#I don’t think I’ll go farther than where ever they’re going unless someone very clearly tells me they can help me

[caterpillarinacave]

Nervously you finagle your way onto the creatures back, careful not to pull hairs or cause injury, once you're settled and the basket of berries you carry is well placed, you both sit there in silence, the beast seems confused, you are certainly confused, eventually the creature begins to move, you aren't really sure where to, it feels fairly directionless, while your steed wanders you cast your gaze about, curious of this world, the trees are darker in color than at home and shorter you think, though thicker, the leaves are in autumn colors, but they glisten as though wet, as the creature reaches a stream you see long legged thin spidery things walking around the edges of the water, the beast ignores them stepping through the water and the water seems to glimmer and glow with each movement, eventually the forest begins to thin out and you can see a hut of some sort that you are headed towards, the creature picks up the pace, once you get closer a person holding a broom (you think) opens the door, as soon as they see you they start making loud noises, they seem to be yelling at you, they want you off their not-horse, the creature starts to become agitated so you hop off and back away apologetically, you try to let the know you meant no harm, the person stares at you in confusion as you speak then turns away, yelling out, obviously not to you, punctuating their words with a loud chirp, an older, taller person comes around the corner, the two speak, looking over at you with hostility (the younger broom wielder) and curiously (the older newcomer). You try for a non-threatening demeanor and wait, finally the younger takes the creature away the older person steps forward and waves,

"Taco!"

You stare befuddled and the person tries again with no success, they then point to a tree.

"Tree?"

You nod and agree, that is a tree, more importantly, taco? Well, no, more importantly, you can understand them! Unfortunately, they doen't seem to know much of the language, the little bit they know is enough to answer very simple questions, though sometimes the words they use are inaccurate (taco?), and you are at a great disadvantage not knowing any of the language they speak, but you do decipher this: you are in not your world, someone else came before you (they taught them the language), they left through the door, this happened a long time ago (or perhaps far away?), you need a key for the door (when you showed them your key they did not seem to think it was the correct one), they really enjoy the berries you picked. Actually, they really, really enjoy your berries, they gesture to them with chirps and words you can't understand, curious you pick one up and try it, expecting the same good berries as always, but they taste amazing, like the best berry off the bush, and you feel far better than before, less tired, this didn't happen when you ate the berries here earlier, but these ones were from your world, they passed through with you, you have a whole basket of them, noting this interesting information you pack away the berries for now, the person doesn't seem to mind and you ask them if they know where to find the key you need but either they don't know or they don't understand. Eventually the person leaves, they and the younger one look as though they are getting ready to go into town, they have the creature from before out, the younger one riding it, and another, lighter colored creature, they offer to take you with them, do you go?

Yes

[watchyourbluesturngolden]

howard stern

I'M BACK BESTIES!!!!! i'm not totally back to my normal writing, but I finally got through a whole piece! anyways I really liked this and i hope you do too :)

warnings: howard stern being a bitch, talk of weight & body image

word count: 2.1k

"Hello Harry, how are you doing today?"

"I'm well, thank you," Harry answered with a smile. He was on the Howard Stern Show, his first interview since Stevie had been born. He hadn't really wanted to; Howard was kind of a prick. Everyone knew this, but Jeff was convinced this was the right move. He said it would be good for Harry to get back into the swing of things, and no one else was available on short notice. In the end, Harry only agreed because you had pushed him to, reminding him it wouldn't be a very long interview and then he wouldn't have to interact with the abrasive man again for a long time.

"That's good to hear," Howard said. "How have you been these past couple months? Have you been getting anything done?"

"Not much that's music related, honestly," Harry laughed. "I've been busy with family things."

"Yeah, you've kind of been hiding away from the world for a while here, what's that about?"

"Well, as I'm sure you already know, my wonderful wife had a baby recently, so I've been pretty busy... just navigating the world of fatherhood." A smile crept onto his face at the mention of Stevie.

"That's a lot, isn't it? Babies are awful at that age," Howard chuckled.

"Uh- I wouldn't say awful," Harry's smile dropped a little and he sighed internally. He already knew how the rest of this interview would go: thinly veiled insults, questions that were way too personal, and having to pretend he didn't want to get up and walk out of the room. But he knew that wouldn't be a very good look for him, so he gritted his teeth and tried to think of happy things. Specifically, the fact that he would get to go home to his wife and baby in less than two hours. "She's a very sweet baby, we're completely in love with her."

"Yeah, sometimes they're cute, but mostly they just cry and wake you up in the night, don't they?" Howard asked smugly, as if he knew Harry's baby better than Harry did.

"Well, of course she wakes up in the night sometimes. She's hungry, can't blame her for wanting food, can I?" Harry asked, trying to speak lightly and with a smile, but he could feel his patience slipping. He was ready to go home and he was not in the mood to pretend to be happy when this man was clearly insulting his child.

"Sure, I just wish babies could be a bit less annoying when they want something."

Harry nodded, plastering a smile that hopefully looked real on his face.

"So, besides the annoying baby, how's the family? Everybody healthy over there?"

Harry nodded. "Everybody's happy and healthy. A little sleep deprived, of course, but we're managing well, i think. And by we, I mean Y/N. She's truly... just amazing. I have no idea how she does it- she's the one keeping everything together. There's no way I could do any of this without her."

"Yeah, she seems pretty great! I remember though, at first we were all a little uncertain about her. She's not exactly like the other women you have a history with, is she?"

"She's-" Harry started talking, but Howard cut him off.

"I just mean, we were used to seeing you with models and actresses and the like, so it was a bit of a shock to see you with one of us commoners, you know?"

Harry huffed a small laugh, still trying to sound polite. "When you love someone, that's all that matters."

"Right, of course, but don't you get bored sometimes? You stopped going out so much when you got with her, almost like she was keeping you captive or something," He laughed.

"Are you asking me if my wife forced me to stop hanging out with my friends?" Harry squinted at the man.

"No, of course not, but..." He leaned closer with a malicious gleam in his eye, like he was about to hear some big secret. "Did she?"

"No," Harry said firmly. "She did not."

"Okay, okay, if you say so," Howard put his hands up, but then he leaned in again and spoke in an exaggerated whisper. "Blink twice if you need help."

Harry played it off with a laugh, crossing his arms over his chest.

"He's good," Howard laughed loudly. "Anyways, let's move on. Since you two are supposedly so happy-" He paused again, as if he expected Harry to cut it and give some dramatic confession about how terrible his relationship was behind closed doors. Harry only raised his eyebrows, signaling him to continue talking. "Tell us about that. When did you two get married again?"

"Almost 2 years ago," Harry said with a smile. "Our anniversary is coming up, actually, it's in 3 weeks."

"Oh wow, you guys moved fast with the whole kid thing, huh?"

Harry nodded. "We both knew we wanted kids and were ready to have them, so... yeah."

"Yeah, no point wasting time, right? How was Y/N after having the baby- Stevie, right?"

"Yeah, her name is Stevie," Harry smiled. "She was good. Again, she's amazing for going through that. She's- i'm just so lucky to have her."

"Did she bounce back right away?"

"I'm sorry?" Harry's brow furrowed.

"You know, did she get her figure back fast? I know that's a big issue for some women," He laughed again.

"Are you-" All traces of Harry's smile were gone now.

"I just mean, I hope she's working to get rid of the baby weight," Howard said casually, as if his words weren't extremely rude. "Just to make sure she can fit into her old clothes!"

Harry cleared his throat. He knew he had to speak very carefully, since this was something you had been very self conscious about. "Well, the two of us are concerned with the new life she brought into the world, not some old clothes, but she looks as beautiful as ever. The amount of pressure women face to live up to certain standards is disgusting to me, and it's especially bad for new mothers. My wife just went through an incredible process, she grew an entire human being in 9 months, then went through labor and the delivery, and she's being told to worry about her figure? That's wrong."

"Right, right, of course," Howard smiled, but Harry could tell he was annoyed at how he couldn't be tricked into speaking badly about his wife.

"I'm really over the whole thing, honestly," Harry said. "And I'm not even the one going through it."

Howard laughed nervously, seeming to finally take the hint that Harry was uncomfortable and annoyed with the topic. "Let's talk about your latest movie, why don't we?"

Harry was closed off through the rest of the interview; anyone could see that. He laughed less, his arms stayed crossed, and his answers were short. He was professional, but it went no farther than that. There was no more playful joking or easy conversation, just Harry trying to get through the interview as fast as he could. When it finally came to a close after his final song, Harry couldn't pack up fast enough. He made sure to say a polite thanks and goodbye before he hurried out to his car.

He sighed deeply before picking up his phone to call you.

"Hi baby!" your happy voice came from the other end. That was good, he assumed that meant you hadn't listened to the interview yet.

"Hi love," he smiled, his mood already improving just from hearing your voice. "Did you listen to the interview?"

"I have been- I couldn't right at the beginning, Stevie was crying, but I caught the end. Why?"

"Why was she crying?" Harry ignored your question, instantly worrying about his baby.

"Sometimes babies cry for no reason, Harry. She's okay, I promise. Anyways, what's up with the interview?"

Harry sighed. "Just the normal for a Howard Stern interview- he asked some very personal and rude questions. Just prepare for that."

"What else is new?" You laughed. "Are you coming right home?"

"Yeah, unless you need anything?"

"Nope, I think I'm good. See you soon!"

"Love you, bye," Harry said, ending the call and starting the car to begin the drive home.

-----

"I'm home," Harry called, removing his coat as he walked in the door.

"We're in here," you responded, not moving from your spot on the couch where you were nursing Stevie.

Harry walked in, a small smile on his face as he looked at the two of you.

"Hi," He sighed, plopping down on the couch next to you.

"That bad, huh?" You asked, taking in his dejected tone.

He hummed in response, leaning his head on your shoulder. "Those interviews are... always something."

"Yeah, I only caught the end, but you sounded pretty upset. What did he say?"

"He just..." Harry shook his head. "I don't think you should listen to it."

You turned your head to look at him. "Why not?"

"He's just very rude and pushy, as always."

"Yeah, i figured, but I wanted to hear your songs," you argued with a small frown. "Did he say something really bad, or...?"

"He just makes some very impolite comments about you and our family."

"Oh," You nodded lightly. "I think I'll be okay, baby. I appreciate you trying to protect my feelings, but I'm used to it at this point, and I really couldn't care less about his opinion of me."

"Alright," he sighed. "If you're sure." He pulled out his phone, checking his email and going through some messages while you started the interview from the beginning. You could hear him grumbling under his breath and huffing every time Howard said something rude, but you ignored it, just laying a hand on his leg to calm him down.

By the time it was over, Harry was clearly not too happy. "I can't believe I went back on that show," he shook his head. "I'm never doing that again. I'm so sorry about what he said about you, I honestly should have just left-"

"It's okay," you cut him off with a smile. "Also, it was kind of hot to hear you get mad at him."

"Yeah?" He smiled back. "I thought I was very tame, actually. I wanted to say some other things, but I figured that wouldn't be a very good look for me."

"Right, but the way you attacked him but stayed professional... very hot," you laughed, leaning in to kiss his cheek. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," He smiled, turning his head to kiss your cheek in return. "Is she done? I really need to hold her after the day I've had," He sighed dramatically, throwing his head back.

"I'm sure," you laughed, handing Stevie over to him and pulling your shirt back into place. "She's all yours."

"Hi baby," he cooed, holding her close to his chest. "I missed you so much."

Stevie yawned in response, cuddling into him.

"Oh, you missed me too?" He grinned. "See that? She missed me."

"She did," You agreed. "She was looking around when she heard your voice on the interview, she wanted to know where you were."

"I'm sorry," he pouted down at her. "I'll never go away again, and I'll never let the bad man be mean to you again."

"I don't think she's too upset about it, Harry," you laughed. "She is only 3 months old. She didn't exactly understand anything that went on."

"Excuse me," he said, looking very offended. "She may only be 3 months old, but she's very smart."

"Right, she's a genius baby, how could I forget?"

"I don't know," Harry shook his head at Stevie. "How could she forget how smart you are, hmm?"

Stevie yawned again, stretching her arms above her head.

"She's ready to take a nap," you said.

"Can I just hold her? I know it's not a good habit, to let her be held to sleep, but I don't want to put her down yet," Harry said, looking up with such pleading eyes, you couldn't possibly say no. Not like you would have said no anyways, but he didn't need to know that.

"Of course you can," you stood up, kissing his forehead before you turned away. "I'm gonna do the dishes, then we can watch something if you want."

"No, let me do those," he immediately protested.

"Harry, it's okay, I haven't done anything around the house since she was born-"

"And I'm not about to let you start now," he cut you off. "Come back here, please? Let's start that new show we were looking at the other night."

"Fine, but later I'm going to help you with the dishes."

"Fine," he smiled, agreeing with your compromise, even though you both knew he would argue later. "Now come back here."

[luci-in-trenchcoats]

If I Fell For You (Part 10) - Take Care

Summary: The reader gets to meet Danneel’s parents in a somewhat unorthodox way but receives a warm welcome to her surprise. Meanwhile, a minor medical scare makes Jensen anxious that he takes too much and doesn’t give enough to the reader...

Masterlist

Pairing: Jensen x nanny!reader

Square: Playing With Their Hair

Word Count: 4,800ish

Warnings: language, minor frightening situation, minor medical situation, anxiety

A/N: Please enjoy! Also written for @supernatural-jackles​​ Tell Me A Story Bingo...

________

One Week Later

“Y/N, can we get orange?” asked Arrow from where she sat in the shopping cart. She pointed at the tubes of frosting and you took one off, handing it to her as you went back to searching for a box of red velvet mix. 

“Come on,” you sighed, squatting down. You saw one shoved in the back and you bent down, reaching back to get it. You huffed when you pulled it back, the expiration date still plenty good. “Score. Okay Arrow what other color…”

She wasn’t in the cart anymore as you stood, her bright pink shirt and shorts nowhere in sight. 

“Arrow!” you shouted, people from the farther end of the aisle turning to look at you. You breathed hard and spun around, exiting the aisle and looking at the checkouts. “Arrow!”

“Mam,” said a man in a white dress shirt and slacks, walking over with a headset on.

“I had a little girl with me and she’s missing and she was in the cart and I would have heard her climb out,” you said, walking quickly, the man following with you as you checked down aisles. “Arrow!”

You heard the guy talk into his headset when you caught pink and a guy near the front of the store. She spun around and you ran over, the manager not too far behind you. You didn’t say a word when you kicked the back of the guys knee and grabbed Arrow, picking her up.

“What’d I do?” he said, Arrow turning away. He looked more angry than you were expecting and you swallowed, the manager urging you back. “She’s the one that took my granddaughter!”

“She’s not your fucking granddaughter, pervert. I’m her nanny and soon to be step-mom so you can back the fuck off.”

“Step fucking what?” he said, his face going blank. 

“Grandpa I told you Y/N’s my friend,” said Arrow. You blinked and stared at the man.

“Prove it,” you said. The man angrily pulled out his wallet and ripped out a picture, turning it around. It was a large group photo but you could clearly see Jensen and the kids in it along with… “You’re her father. Danneel.”

“Who the fuck are you,” he said. You took out your phone and went to your pictures, showing him one of your backyard bonfire from the weekend before. 

“Is there a problem?” asked the manager. You shook your head and he rolled his eyes and left.

“Sir, I’m so sorry,” you said. He nodded and glanced down. 

“Well, I can’t blame you. I understand the feeling,” he said. 

“Can we...talk?” you asked.

“I think that’d be best before somebody else gets their ass kicked.”

Fifteen minutes later you had your bag of baking supplies in your trunk, Arrow was playing on the jungle gym and you were sat at a picnic table with Danneel’s parents.

“You guys came down early for JJ’s birthday, huh,” you said.

“We had to come down this weekend instead. Something came up last minute next week,” said her mom. You nodded and took a deep breath. 

“I am so sorry. That is absolutely not how Jensen and I wanted to tell you both.”

“I’m old but I’m tough. I’ll survive,” said her father. You looked over to where Arrow was playing, gnawing on your bottom lip. “You said you were the nanny and soon to be step mom. Mind unraveling that for us?”

“I uh, I started working for Jensen in January as a nanny to help with the kids. The relationship part came a few weeks later. We’ve been engaged very briefly. Don’t even have a ring or anything yet,” you said, shaking your head. “Please don’t be mad at him. It’s taken him so long to stop feeling guilty for having feelings for me. Please don’t be upset with him. I don’t...I’m not trying to replace anyone or anything. I didn’t want to like him. But I did and I love him and he deserves to be happy again.”

They looked at one another and back at you.

“Good,” they both said. 

“Excuse me?”

“We think he deserves to be happy too. He was in such a bad place after the accident,” she said. “He’s sounded like himself again recently.”

“Plus if you’re willing to kick my ass for thinking I took Arrow, that gets you some brownie points,” he said with a smile. You nodded and looked down at the table, swallowing. “Not what you were expecting?”

“Your daughter’s husband is engaged to a younger woman. I wouldn’t blame you at all for whatever you might think,” you said.

“He’s got a lot of time left,” he said. “He doesn’t have to be miserable for it. We don’t want that for him. It’s not what she’d want. He’s doing exactly what she’d want from him and that’s all we can ask of him. Well and maybe stick around the country for a bit so we can see the kids some more.”

“Yeah, no plans to be anywhere but home right now,” you said. You looked over at Arrow and watched her jump off a high platform. She fell down to her knees but got up and brushed them off before she was running again.

“She’d like you,” you heard, your attention going back to the two of them. She was staring at you and you smiled.

“You don’t know a thing about me mam.”

“I think we know the important parts,” she said. You nodded and glanced down. “What do Jensen’s parents think of all this?”

“They know he’s dating but that’s it. I’m supposed to meet them next week,” you said.

“We’ll keep our lips sealed for the time being then,” she said. “What about your folks? What do they think of Jensen and the kids?”

“The kids probably haven’t met either parent yet, right?” he said. 

“It’s kinda complicated...I was adopted. My mom died a long time ago. I don’t have a dad or family really,” you said. You pursed your lips and picked at the corner of the table with your fingernail, the air heavy. 

“Well we approve of him,” he said. “He’s a good kid.”

“I know. He’s very special,” you said. “I just wish something so horrible didn’t have to happen to him and your daughter in order to meet him.”

“We can’t change that fact,” she said. “She’d want you to take care of him, keep an eye on him. Oh and remind him to take a break and slow down every once in a while. He always gets so caught up in work and being on the go. She had to calm him down sometimes.”

“I have noticed that trend,” you said. “I hope you don’t feel like he’s going to forget-”

“No we don’t worry about that. If we learned anything from this it’s just that you have to live while you have the chance,” he said as Arrow ran over.

“Y/N, I’m hungry,” she said. 

“Alright, munchkin. Why don’t we head home and maybe your grandma and grandpa will have lunch with us?” you asked.

“We’d love to,” they said. “We’ll meet you two there.”

“That went shockingly well,” said Jensen late that night when you were having an extra slice of JJ’s early birthday cake. “Those guys loved you.”

“I think we both got a little too worried over the parents situation. Dee’s parents were great, especially considering I nearly broke his knee. I’m really excited to meet yours next weekend.”

“It’s not too long of a drive up there. I haven’t been home in a long time. I’m looking forward to it too,” he said, a big smile on his face. “I’m really glad they liked you.”

“What’s not to love?” you said, Jensen smirking around his piece of cake. “You’re so hard on yourself. I’m really happy they like me too but even if they didn’t, there’s no problem there. You’re allowed to live your life. Dee wants you to keep living it.”

“I still wonder if she was just like ‘this boy is driving me nuts again, he needs a girl,’ and somehow shoved you into my life,” he said.

“Maybe. I mean, it was good timing that I was looking for a new job the same time you were looking for a nanny.”

“Did you ever report that last guy as an inappropriate employer?” he asked.

“I tell the agency but nothing criminal no. I mostly feel sorry for the families. Nannies are stability in the kids lives and leaving them isn’t easy. Unless they’re little shitheads but even then I don’t blame them, it’s the parents that turned them into it,” you said. 

“What’d you think of those three, when you met ‘em I mean,” he said.

“They’re all a little shy like you but they open up if they like you. They’re pretty damn funny. They got wit and sarcasm, even if they don’t know it yet. They’re kind and intelligent and they look to you in how to act like most kids. I knew they were good kids from the start.”

“You’re gonna be a great mom,” he said. You smiled and watched him eat a piece of cake, Jensen tilting his head. “You know they have called you mom before. All three of them. Accidentally but still.”

“Being a nanny has some of the roles of a parent but there’s still a difference,” you said.

“Yeah but you’ve never just been the nanny,” he said, scraping up some frosting with his fork. “Speaking of your sudden thrust into motherhood, the whole kids thing...how many of your own were you thinking of?”

“I don’t know. I don’t need to make a baby to love it. I was adopted and my mom loved me so much. I mean there’s already three of ‘em to chase after.”

