it's not in Britannia's territory is likely the reason you and your family were hidden there."

"Okay… so happened to us then? How did we disappear?" Rai almost demanded.

At this, Nonette looked down sadly, "I can't answer that because not even I know. Before you vanished, I had been called away on another mission to quell some riots in Area Sixteen, the nation once called the Philippine Islands. When I got back… you were gone. It's like you were never there to begin with."

Rai nodded. He felt a small tickling in the back of his skull. Something was fighting in his memories to come to the surface, but it felt like a thick pane of glass was keeping it back.

"I'm guessing you searched for us?" he guessed.

"Yes," she nodded fervently, "I talked to practically every local I could get my hands on but none of them seemed to know who I was talking about. Then I pulled some strings in the higher ranks of the Empire to find out if you had been moved unexpectedly, I tried every trick in the book. I found nothing…"

Rai stared at the knight as tears gathered in her eyes, but remained silent. He could tell she wasn't finished.

"When nothing turned up from my own investigation, I confronted the Emperor himself and demanded to know what happened to you all. I got nothing out him, and as punishment, he demoted me."

"And yet now you're a Knight of the Round, one of his elite," said obviously.

To her credit, Nonette didn't take offense and just shrugged, "I practically started over after that. I rose in the ranks of the military, and eventually, the Emperor offered it to me. I saw it as an opportunity to use the position to expose the Emperor's darker side. I figured if the people saw it, they would remove him from power. Maybe even by force."

Rai stared wide-eyed. He hadn't expected that. She wasn't doing this out of loyalty at all! At least not to the Emperor.

"It's revenge," he realized, "You did all this to avenge my mom, my sister, and I?"

Nonette looked up from where she had been staring at the ground and looked Rai straight in the eye, "Yes. I'd avoid war if necessary, but if there were no other option, I would. I...I was your knight, assigned to keep you safe. And I turned my back for what felt like a moment, and you were gone. I failed you."

Rai remained silent, unsure of what to say. Here was a Knight of the freaking Round blatantly telling him that she will betray the Emperor she had swore to protect just for his sake?! Maybe… maybe he should tell her about the Galra. Voltron had questioned whether it was possible to recruit any of the Knights. If they did, that would be huge!

But something still stubbornly stopped him. No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't bring himself to tell her the truth yet.

"I don't expect you to forgive me, much less believe me, and I understand if you don't, but that's the truth," she finished.

Rai bent down, his hands covering his face, fighting back a surge of bile rising in his throat.

"Are you all right?" Nonette asked with concern.

"I...I need a moment," he said quickly before practically sprinting towards Zerith. The barrier opened just enough to let him in, and the Lion bowed to let her Paladin enter her mouth.

He collapsed before he could make it to the pilot seat, breaths coming in heavy and quick. It was only Zerith's strong purr that prevented him from fainting. If she was flesh and blood, he had no doubt she would have been curled up on his chest and vibrating like a phone.

So many thoughts were racing through his head. He had finally learned his history, but at the same time, he wished he hadn't heard any of it. Despite learning all of this, more questions were still swirling in his head. The ones that Lelouch had brought up before the dual sprouted up again. How did he and his family end up with the Galra? Was the Emperor involved somehow? How was that possible, though? From what he could tell, once the Galra set their eyes on a planet, there were no negotiations. The planet either surrendered and became slaves, or the inhabitants fought to the very last man, and then the Galra took the planet anyway.

Like Coran had said, "You would know if the Galra had been there."

He was sure that the key was in his lost memories. If only he could remember-!

Suddenly, Zerith growled urgently. It was enough to shake the Green Paladin out of what was likely the beginning of a panic attack. Looking up at the window, he saw through Zerith's eyes to see lights shining from another area of the island up.

"We couldn't find Lady Enneagram washed ashore on the other islands, so it's obvious we should look here," Schneizel reasoned as he directed the search party from the Le Fay's throne room.

We'll send a search party out in the morning," General Bartley replied next to him.

"Hmm… And this must be what you mentioned?" Schneizel questioned, looking at the structure down below.

"Yes! We uncovered it when the Shinjuku incident occurred," Bartley explained.

Ah… Yes, I can see why this would've attracted Clovis' interest," Schneizel realized with a nod.

As the morning sun peaked over the ocean's horizon, Rai silently lead a still bound Nonette up the mountain. The Knight of Nine still made no attempts to escape.

"Are you sure you really saw a light?" Nonette asked.

"Yeah, definitely," he answered.

Leaving Zerith behind in the jungle foliage for now, Rai figured if they were Britannian forces that he could just drop Nonette off and sneak back to look for Lelouch and join back up at the castle.

"It must be a search party," Lelouch reasoned as he and Euphie trekked up the mountain on the other side. Zen still hadn't woken up, much to Lelouch's disappointment. Maybe this the problem was something only Allura and Coran could fix.

"Once we learn who it is, we'll know how to deal with them."

"'Deal with them'?" Euphie questioned anxiously.

Lelouch grimaced at the wrong word choice, "I mean that we can decide what to do once we realize who it is. If it's part of Voltron, nothing bad should happen to you, Euphie. And if it's Britannia…"

"I may be able to help. I can approach them while you sneak back to your Lion," Euphie suggested.

Lelouch nodded. That sounded like the best possibility.

"A Thought Elevator, you say?" Lloyd asked as he, Prince Schneizel, General Bartley, and several other soldiers stood inside the cave. On the massive stone doors in front of them appeared to be very ancient hieroglyphics, but they weren't ones that they could identify.

"I'm afraid archeology isn't my strong suit, especially this paranormal stuff," the Earl confessed quite casually.

"Why, you… Show some respect!" Bartley barked in irritation.

"As I was saying, this is way outside of my field," Lloyd continued to complain, "I wish you could've asked Cécile about this instead."

"Please don't complain so much," Schneizel said sternly, "My father is fascinated with this as well. Isn't that right, Bartley?"

"Yes," General acknowledged when the Prince looked at him, "We've found artifacts similar to these in a number of places around the world. Except for this one that I discovered, all the other sites are directly under imperial control. This is mere speculation on my part, but I think the real reason we're invading other countries is to obtain these objects!"

"And so, in order to analyze this ancient occult data, you're going to use the Gawain's Druid System, untuned prototype that it is?" Lloyd questioned before gesturing to the obtained and newly repaired Knightmare next to them.

"That's why we called you in," Schneizel answered.

"AH-HAH!" Lloyd exclaimed in understanding.

Unbeknownst to the men, one soldier eyed the monument critically, their yellow eyes narrowing in suspicion.

There was no doubt now. This was the source of that blockage. Now… how to remove it?

"I think it was around here," Lelouch muttered and he, and Euphemia approached a clearly at the top of the hill.

"Lelouch, if it is a search party, then will our time be over here?" his sister asked sadly.

Lelouch sighed, "Yes, it will. Only for now, though. I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other again very soon."

"I sure hope so," Euphemia answered with a smile. Lelouch smiled back, but the moment was ruined when they heard rustling in the woods on the other side of the clearing. Lelouch quickly put his helmet back on and braced himself for a confrontation when the people appeared.

'Rai!' he thought in surprise as the Green Paladin emerge from the foliage along with Nonete Enneagram, who seemed to have her hands bound.

"Nonette!" Euphemia exclaimed happily, jumping up.

Nonette and Rai both gasped, "Princess Euphemia!"

"Don't move!" Zero exclaimed, grabbing Euphemia's arm and drawing his knife, "This girl is my prisoner!"

"Le-Zero!" Rai exclaimed.

"Just play along," Lelouch whispered as his sister looked at him frightened. He then turned to address the pair in front of him, "Back away from my subordinate Lady Enneagram. Do that, and no one gets hurt here."

"Zero, you!" Nonette exclaimed angrily about to charge the terrorist. She had just found her prince; she wasn't about to lose him again. She was stopped in her tracks as she felt Rai grab her arm and hold his Bayard against her back.

"Nonette, wait! Please!" Euphie shouted, escaped Zero's grasp, and running towards the knight.

"Euphie, wait!" Lelouch shouted, but the moment he stepped into the clearing, a massive glowing red Geass sigil formed on the ground, much to everyone's shock.

'A Geass?!' both Lelouch and Rai thought. Suddenly, both Paladins felt their own Geasses burning in their eyes, them having activated all on their own.

Rai suddenly felt a throbbing pain in his head as he fell on his knees, clutching his head as he yelled in pain. The Geass sigil was no longer in just one eye, but both!

"Zephyr!" Nonette shouted, her bonds suddenly breaking, freeing her hands. Before she could kneel to Rai's level, though, the ground underneath the group shook violently, and the floor began to descend.

In an unknown location, a young boy smirked victoriously as his two targets fell right into the trap that he had set up for them.

The Thought Elevator began to glow a bright red, much to the shock of the Britannians as the entire cave shook viciously.

"Oh, not good…" Lloyd muttered as the readings on the Gawain skyrocketed to off-the-chart levels.

Simultaneously, on the beach Lelouch and Euphemia were that same morning, Zenobia's eyes flashed awake, and she leaped to her feet.

With a deafening roar of both anger and fear, the Black Lion shot into the air and beelined towards the Thought Elevator's location, the Green Lion right behind.

"Princess! The Green and Black Lions!" Coran exclaimed, "we've finally managed to obtain their signal. And they're closing in on one of the islands!"

"Aw, and just when I was about to try my new feature out!" Milly groaned with a pout, her hand having barely left C.C.'s when the signal alarms blared.

"Paladins, to your Lions now!" Allura ordered.

"Yes!"

"Got it!"

"On our way!"

As the Paladins all scrambled to their elevators, Nunnally let out a sigh of relief, leaning on a pair of crutches this time. If they found Zenobia and Zerith, that means they could finally find Rai and her brother.

"Hang on you two," Allura said, "We're coming to get you!"

"My Lord, please save yourself!" Bartley exclaimed in a panic as debris continued to rain down everywhere. He attempted to pull the Prince away as a large platform slowly dropped down from above, carrying with it Zero, another figure in green armor, Princess Euphemia, and Nonette Enneagram.

"Lady Enneagram!" Lloyd gasped, shielding his face, "And is that Zero?!"

Seeing the terrorist and one of his subordinates, the soldiers quickly raised their weapons to shoot them, only to be stopped by General Bartley, "Don't you fools! Princess Euphemia's with them! Capture them! Capture them!"

Rai struggled to his feet, his eyes wide, but he managed to grip his Bayard unsteadily.

Scanning the crowd, Zero cursed.

"Quiznack, we're in trouble!"

Then suddenly, something else caught Zero's eye. One of the soldiers that had his weapon pointed at him. But one look into his eyes told Lelouch that that was no soldier.

Instinctively, Lelouch shot at the soldier with lightning, and just as expected, the soldier vanished.

"Wha-what?!" Bartley exclaimed, having witnessed this too. An annoyed growl drew the group's attention to the center of the cave, and the Paladins' blood ran cold.

"What?!" Zero gasped at the sight of Haggar's hunched form. Her gold eyes glared back at him.

"No…" Rai muttered, taking a step back, pure terror freezing his spine, "What are you doing here?!"

Haggar shouted in fury and fired a beam of quintessence directly at Lelouch. The Black Paladin barely raised his arms in time to try and block when another crash echoed through the cave. Two large paws landed on either side of Zero, followed by a ferocious roar, which seemed to make the entire mountain tremble.

Lelouch didn't waste one more second, instinctively grabbing Euphemia around the waist, and with a yelp, Euphemia and Lelouch were snatched into Zen's mouth.

"Princess Euphemia!" both Lloyd and Bartley exclaimed as they watched as the princess was seemingly swallowed whole along with Zero.

Just as Zerith was about to scoop up Rai, the Green Paladin felt something grab him around his waist. He didn't have time to register who or what it was before he found himself and Nonette sprawled across the floor in Zerith's mouth.

The Lions didn't waste any more time as the duo shot out of the cave entrance, sending rocks, stone, and Knightmare Frames flying. Then Zen pivoted in the air, facing the cave entrance and her mouth lit up with blue light.

Lloyd gasped.

"HIT THE DIRT!"

A couple of soldiers fell on top of Schneizel to shield the Prince while everyone else immediately hit the cave floor and covered their heads just as Zenobia's blast of quintessence energy hit the Thought Elevator point-blank. The structure exploded and collapsed into rubble, leaving nothing salvageable.

The little boy gasped when he felt it, the feeling of the Thought Elevator collapsing. He fell to his knees, and he clutched his head, his eyes shaking with shock and rage as he took multiple rabid breaths.

"No… no…" He stuttered. "They… they destroyed the Thought Elevator!" V.V. ranted like a spoiled brat, "No! How dare you…! Voltron… you dare! You'll pay for this! You'll pay!"

C.C. blinked as she felt the exact same thing happen as well. At first, she was shocked, as destroying a Thought Elevator was no easy feat, but her expression quickly morphed into a smirk. She could only imagine the faces V.V., Charles, and Marianne were making right now.

"I did warn them, didn't I?" she stated with a satisfied smile, smothering a giggle.

"Viceroy, are you all right?" one of the soldiers gasped as everyone got to their feet.

"Yes, I'm fine," he muttered, dusting himself off, "So… that was Zero?"

"Halt! Stop where you are!" another soldier suddenly shouted.

Looking towards the entrance, the Second Prince spotted the cloaked woman that seemed to spook Zero. She was staring out at the sky with a scowl, likely watching the Lions fly off.

"Identify yourself!" Bartley shouted as soldiers surrounded the woman.

She simply growled, annoyed, before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

"Wha-what?!" Bartley exclaimed in shock, eyes wide, staring at where she once stood. Most of the other soldiers had similar reactions.

"Well… you don't see that every day," Lloyd commented.

Schneizel, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes, gaze calculating. Despite the loss of the Thought Elevator, he had learned two important things.

First, Zero was scared of that woman. Who she was, Schneizel didn't know, but it was rare that his brother showed actual fear to anyone. The last person to bring this emotion out of his brother was their own father.

And second… Those Lions had not had pilots in them when they had come to collect Zero and the green pilot. His logical mind kept saying that it was impossible, but he had seen it just now for himself!

Which allowed Schneizel to draw another conclusion he thought he never would in his life.

Those Lions weren't just advanced machines. They were alive.

Schneizel's thoughtful expression soon shifted into an intrigued smirk.

"Well, well, this game just got much more interesting…"

Lelouch quickly scrambled to the cockpit and pushed Zen to fly faster. They had to warn the others, fast!

"Hailing Castle of Lions, this is Lelouch!" he exclaimed urgently.

"Lelouch! Are you and Rai all right?" Allura's voice carried over the speaker.

"Yes, we're both fine!" Lelouch nodded, "We're heading back as we speak."

"Heads up then!" a voice inside his head exclaimed, "We're coming to intercept you!"

"Wha-! Milly, is that you?" Lelouch stuttered.

"Yep! Say hello to my new Geass, Lulu. I call it Absolute Telepathy."

"You made a contract with C.C.?" he asked.

"I knew I wouldn't have control over what the power would be, but I figured it was worth a try to see if it could be used to find you two," the Yellow Paladin explained over the radio this time.

"Wait, use what to find us?" Rai questioned from inside Zerith.

"...Huh, there's a drawback already. I guess I can only talk to one person at a time," she deduced.

"We'll explore it's practical uses later," Lelouch said, "We'll meet you outside the castle. And Princess, inform the rest of the crew to expect some guests."

"Guests or prisoners?" Allura asked for clarification.

"...One is for sure a guest, the other… I'm not sure. Rai?" Lelouch questioned.

"...We can decide when we're back on the ship," the Green Paladin said.

"Very well," Allura acknowledged, "We'll see you a couple dobashes… I'm glad you're both all right."

With that, the intercom switched off, and Lelouch spotted several colorful figures heading towards him and Rai.

"Lelouch…" Euphie asked, noticing the frightened look still on her brother's face, "...Who was that? Down there?"

"Someone… very bad."

#fanfic #code geass #voltron

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comicgeekscomicgeek · 4 years ago

Text

Their Hero Academia - Chapter 67: Island Insanity Intensifies

Presenting the next installment of my on-going, nextgen, MHA fic! Earlier chapters can be found here

“Ah!” Tensei Iida exclaimed, gesturing wildly at the display before them. “A most ingenious device.”

Toshi gave it a second look. He’d glanced at it briefly, but had been busy listening to Sora and Dave discuss the punch-enhancing gauntlets they’d seen at the previous booth and hadn’t been paying a lot of attention. So far, he didn’t use any Support equipment himself, though he had a few ideas for some new bits for his costume he’d thought of after the Final Exam. But if one of the twins thought something was well designed, it was probably worth paying attention to. His girlfriend and her brother were two of the smartest people he knew, somehow managing to be in the Hero Course and still having time to take Support course classes as well.

Speaking of girlfriends, the device had now caught Sora’s attention as well. She was, in fact, practically drooling over it. “Oh, yes,” she agreed. “This is quite spectacular!”

Toshi considered himself relatively smart. He was probably wasn’t in the top fourth of the class, but close enough. But when it came to advanced stuff like this, he didn’t have a clue. It just looked like a silvery helmet with a dark visor to him, connected by wires to some kind of power source. Before he could ask any questions though, Sero piped in.

“So, what’s it do?” Sero asked. “Because I don’t know if that’s going to work with my aesthetic.” Considering Sero had once said he’d purposefully bought a bowling shirt because the colors gave him a headache, Toshi wasn’t exactly sure what his aesthetic was and how anything could clash with it.

“Oh, it would be very useful,” Tensei explained. “It combines several different scanners from across the electromagnetic spectrum into one device. This should enable its wearer to view everything from the infra-red all the way to the ultraviolet end of the spectrum. Very useful for locating Villains, even if they have stealth Quirks!”

“I do have concerns about the power source, though,” Sora added, further scrutinizing the device. “It would have to be properly armored and those wires could be easily grabbed. And, of course, if pierced, the detonation could be rather significant…”

“Definite significant,” Sero said.

“You would not require cremation,” Sora told him, matter-of-factly.

