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hunflowers · 4 years

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Golden

Word Count: 15.3k

Requested? I don’t remember, but you always can here :)

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A/N: Lord, have mercy SHE’S FINALLY HERE!!!!! My baby Golden is finally out to the public and can I just say how fucking relieved I am to post it. I love her, I hope you do too <3 little warning: there are mentions of panic attacks in here, and a heart condition (that i did my best to research on) so if you’re uncomfortable, pls don’t read.

special thanks to my soul baby @stylesloveclub for being my biggest support system with this, she’s dedicated to you <3

for anyone reading this, please reblog! it really helps us writers out. okay onward friends!!! lemme know how i did and if you like it *nose boops*

Water. The ocean. Waves. The tide.

Symbolic of life, birth. Can be used to wash away even the most troubling of sins.

O’ahu, Hawaii, home to some of the best surfing destinations in the state, in the country, in the world. Also home to one of the best surfers in the state, in the country, in the world.

Y/N didn’t coin herself that. Not that she’s complaining about it, but she doesn’t surf for the title. She surfs for the freedom. She feels the most alive when her toes dig into the sand as she runs towards the warm, salt oblivion, her novelty yellow and blue surfboard tucked under her arm.

Her whole life she had been surrounded by water. When she was a baby, she always wanted a bath. When she was a toddler, she always wanted to stay in the kiddie pool. And then she got into surfing, and well, the rest is history so-to-speak. Her parents never got themselves involved in the sport professionally but more as a recreational activity. And it was even how they met, so really there was no stopping surfing from flowing through Y/N’s blood.

Her backyard was the ocean, so growing up, it was really the only thing for her to do. It’s what all the kids were doing, and Y/N was no different. She met her best friends on the beach when they were five years old, practicing the basics of surfing, like getting up on the board and finding their balance with the Earth.

Kalani and AJ, two of the best surfers Y/N will ever meet, and two of the purest souls to ever grace her life. They’re madly in love with one another. Have been for as long as they’ve been friends -- so coming up on sixteen years. Y/N is in awe of their relationship, she really is, but being a third-wheel isn’t exactly something she signed up for. Though, she kind of expected it when growing up.

They tried countless times to set her up with someone, but time and time again their matchmaking skills have failed, and Y/N is tired of them pitying her. No, she may not be in a long term relationship, but she hardly has time for a relationship anyway. Especially with competitions coming up, she needs to keep herself focused on surfing rather than some boy who will probably end up breaking her heart.

Well, that was her intention anyway.

October 27th, the first day of the best months out of the year.

And it started just the same as every other year. Y/N woke up at the crack of dawn and threw on her lucky white bathing suit before throwing an apple down her throat. Her surfboard was perched up against the back patio railing, and she swiftly tucked it under her arm as she made her way down the shore, being greeted by the luminescent sun that was swarming the sea in a shade of tangerine and lemon.

Jogging knee deep into water, Y/N sunk her hand just below the surface, swaying it back and forth, taking a deep breath as she felt the cool texture swarm her body. Exhaling slowly, she threw herself down onto her board, paddling onward into the great unknown. The familiar sound of the crashing waves causing her to flinch for a brief moment before comforting her ears as she watches the restless ocean ahead of her, a smile washing over her face as she could basically see her future ahead of her.

Today marks qualifying day, and obviously if she marks as qualified, she moves forward to the Vans Triple Crown. She’s been training all year, her body practically a prune with how much she’s been in the water. But, a minute can’t go to waste, so up until the very last second where she has to head to the north shore, she’s gonna remain in the water and build her intuition with how the day is going to go.

Last year, Y/N had to cut her time short when she was hospitalized the night before the first competition. So, she was all more determined to win the championship that is rightfully hers. Well, in the women’s division at least. Last year was ripped from her right when it was under her nose and she refuses to have a repeat of it.

After her hospitalization, everyone was convinced she’d never return to the water. Despite the ocean being her second home, everyone figured she would turn away -- avoid the embarrassment last year brought upon her. But, it only made her stronger and more determined to prove everyone wrong. No matter how frightening it really was.

Her first wave of the day had her coasting along smoothly, starting her out easy as waves progressively got bigger with the tide. When she got out into the water, the sun had just broken past the horizon line, yet by the time she left, the sun was nearly at its peak in the sky. Her skin felt raw, yet her body was running on adrenaline as she scoffed down the lunch her mom had made her before they banded into the family van and headed to Sunset Beach on the north shore.

Y/N’s heart raced in her chest, her leg bouncing subconsciously but furiously as she watched the landscape pass her by through the window. Her typically calming music wasn’t even working as she ran through multiple scenarios in her mind of what could go wrong today and how her day, her week, month, even year could be ruined.

Once outside of the van and on the beach, her parents pulled her close into a tight, warm hug, whispering words of encouragement in her ears, knowing just how important this was for her. Surfing and competitions had always been important to Y/N, but following last year’s downfall, this day was going to make or break whatever is left of her both physically and emotionally.

“Y/N!” she heard her name being called from the distance, the three of them immediately letting go of one another as they exchanged sheepish smiles.

“Y/N!” Was called out again, causing her to turn around and see Kalani running straight for the three of them, waving her arms in a drastic manner to gain her best friend’s attention. “Oh my -- I ran so fast, wow, I need to calm down,” Kalani breathed out, closing Y/N into a firm embrace.

“Save your energy for the waves, babe,” Y/N laughed, wrapping her own arms around Kalani’s frame. The two of them were never inseparable, it was kind of like they were actually glued to the hip together ever since they were children. And a lot of people were surprised they remained best friends through the years, what with both of them always competing in the same surfing competitions battling for the first place spot. And they knew this could be a strain on their relationship, but they decided ever since they were seven years old that they weren’t going to let surfing get between them. No matter what, they were always proud of each other for everything they’ve accomplished and are each other’s number one fans.

Thing is, Y/N tends to snag that first place spot a lot of the time, and Kalani always just misses her, earning her the second spot, right beneath her. But, Kalani has grown to accept that Y/N is better at the sport, and that’s nothing for her to be ashamed of. She’s managed to get a few of her own first place wins, and in her eyes, that’s good enough. She can’t live her life being jealous of her best friend because that’s not healthy, and anyway, surfing is much more Y/N’s livelihood than it is her own, so she’s fine with being second best -- despite what others may think.

Tugging her board off the top of the car, Y/N tucked it beneath her arm as she walked hand-in-hand with Kalani to wherever her family had set up camp on the beach. “Where’s AJ?” Y/N wondered, as she looked out into the water and saw no one out in it.

“The boys are starting soon, so he’s with Nav,” Kalani said, finally stopping in front of her parents and younger brother, and AJ’s older brother.

“Y/N!” They greeted, getting up from their chairs to kiss the girl on the cheek before greeting her parents. “It’s so great to see you back here,” Kalani’s mom smiled, pinching Y/N’s cheek before plopping herself back down under the sun.

They all began to catch up with one another since it’s been awhile they’ve all gotten together, all of them falling into old habits as if it hadn’t been months since they were last together. Y/N tried to engage in as much conversation as possible, but her mind tended to wander off as the guys started lining up in the water and making their way out. Her throat dried up and her palms were sweating -- and not from the heat -- as her nerves kicked in. Her memory began to cloud her vision as she stood abruptly and quickly walked away from the group, her heart picking up again.

Her breaths shortened as her mind blurred, and all she wanted was to curl up on her bed and calm her mind. She felt someone’s hand on her back, and immediately she could tell it was her father by the smell of his cologne. Once she was far enough from people, Y/N could feel tears well in her eyes as short images flashed across her eyes, cutting each inhale of breath in half -- which caused her to panic even more as she couldn’t breathe properly.

Last year ruined her, and she absolutely despises that this is considered her normal day-to-day routine now, her body shaking with fear as she feels herself collapsing from the inside, out. “Y/N, honey, can you hear me?” She thinks she hears her father say, but is undetermined with the intense white noise that’s swarming her ear drums.

“Count with me, c’mon, backwards from ten.”

But, all her mind could focus on was her body sinking lower and lower beneath the surface of water.

“Ten… Gotta count, c’mon you can do it, nine.”

“Eight,” she murmured, reaching out to grasp her dad’s shirt tight in her fist, just to make sure that he was really in front of her. She needs to be reminded that last year is her past, and that no matter how forward it is in her mind, it’s not her present anymore and she’s not drowning. “Seven.”

He took her hands and held them to his chest, “Six, keep going.”

“Fi-” she gulps, swallowing the lump in her throat, “..five.”

She makes it all the way down to zero, her body visibly relaxing and mentally as she hesitantly looks around to see no one watching the little event. “Do you want to go home?”

Y/N looks up to her father, shaking her head in response as she sniffles her nose and brushes away the one stray tear that has cascaded down her cheek. “No… I can do this.”

He cocks his head to the side and purses his lips, slowly nodding his head. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he turns them back in the direction, walking with her slowly as she continues to gather herself. “You don’t have to prove yourself to anyone, Y/N. Everyone knows you’re an amazing surfer.”

“I think I just need to prove it to myself,” she stated, dragging her feet through the sand like a child so it slowed their arrival time back with the group. She can only imagine that her mom had informed everyone already of what was happening, and the last thing she wants is their sorry eyes and pathetic spouts of pity that she knows she’ll wish they just kept to themselves.

Y/N knows she’s broken. She’s not the same girl everyone knew this time last year, but she doesn’t need to be reminded of it every time she steps into a room. What happened last year was serious and she understands that people are worried; But all she wants is for everyone to forget about it. Including herself. She thinks the thing that’s causing her the most trepidation now -- rather than in the morning or all year long -- is the fact she’s now back in front of a crowd again, eyes trained on her like hawks watching prey, waiting for something awful to happen again.

The only thing missing is the popcorn as they watch this free entertainment.

When they finally came back to everyone, Y/N noticed the guys had started paddling out. Everyone was talking amongst themselves, dismissing her presence as she sat herself down back in the sand, and a breath of relief escaped her lips. The tension was there, but everyone ignored it for her sake, and Y/N couldn’t be more grateful.

“Go, AJ!” Kalani cheered, pumping her fist and shouting a few hoots and hollers afterward. Dom, AJ’s brother, let out a few ear screeching whistles, the kind with the fingers in the mouth, joining in on rooting for his brother.

Watching the guys out there solidified to Y/N how real this really is, and soon her veins were pumping with excitement again instead of dread as she cheered on her best friend. He was going to qualify, they all were and they knew that, but it's always fun to get excited about the possibility of moving forward and winning the titles and earning the trophies.

All the other faces that surfed alongside AJ were mostly familiar, their names ringing bells as the announcers spoke of them, but there was one that Y/N hadn’t ever heard before. It’s the same cycle of people every year, yet this guy was fresh. And the only reason she’s curious as to who he is, is because he’s good. Like, really good.

Kalani can’t exactly remember if she’s heard of him either, shrugging to Y/N’s wonderment, “I don’t know. Maybe AJ knows.” His pink surfboard and pink wet shirt stuck out as he was a sight for sore eyes, and Y/N grew a little resentment towards him as he pulled out a few advanced maneuvers, gaining everyone’s undivided attention that used to be on AJ.

“Who is that?” Y/N’s mother questioned, looking around to see that no one knew the answer.

He was a mystery yet he radiated this vibrant energy as the guys finished their rounds, walking off with grace in his step as he laughed at something Nav -- one of the three’s friends -- had said. The girls bid their goodbyes to their families as they headed over to where the guys were before their rounds. AJ immediately came running over to them, hugging Y/N and Kalani simultaneously before giving his girlfriend a quick kiss on the lips. “You did great,” Kalani smiled, keeping her arms wrapped around his center.

“Alright, not in front of me,” Y/N grimaced, looking away from them. Immediately her eyes landed on the new surfer, still talking to Nav, and she was quick to turn back to AJ to ask who he is. “Hey, who’s the new guy?”

Looking over his shoulder, AJ saw who she was talking about before realization dawned on him. “Oh, that’s Harry. He’s from England. A really nice guy, I bet you’d like him,” he winked, causing Y/N to look at him with squinted eyes and pursed lips.

Kalani nudged his side, giving him a weird look. “What? I’m just saying.”

Then, speak of the Devil, Nav and this Harry guy came walking over, joining the three as they stood around waiting for the announcement that the girls could head out. Y/N wasn’t exactly paying attention to her surroundings as she continued to calm herself down for the impending near future. It wasn’t until Harry had stood in front of her, that she was knocked out of her own thoughts.

She looked up at him, making eye contact and briefly getting her breath caught in her throat. When he was far away, it was hard to make out his facial features or what he exactly looked like. But being right in front of him, she was merely astonished at his beauty, but more so his green eyes that reflected the perfect amount of sunlight. His wet, brunette hair rested against his forehead and seemed to be drying a bit curly.

His head tilted slightly, an amused smirk inching up his face as he watched her reaction. Something tells her he’s used to this kind of reaction. “M’Harry.”

His hand came between the two of them, waiting for her to grasp it in a firm grip. Y/N was hesitant at first but finally took his hand and shook it gently while greeting herself before dropping her hand back down to her side. “Y/N.”

This is insanely awkward. Especially because her friends are just watching the exchange silently, as if they weren’t allowed to speak while the two introduced themselves.

Harry has heard of Y/N. It’s hard for anyone involved in the surfing business to not have heard of her. Aside from the jarring news from last year, she’s an excellent surfer and her name is always spreading around like wildfire. She’s part of the reason Harry decided to delve more into the professional surfing world, because he’s been itching to meet her.

Y/N is attractive, anyone with eyes knows that, but Harry wanted to meet her only because of her expansive skills in the water. Standing in front of her, he can’t deny her undying beauty -- and if he weren’t such a gentleman he’d probably be trying to woo her this very instant. But, her looks aren’t what draws him to her, and he decides to not think with his dick for once.

Before he gets the chance to say something else to her, they get notified that the girls should start heading out for their rounds. Y/N and Kalani grab their boards and tuck them under their arms before bidding their goodbyes to the boys and scurrying off to join the rest of the girls.

“Whipped already?” Nav jokes, wrapping his arm around Harry’s shoulders and leading them to the sand where they’ll watch.

Y/N steps her toes into the water, basking in the cool feeling wrapping around her toes and surging up her body. She rolls her neck feeling it crack softly before rolling her shoulders back and taking in her umpteenth deep breath of the day. Her and Kalani looked at each other, nodding with smiles on their faces before they walked deeper in the shallow water until it reached the middle of their thighs before dropping their boards down and paddling out.

At the sight of a small wave heading toward her, Y/N dipped herself beneath the water just to wet her hair. It felt refreshing again to feel the salt coax her skin for the second time that day, as if it never left. When she greeted the air again, she could immediately feel the rays of the sun bouncing off of her skin, illuminating her in a heavenly glow, like the star she is. The spotlight is on her as she aims herself for the peak of the impending wave, nabbing the first ride of the girls’ round.

Back on the beach, her mom’s fingers were crossed, her dad’s breath was caught in his lungs, and Harry’s eyes were fixated on her figure as she jumped up on the belly of her board. Her legs kept her balance against the rough matter below her. Due to the steep wall of the wave, Y/N had to act quick and rational in order to keep control, and started off with an off-the-lip, which kept her parallel with the wave before she moved herself down and carved herself back into the energy zone.

Because it was a smaller wave, she could only go on for so long before she tipped herself off the board and fell down into the water. Everyone waited with bated breaths and kept their eyes on the area she sunk beneath the blue, before sighing in relief to see her head pop back up. Harry could see the joy wipe over everyone’s faces, replacing the worry that was once there as they hugged one another. He could tell Y/N has such a good support system, and it only urges him more to want to be a part of her life.

Of this life.

❊ ❊

“You guys did so good! We’re so proud,” Y/N’s mom gushed as she pulled her into a warm embrace -- a hug that holds more meaning than just being proud. Her mom was relieved. Grateful. Happy. She’s able to hold her daughter one more time, and that’s all she could ask for. “It’s going to be a good year for all you kids.”

Y/N felt like she was on cloud nine. She was elated, overjoyed, ecstatic, riding such a good high. Her comeback couldn’t have gone any better and she’s just so, so happy. Arriving at the beach she was nervous and anxious and was two seconds away from caving to her fears and running away. Now, as she walks arm-in-arm with her best friend away from the water for the night, she’s laughing a genuine laugh and her veins are currently pumping excitement rather than nerves.

AJ locked his arm over her shoulders, the three of them linked just like they always are as they head towards Y/N’s family van. But, instead of like other times, this time they have a tag-a-long trailing behind them. It’s sort of like a tradition where after every competition, all of the families join together and head to dinner at their usual restaurant. Nav couldn’t come because he had his own family matters to attend to but Harry was more than willing to accept the offer. He says he came to Hawaii alone and that he had nothing better to do, but his intense stare on Y/N when he accepted the offer says that’s not the only reason he was so quick to join.

It was also part of the tradition that they ride together in the van, 1) because it was the most spacious vehicle where they were able to ride together and 2) because Y/N’s parents are pretty fun to be around. They blasted the best music and made the best jokes, causing not one dull car ride. When they filed in, AJ and Kalani pushed themselves to the back seat, leaving Y/N and Harry to sit in the separate middle row chairs.

“Oh! Harry, I’m sorry, I forgot to ask. Does your family want to join us? They’re more than welcome to,” Y/N’s mom looked over her shoulder in the passenger seat.

He cleared his throat, looking up from his phone and sitting up a bit in his seat, an uncomfortable look on his face. ��M’here alone, actually.”

Before anyone could ask any questions, AJ clapped Harry’s shoulder, saying, “We’re your temporary family now, man.” Despite being competitors, it seems the two of them really hit it off and AJ genuinely meant what he said about being Harry’s family. Though, everyone knows the main reason he said it was to diminish the rising tension.

“Thanks, mate,” Harry returned, fist bumping AJ. And during the little exchange, Harry caught eyes with Y/N, catching her eyes wandering around his profile and facial features, causing her to look away quickly and look out the window as if the view was something spectacular. She could hear him snicker quietly, and just when she thinks the coast is clear, she slyly looks back at him just to find out he’s already staring at her.

They really love staring at one another apparently.

When they arrived at the restaurant, Y/N and Harry were pushed to the back of the group -- not really by choice but somehow it ended up that way -- and neither of them really made any moves to break the silence between them. Y/N because she was nervous, and Harry because he wanted her to be the first to speak. And it just so happened that when they were sat at a table, they were left with the last two remaining chairs that also happened to be right next to each other. Y/N couldn’t figure out if they were doing this on purpose or it was by coincidence, but she can tell Harry doesn’t mind.

She’s not one to be nervous around guys, but there’s something about Harry and how he is so blatantly interested in her that makes her wary of talking to him. Kalani sat across the table from her, and when they made eye contact, they had a silent conversation about how Y/N should grow the balls and actually talk to him. Of course Y/N refused, which earned her a kick to the shin in retaliation, which then caused her to let out a yelp of pain and made everyone look at her confused and worried.

“Sorry, hit my knee on the table,” she brushed it off, glaring at her best friend the moment everyone turned away and continued with their own conversations.

Being as slick as possible, Kalani directed her eyes to Harry when he wasn’t looking so Y/N could see her, before turning to AJ and talking to him about something completely irrelevant. Again, Y/N and Harry were stuck in this silence. She’s not exactly sure why she can’t just start a conversation, but he’s kind of intimidating and she’s afraid of embarrassing herself, especially in front of her family.

Pursing her lips and looking down to her lap, Y/N finally turned to give Harry her attention, noticing how he was staring into space, looking completely lost in this foreign setting. “So, uh, where exactly are you from?”

Harry was quick to turn his head to Y/N, waiting and waiting and waiting for the moment she would say something. “A small town in Cheshire. Northwest of London, if that helps.”

“That’s a pretty far trip to take alone,” she nods, licking her bottom lip before gently biting down on it. As much as she thinks of herself as an independent person, she’s also an extreme homebody and could never imagine going anywhere without anyone by her side, whether it be family or friends.

He merely shrugs in response, “M’better off alone.”

Y/N cocked her head to the side while looking at him, letting his words sizzle inside her mind as she tries to overanalyze him in the mere hours she’s known him. She turned her gaze down to her hands that were intertwined in her lap, mulling over her next words to say. She doesn’t know him, but she knows the feeling of being alone. And being alone, no matter how appealing it could sound, never works out in the end. People aren’t meant to live alone. It goes against the natural order of life, and just hearing him say he prefers being alone breaks her heart just the tiniest bit. “No one’s better off alone. Everyone needs someone eventually.”

Little does she know, is that she is his someone. Or, at least that’s what Harry’s hoping. He thinks he’s crazy for being so enthralled by someone so suddenly and so strongly, but Harry’s always been one to trust his gut. His plushie but toned gut was screaming at him that this girl is just meant to be in his life. Maybe meant to be his, but he won’t push his luck. “Guess we’ll have to wait an’ see.”

They both smiled softly at one another, a small blush creeping up Y/N’s cheeks for the umpteenth time that day. “I guess we will.”

❊ ❊

It had been a little over two weeks since qualification day. Her days hadn’t changed much in regards to her schedule; Waking up at the ass crack of dawn and heading straight into the water and staying in practically until the sun was set. But, there was one slight shift in her day, and that was the now familiar face of Harry popping in everyday, either physically or in her mind.

It was safe to say Harry was quickly adapting to the three friends, merging with them seamlessly; As if he had been part of this little group since he was a child. It’s not like any of them minded, especially AJ because he was happy to get another guy around. Their friend Nav wasn’t exactly a permanent part of their little group because he belonged to everyone and no one, but Harry stuck around them like glue and AJ was so grateful.

Y/N’s grateful because now she isn’t a third-wheel.

Harry and her aren’t exactly buddy-buddy, but it definitely helps having someone else around for movie night so Y/N isn’t stuck watching her best friend’s all cuddled up together and hearing the occasional kiss they would share.

Though, Harry has made it known time and time again that he really wants to be buddy-buddy with her. And Y/N’s not exactly sure why she won’t give him what he wants, but for some reason she loses all comprehensive skills and becomes a blubbering, nervous mess around Harry whenever he brings up his interest in her. So, she’s successfully avoided all buddy-buddy conversations with him by bringing up mundane things instead. Like, why she decided to paint her nails blue, or why she absolutely despises white socks.

She thought she was doing a pretty skillful job too. But, after the first two times she avoided giving a yes or no answer to going on a date with him, Harry purposely would ask her just to hear what other obscure distractions she could come up with. He loved hearing Y/N talk, and without her knowing, he was getting to know her piece by piece, inch by inch, and he was loving it.

Though, a guy’s ego can only take so many rejections before he gives up completely. And just when he was ready to call it quits and accept that she wasn’t interested in him like he was her, the unexpected happened.

Y/N agreed to a date.

Well, kind of.

It was time for the Hawaiian Pro. The official first event of the Vans Triple Crown. It was taking place at Ali’i Beach Park in Hale’iwa, one of the most intense surfing spots filled with waves of many different faces. Of course, this is when Y/N’s nerves really started to kick in. Qualification day isn’t anywhere near as filled with people as the actual events are, and her nerves have seemed to kick it into high gear. It doesn’t help that the Hawaiian Pro is when her life changed a year ago. She could hear people whispering about her, wondering if she’s going to wipe out again or if this time she’ll stay under the water. Her mind was already frenzied enough, but nothing completes the cycle like a panic attack and the embarrassment of many on-goers witnessing said panic attack.

She almost backed out. How is she meant to be the best when her body is afraid of taking its final breath? The tide was high and the waves showed no mercy. How is she meant to challenge that? How is she meant to control the water beneath her when she can’t even control her own thoughts?

It was getting to be too much for her. This entire time leading up to the Triple Crown she’s denied her fear and her anxiety, telling herself she’ll get over it. She’s been doing good all year, so what makes now any different? But it is very different. The calm atmosphere of her backyard is no match for the rambunctious setting of the Triple Crown. And she’s a fool for thinking differently.

So, she was panicking.

Y/N couldn’t even get up from her seat in her parent’s van because she was so shaky. Her father held her close, easing her back to reality and away from her tortuous mind. Of course, he offered to drive them back home and away from the competition, telling her again that she didn’t have to prove herself to anyone. But, she declined again. Because she needed to prove it to herself. She’s stronger than her mind lets on, and she needs to make sure she knows that.

When she slid off her board and sank her toes back into the warm sand after a very successful first round, landing her in the lead spot, she was finally able to breathe again.

People congratulated her on her comeback, astonished to see her doing better than ever before. Her parents embraced her with love and elation, so beyond happy to see her laughing and smiling and enjoying herself now that she’s progressing forward. Kalani of course is her number one supporter, practically jumping on her and screaming in her ear about how happy she is for her best friend.

Everyone was making their rounds hugging Y/N, and then it was Harry’s turn. They didn’t exactly embrace like the rest of them had, but he threw his arm over her shoulders and pulled her to his side, squeezing her to him softly before looking down at her and saying, “Absolutely wicked, love. Gotta teach me some of y’fancy moves.”

“You sure? They’re really only meant for the pros,” she teased, biting at her bottom lip to conceal her laughter as he scoffed.

“”Ey, no one likes a narcissist,” he shoved her shoulder softly, rolling his eyes as her laughter rang through his ears. “But, whaddya say? M’gonna need a good teacher if I wanna make it to the big leagues.”

Y/N simply shrugs without really thinking much into it, “Sure.” Her mind didn’t exactly process what she had agreed to until later that night, before she dozed off into her temporary slumber. Her eyes shot open and her body sat upright as an over dramatic gasp was inhaled into her lungs. Her mind had been all over the place with the competition that she didn’t realize that she had agreed to being alone with Harry for the first time since they'd met. Immediately she texted and called Kalani, to which she got laughed at in return.

“Kalani, this isn’t a laughing matter!”

A few miles away, Harry was snuggled into his bedsheets, a bright smile stretched across his face as he reveled in the idea that he finally was going to be alone with Y/N since the first time they’d met. His heart was jumping and his stomach was fluttering as he envisioned her pretty face behind his eyelids before he drifted off into his dream with her.

“It so is! C’mon, Y/N, what have you got to lose? You have the same interests, he’s funny, he’s hot, and he clearly is into you. Enjoy something outside of surfing for once.”

Enjoy something outside of surfing for once.

That’s the thought that stuck in her mind, lingering around as she finally fell asleep, and then when she woke up, and when she was eating breakfast; And doing her chores; And hanging out with Kalani; And eating dinner; And then falling asleep again. Y/N didn’t even realize she had spent so much of her past year focusing on her career and health that she hasn’t done much of anything else.

She’s so grateful to be alive, but she’s hardly given herself the chance to live again.

Before her accident, she was always up for adventure and was always the life of any party. After her accident, she hasn’t even been to a party. She hasn’t been in a relationship in years, she hasn’t gone on a date in a long time, and she can’t even remember the last time she’s had sex or kissed a guy. She’s been so focused on her redemption, that she can’t remember the last time she was genuinely happy.

Going on this date, but also not a date -- but also clearly a date -- with Harry just may provide her with that. And she owes it to herself, to her past self, that her accident isn’t going to shape her life anymore.

Plus, she really enjoys Harry’s company. And even if she doesn’t show it so bluntly like him, she really likes him too.

The next day, Y/N and Kalani had gone out shopping, enjoying a nice girls day out. They had bought a few new varieties of swimsuits (as if they didn’t have enough) and a few other types of clothes, got some lunch, and even found time to watch a movie. And they did all of this right up until the moment Y/N decided it was time to text Harry.

She wasn’t sure how to go about this, because she’s never really asked anyone on a date before, or followed up with plans (?) about a date. Kalani kept urging her to just rip the bandaid off and to get it over with, saying something along the lines of, “You’re not getting any younger. Plus, I think he’d slip right off his board at the sight of you in that new yellow suit you got.” It was just a simple bikini, but it showcased the majority of her skin that essentially left little to the imagination.

But, the thing is, whenever Y/N gets into the water around people, she can’t help but cover her torso with a wet-shirt, insecure of the imperfections that lined her skin. It’s rare she can bear to look at her skin, so she only assumes no one else would want to either. So, she’s not so sure he’ll fall off his board at the sight of her, but the thought is nice.

Y/N pulled out her phone and hovered over his contact for a good amount of time before Kalani grew impatient and snatched the phone from her friend’s hand. They wrestled around with each other to try and gain custody of the phone, but finally in the end Y/N was able to hold her phone tight in her hands before declaring, “Okay! Okay! I’m texting, I’m going.”

Kalani peaked over Y/N’s shoulder as she watched her type the allusive message to Harry, a proud smile carving over her lips as she watched her break down a barrier she had subconsciously put up. It isn’t by any means important to be in a relationship or to have a boyfriend, but Kalani knows deep down that Y/N was wishing to have that special connection only a relationship could provide -- a connection outside of the realm of friendships.

“There,” Y/N huffed, shoving the screen of her phone in her best friend’s face.

hii, if you’re still up to learn from a true professional, I’m available tonight :)

It wasn’t even ten seconds later that she got a reply.

Shit, I’ll be your best student, babe. I know a perfect spot, I’ll be at yours in an hour.

It was kind of amusing to Y/N that he said he knows a perfect spot, as if she hadn’t been living on this island all her life and practically knows it like that back of her hand. But, that miniscule thought was pushed to the very depths of her mind as panic coursed through her as she realized what she was getting herself into. She’s going on a date, not a date, but also a date with Harry, and a small hour wasn’t enough time to gain her composure.

Fuck.

❊ ❊

It’s no surprise to Y/N when Harry shows up to her house a minute early. She’s half convinced that he had been waiting outside of her house for the past fifteen minutes until he finally stepped up on to the porch of her house, knocking rapidly on the door. It wasn’t an emergent knock that caused some sort of panic, but it was a frantic knock that screamed ‘let’s get the show on the road.’

When she opened the door, both of their breaths were robbed from their lungs. Y/N essentially looked like she always did but something about her glowed differently to Harry; maybe it was because she’s his for the night. For his eyes only. Just him and her. He was awestruck.

Harry essentially looked like he always did but something about him radiated differently to Y/N. The same little smirk was nestled in its usual spot, but this one held a different meaning. It looked the same, but maybe it was different because it was just her and him tonight. He’s hers for the night. For her eyes only. Y/N was nervous.

Y/N left her board out on her porch so she wouldn’t have to walk around back when he got here, but she was silently wishing she didn’t so she’d get just a couple more seconds to get herself together. She just kept chanting, “It’s not a date!” in her head, in hopes it would make her feel better.

It didn’t.