“I’d like to have a baby with you. Someday,” he said. You dabbed your finger across some frosting on the plate and sucked on it, staring at him. “I know you do. Y/N there’s no more secrets. There’s never gonna be a secret between us ever again. Sometimes you get nervous but we have to talk about these things and everything. The big choices and the little ones we make together.”

“Honestly? I don’t want you to think I’ll love them less than a kid I make. I won’t. I will treat them all the same but I don’t know how to prove that to you.”

“You told me the day I hired you that I needed to hire someone I could trust, that trust was going to be so important. Y/N, I’ve never doubted your feelings for them. Shit, I’m pretty damn sure you were in love with them before me. And I get it because they aren’t scary. They can’t hurt you like the adults can. We wouldn’t be having this conversation if I had a shred of doubt.”

“I gotta think about kids more I guess. How many, when. I don’t know that right now.”

“We’ll figure out all that when we’re ready. Just let me know and we’ll come back to this conversation,” he said, wrapping an arm around your waist. “You know...hearing about what you did at the store...that’s kinda super attractive you know.”

“Uh what?” you said, Jensen pulling you into his lap.

“You, going protective badass...that’s very, very hot you see,” he said. 

“You’re such a guy,” you said while he picked up the last piece of cake on his fork. 

“Well we-” he said as you leaned forward and wrapped your lips around the dessert, pulling back with a smile. “Oh you shouldn’t have done that.”

“What are you gonna do about it?” you smirked. He narrowed his eyes and set his fork down before he was standing and flipped you over his shoulder. “Jensen! Put me down!”

“Do the crime, do the time!” he said, walking over to the stairs. “Hm...what to do with you...ah I know…”

“You know…” you said before he flipped you down onto the couch and plopped down on top of you, catching most of his weight on his hands on either side of you. “Troublemaker.”

“You love it,” he said. He leaned down and kissed you, your hands wandering to his hair, holding him close. You grinned and wrapped your legs around his waist, Jensen kissing you sloppy and cheeky and like a teenage boy making out for the first time. 

“Dad,” said JJ, rushing down the stairs. He dropped this forehead to yours and sighed.

“What is it?” he asked. He sat up and you both looked at her, spotting the pale tint of her skin. “Feel okay?”

“Jensen call an ambulance, now,” you said, pushing him off and going over to her. He sat up and you kneeled down next to her, her lips slightly blue. You put a hand on her chest and felt the labored breathing. “Did you eat something new tonight? Or did a bug bite you?”

“I stepped on a prickly in the bathroom a minute ago,” she said.

“Jesus,” said Jensen as he rushed into the kitchen. “She got stung by a scorpion.”

He grabbed a bottle from the cabinet and started unscrewing it.

“Jensen go see what the scorpion is and get rid of it before the twins find it,” you said. He left the bottle with you and shoved the phone against your ear. “Hi, sorry how much of the anti-venom do I give her?”

“There should be a child dosage on the bottle, half the cap,” the person on the other end said. You unscrewed the lid and poured some out, having her swallow it down. She whined and you didn’t blame her based on the smell. “An ambulance will be there shortly.”

“Thank you,” you said, spotting Jensen at the top of the stairs. He was holding his wrist and had a slightly smushed object in one of the clear plastic cups from the kids bathroom. “We have the scorpion.”

“EMT’s should be able to identify it,” she said, Jensen walking down slowly. He took a seat on the bottom step and shook his head. 

“Jensen?” you said, his hand reaching for the bottle. You moved his hand from his wrist and saw two dots there. “Shit. My fiance was stung too.”

“There’s a nest in the bathroom vanity,” he said, pouring himself a dose and knocking it back. “I blocked off the door but get the twins out of there, please.”

“JJ,” you said as you saw her color get better while Jensen was getting paler. You took your phone out of your pocket and dialed, handing it to her. “Tell Uncle Jared to come over right now.”

Five minutes later Jared was there, JJ and Jensen sat in the back of an ambulance, Jensen getting a shot of something in the leg.

“We’re taking them to West County,” said a paramedic.

“I’ll see you guys soon,” you said, JJ staring worriedly at Jensen who has holding his wrist again. Jared looked around as they took off and you sighed. “Hey.”

“JJ said she and Jay got stung by a scorpion?” he asked.

“She got one as far as they can tell. Jensen got three. There’s a nest in the bathroom cupboard,” you said.

“Idiot,” mumbled Jared. You raised and eyebrow and he shook his head. “He forgot to get the pest spray done this year I bet. Dee always handled that kind of stuff. They’ve had a scorpion problem before when they first moved in.”

“Oh.”

“I’m gonna take the twins and stay the night. I’ll call and get the spray guys in first thing in the morning. You go take care of those two,” he said. You nodded and he grabbed your arm when you headed for your car. “Wait five minutes to calm down.”

“Jared I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not. You just don’t know it. Go inside, get your purse, Jensen’s wallet, take a beat, okay?”

“Okay,” you said. “Make sure-”

“I got it. Go on,” he said. “Make sure he’s not freaking out. Last time he was at a hospital it wasn’t good.”

“Right. Okay. Call me if you need something. And stay away from the kids bathroom.”

“Y/N. I know. It’ll be alright, I promise.”

One Hour Later

“Is dad okay?” asked JJ from where she sat in your lap. Jensen peeled an eye open and smiled. 

“I’m okay. Sleepy is all. We’ll be home in a few hours,” he said. His wrist was bandaged and he had an IV in his arm but he’d taken the anti-venom soon enough that they had enough time to get the proper medication in both him and JJ. She was already discharged but you didn’t want to leave Jensen by himself.

“Mr. Ackles,” said a doctor when she walked in the room. “Your bloodwork came back and everything looks good.”

“Awesome,” he said, sitting up in bed. “Can I get out of here?”

“You got about fifteen minutes left on that IV drip but I’ll let the nurse know to start the paperwork. I want you to take it easy tomorrow. Nothing strenuous.”

“I got it,” he said with a nod. “Nothing strenuous.”

“Jensen,” you said around noon the next day, catching him unloading some wood from the back of his truck. “What are you doing?”

“I was gonna work on those shelves for the kid’s playroom,” he said. You crossed your arms and he threw his head back. “I feel fine. The nest got cleared out and the house got sprayed. I wanna work on this.”

“You have all the time in the world to do it. Work on it tomorrow,” you said, picking up the wood plank. He tried to take it out of your hands and you growled. 

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

“Please do what the doctor said and rest today,” you said. He bit his lip and you moved the pieces of wood into the garage, Jensen leaning back against the side of the truck when you shut the trunk. “You’re scared, aren’t you.”

He nodded and glanced at his wrapped up wrist, then down to the ground.

“Hospitals freak me out now,” he said. “I don’t like bugs. My body hurt and knowing I forgot to do something so simple put them in danger sucks. Knowing if she hadn’t come downstairs it might have been real bad sucks. If you hadn’t noticed I don’t know if I would have and it scares me not knowing.”

“Close your eyes for me,” you said. He shut them and took a deep breath, letting you take his hand and walk around to the back of the house. You spun him around a few times stopping him so he was facing the pool about twenty feet away. “Know where you are?”

“Somewhere in the middle of the backyard,” he said. “What are you doing?”

“You said not knowing scared you. Lots of times you don’t know. It’s kinda just how life works,” you said, dropping his hand and moving a few feet away. “Take a big step forward.”

“Y/N, I don’t like this,” he said, fidgeting his hand along the bottom of his shirt. 

“I know you don’t. But would I hurt you?”

“No,” he said. 

“So listen to me. Big step forward.” He took a step and you looked around. “Jump backwards.”

“What?”

“Jump backwards.” He frowned and took a small bunny hop back. “Again.”

“I feel ridiculous.”

“Says the guy who plays pretend for a professional career. Now hop back and then step to the right,” you said. He groaned and did as asked. “Jog forward until I say stop.”

“Are you trying to kill me out here cause I feel like I’m about to break my neck slipping in the pool.”

“I’m trying to get your anxiety out in a non-life threatening way, okay?”

“By having me jump around the backyard like an idiot.”

“By having you get comfortable with the fact that most of life is spent not knowing and you can’t change that fact. You can’t see it all coming.”

He threw his head back but kept his eyes shut. He stared to run towards you and you wrapped your arms around him when he got there, Jensen peeling them open slowly.

“See? I wasn’t gonna let anything bad happen,” you said. He nodded and rested his forehead on your shoulder, pulling you into a squeezing hug. “You okay?”

“I’m sorry for being short and not doing what the doctor asked,” he said.

“Hey, it’s alright. I got scared too last night. Everything is fixed now so no need to worry over it. Why don’t you take a nap and maybe we have a real quiet lazy day while Dee’s parents got the kids for the day,” you said. “Sound fun?”

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll take quiet today.”

Three hours later Jensen was curled up with a blanket, his head resting in your lap as you watched a movie together. You played with his hair, Jensen turning into the touch every so often. 

“I know you’re worried about me,” he said. He turned and faced up at you, your fingers swirling in his strands. “I know I’m kinda clingy today which I’m normally not.”

“You can cling all you want, honey,” you said, stroking his cheek with your thumb. “I wish life would give you a break for a second. No work, no badness. Just some peace and quiet for you.”

“My parents lived here after the accident. For a few months. They were here, Jared and Gen were over every day, my siblings would stop down every week. The first few months I understood. I had an injury I had to recover from. But I felt like a child those few months once I recovered. Everyone taking care of the kids, of me. I was barely a father to them. Playtime. A story at bed. Someone else made most of their meals, did everything for them.”

“You’re a father but you’re still someone’s child,” you said. He blinked and you shrugged. “You were hurt, possibly the worst out of anyone. I know taking care of everyone else is your default but people get to take care of you too. I get to take care of you.”

“I feel like all I do is get taken care of by you,” he said. “I never give it back.”

“You’ve given me a family again. You take care of me every single day.”

“I never see you getting upset. It’s always me. I’m always the fuck up,” he said. You slumped down and took a deep breath. 

“I get upset Jensen. I got upset that very first time we fought, that night with the ice cream. I got upset when you got jealous of that nanny in Canada and we saw my father the first time. I got upset telling you the truth of it all because you of all people don’t need problems like that dumped at your feet. I got upset when we saw him again because I was scared and I was scared he might hurt you too. I got upset when we fought when you got home and I got upset when you proposed because you were so scared and I get upset Jensen. I get upset when you’re hurt. I get upset when I hurt. But I don’t have all those safety nets under me that you do, remember? I just got a couple right now and you’re my last resort. I’ve been my own support system for so long that I can’t undo that all overnight. I know it’s been months but the fact I even let you see me cry, the fact I can even talk about this stuff with you and know all you’re thinking about is how to make me feel better...I still need to heal too. You’ve done so much already. I’m gonna have my moments where this is switched, believe me. But today’s not my turn for that, it’s yours.”

“I love you,” he said, staring up with the softest green eyes you’d ever seen on him yet. “Even more than five minutes ago if that’s possible.”

“I love you,” you said, bending down and kissing him. “You’re the expert on the falling in love stuff though so I’ll leave that up to you.”

“It’s very...it’s what you think it is and it’s not at all what you think. There’s falling and nerves and then calm and then falling and calm and you spend the rest of your life doing that. It’s not magic and it takes work to keep it alive sometimes but all you gotta do is talk. Just talk and it always seems to work out for me,” he said.

“Can I tell you a secret?” you asked. He nodded and smiled as you went back to playing with his hair.

“You know I really like when you do that,” he said.

“I know you do. It relaxes you,” you said.

“Makes me feel safe too,” he said. “But what’s your secret cause eventually I’m gonna want to know them all.”

“I was very attracted to you when we met. But that kinda freaked me out a bit. I found myself liking you a lot that first day I was here. You got me a birthday cake. I realized how kind you are that night. It wasn’t for anyone’s benefit other than my own. I had a crush on you, even though I knew it wouldn’t go anywhere.”

“I had a crush on you from when you made me a cup of coffee. You’re so good and kind yourself,” he said. He reached up and cupped your cheek. “I’m really happy you had your mom eventually. I would have liked to have met her.”

“Maybe she and Dee are hanging out wherever they are.”

“I hope so. She won’t mind sharing me with you,” he said.

“You honestly think so?” 

“You gonna mind sharing me with her?” he asked.

“I’ve always shared you. Just hope that wouldn’t bother her.”

“I used to think maybe it would but no, she wants me to be happy and that’s you so you got all eternity to get to know each other eventually if you think about it.”

“Well when you put it that way we got nothing to worry about,” you said.

“Oh don’t worry about that. I think your mom was right. I get to have two people is all, kinda like she did,” he said. 

“She would have liked you. Would have said you’re a little old for me but she would have liked you.”

“Wasn’t she older than Ray?” he asked.

“Yeah. She was. She was only fifty,” you said.

“You grew up too fast,” he said quietly.

“Maybe. But it got me here and I don’t think I would have done anything different. I wouldn’t want to screw that up. Well I’d do one thing different.”

“What?”

“Drop by this house, have a conversation with a certain someone.”

“Say hypothetically you had that ability, you’d really do that knowing what you’re giving up?”

“I’d give her back to you right this second if I could.”

“I appreciate that, really,” he said. He let his hand fall down and reach around your back, curling around your waist. “But she’s not more important than you are. I miss her. Everyday. But I lose one of you either way in that scenario. And I can’t choose. I’ll never be able to. If she were here and you weren’t, I’d still be just like this. It’d still hurt.”

“Make me a promise. I keel over early, you try again. Try for both of us.”

“I will if you will,” he said. He held up his pinky finger and you grabbed it with yours. “But he can’t be hotter than me.”

“Equally as hot?”

“Slightly less hot but that’s my final offer,” he said. 

“Eh, fine,” you said. “You’ve worn me down.”

“Always words I want to hear,” he chuckled. You slid further down the couch until you were practically laying back, your arms wrapping around him. He got up and lay down with you on the wrap around side of the couch, pulling you into his chest. “Can I take you to dinner tonight? Just us.”

“Yeah. I’d like that.”

“Okay, honey,” he said, kissing your forehead. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Just thanks. For what you said. What you did earlier, just being with me,” he said.

“Lucky for you I like being with you a whole lot,” you said.

“Very lucky for me,” he said. “Very lucky indeed.”

______

A/N: Read Part 11 here!

[plumoh]

[SK8] at all times, at all sides

Rating: T

Word count: 7409

Summary: Kaoru is shaped by the choices he makes and the people surrounding him. And through the years, Kojirou was there in one way or another.

Note: AO3 link. This was posted a while after Kaoru’s birthday, as a character study of sorts, birthday by birthday. I make the assumption that in the present day, Kaoru and Kojirou are 27-28 years old.There is a brief mention of alcohol at age 20, and Kaoru is a bit drunk at age 26.

15.

Kaoru gets two additional piercings on his left ear on his fifteenth birthday.

The first one, at what is considered a normal place for an earring in the middle of the earlobe, was done as an impulsive act of brashness to show off to his friends at school at the beginning of the year. He likes the attention. The family name attached to him makes people gasp when they see him with holes in his ear, but he would be lying if he said it didn’t bring him some sort of satisfaction. It’s kind of ridiculous and entirely too stiff an attitude to be offended by some nails stuck into someone else’s skin, as if it changes who he fundamentally is. Besides, piercings are cool.

So Kaoru gets two additional piercings, a helix piercing and another one in the earlobe, and Kojirou whistles.

“You sure your parents won’t cut off your entire ear for that?” he asks, his gaze appraising Kaoru’s new look.

“I’ll live with only one ear, then,” Kaoru answers, shrugging. “What do you think? I look cool, right?”

Kaoru gestures to his ear, grinning and looking at Kojirou expectantly. He knows that he must be acting like a child who got permission to eat a second candy after dinner, but it’s his birthday and he feels he can be excited for what is, essentially, a new approach to his lifestyle. He paid for these piercings with his own pocket money (and money earned through foolish bets and challenges, and he’s thankful that most skaters are stupid).

Kojirou hums, his face pinched in intense concentration. Kaoru rolls his eyes.

“That’s a yes or no question, Kojirou.”

“Let me give you a complete review of your new fashion style, impatient bastard,” Kojirou says.

“I don’t need a complete review! They’re just piercings!”

Kojirou always takes forever when asked to give his opinion on any topic, be it about his younger brother’s latest baseball game or the best suited color for a piece of garment Kaoru’s mother has decided to wear for an important meeting. It’s utterly unnecessary and a waste of time—Kaoru isn’t asking Kojirou to write an essay about his piercings.

“Just answer the question,” Kaoru says, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Well, if you like your piercings so much, maybe show them off more?” Kojirou sighs. “I don’t know, you have more hair than any human being is supposed to have. It hides the piercings.”

Kaoru snorts. “Complain to my mother about that.”

But Kaoru entertains the idea.

16.

Keeping his hair long is a simple matter of preference. There is no rule in his family stating that its members should have a specific length of hair, so why not? Very few boys and men have it this long, and Kojirou always asks him why he bothers taking care of such a useless physical feature when all it does is getting into his way when he skates. Kaoru admits he does have a point, but he likes his hair.

Kaoru is currently tying it into a ponytail, lazily skating on the sidewalk around their neighborhood. Kojirou is skating at his side eating an entire soda flavored Garigari-kun popsicle, shoving it into his mouth and crunching into the ice because he likes having brain freeze.

“Hey, it’s your birthday next week,” Kojirou announces, like it’s the most thrilling event of the week. “Did you plan something? Wanna go explore some new skating areas?”

Kaoru flips his hair over his shoulder and shrugs. Kojirou is looking at him curiously, almost intently, and that makes Kaoru raise an eyebrow.

“Nothing special, but it’s also on the same day as some renown calligrapher from Tokyo visiting our studio. So yeah.”

“All the way from Tokyo? That sounds important.”

“Maybe. I didn’t really pay attention.”

Simply thinking about all the formal procedures that will take place in his house and the fact he will have to be on his “best behavior, please, Kaoru” is pissing him off. He’s not interested in hearing about the works of this supposedly famous and talented calligrapher bestowing upon their modest family his knowledge and wise advice. Kaoru doesn’t even know why he still attends the calligraphy lessons when he’s pretty sure he’ll go into computer science or something. His parents are always on his case about maintaining his posture and improving his strokes every day, and at some point Kaoru started obeying to make their noisy demands stop. He doesn’t genuinely hate the art itself; he simply thinks that his time is better spent elsewhere. What does calligraphy have when computers can do much more fascinating stuff?

Kojirou is nibbling at the popsicle stick, eyeing him with that critical look he often gets when he considers throwing paper balls at Kaoru in class, or when he thinks that Kaoru needs a snack to calm down, like some fucking animal he’s trying to tame—Kaoru hates that somehow, food always works.

“You want to ditch?” Kojirou asks as neutrally as possible, but Kaoru hears the sympathy in his voice. Which is appreciated, but unnecessary.

“No, I was actually thinking of scandalizing my parents by cutting my hair and having it cropped short,” Kaoru says with a half-feral grin. “Like, strands of hair sticking everywhere and impossible to make it look presentable.”

Kojirou almost stumbles on his skateboard, even though it’s a straight line and he wasn’t even pushing with his feet on the concrete.

“What?! But you never shut up about your hair!”

“You fucking liar, I only ever say I like having it long!”

“Yeah, that still makes it stupid! Why would you cut your hair if you like it long?”

“Because hair grows again?”

“Not as fast as you’d think, if you even thought about it before blurting out you want to get a bowl cut.”

“Disheveled and rowdy haircut, not a bowl cut, you idiot!”

They make a turn at the corner of the street, expertly avoiding a kid walking her dog and dodging the woman carrying groceries behind her, not without getting scolded for skating in residential areas (or skating at all) but those are words that go in one ear and exit in the other. Kaoru smiles to himself and kicks into the ground to get more speed, jumps and flips his board in the air before landing on it again with minimal risk of smashing his face in the concrete. He lifts a fist in the air with a whooping cry.

“Oh hey, that was a good one!” he exclaims, giving Kojirou a radiant grin.

“You mastered this trick long ago, why are you so excited?” Kojirou grumbles.

“Because it felt nice, that’s all. Be happy about the small things in life, that’s what you keep saying.”

“Sometimes I feel you’re purposely throwing back my words at my face only when it’s convenient for you.”

“I always listen to you, even if it might come as a surprise.”

Kaoru laughs, spinning his board and continuing on a straight line, ahead of Kojirou. Today’s weather is pleasant and he can’t wait for the end of the school year at the end of the week to go skating all day. It will come with more calligraphy practice, but at least he will have time for his other hobbies too. And if he can’t focus on anything at home, he can still go to Kojirou’s place and bother him all day.

“Then don’t cut your hair!” Kojirou shouts, catching up to him.

The lines on Kojirou’s face are weird, all upset and a bit worried, and that’s not an expression Kaoru is used to see when they’re talking about haircuts, of all things. Maybe when they’re doing their geography homework or when they’ve spent one hour practicing tricks and got more bruises than actual results, but not hair.