“Still,” Tensei went on, “I do see possibilities. I wonder though, if it would be better to house such power sources externally? Somewhere where they would not endanger the user?”

“A drone, perhaps?” Sora questioned. “That way its power source could be properly armored, and then you would only need a wireless transmission to a visual source, such as a visor or other display…”

“Yes!” Tensei agreed. “Though the power supply needed to see the entirety of the spectrum would…”

Toshi lost track of the conversation at that point, not having the head for the engineering or scientific principles behind it. If it ever got to gravity or some basic physics, then he was on pretty good ground. Otherwise…

“Got us a couple of smart ones, didn’t we?” Sero said, after a moment, giving Toshi a conspiratorial look. He grinned. “I have no idea what they’re saying.”

“Then why do you look so happy about it?” Dave asked. Once again, his patience for Sero’s actions was wearing thin, Toshi could tell. “Don’t tell me you’re celebrating your ignorance.”

“Nah,” Sero said. “I just like seeing Tensei get all happy about something. He’s cute when he’s pontificating.”

Toshi had to admit, Sero had a point. He thought the same thing about Sora. Her eyes just lit up when she got passionate about something she was working on, even if he couldn’t follow it.

Mercifully, it didn’t take too long for the twins to wind down though, and by the sounds of it, they’d come up with yet another project for when they were able to access to a lab again. He was sure he’d hear more about it later. He was probably going to have to remind them to eat and sleep in the near future.

“You two might want to consider a limited A.I.,” Dave said. “Otherwise, it’s of limited utility. If you have to keep manual control, then you’re going to be distracted focusing on that. With an A.I., you can give it a target to follow or a patrol route.”

“Dave’s got a point,” Toshi agreed. Not surprising. Dave was both a star of the Support Department and had grown up with a Hero dad and older siblings. It gave him a unique insight into the way in which the two met up.

“He does indeed,” Sora agreed.

Tensei nodded. “More difficult then. And not our specialty. Would you care to collaborate, Togata?”

Dave shrugged. “So long as Power Loader signs off on it. Last time I checked, you two were on his shit list.”

“Very unfairly!” Tensei declared, arms flailing.

Sora joined in the protest, her own arms flailing as well. How they managed not to hit each other, Toshi didn’t know. “Just because we occasionally cause small explosions is no reason to restrict our lab access! You would think he would understand that explosions are merely learning opportunities!”

This got a laugh from Sero and Dave, who looked at each other in surprise. Both shrugged and then the group peeled off to look at the next exhibit.

“Oh, speaking of opportunities,” Sero told Dave, “Kimmie made me promise I’d ask if you were seeing anybody. Because if not, she’s actually got some people lined up.”

Dave just shook his head. “I swear, you’re all as bad as Dad….”

***

“I can’t believe you know Godzillo,” Isamu told Togata, carefully carrying the signed statue in a small bag. He’d mentioned wanting to get the retired Hero and actor’s autograph and Togata had insisted on introducing him. Kana was going to flip out when she saw this.

“Dad and Uncle Izuku teamed up with him back when I was just a kid,” Togata explained. “They got along real well, I guess. Of course, Dad gets along with everybody…” He laughed. “But yeah, I figured I could convince him to do a gratis autograph if I asked.”

Isamu just shook his head. “I appreciate it though! Kana’s going to love this!”

“Kana?” Togata asked, inclining his head slightly.

“My, ah, girlfriend,” Isamu said. It still felt weird to be able to say that. The notion that any girl might like him, let alone one who could probably kick his ass six ways to Sunday, was still a surprising one to him. Though he also wasn’t entirely sure if her parents knew. He’d mentioned Kana to his, to his mom’s particular delight. On the other hand, she hadn’t formally introduced him yet to her mother, despite her mom being a teacher at U.A.. So he wasn’t sure what was going on there. He wasn’t going to put too much thought into it. Considering she’d been the one to ask him out, he was relatively sure she wasn’t embarrassed by him or anything like that. “Kana Tetsutetsu.”

“Battle-Fist and Real Steel’s daughter?” Togata asked. He nodded slightly. “Saw her at the Sports Festival. Uncle Izuku likes to have everybody working under him watch, get our opinions, see the upcoming Heroes. She’s pretty talented.”

“She is,” Isamu agreed. He wasn’t sure how well he’d have stacked up to her martial arts skills or ability to guard against attacks.

They passed a few stalls selling various Hero merchandise, including one with a man with floppy once-dark now-grey hair and glasses glasses, who seemed to be selling copies of some kind of book. Isamu looked up at the banner on top of the stall. Taneo Tokuda – Author of When the Symbol of Hope Was Young –Soon to be a Major Motion Picture!

Isamu recognized the name and the title; there was a copy of it in his house. It had been in publication for years, though originally it had been titled When the New Symbol of Peace Was Young. It had retitled after a few years, when Deku had adopted the different and more fitting title. It was still one of the top selling books, annually.

The man—Tokuda, he now recognized from the author picture—shot up at the sight of them. “Tamaki Togata,” the man said, beaming. “As I live and breathe! It’s been too long!”

“Not since the last time you interviewed Uncle Izuku for your script, Mister Tokuda,” Togata said. “I still can’t believe they’re finally turning your book into a movie.”

Tokuda laughed. “You, me, and my bank account. And I’ve told you, call me Taneo. All my friends do.” He gave Isamu an appraising look. “Ah! I know you! From the Sports Festival. Haimawari, right?”

“Yes, sir,” Isamu said.

Tokuda seemed to give him an appraising look. “Oh yeah,” he said. “I can see why Deku took you on.” He pointed towards Togata. “Both of you. You’ve got the same kind of spark. Takes me back to the first time I met him, really.” He peered at them over the top of his glasses.

Not that he didn’t appreciate the comparison (He was, however, not going to think about it too hard, because down that path lay panic), but Isamu wasn’t entirely sure he was comfortable with the scrutiny the man was giving him.

A smile did work its way onto Togata’s face, though. “You can turn that investigator mode off, Taneo. He’s here on vacation, same as me.”

Tokuda’s face fell just a little, but he pushed his glasses back up and smiled amiably. “So no chance of an interview about everything going on back home?”

“Top secret,” Togata told him.

Tokuda laughed. “Ah, well, can’t blame a guy for trying. Still, expecting big things from both of you, so promise me an interview whenever you go Pro? I know we’re going to see big things from you, Togata. Just call it a hunch. ”

“Ah, sure?” Isamu said, uncertainly. Deku taking an interest in him was one thing, but a reporter/writer as well? One who’d done an official biography of Deku? What exactly was his life?

“You’re going to be waiting a while,” Togata said. He didn’t actually answer the question, Isamu noted. “He’s just a first year student and I want a few more years working with the best under my belt.”

Tokuda shrugged, smiling easily. “I’ve got time. But let me know if you want to come on set sometime. They start filming in a couple months and I’m sure I can get some passes.”

That might be fun, Isamu thought, though he figured Tokuda was probably talking more to Togata than him.

“We’ll see,” Togata said. “Nice to see you, Taneo.”

As they were walking away, Isamu turned to Togata. “Everything all right there? Guy seemed a little, ah, intense?”

Togata just smiled and shook his head. “Tokuda’s a good guy. Probably nobody out there who’s a bigger fan of Uncle Izuku than him, actually. …Well, maybe not bigger than the Shinso kid. He just really believes in what Uncle Izuku means as a symbol. But he can’t quite stop looking forward or turn off that reporter’s instinct, so he’s always looking for the next story, whether it’s there or not. His instincts are usually on the money though.”

“Great,” Isamu sighed. “One more person expecting big stuff out of me.”

“I told you,” Togata said. “Don’t worry about that. Focus on your training and being the best you can be. You’ve got time.”

***

Melissa had already studied the hologram in front of them numerous times. Hell, she’s studied the real thing. She’d been up to her elbows in it, even. Working together with Mei and the best forensic analysts at both Deku’s agency and that the HPSC could spare, they’d taken all of the robot-Nomu apart one piece at a time and studied every inch of every one of them.

That their secrets continued to elude them was nothing short of infuriating. The combination of enhanced technology and bio-augmentation suggested an expertise in multiple fields of science. Who had that level of knowledge and expertise?

Jinsei rubbed his chin with his hand. “The same design, every time. These were definitely mass produced. Nothing identifying to any of the parts either.”

Melissa nodded. “There’d been some technology thefts in the weeks prior to the attack, but none of the Heroes were able to find any leads, even with the Voice and Glamour hitting the streets and shaking down just about every source.” She tapped a few keys and called the list up. “Not nearly enough to account for all of this… unless you only needed a handful to take apart as a model.”

He nodded his agreement. “Very sophisticated robotics. You can see certain systems here and there that are extrapolations of current theories and designs though. I can see some of the technology from U.A.’s robots, there’s Shield tech, and I even see a few of Hatsume’s designs. And…”

Nothing they didn’t already know. Whoever had built them was well versed in current technology, no matter how proprietary. But the facial journey Jinsei was undergoing was something else entirely.

Jinsei frowned, his face flush with anger in a way that made his scars stand out even more. “Those bastards.” He slammed his hands on the console, causing the hologram to briefly flicker. “Those bastards! How!?”

“What? Melissa asked. She’d jumped at his outburst and paused to readjust her glasses. “What is it?” She’s seen Jinsei get angry before, especially after… But the pure rage she was seeing here was stunning.

He tapped keys, bringing up a hologram next to the one of the Nomu. With more tapping, he isolated what they’d identified as the Nomu’s power source. Melissa let out a soft gasp. The two were identical.

“That’s the power source for the robots I’ve been designing,” Jinsei said. “The ones I consulted you about. The ones that were going to…”

He trailed off. Melissa had listened to his arguments about the failures of Heroes often enough to know where he’d been going with it. That they took too much on and that too much was expected of them. That they were worked to exhaustion and made mistakes. His idea to replace or supplement them with robots who didn’t get tired or have bad judgement was well meaning, even if she knew it wasn’t possible. The level of A.I. just wasn’t there yet, among other things.

“That was Ami’s design,” he growled, head down, body shaking with rage. “Back when we were just designing the robots to support the Heroes. Before…”

His head snapped up. “Those bastards stole her design!”

Melissa blinked her eyes slowly, then set her face in grim determination. Jinsei needed goals and directions now, if he was ever going to come out of this state and not spiral into self-destructiveness. “Who else would have had access to the plans? Do you think there was a data breach?”

Jinsei started pacing, quick frantic steps back and forth. “My lab assistants. The board. A few others I’ve had to consult with. You.”

She jerked in surprise. “You can’t possibly think…!”

He shook his head rapidly. “No, not you, never you. I trust you, Melissa. I’m just… my life’s work… turned into part of those monsters. I wanted to help. And something I designed nearly killed so many…”

Melissa placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. “Hey,” she said quietly. “It’s another clue. We’re going to get this figured out.”

***

They were working their way through the crowd to meet back up with Midoriya and the others when Togata suddenly stopped. “Everything okay?” Isamu asked.

“I don’t know,” Togata said. He looked around, scanning the crowd. In an instant, his body language had changed, moving from relaxed and at ease to alert and ready for action. Isamu had heard that the really good Heroes had a certain kind of instinct, the kind that came from years of dealing with trouble. Supposedly, they could tell when trouble was coming practically before it even started.

Tamaki Togata was only a Sidekick. But he was the Sidekick to the greatest Hero on the planet and had worked with many more. It wasn’t surprising that his instincts would already be finely honed.

Isamu straightened up, looking around as well. If Togata thought there was something worth getting ready for, there probably was. Even if he couldn’t see it. All he could see were people milling about, going from stand to stall to booth. People were snapping pictures, signing autographs, showing off their Quirks. It seemed about as non-threatening as was possible to get, his early feelings of being overwhelmed notwithstanding.

He forced himself to listen, to look around for signs of trouble. Isamu didn’t have super-human senses. He wasn’t an even an expert at listening like Shoji. But his Quirk did demand that he be observant and react quickly. If he wasn’t, he’d have ended up a smear on a wall the second something came up that he couldn’t maneuver around when he was sliding.

There.

It was distant, but he could hear the sound of screams now. They were growing louder and getting closer by the moment. The crowd was parting now, trying to run away from whatever it was.

Togata was already taking off, heading towards the source of it, a blur of motion. He should have stayed where he was. Even with the super-relaxed Quirk-use laws on I-Island, he was still just a Hero student. No license, barely a term into his studies. Absolutely no one would have blamed him if he’d just stayed where he was.

Instead, his body moved on his own. He pitched forward and fired a burst of power from his Quirk, his autographed statue left behind without a thought, sliding through the crowd and around the fleeing Expo guests. Just ahead, he could still see Togata, faintly glowing with power as he darted through the crowd.

It didn’t take long to see what was going on. Already, a number of booths and stalls had been completely trashed. It didn’t look like anybody was injured, but that wasn’t likely to last long. At the center of the destruction were several people—he assumed they were civilians because they weren’t in costume—all swathed in a bright orange glow. One seemed to have some kind of fire Quirk, one was a giant rhino man, and the other was woman lobbing blobs of sticky goo.

There was no coordination in their attacks, just seemingly random destruction.

“Get away! Get away!” the fire-wielder, said, letting loose a stream of crimson flames. They didn’t look all that hot; he couldn’t even feel the heat from this close. “You can’t have my liver! I’m using it!”

“Scorpions!” the rhino man shouted, charged and smashing everything in his path. “Covered in scorpions! Get ‘em off me! Get ‘em off me!”

The woman was spraying goo everywhere, her eyes wide in panic. “Clowns!” she screamed. “Not clowns! Anything but clowns!”

Togata seemed to sense his arrival. “Haimawari?” he said, not turning to look. “Stay back. This looks dangerous.”

Another Hero arrived on the scene, but not one that Isamu recognized. He was wearing a black costume, with boots, gloves, trucks, and a cape all the dark grey of approaching storm clouds. A square-ish lightning bolt symbol adorned his chest. “<Don’t worry,>” the Hero said, in what he realized was English, “<Thunderhead will stop them!”>

The Hero—Thunderhead—brought his hands out to the side and then slammed them together, hard. It created a powerful boom that sounded like a clap of thunder, sending a wave of sound out from his hands. It struck the rhino man dead on but did little more than knock him back for a second.

The rhino man eyed him, his tiny, dark eyes widening in fear. “More scorpions!” he shouted, his voice laced with fear. “Gotta stop them before they can sting me!” The rhino man struck out, hitting Thunderhead hard enough to send him flying.

When Thunderhead got up, he was glowing. The exact same orange glow as the others. There was a madness in his eyes, one that was clearly driving his actions now. “They’re all against me! They think I’m an idiot! Well I’ll show them!”

Thunderhead brought his hands together, unleashing another wave of force. But Togata moved, his own body aglow in green light and he placed himself right in the line of fire. The wave of force rocked against him, but he was not moved. Not for nothing was his Hero name the Shield.

“Whatever it is that’s driving them crazy,” Togata said, “it’s contagious!”

Togata drew back a punch. “Dammit,” he hissed, “no time to be subtle about it!” He threw the punch forward, glowing brighter as he amped up his density. The force of the blow itself was enough to push the air forward, a powerful gust that knocked Thunderhead down for a moment, still aglow with orange light.

Which still left the other three. If they touched anyone else… Isamu quickly began to realize that following might not have been the best idea.

“Do not worry,” a voice shouted, “I am here to render assistance!” Isamu looked to the source and found that it was Ingenium: Tenya Iida, the twins’ father. He was clad in his armor and running at full speed.

“Roller skate clowns?!” the goo-throwing woman shrieked. She tossed blobs of her goo, but Ingenium dodged every one. But then he got close…

“Ingenium!” Togata shouted. “Look out! Don’t let them touch you!”

But it was too late. The woman’s fingers brushed against Ingenium’s armor, even as he dodged out of the way of her attack.

That was all it took. Ingenium skidded to a stop, turning on a dime. And by the time he had finished, he too, was glowing orange. Isamu couldn’t see the man’s expression behind his helmet, but he got the feeling that it wasn’t one he would have wanted to ever see.

Ingenium readied himself to run again. “Back for more, eh, Stain? You’ll not find me a careless child now!”

There was a roar like a jet engine as Ingenium fired his Recipro-Burst.

***

Rei lowered her binoculars and grinned. “Looks like the guy we sprung is doing his job.” Unlike the other “voluntary detainees” under I-Island, Setsushi had been stored in a tube, constantly sedated. His Quirk took the form of a communicable madness, making whoever was infected with it hallucinate heavily, bringing their worst fears or other delusions to life. And once someone was infected, they could pass it on to others. All it took was a touch, didn’t even have to be skin to skin contact. Ursa had had to design very special gloves for the two of them to wear to be able to get him up to the surface and let him loose in the expo. Didn’t even need any real prompting. Just had to let him stagger around and bump into a few people.

Perched on one of the island’s towers, in the blind spot between cameras, they had a very excellent view of the chaos below.

Miss Compress lowered her own binoculars. “Barely twenty minutes since we dropped him off, and he’s already infected more than a dozen people, including a few Heroes. Everyone else is running or panicking. Quite the catastrophe we’ve engineered, dahling.”

Rei did, ultimately, feel just a little guilty about that. She did have family down there, after all. Not close family, but her little rocket-powered cousins-in-law were still part of the crowd. At least it wasn’t her actual cousins or anybody like that. Sometimes, you did have to break a few eggs.

“How long did the boss say this was supposed to last?” she asked Compress.

Her companion pulled a pocket watch from her coat pocket and examined it. “Infection in any given person is supposed to last no more than thirty minutes and no less than five, depending upon individual resistance factors. But reinfection is possible, so depending upon how many people it spreads through once it starts hitting the crowds… Possibly forever. Or at least until they all beat themselves senseless or worse.”

Compress replaced the watch in her pocket. “Quite the show. You don’t think our dear leader is going too far, do you?”

Rei shrugged. Compress was, she knew, more in it for the thrill of it all, the chance to pull one over on Hero society. That it aligned with their leader’s overall goals of showing the cracks in Hero society and destroying it worked out well, but she didn’t have quite the same lust for battle that some of the other members did.