Harry saw her board and tucked it under his left arm as he threw his right one over her shoulders guiding her his mode of transportation. It also wasn’t a surprise to Y/N to see Harry rolling up in a light yellow Jeep; the top down and the doors off, typical of any surfer dude, no matter where they originate.

“Her name’s Betty,” he smiled, walking around the back and giving her a quick tap on her rear end before stepping up to straddle Y/N’s board safely and securely.

Sliding through the empty passenger door to take her seat, Y/N was greeted by a familiar smell, a smell she could only associate with Harry. And even if she could never admit it, she loved it a lot. It was mouth-watering and intoxicating, and simply put, it was Harry. Even with the open atmosphere of the car, it was still drenched in this specific smell, and Y/N can’t help but giggle at the image of Harry spritzing whatever cologne into the car before arriving at her house.

A few moments later, Harry slid into the driver side, placing the sunglasses that were sitting on the dash over his eyes, shoving the key into the ignition and starting them on their journey to whatever beach he had envisioned. On the ride there, over the course of a few right turns and lefts and different exits on the highway, Y/N surprisingly had no idea where they were going. Did she think maybe he was gonna murder her? A bit. But, she felt comfortable around Harry. So, she felt it in her gut that she was going to come out alive from this… event.

When they got to the beach, it was about thirty minutes from Y/N’s house, and she had no idea where they were. They had to walk a short path to meet sand and ocean, but once they made it past the clearing, Y/N was in awe of the site ahead of her. People could think that seeing the ocean every day ruins the peaceful and magical aura surrounding it. But, Y/N never gets sick of greeting it. The sun was beginning to set, and the water was glowing with a yellow-pink hue by the horizon that blended into a bright blue by the shore. The cliff sides around them guarded the little alcove, feeding into the tranquil atmosphere.

“How did you find this place?” Y/N wondered as she kicked off her sandals, and shimmied her shorts down her legs before kicking them over her sandals. The yellow bottom of her bikini was visible, and she turned her head just as Harry took a large gulp at the sight of her in front of him; Just for him. Her blue wet-shirt stayed on though.

It piqued Harry’s interest as to why she never took off her shirt. He understood for the competitions, but even when it was just a casual outing, just him and her, or them and their friends, she always kept it on. It wasn’t his place to ask, but he wished she would’ve broken this barrier down just this once. Just for him. “Tha’s a secret for me to know and you to maybe find out.”

Y/N let out a giggle - why? she didn’t know - and turned her attention back to the boy that brought her here, her eyes nearly popping out of her head as she caught Harry taking off his white t-shirt, now only clad in his little pink shorts next to his little pink board. His skin looked extra dewy, and his tattoos seemed to glint under the setting sun. Before she could devour him with her eyes, she picked up her board and took it with her, running down to the water and shouting, “C’mon slow-poke, gotta get in the water before the sun sets!”

It wasn’t a surprise to Y/N that this didn’t keep on track of a teaching lesson. Harry doesn’t need to be taught, he’s amazing on his own. He pulled off his own tricks that Y/N didn’t even know the name of, and she was asking him to let her in on his little secrets. He locked his lips in return, throwing the imaginary key somewhere over his shoulder, “Y’think I’m g’na tell you? I’m far too narcissistic to let you beat me at my own game.”

“Who said I’m gonna beat you?”

“Have you met you?”

There’s a reason Y/N’s name circulates throughout people’s brains, why her name is common in any Hawaiian household, why Harry was itching to meet her. She’s good at what she does. Insanely good that it’s kind of concerning. Not everyone can come back from a life-altering experience, but Y/N took those stereotypes and crushed them beneath the tail of her infamous yellow surfboard. She reveled in the doubts and came back stronger than ever. Of course she would beat him at his own game. She’s the only one who could.

There wasn’t any telling how long they had been riding wave after wave, in the water with no one else but just each other. But, the sun almost halfway past the horizon line was a good giveaway. They were probably nearing the two hour mark, and they knew they couldn’t stay out here all night, but Jesus, how they wished they could. Y/N wasn’t expecting to be so content, thinking this would be some strange, awkward, uncomfortable time they would want to forget about the moment they left each other’s sides.

It’s the opposite.

Just for him. Just for her.

They both laid on their boards, limbs sprawled out and dangling into the water as their bodies shut down in exhaustion. Y/N can’t remember the last time she went so long without taking at least a ten minute break. Her body was most definitely not used to it as she felt her back mold into her little yellow board, accepting the relaxation. When she finally opened her eyes back up, she turned her head to the side, admiring Harry’s profile as his arms were pulled over his head, the skin of his torso being stretched, which also stretched the ink that adorned him.

Y/N got lost in the mirage that is Harry, that she didn’t even realize he had turned his head and caught her ogling. It wasn’t until he cleared his throat that her eyes snapped to his, heat traveling up through her body and rushing to her cheeks. “M’eyes are up here, love.”

“Uh- right. Yeah, I know.”

“Cool. Hey d’y’wanna play twenty questions?” He asked, sitting up to straddle his board and paddling himself around so he was facing her.

Y/N squinted her eyes, “Are we children?”

“I mean, I guess not. Doesn’t stop my five year old humor though,” he smiled, kicking his foot up to splash her with an inkling of water as his childlike, petty comeback. “You ask first.”

Y/N pushed her hand through the water to spray him in an ounce of sea salt before turning her head back to the sky, contemplating her first question. “Mm… favorite color?” She already knew the answer.

“And you asked me if we’re children? C’mon, darling, know you wanna know more than tha’. Pink. What was your first impression of me?” He wiggled his eyebrows, even though she couldn’t see his face. This has been one of those things that’s been nagging at the back of his mind ever since they first met. Their first encounter wasn’t awkward per-se, but the fleeting moment of introduction wasn’t exactly one worth remembering either. But, Harry was always going to remember it. And depending on Y/N’s answer, he hopes she will too.

At this, she turned her head back to Harry, hand covering her eyes as the sun glared at them over the reflective water. It was a sight to behold, seeing Harry glow in the golden hour light. “Intimidating. But, also unique,” she began, moving to sit herself up and paddle her board around so she was now facing him. “You remind me of a singular cloud in an otherwise clear sky. You’re not meant to be there, yet you’re not out of place.”

Harry sat for a moment, staring. Completely in awe. Head over heels. Never would’ve guessed those words to be the ones tumbling from her lips. It was the way she didn’t hesitate in her sentence, as if those words had been formulated a while ago and just now was she able to spew it from her wordbank. Just for him. “Fuck, that was beautiful. Your turn.”

“Do you really think you’re better off alone?”

Harry pursed his lips, looking off into the distance for a brief moment before shrugging, “I do. But, I don’t. If it comes down to going back to my family and friends from home or being alone, I’ll choose being alone.” And he wanted to sprinkle in the little bonus that he doesn’t feel alone when he’s around her, but something tells him that’ll just turn her away. “What’re you so afraid of?”

It’s a brash question Y/N wasn’t expecting to be thrown at her so suddenly. She has a mix of answers, and there’s a specific one flashing in her mind like a bright, neon yellow sign, but she’s not certain how comfortable she is with telling him yet. Though, she notices that whatever question she could throw his way, he’d answer it truthfully, not scared of opening himself up, just for her. She wants to be brave like that, and maybe she can be, but she’s not sure how.

It comes as a surprise to her when she does say, “I’m scared of going through everything that happened last year all over again. Everyone’s afraid of dying, or at least most people are, but experiencing death… there’s really no coming back from that. ”

“Experiencing it?” He looks at her wide-eyed.

“What, you haven’t heard of what happened last year?” She looks at him, eyebrows scrunched.

“Only know you had some accident. No offense, but I didn’t really bother myself with reading the fine print,” he shrugs, running his pruney fingers through his salted hair. He didn’t know if he wanted to read it, especially not with the sudden news that apparently this very alive, lively girl in front of him… died? He doesn’t think he could stomach reading about that.

Y/N hasn’t met a single person who hasn’t heard about what happened to her. Or at least the details of it. In reality she doubts anyone outside of Hawaii knows of her existence, but in her world it was the biggest news to affect the state in a while -- aside from, like, actual serious matters, her accident was up there on the news.

She evades his second question though, not wanting to cough up the traumatic details of her past; not yet at least. “Well, it’s my turn anyway. Why surfing?”

“I could just look it up, but I get it; you’ll tell me when you’re ready,” he gave her a playful look, pursing his lips while giving her a pointed stare. “It’s different. England isn’t known for surfing. It’s known for rain and football. But, with every possible detail of m’life, I wanted to make sure I was different. My dad wanted me to become a professional footy player, so I said no. M’mum wanted me to go and get a degree and a real job. I didn’t want that. So, I turned to surfing,” he swung his arms around, gesturing to the vast sea and the board below him.

“Plus, it’s given me an excuse to leave home and come here. And y’know, so I could meet you.”

Y/N felt a small blush creep up her skin again, her eyes shooting down to her lap and her feet that were distorted under the water. Harry’s infatuation with the girl isn’t a secret, but anytime he purposely makes it known, it’s like a little secret that she’s unsure if she’s supposed to know or not. “Meet me?”

Harry kicked his foot up again so water would splash at her. “Uh-uh, my turn,” he laughed, shaking his head. He knew she thought she was slick at the way she bit her lip, containing her laughter. If she wants to play by the rules of the nonsensical game, then so will he. “Sunrise or sunset?”

“Sunset. Favorite song?” She wanted to reel back from the serious talk for a moment.

“Too many to choose from. Favorite movie?” He wanted to know every nitty-gritty detail about her.

She pondered for a moment, “Mamma Mia.”

“No shit! Me too!” His mouth dropped in shock, his hand flying up to his chest.

“Really?”

“No,” he shook his head, immediately blocking the massive splash he sensed coming.

Y/N rolled her eyes, huffing at him whilst crossing her arms over her torso, “Are you always so insufferable?”

“S’my middle name, babe. You hungry?” He laid himself down on his board on his belly, paddling himself to face the beach, ready to make a head start for the beach. Y/N hummed a response, following in suit and settling her stomach against the belly of the board and pushing herself to land. “Cool, let��s go get something to eat then I’ll take you home.”

Y/N’s legs felt weak, yet appreciative back on the sand. It felt like she was walking on Jell-O as she went to pick up her towel and clothes. Looking down to her shirt, she knew it was out of the question to let him see her take it off. And she could turn her back so he wouldn’t see her front -- whether or not it’s clad in a bikini top -- but even then her heart raced at the thought. She held her t-shirt in her hands and thought it over for a moment before blurting, “Could you turn around please?”

Harry looked up from checking his phone quickly, tilting his head in confusion before looking down to the shirt in her hands. The dots are connected and the bright neon pink sign in his head is telling him to listen to her, and not to question it. So, he doesn’t. Just for her. It’s still unbeknownst to Harry why she never takes her shirt off, but he knows better than to think with his dick, and accepts her wishes, turning his back to her.

Y/N lets out a small breath of relief, grateful he didn’t question her on it. She’s quick to rip off her shirt and pat dry her wet skin before hastily throwing on her dry one, giving Harry the OK to turn back around.

“Sorry, I just… I’m not comfortable with anyone seeing my, uh, my scar,” she mumbles, nervously moving her hair from one shoulder over to the other. Harry shrugs in response, picking his board up from the ground and wrapping his arm around her shoulder as they began their walk back to his car.

“You don’ have to explain yourself to me, babe,” he smiled down at her, squeezing her to his side softly.

Y/N looked up at him, and she’s sure that if she could see herself right now, her eyes would be twinkling in delight, with adoration. Just for him. “Thank you.”

They didn’t say anything else for a few minutes, walking the distance to his lonesome Jeep in peace. The silence gave Y/N time to think and to mull over all of the gushy feelings she was feeling inside about the guy beside her. She had no reason not to like him, realizing it was only fear that was pushing her away. But, this night displayed a soft side to Harry that she fell head over heels for. His smooth, easy-going approach to life, mixed in with respect for her, and a hint of witty humor was enough to tell her how she truly feels about him. And she’s scared, not because she’s afraid, but because she’s not.

Y/N can find herself easily opening up to Harry quicker than she has anyone else because she trusts him. She can just tell he’s got nothing to hide, so in-turn she wants to be the same. She doesn’t want to cower away, but revel in happiness. Because she deserves it.

Harry quickly secured the boards back into their previous spots before sliding into the driver side and whisking them away from their little getaway. The wind swept through their hair and chilled their still slightly wet skin, causing goosebumps to trail up Y/N’s arm as chills raked through her body. This time around in the car they both were more laid back, not singing along to the songs playing on the radio but rather just listening and taking in the blissful atmosphere they’ve created.

There’s been one question dancing across her mind though ever since he brought up the little game of twenty questions. It was the first one to pop up in her mind when she was thinking of something juicy to ask. She didn’t want to ask it though, in fear of what his answer would be. But, now she’s not afraid. She’s curious though.

“Is this a date?” She queried, turning the volume of the radio down a bit so he could hear her and vice versa.

Harry glanced at her through his peripheral, one eyebrow cocking up on his forehead, “Is the sky blue?”

“I mean, right now it’s like orange-blue,” she retorted, looking at the newly sun-ridden sky that blended shades of orange into the usual night blue.

“Brainiac. There’s your answer. It’s however you want to look at it,” he digressed, reaching over to pat her thigh - in more of a friendly manner rather than sensual.

She appreciated his answer, absolutely adoring the fact that he wasn’t putting pressure on her about anything. It was hard to comprehend just how nice he truly is, and how someone could be so perfect. She couldn’t see a flaw in his looks or his personality or his morals, and all she could wonder was how someone like him could possibly like someone like her. “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like you, Harry.”

He side glanced at her again, this time raising both of his eyebrows in puzzlement, “I’ll take tha’ as a good thing?”

“It’s good. It’s… it’s a good thing.”

❊ ❊

The two of them had discussed where they wanted to go, neither of them wanting to decide and going back and forth with one another, saying, “No, you decide,” “No you.”

Y/N was never good at decisions, especially mundane ones like where to eat. She always lets Kalani decide because she could eat anything, and it’s her friend that’s the picky one. But, Harry is the same way. Whatever is put in front of him, he could probably eat (except for pickles, he absolutely hates pickles).

They settled for pizza. And it was going to be Harry’s first time trying a slice of Hawaiian.

Y/N hates Hawaiian slices, finding the sweetness of the pineapple and the savor of the ham unsettling atop her pizza. It sends her taste buds into shock and her mind into a meltdown. But, she insisted he try it, because how could someone be in Hawaii and not try its state-named slice?

They sat at their little table in the corner of the restaurant that was alongside a window, giggling to themselves as they played a little game of eye-spy, waiting for their food. For some odd reason, Harry was really good at this game, always picking the hardest of objects to point out, always stumping a frustrated Y/N.

“You’re cheating.”

“How the fuck am I cheating?”

“Dunno, you just are.”

And in retaliation to her accusation, Harry pointed to her shirt, stating she got a little soda on it, causing her to look down to her chest and see nothing but finger as he flicked her nose. “Too easy. Sore loser.”

Y/N huffed, sticking her tongue out at him. The playful banter between them was the best part of their days lately. Before Y/N even realized her feelings for Harry, she always looked forward to what they would bicker about -- in a friendly matter of course. Now, she constitutes that to just wanting to see him because she really enjoys his company, and him.

It’s been a long time since she’s felt this way about anyone, and she’s sort of glad she gets to feel this way about Harry. He’s an enigma, but a good one. She’s totally transfixed by him and she never wants this euphoria to end. He radiates this bright and bubbly energy that lifts her mood whenever she’s around him, and she’s afraid of losing that. But, she chooses not to dwell on the what-if, instead completely basking in the present and his gooey aura of happiness.

When the food finally came out, they both were quick to stuff their faces, their stomachs practically turning inside-out from how hungry they were. It came to no surprise to Harry that he was absolutely in love with this Hawaiian slice, already looking forward to ordering two more.

Y/N looked at him a tad worried. He was scoffing down three slices as if there were no tomorrow, all within a matter of two minutes. She was slightly worried he was going to reach over and take her dinner, because that’s how hungry he seemed to be. But, he should know better than to get between Y/N and her food. Like the one time he tried to take some of her fries, to which she punched him in the shoulder and then took them back.

“Hey, y’gonna eat that?” He points to her not yet touched slice of pizza, earning a glare that could kill in response. “Cool, you are, just making sure. Can’t let precious food go t’waste. It’s my turn for a question right?”

Y/N thinks back for a second to determine if he’s right or not, remembering she did ask a question last. She nodded her head before biting into her little piece of heaven.

“Was it hard getting back in the water?”

She brought her napkin up to her mouth to wipe away the drop of sauce she felt on her cheek, mulling over her answer. “Kinda. I knew I had to eventually because it’s all I know, it was just a matter of when. My parents were terrified, and I mean I was too but I can’t let that dictate my future. I love surfing and nothing is going to take that away from me.”

Not even something as horrifying as death could take her away from her true love. Not until she’s truly six-feet under, riding silver waves in the silver palace.

“Do you think you’re going to stay here? In Hawaii?” Y/N wondered, taking a sip of her Coke.

“Got nowhere else to be,” he shrugged, mindlessly tapping his fingers on the table in an arrhythmic pattern. “Home is where the heart is, right? Well, think mine’s here right now.” Across from her. Just for her.

Home is where the heart is.

“Does it count if my heart isn’t mine?”

Last year, Y/N was going about her day like she always did. She was fine, in tip-top shape just like she had been for the past twenty years of her life. The bright sun was out and shining over all of the surfers and onlookers, and it seemed just like every other regular day. She was paddling out into the water, and the perfect, golden first wave was approaching her. She pushed herself up onto her feet, balancing her body, in tune with the wave, executing a nearly perfect opener. Then, she felt her chest tighten and her body suddenly felt weak. Breathing rapidly grew difficult, causing her to instantly panic. She fell off her board, plummeting into the water, trying to gasp for air but choking on the sea that swimmed down her throat.

Feeling herself sink as her chest was on fire was the last she remembered. The baby blue sky blended into black and that was it. Her life was over.

Kalani was the one who went in after her, screaming for help as her best friend was blue in the face and not moving.

Y/N suffered a heart attack. Apparently, she had a condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, that went unnoticed all her life. On this day, her heart had thickened extensively, making it difficult to pump blood to the rest of her body. The strain on her heart caused it to give out, right when she was feeling the high of riding a solid wave. She was pronounced dead for a total of forty-five seconds before EMT could revive her. Supposedly she’s lucky to be alive, because if not treated basically instantly, there’s a slim chance of survival. But, she was able to stick it out until the hospital.

Her heart was in brutal shape, so she was sent to the top of a donor waiting list. Y/N and her family are forever grateful for the team of doctors and nurses that stuck by her side, knowing she wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them. Or her sheer luck.

Y/N felt a little crazy for feeling so comfortable spilling all of this information so suddenly to Harry, but at the same time she didn’t. And the best part about it is that none of it seems to freak Harry out. Nothing about who she is or how she is scares him. And that’s what makes her feel so comfortable. “My scar, it’s from a heart transplant. I had a heart condition all my life apparently. Then suddenly one day, it couldn’t handle it anymore, so it gave out. A girl named Shauna’s heart is keeping me alive right now.”

Harry didn’t blink for a whole minute.

He opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water, trying to come up with something, anything to say to the girl across from him. But, he had nothing. He didn’t know what to say.

His silence was a little concerning to Y/N, making her wish she could just be swallowed whole by the ground below her. Was it too soon to drop the HT bomb? He was bound to find out eventually, and she figured it was best to rip the bandaid off on her own time rather than someone else telling him or him looking it up on Google.

She’s kicking herself over it.

Harry cleared his throat, taking a sip of his water before licking his lips and leaning back in his chair. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

Y/N merely shrugged, “Don’t be. Shit happens. Who knows, if it never happened we may not be here now.”

Harry raised his eyebrows, his signature small smirk back on his face in its usual spot. He raised his glass, leaning it forward a bit toward her, stating, “Cheers to that, babe.” She raised her own glass and clinked it against his, a smile on her lips as she sucked up the remaining bit of her soda through her straw. She’s happy he didn’t turn and run away.

Cheers to that, babe.

By the time they both filled their guts to the point of feeling overstuffed, mindlessly chatting and spending time together, it was already past ten o’clock. The time had passed them by like it was nothing, but they weren’t necessarily complaining. The older couple next to them were though. Y/N had to pull Harry out of the restaurant before he bit the woman’s head off for how rude she was. That’s when they knew it was time to skedaddle.

Then they just drove around for another hour before Harry figured it was time to bring her home, much to his dismay. But, when her head lolled against the passenger seat headrest and her eyes would softly shut in exhaustion. He wanted desperately to reach over and tuck the loose strand of hair that fell out of her ponytail, behind her ear. He wanted to reach over and place his hand on her thigh as they drove down the highway, softly squeezing her skin before teasingly inching up towards her hidden gem.

Is it too soon to be in love?

It was like a slap in the face when Harry parked in front of her house. Reality stuck its nose into their little wonderland bubble, and unfortunately, they couldn’t push it back out.

Harry hopped out of his seat, unfastening her board from the trunk and tucking it under his arm as they walked side-by-side to her front door. He gently placed it down where he had initially found it earlier on, tucking his lips into his mouth as he stuck his hands in his pockets.

“I uh… I guess this is it. I had a really ni-”

“I’ve got one more question before you leave me,” he interrupted her little speech, stepping impossibly closer to her, barricading her between him and the banister on her porch. It wasn’t hard to notice the long stares at her shiny lips that glinted in the dull yellow glow of the light by the door. He purposely took extra time to rake over the features of her face before finally meeting her eyes.

Y/N swallowed nothing but air as she softly bit at her bottom lip, “Yeah?”

She already knew his question.

“Can I kiss you?”

He already knew her answer.

Y/N slyly looked at him, bringing her hands up, a bit hesitant to rest on his shoulders. “I thought this wasn’t a date.”

“Sky’s blue.” Y/N looks up at the sky and notices it’s dark blue hue, twinkling stars layers on top, surrounding the fullest, brightest moon. It was a beautiful sky, perfect to share a first kiss under.

He leaned forward, resting his forehead against hers as his hands came up to her hips. Her eyes fluttered shut, waiting for the climactic moment to overcome them, the air of the night chilling up her spine.

But, then she felt fiery, red hot as their lips locked together in a soft kiss. It was as soft as they felt towards one another. This giddy, slow paced, admiring kiss that had their insides melting but their hearts pounding. This kiss is exactly how Y/N images Harry. A pale yellow that’s not harsh on the eyes, that resonates happiness. Harry imagines it as a hot pink, one that takes his breath away and captures his mind.

It wasn’t long before it turned heated, Harry’s tongue sweeping into her mouth, and one of his hands travelling further south to grab hold of the flesh of her behind. Y/N let out a soft moan into his mouth as her hands tangled into his mound of curls, tugging softly on his roots.

Then the disturbing image of either one of her parents opening the front door at any moment flashed across her eyes, causing her to pull back, kissing his bottom lip softly before trailing her thumb over the swollen skin and opening her eyes to look into his gaudy, green ones.

The sounds of their breaths mingled together as tired smiles adorned their faces, little giggles leaving each of their mouths as they basked in what just happened. All Harry could think was, ‘It’s about damn time.’ All Y/N could think was, ‘Why did I ever push him away?’

“My turn,” she spoke after a few moments, standing up straighter and fixing her shirt around her body. “Pick me up tomorrow?”

A wide, shit-eating grin spread out across Harry’s face as he ran his hand through his mangled curls. “Sunrise. If y’not in this exact spot in the morning, m’knocking the door down and dragging you out by y’hair.” He hopped down off the porch, completely skipping the steps as the adrenaline of their first kiss kicked into his system.

“Sunrise,” she agreed.

He hopped back into the driver’s side of his Jeep, throwing his hand up in a goodbye wave as he sped away, already counting down the seconds until he would see his golden ray of bright and bubbly sunshine again. He’s not so sure if he’ll be able to fall asleep.

Y/N didn’t have that same problem. The moment she landed on her bed, her eyes shut faster than the speed of light, her last conscious thought being of Harry. Her smile never leaving her face.

❊ ❊

Meeting at sunrise had become part of their routine. Not always to surf, but just to be together. Sometimes they surfed at their little alcove, other times they would watch the sun from her backyard, snuggled up in blankets on the beach. Or, they would surf, get breakfast, then fall back asleep in his bed until a more decent hour of morning.

But, their day always began at sunrise. It would be the equivalent to say that it also ended at sunset, but sunset was always too soon to part ways.

This wasn’t an everyday occurrence, mostly at random. Except for Sundays. Sundays are specifically their day, as per request of Harry. How could he be in love with a girl that coined yellow as her color, that had a smile as bright as the huge burning star, that claimed golden hour was prime sun time, and not deem Sunday as their day? He didn’t put any second thought into it.

Despite their sort of fast paced first date, they’ve been taking things slow, truly getting used to the feel of one another over the course of the next couple of months. It wasn’t until a month later that Harry popped the question, officially making Y/N his forever buddy-buddy. Well, not necessarily forever, but they both know it’s basically forever.

Harry never wants to be alone again.

It wasn’t until the night after they became official that Y/N finally took her shirt off in front of him. She was going through one of her episodes, and Harry was the only one around who could help her. He managed to calm her down and bring her inside her house - that was empty because her parents had gone out for the night - and get her to the bathroom so she could take a shower.

Initially, he was going to let her get in by herself, knowing her boundaries in regards to her body and not seeing it. But, when he saw how worn down she looked, he whispered words of reassurance in her ear, asking her permission to help get her in the shower. He wasn’t thinking with his dick, he just wanted to help the girl that didn’t know how to help herself.

Y/N looked him in the eyes, nibbling softly on her bottom lip before averting her attention to her chest for a few moments. She trusts him, and if they’re bound to work out, she needs him to be comfortable with seeing all aspects of her both mentally and physically. Which includes her scar.

So, she nods her head in agreement.

She lifted her arms and allowed him to remove her shirt, immediately feeling self-conscious. She couldn’t look him in the eyes as she stepped out of her shorts and underwear, going into the shower to avoid any lingering stares. Harry was quick to follow behind her, shutting the curtain after him. That’s when Y/N turned around and completely broke down, the tears that have been building behind her eyes finally pouring out. Harry wrapped her in his arms, letting her cry her eyes out for however long she needed.

When she stopped, Harry washed her hair, washed her body, washed away her bad thoughts, then washed himself as fast as he could so he could get her into her bed for the night. She snuggled up to his side, enjoying the warmness of his body that contrasted her cool ones.

That night when her parents came home, they spotted Harry’s Jeep in front of their house. Though when the house was eerily quiet, and found the door to her bedroom slightly ajar, they peeked inside and saw the two of them fast asleep. Parents usually would get angry at the sight of their child in bed with someone of a different gender, but not Y/N’s parents.

Over the last two months, they saw their daughter break back out of her shell, slowly returning to her former self, and all because of Harry. They saw how happy she became whenever he was around, or they’d overheard happy she was when just talking about him to Kalani. How could they ever get angry at the fact that Y/N was happy?

With the blossoming of their relationship taking place at the same time as the Vans Triple Crown, word got around fast and soon enough they were the star couple leading the ranks in their respective divisions. The world -- or really the surfing world, because no one really pays attention to professional surfers, was in awe of them. They were the hype of the news, of the town, of the state. Rightfully so, because they’re awfully cute.

It came as no surprise to everyone when the two were crowned the champions. The press went wild with this one, stating there was some scam happening behind the scenes, because what were the odds that this new star couple could both win? Or, how could Harry, a newbie, shoot his way up to the top in just one year? Or, how could Y/N dominate with her physical ailments?

There wasn’t a hoax and there wasn’t any cheating. They both were just that good.

The day of the final competition, they may have worked just a little harder to land the championship title. Harry had picked Y/N up and they traveled to their secret hideaway bright and early in the morning. After being out at a party the night before, the two were in no shape to get in the water already, opting to snooze under the shade of a cliff on the beach for a little while.

They didn’t sleep for very long before they got wrapped up in one another, indulging in a morning session of intimate love. They slept for maybe an hour before Y/N was ready to get her swim on, but Harry was the biggest sack of lazy mush that morning. He didn’t want to get up for nothing. He was laying down on his surfboard, completely comfortable under the shade. Y/N tried tugging on his arms to get him up, but he wouldn’t budge, a half-sleepy and dazed smile on his lips.

At one point he tugged her back, causing her to land on his lap, legs straddling his hips as her face crashed into his chest. His arms wrapped around her back, securing him to her as he said, “See? Isn’t this so much better than physical activity?”

“C’mon tubby, we got shit to do,” Y/N giggled, but Harry just held onto her tighter and nuzzled his cheek to the top of her head.

He hummed, “S’comfortable here.”

Y/N didn’t know what else to do, so the only maneuver left was bribery. Harry’s no different than any guy in the sense that once sex is brought into the mix, his ears perk up and his dick stiffens. So, Y/N was going to use that to her advantage. “If you get up, you can fuck me all night tonight.”

Harry was quick to sit up, her still in his lap, eyes squinted in suspicion. Y/N bit her lip to refrain from laughing, but she was mentally patting herself on the back. His hands shifted down her back to grab onto the flash of her behind, pulling her center closer to his and building up a bit of friction. “How about right now and tonight?”

“I can’t be exhausted for today, H,” Y/N rolled her eyes, moving to get herself off his lap, but he kept her grounded.

“You don’t ‘ave to get in the water now. You’ve practiced, you’re prepared, you got this. The championship is practically in your hands already,” he disclosed, peppering kisses up the side of her neck, a few across her jawline, and then landing on her lips.

Even if that may be true, she doesn’t want that to stop her from putting effort and time into winning. “Harry…” she started, getting lost in the feel of his lips suckling a lovebite right in the crook of her neck, her most sweet spot. He lifted his hips up slightly, pushing against her heat, eliciting the smallest moan from her mouth.

“Bet y’soaking your suit. Can I see?”

They only have a limited amount of time before they need to get to the Northshore at Ehukai Beach Park for the competition. It was about a forty-five minute drive alone. But, Harry’s lips and fingers were way too persuasive, so Y/N nodded her head.

“Good girl.”

He lifted her up so her back was now against the belly of his pink board, her legs immediately wrapped around his broad shoulders as he placed a chaste kiss to her clothed core. She whined as he hooked his fingers into her bikini bottoms, dragging them tortuously slow down her legs. His eyes immediately attracted themselves to her glistening slit, her wetness practically inviting him in. “So fucking pretty, baby.”