“What’s up with you?” Kaoru asks, slowing down. “It’s just my hair. It’s a good prank.”

“You’re going to look like a bird’s nest for at least three months, you okay with that?” Kojirou retorts.

“That’s not the worst thing in existence. And if I recall, you told me last year I should show off my piercings more, so having short hair would effectively do that.”

Kojirou groans and drags a hand across his face, almost looking defeated.

“Just style it in a way that makes your piercings visible, then,” Kojirou adds. “You… have nice hair.”

Kaoru blinks. Kojirou looks straight ahead, his posture stiff, determined not to turn his head in Kaoru’s direction.

“I have nice hair,” Kaoru repeats.

“Yes.”

“You don’t want me to cut my hair because it looks nice?”

“Yes.”

“That might be the most honest compliment you’ve ever said to me.”

“Shut up, I’m never complimenting you ever again!”

Kojirou speeds up, but not before Kaoru catches a glimpse of his reddening ears. The situation is starting to make even less sense, but seeing Kojirou so flustered over nothing is piquing Kaoru’s interest and his lips stretch in a wide grin. Kaoru joins Kojirou in their less-than-recommended skating speed.

“Okay, but you’re being weird!” Kaoru shouts over the sound of their wheels scratching against the ground. “Was that an offer to style my hair?”

“I’m not talking to you,” Kojirou mutters.

“You’re the one who suggested it, you can’t drop the topic!”

It’s almost comical to see two teenagers loudly arguing about a pointless subject while skateboarding and avoiding any obstacles they come across, as if being on a board is the same as walking. Passersby shoot them quizzical looks and a lot of adults are clearly not approving their noise level.

They end up skating all the way to the playground near the elementary school of the neighborhood, where a few kids are playing while their parents are watching over them. There is a skating park farther away, but people are already using it and Kaoru doesn’t like skating with people not part of their crew unless he’s looking for a fight. So they keep skating around, at a lower speed because colliding with children won’t exactly look good on either of them.

“Fine, keep being stubborn, you asshole,” Kaoru grumbles. “I’ll get another piercing.”

Kojirou finally jerks his head towards Kaoru, his expression a lot less constipated and more curious. “On such a short notice?”

“I’ll find a way. And even if I can’t get it done before my birthday, it will still be infuriating for my parents.”

Kaoru taps at his lower lip, not missing the way Kojirou’s eyes follow the movement with rapt attention.

“I wanted to get a lip ring, anyway,” he says.

There is something simply enthralling in a lip ring—the light catches on it, and people are immediately in admiration when they see it. Not everyone has the guts to get one, after all.

Kojirou slowly nods, tearing his gaze away from Kaoru’s face.

“If you want,” he says. “I don’t see any problem with that.”

“You’re so weird today.” Kaoru rolls his eyes.

“You’re the weird one, obsessed with piercings.”

“You just wish you could be as cool as me. Race you to my home!”

“Damn it Kaoru, stop cheating!”

Kaoru ignores Kojirou and launches himself at full speed to make his skateboard pivot and turn around, going back from the way they came. Kojirou is still yelling at him.

Kaoru doesn’t manage to get his lip pierced before his birthday, but he does sweep the left side of his hair behind his head and keep it in place with a hair clamp, leaving his earrings in plain sight. To the calligrapher’s credit, upon seeing who the supposed Sakurayashiki heir is, he makes only the vaguest noise of shock before getting into business. Kaoru smiles all throughout the visit.

17.

Kaoru’s seventeenth birthday remains one of the most special days of his life.

He got gifts, snacks and high-fives from various people whom he cares more or less about (the crew bought a cake but Kaoru only got a thin slice of it because they are greedy bastards), while Kojirou bought him a book on AI that was way too expensive even if he has a part-time job salary (Kaoru wrestled him to the ground when he recognized the book).

Adam takes them skating in a place they’ve never explored before.

It’s beautiful. Exciting, captivating and alluring, making them use all their senses to turn at the right time, to ride down a hill without losing control, and to feel the full path reverberated through their bodies in shock waves. Skateboarding is fun, but this is on another level entirely—it’s like sliding on the edge of a cliff, giving heart palpitations but also an intoxicating feeling of a game that needs to be beaten, whose ending is all worth these efforts.

The three of them are skating as if wings sprouted on their back, uncaring of the world outside of their little bubble of thrills. Kaoru watches in fascination as Adam seems to fly across the track, smooth in his skating and unconcerned with the bumpy road. The wind seems to be an inconsequential factor in his descent in the slope, moving along with it and never straying far from the road. It’s subjugating, it’s beautiful, it’s freedom.

“Watch where you’re skating, idiot!” Kojirou yells right next to him, startling Kaoru out of his reverie.

Kaoru crouches low and makes a sharp turn, avoiding a rock that would have sent him sprawling. He straightens and keeps going at a controlled pace, glaring at Kojirou.

“I know what I’m doing!” he grunts.

“You almost smacked that wall with your face,” Kojirou points out with a glare of his own. “Stop getting distracted.”

“I’m not distracted,” Kaoru snaps back automatically.

But the look Kojirou is giving him is indescribable, so foreign on his face and even more so as it is directed at Kaoru. There is something brewing in the air and Kaoru doesn’t like it, doesn’t want a chasm opening between them because of a stupid argument, but he doesn’t even know what made Kojirou so irritable in the first place.

Adam is waiting for them at the end of the path, watching them arriving at a sullen pace with a raised eyebrow. Kaoru stops right in front of him and plasters a smile on his face, much more eager to talk about they’ve come here for.

“That’s an amazing place! Skating here is so fun, we can make a challenge out of a lot of things in this mountain.”

“Yes, the turns are different and there are many slopes that we need to be careful of,” Adam agrees, smiling. “I truly believe we can accomplish a lot, if we do it together. I want to create a special race here for skaters to push their limits.”

Adam looks at Kaoru, then at Kojirou—the glint of mischief and of confidence reflected in his eyes is the same as the one that pulls everyone in his orbit, making them give their all to become the best. It’s a look that Kaoru feels inextricably drawn to, enamored with the unbridled possibilities he imagines behind words that promise a paradise of freedom grander than anything they’ve ever known.

“You both have skills that will be useful to establish this race,” Adam continues. “People are following you and your skating is among the best. I said before that you guys were special, and I mean it.”

Kaoru does not preen, but the shivers that course through his body as Adam opens his heart are ones that feel pleasant, almost addictive. His grin splits his face in two.

“You can count on us, we’re going to create the best skating race in existence,” Kaoru assures. “Right, Kojirou?”

“Yeah, of course!”

Kojirou’s earnest tone is almost a relief—he’s clearly as excited about this race as them, and Kaoru would have been seriously worried if that wasn’t the case.

For the first time, the joyous expression on Adam’s face seems to be born out of sincerity plucked from the deepest corner of his heart. It suits him; it makes him look even more radiant than usual. Kaoru can’t look away.

“It’s decided, then,” Adam says. “The three of us, inaugurating the “S” race. Together.”

On that day, when Kaoru turned seventeen and his mind was filled with nothing but skateboarding, he thought that this is what belonging felt like.

18.

Sitting perfectly straight, legs tucked under him, Kaoru picks up a brush, dips it into ink he has carefully ground, presses it against the sheet of paper and splashes black trails all over it. The ink drips outside of the frame and stains the tatami floor of the study he hasn’t bothered to protect, littering everything in dark, angry marks that resemble the work of a child throwing a tantrum.

There is no word, no poem written on his paper. Half of the inkstick is grossly used up, its tip almost falling apart, like it wasn’t deemed worthy of being respected as one of the treasures of calligraphy. Kaoru is filling the paper with nothing but emptiness.

It’s not even rage moving his arm like a possessed demon. It would have been easier to deal with, if it was rage; handling it requires minimal effort, as he can mindlessly let his heart wreak havoc upon anything his hands come into contact with, or he can scream all the grievances he’s bottled up to clear the space occupied by unpleasant thoughts. Rage is physical, in and out, and Kaoru’s had years of practice getting rid of it.

But this is not rage that nudges him in the direction of destroying a perfectly good piece of paper with expensive ink and an even more expensive brush, tarnishing their quality and the noble use they are destined to. It’s cold and quiet resignation, trapping him in his own mind as he lets himself be selfish one last time and act out in childish anger.

Kaoru’s eighteenth birthday is spent alone, grieving his dream of ever cutting ties with family traditions. He hasn’t touched a skateboard in months and he hasn’t tinkered with his AI program in even longer. There was no point anyway—Kojirou has other things to focus on, and Adam left.

Kaoru was a fool to think he was strong and resolute enough to follow a path that is not written with the same deep ink as the one he’s used all his life.

20.

“You can legally drink now, congrats.”

“Great. I can sip my alcohol in the presence of guests and pretend I’m enjoying their company when all I want is getting drunk.”

“That’s not very professional, soon-to-be Sakurayashiki-sensei.”

“You’re one to talk, I bet you’re consuming way too many beers at those parties. Has gaining muscle mass made you lose brain cells?”

“Hey, you four-eyes, that was uncalled for!”

There is something moving behind Kojirou, a door opening and someone poking his head inside, and Kojirou turns his head to rattle off a few words in Italian before facing the camera again. Chin resting in his palm, Kaoru is watching with a raised eyebrow Kojirou’s roommate rummage through Kojirou’s dressing, before retreating back into the corridor.

“Does he make a habit to walk around your shared apartment half-naked?” Kaoru asks.

Kojirou laughs, waving his hand. “He was looking for a clean shirt, he forgot to do laundry yesterday. I told him he could borrow one of mine.”

“I’m surprised you still find shirts your size with the way your body’s taking the shape of a gorilla’s.”

“Just admit you’re jealous of my perfect muscles.”

Kojirou makes a show of flexing his bicep and Kaoru snorts.

“Yeah, I’m so jealous of that gorilla body that is unnecessarily big.” Kaoru deadpans.

“Believe it or not, it makes skating a lot more fun too,” Kojirou adds with a smile. “More power in the legs to do tricks.”

Kojirou looks...satisfied with the direction his life is taking. Kaoru is happy for him—studying abroad in culinary school and discovering a whole new culture seems to be the change of pace Kojirou needed. Sometimes Kaoru wishes he could also skate in the places full of pipes and curvy roads that Kojirou shows him, but he has to make do with the familiar tracks he’s skated on all his life.

“I upgraded Carla to calculate distances faster and to automatically record what she sees,” Kaoru says with a hint of smugness.

“Your AI having a girl’s name will never stop being weird,” Kojirou groans. “Why haven’t you chosen something normal like “Ghost Voice” or “Robotico”?”

“An AI is not a robot.” Kaoru pinches the bridge of his nose, already tired of having to repeat this for the umpteenth time. “Your Roomba is a robot. Carla recognizes many more things than the shape of your apartment.”

“Then program Carla to clean my apartment too.”

“Carla isn’t a vacuum cleaner, you dimwit!”

“That’s a big shame, maybe you should also create an AI cooking for you!”

Kaoru opens his mouth to reply something scathing, then snaps it shut. On the screen, Kojirou frowns.

“Don’t,” Kojirou warns.

“We have enough resources and data to program an AI that creates recipes from a list of ingredients,” Kaoru says anyway. “If we implement it into a robot, with the correct code and careful adjustments, then maybe it will be a decent cook.”

“If you start making a cook AI I don’t want to heart about it,” Kojirou mutters.

Kaoru rolls his eyes. “Do you think I have enough hours in a day to focus on another project? Carla already requires my full attention.”

There is no need for him to say that calligraphy practice is what he does most of the day, if he’s not attending courses on speech or on business. It’s his life now; he chose to become the next Sakurayashiki calligrapher and he can’t back down now. Not that he’s ever fully considered leaving calligraphy behind for one of his better, more interesting hobbies—and this was exactly the problem. He never untied his hands from the string tethering him to a brush.

“You always want to work on something, so I’m expecting anything from you when you’re bored,” Kojirou says with a smirk.

“Maybe my next project will make gorillas like you shut up.”

Kaoru is twenty years old, discovering every day new aspects of himself in a professional environment, but one thing that never changes is the comfort of simply existing as himself when he talks to Kojirou.

22.

Kaoru spends a couple of years simmering in feelings he doesn’t acknowledge.

He isn’t someone who takes the time to reflect on his own feelings, negative or positive. They simply happen and he decides on whether to act on them—which has been true since he was a child, throwing tantrums when he didn’t like the task he was asked to do, kicking someone he didn’t agree with as a teenager, and deflecting when answering journalists’ questions that would force him to look deep into his heart. He lives in the moment and tries very hard not to burden himself with useless thoughts and regrets he can’t act upon.

He doesn’t dwell more than necessary on his choice to inherit the family calligraphy studio, because it will lead to nothing productive. He has perhaps harbored ill feelings towards calligraphy in the past, but they’re not so visceral he can’t execute the job he’s been trained for since he could hold a brush. Sometimes he thinks he could have rejected everything he’s been taught and disappoint his family for the rest of his life, but he immediately chases the thought away and decides that suffering through a successful career of calligrapher appears to be a small sacrifice compared to the headaches that would have come with removing himself from the Sakurayashiki studio.

He’s a full grown adult, by society’s standards. He shed his sweaters for yukatas and took off his piercings with reluctance, feeling like he ripped off a part of himself that’s been with him forever to fit into a mold he’s accepted as his new normal. Those were remnants of his old, carefree life that he abandoned, and it’d be preposterous to wish for things to have gone differently.

At least he has his AI—a new spin to a traditional art that is resistant to change. Carla is efficient, impressive and shocks people into admiration; Kaoru has upgraded and improved the code as many times as it required, making her compatible with every device in his possession so that she could accompany him in all his tasks. Skating became a game of precision, detail and finesse, aiming for perfection beyond what the average mind would think of. Calligraphy is enhanced and magnified, the digital aspect adding beauty in an art that is almost exclusively done by hand. Incorporating technology in his otherwise boring job undoubtedly made his days easier and more fun.

Kaoru isn’t dissatisfied. He can do better, but he could have done worse. However, if there is one thing that makes him antsy it’s the realization that he’s seeing less of Kojirou with each passing day, and he would have never thought it would leave a growing ache in his chest every time he thinks about it.

They have their own lives to live. It’s part of growing up—and he hasn’t completely lost his best friend yet.

25.

They have been wandering the streets of Paris for exactly ten minutes and Kaoru is already starting to regret his decision.

“It’s not that hard to read a map,” he seethes, trying to grab Kojirou’s phone.

Kojirou lifts the device higher and turns his back on Kaoru, stubbornly keeping his eyes riveted on the screen.

“I’ve got this, stop distracting me,” Kojirou says.

“The metro station is right there, let’s just change itinerary, stupid gorilla!”

“You want to take the metro when we could explore the city on foot?”

“The probability of getting shitted on by pigeons is way too high for my liking.”

This gets an undignified snort from Kojirou, more amused than mocking though Kaoru knows not to assume when every one of his words can be thrown back at his face later on.

They do end up taking the metro. They can go anywhere in Paris by bus or metro, making it extremely convenient to find their way but it gets overwhelming really fast—the metro lines seem to be full of people at all hours of the day, according to Kaoru’s extensive research before their trip, and they are nothing like the monorail they have back in Okinawa. Most passengers are focused on their phones, while others are taking a quick nap, which is not that different from what they’re used to.

“It can’t be worse than the Tokyo rail lines,” Kaoru mutters as they’re being shaken by the train doing a particularly sharp and violent turn.

“You’ve never been to Tokyo,” Kojirou replies with a raised eyebrow.

“I did last year for a meeting.”

“And that single trip was enough for you to get the full experience of the infamous rush of Tokyo’s Yamanote line?”

“I wasn’t saying I used the Yamanote line, imbecile. All trains are crowded. I think you wouldn’t have been able to squeeze in with your gorilla body.”

“At least I’m not at risk of going blind when someone knocks off my glasses by pushing me around in a crowd!”

“I always carry a second pair of glasses with me to avoid this kind of incident!”

It’s probably a good thing that this line of metro makes the same level of noise as a tractor revved up at full power, because their arguing is by no means quiet and people are starting to stare at them. But as soon as Kaoru glances at them, they avert their eyes and pretend they weren’t gawking. Typical.

March weather is terrible. Their trip lasts one week, and there is an equal number of sunny days and of cloudy days, with high probability of rain. It shouldn’t be normal to have a changing weather so unpredictable that it makes planning for their day a real pain in the ass. Kojirou is already complaining about the sun beginning to leave space for clouds at merely eleven in the morning, and Kaoru silently agrees with the sentiment.

The food is good, at least.

“Reminds me a bit of what restaurants looked like in Italy,” Kojirou says around a mouthful of beef. “Maybe I can draw inspiration from those recipes.”

“It’s not Italian cuisine,” Kaoru points out. “Unless you intend to make a mixed menu.”

“Of course not, but the flavors can be useful.”

Kojirou is examining his piece of vegetable like a scientist observing an experiment under a microscope, as if it could give him the secrets of its cooking time or the spices used for it. Kaoru lightly kicks him under the table, and Kojirou hisses.

“Stop being weird and eat your food.”

“Do you really have to hit me every time you want to make a point?”

“I’m not hitting that hard.”

The other way around is more likely to happen; Kaoru won’t ever admit it but he doubts that Kojirou feels more pain than Kaoru does when he hits him. Those muscles are ridiculous and entirely unnecessary, honestly.

They take pictures at the landmarks and get mad at the long lines and narrow their eyes at the price of various food and drinks they stumble upon. They’re not short on money, but drinking a cup of café au lait at twice the price of what they can find in regular coffee shops doesn’t leave a good taste in their mouth. Kojirou uses the knowledge from his time in Italy to make educated guesses on whether they’re paying something at an unreasonable price or not—he looks a bit too smug doing so but Kaoru lets it slide for once and allows him to play the role of the brain for this specific aspect of their trip. Kaoru can at least trust Kojirou’s judgment when money is concerned (even if his intuition can be skewed sometimes).

“It’s only because it’s your birthday trip that I’m putting up with your need to visit museums,” Kojirou says, waving at the multiple pamphlets they gathered after three days of sightseeing.

“Having some culture ingrained in your mind is nothing but beneficial for you,” Kaoru retorts evenly.

Kojirou rolls his eyes, clearly not interested in that conversation, and gets up from his bed of their hotel room. It’s past midnight but they’re still wide awake. Sharing one room would be awkward or embarrassing for a lot of people, but Kaoru has known Kojirou half his life and it would be ridiculous to feel self-conscious now, when they’ve seen each other in various states of undress and wakefulness. Perhaps the only complaint Kaoru will voice that he didn’t have when he was thirteen is that the older Kojirou gets, the louder his snoring is (as if the noise level grows with the wideness of his body).

“Hey, Kaoru.”

Kaoru looks up from tomorrow’s schedule displayed on his phone to come face to face with a giant box of pastries and Kojirou’s bright grin. Kojirou is holding the box one-handed, slightly bent forward, like he would a tray to present his dish to his most loyal customers.

“Happy birthday, four-eyes,” Kojirou says on a light tone.

“Must you call me names when you’re wishing me happy birthday?” Kaoru scoffs, but he eyes the pastries with unconcealed interest.

They went to a bakery in the afternoon for a snack, buying a croissant, a pain au chocolat and a pain aux raisins because they apparently lack self control when it comes to cheap baked goods—but for some reason Kaoru missed the moment Kojirou acquired this box of pastries.

“It’s past midnight,” Kaoru reminds him.

Kojirou shrugs. “We’re grown adults and on holiday, I don’t think it’s much of a problem.”

“There are six different pastries in this box.”

“Nobody’s saying we should eat all of them right now, moron. Save some of them for tomorrow.”

They end up eating three pasties, one half each, while arguing about the pros and cons of buying smaller portions of different sweets over getting an entire cake for a birthday, as well as the point of starting celebrating said birthday at midnight instead of simply waiting for morning. They’ve had these conversations before, at Kaoru’s or Kojirou’s birthday over the years, but it seems they never grow sick of repeating the same arguments even when the topic is stupid.

It’s like a well-oiled machine; pushing on one button always leads to the same result. Kaoru and Kojirou argue because this is what they’re used to do, a response at their lips even before they hear the end of the other’s sentence. What comes out of their mouths takes the shape of banter but Kaoru, even though he usually ignores it, notices how at ease he is in these moments.

Kojirou invited him for this trip even if he didn’t have to, and bought pastries to share at midnight like they’re holding a small party. His face is illuminated by his generosity and his big heart that finds a way to carve itself in his eyes.

“Let’s go skating tomorrow afternoon, it will be fun,” Kojirou suggests, mischief and plain desire to have fun glimmering in his gaze.

And Kaoru can’t say no.

They brought their boards, like they did when they traveled to Los Angeles. It might sound like a waste of space in their luggage, but nobody has a say in what they consider fun. Kaoru had to change Carla’s battery for her to fall under airport regulation, which was a hassle on short notice (Kojirou dropped a plane ticket on Kaoru’s lap a week before departure, and Kaoru shoved back money at him but it somehow ended back in his hands after a few minutes of jostling) but definitely worth it, because there’s no way he will skate with a lower quality board.