As far as Rei was concerned, it could all go burn. Any society that let monsters like her grandfather live, even humiliated and in exile, didn’t deserve to stick around.

“Still,” Compress went on, “one more straw for the proverbial camel’s back, I suppose. And I can’t say I’m disappointed to see Ingenium down there.” Ingenium, Rei recalled, had ultimately been responsible for the capture of her mentor, Mister Compress. He’d been the last of the original League of Villains to be captured, staying free for years after the others had been captured or killed. Small wonder she bore him some enmity.

Rei’s communicator beeped and she checked it. “We’d better get going. Overdrive just sent the exit confirmation. She’s meeting us at the docks in twenty.” Her tongue slid over her lips. There was bound to be plenty of blood by the end of the day. “Shame we gotta run so fast. It was just getting’ interesting. You got still got the sample?”

Compress patted one of her coat pockets and nodded. “Of course, dahling. And don’t worry. I’m sure our benefactor will have plenty of video we can watch later.”

***

Ka-Pow!

The blue-white energy bolt hit Ingenium squarely in the middle of his forehead. There wasn’t a lot of power behind it, but when combined with the Turbo Hero’s speed, it was like running head first into a throw fastball. Isamu looked at his hand as though he was seeing it for the first time. Had he really done that? Had he actually just assaulted a Pro-Hero, the Number Six ranked Hero at that?

He wondered if you could get expelled for that kind of thing.

Togata turned his head to look at him. “Good job!” he said, flashing him a brief thumbs up. But worry immediately replaced the cheer on his face. “This isn’t good. Whatever this is, it’s spreading fast and spreading by touch by the looks of it.”

Isamu’s thoughts quickly went to Midoriya and the others, and then to the countless others on the island. Even with more Pro-Heroes than you could shake a stick at, it wouldn’t take much for this to spread and spread quickly. He didn’t even know if it would wear off. Ingenium was down, but still glowing.

The other infected were leaving them alone for the moment, but still causing plenty of trouble, lost in their own personal madness. But it was only a matter of time before someone was seriously hurt.

“Probably shouldn’t do this,” Togata said, “but I know Uncle Izuku has faith in you. So I’m deputizing you until this is all over. So you can use your Quirk to fight. Just don’t get killed, okay?”

Isamu nodded, even as his heart was thudding in his chest. “Okay,” he said. “What… what do we do?”

Togata shook his head. “Try to keep people from killing each other, try to find the cause of this, work with as many Pros who’ve managed to avoid catching this as we can. See if anyone’s made a call for help. Whatever else happens, we can’t let this get off the island.” Worry strained his voice. Isamu knew his family was somewhere on the island now too. Togata’s younger brother, David, would probably be with Midoriya and the others, so he was about as safe as could be. But he had no idea where Doctor Shield or Togata’s older sister, Nejire, were. Nejire Togata was, at least, a third year U.A. student and one of the Big Three. Her phasing Quirk would probably keep her safe.

People counting on them. The whole island in danger. His friends missing. Some kind of insanity that was spread by touch. And he’d just shot Ingenium in the head. It was all too much. Isamu could fell himself start to shake and he bent at the waist, hands on his knees to keep himself from falling over. This was supposed to have just been a vacation. Not… whatever this had become. He was barely sixteen. How the hell was he supposed to cope with all of this?

He became aware of a hand on his shoulder. Togata. “Look,” he said, “I know this is overwhelming. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared too. But right now, we’ve got to get moving. Every second counts.”

Isamu straightened up. He pulled his goggles down over his eyes and his bandana up to cover his nose and mouth. All round now, he could hear the sounds of screams, of Heroes calling out attacks and telling people to head for shelter, and the sounds of all kinds of Quirks going off. It definitely wasn’t the time to be worrying. It was a time for action. “Can I have a panic attack later?”

“We all can.”

***

The sound of screams split the air. The kind of raw, panicked screams you heard when there was serious trouble afoot. Takuma’s eyes darted around and he could see that Midoriya, Sora, and Tensei were all doing the same. They might only have been first-year students, but all of them were the children of Pro-Heroes. Long before they entered U.A., their parents had been teaching them how to look out for themselves.

His parents were lower-ranked than some of his friends, but both still well within the top one hundred. He knew for a fact that there had been more than a few kidnapping attempts on the children of higher ranked Heroes, the twins and Midoriya among them. The adults didn’t talk about those much, but from what little he’d been able to gather, it hadn’t gone particularly well for any of the would-be kidnappers. Kaminari had once joked about it, suggesting that anyone who had kidnapped Kirishima-Bakugo would have brought her back almost immediately. But even now, on the road to becoming Heroes themselves, vigilance was a must.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see David Togata moving to the back of their group. Probably smart. Togata didn’t have Hero training or even a combat-oriented Quirk. It sounded like the screams were coming from outside though…

“Maybe… maybe it’s nothing,” Takuma ventured carefully. He didn’t really believe it, but…

“I don’t think so,” Midoriya said. The crowd around them in the Expo building had frozen, waiting for the next shoe to drop. A few people he recognized as Pro-Heroes were making their way towards the front of the show floor.

“But who would dare dream of causing trouble here, with so many Heroes present?” Tensei asked.

“It has been dared before, little brother,” Sora said. “You’ve heard Father tell the story often enough.”

CRASH!

With a terrible sound, a chunk of wall came tumbling down, sending people fleeing and crushing several booths and pieces of Support equipment on display. And through the hole stepped a purple-haired man in a military-stylized uniform with a peaked cap. An orange glow surrounded him, as well as the blobs of flesh floating in the air around him.

“That’s Sisicross!” Midoriya exclaimed. “But why’s he glowing?”

Sisicross looked across the show floor and sneered. “Trying to surround me, eh, Villains?! You’ll not find this son of Shiketsu so easily beaten! Come at me! I’ll take you all on!” With his hands held behind his back, he clicked his heels and send the fleshy blobs flying into the crowd. Each time they stuck someone, that person went down, transforming with a painful sound into a fleshy-blob. Takuma gulped and fought the urge to be sick. And worse still, the blobs themselves were glowing the same orange. He saw one man try to pick up the blob that had been his companion and the glow spread to him.

The man let out a scream, dropped his friend, and unleashed his Quirk, firing sharp Quills from his body. Most of these missed, but a few stuck people, spreading the orange glow even further. They started freaking out too, talking about perceived threats and other nonsense.

It was, in a word, madness.

A swarm of fleshy missiles headed straight towards them. “Move!” Midoriya shouted.

They hadn’t planned on it, but not for nothing were they Hero-trainees and friends. The twins rocketed into the air, Sora grabbing onto Midoriya’s hand while Tensei grabbed Togata. Takuma fired off a strip of his Acid Tape and gave a hard yank, reeling himself upward towards the ceiling. The flesh missiles hit where they had been seconds earlier, splattering against the floor with a sick, wet sound.

“Too close,” Takuma muttered. They touched down at the far end of the room. The chaos was only getting worse, with people succumbing to the orange glow or panicking trying to get out.

“Let’s not do that again,” Togata said. He looked vaguely ill from the sudden acceleration, to say nothing of the danger they’d been in.

“What do we do, Toshi?” Sora asked.

Midoriya looked pale. “I… don’t know.”

#my hero academia #their hero academia #my writing #fan fiction #fan fic #toshi midoriya #isamu haimawari #takuma sero

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redandfranticfeelings · 5 years ago

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an autistic analysis, lyric by lyric, of ‘i love play rehearsal’

ive been hyperfixating over bmc for the last month and i keep thinking about how autistic the main characters are and christine is so very very very autistic coded to me. so i decided im just going to straight up deconstruct the lyrics of her signature song in the context of her being autistic (and also having adhd, but my experience is mostly in autism)

this is very very rambley and based more on personal experience than research, so i doubt itll be interesting to anybody but me, but i just want to talk about christine, the autistic queen

I love play rehearsal Because its the best! Because it is fun. I love play rehearsal and I get depressed as soon as its done.

it goes without saying that chrstine’s special interest is theater right? the way she treats it as the “highlight of [her] life” and then switches into this song after acting completely awkward and disinterested in jeremy outside of the context of him being engaged in her special interest.

But not depressed as in like kill yourself depressed No, im not into self-harm Dude, I swear, here check my arm!

overexplaining in a way that reads very much like speaking before she thinks, even though bringing up self harm in casual conversation with someone you barely talk to is not exactly proper etiquette. i think this is also an adhd trait? going faster than your own brain. that’s basically this whole song.

See, I just use the word to emphasise a point, Show the passion I have got I am passionate a lot. I have mad, gigantic feelings, Red and frantic feelings, About most everything Like gun control, like spring,

a lot of people assume autistic people are typically emotionless but it’s also very easy for us to get caught up in emotional issues especially when it comes to stuff we love, and it catches us off guard. christine being hyperempathetic is implied later in the show when she has that awful survivors’ guilt over making fun of rich and jake, and it also plays into her being so socially conscious as well.

Like if I’m living up to all I’m meant to be.

being an high school junior is really rough bc of all the decisions that have to be made regarding college and your future as an independent adult, and being autistic just makes it worse bc it can easily lead to burnout to deal with so much at once, if you even can comprehend these things much at all (i had no idea what to do, lol). i doubted my ability to grow up and succeed constantly because i had no idea who to talk to and what questions to ask and how to present myself. that’s something that a lot of people worry about, but having social delays makes it way more of a pressing issue than it is for neurotypicals, i feel.

I also have a touch of ADD. Where was I? Oh, right!

self explanatory and very canon. adhd and autism can be diagnosed simultaneously nowadays and the symptoms overlap a lot, btw.

I love play rehearsal, Cause’ you are equiped with direction and text, Life is easy in rehearsal, You follow a script so you know what comes next. Anywho the point that I’m getting to is sometimes life can’t work out in the way It works out in the play

this part screams autistic culture to me. unpredictability is scary because social situations don’t always go smoothly like in fiction! this is why social scripting is a popular therapy tactic for autistic children- you have to manually study social situations like a script. theater is something meant to be memorized and recited until you’re able to process it and manufacture emotion, but honestly for autistic kids, life feels a lot like that sometimes. remember how miserable she got when one of her favorite plays had the script changed without her permission to make a whole new story she doesn’t know? of course that’s just upsetting on its own, but in the context of her knowing theater so well and being fully prepared for one story only to be forced to learn a new one? ouch.

christine is never shown as comfortable outside her element- she hides in a book during “more than survive” and shrinks into nothing at the party. it’s a recurring theme that she has no idea exactly who she is, struggles with her identity outside of theater, and despite not really caring about how people see her, she does care about her own ability. socializing makes her feel awkward, especially when something totally unexpected happens like jake or jeremy asking her out. if she doesn’t have a plan or routine or, well, a script, then she can’t trust herself to go forward.

Like the only time I get to be the center of attention, Is when I’m Juliet or Blanche DuBois

as an autistic theater kid, i just really do relate to being clueless and dumb in real life but being able to totally thrive on the stage, because you can channel the energy that is usually misplaced in real life social interactions, and transfer it through dialogue and song and dance that someone else laid out nicely for you.

and can I mention? That was really one of my best roles, Did you see that?

an epic combination of letting your mind wander easily without caring about making sense to the person you’re speaking to, and taking every opportunity to infodump. in a lot of productions she even mimics her blanche voice just for fun. jeremy tries to respond here but she doesn’t care because she’s in her own brain where everything only really seems to make sense to her.

And no matter how hard I try, It’s impossible to narrow down the many reasons why, I love play rehearsal. I happiness cry whenever it starts!

if she isn’t being hyperbolic then this plays into my ‘so much emotion it’s hard to control’ thing detailed a bit above. either way, big special interest mood.

It’s just so universal Getting to try playing so many parts. Most humans do one thing for all of their lives, The thought of that gives me hives! I’ve got so many interests I wanna pursue,

it’s a lot easier to lose yourself and connect to your special interest than focus on your very complex, very overwhelming real life issues. escaping into fiction and being able to play in a variety of social situations as a totally different person, yay theater!

in general i just like the idea of christine struggling to visualize who she is and thinking about a lot of hypothetical but being unable to choose which one is most desirable or plausible. idk if that’s autistic or just a fun character trait lol. i know jumping from interest to interest is an adhd thing though.

this little passage is good for at least showing that christine distinguishes herself from ‘most humans’ in a way that isn’t so much ‘not like other girls’ but like ‘life is so much more confusing to me than it seems to be to others’ (which the show proposes isn’t exactly true and is the same closed-mindedness that jeremy has, though christine realizes it sooner; however; the sentiment rings true in that christine, as a neurodiverse young woman, has a lot more hoops to jump through than a neurotypical classmate.)

And why am I telling this to you? Guess there’s a part of me that wants to.

jeremy is also very autistic coded in my eyes, but that’s a separate post. i just like them being drawn to each other through that sort of kinship. also if you interpret her as having an unrealized requited crush on him…well, i think for a lot of us, romantic love is easy to confuse with friend love, if even that, because the specifics of emotions are a mess to unravel. (which also explains her confusion on her relationship with jake)

oh and right after this, she starts squawking just because she had the impulse to do so. vocal stimming, much?

Back to play rehearsal, My brain is like ‘bzzz’ My heart is like 'wow’

my brain is always like bzzz honestly lol. this is generally a pretty good way to describe being hyperfocused.

Because we’re here at play rehearsal, and it’s starting, We’re starting, It’s starting, Sooo-ooon.

it’s been confirmed as a deliberate decision that christine’s songs never end on a rhyme, except when she’s squipped and it isn’t ‘really’ her, because she subverts everyone’s expectations, including jeremy’s. i feel that could make for a nice simplified metaphor for autism, right?

#christine canigula #autistic headcanons #allistics can reblog!#be more chill #bmc #gif #long post #queue are so busted #i might do something like this for loser geek whatever and/or more than survive #or even just bmc songs in general if i cant get enough material from them individually #be more neurodivergent #kin tag

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mantra4ia · 6 years ago

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My Top/Bottom “10″ Moments of Avengers: Endgame [Spoilers Ahead]

In no particular rank…

The Good and the Legendary Moments (I had a hard time limiting it to 10, clearly there are more)

Cap’s “don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone” and Bucky’s reprise “How can I? You’e taking all the stupid with you…I’m gonna miss you.” He knows his friend well enough through all the years that he understands and accepts (and in that second, we do too) that Cap’s not coming back the fast way, that he’s chosen the slow path to the end of the line.

Sam inheriting the Shield from Rogers with Bucky’s blessing, “go to him.” Because Bucky knows that, even though they are the best of friends and fellow supersoldiers, Sam has kept an eye on Steve while Bucky was MIA, and that puts him in a reasonable position to inherit the mantle.

Post-snap “5 years later” we see Steve taking up Sam’s role as a group counselor, our first hint at the transition of roles later to come, capped off with Sam emerging from the portal with a timely “on your left.”

Hawkeye’s opening: the very real, personal, character driven moment in which Clint is with his family, and shortly thereafter the snap is dragged out of retirement kicking and screaming.

Tony’s and Stark’s intellectual interactions which began as animosity and conlcuded as a kind of mutual admiration “is this the one we win? / if I tell you, it won’t happen (almost apologetically because Strange knows what is about to happen and is letting it go forward anyway),” culminating with “I am Iron Man” and thunderous applause.

EVERYTHING having to do with Tony’s daughter Morgan. From her interaction with Jon Favreau aka Happy about cheeseburgers, to finding her dad’s suit mask, to Stark calculating time-travel while doing the dishes, then swearing, then swearing Morgan to secrecy, and most heartrendingly “I love you 3000.” Tony’s father-daughter relationship is one of those key character pieces that elevates this whole film from a Marvel capstone to a best picture.

Steve’s moment watching Peggy even though he never interacts with her, in 70s at the Pymm/Stark research facility. It’s the most poignant foreshadow of his destination to come. He doesn’t make that mistake twice.

Natasha’s character development. Five years later, even as she falls apart spinning her wheels about deep sea tectonic quakes, and she still cuts her peanut butter sandwich corner to corner as if daring “Nick” Fury to unsnap himself and say “no, let me show you how it’s done.” Two great insights into the depth of their familial relationship courtesy of the Captain Marvel film. Also a shout-out Steve’s subsequent offer to cook Nat dinner. Steve and Nat always carry great character moments, all the way back to CA:WS when she was setting him up on dates.

The small moments of battlefield humor that were just enough not to break the moment: Steve calling out to Parker “Hey Queens,” Peter engaging the Spidey suit kill mode and then him curled up in the fetal position, Wong’s deadpan “were you expecting more?” Jesus, just give Wong an entire act in the next Doctor Strange movie and I will be happy. I adore him. PS: what a pleasant surprise the way the Russos put Tilda Swinton in as Sorcerer Supreme opposite Banner. That was just the right character for the exposition on the perils of altered reality.

The overarching theme of premonitions as it deals with crossing through the quantum realm into the past, and the ensuing parallels from what we’ve already seen in the Marvel past. Specifically the ‘premonitions’ that past-Nebula had when future Nebula past through time and how they could access each others memories, which puts the interesting and poetic possibility that Tony’s dreams/visions this whole time (ex: Infinity War’s “[Pepper] we had a kid, it was so real”) were never a direct result of Thanos, but rather his travel through time. The Time Travel element also relates to parallels where Howard Stark meets “Howard Potts” and the potshots at his questionable beard. Tony meets Stark Sr. at the exact right moment when Maria is expecting and they relate to the perils and joys of fatherhood: “there’s no manual for this/ there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for this kid / you did your best”, which sets up Howard’s video journal to Tony and Tony’s post-battle video journal to Morgan as even more powerful together, in the context of each other, then when we saw the original Iron Man films. Endgame brings new depth / meaning to those historic moments.

Honorable mention to Thor who, after the “I aimed for the head” reprise, developed a sense of crippling anxiety and notable weight gain within his depressive reclusiveness, and still managed to suit up and be a hero anyway. While I didn’t necessarily like the fact that Thor dealt with his PTSD through hardcore gaming, I like the direction that the Russo’s steered him after subsequently calling him an “Angel Pirate” in Infinity War. The message, by contrast, that you don’t have to look a certain way, or step into the role that everyone expects of you (King of Asgard), or even have your shit together to be heroic - you just have to step your foot out of the door and face the day - is damn brilliant.