Harry’s hands pushed her legs as far apart as they would go, licking a fat stripe up from her little hole to her sensitive clit. Y/N threw her head back as he focused his attention on her clit, swirling his tongue around the little bud before sucking it into his mouth. She was a whimpering mess, but that earned her a smack on the ass and a first warning from Harry.

“No one’s around. Let me hear you loud and clear,” he gave her a pointed look, keeping their eye contact as he went a little further south, pushing the tip of his tongue into her cunt. Y/N tried closing her legs around his head but Harry just pushed them open further, keeping a firm grip on her thighs that were bound to leave bruises. Bruises just for her.

Her jaw fell slack, moans tumbling past her pink lips louder and louder. Her nails dug into his shoulders, most likely leaving scratches he’ll find later when they’re stinging in the shower. Just for him.

Y/N was growing restless as he inserted his middle and ring finger inside of her, pushing and pulling them at an intense pace that caused her toes to curl in the sand by his hips. When he managed to push his index finger in alongside the other two, Y/N began to see stars at the stretch of her walls.

“So tight f’me. Imagine it was my cock instead. Would feel so good and full, but you’d be too exhausted for later, hm?” He cooed, letting her adjust to the extra digit inside of her before fucking her harder and faster than before. He kissed up her tummy that was visible from under her shirt before landing his forehead against hers.

His free hand grabbed a hold of her jaw, making her face him which caused her eyes to open up quickly, locking eye contact with one another. “S’a shame. M’so hard, like a fucking rock. But you’ll be too tired.”

Teasingly, Y/N nodded her head in agreement, earning a hard glare from her lover. At this, he stopped the movement of his fingers, slowly pulling them out of her. Y/N’s mouth opened wide, her eyebrows scrunching in confusion as Harry sucked his fingers past his lips, indulging in her sweetness that tasted like a little sliver of heaven.

“Wh-wha…?”

“Close y’mouth, Y/N. Gonna catch flies,” he smirked, reaching over for her bikini bottoms and sliding them back up her legs until they were nestled against her soaking wet, throbbing pussy. “Said it y’self. Can’t be exhausted for the finale today, gotta be quick on your feet and coasting the gnarliest waves. C’mon slow poke, gotta get some practice in.”

So, Y/N was pissed off to say the least. And because of this, she was extra determined to push herself as far as she could to come out on top today. Harry on the other hand, well he was just mad that he had an insane hard-on that his own girlfriend didn’t want to tend to. He should’ve expected his little stunt wouldn’t go over nicely, but the look on her face when he stopped was absolutely priceless.

When it was announced that Y/N and Harry had won in their divisions everyone was beyond elated at the news, cheers and hugs and kisses spread all around the group. Though when it was their turn to congratulate each other, they looked at each other, small smiles on their faces before they turned to make conversation with someone else. That didn’t stop them from reaching for one another though, slyly interlocking their hands together.

They were whisked away quickly for pictures, holding their trophies high in the air, the biggest smiles on their faces. Y/N’s parents were cheering them on, more specifically her because they were so proud she was able to take her life back. Y/N could cry at the sight of her mother being a blubbering mess, and her dad’s admiration sparkling across his eyes. Though, with the support of her family, Y/N’s mind couldn’t help but wonder about Harry’s family, and how they couldn’t support their son with what he loved.

With this, Y/N squeezed his hand harder, and despite the cameras around them, she leaned up on her tiptoes and placed a kiss to his lips, the clicks of the cameras and the chatter of the crowd increasing. But, neither of them cared as they looked at one another, full of love.

Because that’s what this was. Love.

It didn’t matter that they had only met a little over three months ago, only dating for two months. They were in love. And that’s all that mattered.

Going out to dinner that night, they hardly left each other’s sides. They were being that obnoxious clingy couple that no one likes being around, but they didn’t care. Because they both knew they were in love. An unspoken love that didn’t have to be announced because the whole world knew, and so did they.

“Cheers to the love birds! And for the love of God, could you stop looking at each other like that,” AJ gagged, causing everyone to laugh before they clinked glasses.

When they left the restaurant, Harry and Y/N hopped into Betty, driving around for a little while before they decided to stay at his for the night. It was when the wind was blowing in her hair again, the moon shining above them and shining through her hair, his hand gently on her thigh, squeezing softly in contrast to that morning, that Harry truly felt it. This love that he has for this girl. Love that’s meant just for her. Her, and only her.

This gushy feeling was put on hold for a little while though the moment they walked through the door of his apartment. Y/N was bent over the arm of his living room couch, her one leg bent and on the armrest beside her while the other was trying its best to keep her steady on the ground. Harry’s fist was wrapped up in her hair, proving to make it more difficult for her to keep her balance. Though she wouldn’t want it any other way.

“What’s the matter, babe? You said I could fuck you all night.” Harry’s hot breath coated the shell of her ear, “Y’tired?”

She gasped at a particularly hard thrust that felt like it had hit against her cervix, trying to get the word No out in between her moans and whimpers.

“Hope not. Had me aching all day for your tiny cunt. M’gonna need a few hours to really appreciate it.” She could feel his menacing smirk against her skin as he again thrusted so far deep inside of her, her one leg gave out. If it wasn’t for Harry holding her up, she would’ve fell right over, too weak to even try and get back up.

They went twice on the couch before Harry helped her get to the shower, where they did it again. And then when they finally cleaned themselves, they got into bed, where they did it again, but this one could be classified under love-making. It was slow and sensual and sweet, just like them. Harry paid extra attention to her scar, trailing down the tissue with soft kisses as they softly climaxed together.

It was a little past midnight at this point, and they were both extremely tired. Y/N was on the brink of dozing off into dreamland before Harry interrupted her exhaustion.

“We never finished our game of twenty questions, did we?” He murmured, pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear.

Y/N lazily opened her eyes, shaking her head, “Don’t believe so.”

“Think it’s my turn,” he hummed. “Do you love me?”

There was silence for a brief couple of seconds, making Harry think Y/N had dozed off before answering his question. But, Y/N just needed those seconds to collect her mushed thoughts inside of her mushy brain before giving him a coherent and valid response.

“Yeah. I do.”

Harry smiled, probably the biggest he’s ever smiled, leaning down and taking hold of her face and smashing their lips together in a ceremonious kiss.

“Sick. Ditto, Sunshine.”

#it would mean so much if you tell me what you thought #harry styles one shot #harry styles au #harry styles imagine #harry styles blurb #harry styles x reader #harry styles x y/n #harry styles smut #harry styles fluff #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fic #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles writing #harry styles #one direction fanfiction

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sakusa-simp · 4 years

Text

neglected

request: haikyuu boys with an s/o who has been unknowingly neglecting them

pairings: kita shinsuke, miya atsumu

warning(s): slight angst to fluff

a/n: i’ve seen a lot of these with the roles reversed, so i figured i would write one where the haikyuu boys are being neglected instead

m.list || ask box || nav.

♡︎ KITA SHINSUKE ♡︎

he’s definitely one of the more observant people

so he notices you being more distant almost right away

usually, you spent almost all of your time with him

the only time the two of you were apart was when you both had work

but now, you were coming home later than usual, usually too tired to even mumble a “good night” before heading up to bed.

and kita was starting to feel a little hurt

he didn’t know if you were intentionally avoiding him, or if you were just busy lately

he couldn’t recall doing anything wrong, so he figured it was the latter

but that didn’t stop him from feeling upset

he missed spending time with you and would do just about anything to get you to pay attention to him again

so he figured he should just talk to you about it

he got off early from work one day, thinking through what he would say to you in his head

by the time you came home, he had it completely mapped out

he even went so far as to make dinner for you

the second you entered the house, he was inviting you to eat with him, gesturing to the meal he had cooked

you were tired from working, so your first thought was to decline his offer

but, at the same time, you knew you hadn’t been spending much time with him lately

so you figured it couldn’t hurt to eat with him for once

and when you sat down, his mood seemed to brighten just a bit

the two of you ended up eating in silence for the most part, exchanging a word here and there

and you could both feel the tension

but it wasn’t until you were both done eating that kita finally brought it up

“y/n, you’ve been avoiding me lately”

you were a little shocked by his words

because you weren’t avoiding him necessarily, it was more like you were busy and never had any time to be around him

“i’m not avoiding you”

“then what?”

for some reason, his words made you a little angry

because, frankly, you couldn’t always control how much time you spent away from home

it wasn’t your fault you had to work late sometimes

and that didn’t mean you were trying to avoid him

in fact, most of the time, he was all you thought about while you were gone

but now, he was trying to make it sound like it was your fault you were gone all the time

and, maybe it was, just a little bit

but for the most part, it was out of your control

“what do you want me to do, shinsuke? tell them i can’t work overtime because my boyfriend misses me?”

“yes”

his words surprised you enough that a small laugh escaped your mouth

you couldn’t help it

his words and his expression were just so kita that it was sort of refreshing

you hadn’t realized until then how much you had missed him

“alright, i’ll let them know”

you told him, sending him a soft smile

he sent you a relieved smile in return, reaching forward to give you a hug

you had really missed this

♡︎ MIYA ATSUMU ♡︎

he may not be as observant as kita, but it still doesn’t take him long to pick up on the distance growing between the two of you

at first, he figures things will work themselves out eventually

he’s confident in the fact that you’ll start paying more attention to him once again

he just doesn’t know when

but after a few weeks pass and the two of you are still hardly ever spending time together

he really starts to worry

he doesn’t know if he did something to hurt your feelings

or if you were just busy with work

but since you haven’t mentioned anything about being mad at him,

he figures you’re just swamped in work

so he decides to make your life a little easier

he manages to take the day off one day, planning on surprising you at work

he cooks you up a small meal (calling osamu to figure out what he’s doing) hoping to convince you to eat lunch with him and heads to your work

unfortunately for him, however, you have little to no reaction upon seeing him

“what’re you doing here ‘sumu?”

“i thought we could eat lunch together”

as much as you might want to, you’re buried in work

which means you probably won’t be able to take a break for more than a few minutes

that thought alone is enough to put you in a much grumpier state than before

it would seem as if the world was completely against you spending time with your boyfriend

and you were starting to get a little annoyed by that fact

and you could tell atsumu was too

“sorry ‘sumu, i can’t”

“but i brought ya a lunch”

you take one look at his face and know there’s no way you can turn him down

except, you have to

“i’m sorry ‘sumu, but i’m really busy right now. there’s no way i can take time off to go out with you”

atsumu, however, isn’t ready to give up quite yet

“how about i help ya with yer work and then ya eat the lunch i made ya?”

you shake your head softly, declining his offer

“no, it’s mine to do, not yours”

he chooses to ignore you, moving you over softly and pulling a chair up beside you

“as yer boyfriend, it’s my job to help ya”

you shake your head once again, a smile covering your face

“thanks, ‘sumu. and i’m sorry for ignoring you recently”

he sends you a soft smile—one specifically reserved for you

“don’t worry about it. just don’t do it again”

“i won’t”

he held out his pinky finger in your direction

“promise?”

you hooked your pinky through his

“promise”

and that was one promise you were sure you could keep

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got-to-love-a-badboy · 3 years

Text

Special Guest

Previous chapter ^^^

Surprise guest

Jack Grealish x female character.

Ellie really enjoyed her drive to Birmingham, she blasted her favourite tunes, sang along to backstreet boys and fully prepared herself for the wild weekend she knew was in store.

When the sat nav told her she was 5 minutes away from Jack's house she pulled over and messaged him.

Ellie - 5 minutes away 😍 hope you're ready for me Grealish!

She checked herself in the mirror before setting off, double checking her make up was on point and her hair was perfect.

She couldn't believe the size of the houses as she drove around near Jacks house, pulling up to a set of huge gates with a speaker at the side, Ellie pressed to button and the gates opened, when she reached the top of the drive Jack was stood at his door, wow he looked amazing, he was wearing some loose fitting grey shorts and an oversized white T-shirt, Ellie was glad she chose casual for today.

She pulled up and put the hand break on before turning it off and getting out, Jack made his way to Ellie, "Hi beautiful", he said as he pulled her into an embrace, it felt so natural being in his arms, Ellie had her arms around his waist and she could I feel his toned chests under his shirt, after a minute they pulled away, Jack looked at Ellies car, "Audi? Good choice" Ellie smiled as she headed to the boot, "what, did you expect me to rock up in a micra?", the pair laughed as Jack followed Ellie to the back of the car to grab her suitcase, "oh what a gentleman", Ellie said as she fanned her self, "calm yourself, iv not even started yet" Jack said as he carried her suitcase and lead her towards the house by the small of her back.

"Wow Jack!, this is amazing", Ellie told him as she entered the house, "let me show you upstairs" he told her as he lead her up the stairs, "so this is my room", Jack walked Ellie into his bedroom, Ellie gasped when she saw the extravagance of Jack's room, "oh my god Jack this is gorgeous!", Ellie walked around the room admiring all the decor, the textures and the view before returning to Jack, "I literally can't believe the luxury you live in, I don't deserve to be around this much glam" she joked, Jack looked her with a serious expression on his face, he grabbed a hold of her hand and the two made eye contact, "you deserve the world Ellie Lowe", Ellie just smiled at him, her heart swelled and she lost all train of though, luckily Jack spoke before she had to, "let me show you your room for the weekend", again he took her hand and guided her to the room next door to Jacks.

Jack opened the door to a room that was filled with natural light, Ellie noticed a beautiful bunch of flowers sat on the dresser, she walked around taking in all the beauty before walking over to the flowers which had a card attached, 'To my real life princess,

I hope you have an amazing weekend, I can't wait to spend every minute with you J x"

Ellie blushed at the note written on the card, she slowly made eye contact with Jack who looked embarrassed to say the least, "you were suppose to see them when I left you to unpack", he said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Ellie walked over to Jack and stood in front of him and said "they are beautiful Jack thank you", before leaning on to her tiptoes and kissing him on the cheek, He licked his lips before telling her "il go make us some lunch you unpack and come down when your ready ok?", Ellie nodded in response as Jack walked out of the bedroom.

(Jacks room)

(Ellie's room)

Before unpacking Ellie decided to text Jessica to let her know she had arrived safely.

Ellie - hey babe, I'm here! Omg his house is amazing! My room is amazing! And I think I just totally freaked him out by reading a card on some flowers they were meant to be a surprise, it's fine though we're both super nervous!, il call you later when I’m getting ready to go out, miss you.

Ellie began putting her clothes away in the drawers and wardrobe, after 10 minutes she had finished, she slid her suit case under the bed and headed back downstairs, as she was walking along the hallway she noticed pictures hung up of Jack and his family, he had spoke about his family in their texts through the week so Ellie knew they were a massive part of her life, unlike herself who only got a card from her parents each birthday, she had managed to dodge that conversation over the past few days.

As she got half way down the stairs her phone buzzed so she stopped to read the text, it was from Jessica.

Jessica - I didn’t expect any less to be honest babe, enjoy your weekend and try to relax, you both obviously like each other, it will happen naturally, failing that get the alcohol flowing tonight and you’re all his 😈

Ellie laughed at her friends reply then carried on walking down the stairs, she got to the bottom and was greeted by Jack walking into the hallway, “ah your here, come on iv set up a movie for us”, Ellie followed Jack into a room at the back of the house, he had done an amazing job, there was snacks and drinks on the table in front of them, all the lights were out, it was just then glow from the huge tv that was lighting up the room, enough light for Ellie to turn to Jack and see the cute smile he had on his face, she wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled up at him, “you did good Jack, I feel like I’m getting first class treatment here”.

Jack’s hands found Ellie’s hips, he held onto her firmly as he felt her giggle, “you deserve nothing less than five star”, Ellie bit her lip as he locked eyes with him.

They both became lost in each other’s gaze as they took in every detail about the others eyes, the brown tones, the shapes and speckles, Jack couldn’t take it any more, he gently pulled Ellie closer before softly locking his lips with hers, the kiss was gently and sweet, it was perfect for how the two were feeling at that moment, Ellie slowly pulled away first as she smiled at him, “how about that movie?”, she asked, “come on then”, Jack told her as the pair headed to the sofas.

Jack had chosen Shrek because you can’t go wrong with Shrek. He laid on the sofa and Ellie fell into the gap between his legs, much to Jacks surprise, but he loved it, the two wanted to go slow but also didn’t want to be shy with eachother, so Jack loved that Ellie pushed for more connection.

Ellie got comfy and she rested her head on his stomach, she had one of her hands down Jacks side which he soon found and lifted her and up and began playing with her fingers, rubbing his thumb over them, intern-locking both of their hands and the occasional kiss to the top of her hand, this was the perfect afternoon.

#jackgrealish #Jack grealish #jack grealish fic

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capricornus-rex · 4 years

Text

Someone Left to Save (10)

Cal Kestis x Reader

Requested by Anon

Summary: The Mantis crew arrives to the capital of Ulfin, in the planet of Pevera, under siege. They meet the local rebel cell spearheaded by the former Republic admiral, Jax Beneb, who seeks to destroy the Empire’s occupation that was aggressively imposed upon while exploiting the planet of its natural resources. A plan is devised to destroy the Imperial’s main base of operations—as well as their influence—in the planet; however, it was a do-or-die mission that you and Cal had gotten yourselves caught in.

A/N: What isn’t strictly prohibited but you feel its illegal? Writing drafts of my fanfic in my office desktop LMAO the banking industry here can be pretty tight with their rules tho. AAAAAHH So sorry I haven’t been posting!!! For the past 2 days, I was finishing this whole chapter and I’ve gotten into like one-fourth of the next chapter!! (stay tuned! that one’s gonna be intense! ;w;)

Tags: Force-Sensitive! Reader, Inquisitor! Reader, Jedi! Reader, Fake Death, Jedi turned Inquisitor, Seduction to the Dark Side, Turn to the Dark Side, The Dark Side of the Force, Aftermath of Torture, Torture, Psychological Torture, Redemption Arc! Reader, Possible Redemption, Premonitions

Also in AO3

Chapters: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 | Previous: Part 9 | Next: Part 11 | Masterlist

10 of ?

Relying on the spies’ intel didn’t cut it anymore, so getting out there was the best course of action. You perfectly knew that this is no race against the other Inquisitors, and each Jedi is just hunted game in the eyes of the Grand Inquisitor, Darth Vader, and the Emperor altogether.

You marched to the hangar with a graceful, poised stride. When you saw the hangar officers conversing by the entrance, they stiffened at the sight of you.

“Prepare my ship!” you barked.

The mechanics and engineers scrambled to your TIE Fighter—distinguishable by its black body, a red intercrossed stripe making the cockpit look like a rifle’s reticle from the outside—you watched them inspect, recalibrate, and refuel the vehicle before confirming that it’s safe for travel.

“All engines go for your TIE Fighter, Twelfth Sister,”

“Good,”

You climbed the ladder to the cockpit and made yourself comfortable. The mechanics scurried to detach the hooks and cables strapped to the vessel as you pump up the engines. The hangar attendant waved his signal rods in front of your cockpit as you slowly hover forward, following the path the attendant is carving for you, when you inched closer to the open air you cranked the throttle’s lever and accelerated. The rotors rippled out a ring of dust and air as it slowly gained some velocity, and then you zoom out of the hangar like a black comet and out of Mons Golotha.

In less than 20 minutes, the X1 TIE Fighter’s speed hindered as soon as it entered Mons Golotha’s exosphere. Staring back at you through that cockpit windshield is the star-dotted vacuum of space.

“Okay, Cal sweetheart, where could you be hiding?” you mutter to yourself as you fire up the nav computer.

You drive the TIE forward, farther and farther away from the orbiting moon, you weren’t trying to pick up a signal—you’re trying to find some peace, ironically, in the dead blankness of the galaxy in the hopes to pick up where you left in your meditation earlier. Your grip loosened, no more than a delicate, dainty hold of the steering wheel, you let go and let yourself get lost in concentration.

The heavy, gloomy hum of space helped you drown out all of the white noise in order for you to focus better. A silent call whose echo reaches as far as the system in the ten parsecs. You struggle to recall the image of the place where you saw Cal in—that’s your next best shot in finding him.

A blinding red hue—it’s either morning or afternoon wherever he is. You could even feel the prickling heat underneath your suit.

An arid wasteland. A single city perched atop one of the mesas erected across the sandy, barren expanse.

This planet is wholly new to you.

You see Cal standing atop a mesa whose surface has cracked, brought upon by intense drought, it overlooks the small city not larger than half a quadrant of Coruscant’s city block. The image sharply jabbed its way through your skull, causing you to flick your eyelids up, and return to reality.

“Jeddah!” you gasped its name.

The place is unheard of to you, going back to Mons Golotha to check the archives would prove to be inconvenient. The next plausible move is to follow your instincts. You crane the neck of the nav computer so it faces you, then your fingers tapped away with the buttons—it was strange, though you weren’t startled, you knew exactly what its coordinates are, and so you charted your course to Jeddah.

When the computer screen glowed green and showed a map of the destination, without reluctance, you punched it—pushing the steering forward and the TIE Fighter cuts through the empty space like an arrowhead.

—–

JEDDAH

Cal sits at the edge of the exact mesa where you saw him in your vision, taking under the stout branches of a dead tree. He’s lost count of the days you’ve been gone, he wagered it to be roughly a month now—and he still hasn’t moved on, he refuses to. Gradually, his new habits have become routine to him, not that he’s gotten any better; he remains stoic, almost unfeeling, and his fighting has lost its grace.

If only you could see him now—he’s riddled with sear marks either from his pastime tinkering or the miss-by-a-hair grazes from Stormtroopers’ blasts, bruises, and brand new scars. He refuses healing from Merrin’s magick and makes do with the stims BD-1 supplies for him; but truthfully, he prefers your Force Healing. He misses the warm touch of your palm flat on his skin, wherever his injury might be, the soothing sensation might as well be a thing of the past for him.

The humid wind blows over his cheeks, red sand pricks at his freckles. He sits there, eyes closed, feeling for something cannot name yet knows wholeheartedly.

“[Y/N]…” he mouthed. The utterance of your name is carried away by the wisp of sand.

Nothing.

He yearned to feel it again. He had hoped he would.

His meditation bore no fruit due to his desperation, impatience, and a directionless, bottled up anger.

“Come on…” he growled, squeezing his eyes shut as the rays of the sun blazed through the spaces between the tree branches.

Over several parsecs away, Cal’s voice saying your name—all but a whisper—and a deep humming rang altogether behind your ears. In the first few minutes, you’re unbothered by it, until it did reach you. Your eyes on the windshield wandered, searching the skies for the source, spotting planets and moons here and there.

Cal locked in on the connection, his furrowed eyebrows now relaxed, his breathing calmed and he maintained the ideal, tranquil stillness of his meditation.

The humming grew louder, it evolved into a deeper, more baritone rumbling—like a stampede in the distance—you kept looking for its origin, but neither a single planet nor moon in the system you’re in seem to have the answer. You lent a few more minutes of listening in, hoping you’d make sense of it until you picked up the same familiar sensation as earlier.

“[Y/N]…?” asked Cal, confirming your presence through the Force.

You didn’t speak, you exploited the connection to clear out the cloudiness surrounding your objective. The red mesa in the desert appeared before your eyes, a dead tree, and the city overlooking the city sitting atop a single, erect rock pillar large enough to cradle it.

[Y/N]…! Please…!

A wicked grin snaked on your face. Your jaw clenched and your eyes had a sinister glint.

“Found you!” you hissed.

According to your nav, you’re two systems away from Jeddah. You pulled the computer by its metal neck, your fingers flying all over the keyboard as you calculate the jump to lightspeed.

Never have you ever punched the buttons on the dashboard of your fighter, you were particularly fond and careful of this TIE Fighter, though the excitement of finally spotting your prey caused you to crank the steering wheel forward so hard that the cogs inside groaned, consequently making the thrusters roar with great enthusiasm and haul the vessel at its full speed.

You grinned as you put the pedal to the metal with your fighter, you licked your lips and smirked.

“Don’t worry, sweetie, I’m coming for you.”

The young Jedi got out of the trance and he’s out of breath, exhilarated by the fact that you are alive after all this time—after all this time of defending that exact same point in every debate amongst the Mantis crew—but connecting with you felt different and eerie. BD-1 inched closer to his owner, his scanners picking up Cal’s stress levels and his increased heart rate. A single chirp caught the boy’s attention.

“It’s [Y/N], BD, but…”

“Bee…?”

“I have a bad feeling about her,”

The droid was in disbelief, BD never imagined—not even his processors and circuit board—that Cal would say that about you! He sent out a whole string of trills, questions that Cal couldn’t translate one at a time. He eased his little droid companion, gently gesturing at him to calm down.

“I think we need to tell this to Cere,”

The most concrete proof he could ever get a hold of was a connection from you through the Force. He questioned himself if Cere would believe him, considering she is the closest he can come to in terms of the ways of the Force.

Cal comes rushing back to the Mantis.

“Cere!” he started to call repeatedly when he was only a few meters away until he got into the ship.

The boy was a huffing and puffing mess when he threw himself into the ship, startling everyone and inadvertently interrupting their individual pastimes.

“Cal? What happened?” Cere had to lower her leather journal away from her face just to check on the boy.

“Are you alright?”

“Slow down, kid! It’s not like we’re leaving without you all of a sudden!”

“That’s not it!” he panted. He then turned to the older woman. “Cere, didn’t Cordova write something about having two Force-sensitive beings connecting or communicating through the Force?”

The more Cal rambled on with his queries, Cere had to put her book down on the lounge table to listen to the redheaded youngster. She knows he’s onto something—his excitement is just making slightly incoherent. Her lips parted as if to say something, but the boy is unconsciously unfurling new discoveries with the ways of the Force.

“Well, I just connected with [Y/N]!”

Greez cuts in as politely as he can. “Wai—Wait, how did you know it was [Y/N]? Moreover, what do you mean by ‘connect’?”

“Her voice!” he then remembers the eerie feeling that he put him off during the trance. “But… something doesn’t feel right.”

“About what? About [Y/N]?” Merrin joins in on the subject, curious and intrigued about your well-being, pausing from her tending of the terrarium and stepping down to the lounge table.

“So is it really her or just some random voice you heard that sounds just like her? My poor brain inside this gray head of mine can’t really grasp all of your Force mumbo-jumbo.”

“Cal, you don’t think—?”

Cal immediately refuses Cere’s theory without even letting her finish.

“No!” he bolts. “It can’t be. It’s impossible!”

“Cal, we can’t say for sure. But if you do have a bad feeling about it, then you best be prepared for what you’re about to see when she comes to you.”

There was a foreboding tone in Cere’s voice, consciously warning the boy of what’s to come. In his mind, Cal battled with himself and his inhibitions.

It’s not fair! In his mind, he whined like a child, on the verge of sobbing.

In what ought to be roughly a month and few weeks since you disappeared in Ulfin, his ecstasy in knowing that you truly are alive is instantly overridden by the fear that he cannot pinpoint yet—more like, he cannot accept yet should it be realized.

Coming out of hyperspace brought you to half a parsec away from Jeddah. In the nav, you can see the designated planet outlined in green amidst the others drawn in blue, blending in with the screen’s dark blue background.

You eased down to the regular flying speed as you close the distance between you and Jeddah. While the TIE Fighter cruises through space, passing by the neighboring planets, you cannot help but feel… bothered. Earlier, before you went to hyperspace, you were quite startled with how you behaved—you have never acted like this before. This was your very first solo campaign, as well.

Could it be excitement? For what, exactly? For doing something you want all alone—exactly how you want it? Perhaps.

Uncertainty? Because within the recesses of your being, the old you still lives albeit imprisoned?

“Enough!” you roared, leaning too hard and too fast to accidentally hit the back of your head. “Aaargh! Ow…”

You finally calmed down, for real this time, and your attention from the pain rippling across the back of your skull shifted to the repetitive bleeping of the nav computer. You leaned closer to the dashboard, peering on the screen; the radar indicates that you’re approaching the planet’s orbit. You buckle up and prepare the first phase of atmospheric entry.

Your arms flew in all directions, flicking switches and pressing buttons all over the ship—setting up the shields, applying the right amount of pressure on the steering wheel to counter the gravity, and finding the optimum speed. You close in on the bright, sunshine-gold sheen of Jeddah’s atmosphere.

The leather sank as you lean back, the turbulence made the ship rattle under your feet—the shields are doing its job to keeping the shaking to a minimum—and the TIE Fighter tore through the skies easily.

“Well, that turned out more effortlessly than I expected,” you sighed. “Now, to find you, Cal.”

The same feeling you had when you were still out in space returned, only this time, much louder and more prominent. There wasn’t a doubt that you’ve come to the right place; the connection has staled over time, perhaps Cal has given up in trying. The TIE Fighter circles in the skies in search for a specific city atop a mesa, at least a common signal belonging to it.

Along Cal’s trek, he spots your TIE Fighter—in perfect coincidence—zooming through Jeddah’s sky as a growing black speck. He squints his eyes and shades them with his hand over his brows.

“That can’t be good.”

“If this thing could hold a droid, things would’ve been much easier!” you grumbled as you manually optimized the transmitter. You sighed when no blips popped on the radar. “Might as well find someplace to land.”

At first, the ripple of the Force—barely a whisper again, drowned by the engine hum of the TIE—ran in the back of your mind. Unconsciously feeling it, you’re practically welcoming it; Cal gets the exact same feeling as he watches your TIE Fighter circle the horizon, curious what this lone fighter could be doing in some place as desolate as Jeddah.

He senses the familiarity from the TIE Figher’s pilot, of all people, and little by little he starts to think that it’s not impossible.

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ven-uzumaki13 · 4 years

Text

A FROZEN DEVICE

In the middle of the Alpha 13’s centre room, a boy named Ven was in the kitchen making food for his friends Kree, Abby and Jake they were taking about what their next mission was until Abby brought up her past in joking manner saying, “Well my family thinks I'm a god or something” Kree then asked about Ven’s past “what about you Ven I couldn't find your proper file” Ven stop cutting carrots and leaned onto of the counter and says, “what my file said... that I was flouting in space for a thousand years with a celestial spirit inside me.” “so, nothing” Ven shortly followed up with “What about your name Ven that’s important... right.” Jake shouted across the room “Uzumaki...?” He whispered to himself “No I think it's all a gang now...” the glare in his eye fades “hmm what about you, Jake... those arms, are you ready...” Ven says with a knowing smile. Silence for just a moment until “yea...yea” he said staring at his metallic arms “it was that apollo game 2 years ago there was an attack everyone was running, screaming you know... I blacked out and woke up... with my arms gone they couldn’t find them; I lost my mom's bracelets they were everything... to me at least.” Jake then held his face crying, Abby who was sat next to him gave him a hug and held him “we have all lost something ether memories or families” Ven said trying to make the mood lighter “what about you Kree? How's your life.” “well, it's not that much better… my family was crushed in the same attack, Abby saved me.” Kree said holding back tears his green hair falling over his face.