On March 27th, when Kaoru turns twenty-five years old, he almost resorts to a more physical solution to win petty squabbles against skaters in another country, a behavior he was prone to display when he was seventeen. But he’s an adult who is traveling for leisure and isn’t foolish enough to ruin the trip by punching someone when he can skate away and show off with a few tricks involving exact calculations and perfect angles, so this is what he does—after Kojirou, admittedly, forced him to remain calm, as though he was his impulse control when Kojirou is just as quick to rise to a challenge.

Maybe the difference is that Kojirou isn’t a cocky bastard like Kaoru is. Debatable, but Kaoru won’t deny that he loves the feeling of achieving something flashy or impressive. Getting into trouble for it is always worth it, especially if Kojirou is there to live it with him. It’s never the same without Kojirou—they might bicker and have more arguments then actual conversations, but Kojirou’s a warm presence enveloping him in a tight hug he can never quite shake off.

The trip to Paris isn’t half-bad, and it’s full of memories with the person he trusts the most.

26.

Kojirou is very, very still when Kaoru finally stops fighting with himself and leans his head on his shoulder, completely wasted after drinking too much wine at this event gathering too many important people to talk to and drink with. The taxi is silent and all he can hear is the screech of the wheels on the asphalt.

“Rest until we reach your home,” Kojirou says, something akin to laughter in his voice.

“Hm.”

Kaoru registers the words coming out of Kojirou’s mouth, and judges them acceptable before closing his eyes and letting himself be rocked by the car drive. In his drunken haze, when he called Kojirou to be picked up, he forgot Kojirou lent his car to his little brother; remembering such an essential detail would have saved them a lot of trouble, but Kojirou called a taxi and is now sitting with Kaoru in the backseat instead of going back to his own home. What an idiot.

Kojirou helps him into his apartment, grumbling as his elbows hit the walls and his feet get caught in stray shoes in the genkan that Kaoru eventually wanted to sort out and put away. They manage to get to the couch, and Kaoru collapses on it without grace and lets out a long groan, draping an arm over his eyes.

“I’m not drinking at this sort of event again,” he complains.

“That’s your fault for not limiting yourself,” Kojirou sounds unimpressed. “You always say you’ll stop drinking but you keep doing it.”

“Half a glass with each guest is customary. Beyond that is called showing off.”

“So you’re showing off, stupid four-eyes.”

“Shut up, gorilla. I have something to prove.”

Kojirou’s sigh is filled with such apparent exasperation that Kaoru immediately realizes how petty and ridiculous he just sounded.

“On the day of your birthday, to top it all,” Kojirou says. “Do you need babysitting?”

“You are not going to babysit me,” Kaoru snaps. “I’ll just go to sleep.”

“Yeah, and you’ll start bitching tomorrow morning because you forgot to drink water and take a shower.”

“I’m not that incompetent, you giant brainless idiot.”

Kojirou doesn’t deign responding to his insult and slides behind the kitchen counter. Kaoru drops his arm and watches him rummaging through the cabinets with too much confidence for someone who doesn’t live there. Kojirou comes back with a glass of water and two slices of bread that Kaoru usually eats in the morning when he’s too lazy to make breakfast.

“You probably didn’t eat much, since your robophile brain was wired on ingesting wine.”

“I just said I don’t need your help,” Kaoru mutters.

Kojirou ignores him and deposits the items on the coffee table. He then sits down next to Kaoru, causing Kaoru to shift further on his side of the couch because of his needlessly big body.

“Do you have to sit so close to me?” Kaoru grumbles, leaning forward to snatch the water and the bread, pretending that his world didn’t start spinning as he did so. He takes a few sips of the water.

“Your couch isn’t large enough.”

“It’s your body that’s not average size, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“You’re suspiciously coherent for someone who says he’s drunk.”

Kaoru shrugs, foregoing manners as he speaks and munches on the bread at the same time. “My mind is clear, my thoughts aren’t confused in the least.”

“Right. What time is it?”

Kaoru looks at the time displayed on his TV box, sitting on the stand pushed against the opposite wall of where they’re sitting. He squints at the numbers, slightly blurry despite his glasses still resting on his nose. He has no idea what time it is.

“Eleven forty-seven,” Kaoru announces.

“No, it’s twelve forty-seven,” Kojirou snickers. “Finish that, take a shower and go to bed.”

“And you’re going to stay here and take up space in my apartment?”

“Well, if your event hadn’t run for so long, I would have spent some time with you anyway since it’s your birthday. So I might as well stay until you fall asleep.”

Several things get jumbled in his head at that moment, and Kaoru stares at Kojirou in disbelief. There’s something funny and warm happening in the pit of his stomach.

“You have nothing else to do,” Kaoru asks, or accuses—he doesn’t know how his voice comes across.

“Just go to sleep, Kaoru.”

Kojirou takes the empty glass from Kaoru’s hands and puts it on the table. He then tugs Kaoru upright, holding his wrists in a gentle and careful grip, as if Kaoru will break if he’s not handled in the most delicate manner. Half of the second slice of bread is lying abandoned in the plate, but Kaoru doesn’t particularly mind as he realizes, with strange clarity, that this isn’t unpleasant to be taken care of like this. Kojirou is smiling at him with his most genuine expression, and Kaoru has to look down to avoid his gaze, embarrassed and fulfilled and relieved all at once.

28.

It’s been a long time coming, Kaoru thinks as his fingers tangle in Kojirou’s hair and he brings him closer, always closer to him. The night is warm and too uncomfortable for a spring day, but the heat twisting his stomach is from something entirely separate. His lips meet Kojirou’s endlessly, like this act alone will make him absorb whatever Kojirou is willing to give to him for safekeeping. It’s the first time they’re kissing and yet it feels like they should have been doing this for years now, hiding under the shade of a tree or behind a rocky wall to share a private moment together, in a pocket of time that will burst only when they decide to drop all pretenses.

He knows it’s been a long time coming, because Kojirou is laughing against his lips, and when Kaoru cracks an eye open he sees how open and fond Kojirou’s face is. Kaoru immediately wants to close his eyes again and to stop noticing how luminous everything has become.

“We’re so dumb,” Kojirou says.

“You are stupid, for holding back all those years,” Kaoru retorts.

“Yeah, now it’s my fault for being considerate of your feelings towards me.”

“If you believed for one instant that I’d cut ties with you, then you’re more foolish than I thought you were.”

Kojirou still has hi arms wound around Kaoru’s back, and when he shrugs he presses Kaoru closer to himself. There is no anger and no regret in his eyes or his posture, as though nothing in the world would strip him of the bliss he’s currently being filled with. Kaoru finds himself drunk on the sight.

“I didn’t think that, no. I was just too scared of doing anything that will cause a shift in our relationship.”

The words sound strange, once Kaoru hears them spoken out loud. Kojirou is the one constant in his life that never changed, a shadow at his back and a light guiding him. They’ve both seen each other at their worst and their best, tending to bruises and squeezing a shoulder in comfort or riling each other up as part of their routine. Kojirou is an entity that exists at Karou’s side, full of familiarity and overflowing with kindness that doesn’t need to be voiced.

Kojirou is stupid for ever having hesitated or doubted the strength of their bond. But Kaoru is stupid, too, for simply taking what Kojirou was offering without ever giving back properly.

“We’re never having this conversation again,” Kaoru warns, tugging at Kojirou’s hair and pressing his forehead against his. “I trust you, Kojirou. I always have. This isn’t going to change.”

Kojirou is clinging to every one of his words, looking at Kaoru with the most enraptured expression he’s ever shown. Like this is a dream that cannot be real. Kaoru scowls.

“Don’t look so surprised, gorilla. That’s not a secret.”

“I’m not surprised, I’m simply enjoying that you’re saying it at all,” Kojirou laughs.

“You never say anything pleasant about me either.”

“You’re the one who barges into my restaurant and half the time demand dishes that aren’t even on the menu, and I still cook them! I’m being nice enough!”

“What else would you do in a restaurant, muscles for brain ape?”

“I don’t know, cook a dish I have the actual ingredients for?”

Kaoru’s lips are pulled upward despite everything, his heart as light as ever in Kojirou’s presence. The ease surrounding them remains the same, electric veil sealing them in their own brand of intimacy they wouldn’t trade for anything else.

It feels effortless, then, to switch to a less barbed attitude but still retaining playfulness. Kaoru brushes strands of hair out of Kojirou’s face, and Kojirou runs a thumb under Kaoru’s eye.

“It’s my birthday at the end of the week,” Kaoru whispers, locking eyes with Kojirou. “Take me somewhere nice.”

“Bossy as ever,” Kojirou sighs, though his voice sounds like contentment and bliss contained in a space called home.

Kaoru smiles.

[madelainesvixens]

Sweetvee 41&61

I’ve been working on this one for four nights, I hope you like it, xx

Please continue to sent requests from this list of prompt!

41. “Who the hell do you think you are? My dad?”

61. “I’ve had enough.”

.

It was mid December when Veronica Lodge walked in the Whyte Wyrm looking, white snowflakes covering her black cape. She removed her hood and kicked the snow off her heeled boots. Her dark brown eyes scanned the bar, searching for a familiar blonde head but, she wasn’t present.

The raven haired girl sighed discouragingly. She had been searching for her best friend all night and the Wyrm was the last place on her list.

Where are you Betty?

“I think your chauffeur took the wrong direction.”

“Excuse me?”

“Northside is opposite way, Princess.”

Veronica turned around, catching sight of a very tall Serpent. “Sweet Pea,” she acknowledged.

“Mobster Princess.”

Usually, Veronica would’ve chuckled at the dark humor but, not tonight. Her night had been eventful and she didn’t have the heart for a laugh.

It took Sweet Pea one glance at the rich girl for him to catch on that something was up. He gave his cue stick to another Serpent and made his way over to her.

Sweet Pea wouldn’t call her a friend but she was definitely not a stranger. He had seen her before in the halls at school and at Jughead’s birthday party and always thought she was an uptight rich bitch that didn’t think farther than the tip of her nose. It was the vibe he got from her. His opinion changed when he found her crying in her fancy dress outside the school at Homecoming.

The reason of her tears: Archie Andrews.

That idiot had been making out with Valerie Brown backstage after his musical number and Kevin had caught them. Being the loyal friend he was, he immediately told Veronica about her boyfriend’s tongue jumping the fence.

Sweet Pea had sat with her on the cement stairs and let her cry on his shoulder, his unfinished cigarette crushed by his feet. He wasn’t good at comforting people and had no idea what to do but he couldn’t leave her by herself.

“Fuck him. It’s his loss if he want to trade a ten for a six.”

Later than night, they ended up hooking up in his trailer.

“Is everything okay?” Sweet Pea stood in front of her, raising a worried brow.

Veronica looked up and smiled tightly. “Yeah. I’m good.”

“Bullshit.”

She opened her mouth to argue but closed it. He already knew she was lying.

Eyes were on them as they stood in the middle of the Serpent bar. Her raven hair and the pearls around her neck gave her identity away. Or, maybe it was the fancy handbag resting in the crevice of her elbow.

Sweet Pea put a hand behind her lower back and led her to the bar, taking the attention away from them. “Want anything?” he asked her.

“The strongest you have.”

“We’ll take two shot of vodka and another beer,” he told Hog Eye.

The man nodded and poured their drinks, handing them to the young Serpent. Sweet Pea took the drinks in his hands and led Veronica to an empty table at the back of the bar. They sat down and Veronica immediately reached for the shot glass, downing its content without grimacing.

“What did Andrews do again?”

Veronica knitted her eyebrows. “How did you-”

“When is Andrews not the reason why you’re upset?”

“Thouché.”

“So,” Sweet Pea started, taking a sip of his beer. “What brought the mobster princess on snake territory?”

Chuckling, Veronica removed her cape coat, revealing a black top with an embellished collar. “It’s over. Archie and I. I came here in hope to find Betty but, clearly, she isn’t here.”

“Until when this time? Monday morning?” he joked, knowing Archie and Veronica always get back together despite their several breakups.

“No. I mean it this time. I’ve had enough. Archie is a boy, he’ll never change his juvenile attitude. We went on a movie date at the Bijou tonight and his phone went off during the movie. Moodkill, I know. I thought it was Jughead or his dad but no, it was a notification from Tinder. I almost let it slide because, maybe he had made a profile we were broken up and forgot to delete the app but then, I realized you don’t get notifications from people who swiped right unless you pay for the app. So, he’s still paying although we are dating. You’re probably thinking he’s done fucking up for the night but, listen closely, it gets worse. He opened the damn notification right there, in the middle of our date. This is totally unacceptable. I was furious.”

Out of all the shitty things Archie has done, checking Tinder during a date was probably the worse. It was beyond disrespectful toward Veronica - his girlfriend. To her, the betrayal hurt more than all the times he cheated on her behind her back. At least, then, she didn’t have to witness her boyfriend smiling at whatever that bitch on the other side was writing.  

“Andrews really surpassed himself this time, uh.” Sweet Pea laughed at the Bulldog’s lack of brain, shaking his head. “I can’t believe he opened Tinder right in front of you. It’s like he’s silently saying you’re his side bitch.”

Talking about the beast, Veronica’s phone went off, Archie’s name flashing on the screen. She flipped the device over and ignored it. She tried to but, Archie didn’t get the hint and kept calling again and again which infuriated Veronica.

She sighed dramatically. “Oh my god, will he ever stop?”

“He might have orange hair, he’s not the brightest crayon of the box.”

Veronica stifled a laugh, smirk curving on the Serpent’s lips.

“This is it. He’s gonna have a taste of his own money.” She grabbed her phone and for a second, Sweet Pea though she was giving in and answering Archie’s call, she pulled it up in front of the Serpent. “Please, hold the pose,” she said, and snapped a picture, adding a cute filter and posting it on Instagram with the caption: ‘fun night with my new bae’, knowing Archie has her social medias notifications turned on. “Should’ve known not to mess with a Lodge.”

She knew Archie despised Serpents but, mostly their guard dog Sweet Pea. The two strong headed teenagers had gotten into quite a few fights together over the past year. Jughead had tried his best to keep the peace between the two clans but, he couldn’t do miracles. They even got souvenirs from their opponent. A scar below the eye for Sweet Pea and a chipped tooth for Archie. The rivalry between the two sides of town is nothing new but, ever since they merged the two schools together, both boys started a secret contest for the most powerful alpha and, needless to say, it didn’t impress anyone. If anything, it got them to spend more time together in detention.

“I bet if we go outside we’ll see him fuming from here.”

She watched as Sweet Pea took another sip of his beer, his shot of vodka still untouched in front of him. “Are you going to take it?” The Serpent hummed. “The shot.”

“I intended to, yes.”

“I’ll go get myself another round, then.”

The raven haired girl stood and headed to the bar to order more drinks. A minute later, she come back to she and Sweet Pea’s table with a crimson colored cosmo.

“I thought you were getting more shots?”

“It’s coming,” she replied with a fierce smile, glancing back at the bar.

Sweet Pea followed her gaze, seeing Hog Eye pouring what seemed to be tequila in several shot glasses which was much less forgiving than vodka. Both will get you drunk pretty fast; vodka will make dance on tables for a few minutes before ending with your head down the toilet while tequila will increase your bad decisions and you’ll wake up in the morning, having no clue what happened the night before.

“Not to pop your bubble but, I’m not drinking any more shots. I need to take my bike home.”

Hog Eye deposed the tray on their table and returned to the bar, flashing Sweet Pea a knowing look. The younger Serpent ignored it. He could bet his life that more than half the population of the Wyrm expected him to take Hiram Lodge’s daughter back to his trailer tonight. They’re all gonna be disappointed because it wasn’t on tonight’s agenda. He wouldn’t oppose to having sex with Veronica but, it wasn’t what she needed tonight. She needed someone to listen to her rants and change her mind from the ginger Judas that is Archie Andrews.

She shrugged, picking one shot glass and downing it before biting into a piece of lime. “More for me.”

“You’re not drinking all of this.”

Veronica scoffed. “Who the hell do you think you are? My dad?”

In true Sweet Pea fashion, he would’ve responded with a dirty comeback like: ’Not yet’ or ’No, but I can be your daddy if you want’ but, he didn’t.

“Drowning your sorrows in alcohol isn’t the way to go. Been there, done that. You’ll feel like death tomorrow if you get shitfaced.”

Holding the Serpent’s gaze, Veronica tasted her cosmo. “Would you happen to have another solution to propose? I’m all ears,” she said, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth as she let her heeled boot crawling up Sweet Pea’s leg, stopping right by his crotch.

Sweet Pea hissed, grabbing hold of Veronica’s foot. “I wasn’t going to suggest it but…if that’s really what you want.” If she was looking for a rebound from Andrews, that was a role he’d willingly play. He had been looking for an occasion to bang her again ever since she left his bed the morning after Homecoming.

She grinned behind her drink, loving the grip the older boy had on her. One major thing she liked about sex with Sweet Pea was that he wasn’t afraid to be rough with her. Not too rough but just enough, something Archie was never willing to do.

Just like going down on her. The Bulldog was a selfish boy that clearly didn’t care enough about his partner to give her single pleasure.

Veronica wasn’t going to lie, the alcohol was starting to kick in, the mix of vodka and tequila feeling warm in her belly. She wasn’t drunk but, she had drank just enough to feel confident and sexy - more than usual.

“Shall we head out?” she asked, arching a perfectly plucked eyebrow. Sweet Pea let go of Veronica’s foot and slide out of his seat, waiting for the raven haired girl to do the same. She put her cape back on and downed the rest of her cosmo. “Lead the way.”

[splatteredfandoms523]

When Life Gives You Lemon Geraniums...

You decide that the weather is nice enough for you to finally go on that hike that you’ve been thinking about. You know your brothers don’t want you to go alone, but the woods aren’t that far away, so you get them to give in and let you have some space. They always seem to crowd you a lot. Sometimes, it’s just too much.

You arrive at the entryway of the forest, and you spot some curious looking violets on the ground. You see that once you enter the forest, the violets create a path for you to follow. You cautiously follow the path, keeping your phone at the ready, so you can summon your glitchy brother in an instant, if need be. But, as you follow the violets, more flowers are growing in patches amongst the trees that seem out of place yet still ever so beautiful.

You remain intrigued by the flowers and continue to follow the still ever-thickening path of violets until the trees open up into a bright little clearing. There’s flowers absolutely everywhere. You can’t believe your eyes as there’s a little log cabin in the middle of flowering bushes in the middle of the clearing. The colors of everything are so vivid that it almost hurts to look at, yet it’s all so beautiful that you can’t look away.

Curious, you head towards the little cabin in the clearing, and you cautiously knock on the door, phone in hand to send for help if needed. The door opens, and it’s someone a bit… smaller… than you anticipated. The small person standing in front of you is a little lady in a dress made of flower petals? You can’t seem to wrap your mind around how flower petals could be that big. She notices you looking at her, confused as can be, when she snaps you out of it, “Hey! How did you find this place? No one ever finds this place! No one ever sees the violets!”

You’re taken aback by this little lady, “Oh! Umm Hi there! I did see the violets! Did you plant all of these flowers? It’s so beautiful! I was just going for a nature walk when I saw your violets and found this place and just, Wow. This place is so amazing!”

The little lady looks at you as you look so amazed at her little clearing, “I see you, too, appreciate nature as I do. My name’s Violet, by the way. And yes, I did plant all of these flowers here. I planted them all here so I could nurture them and allow them to grow. That way their magical capabilities are even stronger than normal flowers.”

You are very intrigued as she continues to tell you about the Victorian Flower Language and how each and every flower tells its own story. You come in and sit with her in her little cabin as she leads you in and shows you her flowers in the world of magic.

--------

Marvin, your magical brother, reaches into his mental connection he made with you just before you left. You can’t feel the mental connection, but it allows him to know how far away you are in comparison to him. He sense where you are and his worry increases. He fidgets, restless, as he is constantly asked if he’s okay, when he’s clearly not. He keeps pushing everyone away as his mental connection with you grows weaker with distance.

He finally just loses it and screams, “SOMNO!”

Everyone falls asleep right then and there. Marvin normally doesn’t even use words to direct his magic as he is well practiced in his magic, but when he loses it with worry for you, he uses his words. He whispers, “Kinisi,” and appears right in front of you.

------

You’re talking to Violet as she tells you what it’s like to be a flower witch and how different flowers mean different things when Marvin shows up, a green glow emitting from his eyes. He’s very worried and very angry, “What are you doing here? Who even is this? Why did you wander so far away?”

You look a bit ashamed for not telling anyone what you were up to, but you were enjoying talking to Violet as she speaks up for you, “Who do you think you are, magic boy? I know magic when I see it, and even with that, that doesn’t give you the right to come appearing in my house looking like you’re gonna tear it apart. Seriously, calm down or get out!”