Honorable mention #2: Rocket’s speech to Thor “you’re not the only person to have ever lost someone.” Great BroTP, with tha dash of crossover Whovian.

Honorable trifecta: Steve Rogers wielding the Mjolnir and FINALLY. FIN-A-LLY “Avengers: Assemble!” What great standing ovation moments.

OVERALL: What this film misses in building the tension (it cycles down before it revs up), it makes up for by setting up the small, poignant character moments that show off the emotional talent of these actors in a way that I’ve never seen with this impact before: Infinity War, Black Panther, and Civil War being the runners up.

The Disappointing:

The “Smart Hulk” / Ant Man “little man” gag didn’t work for me. The autographs, the tacos, the test time travel run. It got stale very quickly.

Speaking of Ant Man, by contrast to Tony and Morgan, Scott Lang’s reunion with his daughter after 5 years didn’t hit the emotional note it was meant to. It make sense how they use Lang as perspective of “what’s going on / fish out of water” to drive the aftermath of the snap home and to introduce quantum science. But out of all the characters, I was probably least invested in him.

The female-led gauntlet scrimmage in the final act across the battlefield felt like more of a “set piece” rather than really earned emotion by comparison to Infinity War’s female tag team (Okoye, Nat, and Wanda) against Proxima, where Nat defends Wanda and says “she’s not alone.”

I didn’t like the script choice of killing the complex, Infinity War version of Thanos so quickly (while it was unexpected and paid off big time for a hot second when Thor’s said “I aimed for the head”) and taking on Past-Thanos. For me, it undermined and underdeveloped the villain. I would have wanted a deeper understanding of “The Garden” and flashbacks to Titan or young Gamora, or even more interaction between him and his daughter present-Nebula, before the war-torn Thanos gets the 1-2 chop, but I understand the choice given time constraints of a three hour film.

Hawkeye’s ronin montage: his revenge against criminals in the post-snap era, “why are you here, why did you get to survive and my family didn’t?” could have had the ability to be powerful, especially considering that Natasha has been keeping tabs on him and didn’t intervene until critical mass. But instead, I feel like it was mishandled, too thematic, it takes your out of the moment like a set piece.I loved Natasha’s bond with Clint up to and after the ronin sequence, it took two characters that I was on the fence with and got me emotionally invested in them as a team, I just hated the montage itself.

No Vision? What?! Hardly even a mention in this film except for Wanda’s wrath when she is resurrected and brings that house down on Thanos, but even then Thanos essentially said “who the heck are you and what did I do to make you mad?” completely taking the steam out of Vision’s fall. Hopefully Phase 4 addresses / fixes that.

No Loki resurrection? At the very least, no past-Loki dialogue?! Come on. I thought for a second, when Loki escaped STRIKE custody in the alternate timeline with the tessaract, that maybe the team had created a and untrimmed time branch (I still think they did, because if Rogers returned the Stone to 1970, it doesn’t fix the later botched attempt to steal it, so maybe there’s a branch reality where Loki is alive with witty trickster lines and I’ll cling to it). Then I was fooled again when Mjolnir went flying through the air I thought perhaps that Loki Odinson had returned and was worthy to wield it through his selfless sacrifice (I was only momentarily disappointed / awed to see it was Cap instead). Again, Phase 4, give me some help here!

The fact that Black Widow got no proper funeral sendoff, concluding Natasha’s long history of under-use throughout the entire Infinity Saga. Don’t get me wrong: I understand her soul stone sacrifice, and in a way I understand the people who say, “don’t take that away from her, it’s powerful.” It is. She comes from a manipulative, violent background that made her who she is and good at what she does. Throughout her history, she never had family, which she admits: “Red Skull knew my father’s name, that’s more than I ever did.” So it makes the choice more poignant that she built a family around herself and did whatever it took to keep them safe and united. That said, I wasn’t (until this film) necessarily invested in Black Widow like I am the other Avengers characters, but she’s had some great moments with Clint (I still want to see the Budapest mission, and the Iran extraction that Bucky compromised) and Rogers (Endgame: I’ve been telling everyone to move on, but not us. Winter Soldier: their getaway from Hydra-infested SHIELD) and Fury. Which is why I HATE that her only tribute was a bunch of men standing around lamenting over her (while simultaneously being oblivious to the Nebula swap, seemingly incapable of intelligent script development by McFeely and Markus around those two female characters). It would have at least been fitting if they had more regrets “why didn’t we know her better, we were supposed to be her family”, “why didn’t we appreciate her while we could” or her name added to an altered “fallen” monument. There was no payoff to her chemistry with Bruce, and no final closure with un-dusted Fury to pay his respects, which would have been a small but vastly fitting gesture. WHAT A WASTE.

Captain Marvel’s use in the film as essentially a ballistic, ship-destroying missile and her anticlimactic Thanos battle. Why use her at all in this film if it’s going to be as a plot device? She could have had potential opposite Thor, and I’ll argue that she should have been Banner’s tag-team person to bring him out of new-Asgard exile. But the Russos and writing team missed that opportunity as well. Danvers’ appearance felt hollow.

The pacing / cycle down of tension post-opening sequence was off-putting to me. I was revved up to level 10 ready to go to 11, but had to dial back down by half (ex: even though I love the montage of Tony and Nebula playing table football, it crawls by comparison to the expectations set right after Infinity War). The tonal shifts between the three acts of Endgame made me feel like I was watching two good films as opposed to the one great, legendary film I was expecting. Perhaps I came in to Endgame too pumped and needed to be more in the moment, because this displaced feeling was very strong on initial viewing, but faded the second time I saw the film.

Honorable mentions: Parts of the alternate reality “time travel” sequence really bothered me: ie the battle of New York (from A1). Hulk smash didn’t work for me, though Hulk “take the stairs” and Stark’s minor cardiac dysrhythmia corrected by Thor’s hammer were funny. Also Cap’s “I found Loki” was priceless. So I guess you have to absorb the disagreeable montages of time alterations to enjoy the good, like Banner and the Sorcerer Supreme, Howard and “Howard.”

Honorable mention #2: This movie did a hell of a job at all the couple / BroTP splitting, WTH! Steve and Sharon never stood a chance, Wanda and Vision, Banner and Natasha, Steve and Bucky, Steve and Sam, Thor and Loki, Gamora and Quill. Dammit, I hope Phase 4 at least patches up a few holes in these ships before sending in the speculated new ensemble of comics characters.

In SUMMARY: as my dislikes wane with time and my likes grow in retrospect with each saga part I rewatch, and each time I revisit A4 in theaters, I think that Avengers: Endgame, while not quite my favorite installment, will stick with me forever. What a decade! And my next great joy will be 10…15…20 years from now, when I get to meet a kid, let’s call her Morgan, who’s never seen an MCU film before and vicariously relive that first joy watching it with them. To the end of the line.

I can’t wait.

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rwbyconversations · 6 years ago

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Critical Thoughts on the Adam Short

Been about... half a week? OK, honeymoon period is over, time to go back to complaining about RWBY!

... I swear I like this show.

So this won’t be a full analysis like my Adam post a while back or the Haven Battle post. I just haven’t posted in a while and I wanna get some thoughts out. As usual, full post under the Read More for the convenience of mobile users and people on data.

So I will say, I still really like the Adam short. It’s got some great fighting, it’s a massive improvement over most of the Maya fights and it was nice to see Sienna get some action, I’d still rank it as one of the better shorts for sheer entertainment factor along with Weiss, and Lionized will almost definitely be one of my favorite songs on the OST next year. If this is the direction Adam is taken in, I can see him hopefully regaining his credibility by the end of Volume 6 and we can all hopefully treat The Scuffle of Haven as a fever dream.

But.

For all the improvements, we still should be able to look at the short, identify its flaws and then present them in such a way that CRWBY can move onwards and upwards. So please don’t take this as vitriol, I did like the short, here’s just a few things, small and large, that can be worked on in the show proper.

1) Adam’s lack of real growth.

So honest question. Tell me something about Adam that you learned as a result of the character short.

... Having a hard time? Can’t say I blame you, he doesn’t actually develop for the entire short (I wish I could say this is a one off but remember how Blake’s volume 5 short was basically just an infodump on Ilia’s backstory at the expenses of Blake).

Given how one just came out at the time I write this, let’s be a little unfair and compare RWBY’s character shorts to the animated shorts made by Overwatch. In the Overwatch shorts, each one serves a purpose in that they develop the character beyond what the game can really do. Reinhart’s short shows how broken he is over his cocksure attitude in the past getting his mentor killed, Sombra’s short shows she’s a trickster who plays both sides, and Bastion’s short is nothing short of a miracle in how much it develops Bastion as a good-hearted robot that is plagued with PTSD over the Omnic Crisis without saying a single word. Now there have been duds when it came to development in the shorts; D.Va’s recent at the time of writing short didn’t really tell us anything new, for example- but overall the shorts work as entertainment and for development purposes, and as someone who doesn’t even play Overwatch, the shorts are consistently good.

Meanwhile Adam’s short... has none of that, despite being as long on average as an Overwatch short. He’s the exact same character and we learn nothing new about him- no real signs of who Adam was that we couldn’t gather in the show proper beyond his brief shock when Sienna praises him after the first fight. Adam going into the short was a power-hungry, moderately insane extremist with a superiority complex. Leaving the short, he remains... a power-hungry, moderately insane extremist with a superiority complex. No new backstory on how he joined the White Fang, no new clues on what’s under the mask, no idea where his hatred of humanity came from. All things you’d hope would be at least teased in a Character Short.

I want to like Adam as a villain, but if no attempt is made to show how he became the mad dog that he is... why should I care? Not like the writers seem to care, they let their biases taint the writing (”Fuck Adam Taurus,” anyone?), and seem content to just say “Adam’s a respect leader in the White Fang,” “Adam hates humans,” and other such parts of his story without ever showing why.

It’s a criticism that has been beaten into the ground CRWBY, but show don’t tell.

2) Weapon spinning... really doesn’t look as cool as you think.

Like i said, small complaints as well. But, dear lord CRWBY, the weapon twirling looks really bad. CRWBY:

This Stuff. (how is Emerald even capable of spinning her weapons like that, they’re revolvers)

Doesn’t Look.

As good as you think it does. (source)

What makes it worse, especially in the case of the Adam short, is that in some other scenes, they actually made the effort to manually animate Adam blocking gunfire (4:53-55 in the trailer). I get it’s a cost-saver, but if you’re going to use this in future CRWBY, at least only use it for the characters that could realistically spin their weapons like this. Like, Qrow and Ruby weapon-spinning is acceptable (Qrow’s sword even has a function to spin for him as seen in the Tyrian fight when he blocks gunfire), but Emerald and Adam doing it pushes the suspension of disbelief.

... oh god what if Volume 6 has Yang weapon twirling Ember Celica oh god kill me-

3) KHAAAAAAAAN

Sienna’s fighting in the short was really well received, even by critics like FatManFalling. But one simple question- why make her a badass if she just dies anyway in Volume 5, and why give a fight to someone who the fans were already bitter over her death? I’ve actually seen some Sienna fans who felt more insulted by the trailer since it just made her death even more egregious. While you can read into the text and make the assumption that Sienna never thought Adam would make a move, the fact remains that when she saw the coup beginning, her Aura should have been activated, and now that the short has shown that Sienna did in fact fight on the front lines, you can’t even use the excuse that she never activated her Aura or got it to the level where she could activate it on reflex. Sienna’s fighting was great, but it felt bitter and rather pointless in the long run.

Again, let me stress- these are mostly minor details, I liked the short overall. There’s a lot of great small continuity nods (like how the White Fang soldiers in the first fight have the blue White Fang logo instead of Sienna’s red) But I’m ultimately not someone who really likes to just insist everything’s fine, nothing to worry about, there was no war in Ba Sing Se. And maybe the writing problems will have been fixed in Volume 6 proper now that Miles and Kerry have learned about the magic of beta readers to go over their scripts, we can only wait until October.

#rwby #rwby analysis #adam taurus #rwby adam character short #rwde #blake belladonna #sienna khan #rwby volume 6 #crtq

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vegalume · 7 years ago

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Secret Santa (gwss gift fic)

For @noirangetrois I hope you like it.

Title: Secret Santa

By: Vega-Lume

Pairing: Duo and Heero

A/U, OOC

Theme: Holiday get-together

Beta: ShenLong (Deb)

Archived: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13108110

@gwsecretsantaexchange @thisweekingundamwing @thisweekingundamevents

Secret Santa

By Vel

Dorothy was smiling, that alone should have tipped him off but he had been in such good spirits that he dismissed it. That was until he saw the festive envelope on his desk.

“Oh no,” Duo groaned as he turned the small red item over to inspect it. It was sealed but he already knew what he was going to find, after all he had gotten the same person as his secret Santa for the past two years.

It was rigged. It had to be.

Taking a deep breath he slid a finger under the flap to break the seal and pulled the simple white card from inside nearly wincing as he flipped it over.

‘Yuy’, printed in Director Une’s tidy script.

Tossing it on his desk he dropped into his chair with a sigh. Yuy was absolutely the worst person to have buy a gift for because no one knew anything about him, at least no one Duo knew and could ask for advice, except maybe Une but she swore to never give advice during the Secret Santa gift giving stating that if she were to tell one what to get then the gift would be from her, not them.

Yuy never really talked to anyone else and often stayed in his office all day only interacting with Une and her assistant Dorothy. Plus by the undecorated state of his office he seemed to have no real interest in anything.

“Catalonia looks rather amused,” his partner said from their open doorway. “You got Yuy again, didn’t you?”

The stink eye Duo gave his friend was conformation enough and Wufei chuckled.

“Why don’t you just buy him a gift card and be done with it?” he asked, taking a seat at his own desk. His secret Santa envelope was tucked between two manuals, most likely hidden there so Duo wouldn’t switch them.

“A gift card to where exactly?” Duo retorted. “He doesn’t like anything, hell he doesn’t even eat out.”

Wufei took a moment to contemplate the question and much to Duo’s dismay the man came up with nothing.

“See, I told you.” His head dropped to his desk with a thump. He was quiet for a moment then mumbled, “Who’d you get?”

Sliding the envelope from its hiding place Wufei opened it. “Catalonia.”

“Ouch,” Duo said in sympathy.

“Indeed.”

~*~

For two days the tiny white card mocked him from its place on the corner of his desk. He had been tempted to throw it away and pretend he had never gotten it, but that wasn’t fair to Heero. Just because a cinder block was easier to buy for it didn’t mean he should go without a gift.

He was a nice enough guy as bosses went but he was ‘management’ and Duo didn’t spend much time on the executive level of the building where Yuy and Une’s offices were located.

Picking the card up, he turned it over and over again as he thought about the other man. To be honest he didn’t really try to get to know him and aside from knowing that he had transferred to their office about five years earlier, he figured there wasn’t much else he needed to know.

Dropping the card again Duo propped elbow on the desk, resting his chin in his hand he stared at the innocent piece of cardstock.

“Willing it to burst into flames?” Wufei inquired as he shuffled through a pile of files.

“Is Yuy married?” Duo asked and Wufei stopped his shuffling.

“I don’t think so,” he replied. “He doesn’t wear a wedding ring. Why do you ask?”

“Why do you think?” Duo replied. “I just realized that the man has been my boss going on five years and I know virtually nothing about him. I mean, I know Director Une’s first name is Anne, she is a 36 year old widow with a nine year old daughter and her husband died six years ago in a car accident. She has two tiny dogs, drives a piece of shit car and is addicted to British comedy and Junior Mints.”

Wufei chuckled.

“And Dorothy, she swears like a sailor, always has her mind in the gutter and we all know she’s in a relationship with the younger sister of Milliardo in accounting, and she’d bite your balls off if you dared to say anything about it.”

“Now that is absolutely true,” Wufei agreed.

“Yuy though, the man is a mystery.”

“You could try to get to know him,” his friend pointed out and Duo frowned.

“When though?” he asked. “He stays in his office all day; he doesn’t even eat lunch in the Lounge like the rest of us.”

“Well,” Wufei began. “He seems relatively harmless, why don’t you just go up there and talk to him?”

“And have Dorothy pounce on me? No thank you.” Duo started drumming his fingers on the table.

“Tomorrow,” Wufei stated. “You can go up there when Une and Catalonia are having lunch in The Lounge, that way she won’t bother you.”

“Well, it’s worth a shot,” Duo relented.

~*~*

Duo spent most of the next morning thinking of a plausible reason to go up and talk to Yuy. It wasn’t until Wufei absently mumbled something about still needing to get Dorothy’s gift that Duo was inspired.

Yuy’s office door was open and Duo could see the man seated at his desk typing away on the computer keyboard. Taking a deep breath he tapped on the door frame and waited.

“Mister Maxwell,” Yuy greeted as he looked up from the documents stacked neatly on his desk. “Is there something I can help you with?”

Duo glanced around the almost sterile white office for a second before stepping inside.

“Actually, yes. If you have a moment?”

The other man turned his full attention on him so Duo continued, though the idea seemed a little stupid now.

“I know that the Secret Santa assignments are supposed to be secret but my partner Chang Wufei got Director Une’s assistant this year and he’s nearly pulling out his hair trying to figure out what to get her. You work with her nearly all day and I was wondering if you had any ideas or suggestions I could pass along?” Realizing he was rambling he shut up.

Yuy genuinely looked amused. Turing at the waist he pulled open one of the lower drawers in his desk and pulled out what turned out to be a catalog.

“Try this,” he said holding it out. “Most anything in here will amuse her. Just don’t get her the circled item on page ten. I already bought that for my Secret Santa.”

“Who’d you get,” Duo couldn’t help but ask as he took the book from Yuy’s outstretched hand.

“Une,” he replied.