“I could have done better it's my fault.” Abby said with a deep angry in her voices, Kree and Abby arguing over who is to blame until Ven steps in “guys none of you are to blame it the ones who attacked... speaking of which did they catch them ye...” Ven is cut off by a large device smashing into the coffee table, covered in snow and ice, everyone jumps up and looks at it until it blinks away, Ven walks over and raises his wrapped hand and a wave of energy scans the table “This is new... a blink drive? hmm... we have them now?” Ven looking around at the others, Kree looking confused and says, “no we can't make it yet, were still decades away.” “Maybe it's not ours” Jake said standing from his seat, Ven eyes narrowed as he orders Jake to open a portal to the bridge of the eclipse, “thank you.” he says as he walked throw the portal.

The portal spins to existence in the rush of dust and lighting and as Ven walks out fairing his armour and helmet in a blaze of fire washing over his body his 2 red eyes breach the helmets tinted visor, staring at the captain, his white coat flows behind him as he says “Ven what are you doing?” “A blink drive just broke my coffee table and I'm here to find out more about it.” Ven says as his gun slowly materialises on his thigh “you're not going to use that?” the captain says raising an eyebrow “no” Ven says with a smile his helmet fades away his clothes returning to normal “so the blink drive was that you or?” Ven says looking around the empty bridge “no but we have tracked it to a planet not that far away I was about to call your team and then...” the captain pointing at Ven with his arms outspreaded “you and your team will be on the move in ten minutes.” the captain says this as Ven walks bye and goes back throw the portal, the rest of the team is watching kree spin his knife around his hands until Ven walks throw the portal and says, “ok the captain know where the device came from, get ready.” Ven and his team loaded into their ship the vanguard a smooth model curser class designed to get in and out and cause an explosion or 2, the ship was held in a small hanger just outside the communal area of the Alpha 13 command centre the ship engines turn on its clamps holding it in place released, and the ship started to fall into the deep void of space the vanguard meet up with 2 other ships before they jumped, it opened a chamber under the nose of the ship a slip-space cannon lowed itself and fired a single shot causing a large and loud opening to slip-space its edges violently trying to close the 3 ship enter the portal and it closes shortly after, the ship was shaking due to the energy bouncing of the hull “VIOLENT isn't it” Abby said fighting for control of the ship nav system, “OK when we land make sure that you’re wearing your cold-protection Armor” Ven said while putting on his coat, Jake starts to put on his vest until Ven says “Jake you'll need to cover your arms too, you don't want them freezing you won't be able to do much” Jake nods and grabs a bigger coat.

A slip-space portal opens with a grinding screech and loud blast of energy the purple vortex expands and 3 ships slowly crawl out and enter an orbit of a planet frozen in time, as the Vanguard was preparing to drop to the planet the other 2 ships would stay in orbit and bring backup if needed, the Vanguard’s engines turn on and it heads to the planet passing throw a snowstorm as large ice shards fall from the sky doges and narrowing missing the ship the Vanguard’s shield fairing changing from green to red, the ship passing throw the storm leaving a hole in the clouds revealing a white plane surface of snow with a small building the back hanger door of the Vanguard open and the ship spins to show the hanger, Ven, Abby, Kree and Jake all go to the hanger wearing there cold-protection Armor a gust of wind nocks Kree to his knee in reflex Kree grabs a railing as he is blinded by the snow, his eyes reeling in a small pain to adjust to the snow “Kree” Ven yells as the wind blows by “are you ok” he continues the ships door reaches the snowy floor “okay everyone spread out try to find a door, it’s really cold”

Ven told the team on the radio the winds howl ringing in his ear, a static howl screeches throw the radio Ven concerned with this he jumps into the sky and a blast of energy is sent from his chest his eyes split like a dragon and can see 5 energy signals, 3 signals were intertwined almost dancing Ven realised there were fighting he calls this on the radio and the team charges the building Ven braking down from the roof the debris falling with him fire rising from the ground with him he looks up to see Abby who had delt with 2 unknown individuals “I expected something else, not going to lie” Ven said laughing a little “well I am an Alpha member Ven” Abby said with a smirk “yep” Ven said looking around the room “this place is really old” Ven said “yea these guys were tiring to delete some files they also tried to steal this" Abby handing Ven a smaller version of the blink drive “take this to the ship we need it” at this point Jake and Kree run throw an aged door slowly opening Jake uncovering his face from his red scarf “HURRY there are ships on the way, 40 of them" Jake gasping for breath.

Ven looking at Abby and says “go" as she starts running, “ok where're holding the line, none of them get to the Vanguard!” Ven ordering the rest of his team, Ven getting to the roof and can barely see the fleet of ships “scavengers” Ven whispered to himself as a large bright light is placed on top of the small stations hut the storm closes in and the hut’s lights fade into the dust and wind of the storm the presence of the ship cannot be forgotten the sounds of the engines were louder than the storm Ven blast the side of this ship it did not have shields Ven grind and jumped back down his entry hole “Jake I need a portal from lower orbit... I have a plan” Ven smiling as he puts on his helmet as Jake opens his portal the sky Infront of him he jumps, and dives throw while Ven was falling he was building up kinetic energy to part the clouds and allow a signal throw bringing the 2 ships in higher orbit as Ven is falling from the clouds Binary emerges from his shoulder in a small blaze of fire this small dragon says, “are you sure you can do this?” Ven nods does a spin and confuses his fall, Binary says “fine but hold on!" As she covers his in a flaming cloak of fire that tuns into a larger version of Binary they both breach the storm pashing the ships in a Blair but before Ven hits the ground he releases his built-up energy in a blast so powerful it pushes back the 40 ships along with the storm 26 of the scavenger's ships crashes into a frozen ocean of pure ice Ven’s blast had blown away all the snow around the hut making a makeshift wall.

The Vanguard spins up its engines and slowly flouts above the hut it weapons charged as the rest of the scavenger’s ship raise from the snow, the falling snow causes a mist under the ships the storm as its background and a loud horn can be heard as a hoard of smaller ships are launched “great they have attack ships now” Kree said holding his Eletronic swords hilt spinning around his hand and ignites his blades “the signal has been sent we have like 30 minutes” Jake said messing with a small panel “HOLD THEM OFF!” Ven said summoning his 9 spirit orbs, Ven them preforms a small hand sign interlocking his fingers and pushing them out launching a blaze of fire that transformed into Binary she then charges the largest ship latching on top of its hull ripping Armor pieces off until she can see the reactor of the ship, she tilts her back and blasts the ship with hell fire breaching the core and makes the ships engines explode dropping it to the snowy floor, Ven creating another hand sign to attack a different ship once binary is released Ven fly's up and forms a small sun in his hand he then throws it at a larger ship, Ven hit the ground and runs to attack a drop ship as he does the large ship flies over head and explodes as it hits the ground he raised his hand and fired a small blast witch destroys the drop ship in a ball of fire as he slides under a closing door of hut “11 left let get this done!” Ven calls over the radio.

Abby spinning the engines of the Vanguard and flies behind the rest of the fleet launching a barrage of missals a second horde of smaller ships start to chase the Vanguard, Abby realises and runs into the storm the horde follows her blindly, Kree blitzes throw a small group of scavengers until the Vanguard flies over head he throws his blade into a Scavengers head the lighting stored in the blade expels pushing back the rest of its group allowing him to grab his blade and kill the rest of the scavengers and run back to the hut “ok that’s like 3,4 ships maybe how's our backup going and where's Abby and the Vanguard?” Ven said loading his pistol “the backup ships are 2 minutes away and I think see flew back into the storm” Jake said with his face into a console “ok you fine here... right?” Ven asked “yes I'm fine go” Jake said trying to push him out of the room Ven grabs his helmet from the table and heads outside as Ven opens the main door a gust of wind hits him in the face and Kree is standing Infront of him and says, “alright what's the plan?” “we have 3 minutes until backup gets, here” Ven says holding up 3 fingers “so deal with that” Ven says pointing at a scavenger dreadnought.

Dreadnought pushing itself out of the storm “great, you said 3 minutes... right?” Kree said tired from fighting “ok yes let's try this” Ven said raising his hand pointing all 5 fingers towards the dreadnought, a small energy builds up on each of his finger and is released ripping throw the air the 5 beams intertwine and hits the dreadnought’s shield causing minor damage “great...” Ven said while his helmet folds into a cap and the smoke from his finger fades “that all you got...VEN” Kree said mocking Ven’s attack “do you want to try?” Ven said clenching his fist and a small flame emerging from it “nope do wana try punching it, that usually work” Kree said sliding down a wall, out of breath while Ven staired blankly at Kree tilting his head, Ven looking out into the snow-white ground the sky corrupted by the dreadnought presence he again tilts his head and notices a small crack in its shield and a small drone lacing it with an energy healing the ship “hmm that’s interesting” Ven said as Kree popped up from his small nap “What. Where. Who? oh hi... Ven what's happening” “Kree were you asleep really … anyway I found that the dreadnought has drones that heals the shield” Ven said while helping up Kree “get to the Vanguard and attack that ship with everything”.

Ven looking down at the ship he starts to run from the left side of the hut’s door he runs until the snow is built up too much to run so he jumps and starts to fly a blast of energy pushing him into his flite Ven lifts his right leg up to his chest and a second blast of energy pushes him faster the ships turrets start to aim at him, Ven pulls his arm and starts to attack the ship in a repetitive blast of fire, Ven releases binary to cover him while he charges a concentrated beam hiding himself inside the snow storm, Binary covering the ships shield in flames its turrets firing blindly throw it until the ship stops suddenly and turns to the storm pointing directly at Ven, the fire still raging on top of the shield the ship was detecting Ven inside the storm, the turrets aimed and fired into the storm until a bright white beam of light breaches throw the storm and charges towards the ship, the ship pushes itself up trying to dodge the blast but one of its engines stops, overloads and explodes stopping it from its escape then the blast hits its shield braking it under the weight shattering it too Pieces and all that remains from the dreadnought is a fire ball falling to the ground lighting up the storm.

Ven dropping to the snowy floor and as he walks to the hut he falls and laughs trying to breath before Ven can stand the Vanguard flies throw the storm and lands Infront of the hut a large ramp lowers from the back of the ship Abby and Kree walks out and points to Ven laughing in the snow and says “Jake is he okay? how long has he been like this?” “just a few minutes" Jake said leaning on the huts wall “WHERE ARE THOSE SHIPS, WE CALLED FOR!!!” Ven said getting up from the snow and brushing himself off, he then looks up into the shy to see both ships remains flying towards them “RUN!” Ven shouted ordering everyone into the ship as they prepare to take off, the remains catching fire from re-entering the atmosphere causing large explosions across the large empty snowy field the shockwaves shaking the ship as its engines push it into the sky, the clouds covering the bridge’s window until the Vanguard rocketing throw into orbit as the ship’s nose lowered to show 600 Scavenger ships surrounding the ship and its crew...

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heartslogos · 5 years

Text

an oath to keep

Gideon is sitting on a dull ashy rock, boots covered in dull ashy dirt, staring out at a dull ashen sky as dull ash clouds puff around her. She is waiting for a drop ship to pick her up and take her away.

She is certain of two things.

One, when Harrowhark Nonagesimus gets her she’s going to be so mad at Gideon that she’s going to skip straight past frosty rage and into frothing at the corners of the mouth and she might try to pop each individual vertebrae of Gideon’s spine out through Gideon’s mouth like a candy dispenser.

Two, Gideon is deader than disco. Which provides a minor sliver of hope because disco has a weird tendency to dip its toe back into living every so often before being quickly shunted off into its shallow grave.

Gideon, in fact, does feels some minor, weird, buzzing feeling in the back of her skull that signals to her that she’s not all the way gone yet. Just ninety nine point nine nine nine nine nine nine nine nine nine percent there.

She raises a hand and runs it through her hair, as she sighs, slumping down on the rock to stare up at the bleak sky.

Trust being dead to land her back at the Ninth. The afterlife couldn’t have something a little bit more interesting? Gideon’s no saint and didn’t have many expectations for what the other side would hold for her, but surely it wouldn’t be ye old homestead of eternal bleakness.

Figures that the bad place for the bad people is just the Ninth. It explains so much, honestly.

So far Gideon has catalogued three bits of good news while sitting on her old rock friend.

One. She’s got her two hander. Its familiar weight means that this place can’t be completely awful. Real hell would’ve been stuck in the afterlife with the little metal wand of a rapier and the kind of alright knuckles.

Two. Gideon also still has her glasses. Unscratched, unbroken, and in perfectly mirrored condition that she can see her reflection in them.

Three. Gideon’s existence in the afterlife is not a complete mangled wreck like it was when Gideon threw herself into it to start with. Her arms and legs work, her torso isn’t a sieve with a bonus chance at tetanus, and — not as great, but neither here nor there — her face paint looks fresh, sharp, and unblemished. Which also leads to the bad news that Gideon poked at her face a bit and could still feel the angry little zits on her forehead and the sides of her face.

Being dead, apparently, does not rescue a person from acne. Acne is a powerful curse that extends beyond life. There can be no rescuing from acne.

“Ninth.”

Gideon looks up and is somehow disappointed to see Camilla.

“Yo,” Gideon stands up, waving awkwardly. “Do I apologize?”

Camilla blinks at her, confused, “What for?”

“You’re here.”

Camilla looks around, and shrugs. “Not for long.”

They both look up at the sound of ship engines.

Camilla’s hands rest on her hips as they watch the dull clouds part, and the lights of a ship start to come closer.

“Thank you for what you did back there,” Camilla says as they watch the ship descend. “You do your house proud.”

Gideon shrugs, uncomfortable at the thought of making the Ninth House feel anything positive. The Ninth could suck it. It wasn’t really —

“The Ninth has less syllables than Harrowhark Nonagesimus,” Gideon says.

Camilla’s lip twitches upward at the corner. Gideon has a feeling Camilla already knew that.

“It was an honor to fight with you,” Camilla says as the ship completes its descent, landing off in the distance and lowering its ramp. She turns to Gideon and holds her hand out. “I’m going to join my adept.”

Gideon grasps it. “Hey, what was it that you were supposed to do?”

Camilla’s smile is grim and thin. “Finish it.”

Gideon’s hand tightens on Camilla’s. “And — ?”

She doesn’t now how to finish that question.

Camilla nods once. “It is done.”

They both let go of each other and Camilla turns to walk away. Gideon watches her for a bit before returning to her rock.

“Gideon!”

She looks up and sees Camilla, almost at the ship.

“You could come with us,” Camilla yells out towards her, “You’ve done more than enough. Our part is over.”

Gideon stares at Camilla, and then beyond her at the ship. She imagines she can see Palamedes in the shadow of the ship’s entryway. Boy that would be an awkward ride to wherever dead people go next. No thanks.

“Pass. I’ll wait for mine,” Gideon yells back.

Camilla is very still in the distance before she raises an arm and waves, then turns and completes the walk onto the ship.

Gideon watches the ship as it slowly returns to the sky and away from here. Her throat tightens and she tells herself she isn’t crying. She’s got no paint or brushes. If she messes up her face it’s going to be stuck that way for eternity. No thanks.

Gideon doesn’t know how long she’s been here. It could be minutes. It could be hours. It could be days or years or centuries.

She doesn’t feel tired or thirsty or anything. She’s got enough to do. Infinite laps to run, push ups, crunches, squats, sword drills. She even messes around with pushing rocks around the bleak landscape.

“You.”

Gideon groans, sheathing her sword as she drops her stance. She turns and she sees the hulking mass of Crux lumbering towards her, face grim and foreboding as ever.

“Come on, Crux,” Gideon gestures around them, “We’re dead. Can you drop being a giant wanker for like…a minute? I’ll even pretend I don’t know about the part where you rigged my ship so I would die as soon as I got off planet.”

Crux scowls, coming to a stop a few feet away from her, “Death is the least of what those who abandon their house deserve.” The formal marshal looks her over. “Ultimately you made up for your many flaws, though I can see that your disrespect and lack of manners remains unfixable.”

“Thanks?” Gideon hedges that this is supposed to be the most backhanded of complements, so backhanded that it goes right around to being a complete insult. “You know, Crux, I didn’t think you’d ever kick the bucket. Do I get to ask what did you in? Was it spite? Did you enjoy yourself so thoroughly on the news of my death that you kicked it to see if it was real? Did your dusty old bones just give in and send you collapsing to the floor in a puddle of skin?”

If Crux’s scowl gets any deeper it would threaten to become engraved onto his very bones themselves. Crux’s scowl is so deeply etched into his face that Gideon swears that you could pack the grooves like pockets.

“You wear the paint and patterns of the Ninth like an unattended toddler who put them on in the dark with their fingers,” Crux says. Overhead Gideon hears the sound of a ship coming.

“Looks like your ride’s here,” Gideon says, “Bet you hope that I’m not the one who rigged it this time, eh? Wouldn’t that be a nice turn of the dramatic? You want to offer me some skin mags? For old time’s sake?”

Gideon scrambles to hide behind her rock as Crux advances.

“You can’t kill me, Crux. I’m not scared of you, you old bag of dust,” Gideon says as Crux strides past her and her rock towards the ship, one hand on her sword just in case. The entire way the sound of his breathing and the rattling of his bones made Gideon think of a goody bag for necromancers with knuckles in it being shaken about. Gideon gives Crux’ back the finger.

“Gideon Nav,” Crux says as he walks towards the ship, “You have been a blot on the records of the Ninth since you fell onto our heads.”

Gideon is about to fire off a retort regarding the lack of heads in the Ninth in general, when Crux continues.

“But you saved the Reverend Daughter, and thus the Ninth. You may have been a blot on our records, but you will remain recorded, nonetheless. You were a cavalier worthy of service.”

Gideon watches Crux shamble all the way to the ship and get onto it, saying nothing in return.

Aiglamene comes around eventually, and Gideon is surprised to find herself sad to see her old mentor.

Her face is, dare Gideon think it? Fond.

“What’s up?” Gideon says, mustering up a small salute for the old woman. “You outlasted Crux! Good on you.”

“You are a wretch and a fool, and a legend of the Ninth House,” Aiglamene says. “It is good to see that despite the legends that came after your death and the amount of heroics involved in those legends, you are still Gideon Nav. When we heard word of what you did, I didn’t want to believe it. I couldn’t believe it. You did — “

“If you say I did the Ninth proud I’m going to throw myself down right here and have the biggest fit you’ve ever seen in your life, and since you’ve been around since the beginning of time it’s going to be one impressive fit.”

Aiglamene gives her a flat look that makes Gideon’s guts gurgle in protest.

“You did me proud, you thrasonical miscreant.”

“You got a dictionary for that one?”

Aiglamene sighs. “I can’t believe that I actually missed you.”

Gideon puts a hand over her heart, “Captain. You do care.”

“I regret the waste of emotion every second I spend looking at you. What are you wearing on your face?”

“Glasses and face paint. Don’t I look like a real proper Niner?”

“You look like a proper malignancy.”

It feels like it’s too soon when the ship comes for Aiglamene. Gideon wants to keep her here, ask her a billion questions about what exactly happened after Gideon died. About Harrow. About the Canaan House. About everyone and everything. About what it felt like to see Crux dead and do a jig over his body.

Aiglamene might even stay.

Gideon’s not so selfish as to ask that, though. So Gideon just gestures to the ship.

“No one’s rigged that one to blow, swear it,” Gideon jokes.

Aiglamene just looks at her, like she’s studying Gideon’s face. Gideon half expects the woman to command her to drop and give her some drills, make sure she’s fighting fit. Gideon expects that she’d do it on reflex.

“If you wait here, you will have a long time to go,” Aiglamene says. “You’ve done your service, Gideon. You did more than what anyone could have asked you, more than what duty asked. You’re free, Gideon. No one owns you, no one can ask anything of you anymore. You can walk away.”

That would be nice if it were true. But it isn’t.

“I made an oath, Captain,” Gideon says. “And I intend to keep it.”

Aiglamene starts to smile.

“You know, so when her lady of eternal gloom and dusk shows up I can tell her that this is what keeping a promise looks like.”

The smile doesn’t go away.

Aiglamene holds her hand out, Gideon grasps it, expecting a firm shake and a serious and slightly formal nod goodbye, but the old woman pulls Gideon in with surprising strength. Gideon is surprised to find that she’s actually taller than Aiglamene now. Which is weird, because one would think you would stop growing when dead.

“Goodbye, Gideon Nav,” Aiglamene whispers into Gideon’s ear. “And good luck.”

It takes a huge amount of effort to uncurl her fingers from Aiglamene’s robes as they part.

Gideon watches Aiglamene go. And when Aiglamene raises her hand to wave goodbye as the ship’s door closes, Gideon salutes. And she holds that position until the clouds have closed over the ship and the gray world is silent again.

There are others. Eventually Lachrimorta and Aisamorta kick it. Gideon takes great pains to make sure that she’s well hidden when she hears those two biddies coming. She’s there for a handful of nuns she recognizes, some other serfs and cultists, various laypeople. Most of them she doesn’t know by name. There are some she doesn’t recognize at all. She does her best to remain hidden for the most part. Gideon would rather not have to deal with them.

Time must pass, though Gideon doesn’t really feel it. It’s like all of time is a giant slush that Gideon stands in the middle of, unmoved and unmoving.

The temptation to get on one of those ships and get away from here is there, but Gideon has something stronger than that. An oath.

Gideon’s word is important. She can’t leave here until it’s completed.

So she waits. She practices drills with her sword, even though she doesn’t really need to anymore. It does keep her fit for running away and hiding from faces she doesn’t want to deal with, which is nice. She does laps. She does sit ups. Crunches, squats, one handed push ups. Clap push ups. Hand stands. Whatever.

She even does the motions for the drills with a rapier and knuckle using a stick she’d found.

Gideon waits.

It feels like not long enough when she feels the dreaded step of Harrowhark Nonagesimus on the horizon.

Gideon turns, hand resting on the pommel of her two hander, the other adjusting her glasses as the shadowy figure of velvet and lace and bone drowse closer.

She hears a ship in the distance.

“One flesh, one end,” Gideon whispers to herself as Harrow comes into close enough view that she can see the press of her thin lips, the coiled tension in her shoulders, and the spite flickering in her eyes. “Sup.”

“You,” Harrow snarls. Gideon holds her ground as Harrow picks up the pace, great clouds of gray dirt and ash puffing away behind her as her long robes hiss along the ground. “You impertinent, selfish, foolish, insufferable, malicious, contrary shit.”

“I feel like that this is just the prologue for an epic speech,” Gideon says, pointing towards the ship coming towards them, “You want to discuss this on that instead?”

“I’m not going to discuss anything with you Griddle,” Harrow snaps, but continues walking towards the ship, “I am not having a discussion. I am going to tell you exactly why you did a completely stupid and unnecessary thing. I am going to tell you exactly the many ways you were wrong and how idiotic you were. I am going to tell you, in great and exact detail, the many ways in which your choices negatively impacted me over the past centuries, and I am going to explain to you in a way that even your single brain cell — which, I imagine has much atrophied over time due to lack of any meaningful stimulus — can understand how incomprehensibly and stupendously ill advised your abrupt departure was and the repercussions of you disobeying my orders was.”

Gideon falls into step behind Harrow, folding her arms around the back of her head and grinning at the back of Harrow’s.

“Oh, you did miss me.”

“It was a cold universe without you, Griddle,” Harrow snaps. Gideon beams. “And I had to deal with it by myself. I had to hold a sword, Griddle. A blasted sword. Do you know how frustrating it was to do — to do laps? It took me years, Griddle. Years. Just to swing a metal stick. A metal stick. Did it ever strike you that I had better things to do? That such physical labor was meant to be delegated to one such as yourself? I doubt it.”

Gideon stops waking and just watches Harrow go at it, snapping as vicious and mean spirited and terribly frustrating as ever. She missed this. She missed Harrow.

And now she’s going to have forever with this.

Gideon’s smile feels like it’s going to crack her face. She’s a masochist.

“Are you coming or not Gideon?” Harrow turns about, one foot on the ship’s ramp, tapping impatiently. “I’ve been waiting for this end for millenium, Gideon Nav. How long are you going to keep me waiting?”

“You’d think with millennium to yourself you’d have learned patience,” Gideon says, slowly walking towards her. “Besides. Aren’t I worth waiting for?”

#heartsfic #gideon the ninth

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goliath-de-senfina-sango · 5 years

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Local Teen Unaware of how Weird Family is, Local Goth Decides To Go All In and Learn Magick, Exhausted Teens Do Fun Dumb Teen Stuff

It was the day after they’d taken down Skulker, and Tucker had to collect up the armor. Danny helped him, of course, and he flew home with some help from his favorite ghost boy. They landed in Tucker’s room, and Tucker gave Danny a hug as soon as the suit was set down. Danny returned to his warmer flesh and blood self and hugged him back before they got to work searching for a port to plug Tucker’s laptop into. Thankfully even the dead respected the U in USB and they manage to connect. Before long, however, Tucker’s mind wanders from his code-breaking program that’s now hard at work with Skulker’s head and to his situation with Sam. And considering what all he’d learned about Danny’s family so far, he might as well ask. “Danny do you have access to transparent solar panels?”

“Yeah, all the windows at Fenton Works are solar panels - I think they run at uh 50% efficiency. Why?”

“Danny, that’s like, the exact last piece I need for my solar-powered car design.” Tucker was tempted to inform Danny of how amazing that fact was, but he knew Danny wasn’t a fan of being extraordinary, so he’d let it slide for now. “Now I just need some way of building it.”

“Well, you have the design itself saved right?”

“Yes…” Tucker wasn’t sure where this was going, but he was hopeful that it’d be a place he liked.

“We can just print out the design at my house?” Danny shrugged, as though that was obvious and the most simple thing in the world. “We have like, a pretty big 3D printer, it’s uh modular, and we use scrapped metal from junkyards that we liquified as filament. We can print a car pretty quickly.”

Danny was going to say something that made Tucker fall completely in love with him one of these days, the idiot. “Danny I need you to take me to this 3D printer. Now.” Skulker’s head was left where they’d put it on his desk, the rest of the suit stuffed in Tucker’s closet, and the pair flew off to Danny’s house.

When they arrived at Fentonworks, they turned to one of the other buildings on the block and set down there, Danny taking the time to unlock the door and everything. “So this 3D printer you guys have…”

“Well, Dad calls it the Fenton Fabricator. See, there's a theory that went around a while ago when 3D printers and fabricators first started, it was the Recursive Loop Theory. It goes like this. You buy a 3D printer. Mid-range, sorta useful, but with enough detail and strength that you like it. But then you need something a bit more detailed. So you look online and you find a set of 3D models for a second printer. This one you can build on your machine, and with only some minor parts you can make the more detailed printer for a tiny fraction of what it would cost.”

Danny took them to a set of stairs and Tucker was so focused on his friend he nearly missed all the art Danny’s ever done hanging all over the walls.

“So, you can make more detailed parts. And you find designs for a bigger printer. It's modular and sorta rough, but it needs those detailed parts. So you can then build massive somewhat detailed pieces… and so you do. And now, with your 3 printers, you find designs to a fourth. Bigger, better, more detailed, it's another generation, and you can print it off your current designs. Boom, bam, rinse and repeat. Eventually, your diminishing returns drop till you can’t make a more detailed printer, but at that point, you have one hell of a machine, particularly if you have a couple of crazy hackers building your final design as a custom project. Course, it’s not quite that easy. We had to fabricate a lot of weird and unique bits for them in other ways - well, my folks and their friends in the Secret Scientists did anyway."

“So the Fenton Fabricator?”

“Is a massive, customized high detail 3D fabricator that can even print metal and glass, yes.” Danny turned on the lights as they entered a large underground workspace. Tucker saw the fabricator and felt he might’ve gone to heaven. It was a massive aquarium tank, easily twenty feet from corner to corner and at least eight feet tall. Above it, hanging like a mechanical spider on segmented green and red limbs with shiny metal joints and points, was a motorcycle sized 3D printing extruder. Tucker could see a set of lasers for dust printing, a pair of high-heat high-speed extruders for wires, several dozen smaller legs with colors and specific grades of wire, all of which fed up and around the room to spools of plastic and cylinders of dusted metal.

“There are hidden parts in the walls with directed gravity manipulators and some arms kept out of the way until needed for assembly-based stuff. I think Mom and Dad built a car or something down here recently. The canisters are all refilled completely.” Danny shrugged, moving around the lab and grabbing up papers - notes about what feeds to use, hints for setting things up. “I can help you connect up and plug in your stuff - though you’ll have to leave it here so that the thing can print. If you’re legit making a car here, it’ll take about 2 days to finish printing it out at all, let alone assemble.”

“Danny, after I finish with that, we are so using this place for other projects together, do you understand me?” Tucker saw doors that likely lead off to other rooms in the lab and wondered just how Much of Fentonworks there was. “This is too amazing.”

“If you say so, bro. Here, let’s get started. I can help with setting up the print file.”

Sam had to say, going through the bs of school was beyond irritating when both of her friends were barred from the school until they could get around the weapons the Fentons were installing. Paulina’s gratingly loud personality was especially difficult to tune out that day, and Sam found herself feeling proud of her self control in not throwing something at the shallow cheerleading idiot when she started going on and on about the upcoming spirit week.

Once school was out, Sam grabbed the board that Danny apparently made for her after he finished Tucker’s, though she wasn’t sure how, and put on her helmet. New, magnetic boots planted firmly on the board, Sam pulled out her phone, put in the address of the Skulk and Lurk, and activated the Nav AI that Tucker had managed to make an app for to download. “One of these days Tucker is going to overwork himself into an early grave.” Shaking her head Sam took off into the sky, and no amount of gothic reputation could keep the smile off her face or prevent her from cheering. “Woooohoooo!” Who could possibly blame her? She was flying . There was nothing more awesome than this that she knew of.

When she arrived, Sam had her board hover itself up to the roof, where it was less likely to get snatched by someone who thought it’d be cool to snag a hoverboard. Walking into the store, Sam took off her helmet and grinned. The Skulk n Lurk was one part book store, one part poetry reading area, and one part coffee shop. It had the gothic, occult theme down pat with black, blue, and shades of purple being the only colors to be found around the store. Heading straight into the books section, Sam managed to flag down an employee and nudged him in the arm. “Nice mohawk, Chris, I see you’re branching out.”