Marvin is surprised at Violet, “And just who are you? What are you doing to them? I could feel them getting farther and farther away from me when they got here. Something is off about this place. What kind of spells are you weaving here?”

Violet scoffs at this magical boy, “Well, nice to meet you too, magic boy. I’m Violet, this is my little cabin in the woods, and I wasn’t doing anything to them! As for spells I’m weaving, I would think you could see the flowers all around. They all tell the story of my spells, if only you know how to read them.”

Marvin looks out of her windows in awe, seeing the vivid colors of flowers surrounding everything, “You’re a flower witch. I never thought I’d ever meet anyone who used flowers to direct their stream of magic, yet you’ve done it fantastically. With all of these spells of protection, there would be no way but for someone who knows about magic, like they do because of me, would ever detect this place, let alone come here to hurt them.”

You watch the interaction happen between the two of them. Intrigued as Marvin calms down to stand in awe of the flowers surrounding the clearing and the cabin itself. Violet smiles warmly, knowing she got through to him, “So, does the magic boy have a name? I can tell that you have a great ability for magic, and I think I could help you just as much as you could help me.”

Marvin is surprised at himself as he tells her his name in his normal dramatic fashion, “My name is Marvin the Magnificent! But, you can call me Marvin! And I think there would be a lot to learn from nature, and with as in tune with nature as you are, I’d only assume that you wouldn’t know the kind of street magic that I do. But, I will admit that I’d love to learn how to direct my magic with nature at my fingertips!”

Violet laughs, “Of course! Street magic would never make its way in here unless someone like you were to show up, but I’m glad we agree that we can learn from each other.”

You smile and with how long you’ve been there, you yawn, grabbing Marvin’s attention, “Oh! I guess you’re a bit tired, aren’t you? Well, don’t you worry, I’ll take ya home and then I got some explaining to do to everyone else as they’re all probably waking up now.”

Marvin and picks you up bridal style, letting you lean into his chest as he looks as Violet apologetically, “I’m sorry, Violet, but I really should be getting home. I will come back soon though, and I’ll bring some tricks with me to show you! I can’t wait to see what little tricks you could teach me using flowers!”

Violet waves him off, “It’s alright, Marvin. It was nice meeting ya. I’ve never met anyone who’s appreciated my magic like you or them,” She gestures to you as you start to cuddle deeper into Marvin, “I mean, when they found my little place, they were in just as much awe as you were. We talked about our different kinds of magic and how they’re the same and different, too. I guess I just never thought anyone would find my little place here, or ever take an interest in my magic. So, thank you, both of you. You both are welcome back anytime.”

Marvin is just about to poof you both away as you get in your last word, “I look forward to seeing you again, Violet,” as you both appear in your room as Marvin notices you holding a flower. A lemon colored geranium. You smile up at Marvin, who looks confused, “An unexpected meeting. And that it was,” Marvin nods in agreement as he tucks you in bed.  

----

Violet smiles as she watches you and Marvin disappear in a plume of green smoke. She knows how you noticed the lemon geranium she slipped into your hand. She could feel the magic drain just a tiny bit of energy from her. But, she’s never had any visitors before, let alone anyone who loved her flowers and magic as much as she does. So, she just goes outside and lies in her little clearing, watching the stars in the sky as she smiles about her unexpectedly pleasant meeting with you and that magical boy, Marvin.

@palm-top-tiger99 Thank you so so so much for helping me write this out! You’re so amazing!

@save-jacksepticeye @iamvegorott @jamesondaily I got some Violet and Marvin interaction and I love it so much! Thank you all so much for being here and reading what I post!!! Here’s to 35 followers!! This is so crazy!!!

[mustdang-100]

Snowflakes & Such

This was my @mp100secretsanta2017 gift for @lovigal, who requested holiday-esque goodness with Serizawa, Ritsu & Mob. I’m reposting here so that there’s a version with a read-more. I hope you enjoy!!

“One last stop!” Serizawa said eagerly, eyes running down his neatly checked-off list of holiday cookie recipients. Reigen tried not to sigh with relief, brushing at the snowflakes that had settled on his coat and checking the heavy gray sky anxiously.

“Ah, good. If this stuff keeps falling we might have to worry about train delays.”

For the first holiday season in years in which Serizawa was neither trapped by the fear of his own powers nor a member of a terrorist organization, he’d apparently decided to fully embrace every festive tradition he could get his hands on. Last week he’d enlisted Mob in helping him decorate Spirits & Such with paper snowflakes of various geometric designs, dangling them from the ceiling tiles by paper clips stolen from Reigen’s desk. Serizawa had illuminated their artworks with ropes of tiny white lights that he strung through the office. And most recently, he’d flexed his burgeoning cooking skills and baked enough cookies to hand-deliver some to everyone he knew in Spice City.

Reigen had never been particularly interested in the holiday season before now, always regarding it with more annoyance than pleasure. Yet Serizawa’s joyous enthusiasm was infectious, and Reigen found himself offering to join the cookie-delivering spree just to continue basking in the glow of Serizawa’s delight.

However, Serizawa had made a surprising number of friends and acquaintances in the short amount of time since he’d left Claw; Reigen hadn’t realized quite how many houses they’d be visiting. Confronted with house after house of “Happy Holidays!” by strangers who welcomed Serizawa and then peered at him with polite uncertainty, Reigen was very ready to turn in for the day. The steadily-increasing snowfall made him all the more eager to return home to lonely but familiar solitude.

He peered over Serizawa’s burly shoulder, trying to see where they were going next.

“Who’s the lucky recipient of the last plate?”

“Kageyama-kun’s family!” Serizawa was practically buzzing with excitement. “I saved the best batch for them, they’re hardly burnt at all.”  

Reigen brightened; finally, someone he knew. He picked up his pace, not only eager for the chance to see Mob, but also for the excuse to see him at home, double check that everything was going okay for him there. Reigen didn’t see Mob’s family very often, and Mob’s little brother in particular had always viewed him with suspicion. Reigen welcomed any opportunity to correct this impression.

An unpleasant thought struck him at this, and he glanced at Serizawa uneasily.  

“Ah…crap. I probably should have brought something for them, too.”

Serizawa beamed. “Don’t worry Reigen-san; I put both our names on the gift tag!”

Reigen was taken aback, but squinted at the tag pasted to the red cellophane-wrapped paper plate. Sure enough, both their names were there in Serizawa’s clear, careful writing.

“Oh.” Words failed Reigen at the kindhearted gesture. “Thanks, Serizawa.”

Serizawa grinned wider, shaking the fresh snow from his curls. “No problem!”

They continued down the peaceful street in the direction of the Kageyama’s house, footsteps crunching in the snow. Fat flakes drifted all around them, muffling sound, blurring the landscape and lending it a strange sense of isolation, like they were the only two people in the world.

Reigen grinned at Serizawa, feeling suddenly a little giddy. “You ever catch snowflakes on your tongue as a kid?”

Serizawa’s eyes rounded. “No! I never spent much time outside, even as a kid. Other kids thought I was weird – I hid a lot.”

Reigen’s heart panged at that, but he froze the grin to his face, holding the pains of Serizawa’s past at bay and eager to help him make up for any lost time.

“You want to try it now?”

“Doesn’t that seem a little, you know, immature?”

“Serizawa, you spent two days last week doing arts and crafts to hang in the office.”

“That was to help bring in business!” Serizawa protested. “I heard customers love those kinds of gimmicks.”

“Ok, sure. Of course. Still, no one’s watching now, eh? No reason not to be a little silly? Here, I’ll try it first.” Reigen closed his eyes and opened his mouth wide, waiting for the soft, cold sensation of a snowflake on his tongue.

Instead, a well-packed clump of snow smacked him square in the face.

Reigen rocked back at the impact, sputtering and choking at the snow that filled his eyes and mouth.

“What the–!?”

He swiped at his snow-covered face and glared out at his surroundings, searching for the culprit. Serizawa held a glove-clad hand clasped over his mouth in shock, but was clearly trying not to laugh. Reigen followed his line of sight, turning around just in time to see a spiky black head duck behind a mound of snow.

A second head poked up from another snow mound a few meters away, one sporting a very familiar bowl-cut that peeked out from under a woolen winter hat.

It seemed they had arrived at the Kageyama’s neighborhood.

“Ritsu, I don’t know if that was very nice. Shishou wasn’t expecting it.” Mob blinked, trying to free the snowflakes that clung to his lashes as he looked up at Reigen. “Hi Shishou, what are you doing here?”

Ritsu’s head slowly rose back up over the top of his own snow fort, just enough for his eyes to peek over. They regarded Reigen with a predatory gleam, and Reigen would have bet money that another snowball was being held out of sight just below. Reigen pasted on a smile and shuffled a bit closer to Serizawa, just in case.

“No, no, Mob. It’s fine,” he said, wiping the last of the snow from his face. “We just dropped by to bring your family some treats, didn’t mean to interrupt your epic snow battle.”

Serizawa stepped forward, clutching the cookie plate, looking back and forth between the two forts with eyes bright with interest.

“Were you having a snowball fight? Like on TV?”

Mob nodded, and tossed a snowball in demonstration. It flew about two meters before landing on the snow-covered lawn, breaking into pieces with a soft psh.

Mob contemplated the location it had fallen, as though trying to understand where he’d gone wrong. Ritsu finally abandoned his post and stood up straight behind his snow fort. He walked to his brother, squeezing a snowball between his hands as he packed it tighter.

“I told you Nii-san, I think you’ll do better if you aim high up. Then your snowballs will at least go farther.” Ritsu tossed his snowball up and towards their own house in demonstration. It flew high, traveling much farther than Mob’s had. Mob nodded seriously, taking his brother’s advice as absolute fact.

Reigen saw an opportunity, and jumped on it before he could second-guess himself.

“Ritsu’s right, Mob. Here, let me show you my special technique for throwing snowballs–”

Ritsu whipped toward him, eyes narrowing.

“Oh, interesting. You want to try teaching my brother something else you know nothing about.”

“Hey, now,” Reigen said, hands flying up in a placating gesture. “I just think that, with my advanced knowledge of both natural and paranatural physics, I–”

Ritsu’s second snowball hit him in the face.

Reigen spluttered loudly and indignantly, but he didn’t miss the quickly-smothered guffaw from his left. He also saw, as soon as he’d cleared enough of the snow to see, a spark of humor in Mob’s face, the likes of which he hadn’t seen in weeks - not since Dimple’s abrupt and mysterious disappearance.

A new idea formed swiftly. Reigen wanted to encourage this light-hearted mood of Mob’s, and if Serizawa’s attitude towards holiday activities thus far proved anything, he would have an absolute blast having a snowball fight.

Reigen glared huffily down at Ritsu, who was looking smug.

“Oho, I see how it is. Young Ritsu, I do believe that was a challenge.” Reigen drew himself up to his full height. “What do you say–myself and Mob versus you and Serizawa for a snowball fight the likes of which you’ve never in your young life encountered? Unless, of course, you’re too timid?”

Fire flashed in Ritsu’s eyes. “I think that’s the most intelligent idea you’ve had yet, Reigen-san,” Ritsu said, too calmly. “Nii-san and I would love to participate.”

“Excellent. Um, and no psychic powers allowed,” Reigen added hastily, eyeing Ritsu’s expression. “With my skills, it wouldn’t be fair to the rest of you.”

Mob wandered bemusedly to Reigen’s side, clearly keen to join whatever Ritsu wanted to do. However, Serizawa hesitated.

“Reigen-san, you’re sure this isn’t too childish? What if a prospective client sees?”

“Come now, Serizawa, snowball fights are winter holiday tradition!” Reigen said firmly. “We must defend our honor! And we can’t disappoint the boys, can we?”

“Oh,” Serizawa said, his expression clearing as he nodded solemnly. “You’re right. I will do my best, Reigen-san.”

***

Reigen had miscalculated.

“Run, Mob! Run!” Reigen panted, legs flying as fast as they would go as he pelted down the Kageyama’s street. Mob ran beside him, panting a little but otherwise seeming far less concerned than Reigen thought was warranted. Of course, that might be because the barrage of snowballs being flung their way all seemed to be aimed at him.

He chanced a quick look behind him. Ritsu was only a dozen or so meters back, Serizawa keeping pace right beside him. They both had snowballs in hand and equally-determined looks on their faces.

Serizawa’s enthusiasm plus Ritsu’s teenage vindictiveness were, it seemed, a devastating combination. A snowball hit the street with a more solid sound than Reigen thought a snowball had any right to make, barely missing his own churning feet.

“Serizawa, you know this suit isn’t meant for running!”

“Then stop running and defend your honor, Reigen-san!”

Reigen managed to dig up more speed.

The Kageyama’s house rose before them; at some point, they must have turned back around. As if on cue, Mrs. Kageyama opened the door just as he was racing up to it.

“Ah, hello!” Reigen huffed as he darted in close to the doorway, too close for Ritsu and Serizawa to risk the civilian casualty. Mob followed, and Serizawa and Ritsu joined them a few feet from the doorway, both looking pleased as punch, snowballs mysteriously vanished.

“We… just came… to drop off… some cookies!” Reigen continued, between breaths. Serizawa nodded earnestly, the picture of a generous visitor, as the plate of cookies dropped into his hands from the air above them. Mrs. Kageyama didn’t bat an eye, clearly accustomed to random psychic phenomena occurring in her house.

“Oh, how kind of you!” She smiled warmly at the group of them. “I know how much Shigeo looks up to you, Reigen-san, and Serizawa-san, he’s told us so much about you! I was just about to call the kids in for dinner, but there’s plenty if the two of you’d like to join us?”

“Oh! I, uh,” Reigen was at a loss for words for the second time that night at this offer. He found himself looking to Serizawa, whose broad grin had reappeared.

“We’d love to, thank you!” Serizawa said, taking Reigen’s look as an invitation to accept for the both of them.

Reigen found himself ushered in with the rest of the group, and before he knew it was seated at the kitchen table with the entire family. No probing looks on this visit; instead, Mrs. Kageyama cheerily questioned him about his business while Mr. Kageyama added more rice to his plate. Serizawa had managed to draw Mob into a conversation about his athletic club, complimenting him on his speed that day. Even Ritsu, who’d been studying his brother’s minutely-cheered expression, passed Reigen his silverware with something that was almost a smile.

Reigen started when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He twisted to see Serizawa offering him a chocolate-chip cookie, edges only a little too dark.

“Thanks for coming with me today, Reigen-san. I–I can’t express my gratitude enough, on top of how you’ve helped me, giving me a job, and helping me with school and with getting used to interacting with other people…Especially,” he swallowed uncertainly. “Especially since I got the feeling you didn’t care much for the holidays…”

“Oh…it’s no problem Serizawa! Happy to help, of course!” Reigen took the cookie, waving a hand airily as Serizawa beamed at him before turning back to rejoin his conversation with Mr. Kageyama. Reigen bit into the cookie, munching contemplatively. Not half bad, he thought, relaxing into the conversation and company, his concerns about the train schedule forgotten despite the snow softly piling up outside.

[mp100secretsanta2017-blog]

Snowflakes & Such

From: Mustdang (mustdang-100.tumblr.com)

To: Lovi (lovigal.tumblr.com)

Message: Hello and very happy holidays Lovi! Here is a gift fic for you; it was great fun to write and I hope you enjoy!

“One last stop!” Serizawa said eagerly, eyes running down his neatly checked-off list of holiday cookie recipients. Reigen tried not to sigh with relief, brushing at the snowflakes that had settled on his coat and checking the heavy gray sky anxiously.

“Ah, good. If this stuff keeps falling we might have to worry about train delays.”

For the first holiday season in years in which Serizawa was neither trapped by the fear of his own powers nor a member of a terrorist organization, he’d apparently decided to fully embrace every festive tradition he could get his hands on. Last week he’d enlisted Mob in helping him decorate Spirits & Such with paper snowflakes of various geometric designs, dangling them from the ceiling tiles by paper clips stolen from Reigen’s desk. Serizawa had illuminated their artworks with ropes of tiny white lights that he strung through the office. And most recently, he’d flexed his burgeoning cooking skills and baked enough cookies to hand-deliver some to everyone he knew in Spice City.

Reigen had never been particularly interested in the holiday season before now, always regarding it with more annoyance than pleasure. Yet Serizawa’s joyous enthusiasm was infectious, and Reigen found himself offering to join the cookie-delivering spree just to continue basking in the glow of Serizawa’s delight.

However, Serizawa had made a surprising number of friends and acquaintances in the short amount of time since he’d left Claw; Reigen hadn’t realized quite how many houses they’d be visiting. Confronted with house after house of “Happy Holidays!” by strangers who welcomed Serizawa and then peered at him with polite uncertainty, Reigen was very ready to turn in for the day. The steadily-increasing snowfall made him all the more eager to return home to lonely but familiar solitude. 

He peered over Serizawa’s burly shoulder, trying to see where they were going next.

“Who’s the lucky recipient of the last plate?”

“Kageyama-kun’s family!” Serizawa was practically buzzing with excitement. “I saved the best batch for them, they’re hardly burnt at all.”  

Reigen brightened; finally, someone he knew. He picked up his pace, not only eager for the chance to see Mob, but also for the excuse to see him at home, double check that everything was going okay for him there. Reigen didn’t see Mob’s family very often, and Mob’s little brother in particular had always viewed him with suspicion. Reigen welcomed any opportunity to correct this impression.

An unpleasant thought struck him at this, and he glanced at Serizawa uneasily.   

“Ah…crap. I probably should have brought something for them, too.”

Serizawa beamed. “Don’t worry Reigen-san; I put both our names on the gift tag!”

Reigen was taken aback, but squinted at the tag pasted to the red cellophane-wrapped paper plate. Sure enough, both their names were there in Serizawa’s clear, careful writing.

“Oh.” Words failed Reigen at the kindhearted gesture. “Thanks, Serizawa.”

Serizawa grinned wider, shaking the fresh snow from his curls. “No problem!”

They continued down the peaceful street in the direction of the Kageyama’s house, footsteps crunching in the snow. Fat flakes drifted all around them, muffling sound, blurring the landscape and lending it a strange sense of isolation, like they were the only two people in the world.

Reigen grinned at Serizawa, feeling suddenly a little giddy. “You ever catch snowflakes on your tongue as a kid?”

Serizawa’s eyes rounded. “No! I never spent much time outside, even as a kid. Other kids thought I was weird – I hid a lot.” 

Reigen’s heart panged at that, but he froze the grin to his face, holding the pains of Serizawa’s past at bay and eager to help him make up for any lost time.

“You want to try it now?”

“Doesn’t that seem a little, you know, immature?”

“Serizawa, you spent two days last week doing arts and crafts to hang in the office.”

“That was to help bring in business!” Serizawa protested. “I heard customers love those kinds of gimmicks.”

“Ok, sure. Of course. Still, no one’s watching now, eh? No reason not to be a little silly? Here, I’ll try it first.” Reigen closed his eyes and opened his mouth wide, waiting for the soft, cold sensation of a snowflake on his tongue.

Instead, a well-packed clump of snow smacked him square in the face.

Reigen rocked back at the impact, sputtering and choking at the snow that filled his eyes and mouth.

“What the–!?”

He swiped at his snow-covered face and glared out at his surroundings, searching for the culprit. Serizawa held a glove-clad hand clasped over his mouth in shock, but was clearly trying not to laugh. Reigen followed his line of sight, turning around just in time to see a spiky black head duck behind a mound of snow.

A second head poked up from another snow mound a few meters away, one sporting a very familiar bowl-cut that peeked out from under a woolen winter hat.

It seemed they had arrived at the Kageyama’s neighborhood.

“Ritsu, I don’t know if that was very nice. Shishou wasn’t expecting it.” Mob blinked, trying to free the snowflakes that clung to his lashes as he looked up at Reigen. “Hi Shishou, what are you doing here?”

Ritsu’s head slowly rose back up over the top of his own snow fort, just enough for his eyes to peek over. They regarded Reigen with a predatory gleam, and Reigen would have bet money that another snowball was being held out of sight just below. Reigen pasted on a smile and shuffled a bit closer to Serizawa, just in case.

“No, no, Mob. It’s fine,” he said, wiping the last of the snow from his face. “We just dropped by to bring your family some treats, didn’t mean to interrupt your epic snow battle.”

Serizawa stepped forward, clutching the cookie plate, looking back and forth between the two forts with eyes bright with interest.

“Were you having a snowball fight? Like on TV?”

Mob nodded, and tossed a snowball in demonstration. It flew about two meters before landing on the snow-covered lawn, breaking into pieces with a soft psh. 

Mob contemplated the location it had fallen, as though trying to understand where he’d gone wrong. Ritsu finally abandoned his post and stood up straight behind his snow fort. He walked to his brother, squeezing a snowball between his hands as he packed it tighter.

“I told you Nii-san, I think you’ll do better if you aim high up. Then your snowballs will at least go farther.” Ritsu tossed his snowball up and towards their own house in demonstration. It flew high, traveling much farther than Mob’s had. Mob nodded seriously, taking his brother’s advice as absolute fact.