Duo laughed. “Well thanks for this,” he said to the other man as he started for the door. Yuy simply nodded in reply and turned back to his typing. Duo couldn’t help but think that he saw a frown on Yuy’s face when he realized he was leaving.

How odd.

After riding the elevator back down to his floor, he tossed the catalog on his desk and waited for Wufei to get back from lunch.

“How did it go?” the dark haired man asked as he hung up his jacket.

“He said Dorothy would like pretty much anything in the book,” Duo replied and Wufei walked over to take a look.

“Archie McPhee?”

“Just don’t order the circled thing on page ten, Yuy already bought that for someone else.”

Out of curiosity Wufei flipped over to page ten and snickered.

“Did he say who he bought it for?” Wufei asked and Duo nodded.

“Yeah, it’s for Une.”

He laughed louder, “Look.” He held the book out.

Circled on the page was a desk name plate, but rather than having a name on it, it said ‘Fucker in charge of you Fucking Fuckers’*

“She’ll love it,” Duo grinned. Closing the book he went to hand it back when something caught his eye. Turing the book right side up, he read the address label in surprise.

“Yuy lives in my building,” he blurted.

“What?”

“Look,” he pointed to the address. “This says he lives in the north block, on the other side from my apartment.”

“How could you not know that?”

Duo frowned, “It’s a huge building and his apartment is on the north side, mine is on the south. Each side of the building has their own designated parking area and mailboxes, so there really isn’t a reason for us to run into each other there.”

Duo read the name on the label again, Heero Yuy. Now he knew what the H. painted on his door meant.

“Here, let me look through the book. I’ll pick out something then you can take it back tomorrow as another excuse to go up and talk to him.”

Duo’s scoff died when he realized that that was exactly what he was going to do as a new plan formed in his mind.

~*~

“Hey Boss man,” Duo greeted. “I brought your catalog back.”

Yuy turned quickly and Duo couldn’t help but smile at the surprised look on the other man’s face. He doubted that anyone had ever addressed him so informally before, except maybe Une or Dorothy.

However he regained his composure quickly and offered a smile in return.

“That wasn’t necessary,” he replied. Setting down his chopsticks, he started tucking his lunch container back into the insulated bag that had been sitting beside it. “I’m on their mailing list.”

“That reminds me,” Duo said as he crossed the office to set the book on the desk. “I noticed that we live in the same building. I was wondering if you’d like to carpool sometime, on Mondays and Fridays maybe. Morning traffic would be a lot more bearable with company.”

The man was quiet for a moment before replying, “Okay, ” then asked, “Where is your apartment?”

“South block number b428,” Duo readily replied. “On days when you drive I can meet you in the north lot and when I drive you can come to the south lot. Does that work for you?”

“Perfectly. How about I drive on Friday and you drive on Monday to start?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Duo approved then started for the door again, wanting to get off of the executive floor before Dorothy and Une got back from lunch. “So I’ll meet you in the north lot, 7 am tomorrow.”

Heero nodded, a small smile on his lips and Duo waved over his shoulder as he strode out into the hall.

That went far more smoothly than Duo had anticipated. There was bound to be something in Heero’s car to give Duo an idea as to what to get him, there just had to be.

~*~

The next morning Duo was a bit disappointed. Heero’s small, white four-door car, with pale grey upholstery was as barren as his office and had a distinct and almost headache inducing ‘new car’ smell. Boring.

They rode to the office in silence. Walked through the parking garage in silence and rode the elevator in silence. With a small nod to the other man, Duo stepped out onto his floor and watched the doors close to carry the other man up two more floors.

With a deep sigh he walked to the office he shared with Wufei and started working.

Several hours later his phone chirped and he looked down at the screen to read his message. Wufei was back from his meeting and was having lunch in The Lounge.

He shut down his computer and grabbed his jacket. The elevator was stuffed full of folks heading down to lunch so he made his way to the stairwell taking the steps as quickly as he could, making it down the six flights to the ground floor so quickly that he beat the elevator.

Though the line was long the wonderful ladies that ran the restaurant worked swiftly to ensure that everyone got fed before their lunch hours were up, especially since many of the people worked in the surrounding buildings.

Spotting Wufei seated near a window, he weaved his way through the crowd, dropping his change in the ‘Holiday Chest’, a special bonus for one lucky part-timer or unpaid intern who would be chosen at random by computer during the party in two weeks.

Gently pushing his way between the wall and a woman, he sat beside his friend. “Well, that was a bust,” Duo said glumly as he set his tray on the table.

Wufei raised an eyebrow in question; he had been out of the office for a meeting and hadn’t seen Duo all morning.

“We carpooled this morning and Heero’s car is just at sterile as his office is,” Duo elaborated. Someone bumped him and the veggies plopped out of the bottom of his sandwich to land on his tray with a splat. He frowned but picked them up with his fingers and ate them anyway.

“Mr. Yuy eats in his office, right? Why don’t you get him a lunch bag or a Bento box for his gift?” Wufei commented around his mouthful.

“He has one,” Duo replied. “I saw it yesterday when I took the catalog back.”

“A lunch bag, or a Bento box?”

“Both,” Duo responded. “And chopsticks with a storage case and a thermal bottle.” He sighed. His left elbow propped on the table his chin resting in his upturned palm while his right hand fingers drummed the table in agitation.

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you,” Wufei said as he stood, tray in hand. “But you only have two weeks left until the party.”

Duo groaned, his head dropping to the table.

Wufei just chuckled and patted his shoulder before walking away.

With a sigh Duo sat up and finished his sandwich. When he joined Wufei in the office, about twenty minutes later he had a new game plan.

Now since Heero had that catalog mailed to his home there was a good chance he liked the stuff the store carried as well and Duo had two weeks, with luck he could order something and have it delivered in time, all he had to do was decide what to get.

Easier said than done.

As he searched the store’s web site he found hundreds of hilarious things that would make good gifts, some of which, if he wanted to be honest, he would have liked to have gotten for himself. The website had a sister store that carried clothing items and something tugged at his memory but before he could put his finger on it another page loaded he spotted something he hadn’t noticed before.

They had a local store.

“Yes!”

Wufei’s head shot up from where he was hunched over a file and Duo grinned.

“Sorry, inspiration struck,” Duo apologized.

“It’s about time,” his friend grumbled seemingly disinterested as he turned back to his work.

The work day couldn’t end fast enough for Duo and he was nearly bouncing in seat waiting for the time to clock out.

~*~*~

“You seem like you’re in a good mood,” Heero commented as he pressed the button on his key fob, unlocking the car doors.

“I had a breakthrough on a project I’ve been working on,” Duo replied keeping a discrete eye on Heero as the man climbed into the car, at seeing the flash of color at the other mans ankle Duo fought the grin he felt tugging at his lips. Turing his attention to his seat belt he buckled up.

Heero slid his key in the ignition and Duo noticed something else, on the back of the fob was the mascot for his old high school.

“The Cougars,” Duo asked with a nod towards the steering column. “You went to Brooks?”

He nodded, “96 to 99.”

“Me too,” Duo replied and Heero said, “I know, I was on the yearbook committee. You were in a lot of clubs.”

“Small world,” Duo commented and sat deeper in his seat as the car pulled out of the parking space, “Same high school, same apartment building, and same workplace.”

“Same Middle School too,” Heero added as he navigated their way through the large underground parking area and out onto the street. “We had science with Mrs. Summers in 7th grade.”

“You’re shitting me,” Duo blurted and Heero chuckled.

“I shit you not,” he smiled. “I sat in the front near the window.”

“Wait a minute,” Duo struggled, “You had glasses and braces right? That shithead Donavan picked on you.”

Heero frowned at the mention of the school bully but nodded anyway.

“I do remember you and not for the glasses,” he added quickly. “You won a state chess thing or something like that; you were in the school paper. There was a huge trophy in the case near the main office.”

“Actually, I came in second in the final competition,” Heero replied. “The trophy was because I came in first within our city.”

“Still a great accomplishment,” Duo said sincerely and Heero smiled.

The tall apartment complex loomed before them, Heero scanned his pass and the security gates opened allowing the car to enter the North block parking area.

Heero stopped the car near the pedestrian walkway near the elevators so Duo wouldn’t have to walk as far to get to his apartment.

“I’ll pick you up by the South block elevator, Monday at 7,” Duo said.

“See you then,” Heero replied and pulled away after the passenger door closed.

Duo waited until the car was out of sight before skirting around the support wall then dashing across the garage to south end where his car was waiting.

The store he was looking for was in the mall and it wasn’t as crowded as he feared, allowing him to browse the aisles in relative peace. Before he had panicked at the thought of not finding a gift at all, now he couldn't decide which one of the items in his armload he was going to settle on.

A store employee looked up from the box she was unpacking and tucked a thick hank of golden blonde hair behind her ear as Duo dithered over two of the items in his ever growing pile.

“Is there anything I can help you with?” she asked and he turned to face her.

“Not really, I’m just trying to decide which of these to get for my Secret Santa.”

“Why don’t you just get them both?” she suggested. “Those are on sale, buy one get the other half off.”

Duo grinned, “Thanks!” he called out to her and gathered the items and went to pay for them. The girl just shrugged and went back to the shelving.

Back in his apartment later that night Duo stared at the shopping bag, wondering now how he was going to present the gift. He didn’t want to just dump everything in a box, especially since Heero had opted to get his gift at the party and not through the inter-office mail like most.

With a sigh he went to the kitchen to start his dinner.

Meal cooked, consumed, and cleaned up and he still didn’t know what he was going to do with the gift now that he had it.

Upending the bag on the kitchen counter he sifted through it, setting aside the one thing he had bought for himself before looking over each item again. With a frustrated growl he started stuffing everything back in the bag when his pile of mail caught his attention.

He snickered as an idea formed.

~*~*~*~*

Heero was adorably groggy Monday morning as he climbed into Duo’s warm car, he settled into the seat with his eyes closed, nursing a large mug coffee. It was painfully obvious the boss man wasn’t a morning person, and like Friday the ride to was quiet with nothing said past a soft ‘good morning’.

Duo sat in his office, his eyes going to the clock as it inched towards the lunch hour.

“Hello Duo,” Quatre called as he slipped the handful of mail into the box that hung on the office door.

“Oh, hey Kat, Duo greeted in reply. “Say, have you delivered the mail to the bosses yet?”

“Nope,” he replied. “I start at the bottom floor and work my way up. Why do you ask?”

Duo opened his desk and pulled out a small padded envelope. “Could you pop this in Yuy’s mailbox for me? I planned on doing it but I don’t want Dorothy pouncing on me.”

Quatre laughed and took the envelope, slipping into Yuy’s mail pile. “I’ll make sure he gets it.”

“Thanks Kat.”

As the blond disappeared from view, Duo’s eyes went back to the clock.

~*~*~*~

“Hello Quatre,” Dorothy purred. She was seated at her desk directly across the room from the elevator, Une’s office to her left, Yuy’s to the right. Though she was primarily Une’s secretary she did help Yuy from time to time so her desk was placed where she could be easily accessible to both the director and assistant director.

“Miss Catalonia,” he greeted pleasantly, rolling his cart silently across the carpet. He pulled a bundle from the basket and placed it on her desk before selecting another, stuffing it into the mailbox on Yuy’s closed door, then repeating the process with Une’s mail. With a nod towards the other blond he turned his cart and headed back to the elevator.

Several minutes later an office door opened and Heero collected his mail. Leaving the door open he returned to his desk and sifted through it. On the bottom of the pile he found a manila envelope with just his name printed on the front. There was no indication as to whom it was from; it wasn’t even sealed, just held closed with the flap tucked inside. His brow puckered as he pulled the flap up and peered inside.

A smile spread across his face as he pulled the soft item out and looked it over. It was a pair of socks. They were two toned grey, but it was the words woven into them that amused him. ‘Worst Gift Ever’ was printed on the ankles where it could be clearly seen while being worn. There was also a little cartoon sock with a frown seated on some steps under the words. Tucking them back into the envelope he slipped it in his briefcase and went back to work.

The next day there was another envelope and another pair of socks. This pair boldly stated, ‘I’m not Bossy, I’m the Boss.’

On Wednesday the pair had, ‘I love my job… Ha, ha! Just kidding!’

By Thursday he was waiting for Quatre so he could collect his mail in person and had to bite his tongue to not laugh at the ‘Ringmaster of the Shit Show’ socks he received that day.

“Good morning,” Duo called as Heero pulled up Friday morning, he couldn’t help a discreet glance at Heero’s ankle, but the pants covered the socks entirely so he wasn’t able to see if he was wearing any of the socks he had given him.

Climbing into the car he settled into the seat and enjoyed the quiet ride to work.

“Hey boss man,” Duo smiled from the door. It was lunch and the ladies were down in The Lounge enjoying the special deserts Mrs. Grimble made on Fridays. Nearly everyone had bought a raffle ticket to win the ‘One year of free Friday desert’ Mrs. Grimble donated to their Christmas party every year.

“Hello Duo,” Heero smiled.

Duo couldn’t help but notice the envelope still sitting on Heero’s desk, today’s pair had said ‘Adult in Training’. “I brought you a slice of Mrs. Gimble’s cheesecake,” he said holding up the small insulated carton. “On Monday I remember you saying you loved it but hated the crowds down in The Lounge.”

“You didn’t have to,” he said but Duo could see he really wanted it so he just deposited it on the desk and set the plastic fork beside it. “Thank you.”

“No problem, I'll see you after work.”

That evening Duo’s observations paid off and he spotted a flash of grey and orange as Heero stepped into the car. ‘Ringmaster of The Shit Show’ it was and Duo was insanely pleased that Heero was wearing the gifts.

They chatted through the ride, mostly about the horror that was high school.

“Do you have any plans this weekend?” he surprised himself by asking just as Heero stopped by the elevator in the apartment garage and Heero looked over at him.

“Not really, just housekeeping and shopping. Why?”

“No reason, I just didn’t have any plans and wondered if you wanted to hang out or something.”

Heero didn’t hesitate, “Sure, you can come over tomorrow around five if you want, and we could watch a movie.”

Duo grinned and climbed from the car, “I’ll bring some snacks.”

Heero waved through the window after the door was closed and drove off.

Duo didn’t know why he was nervous as he walked down the long hallway that was identical to the one that led to his apartment, but it felt kind of weird visiting Heero in his home, though they had known of each other for over a decade they had only known each other for a week.

Shifting the bag to one arm he knocked on the door. A moment later it opened and the slightly shorter man stepped back so Duo could enter. Heero was dressed casually in a pair of worn, faded jeans, a t-shirt and the ‘I love my Job’ socks.

Heero offered to take the shopping bag to the kitchen as Duo looked around the room in interest. The layout was basically the same as his own, just mirrored. The built in shelving units were stuffed with books and the furniture looked comfortable and inviting.

Heero joined him on the sofa near the fireplace several minutes later, setting out the snacks so they were in easy reach.

They decided to stream a movie on the vid and sat back to enjoy it.

After the movie they ordered Chinese food and watched another movie while they ate. As it neared eleven they called it a night and Heero walked him to the door.

“See you Monday morning,” he said in lieu of goodbye and Duo just smiled, tossing a little wave over his shoulder as he strolled away from the door.

~*~*~*

Walking into the office on Monday was a treat; it was like the entire holiday department of Wal-Mart had exploded all over the building over the weekend. There were lights on the cubicles, ornaments on the light fixtures, stickers of Santa and Christmas trees stuck to the elevator doors, garland and streamers draped over everything, including employees, or so it seemed as Quatre was festooned with glittery stuff as he made his rounds.

Heero didn’t expect any more socks so he was delighted when another envelope found its way to his mailbox everyday for another week.

On Monday he found ‘Cute by Psycho’, Tuesday it was ‘I Hate Everyone Too.’ Wednesday was, ‘Certified Pain in the Ass’ and on Thursday was ‘Happy Elfin’ Holidays’, that pair he wore to work the next day and Duo didn’t miss the vibrant red and green of them as Heero stepped out of the car when they arrived to work on Friday.

“I brought my own lunch today because the Lounge is closed in preparation for the party,” Duo said as they rode the elevator. “Want some company for lunch?”

“Always,” Heero replied.

“Okay,” Duo stepped out on his floor, “See you at noon.”

Heero nodded once as the door slid shut. Duo snickered at the jolly Santa that came into view as the door closed and turned to his office.

After setting out the last envelope for Quatre he turned on his computer, logged in and started the workday.

Heero looked up as Quatre slipped an envelope in the mailbox and walked away. Heero hadn’t expected to get one today as he had planned on going to the party. The last gift should have been sent down to The Lounge so the party guests could get them there. It was tradition to exchange them at the party. Some even opted to open them there so others could see what they got.

Pulling the package from the slot he carried over to his desk and opened the flap. This pair was gold and brown ‘ugly sweater’ pattern, they didn’t say anything at all, but featured a pair of fornicating reindeer that fortunately were situated low enough on the ankle not to be seen when wearing.

He laughed loudly and Dorothy’s confused mumble of “What the hell?” could be heard though his still open door. He ignored her and tucked the socks into his briefcase.

~*~*~

The Lounge wasn’t a crowded as he expected it to be, but it was the last shopping day before Christmas so most of the staff had probably taken off to get some last minute shopping done. Also most of the folks in the building had opted to get their Secret Santa gifts and bonuses through the inter-office mail earlier that day. There really was no reason to stick around for the party unless they were trying for one of the raffle prizes, you had to be present to claim the prize if you won.

Though lunch in Heero’s office had been nice Duo was a nervous wreck. The gift he had finally settled on didn’t seem like such a good idea now. He had forgotten that people liked to open and share what they got at the party and what he got wasn’t something he really wanted to share. He had been tempted to run out to the store and grab another pair of socks and save the other gift for later, but the holiday party started right after clock out and Heero had driven that day. There was no way he could get all the way to the store and back without missing a huge chunk of the party.

Taking a seat near the back of the room he watched as folks mingled, chatting and snacking while listening to the upbeat Christmas music. The actual exchange wouldn’t happen until after all the raffle prizes had been given out and the raffle was set to begin the moment Une arrived with the name of the winner of the special ‘Holiday Chest’.