Chris turned around, hair dyed a brilliant blue and his clothes all pastel shades of purple and grey with a bat-shaped nametag pinned on his chest. He smiled and elbowed her right back. “Yeah, just got it done the other day. How’re you holdin up, Sam? Parents still trying to push you into being a prep?”

“Such is my curse.” Sam sighed and leaned heavily on Chris while he laughed. “But, that’s not what I’m here for today. Think you can help me find some books on magick?”

“Cursing people is wrong, and will always go wrong for you, I hope you know that.”

Sam rolled her eyes, standing up straight. “It’s not for cursing anyone, Chris, it’s for something else.”

“Hitting that cheerleader with a love spell is not the way to go about getting over your crush on her.” Chris smirked and turned away from her, walking steadily while Sam scoffed and scowled at him.

“That’s gross on two fronts. A love spell sounds ridiculously creepy, and I don’t have a crush on Paulina of all people.” Sam made a gagging noise and Chris laughed yet again.

Ludicrous notions about cheerleaders aside, Chris lead Sam to a section about magick and left to go help another customer while Sam browsed. She held her hand up, letting her fingers brush over the spines of the books as she read their titles and stilled. There was a vibration, warm and far more humid than any bookstore should be and humming so much like Danny and Agatha and even that piece of trash Grovsner did when she was close. It was a feeling that she hadn’t really noticed until now that all of the ghosts she’d encountered shared, however few of those there were. The tiny hairs all over her arms and the back of her neck stood on end and Sam grabbed the book.

Roots, stems, rain, warmth, leaves, petals, heat, crushing cold, withering emptiness, life granting rain and growth . Sam dropped the book and just barely bit off a loud swear, staring at the cover. Magick: The Life Blood of the Earth. “Well. Danny can see weird shit, I guess I can feel it. Being that close to the portal must’ve done something to me.” Picking up the book slowly, Sam waited for any weird feelings to hit her again. When none did, she grinned slowly. “Let’s see what I can do with that.”

Danny takes some of the time after fighting Skulker to relax at home, get his schoolwork done that was emailed to him, and figure out a plan for working around the school's new anti-ghost security system. It had been two days already and he was coming up blank. Of course, it's at dinner that Danny thinks to ask his parents. "Hey Mom, you said the Fenton Finder works by keeping track of a ghost's ectosignature, right? What is that, exactly?" Jazz, as she standardly did when Danny instigated ghost-themed rants, looked as offended as one might have had their mother been described with every cuss word in the dictionary. She stabbed her chicken alfredo while holding this look for 5 continuous seconds without blinking.

Mom smiled wide and ecstatic. "Well you see, Danny, an ectosignature is the frequency of electrical signals running throughout a ghost's body, shaping its form and directing its actions."

"Like brainwaves?"

“Exactly, hon!” Mom reached into her pocket and pulled out a macaroon, which Danny devoured immediately. “When a ghost manifests outside of the Ghost Zone, its ecto signature is a signal being broadcast from the Ghost Zone into our reality. Since ghosts are 4-dimensional constructs made of exotic matter that of which exists beyond our standard perceptive abilities, a ghost can receive this ectosignature from just about anywhere on Earth or beyond. Like the best cellular reception in the universe.”

“Like any signal though, an ectosignature can be tracked! And that signal can be disrupted and blocked!” Dad only spoke in exclamation points Danny realized some time ago. He waved his fork around in presentation at the blueprint that his mind had likely superimposed on the air next to him. “The Fenton Thermos™ uses charged ectoplasm and what I’ve coined as Fentonite to isolate any ectoplasmic mass contained inside of it from its corresponding ectosignature by creating a four-dimensional enclosure! The filthy ghost is still charged with the ectosignature though, there’s a centralized network of energy that allows the ghost to immediately take on its form after it’s released.”

“So the ghost is conscious within the thermos?”

Mom shrugged. “As conscious as a ghost can be, sweety. It’s not an actual person or anything, just a static imprint of what used to be a person’s thoughts. Like an A.I.”

“The Fenton Finder™ used scanners specially made to detect ectosignatures that are on our satellites up in space! It’s also how our security system works, though that works off of scanners here in the house!”

"So is there a way to track down ghosts by their specific ecto signatures? If you can track the general signals maybe you can create a way to lock into a specific one."

"Mm, I suppose we could! That'd be useful for tracking down that scum that attacked you and friends! We've got the blueprints for the ecto signature scanner down in the lab somewhere if you wanna try the idea out, son!"

"Will do, Dad. I'll tell ya how it goes." Danny grinned around his chicken and pasta. He had a game plan now.

After dinner, Danny raced downstairs to print out the blueprint from the computer - his father stacked the blueprints in an infuriatingly chaotic way that Danny hadn't the patience to sort through - and then ran through the door on the left. Behind it was a hallway into a tunnel, one that lead Danny to the alternative lab under the building right next to the house. Hopping into his wheely chair, Danny slid over the linoleum floor to his work table and laid down the blueprint.

"Alright, I can work with this. A signal can be tracked, and it can be isolated. Which means that My signal can be isolated and tracked specifically." A smirk crossed his face. "Which means the scanners can be set to ignore my signal. Perfect!"

Danny slid over to the laptop connected to a second Fenton Fabricator, glad that his parents were always thorough enough to make a back up of everything they did. "This should be done in no time. Then Sam can help me test it and Tuck can- speak of the devil." Danny whipped out his phone and hummed, tilting his head at the simple message his best friend had sent him.

FriarTuck: Hey Dan, almost fin breaking the security in Sklkr's suit. Bout to crack this badboi open n make it mine. Muahahahaha! Hyd?

"Ugh, stars, I don't wanna think about that asshole." Danny shot back a quick reply and set his phone down, finding a notebook he typically kept around. Writing in a code only he, Tucker and Sam knew, Danny got everything down that he could. "Skulker has been a major set back in my plan to prove not all ghosts are evil to Mom and Dad, and a few other weird developments made themselves known. I can now see everything in the lower intensity ultraviolet spectrum 24/7 instead of having to concentrate, as well as the electrical currents running through everything; I can somehow see my emotional connections with people I'm close with and use those connections to influence their emotions as well as read them clearer than other aurae." He stopped, taking a breath and looking over what he'd just written. " Mierda , ain't that creepy?" Danny pulled on his hair a bit while he wrote.

"Joining that on the list of creepy-ass things about Danny: I can reach across that link to everyone and pull on their love and affection and all that and use it to heal myself. Stars, that's such a gross way to look at everyone's care for me. Just a fucking- a bandaid? A free trip to the nurse in a minute?"

Turning back to the parts being made, Danny huffed and dragged his nails against his scalp a touch too roughly. "Physiological changes in my ghost occur when Tucker and Sam are in danger; Canines grow into fangs and according to Sam my voice starts to echo as though it's coming from everywhere. Thankfully a check in Tucker's mirror proves that the changes are temporary. Reaction to my temperament? On that note: being a psychoreactive exotic material, the ectoplasm that makes up my ghostly body reasonably reacts instantaneously to my emotions, but it seems to be enhancing them as well. It's either that or maybe puberty, but I have a feeling puberty doesn't make you violently angry at the slightest provocation and likely to turn any ghost you see into a splatter on the ground." Danny groaned, closing his notebook. "I fucking Executed Skulker. What the fuck? Why didn’t I just suck him into the thermos?"

A ding from his phone and Danny snorted.

GardeningClaws: Hey Star boy, don't go angsting without us there to hug you. We will know and you will pay the price.

"And what price is that, being buried in a pillow fort?"

GardeningClaws: do you know how many pillows I have in this house?? Do you think, like a fool, that I won't use them against you?

Danny laughed, sending a quick 'fair point' before heading to the door opposite the one into the house lab. Behind it was a room with rows of lockers, each holding three sets of suits. Danny didn't need them though. At the far end, there was a large octagonal metal rim, blast doors sealed shut within.

Opening it up to just the right coordinates, Danny watched the doors pull back and felt the building charge of the portal's startup. For a fraction of a second, Danny was filled with a bone-deep fear that gripped his entire body and held him stock still. With a thunderous crack, the fabric of space-time was folded around and torn, and Danny relaxed, staring out at an expanse of white and grey. Opening the blast door, he let the void fill him up and spread outward to chill his bones and freeze his veins. Skin blue, eyes and freckles green and his fluffy hair snow-white, Danny flew past the event horizon and gasped silently at the sight before him.

The moon is so much more beautiful when you can look with your own eyes instead of through the lens of a helmet visor.

Sam, smartest of the group that she was, called Danny and Tucker both to head to her house for a horror movie marathon. “After what we’ve been through, none of these B rate movies are gonna scare us.” It was so close to inarguably true that the boys both shrugged at their phones and headed on over. Danny came down from the sky in that space where everything was heat and impossible colors, everything around him highlighted in a panorama view that almost made him dizzy. Landing in an alleyway, Danny checked to make sure he didn’t see anyone around him and took a deep breath. He folded himself up, cold edges practically trapped within him tugged and bent until the brilliant moonlight that bled from his form retreated into the center of his chest, light and freezing cold as it hummed in an offbeat pulse next to his heart.

Pulling the hood of his jacket over his head, Danny jogged out of the alleyway and down the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets. He looked around the neighborhood properly and hummed, wondering how he never put together that Sam was rich when the address she’d given them ages ago was very obviously in the rich part of town. “Stars, we’re really just that oblivious aren’t we?” The stars in mind, Danny cast his gaze up and smiled at the full moon that greeted him, counting the tiny dots of the stars around it while he walked. Thankfully, his odd kaleidoscopic vision seemed to extend to his human form a bit and his foot froze mid-step as a car drove past him at an intersection. “Sweet mother of the gods, why can rich people not drive right?”

When he got to the gates of Manson Manor, Tucker was there typing away at his phone. When he looked up Danny waved and grinned, pointing a thumb at the huge mansion behind the gate. “This is ridiculous.”

“It’s just so much . Why does anyone need that much space? How do they keep it clean?”

“If I meet some butler named Alfred I’m going to eat your hat.”

“Are you sure you wanna make that bet, Danny? This is looking Batman-ish.”

The gate opened up before Danny could respond to that and instead, he nudged Tucker’s side before jogging toward the door. Sam was there, opening it before Danny could trip on nothing and faceplant into the mahogany or whatever expensive wood the door was probably made from, and he instead landed on a soft carpet. Tucker nudged his foot with his shoe and Danny groaned, resigned to simply laying there for the rest of his life. Two pairs of hands lifted him up from the ground however and Danny laughed, getting up properly.

“You can’t just let me wallow in my shame in peace, can you?”

“Of course not,” Sam scoffed. “If you’re going to be ashamed, I have to be there to make sure it’s appropriate. Now, c’mon!” Sam dragged Danny down a few halls, and up some stairs, followed closely by Tucker.

“I need to make a map of this place so we don’t get lost the next time we come to visit,” Tucker muttered, and Danny nodded. When Sam opened the door she was headed for she let Danny go and grinned at them like a cat that’d eaten the canary. Walking in, Danny felt his jaw drop and took a moment to soak in what he was seeing. “You have an entire movie theater in your house?”

“I know, it’s grossly excessive and we absolutely don’t need it, but-”

“Sam, what the heck are you talking about?” Danny waved a hand in the goth’s face and snorted when she swatted at him. “This is awesome! We can marathon every Dead Teacher movie here and it’ll be like when we went to see it in the actual theaters but better !” Danny pulled down his hood and hopped over one of the chairs - of which there were two whole rows - and plopped himself into the soft cushioned seat with a laugh. “The only thing that could make this room better would be if you had movie snacks.”

“Well, good thing I have a popcorn machine right back there full of fresh popcorn, a cotton candy machine, and ordered us pizzas.” Sam grinned, sitting next to Danny with a bowl in hand full of greasy buttery popcorn, and Tucker sat on his right. “What should we watch first?”

Halfway into Dr. Sleep, the pizza arrived and three laughing teens had to pause the movie and pull themselves together from the heap of giggles that they’d become. “Oh, oh stars, that hurt , laughing so much hurts!” Danny leaned on Tucker while Sam leaned on him, the bowl of popcorn practically forgotten next to Tucker. After a few minutes, Danny took a deep breath and patted his friends on the back. “I can grab the pizza - I can fly, so unlike you two I can actually go and be back before the things are cold.” Before either friend could protest, Danny let the shimmering void of silvery dark cold spread out from the center of his chest to every hair on his body in a flash of light. He slipped through Sam and Tucker like water through the air and flew off toward the red aura of the pizza guy, diving to transform behind the front door when he appeared outside. In just a moment he was back inside and setting three pizza boxes down on the snack table. “I see we got ourselves a meat-lovers for Tuck, a veggie everything for Sam, and-” Danny gasped. “A dragon’s tongue pizza for me! Aww, Sam~”

“Oh stuff it you goof,” Sam said as she and Tucker grabbed slices and plates. “I just knew that you’d complain your pizza isn’t spicy enough unless it has ghost peppers, reaper peppers and every other kind of spice known to man and dolphin on it.”

Tucker rolled his eyes, already scarfing down his first slice. “Dolphin? Really?”

“Dolphins are the closest animals to humans in behavior and observed intellect, Tucker.” Danny took the time to go through three slices of pizza while Sam ranted about how dolphins might as well be classified as non-human people before pointing accusatorily at her.

“There is nothing wrong with my sense of taste, thank you. Anyone with a strong enough tongue can handle this pizza, Sam.” Danny took a bite to emphasize his point and smirked when he was flipped off. “I’ve just got the strongest stomach here.”

“ Excuse you? ”

“Unlike you, I can eat veggies without my stomach declaring a mutiny.”

“Um, go fuck yourself? That was the lowest of all low blows, I am utterly betrayed !” Tucker covered his forehead with the back of his arm and half fell backward. “Truly, my trust has been shattered by mine own brother, how could you? And I’ll have you know that the amount of capsaicin you consume is well beyond what any human being should have in their body.”

“Funny, I’m pretty sure I’m not human.” Danny paused mid-chew, ignoring the look of disgust on Sam’s face over the two of them talking around their food. “I wonder… what smaller changes like that might be going on because of my ghost? Like, regular puberty is already horrible enough but now I’ve got like, ghost puberty to deal with.”

“First of all, ghost wise, you’re baby.” Danny pouted at Tucker, feeling mildly offended. “You haven’t even been half-dead for a whole year yet, you’re baby.”

“Tucker, can you be reasonable for one moment?” Danny nodded, gesturing to Sam, who was clearly the only one with her head on straight between them. ��Danny is always baby, not just because of his ghost.”

Crossing his arms over his chest, Danny rose up in front of the movie screen, less crossed in the air as he frowned down at his friends. “I am offended, I am revolted, I dedicate my life to our lord and savior Jesus Christ and this is the thanks I get?”

“I wonder,” Sam said loudly as she walked toward his pizza box. “What it would taste like if I put cotton candy on your pizza?” Danny dove for his pizza box, nearly crashing into Sam as he grabbed it up and flew toward the ceiling. He flipped upside down and stood with his feet to the ceiling, grinning down at his friends. Carefully opening his box he took out a slice and stopped.

“Sammy that is a wonderful question!” Gravity shifted, reasserted itself in the correct direction, and Danny flipped with it, landing in front of the cotton candy machine. He dipped his pizza slice into it and smirked at the despaired wail of his friend while he ran away from her, munching away at his unholy pizza slice. “This is so sad, Alexa-”

“You don’t think I’d have Alexa in my home, do you? First you defile my cotton candy, now you insult my common sense? Do me a favor and parish.”

“Been there, done that.”

“As amazing as all that is, I was wondering something about you, Danny.” Danny flew over to Tucker, landing on his shoulders with a snicker. “So like, can you do that thing from the movie? Like, turn your head all the way around like an owl?”

A wide grin spread over Danny’s face and he set his food down on the table, before pulling the void up and out and around himself. Bright silver light illuminated Tucker and cast odd shadows on his face. To think about later. Danny turned his head slowly, cautious of being wrong, and almost stopped when he heard the pop of the joints in his neck. Still, he kept going until he was looking at Sam’s gaping face right behind him. He raised a hand to give her a thumbs up and winced at the sound of more popping joints - though, fascinatingly enough… “None of this hurts at all.”

“Well now I gotta see you spider-walk up the walls, that’s just the natural result of you showing off like this, Danno.” Turning his head the rest of the way around, Danny saw Tucker’s phone pointed at him and snorted. “Dude this is wicked !”

“Oh my gods, we have to time you, hold on.” And like that, Danny was doing laps around the walls and ceiling, reversed on all fours while Sam timed him and Tucker recorded. When he dropped back down to the two rows of seats, Danny crossed his legs behind him with a hum.

“Anything else y’all wanna test?” Tucker raised his hand and Danny let his gaze slide from Tucker himself to the brilliant yellow-gold-grek air around him. “I’m going to regret hearing out this question, aren’t I?” Tucker nodded, his grin widening and the grek in his aura growing brighter. Danny sighed and pointed at his brother.

“Can you possess people? Cause that would be pretty fuckin cool.” Tucker T posed as if that would help Danny with the wave of discomfort that crashed over him at the idea. “How would you know? Go ahead, try me. See if you can like, take me over.”

Danny drew the darkness back into his chest, warmth and the beat of his heart and the weight of gravity tugging relentlessly against him like countless invisible chains made themselves known to him. Digging in his pocket, Danny pulled out a coin, looking at Tucker with as much seriousness on his face as possible. “Heads I tell you to yeet your PDA into the cotton candy, tails I try to possess you.” Danny flipped the quarter and caught it in his open palm. He took in a deep breath through his nose, and let it out the same way. “Shut.”

Slipping back into the void, Danny stared at his Tposing best friend and considered just how he was supposed to do what he had asked. The only thing that made any sense, of course, was to slide even deeper into the void. Light and sound and even the air circulating through the room all faded away and the world shifted like a gradient scale from Xtreme Indigo to a deep dark blue sprinkled with green that lit up the empty world in bands, rivers, and threads that Danny could’ve stared at for the rest of his life and probably never grown tired of. The only constants were the gold and green aurae at the ends of silver threads that shone like solid moonlight. Danny dove for the golden light and dipped a hand in where he guessed Tucker’s head was. The silver thread practically yanked him in, and Danny sank into a desert of yellow and glittering light.

In the next instant, he was blinking unfamiliar eyes, falling out of a dumb pose he hadn’t taken, stumbling on legs longer than he was used to and warmer than he’d been in months. “Holy shit.” Danny held out his - Tucker’s hands and turning them over each other again and again. He took a few testing steps forward and back, turning and stretching every way he’d ever seen Tucker move, and felt a laugh bubble out of hi-Tuck’s mouth. “Sam holy shit!”

Sam was staring at Tucker-Danny like he was the most out of this world thing she’d ever laid eyes on and she wasn’t sure how to react to him. The cheer of figuring out yet another ability dimmed at the sight of her expression and what might’ve been horror was building itself up in his chest. Then Sam schooled her expression and pointed at him. “You sound the way you do when the two of you are speaking in unison.”

“I feel like I’m wearing a costume that doesn’t fit right, I’ll be honest about that. Stars, Tucker’s vision is horrible.”

“Alright, that voice thing is actually getting annoying, can you like, leave him now?” A moment of silence passed, the room growing incredibly small and Sam stepped closer. “Danny, you can leave Tucker’s body now, right?”

“Gimme a second, Sam, I didn’t know I could go into him in the first place.” Danny huffed and closed his eyes. He focused on what was different and wrong about being in Tucker’s body instead of his own, thought about floating upward to the surface of a large body of water, the moon coming to his mind’s eye and he reached for it. There was a solid kick at the edge of his shadows, golden sands rising up and filling the empty space to push him up and out toward the moonlight and-

Danny flopped onto the ground face first, sensing a trend of him faceplanting on Sam’s floor, and Tucker let out a loud gasp. “Holy balls, that was weird as fuck !” Danny flipped around onto his back, letting his own familiar warmth and heartbeat fill his senses before he looked up at Tucker and found him wiggling his fingers and toes. “It was like blacking out or something. I had the weirdest dream where I was like, I dunno, made of fire or something?”

“It was a lot of weird, hard to describe feelings on my end but mostly like a suit that doesn’t fit right. Like, I know what my body feels like and that wasn’t mine, ya know?” Sam and Tucker nodded and while Danny knew they had absolutely no idea what he meant, it was relieving all the same. Standing up, Danny reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the scanner he’d printed earlier. “By the way, I made something that’ll help me get back into school.”

Tucker, without missing a beat, said, “That sounds like a horrible evil device.” Sam snorted and Danny nodded. “What does it do?”

Danny launched into an explanation of what he’d learned about ectosignatures and his idea for tricking the security system at school. “Also,” Danny added when it came to mind, “the car should be done printing in my basement by now.”

“Wait, you not only finished designing it but also started making it?” Sam looked between them with narrowed eyes. “What do you mean printing?”

“The Fenton Fabricator™ is a giant, modular, high detail 3D printer that can make complex metal technologies - like our hoverboards. The first 3D printed car took a couple of days and it wasn’t as complicated as this so I guessed about 48 hours.” Danny shrugged. “Probably done by now.”

“Isn’t that cool?” Tucker practically had stars in his eyes. “We can build anything in there, Sam!”

“Before that, we gotta get this ecto signature of Danny’s recorded." Sam held up the scanner and Danny nodded. Things had to happen in the right order or things would go wrong.

Danny reached inside of himself and pulled the dark, endless space between space that rested within him out to wrap around him like a cool, relaxing blanket. The extreme indigo of the world rose to an even more brilliant blue and purple that blended together and unwove from each other and wrapped around everything. Tucker shone from within with gold that glittered like desert sands and Sam was wreathed in the viridian green of the forests. The threads between them were silver and thick as though woven from many. "I never need to take drugs cause all I need to do to get a trip is go ghost. I swear."

"Yeah, well, I think I have the reading on you right here. Tucker, can you make any sense of this?" Tucker rolled over and stared at the data on the Fenton Finder remake. After a moment of silence, Tuck started tapping away at his PDA ferociously. "I'm gonna guess that means yes."

"I can record this signal and have a filter to keep the school's system from recognizing you as a threat by tonight. Think we can break in and do it then?"

"Probably," Danny shrugged, flipping a few times in the air. "Ishiyama probably had them set the security system to an activation button or lever or verbal input. They wouldn't want them to make something automatic in case a ghost was too close to a student."

"Fair. Tomorrow night then?" Tucker grinned as Danny tucked that blanket of not so empty empty space back into the very center of his everything and flopped onto his seat.

"Sooner I can tell my family we beat Skulker the better. I don't like worrying them like this." Ever since his Spirit Vision or whatever got turned permanently on, Danny could feel the undercurrent of anxiety that ran through his family. It made his skin crawl with the itch to make them all feel better and left a bitter taste on his tongue.

"Agreed, I can only keep this info from my parents for so long." Sam sighed, rolling her eyes. With a grin she handed the scanner fully over to Tucker and ran a hand through Danny's hair, messing it up as much as she could.

Danny swatted away Sam's hand after a moment and sank further into the soft cushiony seat. "Your chair is eating me, Sammy."

"You've been getting a healthier amount of meat on you, so yeah it might be." Tucker was steadily getting engrossed in his task and Danny knew they had precious few seconds before he was completely lost to them so he decided now was a good time to be a dick.

“So like, when the first hoverboard exploded and I put up a forcefield on a reflex we completely skipped over that cause of hyper-focus but like. Should we talk about that?"

"You have protective instincts," Tucker mumbled, "and ghost stuff reacts to the deeper parts of your mind right? So it's just you defending someone you care about."

"Which reminds me." Sam poked Danny in the sides until he was squirming and giggling to get away. "You're keeping like, a journal of all the things you can do right?"

"Mostly notes on what I learned about ghosts in general, like a bullet point list of the stuff that happened with Agatha and Skulker, and stuff but yeah. I need to add ‘owl neck’ and ‘possession’ to my list of Things I Can Do."

“And what, pray tell, is on that list?”

"I can turn intangible or invisible, defy- no, actually, with what happened at the zoo I guess I can influence gravity, I can see all the radiation in the world, which is a trip lemme tell ya, I can apparently make a wall of ectoplasm?" Tucker and Sam were staring at him for a long beat of silence before both were tackling Danny and pulling him into a big group hug. “I know, I’m awesome, but so are you guys and you should celebrate it.”

“Yeah, I am pretty awesome,” Tucker said with a grin. “You guys are lucky to know me. I feel I deserve a reward for the amazingness I bring to this group.” Tucker was promptly dropped by Sam onto the floor and Danny laughed.

“Another cool thing you can do is heal yourself and other people.” Sam poked Danny in the side until he was squirming away from her in that unreal state of being, slipping through her fingers like the space between air and flopped onto Tucker’s lap before solidity came back to him. “That’s probably one of the coolest powers you have.”

“One day, Tucker is going to copy everything I can do, but with technology.” Danny poked Tucker a couple of times and got his hand swatted away for his trouble. “He’s already copied my language-”

“Spanish doesn't belong to you just because your dad is Mexican, Danny, try again.”

“And now he’s tryna say what’s mine isn’t even mine, can you believe this guy?” Danny didn’t even try to hold in his laughter now, waving a hand emphatically in Tucker’s face. “Next he’ll say I’m not the greatest ghost fighter in the world-”

“Your Mom.”

“Or the first boy to step foot on the moon-”

“Neil Armstrong - also, did you just say you walked on the m-”

“Or the unthinkable, like I’m not the very first Fenton that’s gonna be built like a brick house.”

“No no, you can’t just talk your way out of this one, Danny, you were on the moon? ” Ah, Danny loved riling up his friends.

#Danny Phantom #Danny Fenton #Tucker Foley #Sam Manson #OCs #Maddie Fenton #Jack Fenton #Jazz Fenton #Fanfiction #Phanfiction #fanPhiction #Phanphiction #fanfic #phanfic #fanphc #Phanphic #MCS #Monstrous Chosen Spellslingers #Rexy Writes