Reigen saw an opportunity, and jumped on it before he could second-guess himself. 

“Ritsu’s right, Mob. Here, let me show you my special technique for throwing snowballs–”

Ritsu whipped toward him, eyes narrowing.

“Oh, interesting. You want to try teaching my brother something else you know nothing about.”

“Hey, now,” Reigen said, hands flying up in a placating gesture. “I just think that, with my advanced knowledge of both natural and paranatural physics, I–” 

Ritsu’s second snowball hit him in the face.

Reigen spluttered loudly and indignantly, but he didn’t miss the quickly-smothered guffaw from his left. He also saw, as soon as he’d cleared enough of the snow to see, a spark of humor in Mob’s face, the likes of which he hadn’t seen in weeks - not since Dimple’s abrupt and mysterious disappearance.

A new idea formed swiftly. Reigen wanted to encourage this light-hearted mood of Mob’s, and if Serizawa’s attitude towards holiday activities thus far proved anything, he would have an absolute blast having a snowball fight.

Reigen glared huffily down at Ritsu, who was looking smug. 

“Oho, I see how it is. Young Ritsu, I do believe that was a challenge.” Reigen drew himself up to his full height. “What do you say–myself and Mob versus you and Serizawa for a snowball fight the likes of which you’ve never in your young life encountered? Unless, of course, you’re too timid?”

Fire flashed in Ritsu’s eyes. “I think that’s the most intelligent idea you’ve had yet, Reigen-san,” Ritsu said, too calmly. “Nii-san and I would love to participate.”

“Excellent. Um, and no psychic powers allowed,” Reigen added hastily, eyeing Ritsu’s expression. “With my skills, it wouldn’t be fair to the rest of you.”

Mob wandered bemusedly to Reigen’s side, clearly keen to join whatever Ritsu wanted to do. However, Serizawa hesitated.

“Reigen-san, you’re sure this isn’t too childish? What if a prospective client sees?”

“Come now, Serizawa, snowball fights are winter holiday tradition!” Reigen said firmly. “We must defend our honor! And we can’t disappoint the boys, can we?”

“Oh,” Serizawa said, his expression clearing as he nodded solemnly. “You’re right. I will do my best, Reigen-san.”

***

Reigen had miscalculated.

“Run, Mob! Run!” Reigen panted, legs flying as fast as they would go as he pelted down the Kageyama’s street. Mob ran beside him, panting a little but otherwise seeming far less concerned than Reigen thought was warranted. Of course, that might be because the barrage of snowballs being flung their way all seemed to be aimed at him.

He chanced a quick look behind him. Ritsu was only a dozen or so meters back, Serizawa keeping pace right beside him. They both had snowballs in hand and equally-determined looks on their faces.

Serizawa’s enthusiasm plus Ritsu’s teenage vindictiveness were, it seemed, a devastating combination. A snowball hit the street with a more solid sound than Reigen thought a snowball had any right to make, barely missing his own churning feet.

“Serizawa, you know this suit isn’t meant for running!”

“Then stop running and defend your honor, Reigen-san!”

Reigen managed to dig up more speed.

The Kageyama’s house rose before them; at some point, they must have turned back around. As if on cue, Mrs. Kageyama opened the door just as he was racing up to it.

“Ah, hello!” Reigen huffed as he darted in close to the doorway, too close for Ritsu and Serizawa to risk the civilian casualty. Mob followed, and Serizawa and Ritsu joined them a few feet from the doorway, both looking pleased as punch, snowballs mysteriously vanished.

“We… just came… to drop off… some cookies!” Reigen continued, between breaths. Serizawa nodded earnestly, the picture of a generous visitor, as the plate of cookies dropped into his hands from the air above them. Mrs. Kageyama didn’t bat an eye, clearly accustomed to random psychic phenomena occurring in her house.

“Oh, how kind of you!” She smiled warmly at them. “I know how much Shigeo looks up to you, Reigen-san, and Serizawa-san, he’s told us so much about you! I was just about to call the kids in for dinner, but there’s plenty if the two of you’d like to join us?”

“Oh! I, uh,” Reigen was at a loss for words for the second time that night at this offer. He found himself looking to Serizawa, whose broad grin had reappeared.

“We’d love to, thank you!” Serizawa said, taking Reigen’s look as an invitation to accept for the both of them.

Reigen found himself ushered in with the rest of the group, and before he knew it was seated at the kitchen table with the entire family. No probing looks on this visit; instead, Mrs. Kageyama cheerily questioned him about his business while Mr. Kageyama added more rice to his plate. Serizawa had managed to draw Mob into a conversation about his athletic club, complimenting him on his speed that day. Even Ritsu, who’d been studying his brother’s minutely-cheered expression, passed Reigen his silverware with something that was almost a smile.

Reigen started when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He twisted to see Serizawa offering him a chocolate-chip cookie, edges only a little too dark. 

“Thanks for coming with me today, Reigen-san. I – I can’t express my gratitude enough, on top of how you’ve helped me, giving me a job, and helping me with school and with getting used to interacting with other people…Especially,” he swallowed uncertainly. “Especially since I got the feeling you didn’t care much for the holidays…”

“Oh…it’s no problem Serizawa! Happy to help, of course!” Reigen took the cookie, waving a hand airily as Serizawa beamed at him before turning back to rejoin his conversation with Mr. Kageyama.

Reigen bit into the cookie, munching contemplatively. Not half bad, he thought, relaxing into the conversation and company, his concerns about the train schedule forgotten despite the snow softly piling up outside.

[redditnosleep]

I'm A Search And Rescue Officer For The US Forest Service, I Have Some Stories To Tell

by searchandrescuewoods.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 (Final)

So I logged back on tonight and was blown away by the staggering amount of interest this seems to have generated. First off, I'll address a few things that you guys have brought up:

There's been an overwhelming amount of people mentioning the similarity between some of my stories and those of David Paulides. I assure you I'm not trying to rip him off in any way, I've got nothing but respect for the guy. He's actually what inspired me to write this, because I can verify a lot of the things he talks about. We do have a lot of these strange missing persons cases, and most of the time they aren't solved. Either that, or we find them in places they have no business being. I personally haven't been on many calls like that, but I'll share a few that I've seen, and a story my friend told me that relates to this.

There was a lot of feedback about the stairs, so I'll touch on that briefly here, and I'll also include a story. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes, styles, and conditions. Some are pretty dilapidated, just ruins, but others are brand new. I saw one set that looked like they came from a lighthouse: they were metal and spiral, almost old-fashioned. The stairs don't go up infinitely, or farther than I can see, but some sets are taller than others. Like I said before, just imagine the stairs in your house, as if someone cut-and-pasted them in the middle of nowhere. I don't have any pictures, it's never really occurred to me to try again after the first time, and I don't really feel like risking my job over it. I'll try again in the future, but I can't really promise anything.

A few people expressed confusion about the guy who ran into the man with no face. Just to clarify, when the climber ascended and reached the top of this peak, he saw another man in a parka and ski pants. This was the man with no face. Sorry about the confusing wording of that story, I'll try to avoid that in the future.

Alright, on to the new stories:

As far as missing persons go, I'd say about half the calls I get are related to that. The others are rescue calls; people who fall down cliffs and hurt themselves, get injured by fire (you wouldn't believe how often this happens, mostly drunk kids), get bitten or stung by animals or insects. We're a tight team, and we have veterans who are excellent at finding signs of lost people. That's what makes these cases where we never find any trace of them so frustrating. One in particular was upsetting for all of us, because we did find a trace of them, but it just led to more questions than answers. An older man had been hiking alone on a well-established trail, but his wife called to say that he hadn't come home when he should have. Apparently he had a history of seizures, and she was worried that he hadn't taken his medication and had suffered one out on the trail. Before you ask, I have no idea why he thought it was okay to go out alone, or why she didn't go with him. I don't ask about that kind of thing because past a certain point, it really doesn't matter. Someone is missing, and it's my job to find them. We went out in a standard search formation, and it wasn't long before one of our vets found signs that the guy had gone off the trail. We grouped up and followed him, spreading out in a fan to make sure we were covering as much ground as possible. Suddenly, a call comes over the radio telling us to all head back to the vets location, and we come right away, because this usually means the missing person is injured, and we need a full team to help get them out safely. We meet back up, and the vet is just standing at the base of a tree with his hands on the sides of his head. I ask my buddy what's going on, and he points up into the branches of this tree. I almost couldn't believe what I was seeing, but there's a walking stick dangling from a branch at least thirty feet off the ground. The little strap thing on the handle has been looped around the branch, and it's just hanging there. There's no way the guy could have tossed it up that far, and we don't see any other signs that he's still in the area. We call up into the tree, but it's obvious no one's in it. We're all just sort of left scratching our heads. We keep searching for the guy, but we never find him. We even bring our canines out, but they lose his scent long before this tree. Eventually, the search is called off, because there are other calls we have to attend to, and past a certain point there's not much we can do. The guy's wife called us every day for months, asking if we'd found her husband, and it was heartbreaking to hear her get more and more hopeless each time. I'm not sure why this call in particular was so upsetting, but I think it was just the sheer improbability of it. That and the questions that were raised. How the hell had this guy's cane ended up there? Did someone kill him and toss that up there as some weird trophy? We did our best to find him, but it was almost like a taunt. We still talk about that one from time to time.

Missing kids are the most heart-breaking. Doesn't matter what circumstances they go missing under, it's never easy, and we always, always dread the ones we find deceased. It's not common, but it does happen. David Paulides talks a lot about kids SAR teams find in places they shouldn't be, or couldn't be. I can honestly say I've heard about this kind of thing happening more than I've seen it, but I'll share one of the ones that I think about a lot that I witnessed personally. A mother and her three kids were out for a picnic in an area of the park that has a small lake. One is six, one is five, and the other is about three. She's watching them all really closely, and according to her, she never lets them out of her sight at any time. She never saw anyone else in the area either, which is important. She packs their stuff up and they start to head back to the parking area. Now, this lake is only about two miles into the woods, and it's on a very clearly established trail. It's almost impossible to get lost getting from the parking area to it, unless you're deliberately going off the path like an imbecile. Her kids are walking in front of her, when she hears what sounds like someone coming up the path behind her. She turns around, and in the four or so seconds she's not looking, her five-year-old son vanishes. She figures he's stepped off the trail to pee or something, and she asks her other two where he went. They both tell her that 'a big man with a scary face' came out of the woods next to them, took the kid's hand, and led him into the trees. The two remaining kids don't seem upset, in fact she says later that it seems like they've been drugged. They're sort of spacey and fuzzy. So of course, she freaks out, starts looking frantically in the area for her kid. She's screaming his name, and she says at one point she thinks she heard him answer her. Now obviously she can't go blindly running into the woods, she's got the other two kids, so she calls the police and they send us out immediately. We respond, and we start the search for him.Over the course of this search, which spans miles, we never find a single trace of the kid. Canines can't pick up any scent, we don't find any clothing or broken bushes or literally anything that would signify a child being there. Of course there's suspicion about the mother for a while, but it's pretty clear that she's completely destroyed by the whole thing. We looked for this kid for weeks, with a lot of volunteer help. But eventually, the search peters out, and we have to move on. The volunteers keep searching, though, and one day we get a call on the radio letting us know that a body has been found and needs to be recovered. They tell us the location, and none of us can believe it. We figure it has to be a different kid. But we go out there, about 15 miles from the site where he vanished, and sure enough, we find the body of the kid we've been looking for. I have been trying to figure out how this kid got where he did ever since we found him, and I've never come up with an answer. A volunteer just happened to be in the area, because he figured he might as well look in places no one else would think to on the off chance the body had been dumped. He comes to the base of a tall, rocky slope, and half-way up, he sees something. He looks through his binoculars and sure enough, it's the body of a little boy, stuffed in a little opening in the rock. He recognizes the color of the kid's shirt, so he knows right away that it's the missing boy. That's when he calls it in, and we're dispatched. It took us almost an hour to get his body down, and none of us could believe what we were seeing. Not only was this kid 15 miles from where he'd started, there was no possible way he could have gotten up there on his own. This slope is treacherous, and it's hard even for us with our climbing gear. A five-year-old boy had no way of getting up there, of that I'm certain. Not only that, but the kid doesn't have a scratch on him. His shoes are gone, but his feet aren't damaged or dirty. So it wasn't as if an animal dragged him up there. And from what we can tell, he hasn't been dead that long. He'd been out there over a month by that point, and it looked like he'd only been dead for, at most, a day or two. The whole thing was unbelievably strange, and was one of the most disconcerting calls I've ever been on. We found out later that the coroner determined the kid had died from exposure. He'd frozen to death, probably late at night two days before we found him. There were no suspects, and no answers. To date, it's one of the weirdest things I've ever seen.

One of my first jobs as a trainee was a search op for a four-year-old kid that had gotten separated from his mom. This was one of those cases where we knew we were gonna find him because the dogs were on a strong scent trail, and we saw clear signs that he was in the area. We ended up finding him in a berry patch about half a mile from where he'd been last seen. Kid wasn't even aware that he'd wandered that far. One of the vets brought him back, which I was glad for because I'm really not good with kids, and I find it hard to talk to them and keep them company. As my trainer and I are headed back, she decides to take me on a detour to show me one of the hot spots where we tend to find missing people. It's a natural dip in the land near a popular trail, and people will usually move downhill because it's easier. We hike out there, it's a few miles away, and we get there in about an hour or so. As we're walking around the area and she's pointing out places she's found people in the past, I see something in the distance. Now, this area we're in is about eight miles from the main parking area, though there's back roads you can take to get closer if you don't want to hike that far. But we're on state-protected land, which means there can't be any kind of commercial or residential development out here. The most you'll ever see is a fire tower or makeshift shelter that homeless people think they can get away with building. But I can see from here that whatever this thing is has straight edges, and if there's one thing you learn quickly, it's that nature rarely makes straight lines. I point it out, but she doesn't say anything. She just hangs back and lets me wander over and check it out. I get within about twenty feet of it, and all the hair on the back of my neck stands up. It's a staircase. In the middle of the fucking woods. In the proper context, it would literally be the most benign thing ever. It's just a normal staircase, with beige carpet, and about ten steps tall. But instead of being in a house, where it obviously should be, it's out here in the middle of the woods. The sides aren't carpeted, obviously, and I can see the wood it's made of. It's almost like a video game glitch, where the house has failed to load completely and the stairs are the only thing visible. I stand there, and it's like my brain is working overtime to try and make sense of what I'm seeing. My trainer comes and stands next to me, and she just stands there casually, looking at it as if it's the least interesting thing in the world. I ask her what the fuck this thing is doing here, and she just chuckles. 'Get used to it, rookie. You're gonna see a lot of them.' I start to move closer, but she grabs my arm. Hard. 'I wouldn't do that.' She says. Her voice is casual, but her grip is tight, and I just stand there looking at her. 'You're gonna see them all the time, but don't go near them. Don't touch them, don't go up them. Just ignore them.' I start to ask her about it, but something in the way she's looking at me tells me that it's best if I don't. We end up moving on, and the subject doesn't come up again for the rest of my training. She was right, though. I'd say about every fifth call I go on, I end up running across a set of stairs. Sometimes they're relatively close to the path, maybe within two or three miles. Sometimes they're twenty, thirty miles out, literally in the middle of nowhere, and I only find them during the broadest searches or training weekends. They're usually in good condition, but sometimes it looks like they've been out there for miles. All different kinds, all different sizes. The biggest I ever saw looked like they came out of a turn-of-the-century mansion, and were at least ten feet wide, with steps leading up at least fifteen or twenty feet. I've tried talking about it with people, but they just give me the same response my trainer did. 'It's normal. Don't worry about it, they're not a big deal, but don't go close to them or up them.' When trainees ask me about it now, I give them the same response. I don't really know what else to tell them. I'm really hoping someday I get a better answer, but it hasn't happened yet.

This is another one that was less spooky and more sad. A young man went missing late in winter, when realistically no one should be going that far out onto the trails. We close a lot of them, but some remain open year round, unless there's a shit-load of snow. We did an op for him, but we had about six feet of snow on the ground (it was an unusually heavy snow year), and we knew it wasn't likely that we'd find him until spring when the thaw came. Sure enough, when the first big thaw came, a hiker reported a body a little ways off the main trail. We found him at the base of a tree, in a pile of melted snow. I knew right away what had happened, and it scared the living shit out of me. Most of you who ski or snowboard, or spend any amount of time on a mountain, will probably have guessed too. When snow falls, it doesn't collect as thick in the areas beneath the branches. It happens most with fir trees, because they have a sort of closed umbrella shape. So what you end up with is a space around the base of a tree that's filled with a mixture of loose, powdery snow, air, and branches. They're called tree wells, and they're not immediately obvious if you don't know what you're looking for. We put up signs in the welcome center, big ones, letting people know how dangerous they are, but every year that we get an unusual amount of snow, at least one person doesn't read them, or doesn't take the warning seriously, and we find out about it in spring. My best guess is that this young man was hiking and got tired, or maybe a cramp from walking in the deep snow. He went to go sit at the base of the tree, not knowing that there was a tree well, and fell in. He got stuck with his feet up, and the surrounding snow caved in around him. Unable to free himself, he suffocated. It's called snow immersion suffocation, and it doesn't usually happen except in really deep snow. But if you get stuck in a weird position, like this guy did, even six feet of snow can be lethal. What scared me the most was imagining how he must have struggled. Upside down, in the freezing cold, he didn't die quickly. The snow would have formed a dense, heavy pile on top of him, and it would have been literally impossible to get out. As it got harder to breathe, he would have known what was happening. I can't even imagine what he was thinking in his last moments.

A lot of my less outdoorsy friends want to know if I've ever seen the Goatman while I've been out on calls. Unfortunately, or I guess fortunately, I've never had anything quite like that happen. I guess the closest was the whole 'black-eyed man' thing, but I didn't see anything. However, there was one call where I had something kind of similar happen, but I'm not sure I'm willing to chalk it up to the Goatman. We'd gotten a report that an older woman had fainted along one of the trails, and needed assistance getting back down to the main area. We hike up to where she's at, and her husband is just beside himself. He runs, well, I guess more jogs, to us, and tells us that he was a little ways off the trail looking at something when his wife starts screaming behind him. He runs back to her and she's passed out on the trail. We get her on a backboard, and as we're getting her down to the welcome center, she comes to and starts screaming again. I calm her down and ask her what happened. I can't remember verbatim what she said, but essentially, what happened was this: She'd been waiting for her husband when she started hearing this really strange sound. She said it sounded sort of like a cat, but it was off somehow, and she couldn't quite figure out why. She went a little ahead to try and hear it better, and it sounded like it was coming closer. She said the closer it got, the more uneasy she was, until she finally figured out what was wrong. I do remember this next part, because it was so weird that I don't think I could forget it if I tried. "It wasn't a cat. It was a man, saying the word 'meow' over and over. Just 'meow, meow, meow'. But it wasn't a man, it couldn't have been, because I've never heard a man make his voice buzz like that. I thought my hearing aid was going out, but it wasn't, I adjusted it and it still sounded all buzzy. It was awful. He was coming closer, but I couldn't see him. And the closer he got the more scared I was, and the last thing I remember was a shape coming out of the trees. I guess that's when I fainted." Now, obviously I'm a little perplexed as to why a guy would be out in the fucking woods chanting 'meow, meow' at people. So once we get down the mountain, I tell my superior that I'm gonna go search the area to see if I can find anything. He gives me the go ahead, and I grab a radio and hike back to where she fainted. I don't see anyone, so I keep going about a mile more, and I when I head back I go off the trail, to see if I can figure out where she saw him coming from. It's almost sunset by this point, and I don't have any desire to be out at night alone, so I just sort of write it off and make a mental note to check it out again tomorrow. But as I'm headed back, I start to hear something in the distance. I stop, and I call out for anyone in the immediate area to identify themselves. The sound didn't come closer or get louder, but it sounded exactly like a man saying 'meow, meow' in this really odd monotone. As comical as it makes it sound, it was almost like that guy on South Park with the electrolarynx, Ned. I go off the trail in the direction I think it's coming from, but I never seem to get closer. It's almost like it's coming from all directions. Eventually, it just sort of fades out, and I ended up going back to the welcome center. I didn't get any further reports like that, and even though I went back to that area, I never heard that exact sound again. I suppose it could have been some stupid kid out there fucking with people, but even I have to admit it was weird.

So this kind of turned into a massive wall of text, and for that I apologize. I wanted to get to the stories my friend told me, and he does have some good ones, so I'll post those tomorrow evening. I also have a few more of my own I think you guys will like. I'm sorry to keep you all in suspense again, hopefully the stories here make up for it and help you get through the next 24 hours until I can post again!