“May I?” Heero called loudly to be heard over the music and indicated to the empty chair with his cup of punch.

“Please do,” Duo replied in an equal tone and Heero slid into the chair. He had removed his suit jacket and tie, and had rolled the sleeves of his button down shirt up to his elbows. Duo felt that warm sort of squish in his gut again and once again wished he had brought a ‘dummy’ gift for the party so he could give the real gift without so many eyes on them.

Dorothy had invited her girlfriend and the two women were up on the tiny stage singing a Karaoke version of ‘Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree’ while Quatre laughed as he his boyfriend Trowa danced amongst the dozen others all moving together near the large artificial tree.

Zechs and his wife were seated at a table with Wufei, all huddled close so they could hear each other over the loud, surprisingly well performed song. As the music ended Une made her appearance so Dorothy turned it down so it was more of a comfortable background hum, then she and Relena found a table leaving the stage for Une.

“Happy holiday’s everyone,” Une said as she took up the microphone. “I would like to begin this year’s announcement with the ‘Holiday Chest.’ As you all know this special gift is only for the part time employees and the unpaid interns. At this time I would like to thank all of the salaried employees that donated the funds to make this special gift possible.” She paused briefly as the guests applauded. After things quieted down again she continued, pulling an envelope from her pocket that contained a single randomly, computer drawn name, she tore it open, “Mrs. Valentina Garcia.”

“Congratulations Teeny,” a woman called out as the petite mother of three who worked in executive housekeeping appeared, accepting the small chest from Une with a stunned looked on her face. The ‘Chest’ always contained the paper change from the patrons of the Lounge as well as other monetary gifts that people had been adding for the past two weeks. Though only the recipient knew how much was inside, it was rumored that past chests held upwards of $2,000.

The crowd applauded again as a security guard guided her to the door, then took the chest for safe keeping so she could enjoy the rest of the party. He would walk her to her car later if she so wanted.

After the roar died down again Une pulled out a sheet of paper, “Now for the raffle prizes. One month priority parking goes to Lewis Stevenson. $100 gift card to Suzy Wong, free hot drink every Monday for a year from Roasted Bean to Gloria Stuart, another $100 gift card Anna Lee Masterson…” After each name the crowd clapped and Une continued down the list, reading off nearly two dozen names, “And, for the most coveted of raffle prizes, one free desert every Friday for a year from Mrs. Grimble and The Lounge to Duo Maxwell.”

“Oh you lucky bastard,” Dorothy blurted. Rather than be insulted Duo laughed and replied, “Tell you what Dorothy, you can have the first piece of cheesecake, consider it my Christmas gift to you.” Relena nudged her girlfriend and the other woman smiled.

“Now for the gifts,” Une announced and with the help of a few of the employees the pile of gifts was distributed. Duo didn’t miss the flash of disappointment on Heero’s face when nothing was set before him but it faded quickly into a look of interest at the parcel that Duo received.

It was from Sylvia, one of the girls that worked on the second floor, he didn’t really know what she did but apparently she had good taste in movies. He looked though the stack of six films and said to Heero, “Want to have another movie night?”

Before Heero had a chance to reply Wufei let out an indignant squawk that was quickly followed by a loud peal of laughter from Dorothy. The pair turned to the other table and saw Wufei holding up a rather large wall calendar filled with scantily dressed firemen.

“That isn’t the real gift,” she managed through the laughter. “There’s a gift card in the back.”

Finding the gift card to Barns and Noble, he tucked it aside and watched as the woman opened her gift. Inside the small square box she found a plain, glossy black coffee mug. She turned it over in her hands and let out a bark of laughter. Tipping it up she showed the other the bottom of the mug where a hand with a raised middle finger was printed.

“Thank you for the thoughtful gift Chang,” she said as she returned the cup to its box.

Zechs opened his gift next and more laughter followed as he held up a generic bath and body set with ‘Macho Peach Mango’ scented products. Knowing a gag gift when he saw one he sifted through the paper in the box and found a hard cover novel he had been interested in.

“Who was your gift from,” his wife asked and he checked the tag again.

“Une,” he replied.

“Anne, what did you get?” Noin called and the other woman carried her gift over to show the others.

“Oh this is priceless,” Dorothy commented as she held the name plate up. Duo grinned, he remembered seeing it circled in the catalog. “Who gave it to you?”

“Heero,” she replied.

Duo turned to see Heero’s expression, his smile slipping from his face when he realized Heero wasn’t sitting across from him anymore.

Gathering up his movie disks he got up and squeezed through the crowd and out into the lobby.

“Hey Ben, have you seen Mr. Yuy?” Duo asked the security guard posted by the main entrance.

“He just took the elevator down,” the older man replied, “Number 6.”

“Thanks,” Duo replied, already making his way to the bank of elevators. He jabbed the down button and number 2 dinged. Stepping inside he pressed P2, his foot tapping impatiently as he was carried down to the second parking level. When the door opened he could hear the faint click of footsteps. Hurrying in that direction he spotted the other man as he neared his car.

“Heero?” Duo called his voice echoing loudly in the underground parking structure. The other man stopped and turned with an acknowledging nod.

“I’m sorry, I know I drove you but I've had enough of the party…”

“I was your Secret Santa.” Heero frowned at the quickly revealed statement but Duo forged on. “I did get you something but I didn’t want you opening it where everyone was watching.” He finished by holding out a small, unwrapped box.

Heero accepted it with a curious expression and removed the lid.

Duo’s heart raced as Heero stared at the contents for several excruciating minutes, then he looked up pinning Duo with his gaze and smiled.

Stepping closer, Duo lifted the mistletoe from the box and held it above Heero’s head.

Heero’s eyes darted up to look at the small plant Duo was dangling over him then turned so their eyes met.

Duo leaned in and their lips met.

Heero’s eyes were closed when Duo pulled back, his lips tingling from the kiss.

“How about we start our movie night tonight?” Duo asked, his movies disks still in his other hand.

Heero chuckled as his eyes blinked open; he nodded and pressed the fob to unlock the car. “I really love the socks,” he said as they climbed into the car and Duo laughed. He had figured that Duo had been the one giving him the socks even before he told him he was his Secret Santa.

“Me too,” he replied pulling his pant leg up to show Heero a pair that said, ‘Not Gonna Lie, I Just Make Shit Up.’

Climbing into the car he leaned across, “Merry Christmas,” Duo whispered before closing the gap between them again.

Owari

Notes:

Archie McPhee doesn’t make those name plates or the coffee mug but you can get them on Amazon for about $15 each.

Tiny cameo from my OCs Lindy, as the employee in the store, and her mother Valentina as the recipient of the Holiday Chest.

Sorry (not sorry) I love socks for Christmas.

The sister site is Blue Q (not actually a sister site) and all the socks can be found on their site except the last two pairs that Heero gets, the last pair was inspired by an Invader Zim fan art I saw where Dib is holding up an Ugly Christmas sweater with fornicating Reindeer on the front (Zim looked unimpressed) the other pair (Happy Elfin’ Holiday), I actually own but I don’t remember where I got them, most likely Wal-Mart.

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#gw secret santa #thisweekingundamwing #gundam wing fanfiction #1x2x1 #duo maxwell #heero yuy #duo x heero

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chan-chanyeol · 7 years ago

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aurora

kyungsoo short fic for @hitchhikingbabeh for her birthday!!! i love u dear i hope this day treats you well. <3 1.7k words

Now, you’re quite proud of some of your work. Not all of it, not even the majority of it, but some, and that’s an accomplishment for you. But there are a few habits that you know successful writers don’t harbor and you’re trying to better yourself as you enter the world of writing as a profession.

Keeping care of yourself during deadlines is not one of them.

“Have you eaten today?”

You forcefully pull your gaze from your laptop screen to the doorway of your office (which is really just the guest room in your 2-bedroom apartment) and try to make out the hazy shape. It looks human, sounds human, but what human would have a key to your apartment?

“Well?”

Kyungsoo.

You let your eyes adjust from the brightness of your laptop to the darkness of the room, and he comes into view. Standing there, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed across his chest. He looks disappointed, but can you blame him? You spare a quick glance to the small clock in the corner of your screen and note that it’s past 5pm. You’re not quite sure the last time you fell asleep…

“Um,” you start. “Does water count as a meal?”

You swear he rolls his eyes at you but he’s so backlit at the moment you could only assume he has some sort of annoyed look on his face right now. “No it doesn’t,” he says, pushing off of the doorframe and disappearing into your apartment.

You swivel back in your chair to face your computer. Your deadline is in three days. You’re done with this short story you’re submitting, but you’re not done editing it for the fourth time to make sure it’s really really good. You had your dearest friend Kyungsoo read it two days ago when you finished it, and like the music major, acting minor he is, he said “it’s good” and gave you no feedback. None. Zero. So now you’re forced to pour over the words you’ve written over and over until you completely hate it, and then revise it once more for grammar and send it off.

“Tea doesn’t count as water, either. Especially not caffeinated tea,” Kyungsoo says, flicking on the light in the room you’ve occupied for the last four days. You squint and resort to closing your eyes as you adjust to the stark contrast. He must’ve found your old teabags by your kettle. How does he deduce things so easily?

“Tea is just leaf water,” you defend, watching him place a small plate of crackers and a glass of water on your desk. You can tell he’s squished peanut butter between saltines, an adequate snack. Your gaze shifts between the food and Kyungsoo, who’s hovering over you and staring you down until reach for a cracker. Well, he’s not really staring you down, but his deadpanned resting expression is similar enough.

“I’m not hungry,” you say, taking a small bite. Then shoving the whole thing into your mouth.

“This’ll hold you over until the food is ready,” he informs, exiting the bedroom and not being polite enough to even turn off the light.

You’d get up and flick it off yourself if you weren’t mid-sentence editing commas for clarity. You read the paragraph you’re on at least three times, once more for good measure, and then you grab the glass and take a hefty gulp of water. You’re currently surrounded by three empty tea cups, with their dark brown stains settled at the bottom as memories of decent tea you had hours upon hours ago. You’ve resorted to numerous types of breakfast teas to get you through this editing process. You figure that since it says ‘breakfast’ in the title, there must be some amount of needed nutrients in them.

Once again, you’re lost in the world of your own writing. You’re eager to find any problems. You check for grammar as well as clarity of the sentences, but you never resort to changing an entire sentence or paragraph because it ‘runs on’ or ‘has too many commas’. What’s more important is the feeling of the words, of the sentences, the paragraphs. You check for character continuity, plot points, and if your subtle meanings are coming across (well, of course they are to you, you’re the author. The audience can figure it out on their own.) You check for indentations, spelling, how many times you’ve written the word said—

“Food’s ready!”

And then you’re pulled back.

You stop hunching over your laptop and turn your head to the doorway, wondering if you heard right. Food? Who’s here making you food? How long have they been here? You turn back to your screen to adjust a few things when—

“Did you hear me?”

Kyungsoo’s back in your doorway, looking at you with that scary expression. But the second you look back at him, eyes wide like you’ve forgot he was here (because you did), he lets out a light laugh.

“C’mon,” he says, shoving his hands into his pockets. You note a few spatters of what you hope to be tomato sauce on his shirt. “I made food. You need to come eat.”

You both have a short staredown, seeing as you’re probably melded to your desk chair at this point, but his eyes flit over to the little plate of crackers he left for you and he notices nothing left. Guilty, you don’t verbally admit you were hungry enough to eat all the crackers, and drink all the water, and still have room for more— so instead you manually save your work a few times before closing your laptop and letting it get some much needed rest. Kyungsoo’s face softens as you rise from your chair with a little more effort than usually needed, and he lets you lead the way out the room and into the kitchen.

How you didn’t notice the smells of his cooking before, you’d never know. But as you walk into the kitchen to grab a new glass of water, you bask in the smell of pasta, bread, and a sauce you know he made from scratch (there’s nothing that smells that good in your pantry).

“That’s a lot of food,” you note, seeing the strainer full of pasta. “It’s not all for me, right?”

Kyungsoo makes two plates of pasta and heaps the sauce on top. “No,” he says. “There’s enough for us tonight and for leftovers later. I figure this is an easy food to reheat.”

You smile over the rim of your glass and watch as he places a few pieces of garlic bread on each plate and goes to set them on your dining room table. You snag a few pieces of silverware and napkins and go and help him set the table. Once you were both situated across from each other, a plate in front of the both of you, you properly thanked him for the meal before taking a bite.

And it was stupendous. You’re far too spoiled by him you think as you dig into the pasta. It’s as good as you remember, with all the spices blended into the sauce that you assumed he made from scratch, and the pasta itself cooked just right, you wonder why he didn’t become a chef.

“Thank you for this,” you mumble between bites. “This is the best meal I’ve eaten in weeks.

“I bet,” he teases. “You never eat well around a deadline.”

You give him a closed-mouth smile since your face is full of food and go right back to eating. Dinner, if you can call it that at around 2am, is enjoyed in comfortable silence.

And once you finished eating, you went right back to work.

Much to Kyungsoo’s dismay, you go and sit back in your desk chair and open up your laptop. With a dramatic crack of your knuckles, you reread what you had just edited with fresh eyes.

“You’re not going to sleep?” He asks, going to sit on the bed in the room.

“No, I’d be too stressed to sleep,” you say, typing away on your laptop.

Kyungsoo sighs and stands up from the bed, exiting the room but returning within a minute. You glance his way and see his schoolbag, but you’re blinded again as he turns on the light. You shake off the stun and look back to your screen, and off the reflection you see Kyungsoo lounging on the bed reading some sort of script. Guess you’re both going to get some work done.

And get work done you did.

After feeling newly refreshed from a decent and hearty meal, you sped through page after page of your story, editing it and simply rereading it. You found any problems and fixed them immediately. It felt like it flowed better, smoother, that the characters felt wholesome and real, and you were immensely satisfied. Well, satisfied enough to send it off to a few of your class friends to give it a final read for notes before you submit it. And it sounds like Kyungsoo got a lot of work done, too, judging by how many pages you heard getting flipped back and forth. He must be learning his lines for an upcoming project.

The sun was peaking through the blinds on the window when you closed your laptop again. You look over your shoulder to see Kyungsoo dead asleep, script abandoned beside him as he huddled up to the wall on the side of the bed. He always stayed in this room when he stayed over.

Seeing him asleep brought the sudden reminder of how exhausted you are. You could barely stand up and flick the light off, not trusting your wobbly legs to bring you all the way to your room, and instead shuffling back towards the twin sized bed where Kyungsoo lay. You nicely put his script on the nightstand before gently crawling on top of the bed, pulling the spare blanket at the bottom up and over both you and Kyungsoo. You make a point to lay on your side, facing away and towards your desk, just in case he wakes up and is weirded out by you joining him.

But when you do wake up, hours upon hours later, you’re tangled in his arms and you can’t seem to find a problem with that.

#kyungsoo #exo #kyungsoo scenario #exo scenario #writings

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reconditarmonia · 4 years ago

Text

Dear Rule 63 Author

Hi! Thank you for writing for me! I’m reconditarmonia here and on AO3. I have anon messaging off, but, er, I can answer any questions you might have about my requests in my mod capacity if you contact the exchange email ;)

Fullmetal Alchemist | Machineries of Empire | Moby Dick | Mulan | Robin Hood

General likes:

– Relationships that aren’t built on romance or attraction. They can be romantic or sexual as well, but my favorite ships are all ones where it would still be interesting or compelling if the romantic component never materialized.

– Loyalty kink! Trust, affectionate or loving use of titles, gestures of loyalty, replacing one’s situational or ethical judgment with someone else’s, risking oneself (physically or otherwise) for someone else, not doing so on their orders. Can be commander-subordinate or comrades-in-arms.

– Heists, or other stories where there’s a lot of planning and then we see how the plan goes.

– Femslash, complicated or intense relationships between women, and female-centric gen. Women doing “male” stuff (possibly while crossdressing).

– Stories whose emotional climax or resolution isn’t the sex scene, if there is one.

– Uniforms/costumes/clothing.

– Stories, history, and performance. What gets told and how, what doesn’t get told or written down, behavior in a society where everyone’s consuming media and aware of its tropes, how people create their personas and script their own lines.

Smut Likes: clothing, uniforms, sexual tension, breasts, manual sex, cunnilingus, grinding, informal d/s elements, intensity; stories whose resolution isn’t the sex scene. DNW "pussy."

A note: if we matched on an / ship, I generally don't require you to include a kiss, sex, or overt romantic language if you feel that you'd have to shoehorn it in. I'll trust that you wrote it with shippy intent.

General DNW: rape/dubcon, torture, other creative gore; unrequested AUs, including “same setting, different rules” AUs such as soulmates/soulbonds; PWP; food sex; embarrassment; focus on pregnancy; Christmas/Christian themes; focus on unrequested canon or non-canon ships; swapping female characters to male; unrequested trans versions of characters.

About Rule 63 Exchange specifically: I have no strong preference for character names, with a slight preference for sticking with their canon names; it’s up to you whether you want to justify any resulting names that would be unusual for women or just gloss over it. As far as characters’ personalities and gender expression are concerned, I tend to want to see them as similar to their canon selves, just female. I’m probably fine with unrequested characters also being swapped to female, but feel free to check if you’re not sure. I don't expect, nor particularly want, a big deal made over characters' strong gender identity qua identity as female or whatnot.