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idombledore · 4 years

Text

How to lose 30 kilos in 6 months and love every minute

Part 1 > Revelation in France Three years ago, my wife and I decided to call time on our marriage. It was a sombre final chat in the kitchen, sharing the last bottle we might ever share. We were sad but it made perfect sense. We’d tried. My wife said she’d move out down to her parent's house in the country and she asked me what I'd do, I picked something random from the top of my idiot head and said “Spain.” “Spain?” she said and “Spain” I repeated. No idea where it came from. Maybe I just wanted my departure to be more triumphant, a little more exciting than moving in with parents. Whenever we’d have a fight, that’s what she’d do. I'd run my consultancy for twenty odd years and over that twenty odd years, my role had evolved into taking clients to lunch, dinner, shows and spectacles. Nice if you can get it but it took its toll on my fitness. By the time I drove off to the Channel Tunnel, I was eighteen stone and I hadn't played a meaningful game of football in years. For some reason, a revelation always hits me a while after the event, more autopsy than eureka. Something that seemed so clear suddenly fogs up in deference to the new truth. Of course she was right, idiot. You always knew that. “If you can’t respect your own body,” she said. “How can anyone else?” And there it was. Respect your body. Respect your mind. Fitness. Breathe new air. Everything is going to change. If my automated blurting of “Spain” was taking me to Spain, then let it be Spain. I would return triumphant, slim, toned and sleek and everyone would say how awesome and happy and better-without-her I was. I was more than halfway from Calais, driving to a small French town called Île de Ré, an island off La Rochelle on the West Coast. I remember the exact spot because the signs had shown their first direction to Le Mans. From that sign, 300km shy of my target, facing three more driving hours, I lost a lump of time I can’t account for. The next thing I knew there were signs for La Roche Sur Yon. I remembered it from my planning stage because it was pretty close to where I was headed. The sat nav confirmed I was suddenly only an hour from Ile de Rey in what seemed like a blink. I couldn't tell you why it happened and I have no idea what, if anything, I was thinking in the missing time. What I can tell you is the clarity on the other side. My new start. My new energy. My mission. Maybe the universe had supplanted a new person into me. Maybe it took me time to reboot. It felt like it. At that moment, I couldn’t possibly have imagined anything else. I’d booked a little room overlooking the harbour at Le Colonnes. I was soon checked in and I unloaded laptop and cables to start the mission I hadn't quite fleshed out yet. 6 foot 1. 18 stone. I fumbled my finger over the Body Mass Index chart, into the blue, sailing past green and into the orange, and just before getting into the red, there it was. My number. My target. 32. I was actually clinically obese. I needed to be 24 to fit into that little green zone of health and fitness. 25% of my bodyweight was surplus. This was a holy **** moment as I pulled back from the screen. I closed the laptop and swore foulness on that 25%. My mission had shown its numbers and my plan had started. That night would be the finest French cuisine a man can enjoy and the next day, everything would change. Part 2 > Mission Planning I woke up remembering Le Skipper in the harbour, the fillet steak with crushed pea purée and dauphinoise potatoes that would serve as my turning point.Something I wouldn’t deserve again until my mission was accomplished. I was still buzzed. Normally, revelations are flushed with the first order of the day but not this one. The morning after a revelation is a test of human willpower. If you fold at such an early point, there is literally no hope for you. If the stakes are this important and you fold, you, my son, are an idiot. As one lady said to me more than once, “It’s not a rehearsal, boy.” I wasn't sure if I was still an idiot or not yet as all manners of sweet and savoury things greeted me in the breakfast room at the hotel. Bacon, eggs croissants, jam, cheeses and hams, but hang on, my eyes focused on something else, like they were being moved by another force. The fruit section. Normally I'd be starting a three course mini marathon under the guise of getting the day some energy. Today though, I took a little bowl and filled it to the top with melon and orange, mango, cherries and all colour of things and I sat down with orange juice and looked over at big people and little people, busy people and relaxed people. I knew I was on a different level to them, just for now, in the light still shining on me. Your willpower gets a serious shot in the arm. I had more research to do about the exact food groups I'd need but I knew this was right. Then the first glimmers of insubordination popped up briefly and reminded me that I had a fallback and that fallback was called lunch and every day I had a fallback plan to the next meal. Maybe fruit wasn't enough, surely a bit of bacon and cheese? No, fuck off, I said, turning a head or two in the dining room. I gestured an apology and then I smiled at the last cherry in my bowl. I munched that little cherry up. There would be no bacon or cheese. Those dark little glimmers were crushed and squished and left pleading as I got up and left the room. I was smiling as I approached Bordeaux. Today's destination was about six hours over the Pyrenees to Pamplona in northern Spain. This is where they do the bull run every July. Basque country, and the Bordeaux signs told me I was about a third of the way there. The night before had included two bottles of Fitou. Le Skipper was quiet and the staff had time to chat. After dinner, I was pretty much the only punter there so they wrapped it up and took me to Bar Kokot with their Austrian Rum. So, there hadn’t been time to do the work I needed but what a fine farewell to my old life. Yet another sign flashed my licence plate and said I was going too fast and I anticipated a box full of speeding tickets waiting for me whenever I got back to London. But I didn't care. I couldn't wait to get to Pamplona and get the laptop out, make my plan. A few hours later I was in my room at the Pamplona Catedral Hotel doing just that. I already knew how much weight to lose. Thirty kilos, almost 5 stone. One of the first results, I found out about the Okinawa diet. Okinawa, a little island off the south of Japan has the longest living humans on the planet. Taxi drivers are ninety years old and still dance. People eat whatever grows near them and that’s it. One photo I saw was of an elaborate table. You could sit about ten people round it. The table was a tea making machine. A few strips of bamboo were hooked up to an inlet and brought mountain spring water into the table. Most of the water would trickle out and continue down the mountain, unsure of why it had been put through the bother, but when you turned a little handle, the water would be diverted around a spaghetti of pipes and on towards the bowels of the table. It would slip and slide through channels lined with fresh tea leaves and elements gradually heating it up as it travelled. Turn one of the eight little taps under the table edge and you have a steaming cup of the freshest tea. So, the fine people from Okinawa told me how you could eat perfectly well and get everything a body needs. And you didn't need meat or anything processed to do it. My first culinary casualties. I also learned that my whole eating schedule had been wrong all my life. The best way to do it is to eat small but eat often. I'd been so proud of myself some days when I was too busy to eat anything and had six tons of dinner at about 9pm. Wrong. The body is a sensitive little baby. If it doesn't get fed often enough it throws its toys out the pram and truly believes it’s starving. It then converts what you do eat into fat, sensible storage for a rainy day when maybe you do starve. How a brain can fail to tell a body that it’s ok, no-one's going to starve is beyond me but apparently it does. So, by the time I'd showered and got ready to see what this former bastion of the Roman empire had going for it, I had successfully mapped out my new diet. And it was all the stuff I like to eat anyway. I'd start with some fruit, in deference to the first successful morning. Then give it a couple of hours and a little low fat cottage cheese on a wholewheat crispbread, and a few crushed walnuts sprinkled on it. Before what was probably the main mini meal of the day, about two o'clock, it was exercise. My wife’s brother had told me the body prefers to exercise then eat as it’s still burning, rather than the other way round. Maybe A little tuna steak with bok choy, a bit of spinach, greek yoghurt and some kidney beans or chickpeas. Amazing things chickpeas, fibre and protein all in one little pill. It wasn't a problem designing these mini meals, the problem was there was too much choice. If you're going to have pasta, have wholewheat pasta. If you're going to have rice, have wild rice or brown rice and not too much of either. Your 5 or 7 a day is so easy to achieve and better. Let your milk be zero fat milk, let your greens be asparagus, broccoli, kale, spinach, artichoke, sprouts and bok choy. Eat nuts, almonds, walnuts. Eat pulses. Kidney beans, chickpeas. Prefer fruits of the forest over others, raspberries, blackberries and the like. Loads of antioxidants. And let your booze be anything but beer, predominantly white wine and a glass of red a day comes straight from the doc. All the stuff I already knew. Lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, celery, onion, garlic. Jesus I could do a meal planner for a month without getting bored. This was going to be tasty. I could still love my food but carry that aloof grin that comes with a man shedding timber and having fun doing it. I'd know exactly how many calories came with each mini meal and how much exercise to do to burn them off. The laptop was closed up and my phone map and I set off to explore Pamplona. The city is called Iruna in the native Basque language and there was an ever-present but subtle show of the independence from Spain the Basque people had been after for a long time. Basque flags were draped over balconies and stuck on cars but a local told me, do not take a flag out in public or you’d get carted off. One local comedian had added a bit of graffiti to a low wall, poorly translated as “Anything but a free state is just a load of bulls.” Back in the hotel room, I tackled the exercise aspects. Swimming would always figure, especially in Spain, but what else? Running can be high impact, shin splints and the like. It would be rowing. It’s got everything, loads of muscles getting tickled gently, great cardio and hang on here we go, I can get a machine for the house for a couple of hundred euros. I'd join a kayak club or some such but winter was on its way and even the Spanish winter doesn't lend itself to being in the sea. And that was it, a meal for all moods and occasions and an all year round exercise regime. When it was too cold to swim, double up on the rowing. Just make sure you get in some form of water as soon as you finish exercising to loosen up your muscles. I also learned how little anyone should need a gym (apart from my little rowing machine of course). We really do have everything we need around the house. First of all, a running machine? What? Just run around the block. If you want to run uphill, run uphill. Muscle tone is also important. If you’re shedding tonnage, you want the tonnage that’s left nice and tight. Push ups, pull ups, weights, dips, pec toning, ab toning and your core. You can pull up on anything, a couple of chairs, backs together, get your balance and you’re away. Climb something. I'd start slow. An hour on the rowing machine, weights and core stuff and finally fifteen minutes of laps in the pool. It was all mapped out. That evening, I sat down in a little restaurant I’d spied earlier, down some steps to a little square, live jazz music in the middle. The menu didn’t have much of the stuff I needed and I’d definitely give the “grosse crevette” and “assaulted pasta” a swerve. I wondered if this would be a problem going forward. I remembered many menus and I wasn’t sure many of them were fit for my new purpose. But then I saw the celery and walnut salad. Fine, little glass of chablis to go along and everything was still on track. Part 3 > Execution The next day around four o'clock, I arrived at my final destination. A little town called Javea, a hundred kilometres south of Valencia. Look at Spain. There’s a little nose about two thirds down the east coast. Tip of that nose. That’s us, pressed against the sea by the mountains. It felt like its own little island. First priority after wandering around was the supermarket. Go get the super foods. My place was in Cabo la Nao right up on the point near the lighthouse. My mission hadn’t been created when I booked it, but with my new mission head on, the remoteness of my location would be a good thing. When I went outside to get back in my car, I was reminded it had just carried me from London to south east Spain. Over those 1800 miles, the front of the car had accumulated a second skin of unfortunate insects. Insects of all shapes, colours and sizes had become one single cloak of wonder food for any bird that took a fancy. And they did. A feeding frenzy was underway and even this one approaching human and a mystery cat that seemed to appear from nowhere couldn’t scare them off. They each had an allocated section of bodywork to pick at and they did well but still couldn’t get it all off. The earlier casualties were part bug, part Audi. The nearest supermarket was down in the Cala Blanca bit and was called Consum. It was the strangest supermarket shop I'd ever done. A hundred euros of good healthy stuff. I'd never put walnuts in a shopping cart. But I carried the same internal smugness of someone whose every passing minute is making them healthier than everyone else. It was a hot day and I knew if I didn't get it all fridged up quick smart, for the whole six months here, there would be a sea bass, salmon, octopus and monkfish essence in my car. The pool was warm enough not to have to thrash around like a perishing salmon and it was my first test of where I was fitness-wise. It was a fifteen metre pool. Breaststroke was the best all round stroke for what I was after so I took off up and down. I'd have to do this for at least 30 minutes every day so how close was I? I managed about 15 minutes and thought it was a good start for day one. My own salmon was ready to go under the grill and I was hungry. Baby steps. The house and garden had to provide me with my makeshift gym. Soon, I had two sturdy wooden outside chairs back to back for pull ups, a couple of buckets from the gardener’s shed filled with pool water. The rest would need no props. The push ups over there next to the pool and that little wall would do the ab stuff. Suspend myself on it and hold myself there for ten seconds, ten second break, repeat until knackered. I had a little go at all my disciplines. The props held up just fine and my routine was set. There was only one thing missing and it would be the majority of my cardio workout. The rowing machine. In five days time, it would be on my doorstep. I carried on with my eating regime and stepped up the swimming and workout aspects and on day five, the rowing machine arrived. It was lovely and orange and it went right where I hoped it would, between two columns on the terrace. Then I suddenly realised, apart from the supermarket on day one, I hadn't been out yet. The days had been formed around my mini meals and exercise and going out didn't sound as healthy as staying in. But I had to prove to myself I could carry on the mission in or out. That night, I did go out, met some nice folks, Lee and Tracey from Southend and a drummer called Hector, saw a band and drank white wine and had lubina a la plancha, grilled sea bass, asparagus and a few slices of grilled aubergine, every so slight drizzle of local honey. My taxi got me home at a reasonable hour and I got out without that heavy feeling I’d get when I went out back home. Always too much beer and always too much red meat. I took a quick stroll round my makeshift gym and my new rowing machine and then slept better than I had for ages. Tomorrow, a full programme for the first time. The rowing machine soon got me sweating. The readout was like trying to wish away the miles in the car, watching calorie after calorie clock away, minute after minute. The machine was fine, nice and easy, smooth strokes, keep your back straight. Pretty soon I'd done my hour and I took a break for water. The weights and pull up and everything else was becoming faster and I was doing more of them. By the time I got into the pool, I was feeling muscle burn and my heart felt reawoken. With the help of a great little tool called Supertracker, I had it all mapped out. Today I would eat 1200 calories and burn off 2000. And so it was for the next couple of weeks. The cats started popping in to see what this strange noise was an hour every day and soon they stuck around for some cheeky tuna and I had one or two pusscats to talk to while I worked out. The hour a day on the rower needed a bit more entertainment than the readout. By now I knew my pace and you just have to finish the hour come what may. Being in my own head was amusing enough but I needed a bit more autopilot. The laptop was enlisted to provide comedy shows and every so often, this Spanish course I was taking. The hour started to go by like the missing time I'd felt in La Roche Sur Yon. I was doing more miles to the hour, I was doing more laps in the pool and I was looking forward to every stage more and more. Pretty soon though, the pool became unswimmable so I got a wetsuit but that only really extended it a few weeks. My regime changed and I doubled up on the rowing. My daily meal plans were sometimes not planned, just cobble together the right food groups in the right quantities. Some of the taste combos were worth jotting down, others didn't really work but still, the scales in the bathroom were starting to show results. I'd got down to 100 kilos from 108 in the first 3 weeks. I couldn't believe the progress. I was never hungry, I felt great and the pounds were escaping with ease. I'd have this done in a few more weeks. I started a weight chart and logged as much as I could, something to be proud of. Then the rate of weight loss slowed. I checked the scales. How could doing exactly the same thing every day cause a different result? I changed the scales so that it seemed more of a dramatic reduction. A bit more research told me the scales were fine, the programme was fine. It’s just the first bit of weight drops off you because you're reducing your water retention. After that, you work just as hard for half the initial result. And don't forget, the programme is increasing muscle mass as well, which weighs more than fat. That's fine. So be it. This was the realistic rate. Months not weeks. And I was enjoying it. I was enjoying succeeding, winning. This wasn't so hard. A couple more weeks went past and still the pounds tumbled. Sometimes the reductions were erratic, same programme, 2 pounds off one day, half a pound off the next. I didn't really need to know why as long as the weight kept dropping. The thing was, I had been looking at myself in the full length mirror by the door every day after my workout before the shower and I still didn't look any different. I knew all the machinery and logic associated with my mission couldn’t all be wrong at the same time so I was pretty sure there would be a decent reason for it and so there was. What you’re doing initially is sorting out your core. That’s where you’re losing the initial weight and water. Your core is what’s getting beefed up and fit, out of sight. It made sense enough to a layman but you still like to see changes. And then it happened. My jeans had been feeling a little looser than normal for a few days and then I realised I needed the belt in another hole. There it was, the first sign. I couldn't confirm it from the mirror but this was incontrovertible. Maybe it was something psychosomatic in my head showing me something, but soon after that, I started to see some definition around my middle, not so much abs per se, just prepping the ground for them. The pounds kept shedding off my weight chart. I will freely admit, I did have one or two blowouts, the need for a kebab and a cold beer, and I knew the numbers would show it, but I was now not actually fitting into trousers and shorts and some shirts looked like nightdresses. I needed healthy persons clothes. I have never felt so happy about an impending cost. I looked good, like I did in my 30s. By the time four months had passed, my target of 80 kilos remained and I was only a couple off at 82. I had two months to drop that and I knew I would. I looked at photos of me in london 6 months before and it was incredible. I looked like a different person altogether. I looked tired, heavy, dreading the next flight of stairs. Warning. This is a pivotal moment. When you’re ahead of the curve and bossing it, its easy to entertain the notion that you can ease off a bit. Physically, you’re probably right but don't do it. It changes your mindset from achieving something to already having achieved it but it’s not yet achieved. Rabbit and the hare. Achieve it first, then reward yourself with easing off. I hit my 80 kilos with five weeks to go and the next five weeks kept me there. It was done. I'd smashed the shit out that 25%. It was gone. I took off from Valencia and landed at Gatwick requiring second glances at my passport photo. Yes, folks that really is me, just an awful lot more of me. By the time I wandered down the street to the pub, I'd already decided I wasn’t going back to the UK for good. Spain was my home now. My mission, my new life was born on the French highways and realised in the Spanish mountains. I wasn't even really thinking of the reaction I’d get when I walked in. I didn’t need reactions. I knew what I’d done. Me and my water buckets, pussycats, rowing machines, the glorious island of Okinawa and singing, dancing Spain. The reaction was complete astonishment. Not just someone telling you you look well. This was holy **** across the board. My choice of a pink leather coat to mark the occasion drew its own conclusion but I was stronger and fitter and more vibrant in mind and body. And I looked it and we all knew it. Life’s new plateau had been reached with a simple regard for my own well being. A respect for my only asset. And it was simple, inspiring and very enjoyable.

#weight loss #fitness #exercise at home #okinawa diet #healthy eating #healthy living

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jokerrenwriting · 5 years

Text

Bad Guy - One-Shot

A/N: IDK I prefer the name Ren because I’m lazy and it’s shorter so that’s what I’m gonna call him through most of my writing, probably. This is based on a prompt I saw on Pinterest. Enjoy!

I smirked up at the black-haired, masked young man, whose dagger blade was pressed against my throat. “How did you get in here? You’re not a Shadow---you’re a persona-user,” he growled. There was more of a purr than a growl to his voice.

I chuckled. “You’re the Phantom Thieves, eh?”

“What of it?” he retorted.

“That makes you Joker. Everyone keeps telling me you’re the bad guy.”

Joker glanced over his shoulder at the rest of his group before turning back to me. In the corner of my eye, I saw the rest of his team file away into the darkness. He pushed me against the wall again, holding my overcoat in his fist, arm across my chest, dagger to my throat. “How did you get into the Metaverse?” he snapped. His hot breath brushed my face.

“Same as you, I assume,” I said, keeping calm despite the mild panic at having a dagger to my throat. The cocky façade I put on was just that---a mask as obvious as the ones covering both of our faces. Hopefully, though, my false confidence would be convincing enough to fool even the charismatic Joker. He was gazing at me with curiosity in his dark eyes. “But, I’ll level with you, Joker. I don’t think you are the bad guy.”

“That right?” he challenged quietly.

“I’ve met plenty of people who’ve done far worse things than you,” I said. “Most of them people I trusted.”

“So you got in using the Meta-Nav?”

“The very same.”

“How have you survived on your own this long?” He released me and dropped his dagger, taking a step back and looking impressed.

“By not being a reckless idiot?” I suggested, pushing my gloved hand through my hair. The muted sunset orange of my gloves stood out against the shadows and reddish light of the depths of Mementos. “By only picking on people my own size?”

That earned me a smirk---a lopsided, alluring one full of amusement and mischief.

I was liking this Joker.

“Look. Maybe you are smart, but this place is dangerous alone. You should come with us.”

“Sorry, J, I work better by myself.”

“What, don’t want anyone to slow you down?” he needled with derision and sarcasm.

I scoffed. “No,” I retorted sharply. “The opposite, actually. I would slow everyone else down if I worked with people. I may be the fastest walker at school, but when I’m in a place like this I want to examine everything.”

I kept the fact that, despite being a pretty good fighter with my persona, I wasn’t actually terribly athletic to myself.

Joker regarded me thoughtfully. “Come with us anyway,” he said.

“No thanks, sweetheart,” I replied, saccharinely sweet, patting Joker on the shoulder. “But if we run into each other again, you’ll have to introduce me to your friends.”

“I, uh... do you even know the rules of the Metaverse?”

“Of course I do. What do you think I am, anyway? Pea-brained? I think not.” I whirled, my braid striking Joker in the chest, and jogged off into the darkness. “It was nice to meet you, Joker!” I called over my shoulder before turning a corner.

*^*^*^*^*

It was about a month before I ran into the PTs in Mementos again.

I’d decided, despite finding Palaces with the Nav, to leave those big targets to the Thieves. They had more people and therefore more power. I could take down one minorly-twisted Shadow on my own. But I wasn’t equipped to fight Palace rulers or steal their Treasures operating alone.

“Evening, Joker,” I remarked upon running into the Phantom Thieves.

“Evening,” Joker replied. “You never told me your name, you know.”

I smirked. “You never told me yours either. I just knew it.” I winked at him and then smiled at the other Thieves. “I’m Sun. Nice to meet you all.”

“Sun, huh?” a girl in black with green circuitry on her suit and long red hair asked skeptically. “I’m Oracle.”

Oracle and Joker? No one told me that codenames had a Batman theme going on...

“Skull,” said a boy with yellow hair and gloves---along with a skull-shaped mask, interestingly enough.

“Fox.”

“Panther.”

“Queen.”

“Noir.”

Oh. So there most definitely wasn’t a Batman theme going on.

“Pleasure to make your acquaintance.” I smiled at them all, waving cheekily and winking at Joker again. “Have a good night. Stay limber. Stay in school. Don’t do drugs. So long.” With a mock, two-fingered salute, I ran down the passage in Mementos.

“Sun!” Joker shouted after me.

Too late. I was already gone.

*^*^*^*^*

“Amaterasu, I’m sending you to Ms. Kawakami’s class for today,” my teacher said.

I bit my tongue to avoid back-talking and asking why. “Yes, sir,” I said instead, getting to my feet and leaving the classroom, bag on my shoulder. The hallways were abandoned since everyone else was in class.

I knocked on the next classroom door. “Ms. Kawakami? I was sent by---”

“Yes. Miss Amaterasu. Go sit by Mr. Amamiya, would you?” She waved over to the column of desks next to the window. There was an open desk in the column next to it, second-to-the-back. The boy directly next to it---seated behind a dirty-blonde girl---had shaggy black hair. He nodded to the empty desk.

“Sure,” I said, crossing the front of the room and edging down the column to fall into the chair.

When Ms. Kawakami wasn’t looking, Mr. Amamiya passed me a piece of torn notebook paper.

What’re you in for? -Ren

I snickered and peeked at him out of the corner of my eye before writing a reply. I back-talk my homeroom teacher a lot. He’s getting sick of me. Doesn’t like that one of his students is smarter than him and corrects him. Nice to meet you properly, Joker.

I passed the paper back.

Ren’s eyes widened behind his glasses and he glared at me. I smirked.

Realization dawned on his face. Amaterasu... he mouthed. Sun goddess... Sun...

I smirked at him and winked. I’ll explain later, I mouthed back.

He nodded.

We went back to our notes to avoid getting called out for not paying attention in class.

*^*^*^*^*

“Amaterasu,” Ren called in the lunchroom, catching sight of me. He jerked his head for the door as I got my tray. I followed him out. He led me up to the roof of the school.

“Haven’t been up here in a while,” I said, sitting on the table part of an old broken desk and balancing my tray on my knees as Ren sat in a chair like a good boy. “Guessing you’re wanting an explanation then? On... me, I guess. Who I am, where I came from, all that, right?”

“That’d be helpful.”

“Well, let’s make a deal. Information exchange. You tell me about you and I’ll tell you about me, Joker.”

“Shh. Don’t use that name here.”

“No one can hear us up here.”

Ren looked around apprehensively. “Okay. It’s a deal. You first.”

I smirked. “Oof. You’re good,” I said, impressed. “The charisma, the confidence, the directness. I appreciate that, man.” I crossed my ankles and swung them. “Alright. Me first.” I told him my story. How I found the Metaverse, how I awakened my persona, how I trained to use my weapons and persona. In return, he promised to tell me his---we ran out of time for his turn as the bell tolled to go back to class.

“Hey. LeBlanc café. After school. Stop by any time. It’s a great place. I’ll be there after school today if you want to hear my story,” Ren said. “Let’s exchange contact info so I can send you the address.”

“Okay.” I pulled my phone out. “Hey Ren?”

“Mm?”

We exchanged information.

“You’re that kid that everyone accuses of being a criminal right?”

He sighed. “Yeah... that’s me.”

“You’re not what I expected. You seem like a good guy. Sorry for what I said in Mementos.”

“Oh. Uh. Thanks.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“Yeah. My pleasure. I’ll see you later.” I smiled and headed back down into the depths of the school.

*^*^*^*^*

“Joker. Long time no see,” I said as the PTs wheeled around a corner in Mementos. My sarcasm wasn’t lost on them. I’d literally seen him a few hours ago at LeBlanc.

“Yeah,” he said with a smirk. “Hey guys, you go on ahead. I’m gonna talk to Sun for a minute.”

“Ah. The never-ending recruitment quest,” Ryuji---I mean, Skull---joked.

“Yeah. Sure. We’ll leave,” the strange small cat-like creature remarked. I still didn’t have a clue that that thing was and I definitely didn’t have the courage to ask. Back in reality it looked like a normal cat. But it was a talking normal cat in the real world. Which was more than a little trippy. When Ren was telling me his story occasionally the cat would butt in and add something. Every time I had to resist the urge to scream. We were in the attic of the café at the time---that was serving as Ren’s living space for the year---and there were customers below.

I digress.

The Phantom Thieves jogged down the darkened tunnels and vanished into the shadows.

“What about it?” Joker asked.

“Huh? What about what?”

“Wanna join?”

“I already said, hot shot, I’m better off alone. But thanks. And if I ever really screw up and need a hand I’ll know who to reach out to.” I pulled him down to my level---he was several centimeters taller than me---by the lapel of his sexy overcoat and kissed him on the cheek just below his mask. “No matter what the public says, you’re not a bad guy and more people than just me believe in you, ya hear?” I whispered.

He leaned back just enough to meet my eyes. “I hear. Thanks.”

“‘Course. Good luck.”

“You too. Be careful.”

“I should be saying that to you. You’re the reckless one. Take care of the other Phantom Thieves, okay?”

“I do my best.”

“I know. Goodnight, Joker.”

“Goodnight, Sun.”

Before I could run off, he snagged my hand. I paused, half turned away from him to dive deeper into the depths of Mementos on my own. But his red glove was wrapped around my orange one.

I didn’t even get the chance to ask what he thought he was doing.

He just lifted my hand to his lips and kissed my glove. “A pleasure, as always,” he said.

“Oof you’re suave,” I teased, sliding my hand out of his grip, giving him a wink, and running into the darkness. “Careful Joker.” I was too far away for him to hear me, so I was talking to myself. “Keep that up and I may end up head-over-heels.”

#Bad Guy #Akira Kurusu Imagine #Akira Kurusu #Ren Amamiya Imagine #Ren Amamiya #Persona 5 #Persona 5 Imagine #Writer Parker

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rhnuzlocke · 5 years

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Chapter Four: Child of the Moon

The car rumbled softly into a space behind the Petalburg Gym, and Senri climbed out of the driver’s side. Ren paused for a moment to marvel at the solar parking lot and scuff her new boot against its textured glass surface. They were still stiff, and she was not looking forward to how sore her feet would be by the end of the day, but she liked the look and weight of them.

Kenta emerged from his ball, and Tāraki bounced excitedly beside the Ursaring as they walked around to the front. The hulking pokemon yawned, then murmured some doubtless sage advice from his own journey with her father. Tāraki listed with unusually rapt attention, eyes glued to Kenta’s grizzled muzzle. She was going to miss him.

Ren wondered if everyone was in yet and how long this would take. Barry was already at the front desk settling in, and Lei walked out of the changing rooms with their Persian.

“It feels like you just got here, and you’re already on your way!” they complained, but they were smiling. “Are we finally gonna battle when you come back for the badge?”

“Depends how much you train,” Ren shot back with a grin.

Lei laughed. “She’s your daughter alright!”

“That she is.” Senri ruffled her hair. She almost threw him but shoved back the impulse and brushed him off instead. “I’ll go get your things.”

He went back, and a few of the other trainers offered her congratulations and goodbyes. Kenta nudged her when Barry left for the bathroom.

“I’ll be careful,” she told him.

“You are careful,” he said with a chuff.

There was a lot she wanted to say to him, but for a long moment nothing came to the surface. Then something old surged up from the depths, a memory she thought she had forgotten. “I—I’m sorry it took so long.”

“We evolve in our own time, little cub. I don’t hold you to the things you said when you were cave-bound. I’m just glad to see you smiling again—feel the warmth pour out of you like a campfire. I’m grateful for every day you live and every step I see you take. Doesn’t matter the direction.”

Ren dropped to her knees and slung her arms around his neck, burying her face in his soft, thick fur. He put an arm around her, and she was safe again.

“Watashi wa Kenta-sensei ni hibi to gyōseki karite iru subete.”

“I have no regrets,” he returned and hugged her tighter.

“Kenta talks even less than Otōsan but he always knows what to say. I was lucky to have so many parents.”

They have certainly been a formative—and positive—influence.

At last, she dried her eyes and let go of him. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Good. Ready to say goodbye to the others?”

Ren smiled. “Yeah.”

Tāraki climbed back up her shoulder, and she scratched under his chin as they went back to see the rest of her father’s team. The old Tauros nearly knocked her off her feet as she came in only to be snatched to safety by the Ambipom. The Blissey and Kangaskhan nearly smothered her between them. Even the Vigoroth gave her a fond pat with his claws, only to sulk away when the others poked fun at him. The rest of the crew didn’t know her as well, and she couldn’t understand them, but they wished her well just the same.

Then it was time to leave, and she returned to the lobby with her father.

“Senri, Mr. Scott is here to see you,” Barry called as they entered. A middle-aged man and green-haired teen were waiting with him by the front desk.

“Good morning, Charles! Wally, how are you?” Senri greeted them.

“Very well, thank you, sir,” the boy answered. He was almost eerily pale and didn’t look terribly well but held himself with a certain kind of poise. It made him seem taller than he actually was. He was small—only as tall as Ren—and slighter with delicate features to match.

“Oh! Introductions! This is my daughter, Ren.”

Mr. Scott shook her hand. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, young lady.”

“I should have introduced you two a while ago,” said Senri while Ren shook Wally’s hand. “I wasn’t thinking. Ah, maybe it’s just as well. When’s the big move? Soon, no?”

“In a week, sir.”

“Excellent. So, what can I help you with today?”

“I got my trainer license.”

“Wonderful, let’s see it!” Senri beamed. Wally fished it out of his shoulder bag and handed it over. “Look at that photo! I’m jealous. My first made me look like a convict,” Senri chuckled as he returned it. “Well then, let’s go in and meet the greenhorns. I’m sure you’ll find someone suitable.”

“Actually, sir,” Wally stopped him, “I was hoping for a loan. I want to catch my first—my service pokemon.”

“Oh?” Senri said as his mind worked. Then something flickered over his face, and he tried not to grin. Ren knew that look. “Very Good! Now let me see, who can I give you…” He pretended to think it over for a moment, and Ren figured what he was up to before he opened his mouth again. “Actually, Ren, would you mind helping Wally with this?”

“Sure.”

That was surprisingly quick.

“I knew he had to have a good reason. He was more excited than I was for me to set out.”

“Great! Ren has already caught three pokemon so you’re in good hands, Wally. I’ll see you two later.”

Senri ushered Mr. Scott further inside, throwing Ren a wink over his shoulder. Once they were gone, Wally shifted and wrang the shoulder strap of his bag between his hands.

“Thank you for helping me. I hope this isn’t getting in the way of anything.”

“It’s no problem,” she reassured him as they walked out. “I don’t have a schedule to keep.” He accepted that, and she gestured towards Route 102 since it was closest. They walked in silence for a bit, and he pulled his cardigan sleeves down over his hands.

“So, why do you want to catch a wild to have as your service pokemon, if it’s okay to ask? Are they expensive here?”

He wrung his bag strap again before answering. “Um, the truth is I don’t want a service pokemon—well I do. I’m going to live with my aunt and uncle, and my cousin is a breeder, so I could have gotten one from her—and I still might—but I want to be a trainer. I always have. But, um, I’ve never really been healthy, and my parents wouldn’t let me try.”

“So we’re actually out here to get you a battler?”

“Yeah,” he responded meekly and twisted his bag strap even more.

“Hey, don’t worry. I won’t Rattata you out or anything. But why not just take one of Otōsan’s trainees or your cousin’s pokemon and battle them?”

He reached up and held the carved wood pendant hanging around his neck and rubbed at it with his thumb. “My parents have a point. I don’t know if I can be a real trainer, so I set myself a test of sorts. If I can get a wild pokemon to respect me, show enough potential that they decide they want to be my partner, then maybe I can do it.”

Ren nodded, and Wally looked taken aback by her acceptance. “It makes sense to me. I mean, it does feel like you're being a little hard on yourself, but you’ve clearly given this a lot of thought. And I don’t think it’s strange. I didn’t really ‘catch’ any of the pokemon on my team. I asked them—except for Panahi, who asked me.”

“Oh wow! Really?”

“I think it’s more common in some regions. After all, we didn’t always have pokeballs.”

“I guess that’s true.”

Ren pulled a ball of her belt and held it out to him. He accepted it reverently and cradled it in his hand for a minute. She bumped her eyebrows at him, and a look of determination settled over his features. He threw the ball, Akahana popped out in a flash of red, and he caught it again.

“Oh, what a cool Poochyena! I haven’t seen one like her before.”

“She’s a Striped variant. Akahana, this is Wally. We are going to help him get his first pokemon.” Akahana scrutinized him for a moment and nodded. “She knows Growl, Tackle, and Thunder Fang.”

“Whoa! Really?”

“Yep! And Thunder Fang is great because—

“It has a chance of causing paralysis!”

“Exactly. And Aka here is good at it.” Ren gave him an appraising look. He must have practiced to toss and catch a pokeball that naturally. She remembered doing the same with a rubber band ball when she was young. “You sure know your stuff.”

“I sorta have a library on pokemon training at home. And I watched every battle video I could get my hands on since I couldn’t…” He trailed off.

“That’s great! Whatever pokemon you catch will be super lucky.” He smiled, and Ren grinned back. “What species did you have in mind?”