[sapphire-scientist-a]

* {So, recently, I held a offsite rp on Discord! Mostly because of my limited time frame and rl issues, it was far easier on me to keep track of that. The logs* for the event will be under the cut! It’s long so buckle up.} * Minor edits for spelling and spacing

@sans-icle @observantfragment

Sapph

* Observer.. I think it's time I should be getting back. I have things I need to do and.. well a promise to keep.

Observer

[Observer smiles] Of course my gem,I'll go get AP. [he retreats farther into the lab,poking his head into APs room] Its..time to go ,ready to see papyrus..

AP

When Observer walked up AP looked up from his phone, smiling as he pushed some hair out of his face. He slid off of the bed he'd been sitting on, trotting over the small distance, grabbing the container of Papyrus' dust and stuffing it securely inside his hoodie, which he barely managed to zip up all the way. 

Turning to Observer, he gently linked arms with him, resting his head on the much taller's arm.

Mmhm, I'm as ready as I'll ever be, time to see my boy again aaaaaaa,,

Sapph

Sapph was nervously waiting for them to come, bouncing on one foot and then the other. But once he saw them there was almost a trill from him although the changed human form of AP didn't go unnoticed. There was a bit of a wide eyed eyebrow raise at him} * Everyone ready? It might be a long walk back to my place. We don't want to leave anything we might need behind.. {* And there he is back to nervously shifting on his feet, looking a bit apprehensive and worried}

Observer

[*Observer nodded,he needed to make a note to himself about giving AP some of his shirts..goodness the idea was a cute one,when he noticed sapphires anxienty he frowns ] My umbrella is in my inventory if it rains...[He leads the other two out into the tunnel,the waterfalls white noise echoing through the cave,a few blue buds have poked their way out of the ground  the left wall of the tunnel. ]

AP

AP waved a bit at the wide eyed ermine.

The anons got me, ehhehee.. I hope it doesn't look too weird,     As they walked AP gently ran his hand over the bright blue flowers. Ehhehee, they're very pretty~ it's been a while since I've seen any actual flowers like this,

Sapph

{* And the ermine waved back. Although there was a small head shake given to Observer. It was the rain he was worried about. But other than that he didn't acknowledge much of else as he was led outside, slightly trailing behind the other two. There was a smile at APs words however, the closer they got to the edge of Sapphs void space, the more distant he was becoming. The crackling noise was becoming louder as well, as if something was trying to break through}

Observer

"There will be more soon,these are just sprouting [*He smiles at Ap. then goes quiet for much of the walk,looking up at the ring of white spots that served as stars,he dropped a joke once or twice..just to see to he could get sapphire to laugh. But nothing happened. The crackling noise sent him on edge,he puts a hand on APs shoulder to stop him while looking back at sapphire] "Love..are you..alright...do you know what that noise is"

AP

AP stopped when Observer put his hand on his shoulder, quietly standing close as he could get to him as the crackling noise was, frightening to say the least. Made him a little paranoid, and the look on his face showed it. mm, w-what's that..?

Sapph

{* Sapph may have smiled a bit at the jokes, but there wasn't that tinkling laugh of his. There was a wary look at the sky but he did speak eventually} * Pyrite had texted saying that the others were coming though and not to worry about it.. It's probably hard to break in here, all things considering... {* With that, Sapphire moved to stand in closer to them, gently urging them on.} * At least we'll have help soon..

Observer 

[Observer frowned,clearly uneasy,he takes Aps hand and sapphires and continues on] I'm sure your excited to see coin again..! [he smiles at sapphire] Seems today is a big day...[Observer was unsure of what sapphire meant by help,but he was hopeful..if not very anxious . something...someone whispers by ,if he was human,would have been his ear] [The thought of seeing papyrus again fills you with determination]

AP 

AP felt much less anxious at knowing the reason behind the noise, gently giving Observer's hand a squeeze.

at the very least im glad that pyrite made it here alright, i haven't heard much from him so i was a little worried there for a bit..

Sapph 

* Mm not that excited. More nervous than anything.. But I suppose that is excitement in on itself..

{* He hesitantly urges them across the boundary line, almost scared to do so. Its a silly feeling, he knows it, but there also still the feeling of a cold hand up his back. But he ignores this. It's all in his head, hehe}

Observer 

[*Observer smiles,everything really was going to be alright..hopefully..who knew what these new comers would be like,he loved sapphire..but trust..that would be hard to give even to others his love knew.] *everything will be alright..

Sapph

{* Really we all know it depends. But once they cross the line, Sapphire does seem to relax some. Familiar scent of snow and powdered crystal hangs in the air. A oddly sweet scent but one easily gotten used too. He is a bit more confident and relaxed the farther they travel.}

* Pyrite isn't one for talking to much unless he has something to say. It's something that run in the group, I guess. I'm just hoping everything is going to be fine with them though..

{* While they are traveling and talking, the cracking and groaning sounds from over head seem to deepen a bit. Slightly alarming but it seems like the whole is concentrated in one point rather than all around. Although hairline cracks are radiating out from the miles away little anomaly.

It is a sight to behold, however. A nebulous mass of energy always is}

Observer

Observer seems to grow anxious,eyes darting about and locking onto the energy,"Are....." [*stay determined] Observer frowns,eyes darting to an empty space to his right,just for a second if anyone’s really paying attention,there's a red shimmer,it lasts for a mere moment ..Observer shakes his head, "Where was i..ah right..are you sure it's safe to be in here while..." He gestures at the mass of energy" That’s..happening"

AP 

AP honestly felt a little anxious after seeing the energy buildup up ahead, squeezing a bit on Observer's hand. He'd noticed the shift in hue in the other's eyes, but wouldn't say anything, more so worried about the space-like area before them.

i emm... hope that's not dangerous,

Sapph 

✬ it's not

{* Pyrite's voice was honestly a shock, where had he come from? At least the missing half of the other's face was just about healed up, however, there was still a palm wide crack on the top of his head. it may never really heal.}

✬ it's rather far away, i'd just ignore it. it's not like the whole sky is gonna fall in

{* There is a smirk at his words, almost like it's a joke of some sort. Sapphire is hesitantly staring at his adopted son before finally giving into the urge and running over to hug him. Pyrite accepts this although there's not much of a hug back on his part either.}

Observer

"If you say so...would you two like some alone time ..?" [*Observer shifted closer to ap,putting a hand on his back,eyes darting down to him..he wasn't completely s on the idea..honestly sapphire seemed upset...it was worrying Observer,did he upset him somehow? was it the baby...? No it couldn't be..what could be wrong]

AP

AP nodded, knowing it wasn't dangerous made him feel a bit better. Although he did raise an eyebrow a bit at Observer.

what's up? something bothering you..?

 Loosely lacing his arms around Observer, he watched the interaction between Sapphire and Pyrite, smiling at the sight of the two's reunion. Hopefully, Papyrus would recognize him as a human if he wasn't changed back by then so he could hug him like that.

Sapph 

{* Either Pyrite is Oblivious to Sapph nervousness or is choosing to actively ignore it, it is hard to say. Either case, Pyrite  is actively pulling Sapph back over to the little group, eliciting a small, startled cry from him. And maybe it would have been unheard if the whole of the Void that was Sapphs just hadn't went deadly quietly.

It was a sight to actually watch as strange orange and red tinted lines radiate from the center of the anomaly in the sky. There was something slightly sinister about them as it almost looked like they were forming a strange shield to the space. It was enough that even Pyrite was taken aback, slightly teleporting away from the group to stare at the sky.

Although if anyone was looking elsewhere they might have seen familiar glittery purple eyes staring right at Sapph, who was entranced by the spectacle, and didn't notice he was being made a target. It was only until the stinging pain engulfed his whole left side of his face was the only warning that something was going very wrong. }

Observer

[Observer pressed closer to Ap,this brought back memories. he was scared. But..just stay here,everything is fine] I'm fine dear, how really you holding up.. ? [he smiles at ap] Reminds me of the sun.. [*The fake smile is back,he's nervous.. Something feels wrong,there's a sharp whisper. a voice urging him to do..something? it wasn't clear..His grip tightens on Aps hand]

AP 

AP would be lying if he said this wasn't frightening, gods it was terrifying to him, even if he knew nothing was going to happen with the flickering, flashing lighting he couldn't help pressing his face into Observer's just to get it out of his line of sight so he didn't freak out.

i'd like to say i'm doing okay, but not really, just trying to keep myself distracted from it.. it's really scary to be honest,

Feeling the grip on his hand tighten, AP gives Observer's hand a tight squeeze in return.

Sapph

{* Thanks to the distraction in the roof of the Void, Sapphire small cry of pain went ignored. It wasn't like the others would have heard it, probably, because at that time a orange beam of light shot down from the anomaly and crashed miles away. But it was forceful enough that a small shock wave was felt even from there. And alt lead forceful enough that the loose snow was stirred up into a small blizzard. It only took a minute or two for it to die down but, by then, it was way to late.

There was a slight sound of cracking, akin to crystal or bone or rather crystallized bone snapping and changing. Looking back, there would be the chilling sight of Sapphire curled on the ground, black ink staining the ground, mostly pouring from the missing regulator on Sapphires left side. His right eye was dead but the left, a shocking gold light was appearing in the normally blank left. And it was completely fixated on Observer.

And there was almost a crooked grin marring the normally friendly face.

And Pyrite was nowhere to be found. Almost like he wasn't even there to begin with.}

Observer

[Observer held ap,hoping to keep the shorter human steady,as the snow was snow stirred] "Your family has quite the knack for dramatic entrances,my love. [Observer calls back to sapphire,when there's no answer he merely assumes sapphire is transfixed . He squints against the blizzard until it ends. He looks back,about to ask sapphire if he's ready to proceed,as clearly Pyrite has left them..then he stops and nearly screams,letting go of AP,panic filling every inch of him,to his right he can hear a voice snarling for him to stay away,that it was dangerous!..l.But for once it seemed Observer could care less about his own safety,not that he thought he was in danger,Because...Sapph had proven he would never hurt him. Sapphire loved him. He stops in his tracks when he really notices the light and grin,Observers eyes lock into sapphires]ssapphire......?

AP

AP was surprised when Observer let go of him, looking back to see what had caused it only to see the almost uncanny look on Sapphire's face. It didn't quite feel like him but... It had to be him, right?

sapph..?

Sapph 

{* There wasn't a answer, really, other than a slight staticy sound.  Of course, even that phased out when Observer drew closer to the point that ear drum busting silence was filling the area.

And, with a sound almost akin to a shotgun blast, it broke into a frenzied state of utter chaos.

Naturally it would have been too fast to follow normally, but for some reason there was a slight flux of time that made things seem rather freeze framed. The figure of Sapphire sprang up, dripping ink hands reaching for Observer's neck. Whether or not it made contact with his neck, there would be a rather cold feeling of static coursing through Observer's being. It would feel like a limb falling asleep. Of course, even if the one hand missed, there was another hand almost stabbing at the weak spot in Observer's abdomen. All the while the golden glow grew brighter, and the wicked smile deeper. At least it seems like AP is being sparred for now.}

Observer

The voice screams at him to move yet his body seems to be frozen,unable to move as the light grew brighter,he was like a deer in the headlights . Someone screams and it takes observer a moment to realize it's him,he's screaming, Pain very familiar pain rips through his abdomen.Observer lets out a whimper,"Sapph.?.....why " He isn't able  to say more,the pain is too great. a memory of a situation similar to this but so different*This is what it feels like to be back stabbed Observer barely registered the hand around his throat so distracted was he by the pain.

AP

Needless to say, AP was horrified at the scene before him. Shrinking back and whimpering, all the while as much as he wanted to help Observer he knew that he couldn't put not only himself, but the baby in that kind of jeopardy.

He'd hardly realized he was crying by this point; there really wasn't anything he could do, he wanted to yell or scream at him to stop, to try and snap him out of it or something.. But he couldn't, every time he tried the attempt would get caught in his throat with the choked sobs that emanated through every inch of his being.

If he didn't do something, Observer was going to die and it was going to be because he was a coward that was scared for his own life and the child's whom he's carried thus far. But he'd be damned if he let his Wingdin die like this, by someone he loved and trusted.

In a jolt of adrenaline and as a last ditch effort AP rushed himself over to Observer, making an attempt at the had around Observer's throat before wrapping his arms under Observer's armpits and trying yank him away from Sapphire. At this point he just wanted it to stop, it didn't really matter how. And even if he didn't do this, he was likely going to be attacked next if it panned out how he thought it would.

y-you cAN ONLY TAKE HIM OVER MY DEAD BODY DAMN IT.

Sapph

{* Beyond all of this, there was a quiet little noise as the beam of light cut off.  The strange cracks were still in the sky, as well as the strange shield, but other than that the rest of the Void-space was calm other than the current hell that was happening at the edge with Observer wand AP.

At the screaming, the being, for this really couldn't be Sapphire, tilted their head. There wasn't any response except for the loud static buzzing sound. It took a few seconds of glitching facial expressions for one to settle on disgust at AP. Observer was still firmly between them although it didn't seem like that was a problem as the pools of ink seemed to form into some sort of drippy ribbon to wrap around AP's legs. And then there was a growing pressure as it tried to rip him off of Observer.

Of course, if that was unsuccessful, it and Observer would both try to disappear into the ink only to reappear several hundred feet away. Seems whatever is going on is focused solely on Observer alone.}

Observer

Observer was terrified,and the static in his body was making it near impossible to move,He tries to grab the hand around his throat and pull it off,wheezing through the pain. His eye sockets dart back towards Ap,full of terror and a look of pleading for help. He forces his other arm to grab onto Ap with an iron grip until he's ripped away as the thing tears them apart and he's dragged into the ink and forced those several hundred feet away.

AP

AP had held on as tight as he could've in that moment, at least until he was torn apart from Observer. He hadn't wanted to let go, he wanted to help, but he couldn't, at the very least now he couldn't. All he could do is watch, and wait, since presumably the ink-like tendrils hadn't dissipated from his legs, and they were latched on pretty tight as well... He decided it wasn't a good idea to move, as much as he wanted to. He was human still, he could bruise, and bleed and all other kinds of things that skeletons can't have happen to them in the same way humans could. He didn't want to die like that, to something that proved just how weak and defenseless he was against whatever this thing in Sapphire's body was.

Sapph

{* If anything, that is exactly what this creature had wanted. But it wasn't like that would ever be spoken. The ink seemed to slack off as it traveled to join the main body. Although now the tendrils were fulling wrapping themselves around both figures, trying to draw in Observer into the mass of static and bubbling ink. Sapphire's form kept changing at each glitch; fangs and claws elongated, the cracks on his face deepened, and dirty looking crystals seem to sprout from the dribbling ink as it ate away his flesh to expose the glittering bone underneath. Until, finally, something seemed to stabilize with this creature. Its voice was smooth, akin to Sapphire's, but there was still a bit of a growly hitch to it as well.}

❅ W̨el҉l̢ m͠et͏,͢ ͠ęh͟?̸

{* There was a hint of a manic giggle to those words, the determined eye bursting into full life as the gold of it seemed to trickle and swim in inky darkness. Observer would notice a vice like grip tightening and loosing until, suddenly, he was tossed upwards before being grabbed by a hand formed from ink to be slammed back into the ground.}

Observer

Observer tried to scream again but he couldn't,He tried to squirm out of the ink,but he couldn't. the vice like grip managed to get some noise out of him,but just barely"Sapph..-" He was cut off as he was thrown,being sent into a daze by he force of being slammed into the ground. By the angel it hurt...stars exploded in his head,he couldn't see anything and he couldn't think for several seconds,why this real..he had no idea...this felt so surreal. Observer makes an attempt to teleport,to escape back to AP. maybe they could  still escape

AP

On the other hand, AP, having previously been forced into a standstill. He couldn't help, but dear lords how he wanted to. Watching Observer be practically hacky-sacked  around like that was horrific to him; the sheer fact that the being was able to do such a thing to someone such as his Wingdin was almost just as terrifying...

Staring down at the inky substance latched down on his legs, he tried to wiggle out of it a bit, but honestly he felt petrified. Any movements that he did get out of this were janky and rigid at best, he couldn't do it, not like this.

Looking back up to the scene before him he faintly heard the being speak, it sounded like Sapph. But this cruelty, wasn't that at all, no matter how much it seemed like Sapph the denial and internal struggle for another answer - a better one - raged on in his head.

Sapph

{* Observer would find his teleport successful; it got him away from the bubbling mass of ink and now glowing blue liquid. Although it just made the being angry, bubbling and hissing as it hunted to see where Observer had gotten too. Long, thing lines of ink bubbled out, corrupting surrounding crystals and snow with a deep purple black. And when the crystals were fully infected, they would take upon the same glitchness at the host although if one looked closely enough, there might be eyes forming as well. But they were not readily visible. Other than giving a sense of being watched.

AP was still ignored, although there were thing ribbons of ink slowly climbing up his legs. But thin enough that he might find himself able to run if he could. The figure in front of him would give a bit of a pausing snarl as another beam of light shot down from the anomaly in the sky. The hunt for Observer would be doubled ten fold after that. But if it couldn't find him, there was one greedy looking eye trained right on AP.}

Observer

[*Observer landed with a soft thump twenty,maybe thirty feet away near one of the crystal's. He drags himself behind it,not noticing it shift colors as it was infected,too focused on keeping pressure on the wound on his gut,his white turtle neck would now have a large red stain,He slowly peaks out from behind the  crystal..if he could just get to AP. They could get away,Observer looked around,ducking behind the crystal again,breathing heavily,it hurt..so much..at least it wasn't as bad as before with him. He couldn't run like this..He couldn't..Observer inhaled as he peeked back around the crystal,trying to locate sapphire...he only had one choice..

AP

Seeing Observer disappear like that wasn't necessarily surprising, but releaving at the very least. Attempting to clear away the inky ribbons from his legs and just move in general. Once we was done clearing away from of it and was able to move to some degree he bolted for the nearest place to hide, not even noticing the eyes that watched him.

Sapph

{* Of course, once a eye finally latched on to Observer's location, the being melted into a pile of ink and glitching. Everything went still and quiet again until, loudly, there was the metallic noise behind Observer once again. Familiar claws would then dig into him from behind, latching on tightly, painfully.

And Observer would feel something poisonous leaking into his system now, aiming for his soul. All the while a faint, twisted, sort of laughing could be heard. It was as if Observer was nothing but a bug to this creature, one to crush or control. There was deep cracking resounding; like ice moving. But one would find that it was just Sapphire’s bones being lost to the all consuming inky mass as they shattered into pieces. Much like small parts of Observer’s soul would be doing now as well.

There wasn’t much to do, other than to watch. Time didn’t seem to be a thing, anymore, and the long seconds started to feel like eternity. Eye kept watching AP, sizing him up in the off chance that Observer would get away. Although there was a quiet hiss as an orange light zinged across the ground. A soft crunch of snow just reveled a black boot with an orange sole. And then copper orange eyes peeked into the bolt hole that the former skeleton had found. If AP would look up, there would be a rather cocky grin on a charming looking face.}

☬ We̛ll̷, se̸e͢m͝s͢ l̸i͠k҉e t͏h҉i̶s̡ ̨is ̛s̛o̵m̛e ͏s̛h̴i͘t,̷ ̧eh?

Observer

Observer wheezed,whimpered and tried everything in his power to escape,something else in his head whispers,encourages him..stay strong..stay determined ..the creature had grabbed onto him before he had gotten the chance to aim..or even summon a blaster..he had to fight back,it was his only chance and yet now..the laughter made his soul turn cold...he couldn't see Ap...meaning..Ap had..gotten away..they were safe..they were safe..he could feel himself breaking apart,the feeling was familiar yet unfamiliar,no hope...no hope No hope..but maybe enough determination to survive...?  Observer twisted his head back,glaring at his former lover,or what was left...trying to..he attempted to send some of attack,to squirm away despite the claws..but the toxins were making him feel sluggish..his soul was already damaged and the pieces breaking away were taking a  toll,so distracted was he that he didn't even notice the orange.

AP

AP had indeed looked up, picking himself off the ground from where he curled himself up in the hole, and seeing the other person there he'd practically flung himself against the other; didn't matter who it was, as long as it wasn't Sapph, or whatever that was controlling him.

He nodded a bit, quietly, but reluctantly, peeling himself away from the orange figure. Staring for a moment to see who it had been. This was..? Coin, probably.. As far as he knew there would only have been Coin and a few others, including Sapphire's Papyrus coming over. He'd moved away some of the hair that came with this human form from his face, mostly so the other could actually see his face.

hahaa, y eah,, it's quite the bit of shit if i do say so myself.