—

Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist

Ship(s): F!Roy Mustang/Riza Hawkeye

I love Roy and Riza's loyalty kink in canon so very much, so...what if they were lesbians

There are definitely some worldbuilding-y places this could go - the Amestrian military obviously has female soldiers in it, but not as many as male, especially at the higher echelons, apparently, and we don't see any female State Alchemists; does Roy's status as a powerful alchemist also vault her into a position of command and influence that most women, barring Olivier, don't get to? With regard specifically to how their relationship is different worldbuilding-wise, some kind of document or documents (newspaper, history book) or other outsider perspective on President Mustang and her decades-long professional relationship with Riza Hawkeye, so close they even live together/travel together/entertain guests together, neither of them ever married, that sort of thing? Is Roy's obfuscating public image in this AU still about going with a lot of women, or are they men? (butch or otherwise known lesbian Roy is great, but also not necessary)

But I'd be equally happy to see a fic that didn't deal with that, and that was just canon dynamics but more so and with lesbians. I love their trust and competence and stoically hidden but very very intense feelings, the willingness to risk oneself or the other person, or to stake a lot on the other person’s competence (and willingness to hurt or sacrifice the other person because their shared cause says it’s right, too, all the times that comes up), the fighting together in tandem. Is there a dangerous mission (or intelligence-collecting situation) where their deep familiarity/trust/awareness of each other’s presence and fighting style and communication come into play (god, that bit in canon where Hawkeye shoots two guys right over Mustang’s shoulder), or where they worry about each other’s safety? I love the "protect my back" exchange so, so much (I'm particularly interested in fics set during a time when that is already part of their relationship history, rather than fics set in Ishval or shortly after, and I am not really interested in fics set when they were children or young adults at all) and the way that, eventually, ends up playing out with regard to Envy. I love the intimacy of their work relationship and personal history, on levels from casual to very intense, and would love it with sexual tension in how they notice and appreciate each other’s physicality and presence and competence (hands??? muscles?) Pining up to 11, or resolved sexual tension?

Fandom-Specific DNW: framing of the Ishvalan genocide as a bad situation that happened to the Amestrian characters

—

Fandom: Machineries of Empire

Ship(s): F!Shuos Jedao/Ajewen Cheris; F!Shuos Jedao & Ajewen Cheris

I know sound like a broken record throughout this letter/signup, but I love Cheris and Jedao's friendship and loyalty kink ("Now and forever, I'm your gun" and the kneeling! aaahhh!) and, you know, what if that, but also Jedao were a hot woman.

I don't have a lot of specific plot prompts - just a general interest in intense feelings, "codependency" as understood by fandom, loyalty and trust holding up under strain, deferring to someone’s competence or sense of ethics even though you don’t know how it will turn out, making difficult choices, verbal or nonverbal displays of loyalty like the kneeling and swearing and the WHOLE KEL GLOVE THING. I'd be excited to read something set during the Ninefox timeframe when Jedao is in Cheris's head, but I think I would be most interested in something set post-Glass Cannon when oh my god, they were roommates telepathically bonded, after all the plot events that create that strong Jedao->Cheris loyalty. Jedao's canonical kinks are *thumbs up* (I've requested general audiences fic as well as explicit, so it's also fine if they don't come up or if they're referred to but not, er, acted out onscreen).

Fandom-Specific DNW: I’m aware that there’s a lot of torture and dubcon in canon. I don’t mind if you mention that they exist but I’d like to reiterate that I absolutely do not want any onscreen, or any details of torture even mentioned. DNW male Kujen or Ruo in this AU; if you don't feel like swapping them to women I would rather they not be mentioned.

—

Fandom: Moby Dick

Ship(s): F!Captain Ahab & None; F!Captain Ahab & F!Pequod Crew; F!Ishmael/F!Queequeg

I'd love to know more about these female sailor(s) and what drives them. A female Ishmael might still decide to sign on to a ship whenever she gets the blues, but it'd be socially fairly different, mightn't it? (Worldbuilding-wise, I'd be more interested in a world where sailing and whaling are still typically male things as in our world, even if you make them a little less exclusively male, than an egalitarian or matriarchal world; something that women might do, without necessarily disguising themselves as men, but a GNC thing to do.) Would her already diverging from the "expected" female path in this regard affect her reception of Queequeg as someone who's an outsider to Nantucket society, and the intimacy she offers? What does she still find outlandish? As for Queequeg herself, is her life a typical female life for her home culture, or not?

As for Ahab - just imagine this fanatic, tragic, vengeful character as a woman - with the willpower not only to do all the things canonical male Ahab does but also in a society where women aren't really supposed to sail or kill or lead! Is she the odd one out in an otherwise male crew, or are there more women in the crew by the time she's captain?

—

Fandom: Mulan

Ship(s): Fa Mulan/F!Li Shang; Fa Mulan & F!Li Shang & F!Yao &F!Chien Po & F!Ling

I would...just love it so much if you Monstrous Regiment-ed this canon up. Shang also being a woman would give her even more reasons to be a hardass (is she in disguise, and thinks that her regiment failing would invite suspicion on her? is she openly female and needs to prove that she's as good as her father and the country need her to be? is she paranoid about other women in the army, or does she want to have a female regiment?) I'd also love to know how falling in love with a woman plays into Mulan's whole arc - it's certainly not what her family was preparing her for, but neither was being a soldier and saving China. What does seeing another woman dressed as a man (whether Shang is openly female or not, I imagine she'd wear men's clothes), or a group of women dressed as men, make her think? What are Yao, Chien Po, and Ling like in an AU where they're also female, if that's what you choose to write?

I'd be happy for just about anything in this vein - Mulan/Shang romance/sex (this is a canon that is a Lot about bodies and clothes), gen shenanigans with the rest of the squad, both? During canon or post? I love loyalty kink and butch characters a lot.

—

Fandom: Robin Hood

Ship(s): F!Robin Hood/F!Little John, F!Robin Hood & F!Merry Men, F!Robin Hood & F!Little John, F!Robin Hood & Merry Men, F!Robin Hood & Little John

Tell me about these people! A female outlaw commanding the loyalty of a mixed or male group – or an all- (or mostly-)female group of outlaws, how they live, what might have led them to choose that life. I’m also here for Robin Hood’s relationship with her right-hand man/woman specifically, because I love loyalty kink – people willing to go into danger for one another, the leader knowing how best to use her right hand’s skills and strengths, what elements of formality might appear in, well, a very ad-hoc group. (And f!Little John would probably be hot.) If you’re writing the Little John pairings, feel free to make the Merry Men either their canon versions or female versions.

I’d totally be into any of the f!characters crossdressing as men vis-à-vis the world at large, although if you go this route I’d rather have them not be in disguise to each other/to their own allies (so no Merry Men thinking they’re being led by another man when it’s crossdressing Robin, for instance - preferring masculine clothing/appearance even among friends is fine, though).

#dear author letters

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mielikki-austin · 5 years ago

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My imperfect recollection of the pilot episode of 9-1-1: Lone Star

So, Master Pancake did a live mock of the pilot for a show I somehow never knew existed called 9-1-1: Lone Star. JD and I watched it, and told friend Josh about it the next day. Me: I have to describe this show though Josh: please do Me: so this was made recently Rob Lowe is a fireman his son is also a fireman they live in NYC so RL was firemanning when 9/11 happened and he keeps a bit of melted slag on his desk Josh: This already sounds like the Calvin and Hobbes cartoon where he's setting up a huge collision between a plane, a tanker truck, a dinosaur, and whatever other toys he has around. Me: RL is tortured because many of his friends have died from 9/11 cancer, and in the episode he finds out that he has.... LUNG CANCER! (dramatic music!) His son, who is gay (dramatic music!), has a history of drug addiction (dramatic music!), and ODs when the man he proposes to dumps him (dramatic music!) we're like 10 minutes in at this point Meanwhile, in Austin! Josh: Okay, you can cancel the previous statement I made. Me: A security guard puts a foil-wrapped burrito in a microwave, and sets an entire manure plant on fire, which explodes and kills the entire Austin FD except for one guy (dramatic music!) Josh: okay now this is turning into my favorite movie ever Me: Some Official Guys come to NY and ask RL to head the Austin FD, which he initially refuses because he loves NY so much but when his son ODs, he decides he's gonna move to Austin with his son and they're going to whip the FD into shape and he'll live with his son in a gorgeous house with a view of the Hill Country that costs $4500/month to rent Josh: (Checks off "The Refusal Of The Call To Action" from the Joseph Campbell monomyth checklist.) Me: RL gets applications for firefighters "from all over the state" He hires: -a Muslim woman who has 6 citations for insubordination, because she is a loose cannon -a black trans guy -an illiterate Hispanic guy who can't pass the written FD test, but has a heart of gold the one guy who WASN'T killed from the last batch of firefighter guys applies, but is a dick, barely keeps himself from ripping RL's head off in the interview, denies he has PTSD, but loses his shit when RL says he isn't ready to come back (dramatic music!) Josh: This is already a lot. Me: Meanwhile! Josh: WHAT MEANWHILE THERE'S ALREADY TOO MUCH STUFF TO DO A MEANWHILE IF YOU WANNA DO A MEANWHILE YOU GOTTA GET ANOTHER MOVIE Me: Liv Tyler is seen screaming outside of a house, accusing the occupant of murder. Josh: WHYYYY THIS IS TOO MUCH MOVIE Me: she runs out into the street to the crowd of people who've gathered to watch her scream at a closed door, and a kid in the crowd is having an asthma attack! (dramatic music!) Josh: WHAAAAAAA Me: She scolds his dad, who says he can't afford to take the kid to a doctor because he is poor and Hispanic She tells him to come to her vaguely-described clinic or business or something The police show up, and they know her, because her screaming at this door is apparently a regular occurrence Evidently her sister disappeared and she thinks someone in the house (or maybe the house) murdered her sister. (dramatic music!) NEXT, the FD is called out to a spicy food emergency Josh: NO EFFING WAY JD: This is not a movie, it’s a show and this is the first episode Me: a man eats a hot pepper and starts to die (dramatic music!) Josh: NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPERS NOPE Me: RL and the multiculture pals show up, and start dick-swinging "clear the area, the FD is here!" Josh: Was this one of those "written by an AI trained on disaster television" scripts? Me: Then Liv Tyler shows up and swings her dick and tells RL &c. to back off, because unlike in NY, the FD has to back off in medical emergencies to her, as head of the PARAMEDIC DEPT (dramatic music!) Josh: How... um... how... how did any of the actors deliver their lines without falling over laughing? Me: RL is skeptical, and she says "You didn't read the Travis County manual, did you?" and throws the spicy food victim on the table, cuts his lung open, and saves his life (dramatic music!) Josh: wait no no no no Me: next emergency! (dramatic music!) Josh: no cutting on lungs that's not a thing you do for spicy food NO MOAR EMERGENCIES EVERYONE GO TO BED NAO Me: a woman is in a car wreck, her car is upside down on the road and we find out that she is PREGNANT (dramatic music!) RL directs everyone to do things, because the water on the road smells like gas, and jaws of life are invoked, and stuff happens Josh: of course stuff happens absolutely everything happens in this thing nothing is not happening Me: then the woman cries "but my baby!" Turns out, there was another child in the car (dramatic music!) everyone looks for the baby, who is eventually found 30 feet up in a tree (dramatic music!)

Josh: YOU ARE MAKING THIS UP THIS IS NOT A REAL THING THAT REAL HUMANS MADE FOR SERIOUS Me: he was flung out of the car (still in his car seat) into the tree when the car rolled I AM NOT KIDDING Josh: I KNOW YOU ARE NOT KIDDING BUT I ALSO DON'T WANT TO BELIEVE THIS THING WAS ACTUALLY MADE Me: Meanwhile! Josh: NO MOAR MEANWHILE I MEAN IT TOO MUCH MEANWHILE MOVIE Me: Guy with PTSD is at home getting shitfaced and continuing to insist to his black wife (dramatic music!) that he doesn't have PTSD she reminds him of his nightmares and stuff he whines that it's not fair Josh: that checks out Me: she reminds him that she is black so he can shove it with this not fair bullshit Josh: new favorite character JD: Seriously this is a 48 minute pilot Josh: it was gonna be toddler-in-a-tree but black wife is my new favorite character Me: she coaxes him to take her out to the apparently one bar is Austin, which is possibly the actual Broken Spoke bar Josh: WHY NOT Me: so they can at least get fucked up in a bar instead of at home like losers turns out, RL and Liv Tyler and their crews are there celebrating after the tree baby incident Josh: this movie needs more Adderall. Or less Adderall. I don't know. Me: Liv dares RL to join her in line dancing, which RL is REALLY GOOD AT (dramatic music!) Josh: YAY RL YOU MIGHT HAVE PICKED A BAD MOVIE BUT YOU'RE STILL AN OKAY DUDE Me: RL explains that country was really popular in NY a few years back Josh: It was. Sigh. He's not kidding. Me: RL also has a touching moment with his gay drug son, who thanks him for making him move to Austin, then gay drug son starts line dancing with, I think, illiterate Hispanic guy with the heart of gold? Josh: BINGO That's a BINGO on the card I just invented for this pilot. Me: black wife confronts RL in the parking lot and tells him to SAVE HER HUSBAND because he SAVES PEOPLE RL agrees to let clearly mentally unstable PTSD guy come back to work THE NEXT DAY Josh: IF THIS THING MEANWHILES AGAIN I SWEAR TO GOD Me: PTSD guy comes to the station, and notices all the dead flowers people had left for the dead fireguys at the station in the garbage so he immediately starts giving RL shit about being a city slicker who is a Big Damn Hero because of 9/11 who's coming down from on high to help the FD that was fucked up by exploding poo RL says "I have cancer" (dramatic music!) Josh: YES Me: and PTSD guy is all, okay, but you're still on my shit list for throwing away the dead flowers then he turns the corner, and over the bay where the trucks come out of the station is a thing with the pictures of all the dead poo firemen and a sign that says "WE REMEMBER" or some shit (dramatic music!) PTSD falls down and starts crying Josh: YAAAAAY Me: RL tells him it's going to be okay and PTSD is a bummer and stuff then a little white girl and her white mom show up to give cookies that they made to the new crew, turns out they are the daughter and wife of one of the dead firemen Josh: this show just fires pathos at you like a six-year-old with a t-shirt cannon Me: cue montage of Muslim woman praying, trans guy considering his skin care regimen (I forgot about the part where RL helps trans guy with his skin care regimen), illiterate Hispanic guy is cleaning the firetrucks or something, and roll credits Josh: THREE MORE PATHOS PLEASE FOONT FOONT FOONT Me: I wanted to lay it all out before I forgot, and marvel at the trope-fest Josh: How many people wrote this movie? And how much speed did they have in the writers' room? Me: all of it oh man, check these out; the first episode was a harbinger of trope saturation to come: (Wikipedia episode synopses) "The team responds to a man suffocating in corn within a grain silo" "The team is called to a brawl at a male strip club; Paul helps Josie, who got hit in the eye with stripper glitter." Josh: I like how they have to clear out a rattlesnake infestation with a fire extinguisher. Me: "At a sirloin eating contest a woman collapses" Josh: "Owen gets good news about his cancer while learning that his experimental immunotherapy drug was tested on dogs, some who were abandoned. He adopts Buttercup, a Bernese Mountain Dog who has the same kind of lung cancer, as the 126's new semi-destructive mascot." Me: "On another call at a cow breeding facility, a disgruntled customer sets a fire to distract from his theft of bull semen." Josh: "On another call, a handyman's epileptic seizure is mistaken for electrocution." THIS PAGE IS THE GODDAMN BEST JD: And don’t forget this is all very clearly filmed in Southern California that is standing in for Austin Me: yeah, the trees were all wrong Me: "On another call Grace helps an older man with a flu who ingested a cloud of cremains while disposing of a friend's ashes." "The team responds to a used car lot event where a bull got caught in the side of a vehicle and needs the hydraulic jaws-of-life" "a man hit in the head reveals to the paramedics he has CPPD (calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystal deposition disease), a condition characterized as extra painful arthritis. En route to the hospital he goes into cardiac arrest needing defibrillation; the treatment reacts with the man's ingested medication causing a toxic vapor which causes the ambulance crew to pass out, and the vehicle to flip." Josh: THIS IS AUSTIN WHY ARE THERE BULLS EVERYWHERE Me: "The team at 126 deal with a call at a gender reveal party when a man is burned by a grill." TEXAS TEXAS TEXAS JD: Austin is a small town where people ride horses to work Josh: I'm not gonna lie, living in this fucked version of Austin would be awesome. Me: Jesus. Just read the whole last episode.

"Chaos ensues in Austin when a solar storm causes the electricity and power equipment to malfunction. Them 126 team has to rescue the passengers of a light aircraft caught in the lines of high voltage electric towers while transporting a sick man for a liver transplant. During an outing with Carlos, TK questions his relationship with him after Carlos begins asking. When the malfunctioning traffic lights cause several accidents, they rush to help people before the 126 arrives. In the homeless camp, Michelle discovers that her lost sister is alive and living there. Michelle and her mother try to get her back home but she chooses to stay at the camp, despite her schizophrenia. With the lines scrambled, Grace gets a call from the damaged ISS, and manages to connect its last astronaut, dying from radiation poisoning, with his family to say goodbye. Back at the park, TK confesses his addiction to the rest of the team and that he's realized he wants to be a firefighter after all. Later, he also reconciles with Carlos."

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star-trekkin-across-theuniverse · 7 years ago

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First Impressions (A Human Resources one-shot)

Word Count: 1822 Tags: @supermoonpanda @rayleyanns @sistasarah-sallysaidso @feelmyroarrrr @anyakinamidala @dirajunara @anotherotter @little-study-bug @rampant-salamander @goodnightwife @samaxraph99 @anotherotter @outside-the-government @kingarthurscat @coyote-in-space @originalpottervengerlock @dolamrothianlady @curiositywillbethedeathofme Author’s Note: Anna Ellis is a new hire at SHIELD. Her first day could be worse, but she's having a hard time deciding how.

“Do you understand the oath you are about to swear, that it is binding? Breaking the terms of it will be grounds for immediate dismissal and prosecution to the full extent of the law.” The woman was repeating the words from a memorized script, I could tell. She lacked interest and refused to make eye contact.

“Yes.” I wasn’t sure what else to say. She thrust a form in front of me and offered a pen. I signed the paper without reading it. I’d read the orientation package thoroughly, and even made notes. I’d asked all my questions at the new hire seminar. I was ready for this job.

“I’ll escort you to security to get your passcard, Miss Ellis,” she offered and rose from her chair. She led me down a long hallway. I couldn’t remember her name for the life of me. I had already come up with a million nicknames for her, but her actual name escaped me. And she was going to be my boss.