“I would really like a Ralts.” Ren pulled out her nav and looked them up since it wasn’t a species she had bumped across out with Kai. When she saw the first image, her eyes flickered to Wally’s hair . The resemblance was too close to be a coincidence. She shook her head and turned her attention back to the data. “Hmm, DexNav says they’re elusive. We could be out here a while.”

“I’m sorry,” Wally apologized again, visibly wilting.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. This is super important. Besides, it’ll be fun.”

Wally’s lips parted slightly in surprise, then a wobbly but radiant smile took over his face, and his pale blue eyes shimmered. “Thank you.”

“He shattered my heart with that smile.”

That’s very sentimental of you.

“Something you have yet to learn about me is that I am extremely and unbearably sentimental.”

And was that the only reason you helped him?

“No. I was angry at his parents. Otōsan’s encouragement was a lot sometimes, but he never told me that I couldn’t do something. And Okāsan has been there to support me at every tournament and performance for my entire life. It wasn’t fair. So I was determined to give him at least a little of what he was owed.”

Wally and Ren wandered around for hours. Ren consulted the Littleroot Labs data on her nav, Akahana used her nose, Tāraki climbed every tree, Iki peered around from the safety of Ren’s head, and Panahi scanned from above with her keen eyes.

They slowly spread out to cover more ground, though not so far as to lose track of each other. But Ren had Akahana stay with Wally just in case.

Ren was looking through some bushes when she heard coughing so severe that she went running to find Wally, but by the time she was in sight again, he had an inhaler over his nose and had quieted. He put it casually back in his bag, barely looking at what he was doing.

So it was his lungs—probably asthma or some kind of birth defect. That seemed like a particularly frightening ailment to Ren—to at any moment be unable to breathe, suffocate on nothing. It couldn't have been easy for him to grow up knowing each breath could be his last. But then again, maybe that made things simple. It would be a terrible waste not to do what he wanted, so here he was, risking himself on a dream, letting passion drive him.

Ren turned around without making herself known and kept searching.

At long last, Wally gave a shout. “I found one!”

Ren tried not to run, so as not to scare it off only to gasp when she caught sight of it. The pokemon was indeed a Ralts, but with glittering feathers and a bright blue helmet instead of green.

“Nanda, is that a shiny?”

“Yeah,” he confirmed weakly, clearly still trying to process it himself.

“Ralts!” Akahana called out to it before anyone could gather themselves, “this human is a trainer without a pokemon. If he can demonstrate his ability in battle to your satisfaction, would you be interested in becoming his starter?”

The Ralts cocked its head and looked carefully up at Wally through its fringe, first with one eye and then the other. It chirped to Akahana in an odd ringing tone and she shook her head. Then it nodded, and Akahana settled lower to the ground, coiling herself and ready to spring.

“Oh!” Wally gasped. He took a deep breath and a look of determination spread over his face. “Akahana, use Thunder Fang!”

Akahana surged forward, bright tendrils of electricity trailing from her bared white fangs. The Ralts startled at the unexpected move, and its feathers ruffled as it lashed out instinctively with Confusion. The pulsing purple waves bounced harmlessly off of Akahana, and she sunk her teeth into its arm. The Ralts shuddered with the jolt of electricity but held steady. Pink, ringed sound waves erupted from its mouth and struck Akahana off. A close quarters fairy move was a lot for her, but she rolled right back to her feet.

“Hang in there, Akahana,” Wally cried. The Ralts fired off another Disarming Voice, but Akahana leapt to the side. The Ralts twitched stiffly, unable to course correct before the attack was spent. “It’s paralyzed! Get around back and Tackle!”

Ren nodded approvingly as Akahana dove under another attack, sprinted past, and whirled around. Her skull connected powerfully with the Ralts’s back and it fell forward in a heap. It tried to get up but wavered from the paralysis. Akahana pressed a paw between its shoulders and growled. It held stubbornly for a moment before letting its head loll, admitting defeat. Ren heard Wally gasp softly.

Akahana released it and walked back to Ren’s side. The Ralts righted itself and looked directly up at Wally, who started. They were both quiet for a minute and Wally’s lips moved, which meant it was probably using telepathy to speak to him. Finally, Wally pulled out a pokeball and kneeled down, offering it to the Ralts. It pushed the button and flowed inside. Wally clutched the ball tightly for a moment, and then it flashed green.

“YES!” he yelled, jumping up with the pokeball held aloft. “I can’t believe it!”

“Great job!” Ren congratulated him. “You really kept your cool. That’s a tough thing for most beginners.”

Wally was too elated to process her compliments and swept down on Akahana. “Thank you, Akahana!” he said, hugging her tightly. “You were so awesome! Thank you so much!”

Akahana was stiffened in shock at the display of affection, but remained still until he started coughing and had to let her go to use his inhaler.

“Thank you, Ren,” he said, a bit calmer and quieter so as not to upset his lungs again. “This means so, so much to me. I don’t think I could have done that without you here.”

“I’m happy to help, but don’t give me too much credit. That was a pretty even match, and you won it on your own.” He glanced away and she placed a hand on his shoulder to pull him back. “I want you to remember that.”

“Okay, but I still want to pay you back some day.”

She smiled wide enough to split her face. “Deal. Hey, why don’t we trade numbers? I’ll probably be going through Verdanturf in a few weeks. Maybe we can meet up?”

“Yeah, that sounds great!”

They swapped navs and filled in their contact information. Wally was still radiating joy like a Sunny Day and took the Ralts’s ball in his hands again to let his new pokemon back out. The Ralts looked up at him and smiled too.

“Let’s go to the Pokemon Center. We can heal these guys up and get your trainer card updated. Any idea what you’re going to call them?”

“Faris.”

“It was a lot of fun to go back and show Otōsan that catch. You should have seen his face. He couldn’t believe it!”

I did see it, and it was rather amusing.

“Oh, right. Well, I’m glad I hung around. And I think it was good for Akahana.”

You’ve accomplished a lot to be proud of. And needed me for so little of it.

“I—When you put it in that context, it makes it very hard to deny.”

One doesn’t live as long as I without learning a little trickery.

#ORAS #nuzlocke #storylocke #Wally #Senri #Mr. Scott #Ren #Taraki #Akahana #Iki #Panahi #Kenta #lgbtq #chapter

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chocoholicannanymous · 6 years

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Glee 305 scrap, pt IV

Follows pt I, pt II and pt III.

And I’m beginning to think I might need a title for this.

The rest of the week passes in lightning speed, almost all his free time spent in rehearsals and learning his role. What remains is for homework and eating and sleeping. Kurt doesn't even have the energy to think about his campaign for class president. The posters are up – that will just have to do until after West Side Story. They're running three shows, Friday through Sunday, and Kurt wants, no, needs to do well. He's talked Lauren Zizes into recording the Saturday performance for him (talked, bribed, same thing, right?) and there's a possibility that the Lima Post will send a reporter.

It's going to be his first big performance – and it will either be his break, or his breaking.

At least rehearsals are going well. Rachel's still upset about Blaine leaving, and not exactly subtle about thinking it has to be Kurt's fault, but she leaves it offstage. It should be a relief, and yet... For some reason Kurt finds it annoying.

It's Thursday before he figures it out. By leaving her grievances behind her when she walks on stage Rachel's showing true professionalism – the kind Kurt was counting on when asking her to help him re-audition. She wasn't able to pull it out when he needed it to win the part, but now that he's got it she can. And that just...urgh, it burns. Because the next thought is that maybe she could, but chose not to. Maybe Rachel always wanted Blaine to be her Tony.

Kurt pushes that thought away ruthlessly, because he can't afford not to. He has three shows to get through. Three shows, hopefully without drama, and then he can examine his feelings about this whole mess.

No drama I said. Was that really too much to ask for? Kurt grouches as he spots an unfortunately familiar face in the audience. Apparently it was as Sebastian Smythe, in all his smarmy glory, is sitting front and center. Why is beyond Kurt, but he's sure there's nothing good to come off it. Still, the show's not over yet, so the meerkat's presence along with his possible scheming ends up pushed deep down, joining Rachel and Blaine in their box.

Of course he won't stay there. When Kurt walks out, still debating whether to join the others for their cast party or just go home to sleep, Smythe's waiting for him, leaning against the Nav. Kurt sighs, and steels himself. The only reason he can think of for the other boy to confront him is Blaine, and Kurt's really not got the energy for a round of “I won”.

That said, he's not going to let Smythe gloat either, and so he goes on the offense.

“Smythe. Please remove your probably decease-ridden behind from my car. And while you're at it, why don't you keep going and remove it from my presence completely.”

“That's how you treat someone who came all this way to see you perform? And here I thought there was a code of courtesy between Warblers.

“Then again, when I accepted the ticket it was to see Blaine.”

Kurt's eyes narrows, and his spine straightens even more. That's it. Damn being even the least bit polite.

“Then why did you come? Was it to gloat? What, you thought coming here and suffer through some public school kids perform West Side Story was worth it to needle me? Couldn't wait until my next visit to the Lima Bean? Or did you think you'd get more material this way? I–”

“Woah! Hey, calm down, okay? Look, I'm sure whatever you're saying makes some kind of sense to you, but I'm not following. Why should I be here to gloat? And why should I not have come? And where is short and handsome?”

That last question makes Kurt hit the breaks, metaphorically speaking. He wants nothing more than to take out all his anger, all his frustration, everything he's felt over the past days – hell, weeks – on the meerkat. He's a convenient target, and some of what Kurt's feeling is even about him. But.

Something's off about all of this, and Kurt wants to know the truth more than he wants to unload. (Which he can always do later, if he still feels like it.)

“When's the last time you talked to Blaine? Yes, it matters. When?”

“Saturday, at Scandals. Haven't seen or heard from him since you dragged him out the door. Which is unusual, but if he's sick that should explain it.”

And that leaves Kurt with a chill running down his spine. It's not just him.

“We need to talk. Just, not here. We could, wait, no, they close soon.”

Half past ten on a Friday evening, and there's not a single place in Lima they can go to talk. Everything is either closed, closing or not safe. Staying where they are definitely isn't.

“Did you drive here? Great. Get your car, and follow me.”

Smythe doesn't complain, which is a boon. Maybe he's figured out that something's not right too.

Kurt drives as if on autopilot through town, and parks in a familiar spot. When he gets out Smythe rolls down the window and gives him an unimpressed stare.

“Here? You say you want to talk, and this is where you bring me? A garage.”

“Yes. Besides this the safest place we could find to sit down and talk is probably Scandals. Which, no thanks. Since I'm not exactly keen on bringing you home, even if I wasn't being sexiled,” and hadn't that been a fun text to get?, “we're down to two options. Here, or parking along the road. And since I'd rather not take the risk of either getting arrested or gaybashed, here it is. Come on.”

One advantage of taking this to the garage is that no one he knows has reason to come here and wonder why the Nav's parked outside. Another is the fact that the office has got a coffeemaker and decent coffee, something Kurt suspects he'll need to get through this. Alcohol might be better, but he doesn't drink.

Once they've both got a mug in front of them Kurt asks the question that's been burning since they left the parking lot.

“Have you heard anything about Blaine transferring back to Dalton?”

Smythe chokes on his coffee. A part of Kurt finds that satisfying, but mostly he just thinks it's delaying what he wants to know.

“Blaine, back to Dalton? Are you serious? No, I haven't heard anything about it, and I think I would have known if any of the others had. Why, is he thinking about it? Is that why you were onstage tonight and not him?”

Well. That explains a few things. Unfortunately it leaves even more questions behind.

“I don't know. I showed up in school Tuesday only to find out that Tony was mine because Blaine had transferred schools. I thought he'd gone back to Dalton – we all thought so – but if you don't know anything...” Then what the hell happened?

“What the hell happened?”

Kurt has to take a second to check that it wasn't him thinking out loud, but no, it's Smythe.

“I don't know. We...argued after Scandals, he stormed away and fell off the planet. He's not answering calls, or texts, or facebook messages. It's not just me either, Rachel – the girl playing Maria – hasn't heard from him either.

“At first I thought he was still angry. Then I thought maybe he was sick. And then when we found out about him transferring, I figured maybe his parents were angry about him being drunk and decided that he needed to go back to Dalton. But if he's not there, and he's not talking to you either...”

He looks Smythe in the eyes and sees an echo of his own worry there. They sit still with their half-forgotten coffee for a few minutes, trying to understand this shift in reality. Well, Kurt does. And he kind of thinks Smythe does too.

“So Blaine's gone missing. That's...well, I don't want to say 'ominous', but it kind of is. Like I said, I haven't heard a thing. It's possible he's pissed at me, especially if he got in trouble for drinking, but I still think I would have heard if any of the Warblers had heard something. There's no way they'd be able to keep quiet, not with how they wanted him visiting to be him returning.

“But I'll snoop around. Because if he's transferring, but not to Dalton, and stonewalling both of us... That doesn't sound good.”

No, it really doesn't.

They talk a little longer, sketching a plan for finding out what's going on, before a yawning Kurt decides he's allowed himself to be sexiled long enough. If Rachel and Finn are still at it, tough luck. He's got heavy-duty earplugs.

After trading phone numbers, Kurt tells Smythe how to get back on the way to Westerville before unlocking the Nav. He's almost closed the door when the other boy calls out his name.

“Kurt!” Once Kurt's attention is on him the meerkat smirks and throws a curveball.

“From now on, call me Sebastian.”

#chocoholic fics #scraps and snippets #kurt fic #kurt hummel #anti-lighthousefucker #not edited or beta read #meant for an episode revamp fic #possibly even a season revamp

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deadcactuswalking · 4 years

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REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 09/01/2021 (Justin Bieber, SZA, Jason Derulo)

Happy New Year, everyone, and welcome to 2021 on REVIEIWNG THE CHARTS – or I guess you could call it “Season 4”. I’m going into this year with cautious optimism – that goes for pop music, mind you, and not actual world events which I suspect will just get even direr as the years go on. For 2021 on the charts, I’m hopeful and I hope that’ll show in this next year as I’m in a better place than ever, partly thanks to my decision to renew this series in the Autumn, and we’ve got a busy week – or year – ahead of us. I can keep up with new releases every Friday like I used to and generally kick myself back into a routine with all these musical hobbies. I stay cautious in my optimism for 2021’s pop music because frankly, looking at this top 20, I can’t say I like a lot of this at all. I mean, I guess I’m fond of some of these tracks but I suspect a fair few of these songs to have their last shred of success this Winter and not turn out as year-long hits. I can’t say that for our #1, which is “Sweet Melody” by newly-collapsed girl group Little Mix, the fifth credited #1 for the group and their first since 2016’s “Shout Out to My Ex”. Admittedly, I feel like Little Mix ends here, hopefully with a bang as this was one of the few bonafide smash hits that lasted through Christmas, and I see it lasting a couple more weeks at #1 as a good send-off because I don’t predict the band getting back together without Jesy anytime soon... not that I care about pop-group politics, of course. On that note, let’s divert to our rundown. Welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS.

Rundown

There is a single song in the UK Top 75 – which is what I cover – that has not gained, returned or entered for its first week, and that’s “Love is a Compass” by Griff from Disney’s Christmas advert down to #50 – it’ll be gone next week, but I honestly don’t really understand why it lasted an extra week. Maybe Soul and Disney+ had something to do with it, because I cannot see this getting consistent streams. Otherwise, look: I’m not mentioning every single drop-out because I would just be repeating every single drop-out because I would just be repeating all of the Christmas songs that I’ve already listed every single week since late November. I will say this: “Last Christmas” by Wham!, last week’s #1, is gone from the top 75, alongside “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey, “This Christmas” by Jess Glynne, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Justin Bieber, “Fairytale of New York” by the Pogues featuring the late Kirsty MacColl, “Merry Christmas Everyone” by Shakin’ Stevens, “Step into Christmas” by Elton John, “Do They Know it’s Christmas?” by Band Aid and “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” by Michael Bublé are all gone despite staying in the top 10 in last week’s awkward grouping of holiday trite and regular pop. Everything else I’ve said over the last few weeks in the returning entries and gains sections, Christmas-wise, is gone, and I don’t want to list any other drop-outs, including even all of last week’s new arrivals. The only other notable song dropping off from the chart that’s not explicitly Christmas-related is Liam Gallagher’s charity single “All You’re Dreaming Of”, and that’s not exactly a surprise to anyone. Okay, so for our returning entries and gains, I’ll list them in some kind of janky order. Starting with returning entries, the category that fits most of these songs is: “year-long hits that have had one final and brief second wind after the holiday season that will later be replaced as Spring comes”. This includes “Giants” by Dermot Kennedy at #75, “Breaking Me” by Topic and A75 at #74, “Roses” by SAINt JHN and remixed by Imanbek at #71, “Rain on Me” by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande at #70, “ROCKSTAR” by DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch at #68, “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa at #67, “Lighter” by Nathan Dawe and KSI at #61, “Ain’t it Different” by Headie One featuring AJ Tracey and Stormzy at #60, “Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)” by Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo and remixed by BTS at #58, “Before You Go” by Lewis Capaldi at #56, “WAP” by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion at #47, “Take You Dancing” by Jason Derulo at #46, “Watermelon Sugar” by Harry Styles at #41 and “Looking for Me” by Paul Woolford and Diplo featuring Kareen Lomax at #39. Our next category is: “really old – and massive - songs riding off the coattails of a weak chart for a cheap additional week to add to their repertoire”. This includes “Shallow” by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper at #73, “Baby Shark” by Pinkfong at #72, “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran at #66, “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac at #64, “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi at #45, “Dance Monkey” by Tones and I at #38, and I guess even “Train Wreck” by James Arthur returning big at #18. Our third category consists of: “mostly more recent and decently-sized hits coming back because they’re still popular but won’t be re-peaking any time soon”. These include “Gnat” by Eminem at #69 (although you’d be stretching to call that a hit exactly – would have been without Christmas), “Show Out” by Kid Cudi, the late Pop Smoke and Skepta at #62, “Lasting Lover” by Sigala and James Arthur at #57, “Princess Cuts” by Headie One featuring Young T & Bugsey at #55, “no body, no crime” by Taylor Swift featuring HAIM at #54, “pov” by Ariana Grande at #52, “Tick Tock” by Clean Bandit and Mabel featuring 24kGoldn at #51, “Diamonds” by Sam Smith at #49, “Body” by Megan Thee Stallion at #44, “Plugged In Freestyle” by A92 and Fumez the Engineer at #43, “champagne problems” by Taylor Swift at #42, “What You Know Bout Love” by the late Pop Smoke at #36, “i miss u” by Jax Jones and Au/Ra at #34, “See Nobody” by Wes Nelson and Hardy Caprio at #33 and “Lonely” by Justin Bieber and benny blanco at #32. Our last category consists of songs that returned and peaked this week, including many in the top 40. These include “You’re Mines Still” by Yung Bleu and remixed by Drake at #59, “All Girls are the Same” by the late Juice WRLD at #53 (still very strange to see that song from 2017 peak nearly four years later), “Heat Waves” by Glass Animals at #48, “SO DONE” by The Kid LAROI at #40 (more on him later), “The Business” by Tiesto at #31 and “Golden” by Harry Styles at #26. These are the most important returns because they signify what could be coming down the line for our genuine Winter hit parade, or at least the post-Christmas half of it. What might better show this are our gains, however, as these songs were sticking through the holiday season and took advantage of it this week to poke through even higher in the top 40 and often top 10. We have “Forever Young” by Becky Hill at #35, “Midnight Sky” by Miley Cyrus at #29, “Lemonade” by Internet Money and Gunna featuring Don Toliver and NAV at #27 (as soon as I can stop saying that full song name the better), “Monster” by Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber at #25, “No Time for Tears” by Nathan Dawe and Little Mix at #24, “HOLIDAY” by Lil Nas X ironically up to #23, “positions” by Ariana Grande at #22, “Holy” by Justin Bieber featuring Chance the Rapper at #21, “Loading” by Central Cee (still growing on me) at #20, “Head & Heart” by Joel Corry and MNEK at #19, “Dynamite” by BTS at #17, “Mood” by 24kGoldn and iann dior at #16, “Therefore I Am” by Billie Eilish at #15, “Really Love” by KSI featuring Craig David and the Digital Farm Animals at #14, “Blinding Lights” by the Weeknd still here at #13, “willow” by Taylor Swift at #12, “Prisoner” by Miley Cyrus featuring Dua Lipa at #11, “Paradise” by MEDUZA and Dermot Kennedy at #10, “you broke me first” by Tate McRae at #9, “34+35” by Ariana Grande at #8 and “WITHOUT YOU” by The Kid LAROI at #7. I can reassure you I’m overjoyed about that last one – not because the song is good, quite the opposite, I just like having easy targets ready for the end of the year when I actually end up doing a worst list. Oh, and that’s not the end of it: “Get Out My Head” by Shane Codd is at #6, “Levitating” by Dua Lipa and remixed by DaBaby is at #5, “Whoopty” by CJ is somehow at #3 and finally, “Afterglow” by Ed Sheeran is at #2. We already mentioned “Sweet Melody”, so now finally, it’s on to our new arrivals. What did you gain from reading me list sixty-odd songs in rapid succession with minimal commentary? Nothing. What did I gain from it? Whatever’s just above nothing, but as is the UK Singles Chart in early January.

NEW ARRIVALS

#65 – “Your New Boyfriend” – Wilbur Soot

Produced by Wilbur Soot

Before I put two and two together, I was incredibly confused to who this guy was and why he was charting – he’s doing particularly well on Spotify for this indie singer-songwriter, right? I did one quick Google search – literally typing in “Who is Wilbur Soot” – and soon found out that I actually already know the guy from “SootHouse”, a YouTube channel I think I might even be subscribed to. Huh, I guess that shows how faceless social media platforms can be – his name is in the videos and I should have assumed from “Soot” but that missed me until now. Right now he’s part of that whole worryingly popular group of content creators that tread the very thin line separating Minecraft let’s-players from commentary YouTubers and Twitch streamers from paedophiles. I’m too old to understand any of this garbage but from what I see trending on Twitter all the time, it seems toxic and frankly I don’t want in any part of that. I don’t want to have my grandparents’ graduation photos leaked to the Internet alongside my address, thank you very much, so I think I’ll distance myself from the whole “Internet celebrity” and just talk about the music. This is the last in a trilogy of E-boy indie-pop songs, because of Goddamn course that exists. Song number-one, “I’m in Love with an E-Girl” is a dreary acoustic duet that forgets that comedy songs are supposed to be fun or witty, relying on obscure inside jokes and references to recently-outed paedophiles. I do like some of the jabs later on about romanticisation of mental illness and Chevy’s voice is really nice, whoever that is, but it’s too little too late to be a worthwhile track. Now for song #2, “Internet Ruined Me”, which is a slightly livelier rendition of what is pretty much the same song, with lyrical gems like, “My Twitter feed’s like my brain ‘cause I have it on dark mode.” At least it feels like a more honest attempt at a song, but song #3, “Your New Boyfriend”, the one that’s charting, is obviously the most realised out of these acoustic demo skits, with some pretty sweet piano melodies and Wilbur getting into his comically struggling high register to depict his naivety as a teenager when attempting to get into both a long-term relationship and career as an entertainer. Sure, the song’s janky and awkward, but the chorus has a genuine punk groove, even if it wants to stop to interject ad-libs for no reason and kind of ruin whatever momentum is there in the first place. By the second verse, the punchlines devolve to “No homo, though” and though I do like how those horns sound, they are somewhat clouded in a messy mix that does not help Wilbur out vocally at all. Chevy’s background vocals do help here and add a lot to the floaty atmosphere of the song, and, okay, I’ll admit: the song’s good, if a bit ridiculous and almost Weezer-like in lyrical content... but hey, I like Pinkerton, and there’s certainly enough pointless noise in this song to fit the criteria, so... Goddamn it, I have to recommend this one. Let’s just date this episode – and song – even further by requesting Carson and Pyrocynical hop on a nonce-rock remix, perhaps. Bring Dream along too.

#63 – “Reminds Me of You” – The Kid LAROI and Juice WRLD

Produced by Aaron Joseph, Theron Thomas, Sam Sumser, Sean Small and Dr. Luke

Oh, and speaking of sex crimes by men in places of power, welcome back, Loctor Duke, Tyson Trax, or as I prefer, (alleged) rapist. I don’t like to get too moralistic on this show because it is about the music but I cannot think of any person who would in their right mind know of “Praying” by Kesha and still want to collaborate with this waste of space who uses his monopoly on pop songwriting to continue raking in cash from vulnerable young singers, to the point where I’m not sure if I can truly blame artists for ending up with Dr. Luke production or writing credits... oh, wait, yes, I can! I don’t let Saweetie, Doja Cat or even Kim Petras off the hook for actively collaborating with Luke seemingly in defiance of, you know, moral decency, so I definitely won’t give The Kid LAROI a pass, especially if he and the label are going to use this as another opportunity to milk the passing of a genuinely talented man in Jarad Higgins, or the late Juice WRLD, for the sake of a chart hit for this bumbling Australian wannabe and a sexual predator. This is not the first time, either, but I’ll admit the story gets fuzzy, as Kim Petras did reveal that this performance from Juice was in the studio as she was recording a song, supposedly, that is – I have no hesitation to say I think stories could be made up by record labels to make whoever’s involved look a tiny bit less of an ass. Oh, and by the way, this isn’t even originally a Kid LAROI and Juice WRLD track. Let’s talk about “Reminds Me”, a pretty mediocre Kim Petras song where she blatantly imitates Juice on a trap-pop instrumental that’s just pitiful, as is her vocal delivery that makes lyrics Juice clearly wrote unconvincing. Kim Petras isn’t doing a homicide, I mean, I hope she isn’t. So now we’ve got a “reimagination”, “revamp”, “remake” – or to put it realistically, remix – of an already worthless, disposable song made by a sexual predator and its enablers, spat on by The Kid LAROI’s unforgivably gross delivery where he essentially covers the Kim Petras song and does even a worse job of it, mixed bizarrely – especially in the vocal department – and topped off with a tacked-on Juice WRLD demo verse, so lazily put together that they just repeat his verse to awkwardly lead into an anti-climactic chorus where Juice is nowhere to be found. Everyone involved in the making of this song lost whatever shred of respect I had for them in the first place for putting this out – and that doesn’t include Juice, who’s clearly being mismanaged post-mortem. If The Kid LAROI sticks around, don’t forget this and don’t forget everything he’s done – intentionally or unintentionally – to heartlessly pinch pennies out of Juice’s legacy.

#37 – “Goosebumps” – Hvme

Produced by HVME

I’d make the easy, cliché joke that this isn’t living up to “goosebumps” by Travis Scott featuring Kendrick Lamar, but... this IS “goosebumps” by Travis Scott featuring Kendrick Lamar. HVME is this boring faceless nobody—I mean, “mysterious” Spanish DJ who made a garbage deep house remix of a pretty decent Travis Scott song, but not using the original vocals and stems, which would have probably made this listenable, but instead covering the song himself, stripping of it of Travis’ original energy that carried the eerie trap instrumental and pretty pathetically attempting to replicate the “Straight up!” ad-lib. The mix is fine but puts way too much emphasis on all the swooshing and nothingness synths that do little to get in the way of the typical pumping bass-line you hear in this type of house, and, yeah, this is pitiful once again and reeks of no-effort dance music made in a bedroom you wouldn’t even hear bumped in clubs. He doesn’t even try and re-sing Kendrick’s verse – good – and his attempts at picking up Travis’ masterful flow from the original is comical at best, to the point where I genuinely laughed out loud as his measly “brr-brr-brr” sound effects. I don’t understand why this is so high, yet it has 112 million Spotify streams as his only release on the platform, and I can only assume this is thanks to Ministry of Sound and some Lithuanian record label (don’t ask; I don’t know either). I don’t see this surviving January, thankfully, so you can say goodbye to this guy and his awful, awful cover for good... hopefully.

#30 – “Love Not War (The Tampa Beat)” – Jason Derulo and Nuka

Produced by Nuka

I don’t think there’s any “Tampa Beat” to speak of so Jason Derulo, are you just putting “(Blank) Beat” at the end of all of your songs now? What do you even gain from that? Except there is a “Tampa Beat” – unlike Jawsh 685’s original track, however, it wasn’t called that. Nuka is a New Caledonian producer and she made a song called “4 Bryleans (WayzRmx2018)”. Alright, well now it’s the “Tampa” beat, because I’m sure Florida is close enough to a French territory in Oceania, right? Maybe he’s talking about the ghost town in Australia, or the... small Transylvanian mountain. Okay, I’ll stop kidding myself: this title is complete nonsense. At least he asked for the sample before using it this time, and if Derulo makes careers out of this, then I’ll be glad for these underground Oceanian producers. The difference is here it just feels lazy and co-opting a style he’s clearly not in tune with for the sake of hits for himself. It would make more sense for him to keep on working with Jawsh if he really had good intentions for producers out there in the Pacific. Anyway, much like the title, this song, produced by someone who claims to make the best cheesecake in the Pacific (which I wouldn’t think is that hard of an award to claim), is nonsensical. It’s stuck in 2014 with gross synth leads, clipping percussion and finger-snaps straight out of DJ Mustard’s older stuff, along with what I guess is the sound of the Pacific: Jason Derulo doing fake accents over incessant horns and over-produced garbage that seems like its sole purpose is to annoy... and I liked “Savage Love”! I think my favourite part of this production is when he pitches the horn line down for the verse and then it comes back mid-way through as annoying as ever, even if this mix is crowded enough for you to just barely ignore it. Derulo isn’t doing much here either other than straining his voice for a belt no-one asked for and having a complete dissonance between verse and chorus in terms of lyrical content. Oh, and there’s a copious amount of remixes that are all garbage. The instrumental’s on Spotify too under “Waterfall”, so I guess that adds another name to the list of names this song has for no reason. At least with “Savage Love” I got to hear BTS drop F-bombs, this is just worthless.