Sapph

{* There was a quiet, static chuckle from Coin as AP flung himself at him. There was a head tilt as the other moved away and a hand was brought up to materialize a orange screen in the air as Coin seem to run some sort of diagnostic on the figure before him}

☬ M̕m̨, ̨l̕es͟ş ͏sh͝it th́an͞ ̸bȩfore̡,̵ ͡tho͞u̴g͠h͏.̧

{* Once done with his scans he seemed rather pleased at himself at something and the screen faded back into non-existence. The taller fragment then gave AP a devilish little wink.}

☬ M͏m,̷ ͡Sáns. ̀Go̵es ͢by ̀A̛P̸. Curr͏e͠n͘tl͘y̡ so̵ fa͏r ͠a͝l̀oǹg ̛with Obse̴rv́er'̵s kid. D͡ué som͢eti͝me ͟in M͜arc͘h,͟ I͏ t͟hin͡k?̡ ☬ Do͟n'́t h͞o̵ld ͟mę co̴mpl̵e͢tely ̕t̷o͏ th͜a͞t, ͞ţh͠a͞t i͢s ͏a͢l̸ẃays͢ in͢ f́ĺux̷.

{* He really didn't give AP time to comment on that, however. With a flourish, he spun around on a heel and turned to face the mess going on in the distance. There was a deep breath as Coin quickly brought up his hands along with several spares, screens exploding quietly into life. Million lines of code flew across the screens as Coin seemingly sank into a familiar rhythm. He only paused to speak one more time.}

☬ Asr͢íel,̨ ͏ma͝k͜e̡ ͟sur̡ȩ t̨o͏ t́ake ͜ça̸re̡ of ͟ơur̸ ̴gu͟est̕ ̨f҉o҉r̢ ͘m̛e̛~ {* And he was suddenly gone, as maroon eyes peeked over to stare at AP.

Meanwhile, Observer would find himself slowly being melded in the ink, a toxic little voice trying to enter his mind and being. There wasn’t much actual words from it other than feelings of deep pain, sickness, and the clamoring of millions of anguished voices crying out. And maybe one would be familiar to Observer, if he was paying attention as well. But, in either case, there might not have been time for him to do so as the ink started forming hard crystals and the being started trying to shred Observer from the inside out. The only sense of relief would be that the pain was becoming numb.

That was, until some orange light lit up the area, lines and blocks of code slamming into the figures. Observer would find himself slightly fading out until he was freed from the grip of the pulsing ink. He would still be injured terribly but, also, surrounded by a halo of orange as the healing coding kicked in and worked on fixing the damage wrought.}

Observer

[Observer felt himself beginning to fade. Into the ink..into the voices...his mind grew foggy,there's a screech in the back of his mind,someone hissing at the toxic voice,a snarl of rage....one last attempt to break free before he just..began to sink..he wanted to ask..why,what did he do..but.]

[His voice escapes him,at least the crystals let him feel numb,maybe his death would be painless. He tries to call for help...but something clogs his throat. Keeps him quiet. ]

[Suddenly everything's orange and observers eye sockets widen. His eyes dart around,until suddenly,an inch from his chest a small red piece of glass..no..no a SOUL appears,Observers hands seem to move on their own,closing around the damaged red heart. Observer feels a rush of energy,and for a moment he isn't sure if it's the soul or..the code..heavy weight is added to his back and he starts to become overwhelmed,so much is happening..a voice suddenly hisses in the back of his mind]

[Let me take over for now]

[*and yet observer resists,and the other presence lingers,awake and finally.finally able to feel. Finally no longer in the risk of falling to pieces..]

AP

AP's mouth gaped a bit at Coin's description of him. Honestly he was still kind of curious why everyone called him 'Sans' even though his name is technically 'Comic'.. Oh well, it did seem to be one of universal constants so who was he to judge. Either way, the information was indeed accurate, which AP confirmed with a small nod of his head, watching the orange figure go off to deal with Sapphire, or at least what he assumed wasn't entirely Sapphire; and then looking to Asriel, the prince. He'd never met his own Asriel before everything happened so he didn't know much about any of them.

Regardless he walked over to the tall goat monster and quietly introduced himself with a bit of a nervous smile plastered to his face, generally sticking close just in case if something were to happen he could be protected or pull the lanky goat monster out of the way if need be seeing as he was much stronger as a human.

Sapph

{* Said lanky goat gave AP a low hello before standing beside him and easily towering over him. He might have been lanky, but he was still as tall as Asgore would be. He seemed to be holding a strange sword-like weapon as well, ready for anything. This wasn't some innocent little goat kid anymore.

But it wasn't needed. Farther away a small ring of orange code lines had been formed where a faint orangish blur and the inky monster were fighting. Although once Coin was able to pin it down with what looked like orange darts filled with some type of fluid, he began to have the upper hand.  It was impossible to really see him moving until he finally came to a stop with a large orange screen in front of him. And then he began tearing into Sapphire's coding, erasing and replacing various sectors.

The glitch show it was putting on was, in any other circumstance, a awe inspiring show. It was amazing how fast Coin could rip apart code and replace it. And it was obvious that whatever had been in the darts was working; the inky mass wasn't moving a inch even though what was happening should have had it bubbling and screaming. All it did, instead, was drip away and exposed what was left of Sapphire in its wake. It was hard to get a visual on him from so far away but he did look to be a mess until more orange light and coding lines sprung into existence.}

Observer

Once the healing code finished,observer sits up,dazed,it actually takes him a minute to process the situation,he stares at himself,where the injuries had been previously was just ripped fabric. Observer tips over under the weight of new limbs before catching himself,his body seems to move of its own accord,forcing him up,staring wide eyed at the scene before he spins around on his heels and runs,he soon regains control of his body and realization that he was free and had a chance at fleeing kicked him,adrenaline certainly helping as the fragment ran towards his perceived destination

AP

AP edged out of spot he'd been hiding in so he could see what was going on more clearly even if that wasn't saying much since he didn't have vision in one eye and needed glasses, which had broken and became unusable long while ago. The figures just seemed like blobs of color, more so dots really, small colored moving dots. He also made sure he didn't stray too far from where he'd been standing before, even if he did have the urge to kick it into high gear and sprint as fast as he could towards them. He knew he didn't have the stamina for that, and using up that much energy in this form would be a waste, plus he'd have to take a bath... When was the last time he'd taken a bath again??? After all even I'm his usual form his skull and bones had yellowed from the lack of proper cleaning.. Maybe he'd have to see about a bath once this was all settled..

Sapph

☬ No̷, ͏y̸o̡u͟ don͡'̷t̢.̴

{* That would be all the warning Observer would get before four orange darts pinned him down. It was painless, even as he would fall, but still, there was obvious that he wasn't going anywhere soon.

With the crow contained, Coin finished his work swiftly to finish up, orange code finally fading away to show a mostly put together Sapphire. There was dark, gaping, wounds still. But Coin gently took his former lover into his arms, popping out the broken node and replacing it with a slightly bigger one. And then, once the new one had started faintly glowing, popping out the undamaged node and repeating that movement.

Then, and only then, did he walk to the crow, Sapphire's prone form tucked under one of Coin's arms. He was wordless as a few spare hands removed the darts and picked up the crow firmly, Observer's code still frozen in place. Then he began a silent march back to AP and Asriel. When he was close enough, the human would get one deposit of crow, no more or less, before Coin motioned the little group to follow him}

Observer

There’s no noise of alarm as observer feels the darts hit his back,he lay there motionless until the hands grab him if he wasn't frozen he would have thrashed,panic seizes him as he's carried,which only lessen when he was deposit we near ap,he shifts the new limbs on his back instinctively..not having time to process them just yet,the voice in the back of his head whispers questions about the human,but observer whispers something that sounds like "Later.." He looks at ap,then back towards the border as if asking if they should attempt to get back home or follow .

AP

AP made small grabby hands for Observer as he was brought over and dropped in front of him. Slightly scrambling over to him and attempting to help him up a bit and holding onto his hand.

you okay dins?

He quietly urged Observer to follow Coin too, even if he wasn't 100% sure how safe it was, he figured he was safe enough. After all, if Coin was going to do something bad he would've done it before when they were all vulnerable

Sapph

{* Coin was more than happy to motion them to follow, a look in his eyes that almost read that they had better, really. Of course, he was patient as he waited until they decided to follow.

And even if they didn't, they might find their way blocked currently. By orange and purple magic. The whole area was apparently on two lockdowns.}

Observer

[*Observer stared  ap,shaking his head slowly and giving the others hand a squeeze,away..he wanted to run so badly..maybe he could teleport..no at least one of those lock down would stop him,and he wouldn't abandon AP..never again,Observer averted his gaze,moving to follow coin,as much as he hated to. They had no choice in the matter,he felt tiree..so tired. Once they were home he was sleeping for a good 15 hours..or so he hoped..]

AP

[ AP was undoubtedly tired too, but none the less he was definitely more stable than Observer was at the moment. That being said, he quietly slipped an arm around Observer's torso in an attempt to help support him as they walked. Truthfully, AP was pretty tired too, he could feel the crash coming on as well. They'd probably need to get some sleep when they got there, a nice long nap, maybe he could curl up with Wingdin, maybe.. He'd have to ask when that moment came. ]

s'okay, wing, everything will be alright, 'kay?

Observer

As Ap wrapped his arms around observer,he would brush against something..sticky..and feathery..Observer relaxes at the touch,leaning agonist the other but not too much,putting one of his arms around AP in return,yet he was having a hard time believing everything would be alright,his suspicions of other gasters..his mistrust...it had been proven to b true with sapphire..and that hurt,by the delta it hurt so much. "How can you know.."

Sapph

{* Coin didn't waste time taking them back to Sapphire's house, which, this time, it actually looked like a house rather than a tiny cottage.  There were lights on inside, and noises as well. But the curtains on the windows were drawn. With a summoned hand, Coin opened the door for everyone before motioning them on in.

Stepping inside, AP and Observer would be meet with a cheerful warmth and lighting. Nova has outdone himself with the design and all. Straight ahead would be the living room were a merry fire burned in the fire place although, as they would draw near, there would be a figure off to the side sleeping, Pyrite sitting in the floor asleep as well. There were sounds somewhere upstairs, probably someone showering.}

AP

[ AP nuzzled Observer a bit, mostly as an act of reassurance rather than affection despite the short lingering that came before he pulled away from the nuzzle as they walked. ]

i don't, im just trusting my gut on this one honestly,

[ As they entered the home AP visibly relaxed a but, seeing the calm and peaceful surroundings compared to everything that just happened was relieving honestly. The fire was especially inviting given how cold he was, being human all this time out in the void didn't help him with his issue of being prone to any kind of frigidness. The warmth and cracking of the fire in tandem with each other sounded and felt immeasurably pleasant to the former skeleton. Just smiling a bit and giving Observer a gentle squeeze with the arm that was still around his torso. ]

see? everything looks so nice, everything's okay for the moment, i know you like to worry but im letting my guard down regardless of how you want to go about this, alright?

Observer

Observers eyes scan the area,hesitating by the door,he would only move into the household if prompted by AP,He tried to get a better look at the sleeping figure,not too focused on pyrite,whom he currently found he did not care for very much anymore,in fact he found himself not caring for anyone here but AP and his baby,the thought stung,but it's not like they cared anyone about him either,so quay did it matter,why didn't they let them go home he didn't understand...he tried too count the figures based on sound and sight,Coin,sapphire,the other figure,someone up stairs..the atmosphere was so suffocating ,something shifts and ruffles on his back,he's suddenly brought back to reality by Ap's voice,his grip had slowly been slipping,he murmurs something but it's too quiet to make out,maybe the other would notice the new limbs now that they weren't in the dark of the void.

Sapph

{* There was a gentle click as the door closed behind them, spare hands sitting Sapphire down in a open spot. Seems like Coin wasn't too concered about things for right now while. But Asriel soon took over, pulling up a ruby red screen and eyeing the lines of code with maroon eyes.

Coin, instead, took the time to dig up some blankets for the other two, motioning for them to sit while he offered them to AP and Observer. He was still quiet but, now, it seemed like he was waiting for someone to address the matter at hand.}

AP

[ AP did indeed take the opportunity to sit when prompted to by Coin, being on his feet for a good while combined with being frightened half to death had made him rather exhausted. If Observer had decided to follow in the sitting he'd be softly cuddled a bit after draping one of the blankets around Observer as best he could without disturbing the inky colored wings too much. AP spoke up a bit; despite his exhaustion he wanted some answers regarding what the hell just happened out there. ]

what exactly, happened out there..? he was fine on the way there, even if he was a little distant it was nothing like that.. so much was going on but i don't know what, happened..

Observer

Observer followed ,once he sits he just stares into his lap at his hands,the wings are  unfolded ,he murmurs something and the word "betrayed" could be made it,he doesn't seem to be registering the contact from AP,seems he's lost in thought again. his eyes dart to where sapphire is and the look could be described as threatening,even if it was for a split second,he shifts closer to ap,putting his head on top of aps. the wings themselves did a pear to actually be made of ink..some what anyways..[*.distracted little bird..]

Sapph

{* Orange eyes slid over to stare at Observer for a moment before looking back to AP. And then around the room before Coin addressed the question. Almost as if he was looking to see who was asleep or awake for a second.}

☬ Th̛e͢re͏'s..͏.̵ not̛ m̀u͏ch to͡ exp̵lain, ŗea̛lly.͢ ̷I g̵u͠es̀s҉. ☬ O̷n҉e ̕o͏f ̵h̛is nód̶e͏s͏ b͘r̛oke ☬ T͠h͢at͏'s a̡b̨o͢ųt it

{* Coin nervously shifted in his seat, looking away a bit; he was obviously uncomfortable for some reason right now. It made his willingness to explain obvious.}

Observer

That doesn't explain anything.. Observer stares at coin,eye glowing a deep blue,excess magic sparks in the air and observers wings seem to shift,the underside suddenly has several eyes open ,all staring with red pupils right at coin,despite being in shock the fragment also seems to radiate rage,his eye moves towards ap,and in fear of scaring him he seems to force himself to calm down,yet the glow from his eye doesn't die down,his breath is shaky and something drips onto thee floor...bone..observer takes another deep breath,no melting,not here. "We deserve to know the rest,he attacked us,he could have killed me..he going to..."

AP

[ AP just hummed a bit in response to what the others were talking about, taking a moment to glance at Observer's wings and really register that they're actually there, he knew he'd felt his hand and arm brush up against something but he hadn't exactly expected the inky wings... Looking back to Coin made him furrow his eyebrows a bit, though it may have been hard to see with his hair covering most of them. ]

so... he didn't want to attack us then..? maybe.. I'm not sure how the nodes work and all but are they suppressing that thing or something, because whatever that was didn't feel like sapph at all, it felt like someone completely different.. He's always so soft and gentle, there's no way i can believe that he was in total control there,,

[ Honestly at this point he was just searching for an answer that didn't involve Sapphire intentionally wanting to kill them. ]

Sapph

{* There was a staticy sigh from the mango as he looked around the room again. And then he raised a hand, coding in some sort of sound barrier. The noises from the fire disappear as it materialized. Looking at them from the outside would just seem like they were sitting around, casually talking. It was a unneeded precaution from Coin. But it made him feel safer if the droop of his shoulders were anything to speak for him. He didn't even seem to care about Observer's reaction. He's seen far worse things before.}

☬ Of̢ ̛cour͜s̕e̴ h͠e d̡id͞n't. ͡I͝f͢ y̸o̷u ̶k͠now a̛nyt́hìng a̕bou̧t h͢i͠m͠, you ͡k͢n͜o̴w̡ he hate͡s v͟iol͡e͘nce̶.͠ ́A̕t ͞al̀l.͟

͢☬ ́Th̕er͠e ͡i͜s.. ͘somè ͏s̀ort ̶of ͝b̵e͜in̨g͘ that c̕a͞n t̨ak͡e ̨c͏o̢nt͡ro͜l ̢o̵f͞ him̀ ̸if th͟o͏se no͝d͞eś m͟a͝l͝fun͢ctìon͠. Or̶ ̶bre̴ak. O͞r gȩt̡ ҉d̛am҉a̸ged.̷ N͠orma̢lly ͝tha͜t r͘espo̶n̛s̛e͠ i̛s d̶e҉lay͠e͢d́ ̀b̷ut͢. ͜I̶ ̡don't͝ ͞ḱnow͏.͟ Maybe҉ he'҉s҉ ̵b͘een̴ ͞s͠treşs̡e͡d̶ ͞and ͠th̶e s̢e҉lf͡-repair d͘i̛dn'̵t ͠ki̷ck̨ ҉in. ́ ☬ Ei͏t͝h̷er ͜case,̧ ̡it̛'͝s͢ fix͟e̕d͘.̢ Tha͝t̕'s ̧a͏ļĺ ̡t͝h̵a̡t̷ ͘m͞at̴ters.͠ ́Ì'v͠e wiped h͠i̴s̵ m̡e͡morięs̷ f͡or̨ no͜w,̢ ͡too͘.͘ ҉He̵ does̛n'̢t n͝e̛ed ̷t͠h͡a͟t̸ ̷re͟playi͟n͢g͟ ̧i͜n ͞his h͏e̛ad.͠

{* Coin kept the barrier up while he sat back in his chair. It was unknown when he started to lean forward. But, now that he gave that short explanation, he decided that was enough. If they wanted to keep pumping him for information, he would give it too them. But his throat was getting sore from all this talking as well.}

Observer 

Observer slumps,shoulders dropping and eyes going hollow,not just dark like some skeletons..they just looked...empty,expression Har go read,but he finds he can't believe coin for some reason,he had seen sapphire attack another fragment,he had never really gotten the full story..now he probably never would..something..someone whispered in the back of his mind,coaxing him to contuine asking,even if he was so tired,"Why did you bring us here,why are you all here."He's exhausted,you can hear it now in every note of his speech.

AP

Hearing the newfound exhaustion in Observer's voice, AP glaces over to give Observer a once over. Giving Obsy a gentle squeeze with the arm wrapped around his torso; AP rested the side of his head against the crow's shoulder followed by a small hum of a response to both Coin's explanation and Observer's inquiry. He was tired, didn't feel like speaking much, especially as he seemed to grow slightly more despondent, spacey, by each passing minute. Probably from the fatigue of walking that much in a day piled upon the fact that he isn't entirely used to this body of his and also the pregnancy thing, especially as a human it was clunky and exhausting to walk around like this. And since he'd sat down, his body was yelling at him to get some rest, human bodies didn't have the same capabilities for not sleeping as his skeletal one most often did...

Sapph

There is a bit of a world weary sigh from Coin as he stands, a small screen materializing out of nowhere. A few short lines of code are input before the output of a few pillows and large, rather warm looking blanket appears. They are offered to the crow and the human in a almost gentle manner.

☬ ͏I'͏m he͝r͝e be̵ca̷use͏ ́t̀here̵ i̶s ̷n͜o҉w͘hére̸ el̢se ̷t͞o ͠go͘ ☬ ̀A̡n̡d̛ ͞I̶ ám͝ ̢he͝re͟ ̷be̛c͜a̵uśe ̀t͏hi̸s͟ ͜is͞ th̶e la͘st͜ ͜pl͢a͏c͜ę f́oŗ m͢e ̶to̷ ̵go͠,̨ ̧too͏ ́☬ And y͝oų ̧a̶re͢ ̧h͏ere ͠b́e̷ca͜u҉s̀e, ̷de҉s̴p͡i̢te w͘h̛a̵t҉ yo҉u͡ ̀mig̨ht ͜be͜ ͏t̢h̷in͜ki̷n͜g r̢įg̢ht͏ ̨now҉,́ it i̶s͞ t̶h͡e̛ safe̶s̀t̡ pĺac̴e I ̛ḱnow ☬ An̕d̕ ͠I̧ ţhin̷k ͢t̢h̡e̵r̵e i̶s͘ ̀a̵ ͢bit̕ ͜of҉ ̨unfi͟n͠i̡shed ̕bu̷si͘n͟e͞s̢s͞ Sa͝pphi̵r̶ȩ ͝ne̡e̴ds̀ ̨t̴o g̕e͟t toǫ

If the offered bedding wasn't taken, AP would find them gently set beside him for him to spread out. The couch they were on was big enough to be a bed for both of them; there was no need to move out of the living room for now. Once his hands were free there was another screen summoned as Coin went to remove the barrier from around them.

Although he did have one more thing to say.

☬ ͞W̧e̷ ̛ca͡n̴ tal͠k͏ ͟m̀ore af̴ţer you ŗe̶st͢, ̡I'm͟ not ̶going a͜ny̴where ͠s͘oon

Observer 

"Thank..you.." Observer took APs hand,waiting for him to make the next move,after a few moments he nudges the other towards the couch,wings shifting,"You need sleep.."

AP

[ The sleepy AP took the hint to lay down and did so, making sure to pick up the blankets that had been placed next to him first and softly tugging at Observer's shirt for him to follow suit since AP was practically falling asleep already, his eyes had been fluttering open and closed with varying times of how long they were closed before opening them again. But he pretty much clonks out as soon as he laid down. ]

Observer 

Observer didn't  lay down,sitting next to ap,wings splayed out on either side,he blinked and seems to be forcing himself to remain awake,staring at the surrounding area and monsters,before shifting to examine the tares in his shirt and the new wings,despite the shock and everything,he's refusing rest for now