“Ms. Jenkins. To what do I owe the honour?” The security guard glanced at me and gave me a wink. He was kind of cute. In a security guard, wearing a uniform kind of way. Uniforms and suits, they were my weakness. I’d already nearly swooned about a dozen times just walking through the building to get to the new hire seminar.

“This is Anne Ellis. She is a new hire in Human Resources. She needs a passcard and identification. I trust you can manage that, Jackson?” Ms. Jenkins had a way of speaking that just made you feel small. Jackson didn’t seem fazed by her tone. He took the paperwork she held out and looked it over quickly.

“This says your name is Anna? Is that correct?” He gave me a pointed look. I felt my cheeks flush.

“Yes.” I was queen of the one-syllable answer apparently.

“Ms. Jenkins, you should be ashamed of yourself. If Ms. Ellis is to be under your supervision, the least you could do is get her name right,” Jackson chided her. Jenkins’ eyes narrowed and she huffed and turned away.

“Escort Ms. Ellis back to HR when you’ve got her ready, Jackson.” Jenkins stalked from the room without another word.

“Anna – can I call you Anna? Jenkins is a cranky old cow, but she’s fair. As long as you’re competent, you won’t have any issues. I’m Jack Jackson,” he held out his hand and smiled. It was a beautiful smile. “Welcome to SHIELD.” His handshake was strong. He was probably close to my age, a little older, and the playful twinkle in his blue eyes made my heart race, just a little.

Jackson regaled me with stories about the operations academy as he walked me back to the HR office. I found myself laughing, despite my nerves. I’d always been the nerdy quiet girl at the back of class. He had clearly been the star of the hockey team type.

“This desk appears to have your name on it, Anna. Good luck,” he smiled. I felt myself blush.

“Thanks.” I wasn’t sure what else to say, but I was pretty sure yelling ‘let’s make babies’ would be inappropriate. He was so hot though. I kinda wanted to say it. I watched him retreat, admiring his butt as he headed back the way we came.

“Damn. That’s a nice ass.” A dark-haired woman sitting at the desk across from mine leaned into the aisle to stare as he went by, and then waggled her eyebrows at me.

“Oh, uh, yes,” I agreed. I hadn’t been sure it was possible for me to blush more, but I could feel my scalp getting warm. She started laughing.

“I’m Erin. I think we were at the hiring fair together,” she offered. I smiled and tucked my purse into my desk drawer.

“Could have been. I’ve found this whole thing very overwhelming,” I admitted. “I guess I should go find out what I’m up to first.”

“It’s always making copies on the first day,” Erin called as I headed toward Ms. Jenkins office.

I’m pretty sure she gave me a thousand different files to copy and collate, and it was already after lunch. There was a tiny user manual dangling from the edge of the copier that looked like it had never been used. I thumbed through it quickly and figured out how to program the machine to do everything Jenkins wanted without me having to stuff things through the damn thing a million different ways. I leaned back against the table in the copier room and waited. Click, thump, whirr. Click, thump, whirr. The rhythmic cadence of the copier soothed my nerves. I smoothed the front of my skirt and pushed an errant strand of hair behind my ear.

The copier shuddered to a halt. There was still a large pile of paper on the feeder waiting to go through. I sighed and looked at the display. A paper jam. I flipped through the manual again and found the information on how to fix the issue before popping open the front of the copier. I stepped out of my heels and shimmied my skirt up my hips a little before dropping to my knees in front of the machine. I pulled one lever and pushed on another and the internal workings of the machine fell open to me. The paper jam was easy to clear, and I closed everything up and pressed the start button again, again smoothing my skirt down my hips.

The copier beeped in protest. I checked the display again, and it was still reading a paper jam. I sighed, and resumed my position in front of the machine. I dropped the mechanism again and looked to the back of the machine. I could see a single piece of paper mangled on the edge of the heat roller. I crawled closer to the copier so that I could reach in, but even with my thighs pressed against the front of the machine, my arm wasn’t long enough. I leaned back and assessed the situation. There was just enough room for me to tilt my head to one side to squeeze my shoulder in. I felt a little like a human pretzel, but I maneuvered my body so that I could just get the tips of my fingers on the piece of paper. I tugged gently and as the page popped free, so did a poof of toner, against my face and chest. I pulled away coughing, and caught the front of my blouse on the level I’d used to open the damn thing. I heard the button ping into the back of the machine.

“Oh for fuck’s sake!” I exclaimed as I extricated myself. I slammed the copier door shut and pushed myself to my feet. When I turned around, I walked directly into someone who had apparently been waiting, quietly, and patiently, for the copier. He put a hand on my arm to steady me. I looked up at him and into a pair of amused, intelligent blue eyes.

“Oh shit, I’m sorry!” I gasped and then blushed. Cussing like a sailor on my first day, in front of god knows who. My mother would be horrified. “I mean –“

“It’s okay. This copier gets the better of all of us.” His smile was warm. He was older, but was in the typical SHIELD attire of a dark suit. And like every other SHIELD employee I’d met thus far, he looked damn good, nice shoulders, strong jaw. A pair of sunglasses was hanging from the breast pocket on his suit. I backed up a step to put some space between us and looked down. His eyes followed mine and then widened. My shirt was torn open from catching on the copier and more cleavage than I ever showed when I was out partying was showing. My hand flew up to my chest and I looked back at the agent. The smile had returned and he met my eyes and kept them there. Points to him. The younger guys probably would have kept ogling my boobs.

“What colour would you say that is? Chartreuse?” He gestured to my bra that was still showing despite holding my blouse together with my hand.

“Lime green.” I could feel the flush creeping down my chest. He held out a hand and then realized I was holding my blouse closed with my right hand and wouldn’t be able to shake his. It dropped back down to his side.

“I’m Phil Coulson.”

“Anna Ellis. Nice to meet you?” I asked. He smiled broadly. His eyes crinkled at the corners and I felt something pinch in my chest. It felt a bit like desire.

“It’s a pleasure.”

“Please tell me you aren’t one of my supervisors because I don’t know if this is something I can recover from on a performance appraisal,” I forced a laugh.

“No, I’m a field agent. I don’t come in that often, but I needed some paperwork for a member of my team,” he reassured me. I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Well, I don’t think this copier is in service anymore. I may have broken it,” I admitted.

“Let me take a look,” he stepped past me and opened the door to the interior of the machine up. He squinted, and reached in to pull something out. He closed everything back up and pressed the green button on the top of the machine and it whirred back to life, continuing my copy job. He held out a small button to me. I took it from him and dropped it in my skirt pocket. I realized my skirt was still hitched up to mid-thigh and let go of my blouse to smooth it back down to my knees, and then to my horror remembered that my shirt was gaping open. I leaned past him to grab the stapler from the top of the copier and turned around to staple my top closed. I heard him chuckle and glared at him over my shoulder.

“I think these are yours too?” He held out my heels. My shoulders slumped and I dropped my head against the wall in defeat. I held out my hand behind me, and felt him hang my shoes on my fingers. “I’d like to buy you a drink sometime, Ms. Ellis.”

I whipped around to stare at him in surprise.

“Really?”

“I’ll be in town until tomorrow. Maybe tonight after work?” He asked. I opened my mouth to say yes and realized I couldn’t.

“I’m sorry, I already have plans. I’m the first of my class to get a job. We’re celebrating,” I apologized.

“Next time then. It was a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Ellis,” he smiled.

“And you, Agent Coulson,” I agreed. He disappeared around the corner, probably in search of another copier.

#avengers fanfic #avengers fanfic with OFC #Phil Coulson x OFC

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maskydoo-old · 5 years ago

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Nightmare Neighbors 1

(I’m writing out scripts for upcoming storytime style youtube videos, and posting what I have here. Note that this is a true story. Feedback is welcome.)

For the first year after we left the Army and got booted into the real world to fend for ourselves, my boyfriend and I didn’t have the luxury of being too picky about where we lived. In a hurry, we rented what we thought was a decent condo, but it’s not like we knew what we were doing.

It was a learning experience. What I learned is that I will never live anywhere with shared walls or communal areas ever again, and I’m sure not renting.

One of several things that put me off was dealing with people. Ugh. People. People just – they just ruin everything. And with condo life, they’re inescapable.

My ideal home now is a mountain cabin, deep in woods somewhere, where I never have to hear anyone or see a human face if I don’t want to.

That’s heaven to me.

How bad do neighbors have to be that I’d literally rather replace them with wild bears?

Being stuck in a 12-month lease in Entitled Parents Village will do that to you. The neighborhood kids, the parents, everyone, they all just sucked to deal with.

I don’t even know why it attracted people like this in the first place. Rent was not cheap, we weren’t near a school, and there was nothing around that should say “child-friendly” to anyone. Only about half the condos had yard, and these “yards,” weren’t much bigger than a small bedroom. Just a tiny fenced area just big enough for a small dog to do their business, and not much else.

There was a somewhat large common greenspace between the condo rows, but it wasn’t fenced, and there was no playground and nothing to do.

No surprise the kids were unbearable, they often are.

And before anyone calls me a child-hater…

Yeah. Kinda.

Being a kid is awesome, being stuck around kids sucks. Just ask any kid. They might object, right up until they’re forced to deal with their own younger siblings.

It’s the parents’ own fault, I know. And I’m using the word “parent” very loosely here, since they never actually did any parenting - verb. They never supervised their kids or taught them to behave. They just shove their kids outside to be everyone else’s problem, because watching TV is more important than actually spending any time at all with the children they chose to force into the world. There is a world of difference between people who actually parent, and people who just breed.

This isn’t simply a matter of kids being kids, it’s parents not being parents.

Letting kids play outside in the common green space would have been one thing, but this was way out of hand. The kid just ran around in feral packs with absolutely no one watching or controlling them in any way, wreaking havoc and tearing up all in their path. Fighting each other, playing chicken with cars, and destroying anything they could get their hands on, with absolutely no parents even so much as occasionally glancing away from Facebook to stop them, like they just expected kids to raise themselves.

I think I read this book before, it’s called Lord Of The Flies and it is not a how-to manual!

And how does anyone ignore all the racket these meat sirens make?! I’m not talking about normal kids playing noises here either – no, that would have been one thing – No, I mean the screamed at the top if their lungs for no reason all the time just because they could. I don’t even know how they did it – they’re kids – their lungs are only so big!

I can only assume their parents found teaching their kids to have some volume control was just too much effort to bother with, so they send them outside to scream. Because why should parents suffer alone? Misery loves company, right? If hey haven’t had a moment of peace since the condom broke, why should anyone else?

I never understood that saying “screaming blood murder.” It was just such an overused chiche it didn’t mean anything one more. But after this, I got it.

Not long after moving in, I heard blood-curdling screaming so loud and terrible that I rushed outside legitimately expecting to find a child being brutally skinned alive. Why else would a human make such a horrible sound? I don’t know what my plan was, like I was gunna fight some axe murderer or something, when I’m barely bigger than a kid myself.

But I rush out there and what do I find? Some brat, more than old enough to know better, just standing out there, alone, completely unharmed, just screaming his stupid head off, for no doggamn reason at all.

No one was even trying to murder him.

Yet.

This brat seriously had the nerve to stare at me with a look like ‘what’s your problem?’

Oh, I’m sorry. Am I bothering you?!

Kids screaming all the time over nothing was a constant thing. I stopped checking to see if they were OK. No one else was bothering to check either, certainly not their PARENTS.

The plot of a horror movie could seriously unfold right outside everyone’s home, and no one would even glance out their window. They’d all just assume it’s brats being brats, as usual. That’s what happens when you cry wolf.

At least there would be quiet.

It didn’t stop at noise, either. I’ve tripped in holes they dug in the greenspace, chased off brats who were pulling apart my fence boards trying to harass my dog, and I even found them climbing on people’s cars.

That’s not a jungle gym!

Just tell their parents?

These parents don’t care. If they did, they’d recognize that their kids are bored and lonely and need to do something with their energy, so they’d take their kids to the park and -ya know – take an active role in their lives and give them some actual structure, and then this crap wouldn’t even happen in the first place.

But apart from that,

The parents are on my car too! Where do you think the brats get it from?!

I’m heading to work one day. And lucky me, it was one of the few days I actually got to park in my own spot that I pay for without one if these entitled parents taking it - again, and this is what I find:

Some dude just causally resting his butt on my car while he chats up one of the moms.

Imagine feeling so entitled to just sit on other people’s things. Just rubbing your butt all over their property. I just. I can’t. Clearly these people weren’t properly raised by their own parents either.

And like, what are you even doing here, dude? Are you trying to pretend that’s your ride? You’re really trying to impress her with this? My car is even older than I am. How shitty is your car if this is your flex?

Me: “Move.”

(unlocks)

(Guy gives dirty looks, lady giggles.)

Oh, sorry dude. Am I bothering you?

Totally ruined what I assume is that dude’s pickup attempt.

Good. There’s enough neglected screaming kids here as it is, no need to add to the cacophony.

When the adults of the area were as bad as the kids. They’d have loud, trashy arguments arguments with each other, leave their trash all over, scream at their dogs rather than ever actually bring them inside when they bark.

Yelling at your dog only makes them bark more! How about actually taking him for a WALK once in a while – your tiny yard is not enough! Take your dog, take your kids, and go to the park and you’ll all be happier and healthier.

Speaking of dogs, there was this one neighbor who would leave their dog, just a little pitbull puppy, chained up outside in the common green. Yeah. In the common green. Even though they had a a yard they could have had the pup in. Admittedly it was tiny, but it’s not like being on the chain gave him any extra space. His line was just long enough for him to wander into my parking space, so I’d have to be careful to avoid running him over. The poor thing would be out there alone, with no water, all day every day no matter the weather. Yeah, they were as bad dog owners as they were parents.

But even that was an improvement on the other neighbor who had the older pitt. He lived in one of the condos without even the tiny yards others had. But he didn’t let that stop him from just opening the door and letting his dog run free when he wanted out. It wasn’t even like his dog was getting out on accident, dude was doing it on purpose. Yeah, really. Forget a leash, this guy couldn’t even be bothered to go outside with his dog. So this big loose, untrained, energetic pitt would tear around, tackling people, taking out everyone’s legs, bothering other dogs, and running off into traffic. Bad parenting here included furkids too.

Pitts are such good dogs! They deserve to be treated better than this! If you’re not going to take care of your dogs, if you’re not going to take care of your kids – DON’T HAVE ANY!

The most baffling thing I saw was the honking dude. It was like 10PM, and I couldn’t sleep because someone just kept honking their damn horn. It wasn’t a car alarm, either. This dude was just honking angrily and laying on the horn.

I assumed he was just someone here to pick up a neighbor, and too lazy and inconsiderate to just knock on a door. Or fing text like EVERYONE. After 10 minutes of this crap, I had enough.

When I got outside to tell him off, I realized this guy isn’t even stopped in one place. He is slowly, very slowly, driving his car round and round on the road that encircles the condo area.

Amazing. I was expecting to deal with a douche-bag, but this is some extra next-level douchery.

I cut him off and yell

“HEY!”

He stopped his car, and his honking, and stared at me like ‘what’s your problem?’

Oh, am I bothering you?!

“What are you honking for?”

“Cus.”

Seriously?!

“Cut it out or I’m calling the cops!”

He swears at me a bit, but peels out when I pull up my phone. Still had to honk some more on his way out. Douche. I wonder if this is what the random screaming kid evolves into when he collects enough douche exp.

The unit that shared walls with us used to house a couple in it who would keep us awake, and quite concerned, with their loud domestics. But even when they were evicted, that didn’t bring us quiet either. After the landlord spent weeks of his own hard work and who knows how much money repairing the walls that the last family put so many holes in, the next tenants’ kid immediately set to creating brand new ones.

It’s the kind of thing I think of when I remember that I have to struggle to find a place that even allows pets at all, and then pay a pet deposit for my perfect quiet dog who does nothing wrong in her whole life, but there’s literally nothing landlords can do about renting to people with kids. Also puts me off any thoughts of being a landlord myself.

(tap tap tap tap bang! Rattle)

Me: “WTF is that?”

(tap tap tap tap bang! Rattle)

This kid next door was running, full speed, to body slam our wall. Then, not learning any lessons from pain, doubling back to charge again.

Me: “Why…?”

I saw this kid outside with the others sometimes, not a parent in sight as usual. He looked like he was maybe 5, but acted more like he was 2. He didn’t seem to be able to speak, just did this gargle scream thing and that was it for communication. I think the poor guy may have had a disability of some kind, but his parents were literally never anywhere to be found to say so.

His assaults on the wall would go on for like half an hour at a time until the kid would wear himself out, or maybe hurt himself enough to finally stop. No adults ever stopped him, I know that. Either his parents were leaving him home alone, or they were home and just ignored him doing this, like they just don’t care if he gets hurt. Either way, they should have never been parents.

Special needs isn’t just a cutesy euphemism, it means you need to do extra work to raise a kid, not less. His needs are special, he needs more.

More than once I’ve seen this wandering around outside completely naked, and looking lost. No parents trying to wrangle him, no parents looking for him, nothing. I guess they just didn’t care if he got hit by a car or picked up by a creeper.

A number of people called CPS, but I don’t know if anything ever came of it. I felt bad for the kid. He deserves competent parents who actually care about him. I hope he eventually got some, and got the help he needs.

(tap tap tap tap bang! Rattle)

But sympathy didn’t make me hate living next door any less.

I couldn’t be happier when our year was up and my boyfriend and I bought our house. We made sure to pick a house with space between the neighbors, and avoided any place too near to playgrounds, schools, or daycares. Eventually we settled on place in a nice neighborhood on the north end of town and I thought our neighbor problems were over.

I thought wrong.

The neighbors I just spent this whole video complaining about definitely suck. Crappy-garbage-trash-heaps! But these aren’t THE nightmare neighbors of the title. Oh-no. I haven’t got to them yet.

This is just the prologue. The set up.

Buying a house in a nice neighborhood didn’t solve the problem like I expected. No. It’s about to get worse.

#maskydoo #nightmare neighbors #storytime #script #feedback welcome

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