#28 – “Good Days” – SZA

Produced by Los Hendrix, Nascent and Carter Lang

I came into this episode all optimistic and ended up just moaning about sex crimes and Jason Derulo but I think if there’s going to be any shred of true quality from our new arrivals, it’s the new SZA track that’s shaping up to be genuinely big organically on radio and streaming, “Good Days”, from that new album, whenever Top decides he’s going to let her release it. I’m not the biggest fan of SZA; you probably don’t remember that she ended up on one of my worst lists a couple years back, although that’s mostly at the fault of Travis Scott more than her. This doesn’t mean I’m not excited to hear from her, though I did like some of the stuff off of CTRL, particularly “Prom” and “20 Something”... and, yeah, in terms of what I want from contemporary R&B, I’m not mad at “Good Days” at all, though it’s going to take a lot of growing on me because I immediately hate this mix and production, which relies on slick, lo-fi guitars being drowned out by overweight percussion that sounds organic but pretty unfitting and awkward amongst the reverb-drenched vocals and unrecognisable mix that doesn’t compliment SZA’s at times awkward delivery. That’s a shame to say because I think she harmonises well with co-writer Jacob Collier, especially on the chorus, where she wishes for good days ahead, which is lyrical content I can get behind: coming out of a bad place and knowing you have no authority over your future but wishing for good days regardless. When the synths come in after the third verse at about three minutes and SZA’s voice disappears from the mix, becoming less overbearing than it is, I can appreciate the song more and especially when that final chorus comes in... except there isn’t a final chorus to leave this song off with much of an impact, rather just a tacked-on instrumental section that felt like Jacob Collier was tasked with just extending a snippet, which given how the song was teased in “Hit Different”, might actually be the case. I like the lyrics a lot, and do think it picks up after the song practically ends, but I’m not sure about this right now, and could see it growing on me as good days either become more imminent or drift even further away.

#4 – “Anyone” – Justin Bieber

Produced by watt, The Monsters & Strangerz and Jon Bellion

I’ve done a lot of writing and reviewing this week so I’m glad I can sum this up in a few sentences. Justin Bieber is an overexposed hack who I cannot feel any emotional connection towards at all, so him continuing to make any art is moot. This song has a loading screen of a synth melody, and that’s before that really ugly chorus that Bieber really can’t save with his Auto-Tuned whine of a voice, alongside acoustic guitars that clearly do not blend well. Jon Bellion’s production at the end of this just barely saves it by doing some kind of 180 shift into slow synth-pop, clearly coasting off of the Weeknd’s success in the same style without realising what made his record worthwhile. Camila Cabello recorded a demo that I’m glad isn’t the official version because her squealing would not sound good here either; really, I think Bellion could have kept this to himself but he knows he would put a lot more effort and character into his own lyrics than this – he would also write an actual bridge for his own album, I’d hope. It isn’t catchy, it isn’t intriguing and it is gutless, like Bieber has been for the past two album cycles and I guess it’s not changing this time.

Conclusion

What a downer for my optimism about pop music going forward this was! Even the best songs here I feel mostly ambivalent on, to the point where I can give Wilbur Soot of all people Best of the Week for “Your New Boyfriend”, which shocks me since I thought SZA would run with it, although “Good Days” does grab the Honourable Mention. Worst of the Week should be a toss-up if it weren’t for the fact that The Kid LAROI exists so he can get that for “Reminds Me of You” featuring the mangled remnants of whatever’s left of the late Juice WRLD’s Google Drive folders full of demos and leaks. I suppose Dishonourable Mention can go to HVNE for “Goosebumps”, but I’d understand it for anything else here. Here’s this week’s top 10:

Follow me on Twitter @cactusinthebank for more rambling – I swear I’m not usually this angry – and I can’t really predict anything going forward either, other than unfortunately more Dr. Luke, but we’ll see what the charts decide to bring us next Saturday when it comes. I’ll see you next week.

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ask-the-phan-site · 5 years

Text

Phan Cam: The Phantom Thieves of Kaijudo?

>San Campion, California, United States. We came here to change the heart of a new target. Queen, Noir, and Crow are not with us as they have to study for their college finals. But Duke, Ape, Visor, and his robotic companion will be filling in for them.

Okay, according to this message, the person who sent the request should be meeting at someplace called “The Five Paths”. I looked it up. It’s some kind of martial arts studio.

Really? Like what? I know some Kung-Fu.

Oracle: It doesn’t say. There’s no other information about it.

It’s like this place doesn’t even exist. Now that’s just weird.

I think that’s it over there.

Oracle: Well, it does appear so.

Let’s take a closer look.

Let’s be careful though. There’re some kids here.

Oracle: The message said to meet them in the back. Let’s see if we can find a way there.

>We manage to find a way to the back. While that was happening, I couldn’t help but hear what the kids at the front were saying.

Have you noticed that Tareq’s been acting weird lately? More than usual.

Well, it has looked like he hasn’t slept in a while. I tried asking him about it and just told me to get bent. I know Tareq hasn’t been the nicest to us, but this is just getting ridiculous. Ray, what does your uncle say?

I asked him and he said, “Just give it time. Everything is still new to him.”

Ginger-haired girl: I see. Well, if your uncle and the other Masters say it, I suppose we can try... So anyway, how was your winter break?

...

>We were now at the back of the studio.

I don’t see anyone here.

Maybe it was just a prank. Sometimes people will troll you like this.

Well they sure went through a lot of trouble just to bring us here.

Don’t let your guard down just yet.

Well, it don’t look like we might be jumped anytime-

>The sound of a door opens.

OH SHIT! SOMEONE’S HERE!

>We quickly turn to see someone come out the backdoor of the studio.

What the- Who the heck are you people!?

Wait, this is just some misunderstanding!

Young man in gee: (shocked) A Creature!?

>He quickly puts on some glove and we are surprised to see it change into a green glove that looks like it was made of leaves.

Wait! What on earth is that!?

Young man in gee: Three-Eyed Dragonfly!

>The young man shouted this as he did some martial art move and was surrounded by what looked like flowers. Then, the flowers all converted in front of the young man and a portal with a symbol on it opens.

>Then, to our shock and horror, something comes out of it.

Violet: (shocked) What is that thing!?

Oracle: It doesn’t look like any Shadow I know.

Young man in gee: (confused) Shadow? Tch, whatever, I have to do this. Three-Eyed, attack!

??-??: Tareq, please stop!

Young man in gee: (shocked) Huh!? Th- That voice.

>Suddenly, the symbol on the portal changes.

>Then, something else comes out with the portal closing behind it.

Young man in gee: (still shocked) R- Ra-Vu? You’re here?

Glowing Creature: (telepathically) Yes. I am. I ask you not to attack them.

Young man in gee: Why not?

Glowing Creature: Because, these people... are the Phantom Thieves of Heart.

Young man in gee: (shocked again) What?

Mona: (also surprised) It knows who we are?

>Then, the glowing creature projects some kind of screen. On the screen is the request.

Young man in gee: (confused) My request? But, I thought I deleted it and never sent it.

Visor: You’re the one who sent it?

Young man in gee: I wrote it, yes. But I deleted because I chickened out. I’m sorry, I just haven’t been getting any sleep lately and I don’t think I can handle this.

Joker: So you’re Tareq.

Tareq: How did you know?

Aside from that creature calling you by name, it was also a lucky guess.

Tareq: (groaning) You probably over heard those three in the front. They probably saw my request and sent it.

Glowing Creature: You are wrong, Tareq... I sent it.

Tareq: (surprised) You!?

Glowing Creature: Yes. I secretly went into the temple and saw the request you made. I took an screenshot and saw it was about Master Brightmore. So, I recreated the request and sent it.

Tareq: But... But why?

Glowing Creature: I was advised to come to the temple... By a young girl in a blue dress and a large book.

>Why am I not surprised?

Tareq: I don’t think I want to know about a girl you suddenly found in the Creature Realm. Still, why did you sent it?

Glowing Creature: Because... I too am worried about him.

Tareq: ... A Light Creature never lies. Yes, I’m worried about Master Brightmore. I know I shouldn’t be calling him that anymore because of all the things he’s done when he joined the Choten, but still, of all the Kaijudo Duel Masters, he was probably my favorite. How he only just wanted to keep things orderly and calm. And now look at him, a wanted criminal in the eyes of those he worked with. Since then, I’ve been having a hard time getting used to it. And lately, I keep having this recurring nightmare.

Glowing Creature: I am no expert in dreams, but what kind of nightmare?

Tareq: I... I don’t know. It just felt like... Like something dangerous was chasing me and I had to get away... By climbing something... And I think sheep were also in it.

...

Tareq: I don’t have that dream anymore, but since then, I just can’t seem to sleep. I tried everything to relax. I even asked Master Kimora for advice. He said to take some time off, but that’s not helping at all.

>Then, Tareq did some bow-like move in front of the giant bug. Then, he did it again and the bug disappears.

Tareq: See? I can’t even send my Creature back properly. I’m just so worried about Master Brightmore. I...

Glowing Creature: You can say it.

Tareq: I... I miss him.

Glowing Creature: But is that not why you requested the help of the Phantom Thieves? To change his heart so he may turn himself in and he would at least return to the temple?

Tareq: Well, yes.

Then that’s what we’ll do.

Tareq: You will?

Panther: We don’t know much about what happened, but we’ll help you anyway we can.

Fox: We Phantom Thieves do this so we can give courage to others. That includes you.

Tareq: I see... Thank you.

Glowing Creature: I am glad to hear that... So this is what “glad” feels like.

Ape: Well, it does look like you don’t much about emotions, uh...

Glowing Creature: Forgive me, I have not introduced myself to you. I am known as Ra-Vu, Indomitable Seeker of Lightning and Stormbringer. I am a Creature of the Light Civilization in a hidden world known as the Creature Realm.

Tareq: And you probably already know I’m Tareq: I’m an acolyte in the ancient art of Kaijudo.

Joker: I see. I’m not so sure about what you just said.

Tareq: I’ll explain while I take you to where you need to go... I’ll just ease your memories after this anyway.

>With that, Ra-Vu takes off to the air and we leave with Tareq... We didn’t see that someone was spying on us.

Ray: I knew something was up.

Round Boy: I guess Panopter got something good.

Ginger-haired girl: Think we should tell the Masters?

Ray: (grinning) Have we haver told them about the stuff we do?

Round boy and ginger-haired girl: ... Naw.

>Later after being told everything about the world of Kaijudo, we were now standing in front of a convenient store.

Tareq: I got word that he was back in town. He took up a job here as a clerk.

>We take a peek through the window. Ra-Vu sent us a telepathic message that he can connect us so we can hear what’s going on inside.

What is this I’m looking at?

>He was holding an instant ramen bowl.

It’s instant ramen. Anyone can see that.

Yeah, boss. I thought we were the dumb ones.

Nigel Brightmore: (irritated) I am aware that it’s instant ramen. What I was asking was why I found this in the nacho aisle?

Boy in Sweater: Because the instant ramen is next to it. C’mon, it was just one mistake.

Nigel Brightmore: (still irritated) We are trying to make the shoppers’ trips here easier! Unlike life. You better think twice before making such an error again!

Hat-wearing young man: Whoa, boss, relax, it’s fixable. Geez, and we left Carny just for this?

Boy in Sweater: It can’t be helped, Nickles. Carny had the dough. And now that he’s spending more time with his old man, we gotta make cash somehow.

Nickles: I hope yer right, Driggs.

Nigel Brightmore: Then perhaps you should have thought about that before deciding to work here. Now quit flapping your jaws and get back to work!

Nickles and Driggs: (scared) Yes, sir!

>Back outside with us.

He must really miss being a Master.

Tareq: It’s making him so frustrated he’s taking it out on his employees. And they don’t even know anything about Kaijudo or Creatures. It’s pathetic, but at the same time, sad. I can’t stand to see him like this anymore.

Ra-Vu: (telepathically) Meet me at the back of this shop.

>We go to the back where Ra-Vu was waiting for us.

Ra-Vu: Now you see how far my former master has fallen. How his misery has turned him from a once honorable man into a disgraced figure of sloth and anger. He might as well, how would humans put it... Made a prison of his own heart. And he is even the warden.

Skull: That sounds like it fits.

>Skull takes out his phone and enters the words we hope are the keywords. Nigel Brightmore... Convenient store... Prison...

Nav: Results found. Updating guidance system.

Ape: Bingo!

Tareq: So, you go to this Metaverse with an app? How does that work?

Just trust us.

Skull: Well, with all that done, all we gotta do now is go into his Palace and-

???: Palace?

>We are surprised by three new people with us. It was those kids from the studio.

Tareq: Ray? Allie? Gabe? How?

Allie: Never underestimate the power of Stalker Spheres.

Gabe: And was that Nigel in that store?

Tareq: ...

Ray: Tareq, you knew? You knew all this time he was back in town and hid him from the Stalker Spheres?

Ra-Vu: He knew, yes, but it was I who hid him from the Stalker Spheres. Tareq had nothing to do with that.

Allie: Can we really believe that?

Gabe: This wouldn’t be the first time a Light Creature lied.

Ra-Vu: Princess Sasha only did what she must to do what is right. But I am not lying to you now.

Gabe: ... Fine. But what’s going on here? And with these guys?

Allie: Hold on... I thought I recognized you.

>She was staring at Skull and Duke.

You do?

Allie: You’re Ryuji Sakamoto from KUROFUNE. The other kids at school just wouldn’t shut up about it since your official debut last year. And you, you led those Joes after you were framed.

Duke: Fine, you caught us.

Ray: Actually, I think I do recognize these two. I think I even recognize the rest of you from the Dream Festival.

>We just stared.

Ray: My cousins were competing in the Top Three.

Skull: Hold on. Okamoto...

Oh, as in Nobu and Ichiro Okamoto!

Ray: They’re my cousins.

Skull: I see. You know, I heard they were dropped from their Unit because their leader that they were the reason they didn’t make it. Now that I’m a True Idol and can make my own Unit, maybe I can recruit ‘em.

Ray: Really? That’s good, I guess... But that still doesn’t answer what’s going on here.

Tareq: (sighs) You might as well tell them.

Ra-Vu: Actually, I think it best simply to show them.

Allie: (unconvinced) Show us?

Ra-Vu: But before we do so, I suggest you first summon your creatures.

Gabe: Right here? Right now?

Ra-Vu: I shall explain later.

Ray: Okay, I guess.

>The three adepts take out their gauntlets and empower them with what Tareq called Mana. Tareq does the same.

Ray: Tatsurion the Unchained!

Allie: Scaradorable of Gloom Hollow!

Gabe: Reef Prince Glu-urrgle!

Tatsurion: What is...

>The Creature known as Tatsurion, or as he as known as “Bob”, sees Ra-Vu and quickly makes a fighting stance.

Bob: (not looking happy) What is he doing here?

Ray: (trying to calm the situation) I’ll explain soon, Bob. Right now, we should hear what he has to say.

Bob: (a bit disappointed) Fine.

Ra-Vu: I am glad to hear that. Now, you may begin.

Joker: Alright, he we go.

Nav: Beginning navigation.

>With that, the familiar red wave passes over us. When it ends, the convenient store had now been replaced with a prison that looks like something out of Avatar the Last Airbender. More specifically, The Boiling Rock.

(Insert song: Price)

Ray: Holy...

Ra-Vu: That is precisely the right thing to say in the situation.

How don’t see how it is. Care to explain?

Allie: First, explain something. A couple of things... Where the heck are we and what’s with the outfits!?

Gabe: Hold on, those masks... You’re the Phantom Thieves, aren’t you!? The Phantom Thieves of Hearts!

Hey, shush! I don’t think the Shadows heard us.

Tareq: Shadows? You talked about that.

Yeah, in the Metaverse, enemies attack us.

Allie: I think it get it. But what does that have to do with summoning our Creatures before coming here?

Ra-Vu: Because it is unknown what effects may occur from opening the Veil within the Metaverse.

Gabe: (worried) Now you tell us.

Oracle: Right, so until we can be sure it’s safe...

No Summonings.

Gabe: Right. Opening the Veil in a place like this could cause a Butterfly Effect so massive, it might cause great damage.

Well, shall we go in now?

Right, I’m just itching to cause some damage.

Then let’s get to it.

>I use my Third Eye a spot a hole in the mountain big enough for all of us to go through.

Joker: You think we can fly up there?

Bob: I can.

Oracle: I can also use Necronomicon carry us as well. Persona!

Ray: (surprised) That’s definitely not the kind of Creatures we’re use to.

>With Bob and Necronomicon’s help, we managed to get inside the prison without fail. Inside, there were young men getting pushed around by Shadows dressed like prison guards.

Tareq: How does those guys get here?

Mona: Their just cognitions. They’re based off of people in the real world. It’s those guards you have to worry about.

>We secretly land near what we can only guess is the front door. We enter what we assume is the lobby which looks more like a courtroom. Then, we see two cognitions dressed like guards escorting a young man with a bag over his head. The two guards look like the two boys from the store.

Allie: Why are Driggs and Nickles here?

It’s not really them. Like Mona said, they’re just copies that exist only in this Palace.

>Then, someone arrives on the judge’s podium. It was Nigel Brightmore dressed like that warden from The Boiling Rock. However, it looked like it was made of gold... Including his eyes.

Shadow Nigel: Read the charges.

Cognitive Driggs: Yes, sir.

>Then, Cognitive Driggs removes the bag...

Ray: (shocked) It’s... It’s me.

Cognitive Nickles: Raiden Pierce-Okamoto, you are charged with defying the ways of the Kaijudo Order. You have touched Creature after Creature, made forbidden trips to the Creature Realm, causing much chaos, and worst of all, cost the warden his job. How do you plea?

Cognitive Ray: (looks like he’s crying) ...

Shadow Nigel: We will take your silence as your confession. So, for your crimes, I sentence you to be “reeducated”.

Cognitive Ray: N- No!

>With that, the cognitions leave.

Bob: (now getting angry) They will pay for that!

>With that, Bob runs out of hiding.

Ray: Bob, wait!

>Too late. We’ve been spotted.

Shadow Nigel: (a malicious smile on his face) So, the real one comes to my presence. And I see you brought your friends as well. And what’s this? You’ve become friends with those annoying fools from Japan?

Well, guess what. These annoyin’ fools are gonna take you down and steal your Treasure!

Shadow Nigel: I am not scared of you. This prison in impenetrable. Nothing is coming in or out. Ever.

Tareq: You can’t be serious. Master, I know you have fallen, but this isn’t going to make things any better.

Shadow Nigel: Doesn’t it? I lost everything because of these children. The Masters have left their ways and are now weak. Our mission to protect the people of the Human Realm will fail this way.

Ray: That’s not true. The Order didn’t become weak, they grew. Now, they’re stronger than ever.

Shadow Nigel: I refuse to believe it. Being a Kaijudo Duel Master was everything to me... And I intend to take it back.

>Then, a large Shadow appears.

Tareq: Please, Master Brightmore, it doesn’t have to be this way. Just turn yourself over to the Masters and I promise that I’ll make sure that their punishment is something light.

Shadow Nigel: ... No. It’s too late for that.

Ra-Vu: It is never too late to redeem yourself.

Shadow Nigel: (getting angry) You dare speak back to your master? Fine, if you wish to defy me further... Then you can just die here. Guards, seize them!

>With that, Shadow Nigel runs off and the large Shadow changes shape.

Allie: (surprised) I don’t think that angel is here to save our souls.

>Necronomicon scans the Shadow.

Oracle: I’m not sensing any weaknesses. It’s real strong. And avoid using Bless Skills.

Joker: But maybe Curse Skills can give us the edge...

Maybe even stronger.

>I go Third Tier.

Joker: PERSONA!

Skull: I’m in, too. You might need the extra muscle.

Mona: You’ll need a healer, too.

Fox: And me.

>Skull, Mona, and Fox all go Ultimate.

Skull, Mona, and Fox: PERSONA!

Ray: We’ll fight, too. I know it may look like you’re full up, but you might need us.

Joker: Alright. I don’t think this will be an ordinary fight this time.

Gabe: Ready to do this, Gargle?

Glu-urrgle (aka Gargle): RFA. Ready for action, G Ablriel!

Skull: Glad you can join us. I like that RFA thing.

Allie: Let’s snuff this guy out, Squeaky.

Scaradorable (Squeaky): *squeak*

Mona: I’m not much of a gentleman if I keep a couple of ladies waiting.

Tareq: Shoot. I knew I should have summoned a Creature before coming here.

Ra-Vu: I shall fill that role for this battle.

Tareq: Thanks, Ra-Vu.

Fox: Good. Time for the beauty of art to be illuminated.

Bob: Then let the brawl begin!

Tutorial

The Kaijudo Adepts’ assistance is the same as a regular assist. Sometime, if you can’t knock down all the enemies, they will assist in knocking down the rest of them.

Which Adept assists depends on the character.

Joker = Ray and Bob

Skull = Gabe and Gargle

Mona = Allie and Squeaky

Fox = Tareq and Ra-Vu

>Uriel Summons three Shadows. We’ll tell you that they’re Angels since we can’t show you pictures of them. All the Angel use Buffs on Uriel. Raoul uses Heat Raiser on Mona. Seiten Taisei uses Matarukaja.

Oracle: This one! Defense up!

>Necronomicon uses Marakukaja. Mercurius uses Masukunda. Kamu Susano-o uses Masukukaja. Uriel uses Bloodbath. Luckily, we all dodge it. Angel 1 uses Kouha on me. It knocks me down. Angel 1 then attacks me. Angel 2 tries to use Makajama on Mona. Luckily, he dodges it. Angel 3 looks scornfully at Skull. I get back up and Raoul uses Maeigaon. It knocks down all the Angels. I pass the baton to Mona and Mercurius uses Miracle Punch on Uriel. It didn’t knock him down. Seiten Taisei uses Charge. Mercurius uses Miracle Punch on Uriel again. This time, it was a critical hit.

Mona: Quiver in fear!

>After the attack, the Angels were gone, but Uriel was still up. Kamu Susano-o uses Tempest Slash. Uriel uses Megidola. Raoul uses Eigaon. Seiten Taise uses God’s Hand. Mercurius uses Mediarahan. Kamu Susano-o uses Bufudyne. Uriel uses Myraid Slashes on Mona. Raoul uses Concentrate. Seiten Taisei uses Matarukaja. Mercurius uses Miracle Punch. No knock down this time. Kamu Susan-o uses Masukukaja. Uriel summons another Angel. The Angel looks scornfully at me.

Joker: Alright, Raoul, it’s showtime!

<With that, Uriel and the Angel are both fast Asleep. Seiten Taisei uses Charge. Mercurius uses Masukunda. Fox defends himself. Both Uriel and the Angel are still Sleeping. Raoul uses Maeigaon. It was technical hit on both of them and the Angel was knocked down. Seiten Taisei uses God’s Hand.

Gabe: Me and Gargle are ready when you are!

Skull: Go for it, man!

Gargle: LOL! Happy Hour!

>With a few shots of his Potato Gun, Gargle knocks Uriel down.

Skull: All right! Time for some pain!

>After the attack, the Angel was gone, but Uriel was still up, but a little more weaker. Mercurius uses Miracle Punch. It was a critical hit.

Mona: Time for some bloodshed!

>After the attack, Uriel was still up, but now more weaker. Kamu Susano-o uses Brave Blade. Uriel uses Myraid Slashes on Fox. Luckily, he dodges it. Raoul uses Eigaon. Seiten Taisei uses Matarukaja. Mercurius uses Garudyne. Kamu Susano-o uses Masukukaja. Uriel uses Bloodbath. Both Skull and Mona fall under fear. I use Relax Gel on Mona. Skull is too Scared to move. Mona uses Harisen Recovery on Skull as Mercurius uses Miracle Punch. No knock down.

Allie: I think we’re good to go, right, Squeaky?

>Squeaky nods.

Mona: Then be my guest.

Allie: Alright! Squeaky, show them your real dark side.

>Squeaky uses her Fear Gaze and attacks Uriel. He’s knocked down and falls under Fear.

Mona: Too late for apologies!

>After the attack, Uriel is still up, but now even weaker. Kamu Susano-o uses Brave Blade. It’s a critical hit.

Fox: This is the final blow! Now! Let us strike!

Oracle: And to finish it off!

>With that, Uriel was gone.

Allie: That definitely wasn’t like any Duel we’ve been in. This is just crazy.

T-Bob: Crazy? You haven’t seen anything yet.

>Gabe goes over to the podium Shadow Nigel was. He begins looking through some files.

Gabe: These files are on all three of us. Ray, me, and Allie. It’s like he really does see us as criminals.

Bob: Now I just want to get him good.

Panther: He’s suppose to be the Master of the Light Civilization, and yet he’s willing to hurt others just to make sure others follow the rules?

This is totally the opposite of who he should be.

Gabe: Hold on, there’s another file here.

Gargle: (scanning it) It doesn’t seem to be on anyone. No viruses, no worries.

Oracle: Let me see.

>Oracle looks in the file.

Score! It’s a map of the prison.

Skull: Cool! This Palace will be a cinch.

Tareq: (looking down) Yeah.

Violet: Is something wrong, Tareq kun?

Tareq: It’s just... Is this how Master Brightmore really is? Some tyrant who just want to control everything?

Violet: Pretty much. But that’s why we’re here. To change all that.

Tareq: Can we?

Joker: Tareq, you truly believe that there is some good in Nigel and you might be right. You know this. I know this. We all know this... And we want the Masters to know the same thing. That’s why we’re ding this. We’re going to do more than take his heart...

We’re going to save him.

Tareq: ... Thanks. You know... I don’t think I’ll be erasing your memories after all.

Gabe: (a little worried) Really? ... Then again, a chance to ally with the Phantom Thieves? When will have another chance like this? A chance to know more about this Metaverse and how it might effect Mana.

Allie: Just be careful not to get over yourself.

Oracle: Then I’ll just lend you a hand. I know a thing or two about how cognition works here.

Gabe: I think that will be great.

Tareq: Then it’s settled. You help me with this and I won’t erase your memories. I might even help you in some places most people can’t. So, will you help?

Alright then. It’s setled. We’ve got ourselves a deal.

>We shake on it. I think this deal might work in our favor.

I am thou... Thou art I...

Thou hast acquired a new vow...

It shall become the wings of rebellion That breaketh thy chains of captivity.

With the birth of Storm Persona I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power...

Confidant: The Duelist

Arcana: Storm (This Arcana is made up for this Confidant.)

Rank: 1

Ability: Acolyte

Allows you to enter the Kaijudo Temple.

Panther: Well, we’ve done all we can for now. Let’s regroup for today.

>With that, we leave.

>We return to the real world. Ray, Gabe, and Allie send their Creatures back to their realm.

Ray: It looks like things are about to get more complicated from here on.

Joker: Most likely. But not right away, though. It’s only the first day.

?????? ??????: The first day of what?

>We were shocked by who was now with us.

Ra-Vu: It appears there are some Stalker Spheres I forgot to ask to keep us hidden.

What was your first guess, mi amigo?

This could be bad. Real bad.

Tareq: Master, wait, I can explain.

Master Chavez: I suppose you can.

>Suddenly, something flies down to us.

>Then, it projects a screen... It shows us disappearing into the Metaverse.

Now we really have to explain.

Tareq: Then please, hear us out.

>The Kaijudo Temple. We came here and explained to the other Duel Masters and even Ray’s parents of what had transpired. Hopefully, they will listen to us.

So, Nigel Brightmore is back in San Campion. This is startling news.

And you two have been hiding him from us the whole time? Are you so loyal that you would protect this traitor for your masters?

Ra-Vu: He is not a traitor. He merely, as you humans would say, made a mistake. One that is atonable.

Master Isao: You only say that because he is your master and he probably ordered you to hid him from the Stalker Spheres.

Ra-Vu: That is not true. I am hiding Master Brightmore of my own volition. Even those of the Light Civilization are not above compassion and empathy. A feat that our Princess Sasha proved possible long ago.

Gabe: He has a point there.

Either way, I am still not so sure about how your plan will work. I understand how much the Phantom Thieves of Hearts has done for the world. I must admit, even I was impressed by what they did in New York. Not to mention what happened in Auradon and with that general. But still, to change his heart?

Tareq: I just want to see Master Brightmore do the right thing. This is the only way I can do it. Please believe me. I don’t want him to be punished so harshly if he doesn’t turn himself in.

And what punishment did you think we would give him if he didn’t?

Tareq: I don’t know. Banishment to the Creature Realm without his gauntlet? Or worst of all... You’d erase his memories. A fate far worse than death.

Master Chavez: And what punishment do you wish for us to give him if he does turn himself in?

Tareq: I guess maybe tending to the Creature Pens? Helping Master Toji in his workshop since Fingers isn’t around anymore. Even help Master Kimora in his garden or the studio upstairs. Just please, don’t erase his memories.

After everything he did to us, to my son... To me. He deserves such a fate. To have to go through the same ordeals I had to go through.

Ray: (a bit shocked) Dad!?

Ken, no.

Saguru: (as he wishes to be called, only his family can call him Ken) However, to do such a thing... We would be no different than August. So even though I’m no longer a Duel Master... I wish to favor Tareq’s request.

Master Isao: Ken chan, are you sure?

Saguru: Please, Uncle, you know that this might work.

Master Isao: ... Very well. We will vote on it. All those in favor of allowing the Phantom Thieves take Brightmore’s heart so he may turn himself over to us?

Master Kimora: Well, I suppose we could give it a try. I think Nigel really wanted to do the right thing.

Master Jaha: I also agree. Nigel was consumed by the order of Light. This might be a good chance to help him come to his senses.

Master Chavez: I’m curious to know if this would really work. So, I agree as well.

Master Nadia: (still doubtful) Fine. But only because Hector thinks it might be a good idea. However, I also propose that we give them until the end of the month to change his heart. If they fail to do so, then we must step in and take Nigel ourselves. Are we all in agreement?

>The Masters agreed.

Mona: Alright then, the deadline is January 31. So we have to establish a route to the Treasure and send the calling card no later than two days prior, the 29th.

Ray: Luckily, we’ll be helping you.

Janet: (a little worried) Just be careful, Honey. It sounds like this Metaverse is nothing like the Creature Realm.

Ray: It’s okay, Mom, the Phantom Thieves will be joining us and they know more about the Metaverse than we do.

Saguru: For their sake, they better. (looking intimidating) Because if they so let as much as a cut on you...

>Something crawls out of his eye.

Ape: I have a feeling that bug is more than it appears.

Visor: (a little worried) You can say that again.

Then it’s mission start. Time for Operation: Save the Light!

Violet: That sounds a little taken.

Joker: Well it was either that or Attack the Light. Maybe even Unleash the Light.

Allie: (confused) Too many Steven Universe references.

Tareq: (also confused) Steven Universe?

Violet: You don’t know about Steven Universe?

Allie: The only channel the Temple gets is San Campion 24/7. They don’t even use the Internet much here.

Oracle: Which makes me wonder. How did you managed to write your request?

Tareq: Well, it all happened when Gabe stayed the night here to take a break from those brothers of his. I sort of... Borrowed his phone while he was asleep.

Gabe: (upset) I thought it was odd that slightly more used data!

Tareq: (a little embarrassed) Sorry.

Gabe: (sighs) It’s alright. Just ask next time.

>With that, we prepare for the heist ahead of us.

#phantom thieves cam

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